R and I exchanged looks silently. While the piranha before really did surprise me, I was starting to doubt whether such a clumsy girl really needed to be “dealt with.”
After that, L continued to interfere—replacing the ring toss rings with chakrams, sneaking a strange white powder into my cotton candy, and such—but didn’t cause much trouble on the whole.
“I feel like I keep seeing the same girl around.”
“R-Really?”
If anything, I was having more trouble coming up with excuses to give Satsuki and the others about it. They would worry if I told them I was nearly assassinated, and I didn’t know if I should tell them about the War of All in the future, so I kept quiet about L.
“...Oh? It’s already eight.”
Over an hour had passed by in the blink of an eye. With our curious group gathered, I’d been dragged straight from one place to another. Before I realized it, we were in the full swing of the festival. The fireworks were supposed to start at nine o’clock... Would Rain and the others make it? Just as I was wondering about them, I felt the sensation of something soft squishing up against my back.
“Rekka... I’m tired.”
“Ack! There you go again trying to seduce Rekka with your oversized peaches!”
“...Peaches? If it’s Momo you’re looking for, she’s over there...”
No, Tokiwa, that wasn’t what Rosalind was talking about at all...
“You know, if you’re overwhelmed by the crowd, you should take a break,” I suggested to Tokiwa, whose face seemed rather pale from what I could see as she crawled up on my back.
“...Yeah. Since it’s a special occasion, I wanted to stay with you, though...”
It was hard to deny her when she put it that way, but I couldn’t afford to carry her on my back until the end, either... mostly because of Rosalind’s mood.
“Oh, um... that’s right! Tsumiki and Tetra said they were helping out at a stall, right? Let’s check it out!”
It was an obvious ploy to change the subject, but thankfully no one had any objections, and we all made our way over to the stall from the shopping street.
“Oh, if it isn’t Rekka.”
“Rekka!”
Tsumiki and Tetra were on promoting duty when they saw us and waved.
“What’s up? You guys busy?”
“There was a long line before, but things have calmed down now. You might as well buy something while you’re here.”
“What are you selling, anyway?”
“Kebabs.”
“Heck yeah!”
I asked to see if the girls wanted any, but surprisingly few of them did—only Chelsea and Corona.
“Um... we’ve eaten a lot already.”
“Too many calories, you know?”
“I’ve had enough greasy food...”
The rest of them all just said the same things. It seemed like they were all on the same page, except for Hibiki, who looked like she wanted some, but reluctantly gave up after counting something on her fingers.
“I’m always active, so I don’t really worry about things like that.”
“I’ve never worried about such things before in my life.”
And so Chelsea, Corona, and I ordered kebabs for three.
“Coming right up! Lea, three skewers!”
“Roger that.”
“Wait, Lea’s the one grilling them?”
“Huh? What, you didn’t notice?”
I couldn’t see her through all the smoke from the grill until she started waving it away to say hi.
“I heard you came with Tsumiki and Tetra, but I didn’t think you were helping out, too.”
“I’ve been asked to help out at other places, too, so I’m making my way around.”
“Sales always are always up when Lea helps out,” Tsumiki added.
“And all the other stores said I could eat their leftovers once the night is over,” Lea said as she flipped a kebab over happily.
How typical of Lea to be lured in by food...
“Okay, these are done,” she said.
“Thanks.”
We handed over the money and got our kebabs.
“Ooh! Delicious!”
“You’re using some good meat.”
“This is pretty different from meat in the demon world.”
We each gave our opinions as we chowed down on the kebabs. As I was eating, Lea beckoned me closer. I leaned in, wondering what she wanted.
“It’s actually not beef; it’s my meat.”
“Ack!”
Leviathan meat was meant to be an offering for the gods! No wonder it was so good! Lea grinned like a child that had pulled off the perfect prank. I was about to say something in return, when suddenly...
“Mmph! Mmph!”
I heard a muffled voice from behind the stand that made me freeze on the spot.
“Lea, is there someone back there?”
“Hmm? Yeah, there is.”
She retreated to the back for a moment, then came out again holding a tied-up L by the scruff of her neck.
“I caught her over there just a while ago. She’s been causing mischief all over the place.”
“Hmph! Mmrgh!”
L was murmuring something from under her gag and glaring at me with somewhat tearful eyes.
“Yeah, about that... Lea, could I borrow that for a second?”
“I don’t mind.”
I took L from Lea and headed for a secluded place away from everyone else.
▽
We ended up in front of the main building of the community center, a fair distance away from the festival grounds. The center itself was closed, so there was no sign of anyone around.
“Pwah!”
I removed the gag from L, who didn’t say anything despite all her mumbling earlier. She just stared at me.
“Um...”
Ah, crap... I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to say, either. Maybe start with an opener?
“Hey, L.”
“Don’t act familiar with me, world’s worst womanizer.”
“Okay...”
What was I supposed to do? That hurt more than I’d expected. As I was reeling from being insulted right out of the gate, R stepped forward.
