Chapter Select

MagicalExplorer

0. Cover
0. Insert
0. Title Page
0. Copyright
0. Characters
0. Chapter 1
0. Prologue
0. Chapter 2
0. Master Comprehension Check
0. Chapter 3
0. New Stole
0. Chapter 4
0. Tsukuyomi Dungeon’s Sixtieth Layer
0. Chapter 5
0. Post–Sixtieth Layer Developments
0. Chapter 6
0. Katorina’s Anguish
0. Chapter 7
0. Katorina’s Catastrophe
0. Chapter 8
0. Immortal Andrealphus
0. Chapter 9
0. Bratty Bitch Dungeon
0. Chapter 10
0. Epilogue
0. Afterword
0. Yen Newsletter

Illustration: Noboru Kannatuki

Graphic Design: Kai Sugiyama (Tsuyoshi Kusano Design Co., Ltd.)

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

—Katorina’s Perspective—

“There’s something we’ve been hiding about the Three Committees,” President Monica said to us in the Moon Palace.

This confession wasn’t news to the rank and file of the Three Committees. Based on the incident Ivy had kicked off the other day, it was clear we were being kept in the dark about something.

“After Benito, Stef, and I talked this over, we decided to tell whoever wants to know.”

At this, gasps of shock escaped from a section of the group.

“However, we have two conditions,” Monica said, holding up her pointer finger. She then gazed at us all.

“One—you’ll need to clear the sixtieth layer to hear this information.”

Most students didn’t accomplish this until they were nearly graduated, and at present, only a handful of the third-years had even managed to do it.

Monica raised her middle finger while gauging our reactions.

“Two—I’ll only tell those of you who brace for serious injuries and, potentially, death.”

“Like that student in the Morals Committee,” added Anemone the inventor.

Most of the items Anemone made were perverted and completely worthless, but she came up with something useful every now and then.

“And who, pray tell, would that be?”

Minister Benito’s younger sister, Gabriella, who worked with Iori frequently on the student council, didn’t appear to have any idea who this student was. I didn’t know who they were, either, but it looked like the second-years had someone in mind.

“Right. None of you first-years have met them yet. They’re a third-year student in the Morals Committee. They’re away from campus right now, dealing with a separate matter.”

So that was why we’d never seen them before. I whispered to Ludie beside me.

“You’ve never seen them, either, Ludie?”

“No, though Yukine did give me a brief overview.”

As we chatted, President Monica raised her voice, drawing all eyes back to her.

“Listen up, everyone. There’s something I want to make extra clear.”

She fixed us with a stare.

“Even if you’re strong enough to clear the sixtieth layer in theory, you’ll need protection from me, Benito, or Stef to scrape by. Personally, I’d rather you be ready for the seventieth floor instead, but oh well.”

Yuika was the first to react.

“Huh, you’re calling it ‘protection’ not ‘backup.’”

“That’s right. Honestly, if you only have the bare minimum strength for the clear, you’ll just be a hindrance.”

Deadweight even at that level? To me, that felt like a hard barrier to break through, but some didn’t seem to think so—namely, Takioto, Iori, and the vice presidents of the Three Committees.

“Hmmmm. I’ve already cleared the sixtieth floor, so would I be able to hear all this right away? Yukine, Fran, you must want to hear as well, no?” said Vice Minister Shion of the Morals Committee, signaling the other two vice presidents with her eyes. Yukine and Fran both voiced their agreement.

“Wait, wait, hold on! I wanna know, too!”

Jumping into the conversation was the person who had likely spurred this meeting—Ivy, president of the Tsukuyomi Academy Newspaper.

“Sure, we’re fine telling you all. Right, Monica? Miss Stefania?”

“Haah… I guess. If we have to.”

President Monica still didn’t seem thrilled about telling anyone the truth.

“I’m sure Yukine and the others are fine, but…,” Saint Stef said, looking at Takioto.

“But what?” Minister Benito asked.

“I can’t help but think we’ll just have to give the same explanation again soon.”

Minister Benito chuckled in agreement.

After that, Monica thanked everyone for coming and adjourned the meeting. Apparently, there had been only one item on her agenda.

Following this, the first-years in the Three Committees came together.

No sooner had we bunched up than Kousuke Takioto threw his arm around Iori’s shoulders, starting to poke and prod those squishy cheeks of his.

“Iori, buddy! I heard you’ve been making a lot of progress through the Tsukuyomi Dungeon.”

Iori gave a bashful little smile at the praise…

“He-he-he, I’ve been working pretty hard. But I heard you’ve been getting pretty strong yourself, Kousuke.”

Kousuke and Iori were the standouts of the first-years, racing to the top thanks to their rapid growth and fighting strength. Ludie, Yuika, Nanami, Gabby, Class Rep, and even Orange were sharpening their skills, too, encouraged by the two boys’ rise.

“Make sure you aren’t getting up to something on your own now, Kousuke Takioto.”

As the two boys talked, President Monica showed up behind them. Resting a hand on Takioto’s shoulder, she pressured him with a big smile on her face, driving her point home.

“What gives? Why am I getting singled out here?” he asked.

“If anyone’s going to make a mess, it’s you,” she insisted.

“Hey, Iori’s liable to get into trouble, too.”

“M-m-me?!” Iori exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Kousuke to rope him into the conversation, too.

“You’ve got a point there. Iori? Don’t do anything weird, got it?”

“P-President?!”

As I listened to the three chat away and watched everyone around them laugh, I suddenly thought about myself.

I wasn’t smart like Ludie. I still had a ways to go to be as strong as Yuika and the others. Even Nanami outclassed me in terms of Thief skills, and I had been useless during the Book of Raziel incident. I also wasn’t very good at looking at things optimistically like Gabriella was.

And that got me wondering: Did I have the strength needed to belong here? Was it really okay for me to be here?

“I’ve got some stuff I gotta get to,” I said to Ludie, before masking my presence and leaving the room.

Time to head to the dungeon. I wanted to catch up to everyone as best I could. I had to get stronger. I had to hone my skills.

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

Every morning, I would get in some training and take a shower afterward. Cleaning off was an especially vital part of my routine. Who would want to do anything while drenched in sweat?

After getting in my training and showering for the day, I flopped down on the sofa in the air-conditioned living room.

The forecast said today would be a “good day to hang laundry,” and sure enough, it had been a scorcher out there. My run had been particularly hellish. Although I could enchant my stole with ice to keep myself cool while running, I had stopped doing this after getting some advice from Yukine: “You’re not always going to be able to use that enchantment, right? Shouldn’t you get used to moving around in the heat just in case?”

In battle, I imagined there would be times when I would need to swap elemental enchantments, depending on the opponent. And what if I was in a desert-themed dungeon but the enemy was only weak to light? Considering those possibilities, Yukine was absolutely right about my needing to get used to the heat.

That was why I used a bunch of different elemental enchantments while training. Though the area around the waterfall where I did my practice swings was always very comfortable, almost like it had its own natural air-conditioning.

A lot of time had passed since my morning training session, so it must have gotten even hotter outside. If I opened up a window right now, I would definitely take a blast of heat to my face.

Right as I switched gears to think about what to do next, I heard the living room door open.

It was Yuika. She complained loudly about the heat as she sat down on the sofa.

She must have been outside. She was wiping off the sweat on her neck with a towel and holding a soda-flavored ice pop with a sword drawn on the packaging. I’d had that brand of ice pop before; it was shaped like a sword, so I’d joked that it was like a literal “ice sword” from a video game or something. They were pretty tasty.

Yuika opened the ice pop and stuck her hand out at me.

“Here, enjoy this present from a drop-dead beauty.”

KOUSUKE GOT THE ICE SWORD—not! Yuika was actually offering me the empty wrapper. Her garbage.

Little did she know, however, that some people wouldn’t consider this garbage at all.

Among the first-class perverts I knew of back in Japan, some would have been wild enough to slobber all over this wrapper of hers.

“Ah, well, if you insist…”

Of course, I couldn’t possibly lick the thing myself. I took it from her and threw it out.

“I didn’t expect you to actually throw it out for me, thank you. You can have a bite if you want.”

She held the ice pop in front of my face, and I opened my mouth big and wide. However, she immediately yanked it back away from me.

“What the heck?! I could have bitten my tongue off, you know! Why would you do that?”

“I was just kidding, geez.”

She held the ice pop out again, and I took a regular-sized bite.

If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it was reminiscent of G*ri Gari Kun ice pops. The texture and taste were very similar. If G*ri Gari Kun came out with a sword version of their ice pops, it would probably look like this.

Yuika took a bite of the sword, then looked out the window and mumbled something.

“Uhhh, so, Takioto, I feel like I’ve been seeing Ivy at the house a lot lately… Am I just imagining things?”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”

I took my eyes off Yuika and looked out the window.

There stood Nanami, wearing a helmet reading SAFETY FIRST, along with Ivy, her rabbit ears popping out of the top of her helmet.

So, like, if something actually did fall on Ivy’s head, then what the heck would happen to her ears?

“Takioto, you did something, didn’t you?” Yuika said, staring at the pair.

They had unrolled what appeared to be a blueprint? Maybe a schematic? They were also talking about something, but I couldn’t hear what it was.

“Oh, I mean. I feel like maybe I did, now that you mention it, but also maybe not?”

When I said this, Yuika glared at me.

“Oh really…? Whatever, that can come later. More importantly, what do you think they’re doing out there?”

Ivy pointed a finger at the blueprint, and Nanami shook her head, pointing to a different area.

“Judging by what we can see from here, I’d guess they’re doing some sort of construction or repair work?”

“That’s what I thought, too. But if that’s what they’re really doing…actually no, that’s not the point. No matter what they’re up to, I’ve got a terrible feeling about it.”

“Yup.”

In my mind, Nanami, Sis, Anemone, and Ms. Ruija were the elite four of bad omens. The next two after that were Gabby and Ivy. Anyway…

“Might as well ask them directly,” I said, standing up and opening one of the living room windows. The two girls noticed me before the stifling outside air could come into the living room.

“Oh, Master.”

“Good morning, my lord.”

“…My what now?” Yuika said from behind me.

I mean, yeah, hearing someone call me that out of nowhere was going to be a shocker.

“Ivy, cool it with the ‘my lord’ stuff.”

“Then what should I call you instead…? Chief? Boss? Master? Godfather?”

“Chief is a good option, but may I suggest ‘my dearest’ as well?” Nanami added.

“None of the above, thanks.”

When I said this, Nanami hugged herself and wriggled her body.

“Nnah ♥! Ahn… ♥! Chieeeef ♥!”

“…Tch, making it sound sexy isn’t going to change my mind.”

That was a close one. Nanami’s voice was too damn good. A moment too late, and I might have just given her permission.

“In that case, may I assume Miss Yuika will call you ‘my dearest’ instead?”

“Where did that come from? That wasn’t what we were talking about at all!”

Not only that, but she’d moved on from “chief” straight to “my dearest.” Part of me did want to hear Yuika call me that, though. Still, it was never going to top her calling me “Big Bro”!

“To get back on topic for a second, what should I call you, then?” Ivy asked.

“My honest answer would be to just call me the same thing you always have.”

“So, Takky? Isn’t that a little too simple?”

Weren’t you the one who came up with that nickname?!

“Also it feels way too weird to hear you sound so polite, so go back to talking like normal. It would be a hassle to have people ask where the sudden change came from, too.”

“If that’s what you want, Takky.”

Ivy nodded begrudgingly.

With the question of what Ivy would call me settled, Nanami spoke up.

“Now, what can I help you with, Master? If you are looking for a spare helmet, there are more in Miss Hatsumi’s room.”

“Right, right. Those yellow helmets are just so cool, y’know. I wanted to put one on, point my finger, and start saying things like ‘Get to work’… Wait, that’s not it! I didn’t stick my head out here because I wanted one of those!”

“Why exactly are the helmets in Hatsumi’s room?”

Yuika was absolutely right. What exactly was going on with Sis’s room? It had seemed normal the few times I’d gone in there to wake her up, but now it felt like I had a better chance of finding her in my room instead. Could I even call it “my room” at this point?

For the time being, that wasn’t important. The one thing I could say for certain was that Sis was involved with what they were doing.

“If you aren’t after a helmet, then what do you need, Master?”

“Oh, I just was wondering what exactly you were doing out here,” I said, pointing to the blueprint-looking paper in Nanami and Ivy’s hands. Seeing the two of you holding that and talking among yourselves makes me real nervous, okay?

“Ah, this? I simply thought I would have everyone do that thing for me.”

“…Uh, so I have absolutely no idea what that means?”

Same here, Yuika. Okay, we needed someone to explain what was going on.

“All right, so what’s this construction stuff about? Are you erecting a memorial museum or something?”

“As discerning as ever, Master. I knew you would understand. Yes, I thought erecting a Nanami Memorial might be a good way to preserve your achievements for future generations.”

“Why is it a ‘Nanami Memorial,’ then? It should be a memorial of me, right? Not that I want one.”

“It would still have some of your information, too, just pushed off onto a tiny little display in the corner.”

It wasn’t very difficult for me to imagine what Yuika was talking about. Sure, there’d be some stuff on me, but it wouldn’t be the main focus.

“Incidentally, Miss Yuika, I was trying to decide whether I should portray you as a younger sister who starts to sexily fawn on Master after he gets a girlfriend and you start to worry he’ll be taken from you, or a sexy younger sister with an aggressive streak who is unable to live life without her big brother.”

“Whaaat? Yuiyui… That sounds awesome!”

“None of that sounds awesome in the slightest! I mean, it’s pure fiction. If this is a memorial museum, you should write down what really happened, thank you very much!” Yuika continued her tirade. “And what is all that sexy talk about anyway? Huh?! Why are you trying to make me out to be a pervert? I already get enough of that from Anemone and Takioto as it is!”

Her rant was a bit odd. She should have refuted the idea I was a pervert, too… Nah, that was never going to happen.

“The battle around Master was magnificent. If I had been hit directly by the Yuika Flashing Snippy Scissors Eye Poke, I would’ve been done for.”

“Yuiyui, you gotta work a bit harder on those names of yours…”

“That move’s got a real cute name for something so vicious.”

I mean, she’d be going for her opponent’s eyes, right?

“Uh, if I could jump in here for a moment?! I can’t use any attack like that, and I don’t even remember fighting you in the first place!”

“Oh? Back in the dungeon during the Newspaper Club incident, you threw out scissors, while I threw out rock. The story goes you used that on Master’s butt to—”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. I lost that fight, I admit it! Please don’t make me remember!” Yuika said, glancing over at me.

Ngh, what was that? I felt my anus twinge.

“So anyway! ANYWAY! What are you two doing?”

Yuika forced the conversation back on track. Nanami then nodded.

“Oh, yes, the truth is, I thought I would check everyone’s understanding of Master with a test. If I were to come up with a name for it, I suppose it would be the Master Comprehension Check?”

“Checking our understanding of him?”

“This all started when Ivy told me she wished to know more about Master.”

I glanced at Ivy, and she said, “Yup!” She could have just asked me if there was anything she wanted to know. Though I guess some stuff was hard to ask about.

“That was when a thought came to me: Do we all have the knowledge of Master that we should?”

“You really don’t need that, actually.”

And wasn’t this beside the point? Ivy was the one who wanted to know more about me, so why was Nanami focusing on everyone else?

“I was unable to contain myself. It bothered me so much, I only slept ten times the whole week.”

Nanami yawned, looking quite exhausted. But Yuika wasn’t going to let her nonsense slide.

“Uhhh, hold up, that number’s clearly off, right? You can’t have slept that much without throwing in some naps.”

“Sounds pretty healthy, if anything.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

“As such, I decided to test everyone in the Hanamura House on how well they understand Master. Hence, the Master Comprehension Check!”

So that was what was going on. I said the first thing that came to mind:

“I still don’t really get it… I need a simpler explanation.”

“We’ll be doing a point-deduction style test that will evaluate how much each of us knows about Master. An extravagant prize awaits whoever can answer everything accurately.”

Yuika instantly shot her hand into the air. That was fast. Quick enough to give an elementary schoolkid raising his hand to show off on Parent’s Day a run for their money.

“Takioto, I just remembered I’ve got something I really need to do!” Yuika said.

What a strange coincidence. I was just wishing I could remember some pressing business to attend to as well. All the signs here pointed to some extremely stupid nonsense.

Yuika turned on her heel and tried to leave, but Ivy stopped her.

“We were just looking to find some participants, with Master and Miss Yuika already locked in to appear.”

“Why am I are already confirmed to appear?! Ivy, let me go!”

“Sorry, Yuiyui. This is for your own good.”

I had no idea how Yuika was supposed to benefit from this, but more importantly…

“Wait, I have to join in on this, too?”

Wouldn’t the test be pointless if I was taking it? Did she want to see how much I knew about myself or something?

“But of course. I have also drawn up a plan to ‘accidentally’ bring Miss Ludie over…”

Time to pray Ludie could escape.

“With that in mind, let us reconvene in an hour. I shall go over to Miss Ludie,” Nanami said, taking off her helmet and putting it away in her subspace item bag before going off somewhere. I assumed she was heading for where Ludie was.

Huh, so now she takes off the helmet?

“Ummm, Ivy? Why are you tying me up?!”

I turned to face the source of the voice and saw Yuika, bound by rope. She had been tied up in a way that accentuated her boobs—what a view!

Ivy was lying down on the ground, her helmet removed.

“Huh? Why did I tie you up? ’Cause Nanamin said Takky would be energized if he saw you like that, duh.”

“Can you not say that like it’s the most obvious answer in the world? It makes me sound like a freak.”

Yuika glared daggers at me. A chill ran down my spine. Though I supposed you could say that counted as being “energized.”

“O-oh yeah, that remains me, I’ve seen you a lot over here lately. Why’s that?” I asked.

The quickest solution here was to change the subject. I decided to ignore Yuika’s look.

“Ohhh, that,” Ivy began. “Nanamin and Ms. Hatsumi lent me a closet and a space in the attic.”

I had a hard time deciding if Ivy was supposed to be a burglar or Dora*mon here. Hold on, though.

“You shouldn’t sound so happy about that. At least roll out a floor mattress in Nanami or Yuika’s room instead.”

