Gulp, gulp!!
Luo Shu chugged the alcoholic drink noisily, then exhaled loudly and said:
"Ahhh! So refreshing!!"
"One can is enough, don't drink too much." Utaha chided him slightly.
"Relax, I'm over eighteen. I know my limits." Luo Shu glanced at Kurumi Tokisaki squatting in the corner facing the wall, then turned back to look at Eriri, whose expression seemed torn between laughter and restraint:
"Go ahead and laugh if you want. I've already thrown shame out the window."
"Pfft... HAHAHA... Sorry, but..."
Eriri laughed uproariously, her shoulders and twin pigtails shaking uncontrollably, her laughter almost like claws scratching at Luo Shu's feet.
"Keep laughing? Want me to give you the same treatment?"
"Gah!" Eriri instantly made a duck-like sound, her face turning red as she stifled her laughter.
The thought of ending up like Kurumi Tokisaki was absolutely mortifying to her!
With just one remark, Eriri immediately settled down.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu bit into the chicken meatball Kisara had just grilled, the rich flavour instantly soothing his mood:
"So, why did I have to embarrass myself like this?"
"Let's be real—when you have a bunch of stunningly beautiful girls working alongside you, is it really wrong for me to struggle with choices?"
"Is it?"
"Well..." Utaha turned her head away, fiddling with her hair somewhat awkwardly.
'Beautiful? So he thinks I'm beautiful?'
Utaha automatically filtered out the latter half of his words, focusing only on those two syllables, her expression tinged with faint embarrassment.
Yukino Yukinoshita, however, had no intention of indulging Luo Shu's antics, even if he was her superior:
"This isn't about right or wrong—it's just you being greedy."
"The proper approach is to choose one person and politely reject the others..."
"What if it's you who gets rejected?" Luo Shu said gloomily. "If the guy you like, the one you have feelings for, rejects you with the excuse that it's the 'proper choice' and offers no further explanation, could you accept that?"
Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively put herself in that scenario, imagining being rejected by a guy she liked for such a reason. Her face darkened slightly—'Choosing me would obviously be the correct decision, okay?!'
Realising something, she quickly said:
"My apologies, that was presumptuous of me."
She understood now—without standing in Luo Shu's shoes, it was hard to judge.
After all, greed was a perfectly human trait. If she were in Luo Shu's position, having to choose between Utaha and Kisara, she might struggle too.
"So why not just choose all of them~"
Meer lounged on the sofa, grinning at Kurumi Tokisaki, who looked utterly disillusioned:
"Or pick the girls who are okay with sharing. Reject the ones who aren't. Everyone wins that way."
"Don't be ridiculous!" X2
Kisara and Utaha shouted in unison, then immediately glared at each other.
"I was here first."
"What does 'first' matter? I took his first time. Even if you squeeze in, wouldn't that still be sharing? I thought you weren't okay with that?"
"You—!!" Utaha instantly crumbled.
"Me, me, me!" Meer waved her arm enthusiastically at that moment. "I can share, so little Kisara, count me in~~"
Kisara was dumbfounded by this, her face twitching as she stared at Meer. If Luo Shu hadn't been present, she would have seriously considered stabbing this girl.
Couldn't she just be a proper matchmaker for once? Why did she have to barge into their private world?
Left with no choice, Kisara could only glare at Meer in frustration. Meanwhile, Utaha was shooting murderous looks at both Kisara and Meer. Only Meer remained cheerfully unbothered, as if nothing was wrong.
"Aren't you going to do something about this?" Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the trio before turning to Luo Shu with the question.
"Do what?" Luo Shu scoffed, choosing to give up entirely. "I've had an epiphany. Romance? Screw romance. I'm focusing on my career now. Who has time for relationships?"
Just as Yukino Yukinoshita thought Luo Shu was seriously committing to the Hidden Management Department's affairs and swearing off women, he suddenly declared:
"Front row seats for 200,000 yen—I'm selling myself for one night. So, anyone interested?"
'This kind of career focus? Wasn't this just being a host?' Yukino Yukinoshita was utterly stunned.
Utaha's face twitched as she silently pulled out her wallet, counting out 20 bills and handing them to Luo Shu.
