Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

“Youch!! Th-that stings!”

“Hmm, you might have a sunburn. I thought these were bright IR lights, but they must have UV in them too.”

“Whew. I never thought I’d get to soak in a hot spring after traveling all the way to Europe.”

That trio of girls could be heard beyond the wall. Karuta had heard the hotel had a large bath, but he had not expected it to be open air. Hot springs were found the world over, but this place may have imported the Japanese style.

It was night and Karuta was of course not in the women’s bath. He was on the ordinary walking path on the other side of the tall wall around it. Tomorrow, they would spend the morning on their field trip activities and the afternoon would be free time, so he was helping the nervous female teacher preview those field trip activities.

“Why me?”

“Eh, eh heh heh. This is so much easier with you around, Utagai-san.”

“I get that what you call me changes when you get anxious, but I really don’t want a teacher being that formal with me. It makes me feel like I’ve become some permanent fixture in the school after being held back year after year.”

“S-sorry!!”

She bowed at 90 degrees and apologized, but that was exactly the kind of thing he wished she would stop doing. Wished a lot.

He recalled what that muscular track suit teacher had said. She was asking him for help, but if she stopped trying to improve, she would have trouble running a classroom. That was exactly right.

But anyway.

“It would probably be best to create a simple quiz and have them visit different facilities themselves, similar to a scavenger hunt. Turning the lesson into a game is the best way to hold their interest.”

“Th-thanks so much.”

“You would need to word the questions in a way that forces them to see the things for themselves to answer them and you need to warn them not to search on their phones. At our age, we’ll put a lot of effort into not having to put in much effort.”

“S-so should I have everyone shut off their phones?”

“You can tell if they turn them on by monitoring the GPS location transmitted by the phone, but…hm, they can shut off the GPS in the settings or for a specific app. For this, you should probably gather up everyone’s phones for the duration of the lesson, like they do in gym class. You would also need to send teachers to keep an eye on the sample phones at the stores and the rental ones at the hotel.”

“At the hotel?”

“Renting them out is a convenient service since they can translate, provide maps, call a taxi, make reservations at restaurants, provide walking times to tourist destinations and religious institutions, and even stream adult content. No one uses the pay-per-view on the room’s TV these days.”

“Bfff!!!???”

Sophia Firenze blushed bright and did a spit take before he had finished his explanation.

That theory-focused teacher who spent all her time at a desk had quite a few weaknesses.

But had he always been this kind of person? He had surprised himself with that joke. Was it the age difference that let him act more openly? He knew he never could have said that with Marika or Kyouka. In fact, he was generally the one being teased by the girls his own age.

After parting ways with the teacher, he bought some plain soda water at a vending machine near the hotel. It was so hot he had a hard time believing this was an Arctic night, but that heat had left him thirsty. He had stuck to sweet drinks during the day, but he was starting to think he needed to watch his sugar intake.

He opened the bottle and took a sip before seeing a familiar face.

It was Natalena Blast.

She was not wearing her swimsuit anymore. However, she must not have been careless enough to wander outside in her pajamas, even if this was a relatively safe tourist location. She was wearing her purple blazer uniform, just like he was. But why was she walking toward him? He soon realized what must have led to this.

He could still hear those noisy middle school girls from beyond the wall.

If he could hear them, they may have been able to hear him.

“Senpai.”

“Buying something?”

She shook her head.

“Come over here anyway. If that muscular teacher on patrol sees you here, it won’t end well.”

“…”

She was drawn toward the light of the vending machine like a butterfly to a bright light. She stood next to him while he drank his soda water and she leaned against the vending machine. Since she had just left the bath, a sweet scent wafted from her nape.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said.

“About what?”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person.”

She sounded certain.

He just about smiled hearing it.

“I still count as a good person after killing 5 people?”

“A good person can be in a situation that requires killing 5 people. Isn’t that the story?”

It was.

But he had felt like he could not push that interpretation onto her.

She was Anastasia Blast’s sister.

She had a legitimate reason to seek revenge.

“I know you aren’t the kind of person who would give up on someone’s life if you didn’t have to. So if you did kill someone, you must have had a reason strong enough to warrant it.”

Both her small hands clutched tightly at her skirt as she forced out the words.

She seemed like such an awkward girl to him. This would be so much easier for her if she did not even consider his circumstances. She could have gone through with her revenge just fine if she just killed him because she had a reason to do so.

Just like his group had.

She really was not the type to do bad things. That put her in a lot of danger, but he was also honestly jealous.

“But…but I just can’t reconcile that with the sister I knew. It doesn’t fit! The Anastasia Blast I knew fought to protect everyone from the Threat! She was a strong person who dedicated her entire life to that!! She wasn’t the cruel mass murderer people are making her out to be in the news!!”

“…”

“So please tell me.”

Her lips formed the words “power up”.

He stepped away from the vending machine upon hearing a series of bending sounds.

She had activated her Crystal Magic armor while leaning back against the vending machine, so the sharp armor jutting back from her small body had torn the metal vending machine apart.

This was Anubis, God of Judgment.

The same god once used by a certain strongest.

“''Show me who you were when you faced Anastasia Blast.'' Show me your anger, your fear, your joy, and your justice!! If I can see the look in your eyes then, I know I can understand. Because I’ll see my sister’s true face reflected in the crystal ball of your eyes!!”

He let out a soft sigh and tossed the half-empty bottle of soda water in the trashcan next to the vending machine.

With both hands free, the latest form of the world’s strongest whispered his answer.

“If you insist.”

He had a belligerent smile on his face.

It was the same smile he had hated more than anything when seeing it on someone else’s face.