Boss Cat leaped down to the floor, having no desire to stay by Lanqi's side any longer.
Stepping onto the soft fiber carpet, it began playing along the woven patterns of delicate floral motifs, classical geometric shapes, and flowing curves.
Either way, none of these tangled red strings had anything to do with it!
It was just a little black cat.
"I understand."
After thinking it over, Loren decided to trust his drillmaster's judgment.
"What about Florence?" Lanqi asked leisurely.
"Things are great! He moved into my place yesterday."
The moment Loren mentioned Florence, his tone relaxed considerably.
"He's acting a bit secretive, though. He emphasized several times that whether he's home or not, I must never open his bedroom door. I originally planned to clean his room for him regularly, but it looks like I won't have to worry about that now."
His voice trailed off in mild bewilderment as he reminisced.
"Did Monaster, your student council president, ever mention to you that Florence tends to be rather forgetful in daily life? Or rather, that she's actually the type who needs looking after?" Lanqi mused for a moment, dropping a hint.
"Monaster did mention something like that, but I didn't pay much attention... Thinking about it carefully now, it really was like that when Florence and I were on the battlefield in extreme conditions. Whenever the two of us were together, I was the one cooking, and I took care of all the important belongings. His sleeping posture was terrible too—I didn't even dare stay next to him, terrified that he'd punch me when tossing and turning," Loren replied, his words rich with nostalgia.
"Cherish your everyday moments with Florence. How to be around Florence is the one thing you need my advice on the least," Lanqi said with a sigh of relief.
These two truly couldn't be torn apart even if someone tried.
It was all about destiny and letting nature take its course.
"Yeah! You're supposed to be my Love Drillmaster, but before I knew it, we strayed totally off-topic, hahaha," Loren let out a goofy laugh.
"..."
Down on the carpet, Boss Cat was momentarily rendered speechless.
This probably wasn't off-topic at all.
If Loren were the male protagonist of a romance visual novel, he just didn't know yet that, aside from Juliana, there were two other heroines by his side.
Boss Cat felt as though Loren faced romance dialogue options every single day, and Lanqi was his system.
The most outrageous part about this system wasn't that it provided romance coaching—it was that it would help him conquer the world.
If that wasn't a system, what else could it be?
"Still, Drillmaster, it looks like I really have run into a bit of a scheduling problem. On my next day off, Juliana, Almis, and Florence all want to hang out with me. If I go out with Florence, whom I promised first, what if Juliana and Almis bump into us? Wouldn't that make them terribly sad?" Loren's question continued to come through the communication magic.
"The answer is an unequivocal yes," Lanqi replied.
"Uh, so what should I do?" Loren's voice was fraught with worry.
"You don't want anyone to get hurt, right?" Lanqi confirmed.
"...Yes, if at all possible," Loren answered firmly.
"Then there's only one option: play it right on the edge," Lanqi murmured.
All three of them were quasi-bishop tier, Rank 8 powerhouses. In a close-quarters, hours-long date, using a puppet would definitely be detected—not even the Rank 8 puppet Askesan had used back then would cut it.
Therefore, Loren had to be there in the flesh.
"Right on the edge?" Loren was already starting to get scared.
"Do you know what calculus is?"
"I do."
Loren had a profound grasp of mathematics; that was basic knowledge.
"As long as you keep increasing the frequency of your encounters with the three of them, approaching the limit, then from each of their perspectives, you will appear to be right beside them the whole time. That way, you can date all three of them simultaneously."
"..."
Loren vaguely grasped his drillmaster's abstract concept, but he didn't dare think about it any further. It was utterly terrifying.
And was this seriously something a living being could pull off?
"For example, you stagger the showtimes and take the three of them to see a magic film, but you place them in three different screening rooms. You spend one-third of the time watching with each of them, constantly shuttling between the three halls when they aren't paying attention. That way, all of them will feel like you've been right by their side throughout," Lanqi explained to Loren.
"Holy f***!"
Loren couldn't hold back a curse.
"Drillmaster, you aren't trying to get me killed, are you?"
Loren was terrified just listening to such brazen madness.
"Don't worry. I'll direct you every step of the way. Even if I faced this situation myself, this is how I'd handle it, because it's the only way to satisfy as many people's desires as possible. Besides, even if it were three plus three threads, I wouldn't flinch—I could run it without a hitch," Lanqi responded with supreme confidence.
As long as he drew up the plan, there was zero chance of a disaster.
"Meow..."
Boss Cat instinctively moved a little further away from Lanqi.
It couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of cataclysm of the century it would be if all six routes of these two brothers exploded at once.
And the sight of Lanqi looking like a spirited, confident youth terrified it to the core.
"Rest assured. If the route collapses, I'll eat this coffee table," Lanqi pledged, even slapping the coffee table in front of him.
"Then I leave it in your hands, Drillmaster!"
Despite his inner struggle, Loren felt that theoretically, it was sound.
They had succeeded last time and built up confidence; there was no way it would suddenly blow up in their faces this time.
Juggling a date, taking care of a brother, and joining in team-building activities—he desperately needed skills like that.
"For now, stall for time. Keep focusing on your work and drag it out for a month or two. Once I finish wrapping up my current affairs and return, I'll guide you through it," Lanqi instructed Loren earnestly.
And so, with one bold enough to teach and the other bold enough to learn, the two chatted for quite a while.
...
By the time Lanqi finished his conversation with Loren and walked back out of the Old Liberal Arts Building's ground floor with Boss Cat, he looked toward the bench in the distance. Talia was still on a magic call with her friend.
"I'm not busy. It's just that it might not be very convenient to get in touch for much of the next few days."
"..."
"You want to thank me? Uh, I haven't been at Boss Cat Restaurant these past few days, and I happen to be heading out on a long trip. We'll meet up when there's a chance."
"..."
"Haha, I'm really looking forward to getting a meal with you too."
Judging from those few snippets, she seemed nearly finished.
Talia chatted comfortably, and after a moment, she hung up the call with Miss Zhuzhu.
"Where did you just go?" Talia asked, looking up as Lanqi approached.
"I took a call from a friend too," Lanqi replied.
"Then the timing is just right." Talia nodded, standing up from the garden bench and gesturing for Lanqi to head home.
"Groceries first. The freezer at home is completely out of food."
"All right."
Beneath the floral shadows and the setting sun, the two walked along.
Now, both of them had realized that being bound together made their respective social lives a bit inconvenient.
At a time like this, heading to the Kingdom of Posen, far away from friends and family, really did seem much more relaxing.
And soon, they would set off.
Chapter 654