Chapter Twenty-Four: A Narrow Escape, For Now

“Calm down, both of you.”
The arrow of demon-banishing shot toward his throat! He deflected it with telekinesis!
“You’ve got the wrong target.”
The black blade, hardened by power, slashed down! He blocked it with white matter!
Gongsun Ce shouted in exasperation, “Why are you attacking me?!”
“You’re one to talk, Gongsun Ce!!”
Not good—Miss Shiyu’s expression looked absolutely fiendish, even more terrifying than during their last decisive battle.
“I wasn’t talking to you, you narcissist!” The esper dodged a teleporting stab. “Miss Qin! Why are you siding with them too? Aren’t you supposed to help me?”
Not good—Miss Qin, face expressionless and blade raised, looked even scarier than when she tore Xu Junyi apart.
“You keep claiming you’re looking out for Shiyu’s love life, but you’re just abusing your position to act indecently.”
A slash from the longsword followed; Gongsun Ce rolled aside without any regard for his dignity, and the blade cut the railing behind him in two.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Ce.”
The murderous intent was even more intense than the day he first met Kira...! This time Shiyu was overwhelmed herself—he’d have to find a way out on his own.
He must stay calm—the more dire the situation, the more he needed clarity. Since the incident began with Shiyu Ling, the key must lie with her. First, he had to observe and gather information to solve this predicament step by step!
The gray-haired youth glanced at the false hunter’s face.
Miss Shiyu’s cheeks were still flushed, as if she’d just been harassed by a villain.
“—Come on, don’t blush! Have some dignity as an adult, will you? You’re making me look like some kind of pervert!”
“Shut up, you naive virgin, you’re not any better! Besides, what you did just now was textbook perversion!”
Observing was useless—Miss Qin’s killing intent was only intensifying.
Gongsun Ce decided to take drastic action and clear up the misunderstanding as quickly as possible.
“Listen, Shiyu Ling, I have absolutely no interest—” the gray-haired youth clutched his arm and turned away “—in a self-absorbed, awful woman like you.”
“I could puke. What are you, some tsundere side character?”
“Besides, you’re above my age range anyway.”
“—Fine, Gongsun Ce, I’ll settle the score from last time right here.”
Shiyu Ling cut her palm with a fingertip.
“!”
Qin Qianbai instantly redirected her blade, earning only a mocking laugh from the lawless Magus.
“Miscalculation, little girl. Fighting outnumbered only makes me stronger!”
She was getting serious.
Attack with maximum speed? If Shiyu Ling could give commands before her power was fully deployed, both of them would just become targets. A safer approach was to launch several kinds of attacks at once; from a fault-tolerance perspective, Miss Qin, who was weaker defensively, wasn’t suited to the vanguard role...
“Ce, close combat?”
Qin Qianbai had thought of this too, helping the esper make a swift decision: “Leave close range to me! Invisible Fist—”
“Spirit Manifest—”
Just as the battle was about to erupt—
Drip, drip.
A sound like water falling echoed.
Gongsun Ce felt he’d heard something similar before. He remembered—it was Shiyu Ling’s phone ringtone.
Drip, drip—the sound continued, and both sides, ready to fight, awkwardly paused.
The esper adjusted his glasses. “Heh, I’ll let you answer the call first.”
“What’s with that infuriating look!”
Miss Shiyu awkwardly pulled out her phone. “Hello, this is Alice...”
Hearing that alias, Gongsun Ce deliberately chuckled, earning a glare from the blue-haired woman.
“Now?... Huh?! What kind of mission is this... You people at Skydome... Fine, I get it.”
Shiyu Ling hung up, looking bewildered.
She quickly returned to her fierce expression. “You—”

