Survive in Azure Files

I shook my head, pondered for a moment, and asked in a deep voice:

"Izuna, you don't want the Sakura Festival to be cancelled, do you?"

Chapter 83: Students’ smiles are more important than anything else

On the busy street, I put away my phone and asked the concerned fox-eared girl next to me:

"Izuna, you don't want the Sakura Festival to be cancelled, do you?"

The little fox listened to this and blinked his big round eyes, his expression gradually turning into astonishment:

“Eh…? Stop? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”

I carefully observed Izuna's reaction to confirm that she really knew nothing.

The plan of the Operation Committee and the Training Department to capture a demon failed at the very beginning, which shows something we don't want to happen.

The troubled girl, who was full of evil spirits, had for some unknown reason changed her previously arrogant style of behavior, and began to shrink her strength and hide her own existence.

The biggest possibility is that they are lurking in the dark, sharpening their claws, waiting for the right opportunity, and preparing to concentrate their efforts on doing big things.

In other words, our hope of obtaining intelligence about the mastermind through the people of Chimeiyi has basically been shattered.

And now, the only person who is still at large and knows the identity of the mastermind behind the destruction of the Sakura Festival is Izumi who is beside me.

Normally speaking, would someone deliberately gather all other forces while leaving an unstable factor outside?

Assuming that the opponent is not stupid but is confident in the situation, I can only think of a few possibilities.

Among them, the worst one is that there is something wrong with Izuna herself, although I don’t want to believe it.

Fortunately, from the current perspective, Izumi does not seem to be an insider who sabotaged the Sakura Festival.

But if you say that her acting skills are really superb to the point where there are no flaws at all, and she can play an innocent and silly child vividly, and that she is deep-minded and has a long-term plan, and that she anticipated that Xia Lai might accept the relevant commission before the Sakura Festival even started, and sent the commission in advance to create the character, then I can only admit defeat.

As for the remaining possibilities...

After thinking for a while, I decided to tell Izuna the truth:

"Izuna, your employer seems to be trying to sabotage the Sakura Festival."

I admit that I was a little impatient.

However, now that things have come to this, there is no room or need to beat around the bush.

"Destroy the Sakura Festival...?"

Izumi was dumbfounded and muttered, "Izumi, Izumi received an order from her employer... to knock down anyone who was hindering her business... But she ruined the Sakura Festival...? Eh, eh eh...?"

When the ninja girl reached this point, she was speechless for a moment, her face full of disbelief and inability to accept.

Just like this, I easily believed someone else's one-sided words, even if that person was me.

I'm genuinely worried about Izuna.

"So, Izuna," I stared into Izuna's eyes that showed a bewildered look, and asked softly, "In order to protect the Sakura Festival from being destroyed, can you tell me the identity of your employer?"

"That, that..."

It took a long time for Izumi to come out of his shock and panic and regain his basic sanity. There was still embarrassment between his brows, but there was determination.

However, this determination is definitely not a good sign at this moment.

"...No!" Izuna looked at me firmly and refused. "As a ninja, I can't leak the information of my employer after being hired...!"

"……Yeah?"

"Yes! Izuna is going to be a great ninja! So, even if you are my master...!"

Izuna said this, but both her expression and tone were wavering. Obviously, her obsession with ninjas was indeed higher than I thought, but not much higher.

At this point, if I continue to appeal to her emotions and reason, I think Izuna might be able to be convinced.

Besides, I know what kind of words will work on a girl who is determined to emulate the ancient ninja.

I lowered my eyes, sighed and shook my head, and said softly:

"Even so, does it go against the ethics that ninjas should follow?"

Hearing this, Izuna froze in place.

This is the most critical point.

Since he is unwilling to sell out his employer's information, he will just sit back and watch the Sakura Festival being destroyed, or even help the evil. Isn't this contrary to the ideal image of a ninja in Izuna's mind?

When I cruelly point out this fact, what choice will Izumi make when she realizes that she is in a dilemma?

"This, this..."

Izumi's voice was already trembling, and her red eyes were rapidly filling with crystal tears, and she looked like she was about to cry.

Maybe, if I continue to force her to make a decision at this time, she will really cry.

But in that way, I can easily know the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes, and I can also bring back the misguided Izuna. The price is only Izuna's temporary sadness.

It is already clear which is more important.

I sighed secretly, put my hand on the little fox's head, and roughly ruffled her hair:

"Ha, I was just kidding. Have you forgotten my teachings? I told you to think more, idiot."

Even if I don't get the information from Izuna about this riot against the Sakura Festival, I am not helpless. I just have to take more risks.

How could such a trivial matter compare to Izuna's smile? It was clear at a glance which was more important.

It was my choice to indulge my useless student and let him make his own choice. Therefore, the corresponding cost should be borne by me as an adult.

"……Eh?"

I smiled at Izuna who looked up in confusion, "Of course, the path of a ninja is something you have to decide for yourself. This is the second lesson I want to teach you. Everyone has their own stance. Since you already have your own correct answer, stick to your heart and keep going, whether you are right or wrong."

Izuna thought hard: "Ah! So this is still the training of ninjutsu?"

This is truly a unique understanding of Izuna's style.

I didn't comment on this. "Anyway, on the other hand, I won't let your employer ruin the festival. Izuna, you said you would defeat me and convince me, right?"

"Yes!"

