Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Vol 1 Chapter 3

After waking up from an odd dream, Akuto stared up at the ceiling feeling unable to calm down.

He had dreamed of his childhood. Nostalgic and bittersweet images filled his head. He seemed to remember something about a small jewel glittering in the sunlight, but he could not remember what exactly his dream had been about.

“What was that…?” muttered Akuto.

He had always been an early riser. He checked the clock on his desk and found it was still 5:30.

It was not worth going back to sleep, so he stood up and stretched. But then he froze in place

“Good morning.”

“…Good morning.”

Korone’s green eyes were staring at him from the exact same position as the previous night.

“Were you doing this all night?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t get tired?”

“Of course not.”

“But…oh, never mind.”

Akuto gave up on asking questions.

Korone jumped down from the shelf she used as a bed. Her movements were much more splendid than a normal girl could manage, and she landed lightly on the floor.

“By the way,” said Korone suddenly. “What did you mean by ‘what was that…?’?”

“I had a dream. I was trying to remember something from a long time ago, but I could not quite recall.”

“If you wish to search your memories, I can help you. I might be able to find something in your brain.”

“No thank you. Anyway, I will be heading to the bath.”

Akuto made his preparations. The notice he had been given regarding bath times had said morning baths were allowed. He left his room and Korone followed.

“I’m taking a bath.”

“I know that.”

“…Um.”

“That was a joke. I will wait in front of the dressing room,” said Korone expressionlessly.

Akuto entered the dressing room in relief.

A few others must have been taking a morning bath because he saw a few sets of clothes in the baskets. He removed his clothes and entered the bath. The two boys casually taking a bath looked displeased when they saw him. They were the two who had tried to pick a fight the day before when Hiros.h.i.+ was making a big deal about Akuto.

Akuto too felt this could become troublesome, but his only option was to try to work things out here.

“h.e.l.lo.”

With that greeting, he began was.h.i.+ng his body. The duo spoke up in a tone of voice that was anything but gentle.

“Hey, we heard you defeated Cla.s.s A’s cla.s.s rep.”

Akuto was unsure how to respond, so he shrugged and kept it vague.

“It was an accident.”

“Don’t be like that. We’re trying to be nice.”

“You have an odd way of showing it.”

Akuto grew a bit belligerent, but then he realized the duo was acting a bit differently from the day before.

“That was because we didn’t know about this yesterday. If you really did defeat that cla.s.s rep…no, just the rumor is enough. At any rate, you need to be careful.”

They were still making a threat, but it seemed there was fear of something or someone at the base of it. In a way, they were giving him an honest warning.

“Are you saying someone is going to try to pick a fight with me?”

“No.” Both of the boys shook their heads. “We’re saying that cla.s.s rep was truly strong. She was at the top of the third years in the middle school last year.”

“What do you mean by at the top? Aren’t we talking about getting into fights?” asked Akuto in confusion.

The duo took turns explaining an unexpected side to the academy.

“We may be in no position to speak, but this school has a lot of violent people in it.”

“That’s why the students have an official and unofficial system of ensuring order.”

“The official system is the standard school rules, but the unofficial one is a ranking of our strength in fights using magic. It’s unofficial so there are no clear rules or anything, but it gets talked about a lot by idiots and good-for-nothing students.”

—So it’s like the delinquents in a normal school… And with magic as an option, the girls might even be a part of this…

With that thought, Akuto finally spoke.

“So what about the cla.s.s rep? What about Hattori-san?”

“She was ranked at #2. Those on the underside of this school – that would be black magic adherents or any other students who use magic to do bad things – hate that cla.s.s rep. She’s only managed to do what she’s done because of how powerful she is.”

It sounded ridiculous, but Akuto understood what they were getting at.

“So true or not, this rumor is going to make people think I’m ranked higher than the cla.s.s rep?”

The duo nodded as if to say, “He’s finally catching on.”

“Yes. That’s how people are viewing this. We aren’t about to try our luck against someone like you, but be careful. Some people are aiming for reaching the #1 spot.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t want anything to do with this. And don’t forget that I have a L'Isle-Adam from the imperial government watching over me.”

The two cut in at that point.

“There are plenty of ways around that. At any rate, just be careful. And like you said last time we met, you can just view us as your fans. If you defeat enough people to start taking over this school, we’ll join your side.”

Both of them patted Akuto’s naked back.

“So you just go with whoever seems to be winning?”

“Yes. Anything wrong with that?”

The duo washed themselves off and left the bath.

“Oh, wait,” Akuto called out.

“What?”

“Who is #1? You said Hattori-san was #2.”

“Well…” They lowered their voices. “No one knows.”

“No one knows?”

“That’s right. Only first and second years are ranked because third years are gone so often trying to find a job…but no one knows who is ranked at #1. This has never happened before.”

“#3 was badly beaten by whoever it is, so he has to know. He gets really scared whenever the topic is brought up though, so he refuses to say who it was.”

“That’s crazy,” groaned Akuto.

“But it’s true.”

“Well, I wouldn’t try looking into it if I were you,” added the second one. “Whoever it is might come to you, though.”

With a smile, the duo shut the door to the bath.

Akuto immediately heard a deep male voice shout “Hey, don’t look!”, but he ignored it. Korone had to be peeking into the dressing room. As further evidence, another voice shouted, “Don’t laugh expressionlessly like that! It sounds like you’re saying mine is small!”

—This is a crazy school… A-anyway, what do I need to do to ensure I have a peaceful school life? I hope I can manage something with some help from Hattori-san, but after yesterday… And even if I apologize, Korone will probably ban me from seeing her. This is a problem. But the situation will only get worse if I don’t make up with Hattori-san.

Akuto let out a long sigh as he soaked in the tub.

After ten minutes of soaking, he washed off his body, carefully wrapped a towel around his lower body, and then entered the dressing room. Korone had the door to the hallway cracked open and was peering in through the gap.

“Why do humans care so much about p.e.n.i.s sizes?” she asked.

A normal boy would have been left speechless with that question, but Akuto was an expert at giving diligent answers.

