Chapter 535: Evil Spirit Possession? (Bonus Chapter)

Afternoon.

"Excuse us!!!"

Two bright, clear voices rang out from the entranceway. The ones who came to visit Rei Ao's home were none other than Fumino Furuhashi and Rizu Ogata. They arrived with excitement, but the moment they reached the living room, they froze awkwardly.

That was because they saw Ms. Mafuyu Kirisu sitting on Rei Ao's lap.

"!!!"

Mafuyu jumped to her feet in alarm, fanning her flushed face and darting her eyes around.

"Ah—ah. It's, uh, hot in here."

"…"

Fumino and Rizu each twitched at the corner of their eye.

They realized they'd just walked in on Mafuyu and Rei Ao's affectionate moment.

They'd heard about their relationship in the chat group—shocking, of course, but they'd mentally prepared themselves. After all, both Rei Ao and Mafuyu had been absent from school today.

"You two came? Mai and the others said your exam results improved a lot."

Rei Ao gave an unfazed look toward the flustered Mafuyu, then turned the conversation to Fumino and Rizu.

"Mm-hmm!"

At the mention of test scores, both of them instantly put Mafuyu's situation aside. Their expressions lit up. Speaking animatedly, they explained just how much their grades had improved.

Before long, Rei Ao and Mafuyu learned that their originally weak subjects—liberal arts for Rizu and sciences for Fumino—hadn't regressed. In fact, they hadn't just passed but done quite well.

Mafuyu was visibly pleased.

"That's wonderful. It seems Ilia's tutoring was really effective, huh?"

"Yeah! It's all thanks to Ilia-sensei!"

Both girls produced a meticulously wrapped gift for Ilia.

"It's our token of gratitude to Ilia-sensei!"

Ilia glanced at Rei Ao.

"Go ahead and accept it, Ilia. It's a gift from their hearts—no need for me to decide for you," Rei Ao said.

"…Mm."

Ilia took the gift with a nod. Fumino and Rizu both smiled happily. Then they each took out gifts for Rei Ao and Mafuyu as well.

"We wouldn't have achieved such progress if not for Mafuyu-sensei and Rei Ao-kun helping us. Truly, thank you so much!"

They understood their abilities well, and how much these people had aided them.

"Congratulations, Fumino, Rizu. You're one step closer to realizing your dreams," Mafuyu said, adjusting her glasses. She was genuinely happy they wouldn't end up stuck like she once was.

"Hehe, Mafuyu-sensei, we're still a long way off," Fumino replied shyly, scratching the back of her head.

"Exactly. Compared to Rei Ao-kun, we're nowhere near," Rizu said, pushing her glasses.

"You don't need to compare yourselves to him," Mafuyu said wryly.

She knew full well Rei Ao was beyond normal comparison, whether in learning capacity or initiative—or, embarrassingly enough, in other areas. Matching up to him was pointless. She didn't want these two students, who had just made good progress, to get discouraged.

But Rizu, understanding Mafuyu's concern, shook her head.

"Mafuyu-sensei, we don't intend to compete with Rei Ao-kun. We're just using him as one of our goals to strive toward."

"That's fine, then."

…

After wrapping up the talk about the test results, the mood turned slightly awkward again. Mafuyu could feel Fumino and Rizu's gazes occasionally flitting to her, reminding her that the relationship with Rei Ao was now out in the open. She felt unbelievably embarrassed.

"Um, I… I just remembered something at home. I'll go on ahead," she said, tossing out a random excuse. She wanted to flee from this needle-prick tension.

Yet Rei Ao grabbed her hand.

"Wait, don't go just yet."

"Huh?"

She turned, puzzled. A shy, nervous glint showed in her eyes. No way— was he going to do something again? She thought of his strong, vigorous body, and her knees couldn't help trembling.

Sensing her anxiety, Rei Ao's expression turned wry. She's imagining things even more than I do, he mused. But his reason for stopping her had nothing to do with that.

"I've got a chance to take you to another world for a look," he said.

…

A few minutes earlier, in the chat group…

Miko Yotsuya: "Guys, help me think of a solution!"

Miko suddenly posted in the group, asking for help.

Stella: "Miko, did something happen again?"

Megumi Kato: "Probably something related to evil spirits?"

Miko Yotsuya: "Hmph, it's related but not directly. Right now, Mom, Hana, and I are no longer afraid of evil spirits. We have Rei Ao-nii's blessing plus protective charms that can destroy them."

Saeko Busujima: "Yes, that's right. Ever since Rei Ao came to your world, everything has been handled."

Miko Yotsuya: "Exactly!"

Mikoto Misaka: "Then what's the trouble?"

Miko Yotsuya: "Ehehe… it's a person at school. A classmate."

She proceeded to explain her dilemma. Thanks to the blessing and protective charms, she and Hana no longer had issues with evil spirits. But recently, they discovered another problem: a human who could transform into an evil spirit!

It was a normal-looking classmate who could talk as usual, yet suddenly transformed into an evil spirit. They were frightened, but the protective charms destroyed the evil spirit—and strangely, once the evil spirit died, the student was completely fine.

Yomogawa Ayame: "That's so odd. Evil spirits don't have physical forms, right?"

Shiba Miyuki: "Maybe a stronger evil spirit gained the power to inhabit living people."

Hiiragi Shinoa: "We're just guessing. Let's ask Rei Ao. @Rei Ao?"

Rei Ao: "Yes, Miyuki's guess is correct. It's basically a rather powerful evil spirit that, after staying with a human for a long time, fuses into their body."

Rei Ao: "But the human might not even be aware."

Miko Yotsuya: "So that's how it is!"

Fubuki: "Hey, have you been spying all along?"

Erica: "Impudent! You're slandering His Highness, Master!"

Enju Aihara: "Hmph, Rei Ao-nii isn't like that."

Bibi Dong: "Take back your words!"

Fubuki: "?"

All it took was one line and she'd angered a swarm of them…

Rei Ao: "Haha, calm down."

Rei Ao: "I wasn't spying. Just 'lurking' quietly."

~~~

500 Powerstone Bonus Chapter!

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 200+ Chapters Ahead of Others!