After returning home, Ren first found the note Amano-in Miyabi had left for him. Beside it lay the address of a hot spring inn—and a jade talisman.
Leaving the entire family behind to go on a trip without him… Miyabi had clearly worried that Ren might come home, find the place empty, and panic.
But Yamato Miku had waved that concern off. Ren was both a powerful yokai king and a highly capable exorcist—finding them would be child's play.
So before leaving, Miku had thoughtfully written down additional applications of the Shunpo Charm for Miyabi, just to ease her mind.
The Shunpo Charm was one of the most commonly used techniques among exorcists. Not only could it handle short- to mid-range movement, but with proper targeting, it could even achieve precise long-distance teleportation.
The jade talisman on the table was the anchor Miku had left behind for Ren's use, complete with inscribed runes for positioning.
Ren had been an exorcist for quite some time now. Setting aside rare secret arts, he had a fair amount of confidence in his grasp of standard techniques.
But when it came to the Shunpo Charm…
Yeah. He had a bit of trauma.
There was no denying how practical the technique was—after all, even now, Ren lacked a reliable long-distance mobility skill of his own.
It wasn't that he hadn't successfully used the charm before.
It was just that… every single time, something went wrong.
The first time he used it—freshly learned and with poor control over his spiritual output—he'd teleported straight into Yamato Kyoka's changing room.
Sure, he'd gotten quite the eyeful.
But somehow, he ended up feeling guilty instead—and wound up promising her three favors.
Of course, he'd fulfilled all three by now. They should've been even.
Except the problem was… the third favor—pretending to be her boyfriend.
And that led to the second time he used the Shunpo Charm.
Because of the Yamato family's barrier, his teleportation got redirected…
…straight into their bathhouse.
And this time, he didn't just see Kyoka.
He saw her mother, Yamato Miku.
Completely.
That incident had singlehandedly turned his simple relationship with Kyoka into something… very complicated.
So yeah—those two prior experiences had left a deep impression.
Now, staring at the talisman and positioning runes on the table, Ren hesitated.
The Shunpo Charm itself wasn't particularly difficult. Both previous attempts had technically succeeded.
It was just that for some inexplicable reason, he always ended up in places he absolutely shouldn't be.
Still…
Gunma Prefecture wasn't exactly close. Even at full speed, it would take him dozens of minutes—and it'd be exhausting.
"…Fine. One more try," Ren muttered. "I've awakened as a Demon Lord now. There's no way I still can't use a basic Shunpo Charm properly."
Back in the slime world, all of Ren's power systems had been unified into magicules.
After his Demon Lord Awakening, those magicules had split into yokai energy and spiritual power upon returning to this world.
His yokai energy had already reached mid-tier Transcendent Class. But raw energy didn't equal combat strength—his actual fighting power was firmly at the peak of that tier.
As for spiritual power, it had always been one of his weaker areas. But after awakening, even that had reached SS+ rank.
It might seem insignificant compared to his yokai energy…
But in the current world, there were probably fewer than ten exorcists who possessed that level of spiritual power.
With that much power, casting a mere Shunpo Charm should've been effortless.
Right?
Ren formed a hand seal and began chanting:
"Let confusion veil the mind—East become West, South become North—Let no pursuer find my path—By the Northern Star, I seal a thousand leagues—Six Paths reverse, misfortune denied—By the law, be done!"
As the incantation finished, a glowing magic circle unfolded beneath his feet. Runes spun rapidly, and his body gradually faded from sight.
—
THUD—!
The moment he reappeared, Ren felt a wave of humid heat hit his skin.
Then—
Weightlessness.
Before he could even react, his body plunged straight down into hot water, sending a massive splash skyward.
"Ghk—!"
Choking on the sudden mouthful of water, Ren surfaced immediately—
Only to be greeted by a dazzling expanse of pale, bare skin.
And directly in front of him—
Two utterly stunned faces.
Yamato Miku.
And Jingu Saori.
"…You've gotta be kidding me!"
Ren's soul practically left his body.
His eyes locked onto a pair of undeniably impressive curves—easily C-cup minimum—and in that instant, he felt like his life was over.
"I knew it…! This damn technique is cursed!"
First a changing room.
Then a bathhouse.
And now—a hot spring?!
"This isn't the Shunpo Charm—this is the 'Pervert Warp'! It forces me into these situations every time!"
"…Ren-kun's teleportation really does land him in the most unexpected places," Saori murmured faintly.
Her brain had clearly short-circuited from sheer embarrassment.
Miku, on the other hand, reacted far faster. Covering herself with one hand, she flashed a dangerously calm smile.
Ren, fully aware he was in the wrong, immediately blurted out an apology—then dunked his head straight back under the water.
Not because he was being noble.
But because asking a perfectly normal guy to close his eyes in this situation was basically torture.
So he chose to submerge himself instead.
Out of sight, out of mind—
…Or so he thought.
Hot spring water wasn't as clear as fresh water. It was mineral-rich, slightly cloudy.
But for someone like Ren—a half-demon with exceptional vision—
That wasn't a problem at all.
If anything…
He could see even more.
"…Wait… seaweed? In a hot spring…?"
At first, Miku thought Ren was being tactful.
But then she noticed something—
A faint red bloom spreading through the water.
Blood.
Her expression froze.
Then, realizing exactly what that meant—
Her face flushed crimson with fury.
"YOU—!"
WHAM!
With a single downward chop, she struck the water.
The hot spring split apart with a violent crash, water erupting in all directions—
And Ren's body was sent flying out like a piece of oversized trash, landing hard on the shore.
Completely unconscious.
Not from the attack.
But because his brain had been overloaded by visuals far too intense to process.
System crash. Immediate shutdown.