Full and satisfied.
It wasn’t until Yukari had used the Boundary of Raw and Cooked twice more that Chika and Utaha, their stomachs completely stuffed, could only look on with envy as the other two—and one youkai—continued to eat without slowing down.
“Sister Yukari, do you really not have something like a ‘Boundary of Fullness and Digestion’ that could make everything in our stomachs disappear instantly?” the pink-haired girl asked, clutching her belly and looking at Yukari with pleading eyes.
“Do you even hear the nonsense you’re speaking?” Yukari replied, speechless.
“Based on my experience, moderate exercise aids digestion,” Esdeath said, holding a marrow bone.
“But given your current state…
I think it’s better to rest a bit before moving.”
“Want to try this?”
Byakuya picked up a stone from the ground.
With a few flicks of his fingers, he quickly shaped it into a small figure holding a peculiar pose.
“What is this?” Chika asked curiously.
“A bit of insight I’ve gathered from things I’ve encountered over the years,” Byakuya explained.
“It can accelerate the speed at which the human body absorbs nutrients after eating.
First, just mimic the general shape of this template, and then we’ll adjust based on your individual condition…
move the left arm up a bit, round it out, shift the right leg back…
right, just like that.
Now, follow my rhythm and adjust your breathing…”
After getting Chika into the flow, he guided Utaha to find the posture and breathing rhythm that best suited her.
They stood like that for over ten minutes.
When Byakuya finally said, “That’s enough, you can rest now,” the two girls relaxed, both drenched in a light sweat.
They began to feel their bodies in amazement.
The oppressive feeling of being overly full had completely vanished.
Not only that, but both could feel a noticeable improvement in their physical fitness as the Winged Lion meat was digested.
They clenched their fists…
it wasn’t an illusion!
“Don’t overthink it; the primary effect comes from the meat,” Byakuya said, pointing to the grilled hind legs of the Winged Lion on the fire.
He then looked at a certain someone who was watching him with burning intensity.
“Want to try as well?”
“…”
Esdeath, who had realized this was a valuable technique the moment Chika and Utaha started sweating after just a few minutes, quickly gnawed the remaining meat off her bone.
She then assumed the same pose as the stone figure, adjusting her breath and posture according to Byakuya’s guidance.
“Hey, what about me?”
Just as Byakuya finished guiding Esdeath, a face popped out of a gap that had opened in mid-air right in front of him.
Because the angle was so perfect, Byakuya almost instinctively struck out with a palm strike.
His eyelid twitched slightly.
“Do you even need this?”
“But everyone else got to do it and I’m the only one left out.
It makes me very sad~” Yukari affected a pout, pretending to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
“Fine,” Byakuya nodded.
“Then release the restrictions on your own power.
It’s best if you don’t stay on guard against me; otherwise, if I can’t see through your state, I won’t be able to make adjustments based on your condition.”
“Hmph, stingy.”
Yukari retracted her head back into the gap.
“On the very first day we met, Byakuya-kun taught Chika-chan, Utaha-chan, and Es-chan a body-tempering posture, but not me.
I’ll remember this grudge!”
Byakuya: “…”
*The old hag sure knows how to act cute.*
Nearby, Esdeath could clearly feel her state shifting.
With every breath, her blood surged, and the nutrients converted from the Winged Lion meat were carried to every limb and organ in her body.
‘In other words,’ Esdeath thought, ‘he can see through my depths as easily as he sees through Chika and Utaha?’
She felt an urge to use this as an excuse to invite him to a fight, but the benefits she was currently experiencing—and the seamless, flawless aura Byakuya possessed—stopped her.
From the moment he arrived in this world, she hadn’t been able to find a single opening in his presence.
The last person who had made her feel this helpless was Yukari Yakumo, who, without even using her “Boundary” abilities, had simply placed a hand on Esdeath’s shoulder and used absolute strength to make her feel the gap between them.
Esdeath hesitated for a moment and decided not to bring it up.
Twenty minutes later, feeling that her first session was complete, she returned to the campfire to feast on meat with Chika and Utaha.
The three of them entered a cycle: eat until full, then practice; practice until exhausted, then eat.
Combined with Byakuya, who barely stopped eating while chatting with Yukari, and Yukari herself, who grilled small skewers from time to time, a significant portion of the three-person-tall Winged Lion was devoured by the time a sliver of white appeared on the horizon.