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"Tsubame-senpai is a bit off."
Amamiya Natsuki keenly noticed Tsubame-senpai's abnormality.
Holding her just now was out of necessity, but letting him continue to hold her now felt a bit strange—
If it were Marin, it wouldn't be strange at all; she might even actively ask him to keep holding her.
As for Tsubame-senpai, their relationship wasn't intimate enough for that.
Just getting her feet dirty from walking, couldn't she just step on the snow and wipe them clean?
Amamiya Natsuki subtly looked at Tsubame-senpai, but unfortunately, no prompt appeared.
"Tsubame-senpai, I need to discuss something with you."
Amamiya Natsuki bent down and picked up Tsubame-senpai, his palms once again touching the girl's delicate, smooth, almost creamy skin.
"Wh-what?"
Tsubame-senpai's voice trembled slightly, and she suddenly wished she could take back her words.
Strange.
Why did she let Natsuki-kun carry her down just now?
It wasn't like she couldn't walk; she could totally walk down by herself!
"Tsubame-senpai, please don't tell anyone what happened today," Amamiya Natsuki said as he walked.
"Eh?"
"If others find out, my innocence will be gone."
Koyasu Tsubame puffed out her cheeks and couldn't help but exclaim, "...That should be my line!"
She was the one without clothes on right now, so whose innocence was truly at stake?!
Amamiya Natsuki continued:
"Tsubame-senpai is so popular. If everyone at school finds out about today, I'll definitely become the school's public enemy."
"That's too exaggerated," Tsubame-senpai lightly snorted, seeing through Amamiya Natsuki's true intentions. "Don't worry, I won't tell Kaguya-san or the others."
"Then I'm relieved."
"Wahhh—"
"..."
Amamiya Natsuki carried Tsubame-senpai and quickly walked downstairs. The clothes that had fallen off when she transformed into a sheep had already been picked up by Mrs. Shimizu, folded, and placed on a wooden stool.
"Tsubame-senpai, do you want me to..."
"Of course not!"
Tsubame-senpai's pretty face flushed crimson as she interrupted him.
Amamiya Natsuki's tone was innocent: "I haven't even said what I was going to do."
"I already guessed," Koyasu Tsubame bit her lip. "Put me down, I'll get dressed myself."
That day in the Gymnastics Club bathroom, she thought he was a gentleman, but now it seemed he clearly wasn't!
Amamiya Natsuki took the flashlight and turned to walk to the door.
Soon, the rustling sound of clothes being put on came from behind him.
A moment later.
Tsubame-senpai's soft sigh of relief gently sounded: "I'm dressed."
"There's something in your hair."
Amamiya Natsuki turned and walked to Tsubame-senpai's side, helping her brush off the dust from her hair. "Let's go, we're going out."
"Mhm."
The two walked out of the old house.
"Natsuki-kun, you're out?"
Mrs. Shimizu, with the little girl, stood in the hallway outside the door, sheltering from the wind and snow.
Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Leave the child to Tsubame-senpai."
"I'm going back."
Mrs. Shimizu quickly entered Amamiya Natsuki's shadow.
She needed ghost energy for her activities, so she had to conserve it as much as possible in the dungeon for emergencies.
"Brave Hero, Knight Sister, I knew you wouldn't be in trouble."
The loli guide looked up, her big eyes full of trust.
"You worried about us."
Tsubame-senpai's voice was gentle as she patted the little girl's head.
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"Little Red Riding Hood, do you know where Sister Karen moved to?"
The Red Shoes quest naturally had to be completed, and to find the girl Karen, he naturally needed to gather information.
"I don't know."
The loli guide quickly shook her head.
"Did Sister Karen have any good friends in the village?"
Koyasu Tsubame pursed her lips and asked gently.
Generally speaking, when moving, people would usually inform their friends.
The loli guide thought seriously: "Sister Karen always seemed to be alone and didn't play with others. After she moved away, I haven't heard anyone discuss her."
Amamiya Natsuki mused:
"Do you still remember what Karen looked like?"
"I remember." This time, the loli guide finally provided useful information, her small face filled with a serious expression of recollection. "Sister Karen was very pretty and smiled beautifully, prettier than most people in the village. She even gave me a piece of bread with butter spread inside; it was super delicious..."
"Butter bread, huh?"
Amamiya Natsuki reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of jam bread. "How about this bag of bread?"
"So, so beautiful!"
The loli guide's eyes widened, her small mouth slightly agape, her face showing an expression of incredible shock.
The soft, golden color, and the brightly colored jam were a complete dimensional attack for Little Red Riding Hood, who grew up in the village and had never seen the world.
A small pigeon's cooing sound suddenly rang out.
