Why Didn't You Dodge?

After Elysia seriously explained the difference between a "fried dough stick" and a "baguette," Mobius's expression stiffened. Realizing that the topic was doing her no favors, she gave two tactical coughs and tried to skip past it, taking Xu Ziling back to the underground laboratory to continue yesterday's experiment.

However, at that moment, a pink figure once again blocked Mobius's path and said with a grin:

"Goodness~ Dr. Mobius, Little Ziling, don't be in such a hurry!"

Seeing the Pink Demon blocking the way, Mobius instantly became vigilant. If it had only been her, she wouldn't have been this guarded. But after hearing Xu Ziling's "slander" yesterday and learning that Elysia might very well possess the ambitions of a great conqueror, Mobius now had no choice but to be wary.

After thinking for a moment, Mobius did her best to assume the air of a hostess and said to Elysia without the slightest courtesy:

"Elysia, yesterday I already made my relationship with Little Mouse as clear to you as it could possibly be. The two of us have already settled things internally, so there's no place for an outsider like you to interfere. Now that things have come to this, you're still blocking our way. What do you want?"

"I do want to~"

Elysia answered without hesitation.

"Pfft!..."

Before Mobius could react to Elysia's wordplay, Xu Ziling, standing behind her, burst out laughing. This only left the already-confused Mobius even more baffled. She turned to Xu Ziling and asked,

"Little Mouse, what are you laughing at?"

"No, I... Uh... Ahem, Dr. Mobius, if you don't understand what Miss Elysia just said... it's probably better not to know. Sometimes, knowing too much isn't a good thing..."

Xu Ziling gave two tactical coughs, then met Elysia's amused yet knowing gaze. After giving a helpless smile, he said,

"Miss Elysia, I really don't want to use 'fish belly' to describe a girl... May I ask whether you stopped the doctor and me because there's something you need to tell us? After all, as you can see, the doctor doesn't seem to appreciate your jokes, Sister Ellie."

"Hmm?~ Little Ziling really is clever. Here, have some praise!"

Elysia gave Xu Ziling an open and radiant smile before adding,

"But it's actually nothing important... It's just that yesterday, when I went out to buy ingredients for the laboratory, I saw so many beautiful clothes! So I bought a whole bunch and brought them back. If you and Dr. Mobius don't have anything particularly urgent today, why don't you come try on the new clothes?

"Just to be clear, these new clothes are a heartfelt gift from Miss Elf. I absolutely did not buy them because I wanted to see Dr. Mobius and Little Ziling change into new outfits, okay~ Little Blanca has already tried hers on. You two are the only ones left~"

"..."

Mobius stared at Elysia, who was "loudly plotting," her face full of speechlessness. Then she muttered,

"So Little Blanca has already been hounded by you... No wonder she's been lying half-dead on the sofa since this morning. Heh, Elysia, you really are something."

"Goodness! How can you put it that way?"

Elysia smiled and said,

"All I did was have Little Blanca change into a few outfits. Who could have expected her to get so tired?"

"No..."

An odd voice rang out. Mobius, Elysia, and Xu Ziling all turned toward the living room.

On the sofa, Blanca, whose whole body looked as though her bones had fallen apart, shakily raised her right hand and said,

"When you asked me to change clothes earlier... you never said anything about rubbing my face... Ah..."

Seeing her good assistant reduced to this state by Elysia, Mobius immediately widened her eyes and shot Elysia a death glare.

"Uh..."

Elysia shifted uncomfortably under the stare. After forcing a slightly awkward smile, she said,

"Goodness... Who could blame Little Blanca for being so cute after putting on the new clothes? I just couldn't hold myself back for a moment, so I hugged her a little longer~ That's understandable, right?"

"I object..."

Blanca, sprawled on the sofa in the living room, shakily raised her right hand again and said weakly,

"Um... Miss Elysia... I really don't know whether continuously hugging me and rubbing your face against mine for thirteen minutes and four seconds can be considered... 'hugging me a little longer'..."

"Ah, this is... Ahem... Ahem! Goodness, Little Blanca, don't focus so much on the details~ I'll make you something delicious later~ For now, take a little nap, okay~?"

Blanca: ...

"Ahem~"

Elysia gave two more tactical coughs, then waved at Xu Ziling and Mobius with a smile and said,

"Anyway, the new clothes are all ready. Now we're just waiting for Dr. Mobius and Little Ziling to try them on!"

"New clothes?"

If he ignored the tragedy that had just befallen Senior Blanca, Xu Ziling wasn't particularly interested in clothes or anything like that. After all, the clothing he had worn most often since transmigrating had been his company uniform. He was used to it, and as a man, he had always regarded new clothes as optional at best.

But now, Xu Ziling glanced at his body, which was suspiciously that of a Female Bishop and highly feminine. He was still wearing Serpent's clothes and Serpent's white lab coat. Although researchers' clothing was designed to be extremely gender-neutral, and this lab coat fit him surprisingly well... the thought of wearing clothes Serpent had worn still felt strange no matter how he looked at it.

So, if he had a choice, Xu Ziling would much rather have a normal set of clothes—something that would at least make him look like a gentleman instead of a European courtesan.

"Goodness! It looks like Little Ziling is very interested in the new clothes!"

Elysia keenly caught the thoughts Xu Ziling had let slip. After smiling faintly, she grabbed Xu Ziling and Mobius by the wrists and said,

"Dr. Mobius, come along too! Playing dress-up is really fun! Miss Elf guarantees it~"

Mobius had originally intended to refuse outright, but after hearing Elysia say that Xu Ziling was interested in this, she furrowed her brows slightly and looked at Xu Ziling, asking,

"Little Mouse, you want to change into new clothes?"

Xu Ziling looked at the white lab coat belonging to Serpent that covered his body. After giving a helpless smile, he said,

"Doctor, I am a man, after all. It's not right for me to keep wearing your clothes... If I have a choice, I'd like something a little more normal."

"All right."

Mobius thought it over. During the experiment, letting her Little Mouse stimulate his inner excitement hormones by receiving "rewards" wasn't necessarily a bad thing for the experiment as a whole. So she let Xu Ziling have his way, then looked at Elysia and said,

"Since Little Mouse put it that way... Elysia, take us to see what kind of new clothes you bought. But let me make this clear first: I'm only responsible for picking out a few things for Little Mouse. I'm not going to put on any of the clothes you bought. Understand?"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm!"

Elysia nodded with a smile. Then she pointed toward her room in the small building and said,

"Come with me~ Most of the new clothes I bought yesterday have already been temporarily stored in my room. Doctor and Little Ziling can take their time choosing~"

Elysia's words were truly infectious. Seeing her like this, and Mobius—who was still chattering away but could now more or less communicate normally with Elysia—Xu Ziling was naturally happy as well.

But when he actually followed Mobius into Elysia's room, which was piled high with clothes that were all, at a glance, women's clothing, Xu Ziling suddenly realized that perhaps he had been happy too soon...