Chapter 116: Good Grief, You’re Using Mind-Reading Too?!

Takumi had no idea what had gone down between Kayaba Akihiko and Koujiro Rinko after he left.

Right now, he had already returned home.

And his house was bustling with noise.

Yuu and Miori Shiba were grilling barbecue in the yard.

Seeing him arrive, Miori waved her hand.

"Yo, you're back. I thought you'd be spending the night at Asuna's place."

She clearly hadn't expected him to return so soon.

Not a word of notice either.

Didn't he usually give her a heads-up so she could prepare things?

Hearing that, Takumi rolled his eyes.

"You guys are really something."

"Why are you all gathered here?"

He plopped himself down, curiosity piqued.

Why had they suddenly decided to gather at his place?

"Isn't it obvious?"

"There's nothing else fun going on right now, so of course we came here."

"You just got back from Asuna's place, right?"

"Time to get that game up and running."

"We don't have many entertainment options on this side."

"Most of the games aren't playable yet."

Miori Shiba pouted.

Nights were getting boring.

All she could do was watch people chat in the group.

Takumi nodded at the suggestion.

"Sure, no problem."

"I was actually planning to replicate Aincrad."

"With magical beast synthesis, we could reproduce the monsters exactly."

"It'd make a great training ground for everyone's abilities."

"You guys could practice your powers there."

Miori's eyes lit up.

"Now we're talking."

"When's it happening?"

Not just her—even Kisaragi Gengo perked up.

Takumi's area was peaceful.

But if she wanted to train, she had to go hunt wild beasts.

But most of them had already been cleared out.

Around the city, the remaining ones were weaklings.

As humans started reclaiming the land,

magical beasts had sensed the danger and fled.

They were all hiding across the sea on another continent.

Having a simulated combat space would be ideal.

Miori immediately dove into planning with Takumi.

Even after night fell and the others left,

she was still chatting with him about it.

A magic academy was definitely on the table.

Why not host combat trials above the city itself?

Just create a teleportation spell and send students there.

Daily trials, progress checkpoints—

even exams could involve killing specific monsters.

"Shouldn't be hard to create game panels and student profiles, right?"

"You could assign quests and homework that way."

The more she thought about it, the more hyped she got.

Takumi nodded again.

"It's not hard."

"We'll need AI integration, of course."

"Let the AI handle it all. Easy peasy."

"Alright, let's do it then."

"Let me know when it's ready!"

Miori clapped her hands. Plan locked in.

"In a few days. No rush."

Seeing her excitement, Takumi smiled and shook his head.

It didn't matter when.

The magic academy wasn't even finished yet.

No need to hurry with Aincrad either.

Satisfied, Miori nodded.

She checked the time.

"Almost midnight. Time to check in and hit the hay!"

"Save me a room, I'm too lazy to go back."

She stretched and headed into the villa.

Didn't even blink about staying at Takumi's place—

treating it like her own home.

Watching her, Takumi twitched slightly.

He and Miori had been deep in game system talk,

so the others had already left.

Now it was just him and Lilia at home.

Takumi waved a hand,

sending all the trash in the yard off to the other side of the world.

With everything cleaned up,

he got up and headed inside.

Miori had already claimed the room next to his.

Takumi didn't mind.

He washed up and got ready for the night.

Just as he got to the main event—

Miori, on the other hand, was in a panic.

She was already regretting staying here.

The sounds coming from the next room made her grind her teeth.

She immediately DM'd Takumi.

Miori Shiba: [WTF!!!] [Can you be a little quieter?!]

Takumi blinked at the message.

Seriously?!

Lady, you picked the room next door. Who's to blame?

His mouth twitched, a bit annoyed.

Takumi: [You're messaging me now of all times?]

Interrupting a spell?

Could she even handle the consequences?

Miori Shiba: [!!!!!!!!] [GOOD NIGHT!!]

The moment she read Takumi's reply, she froze.

Too late.

A dimensional rift opened beneath her—

and she dropped right into Takumi's room.

"Can't sleep? Then join in."

"Little lady, do you understand the price of disturbing me?"

She stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Wait!!"

"Hey, hey!!"

"Are you serious?!"

Miori panicked.

She wasn't ready for this!

"O-oh come on! I wasn't—!"

"Oh? You weren't ready, yet you came?"

"Sounds like you've got a thing for me."

"Alright then. Let me help you out."

Takumi had clearly picked up on her thoughts.

Maybe she had been preparing herself subconsciously.

Her face flushed bright red.

"I-it's not like that!!"

"Oh, really? Don't forget I wield the Authority of the Herrscher of Knowledge."

"Didn't expect it, huh? You actually do have feelings for me?"

Takumi clicked his tongue in amusement.

Maybe he should leave his mind-reading powers on all the time—

might make things even more interesting.

Miori stayed silent,

mentally screaming.

He was actually using mind-reading on her??

"But... I haven't even been in a relationship before..."

She murmured softly.

"That's fine. Get on the ride first—buy the ticket later."

Now that she was here, Takumi wasn't letting her go.

No way.