Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Lilia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 32 – Even though it’s supposed to be our Reunion
It was the day Mariemaia visited the remote adventurer school.
When I opened the door to the staff room and entered, I saw the vice principal was already there and working.
She was looking down at some sort of document and running her pen lightly across the lines.
“Good morning.”
“Haruto-kun, good morning.”
I put my bag on the floor and then hung my jacket on the chair.
I loosened my tie a little so it could better fit the unfamiliar clothes I wore and let out a breath.
“I’ve heard about it. It seems Mariemaia-san will be coming to school today…”
The vice principal looked up and froze when she saw my clothes.
After blinking a few times, she slowly tilted her head to the side.
“……Even though you said you wouldn’t accept it, are you now interested in receiving an award from the military?”
“That’s not it. It’s just formal attire.”
I was wearing a classic three-piece set that included a vest.
I didn’t think it would be sincere enough to wear the suit-like clothes I usually wore for work to apologize to Mariemaia.
“It’s for the sake of apologizing to her… I wore this to show how serious I am.”
“You’re putting too much emphasis on appearance. Well, it looks good on you, so I guess it’s fine.”
It had been a while since I wore it, but I was glad the size still fit.
It was given by me by an aristocrat I didn’t recognize, who claimed they were rooting for me.
Apparently, it had a super-first class magic defense function built into it.
The Magician had looked at me with half-lidded eyes, asking if it was made by a child, though.
I want to believe that her standards just happened to be off the charts.
“The important thing is the truth, not the atmosphere, you know?”
“I know. As a result of Mariemaia’s special training with us, she has an extremely strong resistance to mind control and such. I have no choice but to tell the truth.”
“No, rather, I don’t understand why not telling the truth would immediately lead to mind control by Haruto-kun’s standards…”
In any case, now I just have to wait until after school when Mariemaia comes.
I sat down, checked the curriculum for today’s class, and started preparing.
◇
“Teach’, this is the third fill-in-the-blank printout, but you’re not actually being lazy, aren’t you? You’re organizing the class in anticipation of Mariemaia-san’s visit, so you weren’t able to concentrate before class started, were you?”
“That’s not true.”
During class, Erin sharply pointed that out.
From the moment I started the class, three of them looked at me with half-lidded eyes that seemed to say “this guy must be using class time to save energy for an upcoming visit…”
Actually, today’s content was really according to the learning curriculum.
It was important to keep the discipline to keep studying, even if the content wasn’t interesting that day. Otherwise, you would do badly in tests.
“Your clothes…… look good on you, but it is clearly your attempt to make you look more earnest, right?”
“That’s not true.”
Well that being said, there was no excuse for saving a little more energy than usual!
I woke up early in the morning for no reason.
I was still glancing out of the window every now and then.
“Sensei is interesting and cool, aren’t you~”
“That’s not true… ah, sorry, I don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I think that’s not true as well♡”
…………
“Ah, teach’ cried.”
“Hey Kuyumi, you shouldn’t make sensei cry.”
“Oka~y.”
Sadly, the state where I couldn’t think properly continued for the rest of the day.
◇
“Today’s teach’ is just terrible~”
“I think it’s better for him to get scolded by the vice principal for that, even at a later date…?”
In the front of the adventurer’s school main gate, Erin smiled wryly and Sharon shrugged.
“It would be convincing to say he was lovesick♡”
Kuyumi, who stood between the two, also made fun of Haruto’s bad state for the day.
“Well, the person himself strongly denied that, though.”
“That’s right~ if anything, it’s more like it’s a topic that didn’t want to be touched? Then wouldn’t it better to do just──”
The conversation stopped there.
It was because the three’s excellent senses had acutely detected the sound of approaching footsteps.
A group led by a girl eventually appeared.
Erin smiled and waved her hand.
“It’s been a while, Mariemaia-san!”
“Y-yes, it’s been a while, SwordX-san.”
“Oh, just call me Erin. There’s many people who have SwordX names and it sounds lame!”
“Ah, so that’s how you think of the name after all…”
Mariemaia waved her hand as Erin instantly closed the distance.
Although Mariemaia gave a wry smile mixed with confusion, she accepted Erin.
