The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Ever since her rebirth, Evelyn hadn't really eaten much. In fact, most of the consumables she got usually went straight to her inventory for storage and preservation.

This wasn't just because she was a hoarder and there was no need for her to eat, but also because after eating some of the more delicious food, she had become incredibly picky about what she put in her mouth.

Plus, unlike regular people, spirit bodies had a very flawed digestive system. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to call it useless. 

The food that people with spirit physiques consumed had to be perfectly dissolvable inside their bodies, or it would forever remain stuck in their bellies and cause pain.

The only way to get it out would be to pump it out from the stomach. And the usual way it was done in this world was by simply making the person lie in a certain position before punching their belly from below till they threw up whatever they ate.

Having seen the so-called 'medic' lady instruct Amara to do it to Vivian, Evelyn had no interest in going through that, at all. Nor was she interested in finding out if her poison and disease immunity would mitigate it.

Amara smiled when she saw the younger girl hesitantly open her mouth, and carefully fed her the cake.

Evelyn's eyes brightened after she gulped it down. "Mhm… It's good."

And thus began everyone's quest to feed her.

"Here, try some of this too!"

"And mine!"

"Say aaahn, wifey~"

Before Evelyn knew it, every time she opened her mouth, it was being stuffed full of cake and parfait. Although the combination wasn't necessarily very bad, the pink haired girl still found it a little hard to chew with her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk each time.

Evelyn couldn't help but be stunned as she opened her mouth to protest, only for it to be once again stuffed full of desserts. 'S-Should I run away?'

Thankfully, Amara was able to scold them all into a more orderly bunch shortly after, and Evelyn could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After seeing her partner indulge in the food, though, Ruru had also gotten a little interested. In contrast to the others, her little fox seemed to like the parfait more than the cake.

Evelyn caressed Ruru's soft fur with a smile as she made note of the fact. 'Maybe she just likes cold food?'

Of course, the milk bottles had yet to be opened, and it didn't take long for Vivian's attention to shift to them after the others refused to let her have any more cake.

The little redhead blinked as she held the bottle and popped off the cap. "Wow, it's super cold!"

Turning the bottle upside down, everyone stared at the girl making glug-glug sounds.

With how much she had already gorged herself with, everyone could already see Vivian's little belly sticking out a little, even though her clothing couldn't be considered tight.

These milk bottles weren't 'small', and Evelyn estimated that each of them should hold around five liters of milk each. Within seconds of downing one, Vivian totally bloated as she collapsed on the sofa with a sigh. "I-I'm taking a break. Feed me more in five minutes!"

Amara shook her head in amusement. "I told you to not overdo it. Bet you can't even get up to play with your friend now, huh?"

Vivian couldn't help but pout at her sister's 'bullying'. "T-Totally can!"

Though her argument wasn't exactly convincing when she remained so perfectly still on the sofa.

Evelyn coughed as she took out a few glasses she had lying around in her inventory. "Alright, don't fight. Let's drink only a little of the milk each. Seeing how quickly it did her in, I'm guessing it must be unexpectedly heavy."

The pink haired girl blinked as she paused. "Speaking of which… does anyone know what happens when someone overeats things that are actually suitable for our physique?"

None of the redheads had any idea, however, Cecilia nodded grimly. "I heard from my grandma about the tale of the Big Belly Bomberman."

"The big belly… what?"

"Is that a person?"

The ash blonde coughed. "Well, I'm not sure if she was just making it up, to be honest. But apparently, he was a guy who overate a lot of spirit food that could boost his fighting ability. You know, like some of the higher grade stuff that actually restores your spirit power?"

Evelyn blinked. That's… pretty much what she had been planning when she went to ask for a discount on bulk purchases. "Is it really harmful?"

Cecilia scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Well… not really? I… Okay, I'll just say it. According to grandma, his style was that he would always gorge himself right before a battle till his belly was bulging like a balloon, alright."

The ash blonde gave Vivian a strange look, because after recalling the tale… that bulging belly was really starting to bother her. 

