Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

Given Xiao Qiannai's somewhat clueless personality, it seems unlikely that she would notify her family in advance...

Qianli smiled and nodded, "So it's Mr. Baoden."

Hmm. Sounds like Inazuma. Is she really the one who possesses the "Eye of God"?

During the brief moment their eyes met, many thoughts were running through each other's minds.

After a few more pleasantries, the eldest daughter of the Hiiragi family displayed perfect demeanor, covering her mouth with her sleeve and chuckling softly. "I heard that my father suddenly hired a new teacher. I was a little worried, but now it seems that Mr. Baodeng and Xiao Qianna are getting along well."

"Ah. Miss Chinana is very kind and very serious in her teaching. She is exactly the ideal student for a teacher."

Chinanai raised her hand to hold her flushed face, "Teacher, you're praising me too much..."

It wasn't the kind of respectful flattery that most people gave to the surname "Hiragi", but rather genuine praise for the person "Hiragi Chinana"... Apart from her sister, no one had ever praised her like this.

The girl recalled what the man had said to her not long ago.

First, fans...

Just thinking back to the scene at that time and that smile that was brighter than the sun, she had to use her palm to press back the curved corners of her mouth. When it didn't work, she simply rubbed her little face with her palms, squashing all the facial features into a ball, which made her sister Qianli look sideways: What is this child doing again?

"but--"

After Zheli finished praising China, he put on a confused look.

"I have never had any contact with the Kanjo Bugyo-sama, nor have I responded to anyone's invitation."

"Ms. Hiiragi Chisato said, 'Father hired a new teacher,' but what does that mean?"

"...Huh?" Hiiragi Chisato was stunned for a moment.

Chinanai chimed in at this point, "Yeah, yeah, how come I didn't know about this? Did Father find me a new teacher? Humph, why didn't you even discuss this with me? I've told him no several times!"

She shook her fists, looking very unhappy.

Despite pursuing her dream of becoming an idol, Hiiragi China has no intention of escaping her family responsibilities.

She took it upon herself to learn etiquette, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony, skills that, as a member of the "Kanjo Bugyo Hiiragi Clan," she was expected to ingrain. For example, her elder sister, Chisato Hiiragi, while not a professional warrior, was at least capable of taking on peasant bandits with her sword. This was why Chisato always felt obligated to obey her elder sister.

As the future successor of the Hiiragi family, she sees all the efforts made by her elder sister.

I can't let my sister worry about a useless child like me!

However, she truly found martial arts training exhausting. Furthermore, no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't get used to wielding swords and staffs. If she really wanted to stretch her muscles, the teacher's training classes were definitely better; at least she could perform a beautiful dance at the end!

"Eh. Then, then..."

Qianli looked back and forth at the two of them, and his brain seemed to stop working at this moment.

For a moment, she looked at Baodeng Zheli with a hint of fear.

Their words were genuine. Even if it wasn't Qianli herself, any of the other guards, ladies-in-waiting, or even any of the servants in the mansion would have gotten the same answer had they asked Qiannai. But even so, the lady-in-waiting had still given her the wrong information!

How could such a big family like Hiiragi allow a stranger with unknown origin to enter the mansion so easily?

If it wasn't Hoto Zeri who showed up today, but some uninvited guest who was a member of the Kanjo Bugyo and had ulterior motives towards the Hiiragi family...

It was not until her gaze shifted to Chinara's face, seeing the obvious regret towards her father and her big, bright eyes that were no different from usual, that she managed to calm her inner panic.

Hiiragi Chisato sighed, then took a deep breath and looked at Zheli with calm eyes.

"So, how did you get to know China?"

"That's a long story."

Zhe Li tilted his head and glanced at Qianai.

The girl seemed to recall the scene when they first met and turned around with a smile on her face.

So he also laughed softly.

"This is a story about 'idols'."

Chapter 41: Dream Chaser

The story of Zheli and China's encounter is not complicated and can be easily told in a few words.

Chisato Hiiragi listened quietly to the man's story. She confirmed from Chinana's expression that what he said was true, and couldn't help but sigh: "Chinana, are you still holding on to that dream?"

Chinana puffed up her cheeks, "Sister..."

Chisato Hiiragi glanced at the idol magazine on the table and said, "I've read that book a few times, but I still don't understand why you're so obsessed with that so-called 'idol'."

As an entertainment work, Qianli could more or less imagine the target audience of this book, and could indeed understand that some people would be attracted to the so-called "idols", but what happened to Chinana... ?

