Fried Chicken Shop
As it wasn't mealtime, the shop was very quiet.
Only a woman wearing a long black dress, with her bright blue long hair woven into a peculiar braid, sat by the window.
She drank her own alcohol, ate fried chicken, and enjoyed the rare peace.
Mei Mei.
A civilian Sorcerer. Although she graduated from the prestigious Tokyo Jujutsu High, after graduation she chose to become a free civilian Sorcerer.
To be more direct: she became a bounty hunter, a mercenary.
As long as the price was fair, she would take action to help her employer solve problems.
This time, she was acting on a private mission from an acquaintance, Masamichi Yaga—to find the person exhibiting abnormalities in a certain building.
That building was Kitagawa Marin's residence.
It was also the holy land locked onto by Tengen-sama, where a god had briefly appeared.
Although Kitagawa Marin did not directly come into contact with Erlang Shen, this Grade 1 Sorcerer still used her methods to pinpoint Kitagawa Marin as the suspicious target.
Thus, Black Bird Manipulation was activated, and she followed Kitagawa Marin to the vicinity of the school to collect evidence.
Akira also noticed the black bird outside the window.
It was a common black bird in the country that preys on small cats—generally called a crow.
And it was the first time Akira had seen such an omnivorous bird in the school.
To be able to accurately perch on a branch outside the window, with a good vantage point, and stare into the classroom—that was even more unprecedented.
So, who was controlling it?
Akira searched his memories. There were only two relevant individuals.
The head of the Public Safety Department, the Control Devil—Makima.
Her ability was not only to dominate beings whose strength was lower than hers in her subjective world, but she could also control small animals like rats and crows to monitor and eavesdrop on targets. This was her efficient method of acquiring information.
The other was the Grade 1 Sorcerer, Mei Mei.
She mastered Black Bird Manipulation and possessed the ability to share the vision of crows. However, although she was a Sorcerer, she did not belong to the Jujutsu Association but worked independently.
Who would hire her to monitor Saeko Busujima?
No one.
Akira couldn't think of anyone, no matter how hard he tried. The Zombie Devil incident had nothing to do with the Jujutsu Association, the Public Safety Department had no need to go to such lengths, and the Hero Association even less so.
However, the Zombie Devil incident wasn't that big. So how could the head of Public Safety, Makima, personally intervene?
Akira didn't know.
But that was the Control Devil—her thought process couldn't be judged by normal human thinking. What if she had other motives?
He couldn't figure it out.
So Akira stopped overthinking. His current strength was no longer afraid of direct contact with the three major systems.
Anyway, he hadn't done anything that would incur the wrath of heaven or violate heavenly principles, nor had he exposed his ability to grow stronger by doing things. Even if there was contact, there would be no hostility.
So Akira watched the crow for a while, then put his attention back on his diary.
Akira had already written nearly 100,000 characters—all handwritten, which was a considerable undertaking.
The skill of Masterful Writing was really useful. As long as he had a plot, words would naturally flow from his mind.
However, his main profession was a Trainer, so he definitely wouldn't continue to develop in this area.
It was just perfect for passing the time now.
Time flew by. When the lunch break bell rang, Akira had just finished writing on the last page of his diary.
"Finally, class is over."
Akira stretched, closing his notebook.
"Akira, let's go. We're going to eat!"
"Oh, Alisa, did you bring a bento too? Want to eat together?"
Kitagawa Marin saw Alisa also take out her bento from the drawer and naturally asked.
"Okay!"
"Akira-san, Alisa wants to join too."
"I heard everything!"
"Let's go, let's go."
Putting away his diary, Akira also pulled out his bento. The group, in high spirits, arrived on the rooftop.
A crow shook its head and landed on the wire mesh of the rooftop.
Akira ignored it, led everyone, and sat down in the shade.
"Wow~! Akira-san, your bento is so rich."
"My mom made it. There's a bit too much, so everyone please help eat some!"
"Then, I won't be polite."
"Mmm~! Delicious."
Kitagawa Marin was the first to start eating, and Alisa and Saeko Busujima followed suit with their chopsticks.
Not long after, Kasumigaoka Utaha appeared on the rooftop with her pineapple bun and milk.
With the skill Focus and a surge in her stats, even after staying up all night writing a light novel, she was still energetic and showed no signs of fatigue.
"Akira-san, who are these two?"
"My classmates: Alisa, and this one is Kitagawa Marin."
"This is a senior from the second year, Kasumigaoka Utaha. This used to be her base, and now she's also a member of our shared-table group."
Seeing Akira somewhat formally introduce Alisa and Kitagawa Marin, Kasumigaoka Utaha immediately understood that these two were still outsiders.
However, since Akira had brought them, it meant they would soon become insiders.
Hmm. They're all beauties. Akira's taste isn't bad.
"Hello, senior!"
"Hello, senior!"
"Hello, juniors."
After a round of introductions, Kasumigaoka Utaha joined the eating army.
Everyone ate happily together.
"This is truly nostalgic."
"But Kitagawa Marin… what exactly is your secret?"
Mei Mei sat on a tree-shaded bench outside the school, quietly watching the young men and women on the rooftop.
However, with someone watching and new people joining the meal, Akira naturally canceled the lunch break training.
Even if Mei Mei's eyes became dry from staring, she wouldn't be able to see anything unusual.
Ring, ring, ring…
The dismissal bell rang.
Akira packed his things, waved goodbye to everyone, but he did not leave school as usual. Instead, he went against the flow and walked toward the office.
Although he felt very bad about not being able to fulfill his promise to walk home with Kato Megumi, and not following Yumi Souo's instructions to go straight home after school today, there was nothing he could do.
It was a temporary mission—a platinum capture ball—and Akira couldn't refuse it.
Moreover, he had already explained to Kato Megumi and Yumi Souo that he needed to help Teacher Mafuyu today and couldn't keep his promise.
They were also very understanding, telling Akira not to worry about them and that important matters came first.
So Akira decided that after the mission was completed, he would properly train Kirisu Mafuyu.
He would get back all that guilt from her.
"Teacher Mafuyu, aren't you getting off work yet?"
"I still have some things to do. You all can go home first!"
Kirisu Mafuyu was hunched over her desk, not even lifting her head. Before long, she was the only one left in the office.
The usually noisy school suddenly became quiet, and the office was even more deathly silent.
Coupled with the sunset outside the window, which was about to completely sink behind the mountains, all of this made this usually meticulous and fearless teacher feel terrified.
It was as if an infant's cry would ring in her ears the next second.
Why isn't Akira here yet?
He clearly said they would meet in the office.
Kirisu Mafuyu no longer had the heart to work and began to hastily pack her things.
Clatter!
Her pen fell to the floor in her haste.
She immediately bent down to pick it up.
But when she looked up, she saw a pair of indoor shoes appear in front of her at some unknown time.