Chapter 316: The Perfume Bottle Contains Something Wondrous...
Fingers gradually disappeared into the abyss of the table.
Near this abyss, its crevices occasionally opened when stimulated.
Finally, even when the fingers were completely swallowed, their tips couldn't feel the bottom of the abyss.
The Holy Sword beneath the table, however, did reach the abyss's end.
Correction—more precisely, it reached the curved corner of the abyss's opening, since the passage wasn't straight.
But wasn't he worried about others discovering them during this?
Why would he worry?
Though if too many people found out, it would be troublesome—too many people to attend to would require more time.
This way, it would be easier for him to lose himself, sinking deep into the abyss unable to escape.
So, when Rias began her little maneuvers, he had already quietly cast a sleeping spell.
Anyone who was asleep wouldn't wake up for a while and would simply drift into pleasant dreams.
Thus, the adorable Ravel before him had been quite tense all along.
He didn't tell her that he had already cast such a spell, letting her remain anxious.
However, this spell was ineffective against a certain Infinite Cute Dragon watching cartoons.
Moreover, this naturally naive loli dragon had been staring blankly at the animation all along.
In a way, this loli dragon's appeal to him was second only to Gabriel's.
She was equally pure and innocent, still so unaware of worldly matters, adorably clueless.
"Shirone, just like this, and then..."
"Bang—!"
"Guh meow~!"
With a pained cry, Kuroka finally woke up and saw her sister with a dark expression, her hands trying to grab her disheveled clothes as if she were some kind of pervert.
Kuroka, who should have been giving her sister a pitiful look, froze after carefully observing her surroundings.
"Was that just a dream?"
In the dream, Kuroka had personally demonstrated a certain ritual with someone—tasting the forbidden fruit.
Then, as she was about to teach her sister Shirone how to do it, she had just touched Shirone when her sister's punch shattered the beautiful dream.
"Strange, strange meow, it shouldn't be like this meow~"
"What shouldn't be?"
Shirone, also known as Koneko, glared coldly at her sister, who had just been groping her.
If she had woken up any later, her clothes would have been stripped off.
"It's just that I shouldn't have fallen asleep meow~"
Last night, everyone had been diligently helping test the recompiled spells he provided, and it seemed like they had all eventually fallen asleep from exhaustion.
However, Kuroka had reserved some energy and set an alarm spell for herself to wake up.
After all, if she didn't appear to be genuinely asleep, the others wouldn't feel at ease.
So, she used this to deceive Akeno and the others, making them think that if even Kuroka had no such intentions, they shouldn't distract him at such a time.
But after she fell asleep, the alarm spell didn't trigger, causing her to genuinely sleep through.
Something was off.
Her spell couldn't have failed; there must have been an external factor—someone interfered with her spell?
So, Kuroka carefully sensed herself and her surroundings, detecting faint traces of a residual spell.
As expected, someone had caused this?
But who? Akeno?
Impossible.
Among everyone, only one person could have done it—Lavinia Reni. She was the only one capable of such a thing.
But this somewhat naive girl wouldn't do something like that.
Then who was it?
She almost forgot someone—the Seraphim Gabriel. She could have done it too.
However, Gabriel wasn't here last night; she had returned to the angels' lodging.
No, no, there was one more person—the one Kuroka had her eyes on. He was also capable of such a thing.
And it really might have been him.
This man might have genuinely cast such a spell on everyone to ensure they rested well, which was why it was already noon by the time they woke up.
Thus, convinced that this was the truth, Kuroka couldn't help but cast a resentful glance toward the office desk.
He was truly pushing himself, looking as though he hadn't slept all night while continuously recompiling the magic formulas.
And so, Kuroka decided it was the perfect time to go and bother him.
"Ara, please move aside."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ara, nothing much. Right now is a critical moment for this world's survival, so please don't distract Renji-sensei. If you really need something, you can play with this instead."
So when Kuroka saw what Akeno, who was blocking her way, handed over, she smiled. A dangerously suggestive smile...
"I think you should use it yourself. No, let me help you use it."
The moment she finished speaking, Kuroka didn't hesitate to cast a spell at Akeno.
But Akeno, who had been on guard, dodged Kuroka's attack.
After exchanging another glance, the two left the spacious office and went outside!
Let's have a proper showdown!!!
For a while, various explosions outside woke up the others.
"So noisy..."
A lazy voice came from Lavinia.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes as she sat up, wearing only a white shirt that had slipped slightly, she presented an extremely alluring sight.
After yawning, she cast some kind of magic from her hand that further isolated the office from the outside, making everything quiet again.
So she lay back down to sleep.
At that moment, a door in the room—one leading to the luxurious bath where Rias and Sona often bathed together—began to glow.
Though called a door, it was actually a teleportation spell.
As the door glowed, two figures emerged: one was the princess of the Phenex family, the other was the young lady of the Gremory family.
Upon returning here, their first glance was toward the person at the desk.
As if noticing them, he looked back and unexpectedly threw each of them a perfume bottle-like glass container.
However, the contents of the two bottles were clearly different—Ravel's bottle seemed to contain less, while the one thrown to Rias contained more.
"Is this perfume??"
Ravel, catching it, thought it was a perfume gift for her.
But Rias beside her, after examining it carefully, suddenly changed expression, her face quickly flushing red.
What? Is there something wrong with this perfume?
It looks clear and transparent, and somewhat viscous too. As perfume, it wouldn't spray well.
Could it be sunscreen or skincare lotion?
After opening it and taking a sniff, Ravel hurriedly recapped it in a fluster.
She finally understood what it was, her mind nearly fainting from the realization..