"So, next time we run into someone entering illegally, it'd be better to just kill them outright, right?" Luo Yifang casually tossed the envelope aside. Bright flames wrapped around it, reducing it to ashes in an instant.
"Whatever you say." Paqi knew all too well how much Luo Yifang hated trouble. Asking him to manage a coffee shop? He'd rather die. "So what are you planning to do now? Sell the place, or destroy it?"
"Ugh, she even gave me a ring. How could I refuse?" Luo Yifang said irritably. He truly disliked trouble, but the spatial ring Lilith had given him was clearly not merely repayment for capturing Corpse Fire. More than that, she hoped he would accept this coffee shop. Since he had accepted the gift, Luo Yifang would not disappoint her. "I really need to be more careful from now on. Necromancers really are all bad guys!"
But now was not the time to start running it. First, he still had the Absolute Ability User Project to deal with. Second, Luo Yifang had no idea how to make coffee. He was not worried if no customers came; after all, he was not afraid of losing money, nor did he need to pay anyone wages. Although, judging from the ring's storage function, he already had a similar portable space, Lilith probably considered this coffee shop the real gift.
There were also some things in the ring that looked like healing potions, probably stuffed in there by Lilith before she left. He did not see any equipment, but these alone were enough for Luo Yifang to keep an eye on the shop for her.
"This place is pretty huge." Luo Yifang wandered around casually and discovered that the coffee shop occupied only the first floor of the building. Rather, the entire three-story Western-style house had been given to him by Lilith, and it even had a basement. The living conditions here were far better than his ordinary apartment. Still, Luo Yifang had no intention of moving in yet. Why? Because he was too lazy! Moving meant packing everything up again, and that was seriously troublesome.
Seeing that it was getting late, Luo Yifang simply decided not to return to his apartment and planned to stay here for the night. The second floor had a great atmosphere, decorated in a very retro European style. Combined with Academy City's unique high technology, it did not feel out of place at all. Instead, it was remarkably harmonious, and quite suited Luo Yifang's tastes.
"Mmm, this building's pretty nice!" Paqi said excitedly.
"What are you happy about? It's not like you can live here."
"What the hell do you know? My environment is simulated based on wherever you live. Do you think I wanted to stay in that crappy apartment of yours?"
Fine, she was pretty picky. Wait... she said where she lived was simulated after his living environment? Considering how she had often disappeared recently, Luo Yifang raised an eyebrow. "You have a whole bunch of gaming equipment over there too?"
"Obviously. Anything you install in your room can appear over here. Otherwise, how do you think I caught up on anime?" Paqi answered as if it were only natural. Luo Yifang covered his face. So the stuff he spent money buying had benefited this girl too? Well, whatever. She was one of his own, so it was not a loss!
Luo Yifang collapsed onto the sofa, feeling as though his head was aching. Lilith's problem had been resolved, but he still had an even bigger problem on his hands. Thinking calmly, aside from that damned Absolute Ability User Project, he was even considering whether he should wipe out the Roman Catholic Church or something, then quietly slit Fiamma of the Right's throat and save himself all that future trouble.
"Why did you throw me into this world..." Luo Yifang's head hurt terribly. "Couldn't you just let me peacefully be a shut-in? Good thing I don't have to go to school... Wait, school?"
"What nonsense are you fantasizing about now?" Luo Yifang, who bore the title of Academy City's Number One Brain, had long since been freed from school. Otherwise, he would not be bored out of his mind every day. Paqi was therefore very curious what this scatterbrained idiot had thought of now.
"I remember... there seems to be someone at a school who participated in the Absolute Ability User Project..." Luo Yifang sprang up from the sofa. "Chōtenjōki... the school I was supposed to attend after becoming crippled. Luckily, I don't have to go there now."
Once Luo Yifang said that, Paqi knew who he meant. Luo Yifang took out his laptop from his portable space and rapidly typed on the keyboard. Soon, he pulled up a girl's profile—Busu Dixin! A genius girl who had shown talent in biology and psychiatry from a young age, a third-year student at Chōtenjōki Academy, yet she had participated in the Absolute Ability User Project. Finding her would mean finding a breakthrough.
"I only remembered such important information now..." Luo Yifang knocked his head in annoyance. If he had remembered earlier, he would not have spent so many days wandering around aimlessly. "Was the last incident really that damaging?"
"Enough with the edgy nonsense," Paqi interrupted Luo Yifang's chuunibyou declaration. Hearing that, Luo Yifang put away his computer. "What, judging by that look, are you going to find her right now? Heh, a late-night raid on a high school girl. I bet that would get tons of clicks if it made the papers."
"No time like the present." Luo Yifang cleared his throat. "Besides, she's probably at the laboratory during the day. If I don't go at night, where am I supposed to find her in the daytime? Let me... pfft, let me first head to Chōtenjōki and find someone to ask."
Luo Yifang recalled Academy City's map in his mind—naturally, it was something already stored in his memories. After confirming Chōtenjōki's location, he immediately left the coffee shop and ran toward it beneath the night sky. Ah, our mighty No. 1, the Vector Manipulation user, had not even gotten the chance to rest before becoming busy once again... Have you ever seen Academy City at four in the morning?
A little over ten minutes later, Luo Yifang's figure appeared out of thin air before one of Chōtenjōki's dormitory buildings. To be safe, he distorted the surrounding light. Aside from those standing within the distorted area, neither people nor machines could "see" Luo Yifang's existence. Just like that, Luo Yifang openly walked into the dormitory building.
"Hey, hey, this is the girls' dormitory," Paqi reminded him quietly. "I warned you this time..."
"Ahem, don't worry. I won't get discovered this time." Luo Yifang moved through the corridor, intending to find someone to ask. Busu Dixin should have been fairly well-known at Chōtenjōki. What? Why did he not go to the boys' dormitory, or ask the security guard? Would you believe him if he said the girls' dormitory was closer?
"Huh? What a coincidence. This should be it." Luo Yifang stopped before a door and controlled the airflow to open it from within, easily stepping inside. The room was pitch-black, and it seemed no one was there.
"Isn't there nobody here?" Paqi asked curiously.
Luo Yifang casually shut the door and turned on the lights. "I was going to find someone to ask, but it looks like there's no need now."
He turned his gaze toward a notebook on a desk not far away. Written on it was its owner's name—Busu Dixin!
Before you continue