Chapter 91: Shadow Step With A Passenger

Reiji decided to use shadow step for the first time while inside the house and appeared near the street.

The neighborhood was peaceful.

Streetlights illuminated the empty roads while a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees lining the sidewalks.

His crimson eyes instinctively swept across the surroundings.

No suspicious movements.

No unfamiliar auras.

Only a few late-night pedestrians walking home.

He kept walking.

Unlike before, he no longer headed directly toward the outskirts of the city.

Instead, he entered the narrow alley separating his neighborhood from the next street.

The same alley where everything had changed two nights ago.

His footsteps echoed softly against the concrete.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Then he saw her.

Aoi Tachibana leaned casually against the wall with her arms folded across her chest.

She wasn’t wearing her usual casual clothes.

Instead, she had changed into fitted black combat gear reinforced with light armor around the shoulders and knees.

A longsword rested against the wall beside her.

The moment she noticed him approaching, a small smile appeared on her face.

"...You’re late."

Reiji didn’t bother correcting her.

"I came exactly on time."

"You came three minutes after I did."

"You arrived early."

"..."

She pushed herself away from the wall before grabbing the longsword.

"I wasn’t sure you’d actually come."

"I said I would."

Aoi nodded.

"I know. I just wanted to see whether you were the type to keep your word."

Reiji simply looked at her.

"...Satisfied?"

"For now."

Silence settled between them for a moment before Aoi finally spoke again.

"The Gate we’re clearing tonight is an F-Rank Gate."

Reiji raised an eyebrow beneath his hood.

"F-Rank?"

She nodded.

"It appeared yesterday near the outskirts. The Association hasn’t assigned anyone yet because they’re prioritizing several D-Rank Gates that opened this morning."

"So it’s unattended."

"Exactly."

She adjusted the strap holding her sword.

"We’ll finish it before anyone notices."

Reiji didn’t object.

An F-Rank Gate wasn’t remotely threatening anymore.

Even without Shadow Step he could clear one effortlessly.

More importantly... tonight wasn’t about the Gate.

It was about observing Aoi.

Learning how she fought. Learning how she thought. Learning whether she truly intended to cooperate.

He wasn’t foolish enough to trust someone after one conversation.

Trust was earned.

And Aoi hadn’t earned it yet.

"Let’s go."

She turned toward the main road.

Reiji, however, remained standing where he was.

"...Not yet."

Aoi stopped.

"What?"

"We’re making one stop first."

She frowned.

"...Where?"

"You’ll see."

Before she could ask another question...

Reiji stepped forward.

His left arm wrapped around her waist.

Aoi’s entire body stiffened.

"W-Wait...!"

Her face instantly turned bright red.

"What are you doing?!"

She instinctively grabbed his wrist, ready to pry it away.

Reiji ignored her reaction completely.

His attention wasn’t on her.

It was on the System.

’What happens if I use Shadow Step while holding another person?’

He had wondered about it for quite some time.

Back then...

When Vel had still possessed his original form...

Reiji had attempted a similar experiment when coming home from the Palace of the Dominion King

Nothing had happened.

At the time, he assumed it was because Vel was his servant and maybe servant had special privileges.

Now...

He finally had another opportunity to test another out and this time she isn’t a servant or Bond Partner.

A faint smile appeared beneath his mask.

’I love experiments.’

Shadow Step activated.

Black-and-amber mana quietly gathered around his feet.

The surrounding shadows rippled.

Then...

[Shadow Step.]

The world blurred.

Darkness swallowed them both for less than a heartbeat.

The next instant...

They reappeared several hundred meters away atop the roof of a small building overlooking a busy shopping district.

Aoi’s eyes widened.

"..."

She blinked once. Twice. Then looked behind her.

The alley was gone.

Only distant rooftops stretched behind them.

"W-What..."

She stared at the scenery before looking back at Reiji.

"...How?"

Reiji released her waist.

"...Interesting."

So it worked.

He could teleport another person as long as direct physical contact existed.

Or perhaps because Aoi was human.

There had been another condition he still didn’t understand.

Either way useful information.

Very useful.

Aoi still hadn’t recovered from the sudden movement.

"You..."

She looked over the edge of the building before looking back at him.

"...We were just in the alley."

"I know."

"...Then how are we here?"

Reiji simply shrugged.

"A skill."

Her mouth opened slightly.

"A movement skill?"

He nodded once.

"...A very convenient one."

Aoi stared at him for several more seconds.

"No wonder..."

"Hm?"

"No wonder nobody ever manages to follow you."

She shook her head while letting out a helpless laugh.

"Teleportation..."

"That’s ridiculously unfair."

Reiji didn’t deny it. It really was.

The ability had saved his life more times than he could count.

Without Shadow Step... he would’ve died long ago.

Aoi finally looked around again.

"...So why exactly did we come here?"

Reiji pointed toward a brightly lit food shop across the street.

"I need to buy something."

She followed his finger.

