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"Eh…?"
Yamada Elf suddenly felt a chill run through her body, like something incredibly important had quietly vanished.
She blankly lowered her gaze. The moment she saw what had changed, steam practically burst out of the blonde, flat-chested girl's head.
"AHHHHHH!!"
Blake was just as stunned.
Hey—wasn't this supposed to be invisibility?
What kind of broken ability only makes your panties disappear?! Hurry up and make them visible again!
As everyone knows, people are different.
Some are blessed with thick hairlines… others are born doomed to go bald.
The blonde girl in front of him clearly belonged to the latter.
After staring in shock for a second, Blake finally snapped out of it and quickly turned his head away.
"Y-You saw it, didn't you?!"
Yamada Elf clutched her lower abdomen and crouched down, tears welling up from sheer embarrassment.
Still looking away, Blake replied flatly,"I didn't see anything."
"Liar!"
Her face flushed so red it looked like it might drip blood."Your nostrils and pupils both got bigger!"
Don't slander me like that! Fine, maybe my pupils—but why would my nostrils get bigger?!
And with your tiny build, no matter how much you show, it's just… not that kind of situation, okay?!
"My panties… why did they disappear…?"
Still crouched on the ground, Yamada Elf looked like her entire worldview was collapsing.
"…Probably a side effect of magical contamination."
Blake hesitated for two seconds, then decided to come clean.
There was no doubt about it.
The blonde girl in front of him was a wild "witch," just like Kuroneko and the angel girl. Her ability was invisibility.
And if she was a witch, then using her power would naturally come with side effects.
Kuroneko grew a cat tail. Mahiru temporarily lost her five senses. Clearly, side effects varied.
So… needing to sacrifice a pair of panties to activate invisibility wasn't that strange, right?
Of course, this was her first time using the ability. There might be other side effects she hadn't discovered yet.
"Eh?" Yamada Elf tilted her flushed face up, confused. "What did you just say, Blake?"
"It's a long story…"
He had been about to explain properly, but the ringing of a bicycle bell echoed from the distance. Lowering his voice, he said,
"Now's not the time. I'll explain everything tomorrow… for now, just go home, okay?"
Wearing only underwear was bad enough—now she didn't even have that. If someone saw her, there was no way she'd ever shake off the "pervert" label.
"Y-Yeah, I should go home first!"
Yamada Elf nodded frantically, her face full of embarrassment."D-Don't look!"
I've been looking away this whole time, okay?!
With a sigh, Blake took off his jacket and handed it to her without turning around.
"Here."
"Thank you!"
She gratefully accepted it and quickly tied it around her waist.
"Phew…"
With the jacket covering her, she finally relaxed a little. It was still a bit chilly, but at least she felt safe again.
"I'll head back now." Her cheeks still red, she bowed. "I'll wash this tonight and return it tomorrow."
"Yeah."
Blake nodded lightly.
"Oh, and about those side effects you mentioned—tell me everything tomorrow morning!"
As she spoke, she hurried off toward her house, clutching the jacket around herself.
A cool breeze swept through.
Just as she reached the door, the half-open entrance suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.
Her steps froze.
Then, stiffly, she turned back toward Blake, eyes filling with tears.
"I-I'm screwed…"
A bad feeling crept up on him.
"…Don't tell me you forgot your key?"
She sniffled, her face full of despair."I don't even have pockets—how was I supposed to bring a key?!"
You managed to bring your phone, didn't you?! That's on you!
A bicycle passed by the intersection and quickly disappeared into the distance.
The neighborhood fell silent again.
"…Servant, can I stay at your place tonight?"
Yamada Elf bit her lower lip and shuffled closer, looking pitiful.
"Hold on." Blake raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'servant'?"
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
"You saw my whole body, so from now on, you're my servant."
"Sorry, I refuse." Blake crossed his arms, expressionless. "That was an unforeseeable accident. Even legally, accidents don't require responsibility."
"I don't care, I don't care, I don't care!" she puffed up her cheeks, throwing a childish tantrum. "We just met, and you already saw everything! You have to take responsibility by becoming my servant!"
Blake looked at her with pure disdain."There's actually another option."
"Eh?"
"You can look back at me."
"P-Pervert!"
Clutching the jacket, she took a step back, face burning."I'm not interested in that kind of thing at all!"
"…Anyway, letting you stay at my place is definitely not happening." Blake rubbed his forehead. If Sagiri found out, something extremely dangerous would probably happen. "We just met, and you're already asking to stay at a guy's house. Aren't you scared?"
"…A little," Yamada Elf admitted, her voice softening. "But… my servant is a good person, right?"
"Based on what?" Blake asked, raising a brow. "We just met."
"Because good-looking people aren't bad," she said confidently, pointing her thumb at herself and lifting her chin. "You and I are both good-looking, so you must be a good person too."
"… "
Yep. Definitely an idiot. The kind who'd help count the money after getting scammed.
"Judging people by looks is dangerous," Blake said flatly, his tone turning slightly dark. "I'm actually a bad person."
"I'm not judging by looks!" Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, completely unfazed. "I'm using my sixth sense. A girl's intuition!"
"…Even if you stayed at my place, you still wouldn't be able to get back in tomorrow," Blake said, deciding to focus on solving the problem. "Did you hide a spare key somewhere? Like under a flowerpot?"
"No… I just moved in today…"
She shook her head, then suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Ah! I remember! When I was cleaning earlier, I opened a window for ventilation. I don't think I closed it—I can climb in through the window!"
"Good luck with that. I'm heading home."
Blake turned to leave.
"Wait!" She grabbed the corner of his clothes, like a little deer about to be abandoned. "Come with me! What if I run into a bad guy?"
You can turn invisible—what are you afraid of?!
A moment later…
The two of them stood behind the building, looking up.
The good news: there really was an open window.
The bad news…
It was on the second floor.
"....."