I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

Bronya remembered the story Welt had told her about the first Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce, Herrscher of Reason had also sacrificed himself to save humanity.

So, this man didn't see all the Herrscher as hopeless monsters?

The topic seemed a bit heavy. Bronya thought for a moment and said, "You and Kiana don't seem to be together much usually, even though you're a couple."

"There's no need," Lin replied. "We both have our own things to do, and life isn't just about each other."

"You..."

"How?"

Seeing that Bronya seemed hesitant to speak, Lin asked her with some curiosity.

"I'm just a little surprised." A rare faint smile appeared on the usually calm and composed face of the light gray-haired girl. "I thought your views on love would be the kind that's particularly annoying, so it's not so surprising that Mei is Mei with Kiana and likes you."

"..."

Today's reconnaissance is over. Although they still have plenty of energy, they try to act as normally as possible and return the way they came.

Bronya kept fiddling with the little black duck on the way, a faint smile on her face, before she suddenly realized what was happening.

Wait a minute, didn't she want to be wary of him when she came?

She put away the little black duck and stared seriously at Lin's retreating figure.

But... does that count?

Absolutely not.

"Hey, look, someone forgot a coin here."

Kuku coldly crossed his arms and watched Binai shouting and yelling while holding up a coin.

Lin sensed that he had walked further and further away and had already left the mall, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. All he needed to do now was fool this woman.

"Come play the claw machine!"

As expected.

Kyuichi, without moving, excitedly tossed Binai in the coin, then eagerly aimed her paw at the plush toy and pressed the button, unsurprisingly catching nothing.

These machines have all been tampered with; you can only grab something by inserting a certain number of coins. In the Binai claw machine, the money spent is definitely much more expensive than the plush toy itself.

But the enjoyment of playing this game is actually in the emotions. The constant anticipation and disappointment make you want to continue, and the moment you manage to grab the plush toy gives you a great sense of satisfaction.

"Again, again~" Binai opened her wallet, and the shiny coins inside, almost bursting out of her pocket, left Kyuichi speechless for a moment.

How does this guy's brain work? Why does he do everything differently from others? Would a normal person collect so many coins and carry them around with him?

"Hehe, there's a vending machine at my workplace, and I often pick up money there." Binai proudly boasted, then picked up a coin and put it into the claw machine, excitedly manipulating the joystick, "Come, grant me power, Cat God."

... If the Cat God knew that you were raising a human like a cat and letting him take over the cat bed, he would absolutely not protect you.

There was no other possible ending. The moment the doll fell from the clip, Jiu had already turned her gaze away.

"Aaaaaah, how is this possible?!"

Don't say lines that sound like they're just a hair's breadth away from being perfect.

Jiu stepped forward and snatched the wallet. Under Binai's curious gaze, she took out some coins and put them into the claw machine. Then she pushed the joystick, which stopped steadily above the plush toy, and pressed the button.

"Clatter."

"Wow!" Binai excitedly took a plush toy out of the shipping compartment.

In Jiu's eyes, it was just a cheap toy with shoddy workmanship, and Jiu had also omitted the process that was mentioned earlier, so she didn't know why she was so happy.

"Hurry up! Put in a little more!"

"..."

Jiu took out another coin, annoyed. This girl had collected enough coins to empty the entire claw machine. She really didn't know where her weird hobby came from. She didn't care at all when she spent the coins. What was the point of collecting them?

"That one over there! That one over there!"

"Don't tear my clothes."

"Clatter."

"Hahahaha!"

The girl with long, straight black hair walked along the road, carrying a mountain of plush toys, completely satisfied. Jiu looked at the little white duck she had "generously given away" in her hand and wondered if she could sell it to an innocent child for some money.

"Nothing else, I'm leaving now." Jiu stuffed the little white duck into her pocket and turned to leave without hesitation.

Binai tilted her head. "Eh? Aren't we going to play a little longer?"

"I'm busy."

"I was thinking of treating you to a big meal, but let's forget about it then. We can talk about it when you have time."

With a slight turn of her ankle, Jiu spun 180 degrees and calmly said to Binai, "I'm free."

The Coral's "Twist": Chapter Forty-Two - A False Alarm

Overall, he's not a bad person.

Bronya wrote down her observations of Lin Yitian in her notebook.

Of course, the phrase "not a bad person" is just a general term, but Bronya also couldn't quite describe what kind of person Lin was. In the end, she couldn't observe anything in just one day. Lin had only changed her impression of him as a playboy.

However, it seems there were some girls around Lin in the Quantum Sea...

Well... but overall, he didn't do anything out of line throughout the day, so it might just be a misunderstanding.

... No, it's possible that she's just not in Lin's strike zone.

Bronya closed her notebook and walked to the window. Her old habits from when she was an assassin had carried over to the present. Before going to sleep, she would check the surrounding area herself or have her Heavy-Oni-Rabbit check if it was safe. Although Coral Island should be a relatively safe place, habits are not something that can be changed overnight.

The nights in the residential area are anything but peaceful; staying up all night is a common characteristic of highly developed cities, and Coral Island is no exception.

The neon lights danced in the girl's eyes. Not noticing anything amiss, she drew the curtains... Hmm?

A somewhat blurry figure flashed past her eye. She casually closed the curtains, then quickly crouched down by the window and had the Heavy-Oni-Rabbit turn off the light.

Bronya pulled back the curtains a crack, her icy gray eyes looking down.

"..."

There is nothing.

Did I see it wrong?

She thought she saw Lin downstairs, but it was just a blurry figure. But Lin was in the next room, so how could he be downstairs?

