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The wood grain of the ceiling was reflected in my vision as it blurred.

“……”

Why was I still alive?

I had been reincarnated as Hiiro Sanjo, fulfilled my wish during an orientation camp, and died with Alsuhariya in an explosion. At least…that’s what I thought had happened.

The moment I put strength into my limbs, intense pain ran through my entire body.

I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming, looked down at my body, and saw that I was bandaged all over. I was still alive and receiving medical attention.

The burning sensation and blinding pain caused me to slip in and out of consciousness.

Gathering my strength, I tried to take in my surroundings.

A low table next to me held pure-white flowers as an offering. The clock on the wall had twelve-hour marks and a swinging pendulum, slowly ticking away the agonizing hours.

I saw a large mirror with an oxidized copper frame—and there I was, Hiiro Sanjo, staring at myself as I was dying.

Suddenly, I felt a presence.

Something lurking in a dark corner of the room was staring my way.

Who are you? Where am I…?

I couldn’t voice the words, lost consciousness again, and then came to.

Three girls were standing around the bed. They were carefully wiping the dirt from my body.

It was while they were touching me all over that I noticed something.

I was completely naked.

They were wiping my body with familiar hands, proceeding to wipe down my crotch as if they owned it, including the parts I wouldn’t ever show a stranger.

“You beasts… St-stop it…!”

Teary-eyed and full of shame, I covered my chest with my hands and shook my head.

“Dear leader,” the one with the reddish-black hair said.

She wore earrings that reminded me of falling teardrops. Very gently, she put her lips to my ear and whispered, “Just sleep for now. Don’t think about anything.”

She touched a fingertip to my cheek, and I was immediately overcome with a mellow sense of drowsiness.

Leaving them to have their way with me, I repeatedly awoke and fell back asleep again like the ebb and flow of the tide.

They wiped me all over, tended to my personal hygiene, fed and cuddled me, played music, and even told me bedtime stories… The trio was incredibly attentive and provided me with top-quality care.

Perhaps thanks to their devotion, I was finally able to rise with assistance.

Still, there were more things that I couldn’t do on my own.

“…Um, would you mind not peeking at me like that? Your gaze is offside.”

“Excuse me. It’s hard to determine the offside line between your legs.”

“If I gave that away, you’d get a red card.”

They watched over me when I went to the bathroom, perhaps concerned that I might collapse.

“Dear leader? Are you itchy anywhere? Do you feel okay? Huh? Are you self-conscious? Aww, that’s so cute!”

Naturally, they washed my body when I bathed.

“Spread your legs.”

“P-please… Anything but that…!!”

“Come on, why not?”

“There’s no need for me to spread them that far! Absolutely not! All you’re doing is wiping me down between my legs! I shouldn’t have to spread my legs until they’re in a V shape! Look, I’m practically flashing a peace sign with my legs! I won’t be able to go back to my friends anymore!”

I had recovered enough to take baths, and here they were, making me open my legs in a V shape so they could wipe between them.

My days were filled with embarrassment, but I gradually got better enough to walk on my own.

The moment I stepped out of the room, a light pierced my eyes—and shades of blue blinded me.

Like the night sky where every cloud had drifted away, the bright blue-purple surface of the water shone every time it caught the sun.

And in the center was a single floating house.

A wooden rowboat was tethered to the house, supported by four pillars extending from the water and designated as a home on the water.

Secured by a single rope, the boat was bobbing on the waves.

After glancing out at the lake’s surface, which seemed to go on forever, and feeling like a needle in a haystack, I went back inside.

“First of all, I want to thank you girls for taking care of me. It was an experience between life and death that I’ll never forget.”

Rewrapping the bandage on my arm, I asked the girl with the reddish-black hair, “And? May I ask you, the kind girl who refused to let me die, what your name is?”

“I’m Sylphiel Diabloto.”

She smiled as her pitch-black tail wagged next to her handsome face.

“I’m Greater Demon, the demon of the great abyss. I’ve been serving you, my leader, for the past three hundred and eighty-two years. I brought you here from that human ship and assisted in the healing process. It has been a great honor and pleasure, sir.”

Greater Demon…?

I thought about what I’d done to date and dripped with cold sweat.

Maybe I wasn’t as bad as a demon, but this situation made me out to be a boss character who could die instantly at any time.

Unlike elves and spirits, these characters didn’t get along with humans, and I was sure that we’d lose if we fought them without being prepared.

“What about that girl over there?”

The one in the girly outfit winked at me.

“That’s Vampire Lord, princess of the silent night.”

“…How about the other one who isn’t here now?”

“Lich King, lord of departed souls.”

Oh no… I was like an RTA speedrunner who kept doing runs without improving at all…! I was feeling like Ophelia von Margeline, a foil character added to make the protagonist look good…!

Surrounded by these boss characters, I asked nervously, “H-hey, by the way, who is this leader you’re talking about…?”

“Why, you, of course. This is the base of the demonic religion of Alsuhariya. As such, you are going to have to lead the Alsuhariya faction from now on.”

What the hell were they talking about?! I knew one thing for sure. If these girls found out that I’d killed Alsuhariya, I was as good as dead! I was in the heart of enemy territory!!

“Where’s my magic device?”

Sylphiel snapped her fingers.

With a thump, my Masamune Kuki appeared on the table.

Oh man. They had a console for instantly making things appear. If I tried to run, the only place I’d make it to was the winner’s podium for the zero-meter race on the other side of the River Styx.

“Is there anything else you need, sir?”

“I want to attend the wedding of a yuri couple and live out the end of my life quietly clapping for them in the corner.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t yes, sir me,” I said in horror, terrified when she agreed to that with a straight face.

“This is the Otherworld, right? I want to go back to the Houjou Magic Academy in the present world… Okay…?”

“Sir, it’s up to you whether we live or die, and no one here has the right to question your actions. So, please, do as you wish.”

I exhaled in relief.

I could manage as long as I went back to the present world and sought refuge with my master. No matter how strong these girls were, they weren’t a match for the pathetic four-hundred-and-twenty-year-old who had gained her strength in exchange for tranquility.

Heh-heh…! I’ll show them (her) strength…!

“Okay, then, I’m heading back to the present world, so—”

A huge explosion occurred, and my vision swayed from left to right, and my eardrums shook from the impact.

A shadow smashed through the ceiling and into the floor, and the human body slammed into the water’s surface beneath the floor, splashing all over the floor and the walls.

Sylphiel held out her hands and stopped the water from flying at me.

“Heine, you’re in the presence of our leader. Understand that and clean up this mess.”

A girl jumped out of the water and cracked her neck, holding a cane made of bone in one hand.

“I can’t. It’s too messy, like cockroaches in the summer.”

“Are you with the Fair Lady sect?”

“Nuh-uh. I’m with the Nanatsubakis.”

“Huh? Seriously? Is that vixen being serious? After all the attention Alsuhariya gave her? Maybe this is her chance, but it’s a dirty thing to do!”

“The two of you take care of this. I’ll take our leader to the present world. But my, moving garbage is such a nuisance…our leader has gotten dust on his body.”

Sylphiel sat down and carefully brushed the dust off my pants.

As she casually cleaned my pants, pale magical light flashed, hit some object, and blinked, and a human body flew as if gliding through the air.

The two Alsuhariya faction leaders leisurely wielded their magic devices against dozens of hostile forces that had come to attack.

“I will now escort you to the nearest dimension gate.”

“What about that?”

“That’s the extent of her capacity if she dies at that level, indicating that she isn’t fit to be a senior member of the Alsuhariya sect.”

I saw that the duo was overwhelming the hostile forces and required no help—but the Nanatsubaki faction appeared and blocked our way.

Not even trying to hide her murderous intent, Sylphiel took a step forward, and I rushed to stop her.

“No, don’t. I’ll handle this. You stay back.”

“Yes, sir, Your Leadership.”

I held back Sylphiel’s maximum killing intent and randomly pulled my trigger—

“Huh?”

Twelve invisible arrows were formed around my right arm.

“Wait a sec! Something’s wrong! Something’s happening! Something’s—”

The sect followers came jumping at me, and I reflexively held my right arm at the ready.

And then I saw it.

A dreadfully huge number of paths filled my line of vision.

Every possible pattern of ballistic trajectory I’d imagined in my mind was instantly displayed and constructed, and with my eyes wide open in astonishment, I—fired.

The wall in front of me was obliterated.

Wood splinters spun furiously and scattered everywhere. With a roar, the ceiling was blown away, and violent winds battered my entire body, numbing me from my tousled hair to my toes.

I had instantly missed my mark.

The sect followers’ knees turned to jelly, and they trembled as they looked up at me.

Sylphiel smiled as she applauded and whispered, “Fantastic. You are indeed able to cut the Gordian knot.”

…Was it possible to get a power boost from being shot between the legs?

I escaped from my adversaries and was pushed back to the present world (Tokyo).

Sylphiel had been kneeling and hanging her head on the other side of the dimensional door.

“I will see you again, sir. I doubt that they will often try to set you up in the present world, but please call me anytime if you need me.”

“I’ll call you if I ever want to see two girls kissing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t yes, sir me.”

The dimensional door closed before me, and I was left in a deserted back alley. I exhaled in relief.

I let my thoughts wander as I came out to the popular main street and walked in front of the train station.

Why was I still alive? There was no mistaking the fact that I had died in a classic explosion. There was no way to avoid it. All the memories that ran through my mind at the moment of death were from yuri works I had ranked ultimate, and it made me realize anew that I was a big fan of works of true love.

Pensive, I walked through a set of automatic doors and stepped into a bookstore.

It bothered me that my magic power had increased enormously. It didn’t make sense that the left arm that was blown away was somehow restored, and it wasn’t as if I was participating in a get-your-arm-back campaign limited to explosion victims.

What made me come back to life, start being called a leader, and get a boost on my magical capacities?

I left the bookstore and sat on a bench in front of the station.

This was no time to dally. I had to find out what had caused this situation as soon as possible.

With a sense of urgency, I turned the pages of the book I’d just purchased to a section called Even If It’s Beyond Your Reach 4.

Damn…! What the hell happened to my body…?!?!

In a fit of frustration, knowing I had to figure it out quickly, I went back to the bookstore and bought Even If It’s Beyond Your Reach 5.

After I finished reading it, I smiled and nodded to myself.

Yuri girls will eventually help cure cancer, huh?

Sheesh, bookstores in this world are fantastic. Most of the manga and novels have female heroines, and it’s an incredible situation where I’ll come across a yuri girl wherever I look. It’s such a mystery as to why I have so few of them around me that I want to form a research team and study why that’s the case.

As the price for reaffirming the beauty of the yuri, I ran out of train fare and shook my empty wallet, feeling despair.

My body was out of shape from all the bed rest I got, anyway, so I figured I’d go on a run to my school.

I pulled the trigger and started running—and the scenery sped away at a breakneck clip. I stopped, stunned.

“…Huh?”

I turned around, checked the distance I’d come, and stood there dumbfounded, staring at the charred road.

Hey, come on. This can’t be happening. I barely used any of my magic power. Has my zeal for yuri girls turned into fuel and made me into an uncontrollable yuri express train?

Deciding that I could run someone over, I decided to walk to the academy.

On the way, I happened to come across Snow.

“Hey, Snow. Out shopping? I’m in the mood for hamburgers tonight, so keep that in mind, ’kay?”

Snow’s cheeks were hollow, and dark circles were visible under her eyes. She rubbed her swollen eyes and whispered in a nasal voice, “Happy-go-lucky as usual, looking like you could dry your laundry with that grin on your face, are you? Your sidekick, Snow, has been busy searching for you. I haven’t been getting enough sleep, and my skin is a mess. I’m determined to crack my master’s brain open when he returns and fill it with homing instincts.”

“Hey, what happened to your smile? Wasn’t it your policy to dance around and abuse your master while singing songs and calling him names?”

“Shut up. Your face is too loud. What is it, an ad for pissing people off? Which podunk shit-storing school taught you your sense of ethics? Are you truly too twisted to understand other people’s feelings? Even Masamune Okazaki couldn’t fix you. I’m busy looking for you, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Have some grass for supper tonight. Goodbye.”

“You could probably fill a dictionary with all the foul words you know. If things were normal, I would have given you lessons to make you worship me, but I’ll let you off the hook today, since I’m feeling like I’m going to cry.”

I parted with Snow—and got a dropkick from behind.

“You aren’t holding back at all!!”

I slid onto the ground with a thud.

She flipped me over in the blink of an eye, and then she straddled me across my stomach.

With tears in her eyes, she grabbed me by the collar and pulled.

“You unbelievable jerk! At least call me if you’re alive!! You can die, for all I care. Die. Die! Die!!!”

“I’m sorry! Forgive me! I didn’t realize you were that worried about me! I was dying, and I couldn’t contact you! Please don’t punch me! No establishing a plastic surgery clinic for the aftermath! Have mercy on me!”

Thud, thud, thud. After hitting me to her heart’s content, she plopped down on my chest and sobbed.

“You jerk…die… Go to hell…!!”

“Sorry, I failed to do that. I apologize for not meeting your expectations. Next time, I’ll do my best to do better.”

“Jerk! Don’t die!! But die! No, don’t.” (Thud!) “Die.” (Whack!) “Die.” (Slam!) “Don’t die!” (Bam!)

It was the ultimate in being unreasonable, and she came at me full force. Wham!

Several minutes later, Snow calmed down, and we sat next to each other on a park bench.

“Um… Would you mind letting go of the hem of my shirt…? I’d like to have a bottle of uncarbonated cola to celebrate not dying.”

“…You’ll take off somewhere again if I let go, won’t you?”

“No, I won’t. I have no place to die, and I have no place to go.”

Sniffling noisily, Snow held the hem of my shirt tightly and wouldn’t let go.

Left with no other choice, I headed for a vending machine, accompanied by my servant.

“Snow, what do you want to drink? A noncarbonated cola?”

“…Green tea.”

“Okay. Noncarbonated cola it is.”

“I said ‘green tea,’ didn’t I? Do you have a built-in noise canceler on your eardrums?”

I pulled the uncarbonated cola from the machine and was dismayed by what had happened.

“What’s going on with my body…? Have the aftereffects of that battle to the death left me incapable of telling the difference between tea leaves and cola…?”

“I doubt that the aftereffects have anything to do with this. Never mind. You drink that. Now, hit the button for green tea.”

“Okay.” And I hit the one for noncarbonated cola again.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Come to think of it, I was a zero-scorer and was only allowed to buy noncarbonated cola. So you could say that this wasn’t my fault. It was part of the government’s oppression.

We took our drinks in hand and sat back down on a bench.

“So what happened at your orientation camp?”

I couldn’t hide the facts after all the worrying I put her through.

I explained the details to Snow, leaving out the part about choosing to die with the enemy in an explosion. She held tightly to the aluminum bottle in her hand, looking unusually solemn. She nodded and then opened her mouth.

“…So another new woman appeared on the scene…?”

“Are you kidding? Is that how you’re going to sum up my fight for life?”

“I’m just joking. First, we need to make a plan for the future. I didn’t expect you to come back so easily, so my mind is in a state of confusion… But let’s go back to Miss Rei and the others in a way that will cause them the least shock.”

“Huh? Why? Isn’t it enough to go home and say Hey, I’m back?”

Snow let out a deep sigh.

“Master, your outlook is unbelievably naive. Naive like an infant, and the girls will flock to you, going on about how sweet you are.”

“Hey, Snow. Isn’t that going a little too far? I mean, this playboy was only gone for two weeks. Couldn’t we say I was holing up with some girl?”

“Did your mother give birth to you without providing you with objectivity? You’re a love-hunting beast who does whatever the heck he wants, making every girl he meets along the way fall for him.”

Snow explained my current situation in an admonishing manner.

It appeared that Rei believed the Sanjo family had been the cause of my disappearance.

Putting on her iron mask, she took full advantage of her position as successor to the family fortune to hunt down the members of the clan, who were so terrified that they couldn’t sleep at night.

“It’s like a gang war. For the past two weeks, I’ve been standing next to an expressionless Miss Rei, witnessing how ugly humans can be and the horrific state of people who have gained power. Miss Rei has become unrestrained, and she’s running amok. The Sanjo family will collapse from its very foundation if we don’t stop her soon.”

Hearing the unexpected, I froze. Then she told me something I could hardly believe.

“Lapis has returned to Alfheim—the Land of the Elves.”

“Huh? Well, of course, she’d go back now and then, since that’s where she’s from.”

“Has your brain gone back to Neverland? I’m saying she won’t ever return to this world again. She swore she’d never come to Japan again, since it would remind you of you. Without a doubt, your disappearance was what made her a reclusive princess.”

Cold sweat slowly trickled down my forehead.

“What about my master, Astemir, and Tsukiori? They’re getting along well, aren’t they?”

“Of course they are. They’ve teamed up and have been attacking every branch of the demonic religion. They’re taking out their resentment on them, and I can’t bear to watch.”

Oh no… I went ahead and died casually, then came back from the dead, and now the present world had become more of a hell. The game scenario had been destroyed and was no longer in its original form. I had to fix it soon, or I wouldn’t be able to even think about yuri girls anymore. The heroines were doing slash-and-burn farming in a beautiful yuri garden that I’d worked so hard to create.

“S-Snow, I need to talk to you about something.”

“No can do. You’re thinking of giving the girls proof that you’re alive and then disappearing again, aren’t you? I wouldn’t mind that, but they’ll come looking for you to the farthest reaches of this world.”

“All I wanted was to be their friend,” I said with resignation.

In despair, I told Snow I had to use the restroom… Then I put a little distance between us, sat on the edge of the fountain, and held my head.

Wh-what should I do? If I told Rei and the others that I was still alive, I had a feeling my likability would mysteriously be boosted, and things would get out of hand. It appeared that a suicide or disappearance might disrupt the flow of the game scenario, so those weren’t options I could casually choose.

I couldn’t run away, but neither could I face the situation head-on.

I was at a dead end—

“You seem troubled, Hiiro Sanjo.”

I looked up quickly.

A brown trench coat was swaying in the wind.

Behind the glowing red tip of a toy cigarette were green eyeballs, glowing brightly.

“I could save you from your predicament.”

The demon I was supposed to have killed—Alsuhariya—laughed.

“What would you do—?”

“Die.” I launched my projectile.

“You would do that, wouldn’t you?” It was a direct hit.

The Masamune Kuki I threw at Alsuhariya hit her, and she fell back with great force—and the tip of the sword I’d thrown was stuck in the ground.

“Hey, you’re even more of a savage now when this is our first reunion in two weeks.”

Her whole body was transparent.

The Masamune Kuki I’d thrown at her had passed right through her.

She had fallen at the same time I had thrown it, so it had looked like it had stabbed her…but she had no substance.

“How come you’re back? And aren’t you kind of small?”

Alsuhariya had shrunk to about fifty-five inches—four foot seven—and had a childish face and spoke with a lisp.

“Hey, whose fault do you think that is? Anyway, you have other things to worry about—stop that.” (Hiiro hits her.) “Don’t punch me.” (He hits her again.) “Stop beating up a person with a kid’s face.” (And another hit.) “Don’t beat me to a pulp.” (He hits her four, five, six, and seven times.)

But no damage had been done.

I stared at Alsuhariya’s face, which remained untouched. Not even deformed in the slightest.

“So, what am I looking at, exactly? An echo of a piece of filth…?”

“It’s your mouth that’s filthy. Control that foul mouth of yours and go gargle with an air freshener. Listen to me, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Master? Are you fooling around on the street again?” Snow asked suspiciously as she came back, perhaps worried that I hadn’t gone back to her.

“Snow! Stay away!! Alsuhariya’s back—!”

“I beg your pardon?”

Snow stared at the spot where I pointed and tilted her head in question.

“What are you mumbling to yourself about?”

“Huh…?”

Tiny Alsuhariya giggled and shrugged.

“It’s fine for you to show off your lovely stupid face to the world, but if you aren’t interested in unnecessarily showing your unsightly foolishness to a girl in love, then perhaps it’s best to have your precious maiden leave you alone. What if a forever-ongoing love affair came to an end right after your moving reunion?”

“N-nothing… I—I spotted a pretty flower and got excited…”

“I beg you, please don’t play with flowers other than yuri lilies. It would be a hassle to have to let the world know about my master’s newly added abnormalities.”

“I don’t remember ever hiring a workaholic who excelled at damaging her employer.”

Snow went back to her bench, grinning like an artisan who had just completed a job.

Having gotten rid of the white devil, I looked at Alsuhariya, who was using her small hands to drink an uncarbonated cola.

“Yuck… This tastes like Abbott without Costello…”

“Never mind that and explain. You don’t want my blade to slip accidentally, do you?”

“Does your accidentally mean often? Your blade has been slipping like crazy for a while, and my entire body looks like fresh sashimi in the fresh food section. Is that any way to treat your destined partner?”

I put up with her creepy words and turned to face her.

“First of all, it may be difficult for the human mind to comprehend, but there’s a fact you need to accept. You’re dead.”

“Oh, okay. And?”

“…The next question would be, why are you alive?”

In a cloud of vapor, purple smoke, and fog, tiny Alsuhariya whispered, “Perhaps I brought you back to life—and normally, you would thank me instead of using your fists.”

My fist penetrated her brain, and I repeated the action.

“Why did you do that?! It would have been a happy ending if you and I had died! I would have been on the victory podium in the afterlife for making a double kill, having gotten rid of Hiiro and Alsuhariya! Don’t you have a word of apology for the man who would have been a yuri medalist?!”

“Hey, don’t be so self-centered. I didn’t want to die a dog’s death like that. Under the circumstances, there was only one way for the Greater Demon, Alsuhariya, to survive.”

She held up a finger and shook it.

“Just before the explosion, my brilliant mind had been pursuing only one point…how to survive, and I immediately took action, regardless of the means. It’s a function that’s only possible for Alsuhariya, the Temple of Death, though not for other demons. What is it, you ask? It’s the construction of a human body. Among the six demons, I’m the one who loves and understands human beings the most, which is why I could carefully analyze them and succeed in reconstructing their bodies. I am the only demon who can reconstruct even the dead with their data.”

“I know. I know about your godforsaken function. But why did you take the trouble of rebuilding me? It would have been much easier and more convenient for you to fix yourself up.”

“That’s what the human who would be categorized would say.”

Alsuhariya crossed her legs and continued to speak in her cute voice.

“Unlike humans, demons don’t have a solid vessel as a physical body. We only have a vague human form, which is actually only a mass of magical operators. That’s why I can regenerate, transform, or recover the pieces at will. If the explosion had blown away all the magical operators, I wouldn’t have been able to restore it to its original form because the demon god initially created the mold, and I don’t have the original.”

That did make sense. It was impossible to create something from scratch without a mold or blueprint unless you were the creator. On the other hand, if you fully understood and correctly interpreted the creation, grasping its structure in even the smallest details, you could make an accurate copy.

“I get why I was brought back to life. But why are you back from the dead, too?”

“I’m not. I was annihilated. Braun, Widad, Izdihaar, Atiifa, Hizumi, and Aimia and Sophie’s clan—humans I had dismissed as insignificant—and you, Hiiro Sanjo. You all connected your moments as humans and defeated me, a demon who had been given eternal life.”

Alsuhariya exhaled vapor in the shape of a circle and laughed.

“Right after reconstructing your body, I transferred the magical operators that my body consists of into you. As you know, you humans can store magic operators inside your bodies. I believe you call it magic power and use it to exercise magic. In other words, you have me, Alsuhariya, the Greater Demon, in your body, and—”

“Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!”

“Don’t you have feelings? Don’t you know the meaning of the word hesitate? Stop it. Magic power isn’t infinite. Don’t suddenly start cutting up your stomach. Do not try to demonstrate an unedited version of a human dismemberment show.”

I tried again and again to cut my stomach but failed. Panting and gasping, I slowly sank to my knees.

With tears in my dead eyes, I looked up at the blue sky.

“Kill me… Please kill me…”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a human being who tried to die as soon as he came back to life… Y-you’re scary… Anyone would hesitate, even a little… You should value your life…”

I now had an answer to the mystery that had been swirling around in my mind.

I had been called a leader, and my magic power had increased enormously. It was because Alsuhariya’s magic now circulated throughout my body.

If the huge amount of magic power that a demon had melted inside me and stabilized there, it was natural that my magic capacities would increase to an extraordinary degree. Since a demon was a mass of magic operators, or you could say magic power itself, it made sense that Alsuhariya faction members would see me as their leader.

After about ten minutes, I got over the shock and looked up at Alsuhariya.

“How do I get you out of my body…?”

“Hey, what do you think I am, someone who hasn’t been paying their rent? You and I are perfect for each other. Normally, a human wouldn’t be able to take the magical operators of a demon into their body and self-destruct. I don’t know why, but you have the foundation needed to take me in and turn me into a demon.”

With a flash of understanding, the answer came to my mind— I, Hiiro Sanjo, was a demon.

On The Lapis Route of the game, Alsuhariya took a liking to Hiiro and made him a demon. That must have meant that he had accepted a part of her and her magic power.

Hiiro had the groundwork for taking Alsuhariya into his body.

“I think we can get along as well as Jekyll and Hyde, precision machines and static electricity, or fusion and fission.”

“Are you sure? All the answers to those equations lead to doom…”

Alsuhariya smiled brilliantly.

“I love putting a male between yuri girls. You love getting stuck between yuri. We’re the strongest pair around and share the same interests! Let’s get out there now and start destroying those yuri girls—”

I kicked Alsuhariya in the head, and it rolled around on the ground.

“Forget it! Get out of my body, you evil spirit! Get out of this world! You’re evil! Stop saying that beautiful name, yuri, with your foul mouth! Don’t open it! You’re leaking filth and polluting the air!!”

“Hey, what terrible things to say.”

Headless, Alsuhariya walked over and picked up her head. I kicked it away, and it spun around and fell into the fountain.

Alsuhariya’s head grew out of a cross-section of her wound.

“This isn’t domestic violence; it’s internal violence.”

“Why can’t Snow see you when I can see and touch you?”

“Of course she can’t see me. I have no substance. I’m only concentrating my magic power in your eyes and showing you what you want to see. The reason why I look tiny like this is because your will to kill me would go out of control if I didn’t. I’m focusing my magic power on your fists and legs to recreate a sense of feel, but in reality, you’re only kicking and punching into a void.”

“God, you really are an evil spirit… You look like you could have your head displayed in the main hall of some temple…”

“I would never allow some turn-of-the-century temple and a stinking monk to do that. Come on, don’t be so hostile. Let’s get along, huh?”

Alsuhariya laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

“You’re probably the only human in this world who can take in my magical operators. It means that I die when you die. The same fate binds us together! Isn’t that wonderful?! We’re best friends and partners! Now, join me in my chant. We’re going to destroy yuri girls—”

“Don’t touch me, you piece of trash!!”

My elbow sank into Alsuhariya’s face, and it caved in, and I continued to deliver a barrage of blows into her hateful face.

“I’m just kidding. I know everything that’s going through your mind. You want so badly to protect yuri girls that you’d choose to die and take me with you. That idea doesn’t match my beliefs, but for your sake, my dear hero, I’ll do you a favor. You want the people around you to realize that you’re actually alive while also making Sakura Tsukiori and the others like you less so they can go back to living the way they had before. Right?”

I stopped in my tracks as I worked on continuing direct acts of destruction with my elbows.

“Then leave it to me. I’m a professional at destroying love. I’ll show you that I can turn their love for you into zero in no time.”

“…Don’t you understand what you’ve done?”

I slapped away her outstretched hand.

“I would rather ignore the opening color cover of a Princess Yuri manga than work with an ugly, hideous being like you.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I can understand how you feel. But until now, I’d been under the influence of the demon god and could only express my interest in human beings in a way that was far from human morals. In a sense, I’m also a victim, and this devotion I’m showing you is my atonement.”

“Some atonement. Do you honestly think I’m going to take you at your word and nod with a stupid look on my face?”

“Then you can just give it a try. You understand that I can’t do much in my current condition, don’t you? All you have to do if I stray from the path is correct it.”

“You’re a piece of trash that knows nothing about human morals. Are you trying to act like a kid, begging me to teach you—?”

“By the way, I’ve had a hundred percent success rate in breaking up couples.”

“A-Alsuhariya…?”

A halo shone from behind Alsuhariya as she nodded.

“…Is this really okay?”

After several minutes, I was wearing a white mask adorned with a floral yuri—lily—design.

Wearing a pure-white mask and a dark-brown robe, I was the very picture of a being that haunted people in early spring. The Masamune Kuki hanging from my waist was disguised with a cover, and it would appear to be nothing more than a cheap, mass-produced item.

“Don’t question me when you’re in a position to have me teach you. Trust me. I’m your teacher,” Alsuhariya said confidently as she sat on a garbage can in a back alley.

“Now, what is your name?”

“Hiiro Sanjo—”

“Wrong. I’m asking what your name is when you’re wearing that mask.”

“…Mysterious White Yuri Mask V3.”

I sighed behind my mask.

“What do you mean, V3? Couldn’t you come up with a better name than that? Where did the three Vs come from?”

“The V stands for Version. My gray brain cells have already advanced to the third stage of my White Yuri Mask Project. It may be incomprehensible to a fool like you, but intelligent humans often consider their plans in phases. Understand?”

“Yeah!!”

I released my water arrow, and—

“Okay!”

She grinned as it pierced her forehead.

“Now, let’s finalize our plan. How’s the radio reception? Try calling Sylphiel.”

“Hello? This is Hiiro Sanjo. I think an orchestra club is a sacred place for yuri girls.”

“Sylphiel Diabloto here. Reception is fine. No problems except in understanding the last part of what you just said.”

I saw a blue metal body.

A Greater Demon…was driving a Lamborghini Aventador 780-4 Ultimae Roadster. Sylphiel Diabloto sat in the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel as she placed her hand on her chest to indicate her submission.

“Wallachia Tsepesh, ready to go! Cute as always!”

Wallachia Tsepesh, Princess of the Evening of Silence, straddled a bright-red Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and blew a kiss this way.

“Heine Skullface, boarding complete.”

Heine Skullface, the King of the Deadly Darkness, rang the bell on her thirty-dollar bicycle.

“I’m perfect if I do say so myself.”

“Wait just a minute. Don’t try to proceed without receiving a single word of abuse after making such an obvious search for errors.”

I pointed to the chirpy and noisy girl on the bicycle.

“First, a supercar comes, then a superbike. So why are you here on a plain, everyday Japanese bicycle? You’re acting like you’re all from the same class, but yours looks like a bike that a mom would ride to the supermarket.”

“I can’t help it. I bought a supercar and a superbike to prepare for this plan, and at that point, my budget ran out. We didn’t have a choice.”

“Don’t make a dumb mistake like that! We definitely don’t need a supercar or superbike for this plan! You’re setting an example for failures!”

I turned my gaze to the King of the Deadly Darkness.

“Look at her! That sad face! The King of the Deadly Darkness is riding a bicycle alongside other homemakers in the area, ringing her bell! Don’t hurt her pride for a mere thirty bucks! That two-wheeler wasn’t created to do that!”

“……” Whoosh! Whoosh!

“See?! You bought that outdated bike on sale, and its bell has already broken, and she can’t even ring it!”

Heine Skullface, with her gray hair, kept ringing the bell that had stopped ringing.

“Hey, cut it out. You’re the one who wanted to take care of this problem at once. The plan is to get in a supercar and crash into the Sanjo home, resolve the reunion with the Rei Sanjo issue, then head over to the Japan branch of the demonic religion on that superbike and do something about the reunion with Sakura Tsukiori and the Astemir challenge, and finally crash into Alfheim on the bicycle and resolve the Lapis Clouet la Lumet-has-become-a-recluse problem… So what’s there to gripe about?”

“Have you ever considered how a princess would feel if a pervert on a bicycle came to rescue her instead of a knight on a white horse? It would destroy Lapis’s dreams. Be happy destroying Heine’s pride and stop there.”

“Oh brother.” Alsuhariya sighed and shrugged. “Listen up. The success of this White Yuri Mask Project depends on whether Mysterious White Yuri Mask V3, the role you’ll be playing, can resolve everything in a short period. You’re going to save Rei Sanjo, show your strength to Sakura Tsukiori and Astemir, and dashingly kidnap Lapis Clouet la Lumet in just a few hours. They’ll think…, Who is this person? He’s a little bit like Hiiro. Is there any chance that he’s come back? ”

Alsuhariya snapped her fingers. “You will get their expectations up, and once you’ve captured their interest, you’ll reveal your true identity, though not as yourself, of course. Sylphiel Diabloto will remove her mask and appear before them. The rest is easy. Sylphiel will present proof to them that you’re alive, and after building their trust, she’ll make them our puppets.”

Alsuhariya spread out her arms, looking like she was having the time of her life.

“They will take the bait, wanting information about you. But gradually, we’ll rub Sylphiel’s charm into them, and their objective will change. From Hiiro to Sylphiel, Hiiro to Sylphiel, and Hiiro to Sylphiel, to Sylphiel…we’ll emphasize Sylphiel’s appeals, and finally Hiiro will disappear from their hearts. This technique is based on the yuri-destroying method I developed, called layering sweetness.”

“Oh… Oh…! Th-that’s marvelous…fantastic…vicious and outrageous…!”

Without a second thought, I applauded.

Alsuhariya, wearing white gloves, raised her arms in response.

“Quiet, my audience. I’ve destroyed many yuri couples using this method. Love, my friend, is nothing but a bunch of calculations. In other words, if someone better than you appears on the scene, they will definitely switch the object of their affection. I guarantee it. Once we carry out this Mysterious White Yuri Mask V3 plan, you’ll be back to being plain old Hiiro Sanjo, a guy who can’t get them the least bit interested in him.”

“T-teacher! Madame Alsuhariya!”

My eyes were shining brightly as I ran over to Alsuhariya.

“Ha-ha-ha! Take it easy—”

And I delivered a right straight punch and slammed her into the wall.

“That’s for the yuri girls you’ve destroyed! And this—”

This time, I drove my left fist into her stomach.

“—is to vent my frustration!!”

“You ugly human!!”

Alsuhariya’s feet were in the air from my punch, but she made an easy landing on the ground. I disturbed it, and she fell and slammed the back of her head hard against the concrete.

“Don’t perform a combo against a child on the street. Geez. Don’t you know anything about street fighting?”

Alsuhariya got on her feet and dusted her body.

“Anyway, it’s time you got Sylphiel and the others in position. As I’ve kept reminding you, it will be a race against time. It’s also extremely important that your true identity isn’t revealed. Do not remove your mask. Be smart.”

“Hey, don’t you know how high my yuri IQ is…?”

“Three.”

After calmly knocking Alsuhariya unconscious with a sleeper/chokehold, I connected my radio and gave instructions to Sylphiel and the gang.

“Roger.”

Heine Skullface got on her bicycle, the radishes and carrots the neighbors had given her stuffed in a basket at the front, and headed for the dimension gate that led to Alfheim.

I got into the Lamborghini that was standing by at our first operation point and spoke to Sylphiel in the driver’s seat. “I didn’t think I’d be calling you again…but please help me out this one time.”

“It is my joy to be of use to my leader. I am honored.”

She bowed smoothly with a hand against her chest and smiled beautifully.

“Shall we go now?”

“No, wait. I had Snow check Rei’s whereabouts a little while ago. She should be getting back to me… Oh, this is it. Hello?”

A screen spread out in front of me, and I saw Snow’s face contorted with frustration.

As soon as she appeared on the screen, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Miss Rei has been kidnapped!!”

“…Huh?”

“It must be relatives from the branch families! Do something quick, or we’ll be too late—!”

A pitch-black luxury car passed us, and my eyes met those of a girl squeezed into the back seat.

Rei’s mouth was covered with adhesive tape, and she was tied up. She was struggling in the seat—and in an instant, the car disappeared.

I shouted, “Sylphiel!!”

“Yes, my Lord.”

She shifted gears and gripped the steering wheel.

“I am honored to receive your order.”

The engine roared to life—and the blue car accelerated at once and blasted over the asphalt.

Vroooooooooooooooooom!!

The Lamborghini plunged into a curve, its engine roaring ferociously.

“We won’t manage this curve—we won’t make it—it’s too sharp!”

“We shall see.”

Without slowing down, the blue vehicle plowed into the turn.

Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech!

Tire marks were etched into the smoking asphalt.

The supercar was mostly sideways, controlled by Sylphiel’s skillful handling and smiled upon by the goddess of speed.

Thud!! She stepped on the gas, and we closed the distance at once.

My whole body was pressed against the backrest as my eyes caught sight of the pitch-black Porsche 911, which was right next to the Lamborghini.

“Hiiro.”

Alsuhariya was sitting on my lap and pointed to her pocket watch.

“Three hours. We have three hours to settle everything. After that time limit, you must assume that the White Yuri Mask Project will fail.”

“I hope you have enough bases to convince me.”

She grinned and tapped her head.

“Data. First, go and rescue Rei Sanjo. I’d figured with my perfect understanding of people’s minds that distant relatives would abduct her. Everything happening is exactly as I’d calculated based on my data, up to the time that Porsche 911 would pass that point.”

“Are you behind this?! I thought things looked suspicious!! When did you pull this off?!”

Alsuhariya shrugged.

“It’s nothing to be surprised about. I set things in motion while you were dozing off. My golden hour is between the hours of one and two in the morning, when you’re totally unconscious. I can even move your body around a little.”

“Huh?! I don’t remember you telling me that! You didn’t abuse it, did you?!”

“Don’t worry. You’re the one in charge, so I can’t do anything to deny your dignity. Simple tasks are about all I can do, like sending a chat or an e-mail. That’s all.”

“So you’re saying you got the contact information for one of the distant relatives from someone close to Snow and created this situation…”

Alsuhariya leaned against my chest and clapped.

“Very good. It appears that you have the intelligence of an ape.”

“Hey, who said I’d put Rei in danger so I could get the girls to like me less…?!”

“Whoa. Don’t get so worked up. It’s just a matter of timing, and they would have eventually taken her anyway. You should thank me for giving you a chance to solve the problem ahead of time. Okay, then. It doesn’t look like this is the time to enjoy idle chitchat.”

The woman riding in the passenger seat of the Porsche pointed a small sword-shaped magic device at us—and fire erupted from its muzzle.

“Excuse me.”

Sylphiel pushed me down against the seat with one hand. With a loud crash, the glass broke into pieces, and hot fireballs flew before my eyes.

“Ow! Ow, that’s hot! It’s as hot as a pinball machine that’s started glowing gold!”

“Hiiro. Stop being a jerk. We’re going to jump out now. Let’s practice some action movie basics.”

Amused, Alsuhariya pointed to the door.

“Don’t you know how to read a speedometer?! We’re going at a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour!! That’s almost seventy-five miles per hour!! The moment we jump out, we’ll be crossing over to the afterlife at that speed!”

“So what? You died once. What’s the problem with dying two or three more times? Don’t waste time shriveling up in fear, and show me how you can become a stain on the asphalt for your helpless sister.”

Sylphiel frowned as a series of shots rang out.

“I don’t appreciate the idea of having a mere human underestimate me.”

The two black suits leaning out of the passenger and back seats aimed at us, and Sylphiel, looking as serious as ever, turned the steering wheel as far to the left as she could. The blue and black cars collided, the tremendous impact distorted the doors, and I bounced off the seat as my butt floated in the air.

The shooter must have had her seat belt unbuckled so she could shoot. She had banged her head on the ceiling and flipped over.

“A double action is a basic move for the advanced. Dear leader, please allow me to warn you that we’ll be experiencing more turbulence, so to avoid fatalities, please make sure your seat belt is securely fastened.”

“Sylphiel?! Don’t we have a bug here if you’re planning your next move on the assumption that we’ll be injured?!”

Steering to the right and stepping on the gas, the Aventador passed the jet-black luxury car, then made a sharp left turn and smacked the black body with its derriere.

The intense friction scorched the asphalt, and the Porsche 911 shook wildly with the smell of melting tires as the driver turned the wheel madly.

At the perfect moment when the shooting had ceased, Sylphiel unlocked and opened the door.

Aaaaaaaaaahh!!

The Aventador exhaled white smoke from all four wheels as it began spinning at a ridiculous speed, and the open door led to the Porsche 911.

“Have fun.”

“We only need stunts like that in the movies!”

I was thrown out of the car and crossed my arms—and pressed my trigger, drawing a meridian line with my index and middle fingers—as I soared low in the air.

“The heavens might be jealous seeing an all-girls picnic like that.”

The Porsche driver was stunned when she saw me coming straight at her, and her mouth hung open.

I laughed and extended two fingers.

“Mind if I join you?”

I focused the output on an invisible arrow, which shattered the windshield, and I performed a dynamic entry by jumping in, feet first.

The driver caught my flying kick in the face and sprayed a nosebleed all around her.

The bodyguard recognized this impolite intruder, pointed her magic device at me, and—slap!—I kicked it away.

“Huh?!?!”

“Oopsie-daisy.”

I pushed with my arms and jumped in, doing a half-turn and smashing the back of her face with the back of my left foot. It went clean into her jaw, and she fainted in the passenger seat.

“Who the hell are you?!”

The last remaining enemy pointed a gun at me as she held Rei, who was struggling in the back seat.

“Hee-hee-hee! Good question.”

I struck a pose in the cramped car and said in a throaty slur, “I am the Mysterious White Lily—”

“Die, pervert!” Pow! Pow!

“I guess I’ll have to do this!”

I ducked into the passenger seat to avoid the balls of fire that came at me.

The guard in the back seat leaned forward and thrust the muzzle of her gun at me. I simultaneously pointed the muzzle of my Masamune Kuki against her throat.

“Wanna have a duel like they do in Western movies?”

