“…I apologize for everything, Rin.”
Ichiro scratches his cheek.
Rin hangs her head.
A tear rolls down her cheek.
Memories of living in the Shinozaki household flash through her mind.
His face comes to mind too.
The confident words of Kim Deok-Sung promising to solve the President’s work echo in her ears.
Just as he said, he really did solve the problem.
Rin wipes her tears with her sleeve.
“…It’s okay, Father.”
Father.
It’s a pleasant resonance.
Rin thinks to herself.
It feels like all the accumulated weight is melting away.
Perhaps what she wanted all along was just to hear Ichiro say she wasn’t a tool, but his daughter.
Ichiro smiles gently.
It’s the first time Rin hears such words, but it’s not bad.
“Yeah. My daughter.”
Their gazes meet softly in the air.
“From this moment on, all the orders I’ve given you until now… are hereby canceled. You are not a tool of the family, Rin. Live your own life. It’s okay to have a lover at the academy like everyone else. Of course, he has to be someone I approve of.”
Ichiro laughs.
Lover.
Rin’s face flushes red at that word.
Her heart races.
The image of the man she has feelings for, Kim Deok-Sung, appears in her mind.
She fidgets with her lips.
Seeing Rin’s unusual demeanor, Ichiro asks.
“Is there someone you have in mind?”
“Well…”
Rin fiddles with her teacup.
Next to Kim Deok-Sung are Nishizawa Eri, who cooks better and is way prettier than her, and Olivia, who has the same chest size and shares the title of personal maid.
If she wants to get ahead of those two, it wouldn’t be bad to borrow her father’s strength.
“…I have feelings for Kim Deok-Sung…”
No, maybe she just wanted a normal conversation between a father and daughter.
Rin thinks that and confesses her feelings in a small voice.
“What? Kim Deok-Sung? Ha, ha ha ha! Good. It seems my daughter has good taste. If she were to bring home some bum, I would have to teach her a lesson.”
Ichiro laughs.
Kim Deok-Sung is not only her savior but also a desirable talent.
He had no intention of forcing his daughter into a marriage, but if it’s a man she likes, that changes everything.
Now that it has come to this, he must secure him.
With a flushed face, Rin stammers.
“…I, I want to be Kim Deok-Sung’s girlfriend. I want to improve my womanly charm and cooking skills…”
She admits that she can’t cook.
But she doesn’t want to remain a girl with no charm forever.
She absolutely despises being outdone by Nishizawa and Olivia.
Someday, she wants to proudly make him proper Kimchi Stew.
“I want to create a dog.”
Rin thought so.
“Alright. If that’s what you want, I’ll fully support you,” Ichiro said.
Hearing Ichiro’s words, Rin smiled lightly and took a bite of the traditional Japanese sweet.
For some reason, the sweets felt sweeter today.
*
The training of the Black Sword Technique had finally come to an end.
I left Olivia, who wanted to practice alone, and walked out of the training building.
Crossing the courtyard, where the sunset was settling in.
Today was truly an uneventful, peaceful day.
How great it would be if every day were this peaceful.
For the time being, I guess this peace will continue.
Rin probably won’t be pestering me anymore.
Although it’s a bit ominous to hear Ichiro refer to me as a benefactor, I’ll gradually find out more.
While I was lost in thought and walking, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.
“Kim Deok-Sung.”
I looked up.
Under the sunset-colored sky, there she was.
A beauty with a navy ponytail swaying in the breeze and navy eyes.
Shinozaki Rin.
“What?”
“…Thank you.”
Maybe it was the sunset, but Rin’s face was flushed a bright red as she spoke.
What’s going on, suddenly saying something so random?
“What for?”
Rin smiled faintly.
In a calm voice, she said, “…I heard from my father. The person who moved Kurosawa to save us was you.”
The moment I heard her words, the puzzle pieces in my mind all fell into place.
Now I understand why Ichiro called me a benefactor.
It’s 100% that the protagonist, that big-mouthed sucker, spilled the beans to Ichiro.
“Seriously, this is ridiculous. That damn Kurosawa…”
Cursing came out involuntarily.
After going through all the trouble of laying out the feast to save him, he just threw it all away?
I mean, there’s a limit to being a pushover.
