Episode 62: Touring the Tourist Spots
Kazuma, being a simple-minded fellow, was now in high spirits, walking triumphantly ahead of Hayato and Souji.
They returned to the hotel as they were, and Kazuma headed to the conference room prepared for a meeting about this year’s academy events to be held with each academy.
Although it wasn’t time for the meeting yet, several students had already gathered, sitting in their assigned seats and chatting happily.
When Kazuma and the others appeared, the students who had been chatting happily stood up and politely bowed their heads.
“Good morning, Satsuki Council President!”
“Oh, you don’t have to be so formal…”
Kazuma became flustered by this unfamiliar treatment.
Certainly, Kazuma was the main figure this time and the one with ultimate responsibility, but judging by his conduct, it was clear he was the most immature among the students gathered.
Of course, it wasn’t that his conduct was bad or that he was causing trouble for those around him.
He was simply the one fooling around the most and had forgotten the original purpose.
Of course, the other students were similar, but compared to Kazuma, it was probably a trivial matter.
“Well, you’re kind of like the overall supervisor, you know. So, of course, the other students will at least greet you.”
“Even if Kazuma-kun is the one playing around and having the most fun, it’s a fact that he’s the one with ultimate responsibility~”
“Aren’t I being made fun of somehow? Is it just my imagination?”
“It’s your imagination.”
“Maybe it’s not your imagination.”
“Which one is it…?”
Kazuma was being toyed with.
In the end, deciding it didn’t matter, Kazuma sat in his designated seat and spent the time until the meeting began making small talk with the students in the conference room.
As the meeting time approached, other students also appeared one after another, sat in their prepared seats, and it was almost time for the meeting.
Shortly after that, the meeting time arrived, all the students gathered in the conference room, and the meeting about this year’s academy events began.
“Well then, it’s time, so we will now begin the meeting regarding this year’s Esper Academy events and activities. Stand, bow, be seated.”
Following Kazuma’s command, the meeting proceeded.
First, they started with the topic of the new student welcoming party.
“New student welcoming party…? What’s that…?”
“Eh? Kazuma-kun, you don’t know?”
“Karin, Kazuma-kun was in a traffic accident on the first day of the entrance ceremony and started school three months late, you know.”
“Ah, that’s right. Then, it’s only natural he wouldn’t know about the new student welcoming party.”
“No way, there was such an interesting event…? Who is that new student! I could have made some moves!”
He was saying such things, but if he hadn’t been hit by a truck and had enrolled safely, Kazuma probably wouldn’t have been in this position.
He might have stood out a bit for a Support Course student, but without his experience in the other world, he wouldn’t have been able to overwhelm the Combat Course students.
“But, if that were the case, Kazuma, you wouldn’t be able to surprise everyone at the big event called the Academy Battle Tournament, you know?”
At Kaede’s point, Kazuma’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide.
“You’re right!!!”
“Ahem. This is better than a stuffy meeting, but try not to get too sidetracked.”
“Ah, my bad.”
Warned by a supervising teacher from another academy, Kazuma immediately apologized and returned to the topic.
“Umm, the new student welcoming party, right? What did you do last year?”
“Last year, it was different for each academy, but…”
Karin gave Yukihime an instruction with her eyes, and Yukihime began to write down details about last year’s new student welcoming party on the whiteboard in the conference room.
“Heh~…”
“Well, it was something like this. We’re thinking about what to do this year.”
“Then, for the Seventh Esper Academy, how about me VS all the new students!?”
“Rejected. Let’s try to do something similar to the other academies, okay?”
“Okay~”
Incidentally, the other student councils were also discussing amongst themselves what to do for this year’s new student welcoming party.
After that, the meeting continued, topics like the Academy Battle Tournament came up, and they got excited discussing where to go for the next orientation.
“With that, this meeting is adjourned. We’ll have some free time for a while, and after lunch and a break, there will be a battle royale between the new and old student councils, so please make sure you’re prepared. Alright, dismissed! Yahooo!!!”
