After Luo Shu sat down with his coffee, he took the opportunity while sipping to observe the girl opposite him.
Her hair was a bright shade of brown, cut neatly at shoulder length with a charmingly dishevelled yet orderly style. Her left eye sparkled vividly, while her right appeared noticeably duller.
The girl wore a white dress trimmed with blue lace, matching her beret. Though she held a magazine, her gaze kept drifting toward Luo Shu's face.
Yet it was she who spoke first:
"Staring at a girl like that is quite rude, you know~"
"Wasn't Miss Iwanaga observing me too?"
Luo Shu set down his coffee, smiling as if to say the pot shouldn't call the kettle black, then added:
"After all, our agreed meeting time was supposed to be in 15 minutes."
After finalising the location with Juzo Megure, Luo Shu had used Kirika Tachibana as an intermediary to arrange this meeting with Kotoko Iwanaga - scheduled for 25 minutes after his meeting with Megure.
Yet Kotoko had been sitting nearby throughout Luo Shu's entire conversation with Megure, even eavesdropping on their discussion. This only worked because Megure didn't recognise her - any other high-ranking Metropolitan Police Department official would have been immediately on guard upon seeing Kotoko Iwanaga.
After all, she was the leader appointed by Japan's yokai community, the Yokai Princess herself.
Facing Luo Shu's teasing, Kotoko puffed out her flat chest with righteous indignation:
"What you don't understand is that arriving half an hour early for a date is basic manners!"
"Could it be that Director Luo Shu has never been asked out by a girl before? What a waste of such a handsome face!"
Counterattacked, Luo Shu nodded in agreement:
"Indeed. So, as the first girl to ever ask me out, what are your thoughts, Miss Iwanaga?"
"Thoughts?"
Kotoko tilted her head slightly before breaking into a Cheshire cat grin:
"Would recording this conversation and selling it to your girlfriends count as thoughts?"
Luo Shu raised an eyebrow slightly, giving Kotoko Iwanaga a somewhat surprised look:
"Miss Iwanaga seems rather interested in me?"
Luo Shu was well aware that all his public information had been carefully crafted by the SDS Intelligence Department.
He also knew that to the outside world, he should appear as a university student who came to Japan for studies, accidentally joined the SDS, and rapidly rose through the ranks as a newcomer to the industry.
As for the truth that Luo Shu was actually a third-year student at private Toyogasaki High School, very few outsiders knew this, let alone the fact that he had multiple girlfriends.
Under these circumstances, Kotoko Iwanaga's words revealed much.
Facing Luo Shu's surprised gaze, Kotoko Iwanaga set down her magazine and smiled self-deprecatingly:
"That's because I envy you, Luo Shu-kun!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to cover her right eye, looking at Luo Shu with complex emotions:
"After all, I sacrificed an eye and a leg, wasted six years of my youth to reach this point, while you stood at the same height in just two short months."
"Faced with such reality, how could I not feel envious?"
Hearing this near-confession, Luo Shu stared at Kotoko Iwanaga in momentary astonishment. When the brief surprise passed, he frowned:
"Your right eye and left leg were conditions for an advancement ritual?"
Though Luo Shu knew Kotoko Iwanaga's right eye and left leg were prosthetics, he hadn't known they were ritual requirements, nor that she was actually a sorcerer with a Class.
Was this another disparity caused by the changing world?
Hearing Luo Shu's words, Kotoko Iwanaga showed an understanding expression:
"As expected, Director Luo Shu possesses some special knowledge too."
Pressing a hand against her right eye, she gazed solemnly at Luo Shu:
"Because I sacrificed my right eye to the Fountain of Wisdom, I can see things ordinary people cannot."
"Romantic fate, financial fortune, lies - these eyes can perceive too many things."
"Though not particularly strong in direct combat, they're quite useful for support."
Luo Shu frowned at the hand covering her eye:
"So what have you seen about me?"
"Very little, really. Just fragments of romantic connections and some hints about your strength."
Kotoko Iwanaga shook her head, then suddenly looked despondent:
"Reaching Hero Rank in two months, then undergoing the ritual to become a Demigod."
"I knew geniuses existed in this world, but such rapid advancement is still outrageous."
"Compared to you, I wonder if my past decade was just child's play."
Rather than feeling flattered by her praise, Luo Shu returned the compliment:
"Likewise, I never imagined the Yokai Princess would be a genuine Demigod."
"No, I'm not a Demigod yet."
Kotoko Iwanaga shook her head, correcting Luo Shu's misunderstanding:
"How should I explain this? Although my ritual was completed six years ago, I'm still technically in the midst of it and haven't actually ascended to Demigod status."
'This doesn't seem like appropriate conversation material...'
Luo Shu raised an eyebrow at her words but refrained from interrupting, quietly waiting for an explanation.
At that moment, Kotoko Iwanaga raised a finger and said:
"Firstly, the circumstances six years ago didn't permit the birth of a Demigod, so it was delayed until recently. Secondly, I'm still lacking some resources required for the advancement."
"In fact, I'd already completed the Demigod ritual during my Excellent Rank phase, but because of these reasons, I've never fully ascended."
"So, although I've completed the Demigod Ascension Ritual, I'm still within the mortal realm."
"...Can the Demigod ritual really be completed in advance?" Luo Shu couldn't help showing surprise. This was the first he'd heard of an advancement ritual being completed ahead of time.
Kotoko Iwanaga shook her head and explained:
"Most rituals don't allow this. After all, during the Hero Rank to Demigod advancement, the ritual's most important function is to let the candidate truly experience and master conceptual power."
"Not only are such opportunities usually fleeting and hard to grasp, but the conceptual activation state created by the advancement ritual naturally fades over time - which alone makes the idea of completing it early impossible."
"If a Hero Rank fails to master the concept during its activated state, the best outcome is failed advancement. The worst... they'd immediately lose control of their power and become something indescribable."
"If that's the risk when completing the ritual normally, imagine attempting it early."
"The reason I could complete mine in advance and maintain the ritual's effects is that my ritual's condition was: sacrificing one eye and one limb to the Fountain of Wisdom while being devoutly served by over a hundred beings of different species."
Here, Kotoko paused, touching her sightless right eye with a faint smile:
"As you can see, I still haven't retrieved the eye and left leg I offered to the Fountain of Wisdom."
"But simultaneously, hundreds of yokai continue to serve me even now, treating me as their princess."
"My ritual remains incomplete yet perpetually active - that's why its effects persist."
Hearing Kotoko's explanation, Luo Shu lowered his gaze slightly, studying her youthful face before asking the petite girl:
"So your reason for joining the Phenex Society was actually to obtain materials for Demigod advancement?"