By the time the police and mall security arrived in a hurry, the King of Calamity had already slipped away without a sound.
What a pity.
Xiao Ling had originally wanted to treat this tokusatsu fan to a meal and properly thank him.
But the guy hadn’t given him the chance at all.
Still, wasn’t this kind of exit very Kamen Rider-esque in its own way?
After the police took the assailant away along with the fruit knife he’d dropped on the ground, they also intended to bring Xiao Ling back to the station to take a statement.
However, several of the cosplayers present stepped forward and offered to handle this task in Xiao Ling’s place, requesting that the police let him give his time to his family instead.
The officers smiled kindly.
They just needed to know the full sequence of events to convict the already-unconscious assailant.
As for which witness provided the testimony, they didn’t particularly care.
And so, Xiao Ling naturally returned to the girls’ side.
…
By now, the convention activities had been brought to an emergency halt due to this unexpected incident.
Most cosplayers had chosen to leave early.
The assembled sets were gradually being dismantled under the direction of the security guards and the person in charge.
“Wuwu…
wu.” Orange Elf was still continuously slurping noodles.
“Come on now, Siggy.
Look, I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?” Denia gently stroked her little head to soothe her — if one overlooked the glistening tears at the corners of her own eyes.
“…Sorry, Denia-senpai.
I should have reacted immediately.” Linae turned her face away, somewhat unable to face this peach who’d just been scared out of her wits.
If not for her momentary lapse, Denia wouldn’t have fallen into such peril.
“It’s all in the past now~ The assailant’s been subdued, everyone’s safe and sound.
This is the best outcome.” Denia used the facts before her to console the self-blaming blond jock girl.
“And just call me Denia.
This isn’t Startorch Academy.”
Though Denia had comforted her, the guilt inside Linae didn’t simply vanish.
Instead, it gradually transformed into a resolve to absolutely protect everyone well.
“And Aemeath and Chisa, don’t be so hard on yourselves either.” Denia had likewise noticed the somewhat dejected Chisa and Amy.
She spoke calmly.
“You both did very well.
In a situation like that, whether recording evidence or protecting the scene, those were both very important things.
The evidence you preserved will serve as powerful proof to give that bastard a heavier sentence.”
Hearing Denia’s open-minded consolation, both Aemeath and Chisa paused briefly, then once again revealed faint smiles.
“Right.
And you, Ling.”
Xiao Ling, cue’d the moment he rushed over: ?
Denia walked over before Xiao Ling with graceful steps and began tidying up his attire.
“Next time, remember to stop at the right point.
Don’t get carried away by emotion.
Although I know you got that furious because I was almost hurt…
still, as the head of this household, if you got thrown in jail, I’d have to mercilessly mock you.”
“A certain peach just now was so scared she couldn’t even make a single move.
And she has the nerve to say I got carried away?” Xiao Ling countered even as he gently wiped away the teardrops at the corner of her eye.
“Also, if you weren’t shedding little pearls right now, you’d be more convincing.”
“If you were about to get stabbed, you’d be like this too!” Denia, discovering her embarrassed state had been seen by Xiao Ling, immediately started tugging at his thick-skinned face in exasperation.
What this Kind-hearted Peach didn’t know was that a situation like this wasn’t Xiao Ling’s first experience.
He knew very well where the limits of what the law would tolerate lay.
Although he’d indeed appeared utterly furious, he’d at least controlled his strength — just venting rage without reaching the point of taking a life.
The mall’s general manager and the event organizer, having heard of the violent incident, rushed over.
The very first thing they did was offer their sincere apologies to Xiao Ling and the beautiful girls beside him.
At the same time, they expressed their respect and gratitude for Xiao Ling’s intervention.
“So, I’m taking it upon myself to decide this: all purchases made at this mall today will be at fifty percent off for you and your companions.
If you all continue to patronize our mall in the future, you’ll uniformly receive twenty-five percent off.”
So generous?
What a good person!
Xiao Ling knew this was a win-win. Get faster updates on g.com.
This mall had just had a violent attempted knife assault occur so abruptly — its reputation was bound to take a hit.
But his and the King of Calamity’s thunderous intervention had compensated for that.
He and the girls got a considerable discount.
The mall protected its reputation while also being able to use this as publicity.
Why not?
“Since we’ve gotten such a big discount, are you all planning to start a buying spree right away?” After seeing them off, Xiao Ling proposed to the girls beside him.
If they chose to decline, Xiao Ling would also directly take them home.
After all, after an incident like that, a normal person probably wouldn’t be in the mood for shopping.
“Let’s buy.
Passing up a bargain is just throwing money away, isn’t it?
Then who’s gonna make up for the scare I just got?” Denia said, a little speechless.
Her frail little heart had suffered great trauma.
She needed to change her mood through a buying spree.
The other four girls, seeing Denia proactively propose continuing the shopping segment, all breathed a sigh of relief.
Then each began eagerly gearing up for the shopping segment about to begin.
Fifty percent off!
Half price!
This meant they could buy even more things!
“Alright.
Let’s split up here.
The locations for each type of product are all on the signs — you can check them yourselves.
Once you feel you’re done, come back here and regroup.” Xiao Ling pointed at the spot where they now stood, marking this as their rally point.
And so, Sigrika naturally dragged Denia along with her.
Linae and Chisa formed a squad.
Aemeath had originally wanted to go with Xiao Ling, but he said he still had important things to do and declined.
