Chapter 81

Episode 80: Professional Matching

【Breaking News】Miuye-chan is Probably in Trouble

She was casually handed an item that clearly shakes the very foundation of Academy City, and it’s been half a day already.

Kei, Mizuki Senpai, and Toa are standing still in the special district.

In her arms, countless magic stones and cores are tightly packed.

Don’t you think this is reckless?

It won’t even enter the expansion area anymore. We’ve gathered too many.

“…so, it really was true.”

“Yeah, amazing, isn’t it!”

No… This isn’t just amazing… It surpasses that level…

Huh? Isn’t it beyond the level of those light novel tropes?

“An item that can predict the timing of appearances has never existed before. That’s why until now, the basic approach has been to fight over them with other schools… but this is incredible.”

Mizuki Senpai looks delighted.

Hmm, if the two beautiful girls are happy, then maybe it’s all good?

“I personally find it somewhat unsettling. If they could create such an excellent item, even if they didn’t like it, they would have kept it in their possession. It makes the expulsion even harder to understand. It doesn’t make sense.”

That was something I’ve been thinking about while rampaging through dungeons.

Fortunately, dungeon clearing is easy for us now.

I slash with my dagger, Toa fires her convergence artillery attack.

If it gets dangerous, Mizuki Senpai will incinerate it.

This way, we’ve been able to move around safely.

Mizuki Senpai’s dive gear is falling apart, so she’s merely the last line of insurance.

So, there was plenty of time to think about Miuye-chan.

And in that time, I thought deeply.

Her existence is far too suspicious.

In a light novel setting, I can understand some degree of competence or being OP.

But this world was supposed to be a story centered around Tourak-kun.

Even if she were a spin-off protagonist, it’s strange that someone this competent wasn’t even mentioned by name.

While we can’t generalize based on Sakura Rikka’s example, since I don’t recognize her, it seems she wasn’t involved in the original story.

A beautiful girl who can sense the appearance of dungeons beforehand and create S-rank dive gear didn’t show up in the final battle?

If she had been there, the operation with the four Demon’s Gear units would have been much more stable.

There are three possible truths that come to mind now.

One: She was dealing with a completely different threat behind the scenes during the events of the original story and couldn’t leave.

This is quite plausible.

Actually, this is the most likely scenario.

There are spin-off novels and social games, after all.

There must be multiple threats.

Two: She is the same kind of existence as me.

Possible, but I think it’s the least likely.

Meaning, she is an original protagonist from fan fiction.

Because of my meta-level thinking, I was able to reason this out, but I dismissed it immediately.

It seems like her soul is that of a beautiful girl.

There’s no way I could have mistaken it. She is a beautiful girl.

Three: She was already dead by the time of the original story’s final battle.

I don’t want to consider it.

But considering how talented she is, it’s not impossible that she could die.

After all, Rinka dies in the original story, right?

Maybe they killed her off in the spin-off too.

These seem to be the possibilities within the scope of what I can imagine.

I had assumed I was just a spin-off protagonist, but it appears there might be more meaning to it than that.

“Kei-kun, what’s wrong?”

“Eh? Ah, I’ve been thinking about Miuye-chan.”

“Is something wrong with Miuye-chan?”

Toa doesn’t seem to be on guard at all.

In fact, she’s happily humming a tune.

How cute.

“Alright, let’s head back. We managed to get one A-rank core. We also have quite a few magic stones, so let’s pick up some high-quality ingredients.”

“Yes.”

“Okay!”

For now, let’s enjoy this bounty.

I’ll investigate more tonight.

■

When we returned to the academy, Miuye-chan and Nana-chan were sitting face-to-face in the student council room.

“Hmm…”

“Are there any more questions? If not, I desire a snack.”

“It’s dinner time already, so no snacks allowed!”

“…I’m feeling sad right now.”

What a soft and fluffy atmosphere.

Just watching it feels like it’s improving my eyesight.

“You make it sound like a joke.”

Huh? A joke?

“Seriously, you actually believe it improves your eyesight.”

“Welcome back, Miroku.”

“Welcome back, all three of you. …Wow, you really did gather quite a lot. Should we sort them tomorrow into items for cash conversion and expansion of the autonomous zone?”

She said it cheerfully, but Miroku-senpai looked slightly taken aback.

