The Exchange Student Returns

"I've realized that I still need to use both carrot and stick approaches, but I can't let her feel lonely or wronged. After all, if she becomes too withdrawn because of loneliness, or if she stops trusting others because she's been wronged, that would be even worse. So, when punishing her, there needs to be a plausible reason, and the punishment should be something that others have done before," Sayuri concluded.

"I see, that's definitely how it is. What a brilliant conclusion, Sayuri- san!" Shirou said in surprise, not expecting there to be such knowledge involved.

"And another thing, I've discovered that the head maid in Britain, Bristol, is no ordinary person at all. She manages to keep my children completely under her thumb. She must be a master of leadership and an expert at directing people." Sayuri wanted to applaud her.

"Hmm, that's true, she really is an amazing person." Shirou thought to himself. Artoria raised her hand and shouted to her subordinates, "Go quickly! Go to that place ten kilometers to the right and buy some fried chicken nuggets, then go to that shop ten kilometers to the left and buy some hamburgers."

"Mom! Please don't tell Shirou everything! I... I'm just used to it, cleaning! For the past ten days or so, I've been doing this every day. If I don't get up in the morning and do some cleaning, I feel uneasy."

I feel that if there is any unclean place in my home, it is an unforgivable sin. I feel like a piece of scum who drags society down, like a cockroach in a corner, because I leave stains in my home.

No, at least cockroaches are still helping humans eat all kinds of garbage every day, cleaning up the earth. If you don't mop the floor and clean the toilet, you're not even as good as a cockroach...

Eriri's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, until finally, a trail of disheartening black smoke billowed from her body.

"I really want to meet that head maid," said Sayuri, her hands clasped together in longing.

"Huh!!! Head maid! Head maid!" Eriri was so startled that the black mist around her instantly dissipated. She turned around abruptly, and the image of the blonde girl wearing a white headband symbolizing a crown flashed in her mind. She screamed.

"That's an exaggeration. Don't worry, Artoria isn't coming," Shirou said to her, amused.

"Eriri- sensei?" Mashiro peeked out, looking at Eriri had suddenly collapsed onto the sofa in confusion.

"Alright, so what brings you here?" Eriri asked first.

"Yes, Eriri- sensei, actually I have to meet with the manga editor this afternoon, what should I do?"

"Is that so? I understand. Mashiro, come to my room with me then. Let's get down to business." Eriri said to the girl seriously.

"It seems they'll be busy for a while. This child is staying with the Higashiya family, right? I'll send a car to take the child back later. Shirou, if you have something to do, you should go back first. After all, you just came back from abroad," Sayuri said.

"Alright then, I'll leave Mashiro in your care Sayuri -san." Shirou didn't disturb them, said goodbye to Mrs. Sayuri, and left the Sawamura residence.

"Okay, don't worry." Sayuri stood at the door, waving goodbye to the boy. "Remember to come visit often, Shirou. Even if you're not here to see Eriri, you're always welcome to come visit me."

Meanwhile, a shipment of goods sent from France had already arrived in Tokyo via a transport plane.

The massive transport plane was parked on the open ground, its hatches open, revealing rows of wooden crates and sheet metal containers. Long loading platforms had been erected on top, directly connecting to the truck platforms below.

A three-meter-high red truck towed a flatbed truck more than ten meters long, while a crane with a hook hanging down was already ready next to it.

Since it's a product from a collaborative project, it has already passed inspection and acceptance in France, clearing the way for all the necessary procedures. So, there's no need for any further processing; it can be loaded directly onto the truck and transported away.

The truck driver, wearing a gray hat and gray overalls, completed the handover, took the signed document, climbed onto the truck, and skillfully drove the truck towards the delivery location.

Inside one of the black-painted shipping containers, a silver-haired girl was asleep, nestled against a pile of soft foam. The occasional shaking and jolts of the container didn't wake her.

Time passed slowly, and the truck was driven to a rest stop.

The goods, which were originally destined for Chiba, were found in the restroom of a transit station. The driver, who was wearing a hat, looked completely different, even though his clothes were the same.

A while later, the same driver, now wearing a different set of clothes, took out his key, pressed the button, opened the door of a car in the parking lot, and drove away at a leisurely pace.

The truck, now with a different driver, changed direction again and headed towards an even more remote area.

