Chapter 71
It's easy for Kazuma Hatake to understand the order to approach Natsume Yuuki.
After all, even a future villain needs a trigger to become a villain—including Kazuma Hatori himself in the second playthrough, who should be considered as someone who was categorized into the villain's camp.
In other words, the reason why Xia Youjie will become a villain in the future may very well be due to the conspiracy of this cult leader.
But for this, he was actually asked to deliberately get close to Xia Youjie and gain his trust...
Kazuma Hatori wanted to refuse on the spot.
Ayako Sakura and Kazuma Hatori on the other end of the phone didn't answer for a long time before she spoke up again in a stern tone.
"Answer if you hear me."
"…………"
Kazuma Hatake naturally wanted to say no, but at that moment a pop-up window appeared in the system, displaying the following message:
[Currently triggered delegate:]
Ayako's instructions: Please get Natsumi Yuuki's trust level with the player to reach 80% within the specified time.
Xia Youjie's trust level: 2%/80%.
Reward: Gain the skill .
...and it turns out to be a fairly important skill to unlock.
"…………"
Kazuma Hatake stared intently at the words "reward" in his dark eyes—even though he was so annoyed that he wanted to glare it through, he couldn't stop the countdown from ticking away like a full hourglass, second by second, toward zero.
The advantage is that it takes a long time; Kazuma Hatake has an entire school year to complete this request.
The downside is that Kazuma Hatake has no intention of taking on this request.
Not only did he not want to do it, he also considered whether to nip Xia Youjie in the bud as a villain.
"...Yes, ma'am."
Without waiting for Ayako Sakami to urge him a second time, Kazuma Hatori simply replied with "Yes, ma'am" as he had been taught at the "House of the Stars" before, dismissing the topic.
He could simply refuse the commission, but Kazuma Hagoromo was more interested in another piece of information.
"Where is the Patriarch currently? Is it possible for me to see him?"
Why don't he just go and kill them? So far in this second playthrough, all the missions and quests he's given have been in the villain's favor, which is making Kazuma Hatake a little unhappy.
Even if we can't beat him, we should at least find out the true identity of this so-called "Cult Master".
"Stop your delusions," Ayako Sakura decisively rejected his plan. "The Patriarch is not someone we can meet."
"...Even the Holy Son of the Panxing Sect won't do?"
Kazuma Hagoromo was silent for a moment, then asked in confusion, "According to my status as the Holy Son, I should be the Pope's..."
"Shut up!" Ayako Sakami raised her voice.
"We truly do not understand why the Patriarch has designated you as the Holy Son, but since you have never seen the Patriarch's true form before, don't expect to see him in the future. After all, the Patriarch is the founder of the Panxing Sect and is considered an immortal and indestructible figure..."
"Immortal and indestructible?"
Kazuma Hatori instantly grasped this keyword.
In the first playthrough, the handsome Daigo and he also guessed that the real mastermind behind the entire jutsu world was a certain [being] whose time span was several decades.
This [existence] may be a group, or it may be an individual.
Hearing the so-called "patriarch" described in this way, Kazuma Hatake was unsure whether it was just a common exaggerated description used in religions for patriarchs, or whether he was truly "immortal and indestructible."
Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Ayako Sakami's devout chanting was interrupted by Kazuma Hatori, who immediately became quite annoyed.
"Don't think about anything unnecessary. Just obediently follow the instructions of the Pope. When the Pope wants to see you, he will naturally give the corresponding instructions."
Hearing that the patriarch, Ayako Sakami, hadn't even used a gender designation throughout her speech, Kazuma Hatori remained silent for a moment before asking her a question.
"Have you also never seen the true form of the Pope?"
beep--
Kazuma Hatake's call was abruptly disconnected, leaving him sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the call-end screen.
She's so stingy; she can break down your defenses with just one sentence.
It seems he'll have to find out the identity of the patriarch himself—Hatori Kazuma has a feeling that the other party is inextricably linked to [Natsuyuki (deceased) (?)] from the previous game, and they might even be in cahoots.
As for the commission, Kazuma Hatori decided to leave it to fate.
Who would actually try to get close to Xia Youjie and gain his trust? Yuqu Kazuma had absolutely no motivation.
If you really can't complete the task, then so be it. Just tell Ayako Sakami that you did your best, and that Natsuyuki is too suspicious. What does it have to do with him?
After all, if even the "Six-Eyed" from the Gojo family can get along with him, then it's definitely not him who has a problem, but Xia Youjie.
As for skills, we can just give them up. Pretty Little Wu has never minded that he's a magic idiot.
Knowing his own strength, yet never looking down on others' weakness—all of this is merely an objective fact in Gojo Satoru's eyes, not a measure of his emotional balance.
He would point out this fact bluntly, just as he would bluntly criticize Hachiro Hajime for being a magic idiot who couldn't use spells or sense magic power, but that never affected the fact that he and Hachiro Hajime were really good friends.
Many people probably can't accept the truth that they are actually weak, which is why they think Gojo Satoru is an impolite, arrogant, and conceited guy.
[Monster], [self-righteous], [a pervert who only wants to satisfy his own desires]—these kinds of words that Satoru casually uttered, Hatori Kazuma would never allow to hear again.
