“Then my lack of breasts is...”
“Having an advantageous weapon does not necessarily result in victory.”
Seeing the sincere look in Suzuran’s eyes, Rosalind finally managed to calm down.
“Indeed... You’re quite right, Suzuran.”
“I’m glad you understand, Mistress.”
What a puzzling emotional moment. My mission was to use the Mind-Melding Device to plumb the depths of the heroines’ hearts—in other words, investigate how they felt about Rekka and write a more detailed report than last time. Recording “Rosalind is worried about the size of her breasts” wasn’t exactly what I was after... but it was amusing, so it was fine.
Besides, there had been something strange about this mission from the start. Though their feelings were each unique in their own way, the heroines all felt some kind of attraction towards Rekka. I would be sure to articulate that in my reports to the future. But my original mission in coming here, although it was to help match Rekka to a heroine and save the future... The goal was for Rekka to choose someone for himself. Which meant it should be more important to investigate which heroine Rekka liked the most, rather than which heroine liked Rekka the most. What was the agency thinking?
As I was wondering about such things, Rosalind sipped at the tea Suzuran poured for her. The clouds over her heart seemed to have dispersed completely.
“By the way, Mistress, I actually wanted to consult with you about something, too...” Suzuran suddenly said from where she stood next to Rosalind.
“Very well. What is it?” Rosalind answered as she enjoyed her tea.
“I want to try giving birth to a child. What do I have to do?”
“Fwuh?!”
Rosalind promptly spat out the tea she was drinking.
“Wh-Where on earth did that come from?!” she managed to ask between coughs.
“I didn’t have any reproductive functions as a homunculus, so I’ve always had an interest in the family communities that humans create.”
“I-I see...”
This conversation was getting interesting... Let’s have a look inside Suzuran this time.
“I have the basic knowledge of how to make a child, and I understand that the first step is to be intimate enough with a male to do such a thing.”
If I had to pick a candidate right now, it would be Namidare, but...
“However, apparently just being intimate is not enough. A certain line has to be crossed to go further. This is the step I do not understand.”
“R-Right...” Rosalind nodded, wiping away the sweat on her brow.
“What must I do to cross that line?”
...With Namidare.
Suzuran kept the real subject of her question secret, but thanks to my handy Mind-Melding Device, I knew who she was thinking about. Was she keeping it vague on purpose because she recognized Rosalind as a rival in love? Or because it was understood that she meant Rekka? Even Suzuran didn’t appear to know the answer, so reading her heart right now was pretty pointless.
But oh, well. She was making progress from the last report I’d sent on her, which read: “she’s spent so little time as a human that she doesn’t know what her feelings are.” Just figuring out that much made this worthwhile, and that satisfied my investigation here. Time to move on.
▽
I was wondering which heroine to visit next when I noticed something interesting going on at Satsuki’s house. I decided to drop by for a little visit. As for what had caught my eye...
“How is it, Harissa? Not too tight?” asked Satsuki’s mom.
“No, it’s fine,” Harissa replied.
It looked like Satsuki’s mom was helping Harissa and Satsuki try on yukatas.
“Harissa, it looks like that light blue one and this pink flowery one are your size. Which would you prefer?”
It seemed like Harissa was going through Satsuki’s hand-me-downs.
“Um... Oh, they’re both so pretty, I just can’t decide.”
“That’s okay. You can try both on.”
“Okay!” Harissa happily exclaimed as she started to strip.
Oooh... She was completely bare under there! Continuing the traditions of Japan is a wonderful thing... Thanks to that, I got to see something good. But, hey, this is work. I didn’t just come to get an eyeful, okay?
“Hmm...”
Meanwhile, Satsuki was looking at her own yukata in the mirror. She was comparing the obi she was wearing with the one in her hand.
“Mom, can you help me?” she asked.
“What is it, dear?”
“Which obi do you think suits this yukata more?”
For the record, Satsuki was wearing a beautiful white yukata with a lotus pattern. She was trying to decide between an orangey-yellow obi and a purple one. Both were pretty.
“I think they’re both lovely, honey.”
“Jeez, Mom, that’s not a real answer!”
Satsuki’s mom and I were on the same page about that, but Satsuki was none too pleased. She must have been really serious about this... so it seemed like as good a time as any to use the Mind-Melding Device on her. Gotcha!
Hmm... Yellow or purple... Which would Rekka like more? I fell behind Iris and Hibiki at the pool, so I’m going to redeem myself at the summer festival for sure!
Ah, I see. She was planning on using the yukata to make up for lost ground with the swimsuits, huh? Satsuki sure was diligent and devoted when it came to things like these. She was even meticulously choosing an obi with Rekka in mind. Having a childhood friend like her was already winning the lottery at life, but that Rekka... How clueless can you be?
“Whew...” I sighed without thinking.
There was no end to the list of complaints I had about him, so I had to cut myself off there. The briefing I went through before I took on this mission emphasized that part of Rekka’s personality more than enough.
For now, let’s get back to the work at hand. I decided it was time to investigate Harissa, who had just put on the pink yukata.
