A Scoundrel’s Story
The lottery was quickly finished.
“Okay, from now on, let’s gather with your groups and have a time to introduce yourselves!”
Clap.
Mayuzumi Mayu clapped with a smile.
The number on the slip I drew was 5.
It was the same group the protagonist was assigned to in the original work.
Being in Group 5 meant the group assignments had changed from the original.
“Group 4! Where’s Group 4?”
“Group 3!”
The classroom was suddenly filled with a cacophony of voices.
Everyone was searching for their groups.
“Anyone in Group 5?”
I heard a familiar voice in my ear.
I turned my head.
There was Rin.
A stunning beauty with a navy ponytail and navy eyes.
In Rin’s hand was a slip with a 5 written on it.
Her gaze turned toward me.
“Could it be…?”
Rin trailed off.
Without saying a word, I held up my slip.
Rin’s eyes widened at the sight of my slip marked with a 5.
Grab.
Rin grabbed my hand.
“Dukseong! I’m so glad we’re in the same group!”
“Uh, yeah…”
Better than a stranger, Rin is like a fairy.
As I pulled my hand away from her sparkling eyes, I asked, “What about the others?”
“Well…”
Rin trailed off again.
Looks like she hasn’t found them yet.
I glanced around.
“Wh-why on earth are you in our Group 3?!”
Olivia’s voice rang out.
With a dramatic flair, Olivia placed her hand on her chest and glared at someone.
“Nishishishi. It might not be a bad thing to be in the same group as the older sisters?”
In front of Olivia was Haru.
Haru, with her tips dyed red, covered her mouth and laughed.
Her flashy nail art sparkled.
“Eri-rin, this is unfair. I wanted to be in the same group as the Master too… But a Cow, not me, gets to be with the Master!”
“Geeeee…”
Eri and Makoto glared at Haru from next to Olivia.
“I’m super disappointed not being in the same group as Dukseong-opp… But maybe teasing the older sisters will be fun? Nishishishi. Well then, everyone, I totally look forward to working with you! Older sisters! Nishishishi!”
Seeing this, Haru raised her hand high and said, “W-who are you going to tease?! You’re so loud!”
Olivia snapped back at Haru.
Seeing that sight, it seems Haru, Olivia, Makoto, and Eri have formed a group of four.
[What a pity. My lovely little sister should have been paired with her partner.]
The Black Prince comments as he observes this.
I’m a bit disappointed too, just not as much as him.
I think it would have been fine to be in the same group as Olivia.
So, who are we stuck with in our group?
Ideally, it would be someone easy to deal with like Ishihara or a good-for-nothing pushover like Yuji…
No, Yuji won’t do.
It’s that damn Kusunagi.
I’m so fed up with Kusunagi’s annoying behavior of involving me and Yuji in her ridiculous fantasies.
Just as I was thinking that,
“Hawawawawa… Shinozaki Ichiro! Is it true that Shinozaki Ichiro and Kim Deok-Sung are also in group five?”
A pink twin-tail swishes in front of me.
Wavy twin-tails cascading down to her waist, a bouncing chest.
It was Evangelin.
“That’s right.”
“I’m so glad to see you again since the deserted island! Hehe, Trixie is also in the same group as you, Shinozaki Ichiro, and Kim Deok-Sung!”
Evangelin’s eyes sparkle.
Her face turns pink.
“To think that a noble woman like me should mix with the trifling games of lowly humans… How disgraceful…”
Beside her, Beatrice pokes at her eye patch while pouting her lips.
Beatrice, Rin, me, Evangelin.
The same group formation from summer school carried over.
Not particularly great, but not the worst either.
It’s a bit disappointing that it’s not easygoing Yuji or Ishihara, though.
Still, it’s better to hang with familiar faces than have an awkward time on a school trip with strangers.
“Well then, Kim Deok-Sung, Shinozaki Ichiro. I look forward to working with you!”
A bow.
Evangelin greets us.
“…Hmph. A noblewoman like me can’t bow my head to lowly humans.”
Beatrice pouts next to her.
When is that damn middle schooler speech going to change?
“Oh my. Trixie! You shouldn’t speak that way to friends you haven’t seen in a while! Hurry up and greet them!”
Poke.
Evangelin jabs Beatrice in the waist.
“Ugh?! You contractor! Attacking my weak point is so cowardly!”
Beatrice’s single eye bulges.
It was established that Beatrice has a particularly weak back.
Evangelin and Beatrice.
A combination that didn’t exist in the original story.
In the original, Beatrice didn’t make an appearance until the very end as the last heroine.
Naturally, she had little interaction with other heroines.
She had absolutely no intersection with Evangelin, who was practically a background character in the original.
Yet now, with Beatrice appearing earlier than in the original, she’s not just related to Evangelin but has become her friend.
And not just friends, pretty close friends, at that.
‘But isn’t Beatrice supposed to return to the Cult?’
A sudden question flits through my mind.
Though she has the identity of a student, for Beatrice, it’s merely a disguise.
Her true identity is the Saintess of the Cult, the third faction of the worldview, the Church of Truth.
[Maybe she thought it’d be more advantageous to disguise herself as a student rather than a member of the Cult?]
“Maybe they thought it would be more advantageous to disguise themselves as living beings?”
The Black Prince replies.
If his guess is correct, it means that the Grand Elder’s control over the cult is happening a bit faster than I expected.
We need to be cautious here too.
Anyway, in order to confront the Messiah and open the bidirectional gate, I must enlist Beatrice.
