Chapter 447: Tarot Cards Granted by the Eroge Shooter

Chapter 447: Chapter 447: Tarot Cards Granted by the Eroge Shooter

Chapter 447: Tarot Cards Granted by the Eroge Shooter

"Oh, so you weren’t jealous. You were just feeling emotional."

Hearing the faint sorrow in Hayasaka Ai’s voice, Asagiri merely smiled nonchalantly.

"Well, if it has nothing to do with me, then it’s fine. Bye-bye."

"Eh? Eh?"

Seeing Asagiri actually turn around to leave, Hayasaka Ai instinctively reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

Only after doing so did she realize the gesture was a little too bold.

Her cheeks flushed faintly as she quickly let go.

"Can you really bring yourself to leave a girl who’s feeling depressed and lost?"

Asagiri did not hesitate for even half a second.

He raised a hand again.

"Oh, absolutely. Bye-bye."

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

Hayasaka Ai finally realized that her pitiful maiden act had completely failed to awaken Asagiri’s protective instincts.

If anything, it had backfired.

She could only suppress her embarrassment and speak softly.

"Well... shopping alone is a little boring."

"If you’re free... could you keep me company?"

"Why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?"

Asagiri immediately stopped walking and returned to her side.

While casually examining the latest phones displayed behind the glass counter, he asked with a smile,

"But your way of relieving stress is pretty unique."

"This is the first time I’ve seen someone come to a phone store because they’re in a bad mood."

"It’s not like I’m only browsing."

Hayasaka Ai leaned forward slightly, her gaze passing through the glass display toward the beautifully designed phones inside.

Expectation appeared in her azure eyes.

"Do you know something?"

"I’ve saved every salary I’ve earned over the years. Altogether, it’s about forty million yen."

"Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I come to Akihabara and stand in front of stores filled with expensive electronics."

"I imagine that one day, when Kaguya no longer needs my help and I can finally put down the responsibility of being her personal maid, I’ll come here and spend as much as I want."

"Headphones, phones, portable music players, speakers..."

"I’ll replace everything with the best, most expensive versions, the ones I actually want."

Hayasaka Ai smiled faintly.

"Just imagining it makes me feel much better."

After saying that, she turned toward Asagiri curiously.

"What about you?"

"When you’re under pressure, what do you usually do to relieve it?"

"Hmm..."

Before Asagiri could answer, Hayasaka Ai suddenly remembered something.

Her face reddened slightly.

"And don’t say that kind of thing."

Asagiri frowned and immediately accused her in a stern tone.

"Where exactly did your mind go?"

"Can you be a little more innocent?"

Hayasaka Ai stared at him.

"...Of all the people I know, aren’t you the least qualified to say that?"

Asagiri shrugged without caring.

"I was just trying to remember whether I’ve ever experienced what you call pressure."

That answer immediately caught Hayasaka Ai’s interest.

"And?"

"The answer is no."

Hayasaka Ai could not resist pressing further.

"Even now?"

"Even with the deadline before the end of the world approaching?"

"Still nothing?"

"No."

Asagiri shook his head.

His index finger lightly tapped the glass counter as he spoke calmly.

"Pressure comes from not knowing what to do when you’re faced with a problem."

"I’m not conflicted about Nyx."

"I’ll do everything I can."

"I’ll gather the strength of our world, the Blackwatch world, and, if we’re lucky, Players from other worlds as well."

"If even that isn’t enough..."

"I’ll use the Great Seal."

Hayasaka Ai fell silent.

A few seconds passed before she softly uttered a single word.

"Liar."

She raised her head and looked directly at Asagiri.

Her expression was serious.

"If that’s really how you feel, why didn’t you tell Asuna and Kaguya about it from the beginning?"

"Why did you wait until Megumi discovered it before telling the truth?"

"Why didn’t you want us... didn’t want them to know about the Great Seal?"

"Hayasaka, I think you just let something slip."

"Don’t change the subject!"

"I understand what you’re feeling."

Asagiri replied casually.

"If you suddenly awakened a power capable of saving the world at the cost of your own life, I’d feel conflicted too."

"But rationally speaking, if Nyx isn’t eliminated, all of us die."

"If I use the Great Seal, then only I die."

"Isn’t that the logical conclusion?"

"You..."

Hayasaka Ai felt her chest grow unbearably heavy.

So heavy that she could no longer maintain her usual detachment or bother hiding what she truly felt.

"Can you really accept that so calmly?"

"Of course not."

To Hayasaka Ai’s surprise, Asagiri answered immediately.

"I can’t accept it at all."

"If you’re expecting me to cry, shake in terror, or anything like that, then no, that’s not happening."

"But I will bet everything on defeating Nyx, and I’ll do everything possible to avoid using the Great Seal."

Hayasaka Ai stared at him in surprise.

"Then why did you say..."

