Chapter 193: Ram, Cold on the Outside, Sweet on the Inside

As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you can see.

Thanks to that vantage point, Halibel could take in every reaction from the many women surrounding Su-san down below.

Why was he so quick to declare that all those women were Su-san’s love interests?

Well, it was obvious enough just from their reactions.

Take that one over there, for instance—the woman who looked so much like Rem. Seen from the side, her face was expressionless, but Halibel could feel the resentment radiating off her, so thick it was almost taking physical form.

And on the other side, Elsa, a fellow assassin, kept a faint, ambiguous smile on her face, yet the bloodlust leaking out of her was enough to make anyone click their tongue in unease.

It was only because the girl named Meili had stayed behind at the manor, and the girl named Petra had gone ahead to the village to help with the rebuilding, that things weren’t worse.

Otherwise, Halibel guessed those two girls’ resentment wouldn’t have been far behind the others.

Hmm… come to think of it, had he been saying ‘girls’ this whole time?

The women closest to Su-san really were an unusual bunch…

Halibel couldn’t help a wry smile, shaking his head as he silently mused to himself.

“Su-san… truly is a sinful man!”

Which only underscored how important it was that he’d come here.

He might be a top-tier assassin, but people tended to forget he was also the strongest fighter in the city-state of Kararagi—and quite skilled as a bodyguard, to boot.

Well… looks like I’ll have plenty of work to do this life around.

Halibel pillowed both arms behind his head, gazing up at the deep blue sky, the pipe that never left his mouth clenched between his teeth, the picture of idle relaxation.

But in truth, the corner of his eye never strayed far from Natsuki Subaru’s surroundings—he’d already quietly marked Su-san with a hidden sign.

Should Su-san ever run into danger, he could appear before him instantly using his unique shadow ninjutsu.

That way… nothing could possibly go wrong.

“We’re back! Sorry to keep you all waiting!”

Natsuki Subaru led a slightly bashful Emilia by the hand, walking over to sit down in the shade of the great tree growing at the cliff’s edge, waving for everyone gathered there to come join them.

“Subaru!”

The first to react, launching herself straight into Natsuki Subaru’s arms, was Betty.

She’d perked up the moment she noticed Natsuki Subaru heading back this way.

The instant he appeared and called out, she shot forward like a spring and slammed into his chest.

“Oof!”

Caught off guard, Natsuki Subaru instinctively let out a pathetic little grunt, the sound of someone taking a hit.

But the next moment, he was startled to find himself standing perfectly unharmed.

Blinking, he met the eyes of Betty, who’d lifted her head from his chest to look up at him with a gleeful, self-satisfied gaze. After a few seconds locked in that stare, it dawned on Natsuki Subaru.

Oh, right!

As a Great Spirit, Betty’s weight was actually lighter than a feather!

Which meant—

Natsuki Subaru’s eyes lit up as he looked at Betty, his heart brimming with satisfaction.

Of course. There was no way Betty would ever hit him that hard—if she hurt herself doing it, wouldn’t she be the one left hurting?

“Wh… why are you suddenly looking at Betty with that strange expression? Betty just wanted to try what it feels like to jump into Subaru’s arms too, I suppose!”

“There’s absolutely no other meaning behind it, so don’t get the wrong idea, hmph!”

Even as Betty put on her usual tsundere act, her arms wrapped around Natsuki Subaru’s waist didn’t loosen—if anything, they tightened, almost without her realizing it.

And that small detail didn’t escape Natsuki Subaru’s notice at all.

“Betty…”

Natsuki Subaru suddenly leaned his face in close to Betty’s, making her blush and turn her face away with a small mutter.

“Wh-what is it?”

Natsuki Subaru answered loudly, with a bright, carefree grin.

“Betty, you’re just too cute!”

As he said this, he seized the moment—her face turned away in embarrassment—and pressed his own cheek right up against hers.

Then, eyes closed, he nuzzled against her the way one might nuzzle a cat’s face, wearing an expression of pure, blissful contentment.

