My Fists Are Clenched

"Kosma, what nonsense are you spouting? If you're having a fit of chuunibyou, just be yourself and don't go looking for others to join you. And don't keep a record of it, or it'll become someone else's leverage against you later."

As she listened, the impatience on Vil-V's face turned into a serious expression.

"You might even get captured by an unscrupulous boss and forced to do manual labor... Oh, well, you seem to already be a manual laborer."

"Looks like I've wronged you, haven't I?"

Liu Bai said quietly from behind Vil-V.

"You can mention any shortcomings in your treatment, but don't slander good people here—if I hadn't discovered you, you might already be on Mobius's operating table for asking about things you shouldn't have."

"Whoa! Why do you walk so silently!?"

"Because I'm a ghost, I don't need to walk most of the time—oh, by the way, am I a magician now? It feels like my brain isn't working properly?"

"...It's the conductor." Vil-V's face darkened.

What does it mean when your brain isn't working properly? Look at what you've done—suddenly appearing behind someone, who can react in time!

"Okay, so what are you doing? Passing on your chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) experience to Kosma?"

"Not at all, it's just a little guidance."

When Vil-V brought up this topic, she remained quite calm, after all, she was no longer the naive young woman she once was.

"Isn't there always a sense of looking at yourself?"

"Including secretly recording?" Liu Bai raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Don't slander me! Who would secretly record a recording!" Vil-V raised her eyebrows, revealing an angry expression.

—Although it didn't scare Liu Bai at all.

"I've spent as much time as an elder as I've spent taking care of kids—at least personally, I don't mind watching the younger generation step into funny and embarrassing little pits—after all, it will be a laughing stock in the future."

Vil-V's lips twitched, then she raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, you're right, I did record it—do you need me to delete it?"

"Need not."

Liu Bai said something that surprised Vil-V.

"Didn't I say I don't mind watching my juniors step into funny little pits that will embarrass them? Let's just treat this as a lesson for that kid Kosma."

"Wow... you're really awful."

"Don't talk like we just met. Or have you forgotten who used your embarrassing chuunibyou past to blackmail you back then?"

"You really are shameless and proud of it."

When the events of that year were brought up, Vil-V's lips twitched involuntarily.

"Yeah, you were really awful back then. What I'm doing now is nothing compared to what you did back then."

"Why can't I be proud? It's not like I'm at a disadvantage."

Liu Bai's nonchalant words made Vil-V blush.

This sounds like a confession... cough cough, what kind of romantic thinking is this?

"Of course it's worth it." Vil-V puffed out her chest proudly and coughed twice. "But speaking of which, where did you learn such a nasty personality from? Mobius?"

"... More or less."

Liu Bai said vaguely—in fact, in the end, his erratic thinking and unreliability mostly came from Einstein.

"Oh no, I didn't come here to talk to you about these trivial matters— Eden felt a little uneasy."

"Is that guy's intuition really accurate?" Vil-V scratched her head. "Shouldn't that guy have an intuition level similar to mine? Why does trusting her intuition feel a bit off?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry—anyway, it's not consuming any extra resources. Did you find anything strange in the monitoring room?"

"No, absolutely nothing. Apart from that kid Kosma calling me just now, nothing else—oh, he called again. I think I accidentally hung up when you startled me."

"Then you can answer it."

Liu Bai said, "They've already called, why are you showing this to me?"

"I thought you'd be better at talking to him? We don't have your experience."

"...Too."

Liu Bai took the phone from Vil-V and then answered it—

"Dr. Vil-V! Something terrible has happened! This isn't chuunibyou! This isn't a joke! We—! The monster sealed within our ELM has escaped! It's all my fault! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have mentioned the boss's name in front of it!"

Before Liu Bai could even speak, Kosma launched into a barrage of words, his voice filled with regret and a sob.

So what is this poor kid saying?

Liu Bai looked bewildered. Although the emotion was spot-on, did you say something that was completely incomprehensible?

"It's all over! Dr. Vil-V! It's all because I didn't listen to you and the boss and rashly made contact..."

"Wait a minute, Kosma."

Liu Bai finally found a moment when Kosma was taking a breath and spoke his first words.

"Kosma, calm down. What you're saying is a bit too disorganized. I'll give you some time to sort it out, okay?"

Liu Bai felt that Kosma seemed to have developed some strange misunderstanding.

"I... this... boss? Are you alright! That monster... that monster might have broken the seal! You have to be careful! I... I might have been contaminated too!"

... It's not clear at all.

Isn't this just typical chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) talk?

Give me a summary of the matter in ten words or less—using a name that everyone can understand.

The mention of monsters and seals gave Liu Bai a headache.

Elysia is missing!

"... That's it?"

