Chapter 81 Volume 4 Chapter 14 : The Girl’s Afternoon Tea (Part 1)
Tianqi Sanluo didn’t use any spirit power.
Come on—would she really need to use spiritual power, or even her Angel, against a freshly armed AST member? She was a Spirit, after all; she had to maintain at least that much dignity.
She had experienced this kind of almost completely interference-free, pure hand-to-hand combat before.
No—she had experienced many such seemingly hopeless fights.
Only, in most of those cases, she was the one in the weaker position—at least in terms of strength on paper.
Thus, through constant battles, Tianqi Sanluo had developed some fighting techniques of her own.
For example—the one she was about to use on Tobiichi Origami—
Tianqi Sanluo raised both arms and directly hooked onto Origami’s shoulders, forcing her to lift her arms as well and enter a contest of strength.
Although her strength as a Spirit far surpassed her opponent’s, a simple victory was not what she wanted.
In her previous life, she almost never had the advantage in raw strength, so she learned to compensate in other ways.
This time, since she needed to finish the fight quickly, relying on brute force alone wouldn’t do.
Suddenly, Tianqi Sanluo slid both hands inward and used the strength of her upper arms to push Origami’s forearms apart.
Then, her right hand seized Origami’s neck, using the girl’s own momentum to send her center of gravity pitching forward.
However, Origami’s combat ability truly was impressive. Even with her balance disrupted by Sanluo’s maneuver, she stabilized her footing within the shortest time and attempted to counterattack.
Yet in that precious one or two seconds, Tianqi Sanluo moved with lightning speed, securing Origami’s left arm and raising her own left elbow high, driving it hard into the back of the girl’s head.
As the saying goes, “an elbow is as sharp as a blade.” Through past battles, Tianqi Sanluo had recognized the destructive power of the bone at the elbow and made extensive use of it in later fights.
“Hngh—”
With a muffled groan, even someone as physically capable as Tobiichi Origami was knocked unconscious under the strength of a Spirit.
And that was with Tianqi Sanluo deliberately holding back.
After all, Origami would be useful later—no need to kill her. A light lesson to help her “remember things better” was more than enough.
Though judging from the hatred that had flared in Origami’s eyes the moment she saw a Spirit, this level of a beating probably wouldn’t make her truly fear Sanluo.
The fight ended quickly—only a few seconds.
And the entire thing was so quiet that no one inside noticed a thing.
Then, Tianqi Sanluo dragged Origami’s “corpse” and casually stuffed her into a nearby trash can.
……
The next day after school.
Itsuka Shidou—no, Itsuka Shiori—was standing in front of the gate of Rindōji Girls’ Academy, waiting for Miku to get out of class.
“—Shidou, can you hear me? Rindōji has already let out. She should show up any moment now.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you…”
Responding to his little sister Kotori’s instructions, Shiori took the lace-trimmed handkerchief—freshly washed—from his pocket and held it quietly in his palm.
“Returning a borrowed handkerchief” was a perfectly reasonable excuse.
Of course, this also meant that once she took the handkerchief back, she might immediately say goodbye…
But based on the analysis of the crew aboard Fraxinus, and the degree of affection Yuzuru Miku felt toward Itsuka Shiori, it shouldn’t be so bad that Shiori wouldn’t even get a chance to speak.
So, Itsuka Shiori waited quietly.
“…Oh right—be careful. According to intel, Tianqi Sanluo seems to be at Rindōji as well.”
“Oh… huh?”
In his—no, her—dazed stupor, Itsuka Shidou really didn’t want to hear that name again.
Even though both she and Kurumi had been sealed without a first meeting, unlike Kurumi—who spent most of her time in hiding—Tianqi Sanluo had an intense interest in interfering with Shidou’s Spirit-saving missions. Her bizarre sense of humor led her, as an outsider, to meddle repeatedly, throwing everything into chaos.
According to Tianqi Sanluo herself, she did it to… have fun?
