Chapter 90: Mischief! The Cause? A Ghost?

Vignette was a demon, but everything about her—beautiful, cute, kind, and gentle—completely contradicted her title.

Take away the horns, wings, and tail, and no one would ever associate her with a demon. Even Satania, with her mischievous personality, managed to fit the role of a demon a bit better.

Rei Ao tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Vignette, have you ever considered that maybe you were meant to be an angel, but you accidentally ended up in the demon realm?"

"Huh?" Vignette's mind went blank for a second.

Satania gave her a suspicious look. "Wait…could Vignette be a spy sent from heaven?"

"Satania, I'm not a spy!" Vignette protested.

Rei Ao laughed, then turned to the topic at hand. "So, Vignette, you want to learn how to do 'bad things' to increase your allowance?"

Vignette nodded quickly, like a pecking chick. "Yes, yes, yes! I noticed Satania's allowance went up a lot! Can you teach me?"

Her big, hopeful eyes were fixed on Rei Ao.

Rei Ao looked at Satania. "Didn't you tell her anything?"

Satania scratched her head awkwardly. "I, uh, didn't really know how to explain it…"

Mai Sakurajima glanced at Rei Ao curiously. "What exactly did you teach her?"

"Love," Rei Ao said calmly.

"Huh?"

"What?"

The simultaneous outbursts from both Mai and Vignette were almost identical.

"L-love?" Vignette's cheeks flushed red. Could…could this really be considered something bad?

Mai gave Rei Ao a suspicious look. "You're not tricking Satania, are you?"

With a playful smile, Rei Ao replied, "Satania, why don't you demonstrate?"

"N-now?" Satania hesitated, glancing at Mai and Vignette watching her. She felt embarrassed.

"Come on, I am your master, aren't I?" Rei Ao grinned.

"Alright, Master!" With determination, Satania leaned in and gave Rei Ao a quick peck on the cheek.

"Eh?" Vignette was stunned by what she'd just witnessed.

And then, to everyone's surprise, a notification rang out.

Satania pulled out her phone and, seeing the message, her eyes lit up. "I knew it! I'm the baddest demon there is!"

She held her phone up to show Vignette.

[Ding! It has been detected that Satania's 'Mischief Level' has significantly increased. She has been rated as a highly promising demon!]

"What?!" Vignette's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that something like this could really increase the 'mischief level'!

Even Mai, who had initially thought Rei Ao was playing a prank, now looked convinced, though the idea of "love" counting as a serious act of mischief still seemed strange.

Rei Ao, however, began to ponder something important. "Vignette, Satania, I have a question. How exactly is your 'mischief level' being measured?"

Could someone be monitoring their actions from behind the scenes? But according to Raphiel and Gabriel, the three worlds couldn't observe the human world.

Vignette hesitated, then, sensing Rei Ao's concern, explained, "Actually, Rei Ao, you might have misunderstood. Demons growing stronger through mischief is a rule set by the demon realm itself. Our 'mischief level' increases based on our demonic energy output."

Satania, filled with pride, clenched her fists. "Just now, I got stronger again! I bet I'm already stronger than Gabriel and Raphiel!"

Rei Ao activated his perception and observed Satania.

[Demon]: Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell

[Level]: 30

[Abilities]: "Dragon Power," "Demonic Magic," "Rei Ao's Blessing," "Inherent Device: Satan"

A single kiss, and she jumped to level 30? No wonder Satania had no hesitation—this really was a huge boost.

Even Rei Ao felt a hint of temptation. He wondered what would happen if he himself could gain demonic powers.

He gazed intensely at Satania, already calculating how to convince her to make a deal.

"Huh? Master, why are you staring at me like that?" Satania wiped her face and checked her hand. "There's nothing on my face."

Mai Sakurajima pulled at Rei Ao's thigh, trying to redirect him. "Rei Ao, focus on the main task here." That fiery look of his—she'd seen it before when he looked at her. She felt it was time to stop him before he got any ideas.

Rei Ao withdrew his gaze, as instructed. Vignette, however, spoke up shyly, fidgeting with her fingers. "Um…Rei Ao, isn't there some other kind of 'bad' thing I could do? Love still feels…really embarrassing."

"I understand." Rei Ao stroked his chin thoughtfully. "If you don't want to do anything truly bad, this might be the simplest approach."

After a moment of thought, he added, "But I've noticed a difference in Satania's mischief level increase this time compared to last."

"Difference? What's different?" Satania, too, felt that something was off. Suddenly, she clapped her hands together as if having an epiphany. "Oh, yeah! This time, I didn't unlock a strange new power!"

Of course, she hadn't. That was part of Rei Ao's blessing.

Rei Ao, though, wasn't referring to that. "No, I mean the magnitude of the increase."

"Huh?"

"This time, Satania's mischief level jumped significantly."

Satania's face lit up with excitement. "Really? Why, Master? What's going on?"

Rei Ao had a theory. Unlike last time, there were now two additional people present: Mai and Vignette. And with all these "test subjects" here, he could further explore his hypothesis.

Pulling Mai close by the waist, he said, "Mai, help me out for a second."

In the midst of three shocked stares, he kissed Mai on the lips. She resisted briefly, uncomfortable with an audience, but soon responded.

"???"

The sight was so shocking that Vignette and Satania instinctively wanted to cover their eyes—but still couldn't look away.

As things grew more passionate, a notification rang out on both girls' phones.

They picked them up to check.

[Mischief Level Increased!]

"It…increased?!" Vignette was speechless, unsure of how this happened.

Rei Ao and Mai separated, her face flushed. Smiling, Rei Ao said, "It seems my theory was correct—'peeking' might also count as mischief."

