- The Coastal Metropolis, Shenzhen -

The Coastal Metropolis - the biggest and most popular shopping centre of Shenzhen, and also where the girls and I were currently at.

In the end, after our short conversation on the way here, it was settled that the girls would come together with me to register for the Hunters' Guild the next day. For the record, I strictly told them not to, and they reluctantly agreed...on the surface. Even a baby could tell the girls had no intention of listening at all. Defeated, I had just sighed and continued walking.

That's a problem for tomorrow though. I would come with a plan to stop the girls from following me, somehow. But for now, we were just going to do some shopping, at the biggest mall in the city, no less. I felt many venomous glares of jealousy being shot my way since I was walking together with the top four beauties of Shenzhen, but I ignored them. At this point, I was used to it, though I'm not sure what exactly that says about me.

The mall was in an octagonal shape, though it isn't a perfect polygon, as there are various shops and stores that extend out a little. Nevertheless, it was a beautifully designed structure overall. At the center of the mall was a large spherical object that resembled an icosahedron, with glassy faces that were translucent. It was huge, and rose up above everything else. In addition, it was slowly rotating, which was quite a sight to behold. In fact, it was so interesting that over time it had came to be known as the iconic look of the Coastal Metropolis.

Overall, the structure was very geometric and abstract, and it would be a lie if I said I didn't like it. I'm not a minimalist, but I can appreciate this simplistic design. Not only was it mainly black - my favorite color, by the way - but it also gave off a very futuristic and high-tech feel.

In any case, our first destination at this massive shopping mall was the groceries store...or so I thought.

"Are you crazy?" Feng Mian rolled her eyes when I proposed we go buy food first.

"What...?" I blinked in surprise.

"Think about it," Yu An Yan said with a sigh. "If we get the food first and the other stuff later, by the time we're done the frozen food would all be spoiled..."

"Oh, you're right..." I muttered in reply after thinking it through logically.

I've never done this before, okay? Don't blame me...

"But wait, Mei Gui is still waiting at home for breakfast..." I brought up, hoping to cover up my mistake.

"Whhhaat?!" Qing Yue exclaimed in shock. "Big Brother Xuan Kai, that's no way to treat a girl! You should've brought her along with us!"

"Uh, how was I supposed to know?! I thought we were just going to get food and head back..."

By this point, my retorts were slowly running out. Yu An Xue then handed me a phone, for reasons beyond my comprehension.

"Call...her," she said, giving me a little nudge.

I sighed, and complied. She had already unlocked the phone and brought up the dial pad, so I just straight up put in the number to the landline within my dorm. I was honestly pretty surprised that I still remembered the number, but what shocked me even more was how quickly my call was answered.

Mei Gui's familiar voice spoke from the other side. "What is it, master?"

"Huh...so you know how to use a telephone...?" I murmured in awe.

"Yes. I saw another human picking up this boat-shaped object when a loud ringing sound rang out, and learnt from her," she replied.

"Hm...well, anyway, can you come to the Coastal Metropolis right now?" I asked, deciding to talk more about where she learnt how to use a telephone later.

"The Coastal Metropolis...?" she echoed in confusion.

"Ah, sorry...okay, from the school dorms, turn righ-"

"Master, I know how to get to the location you speak of," Mei Gui cut me off just as I was about to give her directions. "What I do not understand is why you are telling me to do so?"

"Breakfast," I replied. "We're eating out."

"...I am okay with anything, master, no need to trouble yourself to take me out to eat," Mei Gui said after a short pause.

"Don't worry about it, just hurry up and come."

I hung up the phone, right after I heard her reply 'understood'. Handing the phone back to Yu An Xue, the five of us decided to go wait at the front doors, since even if Mei Gui knew how to get here somehow she wouldn't know where exactly we were...right?

At this point, she's shown me so many surprises I don't even know anymore. She's not exactly human, but really, her learning capabilities for acting like one sure were impressive. Either way, just to be safe, the five of us still went to the main entrance of the building. There were four entrances in total, none of them being on any of the diagonal edges of the octagon. The first entrance you would see if you took the correct path from the school dorms to get here would be the main entrance, and the one we were at right now.

