What are you doing?!" Shyam said, trying to move out of place—a little bit embarrassed and a little bit guilty, as if he were cheating on his wife.
But she was just too stubborn for Shyam to move her in his current health situation.
"What? Can't I sit on my future husband's lap now?" she said, her tone playful and as beautifully sexy as she could make it.
"WHAT?!" Shyam tried to yell in shock.
"Future husband?!" he said as he stared at Ashima like he'd defenestrate her any moment now—if only he could.
"I will not be your husband even if it kills me!"
Now that's what a loyal man looks like. Loyal to his wife—even in his next life, eh?
But Ashima, being the daughter of the mayor, had never faced a situation where she wanted something but didn't get it. After seeing just how powerful Shyam was, she had made up her mind to marry him—no matter what.
"Madam, the mayor has called for you," a maid standing just outside the door said.
"Coming~" Ashima replied as she stood up.
"Take care, darling~" she said, leaving the room and Shyam behind.
"...What the fuck is happening to me ever since I came here?" he whispered.
Did the women of this world just fall for any guy they saw?
First Pallabi… now Ashima… Ravina probably would've done the same if he had talked to her more.
From now on, he might want to avoid women—just like he did in his previous world.
Though the reasons were quite different.
Back then, he ignored and avoided them because they were just so annoying to deal with. Many women treated men like cash vaults.
But here in Niścaya?
Women just seemed to love him—or maybe any man—after witnessing a single display of power.
Maybe choosing to live once more wasn't a good idea after all.
Though, these thoughts wouldn't matter much anyway.
Because from now on—a 100-feet distance from women was mandatory.
These were Shyam's thoughts as he just sat there and stared at the ceiling for no reason—when suddenly, the door opened again.
This time, Mayor D. Chandrapal walked in.
Not with a cold-hearted "I don't care about you" face—but a soft, caring one.
"Are you alright now?" he asked, as soon as he saw Shyam sitting on the bed.
"Yes… thank you for letting me go help Ashima," Shyam said as he brought both hands together.
> (In Hindu dharma, we clap or press both our palms together as a greeting, thanks, or apology. The position of the hands explains how deeply we express the emotion—for example, if the hands are near the heart, it means we are saying it from the bottom of our hearts. If near the neck, it's a form of showing respect—sometimes willfully, sometimes out of habit.)
"Oh! There's no need for thanks. If anything, I should be apologizing for mistaking you as the thief," Chandrapal said, as he too brought his hands together in apology.
After that, he quietly sat down on the chair, with a face that screamed:
"I have a confession to make!"
Shyam didn't feel any good energy from his expression.
And just as Shyam was about to think of a million possibilities—
Chandrapal dropped the bomb.
Shyam was already ready with the answer—No.
"So, are you interested in my da—"
"No."
Shyam replied before Chandrapal could even finish the sentence.
He didn't need to think twice about declining.
"Is that so…?" Chandrapal said as sadness and worry filled his face… but he managed.
"Anyway, where is the monster I killed?" Shyam asked.
The only reason he'd taken the risk was because he wanted the shadow soul of that damn thing. But he had fainted right after killing it.
"Oh, that…"
Chandrapal looked like he wanted to say something, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"What's the matter?" Shyam asked, as bad thoughts started flooding his brain.
"Well… actually… we already finished eating half of it," Chandrapal said, rubbing his hands behind his head like a silly innocent kid.
Shyam's face turned bright red with anger.
Though he was a little confused too—they eat monsters in this world??
I mean, not that they had monsters on Earth, but still—aren't monsters supposed to taste bad? Or have weird energy or curses or whatever?
Although he didn't care about their food choices.
All he wanted now was to know if he could still extract the shadow soul of that ogre.
"Ate half of it?! Where is the rest right now?!" he tried to yell, despite his injuries.
Though he said it in a serious tone—one that even a child could sense was not joking—Chandrapal misunderstood completely.
His thoughts redirected to the possibility that Shyam might want to eat the entire ogre body.
"It's in the slaughterhouse right now. Wait here—I'll send a maid to bring you there," Chandrapal said and slowly left the room…
like a kid who'd just been scolded for doing something he knew he wasn't supposed to do.
Moments later, a woman in a sexy maid outfit entered the room with a wheelchair.
Stopping right beside the bed, she extended her hands forward as if to signal Shyam to sit.
Never had Shyam ever imagined he'd be sitting in a wheelchair at this age.
Even in his past life, he hadn't needed one.
Let alone one driven by a woman in that outfit.
He felt a little embarrassed—but this was no time to feel ashamed.
His patience level was dropping with each passing minute.
After successfully sitting in the wheelchair, the maid took him to a big room that smelled like rotten meat and dried hide.
Many animals were hung upside down, their heads chopped off—though no blood dripped.
Maybe because they had drained it all beforehand.
At the center of it all—
lay the ogre that Shyam had killed.
The ogre that had brought him down to just 32 HP.
Though that bar had already been restored to 60 HP, thanks to the mayor's medicine and two days of unconscious rest.
(Yeah, a fainted one. Lol.)
Once the maid rolled him even closer to the ogre, Shyam was finally in range to use the [Shadow Capture] ability.
He slightly raised his hand, pointed his palm toward the ogre, and whispered:
"Shadow Capture."
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
Nothing.
He tried again.
And again.
Plenty of times.
Still nothing.
If anything, the number of flies in that room seemed to increase every time he chanted that spell.
The maid just kept slapping away any fly that passed innocently by her, while Shyam attempted the spell one final time—angry, and a little bit frustrated.
He finally gave up, turned around, and the maid started wheeling him back to Ashima's room when suddenly—
...eh, nothing happened.
It was just a system window saying:
> [You have received 1 new mail.]
Wait—a mail?!
As soon as the maid left the room, Shyam opened up his system window and checked the mail he got after failing countless times.
> { The T1 L15 boss shadow could not be captured due to its low energy, but its last few EP upgraded your shadow capture into Soul Capture.
Yours truly,
Anantara }
And then, suddenly, an upgrade window popped up saying:
> [Shadow Soul] – Can capture souls. Once killed, they cannot be revived.
If not killed and retreated from battle, they can regenerate health.
Capacity increased: 1 → 5
---
Ch-21