On Wednesday morning, Shichen and Nanjou Asagi went to Saikai Academy together.
Although Saikai Academy did not have dormitories, it provided breakfast for teachers, but not for students.
Shichen didn't want to wake up early to make breakfast, and Nanjou Asagi couldn't cook, nor did she want to go out early to buy takeout, so they both arrived at the school cafeteria early for breakfast.
They had to come to school anyway, and the school cafeteria offered a wide variety of dishes, and the food was not bad.
Although Nanjou Asagi didn't need to eat breakfast, she could experience the sensation of eating, the feeling of fullness, and the deliciousness of food... otherwise, she wouldn't have liked drinking black tea.
Waking up early for work was a painful thing, but having someone accompany you made it different.
Along the way, Shichen and Nanjou Asagi walked side by side, their smiles never ceasing.
Nanjou Asagi also noticed his appearance, but she didn't directly teleport to school in disgust; instead, she ignored him and walked on her own.
Upon arriving at school, they went to the cafeteria and split up to get their food.
It wasn't their first time having breakfast at the cafeteria, so they were quite familiar with the breakfast options and naturally chose food that suited their taste.
After Shichen had gotten his food, he was about to look for Nanjou Asagi when he was attracted by the waving hand of Sasasaki Misaki, who was already eating.
"Shichen!" Sasasaki Misaki was still in her cheongsam. She sat at a two-person table, waving her hand with a beaming smile.
Shichen glanced at Nanjou Asagi, who was still picking food, and walked towards Sasasaki Misaki.
"Shichen, what a coincidence, are you also here for breakfast?"
"Teacher Sasa... it's not our first time meeting." Shichen twitched his lips.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Then, Shichen, would you like to sit together?"
Shichen shook his head: "No, Sister Nanjou came with me."
"It's fine, let's sit over here." Sasasaki Misaki said, moving her tray to the four-person table next to them.
Shichen didn't refuse this time and sat opposite her.
Then Nanjou Asagi came over and sat next to Shichen.
"Why is this stupid dog here too?"
"Nanjou-chan, are you not even allowing me to appear in the cafeteria?" Sasasaki Misaki pouted, rebutting discontentedly.
"Why don't you eat at home? I remember you can cook, can't you?"
"Eating alone is boring, it's more convenient to come to school, and I can have breakfast with Shichen."
"You're really hopeless."
"What? You're not allowing me to express my feelings? Is your possessiveness really that strong?"
"Shut up! Eat your breakfast."
"Hmph~ Are you embarrassed?"
"Too lazy to bother with you."
"..." Shichen ate silently beside them.
He had no interest in their bickering; it wasn't the first time, and in reality, they had a good relationship.
After breakfast, Shichen and Nanjou Asagi parted ways, with Shichen going to the middle school office building with Sasasaki Misaki, though before parting, he was warned not to have too much contact with Sasasaki Misaki.
Seriously, did he look like such a casual man?
The morning passed quickly. Shichen was in the office, chatting idly with Sasasaki Misaki, and then it was time for his class.
Physical education teachers were generally relaxed, and there were usually no physical education classes in the morning.
At the end of the previous class, Shichen had already arrived at the playground, but the students only leisurely came over as class approached.
He originally wanted to ask Akatsuki Kojou what was going on, but after searching around, he didn't find him.
"Yaze, where's Akatsuki?" Shichen asked Yaze Motoki.
"Teacher, Kojou took a leave of absence." Yaze Motoki replied.
"A leave of absence?"
"Yeah, he said he was worried about his sister being alone and wanted to accompany her to leave Itogami Island. That guy is definitely a siscon!"
"Left Itogami Island..." Shichen ignored Yaze Motoki's complaints and frowned.
Has it reached this point in time?
If he remembered correctly, this incident should be when the Fourth Progenitor awakens.
After that, the Banquet of Flame Light would begin.
