NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68
A scene depicted in black and white illustrations in the book.
In the animation, it was reproduced with high-quality animation.
“This feels uneasy…”
Suddenly, a chill runs down my spine.
“Master, what’s uneasy? Should I handle it?”
Makoto grabs my hand.
Why does she like skinship so much?
“What do you mean handle it? I can’t do this. I have to get out now.”
There shouldn’t be anyone around at this time, but just in case…
Just then, I resolve to leave the bathhouse before Makoto’s identity as a girl gets exposed.
“Ooh! A late-night bath always hits the spot!”
A familiar voice echoes from the locker room.
It’s Ishihara.
“Damn it.”
What the hell is this crazy light novel world?
It’s not like someone plotted this; why are they coming in at this timing?
“Yikes! Kim! What do I do…?”
Makoto panics.
And even now, she’s using the first-person ‘boku.’
She called me ‘master’ earlier, and now it’s ‘Kim’.
If you’re going to play a role, at least stick to one!
I can’t help but sigh.
It’s ridiculous that I’m experiencing this ridiculous light novel scenario in real life.
I point to the sauna facility on one side of the bathhouse with my finger.
“Go into the sauna room. They’re not using it anyway.”
“Got it. Leave it to me!”
Swish.
Makoto rises, balling her fists.
Just as she enters the sauna, Ishihara and Kurosawa come in a split second later.
“Ooh. Were you here too, brother?”
“Kim. Are you getting along well with the transfer student? I’m getting along well with Ishihara.”
Due to the dormitory reassignment, Ishihara and Kurosawa ended up in the same room.
I’m the only one stuck with the bomb that is Makoto.
Kurosawa should have been rooming with Makoto instead.
What the hell is this madness?
Even thinking about it again makes me sigh.
“What brings you here so late?”
“I was practicing with Kurosawa late in the practice room. I thought I might as well take a dip.”
Ishihara replies and jumps into the bath with a splash.
Shortly after, Kurosawa enters the water too.
Their figures become visible through the thick steam.
“Wrap it up and get out. I want to bathe alone.”
Even though Makoto is in the sauna, if those guys are still here by bath closing time, it’ll be all for nothing.
So it’s better to get them out quickly.
“Brother, do you have any worries?”
“Is it about the mentoring outing with Kamiya?”
Spl splash, spl splash.
Ishihara and Kurosawa approach me, cutting through the water.
Mentoring outing.
It sounds grand, but it’s basically an event where, on the second Saturday after the transfer student arrives, the roommate acting as a mentor takes the transfer student outside to explore Tokyo.
This convenient setup was created to stage a date scene between Makoto, who is a cross-dressing heroine in the original story, and Yuji.
Having confessed her true identity as a girl and redeemed through a suppressant from Saori, Makoto enjoys an outing that’s close to a date with Yuji.
“That wouldn’t be a light novel if it just ended there.”
The cliché of everyday life leading to extraordinary events applies even to mentor outings.
When news of a successful assassination didn’t arrive, the head of the Kamiya clan, Kamiya Ritsuko, showed up in person to deal with Yuji.
The continuation of the story is predictable.
A showdown between Yuji, who wants to protect the trembling Makoto, and Ritsuko, but Yuji is overpowered by the S-Rank villain. Witnessing this, Makoto awakens, and the scene transitions to the two of them teaming up to subdue Ritsuko, followed by a natural rescue of Makoto.
“Considering that flow, the probability of Ritsuko appearing during this mentor outing can be estimated at over 90%.”
There will probably be no exceptions.
I need to call in some reliable reinforcements for that…
However, the rule that only two should go on mentor outings is problematic.
“Is it just that old hag again?”
I could consider Association President Ichiro, but calling that guy might lead to nonsense about being a son-in-law, which I’d rather avoid.
Unlike the chairman, the association president usually has quite a bit of work, so he wouldn’t rush over immediately upon being summoned.
For dealing with an S-Rank villain, someone like the chairman would be sufficient.
After all, the chairman is doing a job that barely pays, so if I send a message, she’ll come in under ten minutes.
“Just need to endure for about ten minutes against Ritsuko.”
That sounds doable.
“I know a great route…”
Yuji says something next to me.
I catch bits of what he says.
“…So if we make it there, I’m sure Kamiya will like it too.”
“Uh, yeah, thanks for the tip. But Kurosawa, I think I mentioned I want to be alone just now.”
Time is getting a bit dangerous.
I need to get these two out of here.
