Chapter 340: Hair-Growth Milk

Burning all over, Jhin felt a cool, bracing sensation like a crystalline spring flowing slowly into his body. Groggily he opened his eyes, and Kokkoro's gentle voice reached his ears at once, just like the first time the two of them had met.

"Master, you're awake."

He turned toward the voice, and his gaze went blank in an instant.

Kokkoro, who had once worn her hair short, now had long tresses that flowed freely, white locks draping over her small frame like a robe of pure white. She sat beside him with her arms wrapped around her knees, her little head resting against them.

A single strand hung before those pale-pink eyes, so tender they could melt a person's heart. She smiled faintly, as if confirming something, or as if trying to etch the one before her into her own memory.

The two of them held each other's gaze for a long while, and then Kokkoro took Jhin's right hand and pressed it softly against her own cheek. "I suddenly have long hair now. Will it feel strange to you?"

Like a dazed goose, he stroked mechanically across her smooth, tender cheek. It took him a moment to shake off his shock, and only then did he shake his head and tell her, "No. You look lovely with long hair too."

"Thank you for the compliment." She bit her lip lightly, accepting the praise with a bashful look.

Jhin's slightly rough thumb slid from her cheek to Kokkoro's moist lips, brushing over them gently. She didn't resist in the slightest; instead she drew his finger into her mouth and bit it softly with her teeth, as if inviting, as if teasing.

"Kokkoro, I li—"

The little guide used action to push the rest of his words back down his throat. The faint fragrance drifting from the girl's hair was like a shower that came and went in a flash, lingering only a moment at the tip of his nose before vanishing.

Kokkoro pressed a slender, jade-white finger against the mouth he still wanted to lean forward with. "Master… for now… let's stop here for the moment. The ritual is almost over."

"Hm? What ritual?" Only then did Jhin recall that after being made to drink a bottle of some strange potion he'd passed out, and when he woke, this was the scene before him.

"The Shared Source Ritual." Kokkoro explained the whole thing to him from start to finish, then nestled into his arms like a small doll. "Master… am I being very selfish?"

"That kind of thing is hard to say for certain… but as for the matter of lifespan…"

"Does the world you come from have this sort of thing too?"

"It's very common in novels." Jhin gathered up her long hair, smooth as fine silk, and slid his fingers through the strands, combing it for her as he spoke. "Before I came to this world, I never really thought about this kind of thing, because my girlfriends were all human, same as me."

Kokkoro suddenly gripped his wrist nervously. "Did I… did I do something bad?"

She had performed the Shared Source Ritual without Jhin's consent, bringing his lifespan close to eternity. Humans were different from elves; they had vast, complicated family structures and webs of relationships.

Just imagine it: if a person's lifespan suddenly became boundless, then his family, his loved ones, his friends, and everything familiar to him would all crumble into dust and vanish before his eyes. For him, was such longevity truly a good thing?

"Don't worry." Jhin lowered his head and kissed her temple. "I have a way to deal with it. If anything, this act of yours let me know how you feel, and that makes me happy."

Setting aside Kokkoro's method of extending lifespan through magic, among the Synapse Technology that the little angel Nymph had brought there were also things capable of prolonging life. It was only that, limited by the materials, no one had ever managed to actually produce them.

If he could bring her to this world to explore, perhaps he could find plenty of substitute materials for his experiments.

Jhin had never been a saint by nature, and of course he'd had the thought of staying with the girls he loved forever. It simply wasn't so urgent yet, and on top of that he had a god for a boss whose limits were unknown, which was why he hadn't placed much weight on these matters.

Hearing his answer, the worry hanging over Kokkoro finally settled. This Shared Source Ritual had been the most impulsive and most selfish act of her entire life; if it had instead led to tragedy, she would never have had the face to stay by Jhin's side again.

The faint scent of jasmine kept drifting off the petite girl in his arms, and Jhin, not quite sure what was happening to himself, easily pitched a tent.

"Ma… Master…"

"It's an instinctive reaction… I can't control it."

He meant to loosen the arms around Kokkoro and put some distance between them, but she pressed down on them. "It's all right. I… I'll do my best to get used to it."

The earnest tone, laced with shyness, was like a bucket of gasoline poured straight over Jhin's heart and set ablaze. The flames rushed up his breath and into his eyes, turning both pupils gold, and at the same moment the dragon's might that belonged solely to the dragon race spread through the air along with the change in his eyes.

The Light Cocoon seemed unable to bear the pressure and shattered, scattering into motes of light that drifted through the air. Megumin and the others surrounding it outside were caught in its influence, as if they were seeing an exquisite scene: a great dragon wreathed in sky-blue flames sheltering an elven maiden beneath its wings.

In reality it was merely Jhin, whose eyes had turned gold, and the long-haired Kokkoro sitting where they were.

To her, who had long since grown familiar with Jhin's presence, the dragon's might radiating from him carried no sense of oppression at all; instead it felt like being protected by him.

Megumin was so startled her little mouth formed an "O." She pointed at Kokkoro's hair, which now reached down to her calves, and asked, "Kokkoro, how did your hair grow this long in a single day?"

"This… it's because of Master."

"His milk actually has a hair-growth effect too!?" The shock was too much and her mouth ran without a filter, leaving the other girls' little faces flushing crimson.

Kokkoro waved her hands hurriedly. "No… it's not like that. Master and I didn't do anything strange."

"The two of you were alone all day and nothing happened?" Megumin turned a suspicious look toward Jhin.

"Could you not have that lewd stuff filling your head? If you keep looking at me with that expression, you'd better not sleep too soundly tonight."

Hearing his threatening words, Megumin ducked behind Pecorine and pulled a face at him. "If you've got the guts, take me on face-to-face right in front of them. I'm not afraid of you!"

You may not be afraid, but I am!'

Pecorine's little face crumpled in dismay. Never in her wildest thoughts had she imagined she'd be used as a human shield.

In her field of view, Jhin, who had been sitting on the sand holding Kokkoro, vanished. A chill crept up Megumin's spine, and before she could turn around, a large hand pressed down on her shoulder.

"Since you're not afraid, then don't hide behind Pecorine. Using someone else as a shield—aren't you ashamed?"

"A mage obviously deals damage from behind the warrior. What's wrong with me doing that?"

"You could learn a thing or two from me. What kind of mage can't fight up close?"

"As if anyone's like a pervert such as you!"

The moment Megumin finished speaking, Jhin scooped her up around the waist, and a string of "smack, smack, smack" spanking sounds followed.

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