Cold sweat dripped down the guard’s forehead as she trembled.

“I’m a professional who once stayed glued to my computer and kept hitting F5 for a special giveaway on a yuri game. I’m confident that no one can beat me at how fast I am putting an item in my cart and completing my order. Incidentally, there’s no need for that now, since the latest yuri games never sell out, even if they come with special offers. So what are you going to do? Do you still want to compete with me after I’ve told you this—?”

“Die, pervert!” Pow! Pow!

“I figured you’d say that!!”

The Masamune Kuki bounced out of my hand as I narrowly avoided her shots. I immediately whacked the guard with the water arrow and the arrowhead I’d hurled.

She passed out from the blow, and I gave a thumbs-up to Rei, who was staring this way.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now. I’ll take those restraints off you right away, so sit tight.”

She must have been terrified.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me, and—vroom, vroom, vroom!

The Porsche’s engine was still running, and its movement continued as the unconscious driver’s foot was still on the accelerator.

What lay ahead was a guardrail and, beyond it, a sheer cliff.

Alsuhariya appeared on top of Rei and clapped her hands in joy.

“What a wonderful situation. Not a single blemish in my direction. Okay, Hiiro, it’s time for the grand finale. In a few minutes, this car will become seaweed in the ocean. Now, take your princess into your arms and enjoy the highlight of this scene where you dash out of here with her.”

I chuckled.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but—”

“What the heck? Don’t hold back now. The first phase of our plan worked great. We still have a few minutes to spare so we can toast each other to celebrate our superb work and shove it in the faces of these assailants.”

“Okay, I’ll be honest with you.”

I laughed and pointed to one of my legs, which was stuck in place by the seat belt.

“I can’t undo this.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, that’s a funny joke—huh?”

I yanked on the seat belt, but it showed no signs of being undone.

“H-hey, quit fooling around. If you die, then I die. This has got to be the stupidest way to go. Hurry up and tear that seat belt out of place.”

“The enhanced projection effects wore off a while back.”

I flashed her a smile and gave her a thumbs-up.

“The Masamune Kuki that was blown away a little while ago? It’s under the seat.”

“……”

Alsuhariya’s eyes rolled back as she looked at me with a straight face, and a laugh escaped her lips.

“Ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha… A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…!”

“A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! This thing’s broken! Man! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Gee, it feels good!!”

“This is no time to be laughing! Hurry up and do something, you foooooooool! Stop messing around, ape-head!!”

“He-he…he…! S-stop making me laugh… A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…!!”

The cliff was getting closer and closer.

Panicked, I reached for the Masamune Kuki under my seat. The tips of my fingers brushed it, pushing it farther back, and my face contorted as I squealed.

“Aaah…!”

“I’m going to cry…”

“Ngh! Ngh, ngh, ngh!!”

Rei was lying on the back seat, writhing and frantically trying to tell me something with her gaze.

Her gaze. It was focused on a small sword-shaped magic device the guard had dropped, and she desperately pushed it out with the tip of her chin.

“This is no time to cry!!”

I put everything into reaching out from the passenger seat.

Rei and I held small swords in our hands, and with trembling fingertips, we stretched out our arms—and the tips of the blades touched.

“Got it!”

“Hurry! What the heck are you doing?! You have to get out of here!”

Using the unattributed mini-sword, I cut the seat belt that was tangled around my leg. Next, I hoisted the unconscious guard.

“Leave that piece of trash there! Do you think you can recycle humans?!”

“You never know who might be reborn as a yuri! You can’t recycle humans, but you can recycle the human heart! I can tell! I know these girls will eventually show me the best scenes I can imagine!”

Activate and enhance projection— I kicked the door down, wrapped the girls in the buffer I generated, and threw them into the nearby bushes with all my strength.

“May the girls marry each other and have a happy family in the future!!”

After tossing the three of them out, I stared at the cliff looming before me.

“You got your priorities wrong, you stupid ape! You should have rescued the highly useful Rei Sanjo instead of getting to those mooks and tossing them to safety! It’s too late to save Rei Sanjo now. Give it up!!”

“I don’t have to listen to a rotten demon who’s all talk and no action.”

I picked Rei up.

“Of course I’m not going to give up on her now and die with you.”

Rei opened her eyes wide and stared at me, stunned.

The car’s bumper plunged head-on into the guardrail and shattered it, and the pitch-black vehicle fell from the top of the cliff.

The Porsche began a free-fall and tossed the passengers out an open door. I focused my magic power with all my might and threw Rei over the cliff.

For a moment, her eyes met mine through my mask.

And—I began to fall.

“Oh, God, am I going to die with you again? All because of your dumb plan?”

“No, Hiiro, this is how things should be. Because, you see, this very spot is the second site in my plan,” Alsuhariya said, grinning. “We had a few accidents, but they’re acceptable so far. This time, we’re going to do it—”

Vroooooooooom!

“And now for our finale.”

The sound of an engine coming straight at me shook the air. A motorcycle came flying down the cliff, and an arm reached out to me.

“I’m here to pick you up!”

Wallachia Tsepesh grabbed my hand, tugged, and landed on the rock surface with her rear wheel.

The bike’s durability had been boosted with magic power, and it took the impact without falling apart. Wallachia went ahead and sped along the shoreline with me sitting behind her.

I let out a breath of relief and—

“Brother dear!!”

“Huh?!”

Hearing the shout from the top of the cliff, I looked up.

“I knew you would come back. You always return to me when I long for it. I knew that you alone would never abandon me.”

Confirming that I was safe, Rei laughed and cried at the same time.

I fingered the mask that was stuck to my face and carefully checked that it hadn’t come off in the impact.

Astonished, Alsuhariya stood there staring at Rei.

“I-it can’t be… It wasn’t mentioned in my data…!!”

I put the rope I generated around the neck of the blasted data-crazed character.

“D-don’t tell me she recognized your voice? Or was it your actions? Whichever, it means my plan was flawed… O-oh, I get it…! My gray brain cells must have died and gone haywire after they were blended with the magic calculator of a fool. I—”

As the wind blew into my face, I kicked Alsuhariya, who was clinging to me.

The demon, secured in the tandem seat, hit the back of her head against the ground, bounced, and then her body was jostled around.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!! This wasn’t included in my data!!”

“Go faster. The lady hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! My data! What happened to its power?!”

Alsuhariya scraped the back of her head against the ground and screamed, raising a furious cloud of dust around her.

We rushed to the Japan branch of the demonic religion, cackling and enjoying the demon’s execution.

“I’ve thought this over on the assumption that it hasn’t been my fault,” Alsuhariya whispered atop the bright-red motorcycle she rode nimbly into town.

“Until now, I’ve made it my business to put males between yuri girls. Perhaps that’s why I instinctively tried to boost your popularity, since you’re a male—”

I kicked Alsuhariya off the bike. She screamed “Aaahh…” and went rolling down the road.

“Wallachia, I’m sorry, but please stop. I’m calling off our plan. I was a fool to believe in that idiot and go ahead with it.”

“Huh? Already?”

Shaking her loose, curly hair, Wallachia put her index finger to her lip.

“Wa has put so much effort into this date. Are you going to take responsibility for canceling, if that’s what you’re doing? This responsibility is so heavy that it makes Wa sick to my stomach.”

She called herself Wa and referred to me as Lead while acting outrageous, straddling a superbike in a checkered dress.

If she fell wearing a casual outfit like that, she would have to meet her boyfriend at the hospital.

“Okay, we’re done here. Bye. I’ll treat you to some ice cream nearby, so consider that my fee for riding with you.”

“Bleh. Wa doesn’t want something boring like ice cream! Wa would rather go to a ramen place and have ramen noodles with extra garlic, extra veggies, extra oil, extra hot!”

“That’s why I’m suggesting you get a physical checkup.”

Wallachia continued in a syrupy voice, “But ramen places are super fun! Their portions are a little small, but I love watching nerds eating with desperate looks on their faces. Wa loves messing up the orders at ramen places, crashing clubs at universities, and marriage scams where someone pretends to be someone else’s fated mate. Let’s go together sometime. A bowl of ramen tastes super after breaking up someone’s relationship.”

“How much tragedy and despair do you top your ramen with? Who’s in charge of it, Shakespeare?”

The motorcycle came to a stop, and the non-helmeted Wallachia got off and started taking selfies.

“Yay! I just took a shot of the two of us! I’m posting it online, saying you’re my boyfriend! Okay, there. Ha-ha! Wa’s followers are already starting to argue over whether Lead really is my guy! Ha-ha-ha, it’s so ugly!”

“You’re more of a devil than Sylphiel, and you do it so naturally, as easily as exhaling.”

“Huh? But Wa’s better at inhaling. Eating ramen sort of depends on inhaling the noodles, too. Wa isn’t good at exhaling!”

“A nauseating evil spirit shouldn’t even try to act humble.”

I got off the bike, and naturally, Wallachia held my arms in her own.

The scent of citrus eau de toilette tickled my nostrils.

She showed off how cute she was with her entire being, looking up at me sweetly and casually pushing her soft body close to mine.

“Wa is going to follow you, since Wa is your fan!”

“No nasty fans, thank you. Go and crash some mobster group for fun. I’m more into pure love (I accept harems if there’s love there), and I can’t tolerate yuri girls who play with love. We’ve already started traveling different paths, so beat it.”

“What? Wa hasn’t done anything. Everyone joins Wa’s visits to ramen shops, and then they suddenly collapse, and their groups are broken up. That’s all.”

“It isn’t their groups that are broken up; you hurt them inside.”

I sighed as Wallachia grinned, not about to move away from me.

Then Alsuhariya appeared as if my sigh had called her to me.

“Hurry up and get back on the motorbike, or you’ll mess up our plan.”

“Haven’t you realized it’s been messed up from the start?”

“Don’t worry, we have plan B.”

“Didn’t you learn in school that changes in plan are the source of slowdowns in brain activity?”

Alsuhariya stood in front of me, laughing mockingly.

“So we made a few mistakes with the minor details, and I admit I was a little arrogant. But plan B is completely different from what we planned before.”

“How’s it different?”

“I also have a plan C in case it doesn’t work—wait, I’m just kidding. I’m showing you the sense of humor unique to a wise individual. Now listen, and don’t start walking away.”

I was about to leave but turned around and faced Alsuhariya, who was clinging to my arm.

“I can already see the punch line. People are going to realize who I am again, and they’re going to like me more, right? Are we doing that two more times? Hiiro and company aren’t so naive to think there will be a second or third time. You should give up on being a demon.”

“There isn’t a single flaw in the next plan. Listen to the details, and you’ll be going yes, yes, yes, like a pendulum doll, and the resignation note you’re trying to force me to give you will go straight to the shredder.”

A suspicious glint appeared in Alsuhariya’s eyes as she whispered, “I’m having Wallachia play the Mysterious Black Yuri Mask next.”

Alsuhariya gave me the details, and we grinned.

“We win.”

We jumped on the motorbike and headed for the Japan branch of the demonic religion, operated by the Fair Lady faction.

The Fair Lady faction was based in one of the rental commercial buildings in the heart of Tokyo.

The faction’s followers who managed its operations were very capable, and the shadiness of the ghost company they used was completely cleaned up from its appearance.

Several of the companies in the building were English conversation schools and yoga outfits. The nonprofit corporation that existed to evade taxes was also part of the organization, and its scheme was cleverly set up so people wouldn’t trace it back to the faction.

Looking up at the twelfth floor where Tsukiori and her group were launching an attack, I put on my Mysterious White Yuri Mask V3 and got ready. Wallachia put on the Mysterious Black Yuri Mask and got into the same outfit that I was wearing.

We weren’t much different in size, so it should be hard to tell us apart at a glance.

“Oh no! I don’t want to wear such a dumb outfit! Among the other costumes Wa has worn, like the Mask of Shame to the Last Generation, the Robe of Shame for All Generations, and Forever an Embarrassed Lead, this has to be the worst!”

I heard Wallachia’s voice coming out through my throat.

“Why do I have to be talked about for generations to come as an embarrassing style?”

Then my voice came out of Wallachia’s mouth.

The trick was simple.

We attached throat microphones around our necks and spoke, outputting our voices through the loudspeakers by our throats (I got an advance from Snow, since I didn’t have the money to buy a microphone, and she slapped me with a ten-dollar bill).

“All right, that’s perfect, Hiiro. No one will know what we’re doing. They say humans get their first impression of someone from their face, then their voice. Since those masks are hiding your faces, they’re sure to judge you by your voice.”

“If that’s the case, Tsukiori will chase after the Mysterious Black Yuri Mask, since they’ll hear my voice, and then peel it off.”

“Expecting an emotional reunion. But what they’ll see will be Wallachia’s face, not yours.”

“Then Wallachia can deal with them in her usual sweetness. This is definitely a winning strategy! Brilliant, master, just brilliant!”

“Hey, Hiiro, what do you take me for?”

Alsuhariya smiled and brushed her bangs back.

“I am the Greater Demon, Alsuhariya…the destroyer of love.”

“Cooooooooooooooooool!”

As we indulged in the excitement, Wallachia played with her manicured nails.

“Will it really work?”

“No question about it.”

My Masamune Kuki had become pieces of seaweed in the sea (which Sylphiel was in the process of recovering), and there wasn’t a single trait the girls would have to identify me.

We had finally arrived with a winning formula.

“Wa is a fan of yours, Lead, so I’ll do my best, but… Okay, Lead. Put your arms around my tummy. Or my breasts if you want.”

“I’ll go for your shoulders.”

“Huh. Are you sure?”

Vroom. Vroom. Vroom! Wallachia grinned as she stepped on the accelerator and—

“I’m not going to pick you up anymore if you fall off.”

The view I was looking at disappeared instantly.

Vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!

Proudly performing a wheelie, Wallachia shattered the automatic door made of glass and did a clean turn in front of the screaming receptionist.

Without slowing down, she plunged into the fire escape and slammed her magically enhanced front wheel into a door.

The thick door blew inward, and a rumbling alarm sounded.

Skillfully maneuvering the handlebars, Wallachia adjusted the accelerator pedal and raced up the fire escape. The superbike moved at a furious pace, and it ascended to the second and third floors without a hitch, scaring the guards out of the way.

“Whoa! Argh! Ngh! Oomph!!”

“Ha-ha-ha! Lead, you’re grabbing my breasts. What a naughty boy. I thought you were trying to act like a gentleman!”

She hit me in the buttocks every time she sped up the stairway.

Up and down we went, and I desperately clung to Wallachia. My head swung left to right every time she made a quick turn on a staircase landing, and my stomach juices gurgled up to my throat.

With unmatched driving skills, Wallachia did wheelies and maneuvered the Ninja ZX-10R, finally smashing through the door to an office on the twelfth floor.

“Wallachia, go!”

“Aha!”

Her eyes glowed amber as she plunged into the Fair Lady faction’s followers, leaving scorching tire tracks on the floor—and lay down the motorbike.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!”

The machine dropped to an inch from the floor.

In a sliding motion, the red bike’s tires spun at high speed and knocked down the followers.

I was already airborne, and I readied my small sword backhanded—Tsukiori took a position to intercept—and we cut off the sword hilt a follower was swinging at her from behind.

“Hey.”

Surrounded by a mob of enemies, I was back-to-back with Tsukiori, who looked stunned.

“I’ve come to take care of your lovely back.”

Since my voice was coming out of Wallachia’s throat, I was fully relaxed and let myself go with my lies.

“Stand your ground, hero. Just worry about what’s in front of you, and I’ll take care of your backside.”

Sakura Tsukiori widened her eyes—and hugged me hard.

“Hiiro. Welcome back… Oh, God, you…you…,” she whispered in a muffled voice. “You always show up at the perfect time to steal a person’s heart.”

“Hiiro!!”

Squealing in delight, my master, Astemir, embraced me. I was buried in her soft body before I had time to resist.

“You stupid apprentice! Idiot! Fool! Jerk! Where’s your homecoming gift?! Huh? Why haven’t you been responding to me on chat?! You moron! Dimwit!! There was no way that my beloved disciple would die!!”

She cried hard while continuing to clutch me in her arms.

“My gift!”

Leave it to a four-hundred-and-twenty-year-old infant to see a homecoming gift as more important than an emotional reunion!

I removed the throat microphone and speaker and turned to Tsukiori and my master.

“You knew it was me in seconds… How could you tell…?”

“Rei told us on chat that you were the one in the White Yuri Mask.”

“Oh…!”

Hearing the simple answer, all emotions escaped me as I started considering the truth of the universe.

“Um, excuse me. During Hiiro’s absence, I learned about stamps. Do you know about them? I figured out how to use them. I taught myself all about them. Do you want me to show them to you over dinner or something? Since I’m your master, I can even send you a stamp on chat.”

She sounded so annoying, I felt like stamping a footprint on her face!

Tsukiori and my master suddenly changed. They were acting like totally different individuals.

The sect followers, who had been stunned by our appearance, finally overcame their confusion and began swinging their weapons in the air, and—flash—my master mowed them down in an instant.

“I want to eat sushi. Sushi. Japanese sushi that comes rotating in front of you. Or the kind that sits perched on tiny bullet train plates.”

“Hiiro!” came Alsuhariya’s voice.

I turned around and saw a shiny aluminum bicycle waiting for me.

Heine straddled her two-wheeler, raised two fingers by her forehead, and rang a bell.

“……” Turrrr!

“Our two-wheeled cab has arrived, and we’re pulling out! This time, let’s admit that our data has been mistaken! Next time, we’ll go with plan H!”

“Stop changing the plan over and over without my knowledge and making me fail every time!!”

With Alsuhariya pushing me to hurry up, I ran over to the bicycle.

“Sorry, Master! We have an important mission to accomplish! We’ll have that sushi next time!”

“Huh?! My fresh desire to eat sushi will be gone then, and we’ll be reported to the Department of Health!”

“He’s saying the fresh feelings of the princess are more important.”

Ignoring my master and Tsukiori saying whatever the heck they wanted, I straddled the back of the bicycle.

“……” Turrrr.

The bicycle slowly made its way to the elevator.

“I’ve had enough of this…! I quit…!”

I cried as I slammed the White Yuri Mask to the ground.

“D-don’t cry. You just renewed your resolve to go on our important mission and shook off the temptation of sushi a minute ago.”

“I had to say something, or I’d be a pervert, suddenly showing up in a cosplay outfit after going missing for two weeks! I had to say something so this whole thing would make sense!!”

“If you wanted to be less liked, you could have stuck it out in your perverted cosplay mask.”

“They start liking me more! I know that from what’s been happening before! For some reason, they like me even more! Keep your mouth shut if you can’t tell that!”

I was immersed in despair beside the bicycle, now parked on the street, when someone patted me on the head.

I looked up and saw Heine smiling gently at me.

“Don’t cry, you small fry.”

“Did you have a heart attack or something on your way here?”

“Hop on.”

Astride her bicycle, Heine gave me a characteristic dirty look and pushed me to get on.

She looked like she might get violent if I said no, so I got on.

The wheels made a ratcheting sound, and the bicycle accelerated as we went downhill.

I closed my eyes, feeling the cool, comforting breeze with all my being, and listened to the spokes cutting the wind. I smiled at the feeling that we were accelerating, as if foreshadowing a wonderful future.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re going to Alfheim.”

“Start roaring, o rubber soles on my sneakers!!”

I used both feet to bring the bike to a halt, and a disgruntled Heine glared at me.

“Don’t get in my way, you pest.”

“I will get in your way, annoyer. Listen carefully, Heine. We are not going to Alfheim. We can use the head of a war criminal demon as a replacement for that broken bell. It’ll be fun writing our wishes on a plaque, just like at the Tanabata Festival!”

“Only an evil god would grant a bloody wish like that. Listen to what I have to say before you offer my head on the altar—that basket there that cost thirty-three bucks,” Alsuhariya said, shrugging her shoulders from the bicycle basket.

“I’m not going to be fooled by anything you say. I’m taking a spin on this with Heine, then heading home. Lapis probably knows what I’m doing, anyway, and I’m smart enough to know better than to go to her place, which is why I’m going home.”

“I heard that Lapis Clouet la Lumet is getting married tonight.”

“…What?”

I raised both feet off the ground, and Heine started pedaling cheerfully.

“Isn’t that obvious? She’s a princess of the la Lumet royal family. It would be strange if she didn’t have a suitable fiancé. She even declared that she’d never come back to Japan after returning from her studies in the present world, so why wouldn’t her family think she’s ready to become the queen?”

“Who’s she marrying? O-of course, it’s a girl, right?”

“No, it’s a guy.”

My facial muscles twitched, and the smile on my face disappeared instantly.

Alsuhariya was right. Lapis did have a fiancé in the original story.

She decides to give her all to her beloved hero while she’s on The Lapis Route and then breaks off the engagement in public. The love they had nurtured transcended status, race, and pressure, kicking the predetermined route out of their way, and I cried buckets, seeing her beauty as she smiled confidently.

There was no doubt in my mind that she had a fiancé.

But the game hadn’t indicated whether her fiancé was male or female.

“You may find this surprising, but elves aren’t unified among themselves. There are thirteen clans in Alfheim, and the strongest are chosen out of twelve, excluding the la Clouets, as shadow archers. That’s how they maintain a balance between the different clans when determining the royal guards, too, and the la Clouets are no exception.”

“Are you going to continue to stretch out your talking points like that until the sun goes down? Get to the point.”

Chuckling, Alsuhariya tapped her fingers on the edge of the basket to get a rhythm going.

“It’s simple. The Lumet family has been taking in males for generations. They balance the power among the clans by having a woman at the top of the family marry a man at the bottom. It’s their custom, and they don’t even discuss whether it’s rational. It’s what you would call a bad custom.”

That was certainly possible.

Several events were canceled in ESCO, one of which involved Lapis being taken away during her wedding.

When you think of it as an event to flatter the protagonist, it’s very nice that a guy is designated as a fiancé for Lapis, and the absolute evil (the guy) is disposed of to save her.

“…Does Lapis love him?”

“Of course she doesn’t. He’s just a weight she bears that the bigwigs have chosen frantically for her. She’s probably in a state of premarital purification now, where they’ve taken away her magic device, and it’ll be impossible to contact her at this point. So anyway,” Alsuhariya said, spreading her arms out wide merrily. “I’m done talking. Now it’s your turn to decide.”

Instead of responding, I whispered, “Heine, pedal as fast as you can.”

“Copy that.”

Smoke rose as the tires scraped against asphalt, and the bicycle accelerated at full speed.

I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned on one side at every turn to help her navigate the curves smoothly. We went through the dimensional door, and the night sky opened up.

The full moon was glowing in the sky.

It hung in the night sky, projecting a fake light that looked like it was made of paper. The deceptive moonlight radiated through the dimensional door and disappeared the moment we had switched over from the present world to the Otherworld.

Below the white moon was a golden castle.

The leaves and branches of the World Tree, reminiscent of a divine servant of God that covered the heavens and the earth, were spread out, as if trying to catch the moon. At its foot were spiral spires that acted as gate soldiers, extending their tips, as if to repel intruders from entering Alfheim.

We were flying in the sky on a standard bicycle that didn’t exactly match the grandeur of the city illuminated by dazzling lights, speeding through the night sky lined with stars.

Puff—went the sound of our magic power popping, blue lightning hitting our ears, and a line of interception sliced along my neck.

Pure-white rain arrows flowed in the night sky like they were slicing through black silk.

I generated blades and slashed away the raindrops of arrows around us.

“Alsuhariya! I leave the interception to you!!”

“The only time you can ask someone to do something crazy is after you’ve established trust with them.”

Vapors rose up and around her toy cigarettes, forming a blurry, misty shield that served as an anti-demon barrier.

From the ground to the heavens, we dove into the barrage of bullets that rained all around.

I stretched out my right arm with my trigger and gathered the balls of light in the palm of my hand.

The arrow that pierced through the barrier grazed my cheek, sending blood flying as it channeled magic power from my heart to the tip of my arm.

“Hi, I’m Hiiro Sanjo! The thing I’ve been into lately is to use balls of light to blow away dumb elves that come shooting at me! I look forward to competing with you!”

The balls of light I fired from my palm warped in midair, then flew forward at a tremendous speed before they hit the targets.

The elves blew up mightily under the mocking moon.

Heine released the handlebars and grabbed the back wheel instead, then extended the front wheel of the bicycle toward me.

I grabbed it, pivoted, and landed on my butt.

Console, connect— I rendered a projection on the bicycle, reinforcing the aluminum body and tires to the hilt—and landed on the rear wheel with a thud.

Heine fell and landed on the luggage carrier.

“Here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” Whoosh, whoosh!

I leaned forward, trying to ring the bell that wasn’t working.

I stood up and put my full weight on the pedals, then began running along the top of the castle wall.

“Wh-what the heck?! Where are our guards? Quick, shoot that guy!”

Elves came pouring out from the castle, and I yelled, “Don’t put a guy between yuri girls, you stupid elves!!”

“What is he saying—?”

“I’m going to run you over and kill you! I’ll kill you with my words!”

I leaped over the elves blocking my path, and the bicycle drifted through the air, billowing white smoke.

I continued gaining momentum and crashed into the castle. Shot with arrows in my shoulders and my stomach, I was covered in blood as I raced down a corridor.

“Lead, you’ll die if this keeps up.”

“I don’t care if I die. I’m going to kill the guy who gets himself caught between my yuri girls! That’s my justice, the oath that I was born with! Alsuhariya? Where’s Lapis?”

“She’s at the wedding venue. It’s what the elves call the Space Tree Room. Keep going straight down to the basement, and you’ll find it.”

I heeded her advice and bounced down the stairs on my bicycle. A large door blocked my way, and I jumped off the seat and slowly pushed it open with everything I had.

A quiet stillness seeped into the air.

Water was at my feet with a blue silverish surface.

Thin white roots, shining brilliantly, danced in the water. Roots with geometrical patterns traveled along the walls, the ceiling, and the floor, converging behind a drawing and connecting at a black center.

Transparent water droplets dripping from the tips of the roots formed a spherical tank that held the light entering through mirrors placed at the four corners of the ceiling.

Droplets of water were dripping into the hollows of the platform, where the triple-circle magic lines ran.

Only three people were allowed to gather in this quiet space.

The place was as still as a forest.

Two elves faced each other with a black podium between them and a middleman elf in ceremonial dress behind them.

All three of them had their bare toes in the water. Magic power lines drew fractal-structured tree crests on their bare shoulders.

Lapis and the other person stood facing each other, their holy faces covered with transparent veils. Lapis looked up, and I saw her cheeks streaked with tears. With a single leap, I jumped between them, landing on the podium between her and her fiancé.

“Huh?! Wh-what’s going on?!”

Holding my mask in place with one hand, I slowly rose in front of the dismayed pair.

And laughed.

“I never received an invitation to your wedding…but who gave you permission to make this girl cry…?”

Lapis gasped. “That voice…”

Then an elf in a ceremonial outfit fired an arrow, and it smashed through my mask—

“Sorry, but a booking has already been made for someone to be this girl’s fated mate.”

The mask shattered, and its fragments glittered as they scattered in the air.

I revealed my face and laughed.

“At least one thing’s for sure. It isn’t any of you elves who have made the girl cry! Now get out of here, pip-squeaks!!”

Elves instantly jumped into the room and readied their bows, sending a volley of arrows flying at me, the wicked intruder.

I took a fighting stance to intercept them and pulled out a mass-produced small sword-shaped magical catalytic converter, and—

“Here goes!!”

But arrows were shot at me and pierced the palm of my hand.

Due to the difference in performance between my mass-produced sword and their custom-made weapons, I couldn’t get my magic activation going quickly, and despite my having taken position before they did, a barrage of shots hit me.

In the original game, these mass-produced items are store-bought. Since their total costs are extremely low, they’re often used for side characters. (The total amount of magic power determines the number and variety of items that can be loaded on a magic device.)

Because they’re usually used on the side, it’s only natural that their performance isn’t all that great.

If I’d had my Masamune Kuki with me, it could have activated my magic well in time. But because of the low conductivity of the magic power, there were a few seconds of delay—before my ball of light could be activated.

A blinding burst of light hit the elves, and they grunted and covered their eyes with their hands. Pulling the arrows stuck in my hand, I lifted Lapis in my arms and ran.

“Hiiro…”

Tears streamed down her face as she buried her face in my chest.

“I’m so glad…you’re alive… I’m just so glad… I…didn’t know what I’d do…without you… I…I…”

“I don’t like taking off after winning.”

I smiled at her.

“Whether we’re in this world or the one beyond, I’ll always be with you until we set things straight.”

With red cheeks, like she had a fever, Lapis looked at me and nodded.

Greasy sweat dripped down my forehead in response.

Wait a second. Was I doing what I was supposed to do? I stopped Lapis from marrying that jerk, so that was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? I did a good job of indicating that I was his rival, and I made it clear that Lapis and I were bound by friendship, right?

I was confused as I tried to run up the stairs—only to be confronted by elves lying in wait with bows and arrows.

“What kind of idiot are you, kidnapping a princess in the middle of her wedding ceremony? How dare you lay a finger on a princess of the royal Lumet family? Don’t think that there will be a way to pay for your crime with anything other than your blood.”

“Hey, you’re talking awfully big,” I said angrily and glared at them.

“I’d give you a break if that was the guy Lapis was in love with. I’m not about to force her to be my yuri. First and foremost, it’s meaningless if she isn’t happy. But you elves were forcing her to accept a future she didn’t want for dumb reasons like a balance between your clans, in which case, I’m just going to put myself between her and you elves.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but is that stupid pride of yours worth risking your life for?”

“Action speaks louder than words, and I don’t intend to stain my pride with meaningless chitchat. The moment I put myself on the line, what you call my stupid pride shines brilliantly. Whose stupid pride do you think would win over? That of you elves, who put nothing on the line, or me, where I’m risking everything?”

One of the elves shot an arrow through the palm of my hand, but they cowered when they saw that I wasn’t moving an inch.

I took a step forward, the grunting group stepped back, and I whispered, “Back off.

“Don’t block her path with your stupid pride.”

Then I heard the sound of bicycle wheels in motion.

The moment I lifted the corner of my mouth, a bicycle that came flying down the stairs bounced off the elves, and the front wheel, which had been fortified with magic, embedded itself in the wall.

With her gray hair fluttering, Heine brought a fist to her chin and glared at me.

“I came by bicycle,” she said, giving me a disapproving look with her cheeks puffed out. “I was waiting upstairs for ages, but you never came. Get on the bike, Lead. We came on this bicycle, and we’re going back on this bicycle.”

“That makes sense, and your timing is great. Lapis, get on the back. We’ve got ourselves a cool ride.”

“Why a bicycle? Haven’t you considered the occasion?”

I nodded to Lapis, stood next to Heine, and brought my right fist under my chin.

“We came on this bicycle.”

“I heard that already.”

As Lapis got on the back, Heine swung around the daikon radish that was in the basket and smacked the elves on the head with it.

Lapis climbed on the back, gently grabbed the hem of my shirt, and looked up at me with moist eyes.

“Please…be with me…”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

I’ll be sitting on my special seat, licking my lips as I watch over the yuri drama you guys will be unfolding…!

Heine demonstrated her exquisite skills at handling the top-of-the-class bicycle.

Now transporting Lapis, the bride, it raced up the stairs, and I followed behind.

“Whoa! This is a pretty bumpy ride!”

As I admired the princess’s chest, which had been reinforced to withstand earthquakes, she turned around, showing me a look of emptiness, and I drove forward, passing the bicycle at top speed.

Heine pedaled super fast and guided Lapis’s hands to her waist.

“Hold on. Our leader’s wife is my wife, too, so I’m taking good care of you.”

“Leader…? Who’s that? And anyway, what are you to Hiiro? Are you a friend of his? You aren’t dating him, are you? Whoa!!”

“Your teeth will end up serving as a guillotine for your tongue. Shut up and hold on.”

The two girls, who had just met, were riding together, their bodies perfectly aligned.

Yeah, this was good. Heine and Lapis. In fact, it was great. Seeing the twosome riding a bike together reminded me of the fleeting days of my youth. Had Madame Alsuhariya prepared that standard bicycle to give me this performance? If so, she was a genius. But anyway, she glided through the air, keeping pace with me.

“You probably already know this, but we can’t use the dimensional door we came through on our way back unless that’s an alien friend riding on the back who can make a bicycle fly through the air.”

“My friends are limited to love, courage, and yuri girls. Don’t worry. As captain of the yuri rescue squad, it’s only natural that I would consider several escape routes beforehand.”

I turned a corner in the corridor, covered in a red carpet, while trying to remember the map in the game—and saw a deep-green camouflage costume before my eyes.

“Heine, stop!”

Heine, who had knocked her bicycle sideways, applied the brakes as she slid along the carpet.

Water dripped from the green camouflage outfit.

It kind of looked like a rain poncho, with a slimy feel that reminded you of reptile skin. Magical lines crawled along the main and side veins in a complicated pattern all over.

The shadow archers had sunk into the background in a dull-green color, and every corner of the corridor was filled with a thick fog that seemed to be generated from within the camouflage costume.

Snap, snap, flashed magical lightning.

“……”

Emerald eyes peeped out from beyond the fog.

Telescopic lenses—the magic for precision shooting—had already been activated, and magic circles had covered the elves’ eyes so they could perform calculations.

Six shadows had blended into the fog.

The six archers carefully took out their magic devices.

Without a sound, the fog gathered around their hands and took on the shapes of bows.

Dripping in a cold sweat, I watched the six elite warriors chosen from each of their clans.

They were all better than I was. Even Heine couldn’t take on six perfect archers. If I didn’t get through this passage, I wouldn’t be able to reach the dimensional door the elves had set up in the Alfheim ceremonial hall.

With my right hand wet with sweat, I gripped the dagger at the back of my waist.

The pursuers were closing in on us from behind. We couldn’t go back now. It might be impossible, but we had no choice but to push our way through.

“Heine, go! I’ll distract them!”

I took a low position, preparing for shots, drew my sword, and charged with everything I had—

“Hey, Hiiro, it’s been a while! Go right ahead!”

The voice caught me off guard, and I hit the brakes and fell headfirst, slamming my face against the floor.

It was Milla Acht Schatten, leader of the holy archers.

With hair that glowed gold in the sunlight, she called out to me in a tone of voice devoid of tension. “Hey, what are you, stupid? I said you can walk through the gate.”

“…Really?”

“Really.”

I nervously pulled Heine’s bike next to me and walked on through.

And turned around.

The elf archers smiled at me, with the exception of some who looked unhappy.

“It isn’t just the princess’s life we protect,” Milla said. “We also protect her heart. Well, then, Hiiro, until we meet again. I’ll stall whoever as needed.”

“Milla… Sorry to trouble you…yet again…”

Milla smiled wryly and stroked Lapis’s head.

“You mean thanks, right? Okay, Your Highness, it’s time to say goodbye. Once I’ve succeeded in stalling the ones who are after your man, I have our big shots to deal with.”

“…They won’t execute you, will they?”

Milla’s eyes lit up, and she twisted the corners of her mouth.

“Of course not. Who could kill me anyway?”

The long-eared pursuers who had been closing in on us shouted angrily when they saw Milla standing in their way.

“Have you become a worm in the lion’s body, holy archer?!”

Milla and the others smiled and blended with the mist in their shining camouflage outfits.

“Let’s not make any more mistakes, good ladies from Alfheim. It’s obvious who the lion and the worm are,” Milla said, her voice echoing with a loud laugh.

“This, ladies—is our job from the outset.”

The sound of gunfire pierced our ears, and I pushed open the door leading to the ceremonial hall as if the force were pushing me out of the way.

The green view, the scent of the earth, the sounds of birds singing—and the wind passed through.

Only the sky, the air, and the earth were before me.

Wet with rain and dew, the ground cover’s coloring made it difficult to distinguish between inside and outside, the ceiling and the sky, the walls and the world beyond. The area was so densely covered with earth, flowers, and greenery that it gave you the illusion of having passed through the door into the outside world.

The far end of the hall was enclosed in a verdant area with a mossy rock beneath a marble gate with a chintz pattern, and at the center was a shimmering, colorless void.

Six holy archers stood holding bows.

Clad in sheer dresses, they formed a pair of lines and had become a pseudo-passage leading to a huge rock.

Their eyes were closed as they continued to chant softly, surrounded by a luminous glow that reminded me of fireflies.

Fragments of their chant rose from their skin. The strings of words scattered visibly in the air and fell apart like water trickling between their fingers.

“We only have six chanters, so the gate isn’t stable! We don’t have time, Hiiro! Get on!” Lapis said, desperately holding out her hand.

I grabbed that hand, and Heine pedaled hard. The bicycle’s wheels began spinning madly, the gate started to close—and we pushed our way through it at once.

The bike crashed head-on into the road. Unable to withstand the impact, it was wrecked, and we were thrown into the air with the blown-off wheels.

“Yes to our successful landing, but no to being sent to the hospital.”

Pivoting to a defensive position, Heine landed beautifully, like she’d get high marks for artistry and technique. In contrast, I was thrown out clumsily, grabbed Lapis in my arms, and skidded along the road.

“Ow… Dang, that hurt… Lapis? Are you okay…?”

Red to her ears, Lapis’s eyes were open, but she didn’t move a muscle.

“Hey, Lapis? Can you hear me…? Are you okay…?”

She closely closed her eyes and hugged me.

“Yeah… Fine…”

“Well, please let go of me if you’re okay. Hello? Do you understand what I’m saying? Please stop using my chest to wipe your face. Soap won’t come out of my nipples.”

My limbs felt heavy, and the strength had drained from my muscles. I attempted to move, but they wouldn’t respond.

I looked up at the sky, feeling relieved, and smiled.

“What a disaster that was, huh? Being forced to marry a man you don’t even like. But everything’s okay now, Lapis. You can marry the girl that you choose—”

“Huh? Marry a man? What are you talking about?”

“…Huh?”

The smile vanished from my face.

Still nestled in my arms, Lapis tilted her head curiously.

“…Your fiancé is a man, right?”

“No, she’s a girl. Besides, we already broke off our engagement.”

“…You were about to be forced to marry someone to maintain the balance between your clans, right?”

“You mean the purification ritual? Did that look like a wedding from a human perspective?”

“…The elf you were facing was a guy, right?”

“Nuh-uh, that was a girl. Of course it wouldn’t be a guy. We even hug afterward. How could I, a princess of the Lumet royal family, hug a boy in public?”

“…B-but, Lapis, I saw traces of tears on your face.”

“I’d been crying every night after you suddenly disappeared, Hiiro. I decided to go back to Japan and look for you, but my great-grandmother wouldn’t let me, and we ended up fighting… So I was really happy when you came to me.”

Trembling, I looked up at the demon standing under the night sky.

Wrapped in the darkness of the night, a purple haze sporting boots danced merrily.

And Alsuhariya was laughing behind the misty haze.

“Yeah, right. This is what I really wanted. Putting a man between yuri girls was as easy as a walk in the park. You are truly a fool, Hiiro, believing the lies that popped into my mind. I should have done this from the start,” Alsuhariya whispered, her eyes closed as the light of a full moon illuminated her.

“Your face, fallen into despair…is genuinely beautiful.”

Alsuhariya’s face turned crooked in the shape of a crescent moon.

“How does it feel to hold in your arms the beautiful girl you risked your life saving while skyrocketing her fondness for you?”

“Oh… Oh… Oh…!”

I screamed.

“You tricked me!! How dare you?!”

I cried, writhing in agony.

“Alsuhariya… I will never forgive you… Never… Never…! Aaahh…!”

Squirming, I covered my face with my hands and screamed.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”

“Hiiro? Do your wounds hurt? That isn’t a good sound to come out of a human’s throat. Are you okay?!”

Filled with screams and anger, my cries rose into the night sky and disappeared into the darkness.

Even after the moon sank and the sun rose, my screaming and wailing continued.

Having been driven to the point of death, I went to the hospital to have my injuries treated and was forced to be hospitalized. An added blow was having Lapis and the others take loving care of me, and I was finally able to return to Houjou Magic Academy after that.

The orientation camp ended, and the stage was set for a pleasant return to regular school life.

The Houjou family had apparently controlled the media, and by the time I was back, the commotion surrounding the attack on our luxury cruise ship had settled down.

After all, the individual who had gone missing in the series of incidents was a male with a zero score. There were no other victims, and the missing male was a guy the Sanjo family couldn’t care less about, so for the powerful Houjou family, it had to be as easy as putting out a small fire in their backyard.

The main members of the Alsuhariya faction in the present world were thrown into jail, and the case was settled.

As for Rei, who had been having issues with the Sanjo branch family, she remained designated as a candidate as its legitimate successor.

The Sanjo clan wasn’t united due to various past events. Besides the coalition of its old bags who desired her to be the next heir so they could use her as their puppet, some were on the lookout for an opportunity to trick her into recognizing them and their offspring as legitimate heirs (while Hiiro Sanjo continued to be ignored).

Rei’s kidnapping did not necessarily mean the person or persons behind it were acting on the consensus of the Sanjo family.

The Rei Route scenario was one in which the regrets and passions of the family swirled and wove around the three Sanjos. If the scenario were flagged to begin with, good old Sakura Tsukiori would surely do something about it, but I was set to play my part, no matter how small, to resist that depressing plot.

Lapis returned safely to the academy, and I was banned from entering Alfheim, receiving a letter that said in about three hundred words that they would finish me off the next time I went there.

Sakura Tsukiori hadn’t changed. She continued to be as elusive as a cat in the sun.

But I did feel that we had gotten closer. She even showed signs of being sweet to me at times, so the theory that she was really a cat became increasingly plausible.

I just wished she’d hurry up, become more aware of her role as the main character in a yuri game, and start targeting girls as her love interest.

