Yoshino’s eyes widened in surprise.
Clasping the hem of her clothes nervously, she spoke after a long pause.
“…Th…
Thank you…”
“Mm…”
“You’ll have to take responsibility for saying something like that, you know.”
Shiratori suddenly cut in.
Though her approval of Shido was rather average, anyone making a promise like that was either a fraud or a hero.
She hoped he was the latter.
“Of course I’ll pull it off!
Even if it costs me my life, I definitely will!”
Looking at Shido’s absolute confidence, Shiratori merely glanced at him before channeling her Reiryoku.
“I hope you can.
Now, I need to check up on my trades.”
Unidentified blue crystals materialized in her hand, and after a flash of light, a brand-new laptop appeared in her grip.
Although she wasn’t short on money now, managing a bit of trading to pass the time was pretty nice.
“Speaking of which, Shiratori, what kind of trades are you running?”
For some reason, Shido suddenly found himself curious about her activities.
“Hmm?
Just some digital and numerical trades.
What about it?”
Shiratori typed on the keyboard while picking up the freshly brewed coffee from the table.
“Let me see…”
Curious, Shido leaned his head in.
Drawn by the bright, blinking screen, Yoshino stretched her neck out to peek as well.
“There really are a lot of numbers.
Is it the stock market?
Let me check…
This line for total returns…
EH—?!”
Seeing a figure that practically spilled over the grid frame, Shido couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
“N-Nine…”
“Hmm?
Did I put in too many sugar cubes?
Sorry, I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
Shiratori looked at the sugar settling at the bottom of her cup and scratched her head.
“It’s not nine sugar cubes!
It’s nine zeros after the main digit!”
“Shido…
what does that mean…?”
Compared to Shido’s utter astonishment, Yoshino was far more composed.
Never having used money herself, she naturally lacked an understanding of purchasing power—she only knew it looked impressive.
“Honestly, you two…”
Shiratori rested her forehead against her hand, letting out a sigh toward the stunned youth.
“Aren’t you supposed to look for Yoshinon first?”
As if deliberately putting pressure on him, Shiratori brought her face right up to Shido’s eyes.
“!”
The distance was terrifyingly close—close enough that a slight lean forward would cause their lips to touch.
This sudden proximity set Shido’s heart pounding wildly.
Her terrifyingly calm face almost made him want to avert his eyes, but recalling his cohabitation training with Tohka and the promise he had just made to Yoshino gave him a sudden surge of resolve. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Bolstered as if by a priest’s blessing, Shido met her tranquil, unfazed eyes head-on.
However—in the midst of their standoff…
“Shido!
I’m sorry!
I—”
The front door slammed open with a loud BOOM.
Tohka, who was supposed to be out enjoying gourmet treats, ran into the living room out of breath.
What met her eyes was a scene where the two were practically at kissing distance.
In truth, Tohka had thrown a tantrum that morning over Yoshino, wandering outside in a huff for half the day.
Thankfully, Reine cleared up her misconception that “Shido cared more about that other girl” and offered a round of comforting advice.
Understanding the situation at last, Tohka had rushed home to apologize.
It was just that her timing was thoroughly off.
The moment Shido turned his head, his expression went completely blank.
“T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-Tohka?!”
“Hmm?
A faint Reiryoku reaction…
A Spirit who controls her power exceptionally well?”
“…Eeek!”
Unlike the other two, Yoshino immediately started trembling upon recognizing Tohka.
She couldn’t be blamed—just a few days ago, Tohka had snatched her puppet away by force.
Though right now, her terror was likely driven more by the overwhelming, indescribable pressure radiating off Tohka.
Incidentally, warnings of Tohka’s emotional instability kept buzzing continuously through Shido’s earpiece.
“Two-timing?
Looks like you’re pretty skilled with your sweet talk.”
The affection rating Shido had painstakingly accumulated instantly plummeted into the negatives.
Shiratori switched her laptop interface with a helpless look, then produced two pairs of over-ear headphones.
