In Tokyo, building the Holy Light Girls team

"..."

A short while later, he handed the bear-shaped clip back, saying, "The power inside is still quite a bit more than I expected. It seems enough to last for a while, but..."

Originally, he was going to tell Sayuri to use it sparingly, but then he thought that in a dangerous situation, preserving life seemed to be the most important thing, so there was no need to save money. Therefore, Natsuki took back his words.

"Thank you, Ms. Xia Mu!"

Sayuri once again expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

She took the bear clip and carefully put it on her head, then put her hands behind her back and smiled at Xia Mu.

"Teacher Xia Mu, do I look good like this?"

As they were talking, a gentle breeze blew from somewhere, blowing the girl's hair to one side, and her school uniform skirt fluttered in the breeze.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Xia Mu suddenly felt a strange atmosphere spreading between them. He immediately turned his head away and said expressionlessly, "It's alright."

"What do you mean 'okay'? Sayuri, I'm clearly the most beautiful girl in Tokyo Academy, even if it's that..."

Thinking of a certain striking face, Sayuri coughed lightly, but still put her hands on her hips and puffed out her small chest:

"Besides, Sayuri is still growing, and she'll definitely grow into the sexiest woman in the world and marry you someday. Natsuki-sensei, you just wait!"

"..."

Xia Mu couldn't listen anymore and was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Teacher Xia Mu, please wait a moment..."

"Shh!"

Xia Mu raised his finger to signal for silence.

Under Sayuri's questioning gaze, he looked towards the stairwell, because Natsuki heard a familiar name—[Shiroshima].

……

Chapter 17 Sayuri's Sense of Crisis

Staircase entrance.

"...Damn it, that guy actually went back to school unharmed, even though I already told him everything..."

A dark-skinned girl was complaining to a girl next to her who was sucking on a lollipop, her fists clenched in front of her, looking quite angry.

"Hanako-chan, don't be angry. This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice. That Shiroshima guy might really be hiding... some secrets we don't know about..."

As she spoke, the girl took the lollipop out of her mouth and smiled at "Hanako-chan," but as she finished speaking, a malicious glint flashed in her eyes.

"But getting them to help me cost me half a month's allowance, and now I can't even buy the bag I want. Yumi, you have to buy me one..."

"This was clearly your idea, so why do you say I have to pay a price too..."

As they spoke, the two began to push and shove each other.

The glimpses of skin that were inadvertently revealed shimmered in the dim light of the stairwell, but neither of them seemed to care until a male voice rang in their ears, at which point they instinctively turned their heads together.

"Students, I'm a little curious about White Island that you mentioned earlier. Could you tell me about it?"

Upon seeing that signature short white hair and gold-rimmed glasses, the two were initially stunned, then simultaneously screamed in surprise.

"It's Teacher Natsuki!!!"

"That's right! It's Teacher Natsuki! I don't know why that man is here, but I'm so happy right now!!!"

Hearing this, Sayuri jumped out from behind Natsuki, spread her arms to block him, and shouted just as loudly:

"Hey, don't you guys look at Mr. Xia Mu like that, he's my future husband..."

Boom!

Natsuki struck Sayuri on the head with a palm strike, causing her to cry out and jump aside. Only then did Natsuki look at the two of them and continue speaking:

"Alright, you two, tell me, what exactly is strange about Shiroshima-kun...?"

The two girls exchanged a glance, and then the girl who had been sucking on a lollipop at the beginning stepped forward.

"...Actually, that girl only started acting strangely recently. You often see her talking to empty air when there's no one around. Don't you think that looks scary, Natsuki-sensei?"

"Of course! Several times after school I saw Shirashima, and she was chatting away as if no one else was around. Even though it was daytime, I felt a fear I had never felt before. She is definitely not mentally stable!"

Hanako crossed her arms as she spoke, and to convince Natsuki, she trembled and put on a pitiful act, but Natsuki completely ignored her.

"Talking to empty air...?"

Xia Mu frowned and said in a low voice, recalling his experiences over the past few days, he couldn't help but wonder if the reason why Bai Dao had become like this was also because he had encountered that kind of thing?

Looks like I need to find some time to confirm this. I guess I really care about these kinds of things...

Thinking this to himself, Xia Mu raised his head again and said to the two of them, "So, this is your reason for sending someone to appear next to Shiroshima?"

"!!!"

They exchanged a glance, both seemingly seeing the shock in each other's eyes. Hanako stammered, "Natsuki-sensei, how did you know...?"

"It was quite a coincidence. Yesterday after school, I happened to see Shirashima being bullied by some thugs. As a teacher at the academy, how could I just stand by and do nothing? So I took care of those thugs!"

"However, what I didn't expect was that the person who truly instigated them was actually..."