“Why are throwing my name out there?” Yuika said. “I’m supposed to be the one giving her permission for that, right?”

Listening to Yuika, I suddenly remembered something.

“Wait, I thought we talked about you living in the apartment building, Ivy?”

I was pretty sure we’d talked recently about having her move into the same apartment building where Ms. Ruija and Ms. Sakura were staying.

“The apartment’s nice and all, but when I complained about not being able to rush to your side if anything happened to you, Ms. Hatsumi said she’d give me the attic.”

I understood now. The stuff she was doing was technically all related to me, then.

“Okay, we get why you’re always hanging around here; now could you undo all these ropes, please?!”

Ivy didn’t really seem like she was going to let Yuika go, so I figured I could do it for her.

“Takioto, you better not touch anywhere you shouldn’t, okay?”

“Like hell I would!”

Touching her skin a little bit was okay, though, right?

We met up with Nanami again, and she brought us inside a building on the Hanamura property I didn’t really recognize. From what I had heard, it had been remodeled to be used for storage or something. Did that explain the blueprints? The helmets?

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

The day after that weird quiz show thing, Nanami came into my room in exceedingly high spirits.

“Master, Master! It’s finally complete!”

“What’s got you so excited?”

I put my hands up, signaling her to calm down a bit. Whenever Nanami came to tell me something like this, there was a 50 percent chance she was getting excited over nothing.

“You know what I mean, Master. The thing that got washed during the incident with Miss Sakura and the Book of Raziel.”

“Washed?”

“The piece of clothing, Master. Hurry! We’re heading to Miss Ruija’s home.”

Hearing her say “clothing” finally made it click. Right, I had requested that from Ms. Sakura.

“It’s all done?”

“Indeed, I just received word that it is complete. We should head over immediately,” Nanami said, bringing me along to Ms. Ruija’s place. Ms. Ruija lived in the apartment building I had somehow become the owner of, which was less than ten minutes away.

We reached her place without passing hardly anyone on the street.

But in a surprising turn of events, it wasn’t Ms. Ruija who opened the door to greet us.

“Welcome, Takioto. Come on in.”

“Hello, Ms. Sakura.”

Ms. Sakura was standing in the doorway. I’d heard Ms. Sakura would often come over to Ms. Ruija’s since they were neighbors, and she certainly seemed at home, judging by how she’d let us in herself.

We took off our shoes and headed to the bathroom to wash our hands. Nanami and I had come here several times by this point and knew our way around the apartment.

Ms. Ruija’s apartment was filled with a lineup of adorable furnishings and…………huh?

…………What the hell was with that pot?

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then I opened them and looked at the thing once more. There was a huge cauldron in front of me. In a normal home, I’m sure there would be a bunch of ways to use it, but this was Ms. Ruija’s place we were talking about. I nervously inquired about the pot to Ms. Sakura.

“Um, sorry, but what exactly is that mysterious and ominous-looking pot for…?”

“Oh, that? Don’t worry, it’s just a cauldron for alchemy. She borrowed it from Anemone, apparently,” Ms. Sakura replied, putting me at ease. Thank goodness it wasn’t a sketchy good luck charm, or bubbling over with weird, eerie energy. On second glance, it did resemble the cauldrons from the At*lier series.

“I was just as surprised. I nearly started sweating in some weird places when I saw it,” Nanami said.

Just where the hell was she sweating from? Enough with the suggestive phrasing, please.

Ms. Sakura listened to us banter and smiled, appearing to enjoy herself. While the road to get here may have been bumpy, I was truly glad to see her looking so happy.

She told us to sit down at the dining room table, and we both complied.

I had wondered why Ms. Sakura had been the one to open the door for us, but apparently, Ms. Ruija had been busy getting ready to host us.

“Okay, everybody. I brewed us all some black tea!” Ms. Ruija said, appearing from the kitchen with enough tea and scones for all of us.

“Thank you very much; the tea is delicious.”

“Tee-hee, I baked plenty of scones, so eat as much as you’d like.”

I picked up one of them. Yup, these were yummy, too.

“Now then, let us get right to the topic at hand. You told me that you finally finished it?”

Nanami brought up the reason for our visit. Ms. Sakura nodded.

“Yes, we sure did.”

It was what I had been waiting for. The piece of cloth I’d received after bringing the Book of Raziel kerfuffle to a close. I’d asked them to refine it and turn it into my new weapon.

“It’s in the other room, so how about we move over there?”

We left the scones and tea behind and headed into the next room.

Inside was a single stole, hanging on a T-shaped clothing rack.

“This is your new stole, Takioto,” Ms. Sakura said, pointing at a scarf that had the same base color as the one I already had equipped. However, it also had new embellishments and patterns that my current stole lacked.

“So this is it…”

A golden Japanese pattern decorated the base red fabric of the stole. The hem fabric was sewn black, and in what was the biggest change of all, there were ornaments attached to either end of the stole. While the ornaments were probably made from the same material as the decorations on Ms. Sakura’s own clothes, the shape was slightly different.

“I made it with help from Ruija, Anemone, and Nanami. Thanks to them, I can proudly attest that it came out great,” said Ms. Ruija.

“My contribution was marginal. Miss Sakura and Miss Anemone helped out in many ways, but Ms. Ruija worked especially hard on it.”

“Ms. Ruija…”

She rubbed her hair, chuckling with a bashful grin. Did she know how utterly adorable this made her look?

“Ms. Ruija’s really good at sewing, right?”

She crafts a bunch of things for you in the game as well. There are even a few items she can make only after she joins your party.

“Master, while I hate to pour cold water on the joyous occasion…,” Nanami said, and a question mark floated over my head. What exactly did she mean?

“There’s one thing that we all need to apologize for,” Ms. Sakura said with an enigmatic look.

“Uwah?”

Ms. Ruija let out a weird gasp when she heard this. Uh, for someone who was supposed to be apologizing, she didn’t seem to have a clue what the others were talking about.

“Uh, I don’t really have anything to say about this, except how happy I am to get something so well made,” I said.

“The item itself is fine. But if you sniff it, I’m sure you’ll understand,” Ms. Sakura said before Nanami dropped down heavily and lowered her head to the floor.

“I am profoundly sorry, Master! Miss Sakura began working on your stole after wearing it for a week…however, for some unknown reason, Miss Ruija went and washed it!”

“We are terribly sorry about this, Takioto, truly,” Ms. Sakura said, bowing. Ms. Sakura, I definitely caught that little smile on your face just now.

“Come now, Miss Ruija, you need to apologize, too!” Nanami said, pulling on Ms. Ruija’s arm to try to force her down to the floor.

“Why?! Why would I need to apologize for something like that?! What I did was totally normal!”

“What are you saying?! Please, take a good whiff—it smells like flowers and nothing else!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that! That’s just the scent from the fabric softener!”

I had to agree with her; it wasn’t a bad smell.

“Miss Ruija, are you unaware of the value that clothing worn by a beautiful woman holds?! If properly musty enough, it would be more valuable than several months’ worth of your allowance!”

“I never knew about any of that!”

“See, just look at Master’s face! Look at how disappointed he is!” Nanami said, and Ms. Ruija looked at me. Then, a regretful apologetic expression came to her face.

“Ah! Sorry, Takioto.”

“Why are you apologizing about this? If you do that, then you’re basically saying I’m a freak mourning the loss of Ms. Sakura’s smell from my stole.”

“Oh no, this is quite a conundrum. I do not see Master recovering from this loss without you offering him your week-old socks as recompense.”

“M-my socks?!”

“Hey, Nanami, can you stop going off with whatever nonsense that pops into your head? Look at how disgusted Ms. Ruija looks!”

Her socks would have her feet smell…Amaterasu Girls Academy, body odor…hrngh.

“I—I do have ones I’ve worn for two days…”

If I put out a questionnaire asking several people whether it was okay to wear the same socks two days in a row, the answer would probably be split down the middle. I’d heard that the question of whether it was acceptable to dry your towel after a bath to use it two days in a row was similarly split down the middle.

“Oh, you mean the white socks you had in the laundry net bag? Speaking for myself, I would just barely give them a pass. However, the question is whether that will satisfy Master or not…”

“Why were you sniffing those, Nanami?!”

What exactly did she think needed to happen for me to feel satisfied, hm?

“If I had to say one way or other, they certainly smelled to some extent, but…I suppose they will have to do.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know, they were right on that edge, though…,” said Ms. Sakura.

“Why did you sniff my socks, too, Ms. Sakura?! Takioto, my socks don’t smell, okay?! Not one bit!” Ms. Ruija said, desperate to convince me her socks smelled fine.

Stop, stop, don’t take your feet out! I heard you, loud and clear!

As we bantered loudly, Ms. Sakura became unable to hold back her laughter any longer.

“Pfft, hee-hee. I’m sorry, we went a bit too far, didn’t we? Why don’t you get to main point here, Takioto?”

I agreed, and she took the stole off the rack and handed it to me.

“Try putting it on.”

I doffed my old stole and handed it to Nanami. Then I picked up the new one.

It felt fantastic on my skin. The silk was high-quality, cooling to the touch. I passed my mana through it.

“Huh?!”

My mana spread through it far more easily than I was used to. There had always been a bit of resistance when I enchanted my old stole, but enchanting the new one was as smooth as could be.

That wasn’t the only change, either…

When I filled this stole with mana, it stretched out limply down to the floor. My old stole would expand and contract to some degree, but the new one was more flexible. I could probably extend it several yards if I felt like it.

I slowly lifted the stole off the floor with my mana.

It wobbled and teetered, like a child taking their first steps. Since I still wasn’t accustomed to using it, I couldn’t manipulate it exactly as I wanted.

But one thing was clear.

“Holy crap, this is incredible.”

The shock was about as intense as if game hardware had evolved from the original Nintendo directly to the Switch.

To put it differently, I was now able to make far subtler and more delicate movements than I had been before. It was how someone would feel if they suddenly developed extra nerves, extra muscles, or more fingers.

However, just increasing the number of buttons on a controller didn’t mean using them would be second nature. The same went for more nerves or more muscles. Right now, I didn’t have perfect command of my new stole.

I filled the stole with mana and tried hardening it.

My impression was that it seemed several degrees harder than before. I wanted to try out my other enchantments, too.

“After using it a bit, what do you think?”

“There are some drawbacks, but…”

Obviously, it wasn’t a strict upgrade. This stole would require more fine-tuned mana control. It consumed more as well.

“Even then…”

I stretched out the stole and grabbed a cup. I stretched it out even farther—likely out of my old stole’s range—and touched a book on the bookshelf. I then it took off the shelf.

However, the movements themselves were slightly erratic.

“One thing is certain: If I learn how to control this, it’ll pack a hell of a punch.”

“Only if you learn how to control it? But you’ll be able to do that, won’t you, Takioto?” Ms. Sakura said to me with a smile. I mean…

“I’ll just have to keep using it until I can.”

After replying, I looked from Ms. Sakura to Ms. Ruija, then Nanami.

Ms. Sakura’s smiling face, Ms. Ruija nodding in agreement, and Nanami with the same expression as always.

“Thank you all, truly.”

“You saved my life, so this is the least I can do it make it up to you.”

“Me too… What I mean is, my debts have caused a lot of trouble, so…”

“Just doing my job as your maid. Ah, Master, there’s one more thing.”

“What?”

“Miss Anemone also assisted us with this, so I would suggest you thank her at a later date.”

“Good point.”

Anemone, huh? I would have to pray that she wouldn’t seek some bizarre form of compensation.

It was time to equip my new stole and get to training! Or so I would have liked, but it would have to wait for later.

As for why, it was because of a message I received from Iori.

I have something I’d like to discuss with you a bit, Takioto. Preferably with Yuika, if possible… Are you free anytime soon?

Well, just wearing my stole and doing what I did normally was a simple form of training, and there was no way I could turn down an invitation from Iori. I needed to head over to him as fast as possible.

I’ll grab Yuika and be right there.

I messaged him back before calling Yuika. After pushing her to reveal her location, I took Nanami along to grab Yuika in the Ceremonial Committee room, then headed to the place where Iori had specified.

Waiting there were Katorina, Gabby, Ludie, and Iori.

“Hm? Huh? For real?”

“He really did show up…”

Katorina and Gabby looked at me as if they couldn’t believe it. Katorina actually did a triple take when she saw me. How rude.

“Well, yeah, I’m going to show up when called for.”

“You’re always really quick to come, huh, Kousuke?” Iori said with a smile.

“I watched Iori send the message, but didn’t you get here, like, too fast?”

Katorina may have thought that way but from my perspective…

“I don’t really think so?”

It must’ve felt like I came here fast only because I got going as soon as I replied that I was on my way, right?

“Takioto, you always react immediately to messages from my brother, don’t you?” Yuika narrowed her eyes at me.

I didn’t know if Nanami was listening or not, but as we conversed, she started to brew some delicious-looking coffee. Thanks, Nanami.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

“I actually haven’t told this to you, either, Yuika, but…I chatted a bit with Ludie during class.”

He talked to Ludie, did he…? Hmm, to Ludie, eh? Well then. Why did I feel this depressing sensation welling up in my chest?

“What did you do now, Big Bro? Help some old lady on the street and got all her riches as a thank-you?”

“Well, see, that’s how this all started, but that’s not exactly it.”

Yuika cocked her head, baffled. She must not have understood what he meant. I think I had an idea, though. When I thought about the early-to-mid-game events that are triggered by the old lady on the street, I realized Iori had to be talking about the shop.

“I actually started my own store.”

“A shop? Big Bro, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Okay, so I’ll try to keep this short, but—”

Yuika’s question prompted Iori and the others to give us a simple rundown of how he came to open a store. Obviously, I already knew all this from the game.

Iori saves an old lady on the street, and from there, he makes a series of trades to ultimately gain possession of the Magic General Store near campus; it’s sort of like what happens in Straw Millionaire, that Japanese folktale. While this part of the narrative is exceedingly unrealistic and full of ridiculous plot holes worth prodding, the fine men and women of the eroge player base didn’t sweat the details and waved it off as just being part of the eroge experience. Plus, half of this substory is purely for comedic effect, which made it even less worthy of serious thought.

Now, this Magic General Store is another rather interesting system in the game.

The Magic General Store is a facility the player can utilize from early to mid-game that lets you sell your own unneeded items for a high price, buy rare items from others, and add player-developed medicine and weapons to the store’s inventory.

The shop has three meters to manage: “level,” “popularity,” and “reputation.” Raising these attributes results in more people coming to the shop to sell the player rare items. Some of these items lead to hidden dungeons, and others lead to the ultimate equipment for particular characters. That said, players have to raise the shop level pretty high for them to show up, and the prices are so exorbitant, it makes you wonder if they’re bugged.

It’s also possible to customize everything from the placement of products and shelves, the store layout, and prices, but most people just play with the automatic settings. There’s even a merchant ending if you do everything yourself and get totally immersed in running the store until graduation.

Simply put, it’s a shopkeeping minigame. It’s a surprisingly deep system and pretty fun, too. On the second playthrough, you can access the Magic General Store super early in the game, so I would get a lot out of it during my runs of the game.

“—And that’s the gist of it. So, Kousuke…”

I had been reminiscing while Iori was talking, but it sounded like I had been correct to assume he was talking about the Magic General Store.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Some of the products that came with the shop have useful info about mysterious dungeons. So I was thinking maybe you could use them, too, if you’re interested.”

“Huh?” I couldn’t help sounding confused when I heard this. “Why, though? You got them, so shouldn’t you be the one to use them, Iori?”

To me, it seemed obvious that the person who obtained an item had the right to use it.

“Sure, we may have gotten them with the shop, but you’ve been giving us all kinds of information, right? I figured we could repay you with this.”

“Huh, did I really do all that…?”

“Master, I think it is a bit of a stretch to play dumb here. Even I get the feeling you have been feeding various items and pieces of information to Iori.”

“Indubitably,” Gabby said, nodding.

“Nanami’s right. You’ve given us all that and more. Even Vice President Fran said giving you these items would be the right thing to do. Though President Monica actually said that you would keep getting stronger regardless, ha-ha-ha.”

What exactly did President Monica see me as, hm? She was right, though, since I had thought through my plans assuming I wouldn’t have the shop to help me out.

“Anyway, here’s a map that leads to a new dungeon. I don’t know what sort of place it might be yet, but if you’re interested at all…would you accept it? As a gift?” Iori asked, holding out a piece of paper.

Iori…?! All this, just for me…?!

“I’ll take it, gladly! Heck, I’ll take you along with it!”

“Uhhh, Takiotooo? You sounded a little serious about that—are you okay? Can you stop being ridiculous and get ahold of yourself?”

Phew, that was a close call. Maybe I should’ve said I didn’t need any dungeon information and just wanted Iori instead… No, no, calm down, if I said that, it would be all over, on many levels. Okay, how to bounce back from this…?

“If anything comes up with your shop, I can come over and help out.”

“I’ll probably be fine without the help. Ms. Sakura is assisting me with a lot of stuff, and it looks like it’ll work out. Though I do have one condition for you, Kousuke.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d really like it if you’d stop by to do some shopping sometime. Though I’m not the one setting the prices, so I probably can’t give you much of a discount.”

This silly guy just didn’t get it.

“You don’t have to worry about prices with me at all. Don’t worry about any unsold stock, either; I’ll buy up everything. Double the asking price, no problem.”

“Listen, enough with the dumbass routine, okay?” Katorina quipped, looking fed up. Hey, what did she mean by “dumbass”?

“So you’re saying I should just buy it at a bit of a higher price…?”

“I don’t believe that is the issue, I’m afraid,” Gabby said with a strained smile. I mean, I was pretty sure that’s what she meant? Was that not it?

“Ah-ha-ha, you’re so funny, Kousuke. So there was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about actually…”

“What’s that?”

“Our exams are coming up soon, right? I know you probably don’t need it, but I’m thinking of having a group study session and was wondering if you’d come. What about you, Yuika?”

“Hmm, I’ll have to pass.”

Iori reacted like he expected as much. I figured he would have felt bad about not inviting me at all. Me aside, there wasn’t much of a point in Yuika joining in, either.

Yuika glanced at me.

“Oh, well, about that. I don’t mind studying with you all, it’s just, there’s a chance it won’t matter that much…”

“What do you mean by that?”

