"Human, playing dumb won't work..."
A savage grin had just appeared on the beast-girl vengeful spirit's face when she suddenly found her mouth moving on its own. Under some unknown force, she spoke involuntarily:
"...Zhang San is here!"
Wait.
What's happening?
Why is my mouth moving by itself?
And who the hell is Zhang San?
The beast-girl vengeful spirit covered her mouth and warily stepped back. "Humans, what did you do to me?"
"Actually, we're undercover cops." Natsuki spoke while stepping forward. "Three years and another three years. Today we've finally caught you, Outlaw Zhang San."
"I keep telling you I'm not Zhang—Zhang San is here!"
Seeing Natsuki approach without any fear, even reaching out to touch her, the beast-girl vengeful spirit became enraged. She bared her serrated teeth:
"Mere humans, don't get too cocky."
Snap.
Natsuki grabbed the beast-girl vengeful spirit's wrist.
The beast-girl vengeful spirit, who had been about to let Natsuki experience the "Wrath of the Minotaur," suddenly felt her body stiffen. She lost all ability to move. Only her mouth and eyes could still function.
"Humans, what did you do to my body?" A clear note of panic entered the beast-girl vengeful spirit's voice.
Natsuki calmly gripped her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. He said seriously:
"From now on, your body belongs to me."
"Wait, what are you trying to do?" The beast-girl vengeful spirit's voice grew even more nervous. "I'm a vengeful spirit! You actually want to do that to me?"
Natsuki paused, then quickly caught on. He lowered his voice and answered ominously:
"You know nothing of human fetishes."
So what if she's a vengeful spirit?
As long as she's cute, a vengeful spirit is no problem!
"As expected of a big shot."
Asuka's eyes went wide as she let out an incredulous exclamation.
While she was still trembling in the corner, the real experts were already bullying vengeful spirits. Choosing to cling to their legs was definitely the right call!
Chika marched forward with heavy steps, her cheeks puffed up like an inflated pufferfish. She demanded indignantly:
"Why did you call me fat just now?"
Girls as a species had always been extremely sensitive about their weight—just like how boys all cared about size. Chika was no exception.
The beast-girl vengeful spirit's eyes shifted slightly, landing on Chika's chest. Her body was completely subdued, but her mouth could still run:
"Human, isn't that useless fat on your chest?"
Natsuki looked at Chika and unconsciously nodded in agreement.
He'd seen it with his own eyes earlier. There really was a lot of useless fat.
Seeing Natsuki actually nod, the shadow cast by Chika's bangs fell over her eyes. Her voice was gentle, her smile sweet. She tilted her head and looked over:
"Natsuki, you seemed to nod just now?"
"That's right. I nodded."
Natsuki admitted it frankly, completely unafraid.
The beast-girl vengeful spirit's emotional intelligence was too low. How was that fat? It was clearly voluptuous. At times like this, one should respond with high EQ.
"What I meant was that Fujiwara-san has a wonderful figure. Standing next to other girls, she shines like a firefly in the darkness. The three of them—Shinomiya-san and the others—combined don't compare to you."
Stare—
A frigid gaze suddenly fell on his back, as if trying to freeze him solid.
Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest. Her pretty face was expressionless. Her pink lips parted slightly, her voice echoing with the tones of night:
"Evaluating a girl by her figure. Amamiya-kun really is a shallow man."
"Congratulations, you've discovered a universal truth."
In this world, there was no man who wasn't shallow.
The group's attention returned to the vengeful spirit.
"Miss... Dairy Cow." Natsuki gave her a rather fitting name. "I heard you can conjure food out of thin air?"
"Despicable humans, let go of me at once." The beast-girl vengeful spirit's body was compliant, but her mouth remained defiant. "I'll fight you for three hundred rounds."
"I accept."
Natsuki agreed immediately and released her hand.
"Huh?" The beast-girl vengeful spirit was stunned. "This human actually agreed?"
Discovering that her body could move again, the beast-girl vengeful spirit was overjoyed. She swung her fist to attack.
Snap.
Natsuki grabbed her wrist again, triggering the hundred-percent capture effect. "You've been caught again. Now please cooperate. Resist, and you'll rot in prison."
"Despicable humans, you definitely did something to me!" The beast-girl vengeful spirit tried to resist, but unfortunately, aside from her eyes and mouth, her body had once again lost all mobility. "Don't think you'll get any food from me!"
"So you really can produce food?"
Natsuki's gaze fell on the dairy cow vengeful spirit. As he concentrated, a hint soon appeared before his eyes.
[Through careful observation, you've successfully discovered Miss Dairy Cow's secret. You decide to play with her tail.]
Why was it the tail?
Natsuki was quite disappointed.
He reached out and gripped the vengeful spirit's tail. The feeling was... nothing special. Cold, with no body heat at all. Similar to an ordinary costume tail prop, but with better texture—springy and substantial when squeezed.
"W-wait..." The beast-girl vengeful spirit's voice suddenly began to tremble. "Don't touch me there!"
Natsuki naturally paid no attention.
Before long, Rikka cried out in surprise: "The cup! Look at that cup!"
Everyone looked over and saw white milk suddenly appearing out of thin air in the glass on the table.
"This isn't scientific." Kaguya's eye twitched slightly. She couldn't help commenting. "It makes no sense at all."
Natsuki stopped what he was doing. "There are too many unscientific things here. Right now we should focus on whether the milk is drinkable."
Without testing equipment, the only way to find out if it was drinkable was to experiment on a person.
"Kujo-san..."
Kaguya's gaze shifted, calmly settling on the girl with braided hair.
Having received the Shinomiya family's elite education, Kaguya had no psychological burden about using the people around her. She certainly wouldn't drink milk of unknown origin. Natsuki and Chika were both important companions, so naturally she wouldn't let them take the risk either.
Before she could finish speaking, Chika suddenly stepped forward, her voice resolute:
"I'll drink it."
Without giving Kaguya a chance to stop her, the airhead gulped down the milk, then set down the glass and exhaled with satisfaction: "...Another glass, please."
"..."
To be safe, everyone cautiously waited several minutes. Chika remained lively and energetic. Only then did they gradually relax.
"The milk tastes very sweet, without any strange smell. It's similar to Meiji milk." Chika gave a thumbs up. "My stomach feels great after drinking it. Ten out of ten."
"You humans shouldn't go too far!" The beast-girl vengeful spirit sensed something was wrong and hurriedly warned them.
Natsuki gripped her tail again. "Miss Dairy Cow, tell me if it hurts. I'll be gentler."
"Don't touch my tail!"
"That's the one thing I can't do."
"There's none left..." At some point, the corners of the beast-girl vengeful spirit's eyes had grown moist. Her voice trembled. "I haven't eaten in so long. There really isn't a single drop left..."