Royal Authority

"You can just follow me. You don't have to hold onto my sleeve," Lu Mingfei reminded her after they had walked for a while.

Erii looked at him questioningly.

Never mind. Once they bought the notebook, she'd be fine. Lu Mingfei didn't insist that she let go.

As they walked, Erii looked around curiously. Her eyes lit up whenever she spotted someone in cosplay.

She was a little puzzled, though. Why were there so many people who looked alike? Could they all use the Shadow Clone Technique? But they didn't look exactly the same.

She kind of wanted to ask King of Fighters Sakura, but she had nowhere to write anything down. She decided to wait and ask later.

Lu Mingfei took Erii to the shop where he'd bought the body pillow before. The two of them went inside, and Erii's gaze was immediately drawn to the dazzling array of anime merchandise.

He led Erii over to the section selling anime-themed diary notebooks.

"Here. If there's anything you want to buy, just tell me." Lu Mingfei pointed to the notebooks.

Erii nodded eagerly and crouched down to browse through the notebooks, looking completely absorbed.

She liked them all. Erii flipped through the notebooks, unable to choose. After a while, she seemed to make up her mind and picked one with Lelouch on the cover.

"Sure. If there's anything you want to say, you can write it down now. I'll pay for it later," Lu Mingfei said, crouching beside her.

He was browsing the notebooks too. Since he was already here, he might as well buy one. He picked one with Kujo Jotaro on the cover. Yeah, he was invincible.

Erii opened the notebook, took her pen from her skirt pocket, and wrote, "Sakura, can I get a few more?"

"No," Lu Mingfei replied firmly.

"Why?" Erii wrote. It was clear she really liked them.

After thinking it over, Lu Mingfei answered, "Because you only came in second at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Runners-up can only buy one."

Erii nodded like a pecking chicken, indicating that she understood.

Seeing how serious she looked made Lu Mingfei feel a little guilty. But there was nothing he could do—he needed to save his money for other figures. He couldn't waste it on other things.

When they reached the figure section, Lu Mingfei immediately picked up an Asahina Mikuru figure. Then he chose another body pillow of the same type as the one he'd bought before, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Seeing what Lu Mingfei was doing, Erii followed his example. She picked up figures of Naruto and Luffy, then grabbed a C.C. body pillow. C.C. was the heroine of Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Lu Mingfei glanced at Erii but said nothing. He'd only promised to buy her a diary. The rest wasn't his responsibility.

It wasn't like he was going to pay for her things. They were expensive, and anyone with a little common sense wouldn't expect someone they'd just met to pay for them.

After choosing their items, Lu Mingfei and Erii went to the checkout counter.

"Could you ring up the Asahina Mikuru body pillow and figure, along with these two notebooks?" Lu Mingfei asked the cashier.

"Certainly, sir."

After paying, Lu Mingfei left the store.

Erii followed close behind and left the store too.

"Sir, miss, you haven't paid for everything!" The cashier hurried out of the store after them.

"I already paid."

Could this actually be a shady store? Lu Mingfei couldn't help wondering. Otherwise, why would they have given him a 30% discount card? Maybe they were planning to fleece him once he'd bought enough stuff!

The cashier quickly explained, "You only paid for some of it. The Naruto and Luffy figures and the body pillow the red-haired girl is holding haven't been paid for!"

Lu Mingfei shifted his gaze and looked at Erii with a weary expression.

Erii hugged the body pillow and held the Naruto and Luffy figures in her hands, her face expressionless.

"Why didn't you pay for the things you bought?" Lu Mingfei asked.

Erii tilted her head, showing that she didn't understand.

"Everything you're holding, except the Lelouch notebook, has to be paid for," Lu Mingfei reminded her again.

Carefully setting the body pillow and two figures aside, Erii wrote in her little notebook, "But I don't have any money. I've never paid for anything I bought before."

"Yikes..."

Lu Mingfei found himself in a difficult spot. The girl's family probably paid for everything she bought.

But that was ridiculous. How could anyone have never paid for something themselves? Could she be some kind of heiress?

"Fine. In that case, just put them back," Lu Mingfei said helplessly.

Erii immediately grew wary and hurriedly hugged the body pillow and figures to her chest. She didn't show much emotion, but Lu Mingfei could tell she was determined to die before giving them up.

"You can't take things without paying. That's against the law," Lu Mingfei explained seriously.

Erii looked conflicted. What Sakura said seemed right, but Luffy and Naruto were already her family!

After thinking carefully, Erii turned the side of the body pillow and the bottoms of the figures toward him.

Erii no Cushion, Erii no Naruto, Erii no Luffy. They each said "Erii's body pillow," "Erii's Naruto," and "Erii's Luffy"—in Chinese, Japanese, and English.

She was trying to show that they were already her family.

So this girl was called Erii? But still, how ridiculous! When had she written those? Now he had no choice but to buy them!

Under the cashier's sharp gaze, Lu Mingfei silently went back into the store and paid.

Once they were outside, Lu Mingfei gave Erii a resentful look.

He'd already spent a good chunk of his one million yen, and the worst part was that he'd bought less than Erii had.

Meanwhile.

Yaksha had already reported to Gen Chisaki that Erii had disappeared into the crowd. Gen Chisaki's face was now dark with worry. How could Erii have gone missing?

Had she run away from home again? But whenever she'd run away before, she'd never gone far from Gen Heavy Industries, because she didn't know her way around.

Her bloodline was unstable. Gen Chisaki was worried not only about Erii, but also about her going berserk if something upset her. If she went berserk in Tokyo, it would be a disaster.

"Yaksha, take the rest of the team and keep searching Akihabara. I'll be there shortly," Gen Chisaki ordered.

They couldn't afford to delay any longer. Gen Chisaki's eyes began to burn.

The ground slowly began to crack. The Demon Spirits members around him felt as if their body weight had increased dozens of times. They slowly dropped to their knees, bowing their heads in obeisance.

Spirit Word: Royal Authority. This was Spirit Word No. 91, a high-risk Spirit Word. Unless the person releasing it gave permission, no one could stand upright within the domain of Royal Authority.

Everyone within the domain had to endure dozens or even hundreds of times their normal body weight. It applied extreme gravity to its targets, slowly crushing them.