About ten minutes later, we spotted Mei Gui flying towards us. She wasn't hard to miss, with her beautiful scarlet hair and her rather conspicuous method of travel. I figured that was why she was able to get here so quickly - by combining the Level One Sky Magic, Flight, along with some kind of speed boost spell such as Potentia Excitant: Celeritas, she would be able to cross vast distances far quicker than usual. In addition, being a Chaos Elemental, she also had the power of Chaos within her, amplifying the power of her spells by a great amount.

Naturally, she attracted the gazes of many people as she descended from the sky. People flying in the air weren't all that uncommon in this world of magic, but pair that with her almost divine looks, to be honest, it kind of felt like a goddess descending into the mortal realm.

None of the people looking on in awe actually did anything though, so no trouble came our way. Together, the six of us headed back inside the mall, and went to the food court on the third floor of this massive place.

We decided to eat at a restaurant that served all-day breakfast, by the name of Sunrise. It served a Western-themed cuisine, two sunny-side-up eggs paired with bacon and toast. I've never eaten anything like this before, but it was undoubtedly delicious. I didn't have a good impression of this food court, since the last time I was here I was fighting against Ghosteye in a secret lair behind one of the restaurants here called The Midnight Lily.

Speaking of...the giant hole that old geezer made in the ceiling during his fight with Ghosteye already got repaired. Whoever was responsible for the job, they sure worked quick.

No matter, all of that is in the past now, and I really began to realize why this mall's food court was quite renowned.

The other girls seemed to have enjoyed it as well, and after around twenty minutes we were all finished with breakfast.

"Well? Where do we go next?" I asked, letting someone else take the lead since I was completely unfamiliar with shopping.

"Hmm...well, we're getting groceries last, so let's go to the electronics store first," Feng Mian replied thoughtfully.

I tiled my head in confusion. "Electronics store? Why?"

Yu An Yan sighed. "Isn't it obvious? You don't even have a phone, it's such a pain to get in touch with you."

Hey...is it really that bad, not having a phone? I mean, it's not exactly my fault, is it?

"Uh...okay, but isn't something like a phone way too expensive?" I retorted.

"Don't worry about it, Big Brother Xuan Kai!" Qing Yue butt in excitedly. "I decided a long time ago to get you a phone, hehe~"

"Er...fine then," I reluctantly agreed. "However, once I join the Hunters' Guild and save up enough money, I'll definitely pay you all back."

"Psh...why are you so uptight about everything?" Feng Mian said with a cute giggle. "We're companions; helping each other out is only natural."

"No...it's not about that, I just don't like to owe anyone," I explained with a sigh. "Whether you like it or not, I'm going to pay you back."

Hm? Is it just me, or did that line there sound kind of evil...? By 'pay you back', I mean with actual money. Not like the revenge kind. She understands...right?

My hopes were quickly shattered as I noticed Feng Mian looking at me with a look of fear in her eyes. A cold sweat quickly broke out on my forehead and I hurried to correct myself.

"A-Ah, no, that's not what I meant...you see, what I was trying to say there was-"

"Pfft! Hahaha! You fell for that?!" the girls, Feng Mian included, all suddenly broke into laughter.

"Xuan Kai...is so...easily tricked."

"Riiiight? This is pretty amusing," Yu An Yan agreed with her sister's statement, apparently.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai, you were really cute there, you know? Ehehe~"

That doesn't sound like a compliment at all...

"It's okay, master. Mei Gui will always be with you no matter how gullible you are."

E-Even you?! God, my heart...

"A-Ahem, anyway, can we get a move on?" I raised my voice slightly and said in irritation. I had been played for a fool...by these five girls, no less. I knew they were cunning and clever, but I never expected them to use these qualities on theirs on me.

I quickly escaped the scene, and began heading to the electronics store which I had spotted on the 2nd Floor on the way up here. The girls soon followed, but I could still hear their giggles and laughter from behind.

Normally, I would think they looked cute, but right now, I really couldn't bring myself to do that...ah, whatever. I really can't let my guard down around anyone, even if it's them, huh?