But right now, he genuinely wanted her help training Hayasaka Ai and the others in cooking.
On the other side, Lynn's reminder jogged Erina's memory.
"Ah... right. The cooking training!"
"Exactly," Lynn nodded, then smirked slightly. "For this training, we'll be using only the highest-quality ingredients."
"I'm sure your tongue's already dying to get started, isn't it?"
The moment he said that
Erina's tongue twitched, and her mouth instantly filled with saliva.
Her throat reflexively moved as she thought about those otherworldly ingredientsflavors she'd never tasted before.
Realizing what she was doing, her cheeks flushed red.
Seriously, get a grip, Erina!
But she couldn't help it.
Even though she had the God Tongue She couldn't control it at all!
In fact, sometimes it felt like the God Tongue was the one leading her by the nose. Which was seriously frustrating.
Just like now.
It made her show such an embarrassing expression right in front of Lynn.
Sure, he has already seen her in even more embarrassing situations.
But stillShe couldn't help but feel humiliated.
Erina curled her toes in her shoes, wishing she could just dig a hole and crawl in.
On the couch, Lynn didn't seem all that bothered by Erina's awkwardness.
Instead, he turned and said, "Hayasaka, take them to the kitchen."
"Yes."
Hayasaka Ai stopped the shoulder massage she'd been giving him, lifted her gaze toward Erina and the others, and said calmly, "Follow me."
And with that, she turned and headed toward the kitchen.
Erina looked at Lynn, her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say somethingbut Lynn looked half-asleep, completely disinterested.
Seeing that, she swallowed her words and quickly hurried after Hayasaka.
Soon, the group disappeared from view.
Lynn leaned back on the sofa, his expression unreadable.
He didn't need to personally entertain Erina. Hayasaka and the others could handle that.
He had other things to deal with.
Taking out his phone, he looked at a new message from Senhime, the dog princess.
[Senhime: "Lynn! That woman from the Underworld is here!!"]
Two exclamation points.
Clearly, Senhime was in full panic mode.
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
"That woman from the Underworld?"
"Hmm..."
"Grayfia?"
.
.
.
All Devils
"Grayfia, huh?"
Lynn's expression turned a bit strange.
What was going on?
He used a devil piece to activate a link to Senhime's location.
A virtual screen popped up in front of him.
And sure enough a woman with long silver hair, a curvy figure, and a cold, expressionless face appeared.
Yep Definitely Grayfia.
But the background behind her wasn't the Underworld.
WaitGrayfia left the Underworld and came here?!
Lynn: "..."
Meanwhile.
Erina followed Hayasaka, wanting to ask a dozen questions but not sure where to start. Besides, she was kind of nervous.
"You're the heiress of the Nakiri family, right?"
"Eh?"
Erina blinked, caught off guard.
"You know who I am, Miss Hayasaka?"
Not an unreasonable question.
Most people here had only seen Erina, but didn't really seem to know who she was.
But Hayasaka had called her "the Nakiri heiress," which clearly meant she knew more.
"The top culinary family in the country? Yeah, hard not to know the name."
Hayasaka's voice was completely flat.
She said the words, but her tone showed zero interest or emotion.
Clearly, she didn't think much of the Nakiris.
But Erina, being Erina, didn't pick up on that. She scratched her head, a little embarrassed. "Haha well, we're not that amazing."
Her tone was modest, but her face clearly said, "Yeah, we're kinda a big deal."
Hisako, walking behind her, facepalmed.
Lady Erina, she was just being polite.
A few moments later
Erina worked up the nerve to ask, "Um about Lynn is he really"
"A devil?"
"Or is that just an online alias or something?"
She'd wanted to ask this back in the living room, but didn't get the chance.
And honestly Talking to someone with supernatural powers made her feel a little intimidated.
Before Hayasaka could answer, Hisako chimed in, surprised, "A devil?"
What devil?
Wasn't this place supposed to be some kind of external branch of a supernatural organization?
That had been her first thought when she saw Lynn.
And Kaguya's icy aura had kind of confirmed it.It would make sense if the members here had powers.
But now there's a devil involved?
Erina looked away awkwardly and muttered, "Did you forget who I sent those pictures to?"
Hisako froze. "The Devil guy?"
"But" She frowned. "I thought that was just some guy you met online."
