episode_0095

“Neer, what a pretty name. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Stay. Nice to meet you. Neer.”

“Yes, yes, nice to meet you!”

‘Phew, that was close…’

Neer Ryu, disguised as Neer due to a transformation spell, inwardly sighed with relief as Stay smiled at him.

His original plan of just receiving the cake, introducing himself, and then leaving was completely ruined the moment Stay complimented him.

Neer, now in the form of Neer due to a transformation spell, was invited to Stay’s house, as Stay mistakenly thought Neer was living a chased life based on the messy appearance of his house.

The familiar atmosphere Neer was emitting (since he was actually Neer Ryu) and the pitifulness that Stay couldn’t ignore (since Neer was a patient he had taken care of until 9 days ago) solidified Stay’s delusion, leading him to speak in such a tender and affectionate voice.

“If you’re going through a hard time, I’ll help. I just want to do that.”

After 9 days of suffering without sleep, feeling the warmth of Stay, Neer couldn’t refuse the help offered by Stay, which was a relief from his unending fever and pain.

Neer, who had to be extremely cautious not to reveal his true identity, couldn’t help but reach out for the help offered by Stay, as he was in desperate need of it.

“I-I would like a hug…”

Neer, who had always maintained a strong sense of rationality in any emergency situation, completely broke down in front of Stay, craving the warmth he needed the most.

In that moment, Neer melted into happiness as he embraced Stay, compensating for all the pain, sadness, loss, and lack he had experienced after parting ways with him.

Neer entered Stay’s embrace, inhaling his scent and embracing him with all his strength, savoring his warmth throughout his body.

Although it was a suspicious action that should never be done to a stranger, Neer, in her current state, was completely oblivious to such trivial matters.

The only thing that mattered was enjoying the presence of Stay in front of her.

“Neer…?”

Lost in the embrace, Neer accidentally let slip his real name from Stay’s lips, and only then did Neer regain his senses and hurriedly introduced himself as Neer.

Fortunately, Stay just let it go without realizing Mir Ryuin’s true identity, so a terrible incident of being exposed did not occur. However, since it was a fact that Mir Ryuin had come close to being exposed, she couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat internally.

‘I need to pull myself together and be careful. I never expected to be so nervous in my life, even more so than when I conquered an EX-grade gate. And all because of just one man! Does this make any sense?’

As her head cooled down to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat internally, Mir Ryuin’s momentarily collapsed rationality returned, and naturally, she harbored dissatisfaction with the situation she was currently facing.

The fact that Mir Ryuin herself, a formidable individual, was trembling and feeling nervous all because of just one man was what she was dissatisfied with.

‘Who does he think he is to make me struggle like this? I shouldn’t be someone who gets scared because of just one man. I am Mir Ryuin. Yes, I am Mir Ryuin! I am not someone who tiptoes around just because of one man!’

With abilities befitting Mir Ryuin, her pride pierced the sky, and as she looked at the culprit who made her struggle so much, despite feeling a bit full from the hug that had just recharged her Stay nutrients, she vowed to regain control in her relationship with Stay, filled with dissatisfaction.

‘I will suppress him with my gaze. In the past, I was taken advantage of without any means of resistance, but now it’s different. I am complete now. Even though I can’t reveal my true identity, just with the momentum that naturally flows, I can easily exert pressure on Stay.’

During her plant-human days, she had no choice but to succumb to the momentum as a plant-human, but now, her body, mind, and mana were all in perfect normal condition.

Mir Ryuin, who could be said to have the highest nose bridge in the world, firmly resolved to regain the upper hand in her relationship with Stay, filled with dissatisfaction with the current situation.

“······.”

“······?”

And so, the staring contest began.

To Stay, who found it too absurd to even consider Mir Ryuin’s serious power struggle as a power struggle, only Mir Ryuin herself thought of it as a power struggle.

“······.”

“······Huh.”

Winning in a contest where the opponent doesn’t even consider it a contest is an impossible task.

Of course, if she continued to create such an uncomfortable atmosphere and continued to stare firmly into Stay’s eyes with a resolute gaze, she might eventually feel the strangeness of the current situation and transition into the power struggle that Mir Ryuin desired through mutual agreement.

However, at this moment, Mir Ryuin couldn’t bear the gaze of Stay looking at her.

‘Ugh… What, what is it… ♥ Why, why are his eyes so deep… ♥ If he looks at me with such deep eyes, it’s hard to resist… ♥ My heart flutters and my breath gets erratic without my consent… ♥’

The gaze of Mir Ryuin, which Stay had only imagined during her plant-human days while receiving treatment from Stay, was far more stimulating than what she had imagined.

‘G-Geez… ♥ I, I don’t want to admit it, but I have to… ♥ As expected, no matter how much I was in a plant-human state, the man who made me surrender is different… ♥ I didn’t prepare at all and thought I could easily win, but he wasn’t an opponent I could easily defeat… ♥ Now that it’s like this… Let’s take a step back for now and hope for the next opportunity. Y-Yes. I won’t lose next time… ♥’

Swoosh…

With that conclusion reached on her own, Mir Ryuin subtly averted her eyes from Stay’s overly stimulating gaze.

In the end, Mir Ryu-in would only experience a tragedy where she would lose by admitting defeat on her own after picking a fight alone without the opponent even realizing it was a fight.

“······Hmm.”

However, from Stae’s perspective, who was unaware of the inner workings of the situation and was timid and pitiful, Mir Ryu-in’s current appearance was reflecting differently from reality.

In a situation where she needed help but couldn’t speak rashly for fear of causing harm to the other party, she could only send glances and even felt sorry for that, a very pitiful and weak woman.

That was the appearance of Mir Ryu-in, or rather, Nir, as seen by Stae’s eyes now.

“Um, Nir, if you don’t have anything else to do, would you like to work at my shop?”

Therefore, it was only natural for Stae, who had decided to help this pitiful woman, to make a scout proposal, which was the best help she could offer.

“······Yes? Oh, yes! S-sure!”

In a completely unexpected timing, Nir Ryu-in, not in her usual self, hastily accepted his proposal with a bow.

‘Well, I don’t know what’s going on, but I get to be by Stae’s side! Exciting!’

Nir Ryu-in confidently stepped up as the leader of Stae’s exclusive race!

※

“Nir Ryu-in, if you don’t want your identity to be revealed in front of Stae, cast a transformation spell on me and introduce me to Stae. This is not a request but a threat. It’s a life or death threat, so don’t think lightly of it.”

“U-um······. Okay.”

Nir Ryu-in immediately obeyed Meiluina, who had been watching everything from outside the window!