Chapter 4: It’s About Cementing the Outer Moat!
Having succeeded in his retaliation against Alicia, Kazuma deliberately stuck his tongue out where she could see him.
Seeing Kazuma stick out his tongue, Alicia frowned in annoyance, but the exchange felt so much like one between lovers that all her dissatisfaction from moments before vanished.
Kazuma tilted his head, watching Alicia, who for some reason now wore a refreshed expression.
Just then, Yayoi, whom he was holding, placed a hand on Kazuma’s cheek and forcefully turned his face towards her.
“You’re such a tease, you know. Looking at another woman when I’m right here.”
“My apologies. From now on, I’ll only have eyes for you.”
At Kazuma’s sharp, determined expression, Yayoi giggled as if amused.
“Fufufu, you’re an interesting one, aren’t you? That part of you is cute too~”
“Hmph, you’re the one who is more Karen, you know.”
“My, such flattery!”
Yayoi neither denied nor rejected his cringeworthy lines.
At this point, Kazuma’s impression of Yayoi was skyrocketing.
He even found himself fantasizing about married life, wondering if perhaps he could find happiness with her.
“(Blonde drill hair isn’t half bad either!)”
Kazuma was already on the verge of falling for her.
Even the calculating Yayoi couldn’t see through how surprisingly simple Kazuma was.
Rather, her calculating nature backfired, leading her to mistakenly believe that Kazuma was merely acting.
“(Well, he wouldn’t show his true colors, would he? But that’s what makes him worth conquering. Prepare yourself, Kazuma-san.)”
To Yayoi, Kazuma was a goose that laid golden eggs, a money tree.
His exceptional Combat Power, his wide network of contacts including the King, the Witch, and the Holy Maiden.
If she could draw him into the Tennoji Zaibatsu, how much profit would that generate?
Even just imagining it, there was no doubt it would be an enormous sum.
Considering this, Yayoi psyched herself up, determined to win Kazuma over by any means necessary.
Watching this unfold from a distance, Momoko seemed carefree as she ate a small piece of kinako mochi.
She averted her gaze as if Kazuma’s choice of partner had nothing to do with her. Just as she moved her chopsticks to pick up the next piece of kinako mochi, Sakura Hakanai, who was beside her, spoke up.
“Is it okay not to stop them?”
“It has nothing to do with me. It’s his business who he dates.”
“That’s not what I mean. She’s the daughter of the Tennoji Zaibatsu, right? Are you okay with him being taken?”
“He already has a contract with the government, so there’s no problem.”
“Have you forgotten? That boy is genuinely the world’s strongest and possesses an unknown power called magic, you know? What will you do if his wife’s family tells him to cut ties with the government?”
“…There’s such a thing as duty and compassion, right?”
“Exactly. And that duty and compassion will be directed towards his family. In other words, his wife’s family will take priority.”
“N-N-N-No way he’d betray us… right?”
“If you know him well, I wonder if you can’t imagine it?”
Realizing this was no time to be leisurely eating kinako mochi, Momoko sprang into action.
She swiftly rushed over to Kazuma, scheming to pull Yayoi away from him.
What she came up with was to throw the bowl of kinako mochi she was holding.
It was an incredibly crude plan, but it would be effective, so she executed it without hesitation.
“Ah, my foot slipped—!”
She was a terrible ham actor, but Momoko couldn’t afford to care about such things.
Sakura Hakanai’s words weren’t absolute, but the possibility was very real, and Momoko was desperate to crush even the slightest chance of it happening.
“Mu!”
“It’s alright. Leave it to me.”
Kazuma, who was carrying Yayoi princess-style, saw Momoko pretend to fall and was about to put Yayoi down to catch the flying mochi. However, Yayoi, determined not to let him, splendidly caught the mochi with her Wind Ability.
Momoko’s plan ended in failure. Believing Kazuma would be taken by the Tennoji Zaibatsu, she collapsed to her knees.
“It’s over…”
As Momoko suddenly collapsed, the people around looked at her worriedly. Children rushed to her side, patting her head and telling her to cheer up.
Being comforted by children, Momoko felt so pathetic that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
Just when it seemed she would burst into tears, Sakura Hakanai, unable to watch any longer, extended a helping hand.
Sakura Hakanai started teasing Hayato, who was nearby, causing a commotion.
Hayato’s girlfriend, Shiori, snapped at Sakura Hakanai, and a fight was about to break out.
“Crap! Yayoi-san, sorry! I’ll go stop them!”
“Eh! Kazuma-san!”
Thinking a fight would be bad, Kazuma put Yayoi down on the ground, hurriedly stepped between Shiori and Sakura Hakanai, and mediated the fight.
“Hey, Kazuma-kun! Don’t interfere! I can’t turn that old hag to cinders!”
“Please wait, Vice President! She’s just a bit excited because there are lots of young people around! Please forgive her!”
“But this old hag, even when I told her I’m Hayato’s girlfriend, she kept hitting on him!”
“She just has a weakness for cool, young men! I heard she was recently dumped by a younger guy, so please cut her some slack!”
