As a result, I decided to accept Honjo-san’s proposal.
It would help with the攻略, and more than anything, getting to work under a professional manga artist wasn’t exactly an opportunity that came around every day, so that was part of why I accepted too.
"So that’s how it is."
"[Ohhh, not bad. Nice work.]"
The commander, after hearing the whole story, praised me as if she were proud of me.
Being praised by someone younger than me felt a little strange, but she was still my superior, so I accepted it.
"School’s fine, right?"
"[I’ll handle that separately, so don’t worry. Hiki, you just focus on攻略 Nia.]"
"As expected of [Ratatoskr]. I trusted you."
Hearing that everything related to school would be handled by [Ratatoskr] put me at ease.
Up until now, I’d gone through all kinds of things while攻略ing spirits, but the fact that most of the time not even an article popped up showed just how insanely good [Ratatoskr] was at handling things.
I wasn’t asking because I didn’t trust them, but hearing it directly just made me feel more secure, I guess.
That’s why I asked.
"But is the command room there okay?"
After the damage [Fraxinus] took from Tobiichi last time, it had gone in for repairs, so it would have been hard to build a proper command room. I’d heard they’d set up a temporary command room underground in Tengushi.
That was also why Itsuka-kun had been examined in the basement.
"It’s pretty good. There are a few differences from [Fraxinus], so it’s not completely without inconveniences, but it won’t cause any major problems when it comes to supporting you and Shido."
"Well, that’s a relief."
Honestly, it felt like [Fraxinus]’s support had never really worked properly, but I kept that thought to myself.
If I said it out loud, the commander would chew me out.
"Haa.... Anyway, Akihabara, huh...."
The Saturday date Honjo-san had mentioned when we first met.
I’d heard the place was Akihabara, but I’d only said I’d work under her, so why had I ended up coming here....
-Then, boy! As a celebration for becoming my assistant, let’s go to Akihabara together this Saturday!
-Why does it turn into that...?
-Oh, come now! Don’t you know an assistant is basically a slave~?
-......
Well, that’s how it happened.
Because Honjo-san pushed that bizarrely convincing logic that an assistant is basically a slave, I was currently waiting for her in Akihabara.
"[Heeey, are you meeting another woman again....]"
"M-Maria?"
Maria’s displeased voice coming through the intercom stabbed straight into my heart.
I hadn’t expected Maria to be watching all of this too. If that was the case, did that mean everyone else was watching as well?
"It’s okay. I’m the only one watching. The others are all doing their own things."
"...Huh? Did I say that out loud?"
Had I spoken my thoughts out loud?
I didn’t think I had.
"No, you didn’t. It’s just that Hiki tends to show most of what he’s thinking on his face."
"...Is that so?"
I’d never really made any effort to manage my expressions, so I hadn’t realized my thoughts were showing on my face.
"No, Maria’s just being weird right now. How are you supposed to figure out what someone’s thinking just from a nervous expression?"
"...Wow."
Maybe Maria really did have some kind of mind-reading ability.
Or maybe she just knew my psychology too well.
"All right, enough small talk. It’s about time, so Hiki, focus on Nia."
"Got it."
Just like the commander said, when I checked the time, the appointed hour was drawing near.
And after a little more time passed—
"Yo, boy!"
Honjo-san appeared at Akihabara Station.
"Ah, hello."
"Good. You came fully prepared, right?"
"Yes, for the role of porter, you mean...."
Sure, it was called a date, but in reality my role was basically no different from a porter, so I sighed and nodded.
This body was a Dark Souls character, so my stamina was absurdly good. I probably wouldn’t get tired.
"All right, then we should get started, right?"
"...Started with what?"
At my question, Honjo-san smiled meaningfully, stepped forward, stretched both arms high into the air, and shouted,
"Akiba!! I’m back!!!"
Her voice hit the buildings and came back to her as an echo.
I wondered if it was kind of like shouting "Yoo-hoo!!" from the top of a mountain, but doing that in the middle of the city felt like a completely different kind of energy, so I couldn’t really make a good face about it.
"Whoa, isn’t that expression a little harsh?"
"...Anyway, you brought full gear?"
Ignoring Honjo-san’s attempt to act hurt, I looked over the equipment she’d brought.
A thick padded coat, a backpack that looked like it could hold a lot, a scarf, and even a suitcase.
