"Hah… they looked like they were in trouble, so I couldn't help myself…"
The young man who had saved Lexia and the others was in a deserted back alley muttered to himself.
The young man was not injured at all despite being beaten and kicked, as Luna and Yuti had figured out.
As if to confirm this, he looked down at his body.
"I protected myself with 'spiritual power' for the time being… but it doesn't look like anyone, in particular, has found out…?"
The young man, who once again confirmed that there were no people around, let out a sigh and looked at his own hands.
"…I don't know what I'm doing. I'm an enemy to this world…"
Even though his head understood it, his heart was not convinced, and his body was moving when he realized it.
The young man stared painfully at his own hands and eventually made up his mind.
"…I don't need this kindness. I am… the enemy of this world──"
And then he disappeared into the city.
＊＊＊
Meanwhile, in the other world…
"I wish I could have avoided this."
(What a weak-minded thing to say…)
On the stage of the [Heavenly Sacred Festival], Odis, the "Magic Saint," and Usagi, the "Two Saints," were confronting each other.
"I don't have a choice, do I? You and I have too much difference in combat experience. It is only natural that I want to avoid being hit as much as possible."
(Don't be ridiculous. You are an elf, aren't you? You could have had more experience in combat in your long life if you wanted to. If you still think I'm more experienced than you, it's only because you've been cooped up studying magic for too long.)
"Ugh… when you say it like that…"
(Well, that's okay. Anyway, I'm not saying I'm going to go all out, but I'm going to do it in moderation.)
"Hah… please go easy on me."
The next moment, the signal was given to begin the battle.
(It's a preliminary check. Hmph!)
Usagi stamped on the ground forcefully and crushed the distance between him and Odis in one fell swoop.
"You call this a preliminary check?"
Unable to cope with the sheer speed of the attack, Odis managed to dodge the attack by rolling away.
(What's wrong? You've been cooped up for so long; your body must be slowing down.)
"…You may be right. But I can't keep getting beat up, can I?"
(Mmm!)
The moment Usagi saw Odis smiling fearlessly, he realized the situation he was in. To his surprise, before long, countless magic bullets had been placed around him.
(You set up this amount of magic in that split-second evasion?)
"That's exactly it. Now, dance!"
The magic bullets were fired at Odis's signal.
These bullets, which had no attributes and were simply a mass of pure magic power, easily pierced the ground. Even a single hit was powerful enough to inflict a certain amount of damage.
Such bullets rush toward Usagi, numbering in the hundreds and thousands.
But…
"Hey, hey… are you a monster?"
(How rude. I'm just a rabbit.)
"How can there be such a rabbit?"
Usagi leapt from the spot and dodged all the bullets.
Odis cursed at Usagi's brilliant maneuvering, but he did not let up on his attack.
"Then… how about this! [Magic Flash]!"
Odis thrust out his palm as if to aim at Usagi, who was advancing through a hail of bullets.
Then, a line of magic power was released from his palm.
It was like a ray of light, but Usagi barely dodged it by twisting his body.
(Tsk! That's depressing…!)
"Unfortunately, this is how a magician fights. I have no intention of letting you near me again."
A one-sided attack from a distance.
With this attack, Odis had prepared a variety of moves, such as cutting off Usagi's mobility, aiming for the momentary gaps, and trying to wear out Usagi's stamina as it was.
However, despite the desperate situation… Usagi smiled with a ferocious smile that was not unlike a herbivore.
(Interesting… If that's the case, I'll show you a little more power too!)
"Wha-!? Magic?"
To his surprise, Usagi has reproduced the same Magic Armor as Yuuya, using a magic technique that he learned from Yuuya.
When Usagi's body was covered with magic power, his physical abilities were suddenly strengthened at that moment.
Also, the magic armor made it possible to repel magic attacks to a certain extent.
(Let's decide all at once!)
"Kuh! [Magic Wave]!"
Making full use of his strengthened body, Usagi dodged all of Odis's attacks.
In order to intercept Usagi, Odis immediately activated another magic and tried to hit Usagi with a torrent of magic power.
However, using the torrent of magic as a foothold, Usagi closed the distance in one fell swoop.
"Unbelievable!"
(It's over!)
Finally, Usagi reached Odis's bosom and stopped his attack just before he kicked him in the abdomen.
After a few moments of silence, Odis eventually released his stance and raised his hand.
"…Total defeat. It's my loss."
(Fuh… it was fun, Odis. But you'll have to work out a little more before our next fight.)
"I'll keep that in mind."
──Thus, the match between Usagi and Odis ended with Usagi's victory.
＊＊＊
Around the time when Usagi's and Odis's match had been decided.
In the student council room of Ousei Academy, Kaori and Kitaraku were having a certain discussion.
"Now that the stage has been successfully decided… how would it be effective to advertise the event…?"
The content of the discussion was about the stage of the school idol project that Kitaraku has been forcibly pushing forward, and the discussion was about how to attract audiences.
However, since the plan was originally pushed forward by Kitaraku, Kaori was surprised to learn that the stage had already been decided.
