Chapter 136: Ryuen Kakeru, Currently in Forced Slumber
The rain grew heavier, drumming against the tent roofs with a rhythmic patter-patter that sounded like a giant beating a drum.
Inside the tents, the Class D students were huddled together—some chatting, some staring blankly into space, and others complaining about the miserable weather. Only Katsuragi Keima had a rare smile on his face.
It was raining, and it was a downpour. Everyone was forced to stay inside their tents. No one would come to bother him; he could simply sit in his corner and play his games in peace and quiet. He plugged in his power bank, the screen lit up, the save file loaded—perfect. He leaned against the tent wall, fingers resting on the buttons, prepared to enjoy this rare moment of tranquility.
"Kami-nii-sama!"
Elsie poked her head through the tent opening. Keima's fingers paused for a moment.
"What is it?"
"I want to go out and play!"
Keima looked at her. "It's raining outside."
"I know! That's why it'll be fun!" Elsie's eyes were sparkling. "Being stuck on this island for days is so boring! Besides, no one else will be out in the rain, so it's the perfect time for an adventure! Also, Kami-nii-sama, you've been eating nothing but grilled fish; you must be sick of it. I'll go find something delicious to bring back!"
Keima was silent for a second. She was right. In this weather, students from every class would be hiding in their camps. No one would be out in a storm, so no one should discover her. Furthermore, she was a demon. Between invisibility, flight, and her raiment's transformations, she had plenty of ways to ensure she wasn't seen. Even regarding the GPS tracking on the watches, Elsie had her ways of dealing with it.
Actually, letting Elsie get away from him would save him a lot of trouble.
"Go ahead," Keima nodded. "Just don't get caught."
"Yay!" Elsie nearly jumped with excitement. "Kami-nii-sama is the best!"
"Keep it down."
"Oh, right!" She covered her mouth and lowered her voice. "I'm off then!"
She slipped out of the tent and ran to the edge of the camp. After checking around to make sure no one was watching, she pulled her broomstick from behind her back and hopped on. She pulled at her raiment, and it instantly transformed into a dark raincoat, wrapping her up tightly and blending her into the surroundings.
"Departure!" she whispered. With a kick off the ground, the broom carried her soaring into the sky. The raindrops pelted her but were deflected by the raiment.
Ten minutes later, Elsie flew back carrying a large burlap sack. It was filled entirely with ingredients from Hell—eggs that could self-detonate and mushrooms that made you glow after eating them.
"I'll prepare a snack for Kami-nii-sama later... Wait, these ingredients from Hell shouldn't be seen by other people. Whatever... let's just get back to camp first."
As Elsie spoke, she landed on the ground. But in that moment, she froze.
Where was the camp?
She had been flying so happily that she hadn't paid attention to her direction. She was surrounded by trees, the rain was falling, and it was pitch black. She turned in one circle, then another, completely unable to tell north from south.
"Oh no..." she whispered. "I'm lost..."
She trudged through the rain for a while, lugging the sack, getting more confused with every step. The rain rustled through the leaves, creating a constant shh-shh sound that masked all sense of direction. She decided to find a place to shelter from the rain first and wait for it to let up before searching for the way back.
She headed in one direction and, after a few minutes, spotted a massive old tree. Its trunk was thick enough to require several people to circle it, and at the base was a hollow hidden by vines—nearly impossible to spot if one wasn't looking closely.
She pushed aside the vines and peered inside.
Someone was sitting in the hollow.
Ryuen Kakeru.
He was curled up in the tree hollow, leaning against the damp wooden wall, soaked to the bone. His tracksuit was covered in mud, streaks of dirt stained his face, and his messy hair was plastered to his forehead. His eyes were closed; he was conserving his strength.
After all, even Ryuen Kakeru was ultimately just a first-year high school student. Surviving on a deserted island required a sensible distribution of stamina. Moreover, due to a lack of supplies, Ryuen had been forced to live in caves and tree hollows. Having just been caught in the rain, his physical condition was far from ideal.
