A day had passed since Shinonina was lost.
Although Shidou had promised Wan Mie in front of her to let everyone on Fraxinus help, the lack of concrete news still left Wan Mie troubled.
At this moment, it was the height of summer in Tengū City.
The temperature outside had reached a historic high, just a bit short of forty degrees Celsius, yet Wan Mie was wrapped in blanket after blanket, crouched in the corner of the room.
In the center of the room, a blue-haired girl wearing a green rabbit-eared cloak was holding a phone, her eyes glued to a soap opera playing on the screen.
Bursts of cold air continuously emanated from her body, spreading outward.
The girl’s body was like a prehistoric black ice, just sitting there could lower the room’s temperature to dozens of degrees below zero—no less than a frozen food warehouse.
This exquisitely cute girl, like a French doll, was none other than Shinomiya, whom Wan Mie had brought back a day earlier.
After a night of comfort yesterday, Shinomiya’s mood had finally calmed a lot, and she no longer released cold air uncontrollably.
Thinking about it, even with the many employees on Fraxinus, it was impossible to find Shinonina so quickly, so Wan Mie gave her phone to Shinomiya to play with.
If she remembered correctly, Shinomiya especially liked watching soap operas.
The intention was good, but Wan Mie never expected that an unsealed Spirit’s Spirit Power could lose control with even a slight emotional fluctuation.
It just so happened the soap opera Shinomiya was watching was the most tear-jerking kind.
Every time she reached a sad moment, cold air would burst from Shinomiya, turning the whole room into a deep freeze.
Luckily, Wan Mie had been prepared, buying several blankets at a nearby supermarket when she came back yesterday.
Otherwise, she would have frozen to death already.
“Sure enough, you can’t judge Spirits by ordinary standards…”
Wan Mie lamented inwardly.
If she had known things would turn out like this, she might as well have sent Shinomiya to Fraxinus.
At least in her current state, Kotori and the others probably couldn’t do anything to her.
On the phone screen, the male lead risked his life to save the female lead from being hit by a truck, using all his strength to push her away, exposing himself to the truck’s path.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the male lead was sent flying.
At that moment, Wan Mie’s room door was suddenly knocked.
Shinomiya, tears in her eyes, frowned and immediately locked the phone screen, staring warily at the door.
Wan Mie gave a bitter smile at Shinomiya’s reaction.
This child was often hunted by AST, so this kind of reaction was understandable.
“It’s fine, it’s just someone coming to see your sister.”
Wan Mie comforted her, took off her blankets, and walked to the entrance to open the door.
“Miss Ayase.”
Shidou greeted her with a smile.
Although Wan Mie had easily agreed to go on a date with him last time, and acted like a normal girl during the date, seemingly without much distance between them—
After Ellen interrupted the date, Wan Mie’s attitude towards him seemed to return to the previous cold and indifferent state.
Shidou didn’t consider himself good at interacting with girls, but Wan Mie’s personality was really hard to figure out.
Now, he didn’t even know what kind of expression he should use to face her.
“Did you find it?”
Wan Mie asked succinctly, her expression icy as a glacier, making Shidou’s already uneasy mood even more tense.
“Yes.”
Shidou nodded.
“Shi was picked up by someone. We’ve found the person who took her.”
“Come in and talk.”
Wan Mie opened the door wider, motioning for Shidou to enter.
The apartment she was renting was a single unit, and she naturally lived alone.
If the neighbors saw Shidou standing at the door, rumors would surely spread.
Wan Mie wasn’t worried about gossip, but feared such talk reaching the landlord’s ears.
She was already struggling financially.
If the landlord used this as an excuse to raise the rent, she’d either become an internet cafe refugee or have to sleep under a bridge.
Seeing Wan Mie actively invite him into her room, Shidou felt nervous.
This was the first time in his life he had entered a girl’s room—other than Kotori’s!
As Shidou hesitated, Kotori’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
“Onii-chan, are you embarrassed? It’s your first time entering a girl’s room, what a rare opportunity~”
Shidou gave a wry smile.
His little sister really could see through everything.
Before he could reply, Kotori spoke again.
“Hurry up and get in, stop dithering, it’s disgusting.”
“Kotori, is that any way to talk to your brother?”
Shidou was exasperated.
Commander-mode Kotori was really unreasonable.
He kind of missed White Headband Mode Kotori…
“I’m ordering you. Move!”
“Yes, yes…”
Kotori’s strong voice came through the earpiece again.
Shidou gave up on feeling embarrassed and stepped into Wan Mie’s room.
The room was small, just a dozen or twenty square meters.
A narrow corridor by the entrance squeezed in a tiny kitchen and bathroom.
Inside, there was no extra decoration—just a small table with a monitor and the latest game console opposite it.
On a bookshelf in the corner were all kinds of familiar games, a few light novels, and some manga scattered about.
Miss Ayase really was a genuine otaku.
Rather than a maiden’s bedroom, it looked more like the dream layout for any man.
Games, manga, light novels…
All the things that could bring happiness to a man were here.
However, Shidou’s attention didn’t linger on these things for long.
There was a petite figure in the room, like a wary kitten watching a stranger, ready to run away at any sudden movement.
At the same time, Shidou noticed how cold Wan Mie’s room was.
Even though he wore a long-sleeved shirt today, he still felt a chill to the bone.
But there didn’t seem to be an air conditioner in Wan Mie’s room?
Noticing Shidou’s gaze, Wan Mie explained.
“Her name is Shinomiya, the Spirit you call Hermit.”
Wan Mie’s casual tone was like she was introducing a friend, but it made Shidou tense up.
This was a Spirit!
A Spirit capable of causing a Spacequake!
But thinking carefully, Wan Mie was also a Spirit.
Yet her behavior and way of speaking were almost indistinguishable from a normal person.
In this short time, Shidou had nearly forgotten Wan Mie was a Spirit.
“Uh… hello…”
Shidou forced a smile, greeting her as gently as he could, but Shinomiya’s wary gaze didn’t relax at all.
Wan Mie didn’t care much.
She dragged two small stools from a storage box and sat down.
“Sit and talk. As long as you don’t scare her, there’s no danger—at worst, you’ll just be frozen into an ice sculpture.”
“I…”
Shidou was close to tears.
Being frozen into an ice sculpture was called ‘not dangerous’?