“I think it is because it allows more opportunities to reproduce and therefore more descendants. You view someone with a larger one as a threat because you expect their descendants will wipe out your own. That’s what I’ve heard anyway,” explained Akuto with a serious expression.

“I see. Then please show me your p.e.n.i.s. I will compare it with any other male’s p.e.n.i.s I see and announce their comparative sizes.”

“…That isn’t happening. Wait, are you teasing me?”

“A bit,” replied Korone expressionlessly before Akuto drove her out of the dressing room.

“Aniki! Let’s go to school together!”

Hiros.h.i.+ came running up when Akuto left the dorm.

“Go to school together? But it’s right over there.”

“Don’t say that. I already decided I would accompany you even this short distance,” replied Hiros.h.i.+ flippantly.

He must have already gotten used to Korone because he greeted her as well.

“By the way, are you pretty well informed about the goings-on of this school?” asked Akuto.

Hiros.h.i.+ must have been overcome with emotion over having Akuto rely on him because he grabbed Akuto’s hand with tears welling up in his eyes.

“Please ask me anything!”

“Um…This is not anything that important. It’s just that I heard the school has an unofficial ranking system.”

Hiros.h.i.+ immediately replied, “Yes! You are ranked at #2, aniki! It’s amazing! I had no idea you were heading out to challenge her to a duel yesterday! I was certain you were in love with her! I never would have thought you were tricking her into letting her guard down so you could defeat her!”

—He’s probably the one that started the rumor… I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.

“That’s not what happened. Forget about all that. A-anyway, is it true no one knows who is ranked #1?”

“Yes! Oh, I get it, aniki! You’re working your way to the top so you can conquer the entire school! You may try to deny it, but you’re really motivated about this! Are you asking me to look into who it is? I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“N-no. I heard that’s dangerous, so you don’t have to. I just wondered if you knew.”

“R-really? But you can ask anything of me!”

Hiros.h.i.+ seemed overcome with emotions once more as he looked up into the sky.

“You appear to have a lot of issues. I will not interfere, but I will punish you if you commit any violent acts,” warned Korone.

“So if I am attacked, I just have to take it?”

“No. If they attack first, your actions will not be punished.”

“So that’s how it works,” said Akuto with a bitter smile.

Suddenly, he heard a crowd muttering around him. All of the students used this path into school, so it was only natural for him to gather attention. However, this seemed different. He turned around to see what was happening and found a shockingly beautiful girl standing there.

Her hair that reached all the way down to her waist was well groomed and it felt like music should start playing when the wind blew through it. Her eyes looked like they were seeing a dream rather than reality and she had a kind smile on her lips. Akuto felt like the perfect example of a high-cla.s.s girl was standing before him.

“Y-you are this academy’s top madonna, Etou Fujiko-sama!”

Hiros.h.i.+’s over-explanatory comment told Akuto exactly who this was. What he did not know was why the girl was standing behind him.

“Good day,” she said in greeting.

Fujiko did not bow her head to Akuto. Her lapel pin indicated she was an uppercla.s.sman.

“Good morning,” said Akuto with a bow.

“U-um, what do you want with aniki?” asked Hiros.h.i.+.

Fujiko brought her hand to her mouth and laughed.

“Excuse me for speaking to you so suddenly. I am the dormitory leader for the girls’ dormitory.”

“The dorm leader?”

Akuto was shocked. At the same time, he realized she must be here to complain about what happened the night before.

“Yes. It seems you brought Soga-san’s clothes to the dormitory yesterday,” said Fujiko in a gentle voice.

“Oh, that was actually Korone…”

Akuto was surprised his a.s.sumptions about her purpose here was incorrect. He pointed at Korone and she nodded before giving a whispered explanation to Akuto.

“Yesterday, I met with Dormitory Leader Etou and explained to her the situation regarding Soga Keena’s clothes and Hattori Junko’s injuries. She was the dormitory leader, so I had to give her an accurate report.”

—That means Etou-senpai called out to me despite knowing the general situation. She must be a nice person…and she certainly is pretty. Come to think of it, she might help me regarding Hattori-san.

Akuto bowed once more and spoke quietly to Fujiko.

“Um, could we speak regarding Hattori-san at some point?”

Fujiko brought a hand to her cheek in apparent confusion, but replied in a whisper of her own.

“Regarding Hattori-san? What do you mean?”

Only Korone and Hiros.h.i.+ could overhear them.

“The thing is…I want to make up with her, but meeting with her directly would only cause more trouble.”

Akuto glanced over at Korone and Korone cut in to say, “I do not recommend a direct meeting with Hattori Junko.”

“In that case, leave it to me. I can pa.s.s on a message for you. After seeing the actions you have taken, I think there is no chance that you will become a demon king.”

“Th-thank you so much!” exclaimed Akuto with another bow.

“This is nothing worth bowing over. Now, have a good day.”

Fujiko pa.s.sed by Akuto. He, Hiros.h.i.+, and Korone were left blankly watching Fujiko’s receding back.

“Oh, wow! Fujiko-sama is so graceful!” shouted Hiros.h.i.+ out of overwhelming emotion.

“Honestly,” complained Akuto as he watched Hiros.h.i.+.

Just as he began to walk, he felt something in his uniform pocket.

“?”

A piece of paper had been placed inside.

—Only Etou-senpai could have put this here.

After making sure Hiros.h.i.+ and Korone had not seen it, Akuto pushed the paper further into his pocket to hide it.

“You really are amazing, aniki! Even Fujiko-sama is speaking with you!”

“Cut that out already…”

He drove Hiros.h.i.+ away and arrived at school. Unsurprisingly, he was the center of attention when he entered the cla.s.sroom. The destruction of the cla.s.sroom was more than just a recent event. Workers were currently in the process of repairing the cla.s.sroom walls. It also seemed a rumor had spread saying Akuto had defeated the cla.s.s representative using underhanded means, so the girls glared at him coldly.

—Living like this is going to be depressing.

Both Junko and Keena were absent. Their desks were empty despite this being the first day after the opening ceremony.

