Asahina: My Dream Is to Become a Shrine Maiden (Continued)

"Why don't we just make a note of it? It's not a big deal anyway."

"That's great!"

Remember this, because you might forget it eventually, Kanda.

Asahina immediately agreed.

"The thing is, actually..."

"What!? Qiao Huan is dropping out of school!?"

Startled, Asahina jumped up from her seat and, unable to control her emotions, blurted out what she had said.

Even Shuichi Kanda was taken aback by this reaction; it was far too much.

It's understandable, really. After all, Asahina's class only has less than 300 Class Points left. If Qiao Huan drops out of school now, their Class Points will drop to zero.

They had already lost over a thousand Class Points on the Uninhabited Island, and now they've lost another 300...

The Class 3-C, which had initially shown some promise, will likely fall into complete collapse. What will become of them then...?

Thinking of this, Asahina reluctantly sat back down in her chair.

"Wait a minute? Aya has already been expelled, why would Kaoru be expelled too?" Asahina frowned. "You're not lying to me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you? There's absolutely no need." Shuichi Kanda shrugged.

"Then tell me why Xun dropped out of school!"

As Asahina's face drew closer, Shuichi Kanda leaned back and then turned his head away.

"No, that won't do. If you're concerned, you can ask Senior Qiao Huan. I can't tell you anyway."

This matter is quite significant, so Shuichi Kanda absolutely cannot tell her. He has already done more than enough by telling her this much.

As he spoke, he picked up the Coke and started drinking it.

Seeing that Shuichi Kanda was determined not to continue, Asahina also a little troubled. So why did Qiao Huan drop out of school?

She had been troubled by this matter ever since she saw Kiriyama and Shuichi Kanda meet, so she immediately came up to ask Shuichi Kanda.

As a result, although the old troubles were gone, a new trouble arose, and this new trouble was even more troublesome than the old one.

Seeing Asahina's troubled expression, Shuichi Kanda smiled.

Indeed, sometimes, people's happiness is built on the suffering of others.

After thinking for a while, Asahina still couldn't figure out why, so she took out her phone and dialed Qiao Huan's number.

Instead of wondering why, you should just call and ask him directly.

Seeing Asahina take out his phone, Shuichi Kanda eyebrow. It seemed this guy wasn't such a fool after all.

Although they were on a ship, Shuichi Kanda and the others were still able to contact the school via their cell phones, so Asahina's quick thinking was quite effective in coming up with this idea immediately.

After all, Qiao Huan was the only student at the school at the moment.

Soon, Asahina dialed Qiao Huan's cell phone.

"Hello, is this Xun? It's Qi. Are you alright?"

Asahina chatted with Qiao Huan for a bit, then hesitated slightly before finally asking the question.

"Xun, I heard you're dropping out of school."

On the other end of the phone, Qiao Huan paused for a moment after hearing Asahina's words, then nodded silently.

"Um, I'm sorry, Qi, I have a reason I couldn't avoid."

As she spoke, she gently stroked her slightly protruding belly with her hand.

"Is it because of Ya? Ya has already dropped out of school after this exam, so you don't need to worry about being targeted again."

Hearing Qiao Huan's firm answer, Asahina couldn't help but press for more details.

Upon hearing that Nagumo had been expelled from school, Qiao Huan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded knowingly.

"I see. It seems Kanda won the bet against Kanda."

"That's right, that's how it is." Asahina nodded, then said with a wry smile, "Aya has already been expelled, and our class suffered heavy losses in this exam. If you withdraw now, our Class Points will drop to zero."

"I see," Qiao Huan nodded, but...

Thinking of this, Qiao Huan said with a rather helpless tone.

"I'm sorry, Qi, I also have my own unavoidable difficulties, so I can't agree to let you stay at school. As for the reason, actually, I'm pregnant."

"What!?"

Asahina shouted again, almost dropping her phone.

Pregnant!?

What is it?

Is it really appropriate to tell this to a naive young girl who has never experienced anything like it?

Moreover, the child in Kaoru's belly couldn't be... Thinking this, Asahina turned to look at Shuichi Kanda.

Shuichi Kanda felt a chill run down his spine after noticing the other person's gaze.

"Holy crap! What are you looking at? I have nothing to do with Senior Qiao Huan!"

"Not you?"

"That's obvious!" Shuichi Kanda his eyes. "Of course it wasn't me."

At this moment, Asahina remembered that Qiao Huan had a boyfriend, who seemed to be a junior in the Archery Club, and that he had Shuichi Kanda.

It was because of this person that Nagumo had the means to directly attack Shuichi Kanda, which was the matter of Nagumo preparing to expel Qiao Huan during that training camp.

As for the result, it was quite unsatisfactory.

"I remember, Xun's boyfriend is..."

"Akito Miyake," Qiao Huan said helplessly on the phone.

"Oh, right, right." Asahina nodded quickly. "Then let's leave it at that for now. I have some things to take care of. Kaoru, you should get some rest. I'll call you back later."

Then, Asahina immediately hung up the phone.

The excuse of letting Asahina rest was that she didn't know how to continue the conversation with Qiao Huan.

After all, for a young, unmarried woman like her, this topic was far too provocative.

Seeing Asahina's reaction, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but burst out laughing; the reaction was just too funny.