"!!!"

Vignette began to understand. Just now, their actions were interpreted as spying!

"Does that actually work…?"

Rei Ao's eyes gleamed mischievously. "I have an even better idea. Stay right here." Suddenly, he scooped Mai up in his arms and carried her toward the bedroom.

Vignette and Satania exchanged confused glances, uncertain of what was happening.

"Rei Ao, the door—it's open!" Mai protested.

"That's exactly the point, and no using your abilities." Rei Ao's tone was firm.

"Wait!"

"???"

Vignette quickly pieced together what was going on, her face growing crimson as she realized. She stared down at the floor, unable to lift her gaze.

"Is Master…bullying Mai?" Satania asked, puzzled.

"…"

Vignette didn't know how to explain this and hadn't expected Rei Ao and Mai to be so bold.

A notification dinged on their phones once again.

[Mischief Level Increased!]

Satania jumped up excitedly. "Wow! As expected of Master! We're not even doing anything, but our mischief level keeps going up!"

"…"

Vignette bit her lip. Based on Rei Ao's earlier theory, she understood what this meant—they were eavesdropping.

But this kind of eavesdropping was so…so unusual. She knew she should leave, but…

Ding!

The notification held her rooted to the spot.

"…"

Forcing herself to endure the embarrassment and suppressing her demon tail that kept flicking up in a heart shape, Vignette thought, *All of this…for the sake of my allowance!*

…

Three Hours Later

The sky had already darkened.

"How are you feeling?" Rei Ao, dressed in a robe, lazily asked Mai, clearly pleased with himself.

Mai gave him a resentful look. "It was… embarrassing."

After all, two little demons—who were technically her kōhai—were just on the other side of the wall. And there had been a few unexpected moments, like when Mai accidentally cried out for help, prompting Satania to rush in, adding a new chapter to her understanding of forbidden knowledge.

"What were you even thinking about with this ridiculous plan?"

Rei Ao chuckled. "Didn't I help them out? Didn't you see Vignette thanking me when she left?"

"Thanking…" Mai sighed, remembering how Vignette had hurried out without so much as lifting her head.

In her heart, she knew Rei Ao was wonderful in almost every way—except for his unrestrained appetite for such "games," which she couldn't help but accept.

As Mai sighed, a message notification popped up from the chat group, with Megumi Kato tagging Rei Ao.

"Megumi?"

Megumi Kato: "@Rei Ao, are you there? I think something strange is happening."

Rei Ao: "What happened?"

Megumi Kato: "[Image]"

Rei Ao clicked the image. It was a photo taken from a high angle, showing a person standing under a streetlamp. Oddly, half of the figure seemed to be passing right through a trash can.

Stella: "Eek! Megumi, why are you trying to scare us at night?"

Megumi Kato: "No, I just happened to see it by chance."

Saeko Busujima: "Could it be… a ghost?"

Shizue Izawa: "It does look like some kind of spirit."

Sui: "My room just got cold, and my closet started rattling!"

Frieren: "Stop scaring people."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "Ghosts are scientifically impossible. Perhaps it's just a trick of the angle."

Megumi Kato: "I didn't dare go any closer to check. But that person's been standing there for over an hour now without moving. It's really strange."

Mai glanced at Rei Ao, who was frowning. "Do you have any idea what it could be?"

Rei Ao shook his head. "I'm not sure yet."

Rei Ao: "Hang on, Megumi. I'll come and check it out."

Megumi Kato: "Thank you."

Instead of going directly, Rei Ao sought out Raphiel first.

"Rei Ao?" Raphiel looked at him, surprised by his sudden visit.

Rei Ao got straight to the point. "Raphiel, are there ghosts or malevolent spirits in this world?"

Raphiel shook her head decisively. "No, that's not possible. The existence of the afterlife is precisely so souls can reincarnate. This world doesn't have ghosts or malevolent spirits."

"I see," Rei Ao replied thoughtfully, understanding that the afterlife served as a waiting area for souls destined to reincarnate. However, Raphiel added a warning.

"Still, not everyone gets to the afterlife."

"Oh?" Rei Ao raised an eyebrow, curious.

"For instance, those killed by magical beasts… Their souls can be completely erased due to the clash between worlds."

In other words, people killed by magical beasts don't even get a chance to reincarnate. But this still didn't align with the ghostly encounter Megumi had reported.

"Raphiel, my friend might have seen a ghost. Come with me to check it out."

"A ghost?!" Raphiel, now understanding why Rei Ao had asked, responded seriously. "Send me the location. I'll take you there."

…

Megumi Kato stood by the window, her gaze fixed on the shadowy figure outside.

Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the scene, and two figures appeared beneath the streetlamp. She recognized Rei Ao but didn't call out. The two seemed to be talking.

Moments later, the white-haired girl clasped her hands together, and a flash of golden light enveloped the figure, causing it to gradually dissipate.

"Alright, that's taken care of. Let's head back," Raphiel said, clapping her hands as if brushing off dust.

"Go back without me. I'm going to check on my friend," Rei Ao replied.

"Oh, alright," Raphiel nodded and then teleported away without further questions.

Rei Ao turned and waved up at Megumi, who was watching from her second-floor window.

Covering her mouth with a soft smile, Megumi messaged in the chat:

Megumi Kato: "@Rei Ao, would you like to come in for some tea?"

Rei Ao: "Sure."

Instead of taking the front door, Rei Ao leapt up with ease, entering through the open window to Megumi's astonishment.

"Rei Ao-kun really does things his own way," she said with a laugh.

Rei Ao grinned. "Isn't it more convenient?"

It was convenient indeed, though anyone watching him jump up two floors would have been shocked.

~~~

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