Chapter 666: Little Sister

After the silver light faded, several figures appeared in the sky.

Kusakabe Ryoko looked down at the empty alley below and could not help but frown.

"Are you sure this is the place where the Spirit Power fluctuations were detected earlier?"

"Yes, Captain. But why is there no one here now? Just a second ago, the Hermit's fluctuations were still in this location," an AST member holding an instrument said, frowning.

"Could it be that the Spirit has already returned to the Boundary?" Kusakabe Ryoko asked.

"That, the possibility is not very high, after all, this strange weather still persists!" the team member said.

Tobiichi Origami, standing to the side, could not help but frown. Previously, she had wanted to go with Itsuka Shido to the mysterious little shop that Tonomachi Hiroto had mentioned. However, the sudden appearance of the Hermit had disrupted her plans. Her first thought now was to force the Hermit back to the Boundary as quickly as possible, so that she could then return to catch up with Itsuka Shido and the others.

Suddenly, the team member let out an exclamation: "The Hermit's Spirit Power fluctuations have appeared again! But how did she manage to travel such a long distance in such a short amount of time?"

"What, the Hermit has appeared?"

"That's right. But isn't the Hermit's ability to control water and cold air? How could she have run so far away all of a sudden?" the team member said, frowning.

"Perhaps we can discover something down there. You lock onto the Hermit's position, and we will go down to take a look," Kusakabe Ryoko said, frowning.

"Yes!" A group of AST members descended toward the alley below simultaneously.

Just as the AST members arrived at the alley, Itsuka Shido and Yatogami Tohka also hurried to the Fraxinus.

"Kotori, you said you discovered the trail of a new Spirit?" Itsuka Shido asked with some anxiety.

"That's right. The Spirit that appeared this time is the Hermit. In essence, she is a very gentle and also very timid Spirit. When facing attacks from the AST, she usually chooses to flee," Itsuka Kotori said, biting on a lollipop.

"There is actually such a Spirit?" A trace of surprise appeared on Itsuka Shido's face.

"This kind of Spirit is listed by us as a top-priority target for protection. Shido, get ready; we are going to set off very soon!"

"I, I understand." Itsuka Shido nodded, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Oh no, Commander, we have discovered the trail of the AST!" At this moment, a crew member suddenly shouted.

"What? Quick, bring up the feed!" Upon hearing this, Itsuka Kotori's expression could not help but change slightly.

"Yes!"

Under the crew member's operation, the large screen soon displayed the view of the alley. In the image, the AST members were descending toward the alley below.

"Didn't you say the Hermit was in this place?" Looking at the empty alley, Itsuka Kotori could not help but frown.

"That's right, the Hermit's Spirit Power fluctuations were indeed detected in this place before, but a few seconds ago, her Spirit Power fluctuations suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared in a place hundreds of meters away!" the crew member said.

"You, what kind of joke are you making? Could it be that the Hermit can teleport?" Itsuka Kotori asked, eyes wide.

"But this is the situation that is happening right now!" the member said with a helpless expression.

"Oh my god, Commander, look!" Just at this moment, a crew member pointed at the screen and let out an exclamation.

In the image, the AST members had just landed in the alley when the wind and clouds suddenly changed. The rainwater on the ground surged up violently, instantly enveloping the AST members. Subsequently, the rainwater froze instantly, wrapping all the AST members within it.

"Th-this method, it should be the Hermit's method, right!" Itsuka Kotori could not help but open her mouth wide. "B-but why would the Hermit actively attack them?"

"No, Commander, the Hermit's Spirit Power fluctuations are gone again!" the crew member said, frowning.

"Gone again?" Itsuka Kotori could not help but rub her head. She found that the strange situations involving Spirits during this period were truly becoming more and more frequent.

"Alright, Yoshino, you can open your eyes now," Lingyun said with a smile to Yoshino, who was holding his hand.

"Mm." Yoshino opened her eyes cautiously.

After seeing the place where she was now, Yoshino could not help but let out a soft cry: "What place is this?"

"Yoshino, welcome to my little shop," Lingyun said to Yoshino with a smile.

"Oh, could this be the legendary spatial movement? But for the big brother to bring Yoshino alone to his little shop, what is he planning to do to Yoshino? There is no one else here, even if Yoshino wanted to call for help, there is no way!" Just at this moment, the Yoshinon in Yoshino's hand spoke up again.

"Although I know you little Rabbit have a sharp tongue, I didn't expect you to be sharp-tongued to this extent!" Lingyun extended a finger and flicked Yoshinon's head in annoyance. "Didn't you see that Yoshino is almost scared to tears by you?"

"Ah!" Seeing Yoshino's state, Yoshinon also panicked a little and hurriedly began to comfort Yoshino.

"Yoshino, don't worry, Yoshinon will protect Yoshino well. No matter what kind of bad guys appear, Yoshinon will defeat them all!"

Under the comfort of Yoshinon and Lingyun, Yoshino's emotions finally calmed down.

"Yoshino, have you thought about what you are going to do in the future?" Seeing that Yoshino's emotions had calmed down, Lingyun asked softly.

Yoshino was silent for a while, then shook her head slightly.

Lingyun looked at the little girl in front of him, a trace of heartache flashing in his eyes. Because of Yoshino's personality, whenever she encountered the AST, she almost always chose to flee and rarely fought back. Under these circumstances, the AST chose to attack with full force every time they encountered Yoshino, and a few times it even endangered Yoshino's life.

"Since that is the case, then you should stay by my side from now on. I also have Spirit Power within me, so I can barely count as your big brother. From now on, your safety is entrusted to me. If anyone dares to bully you in the future, I will drive them all away, okay?" Lingyun squatted down to look Yoshino in the eye.

Looking at Lingyun in front of her, Yoshino was silent for a moment, then nodded and said softly: "Okay."

Hearing Yoshino's words, a smile also appeared on Lingyun's face: "Then you can call me Big Brother from now on!"

"Bi-Big Brother..." Yoshino said in a small voice.

If Lingyun's hearing hadn't been good enough, he probably wouldn't have even heard this sentence from Yoshino. It seems that if he wants to change Yoshino's introverted personality, he will still need to put in a lot of effort.

Just at this moment, Lingyun raised an eyebrow; a small trap he had set in the alley had been triggered. This small trap could not cause any fatal harm to people, but it could be considered a small punishment for the AST, who had been hunting Yoshino for some time.

Source Power spread out from his body, instantly enveloping the entire shop and isolating the Spirit Power that Yoshino was unconsciously emitting. This was also the reason why Itsuka Kotori and the others could not find Yoshino's Spirit Power fluctuations later.