"…President, do you want a wife?"
Seeing the message from Hayasaka, Natsuki pondered for a moment, then composed a text message:
"If it's to marry Hasaka, then I'm willing."
Hayasaka: "Sorry, I've already prepared to live alone until old age."
Natsuki: "Then what about me?"
Hayasaka: "President can go to Thailand for surgery. After a successful surgery, when you return, we can be sisters."
Natsuki: "Very well, I choose to live alone until old age."
"…"
After a brief chat, Hayasaka quickly returned to the main topic.
"Congratulations, President. The Shinomiya family is preparing to recruit a son-in-law, and you are the top candidate."
Natsuki pondered:
"I don't really have any objections to marrying into a family…"
In reality, marrying into a family is indeed the best choice for achieving class mobility.
Many young people who are just starting out dream of making a name for themselves through their own efforts, but in fact, the truth of human society is that choice is greater than effort.
People born into humble circumstances may struggle their entire lives and still not reach the starting point of those born into good families. So, if you meet a rich woman, don't hesitate.
Hayasaka: "President is quite carefree."
Natsuki: "But if you want me to marry in, you must agree to one condition."
Hayasaka: "What?"
Natsuki: "Specifically, Hasaka-chan must be a maid as part of the dowry."
"Heh heh."
Hayasaka sent a smiling emoji, then explained the reason.
Their hasty departure yesterday morning was due to a reason: a servant of the Shinomiya family suddenly aged at a visible rate, growing ten years older overnight. The symptoms perfectly matched an anomaly attack, and several men of the Shinomiya family immediately panicked.
They frantically called Kaguya and Hayasaka back, wanting them to eliminate the Strange Tale, but unfortunately, no trace of the Strange Tale was found. Instead, not long ago, another servant again showed signs of sudden aging, causing panic throughout the entire manor.
This time, the Shinomiya family could no longer sit still. They had Hayasaka inform Natsuki that as long as he could resolve the Strange Tale incident in the manor, they would even agree to Natsuki and Kaguya getting married directly.
"So that's it."
Natsuki understood.
Why was the Strange Tales Management Bureau established so efficiently, and why did it spend money so lavishly?
The reason is simple.
In the face of Strange Tales, there is no distinction between high and low, noble or humble. Whether you are an ordinary person or a high-ranking official, as long as you break the rules, you will all die.
When life is constantly threatened by death, no one can sit idly by.
Although the Shinomiya family is a famous Zaibatsu, they are all ordinary people, and they will also panic and fear when encountering an anomaly incident.
Hayasaka: "President, if you're not busy, please come over as soon as possible."
Natsuki: "Hold on, I'll be right there."
Kaguya had only run away from home and had not severed ties with the Shinomiya family. Even if their sibling relationship was distant, they were still biological siblings and could not be easily cut off, so Natsuki would naturally not stand idly by.
After sending the message, Natsuki put away his phone and got up to bid farewell to Miko's mother.
"Auntie, I'm going back to shower and read."
"Go back." Miko's mother smiled and said, "Miko, see Natsuki off."
"Got it."
Miko replied, put down the salted fish pillow in her arms, and slowly stood up.
Walking to the entrance, Natsuki changed into his shoes and lowered his voice, saying:
"I have something to do tonight, so I probably won't be back."
"Eh?"
Miko was startled, then instinctively puffed out her cheeks.
I'm clearly at home, and you still want to go out and fool around?!
It was fine before, but in the other world, the two of them had already had intimate contact, and now he's actually leaving her to go out… As expected, once a boy gets a girl's body, he stops cherishing her!
"Don't overthink it." Natsuki reached out and stroked Miko's head. "I'm really not going out to fool around."
"Hmph."
Miko took half a step back, dodging Natsuki's outstretched right hand, and turned her head to look elsewhere:
"You can go out if you want, don't explain it to me."
"A Strange Tale incident just happened at the Shinomiya family, and now everyone is panicking, so they called me to help…" Natsuki took out his phone and showed it to Miko, indicating that he wasn't lying, then complained, "If I didn't explain, someone would probably be unable to sleep all night."
Miko's pretty face flushed slightly, and she glared at him, saying:
"I wouldn't be unable to sleep all night."
Natsuki smiled and said:
"I was talking about someone, not you."
