Chapter 208 – The Transfer Student

Through the bat’s eyes, Sophie watched Thor expertly stir the bubbling pot of thick soup.

When Thor turned to fetch the seasoning, Sophie sensed another powerful presence inside the apartment-the aura of that Super-Grade Disaster.

“Thor is that Super-Grade Disaster’s Dragon Maid?!”

“As for the Queen of Lust…” Sophie narrowed her eyes. “She’s not here. I can’t sense her power.”

Inside, Thor abruptly stopped moving. Her dragon ears pricked up in alarm.

Sophie immediately severed part of their mental link, sending the bat into a deathlike state.

The Dragon Maid approached the window at a measured pace, amber slit pupils sweeping across the night outside.

For one brief moment, Sophie thought she had been discovered. The Dragon Clan’s senses were no joke.

But Thor merely drew the curtains. “Master will catch a chill…” she murmured, her voice more than ten times gentler than it had been in battle.

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief and restored the link in full. The bat crept to another gap, giving her a clear view of the living room this time.

She finally saw the Super-Grade Disaster’s true face-a beautiful, adorable girl.

And she heard Thor call the Super-Grade Disaster “Master”…

…

Lin Xi lay sprawled on the sofa beneath a blanket, her long hair fanned messily across the cushions.

She was exhausted. Seriously exhausted.

She had pushed three Magical Girls to their limits, and the three of them had pushed her to hers.

Using ninety-nine percent of her power might not have knocked her unconscious on the spot, but it had still drained her dry.

Ever since returning from the Safe House, she had been lying on the sofa like a corpse.

Still, all that effort had not gone to waste.

She could keep living an ordinary life, as though that earth-shattering battle had never happened.

Lin Xi could not be bothered to think about anything complicated. Thor was back, her friends were safe, and that was enough.

The Queen of Lust might have hurt Xia Xun… Lin Xi planned to check on her tomorrow. Since it had happened because of her, she would quietly find some way to apologize…

“The congee is almost ready, Master.” Thor approached with a tray, using her nimble tail to sweep the clutter aside on the coffee table. “I added Volcanic Crystal Powder and Phoenix Grass from Qin Ling. They will speed up your mana recovery.”

Lin Xi sat up. “Thanks, Thor.”

Her fingers trembled as she accepted the bowl. Thor immediately caught her wrist and steadied her hand.

Watching from outside, Sophie glimpsed something in the Dragon Maid’s eyes that went far beyond the bond between master and servant.

“Careful. Your mana circulation is very fragile right now, Master.” Kneeling beside the sofa, Thor began combing Lin Xi’s long hair as naturally as if she had done it a thousand times. “This is all those three damned Magical Girls’ fault!”

“You can’t say that.” Lin Xi gave a wry smile. “I never thought I’d live to see the day one of the Seven Monarchs of Desire rescued me.”

She sipped the warm congee, and color gradually returned to her face.

Thor suddenly looked up, her slit pupils fixing on the window.

Sophie cut the visual feed at once, retaining only the audio link as she ordered the bat into mimicry. It transformed into an ordinary dead leaf hanging from a branch.

Five seconds passed. Then ten…

“What is it?” Lin Xi asked.

“…Nothing,” Thor finally replied. Sophie heard her sniff the air. “Maybe a moth hit the glass.”

Atop the clock tower, Sophie’s true body grinned without a sound.

Her counter-surveillance measures had worked. She had coated the bat in the pheromones of common city insects beforehand, allowing it to blend perfectly into the city’s ambient scents.

Over the next few hours, Sophie recorded enough intelligence to overturn everything she thought she knew:

The Dragon Clan lullaby Thor hummed as she combed Lin Xi’s hair.

The way Thor tiptoed over to tuck the blanket around Lin Xi after she fell asleep…

“Are they more than master and servant?” Sophie withdrew her consciousness as the bat flew silently back to her. “Are they… the beginnings of a pair of Blood-Oath Partners?”

“Just what is going on between them?!”

The night had grown deep. Sophie leaped lightly from the clock tower, the hem of her black lace dress spreading like bat wings in the moonlight.

She took out a small, jewel-encrusted notebook and jotted down the key points in Vampire Cipher:

1. The Queen of Lust shares an unknown connection with Thor and Lin Xi.

2. Lin Xi is special. Exceptionally powerful???

3. What exactly is the relationship between Thor and Lin Xi? Did Thor betray Lord Drax because of Lin Xi?

At the end, she licked one fang and added a line in tiny script:

“Recommendation: observe at close range to verify the intelligence on Lin Xi and determine her relationship with Thor and the Queen of Lust.”

Sophie snapped her fingers. A brilliant plan had come to her.

Operation Transfer Student!

“Starting tomorrow, I will be Sophie von Transylvania, a transfer student from B City.”

“And as luck would have it, I’ll be in Miss Lin Xi’s class…”

She gazed toward the brightening eastern sky, pulled a small vial of blood from a hidden pocket beneath her skirt, and drained it in one gulp.

“Time to prepare my persona.” Sophie’s body gradually dissolved into mist. “An exemplary transfer student who loves classical literature and moonlit walks…”

By the time morning broke, all that remained was her suggestive murmur drifting on the wind:

“Miss Lin Xi… Let me see what secrets you’re hiding-secrets that made the Queen of Lust save you and Dragon Princess Thor so hopelessly fascinated with you.”

As for reporting to Lord Drax? Sophie already had a carefully edited, “abridged” report prepared.

Naturally, the truly important intelligence had to be saved for the right moment…

…

The next day.

The morning study bell had just rung in Class One, Second Year, at Z City No. 1 Middle School when homeroom teacher Huang Haiyao opened the classroom door. The girl behind her silenced the entire class in an instant.

“We have a new student joining us today,” Huang Haiyao said. “She’s an exchange student from B City, so be sure to make her feel welcome.”

Sophie von Transylvania stood beside the podium, the morning sun filtering through the curtains and scattering flecks of gold across her silver hair.

Her round, non-prescription glasses softened the unnatural pallor of her skin.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Sophie von Transylvania, but please, just call me Sophie.” She spoke with a carefully rehearsed B City accent, just the right touch of shyness curving her lips. “I enjoy classical literature and taking walks at night. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Miss Sophie, you can sit over there.” Huang Haiyao pointed to the empty seat in the last row by the window. “Lin Xi, please show our new classmate around campus during the lunch break.”

Huang Haiyao had chosen Lin Xi because, in her eyes, Lin Xi was a bona fide social butterfly.

Lin Xi: Me? A social butterfly? In what universe?!

“All right, Sister Haiyao.” After practicing together in the band room every day, Lin Xi had grown accustomed to calling Huang Haiyao that.

She looked toward the girl at Huang Haiyao’s side and met Sophie’s gaze.

A beautiful transfer student suddenly descending upon their class… This was straight out of a manga or novel.

Sophie walked over and took the seat diagonally behind Lin Xi.

Yang Shanshan sat directly behind Lin Xi, which made Sophie her new deskmate.

With Yang Shanshan in her pathetic Otaku form, Sophie could not sense even a trace of the Queen of Lust’s power from her. Lin Xi’s overwhelming power, on the other hand, made Sophie’s heart jolt.