“Oh…”
Ning Fan Ying reluctantly released Aya Tone.
Her hands, having pulled away, subtly wiped her face twice.
Only then did she rise.
Though her actions were clandestine, the tear streaks on her cheeks betrayed her.
“Sister Ning, you… you didn’t cry, did you?”
“I…”
Suddenly.
Ning Fan Ying’s gaze inadvertently swept past Aya Tone to Fu Ling standing behind her.
Her pretty face instantly flushed crimson.
A miniature wormhole-like teleportation channel quietly materialized behind her.
With a look of mortified annoyance, she glared at Aya Tone, then vanished into the passage.
‘Why did she give me a look before leaving?’
Aya Tone was at a loss for words.
Her legs were numb from being leaned on, and now she’d even received a glare.
‘Ugh, how utterly nonsensical…’
“Aya-chan~”
“……”
‘Why is this person still here…’
Aya Tone pressed a hand to her forehead.
Turning around, she spoke with a hint of exasperation, “Brother, can’t you just act normal?!”
‘It’s always you, kid, calling out like that even before entering the instance dungeon.’
‘You called when people were around, and you’re still calling now that everyone’s gone.’
‘Can’t you just be normal…’
“Normal?”
Fu Ling’s expression froze as he instinctively checked his body.
After a thorough inspection, however, he couldn’t find anything abnormal about himself.
“Your form of address!”
Aya Tone was on the verge of exploding with frustration.
‘Is this person truly foolish or just pretending?’
‘Has no one ever told him that speaking like that is incredibly grating to listen to?’
“Oh~ you mean that.”
Fu Ling suddenly understood.
He shyly explained, “Actually, I’ve loved magical girls since I was a child, and when I saw Aya-chan, I just couldn’t help myself…”
“Stop!”
Aya Tone immediately raised a hand to cut him off.
“I like magical girls too, buddy, but I don’t like you adding ‘-chan’ to my name.”
“OK?”
“OK…”
Fu Ling’s spirits deflated slightly.
He quickly recovered, however.
‘What did he just hear? Aya-chan likes magical girls too?!’
“Aya… Miss Tone?”
Unable to use ‘Aya-chan,’ Fu Ling was momentarily unsure how to address her properly.
“Just call me Aya Tone.”
To her, he was merely a stranger, so using her given name was preferable.
Suffixes were entirely unnecessary.
Aya Tone simply disliked anyone adding suffixes to her name.
It always felt strangely uncomfortable.
Fu Ling’s eyes lit up with delight.
“Aya Tone!”
“What do you want?” Aya Tone’s mouth twitched.
‘Could this person be a pervert?’
As a fellow veteran anime fan, Aya Tone understood such things all too well.
‘Ahem, it seems I’ve exposed something…’
“Tomorrow there’s an anime convention with a magical girl theme. Are you interested?”
An anime convention?
Aya Tone’s head tilted involuntarily.
A familiar yet unfamiliar term…
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
She didn’t make an immediate decision.
‘Go to an anime convention?’
‘Let’s see if Fu Ling can still stand and talk to her after tomorrow’s mission is completed.’
Moreover, this was hardly the time for leisure.
The S-rank instance dungeon was about to open.
She absolutely had to raise the spatial stability level of the Imperial Capital before its activation.
Otherwise, if a spatial collapse occurred, it would be far more troublesome to handle than an S-rank dungeon itself.
She would then be stuck in the Imperial Capital for several more days.
And Fire Finch would continue to ‘corrupt’ Xiao Jiu for a few more days…
At this thought, Aya Tone’s small face couldn’t help but turn cold.
“Since you’re staying anyway, you might as well finish handling things before you leave.”
With that, Aya Tone departed from the suburban area without a backward glance.
Phew…
Fu Ling let out a breath of relief.
The inexplicable aura that had suddenly emanated from Aya Tone had almost suffocated him.
‘Is this the power of an S-rank magical girl?’
‘It’s terrifying!’
However…
‘Aya-chan didn’t explicitly refuse to go.’
‘Which means, there’s a chance!’
The mere thought that Aya Tone, a true magical girl, might attend.
