Ryuji was completely numb.
Even though being honest with Erina had earned him her acceptance—almost too maturely, in his opinion—something else had been bothering him.
That was... what exactly had Erina tasted? And how many did she taste?
So...
"Huh? Just how powerful is the God Tongue?"
Alice raised an eyebrow, looking at Ryuji's guilty face with a confused expression.
Erina's God Tongue had already recovered; the only unresolved issue was her mother's condition. But considering Erina's progress, Alice assumed that wouldn't be too hard either.
And if Ryuji really wanted to know how terrifying the God Tongue was, couldn't he have just asked Erina herself?
Why ask her?
Still, since he had brought her that miraculous meat—one that somehow carried the flavors of dozens of different cuts—Alice decided to answer anyway.
"It's pretty much limitless. Honestly, it's kinda terrifying. Let me put it this way: do you know why Erina has so many sets of utensils?"
She leaned in slightly, speaking as if revealing a secret.
"It's because even if she uses a pair of chopsticks once, even a month ago, and they're sterilized at high heat, she can still taste the residue of her saliva and the flavor of the food she ate that day. That's why her utensils are always custom-made and single-use. Not an exaggeration—you know that, right?"
Ah... right.
Now that he thought about it, Ryuji had noticed Erina always used brand-new utensils when eating.
Seeing the stunned look on his face, Alice smirked and leaned closer, mischief glinting in her eyes.
"So, if you're planning to sneak around, you'd better wait at least three months before seeing Erina again."
Ryuji waved his hands frantically."No way, I wouldn't—! …But I've gotta say, this really does feel like some kind of curse."
A terrifying thought crept into his mind: when he kissed Erina… she must've been able to tell from the very first day.
And she waited until now to say anything?
"Obviously."
Alice, seeing him deep in thought, just strolled off with that strange meat dish.
Half an hour after Ryuji left, she went berserk trying to find him again.
Unfortunately, he had already gone off to train in swordsmanship.
To his surprise, even though both Erina and Ikumi had eventually accepted what had happened…
"Look, I know this was unavoidable. You made such a big promise—I couldn't exactly stop you from going. But expecting you to behave yourself out there? Yeah, I'm not that naive. I know I can't be by your side all the time, and you're the type that's way too easy to fool. So watch yourself."
Ikumi, meanwhile, was just plain angry. She had seriously been thinking of staying with Ryuji long-term—she even imagined what they'd name their kids while he was pinning her down during that "Intimate session." The fact that she was still staying in his dorm and hadn't moved out yet was already her biggest compromise.
And so—
Ryuji spent the next two weeks without a love life. Only on the day he was preparing to leave that world and return to the "7 Days to Die" world did Erina and Ikumi finally warm up to him again and share a kiss.
But that was it. Nothing more.
Even though it was painfully obvious that they all wanted more.
— — — — — — —
Ryuji sighed as he returned to the zombie-infested world, where time had resumed its flow.
Rias noticed this, but said nothing—she just went back to training her magic. The other two had no idea what had just happened.
Morning came quickly, and Ryuji, now in a very pent-up state, got up and began his training.
He hadn't been idle during his time in the culinary world. He'd built a solid daily routine and collected a ton of study material.
Real, practical material: a laptop full of language courses, martial arts manuals, and instructional videos from top-tier fighters.
He had also tested the limits of his world-hopping ability.
Living things? Couldn't bring them.
Eggs, puppies—none of it would transfer.
Only items in direct contact with his body could be taken with him. Large objects, like car seats, were counted as one item.
The mechanics weren't clear, but that was the rule. So aside from bringing a pile of training material, he'd only managed to carry over a few solar panels and a giant box of food.
Now, with the weighted arm bands he got from Arad set to max, Ryuji began pushing his body through the most brutal training he could endure.
With his tenfold recovery rate in this world, even intense workouts didn't tire him out—in fact, it let him train with perfect form for hours on end.
Most people couldn't even do one perfect pull-up. Ryuji, with ten times the strength and recovery, could do them all day long without breaking a sweat.
Since he didn't plan to gain more power from this world, he hadn't even used any of his mission-earned skill points.
He also avoided approaching the two newcomers—he didn't want to come off as suspicious.
But while Ryuji kept his distance, the newcomers couldn't help but observe him.
"Isn't that training going to hurt him?"
Mai Shiranui couldn't help asking as she watched Ryuji doing push-ups under a literal ton of iron strapped to his back.
Their training in the martial arts world was also intense, but it was always balanced. And now that they had access to energy—or ki—they were supposed to train through meditation and refinement.
Only extreme disciplines, like the Kyokugen style, would go so far.
But those disciplines also came with secret medicines and breathing techniques to recover. How could someone push themselves to the limit without any support?
Even her own top-tier Shiranui style required special training and conditions most outsiders didn't know about.
Rin Tohsaka glanced toward Ryuji too. She and Mai had scouted the safe zone around them and had confirmed there really were scattered zombies. That, at least, gave Ryuji's warnings some credibility.
But the whole idea of "doing it" with him just so he could send them home? Rin still wasn't totally sold on it.
Still, she offered an answer to Mai's question.
"He has magic in his body too. He's using that weird magic to enhance his muscles. That's why he can push himself like this. But seriously, how much magic does he have? It's endless. And doesn't he ever get tired?"
She was honestly baffled.
"That must be the power this world gives to potential successors," Mai replied indifferently. "But if that power can't return with us… then it's pointless."
She had zero interest in the power of this world. All she wanted was to return to her own.
Preferably by any means other than that one.
But Rin didn't have the luxury of being so dismissive.
"Yeah... pointless," she muttered.
Tugging at her hair, Rin wasn't sure if she could trust Ryuji yet. Maybe after building some trust and learning more about the enemies of this world, she could find her own way back.
But time was not on her side.
She had less than a month before the Holy Grail War began. If she didn't return by then, all the preparations she had spent so long making would go up in smoke.
Shaking her head, Rin decided to keep exploring.
"Let's go. We should keep checking out this area."
Mai followed her lead, and Ryuji—after training deep into the night—finally took a quick shower and went off to find the female merchant.
Rias had offered to "help" him, but honestly, using just her mouth was far too slow. The merchant, on the other hand, could go hard, fast, and never complain.
But when Ryuji got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom… he saw something shocking.
Somehow…
The outside was once again crawling with zombies.
It was obvious.
The blood moon… had come early.
~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter every 200 PS.