Elsie froze. Her giant sack was still slung over her shoulder, the top wasn't tied tight, and two fruits came tumbling out, rolling right to Ryuen's feet. One was golden and the other purple, glowing faintly in the darkness.
Ryuen felt something blocking the light at the entrance. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a figure in a raincoat peering into the hollow. The raincoat was dark, blending into the night, but the face was remarkably clear in the gloom.
He recognized that face.
Katsuragi Keima's sister, Elsie—someone from Class D.
She was carrying a massive sack over her shoulder, larger than her entire body. The bag wasn't sealed, and various glowing fruits were rolling out. His mind felt as if it had been struck by lightning, snapping into instant clarity.
Why was Elsie here?!
Hadn't she just discovered his existence?! If it were found out that he was still on the island, all his plans would crumble into dust! Why did Elsie find this place? Could it be... was he actually the one being followed? Had his every move been monitored by these siblings from the very beginning?!
No, no... he had to find a way to restrain her! He absolutely could not let Elsie return to Class D and tell the others! Just restraining her shouldn't technically violate the rules, especially since there were no surveillance cameras on the island. Even if he had to use violence, it didn't matter.
He jerked upright, his hand already clenched into a fist, ready to react to the sudden situation—and then he saw what was behind Elsie.
A broomstick.
A broomstick hovering in mid-air.
Elsie had flown here on a broom. That broom was currently floating behind her, swaying slightly in the rain as if awaiting its master's command. The handle was wet with rain, reflecting a faint light in the dark. It just hung there, without any support, without any wires, just floating in the air.
Ryuen's pupils constricted violently.
In that instant, his brain went completely blank. He stood there with his mouth agape, staring at the broom, then at Elsie, back to the broom, then back to Elsie. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
'A flying broom? Carrying a sack bigger than herself? Glowing fruit?
Am I hallucinating? I must be dreaming. Yes, dreaming!'
After being out in the rain for so long in a weakened state, he must be seeing things. Ryuen closed his eyes tight and pinched his thigh hard. It hurt—a very real, sharp pain. It wasn't a dream! He pinched himself again; it still hurt.
He opened his eyes. The broom was still there, Elsie was still there, the sack was still there, and the glowing fruit was still there. He even saw a golden fruit roll up to his hand, brushing against his finger; it was warm and carried a strange, sweet fragrance. On that fruit... there seemed to be a human face. And it was smiling at him?!
?!
Ryuen began to wonder if he had accidentally eaten some poisonous mushrooms earlier. His lips began to tremble.
"..."
He finally made a sound, though it was a rasping shadow of his own voice. "What... are you...?"
Elsie was also stunned. She didn't expect to run into anyone here, let alone Ryuen Kakeru. And she was carrying this massive sack full of food from Hell with a floating broom behind her—how was she supposed to explain this?
The Kami-nii-sama had said she mustn't let anyone know she was a demon. What now?
She looked at the broom, then at Ryuen, then at the sack, then back at Ryuen. Ryuen's eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth was open, and he seemed frozen in place. His complexion shifted from pale to ashen, then back to a deathly white. His lips were trembling, his fingers were trembling—his whole body was shaking. It was unclear if it was from the cold or from sheer terror.
He raised a hand, shakily pointing at the broom, his finger tracing circles in the air.
"..."
His voice was stuck in his throat as if he were being strangled.
"This is impossible... this isn't scientific..."
Elsie blinked. She remembered Keima's warning never to be discovered. But she had been caught! What should she do? She looked down at the broom in her hand, then up at Ryuen's dazed face.
He saw it. He saw everything! Not just the broom, but all this other stuff too. He was still pointing at the broom, his lips quivering, his face wearing an extremely complex expression—fear, confusion, a total breakdown, and something else indefinable. His brain was clearly undergoing a massive storm; all his common sense was collapsing.
"Um, the fruit next to you is very tasty. Do you want to try some?" Elsie pointed to the Hell-fruit that had rolled to Ryuen's hand.
