A Thief’s Confession and a Peculiar Offer

Su Luoli was, without a doubt, an irredeemable scoundrel.

Even by Li Yue’s stringent moral standards, there was nothing redeeming about her; given that she, too, possessed a soul from another world, her past life must have surely been that of some vile monster.

Yet, the dialogue box hovering above Mo Linyu’s chest read:

[What a despicable personality. She certainly isn’t of the demon race.]

“S-so, what exactly do you… intend to do with me?”

Su Luoli, having confessed everything, watched Li Yue and Mo Linyu with wide, anxious eyes. They claimed they wouldn’t hand her over to the police, yet they had gone to such great lengths to apprehend her. Could it be that they were planning to…

“I-I don’t play for that team!”

Su Luoli clutched her chest, shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Ahem! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

Before Li Yue and Mo Linyu could utter a word, Han Xiaoyu cleared her throat, stepped forward, and, crossing her arms, interrogated, “Su Luoli, which school do you attend?”

Li Yue cast a glance at the dialogue box floating above Han Xiaoyu’s chest.

[As the student council president, if a student from Tianyi High is apprehended, it is my duty to counsel them!]

In that instant, an intense sense of responsibility blazed within Han Xiaoyu’s chest.

Li Yue’s lips twitched upward as she shot a quick glance at Mo Linyu.

[Let her have her fun for now. It’ll also help us gather information about Su Luoli.]

Mo Linyu had grown quite adept at communicating with Li Yue through unspoken thoughts.

Li Yue, for her part, simply settled onto the bed, observing Han Xiaoyu’s interrogation of Su Luoli.

“Why should I tell you anything?”

Han Xiaoyu, however, retorted, “If you refuse to speak, then we’ll have no choice but to let the police confirm it for us, won’t we?”

Han Xiaoyu’s threat of calling the police proved remarkably effective.

Su Luoli clamped her lips shut, remaining silent for a tense moment before finally asking:

“……………… Y-you’re planning to inform my school?”

Han Xiaoyu shook her head. “No, that depends on the circumstances,” she replied. “Which school do you attend?”

Su Luoli’s brows furrowed into a tight knot.

“Please, can you avoid notifying my school and my family?”

“Oh, still harping on that now?” Li Yue asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “You were caught stealing; do you truly expect to walk away from this unscathed?”

Han Xiaoyu drew a deep breath, consciously adopting a stern expression as she paced back and forth before Su Luoli, attempting to project an aura of authority.

Yet, even with Su Luoli seated, she wasn’t significantly shorter than Han Xiaoyu.

“Ahem, as the student council president of Tianyi High, it is my responsibility to understand the full circumstances of this incident and to confirm whether you are indeed a student of our school…”

“I’m not from Tianyi High.”

Su Luoli, conversely, breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn’t her school’s student council president; what authority could Han Xiaoyu possibly wield over her?

“St. Mary’s Girls’ Academy,” Su Luoli answered.

“Huh?”

Han Xiaoyu appeared unfamiliar with such an institution.

Mo Linyu, however, exclaimed in surprise, “Oh? Isn’t that Tianyuan City’s most prestigious private girls’ school? A young lady from a wealthy family resorting to theft? You’re not trying to deceive us, are you?”

“A private girls’ school… Hmph, sounds like the kind of place you’d belong.”

As Li Yue mumbled this, Mo Linyu simply stated, “My father wouldn’t want me attending a school where I might become a target. Gathering a multitude of young ladies together isn’t exactly a good idea. So… is what she said truly accurate?”

Li Yue, effectively functioning as a human lie detector, confirmed, “Yes, she’s speaking the truth.”

Unless a person could even deceive themselves, it was exceptionally difficult to fool Li Yue’s mind-reading abilities.

Despite her not being a Tianyi High student, Han Xiaoyu still smiled and inquired, “Given that you attend such a school, your family’s financial situation must be quite comfortable, wouldn’t you say? Why resort to stealing? Was it solely for gacha pulls?”

“…I’m hardly some pampered young lady. Students at private girls’ schools aren’t exclusively from affluent backgrounds.”

A shadow of gloom crossed Su Luoli’s face.

“My parents are merely ordinary working-class individuals, attempting to use my enrollment in such a school as a means for me to curry favor with wealthy young ladies and achieve social mobility. I have no interest in such a thing, and even if I were to comply, I’d only be scorned.”

What she had previously refused to divulge now spilled out in a torrent.

Regrettably, it was nothing but bitter resentment.

