CHAPTER 497: CHAPTER 495 WHAT BAD INTENTIONS COULD AOZAWA HAVE_1

After a long silence, there was no reply from the other side. Natsuka Yanagimachi knew she had pried open the tightly shut door of Shouko’s heart.

Too much is just as bad as not enough.

Worried that if she continued talking, she might provoke a backlash, it would be better to let Shouko think on her own.

"Ah, I’ve got something to do, so I have to hang up first."

Natsuka Yanagimachi didn’t give Shouko any chance to respond; she hung up the call directly and then exited the chat interface.

Despite Natsuka Yanagimachi’s chatty façade, when it came to her friends list, excluding family, she only had three: Hojo Shouko, Aozawa, and Hojo Tetsuji.

Every time she saw how sparse her list of friends was, she would fall into self-doubt, wondering why she, who was so dedicated to celebrating youth, could never find an excuse or reason to go out during summer vacation. She had been looking forward to the summer vacation before it started and had made a series of plans, yet in the end, she still spent it cooped up at home. Before she knew it, the summer fireworks festivals were ending one after another.

Thinking this way, she was even more determined to give Shouko a push.

She guessed she couldn’t create those high-school-girl style summer memories for herself this year. At the very least, she wanted to ensure her dear friends had the kind of pink-tinted summer she imagined.

Natsuka Yanagimachi opened the chat interface with Aozawa and sent a message, "Aozawa-senpai, are you there?"

The message was soon marked as read.

"It’s a shame I don’t have the chance to bombard you with countless emojis today."

Following that message was an emoji of a smiling panda.

Natsuka Yanagimachi really wanted to tease him but then remembered she had something serious to ask, so she quickly typed, "Aozawa-senpai, do you know what’s happened to Shouko? I felt like she was troubled by something when I chatted with her."

"I met her this morning and didn’t notice anything weird."

"The heart of a young girl is always full of troubles, you know. There are some things I can’t express properly, and that’s when a mature senior like you needs to step in and guide her."

Seeing Natsuka Yanagimachi’s message, Aozawa thought for a moment. Expecting Natsuka to comfort Shouko was indeed asking a bit much of her. "Don’t worry, leave it to me. When I see Shouko tomorrow morning, I will talk to her."

"Then I’ll leave Shouko’s matter in the hands of senpai~"

With a tap to send the message, Natsuka Yanagimachi curiously asked, "Senpai, where will you have lunch today?"

"Ikebukuro, Maid Cafe."

Aozawa sent this reply and immediately received an emoji expressing contempt from Natsuka Yanagimachi.

He snapped a photo of the table. The desserts and coffee had yet to be served; only his summer homework and some review textbooks were there.

Aozawa clicked to send the photo. "Don’t get the wrong idea. I came here to focus better on my studies."

"Heehee, trying to explain it away? Classic otaku move, so cringey~"

"You owe an apology to all the otakus in the world!"

"No way. Just for you, here’s a picture of my flawless, exquisite feet."

"I really don’t need to see your stinky feet."

Natsuka Yanagimachi sent back an emoji of stabbing him to death and then said, "Alright, I won’t disturb your meal. We’ll chat next time."

"Mm."

Aozawa put down his phone and picked up his math book.

In Ikebukuro, inside the Maid Cafe, the warm-toned decor created a cozy ambiance. The small round tables and high-backed chairs were all brown. The air conditioning blew gently through the cafe, enabling the maids to wear their slightly thick maid uniforms without fear of the summer heat.

In a window-side seat, a handsome young man sat with a math book in his hands. Whether it was just for show or not didn’t matter. Regardless, the sight of him studying earnestly drew the attention of many maids. In their line of work, naturally, the more handsome the customer, the more motivated they were to serve.

"Nashi, the customer’s food is ready. Don’t make him wait."

"Yes," Arakawa Reina replied, her face showing not the slightest blush. She knew all too well that the more she blushed, the more her colleagues would tease her. If she just showed that she didn’t care about those things, she could keep the teasing at bay.

Arakawa Reina, carrying the coffee and mousse cake Aozawa had ordered, approached and said softly, "Master, your meal has arrived."

Aozawa closed his math book and set it aside to make room for Arakawa Reina to place the coffee and mousse cake on the table.

After everything was set, Arakawa Reina put away the tray and made a heart shape with her hands, saying, "I cast a love spell for you~~ Enjoy your meal."

As she spoke, a hint of a blush crept onto her fair cheeks. She could suppress the embarrassment in front of her colleagues. But in front of Aozawa, every time she cast a love spell, she felt a profound shyness, as if she were peeling off her clothes and running naked through the streets. Particularly since Aozawa liked to watch her perform the love spell with a very serious, scrutinizing expression, as if he were a top-class gourmet assessing whether a restaurant deserved a place in the Michelin Guide.

"Ninety-nine out of a hundred."