I still hadn’t gone over everything with Iori yet.

“I briefly talked about this with Yukine and Ludie, but me, Yuika, and Nanami are cooking up an interesting little plan.”

“Oh, do tell. What is this interesting plan of yours? I would love to be a part of it, too.”

“Given the situation, I’d say it’s impossible for you, Gabby, sorry… I was thinking I better talk it over with President Monica and Iori in advance. This is as good a time as any, I guess, right?”

I looked at Nanami and Yuika, and the two nodded.

“That’s a good point. Going over it all ahead of time will probably make it easier to execute.”

“I shall leave it up to you, Master.”

It was time to tell them. We were just filling them in on something they would hear soon anyway. Also…

“I’d like your help with some of it, too.”

“I don’t mind helping out, but what sort of plan is it?”

Iori cocked his head. Well…

“A plan that’ll blow everyone away…and make people really hate the Ceremonial Committee.”

From there, I told them all about the scheme. Then I asked for their help on a few things, and we all went our separate ways.

Afterward, I received a suggestive message from Iori.

Can we meet up, just the two of us? We could just talk via messages, too, if that’s better.

I can meet up, that’s fine. Nanami might be with me, is that okay?

Yeah. It’s okay.

All right then, I’ll head over to you. By the way, what’s this all about?

I wanted to talk about Rina.

Katorina?

Yeah. Apparently, she’s been going into dungeons by herself lately.

—Katorina’s Perspective—

I’m never gonna use this crap in real life. I’m pretty sure everyone has had this thought before, not just me. Heck, it would always pop into my head whenever I studied for an exam.

I would only ever use the random series of numbers I was memorizing on my upcoming test. I got the urge to chuck this textbook off the nearest bridge, but unfortunately, the Morals Committee had told me to avoid a failing grade at all costs, even if I had to bribe my way out of it.

Honestly, I would have been fine bribing someone if it were allowed, but in another unfortunate twist, this was apparently just a metaphor; the Morals Committee had no influence on exams.

“Iori, you get this?”

“Hrmmm…”

Iori peered down at the question. Then he frowned.

In the end, only four people—Iori, Ludie, Gabriella, and me—wound up coming to the study group. Yuika had said she wanted to join in if she had time, but apparently, she needed to prepare for what was coming up.

“Sorry, Rina. I’m stumped.”

“Ludie, how are you supposed to do this stuff?”

“For that part… Think of it like this.”

Ludie started writing in my electronic notebook. Her explanation was super easy to understand, and just looking at it made me immediately figure out what to do next. It made sense to Iori, too, and he wrote down her method in his own electronic notebook.

“Thanks, Ludie.”

“Iori, Rina. While I am sure you are both aware of this, our exams are right around the corner. Are you sure you’ll be all right? You really need to give this everything you’ve got.”

Since she’d lost to Takioto the last time, Gabriella was the most serious out of all of us; she had to be gunning for the highest score in class.

“Like I don’t already know that.”

“In light of what the Ceremonial Committee is planning, we need to do our best wherever we can!”

Gabriella was right. The Ceremonial Committee first-years were trying to pull something off that had never been done in the history of the Academy. They’d probably need a considerable amount of skill to make it happen, but I had no doubt they could do it.

Compared to them…I was just so weak.

In the past, I’d assumed that even if I lacked on the academics front, I could make up for it with my skills and strength, but that wasn’t going to cut it anymore. There were a whole bunch of people I was no match for, Kousuke Takioto chief among them.

On top of that, I didn’t have the brains or the status that Ludie and Gabriella had going for them, either.

It must have seemed odd that I was even a part of the Morals Committee at all.

“Orange sure is running late. Do you think something happened?” Iori murmured, looking at the clock on his Tsukuyomi Traveler.

“Bet he just ditched, right?”

He was the type to think studying was a total waste of time. If I hadn’t joined the Morals Committee, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the study group, either, since I could just clear the dungeon to make up for bad grades.

I continued on to the next page of my electronic notebook that displayed the study problems.

“Ah-ha-ha, that is something he would do.”

Iori’s comment left Ludie sighing.

“I do feel he’s the one who could stand to study most of all.”

According to Orange, he felt like throwing up when there were too many words or numbers in front of him. I mean, it wasn’t like I didn’t know the feeling.

I was the same. Even now, I wanted to get the hell out of here.

But no matter how much I wanted to flee, I couldn’t let myself.

“Hng!”

I unexpectedly flashed back to that moment. Just recently, there had been a time where I wanted to run away but couldn’t escape.

In an unguarded moment, the memory came to me. My cowardice during the Book of Raziel incident. I hadn’t been able to be much in the fight, and the thief skills that were supposed to be my specialty had been useless. When I’d looked at Hanzou from the Student Council, then back at myself, my worthlessness had stood out even more.

“What’s wrong, Rina?”

“…Nothing. Sorry, can you show me how to do this?”

“You can leave this to me. Are you sure you’re okay? The test is just a few days away, you know.”

“I’m really not okay, am I?”

Whether it came to exams or my own skills.

A few days later, the day of the test arrived.

I didn’t see any sign of Kousuke Takioto. Yuika and Nanami weren’t around, either. In fact, it seemed like not one member of the Ceremonial Committee was taking their exams.

They had all said they didn’t plan on taking them from the start.

Their absence was reflected in the rankings.

“Just as planned and just as I expected.”

Kousuke Takioto’s name was missing from the top of the first-year rankings.

“Ludie’s really impressive. Gabriella and Iori, too.”

Excluding the Ceremonial Committee members, I was the only member of the Three Committees whose name wasn’t on the list. I had taken the written exam and participated in the practical exam. I had cleared down to the same layer of the dungeon as the others.

Still, my name was the only one missing from the top rankings.

I’d barely managed to avoid failing my written exams, while my practical exam score was among the top five in the class. However, the Book of Raziel incident had made me understand that your score on the practical exam meant squat when it came time to actually put things into practice in a dungeon.

I wanted to learn skills and techniques that would really take me places. I wanted to grow stronger.

That was way I spent yet another day in the dungeon by myself.

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

As Yuika, Nanami, and I headed for the Tsukuyomi Dungeon, Yukia looked around the area.

“We’re pretty much the only ones here.”

Classes were going on at the moment, so we’d hardly run into any students or teachers.

“The masses are still in class, and probably sitting through a postmortem review of everyone’s tests right now.”

This time around, Yuika, Nanami, and I decided not to take our exams. There were several reasons why.

The first was that anyone in the irresponsible and frivolous Ceremonial Committee had no reason to earnestly take their exams. Why would the Academy’s committee of cheeky delinquents actually take them when there was no risk of getting held back a year or being expelled? It sounded like the second- and third-year members had skipped pretty much all of their exams since they’d joined.

However, the biggest reason was…

“Exams are such a drag. We’re lucky that we didn’t have to take them.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself—they were a drag.

Studying for exams was the last thing I wanted to do. Though speaking as someone who had experienced life in the real world, I recognized that it was important to study to some extent.

Since we were skipping our exams, we made time for ourselves to train and clear dungeons. That time was very useful.

There was a drawback to this, though: The student body had started looking down on us for our slipping grades. But given that the Ceremonial Committee was supposed to be their enemy, this might not have actually been a bad thing.

“Takioto, did the other students say anything to you?” Yuika asked me as we headed to our destination.

Since I’d prioritized strengthening myself, I hadn’t delved into the Tsukuyomi Dungeon since clearing the fortieth layer. Apparently, Ludie and Yuika had been invited by Iori to join him, and they’d all cleared several floors past that.

“Oh yeah, they were saying all sorts of awful stuff behind my back. None of it really mattered to me, so I just ignored it, though.”

“Serves him right.” “I guess that was all he had in him.” “It’s his fault for skipping all the time.” “I wish he wouldn’t act so tough.”—I had heard students intentionally say things like this within earshot of me, and I’d seen others whispering among themselves to try and stop me from hearing it. Some students would look at me and laugh, while others would try provoking me.

Honestly, I couldn’t be surprised about whatever they said about me, as I had dropped from the top rankings. I had skipped my exams, and I hadn’t been delving into the Academy Dungeon, either. So obviously, my rank was gonna fall.

“Now the Ceremonial Committee has zero members at the top of the class, Master.”

The students who despised me had to feel elated. One student had even gone to the trouble of printing out the rankings and showing them off to me. They’d looked really triumphant and all, but I couldn’t help thinking it was weird for them to gloat so much when they weren’t even at the top of the rankings… I would hope they would be at least in the top ten before coming to lord over me.

“You must’ve heard some stuff, too, Yuika, though I’m assuming nothing as bad as what I got it.”

“Oh, yeah, sure did. I didn’t really care, so I just let it slide. What about you, Nanami?”

“I haven’t heard people say much about me… Maids are quite powerful, after all.”

She was right in that I didn’t hear anyone bad-mouth her very much. Maybe it was because she was doing streams and stuff as an influencer? I had no clue how being a maid factored into it, though.

“Honestly, I cannot believe that they would speak so poorly of Master and Miss Yuika. If I was looking at you from the perspective of an average student, I would simply see you as creepy and eerily strong students, nothing more.”

Well, that was likely because the Ceremonial Committee was effective at convincing the student body we were the enemy.

“Both of you make sure not to lash out at them, okay? We joined the Ceremonial Committee fully aware of what we were getting into.”

As we chatted, we eventually arrived at the Tsukuyomi Academy Dungeon.

“It’s been a minute.”

I really had cleared forty layers of this thing by myself. I remembered Ludie and Yukine coming to meet me when I’d returned like it was yesterday.

It had been right in the middle of exams at the time, and I had done everything completely on my own.

“Master, you seem quite nervous. At times like this, the best medicine is singing. Ohhh, Nanamiiii, maid supreme!”

“Y’know, I actually don’t feel the slightest bit nervous whatsoever. Also, why’s the song about you?”

Ah well, I supposed I’d try singing anyway.

“Ohhh, Nanamiiii, maid supreme!”

After I sang, Nanami placed a hand on my shoulder.

“…It’s okay, Master. The only thing that matters is putting your heart into it.”

“That’s the kinda thing you say to comfort someone who can’t sing, isn’t it?”

I wasn’t tone-deaf or anything, right? So what was this all about?

“Can you stop with all the nonsense? Takioto, you’re not godawful, but one step beyond godawful, so don’t worry.”

“So I’m still godawful?!”

By one step beyond, she meant that I was even worse than godawful, right? Or was it that I was just a little better than godawful? Which was it?!

“I’m joking—you’re totally average. Let’s just say you might want to avoid singing in front of others.”

“So not a joke at all, then?”

I really needed Yuika to cut the comedy, or I was going to get nervous. I’d scored in the nineties at karaoke, dang it!

“Forget it, okay? We’re heading into the dungeon, so focus up and stop the silliness.”

Yuika was right. This was a serious venture into the dungeon.

“Yeah… That’s true. Still, I’m not nearly as nervous as I was last time.”

I had gone in here on my own last time to qualify for a bunch of different events. But now, I was going in with friends. With that in mind, I felt no anxiety whatsoever.

“Yuika, Nanami, you ready?”

“Totally! Let’s wrap this up fast and go get some ice cream.”

“Maaaaid supreeeeeeme.”

“How long are you going to keep singing?”

We were in a party of three for our trip down to the sixtieth layer, and we were all battle-hardened from the fight against the Book of Raziel, which was normally recommended for the second playthrough. Thus, the only future I saw…

“Time to run down straight to the Tsukuyomi Dungeon’s sixtieth layer.”

…was one where we traversed through it all.

There were a wide variety of floor types within the Tsukuyomi Dungeon. Some looked like caves, while others were just one large room. While I hadn’t been there yet, there was a frozen cavern layer, which was extremely cold, and floors that were so hot, they made you feel like everything in the vicinity was on fire.

While the ten floors before the fortieth layer resembled one large room, from the forty-first layer onward, it returned to being a single dungeon corridor. That said, this pattern held only until the fiftieth floor.

Since combat was obviously a breeze, we mowed down all the monsters in a single strike! Except not really. We actually decided to run from combat. If we ran into enemies that were pushovers, or ones that gave good experience or item drops, however, then I chose to farm them as we went.

There was one small problem. It was the fighting. The enemies weren’t strong or anything, of course. Though perhaps it was more accurate to say they were strong in one particular way.

“…Takioto, is it just me, or has it been nothing but cute young girls attacking us for a little while now?”

“I explained everything before we came in here, didn’t I?”

From the fortieth layer down, the number of anthropomorphic monsters increased. That being said, there were monsters of this kind that appeared before floor forty, such as bird people like harpies; centaurs, who had the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a human; and lamia, who had the lower body of a snake and an upper body of a human.

While each of these monsters had male varieties, the female versions were generally stronger, possessed better weapons, and were more dominant. In-game, the effort put into the female monster illustrations was leagues above those of their male counterparts, too.

“You mentioned that we would pick and choose what monsters to farm. So why are you only farming the pretty ones? Wait, is that what you’re into?”

“Of course not.”

I was generally after their item drops. I would take down other monsters if I was farming magic particles, but this time, I didn’t even need to do that, and even if I had felt like doing so, there were more efficient places to do it. Once I got past the sixtieth layer, then the good farming spots would really start to open up.

Tackling whatever came our way, we gradually progressed through one floor after another. After we had defeated the boss on the fiftieth layer, we decided to take a small break.

“Well, this is as good a time as any to review how we’ve been doing so far,” I proposed as I sipped the tea Nanami had prepared for me. Yuika agreed with the idea as she ate her own sandwich.

“Even I couldn’t help but sympathize with that monster you tossed back to its friends after crushing its head with your stole. Though it was good intimidation.”

While Yuika was overselling it, I couldn’t deny I’d caused a bit of a blood splatter. I mean, I was just trying out my new stole.

“Master, you were acting a bit like an evil leader. It was truly wonderful to watch.”

Nanami seemed overjoyed as she spoke, but was acting like an evil leader really so wonderful? I couldn’t help but find it suspicious, and Yuika apparently agreed with me.

“What’s wonderful about that? Nanami, what would you do if Takioto actually turned into some villain?”

“Then I would simply become an evil maid, which, I believe, would make you an evil little sister, Miss Yuika.”

“‘Evil little sister’? What the heck does that even mean? No way would I end up like that!”

Though, really, when I thought about all this “evil” talk…

“We’re all in the Ceremonial Committee already, which is basically an evil organization.”

“…I suppose that’s true. Though I’m not agreeing to that ‘little sister’ part, thank you very much.”

The conversation was beginning to go off the rails, so I figured it was time to rein it back in.

“We managed to run away just as planned today, and even when we’ve had to fight, we haven’t been too hard pressed. Anything bad stick out to you two?”

Yuika responded to my question.

“Actually Takioto, is it just me, or does it seem like you’re a beat slower with each move you make?”

“…I felt the same thing.”

That was, undoubtedly, the fault of my new stole. While I wouldn’t have had any problems using my old one for this dungeon visit, I’d gone with the new one as a training exercise.

“It’s probably better to use the new stole to prepare for the future, right? The enemies aren’t very strong, either.”

“That’s true, but it might take a while before I get back up to my previous speed.”

“It’s fine—just make sure you get your practice in and get faster and faster. The speed of sound should do the trick, right?”

The speed of sound? That was absurd—at that point I basically wouldn’t even be human anymore. Just then, however, I remembered there was someone like that close by: Yukine. She was the fastest of the Big Three, and because of it, she would sometimes move with inhuman speed. I hoped to get fast enough to at least keep up with her.

“Guess I’ll try to match Yukine for now. If I end up getting faster than the speed of sound, you’ll be sure to keep up, right, Yuika?”

“At that point, you’d probably be way too strong to need me, so I think I’d just watch from the sidelines instead, thanks.”

“Do not worry, Master. I will be sure to watch from afar as well.”

“Wait, neither of you are even going to keep up with me?”

“I’m just kidding,” Yuika said while sipping her coffee. There were some cookie crumbs around her mouth, but before I could point them out, she wiped them off with a napkin.

“Anyway, to be serious for a moment, maybe you should take a sec to reassess everything.”

“…? What does that mean?”

“Obviously, you rely on your stole, but you make sure to use your own legs and arms, too, right? Now that you’ve got a new weapon, wouldn’t it be a good idea to reevaluate all your movements across the board, too?”

Yuika made a good point.

I had to admit that my habit had been shaped by the last stole I’d used.

“That’s a good idea. Guess I’ll ask Yukine and Claris for some advice.”

Those two were pros when it came to moving the body. Ivy might be helpful in that area, too.

“You know, Takioto,” Yuika began, while I pondered, “I’ve always sort of felt this way, but you’re actually super adaptable.”

“Really?”

Yuika nodded.

“Yeah, like right now, you’re listening to what a little girl has to say and seriously taking it into consideration.”

“You’re not a ‘little girl,’ c’mon. Besides, honestly, I’m taking it into consideration because it’s coming from you.”

Yuika had an observant eye, a knack for combat, and most of all, she was cute. Of course I was going to hear her out.

“Impressive, Master. That casual way of giving praise is fantastic. You impregnated Yuika’s ears with that. I’ll be sure to add one thousand Yuika Points for you.”

“Nanami? Please, I’m begging you, don’t talk like a creepy virgin. What the hell are ‘Yuika Points’ anyway?” Yuika asked.

“N-no, don’t tell me, do you not know about Yuika Points?!”

“Of course I don’t! Why would you assume I did?!”

Y’know, this conversation was sounding real familiar. If these were the same as Nanami Points, then…

“Let me guess, the maximum number of points is one hundred, right?”

“That’s spot on, Master. The maximum is one hundred, and you currently have 120,326,300 points saved up.”

“That’s waaaaaay over the limit; I think you need to go look up what maximum means in the dictionary. Better question actually, why did you even know that, Takioto?!”

Whoopsie, I didn’t mean to throw a curve ball at Yuika. That said, while I was listening to Yuika’s remarks, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu…

“And wait, ten thousand points isn’t even that much, then, is it?! What are these points even for?”

“There are several ways to spend the points, but were I to give one example… Hmm, by spending one hundred points, Master is legally allowed to give Yuika a massage.”

“I’m the one giving the massage?!”

Why, I wondered, did throwing the word legally in there suddenly make it sound so much more dangerous? Seriously, why did she even tack that modifier on in the first place?