“Those who can attend a private girls’ school can’t exactly be described as coming from entirely working-class families, can they?”

While tuition fees were indeed steep, it was ultimately just a private institution; even ordinary families weren’t entirely incapable of affording it, though it did entail a significant financial burden.

The parents’ underlying motive for enrolling their daughter, however, was rather unpalatable.

“Hmph, it sounds as though you’ve had quite a miserable time of it.”

Li Yue rose from the bed, then deliberately paced toward Su Luoli, looking down at her with a condescending gaze.

“So what, then? Simply because of immense pressure and dissatisfaction at school, you resorted to stealing? Or did you believe that doing so would bring you a sense of catharsis?”

Su Luoli’s face contorted in an ugly grimace. She glared defiantly at Li Yue, yet no words of rebuttal escaped her lips.

Han Xiaoyu, however, spoke with a sympathetic expression. “Oh, so this is your family situation?” she sighed. “Parents who attempt to use their own children as stepping stones… that’s truly…”

Her words were cut short, however, as Li Yue seized her head and unceremoniously tossed her toward Mo Linyu.

“Don’t you dare sympathize with a criminal, Student Council President!”

Mo Linyu caught Han Xiaoyu, holding her like a doll from behind, and then inquired, “Have you never considered the consequences if you were to slip up and get caught one day?”

“I’m intimately familiar with the local terrain, and there are very few surveillance cameras in Runze Fang.”

“So you’re saying you were highly confident? Then how did we still manage to catch you?”

“You’re different… I would have easily evaded anyone else.”

This was, in fact, the truth. Su Luoli possessed exceptional athletic prowess. If Li Yue was a charging wild boar, then Su Luoli was akin to a nimble mountain dog.

“Furthermore, my presence is remarkably low, and my stature is small; this physique feels practically tailor-made for a thief.”

“Hey, why are you suddenly taking pride in that? You’re too young to be taking such a crooked path!”

Li Yue placed her hands on her hips and began rapping on Su Luoli’s head.

Her knocks were quite heavy, producing distinctly hollow thuds from Su Luoli’s skull.

“A-against violence!!”

Only when Li Yue seemed on the verge of knocking tears from Su Luoli’s eyes did Mo Linyu finally speak again:

“Truthfully, we aren’t particularly interested in your family situation or your motives for committing these crimes. However, we also won’t be handing you over to the police. Do you know why?”

Su Luoli shook her head, still seated in the chair.

“What we want is you.”

“Hm?”

Sensing the veiled implication in their words, Su Luoli instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, shielding her body.

Han Xiaoyu sat up straighter beside Mo Linyu, her gaze fixed on Su Luoli.

“Aren’t you here to apprehend a thief?”

“Indeed, we came to apprehend a thief, and haven’t we succeeded? While it’s somewhat regrettable that she isn’t a student from our school, for me personally, it’s rather a good development.”

At the very least, it implies there’s another soul from another world within the school, ripe for the catching.

“What is it you want me to do?”

“Hmm~ Xiaoyu, perhaps you should head home for today.”

Mo Linyu’s sudden dismissal left Han Xiaoyu feeling rather bewildered.

“Eh? Wait, what exactly do you intend to do with her?”

Her brow furrowed as her small mind conjured unknown imaginings, ultimately causing her to exclaim, “No, you can’t resort to vigilantism! That’s a crime too!”

Hearing her words, a flicker of panic also crossed Su Luoli’s face.

After all, she was currently restrained, her personal freedom severely limited.

“Xiaoyu, my suggestion for you to leave first is for your own benefit… but if you truly wish to remain, it’s not entirely out of the question…”

As Mo Linyu spoke, she leaned closer to Han Xiaoyu’s ear, her tone growing subtly ambiguous.

Han Xiaoyu’s vivid imagination instantly spawned a piece of forbidden literature that burst forth in a dialogue box, striking Li Yue full in the face. However, the sheer volume of information made it impossible to read.

“W-what? Are you going to… No! We’re all still students; we can’t do… And this is practically forced…”

Han Xiaoyu stammered, her eyes squeezed shut.

“It’s summer break right now. Even if the disciplinary committee showed up, they couldn’t interfere with whatever we choose to do, could they?”

As she said this, Mo Linyu intensified her embrace, her warm breath caressing Han Xiaoyu’s earlobe like a blazing flame, setting the younger girl’s small face crimson.

“I! I’m leaving first! I wish you both happiness!”

She pushed open the guest room door and fled.