Luo Shu blinked in surprise, but before he could say anything, Kisara and Meer also flipped open their wallets. In a flash, two more stacks of 10,000 yen bills were placed before him.
Faced with this, Luo Shu fell silent for a moment.
Beside him, Yukino Yukinoshita sighed helplessly. This idiot director had just spouted nonsense, and now he was stuck in his own mess, wasn't he?
Yet what left Yukino Yukinoshita completely flabbergasted was that, the next second, Luo Shu reached out, took the money, and pointed at Utaha, Meer, and Kisara in turn:
"You get tomorrow night, you get the night after, and you get the night after that. Problem solved."
"Oh, and just so you know—no refunds!!"
With that, Luo Shu actually started counting the cash before stuffing it into his pocket.
Yukino Yukinoshita and Eriri were left speechless, feeling like today's gathering had truly broadened their horizons.
"Why am I the night after?" Meer grumbled, which made Utaha Kasumigaoka—who had been considering cancelling her 'order'—swallow her words.
But then, Utaha suddenly realised it might be better to secure her spot first and level the playing field with Kisara. Otherwise, if this farce continued, she genuinely worried Luo Shu might dig himself deeper and outright eliminate her from the running.
'Damn it, I was the first one! This bastard even slept in my bed before—his first time sleeping in a girl's bed!'
The thought only made Utaha angrier.
As for Kisara, she stayed quiet, mostly because she was worried about Meer beside her.
She had witnessed this girl's threats before. What if Luo Shu actually retracted his decision, and Meer decided to pull some underhanded trick?
Besides, Kisara was also feeling guilty—because the money she'd just pulled out was all Luo Shu's to begin with.
She was using Luo Shu's own money to buy Luo Shu for a night... Wasn't this just freeloading?
The realisation made Kisara even more reluctant to speak up.
Only Meer remained completely unfazed. She knew herself best—she refused to believe Luo Shu would reject her if she offered herself up.
Plus, spending money to buy Lacus's man? Meer found this game strangely thrilling.
Seeing the three of them fall silent, even Luo Shu found it odd:
"Just to be clear, I'm really not giving refunds."
Until Luo Shu put his wallet back in his pocket, the three of them still hadn't made any moves, as if silently accepting the situation.
This left Luo Shu utterly bewildered as he mechanically helped with the skewers while feeling completely lost.
So what exactly was happening now?
Having witnessed the entire transaction, Eriri stared dumbfounded at the scene and couldn't help sending Utaha a discreet system private message, wanting to ask if she was seriously going through with this.
'The literary beauty of Toyogasaki High School, Utaha Kasumigaoka, actually paid money to have Luo Shu for a night... What the...'
Eriri suddenly felt like she couldn't keep up with this world anymore.
"Though somewhat unexpected, it seems things have quieted down."
Yukino Yukinoshita muttered with a strange expression.
Kurumi Tokisaki, who wanted to backstab Luo Shu, had her defences broken and retreated into herself. Utaha and Kisara, who were dissatisfied due to emotional issues, fell silent because of Luo Shu's indifference.
Though the method was slightly peculiar, it did seem to diffuse the previously tense atmosphere.
And in a way that left Yukino utterly speechless.
"So... are we continuing with the skewer party?"
"Continue! Normal skewers and drinks to celebrate the successful completion of this department's newcomer gathering!!"
Luo Shu said through gritted teeth, glaring at everyone:
"Anyone who causes trouble from now on, just look at what happened to that Kurumi over there! If you don't want to end up like that, behave yourselves!"
At these words, all the girls immediately quieted down except for Meer, who seemed eager to try something.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu warned Meer: "As for you, if you dare misbehave, I'll go straight to Lacus and see which of us can last longer!"
Hearing this, Meer's expression stiffened, and she guiltily averted her gaze.
Having suppressed everyone until no one dared meet his eyes, Luo Shu raised his alcoholic drink:
"In any case, welcome everyone to the Hidden Management Department!!"
"Yes, Director!" xN
The girls responded weakly in unison.
By the time the gathering ended, it was already past 8 pm.
Leaving Kisara, Meer, and the likely unhelpful Kurumi to clean up at the base, Luo Shu walked Eriri and Utaha to the nearest station.
Now, the three of them walked side by side through Akihabara's streets.
