Chapter 53: Remielle: How Could I Possibly Freeze You... (Patreon)

"I can't reach Nangong, Aria, and Sunna. They clearly said they'd be back for lunch, but I've waited until now and there's still no sign of them. They said they went out to play this morning, but I have no idea where they are. What if something happened to them?"

As she spoke, worry deepened across Cecilia's face.

"Don't talk nonsense. Those three girls know their limits, and they're not some fragile little things who can't fend for themselves. Why would anything happen to them? Maybe something just held them up."

"But even if something held them up, wouldn't their phones still work?"

Cecilia kept spooking herself, while Remielle tried her best to calm her down.

Then she glanced at Musachi and shot him a look. The two of them stepped outside together.

"What's going on?"

Musachi glanced at Cecilia, who sat inside looking anxious, and asked.

"I don't know either. Cecilia came looking for Sunna and the others, and when she found they weren't here, she panicked."

Remielle sighed helplessly.

"Do you have any idea where they might be? You're close with them."

Musachi frowned.

"I have a few guesses, though I can't promise they're right."

Remielle mulled it over, one finger propped against her chin.

"I do know that when they're short on cash, they sometimes go down into the Hollow to take on jobs. If we can't reach them now, there's a good chance they went into the Hollow together. Though normally, even when they sneak down there, they should be back by now."

"What about their Inter-Knot accounts? Do you know them?" Musachi asked.

"I do." Remielle pulled up Sunna and the others' Inter-Knot accounts on her phone and handed it straight to Musachi.

"What are you going to do? Ask around through a middleman?" Remielle asked, a note of worry in her voice as she watched Musachi head back into the store.

Wouldn't that be too slow?

"If I let a middleman ask around, we probably won't have solid news even by tonight." Musachi pursed his lips and walked over to the computer.

Then he shot Remielle a look and tilted his chin toward Cecilia, signaling her to go comfort the woman.

Seeing this, Remielle nodded.

"360, help me find information on these three Inter-Knot accounts. Check if they've taken any jobs on the Inter-Knot recently," Musachi said to his Intelligent Construct computer butler.

[Understood, Master. Infiltrating the Inter-Knot servers now, searching by keyword.]

Meanwhile, Cecilia watched Remielle approach and asked anxiously, "How is it, Remielle? Any word on Sunna and the others?"

Remielle smiled.

"Don't worry, Cecilia. Musachi's already started reaching out to some friends. He might look unreliable most of the time, but he's actually quite capable. Relax, they'll be fine."

Cecilia nodded at that.

Still, her brow stayed knotted tight.

To her, the three girls were like her own daughters. And when a daughter goes missing, a mother naturally worries.

At the same time, Cecilia glanced over at Musachi.

It seemed this bookstore owner had some other hidden identity.

Then again, thinking about it, that wasn't so strange.

[Redirecting interface now.]

Soon, 360 found the key information and pulled up the Inter-Knot page to the most recent post the three girls had commented on.

[Bailey Tower Exploration Job — searching for a lost item, three reliable Agents needed.]

[As the title says, I used to work at Bailey Tower, but I moved out after it was swallowed by the Hollow. I haven't gone back in all these years. But according to what I remember, my late fiancée's keepsake is still in an office on the mid-level floors. Danger level is moderate. Looking for a few Agents.]

[Another item-retrieval job? I swear I'll never take one of these again in my life. It's so damn annoying — whether you find it or not is pure luck. I'd rather go pick a fight with an Ethereal!]

[Seriously, it's been so many years already, who knows if it's even still there, and it takes forever to search...]

[There's no way I'm going to Bailey Tower. I heard the place has been haunted lately... Last time I went, I kept hearing these creepy sounds every so often. Scared me half to death.]

Clearly, most Proxies and Agents wanted nothing to do with this job. But then Musachi's eyes landed on Nangong's Inter-Knot account ID.

[This job — we took it.]

"Looks like it's here, then..."

Musachi said, rising to his feet.

