Chapter 27: Will This Ever End?!

Fu Lin was hiding behind a tree, still catching his breath when he heard Bronya's voice behind him again.

"Class monitor, have you seen Mei..."

"Ahem! She's just ahead."

Before Bronya could finish her sentence, Fu Lin patted his chest, nearly choking on his breath.

He then pointed in the direction Mei had gone, quietly gazing at the sky and no longer speaking.

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"Bronya understands, thank you, class mon—wait... where did she go? ⊙▽⊙" Bronya was just about to thank him, only to realize that the person behind the tree had disappeared.

Fu Lin, who had just arrived by the bench without even having time to hide, heard Theresa's voice behind him yet again.

"Fu Hua, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya are all in that direction." Before Theresa could finish her sentence, Fu Lin quickly pointed in Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya's direction and slipped away once more.

"Huh? How did you know I was looking for Ki—wait... where did she go? ⊙▽⊙" Theresa, completely oblivious to Fu Lin's slip of the tongue, looked around in shock at the vanished figure.

"Fu Hua, have you seen Kiana? She just arrived at Saint Freya Academy, and she's missed a lot of classes. I need to catch her." Himeko, who happened to be passing by, saw Fu Lin crouching against a wall and approached him to ask.

Hearing yet another voice from behind, Fu Lin turned around in utter despair, feeling that the world had lost all meaning. (?○Д○)?

Here we go again. Will this ever end?!

Himeko looked at Fu Lin, who had suddenly slumped against the wall with a lifeless expression, and felt puzzled. What happened to him?

"I just want to be alone..." A tear rolled down from Fu Lin's eye—his last attachment to this world.

"You don't have a fever" Himeko bent down, touched Fu Lin's forehead, and said with motherly care.

"Waaa... Miss Himeko is so gentle." Fu Lin looked at Himeko's gentle expression, then dove into her arms and rubbed his head against her. While she wasn't looking, he slyly took out an onion and rubbed it on his eyes.

"All right, don't cry," Himeko said softly, gently stroking Fu Lin's head to comfort him.

"Waaa... so fragrant... waa... so soft... waa waa waa..." His crying turned into something else entirely.

One minute later...

Three minutes later...

"Thank you, Miss Himeko. I have to go now," Fu Lin said, satisfied, as he stood up from Himeko's embrace. Hands in his pockets, he left without looking back.

"Huh? I feel like I've been taken advantage of somehow... Wait, she didn't even tell me where Kiana is!"

Himeko watched Fu Lin's retreating figure, then looked down at her chest, where there were no signs of tears. She felt like she'd been tricked.

After some time...

"I've finally escaped that Far Eastern Den of Herrschers." Fu Lin flopped onto his bed, having completely forgotten why he had gone out in the first place.

"Hey, Fu Lin, where's my breakfast?" Fu Shi, arms crossed, looked at Fu Lin, who had returned empty-handed.

Fu Lin immediately started making things up "A big white bug ate it."

"You think I'm a two-year-old? Even Kiana wouldn't believe that." The Herrscher of Sentience put one hand on her hip and scratched her head with the other.

"Fine, get up and take me out to do some... 'heroic' deeds." The Herrscher of Sentience shook Fu Lin, her expectant gaze fixed on him.

"Let me rest a bit."

Seeing Fu Lin still not getting up, the Herrscher of Sentience leaned down and began to chant in his ear, "How do you sleep at your age? Don't you have any ambition? Standing up against the Honkai is our duty, yet here you are, sleeping… mmmph!"

"Ahh, finally, some peace."

Fu Lin sat up, pressed his hand over the Herrscher of Sentience's face, took out some tape, and sealed her mouth shut. Then, he used Honkai energy to secure her to the wall, feeling satisfied as he dove back under the covers for a nap.

Yae Sakura had just stepped out of the Stigmata Space when she saw the Herrscher of Sentience squirming on the wall and Fu Lin sleeping in bed. She pursed her lips, not sure what to say.

"Mmph! Mmmph!" The Herrscher of Sentience squirmed, trying to call for help, hoping Yae Sakura would let her down.

"I didn't see anything!" Yae Sakura said, then disappeared back into the Stigmata Space to continue her nap with Higokumaru.

Seeing that her cries for help were useless, the Herrscher of Sentience gave the lump in the bed an angry, pouty glare. After staring so long her eyes began to feel tired, she closed them and soon fell asleep, still hanging on the wall.

While Fu Lin's room was quiet and peaceful, Saint Freya Academy was bustling with excitement!

"Kiana, hey, wait… Class Monitor, aren't you supposed to be…?" Mei caught up to Kiana, only to see Fu Hua beside her. She pointed behind her, then stared in shock at the Fu Hua in front of her.

"What's wrong? ⊙_⊙" Fu Hua looked puzzled, watching Mei stumble over her words.

"Mei-sister… Class Monitor, how are you…?" Bronya also spotted Fu Hua, her usually stoic expression showing a hint of surprise.

Before Fu Hua could speak, Theresa arrived again, with the same words, the same expression—but a different person.

Finally, even Himeko showed up, shocked to see Fu Hua, who had just been walking in the opposite direction, standing right in front of her.

Enough is enough!

Fu Hua looked at the four people in front of her, all staring at her in shock, and wondered to herself, Why are they all looking at me like this?

"What's up with you all?" Kiana, seeing everyone's stunned expressions fixed on Fu Hua, couldn't hold back her curiosity.

The four looked at each other and, in the order they arrived, explained what had happened.

"So, all of us met a fake Fu Hua? But if it's a fake, then it was way too convincing!" Theresa frowned in disbelief.

"So you all ran into fake class monitor Fu Hua? How come I didn't meet one?" Kiana rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

The four nodded, then looked at Kiana, speechless.

"You guys can't even tell the difference between the real and fake class monitor!" Kiana crossed her arms triumphantly and declared, "If it were a fake class monitor, I'd spot them right away!"

Um, dear Ms. Kiana… maybe put down the bun in your hand before you make such a claim…

"...There's no way that airhead Kiana would be able to tell them apart."

"This one right here is definitely the real class monitor! Isn't that right… class monitor…?" Kiana patted her chest, her confidence wavering as her eyes darted nervously toward Fu Hua.

Fu Hua continued quietly munching on her bun, her thoughts unreadable. But the air around her began to distort.

Several "indescribable" tentacles waved wildly, constantly spawning new limbs, accompanied by a whisper that wrapped around their ears, drawing them into its depths.

"..." Kiana stared at Fu Hua in horror, speechless.

"What's wrong?" Mei, Bronya, Theresa, and Himeko followed her gaze and turned to look.

Hiss (x5)

"What's wrong?" Fu Hua looked up, confused by the sound of everyone's sharp intake of breath.

"Just now, by your side…" Kiana rubbed her eyes, but the distorted shadows in the air were gone.

"Oh, that? It was just an illusion I created (with Fenghuang Down). Thought it'd add to the mood," Fu Hua scratched her head, explaining.

"Don't play around like that! It was really scary." Kiana placed her hands on Fu Hua's shoulders, looking serious.

"Alright," Fu Hua nodded, promising not to do it again.

"Theresa, don't tell me you were scared." Himeko smiled slyly at Theresa, who was clinging to her, trembling all over.

"N-No way! As the headmaster of this school, I'm not scared at all…" Theresa got off Himeko, her face flushed as she weakly tried to defend herself.

"Sure, sure!" Himeko covered her mouth, laughing quietly, not bothering to hide her amusement.

"Ugh! You're laughing at me, aren't you?" Theresa, cheeks red with embarrassment, took her tiny fists and began to lightly punch Himeko's leg.