Vol. 7 Chapter 4 – I’ll Make It Stand
by PinkPantherWhat is this impulse welling up from the very depths of my soul?
Is it pain?
No.
It is craving.
An unceasing, maddening desire. A need. A wish.
An ideal existence I had thought would never appear before me, something I had believed was nothing more than a dream.
Should I keep it hidden?
Perhaps that is what I would normally do.
But how strange.
Right now, I feel terribly free, as if every shackle has fallen away.
Yes, exactly. As my wish desires, as my longing demands, as my soul commands.
All I have to do is search.
※ ※ ※
“Everyone, may I have your attention?”
Lunch break. Kyuru, who had barged into Class 2-B, looked around at Ryousuke and the others.
“I tried organizing the days of the week when the pervert woman incidents occurred. The first time Ohira-san was attacked was Tuesday of the week before last. Next was Thursday. Tamano-senpai was attacked on Tuesday, and then last Thursday, another victim appeared as well.”
Kyuru placed down the paper she had listed everything on.
“In other words, the pervert woman has not appeared on any days other than Tuesday and Thursday.”
“True…but if all we know is Tuesday and Thursday, that does not really give us anything to go on, does it?”
At Lisara’s question, Kyuru shook her head.
“That is not necessarily true. After all, we know one event that happens only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“Was there really an event that only happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays?”
“Ah…could it be the cultural festival executive committee?”
Mina clapped her hands in front of her chest.
“Exactly.”
“Hold on. That happens almost every day, doesn’t it?”
Ryousuke had no idea what Kyuru was trying to say. Lisara, however, seemed to understand, and voiced a question based on that understanding.
“Kyuru, are you talking about Alkalea? But if that is the case…”
“I cannot find any connection between panties and a prince, but I believe we should consider the possibility high.”
“…Hey, like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ah, neither do I.”
Raifan agreed with Ryousuke’s protest.
“Well, I suppose there is no helping it in Raifan-san’s case. But Ryousuke-san, I would really like you to start noticing these things by now.”
A wry smile appeared on Kyuru’s face.
But Ryousuke still had no idea and Kyuru let out a small sigh.
“Listen carefully. Igarashi-senpai, the chairwoman of the cultural festival executive committee, reports to the advisor on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And that advisor is none other than Alkalea, you know?”
“I see…………………huh?”
Ryousuke’s mouth hung open in blank surprise.
“Kyuru, don’t tell me you think Igarashi-senpai is the pervert woman.”
“I do believe the possibility is high.”
“No, no, no.”
Ignoring Ryousuke as he denied it, Kyuru looked at Raifan.
“Raifan-san, it is fine if you only answer what you can, but have you received any instructions concerning Igarashi-senpai?”
“There is no『what I can answer』or anything like that. Lately, I have not received any instructions at all.”
Raifan answered with a self-mocking air.
At that answer, Kyuru fell into thought for a moment, then turned to Lisara and grinned.
“W-What?”
“There is something I would like to try on Tuesday, in other words, after school tomorrow. For that, I absolutely need your power, Lisara-oneesama. Since Igarashi-senpai, who may be an 《Irregular》, might be involved, naturally, Onee-sama will cooperate fully with me, won’t you?”
Though confused, Lisara ended up giving a small nod.
※ ※ ※
“Could you explain this to me one more time?”
Lisara, who had come out of the girls’ restroom, glared at Kyuru without even trying to hide her displeasure. Kyuru calmly brushed off that thorny gaze and smiled.
“But yesterday during lunch break, you said you would cooperate fully, didn’t you?”
“Even so, why do I have to dress as a boy?!”
On Tuesday after school, Kyuru had smiled cheerfully and without giving Lisara any room to argue, forced a Momozono Academy boys’ uniform on her, apparently one she had created with a spell formula.
“But Lisara, it really suits you.”
Mina praised her, as if trying to smooth things over.
Just as Mina said, Lisara’s cross-dressing really looked perfect on her, and if the female students saw her, there was no doubt they would let out shrill squeals of excitement.
She had a slender, beautiful silhouette, and just as expected, her chest was flat enough to pass.
Her legs, which already looked plenty long when she wore a skirt, looked even longer in trousers.
She was far from manly but as cross-dressing went, it was perfect.
“…If you need someone dressed as a boy, Raifan is already here, isn’t he?”
Raifan, receiving Lisara’s gaze, simply shrugged and said,『Who knows?』
“That is because the same student has never been attacked twice.”
“So what?”
Lisara glared at Kyuru.
“I want you to stay close to Igarashi-senpai, Lisara-oneesama. If nothing happens, then that is fine. But if Igarashi-senpai is the culprit, then she should attack the unfamiliar male student closest at hand, in other words, you, Lisara-oneesama.”
“Listen, do you really think I won’t be found out just because I’m dressed as a boy?”
Lisara let out a sigh.
“Here, glasses.”
Kyuru handed her a pair of fake glasses.
“H-Hey, come on.”
“It will be fine. These have a disguise spell formula cast on them, so they can shift the other person’s recognition.”
“………………That sounds suspicious.”
“Now, now, don’t say that.”
At Kyuru’s urging, Lisara reluctantly put on the glasses.
Lisara was standing right there. So Ryousuke said honestly,
“Hey, Lisara is still Lisara.”
“Of course she is. We know that Lisara-oneesama put them on, after all. They are only a support, just support.”
“…Ugh, you’re really telling me I have to do this no matter what?”
Lisara groaned while adjusting the position of her glasses. Kyuru pressed her even further.
“Of course. This will help with the search for the 《Irregular》, and it will help with the search for the pervert woman as well. A responsible person like Oneesama is the most suitable for the role.”
“…………F-Fine, I get it! I just have to do it, right?!”
Half in desperation, Lisara shouted, then strode off toward the faculty room with long steps.
Indeed, if things were going as usual, the cultural festival executive committee meeting should be ending around now, and it would be time for Igarashi to go report to Alkalea in the faculty room.
“Okay then, we’ll also-”
Ryousuke tried to follow after Lisara, but Kyuru grabbed him by the sleeve.
“What?”
“You must not. The pervert woman has only attacked when her target was alone.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Tamano-senpai and the others apparently tried to catch the pervert woman through teamwork and see her panties, but every attempt failed, and they were targeted when they were alone.”
“Hmm. So she’s pretty sensitive to people’s presence.”
Raifan whistled along with his words of admiration.
“Which means we can’t stay by Lisara’s side, huh?”
Ryousuke stared intently at Lisara’s back as she walked away.
“I do not think Oneesama would make such a careless mistake. And besides…”
Kyuru trailed off, and Mina questioned her.
“Kyuru-chan, besides what?”
“…Besides, if she gets attacked, then that proves Igarashi-senpai is the culprit. After all, she does not attack when there are other people nearby. And yet, if Oneesama, who is staying beside Igarashi-senpai, gets attacked, then that means Igarashi-senpai is the pervert woman.”
“I see. I suppose the reasoning does make sense, more or less.”
As Raifan accepted it, Ryousuke shot him an accusing look, then pressed closer to Kyuru.
“You know, that makes it sound like Lisara is bait.”
“How rude. Even I expect Oneesama to catch the pervert woman, you know. I am only saying that even in the unlikely event she falls behind, there will be no problem.”
“………………I get it.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s think of another method. I’m going to Lisara.”
“W-Wait, Ryousuke-san!”
Kyuru clung to Ryousuke’s arm as he started walking.
“I don’t really know why, but something about this feels, you know.”
“What do you mean?!”
“I just can’t accept someone else seeing her panties!”
Ryousuke declared that firmly and proudly, then shook Kyuru off and broke into a run.
※ ※ ※
“…It looks like they’re just talking normally.”
In the hallway in front of the faculty room, Lisara was quietly peeking inside. Beside Ranbashi and Malbec, who were deep in conversation, Igarashi was talking about something with Alkalea.
But from the look of things, they seemed like nothing more than an ordinary student and teacher.
“Well, if you ask whether Alkalea looks like a teacher, that would be a lie, though.”
Lisara gave a wry smile at her own words.
Just then, Alkalea moved a little closer to Igarashi.
“…?”
Lisara stared closely at what was happening, but it seemed Alkalea had only lightly flicked Igarashi on the forehead.
“To flick that Igarashi-senpai…I wonder if there was some mistake in the report?”
As she was thinking that, it seemed that the conversation itself had ended with that flick. Igarashi came out of the faculty room at a slightly hurried pace.
Lisara quietly followed after her.
“What is she… in such a hurry for?”
※ ※ ※
“Excuse me, do you have a moment?”
Entering the faculty room, Ryousuke called out to Ranbashi.
“…Oh, Ryousuke-kun. What is it?”
When Ranbashi, whose physique was about the same as an elementary schooler’s, sat in a chair, she really did look tiny. It almost made him feel like he should crouch down to listen to her.
“I want to know where Alkalea-sensei next to you went.”
“Huh… Ah, aaah, Ryousuke-kun, you’re on the cultural festival executive committee, aren’t you?”
