Shinobu Iijima
In the lobby of the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters, the bar was bustling with chatter.
I sat at a round table, with Ms. Kaori facing me on the other end. She pointed at the photo of the girl who shared a heavy resemblance to my sister.
“So what are you going to do, Shinobu?” she asked, her tone serious.
The girl in the photo was named Luna Smith. Raised in a countryside town, she honed her magic skills to the point where she was now somewhat famous for being a genius mage at just fourteen years old. She had invented a new type of rune, which revolutionized how magic circles were used.
There was a problem with that rune, however.
On a certain circle for Holy Magic, no matter how you looked at it, the rune written on it was the Japanese character for “holy.” Unsurprisingly, she became a hot topic among the players.
“The chances of her not being related to my sister aren’t high.”
“Shinobu... Are you really planning to face Mr. Imabayashi head-on?”
“Yes, I am. Considering the strange obsession he had with my sister, there’s no telling what he’d do to this girl.”
We were currently located in a merchant’s city, the home base for that bastard. If he laid eyes on this girl... The only fate awaiting her would be getting locked up, restrained, and sexually abused.
She’d been enrolled in the magic academy, but had apparently sensed danger and gone into hiding. Ms. Kaori’s sources had deemed her missing. There was a chance she’d already been captured, but given that there was a high probability she was related to my sister, I couldn’t overlook it.
“You might end up fighting him.”
“I would’ve had to eventually either way. And it’s unfortunately to be expected.”
“That’s true... He very obviously antagonized you before, so the situation does call for it.”
“The first thing I need is information. I don’t plan on jumping right into his lap.”
The bastard’s mug popped into my head. I really hated the fact that he was officially registered as my foster father.
“Putting that aside...”
Ms. Kaori stood up and gently sat herself in the chair next to mine.
Ah, I forgot to mention, but Gabriel was sitting on my other side. She just hadn’t said anything. She was probably keeping quiet since we were having an important discussion between human players. Alice and Cerberus were taking a walk outside; Alice most likely didn’t want to be in the way.
“Ms. Kaori? Why’d you move seats?”
“Because of the girl.”
“What about her?”
“She looks like you, very beautiful. I wanted to get a closer look. I couldn’t see well from that angle, since the photo was facing toward you.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t necessarily have to sit next to me.” She could’ve just picked up the photo and looked at it that way.
Ms. Kaori ignored me and smiled coolly. “This girl really does look like you. Very beautiful... Just like you.”
I didn’t know how to respond. Why was she repeating the word “beautiful” so much?
Call me a doting brother if you want, but personally, I did think Megumi’s face was well put together. My appearance, on the other hand, was decidedly average.
“Um, I’m not really sure what to say... But thank you.”
“You know what I think, Shinobu?”
Ms. Kaori pulled her chair just a bit closer to mine. Our seats were already pretty close, so her movement had our shoulders almost touching.
“You’re...getting very close, Ms. Kaori.”
“I’m doing it on purpose,” she said bluntly. What on earth is wrong with her?
I still didn’t know how to react. “What is it you want to tell me?”
“You’re aware that among the players in this world...there aren’t many sane Japanese people left, right?”
“Well, it has been several hundred years since they obtained impossibly godlike powers. I can imagine that would drive even the nicest of people insane.”
That apparently signaled her to get even closer to me. No, really, you’re getting super close here... Oh. Ms. Kaori’s eyelashes are actually very long.
Wait, what in the world is this situation?
Our shoulders were already pressed together, and one slipup would lead to my upper arm touching...her chest.
“And yet,” she continued, “you’re still sane.”
Her sweet breath tickled my nose. Ms. Kaori grabbed my left hand with her right.
We were now holding hands.
“Uh... Ms. Kaori?”
“Which means you’re the only sane Japanese man left in this whole world.”
“I really, really do not know how to respond.”
She paused the conversation by taking a deep breath, then continued. “I can finally be honest with you—I like younger men,” she said with a straight face and stared at me intently.
Finally be honest with me after what? I wondered. I couldn’t focus on anything else other than my own heart beating out of my chest.
“Um, Ms. Kaori... I don’t know what to...”
“I’m sure you’re confused since I’m pushing you so far. I would be too, if I were in your position.”
“...I see.”
“That’s right.”
The tension in the air was palpable.
All right, then. How am I supposed to interpret this? Was she just messing with me? Or was there really a slim chance that she was being serious?