As for me—

“I don’t have any money.”

“…Huh?”

That was what Snow said as she handed me my second bowl of rice.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s exactly as I said. What else? Does ‘I don’t have any money’ get converted into something else in your mind, like ‘Give me money to play pinball’? You have a thought process like someone mentally unstable.”

I put the shiso leaves with miso on top of my rice and ate away.

The piping hot rice danced on my tongue and intertwined with the delicious taste of the miso.

“Yum…”

“This is no time to fawn over your food with that goofy look on your face. I’m talking about money, you worthless jerk. Do you realize how hard I work to cut back on expenses each day? The women I come across at the limited-time sales at the supermarket are too good at close combat, and there’s no way that someone like me, who fights from a distance, could ever win.”

I couldn’t hide my amazement as I ate the ika mentaiko (squid with spicy cod roe) and said, “Whoever first combined squid and mentaiko must have been a genius.”

With an astonished look on my face over the exquisiteness of the delicacy, I turned to Snow and whispered, “Are you saying…? We don’t have money?! ”

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along.”

“Sorry, I got carried away. Please refrain from launching a one-sided attack on me with a knife.”

Snow swiftly tucked the kitchen knife in her hand behind her back.

“The money we received from the assassins only lasted so long. Well, it’s okay. I have a way to earn some money.”

Picking at the grilled dried fish, I let the tips of my chopsticks wander in the air. Snow was sitting up straight, quietly eating her meal.

“I’m thinking of quitting doing the dishes after eating and supporting myself instead as an adventurer.”

“That sounds fine, Master. You are permitted to enter the dungeon. But that aside, do not try to make it an excuse to stop washing dishes. Keep it up.”

“As they say, you should strike while the iron’s hot, so I went to the Adventurers Association at our school yesterday…and was told I couldn’t register since I had a score of zero.”

“Huh. Well, that isn’t surprising?”

Eating her pickles, Snow nodded her comprehension—then suddenly came to a stop.

“Wait, that’s no good. You’re jobless, with all the criteria for defeat. Please don’t multiply zero by zero and create meaningless synergies.”

“Hey, maid, don’t treat a student like me as an unemployed NEET. I wasn’t expecting them to turn me down. Maybe my position is too unusual, but I never dreamed that someone with a zero score wouldn’t even be allowed to register as an adventurer.”

I had assumed that there were no particular requirements for registering as an adventurer in the game…but I guess that wasn’t the case. You wouldn’t notice that the requirement was a score of one or over unless you played in a particularly different way.

“That’s not good. This maid of yours had been allocating her resources to the search for her terrible fiancé who’d been missing, so she hasn’t been successful in getting a matchup with work.”

“Hey, maid, stop using the word terrible to describe your beloved master. It makes him sound more like a criminal. And anyway, you work for the Sanjo family, don’t you?”

“Oh, that? They fired me ages ago.”

Snow sighed as she slurped her miso soup with a straight face. “Of course they would. They monitor you, Hiiro, so naturally, they’d find out that I’ve abandoned my duties to take care of Miss Rei and am here looking after you. So they’d definitely fire me.”

“Huh…?! So you’ve been working without pay to date?”

“Huh. I guess you might say that.”

My blood drained.

“Hey, go back to Rei. The Sanjo family pays good money to their maids, right? What are you doing, ruining your life staying with me?”

Snow glanced at me.

“I wonder why. My life would be easier if you could give me the correct answer to that.”

“You idiot. Why didn’t you say so? Now go back to Rei. Rei has plenty of money, so she can probably pay you a salary…”

“No.”

Snow munched away at her pickled daikon radish.

“No…? Why not?”

She put a strand of her hair behind her ear, glanced at me, then turned away.

“…Figure out the answer on your own.”

“I’m asking you because I can’t come up with anything.”

This maid is as stubborn as a mule with her strong will and tight purse strings, and I have not once been able to break through her unassailable allowance system. As long as she’s this headstrong maid who never changes her mind once she makes up her mind, she’ll never let me talk her into something, and I can say with certainty that it won’t help, even if I use Rei as an intermediary.

I was pondering seriously like that when the gray-haired maid began to move like she’d been waiting for the right moment.

Rubbing her knees together, she shifted over to me while remaining sitting and then plopped her head on my shoulder.

“…It’s time for fiancées to get a little physical.”

“Huh? Where did that suddenly come from? A feeble concept like physical doesn’t exist in our fake engagement. We’re Special Attack Team S that will destroy heterosexual relationships and push for same-sex relationships.”

“Will you stop calling me names, making up some dumb team using my initial, and setting me up as its leader? Shut up and act like a gallant romantic.”

“You and your pulpy brain obsessed with love are the ones to shut up. You probably only consume collagen to make it that way. I’ll blast this level of romanticism to pieces with my large-caliber sexual harassment cannon. Oh, dang, Snow, you’re acting a little sexy.” (Laugh.) “Ooh, you slut.” (Laugh.) “Hey, you smell good!” (LOL.)

Snow still looked away as she pinched the cuff of my sleeve and pushed her knee against mine.

“…I was alone all this time.”

“Huh?”

“Would it be a problem…if I said I was lonely like a normal girl would?”

“You are a normal girl, no matter how you look at it.”

Snow smiled somewhat wistfully, leaning her head and her right side against me, and closed her eyes.

“I don’t need any.”

“Any what?”

“Money. I can take care of myself. I’m a woman who chose to be by your side. A lot of ghosts come to me if I get greedy and want too much.”

Still clutching my shirt tightly, Snow smiled like she was content and didn’t try to step any further into my space. She whispered, “So… I don’t need anything more.”

So she said, but I had no other option than to pay her the wages she deserved.

If adventuring was out of the question, then all I could do was get a part-time job, but Houjou Magic Academy didn’t allow its students to work. Besides, even if I tried to work without obtaining permission from the school, chances were extremely low that I could find something that would accept a guy with a zero score.

There was only one way I could think of to make quick money.

“Master Sanjo.”

Once those cozy moments with Snow (I don’t know if she’d meant it as a joke) in place of paying her were over, I went outside the dorm and was greeted by Lily, who was doing the cleaning.

She was dressed in a long black skirt and a white apron dress, which you might describe as a Victorian maid’s outfit. Both her appearance and movements were without a single flaw as she gave me a friendly smile.

“Hello, sir. Are you going out?”

“Yeah, I have some things to do. I was thinking of catching up on my studies. But, Lily, you’re working on a Sunday when even God takes the day off. Are you trying to challenge the limits of human diligence or something?”

“You’re the one who’s challenging the limits of student diligence, setting out to study on a Sunday. The girl is still sleeping. She won’t even twitch unless I try to awaken her.”

Chuckling, Lily gently peered into my face.

“You don’t look well today. Are you all right? Please feel free to let me know at any time of the day if something is troubling you. I’m indebted to you that you’re allowing me to live in your attic.”

Geez, she’s even nice to males. Where is she enshrined? She even hints at her relationship with the dorm leader. Maybe I’ll go to her to pay my respects for the coming New Year’s Day worship.

In my mind, I folded my hands in prayer, making a wish: “May yuri girl couples be happy.” As I did, Lily handed me a sheet of paper.

“I don’t believe I’ve given this to you yet. Please take it if you like.”

I accepted the dorm newspaper printed on a single A4 sheet and quickly scanned the text.

At our dorms, positions were sometimes allocated to members appointed by the dorm heads.

One of the positions was the school newspaper shift. The students assigned this role published a paper once a week, providing information about news and events happening in the dorms, along with other important notices. They distributed the paper to students living in the dorms.

It was called a newspaper but was just a simple printout.

It wasn’t a huge burden, and schoolwork came first, anyway, so it wasn’t uncommon for a week to go by without a publication when they couldn’t handle it.

Unlike the other dorms, Fraum’s dorm head put a lot of effort into her dorm newspaper, which was likewise in the original game. The Fraum paper was substantial, and I recalled reading every item it mentioned, even information that had nothing to do with the main story.

The newspaper I looked over had illustrations drawn by Mule Esse Eisbert.

Perhaps because it was the main item this week, a notice about a welcome party for new students at Fraum was printed in bold letters.

The dorm leader’s enthusiasm seemed to flow out from the page. Like a dog with a pack mentality, she seemed interested in showing off her authority through the event and organizing the newcomers according to their ranking.

A welcome party for new students, huh…? Come to think of it, the dorm interviews had ended while I’d been away. Since the students were assigned to each of the dorms, it was natural that a welcome event for the new ones was being held, and it appeared that I, too, had the right to take part.

Any student who belonged to Fraum could be at this welcome party.

I recalled that in the game, yours truly, Hiiro Sanjo, master trash of the trash, attended it, where he evaluated the girls and had Tsukiori beat him up for it.

“Be sure to be there, sir. We’re offering good food and fun times.”

“Oh, yes, I’ll go if I can. If I can, that is.”

That was a polite way of saying, uh-uh.

A guy wasn’t needed at an event where all the fair ladies at the academy gathered. Still, it wouldn’t be nice to turn down Lily’s invitation, so I figured maybe I’d have Snow be there on my behalf.

I said goodbye to Lily and headed into town.

I walked to the train station, slipped into a back alley, and walked into a trash can as if I owned it.

It wasn’t my way of showing that this useless guy would be incinerated. The trash can was actually a dimensional door.

I fell headfirst into the water and waded to the mansion in the middle of the blue sea.

“Lead.”

Sylphiel greeted me with a bath towel in hand.

She carefully dried my head, and I walked up the stairs inside the mansion.

An old throne was in a small room on the top floor. I brushed away the thin layer of dust that covered it, exposing the wires that converged on the conductor fitted in the back.

I sat on the throne and concentrated my magic power on the armrest, which was engraved with Kabbalah’s Sephirot. At that moment, a buzzing sounded, and a screen appeared before me.

What happened was that the special laid-down magic device had recognized Alsuhariya’s magic power within me and approved of me as its master.

I looked at the national status page and grinned. The information was displayed simply, since the settings hadn’t been changed from the game: the country name and the number of resources it had, along with production stats, member population, its buildings, technology…

I entered the country name.

Country name > The Sacred Yuri Empire.

I held out my arms and laughed, happy with the smart name I came up with.

“Sylphiel, I’m going to expand this Sacred Yuri Empire and make money…and eventually—”

I crossed my legs and laughed out loud. “I’ll make yuri lilies bloom in the Otherworld. That, my friend, is the true purpose of my Sacred Yuri Empire.”

“I have received your decree.”

The money in this Otherworld could be exchanged for cash in the present world.

Despite my grandiose words, I had no intention of putting any real effort into this simulation game to manage a state, because the system was only used on The Evil Fall Route and was nothing more than a simple and almost automatic method of making money.

The Evil Fall Route was a route where Sakura Tsukiori destroyed everything and became a demon god.

It was also known as The Demon God Route.

On this route, Tsukiori was the seventh demon. She set up her base in the Otherworld, where she competed with the six demon pillars and used this state management system.

ESCO was a dark game that began with everything tossed into a single yuri game. It was nothing short of an absurd tragedy in which players who’d been smiling as they watched over the yuri girls were suddenly forced to run a country with a straight face.

To tell you the truth, this state management system wasn’t well-made and was certainly unbalanced.

Some forces were too powerful, some units were utterly useless, and there were even turn acceleration methods that exploited flaws in the specifications.

It was like a copy-and-paste of a simulation game that had failed in the past, and the developer had probably just added it as a bonus element.

But when you considered it as a way to make money, it was brilliant.

The Otherworld’s resources were profitable.

The Otherworld’s gold could be converted into gold in the present world.

If you could build a unit to create those resources, the rest would fall in place automatically. It was a dreamlike system in which money would pour in while you slept.

In my current situation, where my score wouldn’t improve no matter what I did, I should consider illegal score trading.

The Otherworld was more unstable than the present world, and things like the rise and fall of nations were an everyday occurrence. Therefore, there was no such thing as the qualification requirements for a state under Article I of the Montevideo Convention; eligibility requirements didn’t exist, and you didn’t have to be bothered with complicated issues like territorial sovereignty or mining rights.

Of course, you would likely need at least minimal approval from other states if you were going to enter into diplomatic relations with another country…but if you could do simple money laundering within the Otherworld without moving the cash in huge amounts, and then bring it into the present world, it wouldn’t be caught in the safety nets set up for Japanese law.

And it wasn’t as if I’d be getting sidetracked.

That was because my experience here would come in handy at future events.

“So anyway, I’m going to make a collection unit, then head on home. Take care of the rest, will you?”

“Huh? Hey, Lead, isn’t that a bit too irresponsible? It wouldn’t hurt to see through the matter with a little more responsibility.”

For the collection kit, I was thinking of just sitting on the throne, looking at the screen, and choosing the unit I wanted.

After the base magic power was used up and a certain amount of time passed, production would automatically be completed.

To create a high-level unit, you needed a specially dedicated building and would have to add on more bases when the number of units increased. But since I didn’t seriously want to run a country, I was going to take a pass on this.

“Wallachia, what do you guys expect from me?”

“We want you to control the world.”

These days, even Sunday morning villains you saw on TV didn’t say something like that.

“Sylphiel. What kind of resources are available here?”

“Minerals on the sea floor, I guess. Useful metallic elements. You can get mithril and sell it at a reasonable price if you negotiate with the neighboring demons.”

“How about food ingredients like fish and shellfish?”

“Yes, well, mostly fish and seafood. We can also obtain seaweed, and some demons are edible. It would depend on the quality and quantity, but if you went through wholesalers, it would probably add to your operating funds.”

They had everything—food resources, minerals, and even these folks who wanted to dominate the world—and I wasn’t about to complain.

I figured I’d make three harvesting units. If I used one for collecting food and the other two for mineral resources, I should be able to make spending money for myself by tomorrow morning.

“Hey, Lead, aren’t you going to call in humans to help? They can build buildings and stuff since they’re good with their hands, and they can also do things like give you a massage. They’re great running errands, like going out to buy buns filled with fried noodles.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. The demons left over from before were still around… Maybe we’ll brand them, since I don’t plan to build buildings or use cult members for any reason other than earning my daily expenses. Would you mind bringing them to me?”

“Okay.”

Heine slipped into the dimensional door and disappeared.

“Well, then, Lead,” Sylphiel said, smiling as she brought out an earpick.

“I will take care of your ears.”

“My maid said not to expect favors from women who had no connection to me because it was like taking their unneeded kindness to the garbage dump.”

“I disagree. For us, taking care of our master is our greatest pleasure. It said on something I read online that most males fell head over heels for you if you had them lay their head on your thighs and scratched their ears.”

“Stop studying humans based on information you find online. It’s too random, like a lottery, making it difficult to uncover the truth.”

“Wa can’t buy or eat fish. I only eat ramen noodles. Wa is going to run away from home if I can’t get ramen here.”

“Shut up, noodle freak. I’m speaking to Lead right now. You should know that ramen noodles are only available at ramen places. Please don’t ever come out of a ramen chain again.”

Sylphiel and Wallachia exchanged smiles filled with murderous intent.

Stuck between them, I thought it wasn’t bad to be between yuri girls who competed with each other like that. Girls fighting with sparks in their eyes finally making up at the end would be enough to satisfy me for three days.

Anyway, we finished making our collection unit while discussions went on about scratching my ears and eating ramen noodles.

We called it Maguro. Its body was shaped like a fish, and it had human arms and legs and held a graffiti-like spear. Twitching and trembling, it waited for my command.

“It’s a mermaid.”

“It’s more like a merfolk.”

“It’s a mermaid.”

“It’s a merfolk.”

I called up the command screen and ordered Maguro to go out and gather food ingredients.

“I’m a bit clumsy…”

“I see that it has acknowledged your command.”

“Was that an acknowledgment?!”

“I’m a bit clumsy…”

As a human, the only thing I heard was that it was a bit clumsy, but the merfolk unit performed a beautiful dive into the sea.

We finished making the two other units, and two more Maguros lined up, trembling.

“Will you guys go and fetch me some undersea minerals…?”

“I’m a bit clumsy…”

The two units gave each other a mysterious high five, crossed each other’s paths, struck an artistic pose, and then dove into the sea.

“Lead.”

That was when Heine returned.

“I’ve brought you three bored musketeers.”

“Why have you suddenly brought me three bored people?!”

“Oops, my mistake. These are the three musketeers of the family.”

“Huh…?!”

Among the three individuals she brought was a girl I recognized.

Luri Hizumi stared blankly at me. Then her knees buckled, and she flopped down on her buttocks.

Before I could say a word, tears began to well up in her eyes.

“H-Hiiro Sanjo… Y-you… You’re alive…”

“You’re one of the three bored musketeers?”

“She was so bored, she busied herself counting the pieces of straw woven into a tatami mat and ended up staying away from her school.”

“Tatami mats and civilization have destroyed my life, and I no longer have plans or the time to go back to school.”

“Don’t continue the trend of the three bored musketeers now! Scoot!”

After our strange reunion, I had the three bored musketeers—I mean, the three musketeers of the family talk. I’d kind of figured it out, but it appeared that the Alsuhariya faction had mostly disbanded.

Their failed attempt at attacking our luxury cruise ship and the arrests of the key members had been a fatal blow.

Rival factions had hunted down the remaining cult members, and only three had remained after the majority removed their branding and taken off.

“O-okay, I get it. But…Hizumi…?”

She was all over me, squeezing me tight and sobbing, soaking my shoulders with her tears.

“I, uh, think we should step back for a minute… What do you say…?”

With a remix of her angry voice and groan, she shook her head and clung even tighter. I employed the Lamaze method, counting the spots on the ceiling, trying to distract myself from the warmth and soft body I felt pushing against the front side of my body.

“Hizumi, I need to go to the bathroom… Seriously…”

Still sobbing, Hizumi rubbed her face against my neck.

My bladder, which had planned to use the facilities after we finished collecting our materials, complained about the missed timing, and I began to feel intense pain in my lower abdomen and broke out in a greasy sweat.

“Hizumiiii! A wild part of my lower body is about to exercise its basic right! It’s probably already mixed in with my sweat! If someone analyzed my sweat, they’d probably find ammonia in it!”

I couldn’t help getting into a standing position. Hizumi stuck to me like glue, and I ended up lifting her in a tight embrace.

“You’re stuck to me!! My dignity is about to explode!! Hey, everyone! Give me strength! Give my bladder the strength to hold back!!”

Wallachia picked Hizumi off my body, and I dashed for the bathroom.

I made it just in time. But as soon as I came back, this attachment called Hizumi was back on my body again, as I sighed and turned my attention to the others.

“Well, a lot has happened, and I’m now the head of this place. We’ll continue minimal operations, but I have no intention whatsoever of acting as a demon god in the future. Things change when top management changes. I’ll tell you what. I’ll remove that brand from your body, and you can go back to living the way you were before.”

“You’re sounding so normal. I can’t believe this is the same guy who was screeching until a minute ago that his dignity was about to explode.”

Moving Hizumi’s hair out of my eyes to clear my vision, I ignored Heine’s comment to protect my heart while the other two looked at each other.

“L-look, there’s no room for us at home since everyone thinks we’re dead… Hee-hee…! B-besides, Luri is about the only friend we have…”

I sighed.

“Still, it’s too risky for you to stay here as members of the Alsuhariya faction. The fact that you remain branded means you’ll obey my commands at all costs. Are you going to continue to deal with me, a male, and do whatever I tell you to do? For starters, you can kiss each other now.”

They both nodded, and I took out my camera, but Hizumi stuck out her fingers and blocked the lens.

Jokes aside, they seemed determined not to go home.

It was only natural. The demon cult they’d belonged to took advantage of people at a loss and forcibly transformed them into followers. It was easy to abandon these girls and kick them out, but there was no doubt that the price for doing that would be a disgusting end.

“Hey, Lead, why don’t you hide them?” Heine suggested, patting me on the head with her bone cane.

“Who’s going to give me back massages without these followers? Let Lead do it.”

“Huh? Lead’s better at rubbing people’s breasts, isn’t he?”

“Heroes tend to be playboys, huh? That’s our leader for you. I can’t help but respect him.”

“Will you girls stop coordinating to set me up as a boob massager?”

I played with the handle of my Masamune Kuki, which Sylphiel had recovered for me.

With a mix of nerves and anxiety on their faces, the two former cult followers looked up at me.

Realizing I had no other choice, I scratched my head and made my decision.

“Okay. Stay here at our base. There’s nowhere for Alsuhariya members to be in the present world, and you’ll be safer here where Sylphiel and the gang can keep an eye on you.”

The two girls let out a cry of joy and joined hands.

“But don’t get the wrong idea. First, I’m having that brand removed. You’re free to leave whenever you want. You can say no to anything you don’t like, and my orders aren’t absolute. And above all, my yuri faith doesn’t forbid romance. The only condition is that you invite me to your wedding.”

I stared at the two of them as they held hands and grinned.

They’re probably an item. If that was the case, I had a duty to protect them.

Maybe we’ll start practicing doing encores after their kiss of commitment!

“…I’m staying, too,” Hizumi murmured as she continued to rest her head on my chest.

“I’ll stay here…and devote the rest of my life to you… You…and only you…came back for me… So, I’m going to stay with you, the one who’s carrying on Braun’s and my teacher’s legacy… You… I’m going to mention you on my grave marker…”

“Please don’t join me in my grave. You’re acting like a grave robber, you grave-desecrating funeral-attacker. I have no intention of expanding this organization any further, so please leave. At this rate, I won’t be able to buy a single grave marker.”

“……”

“Hizumi, don’t die already! Answer me, Hizumi!”

Continuing to pretend that she was dead, Hizumi looked somewhat relieved, and she blushed as she felt the warmth of my body.

“…I did it, Hiiro,” she whispered in a low voice that only I could hear.

“The tears have stopped… You stopped them…so I’ll do as you say…,” she said, her ear pressed against my chest as she felt the magic power that flowed through my heart.

“I’m right here…”

She tugged my sleeve.

“Hee-hee…! So, relax, Lead…”

I turned around and saw Riina Shiina, who went by the nickname Rii-chan, playing with her bangs. “I’ve destroyed my life… Hee-hee-hee… And I’m great at destroying other people’s lives, too…”

“Okay, fine, but don’t. No one’s asking you to do that. Sit still. Don’t let anyone or anything touch her. She’s exhausted after going through hell to advance by one turn. You can tell by the different look on her face.”

“It’s okay, Lead.”

This was a girl with blue eyes and golden hair, wearing a baggy flight jacket that was too big for her.

One of the followers, Ruby Oliet, aka Ru-chan, blew a bubble with her gum as she rocked in her chair.

“Hey, Rii-chan’s a genius. Leave it to her, and she’ll build a castle for you in a single night. I’m good at software and hardware, so I’ll go from those angles. You can count on me.”

“Please don’t casually sneak in ways to boost my popularity with girls. I’m warning you, if you start mass-producing Hiiro dolls with your hardware expertise, I will cry so loudly that you’ll think I’ve gone berserk.”

“……”

“Sylphiel, don’t you ever let these girls touch you. Look at their eyes. They’re just like the eyes of American kids who’ve started opening their presents on Christmas morning. They have this idea that this world is set under a Christmas tree, and the entire forest is their present. It’s a crap system that doesn’t have locks for nonauthorized individuals, so I’m leaving it open, but call me right away if they do anything.”

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll hide the gifts out of their reach.”

Sylphiel reported to Alsuhariya, so she was sure to obey my orders.

I would have liked to call Alsuhariya to confirm the details…but I couldn’t do that since I was still angry after what happened before—and who knew what I’d do to her if I did?

There was no end to my worries, but I couldn’t stay in my Sacred Yuri Empire forever. I decided to go back to the present world today and come back first thing in the morning to see how things were going.

Perhaps I was being overly suspicious, and excessive worry would only invite trouble.

I shook off my worries, returned to the present world, and slipped into bed.

I hoped the girls would be able to collect enough ore to earn some money when I returned tomorrow, though perhaps we couldn’t make enough to cover my living expenses with just a day’s work.

I slept peacefully and returned the next morning.

“……”

A palace had been built overnight.

A palace made of crystal loomed on the vast grounds of the Otherworld, and a city had been formed with mysterious passageways across every corner. A temple had been built on the seabed, with so many monsters crawling back and forth that I couldn’t see the ground below.

“……”

I opened a window on the screen.

[Country Name]

The Sacred Yuri Empire

[Volume of Resources]

Timber: 9,582,000

Steel: 22,800,000

Food Ingredients: 31,200,000

[Output]

Timber: 420,000

Steel: 820,000

Food Ingredients: 1,080,000

[Members]

Command Unit

Hiiro Sanjo

Luri Hizumi

Riina Shiina

Ruby Oliet

Unique Unit

Sylphiel Diabloto

Wallachia Tsepesh

Heine Skullface

Normal Unit

Sea Dragons: 320

Water Lancers: 12,000

Jaggy Dogs: 14,000

Full Attribute Wizards (Evil): 15,000

Sacramento Turtles: 5,200

Reflected Underwater Stones: 6,400

Maguros: 99,999

Bonitos: 99,999

[Buildings]

Home Base

A city connected to the sea and the middle of the ocean

The Crystal Palace

The Undersea Temple

The Lancer Dome

The Shadow-Creating Nest

Whirlpool of the Sea Dragon

Academy of Evil

Underwater Pond

Gathering Place for Bonitos

[Technology]

Elementary Buildings I-III

Intermediate Buildings I-III

Advanced Buildings I-III

Elementary Magic Research I-III

Intermediate Magic Research I-III

Advanced Magic Research I-III

Drinking Water Generation

Water Pressure Adjustment

Underwater Passageway

Automatic Food Production

Seawater Missile

Marine Biotechnology

Anti-Demon Barrier

Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Power Station

Aquatic Trees

Processing of Rare Ores

Drilling Technology

With my eyes rolled back, I looked up at the sky and smiled.

Oh no.

Before me was the Crystal Palace in the central part of the Sacred Yuri Empire.

A throne composed of crystal in seven colors was connected to a jet-black cable, resembling a seat for a prisoner in a cell.

The throne room was covered with cables of varying widths and thicknesses. The black lines undulated so densely that the floor was almost invisible.

Cables were all over the ceiling, walls, and floor, connected to a black box—a special magic device—that reminded me of a coffin.

A horrendous number of wires covered the small magic devices and PCs packed on the shelves. No one seemed to be managing them manually, and they appeared to be working in a neglected state.

“Oh, Lead. Welcome back.”

Wearing only her underwear, Ruby peeked out from between the shelves.

“What is this? And why are you in your underwear?”

“Oh, dang, I’m embarrassed. It’s an anti-static measure I took, since I was opening the boxes and messing around with the wires.”

Ruby blushed and quickly put on her clothes.

After waiting for her to get dressed, I put a jacket on her, since she looked a little cold.

“So what’s going on? Are you trying to build a jungle with cables?”

“Oh, I was bored, so I’ve been mining virtual currency. These are all mining machines. I’m using specialized magic-laying devices as a processing unit and going through the dimensional door through a simple network in the present world to dig for coins.”

She continued to explain rapidly.

“The networks between the Otherworld and the present world aren’t blocked, and the IP allocation is special, so you can do whatever you want without getting skewered. If you have the base magic power, you can use the magic laying devices all you want, and we can get power for the base PC from the submarine hydrothermal vents.”

…I wondered what language she was talking in.

“It isn’t smart to buy a graphic board domestically, since we’d have to pay taxes, right? We’d have to pay the middle person’s markup if we bought it in Asia, so I’m getting it wholesale through an online friend in the US. I’m going to build a graphics card tower and reinforce it while watching our budget. There’s plenty of water around, so we can make as many cooling devices as we want, and electricity is practically free. I figured we could increase our mining speed if we boosted the graphics card speed and made a simple mining machine.”

“So what you’re saying is that the ideal time for two girls to meet up on their first date is to have them arrive thirty minutes beforehand.”

“Yeah, right. Here’s the income and expenditure prediction that Lu came up with,” she said, and threw the screen at me.

It showed a graph of the income that continued to rise daily, though it didn’t look like anything other than a line slanting to the right.

I added a legend next to the curve, saying Changes in my popularity among yuri couples after their first date. Voilà, I felt good, like I’d completed a job worthy of the head of my Sacred Yuri Empire.

“But I’m nothing compared to you and Rii-chan.”

“Take a look at my face. Keep pushing me a little more, and I look like I’m going to die, right? That’s exactly how I feel.”

“Oh, Hiiro Sanjo.”

A girl appeared in a red follower costume worn by those of the Alsuhariya faction.

It was Hizumi, with a ring binder tucked under her arm.

“Good morning. What is it? You look like a critique is underway on your SSD.”

“I’ve only seen the before and after. I haven’t been able to track the missing link. Why have you built this Crystal Palace, and why was Luri in her underwear, speaking a foreign language, and my popularity among yuri couples going through the roof? Please, just settle for making a tower out of playing cards or something.”

“Well, you left us on our own for about eight hours. Give Rii-chan and Ru-chan a whole night like that, and they’re bound to produce something like this. Anyway, look at this.”

Again, the screen was thrown at me.

It showed the economic situation and payment balance projections of neighboring countries, their degree of technological development and threat level, and the advantages of forming alliances.

It also detailed the operational flow of each facility at the Sacred Yuri Empire that was in process, the status of adopting an absolute monarchy here with me as its emperor, the human resources to be assigned to each position, documents that required my approval, suggestions to create a royal seal, the volume of resources produced in each area, the infrastructure development status, and details on diplomatic steps to keep neighboring countries at bay.

The outline was organized so that even a layman like me could understand it at a glance.

“…D-did you put all this together overnight?” I asked as the color drained from my face.

“Yeah. I didn’t have anything better to do,” Hizumi said casually, and I was rendered speechless.

Th-this wasn’t good… The yuri game would be destroyed without a trace if I left stuff to these girls… All I did was get a good night’s sleep, and they were already making me take the high road…

“Since you weren’t around, I couldn’t go into detail about where the country’s heading. My work will be a little more efficient now that you’re here.”

“You call this inefficient?! Won’t you please start working on workstyle reform for Japan, which I see as a nation of enslaved people?!”

“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s inefficient. This is nothing compared to what Rii-chan and Ru-chan are doing.”

I stared at the calm look on Hizumi’s face and laughed.

“So, um, where is Lady Riina Shiina now…?”

“Why are you calling her a lady now? She’s playing in a small room in the back.”

Trembling with fear, I went around the back and peered into the room.

She wore a blanket-like hoodie with cat’s ears and was working on ten open screens simultaneously, her eyes blazing in concentration.

She was using one finger for each screen.

She sat in the middle of it all, and keyboards were placed in a circle around her. She sometimes typed at high speed, and sometimes, she laughed as she sang.

Clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter!!

Her keystrokes were making tremendous sounds.

Riina activated a special magic-laying device attached to her toes and issued instructions during her movements.

Empty energy drink cans were scattered around her, reminding me of a battlefield full of corpses.

I continued to smile, deciding to pretend that I hadn’t seen anything, but—

“Oh…! L-Lead…!”

A bright smile appeared on Riina’s face, and she tossed her work aside and came running to me.

“Hee-hee-hee… I had some free time, so I worked really hard…”

She’d be furiously wagging her tail if she had one. Looking sugary-sweet, she took my hands and squeezed them.

“Y-you know what…? Hee-hee… Riina’s super good at stuff like this…though it’s not much compared to Luri and Ru-chan… But I wanted you to praise me…and worked my butt off… Did I do good…?”

She looked at me with a look that was a mix of anxiety and anticipation.

This was a cute girl with short hair. She even had a yuri partner named Ruby. Why would I ever be afraid of her?

“Y-you did great. I—I think this is amazing. Th-there’s no going back now. Thanks.”

“Hee-hee…”

She giggled.

“Oh, hey, I have a lot to show you, Lead…!”

She tugged me by the arm.

She wasn’t strong, and the sensation I felt gave me déjà vu.

I finally realized, belatedly, that she was one of the cult followers who had been on that luxury ship.

Ruby and Hizumi had been watching us, and they looked at each other and laughed.

“It’s unusual for Rii-chan to be so attached to a human. But well, I guess it makes sense after she was allowed to go on a boat when we were on that luxury liner.”

“She’s very cautious, like a dog or a cat. I guess it’s okay, though, with Hiiro Sanjo. It’s thanks to him that she and Ru-chan didn’t get involved in the commotion that followed.”

“But what’s with that weird look on his face? He’s looking at me like he’s begging me to help him. Oh, now he’s folding his hands like in a Buddhist prayer.”

“Well, he is a guy who’s suggested to me, an adversary, that I read the Bible… I guess he’s a believer.”

I was honestly glad that these girls had a fondness for me in a way that wasn’t romantic, but I really wished they’d flirt with each other so I could watch.

With mixed feelings, I took a tour of the many facilities Riina boasted about.

“So, as I was saying, we lay the underwater cable after sinking the throne to the seabed, aiming for the border where area bonuses can be stacked in order to increase the speed of unit production and research. Then we set a specialized magic-laying device as a replica throne for acceleration, and—”

“Excuse me! Thanks for your explanation! Sorry, I have no idea what you’re saying!”

Inside the underwater tube for transport, vehicles that looked like linear motor cars were coming and going, and I got into one that was exclusively for my use, called For the Emperor.

It dove to the bottom of the sea, and I saw the city that had been built underwater.

“Wow, it’s beautiful. To think the world will shine this brilliantly when my peaceful future burns to the ground.”

“So, Lead, listen…! Here’s what’s going on…!”

Riina tugged me by the arm as I stepped into an underwater restaurant.

Three serious-looking executives were seated at a round table inside. As soon as they recognized Riina, they stared at me, looking dubious.

“Lead… Look at this,” Wallachia said as she pointed to a bowl heaped with vegetables, fat, garlic, and noodles, looking like she was about to cry.

“I harvested Jiro.”

“You did, huh…?”

Heine got up from her seat without a word and began massaging Riina’s shoulders as she remained seated.

“Riina. Do you want me to massage your feet, too?”

What was this? Had these two swapped places…?

Sylphiel was looking down at her steak without blinking and let out a sigh.

“A city was built before I knew it.”

“This time, it hasn’t been your fault. You couldn’t have stopped it. Even if you saw things unfolding that were out of your dimension, you wouldn’t know if you should stop them from happening. It was the same with me. When I first saw a cheetah, all I could say was, “What the heck is that thing doing?”

With Riina still tugging me by the sleeve, I let out the heavy breath that had been building up inside.

“What had the Alsuhariya faction been doing with this genius group before?”

“They were made to handle minor chores. Alsuhariya didn’t care about the maintenance of our base, and she never bothered to check the capacities of her followers. I had never even imagined that our faction had such talented people.”

“Is that the same with the other demons, too?”

Sylphiel nodded, and I started thinking.

Didn’t this put me at a huge advantage…?

If the demons saw their followers as nothing more than servants, then they were truly wasting talent. Alsuhariya had killed Hizumi despite her talent in the original game. She’d killed her so easily that she couldn’t have realized how valuable she was.

Thinking that, I laughed.

So what if someone had superior talent? So what if you stole Tsukiori’s position and tried to defeat a demon? If mere talent and the number of followers could be effective in doing something about a demon, then this world would have already achieved permanent peace.

“Hey, aren’t we standing out like the brightest star above…?”

“Of course we are! This is the only place in this Otherworld where you can get yummy ramen noodles! It’s where two-legged tuna boil the noodles!! It has to be the world’s first authentic seafood noodles!!”

“We indeed stand out, but it’s also true that daily attacks have stopped,” Heine whispered as she continued to massage Riina’s shoulders.

“So much so that we’ve received a letter from Alfheim inviting you, our emperor, to come and visit.”

“It was just the other day that very emperor was banned from Alfheim, saying they’d kill him the next time he came.”

“So what should we do now?” Sylphiel asked, and I rubbed between my eyebrows.

This key culprit was all smiles as she reached out and massaged my shoulders while Heine massaged hers.

“…Why don’t we dismantle everything?”

“Are you sure? After all the expansion we’ve managed?”

“I’m sorry to suggest that after all the hard work you’ve done, Riina, but we can’t afford to pick a fight with the other demons or our neighboring states. If our development continues, we will definitely get caught up in a game of balancing national powers. Newly emerging countries blessed with resources certainly don’t have a bright future to look forward to, after all… Are you okay with that, Riina?”

“S-sure… I can always change it back anytime… I’ve set up the macros, so next time, it shouldn’t take more than a night to get everything in place again… Hee-hee-hee… Fine…”

Everyone was speechless for a minute and then turned away from Cheetah.

“Well, then, Riina, you can be my teacher. I want you to use your experience of having ruined your life back in civilization to ensure that we can continue to run this state at a bare minimum.”

“O-okay… Leave it to me…!”

Riina clenched her fists tightly.

“L-Lead, your enemy is my enemy… Hee-hee-hee… I’ll launch nuclear missiles anywhere and anytime you need them…”

“……”

I was right. This girl would destroy the yuri game with her complete victory if I gave her any more power.

In this way, I welcomed this nuke-happy girl who held the key to the Sacred Yuri Empire’s existence as my senior statesperson and made it our national goal to prevent her from turning this world into ashes.

The following day—

I was back to my school life after having spent time as a demon and ran into Ophelia in the hallway.

She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me.

“Hey, Ophelia, long time no see! Are you still letting others take advantage of you?”

As she smiled, her entire body slowly started tilting over, and—

“Opheeeeeeeeeeelia?!”

—she collapsed as rose petals scattered around her on the floor, and I looked up at the heavens as I held her remains and cried.

I was stunned that she would die after I greeted her, but it didn’t last long. After a few minutes, she came back to life and was diligently gathering up the rose petals (good for her).

She said she didn’t know that I was back in school.

She’d apparently believed that I’d died on that ship, and her daily routine was to go to the cruiser and make an offering of flowers. These roses she had were apparently a high-class product she’d gone out of her way to buy at a flower shop. Incidentally, roses weren’t flowers that people generally offered to the dead.

“Didn’t Tsukiori tell you?”

“Humph! I have no intention of going to a salon to mingle with commoners. I only associate with ladies of a certain class or higher.”

“Didn’t the information circle around the class in a group chat or something?”

“…As I said, I’m not interested in mixing with the middle class.”

In other words, it appeared that they didn’t include her in the chat group.

I carried her to the infirmary, as she was too stunned to walk on her own. She lay on the bed, patting her knees, with her lips pursed.

“Don’t you have any common sense? If you’re dead, you’re dead. And if you’re alive, you’re alive. At least have the decency to let me know! How dare you appear before me in the form of a human without doing that?!”

“Well, I thought you wouldn’t even remember me…which would have been fine…”

Ophelia shook her head and sighed.

“What you need is to have a bit more self-confidence. You saved the life of Ophelia von Margeline, a living national treasure, or rather, a world cultural heritage. By saving me, you also saved the world. The good you did is immeasurable.”

Well, Ophelia was registered as a cultural heritage for founding the Foil Culture.

With her hands on her chest, she jerked her neck and slapped her ringlets against my face.

“Even a lowly male like you should understand the meaning of the words pardon and service, isn’t that correct? The Margeline family has continued to uphold the principles of noblesse oblige for generations. Ha-ha-ha! I don’t mind if you go into cardiac arrest from the joy! I will reward you!”

“What? Are you going to treat me to a bowl of beef on rice or something?”

“Huh? What? Beef on rice? Has some cow fallen into a rice paddy? Is it all right?”

I showed her an image of the dish on my screen. She looked at it and said with interest, “Oh my, that looks delicious. Japanese food certainly includes an array of delicacies, doesn’t it?”

She jotted down the name of the beef bowl place I recommended, then composed herself and cleared her throat.

“Ahem. It appears we got sidetracked. I don’t know about your beef bowls, but I have a wonderful proposal for you. I am doing you the honor of inviting you to the Margeline residence over the upcoming summer holidays.”

I swallowed. I hadn’t expected a proposal like that.

A summer at the Margeline residence was a popular event among ESCO fans, especially those who liked Ophelia. It occurred when you boosted her popularity to a certain level before the summer break.

Summer vacation at the Margelines was intense, including Ophelia as a character. Depending on the actions the main character took, the values of her hidden abilities fluctuated, and various events branched off in enormous volumes, not to mention the many events there were to begin with.

Many people who played the game enjoyed saving stuff until just before Summer vacation at the Margelines and then repeating it over and over. It was so popular that a mini-game was added to the updated game.

The only thing was that it had a trap. If you answered all the questions that came up correctly, Ophelia’s popularity would soar, and The Ophelia Route would end up being confirmed.

Also, this single event would take up the whole summer vacation period.

It would leave no room to enjoy any of the other summer-long events…like the ones to enhance your ability, explore dungeons, search for characters who would be your pal, or boost your favorite heroine’s popularity…

Summer vacation at the Margelines wasn’t too advantageous for a guy like me, who aimed to achieve the truth (a happy yuri ending), and I needed to turn down her offer, saying, in her way, “I’m not interested in mixing with the middle class,” but…

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! I see that you’re too moved even to give me a bow! My invitation to a mere male to visit my home may be so shocking to you that you think the world is about to end, but I am Ophelia von Margeline! I will show you that I can forget my pride when it comes to dealing with a male who saved my life! You have now seen what a big heart I have, and you can’t get out of your frozen state of shock! How I pity you!”

I watched Ophelia chatting away happily with her cheeks all rosy.

She looked happy. Her innate arrogance must have wiped out all the possibilities in her mind that I might say no. She must have been flipping the pages from a picture diary in her head of happy memories from her summer vacations. But it was okay for me to turn her down, since she was popular…right?

“U-um, is anyone else participating in your event?”

“Certainly. Ophelia von Margeline is!”

Oh no!! She’d confirmed that she would be there solo!!

