Chapter 130
Kazuma Hatori's previous attempt to win over Ayako Sakami was because Ayako Sakami was standing next to Shigeru Sonoda when he first woke up in this timeline.
This means that, at the very least, Ayako Sakami's status within the "House of the Stars" is not low, and she has a chance of accessing core information and movements.
In previous conversations, Kazuma Hatori also discovered that her personality was neither calm nor cautious, and she was extremely easily controlled by sudden emotional outbursts, and would make relatively impulsive actions.
For example, in the past, if someone told me I was being defensive, I would just hang up the phone.
But she herself was not entirely bad or stupid; otherwise, she could have easily sabotaged his mission or said a few bad things about him in her report.
A slightly temperamental, average-minded, not entirely evil, and easily swayed supporting character—this is why Kazuma Hagoromo ultimately decided to try to fool her.
Of course, the most crucial point is that among the Panxing Cult members that Kazuma Hatake has had the longest contact with so far, only Ayako Sakami has been with him.
"What is he planning to do?" Kazuma Hato asked.
It is now evening, and they have returned to their respective dormitories in Shizuoka Prefecture to rest.
Gojo Satoru muttered that the demolition of the Western-style house today had covered him in a lot of dust, and he went straight to his dormitory to take a shower as soon as he got back, so he wouldn't be knocking on his door for the time being.
"[Tianyuan Assimilation] is about to begin."
Ayako Sakami unconsciously sped up her speech, and her voice rose slightly, sounding a bit excited.
Although the Panxing Sect was founded to worship Lord Tianyuan, the Tianyuan Assimilation only occurs once every five hundred years, and this is the first time she has experienced such a crucial event.
"According to Director Sonoda, they have received the mission from the Jujutsu world to [protect the Tengen Assimilation], and the identity of the Starmash has also been confirmed as Tenniri Riko."
—Ayako Sakami took a deep breath and continued.
"Furthermore, in addition to you who had already infiltrated the area, Director Sonoda also issued an assassination commission to Kong Shiyu, asking him to contact a trustworthy person to carry it out."
Kong Shiyu…that middleman? So that’s what he did as a middleman.
Kazuma Hatori thought for a moment, "Do you know the assassin's identity?"
"How could we possibly know? It's not like ordering drinks at a bar where you just pick whichever one you want and get that one. If Kong Shiyu exposes all his connections to us, how will he make money?"
Ayako Sakami felt that this kid was simply asking too much of her.
"I see," Kazuma Hatake pressed, "Anything else?"
Ayako Sakami: "...I'm already grateful to hear all this. What more do you want? Director Sonoda also said that issuing an assassination request is just an extra layer of insurance. He doesn't really expect Kong Shiyu to succeed."
After pondering for a moment, Yuqu Kazuma shook his head slightly: "I think... Kong Shiyu's side is the real trump card."
Ayako Sakami paused, then asked, "Why would you say that? I heard it with my own ears from Director Sonoda..."
"Don't forget, we've already been added to the list of suspects by His Holiness the Pope."
After saying this, Ayako Sakami remained silent for a few seconds.
She vaguely sensed that Kazuma Hatori seemed to be planning to do something that Director Sonoda wouldn't allow.
But the moment she was tempted by the profit and agreed to the other party's offer, she had already stood on the same side as them.
“After the meeting, Director Sonoda had a private chat with Kong Shiyu in a room for a while,” Ayako Sakami began. “I don’t know what they talked about, but my gut feeling is that it was about you.”
"It concerns me, yet I must keep it from you..."
Kazuma Hatori fell into deep thought.
He wasn't actually sure if he was suspected of being the cult leader, but given the cautious approach of [Xia Youjie] in the first playthrough, Hato Kazuma was more inclined to treat it as [being suspected].
Besides, he's now one of Wu's people.
According to what the patriarch said before, [Six Eyes] will definitely take on the task of [protecting the assimilation of the Heavenly Origin].
Therefore, he and the assassins sent by Sonoda Shigeru are definitely on opposing sides.
It's a pity that Ayako Sakami didn't know more information, such as who the assassin was and how the assassination plan was to be carried out.