Whether it's the first playthrough or the second playthrough.
"It's true, it's true, it's true—"
While sitting in his dormitory, Kazuma Hatori was lost in thought when Satoru Gojo slammed his fist on the wooden door twice, causing it to creak open.
"I'm back! Look what I photographed!"
He bounced in with incredible excitement, his soft white fur sticking up and refusing to settle down obediently—so his white hair became a messy, sprawling mess, like a blooming dandelion, swaying happily from side to side.
"Ah, welcome back... What did you film?"
Kazuma Hatori's gaze immediately and unconsciously lingered on him, his words of response becoming fleeting instincts. This caused Satoru Gojo, who was about to squeeze in, to pause and start running his hand through his hair.
At this moment, he was torn between caring too much and feeling that he would lose, but not caring would only make him more unwilling to accept defeat.
I carefully combed it back and forth with my fingers, then pressed it flat with my palm... pressed it flat... couldn't press it flat, oh well.
Gojo Satoru believed he looked incredibly cool in previous missions and would look even cooler in future ones—it was just his hair, he could look at it if he wanted!
So, as planned, Gojo Satoru squeezed in next to Hato Kazuma and showed him the photos he had taken at Gojo's house.
Almost all of them are candid shots of the elders of the Gojo family getting furious and behaving inappropriately after watching Gojo Satoru on a prank variety show.
Finally, there's a blurry still image of them realizing that Gojo Satoru is taking pictures of them nonstop, getting angry and trying to snatch the phone but failing. The pose and expression are hilarious.
With the [No Limits] technique in place, there's no way these old guys could possibly steal what's in his hands!
Gojo Satoru had laughed loudly at them back then, and now he was just as amused, rolling around on Hato Kazuma's bed.
The dormitory is equipped with desks and chairs, but they are for one person only, and there is definitely not enough room for two people to sit.
Since Kazuma Hatake had been sitting on the edge of the bed when he answered the phone, Satoru Gojo naturally sat down next to him on the bed and showed him the photos.
He felt that his relationship with Kazuma Hatake was already quite close, and he made no attempt to hide his lack of decorum in front of the latter.
As for why he has a particularly good feeling towards Kazuma Hatake?
Gojo Satoru also pondered this question and realized that it was like how he felt that Jie's single strand of bangs was very distinctive when they first met. It was entirely driven by his emotional side and could not be solved through precise calculations like solving a mathematical formula.
But in any case, his first impression was right; Ichima was indeed a good friend he got along with very well!
"Wow, this show was totally worth it!"
Having finally finished laughing, Gojo Satoru closed his phone and tossed it aside. He lazily rolled over and lay down on Hagoromo Kazuma's bed, even grabbing his pillow to hug.
"Turn on the TV! Let's play games!"
Gojo Satoru's tone was super cheerful and energetic, giving off a great mood!
With his uninhibited movements, the shirt that was already loosely draped over his body was rumpled and messed up, with the hem slightly pulled up, revealing a small part of his waist pressed against the bed surface. His curves were smooth and his muscles were firm, clearly showing the lean and strong physique he had developed through years of exercise, making him even more attractive.
The person in question was completely oblivious, stretching out his arm to reach the small basket full of game discs on the ground, not caring that his shirt hem was pulled up even higher, and focusing only on using his fingertips to point at the neatly stacked discs one by one, flipping through them to find which one he and Kazuma Hatake were going to play today.
He was humming a tuneless melody and swaying his head slightly, looking genuinely happy.
This was probably the happiest time he had ever spent at Gojo's house.
They're so cute, whether it's the beautiful Daigo or the beautiful Kogo... even their expressions of happiness are almost exactly the same.
Kazuma Hatori paused for a moment, recalling the time he spent living together in the apartment, before getting up to turn on the TV and grab the game controller.
This game console was actually bought by Gojo Satoru, but he forgot to take it back when he visited last time and had fish soup rice, so he just left it with him.
Gojo Satoru finally chose the two-player challenge game they hadn't finished last time and continued to fight against Hato Kazuma.
—Until I was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone.
"Hmm? Hey, Moth-sensei? What's up? I'm busy right now—"
As Gojo Satoru was getting into the heat of the fight, he put his phone on speakerphone on the bed and skillfully unleashed a powerful attack. Together with Hagoromo Kazuma, who was also unleashing his attack, they instantly took away a significant portion of the BOSS's health.
Listening to the rapid clicking of the keys on the other end of the phone, Masamichi Noi on the other end could almost imagine just how intense the battle was.
"...Wu, don't think I didn't hear you playing games."
Gojo Satoru was perfectly justified in this.
"That's why I'm so busy, because I play games."
This reason was so compelling that Moth was speechless—after all, it wasn't school time, and playing games was perfectly normal.
Not to mention, this guy now has an extra part-time job.
"The agency asked if you and Kazuma could do an interview, the one you did last time..."
"want!"
The five answers were delivered with force and conviction.
This is so much fun, there's no need to hear the whole explanation!
"...Don't mention anything about the world of sorcery then."
Moth Masami pinched the bridge of his nose and suddenly felt a silent weariness... and an ominous premonition.
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