“…Well then, I look forward to working with you. Lesser beings. You should be honored just to hear the greeting from the Saintess of the Crimson Lotus.”
While I’m lost in thought, it seems the traffic arrangement is done, as Beatrice turns with a flushed face and speaks.
“Hmph.”
“Good job, Trixie.”
*Pat, pat.*
Beatrice pats Trixie’s head.
“Contractor! She is no child!”
Despite saying she dislikes it, Beatrice has a pleased expression as she accepts it.
As I’m watching this absurd scene, I suddenly hear Rin’s voice in my ear.
“Heh heh. Bonaparte. Washboard. Kamiya, did you see? Unlike you guys, I was chosen to be in the same group as Deok-Sung.”
Turning my head, I see Rin puffing her chest with her magnificent bust.
“Ugh… Eeeeeek! How can you, who failed as a maid, do better than me?!”
Olivia moans, her face turning red as she yells.
“Eri’s disassembled. Eri can serve Master better than a cow! I could serve every single night on the school trip!”
Eri, sitting next to her, fiddles with a collar and says.
“Did you just hear that? Serve, she said, serve.”
“Kyaaaaah! Serve?! Black Beast, are you planning to drag the harem members into the sleeping bag even on the school trip?!”
“Sleeping bag? I might do all sorts of things while mixing in the hot springs!”
“This group is made up entirely of beautiful girls, excluding yourself… Truly the Black Beast…!”
“Have the exchange students already fallen into the claws of the Black Beast? Even the British Princess?!”
I hear the voices of extras after a long time.
My head hurts.
Mixing in the hot springs, what on earth are they imagining?
It’s absurd.
“Zzzzz….”
Makoto makes a loud noise, glaring at Rin.
“Nishishishi. Rin, are you excited? Being in the same group as Deok-Sung? But what can you do? Deok-Sung’s heart is completely conquered by Haru already!”
Haru squints her eyes.
A smirk appears on her lips.
Seeing this, Rin gives a confident smile.
Taking a step forward, Rin speaks to Haru.
“Haru. Have you ever kissed Deok-Sung?”
“……”
Silence flows from Haru for the first time.
“I have.”
“Tch…”
Haru pouts at Rin’s statement.
Why is this coming up now?
As my head spins with confusion…
“Haru too!”
I hear Haru’s voice in my ear.
Haru looks at Rin and says.
“One day, I’ll have a sticky, super intense love love kiss with Deok-Sung! So be ready, sisters!”
A super intense love love kiss, huh?
Why is she saying such things so openly in front of everyone?
“Are you really blurting that out without hesitation?”
“My head hurts.”
“Eek! It’s a super sticky, ultra-thick love kiss where tongues intertwine!”
“Black Beast, are you seriously kissing your harem members every single day?”
“Is kissing all you do? Of course, you might be doing even more than that?”
“Shinozaki’s lady declaring a kiss? Scary… Don’t look this way! Eek!”
Now it’s the extra reaction that follows reflexively.
“Damn it.”
This is driving me crazy.
Just then, as I held my throbbing head…
“W-w-wait! Both of you, stop that shameless talk right here! Enough already!”
Olivia’s voice echoes through the classroom.
At her words, Haru and Rin shut their mouths.
“Whoo.”
Taking a deep breath, Olivia places her hand over her chest and speaks.
“Hey! Shinozaki!”
“Why are you calling me, Bonaparte?”
At Olivia’s words, Rin slightly flinches.
“You haven’t forgotten the promise we made, right?”
Twitch.
Olivia’s eyebrows twitch.
Rin nods at her words.
“Of course not. I, too, stake the name of the Shinozaki family on this, and I will never break a promise once made. You can trust me.”
Rin speaks with pride.
Staking the name of the Shinozaki family?
Didn’t she just say she’d become Kim Rin instead?
“Hmph. Not entirely trustworthy, but for now, I guess I have no choice. Fine.”
Olivia turns away, puffing her cheeks.
But what promise?
‘What the heck are they talking about?’
[Ah, such a prepared attitude! Truly our lovely little sister.]
No sooner have I finished my thought than the Black Prince enters his clueless mode.
Does he know what the promise is about?
‘Do you know what the promise is?’
[No, not that. But she’s our little sister!]
I knew this would happen.
It was foolish of me to trust the Black Prince.
Just as I sighed inwardly…
“Okay! If roll call is done, everyone take your seats!”
Clap clap.
Mayuzumi-sensei snaps the attendance sheet on the podium.
At her words, everyone sits down.
“Now, I’ll explain the itinerary for the school trip! First destination is Beppu!”
The school trip destination hasn’t changed from the original.
Beppu, a famous hot spring city in Japan.
It’s a place chosen to shoot the hot spring god, an essential part of Japanese light novels, or rather subculture.
[Ah, hot springs. Hot springs, you say.]
The Black Prince’s voice in my head expresses excitement.
A Japanese hot spring.
Being a country famous for its hot springs, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it.
“The itinerary is 4 nights and 5 days! The first day will be group free travel and the accommodation is…”
Mayuzumi-sensei’s words continue to ring in my ears.
This too is similar to the original timeline.
The only problem is that the main villain will definitely differ by 100% from the original.
Who the heck is coming?
However, I confirmed from the chairman that in case of an emergency, support from the Association President or Vice President would come through.
With that, even in the worst-case scenario, I should be able to save my life.
And so, a week after group formation…
Finally, the morning of the school trip has arrived.