“Hmmm… In that case, I’d be fine dropping the price to ten points instead.”

“You’re pretty keen on this, huh?! With that many points, it’d take more than a lifetime to spend them all.”

“Well, in that case…”

Yuika flashed me an adorable, devilish grin.

“Just spend the rest of your life devoting yourself to me.”

She even had the nerve to look up at me with puppy dog eyes, the whole damn deal.

Yuika, you may have been joking, but spending a lifetime like that sounded like a walk in the park.

Finished with our breather, we returned to our dungeon dive. The map grew even bigger past the fiftieth floor, but we had already discussed our course of action.

“Okay then, shall we proceed as planned?”

“Yup. We’ll generally try to run away and only defeat enemies that are hard to escape from.”

There were monsters with good item drops in this section of the dungeon as well, but they had a low appearance rate, and I could try to get them at another location, so for now, we were fine to ignore them. There were also other places to more efficiently gather experience points, so these floors didn’t feel like they had much going for them besides giving you cute monsters to look at.

I now had access to a large number of dungeons, so farming here seemed like a waste. At this level of difficulty, it would be more beneficial in multiple ways to go to a similar-level layer of the Amaterasu Girls Academy Dungeon instead.

Actually, in-game, you can go to the Amaterasu Girls Academy Dungeon whenever you want, even after the end of the event, but how exactly does that work? Do you transform into a girl each time?

From there, we ran almost nonstop for an entire day, taking only an occasional break along the way. And then at long last…

“We finally made it to the boss of the sixtieth floor.”

“Aren’t you skipping a lot of stuff?”

Yuika did have a point, but we’d basically just fled from monsters, escaped from traps, and run straight here. Honestly, it felt like there wasn’t anything that needed to be said.

“Well, nothing was worth mentioning,” Nanami said.

If there was one thing to bring up, it would have been the fiftieth layer boss fight, but honestly, the boss I’d fought on the fortieth layer during my solo clear had been stronger, so there wasn’t much point.

“Up next is the sixtieth layer boss fight. Um, Fenrir, right? Shion said we’d be fine, so I’d assume we don’t really need to worry.”

“Fettered Fenrir, yeah.”

Before delving into the dungeon, we’d asked Shion, Minister Benito, Yukine, and the other upperclassmen about what we could expect.

Of course, I had known all this from the start, but Nanami and Yuika hadn’t. We’d gone over a lot of stuff, in part so I could make sure I remembered everything correctly.

“Well then, shall we?”

“Sounds good.”

In the game, the player needs to clear the sixtieth floor at minimum to avoid the bad ending. This floor isn’t just significant in terms of gameplay, though; it also holds some important information about the setting. Thus, it has an outrageous lineup of monsters.

Fenrir is a particularly famous wolf monster that often shows up in fantasy worlds.

In Norse legend, it is said that the Fenrir will bring about disaster. For that reason, it is bound with a rope called Gleipnir. However, it manages to slip free in battle to swallow the chief god Odin, killing him. After that, Fenrir is immediately slain.

The monster awaiting us on this floor was indeed Fenrir. However, this version of the monster was sealed away, the ropes wrapped around his body indicating he was not in his normal state.

If this Fenrir had been free of its bonds, we wouldn’t have stood a chance, and I would have recommended that we flee. We could rest easy for now, though, since Unfettered Fenrir didn’t show up on this layer.

“Here we go!”

Fenrir howled, sending powerful vibrations through my body. The roar of a fettered beast god. It would have frozen me on the spot if I didn’t have the proper resistances. Needless to say, however, I was aware of this and had prepared accordingly.

“…Doesn’t look too strong, does it?”

I smiled awkwardly at Yuika’s words. For the average student, this layer would have been a climactic hurdle, as they would have been surprised and bewildered by Fenrir’s strength. When I’d first cleared the sixtieth floor in the game, Fenrir had been quite a formidable foe. Visually, it was a terrifying sight, appearing to be between thirteen and fifteen feet tall.

But since Yuika had beaten the Book of Raziel, Fenrir didn’t seem like much of a threat to her at all. The overpowering aura the Book of Raziel had given off was definitely more powerful than that of this monster, no doubt about it.

In this case, maybe I could handle everything myself? I wanted to defeat it on my own if possible. That way, it would be easier to convince everyone when I explained things later on. I addressed the other two.

“Hey, if you don’t mind, could you let me fight Fenrir solo so I can get more stole practice? I’m, um, being pretty serious here.”

“For real?” Yuika sighed. Nanami didn’t seem to mind.

“Hmmm. I mean, I’m guessing you have some sort of plan here.”

I nodded.

“All right then, fine, but I want to fight it after, so you better come all the way back here with me next time. Oh, and, if things get dicey, I’m jumping in to help.”

Yuika was going to let me handle the fight. I was really grateful for it. Now I’d have the chance to test out a lot of things.

I dashed off toward Fenrir, prompting the monster to also leap at me.

It was probably the fastest monster I had encountered in the Academy Dungeon thus far.

Except there was someone even faster on dinner duty tonight.

Fenrir was the first to attack. It built up momentum and pounced, trying to crush me with its right hand.

However, I guarded the attack with my Third Hand. I felt the stole give a little, perhaps a signal that I still hadn’t transferred enough mana into it yet. Fenrir must have thought it could tear through it, as it fell back before swiping with its other claw.

But I guarded this with my Fourth Hand.

As I battled the creature, a thought came to me—I needed to prep my stole before combat more, to make it easier to fill with mana. While it was easier to exert its power compared to my previous stole, it could also hold a lot more mana. Since putting more mana into it made it easier to handle, I needed to pour magic energy into it like a fire hose.

Consequently, I couldn’t produce nearly as much power as I wanted by going in the same manner as I had before.

“This thing’s super powerful, but it guzzles down mana.”

As I pushed Fenrir away, another thought came to me.

There was a chance I would consume more mana than I ever had up until now, so it would probably be a good idea to practice filling the stole with as much mana as possible.

If my stole ended up consuming so much mana that using it was impractical, then I would need to think about getting my hands on items that would boost my natural mana recovery. As a matter of fact, these items could help other people out, too, and I had the Golden Lucky Cat to boost drop rates, so there was no harm in trying.

“Whoa, a bite attack next?”

Fenrir retreated momentarily before barring its sharp fangs at me and energetically closing in.

While I did feel like I’d be able to withstand the attack like normal, I was a little scared to do so, given I still wasn’t accustomed to my new stole.

I spread power all the way to the metal ornaments on the tip of my Third Hand. Next, I crouched down slightly and built up strength in my legs, too. Watching for the right moment, I kicked off the ground. As I launched upward, I thrust my Third Hand up with it.

A Shoryuken. Performing the sort of uppercut a fighter from the streets would use, I scored a direct hit on Fenrir’s jaw. The monster’s jaw clamped shut as Fenrir was sent flying into the air.

Fresh blood splattered over the area. The monster had sustained a deep gash wound to its face.

“Oh, so those can be used as weapons, too,” Yuika said.

Yuika must have been referencing the metallic ornaments attached to the tip of my stole. They were apparently made out of the same materials as the cross decorations Ms. Sakura had on her clothes. They could serve as blades, and when I sharpened them as I had here, I could use them like claws.

If I stabbed them into the ground instead, I could probably use them like cleats. The ornaments seemed to have a wide variety of applications, and it was fun to think up how I would use them next.

I had no complaints about the power behind them, either.

Fenrir stood up to show the large cut across its face. Despite its thick hair and hide, I had managed to cut through, gouging its flesh.

My opponent appeared to be sizing me up, so this time, I decided to go on the offensive.

However, it had grown frightened of me after my last attack. Fenrir jumped back and to the side to escape.

I slowly but surely closed the distance. When I was close enough, I extended my Third Hand and grabbed its leg. I tried to pull it in closer toward me, but my attempt proved unsuccessful. Fenrir firmly stood its ground to stop me.

Yeah. This stole’s overall power was weaker. It still didn’t have enough mana. I needed to pour more mana into it. With that amount of power filling it, I got the feeling I could win.

I increased the mana I was sending into my stole. At this, Fenrir slowly began inching in my direction.

The monster looked almost pitiful as it was dragged by its leg toward me. I increased the strength behind my pull and then used my Fourth Hand to lift up Fenrir’s body.

Although the monster writhed to and fro when I lifted it up, it couldn’t escape from the grip of my stole. I could see the sharp white teeth in its mouth, drool dripping down from the gaps in between.

In the past, I probably would have found its tenacious maw and sharp fangs terrifying. Not now, though. Honestly, I felt like someone was gonna call me out for animal cruelty.

“Uh, for real? Seriously?” Yuika remarked. It must have been a real sight to see me lifting a wolf that was several yards tall.

Beside Yuika, Nanami took out a single-lens reflex camera and a tripod. She started filming it all with the intensity of a mother recording her child’s kindergarten play.

If she was going to film all this, then I might as well go for a really big move next.

I took Fenrir, raised it up high, and slammed it into the ground. Then I lifted it up one more time and did it again.

My old stole would have been too short to pull off such a feat.

But the length and flexibility of my new stole had all kinds of novel applications, this type of attack included.

After slamming the monster into the ground several times, I hurled it at the wall.

Under normal circumstances, Fenrir could have landed safely, but after sustaining so much damage from being smacked into the ground, it was unable to immediately regain its footing.

That aside, Fenrir was truly impressive. It still managed to stand despite being tattered and beat up.

“I didn’t even need my katana.”

I glared at Fenrir. Watching its legs tremble unsteadily, I was assured of my victory.

Using my Third Hand to push hard on the ground and launch like a bullet, I reached Fenrir in a single leap. Then I used the claws on my Fourth Hand to attack Fenrir as it barely managed to get back on its feet.

“Good jobbbb That wasn’t even close.”

Yuika came over to me and held up her hand. I promptly gave her a high five.

Then Nanami, standing right behind her, gave me a high five of her own.

“You even left your foe trembling. Brilliant as always, Master. BAAM.”

It really had been a flawless victory. I’d managed to defeat Fenrir with my stole alone, not even touching my katana.

Unfortunately, the monster didn’t drop any noteworthy items.

“You know, Takioto, you don’t seem very excited for someone who’s defeated Fenrir and cleared the sixtieth layer.”

I mean…

“That’s ’cause I figured it was obvious we’d manage all that. Let’s stop standing around and hurry back outside.”

We used the magic circle to leave the dungeon.

Stepping out of the spatial magic circle, we stretched out our bodies, basking in the sunlight. Some nearby students looked to be heading into the dungeon themselves, and several were staring at the three of us.

However, I was used to these sorts of looks, and Yuika checked her Tsukuyomi Traveler without giving them a second thought. She was probably replying to a message.

“I’m pretty hungry after all that. What’s for dinner tonight?”

The question suddenly reminded me.

“Yukine’s flexing her cooking skills tonight.”

Right, I needed to send a message to Yukine and Ludie. They had taken great pains to remind me I needed to tell them when I was out of the dungeon. I figured it was best to send a message to Ivy and Iori, too.

“Hmm, so Yukine’s cooking. Sounds like I’ll get to eat a whole bunch, then.”

Yuika was right. I was really hungry myself. I wanted a shower, too.

“Okay then, wanna head home?”

That next day, a breaking news alert was sent to every student’s Tsukuyomi Traveler.

The title read: Ceremonial Committee First-Years Clear Sixtieth Layer with Record-Breaking Speed.

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

“Amazing, isn’t it? This is like the complete opposite of what we dealt with before our dungeon trek. All the students who laughed behind our backs are looking at us like we’re monsters.”

Everyone’s attitude toward us had reversed overnight.

The day after the results of the exam had been posted, countless students made fun of us. Despite our arrogant front, we had failed to get good grades. Our peers must have thought we were all talk. In my case, my grades were unchanged from the last exam period.

But then the next day, we had gone into the dungeon to clear the sixtieth floor, emerging triumphant just forty-eight hours later.

Thanks to the newspaper announcing that a “mere party of three” had “cleared the sixtieth floor in the fastest time ever for first-years,” we became the talk of the Academy.

The sixtieth layer was an area most third-years reached right before graduation, and there were many students who never ended up making it that far. Even elite students typically achieved that feat only in their second year. Meanwhile, we had cleared it in the first half of our first year.

There were no longer any students who ridiculed us. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say there were none who could ridicule us.

“You know, it feels pretty nice.”

Sensing stares from the people around us, Yuika hummed to herself. It must have been her first time getting this sort of attention. The Ceremonial Committee had always been an eye-catching organization, but Yuika had never stood out for being crazy strong before.

Thanks to Ivy skillfully fanning the flames with the newspaper article and bulletin board posts, our exploits spread beyond the first-years and circulated through the whole student population. We must’ve been the hottest topic at school right now.

Except, well, in my case…

“Y’know, everyone’s been staring at me like this for so long, I sorta don’t notice it anymore.”

I had always gotten attention no matter where I went.

Noticing my reaction, Yuika spoke up.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask this, but when someone tries to instigate something with you, Kousuke, you generally don’t say anything back unless you know them, right? Why’s that?”

“Is that true? I yell at people to get out of my way and stuff.”

“That’s not what I’m taaaaalking about!” Yuika replied. Why was she saying it like that? It was super cute.

“I don’t mean that stuff. You’re ending our next little incident by squaring off against my big brother, right?”

Ohhh, that was what she was referring to.

“You mean I don’t say, ‘Don’t even bother studying,’ or ‘You should just drop out,’ that kind of thing?”

“Yup.”

Hmmm, I had to think about this one.

“I used to overthink things and not say very much, but now it’s probably not worth the effort.”

“Wait, there’s a difference between then and now?”

“A little bit, yeah. Before, people used to say that skipping out on exams made me look like I didn’t care at all and stuff, but I used to think they had a point, so I just resigned myself to the criticism. Plus, if I disavowed the classes here entirely, it could lead to people taking me at face value.”

“That’s because of your unprecedented achievement of clearing the first forty layers solo, Master. If you said class was a waste of time and told people to go to the dungeon instead, they would likely follow your example and start to skip classes to do so.”

Yup, that was the rub.

“Heck, even I think class is useful, you know. I just chose to skip because I lacked the knowledge base to do well, and I have next to zero aptitude for magic. I think it’s important to spend time learning about the Tsukuyomi Academy Dungeon and monsters, too.”

I would be in trouble if people started going “No class, only dungeon,” or something.

“You actually thought things over for a change? So what’s different now?”

“And here I saw myself as the type to always think through things. Anyway, now it’s too much of a pain to think about it all.”

“A sharp turn to apathy, then.”

“This might sound egotistical, but I think I’m gonna be a real big influence on everyone. There’s no way to know how my comments will affect people, and thinking about it is a pain in the butt, so silence is the easiest option.”

“Now that you mention it, that might end up happening with me and Miss Yuika, too.”

My thoughts exactly.

“Yeah, I could see Yuika’s remarks really packing a punch, too. If she said something weird without making sure to talk things through with Iori and the others beforehand like we did this time, she might lead someone to show up at school or drop out altogether.”

While Yuika didn’t say anything, the words ugh, what a pain were written on her face.

“Still, we have to drive home to the students that the Ceremonial Committee’s the enemy, so we’ll be walking a tightrope.”

As we talked, we headed to the bulletin board, where students often gathered, to meet up with Iori and the others.

Iori and Gabby were already there. When Iori spotted me, he tapped his sword, signaling he was ready to go.

“Heya, Iori. How’s it hanging, buddy?”

“Hi, Kousuke. I guess it feels like all my hard work paid off? I’m sure you know, but I was third in our class.”

I laughed at his reply.

“C’mon, Iori. You’re not seriously worrying about your grades or anything, are you?”

“I take them pretty seriously, actually.”

“Ah, what a waste,” I murmured as I looked around. And then, “Iori, buddy. Are you stupid?”

“Pfft. Big Bro, don’t you know good grades are totally pointless without the strength to back them up?” Yuika added.

“They certainly aren’t pointless. Is something so basic beyond your comprehension?”

Gabby was next to join in the conversation. She stepped out in front of Yuika.

“Strength isn’t all there is in this world, I’ll have you know. A bit of extra power will all go to waste if you have the mental capability of a pigeon. It seems the Ceremonial Committee is quite a collection of wasted potential, isn’t it?”

“Excuuuuse me? I wonder who the real bird brain is here. Pretty sure that’s you, Gabby. Oh, whoops, I meant to say ‘drill brain’!” Yuika said.

“You dare insult my noble choice in hair style?”

Yuika and Gabby glared at each other, sparks flying between them.

We’d arranged for them to continue trading insults at each other, so I left them to it. Next, I turned to Iori.

“What Yuika said. Strength is what matters most. Don’t tell me that being around weaklings all the time’s made your brain go soft, too.”

“Weak? Who’s weak?”

“All those lowlifes standing around here. I’m telling you, they’re just holding you back, so you gotta ignore ’em. You’re wasting all that talent of yours. Also, get your head out of the books and get your ass in the dungeon.”

“…I don’t think everyone’s weak, and I don’t think our classes are meaningless, either.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“Sure, everyone may not have the same skills you do, Takioto. But I don’t think that they’re holding me back! Everyone has their own unique strengths. Some of our classmates even know things that you don’t, Kousuke. Others use their knowledge to do research, too.”

“What’s your point?”

“I’m saying, it’s all about what you develop, okay? If you only keep thinking about the dungeon nonstop, everyone’s going to pull the rug out from under you, you know? Might makes right isn’t the be-all and end-all.”

“Hmph.”

“Besides, everyone here is going to get much, much stronger. Right now, they all may not be as powerful as you, but don’t worry, they’ll catch up soon. I can tell.”

Iori looked to the surrounding students. Wow, it seemed like his words had given them all a bit of confidence. Though I had come up with almost all the lines Iori had said up until now. Because of that, it felt a bit like I was arguing with myself.

“What’s all this commotion about?”

The Morals Committee had arrived on the scene. Ludie stepped in between the two of us, while Katorina stepped in between Yuika and Gabby to reprimand them.

Their timing was perfect.

“Oh, if it isn’t Ludie. You’re looking as fine as ever! Whaddaya say we grab lunch today?”

“Um, thank you for the invitation. Unfortunately, I have some things to take care of today, so I must respectfully decline.”

