Survive in Azure Files

"The other one is a society called the Hundred Blossoms Dispute Mediation Committee, but..."

Fina interrupted, "I heard that everyone from Baihua Liaoluan is gone now!"

"Yes, just as Fina said," Shizuko continued, "So we can't count on them now. The only one we can seek help from now is the Onmyoji Department, but..."

I knew there was a twist. Otherwise, Shizuka wouldn't have asked me for help in the first place.

Shizuko showed a rather troubled expression and said hesitantly: "Well... um, how should I put it..."

The poster girl hesitated for a moment, as if she really couldn't think of how to explain it. She gritted her teeth and said, "Oh! It's faster to just go and take a look! Come on, let's go! Teacher!"

"Hmm." I couldn't help but feel a little curious about the situation in the Yin-Yang Department.

In fact, from my personal point of view, even if I fail in the Onmyoji Department and do not consider other academies, I still have other options in the One Hundred Demons Night Parade.

For example, when I met them this morning, they were the training group that took the initiative to protect the peace of the town and expelled the bad students who were disrupting the festival.

But since Shizuka has an idea now, let's just follow her idea for now. It won't be too late to propose this later.

Before leaving, Shizuka seemed to remember something and told Fina:

"Ah, Fina, I'll leave Hyakuya Hall to you while I'm away?"

"Of course! I will protect this place with the spirit of Ren Xia!"

Fina patted her chest confidently and assured.

My eyes unconsciously followed the fruits shaking due to this movement. I couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity about the spirit of Renxia. I wanted to talk with Fina all night to understand in depth what Renxia is.

Shizuko stared at Fina and said suddenly: "...then ask a question."

Fina stood up and shouted back, "Yes!"

"If the people from the Demon Sect come during the time when the teacher and I are away," Shizuko paused, narrowed her eyes slightly, and asked with a smile, "If those guys say, 'We are a little thirsty, can you give us some water?' and plan to enter the Hyakuya Hall...what should we do?"

Fina said without hesitation: "When you meet someone in trouble, lend a hand! That's what a chivalrous man should do!"

Great! I happen to have a lot of difficulties!

Now I have to ask Fina for help!

"I've already said it!" Shizuka showed an expression of "as expected", stroked her forehead and sighed, and corrected Fina helplessly in a long voice, "That won't work! We should drive them away! Oh... really..."

I wanted to gloat over other people's misfortune, but I inexplicably remembered a self-proclaimed super AI who assisted me in my work and ate desserts and slept in, and my mood suddenly became heavy.

I still remember the last time I asked Alona to wake me up when she came to convenience house 68 for duty, but she slept even more soundly than me.

Suddenly I felt empathy for Shizuka.

After sighing, Shizuko looked at Fina worriedly: "...Is it really okay to leave it to you?"

"Yes, Chairman! Leave it to Fina!"

Fina still looked confident, but it made people even more worried.

Shizuka hesitated to speak, but finally nodded reluctantly: "Then I'll leave it to you. Remember not to let anyone from the Demon House in, okay?"

"Yes, I understand, don't worry!"

"Well... Teacher, I've been waiting for a long time." After Shizuka finished her instructions, she looked at me and gave me a lovely smile that made my heart flutter. "Let's go."

I just nodded slightly and walked with him silently. I have completely understood how much bitterness this poster girl of Hyakuya Hall hides behind her seemingly innocent smile.

With sympathy for the people around us and regret for our own children, Shizuka and I hurried on our journey and finally arrived at an elegant building.

"This is one of the most important places in the Hyakki Yagyo Joint Academy... The Onmyoji Club's activity room is inside." Shizuko introduced it to me, then frowned and whispered, "Wow... No matter how many times I come here, I feel a stomachache..."

As I was about to meet with the members of the Onmyoji Department, I asked the question that had been lingering in my mind:

"Why do you say that? It seems like you don't want to have anything to do with the Onmyoji Department, Shizuko."

"Yes. Because the Onmyoji Department is notoriously lazy, and it's hard to hire them even if you ask them. So the actual actions are basically carried out by Baihua Liaoluan's people..."

As soon as these words came out, I understood the current situation.