“I sincerely apologize, Miss Shiyu! You came at me so fast I didn’t get a chance to say sorry. Never mind what happened two weeks ago; this time, I was truly out of line!”
Shiyu Ling, who’d meant to say something harsh before leaving, was instead met with his earnest apology.
“If I don’t find a way to get you offstage, Shiyu’s date will really be ruined today.”
Gongsun Ce closed his eyes and spread his arms.
“This was undoubtedly my fault. If you want to hit me, go ahead—as long as it’s not fatal, I won’t fight back.”
Shiyu Ling’s mouth twitched. “That last line was so lame.”
“Well, it’s not like the matter is serious enough for me to risk my life.”
After all that commotion, it seemed everyone finally calmed down. Miss Shiyu turned away in annoyance.
“Fine, go play your little house game with Shiyu Lian all you want...”
Then, the young lady who’d been silent all along spoke.
“Ah, come to think of it, Cardesia was trying to set you up with Shiyu.”
That line hit Shiyu Ling’s sore spot perfectly. No sooner had she regained her composure than she exploded, “What is that girl thinking?! Is the thing on her neck just for show?!”
Miss Qin didn’t join in the criticism. She pointed out sharply, “So, Ce actually helped you out. If he hadn’t intervened, the one in that car would’ve been—”
Well said, young lady! That’s my best friend!
Shiyu Ling’s current expression was priceless—just looking at her was refreshing!
“—You, you, you, all of you remember this!”
With a line even lamer than Gongsun Ce’s, Shiyu Ling vanished on the spot.
The gray-haired youth laughed heartily. “That’s right, Miss Shiyu, you really ought to thank me! Hahaha!”
Smack.
The esper felt a hand on his shoulder.
Gongsun Ce slowly turned—behind him was Miss Qin, who had just spoken up for him.
The girl repeated, expressionless,
“Ha, ha, ha.”
A few cold beads of sweat formed on the gray-haired youth’s forehead.
“Miss, please, calm down—”
“Deciding to get Shiyu Ling offstage was correct. But why did you have to carry her off?”
“It happened so fast, I just—”
Miss Qin cut him off mercilessly. “Lies.”
She wouldn’t even give him a chance to make excuses! Terrifying!
The gray-haired youth raised both hands in surrender.
“I admit there was a bit of payback in it—after all, she did rip out my heart. Isn’t it fair to let her suffer a bit? You know I didn’t touch her; it was all telekinesis—”
“Telekinesis still gives sensory feedback, right?”
“It’s nothing like actual physical contact. It’s like popping bubble wrap through a plastic sheet—really hard to control precisely!”
Half of that was a lie.
The young lady nodded.
He’d dodged a bullet—finally—
“Then, why did you blush earlier, Ce?”
M-Miss, why does your face look dark? Did you harden your skin with psychic power? That’s so bad for your image—maybe don’t use your powers that way—he couldn’t even make a joke, because she truly looked terrifying now!
“Think about Shiyu, think about our matchmaking mission!” the esper cried in despair. “Remember, the helper is always blessed! Now’s not the time to waste here—if we don’t do something for that blockhead, a beautiful romance will be ruined!”
“Yes, if we don’t do something for the blockhead, a beautiful romance will be ruined.”
She agreed with his words, but her blade was coming down!
No, with only Kira helping, Shiyu’s situation was truly worrisome. He had to find a way out—for the sake of others, and to save himself!
The gray-haired youth brought his hands up, catching the blade.
“Listen, young lady, let me off this time. I’ll agree to whatever you ask next!”
Qin Qianbai paused.

She tilted her head. “So, one command?”
What kind of phrasing is that? It sounds like I’m selling myself.
“Yes, yes, you get one command—anything, but only once—”
She tapped the rooftop with her blade.
“One’s not enough. Make it a whole day. If I get a whole day, I’ll let you off this time.”
Don’t push your luck—
He didn’t have the courage to say that out loud.
Gongsun Ce slumped in the corner of the rooftop. “Fine. One day it is...”
“A command from Ce, valid for 24 hours.”
“Stating it in hours just makes it sound scarier—what exactly do you want me to do?!”
“Discuss it with Cardesia later.”
The gray-haired youth stood up with a bitter face and checked his pocket watch.
“At least don’t tell that woman about this... Damn, how long have we been here? Shiyu’s probably reached the destination by now!!”
Miss Qin leaned over to glance at the watch.
“...See, see, that’s the look of someone realizing something’s gone terribly wrong. Let’s start the next phase of the plan.”
“Enough talk, let’s get moving. Hey, Kira, can you hear me?!”
Only static came from the earpiece—the twin-tailed girl was already out of range.
The imperial duo exchanged a glance, then leapt from the rooftop, heading off into the distance.
Hang in there, Kira. Until we get back...
Please, please don’t come up with any harebrained schemes on your own!!!
·
Now then.
Let’s rewind to just after the commotion in front of the apartment building.
Shiyu and Cardesia had set off in the sports car.
Gongsun Ce, Qin Qianbai, and Shiyu Ling had run off for their all-out brawl.
The only one left to help Shiyu was Kira. She knew the destination, but—
She had no phone, no spare change, couldn’t drive, didn’t know where the pigeon was, and had only glanced at the map during yesterday’s planning session.
Here lay the problem.
Miss Kira, how are you going to catch up to Shiyu’s sports car?
“Excuse me! Could I please borrow your scooter for a bit?!”
That’s why, upon bursting out of the apartment complex, she flagged down the first vehicle she saw.
The owner of the scooter was a middle schooler in a baseball cap. He stared at the stranger in confusion, hesitating. “Um, miss... people don’t usually lend these out...”
“Please, I can’t find Gongsun Ce and the others, and I can’t think of any other way!” The pink-haired girl, with her striking figure, pleaded anxiously. “But I have to help them somehow!”
The boy shuddered at a certain name.
He jumped off the scooter as if fleeing, voice trembling, “I-I-I’m happy to help, take it, just take it, okay? Can I go now?”
“Thank you! I’ll return it when I’m done!”
Miles stared blankly as the stranger rode his scooter onto the main road.
Only then did he realize—he didn’t know her name or where she was going. All he’d heard was the name of an esper, which wouldn’t help him get his scooter back.
“My scooter...”
The unlucky middle schooler clutched his head and wailed, “My scooter, aaahhh!!”
His pitiful cry reached the ears of a passing man dressed in blue.
The man looked curiously at the despairing child. “What happened to your scooter?”