Ranbashi came to that conclusion on her own.
“But, hmm, I wonder where she went. Malbec-san, do you know?”
“Huh…Hmm, she left a little while ago… Ah, right, right, was it Igarashi-san? That girl from the tea ceremony club. I think after that girl left, she went out after her.”
Malbec spoke while slowly piecing her memory together, then quietly moved closer to Ryousuke.
“Did something happen?”
The face with which she asked that was the face of a Shinigami from Melro Life Insurance.
“…I don’t think it’s anything Iria would get angry about even if you didn’t know.”
When Ryousuke answered, Malbec returned to Ranbashi’s side and started talking about tonight’s bar. Her face had completely become that of a useless working adult.
***
“How was it?”
As Ryousuke came out of the faculty room, Mina was the first to run up to him.
“Kyuru’s guess might be right.”
Ryousuke answered that, then turned his face toward Kyuru.
“Kyuru, where’s Caesar?”
“I left him with the guard during lunch break. As far as I was concerned, I had a feeling something was going to happen today.”
That was Kyuru, always shrewd.
“In that case, Caesar’s nose will let us catch up with everyone’s trail.”
No sooner had she said that than Kyuru broke into a run.
Ryousuke also started walking in the opposite direction from the way he had come, and called out to Raifan, who had followed him.
“Raifan. You should probably stay here.”
“Why?”
Raifan smiled faintly.
“What do you mean, why…You can’t exactly get in Alkalea’s way, can you?”
“I wonder. I haven’t been told anything. In that case, maybe I can somehow pass it off as an unfortunate encounter that happened while I was independently investigating Igarashi-senpai.”
“Are you really okay with that?”
“I am. I’m an outsider anyway. Besides, if even you all leave me out here, I’ll be so shocked I may never recover.”
“…Don’t complain later, okay?”
As Ryousuke made sure of that, Raifan smiled mischievously.
“But I believe you’ll help me when I’m in trouble. After all, despite how I look, I’m a girl.”
At that answer, Ryousuke was taken aback for an instant, then smiled wryly.
“Don’t take advantage of people’s weaknesses, damn it.”
He said that, but he could not deny it either. Mina smiled at Ryousuke.
“At this rate, Ryousuke-kun, you’ll end up having to save every girl in the world someday.”
“Well, I’d be happy with that, too.”
Ryousuke, not realizing Mina was joking, gave a completely serious answer.
“──────!”
He felt like he had heard something.
“Just now, didn’t you hear Lisara’s voice? No, her scream?”
At Ryousuke’s question, Mina and Raifan looked at each other, then tilted their heads slightly.
“I didn’t hear anything, though…”
“Yeah, I didn’t hear anything either. Maybe you imagined it?”
The two of them denied it one after another. But Ryousuke just could not accept that. It was not that he felt like he had heard it. He had heard it.
“…Ah, I see.”
Pon. Ryousuke struck his right fist vertically against his left palm, then smiled in satisfaction.
“Ryousuke-kun?”
To Mina, who looked puzzled, Ryousuke declared,
“My bad. There was no need to ask Mina every single time. Because I heard it.”
He did not wait for Mina’s reply anymore.
Leaving the dumbfounded Mina and Raifan behind, Ryousuke broke into a run.
Of course, he did not really know where he was going. He only had a vague sense that Lisara had probably headed this way.
But whether it was because of 《Gram》 stuck in his soul, or simply his intuition, there was no mistake in the direction he was running.
Ryousuke was certain of that.
“《Gram》, you think so too, right?”
He called out to 《Gram》, whose voice he had barely been able to hear lately because it had been sealed by 《Gleipnir》.
Dokun.
It felt as if 《Gram》, embedded deep in his soul, in his very life force, had trembled.
That was more than enough encouragement to sweep away the faint unease still remaining in Ryousuke.
Though, since 《Gleipnir》 existed to seal 《Gram》’s movement, if what had just happened was real, Kyuru and the others would probably turn pale.
“…Kuh.”
While other students looked at him strangely, he ran up the stairs.
His side was about to start hurting soon…
That was when it happened.
Ryousuke heard it clearly.
“Heyyyyyyyyy!”
There was no mistaking it. That was Lisara’s scream.
“Is it here?!”
Grabbing the door of an unused classroom, Ryousuke leapt inside.
“…No one’s here?”
There was nobody inside. Only the madder-red light of the sun, which was beginning to sink, streamed in.
“No, but I’m sure I…”
He strained his ears, but he could not hear anything.
He looked inside the teacher’s desk, but no one was there. No one was behind the curtains either.
“Was I mistaken? Was it just an auditory hallucination…?”
“Not necessarily.”
Kyuru’s voice rang out behind Ryousuke’s back. When he turned around, Kyuru, leading Caesar, along with Mina and Raifan, were just entering the classroom.
“I had Caesar follow the trail. Honestly, running off on your own like that, Ryousuke-san, haven’t you started becoming like Lisara-oneesama lately?”
Kyuru gently stroked Caesar’s head.
“Wan!”
Caesar barked once, then began sniffing the floor, his nose twitching with kun-kun.
“He says Lisara-oneesama’s scent is in this classroom too.”
“Huh?”
“Wan! (Wait a second.)”
Caesar barked with his nose still close to the floor.
“Fun… Funfun…”
Near the blackboard, Caesar came to a sudden stop and lifted his head. Then, without wavering in the slightest, he stared at a single point in empty space and barked, his mouth twisting into a fierce, savage snarl.
“Vuuuuuuuu, voooooon!”
At that moment,
“Tch!”
A tongue click rang out, and at the same time, the classroom entrance opened unnoticed, and loud footsteps retreated. Raifan stared intently in that direction.
“A-A ghost?!”
Mina cried out in a frightened voice, and Kyuru answered with a slightly serious expression.
“No. Though it was simple, it seems a barrier had been set up to deceive other people’s eyes.”
“So the one who just ran away was the pervert woman?”
“Wan! (No, aside from Lisara, it seems someone else is still here.)”
Caesar answered Ryousuke’s question.
“In any case, we will know once I dispel the barrier. Hmm, for something of this level, one word should be enough…”
Kyuru, who had been examining the barrier, thrust out her palm and chanted.
“《Birth》”
The space became hazy, as if mist had spread through it, and after about two seconds, it cleared.
Lisara, unconscious, was lying face down with her butt facing Ryousuke and the others.
And at that butt, or rather, at her trousers, the pervert woman had her hands placed on them. It was a situation where she looked as though she might pull them off at any moment and expose her panties completely.
However, only the pervert woman’s back was visible. Her build certainly did resemble Igarashi’s very closely.
But the atmosphere she wore was the complete opposite of the pure and quiet Igarashi. It was rough, fierce, and beast-like.
“Wrong… Or is that really Igarashi-senpai herself?”
“More importantly, saving Lisara comes first.”
Pushing Kyuru aside, Ryousuke stepped forward, and then he slammed into something.
“O-Ow…”
He put his hands out in front of him. There was definitely an invisible wall there.
“Hey, Kyuru!”
“Huh? Wait, but, hmm, that’s strange. There is no way that failed to dispel it just now…”
“If Alkalea put up this barrier, then breaking it through orthodox methods might be difficult.”
Raifan stood beside Kyuru and began touching the barrier.
“What do you mean?”
“That wild bull is bad at spell formulas. Because of that, she has strange habits.”
“Do you mean the spell formula is wrong here and there?”
“Right. That’s why they often don’t activate, and even if they do activate, they have holes or end up half-finished.”
“Analyzing something full of mistakes like that is the most troublesome kind.”
Kyuru pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
But while they were doing that, Lisara’s panties were about to be exposed by the pervert woman at any moment. The instant Ryousuke thought that, he shouted without realizing it.
“《Gleipnir》!”
The bracelet 《Gleipnir》 fitted on Ryousuke’s right hand, the 《Gleipnir》 that should have required extreme concentration, activated smoothly. It began changing shape while releasing the spiritual energy it had already stored up.
《Gleipnir》 coiled like a snake and raised its head. After swaying once, it suddenly began wrapping itself around Ryousuke’s right arm.
It crawled up to his shoulder, winding around him tightly without leaving a single gap.
It was almost like armor.
Then, at the end of his arm, countless tiny snakes were born, wrapping around and covering him all the way to the fingertips of his right hand.
By the time he realized it, everything below Ryousuke’s right shoulder was covered in a black sheen, making it look as if he had equipped a suit of Western armor.
His fist was enormous, like that of a giant.
Raising that fist, Ryousuke shouted. Right in front of him, the pervert woman was in the middle of pulling down Lisara’s trousers.
“Those, Lisara’s panties, are mine! A barrier or whatever, I’ll keep punching it until it breaks!”
He slammed his fist into it with all his might. Then, with a parin, like the sound of glass shattering, cracks ran through the space, and the barrier was smashed apart with ease.
Yes, with ease.
Because it broke far too easily, Ryousuke, who had been fired up to hit it over and over again, pitched forward and fell.
The pervert woman sensed Ryousuke falling toward her and dodged lightly.