“Good morning, everyone.” said Mitsuko-sensei as she entered the cla.s.sroom. “I see Hattori-san and Soga-san are our only absences. With that, let’s begin the lesson.”

Mitsuko-sensei, their homeroom teacher, began a review lesson covering the basics of magic. This was the first time Akuto had heard most of it, so he was very curious.

“It is possible to summon the effects of magic by manipulating magic with one’s mental state. The mana in one’s body and the mana in the air are exactly the same, but they are viewed as separate. For this reason, people are divided between those who specialize in controlling internal mana and those who specialize in controlling external mana. That is why, on the surface, there appears to be two different categories of magic. In addition, the spell user’s personality can be seen in the method of moving mana. There are four categories here: energy waves, healing, necromancy, and illusions. Each of those can be divided between internal and external, so that creates a total of 8 categories of magic. If these are drawn up into a matrix, you can see which spells you will do well with and which types of spells you will have trouble with.”

However, Akuto was also curious about the memo he had been handed. He made sure to write down everything the teacher said, but he could still manage that while not thinking about what the words meant. While keeping his hand moving, he checked on Korone. She was sitting in a seat directly behind him, but she showed no signs of moving.

Akuto secretly pulled out the memo Fujiko had given him. Magical words were carved into the memo paper. It seemed Fujiko had written it out while speaking with him.

—Oh!? I didn’t know that!

Akuto was surprised. And then he grew worried Korone had seen his surprise, so he quickly hid the memo.

—At any rate, Etou-senpai is the only one I can rely on now. I need to lose Korone tonight and head to the school’s bas.e.m.e.nt.

After that, he focused on the lesson. He double-checked his notes in the break between cla.s.ses and spent the time until lunch break without speaking to anyone.

Once the lunch break arrived, Hiros.h.i.+ invited him to the dining hall and he was unable to decline. Akuto was forced to go along with the boy, but he could not fully suppress a bit of anxiety welling up within his heart.

—Does she really have a tail that turns her off when you pull it?

His gaze naturally turned toward Korone’s a.s.s.

Korone was not human, so her body shape had been made into however her designer wanted. It seemed that the designer preferred slender a.s.ses. The tense bulge visible below her skirt was beautiful enough to charm even those who were not into slender women.

—I need to create a situation where I’m alone with her. That will happen naturally tonight, but what if the tail was just a joke by Etou-senpai? No, even if she was telling the truth, Korone is a L’Isle-Adam sent by the government. She might be a special model. I need to make sure before tonight. I want to try it out when no one else is watching. I can’t just tell Etou-senpai I wasn’t able to make it…

“Aniki? What’s the matter?”

Hiros.h.i.+’s words snapped Akuto out of his thoughts.

“Nothing… I was just thinking, that's all.”

“About what? You can discuss anything with me.”

“It was nothing.”

He could hardly say he had been thinking about how to turn Korone off. However, this denial must have seemed suspicious to Hiros.h.i.+.

“No, I can tell something is still bothering you. I’ve known you for so long I can just tell!”

“You haven’t even known me for two days… Oh, but there is one thing I wanted to know.”

“What is it!?”

Akuto had decided to ask an arbitrary question to change the subject, but Hiros.h.i.+ jumped at it too eagerly. For that reason, he asked something he had actually been wondering about.

“What kind of person is Soga-san?”

“You want to know that?” asked Hiros.h.i.+ in surprise.

“I’m just curious because she’s absent.”

“You really are amazing, aniki! You want to make every last girl yours, don’t you!?”

“Please, enough of that… So what kind of person is she?”

Akuto felt a bit embarra.s.sed as he asked again. This was both due to the simple fact that he was showing an interest in a girl and because he felt an odd mixture of irritation and nostalgia when he thought about Keena.

“Well, she’s a weird girl. She isn’t anyone worth your attention, aniki. She isn’t a bad girl, but she can’t do anything with magic but fly. She has no magical talent at all. That’s why she has no friends and does nothing but read books and get lost in strange fantasies.”

“So how did she get into this school?”

“She’s just really good at normal academics. But since she can’t use magic, she’s treated like a terrible student here.”

“So that’s it.”

Akuto felt an affinity with Keena. Their positions were different yet somehow similar. While lost in that emotion, Hiros.h.i.+ suddenly continued speaking.

“By the way, aniki.”

“Hm?”

“If that’s what you were thinking about, why were you staring at Korone-chan? Were you working out a way to make all the girls yours after all? So your plan includes making even your observer L’Isle-Adam yours!”

Hiros.h.i.+’s excited voice rang out through the dining hall. Naturally, the students turned their attention Akuto’s way with expressions that seemed to say, “Ahh…” or “That’s what you get with a philanderer like him.”

—Denying it would be useless…

Akuto bit his lip, but Korone suddenly spoke up.

“As an observer, I have been made to feel no emotions even if my observation target engages in s.e.xual intercourse with me. Is there a problem?”

That frank comment caused the students in the dining hall to mutter amongst themselves and blush.

“No, there isn’t! But could you stop making that kind of joke!” shouted Akuto.

“I cannot stop making jokes so they will likely continue in the future. Please smile and forgive me,” replied Korone calmly.

“Wow! I don’t really get it, but you’re so amazing, aniki!” shouted Hiros.h.i.+ excitedly.

Akuto had already resigned himself to a lot, but now he gave up even more.

“By the way,” said Akuto after choosing curry and beginning to eat.

“Yes?” replied Hiros.h.i.+.

“Do you know where I could go to be alone? I can’t stand how noisy everything is around here.”

“Well…” Hiros.h.i.+ thought with his chopsticks in his mouth. “Barely anyone goes to the mountain behind the school. It’s a bit dangerous, but you should be fine.”

“Dangerous?”

“No one goes there because there are monsters wandering around. They rarely appear, but when you enter that mountain, it’s at your own risk.”

“I see…”

Akuto checked the time. He still had half of the lunch break left. He quickly finished off the curry and stood up.

“Okay, I’ll be going.”

“I will accompany you, aniki!”

“No, don’t. It’s dangerous, remember?”