"Wait! This isn't what we agreed on! I just took a nap, and it's almost noon! Hey, Da Vinci! Are you there?" Jeanne d'Arc Chaldea via her cell phone.

However, there has been no response for a long time.

Jeanne d'Arc looked at the map on her phone and realized that she was moving in the opposite direction from Chiba.

"What on earth is going on?" Jeanne d'Arc angrily punched the container.

After that, the truck continued to drive with its cargo. It came to the foot of a mountain, onto a dilapidated road that had been neglected for years. It passed through a dark tunnel and arrived at a spacious and deserted private property. There was a factory inside. The truck drove into a well-built warehouse.

Inside was a group of middle-aged and young men, all of whom appeared fierce and violent.

"Have you received the goods yet?" asked a middle-aged man with prominent white eyes, dressed as a police officer.

"Yes, boss. The handover has been completed with the people over there," the driver replied, taking off his hat.

They are gangsters who cooperate with companies in France, but it's not the same group as before. The middle-aged man's faction has grown much stronger in the past few months, and the night before last, he even proposed to become the new leader.

Meanwhile, among the older generation of the opposition, the elders of the gang died one after another. A middle-aged man, who gained the support of the remaining elders, successfully forced the previous leader to step down last night and took his place.

Even this shipment was handed over to him, and there was no contact with France, so they had no chance to get any information. The people who were supposed to come and pick up Jeanne d'Arc of Arc were from the previous generation, who had already been eliminated, so naturally they couldn't come to pick up Jeanne d'Arc.

At this moment, a middle-aged man with prominent whites of his eyes seemed to sense something, raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and walked to a container.

The men sensed something was wrong with their boss and followed him forward.

They unscrewed the container door and opened it, only to find a large hole torn open inside. Some large, ferocious beast had already left.

"Dinosaurs?" the man who had just watched a movie exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the cave entrance.

"Just as I expected..." the police officer muttered to himself, looking at the hole in the wall.

"Boss? Has someone stolen our goods? I'll go track them down right away," the subordinate asked.

"No need. Let's leave it at that. The goods shouldn't be missing. You can check them and see for yourselves," the middle-aged man said.

He leisurely heated his cigar, then put it in his mouth, exhaling white smoke that obscured his face. Only his fierce, three-white-eyed eyes gleamed with a menacing light, like a shark smelling blood.

At that moment, a silver figure was weaving through the dense forest.

"Where am I?!" Jeanne d'Arc looked around frantically. After realizing she was in the wrong direction, she tried to open the door to leave, but the door was blocked by a box on the other side.

An enraged Jeanne d'Arc of Arc finally lost her temper, took out her flag, blasted open the container, and jumped into the woods outside.

Unexpectedly, the place was so remote that there was no cell phone signal. In the dense forest, the girl completely lost her sense of direction and unknowingly drifted further and further away from the center of the forest.

Jeanne d'Arc looked around at the somewhat eerie woods, which were shaded by the leaves, and continued running forward. She felt as if she had entered some kind of maze. This was the fourth time she had passed the large tree marked with a sword, and she kept going around in circles, unable to find her way out.

Several kilometers away from the girl's location, there is a sign indicating the area, which reads, "No strangers allowed, this Fuji Sea of Trees."

Chapter 207 The Returning Exchange Student

A series of loud crashes echoed through the woods, and with each sound, one after another, large trees, nearly fifty years old, collapsed to the ground, falling to either side and landing on some smaller trees and flowerbeds nearby.

A silver figure brandished a sword, charging forward relentlessly. Because it kept spinning in circles, Jeanne d'Arc chopped down the tree she had marked, then cut a straight path through the forest, as if some enormous creature had smashed and crushed the trees in its path.

"Gah!" The silver-haired girl roared fiercely at the wild beasts lurking in the woods.

The Monkey in the trees, the raccoons in the grass, and even the bear were so frightened that they turned and ran away.

Jeanne d'Arc, enraged, jumped onto a rock on the mountain and looked around. Below, she was surrounded by dense forest, and in the distance, there seemed to be a lake.

"So... where is this?!"

The echoes of shouts reverberated throughout the mountain, stretching endlessly and lingering for a long time...

After returning home and making lunch, they rested for a while, but still received no news from the silver-haired girl. However, Jeanne d'Arc was very strong, so Shirou and Artoria felt there was no need to worry.

