"Purifying your magic power can wait until we get back."
Sora attempted to pull his right hand back.
"It's something else." Yamada Elf tilted her small face up, her voice sweet and pleasant. "When I went to the bookstore to gather material earlier, I saw a few light novels I really liked. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy them. Servant, go to the bookstore with me to help buy books."
Sora was helpless. "I have so many things in my hands. How about I head back first, and you wait for me at the bookstore entrance?"
"No. The bookstore is clearly just up ahead, waiting is so tedious." Yamada Elf put her right hand on her hip. "I'll help you carry the things."
"Are you sure you can carry them?"
"Servant, don't look down on people!"
Hearing this, Yamada Elf puffed her pink cheeks and quickly took the items.
"See? I can carry them easily, right?"
"Looks like you really can carry them." Sora stepped towards the bookstore. "Keep it up, let's go to the bookstore."
Watching Sora's figure walking effortlessly ahead, Yamada Elf blinked, feeling as though she had been tricked.
"Idiot Servant, hurry up and help me carry half! My arms are so sore!"
"..."
A moment later.
The two arrived at the bookstore on the street corner.
"The latest volume of 'Here is the End-of-the-World Stagnation Committee', 'Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle', 'Making a Living in a Death Game', and... let's also buy a copy of the latest volume of 'Koisuru Metronome'. Kasumi Utako-sensei is quite talented after all." Yamada Elf chattered non-stop beside him. While invisible, others couldn't hear her speak, so she didn't need to deliberately lower her voice. "Servant, hurry up, hurry up."
"No rush, one book at a time." Sora strolled towards the bookshelves. "It's still early, the books won't run away."
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips. "But they might get snatched up by other people, right?"
"If you encountered a work you super loved, would you wake up early in the morning to line up at the bookstore entrance, or come to the bookstore at five in the afternoon?" Sora asked in return.
"Um..."
"If the books were going to be snatched up, they would have already been snatched up in the morning. Being anxious is useless."
"Ugh~ Servant is super infuriating!"
"..."
Arriving at the bookshelf, Sora began to collect the works under Elf's direction. Before long, he had several books in his hands.
Poke—
A finger suddenly and quietly poked Sora's waist. Yamada Elf lowered her voice:
"Servant, that person is very strange."
Sora turned his head and saw a sneaky figure creeping upstairs. She had a petite build and seemed to be a girl.
She was wearing a very unfashionable middle school gym uniform, a black baseball cap, and large, clunky black-framed glasses on her face. Her features were unclear, but a lock of radiant blonde hair could be seen falling from under the brim of the cap.
"A normal person definitely wouldn't dress that weirdly, right?" Yamada Elf rested her chin on her right hand, full of curiosity. "Could that person be a thief?"
Sora quickly withdrew his gaze. "Highly likely not."
"Such a weird getup is super suspicious, right?" Yamada Elf was unconvinced. "I haven't seen such a weird person all day."
"Precisely because the getup is weird, it's highly likely she isn't a thief." Sora replied in a low voice. "Thieves strive to be as unremarkable as a brick. Being too good-looking or too ugly isn't suitable for a thief. That girl's getup is too conspicuous; therefore, she can't be a thief."
"No, I have to follow her and see." Seeing the unknown girl quietly slip away, Yamada Elf couldn't contain her curiosity and stepped forward to follow. "Servant, you look for the books first and wait patiently for me to return."
"Go ahead."
Sora waved his hand, not worried about Yamada Elf's safety.
In her invisible state, ordinary people couldn't see or hear Yamada Elf. Unless the sneaky girl from earlier was also a magical girl... but it couldn't possibly be that coincidental, right?
Pulling back his thoughts, Sora continued to wander the bookstore and quickly gathered all the works Yamada Elf wanted to read.
Having made a hefty profit yesterday, Sora was now flush with cash, so he planned to buy two books for himself as well. While he was browsing light novels, the sound of thump thump thump footsteps suddenly echoed.
Sora followed the sound and saw Yamada Elf running out rapidly, her small face flushed red as if being chased by a flood or wild beasts.
"Did you get discovered?" Sora raised an eyebrow.
"N-No, I wasn't discovered..."
Yamada Elf clutched her chest, panting heavily. Her gaze involuntarily slid down to Sora's chest, then she hurriedly looked away.
Terrifying!
The things I saw just now were truly too terrifying!
"What are you looking at?"
Sora acutely felt he had been offended.
"I wasn't looking at anything." Yamada Elf's gaze wandered, shyly turning her small face away, stammering, "Has Servant finished buying the books? Let's hurry back after buying them."
"I've got them all." Sora grew even more curious. "What were the results of your tracking investigation just now? Is that girl a thief?"
"N-No, not a thief..."
Yamada Elf stammered. Recalling the terrible scenes she had just witnessed, the flush on her small face deepened once more.
"So, why is your face super red?" Sora couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Idiot Servant, don't ask so many questions. I just... I'm just hot from running." Yamada Elf's voice was shy. Acting as if a flood or wild beasts were lurking in the bookstore, she flusteredly urged, "I'm so tired, I want to go back and rest. Let's go quickly."
That was a lie.
Earlier, while following the sneaky girl in the baseball cap, Yamada Elf discovered that in an inconspicuous corner, a whole new world was hidden behind a cloth curtain.
Restricted... As far as the eye could see, it was all restricted works! Things only adults are allowed to read!
Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. Yamada Elf was originally very curious about what real restricted works looked like, so she didn't leave immediately. Instead, she stayed to observe out of curiosity.
And then she saw the blonde girl in the baseball cap and glasses pick up a restricted work meant for browsing, chuckling hehe as she flipped through it. The cover of the doujinshi prominently featured the large characters for 'Humiliation'...
Yamada Elf curiously stood nearby, reading the doujinshi along with her. Her young mind naturally suffered an incomparably strong shock, and finally, she fled in a panic, her face completely red...
Terrifying!
The adult world is truly too terrifying!
Even if I get married in the future, I will absolutely never agree to be tied up in such terrible poses!
"Since you're fine, let's go back."
Sora could naturally see Elf's guilt and panic right now, but since she refused to speak, he wouldn't press the issue.
"Hurry, let's go, let's go." Yamada Elf sighed in relief, nervously looking toward the corner. "Let's hurry home and quickly watch two episodes of Chibi Maruko-chan to cleanse our eyes!"
"Let's go."
The two headed downstairs to leave together.
But just as they reached the landing on the stairs, they happened to encounter a group of elementary schoolers wearing yellow bucket hats and carrying large red backpacks, chattering noisily as they walked in formation, led by a female teacher.
Sora stepped back half a pace and leaned into the corner, intending to let the elementary schoolers pass first. Yamada Elf had the same idea, but she was a step slower, and ended up ducking right into his embrace...