Chapter 21

Chapter 21: It’s Okay to Lie if You’re a Beautiful Girl

The duel ended in less than a minute.

The three students who were mercilessly turned to ash resurrected as soon as the dungeon was解除された.

Perhaps because they were hit directly by the convergence artillery, they seemed dazed the moment they woke up.

“Well then, you losers can just disappear already.”

“… Tch, let’s go.”

The students sent hateful glances at Jouka-chan’s words but eventually left the scene, no longer hiding their displeasure.

I bowed my head again.

“Thank you very much.”

“Don’t mention it! We’re friends, after all.”

Jouka-chan, who pulled Toa and me close in a familiar manner, was smiling brightly.

The good smell of a girl…

“So, um, I’d like to ask you something.”

While still holding onto us, Jouka-chan said with a smile.

“Solciera is a student of Factom General Academy, right? … Who is Solciera?”

“Ugh.”

“Oh, what’s wrong, Na Takikai? Are you embarrassed being close to a girl? Just kidding.”

At that moment, I must have finally made eye contact with Jouka-chan.

Her eyes were chillingly cold.

In an instant, I understood that everything about her was just a facade, a manufactured illusion.

“Viewers! Did you see that duel just now? I think that was the evidence!”

Jouka-chan said dramatically to the drone camera.

Her tone, filled with conviction, undoubtedly meant she understood Solciera’s true identity.

“I saw Solciera’s convergence artillery up close that day. That’s why I remember that power well.”

She recounted the memory and listed the information.

There was no hesitation in her words.

Eventually, Jouka-chan proclaimed with her loudest voice of the day.

“Solciera’s true identity—that’s you, Tsukimiya Toa!!!”

A moment of silence.

Then, Toa, in a trembling voice, said apologetically.

“N-No, that’s not it…”

“Really!?”

Hahaha, this person is just a fool.

“That power had to definitely be Solciera’s… Hmm…”

Jouka-chan, still unconvinced, scrutinized Toa.

And when she reached chest level, she suddenly stopped moving.

“… Certainly, it wasn’t that big.”

“U-ugh.”

Don’t bully Toa!

“Jouka-chan, this is going too far.”

“Oh! I apologize. I’m just the type who wants to know anything once I get curious… I caused trouble, didn’t I? I’m sorry, Tsukimiya Toa.”

Jouka-chan bowed her head apologetically.

Understanding there was no malice behind her actions, Toa didn’t get angry.

Yes, yes, let’s get along, beautiful girls.

“Well then, we only defeated those rough explorers this time, and we couldn’t grasp Solciera’s true identity… How was that?”

So Jouka-chan wraps up her streams like a curation site.

“Next time, let’s meet at Factom General Academy! See you, Otsujouka!”

Waving to the drone camera, Jouka-chan smiled brightly.

Suddenly, I was whispered in my ear, “Can you wave too?” and both Toa and I waved together.

Yay, are the seniors watching?

“—Okay. Thank you.”

Once Jouka-chan confirmed the stream had ended, she released us and expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you for helping us.”

“No, it was the misdeeds of Kisou Academy that created such explorers. It’s something I should correct.”

Jouka-chan said that with utmost sincerity.

“I apologize too, Tsukimiya Toa. I got carried away thinking I could get close to Solciera.”

“Y-yes. Thank you for saving me.”

“Now then, please set up the beacon while we have the chance.”

“Oh, yes.”

Toa took out a mechanical stake about fifty centimeters long from the dive gear and plunged it into the distortion before the dungeon.

Then she seemed to start some sort of setting.

I see. That’s how you put those into the dive gear expansion area. But where do I store the cross-dressing kit?

“Now then, while Tsukimiya Toa is preparing, shall we discuss the next stream?”

“Um, I should first clear that with the Student Council President—”

I was abruptly pulled with incredible force.

I was moved to quite a distance away from Toa.

This person is scary.

“I’m sorry. I just really wanted to confirm something now—hey, Solciera.”

“What are you trying to say?”

B-b-b-busted!?

Huh!? Why?!

“I was certain you were Solciera when I ended the stream. From here on, it’s just a conversation between you and me.”

“That’s why I’m saying I’m not Solciera.”

“Is that so?”

Jouka-chan leaned in and looked closely at my face.

“The hair color and height are the same. More importantly, you definitely avoided my ma-chan’s surprise explosive attack.”

“W-was the frog at that moment not a mistake?”

“Hahaha, not at all.”

It seems the frog that rolled toward me during the earlier duel was intentional.

What? This person is more dangerous than I thought?

“I inferred from the conversations in the experimental facility that Solciera is a student of Factom General Academy. The remaining question is, who exactly is Solciera? Teruue Mizuki was excluded because of her appearance fighting alongside Solciera made public by the Board of Directors. Aoi Hoshi Miroku was also excluded early on due to her weaponry and abilities. The only remaining candidates are Tsukimiya Toa and you, who can use convergence artillery.”

Pointing at me, Jouka-chan wore a confident smile.

“I turned it into a duel specifically to see Tsukimiya Toa’s convergence artillery. If it was just defeating them, I alone would suffice.”

“… No wonder it felt overly prepared.”

The explosive frogs she used were just too over-the-top for this duel.

Still, we, the Phectom group, had room to act so she could identify Solciera.

Thinking that way made sense.

No, could it be that her appearing at such a conveniently timed moment was part of the plan?

“I’m using a dagger, as you can see. I don’t have that characteristic scythe.”

“That can be faked easily enough. …What I was looking at was your eyes—”

Saying that, Jouka-chan suddenly lunged at me.

As a female student, her physical prowess as an explorer was fully displayed as her fist sliced through the air toward me.

In that moment, a red bracelet appeared, enhancing my reflexes, and I managed to dodge just in time.

… Ah.

“Just like that, your eyes. Solciera had those too. Instead of actions based on anticipatory experience, you acted after gathering visual information. That incredible reflexive sight made it possible. It’s useless to hide it now.”

“I…”

This is bad.

Why am I losing to such a revealing streamer!?

With my palms sweaty in front of me, Jouka-chan continued to corner me with her words.

“I had a blind spot. Never would I have thought Solciera was pretending to be a guy.”

“… Huh?”

“Are you going to keep pretending? That androgynous voice and face. Plus, the oversized uniform to hide a girl’s figure—there’s no way you’re not a girl, right?”

Jouka-chan gazed at me.

I could sense her expression suggesting I couldn’t escape anymore, and I exhaled a breath.

Let’s organize the situation.

Jouka-chan knows I’m Solciera.

But it seems my cross-dressing hasn’t been discovered.

Mysterious Beautiful Girl ≠ Cross-dressing Guy, does not equal.

Mysterious Beautiful Girl = Cross-dressing Beautiful Girl.

That difference is huge. Huge!!!

In fact, isn’t this a chance?

Toa still seems like she’ll take a little while longer.

Okay.

“—Hah.”

I angled my gaze downwards in a pensive manner. This was a decadent angle.

Looking a bit sleepy was good.

I tightened my mouth and said in a more high-pitched voice than usual.

“You have a creepy obsession, don’t you? You got it right, stalker.”

I have to ride this misunderstanding.