The Onmyoji Department is unreliable, and there is no one in Hyakka Liaoluan, which is equivalent to the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Now there is no official law enforcement organization as active as the Holy Trinity Justice Realization Department and the Gehenna Discipline Committee. No wonder the bad students of Chimeiyizu can sabotage important festivals so unscrupulously.

"As the name suggests, the Onmyoji claim that they exist to maintain the balance of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, but in reality, even if something goes wrong, they will just smile and say 'We don't have the authority~', showing an ambiguous attitude..."

Shizuko complained unhappily, "Especially that director! Every time we go to file a complaint, he always says, 'Important cases please submit in writing'... If we do it in writing, it will be too late!!!"

The more Shizuka talked, the angrier she got: "Bureaucracy!? This is bureaucracy, right? Why is it so slow!!! By the time it's passed, no matter the result is good or bad, it will have already been resolved!"

That's right. The same is true for the Federal Student Union. Especially after the disappearance of the student union president, the main problem is inefficiency.

But, I will ask Rin-chan Aoi-chan to give me the green light.

After venting her anger, Shizuko took a deep breath and smiled smugly: "Hehe, but those things are over until today."

……Um?

Until today... Could it be... Could it be...

I suddenly became suspicious and had new guesses about the real reason why Shizuka invited me to the One Hundred Demons Night Parade.

"Since they have that attitude, I have my own countermeasures. We have Xia Lai's teacher here now."

Shizuka muttered to herself, with a pleased arc unconsciously rising at the corner of her mouth: "As long as the teacher is here, even that lazy Onmyoji director can only help. We can also order them around at will with that leisurely attitude... hehe..."

I see. I'm afraid that when Shizuko invited me to the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons to participate in the Sakura Festival, she had already planned this.

Although they did have the intention of entertaining me sincerely, this was their primary intention. They wanted to use my identity as the head of Xia Lai to put pressure on the lazy Yin Yang Department and force them to help as soon as possible.

In layman's terms, it means the fox is taking advantage of the tiger's might.

I don't mind this level of scheming; rather, I find it quite interesting.

At the same time, Shizuka's image became more vivid and lovely in my heart.

"...Ah!?" Shizuka noticed my smiling eyes and realized her own loss of composure. She shuddered and resumed her cute business attitude as a signboard girl. "...Um~ Shizuka is really worried whether they are willing to listen to me~"

I laughed and shook my head, and expressed my opinion to the nervous Shizuka gently and sincerely:

"I think Shizuko was cute just now, too."

"Eh? Cute, huh?"

Shizuka was a little surprised at first, but soon regained her composure and sighed softly: "Ha... Teacher, please don't tease me. Anyway, go in quickly."

After saying that, she walked into the building with her head down.

I'm shy.

Alas, it’s all because I’m too charming. Just telling the truth can make the girl shy.

Although I can only see Shizuka's back now and can't see her facial expression clearly.

I shrugged, said nothing more, and quickly followed.

Soon, Shizuko and I walked through a long and quiet corridor with wooden floors. At the end of the corridor was a Japanese-style room with its door open.

Looking from a distance, behind the low table in the center of the Japanese-style room, one can vaguely make out a figure sitting in the main blue and white colors dotted with a few bright red figures.

As the distance between us shortened, I could see the appearance of the girl sitting quietly.

She had long light blue hair, braided into two large pigtails at the back of her head, and wore a blue and white flower hair accessory.

From between the neat bangs, two delicate and small red horns protrude forward, and below are clear and bright eyes of the same color as the horns.

She has a pure and charming appearance, and her temperament is as elegant and mysterious as the style of this Japanese-style room. Her expression is a little curious but confusing, as unpredictable as the clouds in the sky, which makes people like her.

As soon as Shizuko and I stepped over the threshold, this girl, whose name I didn't know and who was wearing a blue and white kimono, spoke in a slow tone:

"Welcome, teacher. I'm waiting for you."

Although it was the first time we met, his attitude was very familiar.

I was stunned for a moment, and confirmed that there was no such girl in my memory who had such a special temperament and way of speaking that people would never forget her at first sight. I was unsure of how to treat her, so I gave a general answer:

"Hello, it's our first meeting. Please take care of me."

And if you think about it carefully, she seemed to have subtly overlooked Shizuko.

