Chapter 19: The Peculiar Nueno Couple
Hikigaya felt that his life was finally returning to normal.
Opening the shop with enthusiasm during the day, and practicing bed arts with enthusiasm at night, Hikigaya was moved to be living such a fulfilling life in his new home.
Mariya Yuri came because of official business with the committee. Out of gratitude for Hikigaya's repeated assistance, she traveled with Ena since they were going the same way, and took the opportunity to congratulate Hikigaya on opening his shop.
Hikigaya graciously accepted her blessing and sincerely invited her to visit anytime she had the chance.
As for Yukino, she naturally came for classes. As a senpai Tokyo University student, she kindly agreed to Hikigaya's requests to accompany Komachi to and from class and to tutor her studies.
She also mentioned that some of their former classmates had also been admitted to Tokyo University.
Hikigaya was very pleased with this and asked Yukino to help him invite their old classmates to visit when they had time.
However, this weekend was out, as he needed to develop a client, and a very high-quality one at that.
Early on Sunday morning, after finding the factory location online—the one Nueno Meisuke had mentioned to Kyōko and the students in the staff room—he headed out.
The factory was located in a prefecture bordering Tokyo, which was a bit far.
So, after transforming into the wind and ascending to the sea of clouds, Hikigaya changed his physical essence to lightning, then used the Eye of Horus to open up a navigation route.
'These eyes are truly useful...'
The speed of lightning is indeed faster than the wind, and with the Eye of Horus, Hikigaya couldn't get lost. When he arrived above the factory, Nueno Meisuke and his students had not yet arrived.
The top of the factory complex bore a sign reading "Snow Spirit Foods" along with a snowman logo. However, the production factory itself only occupied a small portion; a larger part of the facility was dedicated to plantation grounds. It seemed the business operated on a vertical integration model, growing their own raw materials before deep processing them.
Instead of a factory, the place looked more like a farm.
Hikigaya floated in the sky for a while, finally seeing Nueno Meisuke and his students, who were chattering as they walked through the plantations toward the factory building.
Just as he was about to descend, he sensed an abnormal flow in the air far away.
It was a helicopter, bearing the Snow Spirit Foods logo on its fuselage.
The helicopter quickly flew past Hikigaya and descended toward the factory building.
At this moment, Nueno Meisuke was about to lead his students inside, following a welcoming manager.
"Wait a moment." Even though the helicopter hadn't landed yet and the spinning rotor blades were deafening, the voice was still clear as it called out to Nueno Meisuke.
It's a woman's voice.
Hikigaya, who had already landed, looked towards the helicopter and saw the woman sitting inside.
Blue hair, graceful figure, and beautiful features—exactly the same as in the magazine.
Demon Claw Nube, your wife is here.
Are you sure you don't want to fire off a celebratory cannon for the occasion?
"I'll take them in myself," the Snow Woman said to her employee as she stepped out of the helicopter, smoothing her hair. Hikigaya clearly saw the employee lower his head awkwardly and squeeze his legs together—heaven help him, the Snow Woman hadn't even flirted with him.
It can only be said that yokai like the Snow Woman naturally present themselves as beautiful and alluring women, possessing a strong attraction for human males.
At least Hikigaya thought the Snow Woman's gesture of smoothing her hair was extremely captivating and seductive.
Nueno-ossan, you're really lucky. Of course, your approach was quite monstrous, going after the Snow Woman when she was still a loli.
You are even scarier than a regular loli-con—you're a Yokai-Loli-Con!
"Yukime!" Kyōko was the first to shout happily.
However, she quickly realized that the Snow Woman's changes went beyond just starting a corporation; her profound cleavage almost blinded Kyōko.
Consequently, the admiration in Kyōko's eyes intensified.
Hikigaya began to consider that he should perhaps create a product related to breast enlargement exercises.
Kyōko! She looks so pitiful!!!
Returning a gentle smile to Kyōko, the Snow Woman walked a few steps in front of Nueno Meisuke and stopped.
Her eyes were beautiful—vibrant and charming. The intense love in her eyes was completely undisguised, filled with longing and excitement.
Just by looking at Nueno Meisuke, moisture rapidly welled up in her eyes, gathering as tears, but they would turn into ice shards and dissipate before they could fall.
"It's been a long time, Teacher," the Snow Woman said with a forced laugh, suppressing her emotions, trying to appear calm.
Only... her eyes completely betrayed her.
Hikigaya really wanted to retort—Are you actually planning to do the deed with your husband right here?
But he was also very curious: what was the deal with "It's been a long time"? Based on the Snow Woman's reaction, there were absolutely no emotional problems.
'Could it be... Nueno Meisuke, are you unable to satisfy your wife, so you ran away to live alone?'
Hikigaya immediately regretted not having prepared a case of Pills of Marital Bliss. That was his specialty.
Unlike the Snow Woman, Nueno Meisuke's reaction was somewhat baffling.
He turned his head away and whispered, "Didn't I tell you not to come?"
The Snow Woman seemed to have anticipated this. She turned to Kyōko.
"Kyōko is also a beautiful, blossoming young lady now."
"Not at all. I'm nowhere near as good as Miss Yukime." Kyōko gazed enviously at the absolutely mountainous peaks on the Snow Woman's chest. For a moment, she even forgot to pay attention to Nueno Meisuke's discomfort.
"Hey." Nueno Meisuke seemed anxious. He reached out to grab the Snow Woman but hesitated, due to some consideration, and did not grasp her.
Seizing this opportunity, the Snow Woman had already turned, taken the students' hands, and walked into the factory gate, smiling and saying, "Well then, I'll show everyone around."
Nueno Meisuke could only give up on calling out to her again, but his expression grew even worse, leaving Kyōko behind him completely puzzled and confused.
Hikigaya, however, felt that he had perhaps figured out the reason.
The Snow Woman is beautiful and alluring; one look from her can make a man drop his pants. That's the surface.
But the Snow Woman's body is becoming fragile.
The stability of a yokai's form comes from the stability of its spirit, and the Snow Woman's spirit is currently very unstable.
Something has been chronically harming her spirit.
Forget about having children; the problem now is survival.
Judging by the aura on the Snow Woman, her body only carries the aura left by Nueno Meisuke, and it is very strong.
But this is exactly the opposite of the information Hikigaya received from Tamamo-no-Mae.
According to Tamamo-no-Mae, the difficulty of union between humans and yokai lies in the yokai's spiritual power eroding the human body after long-term cohabitation.
Yet the Snow Woman looks like the one being eroded.
It seems to be related to Nueno Meisuke's mutated incantation power. The power of mythology is not something to be borne lightly.
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