"By the way, do you plan on going back to school?"
"No."
Without the slightest hesitation, Mai Kashiwagi gave Jiu Ming her answer. "School life doesn't suit me anymore, and besides..."
Thinking of how her former classmates had nearly died because of her past mistake, ripples appeared in her eyes. "If I went back, everyone would probably see me as a monster."
"If you want to, you can always go somewhere else." After checking that there was no one in the bar, Jiu Ming spoke. He casually poured a glass of water and set it aside. Before long, an Observing Spirit appeared inside the glass.
"No need."
Mai Kashiwagi shook her head.
"Come to think of it, I didn't know there was a bar here. This is the place—we should go in and take a look!" Amid a burst of helpless protests, two young men walked in. Upon seeing Jiu Ming, Li Shunsheng gave him a faint smile with a helpless expression. "Sorry for disturbing you."
"It's fine. You can come back anytime you want." Jiu Ming set aside the wineglass he had been wiping.
"Oh? You know each other?" The young man beside Li Shunsheng asked curiously. "You've been to a little bar as unremarkable as this?"
"I worked here for a while." Li Shunsheng nodded.
"Then this is perfect! We'll stay here... but why is there... a middle schooler in a place like this?" The young man looked at Mai Kashiwagi in confusion. Her age was easy enough to tell, but the people who usually came here were no ordinary folk, so none of them cared about Mai Kashiwagi's identity.
"My little sister. She just comes here to hang around sometimes," Jiu Ming said casually. Kenji Sakurai nodded despite not quite understanding, somehow impressed. Jiu Ming's expression was