It was quite a pity that he couldn't participate in such an important event, but there was nothing he could do. As he was now, unless he was suicidal, he couldn't.
Could he really only be a bystander?
It didn't seem to be that way!
Shichen pondered the events that would happen in the future and suddenly thought of a possibility for him to gain magic power.
He wondered if that maiden, who was like a saint, was around at this time.
...
"Teacher Shi, aren't you going to play with us?"
"No, I don't want to sweat today."
"Alright then."
Shichen, who had refused Yaze Motoki's invitation, was sitting by the basketball court with Haba Asagi. Of course, there were also many other young girls around him.
Today, Haba Asagi was different from previous physical education classes; she wore black-rimmed glasses, obscuring her pretty face.
"Aren't you going to play?" Shichen asked the other girls.
"We don't want to sweat either."
"Yeah, it's getting hotter and hotter."
Although they said so, they surrounded Shichen, almost leaning on him.
They were still young girls, why were their minds full of such things?
"Not wanting to sweat won't do. Next class, I'll be teaching tennis." Shichen said with a smile.
"It's okay, sweating occasionally is fine."
"Exactly, you'll sweat just by walking a few steps anyway."
"It's not like we don't need to shower."
"You guys..." Shichen shook his head, speechless.
A physical education class passed quickly, and Shichen just sat by the basketball court with the girls, watching Yaze Motoki and the others play basketball.
However, he was basically the only one watching; the young girls' attention was all on him.
Under the sunlight, Shichen seemed to glow, with his beautiful features, special aura, and gentle smile, making their hearts flutter.
At their young age, during the stage of hormonal secretion, in their youthful innocence, they were easily captivated by handsome men.
Moreover, Shichen was a physical education teacher, and this was Itogami Island, where humans and demons coexisted, so they had been exposed to many things since childhood, which made their thinking even more open.
It was just that this world primarily revered strength; otherwise, these young girls would be too easily preyed upon by bad men.
Haba Asagi stood by the girls for the entire class, unable to get close to Shichen and chat with him, as her persona in class was that of a quiet and aloof girl.
The main reason was that she had been worried about her mother's illness.
However, even if she broke her persona, it would be useless; she simply couldn't squeeze in.
When the physical education class ended, Haba Asagi reluctantly followed everyone back, while Shichen returned to the office alone.
Sasasaki Misaki had been waiting for him for a long time.
"Shichen, do you want to go to lunch together?"
"Sure." Shichen nodded in agreement.
"Great, let's go quickly."
"Okay."
Shichen followed Sasasaki Misaki to the cafeteria, and along the way, he sent a message to Nanjou Asagi, inviting her to have lunch together.
However, she was busy and already out of school.
At this time, the Fourth Progenitor still showed no signs of activity, so Shichen didn't worry about her.
And it was perfect; he could go to a certain place after lunch, since it was his working hours anyway, it wouldn't count as wandering around.
After Shichen and Sasasaki Misaki had lunch, he declined her suggestion to stroll around the campus and left the school alone, heading to the school's back hill.
Behind Saikai Academy was a small hill with a small park, rarely visited but surrounded by green trees.
As Shichen stepped onto the foot of the hill, his extraordinary hearing picked up faint but noisy meows.
The meows were soft, and one could tell that the cats were young, perhaps only a few months old, and in such a place, they were likely stray cats.
Shichen suppressed his anticipation and slowly walked up the hill.
On top of the hill, the small park surrounded by green trees came into view. Through the park, Shichen saw a gray building that had become a ruin.
"Meow~"
"Meow meow~"
The meows became more distinct.
Shichen walked through the small park and arrived in front of the ruined building, his attention drawn to the metal relief on the building's roof.
It was a symbol formed by two intertwined snakes—the Caduceus.
This place was clearly once a church.
"Um... are you...?"
Just then, Shichen was drawn by a soft inquiry and couldn't help but look over.
That silver hair, like snow, filled his eyes.