Chapter 43: What’s With That Guy!? He’s Got Two Girls With Him!
Alicia said she wanted to go see a play, so Kazuma took the two of them and headed to the gymnasium where the play was being held.
When they arrived at the gymnasium, many spectators were engrossed in the play being performed on stage.
However, with Kazuma and the others’ arrival, those gazes turned in a different direction.
Some of the people watching the play spotted Alicia and Charlotte, told their friends, and looked their way.
Spurred by this reaction, those around them turned in the same direction, and the venue buzzed with the appearance of the Holy Maiden and the Witch.
“Well, I guess this was bound to happen…”
“Kazuma. Is it okay if I send those guys flying?”
“No. They’ll die.”
“It’s fine since Char is here~”
“Hmm…”
Hearing that, Kazuma, who was starting to wonder if it would be okay to have Alicia use her Telekinesis to send just the noisy, troublesome spectators flying, folded his arms and groaned.
“Ah, um… That’s really not okay, you know?”
“”Ehhh~!””
“Why are you disappointed too, Satsuki-san!?”
“Well, I was already about half convinced…”
“Please don’t get convinced…”
“Char’s so stingy~”
Charlotte let out a deep sigh at Alicia, who was grumbling and complaining. If possible, she wanted Alicia to be a little quieter, but given Alicia’s personality, that was probably impossible. Charlotte had no choice but to give up.
“Still, being the center of attention like this is a pain…”
“See! Let’s just send them flying!”
“I told you, please stop…”
The three of them had come to see the play, but they had instead become a nuisance. Those on stage probably weren’t happy that the audience’s attention was directed at Kazuma and his group. To put it bluntly, the three of them were a harmful presence. They undoubtedly wished they would go somewhere else.
“Hmm… Hey, Alicia. We’re probably disturbing the play, so maybe we should go somewhere else.”
“Ehh… But I want to see the play.”
Kazuma wanted to do something for Alicia, who was pleading with him with upturned eyes, but being under the watchful gaze of so many people was, as expected, uncomfortable.
“There’s always next year. Can you put up with it until then?”
“Muu… Will you go around with me next year too?”
“Yeah. Let’s go on a school festival date next year too.”
“Okay, then I’ll endure it this time!”
Bathed in gazes that seemed to say, “If you’re going to flirt, do it somewhere else,” Kazuma calmly sweet-talked Alicia. Of course, they weren’t actually dating.
Charlotte, who was watching from nearby, felt her heart pound. She wondered if she, too, would be sweet-talked in the same way. She waited and waited in anticipation, but her turn never came.
“W-What about me…?”
Her murmur was drowned out by the voices of the crowd and didn’t reach Kazuma’s or Alicia’s ears. Despite being their friend, Charlotte received no such invitation. She looked down, appearing lonely.
“What are you doing, Char? Come on, let’s go.”
Alicia extended a hand to her, who had stopped. Charlotte looked at the hand, then stared at Alicia’s face.
“What is it, staring like that?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
Instead of Alicia, who was frowning suspiciously, Kazuma called Charlotte’s name.
“Let’s come again next year.”
He hadn’t said it with any particular intention. Kazuma had simply thought that Charlotte, like Alicia, was probably feeling down because she couldn’t see the play. That’s why he’d spoken to her, and it turned out to be the right thing to say.
“Y-Yes!”
Her face lit up with a smile, and Charlotte hugged Kazuma’s arm. Thank goodness. She was happy that she had been invited too, and Charlotte hugged Kazuma’s arm tightly.
“Ah! What are you doing, hugging Kazuma in the confusion!”
“W-We’re friends, so a little bit is fine, isn’t it!”
“Mmph! If you put it that way… I guess it can’t be helped! But his right arm is mine, okay!”
“They’re both my arms.”
In the end, the three of them left the gymnasium without being able to see the play. A slightly exaggerated rumor began to circulate that Kazuma had walked off with Alicia and Charlotte on each arm.
◇◇◇◇
After leaving the gymnasium, Kazuma and the others moved to the street in front of the main gate where food stalls were set up. Kazuma and his group walked along, looking at the stalls lined up on both sides.
“Hey, Kazuma! They have crepes!”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Let’s buy that!”
“But, having dessert when we haven’t eaten anything yet…”
“Th-Then, how about the yakisoba they’re selling over there?”
Kazuma, who hadn’t eaten anything yet, wanted something more substantial than dessert, so Charlotte pointed to the yakisoba.
“That might be good.”
“Alright, there are other things too, so let’s buy a bunch!”
“That sounds great! I’d like a frankfurter and some french fries.”
“Char~. You really like junk food, huh~.”
“W-Well, it’s because I rarely get to eat it…”
“That’s why you’re getting fat!”
“I-I’m not fat!”
