Chapter 213: A New Week, and the Charcoal Spirit, Binchō-tan!
"Where did you two go?"
Yurine looked at Ryohei Tanaka, who had just returned from the sea, soaking wet. She handed him a towel, then glanced at Lucoa, who was standing beside him with her hands behind her back, smiling like a fox that had just eaten a chicken. Yurine's eyes narrowed.
"We went diving," Ryohei said, taking the towel and guiltily wiping his face. He told a half-truth. "Lucoa said this was a great spot for diving, so she took me for a bit. And you know, it was really nice."
"Is that so? Sounds suspicious~." Jashin-chan, always ready to stir up trouble, sidled over. She put her left hand on her hip, her right hand on her chin, and leaned in so close she was almost touching Ryohei, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Not suspicious at all!" 'Why are you fanning the flames! If you actually start a fire, I'm dragging you down with me!' Ryohei shot Jashin-chan a look, pushed her head away, and dried himself off. "This really is a good place for diving. The water is clear, and there's so much marine life. It's a completely different experience from an aquarium. It was fun."
Ryohei then looked down at Jashin-chan's lower half to change the subject. "Your tail is back?"
"Yup! It came back not long after you two went into the sea," Jashin-chan replied cheerfully. This was a good thing for her; she was used to her tail, having lived with it for thousands of years.
Yurine sighed with mock disappointment. "Ryohei-kun... ditching your girlfriend to go diving with another woman..."
"That's only because you were sleeping! I didn't want to wake you, or I would have definitely taken you." Ryohei quickly soothed her and promised to take her diving next time, which successfully pacified her.
The group played in Okinawa for a while longer. At 5 PM, they all returned to Tokyo.
Ryohei didn't feel like cooking tonight and wanted to be lazy, so he assigned dinner duty to Jashin-chan. Because of this, he didn't ask Yusa and the others to stay, and they all went their separate ways.
As for Jiang Jiang and Lan Lan, Ryohei arranged for them to stay in a hotel. Although there was still one empty room at the house, he felt it wasn't appropriate. He wasn't short on money, so he just booked a room at a nearby hotel. At the same time, he had Yurine contact Suzuki and ask—it turned out there was a vacancy in the same apartment building where Yusa and Kōji lived. He planned to take them to see it tomorrow. If all went well, they would rent it.
...
The next day, Monday, August 2nd.
It was a new week. The first thing Ryohei did after waking up was draw his item.
Following the special effects, two lines of text appeared on the light screen—
"Congratulations, you have obtained the Green Item: Contract for the Charcoal Spirit, Binchō-tan!"
"Item Effect: By holding this contract, you can summon the Charcoal Spirit, Binchō-tan, from another world. (Note: Binchō-tan has the ability to eliminate odors, purify water, and freshen the air.)"
"Charcoal Spirit? Binchō-tan?"
Ryohei immediately thought of a certain blue-haired little girl with a piece of charcoal tied to her head, whom he had seen on TikTok. He vividly remembered the controversy: it was billed as a "healing" anime but was actually "depressing," and the original ending was so tragic that it angered a Yakuza boss, who "persuaded" the author to change it.
'It couldn't be... that Binchō-tan, could it?' Ryohei thought. Then again, if the Water-Gas could appear, Binchō-tan was also perfectly reasonable.
He sat up in bed and curiously activated the item. An ancient-looking parchment contract appeared in his hand. At the same instant, a magic circle materialized on the comforter covering his legs.
With a flash of white light, the petite, blue-haired girl with charcoal on her head crossed worlds. She appeared on Ryohei's legs, lost her balance, and let out a cute cry as she started to fall.
"Whoa, careful!" Ryohei quickly reached out to steady her.
"Phew...! Saved. Arigatou~!" Binchō-tan, looking relieved, sat down on Ryohei's lap. She put a hand on her flat chest and sighed, then looked up at Ryohei gratefully.
The next moment, as if realizing this was rude, she let out a cute "Ah!" and scrambled off Ryohei. She climbed off the bed, bowed deeply, and said nervously, "Nice to meet you! My name is Binchō-tan! Please take care of me!"
'Uwah—! I was so clumsy... I'm not going to get fired, am I?' she worried.
She had woken up this morning and washed her face—but didn't eat, as there was no rice. She hadn't found work in two days, and she'd finished her last bit of food last night. She had filled her stomach with water and was about to head out to town to try her luck when she found a job posting on her door.
It said she could get a job with food, lodging, and a salary. Binchō-tan had instantly agreed! She had been wondering how to get to this "job," as there was no address, when a magic circle appeared, and she found herself in front of Ryohei.
"..." Binchō-tan was mortified by her own clumsiness.
At the same time, Yurine, in a sleepy haze, heard an unfamiliar, cute, and healing—but strange—voice.
She opened her eyes and saw a little blue-haired girl with charcoal on her head climbing off her boyfriend. The girl was bowing, saying something about being in his care. Yurine was still processing this when she saw her boyfriend extend a hand to the girl, smiling.
"My name is Ryohei Tanaka. Please take care of me, too. You can call me Onii-chan, or Ryohei-kun, or 'Boss,' whatever you like. Can I call you Tan-chan?"
"Of course, Onii-chan~." Binchō-tan looked up, pleasantly surprised, and gave him a sweet smile. Then she noticed Yurine's confused stare and immediately looked apologetic, bowing to her. "I'm so sorry! Did I wake you?"
"It's fine," Yurine replied, sitting up. She gave Ryohei a questioning look.
"This is the Charcoal Spirit, Binchō-tan." Seeing Yurine was awake, Ryohei introduced her and handed Yurine the contract. "I got this this morning."
"..." Yurine took it curiously. She looked down, a surprised expression on her face, then back at Ryohei. "So, what's your plan for her?"
Hearing the mistress of the house ask the master what the "plan" for her was, Binchō-tan tensed up, her ears perking up to listen.
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