Chapter 94: Beli's Mental Transformation (Patreon)

Musachi woke up feeling something heavy weighing on his body.

Then the memories came flooding back, and he remembered exactly what had happened last night.

He pulled the blanket down and looked at Ellen, who was sprawled asleep across his chest. He couldn't help reaching out to stroke her smooth back.

He had to admit, the girl's skin really was smooth. Running his hand over Ellen's back felt like touching fine silk.

It was nothing like the feel of that slightly rough tail.

Still, looking at her peaceful sleeping face, Musachi was a little surprised.

After all, he'd never expected Ellen to be so forward last night.

He'd figured she'd go with a lazy "I'm so tired, this is such a hassle, you do it" the whole way through. Instead, Ellen turned out to be far more proactive than he'd imagined.

Maybe it was the drinks. Last night's Ellen had been much bolder than usual, and much cuter too.

She'd been flustered and clumsy at first, but she must have gotten used to it, because later she took the lead herself. Then, at the very end, she was probably too exhausted, and simply collapsed onto Musachi and fell asleep.

All the energy from last night's big dinner had clearly gone into this.

As he thought it over, Musachi rubbed his shoulder.

She must have hurt a little last night, because Ellen had bitten down here without meaning to. Those shark teeth stung when they sank in, though she hadn't bitten hard, just snorted a couple of times in protest.

Of course, with Musachi's strength, he'd have been fine if he hadn't wanted to get bitten. But he was afraid of knocking against Ellen's teeth, so he hadn't resisted.

Maybe his movements had woken her, because while Musachi was still savoring the memory, Ellen frowned and slowly opened her bleary eyes.

The first thing she saw was Musachi's face, right there in front of her.

"Good morning?"

Musachi said, grinning down at her.

Ellen looked like she hadn't quite registered it. She burrowed deeper into his arms, and only after a few seconds did she lift her head and look up at him.

"Morning..."

"So, how about some breakfast?"

Musachi glanced at the state of her and asked.

"Don't wanna go. You go. Bring me something..."

Ellen yawned and rolled over to the side.

"Sure."

Musachi nodded, climbed out of bed completely naked, and started getting dressed.

Watching his lean, muscled body, Ellen's face turned red again.

Downstairs, Musachi ate at the breakfast place by the hotel, then picked up a portion for Ellen on the way back.

"Time to get up and eat, Round Shark."

When he swiped the keycard and walked in, he found Ellen already awake, though still lying in the blankets tapping away at her phone.

She kept tapping the screen with a goofy smile on her face. No idea what she was chatting about.

"What are you talking about? You look so happy."

Musachi raised an eyebrow, set the breakfast down on the table, and looked at her.

"Girl stuff. Don't ask."

Ellen glanced at him and answered with a grin.

"Fine, fine. So, you're still not getting up? You want to eat in bed?"

Musachi raised an eyebrow again.

"Go outside for a minute."

Ellen waved a hand at him.

"Outside? Why would I go outside?"

"You expect me to get out of the covers like this? I'm not like you."

A faint blush rose on Ellen's face. She puffed out her cheeks and shot him a look of displeasure.

"I've already seen everything there is to see, and done everything there is to do. Why get shy now?"

Musachi's eyebrow went up as he smiled at her.

"Get lost already!"

"You got it."

In the end, Musachi obediently turned around and listened to the rustling of Ellen getting dressed behind him.

Honestly, he didn't even need to look. Just from the sounds, he could tell what she was doing on the bed: pulling her bare-leg wonder tights over her little feet, tugging them up to the very top of her thighs in one go, snapping the waistband around her hips, and then pulling her black high-waisted socks up over her calves.

"Okay, you can turn around."

Once she'd said that, Musachi turned back.

"What are you smiling about?"

Ellen looked at the grin on his face with some curiosity.

"Nothing. My naughty brain just kicked in for a second."

"I get the feeling you're thinking something really lowlife..."

"Then you read people well."

Musachi said with a chuckle.

Ellen rolled her eyes at him, then sat at the table and started on her breakfast.

After she finished eating, Musachi didn't rush to take her home. They rested at the hotel a while longer and only checked out close to noon.

"Rina (Alexandrina Sebastiane) won't figure it out, will she?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ellen sounded rather unsure.

"Which part do you mean?"

Musachi raised an eyebrow.

