9:30 PM.

Aozawa returned to the Morimoto Family on time.

He hummed an off-key tune as he took out his keys to open the door.

The living room inside was pitch dark.

Aozawa pressed the light switch, and the warm light illuminated the living room; it was empty.

He continued to sing as he walked toward the bedroom, intending to pick up clothes for a shower.

When he opened the door, he smelled that familiar scent of perfume.

Morimoto Chiyoda stood silently in the darkness inside the door, her face expressionless.

"Chitose, why are you back hiding in my room?"

"I thought you'd be lonely by yourself at home, but it turns out you walked in humming cheerfully, looking so pleased with yourself." Morimoto Chiyoda managed a smile that did not quite reach her eyes, scrutinizing Aozawa.

This heartless brat! She had thought he would feel lonely and alone without her. But it was her own wishful thinking. The tone in which Aozawa hummed his song was such that he might as well have had a tail wagging behind him, expressing his inner joy.

Aozawa kept a straight face and said, "This proves we have a psychic connection. Even though I didn't know you were here, my soul could still sense your presence, filling me with happiness. It's a connection that can't be described in words!"

"You can make anything sound good with that mouth of yours." Morimoto Chiyoda couldn't help but reach out to pinch his mouth, not applying much force.

Aozawa still yelped, "Ouch, ouch, Chitose, be gentle."

Morimoto Chiyoda rolled her eyes at him and said, "Go take a shower."

Aozawa laughed, knowing he had managed to bluff his way through the conversation, and asked, "Have you settled your matters?"

"Sorry I couldn't give you a few more days to yourself." Morimoto Chiyoda still remembered the tone he had used when he had hummed his way in and added, "My work is done."

"As expected of Chitose, you resolve issues so quickly."

"Having a capable patrol officer made my work much easier." Morimoto Chiyoda did not take all the credit for herself. Without the help of Local snake Gonglu Yangfu, it would have been nearly impossible for her to find the person that quickly. Had it been Hiroyoshi Anbara, the type who only tries to get through the day, she likely would have ended up running around without any help at all. To find a witness in a few days would have been considered lucky.

「The next day, at 6 AM.」

Inside the dining room of the Phoenix Academy.

Phoenix Academy Maggie stepped in, her golden hair neatly combed, dressed in the uniform of Brilliant High School.

On the rectangular table, there were over a dozen exquisite breakfast dishes laid out.

Kochou sat at the head of the table.

"Mother, good morning. Do you have any plans for today?" Phoenix Academy Maggie's cheeks showed a hint of surprise.

She was very aware that her mother was a busy person. Being so busy, she usually couldn't go to bed early, and thus wouldn't normally rise early. To wake up at six and sit in the dining room meant she definitely had something she wanted to discuss with her.

Kochou gestured for her to sit down and said, "Please, sit down."

Phoenix Academy Maggie took her seat properly, avoiding any impolite demeanor, her mood resembling that of an elementary school student waiting for final exams.

Kochou began, "The special investigation team sent a message; they want to come and talk to you when you get a chance. Be sure to come home early after school today."

Phoenix Academy Maggie responded with surprise, "Do they need me for something?"

"Dio has received new information. They have confirmed that the person has multiple superpowers." At this point, Kochou's tone changed slightly. She still couldn't quite believe in the existence of superpower users, thinking it was just a fantasy made up by some old men afraid of death. Even though the six major syndicates, the Metropolitan Police Department, and even the CIA had formed a task force to investigate if Dio was a superpower user, Kochou was still hesitant to believe in their existence. In her educated knowledge, superpowers were indeed an absurd notion, utterly unscientific.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"The investigation team wants to ascertain how exactly Dio found out that the Iwasaki family was the real culprit of the Hirano case. Did he use his superpower, or did he find out through some network? They are probably going to ask whether you've mentioned this to anyone else."

"It was definitely a superpower." Phoenix Academy Maggie replied with certainty. She didn't believe she was the cause of the Iwasaki family's misfortune. Although she had suspected Aozawa, now was not the time to talk about such matters. If the investigation team were to start suspecting Aozawa had an issue, that would be troublesome. She didn't want to make Aozawa live a life under surveillance just because of a slip of her tongue.

"You haven't mentioned this to anyone else, have you?" Kochou had gotten up early at six specifically to ask her daughter this question over breakfast.

Phoenix Academy Maggie shook her head. "Mother, I have always remembered your teachings and have not spoken a word of this to anyone else." Her expression was calm, showing absolutely no sign of lying. Only when you speak a lie as if it were the truth can you make it undetectable to others.

Kochou scrutinized her daughter's facial expressions and smiled. "Good, you really have grown." In that moment, even she couldn't discern whether her daughter was lying or telling the truth. So, she chose these vague words to gauge her daughter's facial expressions. If her daughter lied, there was bound to be a sense of guilt in her heart, wondering if her mother saw through her lies. If she had not lied, it would simply be a compliment, and a smile would appear on her face. She quietly observed.

Phoenix Academy Maggie smiled without showing her teeth. "Thank you for the praise, Mother. I will continue to work hard." That sentence could also be interpreted in two ways.

Kochou smiled and did not continue to question her, saying, "Let's eat."

"Yes." Phoenix Academy Maggie respectfully responded, her eyes cast downward. She couldn't tell the truth to the special investigation team in the afternoon either. She felt a bit of regret in her heart. She shouldn't have blabbed to Aozawa and involved an ordinary high school student in such trouble. It was not a good thing.

On the surface, Phoenix Academy Maggie appeared quite normal, but in reality, she had already started to consider how to concoct a lie to deal with the special investigation team's interrogation.

「Brilliant High School, Class 2-C.」

As per her usual routine, Phoenix Academy Maggie chatted with Yoshikawa Sayuri and Nomura True Wave for a while before returning to her seat.

Hojo Tetsuji next to her pushed his sunglasses up and confidently said, "Young lady, take a look at this. I have a feeling this manga is going to be a hit."

"Don't get your hopes up." Phoenix Academy Maggie casually replied and started flipping through his manga.

After several revisions, this manga had settled on a theme and become a comedic romance set in space. It depicted the daily life of a Milky Way Self-defense Team Member. The male protagonist, like Hojo Tetsuji, also had a mature face with sunglasses, completely modeled after himself. As for the female protagonist, needless to say, she was nothing like Yoshikawa Sayuri. Who was this beauty? Phoenix Academy Maggie seriously doubted that Hojo Tetsuji's sunglasses had some sort of beauty filter feature. So much so that his depiction of Yoshikawa Sayuri was nothing like the real person, with an added beauty factor multiplied several times. Yet Hojo Tetsuji stubbornly insisted that this was Yoshikawa Sayuri. She could only suppress the urge to retort.

After flipping through the pages, she found the plot wasn't as bad as it was at the beginning and had become more stable. If there hadn't been any improvement after her and Aozawa's continuous corrections, then Hojo Tetsuji might as well give up on a career in manga.

"There are areas for improvement, but there's hope for serialization. You could try submitting it," she said.

"Really?" Hojo Tetsuji's face lit up with surprise; his and Yoshikawa's love journey was finally stepping onto an important milestone.

"By my assessment, yes."

"Great, next is to have Aozawa take a look!" At this point, Hojo Tetsuji yawned heartily. "I'm going to sleep first. Let Aozawa take a look for me later."

"No problem," Phoenix Academy Maggie replied. He laid his head on the desk, instantly falling asleep.

Such rapid onset of sleep was something probably only overtired children or single-celled organisms possessed. Sometimes, she quite envied that quality of sleep.

Phoenix Academy Maggie thought to herself, carefully putting away the original manga drafts.

After waiting a while, she saw Aozawa appear at the doorway.

After parting with Ayatsuki Iroha, Aozawa walked over, pulled out a chair, and said, "Why keep staring at me? I don't have flowers on my face."

"This is Tetsuji's manga; take a look. I think it has potential for serialization."

"Has Tetsuji finally evolved to this stage?" Aozawa excitedly took the manga drafts and started reading them.

Phoenix Academy Maggie hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have to go back after school this afternoon."

"Why are you going back so early today?" Aozawa looked up, finding the delicate porcelain-doll-like face quite serious.

Phoenix Academy Maggie couldn't help but ask, "Tell me the truth, are you related to Dio?"

"Not at all." Aozawa smiled, denying the question. "Why do you ask?"

"It's actually the special investigation team; they want to see me." Phoenix Academy Maggie said this, then thought it wasn't nice to test a friend like this and instead said plainly, "They want to ask if I've talked to anyone about the things done by Iwasaki."

Aozawa smiled. "Then just tell them the truth."

"Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand? I trust you, but others won't. Your life will undergo drastic changes; don't think too highly of those people's integrity." Phoenix Academy Maggie shook her head; she still decided not to tell the special investigation team the truth.

Aozawa frowned slightly, looking worried. "If your lies are seen through, won't that be even worse? Just tell the truth."

"You underestimate me. As a young lady, lying is a necessary skill to be trained. I will never let anyone see through the deceit." Phoenix Academy Maggie said this, resting her right hand against her soft cheek. "Like right now. Aozawa, I love you."

The blonde girl's lips curved into a smile, her eyes bright, and even the clouds outside stood still for the moment. The dust no longer tumbled in the sunlight.

Aozawa was silent for a long time before exhaling. "I really can't tell."

"Haha, this is a basic course for a young lady." Phoenix Academy Maggie felt turmoil within, but her expression remained even more composed, revealing not the slightest agitation on her cheeks.