"Aize, can I draw manga together with you again?"
Mashiro sat in the back seat of the sports car, peering through the window with her clear, beautiful eyes filled with anticipation as she asked Raize.
Being with him made drawing manga feel completely different. With his guidance and involvement, the manga she was working on now felt alive.
Compared to before, she even found the opening interesting when she reread it herself, which made her extremely excited and happy.
With Raize's help, her dream was definitely no longer just a dream.
"Of course. You're my club member—you can come to me anytime. Besides, I promised I'd help fix the flaws in your manga."
Raize lowered his head and looked at Mashiro's expectant eyes through the car window. Naturally, he wouldn't refuse her and smiled as he continued,
"I'm also looking forward to your new manga. When it gets published, don't forget to give me a copy."
"Mm!"
Seeing Raize agree so readily, Mashiro's usually blank expression seemed to soften slightly. The corners of her mouth lifted just a bit—it looked like she was in a very good mood.
"Oh ho~ Looks like my little cousin has an exceptionally good impression of you. You've got skills, kid!"
Chihiro, sitting inside the car, noticed Mashiro's obvious change. She raised an eyebrow and teased Raize with interest.
"Got any ideas about my little cousin?"
Honestly, Chihiro only knew of one person who could make Mashiro this happy—her former caretaker, Rita, who was far away in England.
Although she knew about Raize and Mashiro, she never expected that on Mashiro's very first day at school, their relationship would already be this close. Her surprise was understandable.
Faced with Chihiro's shameless and irresponsible teasing, Raize replied expressionlessly,
"Chihiro-sensei should worry about yourself first. If you don't hurry up, your age—twenty-nine plus thirty months—is going to add even more months. 'Big sister' won't be an appropriate title anymore."
Those words instantly caused a vein to bulge on Chihiro's forehead. Just as she was about to retort, Hiratsuka interrupted her.
Keep arguing and you still won't win—this kid's mouth is vicious.
"Well then, Raize, we'll be heading off first. Be careful on your way home and don't wander around."
Hiratsuka, sitting in her red Aston Martin with Chihiro, reminded Raize through the car window.
Mashiro was seated in the back as well. Due to her special status, both Chihiro and Hiratsuka doted on her greatly and never felt comfortable letting her commute alone.
That was why this scene existed.
"Safe travels, Shizuka-nee!"
Raize replied with a smile. That single "Shizuka-nee" made Chihiro extremely unhappy.
That brat is way too double-standard! We're about the same age—why do you call her Shizuka-nee and mock me as an old woman?!
Hiratsuka, however, was in a good mood and enjoyed seeing her best friend suffer. Without giving Chihiro a chance to continue, she closed the window and drove off.
Watching the car disappear, Raize also headed home.
At the school gate, Eriri was tightly holding onto the unwilling Kasumigaoka Utaha. Only after Raize disappeared did she let go.
Utaha looked unpleasantly at the shorter Eriri and asked coldly,
"Eriri, why did you stop me from going up to argue with him?"
At this point in time, Utaha was already in contact with a certain pants-wetting early-leaving-from-school Tomoya and could be said to be secretly in love.
The news that Tomoya had been scared into wetting his pants and fleeing from another class had spread throughout the school, essentially turning it into a social death.
After hearing about it, Utaha found Eriri and learned the whole story, naturally wanting to confront Raize.
"…Kasumigaoka, this matter was Tomoya's fault. You can't let this escalate further."
Facing her romantic rival's questioning, Eriri's expression was extremely ugly. After a moment of silence, she spoke words that made Utaha's face darken as well.
She knew Utaha would be angry, but she had to say it. This was entirely Tomoya's impulsive mistake. Of all people, he just had to provoke her idol, Mashiro!?
Do you have any idea that if you offend her, the entire country won't be able to save you? Are you trying to spark an international incident?!
And you too, Kasumigaoka—are you blind? Didn't you see both Hiratsuka-sensie and Chihiro-sensei in the car? If you rushed up, were you trying to get lectured? Or make me lose face again in front of my idol?!
