All posts by Estelulu

President of the Shitposting and Sometimes Translation Club, and twice-convicted Suzuhara Lulu shill.

Turf War – Chapter 12

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Join the Evil God Army on discord!
https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


Sorry about the translation slow-down again. I suddenly got called into a casual job with only 2 days notice, which I’ll be working until Christmas. I don’t spend that long each day on it but it forces me to wake up before 4AM meaning that I’m tired for the rest of the day which in turn makes it rather difficult for the right words to come to me when translating. I have trouble falling asleep early, you see.

That’s more or less what’s causing the slow-down – actually slow translating.


Chapter 12 – Edim and the Truth Behind the Meeting

Can I get any luckier…?

I was allowed to become the faithful servant to both Tilea-sama and Camilla-sama. I was allowed to join the Evil God Army at its bottom. And when I became a vampire, a demon, I finally started to wonder.

Why are humans so frail…?

Even the Royal Capital’s Public Safety Force, led by Remilia and praised as the strongest were nothing more than infants.

Ahaha, I can’t stop the smiles. My mana has already exceeded the ten thousand mark. A number that would have been unimaginable to me back when I was human. Not only that but I’ve finished vampirising all the key members of the city. The royal family, the Guild, the Magic Academy – all of them just waiting for my single command to move as I please.

If only she desires it, they are ready to act as the spearhead for Tilea-sama’s grand plan to conquer the world.

I should report the completion of the vampirisation mission at the next war council. Might Camilla-sama praise me? Or will she kick and step on me and tell me not to get proud of something so little? All I know is that I’d be overjoyed with either.

While I was enjoying my delusions, Nielsen-sama suddenly rushed past me. I’ve never seen him look so frantic.

Did something happen?

“Nielsen-sama?” I called out to him.

He stopped to turn at me.

“Ah, Edim. We will be holding a war council today. Report immediately to the location.”

“A war council, Sir?”

“Indeed. Tilea-sama called for it. Pay attention.”

“I understand.”

“Mn. Go at once. I will inform the others.”

With that, he continued his sprint down the hallway.

Tilea-sama attending a meeting!?

This hasn’t happened even once before…

I made haste with a nervous expression. I entered the meeting room to find a completely different atmosphere than normal. It was natural considering who was standing there. The tension was unreal.

After some nervous waiting, everybody was finally here.

“Please sit,” said Tilea-sama, and everybody took a seat.

What’s this all about?

Is it finally time for Tilea-sama herself to make her move on the world? If so, then I can finally see Camilla-sama and Tilea-sama’s greatness from up close!

What fortune!

Just imagining the two of them trampling the humans was giving me the shivers.

But unexpectedly, the subject matter at hand was…

“Do something about the restaurant’s debt!”

Tilea-sama…

To be honest it was a complete let-down.

Why is Tilea-sama still so obsessed about that restaurant? Is it really something so important that we needed to suspend the expedition to the Manafint Condeferation? What does everybody else think about this?

I looked around at the attending leadership.

Eh-!? Everybody there was nodding along with serious expressions. They even started vigorously discussing ideas. What’s going on? Also, Ortissio-sama was being criticised as usual.

Eventually Dryas-sama finally spoke, and his words filled me with shame.

Of course. The food being served in that restaurant was made by Tilea-sama herself. That the restaurant was in the red is nothing less than a slap in the face to her. An insult impossible to stomach. This certainly was a matter of utmost importance. Mere food or not, any loss on Tilea-sama’s part was absolutely unacceptable.

Nielsen-sama felt the same way. He basically spoke my mind. Nobody else spoke up, but they nodded along in agreement.

But Nielsen-sama’s words of loyalty were met with a projectile of incredible speeds.

I-, I think that may have crossed Mach 1…

I only heard the sound of the throw after it passed. Nielsen-sama was knocked down without a struggle.

W-What power!

It could have blown over dozens of your average demons. It’s only because it was Nielsen-sama that he survived. Everyone else was dumbstruck.

Later on when Tilea-sama explained her anger, my back was drenched in cold sweat.

I should have realised. Tilea-sama was presently angry exactly because of the issue of cooking.
I looked at Nielsen-sama carefully to warn myself of what would happen if I wasn’t careful with my words.

S-Still, thank goodness…

I was this close to saying the same thing as he did. My brains would have been splattered across the wall.

Anyway, I need to think of some kind of plan. Tilea-sama’s name is riding on this.

I frantically used my head.

I know! There is something I can do! I can just turn all of the foolish humans into my vampires. I’ll vampirise all the humans and then order them to go to the restaurant. That way we’ll get heaps of customers, and Tilea-sama’s restaurant will be number one too.

I voiced my suggestion to Tilea-sama.

But instead she became enraged anyway and asked me if I was looking down on her cooking.

A chill ran down my spine――

Why didn’t you realise, Edim!

I was essentially looking down on Tilea-sama. She glared angrily at me.

Uu, this is the power of an absolute conqueror. What pressure…

Even though I knew the normal, kind Tilea-sama, I couldn’t keep my legs from trembling or my teeth from clattering.

A-, Anyway I have to beg for forgiveness! I frantically began to apologise. Maybe she could tell I was being sincere because I somehow got her to forgive me.

Phew, I lost a few years off my life with that.

It’s easy to forget because of how kind she usually is, but Tilea-sama’s power is bottomless. Truly the Evil God. I’d better pay attention to my words and actions from now on. Particularly when it comes to food.

Also, I’ve been wondering…

What did she mean about throwing a kukanomi at me? And thinking about it, Tilea-sama always tries to stop me from eating kukanomi. She says stuff like “It’s your weakpoint, so you can’t,” or “Stay away from the church.”

What do those have to do with each other?

I don’t understand. Tilea-sama’s thoughts are still unfathomable as always.

But well, thinking about it any further would be insolence.

As a servant I should avoid trying to pry into my master’s thoughts too deeply. No matter what happens, to continue serving faithfully is what a truly loyal retainer is.


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 080

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ. Thank you for your consideration, guys!

Join the Evil God Army on discord!
https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


I intend to translate more these next few weeks. The brainwashing of the Clinton News Network caused me to focus my time on other things, but now that Trump has freed me I will dedicate myself to Making Novels Great Again.


After the excursion comes the mid-term exams.
Because of all the smart External Students that flooded into my school, I need to study harder than ever.
Actually, I’ve been taking it easy these days so I haven’t enrolled in a new cram school for high school yet. Right now I’ve only got a home tutor.

Before the exams began I decided to increase my lessons with her.

“Reika-san, you just always seem to struggle with maths, don’t you. I think you can improve if you keep up the practice though, so keep trying.”

“Yes.”

But that’s the hard part. I hate doing these questions…
If I don’t though I might get called in for remedials again. I’ll pass on those days of isolation again. And even though I’m really just some small fry I want everybody to keep saying “As expected of Reika-sama”!
For the sake of this petty pride I continued to battle with these baffling equations.

*

For the upcoming exams, this time I got my hands on some energy drinks. After all, I normally sleep 7 hours a night. If I get any less I start wobbling with sleepiness.
But when I was in the store seeing them priced at over 1,000 Yen each, they suddenly seemed like a bit much to drink casually. These felt more like something you’d buy for desperate cramming.
Thanks to that I decided to just buy a three-pack of the popular stuff to start off with.
Hm, the taste was pretty nostalgic. I did drink it from time to time in my old life after all.
I’m not sure if it helped at all but I used them to study as hard as I could so I’m feeling pretty satisfied.
Although, when Okaasama saw my empty bottles in the bin she started worrying about me and said,

“You’re a girl so you really needn’t push yourself too far.”

She gave me a lot of scarily expensive beauty drinks so I drank those too.
Well whatever. Come at me whenever, mid-terms!

*

So, about those mid-terms that I drank a bunch of energy drinks to study for… Well, it was still me doing the tests after all…
Anyway, Okaasama dragged me to beauty and hair salons after the exams ended. She really is fussy about how I look, isn’t she. Totally fixated on making sure I look like her image of an ‘ojousama’. Thank goodness said image wasn’t dressed in goth loli or something.
Oh, and that random white hair seemed to be gone now. I never want to experience that tragedy again. That’s why from now on I’m going to make sure to get full workovers more often at salons.
A few days after those treatments left my skin and hair sparkling, the results of the mid-terms were posted.

At Zui’ran, only the top 30 are posted. Since we have roughly 300 students it’s absolutely impossible for me.
…But although I say ‘absolutely’, I still can’t help but hope somewhere in my heart. Why is that?
Even though I’m wearing this modest expression that says I can’t imagine being up there, I’m still going to check it out.
I looked up nervously, but yep, wasn’t there.
Still, there sure were a lot of new names up there. They had to be all the Externals. As expected of them.
And at the very top, shining brilliantly were two names:

1. Kaburagi Masaya
2. Enjou Shuusuke

Just how crazy are these guys. Their cumulative result was pretty much full-marks. Just what do they have there inside their heads. I’m so jealous. Since middle school they’ve always been unshaken in the top two places. Well, the two of them would swap positions though.
Also, although 1st and 2nd place were these two, 3rd place was Wakaba-chan! And her marks were super close to theirs as well. Isn’t it completely possible for her to overtake them next time!?
The girl herself was staring dumbly up at the board with unruly hair as always. I just can’t see her as smart… Wakaba-chan, your mouth is hanging open! You look ridiculous, so please close it already!
The students around me were murmuring about the identity of this mysterious ‘Takamichi Wakaba’ but I can’t imagine anybody would connect that name with the spaced out girl in front of me. I guess she’s like the perfect example of that saying about a capable eagle hiding its talons.
On another note, Stalking Horse managed to grab 5th place despite all these new Externals. That’s amazing, Stalking Horse! As a fellow stalking horse, I’m proud of you!
Anyway, when Wakaba-chan noticed her name up there, relief flooded her expression. I guess this is pretty much life or death for a scholarship student. Congratulations.

It was around that moment that Kaburagi and Enjou came along. They normally don’t care at all about these but I guess they’re here this time because of all the new students?
As they came sauntering down, the students all parted left and right for them.
After confirming their own names at the top, Kaburagi muttered,

“Who’s this Takamichi Wakaba?”

