Chapter 36: Men Should Just Dance in the Palm of a Woman’s Hand
Kazuma, having been asked by Alicia to train her, altered their perceived time using Space-Time Magic, just as he had with Charlotte and the others, and proceeded to teach her combat methods suited for her.
“Yeah. As expected, your fundamentals are solid, so my instruction can end here. After this, if you keep practicing against the golems I’ve prepared, your skills should naturally improve.”
“Uh, um, by any chance, do you have some errands or something?”
Alicia stared at Kazuma with anxious eyes.
“Yeah. I’ve got something I was asked to do by the Japanese government. Sorry, Alicia, but I’ll be out on an errand for a while. I’ll leave Momoko-chan here, so if anything happens, tell her.”
“I-I understand… H-hey, Kazuma. Can’t I go with you too?”
“Hmm, it’ll be easier for me to go alone this time, so sorry.”
“Oh, I see. Understood. Sorry for being selfish.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’ll listen to most things if you’re the one asking, Alicia.”
“Th-thank you…”
“Yep. Well then, do your best for a little while.”
Kazuma grinned and exited the subspace.
Left behind were four people: Charlotte, Momoko, Sakura Hakanai, and Alicia.
After seeing Kazuma off, Alicia called Charlotte and Momoko over.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did something happen?”
“Ah, yes. Actually, it’s about Kazuma…”
“Is something wrong with Kazuma-san?”
“It’s like there’s a wall between us like before, or he’s being distant… I can’t quite put it into words, but it feels strange.”
“Is that so? He seemed normal to me…”
Charlotte, not quite understanding Alicia’s words, looked at Momoko.
“Hmm… I don’t really get it either. He seemed pretty much the same as usual to me.”
“I wonder if it’s just my imagination~…”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s your imagination.”
Just as Alicia’s shoulders slumped, Sakura Hakanai interjected.
“Where did you… oh, you’ve been here all along, haven’t you.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, but I overheard your conversation.”
“Eavesdropping is so vulgar.”
“Old habits from my former job die hard, you see. More importantly, you’re concerned about him, aren’t you?”
“Ugh… Do you know something?”
Although she was an unpleasant woman, Sakura Hakanai was older, had abundant life experience, and her presence as a senior was appreciated.
Alicia asked Sakura Hakanai, grasping at straws.
“In my assessment, it means he’s stopped seeing you as a woman.”
“Huh? Why!”
“Calm down. He’s stopped seeing you as a woman, but that doesn’t mean he dislikes you. You’re probably in the ‘best friend’ position, I suppose~”
“Th-that’s such a careless…”
She was about to retort reflexively, but Alicia, vaguely sensing the truth behind her unease, closed her half-opened mouth.
“Judging by your reaction, I think you’ve somewhat understood, haven’t you? That you’re not special to him.”
“…Why did it become like that?”
“Who knows? But if I had to guess, it might be that lecture from earlier.”
“Eh, ah…”
Now that she mentioned it, Alicia realized she had suddenly started feeling a wall between herself and Kazuma after that lecture.
However. Anyone with very ordinary sensibilities would undoubtedly have said similar things during that lecture. She couldn’t understand why that would have created a wall.
“B-but, I was just saying that normally…”
“But, when you were lecturing him, you projected different emotions towards him than usual, didn’t you?”
“W-well, that’s true, but…”
“Ah…”
Momoko, who had been listening to Sakura Hakanai and Alicia’s conversation, let out a sound as if something had occurred to her.
The two of them turned to Momoko, who had suddenly made a sound.
“Ah, um… Actually, he can read people’s thoughts to a certain extent.”
“Eh, wait. Does that mean the feelings I had towards Kazuma at that time might have been conveyed to him?”
“Judging from your earlier conversation, I believe so…”
“N-no way…!”
What Alicia had felt when lecturing Kazuma was disgust and disappointment.
