Natsuyu turned his gaze toward the girl’s corpse hanging from the vine-covered gate:
“I plan to examine the body first.”
Yukino Yukinoshita was surprised:
“You know how to perform an autopsy?”
“I learned a few basic things from my lawyer father.
At the very least, I need to determine the cause of death for this suspicious corpse, or I won’t feel at ease.”
While speaking, Natsuyu approached the corpse carefully, keeping an eye on the flower vines.
When Natsuyu had gathered the four girls earlier, he had deliberately stayed away from the grand gate.
Approaching it now, he felt a slight sense of unease.
The next moment, Natsuyu caught a faint scent of soap from behind and felt a gentle tug on his shirt.
He carefully refrained from turning around, asking in confusion:
“Yukinoshita-san?”
From behind came Yukino’s calm, steady voice:
“If we encounter danger, I will pull you back immediately.
Go ahead.”
Natsuyu felt his anxiety vanish for no apparent reason, letting out a soft chuckle:
“Alright, I’ll turn my back to you.”
“Mm.”
The two of them walked carefully up to the corpse.
The flower tendrils showed no movement, as if they weren’t the killers who had taken the Gothic girl’s life.
However, if not the vines, why did the Gothic girl die and end up hanging here?
Many mysteries swirled in Natsuyu’s mind.
He couldn’t find a single visible injury on the girl; her black-and-red pleated gothic dress was clean and tear-free, deepening his confusion.
Seeing the long black bangs covering the girl’s face, Natsuyu apologized silently in his heart and reached out, intending to examine her further.
With her bangs parted, the girl’s face looked breathtaking—skin radiant and smooth, long curled eyelashes; she didn’t look like a corpse at all.
Furthermore, even though the vines were wrapped around her slender, snow-white neck, they hadn’t left deep strangulation marks.
Instead, they only lightly pressed into her flesh, making the scene look less gruesome and even a little…
suggestive…
‘Wait, what the hell am I thinking?’
Natsuyu immediately snapped out of his stray thoughts, staring closely at her face and her red-and-black pleated gothic dress.
A sense of familiarity struck him—he felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
‘Is she also an anime character?’
Natsuyu reached out to check for breath—there was none, confirming she wasn’t breathing.
Yet her peaceful face looked like she was merely in a deep sleep, making him doubt whether she was truly dead.
What was the actual cause of death?
With doubt in his heart, Natsuyu touched her cheek, gently lifting her face to inspect closer.
But the moment he touched her, Natsuyu’s body froze!
Her cheeks were snow-white and supple, feeling as soft as cotton and jelly combined, as if a gentle squeeze could yield moisture.
And her skin felt warm.
WARM!
“Ara ara~ Does my face feel that good to touch, human boy?”
The “corpse” opened her eyes!
The other was a brilliant golden clock face with moving gears!
She looked right into Natsuyu’s eyes with a mischievous smile.
Natsuyu’s breath hitched.
“Pull back!”
Almost instantly, Natsuyu felt a sudden backward tug.
Yukino let out a shocked gasp, her reaction blazingly fast as she yanked Natsuyu away from the gate.
Natsuyu maintained his composed posture, calmly observing the “resurrected corpse”.
No, she wasn’t a corpse at all.
It was Kurumi Tokisaki!
Kurumi Tokisaki parted her soft, matte-pink lips.
Behind her mischievous, wicked smile, her heterochromatic eyes sparkled with playful mockery as she stared down at the two startled teenagers:
“I am the Spirit who devours time.
Human boy, you have disturbed my sleep.
You shall pay with your entire lifespan as the price for being…
eaten…
by…
me~ Hehe, hahaha, AHAHAHA!”
Kurumi let out her iconic three-stage villainess laugh like a queen.
Her eerie, arrogant laughter instantly caused Yukino’s entire body to tense up.
With a wary, nervous expression, Yukino pulled Natsuyu even further back.
Natsuyu said calmly:
“There’s no need to be afraid of her, Yukinoshita-san.”
Although Kurumi Tokisaki wasn’t a traditionally pure, gentle girl like Yukino or Emma, she was by no means a pure villain either.
Her hands were covered in blood, but every single person she killed was a scum bastard.
In Natsuyu’s book, that was completely justified behavior.
If Natsuyu could return to his original world, he would definitely kill the criminals responsible for his lawyer father’s death too.
That was one of the reasons he was so determined to find a way back home.
Yukino stared warily at Kurumi’s golden clock eye.
Natsuyu explained:
“She wasn’t dead in the first place.”
(Even though in reality, neither of them was a match for her in a fight right now).
“Not dead…?”
Yukino let out a slight sigh of relief.
Seeing Yukino calm down, Natsuyu turned back to the bound Kurumi and asked:
“Kurumi, why are you here too?”
Kurumi’s playful laughter paused for a second.
She looked at Natsuyu with deep intrigue:
“My, my?”
“You actually know my name?
That shouldn’t be possible.
“Little boy who disturbed my sleep…
just who are you?”
Natsuyu pointed to himself, then to Yukino:
“Allow me to introduce us: Natsuyu Rurikawa and Yukino Yukinoshita.
We were brought here by an unknown phenomenon and are looking for a way home.”
“Kurumi Tokisaki, were you brought here the same way?”
“Or rather…
were you summoned here even earlier than us?”
Kurumi’s playful expression settled.
Entangled in flower vines, she nodded politely, her voice turning soft and sweet, like a young girlfriend teasing her lover:
“You’re quite sharp, Natsuyu-kun~”
“Though it’s not very polite to pry into a girl’s secrets.
While I don’t mind Natsuyu-kun knowing my secrets, could you tell me just how much you know about me?”
If Kikyo Kushida were here, she would definitely curse Kurumi in her heart as a shameless, seductive pervert.
Yukino simply sensed that Kurumi was shrouded in extreme danger and mystery.
She glanced at Natsuyu with curious eyes, wondering where he met this dangerous woman.
Natsuyu declined:
“Sorry, that’s a secret.”
“Is that so~?”
Kurumi didn’t push further.
Her heterochromatic red-and-gold eyes stared meaningfully at Natsuyu as she spoke softly:
“As a friendly warning: you two had better say your final goodbyes before night falls.”
Yukino’s expression turned stern as she immediately demanded:
“What do you mean by that?”
Kurumi offered a bright, mischievous smile:
“I’m sorry, but that’s a secret~”
Yukino clenched her fists tightly.
Natsuyu raised a hand, signaling Yukino to stay calm, as he locked eyes with Kurumi.
Kurumi pursed her red lips playfully:
“What?
Does Natsuyu-kun want to tell me a secret now?”
Natsuyu spoke:
“Kurumi, let me invite you to team up.”
Kurumi parted her lips in genuine surprise:
“Oh?
Are you joking?”
Natsuyu spread his arms open in an open, harmless posture.
He looked Kurumi straight in the eyes, flashing a warm, disarming smile—the exact smile that used to make his female classmates blush back at school.
During negotiations, now was the time to fully leverage his [Charisma: 1.3] stat!