Chapter 30

Shido nodded as though he understood. "Lingmeng, let's go to the French Restaurant."

"Huh! Can we? Isn't it expensive there? (?o?)"

Lingmeng sounded surprised. She had never been anywhere as fancy as a French restaurant, not even in her previous life. Now Shido had invited her there himself, and she was rather happy about it.

"Her affection went up a little. Not bad." Kotori looked at the affection gauge on the big screen above the Command Seat and smiled.

"Yeah... don't worry about it. Let's go."

"Ohoho, okay."

With that, Lingmeng and Shido set off for the French Restaurant.

"That girl is..." A particularly cold voice came from behind a wall.

Once Shido and Lingmeng had left, the owner of the voice immediately followed them...

"Wow, it really is a French restaurant. The decor is so lavish."

Lingmeng looked around at the ornate furnishings in wonder.

"Is this your first time somewhere like this, Lingmeng?"

"Yeah. Anyway, thanks for bringing me."

"Uh... you're welcome."

Shido felt he hardly deserved her thanks. Kotori and the others had arranged the venue and paid for everything. He was little more than a tour guide.

"Sorry for the wait. Here are the dishes you ordered."

Just then, a European man in a chef's uniform entered with several servers, each carrying a plate.

When they lifted the covers, Lingmeng saw caviar, foie gras, roast goose, and more.

"These are your appetizers. Once you've finished, we'll bring you a delicious dessert."

"If there's nothing else, we'll leave you to it. Enjoy your meal."

The chef bowed to Shido and Lingmeng, then left with the servers.

"Well, that's quite a spread."

Muttering to herself, Lingmeng picked up her knife and fork. After saying, "Time to eat," she dug in...

"Well, it wasn't as good as I imagined, but for that price, I'll call it delicious."

Several dozen minutes later, Shido and Lingmeng had eaten most of the food on the table.

Overall, Lingmeng thought it tasted merely average. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't especially good either. The high price came down to the cost of the ingredients.

Ah, once is enough for a place like this. I'd better not come back too often.

Lingmeng gazed at the ceiling as she thought.

"Oh, right, Shido. Didn't that chef say there'd be dessert? Why hasn't it come yet?"

She turned to Shido beside her, her face full of puzzlement.

Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly and said with a nervous smile,

"I don't know either. Maybe they're still making it?"

Is Kotori up to some weird scheme?

While Shido was still wondering, the door in front of him opened.

Someone stepped inside.

It wasn't the chef from earlier, but a slight figure wearing the same uniform, a mask, and a chef's hat pulled low enough to hide their face.

"Um... who are you?" Shido pointed at the newcomer.

"I'm a chef here," the person replied simply.

The voice was low. Shido couldn't tell whether they were speaking that way on purpose, but somehow it sounded familiar.

Lingmeng asked, "Where are the chef from earlier and the other servers?"

"They couldn't come for certain reasons. I'm here to bring you dessert in their place."

With that, the person set two plates on the table...

The person lifted the covers. Each plate held a perfectly ordinary chocolate cake, except for a pitch-black pill about the size of a marble sitting on top.

"Um... what's that pill?" Shido asked, pointing at one of the cakes.

"A secret ingredient," the person replied coldly.

"I see..." Shido muttered.

The answer told him next to nothing, yet it worked. After all, they had called it a secret ingredient. Pressing further would be rude.

"Oh, this cake's pretty good." Lingmeng picked up her fork and ate with relish.

"Lingmeng, don't you notice anything strange?"

"Nope. If it won't kill me, I might as well eat my fill."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Shido hesitated, fork in hand, as he stared at the cake. At last, he decided to try it.

Gulp. Shido took a bite. When nothing strange happened, he let down his guard.

The person kept watching Shido and Lingmeng eat, showing no intention of leaving. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Thud!

The next second, Lingmeng suddenly collapsed onto the table as if she had fainted.

"Lingmeng, are you all... right...?" Shido tried to get up and check on her, but for some reason, all the strength drained from his body.

"The drug's taking effect?" The person pulled off their chef's uniform and mask, revealing a beautiful young woman with short white hair, blue eyes, and an expressionless face.

"Tobiichi... why are you here...?" Shido struggled to speak as he slumped over the table beside Lingmeng.

"Catching you cheating. You can't see someone else, Shido," Origami answered calmly, glancing at him.

Today, as usual, she had been secretly stalk—protecting her boyfriend, Shido Itsuka.

But she hadn't expected Shido to ask a beautiful girl out on a date. As his girlfriend, she felt obliged to follow them and see what was going on.