Oh, right, Ludie was still technically a prim-and-proper young lady. Since I never talked to her in front of the other students, I had forgotten.

“Aww, you’re no fun.”

“Sorry, Kousuke. Unlike you, I am very busy. Also, let me ask you both again, what you are doing here?”

I imagined the other students must have felt like I was getting what I deserved as they watched one of the most popular students on campus give me the cold shoulder.

“What are you looking at me for? Iori and Gabby are the ones who came at us.”

Iori shook his head at my reply.

Ludie looked around the vicinity.

“Judging from the mood here, it would appear to me that the Ceremonial Committee started things. I ask you to refrain from causing any further commotion here, thank you.”

I slumped my shoulders, as if hurt by Ludie’s lack of faith in me.

“I mean, I wasn’t trying to start anything, y’know… Hey! Don’t you guys look at me like that!”

“It doesn’t seem like they feel the same way.”

I could sense their hostility. Given what I was saying, it wasn’t a mystery why.

“Ah, whatever. Fine. Heard you loud and clear, Ludie. Just one more thing, though— Hey, Iori?”

“What, Kousuke?”

“See, I think pretty highly of you,” I said, looking at him. “Y’know, you’re doing really well. I think you got a chance to be the second strongest guy among the first-years. After me, anyway. So quit getting so caught up with class, stop hanging out with the plebs like this, and join me at the top already.”

Obviously, I didn’t actually think this. My statement was super rude, something only the crappiest guy alive would say. No one understood that better than the dude saying it.

“Nah, you’re wrong. All of that is wrong.”

Iori shut down my asshole remark.

“Whoa, whoa, what about any of that was wrong?”

I put my hand on my katana, sending mana into my stole.

“That’s enough.” Katorina quickly flew out in front of me and issued a warning. To make things more realistic, she used enhance magic and took out her weapons. It appeared that instead of her usual daggers, she was using the rare dual swords she had picked up in a dungeon. Katorina had an aptitude for dual swords, too, so it was quite a nice choice on her part.

Nanami responded by trying to protect me. She had an apple in one hand, and she held Katorina in check with a fruit knife. I guessed the fruit knife just barely made sense, but what the hell was the apple about?

Iori also put his hand on his sword, but Ludie stepped in to stop him.

The mood in the air would best be described as a powder keg.

The first person to speak up and break the tension was Iori.

“Kousuke, I said it before, but I don’t think studying diligently alongside everyone else is wrong. I’m going to work together with them all to grow even stronger. Also…” He broke off for a second. Then he grinned. “Your whole premise is off to begin with.”

“Is it now?”

“Yup. Since I’m going to be the strongest. Kousuke, you can be number two.”

I couldn’t help cracking a smile. We had talked through the general flow of the conversation beforehand, but I hadn’t heard this line in particular.

Look who had started standing up for himself.

“Is that what you think? Then hurry up and catch me.” I dispersed all the mana I’d sent to my stole. “’Cause I’m the guy who made it to the deeper layers first. Let’s get outta here, Nanami, Yuika.”

Yuika turned her back to Gabby in a huff and headed over to me. I signaled with my chin that we were going somewhere else.

Nanami put away her fruit knife and handed me the apple she was carrying. What the hell? Crap, this was bad. I wasn’t able to hide how much this had thrown me for a loop. For the time being, I tried to stay silent as we walked off. Actually wait, she’d been carrying that fruit knife the whole time but never stooped to peel the apple for me? It was tasty, though.

Leaving the scene behind, the three of us went into the Moon Palace. I would say we put on a pretty good performance. Before we got to that, though, there was something I had to ask about.

Yuika put it into words before I could. She must have thought it was strange, too.

“Nanami, what’s the apple for?”

“You always think of apples when you think of maids, yes? The two words sound so similar, after all.”

“Uh, not in the slightest actually… So why did you even do that?”

“Master, you informed me that I would not have much of a role this time, so although I was convinced that could not possibly be the case, I was in fact sidelined, wasn’t I? I thought that I needed to do something impactful or risk people forgetting about me, so I bided my time for the perfect moment to bring out an apple.”

What the hell “moment” were you waiting for? That made no sense.

“Listen, your little stunt caught me off guard, you know.”

“It took everything I had to hold it in. Takioto, you got all serious out of nowhere and—pfft, ha-ha, just thinking about it makes me laugh. I bet Ludie was fighting back her laughter, too,” said Yuika.

“That was the other aim behind it, yes.”

Nanami flashed me a teasing grin. All that for a chuckle, huh? Ah well, whatever.

“Now that I think about it, what are you doing after this?” Yuika asked me.

Hmm, from here…

“Ah yeah, I figured we’d call it a day now. I was thinking I’d head for a solo dungeon run.”

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

—Katorina’s Perspective—

Kousuke Takioto has cleared the sixtieth layer solo.

The news left not only all the students in the school, but also the Three Committees and even the teachers, reeling.

Me, I thought he’d pretty much lost it.

Takioto was deranged—that basically had to be the consensus. However, I thought Iori and Orange also had a few loose screws of their own. That’s because they looked at what Kousuke Takioto did and said they needed to push ahead, too, with complete sincerity.

Now, the aftereffects of this wackjob’s achievements were huge.

According to the upperclassmen in the Morals Committee, they had never seen the Ceremonial Committee in a state like this before.

Apparently, the student population was usually a lot more aggressive toward the Ceremonial Committee, like they had been when the latest exam scores got posted.

The Morals Committee’s role was to protect the Ceremonial Committee through it all. “We can’t let the morals of the school be tarnished, even if you’re fighting against the Ceremonial Committee,” essentially. Glossing it all over by saying that even though they saw the Ceremonial Committee as bad, they didn’t think resorting to violence was right.

“Normally, things should have stayed like this for a year, but they didn’t even last a week this time,” Lieutenant Mizumori had said, laughing.

Her theory was that the students’ anger was transforming into fear, since the first-years on the Ceremonial Committee, Kousuke Takioto chief among them, were growing at such a rapid pace.

I had seen this myself during the performance that Iori and the others had put on yesterday.

Takioto, Yuika, and Nanami were feared. Still, the fact that Iori and the rest of us boldly stood up against them had inspired confidence in many of the students.

That being said, Yukine still didn’t think any of the students would pick a fight with the Ceremonial Committee. She expected the Morals Committee would have an easy time this year.

“Though I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing, either,” Yukine said.

“If the students’ enemies are too strong, there’s a chance some of them could get demoralized.”

Vice President Fran agreed.

“True. Still, there are also students who get more enthusiastic the stronger their opponents seem. Takioto’s a perfect example. He’s pushing full steam ahead to achieve the lofty goal of defeating President Monica.”

“How’s anyone supposed to get that guy under control?” I complained. I mean, I couldn’t begin to imagine soloing all the way down to the sixtieth layer.

“Don’t worry about him, Takioto’s just a bit abnormal. All the first-years are improving really fast, including you, Rina. You’re on track to easily eclipse where I was last year, too,” Yukine said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re growing stronger, too.”

Hearing this, I recalled when I asked Yukine for advice after that quiz we’d participated in at the Hanamura House.

I wasn’t especially good at asking others for advice. Still, Yukine had been super easy to talk to. She was also really empathetic and gave me a lot of guidance.

“Just relax. You have real talent, Rina, and I’m not the only one who recognizes it, either. Even Captain Stef thinks so,” Yukine told me kindly.

“She does?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s right. I heard Takioto say as much, too.”

Whatever he said had to be the real deal. Well, no, it might not be true, but he was taking it as the truth. Though if there was one thing that wasn’t the real deal…

That would probably be me.

“You’re working hard, and maintaining that effort is the important part. I had also hit a bit of a plateau, but an event in my life helped me instantly get a lot stronger. Still, I believe I was only able to pull that off because I never stopped my normal training regime,” Lieutenant Mizumori said before closing her eyes.

“If you want to take off and soar someday, you need to give yourself a big runway. I promise you, Rina—the time for your own big leap forward will come.”

“I wonder.”

“C’mon, if that doesn’t happen, me, Iori, and everyone else will just give you a big push from behind. Though Takioto might throw you on his back and start sprinting ahead instead of just giving you a push. Ha-ha.”

“But until then, I’m just going to be a burden on everyone.”

“No one cares about that… Actually, I think you’re the one who’s most bothered by it.”

Yukine chuckled and patted me on the head.

“You’re really kind, Rina. I’ve grown fond of you.”

Was I truly that kind?

“Everyone out here is supporting one another, okay? Even if you don’t think anything of it, there are those who feel you’ve really helped them just be being here. Iori’s one example already, and Captain Stef is the same way.”

“You really think so?”

“Sure do. So don’t worry about it too much, okay? You’re growing stronger, Rina. Don’t be reckless.”

She told me I was getting stronger. But was I really?

“What’s wrong, Rina?”

My focus suddenly returned to me.

“Oh, sorry, it’s nothing. I have some stuff to do, so I’m gonna get going,” I said, leaving the Morals Committee room and turning my back to Iori and the others.

Then I went into the dungeon on my own.

I knew full well that going solo was dangerous. That it meant there was a risk I could get injured or wind up dead.

Even then, no injury I suffered could be more painful than bearing my own weakness. It felt like my uneasiness was going to smother me.

Just look at Takioto and Iori, shooting ever higher—could I really rise to those heights along with them?

Iori, especially. A while ago, he’d obtained an item called a Seed of Possibility. He consulted with everyone on who should eat it, and the unanimous opinion was for him to have it.

I didn’t have any complaints about him eating it, obviously. He had worked the hardest out of all of us during that incident.

However, the question of whether I could keep up with the speed of his development had become its own seed of woe for me.

Iori had grown stronger at an abnormal clip to begin with, but ingesting the Seed of Possibility had clearly accelerated his progress even faster. That was how I saw it.

I thought there was a chance I would drag him down.

Iori spurred the growth of everyone around him. He was kindhearted, the type to stop what he was doing if he saw someone with bad grades and offer to study with them.

Conversely, this put a lot of pressure on me.

I understood Iori wasn’t the kind of guy to just leave me behind, sure, but I would always imagine the worst possible outcome.

Maybe I would never be able to get stronger, then wind up abandoned and alone. The Morals Committee was full of good people, too, but this also put pressure on me. If, by any chance, I ended up holding them back… If in the worst case, I was left behind and suddenly everyone started walking on eggshells around me.

…Apparently Minister Benito had once said, “Those without any talent should just drop out.”

I figured Iori would have refuted this. But I didn’t disagree with Benito; I thought he was pretty spot-on. After all, if someone didn’t have any talent but struggled desperately anyway? If that resulted in their dreams being ruined, with things going unfinished, then it would be better to call it quits early and find a safer path.

“‘Those without any talent should just drop out,’ huh?”

I couldn’t help thinking that applied to myself right now. If that was how things were going to go, I’d rather just suffer a terrible injury that left me no choice but to give up on being a mage or an adventurer.

As all these different emotions swirled inside me, I continued on through the dungeon.

Several hours later, I had grown sticky with sweat and monster blood.

“Time to head back.”

I returned the dual swords to their sheaths. I had just started to use dual blades for the first time, after deciding I needed to beef up my firepower to gain ground on Iori and Takioto. I’d thought they would increase the options available to me. I had just come across the weapons in a dungeon, but they still had the highest attack power of any of the weapons I owned, which was another reason for the switch.

Thanks to the Academy instructors and Yukine giving me an introduction on their usage, I was now able to wield them pretty well. I had managed to kill a large number of enemies today.

“Haah.”

I had figured a lot of people would spot me or try talking to me if I went to the Academy Dungeon, so I’d purposefully traveled to a faraway dungeon instead, but…

“Getting home’s a pain in the ass.”

At that point, travel would be much easier for me if I could just set up a room for myself in the actual dungeon. I took a towel out from my item box and wiped off my sweat and grime.

I hadn’t done any laundry yesterday, so I was definitely going to need to do some today. At the moment, though, everything felt like too much of a drag. I was hungry, but eating was a hassle. All I wanted to do was take a shower and dive straight into bed.

As I made my way back to the dorms with these things on my mind, something happened—a man appeared.

Outwardly, he was a suit-wearing gentleman. A man with silver hair, wearing a black fedora. In one hand he held a cane, and in the other, a bouquet.

There were people dressed in maid uniforms, kimonos, and other off-the-wall outfits strolling around the Academy, so if I had been on campus, I probably wouldn’t have thought much of him.

But right now I was near a dungeon Takioto had told me about, and it definitely wasn’t in a residential neighborhood or an office building complex. It was in a grassy meadow.

My gut was telling me this guy was bad news.

Two ideas came to my mind.

Turn my back and run, or pretend I didn’t see him and walk past him.

But he was standing in the path toward town.

I wouldn’t be able to return home, but should I still run away in the opposite direction?

“No need to be so guarded,” he said to me.

However, it seemed like he hadn’t opened his mouth at all. It felt as if the voice was echoing inside my head.

Obviously, this only made me extra cautious.

“It’d be impossible not to.”

I drew my dual swords and looked at him. He slowly began to walk over to me.

It was like alarm bells were blaring all around me. I sensed a tremendous power in the man, though perhaps not on same the level as the Book of Raziel.

The man stopped when he was just in striking distance. He fell to his knees on the spot and held out the roses in his hand.

“Long have I awaited the pleasure of meeting you.”

He said this as if he knew exactly who I was.

“Confessing your love? Sorry, but you’re not my type.”

“Rather standoffish, aren’t we? Heh-heh-heh.”

He had a nasty way of laughing.

“Well, if that’s all,” I said, trying to go past him. However, he stopped me.

“Now, now, please wait. What I have to say will interest you.”

“Doubt it.”

“I believe you will come to find our meeting a fortuitous one.”

He laughed. I looked at his eyes and mouth and immediately drew my dual swords. Then I cut up the roses he was holding out in front of me.

“My, my, is something the matter?”

He didn’t run. Even with blades pointed right at him, he wasn’t perturbed in the slightest.

He smiled as he clutched the cut-up bouquet.

“I should be the one asking that. Tell me, what the hell’s a demon doing here?”

Exceedingly pointy canines, red eyes, and that menacing aura. He was exactly like the demons President Monica had defeated in the Beginner’s Dungeon.

“Color me surprised. You picked up on that quick, didn’t you?”

Despite what he’d said, there wasn’t a hint of shock on his face.

“I’ve fought your kind before.”

What was I going to do? I got the feeling fighting wasn’t the best idea here. That just left running away. If I made a group call with my Tsukuyomi Traveler while I ran, would someone come to help me?

I applied my body enhancements and built up power in my legs.

“Please, just calm down. I have not come here to fight you. I’m here because I believe I can help you,” he said, tossing aside the sliced-up bouquet before he lifted one side of his lips into a smirk. An unpleasant, suspicious smile.

“Help me?”

“That is correct. You are currently quite troubled, aren’t you?”

While things were weighing on my mind, I wasn’t so foolish as to give him an honest answer.

“I am having a hard time deciding what I’ll have for dinner tonight, that’s true.”

“Your meal, hm? While that is important, it’s not what I’m talking about.”

“My height maybe?”

“You are close in that it does concern your body. What is troubling you…”

As the words left his mouth, a black fog emanated from him, and he vanished. I immediately whirled around while swinging my swords behind me.

A metallic clang echoed across the area.

“…Is strength. You wish to become stronger, yes?”

The demon was behind me, having produced a short sword at some point to guard against my dual swords.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because I have watched you fling yourself at this dungeon day in and day out.”

“Tch, how long have you been stalking me?”

“Only about two weeks now.”

Yet I hadn’t even noticed? That couldn’t be right.

“You haven’t drawn out your power. This must be because it’s sealed away. I would wager that releasing this seal will make you several times stronger than you could ever get from dungeon crawling.”

Sealed away?

“Hold up. No one’s put a seal on me or whatever, okay? Also, there’s no way I’d ever need help from a demon. I want to be as far away from your kind as possible.”

The demon began to laugh, like I’d said something drop-dead hilarious.

“Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh. Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Haaaa-ha-ha-haaa!”

“You really know how to piss a girl off. What’s so funny?”

“Pardon, you took me by surprise there. Has your mother not told you anything?”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“Simple. I’m referring to your father.”

My father?

“Yes, I am talking about your father…and the daughter he brought into this world.”

My father was a stranger; I’d gone my whole life without seeing him. In fact, people used to bully me for not having a dad at all. Though that was partly my fault, since I was so weak as a kid.

“…Sorry, not interested.”

“You’re lying. Your desire to hear about him is all over your face. Allow me to guess: Did you have a weak constitution when you were younger? Were you ever sickly?”

I abruptly thought back to my childhood. There was a period in my life where I had been like that.

“Oh, did my questions bring something to mind? Well, given this seal of yours, that was likely unavoidable.”

“What do you know?”

“I could say that I know you better than you know yourself. For now, please take this,” the demon said, throwing something in my direction. I caught it in my hands.

It was a bouquet, the same kind as the one I had cut up. A letter was stuck to the top.

“It would be difficult to undo the seal here, so please come to this location. It would be my pleasure to remove it for you.”

“Why?”

“Hmm, primarily because I’m intrigued to see what happens. You won’t regret it, I assure you. Removing the seal will raise your strength to incomparable heights.”

“…I told you, I don’t get involved with demons.”

“That philosophy is so shortsighted… Regardless, I’ll tell you more on the subject if you accept my invitation,” the demon said, creating a magical circle at his feet, before he seemed to remember something. “Do make sure to come alone. I shall be waiting.”

Eventually, his body began to transform into black particles. Then, when the demon’s silhouette had turned to nothing but a collection of black specks, he disappeared entirely. The reaction was similar to what happened when you stepped into a spatial magic circle.

I stared at the red bouquet in my hands. Large thorns covered the stems of the beautiful flowers.

After that, I went back to my room without coming across anyone I knew along the way.

I took out the bouquet I had brought back with me, then opened the attached letter.

Inside were the coordinates for a specific location.

I put the letter down on the table before taking a shower and collapsing back-first into bed.

“I was sickly when I was little because there’s a seal on me?”

I had definitely been a weak child. That much was true. And then there was…

“My father, hm?”

Suddenly, I thought back to my mother apologizing to me.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into my selfishness.”

