Apocalypse Witch:Volume5 Chapter1

Chapter 1

Part 1

“Senpai, you have a really low life experiences score, don’t you?”

Utagai Karuta was being attacked by a 12-year-old first thing in the morning.

The attacker was Natalena Blast, a Sub Category Regulation 1 with wavy blonde hair cut to shoulder length. Her white short-sleeve blouse didn’t look so crisp because she made sure to wash and iron it with care; this was simply her first time wearing it. This was Karuta’s first time wearing the summer uniform too since the first ship had been sunk so soon, but it was different for her. Her entire summer uniform gave off an aura of innocence. She, however, thought she was all grown up now that she was wearing a summer uniform for the first time, so mentioning that aura was sure to have her puffing out her cheeks even more.

She was more than a head shorter than Karuta and she was currently grabbing bite-sized pieces of French toast from a square plastic container and tossing them into her mouth.

“Munch, munch. I mean, you’re supposed to be this incredible upperclassman who’s been with Grimnoah since the first ship, but, well, you barely know any of the school’s tricks. If you want people to look up to you as an upperclassman, you need to enjoy your school life more. And you need to teach me more tricks for getting by at school.”

“I never asked you to call me ‘senpai’ all the time. And what’s with this rule breaking first thing in the morning, Natalena? If you’re going to eat snacks, don’t do it in the middle of the hallway where the teachers are bound to catch you.”

“Call me Jane Ignition here. And anything you cook yourself in the dorm kitchen and bring with you doesn’t count as a snack. Besides, French toast made from the bread crusts I cut off my sandwiches is a valuable source of carbs.”

Come to think of it, Second Grimnoah ensured the students were free to buy lunch at the cafeteria, buy it at the school store, or bring their own. So if it was handmade, even a donut, biscuit, or bagel might just barely dodge the label of “snack”. And as long as you didn’t do it during class, there was no actual restriction on when you could eat your lunch.

Natalena licked off her honey and sugar covered fingers.

“Yum. The fact that I have to explain to you how to abuse these kinds of loopholes is why you aren’t much of an upperclassman.”

“Well, sorry. So what are you doing here anyway? The Subcategory building is over there.”

“I’m visiting the Main Category library to, um, get some reference material.”

“….”

“Um, Senpai? The fact that self-study isn’t bound by the school year framework is another of those loopholes I was talking about. And I know you’re excited since today is a Port Day, but, uh, you’re the one who can’t afford the blow to your reputation if you get a bad score on the upcoming exams.”

This capable underclassman was on another level entirely from Utagai Karuta.

“(Hm, I see. From now on, I’ll call her Self Conscious Girl.)”

“I can hear you, Not Nearly Self Conscious Enough Senpai.”

With that parting comment, she walked off.

Unlike that perfect Subcategory Regulation 1 who never stopped studying even when she didn’t have class or homework, undisciplined Karuta held his sleepy head and walked straight to his classroom. He found a room so steady it was hard to believe it was on a ship.

The classroom was a mixture of information before morning homeroom. The boys and girls had gathered into a few different groups where they chatted freely. Several were instead focused on their phones or tablets. The paper weekly manga magazines didn’t always show up on the school store’s shelves on the usual release day, so the students had a tendency to buy the digital version they could read on their phones.

“Sup, Karuta. Hirosuke went ahead and bought the digital version even though it’s a Port Day, so watch out for spoilers.”

“This week’s Red Pan is so good. I-it’s the kind of once-in-a-lifetime chapter where anything I could tell you would spoil it for you.”

If Utagai Karuta was going to join a group, it was usually with his awful friends Yamane Deiri and Nekoumi Hirosuke. Seeing the disaster that was those two honestly helped soothe the wounds inflicted by Self Conscious Girl that morning.

The Port Day people kept mentioning referred to a day when Second Grimnoah, a modified triple hull cruise ship, stopped at a port to resupply or receive maintenance. The ship contained more than enough facilities for anything they might want to do, but leaving the ship still brought a sense of freedom.

The Japanese might have trouble picturing what the Southeast Asian equatorial region looks like, but there were plenty of cities rivaling Tokyo or Osaka in size. A chance to visit those cities was exciting.

“(Don’t you two sneak out every night for some low-altitude flying so the ship’s radar won’t notice you?)”

“(It’s not the same thing, Karuta-chan.)”

His childhood friend and fellow worlds strongest Amaashi Marika was also in his class, but similar circumstances did not mean they were always together.

In fact…

“Hey, hey. Welcome to Marika-san’s spot the difference game. So can either of you tell what’s different about me from yesterday? Well, Imi? How about it, Tayori? Heh heh. Ha ha ha. C’mon, c’mon, make a guess!”

“Are you kidding me, Marika!? I’d have to be blind to miss those super long shoujo manga eyelashes! What are you, the Fuji TV logo? Argh, I’m so jealous!!”

“Oh? You got the latest Serene Silent product, didn’t you? All the girls were glued to their screens yesterday trying for that jelly mascara, but of course it was you won the purchase lottery. You have all the luck.”

Those youthful people, whose skin seemed covered in a water-resistant coating, excitedly made plans to all try it out together later. The popular girls were also busy making their own plans for the Port Day.

Their conversations had a different feel to them.

It was like they existed in a bright and sunny zone.

Unlike Karuta’s type who were constantly fighting over who got to be in the secluded corners of the large classroom, the girl’s group formed by the triangle of Marika, Imi, and Tayori were like the yolk of a fried egg. They were the school protagonists. More than just being popular girls, they were the central figures, where it wouldn’t even seem like an egg dish anymore if they were removed. Those were Amaashi Marika’s original specs. Girls who could look cute doing the things she did were so rare Karuta doubted there were even 5 of them in all of Japan.

“Anyway, my friends, wasn’t yesterday’s homework a nightmare? Quantity-wise, I mean.”

“Yeah, so gross!”

“Marika, you’re only agreeing out of habit, aren’t you? I bet you were actually glued to your tablet all day yesterday.”

The summer uniform’s short-sleeved blouse was thin enough that it was pretty bad for Karuta’s heart when curvy Marika stretched her arms and pushed out her chest. He didn’t have any kind of clairvoyance, but he still had a tunnel view right up his childhood friend’s short sleeve to her armpit.

Hashizaki Tayori, who looked like the gyaru type but acted more like the big sister type, seemed bothered by it, but Matsuda Imi was completely unguarded. She had even chosen a bright colored bra, so its striped pattern showed right through her blouse on this pleasant morning. That was probably the top half of a matching set.

Marika seemed to notice Karuta watching from a short distance away while she sat on a desk instead of in a chair.

The girl with her twintails dyed strawberry blonde winked at him and jokingly blew him a kiss.

