School District 7, Student Dormitory.
"Kacha…"
With the faint sound of a door opening, a timid voice entered Fang Li's room.
"E…excuse me…"
Like a child visiting a stranger's home, Index hesitated behind the door, seemingly afraid to step into Fang Li's room.
Seeing this, Fang Li let out a wry smile. "You already said 'excuse me,' so come in quickly."
Yet Index remained hesitant.
"Is…this really alright?" Her innocent, gentle face was filled with a level of worry and unease not seen before. She said, "Not only am I with you, but I'm also living in your house. This will absolutely drag you into Magic users' conflicts. I don't want that to happen."
This was the source of Index's hesitation and anxiety.
After all, back in the alley, Index had even willingly defended someone she considered perverted, offering herself in surrender.
It's easy to imagine how kindhearted this young girl was.
And naturally, someone like her wouldn't want to involve innocent people.
In Index's heart, Fang Li must be that innocent person.
Fang Li could only spread out his hands and say, "Aren't you worrying too much? At least trust that I have the Ability to protect myself. Didn't I defeat the Magic user who was chasing you before?"
Though it was with a gun.
"That kind of weapon won't always work on Magic users," Index said without hesitation. "It only worked before because they weren't prepared. Next time, if they attack, they'll absolutely be ready with countermeasures against your weapon. By then, you'd be completely at their mercy."
Index's words weren't wrong.
No matter what, the opponent was a Magic user. Even if they were once taken down by bullets due to carelessness, they wouldn't be threatened by the same thing twice.
Next time, Stiyl would absolutely prepare techniques or spells to counter firearms before attacking, right?
That's the way Magic users operate.
In response, Fang Li had only one thing to say: "That's for when it happens."
He spoke calmly.
"At least for now, that Magic user is severely injured. Until their wounds heal, they won't come after you. In the meantime, you can safely stay here, right?"
This was also why Index was willing to come along with Fang Li.
Originally, Index had planned to seek shelter at a church.
If she could enter a church, receive protection, and then contact the United Kingdom Puritan Church to have someone come pick her up, she'd be safe.
That was Index's plan.
Unfortunately, Academy City was the Science Side's headquarters. There wasn't any church capable of sheltering someone. Instead of seeking a church's protection, it was better to have Anti-Skill and Judgment intervene.
Of course, that wasn't possible either.
Index wasn't from Academy City.
The people of Academy City all had registered IDs. Even visitors had to undergo temporary ID registration, making it impossible to impersonate anyone.
If Index sought shelter from Anti-Skill and Judgment but was found without an ID, she'd immediately be expelled from Academy City.
That would be even more dangerous.
"In short, you have nowhere else to go," Fang Li said mercilessly. "So obediently stay here until this incident is resolved."
"Ugh…wú wú…" Index twisted and fidgeted, clearly unwilling.
But the next second, she let out a cry.
"Stop dawdling at the door!"
Fang Li grabbed Index by the back of her collar like picking up a small cat and lifted her up.
"If my dim-witted classmates see this, who knows what shameful rumors they'd spread. I can't handle that."
With that, Fang Li shut the door and tossed Index onto the bed.
"Iya!"
Index immediately let out a cute yell and glared at him, loudly protesting.
"I think you should be gentler with me and not so rough!"
After all, if those dim-witted classmates saw this, who knows… no, it would absolutely lead to some shameful rumors.
"When we just met, you patted my head. On the way here, you ignored me. And now you're being so rough with me, you really are a villain!"
Saying this, Index had completely forgotten that Fang Li had called her a good person when he treated her to a meal.
"You should be a little gentler with me," Index emphasized. "A little gentler."
"I'm already being very gentle with you, and it's rare for me to be gentle, otherwise I wouldn't have taken you in, you gluttonous nun," Fang Li replied. "If you keep talking nonsense, I won't make you dinner."
"No…no way!" Index immediately panicked, exclaiming, "I can allow anything else, but this absolutely cannot happen!"
Truly a gluttonous nun.
In the restaurant, after Index had eaten her way through his entire wallet, Fang Li could only rub his forehead.
Though Index was small, this girl was undeniably a big stomach king.
Supporting this randomly picked-up "pet" would be quite a challenge for Fang Li.
"Anyway, what you should do now is use your strengths," Fang Li told Index. "You have time, and your head is filled with all the knowledge of Magic. Use that knowledge to come up with countermeasures against the Magic used by those Magic users. That's something only you can do, right?"
Index wrinkled her small nose.
"It feels like you're underestimating me…"
Then, surprisingly, she said,
"Besides, that's not something only I can do. Right now, there's someone in the Magic world who's even better at countering Magic than I am."
Hearing this, Fang Li was slightly taken aback.
Someone better than Index at countering Magic?
Does such a person even exist?
As he thought this, Fang Li noticed a key phrase in Index's words.
"Right now?"
In other words, this didn't exist before, but has only appeared recently?
Fang Li felt a slight premonition.
In this situation, Index continued.
"Within this past year, there have been numerous attack incidents in the Magic world."
Index's expression was serious as she explained.
"The attackers' identities are unknown, but their goal seems to be stealing the originals of the Magic Path books. They attacked many places where these originals were stored."
"It's said that this person has a way to bypass all Magic techniques and spells. No matter how intricate a Magic technique or spell is, it cannot stop them."
Index's words made it clear to Fang Li: there was no guessing needed.
The person she was talking about could be no one other than Fang Li himself.
But what came next genuinely surprised Fang Li.
"People in the Magic world believe that this person likely possesses the Mystic Eyes that were originally only said to exist in mythology."
(End Of This Chapter)
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