My mother had said that to me with a very sad look in her eyes. All sorts of thoughts raced around and around inside my head. How exactly had my mother been “selfish” anyway?

“That demon said I was ‘brought into this world,’ like I was some kind of mistake.”

No matter how I thought about it, I could only come up with awful conclusions. Who was I supposed to talk to about this? No, forget that. I had to keep this to myself.

“I’m curious about my parents, yeah. But more importantly…”

I wanted power. I sought strength.

I didn’t want to keep dragging down the other members of the Morals Committee, festering like a tumor. I didn’t want Iori and the others to leave me behind.

Even then, my gut was telling me this was a trap. There was no way a demon would lend a hand without there being something in it for them.

“If I’m going to get myself involved with demons, I gotta be prepared for the worst-case scenario. I might end up losing everything.”

Demons were the enemy of humankind. Depending on the circumstances, I might have to abandon everything. Should I really have been seeking this power if it might cost me dearly?

Iori, Ludie, Class Rep, Gabriella, Orange, Yuika… None of them would have followed after this demon.

Suddenly, Kousuke Takioto’s face came to mind. What would he have done?

Would he head off, fully prepared to lose it all?

But could I really stay like this, if I was going to grow stronger like him?

Did I really need to come to a demon for help to keep up?

This was an infernal creature I was dealing with here. Augh, I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

I…

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

The following day, I headed to the designated location. The demon was already there.

“You had no idea whether I would come, and you still waited here all this time? Creepy.”

“I was convinced you’d show up. And we demons perceive time differently from you humans. A few days is no trouble at all,” he claimed, not denying for a moment that he had waited for me. Ms. Sakura was similar, so maybe long-lived races actually did think this way.

“Let us be off, then.”

“Wait, where are we going?”

He’d called me out to this strange place, only to take me somewhere else?

“A dungeon. I won’t be able to undo the seal on you without borrowing its power.”

“…Head into a dungeon, with you? That’s nothing but bad news. You’re gonna attack me from behind or something, aren’t you?”

“If it concerns you, please carry a magic stone with you to return home. Rest assured I won’t lay a hand on you. I’ve also had my subordinates clean things up down there. Shall we?”

“What would you do if I said I don’t want to go with you?”

“You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t. Come along now.”

I took out my Tsukuyomi Traveler and sent everyone a message I’d written out ahead of time.

It was a good-bye. It was the least I could do, since I wasn’t sure what would happen from here on out.

From there, the demon guided me to a dungeon that resembled a cave of crystal. Like he’d said, his underlings had taken care of the monsters here, so we pushed forward unimpeded.

He used this time to speak of demons.

“Though we all may be demons, each member of our species acts under their own set of principles. You shouldn’t assume that all demons are evil. Of course, what I mean here is humankind’s idea of evil.”

Apparently, demons had human allies as well.

“Evil from our perspective?”

“From a mouse’s point of view, cats are the enemy. But humans consider cats cute and value them for their ability to exterminate mice, which carry disease. But cats can also carry diseases, and in some cases, they despise humans. Perspectives change depending on how one views a situation, and what position one views it from, yes?”

I figured he was trying to imply that notions of “good” and “evil” could differ if one changed their perspective.

“While some people worship the Malevolent Lord, there are also greater demons—what you humans would consider nobility, I assume—with followers of their own.”

The demon continued to expound on the nature of his kind until we arrived at a spacious area with a massive number of crystals. This was our destination.

“I said that there were many kinds of demons, yes?” he said as he knocked on a nearby crystal.

“Yeah, you mentioned that.”

“Well, one of them brought you into this world,” he said, turning to me and staring. “I shall get straight to the point. Your father was a greater demon who allied himself with humans. His blood runs in your veins, and he is the one who sealed away your demonic powers.”

“…No way.”

“You said you didn’t want to get involved with demons, yes? Pure absurdity. You already are one.”

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

I got Katorina’s text on my Tsukuyomi Traveler while I was having a conversation with Iori about the future.

Iori got the same message simultaneously, and we both opened it up, wondering what it could be.

It kinda pisses me off to admit this, but… You did a lot for me. So thanks.

“Iori, what’s yours say?”

“…What? Uhhh, huh? Wh-what’s going on? She said something about there being a problem with her, and that she’s leaving the Morals Committee and might drop out of school, that sort of thing.”

Yup, I was right.

“I basically got a thank-you message. Or maybe it’s her last good-bye.”

“Wait, ‘last good-bye’?! That can’t be!”

There was a chance this was all part of some penalty for losing a bet, but really…

“I’m ninety percent sure it’s that latter. The text you got had that vibe to it, right?”

Iori read back over his message with a solemn look on his face. Seeing his grave expression, I took a deep breath.

I’d been wondering when the situation with Katorina would come to a head, so I’d done a bit of prep for it.

“Let’s go, Iori.”

“S-sure, but where to?”

If this was it, then the faster we went into action, the better. I had already decided who I would bring along with me, too.

“The Morals Committee.”

First, I needed to get a handle on the current situation. I sent a message to Nanami on my Tsukuyomi Traveler. I had planned on calling her if I didn’t immediately get confirmation she had read it, but the word READ quickly popped up on screen. I made sure to fill Ms. Sakura in, too.

As I sent a text asking Nanami to come to the Morals Committee, I headed to their room in the Moon Palace.

When we arrived, several members of the Morals Committee were already there, talking about something. The Saint noticed we were there and came up to us.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

I saw a hint of anger in her expression.

“Ummm, you mean about Rina?”

Iori answered the question with one of his own, and the Saint nodded.

“We don’t really know what’s going on. I don’t know what she sent you, but the message I got said she was going to quit the Morals Committee and maybe school altogether…”

“Haaah. I thought she was only taking a day off from school, but she missed the next day, didn’t come to the meeting at all, and instead all I got was a message like the two of yours. Why didn’t she come to me for help?”

The Saint had received some sort of message and seemed to be in the middle of consulting with the others about it. Apparently, only me, her, and Iori had gotten the text.

“Where’s Rina?” Iori asked.

“No clue, and I can’t get ahold of her, either,” said the Saint.

Well, at the present moment, there was no way to tell what was going on or where she might be.

Still, Katorina’s message stuck out to me. In the game, Iori is guaranteed to get one, and rest are supposed to go to the presidents of the Three Committees. I had no idea why I’d gotten one, too. I figured it was just a marginal difference in how things would play out, but it was a bit scary that things were diverging from how they played out in the game.

“…If you two know anything about what she’s been up to lately, spill it,” the Saint said with a sigh.

“She seemed worried about her grades… I think she’s been going into dungeons on her own sometimes, too.”

The Saint narrowed her eyes when she heard this.

“She’s not trying to pull off an instant reversal in the dungeon, is she?”

A dungeon instant reversal referred to clearing a dungeon that was highly risky, was potentially fatal, but gave huge returns. The Saint was thinking that Katorina had gone into a dungeon seeking power.

If that was the case, I felt like she would have consulted with Yukine on the subject, but maybe not. If I had pursued the route where Katorina joined the Ceremonial Committee instead, there was a chance that Shion would have talked to her about her own abilities, but I had never seen the two of them getting along together before, so I didn’t really need to consider that.

Though after this event, they were going to get a lot closer.

Anyway, it was time to push this topic forward in one fell swoop.

“I just asked Nanami to search Katorina’s room for me.”

“I instructed Yukine to go on my end, too. I have Ludie and a selection of Morals Committee members searching the nearby area. Honestly, just what is she up to?”

I had wondered why I hadn’t seen Yukine here, but this explained it.

About ten minutes later, I got a message from Nanami. She and Yukine had met up in front of Katorina’s room and immediately barged in together.

And what they found was…

“A map, hm? It’s a bit far. What’s even here?”

Nanami, who had just walked into the Morals Committee room, answered the Saint’s question.

“I just finished using the Hanamura’s resources to investigate, and it appears there’s a dungeon in this location.”

Despite what Nanami had claimed, the truth was that the Hanamuras probably didn’t have information on this dungeon, either. I’d just made Nanami claim as much to speed things up. In the game, you search the mapped area, find the dungeon, and then prepare to dive in. However, I figured that if I knew there was a dungeon from the start, I could cut down the preparation time.

The Saint heaved a sigh when she heard the word dungeon. She must have surmised from Katorina’s message that the girl was saying good-bye.

“Haaah, what is it with this batch of first-years? Way too many problem kids, I swear,” she said, sending a cold look my way.

While I understood who she was directing this comment at, there was always a chance she could mean someone else, and I turned around to look behind me. Unfortunately, no one was there.

“Ah-ha-ha…”

Iori forced out a laugh. Y’know, I wanted to make one thing clear here.”

“You’re not far off from being one, either, you know that? Anyway…back to Katorina. So there’s a dungeon at this location, then?” I said, turning to Yukine.

“Right. We should head there right away.”

“Still, we can’t bring everyone along,” the Saint chimed in.

“Why’s that?” Iori asked.

The Saint showed him the message she had gotten.

“If Katorina was caught up in some huge incident, then sure, the whole Student Council or Morals Committee could head there. But clearly, Rina went into this dungeon of her own volition and sent out these messages personally.”

“…Meaning, she’s not in imminent danger.”

The Saint nodded at my words.

“That’s right. If we knew with one hundred percent certainty some dangerous monster was chasing her, it would be fine to send everyone after her. But the Academy would be in trouble if the whole Morals Committee up and left when she’s not even in urgent danger. Esmeralda, how many days would it take to get here?” she said, glancing at the map.

“Judging from the position, it’ll take ten hours to get there. Then when considering you factor in the clear time…it might be two or three days until you’re back on campus.”

“We need to maintain the Morals Committee’s presence on campus… Hmmm, I’d prefer if no more than half of us went. Accounting for travel, and the search for Rina, it comes to a few days. Who’ll go?”

“I’ll go!” Iori immediately replied. I glanced at Nanami.

“Me and her are coming, too,” I added. I’d decided for Nanami, but she nodded, showing her agreement.

“Miss Ivy and Miss Yuika are on their way here. I believe we can include them as part of our party.”

Most members of the Ceremonial Committee didn’t really need to come to school. So there weren’t any problems with us joining. Even the Student Council would be fine if Iori was missing from their ranks for a few days.

“I’m real worried about Rina, Captain Stef. I’d like to join in, too,” Yukine said.

“I would like to go with you all as well. I know she’s an underclassman who’s only just joined, but I’m still worried,” added Esmeralda.

The other members of the Morals Committee all voiced a desire to participate.

The Saint closed her eyes and began to think.

“Who will go? That’s the question.”

She sucked in a lot of air. She then slowly let out a deep, long breath.

“In any case, I’m going.”

I felt relieved to hear this.

“Katorina’s working under me now. If she’s being reckless for some stupid reason, I’ll drag her back here if I have to.”

In this event, Katorina discovers one of her parents is actually a demon, making her a half demon. The Saint of Leggenze, who views all demons as the enemy, then comes to her aid.

Knowing that, you would expect this to be the most dangerous outcome possible.

But this was exactly how I wanted things to go.

There really isn’t anything the Hanamuras can’t do, is there? I’d found myself thinking that a lot lately.

When I consulted with Marino on how to get to the dungeon, she immediately made arrangements for me. Thanks to that, we managed to cut down on the transport time significantly. Nevertheless, the trip still took several hours.

Once we had reached our destination, my party of eight—myself, the Saint, Iori, Ludie, Yukine, Yuika, Ivy, and Nanami—headed into the dungeon.

From my perspective, the lineup of people for this event was basically perfect. The Saint seemed to have some problems with it, though.

“I didn’t expect there would be a dungeon in a place like this.”

“I had no idea as well.”

It was no surprise everyone was saying things like this—in truth, the demons were actively hiding this dungeon. This dungeon contained a unique magic stone, and the demons concealed the place in order to make use of it. So it made sense that no one had been aware of it.

The entrance was an open hole in a rocky stretch. Inside was a cave-type dungeon, exactly as the surroundings would suggest. But it was no ordinary cave.

“Quite a magical place,” Ironwall Esmeralda murmured, looking at the glittering objects growing on the walls and ground of the cave.

“Crystals, maybe? They’re absolutely everywhere,” the Saint remarked as she touched one of the gems.

“A true crystal cave.”

As Nanami said this, she looked around at the endless number of crystals growing in every possible direction.

They came in a range of sizes, with some tall enough to look like pillars and others small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand. They were varied in color, too, with some blue, some purple, and others white. A quick glance suggested no two crystals were exactly alike.

Incidentally, this dungeon’s name—the Crystal Cave—was perfectly in line with its appearance.

Ludie touched one of the crystals sprouting from the wall.

“It’s strange… It feels a bit like we’re surrounded by sparkling jewels.”

Given this was in a cave, you would think the crystals needed a light source to glow. But that wasn’t necessary…

…because each crystal gave off a light of its own.

The glow was a bit similar to that of a magic stone filled with mana. However, they weren’t as luminous as mana-filled magic stones, only giving off light to slightly illuminate the area. So basically, it was just another variation of the mysterious light that illuminated most dungeons.

Whatever the light source was, there was no question that any random picture of the area would do numbers on social media. The cave was so beautiful, I could easily see view counts shooting to the moon.

“You think it would be all right to break some of them and bring them back with us?” Ivy said.

“Seems like you could fetch a pretty good price for them, but can they even be destroyed in the first place?” Yuika asked as she touched one of them.

“Who can say…? Haah.”

The Saint looked at us and sighed, probably because things hadn’t gone her way.

She must have wanted a different group to come with her, but me, Iori, Ludie, and Yuika had insisted we were going no matter what, telling her we would just come here on our own if she turned us down. That had left her no option but to bring us along.

If Orange and Class Rep had known the circumstances, I imagined they would’ve wanted to come, too, but they hadn’t been filled in.

The Saint had justified not telling them by saying she didn’t want to cause unnecessary panic, since we didn’t know what had actually happened to Katorina. But I figured there had been other reasons at play, like the Saint not wishing to make the situation widely known, or because she thought it would be annoying to bring a huge cadre of first-years along. Not that I knew in detail or anything.

Personally, I also thought the fewer people who knew Katorina was part demon, the better, so I appreciated her discretion.

“Nanami, any suspicious areas or traps around here?”

“It does not appear so. We should be able to continue forward.”

“Let’s go,” the Saint said after hearing this, beginning to walk off.

“Did she really come in here?” Ludie murmured as we walked.

“That is almost undeniable. The old hag confirmed her device’s last seen location and said that this was where the signal was lost,” Nanami said before taking out her Tsukuyomi Traveler. On the map, there was an icon placed on the dungeon we were currently walking through.

As for what could possibly cause a loss of tracking information, the only explanations were that she was either inside a dungeon where communication devices couldn’t be used or the device itself had run out of mana or broken.

But the chances of her device breaking or running out of battery right in front of a dungeon were slim; that definitely couldn’t be it. In all likelihood, the dungeon itself was blocking the signal.

“Right, right. Still, why did Rina send a message like that, anyway?”

Of course, I knew the reason why, but I was unable to answer.

“Master, we’ve arrived at a fork.”

After continuing on a little while, we found the path split apart into two.

“Which one shall we proceed down?”

Well now, what was I supposed to do here?

The Crystal Cave had a fixed layout. As such, I knew which paths were correct, which led to dead ends, and which led to treasure chests.

“Hmm, if it’s up to me, I guess I’m feeling left?” I suggested.

“Let’s go right, then.” The Saint immediately shot down my proposal. “You just look like you have terrible luck, okay?”

Iori, Ludie, and even Yuika all agreed, looking at me with pity in their eyes. Esmeralda was the only one who comforted me and said that wasn’t true. She was so nice.

Ultimately, my opinion was ignored, and we went with the right-hand path. This led to a treasure chest.

After we had advanced a bit from there, there was a sudden shift in Nanami and Ivy’s demeanor.

“Master, I sense monsters.”

We all prepared ourselves for combat and inched forward.

“A golem made out of crystals, by the looks of it,” Esmeralda said as she held her shield at the ready.

If we didn’t need to fight it, then obviously we wouldn’t have engaged. Unfortunately, this particular golem had taken up position at the entrance to the floor, and while we could double back, we couldn’t go forward without confronting it. If it had been just a bit farther back, in the center of the floor, we might have been able to run by it, but this wouldn’t work, either.

“We just have to fight it,” the Saint said, and we all readied our weapons. Nanami and Iori fired off their long-range attacks, and the battle began.

The golem approached us, making loud, crackling thuds. In order to stop its advance, Esmeralda, Iori, and I ran forward.

Esmeralda was the first to trade blows with the golem. As she closed in, it raised an arm and held it there for a second, before slamming its fist down on her.

A massive clang echoed around us. The noise rang out from Esmeralda’s shield—almost as big as she was—as she blocked the attack.

“I thought my eardrums were going to burst.”

“Uh, her feet are digging into the ground.”

The impact from the golem’s attack looked massive. I might have been able to block it with my stole, but the creature’s arm strength probably would have sent the others flying.

Regardless, Ironwall Esmeralda was as impressive as ever. She also blocked the golem’s follow-up karate chop without any strain at all.

She looked so unbelievably cool, not giving an inch of ground to an opponent ten times her body weight. If we were in an eroge all-girls school, she would definitely have been getting asked out by her classmates left and right.

As she withstood these haymakers, a gentle light reached out toward her from behind.

“Thank you very much, Captain Stef. However, I don’t need any healing yet.”

It was the Saint’s healing magic.

“Really? Good luck, then.”

Magical★Explorer players often paired the Saint with Esmeralda. They would make Ironwall Esmeralda tank, then assign the Saint, or sometimes Yuika, to heal her. In this way, the pair could take the bulk of the enemy’s attacks, allowing the rest of the party to go on the offensive and wipe out their foes.

With Ironwall’s overwhelming defenses complemented by the Saint’s healing prowess, the pair could take on monsters that were up to two ranks higher than them. And since Yuika was also capable of tanking and healing, I would bet my life savings we weren’t ever losing a battle again.

If the situation stayed the same, Nanami, Ludie, and Yukine would easily reduce the golem to magic particles. If it stayed the same.

However, it seemed it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“Hey, Kousuke. Maybe I’m just imagining it, but do you hear footsteps right now?”