“Wow! This one’s really cute, too!”
Harissa happily thanked Satsuki’s mother, who’d helped her put it on. She then looked down at the yukata in delight.
I wonder if Sir Rekka’d be happy seein’ lil’ ole me in this...
Ah, so Harissa spoke in her hometown accent in her head. The sleeves of her yukata fluttered in the air as she twirled around.
Maybe he’ll plumb fall head over heels for me in this number. Maybe then he’d come to my room tonight and... and...
“Kyah!”
“H-Harissa?”
Harissa’s sudden high-pitched squeal surprised both Satsuki and her mother. She hurriedly came up with an excuse on the fly and got her mind out of the clouds.
Hmm... Ever since they came back from greeting Harissa’s village elder in August, she seemed a little different. Well, according to Aburaamian custom, taking someone to meet the village elder was the same as announcing an engagement, so that was understandable. If only they’d go ahead and seal the deal, my mission here would be over already. But no such luck, for me or Harissa. Yet, nevertheless, she waited in her room every night for him to come knock on her door.
In short, nothing had changed about Rekka and Harissa’s life at home on the surface... just the way Harissa thought and felt about it. From her point of view, she probably felt like she had a huge lead over the other heroines. Whether that would change the relationship between Harissa and Rekka for better or worse in the future was... Well, I’m sure we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
“Kyah!”
“H-Harissa...?”
For now, there was nothing more to do than admire how red Harissa could turn when her little fantasies got the better of her. I’ll make sure to write in my report to the future that Harissa’s love for Rekka had increased even more than before.
Episode 3: Catgirl Trouble Buster
“There are other mole people?”
I�
�d stopped by Nozomiya to grab some lunch with Satsuki and Iris today. And I was currently blankly staring at Tetra because of what she’d just said.
“You mean mole people from somewhere other than Jizu Village?”
“I’m not entirely certain, but...” Tetra clutched the tray in her hands to her chest as she knitted her brow in worry. “Some of my people have seen others with glowing eyes in the mountains. They called out, thinking they were other villagers, but whoever it was just ran away... Now they’re saying there might’ve been other mole people apart from us.”
“Hmm...”
Another group of mole people, huh? The path to Jizu Village where Tetra’s people lived was located in the mountains behind our school, Mitsuhashi High. If that was where they’d seen this other group of mole people, then they weren’t very far away at all.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a mistake? It doesn’t seem likely another group of mole people lives so close and we didn’t know about it.”
“I thought so, too, but people have definitely seen something.”
“Hmm...”
Tetra’s people weren’t ordinary mole people. They were the descendants of the people created to guard the seal on Bahamut, king of beasts. God himself had put them there. So... had God made other mole people, too? If so, what mission had he given them? Or did they have nothing to do with God at all? And where were they coming from all of a sudden...?
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s enough information to go off of.”
“You think so too?”
“Did they cause any harm or trouble?”
“No, nothing like that. Like I said before, they ran away immediately.”
“Well, let me know if you find anything else.”
“Okay.”
We ended the conversation there for now, and I returned to focusing on my food. Iris had long finished her meal, and Satsuki was almost done too.
“So, how come you guys are eating together here when it’s summer vacation? You’ve all got your school bags and everything.”
Just as I was about to start eating again, a bored-looking Tsumiki decided to interrupt. She was playing with a ladle in her hands.
“We’re going to study in the library after this.”
“Huh?! You’re going to study in the library?! With Satsuki and Iris?!”
Was it really that surprising I was going to be studying?
“I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I’ve hardly put a dent in my summer homework, so I asked the two of them to supervise my studying.”
“Wh-What...? Why wasn’t I invited?!”
“Huh? Aren’t you busy with work here at Nozomiya?”
Unless there was a holiday or a family outing or something, Tsumiki worked regular shifts at the restaurant during the summer. That’s why I’d assumed she wouldn’t be able to come and hadn’t bothered to invite her.
“That’s true... but...” Tsumiki replied in a faltering voice.
Did she really want to study that much? What a weirdo. Anyway, I finished up my lunch and left Nozomiya with Satsuki and Iris. Tsumiki looked like she wanted to say something the whole time I was eating, but never did.
▽
Later that evening...
“Man, I’m beat...”
All that studying had me exhausted. Thankfully, I managed to get plenty of work done... but there was still plenty left to do.
“Why are they grilling us like this when we’re not even close to university entrance exams?” I grumbled as Satsuki, Iris, and I walked home together.
“You know, Rekka, you say they’re far away, but you’re a high school student now. It’s about time you take studying more seriously. Things will sneak up on you before you know it.”
“What a pain...”
“I think so, too!” Iris exclaimed.
Ha! With her on my side, it was two against one. We won by virtue of majority.
“Pain or not, you’ve only got two years before university entrance exams.”
Urk, it was a hollow victory... Realizing Satsuki was right, my shoulders slumped.
“Hahh... Can’t they just abolish the entrance exam system in two years’ time?”