Fu Ling’s chuunibyou spirit couldn’t help but erupt!
“Ooooh!”
****
Aya Tone did not participate in the cleanup work.
She was only responsible for ‘slicing and dicing,’ not for tidying the cutting board.
Back in her hotel room.
Aya Tone’s first action was to deactivate her transformation.
She then made a video call to Fire Finch.
It was almost six o’clock, and Big White still hadn’t reported Xiao Jiu’s return home.
This worried Aya Tone immensely…
‘What on earth was that woman, Fire Finch, doing?’
“Hello~ Papa~”
The call was quickly answered, and a small head suddenly appeared on Aya Tone’s phone screen.
The moment she saw little Aya Jiu, Aya Tone’s anxious heart finally settled.
She had genuinely feared that Fire Finch might have forgotten about Xiao Jiu again.
“Xiao Jiu~ did you miss Papa?”
“Yes! Yes, I did!”
Little Aya Jiu waved her small hands, speaking indistinctly.
Those tiny gestures completely melted Aya Tone’s heart.
All worries and sorrows simply flew away.
‘Wuwuwu, I want to go back so badly…’
Aya Tone silently cried out in her heart!
“Papa~ Sister Fire Finch is taking me out to eat tonight.”
Saying this, little Aya Jiu held up the phone and stood, turning in a circle.
However, little Aya Jiu didn’t know how to switch the camera, so from Aya Tone’s perspective.
It was always little Aya Jiu’s earnest expression, trying to show Papa her surroundings, that was visible.
Aya Tone didn’t offer a reminder, merely watching with a smile.
Occasionally, she would still ask little Aya Jiu to adjust the angle.
Little Aya Jiu, unaware of the camera issue, immediately and carefully rotated the phone upon hearing Papa’s instructions.
Muttering, “Is it like this?”
“Mm-hmm, Xiao Jiu is so good!”
Aya Tone wiped her nose.
(o*￣︶￣*)o
‘So adorable…’
“Xiao Jiu, you’re blocking the camera.”
At that moment, an unwelcome voice came from the phone.
Aya Tone’s brow furrowed.
‘Who could be so inconsiderate?!’
On the screen, little Aya Jiu looked up in surprise.
She blinked adorably, “Hm?”
“Your papa was just tricking you, you know. If you don’t believe me, ask him.”
Fire Finch had just glanced over, noticing the screen was constantly focused on little Aya Jiu.
And Aya Tone, that naughty father, was playing along.
‘He must think it’s fun to trick Xiao Jiu.’
Thus, Fire Finch, armed with the mantle of ‘justice,’ decisively declared!
She would certainly expose this despicable lie!
In truth, she simply found it irritating to see Aya Tone tricking Xiao Jiu.
And, incidentally, she aimed to sow discord between the father and daughter.
Once Xiao Jiu got angry, she could seize the opportunity to sneakily abduct Xiao Jiu.
If her plan succeeded, Xiao Jiu would be hers! \(^o^)/~
“Papa~ is what Sister Fire Finch said true?”
Little Aya Jiu pouted, ‘scrutinizing’ Aya Tone.
“Uh…”
Aya Tone guiltily averted her gaze.
In her heart, she had already secretly added Fire Finch to her kill list.
“No, no, Papa saw it from behind Xiao Jiu just now. Are you two out eating?”
Fortunately, she had inadvertently caught a fleeting glimpse of a waiter.
Aya Tone quickly changed the subject, realizing she couldn’t dwell on this topic.
Otherwise, she would fall into Fire Finch’s ‘poisonous scheme.’
“Yes, Sister Fire Finch brought me here.”
Indeed.
Upon hearing Aya Tone mention something else.
Little Aya Jiu’s eyes lit up, and she was immediately drawn into the new conversation.
She happily shared with Aya Tone the story of how Fire Finch had picked her up from kindergarten that afternoon.
When the other children saw Fire Finch, they all looked at little Aya Jiu with envy.
Putting aside certain biases, Aya Tone admitted that Fire Finch could be considered a top-tier beauty.
However, unfortunately, once certain ‘settings’ were applied, there was no turning back.
No matter how beautiful a woman, she would become a ‘mute bride.’