2: Chapter 2 This world is so chaotic

Seeing the person suddenly appear, Raiden Mei subconsciously stood up, stepped back, and cautiously put some distance between them.

Ever since her father went to prison, she had seen enough of the fickleness of the world.

Those who had once tried to curry favor with her all wanted to step on the former "Raiden Queen" without exception. Of course, they quickly learned what the Menkyo Kaiden of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū was all about.

However, the current Raiden Queen had long since lost interest in bullying newbies; she was hopelessly infatuated with Kiana's gentle embrace.

Facing Mei's hostility, Lin Bei didn't mind it at all.

The notorious name of the Great Demon King of Chiba Academy was already common knowledge at Chiba Academy. If someone could just approach a stranger so casually, wouldn't that be chaotic?

However, she couldn't care less about Mei at the moment, instead staring at Kiana, who had already walked far away, falling into deep thought.

However, when Mei followed Lin Bei's line of sight, her gaze instantly turned cold.

Click.

A wooden katana, pulled out from who knows where, slashed horizontally through the air, pointing straight at Lin Bei's nose tip!

"Although I don't know who you are, if you keep staring, I'll gouge your eyes out, you know!"

A terrifying oppressive aura suddenly erupted. Have any stray cats and dogs started daring to covet my Kiana?!

"...What?"

Startled by Raiden Mei's sudden oppressive aura, Lin Bei quickly withdrew her gaze.

What is going on with this Raiden Mei? That thick sense of gravity is practically overflowing.

Facing Raiden Mei's increasingly hostile gaze, Lin Bei quickly spoke up:

"Do you like that white-haired girl?"

"Eh?"

The hand that had originally drawn the blade froze in place. Hearing Lin Bei's words, Raiden Mei's face instantly flushed crimson.

"N-No... it's not like that! I just wanted to become friends with her, I'm not a pervert who likes girls!"

Mei spoke at lightning speed, pointing the wooden sword at Lin Bei and shouting:

"How dare you frame me?"

With this lion-like speech system, you're not Raiden Mei! Who on earth are you?

Lin Bei complained frantically in her heart. Looking at the teary-eyed Raiden samurai in front of her who had already drawn her blade, Lin Bei hurriedly waved her hands while stumbling back: "N-No, wait! I have no malicious intent! I just wanted to say... if you want to pursue her, I can help you!"

"Does that mean you have a way?"

"What?"

Watching Raiden Mei change her face in a split second, her eyes even bursting with anticipation, Lin Bei was completely dumbfounded.

That's not right! Galgames definitely don't play out like this!

Shouldn't the normal routine be that you refuse to believe me no matter what, and then I shamelessly pester you, touch you with sincerity, and finally offer advice and strategies?

What does this eager expression of yours mean?!

And what were those aggrieved tears of yours just now?!

"Um... you believe it?"

"Uhm... don't you have even a basic level of distrust toward me?"

"Distrust?"

Mei smiled, her gaze flickering slightly. She suddenly leaned close to Lin Bei's ear and lowered her voice: "Why should I distrust you? Just based on how you look right now—"

Swish!

With lightning speed, Mei's hand yanked off the hood on Lin Bei's head, revealing a girl's face that was exquisite to the point of being eerie.

"Look, with someone like you, I could take down ten of you by myself. You wouldn't think I... Kiana!?"

???

Her pupils suddenly shrank to the size of needlepoints, her gaze locked dead on the face of the girl in front of her.

Those white hairs dyed into shattered gold by the setting sun, the cold lines of her jaw... apart from the strange makeup on her face, every single detail heavily overlapped with Kiana who had just left!

"K-Kiana?!" Mei's voice trembled uncontrollably.

This is impossible... She clearly watched Kiana walk away, why is this face appearing in front of her again?!

And Lin Bei, whose hood had been pulled off, was also filled with shock.

No, why does this person have zero sense of personal boundaries?

And even with me painted up like this, you can still associate me with Kiana?

Just how deep is your obsession with Kiana?! This Raiden Mei is way too bizarre. No, I feel like I need to stay away from this person!

Lin Bei hurriedly pulled her hood back over her head, feigning calmness as she said:

"There is a way, but the success rate is low, and there's a high probability it will make her hate you even more! You better think this through clearly!"

"She'll hate me?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Extremely!"

Lin Bei nodded frantically.

That's right! Exactly like this! Hurry up and be afraid of being hated, then harshly reject me! That way I can return to the wonderful world of being all by myself!

Watching Raiden Mei, who had fallen into deep thought before her, Lin Bei put on an act, sighed, gently fussed with her hat, and said softly:

"If you can't accept it, then forget it... Consider it unsaid, let's never meet again!"

"I accept!!"

"You don't accept? Well alright, what a pity, let's see each other later!"

Ignoring Raiden Mei's words, Lin Bei turned her head and prepared to slip away.

But at that moment, a pair of slender little hands grabbed Lin Bei's right arm.

"Hey, what are you running for?" Mei's eerie voice came from behind. "You just promised to help me pursue Kiana, and now you want to back out? Backing out is not allowed, you know."

Feeling the increasingly tight grip on her wrist, a force that was even pinching her until it hurt.

No, does this Raiden Mei really only care about herself?

Seeing that running away forcefully was impossible, Lin Bei could only slow down her pace: "Just call me Lin Bei... School dismissal tonight, right here, I'll come find you!"

The force on her wrist relaxed slightly, but she still didn't let Lin Bei go.

"Oh? How am I supposed to believe you? You were just trying to run away earlier! What if I let you go and can't find you anymore?"

Raiden Mei! You're going too far!

Lin Bei was practically crying tears of frustration at this moment.

Aren't you clear on what you just did? Any normal person would want to run away, alright.

"I... I'm also a student at Chiba Academy, my ID card is right here, I won't lie to you."

Looking at the handed-over ID card, Mei finally released her hand and casually took it.

"Kaiwen? Aren't you called Lin Bei? Why are you trying to trick me even with your name?"

"I-I-I... my name really is Lin Bei! It's just that on my ID card it says Kaiwen..."

Looking at Kaiwen stuttering in anxiety, Mei didn't expose her either, simply stuffing the ID card into her own pocket.

"Alright, then I'll tentatively believe you. However, if school lets out this afternoon and I don't see you here... you know the consequences."

Mei waved her free hand and walked away gracefully without looking back, leaving Kaiwen all alone standing blankly in place.

With a plop, Kaiwen collapsed onto the ground, letting out a despairing low howl:

"Did I... should I just not have gone out today?! How did I run into a monster like this!!"

This scene felt somewhat familiar, except this time there was no other Raiden Mei to catch this increasingly absurd development.