pertwk Page 190
Page 190
It was cold, then became sticky with body heat. Nothing changed.
Chapter 266 Steam Princess
The sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight was gradually becoming scorching. The cicadas in the trees chirped incessantly, like the drumbeats unique to summer. The river flowing quietly along the embankment was calm and still, its waters crystal clear.
The approach to the shrine is not very long, but the shade provided by the lush green trees is enough to find a cool and secluded place on a hot summer day. The vermilion torii gates covered with moss and rain marks silently tell the story of time.
As Ryougi Shiki had predicted, the lack of entertainment facilities in Yasui Inaba Town quickly bored the young masters and ladies, who began to look for nearby locations.
Since the third day onwards is entirely free time, you can freely choose to go to the city or the beach.
On the riverbank, Asagami Fujino discovered an extremely rare creature: Mochizuki Oboro, who was all alone.
"Want one?" Mochizuki Oboro, with her back to Asagami Fujino, took out a box of cigarettes and candy. The footsteps from earlier were quite obvious.
"This is... smoke?" Asagami Fujino squinted her eyes in confusion. "But it doesn't seem quite the same."
Mochizuki Oboro turned her head slightly, revealing her profile: "It's candy. But the flavor might be a bit retro."
"I see. Thank you."
Asagami Fujino sat down on the bench, reached out and took the tobacco candy, and imitated Mochizuki Oboro's action by putting it in her mouth.
bang.
Mochizuki used her sharp fangs to bite the tobacco candy in half, chewing it with a crunching sound.
Asagami Fujino remained silent for a while, looked around, and after confirming that there was no third person present, she seemed to have made up her mind, abandoned her Yamato Nadeshiko image, and followed suit.
"?" Mochizuki Oboro looked at Asagami Fujino with a puzzled expression.
"?" Asagami Fujino looked back at Mochizuki Oboro with even more confusion.
After swallowing the crumbs of candy, Mochizuki Oboro explained, "You see, it's a tobacco candy after all, so the proper way to use it is to suck it. Chewing it is just my personal preference."
"I see." Feeling extremely embarrassed, Asagami Fujino slumped back in her chair.
Japanese society places an extreme, almost pathological, emphasis on formality and atmosphere. Colleagues, superiors and subordinates, and even friends are bound by a series of invisible rules and regulations.
Not everyone is as indifferent to others' opinions as Mochizuki Oboro. Asagami Fujino subconsciously imitated his actions after receiving the cigarette candy; it was simply a matter of habit.
"Didn't you go with Ryougi?" Mochizuki asked.
"She was still asleep when I woke up, so I didn't want to disturb her. I thought I'd just go out for a walk by myself. Before entering Academy City, I had been observing life in Poko City and had never really seen the countryside. It felt quite novel."
I gently stroked the ema with my fingertips; besides the text, there were also cute chibi-style illustrations on it.
An older man, a little girl, and a teenager. They must be a very loving family.
Asagami Fujino paused for a moment, then extended an invitation: "Are you free this afternoon? How about we go for a stroll around Inaba City?"
……
Poets often try to use complex language to describe simple feelings.
Piling up fancy words, crafting elaborate sentences, and painstakingly anticipating the other person's reaction upon hearing them.
"I hate you," "I don't like this," "I love you," "So cute"—for most people, these short phrases and words are not easy to say aloud.
People feel shy and embarrassed, yet they yearn to communicate. And the purpose of writing is precisely to record and express.
"It's letter paper, and an envelope." Asagami Fujino saw something rarely seen in Academy City.
Love letters in the shoe cabinet—if you're wondering where envelopes might appear in Academy City, there's only one possibility.
Mochizuki bowed slightly and leaned down: "I've only ever encountered envelopes in essay topics. Social media and telephones have almost rendered them obsolete."
"You've never received a love letter?" Asagami Fujino asked in surprise.
No way... Did Typhon and the others not even go through the proper procedures? It seemed like a two-way street when they were observing, but they haven't even confirmed their relationship yet.
