Chapter 190: Jashin-chan Returns to the Demon Realm... and Comes Right Back!
"This is the complete spell."
Lucoa waved her hand lightly, and a large cluster of glowing runes materialized in the air.
Jashin-chan quickly picked up the grimoire and compared it to the first half of the spell. She immediately cried out in pleasant surprise, "The first part is identical! This must be real!"
"Of course it's real. I wouldn't joke about something like this." Lucoa said, crossing her arms under her ample bust, a movement that further accentuated her already impressive curves.
"This is wonderful!"
Medusa was perhaps the happiest person in the room. Her charming violet eyes looked excitedly at Jashin-chan, then shifted to Yurine. "Then... Miss Yurine, would you like to try it? The return spell..." she asked expectantly.
"..."
Jashin-chan froze. Am I really going back this time?
She instinctively looked at Yurine, who was also looking back at her. Yurine stood up from the sofa and said, "Let's give it a try."
After all, this was something she had promised Jashin-chan long ago. Now that the return spell was available, she had to honor her commitment. As for whether Jashin-chan would refuse to come back after being sent, or even try to summon her boyfriend away while in the Demon Realm... Yurine wasn't particularly worried.
She had a feeling Jashin-chan wouldn't do something like that. And if she did... if she really did, Yurine would just summon her right back. They were bound by a contract, so she could be resummoned. And when she returned, Yurine would make sure Jashin-chan understood the true meaning of cruelty. She'd punish her, then make her summon him back.
And if that method didn't work, Yurine had a backup plan. She was fairly certain Lucoa had a way to get her to the Demon Realm. She'd just go there and take him back by force.
If worst came to worst... she'd just proactively share a little with Lucoa. It was obvious those two had been eyeing each other for a while now... She'd just have to think of it as Ryohei buying an inflatable doll.
"..."
"Still, I never expected Lucoa to know this. What a surprise!" Minos said, placing a hand on her hip and looking at Lucoa with astonishment.
Lucoa raised her right hand, tapping her cheek with a fingertip. "I just happened to know it," she said with a smile.
"Jashin-chan, come stand over here," Yurine, snapping out of her train of thought, walked to the front of the coffee table, let out a breath, and pointed to the spot in front of her.
"I can finally return to the Demon Realm!" Jashin-chan said, feigning excitement. She slowly slithered over to Yurine. Her expression suddenly changed to a fierce one as she pointed at her. "But I'll definitely be back! You've bullied me so much; I'm definitely getting my revenge! I hold a grudge, and I always pay back my debts! You'd better wash your neck and wait for me!"
After her declaration, she prudently hopped backward several steps to create a safe distance, eyeing Yurine warily, terrified she might rush over and break her finger or give her a beating.
But upon hearing Jashin-chan's words, Yurine just smiled, completely reassured. She didn't even move to break her finger.
This threw Jashin-chan for a loop. She just stared with her beady eyes, momentarily stunned, unsure how to react. She's suddenly being so nice to me, it's really unsettling!
"Jashin-chan, you're so dishonest with yourself," the Second sighed, sounding like a little adult as she watched cartoons on the sofa.
Poporon, standing nearby with her arms crossed, nodded in agreement. "Totally. Jashin-chan is so difficult."
"Mhm, mhm," Koji, who was also watching, quietly agreed with a nod.
"Shut up! You're all so annoying!" Jashin-chan yelled, turning her head, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Ryohei Tanaka found this quite amusing. Noticing her blush, he couldn't help but tease, "You're quite the tsundere, aren't you?"
"I'm going to kill you!" Jashin-chan shrieked, her face bright red as she pointed at Ryohei, steam practically coming out of her ears.
Yurine ignored their bickering. She reviewed the complete spell and the notes Lucoa had provided, then began to draw an inverse pentagram with her right hand while chanting:
"Retreat, Zazas, by the power of the Most High! Peace be with you, depart to your rightful sphere. As I will, so mote it be..."
A dense concentration of magical energy gathered in the room. As soon as Yurine began the chant, Ryohei and the others stopped fooling around and turned to watch.
"Remember to bring me back a gift," Ryohei said with his arms crossed, getting in a last word before she vanished.
"...You guys too! Don't forget my gifts when you come back from your trips!" Jashin-chan paused, then grinned at Ryohei, her smile wide and cheerful.
The moment she finished speaking, she vanished from the living room.
"Did she go back?" Yurine tilted her head. Lucoa made the runes and notes in the air disappear.
"I guess so?" Ryohei said.
"I'll check!" Medusa volunteered, taking out her phone to call Jashin-chan. She considerately put it on speakerphone so everyone could hear.
After a single ring, the call connected. Jashin-chan's voice came through the speaker—"Moshi moshi—"
"Jashin-chan, are you back in the Demon Realm?" Medusa asked, looking down at her phone, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah, I'm back! I'm at the spot where I was summoned from... Ah, crap! I see my debt collectors! Quick, have Yurine summon me back!"
"You bastard—!"
"Don't run! Jashin-chan, stop right there!"
"Bakayarou!"
A cacophony of shouting and the sound of rushing wind came through the phone. Jashin-chan was clearly on the run. Then, with a beep, the call ended.
The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became very awkward.
Ryohei could just picture Jashin-chan's pathetic escape. He couldn't help but ask Medusa and Minos, "What's her situation over there? Does she owe a lot of money?"
"Well, she did borrow quite a bit..." Medusa said, looking sheepishly at Yurine. "Miss Yurine, you see...?"
"I heard she took out a high-interest loan..." Minos chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest, spilling all of Jashin-chan's secrets. "Before I came to the human world, someone even came asking me about her whereabouts."
"She even borrows from loan sharks?" the Second exclaimed in surprise. She had heard from her mother that Jashin-chan's family was a famous Evil God clan in the Demon Realm, part of the demon nobility, and that they ran a top-tier family business. She was supposed to be a bona fide rich young lady...
"That's nothing..." Minos said, giving the Second a look that said, you're underestimating her. "This isn't even the first time she's done it. She took out a huge loan once before and couldn't pay it back. Her family wouldn't help her, so in the end, my dad had to step in and negotiate... It still took her a full thousand years to pay it off!"
"A thousand years!!" Yurine's eyes went wide.
Ryohei's mouth twitched. "Living a long life has its perks, I guess. You can have a thousand-year payment plan... Something us mortals can't even dream of."
"Actually, you could dream about it," Lucoa interjected with a smile, holding up one slender finger.
Ryohei's heart skipped a beat as he looked at her.
Yurine narrowed her eyes at Lucoa, a single thought flashing in her mind—She wants to outlive me!!
"That's just insane!" Poporon clicked her tongue, hearing about the thousand-year loan. The very concept of paying off a debt for a millennium made her scalp tingle.
Yusa immediately used Jashin-chan as a bad example, turning to Koji with a warning. "Koji, you must never be like Jashin-chan and borrow from loan sharks."
"Mhm, mhm." Koji nodded obediently at her.
"Um... shouldn't we summon Jashin-chan back first?" Medusa asked, looking at Yurine with pleading eyes, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"You're impossible," Yurine sighed. She couldn't bring herself to refuse Medusa's pure, fawn-like gaze. She began the summoning chant again.
"Zazas... Zazas... Naszazas..."
"..."
And so—
Jashin-chan returned to the Demon Realm for a grand total of two minutes, one and a half of which were spent running for her life. She didn't even have time to visit home before she was back.
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