After all, last night.
When those blush-inducing vibrations clearly transmitted through the floorboards into her ears.
Her brain's first reaction was also to frantically sound the alarm, screaming "do not listen to impropriety."
This was wrong.
This was impure.
This was great disrespect towards Lord God.
But in the end...
Her body seemed to betray her will.
Her newly awakened Development Ability—[Mind's Eye]—became the biggest accomplice!
Not only could she not block it out.
Instead, she listened even more intently.
Those sounds were simply inescapable.
It wasn't just hearing.
All her senses were amplified infinitely at that moment.
The more she tried to block it out.
The more clearly she heard.
She even began to involuntarily conjure up those extremely shameful images in her mind.
It was as if there was some kind of magic.
Making her toss and turn under the covers all night, only dozing off fitfully until dawn.
"Mmm..."
Thus.
The more she recalled these things, the more Inaba Tsukuyo felt she had no face to meet people.
She simply buried her face even deeper.
Looking at her ostrich-like appearance, wishing she could bury herself alive.
"Regardless, it was me who made you suffer and lose sleep all night."
Heimer also felt heartache.
Although logically speaking.
After her level sublimated to Lv.2 and she awakened the rare Development Ability [Mind's Eye].
Inaba Tsukuyo's control over her own senses should have reached a new height.
Theoretically, she could selectively block out external information.
However.
On the other hand.
Even if she could.
Having Inaba Tsukuyo constantly block out these sounds herself was ultimately not a long-term solution.
After all.
What if she forgot one day?
Or—what if that little demon named curiosity, also known as adolescence, suddenly acted up?
Although Inaba Tsukuyo was powerful and more mature-minded than her peers, she was, after all, still a young girl in the prime of her youth.
Curiosity about the new world, about the mysteries behind the veil of the adult world, is always hard to suppress.
...
Thinking of this.
Heimer thoughtfully looked up, his gaze passing through the central courtyard towards the direction of the second-floor bedroom.
Although this house was solidly built, and Shakti had spared no expense, making it absolutely a mansion among mansions.
The craftsmen clearly hadn't specifically designed it with soundproofing in mind for high-level Adventurers with unbelievably sharp senses.
"It seems... I really need to think of a solution quickly."
"I'll have to find an opportunity later to ask Tsubaki, or go directly to Hephaestus."
"See if I can get a tool that completely blocks sound or something."
"Otherwise, in the future..."
If these little fellows at home, with ears as sensitive as radar, are forced to eavesdrop every day.
How can life go on like this?
What about the privacy of a god?
How can we happily engage in deep communication between god and familia in the future?
Thus.
Heimer began stroking his chin, secretly calculating in his heart.
...
However.
The next second.
"BOOM—!!!"
A loud noise, without warning, erupted from the direction of the kitchen.
Immediately after.
As if to match this loud noise.
Thicker, more pungent black smoke than before began billowing out continuously from the kitchen doorframe.
Even showing a tendency to spread into the hall.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
"It's over, meow! It's over! This pot is completely ruined, meow!"
"Ryu! Are you trying to blow this place up?! This is Lord God's residence, meow!"
"No! No! The fire is too big, meow! Turn it off, you idiot! Ryu, don't hit the fire with the spatula, that's useless, meow!!!"
The originally quiet morning was completely shattered.
Heimer's train of thought was also forcibly interrupted in that instant.
Looking at the black smoke diligently trying to climb towards the ceiling.
Heimer's mouth twitched slightly.
"It seems..."
"Compared to soundproofing..."
"Keeping Miss Elf away from the kitchen is the current top priority."
This wasn't cooking.
This was clearly demolishing the house.
Heimer sighed helplessly.
He patted the still-dazed Inaba Tsukuyo's head, signaling her not to worry, stood up, and walked through the light smoke already beginning to permeate the hall, heading straight for the kitchen door.
...
There,
Inside the originally spacious and bright kitchen,
chaos now reigned.
Three figures in maid outfits were scurrying around like headless chickens.
And the most conspicuous among them,
was naturally the one standing right in the center of the stove—Ryu Lion.
However,
when Heimer looked over,
he saw that
Ryu's originally beautiful and elegant face was now covered in soot, looking as if she had just crawled out of a coal pile.
She was holding a spatula with extreme stiffness, staring intently at the frying pan in front of her, which was continuously emitting black smoke and occasionally sprouting a flame or two.
"It... it turned black!"
Panic began to seep into Ryu's voice.
"Why is this... turning black?! It was clearly yellow just now!"
"The fire! Why won't the fire go out!"
"Why isn't the fire obeying?!"
As Ryu's attempt to smother the flames with a spatula ended in failure,
she was clearly completely flustered.
She threw down the now-useless spatula and began frantically twisting the control knob beneath the magic stone stove.
Normally,
turning off a fire was an instinctive action that didn't even require conscious thought.
However,
in this state of extreme panic,
so,
because Ryu used too much force,
a crisp *crack* was heard.
That control knob, made of fine bronze and clearly quite valuable,
was promptly snapped right off in her hand.
The moment Ryu looked down and saw the broken bronze control knob still clutched in her raised hand,
in that instant,
time seemed to freeze.
Black smoke was still billowing.
The fire was still burning.
But the air in the kitchen, as if instantly drained, solidified completely.
Even the two figures standing on either side of Ryu, who had been jumping up and down and shouting, trying to offer outside guidance—Lunoire and Chloe—
also instantly stiffened.
Their mouths hung wide open, eyes bulging, staring fixedly at the broken knob in Ryu's hand.
After a second of dead silence,
"Meow-yaaa—!!!"
A piercing, tragic cat cry instantly cut through the heavy black smoke in the kitchen.
"You brute of a woman, meow!!!"
Chloe clutched her head with both hands, her cat ears plastered flat against her scalp, wearing an expression of utter doom.
"This is a magic stone stove! It's very expensive! Selling us all might not even cover the cost, meow!"
"We're finished..."
Beside her, Lunoire's legs also went weak, nearly dropping her to her knees, her eyes vacant as she muttered to herself.
"We're completely finished now..."
"We're all going to suffer terribly because of this..."
—Chloe and Lunoire.
They had originally begged Syr for ages before Shopkeeper Miya finally kicked them over here to behave well, hoping to earn Heimer's forgiveness sooner and thus quickly escape this awkward situation of having to come do hard labor every morning from now on.
And what was the result?
This early in the morning,
first, Ryu had a sudden whim to try cooking and tortured them for half an hour!
That alone was bad enough!
But now look!
Ryu had gone and ripped the fine bronze knob right off the magic stone stove!
Forget about forgiveness!
At this rate, they might have to stay here for life, selling themselves to pay off the debt!!
"I... I just..."
Ryu stared at the broken bronze knob in her hand, completely dumbfounded.
Her mind was a total blank.
She had just... wanted to turn off the fire...
Why had it come to this?
Was this thing really that fragile?
...
Just as the atmosphere in the kitchen was becoming so despairingly thick it was about to solidify,
*Clap, clap.*
A crisp sound of applause suddenly came from the doorway.
Hearing this, the three of them froze, their expressions stiffening as they turned their heads with extreme rigidity.
And there,
the man himself was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, watching the whole scene with great interest.
"Bravo."
Heimer softly uttered two words.
His tone gave no hint of anger or pleasure, yet it sent shivers down the spines of all three.
"What a fine show."
"First thing in the morning, you put on such a spectacular performance of home demolition."
"Now..."
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