Compared to other Hollows, Bailey Tower had a bad reputation among ordinary people due to its eerie, enclosed environment and the persistent rumors of hauntings. In truth, though, its actual danger level inside the Hollow wasn't especially high, and the whole building sat near the Hollow's outer edge.

Seeing this, Musachi felt a measure of relief.

Even if Sunna and the others had gotten lost in there by accident, they wouldn't be in serious danger for a while yet.

Musachi had never said so outright, but he could tell the three girls' combat ability was actually quite solid, and their Ether compatibility was high too — especially Aria's. As an Intelligent Construct, keeping the other two safe inside the Hollow shouldn't be a problem for her.

"Did you find them?"

Cecilia looked at Musachi, her eyes full of hope.

"I have a rough idea where they are. Go on home, Cecilia. Once I find them, I'll bring them straight to your place."

Musachi patted her shoulder reassuringly as he spoke.

"Don't worry. I'll bring them back."

Hearing Musachi's promise, Cecilia looked noticeably calmer. She nodded.

"Thank you, Musachi. I'll go home and wait for your good news."

Watching her leave, Musachi turned to go himself — but Remielle called out to stop him.

"Wait a second."

"What is it?"

"I'm coming with you."

Remielle explained.

"As a Proxy, you'll need an Agent, won't you? So just take me along."

With that, Remielle dashed straight upstairs.

She could act as an Agent too?

A flicker of doubt crossed Musachi's mind, but he pushed it down and waited for her.

Remielle didn't keep him waiting long. She came back down soon after, dressed in a completely different outfit.

Gone was her earlier pure-white, knight-like attire. Now she wore a snug black outfit, its fitted cut pressing so tightly against her chest that the soft curves nearly spilled over the edges.

Below, her white stockings had given way to black ones trimmed with lace.

Over her face, she'd donned a sheer black mask.

"Why the outfit change?"

Musachi raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if we're heading into the Hollow to do something illegal, I should come prepared. Wouldn't want to expose my identity so easily, would I?"

Remielle said with a light laugh.

After that, they caught a cab toward Bailey Tower.

Musachi frowned faintly at that.

He hadn't thought much of it before, but having to call a cab every time he went out was getting to be a real hassle. Maybe he really should consider buying a car...

Before long, Musachi and Remielle arrived at the outer edge of Bailey Tower.

"Once we're inside, stay close behind me, Mister Manager, or you might get hurt by an Ethereal."

Remie walked ahead of Musachi, hands clasped behind her back, tossing the words over her shoulder as she went.

"I didn't expect you to actually be an Agent."

Musachi paid her teasing no mind, sounding more curious than anything.

He'd known Remielle for a long time now, and she'd always come across as an ordinary person with no real combat ability. Yet today, dressed like this, she looked far more like an Agent.

"Can't help it. Being an Agent is illegal work, after all. And I'm a law-abiding citizen, so naturally I have to keep my identity hidden."

Remielle said playfully as she walked.

"But from here on, it's all on you, Lord Proxy. Whether we find the three girls or not depends entirely on you — you're the one leading the way, after all."

"Relax. I've already found their job listing. Once I narrow down the general area, the rest should be easy."

"And what if they accidentally wandered into another Ether Singularity?"

Remielle asked, watching him with curiosity.

"Inside a Hollow, everything leaves a trace. Even entering an Ether Singularity leaves marks on the surrounding space. Finding them won't be hard."

Musachi said, quickening his pace even as his gaze drifted to Remielle's wings.

"Though... what's going on with the color of your wings?"

He eyed her wings, now entirely black, with some curiosity.

"Oh, this?"

Remielle reached over and stroked the feathers beside her, giving them a couple of shakes.

Musachi could tell it wasn't dye.

"It's simple — just control the flow of Ether. Coloring them is nothing."

Remielle smiled as she withdrew the Ether coating her wings. In an instant, the once-black feathers turned back to their former pure white.

But she only demonstrated it briefly before letting the wings turn black once more.

Or rather, a black shot through with dazzling color.

Under Bailey Tower's dim lighting, the seemingly pure black feathers gave off a shimmering, iridescent sheen.

"This is..."

Musachi suddenly stopped mid-stride.

"What's wrong?"

