ICHIBAN USHIRO NO DAIMAOU - Volume 3, 1 — Let’s Go on a Beach Field Trip

Volume 3, Chapter 1: Let’s Go on a Beach Field Trip

 

Part 1

Sai Akuto was troubled.

Then again, he had never not been troubled ever since it had been predicted he would become a demon king in the future. His classmates in Constant Magic Academy constantly feared him and he was caught up in some sort of trouble on a daily basis. On top of it all, he had recently made friends with a giant dragon that could only be seen as an inappropriate being to have as a friend. He felt as if he was gradually walking down the path to becoming a demon king.

He was worrying in his dorm room bed. After the day’s classes, he had been summoned by his homeroom teacher Torii Mitsuko. She had given the following announcement.

“You see, we have a beach field trip coming up, but you will be staying behind, Sai-kun. Sorry.”

Mitsuko-sensei usually had a very open attitude, but she had actually looked a bit apologetic this time.

“Is there no changing that?” Akuto had asked.

“Hmm, how should I put it…? There are a lot of issues going into this. You know how we would choose to forgo our sports festival if the emperor died? It’s something like that… Wait. Or is it?”

When Akuto had seen Mitsuko-sensei trying to find the words, he had grasped the general situation.

“In other words, it would cause a lot of friction if I left the school, so the school has made this decision for me.”

Mitsuko-sensei had clapped her hands together at that declaration.

“Yes, that. That’s exactly it. It helps that you’re so smart, Sai-kun. Yes.”

“Being complimented like that is not going to make me happy.”

“Don’t be picky. And only the first years are going. The other years will still be here, so you won’t be all alone. First year classes won’t be held for a while, so you can just do whatever you want.”

Mitsuko-sensei had irresponsibly patted Akuto on the shoulder.

“Well, it can’t be helped. And missing out on the beach field trip is not enough to get too worked up over.”

Akuto had shrugged.

Mitsuko-sensei had then smiled in relief.

“I’m glad. I thought you might get angry over not getting to see the girls in their swimsuits.”

“Do I really look like that kind of person?”

Akuto had frowned.

He had perfectly beautiful looks, but he had been born with a harsh look in the eyes. He looked exactly like a clever villain. Mitsuko-sensei had then peered closely at that face of his.

“True. You look like the type who always has half-naked girls serving him. I suppose a swimsuit would be nothing new for you. With as much access to girls as you have, being denied for a short while should be easy.”

“While I take issue with your reasoning…you are correct that this will be easy for me. At any rate, I understand the situation.”

With that, Akuto had left the classroom.

However…

—Ahh, I’m never going to get a normal school life, am I?

Akuto was quite depressed. While lying in his bed, he covered his eyes with his right hand.

His personality did not match his appearance at all, but he also liked to make himself look good in front of others. He could not bring himself to say he had always wanted to go on a beach field trip.

—It isn’t the swimsuits I care about. I just want a normal life… I just want to swim and… Actually, what do you even do during a beach field trip? I don’t even know…

“A beach field trip is an event for one to make intimate contact with girls,” said a sudden voice from very nearby.

“Wah!”

Akuto jumped up in shock. At some point, Korone had gotten close enough to stare right into his face.

This was the boys’ dorm and this was Akuto’s personal room, but it was normal for Korone to be here. She was Akuto’s observer, so she had to be with him at all times. At night, she would sleep in the storage shelf near the ceiling. For that reason, it was normal for Korone to be near Akuto, but something was odd this time.

It was hard to explain the aura around Korone, but Akuto felt that it was different today.

“Wh-what is it?”

“An event for one to make intimate contact with girls,” repeated Korone as she climbed into the bed to lie next to Akuto.

“Why are you lying next to me?”

“Because I want to. Is that a problem?”

Korone brought an arm around Akuto’s chest to push his upright upper body back into the bed. She then brought her face right next to Akuto’s.

