Ch.177July, and the Start of School (3)

Anyway, I entered training with the new members.

Clang-! Clash-! Clang-!

Having sparring partners other than Gonzaemon honestly made the curriculum feel more enriched.

I alternated between sparring with Kana and Thumbs-up Man.

CLANG-!!

“Thumbs-up Man… you’ve gotten stronger!”

I shouted loudly while sparring with him.

“Yeah! That’s because I’ve been doing special training!”

Thumbs-up Man replied with a smile.

Clang-! Clash-! Clang-!

Thumbs-up Man and I exchanged not only sword strikes but also the burning passion of men.

“Hey!! Stop already and spar with me!!!”

Only when Kana intervened did I finally stop the match.

I still had the upper hand, but… I felt like I couldn’t let my guard down at all against Thumbs-up Man.

“As expected of Thumbs-up Man… a man I acknowledge.”

I was savoring the afterglow of our duel.

“Hey!!! I’m the one who taught him, you know?!!”

Kana shouted in an indignant tone.

“I generally don’t prefer outsiders from other schools entering the dojo… but their presence seems to be a good stimulus for you.”

Gonzaemon said.

“That’s right. I’m not too fond of Kana, but I’ll think of her as a free gift that comes with Thumbs-up Man. Whatever.”

I said with a smile.

“Who’s a free gift?!!!”

Kana shouted.

“Like those tasteless cereal samples that come with the delicious cereal you actually want.”

“There’s a limit to how much you can disrespect someone!! Hey!! Let’s spar!”

Kana immediately put on her face guard.

After that, Kana and I sparred.

Well… I lost, of course. I hadn’t grown enough to beat Kana yet.

———–

Time passed, and the new school term approached.

“Ah… I really didn’t want to come to school.”

“Yeah, agreed.”

Students chatted away in their summer uniforms.

They seemed too energetic for people who claimed they didn’t want to come to school.

“Sasitsu. As I always say, those who truly don’t want to come to school would refuse to attend at this point. Those guys are ‘fakes.'”

I said.

“Coming from someone who once actually refused to attend school, that’s quite convincing.”

Sasitsu replied.

“By the way, did anything interesting happen during summer?”

“What would happen? I just lounged around in my room.”

“Ah… I want a girlfriend.”

While this mundane conversation was taking place, the students turned their gazes toward me.

Umi, Eri, and Taiga were sticking close to my side.

“Seriously… that guy lives in a different world.”

“Yeah… I don’t even feel jealous anymore.”

“I heard he placed in some kendo competition recently.”

“Is he an alpha male or something?”

I could hear the students’ voices. Well, it’s understandable since I’m surrounded by three beauties.

“By the way, Sasitsu. Frill is coming to school, right?”

I said to Sasitsu.

“Yeah. She said she doesn’t want to be apart from me for even a moment… it’s troublesome.”

Sasitsu replied.

Though he said it was troublesome, Sasitsu couldn’t control the corners of his mouth from turning up.

“Frill… does she have Japanese citizenship? What about her identity?”

I asked about that point.

“Ah… she used some kind of perception manipulation technique. She cast something like hypnosis on the teachers. She’s enrolled under the setting that she’s my cousin.”

Sasitsu explained.

Wait. Is that even possible?

“But… cousins, huh.”

Well, Japan is a country where marriage between cousins is legal.

“It was… Frill’s wish. She said she wanted to be both a lover and family at the same time…”

Sasitsu said in a voice dripping with honey.

Suddenly I felt like my teeth were rotting. Too sweet!

———

Anyway, we headed to our classroom.

“Hello, everyone. It’s a depressing day, isn’t it?”

Our homeroom teacher entered.

“Teacher!! What did you do during the summer break?!!”

One student tactlessly asked.

“I went back to my hometown.”

After that, the teacher muttered while looking out the window.

“They kept pestering me about whether I was dating anyone, and it was so stressful. I should have just stayed here.”

The teacher said with exhaustion-laden eyes.

Teacher……!!

“Why ask something when the answer is so obvious… geez.”

After saying that, the teacher proceeded with the orientation and homeroom.

“We have transfer students in our class.”

The teacher announced.

“Ooh!!! Transfer students!!”

With that, the students’ excitement levels shot up.

“Come in. Miss Tina, and Miss Saito… Miss Frill.”

The teacher said, clapping her hands.

Then, Tina, Saito Kana, and Frill entered.

“Wow!!! Beauties!!!”

“They’re so pretty!!”

“A foreigner? She looks like a doll!!”

“Look at that pink hair! So pretty!”

The students’ excitement immediately skyrocketed.

“Hello everyone! I’m Tina Burst!”

Tina greeted right away.

The boys’ eyes immediately widened. Well… she is beautiful.

“I’m from the Never Dreaming Kingdom in Northern Europe! I’m dating Arigiri Shota with marriage in mind! Nice to meet you all!”

Tina said with a smile, dropping a bombshell.

“………!!!!”

