Episode 9: Which Route?
First, let’s sort out the situation.
Kenyya analyzes the current situation.
Kurokami Kaguya.
My favorite heroine, the one I want to marry.
I’m pretty sure she’s actually a pervert, a tsundere because she’s more aware of the opposite sex than anyone else.
“Kaguya was supposed to be a member of the resistance… I need to find a way to join them.”
I’ll become her ally to protect her.
After seeing what happened today, I couldn’t possibly tell her to quit the resistance.
Kaguya won’t find happiness unless we take back Japan.
“And then there’s Reina…”
Reina Sylphid.
My favorite heroine, the one I want to marry.
She’s a cool character who never showed any dere in the game I used to play, but she’s more serious and has a stronger attachment to KOG than anyone else.
Judging from today, I can see a path to becoming somewhat close to her.
Two contrasting brides (in Kenyya’s delusions).
One is the daughter of Isshin, the leader of Japan’s largest resistance, Amaterasu.
And the other is the daughter of Zeke Sylphid, the “War God,” the top military commander of this country.
The two are supposed to be enemies.
If I try to save one, the other will die.
I want to become allies with both of them, but I can’t think of a way to do that.
But I absolutely have to save both of them.
“I also need to find out why the war started, and I need to infiltrate deep into the Aasgard Empire military.”
Kenyya decided on his course of action.
“This is going to be like wearing two hats. I’ll rise through the ranks in the Aasgard Empire military and also work as a member of the resistance. ‘He who chases two hares will catch none’… but.”
A proverb that every Japanese person knows tries to caution Kenyya.
But he punches that face and tells it to shut up.
“If I don’t chase two hares, I won’t catch either of them, right?”
I have no intention of giving up on either of them.
My goal is a two-timing relationship that they both approve of.
The realization of a harem from the game world.
While lost in such delusions, the KOG Device rings, and a message comes in.
I open the messaging app, wondering who it could be.
===============
Tomorrow, 07:00 AM
Meet in the classroom. Promise.
===============
“A work message!? …Sounds like Reina.”
The next day, Kenyya went to the classroom more than an hour before the start of school.
I was a little late, but it’s within the acceptable range.
Sorry, I overslept, because I’ve been sleeping whenever I wanted until now.
It can’t be helped, right?
Kenyya starts running just before the classroom, entering while pretending to be out of breath as if he had rushed.
There, a single girl was standing.
She’s probably irritated, judging by how she’s crossing her arms and swinging her leg.
Honestly, I want to go home, but I feel like it would be even scarier if I went home now.
“You’re late!”
“Sorry, I was a little late…”
I’ve never lived a regular life, so I’m not good in the morning.
Kenyya’s bedtime, who has completely shifted to a night owl, is 4:00 AM.
He sleeps around sunrise and lives like a vampire who hates the sunlight.
“Haa… At least fix your bedhead before coming. And it’s so obvious.”
Reina sighs, looking at Kenyya’s messy hair.
She even saw through my pretense of rushing.
(To think that someone like this might be stronger than me…)
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Go where?”
“I’ve gotten permission from the instructor for us to do some independent training.”
Reina shows her card key and looks at me.
(She’s a cool character, but she’s also a passionate battle maniac. That’s another gap, huh?)
And then the two of them arrive at the room where they can do the Simulation Battle from yesterday.
“Please promise me one thing. That you’ll go all out today.”
“Don’t cry, okay?”
“Wha!? Don’t underestimate me!”
Kenyya laughs, seeing Reina’s character starting to waver as she pouts.
“What’s so funny?”
“Fufu, it seems like Reina doesn’t care at all about being Second-Class.”
“…It’s not that I think you guys are inferior, but I’m not foolish enough to go against the Emperor.”
Cold to everyone, equal to everyone.
The solitary Ice Princess hates discrimination and favoritism.
Her only interest is one thing.
“Now, let’s do it. Show me your power.”
Whether or not KOG is strong.
“Alright, I’ll go as many rounds as you want.”
(Alright, let’s make her cry.)
And then the two of them got into the simulator.
3, 2, 1… Fight!