Some of the students heard him and pointed her out to him.
After taking one look at her, he simply left with Enjou. Although Kaburagi was expressionless as always, Enjou had a faint look of interest on his face.
The moment they left the crowd grew noisy. It felt a little dangerous, actually. One phrase I managed to catch was “…knowing her place” though…

Nobody was mad enough to publicly attack her, but it seemed like there were a lot of people quietly dissatisfied with her threatening the pair’s dominance on the rankings. The fact that she was poor and stuck out like a sore thumb certainly didn’t help.
But wow, even if they say that, Wakaba-chan is a scholarship student, you know? She has to get good marks. And if you’re worried about people threatening those two, why didn’t you complain when Stalking Horse took 3rd place all of middle school.
When I asked out of curiosity they told me, “Mizusaki-kun is different.”
What the heck. Is it his face? Is it because his face looks good?
Not only that, but according to the others, Stalking Horse had a charm that both the boys and girls were drawn in by. Well, I guess that’s not really surprising since he made it to StuCo President.
That doesn’t mean that you can blame your own shortcomings on some innocent External girl though.

“The External Students entered only after passing some very rigorous tests after all. That they have good grades is a given. Instead we should be marvelling at how Kaburagi-sama and Enjou-sama defeated them all despite that,” I commented.

“Truly! As expected of those two!”

It’s almost never a mistake to use the names of those two when dealing with girls. The atmosphere was filled with their delighted squealing now.

When I got my report card handed to me, it listed my rank as 73. Hmmm… Should I be feeling happy about this rank?

*

*

Recently I’ve found a new method of stress relief. It’s called needle felting.
You’ve got this ball of wool and you poke at it with needles. It’s actually weirdly fun. I’ve been following the instructions in the textbook, and my latest creation is a snowman. Well, it’s basically just two white balls and two dots for eyes though.
Also when I get too into it my eyes start to hurt so I have to pay attention to the time. MY EYES-! MY EYEEEES-!

I usually do this in my room, but occasionally I camp out in the living room too.
Today I’m making a Tarow the Taro. I’m using brown felt this time.

-poke poke poke…-

When Oniichan saw me after a late night at work he asked me,

“Who’s the target!?”

It’s not a voodoo doll…

*

Geez. I wish I had some friends in the arts and crafts to understand my feelings. I wanna join the Handicrafts Club…
Should I pretend to be socially oblivious and just force my way in?
But if I do that I’ll just end up isolated in the room again. Uuu, these tears are just because I’m straining my eyes, okay?


“MY EYES-! MY EYEEEES-!”

is a reference to the typical stereotypical chuunibyou phrase,

“My eye-! My eyeeee-!”

when their left eye goes red and they unleash their power or whatever.

Japanese has no plurals, so Reika’s line is exactly the same as the above.


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Turf War – Chapter 11

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Join the Evil God Army on discord!
https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


I intend to translate more these next few weeks. The brainwashing of the Clinton News Network caused me to focus my time on other things, but now that Trump has freed me I will dedicate myself to Making Novels Great Again.


Chapter 11 – “Urgent meeting! We need to get this store going again!”

An emergency meeting was being held!

Because of my decision as the generalissimo, the entire Evil God Army was in chaos. I’m not sure what exactly Pervert(Nielsen) said to the others but the officers of the Evil God Army all rushed into the meeting room.

Did everyone want to play with me that badly?

Technically I’m the leader of this whole group, but since coming to the Capital I haven’t joined a meeting even once. I guess it can’t be helped that they’re so excited. Ah, the training from the other day was a different matter of course.

Still, sorry to all these guys, but right now isn’t the time for games. We can’t always be shouting “Dispatch the troops!” and “Leave nobody alive!” can we. The store’s existence depends on this. I hope they’ll take this seriously.

Just the lunch coupons aren’t enough. I need other ideas besides――so fast!?

In just the short while that I was thinking to myself, the entirety of the EGA’s leadership lined up in front of me. It hadn’t even been five minutes yet. Why is it that you guys are only this enthusiastic when it comes to games. Well, sorry to disappoint you though.

At any rate, they were all standing there. Waiting for my orders, presumably. And they were all looking expectantly at me too. I’ll bet they were imagining it was time for me to shout “Spread our banner across the lands!” or something.

Originally Timu and the others would invite me to the war councils. I was so busy with the store though, that I never had time for that. That’s why I told them that I would entrust them with everything instead. Right now Timu was looking at me with this face like, ‘finally, Oneesama wants to play’.

I’m sorry, Timu. Right now your Oneechan is in a huge pinch. If she screws this up it’s bankruptcy. We’ll invade the Manamana country some other time, okay?

“Everyone, please sit.”

“”Milady,”” they acknowledged together.

It feels a bit like a real army.

“Ahem. I’ve called you all here today to discuss the matter of the store on the surface.”

“Might you be referring to the restaurant that you run, Tilea-sama?”

“That’s right. So you see, right now I’m kind of in a bit of a pickle. The place is about to shut down, so I’d like some ideas on how to get out of this mess.”

Everyone’s eyes were wide. It must have felt really out of the blue for them.

“Tilea-sama, with all due respect, I was led to believe that Ortissio was regularly supplying you money, but…”

“That’s true, but it brings me shame to say that I’m not making a profit.”

Hearing it come out of my own mouth made me hang my head. He gave me that much money and I’m still in the red.

“Ortissio! Tilea-sama is obviously upset and yet you withhold money!?”

“I-I dare not. I have already told Tilea-sama that it would be no problem to increase the amount of money.”

“I care not for your excuses, Ortissio. You have wasted Oneesama’s time. I trust you are prepared for the consequences.”

“Hii…! B-But Tilea-sama was…”

Whoa whoa. How does it make any sense to blame Ortissio for this? I’m the one responsible.

“C’mon guys, enough of that. Or isn’t in the wrong here. This isn’t a problem about how much money he gives me. It’s true that his money is what’s been keeping it afloat so far, but what I really want to know is why we’re not turning a profit.”

“I understand now, Tilea-sama. In other words, this is a matter of pride.”

Dryas-kun is a smart cookie as always. That’s exactly right. I can’t just keep taking advantage of Or’s money here. And to begin with, it’s really weird that my food isn’t making money.

“Sharp as always, Dryas-kun. You understand my feelings.”

“I am honoured.”

“That’s right. To be frank, I have complete faith in my abilities as a cook. It’s impossible for me to be getting so few customers.”

“It is incomprehensible, Oneesama. How could anybody not understand the value of the best food in history.”

“Yupyup, I’m definitely better than our competitors.”

Even I have enough sense to scout out our rivals. I went to the more bustling restaurants in the Capital to try their food, and I was one or two levels higher than everyone out there. I can’t say they were bad. It’s just that they were B-rank cooks at best.

“Mere cooking though it may be, it is unacceptable for anybody to defeat Tilea-sama,” Pervert(Niel) exclaimed indignantly. It seems like agreement at first but…

Hey, Pervert(Niel). What did you say just now? MERE COOKING!?

You’re supposed to be an employee at our restaurant! What the fuck are you saying!?

Pervert(Niel) is my subordinate, okay? Not just in some make-believe army, but in an honest to god work environment Pervert(Niel) is my subordinate. But despite that, despite being in the culinary industry, he goes and spouts outrageous crap like that. Is that how an employee is supposed to act.

“Niel!”

“Milady.”

“Minus ten points!”

“HEBSH-!”

I pegged a pencil-thing hard at him, like a teacher throwing chalk at her bad student.

Pervert(Nielsen) staggered a bit before collapsing. Guess it was a critical hit. He was just laying there.

Hm, did I take things a bit far? Ah, that’s no good. No matter how badly the management of the store is going, it’s never an excuse to throw things at people.

“Sorry, Niel. Are you okay?”

“Uguhg. Hahh, hahh, I-, I am f-fine…”

He put up a strong front but his legs were still trembling. Ah geez, I shouldn’t have used violence on somebody so fragile. Let’s wait for him to recover.

A few minutes later…

Pervert(Nielsen) was finally able to sit back in his chair.

“You okay now, Niel?”

“There is no issue, Milady. So what mistake did I make?”

What mistake!? You don’t even understand!? Hahh~ This guy really lacks self-awareness about his job at Berum Restaurant.

“Niel. You’re my subordinate. DUU YUU ANDASTAN?”

“Certainly. I am your faithful servant, Tilea-sama.”

“Then be a bit more aware of that fact. You’re working at my restaurant, and yet you’d say something like ‘mere food’. If our employees aren’t taking their jobs seriously, do you really think we can turn this store around!”

“M-, My deepest apologies. My words certainly were counter to your desires.”

“Huu~ Think about this carefully next time, okay?”

“As you wish.”

I sighed.

Does anybody else have any ideas?

I looked around.

Mn? Edim looked like she was fidgeting for some reason.

Before long…

“U-, Umm, Tilea-sama.”

“My, Edim. Do you have anything to say?”

“Yes. What if I turned all the humans into my kin and ordered them to come to the restaurant?”

Edim, please don’t say such scary things so casually. I hope this is a joke, but when it comes to Edim it’s a terrifyingly real possibility.
And she’s hurt my pride by saying something like that.

“Edim, are you looking down on me?”

“Never, I would never do such a thing.”

“You know, by suggesting a plan to force people to come you’re basically saying that my cooking isn’t enough to do it! Do you get that?

“Honestly, even you’re saying stupid things like Niel. Next time I’ll hit you with a kukanomi, okay?”

“Y-Yes…”

After that, Timu and the others continued suggesting violent and outrageous plans. One guy even suggested massacring the ‘foolish townsfolk who fail to understand the greatness of (my) cooking!’

Huu, I swear these guys have a one-track mind…

Is it actually impossible to talk seriously with a chuunibyou? I can’t believe I’m wondering this just now.

“Hey, does anybody have any serious ideas?”

“Tilea-sama, may I?” asked the previously silent Dryas as he raised a hand.

The star of the show is finally here.

“Sure, sure. Tell me what you’ve got.”

“Milady. In my humble opinion, your cooking is perfection itself. The deficit the restaurant is experiencing has another cause. The position of the store, the lack of advertising, and finally the pricing of the menu appear to be the problems.”