“I’d say Amaashi scores pretty high,” said Yamane Deiri. “Getting her as a childhood friend is like getting seeded in the tournament of life, Karuta-chan. How the hell are you stuck in the pill bug zone in the corner of the class with us? Port Day’s are the perfect time for a date. Have you completely given up on enjoying your youth?”

“Karuta-kun can never make it in the sunlight! Because he used up his entire life’s allotment of luck getting seeded with such a cute girl as a neighbor. Don’t worry. He’s the kind of guy who gets chosen as a starting member of the team but then gets booed for getting last place in the tournament.”

He was really unsure how to even begin responding to his depressing friends’ discussion, but he found it curious they considered that being seeded. They were so bitter it was unusual for them to compliment Marika who was such an obvious winner at life.

Then again…

“(Of course, she’s 5 years too young to be in my strike zone. Look, I won’t insist on her becoming a schoolteacher, so can she at least grow into a college girl while still being basically the same?)”

“(It’s a shame, really. She has a lot going for her, but no one taller than 145cm is on my menu. She’s bamboo, not the delicious bamboo shoots. Forcing myself to eat that would only make me sick.)”

Or could they only make such a rational assessment because they weren’t interested in her? Karuta updated his opinion of them. By downgrading them to “utterly hopeless”, of course.

Then he felt something on his cheek.

He found Crystal Girl Aine was crawling out from his side. She had grabbed at his cheek with her small fingers and pulled in the process.

“Less than 145cm! A masterpiece of god’s creation!!” shouted Nekoumi Hirosuke with arms spread wide, but Aine ignored that and puffed out her cheeks while grumbling something.

She appeared to be upset.

“Mhh.”

“What is it, Aine? Can you explain it to me?”

“Sacri-sama, have you failed to grasp the situation from Miss Marika’s extremely unnatural eye contact and lip movements? She is asking to see your homework because she forgot to do hers.”

Aine’s warning proved accurate.

Marika must have checked the wall clock and concluded their homeroom teacher would arrive soon. This would be her last chance to copy his homework before morning homeroom. The curly twintails girl, who was willing to throw kisses in an exaggerated and theatrical fashion, approached him. Imi and Tayori sighed and watched her go. Karuta really wished they would prove their friendship by stopping her.

It turned out Marika didn’t care whose seat she sat in.

She dragged over a nearby chair and sat down. She gave off a sweet scent that wasn’t quite shampoo or deodorant. It may have been that makeup her group was talking about.

She leaned forward and grinned, moving her face in real close like a snake eyeing its prey.

“Hey, hey, Karuta. My good buddy, Karuta-kuuuun☆”

“Yeah, yeah. Here’s yesterday’s homework.”

“Eh? You’re being awfully dry today, my withered childhood friend. Don’t hand it over before I’ve even asked for it. Can you read minds now?”

“Why do you look so upset when I gave you what you wanted?”

“The process is important with these things. I mean…”

She childishly pouted her lips and placed one hand at the center of her chest. She wasn’t quite holding her chest. Her slender fingers were toying with the buttons of her thin short-sleeved blouse.

A nice snapping sound came from her fingers.

She winked up at him and pulled the blouse down over her shoulder.

And she whispered in his ear.

“(I was even thinking I could negotiate by giving my thirsty childhood friend the opportunity of a lifetime if he let me copy his homework.)”

The boy’s heart leaped in his chest.

He could feel the tension racing below his skin like electricity.

She had him completely outclassed when it came to things like this.

“Pff.”

The popular girl held her sides.

She nearly started rolling on the floor in laughter and tears formed in her eyes.

“Ah ha ha!! By which I mean I was going to let you give me a shoulder massage. Now, what did you think I meant? …Huh?”

Had she really not noticed until now?

Unbuttoning her blouse to show off her shoulder had also shown off quite a bit of her cleavage. Not to mention he could see her colorful bra strap.

The gloomy bastards who preferred the corners of the classroom hung their heads.

“(G-getting to massage a girl that clueless about what she’s showing off sounds like one hell of a reward to me. Do you think Amaashi-san has a bratty little sister who’s basically that but smaller?)”

“(Why couldn’t she be just a few years older? Her sexiness is wasted on a classmate. Could you maybe introduce me to her mom!?)”

The conversation was taking a turn Marika had not at all expected, so she crossed her arms and held her own body. She covered her exposed shoulder and hid her cleavage. And she pouted her lips and looked up at Karuta.

When she spoke, she made it sound like a joke, but there was also a slight flush in her cheeks.

“Karuta, you perv. Stop staring at my bra.”

“How is it fair to get mad at me for looking at something you showed me? Is this a new kind of scam, Marika?”

She always slept in the nude, but having her decorative bra strap seen when she didn’t expect it got to her. He honestly couldn’t figure out where her threshold for embarrassment was located.

Then he felt something on his cheek again.

The small crystal girl was as expressionless as ever.

“Mhh.”

“Again, what is this about?”

Part 2

Second Grimnoah was a crystal magic academy.

However, that did mean the students there fought magical battles year round. In fact, extreme kinds of action had to be built atop a strong foundation, so more general education could be the difference between life and death.

Just like someone who could not perform a back hip circle on the metal bar at a park wouldn’t be able to perform a giant swing at the gymnastics world championship.

So…

“Pant, pant, gasp. The bell. Kurent-sensei, the bell just rang!!”

“Tch. So you were saved by the bell, Utagai Karuta.”

The silver-haired, brown-skinned gym teacher who didn’t even bother hiding her tongue click was Letnahe Kurent. She wore a tank top and bright-colored leggings. She notably also had a ring and a mobile watch on her left hand.

“Why do your right arm and right leg start working in unison when you dance? It isn’t often I come across a student who can pull off such a cursed dance.”

“Do you realize that’s as cruel a question as asking someone who can’t swim why they sink in the water?”

“It takes talent to be that bad.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

The modern standards for teaching were to point out your student’s failings but to avoid giving them a complex about it, but this strict teacher must not have gotten the memo. She hit him with the competitive culture of “If you don’t want me to make fun of you, then get good.”

It didn’t help that he couldn’t look straight at her when she demonstrated the dance moves. That was due to how the yoga tank top and formfitting leggings showed off her curvy figure even more than a dancer in a fantasy world. Her navel was always exposed and any more intense jumps caused the rare sight that was underboob to greet him from below her tank top. But he knew saying so would only be adding fuel to the fire.

The Indian wife and teacher had worked up a healthy sweat, so she sipped at a bottle of some kind of protein drink.

“This exercise should help keep your weight down, so don’t ruin that by eating a bunch of sweet things during the Port Day.”

