The flying bus was filled with tension. The bus was large enough to hold Akuto’s entire cla.s.s and Mitsuko-sensei, but it was still more cramped than the cla.s.sroom. In other words, if two or three people were wrapped in an odd atmosphere, everyone in the bus could not help but notice.

And of course, it was Akuto and those around him causing that odd atmosphere this time.

“I-I am telling you to stop acting so obscenely!”

The girl shouting loudly within the bus was Hattori Junko, the cla.s.s representative. She possessed a beauty that could be called dignified, but she was currently complaining to Korone with her face red. It was obvious her face was red more out of embarra.s.sment than anger due to how she was desperately trying to remain calm to hide that embarra.s.sment.

Korone was sitting on Akuto’s lap. The seats were laid out in boxes where four pa.s.sengers would face each other, but Akuto, Hiroshi, Keena, Junko, and Korone were all sitting in the same box. The extra one was Korone on Akuto’s lap, but no one but her saw this as a welcome intrusion. Korone was clinging to Akuto like a movie villain’s mistress.

Korone was wearing a swimsuit. It was a bikini made up of very little cloth. The bottom was almost entirely made of strings above the hips. From below, it almost looked like she had simply attached a bandage to her crotch. The characteristic tail of a L"Isle-Adam tickled at Akuto’s thigh. Due to Korone’s slender frame, the chest of the swimsuit looked like nothing more than two tiny triangular pieces of cloth.

Korone replied to Junko’s anger with her usual composure.

“You are jealous, aren’t you? I understand. But do not worry. You merely need to wear this. Akuto will immediately fall for you.”

Korone pulled a swimsuit out of the bag sitting on the seat to the side and held it toward Junko. It was nothing more than a single string in a Y-shape, so someone wearing it would be closer to “nude” than “practically nude”.

Junko of course blushed further, stood up with a confused look in her eyes, and placed a hand on the short sword hanging from the waist of her uniform.

“I could never wear something like that! And why do I need to make him fall for me with a swimsuit!? Oh, I get it. When you say he will ‘fall for me’, you mean he will fall defeated after I cut him down! In that case, either he dies or I do! No, I will kill him and then die myself!”

For some reason, Junko tried to attack Akuto with her sword. He had no idea what was going on.

“Th-that isn’t the case at all! Hattori-san, stop! Calm down! C’mon, Korone. This was your fault, so apologize to her!”

Akuto placed a hand on Junko’s short sword to restrain her and looked over to Korone.

Korone bowed her expressionless face.

“I am sorry. But I did this out of kindness. I only suggested you sit on Akuto’s lap wearing a swimsuit because it would make him hard as a rock in no time.”

Now Akuto grew fl.u.s.tered.

“What are you talking about? Something like that is hardly enough for that.”

“H-how obscene can you get!?” shouted Junko in further confusion.

But Korone remained calm.

“I only meant he would tense up from nervousness. What did you think I meant?”

“Wait…!”

Akuto and Junko froze in place.

Korone continued speaking as if to kick them while they were down.

“If imagining that was enough to make you panic this much, you must be truly innocent, Junko-san. But do not worry. Akuto-san and I will break you in s.e.xually.”

That last comment brought the tension within the bus to its peak. Their cla.s.smates began muttering amongst themselves.

“Having a girl in a swimsuit on his lap isn’t enough to get him hard…”

“And the two of them are going to break in the cla.s.s rep…”

“Even for a demon king, he really doesn’t know when to stop, does he?”

“I get the feeling this beach field trip is going to be s.e.xually wild…”

Akuto felt he had to do something about this. He tried to stand up to speak to his cla.s.smates, but in his haste, he forgot that Korone was still on his lap. When she began to slip down, Korone clung even tighter to him. Akuto reflexively embraced her body. This process caused the strings of Korone’s swimsuit to come undone. The small sc.r.a.ps of cloth were now hanging down from where they were held between Akuto and Korone’s bodies. They now only just barely covered the important bits.

Standing up had resulted in nothing more than showing off Korone in a state that was even more erotic than if she were nude. Even so, Akuto managed to speak.

“Everyone, please quiet down. This is no big deal. It is nothing more than the usual small commotions. The cla.s.s rep does not think anything of it either.”

