CH 51

Translated by SoundOfDestinyEdited by Zil

“….. Aihara-san, she has changed recently.”

As Kiryuin Subaru combed her hair, Queenigaoka Reika looked out the window with a melancholy look in her eyes.

The bluish eyes reflect a fiery red sunset.

This is a world where there is a sky, a sun, and plants. Apart from the poles and wires, and the crows cawing loudly, it’s not so different from the view of my childhood home from my room window.

As the evening sun streams in through the window, I ask my childhood friend and classmate, Kiryuin Subaru, to brush my hair.

The experience of having your back taken care of by a high school student of the opposite sex seems to be a rare one. For Reika, this is just a part of her daily life, not a special experience.

“Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“What do you mean?　From my point of view, Ms. Aihara has always struck me as a rather peculiar person.”

“Well, that’s true but Subaru, aren’t you aware of this?”

It seems that I didn’t mean to make it a joke, but perhaps I thought I had answered the question rudely, so I spun a word of apology.

It’s not just Aihara, even Hibi-No, it seems as if most of the girls in the class have changed as well.

In addition, the boys seem to be under a lot of stress that is hard to describe.

I hate to say it.

Recently, some boys have been seen messing around with the palace maids and female knights.

Students who use their position as saints to make the weak — their own property.

Reika herself doesn’t know if there are any boys who actually did it.

But it is a fact that they are generally calling out to pretty maids and knights.

The other day, I came across Haruto Tanaka seducing a shy maid with his slightly clever speech for a high school student.

The next day, at breakfast, I remember Haruto was in an uncomfortably good mood.

It is not strange that the confined environment causes sexual desire to build up.

I can’t help but wonder why the brunt of this is being directed at the palace maids and not the girls in her class.

No, I’m not talking about the fact that high school students should date other high school students.

But at least some of them must have been interested in each other since we’re in the same class, they have known each other for so long that in itself should have made the class’s unity stronger.

“On each day it seems as if there is an invisible crack between the girls and boys.”

It’s not only about Aihara Sakuya and Onigawara Hibiki.

Nekoyama Misuzu, who was rumoured to be in a relationship with Toranou Shigenobu, as well as Shirayuki Sahime and Inugami Kanami seem strangely distant after the transfer.

The boys are getting stressed out while girls are on the opposite side.

In fact, in a situation where there is no one to turn to, the reaction of the boys is what should normally occur.

It is therefore more important to find out why the girls are carefree and why the boys are stressed out.

There is no indication that anything is going on inside the class.

So it’s safe to assume that some kind of “poison” is being poured into the class from the outside.

“…… is it a poison that only affects schoolgirls?”

As if reading my heart, Reika loosened her mouth.

Neither Reika nor Subaru are willing to give hints so far and obscure the conclusion.

The girls are strangely distant.

A strange environment where no couples are formed,

despite the anxiety that surrounds the situation.

And above all…

“I’m not sure what’s going on with Aihara-san and Onigawara-san these days.”

“It’s true that every day I feel excited and nervous. How should I say this? It’s hard to describe, but I feel like they’re smiling more.”

While we were eating together, one moment they would be staring blankly at the sky, the next they would be smiling and relaxing their cheeks.

In short, it’s a love affair.

However, I was unable to confirm this fact.

Even though I do recognize female students other than Reika as dust, at least I know each student’s individuality and appearance as a classmate.

That’s what I’m assuming.

I don’t mean to be rude, but…. Aihara Sakuya, that girl, didn’t look like the kind of girl with a pure and serious infatuation, whose face would break into a grin just at the thought of her admirer.

I’m not going to let the results of my thoughts be heard by a third party, because if they knew, I would be seen as a selfish person.

It’s not that I’m trying to dismiss the term love affliction just because I think it’s self-serving.

Aihara Sakuya – even during a meal with all her classmates, she’s smiling at the thought of someone else.

What does this mean?

If the person is in sight, it is common to gaze at him and indulge in sweet fantasies.

A good example is myself- Whenever Reika is around, I would have her in my sight.

If you are interested in someone, you can’t help but follow them with your eyes.

That’s what Subaru thinks as a normal reaction.

However, Sakuya is not like that when someone looks at her gaze.

It’s simply a dull and delusional thing to do.

“Subaru also has some answers, don’t you?”