Of course, from a normal person’s perspective, those weren’t strange emotions to have. Considering what Kazuma had done to Charlotte, it was natural to feel that way as a human being.
However, the truly sad thing was that, just as Momoko said, Kazuma could read people’s feelings to some extent. Because of that, Kazuma thought Alicia disliked him and had cut off his own feelings for her. He had decided to treat her as a good friend from now on.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
“You probably didn’t. But he’s too used to being loved. You can tell just by looking at this place. It’s a very good facility that cares for children. He must have been showered with a lot of love since he was little. That’s precisely why he’ll quickly withdraw if he realizes he’s not loved. In short, he’s childish. And there’s also something broken about him. Combined, that makes him not normal.”
“That can’t be…”
“You have some idea, don’t you?”
“…”
Silence meant affirmation. Alicia’s expression told the whole story.
She had known that Kazuma’s sensibilities were somewhat off. However, usually, it wasn’t something to be particularly concerned about. But when conflict was involved, his abnormality became apparent.
“I see…”
She finally understood. He had grown up receiving a lot of love since childhood, and though he himself was likely unaware, the fact that he had been abandoned had an effect. On top of that, there was the fantastical experience of going to another world. Perhaps he had lost his sense of ethics in the other world. No, to put it correctly, Kazuma’s sense of ethics had drastically changed. Alicia finally realized this.
“Hey, how can I get into a romantic relationship with him?”
Alicia, who had reached a different goal line instead of returning to the starting point, was extremely frustrated but asked Sakura Hakanai for advice.
She was older than Alicia and, moreover, an adult woman with rich life experience. Furthermore, when it came to handling men, she was more reliable than anyone else present.
“It’ll be difficult. That type of person, once they’ve decided something, rarely changes their mind.”
“Even so, I won’t give up. Because I love him.”
“Fufu, youth is wonderful, isn’t it~”
“Ah, um, in that case, may I join too?”
“””Eh?”””
Even Charlotte, who had been quietly observing until now, joined the fray.
The three were surprised by her sudden entry and all turned their faces towards Charlotte at once.
Faced by three people looking at her simultaneously, Charlotte flinched but steeled herself and confessed her true feelings.
“I… I also like, no, love Kazuma-san. In the first place, I want him to take responsibility for me ending up like this!”
Her words carried weight.
It wasn’t that her virginity had been taken, but there was no doubt that she had been changed, both mentally and physically, by Kazuma. Wanting him to take responsibility was probably a natural right.
“Oh my~. Isn’t that fine? If you use that body to press him, he’ll fall for you in an instant.”
“I’ll use every weapon I have! Please teach me, Sensei!”
“Fufufu, Sensei, is it? Very well. I’ll teach you.”
“W-wait a minute! Shar, he did terrible things to you, and you still like him?”
“Because, well… Kazuma-san is probably the only one I can break without it being a problem.”
The three were rendered speechless by that one remark.
“Breaking” probably didn’t mean in a mental sense, but a physical one. One really wanted to question her for about an hour on what exactly she thought a romantic relationship was.
“Well, forms of love are different for everyone…”
Seeing the highlights disappear from Charlotte’s eyes, Sakura Hakanai concluded the conversation with a wry smile.
◇◇◇◇
While the women were getting excited without his knowledge and scheming to captivate Kazuma, he had come to Okinawa all alone.
Just as he had heard from Ema, mainland Okinawa had completely become an Ibinom nest, and Ibinom were swarming around, roaming the streets.
“Guess I’ll finish this up quickly and gather some materials~”
As if it were a game, Kazuma landed on mainland Okinawa and went around defeating the attacking Ibinom.
This time, it was the reclamation of mainland Okinawa, or rather, material gathering, so it was an easy job.
With this, he could receive a special reward and also gather the materials needed for his own exclusive equipment.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to be sacrifices for my dream.”
Lightly rolling his shoulders, Kazuma annihilated every last one of the Ibinom that had infested the area, as if he were merely taking a stroll.