Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Mansion in the Rain (I)
"…One way to solve the problem 3x∧2-2x-1=0 is to factorize…"
On the podium, the math teacher was diligently explaining the boring equation problem. Most of the students in the classroom were listening attentively, but there were a few who were not good at math and had a bitter look on their faces, trying hard to keep up with the explanation.
And Atobe Keigo, who was sitting in the first row, naturally did not belong to these two columns.
He'd already taught himself university courses, even extending his math skills to calculus. Solving a quadratic equation was child's play. But with his positive attitude and his reputation as a role model on campus, he'd definitely be attending classes diligently, not like he was today, constantly distracted by his thoughts.
But this is understandable. Anyone like him, who just experienced the collapse of his youthful dreams and the collapse of his scientific views yesterday, would not be able to remain calm today.
Atobe Keigo's gaze shifted slightly, and what he saw was the upright silhouette of Saionji Kyon who was concentrating on taking notes, as if everything that happened yesterday had not existed at all. If it were not for the information that the housekeeper gave him this morning, Atobe would almost think that he had just had a dream yesterday.
He had read part of the document in the car that morning, and planned to continue the rest in the student council president's office at noon. Even if it was only a small part, it was enough to make him feel uneasy.
Nearly three months into the school year, Atobe had already realized that Saionji Tamune wasn't the bookworm everyone usually imagined her to be; she was even a bit of a laid-back type. Sometimes, he felt, she was just like him: she'd already learned all this stuff in school and was just casually revisiting it.
However, at that time, the two of them were just ordinary classmates who knew each other well. He was always used to keeping a distance from others and respecting their privacy. Therefore, he never wondered why someone who was obviously very outstanding would deliberately pretend to be weak and blend in with the others on campus.
After experiencing what happened yesterday, Atobe couldn't help but wonder, could this be the reason why Saionji deliberately hid herself, because she was that... demon slayer?
*
Yuyin had no idea what Atobe was thinking.
If she hadn't seen him show some abnormality today, Yuyin would have almost thought that these had no effect on Jibe. She couldn't help but sigh at the young man's strong psychological quality. He was indeed a child of destiny, an outstanding talent who could lead 200 people at such a young age.
You must know that when she first saw the cursed spirits, she, who was usually calm, was disgusted to the point of losing her appetite. She had no appetite for several days. It was not until she got used to seeing those cursed spirits that looked so weird that their sanity value was reduced that she was able to calmly pick up weapons and eliminate them. As a result, this attracted the attention of the Sorcerer Association, and they sent people to contact her.
Ultimately, that was the first time in her life that she wasn't able to enter university directly as planned, and was forced to attend a technical high school. Jujutsu Technical High School was less a school than a part-time job, so she entered the life of a social slave early on, a 007-level hellish existence, with no retirement except in the case of death or severe disability. The only upside was the decent salary, which allowed her to earn enough for her funeral expenses long before her death.
This is also the reason why she continues to write novels - money is so sweet. After the passion of accusing her workaholic boss has passed, only the warmth of money can comfort her cold heart_(:з」∠)_
It has to be said that after getting used to earning her own money and spending it herself, she felt uncomfortable returning to the life of an ordinary student who relies on her parents for living expenses every month, even though this amount of money is not cheap for a student.
Yuyin had developed a habit of spending lavishly in several worlds, especially in the world of spells. Her mind was constantly on edge, like a taut bowstring, ready to snap at any moment. They say every spellcaster is a lunatic, and Yuyin couldn't deny that. This feeling of not being able to relax was deeply familiar to her, as if she had been tirelessly battling something for ages. Yuyin knew that this was the excessive burden of the immense spell power, impossible to completely resolve. She could only try to relieve it—and spending freely was one of her chosen means of relieving it.
I don’t know what Natsume-kun and Gojo-senpai talked about yesterday.
After copying a paragraph of notes, Yuyin paused and thought about recent events.
She guessed that Senior Gojo would come to Natsume probably because of the world fusion, if he had noticed.
To be honest, she also wanted to discuss it with someone she knew, ahem, no thanks to Gojo-senpai, Natsume-kun is a good choice. She had this intention in appearing in front of Natsume yesterday, and didn't want to be cut in line by Gojo-senpai.
She didn't want to go back to the world of curses at all. Those old-fashioned people in the association were so conservative that they would sentence someone to death if they thought there was something wrong with him. She had no connections in the association, and if they knew about her resurrection from the dead, they might even think that she was colluding with the curse master to practice witchcraft.
Wait, didn’t she ask Natsume-kun for his contact information yesterday?
Yuyin made a mistake when she started writing again. The water-based pen made a sizzling sound and drew a long black line on the paper.
*
"Hey, look at that girl. Her uniform looks unfamiliar. Is she from a nearby school?"
"Maybe she's here to wait for her boyfriend~ I can't see her face clearly from this angle, but judging by her figure and temperament, I can tell she's a beauty~"
Hearing his friends' conversation, Natsume Takashi, who was sipping a milky drink, looked up at the school gate and saw an acquaintance he had just met yesterday. He accidentally choked and said, "Cough, cough..."
