Miku Izayoi found herself torn between laughter and tears at Nia Honjo's twisted logic.
Listening to Nia's reasoning, should she be thanking her for being 'compensated' to Luo Shu?
And you came up with this compensation plan without even consulting her first?
"You certainly know how to work the angles." Luo Shu shot Nia Honjo a glance before remarking, "With all these things, we still can't get you to shut up?"
"Exactly!" Kisara nodded vigorously beside him, throwing Nia a disdainful look.
She'd finally figured it out - Nia Honjo was nothing but a troublemaker here purely for her own amusement.
Compensating Luo Shu with a stunning, currently active idol girl? Did anyone ask for her permission?
In short, this kind of thing was absolutely unacceptable!!
"What's with that? This is clearly beneficial for everyone involved~."
Nia Honjo picked up a piece of blanched cabbage, blowing on it noisily.
"In the entertainment industry, without proper backing, my dear Miku-chan would definitely get bullied to death. So what's wrong with helping her secure protection in advance?"
"Wait, stop adding unnecessary prefixes to people! Since when was I 'your dear Miku-chan'?"
Miku Izayoi found herself both exasperated and amused by Nia's words:
"Besides, the entertainment industry isn't as terrible as you make it out to be. Everyone's actually quite nice."
Hearing this, Luo Shu and Kisara exchanged glances, their expressions turning somewhat odd.
Noticing their reaction, Miku hesitated: "Did... did I say something wrong?"
"You didn't say anything wrong. It's just that your statement was a bit too naive."
Nia Honjo chimed in cheerfully, adding:
"So naive that even little Kisara thinks you're an innocent good girl now."
Turning to Luo Shu with a teasing grin, Nia continued:
"So, what do you think? Quite the surprise, isn't it?"
"This is the completely unpolluted, non-darkened, 100% natural Miku we're talking about here~"
"Opportunities like this don't come around twice!"
"How about it? Don't you just want to scoop up this adorable Miku and cherish her?"
"Nia!!"
Miku Izayoi was utterly exasperated. What nonsense was this friend of hers spouting now?
And that Luo Shu gentleman beside them - what was with that tempted expression on his face?
Had he actually been swayed by this idiot's words?
Just as Miku was rendered speechless, Luo Shu asked with some surprise:
"So you dragged Miku here specifically to find her a protector?"
"Of course!" Nia Honjo puffed out her chest confidently. "After all, I'll be staying at the garrison for a while to hide from the demon's claws. Going out freely will be basically impossible."
"In this situation, I definitely need to find a strong protector for my perfectly safeguarded Miku!"
"Besides, since you're already protecting me, Luo Shu, wouldn't it be perfectly normal to protect Miku as well?"
"Perfectly safeguarded?" Luo Shu gave Miku a somewhat surprised glance.
Earlier, he'd noticed that the current Miku Izayoi seemed genuinely uncontaminated, with normal values - not the extremely man-hating lesbian from his memories.
Judging by this, Nia had indeed done a good job protecting her.
Thinking this, Luo Shu joked:
"Well, since you put it that way, Nia, I'll reluctantly agree to be this protector."
"Don't worry, you won't lose out~ After all, who could refuse such an adorable munchkin like Miku~"
Listening to Nia's less-than-comforting praise and seeing Luo Shu's agreeing expression, Miku could only sigh:
"Are you two completely incapable of listening to others?"
She was thoroughly done with these two.
One arbitrarily finding her a protector, the other arbitrarily accepting?
Couldn't you two at least consider her opinion?
Just then, a gentle voice sounded in her ear:
"Would you like some shrimp?"
"Ah, thank you." Miku instinctively held out her bowl to receive the large shrimp offered by serving chopsticks, then paused, looking at the bob-haired girl sitting to her right.
'Where did you come from? When did you sit beside me?'
Several question marks flashed through Miku's mind before she suddenly remembered - wasn't this the girl who'd been following Luo Shu earlier? Kato or Itou or something?
"Actually, Izayoi-san doesn't need to pay attention to what the Director and Honjo-san say. The more you react, the more they enjoy teasing you."
Megumi Kato explained softly to Miku, kindly adding:
"When the Director gets like this, it's best to just ignore him. After all, he generally doesn't mean us any harm."
Hearing this, Miku blinked, then instinctively asked:
"Kato-san, have they bullied you like this, too?"
Miku automatically assumed Megumi must have suffered similar treatment; otherwise, how would she be so experienced?
Thinking this, Miku couldn't help feeling a sense of shared suffering.
But, come to think of it, she had felt this way before—back then, the target was Luo Shu, who had been bullied alongside her by Nia. Now, it seemed he had joined in on bullying her instead.
Megumi Kato shook her head at this point. "No, it's just that after watching the Director bully others so often from the sidelines, I figured things out on my own."
"I see... or not!" Miku Izayoi couldn't hold back anymore.
So you've just been standing by watching your Director bully people all this time?
A troublemaker? Or an accomplice?
With such a pretty face and such a gentle demeanour, who'd have thought you'd be just as bad?
Megumi paid no mind to Miku's reaction, simply smiling as she turned her head and glanced at Kisara, who was enthusiastically piling food onto Luo Shu's plate. She remarked coolly:
"Kisara-san, the Director's bowl is about to overflow."
"Huh? Oh, oh!!" Only then did Kisara snap out of it. She peeked at Luo Shu's overstuffed bowl, her face flushing red as she guiltily placed a peeled lobster on top of the pile.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu, who had been colluding with Nia Honjo, finally became aware of the issue. He looked down at his rice bowl, his lips twitching, before picking up the entire piece of lobster meat. After biting off half and swallowing it, he said bluntly:
"Nia, judging by Miku's reaction, you haven't let her touch any information about the mystic side, have you?"
"How could that be...?" Nia instinctively retorted, then glanced at Miku, who looked utterly confused, before guiltily adding, "She knows a little, at least. Well, definitely more than that Eriri girl."
'You're comparing her to Eriri now...'
Luo Shu sighed helplessly.
"That's as good as saying nothing."
"Which is exactly why I said I wanted you to be Miku's backer!" Nia wore the expression of a mother entrusting her daughter to someone, patting Luo Shu's shoulders with both hands.
To this, Luo Shu could only respond with a dry chuckle before sighing again.
"So, we're talking about remedial lessons in basic common sense, is that it?"
Luo Shu eyed Miku hesitantly. If they could sign a Familia contract, most of the basic knowledge could be filled in quickly. But it seemed Miku wasn't yet at the stage where she'd willingly agree to such a contract.
"This is going to be a bit troublesome."
Just as Luo Shu finished saying "troublesome," Nia cheerfully interjected, "How could it be troublesome? Don't you know? The education expert is about to arrive!"
'Education expert?' Luo Shu froze. Before he could react, a pair of arms suddenly reached out from behind and wrapped around his neck.
The next second, a girl's displeased huff sounded in his ear:
"Sneaking off to have dinner with girls behind my back... Big Brother really is a naughty, troublesome child~~"
Before anyone could react, the Seal Spirit, Mukuro Hoshimiya, made her grand entrance!