Chapter 454: Item Race!
Ryohei had no intention of competing with Jashin-chan and the others or fighting for first place. He only wanted to properly enjoy this 4-kilometer-long ultra-long run.
The wind whistled past his ears, bringing a refreshing coolness that wasn't biting cold, but rather invigorating.
The field of vision was open and boundless. Rolling snow slopes stretched out before his eyes, and the tips of the dark green coniferous forest in the distance were covered in rime, shimmering with fragmented silver light under the sun.
Ryohei intentionally slowed his skiing speed, feeling the subtle feedback transmitted when the edge of the snowboard cut through the snow surface with every shift of his center of gravity, listening to the pleasant rustling sound made by the snow particles rubbing against the bottom of the board.
Everything seemed so beautiful... Yeah right!
Not far away, Jashin-chan and the others had evolved from a "speed race" into an "item race."
He saw Jashin-chan rip open the snake-skin pocket on her abdomen and pull out a banana. She devoured the fruit in a few bites, flicked her wrist, and the banana peel flew in an arc, landing precisely under the feet of the closely pursuing Minos.
"Take this, take this!"
"Wuaah—! Where did you get a banana peel from!"
Minos shrieked. It was too late to dodge, and the front end of her snowboard ran straight over that patch of yellow.
The bottom of the board instantly slipped, and her whole body violently swayed left and right. Fortunately, her physical fitness was superb and her sense of balance was strong enough. After a series of thrilling wobbles, she forcibly steadied her posture.
"Hahaha—!"
Jashin-chan took the opportunity to open up some distance. Her eyes curved merrily, the corners of her mouth curled up exaggeratedly, and she threw her head back, letting out a burst of arrogant, uproarious laughter.
"Where did it come from? Of course, I prepared it in advance!"
As a qualified demon, she occasionally wanted to do something bad. Keeping a banana in her pocket, that's very reasonable, right?
"That's truly too despicable!"
Kyon-Kyon skied past Minos, expressing strong condemnation of Jashin-chan's actions.
The modified qipao, primarily black in color, clung tightly to her exquisite and petite figure. The high-slit hem fluttered backward, revealing a section of her fair, slender, beautiful legs.
"Thanks for the compliment!"
Jashin-chan waved her hand without caring in the slightest. Her expression even carried a bit of smugness, making one's hands itch to hit her upon seeing it.
"I'm counterattacking!" Minos maintained her high-speed skiing while crouching down. She grabbed a handful of snow, squeezed it into a rock-hard snowball, and threw it forcefully at Jashin-chan.
"I dodge!" Jashin-chan immediately controlled her snowboard to evade. The snowball grazed past her body and landed on the snow slope, smashing a shallow crater.
"Whoa! That was close!"
She glanced at the shallow crater, raised her hand, patted her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's not over yet!"
Minos threw another snowball over: "I throw!"
"Dodge, dodge, dodge—! Damn it, you're going too far!" Jashin-chan used her tail to nimbly sweep up a large splash of loose snow and hurled it directly at the face of Minos, who was catching up again.
"Kyon-Kyon, don't you think about running either!"
The scumbag snake crouched down, grabbed a handful of snow, squeezed it into a snowball, and threw it at Kyon-Kyon, who had overtaken her.
In the blink of an eye, Kyon-Kyon joined the fray!
"Looks very fun!"
Elma got excited watching and started a chaotic battle with Tohru.
Watching from the far rear, Ryohei was rendered speechless.
"Hey—!"
Right at this moment, Lucoa sneaked over stealthily, playfully slapped his butt as if teasing him, then opened up some distance, smiling seductively:
"Just skiing like this is too boring... Ryohei-kun, I'm going to attack you! Next time, I'm going to reach my hand inside your clothes!"
"...The roles are reversed, right!"
Ryohei laughed out of speechlessness, clamoring: "Watch me catch you and refine you instantly!"
Saying that, he chased after Lucoa...
...
In the end—
Elma successfully won first place in this 4-kilometer ski run.
The others also had a whole lot of fun.
Ryohei called to ask for Yurine's location, brought his snowboard over to find her, and played together for a while. Unknowingly, the sun was already approaching noon.
Lunch was settled in the vicinity of the ski resort—dining, shopping, and hot spring facilities were all fully equipped here.
The group divided into several small teams according to their preferences to settle their lunches individually. They gathered after eating, strolled together through the Ningle Terrace arts and crafts village, and then went to experience snowmobiling.
In the blink of an eye, it was 3:00 PM!
"I need to go to school."
Yurine took her phone out of her pocket, checked the time, and said, still wanting more.
She had a class at 3:05 PM and would be dismissed at 4:35 PM.
"Mn, Lucoa, please take her." Ryohei responded, turning his gaze to Lucoa.
"Okay."
Lucoa agreed readily, cast a "cognitive impairment" spell on herself and Yurine, opened a spatial passage, and left with Yurine.
"It's about time for me to go back and prepare too. I need two people to help out." Ryohei put one hand on his waist, his gaze sweeping over his capable assistants.
"I'll help."
Standing in the snow, looking like a Yuki-onna (Snow Woman), Yusa walked gently to Ryohei's side.
"I still want to play a bit more; I haven't had enough fun yet," Jashin-chan lifted her face and said somewhat resistantly.
"Aren't we going back together?"
Minos scratched her head, looking sideways in surprise.
Since they came together, she thought they were going back together.
"No need, it's still early..."
Ryohei turned to look at Minos, his tone gentle: "You guys have nothing to do when you go back, so you might as well play a bit longer. Just come back around 5:00 PM."
"Although my culinary skills aren't as good as yours, I also often cook normally."
Persephone, sporting the "dangerous wife hairstyle," walked in front of Ryohei.
Ryohei felt suddenly surprised. He didn't expect Second's mother to volunteer to help—
Thinking about it, she probably felt it was inappropriate for her, as a mother, to stay out playing while he went back early to work for her daughter.
Ryohei didn't refuse either. He smiled and nodded: "Perfect, I also want to understand the ingredients you brought over and how you normally eat them."
"Mn."
"Ryohei-kun, I'll go back with you too."
At this time, Pino came up. With Yurine gone and Ryohei going back too, she felt a bit timid hanging around Lierre and figured she might as well go back and help.
"Okay, you come help prepare the birthday cake."
As soon as Ryohei saw her, he knew her persecution delusion was acting up, and immediately made arrangements for her.
Pino nodded, revealing a relieved smile.
"Pekola."
Ryohei looked towards the few people walking over after finishing the snowmobile experience. His gaze fell on Pekola, and he instructed: "Take us back to the ranch."
"Okay," Pekola raised her eyes slightly and uttered a single word concisely.
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