"...A crepe shop?"

"Mm."

"..."

For several seconds Aoi genuinely thought she had misheard him.

"The Night Empress risked exposing herself for dessert?"

Reiji calmly climbed down from the rooftop.

"It’s important."

Aoi remained standing where she was.

"...You’re joking."

"I’m not."

She watched him cross the street without the slightest hesitation before joining the short queue in front of the stand.

Several customers glanced at the hooded figure.

None paid him much attention.

Aoi slowly walked over as well.

She still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

This mysterious person...

The one capable of defeating evolved Gates alone...

The same person the military had spent weeks trying to identify...

Was patiently waiting in line...

To buy a crepe.

"..."

The image completely shattered the terrifying impression she’d built in her head.

Several minutes later...

Reiji accepted a freshly made chocolate crepe.

He took a bite.

His shoulders visibly relaxed.

"...Worth it."

Aoi stared at him speechlessly.

"I..."

She paused.

"I honestly don’t know what to say."

Reiji continued eating.

"You don’t have to."

"No... I really do."

She folded her arms.

"You sneak into Gates every night. You fight monsters stronger than most guild leaders. You wear an oversized hoodie. You deliberately raise your voice to sound like a girl. And after all that..."

She pointed at the crepe in his hand.

"...this is what you stop for?"

Reiji nodded without the slightest embarrassment.

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"As long as I’m disguised..."

He took another bite.

"...I get my crepe without attracting attention."

Aoi stared at him.

"...How do you even feel pretending to be a girl every night?"

Reiji thought about it for exactly one second.

"It doesn’t bother me."

"...Seriously?"

He nodded again.

"As long as it gets me my crepe."

Another bite.

"I don’t care."

Aoi blinked.

Then Reiji casually added,

"Even if I had to act like a dog to get one... I’d bark."

Silence. Complete silence.

Aoi simply stared at him.

Then she covered her face with one hand.

"I... I don’t even know how to respond to that."

Reiji calmly finished another bite of his crepe. "You don’t need to."

Aoi slowly lowered her hand before letting out a long sigh.

"...You’re much weirder than I expected."

Beneath the hood, Reiji smiled faintly.

"I’ve heard that before."

The two of them continued walking beneath the city lights.

One quietly eating a crepe.

The other still trying to convince herself that the legendary Night Empress had delayed a Dungeon raid because dessert came first.

The peaceful atmosphere didn’t last long.

As they left the shopping district behind, the streets gradually became emptier. Bright storefronts disappeared one after another, replaced by abandoned warehouses and fenced construction sites.

Only the occasional streetlamp illuminated the road ahead.

Reiji quietly finished the last bite of his crepe before crumpling the wrapper into a small ball.

He glanced around. No trash bin.

Without hesitation, he opened his Inventory and tossed the wrapper inside.

Aoi noticed. ’A storage space?’

"...You can store garbage too?"

Reiji shrugged.

"It has space."

"...That’s not the point."

"It’ll save me looking for a bin later."

She stared at him for several seconds before shaking her head.

"I’ve decided."

"Hm?"

"I’m never going to understand how your mind works."

"I’ve been told that too."

"More than once?"

"Yes."

"...Somehow I’m not surprised."

Silence returned between them.

This time it was more comfortable than awkward.

Their footsteps echoed softly across the empty road while the cool night breeze drifted through the area.

Several minutes later, Aoi finally slowed down.

"We’re almost there."

Reiji instinctively became alert.

His playful mood disappeared almost instantly.

Detect Presence spread outward like invisible ripples.

Nothing. No military. No civilians.

Only...

"...Mana."

He could already feel it.

A faint distortion lingered in the air ahead.

Aoi pointed toward an abandoned industrial complex surrounded by rusted chain-link fencing.

"The Gate appeared inside."

From outside, nothing looked unusual.

Broken windows.

Collapsed rooftops.

Overgrown weeds pushing through cracked concrete.

An ordinary abandoned factory.

Only the faint shimmer floating between two collapsed buildings betrayed the truth.

Space itself seemed distorted.

Blue light quietly rippled across an oval-shaped tear suspended in midair.

An F-Rank Dungeon Gate.

Reiji studied it silently.

Compared to the evolved Gate from two nights ago...

The mana leaking from this one felt almost insignificant.

"So this is what a normal Gate feels like..."

Aoi looked at him.

"You’ve only been clearing unstable Gates lately, haven’t you?"

"...Seems that way."

She couldn’t help laughing.

"I don’t know whether you’re lucky or unbelievably unlucky."

"...Probably both."

She stepped through a gap in the fence before turning back.

"Ready?"

Reiji nodded.

One hand rested on the handle of his bone sword beneath the oversized hoodie.

His crimson eyes remained fixed on the quietly pulsating Gate.

Even an F-Rank Gate deserved caution.

After all complacency had killed stronger people than him.

Without another word, the two of them walked toward the shimmering portal.

The blue light swallowed them whole.