Karl, struggling back to his room, immediately collapsed onto his bed, exhausted. He was so incredibly tired.
The room had no special decorations, just a table, two chairs, a cabinet, and a bed. There was nothing else.
But Karl didn't care about any of that now; all he wanted was to sleep.
Karl fell asleep instantly. Even if Imu attacked, it wouldn't wake him.
"Karl, Karl!"
A tender childish voice, accompanied by footsteps, grew louder.
Yamato, with no hesitation, kicked open Karl's door.
"Karl!!"
Yamato, holding a mask, saw Karl sprawled on the bed, fast asleep, and had an idea.
So she tiptoed, slowed her steps, and slowly moved towards Karl's bedside.
Just as Yamato crouched by the bed, Karl suddenly turned over, and his face appeared in Yamato's line of sight, extremely close, almost face to face.
This startled Yamato. She immediately recoiled two steps. Seeing no sign of Karl waking, Yamato finally let out a sigh of relief.
To get her revenge, she put on the mask she was holding.
The mask resembled a ghost's face, with furrowed brows, a black and white color scheme, shaped like a malevolent spirit, eerie and terrifying. It made people uncomfortable just looking at it, and with Yamato's horns, it looked even more frightening.
Yamato cautiously approached Karl, her masked face leaning in.
Yamato's small hand poked Karl's face, while she softly called out, "Karl~ Karl~"
Combined with Yamato's current attire, she truly looked like a malevolent spirit coming to claim a life.
But things didn't go as planned. No matter how much Yamato called, Karl remained in a deep sleep. Yamato, disbelieving, gradually raised her voice and increased the force of her hand.
Karl's face was kneaded by Yamato as if he had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit.
Yet, even so, Karl continued to snore away.
This left Yamato a bit troubled for a moment.
Just then, Yamato suddenly felt an irresistible force lift her, and then she landed in an embrace.
Yamato initially thought Karl had woken up and wanted to resist, but then she heard Karl's steady breathing. She looked up and saw that Karl was still asleep, so she didn't resist.
Yamato was held by Karl like a bolster.
"Karl's embrace is cool and so comfortable!"
This was Yamato's first feeling, and though she had experienced it more than once, it was still intoxicating.
Gradually, perhaps finding it truly comfortable, Yamato drowsily fell asleep as well.
The next day.
Karl slowly woke up. Suddenly, he felt something pressing on him, his chest was a bit damp, and his face hurt a little.
"I remember King didn't hit my face yesterday, did he?"
Puzzled, Karl looked and saw a white-haired loli curled up on him like a kitten.
No!
Karl looked closely and saw something pressing on Yamato's face.
Karl pulled out the object pressing on Yamato and looked at it.
Ho! Well, a ghost mask.
Karl then connected the pain in his face with Yamato's sudden appearance that morning. It all made sense, everything made sense!
"Alright, alright, Yamato, so this is how you want to play, huh? Then don't blame me for being ruthless."
Thinking it, Karl acted. He carefully placed Yamato off himself, then quickly got out of bed.
When he felt the dampness on his chest, Karl's somewhat wavering resolve became completely firm... Yamato, yawning, slowly woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Karl in front of her.
"Mm-hm, good morning, Karl."
Yamato was completely oblivious to her current predicament and Karl's expressionless face.
"Eh? Karl, why can't I move?"
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
"Karl, Karl, who tied me up? Karl, help me!"
Creak, creak.
The sound of the chair shaking accompanied Yamato's shouts.
It must be said, Yamato is good in every way. In the future, she'll have strength, a good figure, good looks, and intelligence.
Except for being a bit silly, she's good in every other aspect.
Even like this, she never suspected Karl. Perhaps the intimacy Karl had built up over the past year was too high.
"Yamato!"
Karl's stern voice interrupted Yamato's shouting. Only then did Yamato notice Karl's difference today.
"Yamato, what happened to my face yesterday?"
At this, Yamato visibly tensed up, her entire body rigid. She turned her head away.
"Yamato doesn't know, oh."
A clumsy lie, anyone could see through it.
"Is that so?"
Karl nodded thoughtfully.
Seeing this, Yamato turned her head back and nodded vigorously, her eyes full of innocence.
Suddenly, Karl, who had been expressionless, smiled at this moment.
"In that case..."
Saying this, Karl leaned closer to Yamato.
Yamato, who thought she had escaped, saw Karl's smile turn somewhat chilling. A sudden ominous premonition arose in her heart.
"Hehehe, in that case, let me properly punish the lying Yamato!"
Saying this, Karl squatted down and grabbed Yamato's fair and tender little foot. Looking at Yamato's fair and tender little foot, Karl suddenly had the urge to take a bite.
No!
Karl shook his head, shaking off that perverted and disturbing thought. Now was the important moment.
He pulled out a handful of feathers from who knows where.
"Hehehe."
The evil laughter made Yamato's heart a little afraid. It was her first time seeing Karl like this... "Hahahahaha."
"Hahahahaha."
"Hahahahaha, I was wrong, hahaha, I was wrong, hahaha, Karl, hahahaha."
But Karl acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to tickle Yamato's little feet with a handful of feathers.
One wasn't enough, he used both hands, a handful of feathers in each, tickling simultaneously.
"What were you wrong about? You weren't wrong!"
Yamato laughed so hard that tears came out. Because her whole body was tied up, she could only keep shaking the chair.
"Hahaha, Karl, hahaha, stop, hahaha, I can't take it anymore, hahaha."
"Hahaha, I'll show you, hahaha, something fun, hahaha."
At this, Karl finally stopped, looking curiously at Yamato. He wanted to see what fun thing Yamato had found.
"Untie me first."
Yamato took a moment to compose herself before speaking.
Oh ho, Yamato was even negotiating now.
But Karl didn't refuse. After all, it was just a lesson, and it was about enough.
Untied, Yamato scurried around the room, rummaging everywhere, looking for something.
"Eh? Karl, have you seen my mask?"
Yamato asked curiously.
Sure enough, as expected, the fun thing Yamato was talking about was this.
Karl took the mask from behind him. "Here you go."
"That's it! Karl, look, isn't this mask beautiful? I'll buy one for you later too."
Yamato presented it like a treasure, her entire face only showing two words: 'Praise me!'
However, Karl had no time to deal with Yamato right now. He suddenly remembered that this Hannya mask seemed to draw inspiration from his previous life's culture.
It was also a mask, but not as eerie and terrifying as the Hannya mask. What was it called?
That's right!
It was Nuo!!
It was a Nuo mask!!!