Chapter 65

Shido, who was left behind, was stunned for a moment. Realizing that he had been abandoned, he quickly followed after them.

Then--

"Tick-tock--"

After walking for less than a minute, Shido and Lingmeng felt something cold drip onto their necks.

"Hmm?" ×2

With puzzled expressions, the two of them looked up at the sky at the same time.

Sure enough, although it was unclear when it started, the sky was now covered with dark clouds.

Looking at the sky, which looked like it was about to rain, Shido unconsciously frowned.

"Hey, really? The weather forecast said it would be sunny today!"

Normally, one or two forecast errors wouldn't be so bad, but for some reason, the accuracy of weather forecasts has been unusually low lately, so it's understandable that Shido would complain like this.

"Um?"

Seeing Shido's bitter face, Lingmeng tilted her head and asked.

"Should I get rid of these clouds?"

Unable to understand Lingmeng's meaning for a moment, Shido exclaimed in bewilderment, "Huh?"

"Haha... Lingmeng, are you kidding me?"

Thinking Lingmeng was joking, Shido scratched his cheek and smiled awkwardly.

If it were Lingmeng before he sealed her away, Shido believed she definitely had the ability. However, her sudden statement about "should we get rid of it?" after she was sealed away made him somewhat suspicious.

"Huh? Why would I joke?"

Lingmeng said something in confusion, and then, as if to prove that she wasn't joking, she slightly raised her right hand and pointed it at the dark clouds in the sky.

The next second--

A white ball of light appeared in Lingmeng's palm.

"What!?"

Shido let out a surprised sound.

Theoretically, Lingmeng, whose power has been sealed by herself, shouldn't be able to use her abilities. So what's going on with this scene?

Could it be that my ability to seal the Spirit Power has failed?

With this in mind, Shido hurriedly began to question Lingmeng.

"Aya... Lingmeng, you... you should definitely have your power sealed by me, right?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Remaining in the posture of raising her right hand as if about to launch a ball of light, Lingmeng replied.

"If that's the case, then why are you still...?"

Seemingly sensing Shido's inner thoughts, Lingmeng simply shook her head.

"Are you asking me why I can still use my abilities even though you sealed them away?"

"Um."

Shido nodded weakly.

"Well, actually, it's not that difficult to explain."

Lingmeng shrugged and continued.

"You did seal my power a month ago, and about nine-tenths of my Spirit Power was transferred to you. Now I only have less than one-tenth of my original Spirit Power."

"Hmm... and then?"

"However, because my situation is rather special, simply put, my Spirit Power is slightly more than that of spirits like Tohka."

So even if I only have less than one-tenth of my Spirit Power left, I can still use my original abilities.

Well, although I can't use it as recklessly as before, and its power isn't as great as it used to be."

"Um... why do I feel like Lingmeng, you said something scary with such a calm expression?"

At this moment, Shido was looking at Lingmeng as if she were a monster.

Even though she only had less than one-tenth of her Spirit Power left, she could still use her abilities. Just how much Spirit Power did Lingmeng have at her peak?

With this thought in mind, Shido's face was full of question marks. He really found it hard to imagine Lingmeng's true strength.

However, considering that Lingmeng no longer seemed to be able to cause Spacequake, Shido decided not to investigate further.

After all, as long as Spacequake isn't triggered, Lingmeng won't be detected and attacked by AST.

So as long as this hasn't been achieved, you should be able to rest assured, right?

Then--

"Maybe it's because your right hand is getting tired from holding it up for so long? "Lingmeng asked again.

So, do you want me to take action or not?

"Um..." Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly and replied, "Let's forget about it. Although Lingmeng, you can't cause Spacequake now, so you won't be attacked by ASTs, it's still better not to use your abilities recklessly."

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing Shido's reply, Lingmeng lowered her right hand, and the ball of light in her hand disappeared.

"Oh, whatever you want. But if we don't hurry, we'll get soaked!"

"Huh?"

Shido groaned, and then, almost as if it were pre-planned, large raindrops began to fall on the asphalt, "Drip, drip."

Clearly, it had started raining heavily.

"Oh dear."

After hurriedly holding the schoolbag above his head, Shido said something to Lingmeng.

"Lingmeng, I remember that the Shrine where Senpai lives seems to be nearby. Shall we go there to take shelter from the rain?"

