Chapter 158: The Little Sister Who Likes Fantasizing But is Afraid of Men
While the commotion was happening in the distance, the flaxen-haired girl in Kobayashi's arms also became agitated, her whole body trembling violently.
Is she uncomfortable somewhere?
"[Heal]."
As he thought, he used healing magic to treat her, and at the same time said with concern, "Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere—"
"Don't—! It's a man—!"
The girl, her eyes now open, let out a sharp cry and suddenly pushed him away.
This sudden action gave him no chance to react. He subconsciously let go and stumbled back several steps, while the girl quickly scrambled out of his embrace and hid behind the bushes, peeking at him timidly.
Hey, hey, hey, am I that scary?
The corner of his mouth twitched. Her face really did look a lot like Charlotte's. It was just that her fearful, timid expression was nothing like that of the tsundere girl who feared nothing.
He didn't speak, just quietly looked at her.
The girl seemed to realize her mistake. Her body trembled, and she pulled her hat down with both hands, covering her face.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
She apologized quickly in a small voice.
That scared, cowardly appearance made him see the shadow of a certain little girl, the little girl he had failed to save.
His mood couldn't help but become a little agitated.
A gloomy expression would only bring the conversation to a standstill. He held back his frustration and asked, "Wait, I'm not angry. By the way, what were you doing? Why did you jump from up there? Were you trying to commit suicide?"
"Th-that is..."
The girl was still clutching her hat, trembling as she backed away.
And then—
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She pointed at him with an aggrieved expression and accused him, "You're... you're so unreasonable! Nosy, annoying, interfering with my freedom! Why... why did you have to save me...!"
"—Huh?!"
Since he had gotten his cheat ability and started crossing worlds, even after several worlds, this was the first time he had ever met someone who had so little regard for their own life. For a moment, he didn't know how to console her.
The girl became even more unreasonable.
"Please take responsibility! You have to compensate me!"
"Even if you say I have to take responsibility and compensate you..."
"Take responsibility for killing me! If you don't agree, then just mess me up! Make a complete mess of me!"
"...What are you talking about?"
"For a person like me, all you have to do is follow your desires and ravage me at will! Come on, do whatever you want! Vent your desires! Come on, let me get you off!"
"Wait! You, wait a minute!"
He saw the shadow of a certain perverted knight in her.
Don't tell me this girl is the same type as Darkness? Her jumping from a high place just now wasn't actually to seek death, but to experience the thrill of a high-altitude fall?
No, no, no.
When he held her, he could feel her delicate and weak body. If she had jumped from such a high roof, she would have surely been smashed to pieces.
But...
"Allow me to ask. Don't tell me you have that kind of strange hobby?"
"Wh— Of course not! That's not what I meant at all!"
The girl's face instantly turned bright red. She burst out from the bushes and ran away, wailing loudly.
Oh dear.
He scratched his head. It seemed what he had just said was a little too much. After all, not everyone was that perverted knight who got excited when she was cursed at.
But that girl, could she be...
"Henri... Henriette Bellow," Frey explained to him.
"As I thought..."
He pinched his chin, thinking.
He had felt something was wrong before, but his attention had been mostly diverted by the clock tower's collapse. It was only after confirming with Frey that he remembered who she was.
—Charlotte's younger sister!
According to Frey, she had suddenly moved into the Griffin Girls' Dormitory a week ago and was also Charlotte's roommate.
A transfer student, and a younger sister.
Logically, he should have heard the news quickly. He had thought it was because he hadn't been in contact with the rumor mill much, but he hadn't expected that even Frey didn't know the whole story.
Frey was silent for a moment, then said, "Actually... Henriette has... attempted suicide six times... and failed. If you add the one you just encountered, that's seven times."
"Seven times..."
"Before, it was things like the rope she used to hang herself breaking, or someone arriving in time to give her first aid after she took poison... anyway, she was luckily saved in the end..."
"Should one say she's lucky, or unlucky?"
He held his forehead and sighed.
RyuZU said with a sharp tongue, "Master Kobayashi, didn't that suicidal girl, Henriette, say she wanted to be ravaged by you? If it is your command, as your attendant, I will definitely tie her to your bed. I wonder what your intentions are?"
Is she saying this because I didn't tell her everything, deliberately trying to make Frey misunderstand?