"..."
Before Ryuen could say anything, the fruit suddenly exploded. Though the blast wasn't powerful, the sound was incredibly loud, and it even left Ryuen's face scorched black.
"..."
His voice came in broken fragments. "What... on earth... are... you...?"
"I'm not an 'on earth'! I'm Elsie!" Elsie said unhappily, but she immediately realized that wasn't the point. The point was—she couldn't let him talk!
She took a deep breath, her grip tightening on the broom. "You didn't see anything," she said.
Ryuen didn't react. He just stared at her, his pupils vibrating violently. His lips continued to quiver, and a gurgling sound came from his throat.
"You didn't see anything!" she repeated, her voice a bit louder.
Ryuen's lips moved, and a raspy sound emerged: "..."
His hand was still pointing at the broom, his finger shaking.
"That's... a broom... flying..." he muttered, as if trying to confirm the reality of what he was seeing. "Flying... it's really flying... and that thing that just exploded..."
Elsie felt a bit guilty seeing him so utterly soul-crushed. But she knew she couldn't be soft-hearted. The Kami-nii-sama said no one could know!
"You saw wrong!" she said.
"I didn't see wrong..." Ryuen's voice was hollow, his eyes fixed on the broom. "It's flying... it's floating on its own... no ropes... no wires..."
His voice got smaller and smaller, sounding more like he was talking to himself. His worldview was collapsing; every bit of knowledge he had built up over fifteen years was being smashed to pieces by a flying broomstick.
"You aren't human..." he murmured. "What exactly are you..."
Elsie didn't want to hear any more. She raised the broom, aimed it at Ryuen's head, and gave him a light bonk. She controlled her strength—a demon's strength was much greater than a human's, and she was afraid of actually breaking him. It was just a light tap, like tapping a watermelon.
However, even that strength was far beyond what a normal person could endure.
Ryuen's eyes rolled back, and his whole body went limp, slumping into the tree hollow as he lost consciousness. His body slid to the side, his head resting against the tree wall, his breathing steady as if he were asleep. The expression of shock-induced breakdown lingered on his face for a moment before slowly smoothing out into a look of peace.
He looked like he was sleeping quite soundly.
Elsie knelt down and poked his cheek. No reaction. She poked again. Still no reaction. She sighed in relief, stood up, and clapped her hands.
"That was close!" she muttered to herself. "I almost got caught."
She looked at Ryuen in the hollow, then at the sack in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled a few fruits from the bag and placed them beside him, along with a few glowing mushrooms. Then she poured half the spring water from her canteen into the one he was carrying.
"These are for you," she whispered. "You can eat them when you wake up. They're very tasty—demons love them! Though when you wake up, you'll probably think it was all a dream..."
She stood up, walked to the entrance, and mounted her broom. The rain was still falling, but it was lighter than before. She looked back one last time at Ryuen, who was leaning against the wall in total serenity. Then, with a kick, she sped off into the rainy night.
The broom streaked through the rain, the water sliding off her raiment. Elsie flew over forest after forest until she finally spotted the campfire of the Class D camp. She landed at the edge of the camp, hid the broom, pulled down the hood of her raiment, and tiptoed toward Katsuragi Keima's tent.
"Kami-nii-sama! Kami-nii-sama!" She scrambled into the tent.
Keima looked up from his handheld console to see her—drenched in spots with hair plastered to her face, but wearing a grin and the excitement of someone who had done something bad without getting caught.
"What happened?"
"I'm back!" Elsie said excitedly, then lowered her voice. "Kami-nii-sama, I just saw Ryuen Kakeru!"
Keima's fingers paused. "Where?"
"In a big tree hollow! He was hiding in there all by himself. He looked so pitiful and was soaking wet," Elsie said. "He saw me! He saw me fly! And he saw the broom! And the sack! And the glowing fruit!"
Keima's brow twitched slightly. "And then?"
"He fell asleep."
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