Aozawa gave a thumbs-up. Arakawa Reina fought the urge to glare at him, held the tray in front of her, and said, "Please enjoy, Master. I will be taking my leave."

Though she said that, she remained standing in place without moving. Now, the cafe wasn’t very lively, so the maids could afford to be a bit lazy, provided Aozawa took the initiative to speak.

"Class president, there’s no hurry. Sit down and let’s chat for a while," he said.

"Okay."

Arakawa Reina readily sat opposite him, setting down her tray. Now, instead of coffee and desserts, it was the ’fruit’ of her maturity that seemed to press forward. Her slightly curled black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she asked excitedly, "Mr. Aozawa, what do you think about the new Prime Minister?"

Aozawa took a sip of coffee to moisten his throat and casually replied, "I don’t have an opinion. Haven’t the news channels explained it? The former prime minister discovered that cabinet officials were colluding with others to secretly undermine the government.

’So, a successor was chosen in advance. That way, if something were to happen to the prime minister, those conspirators wouldn’t succeed in their plot to seize power."

"I’m not talking about that. Her last name is Phoenix Academy! Don’t you think she bears some resemblance to Phoenix Academy Maggie?"

Unable to resist her urge to gossip, Arakawa Reina thought the surname Phoenix Academy was very unusual. It was easy for people with unusual surnames to be related to each other. Next, she considered Kochou’s appearance and vaguely saw some of Phoenix Academy Maggie’s facial features, though their temperaments didn’t quite match. To her, Phoenix Academy Maggie was like a crystal-clear gem, devoid of any impurity, shining so brightly it dazzled. Kochou wasn’t that kind of shiny presence; she seemed more like a refined jade, exuding gentleness, and her gold trim gave her an air of dignified elegance. The gap in their temperaments couldn’t mask the similarity in their facial features. If someone said the two had no relationship whatsoever, she would never believe it.

"What sort of relatives do you think they are?"

"I’m not sure."

Aozawa shook his head. He wasn’t at liberty to reveal Maggie and Kochou’s relationship, so he said offhandedly, "I suppose it could be a coincidence."

"It’s definitely not a coincidence."

Arakawa Reina shook her head. She was certain of her conjecture, yet she also couldn’t guess the exact nature of their relationship. So she didn’t continue that topic and instead brought up another big issue, "Have you seen the statement that England issued about the Different World?"

Aozawa said, somewhat bewildered, "What statement?"

Arakawa Reina looked surprised. "You don’t know?

’It was a speech about the Different World, delivered in London at 7 pm by the Defense Minister himself. He called on all nations of this world to set aside their differences and join hands to form a new alliance, to guard against possible attacks on civilized society by the Different World.

’In his address, he also claimed that England could change the course of history and had the capability to lead the world in fighting for humanity’s survival. It caused quite a stir online, and netizens are jokingly calling it the Different World version of the Iron Curtain speech. You really didn’t know?"

"I didn’t spend much time on TikTok this morning."

Aozawa shook his head. This morning, after he finished shopping and returned to the villa, he had the Shadow Soldiers clean up. Afterwards, he went to enjoy the scenery of Mount Everest and even visited India for a while, all without checking his phone for TikTok. At lunchtime, he went to the Maid Cafe not to play, but with the serious intention to study. He set aside time to study every day, although he could change the location, alternating between home and the Maid Cafe. He chose the latter.

"This is the video."

Arakawa Reina pulled up the relevant clip. Leaning forward so intensely it seemed she might crush the tray, she said, "Look, that man from England spoke so passionately, but I’m puzzled. How does he have the confidence to say those things? Shouldn’t such a speech be coming from the United States?"

"Maybe the United States didn’t find it convenient to say it. If they did and no one paid attention, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?" Aozawa voiced his speculation. He didn’t particularly care about the UK’s agitated pronouncements, which some were calling the ’shame of the P5’.

He had already planned what he was going to do next after studying was finished: go to Mexico. After a night of contemplation, he still wanted to witness a spectacular piercing scene. However, his moral bottom line was set; he would never do such a thing to ordinary people or to hundreds of thousands of soldiers—it could easily collapse a country. He planned to go to Mexico and use the Shadow Emperor to string up the flour merchants. According to movies and online gossip, Mexico had hundreds of thousands of such merchants. Stringing those people together would surely be a spectacular sight. He felt no moral burden with this plan, just as no one pities the hundreds of millions of chickens slaughtered every day but instead enjoys the taste of fried chicken. He had already stripped such evildoers of their humanity and was looking forward to the visual feast that awaited.

"Mr. Aozawa, why are you smiling?"

"I’m just thinking about the fun thing I’m going to do later," Aozawa said, snapping back to reality. He smiled and extended a doughnut to Arakawa Reina, speaking gently, "Don’t be shy. Help yourself to whatever you’d like."

"Oh."

Arakawa Reina nodded, taking a bite of the doughnut.