Chapter 85

After a few seconds of silence, Reine's voice came through the Earphones.

"... What's wrong Lingmeng? What do you want me to investigate for you?"

"Before I ask you to investigate, I want to ask you something: Yoshino definitely kissed Shido yesterday, right?"

"... Yes, there are recordings from that time inside Fraxinus that can prove it."

"Then there's no problem."

Lingmeng muttered something softly before continuing to ask.

"How much affection did Yoshino have for Shido back then? Could her Spirit Power be sealed?"

"... Well... while it can't seal them all, sealing two or three layers should be enough. Wait, if that's really the case—"

Reine's tone was somewhat bewildered, as if she had sensed something important.

Lingmeng's lips curled up slightly, forming a knowing smile.

"That's right, that's exactly it. Yoshino should have had two or three Yoshino of her power sealed away, but her strength hasn't weakened at all. Don't you find that strange?"

"Indeed, it's strange that we kissed but had no effect whatsoever."

Fraxinus nodded slightly in his Kotori.

"... Could it be that Yoshino possesses some special ability that prevents her power from being sealed?"

Reine tilted her head.

"No, the truth is much more complicated than that. I suspect that Yoshino a dual personality, and her other personality is Yoshino."

Yesterday, Shido was only pursuing Yoshino as Clone. At that time, Yoshino had sealed away her own heart and left everything to Yoshino.

If that's really the case, then it explains why Yoshino's Spirit Power couldn't be sealed, and why Yoshino herself doesn't remember kissing Shido.

"What!? Yoshino a dual personality!?"

Upon hearing Lingmeng's bold speculation, Shido's eyes widened in astonishment.

Meanwhile, in Fraxinus, Kotori rested her Kotori on her hand.

"I see... If it's really as you said, then everything makes sense. So you want Reine to investigate Lingmeng 'Yoshino mental chart again, right? Reine-- "

"... yes."

Upon receiving the order, Reine immediately took control of the computer in front of her. Then--

"... Just as Lingmeng said, there was a very subtle reaction hidden in Yoshino's mental chart yesterday. It seems there's a high probability that Yoshino has a split personality. It was my oversight, I'm sorry..."

Reine spoke with a face full of apology, while Kotori waved her hand dismissively.

"It's alright. After all, these kinds of things are extremely rare, so it's normal for you to make a mistake. But I'm really surprised, Lingmeng, how did you know about this?"

As she spoke, Kotori turned her gaze to Lingmeng in front of the screen.

In response, Lingmeng simply scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"Well... if I really have to explain it, I'd say it's an elf's intuition?"

"..."

Hearing Lingmeng's ambiguous explanation, Kotori's face darkened.

"It seems your intuition is quite accurate, Lingmeng- nee... you guessed it right away."

"Um... maybe it's because of my abilities that I'm particularly sensitive to the mental world?"

Besides, isn't there a big difference between Yoshino wearing Yoshino and not wearing it? That's why I think that way."

"Never mind, none of that matters. All we need to do now is help Yoshino find Yoshino, and then, before she closes herself off, increase her affection for Shido and seal her Spirit Power."

To prevent the atmosphere from becoming too tense, Kotori took the initiative to change the subject.

Lingmeng simply replied with an "Mm" before handing the Earphones back to Shido.

Lingmeng Shido tapped his Earphones.

"Kotori, what should we do next? Are we really just going to wait around until Yoshino manifests?"

Kotori hummed softly, then held up the bottle of Chupa Chups in her mouth.

"Don't worry, Shido, you have something important to do."

"What's wrong?" Shido asked, puzzled.

"Of course, we're going to find Yoshino. We, Ratatoskr, have already found out where Yoshino is through the footage recorded by the cameras yesterday."

"What! They found Yoshino!? Where is she now?"

Shido exclaimed in surprise.

But Kotori's next answer completely shattered him.

"Yoshino is currently—"

After hearing where Yoshino was, Shido frowned instantly, then looked like he was in a real pain.

"Ah... so she has it? Getting Yoshino back from her is going to be a tough task."

Shido said, sounding like he was about to cry.

Seeing Shido's unusual expression, Lingmeng couldn't help but cast a curious glance at him.

"Ah, the only person who could make Shido show that kind of expression is probably that guy, right?"

Lingmeng muttered to herself.

----------------This is the dividing line for the transfer time

"This should be the place, right?"

Several days have passed since Yoshino returned to the Neighboring World.

At this moment, Shido was standing directly in front of an apartment building. He held a box of snacks in his left hand and a note with a map drawn on it in his right hand, looking like he was about to visit someone's home.