“But I want to go with you.”

“I want somewhere to relax.”

“But I will be going with you so you cannot be truly alone,” pointed out Korone.

“Ah!” cried Hiros.h.i.+ as he clapped his hands together in understanding. “Sorry. I didn’t realize what you meant.”

Hiros.h.i.+ bowed down with a lewd grin on his face.

Akuto immediately realized what Hiros.h.i.+ was getting at.

“It’s not that!”

“Now, now, now.”

Hiros.h.i.+ began pus.h.i.+ng Akuto and Korone out of the dining hall.

“W-wait a second…”

“Now, now, now.”

After pus.h.i.+ng the two of them completely out of the dining hall, Hiros.h.i.+ pulled out a handkerchief and saw them off with a comment of, “Have fun.”

“It really isn’t that!”

Akuto tried to resist further, but Korone grabbed onto his sleeve. She purposefully brought a blush to her face.

“It is my first time, so be gentle.”

“I told you to stop making that kind of joke!” shouted Akuto, but then he heard the comments from the other students.

“I guess it makes sense, a demon king would be a horrible person who can’t control his libido.”

“So the observer L'Isle-Adam also has to satisfy the demon king’s out-of-control libido? I feel sorry for her even if she’s an android.”

“d.a.m.n that demon king. I’m so jeal…I mean, disgusted.”

Akuto realized it was much too late to change his actions based on how others saw him.

“Oh, fine…”

Akuto began walking.

“I do not know what your intentions are, but your actions have seriously backfired,” said Korone calmly.

“You know… Aren’t you affecting my life a lot for a supposed observer?”

“Am I?”

“Yes…”

Once they left the back entrance of the school building, they began pa.s.sing by fewer students. It seemed Hiros.h.i.+ had been right. They walked along a path made between the trees and soon could not hear any students’ voices. A monster might appear, but it simply seemed like a quiet park walking path for the moment.

“I’m glad it’s so calm here.”

Akuto sat down and leaned up against a tree on the side of the path.

“I am glad you are glad,” said Korone as she stood next to him.

“My life has gotten really noisy ever since you arrived,” said Akuto as he looked up at her.

Korone was looking off into the distance and not paying Akuto any heed. Due to his low angle, he could almost see up her short skirt.

—This might be a good chance to see if she actually has a tail.

Akuto slowly slid his back down the tree he was leaning up against.

As the angle gradually changed, he began to catch glimpses of white panties from behind Korone. However, he needed to sink down much lower to see above her a.s.s where a tail would be.

—J-just a bit further…

Akuto slid down until he was almost lying flat on the ground. He did not realize it, but a third party would have thought he was quite the pervert.

—A bit more…

And then…

“Ow!”

Someone punched the top of Akuto’s head. That impact knocked him completely down to the ground and his head slid down directly underneath Korone’s a.s.s.

—Wh-what?

Akuto was taken aback, but he could see no one when he looked around.

“Is something the matter?” asked Korone.

“S-someone punched me…”

Akuto was blinking in an attempt to clear his head.

“No one is here.”

“That’s strange.”

“What is strange is your position,” said Korone in confusion.

Akuto was trying to look directly up at Korone’s face, but her nicely shaped legs and a.s.s were blocking his view. His head was sticking right between her legs.

“Ah…”

“You are quite the pervert,” said Korone calmly.

She did hurriedly move out of the way, though. She had said she did have emotions, so she may have been embarra.s.sed. But as she did, her skirt flipped up and Akuto got a clear view. Her panties were located well below her waist and a small rabbit-like tail was located just above them.

—Oh, she really does have a tail.

He kept his admiring comment to himself.

“Did you come out here to look at my panties? What a strange person.”

Hearing that, Akuto stood up in embarra.s.sment. He then began to wonder who had punched him on the head. He looked around but still could not see anyone.

“Be that as it may…are you sure no one else is here?” asked Akuto.

“I can tell you are not making this up. Was someone really there? I detect no mana distortion,” said Korone while looking around with glowing eyes.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”

Akuto was still confused, but then Korone took back her previous statement.

“No, there is a mana distortion. A creature is approaching. It is not human.”

Korone was looking deeper into the forest.

Korone spoke once more at the same moment the monster appeared from between the trees.

“This is a demon dog. It is a dog that has been transformed after taking mana into its body. They may be breeding in this area.”

The demon dog was twice the size of a normal dog. Its fangs were long and it had drool and erratic breaths leaking out from between its fangs. A ferocious light in its eyes was turned in Akuto’s direction.

“Permission from the government is not needed to eliminate a monster. I will now exterminate it.”

Korone stuck her hand into the bag that she always held dangling down. She pulled out a gun that was clearly much too large to fit inside that bag. From the size of the barrel, it was enough to blow off the demon dog’s head in a single blast.

Akuto panicked when he saw it.

“W-wait a second. You call it a demon dog, but it was originally just a dog, right? Let’s try not to kill it.”

“But it is dangerous.”

“If it was transformed by mana, can’t we just remove that mana?”

“No magician has ever done so before.”

“If no one has ever done it, then it’s worth a try, right?”

Akuto spread his arms and walked closer to the demon dog.

“This is dangerous,” said Korone as she stopped him.

“No, I get the feeling I can do this. I don’t know how, but I learned the theory on mana control in cla.s.s today.”

Akuto took a few more steps toward the demon dog.

“If understanding the theory was enough, the world would be filled with magicians. I will exterminate it as soon as I detect immediate danger.”

Korone held the gun at the ready.

The demon dog bent its body in preparation to leap at Akuto. The instant the tension in its leg muscles was about to be released, Akuto took action before Korone could fire. He shot a white light from his open hand.

—I did it!

Akuto was secretly surprised it had worked, but he had succeeded in controlling the mana inside the demon dog by releasing mana from his palm. An identical white light shot from the demon dog’s body. That light continued to flow from the demon dog as if it was overflowing.

“The mana is being taken from within its body. 90%...80%...” announced Korone.

As her countdown continued, the amount of light leaving the demon dog lessened. At the same time, the ferocious look left the demon dog’s eyes.