In this sense, Mariemaia who accepted everyone and Erin who opened up to everyone was a perfect match.
“You two are Alphas-san and Julietta-san, aren’t they? I have heard of you from Erin.”
“A-aah. I never expected to meet the young lady of the Peer family in this place…”
“Thank you very much for making all the arrangements for Mariemaia-sama.”
Sharon, who came later, spoke to the lord’s son and the maid, which were the two initial party members.
“I think you already know, but just in case, I’m Sharon Peer, nice to meet you. The person who is coming over lazily right now is Kuyumi Rangan.”
“Uhi~ Sharon-chan is harsh~”
Kuyumi sneakily followed behind Sharon.
But the moment her gaze met Julietta’s shocked, wide-eyed gaze, Kuyumi stopped moving.
“…………Hou.”
“……Fu~hn.”
While Julietta’s eyes sparkled, Kuyumi had a quiet dark flame on her eyes.
“You are quite skillful… no, you’re wonderful. I’m impressed.”
“Likewise. Well, not that it’s important, but don’t do it here.”
Julietta looked happy unlike usual, while Kuyumi seemed in a bad mood and spoke to her briefly.
The two gave off a strange atmosphere, but soon the mood returned to normal.
“……Then I will just accompany Mariemaia-sama this time.”
“I think that’s a good idea～♡”
“No no no, isn’t it impossible to pretend to be normal after all that? Both of you clearly sensed each other’s abilities and recognized each other, right! The bloodlust still hasn’t disappeared, you know!”
Alphas couldn’t help but shout.
Both Erin and Sharon seemed to think “Ah, this person is the type of person who couldn’t help but speak up…” and shook their heads with pity.
“You must be an idiot, Alphas.”
“Uoh.”
Alphas tried to continue shouting, but it was blocked by his companion violently messing with his hair.
It was the work of Dangoon, a white-haired nice guy who silently sneaked up behind him.
“W-what are you doing, Dangoon!”
“Good women always have secrets. Think about it, be it Mariemaia, Julitetta, or Erin’s group of three, they all clearly have their circumstances.”
“And what about that?”
“Just enjoy the secrets as they are. It’s the world where evil wins and deception is recognized as a truth, you know? Don’t you think it’s smarter to keep secrets as they are?”
Dangoon tried to distract him, but Alphas shook him off while looking at him suspiciously.
The advice that the skilled magic brawler gave him had the vibe of being love advice, which seemed to make Alphas seem like even more of a idiot. The love advice that the skilled magic brawler said gave him some sort of atmosphere, which made it even more terrible.
“Geez, young people these days are so grumpy… oops, blond miss, I met you the other day…”
“Ya~y.”
“Oh, you did it! I guess you remembered.”
As Erin extended her fist, Dangoon matched it with his.
It was a casual conversation between two easy going people.
“It’s been a while, uncle. Our side is already prepared too!”
“That would be helpful. Then sorry to bother, but let’s do it right away.”
Saying that, Dangoon turned to Mariemaia, the leader of the party.
However, she just stared at the school at the school’s main gate, which was not far in front of her, and didn’t have a good expression on her face.
“……Are you sure about this, Dangoon-san? I think it would be better after things calm down a little bit.”
“Don’t say something stupid, things like this are better to be taken care of as soon as possible. The wavering feelings one has at the moment are surprisingly important after all.”
Dangoon handled things nicely and motivated the timid Mariemaia.
Erin stealthily winked at him.
“……Gh. So this is where Haruto-san belongs right now.”
As they did that, the group entered the school’s main gate.
Now that they came this far, Mariemaia couldn’t back down.
Mariemaia clearly had a frightened expression on her face.
Erin took a breath and placed her hand on Mariemaia’s shoulder.
“I know you might be nervous since it’s been a while since you last met. But remember, it’s teach’… I mean, it’s your comrade Haruto-san, you know?”
Saying that, Erin shifted her gaze to the front of the school building where Haruto was probably waiting.
Erin was considering easing the tension by saying how nervous Haruto was seeing him wearing formal attire.
But Erin looked over and before she knew it, there was a sword in Haruto’s hand.
