Chapter 298: Isayama Yomi's Resentment
"Yomi!"
As Isayama Yomi landed safely, a group of men dressed in suits appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Let's go..."
Taking advantage of the dust cloud created when Yomi fell, Hikigaya Hachiman—wishing to avoid being dragged into the mess—grabbed Yotsuya Miko's arm and prepared to slip away.
However, just as they were about to bolt, another dull, heavy thud of an object hitting the ground rang out.
Accompanied by a shockwave, the evil spirit that had knocked Isayama Yomi off Tokyo Tower appeared before Hachiman and Miko, crouched on all fours.
"..."
Looking at the humanoid evil spirit before him, Hachiman instinctively frowned as a system notification rang in his mind.
"A Special Grade spirit?"
Hearing the system's classification of the spirit's rank, a look of realization flashed in Hachiman's eyes. It was no wonder Yomi had been knocked down.
After all, her strength was somewhere between High Grade and Special Grade. If Tsuchimiya Kagura were here, the two of them together might have been able to handle this spirit. But with Yomi alone...
"Roar!"
While Hachiman was deep in thought, the spirit took the initiative and launched an attack at the two people in front of it.
"Even though it's already a Special Grade, is its intelligence really this low?"
Watching the spirit's reaction, a glimmer of disappointment flashed in Hachiman's eyes. He was no longer the rookie he was when he first received the system. To his current self, there was no difference between spirits below Special Grade—they were all targets to be one-shotted!
Hachiman felt a bit annoyed, thinking about the group of onlookers behind him. This spirit was clearly supposed to be their job, yet this stupid spirit insisted on attacking him and Miko instead...
"Not smart at all!"
Hachiman passed judgment on the spirit, and the Demon Slaying Blade suddenly appeared in his hand.
With a flash of silver light, Hachiman confidently sheathed his blade and led Miko away. Behind him, the spirit's body was slowly turning into powder and dissipating into the air.
"What's the deal with that guy?"
As Isayama Yomi's fiancé, this was the first time Noriyuki Iizuna had seen Hikigaya Hachiman. Seeing a spirit that even Yomi couldn't handle get easily insta-killed by him, Noriyuki's heart felt like it was being tossed by tumultuous waves.
"Cough, cough..."
Suddenly, the sound of violent coughing came from the side. The others, who had been frozen by Hachiman's display, finally snapped back to reality. They scrambled around Yomi, frantically asking about her condition.
However, despite her companions' inquiries, Isayama Yomi remained immersed in the experience she had just gone through...
-
-
-
In a commercial street in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Hikigaya Hachiman breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one was following them. Fortunately, those people were smart enough not to chase them, otherwise, today's travel plans would have been ruined.
"Hikigaya-kun, what do you think of these clothes?"
When it comes to commercial streets, one naturally cannot escape the task of picking out clothes. Hachiman looked up to see Yotsuya Miko holding two outfits, waiting for his evaluation.
"They both look quite good..."
Hachiman, having no idea how to answer, looked at the two pieces of clothing that only differed in color, and his mouth twitched. He suddenly regretted coming to Shinjuku.
-
-
-
"Such powerful spiritual energy..."
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Isayama Yomi recalled the spiritual energy that had enveloped her earlier, and a trace of longing flashed in her eyes. If she could have spiritual energy that strong, a situation like the one earlier would never happen again, right?
But that seemed impossible now. After all, her spiritual power seemed to have reached its limit a month ago; no matter how desperately she trained, she couldn't increase it even by a fraction...
"Has my strength reached its peak?"
Thinking of her stagnant spiritual power and of Tsuchimiya Kagura, who had successfully advanced to S-rank half a month ago, a strong sense of resentment grew in Yomi's heart. She clearly trained harder than Kagura; why was this happening to her?
"We'll handle the rest of the work. Yomi, why don't you go back and rest for a while?"
Through the rearview mirror, Noriyuki Iizuna, sitting in the passenger seat, saw Yomi dazed in the back. Mistakenly thinking she was shaken by the experience of falling from a great height, he decided to give her the day off after consulting the Division Chief.
"Then please just drop me off here. I'll make my own way back later."
Hearing that her work for the day was over, Yomi immediately requested to get out.
"Then be careful on your own..."
The others in the car weren't surprised by her request, as they had to rush to other mission locations anyway.
The car slowly pulled over to the curb, and Yomi opened the door, stepping out from the back seat onto the street. Listening to the noise around her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A few seconds later, she snapped her eyes open and turned into a side alley.
-
-
-
"Thank you for your patronage! That will be 186,500 yen in total~"
At the counter, the shop assistant looked at Hikigaya Hachiman with a beaming smile. Her initial negative impression of him due to his "dead-fish eyes" had undergone a 180-degree transformation because of the value of the items he was purchasing.
"So expensive..."
Hearing the price, Yotsuya Miko let out a soft cry of shock. That was 180,000 yen! That was equivalent to more than a year's worth of her pocket money. She never expected that buying clothes just once would cost so much...
"Maybe we shouldn't buy them?"
Although Hachiman had clearly stated earlier that he would pay, Miko didn't want to treat him like a "sucker." At the same time, she was confused. She was sure she had filtered out the expensive items before deciding what to buy; why did it still cost this much?
"It's fine. I can easily afford this much."
Facing Miko's protest, Hachiman simply shook his head and pulled out a credit card to settle the bill.
"Please come again soon~"
Seeing Hachiman spend 180,000 yen without even batting an eye, the assistant's gaze toward him became a bit more flirtatious. In her eyes, the "dead-fish eyes" she had disliked and his youthful face had now become "bonus points."
Noticing the assistant's heated gaze toward Hachiman, Miko didn't care about the cost anymore.
She quickly grabbed Hachiman's arm and practically fled the store with him.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting