Chapter 31: The Dull-Witted Protagonist
After this morning’s class meeting.
Sō’s heart was filled with immense anxiety.
On one hand.
He was troubled about how to explain to Nagi about Alice, so she wouldn’t tell her about the evil spirit’s curse or the matter of being hidden away.
On the other hand.
He was very concerned whether Nagi, who had always been sincere and straightforward and never lied, would be able to deceive Alice with her clumsy lies.
Moreover, Sō felt that today Nagi seemed to be intentionally avoiding him.
During the break.
When he caught her gaze, she would suddenly pout, her round cheeks looking adorably like a little hamster, and then quickly look away.
“What’s going on?” Sō was perplexed by Nagi’s reaction.
At noon.
Rin finally escaped from the hell of questions from classmates.
Alice seemed to have some issues with her transfer procedures that needed handling, so she immediately headed to the teacher’s office after class.
Sō sat at his desk, secretly observing her figure with the corner of his eye. Only after ensuring that she didn’t go to contact Nagi and instead left the classroom directly did he breathe a little sigh of relief.
Then he turned around and saw Nagi standing in front of him with a bento in hand.
“… L-Little Nagi? When did you…”
“Here, this is your bento, Sō-kun.”
Nagi placed the bento box she was holding carefully on Sō’s desk.
“This is the bento that my mom prepared for you today. She asked me to bring it to you.”
“Is that so? Thank you! By the way, do you want to have lunch together today—”
Nagi’s eyes seemed to flash with a hint of joy at his words.
“I want to talk about something regarding Alice—”
“—No, it’s okay.” Nagi interrupted Sō again by pouting.
“I’m having lunch with Chika-senpai today, that’s it.”
After saying that, Nagi turned and left the classroom without looking back.
“Ah, wait, Little Nagi—”
“Sō, you guy, you really are something~ I have to admire you…”
Rin’s voice floated in from behind.
Sō jumped in surprise.
“Rin? When did you…”
“When you were intently staring at Alice, I greeted you three times and you didn’t respond, you know?”
Rin shrugged.
“Is that so? I didn’t notice at all… By the way, hold on a moment, I’ll come back to talk to you later, for now, I—”
As Sō turned to chase after Nagi, planning to explain to her about Alice.
Rin quickly reached out and placed a hand on Sō’s shoulder, stopping him.
“Wait a minute, you need to let her calm down first!”
“Calm down? What do you mean?”
Sō seemed to have a big question mark appearing on his head.
“Sō, you guy… Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to say to Nagi if you catch up to her?”
“… something about Alice…”
“You’re really something, aren’t you!”
Rin sighed and facepalmed.
“This guy has always been such a blockhead,” Mana joined the conversation.
“It’s been a while, Hikarizaka-san~ I never expected you to be in the same class as Sō after starting junior high.”
Rin cheerfully greeted Mana.
After Mana gently nodded in acknowledgment, she turned to Sō.
“So, Tsukimi-kun, let me ask you first, are you in love at first sight with Alice?”
Mana’s tone and voice were extremely cold as she asked.
“Love at first sight? Who?” Sō looked confused.
He seemingly had no idea why Mana would ask such a question.
“Ugh…”
“Sure enough…”
Both Mana and Rin sighed in unison.
“Anyway, Sō, let’s have lunch together with us today.”
Rin said while efficiently pushing the desks together, making room for Sō and Mana.
“Hey, Haihara-kun, why do I also have to—”
“Come on, everyone hasn’t seen each other for so long, let’s chat a bit~”
Rin smiled and encouraged Sō and Mana to take a seat.
“If you accidentally make a girl angry, it’s better to give the other person some time to calm down~”
“Angry? Little Nagi?”
“Sō, you really are something, are you the dull-witted protagonist from some manga?”
Rin rubbed her temples in exasperation.
“Anyway, I’ll teach you how to make Nagi happy later, but for now, let’s eat.”
Just when Mana and Sō had opened their bento boxes, they noticed that Rin had nothing in front of her.
“Rin, where’s your bento?”
“I’m a transfer student, okay? Of course, I didn’t bring a bento.”
Rin said defiantly as she reached over to take the lid off Sō’s bento box.
“So I’m counting on both of you to share a bit with me—”
“Is that what you were planning!?”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? Aren’t we best friends?”
Rin added with a cheerful smile:
“And this is just a bento that Nagi’s mother made, right? Don’t worry, if it was one that Nagi made herself, I definitely wouldn’t want any, so… just share a bit…”
…
…
Alice quietly came to the rooftop of the teaching building by herself.
Going to the teacher’s office to handle transfer procedures was just an excuse she used to be alone.
The rooftop was covered with many solar panels.
Under the clear sky, they emitted an astonishing amount of heat.
So no students wanted to come to the rooftop during noon.
Alice glanced around.
Other than a white dove resting on the railing, she didn’t see anyone else.
Then she took out her phone from her pocket and dialed a certain number.
The moment the call connected, a rough and urgent voice came from the other end.
“What’s going on? Did you figure it out? Is it an accidental encounter with a phantom monster?”
“No, not that quickly…”
“Then why did you contact me? If you have this time, you might as well go work faster!”
Even through the phone, Alice could almost picture the spittle flying from the man on the other end.
“I wanted to ask again about what’s mentioned in the mission documents, ‘If the target is found to have contact with a phantom monster, immediate extermination is required’…”
“Why can’t we communicate first? If the other party is just a non-hostile victim, we could recruit them into the Special Unit SEMA—”
“Too naive! That’s the mark left by a high-ranking species! It indicates that among these targets, there’s a possibility that they are high-ranking species! They might be planning to take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Special Unit SEMA’s base—”
“But those targets are just children—”
“Alice Astrea! As a subordinate! It’s enough to just execute the orders of your superior! These are not things you need to worry about!”
“The fact that there hasn’t been a single extraordinary disaster in Kawayano City for 13 years is the result of my work as the division chief! It’s not up to you, a nobody, to question my decisions!”
“I… I understand.”
Alice replied reluctantly.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but think about how a guy like this managed to reach a high rank in the Special Unit SEMA.
But she also had to agree with some of the things he said.
In these 13 years, Kawayano City has not even had a single extraordinary disaster endangering ordinary people.
If that isn’t the merit of him being the chief of the Special Unit SEMA, then who else is protecting this city?
After hanging up the phone, Alice redialed the number of her task partner for this mission.
“Hello, what’s the situation on your end?”
“(Everything is going smoothly; I’m now an advisor for the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club.)”
A calm and deep voice came from the other side of the call.
“(I just ran into the head of the Supernatural Research, who is also one of our targets for this mission, ‘Amamiya Chika’. Next, I plan to pretend to inquire about the Supernatural Research to investigate her.)”
“Okay, wish you all the best. If something comes up, remember to prioritize your own life—”
“(I’ll do my best.)”
The man hung up the call.
He turned his gaze back to the figure of Amamiya Chika in front of him, her waist-length black hair swaying with her steps.
She pushed open the door to the Supernatural Research Club, leading him inside.
“Mr. Jinki, this is the Supernatural Research Club.”
“Is that so? Thank you for your hard work, Amamiya-san.”
A man named Jinki smiled kindly as he spoke.
“So, is there something you’d like to know about the Supernatural Research that you mentioned earlier?”
Amamiya Chika turned around, facing away from the window of the Supernatural Research Club.
The bright starry eyes in her gaze sparkled with a silvery brilliance that was even more dazzling than the sunlight.
