The Demon of Pleasure: Starting with Angel, Shiina Mahiru! Chapter 172 172: Not Enough Balance Gabriel

As class ti neared, Hayashi Maki finally let the Second Heiress drift off to sleep.

He pulled the covers up for her, pressed a light kiss to her, then left and returned to his rented apartnt.

After this session, the mana seed inside Yukino had begun to stir. With a bit more effort it would likely hatch completely. And with the alchemy that ca from contracting with the second young lady, perhaps his craft would level up again?

Alchemy was seriously powerful. He could already make so magical tools himself. The snag was materials: he had to use jade or rare gemstones as mana vessels. For now he was only using jade—he hadn't started collecting gems yet. They weren't cheap.

When he got back, Shiina Mahiru had dinner ready, and asked him to go call Mashiro. Hayashi Maki had no objections.

After calling over the dazed, airheaded Mashiro, they started in on dinner.

…

The next day.

Yukinoshita Yukino opened her eyes and, by habit, touched her stomach. Then she rembered—last night that certain scoundrel had scooped her up and carried her to bed. They'd even skipped dinner. Oddly, she wasn't very hungry. Was that the mana seed he ntioned doing its work?

She glanced at the guardian ring on her finger; a blush rose to her cheeks. Rembering their plan, a look of anticipation crept onto her face. A cat café—she wanted to go so badly. But she disliked crowded places and always felt ill at ease, so she'd never gone—only sighed at the TV whenever cats appeared.

Rubbing her cheeks, she slipped on her cat slippers and went to wash up. Seeing the kiss marks on her neck, she couldn't help pouting.

"That jerk—he did it on purpose! Leaving marks like this… is he trying to stake his claim?"

Thinking of how obsessed he was with her, a pleasant shiver ran through her and her heartbeat quickened.

…

Over to Hayashi Maki.

Early in the morning, his upstairs neighbor Aoyama Nanami was already up to deliver milk around the neighborhood.

A girl juggling several part-ti jobs for her dream, racing the clock every day. Every ti Hayashi Maki saw Nanami working so hard, his eyes lit up; he admired her.

Upstairs, Gabriel yawned—she'd gad all night. As her level rose, the devs had pushed a new, super-hard dungeon; she and her party had wiped in the final phase over a dozen tis.

"Hmph—at tis like this, there's only one thing to do!"

Brows arched, Gabriel looked smug and clicked Top-Up—ti to enter the realm of the whales. But the mont she tried to charge her card, an "insufficient balance" prompt popped up.

"Eh?!"

Wide-eyed, she tried again.

[Beep. Your card has insufficient funds. This purchase cannot be completed.]

"No… no money? Seriously? My party's waiting for to carry them and I'm broke?!"

Groaning, Gabriel collapsed on the floor to reflect. "Looks like it's true. Checking my charge history—I've spent the whole month's budget, including my food money."

Patting her flat belly, she wailed. What now? An angel, co down to earth, starving because she couldn't afford food? Was she about to beco the first angel in history to die of hunger?

She opened the fridge—and her vision went dark. Done for. She'd been too lazy to cook lately and had ordered delivery nonstop—now there was no rice or fresh food at ho.

Just a pile of soda; she'd finished the instant noodles last night. In other words: no reserves. And she couldn't order delivery—her card was empty; she'd blown it all on in-app purchases.

Panic. For the first ti, she felt the terror of being penniless. Her stomach growled in protest.

Suddenly, a delicious sll drifted by. She opened her door without thinking and followed it downstairs. At Hayashi Maki's door she hesitated, then pressed the bell.

Hayashi Maki was just about to eat with Mashiro and Mahiru. Hearing the bell, he got up to answer. He blinked in surprise.

"Gabriel? What's up?"

A bit embarrassed, she sniffed and didn't know how to begin… She was an angel! How could she beg humans for food? What would that make her?

But her belly answered for her with a loud grumble.

He understood in an instant—she'd probably blown her money on her ga and had nothing left for food. Perfect timing.

Smiling, he made the invitation. "If you don't mind, co in and have breakfast with us?"

"Eh—really?"

Gabriel's eyes widened; she looked bashful. She hadn't been fallen long—she didn't have that thick a skin yet.

"Of course. We're neighbors, classmates, friends—no problem eating together. Co on."

"T-then… sorry to intrude."

She followed him in politely.

Ahh—what a heavenly sll. Food, here I co!

"Eh—Gabriel-san?" Mahiru blinked in surprise.

"Mm. Gabriel's joining us today," Hayashi Maki said. "Mahiru, sorry to trouble you."

"It's no trouble—leave it to . Gabriel, sit, I'll get you so rice."

Smiling, Mahiru guided Gabriel to a chair and sat her down, then served her personally. She knew Gabriel's "real angel" identity and wanted to build a good relationship.

"Th-thank you," Gabriel murmured, moved—both Mahiru and Hayashi Maki were too kind.

Um… who's the airheaded one over there?

"Mashiro," said the airhead to herself.

Gabriel arched a brow, puzzled.

"Shiina Mashiro," the airhead clarified.

Lines of exasperation ran across Gabriel's face as she realized Mashiro was introducing herself. She introduced herself in kind. "I'm Gabriel White Tenma—just call Gabriel. Mashiro, nice to et you!"

"Mm. Nice to et you."

Just then Mahiru set a steaming bowl of rice in front of Gabriel.

"I'm digging in!"

With each bite of Mahiru's cooking, Gabriel's eyes grew a little misty. This was way better than takeout.

~~~

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