The more Eriri thought about it, the angrier she became. She stared coldly at Utaha and issued a merciless warning:
"I'm warning you—don't keep stirring this up. Shiina Mashiro is not someone you can afford to provoke. You can't handle it. I can't handle it. Tomoya definitely can't handle it!!"
"If you keep pushing this, I guarantee your entire family won't end well!!"
After delivering that harsh warning, Eriri turned around and left without hesitation, leaving Utaha standing there, pale and sweating.
Watching Eriri's furious retreating figure, Utaha realized it was the first time she had ever seen her like this—and it was obvious she wasn't joking.
If you keep going, you'll burn yourself. Not just you—your family will suffer too.
Utaha only knew that Mashiro's identity was unusual. She'd never bothered to look into it before, but after Eriri's words, she pulled out her phone and searched for "Shiina Mashiro."
With just a quick look, a wave of icy cold fear washed over her entire body. Eriri hadn't been exaggerating at all.
A world-class genius painter. Someone who had shaken hands and taken photos with the current British Prime Minister. Someone who had friendly photos with the Queen. Her paintings were displayed in royal palaces…
Each awe-inspiring achievement made her gasp. Her identity wasn't just unusual—it was practically the face of a nation.
Utaha was just a novelist with decent grades. Mashiro already existed on a world-class level. There was no comparison.
What, Utaha—do you think you have the ability to slap a nation's face and walk away unscathed?
If you really blew this up, even burying your entire family would be easy.
After calming down and considering the consequences, Utaha realized that Tomoya being merely warned and not pursued further was already a blessing. Escalating the situation would benefit no one.
"That guy…"
Thinking of Raize's expressionless yet handsome face, Utaha clenched her teeth inwardly. Even though she knew this was Tomoya's fault, that man had still gone too far.
"Achoo!"
Feeling a sudden wave of inexplicable resentment, Raize sneezed, rubbed his nose, and glanced around at the busy crowd. His danger sense hadn't even activated.
With a bag full of snacks he had just bought from the convenience store, he was already on his way home. He couldn't help wondering how things were going at home with Haruna, Sei, and the two new residents.
Had they met yet? Were they getting along? They didn't fight, right?
Like an overprotective mom worrying about her kids, Raize fretted inwardly and subconsciously picked up his pace, heading toward a quieter area so he could accelerate and get home faster.
"Hm—? What's going on!?"
It was already dusk, yet out of the corner of his eye Raize caught sight of several ghostly figures in black robes leaping across rooftops and utility poles. Judging from their aura, they were vampire ninjas.
He didn't look directly at them. Even if their strength was nothing impressive, ninjas were extremely sensitive to being watched, and he didn't want to draw their attention.
From the looks of it, they had realized one of their teammates was missing, and their mission target, Eu, had suddenly vanished. They were searching everywhere.
"Heh. If you still don't know your place, I'll wipe you all out sooner or later."
Raize had no goodwill toward vampire ninjas. In his past-life memories, there were factions among them that advocated peaceful coexistence and wanted to get along with Eu, but there were also radical factions that wanted to kill her and seize her power.
No matter which faction it was, they all wanted to exploit Eu's power for their own ends. No wonder Eu was unhappy when she saw Seraphim in the anime and even wanted to drive her away.
Since Raize had already crossed swords with them, he naturally regarded them as enemies. To be honest, he wasn't afraid of these trash-tier vampire ninjas at all. The only one worth taking seriously was their leader, the Baron Demon.
The Baron Demom was a man dressed in white who never shaved. After Chris regained her power and disappeared, he took over as Ayumu's homeroom teacher in the original work.
He was the childhood friend of Master Ariel mentioned by Haruna, the true creator of the magical weapons, and someone who had launched a rebellion together with Ariel and Chris. After their failure, he was cursed by the Queen and frequently coughed up blood, lingering on the brink of death.
That alone was enough for Raize to take him seriously. But even if they really fought, Raize wasn't afraid.
