All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

Chapter 98: The Answer Must Be "Yes" or "Woof"

Notification: Your Shogi skill has been specially affected, proficiency has been fully achieved.

Shogi (lv8) — Shogi (lv9).

Before Yukima Azuma's eyes, a notification from the system appeared.

At the same time, Yukima Azuma also saw golden yellow specks of light quietly rise from Toono Zen's body.

Among them, a few golden yellow specks automatically gathered towards Yukima Azuma.

Yukima Azuma opened the system's control panel.

According to logic, his Shogi skill proficiency was still lacking in some areas.

But when he opened the system's control panel, Yukima Azuma saw that the last empty part of the progress bar for the Shogi skill had been filled with golden yellow light.

Then, the progress bar slowly filled up.

Finally, the portion of the progress bar that was previously missing to complete was completely filled.

The Shogi skill officially reached lv9.

A stronger aura erupted from Yukima Azuma's body.

However, unlike the previous time when the skill leveled up, he had to suppress it with effort.

Although this new aura was incredibly powerful, Yukima Azuma still felt that it was completely under his control.

There was no need to adapt.

In his hands, it was like a soft dough that could be molded at will.

It could be transformed into any shape according to his desire.

He looked toward Toono Zen.

Yukima Azuma pondered for a moment.

Is this considered... something like "merit"?

The effect seemed minimal, just reducing some of the training required for proficiency.

Could it be that the quantity is too little?

Yukima Azuma remembered this and prepared to pay more attention to it later.

He walked to the grass under the bridge.

Yukima Azuma bent down and picked up the round black-red gem lying among the blades of grass.

Yes, Yukima Azuma could see this gem.

After discovering that "cooking vision" couldn't see spirits, Yukima Azuma started to think that perhaps spirits are something too delicate?

After all, ordinary humans can't see air.

So Yukima Azuma tried to compress that terrible odor.

The round gem in his hand was the result.

Now, not only could it be seen.

It could even be touched.

Yukima Azuma glanced at Yotsuya Miko next to him, and a few ideas flashed in his mind.

....

Toono Zen stayed under the bridge and called the police.

He was preparing to hand the man in the hooded sweatshirt over to the police.

Meanwhile, Yukima Azuma and Yotsuya Miko walked ahead, heading back to Shuka High School.

On the way, Yukima Azuma handed the compressed gem from the humanoid spider to Yotsuya Miko.

When she took it, Yotsuya Miko's eyes widened in astonishment.

She had witnessed the process of the humanoid spider being compressed into the round gem.

But she didn't expect that this gem could actually be touched!

"Uhm, Yukima-senpai..."

"Hey, hey, Miko said she wanted to be my dog, right?" Yukima Azuma smiled and said.

Yotsuya Miko swallowed her saliva.

Everything was going in a different direction than she had imagined.

"...Yes."

Yotsuya Miko couldn't deny it.

After all, she owed Yukima Azuma a great favor.

Before, she had been ready to sacrifice anything she could to repay Yukima Azuma.

"Good." Yukima Azuma snapped his fingers. "Swallow this."

Yotsuya Miko looked at the round gem in her hand.

"Yukima-senp... Yukima-sama, this..."

"The answer must be 'yes' or 'woof'."

"And call me by my name. I'll call you Miko."

"..."

"W-woof."

Yotsuya Miko closed her eyes, gathering all her courage, and swallowed the round gem.

With the movement of her throat, everything was over.

Yukima Azuma raised an eyebrow.

After his Shogi skill leveled up to lv9, the aura he could control became more fluid, like water.

Telling Yotsuya Miko to swallow the round gem wasn't without protection.

Yukima Azuma had enveloped the gem with his aura, surrounding it.

If anything unusual happened, Yukima Azuma could immediately crush whatever was inside the gem.

He wouldn't let Yotsuya Miko get hurt.

But when Yotsuya Miko swallowed the gem, the aura surrounding the gem faded.

"How does it feel?"

"Woof~."

"You don't need to do that often."

"It feels... like swallowing a rag. Ugh..."

Yotsuya Miko's face turned unpleasant.

But her body seemed to have no serious problems.

Yukima Azuma took a piece of orange candy from his pocket.

He peeled off the wrapper and popped it into Yotsuya Miko's mouth.

The sweet taste of orange quickly spread through her mouth, making her feel much better.

Once Yotsuya Miko had recovered, Yukima Azuma asked:

"Do you feel any changes?"

Yotsuya Miko closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment.

"Hmm... it seems... it seems like I can spit something out."

Saying that, Yotsuya Miko turned to the side and tried spitting.

Then.

The giant humanoid spider reappeared in Yotsuya Miko's sight.

She was so scared that goosebumps covered her body.

At the same time, the terrible smell from before rushed into he nose again.

Yukima Azuma squinted.

"Miko, try to see if you can control it."

Hearing this, Yotsuya Miko tried to suppress her fear and spoke to the humanoid spider in front of her:

"Go destroy that pile of dirt over there."

If Yukima Azuma hadn't been there, Yotsuya Miko would never have dared to try.

The humanoid spider obeyed the command and rushed quickly toward the pile of dirt by the riverbank in the distance.

Yukima Azuma saw the soil being tossed into the air from far away.

It was indeed controllable.

However, it seemed that even when controlling an evil spirit, they still had to follow basic rules.

Before being seen, the level of destruction they caused was extremely limited.

"Can you retract it?"

"Let me try."

Yotsuya Miko took a deep breath toward the humanoid spider.