Could it be that I'm just being too sensitive and misread it?

After a moment's thought, Bronya pushed open the door to Lin's room and knocked.

"..."

There was no sound.

Bronya immediately produced a room key that had been replicated using the Herrscher of Reason's abilities. She and Lin had discussed how to deal with various emergencies, so dealing with this kind of problem was a piece of cake for her.

"Beep." The door opened smoothly in one fluid motion, Bronya cautiously peered into the room...

"Tick-tock".

A steaming drop of water fell onto the ground.

The light gray hair and the black eyes faced each other calmly.

Only a man with a towel wrapped around his lower body stood in front of the bathroom door, his head of wet black hair still steaming.

"Is there something you need?" Lin picked up a towel from the side and wiped his head.

Bronya saw his expression and realized why he hadn't opened the door immediately. He must have heard the knocking and rushed out of the bathroom, only to be pushed open and entered by Bronya halfway there.

"We can't worry about that now," Bronya said. "I just saw someone downstairs who looks a lot like you."

Lin immediately grabbed the clothes and pants from the bed and put them on. The two of them didn't even take the elevator and rushed down to the ground floor through the emergency exit. Then they rushed out of the hotel and headed in the direction of the person Bronya had seen.

The hotel receptionist stood there dumbfounded. She thought she had just seen two shadows rush through the lobby. Was she seeing things?

In front of!

A figure similar in build to Lin was not far ahead. As Bronya sprinted forward, she casually tossed Lin a replica of a standard-issue sword. The two of them flanked him from two directions. Lin locked his mouth and neck with one hand and grabbed his right hand with the other. Bronya slid down to his feet and handcuffed his ankles with her hands. Then, she expertly pinned down his left arm.

The two subdued their opponent in an instant, but they could not let their guard down. Lin had personally experienced the terror of the Herrscher of Binding and knew that they had to ensure that their opponent was completely incapable of resisting.

But the moment he pinned her down, Lin sensed something was wrong.

The man didn't even have time to react. The Herrscher couldn't possibly be so weak, and yet she could appear so openly near him and then leave so leisurely...

Sure enough, when Lin turned the man's face around, she saw a face completely different from her own, distorted in terror.

Lin Mo Moran raised his head and met Bronya's gaze.

... You've mistaken me for someone else.

"Sorry, it was my mistake."

Bronya apologized to Lin on her way back.

The passerby who was mistaken for Herrscher ran away in terror. Bronya had originally wanted to make amends to him, but it was clear that he wouldn't listen to anything after they were treated as robbers who wanted to kill for money.

I never expected such a blunder to happen.

As expected, there are no such coincidences; the possibility of Herrscher of Binding on a global scale is almost nonexistent.

"It's not your fault. It's better to be cautious, after all, it's him." Lin didn't blame Bronya for this, and after a pause, asked, "Now that we're out...would you like something to eat?"

The two of them looked at the ramen shop next door at the same time.

They went into the shop, a Shenzhou ramen shop, which was still quite popular even at night. After looking around for a while, they finally found a seat and each ordered a bowl of beef noodles.

"Seele has never eaten ramen from Shenzhou before. I used to eat ramen made by the Class President a lot when I was in St. Freya." While waiting for the noodles, Bronya unusually started talking first. "There are many things I want to take her to experience, but not now."

"...She can understand," Lin said calmly.

Seele... is far from being as weak as she appears. She is very independent and more opinionated than the other "Seele" within her.

... And actually, just two days ago, Seele had a bowl of Shenzhou ramen, cooked by Lin, and Seele, Kiana, and Lin ate together.

But saying those words aloud would be very bad. Bronya was already suspicious, and if she knew the truth, Lin would have to consider whether she would be crushed to the ground by the metal humanoid cannon.

"Seele must be worried about you too." Lin took out his chopsticks, poked them on a tissue, and said calmly to Bronya, "Many times when you're worried about others, taking care of yourself first might put the person you're worried about at ease."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

I guess so.

It took Lin quite a while to go from disregarding everything to caring about the people around him, and then to paying attention to himself.

"I'm curious, what do you like about Kiana?" Bronya was still very curious about the relationship between the two.

"Seele" had asked the same question before, and Lin's answer at that time was one of bewilderment, but now he had figured it out to some extent.

"Some commonalities and some things that didn't exist in my time."

"... a vague answer."

"In my time, there were always choices between 'right' and 'the majority'. Over time, many people became numb." Lin's eyes flickered. "I see hope in you, in things we once had but then abandoned. So it won't be us old folks who create a new era."

"Me too?"

"The same to you."

Bronya seemed to understand something, and looking at the brightly lit doorway, she fell into deep thought.

Coral's "Twist": Chapter 43 Who is the Normal One?

Jiu ordered the food with a vengeful mindset, ordering whatever was expensive on the menu, and ordering a huge amount at once, enough to fill the entire table.

However, he had already fallen into a misconception when he tried to think about Binai using conventional thinking.

Jiu buried his head in his food and ate voraciously. These foods were far more nutritious than snacks and cat food. He didn't stand on ceremony with Binai and directly picked up the plate and poured it into his mouth in full view of everyone. It wasn't just wolfing it down; it was like Pigsy eating ginseng fruit.

The dishes on the table disappeared at an unbelievable speed. As Jiu ate, she reached her hand onto the table, but instead of touching the dishes, she touched a delicate hand.

He moved the plate in front of him with a puzzled look, only to see something else.

Binai, with a ferocious grin, piled up stacks of plates to the side and devoured the dishes on the table with a speed even more terrifying than Ku's.