One-way traffic

He pursed his lips, and Accelerator and Hatsune Miku walked off the field, with Reinhard following suit.

Neither of them noticed the looks on the faces of the onlookers around them.

Today's exchange is worthy of being recorded in history.

This is a battle between monsters.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Another Candidate for the Royal Selection

The group returned to the hotel.

In the incredibly luxurious living room, the two sat down. Although Hatsune Miku wanted to help Rem prepare the lunch, Rem declined, arguing that since she was a servant, she had to do it herself.

Accelerator sat there, idly pondering the events of the day.

After the battle with Reinhardt, everyone who had previously had opinions about Accelerator fell silent.

He knew why Reinhard and Julius had approached him; it wasn't for the simple reason of accepting a challenge, but for his own sake.

If such words were said at the royal selection, perhaps Julius and Reinhard wouldn't care too much, but what about the other members of the Royal Guard?

Knights are all very proud individuals. Being included in such a generalized way and given such a challenge, these knights will certainly not let Accelerator off the hook. They will find him no matter what and even fight him to the death.

In this way, if Rius initiates a duel against Accelerator, it is equivalent to challenging him on behalf of these knights, which can also help these knights make up for their own pride.

However, something was amiss. Julius probably never imagined what kind of being he was facing.

So the target was changed to Reinhard, in order to show everyone Accelerator's monstrous strength.

As long as these members of the Royal Guard know that Accelerator is a powerful figure whom even Reinhard cannot easily defeat, that's enough.

Just as humans understand the power of lions and dare not provoke them, once people know that Accelerator's power is on par with Reinhard's, no one will dare to challenge him anymore.

Nobody's a fool. Once they realize that the other side is actually not on the same level as them, I believe no one will dare to cause trouble anymore.

This indirectly ensures that Accelerator won't be bothered by unknown individuals or other troublesome situations.

Then, he will have to face many more problems.

Because of his encounter with Reinhard, his name spread throughout Lugnica. Titles like "the strongest swordsman's natural rival," "a powerful figure who fought Reinhard to an end," and "a mysterious man who made a domineering declaration at the royal selection and was evenly matched with Reinhard" have spread throughout the kingdom.

Even ordinary people on the streets and alleys know most of the things.

This is quite boring for the number one person, who doesn't like to cause trouble.

After that, both Julius and Reinhard treated him even better, which surprised him even more.

I fought with you in front of others, which is like humiliating you, and yet you still responded like this?

Accelerator basically couldn't understand these things.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing, just some trivial matters."

The Hatsune Miku in front of me is still looking at her phone, seemingly writing something.

"It's a new piece! After this mission ends, we'll be back in our original world, right? I'll just compose a piece based on life here then!"

"That's really dedicated."

Accelerator sighed and continued to straddle the table, propping his chin up with one hand.

Although it was lunchtime, he really had no appetite.

His purpose in going to the Royal Selection was to find someone who could help him gather information about the Witch Cult, but now it seems that there is no one in the Royal Selection who can be of any help, especially the officials, who are all just a bunch of traitors.

This time, even the system prompts couldn't be found, leaving me completely lost.

The first person turned their gaze to Hatsune Miku across the table. The girl's face was full of enthusiasm as she hummed a song and happily wrote lyrics.

He couldn't help but purse his lips.

"You really don't know how to write the word 'sorrow'."

"Hmm? Is there anything to worry about? Aren't you doing well in life right now?"

"...That's true. I'd be incredibly stupid to expect something from a pampered young lady like you."

"...While I don't quite understand, isn't this a bit of an overstatement..."

The girl in front of him blinked, while Accelerator casually glanced at the door.

The familiar blue-haired maid walked in.

"Lord Accelerator, Lady Hatsune, this is the lunch for today. Please enjoy."

"Thank you, Rem. Um, why don't you sit down and eat with us?"

"I'm sorry, Hatsune-sama, but as a servant, Rem cannot eat with guests, let alone distinguished guests like you."

As Rem spoke, she placed the prepared dish on the table in front of the two of them.

However, Accelerator did not start eating immediately.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

The first one turned around and looked at Rem behind him.

The ghost maid was immediately taken aback.

She never expected that Accelerator would realize that she had something to say to him.

"Speak quickly."