As expected of Dryas-kun, finally a serious answer. A chuunibyou though you may be, you’ve really shown how different you are to the others.

“Mn, mn, continue.”

“Yes, Milady. This restaurant is located at the very end of Western Street, in a place beyond notice. Furthermore, due to the lack of advertisement, I presume that many have not even heard of its existence.”

“I see. I guess this is pretty out of the way.”

“Finally, our position means that few pedestrians on Western Street would come as far as here. They tend to congregate towards the centre.”

Could it mean that he wants us to move the store? But that’s impossible. There’s the issue of money for one thing, but Or and Edim are still wanted suspects. We need the underground housing because they need to lay low until the heat dies down.”

“But moving is impossible, Dryas-kun.”

“Indeed. This is the best position to avoid revealing our headquarters. Moving the store would be undesirable.”

“I thought so too. Then I guess we just have to try harder with advertising? Also, you said there was an issue with the pricing?”

“Yes. To put it simply, the prices are entirely too cheap. Far from making a profit, we struggle to even break even.”

“I thought the ingredients would have been cheaper, but they were so expensive that I didn’t think any customers would come. That’s why I thought I’d focus on making a lot of small profits instead, but…”

“Tilea-sama, what if we change the target demographic to the wealthy? At this pricing, even a thousand customers a day would not bring a profit.”

“I-IT’S THAT BAD!? Mmmn, but wringing the rich for their money is a bit… I’d prefer it if more people could taste my cooking.”

“I understand. Everything is for the sake of your desires. In that case, we will adjust the prices more conservatively and order Edim’s kin to promote the store.”

“I see! GUDDO AIDEA!”

I knew I was right to believe in him. Next time I should just talk alone with him. That way I won’t waste so much time.

“Beyond that, we can shave down the cost of the ingredients a little, and order the troops to gather ingredients.”

“Yeah, I guess there are the middleman fees if we keep buying from the market, huh.”

If we were on the internet I’d be spamming the Like button right now.

“In that case the ingredients shall be gathered by sending the Second Division on expeditions.”

“W-Wait a moment. My Second Division has been working non-stop at suppressing the neighbouring settlements. It would be impossible to take on the job of ingredient gathering as well,” Or interjected.

He tried to convey just how busy he was but Dryas-kun was having none of it.

“Enough whining! Ortissio, this is not a request. As Chief of General Staff I am ordering you to do so.”

“H-, However…”

“Ortissio, I thought you were supposed to be demonstrating your loyalty!” roared Pervert(Nielsen).

“Ortissio, know that if you continue your excuses I will personally tear your mouth off,” added Timu.

You guys are a bit too harsh…

“Y-Yes, h-hic, I un-understand…  Then I sh-shall… hic, accept this… mission.”

Or was really starting to cry now. Aah, not this again. I’ve told them so many times to stop picking on Or already…

“That’s enough, everyone.”

“H-However, damned Ortissio is being too――”

“Enough!”

Everyone went silent, and Or looked up at me with his tear-stained face.

“H-, Hic, T-Tilea-sama…”

“Or, I know that you take the occasional trip out of the capital. When you’re out there, if you happen to come across any good ingredients then I’d like it if you brought them back with you.”

“Hic, i-ingredients…?”

“Mn, if you say it’s impossible, then I won’t force you. We’re done discussing it, and I won’t let anybody say otherwise.”

“Tilea-sama… Just how far does your compassion and greatness go…”

“Huhu, your flattery is really over-the-top.”

“Not at all. I am not praising you enough.”

With that, Or was back to normal. I guess he’s done crying.

“So Or, think you can do it?”

“Yes, Milady! I, lowly Ortissio, profoundly apologise for complaining over merely accepting two tasks. Please leave it to me. I shall accomplish this without fail.”

“Okay. I’ll look forward to it then. Ah, but enough about the subjugation of the villages or whatever. You don’t need to feel pressured over something like that.”

“Please be at ease. I will prioritise the gathering of ingredients. The likes of those settlements will not take up our time. If it takes too long then we can simply exterminate them all.”

“I-, I see… Don’t go too crazy with your games, okay?”

“Huhu, games indeed. I understand. I will calmly deal with it all.”


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 079

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.

If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


In celebration of our new God Emperor!

Also, I forgot to recommend them last time but!

Go Gently by Shana the Short (SB)
A rather funny alternate universe story about this completely oblivious Taylor who is friends with Emma, Sophia, and “Mr. Eikawa”.

Queen of the Swarm by Vherstinae (SB)
A pretty good Starcraft/Worm crossover where Taylor develops a Crawler-like ‘Kerrigan’ physiology.


The day of the excursion was met with clear weather. I departed after a good meal.
I’ve had a history of suffering on these excursions but this year I was a little different. I thought of a way to walk without tiring!
In the past I always took large strides in order to make more progress. But the trick in mountain climbing is to take small steps!
Why didn’t anybody teach me this earlier! Just how much unnecessary suffering did I go through…
Besides that, I also brought out my old stepper machine to train. Say goodbye to the exhausted Reika!

Well, to cut to the chase I ended up in the lagging groups again, but maybe because it was an easier hike this year, I had more fun than expected. I want to believe that it was my stepper training and strategy at work.
If only things were this easy every year. Being the kind girl that I am, I told all my fellow slowpokes about my small steps tactic.
But you know, there have always been some kids that were worse than me, you know? It’s just that they all throw in the towel early and ride away in a car. Last time they were sitting at the base of the mountain drinking tea or something. Isn’t that kind of unfair?
I’d want to do that too! But being the coward that I am, I never could find the timing to quit, so I was stuck with climbing to the end. And since the exercise was oddly good for my circulation I wasn’t hit by a wave of anaemia the one time it could have made itself useful.
Anyway, there were plenty of kids who retired early this time too, riding away gracefully in their car. Well, some of those were members of my group though. For example, my fellow Pivoine member Haginokouji Fuyuko-sama, whose face would probably look good with those round eyebrows that the ancient Heian nobility wore.

A style that was popular in the Heian era.
A style that was popular in the Heian era amongst nobility.

Fuyuko-sama is attached to my group because it’s the biggest faction, but she’s a bit different to everyone else. Maybe it’s because of her face, but it kinda feels like she lives in another world…
Sakura-chan might be “Japanese style” but this girl is plain “ancient Japanese”. She’d probably look more natural in a juunihitoe than western clothes.

The juunihitoe (十二単) is an extremely elegant and highly complex kimono that was only worn by court-ladies in Japan. Literally translated, it means "twelve-layer robe". The juunihitoe started to appear around the 10th century during the Heian Era. Today, the juunihitoe can only be seen in museums, movies, costume demonstrations, tourist attractions or at certain festivals.
The juunihitoe (十二単) is an extremely elegant and highly complex kimono that was only worn by court-ladies in Japan. Literally translated, it means “twelve-layer robe”. The juunihitoe started to appear around the 10th century during the Heian Era. Today, the juunihitoe can only be seen in museums, movies, costume demonstrations, tourist attractions or at certain festivals.

“Look, Reika-sama. We can see the ocean.”

“Truly. How beautiful.”

Yes, I have enough energy to speak this year. It’s wonderful. I wish I had this much energy every year.
Or rather, if we just didn’t climb a mountain each time I wouldn’t have this problem to begin with. We went to Kamakura this year, so we should have just stuck to money-washing,

Zeniarai Benten Shrine (銭洗弁天) is a popular shrine in western Kamakura, which people visit to wash their money (zeniarai means "coin washing"). It is said that money washed in the shrine's spring, will double.
Zeniarai Benten Shrine (銭洗弁天) is a popular shrine in western Kamakura, which people visit to wash their money (zeniarai means “coin washing”). It is said that money washed in the shrine’s spring, will double.

warabimochi,

 Warabimochi (蕨餅, warabi-mochi) is a jelly-like confection made from bracken starch and covered or dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soybean flour). It differs from true mochi made from glutinous rice.

Warabimochi (蕨餅, warabi-mochi) is a jelly-like confection made from bracken starch and covered or dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soybean flour). It differs from true mochi made from glutinous rice.

or just eating soft custard pudding.

79c
Kamakura ‘nama(uncooked) pudding’

I hope I have somebody to go sightseeing with, this time.

*

When we arrived back at the hotel after the hike I went and changed clothes.
Aah, I can finally get out of this track jacket. They don’t suit me. If possible I’d like to avoid being seen in them outside.
I fixed up my appearance before heading to the hotel for lunch when I found the classes arranged around tables by class. The main course was seafood. All the exercise really gets your appetite up~
Oh! This Kamakura vegetable soup is pretty good!
But when I looked around, the Externals were ignoring the food in favour of huddling their heads together. I see. They still have their entertainment to do, so I suppose it’s no time to be eating. They really have it tough.

Around the time the food was finished, Class 1 began their skit.
Unsurprisingly it was a choir but they had a leader whose voice was trembling a bit. Can’t blame them though. I’m just thanking my lucky stars that I’m not an External…
After that there were concerts and skits too. My class was doing their best singing, with a piano and some people on the tambourines too. I don’t think I’m biased in saying that their practice paid off.
In the class with the concert there was this one kid whipping his hair back and forth as he played the violin, but I have to wonder if he moved into the right school.
Finally, it was Wakaba-chan’s turn.

In the spirit of being in Kamakura, her class performed the “Benten and the Five-Headed Dragon”. According to the story, in the past there was a terrifying five-headed dragon that lived in the Kamakura lake who caused natural disasters, demanded children as sacrifices, and just made life for the villagers hell. But then one day a heavenly nymph descended from the heavens who was so beautiful that the dragon proposed to her, but she rejected him and told him that she couldn’t marry someone wicked, so he reformed and became a good dragon.

Benten is believed to have created Enoshima before subduing a five-headed dragon that had been terrorizing the area.
Benten is believed to have created Enoshima before subduing a five-headed dragon that had been terrorizing the area.

The guy playing the dragon was dressed in a mask and black cloth while the girl playing Benten seemed to be shrouded in white cloth. The other roles included the narrator, the villagers and stuff too. Wakaba-chan was holding a stick attached to blue cloth and was pretending to be the ocean.