You rushed through a bunch of incomprehensible terms and chatted with Vil-V for ages about things that didn't make sense, and this is what you're trying to say in the end?

Liu Bai wore an expression that showed neither joy nor sorrow.

"What!? Elysia is gone!?" Just as Liu Bai was calming down, Vil-V jumped up beside him. "Did you say something to her!?"

"Huh? Ah? Yes, they said something..."

Kosma on the other end of the phone was momentarily overwhelmed by Vil-V's imposing presence.

"Some things about the boss... but... I concealed them very well!"

"What a load of rubbish..." Vil-V sighed softly.

They know perfectly well what level Elysia's social skills are.

Conceal? Conceal my ass! Even Vil-V wouldn't dare say she could completely hide her thoughts from Elysia; that girl's social skills are, in some ways, even better than Liu Bai's!

"Oh ho..." Although Liu Bai was a beat slow to react, he still understood what had happened.

"Now I know where Eden's sense of crisis comes from."

Vil-V's eyes darkened.

"If I'm not mistaken, that guy will probably take a plane... Tsk, is it too late to try and shoot it down now?"

"So this is what Eden's sense of crisis is?" Liu Bai's face immediately showed a look of being both amused and exasperated.

"I didn't expect Eden's intuition to be so accurate... This is really bad..."

"Did you hear that, Kosma? We'll handle things here. Put away your ridiculous fantasies—we don't know what epic storylines you've conjured up, but they have absolutely nothing to do with reality."

Kosma: "..."

Didn't Vil-V just say that?

"Hi~~ Del~ Are you in charge here? Did you get Miss Eden's autograph?"

"Hi~ Alice~ What did you learn from this concert?"

"Me? I came to see Eden's concert, but it seems I missed it... Did you record the whole thing? Then please send it to me when you get back~ By the way, where is Eden resting now?"

Knock knock knock

"Please come in."

Sorry to bother you~~

Humming a cheerful tune, Elysia pushed open the door to the lounge after receiving a response.

—Then, their eyes met in mid-air.

Chapter 360 The Fist Hardened

Good afternoon, dear Eden ~~?

Elysia gave Eden a bright smile.

"Eden's singing is truly amazing! Even here, we can still hear the thunderous cheers from outside!"

"Elysia?"

Eden frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting to see the other person here at all.

"Hmm... thank you for the compliment. If you'd like to hear it, I can sing it for you when we get back to the company."

Eden responded to Elysia's praise with considerable restraint and composure.

"That's wonderful!" Elysia smiled brightly at Eden. "By the way... I heard that the club president is also attending this concert. May I meet him?"

"Minister..." Eden lowered his eyes, "Elysia, who told you this?"

I overheard it by chance while listening to other people chatting.

Elysia responded casually that although she had tricked Kosma into revealing the information, she had no intention of selling him out.

After all, that child was quite innocent.

"Just a casual chat?"

Eden frowned and pondered for a moment, but he was clearly not fooled by Elysia.

Sometimes, you can discover the clues if you calm down and think about it carefully.

The only person who has no suspicion of Elysia and knows about Liu Bai is probably Kosma, right?

Let's just consider this a casual chat.

Eden had no intention of arguing with a child.

"Then, may I say that the minister is unavailable to receive guests today?"

"Hmm... what do you mean?" Unexpectedly, Elysia did not launch a counterattack, but instead nodded her chin, revealing a thoughtful expression—to be honest, this made Eden a little uncomfortable.

That relaxed, composed, and self-assured demeanor of a mature woman made Eden inexplicably feel as if he had been humbled.

"Whose meaning... does it matter?" Eden finally raised his eyebrows again and looked at Elysia in front of him.

Elysia's face didn't show any anger at being deceived by her best friend; instead, she had an excited expression.

"Of course it's important! This will determine whether I wear a maid outfit to give Liu Bai a fresh experience!"

"Maid outfit... you're still thinking about that?"

Elysia finally revealed the name "Liu Bai" directly, but it didn't break their conversation as Eden had expected.

Eden was slightly relieved—but thinking about it, it made sense. Elysia was the kind of woman who could say things like, "When doing that kind of thing with my boyfriend, having another or several beautiful girls around to cooperate with will improve my mood and efficiency."

Lively and adorable, understanding, and stunningly beautiful, she doesn't mind her partner's mischief—even Eden thinks Elysia is the perfect girlfriend from a man's perspective.

Unfortunately... if they were rivals in love, Elysia would only make her feel suffocated.

Eden felt that the only things she could completely overpower Elysia were seniority and talent; even her most confident asset, her looks, were only slightly inferior to Elysia's.

It was an oppressive force that made it impossible to breathe.

Characters like Vil-V and Eden were considered trash, utterly useless in crucial moments—well, maybe they even had a bit of a loyal dog vibe.