After saying only that, Akuto sat down to fix Korone’s swimsuit, but he finally realized what he had actually said when he saw Junko’s expression and heard the muttering coming from the rest of the bus.

“I see. He does this kind of thing all the time, so he doesn’t see it as a big deal.”

“And the cla.s.s rep was only jealous. It’s exhibitionism.”

Akuto fell silent because he had no idea what to say.

—Now I’ve done it… And I was hoping this would be an enjoyable field trip. Ah, why do I always do such foolish things?

He looked over at Junko, but she turned her head to look out the window and did not so much as budge.

He glanced to Hiroshi who sat beside him. He was not hoping the boy could help him out here. He was worried how Hiroshi had been so oddly silent despite usually causing the biggest commotion at times like this.

Hiroshi looked like he was lost in thought and was not even looking toward Akuto.

—He must be worried about that legend. What kind of field trip is this going to be?

The only person without a dark look on their face was Keena.

“A-chan, you shouldn’t tease girls too much.” It was unclear if she actually knew what was going on, but she offered a snack to Akuto. “These rice crackers have strictly selected rice and were hand-cooked one at a time.”

“Amazing.”

Akuto had no interest in the rice crackers, but he took one from Keena since he doubted anyone else would talk with him at the moment.

But then Korone swiped the rice cracker just before he put it in his mouth. She tossed it into her mouth and began munching on it.

—Wh-what is she trying to do?

Akuto could not help but feel an even deeper mystery in Korone’s odd action.

But then he was finally freed from that painful s.p.a.ce.

“There’s the island,” someone said.

Akuto reflexively looked out the window.

In the middle of the cobalt blue ocean floated a large ring colored with a bit of green. It was a coral reef. In the center of that was a small island with white beaches along the edges. It looked like the ideal image of a tropical paradise.

“It’s so pretty,” muttered Junko, having forgotten all about her bad mood.

“It really is,” agreed Akuto honestly.

He had grown up in such harsh circ.u.mstances that this was the first time he had ever seen a tropical island firsthand. It was quite moving for him.

On the other hand, when Hiroshi heard all this, he did not even bother looking out the window.

He instead muttered, “This island was made from a change in the earth’s crust just under 100 years ago. The coral and forests were moved here. Everything here was made according to a plan. It’s truly pathetic.”

That comment dampened the mood in the bus.

“You don’t have to say it like that,” said Akuto quietly while being careful he did not sound angry.

Hiroshi shook his head as if he only just realized what he had said.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Hiroshi may have apologized, but this actually made it harder for Akuto to speak to him.

Only Akuto’s box was left in silence. The other cla.s.smates were filled with excitement.

Finally, the flying bus came to a stop on the island’s beach. When the door opened, the students rushed to be the first out onto the beach while not listening Mitsuko-sensei’s instructions.

Akuto stepped out onto the beach last. The scenery before him made a great contrast due to the bright sun. The waves broke calmly on the beach as the palm trees cast their shadows on the sand. He had seen the beach from above, but actually standing on it made it hit home that this was a different place from normal.

—Artificially made or not, this is a nice place.

With that thought, Akuto looked over toward Hiroshi, but the boy was still looking gloomy. It was not so much that Akuto found this unpleasant and more that he was disappointed they could not enjoy the scenery together. Keena was of course celebrating and Junko was smiling now, so it was sad that only Hiroshi could not share that feeling.

“Hey,” he started to say to Hiroshi, but he suddenly felt a malicious gaze.

Akuto reflexively looked over. He felt as if someone was watching him from the forest beyond the beach, but he could not see anyone there even when he strained his eyes.

—Did I imagine that? I suppose it isn’t like we would be unwelcome. The academy holds a beach field trip here every year.

Mitsuko-sensei then called to have the cla.s.s gather.

“We will now move to the lodging facility. I have some advice for you, so listen up!”

In the end, Akuto was not able to talk to Hiroshi. Akuto and the others all moved to gather by Mitsuko-sensei.

They walked along a small path leading from the beach and toward a small three-story building. The outside was built to resemble a j.a.panese-style inn, but it had “Constant Magic Academy Lodging Facility” written on it. It was used for the beach field trip and training camps for different clubs. As they walked along the path, Akuto looked to the side, but he only saw a few tile-roofed houses a short distance away. The town seemed to be in that direction.

