Inside the ramen shop.
Gulp gulp!
Watching Utau Hoshina chugging coconut water frantically, Luo Shu couldn't help but chuckle.
Faced with Luo Shu's blatant laughter, Utau Hoshina, having finished a whole can of coconut water, turned and glared at him:
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just thought of something happy." Luo Shu whistled, then joked with a smile.
Utau Hoshina curled her lips into a strained smile:
"What exactly made you so happy?"
"Just something very happy." Luo Shu quickly changed the subject: "By the way, should I get you a few more bottles of water to rinse your mouth?"
"No need." Utau Hoshina glanced warily at the growing number of customers in the ramen shop, already sensing some were sneaking glances their way. She shook her head, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and prepared to put on her face mask.
At that moment, Luo Shu suddenly snapped his fingers. Hearing the sound, Utau Hoshina looked up and noticed that everyone in the ramen shop, including the chef, had frozen in place, staring blankly ahead as if their souls had left their bodies.
Just then, she heard Luo Shu say with a laugh:
"Don't worry. After we leave, no one in the shop will realise we were ever here."
Hearing this, Utau Hoshina immediately understood it was Luo Shu's doing.
She remarked with some envy, "So a sorcerer's power can be this convenient?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Shu thought for a moment before saying:
"If you want to learn this, it would probably take quite some time. How about this – I'll create something with similar functions, and you can just learn how to use it."
"Don't worry, the difficulty level is like Tetris – not hard to learn at all."
Hearing Luo Shu's words, Utau Hoshina put her mask back on, merely glancing at him with those bright purple eyes of hers.
Meeting her gaze, Luo Shu grew somewhat puzzled: "Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?"
It was then that Utau Hoshina suddenly asked him:
"Are you trying to chase me?"
Faced with such a direct question, Luo Shu instead wore a subtle expression: "I'm not good at chasing girls."
Utau Hoshina looked at him as if to say, "Are you joking?"
Though she didn't know Luo Shu's situation very well, she had already met several girls who were quite close to him.
Whether it was Chika Fujiwara, Kei Shirogane, or that Ai Hayasaka, even Kaguya Shinomiya had shown closeness to Luo Shu, albeit to varying degrees.
And these were just the ones she had seen – there were probably even more in the shadows?
With so many girls around him, and you're telling me you're not good at chasing girls?
Utau Hoshina's eyes held deep suspicion.
At this, Luo Shu smiled: "You might not believe it, but the truth is, I'm really not good at that sort of thing."
"If there really was a girl I liked so much that I'd go to any lengths to have her, my approach would most likely be to apply pressure."
"Pressure on her personally, pressure on her family, using benefits to win her over, using power or influence to force the issue, then binding her with a contract until the goal is achieved."
"As for pursuing?"
"Sorry, that's something I don't know how to do, and wouldn't do."
"Things obtained through begging, in my view, are unreliable and untrustworthy. Compared to emotions, I have more faith in alliances of interest, and even more faith in contracts."
At this point, Luo Shu murmured to himself: "Perhaps I don't even trust myself, for that matter."
As Luo Shu explained – or rather, analysed himself – Utau Hoshina didn't interrupt, instead watching him thoughtfully before asking:
"Then why are you giving me that kind of supernatural tool?"
"You hold sufficient value to me, so I need to ensure your safety."
A smile returned to Luo Shu's face, but it carried a hint of coldness, full of realism:
"Don't misunderstand – I'm not referring to your family, but to you personally."
"Your family, to me, could be considered entirely negative assets."
"After all, in this Japan, there are countless people who want to gain benefits from me now. The only reason they've caught my eye is that they happen to be the family you belong to."
Hearing Luo Shu say this, Utau Hoshina was somewhat surprised, but she quickly calmed down:
"Am I the kind of physique that, if obtained by someone from the mystic side, could enhance their power?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu gave Utau Hoshina a strange look and remarked:
"Do you usually read novels?"
"I read some, since I need to write theme songs for some light novels and fantasy comics..." After saying this, Utau Hoshina added somewhat regretfully: "So it's not that?"
She had thought her physique might be some kind of treasure, one that could bring disaster upon her family.
So it's not?
Then those old fools in the family get to live a bit longer?
How subtly irritating.
Unable to use Mind Reading on Utau Hoshina, Luo Shu couldn't help but comment:
"I get the feeling you were actually looking forward to something like that?"
"But unfortunately, your uniqueness only has value to me personally, and you're not the only one - including Chika Fujiwara and Kei Shirogane, whom you met earlier, they're similar cases."
"I see..."
Utau Hoshina now understood why Chika Fujiwara had approached Luo Shu, and why an ordinary girl like Kei Shirogane would appear around him. But precisely because she understood, she found this rather realistic.
"It seems the girls around you are doing quite well."
At least both Chika Fujiwara and Kei Shirogane were smiling when they mentioned Luo Shu, and their eyes, Utau Hoshina thought, were particularly bright.
Hearing this, Luo Shu immediately looked strange: "What do you mean by 'quite well'?"
"Just a personal observation." Utau Hoshina didn't want to continue this topic, instead saying with a cheerful smile: "But since you're not my admirer, that's truly a pity. I was just about to agree directly."
"You're lying through your teeth." Luo Shu curled his lips. That earlier stance was clearly preparing to reject him if he admitted it - did she think he couldn't tell?
Facing Luo Shu's distrust, Utau Hoshina chuckled teasingly:
"Whether I'm lying or not, why don't you ask again?"
"I believe I said earlier that compared to words, I trust contracts more."
As Luo Shu said this, a brown scroll appeared in his hand.
Holding the scroll, he looked intently at Utau Hoshina, his tone full of meaning:
"Sign this contract, and I'll believe your words!"
"I suppose Miss Utau wouldn't want to be considered a big liar, would you?"