Back Mountain
"Who are you?"
"What do you want?"
Lu Ren held his phone, asking in an annoyed tone.
He had just closed his eyes when he received a call from an unknown number.
Even stranger... the caller hadn't said a word the entire time, as if it were a prank.
Soon... the caller hung up, further proving it was a childish prank!
"Meow~..."
"Master, could it be a ghostly call...?"
"If you're scared, Tamamo will protect you!"
Tamamo-no-Mae slyly leaned closer, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Master, give me that box called a phone."
"I'm going to use a curse spell to kill this guy!"
Curious, Thor also leaned in, revealing the brutal side of a dragon!
"Forget it..."
"I'm too tired today; let's deal with this tomorrow."
Lu Ren casually tossed his phone aside.
He peacefully closed his eyes, sleeping on the soft and comfortable mat.
Hearing Master say so, Thor and Tamamo-no-Mae could only give up... Meanwhile... In the apartment...
Yukinoshita, who had ended the call, placed her phone on the coffee table.
She collapsed onto the sofa as if all her strength had been drained.
Yukinoshita smiled bitterly.
She was so foolish... to actually believe the silly words spoken by a girl her age.
What 'solving problems'... The other person's voice sounded very young... She was probably not much older than Yukinoshita herself... How could such a young Exorcist be anything but a novice?
Yukinoshita even suspected it was some kind of despicable scam.
"Sigh..."
Yukinoshita covered her throbbing head, sighing helplessly.
Distraught, she remembered another matter.
The bet she had made with a certain international student.
No time limit... Whoever could find three members the fastest.
Currently... Yukinoshita's side had recruited: zero.
If nothing unexpected happened... that number would remain unchanged until the day the winner was revealed.
Due to her personality, she always spoke bluntly, so she had no friends.
Recruiting three members was an impossible task for her.
The reason she agreed in the first place...
A large part of it was that the international student was the same type of person as her older sister!
Yukinoshita naively thought that as long as she could defeat him, it would be equivalent to defeating her sister!
But now it seemed... how foolish her decision had been at the time... Early the next morning... Everyone, well-rested, changed into the clothes they had washed last night.
Under the warmth of the bonfire, the clothes had completely dried.
In the morning... after eating breakfast, the group set off on their way home.
Thor did not leave with the others but transformed into her true form.
She planned to visit the city to better understand maid culture.
Lu Ren, worried she might cause trouble, sent Tamamo-no-Mae to accompany her.
Whether it was a shrine maiden or a maid... From Lu Ren's perspective, he hoped they could live in harmony.
Back home... Hiratsuka Shizuka arranged a guest room for the two girls.
Reiko would temporarily stay there until she found new accommodation.
As for Miko... for some special reasons... Although she didn't explain, Lu Ren saw through it clearly.
Miko possessed the characteristic of [Spirit Absorption], which could be fatal to ordinary people.
The events at the Komi family made her realize this, which is why she moved out.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was a good teacher; she agreed to Miko's stay.
She even offered to be a guarantor and called Miko's mother to reassure her.
In Lu Ren's bedroom... a laptop had appeared on the formerly empty desk.
This was a small gift Lu Ren bought for himself with the money he earned.
Lu Ren sat in front of the computer, thinking of his agreement with Yukinoshita.
Now... his Neighbors Club already had two members: Goto Hitori.
Natsume Reiko.
Now... he only needed to invite one more to win the game.
And for this last person, he thought of Masahiro, who sat in front of him.
Thinking of this... Lu Ren took out his phone and dialed Masahiro's number.
Soon... a cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Yo~! Ren-kun!"
"Hehe! What made you think of contacting me!"
Masahiro greeted him enthusiastically, and from his end, the sound of rapid button presses could be heard.
If nothing unexpected, this avid gamer should be playing an online game.
"It's like this..."
"I want to invite you to join my Club."
"The Neighbors Club, a Club focused on making friends."
Lu Ren didn't beat around the bush and directly explained the reason.
"Sounds a bit strange."
"But I agree!"
Masahiro agreed without even thinking.
But soon, as if he had something difficult to say, he spoke again.
"Ren-kun, do you play online games?"
"Our team's mage recently quit, and we're short a mage."
Masahiro asked nervously.
There were only ten days left until the new event started!
If they didn't have a fixed team, they wouldn't get the limited rewards!
Ten days were enough to level up a fully-fledged mage account!
He only asked as a last resort!
"I can learn..."
Lu Ren answered very straightforwardly.
Anyway, he had nothing else to do; playing games would be a good way to pass the time.
"That's great!"
"I'll tell Gabriel right away!"
Masahiro cheered excitedly.
"Gabriel...?"
Lu Ren heard the familiar name and asked in confusion.
"He's the [Priest] in the team!"
"Ren-kun, I need to remind you."
"Female players in online games are absolutely not girls!"
"Even if the game character looks good, don't have any fantasies!"
"Otherwise, you'll definitely suffer!"
Masahiro said righteously.
Hearing Masahiro say this, Lu Ren couldn't help but laugh.
"How can you be so sure?"
Lu Ren asked curiously.
On the other end of the phone, a cunning, mischievous laugh sounded.
"Because..."
"My game character is a cute girl!"