Chapter 326: Hearing Jashin-chan Won Money Hurts More Than Losing Money Myself!
Ryohei slept until three o'clock, only waking up to the sound of his alarm clock.
With his eyes still closed, he extended a hand from under the duvet, fumbling for the phone on the nightstand. After turning off the alarm, he sat up, still feeling a bit drowsy.
He turned his head to look at Yurine, who had snuggled up next to him at some point. She had also been woken by the noise and was currently frowning and murmuring sleepily. Ryohei apologized, "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"It's okay." Yurine rubbed her bleary eyes, mumbled something unintelligible, and yawned adorably like a lazy cat, making a move to get up.
Ryohei gently pushed her back down. "Keep sleeping. I'll find two people to go grocery shopping with me."
"I'll go with you."
Yurine tried to sit up again as she spoke.
Ryohei pushed her back down once more.
"No need."
"..." Yurine blinked her beautiful eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile. She looked at Ryohei with a hint of charming navieté and whined, "Ryohei-kun, you're going to spoil me rotten like this."
"If you're spoiled, you're spoiled."
Ryohei reached out and pinched her smooth, tender cheek, then threw off the covers, got out of bed, and put on his clothes.
He went to the bathroom for a quick wash up, then took the elevator downstairs.
"Where's Jashin-chan?"
Scanning the tea room and living room without spotting the tool-snake, Ryohei asked, feeling a bit puzzled.
"She seems to have gone out."
Yusa, who was watching TV with a dignified and elegant posture reminiscent of a Yamato Nadeshiko, turned her head and answered gently.
"That guy...!"
Ryohei clicked his tongue lightly. Fortunately, his staff was full of talent now, so there were plenty of people available.
Ryohei glanced at Yusa, then at Tohru on the other side of the sofa, and requested, "Yusa, Tohru, come grocery shopping with me."
"Okay." Yusa responded first, getting up from the sofa. Tohru gave an "Oh" from the other side and stood up as well.
Ryohei then asked Lucoa to open a spatial portal to send them to the Toyosu Market—
He had gotten up a bit late and didn't want to waste time on the road; otherwise, who knew when Yurine's birthday dinner would be ready...
In the blink of an eye, the sky grew dark.
The afterglow of the setting sun faded rapidly, the sky transitioning from orange-red to deep blue, finally sinking into a quiet ink-black.
"Aiyah—! I made a killing today!"
With a bulging purse hanging around her neck, Jashin-chan slithered back into the brightly lit villa on her snake tail.
As soon as she entered the foyer, she shouted excitedly, afraid no one would know about her explosive luck and sudden windfall today.
"Hmm? You won money today? Seriously?" Yurine, who was sitting on the living room sofa with a laptop on her black-stockinged legs arranging next week's schedule, looked sideways in surprise.
"Uh-huh—! See my purse? It's about to burst!"
Jashin-chan held her head high and puffed out her chest, humming proudly as she pointed to the round, bulging purse on her chest. Even the tip of her tail was wagging with joy.
There's no such thing as a gambler who always loses, only one whose time hasn't come yet!
And today, her time had come!
She was incredibly smug!
"..." Medusa, who had accompanied Jashin-chan to the pachinko parlor, stood aside with her hands behind her back, wearing a helpless yet doting gentle smile.
"Hmm..."
Yurine glanced thoughtfully at Medusa and guessed, "Actually, Medusa won it, didn't she?"
After all, the scummy snake always losing had practically become a stereotype!
"What are you saying! That's rude! I win all the time!"
Jashin-chan whooshed in front of Yurine, hands on her hips, dissatisfied. "Medusa doesn't even know how to play pachinko; she just watched from the side."
"I really don't know how to play. Jashin-chan won it all herself," Medusa explained with a smile, indicating it had nothing to do with her.
"Is that so?"
Yurine raised an eyebrow, still skeptical.
"Hearing that Jashin-chan won money hurts more than losing money myself!" Ryohei, who brought the fruit scraps to the living room, covered his mouth lightly with his hand and turned his face away, feigning sorrow.
"Hahaha—!"
As his voice fell, a burst of joyous laughter erupted in the living room.
Everyone laughed except Jashin-chan.
"Servant, you bastard...!"
Jashin-chan spun around, vividly performing what "fuming with rage" looked like. She grabbed Ryohei by the collar and said unhappily, "Can't you just be happy for me!?"
"Just kidding, don't get excited." Ryohei laughed, pried Jashin-chan's hand away, put the fruit bowl on the coffee table, and conscripted her: "Come to the kitchen and work."
"Eh... you guys should be almost done, right?" Jashin-chan didn't refuse.
Being willing to work when there was work to be done was probably one of her few virtues.
"Almost." Ryohei said as he walked towards the kitchen.
More than half an hour later—
Yurine's birthday dinner was ready, and the group moved to the dining room.
Including Kobayashi and Medusa who came to join the fun, there were twenty people in total, filling two tables with ten people each.
"To celebrate Yurine's birthday..."
Ryohei raised his wine glass high and signaled, "Let's have a toast first!"
"Kanpai—!"
Minos and the others raised their glasses happily.
With the crisp sound of clink—, Yurine's birthday dinner officially began...
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