“ZAZAAAN~ ZAZAAAN~” she yelled as she waved her stick, enthusiastically playing her part.

…Umm, Wakaba-chan, you’re great, you’re really shining up there. Trying your very best to wave the stick even when nobody is really watching you. Even though sometimes you got so tired that you had to do it with one arm, you gave your all to the role until the end. Well done.
It couldn’t be that she’s being picked on, right? Or so I wondered for a moment, but there was a kid playing the part of Enoshima island so I guess I was just being paranoid. The part of the ocean is still better than being an island, right?

When my class’ act was done, they came over to thank Satomi-kun and I.

“Thank you so much for all your help.”

“Thank you very much, Reika-sama.”

All I really did was get them that music room, but Satomi-kun practised with them and gave them the advice including the idea about borrowing the maracas and tambourines too. He really is great at taking care of people.

“You performed very well. It appears that your practised paid off,” I said.

They all looked really happy. It looks like they became closer through all this. But it’s not good to only stick to themselves, so hopefully they’ll get close to the others too.

The class that won the prize for best sideshow this year was Wakaba-chan’s class.
The prize were enough tickets for free meals at the cafeteria for all of them. Wakaba-chan’s eyes were shining. The food at our school is quite expensive so I suppose she didn’t have much chance to try it. Good for her. I wish I could give her recommendations.

*

After that whole affair, I became closer to this External girl called Ikoma-san.
Friend GET?
But I’m a bit troubled because she looks at me with these eyes that seem oddly worshipping. I’ll bet she has some weird image of me in her head.
Ikoma-san who always looks at me with these sparkling eyes filled with respect… I’m too cowardly to disappoint her, so I vowed to myself to keep up the act around her.

Ikoma-san, if you like my hairstyle so much, how about you curl your hair too?


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Reika-sama – 078

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.

If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


There was meant to be a whole message and Worm fanfiction recommendation list here but when I published after changing the link from https://oniichanyamete.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/reika-sama-077-3/ everything was blank and scumbag wordpress had no fucken drafts, so fuck. I’ll edit it in now I guess…

EDIT: Okay, fuck. So! Like I was saying in my earlier draft, I’m sorry for the long absence. The last time I released a chapter was August 12th, so a bit under 3 months ago.

EDITEDIT: Why does wordpress keep fucking blanking everything!?

Fuck!

EDITEDITEDIT: Hopefully third time is the charm. So! August 12th. I’m sorry for my absence. I was really busy with my masters degree and was busy until roughly the 1st of November. Yes, I am aware that it is now the 7th of November. Some issues with Warframe and Worm fanfiction came up, okay? Namely that I wanted to do those more than translate.

Speaking of Worm fanfiction though, if you haven’t read Worm, go read it now. NOW! If you have read it, here are some fanfiction recommendations I’d like to make! The formatting and reviews are shitter because this is the second time I’m doing this, so please bear with me.

Constellations by Unwelcome Storm. (SB)(SV)
A light-hearted, funny, adorable, and very enjoyable crossover with Ōkami.

Twinnings by Harbin (SB)(SV)
Taylor with Coil powers. Note that the stories on SB and SV diverge at chapter 1.5 and I’d recommend you read both. The SpaceBattles version first. Fun stuff.

Starry Eyes by helnae (SV)
A completely adorable alternate power fanfiction where Taylor cuts off her face and makes friends with a shoggoth and nightgaunt.

Heredity by BeaconHill (SB)(SV)
A fun alternate universe fanfiction where Taylor moves to Arcadia and somehow ends up teaming up with Amy.

Intrepid by Cerulean (SB)(SV)
An alternate universe (and thus power) fanfiction that follows four different protagonists: Madison, Emma, Sophia and Taylor. Four different teams with one of them each. Non-Mary Sue-ish and really quite an engaging story.

As for some longer stories, we have Cenotaph and sequels which read… a lot like the original Worm I suppose, Queen of Blood which is nowhere near as edgy as you’d expect from a name like that, A Cloudy Path which is great but somehow even more emotionally draining to read than the original Worm, Atonement which is cheesy and Mary Sue-ish but still somehow pretty good and really fun, Magical Girl Lyrical Taylor which is… um… well I’d definitely recommend it…, and finally Amelia which is a dark fixfic which was pretty okay.


This year’s excursion was to Kamakura.

A city! It’s finally a city! Goodbye, mountain climbing! Or so I thought until I heard that, yep, we were going to be hiking. To think that even Kamakura had hiking…

But well, I guess I was already kinda prepared for that. The real issue was the lunch.

After spending the whole gruelling morning on hiking, next was returning to the reserved hotel banquet hall to have lunch together as a whole grade. I was told that we were going to have seafood. Seafood is great stuff.

The problem comes after. Apparently it’s Zui’ran tradition to have the External Students of each class gather together to prepare some kind of skit for the lunch. Like a baptism of sorts for them.

But a skit! And in front of three-hundred odd people! It’s a total punishment game.

When the Externals in my class heard about it, all of them went deathly pale. Not like I don’t understand though.

After asking around a bit, apparently the previous years were pretty much all choirs and concerts, with the occasional dance or magic trick. A few oddballs apparently banded together to recite Japanese waka poetry or haikus, too.

That day, whenever we had spare time, the Externals would group together and plan for the lunch skit. Mn, for things like this you have to decide what to do first after all.

“Can’t we just sing something?”

“But whatever would we sing? And would it be possible to sing loudly enough for a large hall such as this?”

“But that makes it even harder to see a skit.”

Hmm~ Looks like they’re having trouble.

Satomi-kun and I called out to them.

“How goes it? Have you yet agreed upon anything?”

They all shook their heads at me with troubled expressions.

“Apparently most people just sing or perform on instruments,” I added.

“But it’d be difficult to bring instruments…”

“I believe it quite possible to have them loan you at least a piano or a guitar. And the hall is furnished with a screen so with a microphone small magic tricks or juggling should be possible.”

“Really!?”

Looks like they had more options now.

“By the way, what’s the most popular thing for us to do?”

“From what I hear, some students with particular confidence in their singing voices decided to sing Nessun Dorma. Apparently they were met with quite an applause, and were called the Three Tenors of Zui’ran or somesuch. They were so popular in fact that the popularity of doing mini operas sky-rocketed in the following years, or so the story goes.”

“Opera…”

“The Three Tenors…? But if there were only three singers, what was everybody else doing?”

“Lighting and sound, it seems.”

“Having it focused around one person might not be a bad idea.”

“However, pushing the pressure onto a single classmate is not ideal, so generally things of more equal participation are expected. The exceptions are only when somebody is particularly talented at something.”

“Talent…”

They looked at each other. Unfortunately none of them seemed to be superstars of any sort. They all looked a little crestfallen.

“Dances are popular too but it kinda depends on how tired each class is after the hike,” advised Satomi-kun.

Yeah~ If it were me I’d be half dead after all the walking.

“But there’s been all kinds of dances too. Stuff from proper dances, to waltzing to piano music or something.”

“I’ve never waltzed before.”

“Me neither… Outside of folk dancing at school, I’ve never really…”

Folk dancing, huh. If somebody did like, an Oklahoma Mixer, I’d probably end up laughing.

Ah, maybe a Mayim Mayim would be more exciting?

It turned out to be a unanimous vote against folk dancing. After long deliberation, they decided on the safe option of choir singing.

*

They immediately went to practice after school but the kids from the other classes were thinking the same thing obviously, so it was quite a scramble for the piano. After all, whether for choir or concert performances, the piano is a key part, right?

The music rooms in the high school section weren’t enough so I went and negotiated with the school. In the end I got permission for them to use the middle school ones as well.

“You’re amazing. You got us permission to use the middle school rooms? Umm, I guess you used your power as a Pivoine, right?” asked a girl hesitantly.

Hmmm. I can’t really say. When I went and talked to the teacher I was just like,

“Say, since you made me take up the class rep position and all, just lending me a room or two is nothing, riight?”

so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t demanding anything. Mn. That sounds right. It was just a request.

“I should think it was because the school cooperates with its students,” I smiled.

Please don’t look at me so suspiciously.

Anyway, I was pushing for them to sing gospel music but they were like “We don’t have enough people for that…” and refused. Hm, do you really need that many people? I mean, the Three Tenors of Zui’ran managed, so can’t you get loud enough if you try? I was so sure it’d be popular too.

In the end they chose something easy. Well, it’s a song I quite like anyway, so it’s all good I guess.

After entrusting the key to the music rooms to the External students, I headed for the Pivoine. Just to be safe, I’ll check up on the Externals once more before I go home later.

On the way, I bumped into Katsuragi Boy in the hallway.

“Ah! Why the hell are you in the middle school!”

I checked the hallway in all directions. Hmm~ Nobody seems to be here. Alright.

“OWWW!”

I sentenced the rude little junior to a facial noogie.

I didn’t hold back at all so I’m sure it hurt quite a bit. Since we were the same height though, he pulled me off rather easily.

“What the fuck are you doing, violent woman!?”

“Is that how you address a senior? My, such a dullard, you poor thing. I henceforth name you Birdboy. The bird-brained Birdboy.”

“Fuck you!”

“My, are you not satisfied? Then go learn some manners and I shall promote you back to a full human once more. Well then, gokigen’yoh, Birdboy-kun.”

I walked away with a HO HO HO! when I heard the idiot call out,

“A bitch like you will never be worthy of Enjou-san!”

So of course I headed right back.

“W-What are you doing?”

Since he had his guard high, I kicked him in the shin.

“OWWWWW!!”

Hurt, didn’t it. Even the legendary warrior monk Benkei would cry from a shin kick.

Truuly such a cretinous bird. Worry not. I have no feelings towards Enjou-sama at all. I will not get in the way of your love for him. Society still has much progress to be made towards completely understanding homosexuality, but there is no harm in fantasising as you please. Do as you deign appropriate.”

“Wha-, I’m not-”

OHOHOHOHOHO, I can’t heaar youuu~

With that, I left my mentally challenged kouhai behind.

*

The Externals in each class continued to practice each day.

One time in the hallway, I caught sight of Wakaba-chan running around covered in some weird cloth, but, eh, don’t tell me it’s really some dress-up skit!?


