Persona: Devil Summoner

Jiang Tianwei praised sincerely, saying that Gao Juanxing was indeed a beautiful mixed-race girl. If the Phantom Thieves didn't have a girl this time, it would be really difficult to succeed.

After finishing the business, everyone chatted for a while and then left. Jiang Tianwei was naturally the last one to leave, and he needed to lock the door. The key turned in the keyhole and made a crisp click. Jiang Tianwei suddenly found that a black shadow covered his shadow on the door.

He raised his vigilance to the maximum, then turned around and asked, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Unexpectedly, his decisive question actually startled the man behind him. He took two steps back involuntarily, and accidentally bumped into the air conditioner outside the wall behind him. The corner of his clothes was caught by the raised corner of the air conditioner outside the wall. As he stood up...

Tear!

The cheap suit he was wearing was torn open...

"Ah! Ahhhh! Me, my suit!!".

The man was holding his slit suit, looking mournful. He did not have the cold and ruthless look that Jiang Tianwei had expected an enemy to come to him in such a situation.

"Um, uncle... what do you do?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 90 Sow good causes and reap good results

If you often watch police and gangster movies, you will often see similar scenes: the good guy is concentrating on doing something, and then a shadow suddenly covers him. Then the good guy turns around, and the bad guy smiles and launches a sneak attack.

But what Jiang Tianwei encountered... um... was obviously not that kind of situation."

The man standing behind him looked very familiar. After thinking carefully, wasn't he the salesman who sat at the door before everyone came to the secret base for a meeting?

There were still stains of popsicle water on the front of his wrinkled shirt.

When he heard Jiang Tianwei asking him, the uncle didn't care about his embarrassed appearance, and quickly stood up, took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

Jiang Tianwei took a look and found it was a business card of Kawahara Bank, on which was written the credit officer: Kitahara Akihabara.

(Kawahara Bank… this name sounds so familiar… damn, isn’t this the mafia bank that my stepfather opened?!).

"Hello, little brother. This is my big brother's business card. I saw you just opened the door and walked in. Do you know what's going on in this store?"

"Um, this uncle at the bank..."

“It’s my big brother!”

"Okay, big brother from the bank, what are you here for?"

"Um... do I, do I look suspicious?"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking at a loss.

"Well, big brother, I'm not a suspicious person! Not long ago, the boss here borrowed a sum of money from me, saying that he would use it to run a store. But when I came to pay a follow-up visit, I found that the store had been closed... Ah... Brother, could it be that I was cheated... Could it be that a bad loan was made? Ah... My stomach hurts... This month's performance is going to be low again..."

(loan?).

Jiang Tianwei recalled and it seemed that the boss did mention that he had taken out a loan. Was it from Kawahara Bank?

"Then you don't have to worry. I used to work here. The boss here is planning to master the essence of Chinese cuisine and has taken his son to China. The boss asked me to come and clean up every now and then. I will definitely come back."

"Ah... I was so scared. Big brother, I thought I was cheated by the loan applicant again... Ah, thank you, thank you, little brother~"

The loan officer, who looked like a useless man, grabbed Jiang Tianwei's hand and shook it vigorously: "Thank you! Big brother, I feel relieved. I will continue to apply for loans~~"

He made strange noises from his mouth and ran away while jumping up and down.

He was obviously an adult, but he didn't have the steadiness that an adult should have, and he was just like a child. Seeing his cheerful pace, Jiang Tianwei could only lower his head in embarrassment, fearing that passers-by would confuse him with him, and hurried to Shibuya Station.

He was originally planning to take the train home, but unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at Shibuya Station, he received a message from Takamaki An: "Do you have time?"

"Yes, what happened?"

"Nothing much, just about Shiho."

The place where Takamaki An and Jiang Tianwei made an appointment was Inokashira Park.

This park is very famous in Japan. There was a famous Inokashira Park dismemberment case there, but the murderer has never been found.

