As an Elf in Date A Live, I Refuse to Date - Chapter 37

"Lingmeng! Lingmeng! Where are you?" Shiori called, looking all around her.

Just then, she spotted the cosplayer who had bumped fists with Lingmeng earlier.

"Um... excuse me. Do you know where the girl who was playing with you just now went?"

Shiori stopped the cosplayer. They turned, pointed a thumb at themselves, and declared:

"Kono Dio da!"

"Huh?" Shiori tilted her head, unable to understand why the cosplayer had done that.

The cosplayer seemed to notice the awkwardness too and quickly cleared their throat.

"Uh... sorry. I did that without thinking." The cosplayer scratched their cheek. "You mean that pretty girl? She noticed you were gone and left to look for you a little while ago."

"Do you know where she went to look for me?"

"Sorry, I didn't notice."

"That's okay. Thank you. I'll be going, then."

Shiori thanked the cosplayer with a bow and continued searching for Lingmeng.

"Ahh, where did Shiori-chan go? I lost my date. I'm really not doing a very good job here."

Lingmeng stood in the middle of the convention, looking around with a troubled expression.

After bumping fists with the cosplayer, she had planned to take Shiori somewhere else. But when she turned back, Shiori was gone.

At first, Lingmeng had tried calling Shiori to ask where he was, but for some reason, she couldn't get through.

What Lingmeng didn't know was that Shiori hadn't brought his phone today. He had left it in his original men's suit when he changed yesterday. No matter how many times she called, no one would answer.

Should I use my powers to find him? Lingmeng wondered.

She considered using her mental powers to locate Shiori, but quickly dismissed the idea.

With so many people here, using her powers would mean releasing Spirit Power. If any AST members were at the convention and detected her, she'd be in trouble.

The odds were small, but why take the risk? If her luck was truly that bad and she ran into one, her date with Shiori-chan would probably end right there.

"Ugh... I'll just have to keep looking." Lingmeng rubbed her head, sighed helplessly, and plunged back into the crowd.

"Ahh! Where did Lingmeng go?"

Somewhere in the convention, Shiori raked his fingers through his hair in despair. He had been looking for Lingmeng for half an hour and still hadn't found her.

Just as Shiori was on the verge of tears, someone tapped him on the shoulder. A clear voice rang out.

"Um... you looked upset just now. Did something happen?"

"Huh—"

Shiori turned instinctively. Before him stood a beautiful girl with brown eyes, long chestnut hair, and a frog-shaped hair clip.

She wore a pale yellow short-sleeved shirt and a brown plaid sailor skirt that looked like part of a school uniform.

Below that were pale yellow safety shorts, white slouch socks, and black shoes.

Over it all, she wore a black coat with white trim and held an incredibly cool Longbow in her right hand.

"Who are you...?" Shiori asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I'm a visitor here. You looked upset, so I thought I'd see if I could help."

"I see..." Shiori nodded, then immediately asked, "Um... have you seen a girl about this tall, with Metal-colored hair and pink-and-blue eyes?"

As he spoke, Shiori indicated Lingmeng's height.

"A Metal-haired girl..." The girl frowned and touched her chin, thinking. "Sorry, I haven't seen her."

"Oh..." Shiori lowered his head, deflated.

"If you don't mind, would you like me to help look for her?"

"Huh? You would? (O_o)"

Shiori sounded surprised. The girl gave him a lovely smile.

"Sure. I'm not doing anything else." She waved a hand casually.

"Thank you so much!" Shiori grabbed her hand in delight.

Looking at Shiori's delicate features, the girl suddenly blushed.

She's so pretty...

"Why is your face so red? Are you sick?"

Shiori looked at the girl's flushed cheeks with concern.

"Ahem. I'm fine. Let's go..."

The girl cleared her throat twice, trying to sound composed, then took Shiori's hand and led him away.

With the girl's soft hand wrapped firmly around his, Shiori felt his own cheeks growing warm.

"Tch. How have I still not found Shiori?"

Lingmeng was growing impatient. Just as she was about to use her powers to find him after all, an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Are you Qian Lingmeng?"

"Who's calling me?"

Lingmeng turned in confusion and found two girls behind her, one with long brown hair and the other with long blue hair.

Liangyi Mengyue

"Ahh, Shiori! Where did you go? I was so worried!"

Lingmeng ran up to Shiori and hugged him, rubbing her cheek against his.