“One time in the hallway, I caught sight of Wakaba-chan running around covered in some weird cloth, but, eh, don’t tell me it’s really some dress-up skit!?”

Kasou Taishou: Kasou Taishou is a semi-annual show on NTV in which various amateur groups perform short skits, which are rated by a panel of judges. Especially in recent years, many of the skits have revolved around clever methods of “faking” cinematic special effects on a live stage. The show is hosted by Kinichi Hagimoto and Shingo Katori. Worldwide, the most famous of these skits, and among the most successful at “fake special effects” was a skit which is widely known as “Matrix ping pong”.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kasou+taishou+best


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 077

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Evil God Army members, assemble: https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


Today, at Kasumi-sama’s invitation, I was having lunch at the Pivoine seats. I feel like I’ve been eating nothing but sweet foods recently, so today I went with a healthy spring greens and bacon pasta.

“I heard that you planned a lunch event for your class,” she said with a teasing expression.

I’ll bet this is about how I used her name on Tomoe-senpai.

“Yes, both the Student Council President and the cafeteria staff happily agreed, you see. Thanks to that, everybody was able to have a pleasant lunch together.”

“My! Huhu,” she laughed.

Suddenly, some others joined our conversation.

“Was there any need to go out of your way to ask the Student Council? Why, it almost seems as though the Student Council is ranked above us.”

“Yeah. When everything’s said and done, it’s us Pivoine that’s the highest here at Zui’ran.”

Oh dear~ Things have become annoying.
The Pivoine Supremecists really hate the Student Council after all.
Kasumi-sama was hanging her head awkwardly. Considering their reactions, it would be impossible to come clean about her boyfriend.
Unlike middle school, the tensions between the Pivoine and Student Council are quite pronounced here.
It’s probably because the power of the Student Council is a lot greater in the high school section. Well, considering who our current StuCo President is though, I doubt it’ll turn into an all-out confrontation, but still…

“Because I am still only a new student, I felt that perhaps it would be safer to notify the Student Council as well. However, if my conduct has caused anybody discomfort, I am truly very sorry…”

“Ah, no, it’s not your fault, Reika-san. Sorry about that. Just don’t worry about it.”

Once I started acting feeble and pitiful, they backed down surprisingly quickly. Uhehe.
That was the end of that, and lunch progressed peacefully again. Both Kaburagi and Enjou occasionally joined in on the conversation too. Apparently they weren’t going to join a club. Although, it seemed that a lot of sports clubs invited them.

“Which club did you want to join, Reika-sama? I heard that you went to check them out.”

“Yes, although I am still having trouble deciding…”

Although, the truth is that there are a few cultural clubs that I want to enter. But all of them are filled with quiet kids, so it would be like a sudden wolf in a pen of little rabbits. They definitely wouldn’t welcome me.

“How about the Tea Ceremony Club or the Flower Arrangement Club?”

“I have teachers that I have been learning both under since young, so there is really no reason to join those clubs as well.”

“I see. Is there anything else you wanted?”

“At first I was interested in the sports clubs, but…”

Suddenly, Kaburagi and Enjou glanced my way. What the heck. So what if I wanted to join a sports club.
It’s true that I don’t have a good history with mountain climbing but my P.E. results are at least average, okay! And didn’t I do pretty well during the Athletics Carnival!
It’s not that I’m bad at sports. I’m just lacking the willpower, okay.

“I’ve heard that the Zui’ran sports clubs lean towards the intense side. Wouldn’t it be a little harsh for you, Reika-sama?”

“Yes. I realised that it was impossible for me after having a look.”

I heard Kaburagi and Enjou quietly stifling their laughter. Annoying.

“Huuuh~? These seats are free, guys~”

At that moment, Wakaba-chan suddenly came this way with a bentou.
No way! Why!?
I got careless because of how far into lunch break we were. Did her class get held back or something!?
The plate! Where’s the plate that says they’re Pivoine only!? It’s gonee! Who was it!? Who was it that removed it!?
As Wakaba-chan came over with an innocent smile, the atmosphere around the Pivoine senpais grew severe. This is bad… It seemed like the Pivoine Supremecists would explode at any moment.

“U-Umm! These seats are reserved for our use only, so normal students cannot sit here, you know?”

Before I knew it I had stood up and warned Wakaba-chan.
For a moment she stared blankly as our eyes met. Then she turned around and found her pale friends, and finally realised that she was in trouble.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realise. I sincerely apologise,” she exclaimed as she bowed, low, before rushing back to her friends.

Safe!

“What was that meant to be. A new External? Let’s find her name later and issue a formal warning. She’s setting a bad example for the rest.”

“That girl did not seem as though she belonged here. Could it be that she was a scholarship student?”

“That’d make things all the worse.”

Gegeh-!

“Umm! There is really no need to go that far. I am sure she is simply still acclimating. Could you perhaps turn the other way just this once?”

“However…”

“Of course it would not do to simply leave things, so I will personally talk to her class representative to give her a warning, as well as properly teach her about the Pivoine. Please?”

“…Then just this one time, in deference to you, Reika-san.”

“…Yes. If Reika-san is willing to go that far, then…”

“My! Thank you very much!”

Scaryyy~ The Pivoine is so scaryyyy~
There’s no need to get so angry just because somebody wanted to sit in a chair, okay~?
And Wakaba-chan, you’re way too careless. The friends with you all noticed, didn’t they? And friends of Wakaba-chan, you’re supposed to tell her. Don’t just go pale and stand there.

Also, all throughout this little drama, Kaburagi and Enjou continued eating like nothing…

But wow, what happened just now was that scene when Kisshouin Reika got angry and screamed “Know your place!” at Wakaba-chan, right?
In the manga, the whole cafeteria went silent, and made Wakaba-chan rather infamous right at the start of school. It marked the beginning of a lot of troubles.
Still, I managed to avoid it, right? Although I did sort of stand up and warn her without much thought. I mean, things would have gotten extremely troublesome had I stayed still.
Aahh, but what happened was almost like the manga… Uu, my stomach is kinda hurting again.
But I’ll make sure to finish this pasta. Vegetables are good for you, after all.

*

*

I spoke to her class representative about what happened at lunch, and asked them to discreetly teach the new students what to watch out for.

It’d be nice if there was a Pivoine manual or something, though. Perhaps I’ll have a word with Tomoe-senpai about it…


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 076

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Evil God Army members, assemble: https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


I’ll be meeting with Aoi-chan for the first time in a while. The last time was in spring break so I’m really happy.
Unfortunately Aoi-chan’s been attending a different cram school ever since high school started, so we can’t see each other on a regular basis anymore. It had been my emotional oasis too…
But we’ve been talking via text and phone so I think we’ll stay friends forever. I won’t let you escape, Aoi-chan!

The two of us went to a café known for its cakes. True to its reputation, the menu boasted quite a large selection.
The banana tart looks really nice.

A banana tart.

But it’s so hard to ignore the black tea chiffon cake.

Maybe it would be fine if I bought the swiss roll to take home.

An uncut swiss roll.
After agonising over my choice for a while, in the end I went with a cake made from milk chocolate.

76d

Aahh~ How can just a bit of cake send me to heaven like this.

“It seems that your complexion has improved a lot since spring break, Aoi-chan. I’m glad.”

“Mn, thank you.”

Aoi-chan had completely recovered from her haggard self, and the gaunt cheeks from right before the exams were back to their fluffy selves.

“Have you acclimated to your high school?”

“The moment I entered there was a test. I thought I was free from studying for the moment but then they hit me with that.”

“My~”

As expected of a prep school.

“But I’m done with studying for now. I’ve been thinking about joining a club so I’ve been having a look around.”

A club, huhh… I was in the go-home club as a middle schooler. Maybe I should try joining one too. It might lead to some new meetings too!

“I was thinking that since I’m joining one anyway, it might as well be a sports club. Maybe ballet or badminton or something. I was in the basketball club in middle school, after all.”

A sports club? That’s nice, moving your body around. Most importantly, it’ll help you slim.

“Perhaps I should join one too. A sports club, that is.”

You, Reika-chan? I think that’s a great idea! Let’s see, I think tennis would suit you!”

“I am open to all suggestions except tennis.”

Tennis is the only club I’m absolutely against joining. Even though I’d be a complete beginner, I can already super see people expecting me to be some expert.
It’s one of those things, you know? Like when some boy is named Tsubasa and everyone just expects him to be great at soccer.
It’s scary how easy it is to see myself being stuck with the name Madame.

“I think I may simply have a look around as well. I still have only a faint idea of what clubs my school offers. I did have a quick look at the list earlier, but…”

“Yeah. It’s hard to really know what you want without seeing it first, right?”

Aoi-chan laughed happily as she took a bite of her black tea chiffon cake.
I knew that was going to be good. Maybe I should place just another order…

“Now that your exams are over, you seem to have having fun each day, Aoi-chan. I’m glad.”

“Hmmm… It’s not all smooth sailing, you know. It’s not school this time, though, it’s home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah. My Oniichan suddenly awoke to his guitarist’s soul, so now it’s just dundundundundun every single day. It’s driving me crazy, but he won’t reflect.”

“My, my…”

“Not only that, he’s even starting singing along these days. It’s just a nightmare. Dundududundundun aah aaa aaah aah~ The whole neighbourhood is filled with his crappy guitar and weird cries now. You know, the other day somebody told my mum, ‘Your son is such a talented guitarist’. It was completely sarcastic!” she shouted, something incredibly rare for her gentle self.

“Incidentally, which of your two oniisamas is it?”

“…Muscles.”

Muscles and guitar? Is he the hot-blooded type that would sing at the base of a volcano or something?

“I’m just so sick of it already. It’s so embarrassing I can’t even walk outside.”

“You have it hard.”

“Mn,” nodded Aoi-chan, before letting out a big sigh.

But although I feel sorry for thinking this, Aoi-chan, I kinda wanna meet that brother of yours.

“Would it be possible for me to meet…”

“Never.”

I see.

“Sorry for bringing up a weird topic. Enough about Muscles. How has school been, Reika-chan?”

“Well, it appears that others think of me as difficult to approach. Especially the boys.”