“The reason no magician has ever removed the mana from a monster’s body is because it is supposed to be impossible. I have recorded this and will submit a report,” explained Korone as she put the gun back in her bag.

“Then what did I do? It seemed really easy to me…”

Akuto turned back toward Korone.

The demon dog had become a normal dog. It was a s.h.a.ggy dog with long fur. It sneezed in surprise and began running in circles while wagging its tail.

“This is not a crime, so you will not be punished. However, the data will be used for research. Also, this was unexpected.”

Despite actually saying something sentimental, Korone was as expressionless as ever.

“What was unexpected?”

“That you chose to save this dog. Given your past actions of hurting girls, gathering girls’ underwear, and peeking at girls’ underwear, I a.s.sumed you only did bad things.”

“That’s quite the arbitrary selection…” complained Akuto.

He pushed the backside of the dog that was still running in circles to guide it toward the school. It was now just a stray dog, so someone would surely take it in there. It ran off in the right direction, but suddenly changed direction. It made a mad dash for a seemingly empty area.

—…?

Akuto was puzzled, but then a scream rang out among the trees.

“Kyaaaahhh! A dog! Stay awaaayyyy!”

He could not see anything, but there was no mistaking what he heard. And the dog was definitely playfully chasing after something.

Akuto recognized the voice.

—Soga…Keena?

Suddenly, a girl appeared out of thin air in front of the dog. Red hair suddenly filled what had been empty air. He saw the color of white skin between that hair. It seemed Keena was nude.

—Eh?

As Akuto watched on in shock, Keena s.h.i.+mmered and disappeared once more. However, the dog continued to chase after something. That meant…

“Somehow I doubt it, but can she turn invisible?” he asked Korone.

“It seems she can. I saw it for myself. It appears I cannot trace her mana when she hides herself. If not even a L'Isle-Adam such as myself can detect her, she truly is turning invisible,” agreed Korone.

“But the dog is still chasing her…”

“She may still leave a minute scent. And as for her clothes…”

“I guess she can’t turn anything she’s wearing invisible with her.”

Akuto watched the area just ahead of the dog.

—Why did she follow me out here if she has to strip down naked to turn invisible?

Akuto then caught sight of something glittering. It was the same light as the previous day. Something clicked within Akuto’s head.

It had to be a hair decoration she was wearing. He suddenly felt the same nostalgic feeling as in his dream that morning. The hair decoration seemed somehow familiar

“Ah!”

Akuto recalled something from the past. He had once bought a piece of jewelry with all of his money. He had meant it as a sign of his determination to earn his own money from then on, but he now realized it could have been taken as a request for her to remember him.

—Now I understand why she would follow me out here…

Akuto ran forward with this new realization. Keena was fleeing further and further away. The dog was showing no sign of giving up as she ran toward the school.

Akuto chased after the small light flying through the air. It would normally have been easy to lose track of, but he could just follow the dog whenever he did.

The dog ran into the school building during the lunch break. The students looked on in surprise as they avoided the dog and Akuto. Keena must have been quite fl.u.s.tered because she ran up stairs, down them again, and all over the place at random. She would occasionally let out a scream, but the students loudly watching the commotion drowned it out. No one else seemed to notice her presence.

—What is going on? I’m not sure how to bring this to an end. Oh, maybe she’s afraid of dogs. Um…In that case, I need to do something about this dog. Then I can speak with her.

Akuto picked up the dog, said “here”, and handed it to a girl in the crowd of onlookers. The girl said, “Eh? Wh-what am I supposed to do with this…?” However, she seemed to like animals because she embraced the dog and did not let go.

“You can have it,” said Akuto before returning to his pursuit of Keena.

With only the hair decoration to go by, he began to lose sight of her, but she must have been growing tired because she began moving more slowly. It seemed she had a definite destination in mind now.

—Maybe I should make sure she doesn’t see me following her.

Akuto hid behind a corner in the hallway and watched the hair decoration. Keena must not have had a very cautious personality because she headed straight toward the bas.e.m.e.nt once she thought she had lost the dog and Akuto.

Akuto followed her from a distance and the door to a rarely used school supplies storage room opened. The hair decoration disappeared into it. The door then closed.

—No one else is around. If I head in there, we should be able to have a nice chat. Oh, but she’ll be naked if I go in now. She went in there with some purpose in mind, so she probably has clothes hidden inside. I just have to wait until she’s had time to dress.

With that thought, Akuto waited a while before sneaking up to the school supplies storage room, quickly opening the door, and slipping inside.

“Kyaaaahhh!”

He heard a scream.

Keena must have been just about to put her clothes on because she was naked with her panties hanging from her hands.

—It takes that long to get dressed?

Akuto was shocked at that, but Keena was even more shocked. She completely forgot to turn invisible and ran for the sole exit to the room. She was of course still completely naked. However, the sole exit was also the sole entrance, and Akuto stood there after having closed the door behind him.

“Waahh!”

Akuto panicked. From his standpoint, Keena had suddenly charged at him while completely nude, so he was unsure on what to do.

Her head smashed into his and they both fell to the floor. The teacher’s large rulers, spare blackboard erasers, and other school supplies that's piled up came cras.h.i.+ng down on top of the two who had fallen to the ground in a sort of embrace.

“Oh, s-sorry…!”

Akuto was almost lying on top of Keena – in fact, he was actually lying on top of her – so he hurriedly tried to stand up.

“Kyah! N-no!”

Keena immediately grabbed tightly onto Akuto. She grabbed onto him from below.

“Wah! W-wait, could you maybe let go?”

“N-no… If I do, you’ll be able to see me!”

Keena blushed as she wrapped her arms around him even tighter.

“B-but isn’t staying like this even more embarra.s.sing?”

“Th-then what am I supposed to do!?”

Keena pressed her body against Akuto while crying.

“I-I’ll close my eyes, so let go. You can put your clothes on while I’m not looking.”

Akuto shut his eyes as he spoke, but Keena shook her head.

