Gin happily signed the paper for the transfer of ownership of the house.
The Guild and real estate staff had already taken care of all the troublesome documentation and stuff, so the only thing he needed to do was prepare to move in.
The house was already fully furnished to begin with, and the real estate safety inspector had already given the green light, which meant he didn't need to worry about the house crumbling in the near future.
He and Hel didn't have much in terms of belongings to begin with, so the moving part could easily be done in one trip.
The only things that might take a while would be shopping to fill the pantry and cleaning the house for a bit.
All in all, everything was going smoothly and they should be able to leave Twilight Manor in a couple of days.
Well, everything was going smoothly.
Until today, anyway.
Everything was normal today until he stepped out of the bathroom and found none of his clothes were there.
He then went to his room to retrieve some, but they were all gone as well.
Thus, right now, he found himself running down the hallway of Twilight Manor in nothing but a small towel wrapped around his waist, hiding his Balmung from the dumbstruck stares of the surrounding adventurers.
"Loki! Get the fuck out here!" Gin shouted in anger. "I know you're behind all this, you bastard!"
He didn't actually know if she was to blame for this situation, but when in doubt, blaming stuff on Loki was always the right choice.
Not a moment later, his suspicion was proven right.
"Hehehe, to think ya have the balls to come outside in that state," Loki appeared from behind a pillar, clapping her hands mockingly.
"Impressive, Gin. For you to make your way here in nothing but a towel, how many people did you flash to reach this place, I wonder?"
"No matter, I'll just charge them the appropriate price later," Gin answered calmly. "A hundred thousand Valis per person should be enough."
"Oi, normally you should apologize to them for showing your dirty junk, man." Loki stared at his lower half.
"Not an impressive junk too, by the looks of it."
Gin laughed in response.
Know yourself and you shall fear no insult!
"This is only my first form. Someone like you will never make me release the next one, Loki." He smirked. "If you wanted some clothes matching your figure, you should have asked. It wouldn't even count as crossdressing if you were the one doing it."
Loki gritted her teeth. "Hoo, clearly you don't value your life that much." The mocking look was now replaced by unbridled anger. "Don't get cocky, human! You only live because of my boundless kindness—"
"Boundless perversion for Hel-sama, you mean?"
"—And you return my goodwill with this!? Unforgivable! I will show you true fear." She took a fighting stance. Gin did the same.
"This manor will be your final resting place."
The two of them were incompatible existences. Living in harmony was out of the question. That was why he had already prepared for this day.
"En garde! Gin!!!" She rushed toward him. "I'll hammer the fear of god into your mind!"
Gin scoffed. Fear of god, huh? Ridiculous. He was not scared of her.
Because… he never fought alone!
"Help me! Hel-sama!" His shout echoed around the surroundings.
"Wha!? You bastard!" Loki tried to stop her charge and retreat, but it was useless.
You can never escape death.
"Ei."
"Gaagh!"
The goddess of death entered the stage with a lariat, knocking down the evil god.
"Let this be a lesson to you, Loki." Gin looked down at the downed god.
The goddess of death and victory taking her place beside him.
"Our bond is stronger than anything!"
"You… dirty rat…!" Loki gasped on the floor. "To think… you would cheat on our… sacred duel."
"Silence, Trickster," Hel spoke up. "I see through your deviousness. This is nothing but a ploy to you. How dare you try to stop my champion's stride. My champion and I shall leave the confines of your domain. None of your tricks shall hold us for long."
Wait, this was Loki's way of stopping them from moving out? No… something was wrong.
This kind of childish prank wasn't Loki's style at all.
"Hehe…" Gin focused on Loki again.
She didn't look like someone whose plan had been thwarted at all.
"Hehehahahahahaha! Too green! You are still too green, Hel-tan." She got up from the floor.
"I already planned to keep you here longer, but this incident wasn't concocted by me at all," she chuckled. "I am nothing but a pawn in her plan."
"Nani!?"
"That's right, Gin. She should be finished right about now." As soon as she said that, the sound of new footsteps approached closer. "Hahaha! Let me introduce you to the director of this stage. The mastermind of this conflict!"
Gin turned toward the footsteps and widened his eyes.
"No…" The figure didn't stop her strides, steadily moving closer to him.
"I am grateful to you, Gin. Without your guidance, she would never have reached this level!" Gin could barely register Loki's voice.
The shock was just too great!
"I have done it, Loki."
"This is a lie, right?" Gin looked at the mastermind with grief and disappointment.
How did things end like this?
"Ais."
"No, this can't be real. This is just another one of your ploys, Loki!" Gin turned to Loki in anger. "Ais wouldn't do something like this!"
"My champion, calm yourself." Hel's voice came from beside him. "The truth has shown itself, and thus no matter how cruel or impossible it is, we have no choice but to accept it."
Gin gritted his teeth. This was the truth? How could reality be so cruel?
"Ais… I will only ask you this once." He turned to her. "Where are my clothes?"
"Gone. Reduced to atoms."
Gin trembled in horror. "How about the snacks inside them!?"
"In here." She pointed toward her stomach. "The chocolates, the biscuits, the cakes, the gummies, the animal crackers, none were spared. They abandoned all hope as they entered the gate."
Gin's knees touched the floor, despair enveloping him.
"NOOOOOOO!!!! Not the gummies!!!"
"My champion!" Gin felt Hel hugging his trembling body. "Little Tempest, how could you bare your fangs against the one who loves you so? Why would you choose the path of carnage instead of warmth and sunlight?"
"Warmth and sunlight? Yes, that might be the reason," Ais muttered. "Everyone lives to be happy. I am no different. If I can welcome a new day with warmth and sunlight… then I will gladly walk the path of carnage and sorrow."
