I never would have imagined that someone had been hiding in my shadow all along!
What on earth is going on?!
"Didn't you notice this from the very beginning?"
Yao calmly watched as the tall woman emerged from the shadow beneath me—wait, I'm already standing on the platform, why is my shadow still motionless? Is this still my shadow?!—and casually pulled out a new book from the side: "Unless there are special circumstances, [Dawn] usually operates in groups of four."
So, were there actually four people who crashed into the outer wall and fell into my miniature garden that day?
So An was there back then! She even hid in my shadow—when exactly did she hide there?!
I don't know!
So that's why Hikari kept glancing at me when Miyuki mentioned Darkness—she was actually looking at Darkness hiding in my shadow! You didn't even need to relay this message; she heard it right there in person, did you?
I rubbed my temples, feeling a bit of a headache, and gestured for the two of them to be quiet for a while, to sort out my thoughts and calm my overly frightened emotions.
Let me think if I've done anything embarrassing lately that I don't want anyone to notice... Uh, it seems like quite a few.
I'm already thinking about living in a different world.
"If I may add something, Master of the Hikoniwa, you don't need to worry about your embarrassing moments being seen by An."
Yao suddenly interrupted my troubles: "Although An usually hides in the shadows most of the time, that's just a facade. In reality, she's just using her talent for space to create a space in the shadows that can accommodate her, where she can rest."
"So, she actually doesn't know what's happening outside?" I asked.
Yao looked away: "She knows, but she never says anything."
"..."
Isn't this exactly the case that nothing has changed?
I looked at An, who was sitting to the side, seemingly lost in thought, and for a moment I didn't know what to say.
Forget it, I'll deal with Hikari's matter first before continuing to argue with them.
However, just in case anything unexpected happens, I asked before opening the door, "Won't letting Hikari in like this cause any problems? And even if she comes in, how do we deal with her issues?"
Yao slowly shook his head: "No."
"Although it's just a half-baked spell I learned temporarily, it still uses the principle of Voidwalking. If you consider reality as a blank sheet of paper on the same plane, then Voidwalking is like digging a hole in front of yourself and at the place you want to go, and using magic to build a passage in it. It's like folding a blank sheet of paper in half while aligning the two holes, thus shortening the total distance you need to travel."
"Now, we take a second piece of white paper, cut a hole in it, and place it on one of them. Then we fold them in half again. Although it looks like we've done it twice, we only calculate the result of the last one."
"In other words, as long as I maintain the magic that constructs the passage, I can ensure that Hikari is safe."
“Theoretically, yes.” Yao nodded, then added, “However, to prevent any unforeseen events or interference, it’s best to finish this quickly. As for An’s solution, you don’t need to worry about that. Just don’t be too surprised by what’s going to happen in a little while.”
I nodded and opened the door again to the alleyway I had come from—the Sacred Tree Barrier seemed quite confident in its security, perhaps because it was protected by the Sacred Tree for many years. There were no strict restrictions on the use of spells like those at the transit hub—I peeked out and gestured for Hikari to take my hand and come in.
Wait a minute, where did this idiot get that candied hawthorn skewer he was about to eat?
“Oh, this,” Hikari said, wiping her honey-covered lips twice. “A lady who was walking by just now gave it to me. She said she liked my appearance and since I happen to live nearby, she gave me one to eat.”
My head is starting to hurt again.
"Has anyone told her not to accept food from strangers?" I turned to look at the two people behind me. "If a pretty girl like her doesn't learn to be more careful, she'll be kidnapped and sold sooner or later."
"Ah, please don't worry." Yao maintained his calm and leisurely tone. "Hikari has a high resistance to poison; the effects of ordinary sedatives can't even keep up with her metabolic rate. Besides, doesn't the Master of the Box Garden like girls who aren't particularly cunning?"
That's insanely high poison resistance! What kind of miserable life did this girl go through before?!
My mind immediately conjured up 2TB of various family dramas and even science fiction, including but not limited to "The Girl in the Dust," "Poisonous Princess," "The Mad Researcher's Experiment," and "The Remote Village Deep in the Mountains"... In short, none of these study materials I got from my tutor were any good.
And how did Hikari end up being involved with me again?!
In short, after repeatedly emphasizing to the little fool that he should not accept or eat food from strangers, it was time for the dark performance.
Then I saw Hikari's lower body, carelessly discarded by Yao against the wall. For a moment, I didn't know whether to lament Yao's unreliability or complain that the art style had gone wrong again.
Honestly, if someone who didn't know better saw this from a distance, they would really think that someone was stuck in the wall, with only their two legs sticking out.
This scene is so embarrassing that even the usually oblivious little idiot blushed when he saw it.
"What do we do now?"
Rejected, I could only watch as Yao pushed Hikari's upper and lower body together, helping her to stand upright. After repeatedly adjusting her position, I gestured for her to stay still while slowly pushing her aside.
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