“...Wait a second. You’re going on a date? With that exchange student?”
Akuto nodded innocently.
“Yeah. Well, I’m just going to go hang out with her, since she asked.”
“No... Wait... You’re going on a date? With the exchange student? Just because she asked you to?”
“Well, she did ask, so it would be rude to turn her down. Am I wrong? Also, it looks like people from the Union don’t think of dates the same way we do. It’s much less of a big deal to them.”
“I-I see... That’s right. Haha... hahahaha...”
“A-Are you okay? You just went pale,” Akuto said, worried, but Junko was already staggering away in shock.
—I-I see... Why did I never think of that? All I have to do is ask, and he’ll go on a date with me. That’s right. Of course. That’s just the kind of guy he is...
○
“The observation target’s made reservations at a café? What’s its name? Café Bakhtin? What time?”
There was a look of tension on the local Knight Captain’s face as he received the telepathic call. He immediately began to take down notes in his book.
The air in the knight garrison suddenly became tense. Twenty veteran knights were in the room, busy at their duties, but all of them stood up to watch the expression on the Captain’s face.
“...Roger. We’ll do everything we can to secure the area.”
The Captain ended the call. There was a mix of fear and anticipation on everyone’s face as he spoke to them.
“The Cabinet just called. The potential Demon King will be at Café Bakhtin tomorrow at 3:00 PM, on second avenue. Our job is to protect any civilians in the area!”
“Yes sir!” his men answered him with a shout.
Korone may have looked lazy, but she wasn’t slacking off. She was constantly reporting on Akuto’s actions to the government. And whenever he did something, the reports went immediately to the knight garrison of the town where Constant Magical Academy was located.
But Akuto was an orphan who lived in a dorm, so he almost never left the school grounds. For this reason, this would be the knights’ first large-scale operation.
“Contact Café Bakhtin! Have one of our female knights infiltrate as a waitress, and tell her to get her waitress training out of the way in the morning! We’ll use security plan 1-B! Don’t bring any weapons that would frighten the local populace! And don’t forget to contact the surrounding garrisons for help! And what’s more important than anything: don’t let the citizens get hurt!” the Captain yelled.
The knights in the room began to add red dots onto the mana screen map in the middle of the garrison.
And the next day became the longest day of the Captain’s life.
○
“Um... you really didn’t need to do this...”
Akuto seemed uneasy. He was looking at himself in a mirror, dressed in casual clothes. The clothes were carefully coordinated, something he’d never have thought to do on his own, and he’d even been given some accessories to wear.
Fujiko was the one who had dressed him. He hadn’t owned a lot of clothing to begin with, but she’d told him what to wear, and it had paid off.
“No, you need have confidence in your appearance at all times. You’re the Demon King I worship, after all!” Fujiko laughed as she adjusted his collar, then ran a comb through his carefully-waxed hair.
Fujiko had taken over the Academy’s Home-Ec room to help Akuto change out of his uniform. The two of them together, in their personal clothes, looked like something out of a magazine.
Outside the window there were many girls, and a few boys, trying to peer in.
“Miss Fujiko is so beautiful!”
“But why is she helping the Demon King?”
“I hate to say it, but he’s good looking. If only he wasn’t the Demon King...”
“No, even if he wasn’t the Demon King, I still wouldn’t like him!”
“That’s right! He’s taken our Fujiko away... But we couldn’t beat him a fight, could we?”
The students were talking amongst themselves.
Fujiko watched them out of the corner of her eye as she saw Akuto off.
“Alright,” she said, “You’re all set. Have fun.”
She smiled gently at Akuto as he bowed a little and left the room, but inside he was suspicious about the way she was behaving. There was no way, he thought, that Fujiko would let him be friends with another girl.
Of course, he was right. As soon as she saw him round the corner, Fujiko quickly cleaned up the Home-Ec room and began to tail him.
“I’m not letting her have a date with him! If it was anybody but that mysterious exchange student, I would’ve already sent her to hell.”
As soon as she saw that there were no students around her, Fujiko’s face took on an evil smile.
“That’s right. I’d like to solve the mystery of the exchange student as well,” a voice said out of nowhere.
At some point, Korone had come up behind Fujiko.
“W-When did you get behind me...?”
“It wasn’t particularly difficult. Also, as an observer, it’s natural for me to follow my target.”
Korone seemed intent on going into town as well. For once, she wasn’t wearing her uniform.
“Gaah... This is going to make things more difficult, but fine,” Fujiko sighed, and she let Korone follow her as she trailed after Akuto.
Once Akuto was outside the school gates, Fujiko ran into another pursuer.
“F-Fujiko...! What are you doing here?” Junko stammered as soon as she saw them.
“...That’s my question. No, I suppose there’s no point in asking.”
Of course, Junko was in her personal clothes as well. Three girls were now tailing Akuto.
Akuto was waiting for Keina Doronz in front of the school gate. She was dressed in a perky, feminine outfit that seemed just like what a girl from the Union would wear.
