After enjoying the feeling of Yinuo's hand on top of her head, Melody turned to her with a serious expression. "Alright. But if Benno picks on you, quickly tell me about it, okay?"
"I will," Yinuo answered immediately.
As the two of them were talking while walking, suddenly, a voice called to one of them.
"Quinlan!"
It was an excited-sounding, high-pitched voice. Curious, Yinuo quickly turned to the source, wondering who it was. There, a woman with red, wavy hair flowing down to her back was running toward them. Her brown eyes were flickering with joy.
Her face was covered in heavy makeup, but it didn't spoil her beauty at all. It was as if it were done by an expert, making it look natural. "That is..."
Yinuo tried to recall but failed. She couldn't remember anyone with such a face being her acquaintance. 'Could be Quinlan's acquaintance, though,' she thought.
Melody turned to the woman and had her brows twitch. She took a step forward, moving as if to hide Yinuo behind her, with a slightly angry expression.
"Excuse me, but you aren't a student of the school, right? It's required for visitors to wear their visitor's pass," Melody declared in a firm tone.
However, the other person didn't seem to have seen her and went straight for Yinuo, jumping for a hug.
"...!"
Yinuo saw her action and, after wondering what to do, decided not to dodge. If she did move to the side, the red-haired woman would end up kissing the ground, after all.
"It's been a while, Quinlan! Do you still remember me?" The woman asked as she tightened her high, even her legs wrapping around Yinuo's body.
"Pardon me, but you are...?"
Yinuo was still clueless about her identity even now. When she directly asked, thinking that the woman would get angry, she instead smiled sweetly.
"Well, it can't be helped. It was dark when you saved me from the Red Light District, so it's reasonable that you couldn't see my face clearly. I'm Maybelle!"
"Maybelle?" After hearing the name and the mention of the Red Light District, Yinuo finally remembered. "Ah, that one! I recall, right."
Just as the two were about to continue talking, Melody finally snapped out of her surprise and quickly moved, pulling Maybelle off of Yinuo. "Get off of him, b*tch!"
"Hmmm? Who's this kid, Quinlan? Your girlfriend?" Maybelle asked, finally recognizing Melody's presence. "Such a small body. I'm definitely a better choice than this shrimp."
"Shrimp?!"
The word quickly triggered Melody. She took two steps back before doing a quick spinning kick, aiming at the woman's butt.
"Ack!" Maybelle jerked in both surprise and pain, causing her hug to tighten. "Quinlan, she's bullying me~! Help~!"
"You...!"
"Enough, you two." Yinuo sighed, holding back a slight headache. "First, Maybelle, get off of me, please."
Maybelle smiled, moving her face close enough for a kiss, before replying, "Alright, handsome~!"
"And Melody, calm down." Yinuo reprimanded her as soon as Maybelle got off. "Suddenly kicking someone isn't good."
"Sorry about that. But she...!"
"Ah, no excuses. I'll make sure to teach proper manners to you later, alright?"
"..."
Although she felt pity for Melody, waving her strength mindlessly could lead to tragedies if left unchecked. Right now, she was just at the 1st stage of Qi Refinement, so her strength wasn't that different from that of a common man. But if she used Qi with the attack, it wouldn't be weird for Maybelle to go straight to the hospital with a cracked hip bone.
Yinuo, seeing that Melody was reflecting, turned to Maybelle and finally asked. "And so? What's your purpose for coming here?"
"How cold~! My butt still hurts, so can you soothe it for me?" Maybelle acted cutesy, but Yinuo simply turned a sharp glare in her direction.
"...!"
Maybelle felt a shiver run down her spine as Yinuo glared. 'This is it! This is what I've been missing~!'
She could feel a powerful throb deep inside her, making her legs shake uncontrollably. Yinuo saw this and quickly closed her eyes, sighing. "Alright, enough playing around. If you don't have business with us, then we'll take our leave."
"Ahh~, wait~!" Maybelle reached out her hand, stopping Yinuo from walking away. "I actually came to invite you to dinner as thanks for saving me. Can you spare time for this evening?"
"No!"
Melody quickly interjected, moving between Maybelle and Yinuo with her arms stretched wide. "Quinlan already has plans with me for tonight!"
"Hmmm? Then tomorrow night. Please~? I just want to express my thanks to you."
"..."
Yinuo wondered for a bit and decided to agree. After all, she needs a bit of time off from training Melody to take advantage of her Qi Gathering Pill. "Alright. Then, tomorrow night it is."
"Quinlan!" Melody turned around with an indescribable expression on her face.
She looked like she had just been betrayed by the one she trusted the most, causing her eyes to turn watery as anxiety filled them. Yinuo sighed, patting her head gently to soothe her.
"It's just dinner; don't worry. Rather, tonight, be prepared, for we'll increase the pace of training to make up for tomorrow night."
Melody still looked downhearted, but decided to just agree with Yinuo for now. She turned to glare at Maybelle, her gaze filled with nothing but killing intent.
"You should be thankful for Quinlan's generosity. If not, then I'd be sending you packing any minute now."
"Heh, little girl." Maybelle wasn't fazed at all by her threats, even daring enough to smile provocatively. "You're not even his girlfriend, and you're acting like this? If it were me, I'd be willing to let him spread his wings freely~!"
"...!"
Before Melody could take a step forward, Yinuo quickly intervened and stopped the fight. After calming both sides down and reminding them to stop provoking each other, Quinlan finally exchanged contract details with Maybelle before sending her on her way.
Melody watched her back as she went away, even going as far as sticking out her tongue in her direction.
'Handling women's squabble is hard, really.' Yinuo sighed.