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The moment he heard that familiar voice, Asher knew who it was.
Sure enough, when he opened the door, the person standing outside was Ebina Nana.
She looked anxious and worried, her eyes darting nervously over him the second she saw him.
"Nana, what brings you here?"Asher asked, a little surprised.
Ebina finally let out a breath she'd been holding.
"Senior Asher, I was passing by earlier and heard fighting noises coming from your place," she said hurriedly."I thought something terrible had happened to you."
"But you look fine now. Thank goodness…"
So that was it. When the shikigami had been fighting Mary earlier, Ebina Nana had just gotten off work and happened to hear the commotion from his apartment.
Hearing this, Asher smiled.
"Haha, sorry for making you worry," he said casually."It was just some clueless little ghost picking a fight with me."
"Huh?!"
Seeing that Asher was okay had calmed her down, but the moment she heard the cause was an evil spirit, Ebina's heart jumped straight back into her throat.
"R-really? You're sure you're okay, Senior Asher?"
"Of course."Asher nodded seriously.
But soon after, his expression shifted, and he looked at her with a meaningful glint in his eyes.
"Nana… were you worried about me?"
"U-um… Senior Asher, why are you suddenly asking that…?"
That single sentence instantly made Ebina Nana flustered.
She was the kind of girl who blushed easily to begin with, let alone when faced with words that sounded this ambiguous.
"It's nothing," Asher said lightly."I just think you're really cute when you're shy."
Looking at the girl in front of him with her head lowered, practically burying her face in her impressive chest, Asher reached out and gently rubbed her soft head, fingers sinking into her wine-red hair.
"Mmm…"
The warm, gentle sensation on her head made Ebina Nana feel as if she'd been shocked by electricity. Her whole body went weak and tingly, and she couldn't stop herself from trembling.
"S-senior Asher… it's getting late. I'll head home now! You should rest early!"
Her voice shaking, she turned around and fled back to her own apartment as if she were escaping.
Asher watched her retreating figure until it disappeared behind the door, the corner of his mouth finally lifting into an amused smile.
Looks like winning over Ebina Nana wouldn't take that long.
After transmigrating to this world, Asher had no intention of sticking to old social restraints.Especially not now that he was an onmyoji wielding powers beyond the ordinary.
He'd finally made it into a two-dimensional world, surrounded every day by beautiful anime girls.If he really did nothing about it, wouldn't that be no different from being a eunuch?
And giving girls away to other people? Forget it.
Asher wasn't a CP shipper.He'd have to be out of his mind to do something like that.
In a pretty good mood, Asher turned and went back into his apartment.
The moment he stepped inside, though, he was greeted by a complete mess.
The fight between the shikigami and Mary hadn't exactly been damage-free.
Fortunately, Asher wasn't troubled by it at all.
After all, not all his shikigami were meant purely for combat.Most of the N-rank ones were actually best used for their utility.
For example, Lantern Soul could boost allies' crit rate.
And as for Broom God, well, you could tell from the name alone that it was perfect for housework.
"Broom God, I'm counting on you," Asher said to the broom-shaped yokai shikigami.
"Yihaha!"
Broom God let out a strange cry, then twisted its broom-like body and started cleaning.
After a whirlwind of sweeping and tidying, not even thirty seconds passed before the once-trashed living room was completely restored.
It was even cleaner than before, spotless to the point where it gleamed under the lights.
Once everything was taken care of, Asher recalled all the shikigami back into the system space.
Of course, Yingcao stayed behind. As his body pillow, she definitely couldn't skip work.
Meanwhile, on the other side…
Inside Ebina Nana's apartment.
After fleeing back to her room and slamming the door shut, she leaned tightly against it and slowly slid down to sit in the entryway.
She gasped for air, her slender, pale hands pressed firmly against her chest. Her face was burning red.
"Um… what did Senior Asher mean by what he said just now…?"
"Could it be that Senior Asher actually…"
She didn't know what she'd thought of, but her already flushed cheeks grew even hotter.
As her thoughts spiraled, Asher's image naturally surfaced in her mind.
Tall and well-built, strikingly handsome, and that almost unbelievable onmyoji identity…
Could it be that she really had a chance for something to happen between her and Senior Asher?
The more she thought about it, the more dizzy her head felt.
But slowly, her expression returned to normal.
The shy look faded, replaced by a trace of sadness.
Truthfully, Ebina Nana had always felt a little inferior.
Especially after getting into a university in the big city from the countryside. After seeing all the bustle and glamour, she felt even more out of place.
Her introverted, easily embarrassed personality was something that had formed bit by bit from that growing sense of inferiority.
To her, Asher was just… too perfect.
Among all the men she'd ever met, no one even came close to him.
And precisely because he shone so brightly, she felt even more afraid to approach him.
It wasn't that she didn't like him.It was that she felt she didn't deserve to.
With conditions as good as Senior Asher's, there must be plenty of girls chasing after him, right?
And surely some of them were outstanding.
As for herself…
Whether it was her looks or her family background, Ebina Nana felt she didn't have a single thing worth boasting about.
"Sigh…"
She stood there blankly for who knew how long before finally, feeling completely drained, she changed into her slippers and walked into the living room.
"....."