It’s not as if Subaru spends his days thinking about nothing.

It is true that at the time of the transition, the struggle to find a way to brush Reika’s hair so that it does not get damaged in the poor environment and to provide her with the necessary support so that she does not get tired, has not left much time for other things.

He had noticed that things had been going wrong in the class lately, and he had a vague idea that the reason for this was the detachment between the girls and boys – mainly because the girls were mentally distancing themselves from the boys.

Anyway, Subaru had Reika. Because there was no big story other than the commotion between Niigaki and the otaku group and the rumour that Tanaka Haruto hit on the maid, Subaru were not particularly interested in this,

However,

The situation has changed.

Why is this happening?

Why have the girls’ hearts gone out to them?

After looking at the causes rather than the consequences, a hypothesis emerged in Subaru’s mind.

But it’s something that Subaru can’t understand and doesn’t want to admit.

Because he’s convinced that sooner or later Reika will be the next target.

“…… Reika-sama, it’s…”

“I think it’s probably Kirishima-san’s work.”

I swallowed my doubts, and the first question is why,

Why would Kirishima Ran do such a thing?

It’s easy to see why.

“The enslavement of schoolgirls by Sexual Lunatic”

Revenge? – no, it’s not just for such a trivial reason.

He was in high school, a very impressionable age with a high level of interest in sexual matters and the opposite sex. This is an environment in which he would have made every effort to get along. Suddenly he is thrown into a different world. A dangerous and powerful inherent magic, which was applied independently of his own thoughts.

Ran himself was in a situation where he was unsure of what had happened and what to do.

In such a situation – and I’m sure he didn’t mean it at first – he was told that he was a scumbag who will abuse his skills to rape girls, and nail in the coffin being kicked out from the rest of the class.

Ran’s pride would have been torn to shreds.

If he had stayed in the class.

The girls in my class looked at him like a foreign enemy.

The boys look at him like he’s a criminal, wondering when he’s going to rape the girls.

In fact, at first, people looked at Subaru in a similar way because of his skills.

Subaru’s heart was not broken, because he had the absolute support of Queenigaoka Reika.

Normally, this would be an unbearable story.

“But if this was due to Sexual Lunatic training”.

“Then, that means Kirishima-san is still alive.”

What kind of emotion should I show when I hear those words?

As someone who has been given the same skills in terms of results – or perhaps in terms of irreversibility, Subaru would be in worse case and it’s a direct violation of human dignity – how should I feel?

“But if he is alive, why don’t the people in the palace tell us about it?”

“Well, I can’t tell you. Or to be precise – I’m not an expert on the state of affairs in this world, so I’m just guessing. The people who are hiding Kirishima-san and the people who are overseeing us may be two completely different factions.”

Both Reika and Subaru are completely ignorant of what is going on in this world.

Is there actually such a faction?

But before that, who would be so covetous (TL: having or showing a great desire to possess something) as to shelter Kirishima Ran, who is acting in a way that shows their treasonous intentions towards the state?

But these are all merely guesses with no substance to back it up.

Speculation – yes, the discomfort surrounding the class, the changes in Hibiki and Sakuya, the fact that Ran might be alive – all of it is speculation.

A hypothesis that is so incomplete and unreliable.

But why?

If such an outlandish dream were true – everything would fit together.

Of course, this is a hypothesis based on the assumption that all the problems are due to a single cause, so it is that all the questions will be neatly connected.

“Kirishima …… is alive and well.”

He also wishes that his hypothesis were true.

Although Subaru is blindly in love with Reika, he still has a sense of right and wrong.

He couldn’t stop them from kicking him out.

He was not adapted to the place and he was carried away by the atmosphere – that is no excuse.

In the end, it was Kirishima Ran himself who left, and Subaru personally did not say anything to him.

It is a fact that the atmosphere in the class created an atmosphere that forced Ran out and put psychological pressure on him – if he had gone out of the palace and died, no number of apologies would have been enough.

The only emotion that arises in a person who has taken his own life – a young person – is, of course, condemnation for taking a life so poorly, but more than that, sympathy for the reality that he has been deprived of any other option.

Even if we set out on a journey to overthrow the Demon King and successfully subdue the Demon King and return to the original world.

The fact that we sacrificed one of our classmates will never disappear.

“Subaru?”

“… I’m sorry, something was on my mind.”