Itsuka Shidou couldn’t understand this at all.
Itsuka Shiori, now in girl form, also couldn’t understand it.
“I know what this means—so? Shidou, are you still not planning to give up on Tianqi Sanluo? A lot of this wouldn’t happen if you would just tell her directly that you won’t get involved in anything concerning her.”
“But, Kotori…”
“If you clearly draw the line with her, then even Tianqi Sanluo wouldn’t be so unrestrained in disrupting your missions, right? She doesn’t seem to like using force unless necessary.”
That was true, though the evidence was thin.
For Tianqi Sanluo, using force was a last resort. And it was precisely Shidou’s insistence on “saving” her that sparked her interest in him—leading her to keep interfering under that excuse.
If Itsuka Shidou were to give up on her for real, then although Tianqi Sanluo would still watch for amusement, she basically wouldn’t intervene.
“……”
Faced with this, Shiori decisively fell silent.
“Shidou? Are you listening? Hey!”
“…For now, let’s focus on Miku.”
“But Shidou, could it be that you—”
“Let me seal the current Spirit first. Then we can talk about Tianqi-san. Okay?”
Itsuka Shiori was rarely this firm.
Kotori fell silent.
“…All right, Shidou. If that’s what you’ve decided…”
After that, Kotori stopped talking, and Shiori continued to quietly wait for Yuzuru Miku to exit the gate.
That said, among a crowd of girls in sailor uniforms, a lone student wearing a different school’s uniform inevitably drew attention. Shiori anxiously tugged the hem of her skirt down and rubbed her legs together.
“Kotori… since Miku is part of the Tengu Festival Committee, isn’t it possible she stayed behind for work?”
“Mm… You don’t need to worry. According to intel, Yuzuru Miku always invites a girl she likes to her home once per week for afternoon tea—like last time, when she invited Tianqi Sanluo.”
“I see… no wonder Miku seems to like Tianqi-san.”
Shiori narrowed her eyes, continuing to look for Miku.
“But don’t worry. Based on yesterday’s analysis, Yuzuru Miku’s affection for you is quite high. Just go for it.”
“Got it…”
Just as Shidou spoke, he noticed a group of students walking over from the school building.
It was Miku and the girls always following her.
And… Tianqi Sanluo, wearing a school uniform.
“…Kotori, it’s been more than a day. Why hasn’t Tianqi Sanluo Lost yet?”
“…No idea. Genie (Shura)’s manifestation never lasted more than a day before.”
……
Tianqi Sanluo found it strange as well—her manifestation time seemed unusually long this time.
She had already prepared to Lost at any moment, ready to return to Tenguu City to continue watching the drama unfold. She even went to the elusive Kurumi for help, asking how to extend her time in this world—or failing that, how to control her manifestation frequency.
Between the two options, Kurumi seemed to hesitate for a long time before choosing the latter.
In return, Tianqi Sanluo agreed to assist Kurumi in her upcoming attack on DEM Japan’s headquarters—though she made it clear she would only “assist,” not fight excessively.
Kurumi didn’t mind, responding with a smile.
Yet more than a day had passed, and she still hadn’t Lost.
“What’s going on?”
Tianqi Sanluo checked the flow of spirit power inside her—everything seemed normal.
But this was fine too. Today, Itsuka Shidou would come under the pretense of returning the handkerchief and attempt to communicate with Yuzuru Miku—and might even be dragged into her afternoon tea.
She had a feeling this afternoon tea would be quite the spectacle.
So after a long, draining day of classes—since Tianqi Sanluo had hardly received any formal education in her previous life and found studying difficult—she followed Miku and her group of followers.
Miku naturally welcomed Tianqi Sanluo with an enthusiastic French-style salute, while her followers seemed slightly displeased, though they didn’t dare voice it.
And so, Itsuka Shiori met her again.
“Come now, Itsuka Shidou—let the show begin.”
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