“Okay…”

The bell had already rung. If he got changed now, he would be too late for the lunchtime rush, so he chose to begin his quest for lunch while in his track suit.

Aine appeared at his side at some point.

“Sacri-sama, I did not observe you making a lunch today.”

“Because I’m going to the cafeteria today.”

He had shoved his wallet, phone, and other valuables in the locker along with his clothes, but he had made sure to keep a 1000 yen note in his track suit’s pocket. If you didn’t have a plan in place when you had gym for 4th period, you could never survive the high school lunchtime where so many people went hungry and thirsty.

“Aine, why are you keeping your distance all of a sudden?”

“I do not plan to eat anything myself, but I have no desire to be anywhere near someone thoughtless enough to choose curry or a meat sauce dish.”

The expressionless girl was apparently at the age where she worried about her white clothes. She must have been afraid of stray splashes. That said, Karuta had chosen katsu curry which was eaten with a spoon, so there wouldn’t be any hellish shotgun blasts like with curry udon.

“But now that you mention it, I kind of what to share it with you. Should I grab another spoon?”

“Sacri-sama.”

However, an unexpected problem presented itself.

He successfully acquired his katsu curry, but he had been too focused on that specific task. All the seats in the busy cafeteria were filled. He stood there, holding his tray and feeling at a loss. This was another challenge he had failed to consider. And for whatever reason, the cafeteria didn’t allow people to take the food out of the room to eat it.

“Sacri-sama, I see some people giving up and sitting on the floor to eat. See, with their back against the wall.”

“Because they got the set meal that’s divided into a few small plates. It’s not so easy with one big plate of curry. I need both hands just to hold the heavy plate.”

“How is that a problem?”

Karuta tilted his head and Aine made a scooping gesture.

“You can hold the plate in your hand and then I will spoon the curry into your mouth. I believe that solves the problem.”

“Karuta-kun.”

A soft voice interrupted.

He looked over to find Student Council President Omotesandou Kyouka was in the cafeteria too. She had a Japanese sashimi set spread out on the table in front of her and there was a small gap in the crowd around her. Probably because she needed a bit more space than an ordinary chair to maneuver her wheelchair.

The upperclassman with glossy black hair beckoned him over.

“Don’t even think about rudely sitting on the floor with Aine-chan. The spot next to me is open, so pull up a chair.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Omotesandou-san. …What is it, Aine? Why are you poking my cheek?”

“Mhh.”

The crystal girl somehow managed to look displeased and expressionless at the same time, but she was as obedient as ever.

Once Karuta had set his katsu curry on the table to secure his spot, he lugged over a spare chair.

“I’m kind of surprised to find you eat lunch in the cafeteria, Omotesandou-san.”

“Why? Did you think I spent hours leisurely dining on luxury dishes special made by a personal chef?”

That was more or less what he had imagined, so he declined to answer. But this did remind him that she had made (unusually sweet) curry rice when it was her turn to cook during their shared life in an RV while pursuing the Problem Solvers.

“I’m also surprised to see you alone. I thought you were always surrounded by people.”

“Even I want to be alone sometimes.”

“If you say so.”

“And sometimes I want a younger boy to just take care of everything for me.”

“Yeah, right.”

Upper class people apparently knew how to look graceful even with ordinary disposable chopsticks. The beautiful president even folded the long napkin into an origami puppy chopstick rest.

She stared intently at Karuta’s katsu curry.

“That does seem like the kind of thing a growing boy would be eating.”

“I can’t believe you can get through the afternoon eating so little. Even the biggest options here are free, so why would you order such a small lunch? Are you a living embodiment of SDGs?”

“Didn’t your gym teacher tell you not to eat too much?”

“Uh…”

Spartan Letnahe-sensei had told him not to eat a bunch of sweet things.

So a rice dish like this would be fine…probably.

But the black-haired teacher’s pet must have wanted an exciting new experience today because she pointed at the katsu curry she had just criticized.

“Give me a bite.”

“Sure, sure.”

Her “bite” ended up taking one of only seven strips of chicken cutlet he had. When she challenged herself to do something, she would see it through. But she also squeezed her eyes shut, gulped, and stuck out the tip of her tongue like a child.

“Ugh. It’s super spicy.”

“The curry rice you make is far below average spiciness. Most people don’t dump milk in the pot.”

“That was skim milk and maple syrup mixed in hot water.”

There was syrup in there too?

Omotesandou Kyouka trembled with tears in her eyes.

She could seem even more mature than the teachers in the faculty room at times, so the mismatch created by childishly sticking out her tongue with tears in her eyes felt wrong somehow. He knew now she could not be allowed to wear a plain school swimsuit.

“Hoo, hoo. Karuta-kun, how can you eat this challenging dish so easily? Because boy’s bodies are built differently?”

“I really don’t think this has anything to do with gender.”

If anything, he thought of a preference for super-spicy foods as a girl thing since it was commonly thought eating them would make you sweat and that would help detox your body and improve your beauty. It was Marika’s friend group he could imagine attempting some Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese food.

Kyouka was still sticking out the tip of her tongue as she pointed at something else.

She poked her slender finger against a glass full of a white liquid.

“What is this? It doesn’t look like cold water.”

“They were selling a drinkable yogurt. Simply cooling your tongue after eating something spicy only provides temporary relief. It’s more like pain than anything. Kurent-sensei said dairy products are the best palate cleanser for spiciness.”

“Ugh, so it is lassi or something like that?”

The president was so desperate for relief, she took a sip of his drink without asking permission first. Once she was freed from the tension of spiciness, she appeared to enter a light chill-out mode. For a while afterwards, she stared into the distance with the glass still in her hand. The unpredictable lowering of her guard left Karuta restless. It was like watching a beautiful girl sleeping.

Then she noticed the glass in her hand.

“Oh? Doesn’t this count as an indirect kiss?”

“Bff! Do you have to reclaim the upper hand like that, you gremlin!!”

Also, they had already reached the level of indirect kiss when she ate the curry from his spoon.

His yelling only made her place a hand on her cheek and smile. She liked messing with people. Meanwhile, he had a feeling Aine was glaring at him from where she stood next to him.

In fact, she was kind of scaring him.

“A-Aine-san? Why haven’t you said a word this entire time?”

“If you wish me to speak, you need only order me to do so.”

A blunt rejection.

Or maybe his jumpiness only made him interpret it that way and she was as emotionless as ever.

Then Omotesandou Kyouka spoke up like she hadn’t noticed any of that.

“Hmm. Taking food and drink from you for nothing in return would hurt my reputation as president, so I need to give you something as well. Karuta-kun, is there any part of my lunch you want?”

