The person who appeared in front of Hachiman Hikigaya was a high school student, but his aura was different from the high school students he had interacted with before.
"Hello, my name is Li Shunsheng, you can also call me Hei. I'm an international student from China. I was ordered to come here to hand over the mission."
'Are you serious? An international student from China was drafted to work in Academy City in Japan?'
Hachiman Hikigaya suspected that Japan was no longer trying. How could they have such courage?
Hei was the young man who had been saved by Noldrei. The reason why he used a Chinese identity was that he had been taught by Fu Hua for a period of time.
As a disciple, having a Chinese identity was very logical, right?
"Ah, there isn't anything to hand over here. You just need to take these unlucky people away for treatment."
Hachiman Hikigaya scratched his head, and after confirming the other party's identity with the leader, he handed the documents to Hei.
Hei shook his head and said, "I'm handing over to you, not the other way around. These documents don't have many important things. I can just tell you the rest."
Hachiman Hikigaya's scalp tingled. Whenever a leader gave you extra responsibilities, it was never good.
"Please, senior,"
"There's no need to be so polite. I'm a student from Minato Art High School. I'm new here, and not a high-year student from here. You can just call me Hei."
What Hei was referring to was the local schools in Nagazora City before it became Academy City. There were still high-year students in those schools, but the first year curriculum was now completely aligned with the curriculum of Academy City.
The second and third years were almost completely abandoned, making it seem like the people in the same school were from different schools. It was still very awkward for everyone to live together, especially after many people found out what exactly was going on in Academy City.
Frictions were inevitable, and that's when Hei would have to step in to deal with these things.
"Similar things have actually happened many times before. If it wasn't for your leader making a mistake, she wouldn't have been specifically assigned to do these kinds of jobs. Miss Bronya's expertise lies in the digital and electronic fields. These kinds of jobs are only to clean up some of the small messes that she made in the past."
'Dude, please don't say anymore. The more you say, the more worried I get.'
When had Hachiman Hikigaya ever encountered this kind of oversharing? His head was still fuzzy, and he was being told bad things about his leader behind her back? Should he defend her? Or should he just not bother to defend her?
"You don't have to think too much about it. I'm just here to clean up these things. These people aren't actually just followers of that so-called Holy Mother. No faith will be born for no reason. These people were just specifically cultivated to attract the Holy Mother's attention."
Hei said all of this calmly, but it was very obvious…
Hachiman understood the real meaning.
That was that there really was a "Holy Mother" in a realistic sense in the Academy City, and these people were making a mess because they could actually attract her attention.
'Are they all crazy? Is that Holy Mother some kind of good person?'
Hachiman Hikigaya just thought that these people were too outrageous. If the Holy Mother was orderly and kind, then she wouldn't be attracted to these evil heresies and would not cast her gaze upon them. If the Holy Mother was chaotic and evil, then the gaze that she would cast upon them would definitely not be a good thing.
So what were these followers still doing? Did they not use their brains at all?
"I know what you're thinking. If they used their brains, would they still be followers?"
Hei's words hit the nail right on the head, making Hachiman Hikigaya feel like he was being carried by an older brother.
"What did your leader do? How did she get assigned to a bomb-disposal job? I heard that she caught people last time, and then… a few of them died?"
Hachiman Hikigaya was still very curious about this. He didn't want to be one of those who died.
"Do you know about group sex?" Hei asked directly.
Hachiman Hikigaya paused for a moment, then said sadly, "That's something I wouldn't even dare to think about."
"Right. The girls in there were forcing drugs onto other people, and she couldn't stand it anymore, so she just took action. Your leader used to be a hitman, so she has a little bit of conscience, but not too much. But the purpose at the time wasn't really about your leader, but to use your leader to lure out the 'Holy Mother' in the Academy City behind the scenes."
Hei emphasized again, "The 'Holy Mother' is actually a good person. She didn't even have any intention of pursuing it. She just couldn't stand seeing these things happening so frequently, and she didn't have any power to change anything, other than studying and playing games at home."
Hachiman Hikigaya was stunned. Was he hearing things wrong?
"The entire development of Academy City started from her, so some bastards wanted to lure her out. So far, not many people have seen the Holy Mother. It is said that she can transform in countless ways, so even if you met her, you wouldn't know if you had actually met her."
"The entire Academy City is under surveillance from her 'father'."
Hachiman Hikigaya's face turned black, and he asked, "Then why are you telling me all of this?"
Hei frankly said, "We realized that after the Academy City officially started school, we didn't have enough manpower. So after observing your actions during this period of time, we plan to pull you in to help."
Hachiman Hikigaya asked back, "Aren't you worried that I might also be a bad guy?"
Who knew that Hei would look at him and say in agreement, "No, you're definitely not a bad guy."
"What do you mean?" Hachiman thought that he shouldn't be that easy to read.
"You have a little sister, and you're one of the rare people who have good relationships with their parents and their little sister."
Hei's words made Hachiman Hikigaya's face turn even darker.
As expected of his name, he was always making people's faces turn black.
'So it's because I have a weakness that you guys are going to treat me like a slave?
Hachiman Hikigaya really felt the excellence of this Academy City's educational system.
A few beatings and shocks quickly allowed Hachiman Hikigaya to make great strides in his understanding of things, and his abilities were also greatly improved.
"People who love their family members might not necessarily be good people, but they're definitely people worth trusting. The most important thing in the work that we do is two words, 'trust'."
*'You should go and trust someone else!*' Hachiman Hikigaya wanted to slap him a few times on the spot.
"I know what you're thinking, but it doesn't matter. After hearing this much, you don't have much of a choice. Either we erase your memories, or you join us."
Hei was very sincere when he spoke, giving off the feeling of dragging people onto Mount Liang. [Mount Liang was the legendary base of bandits in the classic Chinese novel Water Margin.]
"Because I also have a little sister, so I know what kind of thoughts people who have little sisters have."
Hachiman Hikigaya's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm truly grateful to you."
"You're welcome. We'll be colleagues from now on." Hei said with a smile, "You also have some insignificant colleagues. Their names are Fuutaro Uesugi, Manabu Horikita, Sakuta Azusagawa, and Izumi Masamune. You'll have a chance to meet them soon."
"I was also going to recruit a guy named Haruno Yuu, but his class representative accidentally caught him and his sister clapping in the entrance hall, and he was caught by your leader for high-level development education."
'Why do I feel like those names are so dangerous? Is that clapping what I think it is?'
Hachiman Hikigaya's heart trembled.
'Komachi, your brother is going to be led astray here!'