Chapter 807: Ghost! It's a Ghost! We've Entered a Ghost's Lair!
Clutching her slightly bulging stomach, Dekomori Sanae let out a highly unladylike, utterly satisfied burp. She slumped back into the plush cushions of the sofa, her massive blonde twin-tails splaying out across the upholstery like golden ropes, completely unconcerned with her image.
"So delicious... but I am completely stuffed, desu~"
Shichimiya Satone and Tsuyuri Kumin were in similar states of food-induced bliss. Kumin was already nodding off, a half-eaten macaron still resting on her napkin, while Satone hummed a happy little tune, kicking her legs back and forth.
Only Nibutani Shinka remained tense. A deeply perplexing question gnawed at her mind, completely ruining her appetite for the exquisite desserts laid out before them.
"As long as you all enjoyed it," Touka replied, her tone softening. She had a genuinely good impression of Rikka's friends. They were a bit eccentric, sure, but they were sincere and entirely unpretentious.
"Holy Priestess!" Rikka suddenly declared, grabbing onto Touka's sleeve and shaking it with dramatic urgency. "I require the sweet golden fruit! Please, harvest it for me from the branches of the World Tree!"
To anyone else, it was a string of absolute nonsense. But Touka had lived with her younger sister's delusions for years. She fluently translated the chuunibyou dialect in her head: Sis, I want to eat some fruit.
"Alright, alright. I will go cut some fruit for you," Touka said, letting out a fond sigh. She reached out, affectionately ruffling Rikka's dark hair before turning on her heel and heading toward the kitchen.
The moment Touka was out of earshot, Nibutani leaned forward, her brow furrowed in deep suspicion. "Rikka," she whispered urgently. "Did your sister know we were coming over today? Did you tell her in advance?"
Rikka blinked her visible eye, looking entirely innocent. "No. I did not inform the Holy Priestess of our arrival."
Nibutani's jaw went slack. Her mouth fell open in sheer astonishment, her face draining of color as if she had just witnessed a paranormal event. Her horrified expression quickly drew the attention of the others.
Kumin tilted her head, blinking sleepily. "Mori Summer, is there a problem with that?"
Dekomori crossed her arms, nodding in agreement with Kumin. "There is absolutely no problem, desu."
Nibutani slowly turned her head, her gaze shifting cautiously toward Ren. He sat nearby, entirely relaxed, a faint, knowing smirk playing on his lips. He could read her thoughts as clearly as a printed book.
"If you have a question, just ask it directly," Ren offered, gesturing casually with one hand.
Encouraged by his relaxed demeanor, Nibutani swallowed hard. She leaned in closer to the girls, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Think about it," she began, her eyes darting around the room. "We were just talking about wanting desserts outside. Then, the moment we step in, Rikka's sister magically appears with a massive spread of freshly baked, highly complex pastries. Do you not find that incredibly strange?"
Her words hung in the air. The gears finally started turning in the heads of the other girls. They blinked, replaying the events leading up to their arrival at the grand villa.
Wait a minute... she was right.
"Oh, you are right," Kumin murmured, suddenly looking a bit more awake. "How exactly did Rikka's sister manage to do that?"
"Could it be... magic? Did she foresee the future?" Satone guessed, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of real-world sorcery.
"Hmph, hmph!" Rikka puffed out her chest, placing her hands on her hips and raising her chin with immense pride. "Although the Holy Priestess is not quite as powerful as my Tyrant's Eye, peering into the threads of the future is mere child's play for her!"
In reality, Rikka was not trying to provide a logical explanation for the bizarre timing. The atmosphere simply felt right for a dramatic chuunibyou declaration, so she leaned into it.
Unfortunately, someone in the room took her words as absolute gospel.
"That is so amazing, desu!" Dekomori gasped, her eyes shining like stars. She lunged forward, grabbing both of Rikka's hands in a tight grip. "Can the Holy Priestess teach me this power?!"
"Hmm," Rikka closed her visible eye, adopting a posture of deep contemplation. "I shall have to consider it."
Watching this ridiculous exchange unfold, Nibutani felt a massive headache coming on. Imaginary black lines practically dropped down her forehead. She was trying to point out a genuinely eerie, potentially terrifying anomaly, and these idiots were using it as an excuse to indulge in their delusions!
Could they not just have one normal, rational conversation?!
Ren watched Nibutani's internal suffering from the sidelines. Seeing the self-proclaimed 'normal' girl getting dragged down by a room full of chuunibyou was highly entertaining. He let out a soft chuckle, deciding to stir the pot a little more.
"So, what exactly do you think is wrong with Touka?" Ren asked, his voice smooth and casual.
Nibutani shifted uncomfortably, awkwardly poking her index fingers together. "It just... it feels completely impossible to prepare that many different, high-quality desserts in such a ridiculously short amount of time."
"Perhaps," Ren replied, his smirk widening just a fraction. "As Rikka suggested, it really is magic."
"Magic?!" Nibutani froze. Her breath hitched.
Wait. Rikka had mentioned the word 'magic' when they were talking outside the gates. But... Ren had not been there. He had been inside the house the entire time.
