Fang Li had actually heard Sylvia mention Rusalka before.
After all, Rusalka had once followed Fang Li and Sylvia around.
After that incident, Sylvia had casually mentioned it to Fang Li, giving this assessment: "Don't be too hard on them. They're not bad-hearted, just a little… foolish."
Now, Fang Li finally understood why Sylvia had made such a remark.
Aside from Mahulena, the rest of the girls probably weren't all that sharp, right?
"Alright then…" Fang Li rubbed his forehead, then lifted his gaze to focus on the group of girls from Rusalka, speaking calmly. "Let's start by hearing why exactly you want to file a complaint against me?"
Upon hearing this, the entire group— Paivi, Monica, Tulia, and even Mahulena— all turned their eyes toward Miluse.
"Eh? Eh?" Miluse panicked slightly. "Do I have to explain that?"
The rest of the group immediately chimed in all at once.
"Of course, you do." (Paivi)
"You're the captain, aren't you?" (Monica)
"This is the time for you to step up for us." (Tulia)
"N-No… maybe we should just go back…" (Mahulena)
As they spoke, the most headstrong of the group, Monica, even pushed Miluse forward, causing her to stumble a bit, nearly falling over.
"Hmph…" Miluse puffed her cheeks in annoyance but still turned her glare toward Fang Li.
To be honest, it wasn't intimidating at all— if anything, it was kind of cute.
As the captain of a world-famous rock band, with popularity second only to Sylvia, Miluse certainly had her charm.
But unlike Sylvia's heart-fluttering allure, Miluse gave off more of a mischievous little sister vibe, the kind you couldn't stay mad at.
'(Siscons probably wouldn't be able to handle her, huh?)' Fang Li thought to himself.
Unaware of Fang Li's musings, Miluse continued to glare at him, her tone full of indignation.
"You troublemaker!" Her first words were this accusation.
"Do you even realize?" Miluse said, fuming, "Because of you, Sylvia is planning to retire!"
Her statement made Fang Li raise an eyebrow as he turned to look at Sylvia.
Sylvia, who was still laughing, noticed Fang Li's gaze and, while trying to stifle her laughter, explained, "I only mentioned to the superintendent that I wouldn't mind retiring if necessary."
"Is that so?" Fang Li chuckled, shaking his head, then looked back at Rusalka and asked Miluse, "So what? Why are you filing a complaint with me?"
"Why are you even asking why?!" Miluse was clearly getting more frustrated, "It's because of you that Sylvia is thinking of retiring!"
That's why Miluse called Fang Li a troublemaker.
Finally, Fang Li understood what this was all about.
"So, in other words…" Fang Li looked directly at Miluse, "You think Sylvia retiring would be a bad thing, right?"
"Of course!" Miluse responded without hesitation, "She finally reached the top of the world! Do you have any idea how long we've wanted that title?"
Following Miluse's words, the other members of Rusalka chimed in one after another.
"Yeah, that's right! We've been dreaming of becoming number one for so long!" (Monica)
"Sooner or later, we're going to surpass Sylvia!" (Paivi)
"And then we'll become number one!" (Tulia)
This was the collective stance of Monica, Paivi, and Tulia.
Only Mahulena remained quiet, sighing softly, as if unsure of what to do.
Still, it wasn't unreasonable for Rusalka to feel this way.
After all, Sylvia was an idol to countless people.
Even at a prestigious academy like Queenvail, where many idol stars are trained, most of them aspire to reach Sylvia's level. It's likely that the girls of Rusalka are part of that group.
And to the outside world, Sylvia's career could only be described as successful.
For someone like her— an idol admired by so many— to consider retirement because of one person, Fang Li, who would be happy about that?
Certainly not Rusalka.
That's why they came here, to file their complaint with Fang Li.
To be honest, as Sylvia had pointed out, while these girls might not be the sharpest, their hearts weren't in the wrong place.
At least they had the sense to voice their concerns and stand up for Sylvia.
But still, Fang Li had to say this:
"Retirement isn't necessarily a bad thing, you know?" Fang Li said. "Even if someone is really popular, being an idol is just a career— like any other job. If you don't want to do it anymore, you can quit. Why does that have to be a bad thing?"
The members of Rusalka were momentarily stunned.
"You all said that Sylvia might retire because of me, right?" Fang Li shrugged, turning to Sylvia, and asked, "Do you actually like your current career?"
"I wouldn't say I love it," Sylvia replied candidly. "I've said before, the only reason I chose this path was to let more people hear my singing. If I give it up, it's not like I'd miss it that much."
"Exactly." Fang Li spread out his hands, addressing the girls from Rusalka. "If being an idol was Sylvia's lifelong dream, and she was reluctant to leave this career but gave it up because of me, then sure, your complaint would make sense."
"But if she doesn't feel particularly attached to this job, then quitting isn't a bad thing, is it?" Fang Li smiled slightly and said, "At worst, she'll just stay at home and raise kids, and I'll take care of her. What's so bad about that?"
The explosive statement hung in the air.
"R-Raise kids?!"
The girls from Rusalka all blushed deeply.
"Wait… could it be…" Miluse trembled, her voice shaking as she looked at Sylvia, "A-Are you already…?"
"Of course not!" Sylvia's charming face turned red as well, glaring at Fang Li before saying, "Stop saying such weird things!"
"I was just giving an example. Why are you all overreacting?" Fang Li chuckled, looking at the girls from Rusalka. "Anyway, I don't think this is a bad thing, so I'm not accepting your complaint."
"W-Wuuu…" The girls from Rusalka made a sound of frustration, clearly unwilling to back down.
"Well… I think Fang Li has a point," Mahulena weakly added. "It really depends on what Sylvia wants, doesn't it?"
Unfortunately, her companions weren't listening to her anymore.
"If that's the case, then we have no choice!"
Miluse seemed to come to a decision, pointing at Fang Li, and boldly declared: "Let's settle this with a duel!"
(End Of The Chapter)
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