“Mind you, I didn’t really want to be alone with you. I invited other ladies of the upper class to join us, but they insisted that they had other matters to attend to. I had no choice, really, but to invite you as your reward. Aren’t you happy?”

“Hang on a sec, time out! I call a time-out!”

She granted me a time-out, and I stepped away from her and opened my screen.

I called up a chat app and quickly wrote an invitation to a chat group in which Tsukiori and Rei participated.

“Who wants to go to Ophelia’s place over summer break?! Please reply in big letters!”

“I’ll go if you go.”

“I’ll go wherever you go, brother dear.”

“Sorry, I don’t think I can make it.” (LOL.) “Can I tell her that the two of you will be there?”

They read that instantly, but a few minutes passed, and no one replied.

Crying, I went back to Ophelia.

“Ophelia… Ophelia, I’m sorry… I…I…”

“My invitation has made you so happy that you’re in tears. Hee-hee-hee, that’s fine.”

I was about to turn down her invitation, but I made up my mind after seeing the pure joy in her face.

It has been revealed that the way of the yuri was to die.

I hadn’t given up so much on my life as a human being that I had the nerve to turn her down now! I was going to protect Ophelia, and I would also protect my other yuri girls! And in doing that, I wasn’t going to boost my popularity rating by an inch! Hey…isn’t that right, Hiiro?!

“I’m not going to miss out on this fortunate opportunity. Of course, I’ll be there. I also informed Tsukiori and Rei, and they, too, were overwhelmed with joy, sobbing with excitement, saying they would be delighted to join us.”

“Tee-hee-hee-hee! Well, if you say so! Sobbing like they were watching a beautiful sunset in Arizona, were they?! Well, if they want that badly to be there, then I shall give them a chance to have a taste of the sweet and buttery mascarpone-like summer! It’s been quite a while since I spent my summer vacation in Japan instead of British Columbia!”

Suddenly, Ophelia was traveling the world. Unfazed, I straightened up and put a hand on my chest.

“Are you a loser?”

“Oh, yes! Of course. I am the queen of all losers!”

Hey, can a queen actually be this determined to be a loser…?!

Anyway, all’s well that ends well. Ophelia, I will sacrifice everything to protect your pride. But that aside, I would enjoy her performing as a foil while I made the yuri girls bloom.

As if to say our discussion was over, Ophelia shooed me away, and I headed off for my next class.

Houjou Magic Academy had a credit system.

As long as students earned the predetermined number of credits, they could advance to the next level and graduate, so to a certain extent, we could take classes in any way we pleased.

This was probably a feature that came from the original game.

In the original, we could take the Attribute Magic Education (from beginner to advanced) up to the sixth level to strengthen all our attribute parameters. Alternatively, we could learn about the Basic Application of the Magic Device and aim to specialize in firepower.

But in this world, we weren’t given that much freedom, which was because the teachers in charge couldn’t teach all their classes from first to sixth period, Monday through Friday.

The teachers at the academy might be excellent magic handlers who belong to the Magic Association or a Magic Society or the Demon Countermeasures Cooperation at the Ministry of Defense. They were busy as hell, so their schedules were managed with a fine-tooth comb.

In some cases, the timetable was updated within a day, and students could choose their classes to accommodate the busy teachers. After-school school guidance for club activities was almost entirely outsourced, and the fact that the school used a credit system suggested that it was mostly for the convenience of the teachers.

Since I’d had plenty of practice training with my master, I hadn’t chosen many math-related classes.

While I was careful to ensure that I would receive enough credits required to graduate, I selected subjects like Introduction to Exploring Dungeons and Field Survey of the Otherworld, which were three-semester courses that were held only on the weekends.

Houjou Magic Academy has a full range of facilities, and classes are sometimes held in the research wing, where studies are conducted on magic, conductors, and magic devices.

On this particular day, I was in a classroom in the research building where black curtains were drawn, next to Rei, who had selected the same class.

Offering us an Introduction to Conductors was Jody Camnival Footback, the homeroom teacher of Class D.

Ms. Camnival wore a paper bag with holes in it, through which bright-red eyeballs peeked out. She held a bloody butcher knife (magic device) in her hand and wore an apron with an adorable bear patch embroidered on the front.

“Okay, people. Does everyone have their textbook open?”

Called the cutest killer in the world by ESCO fans, she began talking in a super-cute voice.

“We’re going to pick up where we left off yesterday… Oh, hey, you.”

Thud, thud, thud. She came toward me, her butcher knife in hand. She came so close that I could feel her breath on my face. She made a neat ninety-degree turn and then whispered into my ear.

“You weren’t here for our last class, were you…?! Why is that…?!”

Rei, sitting to my right, put her hand on her magic device, and a student in the back screamed.

“No worries. I’ll lecture you all you need if you don’t understand something, like tearing the fibers off a person’s muscles one by one. I’ll teach you with the utmost care, and I want you to work hard like when you’re beating a piece of meat to stretch it out flat.”

The hot breath leaking through her paper bag tickled my ears. I couldn’t take my eyes off the red eyeballs, which kept moving up and down and sideways.

I nodded with a smile.

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to ask you if there’s anything I don’t understand.”

“Oh my, what a sweetheart. I’d like to measure your weight, cook you, and eat you myself.”

“Ha-ha-ha. That’s meat harassment, ma’am.”

“Oh, dear. This chunk of meat is a good talker.”

The teacher walked back to her teaching podium, and Rei exhaled in relief.

“Are you all right? That woman was probably carving your adductor and biceps in her mind. She was trying to decide whether to use the berries or cream as the sauce.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. Despite how she looks, that woman isn’t a butcher; she’s a saint.”

Ms. Camnival does volunteer work every weekend without fail.

She’d taken in abandoned dogs from shelters and raised them, never missed a donation, lived frugally, and took care of students with trouble keeping up with their classes outside work hours.

In the game, you can keep going along her route, which is a series of sub-events, and you’ll see what’s inside the paper bag covering her face at the very end.

Some circles even touted her as the best work the illustrator had ever created.

Ms. Camnival was by far the kindest teacher at Houjou Magic Academy.

She looked like a killer, but fans had even affectionately given her the nickname Murderer.

“Okay, then, everyone has a conductor in front of them, right?”

Huffing and puffing, Ms. Camnival picked up a small conductor.

“Conductors are classified into four basic types. Who can tell me what they are?”

After glancing at me with a “Watch me” appeal, Rei shot up her hand and stood up.

“Attribute, generation, operation, and change.”

“Well done, Rei Sanjo! You get full marks for that and a round of applause!”

She banged the butcher knife against the teacher’s podium, making the students in the front row scream.

“Oops, I got carried away. It’s hard to control yourself as you get older.”

Ms. Camnival used her magic to return the scattered wood chips to the table and grinned.

“Magic is basically a process of generating (attributes), operating, and making changes. That flow never changes, but high-ranking handlers of magic can also perform magic by manipulating and changing things and phenomena around them, thus eliminating the generation step. It isn’t as if one of the steps from generation to change, or transformation, is superior to the other. The Adventurers Association ranks conductors found in the dungeon according to how rare they are, but it’s no exaggeration to say that any conductor of any rarity has its uses.”

Ms. Camnival drew diagrams on the blackboard using chalk attached to the tip of her butcher knife. Slowly and carefully, she taught us the basics of conductors.

She told us to compile a simple report as our homework, and the class ended without incident.

I exited the classroom and walked down the corridor with Rei.

“I was too focused on intercepting in case something happened that I didn’t really learn anything. You’re clearly more experienced than I am, sitting there calm and collected like that.”

Rei glanced up at me and cleared her throat.

“I guess you’re probably more experienced in the romance department, too.”

Figuring it was okay to ignore her remark, I continued walking. But then Rei quickly looked left and right, slipped up to me, and tugged on my sleeve.

“Answer me. It’s important. We can’t have secrets between family members. How’s it going with Snow these days? You can’t do anything to create a stir concerning your love life.”

“Oh, uh… Um, well, she’s good at attacking me mentally, as usual.”

“Today… I gave a correct answer to a question Ms. Camnival asked, didn’t I…?”

Rei kept stroking her long hair and fixing it in place as she stared at me.

Huh? Why was she looking at me like that? She looked like a cat waiting for its favorite snack.

“Hey, Hiiro. There’s something in your precious sister’s hair. She’s been trying to get it out but has kept missing it. Hurry up and help her,” Alsuhariya said as she suddenly appeared, coming out of her shell despite being a homebody. Mumbling inwardly for the dumb piece of trash not to talk to me in public, I ran a hand through Rei’s hair to remove the object. She blushed and turned her head down.

“…I…never asked you to pat me on the head.”

“Huh?! Oh, um, someone said you had something in your hair.”

After she mumbled something, Rei’s head was still turned down as she took off. After straightening her posture after almost tripping and falling, she greeted a girl passing by and disappeared into the Rufus dormitory.

“You did it, Hiiro! You stroked the head of a girl who isn’t your girlfriend and acted like you were her boyfriend! Her heart must be racing, and she won’t be able to get any sleep tonight! Way to go! You’re like some gadget that prevents lovesick girls from getting any rest, you son of a gun!”

I carefully scraped Alsuhariya’s face on the asphalt below my feet, carefully crushed her head with a handy rock, hid the weapon in the bushes, and headed for my Fraum dorm.

Rei was living in the Rufus dorm, and Lapis was in the Caeruleum dorm.

Rei had problems concerning our Sanjo clan and was uncomfortable living in the main residence. Meanwhile, Lapis was fed up with the messengers from Alfheim (urging her to return to her kingdom), and it seemed life was easier for both of them to live in the dorms at the Houjou Magic Academy grounds.

They had both wanted to move into Fraum. However, the Rufus and Caeruleum managers succeeded in persuading them to move to their dorms, thus allowing us to avoid a situation where all these main characters would end up concentrated in a single dorm.

I wondered what I’d do when I got home this time around. Maybe I’d play a FLOWERS game again while Snow was out shopping. Hee-hee-hee, I was going to reboot my brain watching yuri girls.

I skipped on the street and went inside the entrance hall at Fraum, where I saw Lily fighting with two women clad in black suits in front of the stairway.

“Lily? What’s the matter? Is there a problem here—?”

Lily turned around, and I saw that she was in tears. Her cheeks were swollen and purplish red.

“Mr. Sanjo…”

The big women in dark suits clucked their tongues and tried to hit Lily with the back of their hands—trigger—and I jumped in between them and twisted one by the arm.

“…Hey.”

I gradually changed the direction of the force I was applying and bent the woman’s thick arm to the opposite side.

“Is it your job to hit women who don’t resist?”

The woman let out a cry of agony as I twisted her dominant arm. The other one drew her magic device—and I pulled my left fist out of my pocket and smashed the first woman’s jaw, then flipped my hand over to do the same thing to the other one.

The huge bodies crumpled to the floor, and Lily slumped and began to sob.

“Help… Please help…”

Enhanced projection—I ran up the stairs at once.

I slipped through and over the students gathered around the top floor to see what the commotion was about and kicked down the door to the dorm manager’s office, which was locked unnaturally.

There were two figures in the gorgeous room.

One was dignified and stately, and the other was timid and cautious.

The girl with the same platinum hair as the dorm leader sat at the desk, armed with a cane like a teacher who was about to start class.

She appeared in the original game, so I knew what her name was.

Chris Esse Eisbert—the second daughter of the Eisberts, which was said to be a family of remarkable people.

She was a child prodigy who skipped some grades and graduated from a magic graduate school in the United States. At the age of nineteen, she became a member of the magic society, the Conceptual Structure.

She had top-notch generation technology and had been awarded the title of Supreme Alchemist (given to superb handlers of magic).

She wore distinctive stained-glass earrings. The colors that shone in her eyes varied depending on the angle of the light.

Clad in a bell-shaped purple cloak, her magical eyes were now turned toward her sister.

Mule Esse Eisbert stood shrinking on the spot, desperately trying to keep her head up, perhaps in an attempt to maintain her dignity.

“Mule.”

The girl with the platinum hair glanced down at her sister, looking bored.

“What is this?”

She was holding a dorm newspaper with a picture that Mule had drawn.

Mule stammered, her face pale as she nervously twisted her fingers together.

“I-it’s…a newspaper…”

“And who drew this picture?”

As soon as Chris asked her that, Mule broke into a huge grin.

“I—I did! I drew it! I think it’s pretty good, if I say so myself! It isn’t as if I’m happy when other people say they like it, but Lily told me it was very popular in our dorm—”

Rip! Chris ripped the paper in half along the center and shredded it into tiny pieces.

Mule watched with a dumbfounded look on her face.

“I can’t believe this. Are you still unaware of your position?”

Chris sneered, her expression filled with arrogance.

“This dorm is a coffin that the Eisbert family prepared for you. It’s a custom-made darkness made solely for that purpose. Don’t try to sing. You’re a corpse. Nothing but a failure. Don’t attempt to shift the lid of your coffin and peek at the light.”

Dazed, Mule slumped on the spot as her sister showered her with ridicule.

“Why do you think someone as incompetent as you is allowed to attend Houjou Magic Academy? It’s thanks to the achievements the Eisbert family has made over the years and the authority it has achieved. I hear you’ve been writing to your mother that you’ve been working hard to help with operations at Fraum, but no one even reads those letters. Any mail with your name on it is incinerated before it reaches Mother.”

“I-I’ve never received a reply, and I realized that… B-but I…I just…”

Tears welled up in her eyes. Straining to speak, Mule squeezed out her words in a whisper. “I—I just thought I’d do what I could—”

“There is nothing that you can do.”

Chris smirked as she crossed her legs. “There is not a single thing that a failure like you can do. I don’t know what’s going on with this welcome party for newcomers, but who would possibly be interested in an event planned by a fake like you? No one in the world would want to participate in a party held by someone as useless as you are—”

“Excuse me.”

Grinning, I held up the dorm paper.

“I want to go to this welcome party for new students… Can I register here?”

With my back against the door I’d kicked open, I stomped into the dorm manager’s office and pasted the torn dorm paper back together with tape.

I slipped in between the sisters and handed it to Chris with a smile.

“Here you go.”

The look in her eyes brought a chill to my spine.

Her eyes were filled with murderous intent and shone brightly, looking as if she was ready to shoot me dead.

“Take a good look at that with those pretty eyes of yours,” I said; the corners of my mouth curved upward in a smile while I felt like those threatening eyes were suffocating me. “It’s a nice picture. Go and see an ophthalmologist if you can’t see it well. Do you want me to escort you if you can’t manage on your own?”

“Mule.”

Mule shivered.

“What is male trash doing in the dorm? Are you too incompetent a dropout to be aware of the laws of this world? Such individuals—”

Her Magic Eye spiraled and opened—

“Must be disposed of, right?”

Vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!

Desks sliced up into a huge number of squares soared in number, scattering blue flashes of light. They became a mountain, then surged toward me like a landslide, writhing around to restrain my limbs.

I jumped back on the spur of the moment.

The mahogany squares followed right behind me as if projecting my move, increasing in number as they rolled at me.

No, that wasn’t right. They weren’t rolling.

My skin stood on end when I realized that the propulsion caused by the rotation wasn’t due to the girl’s manipulation but was being caused by the aftermath of high-speed generation.

I realized at this point that I couldn’t compete with her using conventional methods.

Trigger. Craft twelve. Generate my invisible arrow.

Turning upside down in the air, I drew a path with my index and middle fingers—my eyes twitched—and a huge number of possible routes filled my field of vision.

Chris widened her eyes.

“What is with that volume of magic power you have…?!”

“Ngh!”

There was too much information before me.

My brain practically exploded, my vision blacked out, and I tried to reduce the output as much as I could—and a ball of magic power flew out from the tips of my fingers.

Chris clucked her tongue and pulled the trigger on her wand, causing a foam-like buffer to appear in front of her.

“Rise!!”

Break route. Reflect walls.

The magical route was destroyed, and a wall was created in front of the buffer, causing my invisible arrow to bounce off it and hit the ceiling.

I swung down my fingertips.

The arrow bounced off the wall again and flew at Chris from above her head.

“What an amateur! You don’t even know how to hide your magic power!!”

The buffer wrapped around her, preventing the arrow from hitting her.

She smiled, as if boasting her victory, and then the look on her face changed to astonishment.

It had already made contact.

I shot up my fist—and slammed it into the buffer.

I tried to follow through, but my arm was caught in the foam.

“Well, of course! Of course I’m not going to be able to beat you! Please, spare me my life!”

“I’m going to kill you.”

With blinding speed, Chris created a twisted spear and tried to use it to stab me to death—and was blocked by an anti-demon barrier.

“Whoa.”

Alsuhariya had manifested, and she was yawning in midair.

“Stop trying to kill yourself while I’m enjoying my afternoon naps. Just how badly do you plan to make your brain deteriorate, you yuri-crazed ape? Use your head for once.”

“Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!”

“Oh, brother. This is why I didn’t feel like coming to you.”

“Who…? What…are you…?”

Astonished, Chris gritted her teeth.

“So you’re Sakura Tsukiori… What unbelievable magic power… I’m amazed that you can fight this well with only your senses, but…”

“Ah. I haven’t introduced myself yet,” I said and laughed, my hold on Alsuhariya still firm.

“I’m Hiiro Sanjo, protector of yuri girls. In other words, I’m your enemy.”

“Hiiro…Sanjo…”

I was freed from the bonds restraining me. Chris got off the desk and spread out her cloak.

“I have no intention of making the Sanjos feel indebted to me or harming you. Killing you would be troublesome. I’ll let you live, but if you should be further involved with that defective piece of trash there—”

Her spiral-shaped evil eye pierced me, and she thrust her business card at me.

“—I’ll kill you.”

I took the card and tore it up in style.

The card tore in two and slowly fell to the floor.

Whoosh!

The wind blew in through the open window, blowing away the business card, and Chris looked like she was about to cry (in my view).

I gently wiped the corner of her eye with a finger and walked past her.

She glared at me.

“I’ll kill you—”

Thud!! The floorboards she’d made flew up and pushed me away, and I was knocked into the wall with tremendous force.

“I was just trying to show you an example of cool behavior! That’s all!”

“Die.”

Ignoring my complaint, Chris briskly walked away.

Apparently regaining her senses, Mule cautiously approached me.

“H-Hiiro Sanjo… Are you okay?”

“Fine, other than the fact that my master contacted me to say the yuri manga I lent her exploded in her hands (due to the strength of her grip). Also, I probably broke a rib.”

“Mr. Sanjo!”

The color was drained from Lily’s face as she rushed into the room and pulled me up while I groaned in mental agony.

“I’m terribly sorry…to have asked you to help…when you have nothing to do with the Eisberts… I’m truly sorry…”

“Never mind me, I’m fine. Now, hurry up and take care of the dorm leader! That would make me heal faster! Ah! I’m already starting to feel better, just imagining it!!”

Lily busied herself taking care of my wounds, but I was more concerned about the swelling on her cheek. After checking my condition and giving me first aid, Lily lowered her face and blushed.

“H-humph!! You were lucky, Hiiro Sanjo! If my sister had been serious, you would have been nothing more than dead meat by now! I hope you’ve learned your lesson and will stop sticking your nose in other people’s business—”

“Mule!!”

Lily yelled at the dorm manager, making her jump.

“Say thank you to Mr. Hiiro! Right now!!”

“I—I never…asked him to do anything… Besides, he’s a male…”

“Mule!!”

“…Th-thanks,” she muttered. I saw that Lily was about to continue to give her a lecture, so I stopped her.

“Hey, I was the one who stuck my nose in her affairs. It was my doing, so there’s no need for you to be so mad at her. In fact, I’d like you to be angry at me and thank the dorm manager.”

“Whoa!! Hiiro Sanjo, what you’re saying makes no sense to me, but are you aware of your position—? Ngh!”

Lily glared at Mule, and she slumped in defeat.

“Mr. Sanjo.”

Lily gave me a deep bow.

“Thank you so much for coming to her aid. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come.”

“It was a good way to pass the time. Please call me anytime.”

Lily smiled, and I smiled back at her and showed her the dorm paper.

“This welcome party for new students sounds like a lot of fun. It was easy to protect it from her evil hands. I am the god of welcome, after all. Ha-ha-ha. I guess even a girl the world calls a genius was blind to the broader world.”

“Thank you. All right, then, I’m accepting your application to participate in our welcome party.”

“Huh?!”

The petite dorm manager stiffened in surprise and then slapped me on the back with a laugh.

“Oh, yeah, right! That’s why you came here! Hiiro Sanjo, you’re the first to apply! Okay! It goes to show your loyalty to our dorm! You wanted so badly to be at our party that you even challenged my sister! To reward you, I will allow you to help with the preparations and serve as my assistant!”

“Oh, um… I…I…”

“Mule, I don’t think you should ask him all that… Besides, I don’t know about having someone being welcomed to the dorm to help with the preparations.”

“But he’s volunteering. See? The patron saint of welcoming parties is full of motivation.”

They both glanced at me.

I saw expectation in their eyes. I thought about the possibility of Chris trying to ruin the event, and I was concerned about what the dorm manager might do, considering her issues… With everything meshed together, I laughed, though I wanted to cry.

“Oh, I see it now… What I wanted to do…was help…!!”

Thus, I was appointed as Mule’s assistant to prepare for our welcome party for new students.

It was the second time for me to have my broken ribs fixed inside my body.

I greeted the doctor I saw in the university examination room whom I recognized from the luxury cruiser.

“Doctor. What are you doing here?”

“I can’t sail on a luxury liner every day of the year. As the sole doctor aboard a ship, I need a broad range of medical knowledge and experience in internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. Additionally, social and language skills are essential. When the ship isn’t at sea, there are times I spend time on land, caring for the foolish antics of the noble class.”

“Hmm, that sounds like hard work. I hope you can refresh yourself now and then by examining some smart nobles.”

“……”

She started examining me, and we went through a familiar routine.

The doctor put away her magic device and let out a loud sigh. The nurse beside her chuckled.

“How many ribs must you break to make yourself happy? Do you understand that it would be a major disaster if the bone pierces the lung?”

“I can understand that it isn’t a big deal if the bone doesn’t puncture the lung… Doctor?”

“Why is it that I don’t see any apparent external head injuries?”

The great doctor, who was more concerned about examining my head than my broken ribs, sent me home after lecturing me.

Even though I canceled practice with my master because I was advised to rest for the day, she told me to come, saying there was training I could participate in despite my injury.

And for some reason, we were at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.

My master was waiting for me in front of the place. As far as looks went, she was a beauty. A rare elf with silver hair and blue eyes, she clearly stood out from the crowd and drew attention.

Perhaps unaware that people were watching her, she fidgeted nervously.

“Ah!!”

She started waving with enthusiasm as soon as she saw me.

“Hiiro! Over here! Your gorgeous, beloved master is right here!”

The stares that had been focused on her shifted over to me. I headed over, full of embarrassment, as my irritatingly cute master jumped up and down to let me know where she was.

“Master, I’m sneaking out during our lunch break. Please don’t be too conspicuous, or people will call my school and accuse me of being a delinquent.”

“But you get to eat sushi.”

“Besides, I’m having sashimi for dinner tonight. Snow would pack me in a bowl of vinegared rice and sink me in Tokyo Bay if I admitted to eating sushi for lunch.”

“But you get to eat sushi.”

W-was this four-hundred-and-twenty-year-old going to stick to that line, But you get to eat sushi, no matter what…?! She’s supposed to be of a mature age. She should be arguing, using convergence theory (like “It’s okay as long as you’re happy” or “It’s delicious, so you’ll be fine”). Doesn’t this make her a failure as an intellectual elf…?!

I was standing there appalled when I heard a pop, and a notice appeared on my screen.

I’d received a chat.

My master looked over my shoulder and grinned. It was a stamp of a penguin icon giving a thumbs-up.

“Ah. I see that my stamp has arrived safely.”

Th-this elf is too much…!!

The playful elf grinned as she tapped her unmarked grave marker.

“It’s only natural that if you grow, then so will I. Can you keep up with me—at my speed?”

It amazes me that she sounds so confident when she’s already a lap behind.

As my master carefully showed me how to send someone a stamp, I felt better after retorting by sending her a homemade one-click scam mail (a video appears of her crying that she can’t send her stamp to anyone when she clicks on it).

We went inside the restaurant and sat at a table for four. Naturally, my master came and sat next to me.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

I pointed to the seat across from me.

“People normally sit facing each other. Look at those people over there. A conveyor belt sushi place is where a little bullet train comes sliding along the rail in front of you with plates of sushi. If you sit next to me on the aisle side, I’d have to pick up all your sushi for you. When you come to a place like this as a pair, the unwritten rule is that you sit across from each other.”

“All you have to do is get me my sushi.”

“Leave it to a four-hundred-and-twenty-year-old to be good at making people work for her.”

My master beamed as she kept pushing her body against mine.

“Besides, this is more fun. We get to be cozy. Yeah!”

“H-hey, master, s-stop doing that! Stop it! Right now!”

We both laughed as we pushed and shoved against each other.

Finally, after a waitress passed by and gave us a dirty look as if she couldn’t believe what we were doing, we turned serious.

“Okay, so how are you going to order? Do you want to steal sushi from the table next to us?”

“Guilty from your first move. What are you, a reincarnation of Arsène Lupin? What we’re going to do is synchronize our magic devices with the restaurant and order through their screen. Then we’ll get our sushi brought to us on the conveyor belt.”

“…What language are you speaking in?”

“Japanese, of course!!”

I called up the screen and showed my master the order screen with a huge lineup of sushi. She leaned in close to me, ruffled her hair, and a nice scent wafted in the air.

“Wow, they have a lot to choose from. Japanese hospitality is just as wonderful as I’d expected.”

“……”

“Hiiro?”

She looked into my face, and I cleared my throat after unconsciously admiring my master’s face.

“A-anyway, order whatever you want. It’s your treat.”

“It’s actually where each of us pays for our own meal. Huh?!?! Hey, Hiiro, look!!”

She was suddenly very excited and banged the screen like a little kid.

“They have ramen noodles! Ramen! I’m going to have ramen! I can’t believe it! What, is Japan still in the midst of a cultural enlightenment?! This is about the only country in the world where you can get ramen at a sushi restaurant!! Are the noodles pouring out of some faucet?!”

Laughing, I waved my finger from left to right and called up the dessert menu.

My master was rendered speechless when I showed her the sparkling ruby cake.

“It’s a strawberry shortcake.”

She tapped the screen with a fingertip, then turned pale and shook her head.

“Th-this can’t be possible… A…st-strawberry shortcake at a sushi restaurant…? I-it’s arrogant…beyond what’s allowed humanity…”

“Welcome to the underground,” I whispered in her ear.

Still fussing over everything, we ordered savory egg custard, ramen, roast beef—”

“…I think I’m done.”

“…Me too.”

We were full without eating a single piece of sushi.

Switching to the dessert we’d been looking forward to, I ordered a fruit jelly, and my master had a strawberry shortcake as we got down to business.

“Hiiro. What is inside you?”

I figured my master would notice, even if I’m the only one who can see her.

Wondering how to answer her question, I stared at a demon who was focused on eating a thick, juicy omelet.

“It’s essentially something bad, but I don’t think it can do any harm now. You might say it’s like a cockroach, since you’d kill it if you saw it.”

“It’s because of the thing you have inside you that your magic power has suddenly surged to unusual proportions, isn’t it? Does it have something to do with the girl who was with you when you came back?”

I nodded with my spoon in my mouth.

“Hiiro.”

My master laughed wryly.

“Strictly from the standpoint of magic power, you’ve actually become weaker.”

I sighed, understanding what she meant, as I stirred my jelly.

“At present, you aren’t in control of the magic power you’ve suddenly gained. You’re toning down the output of your invisible arrow when you shoot it, but it’s still more powerful than you could ever imagine, and you aren’t able to exert your full force because you don’t know how to adjust your physical enhancements.”

“Leave it to my master to see through everything. Congratulations, you’ve just won yourself a trip to Hawaii.”

My master reached out and gave me a gentle pat on the head.

“In all honesty, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to master it all. The invisible arrow you taught me has become weaker, and it’s just a big lump of magic power now. I had an incident with a high-ranking magic handler yesterday, and she said I was an amateur who didn’t even know how to hide my magic power.”

“The invisible arrow is essentially a magic arrow that mixes in with magic operators in the air so it can’t be detected. Since you aren’t in control of your magic power now, you put too much strength into it, and your opponent’s magic detection catches it because it’s no longer invisible. Put simply, it’s no longer an invisible arrow.”

She was right.

Even a magic handler of Chris’s caliber wouldn’t be able to respond to an invisible arrow when she first encountered it. Even Alsuhariya, a powerful demon from outside this world, couldn’t have avoided it if she hadn’t seen it before.

“Hiiro, you’re standing at a crossroads now,” my master said, holding up her index finger to demonstrate that turning point.

“It’s a crossroads of whether you’ll be a genius or mediocre. If you’re able to learn how to use that overwhelming magic, you’ll be a magic handler hailed as a genius. But the reverse is also true.”

She smiled at me.

“Do you want to become stronger, Hiiro?”

Various faces came to mind.

Every one of them was someone I had to protect, who I didn’t want to lose. So I quietly nodded. “Yeah.”

My master nodded in reaction to my resolve.

“All right, then. Shall we move on to our next training stage?”

She stood up and tossed the last remaining strawberry into her mouth.

“Starting next time, we’re changing our location. You only need to bring one thing with you—your resolve.”

“Sounds good,” I said, getting on my feet with a wry smile on my face. “That’s the one thing I always have on me.”

After saying goodbye to my master, I headed back to the academy, where I was meeting with Mule.

“You’re late! You’re late, Hiiro Sanjo! What have you been doing?! Which slow train were you taking a ride on?! Don’t tell me you don’t even know how to read a clock?!”

Mule was standing at our meeting place, dressed in her casual clothes and baring her teeth at me.

She was wearing a black sleeveless dress with a cap on her head. Swinging around her tiny handbag, she was the very picture of a small tyrant who ruled a small country. But as you’d expect of a heroine, she sure looked cute.

Her platinum hair shone in the sunlight like grains of light were scattered all over it, as if she were spraying golden sand with her every move.

Stomping her feet in frustration, she looked up at me as she barked, “It’s people who make me wait that I hate the most!! I told you to be punctual! This is a loss for me! A loss! How the hell do you plan to make up for it, huh?!”

“Mule, you’re the one who doesn’t know how to read a clock. Mr. Sanjo is right on time. Why do you have to be so mad?” Lily said as she glanced at her watch. She had changed from her smart maid outfit to a neat spring look consisting of a pure-white tuck blouse and a long flared skirt.

Unlike when she was in her formal maid’s uniform, she looked somewhat defenseless as she let out a giggle.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanjo. For some reason, this child has always been strict about meeting times—though she doesn’t hold herself to the same standard.”

“……” (I was imagining these two girls going out on a yuri date in their casual clothes.)

“See? Even Mr. Sanjo can’t believe how you’re acting. Please, Mule, behave yourself.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! It’s outrageous to make an Eisbert wait!! Making me wait so long, what was he doing, traveling across the continent?! What a lovely position he’s in! He must have money. If he does, then he should take me with him!!”

“I’m sorry she’s making such a commotion. She usually sleeps in, but when she gets this way, she’s like an alarm clock,” Lily said, laughing, and I shook my head.

“No problem, it’s actually quite sweet. I would love to watch the two of you go on like that together for the rest of my life. That’s the type of guy I am.”

“Lily, this guy is really creepy sometimes…”

“Mule! He came and saved you yesterday!”

Creepy was creepy. I didn’t think it mattered if I’d saved her yesterday or if she were a crane I’d rescued from a trap.

Having come out of my school uniform wearing casual clothes that Snow had chosen, since I’d been told to do so, I asked our dorm manager, “So, where are we going shopping to get the stuff we need for the welcome party?”

“You shouldn’t even need to ask,” she replied, puffing out her chest confidently. “A maid café!”

“…Huh?”

I slowly tilted my head in question.

Akihabara—an underground cybertown in Tokyo.

Tokyo in the ESCO world is modeled on Tokyo, Japan, in the real world. But everything isn’t the same. There are big differences depending on where you go.

For example, Akihabara is called cybertown in ESCO.

Three-dimensional holographic images are projected on a video device that uses a large, specialized magic-laying device. The device shows glimpses of the advanced technology concentrated in Tokyo, an advanced technopole.

It’s a chaos of 3D images of anime characters, maiko girls, and avant-garde art that appear above, below, left and right, and all around you.

It’s so crude that some people give up on playing the game in three minutes.

In the game, you can visit Akihabara as many times as you want, as long as you plan it and pay the train fare.

The purpose of visiting Akihabara is to make money, shop, explore dungeons, or attend events, out of which players place particular importance on the first two: to make money or to shop.

There are part-time jobs in Akihabara called human generators that convert magic power into electricity, and you can earn money according to the amount of magic power you generate.

In this world, magic power exists as a source of energy, and as long as you can get a converter, you can use it as an alternative to electricity to power electronic devices.

Because many shops deal in hardware, software, and niche magic devices and conductors, players who play in particular ways (as do members of the ESCO Society) frequent Akihabara.

For example, efficient players buy large quantities of electronic devices, connect them to themselves, and use them to hack into online banks owned by the demonic religion to steal money (the most efficient way to make money in the game).

But because magic power tends to belong to individuals, it isn’t easy to convert back and forth between magic and electricity. Unlike magic devices, which are built so anyone can use them, electronic devices require conductors to be set up with specialized knowledge to successfully convert a person’s magic into electric power.

In the Sacred Yuri Empire, Ruby used the kingdom’s base magic power (a large amount of magic power siphoned off the land it occupied) to run her PCs and specialized magic-laying devices.

That conversion between magic and electricity wasn’t something that an individual could do. Even in the game, I paid experts in Akihabara to do it for me.

You could tell from the standpoint of the original game that Ruby really was abnormal.

Anyway, I’ve gone on at length with my explanations, but our objective on this occasion was not to make money or go shopping. It was to visit a maid café.

No matter how many times I asked our dorm manager why we were headed to one, she wouldn’t answer, only replying that I’d understand when we got there.

Maids with translucent bodies walked up and down the street, holding signboards for their businesses.

They were 3D images.

A system based on volume display was used to project 3D images by moving and coloring the magic operators in the air using a magic device. Because a huge amount of data communication was needed, a quantum teleportation method was used, with the magic operator as the communication medium.

This is based on the technology of volumetric displays and is completely different from holography, which reproduces recorded light… However, for some reason, it was called 3D imagery.

A large, specialized magic-laying device for video output was installed in the store. Behind the hardworking device, the store owner turned away from his duties, smoking a cigarette and reading a magazine. In the junk shop next door, used PCs were piled up from the floor to the ceiling like vegetables or something, next to which were cell phones posed as genuine products that were registered to other people.

The street underground was called Shutter Street, where its usual chaos was nothing more than routine.

Our dorm manager descended the narrow staircase, leading us farther underground from the underground level.

Plaster walls were on either side of the staircase, where stickers from indie bands and posters from coffee shops screamed out their advertising slogans in every direction. A sign was put up on the lowest landing, which said: “MAIDCAFÉ (the real thing).”

You didn’t usually write that it was real, because that was to be expected.

I looked at the sign, which was covered with a suspicious smell, opened the door, and stepped inside—and saw Snow, wearing her usual maid outfit, who turned around and looked this way.

“You’re a real maid!!”

“Huh? Didn’t you see the sign? I haven’t given up on my maid career so badly that I’d violate the Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.”

“What are you doing here?! Don’t suddenly show up like that! It’s bad for my heart!”

“Stop treating me like a browser crasher, you no-good jerk of a master! Maybe you’ve never seen a beautiful girl pop out when you opened a door, but such cute maids still exist in the world. This is an authentic maid café, after all.”

I glanced around the store and saw sophisticated maids working gracefully with their refined manners.

The place used high-end brand tableware from companies like Royal Copenhagen and Meissen, and even a first-timer like me could tell that all the furnishings were of top quality.

Unlike a cosplay café that was more like a hostess bar, you could feel the heady atmosphere of the real thing, conveyed through all five of your senses.

“Was it Mule who introduced my maid to her side job here?”

“No, sir, I’m sorry. I was the one who suggested she work here,” Lily said, bowing her head apologetically.

“Hey, why do you suspect me first?”

“Is that right? Well, then, it’s okay.”

“Hey, I asked you why you suspected me! Answer me!”

Mule started hitting me on the back.

I turned my attention to Snow, who was spinning a silver tray in her hand. With a wry smile on her face, she said, “I asked her not to mention it to you. You’re too spoiled and too dependent on me as my master, and I knew you’d start showing your possessive tendencies, and things would get complicated if I said I wanted to get a job. A girl has it tough when she has a clinging fiancé.”

“I’m sorry that Snow began working here without speaking to you, her fiancé, about this, sir,” Lily said. “We couldn’t keep it a secret forever, so we were talking about revealing it to you at this time.”

“Then what about that idea of using a maid café to do the preparations for our welcome party for new students?”

“That part was true,” Mule said. “I don’t lie. Trust is the most important asset that I must maintain as the individual in charge of our dormitory, and I can’t allow myself to lie. It’s meticulous correctness about the smallest details that will lead to improving my reputation, and I know that everyone will eventually start to listen to me.”

The dorm leader puffed out her chest and snorted.

“Okay, that’s enough talk. Why don’t you stop chatting and take your seats? I’ll give you special treatment, Master, and the exit is over there for when you leave, and the water is self-service.”

“Hey, if you give me special treatment, people will find out about what a loving couple we are. Now, go and get us some water, as if you’re making an offering to God.”

“Here you go.” (She splashes me with water.)

“Where’s the manager of this place?!”

I was soaked to the skin, and Lily started wiping my head with a handkerchief.

Snow clucked her tongue as she watched. Then she threw the menu at me, clicked her heels, and disappeared into the back of the shop.

“But hey, Lily, why did Snow choose this place? What is this place anyway?”

“It’s a café where the maids who were fired by the Eisberts work. Snow is in charge of organizing them.”

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the hardworking maids were staring at Mule with a mixture of fear and awe.

Meanwhile, our dorm manager seemed oblivious to their attention and instead focused on the pancakes on the menu.

“……”

“…I see.”

The Eisberts, huh? They were a respectable family that had locked their daughter away from society in a yellow dormitory, isolating her from the world and oppressing her as a clan.

They distinguished people by their class, whether they belonged to the upper, middle, or lower class, and disregarded those below the middle class.

That disregard was one of the reasons that made the Eisberts the Eisberts.

Through a rigorous selection process, the Eisbert family produced only the best of the best, leaving its mark on posterity as an elite family of nobles.

But I wondered how many people had been buried away in the darkness behind the scenes. The names on the list of victims had to be as numerous as the stars in the sky, just like the maidens who were working at this maid café.

“From the standpoint of contracts, termination in itself isn’t legal. However, the reasons for the dismissal of these girls are mostly criticism against them. It isn’t as if they had made huge mistakes. I had basically been suggesting other jobs to those who were dismissed, but some wanted to continue working as maids. The fact that they had worked for the Eisbert family was proof that they had high levels of skills, and you couldn’t expect them to give up their work that easily.”

“So because Mule is regularly monitored by her family, she can’t hire them openly, which is why she opened this maid café and has them working here.”

“Precisely. They make enough to pay for all the expenses and maintenance costs.”

I saw that Snow was briskly giving instructions to the maids.

“But why does it have to be Snow? Isn’t it a big responsibility for her to be the leader of those girls?”

Lily stared at me.

“Snow was once the head maid at the Sanjo residence.”

“…Huh?”

I couldn’t help letting out a gasp.

“She was the head maid there? Are you sure she wasn’t just helping out when they had events going on? Isn’t she a mob character?”

“A mob character…? I’m not sure what that means, but in my opinion, she has outstanding qualities as a maid. She’s extraordinarily sensitive to the needs and desires of her employer, and her instructions are precise. She has probably been carrying out her duties, going beyond the scope of a maid. Otherwise, she couldn’t have acquired the skills she has at her age.”

Was Snow a protagonist type who hid her true abilities? To be honest, I thought she was just a silly maid who worked while putting on comedy acts with me.

“Why did she quit working for the Sanjos? That can’t just be a case of lost opportunity, can it?”

“She said she owed you a favor,” Lily said in response as I mumbled my thoughts out loud.

“You’re a kind man, Mr. Sanjo,” she whispered, smiling beautifully. “You’ve probably helped many people over time.”

I was getting a bad feeling and broke out in a cold sweat.

Don’t tell me flags from the original Hiiro were coming to light at this point. You had to be kidding. Nothing like that happened in the main ESCO story. The only thing I could think of was that the flags were turned on when I became reincarnated as Hiiro in this world…but why?

F-forget it. I should stop thinking too much about stuff like that. I was going to protect myself. I just broke my ribs yesterday, and I didn’t want to be sent to the hospital again at this point because of a self-inflicted injury to my brain.

“Okay, so I understand what kind of place this is and why Snow works here. But I don’t see how that relates to the welcome party for new students at our school.”

“A welcome party requires maids to serve the new students,” Mule said matter-of-factly, holding a knife and fork in her hands.

“It was my idea!” Mule exclaimed. “I thought it would be a good idea to have her work in the sun once in a while instead of working grimly in a basement like this. I’m hiding these girls here because Lily insisted, and I’m sure they’d be happy if they could be useful to me!”

A plate of fluffy pancakes appeared, and Mule cheered in glee.

With a big smile on her face, our dorm manager began cutting her pancakes into tiny pieces. Meanwhile, Lily’s face was clouded with anxiety.

“It is a good idea—”

I finished her sentence for her.

“Eight or nine out of ten, the Eisbert family will do something to interfere.”

Actually, it was already decided that they’d show up.