Remielle looked over at him.

Then she saw him crouch down and pick up a small metal ornament from the ground.

It was a black cat-ear hairpin with a pink pattern.

"Isn't this Sunna's hairpin?"

Musachi turned to Remielle.

He only vaguely recognized it, but Remielle spent far more time with the three girls and would surely know for sure.

"That's right, it's Sunna's. She loves this hairpin — she's always wearing it."

Musachi smiled and nodded.

"They must be nearby, then. This is still a fairly outer region of the Hollow — as long as they were careful not to head deeper in, they should be fine."

Musachi smiled.

The hairpin was still in fairly good shape, with no real damage — it looked like it had fallen off while they were running.

"Then let's hurry and look around. They might really be close by."

Remielle urged.

"Mm."

Musachi nodded, glanced around once, and pressed forward.

"This job should have had a Proxy attached, right? By rights, out here at the edge of Bailey Tower, any Proxy with a decent skill level shouldn't have gotten lost."

Musachi couldn't shake a nagging confusion as he walked.

Despite its unsavory rumors, Bailey Tower's overall danger level really wasn't that high.

"Who knows. Maybe they got separated from their Proxy?"

Remielle said, scanning the surroundings as she walked to make sure no Ethereal lurked in the shadows.

That was the one bad thing about Bailey Tower — enclosed spaces and scarce lighting. Even though it wasn't deep inside the Hollow, its complicated layout meant most Proxies avoided the place.

In an open Hollow environment, all you had to watch for was Ethereals. But in an enclosed space like this, there was a lot more to consider.

"There's blood here."

Remielle pointed ahead.

"It's still fresh, hasn't darkened yet. This must have happened recently."

Musachi glanced at it, but neither he nor Remielle showed a trace of alarm.

"Looks like the Proxy really did get separated, then."

Both their eyes landed at the same moment on a scrap of torn clothing up ahead.

It clearly wasn't from Sunna or the others' clothes.

Still, the blood was good news in a way — it meant they couldn't be too far from Sunna.

The two of them followed the trail of blood onward.

Sure enough, once they got further in, the bloodstains grew thicker.

At the same time, Musachi and Remielle came across three severed fingers.

Judging by their thickness, they must have belonged to an adult man.

Neither of their expressions changed. Even in this apocalyptic age, ordinary people still reacted to corpses somewhat, but never with the shock and panic people showed in peacetime.

If even ordinary people had grown used to it, then these two, seasoned by constant violence, were unfazed as a matter of course.

Sure enough, around a corner, Musachi and Remielle found a heavy pool of blood along with drag marks on the floor.

The smell of blood had grown thick in the air.

Soon, Musachi and Remielle spotted the adult man who had been dragged to the end of the corridor.

And beside his body — an Ethereal.

Flash Bro.

The instant Musachi and Remie recognized it, the Flash Bro turned its head toward them.

An Ethereal had no visible eyes, but both Musachi and Remielle could sense it had locked onto them.

"Watch out!"

The next instant, the Ethereal vanished.

Not because its speed had outrun their eyes, but because it had simply slipped into the darkness and used the shadows to hide its form.

By the time it reappeared, it was already right beside them.

The bow-blade in its hand swung down in a vicious arc.

Had the blow landed, Musachi and Remielle might well have ended up missing a few parts.

But an Ethereal that would terrify any ordinary person looked, to Musachi and Remielle, like nothing more than a baby chick.

No threat at all.

Just as the blade was about to fall, Remielle flicked her wrist, sending the feather she held flying.

In an instant, the feather's quill struck the Ethereal's core.

Visibly, the Ethereal's movements froze in place.

Then—

—it slowly lost all its color midair, turning into something like a statue.

"What..."

Musachi's eyes went wide as he stared at the scene in astonishment.

"My ability lets me bring the Ether activity inside an Ethereal down to nearly zero — sort of like a time-stop effect."

Remielle said, pinching another feather between her fingers and waving it in front of Musachi, a hint of pride in her eyes.

As far as Remielle was concerned, showing off power like this surely had Musachi ready to kneel in awe.

