Chapter 156
Although they were sorcerers rather than astronomers, they did not know anything about Canis Major or Sirius.
But for the management team at this moment, neither of these is likely a good omen.
Hikaru Koido's silent death was like a cold, contemptuous mockery from the killer behind them.
[I can kill a little Hikaru Ido hiding in his own house, so I can kill you all too.]
For a long time, the meeting room was deathly silent.
At this moment, it seemed as if they were mourning a deceased colleague.
After a long while, one of them slowly spoke.
"Such humiliation must never happen again. Were any traces of cursed energy detected at the scene? Can we deduce the spell the murderer used?"
"The body was discovered too late; the surrounding remnants of cursed energy had already dissipated."
The chief stated that no findings had been made, but also provided new clues.
"Based on the autopsy report, it is inferred that Xiaojing died from having his throat slit by a sharp weapon similar to a sword or dagger, and the murderer did not give him a chance to call for help before he died."
"In addition, there is a second serious injury remaining on his face, causing a comminuted fracture of the jawbone, presumably caused by... some kind of blunt force."
When the topic of blunt weapons came up, the chief, whose expression had remained solemn throughout, paused slightly, seemingly not quite understanding why the murderer would add this extra blow when Xiao Jing was already dead.
"A blunt weapon?" The people behind the shoji doors pressed for answers. "What kind of blunt weapon? Could it be that the murderer didn't use any magic at all?"
Chief of the General Staff: "According to the autopsy report, that's the case."
Ieiri Glass's autopsy report was very detailed, but she couldn't give a very accurate judgment on the type of blunt instrument.
She was so confused. She could understand that a heavy object could break the jawbone of an elderly person with osteoporosis, but she couldn't tell what caused it from the marks at all!
The report, which included photos of the body, circulated among the people, and no one could guess what weapon had caused the dent.
If I had to describe it... this coin-sized dent has about three or four spots, and the marks seem to be deeper.
"It cannot be ruled out that the other party's technique is capable of bypassing the barrier defenses and sneaking into Xiaojing's house without causing any disturbance."
After everyone had finished reading, the chief made another guess.
"…………"
Another silence followed.
Aside from who killed Koido Hikaru, people are actually more concerned about another point—how he died.
Money? Revenge? Hired by a competitor?
That's the key to whether they will become the next target.
However, asking such a question before the murderer's identity is clear would make them seem timid, guilty, and lacking in camaraderie.
At that moment, someone suddenly spoke up—"Wait," he seemed to remember something, his gaze passing through the semi-transparent paper door illuminated by candlelight, looking in a certain direction.
“I know someone who meets this requirement.”
"What?" the chief asked.
"The one from the Zen Temple family, it's that [Heaven and Curse]." The man lowered his voice slightly, "It's said that the key to the previous Star Magma being's death was that he could freely enter and exit the High Academy's barrier, and even Lord Tianyuan couldn't detect him..."
"Being able to freely enter and exit the barrier, killing without using spells but with cursed tools... indeed, it meets the requirements."
"Ah, that person, I remember it was mentioned in Gojo's report."
"But isn't he already dead?"
"It's hard to say. Wu Tiao said he handed the body over to that therapist for cremation, but who knows if there was any deal done behind the scenes..."
"I remember now, didn't Xiaojing previously suggest that Gojo couldn't refuse any assignments while working as a teacher?"
"That kid is incredibly audacious! We must..."
"Ahem... Forgive me for reminding you, but Lord Gojo is our current head of the family."
Tatsuo Gojo, who was attending the meeting, couldn't stand it anymore and emphasized in a low voice.
How dare they make such presumptuous speculations about the head of the Gojo family in front of him? Isn't that tantamount to slapping his old face? Besides, he wasn't the only member of the Gojo family present!
This old man, does he think they're easy to bully, the Gojo family?
Although he did not approve of Gojo Satoru becoming a college teacher, it did not mean that he would allow others to trample on the head of the Gojo family and the face of the Gojo family in front of him.
"How could that be? As one of the two remaining Special Grade practitioners in the world of sorcery, we respect Head Gojo 400 more than anything. How could we possibly want to do anything to him? We just want to ask Head Gojo 400 for his thoughts on this matter."
After being warned by Gojo Tatsuo, the other party changed his attitude very quickly. Even when he was explaining to him with a smile, he also adopted a friendly tone, pretending that he had not intended to [interrogate Gojo Satoru].