She shook her head quickly to drive that thought away. "Anyway… his fighting style was to exhaust his opponent's spirit power, because technically, he could last much longer than others of similar level. But, one day, when Big Belly Bomberman was fighting, an opponent's attack landed right on his stomach, and he… exploded!"

Looking at the confused and disappointed face of Amber, Cecilia scoffed. "Don't think it was just normal. He didn't explode because the attack was powerful! That attack just destabilized all the energy swirling around trapped in his belly, and the man just blew up from the inside! Exploded into bits and pieces! Isn't that horrifying?"

Evelyn cleared her throat as she watched Amber and Vivian's faces quickly turn green. "Alright, stop it with that, let's just… uhm, let's have some milk and then put away the rest of the food."

"P-Pour a glass here too!"

Of course, no one listened to the little redhead, not after such a discussion. Vivian grumbled from her place about how everyone was leaving her out, but could only lie there helplessly.

The cocogoat milk was bluish-purple in color, and naturally cold. But the taste was remarkably similar to smooth, high-quality chocolate. For Evelyn, it was both pleasant and a little nostalgic.

The pink haired girl blinked at the strange feeling. 'Am I… a little homesick?'

But soon enough, she shook her head with a smile as she watched her friends around the table.

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Unfortunately, Bree had become incredibly sleepy as a result of being fed so well, and decided to take a nap with her head on the comfortable lap of her 'mother'. 

Though she did sleep quite a bit even without that, perhaps due to her still 'damaged' and recovering soul. Evelyn certainly wouldn't disturb her without good reason.

Though this did mean that she would have to wait a little longer than expected to start refining the 'Hallucigenia Mortalis' carcass. 

Of course, Evelyn wasn't in much of a hurry, and decided to amuse herself by watching her friends bully the half-awake Vivian in their favorite board game one by one. Maybe they were taking revenge for her chomping away more than half of everyone's share of cake.

With Ruru also dozing off after climbing onto her shoulder, though, Evelyn couldn't help but start feeling like she have gained some hidden 'induce sleep' attribute when touched, especially effective on 'children'… did Bree really count as a child, though?

The pink haired girl shook her head with a smile. 'Whatever, I might as well check out that anklet, then.'

Looking at it closely, it was quite a pretty little thing, with seven teardrop aquamarines and a silvery-white chain. It was a pity that she had never seen her teacher wear it. Maybe it didn't have good enough attributes for her?

More curious than ever, Evelyn immediately used her probe skill on the anklet.

[Checking status…]

[ Frozen Tears of the Ocean: Grade 7 ] 

— Greatly increases the resistance against charm and other types of mental manipulations when equipped.

— Able to instantly move the user as well as anyone or anything strung together with them using spirit power to a random location on the same plane. 

— In times of great peril, it can be used to move an incoming attack to a random location on the same plane. This effect requires the user to focus well and time the move perfectly so that they move it right before taking damage.

— Cannot be blocked by arrays, formations, or any other restrictions.

— The random location is based on the location of the 'Frozen Tears' in the past ten thousand years.

— Charges Left: 7 / 7

Evelyn couldn't help but gasp in surprise as she went through the description once again before staring at the anklet in shock.

Although it didn't have any stat bonuses, this was still a genuine grade seven artifact! The first one in her possession!

To think Aurora just gave it to her so offhandedly!

The pink haired girl frowned. 'Why the hell was she not wearing this thing all the time? So careless! If she had it while fighting Mantis, at least she could have had the assurance to escape if things turned bad.'

Evelyn couldn't help but scratch her head. 'Don't tell me she's the type who thinks it's actually a bad thing to always have a way out?'

Of course, there was no lack of such people in the world, who thought that it would actually hinder their growth if they knew they could get out of any situation alive. After all, many believed that the greatest stimulation of one's potential only occurred at the cusp of death.

Evelyn frowned. 'But… Aurora doesn't seem to think so, or she wouldn't protect me like this, right?'

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