Persona: Devil Summoner

People always have a nostalgic mood.

Once you get older or have experienced great ups and downs, you tend to have a different understanding of the ordinary scenery you see every day. Sometimes just a piece of paper, a pen, or even a gesture or a sigh can bring back endless memories.

On the same day, in the morning. While Jiang Tianwei, Sakamoto Ryuji, and Maruki Takuto were still struggling at the school gate, the second-year classroom of Shujin Academy became a carrier of memories today. The desks and chairs that were beginning to fade, the blackboard that would leave chalk marks no matter how hard you wipe it, the classmates whose names you could call but whose personal deeds you couldn't remember, and...

Before the class meeting, a young girl sat in her seat with her hands clasped together into fists. She lowered her head and kept muttering while taking deep breaths.

No one in the class was talking. It was the time before the morning class started. The class was shrouded in a deathly silence, which was very strange. Usually, the time before the class started was the most chaotic time for a class. After a night's rest, the students were full of energy and liked to communicate with each other during this time.

Whether it's talking about the movies and TV series they watched last night, or talking about anime and games, whether it's the new album released by their favorite star, or the recent adjustment of the C position of a popular idol group, or talking about the teacher they hate, or the seniors they admire, students of this age always have endless topics to talk about... It's really unusual that they are so quiet...

And the reason...the girl at the center of this delicate atmosphere knows it best.

(School is still scary...)

As she - Suzui Shiho - thought so, her body instinctively trembled slightly.

Because of the atrocities committed by the beastly teacher Kamo Shida, the adolescent girl was left with nowhere to go and was forced to choose only death. It is conceivable what a terrible place school is for her.

Suzui Shiho's parents also mentioned to her that if she felt miserable at Shujin Academy, she could choose to transfer to another school. If she felt miserable just staying in the local area, she could just move to another city. Suzui Shiho also thought about whether she should just move to another city, where no one would know her, and start all over again...

But, if you do this...

(apricot……)

Shiho still has friends in this city who care about her and who have always been so supportive of her... She has also been troubled by Kamoshida, but she remains so strong...

(And... the Phantom Thieves...)

This is another reason why Shiho stayed... Even the big villains that teachers, parents, schools, and society could not punish were solved by those thieves. Shiho did not go to school during this period. When he was bored at home, he would always hear the legends of various thieves, and he was happy and encouraged because they solved new bad guys.

She felt sad because they were caught up in malicious speculation, and she couldn't help but smile because their reputation was gradually improving... She had become a big fan of the Phantom Thieves without realizing it.

(…and…there is also classmate Jiang…)

When he thought of Jiang Tianwei, a hint of red appeared on Suzui Shiho's originally pale face.

There is a theory called the suspension bridge effect, which states that men and women tend to be more fond of each other after experiencing a great crisis together. For these two people, Jiang Tianwei's desperate hand reaching out to grab Zhifan's hand on the rooftop has become a memory that she will never forget.

Many factors finally made the girl cheer up and decide to face this psychological shadow. But...what she didn't expect was that the so-called psychological shadow is a two-way thing.

She was afraid of the school, and on the other hand, the school was afraid of her.

As mentioned countless times before, because of a huge scandal, Shujin Academy is now trying to improve its image in the outside world, otherwise the next batch of students will have a hard time. What is the most feared thing at this time? Of course, another new scandal!

Especially for someone like Suzui Shiho, who was originally a victim and returned to school, society is very sensitive to people with this identity. It is no exaggeration to say that any behavior against Suzui Shiho that is slightly "aggressive" will be exaggerated and then interpreted maliciously.

For example, if you pat her back affectionately, people with ulterior motives will accuse you of assaulting her maliciously. If a dozen classmates surround her and ask about her well-being, people with ulterior motives will accuse everyone of bullying. Because the original intention of these people with ulterior motives is to do everything they can to create some topics, create a hot spot, attract a lot of attention, and deceive attention.

As for what will happen to the victims? It doesn't matter. After all, I am wearing the skin of a messenger of justice. Anyone who dares to criticize me will be met with hostility from the masses who do not know the truth.

Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, the first thing the school did after learning that Shiho was going to return to school was to go to her class and hold an emergency class meeting for the whole class, ordering them to "absolutely not allow bullying!" "Not allow special treatment - especially not for Shiho Suzui" "If you are found, you will be expelled!" As a result, the whole class looked at Shiho Suzui as if she were a monster, and no one dared to speak.