“Then how about the piece of sashimi you’re clearly saving for the very last? By which I mean, the shiny, red, super-rare medium-fat tun-”

“Karuta-kun☆”

She interrupted with a smile, so he decided to choose something else.

The world’s strongest boy turned his thoughts to his own status screen. What could he do to increase his courage stat?

“Then I’ll boldly go for the 2nd best option: that small plate of tatsuta-age.”

“Oh? That I just didn’t want to eat. First your katsu curry and now the tatsuta-age? Bboys really like friend foods, don’t they?”

He couldn’t deny it would be a surprise to receive fried chicken when you were in the mood for fish, but that wasn’t the tatsuta-age’s fault.

It was often said the heart of a gourmet program and an action movie came from the reactions of the opponents, not the actions of the lead, and sure enough, Kyouka made the cafeteria’s 540-yen daily special really shine. She even looked graceful as she lifted the tatsuta-age from the plate with her chopsticks. With movements like that, she could be a hand model. Although with her looks, she would shine even more modeling the rest of her too.

“Okay, let’s complete the trade☆ Hee hee. This feels like we’re real friends.”

“What are you talking about?”

She tilted her head and started blowing on the tatsuta-age held by her chopsticks. She even held her other hand beneath in a super graceful big sister move.

“This was a surprisingly insightful choice, Karuta-kun. They do say to try the chicken rather than the fish if you want to quickly determine the quality of a restaurant.”

That hadn’t been his intention, but his policy was to never correct people when they favorably read too deeply into your actions. Although that was a lesson he had learned while clashing with the Problem Solvers, so he didn’t want to rely on it if he didn’t have to.

“Hoo, hoo. Okay, say ‘ah’…oh?”

In a rare display of clumsiness, she dropped the thing held between her chopsticks. But the small piece of tatsuta-age did not hit he floor. Nor the table. Then where did it end up?

“Oh, dear.”

She sounded troubled.

It was perfectly balanced. In a strange miracle, the tatsuta-age had made a soft landing atop her large chest.

But it took more than this to fluster Student Council President Omotesandou Kyouka.

She giggled with the chicken still sitting there.

“Want to eat it straight from here?”

And…

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Mhh.”

“Hold that thought and take a look here, Omotesandou-san! Aine is pouting her lips and drawing her sword, so could you not make jokes like that!? Wait, why are you grinning!? You aren’t plotting to cause even more trouble, are you, you overgrown gremlin!?”

Part 3

All students looked forward to school being let out.

It felt like freedom.

But that feeling was especially strong on Port Days like today. The excitement may have been similar to a field trip.

“No leaving the ship until the approach and mooring process are complete and the gangway has been lowered. That means no flying off the ship with your flight preset, you stupid kids!! Do you want to be ordered to stay in your room after coming all this way!?”

“Um, we will be in the city too. We will catch you if you get too rowdy, so do be careful!!”

It was unclear how much good Subcategory teachers Kiyosawa Hadome and Sophia Firenze’s warnings would do.

Karuta and Aine were gathered on the orange-dyed deck along with everyone else.

“Sacri-sama, what will we do today?”

“We can figure that out after disembarking. We can carefully plan everything out when that’s necessary. There’s no real need to put that much effort into our everyday life.”

From here, they could see several anchors being lowered and mooring ropes being thrown from the ship. The long, skinny gangway was slowly lowered from the side deck, but that wasn’t enough to handle the nearly 1000 people disembarking Second Grimnoah. In the end, most of the students would jump down from the railing using their flight. That might sound simple enough, but there was a drop of more than 9m from the side deck to the concrete bank below. Without Crystal Magic, that was enough to break a bone if you were lucky and die if you weren’t Aine expressionlessly spread her arms a little by his side.

Then she clenched and unclenched her fists.

“Sacri-sama.”

“Isn’t there any other way you can carry me? I’m serious.”

His complaints fell on deaf ears.

Aine swiftly swept his feet out from under him with her skinny leg and caught him in a princess carry. He could not use flight, so she had to carry him at times like this.

They landed so softly it was like gravity didn’t affect them.

“I do not see any problem with carrying you like this forevermore.”

“Please just put me down now.”

Southeast Asian port cities could look very different from each other, but this island had a lot of signs in English and Chinese. Karuta couldn’t read all of them, but he saw some familiar logos on the ads for phones and cars. He even saw a familiar face on one of the big billboards. It depicted Omotesandou Kyouka playing with the latest in aerial photography drones. Being the world’s strongest was a lot of work. It kind of depressed him thinking there were probably billboards with him on them somewhere out in the world. He just had to pray the kids of that region weren’t drawing a third eye on his forehead.

He noticed the redheaded bob cut girl from the student council staring lovingly at the billboard.

“We’ll get dinner out here tonight. Anything you want to eat, Aine?”

“Pure-”

“No gold. Hey, stop drooling in front of that duty-free store’s window. The clerk inside is terrified.”

“Then I will let you choose.”

“Let me choose and you’ll be stuck eating Manmaru udon. They have restaurants overseas too, after all.”

“I see. I have heard that some countries and regions put ketchup on lukewarm udon, so ordering some because you are homesick for some Japanese food while overseas can lead to a very unpleasant surprise.”

They chatted as they left the port and arrived downtown. The tourist port was directly connected to the city, so there were a lot of duty-free stores with their “tax free” signs in the window. Was that Sophia Firenze running around with a bunch of brand-name boxes in her arms?

“I need one of these, and one of these, ooh, I need to buy these pumps while I have the chance!!”

“Wasn’t she supposed to be out monitoring the students’ behavior?”

She seemed dazzled by the words “tax free” and he was honestly worried. Wasn’t her financial situation so dire that a somewhat expensive cup noodle option was a luxury?

Karuta honestly had no real objective.

He only wanted to leave the ship for a change of pace. And Aine never really thought about anything other than following him around.

In that sense, he had to smile bitterly at sharing the evening coastline view together.

“This isn’t that much different from being on the ship. Not too surprising when everyone’s wearing the same uniforms.”

“Based on my observations, a lot of people have paired off into couples, not counting the teachers on patrol.”

Maybe so.

But did the crystal girl walking next to him understand the implications of that? There were some people putting an arm around their partner’s shoulder and – wow – some were even kissing out in public.

The title of world’s strongest could be a nuisance at times. Since this was a tourist area, there would have been a lot of people out trying to get customers regardless, but it felt like Karuta and Aine gathered more attention than most. They had no objective, but they were invited into a wide variety of shops just walking around aimlessly.

“Eh, why not.”

“Sacri-sama. Shouldn’t we be more careful?”

“Whatever the truth of the matter, we’re officially considered to be half of the Four Living Gods. If someone tried to scam us here, I would honestly praise their audacity.”

