"Charlie-kun!"
Even before Charlie opened his eyes after returning from the Void Sanctuary, a woman's anxious exclamation had already reached his ears, followed by a warm embrace that instantly enveloped his body.
"Mahiru? I'm sorry for making you feel awful."
Charlie returned the warm hug while stroking Mahiru's blonde hair, which felt remarkably fine against his fingers.
Mahiru looked up, hiding her face against Charlie's chest while whispering in a trembling voice.
"I was truly terrified when you suddenly vanished into thin air right in front of me! I looked everywhere all over the house, but couldn't find you at all..."
"I started to think that you suddenly didn't want me anymore and chose to leave me all alone..."
*SLAP!*
A crisp slap echoed loudly inside the room as Charlie's hand swiped down against the plump curve of Mahiru's bottom, making the girl reflexively cry out in surprise.
"Kyaaa!"
With a face blushing red, Mahiru pushed Charlie away and glared at him with an annoyed look.
"W-What did you just do, Charlie-kun?!"
Charlie crossed his arms over his chest, staring at her with raised eyebrows. "That was punishment for your careless accusation just now. In your eyes, am I really the kind of bastard who easily throws away the woman by his side after getting bored? If that's truly what you think, I'm honestly going to feel very disappointed."
Hearing that reprimand, the angry expression on Mahiru's face softened, replaced by a sense of guilt.
"I-I'm sorry for doubting you." She murmured softly, bowing her head. "When you vanished without saying a single word earlier, I really couldn't think clearly, and my head was instantly filled with various negative thoughts..."
Charlie let out a short sigh, then stepped closer and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Forget it. Besides, that surprise earlier was truly beyond my control."
"Who would have thought that the Abyssal Devourer would be successfully eliminated by Elena right at our emotional moment? Because the Quest was completed, I was suddenly summoned by my two bosses to the Void Sanctuary."
Mahiru nodded softly, attempting to accept the explanation that bordered on absurd. She then cast her gaze around the room.
The room featured a warm yet luxurious wooden interior, typical of a single room in a classic inn.
"By the way... where are we right now, Charlie-kun?" Mahiru asked curiously.
"We are already in my original world." Charlie answered calmly. "A fantasy world where gods and goddesses descend directly from Heaven to the Lower World in search of entertainment."
"Right now, we are inside one of the inn rooms in Orario—a Labyrinth City that serves as the gathering hub for gods to build their factions called Familia."
After explaining that summary, he reached for Mahiru's delicate fingers, leading her to step closer to the room's window. With a gentle movement, he pushed open the wooden window leaves.
Nighttime in Orario stretched out vast before their eyes.
The landscape of the Labyrinth City looked so majestic with the illumination of magic lamps radiating colorful glows along the stone streets.
In the distance, the soaring structure of the Tower of Babel piercing the night sky stood firmly as the center of all the city's marvels.
"Incredible..." Mahiru murmured in awe, her eyes sparkling as they reflected the glowing lights of Orario City from behind the window. "So this is where you actually live... It's so beautiful."
Seeing the admiring reaction of the girl beside him, Charlie offered a faint smile, then thought to himself.
(Making someone my Familiar turns out to be a bit of a 'bug'. This allows me to bring them along when transferring to this world, and this method is far more cost-effective than having to exchange very precious Rewards...)
(If only I had possessed this Divine Authority from the very beginning, maybe I could have brought Yuuki Asuna and Nakano Nino along with me as well...)
(Ah, forget it. Those two girls most likely wouldn't agree if they had to leave their world behind and be forgotten by their families. Their affection for me back then wasn't deep enough to willingly pay such a heavy price.)
(It would be a different story if I could freely travel back and forth between worlds; Nino and Asuna would definitely agree without hesitation.)
Charlie's conscience was suddenly shrouded in guilt whenever he remembered Nino and Asuna, who harbored feelings for him.
Even though he had never intended to flirt or play the charmer, the intensity of their interactions and time together over the course of time had naturally cultivated seeds of romance inside the hearts of those two girls.
"Charlie-kun?"
Charlie was instantly pulled out of his daydream when he felt a gentle touch—the tip of Mahiru's index finger was softly poking his cheek.
Mahiru narrowed her amber eyes, staring with a sharp, suspicious look.
"You're thinking about another woman, aren't you? I can clearly see it from the look on your face."
Cold sweat suddenly poured down Charlie's temples.
He truly hadn't expected just how terrifying a woman's instinct and intuition could be when catching the man she liked red-handed.
"N-No way!" Charlie denied while trying to smile as naturally as possible, delivering a half-truth. "I was just... thinking about how to explain your presence later to Kei, Aishia, and Est, that's all."
Technically, the half-truth of what he was thinking did involve other women—it was just that the names stored in his mind at this moment were Nino and Asuna.
Mahiru naturally recognized the names Charlie had just uttered. After all, during the time they lived together, the man had openly shared his personal life, including the fact that he already had three girlfriends.
To be honest, deep in her heart, Mahiru was extremely reluctant to share the man she loved with other women.
She was raised within modern societal structures where the practice of polygamy was considered abnormal, so it was completely natural that an instinctive urge existed within her to monopolize Charlie entirely for herself.
However, Mahiru was a very self-aware girl. She understood perfectly well that she was not the first woman in Charlie's life. In this situation, she could even be considered a 'stealth cat' stepping in right in the middle of an already established relationship.
Because of that, rather than making demands or starting trouble, Mahiru was instead determined to win the hearts of those three girls so they could live together in harmony and not make things difficult for Charlie in the future.
"Charlie-kun, take me to meet them now." She said suddenly in a firm tone. "I want to introduce myself directly to them."
Charlie blinked in surprise, looking at the girl in front of him hesitantly.
"Eh? Isn't that a bit too rushed, Mahiru? You just arrived in this world and only recently finished going through a heavy transformation. Wouldn't it be better if we postpone it until tomorrow so you can rest first?"
Mahiru narrowed her eyes, closing the distance between them as she stared with a gaze full of scrutiny.
"Could it be... You just want to stall for time so you can maneuver behind my back and devise a plan to prevent a shuraba from happening, right?"
Another drop of cold sweat trickled down Charlie's temple. He quickly waved his hands, denying the accusation.
"O-Of course not! Why would I do something like that? Besides... where on earth did you learn a term like shuraba, Mahiru?"
Mahiru folded both of her arms beneath her chest, raising her chin slightly with pride.
"I've watched anime and read a few fictional works too, you know. Even if I haven't reached the fanatic level like otakus, I understand full well how complex situations like this usually transpire."
"..."
Charlie was stunned, finding himself completely out of excuses to evade any longer. Letting out a resigned sigh, he ruffled his hair softly while giving a faint smile.
"Alright, alright... you win." He then walked to the door and reached for the wooden inn door handle. "In that case, let's go. We'll meet them right now."
Without wasting any more time, Charlie turned the door handle and stepped out of the room alongside Mahiru, who walked side by side by his side.
[Author's Note: Many readers were confused by the previous chapter about Ais's death. That was completely intentional; the author cut off-screen to the scene in the Void Sanctuary so that the reward requested by the MC remains a mystery box.]
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