The kind of stuff that would make anyone mistake her for a tourist on a trip. I couldn’t help wondering if she really needed to prepare this much.
‘Well, I guess she’s going shopping for manga-related stuff....’
Honjo-san had made a huge amount of money from Silver Bullet, and she was the type people would call a hardcore otaku.
And she’d even said she’d been held captive by those DEM bastards for five years, so there was no telling just how deep the otaku power accumulated inside her really was.
So it was easy to figure out that the amount of stuff Honjo-san was about to buy would fill both the backpack and the suitcase to the brim.
And the one who’d have to drag that suitcase around would be me, of course.
"From what I hear, she doesn’t seem like a combative spirit, but still, be careful."
"I will."
"Good. Let’s start our date."
With my eyes still on the suitcase, the commander gave me a warning and announced the start of the攻略.
But wait, was I supposed to say one of those damn choices again?
"[...] Hiki, it’s ③."
"Damn it...."
As expected, this cursed AI had not given me a normal choice.
"What’s wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Boy, your expression suddenly got really bad~"
Well, of course it did.
The damn choice was the kind that made me want to give up on the攻略 entirely.
Still, what could I do? If my superior told me to do it, I had to do it. That was the sorrow of being an employee.
"...No, seriously, I really have to say this!?"
I could do plenty of things, but saying something like that was impossible for someone like me who’d been raised in the Land of Courtesy!
"Hey, Hiki! Don’t shout like tha─!"
"Ah~ what, is it that? Advice from the [Ratatoskr] people?"
The commander tried to scold me, but Honjo-san already knew about [Ratatoskr], so what I said didn’t have much of an effect on her.
"...That’s right."
When I grimaced and nodded, Honjo-san suddenly threw an arm around my shoulders and looked in one direction.
Then she made a V with her fingers and said something that would definitely get under the commander’s skin.
"Yay~ yay~ Kotori-chan~! You watching~?"
She had figured out the location of every [Ratatoskr] camera, even the ones I didn’t know about.
She was really making full use of [Raziel]’s ability.
"[...] I’m watching. Very closely."
The commander’s tightly restrained voice, clearly irritated, came through the intercom and into my ears.
As if enjoying that reaction, Honjo-san only laughed with a little "hehe" and seemed to find it even more amusing.
As I watched that with a dead look, Honjo-san quietly whispered to me.
"So, boy, what was that advice just now that you wouldn’t say out loud?"
This woman really did want to hear it. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
Even though she could probably figure it out with [Raziel], she was asking anyway, which meant she wanted to hear it straight from my mouth. There was no one more malicious than this.
"...You really want to hear it?"
"Of course! I’m curious!"
"Haa...."
I really didn’t want to say it, but since the person involved wanted to know, I decided to grit my teeth and say it just once.
"I’ll say it only once, so listen carefully."
"Okay."
Someone else might be listening, so I lowered my voice and told her the choice I’d heard, so only Honjo-san could hear it.
"...It was, ‘My, what a suffocating outfit. Would you like me to take it off for you?’"
Yeah, this was exactly why I didn’t want to say it out loud.
How was I supposed to say something like that without dying of embarrassment?
"Pffft—hahahahaha!!! They really made you say that?"
"Y-Yes...."
Honjo-san burst out laughing, and I covered my reddening face with both hands and sank down in place from the overwhelming shame.
I couldn’t lift my head at all.
"Hiki, stop crouching there and stand up. What are you doing?"
That bastard commander was talking like this had nothing to do with her.
"[I think it’s fine....]"
Maria was saying something too, but her voice was too small to hear clearly, probably because she was speaking from far away.
"Haha, boy. You’re really too embarrassed, aren’t you? This is different from when I pinned you down with my chest last time~?"
As I sat there cooling off, Honjo-san grinned and teased me.
I didn’t care about anything else. I just wanted to punch her once.
"C-chest...!"
"Don’t say things that’ll make people misunderstand...! And how am I supposed to not be embarrassed after hearing something like that?"
"Well, I guess that’s true!"
Fortunately, Honjo-san seemed satisfied with teasing me once and didn’t keep going. She just laughed.
"All right, then let’s go!"
She grabbed my arm and pulled me up, urging me to get moving, and I slowly stood up and said,
"Yes...."
"Let’s go!"
And so our date that wasn’t a date began.
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