"How did you know we talked about that?!" Nibutani gasped, her voice cracking. Every hair on her arms stood on end. She instinctively pulled her knees to her chest, huddling into a tight ball like a frightened kitten cornered by a predator.
Her mind began racing, piecing together every single bizarre detail she had ignored until now.
First, there was this enormous, impossibly luxurious villa estate sitting right in the middle of the city—yet no one outside seemed to notice it existed.
Second, the completely absurd interior of the estate. They had walked past areas where spring, summer, autumn, and winter existed simultaneously. There was a literal white-sand beach down one hallway and a vibrant red maple forest down another!
Then came the sudden, silent appearance of Ren and Touka, and their inexplicable knowledge of a private conversation held far beyond the front gates.
Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.
Ghosts? Yokai? A haunted mansion dimension?!
Her imagination ran wild, flooding her brain with terrifying supernatural scenarios. She stared at Ren, then at the exquisitely detailed, impossibly perfect room around them. What had previously looked like a paradise now felt like a beautifully decorated trap.
Seeing her trembling form, Ren's playful side took over completely. Without making a single sound, he slipped from his seat. In the blink of an eye, he appeared directly behind the terrified girl.
"Mori Summer," Ren whispered softly, his voice right next to her ear. "You are trembling. Are you feeling cold?"
As he spoke, he deliberately exhaled a breath of cool air that brushed directly against the sensitive skin of her neck.
A violent chill shot up Nibutani's back, traveling from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.
"KYAAAAAH!" She let out a blood-curdling scream, leaping off the sofa as if she had been electrocuted.
Her sudden, frantic movement instantly derailed the chuunibyou roleplay happening across the room.
"Rikka!" Nibutani shrieked, her legs turning to absolute jelly from her own spiraling paranoia. She scrambled behind the smaller girl, using Rikka as a human shield while pointing a violently trembling finger at Ren. "Your... your brother and sister are ghosts!!!"
"Ghosts?" Dekomori blinked, scratching her blonde head in genuine confusion. "Mori Summer, what on earth are you talking about, desu?"
"Are you all blind?! Did you not notice?!" Nibutani yelled, her voice bordering on hysterical. "Ever since we stepped foot inside this villa, impossible things have been happening everywhere!"
Without pausing for breath, she frantically rattled off every single terrifying discovery she had just made—the unnatural biomes, the impossible timing, the mind-reading. Combined with her pale face, trembling limbs, and sheer panic, her words carried a heavy, infectious weight. Even the girls who had been completely oblivious a moment ago suddenly felt a deep, creeping dread settling over the room.
"Eh?!!!" Satone, Dekomori, and Kumin squeaked in unison.
Predictably, the panic spread like wildfire. The three of them immediately scrambled together, hugging each other tightly as they looked around the luxurious living room with wide, fearful eyes.
Right at the peak of their terror, Rikka made her move.
She leaped up, planting her feet firmly on the sofa cushions. Reaching into the unknown depths of her skirt, she whipped out her signature black frilly umbrella—the Schwarz Sechs Prototype MkII. With a dramatic flourish, she snapped it open and pointed the tip directly at Ren's chest. Her visible eye narrowed, burning with absolute, unyielding intensity.
"Foul evil spirits!" Rikka declared, her voice echoing with theatrical authority. "Surrender at once to the overwhelming might of the Tyrant's Eye!"
Nibutani's heart pounded against her ribs. Her spirit was completely shaken.
Her terrifying hypothesis had just been confirmed! Ren really was a vengeful ghost! After all, even his own sister was drawing her weapon to exorcise him!
Of course, in reality, Rikka was simply treating the entire situation as a highly immersive role-playing game. She was a terminal chuunibyou. If Nibutani attempted to use standard human logic to interpret Rikka's actions at this exact moment, she was guaranteed to drive herself straight off a mental cliff.
Ren, for his part, did not mind this development in the slightest. In fact, terrifying a group of highly imaginative teenagers was turning out to be the highlight of his afternoon.
Looking past the tip of the umbrella, he locked eyes with Nibutani, who was still cowering behind Rikka. Slowly, deliberately, Ren allowed a dark, mysterious, and deeply eerie smile to stretch across his face.
To Nibutani's panicked senses, the very environment seemed to react to his expression. Whether it was a trick of the light or her own hyperactive imagination, the warm, inviting atmosphere of the living room suddenly felt suffocatingly cold and sinister.
"Nibutani Shinka," Ren asked, his voice dropping an octave, echoing with a hollow, spectral resonance. "Have you ever stopped to consider a certain logical detail? I am Rikka's older brother."
He took a slow, measured step forward.
"If I am a ghost... what exactly do you think Rikka is?"
The words hit Nibutani like a physical blow. Her entire body stiffened abruptly, turning rigid as a board.
Right on cue, Rikka tilted her head downward, casting a dark shadow over her face.
"Hehehehe..." Rikka giggled, perfectly matching Ren's sinister tone with a genuinely creepy, echoing laugh.
It was over.
Nibutani's mind completely flatlined. Her brain shut down under the sheer weight of the horror. It was all a conspiracy. They had willingly walked straight into a ghost's lair, and there was no escape.
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