Chapter 676: NO．45：This Might Be a Bit of a Misunderstanding

NO. 45: There might be a bit of misunderstanding here.

「Icanfeel~? 」

Thud!

The mysterious organ tones and drumbeats, with their rising volume, were pressed into the blanket by the girl who no longer wished to listen.

Though the long prelude had already passed, it was cut off at the moment of singing—fitting her inner turmoil.

Everyone cannot escape the struggle with their bedding, and often the battle is unusually difficult.

In that seemingly stagnant world, only a small patch of trembling brown remained, displaying the scene's motion at the edge of the pillow and blanket.

These were the girl's ears—lifting, drooping, lifting again, slightly turning.

Fully displaying the liveliness unique to horse girls.

This also caused the roommate across the bed, who was tying her hair, to notice the adorable little movement through the mirror's reflection.

The hair-tying motion froze entirely, even extending one arm to hang suspended in front of her chest.

Her hand clenched tightly, facial muscles straining.

Honor the dead!

What kind of wonderful day is this today?!

Even early in the morning, I can see such a rare adorable sight of the Faster-than-Light Princess!!

Wait, no—I can't be tempted by this breathtaking sight! Alicia Digital, I must quickly catch up with the action!!

The roommate, suddenly realizing this, picked up her loosened pink hair again, tightening it into her signature twin tails distinct from long hair, topped with a large butterfly bow.

Every day, she must leave the dorm before the Faster-than-Light Princess wakes up—this is Alicia Digital's effort to avoid disturbing "her favorite"—said to be difficult, but actually quite easy.

After all, to be honest, Alicia Suzi often skipped class in the past.

Whether or not there was a trainer present didn't matter; plus, her immersion in experiments often had irregular timing, making late-night experiments a common routine.

Thus, she often couldn't wake up in the morning.

Even occasionally, when she hadn't stayed up late, she'd still linger in bed for a while.

So as her roommate, Alicia Digital only needs to follow the school schedule for her daily routine.

Moving gently and quietly is enough to meet her expectations.

—Usually, that's how it goes.

But today is clearly different.

As she just finished dealing with the twin tails beside her ears, she heard a lazy voice from afar: "Digital-kun, are you going to class?"—and her heart involuntarily surged with warmth.

It carried a hint of drowsiness and softness, a rare tone… for a moment, she stood frozen like a foreigner with tearful headphones, prompting the caller, receiving no response, to shout again: "Digital-kun? Digital-kun, can you hear me?"

Mmm!

This time, the call carried a hint of spoiled tone…!

Could today be my great lucky day? I dare disturb the Immortal of Blessing to confirm—will I be disliked? Alicia Digital's mind was in turmoil, and seeing her roommate in the mirror already pushing up the blanket only intensified her shock.

"…That… what's wrong, Suzi?" she asked, concerned, stepping forward.

The first step of not disturbing is to appear sufficiently normal—though just that is incredibly difficult, requiring her to uphold it with great willpower at all times, but! She naturally possesses this willpower!

After all, she still has so many like-minded companions!

Every day, they gather together in Umastagram's #AppreciateHorseGirls# topic, clocking in like a routine to share how they've persisted another day, encouraging each other, standing together!

Honestly, it's truly a pity that Umastar has retired from the scene.

Alicia Digital still remembers that this recurring topic was originally proposed by him, because so many people kept messaging him with the same confusion, so he created this topic, nearly like an artificially pinned post.

And among them, the one who has maintained the longest consecutive check-in streak is him, followed by Alicia Digital herself.

Now, she has reached the peak where it's lonely at the top—she doesn't feel particularly honored, only somewhat regretful.

Back then, we agreed that when I create my doujin of Lu Xun Qian, I'd send him the first batch of photocopies, making him the first owner!

…But in the end, I never found the chance to ask for the delivery address.

Recently, there was a brief "corpse fraud," but afterward, he announced he was officially sealing his pen and leaving the community.

She did try sending several rounds of private messages, but all were lost like stones in the sea, leading only to this regrettable conclusion:

Teacher Star has most likely truly abandoned the account……

From now on, fellow fans who tease each other with "You've been ruined by Horse Girls your whole life" have lost one member—though regretful and melancholy, all we can do is bid farewell like to other netizens leaving the fandom, wishing them well after departing from this vast "Horse Girls" topic.

"So you heard me, huh? Then just reply!"

"Sorry, sorry, I was just a bit spaced out."

Suzi, already up and stretching, complained, while Alicia Digital, standing close, bowed repeatedly.

Though her hairstyle is quite simple, the freshly tied hair still needed constant adjustment amid the swaying.

This also made Suzi somewhat helpless: "Alright, alright, this stress reaction of yours—did you really forget you needed to restrain yourself? Digital-kun."

