Seiji hugged little s.h.i.+n.o.bu while casting a spell with Yomi's a.s.sistance.

As he uttered the incantation, the s.p.a.ce around them gradually darkened as red light glowed on the little girl's body with blood-red runes.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu's consciousness gradually faded. However, she didn't feel like resisting as she always had before because he'd said that she would be fine.

And just as she believed, a warm feeling was transmitted to her body from him again, which maintained her sense of self.

This was his—Seiji Haruta's—Mana.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu really liked this… even though she didn't have a clear understanding of the concept of "like" yet.

She simply felt that this was wonderful, and that meeting him was a wonderful thing.

He gave her something very nice, and she wanted to give him something equally nice. However, she didn't know what she could give him.

She decided to think hard about this later.

As long as she followed him, she would be able to continue thinking, and always be able to think. She would definitely think of something!

The little girl closed her eyes and revealed a faint expression of bliss in his arms.

While holding on to s.h.i.+n.o.bu and entering the path to the netherworld, he noticed that her body was changing.

The traces of her being put together by various "materials" vanished completely, and her hair became clean and pure silver rather than being messy and silver mixed with blood-red. Her entire body seemed to be turning somewhat translucent as well.

He hurriedly asked Yomi what was going on.

"The part of her soul affected by the negative energies there has remained behind. Currently, her soul's main portion is being sustained by your Mana, so her form has changed," the female spirit explained to him. "As for why she's turning translucent, that's because she's currently in a weakened state. As long as you continue providing her with Mana, her form will gradually stabilize."

"So, she's still alright?"

"Naturally."

"That's good, then." Seiji looked at the little girl in his arms who was seemingly asleep. "What will happen to the portion of her soul that remains behind there?"

"Nothing at all. It'll just be like a cicada discarding its outer sh.e.l.l, and it will simply remain there."

"That's a rather subtle a.n.a.logy."

"I think it's quite an appropriate one, hehe…" Yomi chuckled.

She was quite delighted to see what had happened.

Long, long ago, a Yin-Yang Master had acted just like the current Seiji Haruta, holding a weak little demon while walking home.

That Yin-Yang master saved her, taught her, and helped her learn about the world, letting her experience so much.

After the little demon grew up into a powerful demon, she became that Yin-Yang Master's Spirit-branded Retainer to be of a.s.sistance to him. She gradually became stronger and stronger.

"Without realizing it, you've become quite strong… your name doesn't seem to fit your current strength anymore. How about changing your name to a more suitable one?

"Eh? You don't want to change your name? Just treat it as your nickname then. Or, treat your original name as your childhood name, and your new name as your adult name.

"Let's give you a really cool-sounding new name. You'll be called..."

Seiji gradually opened his eyes.

It was light outside and time to wake up.

He silently tried sensing his own body. Apart from the spirit Yomi, he could sense an incredibly weak and small existence inside him as well.

That was s.h.i.+n.o.bu Miaki.

"You don't need to keep her in your mind at all times. Leave her to me. I shall communicate with her and teach her various things." Yomi had told him that before he woke up.

It was nice that she was willing to do this. However, why was she suddenly so proactive? Didn't she usually enjoy her "sleeping?" Seiji was rather curious about her sudden change in att.i.tude.

"Because 'educating' a pure and innocent little demon is something quite amusing~"

It was a reply that rendered Seiji speechless.

Although this type of response might make one wonder "Is it truly alright to leave things to someone like her?", Seiji believed that Yomi was worthy of his trust. After all, he was only able to take s.h.i.+n.o.bu's soul with him due to her power in the first place… so he figured that she would do fine in teaching s.h.i.+n.o.bu properly.

Besides, it seemed reasonable for a powerful demon to be teaching a newbie demon, and more appropriate than a human teaching a demon.

When he got out of bed, he saw s.h.i.+ka at breakfast.

At first, s.h.i.+ka's expression was normal, and she acted as if nothing had happened between them last night. However, a few minutes later, her face flushed red, and she kept averting her gaze from Seiji. She behaved incredibly awkwardly.

Seiji started feeling awkward as well upon seeing her behavior. He did his very best to stop himself from recalling what he felt yesterday from s.h.i.+ka "attacking" him.

Both of them felt awkward, yet still tried to prevent Reo from noticing that anything was wrong. This caused the atmosphere at breakfast to become rather strange.

At this moment, someone knocked on Seiji's apartment door.

He was surprised to see that the visitor was Mai.

"Milady has ordered me to begin coming over here to take Tachibansan to school every day." The maid smiled in greeting. "From now on, I shall take charge of her safety to and from school and eliminate any problematic pests."

Seiji was rendered speechless.

He instantly recalled how this senpai of his would smile beautifully while shooting people with her laser gun at the school festival!

If it was her, she probably really would kill off any criminals just like how one would kill an annoying insect… he couldn't help but think this to himself. As for whether or not she would still smile if she had to kill someone, he wouldn't know.

"Thanks for the trouble… if you need any a.s.sistance in dealing with any problems, please contact me."

"Thank you for your concern, junior. If you're needed, I won't hesitate to call you."

After Mai entered his apartment, she gave him the same present as the first one she had given him: a box of homemade red-bean cakes.

Seiji thus recalled how he had tasted Mai's red-bean cakes together with s.h.i.+ka at the president's residence at that time.

He could recall the scene as if it had happened only yesterday. After all, he had agreed to write a story together with s.h.i.+ka on that day, and it was a wonderful memory for him.

After that, they wrote "Brother Monogatari" together, and it was almost published already… although he didn't know the specific time.

'Let's call Editor Yos.h.i.+zawa later today to ask her.' Seiji made a mental note.

He invited Mai to eat breakfast together with them. She politely refused, saying that she had eaten already.

"Although I was somewhat mentally prepared, seeing your breakfast… still makes me want to go and borrow your kitchen." The maid sighed. "I don't want to say that you guys are doing a bad job, but… breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for growing girls. You should pay more attention to nutrition and balance."

"…Please teach me, Senpai."

"I don't want to give a long lecture, but I can't make it too simple, either… How about this, I'll email you some information later that you absolutely must finish reading! Plan out your meals according to the information that you read and ask me about anything that you don't understand. You can also ask me about any recipes that you're having problems with, and I'll definitely teach you."

Seiji was awed at how professional she seemed at being a nutritionist. He could only agree to do as she asked.

Out of concern for s.h.i.+ka and Reo's living conditions, Mai asked them some questions, and made some specific suggestions to both of them based on what she felt were bad habits.

Her att.i.tude seemed gentle and intimate, while also imperceptibly strict at the same time. The middle schooler and elementary schooler both obediently listened to her as if they were younger sisters being lectured by their older sister.

Seiji was quite moved by this scene, finding it interesting at the same time. Of course, he did his very best to take care of s.h.i.+ka and Reo. However, as he was male, there were always things that he would miss or overlook.

Fortunately, Mika, her mother the landlord, as well as Kaede Juumonji would all occasionally help him out. Now, his maid senpai had helped him with life counseling as well. He was truly grateful to all of them.

"Junior, I hear that you sleep together with Tachibanchan every night… is this true?" Mai asked him in an icy tone.

Seiji's expression froze.

He had forgotten about this landmine…

Mai smiled as she looked directly at him with the same look in her eyes as when she had talked about "eliminating problematic pests" earlier.