Narukami Shrine, at the foot of the mountain path.
The Arataki Gang's promotional flyers were far too childish—no matter how you looked at it, they didn't seem like the work of a proper organization.
In order not to arouse her elder sister's suspicion, Kuki Shinobu racked her brains, exaggerating the supposed "strengths" of the Arataki Gang. By the time they reached halfway up the mountain, she felt even more exhausted than when handling lawsuits.
Still, just a little further and all the flyers would be cleared away. After that, she could find a reason to excuse herself.
Kuki Shinobu, oddly enough, found herself looking forward to it.
If this dragged on any longer, she felt she wouldn't be able to keep the truth hidden. Hopefully those guys hadn't plastered too many flyers around.
But just as the group was about to continue down the path—
They suddenly saw a few familiar figures standing at the bottom of the stone steps.
The moment he saw them, Nolan knew Shinobu's plan was ruined—because those people were none other than Mamoru, Akira, and Genta!
When Shinobu spotted them, her brows arched slightly, surprise flickering in her eyes.
Why are they here? Shouldn't they still be held at the Tenryou Commission?
"Shinobu-neesan," Mamoru said, "the guards at the Commission told us you'd gone to the shrine to plead with that terrifying woman on our behalf.
"Thinking about you having to face her alone, we got really worried.
"In the end, we begged the guards to let us out for a bit, so we could come face her together—after all, the trouble started because of us.
"And of course, we'll help clean up all the flyers too!"
Mamoru, Genta, and Akira all chimed in.
"Ahahaha… I see. Then you must have already cleared the flyers at the foot of the mountain. In that case, why don't you head back first? I'll just go up to the shrine and explain things to the Guuji myself."
Shinobu darted a glance at her sister with the corner of her eye, and, seeing that she hadn't caught on, quickly tried to divert the topic before the boys said anything to give her away.
"No way, Shinobu-neesan—we won't let you face that woman alone!"
Mamoru shook his head, recalling the memory with a shudder.
"You don't understand. That day, Akira, Genta, and I were posting flyers on the mountain path when suddenly, a terrifying fox woman appeared behind us, glaring with a sinister face.
"The next thing we knew, our vision went black—and when we opened our eyes again, we were already at the Commission!
"It had to be her doing!
"So let us handle the apology. You'd better not go, Shinobu-neesan—who knows what she might do to you too!"
"Wait, I—" Shinobu was just about to speak when the shrine maiden Miyuki, her sister, suddenly looked at her and said:
"Hold on, Shinobu. Didn't I just see one of those flyers with names of Arataki Gang members? Something like Genta and Mamoru?
"But didn't you say they were your seniors, much more capable than you? They don't look like that at all…"
Miyuki's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Earlier, when she asked Shinobu why someone as young as her was sent to apologize on behalf of such a big gang, Shinobu had answered that she was the least experienced, her skills and knowledge falling short compared to her seniors.
And that the others were all too busy expanding the Arataki Gang's "business" to come themselves.
But now these very people had shown up out of nowhere, undoing all her careful excuses.
"What are you talking about? Shinobu-neesan is the most capable one in the gang aside from the Boss himself! How could we ever compare to her?" Genta protested indignantly at Miyuki.
"…Alright, enough. Don't say anymore." Shinobu sighed, pressing her fingers against her forehead with a helpless expression.
"So those rumors about your gang being troublemakers…" Miyuki turned toward her sister, realizing Shinobu had lied to her.
"…are probably true." Shinobu spread her hands. "But even if you tell Father and Mother, I won't go back. Being a shrine maiden just isn't the life for me."
"Uh… did we say something wrong?" Mamoru and the others blinked in confusion, completely lost.
"You…" Miyuki also sighed softly, looking at her younger sister. "Shinobu, you're not a child anymore. You've been to more places than me, Father, and Mother combined.
"I can understand you having your own thoughts. Your coworkers were clearly terrified of the Guuji, yet when they heard you came to apologize alone, they still came here to help.
"Besides, even the famous adventurer Nolan has joined your gang. That shows, even if you're not large now, the potential must be there.
"Mistakes along the way are normal. As long as you take responsibility, admit fault, and work to improve, it's fine.
"You could've just told me all this openly."
"…Sorry, Sis." Shinobu lowered her shoulders and bowed her head, speaking in a small voice.
Nolan and Yoimiya exchanged a glance, silently agreeing it wasn't the time for outsiders to interrupt, and turned their gazes elsewhere.
"…Alright. I won't tell the family for now. But I hope you really can make the Arataki Gang into something respectable—so that when the family hears you're working there, they won't object."
Miyuki gave Shinobu a long look as she spoke.
Hearing her sister's final words, Shinobu's dejection immediately lifted, replaced by joy. "Really? Thank you, Sis!"
Having her work acknowledged by her sister left her far more at ease.
Whew. Seeing that the sisters hadn't erupted into conflict, Nolan also let out a quiet breath of relief. If family drama had broken out, he honestly wouldn't have known how to intervene.
"Ahem… Since the flyers at the foot of the mountain have been cleared, let's head up and speak to the Guuji. Once we get her letter of forgiveness, Mamoru and the others can be officially released from the Commission."
Nolan reminded them.
"Right. Thanks, Shinobu-neesan!" Mamoru and the others said gratefully.
After all, they weren't truly free yet—they still needed to hand the letter of pardon to the Commission.
"Mm." Shinobu nodded. No problem.
And so, the group started up the mountain path once again. Along the way, Shinobu once more expressed her heartfelt thanks to Nolan.