“Whoa!?”
Flailing both arms, Ryousuke fell over with all his strength.
Whether from human instinct or not, he ended up grabbing the thing right in front of him without thinking.
Yes, that was Lisara’s trousers.
Zurun.
Beri.
Those sounds rang out.
The first one to open her mouth was the pervert woman.
“There’s no rod attached. Not a boy… And yet they were women’s panties.”
After saying that in a growling voice, she broke into a run with light footsteps. Ryousuke could see Mina and Raifan hurriedly chasing after her.
He should chase after her too. Thinking that, Ryousuke tried to stand up, only to see what his right hand was gripping.
“…What is this?”
What was there was a scrap of red cloth.
“Did I… tear this off?”
When he stared at it, he saw things like lace embroidery worked into it.
“Hmm.”
Unable to understand the situation at all, Ryousuke lifted his face.
First, he saw the trousers of the boys’ uniform Lisara was wearing. However, they had slipped down to the middle of her thighs.
“Nuoh!”
Between her legs, which were spread about shoulder-width apart, the trousers were stretched left and right. Naturally, above them were her thighs. White, smooth, silky thighs.
“Hooh…”
A happy sigh slipped from Ryousuke’s mouth without him meaning to.
Lisara’s thighs seen up close were, as expected, wonderful. Smooth, without a single stray hair, with a porcelain-like luster, and yet moist enough that they looked as if they would cling softly. Above all, they had no sense of unnecessary fat, but they were not hardened by muscle either. They held proper, girlish softness in their gentle curves.
Of course, Ryousuke had seen those thighs up close several times before.
However, today, at this moment, he was seeing them from behind. Not from the front, but from the direction of her butt, he was beholding her thighs.
The front is healthy.
But the back always carries an unhealthy scent.
DVDs are the same.
The soles of the feet are the same.
Even with the neck, the nape somehow feels more erotic than the front.
Even with thighs, the back is somehow better than the front, the underside better than the surface.
‘Aah, so when she’s wearing a skirt, the backs of these thighs are always pressed against the chair. Clinging tightly to the chair. Damn you, chair…’
Just as he was struck by that strange jealousy he did not really understand, Ryousuke suddenly noticed something flickering and drifting within his field of vision.
Rather than a scrap of cloth, it was basically thread now.
From the ripped-up red cloth, red threads dangled.
‘..Hm?’
He compared them with the red scrap of cloth he was holding. They were the same.
No matter how he thought about it, her panties had been torn and were dangling!
“…”
Ryousuke hurriedly tried to close his eyes. After all, if her panties were torn, then the maiden’s garden that should lie beyond them might become visible. That was a secret paradise he must never look at without permission.
How should he put it? He should not be allowed to see that part of Lisara on his own.
So he tried to close his eyes.
But a tenth of a second too soon, Ryousuke’s eyes reflected a meadow of red threads fluttering.
“…Huh?”
That was fundamentally different from threads dangling from red panties. Just looking at it held a power that filled his heart and made his blood surge.
Also, it was a little curly.
“Ah… Aah…”
As if being guided, as if this action had been programmed into him since before he was born, Ryousuke naturally reached out with his left hand.
His fingertip touched the red, curly thread.
“Ah.”
He heard a voice let out a somehow alluring breath.
His heart stirred strangely.
He wanted it.
He wanted that red thread unbearably.
Ryousuke grasped the thread he had touched between his thumb and index finger, then pulled.
Puchin.
He felt like he heard such a sound.
And at the same time…
“Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!”
An ear-piercing scream rang out. At a volume that seemed like it would rupture his eardrums, Ryousuke’s brain was shaken.
“Mogah!?”
All of a sudden, flesh pressed in close before Ryousuke’s eyes, crushing his face. The momentum did not die down at all, and then…
Gosun.
With no guard up whatsoever, Ryousuke slammed the back of his head hard against the floor.
“…!?”
But even when he tried to lift his head, he could not.
No, in the first place, he could not see anything.
All he could feel was warmth and a wriggling sensation.
“M-Moga.”
“Hyan!?”
Ryousuke shook his face, and in that instant, Lisara’s startled voice rang out.
“Guh… ugu-gugu.”
More than anything, he wanted air. He opened his mouth and desperately sucked in a breath.
“Fuaaaaan!?”
It was Lisara’s voice again.
‘…C-Could it be that what’s on top of me is her butt?’
This thing clinging to his face was her butt. This pressure was fleshy pressure, no, butt pressure.
“O-O-Oooooooooh!”
Shouting, Ryousuke grabbed Lisara’s butt. He lifted it once, then yelled.
“More, more hip press, come on!”
“Huh, w-wait, hold on!?”
Ignoring the bewildered Lisara, he brought that butt crashing down onto his own face all at once.
“Goooooooh!”
The pressure of this butt was irresistible. The feeling of being sandwiched between her butt and the floor was irresistible.
‘I’m being stepped on by a butt right now!!’
He was moved.
The soles of feet were good too.
Heels were good too.
But if a man was born a man, then once, just once, he wanted to be stepped on by a butt. He wanted to be buried in a butt!
Wasn’t thinking that way simply what men were as living creatures?
‘Heheh, I can even feel the texture of her panties… Hm?’
Come to think of it, due to an accidental mishap, Ryousuke had ended up tearing her panties. Also, a red string had been flickering into view.
Ryousuke closed his eyes, then once again lifted Lisara’s butt with the power of 《Gleipnir》.
“Can I say one thing?”
“W-What?”
“Due to what was truly, truly an unfortunate accident, I had torn Lisara’s panties.”
“…………”
For a while, Lisara sank into thought. Then a scream rose up.
“N-No waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”
Lisara’s hands slipped in between Ryousuke’s face and her butt.
While watching that sight, Ryousuke thought.
“Which means, which means…What I pulled earlier, what I yanked just now was…maybe Lisara’s that hair?”
Ryousuke glanced at the red thread he was still pinching, then quietly put it into his pocket.
There was no answer to that question. Lisara simply began to slowly move away while still kneeling.
“H-Hey.”
Ryousuke opened his eyes. Just then, Lisara was passing over Ryousuke’s waist while holding down the crotch area where her panties had been torn.
It was almost as if she were straddling him.
More than anything, it was the rear view of a beautiful girl with her butt fully exposed, covering her important place with her hands. And she was on top of his waist.
It was just as though he was being straddled.
Like what people commonly call the cowgirl position.
It was unbearable, unbearably provocative.
Dokun. His soul trembled. His wild instincts began to well up.
However, that was all.
And then Ryousuke… cried.
“Eh, w-wait, hold on. I’m the one who wants to cry here, though!”
Lisara, who had finally pulled her pants back on, no panties, looked bewildered.
“Because, because…”
“Because what?”
“It won’t get haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I, my heart, my soul, is excited and ready for battle, but it won’t react at all, not even a tiny bit! It won’t budge! Do you understand? In my head, I want to do something erotic, but my, my body is rejecting it! For 《Gleipnir》’s spiritual energy to be completely empty right when such a wonderful incident happens, has the god of eros abandoned meeeeeee?!”
Step by step, Lisara moved away from Ryousuke.
“The fact that I was put through something embarrassing hasn’t changed, though…”
Lisara let out a deep sigh.『Haaaaaaah.』
“Uu, sniff… To think I can’t even get hard whenever I want… My, my worth as a man is…”
“Honestly, no one judges a boy’s worth by something like that.”
“What, then what?”
“What?”
“Are you saying that when it really matters, Lisara, you’d be fine even if I couldn’t get hard!?”
“Wha…”
Lisara was at a loss for words.
“Well!?”
“H-How am I supposed to answer that? I mean, sure, that would be a problem, but… Hm?”
Lisara cut herself off, suddenly closed her eyes and sank into thought. Then she immediately opened her eyes and shouted.
“Why are you making it sound like having sex with you is already a given!?”
“No, it just slipped out.”
“『Just slipped out』you say? Listen here!”
“I’m telling you, it was a figure of speech.”
“…Hmph. Let’s go, Ryousuke!”
Lisara turned her face away and started walking. However, the tips of her ears that could be glimpsed now and then with each step were definitely red.
※ ※ ※
“This is what they mean by『piles of corpses』huh?”
Lisara’s face twitched as she walked down the hallway. After all, male students with their underwear fully exposed were lying all over the corridor.
It looked like someone had gone after them indiscriminately.
“No matter how you look at it, this isn’t normal. I can only think that they’re running wild.”
“Lisara.”
“What is it, Ryousuke?”
“She’s a perverted woman who makes guys’ underwear show completely, so she was never normal to begin with.”
Ryousuke had meant it as a calm retort, but Lisara got angry at him.
“That’s not what I mean. The perverted woman up until now may have been a deviant, but she was carefully acting so other people wouldn’t see her, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But look. Just in this straight hallway alone, four people have become victims. No matter how you think about it, this wasn’t done in hiding. She’s forgotten about concealing herself and is moving purely according to her urges, isn’t she?”
“I see… So she’s awakened from a perverted woman into a Great Perverted Woman.”