Because of the heavy rain, running home was impossible, so Shido decided to take shelter at the home of someone he knew nearby with Lingmeng.

To this, Lingmeng simply nodded and replied, "No problem."

The two then ran forward.

At the same time, as if on purpose, the rain intensified.

"Hey, is this for real?"

Feeling the cold, wet touch of his uniform, Shido frowned in displeasure.

Because his parents are away, he currently takes care of all the housework.

So instead of thinking things like, "It's so uncomfortable having my clothes sticking to my body!" or "What if I catch a cold?"

He was more concerned about whether his suit jacket would be dry tomorrow if he hung it on the balcony—a worry that only a housewife would have.

Looking behind him, he saw that Lingmeng was in a similar situation to Shido, her clothes almost completely soaked by the rain.

But worrying about these things now is useless; we need to find somewhere to shelter from the rain as soon as possible.

So when they reached the three-way intersection and turned right, seeing the Shrine not far ahead, they immediately ran towards it.

Chapter Nine: Blue-haired Loli

"Knock knock knock--"

"Senior Ming, are you there? Could you open the door?"

A series of knocks came from the door, and Shido and Lingmeng had arrived at the foot of the Shrine's eaves.

Shido knocked on the Shrine's gate, repeatedly calling out the name of its master.

But no matter how many times I tried, there was no response.

"Ugh... No one answered the door. Is she not home?"

Shido in dejection and said this.

His clothes were now completely soaked from the heavy rain, and honestly, the feeling of them clinging to his skin was really uncomfortable.

The original plan was to take Lingmeng inside the Shrine to warm up after getting permission from the owner, but unexpectedly, the owner of the Shrine was not home at this time.

What bad luck!

With another heavy sigh, Shido could only console his wounded heart with the excuse that "it's already good enough to get shelter from the rain."

Just then, Lingmeng's voice came from behind.

"What's wrong? Isn't Senior Sister Ming here? Ah, if I had known this would happen, I should have just used my ability to drive away the dark clouds."

"I already said I can't just use my abilities recklessly!"

Scratching his soaked hair, Shido looked back with utter helplessness.

Then—he froze.

Because she was preventing Lingmeng from using her abilities, she could only run slowly alongside Shido.

Therefore, it was only natural that Lingmeng's clothes got wet.

Maybe it's because they feel uncomfortable with their clothes being soaked?

Lingmeng took off her Raizen High School jacket and then rubbed it like she was rubbing a towel, squeezing out all the rainwater inside.

Therefore, Lingmeng was only wearing a white shirt on her upper body. The soaked shirt clung tightly to Lingmeng's fair skin, showing off her curvaceous figure.

Simply put, she's incredibly erotic, which explains Shido's reaction.

"Huh? Why are you suddenly frozen in place?"

Seemingly noticing Shido's dazed expression, Lingmeng tilted her head in confusion.

However, after looking down at his current appearance, he quickly understood why Shido was acting this way.

Lingmeng covered her mouth with her right hand and chuckled.

"Oh dear, Shido- kun, are you having a physical reaction to me? That's disgusting."

"!"

Shido hearing Lingmeng's teasing words, Shido immediately widened his eyes.

Although he knew Lingmeng was joking, he still hurriedly tried to explain.

"No... no, I didn't."

He's speaking incoherently; he's probably lying, right?

Seeing that Shido was so excited, Lingmeng didn't continue teasing him. She simply waved her hand casually and smiled.

"Haha, I already know without you saying it. After all, I used to be a man, so I naturally understand how much of a killer a wet girl's allure is to a puberty-struck kid like you, Shido."

"Even though what you said is true, why do I feel so uncomfortable?"

Shido frowned slightly, his face full of dark lines.

Then--

As if he had seen something extraordinary, Shido stood there dumbfounded.

"Huh? What's wrong with you out of the blue?"

Lingmeng tilted her head in confusion, then turned her gaze back to the direction Shido was looking.

"Girl... girl?" ×2

Shido and Lingmeng said those words at almost the same time.

That's because at that moment, a girl was standing in the empty Shrine courtyard, not far in front of Shido and Lingmeng, happily hopping around.

It was a petite figure wearing a cute and uniquely designed coat.