To review - We know that the Glitch is widely considered to be a phenomenon of sorts that takes your money away. The money must be in bytes, as all other forms of currency simply get ignored. This leads one to believe that the System was created for the sole purpose of keeping track of the bytes here. A central bank database that only regulates its own currency.

"Wow, when you put it like that, it really does sound like a coordinated scam." Mademoiselle agreed, "Well, I didn't believe you at first, but after hearing all this excitin-err, irrefutable evidence, I just can't stand back and do nothing! I'm joining the case!"

She seemed pretty excited to me, though. Actually, she jumped up from her seat so hard her glasses fell off, leading to her embarrasingly fumbling around to grab them off the ground. She actually almost tripped up Kevin in the process too, which made for a humorous sight. Finally, now that everyone was seated properly, we could continue the conversation.

"Seriously, I really don't get what's so scary about it. I've lived with it all my life just fine." Kevin poured us all a cup of warm milk, "Honestly, I'm way more terrified of the exam we have at the end of the month."

"Perfect, that means we all have a common destination!" I proudly announced, "Because our newest lead is the most exciting of all - Jethro told us to find a Brown Book in the Library of a Thousand Passages!"

"Is that so? Dang, I won't be able to go with you then." Mademoiselle gave up a bit too quickly.

"Huh? Why not?" Kevin asked.

"Well, I can't." She explained as a matter of fact.

Glancing over to one another, Kevin and I found her aversion of answering the question a bit odd, however we weren't that tactless to press her on it. Ouroboras knows she's quite the shy type, so if we happened to push her buttons too much, she might run away or even worse - get mad. As you know, getting mad is borderline synonymous with losing a friend, and that is counterproductive to my goal of making a hundred of them.

"O-Oh! B-But I still want to help solve the case!" She suggested, "I think I remember Lemmy being interested in the System as well back when he first enrolled too. Maybe I could partner up with him and...!"

"Nope!" Kevin immediately shot the idea down, "You ain't going anywhere with that tyke! He's dangerous, and in more ways that one!"

"Oh come on. What are you saying all of a sudden?" She brushed his worries off, "That cute underclassman of mine is dangerous? Please explain how that could be the case?"

"There! Just that!" He pointed at her, "I have my qualms about you calling him cute and all, but that's beside the point! The kid chipped my tooth the other day! I ain't letting you go with him, instead I'll go with you!"

"Huh? So you are still letting him in the team?" I turned to him, a bit confused, "And wait, does that mean I will be going with him to the Library?"

"Exactly! See Meil, you gotta think about this on your own. My plan makes perfect sense, you just gotta understand it." He smiled.

Understand it on my own? Alright, let's give it a try... So basically, Kevin wants to go with mademoiselle, that part is obvious, given he has a fondness for her. He also doesn't want to go with Lemmy, because as he mentioned before, Lemmy was the one that hurt him physically the other day. Next, he wants me to go with Lemmy, that part I don't yet understand. Is it because I have proven before that I can overpower him? Maybe because I'm the one that best knows how to counter Command? No, Kevin doesn't know all that much about Iro Abilities, so that can't be his reasoning. Is it because I have a connection with his father, Lee? I guess that could be another common topic to discuss... Wait, discuss?

"Aha! I get it now!" I smiled back, "You want me to befriend Lemmy! That way, everyone's goals get accomplished and everyone is happy!"

"Huh? O-Oh, sure. Totally it." He fingergunned, "Now come on, Kiria! It's mystery time!"

"Oof, n-no offense, Kevin, but I really dislike that phrase..." She muttered close behind him, "L-Let's go to the student council storeroom then. Maybe we can find some more stuff inside relating to the System."

"Ahh, I getcha!" He donned a disgustingly lecherous grin, "You want us to go to a dark place where we can be all alone, huh?"

"Umm, sure, I guess that's what the storeroom is?" She tilted her head, her mind too innocent to catch the connotations in his wording, "Then, shall we go?"

"Eh? S-Sure..." He lost all the steam in his voice, as if suddenly realizing what he had almost intended on doing to the naive and innocent mademoiselle, "Hey, Kiria?"

"Don't call me by name!" She pouted.

"Y-Yeah, sorry for that just now." He said with the double entendre.

As the left the room in search of more items of interest, the thought suddenly dawned on me that I'll have to somehow convince THAT Lemmy to follow me into the Library. Sigh, this is gonna be so difficult...

***

"No!" He yelled as he continued eating his lunch, "And how the hell did you even find out where our house is?!"

"Ah, I asked Lee the other day when we met at the store." I turned to look across the table where his father was seated, "Thanks again for letting me into the house for a chat."

"No problem, kid!" He smiled, "I'm just glad we get to finally chat again! Now all that's left is to get ahold of Issei and we can all learn Japanese together!"

"Japanese?" Lemmy seemed mildly interested, "The hell kinda made up language is that?"

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"No clue, either." Lee shrugged, "But a promise is a promise. And he promised us he'd teach us that language of his the next time we all meet up again!"

"That he did." I then turned back to Lemmy, "Nevertheless, we need you on the case. You were interested in it before as well, right? And besides, the more hands on deck, the better."