Will they launch a surprise attack on Wu directly, or will they go and kill that astral body?
Kazuma Hatake said, "Could you suggest that the assassin arranged by Shiyu Kong contact me? Say something like that a mission involving internal and external cooperation would be more efficient..."
"You can use that kind of explanation?" Ayako Sakura was surprised. "I'll try, but don't get your hopes up too high. I've only met Kong Shiyu a few times, we're not familiar at all."
Kazuma Hatori wanted to say something more, but Satoru was already knocking on the door.
It also features background music sung by himself.
"Yizhen, Yizhen, open the door quickly—"
It's almost like you can picture a big, fluffy white cat standing up, bouncing around and frantically rubbing the glass door with its two front paws.
Kazuma Hatori couldn't help but chuckle at the adorable scene he had conjured up in his mind; his voice was soft but very clear.
"I have something to do here, so I'll have to talk to you later."
After saying this to Ayako Sakami, he hung up the phone without waiting for her to exclaim in shock, "Did you just laugh?"
Ayako Sakemi remained silent, staring at her phone: "…………"
There was a hint of heart attack in his silence.
She used to be the one who hung up on Kazuma Hatake, but now—has this kid already hung up on her twice?
That almost expressionless, cold face actually smiled at an unknown person... and didn't even bother to praise her for doing a good job.
Hmph, how rude!
…………
The information delivered by Ayako Sakami wasn't late, but it wasn't much earlier either.
The next morning, Moth Masakazu summoned all of them to the activity room, where the four of them knelt in a row.
The television is showing yesterday's news.
[An explosion occurred yesterday in an abandoned Western-style mansion in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The cause was surprisingly a deterioration of the gas pipeline due to years of neglect! Let's connect with our reporter on the scene for the latest updates...]
The four people present: …………
The report was about the task they completed yesterday...
"It seems like someone said they would put away the [account], but after abandoning the assistant supervisor and running away, they forgot about the [account]."
Night Moth Masamichi sat on the bench, staring at the four troublesome students in front of him.
"Confess to yourself."
Gojo Satoru, who was being silently pointed at by Natsume and Ieiri Shoko, was speechless.
Gojo Satoru raised his hand: "Teacher! I request that we stop searching for the criminal—"
Kazuma Hatori raised his hand and said, "I second that."
The Moth said, "...to cover up a crime is the same as being guilty."
The guiding fist, one punch at a time.
Fortunately, just as Moth was about to say something more, he was urgently called away by a phone call, and the four of them were told to go back to the classroom and wait.
"So, is the [tent] really that necessary? Ordinary people can't see cursed spirits and spells anyway."
With a tangle of grime on his head, Gojo Satoru rubbed against Hagoromo Kazuma's shoulder, grumbling under his breath. Hagoromo glanced at his own stamina, which had only decreased slightly, and knowingly reached out to rub the head of the spoiled Gojo Satoru.
This is so soft and fluffy, it feels like touching pure white fluffy clouds!
Why not touch it if you're not going to? Every second you touch it is a bonus!
Xia Youjie glanced at his two friends, who were behaving very intimately, and sighed silently.
“No, the best way to suppress the creation of cursed spirits is to ensure the inner peace of ordinary people,” Xia Youjie said. “If ordinary people learn about the existence of cursed spirits, they will only be more afraid, which will in turn give rise to more cursed spirits.”
"Are you scared?" Gojo Satoru tilted his head, his azure eyes behind his sunglasses looking at Natsumi Yujie. "I don't think so. Neither Junko-neechan, Tomoya-san, nor Kana who was possessed by the curse, seemed particularly scared after hearing about the existence of the cursed spirit."
“We can’t use the examples of one or two people to represent all of humanity.” Xia Youjie shook his head. “Besides, ordinary people don’t have spells and are too weak. As the strong, we must use spells to protect them, which is the [spellcaster protecting non-spellcaster] that has been going on for thousands of years.”
"Eliminating threats and allowing the weak to survive... that's what a normal society should look like."
"What's the difference between us and ordinary people? Aside from having spells."
—Before Gojo Satoru could even utter a rebuttal, Hato Kazuma spoke first.
Xia Youjie: "...What?"
