Seeing her now, carefree and burden-free, he wished she could always remain like this.
Gently, he stroked her head, feeling her steady breath. A faint smile touched his usually expressionless face.
"Mmm…"
Eu shifted slightly, curling up cutely, even nuzzling him like a little pet. Raize instinctively wanted to hold her tighter—but refrained, because…
"Eu~"
Suppressing the lingering pain, he furrowed his brows and spoke gently, softly calling her name.
Monitoring her every movement, he knew she was awake—just shy, wanting to nestle deeper under the blanket. Feeling his large hand pressed to her body, the girl's small, pink face flushed.
Her delicate body trembled lightly under his touch.
Gently adjusting her head, Eu gripped his clothes in a shy attempt to cover half her blushing cheeks, looking at him with glistening eyes.
Her brilliant, beautiful eyes shone with unhidden shyness.
In that moment, the refined doll-like elegance she usually carried vanished. In Raize's arms, she was just a beautiful, shy, adorable girl.
Embarrassment overwhelmed her. Instinctively, she wanted to escape his embrace, avoiding his gentle gaze.
And yet she clung tightly to him, naked due to last night's magic surge.
She must have been seen by him last night—just thinking about it made her flustered, let alone in this current situation.
Having been kissed, the embarrassment intensified. She wanted to hide deeper under the blanket, if possible.
But in Raize's arms, any sudden movement could lead to more awkwardness.
"Aize…"
Seeing his dazed gaze, the girl had a thousand words but could only respond softly, shy and embarrassed.
Raize, witnessing her adorable bashfulness up close, was momentarily stunned. His own face flushed after she spoke.
Recognizing the pink atmosphere, he naturally could not remain unresponsive. At the very least, Eu sensed something stirring beneath her.
Though innocent, she was not as pure as Mashiro. Her face now burned like boiling water, smoke rising as she buried herself in his clothes.
Her petite body trembled more intensely.
"Ahem!"
Feeling her shy shivering in his arms, Raize's face reddened as he cleared his throat. Holding Eu, he sat up, bringing her with him.
"Mmm…"
Curious about his next move, the girl let out a cute whimper, her small body trembling further.
Seeing such an adorable, bashful girl in his arms, Raize felt his heart stir violently—but reason and the lingering pain restrained him.
In this environment, he would not act inappropriately. One hand held Eu, the other wrapped the blanket around her.
Last night, with her powerless, he had already healed her weakened condition.
Gently placing the wrapped Eu down, Raize entered accelerated mode, quickly retrieving clothing from the backyard that had been swapped due to her illness and sweat.
After scribbling a line on a small notebook, he patted her head reassuringly and immediately left the room.
"..."
Silence filled the room, broken only by the occasional birdsong outside, giving an illusion of normalcy.
Yet only the trembling, curled-up little bundle on the bed remained unsettled.
Eu slowly turned her small head. Her eyes, still carrying lingering shyness, immediately saw the neatly folded clothes beside her and the small notebook with writing on top.
(I'm truly sorry for making you lose control and suffer last night, and I also apologize for that rude behavior. Your power will stay with me for now, but what I said still stands—I will accept all of you!)
Curled up in her blanket, Eu stared somewhat dazedly at the words written in the small notebook. Now freed from the burden of her power and able to vent her emotions freely, the girl's fair, delicate face still retained a touching blush, and her sea-blue eyes swirled with undissipatable joy and tenderness.
Gazing blankly at the handwriting in the little book, as if she could see flowers blooming from the strokes, an unconsciously beautiful smile that could leave one mesmerized spread across the girl's face.
"Idiot..."
Once again, she gently tucked her head deeper into the blanket, followed by a muffled utterance, laden with complex emotions.
Though complex and somewhat indistinct, the lightness and joy within the words were impossible to hide.
---
An hour later, Raize, feeling awkward at home and unsure how to face Eu, headed to the company.
Also, because of Eu's power residing within him, Raize couldn't manage much expression on his face. His stern, impassive look made employees who wanted to smile and greet him warmly hesitate and hold back.
Just seeing the boss's expression was enough to make them retreat.
Before, Raize would at least wear a polite smile, but now with this stern, expressionless face, they assumed he was in a bad mood.
Taihei and Kobayashi saw it but didn't have any extra thoughts. After all, today was the release day for Dies Irae. Not only were they nervous, but even the boss might be feeling some tension.
Every original illustration for Dies Irae had been checked and approved by Raize and Mashiro. Each had a very distinct, intended style, and the exquisite detail was such that they could be used as wallpapers.
As for the game's OP, Raize had invested heavily in finding the right one and had personally overseen the process.
There wasn't just one opening song either. After all, in its previous life, the game Dies Irae had changed its opening song several times, and all were great tracks.
Raize had added these songs as well. They would change as players unlocked new routes in the game.
For the theme songs, "Jubilus" and "Einsatz," Raize had even found singers whose vocal tones were 99% similar to Sakakibara Yui, the singer from his past life. If he hadn't found them, he could have stepped in himself.
The music had been meticulously adjusted by him; there wouldn't be any issues there.
The release time was set for noon yesterday. God of War and Resident Evil were scheduled for release two weeks later, precisely to avoid stealing the spotlight from the game he cared about most.
As soon as the time arrived, certain book fans and die-hard Raiden Games fans swarmed in, starting their purchases during this relatively crowded online period.
Compared to the heavy Warhammer, the young chuunibyou demographic in Japan seemed to prefer Dies Irae, which was filled with a rich, chuunibyou-esque style.
A certain online forum user with the nickname "Kuroneko," who in reality was a chuunibyou girl named Gokou Ruri, loved Dies Irae very much.
She herself had writing experience and enjoyed cosplay, anime, games, and doujin creation.
In her relatively simple home, a girl wearing a cosplay outfit was using somewhat inexpensive streaming equipment to livestream the new game, aiming to supplement the household income.