Chapter 37

Since someone else had done the manual research for him, Kazuma Hatake called Satoru Gojo first.

"The chief, it's not surprising."

Gojo Satoru's voice came from the other end, his tone much lower and more steady than usual, as he analyzed the situation quite seriously.

“Those people have always disliked me, and your every move is too eccentric, not to mention you forcibly joined the director's department. To them, you are basically a deadly blade piercing their heart... that kind of existence.”

He was never one to treat important matters lightly, let alone now that Kazuma Hatori's life was under unknown threat.

"Yes, but I don't think he's the only one."

Kazuma Hatori said with certainty, "They definitely have more information they're hiding from me."

Gojo Satoru asked curiously, "Hmm? Why are you so sure?"

"The avalanche that suddenly broke out inside the tent, I think, must have been accompanied by an earthquake."

Kazuma Hatori concluded, "It couldn't have been made by the Chief, could it?"

He had heard that old man's voice before; if he had that ability, he should have acted when he wanted to kill Maeda Yasuo.

No problem. Once he takes the [Blood-Boiling Gun] and the [Taboo View] to visit this chief, he'll be able to get him to spill the truth.

"You wouldn't already be thinking about how to kill him, would you?"

A few soft laughs came from the phone, clear and sweet, carrying a hint of sakura mochi. They made Kazuma Hatori's murderous black eyes freeze for a moment, then soften.

"It's just a matter of activating the spell first, and then firing a few more shots."

Kazuma Hatake answered honestly.

Recalling the earth-shattering effect of the black-haired youth's spell, Gojo Satoru couldn't help but smile again, his lips curving upwards, and even his teasing tone became cheerful.

"The chief's residence is heavily guarded, you know. How do you plan to get in?"

“I first sneaked in until I got into his room, and then I tortured him severely.”

Thinking back on his past experience playing Assassin's Creed, Kazuma Hatake spoke candidly.

"But my stealth skills are terrible; I basically have to sneak in and fight my way in."

As long as he kills all the guard NPCs he encounters along the way, no one will discover that he did it—so why can't it be considered that he successfully stole the place?

“…”

After hearing this answer, Gojo Satoru remained silent for a long time.

Sometimes he was really curious about where this kid's straightforward logic of killing all opponents at the slightest disagreement came from, which savage jungle he grew up in.

That doesn't make sense... He seems quite adept at using modern technology, and there's no language barrier in his communication.

Moreover, Gojo Satoru was not unaware of other contradictions in Hagoromo Kazuma's character.

Or rather, the other party had no intention of hiding anything from him at all; their background, strength, motives... everything was laid bare before him, frank and straightforward.

If you ask directly, the other person will definitely tell you the truth.

—At this moment, Gojo Satoru had this confidence, certain that Hatori Kazuma would never lie to him.

Thinking of this, Gojo Satoru, who was sitting in the library answering a phone call, immediately felt much better.

Oh dear, there's just no way to deal with him. Since he has received such sincere feelings, he is naturally willing to respect the other person's privacy and will not insist on digging up all the secrets.

"The places where these old men live are usually protected by barriers. If you haven't registered your magical power, you'll be exposed as soon as you enter, and you won't be able to sneak around at all."

At that moment, Gojo Satoru was sitting cross-legged on the ground, tilting his head and smiling as he spoke into the phone.

Because he was on the phone with Kazuma Hatori, the old book that Gojo Satoru was holding was casually placed on his lap, lying open in a state of near collapse. Several pages were almost completely detached, with only a small part still stubbornly sticking to the spine, teetering on the verge of falling.

The library is cleaned every day, and when Gojo Satoru activates [No Limits], he can ensure that there is an infinitely cut "distance" between him and any object, so that they can never touch him—including the dust on the ground.

You won't sink even if you step on the water!

"A barrier?"

The tone on the other end of the phone was slightly confused, but returned to calm after repeating what was said.

"Then lure him out and kill him."

Gojo Satoru couldn't help but chuckle: ...He knew the other party would give this answer.

“Besides the chief, there is at least one sorcerer who can trigger an avalanche or earthquake to assist him—and they may not even be ordinary sorcerers.”

He pulled the book that was about to slip off his lap back up, and then leaned back against the bookshelf.

"After you described the details, I asked Principal Moth to secretly check the sorcerer registration information inside the college, but I couldn't find any sorcerers with similar spell effects."

"Logically speaking, even if a sorcerer could do this, it would be impossible not to leave a trace. For example, my [Azure] or [He] could easily trigger an avalanche or an earthquake, but at the same time, the phenomena you could observe would not be limited to avalanches or earthquakes."

"Besides, you have Hui by your side. That child is different from you. She is very sensitive to unfamiliar spells, especially this kind of attack spell."

It was clearly a sarcastic remark that he was capable of exorcising cursed spirits on his own and becoming a college teacher, yet he still didn't know how to sense cursed power.

Kazuma Hagoromo also expressed his innocence regarding this matter.

What does the concept of "cursed power" in the game have to do with him personally? He doesn't know any spells in reality; all his skills are obtained through the system.

