Episode 149: Getting Along Well! A Sweets Tour!
Apparently, those two female students had come to enjoy some delicious food together.
They seem to be students from Factom General Academy, a school that has been the topic of conversation recently.
The blonde girl is called Toa, and the girl with black hair is called Kei, apparently.
“Still, I’m surprised that students from other academies know about this crepe place.”
“Of course! When it comes to delicious things!”
Toa answered with wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Kei stood beside her, as usual, smiling wryly in a way that suggested resignation.
Since they were all high school girls, Ryuko had already hit it off with them.
Naturally, the three of them headed towards the crepe shop together.
Their tone of voice had already relaxed, making them seem like old friends.
It was a bond of friendship forged through sweets.
In Ryuko’s case, there was also an element of escapism from her mission, but that was a minor issue.
(That said, both of them are quite beautiful girls, aren’t they?)
Ryuko glanced at them without them noticing.
The more she looked, the more she understood their beauty.
Toa had large, lively eyes and a face that resembled a small animal.
Her voice and movements stirred a protective instinct.
If there had been any men around, they probably wouldn’t have left her alone due to her innocence, which even Ryuko, a girl herself, found endearing.
On the other hand, Kei was a composed young lady.
She had beautiful black hair and fine skin.
Her blue eyes were like jewels.
At first glance, one might think she was cold, but the way she smiled and nodded in response to Toa’s words suggested she wasn’t too rigid.
She likely held a position similar to Toa’s guardian.
She always kept Toa within her peripheral vision, ready to support her if she stumbled.
Moreover, it seemed she subtly guided Toa towards easier paths without her noticing.
(A capable maid and a young lady out on a secret outing?)
That was the image that best fit when seeing the two of them together.
And then, at that moment, Kei’s gaze met hers.
Just that brief eye contact made Ryuko unconsciously tense up.
“…Um, I don’t know if I should ask this, but…,”
Kei began cautiously before continuing,
“Is Ryuko-chan perhaps the S-Rank Watatori Ryuko?”
“Huh… Huhhh!?” Toa reacted in surprise to Kei’s words.
As for Ryuko herself,
“Well… kind of? That’s about right…”
she replied with a satisfied grin.
(My pride is being fulfilled. It’s been a while since someone recognized me… Wasn’t it a month ago? Still, it feels good!)
Though Ryuko disliked麻烦 tasks, as an S-Rank, she wanted everyone to look up to her. Kei’s words had hit the mark perfectly.
“Did you really figure it out? Yes, I am S-Rank Watatori Ryuko.”
“S-super impressive… Kei-chan, let’s get an autograph! Wow, I’ve become friends with someone amazing!”
(What a great feeling! This might be the first time someone has been so excited upon realizing I’m S-Rank… Usually, it ends with ‘Oh, it’s just Ryuko,’ and that’s it.)
Forgetting all about her mission, Ryuko was overjoyed.
Such a thing happening was dubious for the next few years.
With a creepy smile, Ryuko pulled out a pre-signed color print from her extended domain.
“Want an autograph? Hehe, here you go!”
“Wow, thank you!”
“I always keep them ready…”
While Kei remained the only sane one, the other two continued to escalate the situation.
“See, I always get asked for autographs, so I prepare a few sheets like this. Today alone, I gave out about a hundred before coming here!”
“That’s incredible! So S-Rank members really are popular. Mizuki has been getting approached a lot lately too, and says handling fans is becoming more challenging than anything else.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, sounds like you’re in the same boat.”
Poor S-Rank Watatori Ryuko, suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of a newcomer.
Deep down, she had hoped to finally escape the bottom spot in this year’s S-Rank popularity poll, but it seemed unlikely now.
(Is this difference because of hair color? Maybe I should make my hair more vibrant like the other S-Rank members?)
While staring intently at Toa’s hair, Ryuko contemplated.
She valued being adored and earning big money far more than fulfilling her duties as an S-Rank member.
“Hey, by the way,”
Toa suddenly noticed something, looked around furtively, and whispered into Ryuko’s ear,
“Right now, are you secretly carrying out a confidential S-Rank mission? And that’s why you’ve been deliberately lowering your presence… or something?”
“…………….Yes! The latter part is correct!”
Ryuko clung to her pride.
“It’s not actually a mission, but I patrol crowded areas like this on holidays. There are students from various academies around here, so conflicts aren’t uncommon.”
It was a lie.
This statement was originally what Ryuko had been told by the Student Council President of Kroma Music Academy when asked to do rounds.
Incidentally, Ryuko had declined, claiming her S-Rank schedule was too busy, despite rarely accepting jobs in the first place.
“Wow… we should take a page from your book, shouldn’t we, Kei-chan?”
“…Yeah.”
