As evening approached, Robin finished several hours of studying and decided to go out for dinner.
But as soon as she stepped downstairs, she felt a burning gaze fixed on her. It was an unmistakable stare, intense and undisguised. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she pulled out her phone, ready to call the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations at any moment.
Then, in the next instant, she saw a Dragon Lady rushing toward her.
It was the classic Dragon Lady design from anime and manga, complete with dragon horns and a tail. Robin froze for a few seconds, stunned. Even though she knew this world was "abnormal," seeing such a lively fantasy creature in person still left her in shock.
The Dragon Lady stopped in front of Robin, her face beaming with excitement and joy, her eyes sparkling like golden stars. "Robin! Robin! I adore you so much! Will you be my friend~?"
"...Huh?" Anyone would be bewildered by such a sudden declaration, and Robin was no exception.
Yu Lin continued, her words tumbling out in a rush, "I'm Yu Lin, a member of Zhong Wanhong's team at the Longcheng Bureau of Anomalous Investigations. I just relieved Lü Heng, so from now on, your safety is my responsibility!"
"Sister Robin, can I call you 'Sister'?"
"Wait... hold on a second, let me process this," Robin said, her wings twitching behind her ears. "You said you're with the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations?"
"That's right! I'll show you my ID." Yu Lin reached into her pants pocket, then her shirt pocket, but found nothing. The Dragon Lady's expression visibly panicked. "Huh? What? How can it not be here?!"
"I distinctly remember putting it in my pocket..."
"N-no, this shouldn't be happening..."
Watching Yu Lin sweat profusely as she frantically searched herself, Robin sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright, stop looking. I believe you."
The truth was, while Yu Lin was fumbling for her ID, Robin had discreetly sent a WeChat message to Zhong Wanhong and received confirmation.
Robin pressed further, "This 'shift change' you mentioned—does that mean a different person will be assigned to me every day? And protecting my safety... isn't your actual mission supposed to be monitoring me?"
Yu Lin scratched her head and grinned sheepishly. "Monitoring is just another way of ensuring your safety, right? No real difference! As for the shifts, technically, that was Lü Heng's job, and he should have continued doing it. But we talked and swapped duties, so there won't be any more shift changes. It'll be me from now on!"
Meanwhile, at the Longcheng Investigation Branch, Lü Heng rubbed his wrist, grimacing as he muttered, "Sigh, what a sweet gig I had..."
Clearly, he hadn't willingly traded shifts with Yu Lin. But he had no choice; he stood no chance against that little terror. Under her "veiled threats and sweet persuasion," he'd reluctantly agreed.
For Robin, only one question remained. She stared in astonishment at the Dragon Lady before her. Even standing ramrod straight, Yu Lin was still half a head taller than Robin—and that didn't even account for her dragon horns. If those were included in her height, the Dragon Lady would tower a full head above Robin.
Robin pointed at herself. "You're calling me 'Sister'? But I'm only... eighteen."
She stated the age Zhong Wanhong had arbitrarily assigned her, feeling inexplicably embarrassed.
Yu Lin nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! I'm seventeen, so you're a year older. That makes you my sister, right? Sister Robin~!"
"Ha, seventeen?" Robin's face twisted in disbelief. She glanced at Yu Lin's figure again. Yu Lin had no reason to lie about something like that here. So this... this remarkably well-developed Dragon Lady wasn't even an adult yet?
"Well... fine," Robin sighed reluctantly. Even if she refused, Yu Lin would probably keep calling her "Sister" anyway.
"Thank you so much, Bird Sister! Thank you~!" Yu Lin suddenly threw her arms around Robin, nuzzling her cheek against Robin's face.
Startled by the soft contact, Robin struggled to break free. "Too... too close! And are you a dog? Stop nuzzling me!"
After considerable effort, she finally wriggled out of Yu Lin's embrace, smoothing her slightly disheveled hair as she backed away a few steps.
Yu Lin, on the other hand, wore a blissfully content expression, scratching her head and giggling foolishly. "I'm not a dog—I'm a dragon!"
To put it mildly, she was overly familiar and lacked any sense of personal space. Yet, surprisingly, Robin couldn't bring herself to dislike this girl with her radiant happiness.
"I'm about to get something to eat," Robin said. "Want to join me?"
"Yes! Yes!" Yu Lin exclaimed immediately. "Bird Sister, you're so pretty, you might get attacked by bad guys! I'll stick close to protect you!"
Robin chuckled. "The Dragon Nation's public safety isn't that bad, is it?"
And so, the two began to stroll aimlessly. Robin didn't know any good places to eat nearby and had simply intended to wander around and find a decent spot—hence the term "foraging."
Throughout their walk, Yu Lin seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits. This was evident in her long dragon tail, which wagged rhythmically from side to side like a happy dog's tail.
As they waited at a crosswalk for the traffic light to change, a loud thwack echoed as Yu Lin's tail struck the nearby traffic light pole.
Robin's first thought was, "Doesn't her tail hurt?" Then she clearly saw the Dragon Lady's tail swinging smoothly to the other side, just as before. But on the traffic light pole, there was now a distinct metallic dent.
Robin: "???"
To prevent a second strike, she quickly warned, "Yu Lin, your tail!"
"Ah... sorry, sorry, I didn't realize," Yu Lin exclaimed, finally noticing the mangled traffic light pole beside her. She swiftly crouched down amidst the horrified stares of nearby pedestrians. Like straightening a crushed soda can, she pressed her hands against the sides of the pole and forcibly pushed the dented metal back into place.
Afterward, she brushed off her hands casually, as if she hadn't exerted herself at all.
Robin couldn't help but silently sigh in relief. Thank goodness she didn't hug me with that much force earlier, or I'd probably be crushed to a pulp.