Wu Yan and the girls sat down after their happy reunion. Ikaros immediately took out tea to serve everyone a cup of black tea. She also didn’t forget to place some sweets in front of Flandre and Yoshino, the two young ladies were absolutely euphoric when she did that.
Wu Yan was slightly taken aback by this, Ikaros did all that without explicit instructions. This demonstrated that she acquired more autonomous thinking faculties, a far cry from her past self where she needed someone to tell her what to do.
Hinagiku read Wu Yan’s mind, she chortled.
“Ikaros changed a lot didn’t she?…”
Wu Yan rubbed Ikaros’ head with a smile.
“Yeah, that she did. She’s cuter than ever now!”
Ikaros’ blushed like mad and she started fidgeting, drawing laughter from Wu Yan. He started playing with her wings-like accessory, making her face redder as a result. Wu Yan wanted to play with her more but a piercing glare stopped him.
Cough
Wu Yan faked a cough. He let go of Ikaros’ ears and he started sipping his black tea like a sir.
“Right…”
Wu Yan stopped.
“Did something happen while I was gone?…”
This question came to his mind because the last time he came back, they were dealing with the Disturbance in the Giant Beast Forest, the subsequent investigation led to the discovery of the Beast King. He just left Silvaria for a day and events immediately propped up. Since he left for 10 days, he isn’t entirely surprised if something big pops up again.
The girls who were looking at Wu Yan up until now started averting their gazes. They lowered their heads.
Wu Yan knitted his brows and he placed his cup back on the table.
“What’s the matter? Did something happened?”
The girls looked at Kotori, they wanted her to explain for them.
Kotori stopped chewing on her candy as she threw the girls a slightly annoyed glance. She replied to Wu Yan.
“Actually, it’s not that big of a deal…”
Kotori minced her words.
“Lately, the imperial family of Ailu empire is planning something regarding us…”
“Hmm?…”
Wu Yan gasped.
“The imperial family? I wonder which one is dumb enough to try and hit on you girls, are they courting you?”
The girls’ serious expression immediately collapsed. Kotori bared her fangs at him, she wanted to chomp this guy for joking at this juncture. Wu Yan gave her a cheeky grin but he started looking serious once more.
“What happened?”
“Hmph…”
Kotori pursed her lips.
“If we knew, we wouldn’t be so stressed out…”
“Fei Fei-nee gave us this intel.”
Hinagiku chimed in.
“Fei Fei-nee told us that the Ailu imperial family is plotting something. She was ordered by Lei Wang-san to inform us.”
“Oh?…”
Wu Yan rubbed his chin.
“You mean the imperial family is planning to drag us into their affairs?…”
“At least, that’s what Fei Fei-nee said…”
Hinagiku shook her head.
“She also told us the imperial family mobilized personnel to track us. They aren’t overtly spying on us but Lei Wang-san suggested that this is just the prelude to something bigger…”
“I see…”
Wu Yan inhaled deeply. He looked a bit tense.
“I think we are on relatively good terms with the ruling family, right?”
“That should be the case yeah…”
Kotori waved her candy.
“Princess Sylph should be grateful, I mean, we did save them from the Beast King Incident last time. We also significantly reduced casualties on that expedition. Hence, they treat us very well in school.”
Hinagiku nodded.
“Indeed, Princess Sylph is looking out for us in her own way. The amount of help she extended to us is next to only the Starlight Queen and the Fatal Forest.”
“The plot thickens.”
Wu Yan looked at the girls.
“Did you girls do something to stand out? Maybe you girls did something weird?”
Hinagiku and Kotori frowned as they tried to recall what they did in the past 10 days. Astrea raised her hand meekly.
“Erm, I stole food to eat, does that count?”
Wu Yan’s lip twitched while the other girls’ legs went weak.
“If you didn’t eat a Legendary Armament, I think you’re fine…”
“Er-erm…”
Tohka fidgeted.
“I joined her too…”
Wu Yan laughed out loud.
“Look, you two didn’t eat anything like a legendary armament, right?”
flandre blinked her eyes, she blurted out loud.
“Is it because Flan drew tortoises on the very tall building?”
“A very tall building?…”
Wu Yan’s heart started thumping.
“You’re not talking about the Arena tower, right?”
“Nn… Flan don’t know the tower’s name but there are a lot of people fighting in it!”
“That’s the building!”
Wu Yan lost his strength, he collapsed on the table and he raised his hand.
“Think about it, are there any weird events or over the top things you girls did?”
“Oddities?…”
Hinagiku placed her index finger to her chin.
“I mean, it’s weird that Bing Ling, Bi Shi, Kaya, and Jaafar tried to ask where Yukari went after she departed…”
“As for over-the-top event…”
Kotori glanced at Kurumi who was sitting elegantly by her side.
“A male student tried to harass Kurumi, then, this girl went and broke his arms and legs!”
“Ara…”
Kurumi licked her lips with a naughty grin on her face.
“That guy tasted bad, you won’t believe just how stinky his blood was…”
“Fine…”
Wu Yan knocked on the table while holding his aching head.
“I am not surprised people asked about Yukari. She’s the sixth Demigod-tier to appear in this world, of course people are going to ask about her. I am surprised the Board didn’t come personally to ask. As for the guy who tried to harass Kurumi…”
Wu Yan looked at Hinagiku.
“Where does he live?”
“Why?”
Hinagiku asked.
“Do you think he has something to do with this? He’s just a normal student. I think he made the mistake because he’s new and didn’t know any better. Do you want to investigate his background?…”
“I want all the information we can dig up on him!”
Wu Yan said. He also added another line that made the girls stumble.
“When we confirm he has nothing to do with the current invitation, I am going to break his third leg (His Johnny)!”
“You…”
Hinagiku and Kotori were speechless.
“Arara…”
Kurumi had a radiant smile on her face.
“Hubby-sama, are you jealous? It makes me happy that you care so much…”
“Hey hey…”
Wu Yan straightened his back.
“Do I look like someone who is that petty?”
The girls looked at him and they nodded in unison. Wu Yan shrunk down a bit.
“Yeah, I guess that was a bit petty of me…”
“Ahaha…”
The girls laughed at him. Kotori interrupted them.
“I don’t know what the imperials are thinking. But, what are we going to do about the ball invitation? Are we going?”
Wu Yan grinned as a flash of idea struck him.
