Cecilia secretly watched Bianka's instantly frozen expression, inwardly chuckling while marveling at her luck.
This situation of someone pretending to be another, only to run into the real person's family, was a new experience for Cecilia. Though the current situation was a little different from the idiom "a fake ghost meets a real ghost."
But Cecilia was happy to play along with Bianka. After all, she really did see a familiar shadow in her...
I wonder how Kiana is doing now?
---||---
"Ah—"
On the other side of the world, on a train, a certain white-haired Tuna, who was sneakily reaching for a piece of salt and pepper chicken, suddenly frowned. Her nose tickled, and she instinctively opened her mouth to sneeze.
But for some reason, the sneeze only half-formed before getting stuck.
However, the noise was enough to instantly attract two menacing glares from the kitchen.
"Sigh..." Frélle just glanced over and helplessly looked away. This was something she couldn't, and shouldn't, get involved in.
Of course, this matter was for the professionals to handle.
"Kiana~" Mei's stealth proficiency was definitely at MAX level!
That was Kiana's last thought before her demise.
"Didn't I tell you to wait until dinner is ready?" Mei held a spatula in one hand and pinched Kiana's ear with the other, pulling her close as if this position would make her words sink in better.
—But it wouldn't!
Kiana had already developed an extremely high resistance to this move! Not only had her ears adapted to Mei's completely gentle pulls after hundreds of failed kitchen infiltrations, but her brain and ears could also temporarily disconnect!
The legendary—
Art of In One Ear and Out the Other!
And you think Kiana's crisis response ends there?!
Not at all!
The Art of In One Ear and Out the Other was no rare skill. Anyone who had gone through the "classroom" instance could unknowingly master it.
But how many could, in that state, accurately and quickly answer a question when called upon by the teacher?
The answer is—very few!
But: Kiana—the well-known slacker, the bane of the classroom, the fraud in the exam hall, the impostor among students—could do it!
Could she really do it?
Not—at—all!
This was a severely "specialized" student! The only questions she could answer were Mei's!
"Do you know you were wrong?" Mei asked.
"I was wrong, I was wrong, I was really wrong!" Kiana replied.
"What did you do wrong?" Mei asked again.
"Wuwu, I shouldn't have snuck food. Good things should be shared with everyone~ Mei, my ear hurts~" Kiana answered again.
"You... sigh..." Mei was out of questions.
"Mei~ I'm really sorry~ Can you let go? If you don't, your food might burn~" Kiana could even counterattack!
In reality, by the time dinner was served, Kiana would have completely forgotten the entire conversation!
"It's like a super AI suddenly logging in to play for her..." Schrodinger said, holding a white cat that she didn't know whether to call Little Black or Little White today, and slumping on the sofa in defeat.
Beside her, Shu, still wearing a neck brace, could only offer a silent gaze. Even though Schrodinger only caught his gaze in her peripheral vision, she already understood what he meant.
"You call this a super AI?"
"For the usual Kiana, it's very 'super'," Schrodinger said with certainty.
Shu silently retracted his gaze, watching as Mei let go of Kiana. Kiana scurried out of the kitchen area and back to the waiting area with them, quietly waiting for dinner...
"Munch~"
Shu's eyes widened. He strained his neck to look at Kiana, who had her back to the kitchen and was sneakily stuffing a piece of salt and pepper chicken into her mouth.
When?!
Even though his field of vision was currently limited by his glasses, his head was facing the kitchen, so he had seen everything clearly.
He hadn't seen when Kiana had succeeded. Wasn't she just about to make a move when she was righteously punished by Mei?
"It was on her way back," Seele, who had only witnessed the second half, whispered an explanation to Shu. She turned back to see her own character had been unceremoniously defeated by a messy combo from Rozaliya.
"Ah!" Seele's mouth hung open in shock. Rozaliya, on the other hand, shot up, hugged Liliya, held hands with Sirin, and pranced around in front of Shu like a wild animal. Just as she was about to slide on her knees in celebration, Sin Mal's silent stare forced her back to a more serious posture.
"If Rozaliya really wants to do a knee slide, this might not be the best place for it," Bronya said flatly. Following Bronya's indication, Rozaliya looked around the train car.
The car was actually quite large, but there were a lot of people in it now. There were dining tables, sofas, a kitchen area, an entertainment area, a sickbay...
All things considered, it was getting a bit crowded. If Rozaliya really did a knee slide here, she might knock over several people like a bowling ball.
The first to go would probably be Shu, who had been wrapped up like a mummy by a certain amateur physician. He would probably only break free from his bandages after being sent flying, then tensely search for the "fourth Herrscher" attacking the train.
Who else but a Herrscher could silently break through his defensive lines and attack him directly?
In any case, Rozaliya had finally won this thrilling and exciting match. But before they could mourn Seele's defeat, the next challenger to the throne was—
Bronya!
"I'm fighting Bronya?! Seriously?!" Rozaliya, back at the game console, jumped as if electrocuted. Liliya sighed.
"Stupid Rozaliya. Bronya was next, but you just had to push out Seele, the only one who can beat her..." she said melancholically, watching Rozaliya, who was already sweating and under immense pressure just from holding the controller.
To get another turn for Seele meant they would all have to be brutally crushed by Bronya again.
"If you're gonna fight, then fight! Stop dilly-dallying!" Sin, who was after Bronya, wrapped an arm around Rozaliya's neck, giving her the suffocating feeling of being constricted by a python. "Just because you can't win doesn't mean I can't! Finish up so I can end her!"
"Heh," Bronya smirked. "Insignificant."