Misaki City once again ushered in the expected spring rains.

Unlike the rain in the metropolis, the rain here has a clear and transparent texture like cream, making the rain curtain like a needle a rare sight.

Although in just 10 years, the town of Misaki, which was not well known and was just an ordinary town, became the current city of Misaki, and the area that was originally full of fields and forests has gradually modernized in the rapid growth period, leaving the original idyllic town without a trace, but due to the huge amount of money required for urban development and the collapse of the economy, the hills and mountains of this small town still retain the same appearance as it was ten years ago.

The only area that has been urbanized is the flat terrain, but the city has become more lively in the strict sense of the word, and although there are opponents who prefer to live in the fields, most residents still yearn for urban life.

The construction of the streets and the main facilities such as the high school have been moved out of the city, and the abandoned factories have been replaced by buildings with huge shopping malls, but this change has not been able to shake the pure nature of the city.

Aoko Aosaki opened her red umbrella and looked at the sunlight projected in the sky in the distance.

She neither likes or hates rain, but when she walks down the wet streets, she still recalls the causes of the past.

At the same time as graduating from high school, like most people living in this small city, she went to live in Tokyo, and began to work in a bar with the goal of a national university, running around every day to work hard for that little dream.

But because of my sister's sudden runaway from home, this dream was naturally shattered.

The real family business of the Aozaki family, as well as the mess that came with it, were all stuffed into her hands.

Then, the girl, who was not even fifteen years old, was suddenly told that she would embark on the path of a magician in the future.

But unlike the fairy tale imaginary fairy tale who lives in a remote forest and can make miracles happen with just one finger, the power of magic is beyond common sense, but it is very realistic.

Not only is it not omnipotent, but it is very narrow, and there are many rules that are not romantic at all, such as secret results, abiding by the rules and a series of troublesome things.

Despite this, Aoko intends to do her best in every boring thing and try to be as good as she can be.

And in order to become a good magician in her own right, she now lives an everyday and non-everyday life.

When she was in school, she was a respectable, conscientious and responsible student council president, a trustworthy honor student in the eyes of her teachers, and after school, she became a magician who needed to worry about what to eat tonight.

This is no joke, because they are now living in a cohabiting home, and eating together has become the norm, and although they still do their own meals, it is difficult to satisfy the appetite of a normal high school student with only 30,000 yen a month.

Although there have been a lot of complaints about this matter, the cohabitants who are the eldest lady of the daughter are able to put most of the money into research, and it is difficult for Aozaki Aoko to say much to endure such tight conditions.

But if that's all there is, Aoko regards this as a magician's practice at most, but under such conditions, her cohabitant still unceremoniously uses the precious meal money to buy high-end black tea, which makes Aoko unbearable.

She's not the black tea star who has to drink tea even if she doesn't eat!

As a healthy female high school student, at the end of each month, Aoko Aozaki has to contribute her own living expenses, not only to prevent her from going hungry, but also to prevent her cohabitants from really relying on black tea to survive.

"In retrospect, my life has been full of this kind of disaster......"

In the bitter cold of December, Aoko Aosaki sighed alone, squeezed out of the streets crowded with houses and crowds, and walked in the direction of the city center.

After passing through the mall that makes her sigh 'Long live modernization' every time, Aoko Aosaki skillfully passes by a store that has nothing to buy, and although she is a little tempted to take a good rest at a nearby coffee shop, she has more important things to do today, so she can only endure it for a while.

"It's ......"

Looking at the storefront in front of her, which is completely different from the traditional Japanese style, with a modern decoration and a layout that looks like a bar counter, Aoko can't help but swallow.

Before she could get closer, she felt the aroma of the food already rushing in, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant that was commonplace in Tokyo but still very new to Misaki.

Although this is a fairly civilian store, it is still a rare high-end food for girls who often spend time with instant noodles.

After hearing about its opening, Qingzi, who is usually very arrogant, made a careful calculation for this and drew out this consumption that was a bit extravagant for her.

Thinking of this, she subconsciously clenched the wallet in her pocket, felt the weight of the paper inside through the outer layer, and after secretly confirming it again, she touched the steel hammers next to her before nodding with satisfaction.

If you don't deliberately order high-priced items such as tuna belly, this meal is still more than enough, and as for the cohabitant, it has been left behind by the girl at this time.

After that, use those spare steel hammers to go to the convenience store to buy a boxed lunch or something to pass the other party, who let that guy always buy high-end black tea uncontrollably.

Aoko Aosaki counted her cohabitants with malice and walked forward, I don't know if it was because she was too excited, she even trotted up.

But when crossing to the opposite side of the fork in the road, Qingzi subconsciously slowed down his pace, raised his head quietly, and looked for it.

At that moment, in the corner of her field of vision, she saw a figure dressed in red.

This was a common occurrence, but every time she encountered this, she still had a chill on her back similar to her sixth sense.

But upon closer inspection, she realized that it was just a young man wearing a similar trench coat.

The other party seemed to notice her gaze and cast a curious look.

Aoko, who was aware of her oppressive gaze, stretched her waist and looked at the stranger.

In the drizzle, he didn't hold an umbrella, but there was no sign of getting wet.

The natural and harmonious appearance of the other party is enough to stand out in this city, and with the outfit that many citizens have only seen in an international city like Tokyo, it even feels a little out of place in the small city of Misaki.

Then, Aoko was also slightly surprised for a moment.

The specific reasons are also unclear, just like the language that doesn't describe it correctly.

But what is certain is that the noise of the surrounding streets and the sound of rain are as vague as if they were in the distance.

