Survive in Azure Files

"Please, please allow me to be rude, but it's almost time for the school to be curfew."

I licked the corner of my mouth, watching Xueno's back reluctantly as she left, savoring the sweetness I had just tasted. Even in my nose, the fragrance seemed to still linger...

"It smells delicious, come and try some Inari sushi~"

A dining truck, carrying three students, wobbled past me.

The pink-haired one of them made eye contact with me, and quickly asked his colleagues to stop the car. Then he shouted to me with a warm smile:

"Guests over there! If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to try some?"

I fell silent.

Touching his belly, he pretended to be hungry but still hesitant as he approached, and carefully identified the appearance of the three fox-eared students:

There is a short-haired pink fox with a gentle face, a pigtailed gray fox with droopy eyes, and a long-haired golden fox with a proud expression and a crossed chest.

I confirmed.

...Aren't you the three teammates of Yukino's FOX team? I forgot your names, but what are you doing? Have you forgotten that you were on the news?

Something was wrong. When did they start watching? Did they see all of Yukino and I's intimate gestures? No, it shouldn't have happened. With Yukino's alertness, these guys should have been following us from a long distance.

The pink fox was still making recommendations enthusiastically:

"To be honest, all of these are my masterpieces! And they are freshly baked! Now is the most delicious time!"

I was hungry at the time, and I couldn't help but buy two when I smelled the tempting aroma.

"Thank you for your patronage~" The pink fox asked curiously after collecting the money and giving the change, "By the way, sir, why are you alone in such a remote place at this time? The security in this area is not very good recently!"

"I came here with a friend, but she went back first."

"Hey~ Two people, alone in a place like this?"

The pink-haired fox asked excitedly, "Could it be that he is with his girlfriend?"

The real purpose is revealed. You come here specifically to gossip about the captain's private life, right?

I tried the Inari sushi and it was beyond my imagination:

"The sushi is delicious, bye."

After saying that, I turned around and left without paying any attention to the pink-haired fox's surprise.

There is no rule that requires you to answer questions like this from strangers you meet by chance, right? Want to know? Then just bear with it for now.

This is something that the adults have no comment to make.

Chapter 31: I am a super time management master (Part 1)

After returning to Xialai, I looked up the news materials reporting on the FOX team and confirmed that the three students on the food truck selling sushi were Yukino's teammates.

I hope that after this failure, they will not be discouraged, but keep working hard, and driven by their gossiping hearts and comradeship, try to find opportunities and excuses to appear in front of me, offer me delicious Inari sushi, and do everything they can to get close to me in order to learn about the relationship between Yukino and I.

After all, with Yukino's personality, she would never discuss this with her teammates, and her teammates naturally knew this. So the only way out was through the other party, which was me.

Looking at the lovely girls with their own unique qualities in the video footage, and thinking of the extremely sincere friendship between the members of their team, I couldn't help but shed tears of emotion.

With the hope of getting along well with Nico, Kurumi, and Otoko of the FOX team in the future, I started working alone.

Recently, as Xia Lai successfully recruited a certain number of monitors, its operation has gradually been put on the right track. After research and decision by the Federal Student Union, it is believed that Xia Lai is capable of taking on more social responsibilities, so Xia Lai's workload has increased a lot compared to before.

This is not a good sign, as it shows that the current situation of the Federal Student Union is not optimistic.

Since the disappearance of the Federation Student Union President, the crime rate in Kivotos has skyrocketed, and there is still no sign of a decline. The public security situation in a place as simple and honest as Gotham and as hospitable as Yharnam has been made even worse.

Hanaya, who is in charge of the military force of the Federal Student Union, has now begun to blatantly interfere in the affairs of the SRT Special Academy, which is actually the private army of the Federal Student Union President. This is also a side reflection of the seriousness of this problem.

They can't even wait until the day when they have to complete the necessary procedures and legally dismantle the SRT Special Academy and merge it into the Valkyrie Police Academy. This shows how limited the power currently held by the Federal Student Union is compared to the severe situation they are facing.

Fortunately, this matter does not belong to me, a guy who has authority beyond the law but has almost no real power in peacetime, to worry about.

Well, as long as there is no direct crisis concerning the survival of the Kivotos, it can be considered peacetime, even if there are gun battles in the streets every day.

After working for more than an hour, I heard a notification sound from MomoTalk on my phone.

After finishing the documents at hand, I put down my pen, leaned back in my chair, and prepared to take a break before continuing, and by the way, see who sent me what message.

Ai Li: Teacher, teacher!

Ai Li: It seems that "Millennium Coffee" has launched a new dessert this time!

Ai Li: Teacher, do you want to go with us?

It was Ai Li from Trinity's after-school dessert club. An image of a black-haired girl who was as pure as an angel and smiled happily when she ate delicious desserts instantly appeared in my mind.

Me: I’m fine.

Me: Is it just the two of us?

Ellie: Hmm... Everyone seems to be busy...

Ai Li: Although it’s a day off, I have an exam soon.

Ai Li: I don’t want to disturb other people’s study. (；′⌒`)

Me: What about you?

Ai Li: I am also studying hard, I just took some time out to enjoy dessert. (???`?)

Ai Li: And it’s said on the Internet that consuming enough sugar can help you study better!

Me: Okay, let’s make an appointment.

