31 Chapter 31 - Avoid Covid!

Amidst the radiant of sunshine, a lone individual can (can't) be noticed, hopping from buildings to houses to buildings and repeat. This supposed figure has the appearance of a short teenage girl, with exceedingly long straight black hair, wearing a traditional kimono of the same color, which flutters because of the air pressure. The girl herself was just calmly doing her stuff, until something suddenly occurred to her.

"Ekchu~!", Mai innocently sneezed with both eyes shut, as she was still on her way toward Eri's presumed dwelling. Even she herself was astounded that she somehow got flu.

'Okay, that's strange,' Mai worriedly thought to herself.

'Ai-chan, is there something wrong with me?' Asked her toward the system as she's not the one wielding the appraisal ability.

[Yes, Host! That was cu- I... I mean, there seems to be some sort of virus invading the Host's body right now!]

'What? Virus?!' Mai was dumbfounded, even when she didn't show it on her face. Not only that, she even disregards the system's first remark. She thus ceased her ninja jumping activity and didn't move an inch from the top of the building that she was currently on. It demonstrates how serious this situation was for her.

[Yup! That's right, Host!]

'Ai-chan, then why are you still fiddling?!' "Ekchu~!", 'Tell me, what kind of virus is infecting me? Is it dangerous?' Mai seriously implored the system, which appears to not feel any panic at all.

[Relax, Host! The virus was called Covic-19! It's always mistaken as influenza because they both have the same effect, even though they're two different things. Also, the virus is not lethal, and from what the appraisal pointed out, it should be gone by tomorrow morning!]

'Really?' Mai sighed in relief after she heard that. She somehow felt the virus's name pronunciation was kind of familiar, but she just couldn't put her mind to it, so she gave up. "Ekchu~!" Even then, there's still one thing left unanswered. 'How did I get infected anyway?' Mai curiously contemplated to herself. Yet the system decided to step in and answered it for her.

[Host, that's because the virus could be said to have a super high defense penetration, but have very weak attack power. That's why it was possible for someone such as Host to get contaminated, even when the virus was considered to be tame. Additionally, it contagious through the air, while Host didn't always wear a mask whenever the Host went out!]

'I see... But, sometimes I do wear a mask though...' Mai countered.

[Not that kind of mask, Host! What I meant was the medical mask!]

'Huh?' Mai was bewildered on the inside. 'But that's so lame! Furthermore, it doesn't look cute at all!' Mai reacted, filled with an otherworldly amount of disdain.

[B-But Host, it's for your well-being!]

'Nope, there's no way I'm going to wear that ever! Alright, let's end this conversation now!' Mai asserted telepathically, "Ekchu~!", before she continues to leap from buildings to buildings once more. The poor system stayed silent, obeying its host. Aware of that, Mai felt terrible, so she explained, 'Ehem! Ai-chan, I'm not trying to be rude or anything okay? Sorry if you get offended by that!' "Ekchu~!"

[No-no-no, it's okay, Host! Your sneezes were already eno- I mean, I already know the Host didn't truly mean it that way! So don't worry, Host!]

Heeding to that, Mai felt extremely elated. 'As expected, my Ai-chan is really considerate!' Praised Mai toward the system.

[Wh-Who's yours?! Hmph!!]

"..."

[Host, remember, I can read your mind!]

'...'

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Nonetheless, after clearing her thoughts, Mai proceeded to focus solely on her current journey. Also, why did it felt so prolonged anyway? Who's fault is it? God? Fate? Destiny? Nobody knows the truth.

But what she's sure of was the location of her final destination is now incredibly close. How did she find out about that? Well, that's because just moments ago, when she opened the Coocle Map application on her phone, to verify the whereabouts of Eri's address, the entire map of Musutafu City was accidentally etched into her brain.

Mai's recently gotten ability, Eidetic Memory, was proven impossible to be turned off, as she had already attempted it before. Fortunately, she didn't need to spend a single Mp for it to keep on being functional, different from most of her other abilities.

Not only that, but her head somehow didn't get hurt, whenever she captured and memorized every frame of things that she saw. It was as if everything was just natural, and there's nothing unusual with this kind of stuff.

Anyway, back to Mai. "Ekchu~!"