He was used to seeing that ideal face, but it still made him nervous when it was that close. He could feel his heart rate increasing. Artificial humans needed to breathe in order to speak, so her breath tickled at his nose. Her breath contained a strange scent that was different from a human’s.

“Um, are you teasing me again?” asked Akuto while forcing a calm look on his face.

He had been teased like this by Korone several times in the past, so he could not help but be on his guard.

“No, I am not teasing you. If you are embarrassed, I promise to keep this a secret. No matter what you do here, I will not tell anyone. I will obscure the more emotional areas in the records for my reports.”

Korone spoke with the tone of a police detective reading a suspect his rights. As she did so, she slid her hand along the top of Akuto’s body. She moved it from his chest, to his belly, and then even lower…

“Wait a second!”

Akuto grabbed her hand to stop her.

“What is it?”

“You have to ask? Please stop teasing me like this.”

Akuto escaped Korone’s arm, raised his upper body, and sat cross-legged. He faced Korone with a diligent expression.

Korone also sat up on the bed. However, she held her knees in her arms. She was still wearing the short skirt of the school uniform, so this pose boldly showed her panties off to Akuto.

“What is it?” Korone asked when Akuto remained silent.

Akuto shook his head and looked up and to the side.

“At any rate… Weren’t you the one that had something to tell me? You said something about a beach field trip being an event for one to make contact with girls.”

“Yes, and you can now go on the beach field trip.”

Korone looked at Akuto with upturned eyes while opened and closing her legs.

“Eh?”

For an instant, Akuto stared back at Korone, not understanding what she had said. But he was quickly overpowered by Korone’s gaze and looked away again. However, he spoke up in surprise when he recalled what she had said.

“Eh? I can go on the beach field trip?”

“That is correct. You can now go on the beach field trip.”

“But I thought the school was keeping me from going…”

“I have taken on responsibility.”

“No, you didn’t have to go that far… After all, it seems rumors about me have spread beyond the school. It is only natural to take action to prevent any problems from occurring. Not to mention that this is just a beach field trip.”

As Akuto grumbled, Korone spoke quietly.

“Was this only a nuisance?”

Her voice sounded somehow sorrowful, so Akuto looked back at her face.

Her green eyes were filled with rare emotion. Akuto felt those eyes were moist with tears and filled with sorrow. But before that thought could fully form within him, he started speaking.

“That is not what I meant. I am just confused because I cannot figure out why you would do this for me. Why would you go out of your way to do this?”

As he grew flustered, Korone buried her chin in her knees as if she was peeking out at Akuto.

“I heard the beach field trip is an event for one to make intimate contact with girls. I thought you might grow bolder when it comes to this if you went.”

Korone pointed down. Akuto did not bother looking down at what she was pointing at. Korone still had her knees up, so if was plainly obvious what she was indicating when she pointed down between her legs.

“I-I said to stop teasing me. And I am a follower of Ko Ro. If I did that, it would block my path to priesthood.”

Akuto stepped down from the bed to move away from Korone.

Korone stretched out her legs and lay down on the bed.

“I will sleep here tonight.”

“No, that would be a problem.”

Akuto shook his head and Korone stared at him.

“Your disinterest in girls may be a type of illness.”

“Th-that is not the case.”

“Then please sleep with me,” she said without taking her eyes off him.

However, her tone of voice and expression remained unchanged, so Akuto honestly did not know how to respond.

—Korone really is acting differently from normal. She doesn’t seem to be teasing me, but I can’t think of any reason why she would be trying to seduce me.

“I-I’ll pass.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because you’re acting oddly, Korone.”

“By oddly, do you mean my actions do not make me attractive as a girl?”

“Th-there is definitely something a little off about it…”

“What am I doing wrong?”

“No…I-it isn’t that you are doing anything wrong. But I don’t think your actions are really going to put me in the mood…”

Akuto was unsure how to argue, so he just let the conversation go where it would. He was worried how Korone would respond, but she gave up surprisingly easily.

“I see,” she said before standing up and returning to her usual storage shelf.

—She isn’t feeling down, is she? No, she doesn’t seem the type.