"What do you mean 'some guy I met online'?!"
Erina raised her voice a little, clearly flustered. "That was Lynn!"
"???"
Hisako stared at her, then said in disbelief, "You were in an online relationship with Lynn?!"
After Lynn saved Tokyo and displayed godlike powers, the entire cityno, the entire country's elitehad gone wild trying to get close to him.
Even the top brass were scratching their heads over how to approach him.
And here was Erina already in contact with him? And apparently on very friendly terms?
Otherwise, why would she have sent him those photos?
Hisako felt like she just solved a mystery.
Lady Erina such foresight!!
She looked at Erina with admiration.
Erina: "???"
"Hisako are you misunderstanding something here?"
Several minutes (and a lot of explaining) later . . . . .
Hisako finally understood the full picture.
And immediately gave Erina a weird look.
Wait So Erina had sent those kinds of pictures to a stranger without even confirming who he was first?!
Yikes.
Hisako realized maybe she didn't know her lady as well as she thought.
Still, this whole "Lynn is a devil" thing that couldn't be true, right?
No way someone that handsome could be an actual devil.
Plus, would a devil really go to school with humans?
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was
It had to just be a username, or some weird sense of humor on Lynn's part.
On the other side, Erina noticed Hisako's expression and started to feel seriously uncomfortable.
Why was she looking at her like that?
Erina bit her lip, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
But there was nothing she could say to explain it that wouldn't make it worse.
She turned away and stayed quiet.
Thankfully, Hayasaka's voice cut through the awkward silence, rescuing her from the tension.
"I, Kaguya, and everyone in this villa"
Hayasaka stopped walking, glancing at the people passing bythe other residents of the estate.
Because of the staff shortage, Lynn had brought in reinforcements from other worlds.
"Devils."
.
.
.
Time to Raise Some Hell
"..."
Erina Nakiri and Hisako Arato froze when they heard what Hayasaka had just said. Their pupils dilated in shock.
Their earlier emotions were forgotten as they stammered out a single question:
"All of you?"
Erina's voice was strained as the words left her mouth. She looked at Hayasaka, then glanced nervously at everyone else in the room.
On the other side, Hisako was struggling to believe it.
"Wait, they're actually devils?!"
Then wasn't this whole place basically a den of devils?!
Hisako looked at Hayasaka and the others, her throat tightening as she swallowed hard.
Something about this gave her the creeping sense. That at any moment, the people in front of her would peel off their faces and reveal terrifying formsthen devour her whole!
"Uuuu..."
Just imagining that made Hisako shiver uncontrollably and let out a pitiful whimper.
Hayasaka Ai just sighed.
"Relax. We were human before we became devils."
"Ehhhh?"
Both Erina and Hisako blinked in confusion, clearly not following what Hayasaka meant.
After thinking for a moment, Hayasaka clarified, "To be more precise we're now half-human, half-devil."
"Before the transformation, we were just regular humans like you."
Even though they'd turned into devils, their human blood hadn't been erasedit still coexisted within them in a surprisingly compatible way.
Since there was a good chance these two might end up becoming part of the familia someday, Hayasaka figured it wouldn't hurt to explain a bit.
A few moments later, Erina and Hisako finally understood.
"So basically" Hisako hesitated, "Miss Hayasaka, you're both a devil AND a human right now?"
Hayasaka nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."
Erina nervously asked, "Then this is your true form?"
Hayasaka answered calmly, "Of course."
Well... when she shifted into devil form, there were definitely physical changes.
But this was her default, normal appearance.
Hearing her confirm it eased both Erina and Hisako's nerves a bit.
"You feel better now?" Hayasaka asked dryly, her expression unreadable as she looked at them.
The two girls exchanged awkward glances and gave sheepish smiles. "Sorry, we just"
Hayasaka raised a hand to cut them off. "It's fine. It's normal for humans to be afraid when they hear the word 'devil.'"
Honestly, most people would probably think it was just a bad joke.
But once you saw supernatural power with your own eyes, the idea of devils didn't seem quite so impossible anymore.
Oh well. At least she didn't have to waste time explaining any more.
While they walked toward the kitchen, Erina suddenly asked, "So becoming a devil... means you get powers? Like how Kaguya-san has that cold aura thing?"
