[Huh? This is unexpectedly readable.]
[Did someone else take over this author account?]
[I thought the author would write something hilariously bad like the last one, but this is completely different!]
[Could it be that some big shot gave him pointers?]
[The title is still just as terrible though!]
[...]
Seeing these comments, Sato could not help feeling speechless.
Could these people be readers from Zaimokuza Yoshiteru's previous book? Had they hated him long enough to develop feelings for him?!
He scrolled further up the rankings and discovered that the book was actually ranked around the top ten among newly contracted works. Besides that, there were also quite a lot of people giving flowers and review tickets every day.
"Not bad. If you keep working hard, even if you can't officially debut, you should still achieve pretty good results under the paid model."
Sato finally commented.
"Yes! Thank you for the praise, Sensei!"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru said respectfully from the side.
In short, compared to before, Zaimokuza Yoshiteru seemed to have suddenly matured. Although he still carried traces of his chuunibyou tendencies, he looked far more composed now.
From a distance, Hikigaya Hachiman stared at Zaimokuza Yoshiteru in horror.
Was that really Zaimokuza?
"So, what did you come here for this time?"
"Yes! It's like this..."
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru suddenly became somewhat embarrassed. Looking at Sato, he stammered awkwardly, "I wanted Sensei to give my book some suggestions!"
"That, huh..."
Sato thought about it for a moment. He did not seem to have anything to do tonight after going home, so spending some time looking it over was not impossible.
"Alright then. Come by again tomorrow."
"Yes! Thank you, Sensei."
"Uh... you don't have to call me Sensei. You can just call me Nohara from now on."
"No! That absolutely won't do! Sensei has helped me so much..."
"Alright, alright, do whatever you want."
Looking at the overly serious Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, Sato waved his hand helplessly.
...
After club activities ended, Sato headed home with Takanashi Rikka and the others.
Along the way, the lingering sunset glow of late summer spilled across the road home, painting the entire street in brilliant gold.
The group chatted casually as they walked, and Nishimiya Shouko had also become increasingly fluent at speaking.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Sato turned toward Takanashi Rikka and asked, "Rikka, your sister should be coming back soon, right?"
Takanashi Rikka's older sister had gone to France last semester for studies. Calculating the time now, it had already far exceeded the two-month period they originally agreed on. A few days ago, Takanashi Touka had specifically mentioned on LINE that she would probably return soon.
Hearing that, the ahoge on Takanashi Rikka's head twitched before she softly replied,
"Mm."
Although Takanashi Rikka did not say much, judging from her expression and the reaction of her ahoge, she was actually quite looking forward to it despite not saying so aloud.
"Touka... nee-san is coming back?"
Nishimiya Shouko awkwardly organized her words as she asked curiously. The Nishimiya family and the Takanashi family had lived in the apartment complex for so long that they could already be considered old neighbors.
"That's right. I'm finally liberated too."
Sato suddenly laughed and stretched lazily, giving Takanashi Rikka a meaningful glance.
Back then, Takanashi Touka had asked him to look after Takanashi Rikka. Although Takanashi Rikka was generally pretty worry-free in daily life, the one thing that gave him headaches was how hard she was to wake up in the mornings.
Then again, she was not the only one.
Besides Takanashi Rikka, Gabriel was also someone who constantly slept in. Since he already had to wake one person up anyway, waking two was not much different. He had gotten used to it by now.
Takanashi Rikka said seriously, "I'm not oversleeping. I'm just sealed by the blanket."
"Yes, yes, whatever you say."
Sato sighed helplessly while Nishimiya Shouko covered her mouth and giggled beside them.
Clatter clatter!
Suddenly, a soda can rolled over and stopped at Sato's feet.
Sato frowned slightly and looked up toward the two figures about ten meters ahead. His eyes narrowed slightly.
This was... someone picking a fight?
Not far away stood a delinquent boy with flaxen hair slicked back in a pompadour. The corner of his mouth curled upward as he looked at Sato mockingly.
Beside him stood a somewhat familiar figure glaring at Sato resentfully.
It was Sagami Minami, the former executive committee chairperson from the school festival.
"So he's that Nohara?"
The delinquent with the pompadour asked Sagami Minami beside him in a strange tone. These violent troublemakers always seemed to think speaking with weird intonations made them more intimidating.
"Yeah, that's him!"
Sagami Minami glared at Sato resentfully. If not for him, she would never have become the laughingstock of the entire school!
He was just a first-year!
"Pretty lucky with women, huh? Wonder what they'll do after I beat you flat on the ground later..."
The delinquent glanced at the two girls beside Sato and revealed a crooked grin like some wannabe dragon king.
"Sato!"
Sato suddenly felt his sleeve being tightly grabbed, followed by Nishimiya Shouko's nervous voice from behind him.
"Don't worry. He's just trash. He can't hurt me."
Sato revealed a gentle smile to reassure Nishimiya Shouko and the others, but the words he spoke were incredibly arrogant, completely unlike what people normally expected from him.
Looking at the delinquent in the distance, Sato's eyes brightened slightly, carrying a trace of amusement as well.
Although he preferred peace and quiet over action, that did not mean he was incapable of using violence.
As one of the only sixty-three officially registered S-rank powerhouses in the world, he did not even need any extraordinary methods to deal with delinquents like these. The combat master module he normally carried was more than enough.
According to the system's rankings, all ordinary humans who had not surpassed their limits were rated F-rank, while the highest possible rank in this world was S-rank.
Under the laws of this world, it was impossible for a being capable of destroying the planet to be born here. Even if one somehow appeared, it would be suppressed by the world itself. Only after leaving the planet could such power fully manifest.
As for the combat master module, the system gave it a comprehensive rating of D-rank.
Meanwhile, no matter what, the delinquent in front of him was still just an ordinary F-rank human.
Sato glanced at the school uniform the delinquent was wearing and muttered to himself,
"That uniform... If I remember right, isn't that school full of delinquents?"