Kirito pushed open the door and saw Iruka leaning over the desk, writing something with a more serious expression than usual.
Iruka stopped writing, looked up at Kirito, and asked, "Kirito, are you here for the school festival as well?"
Kirito scratched his head and looked at Iruka embarrassedly.
Iruka shrugged and said, "I haven't seen you for over a month. I guess it's time for you to come out and take on a mission."
"Ino told me you had a mission. I was supposed to visit you yesterday, but something came up last minute. So I came today to try my luck and see if there were any more missions available."
Kirito felt a little embarrassed since such tasks usually required signing up in advance.
Iruka didn't take it seriously and said, "This is a school-wide event. The principal is worried about accidents, so he asked me to find someone to patrol and check safety. You have the strength of a Genin, so just walk around the school and stop any minor fights."
"No problem, I'll maintain order seriously," Kirito nodded and agreed.
Maintaining order was easy for him with his Genin-level strength since students who had reached that level had already graduated.
This task could really be considered a system benefit!
"Well, as for the reward, how about 10,000 ryō a day? Everyone else only gets 8,000 ryō!" Iruka said after a little consideration.
"Ah, Mr. Iruka, you're so generous! Thank you so much!"
Kirito didn't feel embarrassed at all. Two thousand extra ryō could buy a lot of instant noodles. He almost burst into tears of gratitude toward Iruka.
Konoha Village's missions were divided into five levels: S-level, A-level, B-level, C-level, and D-level.
Level D was the easiest, with basically no combat involved. It included taking care of pets, finding lost items, and similar chores. The rewards were relatively low, so the price offered by Iruka was actually quite generous!
"Okay! Come on! After the school festival is over, come to me to settle your reward!" Iruka patted Kirito's shoulder and said.
"Don't worry, Mr. Iruka. I'll definitely complete the task!"
After leaving the office, Kirito slowly walked out of the building and began patrolling around the campus.
Every year, students came up with creative new ways to organize the campus festival.
Each class created its own themed stalls.
Although there was no formal evaluation, they were still kids—competitive and full of energy—so the students put a lot of effort into it.
Kirito walked around the school grounds, occasionally seeing others maintaining order.
"Sasuke is so handsome!" squealed one fangirl.
"I want to marry Sasuke…" another one sighed dreamily.
Kirito strolled leisurely, listening to the chatter of the lovestruck girls.
How boring!
He thought, How about using this time to write my novel?
Action spoke louder than words. The sakura forest in the school was a perfect place to relax and write.
As for the festival activities, there shouldn't be any conflicts.
Besides him, Iruka had hired a few other Genin to patrol, and with Chūnin in charge, nothing serious could happen.
Kirito headed to the sakura forest to "rest" with peace of mind.
Arriving there, he took off his backpack, pulled out his notebook and pen, turned to where he had stopped last time, and began writing Hidden Village Love Story.
"'Nagao Kanji bids farewell for a better life…'"
Kirito had already finished the outline of the novel, and with his familiarity with the plot, writing came easily.
An hour later—
Kirito rolled his neck, shook his wrist, and sighed, "Writing a novel is also physical labor!"
Just as he was about to continue, a loud quarrel broke out nearby.
Could it be that a conflict really occurred?
He quickly packed his notebook and pen into his bag and walked toward the sound.
After all, this was his mission. It would be unreasonable not to check.
Leaving the sakura forest, Kirito followed the noise until he stopped, his eyes full of curiosity.
Ino, Sakura, and three unfamiliar girls stood facing each other. The two groups were clearly in conflict.
Ino stood in front of Sakura and said to the three girls, "Natsuko, Chiki, Yumiko, if you keep bullying us, I'll tell Teacher Iruka!"
"What?" Yumiko, who stood in the middle, said with a sullen face. "Ino, I advise you to stop meddling in other people's business!"
A warm look flashed across Sakura's eyes—she was grateful that Ino had stepped in to help her.
She pushed Ino away and said sharply, "I won't give Sasuke to you even if you help me!"
Ino staggered after being pushed and shouted, "If we weren't in the same class, do you think I'd even want to help you?"
Then she turned angrily to the three girls. "I won't let you bully the students of Class S!"
Chiki smiled softly. "Did you even get into Class S on your own strength? The girls from Class A aren't pushovers!"
Natsuko was even more direct. She took a fighting stance and sneered, "Let's see who's really worthy of standing beside Sasuke-kun!"
"Hmph! Who's afraid of who?" Ino stepped back, bent her knees slightly, crossed her fists, and took her stance.
Seeing this, Chiki and Yumiko also got ready to attack.
Sakura felt nervous when she saw Ino about to fight but didn't stop her.
Sasuke was the root of their rivalry—a grudge hard to erase.
However, when it came to Sasuke and the class's honor, she would definitely stand with Ino!
Even with both of them, they were still outnumbered three to two.
Just as the two sides were about to clash, Sakura suddenly shouted, "Wait a minute!"
"Ino, what's wrong? Why are you shouting?" Ino froze mid-action, startled by Sakura's sudden cry.
The three opponents also paused. Chiki narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "What? You want to fight us too? Do you dare?"
Sakura said disdainfully, "Isn't it shameful to fight three against one? Ninjas should fight one-on-one! Are you afraid?"
Chiki, Yumiko, and Natsuko burst into laughter as if they'd heard the funniest thing ever.
Yumiko sneered at Ino. "Alright, let's make it one-on-one. I'll show you how worthless you are!"
Sakura immediately replied, "Fine! Don't regret it later!"
Ino glanced at Sakura, her heart warming slightly, though she muttered, "So nosy…"
A battle between two "women" officially began!
"Ah!"
"Ha!"
Ino and Natsuko immediately started fighting fiercely.
Kirito had no intention of stepping in to stop them.
To put it bluntly, this was just a childish spat between girls jealous over a handsome guy.
The funny thing was, Sasuke—the so-called "male lead"—only had revenge in his heart.
End of the chapter.