—Is that Hiroshi’s hometown?

However, Akuto found it difficult to ask Hiroshi directly. The fact that the place looked completely deserted and that no one had been visible even when looking down on it from the flying bus made it even harder to ask.

When they entered the lodging facility, Mitsuko-sensei called Akuto over. He followed her curiously and it turned out a private room had been prepared for him.

“I thought everyone else was staying in two large rooms,” complained Akuto.

“It can’t be helped,” said Mitsuko-sensei with a smile. “Just be glad you were able to come at all. And this means you can bring a girl in there with you. Good luck.”

“Good luck with what…?” grumbled Akuto, but then he realized Mitsuko-sensei might know something about Hiroshi.

“By the way, sensei, I heard this is Hiroshi’s hometown.”

Mitsuko-sensei’s expression changed to something that seemed to have some hidden meaning.

“It is. But it seems he does not like it much. It may be the rebellion that a lot of teenagers get.”

“I do not understand why anyone would dislike their hometown.”

“That’s because you don’t have a hometown. But others might not understand how you feel about it, so…well…be careful of what you say.”

Mitsuko-sensei smiled once more.

“Is that so?” said Akuto, but he did not actually understand what she meant.

“Well, since you’re here, you should have some fun without worrying about everything so much,” added Mitsuko-sensei with a wink.

Each cla.s.s held around 30 students and the first year went up to Cla.s.s F, so a total of 180 students had come to the island. Despite the great number of people, the beach was plenty large for the students to have room to enjoy themselves.

Akuto spread out a sheet in the shade of some rocks a short distance from everyone else. He sat on that sheet while Keena lay beneath a parasol nearby.

Keena was wearing a two-piece swimsuit and was kicking her feet around in enjoyment while lying face down.

“Just sitting out here is fun,” said Keena with a smile to Akuto.

Akuto had trouble deciding what expression to give in return. Keena had to strip down naked to use her invisibility magic, so he was actually fairly used to seeing her naked. However, he was still unsure where to look when she smiled at him while lying so nearby in that outfit that showed off her body lines. He put on a vague expression and Keena began tickling his exposed knee.

“Wah!”

“C’mon, you’re supposed to be enjoying yourself. Or were you entranced by my swimsuit? Heh heh heh,” laughed Keena.

He had heard more than enough of those jokes from Korone, but the difference in nuance when it came from Keena made him blush.

“Your face and body are a bit too childish for that,” said Akuto to keep up appearances, but Keena puffed out her cheeks.

“What’s wrong with that? It just means I have room to grow.”

“I hope your mind grows up, too,” said Akuto with a smile and Keena smiled back.

“Are you sure? Once I grow up, I’ll have complete control over you.”

She spoke mischievously, but Akuto felt his heart skip a beat for some reason. He felt more truth in it than if anyone else had said it.

—I really do feel like Keena is different from the other girls.

As he thought that, something suddenly leaned up against him from behind.

“Wh-what?”

He turned around in shock at the sudden feeling of skin. Korone was clinging to his back.

“Will you help me put on sunscreen?”

“What?” replied Akuto out of surprise at this sudden request.

Korone had changed swimsuits. For some reason, she was now wearing the school swimsuit used by the academy’s middle school. It suited her body very well, but it seemed out of place here. It even had her name written on the chest.

Akuto was bewildered, but Korone lay down between him and Keena.

“Will you help me put on sunscreen?” she repeated.

She removed a bottle of sunscreen from her bag and handed it to Akuto.

“…Can L"Isle-Adams even get sunburns?”

“Look carefully at the package.”

He looked at the sunscreen’s package to find the words

“So it’s like car wax… But wait. You can’t put this on with that swimsuit on,” commented Akuto.

“That is not a problem,” a.s.sured Korone. “While it does need to be applied to the skin below the swimsuit, you can stick your hand inside the swimsuit. See? This swimsuit opens up down here. That makes it easy to stick your hand inside.”

Korone rolled over onto her back, pinched the fabric at the bottom of her belly, and lifted it up. The front of the swimsuit did indeed open, revealing a glimpse of beautiful skin below that was the color of white porcelain.

“No, wait a second. I-I can’t exactly stick my hand in there.”

