In a small meeting room at Kamijo Hospital.
"You cooked all this?"
Luo Shu's face twitched slightly as he stared at the twelve lunch boxes spread across the table.
Sitting to his right, Kisara rubbed her hands together shyly:
"I was worried the food might not suit your taste, so I made a little extra."
'You call this a little?'
Luo Shu's gaze at Kisara was filled with deep resignation.
'Did this girl spend all her SDS stipend on ingredients?'
'Or did I ever challenge some competitive eating record?'
While Luo Shu was lost in thought, Utaha, seated to his left, had already taken a small bite of a meatball. After tasting it, she couldn't help but comment:
"This flavour... If I didn't know when you regained your memories, I'd suspect that there were chef demons among the demon kind."
Hearing this, Kisara forced a smile, her expression darkening as she glared at Utaha:
"I wouldn't know about chef demons, but Shu hasn't even picked up his chopsticks yet..."
Noticing this, Utaha smirked meaningfully:
"I see, the perfect loyal dog!"
"But being too clingy might make people dislike you."
"No need for your concern." Kisara scowled at Utaha, finding this woman increasingly irritating.
Seeing them about to argue again, Luo Shu sighed and shook his head, deliberately changing the subject:
"While you two were coming downstairs earlier, I met a girl who qualifies to become Familia."
At these words, both Utaha and Kisara froze.
Bringing this up while they were bickering—was Luo Shu trying to imply something?
Kisara's eyes immediately welled up, looking at Luo Shu pitifully like a puppy about to be abandoned by its owner.
Ignoring their reactions, Luo Shu continued calmly:
"She was wearing a hospital gown, with Doctor Kurahashi from infectious diseases as her attending physician. Seems she's preparing to be among the first test subjects for the virtual reality technology."
"Later, I'll check the hospital records to confirm her identity."
Come to think of it, discussing work during meals was rather typical of Luo Shu.
Realising this, Utaha couldn't help but chuckle, both at her earlier worries and Luo Shu's cautious nature:
"...Are you sure you want me to go probe for information?"
At this moment, Kisara, beside them, also came to her senses, realising Luo Shu was discussing business matters, and immediately felt relieved.
She had thought that after quarrelling with Utaha so much, she had annoyed Luo Shu to the point of driving her away.
Thinking of this, Kisara couldn't help but glare at Utaha.
If this woman hadn't just said that being too clingy would make people dislike her, would she have thought of such things and scared herself?
However, Utaha completely ignored Kisara's glare. After listening to Luo Shu's recount of the earlier situation, she pondered for a moment and then chuckled lightly:
"Just gently place your hand on someone and absorb their illness. Someone driven to desperation like that would surely cling to you even in death, wouldn't they?"
Hearing Utaha's words, Luo Shu didn't refute her, only frowned and said:
"That may be true, but that girl seemed far too young. Honestly, I'm not very keen on recruiting someone of that age."
Utaha hesitated, then asked: "Very young? How young?"
"Judging by her physique... around eight or nine years old..." Luo Shu estimated uncertainly.
'Eight or nine...'
Utaha blinked, her tone suddenly becoming somewhat excited:
"Isn't that perfect? You could raise her as a Hikaru Genji project..."
Hearing this, Luo Shu looked at Utaha speechlessly.
He was concerned about whether dragging a child into the supernatural world was appropriate or might harm her, and here Utaha was thinking about raising her?
"Impressive, impressive!"
Luo Shu clapped lightly:
"Should I say, as expected of Utako Kasumi-sensei, who read 120 raising sim light novels in a year?"
"How did you know that?" Utaha reflexively retorted, then glared at Luo Shu: "You looked me up in the Encyclopaedia?"
Naturally, Utaha wasn't unaware of items like the Mysticism Encyclopaedia.
But she truly hadn't expected Luo Shu to use it to dig up her embarrassing past.
"Indeed!" Luo Shu nodded honestly. "You know my personality—how could I feel at ease without checking first?"
Luo Shu didn't bother hiding his cautious nature, even taunting:
"But don't worry, Utaha. I won't reveal those tragic romance doujinshi by Eri Kashiwagi hidden in the 'Music' folder on your E drive."
'So, just because I mentioned a Hikaru Genji plan, you retaliate like this? What a petty man.'
Utaha stared at Luo Shu, both annoyed and amused, then said:
"Since you have such a convenient tool as the Encyclopaedia, why not look up that girl's details?"
Luo Shu couldn't help but retort:
"With just a face to go on and not even a name, let alone genetic material, you think the Encyclopaedia is omniscient? That it'll give precise results every time?"
"It's a Demigod Rank item, not an all-knowing divine artefact!"
Hearing this, Utaha had no rebuttal and could only glare at Luo Shu:
"So all we know is that the attending physician is an infectious disease specialist surnamed Kurahashi?"
"No wonder you wanted to access the backend records and sent me to gather intel."
With that, Utaha took a bite of rice and said:
"Well, I have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, so being exploited by the heartless God-sama is only to be expected, right?"
"Come to think of it, I might get thoroughly exploited tonight as well."
Hearing the words 'exploited tonight', Luo Shu suddenly perked up with interest:
"Tonight, huh..."
"How about you tie your hair in Eriri's style tonight?"
Upon hearing this, Utaha immediately shot Luo Shu a dark look—you're actually serious, you bastard!
Eriri's hairstyle? Why don't you just go find Eriri herself?
Utaha was about to refuse without a second thought—do whatever you tell me to? What kind of person do you take me for?
But the next moment, Kisara's voice chimed in.
"Shu-kun likes twin tails? Then I'll tie them for you tonight."
Seeing Kisara's eager-to-please expression, Utaha's face darkened completely.
'Damn pink-haired demon, what are you even competing for here?!'
'Is this something to compete over?'
Just as Utaha was gripping her chopsticks so hard they might snap—
Creak—the door swung open.
Before Kirika Tachibana even entered, her voice carried in first:
"What are you three hiding in here for?"
"The conference room isn't the place for your little lovey-dovey sessions! Go on!"