What?! My ordinary, unremarkable beauty of a shop clerk is secretly a peerless master?!

Wasn't this exactly the kind of thing that happened in light novels?

But when Remielle looked into Musachi's eyes, she did catch an emotion there — though it wasn't shock at her power, or anything like admiration.

It was — envy.

Naked, undisguised envy!

"That's amazing. Fancy having such a powerful ability."

Musachi stared at Remielle's feather with envy, practically drooling.

"Hmph, now you know how amazing I am, huh?"

Neither of them paid the corpse lying in the corner any mind. They kept searching elsewhere, and Remielle kept crowing proudly as they walked.

"It really is impressive. But an ability that powerful, and you just use it to freeze Ethereals?"

Musachi said, looking at her with faint disbelief.

"What do you mean, just use it to freeze Ethereals? Does this ability have some other use I don't know about?"

Remielle frowned in confusion at his words. She'd been using her own ability for years now — why did Musachi make it sound like she didn't know how to use it properly?

"If I had this ability..."

Musachi's gaze swept slowly over Remielle, dark with meaning.

"What would you do with it?"

The light was too dim for Remielle to catch the subtle look crossing his face.

"I'd definitely freeze you in place, then draw a big fat turtle on your face — with a marker that never washes off."

Musachi said, grinning.

A moment later, Remielle punched him — hard.

"Quit fooling around and get to work. If we don't find the three of them soon, Cecilia's going to worry herself sick!"

Remielle huffed and strode ahead.

Spotting two Ethereals charging around the corner, she flicked out two feathers without a second thought. In an instant, both snarling, clawing creatures turned to statues, frozen where they stood.

A thought crossed Musachi's mind as they passed the strangely colorless Ethereals scattered along their route.

If an ordinary person had to walk through a crowd of things like this, how terrifying would that be?

It was basically like wandering through Silent Hill surrounded by a horde of snarling nurses.

No telling if any of these Ethereals might suddenly spring back to life...

"Nangong, Aria, we're not going to be stuck here forever, are we? Waaah, we haven't even debuted yet! Don't tell me we're going to turn into Ethereals! I don't want that, waaah."

In the dim surroundings, Sunna clutched her electronic pet cat, Bubblegum, tightly to her chest, wailing at Nangong and Aria beside her.

"Who knows, Sunna. Have you heard the legend about Bailey Tower?"

Nangong glanced at Sunna and blinked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Legend?"

"That's right. Legend has it that when Bailey Tower was swallowed by the Hollow, there was a pair of sisters inside who loved to dance ballet. The Hollow's corrosion turned them into Ethereals — but unlike normal Ethereals, they never stopped dancing, even after the change. So if you ever run into a figure eerily dancing ballet in Bailey Tower, don't even think about it — just run!"

"Waaah... stop talking, that's so scary. And when we got separated from our Proxy, I think I actually heard something that sounded like ballet music..."

"It's fine, Sunna. If we die and turn into Ethereals too, maybe we'll become three idol Ethereals~ We could greet people with one of our dance routines first."

"That's even scarier, okay?!"

Sunna pictured the scene, and no matter how she looked at it, something about it felt indescribably eerie.

"Okay, okay, Nangong, quit scaring Sunna. She's already such a scaredy-cat..."

Aria sighed beside them, looking at the mischievous Nangong.

"Can't help it. Sunna's just so cute when she's scared, hehe. I can't resist teasing her a little~"

"Nangong! You're the worst! I hate you the most!"

Sunna shouted, glaring at the sly grin on Nangong's face.

Still, all the back-and-forth between Nangong and Sunna had eased a good deal of her fear.

"It's all that Proxy's fault... he just had to say this place was haunted, and then he got so scared he wandered off and lost us. I told him he'd be fine sticking with us. Now look — he's gone missing, and who knows if he ran off or actually vanished..."

Watching a Tyrfing charge at them from the side, Nangong slammed it into the wall with one blow, hard enough that it stuck there, and grumbled as she did.

"Exactly, exactly. If he was that scared, he shouldn't have taken the job in the first place. Now we're stuck here too."