"What did you do to the others...?"

"I drugged them unconscious and dumped them backstage. I also borrowed an outfit from the chef."

"That sounds more like robbery..." Shido's mouth twitched as he looked at the discarded chef's uniform. He could roughly imagine what the chef had been through.

"What did you feed Lingmeng and me...?"

"My own special sedative. It could probably keep an elephant down for a whole day. Don't worry, Shido. The dose in your cake will only leave you limp for a little while."

"Don't say something so terrifying with a straight face! That could kill someone!"

Shido spoke in alarm.

Ignoring him, Origami took out a hemp rope about five centimeters thick and walked over to Lingmeng.

"Tobiichi, what are you going to do to Lingmeng?"

Shido wanted to stop Origami from touching her, but no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to obey.

"Don't worry, Shido. Once I tie up this homewrecker, dump her in the storeroom, and deal with her, I'll take you to the hotel I prepared. Then we can do what couples do."

"Drop that dangerous idea right now! And what exactly are you planning to do to me at the hotel?"

Shido was too exhausted even to retort properly. He really wanted to know what went on inside Origami's head.

Origami reached toward Lingmeng without a trace of expression. Just as her hand was about to touch her, Lingmeng, who had appeared unconscious, grabbed it.

"Well, miss, what are you planning to do to me?" Lingmeng asked with half-lidded eyes and a smile.

"Lingmeng, you're okay!" Shido was surprised at first. Then he remembered she was a Spirit. The drug was probably nothing to her, so he closed his mouth.

Impossible. I put all the drugs in her cake. How is she still so alert?

Origami frowned. Unlike the weaker dose she had given Shido, Lingmeng's dose really could knock an elephant out for an entire day. Yet Lingmeng was still full of energy. Origami was stunned.

"You're in the way!" Origami snapped out of it and swung at Lingmeng's face without another word, but Lingmeng easily dodged her fist.

"Going straight for the face? That's cold. Haven't you heard you shouldn't hit someone in the face?"

Lingmeng shoved Origami back hard and rose from her chair. Origami regained her balance just before she fell and landed safely on her feet.

"You homewrecker. Stay down. Shido is my boyfriend."

Origami's face was stern, her voice utterly flat.

"Homewrecker?" Lingmeng froze for a moment before realizing Origami meant her.

She pointed at herself. "You mean me?"

"Who else?"

"..." Lingmeng fell silent.

I only had a meal with Shido. How did that make me a homewrecker? If I'd known she'd say that, I would've stayed home and played games.

"Tobiichi, you've misunderstood... Lingmeng is just my friend," Shido hurried to explain when he saw things taking a turn for the worse.

"Don't bother explaining, Shido. I saw you take her to the movies. I'm your girlfriend, and you haven't even done that with me."

Origami's voice was icy.

"Uh... well..." Shido looked deeply embarrassed. He hadn't realized Origami had seen everything. If he could move, he would have crawled into a hole.

"Believe me or don't. Whatever. I'm not blind. Why would I ever fall for a wimp like Shido?"

Lingmeng shrugged.

"Hey, I heard that!" Shido looked at her speechlessly.

"Whether you are or not, you're staying here today. I'll eliminate every woman who has the slightest improper thought about Shido."

"Come on, can you stop doing such outrageous things with such a serious face? You're the only one here with improper thoughts about Shido!"

Lingmeng scratched her head helplessly. "Well, if you want to fight, I'm happy to oblige. Even I get angry when someone suddenly calls me a homewrecker."

The moment Lingmeng opened her eyes, Origami, who had been some distance away, appeared right in front of her and tried to attack again.

What a strange person.

As soon as the thought crossed Lingmeng's mind, she vanished and appeared behind Origami. Without hesitation, she struck the back of her neck with a Hand Chop.

"That was teleportation... just what are you...?" Those were Origami's last words before she passed out and fell to the floor.

"Lingmeng, is Tobiichi okay?"

Shido looked worriedly at Origami, who lay motionless on the floor.

"Relax, relax. I made sure to hold back. Your girlfriend will just sleep for a while."

Lingmeng waved a hand dismissively.

"Still, I'm surprised. I never thought a herbivorous virgin like you would have a girlfriend, Shido."

"No... you've got it wrong. There's a reason for this." Shido was about to go on, but Lingmeng cut him off.

"Don't bother explaining. Real or not, I'm not interested in your personal affairs."

As she spoke, Lingmeng picked up the rope Origami had brought out, walked over to her, and crouched down.

"Lingmeng, you're not planning to..."