Putting down my phone, I made a cup of coffee to refresh myself, and stared at the matching mug for a while. I wonder what Yuuka is doing now, is she also busy with work?

As I daydreamed like this, I had the illusion that Yuuka was right beside me.

I felt my mind, which had been gradually sluggish due to long-term thinking, become sharp again under the effect of caffeine, and I continued to work at my desk.

Until another beep diverted my attention.

This is also my daily routine. Every night, there are always students sending me messages.

Students also have their own lives, so they only hang out with me when they have free time.

In case there is an urgent matter, I will try to check it as soon as possible. For a good teacher, dealing with students' needs takes priority over my own work.

It’s definitely not that I want to slack off!

I opened my phone and raised my eyebrows slightly. I didn't expect it to be another member of the after-school dessert club.

Xia: Teacher, what do you think life is?

I glanced at Xia's momotalk status message and copied it directly.

Me: Life is a chocolate butterfly cake.

Xia: Oh my, this is such a trick. Is this the margin that adults have?

Xia: It was a little unexpected.

Xia: But yes, isn’t this situation also a cream cake?

Me: Um... so what happened?

Xia: Nothing much, I just suddenly had some new insights into reality.

Xia: Compared with the uncertainty of things far away, we should be more confident about the real objects nearby.

Xia: Go wherever you want and sleep when you want.

Xia: Also, eat the new desserts you want when you want them.

Xia: Even if I have to pay the price of probability deviation within a controllable range for my own willfulness.

Xia: It’s just like exploring the most suitable temperature when making cookies by hand.

Xia: If you roast it for a long time, it may become inedible, but if you don’t try it out of fear and just stay content with the status quo, you will never reach a new level.

Xia: This is the true meaning of life, the pursuit of romance.

The speech was still as roundabout as usual, but compared to Shengya's confusing riddles, it was still relatively easy to understand.

Now, it is time to verify the effect of my reading of the article recommended by Shengya, "How to Quickly Understand Others' Euphemisms" -

Me: Um...please forgive me if I misunderstood, is it because the exam is approaching but you can’t help but want to eat the newly launched desserts?

Xia: Hey~

Xia: "Milleté Coffee", are you free tomorrow, teacher?

Xia: Desserts are such a romantic thing. If you don’t know how to share them with others, you won’t be able to get the full happiness.

Xia: By the way, my friends who belong to the same club as me are worried about the exams.

Xia: So please don’t invite them this time.

Why don't you look at what you said before? Who was advocating sharing just now?

That being said, since Xia and Ai Li both think that the other is studying hard, for the sake of their image in each other's hearts, let's be kind and keep it a secret for them this time and slightly stagger the agreed time.

Tomorrow is also a day without a duty, but since I have to go to the One Hundred Demons Night Parade for field work afterwards and don’t have any other arrangements, I originally planned to catch up on my work progress.

Since I have been invited by students, I can only work harder tonight.

I put down my phone and continued to work on my documents.

Chapter 32 I am a super time management master (Part 2)

The next morning, I walked into a coffee shop called "Millennium Coffee" at the agreed time.

Yesterday, because the effect of caffeine was too obvious, I stayed up a little later than my original plan. Since I only set the alarm clock to the point of deadline, it was no surprise that I woke up late.

Unfortunately, the bus was delayed again. I was even prepared to be late. I apologized to Ellie in advance and explained the situation, but in the end I still managed to catch up.

"Teacher~ here~"

Ellie, who had already sat down, leaned out half of her body, waved and shouted at me.

I walked quickly to the seat opposite her and sat down, looking up and down at Ai Li today: her innocent face without any makeup, and even on her days off she wore a simple school uniform, showing her youthfulness and immaturity.

"Good morning, Ellie, long time no see."

After saying hello, I asked, "Come to think of it, I still don't know what the new products this store has launched are?"

"Huh huh huh~"

Ai Li smiled playfully, closed one eye, and put her hands together on the side of her face: "In that case, please stay tuned, teacher~ I have already ordered before you came, please choose your favorite drink first. Ah! Please don't peek at the bottom of the menu!"

Ellie was shocked and covered the place where the new item was on the menu with her hand.

What a cute girl.

I smiled and nodded, not trying to find out what the new product was. "Then I'll wait and see. Waiter, please give me this... juice."

I didn't have breakfast today, so my stomach is empty now. I feel like I can easily eat a lot of desserts, even if they are a bit too sweet for me.

After a while, all our dishes were served, and I was able to learn the details of the new dessert -

Cup cakes in various shapes.

"How is it? Looks delicious, right?"

Ai Li smiled and said excitedly, "I specially ordered a lot of varieties in order to eat with the teacher. This one is raspberry flavor! I tried a little bit just now, it's really delicious! This excellent sweet and sour raspberry flavor is not available everywhere!"

When talking about desserts, the usually shy and taciturn Ellie always shows a particularly positive side.

"And this one is banana flavor! There's no sample for this one, I just ordered it because it has a pretty color!"

Ellie continued to talk:

"And this... chocolate mint flavor! Actually, this is not a new product, it's an old flavor. But I like it so much! I couldn't help but order it as soon as I saw it! The sweetness of chocolate combined with the refreshing mint is really delicious!"

I know this, it's the flavor that Ai Li particularly likes, and it's written in her momotalk status message.

Ellie closed her eyes with an intoxicated look, as if she was wandering into another world.

This is what makes Ai Li so uniquely cute.