"Sorry... I went to the bathroom. When I came back, you were gone." Shiori scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Lingmeng, could you stop for a moment? Someone's watching us."

"Uh..." Lingmeng noticed the brown-haired girl beside them and immediately let go. She pointed to her and asked:

"Who's this...?"

"She helped me look for you. Her name is..."

Shiori faltered. He and the girl hadn't actually introduced themselves.

"Oh, my name?" The brown-haired girl caught on and patted her chest. "I'm Liangyi Mengyue. You can call me Mengyue."

"Mengyue..." Lingmeng repeated, then smiled.

"I'm Qian Lingmeng, and he's Itsuka Shiori. You can call us Lingmeng and Shiori. Thanks for helping him."

"It was nothing, really." Mengyue waved a hand modestly.

"Mengyue..."

"Yes?"

Lingmeng spoke up suddenly, and Mengyue looked at her curiously.

"You're cosplaying Kirito and Misaka, aren't you? Your costume looks amazing! (≧▽≦)"

Lingmeng gazed at Mengyue's outfit with shining eyes, then turned her attention to the Longbow in her hand.

"I don't recognize that Longbow. Did you make it yourself? It's so cool!"

"You could tell!? ('.?ω?.｀)"

Mengyue looked delighted by Lingmeng's praise.

"I wanted to cosplay either Kirito or Misaka, but I couldn't decide which one. So I combined elements of both."

Mengyue raised her bow proudly. "As for this bow, it's my masterpiece. I've been designing it since my second year of middle school. I call it Ratziel, the Dawn Sage!"

"Wow, you started designing it that long ago? Does it have any special abilities?"

"It has computing power like a supercomputer and can hack into any computer instantly. I can even fire a Railgun with it. Like this!"

The two sections of Ratziel, the Dawn Sage, folded into the shape of a cannon. A blue beam shot from the opening in the middle toward Lingmeng.

Of course, it wasn't a real Railgun blast, just an ordinary laser. Lingmeng played along anyway, clutching her chest and falling to the floor as though she'd been hit.

"Haha, your Ratziel looks pretty convincing."

Lingmeng sat cross-legged on the floor, chuckling.

"Oh, it's nothing special." Mengyue rubbed her head shyly.

What on earth are these two talking about?

Shiori, who had been watching them the whole time, felt his mouth twitch. He didn't usually watch anime and couldn't follow a word of their conversation.

For a while after that, Lingmeng and Mengyue chatted happily about anime, while Shiori remained completely lost.

Ahh, isn't this supposed to be my date with Lingmeng? What are you doing, Lingmeng!?

Shiori wanted to cry. If Lingmeng kept talking, he wouldn't get a chance to win her over.

"Oh, we've been talking for ages. Sorry, Mengyue, but we need to go."

Lingmeng seemed to notice Shiori's expression. She pretended to check the time on her phone, then apologized to Mengyue.

"You're leaving?" Mengyue paused, then caught on. "Oh, right, you two are on a date! Sorry for taking up your time."

"Don't worry. I had fun talking with you. Before we go, shall we add each other as friends?"

"Sure."

Lingmeng and Mengyue smiled, took out their phones, and exchanged contact details.

"Good luck with the rest of your date, Lingmeng. If it doesn't work out, maybe I'll start pursuing Shiori myself. He's so cute, after all."

Mengyue grinned mischievously at Shiori, who stood behind Lingmeng.

"I wouldn't say I'm cute..." Shiori waved his hands hastily, his face bright red. Having a girl call him cute when he was a guy was unbearably embarrassing.

"Oh? Well, Shiori really is cute."

Lingmeng smiled and pinched Shiori's cheek.

"We'll be going, then. Bye, Mengyue."

"Mm. Bye."

Lingmeng waved to Mengyue and left with Shiori.

Lingmeng and Shiori had left the convention and were walking down the street.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go, Shiori?" Lingmeng asked, glancing at him.

"Somewhere I'd like to go? Why do you ask all of a sudden?" Shiori tilted his head, looking adorably puzzled.

"Well, consider it compensation for leaving without waiting for you," Lingmeng explained easily.

"I see. But there isn't anywhere in particular I want to go right now."

"Nowhere?"

"Mm."

Just then, someone approached Lingmeng and Shiori and handed them a flyer.

"Tiangong Haunted House opens today. You two should check it out if you're interested."

With that, the person left.

"An Oni house?" Shiori read the flyer. His gaze immediately locked onto the four large words: "Half Price Today."