Hmph, judging from the voice, it must be someone from the Kamo family. They're probably trying to take advantage of the situation to overpower the Gojo family.
Tatsuo Gojo, who only intended to give the other party a warning, did not expose them directly, allowing everyone to refocus their attention on how to track down the culprit.
—In this conference room rife with undercurrents, everyone had their own agenda, while Koido Hikaru became the one no one remembered.
"In any case, everyone should remember to be on high alert recently."
At the end of the meeting, the chief speaker gave advice to everyone in the room.
"As for his motives, given that Gojo Satoru had already agreed to the conditions, we need not doubt him for the time being."
Moreover, if Gojo Goshin wanted to kill Koido Hikaru, he wouldn't need to forgive the enemy who almost killed him, let alone make any deal with him.
If it really came down to a fight, wouldn't it be faster for him to do it himself? Not to mention that his combo skill [茈] could instantly demolish the entire building, even if it were the slightly less powerful [赫] or [苍], no one here could withstand a single hit.
These words don't even need to be spoken; when everyone recalls the meaning represented by "[Special Grade]", there's no room for rebuttal.
"As for Hikaru Koido, we can only continue to send people to investigate the leads..."
Zenji Naoya whispered his account over the phone, feeling cold sweat pouring down his back.
If he had known this guy was going to kill someone, he wouldn't have provided the name!
Now he's become an accomplice—if the supervisory department finds out, he'll be the next one to be executed!
The other party, who had already become a curse master, was quite relaxed, casually calling him and giving him orders without any pressure whatsoever!
Zenji Naoya felt like he was about to explode with anger, but at the same time he was panicking terribly, and he still had to eavesdrop on the meeting as that devil had demanded...
We can't just keep taking advantage of him!
“You’ve already done it,” Kazuma Hatake said nonchalantly. “You can expose me now, it just depends on whether you’re willing to be wanted as well.”
"By the way, if you're wanted, it won't work. Don't come to me for help, I don't accept you."
Zenin Naoya, who is a spy, is the most useful Zenin Naoya.
Just like how Xia Youjie, who can get close to the [patriarch], is the most useful Xia Youjie.
Oh no, it can also provide him with spell crystals.
"…………"
Hagoromo Kazuma's words were so cold and ruthless that Zenin Naoya's heart felt like a roaring volcano, so full of pent-up anger that he finally couldn't help but spew fire to the sky.
"No way, I went through all that trouble to find out this information for you?"
Once again, he was seething with anger but dared not speak out. Zenji Naoya paced back and forth in the courtyard, unable to believe his words, and asked Hatori Kazuma, "I didn't receive any reward at all? Not even a little bit???"
That does sound a bit unfair.
After thinking for a moment, Yutori Kazuma said to him, "Zen-in Jinji's body is buried here with me."
To be precise, it was buried somewhere in the backyard of the Panxing Sect and treated as the body of Tian Lizi.
He also remembered that Zenji Naoya seemed to admire Zenji Jinji quite a bit, and that if the other party wanted, he could come one day with a sack and secretly dig it up to see his cousin one last time.
Zenji Naoya: "…………"
Zenji Naoya took a deep breath, feeling that he was about to lose control of the surging magical power within him.
I really want to crush the phone in my hand into pieces, just like he wanted to do to this devil!
...But the Zen monastery dares not.
There is no conflict between admiring his cousin and valuing his life.
If Kazuma Hatori could kill Hikaru Koido so easily, he could certainly kill him just as easily—even if Kazuma Hatori couldn't kill him, there was Satoru Gojo standing behind him!
Don't think he doesn't know; these two may appear to be mortal enemies, but they're actually quite inseparable behind the scenes.
Look at this kid, isn't killing the upper echelons just to avenge Gojo Satoru?
Hmph, don't think he'll actually seek death.
Zenji Naoya took a few deep breaths, suppressing the resentment that filled his heart.
"So, who are you planning to kill this time?" he asked. "Are you really going to be so blatant as to draw constellations next to a corpse? Aren't you afraid of being associated with the Panxing Cult?"
"So what if I make those connections?" Kazuma Hatake said indifferently. "I'm already wanted and sentenced to death. How many more times can I die?"
Zenin Naoya: "...I really can't refute that."
The key is to gradually weed out those who exclude, bully, and exploit Wu.