"It's probably because of flight delays, or something else happened that caused the delay," Shirou said.

"It's nothing, the later that Assault Girl arrives, the better, at least for today..." Artoria muttered to herself.

Because the school was holding a debriefing meeting in the afternoon, Shirou saw that it was almost time and went out. Not long after he entered the school gate, he heard muffled footsteps coming from the sports field.

Shirou turned his head to look at the flower bed several hundred meters away, where he saw a girl with a black ponytail, wearing a blue and yellow tracksuit, jumping up and down in place with her back to him. Her small figure seemed to be in a hurry.

Shirou walked over and confirmed that the tracksuit wasn't the style of the sports uniforms from the nearby high schools and junior high schools, and judging from the person's small stature, they looked like an elementary school student.

The little girl facing Shirou didn't notice anyone approaching and continued jumping around. Her calves, which were covered by athletic pants, were slightly bulging, as if something was tied to them.

'Could she just be exercising?' Shirou wondered, then stepped closer and noticed that the girl's skin was darker than that of the Japanese.

"Hey, do you need help? Are you lost?" Shirou asked, walking up to him with a puzzled look.

"I'm just running here. Who are you? A student here?" The little girl with brown skin and long black hair turned around, not at all shy, and looked directly at the boy who was walking towards her. The girl blinked her gray-brown eyes, which were full of vitality, and answered in fairly fluent Japanese.

"Hmm, running? You really like running?" Shirou, seeing the energetic girl, realized he was probably overthinking things. But why Student Council be here?

"I love it the most~!" the little girl replied with a bright smile, revealing her pearly white teeth. She spoke as if she loved something extraordinary.

"Really? That's amazing. Here, have this." Shirou reached into his pocket and found a small bag of chocolate milk candies, a free gift he had received from buying something at the mall. He took out a few chocolate milk candies, placed them in his palm, and handed them to the girl.

"Thank you~! You're a good person!" The girl took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, saying happily. Back in the US, she was strictly controlled to eat healthily every day, so she really enjoyed sweet candies.

"Hello big brother, I'm Ria Hagrid, from Los Angeles, USA. I'm in sixth grade. Nice to meet you," the brown-skinned girl said with a lively salute.

"Oh, you've even learned the etiquette here? That's impressive. I'm Shirou, a student here. Nice to meet you. Feel free to ask me any questions." Shirou patted the girl's head approvingly. He didn't dislike the straightforward and lively girl from the sports department.

"Hehe." The little girl smiled sweetly, a candy in her mouth.

"But speaking of which, why are there elementary school students here?" Shirou wondered, while patting the girl's head.

"Wait! Wait! Who are you? What do you want to do to these elementary school kids?"

"This is a misunderstanding," Shirou said, looking at the round-faced girl with brown hair that was dyed in shades of orange-yellow as she ran over.

"Kirino! This is Big Brother Shirou. He seems to like me a lot. He struck up a conversation with me and even gave me candy. I actually like him a lot too!" At that moment, the girl jumped in front of the boy and hugged him.

"Huh? Huh!" Shirou exclaimed in surprise; this misunderstanding seemed to be getting out of hand.

"Hmm? Are you Shirou from this high school?" A round-faced girl with shiny brown hair asked, staring at the boy.

"You know me, so things are easier to talk to," Shirou said with a sigh of relief.

"Hmph... aren't you that man who never refuses? The ace of the International High School Kyudo Club? The senior everyone praises?" Kirino looked at the boy with a suspicious expression, pulling the girl back a few steps. Although she was a pervert in the world of anime, she still had an obligation to take care of this little girl who had come to Chiba with her in the real world.

"Hey, stop saying things like that while you're backing away!" Shirou retorted.

"No, the more outstanding a person seems on the surface, the more corrupt they are inside. Those with shady interests will try their best to hide their true thoughts, and you can never guess what they're thinking." Kirino protected the little girl and looked at the boy warily.

"Are you using yourself as the basis for your judgment?" Shirou recognized the round-faced girl he had seen three weeks ago at the international junior high school who had made the dangerous statement about wanting to lick Illya.

"Senpai~! Shirou-senpai ~!" Iroha Isshiki appeared before the boy, winked mischievously, and said with a smile, "Welcome back! I've missed you so much, Senpai~!"

