NOVEL NEXT Chapter 87
The reason, obviously, is to create an atmosphere of service by using massages as a pretext for some skinship with the heroines.
“Who taught you that? Bella?”
I can’t imagine, but whatever, it’s fine.
Good things are good, right?
With my fatigue disappearing, I head towards the top floor suite of the hotel.
Student Council Temporary Office.
At the door, I run into Nagamine Reiji again.
“It’s you again.”
Nagamine’s gaze sharpens.
Clearly wary.
As a zealous follower of the Student Council President and secretly infatuated with her, it’s an expected reaction, but I can’t shake off the feeling that it’s childish.
“I came because of an appointment with the President. Nagamine-senpai, please open the door.”
I got a message that Kasumi-senpai has already arrived in the temporary office, so I just need to join.
“Well, I can’t help it. Fine. But my warning is…”
“Nagamine-senpai, just open the door.”
Warnings, smarnings.
It’s probably the obvious advice to not say anything disrespectful to Aris.
“Grr… Fine.”
Nagamine Reiji bites his lip and opens the door.
Bang.
I step inside the office.
“Have you arrived? Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
I see Aris looking right at me.
Her calm voice whispers in my ears.
“Junior! You’ve come!”
I also see Kasumi-senpai smiling brightly.
Kasumi-senpai waves at me.
“Please take a seat.”
Aris gestures for me to sit.
“Now that Mr. Kim Deok-Sung is here, let’s begin the meeting. First, Hoshino-san, please report the information you got from your meeting with Maruyama Ryou-suke today.”
Aris’s silver eyes turn towards Kasumi-senpai.
“Y-Yes! Understood, President.”
Kasumi-senpai nods.
“They say the operation will be executed on the first night of training. They plan to attack the accommodation with the League’s forces and wipe out our cadets…”
Kasumi-senpai’s hands tremble.
“I-I was told that if I don’t cooperate, they won’t leave Rena alone…”
“Did you find out what level of force the League is joining with?”
“…They said an Apostle would come.”
Kasumi-senpai speaks in a low voice.
An Apostle joining in on the attack on the accommodation on the first night, huh?
From what Kasumi-senpai says, it doesn’t seem too different from the original story.
Not yet.
Since the identity of the headmaster of Meijin Hero Academy is the dangerous S-rank villain “Doctor Moromoro,” a member of the 13 Apostles.
“In the original, I ended up missing Moromoro while fighting him in the underground secret laboratory.”
Doctor Moromoro is the first of the 13 Apostles to appear in the story and the mastermind behind the Chimera Project that turned Kasumi and Rena into chimeras.
By the final chapters of Volume 4, the protagonist Yuji fights him life-or-death alongside Olivia, Rin, and Nishizawa, but Doctor Moromoro easily withstands their combined attacks.
However, after Kasumi-senpai makes mental contact with Rena, who has turned into a plant shape, and successfully awakens her, she stops Rena’s rampage, but then Doctor Moromoro presses the lab’s self-destruct switch and escapes calmly.
Having successfully awakened Rena and stopped her rampage, Doctor Moromoro calmly presses the self-destruct button in the lab and makes his escape.
‘Just your typical villain who shows up early in a light novel to demonstrate how strong the enemy is.’
Of course, I have no intention of letting Doctor Moromoro go like in the original story.
The 13 Apostles are Messiah’s closest allies.
It’s best to reduce the numbers when possible.
‘The Kamiya clan alone isn’t enough.’
It seems like things will proceed similarly to the original, but it’s still too early to relax.
I need additional power.
Not just to win, but to achieve an overwhelming victory.
And I’ve already decided who to enlist for additional support.
“An Apostle… It seems like it’s going to be quite a tough fight.”
Aris speaks in a calm voice.
“Chairperson Senpai.”
“Speak. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
“Let’s contact the Chairman and discreetly send Ritsuko to Kyoto.”
Kamiya Ritsuko.
The former leader of the Kamiya Clan reduced to a slave of the chairman.
Given that there’s already a Student Council President at S-Rank level, adding her S-Rank villain strength would make it easy to reap the rewards once again.
“Sending Ritsuko, that’s indeed a great idea. Understood. I’ll handle that matter accordingly.”
Aris nods after a brief moment of thought.
Good.
Everything is going according to plan.
At that moment.
“Junior, Chairperson Senpai. Rena… Can we save Rena? I… I don’t even know where Rena is…”
Kasumi Senpai speaks in a trembling voice.