He couldn't help but think.
As expected, Frey's expression immediately became aggrieved, and tears were about to well up in her eyes.
"Hey, RyuZU..."
"Master Kobayashi," she interrupted him rather forcefully. "Since the other party is actively seeking death, how about you don't get involved any further? If you get involved in everything, as your attendant, I will get a headache."
Is she worried that because she's Charlotte's sister, she'll bring him more trouble and put him in a difficult position?
Although her tongue was sharp, he could still feel her concern.
But unfortunately.
"No," he shook his head and said helplessly, "This time, I have to get involved, even if I don't want to. Because this matter started because of me. Charlotte and Henriette are victims who have been implicated by me."
—Felix Kingsfort.
That member of the Disciplinary Committee who had used Charlotte and had been exposed by him before dropping out of school. His family was the mastermind behind this commotion.
Because their family's ugly affair (Cannibal Candy) had been exposed, the Kingsforts had been criticized by those with ulterior motives and had been forced to withdraw from the circle of power. So, in order to regain their power and reclaim their lost reputation, they first had to erase the reason for their downfall.
There was only one thing they needed to do.
Make the Headmaster die, and turn a black mark into a grey one.
The Kingsforts were a famous charitable family, while Charlotte's Bellow family had been seen as an enemy by the royal family a few years ago. If the assassin this time really was Charlotte, then the matter of Cannibal Candy would be covered up, and the situations of both sides would be instantly reversed.
As for why they didn't cause trouble for him and Raishin? That's because there was no benefit in it. And as long as they could return to their high position, there would be plenty of opportunities to deal with two commoners.
Their methods were also quite despicable.
They had taken control of Henriette and used the younger sister's safety to threaten Charlotte, forcing her, as the older sister, to obey their request to kill the Headmaster in order to save her.
It was an old-fashioned, but very effective trick.
"So, what needs to be done now is to stop the older sister, Charlotte, and at the same time, rescue the younger sister, Henriette, right?" he asked and answered himself.
Frey, however, said worriedly, "But... Tyrant Rex, she... destroyed the clock tower... will she be punished for this?"
"Probably. But it's not a big problem. No one died in this incident. There's still room for maneuver."
"It would be great if it could be resolved smoothly."
At this moment, Frey once again took out a basket.
He glanced at the basket that was handed to him, and subconsciously turned his face to the side. "Although I appreciate your kindness, I'll have to pass."
"...Eh."
Being rejected so coldly, she was petrified on the spot.
She hugged the basket in her hands, which was filled with luxurious sandwiches that looked like they could only be eaten at a three-star restaurant. As her body trembled, the basket also jumped. By the way, the fullness of her chest also jumped along with it.
"Besides, it's late at night, and it's also the Night Party. Isn't it a bit much to be eating?"
And you know this is the Night Party! What's with being so lovey-dovey with a beautiful girl!
...He could feel the resentment coming from the surrounding students.
The rule of the Night Party was that if you haven't lost your qualification, you have to come to the Night Party every night and wait for at least an hour before you can leave. Whether a battle occurs during that time is up to the participants. So, it wasn't impossible for people like him and Frey to be having a late-night snack in such an important place.
Anyway, the 89th-ranked person had already lost their qualification and had been sent to the infirmary.
"You're really... not going to eat...?"
"You've added something strange to it again, haven't you?"
"Ngh..."
Frey buried her face in Yomi, who had come with her, and began to sob.
Yomi grinned. "Ah, you've made Frey cry."
"My fault?!" he said, getting a headache. He comforted her, "Don't cry. I didn't do anything, did I? In fact, I should be the one crying."
"B-but... ngh... Kobayashi... doesn't trust me..."
"That's because you're usually not trustworthy, you know."
"Ngh..."
Hearing his "you're a problem child" tone, her sobs grew stronger.
Clang—
Before he could react, a dagger came spinning over and stuck in the ground between the two of them.
RyuZU immediately flashed in front of him, her scythes blocking the way.
He wasn't flustered. Instead, he looked up at Loki, who had walked in from the other side. "May I ask what you are doing, Loki-kun, who is ranked 99th and has only just now appeared, an hour after the Night Party began?"
"Hmph."
Loki snorted coldly. "I am both humble and tolerant... but, there are still three types of people I cannot forgive: those who order me around, those who defy me, and... a bastard who is being lovey-dovey with another woman at the Night Party and makes my sister cry!"
