383. A Fate That Slips Away

She didn't discover anything, and hadn't even finished reading.

The three of them weren't in the mood for conversation and quickly parted ways.

Shuya decided to ask a student from his own school.

As mentioned earlier, he knew the Half-Monster and Monster at the school.

When it comes to who to look for, he naturally prefers the cutest one.

He was most impressed by one of the girls.

Because she's cute.

Shuya walked towards the physics lab, and upon entering, he saw a girl dressed in white.

From the side, you can see it's huge...

Well, that's not the point.

When the girl saw him, she nodded silently, unsure of what to say.

"Hello, Rio- chan. It's been a long time... What month was the last time we met? January or February?"

"... Last December, Alliance Leader."

"Girl," replied Rio Futaba.

She could barely be considered Half-Monster, her bloodline had always been dormant and extremely diluted.

They are basically the kind of people who cannot cultivate, and the next generation will likely be completely ordinary people.

However, she ultimately possessed Demon Blood, and her Power of Will and physical abilities were somewhat stronger than those of ordinary humans.

The key is that she is very intelligent, and the Alliance is relatively lacking in such talents. The Alliance is also paying attention to her appropriately, and it is possible that some demon clan company will recruit her in the future.

Shuya observing, who knows if he'll need someone in the future.

But Shuya knew her and it had nothing to do with that; he only remembered her because she went to the same school as Mai and was good-looking.

In my memory, when Shuya treated all the yokai associated with the school to a meal, her family was present, but she didn't speak to any of the other Monster; she seemed to be quite introverted.

Shuya had never spoken to her in those public settings.

I did bump into Mai- chan a few times when I secretly went to the school to see her, and we chatted briefly then.

Shuya felt that he and she were acquaintances.

But the other party remained quite indifferent.

Shuya casually replied, "Just call me by my name. 'Alliance Leader' is too formal."

"..."

She asked directly, "Did you come here specifically for something?"

"I actually had something I wanted to ask you about."

Shuya didn't stand on ceremony and went along with what she was saying.

"Are there any strange rumors or anything about Mai- chan at school?"

"Sakurajima Mai- senpai?"

Rio pushed up her glasses in confusion. "I'm clueless, Alliance Leader... Could Inoue- kun explain in more detail?"

"Then I'll get straight to the point."

Shuya recounted the strange phenomena that had occurred to Mai- chan.

Rio frowned, wanting to say something, but she didn't want to raise any doubts.

Seeing this Shuya logged onto Line on his phone and showed her the chat history.

Rio took the document and quickly read through everyone's replies in the Monster group.

She thought to herself, "There probably aren't that many powerful Monster who would be so bored as to deliberately try to deceive me."

She had no choice but to believe Shuya's words.

"... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't be of any help. As you can see, Mr. Inoue, I have no Strange Arts abilities whatsoever; I'm just an ordinary person."

Rio apologized.

"No need to apologize, and as for whether someone Strange Arts or not... being a superhuman isn't anything special. Intelligence is far more important."

Shuya tried to comfort her with a joke.

Rio lowered her head as if to thank her, but only she knew that she was hiding her shyness.

Shuya didn't notice anything amiss.

He glanced at her white dress and said, "Rio- chan, if you have any personal opinions, feel free to share them. I mainly want to consider suggestions from various perspectives."

"In that case..."

Rio nodded and said:

"... there is also an observational theory explanation."

"?"

While Shuya confused, Rio explained quantum mechanics to him.

This is the so-called Schrödinger's cat theory, where the existence of something is uncertain until an observer confirms it.

... When in doubt, quantum mechanics really does come into play.

Very well, I'm talking to you about mystery, and you're talking to me about science.

Rio Futaba, an interesting woman.

You've successfully caught my attention.

"That's good, it's somewhat useful."

Shuya looked at Rio with appreciation and said, "Let's exchange Line numbers so we can stay in touch. I might need your help in the future."

"... Um."

Rio casually exchanged Line numbers with him.

"I have to go now, see you next time."

After finishing speaking, Shuya waved and left.

"Ooh."

As Shuya was leaving, he almost bumped into a boy, who screamed in surprise.

It's the boy who can see him.

Shuya nodded to him, then left without saying a word.

The boy stood there until he saw Shuya's figure disappear before turning to look inside.

Rio collapsed onto the table, completely exhausted, her eyes glazed over, even her glasses were askew.

Excessive nervousness, excessive shyness.

The boy said, "That's great, Futaba, you've had so much time alone with your sweetheart."

"... It's so noisy, Azusagawa."

Rio turned her face away, not wanting to look at him.

After school, Shuya and his two friends gathered in an empty classroom.

"I said, do you know about the observation theory of quantum mechanics?"

Shuya proudly put his hands on his hips.

"I've heard about it, but I'm surprised you know. Where did you hear it?"

Yukino naturally sprayed poison.

Mai had heard of it quite normally.

I finally managed to ride the wave of popularity?

I thought no one would read such a short article, and because of my procrastination, I didn't say I'd keep putting it off. But now, people are so eagerly anticipating it...

It was just so awkward, incredibly awkward.

Section 412, Chapter 383: The Fallen Fate

Shuya: "Although someone just mentioned it to me, I already knew about it beforehand, you know? It's common knowledge."

"Alright, nobody cares whether you knew beforehand or not. What we want to know now is your reason for bringing it up."

Yukino- chan seems to be in a bad mood, and she's being quite blunt with her words.

She must have accomplished nothing all day to be acting like this.

Shuya muttered something to himself before bringing up what Rio had said.

After they finished listening, they all nodded and said:

So who is that girl?

When did you meet?

"Huh? Isn't your focus a bit off?"

Shuya, puzzled.

Mai said, "Actually, I don't care much about her, but your troubled expression is quite amusing."

Yukino added, "So, was that girl pretty?"

"Very cute, and older than you."

Shuya answered honestly, and was then, of course, subjected to a barrage of sarcastic remarks.

After they finished fooling around, they started discussing things again.

Shuya and Yukino were just helping Mai relieve her bad mood.

Shuya said, "Personally, I think Rio- chan's point is valid."

Yukino noncommittal. "I'll remain neutral. If we don't find any other credible reasons later, then I'll choose to believe her."

Mai nodded without saying a word.

She was the most confused one.

Unlike Shuya and Yukino, she doesn't possess any special powers; she is the most powerless.

Shuya stroked his chin and stood up. "Alright, we've roughly investigated the situation, it's time to seek outside help."

Are you looking for Monster?

Yukino asked, concerned.

"No, they probably can't help with this. It's not something that can be solved by fighting."

Shuya's words revealed his utter contempt for the intelligence of the Monster.

Yukino: "Hmm."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Mai also asked.

"No need, it's more convenient for me to go myself."

After replying, Shuya said, "Let's set off now, since time might be... Anyway, Yukino- chan, you go back with Mai- chan and gather some more clues."

Yukino nodded to indicate that she understood.

Mai then said, "Be careful."