"Because I didn’t want you feeling fear toward the concept of death."

Asagiri turned to face her directly.

Then he smiled.

"But after thinking about it, I realized I was underestimating all of you."

"You’re Players who have already transcended the fear of death."

"There’s no reason to worry that you’d develop that kind of fear and strengthen Nyx because of it."

"So that’s what it was..."

Hayasaka Ai nodded.

Then she could not help murmuring,

"You keep saying ’we,’ but technically it should be ’they and I,’ shouldn’t it?"

"After all, I don’t have..."

"How long are you going to keep obsessing over one Tarot card?"

Asagiri interrupted her with obvious impatience.

Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a Tarot card, and handed it to her.

Hayasaka Ai looked down.

Printed on the card was Temperance.

"Here."

"I’ll give you one too. Happy now?"

Seeing Asagiri act as though he were pacifying a child with a toy, Hayasaka Ai could not help laughing.

"Who wants your Tarot card?"

"I wanted one from the System."

"How is that the same thing?"

"Of course it’s not the same."

Asagiri answered matter of factly.

"The System relies on me, the strongest Player."

"That means any Tarot card I personally hand out is automatically more valuable."

"But if you don’t want it, I’ll just..."

Before he could finish, Hayasaka Ai snatched the card from his hand.

She immediately placed it inside her shoulder bag.

"I never said I didn’t want it."

After saying that in a thoroughly tsundere tone, Hayasaka Ai glanced at Asagiri beside her.

Then she tentatively asked,

"Utsunomiya-san, you... toward me..."

"Let’s talk about that later."

Asagiri interrupted her.

This time, he looked directly into her eyes.

"Let’s discuss it after all of this is over."

"After Kaguya no longer needs your help, whether as her maid or as her teammate."

"Mm..."

Hayasaka Ai did not look disappointed.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Then her tone turned slightly mischievous.

"But even if I’m not saying anything about my feelings yet, I can still ask you to go shopping with me, right?"

"Of course."

"Then let’s go!"

Hayasaka Ai grabbed Asagiri’s sleeve and smiled.

"I haven’t properly explored Akihabara in a long time."

"This time, I’m going to look around as much as I want."

...

Several days later, in the afternoon, at the gates of Shuchiin Private Academy.

"Who’s that? She’s beautiful... Is she a new teacher?"

"Her skin is so pale, and she’s so thin. She looks like she might faint."

"She seems to be waiting for someone."

"The guards aren’t stopping her, so her identity must’ve been verified, or someone from the school invited her."

Before Asagiri and his group even reached the front gate, they could already hear the passing students whispering among themselves.

From the contents of those conversations alone, everyone immediately knew who was waiting outside.

"Utsunomiya Asagiri."

Seeing Asagiri emerge from Shuchiin Academy, Sakurakawa Rikka straightened from where she had been leaning against the wall.

She wore slim jeans and a simple short sleeved shirt.

The outfit itself was ordinary, yet her pale complexion, slender figure, and naturally mysterious beauty were enough to attract attention without effort.

She stepped forward two paces.

After greeting Asagiri, she looked toward Iwanaga Kotoko beside him.

"I’m here."

A complicated emotion appeared in Iwanaga Kotoko’s violet eyes.

She stared at Sakurakawa Rikka, whose calm face carried a faint, bewitching beauty.

From a certain perspective, Sakurakawa Rikka should have been her destined enemy.

Yet now, she was her ally.

"You really came..."

"You two, wake up."

Asagiri’s teasing voice shattered the atmosphere.

"This is Shuchiin Private Academy, not some deserted mountain peak."

"Why are you making this look like a duel between peerless swordsmen?"

"Are you cosplaying?"

Yuuki Asuna and the others could not help laughing.

At the same time, they were genuinely curious about why Iwanaga Kotoko had personally invited Sakurakawa Rikka here.

If one asked who Iwanaga Kotoko argued with most often within the group, the answer would undoubtedly be Yuuki Asuna or Kaguya Shinomiya.

But if one asked who she had the worst relationship with, it would unquestionably be Sakurakawa Rikka.

No.

Calling their relationship bad was not quite accurate.

A better description would be that they were barely acquainted.

Iwanaga Kotoko was the God of Wisdom who maintained the balance between the Cursed world and humanity.

Sakurakawa Rikka, meanwhile, had obtained supernatural power through Curses.

Their positions were fundamentally opposed.

For someone as concerned with pride and reputation as Iwanaga Kotoko to set those things aside and personally invite Sakurakawa Rikka here, the reason clearly had nothing to do with herself.

Which meant...

"There may be a way."

Sakurakawa Rikka looked toward Asagiri.

Her eyes, accented by light violet eyeshadow, remained calm.

Then she spoke words that immediately stunned everyone present.

"Iwanaga Kotoko and I may have found a way to eliminate Nyx without requiring you to use the Great Seal."

....

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