However, their interference attempt was crushed in advance by Tsukiori, which made Mule trust her more. That was how the welcome party was supposed to go, but since Hiiro Sanjo had been chosen as a special designee for the event, it looked like I was going to be playing Tsukiori’s role.

“U-um,” one of the maids who brought us our pancakes whispered in a trembling voice. “I’d like to help if I can… I don’t want to waste the opportunity that Ms. Mule has given us, and I’d also like to repay you, Ms. Lily, for everything you always do to take care of us… Besides, I want to let the Eisbert family know…that we aren’t failures…”

The other maids seemed to feel the same way.

Once brimming with confidence and pride, their faces were now clouded after they’d been labeled unwanted items. Still, they were trying to look at their future in a positive light.

Snow glanced at me and smiled.

As if to tell me that she knew what I was going to say in response in a few seconds.

“No, it’s dangerous. Mr. Sanjo is a person capable of stopping Ms. Chris, and if he says it’s dangerous, you should consider it a good opportunity to give up on the idea—”

“No, let’s do it.”

Lily widened her eyes in surprise. She must have expected me to agree and persuade the girls with her.

“There’s a war going on between us and the Eisbert family. There’s no reason for you girls to be forced to a dark and dingy place like this backstage. Yuri girls only bloom in the sun. And if that’s the case, then it’s my role to remove the shadows you’re in and restore your right to be in the sun.”

The maids felt the energy from my words, and I could see them becoming alive again.

“Let’s make the welcome party a success. Then I’ll go to the Eisberts—”

I grinned and spread out my arms. “I’ll show them what it really means to be first-class.”

Snow smiled while Lily’s mouth hung open. As for Mule—

“Where’s our ice cream…?”

She was waiting for the ice cream she wanted to pile on top of her pancakes.

Everything was going according to my plan.

Just a few minutes ago, I had made a point of saying I’d show the Eisberts what it really meant to be first-class, but the person who was indeed truly first-class was Sakura Tsukiori.

In the original story, it was her, our protagonist, who resolved the issue over this welcome party. Not Hiiro Sanjo, a walking body bag. It wasn’t a scene for him to appear.

Because if I were there to make things right, people would like me even more, wouldn’t they?

That said, it would leave me with a bad aftertaste to leave the Eisberts as they were, and a guy who didn’t do anything to help these girls could never protect his favorite yuri ladies.

How was I going to make the welcome party a success and credit Tsukiori with the accomplishments? That was my challenge and top priority.

If I could give her all the credit, then my popularity would drop after all the big talk I gave, and Mule, Lily, and Snow’s impressions of me should surely hit rock bottom.

I liked people who didn’t like me.

It was about time I regained Hiiro Sanjo’s original standing. It was still early in the game, but I also had to get Tsukiori to make friends with the heroines.

Not that I planned to have her do everything.

I would take care of all the messy, troublesome parts, and if everyone turned their negative feelings to me, then we should achieve a good balance.

Neither this world nor its heroines can be saved without Sakura Tsukiori.

To tell you the flow of the original game, my defeating (absorbing) Alsuhariya shouldn’t have much effect on the plot. ESCO was a highly flexible world, and a path existed to a happy ending, even if Tsukiori didn’t defeat a single demon.

As long as we maintain the main story about Tsukiori and the heroines attending Houjou Magic Academy, they will eventually be happy.

That is, as long as Tsukiori acquires the necessary skills and remains alive.

But Tsukiori was a cheat character whom the god of the game loved, and maybe I didn’t need to go out of my way to look after her.

The point was that I couldn’t be too forward.

But anyway, it was about time I got to see some yuri girls in action! What was going on here? This was a yuri game, yet the main character wasn’t interested in pursuing another girl!! I might drop to the floor and start wailing!!

I established a basic plan and returned to Fraum to look for Tsukiori.

Basically, I took covert actions at Fraum, since a label existed on my body that said yuri removal agent.

I was in the distortion field, becoming one with the ceiling through optical camouflage, as I watched the dorm residents head to the large bath facilities.

“God, I’m tired today. Let’s head on over quickly! I’ll wash your back for you!”

“Then I’ll wash yours after that.”

Oh, how wonderful. It felt as if I’d washed my dry eyes with pure spring water from a plateau. My eyesight had improved, and everything was clear to me, with my ten-zero vision.

I let the two girls pass me and climbed down along the wall, then headed for Tsukiori’s room.

Slide, slide, slide…

“Hey, did you hear that? It sounded weird, like someone was sanding their body with a file.”

“Huh…?! Maybe it’s the ghost people are talking about, where it sounds as if someone’s crawling around on the floor, the wall, or the ceiling, occasionally letting out creepy noises, like ngh! ”

“Ooh, that’s scary!! Maybe it’s a pervert instead of a supernatural phenomenon!!”

Sorry, but I’m the type of person who can’t always stop letting out my voice. When I play a yuri game and the screen goes dark, I can see some creepy otaku with a smirk on his face and feel like dying. Maybe I still need more training to become a silent wall.

I held my breath and made my way past the girls.

Somehow, I managed to reach Tsukiori’s room without anyone seeing me and remained invisible as I knocked on her door.

The door clicked open, and I canceled my magic.

“Hey, Tsukiori, good morning. All the girls throughout the world are crazy about you, you know?”

She had been sleeping. She was wearing a baggy hoodie and yawned as she mumbled, “Good morning… What’s up? Have you been sneaking into our rooms overnight?”

“Tsukiori, it isn’t even evening yet. Please don’t make me reverse day and night and meet the criteria to become a sex offender.”

Tsukiori was unusually vulnerable as she yawned and invited me inside.

Maybe because she was wearing an oversized hoodie, I could almost see bare skin, and being the gentleman that I was, I resisted by looking up at the ceiling.

I stepped into her room.

She only had the minimum amount of furniture necessary.

I could see that she was using the items provided by the dorm, and she probably left the cleaning to the dorm janitor. The room was clean and tidy, but nothing showed who she was; the only thing hanging on the wall was her magic device.

Tsukiori began to doze off as soon as she took a seat.

“Do you want me to come back later? Hey, Tsukiori, do you always take a nap as soon as you come back from classes?”

Even when a game player added stuff to her schedule and made her busy as hell, Tsukiori obediently acted the way they wanted her to without a single complaint.

I never had the impression that she liked to sleep, but the background material might have said she could learn while she slept, and it was true that, for some reason, her ability values went up after getting some sleep.

“…Yeah.”

“Oh, hey!! Go to bed if you’re going to take a nap!”

She became horizontal and began to sleep peacefully in my lap.

Her beautiful chestnut-colored hair spread out and tickled my thighs and calves.

I was captivated and tried combing my fingers through her hair. It didn’t have a single split end, and it passed through my fingers smoothly without resistance, like a natural fiber that all of humankind would have wanted.

She stirred and buried her face in my stomach, her head moving as if digging a hole in my body like a hare nesting in its burrow.

I figured she must have been tired, since she’d lately been spending a lot of time in dungeons. She was going to have to make numerous heroines fall in love with her, so I thought I’d let her get some rest.

I smiled—and heard a knock on the door.

“Hey, Sakura, are you awake? Of course you are at this hour. I’m coming in.”

It was Lapis.

Panicked, I set out to lower Tsukiori’s head from my body—and the door opened—and I quickly activated my optical camouflage.

“It’s about time you got up—huh?! Have you been sleeping like that lately?! Do you have some bug in your body?!”

Because I’d made Tsukiori invisible while continuing to hold her head, she floated in the air and looked like she was sleeping acrobatically.

“What’s the matter, Lapis? It’s bad manners to shout like that. No matter how startled you may be, you should at least train yourself to maintain your composure—don’t you think?!”

Rei walked into the room and screamed.

“Do the Japanese like to work their bodies, even when they’re sleeping?! Isn’t that going overboard with the corporate animal mentality?! Is the concept of labor a national sport or something?!”

“U-um, no, it’s more like Sakura’s different here. Perhaps she’s a forerunner in extreme sports, pushing herself even while she sleeps. Maybe we can call it extreme sleep…?”

“Extreme sleep?!”

As Rei and Lapis went on screaming, I desperately continued to support Tsukiori’s body in the air.

Dang. If they saw me here, it would look as if Tsukiori brought me, a guy, into her room. I doubted if I could show myself at this point and settle things without causing a misunderstanding. It would be the end of my yuri dreams if they thought she and I were an item. I had to find a way to bluff my way out of the room!

I quickly lowered Tsukiori’s head to the floor when the two others looked away.

“Lapis, Sakura’s head seems to have remembered gravity. Maybe it was just an issue with the angle that made her look like she was in a strange position.”

“Oh, you’re right. Huh. I guess we were seeing things.”

I stuck to the wall as Lapis and Rei stepped farther into the room.

“Come on, Sakura, wake up. We’re going downstairs to have dinner, aren’t we?”

Lapis shook her, and Tsukiori lazily raised her upper body and stretched.

“…Huh? Where’s Hiiro?”

“My brother? We haven’t seen a shadow of him anywhere.”

“He was sneaking in here a moment ago… I guess I was dreaming.”

“O-oh, come now. Hiiro wouldn’t do that. He’s nice. He’s the type who hates things like that.”

“Is that how you see him in your dreams, Lapis?”

Rei grinned.

“My brother is a man of action. I believe that if he had a partner whom he loved from the bottom of his heart, he would take her in his arms whether or not she complained. He’s come to my rescue many times, you know.”

“I know he’s a man of action. But isn’t he shy when it comes to relationships? H-he probably wouldn’t do anything unless the other person started it.”

Lapis blushed and cast down her eyes, and Tsukiori yawned.

“So, Lapis, you’re saying you’d take the initiative to seduce him, huh?”

“Wh-what? What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you’re saying. H-Hiiro and I are good rivals…nothing more and nothing less…I think.”

Lapis slowly turned red from her neck to her cheeks.

Standing next to her, Rei cleared her throat and clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest.

“I want to pay my brother back for all he’s done for me. I don’t know what these feelings I have for him mean…but it’s the first time I’ve felt this way about someone.”

Tsukiori, Rei, and Lapis continued talking about me.

Thirty minutes later, the girls were still talking about me. My hands were clamped over my mouth, my eyes wide open in despair, and my knees were shaking as they trembled.

Whoa…! Wasn’t I too popular among these girls…?

They were going on and on about how I saved them, what I did, what I liked, and so on. It was like an endless Ring Road game as they kept chatting away about Hiiro Sanjo.

My sense of doom grew stronger and stronger.

I looked up at the ceiling, struggling to hold back my sobs as tears flowed down my cheeks.

J-just how far…did I have to make them like me less…? Tell me, Yuri God…what was I supposed to do now…?

“Oh, hey, let’s go and eat now,” Tsukiori said, and hope finally returned to my face.

I was finally free—

“We’ll talk about him more at dinner.”

That sounded like a casual ad, where the advertiser said, Read the next installment online! My spirit—my dignity—was shredded to pieces.

“Shall we invite my brother to join us? For some reason, he never comes to dinner on these occasions, but I’m sure he’ll come if I, his beloved sister, plead.”

Rei fidgeted as she made the call—and a screen appeared before my eyes, with a ridiculously loud ringtone echoing through the room.

“…Huh?”

Lapis was beet red as she turned to the side, her movement stiff like a robot that needed oil. I gave up and appeared at the end of her gaze.

“…H-hi.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. Rei covered her blushing face with her hands, and Tsukiori yawned.

With a fake smile on my face, I walked past them and quietly made my way out of the room.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I’m going to die!!”

“…How can I ever face my brother again?”

“So, I wasn’t dreaming. He’d sneaked into my room after all.”

I could hear the commotion in the room. I made myself invisible with my optical camouflage, forgot everything, and ran off to a yet unseen tomorrow.

After classes the next day, the air was fresh, and the sky was crystal clear.

Having donned a custom-made suit, I stood in front of a skyscraper-like high-rise building with Hizumi, who was wearing a disguise.

It was an all-glass office building that stood out from the surrounding buildings, which housed the Magic Association in its Conceptual Structure.

I loosened my tie in front of the huge building.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s get to work.”

Hizumi whispered into her radio—and I stepped into the building where the genius magic handler, Chris Esse Eisbert, waited for us.

I was at home base in my Sacred Yuri Empire.

The useless Crystal Palace had been dismantled as I’d instructed, and only a stilt house remained on the spot.

Seven shadows stirred within that house.

Three nonhumans sat on one sofa, and three other nonhumans, in a different sense, were seated on the other couch.

I was perched on the throne, which wasn’t very comfortable (the emperor’s seat consisted of two three-seater sofas from which I could observe the yuri girls from two directions).

The girls were sitting on the sofas, spending their time as they pleased. In front of them was a long dining table, which we’d obtained for meetings. Maguro and Bonito, appointed to do the chores, were busy in the adjacent kitchen, making us a midnight snack.

“Okay, let’s start our regular meeting… Hiiro Sanjo. Would you like me to take the lead? I think it would be better for a lower-ranking girl like me to take on the task than to have Ms. Sylphiel handle it.”

“Don’t worry about me, Luri. Lead has decreed that we are all equal. We have renewed our opinions about humans at this time, and there’s no need for concern.”

“But—”

Hizumi looked at me, and I nodded.

“Hizumi, you do the honors. I trust you. It’s reassuring to have you serve in a type of secretarial position.”

“Y-yeah…? Well, then, okay…”

She brushed back her hair and started up her PC.

A huge screen appeared, and Hizumi picked up a pen-shaped magic device and began writing.

“Okay, then, let us begin a regular meeting of the Sacred Yuri Empire. As proposed by Emperor Hiiro Sanjo, the meeting will be a venue where our six executives bring agenda topics, which we will discuss and resolve.”

“Wow, Lead is our emperor. Wow.”

“Thank you. I am your emperor, Hiiro Sanjo. I have decided to promote the dictatorship of the Yuri Regime.”

Riina’s eyes became sharp, then she started clapping.

“Hee-hee-hee… You look really cool, Lead…!”

“Your face is annoying. It’s creepy. It’s sickening.”

“Heine, Lead stays depressed forever when something starts to bother him, so please, stop hurling combination insults.”

The girls lavished me with praise, and I crossed my legs, struck a pose, and raised a hand.

“Go on, Hizumi.” (I said with a smart look on my face.)

“……”

“Sorry, I got a little carried away!” (All serious.)

Hizumi cleared her throat as the meeting settled down, and she began writing.

Ruby placed her PC on her lap. Her ten fingers began wriggling freely, like an animal without a spine, as she touch-typed to add to what Hizumi was writing.

It appeared that she was volunteering to take the meeting minutes.

“Our first order of business is to decide on our positions. Put in simple terms, who will do what? First, we have to establish the policies for our activities and the people in charge, or we’ll end up wasting our human resources. The performance of homogeneous role groups declines, and people don’t work if they don’t have roles and objectives.”

“Oh, I know what you’re talking about… Hee-hee… You mean like a minister of economy, military affairs, foreign affairs, science…stuff like that…”

“Civilization, huh, Rii-chan?”

Ruby promptly responded to Riina’s Hee-hee game theory.

“It does sound quite on the mark. At the very least, those are roles we should decide on. We should also appoint someone to take charge of assisting with state affairs, agriculture, information, education, and maintaining public order.”

“We won’t need an education minister or a person to oversee public security for a while if we aren’t expanding the scale of our nation. We should divide the remaining roles between us.”

“That’s not fair!! No!! Totally unfair!!” Wallachia exclaimed, slurping her noodles as she interrupted what Sylphiel and Hizumi were saying, and her voice echoed through the room. The sound of Wallachia slurping her noodles was categorized as an environmental sound in the Empire, equal to the chirping of birds and the buzzing of cicadas. No one was bothered by it, and Hizumi wrote the names of seven ministers on the screen.

“The final decision is up to you as the high priest, emperor, and three-striped light…but can I assign the roles based on what I think would be best?”

I nodded, and the facilitator wrote down the names.

Assistant to the State: Riina Shiina

Military Minister: Wallachia Tsepesh

Minister of the Economy and Foreign Affairs: Luri Hizumi

Minister of Science: Ruby Oliet

Minister of Agriculture: Heine Skullface

Minister of Information: Sylphiel Diabloto

“…Shouldn’t Heine and Wallachia have each other’s role?”

“Hey, Lead, are you implying that I’m a foodie?! That’s not nice! You’re discriminating to assume that a foodie should be in charge of agriculture!”

“Ow!! The soup! It’s too piping hot, and it’s been splashing around like a passionate fan jumping me—”

A blob of her soup did a hole in one in my eye, and I tumbled to the floor, pressing it with my hands.

“My eye! My eye!”

“Ha-ha-ha! Hey, Lead, I’ve seen an anime character do that before!”

“Hiiro. Quit fooling around and act more like an emperor…”

Wearing fluffy pajamas and slurping away at her ramen, Wallachia pointed to me and laughed hysterically as Hizumi pointed at me, looking disgusted.

Katsuo trembled as he offered Wallachia her third bowl of noodles.

“Yay! I love ramen!”

“You probably don’t know this, Lead, but Wallachia is a genius when it comes to battle.”

“Are you serious? If you keep harassing him with your ramen and the extra oil, Lead will seriously set up a consultation to make noodles without the oil.”

Ruby, Riina, and Hizumi looked at one another and nodded, and Sylphiel also agreed with that opinion.

“There’s no telling whether Wallachia’s talents will extend to the tactical and strategic level, but if the three of us were to go head-to-head with her, she would probably win hands down.”

“You mean she’s stronger than you?! This mad ramen eater?! A girl who wishes three times when she sees a shooting star for extra veggies, extra oil, and extra garlic?!”

“I have a feeling you’re criticizing me, but I will forgive you, since the oil is spreading around in my head, and I can’t understand it!”

The lonely princess reversed the positions of the veggies and the noodles in her ramen bowl, capturing the splashed soup with the tip of her chopsticks and continuing to eat without getting a single stain on her fluffy pajamas.

“But in a group battle, there’s a chance that Heine might win,” Sylphiel noted. “If anything went, then I might be able to defeat her. It would be an issue of the power balance, although I could never match Wallachia in terms of basic strength.”

Riina’s expression darkened with anxiety as she listened to Sylphiel’s observations.

“B-but, Luri… Wallachia is certainly strong, but…isn’t Heine stronger from a tactics standpoint…?”

“……”

“Look at Hizumi. You can read her face. She’s thinking that there’s no way we can make Wallachia our minister of agriculture. Can’t blame her, since our pantries would be filled with homemade noodles.”

“I’m good at manipulating lives. I’m the Dark Lord of Death, so leave the matter of life and death to me. Hmph,” Heine said with a blank expression on her face, and she flashed a victory sign.

“Okay, then, if there are no objections, it’s decided.”

Thus, the six roles were established.

The discussion then turned to the class system of the demonic religion.

“Oh, hey, the thing about that Black Cat… Wasn’t it a class system based on familiar magic? I think there were three classes: Evil Spirits, Solitary Crows, and Black Cats, right? Hizumi, weren’t you three Black Cats?”

The three girls nodded, and Hizumi said, “To be honest, I don’t think we need this class system in our Sacred Yuri Empire. It’s pointless to rank the six of us. I think we can do without it for the time being.”

“I agree. Let’s get rid of all the needless details.”

Ruby and everyone else agreed, and the Alsuhariya sect temporarily abolished the class system.

The discussion promptly proceeded to our future policy.

“W-well, anyway, as the high priest says… We’ve dismantled the buildings we built, returned the units to their initial magic powers, and released the land we occupied… Hee-hee-hee… But the money and the magic we gained from all that has come back at once…so the national treasury is in a heck of a state…”

The screen came flying at me.

Sh-she was right. I had hoped to start fresh from zero, but I didn’t expect there to be so many zeros in our figures.

“What are we going to do with all this money?” Hizumi asked me, and I shared my thoughts.

“Choosing a path with shortsighted thinking and being flashy with large-scale moves would end in disaster. History has taught us that amateurs who don’t know how to spend money will go to hell when those funds aren’t used wisely. Standing out too much might attract the attention of other demons who will be awakened and attack us from multiple directions. A worst-case scenario is that the demon god will awaken, then it will be game over for us.”

Conditions did, in fact, exist in ESCO for the demon god to awaken.

The criteria were diverse, but one thing was clear: The demon god would not overlook any good deed that might change the world.

For example, if I tried to use this money to achieve world peace…? There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the demon god would rise and annihilate us.

“Oh, brother, you are so right.”

Alsuhariya made a rare appearance and yawned as she crossed her legs and floated in the air.

“I thought I’d warn you, since you’re such a rare idiot. Do not try to rescue everything, even those that are beyond your reach. That type of thing is what’s called being stupid, and it’s the path of destruction that fools who were called heroes followed in the past. If you don’t want the masses to manipulate you to suit their needs and die pathetically, you should at least differentiate between what you can and can’t rescue.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that, jerk. Go to hell!”

“Hah. I’m not too sure about that.”

Alsuhariya laughed wryly and disappeared, and once again, I made my intentions clear to the girls at our meeting.

“We’ll use the money and magic to run our state in the future. However, we will use whatever we can, and only to the scope of things that are within my reach.”

Within my reach. In other words, I would use our resources only to achieve a happy ending for a wonderful world with blooming yuri girls at the hands of Sakura Tsukiori.

Anything more would be an abuse of power. At least, that’s what I thought, and as Alsuhariya said, I must not confuse courage with foolishness.

For now, anyway.

“Good. I was worried for a minute there about whether you might want to do something impossible like awaken the other demons and launch a full-scale attack to defeat them or save all the yuri girls in the world.”

Hizumi frowned and shook her head when I fell silent.

“Seriously… Don’t even think about it…”

“Just kidding. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. We’ll continue to run this country at a leisurely pace until the time comes to do otherwise. The time will probably come when we’ll need all our strength.”

I grinned.

“Though that might happen sooner than we think.”

“…What do you mean?”

I started to explain—and Hizumi sighed, then massaged her brows.

The Magic Society is a group of magic handlers organized around a single philosophy and corresponding objectives.

These objectives range from the noble to the vulgar.

A first-rate society of magic, such as the Conceptual Structure, is run as a respectable business and continues to make steady profits.

These societies earn profits by commercializing and selling the by-products of their goal, which is to conceptualize the imagination of magic handlers and create universal structures.

Conceptualizing the imagination of magic handlers and creating universal structures—in simple terms, they try to make the magic handlers’ imagination conductors that anyone can use.

For example, my sword of light is constructed using the common Japanese sword as a reference.

It’s twenty-seven inches long, one point two inches wide at the base, and point eight inches wide at the tip, with a bulging hilt, made based on the archives at Houjou Magic Academy.

It would take weeks for someone without knowledge or experience to try to make a sword of light as I had.

From there, stabilizing it would take several weeks, and even longer, if they wanted to accelerate the speed of its power generation.

Perhaps that person is much less talented in the craft than I am, in which case it could take decades to create the same sword of light that I had.

But what if that concept could be made into a conductor, and magic power could be poured into it—? It could be done in seconds.

The Conceptual Structure Society is attempting to create something that will overturn the prerequisites of magic.

To make that happen, the bigwigs there recruited Chris Esse Eisbert with a hefty offer. She agreed to it, and they exchanged a firm handshake.

As if to butt into their agreement, I was now up at Conceptual Structures, waiting for someone in the glass-walled reception area.

I sat on the leather sofa and watched Chris come in, her shoulders hunched in anger.

As soon as she came before me, she pooled her magic powers at the ready.

“This place is not a garbage collection point, yet what is a male doing here?”

“Just take a seat, will you?”

“What do you want, you zero-scorer? Did you think, even for a second, that I would come here and greet you with a smile, then we’d have a cup of tea and chat? I—”

Hizumi slammed the attaché case she held down on the table with a mighty thud.

Chris gasped in reaction.

I kicked the case open with my foot, revealing a large wad of cash—and Chris froze in shock.

“What do I want, you ask?” With a sly grin, I put my arms around the armrests and crossed my legs.

“I’m here for a fun negotiation. I’ve come with a friend to present the most efficient solution possible to you. I’m the son of the Sanjo family, and I’ve gone out of my way to come here to shake hands with the daughter of the Eisberts.

“First things first. Offer me your card, will you? You are aware of social conventions, aren’t you?” I said, calling out to her with a smile as she stood there, speechless.

“I couldn’t help tearing up your card the other day. Nobody likes trouble, but let’s start over from the beginning. Now—”

Still smiling, I glared at her and whispered, “Sit down.”

Blue in the face, Chris slowly sank into her seat.

Chris Esse Eisbert was now at the negotiation table, and I got my brain working quietly but frantically.

In any negotiation, you have to have an outcome in sight before you get started.

Trying to find a compromise between you and your counterpart on the spot is something a fool does—a fool who has failed to prepare in advance. Without considering your future relationship with your counterpart, the essence of a negotiation is for the initiator of the discussion to win one-sidedly.

A negotiation that resulted in a loss for the initiator was undoubtedly a mistake.

A mistake on the part of the initiator indicated their lack of preparation and judgment, which only a third-rate negotiator would do.

That was what Hizumi said.

Essentially, a negotiation had to end in a win-win situation for both parties.

However, that was strictly when considering building a relationship between two companies in looking toward the future. In this case, we didn’t have to take that into account, and I was gaining an overwhelming advantage over Chris.

Because Chris Esse Eisbert was sitting before me, completely unarmed.

For us, everything was out in the open, and I could see her every move, how I could rattle her, and what she would possibly do in the future.

To put it simply, I had caught her off guard.

She wouldn’t have dreamed that a lowly male with a zero score would make the first move—a weakling who had broken his ribs just the other day and had been crawling on the ground, helpless and nowhere near a match for her.

That male was now smiling as he grabbed her hand and whispered sweetly into her ear, trying to drag her down into the abyss.

She had always been above everyone around her and wasn’t accustomed to being pressed.

There was no way she could have anticipated a male she had previously trampled reaching out from under her feet to pull her down.

She was wobbling and swaying.

Having an obstacle that hadn’t existed in her world whisper to her, shaken in spirit by the wads of bills in the attaché case, she finally followed the male’s command and sat on the sofa.

Her eyes were shaking, showing what was going through her mind:

—Who is this guy?

With my legs crossed, I gestured with my body to show off my dominance, for actions sometimes had a stronger meaning than words.

That was why I continued to grin with the symbolic wads of cash.

“What’s the matter? You’re awfully quiet now, more like the daughter from a good family. Have you changed after breaking a certain guy’s ribs? It was just the other day that you were looking down at me with your legs crossed…but now our positions are completely reversed. I’m on top, and you’re at the bottom. Gee, it’s a stupid view you guys have here. Is this what you call a great view, where the frogs seeking power in your well were satisfied?”

“I’m on top, and you’re at the bottom!! Be aware of that, you lowlife!!”

Chris jumped to her feet, enraged, and I laughed.

“This is fun, chatting with a lovely lady like you. You’re very emotional, and that’s charming. Do you want me to toast your cloudy eyes with a wad of cash? It’s about time you realized that, or it will cost you later.”

“You scoundrel!! Are you trying to threaten me with cash, realizing you could never overpower me?! You coward! You piece of trash, without even the guts to face me head-on!!”

“Don’t make me laugh, you rotten example of a lady.”

I looked up at her from above.

“Who is it that has continued to oppress people with the power of cash? You’re the one who hit me. Don’t think that you won’t be hit back. I’ve come to you fair and square, offering to compete with you with money… Now sit down.”

I glared at her, and her eyes shook with faltered resolve. She settled back down on the sofa with a snarl.

“I’m going to ask you this point-blank.”

I moved in to whisper to her.

“Why did you fire the maids who had served you so faithfully?”

“……”

“Answer me.”

“Because they were in my way,” she whispered with a laugh. “All I did was move the obstacles on my path out of the way. What’s wrong with that? I am Chris Esse Eisbert. What’s wrong with kicking worthless stones out of my way? They did nothing, but neither did they contribute anything to me. What’s wrong with removing the unwanted? I have to change the air once in a while, or it will stagnate. I decided that they were in my way, and I decided that they had to be removed. That was all there was to it.”

“Then what about your sister?”

At that moment, a dark emotion filled Chris’s eyes.

“The mere fact that that being exists in the Eisbert household is intolerable. She’s the lowest of the low, a failure. She’s worse trash than those maids. I hate the fact that an individual who is lower than the servants claims to be an Eisbert and is living happily.”

“You’re honest. I think I like you a little now.”

“Did you think I would be happy to have someone like you like me?”

I raised the corners of my mouth.

“But what you did goes against my sense of justice. Those maids had to fend for themselves because of you. They lost their pride, blamed themselves, and cried. The skills they spent their entire lives acquiring became meaningless, and some of them even lost their loved ones in the confusion. As for Mule Esse Eisbert, she continues to make efforts to have her beloved older sister like her, but her efforts are continuously betrayed, and yet she chooses to continue to smile and live her life to the fullest.”

I stared straight into Chris Esse Eisbert’s eyes.

“From your perspective, they may be nothing more than a bunch of annoying stones, but from their standpoint, you, indeed, are one of the annoying walls that block their path. Have you ever thought about where the stones you kick go?”

“……”

“I know because I’ve seen it.”

Being pebble myself, I grinned at her.

“Mule is hundreds of millions of times stronger than you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous…”

Chris slammed her fist against the table, and it hopped up, one of its shards grazing my cheek and thrashing into the wall.

“Don’t be ridiculous! She’s trash! She’s a failure who can’t even work a single magic spell! You think she’s better than me?! On what basis can you spit out a lie like that?! Go on, tell me, you zero-scorer!!”

“I told you.”

I laughed.

“I’ve already seen it.”

“You’ve been digging around in the bottom of your empty dreams with those blind eyes that can’t see a thing, huh? You…lowly beast…!!”

“Look forward to the day when Mule Esse Eisbert shines. You’ll eventually get to see it yourself.”

She and I glared at each other.

“There will definitely come a time when the fake surpasses the real.”

Chris clenched her trembling fists and fixed her eyes on me with a mix of hatred and anger.

“Sorry, I got carried away talking. Let’s get down to business now.”

Hizumi slipped a contract in front of her.

“…What is this?”

“What’s the matter? Can’t you see? It’s just a sheet of A4 paper.”

I raised my hands in the air in a cheer as she stared at me with eyes that glittered with murderous intent.

“It’s a contract. I’m hiring you.”

Chris opened her eyes wide. Overwhelming intent to kill filled her entire body, and she reached for her magic device—but not before I grabbed her arm.

“Hey, don’t. In my current state, I won’t be able to beat you, and I’d end up dying. If you kill me here, even a good employee like you won’t get off with just a written apology. We’ve only just met. It’s fine to hold hands and deepen our friendship, but let’s save the fun for later, huh?”

“You no-good piece of garbage…!”

Between our clashing thoughts, I muttered, “Sign this with your left hand. If you don’t, I’ll buy the Conceptual Structure and leave you to fend for yourself on the streets like you did to your maids.”

Chris looked up at me in shock and sneered.

“Cut the crap, you ugly clown. The Sanjo family would never give you that kind of money. The money in that attaché case is certainly just an illusion. You borrowed money from your branch family and tried to deceive me with your stupid show of wealth, and—”

“Make a deposit,” I whispered into my walkie-talkie. “Whatever amount you can convert now will do.”

Hizumi opened a screen. Chris trembled with fury as she stared at the indicated balance displayed.

“Y-you’ve forged that…!”

“Hizumi?”

Hizumi sighed and then gave instructions over the radio. Ruby and Riina, who had been standing by, brought a large number of attaché cases. They promptly opened each one, and Chris’s trembling became worse as she saw the contents.

“A-an individual! A mere student couldn’t possibly make this much money! These are fake! Counterfeit! A worthless insect like you couldn’t ever earn anything like this!”

“Do you want to check each of these banknotes? Will you be satisfied if I show you our account records to see if they really are fake? Or maybe I should call the branch manager and have him explain to you. Will you be able to understand and accept the situation if I do that?”

“I-it can’t be… An individual couldn’t possibly acquire the Conceptual Structure… Th-the owner would never approve of it…”

“I don’t know about that.”

I smiled as I continued to hold down her arm.

“Don’t you think the fact that a male like me managed to walk in here proves that all those issues have already been resolved? Face it. A profit-making organization means the magic of money can control it. An authentic magic society might not budge from its goals and principles no matter how much I offer it. But this workplace of yours is just like any other company operating under a facade of compliance and risk control. Poke it a little, and you’ll find that it’s full of awfully suspicious things.”

“Are you threatening me?!”

“Threatening you? That’s rude.”

“You know what I’m going to do?” I whispered with a big smile on my face. “I’m going to put it into action and ruin you. Unless you accept my request as my friend, that is.”

“What can you gain…by doing something like this…? What’s in it for you…? What good will it do you, making me your enemy…?!”

“A lot.”

I grinned.

“Girls should stick with other girls and be happy. That’s all that matters. Those who get in the way can sit in a corner of some garbage dump, hugging their knees to their chest. I’ll be able to sleep better that way. Sorry, but you’ll have to make a sacrifice for my beauty sleep.”

“A-are you in your right mind…? Why would you go so far for strangers…?”

“It isn’t for strangers.”

I laughed and put force into the arm that held her in place.

“It’s for yuri girls.”

“Ngh…”

A defeated look appeared on her face, and she hung her head.

“You…bastard…”

She went limp and slowly dropped to her knees.

A few minutes later, Chris Esse Eisbert finally regained her senses and signed the document after barely reading it. She stared at me with dark hatred as she stood up to leave.

“I…will definitely…kill you.”

“Lovely! The words you say that I know are nothing but wishful thinking are music to my ears!”

I applauded her wonderful hostility, and she left, gritting her teeth.

The moment she was out of sight, Hizumi slowly exhaled and collapsed onto the sofa.

“I—I thought she was going to kill us… H-hey, Hiiro? You have to choose your words more carefully. Sylphiel would have been stopped at the magic detection gate, and she wouldn’t have been able to come to your rescue if something happened.”

“Look, Riina, see that, Ruby? We’re really up high! Look at this super view! Yahoooooooooooooooo!!”

“Whoa…! Y-you’re right… Hee-hee-hee, we’re right by the sky…!”

“Maybe I should have brought my camera. I’ve been checking out catalogs lately, hoping to get a new digital camera.”

“Don’t suddenly become tourists. Am I the only one who’s stressed out? We couldn’t possibly finish acquiring Conceptual Structure this quickly. Do you realize it’s all a bluff from start to finish?”

“I’m sure Chris knows that. Still, we win because we made her believe that we might very well do something close to that.”

Maybe the walls of the reception room were soundproofed. The employees working in the office didn’t pay any attention to us while we made a racket.

After sightseeing and taking commemorative photos in hostile territory, we got in the elevator and went downstairs.

“So what did you write in that contract?”

“Hizumi, you should know what I’d write.”

She laughed.

“Request for security at our welcome party for new students?”

I whistled. Air leaked out through Riina’s lips as she tried to imitate me.

“Gee, you have a mean streak. You even threatened her while you schemed to have her handle the security for our welcome party—which she was trying to crush.”

“It’s convenient for us to have her do our security. The Eisberts won’t be able to touch us.”

“She’s like a solid chunk of pride. Won’t she boil over, having to do that?”

“Well, it’s a good opportunity. Maybe she’ll feel something if she watches the maids she kicked out working hard and the party that her sister put so much effort into planning.”

Smiling wryly, Hizumi leaned against the wall.

“I don’t know. So are you really going to give her all that money?”

“Seven dollars and thirty-three cents an hour.”

“Huh?”

I watched Ruby glancing at a mysterious curve on the screen as I whispered, “Seven dollars and thirty-three cents an hour. That’s how much the girls who got kicked out of the Eisbert household are earning at the maid café. So, I’ll pay Chris the same amount for security. Even a well-off daughter like her should understand the value of money for once.”

Hizumi smiled happily.

“You really are cruel.”

“For your information, the idea includes input from a certain demon.”

The demon, by far the most evil of us all, was floating in the corner of the elevator.

“Anyway, now the real work begins. All that’s left is to let people know about the bad reputation I’m sure to get for what I did today, then pin the credit on Tsukiori. Hee-hee! My yuri IQ of a hundred and eighty is finally being put to good use!”

“……”

“Hey, why are you guys suddenly turning away and clamming up? It’s worked great so far, so of course, everything’s going to turn out great! Let’s have some faith in Hiiro, huh?”

“I’ll help you again, Hiiro—,” the demon who was invisible to the others said to me.

“Shut up, scum! I’ll take you on a trip past hell all the way to the Earth’s mantle, you bitch!!”

The others froze.

“…I’m scared… Our high priest is inviting a corner wall of the elevator on a trip…”

So anyway, we removed one obstacle with the power of money. The next day—

“Stop it, you fool! Hiiro Sanjo! I said, stop it!”

For some reason, I was desperately dragging our sobbing dorm manager as she cried.

In the original story, The Mule Route is about her development—not about her capacity as a handler of magic but about her personal growth.

Quite a few players don’t much like her at the beginning, but many of them start to change their minds as the scenario progresses.

It indicated that they’d seen her develop as a human being.

Complaining on and on next to me, Mule was teary-eyed and completely different from the proud character I’d seen in the game.

The person standing in front of her was a girl who had previously lived at Fraum. Mule had tossed out all her belongings and kicked her out, and she was glaring at her with eyes filled with resentment.

“Apologize,” I said.

“A-are you kidding?! Why do I have to apologize?! It was her fault!! I’m Fraum’s dorm manager!!”

“Whether you’re an aristocrat or a president, or a stray cat with a fish in its mouth, you apologize when you do something bad. Now apologize to her.”

Seeing that I wasn’t about to compromise, Mule gritted her teeth.

“Why do I have to listen to you?! I am Mule Esse Eisbert! I haven’t stooped so low that I should listen to what a male like you tells me to do!!”

“Forget it. It’s useless.”

The senior student—I could tell she was a senior by the color of the bow in her hair—shook her head and said, “Good grief.”

“Do you know how many students this creature has kicked out of the dorm to date? She has zilch intention of feeling sorry about that. She just goes on and on about how she’s an Eisbert, puffs out her chest, and then tries to live her life the way she wants.”

“Don’t sound so high-and-mighty! It was your fault! All I did was tell you to respect me as your dorm manager! I pointed out to you that you had an attitude issue, but then you argued about it, so I kicked you out of my dorm!”

The senior student shrugged, and I sighed.

“Dorm manager. Keep that up, and no one will be left at the dorm.”

“…Humph. Who needs them?”

Mule turned the other way and whispered, “Solitude gives people strength. I will be alone from the beginning to the end. It’s easier if no one stays near me, and I must fulfill my duties as the youngest daughter of the Eisbert family. Otherwise, neither my mother nor my sister will look at me.”

“Huh! It’s also disgusting that you always act like the victim that way.”

“Wh-what?! H-how dare you?!! Say something useless like that one more time, and I will pound my fist into you for every dumb remark you’ve made!!”

Oil and water, yin and yang, ice and coal. All these were incompatible.

The two girls stared at each other head-on, and I lifted Mule in my arms.

“H-hey! Y-you!! L-let me go!! Wh-what the heck are you doing?! Who do you think I am?!”

Fidget, fidget, fidget.

I managed to fend off Mule’s fist as she flailed around in my arms and bowed my head in apology to the senior student.

“I’ll eventually have her give you a proper apology. Won’t you come back and live at Fraum again when she does?”

“Why does a person like you want to do so much for someone like her?”

I gave her a big smile.

“When a beautiful flower blooms, you want others to see it, right?”

“Put me down, you rude male!! It’s a little high up here and scary!!”

“It looks to me like the season for you to bloom is long gone.”

After saying goodbye to the student who left laughing, I lowered our dorm manager to the ground as she continued flailing in panic.

Swing, swing, swing, swing, swing, swing… Her arms kept going round and round and reminded me of a wind-up doll.

“Cut the crap! I’d kick you out if you weren’t a special designee!”

“Okay, sorry! Hey, it would be your loss if you kicked out a special designee like me, so will you stop talking big?”

“You’re the one who’s talking big and threatening me!! What are you pouting about? Stop it. It’s irritating! And what are you looking at?! You’re too good at getting on a person’s nerves!”

I looked up diagonally to the right and exhaled through my pursed lips when Tsukiori came right on schedule and waved.

“Good morning, Hiiro. You sneaked into my room this morning, unlike the typical pervert who comes at night, so does that make you different?”

“Why do you have to confirm me as a sex offender as soon as you see me?”

Tsukiori smiled and spread out her arms.

“Come to me.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I pushed our dorm manager toward Tsukiori, and the tiny girl fit perfectly in her arms.

“Whoa! What was that for?! Let me go, you slug!!”

“There, there, you did well. Good girl.”

A goofy smile appeared on my face as I watched the two girls hugging.

The night before, I had begged Tsukiori to help me with my carrot-and-stick strategy.

To encourage our dorm manager’s development, I would be the stick that scolded her, while Tsukiori would be the carrot that comforted and spoiled her.

The natural consequence would be that she would hate me, the stick, and like Tsukiori, the carrot.

The yuri girl would receive divine, amber-colored rain to grow and eventually unfurl her beautiful petals. I would contribute while predetermining a self-imposed dust chute to get out of their way.

They could leave the rebounds to me. I would pound anyone to hell and back as many times as needed.

While we were at it, if the dorm manager could spread bad rumors about me, then my popularity among the others would also sink. Mule gradually grows as a person, and with Tsukiori’s involvement with her, the story progresses along The Mule Route.

It was a brilliant plan, like hitting a hundred million birds with one stone.

This…is how a person needs to use his brain.

“Sakura Tsukiori! Wh-what the heck do you think you’re doing?!”

Mule’s face was beet red as she escaped from Tsukiori’s hold and pushed her away.

