Chapter 572

"Damn!"

Suddenly, a tall, upright figure emerged from the shadows of the street corner as if appearing out of nowhere, blocking his path without warning.

The visitor wore a simple yet imposing black dress, her face obscured by sunglasses, yet even so, her stunning beauty and the icy anger radiating from her were difficult to fully conceal.

She was none other than Shirakawa Mai, the senior student of Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Sir," Shirakawa Mai's voice was low, yet as cold as if quenched in ice, each word carrying an undeniable question: "You've been following me from the supermarket entrance until now—what do you want?"

The man jumped at this sudden interception, abruptly halted his steps, and a flicker of panic crossed his face.

Shirakawa Mai gave him no time to react; she swiftly stepped forward half a pace, cleverly using her body to block the man's line of sight with the unsuspecting Asuka ahead.

One hand had already reached into her handheld bag, firmly grasping a talisman paper, her thumb hovering over the incantation as a faint spiritual glow began to appear, her tone sharp as a blade: "Leave immediately, or I will call the police right away."

The atmosphere instantly tightened to its breaking point. Asuka seemed to faintly hear some movement behind her, turned her head slightly in confusion, but the distance and the bend in the path prevented her from seeing exactly what was happening.

Overwhelmed by Shirakawa Mai's powerful presence and the words "call the police," the middle-aged man panicked, flailing his hands wildly, his face breaking into an extremely awkward, even somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Shirakawa-san?! Wait, please wait! It's a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!" He lowered his voice, afraid Asuka ahead might hear, fumbled frantically from his underwear pocket, pulled out a slightly creased business card holder, quickly drew out a card, and offered it to Shirakawa Mai with both hands trembling slightly.

"I—I'm not some suspicious person! I'm a talent scout from Star Talent Agency," he explained hastily, beads of sweat forming on his forehead from nervousness: "Asuka, her aura is truly special, as if wrapped in starlight—I, I just got excited for a moment, wanted to observe her a bit more, find a suitable opportunity to approach and start a conversation, didn't expect my behavior to be inappropriate, causing your misunderstanding, I'm truly, deeply sorry!"

Upon hearing this, Shirakawa Mai's motion froze.

She cautiously, slowly took the business card, her gaze behind the sunglasses sharp as she scanned the text—it was indeed from Star Talent Agency, one of the Four Major Agencies.

This agency is well-known for discovering and training top female entertainers, nicknamed the Heavenly Empress Palace; among its famous female entertainers are Yukie Nakama, Yuko Takeuchi, Erika Sawajiri, Mei Nagano, Kiko Mizuhara, and Tsubasa Honda, all virtuosos of both virtue and art, as well as male entertainers like Takahiro Yamada and the idol group Pink Clover.

Her anger had not fully dissipated, but her vigilance had slightly shifted into astonishment and a hint of helpless amusement.

She lifted her eyes, once again scrutinizing the middle-aged man before her, flushed with embarrassment and continuously bowing in apology. His awkward persistence now seemed, in this moment, to have a few grains of genuine sincerity.

Moreover, Asuka possesses the ability to sense aura, enabling her to naturally discern whether those around her harbor ill intent.

Asuka has become this popular, popular to the point that talent scouts are approaching her?

But the entertainment industry is hardly a good place!

"—Talent scout? From now on, please approach in a more formal, proper manner." Her tone carried an irrebuttable admonition and a hint of impatience.

"Certainly, certainly! Thank you very much, Shirakawa-san, for your correction!" The talent scout, as if pardoned, bowed again, then turned and nearly fled in haste, quickly walking away.

The surroundings returned to summer's tranquility, only the cicadas' chirping remained as before.

Shirakawa Mai stood in place, removed her sunglasses, rubbed her brow, and her face showed a hint of mixed emotion—aftermath, helplessness, and a touch of amusement.

She gazed in the direction Asuka had departed, murmured softly, her tone filled with endless indulgence and protective desire: "—This Ashura Rei, truly, so happy she didn't even notice being followed for so long; it seems from now on, I'll have to keep a tighter watch."

"Junior Student sent me to Karuizawa—what for, planning to make me share a bed with Watanabe Minami?" Shirakawa Mai smirked, arms crossed, she thought it over, yet again felt going wouldn't be so bad.