I’m losing my mind here.
I thought I had finally cut off my bad fate with Rin, but it seems I’ve only added another problem.
I can barely handle Olivia as it is.
Everything feels dark in front of me.
“You always do this, Kim Deok-Sung. But I… No.”
Rin placed her hand over her chest.
No, don’t do that.
“I can swear right now, Kim Deok-Sung. If you want, I will offer my body, heart, and virginity to you. I will serve you for life like a devoted wife! I can do anything; walk you on a leash, wear maid cosplay, or even warm your bed like Hideyoshi did for Nobunaga, completely naked. Please, become my husband!”
Rin shouted with a flushed face.
Thank goodness there was no one around.
“Hey, Rin. You really have no use for me, so please don’t. I’m begging you.”
What? Husband? Devoted wife?
Unless I’ve gone mad, there’s no way I’m becoming a son-in-law of the Shinozaki family.
Plus, I’m feeling nauseous right now.
“…Are you worried about me? How nice.”
Rin still showed no intention of backing down.
How can she interpret my words as caring for her?
I don’t get it.
Yeah, all light novel heroines are like that.
“Don’t misunderstand; I didn’t save you, it was Kurosawa who did, so thank him for that. I’m leaving now. Don’t follow me. Seriously.”
Waving my hand, I left.
I genuinely worry about how much crazier this world will get.
*
Tokyo.
In front of Shuo Hero Academy’s train station.
Amidst the usual crowd bustling about, a androgynous-looking girl with a green short haircut, Kamiya Makoto, stepped off the train.
Rolling her suitcase behind her, her gaze caught the distant view of Shuo Hero Academy on the artificial island.
“This is Shuo Hero Academy…”
“Oh, the Hero Academy…”
The best hero academy in Japan, the best in the world.
For someone like her, who has been raised as a slave to the Kamiya family from childhood and has never set foot in an academy, it might be a place of longing.
“Life at the academy…”
Makoto inadvertently let out her true feelings, hurriedly covering her mouth and looking around.
Luckily, no one seemed to pay her any attention.
Her heart, hidden beneath the pressure bandages that wrapped her overly large chest uselessly for an assassin, raced wildly.
‘No, I can’t dream of happiness…’
I shouldn’t aim for dreams beyond my station.
With those thoughts keeping her in check, Makoto pulled her suitcase and headed towards the academy.
Does that look like a man?
Clunk, clunk.
In a room filled with gigantic gears working together, there stood a cold metal altar crafted from steel.
Before the altar, a beautiful girl in a black dress that wrapped her puffed chest knelt in prayer, her long, golden hair shimmering as if melted from gold.
The black eye patch covering the saintess’s left eye was adorned with a blooming red rose, shining brightly.
Zing.
The automatic door opened.
A kind-looking old man in a white priest robe appeared, leaning on his staff.
“Your Holiness, Saintess.”
The honey-blonde beauty, the Saintess Beatrice from the Cult, turned her head and opened her uncovered red eye.
Her haughty gaze fell upon the Grand Elder.
“Faithful hound, what brings you to seek me?”
“The Priest… has failed his mission.”
The Grand Elder, Diego Morales, spoke with a tone of concern.
“Your faithful hound has failed his mission? Unthinkable. How could this happen?”
Her golden eyebrows twitched.
It was a sign that the saintess was displeased.
“We’re currently assessing the details.”
The Grand Elder Diego replied courteously.
Saintess Beatrice fixed her arrogant gaze on Diego.
The Priest was a member of her guard, and since the guard was made up entirely of the saintess’s loyal followers, she cherished them.
“Human beings are dreadfully foolish, shameless, and irreverent. I graciously bestowed upon you my loyal hound, expecting a contract with me, yet…”
“I shall firmly protest to the League, Your Holiness.”
“Hmph. It was a misjudgment on my part to trust such a wretched human. I question why I should even bother to contract with these lowly, irreverent beings. There shall be no further contracts with these irreverent humans.”
Her lofty attitude and condescending tone would not allow for any rebuttals.
Diego gritted his teeth inwardly.
‘Sweet-talking a capricious boss is something I can’t stand.’
The Cult was an organization he had formed to monopolize the legacies of otherworldly civilizations.
