The next day, the place Xi Ye chose for his new home was not far from his dormitory. He discovered it through an online housing recommendation—a simple, modest apartment.
The moving process was straightforward; he just needed to bring his belongings to the gate of Kuoh Academy. Although the room was not very large, Xi Ye began packing his things. He planned to bundle everything into one large package. Even without the enhancement of Power Word, his body had already been strengthened from learning the technique, making it easy for him to carry a hundred pounds of items!
"Xi Ye-kun~"
Koneko stood outside the door in her school uniform. As a fellow student, she could visit the boys' dormitory during daytime hours without raising any suspicion.
"Koneko-chan, why are you here? Didn't I say you didn't need to come?" Xi Ye turned to look at Koneko, putting down what he was holding.
"I just want to help~"
With that, Koneko walked in, went to the bed, and began tidying up the bedding.
Seeing that Koneko had already started, Xi Ye didn't stop her and began disassembling his computer accessories. But when he turned his back, Koneko kept flipping through the blankets, searching for something.
"Isn't there anything..." Koneko muttered, slightly disappointed.
Following advice she had read online about where boys hide things, she looked under the bed. But when she lay down to check, she found the space under the bed empty.
"Huh, that's good," she thought with relief. Otherwise, how could she face Xi Ye after seeing something inappropriate?
Koneko stood up cautiously and, when she looked up again, found Xi Ye staring at her.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"N-nothing," Koneko hurriedly shook her head, a bright red blush rising to her cheeks, nearly betraying her thoughts.
"Shouldn't... Koneko, are you looking for something else?" An amused thought crossed Xi Ye's mind. This was really awkward. Was Koneko really thinking what he suspected she was?
He couldn't help but cover his face with a look of helplessness. He was a young man in his twenties; if he had anything inappropriate, would he hide it in such an obvious way? Did she know what was more advanced than magic? That would be technology called cloud storage!
"What... Xi Ye-kun, you're thinking too much," Koneko said, ducking her head as she resumed cleaning.
"Can't even lie properly... she's so innocent... but sometimes it's..." Xi Ye murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth twitching. Her expression was hard to misinterpret.
After a while, everything was packed. Xi Ye picked up the large bundle and brought it to the school gate, where he loaded it into the moving company's vehicle.
"Phew! Done." With everything loaded, Xi Ye naturally got into the car. However, when Koneko also tried to climb in, a magical communication spell rang in her ears, a function exclusively for communication between Rias's peerage members.
Akeno Himejima's voice said, "Koneko-chan~ Wrap up whatever you're doing and come to the Occult Research Club immediately. We've located the fallen angels' base and have a new mission~"
This message couldn't be heard by ordinary people, but Xi Ye was listening.
"Xi Ye-kun~ you go ahead. I suddenly have something else to attend to," Koneko said apologetically as she backed away from the car.
"Alright, you go on, but be careful," Xi Ye replied. He understood some basic rules of the Occult Research Club: if there was a task, members had to return immediately, especially when it involved fallen angels.
Koneko rushed off to the Occult Research Club.
"Fallen Angels!?" The only thing that came to Xi Ye's mind was the fallen angel Raynare, disguised as Amano Yuuma.
"Did they discover their hiding place so quickly?" Xi Ye wondered. He knew that Raynare and her associates were based in the abandoned church in Kuoh Town. Only that special location would avoid attracting attention from the local power, Rias.
But he had underestimated the powerful and keen detection capabilities of the Occult Research Club.
"That Raynare still owes me a nun. Are they planning a siege?" Xi Ye shook his head. He had no intention of saving the fallen angel. What worried him was whether the scheming Raynare would reveal his involvement.
That wouldn't do. Xi Ye's eyes narrowed; he needed to eliminate this unstable factor immediately. At the very least, Yuuma needed to be silenced permanently.
"Don't blame me, it's your life on the line," he thought.