Akuto was worried, but he decided to go to sleep since the bed was vacant now.

—Come to think of it, I didn’t thank her for allowing me to go on the beach field trip. The conversation may have taken an odd turn, but I still need to thank her.

As he thought that, his eyelids grew heavy.

However, he was unaware of one thing. After making sure Akuto was asleep, Korone muttered to herself while watching his sleeping face.

“If he realizes I am not teasing him, will he change his mind? No, I should assume Akuto-san is correct and it is my approach that is at fault.”

Korone then pulled up data from stories of the past to search for what boys liked.

Part 2

“It’s morning. Wake up. If you don’t, it’ll be an elbow drop.”

Akuto was woken by that odd statement followed by a powerful impact.

“Wah! What, what?”

He opened his eyes to find Korone straddling his body. She was staring down at him with her usual expressionless look.

“Wh-what is it?”

“It’s your fault for not waking up, onii-chan. If I don’t wake you up like this, you just keep sleeping. What a good-for-nothing brother,” said Korone in her usual monotone voice.

“………”

Akuto always woke up early. He would wake up at around 5 for some light exercise and a shower. He looked over at the clock on his desk to find it was 4:40 AM.

—Why is she complaining that I’m not waking up this early? No, I suppose that “onii-chan” is the strangest part.

Akuto’s mind had yet to fully awaken, so his blank thoughts only made it that far. However, that was not the only strange aspect of it all. Korone was wearing a childish dress. He had never seen her wear it before. Her slender body looked good in the dress, but the skirt was extremely short. Straddling Akuto left the lower half of her body almost completely visible.

“No, wait… What is going on?”

“You still aren’t going to wake up, onii-chan? Then I will have to go for the Denki Anma.”

While making that insane comment in an indifferent voice, Korone moved her body back while still straddling him. She then placed her sock-covered foot on Akuto’s crotch.

“Wah! Wait! I’m awake!”

“It’s your fault for not waking up, onii-chan. Rub rub.”

“Ee! Wah wah wah!”

Akuto desperately struggled and somehow managed to escape out from under Korone.

“Wh-what is going on? You’re acting weird, Korone.”

While breathing erratically, Akuto balled up on the edge of the bed.

“This isn’t weird at all, onii-chan.”

Korone tilted her head in puzzlement. However, the gesture looked a lot like a doll with a broken head that was about to fall off.

“That’s what I’m saying is weird!”

“Would onii-sama be better than onii-chan?”

“That’s not the issue!”

“Then would you prefer a childhood friend from next door?”

“That’s not the issue either!”

“Then what kind of girl would you be unable to resist dragging into bed with you if she came to wake you?”

“How should I know!?”

“How very selfish of you. Teenage boys are quite difficult. But it does not seem you are lying. I checked with my foot and your penis was not hard despite it being morning.”

“Please don’t say that kind of thing so casually…”

Akuto was utterly shocked, but he was also relieved that Korone was acting normally again.

—Thank goodness. This means she hasn’t gone completely haywire. But that means she really is trying to arouse me… That is weird enough in and of itself. Is there something behind this?

He turned back toward Korone to find her opening the bag she had left on his desk and pulling out a white apron.

“Then I will try everything I have until something works. First, I will try the naked apron.”

“You don’t have to do this! Why do you think you do?” asked Akuto.

Korone suddenly stopped moving.

“Do you not like this?”

“Not at all!” answered Akuto reflexively.

However, Akuto grew uneasy when she did not immediately reply.

—Huh? Did I go too far?

Finally, Korone opened her mouth to speak.

“That is a problem. Hearing that from someone dear to me makes me think I am not attractive,” she said slowly.

Korone always spoke so indifferently that hearing such an emotional comment from her made Akuto feel all the more uneasy.

—No, wait. Come to think of it, artificial humans do have emotions. Could she be worried that I don’t like her? In that case, I cannot hurt her. However, I cannot say anything frivolous either. My only option is to give her my honest feelings.