"That's four types! Besides, I'm the victim here! Have you ever thought about how it feels to be fed poison every day!" he couldn't help but complain.
"Hmm?!"
Loki's dagger plunged deeper into the ground, as if to say that if he didn't eat, he would force him to eat it along with Frey.
"—I get it! I'll eat, is that fine!"
With the sound of gears turning, Gabriel released its restraint on him and returned to Loki's back.
Frey's red eyes were full of expectation as she handed the basket to him. His hands trembled slightly, and with the feeling of being led to the execution platform, he took the basket.
Although he could be immune to poisons because of his necklace and magic, Frey didn't just add poison.
Why didn't I get a super-smell-like ability? If I had, I could have smelled if there was anything strange in it beforehand.
"...Frey, you really didn't add anything strange this time, did you?"
"Mmm."
She nodded lightly.
Uncertain, he asked, "Salt, rum, dried newt, scorpion powder, eye drops... you really didn't add any of that?"
"Mmm-hmm."
She nodded again.
So, he prepared himself, grabbed the soft bacon sandwich, took a deep breath, and took a bite.
"Pfft—"
The next second, he spat it out.
The bitter taste even numbed his tongue, and a burning sensation went down his throat. He coughed for a long time before he could heal himself with magic.
Then he stared at her with dead fish eyes, without saying a word.
She could only hang her head with a mournful face and admit her wrongdoing. "The professor from the medical department... gave me some drugs that are still in development..."
"...What kind of drugs?"
"They can increase the reproductive ability of cows or horses..."
"What use is that kind of thing! Stop adding these strange things! By the way, you lied to me again! What about the trust between people, Miss Frey?!"
Frey, with her weak and delicate expression, was the one who could least be let one's guard down around.
Frey hugged Yomi's neck and, for once, denied it with a firm attitude. "Ngh... I... didn't lie. In the past, I always added things to the filling of the sandwich. But this time, I didn't."
"...What do you mean?"
"I put the medicine in the bread."
"What kind of twisted logic is that? Is that how you use a roundabout approach?!"
He was going crazy.
Seeing that she was about to cry again, Loki immediately scolded him angrily, "You, be a little more considerate! This is food that my sister worked hard to make! You should eat it all with gratitude!"
"So you want me to die?!" He stared with wide eyes.
"Then you can just die!"
"You bastard!"
He was so angry he immediately jumped up from the ground, then tackled Loki to the ground, pried open his mouth with one hand, and stuffed the sandwich into it with the other.
A wicked smile was on his face.
"Seeing you so eager, you must have wanted to eat Frey's food too. Alright, let me give you a taste!"
"Y-you bastard... mmph mmph!"
He and Loki immediately started wrestling on the ground.
Seeing this, Frey was so anxious she rushed up to stop them. "No! You can't fight! Loki! Kobayashi!"
"Master Kobayashi..." RyuZU also said with a sharp tongue, "For you to fight with others like a child is truly unbearable to watch. Doing so will lower my class."
That's right!
—The surrounding students also couldn't watch anymore.
Is this really the Night Party to select the Wiseman? No matter how you look at it, it's just a bunch of problem children fighting. And the way they fight is so low-class.
Not elegant, not gorgeous. It's simply unwatchable.
If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't beat the few people on the stage, they really would have cursed them for match-fixing.
The 99th-ranked fighter threw the match and fell down early!
...or something.
In terms of pure physical strength, Loki couldn't resist him at all. When his mouth was stuffed full of sandwiches and he felt his sister's fierce love, he had been completely broken.
"So satisfying, so satisfying. Good things really should be shared."
The most satisfying thing in the world is when the other party suffers the same hardship as you. After Loki was punished, his mood was incomparably refreshed.
Just as he was getting up, he saw a girl watching the battle from under a tree in the distance.
She had brown hair and was of average height. She was not a girl who would leave a lasting impression.
But the other party had been staring at him the whole time.
When she found that he was also looking at her, she immediately lowered her head and turned to leave.
He frowned slightly and said to Frey and Loki, "The required hour is up. I still have something to do. I'll be going first. You should go back early too, Frey. You too, Loki."
With that, he turned and chased after her.
(End of Chapter)