Chapter 69

Episode 69: A Shoulder Letdown and Future Prediction

The compatibility between the academy at midnight and a girl in Gothic Lolita attire needs no explanation, right?

An improbable combination under normal circumstances, yet when witnessed firsthand, it gives you the sensation of being transported to another world.

And right now, I was on the side that induces that feeling.

Thus, I have arrived at Mikage Academy.

Due to the nature of dungeons appearing regardless of day or night, there are still quite a number of students around even at night.

Some students even aim for the less competitive nights, sleeping during the day to such an extent.

Maintaining the bare minimum attendance while conquering dungeons at night is practically the epitome of an explorer.

“…This place hasn’t changed, has it?”

I smiled faintly as I gazed at the scattered lights from the academy rooftop.

Even though it’s called an academy, with countless school buildings present, this area alone resembles a small town.

“Ah, are you satisfied already? We’re here to negotiate, right?”

Let me do a bit more.

It’s because I want to be that mysterious beautiful girl making profound statements from a high place.

“Really love high places, huh? Maybe you’ll become friends with smoke?”

I ignore whatever Star Reader’s Staff is saying.

Let me soak in this moment a little longer.

Occasionally, I want to be this kind of tranquil mysterious beautiful girl.

“—I thought you’d come, Solciera.”

What was that sound from behind…?

Star Reader’s Staff, you were intentionally staying silent, weren’t you?

“~♪”

Stop whistling in my head. How are you doing that anyway?

“Huh? Ignoring me? Hey, oooi!”

“…You’ve certainly become noisy—Agiri Rinka.”

I turn around and call out her name.

She’s just an ordinary-looking girl who grins mischievously.

“I prefer it noisy. …Oh, by the way, is the current you Zero? Or is it the Kei Takikai I know?”

Ah, that’s right, I acted like an extremely troublesome mysterious beautiful girl in front of this person.

Alright, let’s tease her a bit.

“…If you want to talk to me, why don’t you just say so honestly? Really, humans are so roundabout.”

“So, you’re Zero, huh?”

“Hey, hey, it’s almost as if you’re not welcoming me at all. It’s rare to borrow Master’s body like this, you know.”

“Borrowed…?”

Nodding, I lift a strand of my hair—a gesture a mysterious beautiful girl would never do.

“I can also borrow Master’s body like this. The reason I appeared before you that day with a physical form was merely because I was protecting Master. How about it? Aren’t I the kind of Demon’s Gear that cares about friends, as you would say?”

I spread my arms wide and dramatically shake my head.

Rinka makes a gesture as if slicing her neck with her thumb, not even trying to hide her disgust.

“You weren’t invited.”

“Ah, how cold. Well then, I’ll return Master’s body.”

I sway my body once and lower my face dramatically.

Then, I tilt my head after reverting to my usual mysterious beautiful girl expression.

“Are we done already?”

“It’s not like I like him anyway. By the way, are you sure about this? Having something like that inside your body…”

“It’s fine. It’s necessary.”

“…I see.”

Rinka mutters regretfully, biting her lips.

Even that look is cute, isn’t it?

“Well then, let’s go. I know why we came here.”

Saying that, Rinka starts walking.

Do you really know?

You’re not just saying random things that sound plausible?

“That’s only true for you.”

Seriously?

“—You came to meet the Student Council President, didn’t you? To negotiate about Factom General Academy’s future.”

“…That’s right.”

What?! Seriously!? How does she know!?

■

The Student Council President of Mikage Academy is a character who also appears in the original work.

His name is Sajo Yukihira.

His most distinctive feature is being a blond man with slitted eyes.

He somewhat betrayed the readers’ expectations by not betraying anyone despite everyone expecting it.

Currently, he is the sole S Rank member at Mikage Academy.

Tourak isn’t S Rank yet either.

Well, it seems like this Student Council President was waiting for me.

There he is, sitting alone on a luxurious chair in the student council room, which clearly wastes a lot of space, smiling at us.

Rinka leans against the door, observing our situation, and this is bad.

I’m sandwiched between two people who might outsmart me easily…

“Rather, I think there aren’t many people you can beat, huh?”

Huh?

Didn’t you say the IQ of a beautiful girl is one hundred million?

“Thank you for coming, Solciera. Ah, calling you Kei Takikai would be more appropriate in this academy, right?”

“…Either is fine. Call me as you wish.”