Natsuki's tone was quite calm, but both Hanako and Yumi could sense the turbulent undercurrent beneath that calm surface, and they couldn't help but swallow.

"Teacher, please believe us, we just..."

"Alright, call all your parents over. I think they need to know... what their children have done!"

As he spoke, he walked towards the stairs, then, as if remembering something, turned back and smiled, saying:

"Oh, right, if I remember correctly, you two should be Hanako and Yumi from Class 1-B, right? Don't try to fool me, your teacher will be waiting for you in the office!"

"He really asked for trouble!"

As Sayuri passed by, she gave them a look of disgust. Only when she noticed Natsuki had already walked away did she quickly catch up, calling out, "Wait for me, Natsuki-sensei..."

At this moment, both of them wore expressions of despair, and they couldn't help but regret their actions as they thought about the fate that awaited them.

But the next moment, they both tilted their heads and asked, "Speaking of which, what was that guy doing just now?"

……

As Sayuri stepped out of the stairwell, her steps became cheerful. She occasionally touched the clip on her head while glancing at the man's back, a happy smile on her face.

"Sayuri, do you know Shirashima-kun?"

Natsuki's voice pulled Sayuri, who was immersed in a beautiful fantasy, back to reality, and she then showed a wary expression.

"I don't know anyone like Shiroshima! Teacher Natsuki, you already have me as your future wife, why are you thinking about other women?"

Xia Mu clenched his fists, repeatedly telling himself that she was just a child and not to take her seriously, while the veins on his forehead throbbed.

After suppressing the urge to throw a punch, Xia Mu spoke again: "Don't you think that White Island that those two people were talking about is a bit like us?"

"Ah?"

Sayuri seemed to realize this too late.

"Ms. Natsuki, do you mean that Shirashima also encountered...that kind of thing?"

"We cannot rule out this possibility."

Xia Mu nodded, then pondered for a moment, "But this is ultimately just speculation. If she also possesses a similar ability, perhaps..."

"Maybe what?"

Sayuri inquired, feeling a strange sense of crisis due to Shiroshima's appearance.

However, when she turned her head and glanced at herself in the window next to her, she still showed a confident expression.

Ultimately, with a face like mine, neither White Island nor Black Island has the right to compete with me, hmph...

Suddenly, she noticed that she and Natsuki were the only two people in the corridor, while the students in the classroom next door were already seated. Realizing what terrible situation this might be, Sayuri's expression changed drastically.

"Oh no, I'm going to be late for class!"

She ran straight towards her classroom, and as she passed by Xia Mu, she whispered, "Teacher Xia Mu, I won't easily give you up to another woman!"

Xia Mu's lips twitched, and after a long while, she complained, "As expected, I'm still too lenient with my students..."

……

Chapter 18 "Killing Intent"!

In the following days, Natsuki attended classes as usual while also observing Shiroshima to see if she, Sayuri, and others belonged to a special group of people.

However, because the time he spent with the two people was very limited, he did not see the scene that the two classmates described.

On the contrary, it was discovered that the other person was quite attentive in class, and even the psychology assignments they submitted were better than those of most of the students in the class, making them stand out even more compared to that guy who kept shouting that he wanted to be their fiancée.

Speaking of Sayuri, Natsuki took some time these past few days to visit her home again.

Just as she said before, Mikiko seems to have forgotten what happened back then, and there have been no adverse effects.

After all, Mikiko had taken great care of him during their time together, and considering the influence of the original owner's memories, he naturally didn't want Mikiko to be harmed. After confirming that she was alright, Natsuki felt much more at ease.

It should be added that since the last Slit-Mouthed Woman incident, Natsuki has not discovered any new ghost attacks.

Although he could see many news articles labeled "weird" whenever he turned on his computer, he had never actually witnessed anything like it. Furthermore, given his limited resources, he could only try to maintain the stability of his own life; as for things further away, Xia Mu said he couldn't concern himself with them.

At the same time, Xia Mu also discovered that the power of using holy light seemed to be related to his physical strength.

Whenever he has time, he exercises, running five kilometers in the morning and doing two hundred push-ups and two hundred sit-ups in the evening.

After several days of non-stop training, in addition to the increase in physical strength, his mental state was also much better than before, and he grew to love the feeling of slowly getting stronger.

In addition, he also took the time to use [Holy Light Forging] to transform his usual clothes into "armor" containing the power of holy light, which could enhance his ability to withstand attacks.

In some dangerous situations, it can even protect your life, making it quite useful!

What puzzled Xia Mu was that the twin-tailed girl had appeared much less often in the past few days. Apart from class time, he rarely saw her. He was happy to enjoy this rare state of life.

until--

……

"This should be the place, right?"