“W-Well, something like that.”
Lisara nodded, but there seemed to be something about it she could not quite accept. She kept tilting her head.
“Hm!?”
A man came into Ryousuke’s field of vision.
It was almost time to go home, and in the hallway there were only victims lying around with their underwear fully exposed. Among them, there was one man groaning.
Only that man was lying flipped over on his back.
His arms and legs were stretched out spread-eagle, and for some reason, a wig was covering his crotch.
“Ohira!?”
Calling his best friend’s name, Ryousuke rushed over to him.
“Ah… haaaaaaaaaaah♥”
Ohira let out a pink-colored sigh. Honestly, it was gross.
“What’s going on? She shouldn’t attack the same person twice, right?”
Lisara, who had rushed over too, stood behind Ryousuke. Maybe she also found it gross, because she did not try to get any closer than that.
“You’re the one who said she’s running wild, right? It wouldn’t be strange if she attacked him twice…”
“N-No…”
Ohira interrupted Ryousuke’s words.
“Ohira?”
“I…I disguised myself. To clear away the humiliation from that time.”
“So that’s why the wig…”
Ryousuke looked at the wig covering Ohira’s crotch. It was a long blond wig, and even if Ohira wore it, it would probably only look like a cheap costume.
Or so he thought, but beside it there was even a disguise item, a tall nose that looked foreign. With his right hand, from which he had already released 《Gleipnir》, Ryousuke grabbed the tall nose and showed it to Lisara.
“…I can only think he’s mistaken cosplay for disguise.”
Ryousuke agreed with Lisara’s wry smile.
“W-Well, putting aside the fact that your disguise worked, you still ended up getting stripped, didn’t you?”
At Ryousuke’s question, Ohira grinned, shakily raised his right hand, and gave a thumbs-up.
“The perverted woman ran away. My underwear wasn’t seen… In other words, it’s my win.”
“No, but…”
No matter how he looked at it, his pants had been pulled down more than halfway. It was only that the wig was covering his crotch.
“Heh… From the start, I wasn’t wearing any underwear.”
“Huh?”
“Tamano-senpai, tss… Tamano-senpai and the others were using my humiliation to try to peek at the perverted woman-sama’s panties.. Kuh… I didn’t like that. That’s why I… With my own hands, I decided to clear away my humiliation and w-win…”
“So you went without underwear… and launched a do-or-die strategy?”
“Y-Yeah… By exposing everything, I won… Kuh.”
Ohira’s face twisted in pain.
“Ohira…But the perverted woman is unexpectedly innocent too. To run away just from seeing it fully exposed.”
“Heh… Don’t underestimate me.”
“Huh?”
“To be seen without underwear. To have the perverted woman-sama see me…Kuh… Just thinking that made me erect already… S-So the perverted woman-sama saw the gallant figure of my elephant going paoon, and r-ran away… Heh, heheh. This time, I properly showed off my manhood… yeah.”
Ohira smiled proudly, and Ryousuke fell silent. As for Lisara, she was openly making an『uweeeh』face.
“The moment I was stripped, the perverted woman-sama screamed and ran away… yeah…”
“W-Wait a second. Well, I get it. If she was suddenly shown yours, then yeah, I’d sympathize with the perverted woman… But then why are you collapsed?”
“She kicked me.”
“Huh?”
“While I was still in full paoon mode, the perverted woman-sama kicked me up with all her might…The pleasure and the pain are making me feel like I’m going to die.”
Ryousuke and Lisara abandoned the trembling Ohira.
“Hey, are you sure it’s okay for that to be your best friend?”
“W-Well, he’s actually pretty…”
Answering like that, they climbed the stairs while chasing after the perverted woman, then both came to a stop.
At the end of the hallway, one student had been cornered. Naturally, the one cornering him was, even without carefully looking at her back, clearly the perverted woman from the aura she gave off.
And more than anything, in front of them were Kyuru and the others facing off against Alkalea.
“Alkalea, what are you intending to do?”
At Raifan’s question, Alkalea, dressed in a tracksuit, grinned and rubbed her chin.
“That’s my line, Raifan. What are you doing together with that little lady from the Zeria family?”
At Alkalea’s words, Raifan flinched.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s more like it. In the end, someone like you is nothing more than a number-filler for us 《Four Lightning Axes》.”
Alkalea began walking forward with long strides.
“Come on, move.”
She grabbed Raifan by the shoulder and shoved her toward the wall. Raifan hung her head weakly and let it happen.
Kyuru glanced at Raifan, then stood in front of Mina together with Caesar and looked up at Alkalea.
“Hee, so no matter what, you’re trying to get in the perverted woman’s way, huh?”
Alkalea cracked her fists. Kyuru laughed her off without showing the slightest fear.
“Is that really all right? Even if only temporarily, you are a P.E. teacher. Hitting a student and all. I’ve heard the world is rather noisy about corporal punishment these days.”
“…”
Alkalea stopped walking and fell silent.
“You went to the trouble of infiltrating this place, after all. If you were dismissed as a P.E. teacher over something like this, wouldn’t that cause all sorts of problems?”
Kyuru pointed sharply at Alkalea.
“!”
Alkalea’s eyebrows shot up.
Kyuru was thrown off by that reaction. She had only been trying to anger Alkalea. By doing so, she had hoped to rob her of her calm judgment.
That was why this reaction had gone completely beyond the range of Kyuru’s expectations.
Because she was smiling.
On Alkalea’s face was a savage smile, like a starving wolf that had found its prey.
On top of that, she began laughing like she was letting out a war cry.
“Fufu, fufu, fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Alkalea started walking.
The existence of Kyuru, who was right in front of her, no longer even entered her eyes. If they had collided, she surely would have knocked Kyuru down just like that and trampled over her.
“What would you do if I got hurt!”
Kyuru, who somehow escaped danger when Caesar pulled on her sleeve, glared at Alkalea’s back, and then…
“Ah… Ah, aah, I see. I suppose I should say you’re late.”
At the figures beyond her, she smiled wryly.
“My bad.”
Ryousuke answered. When Kyuru heard Ryousuke’s reply, she smiled softly and turned her back on Alkalea together with Caesar.
Alkalea did not notice Kyuru’s actions at all and happily planted herself in front of Ryousuke and Lisara.
“Given the situation, I’d say there won’t be any punishment even if we fight.”
“I don’t have any business with you. Could you move?”
“But I’ve got business with you. At that beach, you really did make a fool of me.”
That referred to what had happened at the beach Tamano had taken them to.
Alkalea, who had come to investigate whether Tamano was an 《Irregular》 or not, was caught up in a rockslide caused by Ryousuke and was defeated. What’s more, despite having been able to finish her off, Ryousuke had ended up saving her instead.
“I haven’t forgotten that humiliation!”
Don! Alkalea stepped forward.
“Ohira’s better than you.”
“Hah?”
“To clear away his own humiliation, that guy exposed everything precious to him and fought the perverted woman over there. That’s right, without any connection to Tamano-senpai and the others running wild, all with his own strength!”
Ryousuke slammed Ohira’s spirit straight into Alkalea. Though behind him, Lisara muttered,『Was it really anything that impressive…?』but he ignored that for now.
“If you had the time to turn an innocent woman into a perverted woman and cause this whole uproar, you should have just challenged me honestly!”
At those words, Alkalea froze for several seconds.
“Ha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Then she burst out laughing loudly.
“What are you misunderstanding? My mission is simply to let the perverted woman do whatever she wants. And then you, Kaga Ryousuke, came here for me. You came to interfere anyway, didn’t you? In that case, I can defeat you during the mission, can’t I? Fufufu, it’s exactly what they call killing two birds with one stone. I’m so happy I can hardly stand it!”
“Are you sane? If you fight us here, you’ll definitely become a wanted person in the human world.”
Lisara glared at Alkalea with a provocative gaze.
“That’s a strange thing to say. Lisara Restall, aren’t you also someone who has infiltrated this place? And what’s more, you’re hiding the existence of the 《Irregular》 from the other Shinigami organizations.”
“And?”
With an utterly composed expression, Lisara urged her to continue.
“…That’s why! You people don’t want it known that you’ve infiltrated this academy either, right? I can’t imagine you’d be able to go tattling about my existence to the other organizations.”
“Yeah. Well, your logic holds together.”
Lisara spoke with a completely condescending air.
“It’s true that the Restall family is hiding the information that an 《Irregular》 will appear at Momozono Academy. But the information itself, that an 《Irregular》 will soon appear somewhere, and that 《Týr Hagal, the Hail of the Thunder God》 is pursuing it, has already spread throughout the Shinigami world. That’s exactly why we absolutely cannot spread the information that you, one of the executives of 《Týr Hagal, the Hail of the Thunder God》, are here.”
Lisara explained in detail, as though supplementing a student’s answer. Then she glared at Alkalea with a piercing look.
“And how exactly does that concern you?”