“I can’t trust you! You’ll open them right away to look over every inch of my naked body while laughing and saying ‘Geh heh heh. That’s a nice body you’ve got there, girlie’! Yes, I’ve always been told it is the diligent-looking guys who are like that!”

“I still think the current situation is even worse…”

“But now is different. Nothing will happen like this, so it’s fine. I know you are a nice person.”

Keena’s comment confused Akuto.

“If you think I am a nice person, can’t you trust me when I promise to keep my eyes closed?”

“These are two different things. Even nice people can completely change when they start thinking dirty things.”

“Come on now…”

Akuto was frustrated, but the completely ridiculous conversation was also somehow cute and made him laugh.

“Wh-why are you laughing?” Keena was bewildered at first, but she finally began laughing along with him. “Eh…Eh heh heh… When I laugh it’s kind of fun…”

When Akuto watched Keena laugh from so close up, he was further reminded of the girl from the orphanage.

“Hey, did we meet a long time ago by any chance?” he asked.

Keena’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Eh? I don’t think so.”

“Wait…then why did you decide to be my observer when first met? And why did you follow me today?”

Akuto was surprisingly shocked by this. Keena seemed confused as to why he was confused.

“What? What? Eh? I thought I already explained that.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I like sleeping in that bamboo grove.”

“I wasn’t asking about that.”

“That should be enough for you to understand.”

“Eh?” Akuto was dumbfounded by how off her comments seemed from what he was asking. “Is that really worth skipping cla.s.s for?”

“Yes. After all, my grades in magic are terrible,” she said in the tone of someone giving an explanation to someone who simply did not seem to understand. “When someone like you arrived where I was resting, I of course knew there was some great meaning behind it.”

“Meaning?”

“Don’t you think that every meeting with someone is destined? Fighting destiny is lovely too, but you can’t enjoy your life unless you just go with the flow of destiny.” Keena continued to talk at length. “So when you said I must be your observer, I decided to become your observer. Even if I do not know what one is.”

“You don’t know!?” shouted Akuto without thinking, but Keena did not seem to get what he meant.

She simply continued speaking as if he was the slow one.

“It does not matter if I do not know. I decided to be your observer, so I knew everything would work out fine if I did what I thought an observer should do.”

“That’s a strange way of thinking…”

“It is not just a way of thinking. It is the truth. I have always been well-known as a girl who can tell when something is real. A long time ago, I even knew the difference between a toy and a hair decoration with a real jewel in it.”

Keena shook her head to show off the hair decoration she wore. It was shaped like a bird and had a real jewel embedded in it.

—I really do think this is the hair decoration from back then…

“So do you really not remember?” he asked.

“Remember what?”

“I am the one that gave you that hair decoration.”

Akuto was hoping Keena would remember now, but she only looked doubtful.

“That can’t be true.”

“Then how did you get that?’

“Well…” Keena thought for a moment. “Um…I don’t remember.”

“Wait a second!”

“But I really don’t remember,” said Keena quietly.

Akuto was at a loss for words, so Keena continued speaking proudly.

“But if you want to think you gave it to me, I understand. You are saying you think our meeting was destined just like I do, right?”

“Eh?”

—Come to think of it, why did I chase after her? Was it just because she ran away? No, I wanted to ask her about the hair decoration. But if she isn’t the one, then we almost have nothing to do with each other. Then again, this is the first girl I’ve ever acted this way about… Wait, what am I thinking?

Akuto’s mind was in a state of chaos.

“It’s more fun if you a.s.sume it was destiny, right? That’s how it is with people,” said Keena with a smile.

When Akuto saw that somehow untidy smile, he accepted what she was saying.

An odd silence followed. Just as Akuto prepared to say something to break that awkward silence, another voice spoke from above them.

“I believe your actions here are a crime.”

It was Korone’s voice.

Akuto looked up in shock.

Korone was looking down on them. He had not heard the door open, so she must have teleported in like before.

“A-a crime?”

“I strongly suspect forced criminal indecency.”

“Wait…I didn’t do anything of the sort!”

“You cannot argue your way out of this situation.”

“You know exactly what happened! She has to take off her clothes to turn invisible.”

“I fail to see what that has to do with you lying on top of her.”

“Um…” cut in Keena as Korone and Akuto argued. “What happens if this was a crime?”

“He is a minor, so a judgment will be made as to whether he must be placed under supervision or not. I possess the authority to make that judgment, so my decision will determine whether he must be sent to the juvenile hall or not.”

Korone spoke calmly, but Keena did not seem to understand what was being said.

“O-ohh… I see.”

“No, you don’t,” desperately protested Akuto. “You just have to tell her I did nothing wrong!”

“Eh? Why me?”

“If you tell her this was an accident, nothing will happen to me!”

The blank expression left Keena’s face and a grin replaced it.

“I get it! So if I was willing, then there’s no problem?” she asked.

“Yes,” replied Korone.

“Then…” Keena looked up at Akuto. “I will say that if you promise to grant one request.”

“Uuh…” groaned Akuto.

—Why is she asking me this? But I can’t take on anymore troubles at this point.

“Well, will you do it? Will you, will you!?” urged Keena with a grin.

—Was she trying to lure me into this trap from the very beginning? If not, her personality makes no sense. Does she remember our past but is pretending not to? Could she have been watching me ever since we were kids?

Akuto was so confused he started to lose track of everything.

“C’mon, c’mon!”

However, Keena continued pressing him for a decision.

Ultimately, he gave in.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Okay, then I embraced him,” said Keena.

Korone readily accepted it.

“Understood.”

Korone handed Keena her clothes.

“You gave in easily.”

Akuto looked away and stood up.

It seemed Korone was helping Keena into her clothes. He heard a rustling of clothes as Korone said things like, “Okay, raise your hands.” After Keena said she was dressed, Akuto turned back around.

Akuto could not decide if her expression was one of innocence or pure stupidity.

—What is with her? But I promised to grant a request of hers. What do I do if she asks me to use my magic power to help make her money?

Despite having the face of a villain, Akuto’s thoughts were those of a saint.

