At this moment, Eriri was glaring at Yazuki with a murderous look, as if she wanted to silence him permanently. This made him scratch his cheek awkwardly and shift his gaze away. On his face was a very noticeable shoe print.
What exactly had happened?
Previously, hadn't the two of them rolled into the river?
"Glug glug—!"
The demon king who had conquered countless otherworlds and intimidated the gods had now encountered an incredibly embarrassing situation—he was drowning. How pathetic!
In at least one of his past lives, he had been the ruler of water, capable of causing tsunamis that could engulf entire continents. And yet, here he was, drowning in a mere river? Unable to swim? What kind of joke was this?
So what was the cause?
The issue lay with his current human body in this reality. As a child, he had nearly drowned once, leaving a deep psychological scar imprinted on his body. Until the moment he was reincarnated, he had never learned how to swim. So when he fell into the river, his body instinctively recalled that past trauma, causing him to panic and start drowning.
It was a nearly involuntary reaction. His consciousness had no control over it, and his body instinctively grabbed at anything nearby to keep himself from sinking.
"Let go! Don't grab randomly, you idiot!"
"Wait, don't tell me… you still don't know how to swim? Hahaha, this is killing me!"
"Ugh—Wait, are you seriously sinking? Are you kidding me? I'll pull you up, but stop grabbing randomly, you idiot, Yazuki!"
"Wait, you moron, don't—don't pull there—!!!"
That last sharp, panicked scream was because Yazuki's flailing hands had somehow slipped under the girl's skirt and yanked down her panties. What followed was a furious, embarrassed golden-haired tsundere launching a kick straight at him.
Due to the wetness, her over-the-knee black stockings clung tightly to her slender legs, reflecting the moonlight with a soft glow, making them look almost like exquisite jade. Yazuki was briefly mesmerized by the sight—only to be promptly struck down.
And so, he sank.
Of course, he only briefly lost consciousness before Eriri grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to shore, and dumped him there, leaving his body aching all over. Where had that frail-looking girl gotten such immense strength?
When Yazuki came to, he saw Eriri still in the river, hurriedly pulling her panties back up. Wait, no, that wasn't the point. The real issue was that the water barely reached her knees.
In other words, he had drowned in knee-deep water.
What an utterly tragic realization.
That was why Eriri was now staring daggers at him. However, after checking her bag and finding her sketches undamaged—thanks to Yazuki having cushioned the impact beneath her—she let out a relieved sigh.
"D-Did you see?"
She asked in a cold, nervous voice, mixed with shame and anger. One of her feet was furiously tapping against the ground, as if ready to kick him at any moment.
"No."
"Then why is your nose bleeding?"
She snapped, her embarrassment reaching its peak.
"What kind of dumb question is that? You kicked me so hard, of course my nose is bleeding! It hurts, okay?!"
Yazuki rolled his eyes, complaining.
But now that she mentioned it, his mind inadvertently wandered back to the memory.
The way the wet over-the-knee stockings clung to her slender legs, how they shimmered under the moonlight, leading up to the smooth, snow-white skin of her absolute territory—
"Whoa—! You suddenly started spurting blood! Are… are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. Let's go!"
"Are you sure? It was like a faucet… super scary! Maybe we should go to the hospital… Ugh, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to kick so hard."
She sounded like she was on the verge of tears, clearly startled and feeling guilty about her own violence.
Don't look at him with such a pitiful and self-blaming expression, it made Yazuki feel conflicted.
"I'm fine, really. But, uh… for now, don't get too close to me. Better yet, just stay behind me, out of my sight."
The last part was more of a muttered self-reminder. He didn't want any more… thoughts.
"Huh? My feet?"
"No, you misheard. Just stay behind me, okay?"
"Fine…"
Her voice sounded a bit dejected, like a scolded puppy. That was just how she was—when faced with an awkward situation, her brain shut down. Otherwise, any normal person would've just given him a look of extreme disgust.
Still, Yazuki quickly shifted the topic to otaku-related discussions, which successfully eased the tension.
As they made their way to Eriri's house on a hill, they stopped by another home along the way—Aki Tomoya's place.
At Yazuki's call, a bespectacled boy came down, carrying a bag.
Aki Tomoya, an acquaintance from childhood, was essentially their go-to errand boy.
"Sorry, no visitors today!"
A voice came from behind the door, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps, as if he had rushed back to hide something shameful.
"Didn't expect that guy to become even more of a hypocrite."
Eriri scoffed.
The reason?
Yazuki had pointed out that Tomoya had secretly bought an 18+ eroge yet still pretended to be a wholesome otaku.
That kind of fake attitude disgusted Eriri.
Still, no matter how annoying he was, he made a good errand boy, so she wouldn't say it to his face.
After climbing a long slope, they finally reached Eriri's large house. Yazuki, exhausted, was mocked for having worse stamina than her.
Then, with a face full of anger, Eriri kicked open her own front door, determined to have a "serious talk" with her dad about leaking her black history.
However, the maid greeted them with unexpected news—her father wasn't coming home due to work, and her mother had gone with him so he wouldn't be lonely.
To Eriri, this was clearly an excuse. If her dad had sent her embarrassing childhood stories to Yazuki, then her mom definitely knew too—meaning she was an accomplice.
She immediately pulled out her phone to call them, only to find both numbers unreachable.
Blocked.
No way. They had straight-up blocked her?
Then, the maid handed her a letter from her mother.
"You two, make sure to take proper precautions~"
The playful message made Eriri's lips twitch. Inside the envelope were several square plastic packages containing… plastic balloons.
Looking at the items, Eriri's face turned red to her ears; partly from anger, partly from embarrassment.
"What the hell are those two idiots thinking?!!"
--------------
Meanwhile, an angel was closing in.
Meanwhile, a certain goddess in the heavens was stalling on her job of guiding lost souls.
Meanwhile, in another world, someone was scheming to awaken an ancient relic.