On the other side, Betty’s soft, round cheek got squished flat, then squeezed round again.

And yet, try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at Natsuki Subaru—all she could do was silently enjoy the moment, exasperated and amused at once.

There was no helping it. Chances for closeness like this with Subaru didn’t come often.

Hand-holding and hugs alone were never quite enough on their own—only moments like this gave her a satisfaction she hadn’t felt in far too long.

Soon enough, once Natsuki Subaru had gotten his fill, he gently set Betty back down on the ground.

His face was completely relaxed, and he didn’t notice the flicker of disappointment that crossed Betty’s expression in that instant.

But Ram, who was walking toward Natsuki Subaru at that moment, caught it.

Ram’s gaze flicked back and forth between Betty and Natsuki Subaru.

Then, arms crossed, brow furrowed, she gave Natsuki Subaru a mocking sneer.

“Truly living up to your name as a lecherous glutton, aren’t you, Barusu—the date’s barely over and you’re already hugging up on other women.”

“How indecent!”

Ram let out a scornful click of her tongue, tilting her pale, slender neck up as she gave Natsuki Subaru her signature look of utter contempt.

That expression instantly wiped the good mood off Natsuki Subaru’s face, replacing it with a Wrath symbol practically steaming off his forehead.

“Sister!”

At that, Rem hurried over to grab hold of Ram in a panic, trying to talk her down.

But by then Natsuki Subaru was already moving, closing the distance in a few long strides until his tall frame loomed a dark shadow over Ram’s much smaller one.

Yet facing down his darkened expression and the pressure radiating off him, Ram didn’t flinch in the slightest.

If anything, she narrowed her long, sharp eyes in provocation, the corner of her mouth curling up—not a trace of remorse in sight.

So Natsuki Subaru didn’t waste words, and he certainly wasn’t going to go easy on her.

This little maid—just the other night he’d had her thoroughly tamed, and she’d woken up the next morning the very picture of a devoted wife.

But barely a day and a half later, she’d already reverted right back to her old sharp-tongued little demon self.

I really do need to keep you in line, Ram!

Natsuki Subaru grabbed hold of Ram’s boneless-soft right arm and, with just a light tug, pulled her—frail as she was—right down onto the picnic blanket spread beneath the great tree.

“What now—are you planning to unleash your pathetic beastly urges on me, Barusu?”

“Go ahead. Try it, why don’t you?”

Ram looked up at Natsuki Subaru, unrepentant, the mockery still lingering at the corner of her mouth.

But look closely, and the smile she was trying so hard to hold back was already slipping through.

Natsuki Subaru saw right through it, well aware that Ram was deliberately baiting him.

Still, that look on Ram’s face was more than he could stand.

An idea sparked behind his eyes.

Ignoring whatever Ram was saying, Natsuki Subaru flipped her right over, sat down, and pulled her face-down across his lap.

This calls for some serious punishment!

The moment Ram saw Natsuki Subaru move, a flicker of delight crossed her eyes.

But once she found herself helplessly at his mercy, draped over his lap against her will, a bad feeling started creeping in.

Natsuki Subaru only glanced down at her briefly, gave a short laugh, and without another word raised his hand high and brought it down without mercy.

The women around them reacted in all sorts of ways—shock, teasing amusement, envy…

Their burning stares felt like they’d swallow Ram whole.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go—she never expected it would end up so humiliating!

Ram lay face-down across Natsuki Subaru’s lap, both hands pressed to her cheeks in mortified fury.

The sight of her like that made Natsuki Subaru raise an eyebrow and fall into thought.

Had Ram’s provocation just now been pure instinctive hissing, or was there some hidden motive behind it?

Maybe he was overthinking things?

Was she simply addicted to being sharp-tongued?

Like a cat, was hissing at him just hardwired into Ram’s genetic code?

But when Natsuki Subaru finally lifted his head from his thoughts, he noticed the corner of Ram’s mouth—turned toward the ground—twitching with a smile she couldn’t suppress, and it all clicked into place.

Ah, so it really was just a pure addiction after all.