"Haha, Asahina- senpai is so innocent, it's really unexpected."

Seeing Shuichi Kanda laughing so hard he was bent over, Asahina's face immediately turned red, whether from shame or anger, it was hard to tell.

"What's wrong with being a virgin? What's wrong with being innocent? My dream job only accepts virgins!"

Asahina stood up angrily, glaring at Shuichi Kanda with a sullen expression.

"No, no, no, senior, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to mock you for being a virgin. On the contrary, I admire people like you. I just found your reaction amusing."

However, Shuichi Kanda was quite surprised.

Holy crap! What kind of job only accepts virgins?

Is this a legitimate profession?

Thinking of this, a curious smile appeared on Shuichi Kanda's lips.

"Asahina, I suddenly thought of something. How about you tell me your ideal job, and we'll be even then, okay?"

Upon hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, Asahina, who had been somewhat excited, paused for a moment before calming down.

This seems like a possibility; it's not something that needs to be kept secret anyway.

So Asahina nodded, a hint of embarrassment on his face.

"Actually, I want to become a shrine maiden."

A shrine maiden? Wait, that can't be right.

According to Shuichi Kanda, in modern Japan society, clergy are no longer arbitrarily appointed and certified, but rather it is a profession that requires corresponding qualification certification, which requires passing through layers of screening.

However, since shrine maidens were not considered part of the priesthood, it was very easy for someone to become a shrine maiden; all they needed to do was be healthy in body and mind, and virginity was no longer required.

Therefore, Shuichi Kanda's gaze towards Asahina was filled with suspicion.

"With Asahina's qualifications, she should be able to become a shrine maiden quite easily, right? Besides, I heard that modern shrine maidens are no longer required to be virgins."

"Hmph, looks like your information isn't very good." Asahina wrinkled her nose and snorted. "I don't know about other things, but the shrine I want to work for has this requirement, and besides that, I've also learned the ritual dance..."

He went through each item one by one, all the while wearing a devout expression.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! This guy is a fanatical religious believer! Could that amulet she's holding be a religious amulet she bought at a high price?

Shuichi Kanda felt like he'd gotten himself into trouble. What should he do? Was she going to try and convert him to Christianity next?

However, this did not happen, Asahina quickly returned to normal after speaking.

"In order to fulfill my dream by graduating from high school at eighteen, I've studied shrine maiden culture for over ten years. Therefore, I must graduate from Class A. If I go through the formal selection process, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for me to become a shrine maiden of the Divine Palace Sect."

The Divine Palace Sect, the most powerful Shinto sect in this world, is coincidentally controlled by the Kanda Family.

If nothing unexpected happens, Shuichi Kanda younger sister is currently the priestess of this sect.

Therefore, upon hearing this name, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly.

"Speaking of which, the Divine Palace Sect is managed by the Kanda Family. You also have the surname Kanda, so there can't be any connection between you two, right?"

Asahina suddenly looked suspicious and glanced at Shuichi Kanda.

"Do you have to be so perceptive?" Shuichi Kanda was speechless.

"You have such a vivid imagination."

After staring at Shuichi Kanda few more seconds, Asahina gave up.

"That's right, how could someone from the Kanda Family possibly attend this school? It's utterly absurd."

Well, the absurd thing you thought was happening is actually happening right before your eyes.

Of course, Shuichi Kanda would never admit to this, after all, he was just an adopted son of the Kanda Family.

However, the Kanda Family's shrine actually requires all shrine maidens to be virgins, which just goes to show how rich and capricious they are.

"Is this shrine maiden selection really that difficult? Didn't you say you'd been preparing for over ten years? And yet even you lack confidence?"

Speaking of this, Asahina sighed.

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. Every year, more than 10,000 people compete for just three spots. It's just too difficult."

Furthermore, each person can only participate in the shrine maiden selection at the age of 18. And even if they are selected as one of the three chosen ones, they may still be rejected.

Therefore, the number of shrine maidens recruited by Jingu Shrine each year varies; sometimes there are many, and sometimes there are none.

Well, that does seem quite difficult, since in the end, people have to make the final selection, and each person only has one chance.

"But I've heard that if you work at the Jingu Shrine until you retire at twenty-five, you can earn more wealth than an ordinary person could ever earn in a lifetime."

Okay, I see. That's why so many people sign up every year.

Earning enough wealth in about seven years to last a lifetime—how could that not be tempting?

The number of newborns in Japan in recent years is estimated to be between 800,000 and 900,000.

Eighteen years ago, there might have been more, but not by much. In other words, there were hundreds of thousands of 18-year-old girls every year, but only 10,000 applied.

So, the remaining people are not interested in this job?

That's probably not the case. So those people are either not good-looking, or they're no longer virgins, or they're good-looking but have other dreams.

Yes, the third item definitely has the lowest percentage.

However, the fact that this school was able to connect students graduating from Class A with this opportunity raises the question: could it be that the Kanda Family is actually involved behind this school?

That makes sense, otherwise they wouldn't have so easily dumped Shuichi Kanda here just three days before the start of the semester.

"Okay, I understand. Good luck, Asahina- senpai."

"So now you understand why I absolutely have to graduate from Class A, right?"

Shuichi Kanda in agreement.