It took a lot of effort for Lu Chen to pull himself away from Friedrich's embrace. He said helplessly, "I feel like you're treating me like a child, but I need to say that I'm already an adult."
"You're an adult, but still a boy," Friedrich gave him a suggestive smile. "If you are willing, you can use me to become a real man."
Lu Chen leaned back defensively. Is that something a female neighbor should be saying? Or is she lonely after living alone for so long and is sexually frustrated…
No, I mustn't assume the worst.
"Cough, I have a girlfriend," Lu Chen tugged at Noshiro's arm.
"N-No, stop it. I'm not mentally ready yet. Y-You go to her!" Noshiro said in panic.
Lu Chen's gaze became strange again. Do you even know what you're saying?
Seeing Lu Chen's look, Noshiro realized she had misspoke and quickly tried to salvage the situation. "I-I didn't mean that! I-I want to spend more time with you before we talk about that sort of thing."
"You finally said something a girlfriend should say," Lu Chen said. "Let's not continue this topic. How about telling me about Friedrich's sister instead?"
When her sister was mentioned, Friedrich looked a little downcast. She slowly began, "I spoiled my sister too much, which is why she turned out this way. I haven't been a good older sister."
I can see that. What kind of normal sister would let her sibling get mixed up with a married man, and then want to get involved herself?
"My sister is named Hutten. In your terms, she is a delinquent girl. Like all children going through a rebellious phase, she refuses to communicate with her family and tries to express herself through unusual means."
Lu Chen asked, "Does that mean dyeing her hair, fighting, piercings, or that 'Shamate' style? That's what delinquent girls look like in my memory."
"As far as I know, she hasn't dyed her hair, I'm not sure about fighting, and as for the ear and tongue piercings, those are fake—they're pasted onto her skin like stickers," Friedrich smiled, though her smile held a hint of authority. "She dares not do anything to harm her own body, but she wants to rebel against authority, so she can only express herself through these childish games of make-believe."
Ulrich von Hutten, one of Lu Chen's Oath ships. Her body belongs to Lu Chen; even she has no right to harm it. This is the consensus among all Ship Girls in the Port.
The Ship Girls believed they were the Commander's private property, which was basically a consensus. Especially the Oath Ships, they held an almost pathological obsession with Lu Chen. Although it sounds incredible, Ship Girls were indeed such obsessive beings.
"Hmm… What kind of delinquent is that? I think she just has some communication barriers with you," Lu Chen said. Hutten just sounded like a girl who liked to dress up, perhaps with a unique style.
Friedrich shook her head. "She likes to skip class and go to disreputable places. That is more serious to me than fighting. I even stopped her allowance because of it, but she just escalated her behavior. Lu Chen, only you can help me."
Okay, a young, attractive girl running off to strange places would indeed cause family worry. Lu Chen seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, but he didn't feel he could solve this thorny problem.
"With all due respect, if you think she'll take my advice just because we are close in age, I don't think things will go as smoothly as you imagine," Lu Chen said.
"If it's you, you can definitely do it." Friedrich remembered something and took out two cards from a cabinet, handing them to Lu Chen. "Here, take these."
Lu Chen took the cards. They were two identical black cards, looking like IC cards. He asked curiously, "What are these?"
"Your reward and my sister's allowance. If she doesn't behave, don't give her the card that belongs to her," Friedrich said lightly.
"No, I can't take this!" Lu Chen instinctively handed the bank cards back to Friedrich. He didn't want to take Friedrich's money. Although he had only interacted with her for a short time, he could feel her goodwill toward him, and he didn't want to measure goodwill by profit.
Friedrich smiled. "Before you lost your memory, you readily accepted this gift, so feel free to take it."
"Were we in some kind of employer-employee relationship before?"
"It's not employment. It's a small gift for family," Friedrich replied.
Lu Chen cautiously glanced at Noshiro and said, "I really do have a girlfriend."
The implication being that they were not that close yet, and he didn't have the bad habit of keeping one thing while eyeing another.
"Noshiro, do you think Lu Chen should accept this bank card?" Friedrich looked at Noshiro.
Noshiro paused, then smiled gently. "I think it would be better for you to accept both bank cards."
"No, I'll only take the one for your sister. Since you regard me as family, I don't have the habit of taking money for helping family members," Lu Chen insisted on his view.
Friedrich pondered for a moment, then reached out her hand, took one of the cards, and placed it in Noshiro's hand. "Then, this one will stay with you for now. Don't be stingy; if you need more, just ask me."
"I understand," Noshiro smiled, taking the card without any hesitation.
The actions of the two completely overloaded Lu Chen's CPU. He couldn't figure out their relationship.
Just as he was about to ask further questions, the door suddenly opened, and a short-haired girl in black walked in.
She was a girl, but her demeanor held a mature coolness that made Lu Chen unable to fathom her. She was wearing a black-and-white outfit that looked like a maid dress, high-heeled leather boots on her feet, and black leather garter stockings extended from beneath the short skirt.
The reason it only looked like a maid outfit was that her upper body seemed to be wearing only a black leather bustier with inexplicable openings, though no crucial parts were exposed—only her fair skin.
She was also wearing a gray athletic jacket, holding a can of soda, and had a pair of red horn-shaped hair accessories on her head. Overall, her attire was closer to a character cosplay for seduction, designed purely to be enticing, with no practical value whatsoever.
Lu Chen instantly understood why Friedrich was so worried about her sister. Skipping class in this kind of suggestive clothing and God knows what else she was doing outside—if it were him, he'd be stressed out too. No wonder Friedrich regarded him as a lifeline; she was just desperate.
The girl took off her long boots, revealing a pair of small feet encased in leather stockings. While changing her shoes, she looked up at the living room. Seeing Lu Chen, she paused slightly, then gave him a provocative smile. "Well, you're here?"