"Well, it's fine if you like it." Qianli sighed again.

She wasn't going to stop Chinana. The Hiiragi family didn't have any big expectations for the second young lady. As long as Chinana didn't do anything too outrageous, she and her father would let her do whatever she liked.

She just didn't understand—

The Hiiragi family's standard of living was considered affluent, not just in Inazuma, but even in other countries. As the second-oldest daughter, perhaps "carefree" was a bit of an exaggeration. At least with her older sister shouldering the responsibility of heir, her daily life could be described as "free."

They have the fame, wealth and power of the Three Devotees Clan, and they don't have to worry about the future.

Having lived such a childhood, she began to admire the actors singing and dancing on the stage... What kind of charm do the so-called "idols" have that makes her so intoxicated?

"Please be at ease, Miss Qianli." Seeing that Chinana seemed a little depressed, Zheli said, "Since Chinana calls me 'teacher', I will do my best to help her move towards her dream while being careful not to overwork herself."

Qianli forced a smile, "I am willing to trust Mr. Zheli. However, little Qiannai has always been a little out of control..."

"No, I don't!" Qiannai interrupted her sister.

Mingming and the teacher have finally developed a wonderful bond, but I can't let my sister ruin it at this time!

Hiiragi Chisato snorted coldly after hearing this: "Who was it that said before that he would stay at Kamisato House, but ended up running up to Kagemukaiyama without permission, causing everyone to worry?"

This younger sister is indeed well-behaved. At least she has never been willful to her family. But from time to time she does something unprecedented that makes her, her elder sister, quite distressed.

This time, too, she'd inexplicably found a café owner as her teacher. If Baodō Oreki's character were any worse, I can't imagine what would have happened to Chinana before her sister found out...

"That time was—"

Chinana opened her mouth, but could not utter any argument.

That is indeed a stain that will be difficult to erase in the life of Hiiragi China.

Having heard from Kamisato Ayaka that a shrine at the top of the mountain was holding a memorial service, she couldn't help but run up the mountain without permission. Not only did the guards accompanying her, but even Kamisato Ayaka overlooked her. It wasn't until the guards approached to inquire that everyone realized Chinana was missing.

If Linghua had not calmly recalled the conversation with Chinata and asked the guards to go up to Yingxiang Mountain, where they quickly found the second daughter of the Hiiragi family who was watching the ritual, if Chinata had been missing for another day or two, the relationship between the Shrine Magistrate and the Kanjo Magistrate would probably have deteriorated immediately.

...Hmm. As expected, does the statement "I'm not willful to my family" need to be questioned?

Just as Hiiragi Chisato was glaring at her sister, thinking about how to teach her a lesson later, Zheli's calm voice came from the side.

"Although I can't make any big promises—"

The man put his hand on his chest, bowed slightly to Chisato Hiiragi, and said:

"However, as long as it is within my sight, I will not let Ms. Chinara be in danger."

Since he was called a "teacher" and had accepted this identity, it was his duty to see his "student" grow up safely. At least during the time Zheli was teaching as a teacher, protecting a little girl like this was not a difficult task at all.

"Teacher--!" Chinae, who was quite embarrassed a moment ago, now had eyes shining and looked very touched.

Hiiragi Chisato naturally didn't let her emotions fluctuate like her. Instead, she had a slightly hesitant look on her face, glancing at the smile on Zheli's face as if she was about to say something but hesitated.

This seemed implicit, but in fact it was an explicit expression of attitude, which made Zhe Li grin.

Spending the past few days with Chinana, he'd been so captivated by her forthrightness that he'd almost forgotten that Hiiragi Chinana was the daughter of the Hiiragi family, the de facto rulers of the remote islands. Perhaps due to her connection to Chinana, Hiiragi Chisato was quite friendly with Origuri, but compared to the naive Chinana, her sister retained some of the caution expected of a political family.

Of course, it can be seen... Zhe Li doesn't have the leisure to engage in intrigue with these people.

"Haha. Miss Qianli, are you doubting my ability?"

Zheli directly exposed Hiiragi Chisato's secret. He didn't care about her reaction and took off the glass ball tied around his waist and showed it to the two of them.

"However, I am also a wielder of the 'Eye of God', and with some skill in swordsmanship... ordinary bandits and robbers can be easily dealt with. Please do not worry."

He fiddled with the glass ball with a red pattern on it, and only after it had left enough of an impression on the sisters did he put it back on his waist... and flipped the light-up button to the off position.

——Yes. This is a fake "Eye of God".