“Huh? But Hiiro asked me to—”

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeey! Look over there!”

I set my hands at waist level and shouted, somehow managing to get their attention.

Panting, I beckoned to Tsukiori.

“What’s the matter, suddenly letting go of your chi like that?”

“It’s best to scream when you want to change the subject. The success rate is pretty high. Anyway, that isn’t the issue here. Why did you suddenly betray me? I was shocked. I felt betrayed in a flash. Do you really have red blood flowing through your body?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re way past the stage where you get extra marks for being honest.”

I stopped Tsukiori from messing with my hair as she usually did.

“Stop that. Stop playing with my hair, trying to make it curl and keeping it in place.”

“Uh-uh.”

“You’re also past the age where it’s cute for you to disagree. What was the point of my tearful persuasion yesterday? Give me back my tears. That was definitely a gallon-class outpour.”

“But I’m not interested in her. I’d be happy to help you if you wanted me to spoil you, but…I’m not motivated here.”

As usual, our main character wasn’t excited about starting something with Mule.

When will this girl’s love switch go on? That was all we needed to put the final touch on the invincible Sakura Tsukiori, who chased after heroines around the clock.

As I lamented in my mind, our dorm manager stuck her head between us.

“Hey!! What are you two gossiping about?! Are you enjoying a secret rendezvous?!”

“Do you shout about people having secret rendezvous every time you see a couple dating in the city? Don’t tell me you call places where couples go on dates secret dating hot spots?”

Watching our furious dorm manager, I poked Tsukiori in the side and pleaded that she go along with this in a low voice. Smiling wryly, she muttered, “Oh, all right.” Thank God.

We decided to move on to the dorm manager’s office at Fraum.

“So.”

Three pairs of eyes stared down at the two application forms for participation on the dorm manager’s desk.

“The welcome party is coming up soon, and yet why do you only have two application forms here?”

“My charisma must have attracted these applicants!”

“I didn’t mean that as a compliment, though I do find your willingness to take that as a compliment appealing. I asked you why you still have only the participation forms that Tsukiori and I submitted.”

Tsukiori had gone behind me and was playing a mysterious game of repeatedly leaning on me and then moving away.

Ignoring that, I stared at our dorm manager, who was looking away.

“Ma’am? Please answer me.”

“I—I don’t know…”

After taking a glance at me, she turned away with a “Hmph!”

“My heart is as open, spacious, and clear as the Alps Highlands. Wouldn’t you like to see how generously it will accept your sins?”

The dorm manager looked up at me, full of anxiety.

“Th-they were bad-mouthing Lily. They were saying she was a failure as a guardian and was a gold digger. So I ambushed them and splashed water over their heads. Then my bad reputation spread among the first-year students…and…they canceled their applications to come to the party.”

I wondered if Mule thought I’d be mad at her.

I placed the palm on my hand gently on top of her head.

“It wasn’t right, but you did good.”

“…Huh?”

“Well, maybe it was wrong for you to make the first move, but from a yuri perspective, I give you full marks for trying to protect someone that you love. But, ma’am, you’re a person who should lead others, so you shouldn’t get your hands dirty.”

I laughed.

“That’s my job.”

I gave her a gentle pat on the head, and she looked away.

I chuckled.

I hear it’s pretty disgusting to have your head stroked by a guy you don’t like. The protagonist in a light novel is probably the only person a girl wouldn’t mind patting her head. I’m sorry for making our dorm manager uncomfortable, but I’m taking advantage of this opportunity to make her hate me!

I switched places with Tsukiori when Mule brushed my hand away.

This is what I’m capable of! I didn’t win the Best Yuri Admirer Award for nothing!

Take that! Get a taste of the essence of my carrot-and-stick strategy!

It’s an instant switch from Mr. Popular to Mr. Unpopular! Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat!

“……” (I’m looking great.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (I’m getting a little uncomfortable.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (I’m starting to sweat.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (My face is starting to contort.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (I’m exhaling in anguish.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (My knees are shaking with despair.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (I’m crying as I start praying to God.)

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.

“……” (My self-awareness is falling apart.)

The view became distorted.

Exhaling roughly, I wandered through my blurred vision.

Wh-what was with this nightmare? Wh-when was I going to wake up? This was absurd. The rituals that I’d devised couldn’t possibly be broken. Ts-Tsukiori, help me. Where am I? What am I doing? I’ll be reincarnated when I awaken, and I’ll go to sleep after seeing all the yuri girls I want.

“Hey, Hiiro? How long are you going to keep that up?”

I gasped when I heard Tsukiori calling out to me and let go of our dorm manager’s head.

As I sweated profusely, I lost my balance, and Tsukiori caught me.

“Ts-Tsukiori… What day of which year is it today…?”

“The sudden stress has turned you into a time traveler…”

Our dorm manager blushed, looked away, and mumbled, “…I—I was just being nice.”

Then she pointed at my chest and said in a sharp tone, “There won’t be a next time! All I did was accept your allegiance for Lily’s sake! It’s inherently unthinkable for a male to pat me on the head!”

“Tsukiori, quick! Have her sign a contract! That there won’t be a next time!!”

“There, there. Yeah, that was scary. I know, Hiiro. You did great.”

With Tsukiori fussing over me, I got my share of the carrot and stared at our dorm manager.

“Hey, don’t you dare change your negative opinion about me, huh? You’re emotionally sloppy, you know? Any show of affection is like a ring you don’t know the size of. God only knows whose finger it would fit. That’s why you should only give that ring to the one precious person you come across in your life! And here you are—”

“Don’t talk in a heated tone like a hero in some robot anime! I didn’t stop you from patting me on the head because Lily said she was indebted to you! That’s the only reason why I held back from slapping your hand away!”

I tried it again. I carefully reached out to pat her head again, and she shrugged her shoulders angrily and immediately brushed it away.

I was revived from the brim of losing consciousness and slowly exhaled.

“Thank God. I’m glad to know that no such thing as a yuri game world existed where a heroine would be happy to have a male pat her on the head. Now that we’ve reformatted your memory until a few minutes ago, let’s get back on track with our main subject,” I said, and I laughed when she tilted her head uncertainly, perhaps unable to recall what we’d been discussing.

“The welcome party for new students. Chris will be laughing at you if Tsukiori and I are the only newbies attending.”

“…Hmph. That’s nothing new,” she said, sulking, and I smiled at her.

“That’s why Sakura Tsukiori here will cast a magic spell on you. That way, the number of people who come to the party will explode, the place will be filled with enthusiasm, and you’ll be flagged in glory.”

“I—I don’t know if you’re thinking of a magic spell or what, but I’m not going to apologize! It’s their fault. Why should I apologize?! An Eisbert isn’t taught how to bow her head in apology!”

“But, ma’am, sign with us now, and you’ll not only be exempt from making an apology, but you will also receive bonus gifts, which include toilet paper, laundry detergent, a HIIRO all-purpose task-handling machine complete with commentary (limited to comments on yuri girls), and a TSUKIORI fully automatic girl-seducing machine. All you have to do is sit there, and everything will be fine. That, indeed, is the role that a leader should do.”

I laughed and rested my hands on the table.

“Tsukiori can generate a pumpkin carriage with her magic, and you, dorm manager, can ride in it. That’s all you have to do. The magic trail will lead you to enjoy the party without worrying about the muddy paths.”

“Who will pull that carriage?”

“I told you.”

I stared directly at her.

“That type of thing is my job.”

Early in the morning, a single figure was moving in the courtyard, which should have been deserted.

The young girl carefully moved her petite body, executing a series of moves while throwing her tiny fists.

The girl Lily had nicknamed Sleepyhead—Mule Esse Eisbert—was engaged in endless martial arts practice in the early hours of the morning before the sun came up.

Her face was twisted in pain as she removed her running shoes and used a towel to wipe her bare feet, which were bloodied from burst blisters.

I wondered how long a person had to practice to achieve her level of proficiency.

Frowning from the pain, she continued her early morning training, sweating profusely, with movements that even the untrained eye could see were those of an expert.

“……”

After observing her daily routine, which she never skipped, I returned to my room.

It was the day of the welcome party for new students.

The hall at Fraum was packed with new students, and the dorm manager stood there with tears in her eyes. Meanwhile, I stuck my hands in my pockets and slipped out.

I was behind the Fraum building where no one was watching—backstage, enshrouded in darkness, where flashes of purple and blue shone, facing the person who had been waiting for me.

I was covered with blood, and standing before me was Chris, who drew a spiral—and opened her Magic Eye called The Spiral Party Stick.

I listened to the sound of blood dripping from my fingertips and looked up at the stars above.

I exhaled under the cold sky, covered my face with one hand—and opened my Magic Eye, The Tale at Dawn.

All around me, the air became red and black, dyed in an intermittent hell.

The jet-black and crimson dusk entered my limbs and enveloped my nerves, and a vast amount of magic power was released from the depths of the abyss.

It was as if a purgatory had appeared.

The smell of my entire burning body filled the air, and at dawn, a poem about Hiiro Sanjo was etched into the world.

In my hands, the blade of my Masamune Kuki—was dyed crimson.

“Fifteen seconds.”

I turned Hiiro’s eyes toward Chris as she stood stunned.

“I’ll finish this in fifteen seconds.”

I stared at her with my eyes, burned red by the setting sun—and a flash of light appeared.

It was a week before the welcome party for new students.

For some reason, I was looking for a tent with my master, Astemir.

We were at a home improvement center, where I was totally enthralled in setting up Tsukiori’s magic. We were out on a Friday for the first time in a while, and I was glancing over the many tents the store offered next to the silver-colored elf.

My master squatted before the products aligned in the outdoor products section, groaning as her braided hair swayed to and fro.

She was looking at a tent for one.

“Hiiro, do you think a tent for one person would be okay?”

“…Um, why don’t you tell me why you want to choose this one?”

She was wearing a cute outfit consisting of a gray jacket and pleated skirt, and she gave me a gentle squeeze. She smelled plenty good and was soft enough to knock out a healthy boy with her charm.

Her breath tickled my ears, and I couldn’t help twitching in reaction.

“It looks good. It helps that you were born in a convenient size to serve as a yardstick.”

My master took a step away from me with a smile.

“Yeah, but please tell me why this one interests you. People can only understand each other through discussion.”

“It’s for practice. Starting today, we’ll be staying overnight for three days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—to train. I thought we’d need a tent, sleeping bags, your family seal for identification, your organ donation consent card, and other miscellaneous items.”

“You can be declared brain-dead based on what you just said, so why don’t you go ahead and donate your organs somewhere?”

“So, we’re good with this tent… Right!!”

“No, not right. Don’t ignore me and decide on your own. You have to double-check these things.”

“Okay, okay!!”

“I didn’t ask you to say okay twice with gusto.”

I squeezed the index finger she held up, indicating we were taking the tent.

“What’s this about training over the weekend? It’s the first I’ve heard of it. Give me back the excitement I felt when you embraced me a minute ago. Do you think a tent for one would be a perfect fit for the two of us if we cling together? An elf who can’t even keep her brain settled in her head shouldn’t make assumptions like that.”

“Oh, there will be three of us, not two.”

Sporting a beige knit top and leather short pants, Rei peeked her head from behind a shelf in the back and came briskly toward us.

Her head was down as she finger-combed her hair and looked up at me.

“H-hi. I heard you were here, brother, dear, and I couldn’t help myself from joining you…”

“Who’s the idiot who brainwashed my beloved sister?!”

“…A-an internet café.”

The cherished daughter of the Sanjo family had looked up examples of humor at some internet café that killed her brain cells.

“The person behind me chose this outfit. Do you like me in this modern style?”

With her hands clasped behind her back, she showed off her body and caught me with her eyes hidden under her long lashes.

Perhaps because of her Sanjo family upbringing, it was rare for her to show her naked legs when she usually preferred wearing long skirts.

Staring at her thighs, shaded distinctly by the hustling white light that shone from the ceiling lights, I hit myself in the head with a nearby pot.

“H-Hiiro…? Even if you hurt yourself with that pot, the broth you get will be red…”

“It’s a good pot. A single hit blew dark thoughts out of my mind as if it knew exactly what I was thinking. I’d like to give it the title My Heart and display it in a museum.”

I paid for the pot that was now dented and went back to my master.

“Look at this pot. It doesn’t look like it will go back to its original form, right? It’s me.”

“Why did you keep hitting your head with it on your way to the cashier? Did you mistake your head for the bar code scanner and try to compensate with a self-checkout?”

Pressing my head against my mentor’s back, I quietly told her the price: Free of charge.

As I stepped away from my master, Rei came snuggling up to me.

I slowly moved away from her.

Then she came closer to me, and my lips trembled.

This was a track-and-follow destructive missile for guys who got stuck between yuri girls…! I didn’t know they’d finished making it…!!

Still smiling, Rei gazed at me, but she looked away when our eyes met.

A few seconds later, I felt her heated gaze on me again, and my body started trembling involuntarily.

“M-Master… What is Rei doing here…?”

“I asked her if she wanted to come, since she looked bored. What a fantastic master I am, going so far as to even think about your sister. The world must be proud of me. Hee-hee! Hiiro, aren’t you proud of me?”

“So, you’re another enemy of mine, huh?”

She delivered a thrust to my master’s side as she continued to brag, then struck back, playfully tangling themselves up with each other in the outdoor goods section.

Then I heard a thud. My left side felt the impact.

I looked in that direction and saw that Rei was timidly putting her fist into my side.

She had turned her face down but glanced at me quickly, looking worried.

“There you go, that’s one strike. I’m not getting enough training, especially in the romance department.”

I tapped her head as gently as I could.

Rei smiled happily and looked at me with longing in her eyes.

It must have been a while since she’d had this kind of interaction with a family member. That was why The Rei Route depicted how Sakura Tsukiori and Rei Sanjo became family.

Because I knew Rei’s situation, there was no way that I could ignore her now. I patted her on the head and brushed off her clumsy attempts to have me pamper her.

“So, anyway, Master. When did you get to know Rei?”

“She and Lapis are buddies, and I often have chats with her online. I even sent her about a thousand stamps just the other day.”

“Stop indiscriminately bombarding her with stamps. All you’ll have left will be a wasteland of unread messages.”

I sighed and turned my attention to the tent for single use.

“You aren’t thinking of having the three of us sleep in one tent, are you…?”

“We can decide who sleeps in the front and who goes in the back by playing rock-paper-scissors.”

“I’m not worried about who goes in the front or the back! Hey, why do I have to be stuck in the middle?! The next morning, my body will be cold, and my tongue bitten off!”

My master tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying, then hugged me.

Meanwhile, Rei timidly stuck her cheek against my back.

“It’s okay, see? We can do it like this.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

That’s where my memory ended.

When I regained consciousness, I was carrying a tent, sleeping bag, and other outdoor gear, making my way through a thick forest of beech and oak trees.

There was a moss-covered red torii gate overhead, and the path continued all the way into the distance. It was tied with a sacred shimenawa rope that looked like a blood vessel connecting the trees. Long paper streamers stretched down to my feet, mixing with the leaves to cover the ground like a carpet.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard the sound of bells.

Ring, ring, ring!

The ringing of bells created a cacophony. It propagated through the air and was playing around in my ears.

Before I knew it, a fog had appeared.

A thick, milky-white fog settled over my whole body.

It was heavy and oppressive.

The feeling was similar to the sensation of having your magic power run out. Was the fog absorbing my power? I had a feeling I’d seen this fog somewhere before… Then I remembered it. The holy archers had been using it before.

“Hff… hff, hff, hff…”

I continued walking, drenched in sweat.

My master was walking on my right, climbing up the rocky, muddy path with ease.

Rei was to my left. I hadn’t realized when she’d changed into her hiking gear. I was the sole novice who had come underestimating the mountain and just asking for trouble, clad in a T-shirt and jeans.

My master led the way, smiling as she looked at me.

Her sadistic smile indicated her thoughts: As a treasured apprentice of mine, you can surely handle yourself in this situation, can’t you?

This wasn’t good. If this kept up, I would soon lose consciousness. The higher the altitude, the more magic power got sucked out of me. Or perhaps the amount of magic power I had was simply decreasing.

My priority was to eliminate this fog. Eight or nine out of ten, it was probably the issue here, and I would have to try to get rid of it.

Trigger.

I generated an improvised anti-magic barrier and enveloped Rei’s body with it, but her condition didn’t improve. She continued to gasp.

It was no use. Was it a breathing issue? The anti-magic barrier was thin in density, and the fog was passing through it and being inhaled into her lungs. There was no point in putting up these barriers. Damn it, I didn’t enjoy watching a heroine suffer.

Sweating profusely, I made my way behind my sister.

“…Rei.”

She was utterly pale. I put my hand on her back to prevent her from falling.

“Synchronize your magic device with the haze and my Masamune Kuki…and I’ll channel my magic power into you… That should make you feel a little better…”

“B-but that would make you…”

“Never mind and hurry up… This is what a brother does…”

With a dazed expression on her face, Rei pulled out a shimmering haze she had tucked away in her bag.

A red spear appeared, swaying in the white mist, and became extended.

Rei extended its silver tip in the thick, milk-colored fog, closed her eyes, and began synchronizing it.

Without hesitation, I poured my magic power into her.

Rei groaned while I struggled to control the magic power, sweating like a pig.

I had to control it—huh? Was it already working?

The power flowed into her smoothly, and her complexion gradually improved.

How had I suddenly become able to control this? Alsuhariya’s magic power should have been too enormous for me to handle— Oh, was it because of this fog?

“The fog… It must be sucking up the magic power that I couldn’t control. The power is flowing the way I want it to, and the fog is regulating that flow. Is it rectifying it?”

“It’s the auxiliary theory,” whispered my master as she leaned against a large tree, her face hidden by the white mist.

“Hiiro, this fog is a guiding hand for you. It’s also the master that pushes back the magic. The challenge I’m giving you is for you to grasp the identity of this fog. You must find the answer in three days.”

“Grasp the identity of this fog…in just three days? While continuing to serve food to the hungry mosquitoes while dressed in clothes for heading to the nearest convenience store?”

“I thought you’d become discouraged on your own, and that’s why I brought your lovely sister with us. And boom! I’m setting up a virtual adversary for you.”

As I showed my doubts on my face, I saw my master laughing on the other side of the fog.

“Chris Esse Eisbert.”

“Huh? You’ve got to be kidding. You expect me to be able to beat that monster in just three days? That’s like getting a royal flush in poker. It’s impossible unless I’m lucky enough to throw a rock into the air and have fried chicken fall into my arms. I’d have to open my Magic Eye to do that.”

“I never said you had to be able to defeat her. And you must not force your Magic Eye open. Your Magic Eye is something that opens naturally when you make a long-term approach. Open The Tale at Dawn in your current state, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you lost your capacities.”

“Don’t do this, and don’t do that—what are you going to do, give me victory as my gift if I sit here sucking my thumb? I’m glad to hear it. I’ll gladly be a spoiled brat, hollering at maximum volume.”

“There’s only one thing you have to do: Not let Chris beat you. That, Hiiro, should be something you’re good at doing.”

Slowly, the fog lifted—and a sheer cliff spread before my eyes.

My master stood next to a large tree, with a clear blue sky above, a sheer cliff beside her, and a sky painted in red and gold that seemed to cling to the cliff.

It was as if a dragon was crawling up into the sky.

Thin white clouds snaked across the blue sky, under which my master, silver in color, smiled.

“You can now take your first step to becoming a phenomenon,” she said, offering me a hand.

Under the azure sky, I lifted the corner of my mouth and took that first step.

My master was relaxed as she ate an apple on top of a tree.

And as she did, I—

“Ngggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghh!”

I was in a sparring match with a mysterious girl.

Her blade was black, and her dagger was curved.

Generated with Attribute: Darkness, the dagger shimmered in the air.

The girl had suddenly come charging at me, filled with intent to kill, and her face was hidden under a fox mask. She continued to shift her weight strangely while searching for an opportunity to tear my sword away from me.

The fog was draining the magic from me; my blade wavered, and I felt half dead.

Wh-what was going on…? I had stable control of my magic power until a minute ago…but it was out of control again… What was with this fog…?!

Suddenly, the blade in front of me disappeared.

“Whoa!”

My strength flowed forward, and the sword of light drew an arc.

Fox girl dodged my sword and slammed her fist into my solar plexus.

Taking the blow straight on made me feel like vomiting, but I held back, grabbed her fist, and tried to throw her in the air.

With a smooth move, she grabbed my right hand and said—

“Will you stop trying to put on this circus act on my arm?! I’ll charge you for attempting to host a show!!”

She was incredibly balanced and stood upside down on my right arm.

She didn’t weigh a thing.

The fox girl felt fluffy, as if the dust in the air was standing upright on my arm.

The console glowed at her waist.

Console: Connect—Operation: Gravity, Change: Gravity.

Activate Gravity balancer.

She gently extended her toes in the air, spun around like a ballet dancer—and then slammed her toes into my temple.

“It’s time to fight back.”

Barely managing to defend myself with my right hand, I turned my wrist and grabbed her ankle.

Then I narrowed my eyes, concentrated on a single point—and watched the trajectory of a sword flashing by.

In that instant, my hold became a tight grip.

She crossed her arms and drew her sword, then swung upward in a reverse stroke.

The trajectory flowed beautifully—and then a stuffed teddy bear suddenly appeared and blocked it. Stunned, I immediately moved back.

A supernatural tengu creature and a girl wearing a mask suddenly appeared, holding up magic devices. One of them must have generated the teddy bear.

First, a fox, then a tengu, and finally, a girl in a mask? What was going on here? I wished we could stay consistent with the theme without a Sunday morning cartoon character showing up to save the world.

“Oh dear, Hiiro. You have your hands full, being attacked by one mysterious assailant after another.”

“No matter how you look at it, these characters must be those holy archers.”

I saw the girl wearing the mask smile and wave a hand in front of her face.

The tengu and the fox girl standing next to her nodded, then betrayed the masked girl, who jerked back. The move alone showed how shocked she was (she was a real pro).

“You have to solve the mystery of the fog, or it will be tough for you even to start confronting them. Now then, how will my beloved apprentice escape this predicament?”

I moved back from them and hid behind a tree, then fired an invisible arrow in my safety zone, aiming at the masked girl.

“?!?! ?!?! ?!?!”

Panicked, the girl did a tap dance, dodging the arrows as she moved about like a cartoon anime character.

“……”

The tengu and fox girl stood stock-still and watched the scene unfold.

Not only did they refrain from helping her, but they also pretended to push her accidentally so an arrow would hit her. This backstabbing gave me an idea of the relationship between the threesome.

It appeared that the tengu, fox girl, and the masked girl were helping me train.

They had to be preparing me for my fight with Chris Esse Eisbert.

The tengu and the masked girl activated their magic generation, re-creating Chris’s high-speed generation maneuvers, while the fox girl launched a close-combat attack with a clear intention to kill me.

The terrifying thing was Chris’s speed, which they anticipated to be equal to the speed of the two of them combined.

It was a lightning-fast generation technique carried out with barely conscious thought, which was why they had also considered simultaneously launching a close-combat battle.

The moment they attacked, a flash of purple light flashed past the corner of my eye.

As they launched their blows, they used purple LED pocket lights to radiate the light directly into my face, and I reflexively turned away.

“What’s with this light?!”

“It’s a reproduction of Alpha Aquilae synchrotron radiation. A purple light is emitted when a magic operator moves in a medium and the speed exceeds a certain level. It’s a radiation phenomenon we’ve seen occur when Eisbelet generates at high speed, which she’s known for,” my master explained as she munched on dried sweet potatoes she took out of her pocket. “There is no sign whatsoever of any preliminary movements when she generates her magic. Changes occur in the body when a person takes any action—in the pulse, as sweat, as habitual moves, as body temperature, as gestures, as eye movements, as breathing, as saliva volume, or as dilations in the pupils—but through her tremendous training, she has eliminated them all. No one can achieve a result like that unless they continue to kill their reflection in the mirror. By the time you become aware that Chris is standing stock-still, Hiiro, a dump truck she’s generated would have rammed into you from behind.”

I was speechless. My master swung a piece of dried sweet potato between her fingers.

“But when Chris generates something, Alpha Aquilae occurs. It’s the downside of generating too quickly. There’s a fraction of a second between the time the Alpha Aquilae synchrotron radiation is generated and the time she makes some substance. To survive when you fight her, you have to use that fraction of a second and take evasive action the moment you’re exposed to the light.”

“…Master. Are you the type of person who reads the word impossible when it’s written somewhere as possible?”

“Magic, Hiiro—,” she said, thrusting the tip of a dried potato into the side of an apple, making it poke out from the top of the fruit, “is a technique that allows you to read the word impossible as possible.”

After changing the hardness of the dried potato, my master stretched and deformed the part that was embedded in the apple and smiled as she ate the potato-filled fruit.

“True magic and magic tricks are similar. Once you know what’s actually going on, you can deal with it in any way you like. Strike your opponent when she’s off guard. Make your opponent think it’s impossible, and victory will become possible for you.”

My master’s words were moving, but the reality of the situation was pretty miserable. I’d been thoroughly beaten up and was reduced to a rag by early afternoon.

“I can’t see in front of me, I can’t see the future—I can’t see anything at all.”

“That’s a magnificently pathetic rap, coated with a sense of defeat. Maybe fellow losers would answer you if you howl.”

“Has Snow been influencing you? Especially with the way you talk?”

Not caring about getting her clothes dirty, Rei knelt on the ground and wiped my face with a moist handkerchief. After attending to my wounds, she carefully raised my head and set it on her lap.

I kept my head up and used my abdominal muscles to hold my upper body in place. Then I slid sideways, moving only my lower body.

I tried to shake off her thigh with my super-fast movement, but its soft feel lingered in my brain—and I saw Rei smiling triumphantly at me.

W-was she moving sideways while sitting up straight on her knees?

I gave up as Rei dabbed my cheek with her handkerchief and tapped my forehead to warn me.

“Don’t overdo it, Hiiro. I’m well aware that you like doing reckless things with a smug look on your face, but give me a break and give me peace of mind once in a while—hey, don’t disappear while I’m lecturing you.”

Rei slapped my stomach, which I’d made invisible using optical camouflage.

She continued to care for me, offering her lap as a pillow for my invisible body. Her devotion gave this air-boy Hiiro the strength to stand on his feet. Then he opened the tent entrance to air it.

It was still foggy outside, eerily smoky.

As I wondered what was happening, a barbecue grill and the smug face of a certain four-hundred-and-twenty-year-old I knew came into view.

My master clanked her tongs as the cloud of white smoke enveloped her.

“It’s time—cough, cough!—for lunch—cough, cough!—Let’s—cough, cough!—eat—cough, cough, cough!”

“Are you trying to commit suicide using that barbecue grill?”

A few minutes later, my master with the white smoke face pack was relieved of her duties and sat alone in a corner.

“Hiiro, are you done yet? Isn’t it taking you a while? Oh? Is there a speed limit on your cooking skills? Aren’t you causing damage to my stomach with your tardiness?”

“Don’t start seasoning the food with your complaints before it’s even cooked! I’ll put the Noise Regulation Law into effect and have your chattering stopped right now, you long-eared elf!!”

My master stole a glance at Rei’s reaction.

“Hiiro, the chatty long-eared elf is now causing more noise pollution, only with her gaze this time.”

“Ignore her. She’s already making a hundred and twenty decibels with her gaze alone. Take a firm stand, Rei, so you don’t end up being her prey, too. Pity is the only thing you should give an elf that’s managed to be around for four hundred and twenty years buttering people up. Show her some human pride.”

The fire became stable when we added charcoal.

The moment we began grilling the meat, the holy archers suddenly appeared with paper plates and disposable chopsticks in their hands.

“No food here for stray elves! Beat it!”

“……”

“Please stop picking at your faces with those chopsticks, and don’t try to grill yourselves. You’ll get burn marks on your cheeks, and it will detract from your charm.”

They didn’t seem interested in removing their masks while they ate. They tossed meat in through their eye holes while staring at us, making noisy eating sounds.

“That masked girl is smiling and staring at us while she chews away at her meat… It’s scary…”

My master was all smiles. She drizzled sauce all over her meat and ate it with the rice we cooked in portable rice cookers.

The elves were afraid of smoke, and once they realized we didn’t have a sufficient supply of meat, they came up with a new way to throw raw meat onto the grill from a distance. It landed on the back of my head, at which time I decided it was caused by friendly fire and revoked their right to proceed while Rei continued to grill more meat.

“You inferior species!!”

“……”

“Hiiro, control yourself! They’re still holding out their plates, wanting to eat more, but you have to hold back! It’s quicker to poison the meat!”

After a lively lunch, I climbed up onto the torii gate and swung my legs back and forth while I thought.

Fog. Fog. Fog… This was a fog that controlled my magic power. But why wasn’t it doing that a minute ago? Had it been in a bad mood? No, it wasn’t as if the fog had a consciousness, so that wasn’t it, in which case there had to be some criteria.

Then I realized the demon was sitting next to me, swinging her legs as I was doing.

“Hey, troubled youth. Do you need someone with a sharp mind to support you?” the demon in a trench coat whispered with a lisp.

I sighed and stared into the distance.

“Hmm? What are you looking at—? Whoa…!”

Alsuhariya looked out, and I pushed her off the gate.

After making sure she had landed headfirst, I shot invisible arrows at her. Then I looked down at the pile of arrows and finally felt at peace.

Now, what should I do about my problem with that fog—?

“Hey.”

Alsuhariya suddenly appeared next to me again.

“Don’t kill a person as a way to greet them. I’ll charge you an extra fee if you attack me again.”

“Then don’t talk to me so casually.”

“You’re talking big, Emperor. I’m your savior, your messiah. I’ve taken the trouble of coming here and showing you my beautiful face just to save you.”

Alsuhariya stood on top of the torii gate, stretched out her arms, and laughed.

“I’ll give you a clue to help you solve the mystery of the fog…”

“No thanks.”

Alsuhariya’s arms remained outstretched as her expression stiffened. She slowly lowered her arms, walked around me restlessly, then looked into my face.

“I said I’ll give you a clue—”

“Get lost.”

Alsuhariya gave up and sat down next to me.

“Don’t hate me. You and I are the same. We’re both here to destroy yuri girls—Hey, stop that! I’m just kidding! Don’t push me with your foot! Stop slowly scaring me as you push me off this gate!!”

She let out a sigh of relief when I reluctantly forgave her.

“Okay, then we’ll try an approach from another angle.”

Alsuhariya extended her index finger in a neat, straight line.

“I’ll give you power.”

I looked at her. The corners of her mouth curved upward.

“The Magic Eye.”

I opened my eyes wide.

“Are you going to open it?”

“I know everything about you inside out. I also understand the mechanism behind opening the Magic Eye. However, because we’d be forcing it open, the burden on your body is impossible to tell, and you may not be able to handle it with your current state…but it will at least be a trump card for when you need it.”

The demon smiled as she made her offer, to which I smiled back and shook my head.

“No, I don’t think so. The only time I might need it would be if I had to confront Chris Esse Eisbert…but I won’t fight her. We’ll just remain hypothetical enemies.”

“I don’t know about that. An assumption is merely an assumption. Sometimes the flickering of reality can lead to unexpected outcomes.”

Alsuhariya’s eyes were so round that it looked as if she had jade embedded in them as she gazed at me from the depths of the abyss.

“The Hiiro I know would probably end up going sword to sword with her.”

“Uh-uh. I’m not interested in committing suicide. Now get lost. I’m trying to get some training, and you’re in my way.”

“Do as you please. I won’t interfere with your path. But if you change your mind, you can whisper in your ear, for I’m your wonderful partner and your one and only absolute ally.”

After shooing Alsuhariya away, I went back to thinking about the fog.

A wild bird was singing.

Its drawn-out cries echoed through the murky night. The ball of fire inside a lantern flickered in the cool breeze that blew through the trees, and the surface of the water where the light was projected seemed to tremble in response.

The rustic open-air rock bath was surrounded by rocks that had been polished to a rounded shape.

The crescent moon’s rays shone through the curtain of leaves. The moon and the lantern cast light onto the steam behind me, creating a pattern of light where natural and artificial light intersected.

Plop, a splash of water sounded.

Droplets of water flowed down her shoulders, colored a cherry blossom pink from the heat. Her hair, soaked in the hot water, spread out and drifted, as if reaching out to my elbow.

Blushing, Rei was blowing bubbles with half her face submerged in the hot water.

Back-to-back with her as she sat in the bath stark naked, I let out a breath through my wide-open mouth.

H-how had this happened? She had said, “After you,” and I was supposed to have taken a bath before she did. Wh-why had she joined me, naked, like she owned the place? In a yuri game world, a male like me shouldn’t be allowed to soak in a hot spring bath with a naked heroine, right?

I dipped my face in the hot water and proceeded to kill myself, but no matter how long I waited, I was not called to heaven. It appeared that Alsuhariya had created a layer of air on the surface of my face in an attempt to prolong my life.

Every inch of the demon was made of magic operators. By manipulating it any way she wanted, it was easy to perform simple magic, even without a magic device.

The troublesome thing about fighting a demon was the activation of such simple magic…but all I could say at this point was that I was unable to die because of Alsuhariya.

With no other choice, I raised my head.

The light was flickering leisurely behind the lantern.

Either my master or one of the holy archers must have lit it. The rays of the moon and the light from the lanterns were reflected on the surface of the murky hot water.

Plop. Below my line of sight, ripples hit my arm.

Out of a corner of my eye, I saw fine skin, and I felt the warmth of her shoulders brushing against mine.

“Hff… Hff… Hff…!”

Wide-eyed and sweating profusely, I cautiously took a glance at Rei.

Sh-she wasn’t having any weird thoughts, was she? N-nothing naughty was going to happen, right? Th-this was a yuri game. If…worse came to worst, the only thing left for me to do was to stop my heart so fast that Alsuhariya wouldn’t have time to react… But…could I manage that…? Oh, heck, I had to try it…!

“…Brother, dear.”

I jumped.

“Y-yeah, it’s me! Your brother! And you’re my sister! We’re siblings!!”

“Due to the circumstances of the Sanjo family, that’s how things are between us, but…we’re barely related by blood, and we’re distant relatives… Article 734 of the Civil Code prohibits marriage between direct blood relatives or collateral relatives within the third degree of kinship… Various obstacles stand in the way for a male and a female to get married, but… You and I can certainly tie the knot without any issues.”

“Hff, hff, hff, hff, hff, hff!!”

A faint line of tears formed in the corner of my eye.

Th-this girl had been looking into it. She didn’t have to, but she did. Was she studying civil law? Was she hoping to become a civil servant or something?

“I don’t want you to misunderstand, but this is just a part of us communicating as a family. It’s an accident that occurred because Astemir told me that no one was bathing. You’re the overly conscious one. In fact, I’m getting a hint of naughty thoughts wafting in the air, as if you’d been hoping for a chance to get physical with me.”

A chance to get physical with her? She’s making me sound like some idiot addicted to sex. The vocabulary she’s built by reading women’s manga has come so far that she can even sniff out power words.

“Brother dear, I’m happy to be taking a soak with you.”

I was all serious as I swiftly placed the tip of my Masamune Kuki against my heart.

“I’ve always longed…to take a relaxing soak in a family bath…”

With my straight face still in place, I quickly sheathed my sword.

Rei slowly put her head on my shoulder.

Her black hair was a little wet, and the air had made it cool to the touch, tickling my shoulders. Heavy from the moisture, it had a frighteningly glossy sheen as her fingertips swam gracefully under the rippling water’s surface.

Rei closed her eyes and leaned back against me, apparently completely at ease.

The tips of her fingers slowly traced the outline of my body as if to confirm that it was there.

“You and Snow are the only family that I have. I’d like the three of us to take a bath together one day.”

“I wouldn’t mind that, but I’ll be taking part as a drowned corpse… Are you prepared for that?”

That was barely within the category of a loving family.

Having thus decided, my breathing returned to normal, and I began to relax.

“Rei. I want you to tell me about the Sanjo family’s Magical Eye, The Tale at Dawn.”

Rei made a loud splash and turned her body toward me.

“Why do you want to know about the Sanjos’ Magic Eye?”

“Hey… Don’t look at my body like that…! It’s embarrassing…!!”

“S-sorry.”

She would have seen every part of my body if the water wasn’t so creamy. She blushed, covered her chest with her hands, and turned the other way.

“My master told me about it. That woman basically knows everything. I want to get stronger, and I’m working hard to open my Magic Eye, The Tale at Dawn.”

“I see. Well, there’s no way that a member of the family would give you information about its Magic Eye, and relevant materials are locked away in a large safe at the main residence. Even I was told that I couldn’t open it until I officially inherited the family name.”

The original Hiiro character wouldn’t have known that, but I was aware of it from my knowledge of this game.

It was no wonder the Sanjos wanted to keep information about its Magic Eye hidden. If a guy like Hiiro, who was hostile, uncontrollable, and a symbol of disgrace, were to gain its power, there was no telling what would happen.

The opening of the Magic Eye was also related to the feuds between family members.

For that reason, Hiiro, a direct descendant who met the conditions for opening it, was like a bomb that was extremely dangerous for the Sanjos.

“The Magic Eye is said to be based on a hereditary tradition. If you were to open it, family members who refused to recognize your bloodline to date and wanted me to be the heir would suddenly get into an awkward position. Once people realized that you opened The Tale at Dawn, it’s only natural that those who have been working behind the scenes to make you the heir would appear en masse. They would fuss over you as the rightful heir and try to seize power within the clan. That’s why we can’t have you open our Magic Eye.”

Hiiro’s parents and grandparents had already passed away, and without a spouse, he existed as the family’s sole direct descendant, ultimately without allies.

Those from the branch families had destroyed the physical evidence that proved that he was indeed the rightful heir and insisted that Hiiro Sanjo wasn’t a direct descendant. Because of that, they would be in trouble if I came to them with The Tale at Dawn, which would prove I was who I claimed to be.

The Sanjo family wasn’t unified.

Everyone looked as if they were standing behind Rei Sanjo, but there were also those looking for an opportunity to take advantage of her and bring her down to benefit themselves. Some were eccentrics who valued bloodlines and tradition, plotting to prove that Hiiro Sanjo was the rightful heir and to make him the family’s banner.

In short, trouble would break out if I opened the family’s Magic Eye.

“Don’t worry. Even if I do open the Magic Eye, I’ll make sure no one finds out.”

“Yeah, I’ll help you do that. I’m experienced at hiding things and plotting.”

With my back still facing Rei, I whispered, “I hear that when The Tale at Dawn is opened, it strains the brain and the eyes. I want to know how bad that would be. Let’s say I forced it open… How long could the human body endure it?”

Rei answered after a brief pause. “From what I’ve heard…sixteen…no, fifteen seconds max. Someone once forced it open using yin-yang sorcery and ceased to be human after ten and six hours… I don’t know what that means, but I don’t think it ended well.”

In the original game, you have to wait for the cooling-off period to pass during your turn. I didn’t think it was set up to open the Magic Eye by force.

That was why I wanted to know what would happen if you forced it to stay open, what the time limit was, and how much strain it would put on your body.

“Fifteen seconds…”

“The Tale at Dawn is said to have been founded by the strongest sorcerer the Sanjo family ever had. Legend has it that she could see everything, but after making the world aware of her power, she created a monster, and it caused many casualties. A record remains of an ancient ritual for cursing individuals, but it’s said the ritual had the effect of forcing the Magic Eye open and that everyone who took part died.”

“Thanks for the warning; I’ll keep it in mind. I have no intention of forcing it open. I just wanted to know what happened as knowledge.”

“Ever since ancient times, no one who has been involved with The Tale at Dawn has ever found happiness. All those who opened it swore it was a cursed eye that could see ghosts. The Magic Eye is cursed. Or rather, it may be the Sanjo blood that’s cursed… Those before our time—Kiriu, Kaou—if only that usurpation drama over Kabane Sanjo hadn’t occurred…”

Rei was aware of the tragedies that had affected the Sanjo family, and she spoke with her head down, as if she were talking to herself.

Having played the original game, I also knew the outcome, which was why I could be careful about how I handled The Tale at Dawn.

Fifteen seconds, huh? Was that all? Oh, well, I was just asking out of curiosity. I had no intention of taking up Alsuhariya’s offer or to fight to the death with Chris Esse Eisbert.

I was lost in thought when I caught sight of my master, glancing this way with her eyes narrowed.

“The two of you…are bathing together…? Is that the kind of relationship you’re in…?”

“Hey, it’s your fault!!” (Splash! Splash!)

“Ow! That’s hot!! What a violent apprentice I have!! Is your skill with that water pistol thanks to the training I’ve provided for you?! My powerful leadership has produced results yet again!”

My master retreated after my water attack, and Rei quickly got to her feet.

“No! Don’t stand up! I can see everything—oh, die, bastard!!”

The moment the color of her skin brushed the edge of my vision, I slammed two fingers into my eyeballs.

“Aaahh…! Oh… S-sorry…”

Apparently, Rei didn’t see my eye-popping scene. I heard the rustling sound of her putting on her clothes, followed by footsteps, and it seemed she went running after my master to explain.

“Good. No yuri girl had been defiled.”

“D-don’t suddenly try to blind yourself. Thank God I got to you in the nick of time… But that was some force, and you really would have lost your eyesight if I wasn’t here.”

I got out of the bath after I could see again.

At that moment, the steam that had been clinging to me formed a line along my skin, and I looked at the sheath of my Masamune Kuki—and noticed something.

“The mystery of the fog.”

I grinned.

“I’ve figured it out.”

It was late the second night.

I’d been fighting from morning till night and stood half dead.

The three holy archers who had been my fighting partners were also panting, and they had removed the masks that were in the way, since it was dark.

