Meanwhile, outside the research institute's small building.
"Hmm?~ We really have to thank you today. If it were just me alone, I couldn't have carried all this stuff."
Elysia smiled at the two men behind her. Both were dressed in school uniforms, one with his hair dyed white and the other with a streak of emerald-green dyed across his forehead. She said,
"Thanks again~ You're both so wonderful!"
"Haha! It's nothing! Our teacher said that helping others is a traditional virtue here in Shenzhou!"
The tall white-haired boy in the school uniform heard Elysia's praise and immediately let out a hearty laugh. After setting the large basket of food and vegetables he had been carrying on his shoulder onto the ground, he said,
"Besides, Miss Elysia, didn't you carefully pick out gifts for the girls for us? Let's just call it mutual assistance, so don't mention it!... Oh, Su, say something too. Don't keep standing there with your eyes closed and refusing to talk."
As he spoke, the white-haired boy jabbed his companion with his elbow. The other man had gray hair, with a streak of emerald-green dyed at his temple.
"..."
Hearing his friend call him, the gray-haired man—wrapped from head to toe in bags of women's clothing and trembling with every step—twitched at the corner of his mouth. After struggling for a moment in his predicament, he shakily raised his right hand, which was likewise covered in shopping bags, and said:
"First... Kevin, asking this lady to help you choose a gift for Mei was your idea. Please don't drag me into it... Second, not everyone is as physically capable as you... Of course, I'm not questioning your enthusiasm... I just think that instead of carrying the clothes this lady bought with our hands and walking her home on foot... we could have taken a taxi..."
"Huh?"
The white-haired boy called Kevin froze when he heard his friend's words. After a long moment, he pursed his lips, raised his clenched right hand, and slowly tapped it against his open left palm. As if struck by sudden enlightenment, he exclaimed,
"That's right! We could have taken a taxi! Ah, Su, how did I not think of that..."
"You..."
Faced with his best friend's exclamation, Su looked at the bags of women's clothing hanging all over him and was momentarily rendered speechless.
"Hey, enough about that. By the way, miss, do you live here?"
Kevin, who had always been good at taking things in stride, smiled and completely ignored his best friend's nearly speechless gaze. Instead, he examined the three-story building behind Elysia.
"By the way, miss, did you just move to Changkong City?"
"Hmm?"
Elysia narrowed her eyes, then smiled and nodded.
"That's right, but this isn't my home. It's my friend's house. I just arrived in Changkong City and had nowhere else to go, so I'm staying at my friend's place for the time being... But compared to that, I'm more curious about how you figured out that I had just moved here, hmm?"
"Hey!"
Kevin waved his large hand, then turned around and pointed at the noble school opposite the three-story building, which clearly exuded an extraordinary air.
"Miss, look. That's Changkong City's First High School, also known as Chiyu Academy. To be honest, Su and I study there. We usually live on campus, but sometimes we climb over the wall to come out... Ahem, anyway, we're incredibly familiar with the area around Chiyu Academy. But we've never heard of a beauty like you, Miss Elysia, living near our school. So you must have just moved here, right?"
"Hmm~ Kevin, your answer is correct?~"
As it turned out, Elysia did not dislike boys. She was simply more interested in girls.
And when Kevin saw that Elysia, a figure like the National Goddess, had actually praised him, he immediately became rather carried away. After scratching his head bashfully, he pressed his advantage and said:
"Then, Miss Elysia, since you've just arrived in Changkong City, you must be unfamiliar with everything here. Why don't you give me your contact information and let me be your local guide? Besides, if you happen to run into any vile villains here, just call my number. No matter where I am, I'll definitely rush over and save you within ten minutes!"
"Villains..."
Hearing Kevin confidently claim that he could protect her, Elysia—the S-rank rookie of Fire Moth, the strongest solo combatant in the Operations Department, and the queen who had single-handedly taken down countless female soldiers of Fire Moth—quietly considered the combat abilities of the "villains" Kevin had mentioned. Then she smiled faintly at him and said:
"No need~ I usually pay attention to working out too, you know? I'm quite confident in my own abilities, so there's no need to trouble anyone else with worrying about me~"
"Huh?"