Of course, given that both the narrowness of Factom General Academy’s autonomous zone and its financial issues suddenly have solutions in sight.

It’s less joy and more terror.

There’s no way something this convenient could exist.

“…Nah! I guess it’s impossible. Sorry, Miroku-san, I can’t do it.”

Miuye-chan said this after looking away from Nana-chan.

Apparently, they were doing something.

Not a staring contest between beautiful girls, apparently.

“Miroku, did you ask her for something?”

“Yes. I wondered if she could make a device to contract with Nana-chan.”

She said this with a smile as she looked at Nana-chan.

This person is casually trying to contract with a Demon’s Gear…

“The existence of uncontracted Demon’s Gear is indeed precarious. Ideally, someone from Factom General Academy could contract with it.”

“I thought it was interesting and considered it, but it’s impossible. Ideas just don’t come to me when they need to. They either pop into my head instantly or not at all.”

Miuye-chan groaned.

Huh? Isn’t she supposed to have universal knowledge cheat powers?

“Ah, did you manage to get an A-rank dungeon core?”

“Yeah, only one though.”

“That’s enough. Please leave the rest to me!”

Miuye-chan waved her arms enthusiastically, full of energy.

However, wait just a moment.

“Let’s have dinner first.”

We’ve got food, hahaha!

■

Nighttime.

The hour when grass and beautiful girls sleep.

And the time for mysterious beautiful girls!

“Standing by!”

This time’s Mysterious Beautiful Girl Time is happening inside Factom General Academy!

The goal is to learn more about Miuye-chan.

And to warn her not to so easily pull out that ‘Nakayoshi! Dungeon-kun’ thing!

Miuye-chan is currently staying overnight in the student council room.

Apparently, she plans to create dive gear during the night.

She was quite excited even after dinner.

“With Solciera’s contact, it’ll be a perfect opportunity to see how she reacts. A great chance to learn more about her.”

Should I stylishly enter through the window?

The mysterious beautiful girl appearing with the curtains fluttering in the wind.

Sounds good!

Oh, the window’s open!

Careless, but lucky for me.

“Well, let’s go in.”

What should I say first?

Still wanna play the know-it-all card, even though I don’t know anything.

Alright, let’s mess around with stars and fate today!

“Yay!… Hmm, wait!”

What’s up? Do you have a better idea for a mysterious beautiful girl entrance?

“No, it’s not that. There’s something near Miuye-chan.”

Isn’t it Miroku-senpai or Mizuki-senpai?

“No… It’s a much more distorted and powerful presence.”

…Hurry up, Star Reader’s Staff!

Something might have already started without me knowing.

Can’t miss it!

“Whoosh! Transfer transfer!”

I abandon all previous plans of entering through the window and teleport directly to the student council room where Miuye-chan is.

What I saw was Miuye-chan trembling and something cloaked in black reaching out to her.

“I won’t let you.”

I step between the two, shielding Miuye-chan behind me.

Mysterious Guard!

“Eh? Something else appeared again!”

“Rest assured. At least for now, it’s not your enemy.”

With that, I pointed my scythe at the figure in the cloak.

“This child has already been chosen by my star. Please refrain from interfering.”

“…Honestly, you really have sharp instincts, don’t you?”

The hood was pulled back, revealing the figure before me.

A white mask with cracks here and there.

Long, black hair.

“As always, you’re full of unexpected actions… Solciera.”

What’s with this guy’s familiarity?

And what’s with that voice?

“It’s a synthesized voice created by combining multiple voices. It’s probably a function of that mask.”

You’re messing with me.

…Hmm? Doesn’t feel like a beautiful girl, does it?

“There it goes again.”

No, it does feel like one.

Looking closely, this person is definitely a beautiful girl too!

Dramatic cloak, long black hair,

and even a white mask—this is absolutely a beautiful girl!

“Who are you?”

“Do you think I have an obligation to tell you? Even if I did, how much of what I say would you believe?”

“…Then, shall we dance?”

“Sounds good. Let’s make it a fun ball.”

This straightforward dialogue.

And the refusal to reveal one’s identity.

There’s no doubt about it, Star Reader’s Staff.

“Yeah. I understand now.”

This person… is a real mysterious beautiful girl!

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