Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament

Chapter 98

The Priest's Poison

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

The transfer student from abroad – Azalea quickly adjusted to the class, despite Tsugumi’s worries.

His kindly appearance, similar to Mebuki’s, and his friendly, reserved personality might be suitable in some ways for this class with its strong quirks.

He seemed to be somewhat distanced from the other regular classes with whom he didn’t interact much, but since it didn’t go as far as persecution, there shouldn’t be any particular need to deal with it. Just in case, he had already spoken to the broad-minded Chidori, so if Azalea didn’t cause any problems, he should be able to adjust to school in no time at all.

And Yukitaka’s behavior, which concerned Tsugumi the most, seemed to have been surprisingly uneventful. So far, as far as he knew, he hadn’t seen Yukitaka talking to Azalea. It seemed that he had no intention of getting involved with Azalea, just as he had reported.

When Tsugumi reported this to Mebuki, she let out a sigh of relief. Although he was a troublesome freeloader for Mebuki, she was probably still a little worried.

–But there is only one problem.

“–I don’t like it. It’s disgusting. Damn Insect. Hey, can’t you do something about that?”

Bell, who had arrived at the school unusually on the sunlit afternoon rooftop, frowned in dissatisfaction. Her sharp eyes were directed at Azalea, who was chatting and laughing in the courtyard.

While staring at Bell who was like that, Tsugumi muttered to himself as if to backtrack.

“…Ah, maybe that’s the case for Bell-sama.”

Although he didn’t not specifically check, perhaps Azalea was a Christian, which Bell didn’t like. He made a cross-cutting motion when he ate so that almost confirmed it.

Tsugumi had nothing against religion itself, but for Bell, who had a lot of history with it, even the non-extreme believers might be the object of her hatred. He understood Bell’s reluctance, but there was nothing Tsugumi could do about this.

In the first place, there was no way that Tsugumi, as a student, could do anything about another student. Bell knew this, but she had to complain anyway.

“It’s not something I can do anything about. Bell-sama basically doesn’t come to school, so the only way is to pretend you don’t see him…”

To begin with, the two rarely had the opportunity to come in contact with each other since Bell and Azalea were in different living areas. In the first place – it seemed ordinary humans like Azalea rarely perceived God outside of the barriers, so if Bell didn’t mind, it was fine.

Well, they said that the more you dislike something, the more you care about it. He supposed it was inevitable that she would complain.

“Tsk, you’re useless. –I’m leaving now. Needless to say, be wary of him. There are no good people among His followers.”

“…Yeah, I’ll be careful.”

Bell clicked her tongue loudly and disappeared from the scene as if dissolving into the air. …He supposed she really didn’t want to stay in this place. Bell’s dislike of religion was also hardcore.

Exhaling a loud sigh, Tsugumi leaned against the rooftop fence and looked out over the courtyard. Azalea was still happily chatting with some of his classmates.

“He doesn’t seem like a bad guy to me. Bell-sama is a worrier, too.”

As Tsugumi muttered this, Azalea looked up, as if he felt his gaze. With a snap, bright green eyes looked at Tsugumi.

Azalea looked surprised for a moment, but immediately smiled and waved a small hand toward Tsugumi. Seeing Azalea like that, Tsugumi waved back with a wry smile and moved away from the fence, feeling a little uncomfortable. Perhaps because he had heard so many complaints from Bell, he felt a little reluctant to face him.

“I guess I’ll have to ask Bell-sama to be a little patient. –Even so, Yukitaka really doesn’t try to get close to him. Normally, he’d be happy to mess around.”

–Although he was not acting particularly conspicuous at the moment, Yukitaka, who looked like that, was quite aggressive toward those he judged to be enemies. As long as Azalea was a relative of Mebuki, It was unlikely that Yukitaka would be friendly with him.

In addition, Yukitaka seemed to be wary of something these days. This was unusual behavior for Yukitaka, who was always aloof.