Sunna chimed in beside her.

Just as the three of them grumbled their way through the search for an exit, another sound suddenly reached them from a distance.

"I think I hear something over here. Could they be here?"

"Seems like it. We're close to the job's destination too — they should be right around here."

A moment later, two figures kicked open a door and appeared before the three girls.

"Look what I found — three adorable little kids~"

Remielle said with a bright smile, relieved to see the three of them looking more or less fine.

"Told you, they'd be fine. You should trust my judgment."

"Sister Remie, and the Manager too! Waaah, you finally came to save us!"

The moment Sunna and the others spotted Musachi and Remielle, they rushed over in a blur.

Musachi smiled and spread his arms wide, ready to welcome them in.

Then he watched all three of them run right past him and throw their arms around Remielle instead.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm here to take you home."

Watching Remielle get swarmed by the three girls, Musachi's mouth twitched.

He let it go without much fuss, though, and turned to check the girls' condition instead.

Even after being trapped in the Hollow for the better part of a day, the three of them showed no trace of corrosion at all — their condition was practically perfect.

In contrast, the dead Proxy they'd found earlier had already shown severe corrosion symptoms.

Part of that was the girls' strong Ether resistance, and part of it was that their anti-corrosion gear was top-notch.

Musachi eyed the equipment they wore. Broke as they were, taking side jobs just to fund the Angels of Delusion's activities, every piece of gear on their bodies was still top-tier.

If there had been a rarity system for it, they'd all be decked out in gold-tier gear!

Without exaggeration, the money spent on this gear alone could probably fund the Angels of Delusion's activities for years...

Musachi's mouth twitched at the thought.

It was basically like gearing up in full legendary equipment just to go clear a starter dungeon.

"Come on, let's get out of here first. Your teacher Cecilia's about worried sick."

Musachi said, glancing over the four huddled figures — one adult angel and three little ones.

"Oh right, that's true. We've been in the Hollow a long time now. Teacher Cecilia must be worried sick."

Nangong nodded quickly at the reminder.

Then, with Musachi leading the way, they all headed for the exit.

"Come to think of it, how did the Manager and Sister Remielle even find us? You're not Proxies. Wasn't that really dangerous?"

Sunna suddenly remembered something as they walked, and asked Musachi, puzzled.

"Pfft."

Before Musachi could answer Sunna's question, Nangong burst out laughing beside them.

"What are you laughing at, Nangong?!"

Sunna puffed out her cheeks, sounding put out.

"Sunna, you little dummy, think about it for a second. If the Manager wasn't a Proxy, how would he have found us? So obviously, he must be a Proxy~"

"Oh, I see."

Sunna finally got it — then her cheeks flushed red as she turned to Nangong. "Nangong, you're teasing me again!"

Watching the two of them bicker, Musachi let out a sigh.

He also noticed that Aria, standing nearby, had stayed quiet the whole time and didn't seem to be in the best mood.

"What's wrong, Aria?"

Musachi walked over to her quietly and asked in a low voice.

Aria looked at him, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

Then she said softly, "Doesn't it bother you, seeing me like this, Manager?"

Aria said, a note of insecurity in her voice.

Clearly, she cared what Musachi thought of her — or rather, what others thought of her.

Aria still carried some insecurity about her mechanical body.

Especially since she was an idol...

"What do you mean? It doesn't bother me at all. It's not like I've never seen an Intelligent Construct before."

Musachi blinked, looking at her in confusion, unsure why she'd even ask.

"Mm-hm, okay, I understand."

With just that one reply, Aria visibly brightened.

What Aria feared most was people looking at her differently. But once she realized Musachi treated her exactly the same as he did in her usual projected form, the weight on her chest finally lifted.

She didn't need any special treatment. All she wanted was not to be treated as some kind of outsider.

And without even meaning to, Musachi had given her exactly that.

"Strange..."

Musachi scratched his head, watching Aria turn lively again in an instant.

He really didn't understand how girls' minds worked.

Her mood could flip faster than turning a page...

On the way back, the three girls asked Musachi if he'd seen their Proxy, a man in a plaid shirt.