“You’ve said something like that before as well, haven’t you? I think it was during your remedials?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right. Things are undoubtedly better than that time, at least.”

I stayed a deserted island until the very end, after all.

“Could it be that I truly do have a bully’s face? You know, it seems that there are lots of kids who avert their eyes in fear.”

“Eh… But don’t you have some close friends too? And I mean, you said you had that male friend from cram school too.”

“Well, yes, I suppose.”

Akizawa-kun, huh.

“What if you had that boy spread your good points amongst the others? You could ask your girl friends too. You might makes lots more friends that way.”

“Isn’t that just a massive farce? If it was ever found out that I orchestrated it all, I would die from the embarrassment. And to begin with, it would be much too embarrassing to ask anyone for that favour.”

“Well, that’s true…”

I don’t want to believe that I’m cornered enough to do that.

“Then it has to be a club after all! You’ll definitely make new friends!”

“I think so too. I should go look at the clubs the next chance I have!”

Yeah. I’ll make lots of new friends once I join a club, and then maybe I’ll even start up some romance with a dreamy senpai!
I wonder what club I should join.

*

When they heard I was joining a club, the Tennis Club immediately came to invite me. I told you guys, the Tennis Club is just out of the question.
And what the heck is the Tenni-Pong Club. Isn’t that like tennis too? And it’s way too niche. I never even knew you guys existed.
And the Tennis de Table Club? Please just call it Ping Pong. Have some confidence in your own club, damnit.
And if you lot want to make me hold a racket so badly then maybe I’ll compromise with badminton. Aoi-chan was considering it too, after all. Lots of the friends from my old life did it too. Mn, that might be a good idea.

I went to the Badminton Club without much thought, and was sent trembling by the speed of the shuttle. Impossible. I’ll die if that hits me. And it looks like the running is really intense too. For me, running is a bit… Sometimes when I run I swear I can taste blood. I don’t think I’m quite suited for it.
At my friends’ invitations I went to look at the various sports clubs, but the intensity of it all steadily disillusioned me.

“After all of that touring, I think that sports clubs may be a bit much for me. I am sorry for making you accompany me,” I apologised to my friends, but everyone had this expression like, ‘I thought so’. I’m sorry, guys.
While I was walking around, feeling a little depressed at my own weakness, by chance I came across Class Rep who invited me to the Literature Club. Class Rep, are you still writing poems there?
Anyway, poems aside, maybe the Literature Club would suit me. I might make some kind friends. Maybe I’ll have a look tomorrow. Yeah. I’ll do that.

*

In the end, despite my optimism towards them, the members of the Cooking Club and Handicrafts Club were incredibly nervous when I came to have a look, so I decided against them.
I actually wanted to try making a plushie though…
The hurdle for joining a club are actually really high, aren’t they…


“It’s one of those things, you know? Like when some boy is named Tsubasa and everyone just expects him to be great at soccer.
It’s scary. There’s a huge probability of me being called Madame as a nickname.”

The first line is a reference to Captain Tsubasa, about the adventures of a Japanese youth soccer team and its football/soccer captain Oozora Tsubasa (大空翼).

The second line is a reference to the manga Ace wo Nerae!, and I have to thank zoom for the heads up. The story is about Oka Hiromi (岡ひろみ), a high school girl who struggles to become good at tennis.
Hiromi starts playing tennis at her school, Nishi (西高), because she is fascinated by Ryuuzaki Reika (竜崎麗香), an older girl who is the best player in the team and is nicknamed “Madame Butterfly” (お蝶夫人, Ochoufujin) because of her grace on the tennis court.

Guess which one of the three girls is Madame Butterfly.

76e


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 075

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Evil God Army members, assemble: https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


It’s been a few days now since I entered high school but there haven’t been any problems. I haven’t heard about Wakaba-chan causing any trouble either.
I popped down to stealthily check out her classroom, but she seemed to have friends at least, so I think she’s doing okay.
I judged that it was safe to leave her alone for the time being.
That’s why I’ve decided to work on building up the friendship in my own class.

*

The new External Students haven’t been acclimating too well. Even the Internals are a bit stiff around people they didn’t talk to in middle school.
That’s why I’ve decided to hold a social gathering! And social gatherings mean food!

“You want to have lunch together as a whole class?”

“Yes. I believe that we should attempt to deepen our bonds by having lunch together.”

I immediately decided to see what my fellow class rep, Satomi Yukinari-kun, thought.
I was thinking that it would be difficult to make do with just the breaks between classes, so it would be better to try having lunch together one time and having a nice chat together.
After all, if it’s lunch then even if you can’t find something to talk about you can just recommend foods to each other. It’s easy and inoffensive, right? I wonder what Satomi-kun thinks.

“Hmmm~ I’m not against the idea itself, but would we really be able to secure enough seats together for the whole class?”

Good point. Usually people just sit wherever there’s room, so it would be rather difficult to prepare a group of 40 seats.
However! Satomi-kun has forgotten one very important thing!

“There will be no issue.”

CHACHING!-
I flashed my red peony badge at him.

“Hm? Pivoine? Eh-! Don’t tell me you’re going to use the reserved Pivoine seats!?”

“That would be beyond even me. However, reserving a group of forty normal seats may not be.”

At first I considered sitting in the garden and eating packed lunches together, but once I considered the rain I thought it would be better to host it in the cafeteria.

“Wouldn’t our senpais be annoyed if a group of new students suddenly occupied a part of the cafeteria?”

-CHACHING!-
I flashed the badge again.

“You can simply say that it was all my plan. Perhaps I will also have a word with the Student Council President, just to be safe. It is only a one-time event so I am sure that they will be magnanimous about it.”

“Oooh! As expected of you, Kisshouin-san!”

Satomi-kun began to applaud.
Ho ho ho! If you have any complaints then bring it up with the Pivoine!
…Hm? Is it just me, or did that line sound like something the Rococo Queen would say?

*

*

After receiving Student Council President Tomoe-senpai’s OK, my class was able to have the lunch without a hitch.
When I brought up Kasumi-sama’s name, Tomoe-senpai accepted with a defeated smile.
It wasn’t a threat, okay? It was just a request, okay?
I’d feel bad taking up any particularly good seats, so I decided to just use somewhere out of the way and out of sight. I’d hate having to sit right in the middle under everyone’s stares anyway.

“Well then, ladies and gentlemen, shall we dine?”

There were kids eating cafeteria food, as well as kids eating their bentous. It’s completely acceptable to eat home lunches in the cafeteria, but there were some kids who had been hesitant so far, so hopefully this is a good chance for them to start.
As the lunch progressed, even the initially silent and stiff members of my class began to talk happily to the people around them.
There was a nice mood going, with Internal Students teaching Externals various things about the school.

“And so, those seats way over there are reserved for Pivoine members so you absolutely mustn’t sit there if you’re a normal student,” I heard one of the Internals saying.

Mn, but those seats have a sign that says they’re reserved for Pivoine, so I think anybody would realise.
Incidentally, I rarely ever use them. Ever since I entered middle school, I’ve almost always had lunch with Serika-chan and co. and my experience with the Pivoine seats are limited to when I get invited by other members. Back when I was in my first year of the middle school section, Kasumi-sama would sometimes invite me. Mostly to listen to her talk fondly about Tomoe-senpai.
To begin with, lunch is when most of the talking and gossip gets done in a group of girls. If you miss out on that, you’ll have trouble keeping up and they’ll leave you behind. That’s why if you’re in a girls’ group, having lunch together is something that’s pretty important.
Kaburagi and Enjou are always in the reserved seats though. It’s probably so that their fangirls can’t get to them. I guess even they’d want to have lunch peacefully.

By the time lunch was coming to an end, everybody had really loosened up around each other. As for me though, I was just sitting with my group as always, so I didn’t get to make new friends…
Well, whatever. At least a few of the girls spoke to me. I’ll just have to keep at it.
But is it just my imagination that most of the boys were avoiding eye-contact? I’m a class rep too, so if you have any questions feel free to ask me, okay~
Even though I’m being so welcoming, why are they all asking Satomi-kun instead.

*

*

After our lunch event, I think my classmates all got along a lot better. That’s great, that’s great.

“It looks like everyone is closer thanks to your idea, Kisshouin-san. As expected of you,” praised Satomi-kun.

Speaking of which, unlike the other boys, Satomi-kun has always spoken to me quite normally, hasn’t he.

“I was under the impression that boys were frightened of me, but you seem to be speaking just fine.”

“Eh-, afraid of you!? Ahh… Ummm, I wonder about that. Isn’t it kinda more like, you know, like you’re a flower beyond reach?”

…I have serious doubts about that.

“But anyway, I’m friends with Akizawa so I occasionally heard about you from him.”

“You were friends with Akizawa-kun!?”

That’s the first I’ve heard of this. And Akizawa-kun, what on earth have you been spreading about me.

“He told me that you two went to the same cram school in primary, and you’ve been close ever since. And also, how right now you’re apparently good friends with his childhood friend. I think her name was uh, was it Fukioka-san?”

“You know about Sakura-chan?”

“Yeah. I met her when I went to Akizawa’s. She was quiet and gentle, like exactly what you’d expect from a Yurinomiya girl.”

You’re being fooled, Satomi-kun! She might look like a traditional beauty but inside she’s just a nagging youkai with the tongue of a venomous snake!
But wow, Sakura-chan is so good at faking it.
I should really learn from her example.


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Turf War – Chapter 10

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Join the Evil God Army on discord!
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Chapter 10 – “We’re in danger of bankruptcy at this rate.”

GYABON! T-, This month is in the red as well…

I collapsed onto my table in shock.

Ever since “Restaurant Berum – Capital Branch” has opened, not once have we ever made a profit.

Why? Why is this happening? Our food isn’t any worse than the other restaurants. No, actually we could even brag that we’re two ranks above everyone else. But then why aren’t we making money?

Isn’t it weird? We get a decent amount of customers too…

Or could it be that just this amount isn’t enough?

This is impossible. I’m a total amateur in terms of management. I can’t tell what’s happening at all. After all, I’ve never had to think about the management side of things before. Instead of wasting my life being a NEET I should’ve picked up some classes in administration damn it!

