Chapter 167: The End! The World Keeps Turning Today!
When Ryuko finally escaped from the underground theater, the surroundings were already painted with the evening sun.
“…I, I finally made it out.”
The complicated path felt longer than usual for Ryuko, exhausted from the battles she had faced.
As if to comfort her, Baltius, now turned into a pure white dragon, nuzzled against her.
On its back were two girls who closely resembled each other. With similar blue hair and facial features, they looked like distant sisters.
“I hope it won’t be too much hassle when they wake up. Should I let them sleep…? Do I have any stories stored for that?”
Ryuko mumbled to herself as she continued walking.
Then, a voice called out to her.
“Ah, Ryuko-chan! Kei-chan was over here!”
“Huh? …Oh, it’s both of you!”
As she looked, Toa and Kei were waving at her.
Filled with joy at seeing familiar faces, Ryuko summoned her last strength and ran over.
“I’m so glad! Everyone’s here!”
“Whoa! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine… Yeah. I really pushed myself hard this time, didn’t I…?”
“Yeah, you really did well, Ryuko-chan.”
At Kei’s words, Ryuko felt overwhelmed and hugged her tightly.
Then she began to cry uncontrollably into her chest.
“Waaah! I love people who genuinely compliment me! No one else has praised me at all! Like before when someone said, ‘Huh? You should be able to do that’ or ‘It’s not even worth praising!’ Kirika-chan even ignored my messages!”
“Y-You’re really strong, huh.”
Kei smiled as she patted Ryuko’s head.
Seeing that, Toa felt a bit annoyed for a moment but then smiled and said,
“I’ll praise you too! Come here!”
“Waaah! I love both of you! Phectom is warm! I want to go to Phectom too!”
“We can’t let the balance between schools collapse, so that’s a no.”
Toa surprisingly answered calmly.
Ryuko, however, seemed not to hear her and continued to sob in Kei’s embrace.
“Today was full of scary people! Scholars and Solciera and all! Why do all the scary people have to come…? It’s too much for a normal high school girl!”
“‘Normal high school girl…?’”
Having shattered the ambitions of the scholar and survived facing Solciera, Ryuko, by any definition, was a hero. However, she had long surpassed the title of “normal.”
Yet, still, she did not receive any praise.
This was because all the people she had saved were in a brainwashed state and didn’t remember any of the incidents that had occurred.
The public knew nothing of the villainous scholar or the battles surrounding the S Rank Clone.
“Ugh… I want to be praised.”
“You’re great! You worked hard! You’re amazing!”
“If I hadn’t done anything, wouldn’t that mean I’m not great?”
“Huh?”
Ryuko looked up at her, half crying as she asked.
The reason she was rarely praised was simply because the others only understood the S Rank but also knew that praising her could lead to troublesome situations.
“Are you saying the usual, unmotivated me is just a worthless average person?”
“…N-no. The usual Ryuko-chan is also amazing!”
“Waaah! I love Toa-chan!”
Burying her face in Toa’s chest again, Ryuko shouted.
Toa wore a slightly exasperated expression.
But she didn’t stop stroking her head and kept saying, “You’re great, you’re great.”
Kei watched them with a warm smile.
“…Toa-chan is fluffier than Kei-chan.”
“Ryuko-chan?”
“Yikes!”
Startled by the chilling voice of Toa from above, Ryuko jumped back while apologizing.
“Sorry! But if I hugged you like that, it’s natural to compare!”
“I’m not angry, but please don’t say those things out of the blue. It’s… embarrassing.”
“Okay, I won’t say or compare! I’m sorry, Kei-chan!”
“No, I’m fine with it…”
Kei said, not particularly bothered.
However, Toa immediately grabbed Kei’s hand and nodded several times.
“Don’t worry, Kei-chan! The size is whatever, but the shape is pretty! You’re charming!”
That was an unnecessary follow-up.
“…Toa-chan, you’ve definitely seen something, haven’t you?”
“Of course!”
“Not really? And what do you mean, ‘definitely?’ What did you talk about while I was gone?”
“‘…’”
“Hey, why are you two looking away? Both of you? Come on!”
At Kei’s questioning, the two didn’t reply.
Ryuko glanced at Kei’s ears and smiled softly.
“What’s that smile for?”
“…Ah, if you’d like, how about we have dinner together? It’d really help if you could stick around until Hyououdou Rei wakes up.”
On Baltius’ back, Rei was still sleeping.
Ryuko didn’t want to deal with two Hyououdou Reis at the same time.
“Sure, sounds good. …Oh, I prefer something healthy for dinner. Something like salad instead of meat.”