“That’s funny, Iori, I was just thinking the same thing.”

I ran past Esmeralda’s group, which was fighting near the entrance, and attacked the newly arrived golem.

“Hiyah!”

This golem must have come from farther in, rushing over when it heard the sounds of combat.

Esmeralda might have been able to withstand two of them at once, but I couldn’t leave everything up to her.

“Kousuke!” Iori shouted from behind me.

“I’ll keep this one busy, so clean that other one up for me,” I responded, readying my stole. The golem’s first move was a punch, similar to the one Esmeralda had faced before. The monster lifted its fist in the air and held it there for a moment, then slammed it down.

I handled the attack by turning my Third Hand into a curved surface and hardening it. I then immediately extended out my Fourth Hand and pulled one of the golem’s legs toward me.

The golem fell in my direction with a loud thud. Since I’d parried the golem’s attack, its center of gravity had shifted, giving me an opening to sweep its legs with my stole. There was almost no way the monster could have avoided toppling over.

This was the first time I’d been able to pull off such a maneuver.

“Who would’ve thought that increasing the elasticity would change so much.”

I instantly unsheathed my katana in the direction of the golem. It slipped perfectly between a joint in the crystals, severing one of the monster’s arms.

But the golem wasn’t done yet. Its body seemed to be made out of several large crystals linked together. I had sliced it at one of these joint areas, but the rest of its body was totally unharmed.

That meant I would have to sheathe my sword and try to attack again—but things weren’t going to work out that way.

“That was close!”

I jumped to the side and put distance between myself and the golem.

Unbelievably, the golem spun its body and legs three hundred and sixty degrees to attack me. The movement reminded me of a millstone. If I’d had some wheat on hand, I could have easily made myself some flour.

As the golem continued to spin its body around, it used the centrifugal force to stand back up.

And on top of that…

“Ahhh, I knew it. The crystals cling to one another… Sort of like magnets.”

If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, the golem simply picked up its arm and reattached it. To make matters even worse, it began moving its hand again.

How exactly were we supposed to defeat these things? Normally, golems had a core or runes on them, and destroying these would make them stop.

However, I couldn’t find anything resembling a core on or in these golems, despite the translucence of their crystal bodies. There weren’t any runes on them, either. Maybe the runes were etched into the points where their joints connected, or some other hard-to-see area.

This was still just my hypothesis, but they must have conquered their core weakness by turning their entire body into the core itself.

In-game, the golems have extremely high defense and the ability to self-regenerate, so I figured this core structure was to blame. Obviously, attacking the golem with enough power to outpace its self-regeneration would eventually reduce its health to zero. In other words…

“If we keep on attacking, we can win… Right?”

I sent even more mana into the metal fittings on the end of my stole.

The golem saw me standing still and must have thought this was its chance, arching backward and using its massive head, which was close to the size of my entire torso, to headbutt me.

I met its incoming head with the end of my stole.

A loud crash, followed by the sound of something hitting the floor. The golem’s head had fallen to the ground, severely lacerated.

I looked down at my stole, in awe of the power of my own attack. The edge of the stole had been sharp enough to cut through Fenrir’s thick hide, but apparently, it also had the durability to chip through crystal. This thing was practically like the claws of a divine beast.

From there, I continued attacking and dodging several times, until an arrow flew past me.

It was Nanami’s arrow. The other battle appeared to be over.

Once everyone had come together, the golem didn’t even last another minute. The creature shattered to pieces, falling bits of crystal changing into magic particles for us to collect.

The Saint walked straight over to me and took my stole in her hands. Then she stared hard at it, squeezing it in her fist.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just remembered a really awful fight. Is this thing from Ms. Sakura?”

“Ah-ha-ha.” I gave a strained laugh.

The cross-shaped metal ornaments I had attacked with were the same as the ones on the end of the Book of Raziel’s clothes; that must have triggered the Saint’s memory of the battle. Well, the materials were the same, and I was using the same method to attack after all.

“Yes, Ms. Sakura gave them to me, so I had her modify them for my own use.”

“Those things have some tremendous power…,” Esmeralda said, praising them.

I agreed that they packed a punch, but…

“Nah, I’ve still got work to do. I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not in full control of my new stole.”

Not yet. I needed to get even better at using it.

From there, we checked the golems’ item drops and continued onward. At the end of the path was a treasure chest. I knew what was inside—a recovery item.

We would have ignored it if there had been any traps, but since there weren’t, we immediately retrieved it and searched for Katorina.

We continued fighting as we went until we had gone about three floors deeper.

At this point, several of us began to sense something was off about this dungeon.

“Strange.”

Yukine was the one to voice this feeling aloud.

“There are way too few monsters, even if there weren’t that many to begin with.”

We had found demon-type monsters along the way, but their numbers were clearly far fewer than what would be in a regular dungeon.

“Yes, you’re right.”

The Saint agreed with Yukine.

“I thought maybe it was the type of deal where they appear only on floors and not in the paths between them, but it doesn’t look like that,” Iori said.

“Maybe someone came through here first?” Ivy wondered aloud, and Nanami nodded at the possibility.

“That could be, but unless they came through right before us, it would still be strange. It feels a bit like someone purposefully thinned their numbers. There is one other thing that has me curious.”

“What would that be?” Yuika asked.

“Well, in these crystal and mineral-type dungeons, it is normal for monsters like the golems we first fought to show up frequently, but we haven’t spotted many. Instead, we’re seeing nothing but demon-type monsters. This is extremely rare.”

I couldn’t help letting out an impressed sigh.

As I listened to everyone speculate, I thought to myself they definitely weren’t wrong. Nanami’s dungeon knowledge in particular left me speechless. She had pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Normally, only inorganic mineral-type enemies showed up in this dungeon, but during this event, it was different. It was changed so that only demon-type monsters would appear along the route Katorina took through the dungeon.

That was because the demons had all cut down the golems themselves.

“In any case, we just have to hurry.”

We all nodded at the Saint’s words. Then we pressed forward.

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

—Katorina’s Perspective—

After the demon told me that I was one of his kind, I almost tried to reject him but stopped myself.

While his claim was shocking and sounded completely made up, it nevertheless resonated with some part of me. It explained several moments from my life.

My mind then drifted to the past.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into my selfishness.”

This was something my mother had often told me when I had been sickly. I had a weak constitution when I was little, and I remember my mother bringing me to the hospital a lot. Up until I was ten, I used to take a lot of time off from school.

When I would be crying and moaning from my fever, she would never fail to apologize like this as she took care of me.

My mother used to take care of me when I was sick. My father was never there to begin with. She told me he’d died right after I was born.

My mother was almost entirely unable to work because of my sickly constitution, and without my father to pitch in, we lived in poverty.

Nevertheless, Wakoku provided extremely generous support to children from poor and single-parent households, so when it came to going to school, having food to eat, or going to the hospital, I never wanted for anything.

However, I was unable to experience the types of entertainment and amusements that other kids my age had.

As a result, I would often complain to my mother about it. However, all she ever did was apologize to me. Whenever I did something bad, she would get incredibly angry, but when it came to this, she only ever offered apologies.

My body was weak, I had only a single parent, and I wasn’t able to buy what I wanted; these circumstances prevented me from keeping up with what other kids would talk about. I was also bullied a lot, probably for these same reasons.

Other kids would make up lies about me and spread them through class, and people would treat me like I was diseased. I didn’t understand why things had ended up this way.

“Why am I like this?” I would ask my mother. “Why don’t I have a dad?” “Why don’t we have any money?” I bet it really hurt my mother to hear these questions.

Still, all she ever did was apologize to me. Without fail, she would tell me “I’m sorry for dragging you into my selfishness.”

Why did my mother say that sort of thing? Why wasn’t my father around? Why had I been so sickly when I was child?

“So I’m a demon, am I?”

If that was true, that apology of hers were the fiendish words that tied it all together.

“I must say, your seal is pristine. It’s beautiful, really. I am sure hardly anyone would notice it.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Hmmm… That’s not much of a reaction. Did you expect as much?”

“I think it sorta makes sense.”

If that was true, it would explain everything. Still, there was part of me that didn’t want to think it was true. I wanted my bad feeling to remain just a feeling. If this was indeed the truth, then my mother…

My mother must have known about it.

She must have understood what she was doing, which was why she had never told me any of this.

“My selfishness,” was it? Y’know, normally, there would be more to say than that, right? Why would she say it was “my selfishness” like that? After hearing the demon’s explanation, how else was I supposed to think about it?

“Now you have learned the truth. The question is, what are you going to do from here?”

“From here?”

“Indeed. I promise, you will be able to draw out tremendous strength from the blood of your father, which courses through your veins. Yes, the power of a greater demon.”

“I mean, even if I can do that, there’s no way I can begin to think about what I’m supposed to do from here.”

First of all, now that it turned out I was a demon, what exactly was I meant to do? After all, if I was a demon, then there wasn’t anywhere for me to belong, was there?

The Morals Committee, my class, the Academy itself—I didn’t belong in any of those places.

It was ironic, I thought. I had been delving into dungeons and training this whole time because I sought the strength in order to preserve my place of belonging and to avoid being left behind by everyone else. But after taking this big risk to come here alone with this demon, I was still going to end up losing the place I called home, even after gaining the power I sought.

“…I have an inkling of what is troubling you. The same quandary of the half elves of old.”

“Half elves?”

“Yes, in times past, half elves were shunned by fellow elves and humans alike. When a half elf child lost both their parents, they would be left with great anxiety, unsure where they were supposed to live out their lives. Though now, they can live a normal life anywhere, outside of Leggenze, of course.”

Leggenze was a human supremacist state, and there was still discrimination there. I didn’t get the impression that Minister Benito and the Saint were bigoted, though.

“I shall create a place for you. Shall we take the world together? With your power, combined with my knowledge and strength, it can be done.”

Take the world? Hold on.

“Do something like that, and the humans will kill you.”

“Humans? Please, they can perish for all I care. Frail, foolish creatures, oblivious to true worth. Yes, I think annihilation would suit them quite nicely.”

The demon’s face twisted. His flippant smile from moments prior had vanished, as though it was entirely at the mercy of his anger.

“…Is that what you’ve been after all along?”

“Oh my, pardon me for not saying so sooner. Now, what do you say? Will you come with me? There is an enjoyable future waiting for you.”

Except it would mean becoming an enemy to humanity—including Iori and the others.

“I felt really comfortable and at home where I already was,” I said.

That was why I didn’t want to be left out. That was why I’d done all this to avoid getting abandoned, and yet…

“So it’s not happening, sorry,” I told the demon. “I don’t want to fight them. If it comes to that, I’d rather just hide away in the mountains somewhere.”

I figured that this demon was hatching a plot to eradicate humanity. I didn’t want that to lead me into fighting against the people who had done so much for me.

“Hm. It would appear I’ve been turned down. Though if I am being completely honest, my goal was, in essence, achieved the moment you came here.”

Hearing this, I immediately put my hands on my weapon. Then I looked around me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Whatever your intentions may be, they are almost entirely irrelevant. If you were more obliging to my proposal, then perhaps I could have made a slightly different choice. Though I was ninety-nine percent convinced you wouldn’t be. All according to plan, really.”

I had a terrible feeling about this. I had thought this was a trap, and it turned out I was right.

I had to get out of here immediately.

“Huh, what the heck?! My feet won’t move!”

I knew I had to run away, but for some reason, I couldn’t summon up any strength. My feet, my arms, my neck, and my head—I couldn’t move any part of my body.

“Mweh-heh-heh, hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!”

The somewhat gentlemanly air the demon had was gone. He gave a creepy, disgusting laugh.

“…Now you’ve shown who you really are.”

I frantically tried to move my body, thinking I needed to do something. I put all my strength in my right leg, telling it to move. My body grew hot, my breathing grew ragged, and sweat dripped down my brow, as if I had just finished an intense workout. Despite it all, I still didn’t move.

“Of course you can’t move. I made sure you wouldn’t. Simply put, no matter what your thoughts are on the situation, I was going to use you for myself regardless.”

I suddenly glanced down at my feet to see there was a large magic circle drawn on the ground.

“When did you…?”

It wasn’t sucking up my mana, either. The opposite—it felt like a strange, unknown power was being forced into me.

At that same moment, what looked like geometrical patterns appeared on my skin. On my arms, on my legs, on my stomach.

“Ah, how beautiful… Exquisite indeed. Those are the seals you’ve been under. Mweh-hee-hee.”

My body rapidly grew hotter.

“Once I am able to freely manipulate your power, why don’t I kill a few of your classmates as a test run? I really do believe you should taste the sense of superiority and loss that comes from killing your close friends. It’s an utterly exquisite feeling, truly.”

This freak was insane. His phrasing suggested he had killed someone he’d been close with before.

“Once things settle down a bit, having children may not be a bad idea, either. Children with a mix of my blood and yours. I am certain we’ll create quite wonderful offspring.”

“I’m never going to do what you tell me to do!”

“It doesn’t matter whether you want to or not. All I need to do is use magic that makes you obey me.”

“Even then…!”

I tried to resist, but it was useless.

It felt a bit like there was someone else inside me, as though something besides myself had appeared and robbed me of control over my body.

“It’s too late. You became my puppet the moment you set foot in here.”

—Takioto’s Perspective—

Personally, I thought our timing was absolutely perfect.

When we finally reached Katorina’s location, she had already changed into her demon form.

“What exactly is going on here?”

From an onlooker’s perspective, it was probably best to call it the absolute worst timing, though.

“Rina has horns…?”

Two curling horns had sprouted from Katorina’s head, and the color of her eyes had changed. She turned to us in agony.

Iori was shaken to see Katorina changed into a demon.

“You, demon. Release Rina at once.”

The Saint immediately figured out the demon next to her was to blame and glared at him as she gathered mana in her staff.

“Release her? Whatever could you mean? You have at it all wrong! Can you not see this for yourself?” he said, extending both arms out wide.

“See what? You’re not making any sense at all.”

“Oh please, spare me the jokes. Don’t you understand? Oh, I’m sure you do. You see, if anything, I have released her. From all the seals imposed on her, that is.”

Katorina groaned in agony. The Saint heard her voice and glared at the demon, irate.

“Enough already! What are you talking about?!” the Saint shouted.

“Hee-hee, none of you really know, then, hmm? In that case, allow me to be the one to enlighten you.”

Yuika grimaced at the demon’s nasty smirk. Then, in a quiet murmur, she said, “Ugh, this guy is obnooooxious. Takioto, he’s got no friends written all over him.”

“Bet his subordinates hate him, too. He’s the kinda guy everyone complains about whenever he orders them around,” I replied. The demon’s ears twitched a bit, but he couldn’t hear us all the way over there, right?

“Takioto, Yuika, shush. Demon, spill it.”

However, it seemed that the Saint had heard us.

“I suppose there is no reason not to, so allow me to elucidate. This girl was born a demon. I am merely drawing out her power, nothing more.”

His words shook everyone in the room, save for me.

“No way, you’re lying!” Iori shouted.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dream of it. I certainly do not possess the power to turn the average person into a demon, nor do I possess the tools to do so, either. I am, however, very skilled at making magic circles.”

“Rina’s a demon?”

Ludie looked at Katorina in shock.

“Yes, her father was a famous demon. As a demon spy, he fathered this girl with a human woman, sealing her powers until the time came to release them.”

This guy could lie like it was nothing.

While it was true that Katorina’s father was a demon, the stuff about him being a spy was nonsense. If fact, he had been one of the rare demons who stood on the side of humanity.

However, I didn’t have any proof of this with me. Maybe I could have countered with something along the lines of, “Then why did he seal Katorina’s powers away?” but if the demon claimed it was for the purpose of integrating Katorina into the human world and releasing her when the time was right, that would be the end of it.

This demon wasn’t really the type who could be bested with words. It was better not to say anything careless around him.

After all, this was Andrealphus we were up against. He is one of the seventy-two demons in the Lesser Key of Solomon on Earth, and his in-game persona is that of a sophist demon. In other words, whatever I tried to argue, there was a chance he would twist my words and throw them back in my face. If Ms. Sakura, Nanami, and Anemone had all been here with me, perhaps they could have argued with him.

But since that wasn’t the case, then I just had to say something along these lines.

“Okay, so let’s assume for a second that Katorina is a demon.”

Everyone turned to me. Currently, I had no means of proving Katorina wasn’t a demonic spy. Regardless, I did have the means of persuading them.

“The way I see it, so what? Doesn’t matter much to me if she’s a demon. I mean, we already have an angel here with us to begin with.”

“Oh, stop, you’re making me blush,” said Nanami.

That wasn’t supposed to be a compliment, y’know.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say here is, Katorina’s just Katorina, okay? Nothing more, nothing less. Isn’t that right, Iori?”

I may have been the one saying it, but even I thought that this was some pretty dreadful logic. It was the sort of thing a meathead protagonist character would say, and taking it seriously would probably lead to a lot of unconvinced groans. Personally, though, I think that this wild theory really got at the truth.

Despite how wild my explanation was, it ended up sounding logical. This was because Katorina had made friends who could trust her based off the way she had always acted until now.

“That’s right, Rina is just Rina. Demon or not, she’s still our friend,” Iori said as he pointed the tip of his sword at the demon. He wasn’t the only one, of course, as everyone there readied themselves for combat.

Ha-ha. Using twisted logic on a demon skilled at manipulating people felt pretty damn good.

“Well, well, this is quite a predicament, isn’t it…? And what does Miss Saint over there think about all this?” Andrealphus said, calling out to the Saint.

Religion formed the bedrock of Leggenze. He understood that the Saint, representative of the country’s religion, couldn’t possibly overlook a half demon, her theological foe.

“…I like to put off the annoying stuff for later. So for now, I’ll save that for after we eradicate you.”

“I see. I prefer to take care of the most troublesome tasks first myself,” Andrealphus said, closing his eyes and twisting half of one side of his lips into a smile.

“As such, I will rid myself of you all.”

The demon then took a staff seemingly from midair, generating a magic circle at his feet.

In myth, Andrealphus was said to be a demon skilled at geometry, measuring and surveying, and astrology. Perhaps to reflect this, Magical★Explorer portrays him as a magical researcher who is extremely gifted at constructing magical circles. Basically, he’s one of the more cerebral demons.