The title was like a curse, but when it came in handy, he would make use of it. He didn’t have to worry about any direct harm from extortionists except for the ones who attacked so they could pretend to be helpless victims when you retaliated.

The afterschool evening had only just begun.

It was still too early for dinner, so he decided to visit some kind of store.

“Hm, a clothing store.”

“It appears to be a legitimate boutique and not a counterfeit seller.”

Aine expressionlessly tilted her head while taking a look around the store.

“But based on the lineup, this appears to exclusively sell women’s clothing. I was not aware you had developed an interest in dressing that way.”

“Why would we be here for me? I just have to dress you up in the clothes.”

His exasperated response increased the angle of her head tilt.

“Clothes for me?” asked the still-head-tilting crystal girl.

“That’s probably what the clerk is hoping for too.”

They were both the world’s strongest, but advertising that Karuta shopped there and that Aine shopped there would have very different meanings. Of course, the store just wanted to advertise that one of the Four Living Gods shopped there, so the clerk might just insist the two of them take some souvenirs without asking for any payment.

Aine looked down at her white clothing.

“This is light, sturdy, formfitting enough to prevent an enemy from grabbing it, and contains slits to preserve my range of motion. I have no functional complaints with my current clothing.”

“Probably not. But now that I think about it, you wear those white clothes year-round. How do you wash them? I don’t remember ever washing your underwear.”

“––––”

“Aine, your growth is astounding. You never could have given me that ‘have you no tact?’ look back when we first met.”

Karuta couldn’t stand the pressure of her glare and that small triangle of a mouth, so he looked away and gave that simple comment.

Everything from the tip of her sword to her heart was a part of her, but she must have been taking care of her own laundry. She appeared to have some knowledge there since she had recognized the smell of fabric softener from his sports towel once. If she only had that one pair, it was possible she spent every night naked until the washing and drying process was complete, which kind of scared him. But if she had multiple pairs, it was possible the others were strewn about inside him (which was becoming something of a second home for her), a possibility which disturbed him even more. He could only pray that his stomach hadn’t become the crystal girl’s messy room.

Anyway.

The two of them entered the women’s boutique, but they couldn’t exactly stand blankly in a corner the whole time. The fitting room was free to use, so he could have Aine use that.

(The money I’ve made with the unwanted world’s strongest title does come in handy sometimes.)

“Trying things on is free, Aine, so point out anything you like.”

“I have no requests. You choose something you like.”

“I hope they have things in your size.”

“I can recognize when I am being mocked for no good reason.”

She really had grown, he realized. She could express a wider range of feelings than in the Crystal Beach hotel when she had stripped naked in the room with him to change into her swimsuit.

At some point, she had turned into an ordinary girl.

Maybe Karuta was the only one who hadn’t grown.

“Ooh, how about this?”

“I see. This one casual selection helps bring into focus what it is you want from me.”

He really wished she wouldn’t lay on the pressure after he had already chosen.

He had selected a white sundress and a large hat. He had thought it was a safe choice since it fit his image of her choosing to wear a white dress (even if that one was for combat).

However…

“Ouch.”

“?”

He heard an odd voice from beyond the fitting room’s curtain.

“Ow, ow, ow. An unexpected problem has arisen.”

“Hey, Aine, what’s going on in there?”

That dress was so thin you would be able to see her silhouette through it with any light shining behind her, so he was unsure what she could be doing with it to cause pain. Was her skin extremely sensitive so she couldn’t wear any kind of synthetic material?

Eventually, the curtain parted and Aine poked just her head out.

Karuta realized the problem right away.

The wide-brimmed hat was sitting at an odd angle. In fact, the hat was floating up above her head. He knew why that would be.

“Can’t you do something about those mysterious horns?”

“What are you expecting me to do? If you ask me, the solution should come from the boutique. Like putting a pair of slits at the top of the hat so my horns could stick through.”

“Let’s not get hasty, okay!? You’re only trying it on, so we haven’t bought it yet!!”

The expressionless girl pulled her sword out of thin air, so Karuta had to frantically grab her through the curtain to stop her.

“So do your horns really hurt when something touches them? And that was only a hat.”

“(I wouldn’t really say they hurt, but they react very sensitively to unexpected touching.)”

“?”

Aine lowered her head and muttered something under her breath, but Karuta just accepted that hats, hoods, and anything else that covered the head were off limits when coordinating her outfit. She hadn’t said a word when Susannia of the Problem Solvers cut her arm, so this had to be pretty bad.

In that case…

“Let’s go in the other direction this time. What about something boyish? Even if you don’t seem like the type to choose sportswear.”

“I save your life on a regular basis and you have the nerve to label me unathletic?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

He pushed a colorful tank top and bike shorts made of synthetic materials into her arms. This was more like something dance and rhythm lovers like Letnahe and Pendet would wear. Aine tilted her head, but pulled back behind the fitting room curtain.

It was hard to judge her preferences when she was always so expressionless, so Karuta’s plan was to try several different extreme options to work out the extent of what she was willing to wear. From there, he could narrow things down toward something she would really like.

(First a classy dress and now sportswear. What should I use to narrow things down further? I could check her reaction to something more feminine like a knit dress.)

He saw this like the game where you took turns trying to guess each other’s number.

“All done.”

Aine opened the curtain.

She was like a snow fairy and looked so fragile she would break if you held her too tight, so the summery, midriff-baring sportwear didn’t suit her. But that mismatch did make for an interesting combination. It was surprising just to look at.

However.

“Um, Aine.”

“Yes?”

“Why am I seeing that?”

“?”

Her head tilt meant she hadn’t noticed. He was honestly afraid to spell it out for her. Which was why he had kept it vague using “that”.

He could see two little bumps.

A pair of protrusions other than her horns were pushing out the formfitting tank top that stretched tightly across her skin like rubber.

(Wh-wh-where’s her bra? E-even 12-year-old Natalena wears one, so why isn’t she!?)

Thinking back, when that pure white outfit was soaked by the rain, he recalled seeing various things showing through. She had been embarrassed, but she must not have actually enacted any kind of solution.

“A-anyway, let’s get you back in your original clothes, Aine. Hurry!”

“Why are you acting like I am causing you problems? You were the one who chose this outfit.”

“Can you not express your anger by putting your hands on your hips and pushing out your chest!?”

“???”

Aine showed an obvious question mark on her expressionless face as he shoved her back into the fitting room.

He asked a question through the curtain while hearing her move around inside.

“You’ve tried on a few things now, but have you seen anything that stands out to you? I can’t choose everything for you.”

“You want me to choose something?”

“Give me any feedback you have, like what you don’t like or what you want to see more of. The smallest thing can help show me what you want.”

