"Servant, marry into my family, okay?"
Yamada Elf's voice was full of anticipation. Her hands tightly hugged Sora's neck, whispering in his ear:
"My mom is very rich. As long as Servant marries into my family, lifting a finger would be enough to help your aunt pay off her loan."
"I'm sorry, I refuse."
Sora didn't hesitate, straightforwardly rejecting Elf's invitation to marry into her family.
Although the little rich lady was reasonably cute, marrying into her family certainly wasn't something Elf herself could decide.
Furthermore, he had a promising future. His goal was to become a national literary master, there was no need to live off a woman.
"You actually didn't even hesitate." Yamada Elf puffed up her cheeks unhappily. She lightly bit Sora's ear, giving a tsundere hmph. "Idiot Servant, if it wasn't because you appeared on the roof like a hero, I wouldn't have given you the chance to marry into my family."
"It really is because of my oppai, isn't it?"
"Refusing to marry into my family because my oppai are small... Servant, you perverted oppai-lover!"
"..."
"I'm not that kind of person." Sora's face was full of righteousness. "Speak with evidence, don't slander my innocence."
"Servant is clearly that kind of person." Yamada Elf's tone was resentful. "That night soaking in the hot spring, when Servant saw Mahiru's big oppai, your nostrils flared."
You've got to be kidding me. That night soaking in the hot spring, the yukata Mahiru wore was wrapped tight, she wasn't exposed at all, alright!
Talking as they walked forward, Sora carried Yamada Elf, accompanied by several cats and dogs, and soon arrived at the school gate. After spending some effort, he finally managed to carry the blonde loli over the wall.
Sora's clothes were disheveled right now, making it inconvenient to take a taxi. Plus, he was leading a group of cats and dogs, so he had no choice but to carry Yamada Elf and walk home step by step. Fortunately, Elf had recovered her spirit by now. She chattered incessantly along the way, and with the Cat and Dog Special Task Force surrounding them, it wasn't boring.
The journey was silent.
At exactly 10:00 PM, Sora navigated through the streets and alleys, finally carrying Elf back home.
"Sora, you're back!"
"Is Elf alright?"
Under the bright streetlights, two girls were waiting expectantly at the door. It was none other than Gokou Ruri and Angel-sama.
The lights on the second floor were also on, the curtains pulled back, and a silver-haired loli was peeking out from behind the window. It was Sagiri.
Seeing Kuroneko, the stray cats and dogs following Sora immediately ran up to Gokou Ruri, trying to claim credit and curry favor.
"Meow~"
"Woof woof woof."
For a moment, cats and dogs chorused together, creating quite a lively scene.
"Finally back."
Sora exhaled softly and set down the blonde loli from his back.
Seeing Sora's distinctly contoured eight-pack abs, both Mahiru and Ruri's pretty faces flushed slightly, and they shyly averted their gazes.
"Is Elf hurt anywhere?" Angel-sama looked at Yamada Elf with concern, her voice gentle. "Should we go to the hospital for a check-up?"
"No need, it's just a slight cold..."
Yamada Elf hurriedly shook her head.
"Go home and take a hot bath, then take some cold medicine." Ruri crossed her arms over her chest. "If you still feel unwell tomorrow, then go to the hospital."
"You've worked hard today, Elf." Mahiru's voice was soft. "Are you hungry? I saved some dinner for you, it's in the fridge."
Hearing this, Yamada Elf clutched her stomach, her expression pitiful. "I am indeed very hungry."
"Then I'll go heat up the dinner in the microwave." Angel-sama turned and walked into the house. "The bathwater is already drawn, Elf, go take a hot bath first."
"..."
Pushing the door and entering the house.
A silver-haired loli ran downstairs with a thump thump thump, her voice excited:
"Elf, are you okay?"
"Of course I'm fine." Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, proudly lifting her chin. The girl's chunibyo soul burned brightly once more. "Today was just a trivial adventure in my great life."
"But I heard Nii-san say you were crying back then."
"N-Nonsense! I wasn't crying!"
"Take off your clothes, let me check your body."
"Ehhhhh?"
"Maybe you're injured but you don't even know it."
"That's completely impossible!"
"..."
Sora stood in the entryway without going further inside, instead looking toward Angel-sama:
"Mahiru, please fetch me a shirt."
He was currently still bare-chested; it was naturally necessary to put some clothes on.
"Okay, please wait a moment, Sora-kun."
Mahiru responded softly and headed up to the second floor.
In the beginning, everyone merely shared meals together. But at some point, Angel-sama quietly took over managing Sora's life—cleaning, organizing clothes, tidying bookshelves—and now naturally went in and out of Sora's room.
Before long, Mahiru came down carrying a white shirt and a trench coat jacket.
"It's getting quite chilly outside, Sora-kun, put on an extra layer, be careful not to catch a cold."
"Thank you, Mahiru." Sora took the shirt, quickly put it on, and turned to look at Kuroneko beside him.
"Ruri and I will go out first to feed the Cat and Dog Special Task Force."
He had previously promised the stray cats and dogs that as long as they found the missing Elf, he would give them another meal of canned food as a reward. A promise made must be kept; he couldn't ruin the reputation of the ultimate bounty hunter.
Hearing Sora call her by her first name, Ruri's pretty face flushed slightly, and she shyly lowered her head to look at her toes.
Even though it was just an ordinary calling of her name, for Ruri, it felt inexplicably shameful.
The two went outside and began feeding the stray cats and dogs.
Every cat and dog got a can of food, so the atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious, without any fighting.
"It's already past 10:00 PM. Ruri, do you want to stay over tonight?"
Sora opened the last can of food and turned to look at the black-haired girl beside him.
"Eh?"
Ruri widened her beautiful eyes, her pretty face quickly flushing red.
"Don't misunderstand." Sora explained. "If you stay over, you can sleep with Mahiru or Elf, not with me."
"I-I know..." Ruri shyly averted her gaze and responded in a small voice, "I still have a trial of destiny to complete, so I should head home."
That was a lie.
Of course there was no [Trial of Destiny]. It was just that Ruri was super prone to struggling to sleep in unfamiliar beds.
Thinking back to that night at the hot spring inn, when her body was clearly exhausted but her mind was super alert, and she couldn't fall asleep no matter what, Ruri still felt lingering fear.
I have to go home!
If I choose to stay over, no matter whose house it's in, I definitely still won't be able to fall asleep, right?
Also, when I was on the phone earlier, Mom heard me talking to Sora. If I don't go back tonight, she'll definitely misunderstand again... I absolutely don't want to be misunderstood by Mom!
"Understood." Sora nodded slightly. "I'll walk you back later."
"There's no need..."
Ruri softly declined.
"It's already very late, and the journey back alone is very far. I really can't be at ease." Sora complained, "I just went through the trouble of finding Elf, I don't want to hear news of you getting lost too."
"I wouldn't get lost..."
However, considering that the night was deep and it was indeed a bit scary to go back alone, Ruri hesitated for a moment before finally softly agreeing.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Sora."