“I did it!!!! I cleared it!!!”
After finally beating that shitty dating sim, I packed my things on the commander’s orders and headed to Shido’s house.
“Haa... I did get one bad ending in the middle, though.”
I’d been half-asleep while playing and accidentally hit the wrong button, which triggered a bad ending. Because of that, one of the videos recording my antics must have been released, but I had no idea exactly what had been shown. I’d done way too much up to this point.
“Sigh. What’s the point of worrying about it?”
Deciding not to cry over spilled milk, I kept walking until I reached Shido’s house.
“Huh? Shido! Hieta’s here!”
“Ah, you came?”
Tohka and Shido greeted me when I arrived. Yoshino was nowhere to be seen.
“By the way, Hieta, th— ngh! No! Nothing!”
Judging by Shido’s reaction, he’d apparently seen the video. As of today, the name Itsuka Shido would cease to exist in this world.
“Shido.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Please have this.”
With the friendliest smile I could manage, I handed him the rice cake I’d made. Shido stared at it for a moment, then took a bite.
“Huh? Surprisingly normal—”
He didn’t finish his sentence before he collapsed. Seeing that, Tohka put the rice cake she’d been about to eat back and started shaking Shido awake.
“Shido! Shido! Wake up! Shido!”
“Heh, it’s okay. Shido is just unconscious right now.”
“Unconscious?”
“Yeah. He just fainted because it was so delicious.”
Hearing that, Tohka got curious about the taste herself. She took one bite of the rice cake and fainted right next to Shido.
“Serves you right for getting in the way when I was trying to convince the commander. Now you get to eat rice cakes absolutely drenched in mint chocolate—the worst food in recorded history.”
Well, I had nearly thrown up while making them myself. But still, this was a fitting reward for that obnoxious boy, right?
Anyway, while I was burning the leftover rice cakes with my pyromancy flame, the commander came out of the house.
“What the heck? Why are they all unconscious?”
“How should I know? Maybe they were struck by divine punishment?”
I brushed off the commander’s question and took a tour of the new place I’d be staying in from now on.
“...Commander.”
“What?”
“There wasn’t a building like this here when I came last time.”
The house I was shown was next door to Shido’s place. And not just any house—it was a massive mansion. According to the commander, it had been completed yesterday. How was that physically possible?
“What are you so surprised about? To explain further, this is the spirit mansion where the spirits will be staying from now on. Since you’re a spirit too, you’ll be staying here as well. It’s equipped with all kinds of defensive measures, so don’t worry.”
I wanted to object that I wasn’t a spirit, but I held back. If they were giving me a house like this, why would I complain? I should just say thank you and be done with it.
“Thank you!”
“Ack! What are you doing! Get up already!”
She refused my full-force grand bow, which meant the commander was surprisingly not immune to that kind of thing.
While I was looking around the spirit mansion, I got a phone call.
“Commander? What’s up?”
“Today Shido is going to the hot springs, and I was wondering if you wanted to go too.”
“Hot springs? Sure, why not?”
“Got it. Then get ready and head over to Shido.”
And just like that, today’s schedule was decided.
*****
We were heading to the Tengushi Paradise Hot Springs. I was riding in a car driven by Murasame.
“Wow! This is amazing!”
“Right, this is probably the first time the two of you have ridden in a car.”
Just as Shido said, Tohka and Yoshino were reacting as if it were their first time in a vehicle. They pressed their hands and faces against the window, staring outside with such wonder that I couldn't help but slowly pat Yoshino on the head.
“H-Hieta-san...?”
“Haha, you just looked a little cute, Yoshino. Ah, please be careful not to get carsick.”
It felt better than I expected to pat her head, so I kept going, and Yoshino smiled happily.
“Shido, Shido!”
Tohka seemed jealous of Yoshino and called for Shido while leaning over. Of course, there was no way Shido, sitting in the back seat, could reach Tohka’s head in the front passenger seat.
“Why can’t I get one too!”
“Because you said you wanted to sit in the front seat.”
“But...”
“Hieta-kun! Hieta-kun! Yoshinon too!”
“Huh? Yoshinon too?”
I had no choice but to pat Yoshinon’s head as well.
“Hieta-san, that spinning thing over there is...”
“Ah, that’s called a barber pole. It’s for a place that cuts hair.”
We continued on, answering Yoshino and Yoshinon’s questions, but eventually, Tohka couldn’t hold back anymore and started kicking the seat over and over.
“Uuuuuuu!!!!”
Crack!
“Huh?”
With a sinister sound, the ground collapsed. The car sank right along with it, leaving us with no choice but to get out and walk.
“Sorry, Shido.”
Apparently realizing she’d messed up, Tohka stopped walking behind us, bowed her head, and apologized. Yoshinon looked like she was about to laugh, but Yoshino and I quickly covered her mouth and waited for Shido’s answer.
Shido walked up to the dejected Tohka, knelt down, and met her eyes.
“Don’t worry about it too much.”
“You’re not angry...?”
Hearing that, Shido stood back up and slowly patted Tohka’s head, saying, “I’m not angry.”
Tohka, receiving Shido’s pat, looked utterly delighted and seemed to melt under his hand.
*****
While we were heading toward the hot springs, Shido suddenly stopped.
“Huh?”
Then he suddenly ran toward a shop we’d just passed. I followed him over, and there was the commander.
“Kotori? What are you doing here?”
“Oh! Isn’t that Kotori!”
“Is something wrong?”
Having been caught, the commander looked flustered for a moment before launching into an excuse.
“I mean, surveillance! I was watching to make sure Shido didn’t screw up!”
“Couldn’t you have done that from the ship?”
“Maybe she just wanted to go to the hot springs with us?”
At my words, the commander made a face as if I’d hit the mark. It was obvious she wanted to join us, but she wanted to maintain her pride and didn't want to admit it.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Stop pretending. Since you’re already here, come with us.”
“I guess I have no choice. A special exception...”
Just as the commander was about to be swayed by Shido’s persuasion and join the trip, a signal suddenly blared from her intercom, interrupting her.
“S-Shido. Sorry, but go on ahead without me.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“I’ll catch up later, so hurry up and go!”
From her reaction, it seemed like something urgent had come up. Since it looked like something interesting might happen, I casually walked up to the commander and called out to her.
“Commander.”
“Eek! What are you doing!”
A fist came flying at me. I dodged it easily and asked, “What happened? Can I go too?”
“What? What about the hot springs?”
“Honestly, I think getting involved in whatever just happened sounds more interesting than the hot springs. I’d have to ask Yoshino for permission, though.”
At my words, the commander looked conflicted for a moment before finally nodding and agreeing to let me join.
After confirming her reaction, I explained to Shido and Yoshino that something had come up and I’d be following along, then asked them to go on ahead. After moving a short distance away, I was transferred to [Fraxinus].
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