In the end, Kanon still agreed to Kaiser's approach and consented to let him take care of the dozen or so kittens she had been raising on the hill behind the academy.
She had originally been planning to find someone to help adopt these kittens anyway. As long as Kaiser was truly capable of taking care of them, she naturally had no reason to refuse.
However, out of worry over the matter, Kanon still requested Kaiser to let her help bring the kittens over.
That way, she could see for herself whether the dozen or so kittens she had painstakingly raised could really settle in well under Kaiser's care.
Kaiser naturally had no objections and readily nodded in agreement.
The two agreed to go home together after school, then parted ways and returned to their classrooms.
As for the little kitten, Kaiser kept it with him for now.
He wasn't worried about getting caught—after all, with the Authority of the King of Beasts, if he told the kitten to go east, it absolutely wouldn't go west, nor would it suddenly meow and reveal its presence. He just needed to find a place to stash it.
However, when Kaiser returned to the classroom, he quickly realized that while the little kitten in his arms did attract attention, people were more interested in his relationship with Kanon Kanase.
"Kai-san, are you close with the Saint of the Middle School Division?"
"Kai-san, what's your relationship with Kanase-san from the Middle School Division?"
"Kai-san, do you know the boys from the Middle School Division are already digging into your background, getting ready to collectively curse you?"
"Kai-san…"
All afternoon, Kaiser was approached by countless people. Besides Kojou Akatsuki and the others, even his classmates came over one after another to strike up conversations, all subtly or directly probing about his relationship with Kanon Kanase.
Especially the boys—when they looked at Kaiser, their eyes were completely different from before. It was like they were staring at a flower thief about to pluck the most delicate blossom of Saikai Academy. Some of them didn't even bother to hide their envy and resentment.
This left Kaiser somewhat surprised and a little puzzled.
"Looks like Kanase's popularity at Saikai Academy is a lot higher than I thought."
Even high school boys were quite taken by her, and yet she claimed she wasn't popular…?
If he didn't know she truly thought that way, he would've assumed she was just humble-bragging.
Kaiser had to admit, Kanon Kanase really was very pretty—especially that fragile, obedient, gentle, and holy aura, pure and untainted. It added countless charm points to her.
Right now, Kanon Kanase was still young, only around fourteen or fifteen. Once she grew older, she might be able to form a perfect nun duo with Asia.
A blonde saint and a silver-haired saint, both exotic beauties with angelic faces and holy hearts—stacking all those buffs together, wouldn't that be even more exciting than a pair of twin beauties?
Anyway, just the thought made Kaiser want to introduce the two of them.
"I wonder if Asia would be interested in proselytizing?"
Kaiser mused and couldn't help but chuckle.
If Asia really tried to preach to Kanon Kanase, they might actually end up forming a nun duo.
After all, Kanon Kanase wasn't just kind—her own disposition matched the nun profession very well.
She had been an orphan from a young age, raised in a convent. Her background was quite similar to Asia's.
The difference was, Asia had always been raised as a nun within the Church, believing in God from a young age, whereas the convent Kanon Kanase lived in had been destroyed in a disaster, forcing her to be adopted and gradually drift away from the life of a nun.
But even now, Kanon Kanase still retained some of the habits from her convent days. Her kindness and compassion had been cultivated then, and she had always admired nuns. If she could choose her own life, she would surely want to become one.
Unfortunately, Kanon Kanase couldn't choose her own life.
"......"
Kaiser narrowed his eyes, his mind repeatedly recalling everything from the original work related to Kanon Kanase.
"She's worth keeping an eye on…"
With that thought, Kaiser spent the noisy and bustling afternoon.
After school, just as Kaiser finished packing up and was about to leave, Kojou Akatsuki called out to him.
"You… you're not planning to go see Nagisa again, are you?"
Kojou looked at Kaiser defensively.
He had more or less realized by now that Kaiser and his sister might continue to get entangled.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Kaiser, seeing Kojou's wary expression, couldn't help but feel exasperated. "Relax, I won't let her stay out all night again."
This remark didn't get a reaction from Kojou. Instead, it left Asagi Aiba and Motoki Yaze stunned.
"Stay out all night?" Yaze exaggeratedly exclaimed, "You and Nagisa? Are you serious?"
That deliberately loud voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
"What? What did he say?"
"Stay out all night?"
"Who stayed out all night with who?"
"Nagisa? Isn't that Kojou's sister?"
The classmates all started murmuring, and Kojou's face instantly turned beet red.
"Hey! Yaze! Stop spouting nonsense!"
Kojou pounced on Yaze, wrapping his arm around his neck, nearly choking him.
Although he didn't like how close Kaiser was getting with his sister, for the sake of her reputation, he couldn't allow Yaze to stir up gossip.
What if rumors spread?
His sister's innocence would be ruined!
"I give up, I give up! I won't say it again…!"
Yaze frantically patted Kojou's arm, looking like he was about to pass out.
"You really didn't lay a hand on Nagisa, right?"
Asagi Aiba went over and confronted Kaiser, her gaze sharp.
She had a good relationship with Nagisa and liked that girl a lot. If a classmate dared to take liberties with her, she wouldn't show mercy.
"You're getting involved too?" Kaiser looked at Asagi with a strange expression. "What, worried that your future sister-in-law might get played by a bad man?"
"Wha…" Asagi's sharp gaze immediately faltered, and she visibly panicked. "That's not it!"
"Sister-in-law?" Kojou turned his head with suspicion. "Who's becoming a sister-in-law?"
"None of your business!" Asagi glared at Kojou and snapped, "Definitely not you!"