“H-How, you ask…”
“It’s true that for the Restall family, having word get out that 《Týr Hagal, the Hail of the Thunder God》 is at Momozono Academy would be undesirable. But that’s all it is, undesirable. If you rampage here, you won’t be able to remain at this academy anymore. In other words, you won’t be able to search for the 《Irregular》. Understand? The card you’re holding is far weaker.”
“Guh… Damn it.”
Alkalea groaned. Lisara, who was shorter than Alkalea, completely looked down on her and stepped closer.
“Move.”
Those words carried the domineering force possessed only by one raised as the young lady of a quasi-royal family of the Shinigami world, in other words, as a princess.
As though overwhelmed by that pressure, Alkalea stepped aside.
“Let’s go, Ryousuke.”
“Y-Yeah.”
Ryousuke followed Lisara’s back, walking almost like a servant.
‘What is this sense of relief…? Ah, right. This kind of obedient role really does suit me, huh…’
Ryousuke thought that carefree thought.
“Now then, I think it’s about time you showed us your face. Perverted woman-san.”
Lisara approached the perverted woman, who was being held back by Kyuru and Caesar, yet still had her hands on the poor boy’s pants.
Meanwhile, Ryousuke looked at the face of the pitiful victim.
“Ah, isn’t that Sugira-senpai?”
It was one of Momozono Academy’s Eight Weirdoes, the third-year known as 《Number Sixty-Nine》, Sugira, who scored sixty-nine points on tests at any time and under any circumstances.
Because his bangs were hanging down, his expression was hard to read, but although he seemed confused, Ryousuke felt like he was not trying all that hard to escape.
“I see… Yeah, that makes sense. Sugira-senpai is a pervert too, so he probably wants to experience having his pants pulled down at least once.”
As Ryousuke reached that strange understanding, Sugira shook his head side to side.
“Whatever! Anyway, right now we’re going to confirm the perverted woman’s true identity.”
Lisara turned the perverted woman’s face toward her, somewhat forcefully.
“I knew it…”
Igarashi’s face was there. Her eyes looked as if something had possessed her and she was muttering, but there was no mistaking it. It was Igarashi.
“Igarashi-senpai, why…? Someone so pure and quiet…”
Hearing Lisara’s mutter, Alkalea let out a sneer.
“Pure and quiet? Ahahahahaha, don’t make me laugh!”
Alkalea lumbered closer with heavy steps and looked down at Lisara from her height of one hundred eighty centimeters.
“Let me tell you this. All I did was draw out this woman’s desire. With this ring woven with a spell formula that I got from Galdabroeg.”
Alkalea stretched out her finger and flaunted the ring.
“B-But Igarashi-senpai’s dream was…wearing matching outfits with a prince, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Her ideal partner was supposed to be a strong man who was a little girlish.”
At Mina and Ryousuke’s words, Alkalea shrugged.
“I told you, I don’t know. It’s true that this woman’s soul’s desire seemed to be romantic fulfillment. So all I did was drag out the desire hidden deep in her soul.”
“…Romantic fulfillment, you say?”
Kyuru asked back with a suspicious look.
“What is it, little lady? Got a complaint for me?”
“That is not it. It simply does not connect.”
“Doesn’t connect, you say?”
“Yes. How does romantic fulfillment turn into checking panties?”
“………………Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
Alkalea tilted her head.
“No, no, no, no, shouldn’t a normal person have noticed that much sooner!”
“I’m the type who doesn’t worry about little details like that.”
Alkalea laughed kara-kara. Lisara held up a hand to stop her.
“Wait a moment…”
She brought her ear close to Igarashi.
“……No mistake? This person? Confirm?”
As she listened, Lisara spoke Igarashi’s mutters aloud.
“This person…Does she mean Sugira-senpai?”
Mina’s eyes widened.
Most likely, everyone thought the same thing.
There was no way Igarashi, who was pure, quiet, and even an aikido master, would fall for Sugira, who had no particular traits aside from his obsession with sixty-nine, who stood out in no way, was hunched over, and could even be called gloomy.
There was no reason for it.
To begin with, Igarashi’s ideal was supposed to be a girlish, strong man.
The man before them, Sugira, did not look like he would suit women’s clothing, and he did not look strong either.
Unbelievable.
Everyone thought that, except for one person. Yes, except for one idiot.
“I don’t really get what’s going on, but we just have to confirm it, right?”
Alkalea lumbered forward and grabbed Sugira’s pants.
“I-Idiot, stop! That’s an order!”
From Sugira’s mouth came a voice with a surprisingly strong ring to it. However, from the start, Alkalea had no intention of lending an ear to those words.
“Hah, why should I have to listen to orders from someone like you!”
She tried to drag his pants down without hesitation.
“You fool, do you still not understand? I am Sugira, whose name is not on the list of candidates! The meaning of that!”
“Haaah? What are you talking about?”
Alkalea mercilessly put strength into the hand dragging Sugira’s pants down. Raifan, who had been vaguely watching and listening to that exchange, suddenly shouted.
“…Wait, Alkalea! That man is bad news!”
“What, I’m not handing over the credit! If Igarashi awakens from this, then it’ll be my achievement!”
“That is why, the other party is…”
Before Raifan could finish speaking, Alkalea completely dragged Sugira’s pants down.
What was there was underwear.
“Ah, aah…Women’s underwear. I knew it, you were the one!”
Igarashi let out a cry of joy.
Yes, what Sugira was wearing was women’s underwear.
“Ah, so by『girlish boy』she meant his underwear was women’s underwear.”
Mina nodded.
“I see. So that was why she went around the whole school checking the boys’ underwear.”
“Well, of course people would call her a perverted woman…”
Kyuru and Lisara shook their heads in exasperation.
However, Ryousuke could not smile or even smile wryly and say that the incident was resolved. He felt it strongly. Somewhere, he felt a pressure he had experienced many times before.
“Tch. Even after meeting her beloved prince, there’s no major change in her spiritual energy. Missed again, huh, this woman too…Ah, sorry about that, ahh, underwear boy. I went and exposed your perverted fetish.”
Alkalea sneered as she slapped Sugira’s shoulder.
A second time, a third time, and then the fourth.
Alkalea’s arm was suddenly grabbed by Sugira.
“What are you doing… Hm, guh, guu…W-Why, I-I can’t move!?”
Alkalea’s voice twisted from the pain of her arm being gripped tightly.
Raifan stood at his side.
“To think you had returned to the human world…That was unexpected, Galdabroeg.”
The instant Raifan said that, the air in the place froze.
Instead of answering, Sugira slowly straightened his back and whispered.
“《Attire》.”
Dust and debris swirled around Sugira. From time to time, a golden radiance mixed into it like lightning.
Before long, the vortex gradually contracted and wrapped itself around Sugira’s body.
“…………Hmm.”
Galdabroeg was there.
Clad in jet-black clothes, with three twisted horns growing from his head, and more than anything, wearing a mask woven from a golden net, the Shinigami Galdabroeg was unmistakably there.
“Galdabroeg…”
Ryousuke groaned as he glared at that mask.
“That is correct. Shall I say it has been a while?”
Galdabroeg touched the chipped cheek of his golden mask. That was the part Ryousuke had cut with the 《Gram》 he had swung.
“Honestly. As for me, I had intended to remain hidden in this academy as Sugira for a while longer. But thanks to this fool, it has all been ruined.”
Galdabroeg twisted up Alkalea’s arm, which he had grabbed.
“Guaaaaaah!”
“There is nothing more troublesome to handle than a fool.”
Galdabroeg released Alkalea’s arm as she cried out in agony, then kicked her body.
Dosari. Her huge body rolled across the ground.
“S-Sorry… I didn’t notice.”
“Now then, what shall I do? That Igarashi over there turned out to be a waste of effort as well.”
Looking at Igarashi, Galdabroeg folded his arms.
“However, why did you fall for me, or rather, Sugira? I do not think I had much contact with you.”
“You saved me… You saved me.”
At Igarashi’s words, Galdabroeg sank into thought as though searching his memories.
“Because it was the first time… Someone strong, with no ulterior motive.”
“Hm… Ah, yes. When some punks were bothering you. I believe it was on the day of the entrance ceremony.”
He had indeed saved Igarashi. And she had seen his underwear.
“You didn’t try to make me feel indebted to you, and you left so gallantly… Ever since then, I haven’t been able to forget your back. I thought you were my prince on a white horse.”
It was probably what one would call love at first sight.
Even now, Igarashi gazed at Galdabroeg with a heated look and slowly approached him.
“I… about you… I lo…”
But that confession was never made.
“How annoying.”
Galdabroeg unfolded his crossed arms and swept Igarashi’s body away with his left hand.
“Kyaa!?”
Perhaps because of her feelings of love, Igarashi, despite having knowledge of martial arts, rolled miserably across the hallway.
“Hmph. How absurd.”
Galdabroeg looked down at Igarashi with eyes as cold as ice.
“What do you have besides your value as an 《Irregular》 candidate? You are nothing more than a sacrifice meant to make Alkalea and the Restall family dance, yet you seek personal feelings from me? A human, and one with a pathetic chest at that, acting so far above her station is utterly outrageous. Listen well. The reason I sought no compensation from you is because you have no value. Because you stir no interest in me whatsoever.”