It was fine to figure out the mystery of the fog, but meaningless if I didn’t master the sense of controlling it.

From head to toe, every part of my body was shaking with a fever.

One more time.

One more time, and I’d get it.

My whole body was more sensitive, and I took a stance that had become ingrained in my body.

The clouds that had been hiding the moon drifted away, and the moonlight illuminated the space between me and the holy archers—and I made my move.

I inhaled the fog into my lungs, then extended it as a line to my limbs, pushing the flow of powerful magic power into my line of magic and reinforcing it over and over so it wouldn’t burst.

From the tip of one finger…to another…then another…and another!!

“Ngh…! Argh…!!”

From my index finger to my middle finger, Alsuhariya’s magic power flowed. The magic line I’d constructed with everything I had helped control it, and the amount of magic energy I needed was supplied.

At that moment, I suddenly felt relaxed.

The world was illuminated, mingled with pleasure and pain. It was as if I had never felt the pain I had endured until then.

Then my eyes opened.

Half-open, they saw a route in the darkness.

I saw thousands of routes displayed before me, and I chose the red one.

“Hiiro…” My master got on her feet and muttered.

Two red lights emerged dimly, as if denying the darkness, perhaps to guide the lost.

As I stepped forward, my upper body tipped over as two rays of light swayed above.

A holy archer shouted:

“Duck!!”

But it was too late.

I waved my left hand, and the fog that had been brushed aside flew through the air—and began generating. Friction sounded in the air, and a magic barrier was formed to block the girls’ escape route.

Very gently, I pulled the tips of my fingers together.

And shot.

I saw the red route before me, where I applied my magic power.

Shoot—blink— My master’s foot kicked my arm upward, and—thud!

I had full control over my invisible arrow as it stretched up to the bottom of the moon that dominated the sky—and then it became visible.

A water arrow formed and then burst in a tremendously loud explosion, tilting the leaning torii gate further, uprooting the large trees, and pushing the holy archers, who were taking defensive positions, down to the ground.

Then it rained.

As I stood soaked to the skin, my master came to me, her wet bangs hanging down her face. She smiled at me and said, “Congratulations.”

Then I fell unconscious.

It was noon the next day when I came to.

I saw a tent over my head, heard the whisper of a cool breeze, and felt my feverish body.

Sunlight had crept in through the entrance, which swayed in the breeze, flickering at my feet. A pleasant warmth and softness enveloped me, and a savory aroma drifted in from somewhere and tickled my nostrils.

It appeared that I had been carried into this tent after losing consciousness.

“…Isn’t this a violation of basic human rights?”

My master was asleep, holding me in her arms, and Rei was sleeping, clutching me from behind.

I pushed my master away, moved Rei’s hands off my body, and stepped outside the tent.

“……”

The holy archers were sitting around a bonfire, roasting marshmallows on wooden sticks.

The three masks were moving suspiciously in the dim light.

Not moving an inch, the elves watched the white blobs melt with a sizzling sound.

“……”

“Can you stop using marshmallows as your sacred offerings while I sleep?”

“……”

“Please don’t look at me all at once… I-it’s scary…”

A dark-brown tengu pulled out a folding chair for me and prompted me to take a seat.

Her powerful presence made it hard to refuse, and I joined the group, putting on a female demon mask I was handed, and watched the marshmallows roast.

That was when my master came out of the tent, yawning, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“Oh boy, I had a good sleep—”

“……”

“Are those marshmallows? Or possibly stomachs?”

Rei woke up a few minutes later, and the same process was repeated.

We ate the mystery hot pot everyone pitched in to make, and my master ate a marshmallow and looked like she was about to throw up when she asked me, “So you’ve figured out the identity of the fog, have you?”

I smiled and extended a magic line from my fingertip.

“That was a magic line taking on the form of a fog. It was a super-line tube that magical energy flowed through. Rei and I unconsciously let our energy flow out on the first day, and the magical energy flowed from the fog we inhaled into our lungs out to the fog in the air, which made us run out of energy.”

A magic line is a tube that runs through the human body and is made using endogenous magic operators. It can only pass magic power but can easily be changed or adjusted with training.

It can be made thicker to regulate the amount of inflow, or made thinner to increase pressure and inflow speed.

Normally, endogenous magic operators flowing through the human body circulate all over and are left to flow freely.

Magic lines are the paths that carry their flow, similar to how blood vessels carry blood.

“On the first day, the high density of the fog increased the amount of magic power flowing out, and it was easy to control, since the amount I couldn’t handle had gotten out of my body. But on the second day, the fog was thin, so the magic power I couldn’t handle remained in my body, and I couldn’t control it.”

My master flicked her spoon with her finger to make a ping sound to indicate that I was right.

“I only saw magic lines as switches that temporarily changed the flow of magic power. My magical energy was minimal before, and I didn’t have to think about its inflow and outflow. However, the true power of this magic line lies in other areas before its switching function. For example, if I constructed them according to the amount and intensity of the magic power I used, the magic passing through the pipes would be uniform. Theoretically, I can control any amount of magical energy as needed.”

“Correct again. I knew you could arrive at the answer.”

My master smiled and patted me on the head.

“Maybe it was only temporary, but your Magic Eye was open… And I imagine The Tale at Dawn will eventually open naturally. However—”

She tapped my forehead with the spoon.

“It’s too soon to open it now. For a moment, you were lost in its power and attempted to shoot at random. That wasn’t your will. It must have been the will of your Magic Eye.”

“You’re right. The Magic Eye took over my consciousness then…and I barely remember a thing…”

“Well, anyway. How did you become aware of this?”

I grinned.

“It was the rock bath.”

“Huh…?”

Rei’s cheeks flushed, and she concentrated on examining the ground as my master and the holy archers stared at me.

“Are you saying your dirty thoughts solved the mystery of the fog and opened your Magic Eye…”?

“Well, yeah. My sexual desires seem to have unraveled the mystery that lurks beneath a person’s clothes. Share it with your friends with the hashtag The Magic Eye and a Dirty Mind.”

“D-does that mean—?”

Blushing a bright red, Rei looked at me as I worked hard at lowering my likability rating.

“You were looking at me in that way—?”

“Are you kidding? Of course not. You’re making a false accusation. How could someone with a pure heart like mine do something like that? I would never have such feelings toward my sister, and I solved the mystery fairly and properly. Don’t be so rude, you fool.”

“Then when during that bath did you find the answer?”

I sighed.

“It was the steam.”

The smoke that Alsuhariya exhaled formed a line that crawled over my arm and blended with the fog before dissolving into the air.

“The steam formed a line along my skin and extended to the sheath of my Masamune Kuki sword. The sheath has a conducting wire that connects consoles. I went on to consider the path that magic power travels…and was able to solve the mystery that had been entangled in my mind.”

With her hands folded on her lap, Rei looked at me with a gaze full of respect and affection. The three holy archers also regarded me through their masks, and I felt embarrassed and wolfed down my curry.

“I knew you had great vision,” my master said, stroking my head affectionately. “It’s backed by your attention to things and your knack at battle. And on top of that, you even mastered the use of magic lines in just a day.”

My master kept stroking my hair in place.

“However, you haven’t gained complete control over it yet. You’ll need to gradually get used to it so you can use it in a real battle.”

I nodded—and my phone rang.

The window popped open automatically, and it showed Mule, bright red in fury.

“N-now you’ve done it, Hiiro Sanjo… How dare you make such a fool out of me…?! You said I only needed to remain seated! Liar!! Come back here this minute! Now! Right now!! On a count of three, and I will kill you! Brace yourself!!”

“Sorry, Hiiro.” Tsukiori grinned sheepishly as she lifted Mule in her arms. “She found out.”

Well, the timing was right.

Grinning, I told Mule, who was still making a fuss, that I’d be back the next day.

“How dare you have the nerve to show your face here…?!”

The following day, I visited the dorm manager’s office. Mule jumped up from her seat and approached me, waving her cane threateningly.

“What’s up, manager?”

“Don’t ‘what’s up?’ me! Don’t you realize what you’ve done?!”

Mule shook me as I bent over. Lily walked into the room at that moment and quickly pulled the dorm manager away from me.

“Let me gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! This guy can’t be allowed to go on living!!”

“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!”

Tsukiori, who had been sleeping on the sofa with a magazine on her face, suddenly sat up.

“Oh, you’re back… Welcome back, Hiiro.”

She rubbed her eyes and smiled when she saw Mule making a fuss.

“So you’re all enjoying talking about where you’d been, huh?”

“The dorm manager is the only one who’s enjoying herself.”

Tsukiori yawned and stretched.

“So she’s found out before we have that welcome party, but what do you want to do?”

“It’s only natural that she’s found out, and it’s just as well. The timing’s perfect.”

Finally calmed down, the dorm manager pointed at me as she gasped for breath.

“You! You’re the culprit!”

“Ngh… ngh… I—I couldn’t help it…!”

I covered my face with my hands and got down on my knees.

“I had no choice…!!”

“This is a scene you often see on Tuesday Night at the Movies on TV.”

“Y-you… How dare you…?!”

Mule thrust the dorm newspaper at me.

Printed inside was a letter of apology from the dorm manager to the former resident she’d kicked out. A photo of the tearful dorm manager and the expelled student was posted, making it look as if Mule had apologized and they’d reached a reconciliation.

“Y-you were planning to do this all along… Wh-when did you take this photo…? Wh-who gave you the authority to publish a dorm paper pretending to be me…?!”

“Oh, come on, manager. Use those pretty eyes of yours to take a good look.”

Smiling, I tapped the article with my finger.

“No one’s saying you wrote that column. All I did was edit it in the first person and put up my apology letter. But people do know that you put much effort into maintaining our dorm paper, so the other students might think that you wrote it.”

I grinned.

“That can’t be helped…can it? Huh, manager? Hmm?”

“You jerk!! I will tear you to shreds and then stew you in concrete!”

Mule jumped me, but Lily read her trajectory and caught her in the air. Like a Chinese acrobatic troupe, the matron began swimming in the air, only to have Lily make her land on her feet with familiar moves.

“All I did was do as Hiiro asked and obtain the right to print that article.”

Still sprawling on the couch, Tsukiori flashed an application form for the welcome party for new students.

“The effects of this magic are fantastic. Applications are pouring in almost as quickly as before Mule’s reputation went sour.”

Girls were peeking into the office from an opening in the door.

When their eyes met those of Tsukiori, who had her legs crossed as she remained on her back, they screamed and cheered ecstatically and took off.

“I have a question for the person who cast this spell. It sounds like Sakura Tsukiori intervened to have Mule and the former dorm resident make up…but what was that about?”

“Well, this is a small dorm, and word would spread instantly that you worked hard to get the right to publish the article, regardless of the source. If we said that the source was the ghost that people have been talking about, it would cause a major stir.”

I grinned. I had used my distortion field and made myself invisible when I spread that rumor.”

“You really do keep scheming this and that, don’t you? You’re very good at meeting requirements for winning in any situation.”

Enjoying herself, Tsukiori stared at me.

“Yeah… I start to want you…more and more…”

“Cancel it! Cancel this paper! You’re playing too dirty, changing the publishing date so I wouldn’t notice what you’ve done!! You’re a criminal!! What kind of cunning infant were you born as to come up with such a lousy trick, you scumbag?!”

I spread my arms and closed my eyes, indulging in the dorm master’s words of praise as things were turning out ideally.

This was indeed the Yuritopia of my dreams that I’d aimed for.

Mule hated me, and many girls loved Tsukiori.

If I had Chris Esse Eisbert provide security for the welcome party, our dorm manager would start investigating why I asked her to do that. At that point, I would launch my intelligence operation.

I would spread fabricated evidence that Sakura Tsukiori was working behind the scenes so she would receive all the credit. Since Chris hates me, she would no doubt start saying bad things about me to her sister, and my unpopularity would surely nosedive.

A breeze blew in through the open window, shaking the curtains, and the sunlight shone on me.

Feeling its warmth, I murmured in my mind: I win.

“Mule. Hiiro is doing everything for your sake. You realize that, don’t you?”

I took a good look at the direction the voice came from.

Lily was looking serious as she stared at Mule.

“Hiiro could have taken any number of steps to make you happy. But he took the trouble of choosing this approach because he wanted you to work out your problem on your own.”

“Lily… U-um… H-hey, what…? What’s for dinner tonight…? Huh…?”

“I—I have nothing… that needs to be…worked out…”

“But you wanted to apologize to that student, didn’t you?”

Mule flinched.

“You wanted to apologize but couldn’t because you didn’t want to tarnish the Eisbert family name. Mule, you may think that this dorm is the only place for you. Maybe you feel that you have no value and are not needed. But you’re mistaken. You can live your life as Mule Esse Eisbert. As an individual human being. You can apologize if you want to do that without worrying about the Eisberts.”

“Th-that’s none of your business… I don’t intend…to have a male help me…”

“I hear Chris is coming to the welcome party.”

Mule looked up enthusiastically.

A smile spread across her face, and she was suddenly happy and excited.

“R-really?!”

“Uh-huh. Hiiro invited her. She wants to thank him for it.”

“M-my sister…wants to apologize to Hiiro Sanjo…?”

“Hey, Mule? You have people…who care about you, too…,” Lily said as she and Mule looked at me. I turned pale and stepped back.

I hadn’t realized the sunlight had receded, and the afterglow of my victory had faded away.

Left behind, I slowly backed away…and was cornered by the window, which looked to me like nothing but a sheer cliff.

Shaking my blue face from side to side, I whispered desperately, “N-no… It wasn’t me…! It wasn’t! I swear it wasn’t me! I haven’t done anything! I don’t know anyone named Chris Esse Eisbert! I’ve never met or heard about her! It’s true! Believe me! Please, Tsukiori!! ”

I grabbed Tsukiori’s arms, trembling.

“Y-you believe me, don’t you…?!”

Tsukiori smiled and slowly shook her head.

I was stunned and looked around, realizing that I didn’t have a single ally.

I slumped to my knees and covered my face with my hands.

“Ngh… ngh… I couldn’t help it…,” I whispered into the darkness. “I couldn’t help it…!”

“Why do you sound like you’ve been cornered like in some tragic film showing on Tuesday Night at the Movies when you did something good?”

And thus, the incident over the welcome party for new students came to an end.

Or so I thought.

Preparations for the welcome party were steadily underway, and the maids who had once worked for the Eisberts were regaining their confidence and smiling again.

Our dorm manager was also unusually restless. Perhaps looking forward to her sister’s visit, she seemed to be counting the days until the event.

Two days before the event, Lily said something that cast a disturbing shadow on the happy scene. Chris had invited Mule to come and spend the night at the family home.

“She can’t turn down the invitation, since it came through the Eisbert family. Chris seems to like you, Hiiro, so I didn’t think anything of her coming to the welcome event, but this invitation is just for Mule… She’s delighted, mind you, and busy making preparations, but I’m a little concerned.”

There seemed to be a strange misunderstanding here, and Lily appeared to believe that Chris Esse Eisbert was coming to the welcome party because of me (in a way, she was right).

Having single-handedly protected Mule from the evil clutches of the Eisbert family, she was well aware of reality. Chris would never go to an event for her sister. That was why Mule had been suspicious of her sudden invitation for a sleepover.

As if on cue, Lily received a call. When she returned after taking the call outside, her expression was clouded, and her fists were clenched in front of her chest and trembling.

“…It’s Chris calling.”

She hesitated, not wanting to involve me, but she looked up at me when I urged her to tell me what it was about.

“She says she wants to talk to you.”

I nodded and accepted her phone.

“Come outside. I’ve sent someone for you. I wish to see you alone—”

She smiled on the screen with a hint of implication and said, “I want to deepen our friendship.”

“That’s nice, Chris. Maybe we’re in sync with each other, and we’re thinking the same thing.”

I smiled at her, imitating Hiiro Sanjo, the person that I wanted to kill the most.

“I’m in the mood to play with a pretty girl.”

Chris’s face contorted—and I leisurely got into the limousine that arrived in front of the dorm.

I arrived in Ginza, in the Chuo Ward, Tokyo.

A limousine stopped on a street lined with fancy restaurants.

A tall driver reverently opened the door, and I got out of the limo, where I had been drinking sparkling juice.

This was an exclusive members-only restaurant operated by the Eisbert family. The large glass-walled doors opened automatically, and I handed my jacket to the clerk and stepped into the dimly lit restaurant.

It was dark inside.

As my eyes started getting used to it, I saw numerous furnishings.

There was a Steinway grand piano, an antique candlestick, objects with geometric patterns, a round walnut table covered with pure-white cloth…and a light in the center.

A human figure was at a table.

A spooky ghostlike fairy.

Chris Esse Eisbert was wearing a crimson dress, emitting inhuman charm, and peering at me from the darkness. Illuminated by the faint light, her twisted eyes watched me.

I took a step forward.

The moment I stepped on the floor—a line of motion extended from below my feet—the floor began glowing in an azure color, and goldfish passed through my legs.

It was an image projected by a large specialized magic-laying device.

The water’s surface was shining in a faint azure color. Every time I stepped on it, ripples spread out and disappeared when they collided with waves coming from who knew where.

The common goldfish, the Fringe Tail, the Bristol Shubunkin, the Ping-Pong Ball, the Tetsu Onaga, and the Kinranshi…various kinds of goldfish swam past me toward the ray of light, as if they were beckoning a lost child.

The golden fish led my way.

From nowhere, a woman in pure-black formal wear appeared and sophisticatedly pulled out a chair.

I sat down and crossed my legs.

Chris Esse Eisbert smiled as a red liquid was poured into her glass.

“You have poor manners.”

“Excuse me. I guess I shouldn’t cross my legs in front of a ladylike figure.”

With dubious good looks, she looked down at the appetizers brought before her and chuckled.

“The quality is poor. Even the chef here at this prestigious location in Ginza, who once worked for British royalty, can only offer a poor-quality selection like this. Regardless of whether the finest entrées are served later, this ruins everything.”

Her Magic Eye was open, with which she glared at me.

“The food served at a formal meal must be uniform in order, quality, and the manner in which it is offered. Even if just one dish isn’t up to par—”

She vigorously thrust her fork into her appetizer, and the whole plate cracked without a sound. Then she smiled.

“It’s better to remove it.”

She eyed the waiter to remove her plate, and as he tried to do so, I blocked his hand, picked up the appetizer, and tossed it in my mouth.

“But some people need it. I already ate dinner. The appetizer is enough for me.”

“…Incompatible.”

The edges of her mouth twitched.

“You and I are incompatible.”

“Is that what you had me come here to say? Be satisfied with your dating apps.”

I chuckled.

“Sorry, but I don’t have the stomach to dine with an evil, corrupt woman. I’m more comfortable eating a homecooked meal prepared by a foul-mouthed maid.”

“You’re something else,” she said, laughing as she sipped her wine.

“You talk to me like that, and you’re still alive.”

“It’s a good thing you can’t read people’s minds. If you could, you’d be a mass murderer by now. I’m talking big to you on behalf of all humankind.”

Intent to kill—invisible arrow—chi. I thrust my index finger and middle finger with an invisible arrow between them at Chris Esse Eisbert’s cheek as she got on her feet.

“Hey, come on, you’re going ahead and losing your temper? You’re the one who invited me. You may not know this, but if you need another glass of water, the waiter will bring it to you.”

Smiling, Chris Esse Eisbert rearranged the numerous forks set before her.

I kept my smile on my face and watched as she sat back down.

“Get down to business. It’s too creepy for us to be all chummy, chatting and enjoying a full-course meal together.”

Flick.

A pure-white glove fell on the plate in front of me.

Eisbert had tossed it with the grace of a theater actor.

“Duel.”

“I didn’t bring my deck of cards.”

“I don’t like you. You don’t like me. The conditions are set for us to kill each other.”

With my legs still crossed, I spread out my arms.

“Do you know that initiating a duel is a crime? If you want so badly to kill someone, I suggest you go back in time to the days when people slung swords around their waists, and you could fight the black ships or something.”

“You’re a male, and I’m a female. Do you think the Japanese government would apply the law to a personal relationship like ours?”

A waiter brought me my soup, and I glanced at the many spoons on the table.

“Which one do I use?”

“I’ll tell you if you accept.”

I called up a window and made a call.

“Hello, Snow? Yeah. Which spoon do you use for the soup in a full-course meal? Uh-huh. Yeah. Huh? I have no idea. Just tell me. Tell me, and I’ll buy you ice cream on my way home… No, not that brand. We don’t have that kind of money… Yeah, yeah, okay. Bye.”

I grinned, then picked up the smallest spoon.

“That’s for dessert.”

“That blasted maid!!”

Embarrassed, I threw the spoon against the table and covered my red face with my hands.

“I—I thought it was small! I did think it was too small!”

“Accept my challenge, you failure of a son.”

Chris Esse Eisbert sneered, as if to provoke me.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take on my challenge? That younger sister of mine appeared to be excited by my invitation to her…and whether it becomes a happy visit or a sad one depends on your answer.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“…What are you talking about?”

“Don’t suddenly get dense, you fool. You know what I’m talking about. Try firing a few synapses in that wonderfully rotten brain of yours. Do I, Chris Esse Eisbert, look like I’m at the age where I would play dolls with that little failure?”

I quietly stared at her.

“Now you’re looking good. You’re finally showing a little class.”

“Did you invite Mule to your sleepover—,” I said in a whisper, “to draw me out to a duel…? Is that the only reason why you invited her…?”

Chris Esse Eisbert cracked up.

“Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha-ha!! What a laugh! Wh-what’s with that stupid look on your face?! Y-you! You thought I—I! I—and that failure—!! Wh-what a fool you are! Y-you must have pansies growing in your brain! Ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! My side hurts!”

With tear stains on her face, her sneer turned crooked once her laughter died down.

“Did you, even for a minute, believe that I could get along with that failure at this point?! A useless piece of trash the world does not need, just like you? Didn’t your parents teach you to put trash in trash cans where it belonged?”

Chris Esse Eisbert glared at me.

“I am setting out to do volunteer work. Do you understand that? A useless maid, a failure of a sister, and a male who is nothing but trash… And I am giving you moments of my precious time so I can take care of all that garbage at once. But here you are, saying you want me to provide security for your welcome party? Me, Chris Esse Eisbert? Quit fooling around, you useless piece of trash!!”

She slammed her fist into the table, and it cracked in two.

Without moving an inch, I looked down at the round walnut table that had been torn in half at her feet.

Chris Esse Eisbert drew a spiral around her eye and covered her face with one hand.

“You… I will kill you in front of that defective sister of mine… That individual, who…no matter what I do to her…will never give up… That failure… As if to proclaim to the world that she’s Chris Esse Eisbert’s sibling…she always clings to me… What a joke…! I…I’m no sibling to a failure like that… She annoys me… Why…? Why does she keep following me around…when she knows I hate her…?!?!”

Just like in the original story, Chris Esse Eisbert drew a spiral, brought together her distorted thoughts, and turned her eyes toward me.

“Hiiro Sanjo, accept my challenge!! I will kill you!! Kill you in front of that failure! If you don’t, I’ll break that failure first!”

I sipped my soup while watching her rant in disgrace.

After finishing it, I…stood up.

“Are you running away?”

“I’m going home. A date is over when the other person gets fed up with their date.”

I turned around and smiled.

“You’re out of the question for me.”

“You bastard—”

Whoosh!

The invisible arrow that cut her cheek flew straight ahead—and, with a tremendous explosion, blew away a row of tables, including the one in front of her. They rose high in the air, then crashed down with a loud thud.

Blood slowly trickled down her cheek as Chris Esse Eisbert’s eyes widened in shock. Smiling, I asked her, “Did you see that?”

“……”

“I didn’t think so. Someone like you, who can’t even see her only sister’s feelings for her, couldn’t manage that. A person like you will never be able to see my arrows. Who could someone like you, who can’t even talk to her only sibling, possibly defeat?”

An image of Mule popped into my mind.

Day in and day out, she chatted happily about her older sister and boasted what a fine person she was. I thought about how thrilled she was when she told Lily that her sister had invited her to a sleepover for the first time.

Her smile was pure and innocent, and I could see the bond that bloomed between sisters.

But there was someone who trampled on that beautiful flower right in front of her.

Someone who tried to destroy the feelings she had carefully nurtured, the prayers she had always chanted. An individual who wanted to crush it all with a filthy sneer.

Could I forgive that individual? I asked myself that question—and shouted, “Of course I can’t forgive you, you wicked witch!”

I let loose my magic power.

“You stepped into someone else’s flower bed and trampled all over it. Did you think I’d forgive you? Huh?! If you want so badly to get beaten up, then I’ll do that for you!”

I laughed as I continued screaming at her.

“The male you call a piece of trash! The failure!! The worthless piece of crap, as you put it!!”

My cries echoed throughout the place.

“I’ll show you how I can go beyond the genius you claim to be!! Don’t go running now, Chris Esse Eisbert!!”

A pure white glove that had been fluttering in the air fell to Chris Esse Eisbert’s hand.

The blood dripping down her cheek stained it, and the immaculate white color became an ugly red.

From high in the air, Chris Esse Eisbert—cackled mockingly.

“Fine. You’re nothing but a stepping stone.”

In every human being’s heart is an original landscape.

For example, it could be the sky over a canopy, or the earth covered in green, the boundless sea, an old castle that remains after a war, the surf lapping at the ankles, a library buried in books, the sun scorching the horizon, the grave where a loved one sleeps, the slope where the dice roll, the void that passes between light and dark, or the room with only one window.

Mule Esse Eisbert’s original landscape was a point of light that pierced the twilight—a star.

It wasn’t just stars that made up the scene. To the right was her mother, and to the left was her older sister. Another older sister stood behind them, next to whom was her tutor, and a servant next to the tutor, who had been close to her since childhood.

“Look, Mule. That’s the Summer Triangle. It’s a constellation formed by the link between stars of the first magnitude—the swan, the eagle, and the harp. Doesn’t it look like a triangle if you connect the three?”

Mule’s mother, Sophia, hugged her daughter’s shoulders and smiled as she pointed to the sky.

Mule spotted the three stars and looked up at her mother.

“A star of the first magnitude…?”

“They’re the brightest stars in the sky that we can see. The best shining stars.”

“Mother, there’s no such thing as the best stars,” Sophia’s eldest daughter, Syria, said from her wheelchair as she coughed and smiled.

“Oh, come now, Syria. They’re the brightest stars, and that means they’re the best, just like my daughters! That one out there is you, the one over there is Chris, and that’s Mule! Every one of you is bright, beautiful, and the best, as I would expect of my daughters!” Sophia said, nodding as Lily watched them and smiled.

“But, Mother, everyone says I look more like that star over there,” Mule said, pointing to a star that was shining faintly next to the swan.

“Vulpecula—the Fox… That’s a fourth-rate star you can’t see in a bright night sky… It’s feeble, outshone by the brilliance of the other stars…”

The corners of Chris’s mouth twitched behind Sophia, and she stiffened. Chris was the second daughter.

“They have some nerve, trying to pick a fight with my precious little sister. I don’t know who started it, but tomorrow is the day when the garbage collectors come to pick up nonburnable trash. I’ll teach them a lesson for saying things like that when they’re nothing but stardust.”

“I’ll help, Miss Chris,” the tutor, Liu, said, cracking her knuckles.

“We’ll show these rude individuals that the range of my fist extends to the atmosphere.”

“Now, now, Liu. Chris. You shouldn’t say things like that, even if you’re joking.” Liu and Chris clicked their tongues when Syria admonished them.

“Who said that, Mule? Were people bullying you at school again?”

“Uh-uh. It was my teacher. She said I can’t stand out because I don’t have magic power. She told me that at nature school. She said if everyone else were like the Sumner Triangle, then I would be the Fox, and it’s because I try too hard that I stand out and get picked on. So she says to stay in a corner and be quiet.”

“…What scum!!”

A vein stood out on Chris’s forehead. She was about to take off running when Syria grabbed her hand.

“Syria! Why are you stopping me?!”

“Going back to Tokyo now and attacking the teacher at her house won’t solve anything. Chris, violence is an easy and convenient way to settle things, but that’s precisely why people shouldn’t use it to resolve issues. Maybe it’s okay to use violence as a means, but you can’t make it your objective.”

“You’re always so naive! That’s why people take advantage of you! It must feel good to talk about ideals, but the fools of the world have no sense of justice, lack the intelligence to question things, and have no understanding of the greater good! They’re just good-for-nothing layabouts who get swayed by popular opinion that sounds good to them! Strength is the only thing that can protect our sister from those fools! Only a fraud would talk about ideals that don’t even exist!”

“Syria. Chris. You’re still children. Stop adorning public opinion with words that make you sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

Sophia thumped her chest with her fist and patted Mule on the head.

“I’m your mother, and I’m the adult here. Leave it to me! As someone who regularly deals with the old hags of the Eisbert family, I can solve an issue like this in no time! So you kids can stop worrying about it and have fun playing!”

Sophia smiled at Syria.

“Are you okay with that, Syria? There’s no need for you to get uptight. You trust your mother to handle things, don’t you?”

“…Yes, Mother. Of course.”

Syria adjusted the position of the blanket on her lap and said with a pretty smile, “I believe you, Mother…and that justice will always prevail.”

“Of course it will. No matter how many years it may take, we’ll get back everything we’ve had ruined so we can continue smiling together. I won’t allow anyone…to take anything else away from us.”

Lily, who had been watching the exchange, gently leaned over to Mule and pointed to the dull light.

“Mule. That Fox star is me. I continue to support those stars of the first magnitude. Who could that be but me? Your teacher must have been confused.”

“You know what, Lily? I don’t mind being called the Fox star.”

“Huh?”

As everyone widened their eyes, Mule smiled sweetly as she flapped her legs around.

“Because it’s pretty! Besides, it’s no fun being called the best from the start! It’s the same whether you’re running in a race, drawing, or practicing magic! It’s fun because you try really hard and finally get to be called the best in the end!”

Sophia was speechless as Mule continued to point to one star after another.

“So those stars are my rivals! I’m going to aim to be like them!”

Lily gasped as she realized Mule’s tiny finger was pointing to a particularly bright star.

“The star Altair…with the meaning, soaring eagle in Arabic…”

The faithful maid’s lips trembled as she looked up at the star beside Mule.

“Yes, Mule… You’ll take off one day, won’t you…? You’ll be a solitary star that blooms in the night sky… Someday, with your strength…you’ll be a ray of light that streams through the heavens…a spark that everyone will see, fulfilling the golden desires that reside in your heart… You will soar so high that no one…no one will be able to reach you… High…high in the sky, flying in earnest…”

“Will I be able to reach it?”

Mule reached out toward the shining light.

“Will I be able to reach that star with my hands?”

“…Sure you will,” Sophia whispered, sniffling and holding Mule tightly in her arms.

“I’m sure…you will… Your hands…will definitely…reach that star… If you keep reaching out, no matter how hard it may seem, how tough, how painful, you’ll be able to reach it… Only those who continue to reach out to the end will have their many wishes come true… So, Mule…”

Sophia’s eyes were moist as she stroked her youngest daughter’s cheek with loving care.

“Reach for that star… No matter what anyone says, no matter who may try to stop you or mock you… Keep reaching out… Reach out far…because that star will always be there…waiting for you to reach it…”

“Yes, Mother!”

Mule pledged to her mother and the star, “I’ll be sure to grab that star!”

That, indeed, was the original landscape in Mule Esse Eisbert’s heart.

Mule’s gaze had always been cast upon her older sister, who continued to work hard.

Chris Esse Eisbert—the second daughter of the Eisbert family—was a martial arts enthusiast, unlike her frail older sister, Syria, who saw the importance of magic and the martial arts.

“Mule.”

Mule was watching Chris when Liu, the Eisberts’ tutor, approached her with not a drop of sweat on her face.

Liu said Syria was a friend for life. She always stayed by her side like a shadow. Still, for some reason, she wasn’t allowed to accompany Syria to her medical checkups, so she usually instructed Chris when Syria was away to receive medical care.

“Are you interested in the Magic Fist by any chance?”

Liu had once risen to the rank of founding magic handler. But because she had done everything the Magic Association told her to do and was extravagant with her money, she had been known as the Tiger of the Golden Folding Screen. But she did not give a hint about her past; she was now simply a beautiful woman with a soft and easygoing air.

“The Magic Fist…?”

“Uh-huh. Like you, I do not have magic power. Therefore, I devised a fist technique based on the principles of wizardry and Xingyiquan that carries extra-corporeal magic power on the fist. I call it the Magic Fist and created a school called the Intangible Pole.”

“B-but you’re so strong!! You’re telling me you don’t have magic power?! When you can make the human body explode?!”

“The Magic Fist has nothing to do with that. Humans burst when you punch them.”

“Then you don’t need the Magic Fist! All it takes is muscle!”

“I’ve always had a unique constitution and had grasped the essence of external martial arts…”

“Hey, Mule! Are you going to learn the Intangible Pole, too?!”

With a towel hanging from her neck, Chris hugged Mule from behind. It tickled, and she laughed and pushed her away.

“Ch-Chris, that tickles! P-please, stop it!”

“Really? How’s that?! An Intangible Pole that tickles!”

“Um, Chris? Please stop that. The Intangible Pole doesn’t involve any tickling. It’s a school that I worked hard to create, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t make fun of it in front of me. I’ll go crying to Syria if you don’t.”

Nestled in Chris’s arms as always, Mule squeezed her older sister’s fingertips one by one as she looked up at Liu.

“I can’t use magic, but will I be strong like Chris if I learn the Intangible Pole?”

“Yes, of course. Actually, I’d been waiting to hear you say that. Our circumstances may be different, but you and I are similar. We are both without magic power and because of that, I have been exposed to malice in the world. With my support, you should be able to rise to the level of a magic handler on par with your ancestors.”

“Oh! You’re getting cocky!

Liu blushed and cleared her throat when Mule and Chris applauded her.

“B-but I should tell you that Syria had told me not to suggest it. But, Mule, since you’re the one who came up with the idea, she probably won’t disagree.”

“She did? Why?”

Chris stopped clapping using Mule’s hands and frowned.

“Syria always thinks too much. I mean, really, Mule, you’re my kid sister. Of course, you have talent. Maybe you don’t have magic power because of a congenital disorder, but that merely means you should focus on your studies and learn martial arts. You are my cute little sister, after all.”

“I agree,” Liu said. “The Eisberts have produced many generations of renowned geniuses. I don’t know what field it will be, but we can give Mule a chance to unleash her potential.”

Full of enthusiasm, Chris clenched her fists.

“Okay! Now that that’s decided, let’s get at it! You’re going to beat the crap out of those fools who have made fun of you, without violence, as Syria says, and have everyone recognize you!”

“Right!!”

“There is violence involved…but as they say, there may always be a superb horse that can run a great distance, but it won’t be able to perform without someone to recognize it. I will use everything I have to polish you, Mule, into a gem.”

To cut a long story short, Mule never made it to the gem stage.

Only when one has advanced on the game board called life can one finally see what their pieces are made of.

She was a stone.

Liu had been optimistic at first, but she gradually became more impatient, her expression becoming strained. She began to look at Mule with disappointment, knowing that no matter how long she practiced, she would not acquire the skill to operate magic outside the body.

Liu was kind, but it was pity from the strong to the weak.

Hiding the mortification that flashed across her face, Liu ignored the basics of the Intangible Pole and transformed it into a fake Magic Fist that didn’t involve magic.

At that point, it was nothing more than physical exercise.

Like fitness boxing, it was transformed into a weight loss method for staying fit, and although Mule was vaguely aware of it, she immersed herself in doing as she was taught.

Chris was the first to realize that Mule lacked talent in magic, and she began searching for something that would be an alternative asset for her precious sister.

She tried studying, physical exercise, languages, sewing, the piano, flower arrangement, writing, painting, and even e-sports…but there wasn’t a thing where Mule could produce results. Frustrated to the point of sweating, Chris kept telling herself that it was because her sister was still just a kid.

Eventually, those words changed.

“Mule can stay with me.”

It was a wedge of words—

“She can be with me. All I want is for her to live.”

It was a powerful curse that she had dedicated to her weak sister.

The wind rustled.

Feeling the cool breeze blowing through the window, Mule’s face was buried in Syria’s lap under a quilt as she waited for time to pass by.

“Are you playing hooky from your practice again? Liu was almost in tears, looking for you.”

Syria stroked Mule’s hair with slender arms that had become like dead branches. Drowning in her affection, Mule indulged in her position as the youngest sister and escaped to the darkness without even answering.

Syria looked down at her, chuckling. Irritated, Mule glared up at her sister with resentment in her eyes.

“…What’s so funny?”

“You are. You’re the strongest in this house, and here you are, weak and depressed.”

“I’m the strongest…? Are you making fun of me again? I’m defective, lacking magic power, and, for that matter, no talent for anything whatsoever. I’m the worst product in the history of the Eisbert family. In that sense, perhaps you could say I’m the strongest.”

“Hee-hee! You’ve become quite the talker. You’ve been studying a lot, haven’t you? You’ve put in the effort, and it’s paying off.”

“Don’t dilute my words. What about me could possibly be considered the strongest?”

“At that moment on that long ago day, you were the only one who looked up at the stars,” Syria said, her gaze shining from deep within her deathly pallor as she peered deep inside her youngest sister. Her skin was pale, her cheeks emaciated, and her lips were cracked…

“Remember the time we went outside with Mother to look at the stars? You said your teacher called you the Fox, and that made Chris think, enemy. I thought of you, my sister, Liu thought about the darkness, Lily considered the heart, and Mother thought of the past. You alone were focusing on the stars.”

Syria held back her hair, blowing in the wind as Mule fell silent.

“Everyone looked away from that star, and you were the only one who never got off track. You pierced that shining star with your gaze and wouldn’t let go. If that wasn’t strength, then what is? That was when I was convinced of the strength that lies deep inside you.”

“B-but I don’t have the type of strength that Chris or Liu has, and I’m not smart like you and Lily. I’m not as good at the arts as Mother was, and I’m not as full of talent as the geniuses who have supported the Eisbert family in the past. What could I possibly have?”

With her paler-than-pale index finger, Syria touched the center of Mule’s chest.

“Your first-magnitude star is right here.”

The warmth of her touch gently spread, and Mule gazed at her sister’s smiling face.

“Shine, Mule, shine. Don’t lose that sparkle you’ve hidden inside you. Help Mother, Chris, and Lily. This is probably something that only you can do. Protect your family with that sparkle. The sky is much too vast. I think the only thing that can save the stars when they drown in the sunlight is the first-magnitude star you found that day. There will eventually come a time when the stars that have lost their light.”

Tears flowed down Syria’s cheeks as she stroked Mule’s cheek tenderly.

“You’re the only one, Mule…the only one… Only you, who gazed up at that star that day…can save everyone… That’s what I believe… I know it will happen…because that moment, I saw the star reflected in your eyes… That brightness…was indeed the justice I’d always aimed to achieve… All right, Mule…?”

The tears that fell down her cheeks wet the hands that the sisters were holding.

It was then that Mule finally realized that Syria’s gaze wasn’t fixed on her face. Her vision had been mostly impaired.

“Justice…will always prevail…”

The strength and weakness of her sister—which Mule glimpsed on that day—became her memorial photo.

When the news came, it was as if Sophia had collapsed and turned to fluid.

She held in her arms a wine bottle that had never been uncorked. She locked herself in a dark room, went without eating, and continued to rock the bottle as if she were cradling a baby.

Syria… Syria, Syria, Syria… My baby… They’ve taken you away again… I couldn’t protect you… I’m your mother…but I didn’t notice anything… I’m your mother, but I couldn’t protect you… It was my mistake… I shouldn’t have chosen my method… I should have used everything at my disposal… If only I’d used them… I killed Syria… I killed her, I killed her, I killed her… I’m the one who killed Syria…

In the corner of a run-down room, surrounded by mementos of Syria Esse Eisbert, Sophia continued muttering to herself and bore no resemblance to the woman she had been.

“Liu!!”

The tutor had packed her belongings in a small bag. Without bothering to fix her disheveled hair or her black suit, she turned this way.

Her eyes were pitch-black.

The jet-black gaze held no emotion. Her eyes were directed at Mule without compassion, as if Liu were glancing at a pebble lying on the road.

All the hatred had been burned away from the tiger, leaving it with nothing as it crouched in the ashes.

“A-are you really leaving this house…? Wh-where are you going? Why? Why are you leaving? Please, Liu, stay with us—”

“Stop it.”

“Huh?”

Liu warned Mule in a voice that sounded like that of a snarling beast.

“You have no talent at all. You’re nothing. You will gain nothing and be recognized for nothing. Just like me, you are worthless. Hold your breath and stay in the shadows without saying or seeking anything. A beast with nowhere to go has no choice but to back off. A creature with no fangs or claws should remain faded between life and death as the Fox.”

Speechless, Mule took a few steps back.

“Wh-why…are you saying such terrible things…? A-are you really Liu…?”

“I’m merely stating the facts. I know because I am a fake, as you are.

“I was idle, incompetent, and worthless. I finally remembered that. Because I’d been sitting in this lukewarm atmosphere, I even lost my jewel, the one thing I had left.”

Liu covered her face with her black-globed hands—and caught a glimpse of Mule through her bloodshot eyes.

“I should have killed you and myself…worthless trash… Syria…where is the justice you gave up your life to find…? Where is it…? Where, in such a sack of meat…? Why did you die for someone so worthless…?!?!”

Liu clenched her fist, making a cracking sound.

Red-black blood flowed into her eyes, her murderous intent was directed at Mule—and a concrete spear protruded from the ground, its tip thrust at her throat.

“Liu!!”

Chris was sweating profusely. Breathing heavily and screaming, she directed the magic power she had gathered throughout her body at Liu.