Kazuma, who couldn’t hold back until the very end, exited the conference room like the wind.
The students in the conference room smiled at Kazuma, who was, as usual, the most energetic and looked like he was having the most fun.
Thanks to Kazuma, they too could let loose to their heart’s content without holding back, so it was only natural they would smile.
However, there were a few among them who felt dissatisfied, thinking he should do his job seriously.
Of course, they didn’t say it out loud, but they might have shown a slightly sullen expression.
“Hey, Issei. Let’s make sure we win this year, okay?”
“That person seems to have ability, but he doesn’t seem to have any dignity. He’s not suitable to be a leader.”
“Eh, I think he’s fine… He looks like he’s having fun.”
“Just because it’s fun doesn’t mean you can abandon your work, right? The latter half was almost all idle chat!”
“At this rate, the people under him will suffer. As expected, we of the First Academy must lead the other academies.”
“Y-you don’t have to think that far ahead… We’re still students, so I think that much is just right.”
“We’re already 16, you know. We can’t say we’re adults, but we can’t just keep playing around like before. We have to be proper.”
“That’s right. There’s nothing strange about acting with an eye on the future from now on. Therefore, let’s try to behave with moderation, okay?”
“O-okay…”
Issei, cornered by his childhood friend and stepsister, became unable to argue back.
Dragged along by the two of them as he was, Issei ended up touring the tourist spots.
“Hmm… Why are Alicia and Shar here?”
Kazuma had intended to use his free time to tour Hawaii, but Alicia and Charlotte were waiting for him at the hotel exit.
Finding it strange, Kazuma stopped, crossed his arms, and tried to think, but he couldn’t figure anything out, just wasting time.
“You’re late! We were waiting for you!”
“Eh…? Did we arrange to meet?”
Kazuma was scolded the moment she spoke, but he didn’t quite understand why he was being scolded when they hadn’t even promised to go on a date.
“Kazuma-san. Don’t you remember what you said on the plane?”
“What did I say?”
“You said, ‘Let’s go on a date in Hawaii,’ didn’t you?”
“Did I say something like that…?”
He hadn’t.
To be precise, he had said they should look around together.
However, taking advantage of Kazuma not remembering, Alicia and Charlotte twisted the facts.
“You did say it.”
“You did say it.”
“I see~. So that’s how it was~.”
Though he didn’t remember, he figured he probably had said it, and Kazuma’s memory was thus altered.
Nevertheless, since there wasn’t any particular problem, Kazuma quickly shifted gears and asked the two where they should go.
“Alright then, where should we go? There are lots of tourist spots, but we’re limited by time, so let’s decide where to go!”
“In that case, I’ll—”
“Hold on a minute.”
“You girls are…”
It wasn’t just the two of them aiming for Kazuma.
Kaede, Karin, Yukihime, and Yayoi—the four of them were also aiming for Kazuma.
Thinking they couldn’t let them take Kazuma, the four called a halt.
It didn’t matter if their opponents were world-famous Gifted.
Because love is war.
“Um…”
Sparks flew between the group of two and the group of four.
Even though just the other day, they had united to punish Kazuma.
Kazuma, caught in the middle, could only fret about what to do.
Eventually, perhaps growing impatient, both sides approached each other and decided to compromise.
“There’s no point glaring at each other here. Why don’t we talk while we move?”
“That’s a good idea. If we stay like this, Kazuma would have secretly gone off to play by himself.”
Just as Kaede had pointed out, Kazuma had been trying to sneak away.
Realizing he’d been found out, Kazuma put on a vague smile as if to cover it up.
The girls were exasperated to see that, but since their own standoff was the root cause, they said nothing and proceeded to escort Kazuma.
“Um… Why are you flanking me on both sides?”
Kazuma was currently being held on both sides by Kaede and Alicia, like a captured alien.
