Chapter 125 – Chapter 113 – Full of Lies
Not long after, Komachi Hikigaya’s two companions also began to regain consciousness.
“Mmm… What happened?”纱纪 sat up, feeling the cold and hard floor beneath her, making her feel very uncomfortable.
She had not yet comprehended what was happening when she was completely woken up by a scream beside her.
“Demon! Demon!!!” Upon waking up, Eri shouted loudly with fear.
However, after panicking and looking around, all she saw were Hikigaya Komachi, looking helpless, and Saeki, who was frightened by her scream.
“There was no monster there.”
Eri looked around, dumbfoundedly, still in the music room, her mind getting confused, “H-here… Why am I in the music room? We weren’t supposed to be here, we had already escaped to the first floor, hadn’t we?”
“And then I got grabbed by that monster…”
Eri glanced at Komachi with doubt, who replied helplessly with a forced smile: “Wh-what monster, Eri has been having a nightmare, right?”
Thanks to the dim light, Eri could not discern the look on her face clearly.
“Nightmare?”
“Why did you suddenly scream… It’s making my head hurt.”
Before Eri could get her thoughts straight, Saeki complained angrily while rubbing the back of her head.
“Your headache is because you fell and hit your head, you passed out.”
Komachi kindly reminded her.
“Huh? Is that true!?” Saeki was startled, disbelief written all over her face as she rubbed her head again.
“Because the wind blew the drumsticks off the stands, and the sound startled both of you. Saeki fell and bumped her head, Eri was startled too and thought there was a ghost since Saeki passed out, and she fainted from fear too.”
Komachi’s expression almost crumbled, as she muttered to herself.
“Can’t Lin Qi just give a more reasonable script?”
“Really like this？”
Eri stared suspiciously at Komachi, but the dim light made it impossible to see the look on her face clearly, only sensing that she seemed to be trying to hold back her laughter.
“Then what about the piano music we heard? Surely that wasn’t just imagined, right?”
“That’s right, a piano playing in the dead of night!”
Reminded by Eri, Saeki remembered their main task for the night, and in their memory, there had indeed been a grand piano in the corner of the music room, playing by itself without anyone touching it.
“For that matter, let me try to explain this.”
A low, strange male voice suddenly came from behind them.
The two girls reflexively glanced back, seeing only a ghastly face illuminated by a flashlight.
“It appeared!!!!!”
“Oh!!!!!”
Saeki and Eri both gasped, about to scream.
Lin Qi and Komachi, quick enough to react, covered their mouths, preventing any piercing screams.
“Mmmm!!!”
Both girls truly seemed scared, even with their mouths covered, not struggling, tears starting to well in their eyes, collapsing weakly onto the floor.
“Sorry, sorry, it seems a prank went too far.”
Lin Qi apologized with an amused smile, lowering the flashlight some, allowing the two girls to see his handsome face and his warm, comforting smile.
“Who are you?”
Eri took a wary step back, pulling Saeki to distance themselves from Lin Qi.
The smile on the dark-haired youth froze.
Are young girls these days immune?
It’s troublesome, can’t someone just erase their memories?
Fortunately, Hachiman had already left earlier, waiting at a family restaurant near the school. If he were to see him like this, he’d definitely want his memories erased too.
Luckily, Komachi, astute at reading people, intervened to ease Lin Qi’s embarrassment: “This is the one who played the piano, but he slipped into the school unnoticed.”
“Really?”
With Komachi’s explanation, Eri lost some suspicion and lowered her guard.
While the man was quite handsome, his flashlight scare trick made her treat him as a weirdo.
“So why did you sneak into our school to play piano?”
Saeki asked curiously.
“Let’s just say, it couldn’t be helped.” Lin Qi sighed mournfully, then told two young girls the story.
He had crafted himself as a struggling musician who ran away due to conflict at home. Having nowhere to practice piano, he devised this plan, not knowing students would spread rumors of a campus ghost. He didn’t anticipate someone staying late to investigate.
Of course, none of it was true; it was all fabricated nonsense, which seemed ridiculous.
But considering they’re in Japan, it somehow seemed normal.
In reality, ridiculous things happened all the time.
What mattered was how the handsome young man narrated with vivid detail, bringing conflicts within families, dreams versus reality, and moments of hardship, almost believably.
Even Komachi, who realized it was all invented, found it captivating.
The credibility of the tale soared.
After tricking the two middle schoolers, three students were scolded by security before leaving through the main gate, while Lin Qi escaped via the fence.
After seeing off Eri and Saeki, Lin Qi met Hachiman and Komachi at a nearby family restaurant.
After agreeing on taking Komachi to register for work this weekend, when he noticed a message on his phone, he politely declined a dinner invitation.
…
Upon hearing movement from the balcony, Yukinoshita Yukino, unconsciously, lifted up her gaze towards it.
“Good evening, Lin Qi,” said the black-haired girl tying an apron, placing a plate on the dining table and greeting him placidly, “How is everything?”
“He is safe now, though a girl was injured.” Lin Qi casually sat down, “But surprisingly, I discovered Komachi Hikigaya can see curses. This weekend, I plan to take her to register for a job.”
“Do you want to join us?”
“Komachi?” Yukinoshita Yukino started untying her apron, thinking, “Won’t that be dangerous?”
“No difference.”
“That’s true.”
She understood Lin Qi’s point without him having to elaborate extensively.
“Then let’s go together.”
“And check out the technical college’s school too.”
A cunning, sinister grin formed on Lin Qi’s face.
“?”
…
Prologue – Azur Lane: The Record of Commander Kaidama’s Nuclear Armageddon
Sometimes, the commander would think it would be great if his warships were iron beasts.
Unfortunately, they were all cute and affectionate girls.
If he was the protagonist of a novel, wouldn’t this be a sci-fi love story?
School is dismissed, then become a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
