After Carl sent out the red packet,
He noticed that Su Lie's name wasn't among the recipients.
It was probably because of the Shima Jiro situation.
Clearly, Su Lie still harbored some resentment.
Although Carl had allowed Shima Jiro to remain in the King's Realm, he hadn't interfered with the man's decisions.
Shima Jiro had left heading toward the Wall Guard Army's territory.
But that didn't necessarily mean he was returning to the Wall Guard.
For all Carl knew, maybe Shima Jiro just wanted to silently protect the Great Wall from afar.
Whatever he chose to do, that was his own business.
It had nothing to do with Carl.
And besides,
Even if Shima Jiro had planned to return,
it wasn't like he could've made it back so quickly.
After all,
Carl had summoned him to Thousand Cavern City,
which was still a considerable distance from the Wall Guard's current base.
After a brief exchange, Su Lie excused himself under the pretense of official business.
[Chat Group – Multi-Dimensional Link]
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
General Su Lie seems really busy… He didn't even collect the red packet.
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Yeah, he didn't.
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Probably because of Guan City.
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Didn't we hear earlier that demonspawn had invaded there?
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Carl-sama may have defeated them now, but,
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Su Lie's still the one in charge of Guan City. He'd have to handle the aftermath.
『Senju Princess』:
Makes sense. That actually sounds pretty accurate.
『Senju Princess』:
After all, holding a high position doesn't just mean glory and privilege,
『Senju Princess』:
It comes with responsibility too.
The other group members had also noticed that Su Lie hadn't claimed the red packet.
But none of them read too much into it.
They simply assumed he was swamped with official duties, too busy to spare even a second.
Still, seriously,
How long does it take to tap and collect a red packet?
One second?
Or less?
If you had time to type, didn't you have time to click?
But no one pressed the issue.
After all,
no one besides Carl really knew what had transpired in the King's Realm.
Carl didn't say much either.
As for Su Lie's behavior, he didn't particularly care.
It probably had something to do with Shima Jiro, yes.
But he didn't owe anyone an explanation.
Carl simply did what he felt like doing.
No need to justify it to anyone.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Whoa!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Tsunade, your words just now… so deep! Like, really heartfelt!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Wait wait, your group nickname is "Senju Princess," right?
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
That means… the truth is obvious!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Tsunade, you must be the princess of a royal kingdom, aren't you?
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Now it all makes sense why you were so empathetic.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Tell me I'm right! @SenjuPrincess @GodOfMankind
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Whoa! That makes a lot of sense, actually!
『Heavenly Blade King』:
That's amazing!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Hahaha, right? Right?!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Keep it up, little Kaisa,
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
One day, you'll be as clever as I am!
『Heavenly Blade King』:
(＠＾◡＾) That's the goal, Toka-nee!
Takanashi Toka, looking as if she'd just uncovered a cosmic-level secret,
Was absolutely thrilled.
Meanwhile, Kaisa genuinely believed everything she'd just heard.
The two of them looked like a comedic duo in action.
One made bold, outrageous claims,
And the other not only believed them,
But backed them up with wide-eyed enthusiasm.
Carl couldn't help but smile as he read the messages.
Takanashi Toka truly had an imagination, her brain worked in wild, unpredictable ways.
Carl, of course, knew,
Tsunade wasn't a princess of any earthly kingdom.
She was a member of the Senju Clan of the Forest.
More specifically,
Her grandfather was Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage and clan leader.
As his cherished granddaughter,
Tsunade's identity surpassed that of any mere princess.
After all,
Hashirama was the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son,
and revered as the God of Shinobi.
If he wanted,
He could've wiped out not just a single kingdom, but the entire Naruto world.
So yes, while Tsunade wasn't a "princess" in the traditional sense…
Her status?
Was far above one.
In that light,
Takanashi Toka's deduction wasn't exactly wrong.
What puzzled Carl more, though,
Was the way Toka and Kaisa were acting.
One was incredibly active, chatting constantly.
The other was like a sweet, bubbly little girl.
This didn't match the impression Carl had of them.
Kaisa, maybe. She was still young.
A teenage girl. Not yet the millennia-old Queen of Angels she would one day become.
But Takanashi Toka?
Wasn't she already the head chef at her restaurant?
Based on the Chunibyo anime's timeline…
How had her personality changed so much?
Carl, who frequently lurked in the chat, had never asked directly,
But he already had a good sense of everyone's ages.
Thinking it over,
Carl finally joined the conversation.
『God of Mankind』:
Say… are all of you this free?
『God of Mankind』:
No work, school, training?
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
I work at a restaurant! Used to be super busy!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
But ever since I got into this chat group, life's been chill.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
One point equals more than 10,000 yen!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
A couple of sign-ins a day, and boom, enough for food! Work? What's that?
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Now I only go when I feel like it.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
The manager's daughter loves my cakes. Plus I get along well with the manager.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
So yeah, I'm totally free!
What she didn't say was,
Her original dream wasn't to become a chef.
But after her father passed away,
she had no choice but to give up on college after high school and dive into the culinary world.
Now, with money no longer an issue,
she had no desire to work unless she wanted to.
『Senju Princess』:
I've completed my current mission and am awaiting new orders.
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Nothing urgent for me either.
『God of Mankind』:
…Fair enough.
Turns out, these people really were free.
Then again,
Carl wasn't in a position to talk either.
He'd even sold his own company to avoid managing it, just to fund his hobbies.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Tsunade, you haven't responded to my analysis yet!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
I was spot on, right? @SenjuPrincess
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Yeah! I'm curious too!
『Senju Princess』:
Uh… not really.
『Senju Princess』:
Honestly, I don't know why my nickname is that.
『Senju Princess』:
"Senju" is…
Tsunade then gave a brief explanation of the Senju Clan's background.
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
Whoa! So that's the truth!
『What to Do If My Little Sister's a Chunibyo』:
That's even cooler than being a princess!
『Heavenly Blade King』:
Totally agree!
『Senju Princess』:
You're exaggerating…
After chatting for a while,
Carl quietly exited the group chat.
Because he noticed,
Skye had just woken up.