The Winter Snow Festival had arrived.
It just so happened that it was snowing today. Snowflakes fluttered down from the sky and covered the houses and streets, adding a white romantic atmosphere to the festival.
It was finally the season of white romance … Cough, let's not mention this joke anymore.
After eating breakfast, Seiji played a game with Ling Yang while Little Shi quietly watched from the side.
When it was about time, he put down the game controller and got up to put on his clothes.
Just as he was about to leave the house, his cell phone rang.
Seiji answered the call and responded to Summer Night, then looked towards Little Shi and Ling Yang.
"I'm going out."
"Be careful on the road," the two girls said.
"I'll be back in the afternoon." Seiji smiled at them and walked out of the house.
The house fell silent.
Little Shi looked towards Ling Yang and silently picked up the game controller that Seiji had put down and indicated to her.
Ling Yang's eyes lit up as she started the game again.
…
Seiji and Summer Night took a car together to the battleground … whoops, the venue.
He was currently wearing a high-collared windbreaker and black trousers, a woolen hat, and sunglasses. As long as his collar was pulled up and buttoned up, it would basically cover his entire face — a perfect cosplay of Shino Higashio.
Apart from that, Summer Night also cast a disguise spell on him, all in order to not expose his identity.
If he was recognized as Haruta Seiji, it was likely that there would be unnecessary trouble, so this was the only way to avoid trouble.
This appearance would attract attention at the party, but it was the only way to show that he didn't want his identity to be exposed.
If someone saw through his disguise, saw his true face, and discovered his identity, they would have to worry about this attitude if they wanted to publicize it.
The president, Grand Mistress, was sitting across from him. She was wearing a simple yet elegant light pink Sakura Island outfit, which made her seem more low-key and reserved.
It was obvious that she was intentionally dressed simply, but even so, she still seemed charismatic.
If it were not for the fact that she had to maintain her dignity as the daughter of the Wanhua family and could not be rude at the party, she would have dressed more plainly, or simply put on winter clothes and wrapped herself up tightly.
"Can you tell me about the person you hate?" Seiji asked.
Summer Night was silent for a moment.
"His name is Akira Mitarai … More than three years ago, when I was in my first year of middle school, he transferred into my class," she said softly.
"When I first met his gaze, I felt that his gaze … was very strange."
"Although I didn't feel that way after that, I didn't want to get close to him because of the deep impression he left on me."
"But he seemed to like me very much. He talked to me, asked me out, gave me presents... Even though I repeatedly refused, he kept trying to get close to me."
"One day, he confessed to me and forcefully hugged me... I got angry, broke free, and knocked him down before leaving."
"The next day, he didn't come to school. There was another girl in his class who didn't come either, and this girl had a really good relationship with him... Someone saw him being intimate with this girl yesterday, after I left."
"For an entire week, he and that girl didn't appear at school."
"One week later, he came and apologized to me for his behavior. I also apologized for hitting him and made up with him for the time being. Then, I asked him about that girl. "
"At that time, he revealed the same expression that he had when I first met him, and smiled as he replied, 'I don't know.'
"That girl never came to school again, and I heard that she transferred schools."
"I was quite concerned about this, so I tried to investigate and learned that that girl disappeared on that very day... Akira Mitarai was likely the last person to see her."
Seiji felt a chill as he silently listened to all this.
Summer Night didn't say anything else and turned to look out the window.
...
The luxurious car arrived at a large gate. After entering the gate, they drove along a road that was surrounded by trees for quite a while before arriving at a large Sakura Island mansion.
Seiji recalled his first visit to the Juumonji Group.
The Juumonji Group's courtyard was quite large, and so was the mansion. However, it was nothing compared to this place; they weren't even on the same level.
The courtyard here wasn't even a courtyard; it was a forest. The mansion in front of him was so extravagant that it could be compared to a palace.
Seiji straightened his collar and fastened it. He and the Grand Mistress got out of the car and were led into the mansion by a waitress wearing plain Sakura Island attire.
It was quite warm inside.
When they reached a fork in the road, the waitress stopped and politely asked his Spirit-branded Retainer to go left.
They were actually going to separate?
Seiji looked towards Summer Night.
Summer Night looked back at him and nodded.
And so, he did as he was told.
Under the guidance of another beautiful waitress, Seiji arrived in front of a courtyard.
There were fake mountains, ponds, trees, and so on in the courtyard. There were flowers and plants everywhere, and the scenery was beautiful. There were even birds flying around and butterflies dancing among the flowers … it didn't seem like it was winter at all.
The fine snow falling from the sky was blocked by an invisible barrier and melted in midair, transforming into mist and disappearing, creating a strange scene.
More than a dozen men and women were either sitting or standing there. They were of different ages and wore different styles of clothing. Some were chatting and laughing, some were sitting quietly, some were drinking, some were playing chess, and some were jumping on the rockery …
All of these people were Spirit-branded Retainers!
Seiji walked into the courtyard.
Some people looked over at him.
"He's a new face. Do you know him?"
"I don't know him … I've never seen this person before."
"Here comes another strange big brother. He looks quite strong."
"The strangest one is you. Stop standing on the fake mountain and come down!"
...
"Hello, may I know your name?" A brown-haired boy wearing black samurai attire walked up to Seiji and asked politely.
"You can just call me Shiroya." Seiji gave him a random name that he came up with.
The brown-haired boy blinked in surprise.
"Alright, Shiroya-san. I'm Shunsuke Furukawa, the Spirit-branded Retainer of the host of this gathering, Young Master Moritama Ryouta. May I ask which master's Spirit-branded Retainer are you? "
"Wanhua Summer Night."
"Wanhua Grand Mistress … I understand. Please rest here as you wish. If you need anything, just tell the waitress. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. "
"Then I won't be polite. I'd like to ask why you separate Spirit-branded Retainers from their masters?"
"My young master believes that it's better this way. Yin-Yang Masters communicate with other Yin-Yang Masters, and Spirit-branded Retainers communicate with each other. It's more suitable than mixing them together." Furukawa smiled.
Seiji fell silent.
"Of course, we won't continue like this until the end of the gathering. We'll meet up with our masters when we start playing a game later," Furukawa told him.
"What game are we playing?"
"Please allow me to keep this a secret. You'll find out when the time comes."
At this moment, someone called out to him. Furukawa Seiji Mukai bowed and said goodbye before leaving.
Seiji looked around the courtyard in an attempt to find a place to sit down.
He noticed that there was an elegant pavilion in the forest, so he walked over.
When he got closer, he noticed that there was a girl with long gray hair … no, a boy sitting in the pavilion.
His gray hair reached his shoulders, and he wore a dark red eyepatch over his left eye. Even so, he was quite handsome. He was currently reading a book with a serious expression … a light novel?
The cover was a beautiful girl wearing bikini armor and wielding an extravagant greatsword. The title of the book was [I Reincarnated into a Magical Swordswoman in Another World]!
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