Galdabroeg pronounced this irritably.
Igarashi listened in a daze. She did not collapse, nor did she cry. She simply stood frozen.
“That’s awful…”
Mina murmured. Ryousuke shouted. Unable to hold himself back, Ryousuke shouted.
“Galdabroeg! A girl’s feelings of love are the most precious thing in the world! They’re beautiful! Don’t you understand that!”
“…They are merely a nuisance.”
Galdabroeg said this in a bored tone, then, as though something had occurred to him, twisted his mouth into a smile.
“However, Kaga Ryousuke. Thanks to you, I have realized that this pitiful flat-chested woman does have some value after all.”
Galdabroeg slowly went over to Igarashi’s side and took her hand.
“Ah…”
Despite everything that had been said to her, joy spread across Igarashi’s face.
“This time, even I was caught completely off guard by this encounter, you see. I do not have much spiritual energy on hand.”
Galdabroeg placed his hand on Igarashi’s chest.
“…Good grief, it truly is pathetic. However, the depths beneath it are not unusable.”
His hand sank into Igarashi.
“No way! You’re planning to directly wring spiritual energy from her life force!?”
Lisara shouted.
“Correct. Alkalea, Raifan. Hold them back.”
At that instruction, Raifan merely lowered her head, but Alkalea asked back with a delighted expression.
“You mean it’s okay for me to fight, right!”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’ll cover this place with a barrier now. 《Isolated Island》.”
When Galdabroeg chanted, Igarashi’s body convulsed. At the same time, an impact ran through the area. It was the kind of shock that felt like colliding with compressed air.
“Hmm. I thought this when I wrung it out of her before too, but she does possess quite a respectable amount of spiritual energy. This has become a fairly decent barrier.”
Even as he said that, Galdabroeg continued wringing spiritual energy from Igarashi. Ryousuke could tell. After all, Igarashi’s body kept convulsing. What’s more, the spasms were gradually growing more violent.
“Damn it. Alkalea, get out of the way!”
When Ryousuke shouted, Alkalea happily showed a savage smile.
“You think I’m going to move willingly?”
“《Gleipnir》!”
He roared. Even without any particular conscious effort, Ryousuke’s mind had sharpened.
He wanted to protect a girl.
In that feeling, desires like wanting to be praised, wanting to look cool, and wanting to be popular had all fallen away. He simply wanted to protect a girl.
“Because I love girls!”
《Gleipnir》 wrapped around his entire right arm and became armor. Ryousuke slammed that right fist into Alkalea with all his might.
“Impossible!?”
Alkalea instantly crossed both arms and caught 《Gleipnir》’s fist. Even so, she was lifted off the ground, blown about two meters away, and slammed into the wall.
“You really do have some nerve. To think my 《Attire》 didn’t make it in time.”
Alkalea shook her head as she moved away from the wall. Countless cracks had been left in the concrete wall.
Without checking the result, Ryousuke had already kicked off the floor and leapt.
Straight toward Galdabroeg.
“…!”
Galdabroeg caught Ryousuke’s right fist by overlapping his palms.
Yes, by supporting his left palm with the right palm he had pulled out from Igarashi’s soul.
“…Well, fine.”
Galdabroeg took one look at Igarashi, who had collapsed onto the floor with a deathly pale face and then immediately lost all interest in her. He quickly raised his head and glared at Ryousuke, who was right in front of him.
“So the Restall family dug the other half out from the depths of their storehouse, did they?”
Ryousuke and the others had been told that 《Gleipnir》, which suppressed 《Gram》’s outburst, was a reforged version of 《Gram》’s sheath. Calling it the other half was certainly not wrong.
“But do you think you can defeat me with something like that?”
“Like hell I know!”
He pushed forward with the fist that had been grabbed.
“Oh?”
As Galdabroeg staggered, he let out a voice of admiration. Then curiosity lit in his eyes.
“Even after losing 《Fafnir》, you can still use this much of 《Gram》’s other half?”
“I’ve still got some leftovers, see.”
“I see, leftovers. So that is what you were told. Kukuh, kukukukuku!”
Galdabroeg laughed. At the same time, he put more strength into the fist he was gripping.
“Guh, guaaaaah!”
《Gleipnir》 creaked as if screaming.
“I do not know what Alkalea is plotting but I have become curious about the bottom of your soul after all.”
With only the left hand gripping 《Gleipnir》, Galdabroeg hurled Ryousuke away.
“Alkalea, he is your prey.”
“I can kill him, right!”
Already clad in her Shinigami attire, Alkalea questioned him as she looked down at Ryousuke, who had rolled to her feet.
“Of course.”
“I’ve been waiting for those words…《Wild Bull Scythe》!”
Alkalea summoned a thick-boned pole weapon that looked nothing like a scythe. With no way of even imagining how many kilograms it weighed, Alkalea easily lifted that scythe with one hand and pointed its tip at Ryousuke.
“That said, it won’t be any fun if I’m up against that fist. Bring out 《Gram》.”
“You’re saying we should do this fair and square?”
As Ryousuke stood up, he watched Alkalea carefully without letting his guard down.
“Fair and square? I don’t care about that. It’s just that I don’t want to have a fight with no stimulation. If we’re going to do this, then at the very least, you have to make me feel something.”
Hoisting 《Wild Bull Scythe》 onto her shoulder, Alkalea licked her lips.
Maybe it was just his imagination but her face seemed flushed.
After telling Mina to stay back, Ryousuke pointed his right hand, from which he had released 《Gleipnir》, behind him.
“…Lisara. Peel off my leather.”
《Gleipnir》, the leather wrapped around the bracelet, that itself was the seal.
“Could you please stop wording it like that?”
Lisara, already in her Shinigami attire, took Ryousuke’s hand and peeled off the leather.
“Ryousuke-san. With thespiritual energy of 《Fafnir》 left in your soul, you can only awaken 《Gram》 four more times. If you’re going to awaken it, you need to settle things with Alkalea here for certain.”
Kyuru, who, like Lisara, was already clad in her Shinigami attire, looked up at Ryousuke with a serious face, as if pleading with him.
“What are you trying to say?”
“It is simple. You should not insist on a one-on-one fight. Kyuru and the others should assist you as well.”
“…………”
At Kyuru’s proposal, Ryousuke fell silent for a brief moment.
Honestly, the proposal felt cowardly to him.
“You should accept Kyuru’s proposal.”
Lisara looked at Igarashi, who lay convulsing at Galdabroeg’s feet.
“I’m worried about Igarashi-senpai. If we don’t do something quickly, her soul may collapse…”
“Got it.”
With Igarashi’s life at stake, cowardly or not no longer mattered.
“No, that will not let me determine the depths of Kaga Ryousuke.”
He heard it. By the time Ryousuke thought so, Galdabroeg was already right in front of him.
“Wha…”
Before Lisara could even scream, she was blown away.
“You too.”
“Wan!”
Caesar bit into the skirt of Kyuru’s Shinigami attire and pulled her down. As Kyuru fell, Galdabroeg’s fist passed over her.
“I’m the one you’re fighting, aren’t I!”
Without even having time to worry about Lisara and Kyuru, Ryousuke saw Alkalea charging toward him.
“Damn it!”
He threw himself into a roll and somehow managed to avoid her charge. However, he had been completely separated from Lisara and the others.
Ryousuke got up and looked behind him.
Igarashi was there, still convulsing. But Ryousuke was human and did not know any spell formulas, so there was nothing he could do about wounds to the soul.
No, there was one person. Raifan. But she was still hanging her head, shut away in her own shell, as if trying to escape from the current situation.
“I can’t exactly ask her to suddenly betray them…”
“What are you muttering about? Hurry up and draw 《Gram》 already. Let me tell you this, I’ve got a short temper. If you keep me waiting too long, I’ll just kill you like this!”
The moment she said that, Alkalea began spinning 《Wild Bull Scythe》 above her head with a roaring sound.
“……”
Ryousuke called out to his soul again and again. He called the name of 《Gram》.
But there was no response.
Only his impatience kept growing.
“Hmph. Looks like waiting is useless.”
Alkalea raised the rotation speed of 《Wild Bull Scythe》 even further…
※ ※ ※
“Hmm. It seems things over there are finally about to begin.”
Galdabroeg swept 《Tyrfing》, one of the 《Old Five》, sideways. A sharp kiin rang out, and Lisara’s 《Carnun Pladur》 was sent flying.
“Kuh…”
Lisara stumbled, but somehow managed to hold her ground and glared at Galdabroeg.
“Good grief. The bloodline of the Restall family has weakened quite a bit, hasn’t it?”
“You talk big for someone relying on 《Fafnir》!”
Kyuru, who had drawn 《Dragon-Slaying Ridill》 from Caesar’s soul, ran up the hallway wall and swung her sword down at Galdabroeg’s right side.
“《Shield》.”
He turned his left palm toward Kyuru and chanted.
A film of light spread out in space, stopping 《Ridill》’s blade.
