Chapter 849: The Man Who Wants to See Lin Wuming
"Treat? Let's skip it today, I'll save you some money." Shokuhou Misaki refused, "If Saten Ruiko really wants to treat, cooking personally another day would show more sincerity."
"Sorry, Ruiko~" Misaka Mikoto also put her hands together in an apologetic gesture, "Because we're celebrating the start of school, we already made plans with Lin Wuming..."
The reason didn't matter; as long as they were with Lin Wuming, that was enough. For this, Shokuhou Misaki and Misaka Mikoto always found various reasons to celebrate.
Saten Ruiko, of course, wouldn't be angry about this, especially after hearing they had prior plans with Lin Wuming; she supported them with both hands.
"Since it's a celebration, Saten Ruiko and Haruue Erii should come along too," Hu Feng Toumi suddenly said.
"Huh? This..." Saten Ruiko hesitated, "Us too... is that appropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about it?" Hu Feng Toumi said calmly, "Of course, the more people at a party, the livelier it is."
Shokuhou Misaki, on the side, silently rolled her eyes—when did Hu Feng Toumi become so fond of "liveliness"?
"Kazakiri Hyouka and Shirai Kuroko should also join," Hu Feng Toumi then looked at the people next to the two Level 5s.
Kazakiri Hyouka was already tied to Shokuhou Misaki, so she nodded without hesitation.
"Sorry, I must decline and cannot attend," Shirai Kuroko said, refusing politely, "Precisely because school has just started, Judgment is very busy."
Unlike Hu Feng Toumi and Lin Wuming, Shirai Kuroko took her duties very seriously.
"Huh? Are there more activities later?" Haruue Erii, also a member of Judgment, immediately panicked.
"Not Branch 177," Shirai Kuroko waved her hand, "It's the affairs of Branch 003 within School Garden."
Although Shirai Kuroko often appeared at Branch 177, as a rare Judgment member within School Garden, she also concurrently served as the Branch Chief of Branch 003.
However, the school rules within School Garden were far stricter than elsewhere, and only young ladies from wealthy families attended there, so incidents requiring Judgment's intervention rarely occurred.
Therefore, Shirai Kuroko was able to devote most of her energy to the areas outside School Garden.
But undeniably, Shirai Kuroko, who had to manage the affairs of two branches, was indeed busier than other Judgment members.
"Do you need my help?" Haruue Erii asked.
"Not yet," Shirai Kuroko shook her head, "Don't worry, Haruue, when I really need help, I won't be polite."
"That's good then..." Haruue Erii finally relaxed.
"Well then..." Shirai Kuroko stood up, "I'll take my leave now. Onee-sama, I wish you a good time—if needed, I'll help deal with the Dorm Supervisor."
She bowed slightly, and then Shirai Kuroko's figure instantly disappeared. When she reappeared, she was already on the sidewalk outside the store.
—On one side, there were her Judgment activities based on her sense of justice, on the other, her beloved Onee-sama, and then there was... Lin Wuming.
To break free from this increasingly complex vortex, Shirai Kuroko decided to maintain a distance, deliberately keeping some distance in her daily life—this might be better for everyone.
Without looking back at the family restaurant behind her, Shirai Kuroko activated "Space Movement" and rushed towards School Garden.
Inside the family restaurant, Shokuhou Misaki's gaze followed Shirai Kuroko's retreating figure closely until she was completely swallowed by the crowd on the street.
"Runzi-jie," Shokuhou Misaki suddenly asked, "Has anything happened in School Garden recently?"
Kazakiri Hyouka shook her head, "No, everything is peaceful."
"Then what is she busy with?" Shokuhou Misaki mumbled, regretting a little that she hadn't properly checked Shirai Kuroko's thought information.
"I know a bit about that," Haruue Erii raised her hand and said, "It's said that there was an incident of internal information leakage in School Garden, so they are taking action to conduct a self-investigation."
Precisely because it involved internal information of School Garden, they wanted to resolve it internally as much as possible, behind closed doors, and would not seek external help unless absolutely necessary.
"I see." Hearing this explanation, the girls present all nodded in agreement.
School Garden was often compared to "School Garden within School Garden"; just as it was difficult for the outside world to directly obtain various information about School Garden, internal information of School Garden was also strictly regulated and rarely leaked to the outside.
However, precisely because of this, people outside were even more curious about the internal information of that mysterious maiden's country, School Garden.
Even without any direct benefit, simply to satisfy their curiosity, some people would try every means to inquire about internal information of School Garden.
But in Shokuhou Misaki's opinion, this was a trivial matter.
"So there really was something..." While muttering, Shokuhou Misaki felt a little relieved, "Alright, we should get going too, let's meet up with Lin Wuming!"
—She just received an email; Lin Wuming had finished his training and was about to go home. If they hurried now, they might still make it to meet him at the park.
Meanwhile, after Shirai Kuroko returned to School Garden, she immediately attended a joint meeting.
Anti-Skill, Judgment, and the School Garden Internal Management Committee each sent representatives to participate.
Although they were unwilling to escalate the matter, the information leak involved the external areas of School Garden, so the cooperation of Anti-Skill was indispensable.
On the other hand, Judgment's role was truly just "participation for participation's sake" as a representative.
There were only four or five Judgment members within School Garden in total, and because they usually had nothing to do, they had basically become "ghost members."
The Management Committee did not expect Judgment to do anything.
Therefore, after the meeting adjourned, Shirai Kuroko found herself with nothing to do.
"Alright, where should I go to pass the time now?"
Just as Shirai Kuroko sighed in boredom, a man in his thirties suddenly approached her.
"Shirai Kuroko, can I bother you for a few minutes?" The man was wearing the dark blue uniform of Anti-Skill and was one of the attendees at the meeting.
Therefore, Shirai Kuroko did not refuse: "Teacher, is there something you need?"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare, I'm no teacher." The man waved his hands repeatedly, then took out a business card from his pocket, "Although the outside world considers us part of Anti-Skill, we are actually two different functional departments."
Takadaira Koryo, a mid-level cadre of the Border Guards, and the person in charge of the East Gate—in short, a so-called "gatekeeper."
Because there was a tendency for School Garden's information to further leak to the outside of Academy City, he, as a frontline manager of entry and exit, was also invited to participate in this meeting.
The border management of Academy City was handled by a specialized unit; they were indeed not part of Anti-Skill, leaning more towards professional security or professional soldiers.
"Then... Takadaira Koryo," Shirai Kuroko looked at him suspiciously, "May I ask what you need from me?"
"Actually, it's like this," even though he was facing a girl much younger than himself, Takadaira Koryo was still respectful, even to the point of being somewhat obsequious, "I have something I want to ask Lin Wuming, so if it's convenient, I hope Shirai Kuroko can help with an introduction..."
