Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 312: Kojiki (1)

Dragon Raja 3

It was a rare sunny morning, and Lu Mingfei sat in a beauty salon, waiting for Erii to get her hair cut.

Last night, on a whim, he had agreed to take Erii out for the day, which meant getting up early today. As a night owl living in Takamagahara, Lu Mingfei was used to staying up late and waking up late. His clients often kept him up until two or three in the morning, and sometimes they even partied until dawn. Waking up with the sun already high in the sky was a struggle for him. However, when he opened his eyes, Erii was already standing by the bathtub, dressed in traditional female attire, with a bright red ribbon tied in her hair, and a long sword at her waist, clearly ready for a day out on the town.

Lu Mingfei wasn’t foolish enough to take Erii out in such attire. He knew full well that the Orochi families were scouring the city for her. Erii, dressed like a shrine maiden lost in Edo, would certainly draw attention. Fortunately, Caesar and Chu Zihang had brought some clothes over, and although Erii’s figure was tall and elegant, the borrowed clothes fit her well enough. However, Erii still insisted on bringing the sword. With her abilities, she could kill everyone on a street even with just a piece of paper, but she wanted to bring the sword for aesthetic reasons. Lu Mingfei wrote on his notebook, explaining to Erii that the outside world had a wide variety of accessories, such as princess dresses, high heels, headbands, earrings, and necklaces, all very stylish and classy. He promised to take her shopping for these instead, and after thinking it over, Erii reluctantly agreed.

The tricky part was her hairstyle and hair color. Erii’s long, natural hair reached her knees, and its rare dark red hue wasn’t something commonly seen on the streets these days.

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and remembered a beauty salon across the street. In this modern age, beauty salons could work wonders. A simple fringe cut and a new hair color could make even one’s own mother fail to recognize them!

He sneaked Erii into the salon, but before he could even scout the area, the store manager and staff lined up, clapping and cheering. They each shook hands with Lu Mingfei and Erii and even took photos with them.

The manager explained that it was the salon’s anniversary, and they had planned to give a special gift to their first customer of the day. “We’ll make your lady friend the trendiest girl on the streets of Tokyo!” the manager declared. Lu Mingfei awkwardly replied that he didn’t intend to spend much and just wanted a fringe cut for his friend. But the manager enthusiastically grabbed his hand and assured him, “No problem! Brother, we’ve got this! For the sake of our fateful meeting, we’ll only charge you for the haircut. Hydration treatment, exfoliation, phototherapy, eyelash perming, hand care—whatever we can offer, it’s all on the house!”

Thus, what was supposed to be a simple fringe cut expanded into a full-on beauty treatment. Erii was escorted to a luxurious chair, which reclined with a soft click, and a team set to work washing her hair, her face, and more, while the manager personally served tea. Lu Mingfei felt that something was a bit off, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. It seemed that overnight, he had transformed into a person of status, someone everyone catered to. Even the grumpy innkeeper from the love hotel had gone out of her way to see them off this morning, escorting them for 200 meters while wearing heavy makeup and a kimono. Could it be that being around a beauty like Erii had elevated his own status? As the saying goes, a beautiful woman is a man’s best accessory—no one would care if you were bald or had a beer belly if you were walking around with a leggy, pretty girl on your arm.

“What a beautiful young lady you have there! Brother, I’m truly envious of you,” the manager said, bringing over two cups of coffee and sitting next to Lu Mingfei.

“She’s not my girlfriend, really!” Lu Mingfei hastily denied it. This was ridiculous—ever since the encounter with the police on the helicopter, everyone they met assumed Erii was his girlfriend.

“Don’t lie to me, brother. No girl goes to a beauty salon with anyone but her boyfriend! Only someone who truly cares will sit there and watch you slowly become more beautiful,” the manager said, gently blowing on his coffee. “Cheers! With a girl like that, don’t ever let her go!”

Lu Mingfei thought, Seriously, man? Don’t say something so bold while sipping coffee like it’s whiskey.

But he still clinked cups with the manager. Who could refuse such compliments? When you’re with a sweet, adorable girl, the whole world praises you for how lucky you are.

Two hours later, the staff brought Erii over to Lu Mingfei. She had fallen asleep during the beauty treatment and still looked groggy. The staff draped a bridal veil over her head and, right before Lu Mingfei’s eyes, slowly lifted it. Lu Mingfei rubbed his eyes, barely believing what he saw. Erii seemed to be bathed in a glow. Her layered side bangs and long locks made her look vibrant and bright, and her freshly dyed light brown hair fell over her shoulders, turning a golden hue in the sunlight.

“What do you think? The hairstyle’s got a forest vibe, but the makeup has a bit of a Bohemian twist. The highlight is the lip color—doesn’t it remind you of jelly or ice cubes?” The manager was very proud.

Lu Mingfei couldn’t tell whether the look was Bohemian or Montgomerean, but Erii’s face appeared so soft, so lively, with a faint blush on her cheeks and elegant brows. She kept yawning, her lips indeed resembling the glossy texture of jelly or ice cubes.

“If you’re not satisfied, we have a second look ready!” The manager stared intently at Lu Mingfei.

“It’s fine… it’s great…” Lu Mingfei nodded dazedly and pulled out the 2,700 yen for the haircut, as agreed. Everything else had been free of charge.

The store manager escorted them to the door and handed them a discount shopping card. “Such a beautiful girlfriend shouldn’t be wearing a man’s shirt. There’s a nice mall nearby. Use my card for a 30% discount!”

“Makeup done, hairstyle done. The couple has left the beauty salon and are heading to the second target location, a shopping center in Minami-Aoyama.”

“Roger, the shopping center is being cleared of customers, and they can enter in five minutes.”

“Roger, the first taxi has picked up the couple. Traffic is normal. Estimated arrival at the shopping center in ten minutes.”

“Roger, the clearing process at the shopping center is completed, and they’re ready to enter.”

“The Tokyo Weather Bureau reports that clear weather will last until 10 PM tonight. We can schedule a trip to Disneyland. It’s about ten kilometers away.”

“Roger, set Disneyland as the third target. Use a discount voucher to guide them there, and notify the Disneyland crew to prepare the VIP lanes.”

“Roger, the Disneyland VIP lanes are ready, and the fourth crew will arrive early to lead them.”

The radio equipment crackled with static as teams exchanged information. Two production vehicles followed Lu Mingfei and Erii, with five others stationed in different districts of Tokyo. A fleet of three taxis was on standby. If Lu Mingfei and Erii had any counter-surveillance experience, they would notice one or two empty taxis circling near them. If they stopped by the roadside, the taxis would immediately approach.

Series Navigation

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