“Then, Solciera it is. I’ve wanted to talk to the famous you for a while.”

Smiling, but I can’t read Yukihira’s emotions. Not even his expressions.

Is he smiling? He is smiling, right?

“Shall I start first? Though, the content we will discuss will probably be the same anyway.”

“Do as you please.”

“Haha, then I’ll take you up on that offer. —Your academy retrieved the Demon’s Gear, right?”

Of course, you knew.

Given this guy, he must have ordered them to retrieve it whenever they had the chance when Tourak and the others came to help.

“That Demon’s Gear originally belonged to Factom General Academy. What’s wrong with Factom General Academy retrieving it?”

“Whoa, scary. Don’t glare so much. I’m not planning to steal it or use the dangerous existence of Demon’s Gear as an excuse to invade or anything… At least not our academy.”

Yukihira said that and leisurely propped his cheek with his hand.

Clearly enjoying watching our reactions.

Damn, is it fun to torment mysterious beautiful girls?

“Some people with those kinds of preferences exist, and I learned that through the internet.”

Don’t learn that!

“You guys owe quite a debt to Kisou Academy, don’t you? Yet you betrayed them, and now you can’t receive support anymore. You must be in tough economic straits, right? I understand, Solciera.”

Yukihira relentlessly presses on.

However, I know.

Despite his tone, this guy is genuinely worried in a simple-hearted way.

Because of his slit eyes and seemingly traitorous voice and gestures, it’s easy to misunderstand him, but he’s fundamentally a good person.

Though, his intelligence remains unmatched.

“…So, what compensation will you offer us?”

Here it comes…

“Experimental records related to Demon’s Gear from Kisou Academy. Surely you want these too, right?”

Saying that, I placed the memory stick containing the data on the table.

Yukihira took it, glanced at it briefly, slipped it into his chest pocket without checking, and nodded satisfactorily. No data check…?

“Yeah, good choice.”

“…If you have any other requests, state them.”

“Nah, this is fine, thank you.”

Eh? Are you satisfied?

While it’s indeed quite dangerous, seriously, is this enough?

“What are you thinking?”

“Not pleased? I thought I answered your request. Isn’t making Factom General Academy a sister school to Mikage Academy sufficient?”

“That’s not what I mean. You’re just way too reasonable.”

Don’t toy with the mysterious beautiful girl!

I need to always stay above her!

“Having strong ties with Factom General Academy here is advantageous for the War Festival. Besides Solciera, there are female students like Teruue Mizuki and Toa Tsukimiya… They’re incredible. It’s surprising they’ve remained unknown until now.”

Upon hearing that, I realized for the first time how elite and terrifying Factom General Academy currently is.

Led by me, the mysterious beautiful girl, we have uncontracted Demon’s Gear, estimated S Rank, users of convergent artillery attacks—this academy is a treasure trove of talents who could be aces in other schools.

“If we can build a good relationship with Factom General Academy, shouldering debts amounting to several billion is worth it. With the potential S Ranks alone, we would willingly pay large sums to establish connections.”

In other words, this negotiation was advantageous for us from the start.

Damn, I should have asked for more!

“You, you’re kind of a scoundrel at moments like this. It’s unlike a mysterious beautiful girl, isn’t it?”

Shut up!

“Then, the negotiation is settled.”

“That’s right. Looking forward to working with you, Solciera.”

Yukihira said that with the same suspicious smile as before.

Honestly, there’s nothing I can do but stay silent since any careless comment might expose flaws.

“Ah, by the way. I know you live as Kei Takikai in Factom General Academy. To avoid anything unnatural, I’ll subtly suggest the idea of sister schools from our side.”

“…Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Will you consider every detail like this?

Your after-service is perfect, isn’t it?

“No, it’s fine. I was getting tired of Kisou Academy anyway. We were struggling to prepare the seeds for war. Tourak and Mihaya have been helpful in their roles, which is reassuring.”

“…Are Tourak and the others currently fighting at Kisou Academy?”

“Ah, are you worried?”

He probably knew I would ask that.

Yukihira unfolded a window in front of me and said, “They’ve already returned.”

The window displayed a photo of Tourak and Mihaya receiving light treatment in Mikage Academy’s infirmary, both giving peace signs. Mihaya looked adorable, while Tourak’s peace sign was awkward.

Can I have this data too?

A two-shot of the protagonist and the main heroine from the original work—it’s just too good.