Akuto naturally refused. He looked over to find a rare displeased look on Keena’s face.

—That’s right. Even she is starting to notice Korone is acting weird.

As Akuto remained confused, Korone suddenly sat up. She slid her swimsuit from her shoulders and then down to her waist.

“Wah!”

For an instant, Akuto saw Korone’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He frantically looked away, but Korone did not try to hide her body.

“It is so cute that you flinch back from simple nudity. I removed the swimsuit to make the sunscreen easier to apply. Now, please touch my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.”

Korone grabbed Akuto’s hand and began leading it toward her breast.

“W-wait a second…”

Akuto resisted. However, he could not knock Korone away or act at all violently, so he only averted his gaze and kept his arm stiffly in place.

“W-wait…”

Akuto was panicking, but then a he received a violent blow to the back of the head that, for once, he was thankful for.

“Wh-what are you doing, you pervert!?”

Akuto turned around to find Junko clenching her fist with a blush on her face. She wore a one piece swimsuit with so little decoration that it looked like a racing swimsuit.

“Th-thanks. You actually saved me this time.”

Akuto moved away from Korone.

“Wh-why are you thanking me?”

Junko was confused by Akuto’s odd reaction, but she still crouched down in front of Korone and fixed her swimsuit. Korone obediently let her do so.

“Honestly, what are you doing in front of Keena? …Oh, right. I came to tell you that Miwa has gone to visit his parents,” said Junko after putting Korone’s swimsuit back on and standing up.

“I see. So that’s why I didn’t see him. He was acting oddly, so I hope he’s okay.”

“Mitsuko-sensei is trying to tread carefully. That may be why she asked me to tell you. Now, that was all I came here for, so I will be going.”

Junko began to leave, but Akuto grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Wait. How about you swim with me?”

Akuto wanted to escape Korone for a while and he felt this would be a good opportunity to apologize for what happened on the bus.

“Eh…?” Junko smiled for an instant, but her expression quickly stiffened and she looked away. “I have no obligation to go along with that. How can you constantly act like some kind of lady-killer and then want to play when it is convenient to you?”

“If you are still mad about what happened on the bus, I apologize. I would like to argue that was due to Korone’s comment, but I need to have more discretion in general. I have learned my lesson.”

Akuto obediently bowed his head.

Junko looked like she was barely able to hold back a smile.

“Y-you leave me no choice. If you have learned your lesson, I can play with you for a little bit. It would be sad if you had no friends now that Miwa is gone.”

“Thanks. I have never actually just had fun like this before. I would appreciate it if you could teach me what I am supposed to do,” said Akuto with a serious expression.

His expression seemed to tell Junko that he really did mean it when he said that. She burst out laughing without thinking and then returned Akuto’s serious expression.

“What is wrong with your personality? You just need to enjoy yourself. Wait, what are you making me say? This is not exactly my area of expertise either.”

Keena had been watching this exchange in amus.e.m.e.nt, so Junko grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“You come, too. You cannot stay out of the water after coming this far.”

“Okay,” agreed Keena energetically.

Before walking off, Keena looked over at Korone, but it seemed the L"Isle-Adam had decided to remain behind. She was sitting unmoving atop the sheet.

The three of them arrived at the edge of the beach, but stopped where the waves would wash up over their feet. It looked like they were waiting to see who would enter the ocean first.

“Entering the ocean first…”

“…seems like it takes serious resolution, doesn’t it?”

Junko and Keena smiled at each other.

“Do they have some psychological opposition to getting wet?” wondered Akuto as he entered the ocean ahead of them.

Once he was waist-deep, he turned around to find Junko and Keena still stopped at the edge of the water.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

Keena’s laughing voice replied, “A-chan, this tickles and is a lot of fun!”

Keena was pointing at her feet.

“The sand is being taken away by the waves, but it feels like it is shifting beneath my feet,” commented Junko as her feet squirmed.

Seeing that, Akuto smiled and said, “I didn’t expect to see you doing something like this, Hattori-san.”

“D-don’t be silly. I am not acting childish!”

Junko shook her head and trudged into the ocean.

“Ah, Junko-chan! Wait!”

Keena followed her.

“And asking me to swim with you with that upset look…”

Junko approached Akuto, scooped up some seawater, and splashed it at his face.