"Yes... Originally, I should have spoken to Lady Emilia about this first, but since it's Lady Accelerator, it's fine."

Rem paused for a moment, and then said this under the gaze of the two of them.

"Lord Crusch of the Karlsten family seems to want to see us."

"Eh?"

"What did you say?"

Both Accelerator and Hatsune Miku were taken aback.

He remembered the name Crusch; it had been mentioned several times in the royal selection.

It seems that even Reinhard had said it to him more than once.

This immediately caught Accelerator's attention.

"Although Rem wanted to report this to Lady Emilia first, Lady Emilia and Roswaal haven't returned yet, so we'll have to—"

"No, there's no need to wait for them."

The first person casually took a bite of the dish.

"I'll go and meet with them first."

"Eh? Lord Ichi, Ichiro-sama?"

Rem blinked in surprise.

But Accelerator didn't say anything, and just started eating the food in his hand.

He quickly and easily finished off the leftovers on the table, casually opened a can of black coffee, and then got up.

"Yosuga...you're not going to find that guy named Crusch, are you?"

“That Reinhard has mentioned this name many times.”

Accelerator stood up and looked at Hatsune Miku.

He said it in a very calm tone.

"And what's the situation now? I can't stand this messed-up situation of running around like a headless fly."

"If Emilia wants to come along later, you should come with her."

"I'll go first before that."

Then, just as he said.

Without the slightest hesitation, Accelerator opened the door and walked out on his own.

"Lord Yifang! This is far-fetched. What if their intentions are not good—"

"There's nothing we can do... Rem, we can't stop him."

After finishing her lunch, Hatsune Miku put her knife and fork back on her plate and gently shook her head.

"That's just his personality. Doing things his own way is like his trademark. It's a strange trait, but that's also what makes him so special."

"However, doing things his own way is just one of his many characteristics. For Yifang, anything he does must have a reason."

"Isn't it strange? I've only known him for a short time, yet I'm saying things that even I find odd. I've really become strange..."

Hatsune Miku smiled, her thoughts unreadable.

"Mistress Hatsune..."

Rem looked at Hatsune Miku in front of her as if touched.

At that moment, she seemed to see through the emotions in the girl's eyes and understand what state Hatsune Miku was in right now.

A slight smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

"Hatsune-sama, please forgive Rem's rudeness... Would you be interested in learning to cook with Rem?"

"Eh…?"

The world-class idol girl blinked and looked at Rem with a puzzled expression.

"Um, what's with this sudden need to learn cooking?"

"According to Rem's observation, the main food that Lord Accelerator likes to eat is chicken, but most of it is fried. Although he doesn't get tired of eating it often, it is not very balanced for Lord Accelerator's nutrition."

"That's true..."

Rem's words, however, caused Hatsune Miku to fall into a state of deep thought.

"He usually eats fried food, mostly meat. Hmm, I need to find a way to prepare some nutritious meals for him, but how...? He won't even touch the food he doesn't like..."

As expected, that's the case.

Looking at Hatsune Miku deep in thought, Rem secretly came to this conclusion and couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

Then let Rem lend you a hand, Hatsune Miku.

"Hatsune-sama, if you don't mind, Rem also has some great cooking ideas."

"Huh? Is it true? But it should be something exclusive, right? And you're just passing it on to me like this..."

"It's alright. Besides, based on Rem's observations, to make food that Lord Accelerator will like, you need to master more skills..."

And so, with the strongest Level 5 esper in Academy City leaving.

The girls secretly began working on their plans behind everyone else's backs.

——————————————————————————————————————————

A figure descended upon the enormous mansion.

"That's it?"

The white-haired, red-eyed figure narrowed his eyes and scanned the mansion before him.

Although not as large as Roswaal's estate, it was still many times more luxurious than the various buildings we had seen along the way.

"Truly worthy of being the residence of a candidate for the throne."

After muttering something to himself, he walked directly into the front yard of the house.

Even the lawn was so vast.

Just like the previous assessment of Roswaal's mansion, this kind of place is hard to find even in the wealthy areas of Academy City.

However, Accelerator wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

He had just stepped into the front yard when he saw a familiar figure.

“…That is it.”

He might not be able to see it clearly from a distance, but he could sense that aura.

I had experienced something similar before in front of Roswaal's mansion; it was a sharp, murderous aura.