Kei’s blue eyes fixed onto Ryuko.
Caught off guard, Ryuko quickly averted her gaze.
(Did she see through me…? No, that can’t be. After all, I’m S-Rank… But, what about the mission?)
Thanks to Toa’s words, Ryuko remembered her mission and thought deeply.
(Eat the crepe and say goodbye? No, I want to spend more time with these girls… especially Toa.)
Already, Toa had become her favorite.
(Anyway, if we keep wandering around eating sweets, we’ll get noticed.)
With this extremely convenient line of thinking, Ryuko decided on her future plan: “If it’s fun now, that’s all that matters.”
She was the type who would cram the night before exams.
“While I am patrolling, it’s still a holiday, so eating crepes is totally okay. …Ah, there’s the famous crepe shop over there!”
Feeling good, Ryuko pointed toward the crepe shop.
“That’s the famous crepe shop… Rumor has it that once you take a bite, you won’t be able to stop until you reach enlightenment after finishing it. They load it with whipped cream—it’s calorie-heavy magic!”
“Toa-chan?”
Kei looked confused at Toa’s sudden loquaciousness.
But beside her was another girl who loved sweets almost as much as Toa, though not quite to the same extent.
“That crepe kills high school girls the next day when they step on the scale. Yet its irresistible taste keeps them going. Its resemblance to people walking to the gallows themselves, combined with the fruits and creams piled up like a hill atop the crepe, earned it its infamous name over time.”
“Ryuko-chan?”
“「Golgotha Hill Crepe!」”
“Eh? Am I being left out again? Hey, when did you two start conspiring like that… No, don’t shake hands. …Yeah, it’s not that I want to shake hands either.”
Though calm throughout, Kei couldn’t possibly stop two runaway trains on her own.
On one side was the allure of sweets.
On the other, the praise for being S-Rank.
Both were riding high on their excitement.
“Come on, let’s go, both of you. I also know a secret menu item at this crepe shop, so I’ll tell you about it.”
“Really!? Kei-chan, yay!”
“Nah, I’ll just have the small one… We ate a lot earlier, didn’t we, Toa-chan?”
While the cheerful banter between the two continued behind her, Ryuko watched the crepe shop with a smile, but then froze in place.
“….Suuu.”
She took a deep breath, rubbed her temples, and looked at the crepe shop again.
It was frozen.
Icicles hung everywhere, and frost covered the area.
A bad feeling washed over her.
“Wow, impressive design for a crepe shop, huh, courtesy of Kroma Music Academy?”
“Is that what this is?”
Kei tilted her head, sensing something amiss.
Ryuko didn’t have time to hesitate.
(We can’t involve regular students like this…)
Toa and Kei were merely guests.
Thus, it wasn’t right to drag them into whatever hidden issue was occurring.
Having made that judgment, Ryuko opened her mouth to speak when—
“Let’s hurry! It’s a limited quantity!”
Ignoring the confusion of both Kei and Ryuko, Toa dashed ahead.
Her agility was surprising given her previous calm demeanor.
“Wait, wait! Stop, stop!”
Ryuko grabbed her arm instinctively, but there was no way she could stop just one high school girl.
Artillery gunners sometimes run across battlefields with heavy cannons in hand.
How could she be stopped by a weight of merely dozens of kilograms?
“She’s strong!”
“Hey, Toa-chan, stop. Look… Oh, she’s strong!”
Even Kei tried to hold Toa back, but there was no stopping her.
After the incidents at Kisou Academy and Jilnias Academy, as well as the territorial wars, Toa had grown stronger.
Adding one slender beautiful girl to the mix wasn’t enough to stop her.
“Let’s eat crepes… Then maybe a parfait next?”
Dragging along Ryuko, who was trying desperately to stop her, and Kei, who was startled by her words, Toa stepped into the crepe shop.
“Hello! One Golgotha Hill Crepe please… uh?”
Toa’s rampage came to a halt, allowing Ryuko to finally stand up.
Reluctantly, she peeked inside the shop.
“…Ugh.”
Ryuko hadn’t realized how weary her voice sounded.
The shop, frozen everywhere, was eerily deserted of both staff and customers.
It appeared that no real conflict had occurred, as the shop remained relatively tidy, save for one detail—a naked girl sitting on the sofa.
With cream smeared around her mouth, a young girl with blue hair was eating the crepe with her bare hands.
“—Mmm, this is tasty. But…,”
the girl said after finishing the crepe in front of her.
“I want something salty.”
(It’s definitely her!)
Ryuko collapsed to her knees in despair.
“Eh, what’s wrong, Ryuko?”
“Ryuko-chan? And why is that kid naked!? Where are her parents!? And where’s the limited crepe!?”
S-Rank Watatori Ryuko—still on duty.