Right.
At this point, it would be good to disclose the existence of the secret laboratory.
It’s more efficient to divide the ground and underground teams during the fight anyway.
“Rena’s location is… Meijin Academy Underground.”
“Is that really true? Junior?”
“How did you know that?”
Both of their gazes turn toward me.
In the original, Yuji learns of the secret lab’s existence after subduing Maruyama Ryosuke.
But I don’t need to go through such a tedious and complicated process.
“To be honest, I suspected something was off with Meijin Academy when the exchange match was canceled. So, I requested the National Intelligence Service to investigate. During that process, I found out that there’s a massive unknown facility underground in Meijin Academy.”
Because I have the National Intelligence Service backing me.
“If it’s the National Intelligence Service… That makes sense. But is there a guarantee that Rena is there?”
“The investigation revealed that Satou Rena’s current identity is a student at Meijin Hero Academy. However, there’s no evidence of her being enrolled there. We couldn’t find any admission records in other hospitals in Japan either. Which means…”
I trail off, using the National Intelligence Service as an excuse while reciting information from the original.
It’s a ridiculous excuse, but this is a place where that kind of thing flies.
In a way, it’s tangled information, but just saying this much will lead Aris, who has received the soft touch of this world, to deduce the answer on her own.
“…It’s likely that she’s trapped in that unidentified space underground.”
Just like that.
“Rena… What should we do… Rena…”
Kasumi Senpai covers her mouth with both hands, anxiously pacing.
“If Mr. Kim Deok-Sung is right… We need to grasp the structure of Meijin Academy before the training session.”
Aris’s silver eyes turn towards me.
“That being said, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, would you accompany me on a preliminary visit to Meijin Hero Academy?”
With me?
Inviting me along?
“Hoshino’s accompaniment would unnecessarily arouse the enemy’s suspicion, and I can’t go with other Student Council members who don’t know the secrets, so you’re the only one left, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
“Since there’s no one else, you’re my only companion, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Aris calmly adds her words.
There is some truth in what she says.
The question is whether this benefits me or not.
‘A preliminary visit…’
The fact that I can now escape the slightly tiring Kyoto sightseeing is a definite advantage.
Besides, reality is similar yet different from the anime, so it wouldn’t hurt to see the structure of Meijin Academy with my own eyes.
I need to check what kind of person Maruyama Ryou-suke is as well.
It’s a good enough gain.
Having reached a conclusion, I nodded.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
“Thank you for allowing me to accompany you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. I will contact you separately once the schedule for the preliminary visit is set.”
Thus, it was decided that only Aris and I would go on a preliminary visit.
Usually, the main character does this.
Aris’s message arrived two days after the meeting, on a morning.
[The preparations for the preliminary visit are complete. Please come to my office, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.]
A polite message typical of Aris appeared on my phone screen.
‘Looks like I won’t be tormented today.’
After hardship comes happiness.
The moment I changed into my school uniform and stepped out the door…
“Junior!”
In the hallway, I ran into Hoshino Kasumi, the senior.
What a surprise.
Why is she here?
“Senior? Why are you here?”
At my question, Hoshino Kasumi lowered her head and made a clicking sound with her fingers.
Her face was turning red.
Kasumi stuttered.
“Hehehe… Junior, you have something important today, right? So… I wanted to cheer you on before you go! I’ve been waiting since dawn for you to come out. Wasn’t that good? Even though you’re a black beast dreaming of being a harem king, you’re my savior…”
Savior, my foot.
I’m about to lose my stomach from the morning.
“I understand. Then I’ll be going now.”
“Wait a moment, Junior…”
Kasumi grabs my arm.
With her red face, she hands me something.
“This is a talisman I bought at the Seimei Shrine… It’s not a big deal, but… it’s a superstition… I just want everything to go well for you… Junior, please don’t get hurt…”
As I opened my hand, I saw something made of a red cloth pouch.
It’s a talisman, just like I’ve seen in Japanese animation.
“I… I’m sorry if I’m being too considerate…”
Kasumi speaks in a barely audible voice.
But it’s a gift.
Even if it’s a superstition, I can’t just toss it aside in front of her.
I put the talisman in my pocket.
“Thank you for the talisman, Senior. Now I’ll be on my way.”
“J-Junior? Okay. Have a safe trip! Please don’t get hurt!”
I took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel, leaving the senior behind.
“Back again, are we?”