“Fine. Sorry. Kim!”
Splash.
Yuji puts his hands together in the water.
I facepalm.
How long has it been since we became roommates, and he’s doing this again?
I wave my hand.
“Okay, so take Ishihara out.”
“Okay. Got it.”
“I’m off, bro!”
Splash.
Ishihara and Yuji wave as they leave the bathroom.
Thud thud.
I hear the sound of clothes changing in the locker room, followed by the sound of the large bathhouse door closing.
Phew.
They should have left earlier.
“Hey, Makoto. Come out.”
Creak.
The wooden sauna door opens.
“Ughhhh… My lord… This is my first time in a sauna… Is it usually like this…?”
With her pale skin flushed pink, Makoto plops down on the bathroom floor, panting.
Her skin, drenched in sweat, clings to her swimsuit, accentuating her already large chest.
A glimpse of her short green hair stuck to her reddened neck is visible.
“Get your act together and let’s get out of here before more people come.”
“Okay… Kim, I’m so weak right now… Can you… hold my hand… please…? I’m sorry…”
Makoto lowers her head and stretches her hand out, looking a bit dazed.
Confusing the titles again.
Sigh.
She acts so helpless.
With a sigh, I take her hand to help her up.
“Eh?”
Makoto lets out a strange scream.
I’ll never get used to those scream reactions typical of light novels.
“Let’s go.”
I take her out of the bath.
Fortunately, no one crossed our paths while changing in the locker room, Makoto disguised herself again, and we left the large bathhouse.
That was a relief.
*
[Come to the Student Council Hall Small Auditorium. Cow.]
[Don’t forget to buy drinks on the way.]
Nishizawa Eri’s message rings on Shinozaki Rin’s phone.
Rin’s eyebrows knit together.
Even if it’s an alliance of necessity, the laundry board’s attitude doesn’t sit well with her.
[I’m not your errand girl, laundry board.]
“I was going to have a snack party, but that’s a bummer. If you want to eat dry snacks without any drinks, go ahead and try it. Cow.”
“Grrrr.”
Rin bites her lip.
It’s frustrating, but she has no choice but to buy some.
Ignoring Nishizawa Eri’s message, Rin buys cola at the academy shopping area and heads to the Student Council Hall Small Auditorium.
Creeeak.
As soon as she opens the heavy door, her eyes fall on a crooked banner that reads [First Kamiya Makoto Strategy Meeting] hanging on the wall of the small auditorium.
Below it, sitting at a table made from several desks pushed together, are the platinum-blonde beautiful girl, Olivia, and the orange twin-tailed beautiful girl, Nishizawa Eri.
“Cow. You’re as slow as you are big-breasted. You’re late.”
“Shut up.”
Thud.
Rin drops the bag on the desk as she enters.
“Oh, you brought cola? Surprisingly decent taste.”
“I don’t want compliments from you, washboard.”
“What did you just say? This cow with a chest full of fat…! I tried to compliment you and you wanna die?”
“If you didn’t hear it, I’ll say it clearly again. I called you a washboard.”
“Hiiii!!”
As soon as they sit down, Rin and Nishizawa Eri start growling at each other.
Seeing this, Olivia slams the desk and says, “Be quiet! You two, calm down!”
Rin and Eri shut their mouths at the unknown intensity.
Olivia exhales a sigh and, with a cold expression and voice, says, “This noble French princess, Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte, is taking precious time out of her busy schedule to talk to a mere commoner like you. Do you understand, Nishizawa? If you waste more time with useless arguments, be prepared.”
“For once, I agree with Bonaparte. Nishizawa.”
Receiving the sharp glances from Rin and Olivia, Nishizawa slowly speaks with her elbows on the desk, hands clasped in front of her face.
Formation! Heroine Alliance!
“…Transfer student. You look suspicious no matter how I see it.”
Nishizawa Eri’s gaze turns serious.
“I already know that much myself. Did you take so long just to say something so trivial? I can’t understand.”
Olivia pouts and snaps back at Nishizawa Eri.
Honk, chomp.
Rin tears open the snack bag on the desk.
Crunch.
The sound of potato chips crunching echoes in the quiet small auditorium.
Nishizawa Eri’s eyes narrow.
“Cow. Don’t you have any awareness?”
“The one who suggested the snack party was washboard, not you.”
Just as Rin and Nishizawa Eri were about to growl at each other again.
“I told you both to keep your mouths shut earlier, didn’t I?”
Olivia’s icy voice pierces their ears.