Even back home, it was Dad and I doing the cooking, with Mum doing all the management so I don’t have any of the expertise at all.

But does that really have to mean that our restaurant makes such a huge loss?

I glared at my account book. Written in red ink, the numbers ‘30,000,000 gold’ stared back at me.

Wife, it’s 30,000,000 gold! 30,000,000 gold!

Haha, that’s enough of a debt to crush two or three small shops. Normally we’d have to declare bankruptcy. We’re only holding on because Or keeps endlessly contributing money. If he ever stops, our shop would be done for in an instant. I’d have nothing but debt left.

Hahh~ Will Or finally snap when I tell him we’re in the red again?

Or already contributed everything to the restaurant’s start-up. Even if it’s reparations for when he attacked me, this much is still way pushing it. I’m really taking it all.

Alright. Time to come up with a plan to turn this around without relying on Or anymore.

-poku poku poku… ching!-

The answer has come to me… Quite frankly, it’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible to come up with some plan to pay back thirty million gold.

Hahh~ I’m just a huge failure of a manager. If I went on that Tigers’ Den show, I’d be done for sure. “You’re looking down on society!” they’d yell at me, “You’ve never seriously worked once in your life, have you?” they’d say at me…

But anyway, for this month at least, I’ll just have to rely on Or’s pity.

Having decided that, I headed down into the Evil God Army’s secret hideout.

I wonder where Or is.

With brisk steps, I wandered the hallways of the underground.

And then… There he is.

Or was whole-heartedly training in Gravity Room C. Incidentally, there are four training rooms in this underground empire, ranked from A to D in terms of gravitational strength. According to Timu, Gravity Room A is 100G’s, and right now it’s being used exclusively by Timu. Gravity Room B is 50G’s and is being used by only Pervert(Nielsen) and Dryas-kun. Gravity Room C is 30G’s and is where all the other leaders are training.

Geez, these guys sure love this kind of stuff. I tried out the other gravity rooms myself and they really did feel heavier. Only barely though.

Apparently Timu analysed my Pettanko spell and applied it to each of the rooms. Honestly, why are these guys so fixated on chuunibyou. Thanks to that, there’s always somebody in there.

As I mentioned, Or was in Gravity Room C. It felt just a little heavier in there. I could only barely feel it. But it’s nice, having just a little extra weight to train.

Training in an enhanced gravity environment…

Honestly an opportunity that would make any chuunibyou drool. Or was training hard in the 30 times(lol) gravity room just like some manga character.

I walked towards him as he continued his sit-ups. When he noticed me coming, he immediately stood up and ran over to me though.

“Why if it isn’t Tilea-sama.”

“Sorry for disturbing you during your training.”

“Not at all, I was just about finished.”

How do I break this to him? I’m telling him about a debt, so I can’t mess this up.

“Aahh~ Ortissio-san. There is a large favour that I would like to ask of you.”

“Whatever you need,” smiled Or as he wiped his sweat down.

I’m sorry, Or. What I’m about to say will destroy that smile of yours.

“The truth is… It is very difficult to say this, but the truth is that I am in a rather difficult position.

“Tilea-sama, there is no need to mince words with the likes of me. Please stop. Whatever problems you may face, I, the lowly Ortissio, will put my life on the line to help you.”

I suppose he has a point. It’s weird if I suddenly change the way I speak. I suppose you would be suspicious if a friend you’re casual with suddenly begins talking so politely. This is bad. Did I make a mistake in the way I started this conversation? Maybe it would have been better to just been straight with him.

Okay. Forget about being subtle about it. I’ll just tell him.

“Ahh~ Or, so, you know that shop I’m managing upstairs?”

“Yes.”

“Teheh♪ I’m in the red again this month. And so, please lend me more money!”

Was I too casual about it? I tried sounding casual and friendly as usual. Did it work? Or looked completely stunned for some reason.

“Tilea-sama, when you said you were in a difficult position I thought it would be a bit more serious. I understand. I will provide funds as usual.”

Eh? What’s with his attitude? Is that fine? I’m going to take advantage of you like this. No matter how rich your dad is, if you keep using his money like this he won’t be happy about it…

“Is something the matter, Tilea-sama? Will the usual amount be insufficient? In that case, I will provide even…”

“Ahh~ Wait, wait! Is this really okay? To be blunt, I’ve borrowed tens of millions of gold from you already, you know.”

“Tilea-sama, I must sincerely apologise. I have only given you some tens of millions of gold…? In that case I must increase the――”

“NOOOOOOO! That’s not it! D-Don’t you realise that this much debt would be enough to crush a normal shop? It pains me to say this but are you really going keep investing in a horrible manager like me!?”

Perhaps he finally understood how serious this was after my shouting because Or’s expression turned meek. Yeah. Please think about this carefully. You might really throw away your family’s fortune at this rate.

“In other words, you are lamenting the loss of capital for our Evil God Army. Correct, Tilea-sama?”

“W-Well, I suppose if you express it the way you guys do, that’s right. Because of my management of the shop, we’ve made a loss of 30,000,000 gold.”

“Please be at ease. Just that much is nothing much. It will have no effect on the operations of our Evil God Army.”

This son of a major noble family smiled brightly at me. Oi, oi, thirty million gold is “nothing much”? Just how damned rich are you.

“T-, Then, you’ll provide money as well, this month?”

“Why of course. I could double the amount if it pleases you. And besides, everything in this world belongs to you to begin with, Tilea-sama. Please do not be so worried and just spend as you please.”

Oi, oi, are you telling me to spend your family’s fortune as I please? Is this Pretty Woman or something? I’m seriously going to run into a shop and buy “everything from here to here“, okay.

“Aah~ Then, if I asked you for a hundred million gold…?”

“I would prepare it at once.”

Oi, this guy just replied without a millimetre of hesitation, you know.

Why is this guy going so far for me…?

-gasp!- Don’t tell me!

“Say, Or, could it be that you’ve fallen for me?”

Nothing would make me guiltier. After all, my heart already belongs to Remilia-san. Taking money from somebody you’ll never love back is just horrible.

Tell me, Or. What’s your answer.

“Of course I have. The depths of your mighty power is like an unfathomable abyss, and each day I tremble with delight at having the opportunity to serve one as sublime as you.”

Fumu, then I guess this is like the relationship between Pervert(Nielsen) and Timu. Rather than liking me romantically, I’m more like a member of an idol group. You know, in my past life I heard about diehard fans buying several hundred CDs of their favourite idol. But man, as a rich noble, the scale that Or operates on is in a whole other league.

In the end, it seems that the debt I was wracking my brains over was nothing much to Or. In that case, maybe it would be fine to just keep relying on him――wai-, as if it would be fine!

*妹*

At this rate Or is going to become bankrupt because of me. It’s not like the money just grows on trees. I’m not a sinful woman, okay. I’m happy that he’s helping me with money, but at this rate I’m just going to send him straight down the path of bankruptcy. No matter how much he spoils Or and how much he loves Or, even Or’s dad would have to disown him at that point.

“Or, money isn’t something that you can just waste. Please stop thinking that you can just use it however you wish. That way of thinking will ruin you one day.”

“M-, My deepest apologies. Then in that case, shall we destroy the restaurant upstairs to reduce the expenditure of our army?”

GABOH-! O-, Oh no…

That’s putting the cart before the horse then. I want to be a cook in the Royal Capital. Tilea, haven’t you forgotten the goal here? I got too carried away because of how ridiculous Or’s money sense was, but I originally came here to borrow money off of him. There was no need to lecture him on how to spend his money.

“Or, that would trouble me.”

“I see. Since cooking is your hobby, it would not do at all to destroy the restaurant.”

“Wha-!? What did you say just now?”

“Oh, as I said, it would not do to destroy the restaurant.”

“No, before that.”

“Since cooking is your hobby――HAGUH-, GUWAAHH!”

Before I knew it, I had Or’s face in a vicegrip. I was so angry that I was just squeezing it. Or screamed as his head creaked.

Or was groaning in pain…

But I won’t forgive him! He said that my cooking was just a hobby! A professional like me, as a hobby!?

“Or! Are you trying to say that I’m just some beginner in your eyes?”

“GAh, hah, n-never would I, say such a thing… I-, I simply, hahh, hah, wanted to say, that even busy on your road to conquest, hahh, you had even reached such, a level on the side――HOGGYAHH!”

“Or! Are you trying to say that I’m just cooking to kill time on the side?”

His words poured more oil onto the fire, and my iron claw grew tighter. Or ended up spasming into unconsciousness.

Fumu, did I go a bit far? Since he made light of my cook’s spirit the blood kinda rushed to my head.

But this is a grave situation. Or probably thought of me as just some amateur because the shop is in the red all the time. It’s obvious that some hobbyist amateur is making a loss, he thinks.

Could it be that all the other leaders see me the same way? If that’s the case it’s, it’s unforgivable! You’ve wounded my pride.

If that’s how it is, then I need to make a profit no matter what.

I’ll immediately form a plan and…

I know! Don’t I have a strategist for these things. I have a very reliable wise general, don’t I. Why didn’t I think to ask him for advice first. I’ll go ask him now!

After laying Or onto the ground, I immediately went to look for Dryas-kun.

Ummm, Dryas-kun is…?

I searched through the needlessly large underground empire. When I asked a passerby, I was told that he was in the conference room.

“Dryas-ku~n, heeeeelp meeeee~”

I quickly trotted into the room.

The very moment I arrived, I threw the door open. Inside were Dryas-kun, Timu, and Pervert(Nielsen) discussing something or other.

Oh!? So these guys were here too. Perfect. I’ll ask these two what they think as well. As research, it’s better to ask for other opinions. Maybe I should ask the other leaders what they think too…

I’ll have the three of them stop their discussions and gather the rest of the leaders. I mean, these three are probably just playing around anyway.

Ah!? Wait, hang on. That might not necessarily be true. What if they’re talking about Edim? In that case, that takes precedence over the shop.

“Sorry for disturbing you during your discussion, you three.”

“”Why if it isn’t Tilea-sama.””

“Umm~ Are you guys talking about Edim?”

“No, we were adjusting the deployment of troops on expedition to the Manafint Confederation.”