“…is childish too!”

“Wah!”

Akuto shook his now-wet head and sent water spraying everywhere.

“I can’t help it if I never got to have a water fight with anyone when I was a kid!”

Akuto splashed water back. It splashed down on Junko’s head and left her soaking wet.

They exchanged a glance and began laughing.

“Ah! No fair having fun without me!”

Keena jumped at Akuto and Junko and knocked them both into the water.

“Wah!” shouted Akuto even as a certain feeling of completeness filled his chest for the first time.

—I never even imagined I would get to enjoy a normal school life like this. I’m glad I didn’t die in some horrible accident or something.

“Why are you grinning like that!? That is completely inappropriate!” shouted Junko half-jokingly as she pushed Akuto down into the ocean.

Normally when Junko said something like that, it was followed by a legit punch, but she was surprisingly gentle this time. Akuto gave a half-hearted struggle, waited for the best timing, dove down, and scooped up Junko’s legs. Junko let out a scream and sank into the ocean.

“Hey, hey,” called Keena as they were playing.

Akuto and Junko stopped and looked over.

“Hey, what’s this? They’re all over the bottom of the ocean here!”

With a smile, Keena held out what she was holding.

It was a dark brown cylindrical object that was the perfect size to hold in the hand. Its surface was slimy and it was covered with a pattern similar to a python.

“I think that’s a leopard sea cuc.u.mber. I’ve seen pictures of them before,” said Akuto with a nod.

“I see. So it’s a sea cuc.u.mber! It’s so slimy and firm. It feels so funny!”

Keena smiled innocently as she began playing with the cylindrical creature by rubbing up and down with the hand holding it.

“Y-you probably shouldn’t play with it like that…right?”

Akuto looked over at Junko with a bitter grin, but Junko backed up as if afraid of the sea cuc.u.mber in Keena’s hand.

“K-keep that thing away from me.”

“Hattori-san, do you not like this kind of thing?” asked Akuto and she nodded without looking over at him.

“Y-yes. I do not like slimy things like frogs.”

Junko’s gaze was fixed on the sea cuc.u.mber. She was likely afraid Keena would throw it at her. Picking up on that, Akuto warned Keena.

“C’mon, Hattori-san says she doesn’t like it, so don’t hold it out toward her like that.”

Keena obediently nodded.

“Okay!”

But in that instant, Keena seemed to tighten her grip. Something white shot out the end of the sea cuc.u.mber’s body. It looked like strings of sticky liquid.

—Oh, come to think of it, I’ve heard that some of a sea cuc.u.mbers’ insides can easily burst out. That must be what happened.

Akuto was oddly impressed by this, but when he saw where those insides had gone, he quickly realized this was hardly the time.

That white sticky stuff splattered all over Junko’s face.

“Eeee! Kyaaahh!”

Junko screamed and leapt up and out of the water with the ninja strength that she had not used while they were playing. She made it back to the beach in almost no time.

“See? You shouldn’t do that,” warned Akuto.

“Sorry,” apologized Keena obediently as she toyed with the sea cuc.u.mber in her hand.

“I’ll go after her,” said Akuto before returning to the beach.

He followed Junko’s footsteps and found her quite quickly. She was hiding behind some rocks and desperately trying to remove the white stuff stuck to her face.

“Hattori-san, are you okay?”

Akuto walked over and Junko rushed over to him with tears in her eyes.

“P-please get this off! It’s so sticky!”

With Junko embracing him, her face was extremely close by. Her features gave a rather sharp impression, but it was now distorted by the shock and the sticky white stuff.

“I-I will. Don’t move.”

Akuto carefully moved his fingers across her face. It seemed to be some sort of white fiber stuck on her face. He diligently pinched them between his fingers and removed them one at a time.

“This shouldn’t be poisonous, so you’ll be fine. Good, your face is not swollen,” said Akuto to put her at ease.

“R-really? At any rate, hurry up and get it all off.”

Junko must have lost control of herself because she was frantically clinging to him. This made it difficult to move his hand across her face, so he touched her arm with his other hand.

“Hey, I know you are scared, but move away just a bit.”

Junko’s face visibly reddened and she slowly removed her arms from Akuto’s body.