However, when talking about Kuroko Megumi, Hato Kazuma also reminded him, "Kamo Nokichi said that Megumi also has spies watching him."

"Is that so... I'll talk to him about it later."

Gojo Satoru frowned slightly, clearly disliking the underhanded tactics employed by the higher-ups.

and……

"There's more and more to investigate,"

Gojo Satoru rarely says anything discouraging in front of others, but at this moment he was able to confidently reveal his true thoughts to Hatori Kazuma.

"I always have a bad feeling about this."

“You’ll definitely be alright,” Kazuma Hatake immediately assured him. “I’ll kill all the enemies.”

No one can hurt his beautiful Daigo!

"---ha,"

It was just a casual remark, but he never expected the other party to resort to violence to comfort him. This time, Gojo Satoru really couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you talking about? I'm the [strongest], you know? The guys who want to kill me could line up from Tokyo to Kyoto, but until now, they haven't even been able to touch a hair on my head—"

"..." Kazuma Hato, who was also hit hard, said quietly, "I can't touch it either."

That soft, light, beautiful white fur... I really want to touch it, but I haven't succeeded yet.

Gojo Satoru's laughter paused: "…………"

Gojo Satoru coughed tactically: "Anyway, I'll investigate this information as well. Just do whatever you want and wait for my news—beep beep—"

The "beep beep" sound wasn't the phone's built-in call termination tone; it was a simulated sound created by Gojo Satoru himself, before he quickly hung up.

Kazuma Hatake remained staring at his phone screen, speechless for a long while.

He actually managed to fool me with his cuteness... but really, he's super adorable.

Having finished his phone call with Go, and waiting for those old NPCs to check the information, Hagoromo Kazuma was at a loss for what to do in front of the empty hall.

Should we go and kill the chief? Hmm... that's not impossible.

According to Wu, such powerful old men would have troublesome protective barriers, making them difficult to kill and causing too much disturbance.

After thinking for a moment, Yuqu Kazuma decided to get up and leave the palace, going to the outside of the corridor.

The dry landscape garden in the courtyard has long since disappeared, replaced by lush green cabbages and fresh bok choy—all his gold coins.

At this very moment, the elders Kamo, who were in high positions in the General Manager's Office, were still helping him find clues, while the rest of the people were still shuttling back and forth in the vegetable garden according to his previous arrangements, busy watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, weeding, pruning, building trellises... In short, they would not be given a chance to be idle.

This kind of virtual game is so realistic that if you have to farm the land yourself, you'll feel like you'd rather go out and work. But if you're supervising a bunch of NPCs who don't get along with you to farm for 16 hours a day without rest, your sense of accomplishment and happiness will instantly increase dramatically.

Kazuma Hatori even took out his phone and sent a picture of them busy to Satoru Gojo, receiving a long string of "hahahahahahahaha" in a flash reply.

At the end, they even added emoticons made of symbols, which are incredibly funny to look at.

Yuqu was truly satisfied as he put away his phone.

"Hey, you, the one with the cute little pigtail sticking up in the air."

He casually called out the one with the more eye-catching hairstyle, which made the other person so angry that his hand holding the hoe trembled, and he tried his best to ignore the rustling laughter coming from around him.

What a ridiculous little pigtail! That's incredibly rude! This is called a tea whisk bun!

"Go find Kamo no Kichi and bring him back. I need him to do something for me."

Ignoring his reaction, Yuqu Kazuma gave the order and then returned to the main hall to wait.

"You were looking for me?"

Before long, Kamo no Yoshikichi asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Kazuma Hatori nodded.

"Go and send an invitation to the chief, saying that I am dead."

Kamo Nokichi's brain couldn't understand the sentence after receiving it, and he blurted out "Huh?" as a conditioned reflex.

"Since he wants me to die so badly, if I really die here, he'll probably be happy to come and celebrate with you all."

Kazuma Hato waved his hand, faithfully fulfilling what he had just told Satoru Gojo: "Lure him out and kill him."

"Just say that after I came back, you all rose up against me successfully, and now that I'm dead, invite him over to congratulate me and, incidentally, divide up my inheritance."

"…………"

Kamo no Yoshikichi spoke with difficulty, "I don't think the Chief Minister will believe this excuse."

Who would believe that? A guy who can handle natural disasters so nonchalantly... he probably even knows how to create a small world... otherwise, it's hard to imagine how he survived.

"Then you should come up with one yourself. In short, you have to trick people into coming here."

Kazuma Hatori frowned and immediately assigned the task to Nokichi Kamo.

"If I can trick him out of the barrier, that will make it easier for me to kill him."

Upon hearing the purpose of the Kamo family head, Kamo Nokichi fell silent.

Beneath his forced composure and respectful demeanor, he was on the verge of weeping inside.

He felt that if the head of the Directorate really died at this person's hands, the Kamo family might be jointly expelled from the jutsu world by the other two families and would no longer be able to survive.

Where did this living devil come from?!

They'll start a bloodbath at the slightest provocation!

However, Kamo no Yoshikichi could not refuse Hagoromo Kazuma's order, so he could only obey and step back, trying to contact the chief first.

Then—I learned an even more shocking truth.

"What?! The Chief is dead?!"