The magic that relaxed vigilance and the magic that made one no longer hide desires had become a complete jumbled mess.
At this moment, in the Calamity Pillar’s field of vision, the tags on Gray had turned into things like “Want to know more!” and “Want to get closer to him!”
“Um, Miss Katy? Isn’t that a little too close?”
Watching the girl who had squinted and leaned in, Gray’s instinctive reaction was to shrink back toward the armrest of the sofa, trying to create some “safe distance.”
There was no other reason—the distance was just too close now.
If he turned his head even slightly, the tip of his nose would brush against the girl’s trembling eyelashes, and his vision was filled with dizzying white softness.
If this continued, he was afraid he really wouldn’t be able to hold himself together.
The single-seat sofa on the other side had “teleported” to Gray’s side, and now, like a drunk uncle in a tavern, one arm was casually slung around Gray’s neck, her whole body pressed against him.
“Hey hey, Mr. Gray, why aren’t you drinking? Do you not like the tea Katy brewed? Or do you dislike This Seat…”
The girl’s breath was like orchid, warm and sweet with the fragrance of black tea, carelessly spraying into the hollow of Gray’s neck.
“No, the tea is good.”
Gray felt his body stiffen beyond measure.
With nowhere to put his hands, he could only keep them on his knees, trying to maintain a proper sitting posture.
The girl’s arm-around-shoulder manner reminded him of those rough uncles in taverns who, after drinking too much, would insist on calling him “brother.”
But this was Miss Katy!
The beautiful girl whose even her toes were as delicate as artwork!
Pressed so tightly against such a soft body, even the most upright hero’s heart couldn’t help but race a little.
“Mr. Gray——”
Still, he kind of liked this side of Miss Katy.
It felt like discovering that a good buddy he’d known for years was actually a beautiful girl in disguise.
“I’m here, Miss Katy.”
Gray patted the head of the girl who had just moved from the opposite sofa to sit beside him, laughing with indulgence and helplessness.
Meanwhile, Katy’s brain at that moment was already in a mess from the “Honesty Magic” and the “Relaxed Vigilance Magic” she had cast on herself ten minutes ago.
If she didn’t sit properly soon, she’d probably have to hunch over.
“Huh? Can’t I get a little closer?”
Not only did she not back off, but she pushed even further, practically half-lying on top of Gray.
Those watery blue eyes stared straight at him.
“The captain wants to get closer to his own member—what’s wrong with that?”
“The latter part sounds like a stage play…”
Before Gray could finish his complaint, Katy, like a drunkard downing a drink, raised her porcelain cup and gulped down another cup of black tea.
“Whoa—refreshing!”
Watching her act as if she’d drunk some divine nectar, Gray got curious whether her teacup was different from his, enchanted with some spell.
How come his own tasted like ordinary, even slightly low-quality, homemade black tea?
“Mr. Gray, you’re really cute.”
“Huh!?”
This sudden remark startled the youth, who was still deep in thought.
He turned his head instinctively and met the girl’s eyes that seemed capable of bewitching souls.
Her usually smiling angelic face now wore a mischievous smirk like a little devil’s.
“The way you get easily startled like that, and the way you get shy when I’m close—it’s all so interesting.”
Her slender, slightly cold fingers slid from his forearm to the back of his hand, gently stroking the deep red mark representing Mammon’s Authority.
Gulp.
Gray swallowed hard.
Somehow, Miss Katy’s aura seemed to have changed a lot compared to usual.
It was as if she had suddenly transformed from an angel into a succubus with bat wings and a heart-shaped tail.
He dodged the girl’s waving arm, grabbed the teapot from the table, and gulped down two mouthfuls, but couldn’t discern anything special.
“Could it be the teacup’s problem?”
Gray reached out to investigate the teacup in Katy’s hands, but the girl hugged her cup tightly to her chest like someone protecting food.
“Mr. Gray is greedy. You already have your own cup.”
Gray awkwardly said he wasn’t trying to take her teacup, just wanted to see if it had been tampered with, but the huffy Katy wasn’t listening.
“Speaking of which, Mr. Gray is really a greedy person. Back then, there were so many pretty girls in the party.”
She gestured a big circle with her hands.
“There was that elf with huge breasts, that pink-haired bad woman Lobelia, and that catgirl saint… And now, you want even more!”
“I recall it was Miss Katy who invited me to join the party, right?”
Gray argued for his innocence, but his barely mustered momentum was shattered by a direct hit.
“Because I want to be by Mr. Gray’s side!”
She reached out and held up the youth’s palm.
A blush spread to his cheeks.
“I want to make up for the pain Noctiluca caused Mr. Gray… I want to know more about you… There are so many things I want to do!”
Gray looked at the girl whose eyes were full of sincerity.
He closed his eyes, steeled his heart, put down his teacup with his free hand, and grasped hers.
Taking a deep breath, as if making a vow, he said loudly:
“I also hope to be by Miss Katy’s side!”
“Mm! Then we’re a super awesome captain and member!”
“Captain and… huh?”
In the moment he was stunned, Katy had already pulled her hand out of his, scratched her cheek like nothing had happened, and said with an innocent look:
“That’s right. Isn’t my relationship with Mr. Gray that of captain and member?”
Gray covered his face in agony, feeling his nose turn red.
Was it his understanding that was wrong?
Saying “I want to be by your side, I want to know more about you” in that kind of atmosphere—wasn’t that a confession?
He felt like his heart was about to stop for those few seconds.
Love was indeed a subject a hundred times more profound than conquering a labyrinth!
Watching the youth’s flustered state, the successful prankster Katy quietly stuck out her tongue.
Heh heh.
Though it’s a bit sorry for this small fry, This Seat didn’t lie.
When she first said she wanted to help him, it was indeed because she had tortured him too badly back when she was the head of the 13th Dungeon.
She wanted to make it up to him a little.
And after receiving the undercover mission from the Demon Lord, she really did need to stay by his side to gather more information.
Oh, right!
The Demon Lord’s mission!
Thinking of this, Katy’s eyes lit up.
The Demon Lord had previously said that Gray was the “key to the revival of the Demon Race.”
Today, she finally saw a clue.
After Mammon died, Gray seemed to have “inherited” its ability, able to summon a liquid that could mimic various weapons.
Maybe this was the “key” the Demon Lord was talking about.
But how could she let the Demon Lord know she’d discovered important information?
Rub the crystal ball?
Last time, she’d polished it until it shone, and still couldn’t summon the Demon Lord.
Maybe she had the wrong posture?
Gray peeked through his fingers at Katy, who seemed to be concentrating on something, and felt a vague sense of resentment.
She stirred up his heart like this and then acted like nothing happened.
Miss Katy was truly despicable!
“Um, Mr. Gray, I suddenly remembered I still have some things to put away in my room. I’ll head back first—”
Katy immediately bounced up from the sofa, turned, and was about to run toward the bedroom.
But before she could take a single step, her wrist was firmly grabbed.
“Mr. Gray?”
Katy turned back in confusion and found the youth’s eyes had changed.
No longer the gentle, indulgent look from usual, but an unfamiliar heat.
“…If I don’t wish to be just a member and a captain?”