Ignoring the rather lovely sneeze, currently, her interest was preoccupied with a really tall skyscraper building in the near distance. If she remembered correctly, that would be the second-highest structure in the whole Musutafu City. It was constructed merely a few years ago and earned many surprises from tons of people for its massive height and futuristic-looking appearance, making it highly notorious as it bought itself on multiple media platforms.

Mai believed that Eri's house should be around that tall skyscraper. So she quickened her pace, and thus, she ultimately reached near the area.

"Ekchu~! Number 21, number 21..." Mai quietly mumbled, while glancing left and right, searching for the supposed establishment with the same digit number as what she had just let out.

She then came right in front of a construction that was built on the right side of the tall skyscraper from before. It was a beer store, whit the digit number of '20' plastered on its wall.

'Nope. Very close, but not this one,' Mai reckoned to herself. She thus continues on her steps, ignoring the tall skyscraper building when she passed by it. She believes there's no way that it was Eri's house. "Ekchu~!"

She thus reached in front of the building on the left side of the skyscraper. It was a five-stars restaurant, no, not gacha. The number of '22' can be discerned right beside the entrance.

'Eh? Wait a minute...' Mai consequently glimpses back at the tall skyscraper that she had just skipped by, before striding to the front of it at a brisk speed. Two guards with full black suits, pants, and sunglasses, were guarding the entrance gate. Nevertheless, not even one of them could notice Mai's presence.

'It's number 21!' She found it. After that, she looked up. *Gulp!*. Peering at it from up close, the building looked bigger, longer, and- "Ekchu~!" -harder than before.

Eventually recognizing that there are guards who are protecting the gate, Mai suddenly had a cheeky idea. Also, not wanting to ruin her honor as a graceful lady, she'll hold her sneezes from now on. She thus sneakily went behind one of them. After that, she canceled out her {Manipulation of Unconcious Mind} ability and then pluck the sleeve on his right arm.

"Hey, misteeaaaaa..." But before she could completely greet him, her small-looking hand was abruptly grasped, and she then got yanked out of his shoulder. Many gasps could be heard, coming from the pedestrians who saw it happened.

However, Mai has really fast reflexes. With a totally precise action, she manipulates her body movements to shift in mid-air, resulting in her landing on the ground with both of her legs.

Next, upon noticing that her hand was still being gripped by the rude gatekeeper, she immediately grasped back, with a tiny bit of force. The guard's face instantly scrunched up after she did that, but he didn't scream out. It would be totally humiliating if he were to do that when his opponent was merely a little girl.

Realizing that he stood no chance against the little girl, the guard quickly apologized, "L-Little lady, c-could you please release my hand? I'm sorry for suddenly committing that to you before!" His partner could only gape at him.

"...Un, me too..." After a bit of pause, Mai replied monotonously. She recognizes that she's also in the wrong here, for unexpectedly emerged out of nowhere from his back. So she dismissed his hand that she was holding. Nevertheless, she still viewed that there should be at least a little bit of hesitation from the guard after he listened to her *ehem!* cute *ehem!* sounding voice.

"What's all the fuss here?!" Suddenly, a calm but commanding voice can be heard, coming from behind the gate as it automatically opens, revealing a truly mafia-looking man wearing a plague mask, black dress shirt, and matching dress pants. There's also a tiny girl that has long light blue hair wearing a one-piece dress who's sitting on his shoulder.

The two guards promptly bowed down when they saw him before one of them shortly explained what had just transpired. However, the man and the tiny girl's attention were completely seized by Mai after both of them saw her.

"Mai big sister!" The tiny girl, Eri, suddenly jumped out from the man's shoulder, earning his concern, before she ran toward Mai's direction.

Mai almost fainted right here and there. No, not because of cuteness, as she believes that she herself was way cuter than Eri. The reason she almost fainted was because of how the usage of her name somehow became terrible.

'Urgh!' She grunted in her mind.

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'So, it was like that, huh...' Mai noted to herself. From what she had been explained to by Overhaul, It looks like Eri wanted to eat food inside the restaurant in person, not ordering from home as she usually does. That's why they went outside today.

Well, the restaurant was pretty much right beside their house, and it was a five-stars restaurant to the boot. Not only that, it was owned by the Shie Hassaikai Company, an upstart organization that was lead by the one and only, Overhaul himself.

But Mai couldn't care less about that, as currently, she was on her way toward the restaurant with both Eri and the rather displeased Overhaul guiding her. It appears that he still sees her as some sort of lecher. Yet, he still let her be as Eri seems to be more cheerful because of her presence.

