Chapter 195

Episode 191: The Noisy Crowd Raid Boss

The Hinotuchi Cultural Grand Festival is a grand event held over three days at the Kroma Music Academy.

Originally, it was a government-led form of propaganda to demonstrate that the existence of explorers was harmless and beneficial to humanity.

However, as time passed, it transformed into a flashy festival organized by the students.

Nowadays, under the pretense of pre- and post-festival celebrations, the festivities last a substantial five days.

With only two days left until the pre-festival celebration, the Kroma Music Academy was even noisier than the last time we visited.

As soon as we arrived, we decided to check into a slightly expensive hotel in the tourist district and head to our room to drop off our luggage.

This would have been unimaginable before, but now that we have an S-Rank member in our academy, there were no issues.

“Thanks to Mizuki Senpai, it seems we won’t have to worry about accommodations during the Cultural Grand Festival.”

“Yeah. Even during this season, the Board of Directors has arranged for hotel accommodations, so even an expensive place like this isn’t a problem.”

“Wow! This bed is huge!”

Hikari dove onto the bed.

She dropped her backpack and declared, “I like this spot!”

You can choose wherever you like ^^

In fact, I’ll sleep on the floor, so don’t worry ^^

“You may choose your preferred spot. Kei, feel free to pick wherever you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

Mizuki Senpai’s gaze, though saying otherwise, was directed toward the bed closest to the window.

At moments like these, it’s cool and considerate to be a mysterious beautiful girl.

“Then, I’ll take the side near the door.”

“Hmm, alright.”

Look, look! She seems a little happy! How cute!

‘How cute ^^’

‘But be careful; she doesn’t show mercy to enemies. She goes straight for the kill without playing around.’

This is the first time someone has commented from that perspective.

“Well, we have about an hour until we meet up with the research team sent from Kroma. We should have some free time now.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yeah. It was originally planned that way even during our initial part-time work.”

As Mizuki Senpai mentioned, we initially intended to work part-time jobs.

We aren’t officially participating in the Hinotuchi Cultural Grand Festival as a school.

Rather, we’re on the staff side organizing the event.

Still, we’re at the age where we want to enjoy ourselves a bit.

So, to increase our play funds, a few of us were sent ahead as representatives of the academy to set up stages and do additional part-time work.

Originally, Mizuki Senpai, Toa, and Hikari were selected for this task.

Incidentally, this decision was made through a very fair game of rock-paper-scissors.

But that was until this morning.

Now, since we’re also the “Pummel Fake Solciera Squad,” the responsibility is quite heavy.

“Then let’s go out and play!”

Hikari gleefully gripped her wallet with shining eyes.

However, Mizuki Senpai shook her head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll pass. …Actually, I haven’t been able to secure proper sleep for the past few days. Since completing requests earns more rewards, I got too excited. Let me rest for a bit.”

“I see… Understood!”

Lately, Mizuki Senpai has basically been fighting somewhere due to requests from the Board of Directors.

Thanks to her efforts, the finances of Factom General Academy are steadily improving, but I hope she doesn’t push herself too hard.

Isn’t it about time she joined the Board of Directors as Solciera?

With impostors appearing, it might be good to assert her presence.

Speaking of which, I want to participate in the S-Rank summoning!

I want to join the meeting of the strongest characters!

‘Isn’t that not the kind of place to go with such high spirits?’

The angel is too serious. It’s fine to be more casual.

“Then, let’s go, Kei!”

“That’s fine. Shall we go?”

It’s perfectly fine to go out and play with such energetic girls.

We’ll eliminate any imposters we find, but it’s important to maintain mental relaxation.

‘Ah, HikaSol ^^’

By the way, you don’t need this much relaxation, right?

The Star Reader’s Staff automatically pairs people when there are two biological beings, turning into a multiplication monster of couples.

‘I see, Hikari and Loli Ciera?’

What do you mean by “I see?”

“I want to eat something called Golgotha Hill Crepe!”

Didn’t Toa mention wanting to eat something like that?

In the end, the shop ended up frozen, so we missed out.

“Wasn’t that crepe pretty big?”

“A young body might not be able to finish it. Miss My Road, you should get a smaller crepe.”

“Be careful not to spill it ^^”

What’s with all of you?

■

Exiting the hotel, the main street was even more crowded than before.

Someday, I’d like to try a mysterious move in a place like this.

Delivering important information succinctly and then disappearing into the crowd.

That would be amazing.

And I’d also love to vanish after a train passes by!

“Look! There’s a huge crowd over there! That means something super interesting is happening!”

Hikari pulled my hand and boldly pushed through the crowd.

Even though she acts like this, the fact that she’s my senior by one year makes her even better.

She’s highly recommendable.

Plus, her hands are soft.

“Judge!”

“But I’m a girl, so it’s okay ^^”

“……? Shouldn’t you dress like a girl then?”

“That’s not right.”

That’s correct. Right now, I’m a cross-dressing (TS) beautiful girl.

So, dressing as a male student is appropriate for me.

“???????”

This is the basic setup for a mysterious beautiful girl.

The angel needs to get used to it.

Besides, if I were to dress as a girl and play with Hikari and Mizuki Senpai happened to see me, it might confuse her.

Therefore, I am enjoying this outing as a cross-dressing beautiful girl named Solciera.

‘This person leads a complicated life.’

Not at all.

Thanks to Hikari, I’m constantly being healed emotionally.

Her expressions change frequently, and she’s bright, so watching her never gets boring.

Today looks like it will be a wonderful day!

And tonight, we’ll eliminate the impostor.

‘What’s wrong with your emotions?’

“Kei, please hold my hand so you don’t get lost. Getting separated is scary!”

“Yes.”

I held Hikari’s hand and navigated through the crowd.

Just doing this makes me incredibly happy.

“Magic power is surging…!”

“Why does happiness cause magic power to surge…??”

While feeling blissfully led by Hikari, I wondered where we were heading.

I knew we were diving into a crowd, but…

A beautiful girl confectionery shop?

Or a popular beautiful girl performer?

“Beautiful girl is confirmed.”

Of course.

To gather this many people, it must be a beautiful girl worthy of her reputation.

Surely, she must be a renowned beauty.

Together with Hikari, I plunged into the center of the crowd.

And then…

“――Hmm? …Hey, coming from over there, huh?”

The moment I heard that voice, I wanted to turn back immediately.

Since I hadn’t seen anything yet, I was safe.

There were two possibilities: either that person was present or not.

And I chose to believe they weren’t there and decided to leave the scene.

No extra thoughts or words were needed.

How could I stay in a place like this? I’m going back to the hotel!

“Ahh, this reaction…”

Just as the Star Reader’s Staff seemed to sense something, Hikari spotted the reason for the crowd gathering and exclaimed.

“Ah, Rokuhara Enforcer! Long time no see!”

The possibility became certain.

Reluctantly, I turned around.

There stood Rokuhara, wielding Iron Claw against Eina.

“You’re from the vigilante group… Long time no see. And then―”

When Rokuhara saw me, he grinned widely.

“Kei, I’ve missed you so much…!”

Oh no, it’s a raid boss!