Musachi told them he hadn't — maybe the man had made it out on his own?

The man was already dead, of course, but Musachi didn't want the girls to know that yet. Better to let him simply vanish for now — hearing the news from someone else later would hit them a lot softer than hearing it straight from Musachi's mouth.

"My little angels, you're safe! Thank goodness. You scared me half to death — I couldn't reach you at all."

By the time they reached Cecilia's home and she saw the three girls unharmed, the anxious knot in her chest finally loosened.

She hugged them close, relief written all over her face.

"Sorry, Teacher Cecilia. We worried you..."

Sunna apologized quietly.

"It's fine, as long as you're all fine."

Cecilia patted her head, offering no word of blame.

The girl had just escaped a Hollow and was still shaken. This wasn't the time for scolding.

That could wait for later.

"Oh, right — you dropped this, Sunna."

Musachi held out his hand, offering the hairpin she'd lost without noticing.

"Ah, my hairpin! Thank you, Manager~"

Sunna said brightly, taking the hairpin from him with delight.

It was clear she really treasured it.

Watching the three girls afterward, Musachi found himself thinking.

They'd taken this Hollow job to raise funds for the Angels of Delusion's activities.

Nangong had plenty of money and kept quietly spending it on them, but both Sunna and Aria kept turning down her one-sided generosity.

If the funding problem wasn't solved, the three of them would sooner or later take another job in the Hollow.

And when that happened, something like today's incident was bound to happen again...

Cecilia clearly understood this too, but she also knew there wasn't a great solution right now.

After all, the three of them were still young, and there were only so many ways for them to earn money.

Maybe once they officially debuted and had more income streams, things would improve.

But for now, stopping these dangerous excursions still needed some kind of solution...

Musachi mulled it over, then suddenly had an idea — maybe they could work part-time at his bookstore?

Before long, he'd worked out a solid plan.

"Since going into the Hollow is so dangerous, why don't the three of you come work part-time at my store instead?"

Musachi said thoughtfully, looking at the three girls.

"No, no, that's way too much trouble."

Cecilia saw right through his intentions at a glance and waved him off quickly.

Seeing their teacher react this way, the three girls looked ready to decline too.

But Musachi cut them off with a smile before they could.

"Don't say no just yet. Hear me out first."

Then he laid out his idea.

He explained that while the promotions at his bookstore had helped business quite a bit compared to before, foot traffic still hadn't picked up enough.

So he was planning another event to promote memberships and book sales, and during the event, he'd need staff to greet customers at the door and help out.

The three of them would be perfect for it — people would surely stop by out of curiosity when they saw such cute girls out front.

It would give the girls a job and some extra income, and save Musachi the trouble of hiring other staff.

Wasn't that killing two birds with one stone?

"I see... Wouldn't that be a burden on your store, though?"

Cecilia thought it over for a moment before asking.

"My store doesn't make much money as it is, which is exactly why I need events to pull in customers. I think it's a solid plan. What do you all think?"

"Sunna, Nangong, Aria — are you all willing?"

Cecilia asked, seeking their opinions.

"Sure, sure, of course we're willing."

Sunna spoke up first.

"If Sunna's in, then I've got no objections. She's a bit clumsy, so I'll have to keep a good eye on her~"

Nangong said with a smile beside them.

"Nangong, I hate you!"

"I'm fine with it too."

Aria spoke up last.

Musachi nodded, satisfied.

"Alright then, it's settled. I need to go get some materials made. The event starts this Saturday, and if it goes well, we'll run events every Saturday and Sunday from now on to bring in more traffic."

Musachi said, smiling.

After successfully rescuing the three girls, Musachi ended up staying for dinner at Cecilia's insistence.

Compared to Rina, Cecilia's cooking was leagues better, and the meal was genuinely delicious.

Maybe because of everything that had happened today, there was a new warmth in the way Cecilia looked at Musachi.

After all, he'd saved the three girls, so it was only natural she felt grateful toward him.

Musachi didn't think much of it.

That night, Musachi returned home.

After his shower, he knocked and stepped into Remielle's room.