"So you would selfishly imprison my champion for that reason." Hel shook her head in disbelief.
"Have you no heart?"
"I have one, because I am not a sword." She placed her hand on her chest. "I am human."
"And for the same reason… I shall dirty my hands with the ash of Gin's clothes and cookie crumbs as many times as it takes."
"Hahaha! That's great! Nice words, Ais-tan! You are turning out better than whatever I could imagine!" Loki's laughter entered his ears. "You truly have the makings to be my champion!"
Those words shot through him and pulled him out of the darkness.
…Loki's champion? Who? Ais? Ais was going to be No-Tits Loki's champion?
No. He rejected that!
That was the only future he wouldn't accept. He willed himself to stand up against the despair pushing down on him.
"Ais…" Gin placed his hands on his knees, pushing up to make a stand again. "Enough is enough."
Ais would never be Loki's champion.
Not as long as he drew breath!
She burned his clothes and ate his snacks. It was an unforgivable act. If he didn't stop her, she would go even further beyond in the future!
If he needed to steel his heart for a while to ensure that she wouldn't turn into a nightmare, then so be it!
...
Gin projected his anger and disappointment toward Ais.
She could feel that, seeing as she took a step back in fear.
"Ais, you understand what you did was wrong, right?" Gin asked her as he delivered the final strike to her behind.
"…My butt hurts," she sniffed, draped over his knee.
Gin would feel sorry if she was just a normal girl and not a Level 2 adventurer with a better Endurance stat than him.
His hand hurt more than her butt, probably. He sighed and sat her down beside him. She looked away from him.
"Ais, look at me."
"You are angry, Gin. You hate me." How could she make him feel guilty when she was the one in the wrong?
"I am more disappointed than angry, actually." Gin patted her head. "What you did was wrong, true, but there's no way I could ever hate you for something like this."
"If you don't hate me, then why are you so happy to go away?" She pouted, glaring at him. "You liar. You said you would be my hero."
"I can be your hero even if I live in a different building, stupid," he said. "I am happy that I will have a house, not because I won't be seeing you again."
"…Then stay." She hugged him possessively. "Hel-sama can live there. You stay here. With me."
"You know I can't do that. I am Hel's champion. My place is by her side." Gin sighed. "It's not like I will never meet you again, you know? I will still come and play."
She looked up at him, her arms still hugging him tight. "Then me or Hel, who do you like more?"
Gin smiled tenderly at her, gently patting her back.
"Duh, of course it's Hel."
She pushed him away and shouted at him. "Stupid Gin! I hate you!" She tearfully ran toward the door while yelling at him.
"You impotent phimotic fuck!"
"Wha-! Wait, Ais! Come back here, young lady!" Gin chased after her outside the door, but she had already disappeared from his view.
Her agility was insane.
"Who's the idiot who taught you those words!?"
"The idiot would be you, of course." Gin turned around to see Riveria walking toward him. "This is the reason you should control your language around her. She picks things up pretty quickly."
"Teach." Gin greeted her. "Sorry you had to see that."
"It is alright. I suppose it is normal for her to act her age," she said. "She really has taken a shine to you. It is no wonder that difficulties such as this will come as a side effect."
"…Teach, would it be better if she followed me after all?" Gin asked her. "If she joined my familia then—"
"Gin, you know that choice isn't in the cards," Riveria interrupted. "For someone who came here four months ago, you have shown growth far more amazing than a common adventurer, but even then, you are not ready to bear Ais's burden right now."
"I am still not strong enough, you mean." Gin rolled his eyes.
"It is not that simple of a matter." She sighed. "Her circumstances are far more complicated than you could imagine. I trust you. Ais trusts you too, but for now, you are not yet ready."
"I understand." Gin nodded quietly. It didn't seem to be wise to ignore her advice. "I guess I'll just avoid recruiting her for now?"
"That will be helpful. Thank you for your understanding, Gin." She smiled at him. "It is weird."
"What is?"
"You." She chuckled at his insulted expression. "I mean to say that it is weird to meet someone like you. You are an outsider and we only met some months ago, and yet I trust you no differently than my comrades in the Loki Familia."
"Hell yeah, praise me more." Gin raised his chin smugly. "It's not every day you give me praise like this, Teach. You should make this more frequent. Oh, pat my head too. Show me some love."
"Alright, alright." She huffed in amusement as she patted his head slowly. "Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are."
"Wow, you want me to bark and wag my tail too, Teach?" Gin snorted. "Can't you just praise me normally?"
"Sorry, sorry." She laughed, not stopping with her head patting. "I am not used to handing praise to people. You are younger than me too. I suppose I could say you are adorable."
"I am pretty adorable." Gin nodded to himself. "Wait, by adorable you mean something like 'little brother adorable', right?" If she said 'pet adorable', he would enter his rebellion phase.
"I suppose." Riveria smiled. "I wonder if I ever had a sibling, would he be like you?"
"Hard to break it to you, Teach. But being more adorable than me isn't scientifically possible. You would be putting too much pressure on the fella."
She laughed. "I see, I see. Then I should settle with the one available."
Wait, should he test his luck and wager his future against the wrath of all the elves he would ever meet?
"…Big sis?" Gin tested the waters slowly. "Big Sis Riveria?"
Riveria stopped for a bit before continuing again. "…I don't hate it."
"Woo! Big Sis Riveria!"
'Wow, it actually worked, she was smiling pretty happily too!'
"Yes. Yes. Stupid little brother." Even through her blushing, she was still pampering him.
My High Elf Older Sister Can't be This Cute.
"Anyway Gin, I have been wanting to ask you this for a while now."
"Hmm? What is it, big sis?"
"…Why are you naked?"
Gin followed her gaze and looked down at his body.
Ah, yeah.
He kind of forgot about that.
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