“Wha… But 《Ridill》 is one of the 《Old Five》 too!”
As though repelled, Kyuru landed on the floor and looked up at the now-fading film of light as if she were seeing something unbelievable.
“Let me correct one thing.”
Galdabroeg opened his mouth.
“I have not used 《Fafnir》 yet. Ah, do not take offense. I am not saying that I do not need to use it against you. It is simply that I have various circumstances on my side as well.”
“I’d love to hear those circumstances in detail.”
Lisara gripped the end of the long handle of 《Carnun Pladur》, the red-black shining Shinigami scythe, and rested it on her shoulder.
“Good grief, you still intend to continue? As far as I am concerned, as long as you do not interfere with Alkalea and Kaga Ryousuke’s battle, I do not mind.”
“Then would you let us go to Igarashi-senpai?”
Lisara glanced at Igarashi, who lay there convulsing.
“That is not a request I can accept. Precisely because that woman is in danger, Kaga Ryousuke will become serious. Am I wrong?”
“I suppose not. Ryousuke has decided that he will protect girls.”
“Then there is only one conclusion. If you want to go to that woman, you have no choice but to drive me back.”
“Kyuru!”
At Lisara’s call, Kyuru readied 《Ridill》.
“Let’s do this, Galdabroeg!”
Lisara lowered her body forward and kicked off the floor.
“Oh, a fine charge.”
“You mustn’t forget about me either!”
Kyuru chanted.
“《Kalnun Solas》.”
A pale blue flame raced out and changed into a sword.
“What do you intend to do with something like that at this point?”
“I have no obligation to tell you!”
She swung 《Kalnun Solas》 down at Galdabroeg. But it was immediately stopped by 《Shield》.
“How pointless.”
“Yaaaaah!”
Lisara slashed diagonally downward while cutting through the hallway ceiling with 《Carnun Pladur》. But that, too, was easily blocked by 《Tyrfing》.
“May I start attacking now?”
“You’re forgetting one person.”
“What?”
Kyuru kicked.
“Woooooooon! (I mean me!)”
Caesar caught the kicked and rolling 《Ridill》 in his mouth, then slashed at Galdabroeg’s feet.
“What!?”
Galdabroeg shouted.
“D-Do not mock meeeee!”
He made a small twist with the wrist of his right hand, the one holding 《Tyrfing》, and pushed in.
“No way!?”
The blade of 《Carnun Pladur》 was severed with only that. But 《Tyrfing》 did not stop. It was slammed down toward Caesar, who was rushing in under Galdabroeg’s feet. No, to begin with, the target had not been 《Carnun Pladur》 but Caesar and the 《Ridill》 he held in his mouth.
“Vuuuuh!”
Perhaps because of the blood instinct from once hunting prey, Caesar sensed the danger overhead that he should not have been able to catch in his field of vision, braced his front legs and stopped.
The tip of 《Tyrfing》’s blade buried itself right in front of him.
At that instant, Caesar leapt high.
At the same time, Kyuru slashed again with 《Kalnun Solas》.
“You wretch!”
Galdabroeg leaned his body forward and began to fall.
The blade of 《Kalnun Solas》 grazed just above Galdabroeg’s head.
Just like that, Galdabroeg ran forward, forward.
“Gyan!?”
His head buried itself into Caesar’s stomach. The blade of 《Ridill》 only grazed Galdabroeg’s shoulder.
Galdabroeg still did not stop, and he slashed upward with 《Tyrfing》.
“《Shield》!”
Lisara hurriedly chanted.
A film of light appeared, only to be shattered before 《Tyrfing》 a moment later. The impact sent Caesar flying, and 《Tyrfing》 cut through empty air.
“You little girl, doing something unnecessary!”
He brought the raised blade tip straight down toward Lisara.
Lisara thrust out 《Carnun Pladur》, which had lost half of its blade.
“Onee-sama!”
《Carnun Pladur》 shattered, and Lisara fell backward.
※ ※ ※
Ryousuke saw it.
He saw her red hair spread out as it danced through the air.
And then Lisara collapsed into it.
“Lisara!”
“Tch, you don’t have time to be looking away!”
Alkalea slammed down the 《Wild Bull Scythe》.
The floor was destroyed and the impact sent Ryousuke rolling.
“Tch, you slippery little…”
As he stood up, Ryousuke somehow saw Lisara trying to get back on her feet while Mina held her. Naturally, she must have taken damage but it seemed she was safe.
His hand naturally reached into his pocket. Inside was Lisara’s other self.
“Huh?”
Seeing what Ryousuke had taken out, Alkalea frowned suspiciously.
“What’s that thread?”
“It’s not thread. It’s hair.”
Ryousuke tightly gripped the curled red hair.
“《Gram》, you understand how I feel, right? I want to protect girls. I want to protect Igarashi-senpai. But, you get it, don’t you?”
He felt something slowly awakening deep within his soul.
『…Were you angered because something that belongs to you was hurt?』
“Who knows. But there’s no way just one strand of hair would be enough to satisfy me.”
『…………』
“And yet that bastard went and injured her.”
『I understand. You didn’t get excited from looking at the hair. By gripping it, you felt her even closer to you, didn’t you? You felt that she was yours.』
“…………Will you lend me your power?”
Ryousuke had no intention of answering 《Gram》’s question right now. He only asked back. 《Gram》 did not complain about that act at all. It simply spoke in an amused tone.
『No, that’s wrong. You lend me your power. I need your strength.』
“That’s not how you say it at a time like this, partner.”
『I see. You’re right.』
Ryousuke could tell that 《Gram》 was laughing happily.
Ryousuke placed his right hand over his chest, grasped at empty space and roared.
“Let’s go, partner!”
『We’re going, partner!』
In the empty space, it was definitely there. A hilt, rough yet fitting firmly in his hand.
“《Gram》, at times like this, match me word for word.”
『You’re the one who should.』
They both laughed at the exchange.
In the space Ryousuke was gripping, the hilt of a sword appeared. The instant it did, countless ropes burst out from 《Gleipnir》 and wrapped around him. They covered his right chest, covered his right arm, and transformed into armor with not a single trace of decoration.
Ryousuke calmly accepted it and turned a smile toward Alkalea.
“Sorry about this.”
“…Sorry, you say?”
“Yeah. Today, 《Gram》 and I are in the mood to have a little fun!”
He pulled it out all at once.
It was a sword with a long, thick, and powerful blade.
There was not a single decoration on it.
It was a mass of violence, existing only to cut.
“So this is… 《Gram》, 《Gram, Sword of the War God》, huh?”
Alkalea took one step back.
“Tch!”
Alkalea could not forgive herself for flinching. As if denying that fact, she charged forward, slammed down the 《Wild Bull Scythe》, knocked it upward, then slammed it down again.
Again and again, she violently hammered the 《Wild Bull Scythe》 at Ryousuke, as if rampaging.
“…………?”
Suddenly, Alkalea noticed something.
Something was wrong. It was light.
It was true that she could swing the 《Wild Bull Scythe》 around with ease. But even so, this was too light.
Ryousuke was looking at Alkalea’s face, now that she had stopped moving, as if mocking her.
She snapped.
She slammed it down again.
“Have you been practicing your swings this whole time or what?”
Ryousuke said.
“What did you say… wha!?”
Alkalea finally realized it. The 《Wild Bull Scythe》 was already gone. All that remained there was a handle, not even half of it left.
Around Ryousuke, the remnants of the scythe were scattered everywhere.
Every time she had slammed it down, it had been cut apart and destroyed.
“Impossible…”
“Good for you.”
“What is!?”
She slammed down the remaining handle.
Ryousuke held up 《Gram》. That was all. Just that, and the handle was cut in half again.
“Unlike Galdabroeg, I don’t cut girls. So get out of the way.”
“A-As if I’d ever get out of the way!”
Alkalea shouted and moved aside.
“I don’t dislike obedient girls.”
She looked at herself. She couldn’t believe it. Why had she moved?
“Are you saying I, the great me, was scared of you…?”
“I’d rather you fell for me, though.”
Ryousuke calmly advanced down the path that had opened.
“Don’t… don’t screw with meeeeeeeeeee!”
With a roar, she charged at Ryousuke. Her force was just like a wild bull.
“──!?”
He was gone. Ryousuke’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
And then Alkalea lost consciousness.
『Wouldn’t it have been better to just punch her in the stomach?』
At 《Gram》’s words, Ryousuke moved the flat of the blade away from Alkalea’s neck and shook his head.
“As if I could do something like punch a girl in the stomach.”
At that answer, 《Gram》 gave a wry smile.
“Still, unlike that time at the sea, it’s lasting longer today.”
Ryousuke gazed at the blade.
『I thought it would be a nuisance but it seems we’re compatible today.』
It was probably referring to 《Gleipnir》.
『Thanks to that, I still haven’t rampaged nearly enough.』
“The opponent you can rampage against is right there, isn’t he?”
Ryousuke glared.
At Galdabroeg, who was applauding.
“No, splendid. That was splendid movement. Thanks to you, I was able to learn several things.”
