Sakura Apartments, Room 303.
Luo Shu's home.
The moment they entered, Nia rushed barefoot into the living room, without bothering to put on slippers, and headed straight for the dining table. Seeing the lavish spread of ingredients, she immediately made greedy noises:
"Wow~~ So extravagant~"
"This is A5 Kobe beef! And this - premium Norwegian salmon sashimi..."
Nia picked up the beef and salmon, examining them excitedly before turning to Kisara:
"I guarantee little Kisara will make an excellent wife someday~"
"Should I say thank you for the compliment?" Kisara responded with a forced smile, her face betraying neither sorrow nor joy.
She had planned to have a romantic dinner alone with Luo Shu, so how had it turned into a group gathering?
And wasn't her effort to help with the move—intentionally making Luo Shu return home early—completely wasted now?
As Kisara wrestled with mixed feelings, Megumi Kato, who had just changed into slippers beside her, calmly said "Excuse me" and walked straight to the fridge.
Following Megumi, Miku Izayoi also changed into slippers. As she entered the living room, she glanced around before stopping by the floor-to-ceiling window to gaze at the distant apartment corridor:
"I thought you were moving somewhere far away, Nia, but isn't this just next door?!"
"Nope, the place I'm moving to isn't here—it's in Akihabara. But if you think about it, you could call it next door, too."
Nia Honjo pulled out the chair closest to the head of the table, sat down, and waved cheerfully at Miku:
"Come on, Miku, sit next to me! Dinner's about to start~"
"No, even if you say that, the host hasn't even returned yet?" Miku replied awkwardly, staring at Nia.
Isn't this overly familiar attitude a bit too much? You're practically ready to dig in!
Just then, Luo Shu, who had finished parking the car, pushed open the door and entered. After changing into indoor shoes in the entryway, he stepped inside and scanned the room:
"Looks like you're all set?"
Seeing Megumi bringing drinks and Kisara carrying a plate of prawns and clams, Luo Shu couldn't help but laugh:
"I thought we'd have to deliver the furniture to the garrison first. Are we eating now instead?"
"Eh?" Miku looked puzzled.
Meanwhile, Nia had already turned on the stove, waiting for the hotpot broth to boil as she casually explained to Miku:
"Don't sweat the small details, Miku."
"Just like how it's perfectly reasonable for Luo Shu to move my furniture with a spatial ring, it's also perfectly reasonable for this room to have a space channel leading straight to the Akihabara garrison, right?"
"That does sound reasonable..." Miku sighed, then muttered under her breath, "The kind of reasonable that's hard to accept."
At this point, Luo Shu took his seat at the head of the table and gestured to Miku:
"Alright, Izayoi, stop standing around. Everyone, take your seats."
"..."
Miku fell silent for a moment before sighing and obediently walking over to sit beside Nia.
Though she wasn't particularly fond of this overly friendly lesbian companion, truth be told, Nia was the person she knew best in this room.
Even now, Miku wasn't very familiar with Luo Shu and the others.
Beyond knowing their names, she only knew that Luo Shu, Megumi, and Kisara were members of some transnational mystic side organisation, and that Nia was in a cooperative relationship with them. Everything else remained a mystery to her.
In fact, even her knowledge about the mystic side had only been pieced together from bits and pieces Nia had shared with her over time. At best, she was a complete novice in this world—aware of its existence but only privy to scattered fragments of information.
That was precisely why, when Nia Honjo and Luo Shu invited her to join them for a simple meal, Miku Izayoi hesitated briefly before agreeing.
As a Spirit, Miku considered herself rather inadequate. Apart from instinctively using her innate abilities, she couldn't cast a single spell. According to Nia's analogy, it was like begging on the streets while holding a golden bowl, making her the most vulnerable newbie in their circle, who was prone to danger.
Given this, Miku was quite willing to interact with people from the mystic side. After all, when anyone found themselves in unfamiliar territory, their first priority was gathering intelligence about their surroundings.
And compared to Nia Honjo, who always spoke in riddles, someone like Luo Shu was clearly more willing to provide informative assistance.
While Miku approached with some ulterior motives, Nia was on a completely different level of audacity:
"Wow, there's even lobster? Such a lavish spread?"
Watching Kisara bring out a huge platter of ornate spiny lobster, Nia practically drooled.
"Quick, quick! Luo Shu, pass me the one on the far right - that's the plumpest one!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu wordlessly used serving chopsticks to transfer the lobster while remarking drily:
"Was that dramatic reaction really necessary? It's not like you can't afford these."
"It's different," Nia declared righteously, puffing out her chest. "There's a world of difference between spending your hard-earned money and spending organisational funds~"
"The former is your sweat and toil, the latter is freebies. So, of course, freebies are more satisfying~"
"Besides, if you can freely dip into SDS funds, why can't I have my share?"
"...When have I ever used organisational funds?" Luo Shu found this accusation both funny and exasperating. "Also, tonight's dinner was paid for by Kisara, wasn't it? That hardly counts as funds."
Although Luo Shu did contribute to household expenses, the amount certainly couldn't cover such extravagance. He was fairly certain Kisara had been supplementing the food budget from her own pocket.
It was just that since this arrangement was still new, he hadn't figured out how to address it yet. But by no definition could this be considered organisational funds.
"That's right," Kisara muttered under her breath. She'd bought this with her SDS salary - how could it be considered funds?
These were specially purchased ingredients to nourish Luo Shu's health, definitely not organisational funds.
"You two are hopeless~"
Nia first dropped some mushrooms and radish into the hotpot, then gave Luo Shu and Kisara a disdainful look:
"Doesn't the SDS provide Kisara with meal subsidies?"
"Plus, with me joining soon, combining both our allowances would basically cover daily meals, wouldn't it?"
With a blissful expression, she added:
"Just imagining sleeping early, waking early, eating state provisions, living on state support, drawing a salary with full social security - and best of all, tax-free - makes me feel giddy already~"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's lips twitched as he said flatly: "And what if the subsidies don't get approved?"
"Then I'll compensate you with Miku!" Nia offered without hesitation.
"Eh?" Miku, who hadn't even picked up her chopsticks yet, gaped in shock.
'You can't pay for meals, so you'll pay with me?'
"Pretty good deal, right~?" Nia grinned.
Miku could only respond with exasperated amusement: "How is this something you can call a 'good deal'?"
"Eh?" Nia Honjo froze for a moment, scratching her head before saying, "Once Miku-chan is 'compensated', you'll effectively have a high-ranking Metropolitan Police Department official plus military leadership backing you. No one in the entire entertainment industry would dare mess with you - even better than that JNS president who sleeps around with male celebrities. Isn't that a great deal?"
Miku Izayoi was completely stunned by these words.
So this is what you meant by a 'good deal'?