“It’s to make sure Kazuma doesn’t run away.”
“Because Kazuma gets lost easily.”
“That ‘setting’ is still alive, huh…”
“But, in reality, when you’re alone, you immediately go off to unfamiliar places, don’t you?”
“You have a point.”
Kazuma couldn’t say anything back to Kaede’s sharp point.
As expected, he wasn’t kept restrained for long, and Kazuma was soon released.
The freed Kazuma was about to lead the group of girls towards the tourist spots, but he said he had an important errand to run first and went off somewhere by himself.
“Momoko-chan! Let’s go play together!”
“No thank you!”
“No arguments!”
“Kyaa! W-what are you doing!?”
Kazuma, who had gone to Momoko-chan who was staying at a different hotel, hoisted her onto his shoulder and started running.
Kazuma’s “important errand” was Momoko-chan.
If he was going to tour the tourist spots with the girls, he thought it would be better if Momoko-chan was with them too, so Kazuma had abducted her.
Naturally, he also had Sakura Hakanai, who was with her, tucked under his other arm, making it the usual trio.
“I think it’ll be a big problem if her real face gets exposed, but is it okay~?”
“No problem. I’ve cast a perception-inhibiting spell, so there’s no way we’ll be found out.”
“But, if you speak, won’t the effect wear off?”
“That’s not an issue either. It’s set up so that it won’t remain in the students’ memories.”
“Magic is so convenient, isn’t it…”
“Uwoooooooh! Let go of me! You! Damn it!”
Sakura Hakanai was being carried under his arm, and Momoko, slung over his shoulder, was thrashing about wildly.
No matter how much Momoko struggled, she couldn’t stop Kazuma, who possessed a robust physique and a will of steel.
Eventually, Momoko gave up, went limp, and resigned herself to her fate.
“Sorry to keep you waiting~!”
“…Kazuma. Who are those two?”
“They’re people precious to me!”
When Alicia pointed at the limp Momoko and the exasperated-looking Sakura Hakanai, Kazuma, with a sharp expression, made an outrageous statement.
Already used to this, Alicia didn’t particularly point it out and continued the conversation.
“You just dragged them here against their will, didn’t you? Never mind. More importantly, let’s get going. Kazuma, you don’t have much time, right?”
“Well, our free time is about three hours, including lunch. There’s a battle royale between the old and new student councils this afternoon, so I need to be back at the hotel by then.”
“Then we need to hurry. We can’t waste time.”
“Alright! Let’s go!”
With Alicia, Charlotte, Kaede, Yukihime, Karin, Yayoi, Momoko, and Sakura Hakanai, it had become quite a large group.
Simply because the number of people had increased, Kazuma’s spirits rose, and he energetically walked ahead by himself.
“How does that work?”
Before Kazuma and the others, who had arrived at the tourist spot, lay many unknown things.
They had walked there using a pamphlet from the hotel as a reference, but seeing it in person, it was nothing short of mysterious.
“That? Oh, that’s something called a Water Road, made with water slides as a reference. You can also ride an inner tube to get around, or get into a capsule and travel underwater with tropical fish. What’s more, it can move up, down, left, and right, so it doesn’t get congested or have traffic jams.”
“I-Is that so? Kazuma-kun, you know a lot.”
“Karin-senpai. I looked it up beforehand.”
“But there’s absolutely no information about it on the internet…”
“Yukihime-senpai. Of course I heard it from the Crimson Knight.”
“Something’s suspicious…”
“Kaede. Look into my eyes. Do I look like I’m lying?”
“Your eyes are really sparkling~”
“Yayoi-san. How about trying on a gold bikini or something?”
Kazuma was busy playing the role of commentator, but he seemed to be enjoying himself the most.
In the first place, as the developer and originator, he had already experienced all the facilities in Hawaii.
Even so, coming here with close friends was probably different.
Kazuma led the bewildered group of girls and toured the tourist spots.