Chapter 100: Don't You Leave After Work!
The moment Oomori Yakumo was frozen, the atmosphere itself seemed to solidify with him.
Under the dim yellow streetlamp, the ice crystals refracted a faint light, and time itself felt as if it had been briefly suspended.
An undisguised shock appeared on the flamboyant Nico's face. His pupils contracted slightly and his lips parted, but no sound came out.
He couldn't understand it. He was utterly bewildered.
The scene before him was beyond his comprehension!
Why…?
How could a simple, casual lift of a hand instantly encase Jason in ice?
It defied all logic!
Nico's thoughts were a tangled mess, but his body reacted on pure instinct. He stomped his foot on the ground, attempting to create distance.
However, the instant he moved back, Nico's eyes met a pair of ice-blue eyes radiating a piercing chill.
'Such beautiful eyes…'
The thought had barely surfaced when his body froze in place, his consciousness solidifying along with it.
Every thought, every movement, came to an abrupt halt.
"Friendly! We're friendly!"
Seeing Yusa so casually score a double-kill in such an unbelievable way, both Koma Enji and Yomo Renji were stunned. When she turned to look at them, both of their hearts skipped a beat, and Koma hurriedly raised his hands and shouted.
"Mmm…"
Yusa tilted her head, looking at the two strangely dressed, masked men with a thoughtful expression.
She remembered Ryohei Tanaka telling her that some ghouls were voluntarily maintaining order…
"I see!"
A gentle smile bloomed once again on her fair, delicate face. Yusa turned and gestured towards the two ice sculptures beside them. "Well then… I'll leave you to dispose of these two pieces of oversized trash. I need to get back and help in the shop."
"Of course, of course! Please, don't let us keep you!"
Koma Enji nodded repeatedly, practically bowing to her.
Her power was so immense it terrified him, so strong it was beyond his understanding. Koma remembered the Manager once saying that Yurine gave him a dangerous feeling. He didn't know if Yurine was dangerous or not, but this new employee he was meeting for the first time was, without a doubt, a dangerous being!
As Yusa walked past him with her little sister in tow, looking like a perfect, graceful Japanese lady—a Yamato Nadeshiko—Koma was suddenly reminded of a certain yokai from myth and legend.
'A Yuki-onna!'
…
'It's a Yuki-onna!'
'There's no mistaking it!'
The surrounding humans' eyes widened slightly as they cautiously watched Yusa and Koji-kun's retreating figures, their faces filled with unconcealed surprise and curiosity.
When Yusa had rejected that hulking ghoul, they had been sweating bullets for her. They thought her defiance would enrage him, leading to her immediate demise.
They never expected that she would so casually encase both ghouls in ice.
That image, combined with her power to control ice and snow—it made everyone present think of one of the most well-known yokai!
'Are Yuki-onna real?'
'But why is she working at Chef Tanaka's restaurant?'
'By the way, that ghoul earlier said…'
…
"So cold!"
Koma Enji reached out and touched one of the ice sculptures. Feeling the bone-piercing chill, he instinctively pulled his hand back.
'No wonder…'
'Once they were frozen solid, Jason and that other guy stopped moving completely…'
Even he wouldn't be able to withstand that! Koma glanced down at his frostbitten fingers.
"I'll go get a couple of 'bags' to put them in, then we can carry them away," Yomo Renji offered. His car was nearby, and he had some very useful body bags inside.
"Right. Be quick about it," Koma Enji nodded, urging him on.
After Yomo left, Koma couldn't help but feel a little helpless as he felt the cautious gazes of the humans around him. In the end, they hadn't been able to resolve the situation perfectly.
Just as he was pondering the potential fallout, Koma noticed that the surrounding people had averted their gazes and gone back to their own business. Those who had bought the Miracle Comet Fried Rice were eating with blissful expressions, while those who hadn't were chatting with each other or looking down at their phones.
It was as if nothing had happened.
No one was even paying attention to him, a man standing there wearing a menacing red mask. Koma even saw someone rub their arms and mutter, "Brr, it's cold," without so much as a single glance at the giant ice sculptures right next to them.
'…What's going on?'
Koma froze, unconsciously taking a step back.
'It's not like they're just pretending not to see…'
It was as if an invisible hand had separated him and the ice sculptures from the humans, perhaps even erasing a part of their recent memories…
A sense of absurdity and dread washed over him!
…
While Koma Enji was feeling shocked and uncertain, as if the world was becoming increasingly alien, Yusa and Koji-kun returned to the restaurant.
"Oh, you're all sold out?"
Yurine, who was taking a moment to write a report at the cash register, smiled as Koji-kun proudly presented the cash box to her. She took it and asked.
"Mhm (＾∀＾)." Koji-kun nodded happily.
"Go get your reward, then." Yurine didn't bother opening the box, simply setting it aside.
Hearing this, Koji-kun's big, dark eyes lit up. She chirped in agreement and scurried off on her short legs towards the counter area.
Stare—!
Just as he finished plating six small orders of Sweet and Sour Pork and placing them on the pass, Ryohei Tanaka felt an intense gaze on him.
He turned his head and saw the tiny Koji-kun standing behind Lucoa, head tilted up, hands held in front of her, looking at him with pure anticipation. Her big, dark eyes sparkled brightly.
"Good work, Kori-kun," Ryohei said with a warm smile. He then called out to Jashin-chan on the other side. "Jashin-chan, could you get a bowl of the Honeyed Pear and Jellyflower Soup for Kori-kun?"
"Okay~," Jashin-chan replied. She glanced at Koji-kun, then slithered on her snake tail over to a large soup pot.
Ryohei had slow-cooked the soup in a clay pot before transferring it to the larger pot for serving.
Jashin-chan lifted the lid, and a gentle, shimmering glow immediately rose with the steam, carrying the sweet fragrance of pear, jellyflower, and red dates. She picked up a white porcelain bowl and a ladle, then suddenly turned back to Koji-kun with a wicked grin.
"Koji-kun, how much you get depends on the ladle in my hand. If you beg me nicely, I might be convinced to give you a little extra. Otherwise…"
The excitement and anticipation on Koji-kun's face froze.
"Don't be so childish!" Ryohei called out, exasperated. He glanced over at the pass on his left and added, "Her sister is glaring at you, you know."
Σ(°Д°;
As if sensing it, Jashin-chan quickly looked towards the pass on her side and, sure enough, saw Yusa staring daggers at her.
"Er… I was just joking with Koji-kun!"
Jashin-chan flashed a harmless smile, trying to get away with it with an innocent expression. She then deftly filled a bowl to the brim with the Honeyed Pear and Jellyflower Soup and placed it on the pass, as if to prove she was, in fact, just kidding.
"Tch—! Don't you leave after work!"
Yusa clicked her tongue, then took the soup and handed it to her eager little sister.
Jashin-chan turned back to Ryohei and pointed an accusing finger at Yusa, playing the victim. "Servant, look at the person you hired! She told me not to leave after work! She wants to fight me!"
"And who told you to bully her little sister?" Ryohei shot Jashin-chan a disdainful look as he cleaned his wok and began heating it up for the next dish.
"If you get beaten up, you'll have deserved it."
"…"
Jashin-chan was left speechless.
Lucoa, resting her cheek on her hand and holding her wine glass, watched the entire scene with a gentle, knowing smile.
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