“In that case,” she said while the curtain shook.

She poked her head out, so she must not have been done changing. Her bare shoulders stuck out with her head and she expressionlessly pointed at Karuta.

“That is the only thing I am interested in wearing.”

“?”

“Second Grimnoah’s uniform. I would be lying if I said I have never wanted to wear one.”

Part 4

After leaving the boutique, Karuta and Aine walked back the way they had come to reach Second Grimnoah, the three-hull ship measuring more than 600m long was currently moored at the port.

Since most of the students were out in the city for the Port Day, the giant ship was completely silent. It was the same somewhat guilt-inspiring stillness found when sneaking into school on the weekend.

This was a sort of sanctuary.

But that was why you felt a faint thrill from tiptoeing in when you weren’t supposed to.

“They might have some spare uniforms in the infirmary.”

“They would have them there, Sacri-sama?”

“Only for emergencies, so they won’t be perfectly fitted or anything. It’s probably going to be baggy, but bear with it.”

“On what basis are you predicting that an improperly fitted uniform would be baggy on me rather than too tight?”

The girl, who stood a full head shorter than him even when counting the horns, was expressionlessly puffing out her cheeks. He was mildly surprised by the inner change that led her to worry about things like that.

“Don’t worry. Marika and Omotesandou-san’s size is far from normal. Those are the outliers who have trouble finding bras in a style they like, so you don’t need to compare yourself to them.”

“Why do you not understand that the problem is how you are starting with the assumption that I will lose, you jerk?”

They made their way to the infirmary.

Fortunately, there were no patients (with heatstroke or seasickness) in any of the beds lined up by the wall. This wasn’t a place people came for fun, so they weren’t going to bother anyone. He could humor Aine for a bit.

“Here we go. I found a girl’s uniform, Aine.”

“Come to think of it, why are you so knowledgeable about girl’s uniforms?”

Aine had even learned how to verbally stab people in the flank.

The reason for his knowledge came from having to help the president change or assisting Natalena after her clothes got wet.

But anyway.

He had found a spare uniform, but they were no longer in the boutique and thus there was no fitting room. They had no choice but to have Aine use one of the bed spaces with a curtain drawn around it.

While the crystal girl changed inside one, Karuta tilted his head a bit.

He felt kind of uneasy.

(H-huh? What’s this? With the curtain drawn, this shouldn’t be any different from the boutique’s fitting room, so why is my heart pounding in my ears?)

He blinked a few times and peered into the darkness within him before finally identifying the cause.

He could see through the curtain.

The fitting room curtain had been thick and made to block light, but the curtain used as a divider between infirmary beds was not and he could faintly make out Aine’s silhouette while she changed within!?

Apparently the unguarded girl had switched on the excessively bright LED lamp on the bedside table just because it was somewhat dark while surrounded by curtains.

“Sacri-sama?”

“It’s nothing! Nothing at all!!”

“???”

He hated that he could tell she was tilting her head in confusion.

He honestly couldn’t help but hold his breath until she pulled the curtain open herself.

“This is how it looks. What do you think, Sacri-sama?”

She was wearing a uniform.

A Second Grimnoah summer uniform.

She stood tall and fidgeted her fingers together while dressed in the exact same thing so many girls did every day when attending classes at Second Grimnoah, but it looked entirely different on Aine.

This could have been a possible future.

The powerfully innocent image of her in that uniform brought that sentimental thought to mind. Since the crystal girl was already somewhat transparent, she could take on a subtly different appearance depending on the color of the light around her. The orange of the sunset may have helped make her look like an empty dream at the moment.

Karuta didn’t feel any desire to start discussing where things had gone wrong.

He accepted everything before giving his honest opinion.

“It looks good on you, Aine.”

“I know I requested this, but I am not sure how to process any positive or negative feedback related to it.”

“That’s made for Second Grimnoah, so the stitching is designed to hold up in combat. Couldn’t you wear this all the time?”

“Updating personality profile. I now see that you have a schoolgirl fetish, Sacri-sama.”

She may have meant that as an attack, but it was a meaningless accusation against a schoolboy. Aine might not quite fit the profile since she was always walking around in her casual(?) clothes, but when most every girl around you was a schoolgirl, it was the default, not a fetish.

“Want to go for a walk dressed like that, Aine?”

“So you prefer to show off your ‘prize’ rather than make sure no one else gets to see it?”

She must have sensed her first attack failed, so she went for a follow up attack. But since almost every student would be on land for the Port Day, Second Grimnoah was nearly deserted. He doubted they would run across anyone to be surprised by Aine’s unusual (for her) outfit.

“I see. So you enjoy the thrill of being out in the open but avoiding detection. Does the thought of being in an empty school after hours excite you?”

“Can you stop slinging attacks until one of them lands, Aine?”

He smiled bitterly while stepping out of the infirmary.

Just then, he heard a quiet, soft vibration.

He realized he had bumped into something in the hallway.

And this wasn’t a stranger.

The color of the light was mixing.

Distorting.

Cracks were forming in those colors.

“Marika?”

“I know.”

His childhood friend did not look up when he called her name.

She fell silent again.

She demonstrated a painful amount of vulnerability.

She clutched at the short sleeve of his shirt, pressed her forehead against his chest, and clenched her teeth.

“I know it’s Aine-chan’s turn right now.”

Those words carried an important meaning.

They were a curse powerful enough to tear down the unnaturally cheerful mood that had covered this entire today.

“But this really is our last day.”

When she did look up, her face was a mess.

A lost child may have been the closest comparison.

The usual confident and cheerful girl was nowhere to be found.

“I know we decided to enjoy our school life to the fullest since the human string pullers want their answer soon. I know we’re supposed to cut all ties with out lives so we can face the final battle with no regrets!! I know that!! But I can’t do it. I just can’t do everything the way I’m supposed to when I know this is the end! …Because I love you, Karuta. I didn’t go to Grimnoah or switch to Second Grimnoah after the first one was destroyed because I wanted to master the use of cutting-edge magic!! I only did it because I couldn’t let you go alone! That really was my only reason!!”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Karuta had chosen to go to a school that specialized in Crystal Magic, but he had not had any clear vision of his future either. They had been overwhelmed with things they had to do once they were propped up as the strongest, but he wasn’t willing to say that was the future he had envisioned when he was suffering through the entrance exam. He felt like his starting point had been even more empty than Marika’s desire to be with the person she loved.

And this conversation had included several very meaningful words.

Including one statement that may have been more important than the fate of the planet for this girl.