Keena smiled at him and said, “Now about your promise.”

“Yes?”

Akuto tensed up.

“Will you be my friend?”

“Eh?”

“Please become my friend.”

“…Sure.”

Akuto agreed mechanically, but he did not realize until a few moments later what she had said.

—That was unexpected… That doesn’t seem like much and I suppose I could not hope for a better result…so why do I feel like I just took on a great burden that will remain with me for the rest of my life?

At that point, the chime signifying the end of the lunch break sounded.

His cla.s.smate’s attention gathered on Akuto once more during the afternoon cla.s.ses. This was because he entered the cla.s.sroom along with Keena who almost never showed up for cla.s.s.

“Wow! That’s aniki for you!”

Hiros.h.i.+ alone seemed overly excited about it.

Akuto could only force a calm expression.

Once the day’s cla.s.ses were over, Akuto returned to the dorm and ate dinner. Once back in his room, he had to prepare himself mentally for the huge task ahead of him.

—Now then, this is where it gets tricky…

He glanced over at Korone who was expressionlessly relaxing in his room. He had already confirmed she had a tail. He had to pull that tail during the night.

Korone grew suspicious as Akuto watched her nervously.

“What is the matter? A change has come over your breathing.”

“I-it’s nothing.”

“It does not appear to be an illness, but it could be a psychogenic symptom. Please be careful.”

With that casual comment, Korone returned to diligently lazing around on Akuto’s bed.

—Dammit. I guess I just have to pull the tail like this.

While Korone was looking away, Akuto stood up from the chair and sat on the bed. Now his hand could reach Korone’s a.s.s.

—When it comes down to it, this is making me nervous.

When he started staring so intently at her a.s.s, he began to feel like he was committing a crime. Due to the way she was lying on the bed, her panties were perfectly visible from his position. He stretched his hand out toward them and could only think he was a molester or a rapist.

—J-just a bit further…

Sweat poured from his brow. When he began to wonder if she would notice, his heart rate shot even further up.

—A little more…

Suddenly, he heard a knocking.

“Gyaaahh!”

He almost jumped up from the bed out of shock.

Someone was knocking on the window from the outside. He turned around with the expression of a criminal caught in the act and saw Keena’s grinning face outside the window.

—Oh, right. This is the first floor.

Given her smile, he doubted Keena had noticed what he was doing. He put on a casual expression and opened the window.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Do I need a reason to visit my friend?” asked Keena as she climbed in through the window.

“Hey, wait…”

“My new friend, let’s eat together.”

Keena held a bag of snacks out toward Akuto.

“Are girls supposed to come to this dorm?”

“Everyone does it all the time. As long as you’re back in time, it doesn’t matter.”

Keena sat on the bed without asking. Korone sat up and raised a hand in greeting.

“Welcome. It is good for his mental health to have a friend.”

“I know, right? At least you understand, Korone-chan.”

Keena opened the bag and placed it on the bed. It contained rice crackers.

“Hey, don’t spill crumbs everywhere.”

“You can just wipe them off later,” said Keena as she began munching on one. “Do you want one, Korone-chan?”

“No, thank you. I may be able to eat, but disposing of the waste later is a pain.”

“I see. Too bad.”

Keena likely did not understand what Korone had meant, but she nodded in acceptance and held a rice cracker out toward Akuto.

“Have one.”

“…Fine, fine.”

Akuto took the rice cracker and ate it.

—This is making it difficult to pull Korone’s tail.

Keena then suddenly placed a hand on Korone’s a.s.s.

“Korone-chan, if you lie on the bed like that, he can see your panties.”

“He said it made him nervous if I do not laze around while in the room.”

“But he was trying to touch your b.u.t.t when I got here.”

Keena gave Akuto an accusing glare.

Akuto’s heart jumped up into his throat.

“Touching a L'Isle-Adam’s b.u.t.t is not a crime,” informed Korone.

“You mustn’t do that,” scolded Keena.

—And this is making it even more difficult…

Akuto began mentally sweating while giving a vague smile.

“I-I knew that. In fact, you are mistaken about what I was doing.”

“I hope I am.”

Keena continued munching on rice crackers. Akuto had only eaten one, but their numbers were beginning to visibly dwindle.

“Hey, A-chan.”

“A-chan?”

“I can call you that, right? You can call me Ke-chan.” Keena continued speaking without listening. “Do you like rice, A-chan?”

“Rice?”

“Yes,” confirmed Keena. “Rice. That white grain.”

“Um… I suppose I do…” agreed Akuto arbitrarily.

Keena suddenly leaned forward and said, “You love it, don’t you! Then you need a rice cooker in your room! I’ll come by every day! I’m not allowed to have a rice cooker in my room, but you can have one in yours, right?”

“I’m not actually sure if I can or not… And why a rice cooker anyway?”

“Sometimes I want to eat nothing but rice. Rice is so wonderful, don’t you think? It’s white and s.h.i.+ny like some kind of jewel! I love feeling like 'I’m eating a pile of jewels!'. It’s like I have countless pearls in my mouth and the sweet flavor spreads out in my mouth as I bite into them…”

For some reason, Keena spoke on and on about rice as if entranced.

“I…can’t have a rice cooker here,” said Akuto quietly.

Keena immediately shouted back, “No, you have to! I want one! I want one!”

“Why do I have to do what you say?”

“If you refuse, I’ll reveal to everyone how perverted you are, A-chan.”

“Now what kind of misunderstandings are you making!?”

“That’s a misunderstanding?” Keena looked over at Korone for confirmation and the L'Isle-Adam nodded silently. “I see. It must be tough. You really are diligent, A-chan.”

That last comment was made very casually, but Akuto was extremely thankful to hear it. Just like with Junko, he had a weakness for people who understood him.

“Th-that’s right,” agreed Akuto wholeheartedly, but Keena only looked confused.

“Do you want another rice cracker?” she asked.

Akuto took the rice cracker.

“Thanks.”

“You can show your thanks by getting a rice cooker to-…”

“No.”

“Eh? But rice is so amazing.”

