Chapter 74: Yume Minami Causes a Disaster.
....
The twisted monster that Shijia had become was crushed into a mass of flesh and a notification rang out in Kihara's mind.
[Obtained: Special Weapon — Ebony & Ivory]
[Ebony & Ivory: Semi-automatic dual pistols with unlimited ammo and submachine-gun-level fire rate. Increased damage against non-human enemies.]
Two oversized pistols—one black, one white—appeared in Kihara's hands.
Their sleek design immediately reminded him of piano keys.
"…Wait, aren't these Dante's guns?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"So defeating major villains guarantees good drops? Then why didn't the previous two drop anything…?"
"…Too weak to count as elites?"
Even though he hadn't figured out the loot system yet, Kihara was clearly pleased.
These guns perfectly covered his weakness in ranged combat—and even expanded his Phantom Sword arsenal.
He grinned.
"Now I can finally call myself a true sword saint… and use righteous American-style iaijutsu!"
Then he noticed something interesting.
The originally blank Victorian-style female portrait engraved on the grips… began to change.
With a thought—
Cute portraits of Akane Shinjo and Rikka Takarada appeared.
After tinkering a bit more, the grips started cycling through portraits of all three of his girlfriends.
Kihara admired them happily before holstering the guns.
"…From now on, I'll call you my Waifu Guns."
Just imagining himself fighting with pistols decorated with his girlfriends' faces.
Made an upbeat tune play in his mind.
Morale increased! Power increased!
With my waifus, I have the strength of a hundred men!
"Genos really didn't let me down… when it matters, he delivers."
The reason Kihara had been waiting here in ambush.
Was because Genos noticed that Oni-Snake's corpse still had residual energy and suggested monitoring it.
And sure enough—
When Shijia came sneaking in to investigate, Kihara was already waiting.
Shijia had made a rookie mistake.
He forgot the golden rule:
Killers always return to the scene of the crime.
And so—
Kihara used Flandre Scarlet's ability to crush him at the perfect moment.
Of course, repeatedly using the Gensokyo Divine Invocation Technique came at a cost.
The offering requirement had jumped.
From "be bitten 5 times"
To "be bitten 25 times"
And next time?
625 times.
"…Yeah, that's gonna hurt."
At this point, Kihara had basically completed everything he needed to do in this world.
Once Yume Minami overcame her emotional burden.
He could take her back to Gensokyo.
Her contract had already appeared in his inventory…
On the day they became truly one.
"…Nothing left to do. Time to head home."
Meanwhile — At Home
Yume Minami waved a cat teaser energetically.
"Kitty, come play!"
"Meow."(Don't get carried away just because I'm being a little nice to you, brat.)
Even though she had turned into a cat—
Tatsumaki was still herself.
Of course she wouldn't fall for something as childish as a cat toy.
She sat upright on the table like a noble lady.
Though her emerald eyes couldn't help tracking the toy left and right.
Eventually—
She couldn't take it anymore.
"Meow!!"(I'm just annoyed by this thing—not playing with you!)
After a short chase.
She pinned the toy under her paw and raised her head proudly, like a conqueror.
"Ahhh—so cute!!"
Yume Minami squealed and immediately started taking pictures.
Dozens of them.
After she was satisfied, she leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially:
"Kitty… let's go explore Kihara's room."
"Meow!"(Perfect timing.)
Tatsumaki instantly got interested.
She had been looking for proof that Kihara was the Black Knight.
And now the opportunity came to her.
She walked elegantly toward the room.
Even turning back to urge Yume Minami to hurry.
Kihara usually kept his room locked.
Mostly because he feared this "cat" might abandon all shame and… take revenge on his bed.
"Yep! I knew it—letting cats get used to their owner's scent helps bonding!"
Yume Minami smiled proudly, completely unaware she was about to cause chaos.
She unlocked the door.
Tatsumaki slipped inside instantly.
The room was…
Plain.
Too plain.
A wardrobe.
A bed.
A desk.
That was it.
No posters. No decorations.
"…Meow?!"(What kind of guy lives like this?!)
She jumped onto the desk.
And found only a single photo frame.
"Interested in this?"
Yume Minami smiled nostalgically.
"That was from when I was still… kind of shut off."
In the photo—
She stood stiffly beside Kihara, clearly uncomfortable, keeping her distance.
While he smiled warmly.
"If you like that, let me show you more!"
"Meow?!"(There's more?!)
Yume Minami sat down and opened her gallery.
"This was our first date…"
"This was when I bought pajamas…"
"Oh! This one—I cooked dinner for him for the first time…"
Most of it didn't interest Tatsumaki.
It just felt like being force-fed romance.
But then—
She saw something.
A photo with a black motorcycle in the background.
Her paw instantly pressed down on Yume Minami's hand.
"Meow!!"(That bike… it looks like the Black Knight's!)
Yume Minami laughed.
"Oh, that? That's Kihara's personal ride."
"But after he got targeted by Tatsumaki, he stopped using it much."
"And when he transforms into that knight and rides it—he looks super cool!"
"…!"
Tatsumaki's eyes sharpened.
She turned—
And dashed out of the room.
"Huh? Why did you suddenly lose interest…"
Yume Minami tilted her head.
"I still wanted to show more photos…"
But she didn't think much of it.
Cats were unpredictable anyway.
Smiling softly, she continued scrolling through the photos.
Until she slowly drifted off to sleep at the desk.
A peaceful smile rested on her lips.
...
Thank you for reading.