The loli guide nervously clutched her stomach, blushing as she lowered her head.
"Here, eat."
Amamiya Natsuki handed over the bread.
Although there was the life-saving grace beforehand, to ask for help, one still had to offer benefits and maintain the relationship.
Food could often be opened from the daily Blind Box, and the transaction price was not expensive. Of course, since it could be stored in the game backpack, it was naturally much more expensive than the Convenience Store's prices.
Amamiya Natsuki and Kaguya and the others had all purchased and stored a lot of food for emergencies.
"I, I don't want it." The loli guide quickly shook her head, stepping back, even putting her hands behind her back as if afraid of dirtying the bread. "Such beautiful bread must be super precious; I can't take it."
"Tsubame-senpai."
Amamiya Natsuki gave Tsubame-senpai a look.
Koyasu Tsubame understood, took the bread, and squatted in front of the loli guide. This Tsubame-senpai had extremely high charm and was a socialite; she was very good at coaxing children. In a short while, she got the loli guide to accept the bread.
"Su-super delicious..."
Watching the loli guide, whose eyes were wide open as if experiencing an exquisite taste for the first time, Amamiya Natsuki felt that if he could see the favorability, it would probably be maxed out instantly.
No wonder some people could trick lolis into seeing goldfish with just a lollipop—because they were genuinely easy to trick!
After only two bites, the loli guide stopped and carefully put the bread away.
"Why don't you finish the bread?"
Tsubame-senpai asked.
"My stomach is full," the loli guide shook her head, clearly not meaning what she said, and whispered, blushing, "I'll take the rest back for Grandma."
Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow:
"If you finish this bread, I'll give you another bag of bread to take to your grandma; otherwise, there won won't be any."
"You'll really give me more bread?"
The loli guide looked up expectantly.
"Don't worry," Tsubame-senpai guaranteed from the side, "He's a Brave Hero; he never lies."
Amamiya Natsuki said seriously:
"That's right, I'm an honest Brave person who never lies."
Tsubame-senpai glared at him: "That statement itself is a lie!"
"..."
After the loli guide finished the bread, Amamiya Natsuki began to ask for specific information.
"What color is Karen's hair?"
"Red-brown."
"And her eye color?"
"Red."
"How old is she this year?"
"Sister Karen's age..."
The loli guide started counting on her fingers.
"Don't count," Amamiya Natsuki pointed at Koyasu Tsubame. "When Karen moved away, was she older than Tsubame-senpai?"
The loli guide quickly said: "About the same age as Knight Sister."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded: "Then her height basically won't change."
Koyasu Tsubame couldn't help but look over and whispered: "...I might still grow a few more centimeters."
Amamiya Natsuki again used Tsubame-senpai as a reference and asked:
"Is Karen taller or shorter than Tsubame-senpai?"
"Shorter than Knight Sister." The loli guide was quite clever, drawing inferences. "But Sister Karen's chest is very small."
The loli guide cupped her hands over her chest, making a lifting motion: "Not as big as Knight Sister's."
Amamiya Natsuki subconsciously nodded; it was indeed very big.
Tsubame-senpai's pretty face flushed, and she covered her chest with her arm, glaring at Amamiya Natsuki in embarrassment.
Amamiya Natsuki continued to ask for details, such as whether she had scars on her face, or any disability in her legs, and so on.
After a series of questions, aside from her exact appearance, Karen's other features had become concrete in his mind.
Red hair, red eyes, less than 1.6 meters tall, flat-chested girl, not good with words, introverted personality.
"Let's go." Amamiya Natsuki closed his notebook. "Continue the operation."
The Red Shoes was just a side quest encountered during exploration; the primary goal was still to find Chika.
The three came to the wall. Amamiya Natsuki first carried Little Red Riding Hood over, then looked at Koyasu Tsubame and said:
"Tsubame-senpai, shall I carry you?"
"Okay."
Tsubame-senpai didn't feign modesty and readily agreed.
He had already carried her when she wasn't wearing clothes, so there was certainly no problem now that she was dressed.
Amamiya Natsuki carried the Senpai out, and guided by the lead loli, he continued the search operation.
A moment later.
"Open the door, we're bringing warmth."
Amamiya Natsuki planned to use the same method to trick open the door.
The next moment, a familiar and pleasant voice of a young girl suddenly came from inside the house:
"Natsuki-kun?"
The door quickly opened, and a secretary appeared behind it.
Looking at the secretary behind the door, Amamiya Natsuki's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he wiggled his pinky.
Under the effect of the red string, the young girl's pinky in the doorway trembled accordingly.
Identity confirmed successfully.
It was indeed Fujiwara Chika, the Cancer of the Earth, the Light of Humanity, and the Source of Chaos.