"Ah, Isshiki, you're here too," Shirou said, looking at his junior.

"After all, I'm the Student Council. Whose reasons led to my appointment?" the girl asked the boy.

"Haha, yeah! At least I can say that, Isshiki, you've definitely tried your best, and you've been doing very well all along." Shirou chuckled, then looked at his junior with a serious expression.

"Is... is that so? So that's what you think, senpai? After all, you've helped me a lot. Although at first I just didn't want those bitches who deliberately voted for me to see me make a fool of myself to succeed."

"Tsk! So he's a heretic with a wide range of tastes. I feel like even I'm in danger now. Is this person really the most evil and wicked?" Kirino muttered to herself as she watched the boy chatting happily with the high school girl who had run up to them.

"Ah~! It's Kirino- chan, and Ria-chan too." At that moment, Iroha Isshiki turned around, smiled, and waved.

"Hi~! Iroha!" the American girl greeted.

"Hello, Isshiki-senpai," Kirino greeted as she approached.

"So, what are you two doing here with Shirou-senpai?" Iroha Isshiki asked the two girls curiously.

"This big brother is playing with me and he even gave me candy," the American girl replied happily, raising her hand.

"Hmph, as expected of Shirou-senpai, this time he's gone after the fastest elementary school student in all of America." Iroha Isshiki squinted at the boy with suspicion and said meaningfully.

"Hmm? This child is so famous? Why is she running in Japan?" Shirou was surprised to see the smiling girl next to him with candy in her mouth.

"Hehe, I came here with Kirino to play. I have to go back to training in a few days," the brown-skinned girl said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, there's no one here who can be your opponent. Sorry, I can't outrun you anyway." Kirino shrugged indifferently.

"Even junior high school students can't outrun her?" Shirou looked at Kirino, remembering that she was sent to a top sports school in Los Angeles for an exchange program as a track and field specialist.

"This kid is the kind of person who treats running as the best game, and she's happy as long as she can run. Anyway, I'm an elementary school student who can never outrun a car, but she's like a monster from Let's & Go!! who can keep up with the car forever."

"No! She's a mini 4WD! It's just too unfair!" Kirino waved her hands in exasperation, exclaiming dramatically. Although she considered herself not stupid and could succeed at most things if she tried her best, she could only admit her shortcomings when faced with a true genius.

They met at a training camp for athletically gifted students organized by a top sports school in Los Angeles. The event was originally intended for students in middle school and above, but because of Ria's talent, an exception was made and she, an elementary school student, was also allowed to participate.

Kirino was assigned to be her roommate, a lively and adorable younger sister, which was exactly what she liked. However, even though both real-life sisters and anime sisters are cute, there is still a difference.

Kirino mostly took care of this girl as a proper older sister, but she never expected that the girl would come to Chiba with her.

"Don't be discouraged, Kirino. Just enjoy running! You have to participate in next year's sports meet!" The brown-skinned girl hugged the older girl who was taking care of her and said.

"Well, I'll think about it then," Kirino said, frowning. By then, she might not be doing track and field training every day anymore, and whether she could still be selected as a representative was uncertain.

"I know you, big brother! You're really good at archery, right?" The little girl said to the boy with a grin, gesturing as if she were drawing a bow.

The Tokyo International Archery Competition seems to have received a very positive response, and the impact of the exchange activities with various countries is gradually taking effect. It seems that the news of a Divine Arrow from the Chiba Branch School has spread quite widely.

"Well, as long as you stay calm and focused on practicing archery every day, many people can actually do it. However, it seems difficult for them to calm down," Shirou said honestly.

"Yes, I think running is the same way. It's true that many people's thinking is too rigid." The little girl nodded empathetically, looked at the boy as if she had gained his understanding, and happily smiled as she agreed.

'No... it's just that some people give up because they can't improve. Even if they try their best, they achieve little. They spend months and still can't find the trick. So, geniuses and all that...' Kirino looked at the little girl, then glanced at Shirou beside her, feeling a bit annoyed.

"Shirou-senpai..." Iroha Isshiki stood up, pointed a finger at the boy, and warned, "That's it. This kid is quite famous, you know, so! Don't even think about making a move on him. Even if you like younger people, you have to find someone suitable."