"No." Mochizuki closed his eyes mercilessly.
"Don't you have a girlfriend yet?" Asagami Fujino's gaze shifted upwards: "Before confirming a relationship, they should exchange love letters."
"Yes. But the process of confirming our relationship was a bit unusual. So I didn't receive any love letters."
Asagami Fujino's gossip fire was burning fiercely: "Sajō Aika-san? Or Lilith-san?"
“Meltryllis.” Mochizuki Oboro picked up the letter and envelope; he would need these things from now on.
As a hero who would never turn back, he planned to gather everyone together after the event in the television world ended and then distribute love letters to them in person.
This is the awareness of multiple ship jumps.
Asagami Fujino was filled with awe.
Although Ryougi Shiki and others believe that the AI in the game world is just a pre-programmed program, Asagami Fujino believes that those AIs really have their own thoughts and ideas.
Regardless of what others think, at least in her eyes, Meltryllis and the real person are not much different.
That's why Asagami Fujino genuinely admires Mochizuki Oboro for being able to tame that cold, self-righteous, and domineering signboard girl.
Unbeknownst to her, Asagami Fujino revealed a kind and loving smile, like that of an elder.
"Are you preparing a gift for Miss Melt? I can also recommend a couple."
Mochizuki Oboro shook her head: "This is for you."
"……what?"
An ambiguous envelope.
Pink letter paper.
? ? ? ? ?
Ms. Fujino's CPU was running at full speed, a wisp of white smoke rising from it. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't find a second possibility.
"I'm a complete scumbag. I like everything related to beauty, including cute girls. If the other person doesn't mind, I'd be happy to have a closer relationship with her."
Mochizuki Oboro solemnly uttered words that were enough to get him torn apart by five horses: "Take you, Asagami-kun, for example. Your appearance and personality are exactly what I like."
What is he saying?
Could it be that he became delirious after leaving the palace?
Ms. Asagami's cheeks flushed rapidly, becoming as red and delicious as apples, as she heard such words for the first time in her life.
"Isn't this cheating?" Asagami Fujino backed away repeatedly. "What will happen if Miss Melt finds out?"
“She was happy for me to do that.”
? ? ? ? ?
Is it possible that I'm not actually awake yet, and this is an absurd scene from a dream...? Yes, it must be a dream...
“I know how bad I am, so you are free to choose whether to accept it or not.” Mochizuki Oboro said with a smile, “Even if you accept it, you can quit if you still feel uncomfortable halfway through. I understand and respect all the decisions you make.”
"...Please stop talking."
Steam Girl is about to lose control.
Asagami Fujino couldn't hear any of the words like "jumping ship," "scumbag," or "pervert." Right now, the only word in her mind was "confession."
No matter how outstanding someone is, there's probably no one who can remain unmoved upon first hearing this word.
Chapter 267 The True Taste of the Clan
There are many phenomena in this world that science cannot explain, as well as countless urban legends. Although most of them are rumors, no one can say for sure how many of them actually happened.
The United States has the legend of the "Headless Horseman," Japan has the "Twilight of the Demons" and all sorts of mountain spirits and monsters, and the stories circulating in the Kyushu region are even more numerous.
The only difference between midnight television stories and these legends is perhaps that they take place in modern times.
"What are you looking at?" Mochizuki Oboro asked curiously as she put down her full backpack after returning to the hotel.
Mandicardo casually replied, "The Three Great Wonders of Modern Times."
The reports covered topics such as the artificial island in the port area, Yasuo Inaba Town, and modern Tokyo. Some of the news sounded plausible, but much of it was simply exaggerated rhetoric aimed at increasing readership.
What kind of nonsense is this—making someone lose the will to live, stealing someone's heart...? That's so fake.
“After all, this town has a really great atmosphere.” Charlemagne laughed heartily. “You have five days left, how are you going to spend them?”