But…

“I know,” interrupted the sobbing girl before he could say anything. The premium jelly mascara she had been so proud of was running due to her tears. “I know you’ll choose Aine-chan in the end. Because she’ll be all alone if you don’t. The president and I have our own lives outside of you, but she really does only have you. Sever that tie and she has nothing left, so I know you’ll choose her!!”

“…”

“Why is this the only kind of love I get to have?”

She had already experienced more of the world’s cruelties than any one person should, but she still raised her voice.

“I don’t care about the world’s strongest, the Threat, or the human string pullers!! If I didn’t have all this special stuff, I could have been normal and happy. Maybe even this here could have turned out differently without these complications!”

Maybe it was the way her words flowed, but Karuta sensed something off in what Amaashi Marika was saying in his arms. He had found something that told him he could never roll down this slope no matter what might happen.

Without these complications.

Did that include Aine who was linked to him through Crystal Magic?

He grabbed his childhood friend’s trembling shoulders and pushed her away from his chest.

He kept his distance.

“No, Marika.”

“I know.”

“I doubt I can ever understand how you’re feeling, but I’m still going to insist you take that back. If you don’t, I never want to see you again, Marika!!”

“I said I know!!!”

A high-pitched noise echoed through Second Grimnoah.

Marika looked ready to shed tears of blood and her right hand held…a rapier Device.

“Today – our final 24 hours – are all about ensuring we have no regrets left, right? Well, no one ever said it all had to end happily.”

Karuta also made a decision when he saw that.

Amaashi Marika was probably the fastest person on the planet to make up her mind at times like this. He had to respond immediately or he really would be in trouble.

He shouted the last thing Marika wanted to hear out of his mouth.

“Aine!!”

He pulled his modified military flashlight from his hip.

He shined the powerful IR laser in Marika’s face to dazzle her eyes.

But not so he could fight.

He just needed time to make his move.

He and Aine turned tail and he heard a series of cracking sounds coming from behind them. How many seconds did it take Living God Amaashi Marika to decorate her body with crystal armor? Once that process was complete, she wouldn’t hesitate to wield a level of violence that let her pick a fight with a fighter craft or slice a tank in two.

“What is your plan, Sacri-sama?”

“For now, we go this way!!”

Marika’s Crystal Blossom contained the name of Tezcatlipoca, Aztec god of death, and her Crystal Magic let her use light as a weapon, converting it into any kind of deadly power. Her rapier Device could simply cut down an enemy, but it could also be used for high-precision laser sniping.

(If we want to prevent her from using her top speed that rivals a fighter craft, we have to stay away from spaces with long straightaways. A mazelike space is best, since it also keeps her from using that laser sniping of hers. Aine’s sword might be able to stop a metal shell or a missile, but it can’t deflect laser light or a beam!!)

In that sense, the school was a bad location. Both the standard school building and the special facilities like the gym or cafeteria were given simple, orderly designs so no one would get lost. Which meant…

“Focus on the ship side of things, not the school, Aine. Marika’s speed and long-range attacks don’t help her in the bottom-level engine room full of thick pipes and diesel engines larger than an apartment room!!”

“I have my doubts Miss Marika of all people will have her options restricted so easily.”

“No overestimating her abilities, Aine. If you think of her like a magic bullet that can do anything, then you can’t even begin to put together a plan.”

“She is already furious, so if she starts shooting lasers all over the bottom level of the ship and the ship starts to flood, I might survive, but you would be in a predicament since you need a constant supply of oxygen. Your odds of survival fall even further if she ignites the diesel fuel.”

“I said not to do that, Aine!! It is scary how plausible that sounds with this childhood friend from hell, though!!”

Just then, a door opened and someone emerged into the orange-dyed hallway. Karuta immediately recognized them. Only one person on Second Grimnoah used a wheelchair since the preset of regeneration could heal all non-lethal wounds in 30 seconds.

His face lit up.

He kept running away from overheated Marika and waved his hands to gather Kyouka’s attention.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Omotesandou- !?”

“I can’t…”

He heard a creaking sound, but this wasn’t the wheelchair’s axle or tires.

His body demanded oxygen after running full speed, but the ghastly sense coming from this girl still made him stop breathing. What was that she held in both hands behind her wheelchair? A bow and arrow? One with a sight and stabilizer!?

“I can’t always be the big sister you rely on. That’s no different from deciding I can never be anything other than ‘the hero’ who’s separated from everyone else. Why am I the only one you treat this way? Did you think I did all of this to save my own skin and for the money that comes with being the world’s strongest!?”

This was bad.

But what about it was bad? He could tell she was angry enough to kill, but there was too little context surrounding her statements for him to figure out what exactly she was upset about!!

(If something was bothering her, she could have told me earlier!)

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I have seen Miss Kyouka giving into her anger and shouting at someone. She seems to no longer care about keeping up appearances.”

He realized Aine was right.

But what had led to this?

“Perhaps she feels left out. She is separated from everyone else by being the only Regulation 3 at present. The ordinary students and even the other Living Gods are at most Regulation 1s.”

“…”

“Also, it sounded like you didn’t even know how she normally eats lunch. That means you did not spend your lunch breaks with her. And when she mentioned she wanted to have a younger boy take care of everything for her, didn’t you brush it off with a dismissive ‘yeah, right’?”

“Meaning?”

“You only have yourself to blame, you jerk.”

Karuta grabbed Aine’s hand and changed directions as they ran. He turned a corner. He had to use the terrain if he was going to avoid being killed by Kyouka’s bow and arrow.

“You sure have grown!!”

“Have I? You, on the other hand, have not grown at all.”

Kyouka was a new threat to worry about, but that didn’t decrease the threat presented by Marika one iota. They couldn’t come to a stop no matter what might happen.

Aine ran expressionlessly alongside him with her school uniform skirt fluttering dangerously high, but he thought he saw a hint of a smile on her lips.

She dropped her empty gaze to her hand which was firmly held by Karuta’s hand.

“My, my. Miss Marika and Miss Kyouka are going all out today. They really are trying to kill us. Hee hee.’

“Wh-why – ugh, cough – do you sound like you’re enjoying yourself!?”

“Because I appear to hold the princess position here.”

They didn’t want to leave anything undone.

He understood that, but how much pressure had been building up inside those two? What kind of concerns had they been bottling up all this time?

He wanted to avoid being caught between Marika and Kyouka. There was no chance of survival then. Which meant…

“Let’s pull away from Omotesandou-san, Aine. No matter how dangerous she is, she’s in a wheelchair, so we can keep her from following us by taking the stairs. There are only so many elevators, so she’ll need to take a wide detour to catch up. That won’t do anything to lose Marika since she can use the flight preset, but it lets us keep the odds at 2-against-1.”

“Do you think it would be easier to fight Miss Marika who is always a little bit angry than to fight Miss Kyouka who is showing a rare level of anger?”