"I-I see that the stage has already been decided, too."
"That's because it's better to do it as soon as possible! It seems that Tenjou-kun and the others are doing their best, so we can expect great things from them, can't we?"
"I-I see…"
"That's why I want so many people to see them, but I haven't thought too much about how to attract an audience or what kind of audience I can expect! Hahahaha!"
Kaori couldn't help but smile wryly at the endlessly jovial Kitaraku, as this was certainly no laughing matter.
"Well… then, how about we call out to the neighboring middle schools?"
"Mm, why is that?"
"In the first place, the main purpose of this school idol project is to get various students to come to this school, right?"
"Yes, that's right! I think there are still a lot of interesting talents gathered here. But it would be great if more people would become aware of this school and more students would apply to enter this school than ever before!"
"That's right. That's why I thought we should call out mainly middle school students. And if they are junior high school students, we can offer a student discount on the ticket price, and I think it will help spread awareness of the stage itself…"
Hearing Kaori's words, Kitaraku looked a little thoughtful.
"That's right… handing out flyers in the shopping district and on the streets would be good, but it's certainly easier to advertise if you focus on a specific target audience. Also, although we decided on the stage this time, it would be possible to visit each junior high school from the next time onward to perform… There is a delicate balance here, but the students will certainly see it, and it will lead to our primary goal of gaining new students…"
"U-um… student council president…?"
Kaori timidly called out to Kitaraku, who had suddenly entered his own world.
The next moment, Kitaraku looked up and stood up.
"All right, I've got an idea! So I'll be on my way immediately!"
"Eh? Ah, where are you going!"
Kaori hurriedly tried to stop him, but he just left without a second thought.
"I-is everything going to be alright?"
Seeing that Kitaraku was acting so boldly, Kaori felt a little uneasy.
＊＊＊
"It's getting a little late."
Having finished helping Sawada-sensei, I was finally about to head home.
It seemed that club activities had just ended, and many students had also begun to return home.
"Huh? Yuuya?"
"Eh? Ryo, Shingo-kun!"
When I was suddenly called out and looked toward the voice in surprise, I saw Ryo and Shingo-kun there.
"Are you two finished with your club activities?"
"No, Shingo was actually helping me with my studies. Actually, I'm not good at math, you know. So I really appreciate his help!"
"D-don't worry about it. I always get help from Ryo-kun too…"
"Really? I don't think I did anything, though…"
Ryo tilted his head curiously at Shingo-kun's words. Maybe Ryo doesn't mind, but there are many things that are helpful to Shingo-kun.
Anyway, it seems the two of them stayed until this late to study.
I should study properly, too… There's been so much going on lately that I might be neglecting my studies…
"Aside from us, what was Yuuya doing? Ah, could it be that you're preparing for that school idol?"
"Um, we had that practice, but after that, Sawada-sensei asked me to help out until now."
"T-that's right! But I never thought I'd see school idols at this school, so I'm looking forward to it."
I didn't really feel it because we just had to work hard, but when people look forward to it like this, it makes me feel like I have to work harder.
"That's right! Let's take a little detour before heading home."
"A little detour?"
"Yeah! There's a new hamburger store near the school that looks really good. I've never been there before."
"Oh, I didn't know there was such a place."
Recently, I've been spending most of my time outside of school in the heavens, the underworld, and… in a sense, in a different world than this one, so I had no idea that such a place had opened up in my neighborhood.
So we were on our way to the hamburger store.
Then…
"Huh? Isn't that Akira?"
"Eh?"
Suddenly, we saw Akira handing out flyers around town.
Surprised by the unexpected appearance of someone, Akira also noticed our appearance.
"Oh! It's Yuuya-kun and the others!? What's the matter?"
"No, we're on our way to a newly opened hamburger store…"
"What are you doing here?"
Ryo asked, and Akira handed us a flyer.
"Sweet Magic? A pastry shop?"
"That's right! I'm currently working here as the "nobleman of the pastry store"!"
"Uh… you mean you're working part-time?"
"Yes!"
It seems that Akira is working part-time at this pastry store.
"Oh… I didn't know this kind of store had opened."
"It's still a new place. That's why we're advertising it like this! I'm sorry, but I'm still in the middle of being [the nobleman of advertising]. See you later!"
After saying that, Akira went back to handing out flyers.
I had an image that this kind of flyer distribution would be difficult to get people to accept, but Akira easily slipped it into the other person's pocket, handed it to them, and then walked away──. A-amazing… So that's the nobleman of advertising, huh…?
While I was impressed by Akira's mysterious skills, Ryo muttered.
"So, we haven't had a chance to hang out with him much so far, but maybe he couldn't because of his part-time job?"
"I-I wonder. Surprisingly, I think he might be working while calling himself [the part-time nobleman]…"
When I think about it, there is still a lot I don't know about Ryo and Shingo-kun, as well as Akira.
One of these days, I hope there will come a day when we can all play Shingo-kun's recommended games…
We enjoyed hamburgers at a newly opened store and then split up for the day.