“‘Crushing myth’ ‘The baby’s prayers’ ‘I am a foolish martyr’ ‘May you lament the collapse’ ── DRIVE.”
The divine power that increased explosively instantly illuminated Haruto, who had the unfeeling and determined face of a warrior.
◇
I stood at the entrance of the school gate in formal attire and started looking at the main gate for a while.
I had nothing to do, yet I couldn’t do anything else, so I was pacing back and forth.
But Erin’s group finally moved and went outside to pick Mariemaia up.
After waiting a while, more people came toward us.
From where I was, I could already see Mariemaia.
Although we were far apart, we could recognize each other.
I didn’t tremble out of fear at all.
Anyway, it felt wonderful…! I was in the best mood! My hands were shaking, but in excitement instead!
I never thought I would be able to see the “CHORD FRONTIER” party with my own eyes…!
“Fuh~…”
……Well, of course I hadn’t forgotten my priority.
Rather, if I made a ruckus like this, even I would know how stupid it was.
Right now, I have to face Mariemaia properly.
The fact I couldn’t speak of the specific reason behind my actions couldn’t be helped. I never know where information would leak from, after all.
However, I should tell her that I dismissed her not because I thought she was unnecessary or lacking in skill.
I also had to tell her that while I still considered her a comrade, I couldn’t travel together with her again, ever.
Even if I did break her heart and made her doubt, this was something I couldn’t compromise on.
I intended to sincerely apologize instead of acting like a scum to get away with it.
“Okay… let’s do this…!”
I puffed out my cheeks and squinted.
There was Erin’s group of three, Mariemaia, and the three people who were supposed to be Mariemaia’s comrades.
A total of seven people were walking across the field in my direction.
For the time being, would it be a good idea to take her to the guest room?
Among the comrades that surrounded Mariemaia, there was the lord’s son Alphas-kun, the interesting maid Julietta-san, and a man I didn’t know of- “ ‘Crushing myth’ ‘The baby’s prayers’ ‘I am a foolish martyr’ ‘May you lament the collapse’ ── DRIVE.” -who the heck was that bastard?!
I activated a simple summoning spell, pulled out a real sword from the warehouse, and accelerated.
I closed the distance at a speed nobody could react to.
Inside that slow-motion world, I could see the unknown old man was following my movement with his eyes.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Then die.”
I slammed the Hero’s Sword into the fist of the old man who raised his hand to greet me.
The leather glove he was wearing melted in an instant, but the bare hand underneath blocked the sword of light.
Did he paste a combat technique in advance?
“…gh!!”
There was a brief clash, and then I raised my output and forced my way forward.
The mysterious glow that couldn’t be deflected burned away the disguise on the left side of his face, revealing the jet black skin.
“Are you a demon? And you seem to be a greater demon at that.”
“To think you acted before you even recognized that, how scary.”
I slammed the ground with one foot and overwrote the pebbles into the Hero’s Sword.
They fired at the same time, shooting and separating me and the man from the surroundings.
However, the demon tilted his head and managed to avoid the attack with minimal movement.
Tch──How troublesome.
Not only was his ability and overall output comparable to that of a greater demon, but his skill seemed to be quite high as well.
Erin and others still didn’t understand the situation and couldn’t make a move.
However, Kuyumi carried her classmates away while Julietta-san carried Mariemaia and Alphas-kun away. They were ready to evacuate the premises entirely.
It was really helpful to have people like them around.
“The first thing to do is to ensure others do not get caught up in it, huh. I guess the Descendant of the Hero is very kind.”
“I told you to die.”
A slash of light was unleashed from the Hero’s Sword.
The male demon formed a translucent veil in his hand and used it to deflect my attack.
“Oops! Be careful, Haruto-kun. If I get hit by something like that, a weak person like me would just get wiped out, right?”
“Don’t think you will get wiped out easily, you pest.”
“How terrible of you to call me a pest.”
The man spread out his arms and the deformed skin covering half of his face laughed.
“I am someone who received a blessing from his Majesty the Demon Lord, and whose vocation is to act hostile toward humanity── my name is Dangoon Perizephorus! Please remember my name as you return home.”
No, you are the one going home.
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