Yup, just playing. Geez, their life sure is relaxing~ I’m completely envious. Even though I’m worrying about the restaurant, and even had that terrifying meeting with Remilia-san and the others…

And what do they mean deployment? Have they started playing something like military airsoft? It sounds interesting so normally I’d ask about it, but right now isn’t the time for that. My pride as a chef is on the line here.

“Um, let’s stop talking about manawhatchits for a moment. I have a pressing matter to discuss. Could you call all the leaders here?”

“Understood. I shall immediately convene them,”

said Pervert(Nielsen) before leaving the room.

“It’s rare for you to bring something up yourself, Tilea-sama.”

“Yeah. I kinda need to borrow your heads for a little bit…”

“If you have any problems, Oneesama, I shall spare no efforts to aide you.”

Timu’s words were reassuring. Yep, yep, three heads are better than one. It was a much better idea to call the leaders here instead of agonising by myself.

Well, my star of hope is still Dryas-kun, though. Still, I’ll be making suggestions too. Like um, how about lunchtime special coupons?


If I went on that Tigers’ Den show, I’d be done for sure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragons%27_Den


<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Reika-sama – 074

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.

Thank you for your consideration, guys!


Evil God Army members, assemble: https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1


Gokigenyou:


The day has finally come.
Will the protagonist really be coming to my school?
My heart is pounding. The next three years are going to determine the path of my life. Here we go!

*

*

The high school section entrance ceremony was held on a bright April day, sakura petals dancing in the breeze.
I turned about and scanned the auditorium, but I couldn’t find anybody who matched the description.
Since about a hundred new External Students will be joining us, it makes sense that I couldn’t spot her.
I suppose I’ll just watch the ceremony.
The representative of the current Zui’ran students was Tomoe-senpai, the Student Council President of the high school section, and it was him who gave the speech too.
He sure has matured in the time I haven’t seen him. A totally different person to the middle schooler who snacked on sweets with a smile.
As I was thinking about how cool he is, next up was Kaburagi, representing the new students.
When he reached the podium, the audience grew noisy. He does have pretty stunning looks, so I can hardly blame them for being shocked. His black hair together with the tinge of coldness on his face made him look like a black panther. Leaving the Internals aside, it must have been pretty shocking for the Externals with no resistance yet.
Anyhow, eventually the ceremony ended and we headed to our classrooms as we looked at the sheet with our classes on them.
After I found my name, naturally it was her name that I looked for next.
Doesn’t seem to be in my class at least.
As I continued looking through the list of first years… umm… Oh!

Takamichi Wakaba.

…Her name was really there.
Wakaba-chan. The protagonist of 『you are my dolce』, and the heroine who ended up with the Emperor after many twist and turns. And the important girl who will determine my future.
Where is she? I wanna see her. I wanna see what Wakaba-chan looks like.
But since everyone needs to quickly make their way, I don’t have time to visit another classroom.
Can’t be helped. I’ll have plenty of other chances to see her. I’ll give up for now.
I decided to just give up and headed for my classroom.

When I entered my new classroom, the students were divided firmly into two camps: the new Externals who were sitting nervously by themselves, and the comfortable Internals who were happily chatting in groups of existing friends.

“Ah-, Reika-sama!”

“Reika-sama, gokigen’you. It appears that we’re in the same class this time!”

Starting with my own group, girls began to form a ring to welcome me.

“Gokigen’you, everybody. It overjoys me that we will be together this year. Please take care of me.”

“Gokigen’you, Reika-sama. I’m feeling terribly relieved to be in the same class as you.”

“Reika-sama, gokigen’you.”

Everyone started greeting me with a smile. A few Externals glanced my way. Some of them seemed familiar somehow, so I suppose they must be members of upper society. There aren’t that many scholarship places, so the rest of the Externals have to be from fairly high backgrounds or at least rich enough to pay tuition. The number of genuine commoners is surprisingly little. And Wakaba-chan is one of those few genuine commoners.
She must be getting hit by such a culture shock right now. This is just totally different from any school she’s been to, after all. I was shocked too when I entered the primary school section. But boy is she going to be even more shocked once they introduce the students to the facilities.

*

*

When our new homeroom teacher entered the class, everybody took a seat and we began our introductions.

“I am Kisshouin Reika. I sincerely hope that we shall get along this year.”

When it was my turn I gave what I thought was a fairly standard introduction, but for some reason a number of people started applauding me.
Wha-, stop that!
I know that you kids don’t mean anything bad, but please stop that!
Look! Look at the Externals! They’re all shocked! They’re all shocked and thinking, ‘Holy shit, this girl is bad news!’
I’m not bad news at all, okay~ I’m not scary at all, okay~ I’m not a threat at all, okay~
After that, Sensei picked out people for class representative. I had the faint feeling this was going to happen, but I ended up as the female class rep. Ehh~ I’d already planned on being a proper Pivoine and staying away from chores and everything too…
There were some other girls who seemed like they could do it, but Sensei just looked at me with these eyes that said, ‘Hey, you wouldn’t refuse, right? Hey, you’ll do it, right?’ so in the end I accepted. Ueh~ Must be hard on you, Sensei.
The other class rep was a boy who entered Zui’ran in middle school.
Deciding the people for the various other roles as well as a tour of the school would be taking place during tomorrow’s home room period, so with that, class ended and we were all excused.

*

*

In the end, I never got to see Wakaba-chan today.
In the manga she was a cheerful girl, but I wonder what the real Wakaba-chan is like.
At any rate, now that Wakaba-chan has entered school, I don’t have any time left to lose.
When I got home, over and over, I told Otousama,

“Fraud is bad.”

Otousama was playing dumb and said he had no idea what I was talking about, but I’m begging you here, just tell the truth.
I have no plans of getting in the way of Kaburagi and Wakaba-chan anymore, but if you’re still committing fraud then there’s a chance somebody else will report you, right?
Aaah, I’m not making any progress with Otousama. I have to talk to Oniisama instead!

*

*

The next morning, it was time for the various other responsibilities to be handed out.
Speaking of which, last year Little Monk mentioned something like,

“Enjou-kun handed out the roles to the External Students who were less familiar with the school,”

didn’t he. Should I copy him?
But it would be mean to suddenly force them into it, wouldn’t it. Maybe it would be better to have them help out as half members or something just to get them to participate.
Anyway, I decided to take a stab at it.

“Those of you who have just entered, I encourage you as well to proactively volunteer.”

Still, not many of them raised their hands. Hmm~ Guess it can’t be helped.
In the end, most of the representatives were Internals, so I suppose I’ll just have to slowly get them to participate from now on.

After that was a tour of the school. Sensei and the class reps led everybody else in a row.
Because there are more people in the high school cohorts, the facilities were larger than the ones in middle school, but most of it turned out to be the same. Because of that, the Internals, myself included, were all fairly relaxed. In contrast, every one of the External kids were shocked and bewildered. Well, that’s how it is.
The next place on our tour was the cafeteria. Wow, it’s larger than the middle school one too. I wonder if the menu has increased too.
Ah! Speaking of which, the cafeteria was where Wakaba-chan stirred up trouble by trying to sit in the reserved Pivoine seats, wasn’t it. What do I do. Should I warn all the Externals here? But in that case, we’d have to explain what the Pivoine is first, and having me openly declare all the privileges that we Pivoine get is a bit… you know? Maybe I should just get somebody to tell them in secret later.
How did it go in middle school again? They just seemed to all know after a while.

After that, we continued touring here and there, and just as the tour was about to end, we finally arrived at the Student Council room.

“Oh! So it’s your class, Kisshouin-san. Come in, come in.”

When we entered, Tomoe-senpai and the rest of the members introduced themselves to us.

“Kisshouin-san, you’re class rep even though you’re a Pivoine? Geez, you should just go all the way and enter the Student Council already,”

said Tomoe-senpai with a cheerful smile.

“That would be impossible for me.”

“Yeah. I mean, you are still Pivoine, huh. Oh, you External kids, the Pivoine is a group that receives special treatment here at Zui’ran. For the details you can ask some of the Internals. Incidentally, that red flower badge that Kisshouin-san is wearing is proof of membership, so be careful about those who wear them.”

Tomoe-senpai, explanations are fine and all, but the way you said it sounded like you were warning them to be careful about me, you know!?
Isn’t your girlfriend a Pivoine too! I’m definitely going to tattle to Kasumi-sama.
Look, aren’t all the External kids looking even more frightened of me now…

“If you have any problems at all, come talk to the Student Council. But well, I guess things should be fine since you have Kisshouin-san anyway. She’s great at looking after others. If there’s anything you don’t know, just ask her. She’s a really good girl.”

Kyau~un! Tomoe-senpaaai! I really do love you after allll!

After saying goodbye to the wonderful Tomoe-senpai and co., we were heading down the hallway as another class came from the opposite end.
──And for a moment, a familiar face passed by me.

Wakaba-chan!

The Wakaba-chan I spotted was just like the Wakaba-chan I knew.
As usual, her hair was a bit messy, and her eyes were filled to the brink with curiosity. That girl was the real Wakaba-chan.
Uwahhh, this is kinda moving.
After that, I kept turning around to look at her, and the new class rep started looking at me with worry. Oops, look at me, making mistakes so soon after entering. I’m nobody suspicious, okay~

*

*

Yesterday I only saw her name, but seeing her in person today moved me a little.
Again, I decided to carefully explain to Otousama the meaning of the idiom, “Swift is Heaven’s Judgement.”
As expected, he probably was doing something shady because he escaped to the study and holed himself up in there. That why to be doubly sure, I stood in front of the door and said,

“The heavens are always watching, okay!”

when Oniisama came home and dragged me into the living room and got angry at me, saying,

“I’ve already checked the records for the last two years, and there’s nothing like that, so just stop with the weird worries already.”

Really, Oniisama? Can I trust you, Oniisama?

“Dad is getting depressed because his daughter keeps falsely suspecting him,”

he said, so I decided to reflect a little on wronging Otousama.
I understand. I’ll believe in you and Otousama then. We’re family after all.

*

*

But just to make sure, I’ll just make sure to remind him once in a while that the Heavens = Me.
Hey, it’s just to make sure, okay?


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