"Hey, hey, you two staying silent like this is putting a lot of pressure on me!"
"Because I don't know what to say!" Luo Shu said helplessly.
Utaha, however, wasn't going to indulge Eriri any longer: "You could leave first if you want."
Eriri bit her lower lip lightly, glaring resentfully at Utaha.
'If I leave, won't you be even more awkward?'
Her eyes clearly conveyed this message.
But Utaha wasn't in the mood to humour her today:
"Sawamura, though you were forced into this world, now that you've crossed over, you should be mentally prepared."
"I wasn't going to say this, wanting to let you remain like this a while longer. But the Ghoul intelligence we gathered during those overnight searches showed me how cruel this world truly is."
"If even man-eating races beyond ordinary humans can appear silently in Tokyo, when exactly will you realise this world's dangers?"
"Will it be when your parents encounter a man-eating race like Ghouls, and you can't protect them?"
"Me?!" Eriri opened her mouth, her tone somewhat feeble as she said, "I'm learning firearms from Takina, aren't I? And that Dying Will Flames thing, I'm studying that too!"
"And yet you still maintain your top student performance at school, while also finding time for Art Club activities?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka sneered coldly at this point:
"Sawamura, are you some kind of genius? Like Luo Shu, able to master firearms shooting the moment you pick them up?"
"Your 50-metre fixed target scores can't even match my moving target results, can they? If you can't even surpass me, how do you expect to have it all?"
"My athletic ability is worse than yours—Takina said so herself. But count how many times I've skipped school to practice shooting compared to you? Miss Perfect Attendance Sawamura."
Eriri immediately fell silent at these words.
Although it was Takina Inoue who taught her firearms, Chisato Nishikigi had also come to help occasionally.
They'd learned about Luo Shu's performance from Chisato herself.
In less than half an hour, his marksmanship surpassed veterans like Chisato. Within days, he completed high-difficulty missions, demonstrated his worth, and was promoted by the SDS Supreme Chairwoman to become a department head.
This meteoric rise left Eriri utterly dumbfounded while making her painfully aware of the gap between them.
Back then, she could still comfort herself by thinking Luo Shu was actually a god, hence his extraordinary performance.
But Utaha had ruthlessly shattered that consolation by using herself as the counterexample.
"I... I..." Eriri's eyes reddened with grievance as she burst into tears: "Fine, I'll leave. I won't disturb you anymore, alright?"
With those words, Eriri ran off crying.
Hearing this, Utaha instinctively moved to follow, but was stopped by Luo Shu:
"No need to chase her. There's a station just ahead—she's probably heading straight home."
Utaha hesitated at his words: "...Do you think I was too harsh?"
"No, you just said what I couldn't bring myself to say." Luo Shu shook his head and sighed. "In the end, I'm the one who dragged her into this world. As the perpetrator, I have no right to lecture her."
Utaha opened her mouth as if to speak, but stopped herself. She wanted to say that without Luo Shu's intervention, Eriri wouldn't have had the chance to gain the power to protect herself. But the words caught in her throat, leaving her with an inexplicably complicated feeling.
Luo Shu seemed to sense her hesitation and said quietly:
"I'll visit the Sawamura household in a few days. Honestly, it feels like things keep piling up."
"That's true. You've been skipping school so much that the teachers are starting to suspect you're involved in something illegal."
Utaha teased him with a mischievous smile, but then suddenly paused, her gaze drifting into the distance.
"What's wrong?" Noticing her abrupt silence, Luo Shu turned to look at her, then followed her line of sight to a nearby love hotel.
His expression immediately stiffened.
Sure enough, Utaha murmured wistfully:
"If I hadn't refused you last time... would Kisara never have happened?"
Luo Shu didn't know how to respond and awkwardly reached for his wallet:
"...Should I refund you?"
"No need."
Utaha firmly grasped his right hand and said softly:
"But as your patron, advancing the transaction by one day... should be acceptable, right?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's lips twitched before he sighed:
"As long as you don't regret it."
Utaha pulled his hand closer and said earnestly:
"When I signed the Familia contract, I never once considered regret."
Luo Shu looked at her in surprise. As she tried to lead him toward the hotel, he said:
"Let's take a taxi to Ikebukuro. To your place."
Utaha paused, then nodded:
"Fine."