“That dirty fist! You dare point it at my sister and I’ll kill you!! I’ll pierce your throat that moment!! Get out of our house, you filthy beast!! Get out!! You don’t belong here!! Get out of my sight before I kill you!!”

“I don’t belong here…” For just a moment, Liu looked like her old self again, and a look of sadness appeared on her face as she staggered forward and reached out to Mule.

“I-I’m…sorry… Wh-what…have I done…? I’ve been so upset… I—I—I…made a terrible mistake…with the precious sister Syria tried to protect… I—I just wanted to prevent you from getting hurt anymore…”

“Stop right there!! Liu, that next step before you is the line between life and death!! Move any closer to my sister and I’ll kill you! I’ll aim for your neck and generate magic!! I’ll separate your head from your body, display them at the gate, and have the birds eat them! I swear I’ll kill you!!”

She was serious. Chris was serious about killing Liu.

“Liu! Okay, Liu, I understand! I-I’m fine! You don’t have to apologize! Now, move back! Back! Get away from my sister! Sh-she’ll kill you! S-so, go! Quickly!!”

Liu let out a roar from deep down in her throat, turned around, and slowly walked away.

The moment she was out of sight, Chris ran over, hugged Mule, and took deep breaths to calm the adrenaline that was heightened throughout her body.

“Mule… Mule, Mule, Mule… It’s okay… You’re fine… I’ll protect you… I will never let anyone take you away… Syria was too gentle… But you’re okay now…I’m an Eisbert…I’m amazing, outstanding, and a genius…so I’ll burn away everything…everything unjust with my power…”

“O-ow… Ch-Chris…th-that hurts… Ow…!!”

Mule cried, but Chris refused to weaken her clutch. She continued to exhale warm breaths and soon smiled.

Sophia had changed.

As if to make up for her shortcomings, she began keeping a close eye on Mule and Chris, along with external tutors, under the pretense of guiding them.

“How can you not be able to do something this simple?!”

With the exception of the minimum time required to sleep, eat, and bathe, she locked Mule in a room and shouted abuse at her every day.

“This is nothing more than basic knowledge! You’re so incompetent! What are you going to do when I’m gone if you can’t even do this?! Huh?! Come on, get serious! You do realize that a failure has to do their best despite being a failure, don’t you?!”

“Y-yes…but…”

“But?! But what?! Can’t you see that there’s no telling when we’ll have an Eisbert inspection?! It’s only thanks to the family that a talentless nobody like you can continue to live!! Don’t you feel ashamed as an Eisbert?!”

“I—I do feel ashamed…”

“Then do this right! Do everything you can, even as an incompetent failure! There’s no more time left! If the family deems you unneeded, it will even affect Chris! Unlike you, she’s full of talent. What if she starts getting funny ideas?!”

“Sophia. With all due respect, Mule even studies at night when she should be sleeping—”

A high-pitched sound echoed in the room. Lily’s cheeks swelled immediately, and red blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t need a lowly servant intruding in the Eisberts’ education policies!!”

Having been gazing blankly at Sophia after she slapped her cheek with all her might, Lily regained her senses and quickly made a deep bow.

“I’m…sorry, ma’am… I’m so sorry…”

“Next time you interrupt me, I will kill you. You can expect that. Don’t think for a minute that a lowly commoner like you can be at Mule’s side forever.”

Lily’s face froze as she heard Sophia’s words, and she immediately got down on her hands and knees and rubbed her forehead against the floor.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please, ma’am, anything but that!”

“You filthy lowlife.”

Sophia clicked her tongue and left the room. Mule ran to Lily—and her servant hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Mule, that I can’t do anything to help you… I’m sorry…that I can’t save you… Forgive me… I want to stay with you… You’re like a sister to me… a sister who’s always cheerful, kind, and shining like a star… So…so… I’m sorry… Forgive me…”

Mule listened in a daze as Lily continued to apologize, her warm tears soaking Mule’s shoulder.

Chris didn’t change as Sophia had.

She was always on Mule’s side, kind, and a wonderful older sister that Mule was proud of—until their mother turned her attention to her.

It was a trivial matter that started it, but it had been inevitable as long as Chris was a kind older sister.

One day, Chris sent Sophia a complaint that she was too hard on Mule, and from that moment on, Sophia’s obsession began to be focused on Chris alone.

“Do you honestly think you can protect that failure, Mule, with what little you have? You’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you? With your grades, your magic capacities, and your abilities… Look at the notables of the Eisberts. You’re nothing but a piece of trash.”

At first, Sophia’s lectures hadn’t bothered Chris.

“Don’t worry, Mule. It’s better that she’s focusing on me. What Mother needs is time. It’s just like pareidolia, where the sounds of leaves rustling sound to her like the whispers of a ghost.”

Unlike Mule, who wasn’t gifted, Chris was feisty.

Hence, she acted like her mother’s words didn’t mean anything to her, which made Sophia angry and prompted her to take a firmer stance against her. Chris hated to lose, and she never once showed any signs of weakness. She sucked up all of Sophia’s unreasonable demands and resolved them.

The human mind has a resonance point.

A heartstring exists that can only respond to certain tunes, words, or feelings.

Mule was too young to know that, and Chris had too little experience in life to know that, either.

A heart that has been torn to pieces is invisible to the eye and may seem to maintain its shape, but the moment an external factor captures its resonance point—it will fall apart at once, never to return to its original form.

The premise was Mule’s grand misconception that her sister was brilliant, invincible, and, therefore, okay. The proud sister she had seen as her hero had protected her since childhood, while the tiny cracks in her heart that the young girl would never notice gradually became bigger and bigger.

Day in and day out, Chris was told that she needed to strive for the sake of her inferior sister. She was expected to be the best and give everything she had for her sister. Whenever she attempted to spend her spare time on herself, she was met with yelling and sarcastic remarks.

The words were biting and ate away at her heart, which forced her to discipline herself even further.

She reduced the time she spent eating, sleeping, and bathing and even devoted her eyes to her sister.

Chris’s life belonged to Mule.

One day, a thought occurred to her: Am I not the one controlling Mule? Is she the one who’s controlling me?

In place of the older sister they had lost, she sought to bring peace of mind to her younger sister.

Just as there are no inherently good people, there are no inherently bad people in this world.

There are only those who act like good people and those who act like bad people.

Chris was an individual who behaved like a good person.

But that was a mask to protect her only sister, and her worn-out heart began to seek value in her actions.

Just as there are no monkeys who continue to press a button that produces no food, no humans can continue to perform actions that seem worthless.

Oddly enough, Chris had become just like Liu, whom she had derided as a beast, and began to seek value in the sister she had to protect.

The sister she had spent so much time on, sacrificed so much for, and given so much of herself to couldn’t possibly be the worthless failure that their mother said she was. Mother was wrong. Mule had talent, and it would one day bloom.

Ironically, it was her faith in her sister that put the final nail in her coffin.

No matter how long she waited, Mule would not show any sign of any talent.

In contrast, her impossibles continued to increase. As Chris’s accomplishments piled up, the creaking sound of the burden in her heart began to penetrate her entire body.

Her sister’s smile began to look unpleasant to her when she came clinging to her.

Her innocence began to look unpleasant when she came seeking advice.

The casual sound of her sister’s voice began to sound irritating when she tried to make small talk.

And one fine day—

The moment that Chris spotted Mule playing with Lily with a big smile on her face—when she should have been studying—made Chris’s heart tremble for the first time.

The moment struck a chord with Chris.

The beautiful music filled her entire body, the echoes of her mother’s curses infiltrated her limbs, and the anger she had overlooked until then hit her again and again and scorched her.

The moment lasted less than a second, but Chris Esse Eisbert was moved.

The euphoria that shook her to the core made her forget about behaving like a good person and brought out the arrogance of the Eisbert family, which she had continued to flaunt to preserve herself.

The girl who had spent all her time for her sister and lost sight of her own heart rejoiced in an emotion she hadn’t felt in a long time.

I get it now. Mother is mistaken.

She nodded, feeling so happy that a big smile appeared on her face, as if she were blooming with joy.

She wasn’t the one who was a failure. It was her worthless sister.

That day, Mule went out to buy Chris a birthday present.

She had sacrificed everything to obtain this precious time to celebrate the birthday of her sister, who had always loved and protected her and stood by her side, willing to endure hours of lecturing and chastisement from her mother and the vicious educational training that would follow.

There were several tragic misunderstandings between the sisters on this occasion.

Devastated by her mother’s relentless torture, Chris hadn’t even remembered her own birthday. Mule, who was locked away at home and unaware of the ways of the world, should have taken Lily with her when she went out, and she hadn’t mentioned a word to Chris about going shopping because she had planned it as a surprise.

If even one of these conditions hadn’t existed, Mule’s sincere affection for her sister wouldn’t have shaken her up emotionally.

Perhaps it was only a matter of time, but Chris might have continued to be a kind, ideal sister a little longer.

But that was not to be.

Her mind had reached its limits. On several occasions, she hadn’t even remembered that it was the light her sister had shed upon her that had saved her when she was trapped in the basement.

Or rather, she had forgotten about it so she could remain sane.

So when she spotted Mule across a two-lane road, waving to her with a big smile, the outcome was already predictable.

“Chris!”

Chris waved back with a laugh.

“You piece of trash.”

Centipedes were swarming around in the pitch-black basement.

Chris was trapped in a dark room there without a single window, filled with the smell of the earth and death, as she screamed.

“Mother! Mother, I’m sorry! Please, let me out! Anything—I’ll take anything but this! I can’t bear this place!! Please, Mother! Mother!”

She knew her mother would never forgive her no matter how much she screamed, but she couldn’t help it.

The one thing Chris feared was the darkness. A jet-black veil filled her vision, and her whole body was agitated the moment she felt as if she had blended in and become blind.

I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared!

Her teeth chattered with fear, and a tremor ran from head to toe, making her spit out words begging for forgiveness from the corner of her mouth.

But she was not to be forgiven.

Her voice became hoarse before long, and she was too exhausted even to move a single finger.

“……”

She lay on the cold stone pavement as her tears ran into her nose and mouth.

Still, her heart continued to cry out in fear, and she hiccupped as she kept calling out for help.

Help me.

Help. Help. Help.

Desperate to escape the endless suffering, she reached out with a groan…when a small light flickered on.

It was so bright that it hurt her eyes, which had become accustomed to the darkness. The intensity of the pain made her eyes water.

But it was a very beautiful light.

Warm and beautiful, she wanted to watch it forever.

“Chris.”

A small window was open at her feet for meals to be brought, from where she heard a familiar and precious voice.

“It’s okay, it’s me. Mother hasn’t caught me. Even if she does realize I’m here, it’ll be okay. I’ll say it was my idea to come here.”

“Mu-Mule…,” Chris croaked, her voice mixed with blood and phlegm as Mule slipped a silver tray with drinking water and a light meal through the window.

“Lily made this! I had a taste, and it was delicious!”

Chris let out a laugh of relief.

It was always like this.

Only Sophia and Mule knew that Chris had a fear of the dark, and no matter what happened, her younger sister continued to bring light into the darkness behind their mother’s back.

“It’s okay, Chris. Relax. I’m here now.”

As Chris finished her meal and was lulled into a daze while gazing at the swaying light, her sister held out her hand through the small window.

The nail on her ring finger had been ripped off, and blood, dried and hardened, stuck to her palm.

It must have happened when she tried to force the heavy door open to slip into the basement.

Being the weak girl that she was, Mule must have cried. She couldn’t go to the hospital tonight because Sophia would then find out that she’d been sneaking into the basement. She would have Lily give her first aid, then cry herself to sleep.

Chris thought of her sister continuing to endure the pain—and couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

“Mule…I’m sorry…so sorry…sorry…for being a weak older sister… I swore I’d protect you… You always have it tough… Sorry… I shouldn’t say I’m afraid of the dark… I’m sorry…”

Instead of replying, Mule groped around, located her sister’s hand, and took it in hers.

“I love you.”

Shone on by the gentle light, Chris began to sob.

“I love you, Chris. I love you forever. No matter what happens, I’ll always love you. I love Mother, Syria, Liu, and Lily, too, now and forever!”

She was a dazzling light that colored Chris’s field of vision—

“I want you always to be my big sister!”

She was like the star in the sky the family had gazed up at that long-ago day.

“You’ll lose.”

It was late at night. I was looking up at the stars through the round window in the attic when I turned around.

Under the starlight, the demon, Alsuhariya, colored with purple smoke, had regained her former appearance and smiled as she sat on the edge of a chair.

“…Why did you regain your original form?”

“Because your desire to kill me has lessened. You’re so in love with the person you’ve been thinking about that you’ve forgotten all about your other lover who dwells in your body, haven’t you?”

“……”

“See?”

Alsuhariya laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

She was reflected in the round window as she shook her chair and spat out smoke.

“I told you that knowing you, I had a feeling you’d end up trying to kill each other.”

“That’s a brilliant deduction. Why don’t you get a deer hunting cap and carry around a detective magnifying glass?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about it?”

I nodded.

“That’s the only way I’ll be able to beat Chris Esse Eisbert.”

Chris Esse Eisbert was superior to Hiiro Sanjo in every respect.

As far as the original game went, Hiiro could manage until a later battle, depending on how he used his wits.

But that was only if he trained hard.

Judging by the original parameters, there wasn’t a single aspect in which Hiiro Sanjo could be better than Chris Esse Eisbert.

As far as our abilities, skills, strength, and score—everything—went, she was far superior, and there wasn’t a chance in a million that Hiiro Sanjo could defeat her.

If we fought a hundred times, I’d lose a hundred times. And a hundred of those times, I’d be killed without getting a chance to do a single thing.

In fact, I wouldn’t have even been able to enter the same arena with her…but at the moment, I was equipped with the abilities of this demon.

If I had any chance at all, then that was it.

With the Magic Eye—The Tale at Dawn.

If I could only open the Sanjos’ Magic Eye, that would be where I’d have a chance to come out winning.

“In your current state, you wouldn’t be able to use the power of The Tale at Dawn. You couldn’t activate your own magic. All you could handle would be about the equivalent of a piece of candy that might come as a freebie when you buy a toy or something.”

“That freebie would be appreciated if I were dying of hunger.”

“Hey, try to understand what I’m saying, will you? You are dead smack in the middle of what you call a death flag. You’re soaked in it all the way up to your nose, and if someone gave you a gentle push, you’d drop into hell in no time. Death is right in front of you, and you’re about to sink into pitch-dark despair, unable to breathe. The straw you’re clinging to is much too thin.”

“But the fact is that not fighting isn’t an option for me.”

I stared at the demon smoking in the darkness.

“If I waver even once…I’m finished. Once I say something, I will always see it through and make things right. If I can’t, I’ll fall so low as to become Hiiro Sanjo.”

“…There are many things about you that I can’t understand, like a pile of trash that’s been discarded because no one could sort it out.”

The smoke Alsuhariya exhaled faded into the twilight.

“Are you really Hiiro Sanjo?”

“……”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Not now, anyway.”

Alsuhariya grinned and opened her arms.

“Let us dance, my friend. It’s fun to get drunk on a whim and dance the night away. Let us give our bodies to the heat of the spotlight of the stars, devote our lives to this magnificent act, and have the public call us fools.”

The demon hid her face with her hands—and grinned, her mouth split into a half-moon.

“Let’s stake our pride on that future, whether we live or die. It’s only when such ignorance spreads throughout the world—,” Alsuhariya whispered, “—that we’re human,” she said happily.

“Fifteen seconds.”

I offered a hand to the demon who shared my life.

“I’ll finish it in fifteen seconds.”

“Good.”

Alsuhariya took my hand.

“I like that line.”

“My life is like a bathtub without the bottom.”

There were stars in the sky, and behind the welcome party for new students at Fraum, a shadow stretched out in the starlight.

Chris Esse Eisbert stood at attention as she whispered under the orange color of dusk blending with the purple of the night.

“I always relax and let myself go with a sense of security. I sink. I have no clues, but I soon understand that it’s useless to struggle. I sink indefinitely because there is no bottom. Then I open my eyes wide, look up at the shimmering water’s surface above, and have regrets, feeling intoxicated, wondering why I dove into a bottomless bathtub.”

She reached her hand toward the stars—and clenched her fist.

“Strength. Only strength will make a person’s wish come true. The weak wish upon the stars is because they know their weakness and what they can achieve on their own, and they have also learned the act of wishing on a star.”

She murmured as I faced her.

“I…I will never again wish upon a star… I do not see hope in the light that shines in the darkness… I will carve out my path with my strength, stride across the endless wilderness, and will not reach out for unreachable desires… Otherwise…otherwise, I won’t be able to protect anything, anyone, or even a single dream…”

I dropped my hands to my sides.

With the clearest eyes, she stared at me.

“I will kill you. That will be proof of my existence.”

“A certificate of existence decorated with someone else’s death must certainly be stylish.”

She started moving in a slow half circle, and I measured the distance between us while proceeding in the opposite direction, my hand resting on the trigger.

“I suppose everything will go according to your plan, and the welcome party for new students will be a success. That weak-willed sister of yours hasn’t accomplished anything, just sucking her thumb while riding on your back. Because some idiot abandoned her as a child, I’ve had to teach her everything, starting with how to suck her thumb. Why do you think she needs a pacifier at her age? Think about it.”

“Don’t meddle and say something unneeded is needed. I received the same education, and I’m independent.”

“Independent? So you consider a person who calls her sister trash as being an independent, upstanding individual? That’s great. It’s a wonderfully nauseating sense of value.”

“Trash is trash. Don’t you take care of the stench of the garbage you produce?”

“Throwing stuff out isn’t the only way to deal with it. Are you saying the strong can be haughty, and the weak can go to a dumpster?”

I generated a sword of light, tapped my shoulder with it, and grinned.

“Then it will mean you’re trash if I beat you, huh?”

“Don’t worry. My abilities are obvious to both me and others.”

“You’re saying not to worry—since the world isn’t going to collapse?”

“The heavens and the earth are also called the reverse journey of all things. Maybe heaven and earth…will turn upside down.”

“Burn yourself with worry all you want,” Chris said as she let out a breath and sneered.

“Die in agony, you vulgar being.”

“Here it comes!!”

Just before Alsuhariya shouted, a purple light flashed across my field of vision, and I moved automatically to avoid it.

A dump truck came crashing at me from directly behind.

The eleven-ton truck was without a driver, and the speed limiter was removed. It hurtled along at eighty-seven miles an hour, way above the legal speed limit.

Console: Connect—Operation: Gravity, Change: Gravity.

Activate: Gravity balancer.

The front wheels floated up in the air, and the truck sped ahead at full speed, scraping my cheeks as I turned around and skidded on the ground on my knees.

The skin on my body was torn, the flesh burned, and reddish-black blood dripped to the ground.

“You like living in agony, don’t you, you vulgar being?”

I slid on the ground on my knees, avoiding the rear wheels, spun in a half-turn around the axis of the sword of light I’d thrust into the ground, and held out my fingers in front of Chris Esse Eisbert, who stood frozen in place.

“Alsuhariya, you do the calculations.”

“I’ll fix the margin of error. Do the rest yourself.”

I fired.

I fired invisible arrows in rapid succession from the midst of the dust kicked up by the four-wheel-drive truck.

“How…?! How can you avoid that truck…?!”

Despite getting a few scratches, Chris Esse Eisbert clicked her tongue as she read the trajectory and knocked down the bows to the ground with a swipe of her hand.

“Think with that tiny brain of yours. Get it right, or you’ll end up being trash.”

She responded to my wink with a click of her tongue and turned around as she spread her cape wide—and disappeared.

“So, that cape was a magic item, huh? She’s a sly one.”

Alsuhariya laughed wryly as two dump trucks were generated left and right, and they came charging at me. I delivered a triangle kick to the left, right, and the windshield and then leaped into the sky. A huge crashing sound ensued, and I slashed the glass fragments that came flying from the trucks that had been smashed to pieces.

A purple light shone.

“It’s coming at nine o’clock. Avoid it.”

I bent my upper body to dodge the bullet that came flying at me and fired back. I heard a click of the tongue. I landed, pulled the trigger, and loaded invisible arrows.

“Oh? So, she isn’t good at close combat, huh? She must be the type who steps on her partner’s toes while they dance.”

“It could be because she generates magic too quickly to believe she needs to engage in a close battle. On the other hand, it’s also possible that you’re frightening her too much when she considered you to be nothing.”

I grinned.

“I can see my winning move now.”

“I hope you know that it’s best to leave your trump card as a trump card. Saying you’re going out in fifteen seconds—don’t be a life-and-death junkie hooked on tearing along the fringes between life and death just yet,” Alsuhariya advised, and I nodded. The purple light flashed clearly before my eyes.

Avoid. The light. Avoid. The light. Avoid. The light.

With each backward step that I took, arrows of light came pouring down and pierced the ground. A meteor shower had begun above without warning, and the meteors raced through the gathering darkness above the downpour of arrows.

The sky was distorted, and the stars were twisted.

With the first-magnitude star trailing behind her, Chris Esse Eisbert showed herself in the sky and aimed for the insect that was crawling on the ground in the midst of the meteor shower.

“It’s time you became part of an insect specimen collection, you worthless bug!!”

“I don’t like the smell of mold, so I think I’ll pass.”

I did some backflips, finished with a grand hands-free backflip, performed a perfect landing, and grinned.

Irritated, Chris Esse Eisbert gnashed her teeth. I picked up a stone in front of her, waved it around, then tossed it to the right.

The moment the stone hit the ground, she turned her head in that direction with great force.

“…Ah.”

I grinned; she disappeared.

Her attacks resumed with repeated generational bursts, and I evaded them, relying on the Alpha Aquilae radiation that occurred during high-speed generation.

As I dodged, I pretended to shoot my invisible arrow—and generated the sound of gunfire sixty-five feet ahead of where I was.

“What the heck?!”

As she let out a startled cry, Chris Esse Eisbert’s cloak shifted, and she swung vigorously behind her—and I stepped in with everything I had.

I made footprints in the ruptured ground, and sand and gravel scattered everywhere.

A bluish-white magic light gushed out from the soles of my feet. Leaving scorch marks on the ground, I turned into a single ray of light and dashed toward my enemy. My blade whooshed along with my speed, and the light that flashed from my waist and the sword light that I pulled out at a furious pace cleaved to the side.

Chris Esse Eisbert reacted at an unbelievable speed, throwing up her stick as it clashed with my blade.

Sword and stick clashed in midair. Our bangs flew up on impact, and Chris Esse Eisbert ground her teeth as she jerked back.

“Hey, lady!! I’ve come to beat you up for that cute sister of yours!!”

“Don’t open that filthy mouth in front of me!!”

We slashed and wielded at each other with tremendous speed, echoing and drawing a band of light in the darkness of the night. Galaxies of stars streaming across the sky started aiming for the earth’s surface.

Under a sky twinkling with meteors, purple and blue lights continued to flicker.

Chris Esse Eisbert and I had transformed into a pair of rays of light, engaging in a dance of attacking and counterattacking. We drew a spring of light on the ground, slashing and tearing at the other’s skin with intent to kill.

“Your auditory senses are superior to compensate for your visual weakness, aren’t they?! You couldn’t see the pebble I threw, but you reacted right away to the sound it made!! Judging by the direction of the attack, I thought you’d fall for it if I generated a firing sound behind you!”

It was a sparring match.

Turning away from the azure light generated before her eyes, Chris Esse Eisbert contorted her face.

“Your head! Pull up your head! I’ll call it a draw if you do! Ha-ha-ha! Get down on your knees and bow in apology if you don’t want to die! Down! Down! Bow! Swear to me that starting today, you’ll hug your sister and sleep together in the same bed!”

“Wh-what a vulgar being…”

Breathing heavily, I kept pushing Chris Esse Eisbert as Alsuhariya seemed put off by my behavior.

“Hey, what’re you going to do…?! Answer me…! I’m asking you if you’re ready to make a name for yourself as a character who’s crazy about her little sister…!”

“…I see.”

Chris Esse Eisbert let out a dry laugh.

“Okay.”

“All right! I guess you finally understand the preciousness of yuri sisters. I—”

A purple light flashed before me.

I clicked my tongue and made an evasive move—but nothing was generated. Losing my balance, I saw that Chris Esse Eisbert was pointing her fingers to the heavens and smiling.

“My first and last thanks to you. I appreciate you giving me tips on finding the solution.”

A spear she generated pierced my right chest, with pain so intense that my brain went numb. I instantly rolled forward, where blades emerged at the tip of the spear. Many small swords stabbed through my left arm, and a spray of blood drew red spots on the ground.

“This is what you call getting even. It’s the same as the gunshot trick you pulled on me.”

Chris Esse Eisbert generated purple lights that made a noise that sounded like a round of applause.

“It took me a while to realize it, but it’s a dummy. You noticed the Alpha Aquilae light that’s generated during my high-speed magic generation, didn’t you? I’ll give you credit for that. Frankly, I didn’t think a magic handler at your level would think of looking into it.”

Alsuhariya laughed dryly and shrugged.

“Easier said than done. To master the generation of dummies in such a short period…no wonder you claim to be a genius.”

Chris Esse Eisbert snapped her fingers.

A purple light flickered continuously. The tip of the sword generated in front of me as I took an evasive position was thrust into the back of my knee, and I slumped, biting back a scream.

“Mix in some fakes, and a noisy winged insect will quickly fall to the ground. Now, to answer you.”

Chris Esse Eisbert stabbed the ground with her index finger.

“Get down on your knees and apologize if you don’t want to die, trash.”

“……”

“Keep your mouth shut. Garbage doesn’t beg for its life. It just spreads and stinks up the world.”

Chris Esse Eisbert could finish me off at any moment, and she began tormenting me as I crawled on the ground.

Slashes of steel were incessantly repeated, the pain and suffering endless, and the skin was scraped off my entire body, making me a bloody mess. Even so, I wasn’t allowed to die. I was only given pain and had shed so much blood that my mind was blank.

My vision blurred, and the sound of my breathing echoed in my brain while pain signals stimulated me.

“Hiiro Sanjo. Crawl and beg for your life. Swear here and now that you will never involve yourself with Mule again. Do that, and I’ll give you mercy at the brink of death. Cry and beg for forgiveness, and maybe you can pick up your worthless life. Rub your forehead in a pool of your blood and drown in the mercy I have given you.”

“……”

“Too battered to understand what I’m saying?”

“…I don’t know.”

I stood up in front of Chris Esse Eisbert as she furrowed her brow, twisting the edges of my mouth.

“Why do I have to bow to you?”

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t beg for your life.”

“You can’t kill me.”

I laughed and brushed my blood-soaked bangs back.

“You can’t kill me… It’s the end of me if I waver… Hee-hee…! Hiiro would probably gladly get down on his knees and kiss your shoes…but I can’t do that… For Mule…for Mule’s sake… For her to grab her first star…I can’t change my ways…”

“What the hell are you saying? Have you finally gotten your head unscrewed?”

I squinted up at the sky and stretched my arm out toward the brightest star.

“You gave up on grabbing the stars, didn’t you…? Did the glare become too bright for you…? So bright that it scared you…? You were so scared…that you ran away…low…to the bottomless depths where the light of the stars couldn’t reach you…didn’t you…?”

The silver spear that Chris Esse Eisbert generated pierced my right side, and I barely managed to stay on my feet, laughing as blood bubbles leaked from the corner of my mouth.

“Did you find the happiness you wished for when you ran?”

“…Shut up.”

“Why did you become strong? Who was it for?”

“…Shut up.”

“You wanted to reach out for something. Wasn’t it—?”

I smiled at Chris Esse Eisbert as she trembled, her eyes open wide.

“Shut up!!!”

Thrash. Thrash. Thrash!

I convulsed every time one of the silver spears that grew from all directions pierced me, and reddish-black blood leaked out from my hole-ridden body.

Although Chris Esse Eisbert seemed to have enough sense to avoid the spots that would kill me instantly, she grabbed my face with both hands and exhaled warm breath as she looked into my eyes.

“Shut up… Trash! Trash shouldn’t speak about other trash…!!”

“…Look up at the sky.”

“Don’t get carried away, you piece of crap—”

“Chris Esse Eisbert!! Look at the sky!”

As she jerked away, I yanked out the silver spear that had been thrust into my body—and scowled at her with my glistening eyeballs.

“Look up at the sky… Since when did you form a habit of looking down…? Of looking down at the ants crawling below and basking in the peace of imitations…? Can’t you see…the star shining up there…? The star that’s shining all alone…?! It’s always been there…always…shining brightly…! You won’t see it if you don’t look up at it…but it’s waiting for you to find it… You could have been together with it if you hadn’t taken off…!! It’s about time you realized it… It’s…she’s…”

I extended my index finger toward the sky through the pool of blood.

“She’s always been waiting for you…!!”

Pressured by my words, Chris Esse Eisbert slowly backed away.

“Wh-what the hell…? I—I have no idea…what y-you’re talking about… I—I…I have…talent… I’m gifted… I-if… If I’m not, I’ll…lose everything… I w-won’t be able…to protect Mule…”

Chris Esse Eisbert looked away from the heavens, as if afraid, and muttered as she kept backing away.

“N-no…!! That’s not right! Why do I have to take care of a loser like her…?! It isn’t my fault…! It’s all because of her, because she’s a piece of trash…!!”

Shaking her head repeatedly, Chris Esse Eisbert kept talking to herself. Then she suddenly came to a stop, and a big smile appeared on her face.

“Enough of this. It’s too much trouble. You die. That girl doesn’t need trash for a friend. The stench would get worse. Get the hell out of this world.”

I tossed the silver spear I had pulled out of my body and stared at Chris Esse Eisbert as she sneered at me.

“…Alsuhariya.”

“No, don’t. It won’t work. You won’t be able to take the impact in your current state. You won’t last fifteen seconds. You’ll die. Are you going to give your life for a single human being?”

“……”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Alsuhariya laughed dryly and gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“You always were a fool.”

She smiled as she snuggled up to me.

My heart slowly stopped beating, and my senses faded away one by one until the boundary between myself and the world around me became blurred.

“Now, let’s put my life on the line and dance at the fringe between life and death.”

In the midst of the intangible, I opened my eyes.

“Fifteen seconds.”

I looked up and saw the stars shining.

“I’ll finish this in fifteen seconds.”

I stared at her with my eyes painted in the color of the evening—and a light flashed.

Open.

My eyes captured Chris Esse Eisbert.

The countdown was on—fifteen seconds—and without a sound, I disappeared.

The moment I pulled my trigger, a blade of light manifested, aiming for Chris Esse Eisbert’s throat, and the sharp tip slashed her shoulder.

“……?!?!”

The Magic Eye—The Tale at Dawn—was open.

Its magic was to see the best move that continued infinitely.

It would align the infinite possibilities that its users would choose, selecting the option that brought them the best results.

The object being seen would lead the owner of the Magic Eye to choose their best move.

If they looked at the possibility of cutting someone’s throat, it would be cut, regardless of what evasive actions they took.

If they looked at the possibility of hitting a target with an arrow, the target would be hit, no matter where they were.

If the Magic Eye showed the possibility of a white bird, a white bird would be generated in this world, no matter how improbable it might be.

However, my current Tale at Dawn was incomplete and could not fully demonstrate its effectiveness.

Countdown—fourteen seconds.

The blade flowed with the sound of the wind, and I aimed for her leg—an enormous number of slash patterns were displayed—and her side was cut open.

Chris Esse Eisbert’s face was stained with anger as she splashed blood all around her.

“You piece of trash!!”

The purple light flashed continuously, and she stepped back, dodging the spears of earth that were created from the ground.

Her eyes were twisted.

Magic Eye—spiral wand.

The magic that thus resided was to see the magic power that had become a phenomenon.

It was a causal law that would see and confirm the magic that was generated, manipulated, and changed, which meant the immediate activation of magic.

The image seen and confirmed varied, depending on the user of the Magic Eye.

A magic handler with average abilities would probably be limited to seeing the generation of a single spear, but with Chris Esse Eisbert, I could see thousands of spears created.

It was proof that she was indeed a genius at magic and an alchemist. This was the execution of magic that proved how gifted she was.

Countdown—thirteen seconds. Twelve seconds.

“Hiiro! Don’t back off! Don’t waste your fifteen seconds! I can’t keep it open any longer than that!” I heard Alsuhariya shout. “You won’t get any more time than that like some convenient work of fiction!! Dance!! Run through the border between life and death!!”

A sharp pain ran through Hiiro’s eyes, and I groaned—and stepped forward.

Countdown—eleven seconds.

I stretched my magic line down to my feet. And—reinforce magic power. Activate console. Start inflow—activate and enhance projection!!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

Both my legs dug into the ground. Blue particles spurted out, and I plunged headfirst into the dazzling light.

Swords, spears, hooks, axes, floats, arrows, bullets—all kinds of intent to kill manifested as weapons and were hurled in my path.

They cut through my skin and pierced my body.

“……?!?!”

My field of vision flashed.

My eyes. My eyes hurt.

I almost closed them. My brain screamed, and my vision became bright red.

I closed my eyes—and recalled Mule’s lonely whisper—that she’d be alone from start to finish—and I opened my eyes in the midst of the intense pain.

“—Did you think I could befriend that failure at this point?”

Listen.

If that girl wants to grab a star, then I’ll breathe.

I had to—open my eyes.

Countdown—ten, nine—the Tale at Dawn— Tracing Hiiro’s potential, I swung my sword and repelled everything that came at me.

I ran with everything I had, sacrificing my body—countdown—eight seconds—and saw the only path to the future I wanted to reach.

“You,” Chris Esse Eisbert whispered as she continued high-speed generations.

“What the hell are you…?”

I heard the sound of metal.

High-pitched sounds hammered into my ear, and I continued to recover the shattered blades of my sword of light as she generated, generated, and generated.

She was way too fast.

I couldn’t move forward.

I stopped and kept swinging my sword in a pool of blood. As my vision narrowed, I saw Chris Esse Eisbert sneering at me.

“It’s useless, you idiot! A being like you could never reach me! You and my sister are both failures!! Trash!! It was decided from the start! The heavens choose the individuals they give talent to! Understand that by now, you filthy pieces of trash!!”

Countdown—seven, six, five.

I shot an invisible arrow—turning away because the pain was so intense—and then the arrow was deflected in front of Chris Esse Eisbert’s eyes and disappeared into the twilight.

“Being prepared for a surprise attack is a basic skill for a high-level magic handler. Remember that as you die and move on to hell.”

Countdown—four.

Panting, I continued to envision possibilities amid the pain.

My vision was red. My head felt like it was about to split open and fall off. My lungs weren’t taking in oxygen, and I couldn’t breathe properly. I had no feeling in my hands or feet, and all the bones in my body were bent. No part of my body wasn’t in extreme pain. It was so excruciating that I thought I was going to die.

But oh well.

I—laughed.

“I’m not such a fine human being that I’d be willing to die here!! Alsuhariya!!!”

I abandoned my defenses and used my Magic Eye only to avoid blows that would be fatal.

As I was stabbed from all directions, I extended my index and middle fingers straight ahead.

The demon gently placed her hand on my arm.

Human and demon overlapped and laughed, covered in blood.

“You know what I want to do.”

The demon laughed.

“You only get one chance. Are you ready to put everything on the line?”

“You’re asking me now?”

Countdown—three.

“I was ready—”

Countdown—two.

“—a long time ago.”

Countdown—one.

Boom—!!

Hiiro’s body emerged in the darkness.

In all directions, up and down, left and right, the four corners of the earth and its eight poles, the visible and the invisible— From among the seemingly infinite lines of power, he chose the line that shone a dark, intense red, and a blow was unleased from his fingertips, which the magic lines had fortified.

Everything led to a single torrent.

And it went straight at Chris Esse Eisbert, and—

“Ngh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

The torrent was repelled upward.

Chris Esse Eisbert laughed triumphantly.

“Fifteen seconds. That’s your limit! I win—!” she was saying, when her face was overshadowed with surprise.

With my Magic Eye closed, I had already stepped forward.

As I slashed down from overhead, Chris Esse Eisbert took a defensive position, her eyes looking up to the heavens with fear, and as she looked away from the stars—I swung my sword.

“……”

The blade was pointing toward the heavens.

Reflecting the starlight, it flashed silently.

“……”

Chris Esse Eisbert placed a hand on her chest.

Her right hand was stained bright red, and in the blink of an eye, her feet were also crimson as they sank to the ground.

“It’s my Magic Eye that has a limit of fifteen seconds,” I whispered as I wiped the blood off my sword.

“Not me.”

Chris Esse Eisbert collapsed, shivering.

She crawled around on the ground, drawing a red line, and I followed behind her.

“Y-you filthy piece of trash… Th-there’s no way…that I would lose… No way…would I, Chris Esse Eisbert…allow trash…a failure like you…to d-defeat me…!”

“That’s precisely why you lost.”

Showing her my blade, I slowly followed her.

“I did everything I could to deal with you. I hammered everything about defeating you into me, including the Alpha Aquilae light. I knew that the only time you’d be vulnerable was when you switched between attack and defense during generation. You underestimated me and did nothing. You relied solely on my Magic Eye. Did you think you’d win after holding out for those fifteen seconds? That was just one element. That’s what happens when you depend on the talent you’re born with.”

I thrust my blade in front of her eyes.

“I didn’t have a chance at beating you. You saw me as nothing but trash and underestimated me. You didn’t demonstrate your true ability, and that’s why you lose.”

I looked down at her.

“The only thing you could do was look down at me to the end.”

“You scumbag… No… I—I…don’t want to die… N-not in a situation like this…at the hands of such trash… No… M-Mother…!”

“Unfortunately for you, I’m out of patience in listening to a loser’s ranting. See you in our next life.”

I raised my blade—and stopped midair.

“……”

A girl stood between me and Chris Esse Eisbert with her arms outstretched.

Mule Esse Eisbert was crying and shaking all over, looking straight at me.

The extraordinary was stunned, protected by the ordinary.

“I—I know my sister is to blame…a-and that H-Hiiro Sanjo…y-you’re right… But…but…”

Mule whispered, “B-but she’s my family… Please forgive her… I apologize on her behalf… You can slash my body…but…p-please forgive my sister… Please, Hiiro… Please…”

“……”

“I—I…I’m…a failure…b-but even so…I’m…this woman’s sister…”

The tears kept flowing as Mule smiled.

“And I love her…”

Looking up at the single starlight that appeared in her eyes, Chris Esse Eisbert reached out to her sister with trembling fingers.

“Oh, God… It was always here… It was here all along…”

The corners of her lips turned upward as she whispered, a shy smile on her face.

“The light we looked up at that day… It’s been here…all along… Shining brightly… I didn’t realize…”

Tears fell on the ground.

“…how amazing my little sister was…”

Finally finding her light, Chris Esse Eisbert gritted her teeth.

“Ngh…!”

She lowered her face and punched the ground with her hand.

“Ngh…! Aaahh… Aaahh…!”

She punched the ground again and again.

Chris Esse Eisbert continued to hit the ground as tears streamed down her face. She sobbed in the light cast by her sister, whom she had belittled as a fool.

I put away my sword.

“…Good for you.”

Then I turned my back to the sisters.

“You’re lucky to have a fine sister.”

I walked away aimlessly and reached my limit in the darkness, where I was all alone.

I fell forward—and was caught in someone’s arms—and saw Sakura Tsukiori smiling at me.

“You always pretend to be the bad guy, don’t you?”

“…I do not.”

“You weren’t planning to kill Chris from the beginning.”

Still held in her arms, I smiled bitterly.

“So you risked your life to patch things up between Mule and Chris?”

“…I like yuri sisters.”

As if to share the blood I’d bathed in, Tsukiori, illuminated by the moonlight, slowly squeezed me tight.

“You did good.”

“…I did not.”

I started to feel sleepy.

Wrapped in the soft warmth of her body, I quietly closed my eyes.

“…Tsukiori.”

“Yeah?”

“…Don’t hold me in your arms. Make it a girl.”

“Idiot.”

She smiled as she continued to cradle me.

“You really are…such a jerk…”

The night wore on.

From somewhere in the distance, I could hear the cheers of the new students and their maids.

It was proof that the welcome party had been a success.

With a smile on my face, I listened to the happy voices…and fell asleep.

Afterword

Hi, I’m Ryo Hazakura.

Thank you for picking up a copy of this work.

It’s hard to believe that this is the third installment in the series. I have to admit that, given its subject matter, I thought it would be canceled after the first or second volume. I never expected it to reach a third volume.

Thank you, readers. Your support is what made that possible.

For various reasons, including the state of my personal life, I was unable to write for a long time. This third volume was the toughest to write to date, but I’m glad I was able to deliver it to you readers.

In Volume 3, I wrote about a star missing from a constellation called the Eisbert family and how the lines connected within it were breaking apart and dissolving into the darkness of the night.

The relationship between Mule and Chris was a line that formed this constellation. In this installment, a monster named Hiiro Sanjo, who is something like an extraterrestrial life-form, leads it to a conclusion.

I will probably talk about the lines that connect other stars until they eventually become a story about a constellation.

My immediate goal is to tell that story, which ended with a bit of a sense of incompleteness in the web version.

Given the number of volumes needed, I now realize it’s a significant challenge. However, I will do my best while I have the chance to write it.

And here are my acknowledgments.

Thank you, hai, for creating wonderful illustrations again. I am humbled by the fine quality of each illustration in this work.

Editor M, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to submit this work by the due date I told you about beforehand. Thank you for always following up on things for me.

To my dear readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this volume. Thank you for the interesting comments you give me after reading every new volume. They never fail to save me from my woes.

I sincerely thank everyone who was involved in the publication of this work.

Until we meet again,

Ryo Hazakura