When Mai went inside the restaurant, she was awestruck by the view. The interior was extremely classy, with gentle music playing in the background. Unfortunately, it's not Touhou.

There are only a few customers inside, sitting at their respective tables while eating elegantly. Those who haven't been served yet could only glare at the ones who already did as if they were staring at their souls.

Mai and Co eventually found their seat. But it looks like Overhaul has some business with the head of the restaurant. So after he makes sure that Eri was done ordering her food, he went through the elevator to go to the office room.

What Mai ordered, was some french fries as a side dish and a variety of Japanese foods for the main dish. As for Eri, she only ordered a portion of something called Bouillabaisse de Marseille, or whatever the crap that was, Mai couldn't comprehend it. Lastly, both of them ordered a glass of milk for their drink. They both have the same goa-, no, taste.

Mai's current daily mission expects her to eat potatoes, so she will observe if eating french fries could be counted as one. However, as she was waiting, Mai felt that the atmosphere became strange after the both of them were left alone.

It was... awkward...

Mai noticed that Eri seems to be wanting to say something, but she was too shy to let it out. Not preferring for this situation to keep on being like this, Mai decided that she would be the one who'll break the ice. Eri was her friend in this world, and from what she learned in her past life, a good friend needs to be able to easily communicate with each other. That's why...

"Hey, do you play R*id L*ght L*gend?" Asked Mai with a tone that was flatter than 2-dimension.

"..." When Eri heard what Mai said, there's a transition of expression from first, surprise, into that of utter disgust. She opened her mouth and distastefully replied, "Mai big sister, it's the infamous wicked game that has many ads on the internet, right?"

"Yeah, exactly..."

While waiting for their food, they both relished themself by roasting the poor game to the point that, if the director of that game company heard it, they might as well commit suicide as they couldn't handle the burn damage.

At last, after a few minutes of waiting, the dishes have finally arrived. The table was packed with foods, most of them were Mai's. However, Overhaul still hasn't come yet. Nonetheless, Mai and Eri decided to eat them first so that the foods didn't get cold.

Mai wants to try the french fries first. She gracefully picks one piece from the pot and puts it inside her mouth. When she starts to chew on it, the taste that she felt was ordinary and she felt disappointed. But after she picks up another one and smears it with the sauce that was provided early on, the taste somehow became heavenly. Her body shivered as the result. Additionally...

[Daily Mission: Eat Potatoes (2/10)]

'Wooooo! Yeah, baby! That's what I've been waiting for!'

After knowing that the system was broken [No, I'm not!] for counting stuff with unit and not with their weight or something else, Mai quickly devours all the french fries. Subsequently, when they're all gone into her cute tummy, she immediately moves on to the next prey, the Japanese dishes, her favorite kind of food.

Simply after the very first bite of one of them, Mai couldn't hold back her appetite anymore. The food was incredibly rich with an earthy flavor. She almost cried because of it. No, she didn't perform a foodgasm. That thing would be weird if it was to be done in real life.

Even when Eri couldn't discern anything from Mai's expression, she could already feel that Mai was having a great time eating, just from her movement alone. She was truly glad and thus proceed to eat her own meal.

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Mai thought that this experience is worth it for her to not consume anything elsewhere as to not spoil her taste buds when she was still on her way toward Eri's residence.

The food was so delicious that, for a moment, Mai even forgot she was supposed to hold her sneeze. She accidentally let it out. "Ekchu~!"

...

However, right after she did that, a total silence preoccupied inside the huge dining room. Abruptly, a loud-sounding alarm was triggered, and the light that came from the lamps transformed from normal white to deep chilling red.

Furthermore, as if she had committed a great sin, the people who sat at the nearby table quickly stood up and went as far away from her location while throwing a wary gaze at her. Even Eri had a look of guilt on her face before she too ran away. Mai was dumbstruck. 'What just happened?' She was in a daze.

Suddenly, the entrance of the elevator was unlocked, conveying a man wearing a full-on hazmat suit with a plague mask. It was easy to find that he was Overhaul. He quickens his pace and walks toward Mai's direction, with seven other people wearing the same outfit following right behind him.

Mai was still in a trance that she's not even aware about the presence of a disinfectant spray that has found itself exactly in front of her face.

*CSSSTH!!!*

"Aaaaaaaa..."