Shin's estimation of the time was spot-on—Tohru indeed returned quickly.
Fortunately, before Tohru and Mordred arrived home, Shin had already finished cleaning the bodies of Reines and the others who couldn't move on their own.
Although their bodies were still limp and looked utterly drained of strength, at least on the surface they appeared relatively normal, without that obvious look of having just engaged in strenuous activity.
However, there was something Shin hadn't anticipated.
After finishing dinner, Shin was cornered by Tohru in the hallway.
Shin had been about to ask Tohru why she was blocking his way, but seeing her standing with hands on her hips and puffed-up cheeks, he roughly guessed what this was about.
It seemed that what he'd done with Rin Tohsaka and the others after getting home from school had been exposed after all.
Shin smiled helplessly, and just as he was about to ask Tohru how she'd found out, he caught sight of a small figure flashing behind her.
Though the figure quickly hid behind Tohru's large tail, Shin's sharp eyes still caught a glimpse—it was Kanna.
Shin had calculated Tohru's approximate return time but hadn't accounted for when Kanna would get home from school, so Kanna had witnessed him taking a group of people to the bathroom for cleaning.
And since Kanna and Tohru were on the same team, Kanna naturally reported everything to Tohru.
"A-ka-wa~~~"
Tohru drew out her voice, voicing her unhappy complaint toward Shin.
Shin rubbed his temples somewhat irritably, feeling a bit helpless for the moment.
Shin was quite happy that Tohru liked him so much, but Tohru's somewhat exaggerated possessiveness was indeed giving him a headache.
Although Tohru hadn't gone as far as yandere behavior, every time she saw him getting along with other girls, she always demanded extra compensation from him. While Shin didn't dislike that form of compensation, he felt he really needed to find a way to curb this tendency of Tohru's.
Appeasing Tohru was actually quite easy—he just needed to promise to give her extra attention tonight.
After sending the satisfied Tohru away, Shin turned his attention to Kanna.
Kanna had been hiding behind Tohru's back earlier, but now that Tohru was gone, Kanna's small figure was naturally exposed. From her earlier action of hiding behind Tohru's back, she obviously knew her secret tattling behavior wasn't quite right.
So after Tohru left, Kanna also tried to slip away, but Shin wouldn't let her escape so easily.
Learning to tattle at such a young age—what would she be like when she grew up?
So Shin unceremoniously pressed down on Kanna's head. No matter how fast her feet ran, she couldn't escape from Shin's palm firmly gripping her head.
After realizing escape was hopeless, Kanna could only turn around and look at Shin with an extremely innocent expression.
"Not learning good things, but you've learned to act innocent."
Shin sighed, crouching down to look at Kanna, staring into her eyes as he asked:
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
"I shouldn't have tattled..."
Kanna fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, looking just like a child who'd made a mistake.
Although Kanna's age as a dragon far exceeded the lifespan of ordinary creatures, her personality was indeed no different from a child's.
However, Kanna soon looked up and said something that left Shin momentarily speechless:
"Will Shin-sama punish me the same way as the other girls?"
Shin nearly choked on his own saliva. Seeing Kanna's expectant expression, he couldn't help but tap her head.
What Kanna meant by "the same way as the other girls" obviously referred to those kinds of things.
Although Kanna's biological age was indeed quite mature, her mentality and human form were far too childish—Shin still couldn't bring himself to do it.
Even if he could bring himself to do it, this book would probably be banned.
"Looks like I'll need to avoid the kids when doing those things at home from now on..."
Shin grumbled internally.
Previously, Shin had taken advantage of everyone at home being "his people" and never avoided anything when doing strange things, which had resulted in Kanna nearly being corrupted. Come to think of it, besides Kanna, there was also Illya, his "daughter"—it really wasn't appropriate to let them see those scenes.
"You're still young, don't think about such messy things."
Shin lectured Kanna.
"Although I won't punish you with those strange things, I do need you to help me with something—consider it atonement through service."
"Oh..."
Kanna's face actually showed a somewhat disappointed expression, making Shin feel even more that this little dragon's education had gone astray.
"What does Shin-sama need me to do?"
Despite his internal complaints, Shin still needed to say what needed to be said. He asked Kanna:
"Do you know Elma?"
That's right—this was the method Shin had thought of to restrain Tohru.
Elma was another dragon Tohru knew from her original world, someone who could be described as Tohru's frenemy and rival.
The two had once understood each other, but due to differing positions, they eventually had a falling out, and since then they'd been at odds whenever they met.
If he brought her here, then whenever Tohru threw a tantrum in the future, Shin probably wouldn't need to step in—Elma would take the initiative to discipline Tohru.
As for whether Elma would be willing to help Shin... once he found Elma, everything would be negotiable. Shin had his ways of making her obey.
"Elma-sama? I know her, but she's not on this side."
Kanna recognized Elma. She nodded and replied.
In the original work that Shin had seen, Elma's opportunity to come to this world was when Tohru returned to her original world to gather ingredients and was discovered by Elma. But now that Tohru was at Shin's house, she naturally didn't lack ingredients or anything like that, so she'd never gone back to that world, and thus never had the chance to be discovered by Elma.
So right now, Elma should still be in Tohru and the others' original world.
"It doesn't matter if she's not on this side. Can you go over there and bring her back?"
Shin nodded. Kanna was also a dragon—if Tohru could open doors between worlds, theoretically Kanna should be able to do it too, right?
"I don't have enough power right now to open the 'door' back... but if I could replenish some electrical power, maybe I could try."
Kanna hesitated for a moment, thinking about her ability limitations, before giving this answer.
As long as she replenished enough electrical power to maximize her abilities, she should be able to open the "door" back to that world.
"However, Elma-sama is very powerful, not even inferior to Tohru-sama. I'm afraid I can't subdue her."
Of course, Kanna was well aware that even at full power, she was still far behind Elma and Tohru. Trying to capture Elma would be a bit difficult for her.
"Then I'll capture her myself."
Shin narrowed his eyes—no matter how strong Elma was, could she really be stronger than him?
To be continued…