Well, that's exactly the case.

The person Shido is about to visit is the culprit who took Yoshino away a few days ago, and is also Shido's classmate and AST member— Origami Tobiichi.

"Zhongsheng: 'Don't expect anything dirty, I really wouldn't dare do anything porn. I'm traumatized by the consequences of doing anything porn. Haha (?ω?) hiahiahia.'"

Chapter Thirty-Four: Invasion of Private Residences

To be honest, Shido was really shocked when he found out that Yoshino was at Origami's House.

However, based on the surveillance footage, this is indeed an undeniable fact...

After all, Origami in the video did indeed take Yoshino with her on her way back to base.

Although he didn't know what Origami wanted to do by taking Yoshino back, Shido had to take it back and return it to Yoshino.

Even though Shido deeply resented sneaking around like a thief in someone else's house, there was nothing he could do about it.

Based on the current situation, it seems that only Shido Itsuka can safely enter the Origami's House.

Actually, when Kotori initially Shido to do such improper things, he refused.

However, after learning that all six agents Ratatoskr had ordered to infiltrate Origami's House a few days earlier to retrieve Yoshino had been killed and hospitalized, Shido realized that he had no choice.

However, things went smoothly when Shido asked Origami to come to her house to play, and Origami readily agreed.

This surprised Shido somewhat.

"What are you doing standing outside like that? You're not a scarecrow."

Seeing that Shido hadn't come in yet, Kotori urged him on.

"Okay, okay, I understand..."

To cheer himself up, Shido patted his cheeks.

"Yoshi! Let's go in!"

With that, Shido stepped into the apartment. Little did he know that hell awaited him!

----------------This is the dividing line for the transfer time

"Tsk, why do I have to stand like Pervert at a girl's doorstep?"

At this moment, a blonde girl in a black trench coat was hovering in front of Origami's house.

Without a doubt, this girl was Lingmeng.

It was now ten minutes after Shido entered Origami's House when Lingmeng, who had been spending time with Tohka at Itsuka Residence, was suddenly called out by Kotori.

Then Kotori asked her to stand guard in front of Origami's House and observe the situation.

As for why this is the case? --

It seems that because Origami's House had a signal jammer installed, Shido lost contact with Kotori and the others after entering Origami's House.

Kotori happened to see Lingmeng was bored out of her mind, and in order to prevent Origami from doing anything strange to Shido, Lingmeng was honorably made Kotori's gatekeeper.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry Lingmeng. I called you out because of something like this."

Kotori's voice came to my right ear.

This is normal, though, because Lingmeng is currently wearing the same Earphones as Shido.

To this, Lingmeng simply shook her head, pretending not to care.

"It's okay, I'm just sitting at home doing nothing anyway, might as well get some exercise."

Although that's what she said, what Lingmeng really thought was --

(Yeah, right! Instead of staying home and bonding with a beautiful girl like Tohka, I'd have to go and be a doorman at someone else's house! What kind of idiot would I be to agree to that!? (ノ)

These are Lingmeng's true feelings.

Honestly, if Kotori weren't a cute little girl and the one who provided her with living expenses, Lingmeng would have already taken drastic measures against her, wouldn't she?

"Um... Sister Lingmeng, could you take a look inside and see what's going on?"

"Okay, I understand."

Lingmeng sighed helplessly, then obediently pressed her ear against the wall to eavesdrop.

Then--

"Yuan... Tobiichi you...?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"I... I don't think so--Ah~ I know! I agree, okay!? Huh? What are you going to do?"

"Take a shower, wait for me."

Intermittent sounds came from inside the door, and Lingmeng, who heard these fragmented pieces of information, had a face full of black lines.

(Holy crap, what kind of filthy things are those two doing in there? Could it be that Shido, this extinct virgin, is finally going to have some meat today?)

Do you have a lot of "Holy crap" in your head?

This is probably the current situation for Lingmeng.

After all, their conversation just now was far too suggestive.

Lingmeng Ayame, who was on Fraxinus, was surprised to see such an expression on her Kotori, so she quickly asked.

"What exactly happened inside Lingmeng? Shido alright?"

"Um... well, I have a feeling that if Shido doesn't come out soon, he'll probably lose his virginity here."

Lingmeng scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"What!? Then why don't you stop them right now!"

Kotori sounded very excited, but Lingmeng didn't know the reason for her excitement.

Didn't you usually like having your brother "train" you? Now that your brother has graduated from being a virgin, shouldn't you be happy?

Lingmeng thought this to herself, then casually waved her hand.

"Okay, okay, I understand."