Outside Room 303's door.
Luo Shu buttoned up Toyogasaki High School's dark blue uniform with its row of buttons. After changing shoes in the entryway, he opened the door and turned back to address Mira inside:
"Not that I mind, but are you really just staying here like this?"
Mira grinned, made an OK sign, then stretched lazily:
"Choosing whether to work is the special privilege of working adults, you know."
'No, I just wanted to say it might be a bit inappropriate for a girl to stay at a guy's place...'
'Also, working adults don't have the freedom to decide whether to go to work or not, that's clearly a boss's privilege...'
Luo Shu silently complained in his mind before glancing up at Mira Tsubakihara and saying:
"Don't go overboard."
He somewhat understood Mira's eagerness to use her newly acquired abilities immediately.
And the most suitable place to use such abilities was naturally the astronomy club's base, so the reason for Mira staying at Luo Shu's place was quite obvious.
'That being said, having such a stunning beauty staying at my place... Hah, how am I supposed to focus in class?'
With these thoughts, Luo Shu stepped out of the apartment. Just before closing the door, a lively female voice called out from inside.
"Have a safe trip~~"
"This feels really strange..." Luo Shu paused at the doorway for a moment before casually picking up his schoolbag and heading towards the elevator.
...
"He's out."
In a hotel room not far away, Takina Inoue lowered her binoculars, her tone calm and measured:
"Should we try making contact now?"
"What's what? Let me see..." Chisato Nishikigi, munching on a burger, walked over and took the binoculars, directing them towards the apartment building.
Within a minute, Luo Shu appeared at the apartment entrance, pushed open the glass door, and stepped out, scanning his surroundings as if observing something.
"Ohhh~" Chisato Nishikigi drew out her tone before taking another bite of her burger. "His movements are so obvious. If there were other surveillance teams, he'd probably have been spotted already."
Hearing this, Takina Inoue sighed beside her: "You know he's a rookie. So why assign him such a dangerous mission?"
"Because the risk level is low. That's what Big Sister said." Chisato explained in a light-hearted tone: "Facing an Abyss Artefact like the Demon Heart would be dangerous for girls like me and Takina, right?"
"Considering that, Big Sister assigned Luo Shu - a man who's also saved that young lady - to handle this mission."
Takina fell silent for a moment before saying: "...I don't deny the Section Chief's reasoning, but I still believe this mission exceeds a rookie's capabilities."
"The person sent should be an experienced infiltrator who can properly handle potential surveillance, not a newcomer who has just joined. This is irresponsible towards the rookie..."
Chisato wasn't surprised by Takina's opinion, but reminded her: "But Takina, the 'experienced personnel' you mentioned... our SDS simply doesn't have any..."
"Hmm..." Takina's expression stiffened at this. After a moment's silence, she could only sigh in the face of reality.
Seeing Takina sigh, Chisato quickly waved her hands to comfort her: "There, there, Luo Shu's fine, isn't he? In a way, things are still under control... Oh, he's spotted us. Impressive, from this distance..."
After saying this, Chisato put down her binoculars and waved energetically in Luo Shu's direction: "Hey, over here~~"
"Wait, Chisato—" Takina froze at Chisato's bold action. "Doing this might alert any hidden surveillance!"
By then, having noticed Luo Shu looking their way, Chisato said breezily, "No, my intuition says there aren't any surveillance teams. Well, except for our colleague upstairs."
"But considering that young lady's relationship with Luo Shu, our upstairs colleague can be excluded from the list of dangerous elements."
As she spoke, Chisato tilted her head slightly to observe Mira Tsubakihara leaning on the third-floor apartment balcony railing, watching Luo Shu walk away. She couldn't help but chuckle:
"Quite the achievement, Luo Shu. Reaching this stage in one night? Did he make it to third base? Or second? Surely not just first base?"
Hearing this, Takina immediately flushed red and covered Chisato's mouth: "Such indecent talk!!"
"Mmmph! Mmm!" Chisato struggled against the hand muffling her, quickly raising her hands in surrender.
The two tussled and rolled about in their playful scuffle.
...
Ten minutes later.
Luo Shu stood before the hotel room door and raised his hand to knock twice.
"Just a moment, coming..." Chisato's voice called from inside, followed by a calmer female voice:
"I'll get it."
Yet as soon as these words were spoken, Chisato suddenly cried out from within:
"Takina~~ clothes clothes~~"
"Ah, damn it~~" The previously composed voice now sounded distinctly flustered.
Outside the door, Luo Shu, who had listened to the 'entire process', wore a very peculiar expression. His raised hand hesitated between knocking and not knocking.
'So, what exactly are you two doing in there? Can I take a look?!'
Before long, the door opened, revealing Chisato Nishikigi's grinning face:
"Sorry to keep you waiting, partner~~"
"More importantly, what were you two..." Luo Shu tilted his head, peering past Chisato into the room.
At that moment, he saw a purple-eyed girl with shoulder-length black hair vigorously wiping her uniform skirt with tissues near the television.
The heart of the skirt was marred by the distinctly unflattering black safety shorts underneath.
"Ah~~ about that..." Chisato waved her hand helplessly: "The hamburger's ketchup got on her skirt. Takina really doesn't pay attention to her surroundings. Now the burger's on the floor, and her skirt's ruined, sigh~~"
Life's hardships made Chisato sigh.
Meanwhile, Takina Inoue's voice carried a note of displeasure from inside the room:
"This accident happened precisely because of your improper behaviour, Chisato."
"Improper?" Luo Shu gave Chisato a surprised look.
Chisato's face instantly puffed up like a steamed bun as she stuck out her tongue accusingly: "It's Takina's fault! You started it first."
Takina immediately bit her lip and glared at Chisato, refusing to continue the argument.
Seeing this, Chisato gave an awkward laugh and quickly pulled Luo Shu into the room:
"Alright, alright, no time to dwell on trivial matters now. Come on, Luo Shu, hurry inside."
Luo Shu was dragged into the room by Chisato, and with a thud, the door closed behind them.
Chisato released Luo Shu and patted his shoulder:
"Good work, partner~"
"Must've been tough last night."
"Not only did you have to approach that young lady under her bodyguard's nose, but you also had to search her personal belongings for the Abyss Artefact without being noticed."
"Managing to last until morning without getting caught—you really went through the wringer."
Chisato's pats on Luo Shu's shoulder were thunderous, her tone dripping with sympathy.
Meanwhile, Takina chimed in comfortingly: "Even though the mission failed, don't worry. This was entirely due to the Chief's unreasonable task allocation. The responsibility lies with her, not you."
"While I appreciate the sentiment..."
Luo Shu looked at his consoling colleagues with a strange expression before pulling out a ruby ring from his pocket:
"But... I actually retrieved the target?"
Silence fell over the room.