As if anticipating the chaos about to unfold, Shiratori pulled out several foam pads to attach around the earcups.
“Yoshino, put these on.”
“Shi…
Shiratori-nee, what are these for…?”
“They’ll protect your ears from roaring noise, ensuring you won’t hear a thing except whatever is playing inside.”
Shiratori pulled down Yoshino’s hood, fitted the gear onto her head, and then put on her own set.
“Find a piece of music or a radio show to listen to.
Also, sound might suddenly come through the headphones next; don’t be scared, just relax and listen.”
Remembering how easily Yoshino got startled, Shiratori lifted one side of Yoshino’s earphone slightly to explain.
“Shido!”
Raging flames burned around Tohka as her gaze turned terrifyingly demonic.
Seething with fury, she took a heavy step forward.
“Shiratori!
Help me explain!
Where’s Kotori?
Kotori!”
Yet no one could hear him.
“Shouldn’t you be explaining first?!”
Bellowing in rage, Tohka advanced into the living room with slow, menacing strides.
“What should we listen to…”
With noise completely blocked out by the headphones, Shiratori remained immersed in her laptop screen.
Tohka’s heavy, rhythmic, terror-inducing footsteps went entirely unheeded—or rather, Shiratori simply had zero interest in paying attention.
“Let’s go with this one.
Yoshino nodded silently, pressing her body closer to Shiratori.
“The Kel-Morian Combine’s…”
“T-Tohka…
hear me out…”
Shido waved his hands frantically, his eyes darting toward Shiratori’s side every few seconds.
Though separated by mere meters, it felt like two completely different worlds: Shido’s side was painted in fiery red like a violent war zone, while Shiratori’s side remained tranquil and serene.
“I don’t want to hear it!
Dummy, dummy, dummy, BIG DUMMY!”
However, the expected violence didn’t happen.
After screaming at him, Tohka dashed through the living room, swept up all the drinks and food stored in the fridge and shelves with both arms, and stormed down the hallway.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor before coming to a brief halt.
SLAM!
This time came the violent sound of a door being slammed shut.
…It seemed Tohka had locked herself in her room once again.
Unlike last time, however, she had plenty of food reserves stocked up.
Opening that door again was likely going to take a very long time.
[This really is a mess…]
Kotori’s sigh-laden voice echoed through the earpiece.
“What should I do…”
[In short, we have to let Tohka cool off first.
Trying to talk to her right now will only backfire.]
“I see…”
Saying that, Shido cast a glance over at Shiratori.
Yet at some unknown point, Yoshino’s figure had vanished, leaving behind only a pair of headphones lined with foam pads on the sofa.
“She returned to the Neighboring World.
Though did that girl named Tohka do something earlier?
Otherwise, Yoshino wouldn’t have returned so soon.”
Mentioning this, Shido roughly understood the reason.
“So that’s how it is…”
“By the way, Kotori, something suddenly caught my attention.
Can you help me look into it?”
“No need to speak in riddles.
Yoshinon is simply Yoshino’s alternate personality—nothing more.
As your ally, I guarantee the accuracy of this intelligence without a shadow of a doubt.”
Shiratori had apparently removed her headphones the moment Tohka slammed her door, blatantly connecting into Fraxinus’s comms channel.
Thus, she knew with absolute certainty what Shido wanted investigated.
Although Kotori badly wanted to block her out of the system, doing so was virtually impossible whether considering Shiratori’s mood or raw reality.
So she simply allowed her in.
However, both caught a key word in Shiratori’s statement—ally.
Deciding to investigate that matter alongside the rest, Shido made the request to Kotori.
[Mm, alright.
By the way, I have good news for you.]
“What is it?”
[After thoroughly analyzing the footage, we finally know the puppet’s location.]
“Really?
Where is it?!”
[You aren’t going to like it—]
The location Kotori named made Shido’s cheek twitch uncontrollably.
“Shiratori…
can you do me a favor?”
Suddenly shifting his gaze toward Shiratori, who was sipping coffee on the sofa, Shiratori tilted her head with a look of complete bewilderment.