If he hadn't cleverly claimed that he was also part of the Arataki Gang, it might not have been so easy to win the elder sister's understanding.
[Kuki Shinobu Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection level: Lv.8 (320/800)]
Once Yae Miko saw that the flyers around Narukami Shrine had indeed been cleared, she didn't make things difficult for Shinobu and handed over the already-prepared letter of forgiveness.
All that was left was to deliver it to the Tenryou Commission.
Even if Nolan and Yoimiya hadn't contributed much in the process, their wish had been fulfilled, and the task was complete nonetheless.
With that, both commissions Kamisato Ayaka had entrusted to them were completed. It was time to return and report.
Leaving Narukami Shrine, space shifted.
Nolan wrapped his arm around Yoimiya and teleported directly to the area near the Kamisato estate. Together they walked into the Yashiro Commission offices.
Before long, they met Ayaka inside.
She smiled gently at them.
"As expected of you both—already finished the commissions so quickly."
[Kamisato Ayaka Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection level: Lv.6 (380/600)]
"It was mostly Nolan's effort," Yoimiya said a bit sheepishly.
[Yoimiya Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection level: Lv.10 (MAX)]
Seeing two affection notifications pop up in succession, Nolan couldn't help but feel pleased.
While Ayaka and Yoimiya continued chatting about the details of the mission, a new notification appeared on his status panel:
[Through sincerity and tireless effort, you have forged a bond with a destiny that originally had no connection to you. From this moment forth, the girl's fated star shall shine alongside yours. New Ability Acquired: Naganohara Meteor Shower.]
As expected—it was a new Affection Skill.
Just from the name, it sounded like a formidable technique. Curious, he opened the description:
[Naganohara Meteor Shower: With gravity as your string, you may pull upon and hurl objects up to (your maximum lifting capacity × (Your Level + Her Level)) in weight. The resulting damage gains an additional +(Your Level + Her Level)% multiplier.]
Huh? The description seemed simple, but the meaning within was far from it.
Gravity as a string… That meant when he activated this affection skill from Yoimiya, he could control gravity to a certain extent!
Tch, gravity—one of the fundamental forces of the universe. Its power lay in shaping the movement of colossal bodies.
Planets revolved around suns, all thanks to it.
And this skill's numbers were staggering. It said he could hurl objects up to his lifting capacity times the sum of their levels.
With Yoimiya currently at level 60 and himself at level 102, that meant 162× his normal lifting strength!
With his base ability, even a casual release of mental power let him lift hundreds of tons. With psychic threads, moving tens of thousands of tons was trivial.
With skill augmentations stacked on top, there was hardly anything short of a planet he couldn't shift.
And now… multiplied by more than 160? Even dragging a colossal meteor through space wouldn't be impossible!
Suddenly, Nolan remembered the cosmic beast he had discovered drifting in the void.
That gargantuan creature was so massive that normal attacks would be little more than a tickle. But the impact of a meteor… that might actually hurt it.
He wanted to test the skill right away—but the Yashiro Commission still owed him and Yoimiya their commission fee.
So he restrained himself and waited.
Soon enough, at Ayaka's order, the attendants brought out their payment.
After checking if there were any other requests needing them (there weren't), Nolan escorted Yoimiya back to her fireworks shop.
Then he returned to his Wonderland space—and immediately hurried back into the stomach of that cosmic beast.
It was still as dark as ever inside. His eyes were useless here; only his externalized mental power let him sense his surroundings.
The beast swallowed all kinds of things, so its stomach was like a pocket of deep space, filled with floating asteroids.
Perfect for testing. Nolan wanted to see if he could weaponize them against the monster itself.
If he could, then perhaps he really could defeat and control this cosmic beast! Compared to just occasionally collecting its blood for nutrient tonics, having the beast under his command would be infinitely more useful.
Without hesitation, Nolan triggered the full-level affection skill granted by Yoimiya. Suddenly—he felt gravity.
It was like perceiving an invisible field of force.
And he could seize it, wrap it around a meteor, and fling it outward.
That was the essence of Yoimiya's max-level Affection Skill.
In other words, he could unleash force over a hundred times greater than his own strength by manipulating gravity.
He focused and caught a huge asteroid drifting weightless nearby.
It had a radius of at least forty to fifty meters. When he wrapped it with gravity, he found that, perhaps thanks to the zero-gravity environment, he hardly had to apply effort at all.
Just the slightest gravitational push—and the asteroid accelerated rapidly, barreling off in one direction!
And whichever way it went, it was bound to slam into the beast's stomach wall eventually.
Sure enough, not long after, his mental perception caught it—boom—the massive asteroid crashed into the stomach wall.
There was no sound in the void, but a gaping rupture opened in the flesh, and torrents of blood sprayed out.
The blood floated like crimson clouds.
Closer inspection revealed tiny organisms swimming within them. With the golden Eye of Condemnation, he focused—
—and saw that each bore level indicators, all above level 80.
There were easily hundreds of them. His eyes lit up.
The wound was tens of meters wide, huge to the eye, but compared to a stomach hundreds of kilometers across, it was little more than a mosquito bite.
Aside from a faint prick of pain, the beast was hardly injured.
Already, Nolan could sense the stomach wall slowly knitting shut. Yet even this minor wound had released over a hundred level-80+ organisms.
He could scarcely imagine how many such parasites filled the creature's entire bloodstream.
To him, it was like paradise itself—a limitless source of EXP!
As he reveled in the thought, the drifting blood dispersed, and the slumbering parasites within stirred, wings buzzing as they awoke.
They immediately sensed Nolan's presence—for he had made no effort to hide himself.
(End of Chapter)
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