Chapter 82

"Stop pretending. You clearly fell on your butt, not your stomach."

Lingmeng bluntly exposed Shido's lie, causing an awkward moment.

Yeah, why would I clutch my stomach if my butt hurts?

Shido thought to himself.

"What are you doing, you lazy bum? Is that supposed to be funny or humorous?"

"Forehead..."

Faced with Kotori's question, Shido was momentarily speechless. He could only awkwardly scratch his cheek.

"By the way, Yoshino, could you tell us when your hand puppet went missing?"

Seemingly having thought of something to change the subject, Shido asked.

After a few minutes of calming down, Yoshino finally spoke.

"... Yesterday... were attacked by those terrifying people... and by the time we found out... they were gone."

Yoshino's voice was intermittent and very soft.

"Oh, is that so? Then it was probably lost during the AST attack, right?"

Lingmeng muttered to herself, resting her chin on her hand. She knew without a doubt that the terrifying people Yoshino mentioned were those guys from AST.

"..."

Yoshino remained silent.

She glanced at Shido symbolically. At that moment, it was as if Lingmeng was saying with her eyes, "Mr. Shido, please use your all-powerful 'little sister' to think of a solution!"

Haha... Even though you said you'd come to help, it seems you still have to rely on Kotori and the others, right?

A bead of cold sweat involuntarily appeared on Shido's forehead. Then, as if in response to Lingmeng's request, he gently tapped the right Earphones.

"It's so noisy. I've already set up all the drones to search. Next, all you need to do is try to communicate with Yoshino as much as possible to increase her favorability, and then symbolically look for the hand puppet, just to show off."

As expected of Kotori, her efficiency is exceptional.

Given the current situation, sending a large number of personnel to this location to assist Shido in the search would be the most effective method.

But with so many people suddenly appearing, even Yoshino would suspect something was wrong, right?

Besides, even if they successfully find the puppet, Yoshino's gratitude towards Shido won't be evenly distributed among the staff. That would be terrible.

As for Lingmeng - Kotori, she felt that having her stay would also protect Shido from being "accidentally injured" by Yoshino, so she let her do as she pleased.

"Ah... I understand."

Shido covered his Earphones and nodded, then raised his right hand and gave Lingmeng an OK sign.

"Uh-huh."

Nodding in agreement, Lingmeng crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"In short... let's start searching now, Yoshino?"

In order not to frighten Yoshino again, Shido deliberately lowered his voice this time.

"..."

Yoshino remained silent.

Realizing something was wrong, Lingmeng asked.

"What's wrong, Yoshino?"

Yoshino was seen clutching her clothes tightly, then continued speaking in a voice so soft it was barely audible.

"I... I'm not..."

"Huh?"

"Um?"

When Yoshino uttered these incomprehensible words, Shido and Lingmeng tilted their heads in perfect unison.

Unable to contain her doubts, Lingmeng asked.

"What are you not?"

"I... am not Yoshino... Yoshino is Yoshino's friend..."

"So Yoshino is the name of that hand puppet?"

"Um..."

Just then, Lingmeng scratched the back of her head apologetically.

"Haha... You must have felt really awkward being called Yoshino for so long, right? Yoshino--no?"

Lingmeng asked Yoshino's real name in a questioning tone.

"No... it's alright..."

Yoshino shook her head as if she didn't care.

Then, as if imitating Lingmeng, Shido also began to call Yoshino her real name.

"Yoshino."

"...!"

Whether it was because she was picking on someone or what, Yoshino, who had been relatively calm when facing Lingmeng, started trembling all over after Shido called her name.

At the same time, the puddle at Shido's feet exploded again, knocking him to the ground.

However, this time he was upside down, meaning that Shido was now covered in mud and grime from head to toe.

"Waaah... We're all being called by name, why are we being treated differently...?"

Shido, with tears welling up in his eyes, got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

"Because Shido, your sour face is easy to scare children."

The merciless mockery of her younger sister came through the Earphones. Although she wanted to retort, she couldn't utter a word.

"I'm... sorry, it was just a subconscious reaction..."

Slightly regaining her senses, Yoshino lowered her head in shame and apologized.

"It's okay, my clothes are already soaked. A little more stain won't matter."

Seeing Yoshino's appearance, Shido, who had originally wanted to say something, instantly lost his temper and simply shook his head gently.

"Zhongsheng: 'Physics lab exams are so hard! Biology and chemistry are so easy, why is physics so unique...?'"

Chapter Thirty: Kidnapping a Loli

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Two hours had passed since Lingmeng and Shido started helping Yoshino search for Yoshino. Just then, a very cute voice rang out.

"Hmm? Yoshino, are you hungry?"

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, Lingmeng asked.

Although the Spirit Power within an elf possesses the energy to sustain life without food, the feeling of hunger still persists.

Lingmeng deeply understands this point.

"...!"

Yoshino and shook her head from side to side.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

But my stomach, quite uncooperatively, made another sound.

Yoshino's face turned even redder, and she quickly pulled up the hood of her cloak, crouched down, and clutched her stomach.

Ah, isn't she adorable? As expected, once the puppet is gone, she becomes a perfect loli.

Lingmeng sighed inwardly.

"Shido, shall we take Yoshino out to eat?"

Lingmeng glanced at Shido, who was bending over and searching for the hand Shido.

"Hmm... I'm a little hungry too, let's go eat first."

Shido nodded in agreement. After all, he hadn't eaten anything since morning.

For some reason, Yoshino, who should have been very hungry, didn't seem happy at all when she heard that Lingmeng and Shido were going to take her to eat. Instead, she shook her head in refusal.

As if she could read Yoshino's mind, Lingmeng spoke up.

"Do you want to stay here and continue looking for Yoshino?"

"..."

Although Yoshino didn't say anything, her expression suggested that she acquiesced.

Shido stood up again, stretched, and walked over to Yoshino's side.

"Don't push yourself. Think about it, if you faint, you won't be able to continue searching for Yoshino, will you?"

Shido spoke with a smile and in a kind tone.

"..."

Although it's impossible for a spirit to faint over something so trivial, perhaps because she's still a loli and easier to fool? After some hesitation, Yoshino nodded.

Seeing that Yoshino had agreed, Lingmeng clapped her hands.

"Alright, shall we go to a nearby restaurant to rest for a bit? It's on me."

"Which one..."

Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"I don't think I can get into the restaurant looking like this."

As he spoke, Shido pointed to the clothes he was wearing, which were covered in dirt and water stains.

To be honest, Shido's clothes were in terrible condition because he had been attacked by Yoshino and had been lying on the ground several times.

Lingmeng and Yoshino, being spirits, used their Spirit Power to block the rain and thus avoided getting wet.

"Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it then."

"Um... so--"

"So Shido, you can continue searching on your own. I'll take Yoshino with me."

"Don't I need to eat too!? ((?(//Д//)?))"

Hearing Lingmeng's heartless words, Shido frowned and shouted.

However, his shout startled Yoshino again.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Shido, you really are impulsive."

Lingmeng gently touched Yoshino, who was hiding behind her, and said this.

Shido simply responded with a speechless expression.

"Who do you think did this...?"

He then shifted his gaze to the side and stammered as he spoke.

"Um... Yoshino... if you don't mind, would you like to come over to my house for a visit?"

Since he had just bought the ingredients before meeting Yoshino, Shido decided to cook at home himself.

Wow! It's only been a short time since I last saw you, and I didn't expect you to become so bold.

So you really are a lolicon, just like Lingmeng said? That's disgusting. Looks like I need to take better care of myself.

Are you admitting that you have a loli body type?