Remielle was wearing a silk nightgown, a wide expanse of pale skin bared to view, almost dazzlingly white under the light.

Watching him enter, Remielle crossed her arms instinctively.

"Mister Manager, sneaking into a girl's room this late at night — should I take that as you're about to lose control of your beastly urges?"

She said, looking at him with a teasing smile.

"Remielle, you don't need to hide it from me anymore. I know everything."

Musachi said, ignoring her jab entirely.

"Know... what?"

Remielle froze for a moment, then a jolt of alarm shot through her.

Could it be... that after using her ability today, Musachi had figured out her true identity?

A flicker of unease crept into her eyes.

"I didn't mean to hide it from you on purpose... Musachi, you know how it is — once something like this comes out, things between us can never go back to how they were..."

She said, looking at him with a hint of guilt in her eyes.

"I understand. But I also get it — living under the same roof as me, it's only natural to fall for my charm. Still, Remielle, you don't have to hide it from me if you want to do this kind of thing from now on. If you're feeling shy, I can just close my eyes..."

"Hm?"

Something suddenly felt off to Remielle as she listened to him.

Wait, were they even talking about the same thing?

"Wait, what exactly are you talking about?"

Remielle asked, stunned, as he moved to wrap his arms around her.

"Don't tell me you haven't been sneaking around, freezing me in place with your ability and doing something naughty?"

Musachi looked back at her, an equally baffled expression on his own face.

"I refuse to believe you have that kind of power and never once thought about doing something with it! If I had an ability like that..."

Musachi didn't finish the sentence, but his intent — and the look in his eyes — said plenty.

For a moment, Remielle found herself laughing despite her anger.

"Use my power on you? As if! What's in that head of yours, garbage? Obviously that's never going to happen! Like I'd want your body! Why would I ever freeze you and do something like that?!"

Her face flushed with embarrassment even as she snapped at him.

"So you really haven't, huh?"

Disappointment settled visibly over Musachi's face.

"Of course not! Now go to bed already! You're annoying me just by standing there!"

Remielle waved him off impatiently.

"Fine."

Musachi turned away, disappointed, and headed for the door.

But the next instant, a pure white, glowing feather drifted down onto his head.

In an instant, Musachi's body locked in place, frozen mid-motion.

Remielle stepped up in front of him, a sly smile spreading across her face as she studied his handsome features.

"Mm... I never actually planned on this, but since you put it that way, wouldn't it be a shame to disappoint you? My dear Store Manager~"

Remielle said, reaching out to pinch his handsome cheek.

Then, out of curiosity, she patted his chest and his arms.

Huh. She'd never really noticed before, but Musachi's body was pretty impressive... his pecs felt amazing to touch.

And his abs were so defined, too...

Remielle slid her hand along his stomach, tracing the clearly defined muscles.

Her small hand wandered further down, until a moment later she suddenly yanked it back as if she'd touched something electrified.

"Wait, Remielle, what are you doing?!"

She said, a sudden flush of embarrassment in her voice.

Then she stepped back to where she'd been standing and waved her hand, letting the feather atop Musachi's head drift away.

Musachi, acting as though he'd noticed nothing at all, walked out of the room.

And on his way out, he closed the door behind him without a fuss.

Seeing this, Remielle hurried to pick the feather up off the floor and toss it in the trash.

She glanced guiltily at the door as she did.

He couldn't have noticed, right?

Remielle muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, back in his own room with the door shut, Musachi could feel his heart pounding.

Damn, I was just running my mouth, and you actually went and did it?

Good thing he'd held himself together — if she'd realized her ability had no hold on him, he'd have blown his cover for sure.

Musachi muttered to himself.

That would've been two secrets exposed at once.

First, her little scheme getting caught and her flying into an embarrassed rage — and second... how exactly had an ordinary person like Musachi resisted her ability in the first place?

Still, at least she'd had some restraint.

He'd definitely felt her small hand lingering right around his lower abdomen.

If it had wandered just a little lower, he honestly couldn't have guaranteed he'd keep his gun holstered.

After all, that kind of thing was just too hard to pull off...