Fujiwara Chika asked curiously:
"Natsuki-kun, did you find Tsubame-senpai first?"
"I didn't search for her," Amamiya Natsuki corrected, "When I entered the game, the Senpai was already by my side."
Fujiwara Chika: "Eh, the Senpai is super lucky."
Koyasu Tsubame turned her pretty face away: "...Actually, it's not good at all."
If possible, she completely didn't want to turn into a lamb, especially a naked lamb!
The meeting of the two parties was naturally quite a surprise.
Converging in the perilous game meant a significant increase in safety.
"Is there any news about Kaguya-chan and Hanamori-chan?"
Fujiwara Chika asked, crossing her arms.
"Not yet," Amamiya Natsuki looked at the trembling, pale-faced secretary and raised an eyebrow, "Why aren't you wearing clothes?"
When entering the game, everyone had changed into sportswear that was easy to move in, and Fujiwara Chika was no exception.
However, it was currently freezing, and she could have worn more clothes to keep warm. Except for Tsubame-senpai, who was a newbie, Chika and Kaguya had clothes in their backpacks.
"I wanted to wear them, but I couldn't," Fujiwara Chika said with a hint of resentment, "As soon as I entered the game, I was in the courtyard, all alone. Everyone else was gone, so I just waited in place."
Because of the Seize and Eliminate Evil combo skill, Amamiya Natsuki's first goal after entering the game was to find and meet with Fujiwara Chika.
This secretary always gave people an unreliable feeling, so when they formulated their action plan, they decided that if they were scattered upon entry, and if there was no immediate danger around, Fujiwara Chika should not run around but stay put and wait for Amamiya Natsuki to find her.
After entering the game, finding herself all alone, and with no apparent danger nearby, Fujiwara Chika decisively chose to maintain her current state, and then...
She couldn't hold out.
The weather was too cold.
In the season of ice and snow, even a battle-tested cold-resistant girl couldn't withstand the low temperatures.
Speaking of this, Fujiwara Chika turned her head towards the kitchen and continued: "Then Cinderella invited me in to wait..."
"Cinderella?"
Amamiya Natsuki turned his flashlight and swept it towards the kitchen.
A dirty girl, as if she had been sleeping in a coal pile, was illuminated.
"Ah..."
A soft gasp sounded, and the dust-covered girl nervously hid in the kitchen.
Tsubame-senpai speculated from the side:
"If I remember correctly, Cinderella's name seems to be Cinderella?"
"That's right, it's Cinderella," Fujiwara Chika put her hands on her hips and proudly raised her chin, "I met Cinderella from the fairy tale."
Unfortunately, her pride lasted less than three seconds, and Fujiwara Chika started hugging herself and trembling again.
"Cinderella, right?"
Amamiya Natsuki reached out and rubbed the lead loli's small head, "The older sister in front of you is a warrior, tell her your name."
"Hello, Warrior Sister," the lead loli looked up, a little nervous, and introduced herself, "Everyone calls me Little Red Riding Hood."
Fujiwara Chika: "..."
After briefly recounting his experiences during the search, Amamiya Natsuki said:
"So, why didn't you wear more clothes?"
"Because I couldn't," Fujiwara Chika said pitifully, "It was too cold outside, and I didn't know when you would come to find me. If I kept standing in the snow, I might catch a cold, so I went inside, and then I received a game notification saying I had triggered a side quest: The Lost Glass Slipper."
Fujiwara Chika spoke while displaying the quest: "Before finding the lost glass slipper, your backpack will remain sealed, and you won't be able to take anything out."
"I see," Amamiya Natsuki nodded, "Some game quests do have various restrictions."
As Amamiya Natsuki spoke, he took off his jacket and handed it to Chika: "Put it on quickly."
"I almost froze to death."
Fujiwara Chika unceremoniously took the jacket and put it on.
Seeing this, Tsubame-senpai's eyes flickered slightly. If it were her, would she be so natural?
She couldn't do it.
Even if she was clearly cold, she wouldn't easily accept a boy's clothes.
In other words... the relationship between Natsuki and Chika-chan was even deeper than she had imagined.
Humans, such creatures, only abandon useless politeness when they are truly with people they trust and are familiar with.
"I'm so hungry, I want to eat something," Fujiwara Chika extended her right hand, "Natsuki-kun, give me something to eat."
Amamiya Natsuki took out food and said:
"You just ate takoyaki and yakitori, how are you hungry again?"
"I don't know either," Fujiwara Chika shook her head, "Maybe it's too cold, I just suddenly felt hungrier and hungrier, and really wanted to eat."
"Um..." Little Red Riding Hood suddenly spoke, hesitating and whispering, "Grandma said the same thing before she grew mushrooms."
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