"I say the same thing back to you."

I narrowed my eyes, took back my hand from Izuna's head, took a half step back, and stared at her sincerely:

"I will definitely defeat you. So, be prepared."

“…Hmm! This is indeed the fate of Master and Izuna…!”

Having said that, Izuna finally showed an expectant smile: "I understand! I'll take my leave this time, Izuna! I don't know why we enjoyed the celebration together... Next time we meet, I will defeat you! For sure!"

"You are very confident. Let's see what you can do."

After saying goodbye to Izunai, I watched her leave with brisk steps, turned around, and walked into a quiet and deserted alley not far away.

Then, undisguised footsteps sounded behind me.

"Are you Xia Lai's teacher?"

I turned around and saw that the person who spoke was a masked girl with blonde hair and fox ears.

"There is a gentleman who wants to see you. Can you come with me?"

This is probably the price I have to pay.

I put the phone back in my pocket and nodded calmly: "Of course."

Chapter 84: Don’t underestimate my intelligence network

On the busy street, the masked girl with blonde hair and fox ears led the way in silence, with a confident attitude that showed she was not afraid at all that I would escape or call for help.

I certainly had no intention of running away, at least, before I met the real culprit behind the scenes.

The current situation is probably just as I guessed before.

Izumi was a bait deliberately released by "that adult" in order to create an opportunity for me to be alone and then send someone to kidnap me.

I originally had a chance to ask Shizuko, Mimori and the others to arrive in time to stop it, but since I gave up on getting information from Izuna, the only method left now is to take advantage of the situation and put myself in danger.

Is this also part of the other party's plan?

I became more and more curious about the identity of the enemy.

In order to kill time on the road which was becoming increasingly boring due to curiosity, I began to focus my attention on the back of the girl who was sent to kidnap me.

Although she has a pair of fox ears on her head, she doesn't have a fox tail like Wakamo and Izumina behind her, which is a bit regrettable.

However, the girl had long hair that reached her ankles, and she tied a big yellow bow near the end of her hair.

The color of the hair ends changes from light gold to dark color, and it is fluffy in the middle and pointed at two ends. It sways from side to side as its owner walks, and looks exactly like a fox's tail.

What will it feel like to touch?

If the other person is a bad girl who is a demon...it would be okay even if I touch her forcibly, right?

Just as my hands were about to move, the scenery around me gradually changed from lively to deserted.

They had already left the main venue where the festival was being held and was crowded with people, and started heading towards the suburbs.

...There won’t be a ghost place like the Abydos Desert where there is no signal during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, right?

I'm not really worried about my personal safety. Not to mention that my identity is enough to make people afraid to use force, the Shiting Box is still fully charged. If I really have to enter an area with no signal, or if my communication tool is about to be taken away, Alona will help me send a distress signal, so I can hold on until help arrives.

At worst, I can still buy my life.

Even so, I don't want that to happen.

However, my worries did not last long. The masked girl with blonde hair and fox ears soon stopped in front of a teahouse, looked back at me, raised her neck slightly, motioned me to follow, and then walked into the door of the teahouse.

I followed closely behind him, secretly observing the surroundings.

In general, the atmosphere is quite quiet, there are few guests, and there are a lot of private rooms, making it a suitable place for talking about things.

Finally, the girl stopped in front of a box and bowed to me politely: "Thank you for your hard work, the gentleman is inside."

This dignified posture does not look like a bad student at all. But this is not surprising, there are always other trustworthy and capable people beside the criminals who intend to destroy the Sakura Festival.

The girl knocked on the door again and was about to report when a smiling voice came from the box:

"Hahaha~ You're finally back~ Please come in~"

So the girl closed the paper door, and I, as a guest, walked into the Japanese-style private room first. Then, a beautiful figure came up to me enthusiastically, looking around me unscrupulously.

Before paying attention to the guy who invited me to meet and who was most likely the real culprit of the incident, the first thing that surprised me was that there were no other evil people here.

Only after that did I turn my attention to the person in front of me.

“Ahhhhhhhh~ Hmm, huh… Mmm.”

The man made a series of scrutinizing sounds, and after carefully examining me, he took a few steps back and commented with a smile:

"You look like my type. It's like hitting the strike zone... No, is it an out?"

On the other hand, I also made a sincere evaluation after observing the other person's appearance:

"Haha, the first half of the sentence is the same as mine, but the second half is exactly the opposite."

It was a girl with short black hair, narrowed eyes, and a confident and mysterious smile on her face.

Of the two horns on the top of her head that were in a gradient red and yellow color, the one on the left was somehow broken in half, with two metal rings on it, and the earrings were also made of the same material.

She has a pretty face with two teardrop moles under her left eye, which, combined with her smile, add a bit of evil charm.

She has a plump figure, fair skin, and wears a wide-sleeved kimono that exposes her armpits. Her right hand holding a folding fan is wearing a black silk armband, and her right leg is also wearing open-toed white silk stockings that slightly show the flesh on her thigh. The left half is bare-handed and wearing open-toed socks, which has a kind of asymmetrical beauty.

What attracted the most attention was her nails painted with black nail polish, which formed a sharp contrast with her snow-white skin.

If she wasn't my enemy, I'd really like to taste her nail polish.

...But before she became an enemy, she should have been considered a student, right?

It seems that even if we are enemies now, we can still think about the future, right?