"Hm hm hm hm hm~~!"
Helping clean the shop today, Veldiana was in an unusually good mood.
She had always declared herself the noble daughter of Caruana, yet now she happily wiped the counters.
Ophis sat in the shop watching Veldiana and tilted her head slightly.
It was still Ophis managing the shop today—entirely by her own choice. Ren had originally planned to ask No. 2, 9, or Avrora to handle the shop, but Ophis volunteered, saying she only needed to sit there.
Ren couldn't refuse her goodwill.
After spending some time with her, Ren agreed and promised to play with her alone afterward.
"Veldiana, are you very happy?"
Seeing Veldiana hum cheerfully, Ophis asked slowly.
"Eh? Lady Ophis is asking me? I really am very happy these days… After all… I finally killed that damned Zaharias. Now, as long as I serve Lady Remilia well, restoring the Caruana family is just around the corner."
She had already heard from Ren's group that Remilia intended to devour the Twelve Familiars to become the Fourth Primogenitor.
If she faithfully served Remilia, the Caruana family would definitely be restored.
The Caruana family was once a famous noble house in the Warlord's Empire. Their previous head was an earl. But after centuries of war, the family was destroyed. The earl died in battle ten years ago, the knights and army were lost, and the First Primogenitor stripped them of land and nobility.
From then on, the family collapsed.
This was why Veldiana was so obsessed with the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.
If Remilia reappeared as a Primogenitor, and she served her faithfully, her family could rise again—perhaps even build a new Empire.
"Oh… then do your best."
Since Veldiana had been helping Ophis and chatting with her lately, Ophis offered a small blessing.
Then she lowered her head and continued eating.
But today, Ophis wasn't living as simply as usual. She somehow produced manga books and read them while eating.
These were manga Ren prepared to give Serafall later. He wasn't sure whether Serafall would still prefer magical-girl anime after reading Ren's manga gifts.
Watching Ophis read, Veldiana tilted her head but didn't speak further. After spending so much time with Ophis, she still couldn't read her thoughts.
Clink—
"Welcome. What would you like?"
Hearing the door open, Veldiana turned skillfully and stepped forward.
But she froze.
The cheerful expression on the girl who entered vanished instantly.
It was replaced by pure, overwhelming fear.
"…V… vampire…"
Nagisa stared at Veldiana and stepped back, trembling. Her voice stiffened, and pure fear spread across her face, clouding her thoughts.
As Natsuki had once explained—
Since the Gozu Island incident three years ago, Nagisa had developed a deep trauma against all demons: post-traumatic demon phobia.
Ren didn't forget this when he invited her.
The moment Nagisa saw Veldiana, Ren and Natsuki appeared in the shop.
A strong radiance enveloped Nagisa. The divine light within it made even Veldiana's skin feel scorched, as if burning. She reflexively retreated, hiding behind Ophis.
The holy aura wrapped around Nagisa, soothing away the terror within her.
Natsuki watched with interest.
"I thought you forgot Nagisa's condition. Seems you didn't. But… your light has this effect?"
"I discovered it later."
Originally, the Lucemon's sacred aura was so overwhelming that it naturally gave Nagisa a strong sense of comfort. She was a spirit medium, after all. Combined with the Lucemon's divine presence—magnified tenfold through feedback—Ren was practically holy radiance itself.
Just like how Ophis mistook the Lucemon as the Biblical God, Ren was no different in her view.
Qualitative change from quantitative change—it was normal.
The power that fed back to Ren adapted to him, like how the Heart of the Fallen Angel affected Raynare but not Ren.
On top of that, Ren's body held power from many sources.
After merging together, some new abilities appeared—also normal.
"When talking with Nagisa, I made some guesses about my light power. So I tested it. My holy power can now dispel all negative emotions and negative states around me."
Ren only explained part of it.
In reality, the Lucemon's power merged with Fou's primate-class special effect and the corruption force inside the Heart of the Fallen Angel. These opposites combined into twin-polar abilities.
He could make fallen angels ascend, or angels fall.
He could make a righteous person evil, or make an evil person pure.
These were new abilities born from the fusion of his powers.
He only discovered this after coming to the Strike the Blood world and researching food production. Since he inherited most abilities directly, he had barely used them in combat.
He defined himself now more as a technician.
Yes—a technician who makes pet food.
Nagisa gradually calmed down, then blinked in confusion at Ren.
"Huh? Ren-nii? When did you get here? And Natsuki-juu… W-waaah!"
Natsuki's fan smacked Nagisa's forehead, snapping her back to reality.
Her fear had wiped out her immediate memories.
This was pure phobia—terror so overwhelming that all language and thought were overridden.
"I told you not to use honorifics like 'juu' for your teacher. Why don't any of you listen?"
"Uu… sorry…"
Nagisa rubbed her forehead, pouting. Her eyes drifted to Ren.
Ren playfully winked.
Nagisa tried to look upset, but she couldn't help laughing.
Maybe they were thinking the same thing.
She's so small-looking—who'd know he's already twenty-five or twenty-six?!
Natsuki glanced at them, sighed, and looked away.
It seemed this title would cling to him for the rest of his life.