“Let’s not think of this as choosing the lesser of two evils, Aine! Imagining either option terrifies me!!!”

A cruise ship might seem longer and shorter than a high-rise tourist hotel, but it was still divided into quite a few floors, starting from the engine room and hold at the bottom and going all the way up to the heliport at the very top. That meant it had some long stairways they could use.

(Now where can I go that will keep Marika from using her high-speed flight and laser sni-)

Karuta’s thought was cut off by a thick guillotine falling to block the path ahead.

It was a fireproof shutter that doubled as flood prevention. He doubted this was a freak malfunction. Not wanting him to escape, the president must have abused her authority to take over Second Grimnoah’s networked devices.

This was now a T-junction. Heading right would take them to the stairs, but he felt like they were being guided that way. There was more to this. Why would Kyouka want to lead him to the stairs she couldn’t use with her wheelchair?

But whatever the reason…

(If I want to betray Omotesandou-san’s expectations, I have to keep heading straight even if it means destroying that shutter!!)

He was somewhat used to fist fighting after the strange martial arts tournament the Catastrophe had been turned into, but he could not break through a composite shutter with his fists.

“Damn. Aine!!”

When the girl swung her right arm down, a cold crystal katana appeared in her hand with a swishing sound.

But she did not obey Karuta’s instructions.

She suddenly swung the blade horizontally and orange sparks flew. Karuta clicked his tongue. She had knocked an aluminum alloy arrow from the air, which now slid to the end of the hallway.

He heard the creaking of wheels.

At the other end of the orange-lit hallway, a black-haired beauty wielded a distinctively-shaped bow in her wheelchair.

And she was not alone.

The sound of rubber soles scraping against the floor came from the other end of the hallway. He didn’t even have to turn around to know, but when he did, he found Amaashi Marika coming from the stairs with crystal armor covering her body and a rapier Device in her dominant hand.

His tension had grown well past the limit, so it felt electric at this point.

He doubted either of them was willing to talk, but he still moved his lips.

“Wai-”

The first to move wasn’t Marika but Kyouka. She must have decided that one half-word meant he had abandoned her. She had the bow and arrow, but she still moved her wheelchair to rush toward him.

Amaashi Marika followed after her. As her ally? No, to kill him herself before Kyouka could take him from her. That was clear from the glint of a hunter’s spirit in her eyes.

Amaashi Marika approached him from the front with her rapier device squeezed tight in her hand and Omotesandou Kyouka approached him from the rear with her bow and arrow aimed and ready. Their eyes were shining bright and he could tell at a glance they wouldn’t respond to conversation.

He didn’t stand a chance.

“Sacri-sama!!”

He heard a shout. Aine had apparently moved to defend him with her sword in both hands, but two different world’s strongests were approaching from two different directions. Aine was reliant on that sharp sword, so she could only defend against one of them. Utagai Karuta could not avoid fighting the other girl.

He readied his modified military flashlight, but how much good would that toy do him?

Aine was his main defense.

His weapon was like the sidearm worn by a fighter pilot. It was better to have it than not, but if you had to rely on it, it meant you had already crashed deep behind enemy lines.

There was no scream.

A loud impact erupted within Second Grimnoah.

Karuta couldn’t even tell who had crashed into who.

He couldn’t stop the momentum transferred to him, so he crashed into Aine while she tried to protect him and all four of them rolled along the floor in a big heap. Heavy metallic sounds rang loud because Omotesandou Kyouka’s wheelchair had toppled over too.

Then silence.

And…

“Ah ha ha!!”

They were still lying there, tangled together.

One of the people in that pile of bodies started laughing loudly. It may have been Karuta himself. That laughter was contagious. Marika and Kyouka were both laughing. The bloody atmosphere from before had vanished without a trace.

Not even Aine was immune.

She was mostly expressionless, but there was the smallest hint of a smile on her lips.

“Heh heh. What was that, Marika-san? Were you really swinging a blade around over a broken heart? You might have the looks of a cutting-edge Gyaru 2.0 or even 3.0, but deep down, you still have the soul of a reserved Edo period girl. Ah ha ha!”

“Oh, shut up. You’re the one that pulled out a bow and arrow. A projectile weapon is cheating. I bet you’re the kind of person who takes a game of tag way too seriously and starts chasing people down on a bike.”

Someone sighed.

Karuta wasn’t sure who with everyone tangled up together, but someone was holding his head between her arms. Like she was holding a beachball to her chest.

Eventually, the president asked a question.

“So is everyone satisfied?”

“Yes,” replied Karuta and neither Aine nor Marika disagreed. It was past the point for that.

“No one has anything left undone?”

“I’m good.”

“If you say you want to run off with Aine-chan, I don’t think either of us would stop you.”

Kyouka may have been hoping for a digression like that, but neither Karuta nor Aine went for it.

Why do all this today?

Why forget their troubles and enjoy their school life?

That was obvious.

To convince them they were making the right choice.

“I have no regrets.”

“I see.”

“This world is shit. We never stood a chance against the Threat, the human string pullers already controlled everything, and even our families will betray us like it’s no big deal. That’s just the world we live in.”

So would they abandon the world?

That may have been a valid option for them.

“But we still love this world and think it’s worth protecting. If we feel we’ve proven that to ourselves, then we need to do this. We didn’t choose to be the world’s strongest, but it was our actions that gave us that title. It wouldn’t be right to run away now.”

Kyouka nodded in agreement and took the conversation further.

“In that case, Karuta-kun. And the rest of you too. I am going to contact the human string pullers. Once I do that, there is no stopping the gears from turning.”

“That’s fine.”

Utagai Karuta breathed in and out.

And he summed it all up for them.

“Then let’s get to the space elevator for our journey into death. If we sacrifice ourselves by ejecting ourselves into space, we can drive away 300 million Threats. We knew this was coming.”

Part 5

However, not everyone would be happy with that result.

For example, what if someone other than the Four Living Gods were to hear about it for the first time?

“Eh?”

Young Natalena Blast forgot to breathe as she pressed her back against the wall. It took everything she had to avoid dropping the library books she held. They were right around the corner, but she could not join them there.

“Eh?”

The decision she made here would determine everything. If she thoughtlessly rushed out and tried to argue with them, she would be defeated 4-against-1. In fact, they didn’t even need to argue. They could forcibly restrain her and head to the space elevator.

For what?

To protect the 5.5 billion non-strongests, including Natalena herself, from the Threat.

How would they do this?

By ejecting themselves into space to divert the Threat’s attention.

“Eh?”

But what did that mean really?

What was going to happen to Utagai Karuta and the other three!?

Back to Prologue

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