Akuto was the type who would make the politically correct decision at times like this but would also want to make himself look good. He placed his hands on Korone’s shoulders and stared her in the eye.

“I want to approach women seriously, so I cannot do it like this. But that does not mean I am not interested at all. It is just that I want a relationship of honest and pure kindness that does not rely on that other kind of thing. And I know you have those honest feelings within you. I do not know why you are doing this, but if you are worried that I do not like you, then do not worry. That is not the case at all. Also, I failed to mention it yesterday, but I am grateful that you arranged to have me go on the beach field trip. Thank you.”

Korone froze in place when she heard that. It seemed she was having trouble deciding how to respond, but it was hard to distinguish it from her usual expressionlessness. At any rate, she finally replied.

“Please do not make this so troublesome. I am fine with a purely physical relationship.”

“Wha…?”

Akuto’s entire body stiffened in shock when he heard that.

And then five o’clock arrived. The clock on the desk began emitting an electronic tone.

In that instant, Korone slipped from Akuto’s arms and returned the apron to her bag as if nothing had happened.

“Now, if you do not hurry up with your usual exercise and shower, you will not make it in time for breakfast.”

“Right…”

Akuto nodded oddly stiffly, silenced the clock’s alarm, and left the room. Korone watched Akuto leave, placed her index fingers on either cheek, and pushed them up. This created something like a smile, but her eyes were still not smiling.

“Is even a purely physical relationship off the table because I am an artificial human? Perhaps I can manage if I learn to smile… No, I cannot analyze humans, so I cannot know for sure. Perhaps I should try using non-human attraction,” muttered Korone in a rare tone of worry.

Akuto’s questions about the change to Korone’s attitude only continued to grow. Even as he walked along the path from the dorm to school, he was oddly conscious of Korone walking behind him. At some point she had changed into a maid uniform and had even grown cat ears. It seemed she was still trying to arouse him.

“You sure are cute today, Korone-chan,” said Hiroshi.

“I see. So you’re into this kind of thing,” commented Akuto as if it made an odd amount of sense.

“C’mon, aniki. That isn’t what I meant. I just meant she’s cute.”

Hiroshi embarrassedly scratched at his head with the expression of a mischievous boy.

He was Miwa Hiroshi, a classmate who praised Akuto as his “aniki” despite being the same age. The boy would approach Akuto who was usually feared as a demon king, so Akuto viewed him as an important friend.

“I would say it is not just today and that I am always cute,” declared Korone coolly.

“Ah ha ha. That’s right.”

When Hiroshi honestly laughed at that, Korone added, “But Akuto-san is ignoring that attractiveness.”

“………”

The situation suddenly grew awkward. Akuto stole a glance at Hiroshi’s face and it seemed the boy was beginning to realize something was odd about how Korone was acting.

“Oh, right. It seems I can actually go on the beach field trip,” said Akuto to Hiroshi in an unnatural tone of voice.

He hoped to change the subject this way because he knew Hiroshi would be delighted. However, Hiroshi’s expression darkened for an instant when he heard it. That alone could have been nothing, but he then looked at Akuto and gave a forced smile.

“Th-that’s great, aniki!”

“Yeah…”

Akuto’s expression stiffened further. They were forced to walk the rest of the way to school in silence. But during morning homeroom, Akuto learned why Hiroshi had acted the way he had.

“I have a warning concerning the beach field trip: Sai Akuto-kun will now be taking part.”

The class began muttering when Mitsuko-sensei gave that announcement. Akuto was used to this reaction, but it still caused a slight stir in his heart.

As if to land the finishing blow, Mitsuko-sensei then added, “We will be staying in a facility owned by the academy, so it would normally not matter who goes. However, the island this facility is on has a legend concerning the demon king. The residents of the island have passed down the following story. As an omen of the demon king’s return, a demonic beast will appear from the lake at the center of this island. However, a hero will appear at that time and defeat the demonic beast. Afterwards, the hero will also defeat the demon king.”

