Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

In an extraordinary world, there is no such thing as coincidence.

Since they followed the phantom thief into another world and happened to hear rumors about the phantom thief Saint Girl in that other world, it's almost certain that there's a connection between the two.

Bai Ze flipped through the scripts the girls had given him while pondering.

The story itself is rather mundane, roughly a rehash of the classic tale of a hero fighting a dragon to rescue a princess.

What's particularly unique is that the protagonist and the antagonist are respectively set as the reincarnations of the good and evil thoughts of a fox spirit that was said to have been a scourge in ancient times. In the end, the protagonist, representing the good thoughts, wields the Silver Star Sword to slay the evil side and successfully wins the heart of the beauty.

With this kind of story background, it's no wonder that the legend of the fox spirit being angry has spread.

In addition, the Silver Star Sword is described in the show as "a treasure that came from the West and was used to fight against witches".

I wonder if it refers to the same thing as a witch in real life.

Because of his gender, he was naturally assigned to play the male lead.

"Great! It's much more pleasing to the eye to act opposite a real man than to a senior dressed as a man."

The actress playing the female lead was a tall girl with a long ponytail, who gracefully extended her hand to greet Bai Ze.

Xia Xingzhi was assigned the role of another departing person... She played the role of a seaside reef as a background element.

It's truly heartbreaking to hear, but she herself was quite happy.

"If we're just going to be stones, then there's no need for any extra dialogue."

However, whenever Bai Ze made physical contact with the actress playing the female lead during rehearsals, he always felt a dark and menacing gaze cast from the corner, sending chills down his spine.

Could it be the work of a fox spirit...?

The preparations for the performance took up the entire afternoon, and nothing unusual happened except for that mysterious gaze.

As the twilight glowed into the sunroom, Katsura Mai clapped her hands to signal everyone to disperse and took a towel from her canvas bag to wipe her sweat.

She plays the role of the protagonist's comrade-in-arms, and will ultimately sacrifice herself in the final battle to pave the way for the protagonist to slay the fox demon.

Judging from the sharp movements of her wielding the wooden sword during her performance, she is indeed quite skilled.

"Dinner will be served in the main hall on the first floor. According to the third rule of Qingqiu Academy, students are not allowed to go out at night and must return to their dormitories after dinner."

She looked at Bai Ze, "Please make sure you both comply as well."

What kind of school-style rule-breaking tale is this?

Moreover, apart from the members rehearsing the play, I haven't seen any other teachers and students so far, and they don't seem to need to study.

This is probably the theme that the other world wants to create.

Bai Ze pulled up the detective who was still playing the stone in the corner and followed the girls to the main hall of the mansion.

They sat down on either side of a long dining table, where exquisite silver platters were filled with everything from bread to carefully roasted meats, and the aroma of desserts and fruits filled the air. Tablecloths and cutlery were laid out beside them.

The girls began to close their eyes and pray, only then could they truly feel that they were in a church school.

During the meal, they lost their energy from rehearsals, becoming quiet and solemn like lifeless dolls. After the meal, they silently got up and returned to their dormitories.

Bai Ze and Xia Xingzhi were the second to last to finish dinner. Before leaving the main hall, he looked back and saw that the leftover food on the silver plate had disappeared into thin air as if it had been taken away by an invisible servant. Gui Zhenyi sat alone at the head of the long table, and the shape of the girl's shadow seemed to be constantly changing in the candlelight.

The other world finally revealed its extraordinary nature to these visitors, even in its fragmentary form.

He already had some guesses about what position Katsura Mai held in this abnormal world.

Let's leave the dorm and go for a walk tonight.

Trampling on school rules is what outsiders should do!

Full of anticipation, Bai Ze passed through the side door of the main hall, arrived at the end of the west corridor, and pushed open the door on the right.

"call……"

Xia Xingzhi slipped into the dormitory and sat on the edge of the single bed. "It's a little scary."

"You mean this other world?"

"Ah...no, I meant they were too enthusiastic..."

The detective girl shyly took off her hunting hat; her soft, gray hair was like downy fur, arousing the urge to touch it.

"Um, there's only one bed... what should we do?"

"I'll just go out for a walk anyway."

"I see."

For a moment she seemed to click her tongue in regret, but then she offered her support:

"While the warnings from beings in other worlds should not be ignored, if there is sufficient force, the idea of ​​breaking the deadlock by force is not out of the question."

After the last battle with the Lord of the Underworld, she seemed to have partially agreed with Bai Ze's approach.

So he left the detective girl to guard the house, and left the dormitory after nightfall.

The mansion was dark, the darkness engulfing the corridors, and the only sound was Bai Ze's footsteps.

He had only taken a few steps when he encountered resistance.

First, the candlelight flickered, then a figure carrying the candlestick emerged from the shadows around the corner.

"There are bad kids—breaking school rules—"

A faceless, thin, black shadow extended its sharp claws, its voice hoarse like that of a broken tape recorder.

"Need—Punishment—"

puff.

Bai Ze slowly pulled out the Judgment Blade that had been plunged into the shadowy figure's chest, shaking off the blood that had stained it.

"A good dormitory supervisor should know how to make things convenient for students. If you haven't grasped this point, your level of competence is too low."

The shadowy figure vanished with a mournful cry, stepping over the extinguished and rolled-down candlesticks and out of the once-silent mansion.

In this other world, there was no moonlight or starlight; instead, the light source was the clock tower they had visited during the day.

The clock face emitted a terrifying red light, like a giant pupil embedded in the sky.

A shadow resembling a wild beast crouched low as it galloped past the mansion; a transparent spirit floated in the air with a book tucked under its arm; a creature that looked like a fox but dragged multiple tails poked its head out of the grass.

If the otherworldly Qingqiu during the day still largely retains its appearance consistent with reality, then at night it presents a completely different scene from the Demon Realm.

These emerging evil spirits were surging towards the center of Qingqiu. When Bai Ze pushed open the door of the mansion, some of them changed direction and rushed towards him.

We're all colleagues who break school rules at night, why hurt each other?

He snapped his fingers, and the cursed text of the [Seal of a Hundred Tales] covered the ground like ink, and the shadow of the beast was hit head-on by the impact, exploding into fragments.

The spirit's light grew fainter and fainter amidst screams, eventually dissipating like bubbles.

The Curse of Weakness is unexpectedly more lethal to beings without physical form.

Stepping over the corpses of his companions who were out for a nighttime stroll, Bai Ze followed the tide of evil spirits.

Hopefully, some surprise awaits us.

A moment later, he arrived at the lawn at the finish line.

There were already people fighting against the attacking evil spirits, dressed in off-the-shoulder dresses with slits like swallowtails, moving nimbly and wielding long swords to slay monsters.

Her long gray hair was braided into a single ponytail and hung down her back, rising high with her movements.

Phantom Thief Saint Tail?

Bai Ze stood by with his arms crossed, noticing that the suspected phantom thief was wearing a prop that he recognized very well.

At the fireworks festival, Leia gave Lu Xingyao a fox mask that possessed cognitive interference capabilities, making it impossible for people to confirm her identity!

Considering the legends of fox spirits, could that mask be an anomaly produced from this other world?

However, although he could not identify the thief, a more striking number appeared above his head.

【-twenty four】

He can see the other person's "favorability level".