"You know... what happened last night."

Ellen glared at him as she said it.

"It's fine. An ordinary girl might give herself away, but you've got such a good constitution that there won't be any problem."

Musachi said, patting her thigh.

"But there's no real need to hide it, is there?"

"I just haven't worked out how to tell her yet."

Ellen scratched her head.

Telling Rina she had a man now, and that the man was the very person Rina had a crush on, felt strange no matter how she looked at it.

"Then that's a relief."

Ellen patted her chest and said it with a smile.

"We're here."

Soon, Musachi pulled up at Ellen's home. He turned to her with a smile.

"Mm."

Ellen nodded and was about to get out, but this time Musachi caught her by the shoulder and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

"Go on. Remember to think of me."

"Who'd think about you?"

Ellen rolled her eyes and got out of the car. Then, once she was out, she froze.

"Corin, you're here too."

She looked at Corin, who was standing not far away, and spoke without thinking.

"Y-yes! Miss Ellen... Miss Rina said there was a housekeeping job today that needed me, so I came over. I didn't see anything!!!"

Corin flustered and rushed to explain.

"Right..."

Ellen covered her face. She knew Corin had seen it.

"Remember to keep it secret!"

Ellen walked up to Corin and said in a low voice.

"Secret? Corin promises not to tell anyone! Don't worry, Miss Ellen!"

Corin clapped a hand over her mouth and nodded with total sincerity.

Ellen couldn't help sighing.

If you were really smart, you'd pretend you hadn't seen anything at all... Corin...

Ellen grumbled to herself.

But then she just nodded and didn't say more. After all, she knew Corin wasn't the type to blab.

Not long after, Musachi arrived back at the shop.

It was nearly noon. Only Remielle was on the first floor, while Beli was in the second-floor kitchen preparing lunch.

At first, Musachi had wondered whether Beli would find it a hassle to cook every day. But after living together for a while, he'd realized she actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

Come to think of it, that made sense. She'd assumed everyone she knew would be long gone when she woke up a century later, and yet she'd gotten to meet an old friend again...

"Finally decided to come back? That job took a long time."

Seeing Musachi walk in, Remielle smiled at him with a snarky edge to her voice.

"Ahem. The job was a pain, so it ate up a lot of time."

Musachi scratched his head. Last night he'd told Remielle he wouldn't be back, and she hadn't pressed him for details.

Remielle trusted Musachi. Not because she believed he'd never fool around, but because she was certain he would.

Still, she also knew how high his standards were. He'd fool around, but he wouldn't "fool around" with just anyone.

She really did know Musachi well.

Of course, Remielle had actually guessed he'd gone to Cecilia's place.

She never thought of Ellen at all.

"Hm? Musachi's back?"

Just then, Beli came down from upstairs. Seeing Musachi, she raised an eyebrow.

"Perfect timing. Come up and eat, it's ready."

"Great, I get home and there's food waiting."

Musachi said cheerfully.

Then he followed Beli upstairs.

Beli's cooking was honestly excellent. Musachi had thought his own cooking was pretty good, but next to hers it fell a little short.

Best of all, her range was huge. She could cook any cuisine!

She'd even made some cured sausages and pickles.

"Oh, right. The sweet pickled garlic we put up a while back should be ready by now, right?"

Musachi suddenly remembered, and he turned to Beli after sitting down at the table.

"A bit early, but it should have soaked up the flavor by now. I'll go fish some out."

Beli thought it over, then headed to the kitchen with a smile.

But she didn't come back out until two minutes later.

"How does it take this long to scoop out some garlic?"

Remielle asked from the side, puzzled.

"I peeled it while I was at it, so you two wouldn't have to. Doesn't Musachi hate picking food up with his hands during meals?"

Beli said with a smile.

From what Beli had learned, Musachi was a very lazy person who dreaded any kind of trouble.

He'd peel shrimp for Remielle, but when it came to his own, he'd rather go without than lift a finger to peel the shell.

Same with things like braised bone-in ribs, which are awkward with chopsticks.

He'd rather struggle with the chopsticks than use his hands.

Sweet pickled garlic was no different.

So after fishing it out, Beli had peeled off the skins. That way Musachi only had to pick it up with his chopsticks.

"Go ahead and spoil him."

Remielle rolled her eyes.

