Griselda did not get a single wink of sleep last night. For two nights in a row, the devoted nun had been diligently practicing her water jutsu alone inside her hotel room.
Fortunately, training her fingers' dexterity was not the only thing she spent the entire day doing.
After going on a shopping spree and searching for an outfit that could make her look stunning without appearing overly mature or like she was trying too hard, Griselda ended up scattering piles of newly bought clothes all over the room while carefully piecing together the perfect fit.
"How should I approach him? Should I pretend that I accidentally ran into him and start a conversation naturally? I can't act weird... what if he thinks I'm being creepy?"
Standing atop a tall rooftop, Griselda completely ignored the scorching summer sun while quietly watching Yusuke down below.
She had been following him ever since earlier this morning when he left his house.
'He looks so handsome!'
Griselda quietly watched Yusuke walking around alone below her.
The way he walked, the calm glances he casually cast toward others, even the rhythm of his footsteps, all seemed unbelievably perfect in her eyes.
In fact, to her, everything about Yusuke had already surpassed mere perfection.
At one point, she even felt as though she could see a faint white aura radiating from him, almost as if he were some kind of divine being walking through the mortal world!
Just watching Yusuke from afar and secretly stalking him like this already gave Griselda an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
At one point, she even started seriously considering abandoning the idea of properly approaching him altogether and simply continuing to stalk him from a distance instead.
In a way... couldn't this already be considered a date?
It was just that only one person was aware of it.
'No, I can't be weak! Xenovia managed to do it, so I can do it too!'
Griselda quickly shook her head, forcefully pushing away the tempting thought.
She had never gone out with a man before. In fact, she had never seriously considered romance in the first place.
Jumping from one rooftop to another while continuing to follow Yusuke from above, Griselda suddenly paused after landing lightly on her feet, 'I have an idea!'
She looked down and noticed that Yusuke had stopped walking. Taking out his phone, he seemed about to make a call.
Gritting her teeth while suppressing her nervousness, Griselda suddenly stepped forward and deliberately let herself fall from the rooftop.
"Kyaah!"
As she dropped from above, she opened her mouth and let out a panicked scream.
'Catch me! Catch me!'
Griselda tightly closed her eyes and clasped both hands together while praying inwardly.
Nervousness and anxiety spread throughout her entire body.
Naturally, she was not actually afraid of falling from this height. What truly terrified her was the possibility that Yusuke simply would not catch her.
If that happened, it would be unbelievably embarrassing and painfully shameful!
With her dignity and entire sense of self respect on the line, Griselda tightly shut her eyes, her trembling eyelashes revealing just how nervous she truly was.
As she rapidly got closer and closer to the ground, her heartbeat pounded harder and harder.
Fortunately for her, it seemed her prayers had finally been answered.
Just before she hit the floor, she suddenly felt two strong arms catch her body and lift her into a princess carry.
Griselda slowly opened her eyes and inwardly celebrated, 'Success!'
"Griselda-san?"
Yusuke looked down at the woman in his arms with a surprised and astonished expression.
A moment later, his face quickly filled with concern as he lowered his head closer toward her and hurriedly asked,
"Are you alright? Did something happen to you?!"
[Both of you are seriously a pair of scummy actors.] B2 commented disdainfully.
'Can you stop being such a hater for even a single moment? You sound like a middle aged woman going through early menopause,' Yusuke casually replied inwardly while looking at the mature blond woman in his arms.
Griselda was not wearing her usual nun outfit today. Instead, she had chosen comparatively revealing clothes for someone like her.
A sleeveless white shirt tightly stretched across her large funbags, while a pair of jeans wrapped snugly around her plump ass and thick thighs.
After his "great" experience in the Underworld, Yusuke obviously was not dumb enough to lower his guard anymore.
From the moment he stepped outside, he had already activated his Observation Haki.
Because of that, he detected Griselda's aura following him since much earlier, though he deliberately pretended not to notice and simply waited to see what exactly she was planning.
[How dare you?!!!] B2 screamed loudly inside his head, making Yusuke's ears buzz painfully.
