"OI, kid!!"
Hazuki stood up and snatched the liquor bottle off the table.
He held it up, squinting at the neck.
"I didn’t tell you to drink it!!"
He checked the contents.
"...Lucky. Only a little missing."
anwhile.
Chasia sat with her legs swinging off the table, still holding a half-chewed piece of drake at in her mouth.
Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes dreamy.
"Eheheeh~ Uncle... that drink felt gooooood~"
"Good your ass!" Hazuki barked.
"You’re still a damn minor, damnit!!"
"Ehehe~" Chasia giggled again, pointing at him with the skewer she sohow found.
"Uncle~ you look handso~ when you shout~"
Hazuki froze.
A vein popped on his forehead.
"Ridan. I’m blaming this on you."
"EXCUSE ??" Ridan scread, floating higher.
"You left the bottle open, genius! Don’t look at like I poured it down her throat!"
Elvia, now flustered, tried to guide Chasia back down from the table.
"Uncle~" Chasia’s voice was sing-song now, eyes still twinkling, her face leaning toward him from across the table.
Hazuki groaned, dragging one hand down his face.
"Haaa... what now, drunk kid."
She giggled and wobbled closer.
"Let’s get married~ Ehehee~"
Hazuki’s hand froze halfway to flipping the at.
"...You still minor..." he muttered without turning around.
Chasia swayed, barely listening.
"Then... then how about when I grow up~?" she tilted her head, arms open wide.
"Wanna make a prooomiiiseee~?"
Hazuki’s eye twitched.
Ridan burst out laughing.
"PWAHAHAHAH!! OH NO!! Another pinky promise candidate!? Do it! Do it and summon divine lightning!!"
Elvia gently grabbed Chasia’s shoulders from behind and pulled her away like she was rescuing her from a battlefield.
"C-Co on, Chasia... how about we drink water instead? Water’s good."
"But uncle’s going to be taken if I don’t act now~~"
Elvia’s eyes widened.
She froze for a mont.
"No!!!" she shouted suddenly.
Hazuki flinched.
Ridan nearly dropped mid-air.
Chasia blinked slowly, still swaying.
"Eh? Why~?"
Elvia stepped forward, hands slightly trembling, ears twitching in frustration.
"You’re drunk!" she said, pointing at Chasia like she was making a formal accusation.
"Drunk or not..." Chasia giggled, spinning once with arms out like a dancing fairy.
"He’s handso~ Ehehehe~"
Hazuki slowly turned his head.
"...What the hell is happening here."
Elvia puffed her cheeks and stood between Chasia and Hazuki like a tiny shield.
"You can’t marry him!!"
Chasia tilted her head.
"Then who will~? You~?" she teased, eyes sparkling.
Elvia’s ears turned red.
"T-That’s not the point!!"
Ridan, anwhile, was floating in pure joy.
"YES! Catfight over at guy! I’ve waited a thousand years for this exact mont!"
Hazuki just sighed and poured himself a drink.
"No one’s getting married, damn it. Just eat your at."
Ridan hovered lower, nose wiggling.
The scent of grilled drake at wrapped around him like a divine blessing.
He floated to the table. Reached out.
Paused.
"Hmm...?"
His fingers—misty, ethereal—touched sothing solid.
A small piece of at.
He could feel it.
His cloudy hand closed around it.
The at didn’t fall through.
"...Eh?"
He blinked, stunned.
Slowly... carefully... he brought the piece to his mouth.
Hazuki was too busy arguing with Chasia and Elvia to notice.
Ridan bit down.
Munch.
"..."
Munch, munch.
His eyes widened.
Munch. Munch. MUNCH.
He froze mid-air.
And then—
"OHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Ridan shouted, flipping in place.
"IT WORKS!! I CAN EAT!! I CAN EAAAAAT!!"
He spun like a crazed at fairy, waving the leftover bone in triumph.
"HAZUKI!!! I CAN TASTE THIS WORLD’S FOOD WITH MY OWN MOUTH!!!"
Hazuki looked up, still holding the liquor bottle.
"...That’s great. Don’t choke."
"Ehehehe~"
Ridan smirked, eyes glinting with mischief as he wiped imaginary sauce from his mouth.
"If I can touch the at now..."
He floated slowly... ominously... toward Hazuki.
"Kekekekeke~"
Hazuki blinked.
"Oi. Why are you grinning like that. Don’t—"
Flick.
"Ghah!?"
Hazuki jerked back, nearly spilling his drink.
Ridan spun mid-air, laughing like a maniac.
"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
"I CAN FINALLY TOUCH YOU AGAIN!! MY FINGER WORKS!! THIS IS A NEW ERA!!"
Hazuki rubbed his forehead, glaring.
"What the hell, spirit!?"
"You’ve activated my evolution, Hazuki!! You’ve given power!!"
He struck a dramatic pose mid-air, holding a tiny scrap of drake at like it was Excalibur.
"With at... I shall reclaim my full form!"
Hazuki deadpanned.
"You got stronger because of food? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard."
"And yet here we are."
Ridan smirked, floating triumphantly like a at-fueled demigod.
"Great. Now I have to guard my food from a ghost." Hazuki muttered as he turned the at over.
Ridan puffed up his misty chest.
"Oi. I’m an ancient spirit. Don’t lump in with those low-tier, wall-floating, haunted vase types."
"Whatever..." Hazuki waved him off.
Behind them, the chaos hadn’t ended.
"Married~ married~ married~"
Chasia sang dreamily, arms outstretched like she was floating on clouds.
"You’re not marrying anyone!" Elvia hissed, red-faced, dragging her by the arm toward the house.
"But~ I already proposed~ He’s mine~!" Chasia giggled, letting herself be dragged like a sack of drunken hope.
Just as they passed the doorway—
Kisha stepped outside, holding a pot.
She paused mid-step.
Her eyes landed on Chasia.
Red face. Empty glass. Dreamy smile.
"...Drunk."
A vein popped on her forehead.
"HAZUKI!!!"
Hazuki flinched.
"...What now."
"WHY IS SHE DRUNK!?"
Hazuki pointed at Ridan without hesitation.
"Ghost fed her."
"ANCIENT. SPIRIT." Ridan snapped back.
Kisha stood still.
Eyes locked on Hazuki, whose only defense was a tired shrug.
But sothing about his gaze, too casual, too unaffected, made her pause.
He really doesn’t get how strange this is, does he...?
She exhaled slowly.
No yelling.
Just a quiet, frustrated sigh.
She knelt beside Chasia, who was now lying on the floor of the hallway, legs kicked up on a cushion like a passed-out bard.
"Here, drink this." Kisha offered her a wooden cup of water.
"Eheh... uncle’s so cool~" Chasia murmured as she sipped, smiling between gulps.
"Yes, yes. Let’s talk about that later."
Once she made sure the girl was calming down, Kisha gently lifted her and carried her inside.
As the door closed.
Ridan hovered nearby, chewing another slice of at.
"You realize every ti you say that, sothing insane happens, right?"
"Shut up and pass the salt."
( End Of Chapter )
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