The students fell silent all at once.

“Hey, engaged?!!”

“Arigiri Shota!! It’s you again!!!”

The students quickly became rowdy. Wait. Did she have to say that?

“M-marriage in mind…!!”

Saito Kana was also surprised. Ah. I didn’t tell her about this.

“T-then, Miss Saito. Your introduction, please.”

The teacher quickly moved past the potentially divisive topic.

“I’m Saito Kana. My hobby is kendo. I’m Arigiri Shota’s rival.”

Saito Kana gave a neat self-introduction.

“R-rival…!”

“Another connection to Arigiri Shota…!!”

The students were buzzing with excitement.

“Now that introductions are done… empty seats… ARGHHHH!!”

Suddenly, the teacher burst into tears.

“Foreign fiancée… beautiful rival…!! Arigiri Shota!!!! What kind of life are you living?!!! Are you a light novel protagonist?!! Huh?!!!!”

The teacher was suddenly overcome with rage!!!

“T-teacher!! Calm down!!”

“Do I look like I can calm down?!!!”

It took about 10 minutes for the teacher to calm down.

Next came Frill’s self-introduction.

“Um… I’m Sasitsuseso Frill. I’m Sasitsu’s cousin… and fiancée. Hehehe.”

Frill said with a smile.

“Sasitsu’s fiancée?!”

Another storm of information swept through. Was this influenced by Tina’s marriage announcement?

“Beautiful cousin… family-approved fiancée… incestuous pure love!!!! KYAAAAAAAH!!!!!”

The teacher began to have another fit. Hey!! What’s wrong with this person!!!

———-

And so, classes proceeded amid these eventful incidents.

Then came the end of the school day.

At the school gate, there stood a high school girl.

The presence of a student in a different uniform was enough to cause a stir, but her beauty also contributed to the buzz.

A sexy beauty was languidly checking her phone.

Some brave boys immediately tried to get her number.

“…..I already have a boyfriend.”

But they were immediately shot down.

It was Mika.

“Mika!”

I immediately waved my hand.

Only then did Mika’s expression brighten.

“Shota!”

Mika immediately ran into my arms.

“Ah… I kind of expected this.”

“Yeah, me too! Same here!”

The male students immediately understood.

“I thought she might be related to Shota… and I was right.”

“To think he’d even captivate a beauty from another school… what is he?”

Everyone seemed familiar with these cliché developments.

“Shota. I missed you.”

Mika acted cute in my arms.

“Me too… when are you transferring?”

“I… have some things to take care of. I’ll definitely come within this year, okay?”

Mika said as she sought my lips.

“Sure. Sure. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

I smiled and slipped my hand under Mika’s skirt, patting her.

And so, our group walking home gained another member. The more people, the more enjoyable the walk home is.

———

After finishing our daytime activities, night fell, and we went monster hunting as planned.

We gathered at the hideout and headed to the old town district.

“Hey, did you all see the news?”

Sasitsu asked.

“Oh, right. That weather forecaster, you know. They say she had an affair with a married man.”

“Really?”

“She had such a pure image too.”

Everyone was gossiping. Girls love this kind of talk.

“Not that!! I’m talking about the zombification incidents!!”

Sasitsu shouted.

“Oh. Why bring that up?”

Umi finally stopped chattering.

“The numbers have decreased significantly. It means what we’re doing has meaning.”

Sasitsu said.

“Hmm. I see… we’ve saved people.”

Only then did Taiga show a warm expression. The grandmother who adopted Taiga was killed by monsters. In terms of reducing similar victims, Taiga was finding her own sense of fulfillment.

“So we’ll continue to tackle the dungeons like this?”

Tina asked.

“Yeah. We have to. It’s July now… the July dungeon should be open.”

I said.

“Are we tackling it today?”

Sasitsu asked.

“We’ll explore today, but let’s just get a taste of it first.”

I said. There was no need to rush.

‘It’s about time… for those Apocalypse guys to cause trouble.’

I recalled those guys I had kept in the back of my mind.

They were a group of psycho-robo users cooperating with Pink Beard. There had been no sign of them since we took down Boradori last time.

I roughly knew how they would act. On July 15th, they would carry out a large-scale zombification terror attack. They would release monsters into an outlet mall that operates at night, turning many people into zombies in a flashy operation. In the midst of that, they would attempt to kill the player’s party.

Actually, I didn’t have to stop that terror attack. But if I didn’t, the storyline would become somewhat bitter, and I wouldn’t be able to see the true ending. I would only be able to see the maximum good ending at best.

‘No. I should stop thinking in game terms.’

The humans living here in Emoshita were real people, not NPCs. If I could save them, I should.

In other words, I needed to stop the terror attack while also tackling the dungeon.

There’s an event where I meet those guys at the dungeon entrance anyway.

‘It’s about time I taught those Apocalypse guys a lesson.’

I set the direction for what I needed to do in July.

Anyway, we headed straight for the dungeon entrance.