Kojou, bewildered by the scolding, was left dumbfounded.
Kaiser found the three of them amusing as they clowned around, then waved a hand and said:
"You guys have fun, I've got stuff to do. I'm heading out."
With that, before they could react, Kaiser turned and walked out of the classroom.
"Wait—"
Kojou panicked and was just about to chase after him when Yaze tackled him.
"Damn it, Kojou! You really were trying to strangle me back there! Take this!"
"What? Hahaha! Stop! Hahahaha…!"
As Yaze tickled his armpits, Kojou laughed uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face, unable to move.
Asagi squinted at them coldly.
"Idiot Kojou… Any girl who falls for you is cursed…"
The girl's helpless and bitter mutter was lost to the wind.
Unfortunately, no one heard it.
......
Meanwhile, Kaiser smoothly made his way to the middle school building and reunited with Kanon Kanase. But he didn't leave right away—instead, he stayed where he was.
"I'm still waiting for Nagisa. Once she gets here, we'll head over together."
Kaiser said this, which left Kanon slightly surprised.
"Senpai and Nagisa-san planned to go home together?"
Previously, Kanon had already learned that Kaiser was neighbors with the Akatsuki siblings—they all lived in the same apartment building.
In class, Motoki Yaze had also mentioned that Kaiser and Nagisa were already quite close. But Kanon hadn't expected them to be close enough to walk home together.
"We did plan it." Kaiser didn't try to hide it and said, "I already messaged her. She said she's not attending her club activities today, so she'll head back with us."
Although Nagisa was part of the cheerleading squad, she didn't always attend every club meeting.
She had been in poor health since four years ago. Even though she was much better now and could attend school and club activities normally, she still occasionally had flare-ups and had to take time off.
Normally, with Nagisa's personality, she wouldn't want to skip club activities unless necessary. But after what happened last night, and with Kaiser planning to take in so many of Kanon Kanase's cats today, she naturally had no desire to go to club. The moment she received Kaiser's message, she replied that she'd come over to help.
Speak of the devil—just as Kaiser and Kanon were discussing this, a lively voice rang out from the school building.
"Kai-kun! Kanon-chan!"
They turned to see Nagisa Akatsuki waving as she ran toward them with light steps, full of energy. Her skirt fluttered as she moved, drawing quite a few admiring glances and brightening the atmosphere.
"Nagisa-chan!"
Seeing one of her few close friends, Kanon's gentle face showed rare cheerfulness.
"I'm not late, right?" Nagisa ran up to them and said excitedly, "I heard about it! Kanon-chan is letting Kai-kun adopt the cats from the back hill? That's amazing! Congratulations, Kanon-chan!"
As Kanon's good friend, Nagisa naturally knew how much trouble she'd gone through for those cats.
Now that someone was willing to take them all in, of course she'd be happy for her—especially since that someone was her friendly neighbor whom she'd gotten close to over the past couple of days. It was double the joy, and she couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
But amidst her happiness, Nagisa couldn't help but worry.
"But are you sure this'll be okay? Ah, I don't mean I doubt Kai-kun's ability—it's just that our apartment really doesn't allow pets. Even if Kai-kun said he'd try to convince the landlord, I think it's a long shot. That guy's super stubborn. I heard someone recently tried to negotiate their rent and got flatly rejected. That man's totally heartless!"
Nagisa's chatterbox nature flared up again, and she rattled off a long string of words, leaving Kanon Kanase a bit stunned.
"I've already taken care of it," Kaiser patiently waited for Nagisa to finish before smiling and saying, "I contacted him during lunch break."
Just like Nagisa said, the guy was indeed stubborn. As soon as he heard that Kaiser wanted to raise over a dozen cats in the apartment, he rejected the idea outright. Even revealing his status as a National Mage Officer didn't make him budge much.
But in the end, Kaiser only had to say, "If you won't make an exception, I'll let my superiors have a word with you," and the man finally relented.
Clearly, no matter how stubborn he was, he didn't want the authorities knocking on his door for a friendly chat.
"So I've got permission now—I can raise cats in the apartment as an exception, as long as I don't cause trouble for others."
Kaiser's words brought visible relief and joy to both Nagisa and Kanon.
"That's awesome!" Nagisa was even happier than Kanon Kanase, cheering energetically. "Kai-kun, you're amazing—being able to convince that guy! Even if we can't all raise them ourselves, just being able to keep them close by is great!"
"Hey, Kai-kun, can I come over to your place often to see the kitties?"
"I've wanted a cat for ages!"
Nagisa looked at Kaiser hopefully.
"M-me too," Kanon quickly added, "Can I also come by to see them when I have time?"
It was clear she still felt uneasy.
"Of course," Kaiser had no reason to refuse. Ignoring the envious and jealous stares from the crowd around him as two beautiful girls begged to visit his home, he told them, "You can come by anytime."
Hearing that, both girls smiled happily.
Next, Kaiser and Nagisa followed Kanon to the hill behind the academy.
There, surrounded by green trees, was a small park with a gray building in ruins. From its appearance, one could still vaguely discern traces of a former convent.
This convent wasn't just abandoned—it had suffered a mysterious explosion five years ago. It looked as if it had been burned down, with scorch marks everywhere.
It was said that many people died in that incident, and the convent was subsequently closed and left abandoned for five years, completely forgotten.
Thus, it became a good hiding place—used by the only survivor from back then, Kanon Kanase, as a shelter for abandoned cats.
More than a dozen kittens hid there, and at Kanon's call, they began to poke their heads out one by one.
Soon, the three of them gathered up all the cats and left the convent, heading toward the apartment.