Chapter 186: Baby-faced with...! 18-Year-Old High School Widow!

“Halibel… my lord!”

Rem ground her teeth as she shouted Halibel’s name, not even calling him “Hal” this time — she just glared at him, fury blazing in her eyes.

Halibel had barely sat down when he heard Rem’s teeth-grinding voice from across the table. A chill crawled up his spine, and he shivered despite himself.

The moment he turned, he caught the killing intent radiating from Rem’s stare, and his scalp prickled.

Had something he’d just said been a problem…?

Halibel’s thoughts raced, and under the pressure he quickly pieced together what was going on.

Su-san and Rem seemed to have gone through some unspoken, painful ordeal before arriving in Kararagi — they’d fled here as refugees.

On top of that, this was still an earlier point in time, back when Su-san had lost his memories and had no idea how far things had progressed with Rem.

The thought sent a cold sweat down Halibel’s back. He silently cursed himself for being so thick-skinned and careless that he’d nearly wrecked something important for Rem!

So he gathered his thoughts, then abruptly stood and slammed a hand on the table.

“Ah, this old man got so caught up thinking about food that I forgot to introduce someone to you all!”

He added quickly, seizing the brief moment everyone’s attention was drawn to him.

“She traveled here with me as well, but her identity is… special, and she might cause trouble for Su-san. So I decided she’d only come in once Su-san and Rem gave their consent.”

Halibel let out a sigh as he spoke.

“But now, as you can see, Su-san doesn’t even recognize me, so I figured I’d ask Rem what she thinks instead.”

“A special identity? Who is she, Hal?”

Rem’s expression settled as she asked, brow furrowed in thought.

Seeing this, Halibel’s spirits lifted, and he found himself silently marveling at how useful the little tricks Su-san usually taught him actually were.

When tensions were mounting and about to boil over, diverting attention was the best move.

So he cleared his throat and spoke solemnly.

“Her name is — Reize!”

“It’s her!”

Rem let out an involuntary gasp at the name, and her reaction only deepened everyone’s curiosity, pulling their attention toward wondering who this person was.

Rem’s brow knit tight as she recalled the woman who held a place in her memory.

It was her — the one who’d stolen the light orb, Lady Tia’s anchor as a Great Spirit, and seized most of Lady Tia’s power.

An anchor was the single most important thing to any Great Spirit, storing almost everything about them — their power, their soul, everything.

Something so vital had been stolen because Lady Tia had been sleeping peacefully in Zarestia’s Sleeping Nest, and Reize, hungry for power, had seized the chance to steal it while she was off guard!

With the light orb in hand, Reize gained the ability to transform into a version of Tia clad in a black kimono, her power barely diminished at all.

As for Zarestia, who’d lost the orb, it was hard to say whether the loss had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Along with most of her power, the light orb had also carried away the thousand years of accumulated hatred, bloodthirsty killing intent, and the very nature of a Reaper sealed within it — leaving her gentle, rational, and pure white in the form now known as White Tia.

The bond between the three of them formed from this, and they ended up living together for a time, gradually growing close until they came to think of each other as family.

Ironically, though, their first meeting hadn’t been so peaceful — at first, Zarestia mistook them for the thieves who’d stolen her light orb!

And they, in turn, mistook Zarestia for the one who’d attacked them the night before they met!

All of this happened because, after stealing the light orb, Reize could transform into Black Tia, a form identical in appearance to White Tia!

But the real root of it all, the very starting point, traced back to Reize’s special identity.

It was the same reason Reize, disguised as Black Tia, had attacked her and Subaru, leading them to mistake White Tia as the culprit — the reason was this: Reize was an oni too!

And it was very possible that she, along with Rem and her sister Ram, were the only three surviving oni left in the world!

So Rem paused, shot a reassuring glance at her puzzled sister Ram beside her, and spoke.

“Let her in, Hal. I’d like to meet this… fellow oni, too.”

Beside her, Ram’s face flashed with shock at the words “fellow oni,” and she stared wide-eyed at Rem as if about to say something.

But before Halibel, still seated, could respond, a small head poked in through the dining room doorway. It sized up Rem’s expression first, then stepped fully through and into the dining room.

The oni girl Reize clasped her hands behind her back and walked prettily up to the long table — or more precisely, straight up to stand right in front of Natsuki Subaru.

Her soft, alluring almond eyes fixed on Natsuki Subaru without blinking, her gaze carrying an odd, hazy tenderness.

Natsuki Subaru studied the pretty girl before him with curiosity — this fellow oni of Rem and Ram’s — and a flicker of admiration crossed his eyes despite himself.

Like Rem’s blue hair and Ram’s pink hair, Reize’s hair was a light brown, done up into a pair of cute twin tails.

As for her looks, she wasn’t the type to dazzle at first glance — instead, she was extremely delicate and adorable.

If he had to put it into words—

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his chin, his gaze drifting downward against his will — the pair of ample fruits hanging from such a slender frame rivaled even those of the “Great” Spirit Zarestia, if not surpassed them.

They were perfectly shaped too, delicate in a way that suggested both the ripe allure of a peach and the unspoiled innocence of youth.

Her furrowed brow, carrying a lingering trace of melancholy between her eyebrows, lent her an oddly distinct charm.

Babyface, big ⬛⬛! An 18-year-old JK, still ⬛⬛ untouched!

These descriptors flashed instantly through Natsuki Subaru’s mind, perfectly summing up Reize’s looks and air — though he had no idea what her personality was like yet.

Natsuki Subaru covered the lower half of his face with one hand, hiding his expression, so that from everyone else’s viewpoint, he looked deep in thought about her identity.

In truth, though, Natsuki Subaru was secretly delighted, putting on a serious face just so he wouldn’t burst out laughing and die of embarrassment in front of everyone.

A man’s mindset before and after losing his innocence was worlds apart.

If he had to explain it, it was probably that his brain’s hormones were now in charge, sending his mind straight to indecent thoughts the moment he met someone new.

Ahem, of course, Natsuki Subaru wasn’t making excuses to himself for such perverted behavior!

He was merely, as an otaku, giving a rigorous critical appraisal — with an appreciative eye, naturally — upon seeing such a classic 2D character archetype standing right in front of him!

Ah, what a shame this other world had no JKs — truly one of life’s great regrets.

Natsuki Subaru sighed inwardly, and after staring at her for a few more seconds, a question rose unbidden in his mind:

Was this another beautiful girl he’d met in some other world?

Otherwise, why was she looking at him with such… burning intensity?