Chapter 92: It's Time to Give the People of Japan Another Shock!
In Western myths and fantasy stories, great dragons are often depicted as powerful creatures guarding immense fortunes. And Ryohei had just been gifted a dragon's hoard. He graciously accepted Lucoa's gift. To a former god like her, this pile of gold was probably less than a drop in the bucket. There was no good reason to refuse it. He could just repay her with more delicious food in the future.
"So… much… money!" Jashin-chan stared at the glittering mountain of gold in the living room, her eyes wide. With a whoosh, she shot up from the sofa and slithered over to it. "With all these gold coins, it wouldn't be too much for me to just take two, right?" she said, glancing back at Ryohei as she pulled open her snake-skin pocket and began stuffing a large handful of coins inside, muttering about "finders keepers."
"Is that what you call 'two'?" Ryohei asked, walking over to her. Since it was a windfall, he had no intention of keeping it all for himself. He looked down at her bulging snake-skin pouch. "Alright, just like you said, you can have two. Put the rest back."
"The 'two' I was talking about wasn't a literal number," Jashin-chan said with a cheeky grin, clutching her pouch protectively. "You have so much, Subject. Don't be so stingy, share a little with me."
"So now you're playing word games with me, are you?" Ryohei said, and reached out, pinching Jashin-chan's soft, pale cheek and giving it a good pull.
"Oww—! It hurts, it hurts…!" she cried out in a flat, emotionless voice, pretending to struggle. Then, with a surprising amount of force, she "snatched" her cheek back from his grip. She paused, blinked her 'dot eyes' at his hand, and then leaned in, offering her cheek to be pulled again.
You little…! Ryohei's mouth twitched, a feeling of utter frustration welling up inside him. He felt like he had just been completely humiliated. He turned his head. "Yurine…"
Yurine, who had been watching the whole spectacle with amusement, waiting for Ryohei to ask for her help, stood up. Jashin-chan's body immediately went rigid.
"Wait a minute!" she yelped, frantically pulling coins out of her pouch. "Yurine, let me explain! I was just trying to joke with my subject, to liven up the atmosphere…"
"Does the atmosphere need you to liven it up?" Yurine asked as she walked over. She pinched Jashin-chan's cheek and, with a sharp tug, ripped a piece of it clean off.
"AAAAAHHH—! It hurts, it hurts…!" A piercing scream cut through the air as blood, mixed with tears, gushed from the wound.
"Now, that sounds much more pleasant," Yurine said with a slightly morbid smile, tossing the piece of "cheek meat" into the trash can.
Ryohei took a wet wipe from the coffee table, took Yurine's slender hand, and carefully cleaned the blood from her fingers.
( ﹁ ﹁ ) Minos just hugged a throw pillow, thinking Jashin-chan had brought it on herself. She was used to it by now. Lucoa, on the other hand, watched the interaction with a look of deep, academic interest. This relationship between summoner and familiar was fascinating.
After cleaning Yurine's hand, Ryohei walked back to the mountain of gold and picked up a coin. It was hexagonal, with an intricate leaf pattern carved on its surface and some kind of other-worldly script etched along the edge. Considering how long Lucoa had likely "collected" these, they were probably antiques.
He picked out two of the most pristine ones and handed them to Yurine. "Some gold coins from another world. For your collection."
"Thank you. I'll take good care of them," she said, accepting the coins with a small smile. It was the first gift he had ever given her.
"Minos," Ryohei said, and tossed two more coins to her.
"Arigatou!" Minos caught them deftly, a bright smile on her face.
Ryohei's gaze then fell upon Lucoa. "Lucoa-san, are you free this evening?" he asked. Feeling the others' eyes on him, he quickly added, "Around six o'clock. There's a small favor I'd like to ask of you."
"Yes, I'm free. What can I do for you, Heian-kun?" Lucoa replied. She sat with her long, stocking-clad legs pressed together, the elastic tops of the thigh-highs digging slightly into her skin, creating an alluring contrast. Even just sitting there, she exuded a mature and captivating charm.
"Tonight is my restaurant's grand opening, and I've come up with a great idea," Ryohei said, his excitement growing. "A great opening ceremony, to be precise." He held up a finger, then spread his arms wide, his voice filled with passion.
"At the very moment night falls, a green comet of fried rice will descend from the sky! I shall call it… the Miracle Comet Fried Rice!"
It was time to give the people of Japan another shock.
Yurine stared at him, her reddish-brown eyes wide. Just from his description, she could already picture the scene in her mind. Sugoi! Her lips parted slightly, her heart beginning to beat faster.
"That sounds amazing!" Minos's eyes lit up, and she jumped up from the sofa with excitement. Even Jashin-chan had stopped crying and was blinking at him.
Lucoa tilted her head, a playful, bewitching look on her face. She lifted her left eyelid. "So my mission is to carry your fried rice into the sky, and then drop it with precision?"
"Mhm. Can you do it?"
"I can," Lucoa said with a cheerful smile. "It's a little unorthodox, but something of this level is no problem at all."
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