Wearing a casual yukata, Karna put on sunglasses and picked up a water glass from the table: "Fishing, long-distance running, picnics, camping. Arjuna and the others have already purchased all the supplies today."
"Full of energy, huh? I'll go dig out some rare medieval comics. It would be too unbecoming of an otaku to leave this old, authentic bookstore untouched." Mandicardo, with his deadpan eyes, closed the magazine in his hand.
"And you?" Karna asked.
"Heh heh—you'd never guess." Charlemagne pushed up the emperor's new glasses, revealing teeth that gleamed white.
……
Meanwhile, at the bus stop.
Several expensive, custom-made luxury RVs slowly came to a stop and turned off their lights.
The Knights of the Round Table didn't let their precious summer vacation go to waste. As employees of the Camelot Entertainment Center, regional supervisors had twelve days of annual leave available to them each year, in addition to holidays.
The Knights of the Round Table traditionally spend seven days of their annual leave in the summer on a team-building trip.
The absence of some supervisors won't bring Camelot Entertainment Center to a standstill, and the intelligent task processing robots can manage for a while, but a collective absence of more than seven days is definitely not acceptable.
Lancelot opened the car door, dressed in a casual Hawaiian shirt, already eager to experience Japanese country life.
"With my king gone, no one can restrain me anymore!" The Knight of the Lake laughed heartily.
Before he could finish speaking, a shield flew over with a snap and hit Lancelot squarely on the back of the head.
thump.
The knight fell to the ground.
"It's too noisy." Galahad's displeasure was palpable.
He was kind and gentle to everyone except his own father.
Both Finis Academy and Tokiwadai Middle School were conducting study tours in this town, and the hotel had no rooms available. But it wasn't a big problem; the Knights of the Round Table had originally planned to travel around Japan in their campervans, and Yasuoba Town was just one stop on their itinerary.
“It’s a pity that Lord Kellett and Lord Bedivere aren’t here.” Tristan took off his glasses, tossed his long, flowing hair, and exuded the air of an international male model.
Percival skillfully set up the folding table: "Someone still needs to stay in Camelot to handle the odd jobs."
"Leave the vegetarian dishes to me," Gao Wen said magnanimously, carrying out a food box that was half his height.
Thinking of yesterday's mashed potatoes, Mordred couldn't help but put on a deadpan expression: "Don't even think about your lousy potatoes."
It's touted as natural and additive-free, but in reality, it's just potatoes mashed into a paste by brute force and then steamed, with only a little salt for seasoning... It was understandable to do it this way when filming, but no one wants to relive a classic in real life.
Potatoes are a wonderful ingredient. Whether fried, boiled, stir-fried, or steamed, they're never too bad. Unfortunately, Gao Wenqing, lacking ambition, only knows one method and enjoys it immensely, without realizing there's anything wrong with it.
Mordred considered it an effort he had made to cut the food into pieces and cook it.
Shortly after the cooking began, the riverbank welcomed a second group of visitors.
"Professor Cú Chulainn, what if we don't catch a single fish today..."
"Don't say anything unlucky, we can't possibly be in the air!" The man in blue casual clothes said confidently, "Just set up the grill, and you'll be able to enjoy some authentic, natural food soon!"
Several male students shrugged dejectedly.
The students, who could faintly smell the aroma, swallowed hard as they watched the Knights of the Round Table enjoying themselves not far away.
Since things have come to this, we can only choose to trust Mr. Cú Chulainn's fishing skills.
Arriving at the riverbank, I set up a small stool and cast my fishing rod.
Cú Chulainn calmly waited for his dinner to be caught.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes... They took the bait!
The students perked up as they watched as their teacher, Cú Chulainn, skillfully controlled the fishing rod and soon caught the fish.
"Two pounds. It's a bit small, but we can start by opening up the belly. You all know how to do it, right?"
"Know!"
After half an hour.
"Has no fish taken the bait yet, teacher?"
"almost."
As dusk fell, the setting sun turned the river into a sea of fire, reflecting off Cú Chulainn's gloomy face.
……