“L, stop this already. You are not capable of assassinating Rekka.”
“What?! Are you saying I should give up? That I’m inferior to you?!” L yelled with all her emotions bared.
But R just calmly replied, “It’s only natural that I would have superior abilities to you.”
“What did you say...?!”
“L, we are artificial life forms. That makes us manufactured products. It’s natural for the newest generation to have higher specs than older models. You could say that’s the whole point. New versions are evolutions achieved by continuous optimization and refinement, after all.”
“H-Hey, R...”
What R was saying made logical sense, but it was a heartless way of putting it. I tried to stop her, but L’s rage lashed out first.
“What... What’s with that?! I was the one who was meant to take that mission!”
“...And so you decided to side with those trying to eliminate Rekka because you were removed from the mission? Just stop.”
Huh? Was it just me, or did R seem a little angry...? She was her usual expressionless self, sure, but she legit sounded kinda mad. No, I had to worry about mediating between these two before anything else.
“Why don’t you both calm down first, you two?”
I stepped between them with my back facing L, and then I heard something snap behind me. I turned around to see L had cut through the rope restraining her with a kunai and was making a break for it... right up until her geta strap snapped, sending her hurtling into the ground.
“...”
Did she hit her head? She was silently lying on the concrete...
“You okay?” I ran over to her and helped her up. “Ah, you skinned yourself a bit. I’ll get S
atsuki or Harissa to heal you up—”
“D-Don’t touch me!”
L slapped my hand away and took a few steps back. She must have been embarrassed. Her cheeks were pretty red.
“Y-You have no reason to be treating me nicely!” she screeched before disappearing like she had in my bedroom the night before.
“Seems I failed to convince her...” R mumbled.
“Convince her? It sounded like you were provoking her.”
“Huh... You think so?” R did several midair somersaults before quietly saying, “I guess I’m not as good at this as you are.”
In that moment, she had a rare moment of truly looking like a girl her age, which made me regret what I’d just said. But I pulled myself together.
“The fireworks start at nine. Let’s go back to the others.”
“...Right.”
We left the lot and headed back to the festival where everyone else was.
▽
After telling Lea that L had gone home after promising to never cause trouble again, we got back to the business of enjoying the festival.
“Hey, Brother Rekka!”
“Rekka.”
“Fam, Rain.”
It wasn’t long before we ran into Fam and Rain—who were finally done with Fam’s homework—as well as their guardians, Shirley and Garnet.
“We somehow made it in time for the fireworks.”
“I’m glad. You sure must’ve had some holdup, huh?” I asked a somewhat shaken Shirley.
“Fam hadn’t touched most of the more time-consuming tasks, like her research project. We had to start by searching for projects that could be done in half a day, then find a way to motivate her into doing them... I’m exhausted.”
“Wow, good work.”
Shirley could probably do a middle school science project in her sleep, but as a teacher, her greatest struggle was motivating a reluctant Fam to do it for herself. And despite what Fam had accomplished over the last day, it seemed like Shirley might really be the one deserving of praise.
“Would you like a sip of this? I mean, if you don’t mind that I’ve already drunk out of it...”
I offered her some of my half-finished slushie. The drink in the pouch was a mixture of sweet juice and crushed ice, making it perfect for the fun mood of the festival.
“Thank you.”
There was a sparkle in her bespectacled eyes as Shirley accepted the slushie from me and put her lips to the straw.
“Aaaaaah!”
For some reason, the other girls around me started screaming, but Shirley continued to sip with a refreshed expression. After drinking most of the bag, she let out a big sigh.
“I feel like all my stress from today has been released,” she announced grandly.
“That’s so unfair, Sister Shirley!”
“Don’t make a fuss, Fam. I’ll buy you one, too.”
“That’s not the issue!” Fam shouted, stamping her feet.
“Hmph...”
Rain, who was standing next to her, looked like she was about to throw a tantrum, too.
“U-Um... The fireworks should be going up soon. Shall we hurry to the baseball field?”
The stalls were all set up along the track and field area of the community center, while the adjacent baseball field was what would be used for the fireworks. It was where our school’s baseball team did a lot of their training. The fireworks would be launched from the pitcher’s mound, while the spectators would either sit in the stands or watch the dancing lights in the sky from the bank around the outside of the field. We arrived early enough to secure stand seats, but we took up a good amount of space with the whole group of us.
“Should we bring a picnic blanket and watch from the bank next year?”
“That’d probably be better,” I said, agreeing with Satsuki, who was seated next to me.
“How about we watch from the sky in my spaceship next year? Just the two of us!” Iris suggested, leaning in over Satsuki.
While watching from the sky sounded nice, just the two of us was a little... But I couldn’t say that out loud with her chest pressing against my arm!
“Or do you want to do it this year? If you wait here, I can bring my spaceship over right away!”
“Oh, Iris! Don’t say such selfish things,” scolded Satsuki.