The two girls started arguing at his sides. Kazuma thought about trying to calm them down, but decided to remain silent, fearing he’d get dragged into it if he carelessly intervened. However, there was no way they would let him.
“Kazuma! Char is fat, isn’t she!”
“Satsuki-san! I’m not fat, am I!”
Kazuma took a deep breath. He was faced with the ultimate choice: side with Alicia or side with Charlotte. If he sided with Alicia, his standing with Charlotte would fall, and if he did the opposite, his standing with Alicia would fall. After agonizing over which to choose, he decided to follow his instincts.
“Char isn’t fat at all! In fact, she has a figure like a man’s ideal! That sort of voluptuous feeling is—”
He was honest. He was a sincere man who never told lies.
“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!!!”
“Ka~zu~ma~?”
“F-Forgive me, Alicia. I… I believe one shouldn’t lie about their preferences!”
“So, does that mean you like girls like Char?”
“That’s right!”
“Ugh… Uuu… Kazuma, you idiot~!”
As a result of the sincere man Kazuma honestly answering Alicia’s question, he became a star and scattered to the ends of the sky.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Sa-Satsuki-saaan!”
Charlotte reached out her hand towards Kazuma, who had become a twinkling star, but one cannot reach the stars.
Kazuma, sent flying by Alicia, fell headfirst into the academy’s hedges.
“Gueh…”
The fact that she showed some consideration showed she wasn’t truly angry, but sending an ordinary person flying with Telekinesis was, as expected, going too far. That said, Kazuma was a Hero masquerading as an ordinary person, so he didn’t have a scratch on him.
“Owowow…”
Kazuma emerged from the hedges, brushing off the debris from his clothes. They were a little dirty, but it wasn’t a problem, so he was about to rejoin Alicia and the others when he saw a cat-eared maid flying through the sky.
(Telekinesis can also be used for flight, so it’s convenient~. Say, her skirt’s completely visible, is that okay?)
Alicia, who had sent him flying herself but then got worried, was flying towards Kazuma. Kazuma, looking up nonchalantly, was only thinking about how Alicia’s panties were visible to the crowd.
“Kazuma. Are you okay?”
“Well, you’re the one who sent me flying, you know.”
“But…”
It was obvious she was jealous, as expected. But that didn’t mean Kazuma could easily point it out.
“Alicia. Let me be clear. I like both big and small. However, there’s a saying in Japan: ‘Big can also serve as small.’ There’s nothing better than big.”
Kazuma declared these words without a hint of shame, words that would make anyone want to retort, “What are you saying with such a serious face?”
“…That’s not exactly a follow-up, you know?”
Kazuma averted his gaze from Alicia, who was glaring at him with a deadpan expression.
“W-Well, that’s how it is, so don’t worry about it too much.”
“I wish you wouldn’t try to gloss over it…”
“M-More importantly, what about Charlotte?”
“Ah…”
Alicia, having completely forgotten about her, gave Kazuma an embarrassed smile.
“Ehehe~”
“Hey, this is no time for laughing. She’s still a Holy Maiden, even if she’s that. You can’t just leave her alone.”
Calling a Holy Maiden “that” was questionable, but Kazuma and Alicia hurried towards Charlotte. Sure enough, she was being hit on by some sleazy-looking university students or perhaps just ordinary men; it was hard to tell.
Charlotte was smiling troubledly, but the guys continued hitting on her without a care. Thinking she was in danger if this continued, Kazuma started running, but he was a step too late.
The men who were hitting on Charlotte suddenly floated into the air. The surprised men screamed and flailed about, but it only looked comical.
“Achaa—” Kazuma put a hand to his face, regretting he was too late, but then rationalized that the guys hitting on her were the ones at fault.
“Oh well, whatever.”
Thanks to Alicia’s Telekinesis, the pickup artists were sent flying off somewhere. They would probably land in a place where, like Kazuma earlier, the fall wouldn’t be a big deal. There was no need to worry, so Kazuma and Alicia rejoined Charlotte.
“Fueeeen! Leaving me behind is so mean~!”
“I told you, I already said I was sorry!”
The earlier encounter with the pickup artists must have scared her. Charlotte was crying while clinging to Alicia.
Just then, Kazuma felt the phone he had stowed in his pocket vibrate. When he took it out, he saw an incoming call from Kosuke.
“Yes, hello?”
“Kazuma, where are you now?”
“I’m on the food stall street in front of the main gate, but did something happen?”
“Yeah. Um, well, someone who says she’s your mother is here.”
“What?”
Hearing a word he so seldom heard, Kazuma couldn’t help but doubt Kosuke.
“That’s not a lie, is it?”
“It’s not a lie, I’m telling you. Anyway, our break’s about to end, so could you head back?”
“Alright. I’m curious too, so I’ll head back right away.”
After ending the call, Kazuma relayed what Kosuke had said to Alicia and Charlotte, and decided to return to the classroom.