Chapter 322: Japanese Girls Are Very Resistant to Cold!
"Ohayo~~~."
Half-asleep, Ryohei felt a heavy weight on his legs, as if something soft was pressing down on them. He also vaguely sensed a hand gently tugging at the mushroom on him...
Ryohei opened his bleary eyes. Before he could fully grasp the situation, a sultry voice reached his ears.
His consciousness snapped awake instantly—!
"Lucoa?"
Ryohei looked up at the blurry figure straddling his legs in a W-sitting position. The corners of his mouth twitched as he couldn't help but retort, "Who taught you to wake people up like this?!"
He felt quite heated and really wanted to teach this person a lesson!
"No one taught me... I learned it from a book myself out of a thirst for knowledge."
Lucoa straightened her back, resting one hand lightly on her bountiful chest. Her tone was teasing, with a hint of smugness. "Praise me! Someone who loves learning as much as I do deserves praise!"
( ´ ▽ ` )
"Praise you my ass!"
Ryohei was speechless for a moment, letting his head fall back onto the pillow.
Then, he pushed himself up from the sleeping mat and unceremoniously shoved his hands against Lucoa to push her away. "What kind of knowledge are you thirsting for?! Read some decent books!"
"Eh... but decent books are so boring! There's no excitement at all!"
"Besides—"
Lucoa lifted her eyelids. In the dim environment, her magnificent heterochromatic eyes shone with a bewitching light, like a beast's.
She deliberately dragged out her words, leaning back slightly with a playful tone. "Ryohei-kun is telling me to be decent while kneading my 'beep—beep—beep—'! Is that right?"
"Why the hell are you censoring yourself?!"
Ryohei was speechless again. He withdrew his hands and said without a hint of guilt, "I was pushing you away. I can't get up with you sitting on my legs!"
Anyone else would call that a push!
"By the way, what time is it?" He smoothly changed the subject.
"4:41 AM."
Pekola's voice came unexpectedly from outside the tent.
Ryohei wasn't the least bit surprised that she was there too.
"4:41? I should have set an alarm. Why didn't it go off?" Yurine spoke up faintly, reaching for her phone.
"I wonder why?"
Lucoa chimed in with a light tone, getting off Ryohei's legs.
"Cough."
Ryohei coughed lightly, reached out to turn on the camping lantern inside the tent, and suggested to Yurine, who had woken up at some point, "Anyway, let's get up first."
"..." Yurine looked at Ryohei, then without warning, reached out and pinched his waist lightly.
"Hiss—!"
Ryohei immediately clutched his waist, swaying with exaggerated pain and sucking in a breath of cold air.
"Keep acting! I barely used any force, okay?!"
Yurine rolled her eyes at him immediately.
"Hmm... I guess it really didn't hurt..."
Ryohei feigned surprise as he let go, sitting up with a smile.
Then—
The two put on their clothes and walked out of the tent one after another.
The sky outside was still dark, and the air was filled with the unique chill of an autumn morning.
As soon as they stepped out of the tent, the fresh, crisp air hit them, sobering them up instantly.
"Lucoa, Pekola..."
Holding a camping lantern, Ryohei turned to look at the two sisters nearby and requested, "Please help pack up the tent. Yurine and I are going to wash our faces."
He pointed towards the public sink.
"Okay. Pack everything up?"
Lucoa responded, double-checking.
"Yeah, just pack it all up for now."
Ryohei replied casually, then walked towards the public sink with Yurine.
"..."
"By the way..."
Walking side by side for a bit, Yurine bumped her shoulder lightly against Ryohei's and whined coquettishly, "Today is my birthday, right? Ryohei-kun, where's my gift? Where are my birthday wishes?"
"I'll give you your gift when we get back," Ryohei turned his head and said with a smile.
"Hmm? Can't you give me a hint first?"
"Nope."
"Tsk! Leaving me hanging..."
"..."
Chatting back and forth, they arrived at the public sink.
The restrooms were not far from the sink.
Ryohei and Yurine went to the restroom first to take care of their physiological needs, then returned to the sink to wash up. By the time they were just about done, Lucoa and Pekola had found their way over.
"Tent packed up?"
Ryohei washed the facial cleanser foam off his face with clear water and turned to look at the two.
"Yep, put it all away for you."
Lucoa made an 'OK' gesture, answering reliably.
Ryohei nodded, picked up the towel from the washbasin, wrung it out, and said:
"Take a look at the nearby peaks and see which one has no people. Take us there later. Ideally, somewhere we can see the Sea of Clouds..."
He didn't plan on going to Sky Paradise.
There were too many people there, and likely many early risers watching the sunrise. Ryohei wanted to monopolize the beautiful sunrise view with Yurine and the others!
As for the gondola—
They could go to Sky Paradise later; it wouldn't affect anything.
"Okay."
Lucoa agreed, and she and Pekola began looking around.
Soon, Pekola pointed and said, "How about over there?"
"Hmm..."
Lucoa looked in the direction she pointed and nodded gently. "That works."
Moments later—
The group arrived at a peak in the Japanese Alps via a spatial portal.
The mountain range around Achi Village was named the "Japanese Alps" due to its resemblance to the European Alps.
The temperature on the mountain was significantly lower than at the base.
Ryohei exhaled a puff of white mist, turned to look at Yurine, and asked with concern, "Cold?"
"I'm okay."
Yurine joked, "We Japanese girls are usually quite resistant to the cold."
"..." Ryohei paused for a moment upon hearing this. Thinking of anime scenes where Japanese girls still wore short skirts and exposed their thighs in the snow, he couldn't help but nod.
"Shall we sit here and wait for the sunrise?"
Lucoa took four assembled moon chairs out of her dimensional space and lined them up facing east.
"Sure."
Ryohei walked over, paused, then detoured to the side to take out a table. He also took out a cassette stove, pots and pans, and ingredients, saying with a smile:
"You guys sit first. I'll get breakfast started..."
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