After breakfast, Shin was ready to grab his schoolbag and head to school with Kato Megumi.
But just as he was about to pick up his bag, Gabriel—dressed in a maid outfit—suddenly pulled him into a corner.
At first, Shin was puzzled about what Gabriel wanted, but soon, she pulled out a thick stack of cash from her pocket.
Her expression looked exhausted. Despite Vignette's strict management ensuring Gabriel maintained a regular sleep schedule, she now wore the look of someone who hadn't rested properly in ages.
Clearly, for Gabriel, gaming was the only true form of relaxation. But because of Vignette's oversight, her gaming time had been drastically reduced. For Gabriel's mental state, this was far more devastating than an irregular sleep schedule—it was like withdrawal symptoms.
That's why she had eagerly dragged Shin into the corner, feeling she could finally escape Vignette's control:
"With this... I've finally saved up enough to buy back the Horn, right?"
"Oh?"
Shin was surprised as he looked at the thick wad of cash in Gabriel's hands. Judging by the amount, it should indeed be enough to reclaim the Horn of apocalypse.
After the incident, Vignette had forced Gabriel to carefully calculate the cost of all the lost equipment, arriving at an absurdly high number. Shin had initially thought Gabriel would need to work for a long time to earn enough, but unexpectedly, she had gathered the "ransom" in just a few weeks.
Thinking about it now, the reason it was so fast was that Shin had set Gabriel's wages a bit too high.
If the other maids in the house found out how much Gabriel was earning, they'd probably be too furious to sleep.
But then again, the money Gabriel earned would ultimately return to Shin's hands in exchange for a horn that was useless to ordinary people. It was kind of tragic. Seeing how Gabriel's hands trembled as she held the cash, she must have been extremely reluctant—after all, this money could've been spent on another set of overpowered in-game gear!
"It really is enough."
Seeing Gabriel's reluctant expression, Shin smiled and took the money from her hands.
Then, with a wave, he materialized the Horn of apocalypse—though in reality, he had retrieved it from Black Bird Requiem's body.
By transferring the Horn of Apocalypse's ability into an empty space, he could extract the horn intact from Black Bird Requiem. This was something Shin had already tested.
"Here, your horn."
Shin continued to pretend he had no idea about the horn's true power—if he acted like he knew, Vignette would likely become even more vigilant.
Gabriel, however, looked thoroughly displeased as she took the horn from Shin, gritting her teeth as she stared at it:
"Ugh, I spent so much money just to get this stupid thing back..."
Her resentment was palpable. She never even used the Horn—what was wrong with selling it for cash?
It wasn't like she was actually going to blow it and bring about the apocalypse! If the world ended, her online games would disappear too!
Still, there was at least one silver lining.
"Now that I've bought it back, Vignette shouldn't keep restricting my gaming time, right?"
True to her full name's meaning (Gabriel means "God is my strength" but also implies innocence), Gabriel was naive enough to think that retrieving the horn would free her from Vignette's control over her gaming habits.
In response, Shin simply gave her a sympathetic look.
Vignette might loosen the restrictions a little, but if Gabriel pushed things too far, she'd undoubtedly clamp down again.
By tomorrow, Gabriel might very well be back, complaining to Shin about Vignette's tyranny.
"Now that you've bought back the horn, are you still going to work as a maid in my house?"
As Gabriel carefully tucked the Horn into her schoolbag, Shin asked with a smile.
The main reason Gabriel had taken the maid job was the high pay, allowing her to quickly save up the ransom.
But now that the horn was recovered, her goal was achieved—she technically didn't need to keep working.
"Huh? Are you trying to abandon me now?"
Gabriel frowned, looking slightly offended.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she realized how they sounded—like a jilted ex-girlfriend complaining about being dumped.
Blushing, she quickly corrected herself:
"I-I mean, are you firing me just because I got the horn back? I've been doing a decent job as a maid lately, haven't I?"
She wasn't wrong. Gabriel had grown increasingly skilled at her maid duties, even matching the performance of the original maids.
After all, she had once been a top student in Heaven—perhaps the recent work had reawakened her natural talents?
"Looks like you're really attached to this salary."
Shin chuckled at Gabriel's nervous expression.
He reached out and ruffled her hair.
"If you want to keep coming, of course you can—just remember to wear the maid outfit."
"R-Really?"
Being patted on the head like that, Gabriel seemed a little flustered.
In truth, when Shin mentioned her attachment to the salary, she suddenly realized that her earlier urgency to keep the job hadn't been about money at all.
Yes, Shin paid her well, and after reclaiming the horn, any future earnings could go straight into her gaming addiction, making her in-game character even stronger.
The old Gabriel would've immediately thought of the cash.
But this time, her first thought had been: "I'll see Shin less often."
She had grown so used to coming to his house every morning and after school that the idea of not seeing him felt... unsettling.
When she thought about it... hadn't Shin somehow become as important to her as her online games?
If Shin knew he now held the same status in Gabriel's heart as her MMO addiction, he'd probably laugh himself to tears.
To be continued…