Miko: "…"
Leaving Miko's house, Natsuki was about to go to the train station to take the train when he saw a black car quietly drive up and stop in front of his house.
The car door opened, and a blonde girl with a side ponytail, chewing on a lollipop, stepped out. Who else could it be but Hayasaka?
Hayasaka stood by the car door, her blonde hair gently swaying in the evening breeze:
"President, get in."
Natsuki got into the car and sat next to Hayasaka, glancing around. He noticed that besides Hayasaka, only the driver was in the car.
"Kaguya didn't come?"
Natsuki asked casually.
Hayasaka, still chewing her lollipop, replied:
"Those people from the Shinomiya family have become easily startled now. They have to stick by Kaguya's side at all times, so of course, they wouldn't let Kaguya leave the manor."
Natsuki extended his right hand, took the maid's soft hand, and intertwined their fingers, saying:
"With the Shinomiya family's influence, they should have been able to get the Strange Tales Management Bureau to send players to help, right?"
Hayasaka propped her chin on her right hand and said:
"They did send people, but unfortunately, their strength was mediocre, completely unreliable... In fact, when the Strange Tale incident first appeared, the Shinomiya family people wanted to call Natsuki-kun over for help, but Natsuki-kun said that morning that he couldn't leave the hotel, or he would be in danger, so Kaguya stopped them."
Seeing the faint dark circles under Hayasaka's eyes, Natsuki squeezed the maid's fingers and softly said:
"You haven't rested well these past two days?"
"I couldn't rest at all."
Hayasaka raised her hand to cover her mouth, yawned, and her voice was a little tired, "The richer people are, the more afraid of death they are. Those people wish Kaguya would stay awake twenty-four hours a day, guarding them."
"You've worked hard."
Natsuki said gently, "You can sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when we arrive."
"Hmm, but the lollipop isn't finished yet..."
Hayasaka tilted her head in thought, pulled the lollipop out of her mouth with a soft 'pop', and then offered it to Natsuki's lips.
Natsuki opened his mouth and took the lollipop.
"Now you can rest."
Hayasaka closed her eyes and leaned on Natsuki's shoulder, her breathing quickly becoming even.
The journey was silent.
The car soon arrived at the entrance of the Shinomiya family's manor.
"Ai, we're here."
Natsuki extended a finger and gently poked the maid's cheek, feeling it soft and springy, with an excellent texture.
"Hmm..."
Hayasaka suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze alert. After seeing that the person beside her was Natsuki, she relaxed, yawned lazily, and mumbled sleepily:
"President, are we here?"
Natsuki said:
"We can get out of the car soon."
"It feels like we're back in the blink of an eye."
Hayasaka gently patted her cheeks, quickly regaining her energy. She released Natsuki's arm, switched to her maid persona, and said, "After we get out of the car, President, please do not come within two meters of me."
Natsuki squinted and said:
"So you're just using me and then discarding me, right?"
"Exactly."
Hayasaka lifted her chin, playing the role of a cold and sharp-tongued maid, "A mere President is only useful as a pillow."
"..."
As they spoke, the car pulled up to the villa entrance and came to a smooth stop.
Natsuki pushed the door open and stepped out, seeing a group of people standing at the villa entrance to greet him.
"Kaguya, good evening."
Looking at Kaguya's black hair gently swaying in the evening breeze, Natsuki couldn't help but smile.
Kaguya clasped her hands over her lower abdomen, maintaining the elegance and poise of a young lady, but her eyes were sparkling:
"President, good evening."
"Don't be afraid, Kaguya-chan."
Mrs. Shimizu emerged from Natsuki's shadow, happily opening her arms, "Mommy's here to be with you."
Beside Kaguya was a middle-aged man in a suit, somewhat familiar, who was Shinomiya Un'yo. He had two dark circles under his eyes, clearly looking a bit haggard.
"Natsuki-kun, you're here."
Shinomiya Un'yo quickly walked down the steps, extending both hands, ready to shake Natsuki's hand, his attitude remarkably warm.
"...Good evening."
Natsuki nodded slightly in response.
As for the handshake... he declined.
He remembered the first time he met Kaguya's third brother was during Golden Week. At that time, Kaguya was grounded, and everyone came to visit her, coincidentally encountering Shinomiya Un'yo.
Natsuki remembered very clearly that Shinomiya Un'yo at that time hadn't even said a single word to him, his attitude incredibly arrogant, truly looking down on others.
