Chapter 189: The Grimoire's Second Volume and the Return Spell!
As the night grew darker, the group finished dinner, cleaned the dishes, and tidied the kitchen. They all gathered in the living room to chat, watch TV, and enjoy some after-dinner fruit and dessert.
Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine would be traveling to China from the 26th to the 30th, which was next Monday to Friday. This would be followed immediately by the Sumida River Fireworks Festival on Saturday. Thinking about the "Private Beach Day Trip" that Yurine had won that morning, they decided to schedule it for the following Sunday. They were getting ready to have a blast.
With the head chef skipping town to travel, the restaurant naturally couldn't open. This meant Jashin-chan and the others would have a long vacation—counting tomorrow, it would be eight days in total.
Yusa was the first to announce her plans, saying she would take her sister back to their hometown and would bring back gifts for everyone.
Minos thought for a moment. She had been away for two months, which wasn't that long, but she still decided to make a trip home. She would bring back some local specialties.
Poporon and Pekola wanted to return to Heaven, but they certainly couldn't. They had already discussed it before coming and decided to go traveling together. They hadn't spent much of the salary Ryohei paid them—and although Pekola had donated half of hers to an orphanage, the remainder was more than enough for a few days of travel. Both angels promised to bring back souvenirs.
Lucoa was lounging on the sofa. Her voluptuous, black, thigh-high-stocking-clad legs were crossed elegantly. Her left hand rested just below the astonishing curve of her bust, holding a coffee pudding, while her right held a small wooden spoon. The coffee pudding was the offering Ryohei had used to summon her, the item that had formed their bond. She loved it, mainly because it was truly delicious.
Lucoa took a bite, watching as everyone else enthusiastically discussed their plans for the next few days. She smiled and shared her own schedule: "I plan to visit some friends and, in my spare time, conduct some human observation."
The humans in question being... Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine.
In short, she planned to follow and peek in on them. She really didn't have anything better to do, and traveling alone held no appeal for her. Given her vast experience and state of mind, she was long past the phase of being enthusiastic about tourism.
"Human observation?"
"What's there to observe about humans?"
The others couldn't help but look at Lucoa strangely. Yurine gave her a deep, long look. Who are you planning to observe? And how?
"Huh? Wait a minute! Doesn't that mean it'll just be me and Jashin-chan left in the house?" the Second suddenly exclaimed. She pinched her chin, a thoughtful look on her face. "In that case, I'll go back to my hometown, too. I'll bring back gifts for everyone!"
'What's that supposed to mean?' Jashin-chan felt personally offended and shot the Second a sidelong glance.
Not that she wanted to babysit, anyway. Wouldn't that time be better spent playing pachinko? She might even win big!
Jashin-chan crossed her arms. "In that case, I'll just wait at home for all your gifts!"
"Speaking of which," she turned her head, narrowing her eyes at Yurine. "Is there still no lead on the second volume of the grimoire?"
How long had it been? Was she even trying to find it for her? Hearing Minos and the others talk about returning to the Demon Realm had made Jashin-chan extremely envious. She wanted to go back too, but circumstances didn't allow it.
"Hm? Oh, that. I actually already found it." Yurine, who was happily eating a caramel pudding, tilted her head and looked at Jashin-chan with a perfectly calm expression.
"Well, as long as you found... wait. You said you found it!?" Halfway through her sentence, Jashin-chan finally processed what was said. Her eyes went wide, and she shot up from the sofa, staring at Yurine in disbelief.
For real?
Everyone else also turned to Yurine in astonishment.
"That's wonderful, Jashin-chan!" Medusa, realizing the implication, clapped her hands lightly and looked at Jashin-chan, overjoyed. This meant she could finally return to the Demon Realm!
"You can go home now," Minos said with a hearty laugh, also happy for her friend.
And yet, Jashin-chan, the person at the center of it all, found that she wasn't quite as happy as she'd expected...
"Although I found it..." Yurine began to explain, but Jashin-chan cut her off.
"If you found it, why didn't you tell me?" She slithered over on her snake tail, stopping right in front of Yurine, and put her hands on her hips, feigning a fierce expression.
Yurine very calmly scooped up another spoonful of pudding.
"You moron! Is this really the time to be eating pudding?" Jashin-chan snapped, annoyed. Then, as if a thought struck her, she said "Ah," crossed her arms, and put on an incredibly punchable, smug expression. "Could it be... you can't bear to see me go?"
"If that's the case, and you honestly admit it, I wouldn't mind staying here until the end of your life."
Jashin-chan was getting cocky. Ryohei couldn't stand seeing her get cocky. He mused aloud, "Do you think it's possible she just didn't want the house to lose its free labor?"
"..."
Jashin-chan froze.
Yurine kicked Ryohei in the shin. "What nonsense are you talking?" she huffed. Was she that kind of person?
"Forget it. I'll just go get the second volume of the grimoire." Feeling that any explanation she gave might not be believed, Yurine put down her pudding and left the living room.
A moment later, she returned with a high-quality, textured book and handed it to Jashin-chan. "See for yourself."
"?"
Jashin-chan gave Yurine a puzzled look, took the book, and flipped to the table of contents. She found the "Return Spell" and turned to the corresponding page. Medusa and Minos immediately crowded in on her left and right, peering at the book.
"The Return Spell is... uh... 'Due to its excessive complexity, the latter half of the spell could not be recorded in this volume. The remainder is recorded in the Magician's Apocrypha...'"
Jashin-chan's mind went blank.
"And there you have it," Yurine said, eating her pudding. "You still need the Apocrypha to get the complete spell. That's why I didn't tell you yet."
"...What's wrong with this author!?" Jashin-chan slammed the book shut with a smack and angrily threw it on the floor. She was furious.
"They could have just put it all in the second volume! Why did they have to make an Apocrypha!"
It was all for nothing!
"Looks like you can't go back just yet!" Poporon giggled, covering her mouth with her slender white hand.
"Maybe they just wanted people to buy one more of their books..."
"Speaking of which, I know that return spell," Lucoa chimed in with a smile. "The complete version."
"Huh?"
Everyone turned to her in shock, even Ryohei was a bit surprised. But after a moment's thought, it didn't seem strange at all. After all, she was an incredibly ancient former goddess, one who had once held a high position.
She had once been the creator god and supreme deity of an American civilization. She had governed culture and its proliferation, brought the rainy seasons, and held authority over farming, harvests, and bountiful crops.
Knowing a certain return spell was really not strange at all.
Speaking of which—
'Is this what they call "having an elder in the house is like having a treasure"?' Ryohei thought, a strange look on his face. He quickly shook his head. Lucoa wasn't old...
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