Maze Devil

The ride in the Sky Cruise Car lasted just over twenty minutes. Asaba Kotone hadn't felt much of anything from start to finish; he'd only taken in the scenery from up in the air.

Even after they got off the car, Kobeni Higashiyama's excitement still hadn't faded, and her cheeks remained flushed.

"Let's get something to eat and take a break, then go on the next attraction."

Asaba Kotone spoke up.

Kobeni Higashiyama nodded, but she felt a little anxious.

Asaba treated her to food every time. Once or twice was fine, but after so many times, she felt terribly embarrassed.

Yet she had no idea how to repay him. She didn't have any money on her, so she couldn't even treat him in return.

After thinking it over, Kobeni Higashiyama decided against it, reluctantly giving up the chance to eat something delicious. "I think we should skip it... I feel really bad making you pay every time..."

"It's no big deal. But if you really feel bad about it, you can repay me another way."

Asaba Kotone almost said that such a small amount of money meant nothing to him, but that clearly wouldn't have been a good thing to say. It might have been small change to him, but to Kobeni Higashiyama...

"Another way...?"

Kobeni Higashiyama thought about it. She didn't have a penny to her name. What other way could she possibly repay him?

Then something too embarrassing to put into words crossed her mind. Did he want her to repay him with her body?

Lewd images immediately sprang into Kobeni Higashiyama's mind, and her face turned scarlet.

Th-th-this... how could I do that?!

She hated the idea of going into sex work. When her family had asked whether she would consider it in the future, she'd felt utterly hopeless. Wouldn't repaying someone with her body amount to much the same thing?

But if it was Asaba, maybe it wouldn't be out of the question... ?

No, no, no!

At that moment, it was as though two versions of Kobeni Higashiyama were arguing inside her: a shy, reserved little angel and a little succubus who kept egging her on.

Noticing how strangely Kobeni Higashiyama was acting, Asaba Kotone wondered if he'd said something wrong.

Before he could even explain what he meant, Kobeni Higashiyama had already gotten the wrong idea.

"I'll leave ingredients in the clubroom, and you can come cook at lunchtime. That should count as repaying me, right?"

Asaba Kotone explained his idea, then couldn't help asking, "By the way, Kobeni, what's wrong? You don't look quite yourself."

"You want me to cook...?"

Kobeni Higashiyama, whose mind had been locked in a fierce struggle, froze the instant she heard Asaba Kotone's words. Her expression went stiff as well.

Asaba wanted her to cook as repayment, while she'd been thinking about all those indecent things.

An overwhelming wave of shame washed over her. She wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

Mortified as she was, she was also immensely relieved. Thank goodness she'd only thought it and hadn't said it aloud. Otherwise, Asaba would definitely have thought she was a promiscuous girl.

If that happened, she'd truly want to die.

"N-no! No, no! It's nothing!"

Kobeni Higashiyama frantically tried to cover it up, so flustered that she nearly burst into tears. She was terrified that Asaba Kotone would find out what she'd just been thinking.

Seeing that Kobeni Higashiyama was on the verge of tears, Asaba Kotone didn't dare press her. He returned to the previous topic instead. "What do you think about the cooking arrangement I just suggested?"

When Asaba didn't question her further, Kobeni Higashiyama breathed a huge sigh of relief. She tried to rein in her emotions, taking a little while to calm down.

"I... I'm fine with that, of course, but does our club have any cooking equipment...?"

Although Kobeni Higashiyama felt that this wasn't nearly enough to repay him, it seemed to be the only thing she could do. Other than using her body...

The moment those lewd thoughts came back, she slapped her cheeks with both hands. She was being utterly shameless!

"Ow... that hurt..."

Asaba Kotone looked bewildered by Kobeni Higashiyama's behavior. He had no idea what was going on with her; she'd been acting strangely for a while now.

"Cooking equipment is easy. I'll just bring some from home to the clubroom."

Asaba Kotone said.

Although he'd founded the Reading Club rather than a cooking club, nobody had said that the Reading Club couldn't cook.

Besides, the clubroom was so large that there was plenty of space for cooking equipment and ingredients.

As for Kobeni's cooking skills, he wasn't worried at all. They had cooking classes at school every week, and Kobeni was actually incredibly capable with her hands when she got serious.

"Okay..."

Kobeni Higashiyama still felt bad about it. Asaba would be providing both the equipment and the ingredients, so her doing the cooking hardly amounted to anything in comparison.

She wondered whether she should discuss it with her parents after she got home, but she hesitated. There was almost no chance they'd agree, and she'd probably get a severe scolding instead.

After that, Kobeni Higashiyama remained so preoccupied that she didn't realize she'd followed Asaba Kotone to an ice cream cart.

"Here."

Only when she heard his voice did Kobeni Higashiyama snap out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Asaba Kotone holding out a cup of ice cream.

"Thank you!"

"Let's rest over there for a bit, then try the maze."

Asaba Kotone suggested.

There were other tasty things nearby, but they still had another attraction to try afterward, so they definitely couldn't eat too much.

Kobeni Higashiyama had no objections. Just being at the amusement park with Asaba already made her happy and content. She was willing to try any attraction.

They rested for a few minutes while eating their ice cream.

Asaba Kotone brought Pochita and Kobeni Higashiyama to the maze attraction.

Although the maze posed no obstacle to his Kamui, he was here to have fun. Using Kamui would make it far too boring.

Enter the maze through the entrance, then find the exit-that was essentially how it worked.

It wasn't just a matter of finding the way. There were also various obstacles inside the maze, though none of them were particularly dangerous.

Besides Asaba Kotone and his companions, quite a few other people were inside the maze.

Not long after Asaba Kotone entered, he encountered an obstacle: a series of horizontal poles moving up and down. He would have to time it right to duck under or step over them.

But just as he was about to cross, the scene before him suddenly underwent a drastic transformation.

The colorful foam-board walls and ceiling turned into crimson walls of writhing flesh, giving off a foul, bloody stench.

The poles all turned into large, sharp blades, and they began moving up and down even faster.

Someone in the middle of crossing the obstacle was caught in it and beheaded by a blade, blood spurting out.

Asaba Kotone's brow furrowed slightly. They were clearly inside a devil's body...

It was probably the Maze Devil.

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