Everyone was secretly muttering in their hearts: (Don’t get involved with that woman... But the atmosphere is so depressing, is there no one who says something to break the atmosphere?).

This is the so-called collective consciousness. No one is willing to go against the common understanding of the "majority".

Not only humans, but many animal groups are also very susceptible to the influence of collective consciousness. For example, sheep, as all shepherds know, as long as you control the head sheep, the sheep behind will automatically follow it. For example, caterpillars, let them form a circle head to tail, they will always follow the buttocks of the worm in front and crawl slowly, and no worm will try to escape from the circle.

Similarly, everyone in this class is eager for someone to break the silent atmosphere, but no one is willing to be the first to do so.

Since no one in the class is willing to do this... then we can only hope that a "divine soldier" will suddenly appear from outside.

"Shiho?!"

A clear, loud and emotional voice suddenly rang out, which seemed particularly sharp in the quiet classroom, like a bolt of lightning splitting the dull atmosphere.

Shiho was startled when he heard that, and like everyone else, he raised his head and looked towards the door. He saw Takamaki An clinging to the door frame, her golden twin ponytails like swaying sunlight, breaking through the suffocating air.

"apricot!".

Shiho couldn't help but call out to her.

Takamaki An completely ignored the depressing class atmosphere, ran to Shiho's side, opened her arms and hugged Shiho's shoulders. Her arms kept increasing their strength because of joy, and this hug made Suzui Shiho's shoulders a little painful. This passionate feeling was connected through the two people's equally slender arms.

"cough……"

Originally, it should have been a beautiful scene with lilies in the background, but suddenly someone coughed dryly in an unromantic manner.

Before Gao Juanxing could turn around, she heard a crisp sound...

"oops!"

Takamaki An squatted on the ground with her hands on her head, looking at the "murderer" behind her with tearful eyes, pouting: "You won't really hit my head, will you? Xiao Zhendai!"

This name only corresponds to one person in this school, and that is the Chinese teacher, Sadayo Kawakami.

Originally, in the minds of students, Mr. Kawakami was a teacher who had no motivation, yawned every day and was lazy. No one cared much. But since one day, the teacher suddenly became a different person. He prepared lessons seriously, taught rigorously, cared about students, and became a good teacher in the standard template.

A person's spirit and energy do affect his temperament. When she is spirited, she seems to be ten years younger. Therefore, some students who like her began to call her "Little Sadayo" behind her back. Takamaki An is one of them.

Kawakami Sadae slapped the lesson plan on her palm and said, "Takamaki-san, your class is not here, right? Class is about to start. Please go back to your class."

"good…………"

Takamaki An drawled out the word unhappily.

This small, ordinary theater made Suzui Shiho feel like he was really back to school, and a smile appeared on his face unconsciously.

"I'm leaving first. I'll come see you after class!"

Takamaki An waved her hand and left the class quickly, like a gust of wind. This kind of vigorous action made Suzui Shiho feel his good friend more clearly.

(With Xing here... I will definitely... be able to overcome my fear...)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 312 The Ultimate Meaning of the Banquet

On the same day, after school, in the coffee shop [Leblanc].

"Well, let's drink to celebrate Shiho's return to school!"

Takamaki An nodded with a high-pitched and cheerful voice, and raised her cup filled with drinks. She was an overly cheerful person, and since she was celebrating for her best friend, she was naturally very high.

People who don't know Takamaki An, just by looking at her appearance and listening to everyone's gossip, forcefully label her as "Kanoshida's woman", "Takayama's flower", "arrogant goddess", "secret bitch". No one wants to get in touch with her, nor does anyone want to hear what kind of person she is. One-sidedly thinks that "I know her very well", and then one-sidedly "keep my distance".

But as long as you talk to Gao Juan Xing for a while, you will find that those evaluations derived from her appearance are all false. This person is like a buddy who lives next door to you. Those who unilaterally judged Gao Juan Xing as difficult to communicate with because of her appearance will definitely regret it if they know her true nature.