I might not have known how to respond, but one thing I did know was that Ms. Kaori was extremely attractive. There was no denying my instincts.
Thinking back, she’d been acting this way occasionally ever since I saved her. It was particularly bad today.
“I thought I told you not to joke around, Ms. Kaori.”
“Joke? Do you think I’m joking?”
“Wouldn’t it be bad for an adult policewoman to be in a relationship with a high schooler?” This was the main reason I thought it was a joke.
Ms. Kaori hailed from a family of police officers and had a strong sense of justice. That was why she was able to stay relatively sane in this world, despite everything. There was no way she’d be interested in some high school kid.
She then took my face in both her hands, as if she were enveloping it. I could feel her warmth in my cheeks.
She then brought her face closer to mine.
“C-Close! That’s too close! This...isn’t good!”
There wasn’t even ten centimeters between us. Her eyes were right there, and the tips of our noses were just about to touch. I could smell her light, sweet breaths mixed with the sweet scent of her perfume. A unique scent, different from that of Gabriel’s or Tsukuyomi’s. I was starting to get dizzy from my heart beating so fast.
“Listen, Shinobu.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Everything is fair game after you graduate from high school. Do you understand?”
“Ah, I do. But so long as I haven’t, this goes against Japanese laws, right?”
“No, this is fine even if you haven’t graduated. It’s platonic, so there’s no issue, legally speaking.”
I couldn’t come up with a rebuttal. Just as I was beginning to actually panic, someone came in to save me.
“Master Shinobu! Mr. Cerberus is so good at Frisbee! Please praise him!”
Alice had entered the guild through the entrance, chatting gleefully. Cerberus had recently been spending more time in his puppy form, so he was practically her pet. In truth, he was tasked with guarding her, which he was doing diligently.
Oh, thank god! You saved me!
“R-Really? Then, I’ll go see what he’s up to!”
I carefully extricated myself from Ms. Kaori and hurriedly walked to Alice.
†
Kaori Shinozuka
I watched Shinobu’s back as he left with Alice through the entrance, then turned toward Gabriel. “Ms. Gabriel, may I ask you a question?”
“What is it, Ms. Kaori?”
“Shinobu’s noticed, hasn’t he?”
After deliberating for a moment, she confirmed. “He appears to be on the fence about it. I imagine he half believes that you are pranking him.”
“I’ll ask to make sure, then: most people would have noticed, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Should there not be any issues with occupation or age, then they would have. I have a question for you too, Ms. Kaori.”
“Anything.”
“Your exceedingly obvious method of pushing him made even me embarrassed. Were you yourself not embarrassed doing so?”
Against all odds, I was a woman as well. Remembering my own actions instantly made my cheeks flush red. It was true—those actions had been deplorable. I knew that.
However, I didn’t have even a sliver of romantic experience. I had been raised as a one-track-minded muscle head. To explain, this was the only way I knew how to go about these feelings, and the only way I could act out.
“Of course...it’s embarrassing...” I whispered in a voice so quiet that even I could barely hear it.
I don’t have a choice, though!
I said that thought next, my voice sounding like the buzz of a mosquito.
Ms. Gabriel chuckled at my humiliation.
†
Shinobu Iijima
We found ourselves making our way south to the best port city in the world, Abrasil. Gabriel, Alice, and Cerberus were with me.
I don’t have to tell you what our goal was, right? We were scoping out the bastard’s guild, the Lions of Patriotism, which controlled the Merchants’ Alliance. Or perhaps it was more like we were gauging their power. If we were to launch even a short attack, we needed to get a feel for his situation at the bare minimum.
We were also looking for information on the girl who looked like Megumi. It was possible that she just happened to look like her, but having Megumi’s appearance in the land where that bastard ruled was a recipe for trouble. Should he find out about her, he’d throw all reason out the window and hurt her any way he could.
Abrasil was about seven thousand kilometers from the headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild. It would’ve taken a lot of power to cross that distance with Flight Magic, so we ended up using something of an unconventional method.
Ms. Kaori’s guild, the Crimson Moon Brigade, had a handy item. It was called the Transport Gate, but it wasn’t an item or facility produced by La Vita Online’s game system. It was said that it had been created by a civilization that existed in this world’s past. Ms. Kaori just happened to obtain it a while back. She hadn’t told anyone except for those she trusted in the Brigade’s upper echelon—certainly not players from any other guild. It had become a secret escape method for her if war ever broke out between the guilds.