In this atmosphere, the figure of the young man is also very naturally integrated with the environment of this small city, and there is no sense of disobedience at all, as if he is the master here, but the residents of the streets such as Qingzi are the guests.

As if to correct the legitimacy of her position, Aoko Aosaki felt an unexplained irritability.

This irritability quickly turned into vigilance after the other party took the initiative to lean over.

"Excuse me, do I have something on my face? It feels like you care a lot. ”

The young man's words denied the possibility that he was here to talk, which made Aoko Aozaki secretly surprised.

Although she was indeed looking at the other party, Qingzi was still quite restrained, and there should be no obvious movements, this person was much more acute than she imagined.

However, she didn't have the heart to talk about these things now.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little surprised why there are outsiders coming to such a rural town, so it's a bit rude."

Aoko Sogasaki bowed slightly, and after apologizing, raised her head and squinted at the young man in front of her.

The courage that a seventeen-year-old girl should not have, the cuteness of a seventeen-year-old girl, miraculously balanced in her, although the expression may not be close to kindness, but she still tried her best to squeeze out a smile, although in the case of lack of sleep and full of antiquity to go to dinner, Aoko could not guarantee that her smile was not aggressive.

After all, since she was usual, she always kept a straight face and looked like she was in a bad mood.

Although 90% of them were prejudice, because for her, there was not even time to be unhappy, but if all the rumors were prejudice, she would not become one of the seven threats to the school.

Because of her personality, she is also willing to admit that it is at least ten percent true, such as now.

"I came here because I was looking for a location and was recommended my hometown by a partner when I was recently on a contract."

The young man did not hide his purpose and said calmly.

"You're married...... It's really young. ”

Aoko, who understands the so-called contract nature as a buzzword in a big city, also changed her opinion of the young man in front of her a little, with the other party's appearance, she originally thought that this guy was coming to the countryside to travel and talk to those students who were easy to be coaxed, but since the other party told her situation so honestly, Qingzi's expression softened a little.

"It's not enough to get married,"

The young man looked puzzled, but he didn't look like he wanted to explain too much.

"Well, meeting is fate, and it's almost time to eat, because I'm not very familiar with this city, is there any worth eating nearby that you can recommend?"

Aoko's dissatisfied expression is estimated to be the same as the clouds in the sky, even if she stretches out her hand and doesn't hit the smiling person, but after seeing the conveyor belt sushi restaurant behind the young man keep people entering, Aoko's heart feels like a knife.

At this time, there will be a special time in the store, and she can eat upgraded sushi at a fairly affordable price, and she has no time to continue wasting here.

"I'm sorry, I don't know ...... either"

Aoko replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, she also knew that her expression was scary, but the culprit who interrupted her precious enjoyment that only came once a month was in front of her, and it must be difficult to make a good face.

Looking at the frowning brow on Aoko Aosaki's face, the young man also seemed to realize something, and knocked on his palm.

"You're busy right now, aren't you? I'm really sorry, so please accept this as an apology. ”

"Yes...... But it didn't get to the point of being hindered. ”

Aoko Aosaki put her fingers on her forehead as if she had a headache, and looked at the young man who put her hand into the pocket of her trench coat to find something, her eyes were a little surprised.

Even people in big cities are not so polite, after all, they are just chatting a few words, could it be a small gift made by themselves to serve as an opportunity for the next conversation?

The previous words that were married were all scams used to get away with it?

Is this guy taking me for a fool?

Aoko Aosaki muttered in her heart, re-corrected her posture, and prepared to refuse the other party's kindness with righteous words.

Then, her eyes were drawn to the thing that Roland had handed over.

It's not some kind of electronic product that symbolizes high technology and can easily attract girls.

It's not a hand-made doll that will easily make people feel good and embody gentleness and care.

It's a very cliché piece that even makes people feel insulted when they accept it.

- That's a Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Last year, the portrait printed on the $10,000 bill exudes a nice smell of ink.

Aoko Aosaki fell silent.

If she accepted this bill now, she would not be able to sit idly by and watch the young man in front of her be left behind.

This undoubtedly conflicts with her original intention of wanting to get out of trouble quickly in the first place, and once she does so, it will also expose that her previous words are all excuses used to perfunctory the other party, and it is also inconsistent with her image of a perfect high school girl.

There was a long silence.

Now there is no regret medicine to take, and Qingzi regrets the fact that he was perfunctory because he was too looking forward to the meal and perfunctory the young man in front of him who was stupid and had a lot of money.

Obviously, the other party has no malicious intentions, but it's just too natural and doesn't understand human feelings, and it's quite pleasing to the eye.

No way!

As the president of the school's student body and the heir of the Aogasaki family, he must not bend over one-third of the living expenses a month and damage the image of the school and the family!

Aoko convinces herself like this and tries to suppress the feelings that come up.

"What's wrong?"

As if wondering about her silence, the young man put his hand in front of her eyes and waved it with some curiosity.

When he noticed that Aoko's gaze had been completely peeled off, staring at the money in his hand, the young man showed a look of sudden realization.

"Are you not satisfied with the amount? Sorry, I'm not very aware of the city's consumption. ”

As if he had misunderstood something, the young man took out two copies of the same Fukuzawa Yukichi from his pocket, put them in his hand, and handed them to Aoko.

"Is that enough?"

By the time Aoko Sowasaki came to her senses, her hand had grasped the other end of the bills tightly, and she was so strong that she almost crumpled them.

"Well, about eating, is it okay to turn belt sushi?"

(End of chapter)