She was thinking of the strange chill that always clung to Kaguya Shinomiya.
Combined with what Hayasaka had just saidabout all of them being normal humans before.
So basically Becoming a devil = gaining supernatural powers?
Hayasaka nodded. She didn't try to hide it.
"Yeah. When you become a devil, you naturally gain devilic powers."
Even ordinary people could get power like that?
Erina's mind began to race. A curious spark lit up in her chest.
Could I... become someone like those manga protagonists who command the elements or battle monsters?
Then another thought struck her.
"But wait," she asked, "Aren't there humans who are born with supernatural powers too?"
She was thinking of her God Tongue.
That definitely seemed like something beyond normal human ability.
Up until recently, when she still believed this world was purely mundane, she had assumed her God Tongue was just a rare natural talent.
But now... there was a better term for it: Supernatural power.
Still, if her special power was just tasting food and judging chefs, wasn't that kind of lame?
Like seriously? All she could do was taste dishes and give critiques?
That's it?
Erina's face twitched slightly at the thought.
God, that's so underwhelming.
Up ahead, Hayasaka responded to her question with a hum, then offered an example. "There's a first-year girl at Shuchiin who was born with the ability to see spirits and curses."
"Yotsuya Miko. She has spirit sightcan see curses, ghosts, that sort of thing."
"Curses?!"
Both Erina and Hisako yelped at the same time, suddenly feeling a chill creep down their spines.
Then, out of nowhere, a cold voice whispered in their ears: "Mind if I join you two in learning?"
"AAHHH!!"
They jumped nearly a foot in the air, practically crying from fear.
"What's wrong with them?" Kaguya asked, confused, glancing at Hayasaka.
Hayasaka sighed. "Can you please turn off the cold air?"
Kaguya frowned slightly. "But Lord Lynn said it feels nice when he hugs me like this."
As she spoke, Kaguya blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl in love.
Hayasaka was speechless.
Well, duh. Of course it felt nice.
He's basically using you like an air conditioner.
"So... you're just staying like that all day?"
Kaguya puffed out her chest proudly. "I'm training as Frost Devil!"
"That way, I can always maintain the perfect temperature Lord Lynn likes!"
"...???"
Hayasaka paused, then gave Kaguya a weird look, glancing down at her chest.
"Wow. I can't believe you actually thought of that."
A fully adjustable chest. Damn... Kaguya's got a serious edge now.
Kaguya grinned smugly at the praise, hands on her hips.
Now, when she warmed Lynn's bed, she wouldn't have to worry about him being uncomfortable!
Yup, clearly, the two were having very different conversations.
Meanwhile, Erina and Hisako watched this exchange in stunned silence, then glanced at each other.
They could both see the disbelief in each other's eyes.
Curses?
Just thinking about the horror movies they'd seen made their hearts skip a beat.
Devils were real. So curses?
Yeah... not that far-fetched anymore.
They both started glancing nervously around the room, clutching their hands as if bracing for something to appear.
Of course, the more they couldn't see anything... the more freaked out they got.
Hayasaka noticed right away what they were worried about.
"Relax. This is a devil stronghold. No cursed spirit with half a brain would dare wander in here."
Plus, there was a barrier set up around the territory. Not even a fly could sneak in unnoticed.
"And besides..." she added casually, "normal humans can't see cursed spirits anyway."
"Eh?"
Erina and Hisako blinked. "R-Really?"
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, Hayasaka added with a chilling smirk:
"Of course... the moment you do see one... it probably means it's already decided to eat you."
Their faces froze.
Eat us?
AAAAHHHH!!
Why did you have to say that?!
Now they were even more terrified!
Erina and Hisako were both trembling, frozen in place with wide eyes, not daring to move a muscle. It was like they were afraid some cursed spirit would suddenly pop out from the shadows.
Hayasaka Ai: ""
She sighed, clearly exasperated. "You've lived this long, haven't you? And you've never actually run into any cursed spirits."
"Oh that's true!"
Erina blinked, then slapped her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
But still, even knowing that, she couldn't shake the fear completely. Her eyes kept darting toward the dark corners of the room, half-expecting some creepy, misshapen monster to leap out at any second.
Seeing her like that, Hayasaka continued, "Besides"
"If you ever do see a cursed spirit, just pretend you didn't. Act like it's not there."