“D-do not make any ridiculous misunderstandings about this.”

“I know. You were only scared, right?”

“Th-that is not it, you idiot! I would never rely on you even if I was afraid.”

“I know that too, but just calm down. The way you were while playing in the ocean was exactly how you were when I first met you. It feels like you put too much effort into being perfect at school,” said Akuto without really thinking.

Junko began fidgeting and looked toward him accusingly.

“Why would you say that…? E-embarra.s.sing me like that makes it hard to stay sitting here. I-I only showed that side of myself to you. And I was feeling relieved because of all the strange things you usually do.”

“I try to always act normally. It is those around me that do the strange things.”

“Then maybe you were just strange from the beginning.”

“In that case, there’s nothing I can do… Oh, that’s the last of it.”

Akuto flicked the last strand of sea cuc.u.mber innards from his finger.

Junko looked somehow disappointed. Despite trying to move away earlier, she stayed put and looked up at Akuto.

“What is it?” he asked.

Junko shook her head as if she had been seen doing something wrong.

“N-no… I was just thinking that I had not thanked you…”

“This isn’t worth thanking me over. And this was Keena’s fault.”

“I-if Keena did it, then it is not your responsibility.”

“True, but I get the feeling that I’m her supervisor or something.”

Akuto smiled, but Junko’s expression was unexpectedly serious.

“Y-you refer to Keena by her given name. I-I am also your friend, so why do you refer to me by my family name?”

When she finished speaking, Junko lowered her face.

“W-well, you take everything so seriously, Hattori-san, so it just seemed appropriate…”

Akuto grew fl.u.s.tered due to his confusion and some intense feeling filling his chest.

—But if Hattori-san is willing to show me this side of her, then maybe I need a new way to refer to her. That’s only polite.

“Junko…-san.”

After he spoke that with some degree of embarra.s.sment, Junko raised her head and began mumbling something.

“A-Aku-…”

As soon as she got that far, something happened so suddenly that Akuto did not immediately realize what it was. And it had to have been even more sudden for Junko.

At some point, Korone had snuck up behind Junko. With her usual expressionless look, Korone had grabbed the shoulders of Junko’s swimsuit and pulled it down to her belly.

“Eh?”

“What?”

Both Akuto and Junko were at a loss for words. They were unable to move for a short while. For that reason, Junko’s defenseless and bare upper body was exposed before Akuto’s eyes for a full three seconds.

“Ah…”

“H-…”

Junko finally caught on to what had happened.

“Hyaaaahh!”

She screamed and curled up her body.

“W-wait! What are you doing, Korone!?” asked Akuto, but Korone replied calmly.

“I thought I would help create a decent mood.”

“Don’t lie. Why would you do something so cruel?” criticized Akuto, but it seemed Korone did not understand. Akuto could not help but grow angry. “Even if you are my observer, this is not acceptable. In fact, an observer shouldn’t be a nuisance to those around me. You aren’t actually our cla.s.smate, so you should not be causing problems like this.”

“You are right. I am not your cla.s.smate. Our relationship is one of observer and observation target,” said Korone plainly.

However, the plainness of her tone was somehow different.

—Huh?

And Akuto picked up on this oddity. Unlike normal, this plainness actually held emotion.

“It may have been a mistake to try to interfere with you. However, this was only my inability to do so properly. I did not intend any harm,” muttered Korone quietly.

“W-wait…”

This change made Akuto panic, but Korone only continued speaking in her plain yet somehow sad voice.

“Please do not worry about me. This was my fault. The one thing I do not want you to forget is that I wish to remain by your side.”

“Eh? Eh?”

This sudden confession confused Akuto. Korone turned around and walked off before he could say anything more.

Junko was also confused by Korone’s att.i.tude. After fixing her swimsuit and quickly getting over her poisonous mood, she watched Korone leave.

“Wh-what is with Korone?”

“I don’t know…”

“S-something definitely is not right. Especially that last comment. Is it possible that Korone lov-…”

Junko’s confused words were drowned out by an even louder voice.

“A-chan! This is so weird! There are a whole bunch of sea cuc.u.mbers!”

Keena came splashing up from the ocean.

Junko jumped in shock when she heard the term “sea cuc.u.mbers”.