After Kazuma Hatori learned that the person who wanted to interrogate Gojo Satoru was named Kamo Sei, he was about to hang up the phone when Zenin Naoya urgently stopped him.
"Could you wait a couple of days before you take action?"
He tried his best to suppress the complaint in his words, and to put the suggestion in a more peaceful tone, in a way that wouldn't anger the sleeping dragon... well, it was a humble admonition.
"Otherwise, they would definitely know there was a mole inside."
How can a meeting just end and then someone else kick the bucket? If you want to use him, fine, but couldn't you at least minimize the risk of him being exposed?!
In just a few words, Zenin Naoya had lowered his standards for Hatori Kazuma again and again, to the point that he should be thanking his lucky stars if he could successfully become the head of the Zenin family.
"…………"
Kazuma Hatori on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, which made Naoya Zenin's heart jump.
This devil is the least likely to listen to anyone's opinion!
"--All right."
Even though Kazuma Hagoromo condescended to agree to the request, Naoya Zenin's mood immediately improved—he even breathed a sigh of relief before hanging up the phone with peace of mind.
However, his tactic of threatening himself by saying that "the one who provided the information is also an accomplice" worked quite well, and he later tried to do the same to the elder who provided him with the information.
Judging from the other party's attitude, he's unlikely to only do this job once or twice.
Sigh, I'm still bound by [restraints]...
Zenji Naoya slumped his shoulders and slowly walked towards his room.
I'm not even an adult yet, but I feel like I'm already over thirty.
…………
Panxing Sect.
Kazuma Hagoromo's agreement to delay taking action wasn't entirely out of consideration for Naoya Zenin's spy identity.
He did have something else that was more important than rushing to assassinate high-ranking officials.
Wu's birthday is coming soon.
This time, Tomoya Tsuji specifically called him to ask if Kazuma Hato had any plans to throw a birthday surprise party for Satoru Gojo.
Although Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma will no longer be active in the entertainment industry, it doesn't stop them from becoming friends.
“Junko, Kana, Miwa, all the familiar faces will definitely be here,” Tomoya Tsutsuji laughed. “This time it’s not a concert, we’ll celebrate together privately.”
"I saw Miwa's interview with you guys before, and Satoru said that his previous birthdays were all pretty boring—hahaha, how about we prepare a castle trampoline, a singing fairy godmother, and a clown who can twist dog balloons for him this time?"
"..." Kazuma Hagoromo's dark eyes trembled for a moment upon hearing this, "Is this for a five-year-old?"
"Of course, we'll also prepare adult juice for you to sneak a few drinks, it's no problem."
Tsuji Tomoya lowered his voice, a smug smirk playing on his lips—as if they were about to let the child do something harmless for the first time.
"Everyone thinks there's nothing wrong with this arrangement, so they've come to ask you to help sound out whether the protagonist likes it or not."
"—I'm counting on you for this, our little hero!"
Kazuma Hatake listened to the call that had already been disconnected, feeling both amused and exasperated.
The fact that they can name things like a castle trampoline, a fairy godmother, and a balloon clown shows they're treating Wu like a child.
...However, they were indeed at least ten years older than him and Wu, so it wasn't surprising that he treated them as juniors.
As Kazuma Hato was staring at his phone screen, contemplating whether to send an email or make a phone call, Satoru happened to call.
"I've heard about it, Dog sign."
The other person's voice was extremely low, as if they were afraid of being overheard.
Moreover, they even call Canis Major the Dog Constellation... Kazuma Hatori couldn't help but let out a little laugh, which was caught red-handed by the sharp-eared Satoru Gojo.
"It really was you. I recognized it as soon as I saw the sign."
Gojo Satoru snorted, "That guy is really arrogant. The higher-ups are all scared out of their wits. Principal Nightmo said that he was going to give me the mission but has given it to someone else and told me to stay in Tokyo for the next few days and not go anywhere."
Kazuma Hatake's lips curled up slightly, and he smiled even more happily.
He thought about it and decided to take this opportunity to ask Wu about his preferences.
Gojo Satoru was about to continue giving Hato Kazuma some advice: "I'm telling you, you have to be very careful from now on..."
Kazuma Hatake: "Do you like castle trampolines, singing fairy godmothers, and clowns who can twist dog balloons?"
Gojo Satoru: “…”
Gojo Satoru: "Huh? What did you ask me???"
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