So she joined Linae’s squad too.
Then, the three squads dispersed, each beginning to purchase the goods that caught their eye.
…
After that rather substantial interlude came to an end, Xiao Ling and company’s buying spree plan had finally reached its moment of fulfillment.
Sigrika pulled Denia along to the camera sales area.
In the real world, her ability to whip up a camera with her bare hands couldn’t be used.
The phone’s camera function, while convenient, truly couldn’t satisfy Orange Elf’s needs.
Although the camera types were dazzlingly abundant, Sigrika had done her homework diligently before coming.
She immediately dragged Denia around and picked out several different brands and models of cameras.
“Ugh…
even at half off, I still feel like it’s so expensive…” Sigrika looked a bit pained in the wallet.
Although Senior’s family had very generously given her a five-figure allowance, money didn’t just blow in on the wind.
If possible, she still wanted to save where she could.
(Sigrika’s girlfriend power has increased.)
“Actually, the stuff said in those camera recommendations isn’t necessarily accurate.
Some recommendations might very well be exaggerated marketing after taking sponsorships.”
This wasn’t Denia’s voice.
Sigrika looked toward the source of the voice — it was the girl from the convention just now, the one who had cosplayed her.
She’d removed her wig and colored contacts.
Now, a head of silky, raven-black long hair was casually draped over her shoulders.
Pearl-like black pupils darted about nimbly.
“Looks like you’re interested in photography too.” The other party wore a fresh, sweet smile.
It seemed meeting a fellow photography enthusiast was something that made her quite happy.
“It’s not really that I’m interested…” Sigrika was a bit embarrassed.
“It’s just that using my phone to photograph birds is still too inconvenient.
I wanted to buy a camera to better capture those adorable birds.”
“Photographing birds?
That’s a technical skill.
Sometimes you can shoot for a whole week and not even get a bird’s face head-on once.” The other party was very surprised hearing Sigrika’s reason for buying a camera.
“But since you like it, I, as a senior, should at least offer a little proper help.”
She moved with light steps, browsed around the camera sales area for a few rounds, and found a camera that was both high-quality and affordable.
“Try it out.
It’s not a big brand, but the price-to-performance ratio is very high.
I think it should satisfy your needs.”
Sigrika took the camera and tested it out following an online tutorial.
The cosplayer beside her also occasionally corrected and guided her operation.
“Heavens…
amazing…
thank you!
This is exactly what I wanted!” Sigrika hugged the camera and bounced twice like a rabbit.
“Glad you like it.” The cosplayer nodded with a smile.
“I thought you might have had your mood affected by what happened just now.”
Sigrika knew what she was referring to.
Her expression immediately carried a hint of lingering fear.
“Honestly, if that guy hadn’t come out and delivered that kick, I was planning to personally go up and give that lunatic a couple of shoulder throws.” Though it wasn’t obvious, Sigrika could fully sense the indignation beneath the other’s gentle exterior.
“You know Ling?”
Denia wasn’t too knowledgeable about cameras, so she’d been cycling between zoning out and bored phone-scrolling.
Now, she’d finally heard something that concerned her, and immediately asked.
“Yeah.
He’s my brother’s and my lifesaver.” The other party nodded with a smile, one hand on her hip.
“Back then he wasn’t even that tall.
Just a little runt barely over 160cm, lugging an iron rod taller than he was, and he rescued us from a bunch of bad guys who were way bigger than him.”
“He couldn’t have been smaller than me, right?” Denia inquired.
“Actually about your height?
But probably just a tiny bit taller than you.”
Denia pictured that scene in her mind.
A barely over 160cm, carrying an iron rod, brawling with a bunch of guys a whole head taller than him — and winning in the end.
“Unbelievable…” Denia truly couldn’t imagine what chance of victory that Bro Ling could’ve had back then.
“Yeah, so of course he couldn’t beat them.
In the end, he held out until the police arrived and packed those guys and us all up together.
They originally wanted to use ‘affray’ as the reason to let that Xiao Ling guy eat state-provided meals for a few days.
It was only because we siblings came forward to testify, plus some bystanders provided factual evidence, that he didn’t get locked up.”
“Then in the end, Senior…?” Sigrika asked, rather worried.
“In the end, it turned out just as you see now.
Got good grades, got into a good university, and even has such an adorable girlfriend.” The cosplayer even moved to tweak Denia’s nose, but Denia reflexively stepped back and dodged.
“Haha, looks like you don’t really like interacting with strangers.” She laughed a bit awkwardly.
“I think there should be basic boundaries between people.”
“Fair enough.
Oh, right.
Nearly forgot to introduce myself.
I’m Ye Xue.
If you ever have questions about photography, or want to learn a bit more about the embarrassing stuff that guy’s done, you can come find me.”
After exchanging contact info, Ye Xue turned around, waved very stylishly, dropped a “See ya!” and then walked straight off.
She remembered it very clearly.
Back then, this guy was skinny, lame, and from a single-parent family.
His whole person radiated a gloomy aura, the type that made people want to keep their distance.
Who would’ve guessed that his biggest wish was to marry a 2D wife?
But from the looks of it now, his dream seemed to have come true.
After all, these two beauties really did look like they’d walked right out of a game.
The guy actually got to eat.
But, that was good.
Good people should get good things, right?
Wasn’t that how it should be?
Comment it and let me know.