Silence fell over the class. When the muttering passed a certain point, this is what happened. Everyone turned around toward where Akuto sat in the very back of the classroom.

Akuto was unsure how to respond, but he began speaking because it would look bad if he grew flustered.

“Making such a big deal out of a legend passed down by ignorant islanders is nothing more than foolish. For one thing, the demon king war occurred only one hundred years ago. The current national system existed at that time, so there would be official records. There is no room for a legend like that to form! Also, none of the previous predictions of the future have been accurate, so this legend is completely false. I would prefer if people did not get so worked up over such things!”

Akuto slammed a fist against his desk.

His tone of voice and attitude were so over-the-top that it actually made him less persuasive, but his classmates still looked away in confusion because his actual words made a decent argument.

However, a completely different reaction came from an unexpected place. And it was quite a shock to Akuto.

“Sorry, aniki. That island is my home,” said Hiroshi apologetically after turning toward Akuto.

—Oh, so that’s why he reacted like that on the way to school!

Akuto panicked.

“No, I should be apologizing. I wasn’t trying to mock your hometown…”

“No, it’s fine. It’s true that my family is ignorant,” spat out Hiroshi.

This did not seem to be modesty or self-deprecation. It seemed Hiroshi really did dislike his hometown.

This bothered Akuto, but Mitsuko-sensei gave a loud warning to move the topic on to something else. When he managed to speak with Hiroshi in the dining hall at lunch, it seemed the boy held complex emotions behind it all.

“It really is a back country place. And as you said, aniki, a legend from 100 years ago is ridiculous. Some people from the time of the war are still alive today. They would know the truth. There is also no record in history of a demon king being defeated by a hero, so I can only think the islanders came up with the legend to feel better about themselves. They have nothing important, so they have this despicable desire for the hero who defeats the demon king to be from their island,” said Hiroshi with a bitter expression.

It almost sounded like he was double-checking his own past rather than speaking to Akuto.

Akuto was not sure why Hiroshi was speaking like this.

“But your family lives on that island, right? Even if you think it is despicable, I’m not sure you should say it that way.”

“That may be true, but it’s my problem.”

Hiroshi pouted his lips. Akuto would have been lying had he said this did not anger him a bit.

“I don’t like that way of talking.”

“Yeah, but you can’t understand this problem, aniki. After all, you’re powerful.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“That’s not what I mean. That’s not what I mean!”

Hiroshi shut his mouth as if to say he did not want to talk about it anymore. Akuto tried to speak to him again, but he quickly cleared his tableware and stood up.

—What was that? Hating your family has nothing to do with being powerful or not.

Akuto did not like it, but he decided not to worry about it because he figured Hiroshi would be over it by tomorrow.

Part 3

Akuto returned to his dorm room after school and first opened up the drawer to his desk. He stepped up onto his chair and carefully placed his foot inside the open drawer. It looked like he was trying to flip over his desk or break the drawer, but a transfer magic circle had been drawn inside the drawer. The black dragon named Peterhausen had set it up because he figured Akuto would not want to walk all the way underground every time. This meant he could climb into the drawer to travel to the demon king’s underground palace below the school.

Peterhausen was the black dragon the demon king had ridden during the war. He had been sealed instead of killed and had recently been revived. He had now become Akuto’s dragon, but Akuto had no intention of using him in any way. Their relationship was a delicate one.

“You should try starting a war already. It would be a good experience for you,” said Peterhausen peacefully as he lay curled up like a dog.

Despite his peaceful tone, his actual words were quite dangerous. He was also 15 meters long and his body was covered in black glittering scales. All of that combined with his imposing voice made him sound like a demon servant trying to destroy the world in his spare time.

Peterhausen’s bed was located in the center of the underground palace. The palace was wide and its ceiling was frighteningly high up, so it held enough space for Peterhausen to move around. This was the exact place at which Akuto and Peterhausen had fought each other. However, the dragon rarely moved from atop the pile of cushions. He seemed to like them.