~A few hours later
“–Therefore, the KOG’s operating time is about half a day, and it’s necessary to replace the battery–“
Today is a lecture.
We’re learning about KOG’s operation methods and basic theories.
That’s what the setting said, but it’s actually very interesting when you hear it again.
There are a lot of words I don’t understand at all, but it seems like a lot of future technology is used, such as deuterium batteries, which I can kind of understand the gist of.
Honestly, it’s a really fun class.
If only I didn’t have a piercing gaze from next to me.
“So? What did you do?”
Kaguya whispers to Kenyya from next to him.
Why is she asking me that?
Because the scary silver-haired lady next to me is glaring at me with a look that could kill.
Is she not glaring anymore? Is it okay?
…She’s still glaring.
Is that girl trying to shoot beams from her eyes?
“Hehehe, just a little something.”
Why did it come to this?
Let’s go back in time a little.
~
“Come on, come on, come on! What’s wrong, Reina!”
“Ugh! Why! What is this!”
Kenyya was beating Reina to a pulp.
A combo attack, one of the many techniques in KOG.
It’s a continuous, flowing attack that’s not easy to escape.
It’s a technique that works well in the simulator, but it probably wouldn’t work in reality where various factors are combined.
But if you don’t know how to escape, you’ll probably die.
Kenyu Mitsurugi WIN!
“Hehehe! I won!”
“O-One more time!!”
Reina pleads with tears in her eyes.
Kenyya, who was in a good mood from his overwhelming victory, got carried away.
He got carried away and killed her again.
Again and again.
With a vulgar laugh, as if a demon was mocking a human.
Everyone has probably experienced it once.
When you play with someone you like in your area of expertise, you don’t hold back at all.
You go all out without any mercy, making her unhappy.
Normally, you would learn from that experience and be careful next time…
Unfortunately, Kenyya has never had such an experience.
Kenyya, who is having his first experience, is having fun and has a satisfied look on his face.
And then, when the time came, he suggests that they finish.
“Fuu, I’m satisfied. I’m satisfied, so let’s call it a day…”
I got glared at like crazy.
With tears in her eyes, she looked at me like I was her parents’ killer.
She has her pride, and she’s even said to be the best user in the Empire among the students.
She was completely beaten to a pulp.
~
It’s been like this ever since.
(I-I went too far, my otaku side came out.)
I showed off my skills.
An overkill against an opponent weaker than me, or rather, a play that only made me feel good.
I could have fought in a way that was more fun to teach.
And while being exposed to strong stress. That day’s class ended.
“Ouch, my stomach hurts…”
Kenyya, who had been under stress all day, was exhausted.
And then, with the sound of the pre-bell, he stands up and tries to go home, forgetting his plans.
“Kenyya-kun!” “Kenyya!”
Then Kaguya and Reina call out at the same time.
“I have business with him? Who are you?”
Reina and Kaguya glare at each other.
Kaguya hates the people of the Aasgard Empire in the first place.
Reina is… probably in a bad mood, because of me.
“Who am I? Kenyya, tell her. I want to go to dinner with you today, so I can’t be your babysitter.”
Sparks fly between Reina and Kaguya above Kenyya’s head.
“What are you? What kind of relationship do you have with Kenyya-kun… Could you be lovers?”
“W-Who would be lovers with a pervert like this? M-Me and this guy are… what are we!”
(Are you asking me?)
A battle of women unfolds above my head.
Stop, don’t fight for my sake.
“Now, now, you two.”
“Kenyya-kun, we’re going to fight with KOG, right? It’s a promise, right?”
“Kenyya? You want to go on a d-d-date with me, right!?”
(If it’s embarrassing, you shouldn’t say it out loud.)
Whether it’s because of pride or because they can’t back down, Kaguya competes with Reina.
She uses the word “date” herself and her face turns bright red with embarrassment.
“D-Date…”
Reina flinches for a moment at that word.
Kenyya looks back and forth between the two of them in a fluster, and seeing that, the two of them get irritated and raise their voices, pressing Kenyya.
“Which one is it!”
“Which one is it!?”