It was a blatant lie, but Shiori reluctantly conceded that it wasn’t unreasonable for someone who’d been dumped by her boyfriend to hit on a young man who resembled him if he was nearby.
“Mu… Well, if that’s the case, I guess I can overlook it this time.”
“Sorry, sorry! Hey, you apologize too!”
“Ehh, why should I~?”
“You damn fool, I’ll kick your ass!”
Kazuma whispered threatening words to the defiant Sakura Hakanai.
Realizing she wouldn’t get away unscathed if an angry Kazuma kicked her rear now, Sakura Hakanai furrowed her brows into the shape of a ‘八’ and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, okay? I was just a little worked up~”
“…I’ll let it slide this time, but there won’t be a next time!”
“Yesss~”
Incidentally, Hayato didn’t seem to mind being approached by a beautiful woman like Sakura Hakanai, and would later be interrogated and scolded by Shiori.
“Honestly! Just when I thought you were behaving, you go and cause a ruckus!”
“Because I was bored~”
“Don’t go seducing wholesome high school boys just because you’re bored!”
“What’s the big deal? It’s not like anything wears out~”
“Various things get worn down, and their fetishes might get warped!”
“That’s not my responsibility~”
“You’re noisy! You’re poison to the eyes of high school boys! You’re too stimulating!”
“That’s really none of my business, though~? Besides, if you’re going to say that much, then you can just lock me up somewhere.”
“Well, to be honest, your looks are quite stunning, so there’s a part of me that wants to burn them into my memory.”
“Isn’t that just for your own selfish desires~?”
Kazuma was wary of Sakura Hakanai, but he didn’t dislike her.
Rather, he’d had a relatively good impression of her lately.
She didn’t do unnecessary things, she was considerate, and it wasn’t that unpleasant to be with her.
And above all, her looks were right in his strike zone, so there was also a possessive part of him that wanted to keep her by his side.
“Well, I achieved my goal, so it’s fine~”
“Goal? What goal?”
“That’s a secret.”
Sakura Hakanai winked.
Her wink was directed at Momoko.
Momoko understood Sakura Hakanai’s intention and felt grateful to her.
However, since there was also the fear that she’d be taken advantage of if she let her guard down, Momoko vowed not to be easily swayed, but it was uncertain how long that resolve would last.
“Kazuma-san. Is everything alright now?”
Yayoi approached Kazuma, who had been lecturing Sakura Hakanai.
Seeing Yayoi appear at just the right moment, having gauged the timing, Sakura Hakanai’s estimation of her rose.
“(Heh~. This girl is quite observant, isn’t she? If she plays her cards right, she might just win him.)”
Though Yayoi had a late start in the heroine race, she was quite the strategist, so she could be called a dark horse.
Such was Yayoi, as she approached Kazuma, who had finished his lecture.
“Ah, sorry, Yayoi-san.”
“It’s quite alright. I’m the one at fault for suddenly showing up.”
“Speaking of which, how did you know about this place?”
“It’s because of this, you see.”
Yayoi fumbled inside her clothes and took out a cell phone.
Displayed on the screen was a scene of Kazuma making mochi with the King.
Seeing that, Kazuma clapped his hands together as if in understanding.
“Ah, I see. So that’s how you found this place.”
“That’s right. It looked so interesting, I just had to fly over.”
“Is that helicopter yours, Yayoi-san?”
“Yes, it is. That’s a helicopter newly developed by the Tennoji Zaibatsu. It can go 600 kilometers per hour, you know.”
“Whoa, amazing!”
Kazuma didn’t quite understand, but Area Two and Area Seven were about four hundred kilometers apart.
To travel that distance at six hundred kilometers per hour meant one could arrive in less than an hour, making it a considerably superior helicopter.
“If you’d like, would you want to ride it later?”
“Eh! Really?! Is that okay!?”
“Yes, of course. How about the children join us too?”
“S-Seriously!? I’ll go ask them!”
Even though Kazuma could fly, a helicopter was a different matter entirely.
That was one thing, and this was another.
Since it was such a rare opportunity, Kazuma couldn’t hide his excitement and went around asking the children if they wanted to ride the helicopter with him.
Yayoi, who had been watching him with a warm gaze, smirked, thinking it was just as her investigation had revealed.
“(Fufufu, just as I found out beforehand, eh? He’s the type to get carried away easily, so if you flatter him, he’s quickly fooled. He’s not that bright either, more of an intuitive person—truly my type, y’know~. His looks aren’t bad, and he’s perfect husband material. Father also said Kazuma-san would be fine, so I’m really looking forward to this, y’know.)”
Yayoi had used the power of the Tennoji Zaibatsu to conduct a thorough background check on Kazuma.
She had investigated everything from his personality and reputation to his upbringing.
And she had acted, confident that her chances of success were more than sufficient.
She felt she was making good progress and was convinced that in the not-too-distant future, she would be by Kazuma’s side.
“(Now then, while Kazuma-san is on the helicopter, I should go pay my respects to my future mother-in-law, y’know.)”
Indeed, securing the outer defenses was crucial, Yayoi thought, a faint smile playing on her lips.