Akuto stood in front of Peterhausen, gave a bitter smile, and said, “I feel bad giving you the same answer every time, but I am not a demon king. Nor do I intend to become one.”

“The time will come when you will realize becoming one is the best answer.” Peterhausen snorted. “Now, I doubt you came here for no reason.”

Akuto nodded at the dragon’s implied question.

“I have a question for you. I think it is a bit of a stupid question, but please hear me out.”

Akuto then described the island legend he had heard not long before. He had thought Peterhausen would make fun of him, but the dragon listened seriously.

“Yes, that is indeed odd. It may be a mere desire as Hiroshi suggested, but one aspect interests me.”

“What is that?”

“What we often call prophecies are nothing more than predictions. In other words, we can only predict the future when we have data from the past. Even the fact that you are a demon king is a prediction based on data from the past. However, a hero has never existed in the past.”

“Then maybe the prediction about me is wrong too.”

“Those are two different things. As for whether a hero really has existed, I can at least say that I have never fought a hero in my lifetime,” said Peterhausen as he opened his eyes wide mockingly.

“I see. So the odds are good that this is just a superstition.”

Akuto folded his arms.

The current imperial society had been systemized since 1000 years ago. The Gods were nothing more than man-made recording devices. Following the good sense programmed into those Gods provided various social services. That system had never once been destroyed. However, the people who could not understand that system that was lacking in mystery would worship the Gods as literal Gods. This was what ultimately led to superstitions existing alongside the system.

“What I found interesting is that this seems like a true prophecy no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Not a prediction, but a prophecy. Normally, the demon king would never visit that island…Miwa Island was it called? The previous one did not. It is a solitary island to the south, after all.”

“Please do not say such ominous things. Also, why can’t you tell me anything more about the previous demon king?” asked Akuto.

Peterhausen opened one eye and made an odd look. He may have meant it similar to raising an eyebrow.

“Because you refuse to become a demon king yourself.”

“And I am not changing my mind on that.”

Akuto sighed and placed his hands on his hips.

“I do not wish to act too roughly, so I am quietly remaining here. However, if things grow too inconvenient I may suddenly leave and begin destroying things. If that happens, there is no going back for you. You will officially be my master. Ha ha ha,” laughed Peterhausen.

His breath created a whirlwind. Akuto covered his face and grimaced.

“That would be a problem. And I will soon be leaving for a little while.”

“You are going to this island for a beach field trip, correct? If you are worried about this prophecy, shouldn’t you stay behind?”

“I know it’s just a superstition, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Is that so? At any rate, if it grows dangerous, call for me. I will rush to your side. That is when the war begins. I can feel it boiling up within me.”

Peterhausen gave a villainous smile and Akuto sighed.

“Let’s keep this peaceful.”

“You too are a man of war.”

“That is not something I want to hear from a dragon carrying a napping girl.”

Akuto indicated something he had spotted lying almost buried in Peterhausen’s side.

A few clumps of pure red hair could be seen sticking out from the lustrous black scales. They were swaying with a certain rhythm. It was the rhythm of a sleeping human. Soga Keena was napping while using Peterhausen as a pillow. Her usually relaxed face was even looser than normal. Looking at her face had a way of making one sleepy even when she was awake. Akuto could feel an effect similar to hypnotism.

“She is the first to ever approach me without fear. Even my master maintained a certain amount of tension with me,” said Peterhausen in admiration.

“She does have a special personality.”

Akuto shrugged. Looking at Keena’s face put him in a strange mood. He was fairly certain he had met Keena when they were younger, but Keena had apparently forgotten. It was also possible it was his memory at fault.

That bizarre feeling left Akuto overly concerned with Keena. He felt like there was something special about her that he did not feel with his other friends.

—Who exactly is Keena…? Even when I try to ask her, the conversation always ends up turning in some completely different direction.

As Akuto thought, he was suddenly punched in the head from behind.

“Ow!”

“Hey, enough of that indecent look. Don’t leer at girls like that.”