Passing through the petty power struggle initiated by Nagamine Reiji, I enter to meet Aris.
“You’ve arrived, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Slurp.
Aris elegantly sips her tea as she greets me.
“Today’s plan is as follows: under the guise of a preliminary visit to Meijin Hero Academy, we will infiltrate, observe Maruyama Ryou-suke’s activities, and understand the structure of Meijin Hero Academy.”
Aris briefs me on today’s plan.
“I will use my gift to assess the structure of Meijin Academy.”
Her gift is lightning.
As the name suggests, it’s the ability to manipulate electricity.
In the original work, Aris has shown several times her precise detection abilities through electromagnetic manipulation.
I have no idea how she can apply that kind of ability, but then again, it’s not like light novels haven’t been ridiculous before.
Anyway, she means to use that to understand the structure of Meijin Academy.
“While I use my gift secretly under the pretense of surveying the grounds, you can engage Maruyama Ryou-suke in conversation and buy some time.”
“Just buy some time.”
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll be off.”
Clack.
Aris puts down her black tea and stands up.
We leave the room together.
“Safe travels, President.”
“Have a good trip, President!”
Vice President Miho and Secretary Nagamine see Aris off.
“If even one scratch appears on the President’s body, know that you’re done for that day. Got it?”
Nagamine whispers threateningly in my ear.
“That won’t happen, so stop worrying.”
“Is that so…!”
Nagamine puffs up in anger.
In a light novel, she’s just the typical comedic side character, but dealing with her directly is exhausting.
Why is she acting like this? She’s not even a guy.
Annoyance creeps in, and I suddenly crave a soda.
“Nagamine. What kind of disrespectful thing is that to say to a junior?”
Aris interjects herself between me and Nagamine.
“Pr-President…”
Nagamine looks flustered.
“Being loyal is good, but your devotion is excessive. Nagamine, apologize to Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Nagamine’s expression stiffens.
Cold sweat trickles down his forehead.
“Uh, understood, President.”
He wipes his cold sweat and bows toward me.
“I’m sorry, Kim Deok-Sung.”
You should have done that earlier.
“Please don’t let it happen again.”
“……Understood.”
This is a friendly light novel world, and since Aris, my idol, gave her warning, she probably won’t do it again.
After all, Nagamine is just one of the countless background characters made for a potential anime adaptation.
In the original story, Nagamine even acknowledges the protagonist as the President’s partner after the cultural festival incident.
So there’s really no need to worry about him.
“Let’s go, Kim Deok-Sung.”
I’m led by Aris out of the hotel.
Together, we take a bus heading to Meijin Academy.
Clunk, clunk.
The scenery of Kyoto passes by outside the bus window.
Swoosh, swoosh.
The suburbs are passing by.
The bus stops in front of an academy that boasts a campus almost as large as Shuo Academy.
“We’ve arrived.”
I disembark the bus with Aris.
Meijin Hero Academy.
A nameplate in Japanese glimmers at the school gate.
Brick-red buildings stretch out on the campus.
While Shuo Hero Academy features a sleek, futuristic, glass-finished building, this place gives off a vibe of a traditional, prestigious school.
‘It looks exactly like it did in the animation.’
It matches the depiction from the anime perfectly.
In front of the school gate stands a boy with narrowed eyes, dressed in a black gakuran.
In stark contrast to Shuo Academy’s white-blazer uniform, he looks completely different.
“It is truly an honor to meet you, President of Shuo Academy.”
Maruyama Ryosuke.
The boy, with a name tag bearing that name, is flanked by two boys in gakuran and smiles.
On his left arm is a blue armband with the characters for Student Council President.
“And this is Kim Deok-Sung, the President’s aide.”
Ryosuke’s gaze shifts toward me.
The smirk on his face grows wider.
I’ve seen him in the anime, but seeing him in person is even worse.
Why is his voice so oily?
“Welcome to Meijin Hero Academy!”
Whoosh.
Ryosuke extends his left arm, slightly bows, and shouts with an exaggerated voice.
Seeing a guy do that makes me feel a bit nauseous after a long while.
Isn’t that pose and line a little embarrassing?
I just don’t get it.
“I’m happy to meet you too, President of Meijin.”
Aris, with a neutral expression and tone, approaches and offers her hand for a shake.
The two grasp each other’s hands.
Aris’s silver eyes scan Ryosuke from head to toe.
“Let’s leave the greetings here. You said you came for the training negotiations?”