"Damn it!!"
Maria Naruse bit down on her cotton white shirt with a furious expression, as if tearing into someone's flesh:
"What did you do to me? Why can't I remove the mental suggestion in my mind?"
Listening to Maria's vigorous accusations, Luo Shu calmly sipped the freshly served hot tea:
"I merely did what you intended to do to me. As for why you can't remove it? Shouldn't that be your own question? After all, the technique was set up by you."
"Damn it."
Seeing Luo Shu's nonchalant attitude, Maria gnashed her teeth in frustration and growled:
"I'm asking you because I can't undo it! I understand the technique perfectly, but I just can't remove it—it's like there's some strange force blocking me."
Hearing this, Luo Shu raised an eyebrow slightly, giving Maria a surprised look.
He hadn't expected that after absorbing her mental suggestion with the power of misfortune and reflecting it back, such a change would occur.
Could it be that misfortune adds its own layer of power to the absorbed force?
Is this what they call... double payback?
Luo Shu mused to himself before addressing the bristling Maria:
"If you can't remove it, then leave it as it is."
"What do you mean, 'leave it as it is'?!" Maria slammed her hands on the table. "Are you saying I'll have to obey your commands like a pet from now on?"
"Sit." Luo Shu gestured downward with his right hand.
"Who'd listen to you and—!"
Maria protested loudly, yet obediently crouched before Luo Shu like a cat.
The moment she realised what she'd done, her face flushed crimson, and she snarled:
"Damn it, just you wait! I'll get you back for this someday!"
Seeing her defiance, Luo Shu turned to Utaha and shrugged:
"Totally a child."
"Well, she does look like one!"
Utaha set a plate of mousse cake in front of Luo Shu before sitting down with a sigh:
"So, you didn't come to this café just to meet me, did you?"
As she spoke, she stole a glance at Luo Shu's profile, as if anticipating a certain answer.
However, Luo Shu didn't notice her subtle expression. Instead, he nodded, picking up a fork to cut into the cake:
"An unregistered Succubus café appeared near the SDS base. Naturally, that's caused some unease."
"Especially since there's an upcoming Abyss Artefact transfer operation."
"So, as a precaution, I came to investigate first."
"What do you mean?"
Maria Naruse suddenly felt something was amiss upon hearing this:
"You said a base?"
"Isn't the SDS base in West Kanda?"
Clearly, Maria Naruse wasn't completely ignorant about the SDS. At the very least, she knew exactly where their Tokyo headquarters was located.
Luo Shu kindly explained upon hearing this:
"Ah, due to my recent promotion, the SDS has established a new branch near Fanglin Park."
"I believe I mentioned this during my self-introduction earlier."
"That I'm the head of the Hidden Management Department."
"Wait, where did you say?"
Maria Naruse tilted her head up, staring blankly at Luo Shu:
"Fanglin Park?"
"Correct." Luo Shu nodded.
"That's right behind this alley!!"
Maria pointed behind herself, dumbfounded:
"Less than fifty metres from the back door. Don't tell me the SDS's new branch is there?"
Luo Shu admitted in a peculiar tone:
"Nearby, well... that's how I'd define it. The exact location can't be disclosed, especially to people like you, Miss Naruse."
Maria's mouth twitched. The realisation that the SDS branch was less than fifty metres away in a straight line made her vision darken.
How was this any different from being right under their noses?
Moreover, at such close proximity, many things would need to be reconsidered.
"So, you came here specifically to..." Maria tentatively asked Luo Shu.
"Actually, my initial conditions were quite simple."
Luo Shu smiled amiably, as if discussing some trivial matter:
"As long as you Succubi behave yourselves—no murder or dismemberment cases—and run your maid café legitimately, I'll turn a blind eye to anything borderline. As long as it's not happening in the café itself, what you do in love hotels is none of my business. You can always claim to be a couple, after all."
"Was that what you meant just now?" Maria blinked her wide eyes, looking slightly confused.
She'd thought Luo Shu's earlier questioning about whether the Succubus-run maid café was legitimate had been pure provocation.
Like searching for a virgin in a brothel—completely asking for trouble.
"Of course, that's what I meant. What else would it be?" Luo Shu looked at Maria strangely. "Even though you're Succubi, unless you commit crimes, I see no need to provoke you, do I?"
"Even police need evidence of wrongdoing before making arrests, no?"
"Ah... I suppose that's true." Maria's expression turned extremely peculiar.
In her experience, apart from their aggressive tactics when competing for Abyss Artefacts, the SDS rarely clashed with other factions unless provoked first.
Wait a minute... then whose fault was it that she'd ended up like this? Herself?
Noticing Maria's odd expression, Luo Shu said very calmly:
"Originally, we could have all gotten along peacefully. Or Miss Naruse could have offered some 'donations' for me to enjoy, and the matter would have been settled."
"But Miss Naruse seems unwilling to accept such peaceful proposals, instead volunteering for the role of a house pet."
Here, Luo Shu paused, his tone becoming somewhat sarcastic:
"Though I'm utterly baffled by this preference for being a dog over a human, since Miss Naruse is so determined, I can hardly refuse."
"However, conditions are rather basic..."
Luo Shu removed the belt from his waist, fastened it around Maria's neck, patted her head and said:
"...For now, you'll have to make do with this."
After hearing all this, Maria's face alternated between green and red for quite some time.
Finally, she managed to blurt out:
"Damn bastard!"