The humanoid spider quickly shrank down.

Yotsuya Miko let out a small dry retch.

"I feel like I just ate a rag again, Azuma-sama, hic!"

Yukima Azuma gently ran his hand through the girl's amber-eyed hair.

He had only intended to test things out, but he didn't expect it to succeed.

As expected, Yotsuya Miko possessed the most powerful "clairvoyant" ability among all charaters in the original works she belonged to.

Whether the evil spirits were strong or weak, Yotsuya Miko could see them clearly.

Her talent was truly amazing.

It seemed that there was still a great potential to be unlocked.

Could this be called "soul control magic"?

...

The two of them walked back to Shuka High School.

On the way, Yotsuya Miko several times wanted to say something but hesitated.

Upon entering the school grounds, they stopped in front of a takoyaki stall.

Takoyaki, being easy to make with a simple process, was always the top choice for student-run stalls during school festivals.

Yukima Azuma ordered a portion with mayonnaise and Thousand Island sauce.

The takoyaki had just been taken out of the pan and was still steaming, causing the bonito flakes on top to gently sway.

He skewered a piece of takoyaki, blew on it to cool it down, and then offered it to Yotsuya Miko.

Yotsuya Miko stared at the takoyaki being held in front of her, a little dazed, but in the end, she opened her mouth and took a bite.

The taste wasn't anything special, but Yotsuya Miko ate it happily.

She hadn't had breakfast when she left the house this morning.

When she woke up early, her mother called her and her sister to the breakfast table.

Yotsuya Miko immediately saw a giant lizard-like monster lying on the table.

It even stuck its long tongue out to lick a piece of her toast.

Although the evil spirits, before being seen, couldn't affect the material world, the sight still made Yotsuya Miko unable to swallow her breakfast.

She could only say, "I'm not hungry," and rushed to school.

After a busy morning, she was now finally able to have a bite of takoyaki.

No matter how ordinary the dish was, Yotsuya Miko still ate it with delight.

"If you want to say something, just say it directly. You don't need to hide it from me, Miko."

Watching Yotsuya Miko enjoy the takoyaki, Yukima Azuma smiled.

Hearing this, Yotsuya Miko suddenly felt like she wanted to say "woof."

Heaven knows how every day she had to pretend not to see, and talk in vague riddles—it was truly painful.

"Azuma-sama, I... I want to move closer to your house."

Yotsuya Miko finally voiced the reason she had been hesitant about throughout the journey.

If she could move closer to Yukima Azuma's home, at least every night when going to bed, Yotsuya Miko wouldn't have to face the evil spirits in her room anymore.

Every time she went to sleep, as soon as the lights went out, strange things would crawl out from the wardrobe or under the bed.

She had to pretend not to see anything and force herself to sleep as if nothing had happened.

At times, the evil spirits would even crawl into her blanket.

If this continued, Yotsuya Miko felt that her mental state would collapse.

After making this request, Yotsuya Miko nervously looked at Yukima Azuma.

"That's fine, there are a few apartments near my place that are up for sale," Yukima Azuma said.

"But don't you have your mother and younger sister at home? Can you convince your family to move?" he asked.

Yotsuya Miko let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Yukima Azuma's words.

As long as Yukima Azuma agreed, that was all that mattered.

"Yes, I think I can convince them," she replied.

In her mind, Yotsuya Miko was already thinking about how to bring up the conversation with her mother.

Seeing this, Yukima Azuma immediately sent the address of his house and the contact details for the apartment owner nearby to Yotsuya Miko's phone.

He skewered a piece of takoyaki and tasted it, only to immediately lose interest.

It seemed that ever since he leveled up his cooking skill to level 7, his taste buds had become more selective.

Therefore, Yukima Azuma handed the rest of the takoyaki to Yotsuya Miko.

Yotsuya Miko took it without hesitation and finished it all.

"Speaking of which, Azuma-sama, what's that thing behind you that you've been carrying since this morning?" she asked curiously, eyeing the instrument case on Yukima Azuma's back.

"Oh, this is a magical tool that will be used later," Yukima Azuma replied with a smile, patting the guitar on his back.

Yotsuya Miko didn't fully understand, but she trusted that Azuma-sama had his reasons for everything he did.

...

In the afternoon, the two of them walked through the small stalls around Shuka High School, filling up with snacks.

Then, they both headed toward the school's gymnasium.

The performances for the festival would be held in the gym, starting at 1 p.m.

Arriving early would give them the chance to pick a good spot.

As soon as they entered the gym, their eyes caught a glimpse of a blonde-haired figure.

Yukima Azuma walked toward the temporary stage and greeted the blonde-haired person.

"Manager Ijichi, you're here early!"

Ijichi Seika, Nijika's older sister, who was 12 years older than her, was also the manager of the live house STARRY where Kessoku Band performed.

The last time Yukima Azuma went to see Bocchi's performance, he had met and greeted Seika backstage a few times.

Upon hearing his voice, Ijichi Seika turned around.

When she saw Yukima Azuma, she waved back.

"Nijika kept pestering me to come watch the performance, so I had no choice but to come," she said.

Yukima Azuma couldn't help but chuckle.

Manager Ijichi Seika had a cute, somewhat proud attitude.

"Oh, you're... hic... you're Yukima, right? Hello!" A woman with purple hair, standing beside Ijichi Seika, staggered toward Yukima Azuma to greet him.

The strong smell of alcohol hit them immediately as she spoke.

Yotsuya Miko widened her eyes in shock.

Where did this drunkard come from?