Is apologizing useful!?

"What? You couldn't find them? Lost the target? You didn't even know when the person tailing them was taken down? You're useless!"

Upon hearing the report from her subordinates, Star-eyed Girl, who had been waiting for over two hours for nothing, immediately lost her temper.

"Tsk tsk! Such a young age, and they learn bad habits instead of good ones, actually forming gangs... and they seem to be doing quite well?" With a soft click of his tongue, Jiu Ming watched Star-eyed Girl, who was holding a bottle of drink and clearly in a bad mood. Why did he come back?

He came back because he couldn't find peace, damn it. He just went out for a bit? Last night, he was chased for dozens of blocks by a group of people armed with real weapons. Even after Jiu Ming took them all down, they still didn't give up... he didn't know which faction they belonged to.

And then today, he was being chased again!

After being chased, he was being tailed and tracked?

Lying low would have been a good choice, right?

So, he came back.

Looking at the young lady throwing a tantrum, and the group of subservient-looking lackeys bowing respectfully around her... Jiu Ming scratched his head. Was this considered a national characteristic?

He just wondered what expression she would have if she were to be overthrown.

"..."

Jiu Ming didn't hide his gaze, so after being stared at for a while, Star-eyed Girl, feeling a chill run down her spine, turned her head. Her lips twitched slightly, and she began to scold the lackeys beside her, "Is this what you call losing the target?"

Clearly, the other party had tracked them back!

"What do you want with me... No, I'm here to settle the score with you." With a slight shift in his thoughts, Jiu Ming suddenly changed his words. To the astonishment of Star-eyed Girl and her lackeys, he uncharacteristically charged straight through the window.

He didn't break the glass, but rather passed through as if phasing through a wall. As his white coat brushed against the window, by the time Star-eyed Girl reacted, she found all her lackeys had been taken down. Jiu Ming's speed was so fast that they didn't even have time to activate their abilities.

"What just happened...?"

"Oh, just a little anesthetic. I casually picked it up from the hospital."

Jiu Ming loosened his clenched palm, and a fine steel needle shook loose from his hand. The anesthetic obtained from Netherworld Soul Chaser was truly potent! A tiny amount was enough to take down so many people.

"You've repeatedly attacked me with strange and unknown mental attacks during the day, and then you sent people to track me...? What are you trying to do?"

"Uh..." Thinking about how her abilities had been 'reflected' to some extent by Jiu Ming twice, Star-eyed Girl didn't dare to act rashly for the moment. She took a small step back, looking for a route to escape, preferably with a chance to call the police...

If her abilities failed, her combat power... She was a complete sports idiot!

This was bad... This was really bad. There was no one else around. If there were other people who could stand, she wouldn't be this passive...

"Just making friends... Just making friends, that's right, that's it!" Star-eyed Girl pushed her chest out and put on a very friendly smile.

"Is that so?" Jiu Ming's gentle smile instantly turned into a cold sneer. "Do you want to refresh the lower limit of my intelligence? Don't even think about running! I can easily exceed thirty meters per second. Do you want to try?"

Shokuhou Misaki's lips twitched. Facing an opponent with super abnormal athletic abilities was not scary; for her, any opponent, no matter how strong, was fine. But encountering someone who could be immune to her abilities... it didn't matter how strong the opponent was, even at a normal person's level, they could subdue her!

There are too many bad examples of mages being approached by warriors!

"I was wrong."

With a timid expression that would shock others, Shokuhou Misaki, who had encountered an opponent, obediently admitted her mistake. Well, of course, if this were a crowded street, it would be a scene of hundreds of people ganging up on a scumbag who took advantage of a young beautiful girl...

Under her 'Mental Out' ability, it's not this kind of thing, but this kind of thing!

But there was no one here... or rather, no one standing, except for him and her.

"Apologize? I don't accept it! Just do two things for me obediently." Saying words that made her heart go cold, Jiu Ming walked forward with a strange smile, cornering the girl until there was no space left behind her, almost saying—scream! Even if you scream your lungs out, it's useless... ha.

"What... thing?" Out of female instinct, Shokuhou Misaki looked at Jiu Ming's smile, feeling a chill all over her body, and had a premonition that something bad would happen today. "Oh, right, where is the bedroom?"

"Isn't that too direct? Do you know who I am?"

"It has nothing to do with me, I'm here to settle the score anyway."

"I already apologized!!" Knowing that retreating was futile, Shokuhou Misaki still slowly retreated. Could it be that she, the fifth-ranked Superpower user in Academy City, would fall like this?

"If an apology could solve problems... tsk tsk, then I'll apologize for what I'm about to do first." Scratching his hair, Jiu Ming spread his palm towards her, "Your close combat ability... is a bit low."

