The Work-Study Program Ends

The person who came to interview was a young man with a Sony camera hanging around his neck. After meeting him Aoi Hana was interviewed in the first row of chairs below the stage.

He asked only trivial questions, such as "Your rehearsal schedule," "The circus performers," and "Future plans"—questions that even Aoi Hana could answer. If the park director were to come, it might actually cause trouble.

"The Oumagadoki Zoo? I never imagined such a spectacular circus performance was right here in our area." The interviewer was somewhat surprised. He smiled, "I think after this interview, many people will definitely come to your zoo."

Aoi Hana breathed a sigh of relief; the interview was finally over. "I hope so."

"So, finally, may I take a picture of you?" The interviewer held up his camera. "It's the costume you're wearing for the performance."

To muster the courage to give the interview, Aoi Hana wore the Alice costume from the performance. With her golden hair and sky-blue dress, she completely shed the image of a country bumpkin from the zoo.

"Certainly."

After the flash went off, Jilan opened her eyes in the back seat and sat up.

He was worried that Aoi Hana wouldn't be able to answer some difficult questions the interviewer might ask, so he sat quietly in the back seat and listened during the interview. Now it seems the interviewer didn't intend to.

There's nothing I can do; Jilan always overthinks things.

The interviewer looked at the photos on his camera and nodded in satisfaction. He then began to flip through the photos on his camera, and a photo that appeared to have been taken at night caught Jilan's eye.

Hello, did you take the photo?

The interviewer was suddenly struck by the sound behind him. He turned around and saw a young man wearing a top hat standing behind him. Although he wasn't wearing makeup, his clothing suggested he was dressed as the Mad Hatter.

"Yes, this is a picture I took at the park entrance last night."

"This little girl is very cute," Jilan said softly.

The interviewer glanced at the photo and smiled, "She's a little princess."

The next two days of performances went very smoothly. Shishido seemed to be satisfied with the applause he received in his first performance, and he performed very hard on stage, even deliberately adding some difficulty to his performance, which made the audience gasp in amazement.

Two consecutive days of sold-out shows relieved Aoi Hana, who was performing...

It felt more natural then.

The show on Sunday started at 4 p. m. and ended after 6 p. m., which was when Jilan was about to leave.

Jilan tidied up the staff dormitory where she had stayed for two days. When she took out her combat suit from her suitcase, she paused for a moment. "Oh right, I still have a combat suit."

Because she found it troublesome, Jilan didn't take the standard suitcase provided by the school; instead, she stuffed her combat suit into a briefcase containing her personal belongings. However, Jilan hadn't even worn the combat suit once in the past week.

I came here as an intern to familiarize myself with the duties of a future Pro Hero, but I haven't done a single patrol. Every day I'm busy working as an animal keeper and circus performer.

"But come to think of it, no one stipulated that this Work-Study Program had to be like patrolling as Pro Hero. Experiencing the work of a zookeeper is also a Work-Study Program," Jilan Jiyu comforted herself.

"Jilan, are you ready? We should go." Yaoyorozu, carrying a large suitcase, stood at the door and knocked on Jilan's door.

Because of the Snake Woman's stay here, Yaoyorozu and Kendo also stayed here for two days. They went out shopping during the day and worked as greeters in the circus at night, living a very comfortable life.

Jilan joked, "Seeing you lessens my feelings of guilt a lot."

Thinking about what he had done these past two days, Yaoyorozu blushed. "While everyone else was diligently completing their work, the class monitor and vice-monitor of Class A were doing things they shouldn't have done during the Work-Study Program. How could they even have the nerve to say such things out loud..."

Hey, that's a statement that can be misinterpreted...

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Itsuka Kendo said with a smile as he came downstairs. "Work-Study Program is meant to let students get in touch with society and understand the daily lives of Pro Hero. We've met quite a few people these past few days, how can you say we're neglecting our duties?"

From that perspective, there's definitely no problem. They've had deep exposure to society and truly experienced the daily work of Pro Hero Snake Woman. Yaoyorozu glanced at Jilan, her face flushing again, but she knew that wasn't what she meant...

Jilan finished packing her things and calmly walked to the door. "I think the Snake Woman must be getting impatient. Let's hurry up and go."

Kendo and Yaoyorozu had no objections and walked out of the apartment one after the other, arriving at the main entrance of the circus tent.

Here, everyone was waiting for them.

Ogami saw Jilan approaching, he came to his side and said with a smile, "Jilan, you really are..."

Thank you. Thanks to this performance, I'm sure everyone in Oumagadoki City will know about our zoo now.

"In that case, you'd better keep an eye on Shishido and make sure he doesn't scare the tourists," Jilan replied with a smile after glancing at Shishido.

Shishido also heard this, his ears twitched, he snorted and walked over with an arrogant expression on his face.

"Hey, you little zookeeper, you don't need to worry about me. Don't think you're so great just because you withstood my attacks; I haven't even used my full strength yet." Although Shishido looked disdainful, he still reminded her, "Your attacks are too gentle. Blindly defending won't give you much of an advantage. In a battle, you must strike first."

He paused for a moment and continued, "However, this defensive move will make the opponent underestimate you. If you can seize the opportunity, you can still turn the tide in an instant. But unless you have a powerful move that can instantly kill the opponent, I don't recommend it."

Shishido still marvels at the opportunity Jilan Ogami the simulation. However, he has his shortcomings in combat. If a teammate had followed up with a fatal blow at that time, Ogami might have been defeated instantly.

Ogami nodded. "Jilan, don't think about relying on your teammates, but you don't need to deliberately avoid their presence. You need to be like us wolves, able to fight alone, and also leverage your individual strengths in group battles."

Takahiro flew over from the distant woods and landed on the ground in front of Jilan, his two eagle eyes fixed on him. "I am very grateful for your contributions to our zoo. All I can teach you is observation, careful observation. When I hunt, I always observe the situation around my prey. When I find that the prey is unaware, I suddenly swoop down and kill it with one blow. But if I miss, you must quickly escape the scene and not get entangled with the enemy."

"Like an assassin?"

"When we hunt, we are all assassins," Takahiro corrected.

"... I will remember this." Jilan glanced at Shishido, Takahiro, Ogami, who were imparting their experience to her, and replied solemnly.

The Snake Woman is said to have some other matters to attend to and has stayed in Oumagadoki City. Kyoka Makoto and the others have reached a cooperation agreement with the park director, which is still under discussion. They will not return to Tokyo for a few days.

Therefore, only the three students who were there to Work-Study Program were leaving.

"Well then, farewell, everyone from the Oumagadoki!"

Jilan Jiyu waved to the people standing in front of the circus tent, and without looking back, turned and left the park with Momo Yaoyorozu and Itsuka Kendo.