After learning from Fengyuan Manye that only the holder of the "Eye of God" could freely harness "elemental power," he had already considered creating one himself. It wasn't that he truly coveted this unique superpower, but with such a thing in his hands, he could have someone to blame for the inherent superpowers of the Blood Star people.

Considering that his body was blood red, he made a small ornament with a luminous button based on the "Eye of the Fire Element God" pattern he observed on the road. He had been quietly hanging it around his waist these days.

Aside from Nagasaki Suyo singling it out with praise, no one at CRYCHIC or the guests mentioned it specifically. This also suits the needs of Zheli: it is not for showing off, and it is best not to attract too much attention.

Now is when it comes in handy.

As expected, Chisato Hiiragi and even Chinana Hiiragi showed expressions of realization after seeing this "Eye of God".

"I see. It's no surprise that you have such a character," said Hiiragi Chisato.

She also wondered why a small coffee shop owner could be so calm towards the daughter of a wealthy family from an outlying island: a person with martial arts skills far beyond that of an ordinary person, yet content to be ordinary, was exactly the image of a hermit that ordinary people imagined.

"——Mr. Zheli, please be kind enough to teach me."

Chisato Hiiragi finally put aside all her doubts and bowed deeply to Baodō Zeriri.

Chinana has a dream that is out of tune with the world, but it is her "fate" to meet such a person.

"I believe that with your guidance, her dreams will shine."

As a sister——

In fact, she also wanted to see her sister happily and freely pursue her own desires.

Chapter 42: Ambition

“…This happened.”

"I see. No wonder it took you so long to come back."

Toyokawa Shoko nodded in sudden realization.

The café, without a manager and even fewer customers, felt unexpectedly eerie: the classical music records playing constantly sounded the same as usual, yet it felt as if a terrifying noise would be added at any moment. Xiangzi couldn't sit still, so he pulled up the curtains, which were usually down, and sat there bored, watching the daylight fade into yellow.

Until Baodeng Zheli opened the "door" and came back from Inazuma.

"Thank you for your hard work." Zhe Li said.

"No, no, it's not hard." Xiangzi waved his hands quickly. "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to entertain customers, so I thought I'd wait until Mr. Zheli came back to open the shop. As it happened, there were no customers during this period, so I just sat in the shop for a long time and rested for nothing."

"No guests..." Zhe Li glanced at the sign on the door.

As he walked into the store, he noticed the tag was in the "CLOSE" position.

Will customers be unable to find this store as long as it is closed?

Although I had vaguely held the same suspicion before, would it have had the same effect even if it wasn't the store manager himself, but Toyokawa Shoko, who flipped the sign? Or was it because Shoko was a "store clerk"?

He kept this guess deep in his heart for the time being.

He still had many theories about this "door" that needed to be verified. He wasn't sure if the process would be dangerous, so he decided not to share them and worry the little girls. Anyway, he'd try an experiment sometime in the future.

For example, today when I followed Chinae out and sent her home, I quietly verified how the "door" identifies the destination.

He noticed that the moment Chinae touched the door and before she even turned the doorknob, the sounds of life on the outlying island could be faintly heard from behind the door: perhaps it was touch-sensitive, or perhaps it could read the intention of the guest in front of the door. In short, there was no need to actually make the action of "opening the door" to switch to the connected world.

This seems to prove that the wooden shop door itself is not part of the "door"?

But now he's noticed that the sign on the door seems to affect whether the "door" is open or not—of course, it doesn't seem to have any effect on him as the store manager. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to find his way home.

There are still many puzzles.

While thinking about serious matters, Zhe Li put on a casual smile:

"Isn't it normal for Nascita to have no customers? Don't take it too seriously!...Okay, now that I'm back, it's time to officially open. Ladies, please don't be lazy."

"Yes, yes." Xiangzi also smiled faintly.

He is located at the center of two completely different worlds, able to travel freely between them. According to Nagasaki Motoyo, he also possesses extraordinary martial arts power, and there is no trace of weakness in his body...

But whether before or after meeting him, and even more so like now, when she knows his "other side", in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, this man has never changed.

He still leisurely wipes the cups and plates at the antique sandalwood counter.

I still hide in the corner of the coffee shop and play on my phone when business is slow.

Once he saw him being "as usual", Xiangzi felt that even if the world changed drastically tomorrow and common sense collapsed, as long as he could return to this coffee shop and see this person, all his confusion and fear would become insignificant.

"...That's why everyone considers this place a 'place to stay'."