Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 124 Mission: 06-3 The Non-Existent Band
"Ugh."

In the morning, as soon as Nero arrived at school, he heard Aine sighing while lying on her desk.

Nero knew she was a natural optimist, and that sighing like that must be due to a major setback—like the recent failure to study abroad. So she walked over, leaned over Aine's desk, and gently asked, "What's wrong? Is there something bothering you?"

Aine raised her head, greeted her, and looked at her with a sad face: "Neroro~ What should I do~"

Seeing the bright golden hair hanging down from her side, Aine knew that Nero had come. This time, she didn't show any desire to show off, and still looked a little dejected, which made Nero even more certain that something must have happened.

It's rare for Aine to become like this in just one day. Nero rolled his eyes and asked, "Did the test results turn out badly?"

But to be honest, it's hard to imagine that Aine, an excellent student, was forced into this state by an exam. Nero believed more in the latter possibility.

As expected, Aine's eyes rolled around as she began to make excuses for her reckless words. This meant that what Aine had unconsciously wanted to complain about was actually something she was not comfortable letting Nero know.

That is, things about "demons".

After turning around twice, Aine finally found a suitable explanation that excluded the devil from the story: "Actually... Actually, it's like this. Xiao Deng and I, along with two other people, are planning to form a band together..."

Well, that's fine. Who says lights, dancers, fireworks, and poetry recitations can't be considered a band?
Nero didn't argue, but nodded, suppressing a smile. "I haven't heard you mention that, Aine. Isn't that amazing?"

“But here’s the problem,” Aine said dejectedly, “We tried playing together yesterday, and I got scolded for my guitar skills.”

“Oh, this—” Nero thought about his words and stood on the same side with Aine: “This is not good, right? If you think that others are not good enough, then you shouldn’t have agreed to it in the first place.”

Without asking any questions, Nero could guess that this was probably referring to Lixi. Among them, only Lixi would scold others so rudely.

"That is to say—that's not right."

After hearing what Nero said, Aiyin immediately shook her head: "I don't want to quit. I promised Xiao Deng."

Nero knew Aine would say that. She raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly, "Then you have to improve your skills. It's always easier to change yourself than to change others."

Aine just looked thoughtful after hearing this when Nero continued, "It just so happens that I know someone who's really good at guitar. How about I ask him to teach Aine?"

Suddenly, Aine's expression changed. "No, no, no, that would be too much trouble for Neroro. Well, I can just practice on my own."

“Is that so?” Nero’s expression remained unchanged, but his tone deliberately dropped by two degrees, sounding somewhat disappointed. “It’s okay, Aine, just follow your own ideas.”

After nodding slightly, Nero took a few steps towards his seat, turned back and said again: "If you still need help, please let me know."

She wasn't kidding. Whether it was playing guitar or using magic tools, Dante could clearly teach her a thing or two. And asking him for help was simple—just prepare a strawberry sundae. As long as it was a sweet, sour, and icy dessert, and it wasn't too much of a hassle, Dante wouldn't turn down a request.

After all, he'd said he was on vacation. He had plenty of free time. And that's exactly what Lenai did last night. Using the parfait vouchers she had in her pocket, she'd managed to lure a world-class demon hunter to be her trainer. Although this trainer didn't give much instruction, simply demonstrating and asking, "Do you understand?"

For Dante, getting a free French sundae for just this little effort was a lucrative deal. Lenai, with his talent and ability to learn a lot, also made a killing, and Nero, who also got a parfait last night, probably made a killing too.

This is a win-win-win situation.

But the sight of an old man and two schoolgirls eating parfaits on a bench was still somewhat shocking. Nero didn't want to recall it.

"what."

Aine made a sound, but Nero didn't turn around. She could vaguely guess that Aine was showing regret, and began to feel that she was forced to reject Nero's kindness because of her lie, and her behavior was a bit hurtful.

This can be considered a lesson, so that she won't say anything without thinking again in the future and end up being unable to correct herself.

But speaking of the band—Nero suddenly remembered that she had something else she needed to find out.

Nero put down his bag and sat down in his seat. He turned around and saw that Takamatsu Touma had also arrived late. He greeted Aine with a very small gesture. It seemed that her habit of withdrawing from others would not change for a while. Nero ignored what was happening over there and took out his phone from his bag.

As far as she could remember, the last member of the Manfu Carnival who hadn't appeared yet, "Sadness (Doloris)," was also a freshman in high school and a member of the idol singing group "Sumimi." Although the group only had two members, they were so popular at one point that their advertisements were everywhere on the trains.

Type in the search term and search. If this combination is really that popular, then relevant information should be easy to find.

The answer was quickly revealed. The search engine headline, and most of the content on the page, told the same story.

"Graduation Performance".

In other words, the idol group Sumi had already confirmed its impending disbandment more than half a year ago, and officially announced its end after a single performance. For a group that was recently established, on the rise, and performing well, this is quite unusual.

"Then, it should be around this time, right?" Nero swiped his hand across the screen and found the original news.

Sumimi announced the news of their disbandment for the first time.

It was probably around this time that Toyokawa Shoko first extended an invitation to Sankaku Hatsuka.

From this incident, Nero vaguely sensed the open and covert struggle between Little Ace and Toyokawa Shoko. The problem is:
Which side is it that interfered with Sumimi's management and forced the group to disband?
If it was Little Ace, then Xiangzi's active intervention was likely sabotaging its plans. And if it was Xiangzi, then everything she did was likely foreseen by Little Ace, otherwise it wouldn't have taken any action.

As long as he understands this problem, Nero will be able to completely understand what little Ace's plan is.

This is a huge step towards capturing this elusive enemy.

(End of this chapter)