"How many times do I have to tell you - No!" He stuck his tongue out at me, "I'm not going and that's that! Now leave our premises!"

"Lemmy, treat your friend with respect!" Lee scolded him, "In any case, Meil, if you need as many able hands as you can get, I'm always free, y'know."

"I would never dare ask you for your help on your vacation, Lee." I shook my head, "The case is also rumored to be quite dangerous, so I would not want anything to happen to you."

"Oh come on, you doubting me?" He chuckled, "Don't you remember what I did back when we tried escaping? I had everyone under my spell with my backflips!"

"Yeah, I do not think I was there to witness that greatness at the time..." I looked away from his hopeful gaze.

"I'm super lost here." Lemmy obviously didn't understand the context of our conversation.

"Oh! Speaking of, you remember the thing we talked about with Issei and Othelia at the end?" Lee got all giddy, "What was the number you calculated again?"

"The number of times he is supposed to engage in intercourse with miss Othelia?" I tilted my head, "It was..."

"Pfft!" Lemmy spat out his lunch, "Huh!? You calculated a dude's body count!? How the hell did you survive prison, dude!?"

"Heh, body count, he says!" Lee joked, "Issei wishes Meil could calculate his body count! Though the kid ain't ever gotten any."

Well, now that he says that, I would like to point out that it wouldn't be all that impossible for me to calculate the number zero. On the other hand, is this really a topic you can openly talk to with your teenage son? I guess for Lee, an ex-bandit and convict, that really doesn't seem too farfetched.

"Speaking of, you're at that age, aren't you Lemmy?" He nudged his son with a smug look to his face, "Got any girls you fancy~?"

"I-I don't..." Lemmy tried to hide his flushed face as he continued eating his lunch, "Man, you really added some spice into this curry, huh?"

"That's just normal ketchup rice, son." Lee noted.

"H-Huh." He stopped for a moment before continuing, "So it is..."

"But seriously, the unstoppable Lemmy got a girl?" His father started making jokes at his son's expense, "What's next? Will the world implode?"

"Do not jinx it." I added, alluding to the fact that the System might be a world-ending level threat.

"S-Shut up, the both of you!" Lemmy shouted, "S-She's not my girl! It's just a... o-one sided crush..."

Noticing his son's aching heart all too quickly, Lee's expression changed to a more heartfelt one as he went to give his son some good fatherly advice. Putting his chair close to Lemmy's, he gave him a one-armed hug as he began explaining.

"Listen Lemmy, I'm gonna teach you how to get a girl with this one simple tactic." He said, "You too Meil, it ain't no secret, so if you ever find yourself someone as well, it's best you hear this as well."

"There's such a thing?" Lemmy looked up at him all hopeful, "What is it?"

"Persistence!" Lee gave him a strong thumbs up, "Never give up! I don't know who that girl is or what her thoughts on you are, but if there's a will there's a way! Anything that is legal to do, do it! Hell, back in our bandit days, before we found you, we would tie up a lady we fancied and take turns...!"

"I don't wanna hear the rest!" Lemmy shoved his father away, "You're sick! She would never look me in the Eyes if I did that!"

"Huh? Is it so bad?" Lee tilted his head, "I wanted to say we took turns confessing our love to her until she answered us all. After that we let her free no matter what her answers were."

"Huh. Really?" Lemmy pinched himself, "Then I guess I'm the one with the dirty mind. Self-punishment is in order."

If I am to convince Lemmy to join us, I'll have to use this tidbit of information to my advantage. He's in love, and he seems to hold her on quite the pedestal. Makes me wonder...

"Could the girl be the mademoiselle?" I inquired, "Ah, I meant Archambeau."

"Phah! This little tyke falling for a grown-up girl like her?" Lee slapped his knee before looking at his bright red son, "L-Lemmy?"

"Y..." Lemmy spoke up, "You're wrong! S-She's prides herself on being my upperclassman, though I'm above her when it comes to our roles in the student council! A-And besides, even if that were the case, why does it sound so unbelievable, huh dad?!"

"I can't believe it... W-Well, I guess it makes sense, your mother was quite the voluptuous woman as well..." Lee stood in awe, "N-No, I didn't mean it like that! You two would make for a cute couple, surely!"

"Gahh, shut uppp!" Lemmy blushed even harder, "Don't say another word more!"

"Hey, you know, she id investigating with us." I offhandedly noted.

"I'm in!" He gave an immediate reply.

Too easy. Though I must congratulate his emotions overpowering his pride. At first he badmouthed her to make it seem like he harbored no feelings for her, but the moment he got found out, he immediately threw shame out the window in favor of facing his emotions head on. He seems like the bratty type, but he's honestly more mature than most of the people I've met in my life, which holds true especially when you account for his age.

"Well, glad you two are finally on the same page." Lee smiled, "Now go get 'er, tiger!"

"Dad, say another word more and I'm disowning you." Lemmy turned back, his Eye glowing bright Yellow.

"B-But that's not how it works..."

"No buts."

Geez, who's the father here, again?