“Wah! Keena, don’t bring the sea cuc.u.mbers over here!” shouted Akuto, but Keena gave no reply.

Shortly thereafter, a sea cuc.u.mber of a different color than the previous one flew over the rock behind Akuto and Junko. Junko screamed and Akuto frantically worked to knock away the sea cuc.u.mber while calming Junko. In the end, their conversation was never continued. They later asked Keena why she had done that.

“That sea cuc.u.mber was a different color, so I thought Junko-chan might be fine with it!” she had replied cheerfully.

While his cla.s.smates had fun on the beach, Hiroshi visited his hometown.

He took the small road alongside the academy’s lodging facility to enter the village. Only a few small tile-roofed houses lined the road, so it did not have the unity of a normal village. However, the effort put into the roads connecting the houses showed how much the villagers loved the land.

Oddly, the village seemed completely deserted as Hiroshi trudged home, but he had a hunch as to why.

—This is why I didn’t want to do this. Honestly, I can’t believe an entire village is refusing to come out for fear of the demon king.

With that bitter thought, Hiroshi tried to open the door to his home. It was locked which irritated him. The village had a habit of never locking its doors.

“Mom, I’m home,” he called out.

Only then was the door unlocked from the inside.

“Welcome home. You must be exhausted.”

His mother welcomed him in with a cheerful voice, so he could not remain in an entirely bad mood.

“Good to see you, mom.”

He may have had his issues, but family was family. Just entering the front door made him feel at home.

His father and younger sister came out too. For some reason, his parents began putting their shoes on at the entrance.

“What is it? Are you going somewhere?”

“You are going too. A party is being held for you at the public hall,” said his father in a tone that said, “Don’t ask the obvious.”

“W-wait. At least let me get some tea first.”

“I said a party is being held for you. And we cannot leave the front door open. Now hurry.”

His father quickly stood up and left.

His mother must have felt there was no helping it because she gave Hiroshi a bitter grin.

“Nothing is going to change that about him.”

Hiroshi gave no reply, but she still turned and followed his father. His little sister Yukiko then pulled on his pants. She was a fair bit younger than him, so she was only 11.

“Welcome back, onii-chan.”

“Thanks.”

“Everyone started preparing to welcome you back when they heard you were coming.”

“I see. That’s amazing,” he replied halfheartedly.

However, Hiroshi’s heart was heavy. The village had no other youth, so this welcome party would only be for the benefit of the villagers. As expected, the public hall was filled with old men whose faces were reddened by alcohol.

“Oh, the future hero has returned.”

“With you here, the village is sure to be safe.”

The old villagers called out to him jokingly. A banner was hanging down from the ceiling.

It read

It took all of Hiroshi’s effort not to look displeased. He was given food and drink, but he paid no attention to what any of it tasted like. He chatted with a halfhearted forced smile, but the others quickly lost interest in him and began discussing pointless topics.

—In the end, they’re only treating me kindly because I might become a priest one day.

Hiroshi’s idea was not that farfetched. The villagers were being quite blatant about it. They had jokingly asked him to do something for the village ever since he had decided to enroll in Constant Magic Academy. Some had even secretly asked him for direct help with their business because they were having difficulties. Even someone like Hiroshi did not enjoy seeing that unpleasant side of things.

The party showed no sign of ending, so Hiroshi claimed he had to leave for something related to school. In the end, he never managed to just relax at home. His parents must have been enjoying the socialization because they did not see him off. Only his sister Yukiko came with him.

“Hey, is it true there’s a demon king at your school?” asked Yukiko as soon as they left the public hall.

“Not of the kind everyone thinks there is,” denied Hiroshi.

“Everyone’s scared. They say there’s some kind of legend.”

“That’s a lie.”

Hiroshi circled around to the back of the public hall in search of somewhere to sit and talk with Yukiko. Some bricks were piled up near the window to make a flower bed which created the perfect spot. He sat there next to Yukiko.

“But at night, there are strange sounds, strange people walking on the roads, and a ghost’s voice in the distance,” said Yukiko with a perfectly serious expression.

Hiroshi doubted she was lying, but he a.s.sumed it was a childish misunderstanding.

“It only sounds that way because you’re afraid.”

“So there really is no demon king? I’m too old to be afraid of ghosts, but the grownups all say the demon king really exists.”