I don’t know if it’s because of its bad reputation, or because most people today don’t like parks and prefer other places of entertainment, but in any case, there aren’t many people in Inokashira Park.

It’s such a pity to waste such exquisite green plants.

Modern people have a way of keeping healthy, called forest bathing, which says that breathing fresh air among lush vegetation will make your body better. It seems that the air in the forest is rich in some ions? Jiang Tianwei didn't pay attention.

There are not many people here today, and Jiang Tianwei has all the greenery to himself. Walking among the woods, he feels like he is purified, not knowing if it is a psychological effect.

Soon, they arrived at the agreed place, a wooden bench. Takamaki An was accompanying Reijing Shiho. Both of them had changed into casual clothes, and there was a kind of cuteness that was not seen in school.

Seeing Jiang Tianwei coming over, Ling Jing Zhifan stood up and bowed deeply to him: "Thank you so much, Jiang classmate."

"I feel relieved to see you so healthy."

As soon as Jiang Tianwei saw Ling Jing Zhifan's face, his arm hurt instinctively. This is what people often call a conditioned reflex.

Reijing Shiho has not been to school since the Kamoshida incident. The explanation given to the public is that she is traumatized, which makes sense. She was forced to jump off the building, which shows how much psychological pressure she is under. She really should rest for a while.

Moreover, although Jiang Tianwei held her arm, her body and face inevitably rubbed and collided with the rough wall. The girl's delicate skin could not be compared with the building materials that had been exposed to wind and sun for who knows how many years. It was obvious who would win and who would lose in the friction between the two.

There were still several pieces of gauze on Lingjing Shiho's face, and it seemed that the external injuries had not healed yet.

Takamaki An looked at Ling Jing Shifan with encouragement and joy. People are always like this. When they encounter misfortune, instead of trying their best to save themselves, they tend to be patient and say, "If this misfortune is not particularly serious, then I will just endure it." In order to ensure that their hearts will not be crushed by these misfortunes, they often establish a spiritual sustenance for themselves.

For example, playing games, watching animations, or doing handicrafts and writing articles. In addition to these common interests, there is another one, which is to find someone who can become your spiritual sustenance.

Reijijima Shiho is such a spiritual sustenance for Takamaki An. When Takamaki An had just returned to Japan from abroad, she had no friends and was ostracized by the class. Reijijima Shiho was her only friend, so naturally she had a high status.

Now that she saw her good friend coming out of the shadows, she was even happier than Lingjing himself.

"Mr. Kamoshida came to my house."

As Ling Jing Shiho spoke, he unconsciously grabbed his arms with both hands. This was an instinctive defensive posture. Generally speaking, when humans subconsciously do this action, it means that they are very insecure.

"He knelt down and cried to apologize to me. Although the matter of the volleyball club cannot be written off, but... looking at his appearance, although it is not right, I can't help but think: 'Ah, how satisfying'..."

Ling Jing Zhifan smiled miserably. Although she said it as if she was a villain, her hands never stopped shaking.

"I really want to know who the Phantom Thieves are. I want to thank them in person. Thank them for saving me from hell..."

As Ling Jing spoke, her bean-sized eyes drooped down. Seeing that she was too emotional, Gao Juanxing quickly supported her friend and wanted to take her back.

Lingjing's excuse for taking leave from school was not fake. She really had a mental illness. However, doctors are such cunning professionals. How could they clearly tell you what the problem is? They always said that you "may" have a mental illness. "Speculated" that you have a mental illness. "Recommended" that you rest. These are all ambiguous statements. They dare not give you a definitive conclusion at all.

"Finally, I have to thank classmate Jiang very much... Thank you for holding me back at that time... When I jumped, I was already scared... Really, very, very... Thank you..."

Ling Jing Zhifan was already in tears at the end of her speech. Many people only have a superficial understanding of mental illnesses, such as depression. Their countermeasures are basically to say, "Then why don't you just keep a good mood?" From their perspective, there is nothing wrong with having such a concept, but they don't know that such words are the most terrifying words for real depression.