Keena then spoke at length on the wonders of rice. Akuto was a bit annoyed, but Korone seemed oddly interested. She even said, “So, cooked rice can have that much of an effect on the human psyche…”

“Ah, if only everyone could eat rice together. Then we would have world peace.”

After that ridiculous comment from Keena, Korone said “I have this” and stuck a hand into her bag. She pulled out a cylindrical object with a switch. It was clearly a bazooka.

“This is a military drug dissemination device. It scatters a drug over a wide area to either poison an enemy unit or administer a healing medicine to an allied unit. If you put rice in it…”

“Stop that,” said Akuto with a shrug.

“Why?” protested Keena while pouting her lips.

The ridiculous conversation continued on after that. The time helped to calm Akuto’s heart, but he also grew more and more impatient as the night wore on.

—I need to hurry up and meet Etou-senpai.

“Um, don’t you need to get back soon?” asked Akuto in the middle of the rice discussion.

“Eh? I can stay a bit longer.”

“No, um, I have to study.”

“Then I guess I have no choice… You aren’t trying to drive me out so you can do something to Korone-chan, are you?”

Keena pouted her lips once more.

Akuto was shocked by her oddly accurate intuition, but he denied it with a stiff smile.

“Of course not.”

“Ehh? Mh…See you tomorrow then.” Keena reluctantly stood up. “But you really mustn’t do anything to Korone-chan.”

After repeating that for good measure, Keena climbed out of the window once more.

Akuto watched her leave and then shut the window.

“Sigh…”

He cleaned up the mess Keena had left and sat on the bed.

Korone then scooted up next to him.

“Now that the third wheel is gone, it is time for some tender loving,” said Korone expressionlessly.

“Could you please stop with those jokes?

“This is no joke. I would feel bad if you became a s.e.x offender because I failed to satisfy your s.e.xual urges.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that that incident with Soga-san was a misunderstanding!?”

“I am not talking about that. You were trying to touch my b.u.t.t, were you not?”

Akuto began sweating at that, but then…

—Wait. This might be my chance.

“Sorry about trying to touch it, but didn’t you say it is not a crime?”

“Not against a L'Isle-Adam, no,” affirmed Korone.

—This is it.

“If you want me to touch it that badly, maybe I will.”

—Ahh, this is making me sound really bad… But…

Internally, Akuto was incredibly nervous as he reached a hand out toward Korone’s a.s.s. Even if she was an android, he felt the same softness as from a human.

“Nn…” moaned Korone as she blushed.

Akuto stopped moving his hand out of shock.

“Oh, s-sorry…”

“Just kidding.”

Korone’s calm expression returned.

“…………………………………………………”

Akuto was left speechless.

—O-oh, right. The tail.

He quickly slipped his hand up and grabbed Korone’s waist with his fingers. He felt the small tail there.

“Ah…”

As soon as Korone started to say something, Akuto grabbed the tail and pulled.

With a slight hum, Korone stopped moving.

—D-did it work?

Akuto peered into Korone’s eyes. All light had left them.

—Thank goodness she actually stopped. Unless…this isn’t another joke, is it?”

Given Korone’s past actions, it was possible she was teasing him. Akuto lifted up her hand and poked at her leg to make sure she really did not move.

—Okay. With that settled…

Akuto climbed out of the window and left.

He reread the memo.

He had been worried about sneaking into the school at night, but he luckily managed to do so without running across anyone else. Akuto guessed so few people were out because the night could be dangerous. If there were monsters in the mountain behind the school, it would not be surprising if they would appear at the school during the night. And he became convinced of it when he entered the bas.e.m.e.nt. The first two levels of the bas.e.m.e.nt looked like a normal school, but the old strategy room was further down. The door leading down to that level was made of metal. It looked as if it would normally be locked, but it easily opened now. He pulled open that heavy door and found a dimly lit staircase. The hole leading down was truly an underground labyrinth that was no more than a cave with metal support pillars embedded in the walls to prevent a cave-in.

—Is this from the time of the war? I doubt the school wants students going down here.

It seemed the perfect place for a secret meeting. The old strategy room was located on the third level of the bas.e.m.e.nt and its door was already standing open. Light spilled out from the room. He knocked and peered inside to find a large rectangular table with Fujiko sitting on the opposite side.

“Welcome. I have been waiting for you.”

Fujiko smiled kindly. Akuto felt her graceful beauty went well with the underground environment lit only by a mana torch.

“Sorry about having you go through all this. Your instructions worked perfectly,” said Akuto with a small bow.

“Pull the tail again to reboot her. She will lose her memories from a few seconds before and afterwards, so use it if you are ever in a bind.”

Fujiko offered Akuto a seat.

“Now about what I wished to discuss,” began Akuto.

“Yes, about Hattori-san. I have heard many rumors spreading about the two of you.”

“I a.s.sure you, those are all nothing more than rumors. The truth is…well, it’s complicated.”

“Ho ho ho,” laughed Fujiko. “Oh, excuse me. Hattori-san can be stubborn, but that is why we are all able to trust her. Do not worry, though. I will help you resolve this in a convenient manner. Hattori-san’s injuries should be fully healed tomorrow, so I will contact her and set up a meeting between the two of you after school.”

“Th-thank you so much.”

“She is a very diligent person, so it should all work out if you show her a diligent side of yourself.”

“I tried that, but it failed due to my lack of knowledge about this school’s committee system.”

“Yes. I heard from your cla.s.s how you volunteered as the cleaning officer. How about I suggest a position for you to take?” Fujiko clapped her hands together. “How about you became the public morals officer? No position requires more diligence than that.”

“That sounds good. But…sorry about doubting you, but is a public morals officer here the same as a normal public morals officer?”

“I believe so. Their role is to correct the morals of the students. The one aspect that is not normal is that the position is currently vacant.”

“There isn’t one?”

“Sadly, the school’s morals have gone straight to h.e.l.l…oh, pardon my language. The school’s morals are so bad that no one wishes to be the public morals officer.”

“I see.”

—In that case, Hattori-san would probably love it if I took the position.

“You can submit the paperwork to the student council during