"Yo~! Sha—Ellen, fancy meeting you here!"
Seeing that it wasn't just the shark girl alone, but also a few companions dressed in the same JK uniforms as her, Arden switched to a more appropriate form of address.
"Yeah!"
The shark girl also noticed Arden. She glanced at the Simmer Hotpot Restaurant beside them. "Here for hotpot? Perv—Brother Arden!"
"Brother Arden?"
The interaction between the two instantly ignited the gossip instincts of the girls beside her.
"Could it be...?"
"Boyfriend?!"
The three girls sized up Arden curiously, chiming in one after another like a game of word relay.
"Of course not!"
The shark girl denied it loudly while shooting Arden frantic looks.
"....."
After spending so long with Ju Fufu, Arden had picked up on girls' subtle cues. He immediately went along with what the shark girl was implying.
"My name's Arden. You can call me Brother Arden. Don't misunderstand—Ellen and I just met while doing divination. We're only friends."
Arden briefly explained, also mentioning how he chased off the blond punk in the alley before.
"Do you believe that?"
Hearing this, the girl with light-yellow bobbed hair (Ruby) asked the other two.
"I don't."
The black-haired girl with glasses (Lynn) shook her head.
"Spill it!"
The girl with a pair of horns (Monna) pressed the shark girl further.
"I—I—I..."
The shark girl started stammering. The sharp-tongued confidence she'd had during missions seemed to vanish all at once.
She looked pitifully at Arden, then grinned, revealing a row of sharp teeth, as if she'd bite him if he didn't help.
"....."
Arden felt a bit speechless. Her attitude toward her friends versus him was way too different—like she'd turned into a completely different shark.
"We really did meet during divination... I forgot to mention earlier, but I'm actually a disciple of Yunkui Summit."
As he spoke, Arden showed them his daoist robe. A professional smile appeared on his face. "If you lovely young ladies have time, you can visit Suibian Temple, or come straight to Yunkui Summit to find me. I'm especially good at divining romance luck, wealth luck, and academic results."
"Romance luck?"
"Wealth luck?"
"Academics?"
Sure enough, high school girls cared deeply about these topics. The conversation was successfully steered away from the shark girl's relationship with him.
"Phew..."
Watching Arden chat and laugh with her friends about divination, the shark girl finally relaxed and gave him a thumbs-up.
By the way, isn't this Arden a daoist? How is he so good at charming girls?
Then the shark girl became alert again.
Luckily, Arden couldn't hear her thoughts. Otherwise, he would've loudly protested—he was a daoist, sure, but Yunkui Summit never said disciples couldn't get married.
"Well... Daoist Arden! No—Brother Arden! Could you help me divine my academics right now? Exams are coming up in a few days."
One of the girls spoke up, and the other two immediately showed eager expressions as well.
"Hmm... Yunkui Summit rules say we shouldn't casually divine for outsiders..."
Arden first showed a troubled look, then smiled faintly. "But for Ellen's sake, I'll make an exception this once."
"Really?"
"That's great!"
"You're such a good person—no, a good daoist!"
"....."
Seeing her three friends instantly won over by Arden, the shark girl's mouth twitched. After hesitating a bit, she lightly tapped Arden with her tail.
"Then... then divine for me too."
After all, she had exams as well. And recently, work at Victoria Housekeeping had been piling up—she hadn't had time to properly review. Saying she wasn't worried would be a lie.
"Heh, no problem!"
"...."
"Is it really that dangerous?"
"Could it be... I've been resting too much lately?"
"I don't want remedial classes!"
"This is such a pain!"
After Arden finished the divination, a heavy, oppressive mood settled over the four of them. Clearly, the results weren't good.
"Uh... it's about time. The movie's about to start."
One of the girls checked the time.
"With exams looking this dangerous, you still want to watch a movie? How about... we study together?"
"Yeah! Movies can wait, but exams... there are only a few days left!"
"But where should we study?"
"Ellen's place."
"Wait—"
"Alright! It's settled!"
Before the shark girl could say anything, her friends had already decided on the study location for her.
"Bye-bye! Brother Arden!"
"Bye-bye, Daoist of Yunkui Summit!"
"...."
The girls waved goodbye to Arden, and he returned the gesture.
"Bye! If you come play around Waifei Peninsula, don't forget to visit Yunkui Summit—my master's divination is even more accurate than mine."
Arden replied, slipping in a bit of advertising on the side.
"....."
On the way to the shark girl's home.
"Sunny!"
"Handsome!"
"That daoist robe is really cool too!"
The three girls kept talking about Arden, eventually reaching a conclusion.
"I wish I had a boyfriend like that."
"Mm-hmm."
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"Though... Yunkui Summit is kind of far..."
"...."
"No!!"
As if possessed, the shark girl suddenly shouted her refusal.
"??"
"Why not? Brother Arden isn't even your boyfriend."
"Could it be... you secretly—mmph!"
The shark girl covered her friend's mouth.
"Then tell us—why not?"
"Well... um..."
Hesitating, the shark girl finally came up with a reason. "He already has a girlfriend—a very fierce Tiger Thiren! If you get close recklessly, you might get bitten to death! Rawr~!"
As she spoke, she even imitated Ju Fufu, making a ferocious tiger-roaring gesture.
"A Tiger Thiren?"
"That scary?"
"Brother Arden is so pitiful."
"....."
At last, the grueling ordeal in the restroom was over. Still burning painfully, Ju Fufu and Yiji supported each other as they emerged from the Simmer Hotpot Restaurant.
"Achoo!!"
Ju Fufu suddenly sneezed. "Did Brother Arden wait too long and start thinking about me?"
"Yiji, let's hurry up."
"I—I'll do my best!"
"....."
Arden started the sidecar motorcycle and carried the "injured" Ju Fufu and Yiji back to Yunkui Summit.
According to the original plan, the three of them were supposed to search for the Silver Squad base together and resolve Yiji's troubles at the source. But given Ju Fufu and Yiji's current condition, that was clearly impossible, so the plan had to be postponed.
To avoid wasting too much time, they needed to recover quickly. And as everyone knew, when it came to treating that particular burning problem, the most effective method was suppositories.
Creaaak~~!
Arden closed the door, then looked at Ju Fufu and Yiji lying face-down on the bed, not daring to let their backsides experience even the slightest stimulation, yet still suffering from searing pain, their expressions twitching from time to time.
"Take off your clothes. I'll apply the medicine."