Chapter 70: The Pure Love War God
Who would believe it? Who would even dare to?
Yotsuya Miko fell silent, the implications of what she'd seen settling heavily in the air. In a death game instance steeped in suspicion, any clue from an unknown source could be a trap. Even if the other party genuinely harbored good intentions, who could possibly guarantee it?
"As for these two fragrance blocks..." Haruto weighed the small, scented squares in his hand, the corners of his mouth suddenly curling into a knowing smirk. "The smell is identical to the one on the Butler. So, the monster the Lady became doesn't attack him. It seems that even though she's lost her consciousness, this scent can briefly evoke her memories, or at least stir a flicker of goodwill."
"Did you find anything else? For example, is the Lady actually locked up somewhere in this castle?" Haruto placed one of the blocks on the table. "This one is for Xie Lin's group. We'll give it to them later."
Yotsuya Miko nodded, carefully putting the other fragrance block away. "At the very end of the corridor, there's an iron door. Locked inside is the Lady of the Castle—the same one that crawled into our room that night."
She paused, her expression shifting. "She was just lying on the ground, looking like some grotesque fusion of a human and a lizard. Her hands and feet were shackled to the wall with heavy iron chains, but her neck... it was stretched impossibly long, at least two or three meters. Her head could reach all the way to the iron door."
Speaking of this, Miko's face became slightly unnatural, as if she were debating whether the next piece of information was useful or even necessary to share. In the end, she decided to say it anyway.
"They are... just as you and Kaguya guessed. They... they really did..."
"Get together?" Kaguya chimed in, her expression a mixture of morbid curiosity and disbelief.
Miko nodded weakly and added, "And... there are several rooms dedicated to making those fruit-scented candles, and one room was filled with... those kinds of toys."
Haruto and Kaguya's eyes immediately took on a subtle, complicated light. Although they had suspected it, a guess was still just a guess. They hadn't expected the Butler to actually go through with it.
Could this be true love?
No matter what his wife had become, no matter how eerie and twisted her form, he loved her all the same.
And not just her soul. He loved her appearance just as deeply.
Haruto and Kaguya exchanged a look, momentarily at a loss for words. After a long moment, a thousand complex thoughts condensed into a single word they blurted out in perfect, reverent unison.
"Impressive."
A shared regret flickered between them—they shouldn't have slept in. They should have followed along to witness this spectacle. This Butler had single-handedly reinterpreted the meaning of eternal vows and unwavering loyalty.
He was truly the Pure Love War God of the year, albeit a bizarre, heavy-duty version.
Knock, knock—
A sudden rap sounded at the door.
"Who is it?" Haruto called out.
"Haruto... i-it's me..."
The voice was timid and instantly recognizable.
Haruto raised an eyebrow. For her to come to their room at this hour, she was likely here for the fragrance block.
"Come in, it's not locked."
Hearing this, the door was gently pushed open. Wu Wenwen slipped inside, carefully closing it behind her before walking constrainedly toward Haruto.
"Give her the fragrance block," Haruto gestured.
Yotsuya Miko handed over the scented square.
Wu Wenwen seemed momentarily stunned. She took the block and gave a small, timid bow. "Thank you."
"This was the result of a group effort," Haruto said casually. "You're entitled to a share."
Wu Wenwen didn't say anything more, simply bowing again in thanks. As a participant, she knew better than anyone that the credit for finding these clues and items belonged almost entirely to Haruto's team. Lin Xuelao had been the one to find the secret passage, and in the end, it was only because Haruto and Kaguya had arrived in the nick of time that they had escaped danger at all.
Even if they had been lucky enough to escape by burning through all their items, the Butler would have continued to hunt them. A direct fight would have been inevitable. Once their items were gone, their hope of surviving this instance would have been practically zero. All Haruto's team had to do was leave one person to deal with the Butler at the bottom of the stairs.
"Is there something else?" Haruto asked, noticing Wu Wenwen was still standing there, shifting her weight nervously.
"I... I want..." Wu Wenwen stammered, her gaze turning toward Yotsuya Miko. The latter finally remembered what she had promised and quickly clapped her hands together in apology.
"Sorry, sorry! I completely forgot to mention it," Miko said sheepishly, before explaining the situation to Haruto.
"You don't have a bathroom over there? You want to shower here?" Haruto raised an eyebrow.
Wu Wenwen nodded timidly.
Haruto looked her up and down, a slow grin spreading across his face. "It's possible, but... what's in it for me?"
Wu Wenwen hesitated for a moment before taking a deck of playing cards from her pocket. She carefully pulled out the Ace of Spades.
"Is this okay? It can grant invisibility for a total of five seconds. It hides your appearance, smell, and even sound. You can use the time in segments."
"Invisibility?" Haruto was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected an item with that kind of function to exist. "Let's see it. Just for half a second."
Wu Wenwen nodded. The Ace of Spades in her hand glowed faintly, and her figure vanished from sight in an instant. Half a second later, she reappeared, leaving Miko and Lin Xuelao amazed.
"It's true," Lin Xuelao confirmed, her head tilted. "I can't smell her scent at all."
"Haruto, that's a pretty good item. Why not trade for a few more cards? Don't you want to start your Gensokyo harem journey?" Kaguya nudged him with her elbow, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Bah! What are you talking about? Am I, Haruto, that kind of person?" Haruto declared with an air of righteousness before turning back to Wu Wenwen. "How about this... I don't want the card. You just need to agree to one small request of mine."
Hearing this, Kaguya shot him a disdainful look and casually popped open a bottle of cola. If others didn't know him, how could she not? It wasn't that he didn't want the item; he just disliked that it couldn't completely mask one's presence. And five seconds was simply too short to be of any real use to him.
When Wu Wenwen heard he didn't want the card, she had just breathed a sigh of relief, but the second half of his sentence made her heart leap into her throat. Her mind couldn't help but flash to those blush-inducing props they'd found in the castle.
She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the filthy thoughts. How could Haruto be that kind of person?
But just in case, she still asked tentatively, "Can you... tell me what the request is first?"
"Follow our orders and let us—"
"Pfft—! Cough, cough, cough..."
Kaguya sprayed a mouthful of cola directly onto Haruto's face. He wiped the sticky liquid from his cheek, his expression darkening. "Idiot Princess, are you looking for a fight?"
"Sorry, sorry," Kaguya coughed, trying to stifle her laughter. "You continue, you continue."
Haruto's gaze fell back on Wu Wenwen.
The girl had already backed up two steps, her hand hovering near the doorknob. Taking a shower here was safe, and Haruto was also very handsome, but... but to give up one's first time just for a shower? How could she? And he hadn't even said 'me,'he'd said'us'!
Absolutely not!
Wu Wenwen was now plastered against the door, ready to bolt. Haruto finally realized she had misunderstood and spoke with a helpless sigh.
"Let me finish. I meant let us dress you up to look like a friend of mine. Your temperament is just so similar to hers."
Wu Wenwen's face instantly flushed a shade of crimson so deep it looked like it might start dripping. Though she knew she had misunderstood, she was now far too embarrassed to face him. She bowed deeply, mumbled a quick, "I'm so sorry!" and bolted out of the room with her head down.
Kaguya's brain finally caught up, and her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Are you talking about Reisen?"
Meanwhile, in the bathroom on the left side of the second floor...
A middle-aged woman pushed the door open. Opposite the entrance was a window, and to the right stood a clothes rack.
She hung her floral hat on the rack by the door, took off her clothes, and stepped under the showerhead. Closing her eyes against the spray, she began to lather shampoo into her hair.
Thump, thump, thump...
A knocking sound suddenly echoed from the wall to her right.
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