“I see. If she’s going for sporty, maybe I should’ve gone a little lighter on the fancy aspect?”
Fujiko was starting to question her own fashion choices. Junko frowned.
“Fujiko, why aren’t you more worried? Normally, you don’t act like this at all.”
“Hahaha... I’m not letting her have that date easily. The necklace I lent to Akuto has a magic spell on it. When anyone in the vicinity consumes caffeine, they lose self-control in the same way they would if they were drunk. Actually, it functions more like a truth serum to be precise... We’ll learn exactly what that exchange student is up to!” Fujiko chuckled, and Junko took a step away from her.
“Th-That’s terrifying... That means in the worst case, she might get drunk and make Akuto hate her... And if it goes well, we might even learn who she really is...”
“That’s right. And Akuto’s bracelet has a spell cast on it to protect him from it. Akuto won’t be affected by the necklace at all!” Fujiko said, satisfied, but Korone mumbled to herself.
“There’s no way this ends in anything but insanity. That’s what happens when you rely on secret magic items. Everyone knows that, don’t you?”
“Everyone does NOT know that!” Fujiko yelled.
Junko put her head in her hands.
“Oh, why did I come along with this... I should’ve just gone to Yuko’s event.”
Meanwhile, Junko’s little sister, Yuko, was announcing her new song under the name ‘Yuri Hoshino’ at a nearby department store. She would have nothing to do with the events that followed.
○
(The target has passed by the station.)
A man in a suit, who looked to be waiting for someone, sent a telepathic message as soon as he saw Akuto and Keina pass. He was a knight in disguise.
There were others as well: a housewife, a deliveryman, and a man walking his dog. All of them reported when Akuto passed by.
But it wasn’t just the knights who were nervous.
“I-Is that...”
“The student at the Academy who everybody’s talking about...”
The townspeople knew Akuto’s face from the students at Constant Magical Academy. Since the knights hadn’t warned them, they suddenly found the Demon King in their midst without warning.
The shutters started to come down on the shopping street, and mothers quickly led their children away. The only people still outside were the knights in disguise.
(We made a mistake. The people in town know more about the Demon King than we expected!)
(Is that why this is happening? We just got another report! Followers of the Demon King are entering the city to make contact with the target!)
(Can we stop them?)
(We can set up a cordon, but the followers are civilians! If they break through we’ll need a plan!)
The knights began to murmur among themselves.
Of course, Akuto noticed something was wrong.
—Oh jeez... Do they even know me in town...? From now on, I’ll just stay indoors.
Akuto felt sad as he watched the shutters close.
“Why is every place closing? I was going to have you buy me things!” Keina pouted.
“Well, you know, they’ve got their reasons. I don’t have any money, anyway. I couldn’t buy you anything expensive even if you asked me to.”
“Well, there’s a bank right there! Banks have money, right?”
“Banks have money, but I don’t.” Akuto’s shoulders slumped.
“Then go get some!”
(The targets are plotting a bank robbery!)
(Send some knights to the bank, now!)
(Hurry! If they enter the bank, you are permitted to use your weapons!)
“You shouldn’t talk about doing things like that. It’s not right.” Akuto shook his head.
“Then how are you going to get money?” Keina asked, confused.
—It looks like she really doesn’t know, huh?
Akuto was surprised. He felt like he should explain.
“You’re supposed to work for it. If you don’t work, you need starting principal. You can use it to buy stocks, and then sell them... Basically, you buy ownership in a company, do a good job of running it, and then when it grows you sell the company, something like that. Basically, those are the only ways.”
“Oh! I don’t really understand, but it sounds complicated!” Keina put her hands up to her head.
“That’s right. But someday, I want to participate in society by helping run a company.”
(There’s a possibility the Demon King has already bought stock! Have the people at the Fund do a full search! See if anybody’s customer list has the Demon King on it!)
(The girl next to him is from the Union! Check to see if foreign money laundering is involved!)
Oblivious to the chaos they were causing behind them, Akuto and Keina arrived at their goal: Café Bakhtin.
“Welcome,” the manager bowed.
The manager really worked there, but all the other waitresses and customers were knights in disguise.
“Good, this place is still open.”
Akuto motioned for Keina to sit down first as he looked around. There was an odd atmosphere of tension in the café.
—Looks like they’re keeping an eye on me, yeah.
No matter what happened, he would be on his best behavior today, he swore to himself.
Meanwhile, the three pursuers were hiding across the street, drinking from juice cans while they watched them.
“This is pathetic, isn’t it? Staking out somebody else’s date.”
“All we get is juice cans, too. But just you wait. You’re about to see a true nightmare unfold. Hehehe...”
Junko and Fujiko were whispering to each other. The two of them both seemed sad, somehow, but Korone was taking it easy.
“Looks like their date is going well,” Korone said. She was expressionless, but still seemed excited somehow as she took out a bag of ningyo-yaki and started to chow down. She was clearly in the mood to watch.
“You’re not very concerned about this, are you?” Fujiko asked.
“Is watching someone else’s date that much fun?”
