Send the Evil Shop Clerk to Prison

"Everyone has different things they want out of life. Why force your own goals on someone else?"

Xia Mu shook his head and started down from the rooftop.

His footsteps echoed through the stairwell, rising and falling like Suzune Horikita's emotions.

She hadn't expected this talk to end with Xia Mu educating her instead.

He was right. Not everyone wanted to get into Class A.

For most students in Class D, simply getting through these three years safely and happily was probably enough.

But no matter what Xia Mu said, she still wanted to get into Class A!

It was her only chance to prove herself to her brother!

One day, she would make Xia Mu help her willingly, no matter what it took!

After leaving the rooftop, Xia Mu checked his phone and found an unread message.

It was from Sakura.

[Xia Mu, I accidentally fell and broke my camera...]

Xia Mu narrowed his eyes.

What did this mean?

Was this a predetermined event? Even though he'd prevented the cause of Sakura's camera breaking, it had still broken for another reason.

[It's okay. I'll go with you to get it fixed tomorrow. It's the weekend.]

He'd worked so hard to get Sakura's Correction value up to eighty percent. He couldn't let that shop clerk ruin everything.

Xia Mu didn't know whether anyone would come to Sakura's rescue this time, now that Kiyotaka and the others weren't there to interfere.

So he had to go with her. If that kind of thing really happened, Sakura might never recover from it.

After replying, Xia Mu went back to his dorm to change into his tracksuit, then headed to the sports field to train with the chubby guy.

He was getting more and more into it. After running five kilometers, he could even do over a hundred push-ups—something that might not be difficult for Xia Mu.

But the chubby guy of old would never have managed it.

Xia Mu stood to the side, watching him train. Just then, a girl in the distance began making her way toward Xia Mu, blushing as her friend nudged her along.

Her shy expression, lovely face, and the heart-stamped envelope in her hand—

It all pointed to one thing: a confession was about to happen.

That was normal. A guy like him was pretty popular with girls, wasn't he?

"E-excuse me."

Sure enough, when the girl reached him, she held out the envelope, blushing furiously. "C-could you give this letter to your friend?"

Her gaze turned pleading as she looked toward Zhu Xincheng, who was doing vigorous cardio in the distance.

Huh?

Xia Mu froze.

What? It wasn't for him?

"Could you pass along a message, too?" The girl's expression was so gentle and touching that it was hard to refuse.

"I've been watching him work so hard lately."

"At first, we made fun of him for being so fat and trying to work out, but I didn't expect him to stick with it."

"He's so cute when he's working hard!"

With that, she pressed the envelope into Xia Mu's hand and ran off as if fleeing.

A breeze lingered in her wake, carrying the scent of sweet peach.

Looking down at the envelope in his hand, Xia Mu felt a dull ache in his chest.

He hadn't expected the chubby guy to get a confession letter before him.

Xia Mu was numb with disbelief.

Knowing the chubby guy, if Xia Mu gave him the letter, he'd never stop rubbing it in and bragging.

Should he just throw it away?

The awful thought sprang into Xia Mu's mind.

But when he looked at the chubby guy's determined face, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Haah..."

He let out a long sigh.

As expected, when the chubby guy finally got the confession letter, he was grinning so hard his face looked ready to split.

"Gah ha ha! I can't believe I, Zhu Xincheng, finally got a confession!"

"She asked me to go to the mall with her tomorrow, since it's the weekend. This is great!"

"Xia, Xia, is she pretty?"

"You're seriously going to be picky with a face like yours?"

"No, I'm worried she's so beautiful that I'll feel unworthy of her."

"But I'll use all the love in my heart to win her over!"

"Sure you will."

Xia Mu looked at the smug chubby guy and sighed helplessly.

"Ha ha ha!"

"But I still have to thank you, Xia. I wouldn't have changed this much without you!"

Zhu Xincheng happily threw an arm around Xia Mu's neck, nearly planting a kiss on him. "Did you get some kind of system or something?"

He raised his eyebrows and teased him.

Xia Mu glanced to the right.

Sometimes, the things people said without thinking were closest to the truth.

After saying goodbye to the chubby guy, Xia Mu read with Shiina.

"How did the exam go this time?" Shiina nudged Xia Mu's shoulder with her elbow, as if joking. "I've already bought the maid outfit. Are you ready?"

The results would come out next Monday.

She couldn't wait to see Xia Mu in a maid outfit.

"Don't worry. You'd better be ready, too." Xia Mu glanced at Shiina's white over-the-knee socks and replied.

Come to think of it, Shiina really trusted him.

She came to his room alone every day. Wasn't she afraid he'd give in to his animal instincts and try something?

Hearing Xia Mu's confident reply, Shiina felt a little relieved.

At least he'd passed.

As for their bet, she'd only been joking. If Xia Mu didn't want to go through with it, she wouldn't force him.

That evening, she'd had a smile on her face the whole time they read.

At least until the end of the term, she'd be able to spend quiet evenings reading with Xia Mu like this.

At ten o'clock, Xia Mu suddenly felt something soft and limp resting against his shoulder.

He turned to look. Shiina seemed to have fallen asleep.

Dark circles stood out beneath her eyes.

She must have worked hard for this exam.

Was she that afraid of losing to him?

Xia Mu shook his head.

The next day at noon, Xia Mu accompanied Sakura to the mall.

She wasn't wearing her usual oversized, heavy school uniform today. Instead, she'd changed into casual, translucent shorts and a light-blue T-shirt.

Compared with how she'd been before her Correction, she was much more confident now and had the courage to talk to people face-to-face.

She was almost like a normal person.

They arrived at a digital repair shop.

From a distance, Xia Mu spotted the lecherous clerk ogling the private parts of passing schoolgirls.

Xia Mu held out his hand to Sakura. "Give me your camera. I'll take it in for repairs."

He knew everything that was going on. If Sakura went in to get it fixed, the lecherous clerk would recognize her.

And then things would almost turn into a scene from an erotic manga.

"Okay." Sakura trusted Xia Mu, so she rummaged through her bag and found her camera.

She handed it to Xia Mu. But just as he was about to take out the memory card, he gave it back to her.

"Actually, I think you should go in yourself."

Xia Mu narrowed his eyes. "You need to be brave and talk to people more. You can't rely on someone else to help you your whole life."

"Huh?" Faced with Xia Mu's sudden change of heart, Sakura Airi was completely bewildered.

It was just like the first time she'd met Xia Mu.

As if he'd been possessed.

Looking at the Quest Panel that appeared before him, Xia Mu sighed inwardly.

[Quest: Punish Evil and Promote Good]

[Send the evil shop clerk to prison. Reward: ten Skill Points]