She looked at Beli in disbelief. Hey, when I brought this up yesterday you were blushing like crazy. Why such a big change in attitude today?

"It doesn't take much time anyway."

Beli smiled, then turned to Musachi.

"So? Is it good?"

"It's delicious! Super delicious!"

Musachi nodded solemnly and gave her a thumbs up.

"There's just one drawback."

he added with sudden feeling.

"A drawback?"

Beli looked puzzled.

"Yeah. Beli, you're too good to me. I can't imagine a world without you anymore. Meals delivered to the table, garlic peeled for me... I feel like you're going to turn me into a useless slob."

Musachi said wistfully.

That's not a friend, that's a mother!

"It's not that bad..."

Hearing him, Beli's face flushed slightly.

She knew Musachi was joking, but wasn't a line like that basically a confession?

It sounded pretty embarrassing.

Beside them, Remielle puffed out her cheeks as she watched Beli.

"Mama Beli, you won't abandon me, right?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Beli glared at Remielle.

"I just have this feeling you're going to leave me someday. Don't you dare ditch your sister just because you got a man... Waaah, if you don't want me, who's going to cook for me like this?"

Remielle said, looking at Beli with a pitiful face.

"Eat your food, Remi, and behave."

Beli sighed. Listening to Remielle's teasing, she couldn't help feeling a little helpless.

Remielle only giggled.

But her eyes kept circling between Musachi and Beli.

Yesterday she'd been thinking about bringing her best friend into her family, and she'd worried Beli might not be able to accept it so suddenly. But seeing her now...

Beli seemed to like Musachi even more than she'd imagined.

Maybe she'd fallen for him ages ago, and only buried it deep inside because things between Remielle and Musachi were so ambiguous, until Remielle brought it up yesterday...

But when had it started?

Remielle wondered.

Not just Remielle. Beli was puzzled too.

She had feelings for Musachi, no doubt about that. From the first time they met, when he offered help unprompted, to later when he freed her from the Creator's control, her affection for him had climbed steadily.

But beyond that?

She didn't know. Even Beli herself couldn't say why she liked Musachi so much.

But from the very first meeting she'd had a good impression of him, and spending time together had kept refreshing it.

And somehow, whenever she saw Musachi, she felt an innate pull that raised her affection...

In games there's a saying that some teammates lose HP just by walking.

Beli was much the same: as long as she was with Musachi, her affection kept rising steadily.

Remielle had at least spent some time with him before she developed feelings, but Beli's fall seemed faster than anyone could have imagined.

It felt like Musachi was naturally drawing her in.

In fact, besides their own feelings, both of them had overlooked another reason.

That was the relationship between the Creator and the Enchainers.

The Creator's control over Ethereals and Enchainers was absolute, with very few exceptions.

But Beli was one of those exceptions. When the Creator controlled her, it was Musachi who saved her from it.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a rescue. Musachi had seized the Creator's access over Beli and transferred it onto himself.

Just like how he controlled Nineveh in Hollow Zero.

Put bluntly, Musachi was now much like a little Creator. Since he was on Earth, his influence over Ethereals was even greater than the Creator's true body. He just wasn't yet skilled at using his Authority.

So it was perfectly natural for Beli to develop feelings for him.

It was just that before, Beli had buried those feelings deep and never let them show.

After all, she knew Musachi was the man Remielle loved. If she showed that kind of attitude herself, she might hurt Remielle.

In this world, Remielle was Beli's best friend, and Beli didn't want that.

But when Remielle brought the matter up herself yesterday, everything changed.

The feelings that had been so tightly suppressed stirred again in that moment.

Still, it wasn't as sudden as Remi made it sound. With that layer of restraint gone, Beli's mindset had simply changed a lot.

For example, she no longer deliberately kept her distance when talking to Musachi.

Everything just followed its natural course.

After the meal, Musachi checked his phone and found Vivian had already transferred over yesterday's earnings.

Vivian had wanted to send an extra ten percent, since she couldn't have gotten such a haul without Musachi, but he'd refused.

What was agreed at the start is what it is. You can't change that on the fly.

Set the rules first, and future Proxy business will go smoothly!

After lunch, Remielle headed to the Three Little Ones' dance studio, and Beli, having nothing better to do, tagged along. Her mindset had changed, but she still felt a bit shy about being alone with Musachi.

Just then, Belle pushed the door open and walked in.