"Natsume, what's wrong with you!" Nishimura Satoru was shocked and patted his back hard with concern.
“No, nothing…”
Natsume stretched out his hand to block Nishimura's hand. He believed that he would recover faster if Nishimura didn't pat him on the back.
Standing at the gate of Gunai High School, the girl who was the subject of Nishimura and Kitamoto's conversation heard the commotion, turned around, smiled, and waved, saying, "Natsume-kun!"
“Oh~~”
Nishimura Satoru and Kitabenji Fumi looked at each other and suddenly realized that the girl was looking for Natsume. No wonder he reacted so strongly.
"It's not what you think," Natsume explained with a blush (from choking just now), "She's a friend I know."
After explaining to his friends in a few words, Natsume hurriedly said goodbye and ran away.
*
"I'm sorry, I seem to have caused you trouble, Natsume-kun." Yuyin walked side by side with Natsume on the mountain path, apologizing to him, "Because I forgot to ask for your contact information yesterday, Natsume-kun, I had to come here in person."
"It doesn't matter. They'll forget about it after a while."
Natsume thought back. Every time he had met Saionji-san, it was either a chance encounter or he had come to see him specifically. He had never contacted him by phone. "I was wrong yesterday. I broke the appointment first and didn't think it through. I made you have to make another trip."
Yuyin couldn't help but laugh, "Natsume-kun, you're still as gentle as ever."
"No way..." Natsume felt a little embarrassed to be praised by an older woman other than Aunt Tazi.
"He only pretends to be obedient at this time. He is very ferocious in front of me." This was when Madara took advantage of the fact that there was no one around, jumped onto Natsume's shoulder, and spoke openly.
"Hello, teacher cat~" Yuyin greeted the big monster like Natsume did. Putting aside their positions, after several contacts, the man and the monster were quite familiar with each other.
"Hmm~" The lucky cat nodded modestly, "You're here to ask about the request you made yesterday, right? Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you."
Natsume felt embarrassed when he heard this. Teacher Neko said this so calmly, as if he was not the one who almost let the cat out of the bag yesterday because of being drunk. If he had not kept a close eye on Teacher Neko and covered Teacher Neko's mouth in time, he would not have the face to see Mr. Saionji now.
Yuyin smiled and said, "Of course I believe in Mr. Neko."
Judging from Natsume's expression, it was clear that nothing went wrong in the end, otherwise the soft-hearted and gentle boy would have apologized to her long ago.
"Natsume-kun, Neko-sensei," Yuyin said seriously, "I came here this time to verify the matter of the world fusion with you."
"What?" Madara lay back on Natsume, patted him with his paw and said, "You and Natsume can discuss this. The guy with the eyepatch also asked a lot of questions yesterday."
Natsume was speechless as he watched the cat teacher being lazy and shirking responsibility, but he still asked responsibly: "Xiyuanji-san, if you want to know anything, just ask."
Yuyin thought for a moment and said, "Let's start from when you discovered the fusion of worlds."
"Well, I remember it seems to be..."
The two people and the demon were talking as they walked through the mountains. Yuyin wanted to hide her identity and try to avoid being seen by her old acquaintances, while Natsume took Madara with him to avoid anyone seeing the fact that cats can talk, so they both chose to go deep into the mountains.
"Based on this, you noticed the anomaly around the same time I did, and the time the sorcerer told you yesterday also roughly matches this..."
Yuyin pondered for a moment, thinking that if she could get another person from Scepter 4 and one from Yokohama, the evidence would be truly sufficient. Unfortunately, neither side had a suitable person to communicate with right now.
"Boom—"
Suddenly there was a thunder in the sky.
Yuyin reached out and wiped the water droplets from her cheek, sighing, "It's raining."
As soon as he finished speaking, the raindrops began to fall in larger and larger numbers. Natsume held his schoolbag above his head and ran while saying, "This is a thunderstorm in the mountains. I remember there's an old house not far ahead. Saionji-san, let's go take shelter there first!"
Yuyin naturally had no objection. Since Natsume said so, it meant that going to that house would be much faster than going down the mountain the same way.
Soon, the two ran out of the woods and saw a three-story Western-style house standing not far in front of them.
"It seems the owner is home."
While running, Yuyin noticed the car parked in front of the mansion at a glance, called Natsume to come under the shelter of the gate, and rang the doorbell.
Listening to the "ding dong, ding dong" sound of the doorbell, she said to Natsume: "I'll bother you here for a while, and we'll talk after the rain stops."
Natsume said "hmm" and nodded in agreement.
A moment later, there were rustling sounds of footsteps and the sound of a door opening.
The door opened from the inside, and someone asked, "Excuse me, excuse me..."
"Xiaolan?"
Yuyin was surprised to find that the person who opened the door was Ran Mouri, whom she had met once at her own shrine.
"...Ms. Saionji?"
Mao Lilan looked at her in confusion for several times, and finally recognized Saionji Tamon, whose appearance had changed greatly.
The author has something to say:
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I don't need to tell you, everyone can guess what's going to happen next...
*
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