"My apologies, Master, but I require to stay with you at night to replenish my energy," Mei Gui interjected, grabbing my arm.

I fell into thought. "Hm, that's a good point…"

"I need to stay with Big Brother Xuan Kai at night as well, to make sure Mei Gui doesn't try anything!" Qing Yue added, grabbing my other arm as she glared at Mei Gui dangerously. The latter returned her gaze as sparks flew between them.

Immediately, the rest of the girls also began joining in the fight, wanting to stay with me as well.

"Okay, time out!" I yelled, my voice echoing across the halls.

"Quiet!" Ms. Qi's voice came back from the other end as we all froze.

"A-Ahem…" I lowered my volume. "You guys…"

Sighing, I made my decision. "Fine, fine… we'll all have connected rooms. Happy?"

"I do not really care one way or another, but sure," Obsidia shrugged, averting her gaze.

"I would like a private room," Lin Luo interrupted. "It sickens me to have to live with lowlifes such as yourself."

"Sorry, but I need to keep an eye on you," I smirked, teasing her.

Her eyes widened. "W-What?! But you already have that curse placed on m-"

"Yes I do. And that's exactly why you can't refuse."

"… You bastard. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Perhaps. You did quite a bit of damage to me during our fight, you know. This is payback."

She sighed. "Fine… you win."

"There's still one problem though," Yu An Yan cut in. "Although the rooms will all be connected… who's going to be staying with Xuan Kai?"

"I have already called dibs," Mei Gui closed her eyes and said calmly.

"Same," Qing Yue giggled. "That leaves one last spot… Big Brother Xuan Kai, why don't you pick?"

"Uh…"

I glanced at all the pairs of pleading eyes looking towards me right now, adorable and tugging at my heart strings, as I gulped in nervousness at who to choose.

"Xuan Kai… y-you have to take responsibility for what you did to me a few days ago…" Feng Mian murmured, blushing deeply.

That card is not allowed!

"Xuwan Kwai, you said that you nyiked these, didn't you?" Amane pouted and pushed her bosom up with her hands, as if tempting me.

"X-Xuan Kai! I'm fine with anything, b-but… I would l-like it if… we could… um, stay together," Lan Xiao Su whispered softly, voice barely audible.

"Pick me… Xuan Kai…" Yu An Xue murmured, tugging at my hand with a flushed expression.

"No, me…" Yu An Yan joined in, pulling my other arm.

Obsidia didn't say anything, but glanced at me for a brief moment before quickly turning away.

"Xuan Kai~ if you want big sister here, I can sleep with you too, you know~" Xiang Peng laughed sinisterly.

You're not even in this dormitory…

"O-Okay, I've made my decision," I said at last, finding my way to cleverly escape this situation.

The girls all focused their eyes on me in anticipation, seeing who I would pick.

"My choice is…"

I pointed behind all of them, where a lone girl was standing.

"… Lin Luo!"

At this, everyone, including the person herself, dropped their jaws in shock.

Ha! If I can't satisfy all of them equally, I might as well displease them all equally!

"W-What? No! There are tons of girls for you to choose from right in front of you, and all of them are superior to me in terms of body or looks. Why me?" she frowned in anger and unwillingness.

"Because payback, remember? The more you don't want to, the more I'm going to do it," I laughed, using this as my cover-up excuse. "Now, it's settled."

Ms. Qi returned to us soon after, and we reported our room distributions to her. We used three rooms in total, as we had ten people excluding Flaria.

"Since you are all already here, you can take these three rooms right next to each other. I will register them for you — Room 3001, 3002, and 3003. Now, you may stay here for the night if you so wish, or elsewhere. It is up to you."

"Hm… do you guys want to visit my house?" Xiang Peng smiled. "I think my father would love to meet the boy I've fallen for."

"Uh… sure, I guess," I said.

"I agree, it would be a nice way to explore Fragment too, before the school year starts tomorrow," Feng Mian said, still slightly disappointed at not being chosen by me.

And so, it was decided that we would pay Xiang Peng's family a visit… though whether that would be good or bad news for me was a different matter.