“I don’t care if you want to attach some responsibility or reason to sorcery. But sorcery itself is just like [being exceptionally fast], [being exceptionally good at drawing], [being exceptionally good at singing], it’s just one of the human talents, nothing special.”
Kazuma Hatake said calmly, "Besides, the existence of cursed spirits is very abrupt, abrupt and superfluous. If you ask me, the normal society should be like this: [all cursed spirits disappear]."
—Just like the real world he lives in.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the other three people's eyes widened in surprise, and they all stared at him.
Even the budding argument was completely extinguished by this shocking statement.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Kazuma Hatori remained calm, not at all believing that there was anything wrong with what he said.
"Well, the idea is indeed very good, but you've also heard what Teacher Nightmoth said—[Cursed power originates from negative human emotions. The negative emotions leaked out by ordinary people will precipitate into cursed spirits, which can only be exorcised by using curses contained in spells or cursed tools]."
Xia Youjie hesitated for a moment before explaining, inwardly marveling at Yi Zhen's truly whimsical idea.
"This system is interconnected, and it is impossible for any one link to be missing."
This is also why the world of sorcery has existed for thousands of years.
“But, all the cursed spirits disappear… Indeed, if we could do that, we wouldn’t be so tired anymore, right?” Gojo Satoru pondered. “Just imagining that scene is pretty good, to say the least.”
Xia Youjie: "But this is destined to be impossible..."
—With a whoosh, the classroom door was pulled open, and Moth Zhengdao returned.
The four of them instantly transformed from a casual, crooked sitting posture into a serious, attentive sitting posture.
"What do you mean it's impossible?"
Moth only heard this last part.
"No, it's nothing."
Gojo Satoru casually covered for Kazuma—if Moth-sensei knew what he had just said, she would definitely nag Kazuma for not paying attention in class again.
"Teacher, what were you doing just now? Do you need us to congratulate you on taking over as principal?"
"Yes, it's about time."
Xia Youjie, who chimed in, also helped cover for them.
"Don't guess wildly, we're about to get down to business."
—Both of them stopped speaking by raising their hands, and they forgot about the question they were about to ask.
"It's a very important task, but it was specifically assigned by Lord Tengen. You three—Wu, Jie, and Yizhen—will take it on."
"There are two tasks: to protect the compatible girl [Star Essence Body] of Lord Tianyuan and to eliminate her."
While Gojo Satoru and Natsuyu Suke were surprised by the task assigned to them, Hato Kazuma didn't react much.
As expected, it was a mission related to [Tianyuan Assimilation], which was also the only reason he was sent to this school by the [Panxing Sect].
"The barriers located in various colleges and universities, the barrier techniques that assist in supervision and control, and even the purification barrier covering the central region of Japan all rely on Lord Tengen's maintenance over the past thousand years. If assimilation fails, not only will Lord Tengen face a 'purification' with an unknown outcome, but the normal security protection and mission handling of the entire sorcery world will also be difficult to carry out normally!"
Moth Lord slammed his hand on the blackboard with the words "[Q]" and "[Panxing Sect]" written on it, his tone stern.
"The assimilation period is the full moon two days from now! Before then, you must escort the girl safely from these two groups that are eyeing the [Astral Matter] to Lord Tengen at the Hidden Star Palace!"
"--learn!"
………
Meanwhile, on the observation deck of a certain building.
"I've received a commission from the Panxing Cult to assassinate a Starmaw. The reward is quite generous, and there are even insiders within the protection group to provide assistance," Kong Shiyu said. "How about it, want to get involved, Zen Temple?"
"Having internal connections and still needing to make additional requests," the man called [Zen Temple] replied slowly, "is that implying something?"
“You have a keen sense of things,” Kong Shiyu laughed. “You can use him as expendable as you like, trust him or throw him out as a pawn to draw fire, it’s all up to you—that’s what they told me.”
"Ha... those upper-class people always look at us like we're just useful garbage."
The man in the pure black long-sleeved shirt, with his hands in his pockets, glanced at Kong Shiyu as he answered with a half-smile.
"Since you say the reward is generous, then let's take it."
"—Also, I've already married into the family, and now I'm Fu Hei."
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