Uesugi Muneyuki has already shared the intelligence he gathered here with Shirakawa Mai; without doubt, at least one of the Red Goldfinch or the Sakikawa Restoration Army definitely possesses an Inner World.

At the same time, Shirakawa Mai must also report her investigation findings from this period to Uesugi, and the two still need to discuss what to do next.

Seeing Asuka unharmed, Shirakawa Mai immediately returned to the headquarters of the Kantou Shrine Alliance, where security had been strengthened after the previous surprise attack, and just as promised by the Kansai New God, nothing further has occurred during this time.

Upon returning to the alliance headquarters, Shirakawa Mai remains that picture of icy, absolute beauty.

She took off that initial oppressive black dress, chose a tailored light beige trench coat, paired with a simple white silk shirt, pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, revealing a smooth forehead and those eyes that seem able to see into people's hearts. Her beauty carries distance, yet her composed demeanor brings peace of mind.

And just as she returned, two lovely girls in red and white shrine maiden outfits immediately stepped forward to greet her.

The first to approach was Tomoko Ono, wearing a classic red and white shrine maiden outfit, her white robes purer than snow, her scarlet hakama vivid. The somewhat oversized attire better complemented her petite frame, retaining a touch of childishness.

On that face, pure and flawless as a newborn fawn, now brimming with curiosity and a hint of unrestrainable excitement, her large, dark eyes blinked not at the sudden appearance of the Chief Priest, her hands obediently placed on her joined knees, the pleats of her scarlet hakama meticulously arranged: "You've returned, Chief Priest."

Beside her was Eisa Ikeda, likewise in a red and white shrine maiden outfit, yet when worn on her, it seemed to gain several degrees of ethereality and detachment.

Her skin is nearly transparent in its whiteness, contrasted against the red hakama skirt, like a fragile glass craft; her light ash-blonde hair flows softly over her shoulders, a pair of bright eyes complementing her tranquil yet slightly dazed demeanor.

Unlike Tomoko's lively glances around, she merely tilted her head slightly to gaze out the window, her eyes somewhat vacant, as if immersed in her own world, her slender fingers unconsciously twirling the silk ribbon on the cuff of her shrine maiden top: "Welcome back!"

These two girls are both very young—Tomoko is only 17, Eisa Ikeda only 14, they are Shirakawa Mai's newly accepted Inner World disciples.

In fact, Shirakawa Mai has never told Uesugi Muneyuki that she chose to become an entertainer for a very important reason: this way, she can come into contact with many young, pure female fans, and from among them screen and search for the girls she wishes to take as disciples.

She has tried, and the girls selected this way are absolutely devoted to her and nearly absolutely loyal.

Loyal! Sincere!

The request from Uesugi Kuninori last time and the assassination attempt made Shirakawa Mai feel a sense of crisis; she suddenly realized that inheritance is still necessary.

But does Uesugi need to know these things? No, he does not!

Shirakawa Mai thought of this and let out a playful smile, thinking: Junior Student had better obediently let me control him as my Inner World Companion—that would be enough!

"Get ready, ask the school for leave, and come with me to Karuizawa for a few days' vacation."

"Eh? Eh??????"

The two young shrine maiden girls froze.

"Chief Priest, are you really going to take us together to Karuizawa for a vacation?"

"Great!!!"

At the same time, Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward, Sakuradamon of the Metropolitan Police Department, Special Mission Unit.

"I really 'was!' At this moment, only Kai Toru and Date Nagamune remain in the Special Mission Unit, handling the final handover O

The aftermath of this foreign minister case is too significant, so the Metropolitan Police Department naturally wants to preserve the Special Mission Unit, hence Watanabe Eiji has repeatedly granted them leave, among which Igarashi will go to Hakone with his family for vacation, Fu Tian has booked tickets to London to unwind, Nanxiang Yui plans to go to Sendai and has already departed, Uesugi here will go to Karuizawa.

Kai Toru has already planned to go to HK with his girlfriend, he specifically reserved some time, while as for Date Nagamune arranging for himself to go watch the performance at Akasaka! He also has to go shout 'Mom!'"

As it turns out, Akasaka this year, due to a series of combined reasons, became explosively popular to the point of being a mess, the lottery numbers reached a new high, in the concert one must be a member fan to have lottery eligibility, even so, it's only a one-in-twenty or thirty chance, and the price is still very high.