Just imagine, if a person can consciously maintain a good mood, how can he suffer from depression? It's like saying to a dying person: "Don't die! Just keep your heartbeat and breathing!" The problem is that this is not something that the patient can do just by thinking about it.

Mental illnesses represented by depression are more of an endocrine problem, and neurological problems may also arise. Both drug treatment and spiritual encouragement are indispensable.

In the case of Reijing Shiho, it is very easy to fall into a state of depression and excitement, which is a typical manifestation of depression. Takamaki An also saw this and immediately helped her friend back home.

Jiang Tianwei sat in the park for a while, admiring the beautiful scenery. At the same time, he became more determined in his mind: no matter who tried to stop him, for whatever reason, he would continue to be a thief. Because... there were too many people like Ling Jing Zhifan waiting to be saved. He was not a savior and could not save everyone... but if he could save one person, it would be one person.

Just then, his cell phone rang. It was a message from Gao Juan Xing.

"Shiho has made me more determined... No matter what, I will continue to be a Phantom Thief. To save more people like Shiho who are in deep pain. I will not give up."

Jiang Tianwei smiled. It seemed that she had the same sentiments as himself.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 91 Good people are bullied

When he got home in the evening, Jiang Tianwei received a call from Mr. Kawakami. Naturally, he hoped that Jiang Tianwei could answer the clock.

Jiang Tianwei calculated his deposit and ordered it happily. Naturally, he saw Kawakami Sadayo running over with a bunch of old clothes. I really want to see who this slut is. Oh, he ordered a maid for 5000 yen, only to have her wait in a coin-operated laundry to have her clothes washed?

Kawakami was busy here, so Jiang Tianwei couldn't do anything related to the phantom thief, so he could only search on the Internet.

What are you searching for?

Of course it's Sobanme.

Like most celebrities, Madarame Ikryusai has both good and bad reputations.

However, now the majority of voices are in praise.

Most of the comments praised his superb level, excellent skills, and his inspiration. He was simply the Leonardo da Vinci of this century.

Those small voices of opposition basically focus on plagiarism, copying, and improper power-for-money transactions... However, these small voices have either been overwhelmed by Banmu's fans, or labeled as black fans, "friendly competitors", or jealous.

This is often the case. Public opinion and correctness are different things. Isn't Bruno, who was burned to death for insisting on the heliocentric theory, the best example? Fighting against public opinion, even if you insist on the truth, you will die. Moreover, those who say that Madarame is bad are just speculating and cannot provide any evidence.

After searching for a while, there was no result. It is difficult to distinguish the truth from the false in the information on the Internet. The only conclusion I can draw is that Madarame might be a bad guy.

Next to the search bar, there was Madarame's exhibition. Jiang Tianwei clicked on it and saw a lot of information about the exhibition. On the first few pages, it was a program titled "National Beautiful Girl Chess Player, Staring at a Japanese Painting, What Is Reflected in Her Eyes?" The video preview was the scene he had destroyed before, with Togo Ichi-san standing in front of a huge painting, stopping to stare.

"I thought you suddenly became interested in art, but...ah——"

Teacher Kawakami suddenly popped his head out from behind Jiang Tianwei. He was originally looking for Madarame, but unexpectedly, he ended up jumping to the page for Beautiful Girl.

"Is this the female chess player who has been very popular recently? I remember she was from Koxing High School."

Before Mr. Kawakami finished speaking, Jiang Tianwei curled his lips and said, "It's not what you think!"

"Hey? What am I thinking? Master, if you don't explain it clearly, Betty won't understand."

"Ah, be careful or I'll take a video and post it online..."

"Ah! Don't do this alone!"

Although they were teacher and student, they joked with each other like friends. Time passed quickly, and the clothes were almost washed. It was time for Mr. Kawakami to leave...

Even though they were at the door, Mr. Kawakami suddenly turned his head...

"Student Jiang, let me tell you... Actually, what I told you before, that my sister needed medical treatment, was false. I lied to you. I need the money because... it's compensation."