'Where's the "You are courting death!" part?' Yusuke rolled his eyes inwardly.
"Yusuke-kun?" Griselda acted shocked as she placed a hand against his chest and softly spoke, "I'm fine, thanks to you. What are you doing here?"
A normal woman probably would have already stepped out of his arms before asking any questions.
But how could Griselda willingly part from Yusuke's thick, girthy, and strong arms?
Leaning against his chest while secretly inhaling his scent, she honestly wished this moment could last much longer.
"I'm just taking a walk."
Yusuke continued holding her in a princess carry, quietly feeling the mature softness of her body resting in his arms.
At the same time, while speaking to her casually, he silently activated Analysis on Griselda.
Name: Griselda Quarta
Age: 38.
Race: Human.
Rank: Ultimate Class.
Personality: Kind, Caring, Hardworking, Intelligent, Responsible, Selfless, Determined.
Hidden Personality: Possessive, Insecure, Obsessive, Lustful.
Skills: Light Magic, Exorcist Skills, Marksmanship, Hand to Hand Combat.
Likes: Yusuke Aoki, Yusuke-kun.
Affection Toward You: 18,698.
Submission Value: 48 (Devoted)
Evaluation: A woman who had just undergone her first sexual awakening.
Yusuke directly skipped over most of the information and focused on the affection meter with a slight frown.
Compared to ordinary people, Griselda's affection value was already absurdly high. However, when compared to the other yanderes surrounding him, it was actually surprisingly low.
What truly caught Yusuke's attention, however, was the fact that the number was changing extremely rapidly.
The earlier value of 18,698 rapidly jumped within only a few seconds to 36,153 before continuing to rise even further.
69,000...
The number still showed no signs of stopping and continued rising at an alarming speed.
'So that's how it works...' For the first time, Yusuke was able to directly observe in real time how his unique trait affected yanderes.
The longer they stayed exposed to him, the faster their affection continuously increased.
And the rate at which it was rising was honestly terrifying.
Under normal circumstances, affection should never exceed 100 points.
In fact, even genuinely loving couples would rarely reach values around 50 or 60, and those levels could already be considered true love.
A value of 100 practically represented unwavering love that would never fade.
Yet when compared to these yanderes, such numbers suddenly felt laughably tiny and insignificant, to the point they barely seemed worth counting at all.
"Yusuke-kun?" Griselda's concerned voice pulled Yusuke back to reality, "What are you thinking about?"
"Ah, sorry!" Yusuke quickly shook his head before gently putting her down. Then, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and said, "You look really beautiful in casual clothes, Griselda-san."
"Really?!" Griselda's eyes instantly glittered while the corners of her lips twitched as she desperately tried to stop herself from smiling too widely.
Affection Toward You: 1,001,999.
Yusuke gave her a somewhat dumbfounded nod, acting as though he had become mesmerized by her appearance, while inwardly staring at the affection value that had skyrocketed past one million from nothing more than a single compliment.
'This feeling of control... is both addictive and terrifying.'
Although Yusuke was honestly curious about what kind of explanation she would come up with for suddenly falling from a building over twenty stories high, he decided not to make things difficult for her.
Completely ignoring that suspicious part, he simply asked, "Are you heading somewhere?"
"Eh? N-no, I'm not!" Griselda hurriedly forced out a smile before answering, "I got lost earlier, so I climbed a tall building to look for the right direction... but I accidentally fell down."
"Haha... It's really embarrassing."
[Stupid excuse.] B2.
"Haha, indeed."
Yusuke laughed along with her before speaking with a light smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell Xenovia about this. It'll stay a secret between the two of us."
Affection Toward You: 6,666 666.
One of the easiest ways to grow closer to someone, whether male or female, is to share a common secret, even if it's trivial.
Doing so naturally created a sense of closeness between both parties and sometimes even a feeling of trust and safety.
The moment Yusuke used this old trick, Griselda's affection value exploded upward once again.
"You have my thanks then." Griselda softly chuckled before adjusting the white handbag hanging over her shoulder.
"As thanks... how about I treat you to a meal?"
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