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Asher packed up his things and had just stepped out of the classroom, stopping near the doorway.
That was when a string of venomous, malicious words drifted into his ears.
Hearing such filthy language, Asher instinctively turned his head.
As his gaze shifted, it immediately met the eyes of a middle-aged man who was also standing in the hallway.
"..."
The man, tall and slim with a refined, scholarly appearance, clearly hadn't expected Asher to suddenly look over.
A thought flashed through his mind at once.
Did that kid hear what I was just muttering?
The vicious look on the man's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a gentle, amiable smile. He looked like a perfect gentleman now, as if those nasty words had nothing to do with him at all.
"Hello, you—"
Before he could finish speaking, Asher merely glanced at him once, then turned away and walked down the hallway.
He acted as if the man didn't even exist.
The middle-aged man's voice cut off abruptly. He stood there in silence, watching Asher walk away.
Only after a long moment did he finally let out a breath.
"That guy… he probably didn't hear what I said, right?"
Even as he muttered that to himself, the man had already etched Asher's face firmly into his memory.
…
As for Asher, he had already left the school and was walking along the street on his way home.
Yet his mind replayed the scene he'd just witnessed in the hallway outside the classroom.
He had heard every word of that man's muttering perfectly clearly.
And when he connected it with what had happened when he met Akizuki Marina and her younger sister Airi, the man's identity became obvious.
"Akizuki Kozo, huh…"
Asher knew plenty about that guy.
After all, he was quite infamous.
And judging by what Kozo had just said, it seemed he was already planning to make a move against Marina and Airi.
Should he do something about it?
The question surfaced in Asher's mind.
Strictly speaking, the Akizuki family's problems had nothing to do with him.
But Marina had helped him out in class today, no matter what.
And right now, she was the only classmate he actually got along with.
…After thinking it over for a bit, Asher made up his mind.
That said, he wasn't planning to expose Akizuki Kozo just yet.
He still had something important to take care of first.
As Asher walked down the street, lost in thought—
A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out, cutting him off.
"Mr. Asher?"
The sudden call snapped him back to reality.
He turned toward the source of the voice.
When he looked back, a familiar face immediately came into view.
"It really is you, Mr. Asher?!"
"That's great!"
Before Asher could even respond, the girl who had called his name broke into a quick jog toward him.
When she finally stopped in front of him, Asher's face softened into a gentle smile.
"So it's Miss Yotsuya."
"Nice to see you again."
That's right. The girl who had suddenly called out to him was none other than Yotsuya Miko, the beautiful girl whose life Asher had saved from an evil spirit on his very first day after transmigrating.
"Yeah, yeah! I never thought I'd run into you here, Mr. Asher. I'm so lucky!"
The short jog had left Miko slightly out of breath.
But that did nothing to dampen her joy at seeing him again.
Standing there, alive and well right in front of her, Asher made her so happy she didn't even know how to describe how she felt.
Ever since he saved her last night, his image had been stuck in her head all day. She'd been so distracted she could barely focus in class.
She'd honestly thought that someone as mysterious as Asher would be incredibly hard to meet again.
Yet to her surprise, she ran into that familiar silhouette on her way home the very next day.
Just as Miko was about to express how happy she was to see him again, another figure came jogging up behind her.
"Hey, Miko! Why did you suddenly run so fast? I can't even keep up!"
"Huff… ha…"
The newcomer finally caught up, breathing lightly, and rested her right hand on Miko's shoulder, her tone a mix of confusion and complaint.
"Ah… sorry, Hana. I got a little too excited just now…"
Only then did Miko realize how out of character her behavior had been.
She was usually much calmer than that.
"Um, let me introduce you. This is—"
She looked apologetically at her best friend, about to introduce Asher.
But before she could finish, her friend noticed Asher standing beside her, and her eyes immediately lit up.
"Whoa! Miko, who's this handsome guy? Aren't you going to properly introduce him to me?"
"Oh, hello there, handsome! My name's Yurikawa Hana. I'm Miko's friend. Nice to meet you!"
Seeing Hana's playful, over-the-top enthusiasm, Asher responded with a polite smile.
Miko hurriedly continued.
"Hana, this is Mr. Asher. Um… my friend?"
As she said that, Miko glanced at Asher a little nervously.
In her heart, Asher was a mysterious powerhouse who could actually eliminate evil spirits.
She still vividly remembered the almost magical techniques he'd used the night before.
So she was worried that calling him her "friend" might somehow offend him.
But Asher didn't mind at all.
Since Miko had already introduced him, he smiled at Hana and spoke.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Yurikawa Hana."
Hana had no idea about the special connection between Asher and Miko.
To her, if he was Miko's friend, then he was naturally her friend too.
"Oh wow, Asher, you're so polite. Since we're all friends, you can just call me Hana."
"But Miko, you're really not being fair."
"When did you secretly make such a handsome friend and not tell me at all?"
"Hmph, I'm mad!"
As she spoke, Hana crossed her arms over her chest.
That massive presence.
It nearly made the buttons on her white shirt pop off with a snap, like they might go flying at any second.
It had to be said.
She was really big.
"...."