*****

After leaving the campus, we followed Xiang Peng out of the school grounds and headed in the direction of a tall tower in the distance. It was the biggest structure as far as the eye could see, though it didn't seem like a residential building.

However, as we neared it, we soon realized there were eight mansions surrounding it, which did indeed look like the type of place someone of high standing would live in.

"What is this place…" Yu An Yan asked, looking around.

I feel like I've heard that exact same question not too long ago, but it was understandable considering even I was a bit impressed.

"This is the heart of Fragment," Xiang Peng explained. "The Garden of Salvation, they call it. The eight mansions here each belong to one of the major families in Fragment and of the world — mine is one of them."

"So you're some bigshot, huh?" I chuckled.

"Eh, not really," she shrugged. "The Xiang Family is huge — there are plenty of talents in it. I pale in comparison."

"What about that massive sci-fi looking tower in the middle?" Qing Yue asked, pointing at the tall tower directly ahead of us.

"That's the headquarters of the IMF. Looks very different from the rest of place, doesn't it?"

"Yeah… white and blue, hovering circular lines flying around it… it's giving me futuristic vibes," Feng Mian murmured.

"This is only the bottom portion of it, where citizens are allowed to enter," Xiang Peng continued with a grin. "At the top of this tower, a portal lies. It connects to the true core of the IMF, located high up in the sky, In the Celestici domain. And the name of this 'core'… is the Council of Arcanity, of course."

"The Council, huh?" I couldn't help but be reminded of Founder Tian and Ling Xin when hearing those words.

Just what kind of monsters does the Council hold…?

"Come on. The Xiang Family's residency is this one right here."

She headed for the manor furthest away from the tower, on the left. At the gates, two armed guards with powerful auras surrounding them bowed down after seeing Xiang Peng.

"Welcome home, Third Young Lady. The patriarch and your mother have been worried sick about you, until they saw you participating in this year's Fragment tournament."

The two guards seemed like they wanted to question 'why she did this', but it wasn't exactly their place to ask, so they just kept quiet.

"Where's my mother and father?" Xiang Peng asked, glancing at the two guards.

"They are at their residence. Shall I let them know you are here?"

"Nope, no need," Xiang Peng laughed. "I'll give them a little surprise."

"Understood, Third Young Lady. Please, enter."

The guards swung open the metal gates and allowed Xiang Peng to walk through, but stopped us when the rest of us tried entering.

"By orders of the patriarch, you outsiders are not allowed to enter… instead, you shall be captured."

Xiang Peng immediately spun around in shock to see the rest of us immediately surrounded by the family's guards, on the ground and from above. "W-What?! What are you doing-"

"Third Young Lady. Please, go in," the guard said, tone dropping dangerously low.

"X-Xuan Kai!" she shouted as she was escorted inside by the two guards, completely unable to fight back. "I-I don't know what's happening either… it wasn't supposed to be like this!"

I sighed deeply. I was expecting the patriarch — Xiang Peng's father — to be somewhat suspicious of me, but I never thought it would be too extent.

"What do we do, Xuan Kai?" Feng Mian asked, pressing her back against mine. "If we fight here…"

"Calculating probability of success: 70%," Mei Gui said as she summoned her Chaos katana and prepared for battle. The guards narrowed their gazes, ready to draw blood, but I stopped everyone, raising a hand.

"Enough. The patriarch wants to talk to us, I'm assuming? Let's go then."

The girls all looked at me in surprise. "X-Xuan Kai? We aren't fighting?"

I snorted. "I don't fight unnecessary battles that yield no profit. Now, lead the way, dear guards of the Xiang Family."

The horde of soldiers exchanged glances, as if not expecting us to surrender so easily.

"Capture them," a deep male voice, evidently old, suddenly reverberated from inside the mansion.

"Yes, patriarch!" the guards yelled simultaneously as they immediately put handcuffs on us and shoved us into the house.

I did, however, notice they weren't mana-restricting. Underestimating me? We'll see how that will turn out.

Now then… let's see. What benefits can I reap from this encounter?