Chapter 30 — Why Not Team Up with Me?

Su Keke?

‘This isn’t right.’

As she watched the familiar figure walk into the store, Bai Yu froze for a moment.

Counting it up, this was the third time she had run into her today.

Three times… three times in a single day. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.

Of course, Bai Yu didn’t want to meet Su Keke here.

After all, she had finally managed to coax Loweia back.

Although she didn’t know why, Loweia seemed to instinctively dislike Su Keke.

Now that she had appeared here, she worried Loweia’s calmed mood might take a turn for the worse.

Bai Yu instinctively looked at Loweia beside her.

As expected, the moment Su Keke appeared, the strength with which Loweia gripped the corner of her shirt intensified.

If she pulled any harder, Bai Yu’s clothes might actually rip.

Bai Yu wondered if Su Keke had even done anything.

Why was Loweia acting this way toward her?

‘It couldn’t really be some low-level code, could it?’

Just then, Su Keke, who was looking for a seat after entering, spotted Bai Yu.

“Oh, Bai Yu! What a coincidence! You’re here too.”

Haha…

She had been hoping they wouldn’t be noticed, but the shop was only so big.

Unless Su Keke was blind, there was no way she wouldn’t see them.

“Yeah, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you again.”

The corners of Bai Yu’s mouth twitched slightly.

However, as Su Keke walked toward their table, Bai Yu maintained a polite smile.

It really was a coincidence. Su Keke seemed to be everywhere.

Then again, it was her own fault for being in the Old Urban District’s Commercial Street.

It was a bit too small.

If they were somewhere larger and she took Loweia further away, they probably wouldn’t have crossed paths.

Since they had met three times in a row, she supposed she could call it fate.

She just hadn’t expected to meet her at a restaurant again.

This time, history couldn’t possibly be repeating itself — she couldn’t be here to investigate this shop too, right?

“Um, is Miss Su here to eat as well?”

This time, Su Keke nodded and sat down across from them.

“Yeah, yeah! I’m so hungry right now. Bai Yu, you have no idea how exhausted I am.”

As she spoke, the Blonde Girl slumped onto the table without any regard for her image.

Her emerald-green eyes, which usually sparkled with spirit, were now dim and dull.

She looked completely listless — unlike the high-energy Su Keke she knew.

What had she encountered after Bai Yu left?

Bai Yu tried to recall the situation.

She remembered that when she walked away holding Loweia, Su Keke seemed to be communicating with the shop owner.

She didn’t know the details, but it likely had to do with the request.

However, if Bai Yu remembered correctly, the damage to that shop was quite severe.

The entire back kitchen was likely unusable, and several floor tiles had been smashed by the Stitch Monster.

She wondered if Su Keke had chosen to help.

With her ability, she could restore objects to their original state.

If she wanted to, she could naturally repair the damaged walls and floors.

However, doing so would take a heavy toll on her body.

Looking at Su Keke’s exhausted state, she had likely chosen to help the owner.

“Um, Miss Su, did something happen? You look very tired.”

“About that…”

Mentioning the subject gave Su Keke a bit of energy.

“After the request ended, the owner almost passed out when he saw the state of his shop. He started crying and shouting about how he was supposed to do business if the shop was ruined. He said it would be the death of him. So, I was asked to help out.”

“So, you helped him, Miss Su?”

“It was just a small favor.”

Su Keke smiled, but then she scratched her head awkwardly.

“I just didn’t expect the damage to be worse than I thought. Repairing it consumed a lot of Mental Power, so now I’m like this.”

“That must have been hard for you.”

For an Esper, overextending Mental Power was often more painful than physical exhaustion.

Since Su Keke’s ability primarily consumed Mental Power, it wasn’t surprising that she looked so drained.

After resting on the table for a while to regain some strength, Su Keke picked up the menu and ordered several dishes in one go.

Bai Yu was slightly taken aback — the amount Su Keke ordered for herself seemed to be more than what she and Loweia had ordered combined.

While waiting for the food, Su Keke seemed to remember something.

She turned to Bai Yu and asked a question.

“Oh, right. Bai Yu, since you’re an Esper and you seem quite strong, why haven’t you joined the Supernatural Bureau?”

Eh?

Why was she asking that suddenly?

Regarding that, Bai Yu had definitely joined.

It was just that after picking up Loweia, she hadn’t contacted her branch.

Her superiors probably thought she had died during the Subjugation War against the Pale Witch.

“I did join. It’s just that I’ve been on leave lately.”

“I see…”

After hearing that, Su Keke’s eyes filled with a hint of envy.

“I really want to take a leave to go play with Xiao Xi too. Unfortunately, the Bureau has been swamped lately. You probably know, Bai Yu — Central City was attacked a few days ago.”

Bai Yu nodded.

She felt like she had heard the other name Su Keke mentioned somewhere before, but before she could think about it, Su Keke continued on her own.

“After that attack, the Bureau transferred a lot of Espers over there to protect Central City. Right at that critical moment, a large number of Abnormal Entities started appearing all over Red Maple City. It’s so strange. Bai Yu, where do you think they’re all coming from?”

“Well, who knows?”

‘Yeah, who knows? Either way, it probably has nothing to do with Loweia, who is sitting right next to me… haha…’

“Sigh… Because of these sudden Abnormal Entities, every branch has to send people to deal with them. Lately, we’ve been so short-staffed that everyone is incredibly busy.”

After all, the number of Espers was very small.

In a city like Red Maple City with a population of several million, the number of awakened Espers was only about 2,000.

Out of those 2,000, only about one quarter had reached B-Rank or higher, and most of those were B-Rank.

There were only a few dozen A-rank individuals, and as for S-rank Espers, you could count them on both hands.

The rest were mostly C-Rank and D-rank.

It was because of those small numbers that even a seemingly useless C-Rank Precognition-type like Bai Yu managed to get a position within the Bureau.

“Oh, right, Bai Yu…”

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Su Keke looked up at Bai Yu with her emerald eyes sparkling.

“Since you’re on leave and my investigation zone is nearby… if you have the time, why not team up with me? We could investigate why the number of Abnormal Entities in this area is so unusual together. With you helping me, we might finish the mission in no time.”

The moment Su Keke finished speaking, Bai Yu felt the grip on her shirt tighten even further.