Korone nodded and replied, “A little, yeah.”
Korone had said that the date was going well, and indeed, from the outside the two of them looked like the perfect couple. Akuto had sworn to stay on his best behavior, and he’d done his best to keep to that promise towards both Keina and the surrounding customers.
Since he was an orphan, Akuto had worked to save up the money to get into the Academy, and he knew how to behave around other people. He had Keina decide what to order, being careful to hide the fact that she knew so little about everything when talking with the waitress.
Since he’d worked in a place that served food, he knew what items would make life particularly difficult for the cooks if they were ordered, and he deliberately ordered something that would be easy. Of course, he didn’t let Keina know what he was doing, either.
Akuto was capable of being considerate if he wanted to be. The reason he wasn’t, usually, was that he was incredibly dense around women. But, when he tried, sometimes he could cause misunderstandings. Even now, Keina’s cheeks were beginning to get a little flushed.
He’d ordered them the perfect selection of sweets, and then given her an explanation of what tea would go best with them. He was polite towards the waitress, and even careful to keep the menus clean. And after he ordered, he laughed as he explained to her how Imperial customs worked. It would be stranger if Keina didn’t get the wrong idea.
“H-He’s never been that nice to me!” Fujiko bit down on her handkerchief.
“N-No, if you get the wrong idea there, you’re in for a world of hurt later! That’s just who he is! I know this from experience!” Junko had seen this scene play out too many times before.
“I can’t wait to see what happens when the coffee gets here. Heheheheheh,” Korone laughed with an expressionless mouth.
The waitress was trying her best to act normal, but she was clearly nervous as she brought the tray of tea and sweets to the table.
(The target is on his best behavior. Is it possible that he just wants to eat at the café?)
She sent a telepathic message out in secret. But the Captain told her to focus.
(Don’t let your guard down. It’s said that the Demon Kings have always been gentlemen. We can’t be sure he doesn’t have some kind of plan...)
“Here’s the blueberry pie you ordered...” The waitress put down the sweets and tea in front of Akuto and Keina.
“That’s my darling! You picked the perfect sweets for a classy, lug-jur-y-us, and eco-friendly place like this!” Keina was in a good mood.
“No, I actually wasn’t the one who picked this place.”
“That’s just fine! Anyway, darling, you’re the best!” Keina’s mood improved even more as she took a bite of the cake. “They’re using really good wheat for this!”
“I’m glad you like it. I can’t tell if the wheat is good, but it’s definitely delicious.” Akuto nodded and took a sip of the tea.
The necklace and bracelet began to give off a dull light. Then, Keina took a sip out of her teacup.
“There we go!”
“Yes!”
“She drank it, huh?”
Fujiko, Junko, and Korone all yelled at once.
If the magic took effect, Akuto should have been unaffected, while Keina should be under the effects of a truth serum. The three of them watched to see what would happen next.
“Hey, darling, there’s something I haven’t told you.” Keina put down her cup. Her tone was much gloomier than it had been a moment ago. She looked down and put her hands on her knees. Akuto could tell something was wrong, and he didn’t know what to do.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“Actually, I don’t have any memories.”
Akuto had no idea what to say to this sudden confession, so for now he just said, “Huh?”
“I do
n’t know when I was born, or how I got here...” She covered her face with her hands and began to cry.
“Wait a second. What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry, it’s silly to just start crying like this. But it’s true, and when I think about how it’s true, I just get so sad...”
“You don’t have any memories? Like you have amnesia?” Akuto asked. Keina shook her head.
“No, that’s not what I mean. I think... I was just born a little while ago. I can tell.”
“Huh...? Then your memory of me at the orphanage...”
Keina shook her head harder.
“No, those are real! That’s a real memory! But it’s all I have. It’s the only memory I have!”
Akuto may have been dense, but he even he could tell that either his own magic, or the Law of Identity, was probably involved. But what was more important than that was that the girl in front of him was crying.
“That’s why I was so scared until I met you... I was all alone in a world where I knew nothing... And then someone from the government took me in and brought me to you.”
Keina continued her confession as she sobbed, and her words weighed heavily on his heart. Akuto was an orphan too, and thought he understood what it was like to not know your own past.
“It’ll be okay. If you don’t know about anything but me, then I’ll teach you all kinds of things,” Akuto said.
“I-Is she crying deliberately to get that reaction out of him? This isn’t going the way I’d hoped...” Junko panicked.
“Aaah! Akuto is so kind...! But that kindness belongs to me, not to her!” Fujiko ripped the handkerchief in half.
“It seems like Keina Doronz’s big revelation is what’s important here...” Korone said, but the other two weren’t listening.
“Akuto, do you like me?” Keina looked up at him with wet eyes.
“Um...” Akuto froze. It seemed wrong to give a thoughtless answer. From the way Keina had behaved so far, it was clear that she was like an innocent child.
“I think that if I’m all you remember, it’s natural for you to spend a lot of time thinking about me.”
“That’s not the answer I want! Tell me...”
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 6 Page 3