The notion of being “chosen” was merely propaganda aimed at claiming the legacies.
Beatrice was, after all, just a symbol of the Cult.
The sole descendant of a ruined otherworldly civilization discovered in a frozen chamber, the only one capable of controlling all ruins in the world.
The unique owner of the artifact “Codex,” the source of divine magic.
Beatrice’s usefulness ended there.
Despite being a human found in the ruins, she held no memories or information of the otherworldly civilization as the Saintess.
‘If she’s a tool, she should act like one.’
However, recently Beatrice had been trying increasingly to escape Diego’s control.
Not only was she displeased with the cooperation with the League, but she had also begun to slowly expand her own faction within the Cult.
Still, because of the symbol of being the only survivor of a fallen otherworldly civilization and the existence of the Codex, they couldn’t carelessly dismiss Beatrice.
Oh, what a situation where I can’t just kick Beatrice out carelessly!
Diego, the founder of the cult, wasn’t a fanatic chasing after some saint, but since most of the cult’s followers were fanatics, I couldn’t ignore their opinions for the organization’s operation.
“Someday I’ll have to get rid of them, but not now.”
Diego bows politely, hiding his dark intentions.
“…Understood.”
For now, I still have to cater to Beatrice’s whims.
This means I have to accommodate her words to some extent.
“I will inform them that there will be no next collaboration.”
Unfortunately, I have to temporarily halt cooperation with the League.
Messiah will probably understand once.
“Put your heart and soul into the rescue of the Wishing Enchantress. This is a direct order from the Enchantress, making it your paramount task.”
“Understood, Your Holiness.”
“Leave.”
Beatrice shuts her mouth and turns her back.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
The sound of gears turning echoes in the high priest’s ear.
A small crack between the high priest and the saint began to widen, little by little.
*
Time has passed since Imgan School ended.
The school community service with Nishizawa is nearing its conclusion.
She seemed happy to tell me about it, but I was not happy at all.
It felt like a hero hearing the seal of the Demon King becoming loose.
Rin has been hovering around me since that day.
Now she’s openly causing a ruckus about being my wife, and it’s exhausting to deal with.
Even though I have no intention of becoming her son-in-law, she keeps pursuing me, which is really frustrating.
Olivia is pretty much the same as usual.
She still puts her hand on her chest claiming she’s my devoted maid, grumbling, and when Rin shows up, they bicker, occasionally bursting out in playful jealousy.
Honestly, she’s the best among the three.
In the light novel world, Olivia is a pretty decent person.
‘If I can just relax like this for a while… Wait, there’s midterms coming up.’
There’s an exam in the third volume’s episode.
The Ground Zero practical should be considered one of the practical evaluations, after all.
Exams, huh.
To think I’d be facing school exams again after graduating university is overwhelming.
‘Damn it.’
Swearing slips out involuntarily.
I have zero confidence in written tests.
I can only hope to make up for it in the practicals.
With the entire nation filled with pride because of me, what if my exam scores turn out bad?
I don’t want to imagine that.
A terrible thing might happen.
At least I have to pass the midterms.
‘Studying…’
In a world where using the all-purpose status window to ace studying is the norm in academy stories, I never thought I’d have such realistic worries.
The status window, which never answers no matter how much I call, feels like a turncoat.
What a crazy light novel world.
It seems like I’ll have to endure some hellish study sessions with Kasumi in the reading room for the time being.
“Hello, students! It’s Mayuzumi-sensei!”
During homeroom time.
As usual, Sensei Mayuzumi walks into the classroom holding the attendance sheet and her pointer.
The chattering of the students quickly dies down.
“Hmm-hmm. Today, I have a special announcement.”
Tap, tap.
Mayuzumi-sensei taps the podium with her pointer.
Every time I see that, it gives me goosebumps.
That person dressed as a magical girl and all…
The terrifying memories of that night come flooding back.
Those nauseating skill names and battle scenes that I wanted to erase from my mind.
I hurriedly seal off the horrific images that rush to my mind.
But a special announcement, you say?
“…It’s a transfer student!”
The moment Mayuzumi-sensei said that, my mind snapped back to reality.
“A transfer student?”
We’re currently in the third volume’s timeline.
This is not the time for a transfer student to come in!