Tsugumi looked up at the cloudless blue sky and muttered to himself.

“…I have a bad feeling about this.”

.

◆ ◆ ◆

While Tsugumi was anxiously looking up at the sky, Azalea, in the courtyard, was still closely observing the place where Tsugumi had been, even after he disappeared from sight.

–Nanase Tsugumi. Azalea’s distant relative, Mebuki Kei, had given him assurance that he was the most reliable person at this school.

Azalea himself was careful not to cause any problems, but it was Nanase’s help that allowed him to integrate into the school so quickly. He might be a little careless, but he was certainly a dependable person.

Compared to dealing with the raccoon dogs that roamed the organization Azalea belonged to, school life in a foreign country was a piece of cake, but even so, having a friendly collaborator made all the difference in the degree of difficulty.

When he first learned about Nanase from the photo that Mebuki showed him, he was surprised at how much he resembled the girl he met on the cruise ship, Hagakure Sakura, but the signs she was wearing were completely different.

Hagakure Sakura–He couldn’t forget that strong presence, as if she were wearing the moon that night. Although there were some things that bothered him, there was no doubt that they were different people.

–First, it was important to blend into the country and gather information.

Azalea’s goal – the descent of God – would require various preparations. Fortunately, the Mebuki family, a distant relative, was well trusted by the government of this country. If Azalea hid his fangs and played the cat and mouse, it wouldn’t be so difficult to get involved in the inner workings of the government through the Mebuki family. The humiliation of having to tolerate infidels was something he would be willing to put up with for that purpose.

–But it was not without its uncertainties.

He had received repeated warnings from the distant relative, Mebuki, to be careful of Amari Yukitaka. Azalea couldn’t say for sure since he didn’t get involved much, but the person called Amari Yukitaka certainly wore too much of bad signs

His atmosphere was a mixture of immorality and vice, as if to get on people’s nerves. If the world were a different place, he would have been killed as a demon possessor.

There were a certain number of people in this world who wear an evil presence, but most of them were usually felons who had done terrible evil deeds. It was hard to imagine that a mere student, Amari, was committing such a serious crime.

When he probed his classmates, they all grimly spoke of the Amari’s viciousness, but Azalea didn’t think he was such a scoundrel bad enough to be concerned about.

However, his intuition as a priest warned him, that guy was dangerous …It might be necessary to investigate Amari separately.

“What, that Nanase guy is on the roof?”

“That guy, why would he go all the way to a place where there is no shade on such a hot day… Is he an idiot?”

“Nanase is pretty much like that. He would never admit it, but he’s a weird kid in a weird way. I guess that’s why he can be with Amari with an unconcerned face.”

Azalea’s classmates next to him muttered such words.

“Are Nanase-kun and Tenri-san that close?”

When Azalea asked, his classmates twisted their faces in dissatisfaction.

“…Well, he can hang out with him without any complaints, so I guess they’re on good terms.”

“Even that Chidori-chan is keeping her distance from Amari. He’s really a strange guy.”

“Chidori-san, if I remember correctly, she’s Nanase-kun’s sister. –Isn’t she a Magical Girl in the government?”

Azalea said this with a smile, and his classmates began to talk with troubled looks.

“Ah, that matter is sort of an open secret. You shouldn’t say too much about it outside. It caused a bit of a stir before…”

–The “before” probably referred to a previous incident involving a special Demonic Beast–an Irregularity. However, the relationship between heretical Gods and Demonic Beasts, which Azalea learned during his research, was also an interesting matter. Research would be needed in the future.

“Hmmm. –But I’d like to talk with Chidori-san once. As Nanase-kun said, she seems to be a very kind person.”

As he said this, Azalea thought of Nanase Chidori. A lovely girl with long, black, beautiful hair. –The familiar, dense night moon air that drifted from around her.

Azalea narrowed his eyes as he gently held the corners of his mouth, which naturally rose, with his hand.

–It seems that there are some very interesting circumstances.