Onmyoji, a nobleman in Heian-kyo

Page 1599

Sakayanagi Arisu had some understanding of Matsushita Chiaki through careful observation, at least a little bit.

First, we need to introduce the background of this alumnus.

His parents were merchants who had connections with the Qin family and were among the early settlers of the manor.

This alone shows how excellent the parents are, and the offspring of excellent parents are unlikely to be bad either.

Perhaps they inherited the advantages of businessmen?

Sakayanagi Arisu thought this was a good idea.

My companion is a smart person; he'll definitely save me a lot of trouble.

Getting back to the main point, Sakayanagi Arisu felt that Matsushita Chiaki, whose own qualities were quite good, joined the band not for the sake of music.

The specific reason for this remains unknown...

Sakayanagi Arisu has a strong expectation for this and hopes to find out someday.

“I don’t mind what you said, Arisu,” Matsushita Chiaki said with a smile. “When I was young, I did put in a lot of effort in playing musical instruments, and I still have a deep impression of the hard work I did back then.”

"Hard work? How hard work?" Wu Zi, who thought that his previous martial arts training was like going to hell, immediately came back to his senses.

At this moment, she was somewhat dissatisfied with Matsushita Chiaki's words.

"What I can say for sure is that it's not as hard as when you were learning martial arts, Wu Zi. But you have to put yourself in their shoes and think about how boring it must be for a five or six-year-old to keep using their little hands to operate a musical instrument..."

Matsushita Chiaki saw through Takeko's thoughts and expressed his own feelings at the time.

What she said at that moment was a spontaneous expression of her feelings.

It would be a shame not to say something since we've all gathered here today.

I don't know if I'll ever have this opportunity to speak freely again.

"Judging from the arrangements of the past few days, the great battle is nearing its end. Whether we win or lose, there probably won't be another chance like this..."

victory?

Needless to say, there will definitely be a series of adjustments at the manor. At that time, even Matsushita Chiaki will not know how her parents will be arranged or how she herself will be arranged.

failure?

Then there's no need to say more. Disappearing from this world together might not be the best ending.

Objectively speaking, everyone is now completely "equal".

Death treats everyone equally.

"If it's like you said, then I have no objection." Wu Zi secretly curled her lip when she saw Matsushita Chiaki making a gesture that resembled playing the piano.

The world is really unfair.

I have worked hard to get to my current position, while others have lived a comfortable life whether in modern times or ancient times.

But Wu Zi wasn't jealous; instead, she felt proud, because at least she had achieved what she wanted through her own efforts.

"Then why did you not get selected?" Haruka asked, still petting Minoru.

"That's a good question—I'd like to share my insights. Since elementary school, I've come to understand 'talent' in a new light. I've realized that most things improve with more time investment, and the better you do, the more time you're willing to invest, creating a virtuous cycle..."

"What does this have to do with what you want to answer?"

"Of course it's related. The reason I was eliminated was that all my competitors were talented and had undoubtedly spent a lot of time on music. Well, in short, I was a loser."

Matsushita Chiaki breathed a sigh of relief.

It feels really good to finally say what's been on my mind.

Since the future is uncertain, at least we should do what we want to say and do.

"Chiaki...don't give up," Sakura Airi whispered encouragingly.

Matsushita Chiaki chuckled: "Thank you. Actually, I'm not as passionate about music as those band members. I just decided to go there because I heard the benefits were good."

"...You're too frank."

Sakayanagi Arisu was a little frustrated; she still wanted to find the answer in her own way someday.

How did you suddenly find out?

"Almost there, almost our turn!"

Suddenly, Ichinose Honami, unaware of how things had unfolded this way, said something.

Little Ren also started howling.

Feeling that she had perhaps indulged her emotions too much, Matsushita Chiaki was about to apologize when she unexpectedly saw that Minoru, who was yelling loudly, was not walking towards the front desk, but was excitedly jumping and pouncing on several men.

To be honest, it's similar to a dog jumping on a person.

So who exactly are these strange men?

503. Is it too late to leave now?

"You've really grown up a lot."

Susanoo looked at Minoru, who was jumping and hopping around in front of him, and smiled faintly.

“Ah! Ahhh…”

Minoru also gave a positive response, as if to say that this was indeed the case.

Kousaka Kyosuke stared speechlessly at the clearly "round" gray fox, unsure of what to say.

When Inari brought Minoru here before, Minoru looked just as slender as when Kousaka Kyosuke first met her.

But less than two days after they returned, everything had changed again.

Of course, he wasn't excessively fat.

And whenever Inari wants to perform a ritual, Minoru quickly loses weight again.

From an objective point of view, this is consistent with the law of conservation of mass.

However, we are still at the front of the line and almost at the counter, so we can't disrupt the order.

"You guys catch up first, I'll go buy it."

Kousaka Kyosuke suggested.

Susanoo smiled and gently patted Minoru's head.

"There's no need for that. Minoru already has his own companions."

"Ow!"

Minoru called out to Susanoo, then nodded to Kyosuke Kousaka and the others before cheerfully returning to Kikyo Kushida and the others.

Kyosuke Kosaka chuckled, then continued walking forward with the others.

It's best to pretend you don't know what's going on around you.

This is a rare moment of rest, a rare opportunity for everyone to be together; this should be the most cherished day.

"..."

On the field, Minoru's intimacy caused others to treat unfamiliar faces like Kyosuke Kousaka differently.

Even those who don't know much about the situation understand something.

That means that Minoru, as the messenger of Inari, must be extraordinary, so how could anyone with a special connection to him be ordinary?

Even so, no one else could take any action because of this, so the people around them tactfully continued eating and chatting.

The atmosphere returned to normal, probably.

"Hmm..." Wu Zi hesitated, not daring to speak.

She noticed that several unfamiliar men had an extraordinary air about them, and she guessed they must be important figures.

That's definitely something you can't even ask around about.

Having undergone rigorous training, she was aware of the manor's taboos.

"It's almost our turn. We've been waiting for so long."

Matsushita Chiaki chose to pretend he didn't know and took a few steps forward with a slightly quicker pace.

He looked like he was in a hurry to eat.

"Yes, we've finally waited for this." Haruka chose to play dumb with Matsushita Chiaki.

"Prepare to enjoy a feast, Lord Minoru."

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled, patted Minoru's head, and took a few steps forward.

They were a few people away from Kyosuke Kosaka, not too far away.

So fine.

Otherwise, it would be too awkward to pretend not to know each other face to face.

"This chance encounter is truly nerve-wracking," Kikyo Kushida thought to herself.

It's definitely not convenient to say hello.