Those words were spoken in monotone from behind him. He turned around to find Korone. For some reason, she was wearing a different school’s uniform. She had her hands on her hips in a pose of anger, but he had difficulty deciding what she was doing since her face was as expressionless as ever.

“Um…? What?” asked Akuto.

Korone tilted her head.

“You do not understand? I was going for the classmate who is jealous despite not being your girlfriend. Did you feel it?”

“…Not particularly.”

“That is a problem. At any rate, please stop looking at Keena-san with such an indecent look in your eyes.”

“I had no such look in my eyes!” denied Akuto.

“That is fine then. I cannot have you getting along too well.”

Korone moved in between Akuto and Keena. As Peterhausen watched on, he spoke up curiously.

“What are you two doing? This does not sound like the conversation of an observer artificial human and a demon king.”

Korone immediately replied, “Please stay out of this. This is our problem. It is a problem between members of the opposite sex.”

“Please stop talking about it like that…” said Akuto in denial, but Peterhausen grinned.

“The demon king will naturally be popular with the ladies. It makes me jealous.”

“Then, Peterhausen-san, please take Keena-san,” said Korone with a perfectly serious expression.

Peterhausen nodded with an equally serious expression.

“Excellent. I had taken a liking to her. She is the one that made this bed for me. We can surely make an excellent family together.”

“What nonsense are you two talking about!?” loudly cut in Akuto.

As soon as he did, Korone and Peterhausen both turned toward him and froze in place. Korone was expressionless, but Peterhausen had a slight look of shock. Akuto began to wonder if he had shouted out more loudly than he had thought.

“Um, I mean that you should ask Keena’s opinion before saying that kind of thing.”

Akuto waved his hands in denial as he made that confused comment.

“That was obviously a joke,” said Peterhausen in annoyance.

Akuto smiled awkwardly.

“Of course it was. I just meant it was an imprudent joke. Ah ha ha…”

“By any chance, do you love Keena-san?” asked Korone like a cross-examining attorney as she stuck her face right in front of Akuto’s face.

“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

Akuto flinched back.

“I mean exactly what I said. Do you wish to form a sexual relationship with her and then marry her? Do you wish to live a life of debauchery with her in which you do nothing but repeatedly perform obscene acts with her?”

“Don’t be ridiculous…”

“No, you are not dodging this question. I am not asking if you think it would be possible; I am asking what you want deep down.”

Korone moved further forward.

“Wh-why do I have to tell you what I want?”

“I wish to know your sexual preferences. Once I do, I can service you sexually.”

“Wha…!?”

Akuto could not help but be dumbfounded.

—I-I have to do something…

As he stood there frozen with sweat pouring from his body, a Goddess of salvation appeared.

“What…? Why is it so loud?” asked Keena sleepily as she woke up. “Oh, A-chan and Korone-chan are here. But you mustn’t be so loud. Pe-chan was trying to sleep.”

She smiled and rubbed Peterhausen’s head.

She had apparently started calling Peterhausen “Pe-chan”. The name did not suit the dragon’s frightening looks in the slightest, but it seemed he had taken a liking to it. Not only did he obediently let her rub his head, he even narrowed his eyes in a smile. Even if he could be communicated with, he was still a 15 meter beast. And in Peterhausen’s case, the communication ability only made him worse. He had a wild temperament and was quite proud. He might have actually been less frightening had he not understood language. Akuto became painfully aware that Keena was no normal person.

“Sorry about waking you. Oh, right. I’ll be going on the beach field trip now.”

That news caused Keena’s face to light up.

“Really? Thank goodness. If you weren’t going, I wasn’t going to go either. But if you’re going, I’ll go with you. I can’t wait.”

Keena smiled.

“Sure…” vaguely agreed Akuto.

He would normally have been delighted as well, but her smile felt oddly bright after what Korone had said.

“Why are you looking so love struck?” asked Korone as she jabbed Akuto’s back with her elbow.

“Wait a second. Something has been off about you since yesterday, Korone.”

