Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 336: Monster Combination (1)

Dragon Raja 3

“The rain is too heavy today. Let’s just stay in the hotel, okay?”

“Alright, I want five-ingredient fried rice for lunch.”

“But we’re already having five-ingredient fried rice for breakfast! Are you the god of five-ingredient fried rice, needing it for every meal?”

“I’m not the god of five-ingredient fried rice. For dinner, I want Hokkaido ramen from Kikanbo, and for the midnight snack, I want pizza with meat chunks.”

“You’re definitely not the god of five-ingredient fried rice. You’re the god of food. Anything else you need, princess?”

“I want to watch tonight’s Fate/Zero and the late-night replay of Gundam 00.”

“You’re actually keeping up with anime now!”

“I want to see the ending before going back home. I can’t watch TV at home.”

Lu Mingfei thought, Oh princess, you have no idea. New episodes are released once a week. If you want to see the ending of Fate/Zero, you’d have to stay away from home until July. But your runaway time is counted in days, not months. However, saying that would only increase Erii’s mental fluctuations, so it’s definitely not something to write in his little notebook. Better to talk more about five-ingredient fried rice and pizza with meat chunks.

It was 9 a.m. After brushing their teeth and washing their faces, the two of them sat idly by the floor-to-ceiling window, chatting with pen and paper, exchanging casual, meaningless conversations.

A storm was sweeping through all of Tokyo. The rainy season had lasted for over a month, but today’s rain was particularly extreme. Heavy raindrops pelted the glass, producing sharp sounds, and occasionally, twisted water spouts swept through the rain, like white dragons reaching down from the clouds to drink from the earth.

Overnight, Tokyo had turned into a city of water, like Venice, with rivers flowing through every street and alley. On TV, a reporter was broadcasting from the seawall near Tokyo Bay. The sea level was rising quickly, nearing the limit of the seawall. Huge waves, several meters high, crashed against the barrier, splashing water high into the air. The female reporter held a microphone in one hand and had to tightly hold down her skirt with the other to avoid it being blown up by the fierce wind. The city hall spokesperson, who was being interviewed, remained relatively calm, stating that this level of flooding would not threaten Tokyo’s safety. The powerful drainage system was working at full capacity and would drain the water within a few hours. He advised citizens who didn’t need to go to work to stay at home and wait out the storm, and asked travelers stranded at the airport to be patient as the weather improved.

Erii had already changed into her blue-violet princess dress, trimmed with black lace, and her favorite high-heeled boots, clearly looking forward to today’s outing. But when Lu Mingfei told her the plan was canceled, she looked a bit disappointed, though she still obediently accepted it. Lu Mingfei, dressed in a shabby bathrobe, his hair somewhere between a Mohawk and a bird’s nest, lay on the carpet with his head on one cushion and his feet on another, while Erii sat nearby, constantly flipping through TV channels with the remote.

Three days had passed, and their relationship had settled into a fairly stable rhythm. Lu Mingfei no longer acted overly cautious, serving her like a princess, and Erii occasionally showed a bit of attitude. For example, when she wanted five-ingredient fried rice, she would stubbornly wave the note for it in front of Lu Mingfei until he bought it for her. But other than that, she was quite well-behaved, going where he told her to go and sitting when he told her to sit.

At first, Lu Mingfei was constantly worried that if he turned his head for even a second, the princess would vanish, disappearing into the vast crowd, never to be found again. Even when waiting in line to buy drinks, he would glance back frequently to check on her. But when they were at Palette Town and Erii wanted ice cream, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to run after the mobile ice cream truck, which jingled its bell as it moved farther and farther away. By the time Lu Mingfei caught up, he had chased it almost 500 meters. Sweating profusely and holding a strawberry cone, he hurried back to where he had left Erii, only to find her sitting quietly on a bench with her hands folded on her lap. Her skirt and hair fluttered in the breeze, like a figurine from an anime. After that, Lu Mingfei was finally comfortable leaving her alone for brief moments in public. Erii would always stay in place, waiting for him, seemingly oblivious to the passage of time.

If this continued, Lu Mingfei figured he could probably even convince Erii to go to America. Erii had no concept of what America was; her entire world was this city. She would probably imagine America as just another Disneyland. If Lu Mingfei said to go, she would go.

This harmonious and easy-going relationship was truly strange, as if they had known each other for a very long time—long enough to grow old together.

“TokyoLoveStory, the fourth-to-last day, it’s now 9:30 a.m., and my work as director is about to begin.” Mai tucked the recording device into her pocket, straightened her Prada black suit, and strode into the control room with a subtle air of menace.

The expert team was waiting around the conference table for her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the third day of the program. In the past three days, the progress between the bride and groom has been nearly zero. They’ve visited Tokyo Disneyland, Palette Town, Ebisu, and the Imperial Palace, but they haven’t realized that they could be potential lovers. What are they? A small two-person tour group? Could someone please explain to me what the purpose was in having them wander around Tokyo like this?” Mai threw her folder onto the table, her voice stern. “Emotional consultant, I need your explanation first!”

The experts exchanged silent glances, until finally, the emotional consultant, Ryōji Suzuki, cleared his throat awkwardly. “I must admit, this is one of the biggest setbacks I’ve encountered in my twelve years of emotional consulting…”

Ryōji Suzuki graduated from the Psychology Department of the University of Tokyo. He analyzes emotional changes between men and women through psychology, achieving great success. Over 95% of his clients have claimed that their emotional experiences have become smoother after consulting with him. Ryōji Suzuki also writes a column on gender psychology in fashion magazines, gaining thousands of admiring readers. His relationship column, Kenshi Takeomi’s Late Night Emotional Talks, and Susan Miller’s astrological predictions are the three great romance “bibles” for Japanese women. This time, he and Kenshi Takeomi teamed up, expecting an easy success, but instead, they encountered significant resistance.

Neither love nor desire could be awakened in the bride and groom. Their most harmonious moments these past few days had been during meals. It seemed their only shared interest was a love for food.

“Monster against monster, that’s the trickiest combination,” Ryōji Suzuki said heavily.

Mai suddenly became alert. Ryōji Suzuki was an external consultant, so how did he know such a high-level secret?

“We can categorize men into four types of animals: aggressive animals, territorial animals, parasitic animals, and monsters. Women can also be divided into four types: animals driven by desire, materialistic animals, psychic animals, and monsters. I’ve discussed the potential emotional issues when pairing these types in my column, and the most difficult combination is monster versus monster,” Ryōji Suzuki continued, completely unaware that he had stepped into Mai’s restricted zone. Normally, trespassers into this territory would be shot on sight, but he carried on explaining his emotional theories.