“That’s right, Iris. Hogging Rekka to yourself isn’t nice,” chimed in Chelsea.
I felt a little like I’d been rescued. Until...
“Hey, Iris is going to steal Rekka. Don’t just sit there, Hibiki! Say something!” chided Chelsea.
“Huh? Wah!” Hibiki yelped as Chelsea slapped her back.
With that, Hibiki, who was sitting behind me, pitched forward and smacked into me.
“H-Hibiki?!”
“S-Sorry! Are you okay?”
I was fine but, umm... her unexpectedly large breasts were pressed right up against the back of my head, making me sweat profusely. Not to mention the nice smell tickling my nose...
“Hmph!”
“Gwah?!”
Two elbows jabbed into me from both sides.
“Good grief,” R sighed, just as the fireworks were launched.
Kaboom!
“Eeeeek!”
Sophie squealed at the sound of the fireworks and clung to her sister’s arm.
Pow!
But her expression changed from fear to surprise when she saw the dancing lights in the sky. The spirit sisters weren’t the only ones in awe, either. Aliens, mole people, demons... Considering how varied our group was, this was the first time a lot of them had seen fireworks. Granted, I thought they were amazing too, even though I’d seen them every year.
The shells the pyrotechnician loaded into the mortar on the mound would launch into the air with a bang. Seconds later, a fire flower would bloom in sky. There was really only one way to describe it: beautiful. Both the spectators in the stands and on the bank looked up in wonder at the final fireworks of the summer together. It was sort of like a herald of the end of summer vacation, which made them almost a little sad. And just as the show was almost over, the most amazing thing yet happened.
“...!”
I thought I heard something struggling. The fireworks had distracted most of the others from noticing, but a few of them realized that something strange was happening on the mound while we waited for the next firework. It was hard to see in the dark, but it looked like there was a scuffle. Someone was throwing a fit. It looked like they were surrounded by adults trying to hold them down. And the one responsible for said tantrum was none other than...
“...L?!”
My eyes shot open wide as she took something out of her red sleeve with a snap, causing the pyrotechnicians trying to catch her to collapse all at once. She had probably used some kind of futuristic technology on them. With her freedom secured, L approached the firework-launching mortar and—just as I was wondering what she was up to—used all of her strength to knock it over sideways. The mortar mouth was now pointed right at where we were sitting in the stands.
“Kyaaah!”
“Whoa! That’s dangerous!”
The people who saw what was happening started to scream, causing a panic to break out. L paid no mind to them as she stood on the mound, lit a match, and threw it into the mortar... but nothing happened. While that in itself was fortunate, the problem came afterward.
She was probably wondering why the shell hadn’t launched, but L got up from her crouched position, uncovered her ears, and walked around to the front of the mortar to peer inside.
“That idiot!”
This type of mortar had gunpowder inside that ignited to launch the fireworks. Things would be fine if the match she threw in had extinguished itself before reaching the bottom... but what if it hadn’t? What if it just hadn’t reached the end of the mortar yet? Or what if something caused the gunpowder to ignite?
“Rekka?!”
Someone called my name, but I ignored them as I pushed through
the confused crowd trying to scatter. If the gunpowder ignited and launched the shell, L would be in serious danger where she was standing! That alone drove me forward in a daring leap from the stands to the baseball field.
“Bweh!”
It was dark, so my landing was a little clumsy. But now wasn’t the time to be worried about that—I lifted my head from my sprawled position on the ground. When I did, I saw a flash of light from within the mortar. From there on out, it was like everything happened in slow motion. Like time itself had warped and slowed. It was impossible for me to reach the mound and save L from where I was in the corner of the field. Even if I had superhuman speed like Iris or Rosalind, it would still be impossible. Not even my magic-wielding friends could have made it in time. But there was still one person who could save L!
“R!”
Could I have shouted her name in time in that slow-motion world? Who knows... But it didn’t matter, because the exact same thought had occurred to R already. The shield she used to protect me from L’s attack activated to wrap around the mortar in the distance. The explosion was restrained to the semi-transparent blue cocoon. It didn’t even singe L, who was standing right in front of it. The shield capable of negating weapons from the future completely suppressed the explosive force of the firework. It even nullified the shock wave from the blast—not even one of the sleeves on L’s red kimono fluttered.
“Hahh...”
I exhaled all the air in my lungs in relief as my sense of time returned to normal. Perhaps my sigh was audible, as L whipped around with wide eyes locked on me and R.
“...!”
She then turned the other way and ran away from the mound, disappearing into the night. I didn’t care about me, but I would’ve liked to hear her at least thank R... Oh, well. At least we were safe.
“Thank you, R. You saved us.”
I hadn’t even had time to ask her to do it. R had moved completely of her own will, saving not only L, but all the spectators from harm. Perhaps R had considered L’s clumsiness, foreseen the accident, and made preparations to counteract it before I had even moved. That was just how skillful she was.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Page 14
