Chapter 71: Branch School Foreign Exchange
The International High School is a large-scale global private educational institution.
In addition to the Chiba branch, there are also branches in Okinawa, Beijing, Xuzhou, Jiujiang, London, Orléans, and more.
The main school gathers elite students from all over the world and is a top-tier private international university.
There, nationality is irrelevant—the sole mission is to cultivate the most outstanding talents of all humanity.
Graduates from this school are scattered across every field around the world. It's said that anyone who drops out halfway to pursue IT can make it onto the global rich list—a legendary place indeed.
The advantage of attending one of the branch schools is that the entry requirements to the main school are lower than for external candidates.
Therefore, when choosing principals for these branch schools, they look for candidates with a more globalized mindset.
The Qin clan, like the Liu clan, is one of the influential Toraijin families in Japan.
When the Qin dynasty collapsed, they fled the chaos to Korea, and from there, migrated to Japan.
Through their expertise in agriculture, weaving, and military strategy, they quickly gained a foothold and rose in status.
Principal Qin is one of their descendants. After many years of hard work, he was promoted to principal of the Chiba branch. His status is already on par with that of university presidents.
As the principal, his duty is naturally to cultivate and discover outstanding talents for the main school—whether they be politicians, tycoons, scientists, or artists, none are to be overlooked.
As winter break approached, the International High School system had a long-standing tradition. In addition to the usual yearly exchange of several students between branches, every time a long school vacation arrived, a multi-week cultural exchange event would be held.
This year, it was the Chiba branch's turn to send a delegation abroad. The school needed to select outstanding students to form a team, who would then, under the guidance of teachers, travel to a sister school overseas for cultural exchange.
During the recent international archery tournament, the International High School not only achieved tremendous success but also produced a "genius with the eyes of a hawk," which greatly boosted its prestige.
Furthermore, the legendary archery duel between the girl and the boy had gone viral online, sparking heated public discussion.
The tournament organizers even personally called to express their gratitude, which made Principal Qin feel extremely proud.
"So, since you've managed to cultivate such an exceptional talent for the school, how could we not bring him abroad to show off to the other branches? Don't you agree, Miss Hiratsuka?" said Principal Qin, who wore round sunglasses and rested his chin on his folded hands with a smile.
"..."
So, around noon, while Shirou was on his way to the Service Club, he was intercepted by Hiratsuka Shizuka and called into her office. Since it was lunchtime, the other teachers were out eating, leaving just the two of them in the office.
Hiratsuka Shizuka explained the situation to Shirou.
"Why do I have to agree to go abroad with you?" Shirou looked at Hiratsuka-sensei in confusion.
"This brings honor to the school, gives you extra credits, and even comes with a bonus. It's a great opportunity! And on a grander scale, it's promoting world peace! Though… yeah, it's definitely a pain in the ass…" Hiratsuka muttered, trailing off as she herself didn't quite believe her own pitch.
"You just admitted it's troublesome, didn't you?" Shirou shot back.
"C'mon, I already boasted in front of the principal! I guaranteed that Shirou is my best student, my proudest disciple, and that he'd definitely agree to go," Hiratsuka pleaded, tugging at Shirou's sleeve.
"You totally got carried away because the principal praised you, didn't you?" Shirou brushed off her hand.
"Please~! I'll be going with you too, after all. I was originally saving my first overseas trip with a man for my honeymoon, you know! Please!" Hiratsuka grabbed his hand again, looking utterly pitiful.
"Is this woman so shameless just because no other teachers are around?" Shirou thought to himself.
"I have to decline. Honestly, I really don't have the time. Also, that spoiled-girl act doesn't suit you at all, Sensei…" Shirou said as he pulled his hand away again.
He had to spend this holiday figuring out how to eliminate the monsters.
"I see… Shirou, I've already lowered myself this much as your teacher and begged for your help. Don't push your luck! If you don't agree today, you're not leaving this room!" Hiratsuka
grabbed Shirou's shoulder with one hand, and with the other looked ready to snap his neck—finally revealing her true iron-fisted nature.
To be or not to be, that is the question…
At that moment, Shirou's phone vibrated violently, and Da Vinci's voice suddenly came through his earpiece.
Apparently, she was using some special method, since Hiratsuka showed no sign of noticing anything.
"Shirou, accept her request," came Da Vinci's voice.
"...Fine. But once we get there, you can't arbitrarily assign me activities like last time. Otherwise, even I'll lose my temper," Shirou said firmly. Although he still didn't know what Da Vinci was up to, he reluctantly agreed to Hiratsuka's request for now.
"Hahaha! I knew you'd say yes! As thanks, I'll treat you to all the local delicacies once we're there!" Hiratsuka laughed heartily and slapped him on the back.
"That's... actually not a bad offer. Alright, I'm heading out," Shirou nodded.
After leaving the office, Shirou found a secluded spot and took out his phone.
Da Vinci appeared on the screen via video.
"Da Vinci-chan, what's the deal with this overseas exchange you wanted me to agree to?" Shirou asked.
"This trip is the perfect chance to clean up some of the monsters in foreign dimensional spaces. More importantly, we've detected several strong magical signatures. Two are in China, one in the UK, and one in France. They seem to be similar to those corrupted Heroic Spirits, like Perseus," Da Vinci explained.
"Then we definitely need to act. But if I go as part of a school trip, I won't have the freedom to move, let alone explore those places," Shirou pointed out.
"No worries. This time, TYPE-MOON Inc. is one of the event's sponsors. So we've got influence over the itinerary. Apart from your mission, I'll also arrange a pleasant trip for you," Da Vinci said with her signature smile.
"But if a bunch of students are there and something happens, it could get dangerous. Honestly, it'd be easier if I went alone," Shirou said, clearly concerned.
"With the world's protection and Chaldea's support, there won't be any issues.
Also, group travel makes it easier for me to assign you backup. Don't even think about going rogue.
Last time, you only managed to transfer the damage from your collapsing Spirit Origin to a pseudo one thanks to the Holy Grail and your unique constitution," Da Vinci warned, seeing right through him.
"Fighting corrupted Heroic Spirits isn't something you can do without a well-thought-out plan."
"I get that. But if you assign inexperienced helpers mid-mission, they'll just drag me down. If they're just pulled in as support without any combat ability, it'll be a liability," Shirou cautioned.
"You really are a reliable guy, Shirou. But don't worry. Ever since Perseus broke the dimensional barrier, this world has changed. I have more options now, and Chaldea has resolved its internal crisis, so we can allocate more resources to assist you.
Just sit tight and look forward to it. The genius me will definitely find you the perfect partners," Da Vinci said with a mysterious smile.