Now, anyone who dared to harbor ill intentions toward Eu was absolutely unacceptable to Raize. He wasn't someone as easygoing as Ayumu. He preferred to cut things off completely and leave no room for lingering thoughts.
When Raize returned home and stepped through the door, he immediately heard Haruna shouting and Sei's disgusted voice.
He quickened his pace into the living room and saw Eu sitting on the sofa with chopsticks in hand. Haruna looked pale green as she spat repeatedly into the trash can, while Sei sat on the other end of the sofa, also holding chopsticks and staring with open disgust at a plate of snacks.
On the plate was what looked like a vegetable, but it was clearly already wilted and decayed.
Judging from Sei's expression, she and Haruna had probably both bitten into that rotten vegetable.
"What are you guys doing!?"
The moment Raize saw the withered vegetable on the plate, his face darkened as he shouted.
Seeing Raize, Sei slammed her chopsticks onto the table and said with a face twisted as if she had eaten bitter melon, "Isn't this because you put this prank food in the fridge? It looked fresh, but the moment you bit into it, it tasted like rotten leaves!"
"This weird plant isn't some kind of poison, is it?"
After spitting out the vegetable remnants, Haruna pointed angrily at the withered vegetable on the plate, clearly dissatisfied.
(It's not poisonous, but it tastes terrible.)
Eu raised her notebook expressionlessly toward Raize. Judging by her reaction, she had definitely tasted it too.
Seeing that the three of them were getting along without conflict reassured Raize, but when he looked at the food they were complaining about, his face instantly turned grim, as if he had just lost several million.
Seeing his expression, the three girls immediately realized something was wrong. Could it be that this vegetable was actually something special?
"The king of vegetables, Ozone Grass, worth hundreds of millions, was ruined just like that. That was an ingredient I was saving to make salad with!"
Gritting his teeth, Raize glared viciously at the three clueless spendthrifts.
Even though Ozone Grass was materialized through the system's Fantasy Ingredient Tablecloth, he only had eleven in total. One was stored carefully in a special refrigerator, while the rest were planted on the farm.
The tablecloth also needed time to recharge after prolonged use. As a capture-level-60+ ingredient from Toriko, calling Ozone Grass worth hundreds of millions in this world was honestly an understatement.
"This thing that looks nice but tastes like rotten leaves is worth hundreds of millions!?"
Haruna stared at him with an expression that clearly said are you kidding me, convinced Raize was messing with her.
How could something that tasted this awful possibly be worth that much? Did he think she was an idiot?
"The king of vegetables, Ozone Grass? It really does smell awful!"
After hearing Raize's explanation and looking at the decayed plant on the plate, Sei's pretty face was filled with disgust. She also couldn't believe something like this could be edible. It had tasted absolutely horrible.
Eu didn't say anything, just stared carefully at the wilted plant. She clearly didn't believe it either.
"You three spendthrifts. You didn't eat Ozone Grass the right way. Of course it turned out like that. This ingredient has a special way of eating it!"
Raize hated wasting food. In his past life, he had experienced hardship and even gone hungry. Holding the plate, he looked at the completely ruined Ozone Grass with a pained expression.
Ozone Grass had to be bitten simultaneously by two people to reveal its true flavor. Alternatively, someone strong enough could bite it twice in rapid succession before it reacted.
The third method was to anesthetize it during cooking, allowing ordinary people to eat it.
None of the three girls had used the correct method.
Seeing that Raize's expression was genuine, Sei and Haruna exchanged glances and shrank back slightly. Eu, however, raised her notebook again.
(If you eat it the wrong way, it becomes rotten like this, right?)
Eu grasped the situation immediately. She had noticed that the plant looked delicious at first, but the moment she bit into it, it turned into rotten leaves.
"Yes." With a helpless glance at Haruna and Sei, Raize dumped the ruined Ozone Grass into the trash and took out a fresh one from the game farm.
After taking a bit of time to prepare sauce, he brought the plate to the living room and placed it in front of them.
The three girls stared at the glistening, sauce-coated Ozone Grass. Its aroma spread through the room, making them want to bite into it, but remembering what had happened earlier, none of them dared to move.