“Got it! Follow me, I’ll take you to a delicious place!”
“Hey, why were you laughing? What were you two talking about? Come on—”
The girls walked through the city, dyed in the evening sun, wearing age-appropriate smiles.
Although they led a dragon behind them, it was not a rare sight in this city.
*
“—Ah, Kei and Toa are over there having dinner.”
Clam exclaimed, looking at the message that had been sent.
She lay on a bench at the training room, clearly bored.
“…A message from Kei?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong?”
Clam looked triumphantly at Rinka, who was sitting nearby.
“Isn’t that normal? We’re in the same school, right?”
“…Tch.”
“Oh, did I say something to annoy you? …Just kidding, just kidding.”
Clam sat up and grinned widely.
In contrast, Rinka looked clearly annoyed.
“I’m not bothered, you know? I could find contact information with a little hacking.”
“That option goes too far… Anyway, here, I can give you my contact.”
At Clam’s words, Rinka’s face lit up with surprise, as if she couldn’t believe what she saw.
“W-What’s your goal?”
“Nothing much? Today, I just suddenly barged in and mixed in with the Demons Gear training, right? It’s partly a thank you for that. And—”
Clam said, her expression serious.
“Having more allies when dealing with Zero is better, right?”
“…That’s true. I’ll gratefully accept that.”
Rinka and Clam recognized each other as rivals competing for Solciera.
But they both understood that this wasn’t the time to be fighting.
They were both the type to use anything that could be of use.
“Alright, then I’ll get a picture of Kei too…”
“What!? When did you get that!?”
“Hehehe, that’s a corporate secret.”
The offered photo depicted Kei in a private moment.
At that moment, Clam felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Rinka for the first time.
“Ah, thank you…! If I find out what that girl’s sensitive areas are, I’ll let you know too.”
“Eh? …Eh?”
“I have to find the ‘H’ detection device when I get back.”
“H-detection… what is that?”
“Our mechanic has someone excellent.”
Before Clam’s triumphant expression, Rinka thought,
(There’s some incredible perverted mechanic in Phectom.)
Unbeknownst to him, Miuye’s reputation was rapidly declining.
“What are you two talking about so happily? Let me join in!”
“Ah, Eina.”
“Ugh, Eina.”
Clam and Rinka responded differently to the appearance of Eina.
Especially Clam, who visibly didn’t want to deal with her.
However, Eina, who loved to irritate those sorts of people by getting closer, paid no mind and approached.
With Rokuhara nearby, she felt secure enough to mock her target.
“Don’t make that awful face! J-Jouka-chan? Hey.”
“Ugh… This girl…!”
“Good job, Jouka! Do it for me! I like that kind of thing, hehe.”
Watching Clam’s face gradually turn red, Eina completely unleashed the computational power of the Demons Gear and further provoked her.
“Your hair was even more blatantly dyed, wasn’t it? Where did that bubbly, cute streamer you once were go?”
“…Tch.”
“Clam…”
“That was a long time ago! I’m not like that anymore!”
Clam desperately replied.
Rinka’s eyes sparkled as if she had found a new toy.
Realizing that the topic was getting out of hand, Clam quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, Eina, shouldn’t you go back to the Enforcers? You might get into trouble.”
“Apparently, it’s over for today. Well, Torak has reached his limit. Besides, it seems those guys have grasped something too.”
Saying that, Eina glanced towards the center of the room.
“—Alright, that’s enough. We’re not fighting anymore today. Let’s eat.”
Rokuhara, showing no signs of sweating, had a calm expression.
In front of him was Torak, sprawled out on the floor.
“Are you okay? Torak. Here’s some water.”
“Thanks, Lutra.”
Receiving water from Lutra, Torak drank greedily.
In stark contrast to Rokuhara, he was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
Yet, there was a certain brightness in his expression.
“Don’t forget today’s sensation. Don’t skip the image training I taught you.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Without saying anything more, Rokuhara raised one hand in response.
And then.
“So… did you manage to grasp it too? Student Council President?”
Rokuhara called out to Miroku.
Uncharacteristically wearing Phectom’s training gear, she was also drenched in sweat like Torak.
It seemed Miroku hadn’t heard Rokuhara’s question and did not respond.
Beside her, Ciel and Miuye looked worriedly at her face.
“Are you okay, Miroku?”
“Please let us know if you feel unwell. Don’t push yourself.”
Staring at the palm of her hand, Miroku opened her eyes wide.
“This is… the power of Demons Gear…”
As she muttered, a small jade-colored lightning bolt flickered in her palm.