"Uh…"

"What's wrong?"

"I… before, a friend once said the same thing to me."

"Hoh? Digital-kun's friend?" Suzi, beginning to change into her uniform, asked this, completely unbothered by the possibility that this action might make the other "ascend to heaven."

Of course, she might have done it on purpose—after all, to her, Digital-kun is also a very interesting observation subject.

But unexpectedly, during this conversation, she noticed Digital-kun's gaze wasn't on her, but seemed to be tangled in something, prompting her to add, as if suddenly understanding: "So-called 'fellow fans'?"

She still clearly knows some things about this non-obsessive otaku roommate of hers, including the common terms used in her friend circle.

Then she received confirmation:

"Mm-hmm." Alicia Digital replied.

"Is it some big shot?"

"Huh? How did you guess that? Did Suzi learn that deduction from the trainer?"

The news about the 'single-push' extremists has always been well-informed, just as when Aomo first arrived at the academy and sparked student discussions that included her remarks; Ailisuzhi not only knows her roommate's 'excellent deeds' inside out, but also understands the various rumors about the other party's trainer.

Of course, many of those rumors are hard to verify as true or false, but the other party's ability as a mercenary to complete commissions is clearly universally acknowledged.

Especially since everyone says Trainer Lindon is very skilled at packaging deduction as 'guesswork,' yet that sharp gaze of his is more like a judge's than a detective's.

However, the relationship between the FTL Princess and her trainer seems far from idealized, just as when she heard her own words, the absolute princess in her eyes who would look down on everything with contempt showed a somewhat disdainful expression.

"What's there to learn? The logic is simple—those who get along well with Digital-kun are definitely not ordinary people. Dongyan even has a similar saying like..."

"Birds of a feather flock together, things of a kind gather in groups?"

"No no no no no, that would really be overestimating me," Ailisuzhi said anxiously, "When I met them, I only had a few thousand followers, while they already had over 300,000!!"

"What kind of horse girl is that?"

"No, not really sure, maybe not even a horse girl."

"You don't even know their identity?"

"After all, they're just an online enthusiast, and they give off a very professional vibe! You can't tell if they're male or female, a horse girl or human or something else!"

"I thought you only looked down on yourself when facing horse girls."

No no no, I never look down on myself when it comes to Digital Charcoal! But when facing my own push, I definitely won't be on equal footing no matter what!

"How rare, you still have admirers different from those in the horse girl field."

"Maybe they are a horse girl after all! After all, we met on Umastagram, oh right! I forgot about the beginning!" The belated Ailisuzhi re-examined Ailisuzhi, her eyes showing no inadvertent disappointment at seeing her roommate change clothes, but instead full of concern: "Suzi, why did you wake up so early today? Is there a new experiment?"

Thinking back, the few times I've woken up early in the past were indeed for this reason.

The FTL Princess's life has always been her own way—that domineering, frenzied aura of grasping everything in her hands is also what Ailisuzhi admires, and if there's anything that would affect her...

Aside from that black skyscraper, it's only the experiment itself.

Ailisuzhi certainly wouldn't think that Chazuo classmate would have anything to make her roommate wake up early; on the contrary, that Chazuo classmate is also someone who likes to stay up late, so waking up early is actually just as impressive.

"Experiment? Ah, right, about the running experiment, except the supervisor is that guinea pig guy." Ailisuzhi, already sitting at her own vanity table, replied unhappily.

She, who usually doesn't bother much with grooming, prioritizes putting on her earring over fixing her hair.

"As for Digital-kun..." she recalled the previous topic, turned around intending to chat, but saw the other party already pick up their small bag and sprint toward the door.

It was literally the speed of the final three waves; having heard of their plan to switch from mud to grass, but Suzi now acknowledges her adaptability on concrete ground more.

As for why the other party runs... she caught a fleeting glimpse of their expression during the sprint—seeming to endure something—and combined with her years of observing her roommate, she merely sighed:

"... Sigh."

——

Whoosh—!

... Ha! Calm down, Digital Charcoal!

Think about how to compare the relationship with the black skyscraper to make the FTL Princess obedient, no, think about how Trainer Lindon makes the FTL Princess listen!

The positions of the new trainer and the domineering horse girl are reversed... gulp... is this creation or reality... experiencing something infinitely close to the 'Realm of Respect' first thing in the morning... grateful beyond words, grateful beyond words!

First, we must stay calm, act as if nothing happened, leave no trace, so that no one on the way to school can notice.

The pink-haired horse girl with a sling bag walks calmly, her expression gradually calming.

Today we also need to update the log in the #AppreciateHorseGirls# topic on Umastagram!

Eeiyah oh oh oh oh oh!! (???)o彡!