As such, he’d created a unique magic circle to release the seals on Katorina. Incidentally, there is this convenient plot contrivance after Katorina goes missing where he is unable to completely brainwash her and gets held in check. Andrealphus is surprisingly strong, so this is to maintain plot consistency while the player goes to other dungeons to level themselves up more. Depending on the situation, a whole month of in-game time could pass without the brainwashing fully taking hold.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t sure how this would play out in real life, so I’d made sure to act as fast as possible. I really felt that my timing had been almost perfect.

“…Rina’s a demon, hmm?” the Saint said, looking at Katorina.

If there was any other big change outside the horns, her eyes, and her growing tail, it had to be the bat-like wings sprouting from her back. They weren’t very big right now, but later on, once she was able to wield her demon powers at will, she would gain the ability to change their size and put them away. She’d also learn how to hide her horns and tail, too.

Furthermore, given that demons could fly even when their wings were stowed, the size of their wings probably had nothing to do with their capacity for flight. After getting used to her powers, Katorina would also gain the ability to fly.

Though she was pretty petite, so perhaps impish was the best word to describe her.

“Hrngh!”

A grunt escaped Katorina’s lips. She was clenching down on her teeth as if she was enduring an intense amount of pain. Big, Dracula-like fangs were sticking out of her mouth.

“Everyone, please run,” Katorina said with trembling hands, her body not listening to what she told it to do.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Iori replied immediately.

There was no way we were going to escape and leave her behind. I figured everyone else here shared the sentiment, too.

“I’m begging you all—I can’t move my body like I want to. At this rate…”

She slowly raised her quivering hands, fighting against the magic controlling her. From there, she unsheathed her dual swords and pointed them toward us.

“I’ll attack you all.”

As soon as she said this, she took a furious leap forward. In response, Yuika and I both jumped out in front of the group simultaneously.

Yuika was the first one to get out ahead.

Katorina swung one of her blades at her from below.

“Yikes!”

Yuika reacted too slowly to the speed of Katorina’s attack. She barely managed to bring up her gauntlet and block, but the force behind the attack was so great, it sent her flying into the air.

The other sword rapidly closed in on her next. Yuika immediately curled her body up and generated a shield of holy magic around her.

However, this shield proved almost meaningless as well. Katorina’s attack broke through it, hitting Yuika’s gauntlet.

“Yuika!”

I hesitated over whether to go help Yuika as she flew right across me, but when I noticed Yukine head over to her, I turned to Katorina instead.

Katorina attacked me from below just like she had done against Yuika a moment ago. I met her strike with my Third Hand.

“What?! I’m getting overpowered?!”

The strength behind her swing was on par with a direct hit from Yukine. Just like Yuika, I was launched into the air before Katorina’s follow-up attack closed in.

But things would be different this time; I had just seen her use this move, and more importantly, I had my Fourth Hand. Using it to grab on to a crystal pillar nearby, I changed my position to dodge the attack.

Something was definitely off. I had thought this watching Yuika a moment ago, too. Katorina shouldn’t have been this strong when she showed up here.

I glanced over at Yuika. Yukine appeared to be looking after her. Lucky girl. I would’ve loved to have Yukine looking after me, and I would’ve loved to care for Yuika’s injuries myself. Wait, wait, none of that was important right now.

The problem was…

“Katorina’s attack power has gotten a helluva lot stronger than it was before… And she wasn’t even coming at me with her full strength, was she?”

Katorina still wasn’t putting her all into her attacks.

She would’ve used her entire body if she was going to attack at full force, but that last attack of hers appeared to have only involved her arms. The proof of this was her immediate follow-up attack.

It was kinda like volleyball. When you went for a spike, you didn’t just use the muscles in your arms. You built up speed and jumped, using all the muscles in your body to spike it home. If you did move like that, though, there was no way you were going to be immediately able to fire off another spike afterward.

MagicalExplorer

Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim

I made sure everyone was safe, and a short while later, Ludie and Yukine returned to where we all were. Ludie and Yukine were startled by Katorina’s state and asked her something briefly, but they didn’t delve any further. I had explained that, first things first, we needed to get out of the dungeon, but…

There were still problems. Yuika and Ivy hadn’t come back yet. As a result, Iori began to worry about Yuika’s safety. Considering we’d managed to defeat that demon, the two girls were probably just fine, but it was still concerning.

Then Esmeralda said she would go look for them. She probably figured that sending Iori out alone would be dangerous in case anything else cropped up.

Now we had to deal with the next problem.

Andrealphus, a nuisance to the very end, activated a specific trap at the same moment of his death.

The trap sealed up the entryway with crystals. We had to do something about it, or we wouldn’t be able to return home.

The “something” was the usual. Yes, the “reward.” More like a punishment.

Simply put, we had to go into an erotic dungeon, or we would be trapped here forever.

We needed to press a specific magic stone switch that allowed us to escape. Once we did, the crystals blocking the entryway would return to normal, and we would be able to keep on moving, plus regain the ability to use escape items.

Pressing the switch on the magic stone, however, was a trap itself, locking anyone nearby into a magic circle that went straight for the erotic dungeon.

In other words, we had to activate the pervy dungeon. But maybe I could avoid the dungeon altogether if I fled from the switch as soon as I pressed it, or I used my stole to press it first.

Still, I decided not to push my luck. I would be all the more miserable if something did go wrong and the damage spread even further.

I glanced at Katorina and the Saint. They seemed to be searching for some means to get out, and it looked like the Saint wasn’t probing Katorina too deeply about her demon form.

I saw this as my chance to talk to Ludie and the others.

“Ludie, Yukine, Nanami. I have something to tell you.”

“What’s going on? Why are you whispering to us?”

“So there’s a pretty intense dungeon here. Intense in a lotta ways.”

Everyone immediately knew what I meant. It also appeared to bring something to mind for them.

Ludie closed her eyes and cast her face up to the heavens, as if enduring intense pain. Then she began to giggle, as if she had given up. Tee-hee, hee-hee-hee-hee…

“Hee-hee-hee-hee, of course there is.”

“But you don’t need to worry. This time, I think I can go in by myself.”

Ludia and Yukine both looked surprised to hear this.

I had learned a lesson from the recent event with Ivy, who had activated the dungeon by hopping down differently colored tiles and striking a cool pose. I had thought, Pfft, there was no way anyone would ever do something stupid like that.

However, Ivy had smashed this expectation to pieces. This impressed on me the understanding that I would never know what to expect.

While we hadn’t gathered yet, Ivy was here this time, too. On top of that, we needed to summon a teleportation circle to the pervy dungeon in order get out of here.

Anyone—not just Ivy—could make a mistake and accidentally send themselves to the erotic dungeon. It had been like that when Gabby was in trouble. I had no idea what sort of twist of fate might happen.

That meant I had to turn the tables after making sure to update everyone on the situation.

“This time, I’ll go in on my own!”

Not as a group but by myself. Things would be only half as embarrassing if I was on my own. And given the characteristics of the dungeon this time around, I could probably pass right on through a bunch of it if I was by myself, right? Right.

Now, obviously, I would have loved to have everyone come to the erotic dungeon with me if possible. I wanted to see Ludie, Katorina, Nanami, the Saint, Esmeralda, Yukine, Yuika, and Ivy all dressed in sexy outfits, acting cocky and arrogant.

And when I thought about how no one was going to see me, I felt an inexplicable forlornness, as if a hole had opened up in my heart.

Still, when I thought about how everyone else would feel, I realized it really was best for me to go alone after all. That would lead to the least amount of harm.

“I—I will go—”

“Hold on, Ludie. I appreciate the thought, truly. I’m overjoyed. But I’m pretty sure me going alone this time will keep the damage to a minimum. You know what I’m trying to say, right?”

When I mentioned this, Ludie averted her eyes.

She understood.

She knew if clearing a pervy dungeon was unavoidable, then me going in alone would bring everyone greater peace of mind.

The shame of being seen by everyone really was that profound. The others might end up with wounded pride, but considering my pride was already as limp as a piece of paper, and I had gotten used to it all by now, it wouldn’t be an issue.

“You’d stop me even if I tried to go with you, right?” Yukine said.

“Of course I would. I, er, would never want to see you looking like that, no siree.”

A massive lie. The truth was, I wanted to see Yukine looking lewd and sexy; I wanted to see it so, so much. I wanted to see her acting like an impish little brat. I mean, sure! I loved kind and gentle older women, loved calm and collected big sister types, too. But I also really loved the sexy ones! I wanted a badass but kind older woman to dress up in a sexy outfit. A lewd older woman’s voluptuous bust would bring moisture to my parched heart!

“Takioto, you’ve made your determination clear!”

Yukine lowered her eyes.

“Yukine?!”

“Ludie, Takioto’s resolve is hard as steel.”

“She’s right, Miss Ludie. We should respect my Master’s intentions.”

“Not you too, Nanami. B-but—”

“C’mon, Ludie. This isn’t my final farewell or anything, okay? My body will make it through one hundred percent unscathed, and it’ll only be a few hours of endurance at most.”

Indeed, a few hours of perseverance. While I still had some trauma from past experiences, I needed to overcome it.

Ludie went to say something, but the words didn’t come out. Then she hugged me, clinging to me as if she didn’t want to let go.

“I-I’m sorry, I wanted to protect you, Kousuke. I even joined the Morals Committee to do so, but in the end, I…I haven’t done anything…!”

“Sure you have. Heck, it was thanks to you that I managed to help Katorina. Seriously, thanks.”

I gently peeled Ludie’s hands off me.

“Takioto,” Yukine addressed me. “I’m really proud of you. I couldn’t be happier to have an underclassman like you.”

“And I’m just as happy to have an upperclassman mentor like you,” I responded.

At this, I turned around. Then I began to walk off.

“Master.”

I turned my face to look at Nanami. Her expression was sadder than normal.

“May fortune favor you.”

Grinning, I turned my head back around. Then I strolled off to the climactic battle awaiting me, casually raising my hand in the air.

Y’know, this always popped up in movies and stuff:

The scene where the protagonist or a close friend heads out to their doom with an infinitesimally small chance of survival.

In moments like those, they’re always smiling, right? I sorta understood where that feeling came from.

I mean, who would want to see their companions looking sad? Or be crying as you leave?

So I was going to head off wearing a smile.

I turned back to Yukine and the others and headed toward the magic stone that activated the erotic dungeon. This magic stone, shaped like the wings of a demon, was the one. I immediately touched it.

When I did, a magic circle suddenly formed underneath my feet in a blinding flash of light.

A spatial magic circle. At the same time, I saw the path for us to leave begin opening up.

The particles from the magic circle floating around me were so very beautiful. Before long, they enveloped me, and I began to teleport, as if being dissected.

Wow, I really am about to head in there, I thought to myself as I watched this unfold.

Into the Bratty Bitch Dungeon.

…Hm? Huh?

Was that a pair of women running toward me?

“Dammit, Kousuke!”

“I swear, this idiot’s always trouble!”

U-uh, Katorina and the Saint were running over to me, a frenzied look in their eyes.

I wasn’t seeing things, was I? No matter how many times I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying to flee from reality, I could not see anything but Katorina and the Saint running at me. Nanami was following them at a clip behind.

Not only that, but Yukine and Ludie were in a serious panic. Wait, did this mean what I thought it meant?

Were the two of them trying to save me?!

“W-wait, it’s dangerous! Stay back!”

“There’s no way we’d stay behind after you told us that!”

“I’m the one who’ll be responsible if anything happens to you, idiot!”

The two women shouted as they jumped inside the magic circle.

“You gotta be kidding meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Life was a continuous stream of the unexpected.

If I had to describe the half of a lifetime I’d lived until now, this was probably how I’d describe it. The things I was convinced would never happen occurred all too easily.

Like now, for example.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“…I’m not hurt, but I certainly feel awful. Okay, I’m willing to thank you for catching me and all, but could you let go all ready?”

Whoopsie, I was still holding the two of them in my arms. Their bodies…how could I put it? While it felt like Sis was holding me tight, the sensation of their bodies against me made me want to protect them at all costs. The two were short and delicate, with chests on the smaller side—sheer cliffs, really. And…

“Did you say something?”

“N-nope, not at word.”

The Saint was glaring at me.

“Forget that, Master. What’s that thing?”

Nanami’s remark left me all jumbled up for a moment. Hm? Nanami?

“Huh? Is that a school? Or something like it?”

I immediately looked over when I heard Katorina say this. She was right; the building standing over there resembled a school.

I unconsciously let out a sigh. Of course, I knew full well what kind of school this was. I also knew that we had to go over there, since passing through was the only way forward.

Before that, though…

“Um, Saint Stef, Katorina. Thanks.”

Regardless of how things had turned out, they had jumped into the magic circle in order to help me. All I’d managed to do in return was to catch them and ensure they didn’t get hurt in the process.

“Tch. I guess I worried for nothing.”

“Exactly how much trouble do you need to cause before you’re satisfied?”

“Sorry…”

“This does not appear to simply be a school, Master,” Nanami chimed in.

I’d been thinking about it, and I could understand why the Saint and Katorina were here. While I didn’t want to understand, nor did I want to face the reality of this situation, I could comprehend it.

Here was the question, though: Why was Nanami here, too?

“I just had to get in on the latest craze,” she said, appearing to guess what was on my mind. Were you here to copy the latest viral dance or something?

I spoke quietly to Nanami to prevent Katorina and the Saint from hearing me as they investigated the school gate.

“It sure sounded like you were sending me off with a good-bye, you know.”

“Master, please think carefully for a moment. You have Miss Katou and Miss Stefania with you. I cannot imagine a funnier…er, a more difficult combination than that, so as your maid, I had no choice but to come and help you.”

You said what you were really thinking, Nanami! Though if I’d been nothing but an onlooker here, I would’ve understood where she was coming from.

“Just kidding, Master. That was a maid joke. More pressingly, Master, everyone else might be worried about us, so we should get out of here as soon as possible, yes?”

Ah, yeah. She was right. Ludie and Yukine had to be concerned, so I wanted to get through here fast.

I headed over to the Saint and Katorina, who were discussing something.

“Want to head inside for now?” I asked.

We all entered the school through the grandiose gate before us.

In the front entrance were ten large shoe lockers and a blackboard for bulletins and news. Some instructions were written in chalk on the board: CHANGE INTO THE CLOTHES INSIDE THE SHOE LOCKERS AND CONTINUE FORWARD.

Yup. Clothes, huh?

The Saint went up to the shoe locker, took out a box from it, and removed the lid. Then she took out the piece of fabric.

“Hmmm. Looks like an average school uniform, doesn’t it…? Wait, wh-what is with this stuff…?!” she said, her voice quivering as she held the piece of fabric.

The outfit in her hand consisted of an extremely short school uniform top and a skirt that, without a shadow of a doubt, left one’s ass on full display. There was also a pair of underwear that would perfectly show off one’s contours in the sexiest way possible.

After flipping the outfit from front to back, then back to front again, the Saint stopped moving as if time had ground to a halt.

Had her brain overheated from trying to process it all? This was her first erotic dungeon, so it was unavoidable, really.

That aside, the Saint in lewd underwear? This sort of underwear had an almost sacred aura about it, so it matched her surprisingly well. Not that I would ever say this to her directly.

After the Saint stood frozen there for a little while, her hands began to tremble. Her face also convulsed as she tried heading down the corridor on her own. However, she was blocked by an invisible wall and couldn’t continue on any further. Slamming her fists against the wall and letting out the sort of enraged cry that was unbecoming for a Saint, she chucked the underwear in her hands at the invisible wall.

Watching this, Katorina also went to a shoe locker and took out a separate outfit. She trembled with fear just like the Saint, before the idea to take out a magic escape stone seemed to come to her.

Needless to say, nothing happened.

“Tch… Is this magic stone broken or something?”

Nope, it wasn’t. The only thing broken here was the mind of the person who had come up with this place.

“It appears that escape items cannot be used in this dungeon. If what is written on the blackboard is true, then our only option is to wear these clothes.”

Nanami’s words were a death sentence to the two of them.

“Hey.”

The Saint came up to me with an intense look in her eyes, taking steps that were several times more forceful than usual. The panties she had just thrown at the wall were back in her hand.

“Y-yes?!”

She showed me the piece of fabric she was holding. Yup, that was one sexy pair of underwear, all right.

“U-umm, so, err…”

“What is this?”

“S-something you wear to protect your most important areas!”

She must not have been satisfied with my reply, as she shoved the piece of fabric into my face.

“What the heck are these?!”

“P-panties, they’re panties! B-but, please, hear me out!”

“What?!”

“A-apparently, they have a really powerful enchantment on them! So please, spare me!” I shouted. If the panties were the same as in-game, equipping them came with several benefits.

“Master is absolutely right. If what is written on this blackboard is true, they have a beautifying effect that accentuates the butt.”

The message on the blackboard read, SUPER EFFECTIVE ON EVEN THE SAGGIEST OF BUTTS! SUPER BUTT-LIFTING UNDERWEAR!

Then the Saint grabbed my collar and forced her face right up to mine. Why, it would seem that this gorgeous young woman had blown her top!

“I don’t even want an effect like that, okay?!”

Uh-oh, she was rubbing the panties in my face more and more forcefully.

Incidentally, the outfit that Katorina had just picked up for herself was enchanted with magic that made one’s thighs look extra plump and thick. Yes, yes, I know, so what, who cares, I get it!!

“Miss Stefania, please stop. My Master is not personally responsible for any of this.”

At Nanami’s words, Stef pulled her hands back. Such tremendous intensity. By the way, I wasn’t really sure if I had been put through an interrogation or an extra-special reward. Probably an extra-special interrogation reward, if I had to guess.

After that, everyone went silent, and they spent time looking at the clothes as the reality of the situation settled in. Then…

“Tch, we’ve really got no choice but to wear this crap?” Katorina muttered, looking as if she had given up.

“At least it covers up the most important parts, I suppose.”

Still, the clothing sizes were adjusted to fit, right? Nanami was one thing, but the other two’s busts were…uh-oh, the Saint was looking at me with an absolutely arctic expression on her face. She hadn’t caught me peeping, had she?!

“…Hey, Kousuke Takioto?”

“I-I’ll go get changed, then!”

Grabbing a random set of clothes, I tried to leave the school building. However…