“There is someone who is called a demon king.”

From what Yukiko had said, it seemed rumors of Akuto had spread quite far. It would have been difficult to say the demon king did not exist at all.

“But he is not the kind of demon king everyone is afraid of.”

“What do you mean?”

“He isn’t a scary person. He’s my friend.”

“Really? Amazing, onii-chan!”

Yukiko looked up at Hiroshi with a look of respect.

“So you don’t have to be scared, right?”

“Right!” said Yukiko with a nod.

At that point, they heard a voice from behind them. It came from the back wall of the public hall. The back had been made into a smoking area, so the villagers who smoked had gathered there.

“Miwa’s son really is a weakling.”

“Yeah. From the look of him, his grades at school probably aren’t all that great. Magic is about the effort you put into it after all.”

Hiroshi could hear the voices clearly from outside, but the speakers did not seem to realize it. If they continued speaking, the topic would clearly turn in a very bad direction, but moving would alert the speakers of their presence.

“But the village’s future is dark if he doesn’t become a priest.”

“Having just one priest is supposed to give you a whole lot more aid money. And he can become a priest as long as he graduates from that school, right? A high priest is a different matter of course.”

“But there’s that rumor about a demon king at the school.”

“Yeah, apparently it’s true. I hear he’s caused all sorts of trouble at the school. Some say he’s already taken control of the place. I don’t believe in the island’s legend, but a demon king can easily exist if you just think of one as someone with powerful magic who rebels.”

“True, and the students of that school have always been a wild bunch. I heard their student council president destroyed a group of knights.”

“I can’t believe we let them into the village. I’m starting to think we really do need a hero.”

“The demonic beast and the hero are nothing but lies, but Miwa really does believe his son is the hero. Ah ha ha ha.”

“Ee hee hee hee hee. Impossible. He’s always been a complete coward. He’s the only one who grew up here yet didn’t learn to swim. He’d always start crying if anything happened and would even p.i.s.s himself if you scared him.”

When he heard those laughing voices, Hiroshi felt as if something heavy had been embedded in his gut. His face twisted into what did not quite look like anger or shame. He felt tears trying to work their way out, but he had to resist while his little sister was watching.

After he was sure the two speakers had finished smoking and left, Hiroshi stood up.

“Onii-chan…” said Yukiko worriedly.

Hiroshi showed her a smile and said, “The villagers don’t understand the truth. And that’s why you need to understand the truth, Yukiko.”

Hiroshi and Yukiko walked home in silence. Yukiko looked worried, but Hiroshi was forced to part ways at the house because he had to return to the lodging facility.

On his way back from his house, a few tears managed to escape, so he stopped to wipe them off.

As he did, he thought he heard a distant roar. He turned around and realized a low rumbling was coming from the mountain in the middle of the island.

Hiroshi was actually very knowledgeable about the island’s legend. A lake was located at the foot of the mountain and that lake marked the exact center of the island. The demonic beast was said to come from there and the hero’s supposed weapon was located quite nearby. However, he also knew better than anyone that both were tricks. That roar he had heard was a fake.

—If that demonic beast actually exists, I hope it really does destroy the village. Not that there’s any chance it does exist.

That was what Hiroshi truly thought.

Akuto had suddenly realized someone was watching him. He had noticed it in a thicket while walking back from the beach and he had noticed it out the window while arranging his luggage in his room at the lodging facility. He had felt a gaze that was clearly not from anyone he knew.

He felt as if his sense for this had grown sharper recently. It was possible his ability to sense mana had increased. If so, it may not have been his imagination that some unknown person was monitoring him.

—Maybe I should figure out who it is before this causes a problem for anyone else.

Akuto intentionally walked out of the front of the lodging facility before dinner. When he felt the gaze once more, he made up of his mind. During the free time after dinner, he took his shoes back to his room so he could sneak out the window. When he opened the window to leave, he found Korone’s face. She was standing outside the window.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. There is simply something that is bothering me,” said Korone.

“Bothering you?”

“Someone is poking around your surroundings.”

Korone had been acting oddly lately, but Akuto knew he could trust her about this sort of thing.

“That was bothering me too. I was thinking of pursuing them.”

“I hope there is no danger, but if you are going, then I will go with you,” agreed Korone.