Since it was a welcome party hosted by Takamaki Anne, it was easy to imagine that, given her popularity in the school, the attendees would be the same old people: Takamaki Anne herself, Lublan's guest Ren Amamiya, her best friend from junior high school Ryuji Sakamoto, and Mishima Yuki, who was also a victim of the Kamoshida incident.

I wanted to invite Jiang Tianwei, but he happened to have something tonight. He was debating with Mr. Maruki during this time. Thanks to this, Long Si was also late, so the welcome party originally scheduled for the afternoon became in the evening...

Since we are in a coffee shop, the thing that everyone orders is, of course, curry.

I don’t know what the boss was thinking. A coffee shop actually sells curry?! These two things are completely unrelated except that the first character is written the same! Moreover, as a coffee shop, the most popular product is curry. Many residents of Shigenjaya will come here to order a plate of curry when they are too lazy to cook. Takemi Tae is a frequent customer here... How sad this must make the boss!

Suzui Shiho looked a little embarrassed.

Strictly speaking, Zhifan only knew two people at the table. This is the situation that introverts (not necessarily those with social phobia) fear the most. There are several strangers at the party, and they don’t know whether they should talk or how to talk. In the end, they can only eat and drink in silence. They even feel awkward chatting with the few acquaintances, for fear that they will be considered as forming a clique...

"It's okay, Suzui. I can assure you that they are not the kind of people you think."

Mishima Yuki gave a thumbs up to Suzui Shiho, showing a row of white teeth, and his face looked like a cheerful character in an American comic.

Mishima Yuki was very excited, he really knew the identities of everyone present. After all, as a witness of the Kamoshida incident, he immediately guessed the true identity of the Phantom Thieves. However, as a person who was saved by the Phantom Thieves, Mishima Yuki had secretly vowed to stand on the side of the Phantom Thieves for the rest of his life.

And today, as a big fan of the Phantom Thieves, he actually has the opportunity to eat curry with the Phantom Thieves. What a luxury!

As a victim of the Kamoshida incident, Mishima Yuki is well aware of Suzui Shiho's worries, so he uses the commonality of both of them being victims to comfort Shiho as much as possible. "

Suzui Shiho nodded. She knew very well that what Mishima Yuki said was right. But, there are many things that cannot be helped. Just like PTSD, people who are affected know that they should get out of the shadow, but they just can't do it. This is called PTSD.

This kind of action, which is close to a physiological reaction, doesn't even break Geass. No matter how absolutely you order the other person not to die, he will still die...

"Yeah, we're not bad people!"

Ryuji had curry and rice stuffed in his mouth and said this indistinctly, with a cooked brown color hanging at the corners of his mouth.

"Ryuji, only bad people would say things like that."

Amamiya Ren pushed up her glasses and made a calm and precise remark.

"How is that possible!"

Ryuji slapped Amamiya Ren in the chest in mid-air like a manzai actor.

The two people's stupid combination made Suzui Shiho smile, and he thought: (These two people must be deliberately acting funny just to make me relax... What gentle people.).

I can only say that sometimes, what you think may not be the truth, and there is no need to tell the truth. There is no need to tell others that these two people usually get along like this.

"Okay, over there! No stupidity allowed."

Takamaki An stood up and pointed at the manzai duo over there. With one shout, she destroyed the new generation of duos that might rewrite the Japanese manzai world in the future. It would be fun to have a phantom thief manzai say, "If it's not funny, I'll steal your heart and make you laugh non-stop, kira~"

"Today we are celebrating for my good sister Shiho, please behave like normal people!"

As Takamaki An said this, she hugged Suzui Shiho, and the two girls put their cheeks together, their black and golden hair intertwined, blending into a beautiful scene. It is said that beauty is a feast for the eyes, and the closeness of this beauty and beauty is enough to make people full just by looking at it.

Several men present nodded together and said "hmm" in unison.

Today was a coincidence. I thought that Suzui Shiho's return would be like a bomb dropped into a pond, with a loud bang and a large group of fish floating up and down... but it didn't happen.

Thanks to yesterday, Sumire Yoshizawa won a good place in the competition. The principal was so happy that he wanted to hold a press conference to inform the whole country about this matter. He didn't have the ability to publicize it to the whole country, but if he publicized it in his own school, it would be a sure thing.

The result was that the whole school was immersed in the joy of "We have a champion among our class!", and no one noticed Shiho's return except his own class.

