"See you later, Yuuya-kun!"
"Yeah, see you."
After school.
As I parted ways with Kaede and the others who were on their way to club activities, I was unexpectedly approached by Merl-san.
"Yuuya-san."
"Hmm? Merl-san, what's wrong?"
"Actually, I have a favor to ask of Yuuya-san…"
"A favor?"
What is it? Could it be something related to the planet Amel?
As I was thinking this, Merl-san told me with a serious expression on her face.
"──D-do you know what an amusement park is?"
"…..Yes?"
The unexpected words make me ask back.
Eh, an amusement park? Why?
"As I told you before, I came to this institution, this school, to learn about the culture of this planet. There is not much to learn in terms of science and technology, but in terms of culture, this planet is full of very interesting things. In fact, it is rare for me to find a school, an institution dedicated to education…"
"So you don't have schools on the planet Amel?"
"Yes. All the necessary knowledge is inserted into the brain by electromagnetic transmission."
Space technology is amazing, as always!
"Speaking of which, where do you live now?"
"For the time being, my ship is stationed above the academy, and I'm living there… I've already manipulated the perception of those around me so that others don't feel uncomfortable when I move around, and I've also activated the camouflage function so that the ship can't be seen."
It's outrageous because she uses space technology so casually.
I was relieved to see that life seemed to be going well for the time being.
"W-well, I understand that you want to learn about culture, but why an amusement park…?"
"I've been doing a lot of research on my own, learning from classmates about this country rather than the planet. I found out that I am what is referred to as a JK, and at the same time, I found data that JKs in this country often go to amusement parks. So, in order to understand what a JK is, I would like to go to an amusement park, and I would like to ask Yuuya-san to guide me there." [T/n: As you probably already know, JK = Joshi Kōsei, means High school girl.]
"Isn't the information too biased?"
I wonder what kind of research method was used to obtain such biased data.
Besides, I've never even been to an amusement park…
"Um… is it not good…?"
"N-no, not at all! Of course not!"
When I responded to Merl-san's sad expression, her face brightened up.
"Thank goodness! Then we should definitely go together on our upcoming vacation!"
"Y-yes…"
The decision has been made, but… W-will it be okay?
As I was feeling uneasy, Merl-san looked at her watch.
"Oh, excuse me! After this, some of the classmates invited me to visit their club activities… Speaking of which, Yuuya-san, are you not involved in any club activities?"
"That's right. I haven't thought about joining anywhere at the moment…"
I was not originally interested in sports…
In that sense, I envy those like Yuti who have something they want to do.
"I see… then I'd better be on my way. I'm looking forward to the amusement park!"
"Y-yes!"
When I nodded at Merl-san's words, she blushed a little and continued, looking at me.
"Also, now that we're classmates like this… U-um… Wouldn't it be nice if you could stop with that tone of voice?"
"Eh?"
"Y-you see, when you were talking to other people, you were calling them by their names and being frank with them… Well, I don't want to force you to do that! It's just… an opportunity."
I have certainly treated Merl-san with courtesy, but…
But now, everyone in the class was friendly, and we could basically converse in a casual tone of voice.
"Well, I guess… well, then, since things turned this way… M-Merl doesn't need to use honorifics either, does she?"
"N-no! I'm a normal person by nature."
"I-I see."
"W-well, I guess I'll be going then!"
Merl said so and then left.
What can I say? I haven't talked to her properly in a long time since she sent me back from the planet Amel, but unlike before, she seems strangely distant or odd… I wonder if I did something to offend her unknowingly. But then she wouldn't ask me to change my tone or anything like that…
…I mean, now that I think about it, wouldn't it have been better if she went to the amusement park with the girl who offered to show her around the club, instead of me…?
As I was thinking about this and that, as I headed for the shoe box, I ran into Kaori just in time.
"Ah, Yuuya-san!"
"Kaori! Is Kaori on her way home too?"
"Yes! Um… since we're here, may I join you?"
Since she invited me to join her, I ended up going home with Kaori until we were halfway there.
On the way home, the topic of conversation was about the athletic festival in which we had just decided on the events we would compete in today.
"Yuuya-san's class is in the red group, right?"
"Yeah… what about Kaori?"
"I'm in the white group. So Yuuya-san and I are enemies, right?"
Kaori smiles mischievously as she says this. However, her expression soon clouded over.
"But… With Yuyua-san as my opponent, I don't think I'll win…"
"Oh no! I'm not fighting alone, you know…"
"B-but I'm on the white group, so…"
Indeed, I knew from ball games and playing together at the beach that Kaori was not very good at sports.
However, just as I alone do not decide who wins or loses in an entire group, it is not set in stone that the white team will lose just because Kaori is not good at sports.
"By the way, what competition are you going to compete in?"
"I would be the ball thrower and the tug of war. I'm sure I won't cause everyone too much trouble with these events, and that's a relief!"
I suddenly imagined Kaori doing the ball throw, but let's not discuss how I could only imagine… hard balls flying all over the place. I'll shut up about it.
When I parted from Kaori and went home, I found that Yuti had already returned home.
"Huh? You're home early today, aren't you?"
"Affirmative. No club activities today."
"I see."
"Question. Yuuya, what group are you in for the athletic festival?"
"I'm in the red group."
When I answered this, it seemed as if a fire was in Yuti's eyes.
"Fighting spirit. I'm in the white group. We are enemies."
"Eehh?"
It turns out that Yuti is also in the same group as Kaori, and this time we are enemies.
T-this will be tough…!
Knowing that I had a strong opponent in the white group, Yuti, I was once again bracing myself for the athletic festival.
＊＊＊
While Yuuya was thinking about the athletic festival, in the [Great Devil's Nest] in the other world, a group of people were pushing forward toward the inner lands.
"Guaahh!"
"Kuh! Hold the line! We cannot die here! We must reach Yuuya Tenjou at all costs!"
The group that kept advancing, desperately shouting warnings against the oncoming monsters, was the evil cult that Orghis were concerned about.
They were gravely wounded, but they never stopped moving forward.
After struggling through an attack by an unknown number of monsters, they took a breather.
"Everyone, be vigilant of your surroundings. After a short rest, we will set out again!"
"Founder."
"What's wrong?"
"I have one question. From which era is the God we are summoning for this mission?"
The god that the believers are referring to is not the "Evil" that Yuuya and the others recently destroyed, but the "Evil" that once existed in history.
Therefore, when asked again which era's "Evil" they are summoning…
"Right. The one we are summoning this time is the one who is called the most powerful of all time."
"The most powerful…?"
"Yeah. But the abominable thing is that there was a sage in those days. Therefore, our God could not wield his power to the fullest and was defeated by the sage… But not this time! If we bring him to this age, there will no longer be anyone to stand in the way of our God. Besides, the abominable Yuuya Tenjou can also be buried in the place of our God. For this reason, we will surely reach the divine enemy Yuuya Tenjou!"
"I-I see! But I understand that Yuuya Tenjou is to be sacrificed, but is it possible for us to summon a God?"
"Don't worry about that either. Certainly, in order to summon a targeted person from the past, it is necessary to have a catalyst for it. But the magic of the sage that we will use this time is the catalyst that will bring our God to us!"
"Aah! Because the God was defeated by the sage, the sage's magic is the catalyst!"
"Exactly! Besides, we have a very small amount of "Evil" power given to us by God. If we use the magic of the sage and the residue of our "Evil" as a catalyst, we will surely be able to summon our God, who is said to be the most powerful of all time!"
"Oh!"
"Come on, believers! The divine enemy is already there!"
Unbeknownst to Yuuya, the hand of Evil was steadily growing.