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"Seriously, there's no way to get in, right?"
Staring up at the high second-floor window, Yamada Elf's little face was full of despair.
"It's not impossible… just kind of difficult."
Blake spoke while scanning the area for anything useful, but there was nothing around. Not even a brick.
"Ah, I've got an idea!" Yamada Elf suddenly brightened, lightly punching her left palm with her right fist. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "Servant, hurry up and crouch down."
"…Why?"
Blake looked at her, confused.
"Idiot servant, obviously I need to use your shoulders." She put her hands on her hips and proudly lifted her chin. "I can't reach it alone, but if I stand on your shoulders, it'll be easy, right?"
You've got to be kidding me. You're wearing nothing under that coat and still want to climb onto someone's shoulders? How are you even saying this out loud?
"Aren't you worried about… flashing?"
Blake's gaze drifted downward as he quietly pointed it out.
"Ah…"
Yamada Elf's face instantly turned red. She hurriedly clutched her coat closed, her voice shrinking in embarrassment.
"M-maybe not… that's way too humiliating…"
You're walking around outside in just your underwear and now you're embarrassed?
Blake took a deep breath and stretched his limbs.
"Let me try."
"Huh?" Yamada Elf tilted her head up at him, her eyes filled with equal parts expectation and doubt. "Even if you're tall, there's no way you can reach that window, right?"
"Don't underestimate a guy's explosive power."
Blake handed her the discounted bento in his hand, stepped back a few paces, and started running.
Then he jumped.
"Whoa, that's really high!"
Yamada Elf's eyes widened in surprise.
Two seconds later—
Thud.
Blake landed, knees slightly bent.
It was a great jump… but his hand still fell just a few centimeters short of the window ledge.
"Again."
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and stepped back once more.
Another sprint. Another leap.
Still just short.
"Go, servant!" Yamada Elf clenched her tiny fists, cheering from the side. "You're almost there, just a tiny bit more!"
"…."
Blake shook his head without replying.
Sometimes, that tiny gap might as well be a mile.
Like the difference between twelve-centimeter heels and sixteen-centimeter heels. Sounds small, but trust me, it's not. Anyone who's worn them knows.
He'd already failed twice. His body had clearly hit its limit. No matter how many more tries he made, he wouldn't suddenly succeed.
"…Looks like I'll have to use the last option."
After a brief hesitation, Blake made up his mind.
The experience points he got from purifying witches were incredibly useful. Not only could they level up skills, they could also raise his character level.
A while back, he'd had a bad cold that wouldn't go away for days. On a whim, he tried leveling up… and discovered that it boosted his physical stats across the board.
This situation called for it.
"Two hundred XP… just enough."
He opened his game panel in his mind and muttered silently:
"Deep Blue, add points."
The experience poured in, and his level quickly rose from LV2 to LV3.
Notifications popped up one after another:
[Your level has increased]
[Stamina permanently increased]
[Endurance permanently increased]
[Speed permanently increased]
[Charm permanently increased…]
Blake closed his eyes.
A tingling sensation spread through his entire body, like soaking in a hot spring. It was relaxing, almost intoxicating. Growing stronger felt amazing.
Unfortunately, the feeling only lasted a few seconds before the enhancement finished.
"…Leveling up takes more XP now."
He glanced at the requirement for the next level and sighed.
Life's tough.
Just like any idle game, leveling up early on is easy. Later, the XP requirements skyrocket. That dream of easy progression? Gone.
"Servant, you feel… different all of a sudden."
Yamada Elf tilted her head, hands still on her hips, studying him with curiosity.
"You somehow got… better-looking."
"You're imagining things."
Blake stretched his limbs again and stepped back, confidence returning.
"This time, it'll work."
He took a deep breath, sprinted forward, and jumped.
With his enhanced body, he finally broke past his limit.
His right hand grabbed the window ledge firmly.
"Servant, you're amazing!"
Yamada Elf's eyes lit up. She ran forward excitedly and reached out to lift his legs.
"I'll help!"
But in the next second, Blake suddenly felt a chill around his legs.
"…Huh?"
He looked down—
And froze.
"…Where are my pants?!"
His perfectly normal pair of casual pants had just… vanished.
Thud.
His grip loosened, and he dropped back to the ground.
There was no way he could keep climbing in this situation.
"Give me my pants back."
Blake stared at the blonde girl, his face dark.
"S-sorry…"
Yamada Elf's face flushed bright red. Her eyes flicked toward his shorts before darting away like she'd been shocked. She stammered in embarrassment:
"I-I don't know what happened! They just disappeared! I swear I didn't mean to make your pants vanish—I'm really, really sorry!"
Blake pressed a hand to his forehead, sighing.
He didn't doubt her.
Just like her panties earlier, his pants had probably disappeared mysteriously. It didn't seem intentional.
But what kind of side effect made clothes vanish?
And why could it affect other people?
"…What did you just do?"
Blake asked seriously.
"I-I just came to help…" Yamada Elf's face stayed red as her eyes wandered. "I saw you grab the window and got really happy, so I ran over and grabbed your legs to push you up… and then… then your pants just disappeared."
Blake thought back to when her panties had mysteriously vanished earlier and quickly found the common factor.
"…Physical contact?"
"Is the side effect of invisibility that anyone your right hand touches randomly sacrifices a piece of clothing?"
"…"
Just as he was deep in thought, a sharp, stern voice suddenly rang out behind them.
"Mr. Blake, what exactly are you doing?"
"Ah—!"
Yamada Elf yelped and hurriedly hid behind him.
Blake instinctively turned around.
Not far away stood a girl with waist-length flaxen hair, holding shopping bags in both hands. She looked as delicate and beautiful as an angel.
"W-wait, Mahiru, I can explain—"
"Please do."
Mahiru Shiina's pretty face was tense, her expression serious. She calmly took out her phone, her gaze sweeping over Blake's disheveled state.
"Or I'll be calling the police."
A teary-eyed, small and helpless blonde girl.
And Blake, looking like a thug… without his pants.
No matter how you looked at it, this scene screamed crime in progress.
"....."