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Chapter 481: Tenacious Mind

「Well, yeah, I noticed how your eyes would follow something before settling on my lap or on Ash. She’d always looked all tense with her knee raised up like this, so I figured something must be there. I get it now, this must be what you’re looking at, huh. 」
Retze remarked while staring at Daifuku, who had snuggled between his thighs.

Daifuku’s coat is pure white, but he also has a soft gray undercoat. The color scheme makes it look like sweet bean paste peeking through the mochi skin, totally living up to his namesake. His nose and paw pads are pink, his tail long and his body very squishy-looking. He allows me to knead him from time to time and he’s super soft.

Ash must’ve seen Daifuku as an orb of light, but he probably shows up in his cat form whenever he feels like it. He naps like a boneless piece that can’t hold himself up, so Ash would sometimes awkwardly lift her thigh, which would then tremble because of his weight.

She also tried propping Daifuku up with her hands, but she can’t touch him, apparently. The cat’s probably toying with her. He would lounge on Ash’s lap, and if Retze is there, he prefers chilling between the guy’s feet.

Retze was scratching Daifuku under his chin, making the spirit look absolutely blissed out. Oh, right, Chris mentioned before that Retze’s surprisingly good with cats?

「… Wait a sec, I can touch it? 」
Retze seemed genuinely shocked as he petted Daifuku.

「No way, the magic circle can do that!? 」
Hauron had been lazily staring at the magic circle, but he suddenly widened his eyes and took another look at it.

「Uh, no? 」
Then again, maybe it’s one of the effects since I wished for improved affinity while I was drawing it?

「At any rate, I finally get how Jean sees the world around him. Now that I can see it for myself… Well, it’s not a total mess as I imagined. 」
Retze seriously contemplated.

Yes, that’s right, the world of spirits is whimsical and liberated!

I had a hard time keeping my cool when we’re talking about serious stuff, all while watching that spirit daydreaming about Chris’s cleft chin or Dean’s spirit licking his armpit.

Ah, but I got used to it by now.

At first, I had to stare at the floor just so I could avert my eyes, although I still end up seeing Dean’s fetish spirit on his boot.

Looks like everyone except Dean is dealing with the same thing as me right now, but they probably thought the spirit clinging to his leg is just some kind of foot-fetish spirit, nothing more. No guys, you’re wrong, that spirit really shines when Dean takes his boots off… trust me on this!!

Meanwhile, Dean’s super distracted by the fire lizard, but he can’t do anything about it. I mean, anyone would be if they kept seeing a flickering tongue out of the corner of their eye, right? Just… try not to look at it, Dean.

Wait, hold on.

「 「Not a total mess 」, you say. Does that mean I’m the abnormal one!? 」
Retze averted his eyes when I pressed him for an answer.

「You’re so mean…!! 」
I see, so if I turn to the wall, there won’t be any spirits possessing humans, huh ー I can’t help but grumble.

「Seeing this much and running into such high-level spirits all the time… no wonder your sense of normal is completely out of whack. 」
Hauron heaved a light sigh, his eyes sweeping over Chris’s chin, Dean’s flank and Retze’s lap.

「Hauron, if you do that on the premise that you can’t See spirits, you’ll just come off as a pervy guy. 」

「I can See so isn’t it fine! And for the record, I See them as faint glowing orbs! Now I’m gonna end up imagining things everytime I see one, depending on where it’s hanging around! What am I supposed to do about that, huh!? 」
Hauron yelled. What started as simple grumbling directed at me had turned into him bellowing at no one in particular.
Gramps Hauron, pull yourself together!

「…Shiva’s spirit makes herself clearly visible from time to time, so it’s gonna be fine, probably. Yeah, it’s gonna be fine. The kids’ spirits should be alright too… though they don’t glow when they’re using their powers…. but what if they’re enjoying some weird fetish moments when I can’t See them… what should I do then…No, wait a sec, are we gonna see the spirits all the time from now on? 」
Dinosso clutched his head.

「Mister’s place must be packed with spirits when you get home, huh… Man, that’s rough. 」
Retze commented sympathetically.

「Dean’s spirit might be a little bit special, but as for me, I’m over the moon for being able to meet with my spirit!! 」
Chris sparkled as he tenderly patted the air around his spirit.

Oh, so Chris can’t touch his spirit, huh. Maybe the ability to touch them also depends on the spirits’ strength and attributes? But then,  Dinosso’s fire dragon is pretty strong, yet he can’t touch it either.

「Hey, my spirits might be special, but so are yours…. you know? 」
Dean muttered under his breath, his half-lidded eyes staring at Chris.

「Mister’s dragon is cool, and Hauron’s spirits might be a bit quirky ー Ah, but two out of the four spirits are just like how I imagined them ーah, yup, it’s probably gonna be fine. 」
Retze turned away at that last statement.

He probably saw the red girl stepping on Ittanmomen and received a shock, huh. He probably realized that over half of the group were kinda bizzare, huh? I wonder if that’s the case.

「Retze, if you’re gonna try to comfort me, then be more confident about it!! 」
Dinosso shouted, whipping around to look at Retze. Just give up, alright.

It was then that we heard a knock on the door.

「I left a note for Ash-sama, so she must’ve come now? 」
Butler stood up and went to the door to open it.

Did Ash go bear hunting or something? Won’t the bears go extinct at this rate? Huh?

「Apologies for barging in ー what happened? 」
「Come in, I made some magic circles that will allow you to see the spirits clearly, and everyone’s been checking it out now. 」
I made a chair for Ash and welcomed her in.

When Butler opened the door, I caught a glimpse of his spirit. Was she hanging around Ash or had she been hiding outside the whole time?

「You hadn’t eaten anything yet, right? 」
「Yeah, sorry about that. 」

Before Ash finished talking, I brought out some croquettes, freshly baked bread, and poured her wine in a new glass. Dean usually keeps eating the bread long after he finishes the main dish, but he was preoccupied this time, so there was still some left in the basket.
Anyway, we had Ash try out the magic circle too.

「Mm. The spirit world is so pure and free, completely unbothered by the gaze of others. It’s just like you, Jean. 」
Ash said with a completely straight face.

Wait, me!?

「So strong… 」
「She didn’t even flinch at this unfiltered world… 」
The two legendary guys muttered.

Ash, it’s okay to be a bit more shaken, you know?