Rin and Eri’s mouths close.
“So, what were you trying to say? Nishizawa. If it’s a silly story, you’ll be paying the price for wasting my invaluable time that money can’t buy.”
Olivia’s cold blue eyes, laced with disdain, fixate on Nishizawa Eri.
‘If it weren’t for that person, I wouldn’t even come to this stupid gathering. Hmph.’
Olivia pouts.
Rin, who acts all tough but suddenly behaves like a lovesick puppy, and Nishizawa Eri, who foolishly sticks around claiming to be the master, are all women with nothing appealing to them.
As Kim Deok-Sung’s exclusive maid, she cannot allow herself to be near him.
But now, an even bigger problem has emerged.
As his face flashes in her mind, Olivia’s heart starts to race.
‘Fool, idiot, the most clueless guy in the universe…’
Olivia’s face turns red.
She’s feeling all huffy for no reason.
It annoys her that he doesn’t understand her struggles and ticks her off.
Crunch.
Shinozaki Rin bites into potato chips like a squirrel munching on acorns.
Seeing this, Nishizawa Eri sighs and says, “As you know, I am the top-ranked beautiful girl in the prefecture.”
Nishizawa Eri speaks with a serious expression and voice.
“······You’re seriously overconfident. Washboard.”
Shinozaki Rin teases her back.
Even another girl can admit that Nishizawa Eri is pretty enough to call herself the top-ranked beautiful girl in the prefecture.
But she doesn’t want to acknowledge that fact herself.
Shinozaki Rin thinks that way.
“Cow. Just shut up and listen. I’ve endured countless horrible and disgusting gazes from men until now. All men, except for my Master, are the same. They’ve looked at my face and body, the top-ranked beautiful girl in the prefecture, with disgusting, sticky gazes filled with desire.”
Nishizawa Eri shudders at the thought.
“Only my Master sees Eri-ring as Eri-ring. Master······. Hehehe······.”
A smile appears on Nishizawa Eri’s face.
Her face flushes.
Her heart races.
That day.
Nishizawa Eri still cannot forget the contemptuous gaze Kim Deok-Sung directed at her.
In the gaze of Kim Deok-Sung, devoid of any desire, Nishizawa Eri felt salvation.
But that doesn’t mean she has come to like men.
She dislikes any man other than her Master.
Even their gazes are unpleasant to her.
‘My body and heart belong solely to my Master.’
Everything from head to toe, even a single breath, is entirely his.
Only he has the right to possess Nishizawa Eri, the galaxy-ranked beautiful girl everyone desires.
Nishizawa Eri fiddles with her collar.
‘This collar is the symbol that I am my Master’s possession.’
There’s no princess, no cow.
Only a token of connection with her Master, who has only Eri-ring.
A smile graces Nishizawa Eri’s face.
As she blushes mid-sentence, Olivia’s face contorts.
It’s a different temperature than when she acts cold; it’s a genuine expression of having seen something she shouldn’t have.
“That’s unpleasant.”
“I agree. Bonaparte. How long are you going to keep that unpleasant expression on? Washboard?”
Shinozaki Rin, munching on her snack, comments.
“Tch.”
Nishizawa Eri clicks her tongue.
“Stop teasing me. Anyway, the fact that the transfer student isn’t reacting to my galaxy-ranked beauty only confirms that she must like men.”
“That’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve ever heard. Washboard.”
Shinozaki Rin scoffs.
Just as Nishizawa was about to snap at Rin’s words.
“No, Shinozaki-san. I can’t agree with the top-ranked beautiful girl claim, but there’s some truth in her words.”
Olivia nods seriously.
Even Olivia finds Kamiya’s actions strange.
Especially when he had his bag taken on the day of school entrance; Olivia still can’t forget that gaze.
Just thinking about that day sends shivers down her spine.
It was a look filled with jealousy, not as a friend, but as a romantic rival.
But if the transfer student really has that kind of preference, everything makes sense.
“What kind of stupid talk is that? Bonaparte. Did all the nutrition meant for your brain go to your chest instead?”
Shinozaki Rin shoots Olivia a cold remark.
“Y-you’re noisy! How can you say such a vulgar thing? It’s unbelievable for a lady from the top-ranked noble family in Japan to speak like that!”
Olivia points and shouts at Shinozaki Rin.
“Besides, the transfer student is suspicious enough for anyone to doubt her preferences. She doesn’t even glance at girls and sticks only to him! It’s excessive!”
It’s suspicious, no doubt about it.