"I'll remember you... Damn it! Don't let me find a chance to strike... Ah!!"

"Hey, hey, why are you screaming? It's just a small precaution."

"..." Shokuhou Misaki stared intently at her chest. One hand was now placed on her proud chest. No, this hand was eerily inserted into her chest. A bizarre scene, accompanied by a suffocating sense of death...

To be able to do this, her heart would be crushed!?

Looking at Jiu Ming's smile, this thought kept surging in her mind, pressing on her nerves. How could such an abnormal ability exist? She had never heard of it!

"No, please don't do this, I'll do anything..."

"Ok!" Jiu Ming decisively withdrew his hand, which was neither taking advantage nor not taking advantage. He clapped his hands and watched the blonde girl who had collapsed on the ground stand up. "Your name?"

"Shokuhou Misaki." Shokuhou Misaki, who was holding her short skirt, quickly replied, her mind secretly pondering something.

"En, that's not important, just two things." Jiu Ming held up two fingers. "We had no relationship last night, and you'd better not have any ideas. It's very easy to leave some small measures in your heart."

Jiu Ming rubbed his fingers. "Agree?"

Shokuhou Misaki immediately nodded. There was no relationship anymore!?

How could that be! You're thinking too simply, how dare you treat me like this... There are many days to come!! The future is long, and there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you slowly!

Also, do you think you can fool me with those words you use to coax children? Who are you trying to fool!

It was obvious that the girl's thoughts were quite deep. She could see at a glance that Jiu Ming's final threatening words were just to tease her.

"First thing, looking at your uniform, you're from Tokiwadai, right? Do you know someone named Misaka Mikoto?"

"Huh?"

Seeing Shokuhou Misaki's expression, Jiu Ming nodded. It seemed she knew her, which was good. "Find her, then have her go to Netherworld Soul Chaser. Tell her to meet someone. You don't need to know who, the Frog-faced Doctor will know. Then, help me find someone named Accelerator..."

"Ehh!?" Shokuhou Misaki's expression became even more astonished. She knew both of them, the first and third ranked espers in Academy City. Moreover, Misaka Mikoto, the third, was a rival she had recently established at Tokiwadai... Why else would they both be Level 5 and in the same school?

But why was he looking for Accelerator?

"You know him too? Even better, then I don't need to explain further. Use your lackeys to find him carefully, don't get discovered, and then tell me his whereabouts, regarding any suspicious activity... Oh, right, do this before finding Misaka Mikoto. Wait for me to tell you before implementing the part about Misaka Mikoto going there."

"No objections?"

"None..." Of course there were! How dare he speak to me in such a commanding tone! You're dead! You're absolutely dead! Don't let me find out why you can resist my abilities, or I'll turn you into a gay man, ahhhhhhh!!

The girl, gritting her teeth until they were almost shattered, continuously sent all sorts of vicious curses in her heart.

Snap...

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Clutching her forehead which had just been flicked, Shokuhou Misaki couldn't help but let out a mournful cry. "Why did you hit me?"

"Huh? Strange, why did I suddenly hit you?" Jiu Ming asked with a very confused 'expression'. "Oh, right. My ghost... person's perception of emotions is a bit too strong, it was an unconscious action. That's all."

Jiu Ming's words startled her slightly. Was he also a mental-type esper? No, no, how could a mental-type esper have such obviously superhuman, cheating-level physical abilities?

Damn it! This temporary humiliation and endurance, this Queen accepts it! Just you wait for my endless revenge in the future. If I don't make you obediently kneel and lick my feet, then I'm not the strongest mental-type esper in Academy City!!!

"Is this your house? I'll rest here for a bit. I'll be done before nightfall, I'm counting on you." Jiu Ming unceremoniously sat down on the nearby sofa. Seeing this, Shokuhou Misaki's eye twitched again. Did he have no weight? The sofa didn't even sag when he sat on it.

Speaking of which, his own body also seemed to be in a faintly transparent state. If you looked closely, you could see the sofa behind him, which should have been blocked.

"Your name! I won't do anything for someone who doesn't even dare to say their name!" Shokuhou Misaki said, the words almost squeezed out from between her teeth. When had she ever spoken to anyone in such a tone... Could she be so unladylike as to ruin her own image and curse at someone?

There were no outsiders here anyway.

"Oh? Call me Jiu Ming."

"Your identity?" Huh? Apart from the previous threat, he was surprisingly easy to talk to?

"Mysterious merchant."

"..." Is this chuunibyou? Or is he just brushing me off?

"You're not human?" This time, Shokuhou Misaki's question carried a tone of uncertainty.

"Tsk, you ask too many questions. That's right, I am a ghost."