If it were not for the presence of Ran in the place, there would have been no one with skills more intense and dangerous than those of Kiryuin Subaru.

It may have been none other than Subaru himself who was exposed to the barrage of criticism.

He recites the name of the skill in his head as it pops into his head.

The skill he was given was corpse manipulation, living dead recovery. It’s a skill that allows you to manipulate a fresh corpse like a puppet marionette and do whatever you want with it – in short, it’s a skill that makes the dead work for you forever.

If you kill them, you can enslave anyone, male or female – demon or human.

Compared to Ran’s skills, his skills are inferior because the skill is a corpse and cannot be repaired once damaged, and enslaving a meat doll that has lost its reason and intelligence is not very attractive to healthy high school boys.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that deep down in their hearts, they feel a little guilty. I would have been kicked out as well.”

Of course, the fact that Subaru is recognised has a lot to do with the image of “Kiryuin Subaru” that he has built up through his appearance and past behaviour, as well as his position in the class hierarchy.

If the situation had been reversed, he would have been in the same situation.

So I don’t think it’s a completely irrelevant story for Subaru.

And

“If he’s responsible for all this… Without a doubt, the girls other than Aihara and Onigawara should also be enslaved.”

This is the worst way to imagine it.

If he already got half of the class – all the girls except for Reika – as pawns, he could stage a coup d’état if he handles them right.

If he is a person who only wants to take revenge on his classmates for hurting his pride and place in the world, he may have already expressed his intention to rebel.

But there is no sign of that now.

Should we assume that they haven’t gathered their forces yet?

Or is it possible that Kirishima Ran is not the kind of person who would risk everything just to get revenge?

In any case, there is still room for discussion.

Subaru is not sure if I’m able to let Ran’s revenge go unnoticed, but I’m sure Subaru wouldn’t want me to.

More than that, Subaru wanted to return to the world as soon as possible and immerse himself in his own life.

To make a wonderful life that supports Reika for the rest of her life and devotes himself only to Reika, Subaru cannot bury her bones in such a remote world.

I want to get rid of my job as peacefully and get out of this world as soon as possible.

“If he can help us–if he’s in a position to do that, I do hope he can help us”.

While casually holding Reika’s hand, Subaru’s amber eyes twinkled.

It’s a little lighter in colour than most Japanese eyes, but it’s a dangerous shade that suits Subaru’s well-rounded features.

He has unknowingly seduced many girls and coldly dismissed them, looking into the face of such dangerous charm. Reika rolled her long eyelashes and let out a ticklish laugh.

“Subaru has remained calm while your classmates – their dearest friends – have been taken advantage of.”

“I’m not interested in any women other than Reika-sama. I’m not going to get into an argument as long as Reika-sama is safe and sound.”

Then, he continued, and Subaru narrowed his soft-coloured eyes as strongly as a beast.

“No matter what the reason, if he were to steal Reika-sama, I would never forgive him. Of course, it’s not just him. All the people who were responsible for destroying his other options… Even if it means going against human ethics, I will punish him, the people who brought him to this world, and all the people who pushed him to this point.”

The neatness of the face is distorted, and a chill runs down the spine.

Without much distortion of expression, Reika gently stroked Subaru’s hand.

“It’s frightening that with our skills we can actually do it. But you mustn’t do anything against humanity.”

When I plucked my fingertips, which were trembling from an emotional outburst, Subaru’s cheeks turned slightly red.

Subaru’s skills allow him to create any number of dead soldiers, male or female, as long as they are dead.

Reika is determined not to let her arrogance or selfishness get the better of her.

Reika is the only one who can control Subaru’s emotions.

No matter what happens, Reika will have to face Ran Kirishima with her sanity intact.

Is that even possible?

No, it’s not.

“It is not a question of whether it is possible or not. Otherwise, all the dignity of my classmates will be lost, including Kirishima-san’s.”

Reika refixes her posture as she calms down the blushing Subaru.

“We need to confirm Kirishima-san’s safety as soon as possible and ask him to help us somehow.”

If he is still alive, that is.

Reika looks at Subaru and purses her lip as if she hoped that the person she was asking was Ran Kirishima himself.

Reika and Subaru began to plan in secret, hoping that no one overwhelmingly powerful or influential would come behind them to take advantage of Ran’s power.