Maybe the principal arranged this on purpose? If this is true, then there is some truth in the saying "smart heads don't grow hair".

What’s even more coincidental is that today the boss, Sojiro Sakura, heard that the ward in his attic wanted to hold a party, so he readily lent him the store.

If it was a few months ago, he would never have let Amamiya Ren go like this. After all, to him, Amamiya Ren was just a troublesome roommate, a violent person, and a problem student with a criminal record. Only after spending a few months with her day and night did he gradually understand how terrible the "fear" in "fear of people's words" was.

It was a gathering of young people, and the boss was not interested in staying here to spoil the mood. He gave them a few words and went home first. The most important thing for a mature man is to learn to "know what's interesting", and Boss Sakura knows this very well.

Several young people treated drinks as wine. After drinking a few rounds of drinks and chatting about some family matters, Zhifan gradually became more talkative, and the atmosphere became more and more heated. She quietly pinched Gao Juan's sleeves and asked in her ear: "So... um, Jiang classmate, he is not coming today?"

"Um...he...he has something to do today...Could it be, Shiho and you?!"

Takamaki An was such a smart person that when she heard her question, her eyes rolled and she actually understood the true meaning of her question. Suzui Shiho blushed and said anxiously, "No, don't think about it. I, I just thought that if he hadn't been there before, I would have definitely fallen off the building. I, I wanted to thank him."

"Oh, so that's it! That's great."

Takamaki An heaved a sigh of relief, and placed her slender palm on her plump chest. Suzui Shiho asked curiously, "Why do you suddenly feel relieved, An?"

"Ah, no, nothing. I just feel relieved to find out that you are not in a relationship."

Gao Juan's mind was full of Jiang Tianwei's messy relationship with men and women. No, strictly speaking, it wasn't messy, but it was really a lot. He was with those two Fangze classmates every day. If Shiho developed romantic feelings for him, then she would be in a dilemma!

On one side is his good friend Shiho, and on the other side are his fellow Phantom Thieves. How should he choose?

(Luckily, Shiho doesn’t have such thoughts…)

Gao Juanxing breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.

(Why should Xing be relieved? Could it be that she is interested in Jiang classmate!? Hey hey hey hey?!)

However, Suzui Shiho's heart tensed up unconsciously...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 313: Fusion! Fusion! Fusion of the fucking kind!

Tonight, Jiang Tianwei and Fang Zexia ran into the cognitive space together.

It is not uncommon for young men and women to act together, especially at this age, when boys and girls begin to develop an interest in the opposite sex. No one can condemn them.

However, the joint actions of these two people, rather than being ignorant with a sweet and sour strawberry flavor, are actually efficient hunting.

Fang Zexia was wearing a blue dress, and her fingertips continuously released fine lightning arrows, launching precise attacks from the back. Jiang Tianwei, holding a spear in his hand and wearing gorgeous armor, stood at the forefront of the team and killed all the shadows.

The two men, one in front and one behind, one physical and one magical, skillfully crushed the shadows along the way. The shadows they encountered were either crushed by them and turned back into black mud, or lay on the ground dying and unable to move. At this time, Jiang Tianwei would put his spear on the opponent's neck: "Join me, or... die!"

This kind of conversation, which has a very boyish comic-like temperament, not only serves to vent one's own middle school emotions, but also has a crucial meaning... that is - to enrich Jiang Tianwei's software inventory.

Although Jiang Tianwei's demon summoning program has many mysteries, it still has more advantages than disadvantages. In this world, everyone is always pursuing perfect things, but in fact, there are few things that are absolutely perfect. There will always be some minor shortcomings that are not satisfactory.

At this time, we should seriously study and understand the theory mentioned countless times in political textbooks: take the essence and discard the dross. Take in the necessary parts and remove the unnecessary parts, and just filter them subjectively.

Since you know that this software has a chance of synthesis errors, then why don't you just not synthesize in an emergency? Why don't you synthesize the demons that need to be synthesized in advance before the battle? It would be stupid to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Jiang Tianwei didn't feel comfortable asking his companions to come along for this boring and long demon collecting journey, so he just brought Fang Zexia with him.

Originally, Fang Zexia had the choice of pestering Nuwa to resurrect her so that she could stay at home and play games, but she still followed Jiang Tianwei without hesitation.