Chapter 232: The Reappearance of a Spacequake
The familiar route to school. After parting ways with Kotori, Franklin headed toward the school together with Origami Tobiichi.
As expected, the moment they turned a corner, they ran straight into the familiar trio.
"Walking together as three—so you're living together, right?"
"Yeah, definitely living together. You came from the exact same direction."
"Honestly, this is kind of unbearable…"
Yamabuki Ai, Hazakura Mai, and Fujibakama Mii took turns complaining.
At that moment, Hiroto Tonomachi appeared out of nowhere and slung an arm around Franklin's shoulder.
"Lin, are you living together with Tobiichi-san now? That progressed way too fast. Based on what I know about you, that shouldn't be possible at this speed."
With a quick sidestep, Franklin avoided Hiroto Tonomachi's arm and moved to Origami's side, offering his arm instead.
Origami cooperated perfectly, hugging his arm tightly against her chest. "Lin and I are destined for each other, never to be separated. This is already very slow. Just this morning I finally—"
Franklin smiled and directly covered Origami's mouth. "It really is slow. If we wanted to, we could've lived together a year earlier, but the timing wasn't mature enough back then."
Chatting idly, they arrived at school. Franklin originally thought it would be another dull day of classes, but something completely unexpected happened during the first period.
"Although it's only the second day of the semester, our class has gained a vice homeroom teacher."
No sooner had Okamine Tamae finished her introduction than the weary-looking mature woman beside her picked up the conversation.
"Murasame Reine. I'll be responsible for physics…"
As her words fell, her body suddenly tipped backward and collapsed. Franklin waved his hand casually, spiritual energy lifting her body and cushioning the fall.
Already lacking any interest in this boring class, Franklin strode forward, scooped Murasame Reine up in a princess carry, and turned to leave.
"Eh… Franklin, what are you doing—"
"I'm related to Murasame-sensei. This is an old problem of hers. I'll take her to the infirmary to rest for a bit. I'll be back soon."
With that, Franklin carried Murasame Reine straight out of the classroom, leaving behind a wave of noisy chatter.
Spiritual energy slowly flowed into Murasame Reine's body, easing her physical exhaustion. The dark circles under her eyes visibly faded, and a refreshed vitality gradually emerged.
Before they even reached the infirmary, Murasame Reine opened her eyes. Still hazy, her hand reached up and brushed against Franklin's cheek.
"Franklin… we meet again…"
"..."
Franklin felt increasingly certain that he had lost a significant amount of memory. Someone who looked as simple as Murasame Reine was absolutely not a simple character.
"Miss Murasame, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
As soon as he said that, Murasame Reine's eyes widened. In the next instant, she slipped free from his arms. The lightness in her body left her momentarily stunned.
"Did you do this?"
Franklin smiled and nodded. "That's right. Your physical condition is too poor, and your fatigue is abnormally severe.
If you don't improve it, you won't be able to keep up with Kotori's workload. If you're tired in the future, you can come to me for conditioning. I'm quite good at it."
Murasame Reine stared deeply at Franklin, then pointed back toward the classroom.
"Don't skip class. Go back. There are no commander orders right now."
Franklin was speechless. He had wanted to get closer and fish for information, but this rejection was far too decisive.
Time passed bit by bit. Franklin appeared to be listening to the lecture with his eyes open, but most of his consciousness was actually focused on the Ninja World, monitoring its developments.
The Third had already died. The return of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and the Uchiha clan head couple had caused a massive stir in Konoha.
When the dismissal bell rang at three o'clock, Murasame Reine appeared outside the classroom and took Franklin directly to a hidden underground room.
Inside, several computers were continuously monitoring spatial fluctuation data and spiritual energy indices across Tengu City.
"You're here, big brother. Thanks for helping Reine condition her body. Otherwise, it always felt like she was about to faint, which would be really bad for work."
Franklin waved it off casually. "Doesn't matter. Just a small thing. So, are we starting the love guidance lesson now? How's it supposed to work?"
"Mm… I originally planned for practical training, but your abilities turn that into a joke. So I decided to have you play a galgame instead."
After hearing Kotori's words, Franklin turned around and started walking out.
"I don't have that god's ability to conquer girls through games. I'll just continue being a straightforward guy. I have my own way of dealing with Spirits."
"God? Who's that?"
Franklin waved his hand dismissively. "That has nothing to do with our discussion. Besides galgames, is there no other form of guidance?"
The moment the words left his mouth, several computers suddenly blared alarms.
"Warning! Warning! Detected spacequake occurring in Tengu City—Warning! Warning!…"
Kotori, who had been about to speak, immediately turned toward the screens. When she saw the predicted location of the spacequake, her expression instantly became grave.
"The location of this spacequake is Raizen High School. What are you planning to do? Do you need rear support?"
Franklin let out a breath. "I'll handle it myself. I know a lot of information you don't have yet."
Turning around, Franklin headed straight for the surface. His consciousness swept outward—students were already evacuating rapidly, and Origami Tobiichi was also heading outside the campus.
"This time it's still Princess. Today I'll try to win her over and turn her back into a human. If you're planning to stop me, this will be our first clash. Don't get toyed with by me again."
Franklin's voice suddenly echoed in Origami's ears, making her freeze for a brief moment. She looked around, but couldn't find him anywhere.
"Stop looking. I'm several hundred meters underground from you. You can think of it as me transmitting my voice through a specific magnetic field."
"I won't give up. Even if I like you, Lin, Spirits must still be killed."
Seeing the resolute look in Origami's eyes, Franklin nodded in approval. "Then come. I'll be waiting."
Space suddenly compressed. A purple figure appeared, and in the next instant the compressed space and spiritual energy exploded outward, a massive shockwave spreading in all directions.
Monitoring everything in real time, Franklin casually waved his hand, and the spacequake vanished without a trace.
The Princess who appeared on the rooftop looked around in confusion. Spotting the stairwell entrance, she slowly walked down. In the stairwell, she ran straight into Franklin, who was heading up.
"Halvanhelev!"
"Calm down. We just met yesterday. Did you forget? You even almost hurt me because of a misunderstanding."
The Princess, who had been about to swing her sword, froze in place.
"You're the one who gave me that roasted meat!"
Her voice was filled with delight and longing, and Franklin immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"That's right. I'm the one from yesterday. How was the roast meat? It should've suited your taste, right?"