This was the second girl to reject the extraordinarily handsome white-haired Prince Charming Kevin had encountered, after the Lightning Queen at his school. It seemed to ignite some strange competitive spirit in him. He was just about to try again when Elysia suddenly made a silencing gesture, interrupting his spellcasting.
"Hmm?~"
After seeing that Kevin had indeed stopped casting and was waiting for her to speak after she made the silencing gesture, Elysia smiled slightly, pointed behind him, and said,
"Actually, Kevin, I think the young lady who's followed you all the way here is the one you should be concerned about, not me~"
"Huh? The young lady behind me?"
Kevin was clearly stunned.
"Click."
Behind Kevin, a purple-haired girl in a gray trench coat and square-framed glasses raised her phone and took a picture of Kevin chatting with Elysia.
When Kevin saw that the girl beneath the gray coat was also wearing a Chiyu Academy school uniform, he was horrified and hurried over.
"Mei?! What... what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me..."
"Tell you?"
The dark-purple-haired girl Kevin called Mei pushed up her square-framed glasses and said expressionlessly,
"Wasn't it you, Kevin, who asked me a few days ago to meet you at a noodle shop in Changkong City this Saturday? When I couldn't find you at the appointed time, I tracked your phone's location here. It seems... I interrupted your good time? Mr. Prince Charming of Chiyu Academy?"
"Wait... No... That's not it! That's not what happened! Listen to me!"
When he saw the dark-purple-haired girl, a look of panic appeared in Kevin's azure eyes for the first time. He hurriedly said,
"It really isn't what you think! Mei, listen to my explanation!"
As he spoke, Kevin frantically tried to approach Mei and explain himself.
"An explanation?"
Mei, however, took a step back and raised one finger at Kevin. With complete seriousness, she said,
"Kevin, I think you've misunderstood something. We're just classmates. You don't need to explain your private life to me. I came here today only to fulfill the promise I made to you a few days ago, and now that promise has been fulfilled. I don't owe you anything, and you don't need to apologize to me."
"On the contrary, I should thank you. Kevin, you're a good person. You let me spend the entire afternoon walking around the academy with you and taking in the scenery. I had a wonderful time. But now, it's time to say goodbye, Kevin."
After saying that, Mei changed direction without the slightest hesitation and walked straight toward the taxi she had called in advance. It headed toward the main gate of Chiyu Academy.
Kevin immediately grew so anxious he nearly jumped. After giving Elysia an awkward smile, he hurried after Mei. At the last moment, he grabbed the taxi door and shouted,
"No! No, Mei! That's not what happened! Give me a chance to explain!"
"I'm sorry, Kevin. We're just classmates. You're a good person, but we're not right for each other."
After saying that, Mei pushed Kevin's hand away, closed the taxi door, and had the driver pull away.
"Huh?! No... Did I just get the 'good person' card?! What?!"
Watching the taxi speed away, Kevin widened his eyes. Then he gritted his teeth and immediately sprinted after it, shouting as he ran,
"Mei! At least give me a chance to explain, Mei! Mei!!! How am I supposed to live without you?! Aaaaaah! Mei!!!!"
Listening to the utterly cold rejection from the Lightning Queen at the academy in the distance, along with the anguished cries of his white-haired best friend, Su, who was still standing outside the small building, twitched violently at the corner of his mouth.
After silently removing the bags of women's clothing hanging from his body one by one, Su felt physically relieved. He looked at Elysia, who was smiling in front of the building, fell silent for a moment, and said:
"I'm sorry... Miss Elysia, my friend caused you trouble. He's always been like that. I'll advise him to rein himself in from now on, so please don't take what happened today to heart."
"Hmm?~"
Elysia blinked her pink-and-blue eyes, keeping her gaze fixed on the purple-haired girl who had gone far away. Then she smiled knowingly and said,
"It's fine. If anyone should be thanking you, it's me~"
"Ah... It's nothing. Just don't take to heart what my friend did today, Miss Elysia."
"No, no, I'm serious! I really do have to thank you. Thank you both for helping me find... a~ new~ tar~get~ Hehe~"
Before you continue