The Puppeteer of Academy City

"Any new information?"

"No, it's just for me to look at it casually to relieve boredom." Stiyl raised the paper in his hand, and there seemed to be something like an advertisement leaflet in it, "Something brought out from Ling Xingye's room."

"It seems that he is not our enemy." Kanzaki said, "otherwise you wouldn't just let him go."

Steele snorted noncommittally: "By the way, have you heard of the sun and the moon flying into the sky—if that's how you read it."

He pointed to the four most prominent characters on a Chinese leaflet and said. Although he is proficient in Japanese, he is still almost unfamiliar with Chinese.

"There is also this calligraphy in his room." Kanzaki immediately remembered.

"No," Stiyl shook his head, and put the flyer in front of Kanzaki, "I'm talking about this circus, it's called 'Sun and Moon Volley', have you heard of it?"

"Speaking of which, it's the circus that seems to be very popular recently." Kanzaki recalled, "In the first half of the year, there have been three performances in the United States."

Seeing Kanzaki Kaori's subtle expression, Stiyl knew that this matter was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

"Is there anything wrong with this circus?" he pursued.

"The Riyue Lingkong is a circus troupe that suddenly appeared in front of the world in mainland China two years ago," Kanzaki explained. "They have superb skills and wonderful performances. They soon broke out of the country and began to tour around the world... and Few people know that the predecessor of this circus, or the former name - is 'Lingjiaban'."

"It sounds like a mainland-style name." Steele commented casually.

"The circus performances in the Lingjiaban era were just as wonderful, or probably even better than they are now." Kanzaki Kaori said, "But they never went out of the country, and even only wandered in remote mountainous villages in the northwest and central regions gig. So it's almost hard to hear from them outside of that circle."

"The Amakusa-style cross desolation sect I used to work in used to have a senior who went to the mainland to learn magic knowledge about Taoism." Kanzaki Kaori recalled, "I remember that one of the important practices was to work in the Ling family class for half a year. Apprentice, specialized in juggling."

"The magic on the mainland is on the decline, and your senior is basically cheated, right?"

Kanzaki glared at him: "Even the United States has magic associations like the Freemasonry. That country with a long history of five thousand years will allow magic to be cut off? It's just that they rarely appear in the outside world."

Stiles no longer refuted. For this point, Japan's local magic community, which is separated from the mainland by a strip of water, is more convincing than others.

Kanzaki Kaori continued: "According to that senior, the Ling Family Ban is definitely not an ordinary circus, and they definitely have a lot of connections with the mainland's magic world!"

"Why do you remember to ask this? It seems that Ling Xingye is from the Ling family class?" Kanzaki immediately guessed the truth.

Stiyl pulled out a document with a photo attached.

Above is a group photo of more than 20 people in front of the tent with the signboard of Ling's class. One of the people in the crowd is the younger Ling Xingye.

…

The sky gradually darkened, Ling Xingye finished today's performance, and was about to pack up the props and set foot on the way home.

After confirming Kamijou Touma's safety in the morning, he reported to Hitomi Shiranui that he was safe, and then Ling Xingye temporarily resumed his normal life rhythm.

Of course, it was only a superficial relaxation. In fact, Ling Xingye still planned to use his body as bait to lure out that cunning enemy.

Hitomi Shiranui seemed to be busy attending the book club organized by Sachiko-sensei today, so she didn't come to join her.

But Ling Xingye still received a five thousand yuan bill.

"Thank you for your support!" Ling Xingye politely thanked the girl in the uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School—as expected of the eldest lady of a noble school, as expected of a level 5 superpower, the shot is really generous.

"Why didn't I see you yesterday?" Misaka Mikoto blurted out such a sentence.

"...No, don't get me wrong, this performance is your part-time job, right? Don't you have to perform every day?" As soon as the words fell, Misaka Mikoto quickly explained.

"What is there to misunderstand?" Although Ling Xingye was a little puzzled, he still explained, "This kind of performance is just my personal interest and habit, there is no mandatory rule. Usually I come here two to three times a week. If we stay in Academy City, there will be additional performances depending on the situation... In short, we won’t come every day. Otherwise, there will be no time to prepare new programs, and the audience will soon get bored.”

"I see. Is there such a consideration?" Misaka Mikoto nodded in agreement.

"However, I seldom meet an audience as bold as you—after all, this is an open-air performance on the street." Ling Xingye looked in a good mood, and after the audience dispersed, he began to count today's income.

"Borrowing flowers to present Buddha, do you want to buy you a drink?" Ling Xingye took out the five thousand yuan card and said to Misaka Miqin.

Misaka Mikoto embraced her chest with both hands, and snorted: "The day before yesterday I still treated guests to dinner, but today it has degenerated into a drink?"

Originally, Misaka Mikoto didn’t intend to get any rewards for the money that has already been donated, but I’m afraid there will be a comparison in everything... Although the money Ling Xingye used to treat guests the day before yesterday was not strictly a gain from the performance, but a gain from robbing bad boys .

But others don't make the distinction as clearly.

Ling Xingye shook his head: "I happen to be busy recently, and I don't have that much time. Just make do with it."

So the two went together.

"Xingye, your package has increased again." Misaka Mikoto noticed an extra travel bag in the opponent's hand, "Is there another large puppet inside?"

"It's just other props." Ling Xingye said casually.

Misaka Mikoto did not continue to ask, but looked around looking for the vending machine a little uncomfortably.

There are so many such convenient machines in Academy City that they are almost overflowing. According to the statistics of interested people, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com can buy almost all daily necessities through vending machines.

The two casually turned a street corner and saw a vending machine specializing in drinks.

That's all. I don't know if there is a drink I like. Ling Xingye thought about it. After all, there are so many vending machines, and there will be all kinds of weird and fashionable products in them.

But the girl next to her suddenly stepped forward a few steps faster and looked at the vending machine carefully.

Ling Xingye noticed that she didn't seem to be picking the drink she wanted, but instead seemed to be studying the overall structure of the machine.

When Ling Xingye also came to the front, Misaka Mikoto took a step back, shook her head and said, "No, this machine can't."

"Don't you have a favorite flavor?" Ling Xingye asked.

"Its chassis is too thick and cannot be easily shaken. Moreover, the shelf of this model has also been improved, and its stability has been greatly improved..." Misaka Mikoto said incomprehensible words.

Ling Xingye thought for a while, but decided to give up thinking: "So... you mean to change to another vending machine?"

"It's too slow to try one by one!" Misaka Mikoto looked like a senior experienced person, and grabbed Ling Xingye's hand, "Come with me, I know that a vending machine is great!"

The girl walked like flying, and rushed forward with Ling Xingye.

The airflow generated during walking even lifted the skirt of her uniform high.

I finally know why she likes to wear safety pants, she is quite self-aware.

Misaka Mikoto seems to have been active in this area a lot, and she is very familiar with the terrain. Soon, she took Ling Xingye to the so-called "great" vending machine in her mouth.

It was next to a small park, a crimson, old-model machine that was ugly and even scarred.