Episode 153: Solve It! The Mystery of the Bracelet!
“Yes, I’ve gathered the information,” she said.
Ten minutes later, Ryuko returned as if nothing had happened after saying that.
We were watching from the rooftop, and Ryuko was casually talking to passersby like old friends, laughing and gathering information.
Some even hit it off and took photos together.
Incidentally, her information gathering only lasted for a few minutes; the rest of the time, she was just buying ice cream.
You might get fooled by her normal reactions, but you’ve gotta admit, you’re still pretty strong, huh?
And there’s still the serious matter of inheriting the Dragon Rank, right?
How do you manage to be so utterly unremarkable?
“First, let’s calm down with some ice cream. Here, which ones do you two want?”
She even has the leisure to bring back our shares.
“I’ll have chocolate ice cream!”
“I think I’ll go for sherbet.”
Since my stomach is already full, I’ll take something that won’t hurt it too much.
Hey, how can you two eat so much?
Toa, how much money have you spent on food today alone?
If my count isn’t off, it’s over fifty thousand yen, right?
“Eating replenishes magical power surprisingly efficiently. If we’re going into a big fight soon, it might be reasonable to eat beforehand?”
That’s only if you’re consuming magic power.
Reiko understands, right?
I saw her using ridiculous abilities at the crepe stand.
Ryuko is also fully utilizing Baltius.
Still, what about you, Toa?
“Perhaps she is exercising some kind of magic as well? After all, you are my contractor, and that alone continuously consumes magic power. And yet, you compensate with your love for beautiful girls, making you the abnormal one.”
…Yeah, there are all kinds of people out there!
“Oh, she ran away.”
“Alright then, let me announce the information we obtained!”
Ryuko raised her hand and said this.
In her hand was a small spoon for the ice cream.
Are we back to those heartwarming four-panel slice-of-life stories about beautiful girls?
“So, it turns out that these bracelets are being distributed at the gates leading to the Kroma Music Academy Autonomous Zone. Having one grants free entry to today’s concert hosted by Kroma Music Academy. They contain chips and can also function as discount coupons.”
“It’s quite serious… They seem intent on distributing them thoroughly.”
The fact that they’re giving them out with perks indicates their intention to distribute them to everyone.
But isn’t this on too large a scale?
“Can I ask a question?”
“Yes, Kei.”
“If they’re handing these out in front of the gate, they’d definitely draw attention. Moreover, if the discount coupons are functional, it seems like this was prepared in advance. Is there some massive organization backing this?”
“That’s correct. This campaign has been in preparation at Kroma Music Academy for several months. In fact, I was supposed to participate as an advertising figurehead initially… though I was quickly replaced by popular idol explorers.”
A slightly sad atmosphere filled the air.
Only Reiko quietly continued eating her ice cream.
“In short, it was planned from the start to distribute something. Most likely, it was switched to these bracelets. The upper management of Kroma Music Academy must be involved. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.”
Ryuko continued speaking.
“And most likely, this wasn’t intended to capture us… There must have been another purpose.”
Nodding at Ryuko’s words, I agreed.
It’s impossible to prepare something like this just to catch us.
Even as insurance against Reiko’s escape, it’s too grand in scale. It must be used for something far more dangerous.
“It’s impossible to retrieve the bracelets from everyone. Plus, we’re using civilians as shields. And Reiko can’t give hers up either.”
Ryuko re-explained the situation.
With civilians as shields and the enemy’s intentions unclear…
This sounds pretty bad.
“By the way, with our current capabilities, it’s impossible to deploy interference abilities across the entire autonomous zone. At best, we could cover one section. Moreover, since we don’t know exactly what to interfere with, it will take time.”
Well, if it comes to that, we’ll use the ultimate transfer ability.
Transfer really is convenient, isn’t it?
But Solciera’s approach isn’t the right one here.
After all, we might get to see Ryuko shine.
Besides, if something happens at Kroma Music Academy, it needs to be resolved.
The Hinotuchi Cultural Festival could be ruined otherwise.
“That simply cannot be allowed. It’s a place of our souls!”
Don’t drag me into this unnecessarily.
My soul belongs with the beautiful girls.
“So, now you understand what we need to do next, right?”
Ryuko looked at us and said this.
Toa and I exchanged glances and nodded.
With a determined expression, Toa spoke.
“First, we’ll head to Kroma Music Academy to find those involved in this incident. And finally, we’ll defeat the person responsible for this situation!”
“Yeah. With brainwashing on this scale, there must be a massive setup. We need to destroy that too.”
Indeed, we need to take action to resolve this.
Toa has grown stronger…！
Filled with pride, I looked at Ryuko.
“Eh… What’s that scary thing…?”
“Wha-?”
Ryuko stared at us as if we had seen something terrifying.
“Why does your thinking go that way…? Normally, you’d seek help from outside sources, gather forces, and suppress the situation. Reiko is here, and first, we need to escape from here.”
“…Is that right?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, it is!”
Ryuko shouted.
She pointed at us.
“We don’t understand the enemy’s purpose yet! What will the bracelets be used for? What’s the enemy’s scale? How many clones are there? We know nothing, so why are we suddenly jumping into a boss battle?”
“But…”
“That’s the fastest way…”
Me and Toa looked at each other and said “ne”.
“No no, given the scale, help is essential… Why do you not hesitate to charge in alone? Have you had such experiences before? Aren’t you ordinary students!?”
“…”
“You obviously avoided eye contact!?”
Well, considering how we started fights with Kisou Academy or how Jilnias Academy usually dealt with small groups…
Thinking about it, maybe we’re unexpectedly competent?
“Isn’t it faster for us to solve this rather than seeking help?”
“Where does this confidence come from…?”
“Don’t worry, it’ll somehow work out.”
“What happened in the past?”
“…”
“…”
“You’re silent there!”
This is actually quite fun.
We were playing around with Ryuko.
She easily points out our flaws.
Maybe someone like Ryuko would be needed at Factom General Academy too.
“Anyway, our goal moving forward is escaping from the Kroma Music Academy Autonomous Zone and seeking help from Ariannrod! If the upper management of Kroma is indeed involved, the Board of Directors would have no choice but to act. Ideally, we should invite other S Ranks besides myself. In this case, probably Rokuhara or Tatarai.”
Given that, there’s no point in resisting.
We obediently nod.
Thinking about it normally, if there’s a place to rely on, you should rely on it, right?
“As Zero, I could split and search, but…”
That way, I couldn’t call on you in emergencies. Let’s just retreat quietly this time.
“Alright, we’ve decided on our course of action. Let’s go. Reiko, are you done with your ice cream?”
“Aye, it was delicious.”
Reiko smiled contentedly.
To protect this smile, we must fight.
“Alright, everyone hop on Baltius!”
Baltius once again carried all four of us on his back and began leaping from building to building. Apparently, in this form, his wings only serve as camouflage to hide our presence from the surroundings.
He’s basically a super-strong chameleon.
“Escaping through the gate would be easiest. Seriously, let’s escape. Then we’ll cry for help from other S Ranks.”
Despite saying this seriously, Ryuko’s demeanor as an S Rank still lacked gravitas.
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