But now, Shinomiya Un'yo was bowing and scraping, respectfully fawning over him... He had to admit, the feeling of the tables turning was quite satisfying.
"A Strange Tale incident has occurred in the manor. I'll leave the rest to Natsuki-kun."
Shinomiya Un'yo completely disregarded Natsuki's impoliteness, his attitude remaining remarkably warm.
Clearly, he already knew Natsuki's identity and status within the Strange Tales Management Bureau and among players—to maintain social stability, the authorities wouldn't let ordinary people know about Strange Tale invasions, but politicians and tycoons basically all knew.
"Natsuki and Kaguya are dating, aren't they?" Shinomiya Un'yo said with a smile, "I've already spoken to Dad about the two of you, and Dad said he agrees to your marriage. Getting married now is no problem."
"Eh eh eh?"
Kaguya's pretty face quickly flushed red, and she couldn't help but exclaim in embarrassment:
"Brother, what are you talking about!"
"I'm just telling the truth."
Shinomiya Un'yo spread his hands, "I just spoke to Dad on the phone at noon. Dad did agree to your marriage and even urged you to get married as soon as possible..."
Kaguya's earlobes were dyed crimson, and she said in embarrassment:
"We're only in the first year of high school. It's too early to get married now!"
"It's not early at all."
Shinomiya Un'yo said, "According to the law before the amendment, girls reached the legal marriage age at sixteen..."
"Let's stop this topic here!" Kaguya gritted her silver teeth, her pretty face flushed, "Let's resolve the Strange Tale in the manor first!"
Natsuki couldn't help but look at Hayasaka, and the maid also looked back.
Their eyes met, and everything was understood without words.
The urging for marriage was just a facade; the urging for children later was likely the real goal, and there were definitely more than one or two people behind it. The reason was only one—the apocalypse was coming.
Natsuki's words alone couldn't completely convince people, but there were also twenty or thirty ordinary passengers who had traveled to the apocalyptic world with him. Each person's phone had more or less videos and photos of the apocalyptic world, plus Momo, who had traveled from the apocalyptic world. The information about the parallel apocalyptic world was no longer false.
So, countless people must hope that Natsuki and Kaguya have children as soon as possible. Don't forget, Natsuki and Kaguya also have a twin golden limited skill, [Bearing Descendants Makes The World Strongest]. To cope with the potential apocalyptic crisis, Natsuki and Kaguya naturally had to 'sacrifice' themselves to protect the world.
Fortunately, this skill was a bound limited skill. Otherwise, Natsuki would likely be captured and imprisoned in a secret base like the 'Hero of the Rod', with people throwing themselves at him every night, turning him into [beep—].
Natsuki coughed twice and said:
"Let's talk about marriage later. First, let's deal with the Strange Tale incident... Kaguya, what's the specific situation of the manor?"
Kaguya took a deep breath, her pretty face flushed, and said:
"Two days ago, a maid in the villa didn't show up for work at the appointed time. The butler went to check on her and found that the maid looked as if she had aged ten years overnight, with white hair and wrinkles on her face. However, when we asked her what happened, the maid was completely unaware of her own changes."
After a pause, Kaguya continued:
"Then today, a bodyguard encountered the same Strange Tale, also suddenly aging many years for no reason... I had already contacted the Strange Tales Management Bureau, and the Strange Tales Management Bureau replied that it should be a new Strange Tale in Tokyo. This Strange Tale is extremely mysterious. So far, the Strange Tales Management Bureau hasn't been able to determine its true form, let alone eliminate it."
"The known information is that this Strange Tale's targets are all people living alone. Once they encounter this Strange Tale, they all eventually die as white-haired old people, as if their life has been stripped away. During this period, the people attacked by the Strange Tale seem unable to notice their own physical changes."
So that's how it is.
Natsuki glanced at Shinomiya Un'yo. No wonder the manor was so dangerous, yet this guy didn't run away but chose to stay in the manor with Kaguya. It turns out being alone is more dangerous.
"It feels like another super dangerous Strange Tale..."
Natsuki sighed.
Well, every Strange Tale he encountered was super dangerous. Once an ordinary person triggered an anomaly rule, there was basically no way out.
"Let's go see the two people who encountered the Strange Tale first."
Kaguya nodded gently, turned around, and said:
"President, follow me."