Teacher Kawakami spoke word by word, trying to keep his tone calm.

Before coming to Shujin Academy, Mr. Kawakami taught at another school. At that time, there was a student named Takano in their class. He was a student with very poor grades and slept in class every day. Under normal circumstances, teachers would not like such students. But Mr. Kawakami once again learned about this child's situation by chance.

It turned out that he was living with his uncle and aunt because his parents died early. But his uncle and aunt only wanted to get the insurance money from the death of Takano's parents and didn't care about Takano. So Takano had to work hard every day to make a living.

Knowing this, Kawakami naturally wanted to help him. So, in private, Kawakami took the initiative to give this student private lessons, trying to help him keep up with the progress. Although the effect was not obvious, Takano's grades did improve little by little.

But at the same time, there is no wall that is impenetrable, and this private tutoring was eventually exposed.

Although nothing happened between Takano-san and Kawakami-sensei, passers-by would not think so.

"If you guys aren't having a relationship, why are you giving him free lessons?"

"There are so many children in the world who cannot afford to go to school, why do you only give him special treatment?"

"If you are innocent, why are you teaching privately? You can give tutoring openly! If you don't dare to speak up, it proves that there is something wrong with you."

When speculating about others, people are often willing to interpret it from the worst perspective. In the end, this matter even reached the school. The principal directly issued an ultimatum to Teacher Kawakami, requiring her to either stop giving private lessons or get out.

After all, in Japan, the relationship between teachers and students is the most sensitive one. Don’t be fooled by the sweet stories in anime and comics, but in reality, the law stipulates that if a teacher-student relationship occurs, the teacher will definitely not be able to continue teaching in the future. Moreover, once the name of this gets out, it will be social death.

We can't blame the school for being cautious; the negative impact of this kind of thing is really too serious.

So, Teacher Kawakami got scared and she canceled her class that evening. Student Takano also saw her dilemma and took the initiative to say that he actually had a part-time job that day.

So, when he went to work... he had an accident and died.

Hearing this, logically and legally, there is no direct relationship between Teacher Kawakami and Takano's death. Teacher Kawakami did not kill the person, nor did she instigate Takano to work part-time. Even if the case really goes to court, Teacher Kawakami will not lose the case.

But, just like depression only affects kind people (those with bad intentions will not feel guilty, and naturally will not be driven to desperation by self-blame), this kind of boring threat will only be effective against teachers like Mr. Kawakami who have a strong sense of educational responsibility.

The uncle and aunt who adopted Takano came to the door and unilaterally blamed Kawakami for the child's death.

"This kid is going to get a job after graduation! Why are you meddling in his business?"

"It's because you teach him every day that he's so tired and that's why the accident happened!"

"Just because you said you had to give a lecture, you delayed his schedule and if he had left early he would have had a car accident?!"

"You are a murderer!".

Such verbal violence directly affected Teacher Kawakami, who was already feeling guilty. She lowered her head...

Who should I bow to? Maybe to Uncle and Aunt Takano. Maybe to the deceased Takano. Or maybe, to myself who couldn't stand up to the pressure.

In short, Teacher Kawakami finally agreed to pay the sky-high compensation. However, it is unlikely that a teacher can come up with so much money at once, so it can only be paid in batches. With such a big incident at the school, it is impossible for her to continue teaching, so Teacher Kawakami can only switch to Shujin Academy to continue her teaching career.

In Japan, there are not many ways to make money quickly. Kawakami finally chose to become a maid. Even though she came in late and left early every day, she worked hard every day just to earn the monthly compensation.

"At first, I probably just confused you with Takano-san. Your situations are too similar, you lost your parents and tried to live alone, so I was so mean to you... now you understand, right? I am a rotten person, a plague god, and nothing good will come of being associated with me. Even if I cared about you, it was just because I thought that this might be able to make it up to Takano-san, and I didn't pay attention to you at all. So--"