I grumbled even more as I adjusted the strap of my shoulder bag filled with heavy textbooks. From there, I continued to lament the homework I still had to do as we walked along. We even discussed what we were going to do at the summer festival over the weekend, and we eventually arrived at the intersection where Iris would have to take a different way to get home.
“Come to think of it, Lyun and Ellicia said they’d be coming to visit this weekend... Oh, this is where we part ways, isn’t it, Iris?”
“If you call me, I’ll come flying to you in my spaceship anytime! Or I could just walk you home if you want!”
“Please don’t abduct people too often, or you might cause a big panic. Wait, you’re still living on your spaceship?”
“It’s easier that way. Japanese houses are so tiny.”
“You have a point there...”
Even though we were better off here than in the cramped city.
“Bye, Rekka! See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah... Oh, we’re studying more tomorrow, too?”
“You should try doing it at home too, Rekka. Otherwise, you might not make it to the summer festival, you know?”
“Ugh, okay...”
We all said our goodbyes to each other... And that’s when it happened.
“Hm?” Iris reacted to something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I heard something. Someone’s voice, I think?”
With that, she fell quiet and tried to listen again. After a few moments of silence, she pointed to a streetlight a little further down the forked road.
“Rekka, over there!” she exclaimed.
She was pointing to a figure collapsed on the road. No one had to say anything after that. All three of us just looked at each other, nodded, and took off running. Based on the silhouette, it looked like a little girl. But she was wearing a hat, so I couldn’t make out her face very well.
“Are you all right?” Satsuki asked.
She gently tried to lift the girl up off the ground, but accidentally knocked her hat off in the process.
Pop!
“Huh...?”
“What on earth...?”
Seeing... those things... appear from under the hat made me and Satsuki both do a double take. Iris was the only one who had a slightly different reaction.
“Oh? Is this girl an alien, too?” she asked.
“What? An alien? But... huh?”
“It’s not all that uncommon to see them in the Greater Galactic Federation,” Iris explained, pointing to the things growing out of the girl’s head. “Aliens with cat ears, that is.”
▽
Putting aside the matter of whether the cat-eared girl was an alien or not, we decided to carry her to my house because she was hurt. Once we got her lying on the sofa, Satsuki and Harissa used their healing magics on her. After a few minutes, she slowly woke up...
“...Meow?!”
And her first reaction was to run. She jumped over the sofa with catlike agility and made a beeline for the window. Judging from her speed, she fully intended to smash right through it by force.
“Hey, wait!”
I reflexively tried to grab her, but I only caught air. She was way too fast for me. For a brief moment, I thought she would get away, but...
“Jeez, where do you think you’re going?”
“L-Let go, meow!”
Iris grabbed the cat-eared girl by the collar. She struggled and flailed in her grip, but there was hardly any challenging the strength of a Fineritan. Iris’s arm didn’t even budge.
“What should we do with her, Rekka?” Iris asked. “She’s kind of throwing a hissy fit.”
“Uh, yeah, about that...”
First we’d need to let her know we meant her no harm, but it didn’t seem like she was going to
be very receptive to listening. Or so I thought, but all of a sudden...
“...Rekka?”
The cat-eared girl muttered my name and suddenly froze. Her cat ears twitched and turned my way as she looked at me.
“Rekka?”
She muttered my name once again. It almost sounded like a question. Wait, why... was I suddenly overcome with a sense of déjà vu?
“Huh? What gives? She got quiet all of a sudden.”
Realizing there was no longer a need to restrain her, Iris let the cat-eared girl go. This time, she didn’t try to run. Instead, she approached... and started sniffing me.
“Wh-What...?”
“...”
Rather than answering, she just stared up at me silently. This should have been our first time meeting, and yet... there was something familiar about the way her eyes and ears twitched. Suddenly, she tore her eyes away from me and started to do the same thing to Satsuki.
“...Satsuki?”
“Huh?”
Satsuki looked shocked when she heard the girl say her name, too. Wait. How did she know Satsuki’s name? Was there a connection between me, Satsuki, and this cat-eared girl? I’d never met a cat-eared girl before, but there was one time...
“Oh...”
That had to be it. It was the only memory I had involving me, Satsuki, and a cat of some kind. It was a memory from long ago, when we were still kids.
“Is that you, Ai?” I asked.
That was the name of the kitten we used to look after under the veranda of the local shrine. And when I said it, the cat-eared girl’s expression instantly brightened.
“Meow! It really is you, Rekka! Long time no see, meow!”
Then she proceeded to jump at my chest, her ears twitching happily.
▽
So, as it turned out, the catgirl we picked up was really the kitten Satsuki and I had taken care of when we were younger.
“Um... So you’re some kind of magical being? Like a yokai? Did I get that right?” I asked, a bit hesitant.
Ai’s cat ears covered in indigo fur twitched as she tilted her head.
“I wasn’t before, meow, but I am now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was a normal cat in the beginning. But one day, I realized I’d become like this. Apparently I’m what they call a nekomata, meow.”
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Page 9