Shizuko didn't care about it. She pulled me to kneel on the tatami opposite the low table. Maybe she didn't notice it, or maybe her attention was focused on other places:

"Chiyo... eh, huh? You just said 'waiting for you'? Did you already know we were coming?"

"Yes, the Minister has said so."

The girl named Chiyo, in a strange tone, recited like a poem: "Two people have arrived, the lovely adult and the raccoon cat-classmate."

...cute? Me?

I scratched the side of my face. It was the first time I received such a comment, and I felt a little weird.

When I compliment girls I know on how cute they are, do they feel similarly or even more so?

That makes their reaction somewhat understandable.

By the way, the word "civet cat" can also be used to refer to a cunning person.

Shizuko reacted very quickly and asked anxiously, "Who, who is the raccoon cat!?"

Qianshi tilted his head blankly.

"Ahem..." Shizuko responded, covering up her gaffe, "So, where is the minister who still has that 'I know it all' attitude?"

"The minister... that... um..." Qianshi closed her eyes and thought for a while, but gave a completely irrelevant answer, "I remember she said that if she wanted to raise a cat, it would be better to raise a black cat."

"I didn't ask her what kind of pet she likes!"

Shizuko couldn't help shouting, and then, after thinking about it for a moment, she couldn't help herself: "Could it be that the 'raccoon cat' I just mentioned is also referring to a pet!? I'm not the teacher's pet!"

I think this could be it.

I thought about it and nodded silently - this is really possible.

Chise still had a silly look on his face, and he blinked confusedly at the anxious Shizuko.

"Well, anyway... I'm not here to play with you today, I'm here to see your minister." Shizuka sighed helplessly, "I'll ask you again, where is your minister?"

"minister……"

Qianshi pondered for a moment, and then replied in a tone that sounded like he was reciting a poem: "It's over today. I'm going home after school. See you tomorrow."

This seems to be a special literary genre, but I don't know much about it. I just feel that speaking in this way makes the girl named Qianshi in front of me more elegant and bookish.

However, let’s not talk about the way of speaking, but just talk about the content of the conversation.

I couldn't help but look outside the door. The bright sunshine was shining on the elegant scenery of the courtyard.

Shizuko asked what I was thinking: "…Huh? School is over? It's still daytime, right? What's going on?"

"..." Qian Shi was silent for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "...what do you think?"

"I don't know... Wait, why are you asking me this? I don't understand!?"

I turned my head away and covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from laughing.

Maybe Qianshi was acting, or maybe it was just his nature. But no matter which one it was, it didn't stop Qianshi from being a master of Tai Chi.

In fact, things have developed to this point, and we can already prepare to go home.

It is obvious that Qianshi is the Minister of Onmyoji who has never met before, and was specially arranged here to deal with Shizuka. The other party's attitude of staying out of the matter is quite clear.

From Qianshi's words, it is not difficult to deduce a fact that the Minister of the Onmyoji Department had already known about Shizuko's invitation to me. I guess Shizuko knew my mobile phone number through the channel of the Onmyoji Department.

At least, the Minister of Yin Yang Department was not completely unaware of this incident, but was secretly paying attention to it.

According to what Shizuko said earlier, the Yin Yang Department's purpose of maintaining the balance of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and their attitude of refusing to interfere in such an important festival as the Sakura Festival...

Apparently, the Onmyoji Minister already has enough intelligence, including the identity of the mastermind behind sabotaging the Sakura Festival.

Unless she has truly lost even the most basic sense of responsibility, the only reason the Onmyoji Minister did not intervene could be that she had already made the judgment that this matter was an internal struggle within the One Hundred Demons Night Parade and was within controllable range.

From this point, can we narrow down the scope of suspects?

It seems that it is not possible.

We can only rule out the possibility of manipulation by external school forces.

Just as I was thinking about it and feeling regretful, beside me, Shizuka whimpered unwillingly: "Wow, why are you not here at such an important time..."

Seeing the poster girl looking so aggrieved, I, who originally wanted to watch for a while longer, decided to speak out to help:

"Qianshi, you should know why we are here, right?"

Chise looked at me with her clear eyes and nodded lightly: "Yes, I know. Someone is trying to interfere with the Sakura Festival, right?"