Akuto turned around to ask that question, but Korone immediately shook her head.

“No, there is no problem. I am only performing my duties as always.”

“………”

Akuto could only fall silent at that, but he was worried about how oddly she was acting.

—There is obviously something strange going on here. I just hope it doesn’t develop into anything too weird.

Akuto was growing more and more worried about the upcoming beach field trip, but Keena then pointed out something that gave him even more of a headache.

“But if I go, Pe-chan will be all alone.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

He had never really thought about it, but only he and Keena could talk with Peterhausen who was still surrounded by mysteries. Given the dragon’s temperament, he would likely not go out of his way to do anything Akuto did not want, but if a stranger approached him in his sleep, he would not hesitate to kill that person. And the destruction could easily spread well beyond that one person.

“At the very least, we need to make sure no one comes here,” said Akuto.

The palace was underneath the school. It may have been quite deep underground, but there were paths leading down to it from the school building. While it would be difficult, it was possible to work one’s way here through the underground labyrinth.

“Don’t worry. I have a great idea!” announced Keena confidently.

“Really?”

“Yeah, just leave it to me!”

Keena smacked her chest.

Seeing that, Akuto decided to leave the Peterhausen issue to Keena. He figured she would be able to handle it better than he could.

Part 4

But he later learned that Keena’s method was extremely simple.

She asked Etou Fujiko to look after the dragon.

Fujiko was their upperclassman, so she would not go on the beach field trip. And after the recent incident, she had fallen so madly in love with Akuto that she had sworn her allegiance to him. She would never turn down a request to help him out no matter how sudden it was.

If that was all there was to it, this would not have been a problem. However, Peterhausen had nearly killed Fujiko during the aforementioned incident.

“Hyaaaaaahhhhh!”

Fujiko’s legs collapsed out from under her when she saw Peterhausen. Keena had sent her a letter saying “Akuto has a favor to ask of you, so please come.” She had stepped into the magic circle as instructed, but it had brought her right in front of that black dragon.

“You said you were sending for someone to look after me, but I did not expect the girl from the other day,” grumbled Peterhausen sullenly.

This dragon had taken a liking to Keena. It was obvious a long black-haired beauty like Fujiko would not align with his tastes.

Meanwhile, Fujiko did not even feel like she was still alive. It was not often that one would prefer to have been thrown into a cage with a carnivorous wild animal.

“Kyaaahh! Nooooo!”

Fujiko kicked her legs around where she had collapsed out of fear, but she froze in place as soon as Peterhausen spoke to her.

“Silence, woman. Keep that up and I will kill you.”

“Eeee… Understood…”

Fujiko began backing up while still on the floor.

“Th-then I will be going…”

“Wait. Who said you could leave?”

“Ee!”

“Akuto and Keena called you here to at least keep me entertained.”

When Peterhausen called out to her, Fujiko gave an extremely stiff smile and timidly spoke.

“Um… I was not told that… What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, Keena naps with me and tells me interesting stories. Surely you can do that.”

“What?”

This request was not at all what Fujiko had been expecting. Peterhausen ignored her foolish expression and continued.

“But I have no desire to nap with someone like you. Try telling me an interesting story.”

“Yes, understood.”

Peterhausen simply wanted someone to talk to, but Fujiko was prideful and had been raised as a high-class girl. There was no chance anything she would say would be interesting.

—I-I will get back at you for this someday…

While making sure Peterhausen could not see, Fujiko secretly jotted down a note in her secret Grudge Notebook.

“Well? Out with it.”

“Yes, right away! …Um, the saying ‘If winter comes, can spring be far behind?’ actually originates from English yet it mysteriously sounds a lot like something from rakugo.”

“That is not interesting.”

“Of course. That was just a digression. Now, a hedgehog went in for marriage counseling and…” n((O𝒱𝖊𝔩𝓑In

—I-I will kill you! I swear I will kill you one day!

Fujiko hid her tears of blood and Akuto and the others left for their beach field trip the following day.