“Like I care what you learned. More importantly, I want you to decide. Are you going to get out of the way, save Igarashi-senpai or fight me?”
《Gram》 trembled with joy, Oooohhh.
“Truly splendid. Borrowed power would not turn out like that.”
“So you’re fighting me, then?”
Ignoring Galdabroeg’s nonsense, Ryousuke tightened his grip on 《Gram》’s hilt.
“Hmm. But in this situation, is there any meaning in fighting you?”
“What did you say?”
Galdabroeg gestured with his chin toward the area behind him.
Lisara and Kyuru were collapsed there. Only Caesar stood firm on trembling legs, as if protecting the two of them by himself.
“They should have just stayed quiet and watched but they started rampaging, you see. So I had them sleep.”
“Galdabroeg!”
“Oh, they probably aren’t badly injured. However, they likely have no spiritual energy left, and in the first place, they no longer have the stamina to properly use their techniques. In other words, do you understand?”
“Understand what?”
“You no longer have any way to save that woman over there.”
“…!”
There was no way Ryousuke, being human, could heal damage to the soul. 《Gram》, too, could only fight and destroy.
“Now then, I have a proposal. After seeing you as you are now, there is something I’ve come to think.”
With a friendly gesture, Galdabroeg approached.
“What do you say? Would you allow me to examine your soul once more?”
Galdabroeg came up beside Ryousuke and placed a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner.
“Now, this is a fair trade. In exchange, I shall save that foolish woman over there.”
“Foolish, you say?”
“What else would you call her, if not foolish? Though she is only a human, and on top of that, despite having such a poor chest, she fell in love with me, you know? I was merely a little kind to her so that she would continue existing as an 《Irregular》 candidate and yet she fell in love with me. Honestly, this is why human women are so loose. There is truly no word for it but foolish.”
Galdabroeg turned a scornful gaze toward Igarashi.
“…”
Ryousuke slapped away the hand placed on his shoulder.
“Oh? Are you angry?”
“I’ve been angry this whole time. But thanks to you, I’ve gotten even angrier.”
“Heh. What a strange way to show gratitude.”
“Shut up. Listen carefully. A girl’s… a girl’s feelings of love are beautiful. They’re pure. Of course, all sorts of things happen. Jealousy, impatience, pain, misunderstandings… There are plenty of times when it becomes trouble for men too. But still, when a girl falls in love with someone, a man must never, ever make fun of that!”
“And so?”
“A girl in love shines. She’s cute, and she’s wonderful. Even if those feelings aren’t directed at me, I’ll protect that kind of girl.”
Ryousuke glared straight at Galdabroeg.
“Does that mean you accept the trade?”
“Yeah.”
“Heh. How foolish. You would offer up your soul for the romance of a woman who is not even your lover?”
“From my point of view, you’re the foolish one for being unable to take a girl’s feelings of love seriously.”
“Well said.”
With a wry smile, Galdabroeg brought his right hand closer to Ryousuke.
“Wait!”
At the shout, Galdabroeg’s movement stopped.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Galdabroeg sent a glare filled with anger toward the owner of the voice.
“Are you saying you intend to interfere with me, Raifan Pignaut?”
Raifan was crouching beside Igarashi.
“……………………Yes.”
Quietly, with determination, Raifan answered.
“I may be dressed like this but I’m a woman too.”
“What do you mean?”
“I cannot follow a man who mocks a girl’s love.”
She clearly spoke words of farewell.
“Ryousuke, Igarashi-senpai can still be saved. I’ll stop her soul from collapsing. So first, defeat that unpopular man over there.”
“Y-You bastarddddddd!”
With a trembling voice, Galdabroeg pointed the tip of 《Tyrfing》 toward Raifan.
“Oops, aren’t I supposed to be your opponent?”
Ryousuke flipped up the blade of 《Tyrfing》 with 《Gram》, almost teasingly, and smiled.
“Kaga Ryousuke… Very well. I’ll settle this with you!”
《Tyrfing》 shone.
【You must not.】
A flat voice spoke.
Galdabroeg’s body began to blur. No, Alkalea, who was still collapsed, was blurring too.
“You! Acting on your own!”
【This battle, fought with a body that has only recovered to eighty percent, cannot be overlooked.】
It was an emotionless reply.
“………………Kaga Ryousuke, I’ll leave our match for another time.”
Galdabroeg announced it in a growling voice, then glared at Raifan.
“Do not think your betrayal will end with something as lukewarm as mere regret.”
And then Galdabroeg and Alkalea vanished.
※ ※ ※
“…There is only one way.”
Lisara, who had placed her hand on Igarashi’s chest, looked at Ryousuke with a grim expression.
After Galdabroeg left, Ryousuke and the others had carried Igarashi, whose soul’s collapse had been stopped by Raifan, back to the house and laid her on a futon.
There, despite still dragging along her own damage, Lisara examined Igarashi’s soul.
“Right now, thanks to Raifan, the collapse has stopped. But with it destroyed this badly, it won’t heal naturally.”
“You can’t heal it?”
At Ryousuke’s words, Lisara shook her head from side to side.
“If I return to the Shinigami world, I can. But she won’t last that long.”
“Then what are we supposed to do!?”
“Don’t panic. That’s why I said there is one way, didn’t I?”
Even as she said that, Lisara’s grim expression did not change.
“Remember what happened with Tamano-senpai. Kyuru wrung spiritual energy out of him, right?”
That was back when Lisara had just come to the human world.
Kyuru and Lisara had fought over the succession of the Restall family. At that time, Kyuru had wrung spiritual energy from Tamano beyond his limits.
“Back then, I think… we gave him my spiritual energy, right?”
As Ryousuke said this while remembering, Lisara nodded.
“Yes. With that, we should be able to heal Igarashi-senpai’s soul too.”
At Lisara’s answer, Ryousuke felt relieved. But Lisara, Kyuru, and Raifan all still wore grim expressions.
“What’s with you guys?”
“…There is a problem.”
Kyuru said.
“Compared to Tamano-senpai’s case, Igarashi-senpai’s soul is far more severely damaged.”
“So what?”
“Most likely, 《Gram》’s spiritual energy alone will not be enough. It will be necessary to wring even more of Ryousuke-san’s own life force out of you.”
“…Mine?”
“Yes. In human-world terms, it would be like a blood transfusion. Of course, Ryousuke-san’s soul will not be damaged by it. However…”
“However, what?”
“Since we will be wringing your spiritual energy out to the very limit, for the time being…”
“I get it.”
Ryousuke nodded. He understood.
“My erotic excitement is going to be put on hold for a while, right?”
“Yes. And I believe it will be for far longer than when Lisara-oneesama usually drains it.”
“Well, can’t be helped.”
“Are you truly fine with that?”
“It’s not about whether I’m fine with it or not, is it? Besides, I’ve already made a big show of saying I’d protect Igarashi-senpai, so I can’t back down now.”
Kyuru was surprised by that answer, but Lisara smiled.
“I thought you’d say that. Ryousuke, could you lie down over here?”
“Yeah.”
Ryousuke lay down on the other futon that had been prepared.
“Hey, Lisara. Are you going to erase Igarashi-senpai’s memories?”
The fact that Lisara and the others were Shinigami. That still had to be kept secret.
Even up until now, Lisara had erased memories several times from those who learned her true identity.
“There’s no need to worry about that this time.”
Raifan answered in place of Lisara, who was preparing to transfer the spiritual energy.
“Why not?”
“Her memories will fly away.”
“Fly away?”
“Her soul is far too severely damaged, you see. The memories from these past few days…will definitely disappear from within Igarashi-senpai.”
“…Then.”
After thinking for a little while, Ryousuke spoke.
“If possible, could you also erase her memory of meeting that bastard Galdabroeg at the opening ceremony? A love like that is just too pitiful for Igarashi-senpai.”
Lisara said nothing in response to Ryousuke’s request.
She only gave him a small nod.
And then the treatment began.
Slowly, his spiritual energy was drained away.
An emptiness, something that could only be called a sense of loss, enveloped Ryousuke.
【…What a shame.】
It echoed in his soul.
【Ryousuke-kun, these feelings for you were born… and now they’re going to disappear from inside me so quickly.】
It was a quiet voice.
【Boys really are cool, aren’t they? Thank you.】
It felt as though he had been kissed on the cheek inside his soul.
With that sensation lingering, Ryousuke lost consciousness.
※ ※ ※
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Galdabroeg questioned them, not even trying to hide his displeasure.
“There is no particular meaning to it. 《Fafnir》 has not been activated. Your healing is not complete either. Under such circumstances, fighting that 《Gram》 cannot be permitted.”
It was a flat voice.
“But listen. Kaga Ryousuke’s soul might have been usable for activating 《Fafnir》.”
“Now that we have identified the true 《Irregular》, that necessity is not recognized.”
“………………Fine. In that case, I suppose it is time to probe the real target.”
“Understood. What shall be done about Alkalea?”
“It should be fine to give her one more chance.”
It was not kindness. He only thought that usable tools should be used until the very end.