I want to frame it and display it.

“This is like a greeting today. Her academy’s declaration of war. If the disciplinary committee clashed spectacularly, it should serve well as the signal fireworks for the war.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh my, are you relieved? From my memory, you disliked Tourak, didn’t you?”

“…Not at all.”

Yukihira is looking at me with a different smile than before.

I feel like he’s smirking…

“The negotiation is concluded, so I’ll leave now. I can’t be away from Factom General Academy for too long.”

“Ah, that’s too bad. …By the way, I just remembered something.”

Yukihira conjured several knives in his hand and showed them to me by waving them.

Then, he threw one at my feet.

Dangerous!

“—There was a capture order from the Board of Directors targeting S Rank explorers, specifically Solciera.”

“…Should I interpret this as provocation?”

I summoned a large sickle and posed dramatically.

This guy wouldn’t fight anyway.

Despite his deceivingly traitorous appearance, he’s genuinely a good person.

Though, if it’s serious, I’ll fight accordingly.

This guy is troublesome in a different way than Rokuhara.

“Just kidding. I just wanted to tease you because you’ve been so cold forever.”

Yukihira laughed after tossing the knives and vanishing them into the void.

I irritably flicked my hair and left the scene.

Ah, see you again, Rinka!

…And make sure not to cause unnecessary trouble?

See ya!

■

After Solciera left, in the student council room, Rinka exhaled deeply.

The tension and strange sense of oppression undoubtedly stemmed from the confrontation between the two S Ranks.

But everything went smoothly without a hitch.

“That went well, didn’t it? Problem-free conclusion.”

Rinka’s words didn’t immediately prompt a nod from Yukihira.

Still maintaining a heavy gaze as if Solciera was still standing before him, he stared at the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“…273,4536 ways.”

“Eh?”

Yukihira said that with a tired voice.

Rinka instantly understood the meaning of that number.

The ability of Sandjo Yukihira, an S Rank, is—selecting desired futures.

Predicting nearly infinite possible futures five seconds ahead and setting the desired future as the world’s predetermined path—an extraordinary supernatural power.

One could argue it’s the strongest ability worthy of governing one of the Four Great Academies.

And it seemed Yukihira used this ability during the brief negotiation with Solciera.

“Actually, I intended to capture her.”

“Eh?”

Rinka gasped and looked at Yukihira.

He continued to play with his hair while wearing a carefree smile, showing no change in expression.

Her irritation towards his actions and words prompted Rinka to speak bluntly.

“I said I won’t allow anyone to harm her, right?”

“Ah, I wasn’t planning to harm her. I just thought capturing her and keeping her safe would prevent Solciera from being pursued further.”

“…Isn’t it just about the reward?”

“Ah, caught me? Yeah, couldn’t hide anything from you, Rinka-kun.”

That’s a lie.

With Yukihira’s ability, fooling someone like Rinka by choosing a deceptive future would be effortless.

Yet, his cheerful smile and mannerism indicate he wasn’t entirely serious about capturing Solciera.

“I was curious about what the Board of Directors intended to do with Solciera. So, I thought I’d try presenting the real thing. But, it didn’t work out, eh?”

Without any remorse, Yukihra casually spoke his words.

“Realized around the two-millionth possibility. Ah, this kid is stronger than me.”

“How much did you want Solciera? To the point of predicting so many futures just to capture her?”

“Wouldn’t you want her? Even without capturing her, having her around would be a useful trump card against the Board. Keeping her would be ideal.”

Saying that, Yukihira erased the name Kei Takikai from Mikage Academy’s enrollment data.

His face looked slightly disappointed.

“The negotiation was the smoothest possible future. Any aggressive move from our side would complicate matters. The future where she came to Mikage Academy—she was a bit angry. Man, I couldn’t figure out what made her mad.”

Among the possible futures, Yukihira dismissed it as “failure.”

Looking at him, Rinka instinctively stood up straighter and declared.

“Of course, that’s how it should be. Solciera is unpredictable. She doesn’t share what she knows, yet she possesses great strength. And surprisingly, she’s actually kind-hearted. …Yeah, she’s troublesome, but it makes helping her worthwhile.”

“You really like that girl, huh? Personally, I find kids like her a bit scary and beyond me.”

Rinka neither confirmed nor denied his statement.

Instead, she smiled brightly at Yukihira as if retaliating.

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