"Ugh, my black egg stickers, my butterfly knife, my gloves!" Date Nagamune tearfully gazed at his CSGO inventory: "All sold! My collection ah ah ah ah ah~"

"Hey hey hey~ what about your salary? Your bonus? After joining, didn't you also earn several million?" Kai Toru was left speechless by Date Nagamune, he glanced over, suddenly discovered a butterfly knife priced at a staggering 500,000 yen: "Hey! What is this thing you have, so expensive?"

"Hehehe, it's all here." Date Nagamune smirked, flipping through his inventory: "The yen depreciates daily, from 1990 to now, the yen's purchasing power has plummeted nearly half; rather than keep money in the bank, it's better to convert it all into CSGO equipment, accessories, stickers—valuable! If it weren't for going to the concert, I wouldn't have sold everything at once, I'd keep a few for personal use."

"Well, although these things are indeed valuable, who can really say?" Kai Toru looked at Gabe Newell's face and mysterious smile, always feeling a bit unreliable: "What if Valve suddenly changes things? Say, five IEM champions can be synthesized into a major champion?"

"Then I've already sold all of mine, hehehe~" Date Nagamune smirked: "I've exchanged everything for the Young Lady and Second Young Lady's merchandise, and I even set up T+7!"

"Oh you little slippery one!" Kai Toru laughed and scolded.

The two police officers fell silent for a while, then Date Nagamune suddenly said: "Speaking of which, I hear your father is preparing to be promoted to Vice Minister of Justice?"

"———I've never cared about that person's business." Just hearing about his father annoyed Kai Toru; he never called him father in daily life, instead using "that person" to refer to him: "Whether he gets promoted or not, what does it have to do with me?"

"How is it not related? Isn't it because of that Imperial Palace matter? Originally you should have been awarded a decoration, but this matter cannot be made public or publicized, and you're in a promotion freeze period so you can't be promoted either, so besides money, they could only reward Vice Minister Kai and your girlfriend. If I haven't guessed wrong, Kai, your girlfriend at ANA should have been promoted too, right?"

"——" At this, Kai Toru was left speechless.

Debuki Etsuko was rapidly promoted from a regular cabin attendant to a first-class purser, exclusively assigned to the best international routes, and placed on the standby list for "International VIP Jet" and "Government Charter Plane" missions; All Nippon Airways also gave her a huge bonus in the name of an "Outstanding Employee Award," plus an extra 50,000 yen housing allowance every month.

Even an idiot would know what's going on; Kai Toru knew it perfectly well himself, and he wasn't exactly some incorruptible moral purist either.

I didn't say I didn't want it!

"But if we're talking about who benefited most from all this, it's still Section Chief Okada's father — you know, Kai, Taisou's father, Financial Services Agency Commissioner Okada Masahide, is getting promoted; his next post is — Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance!" Date Nagamune said in a low, conspiratorial voice.

"What?!" Kai Toru's pupils contracted.

Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance?!

"Not only that, because these cases got too big and kept crossing prefectures, in order to 'optimize resource allocation' and respond to major crimes across jurisdictions, the Cabinet may consider granting Director General Watanabe a temporary, very high-level authority — something like the title 'Kantou Region Police Integration Director General'; Director General Watanabe will finally get his wish, extending his reach out of Tokyo, across the whole Kantou region~"

Date Nagamune laughed in a sleazy way, nudging his chin toward Police Management Officer Watanabe Minami: "Does that remind you of something? Back then, Etchu Province Guard Nagao Kagetora acknowledged Yamanouchi Uesugi Clan Head Uesugi Norimasa as his adoptive father, and at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu succeeded as Kantou Kanrei — I'm telling you, this Metropolitan Police Department, nay, the whole Kantou region, will sooner or later belong to Uesugi Chief — hehehe~"

Kai Toru swallowed, couldn't help but nod.

Right, in a few more months Watanabe Minami will be Uesugi Minami, so this Kantou, isn't it just Uesugi Chief's then?

Thinking of this, for the first time, Kai Toru felt approval for his father's decision to use all his connections to force him into the Special Mission Unit.

The future — which way will the Special Mission Unit go?

So exciting!

Chatting like this, Kai and Date decided right then to stick tight around the Special Mission Unit centered on Uesugi Chief and Management Officer Watanabe, roll up their sleeves and work hard! The future — that's one big, bright light!

Loyalty! Sincerity!