2 - Seaside Album

The air bus was filled with tension. The bus was smaller than the classroom, only just big enough to hold Miss Mitsuko and Akuto’s class. So when a few people started acting nervous, everyone else would immediately pick up on it.

As always, Akuto was the cause of this tension.

“I-I’m telling you to stop being so lewd!”

The one yelling was Junko Hattori, the class representative. She was a beautiful, elegant girl. However, her face was now bright red as she screamed at Korone. It was clear from the way she was trying to hide her blushing that the redness came from embarrassment, not anger.

Korone was sitting on Akuto’s lap. Akuto, Hiroshi, Keena, Junko, and Korone were all sitting in a four-person box seat. There was one person too many because Korone was on Akuto’s lap, but only she was enjoying it. She was clinging to him like the mistress of a villain in a movie.

Korone was wearing a swimsuit today. And it was a tiny bikini. And the bottom was mostly string above the hips, and below it was little more material than a band-aid. The tail that was unique to Liradans was brushing against Akuto’s thighs. As for the top, given Korone’s slender frame it just looked like two cloth triangles pasted to her chest.

Korone answered Junko in her usual calm demeanor.

“You’re jealous, aren’t you? I understand. But don’t worry. You can wear the same thing, and Akuto will be yours instantly.”

Korone took another swimsuit out from the bag at her side and waved it in front of Junko’s face. It was nothing but a single string in a Y shape, and anyone who wore it would be almost literally naked.

Of course, this only made Junko’s face flush deeper red. She stood up with crazed eyes and put her hand on her dagger.

“No way in hell am I wearing this! Why would I want to seduce him with a swimsuit anyway? I’d rather just kill him! Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do! I’ll kill him, and then I’ll die too!”

Junko tried to lunge at Akuto with her dagger. Akuto, meanwhile, was completely perplexed.

“J-Just calm down! Hattori, calm down! And Korone, you’re the one at fault here, so apologize!”

Akuto turned towards Korone as he tried to grab at the hand with the dagger.

Korone bowed expressionlessly.

“I am sorry. But I was only recommending it out of kindness to you. If you wear a swimsuit and sit on his lap, I guarantee you he’ll instantly get hard as a rock.”

Now it was Akuto’s turn to freak out.

“Wh-What are you talking about? It would take a lot more than that...”

And then Junko started to scream more.

“That’s so nasty!”

But Korone was unperturbed.

“I simply meant that you seem to be nervous. Did you misunderstand me?”

“Wh-Wha...!”

Both Akuto and Junko froze for a second.

And then Korone made things worse.

“If simply imagining it was sufficient to cause this panic, then Junko, you must be a very innocent girl. But don’t worry. Akuto and I will instruct you in the ways of sexuality.” The tension in the bus grew even thicker, and their classmates started to murmur.

“He said a girl in a swimsuit sitting on his lap isn’t enough to get him hard...”

“And the two of them are going to instruct the class rep on how to have sex...”

“That’s going too far, even for the Demon King...”

“The seaside retreat will probably turn into an orgy...”

Akuto decided he had to do something. He stood up to speak to his classmates, but he was so flustered he forgot that he had Korone on his lap. She grabbed onto him before she could fall to the ground, and acting on pure reflex, he grabbed her too.

The knot on her swimsuit came undone, and now it only served as a thin barrier between her crotch and Akuto’s.

By standing up, he’d ended up making her look more sexual than if she were simply naked. However, he still managed to get some words out.

“Everyone, please settle down. This isn’t a big deal. This kind of thing happens all the time. The class rep isn’t actually upset, so don’t worry.”

Akuto sat back down in his chair so that he could fix Korone’s swimsuit, but when he heard the whispers around him and saw the look on Junko’s face, he realized what he’d implied.

“So that’s it... they do this stuff every day, so this isn’t a big deal to them.”

“The class rep’s just jealous, huh? I guess they’re getting off on doing it in public...”

Akuto didn’t know what he could say to remedy the situation, so he just stayed silent.

—Ah crap. I was looking forward to having fun at the retreat... Man, why do I always do this to myself.

He glanced at Junko, who had turned to look out the window and was sitting still as a statue.

Then he glanced at Hiroshi. He wasn’t expecting him to offer any help. Usually Hiroshi was the one who just made things worse. But today he was strangely silent.

Hiroshi seemed lost in thought, and wasn’t looking at Akuto.

—He must be thinking about that legend... I wonder what will happen when we get to the island.

The only person who didn’t seem down was Keena.

“Ackie, don’t be so mean to girls, okay?” she said as she offered him a snack. He couldn’t tell if she knew what was going on at all.

“These senbei crackers are made from specially selected rice, and each cracker is made individually by hand.”

“That’s cool.”

Akuto didn’t really care about the senbei crackers, but since nobody else was going to talk to him, he decided to take one and eat it.

But before he could put it in his mouth, Korone grabbed it. She stuffed it in her mouth and started to chew.

—Wh-What is she thinking?

Akuto couldn’t help but think that her strange behavior pointed to some deeper mystery.

But eventually the time came for him to escape this painful situation.

“I see the island!” somebody said.

Akuto looked out the window.

He could see a green-ish circle floating in the cobalt-colored sea. It was a coral reef. In the center of it was a tiny island with white beaches around its edge. It was like a picture from an encyclopedia entry on tropical islands.

“It’s pretty, huh?” Junko said. She must have forgotten how mad she was earlier.

“It really is,” Akuto said. He meant it. He’d lived a hard life, and had never had the chance to see a tropical island up close.

But Hiroshi didn’t even bother looking out the window. He just sounded bored.

“The island showed up about a century ago after an earthquake. The coral and the forests are both transplants. The whole stupid thing is artificial.”

This effectively killed the mood.

“You don’t need to put it like that.”

Akuto spoke softly, so he wouldn’t come across as mad. Hiroshi shook his head as if startled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Hiroshi apologized, but that only made it harder for Akuto talk to him.

Only the people in Akuto’s seat could hear Hiroshi, so the rest of the class was chattering with excitement.

The air bus soon landed on the island’s beach. Miss Mitsuko gave out instructions, and Akuto’s classmates raced out when the door opened.

Akuto was the last one out. The bright sunlight made for a scene filled with vivid contrasts. Coconut trees cast long shadows on the beach, while the waves quietly rolled up to it. Unlike the view from above, seeing it up close made him realize how different this was from any place he’d ever been.

—This place may be artificial, but it’s nice.

He looked towards Hiroshi, who still looked depressed. It wasn’t that Akuto was upset with him. He just felt disappointed that they couldn’t enjoy the scenery together. Keena was excited, of course, and Junko was smiling. It was sad that Hiroshi couldn’t join in the fun.

“Hey...”

He started trying to say something to Hiroshi, but stopped when he got the prickly feeling that someone was looking at him. It was a feeling of dread, like that person felt hatred for him.

He turned to look for the source. It had seemed to be coming from the woods behind the beach, but no one was there.

—I guess I imagined it. I mean, surely the people here will welcome us... The seaside retreat happens every year.

Miss Mitsuko called the group together.

“We’re moving into the dorms. I’ve got a list of stuff I have to read off to you, so pay attention!”

Akuto had lost his chance to talk to Hiroshi. The whole group started to follow Miss Mitsuko.

The narrow path that led away from the beach ended at a small three-story building. It looked like a Japanese inn, but the sign on it read “Constant Magical Academy Dorm.”

Akuto had been scanning the area as he walked, and he’d seen several houses lined with traditional Japanese tiles along the way. That must have been the village.

—I wonder if that’s where Hiroshi was born.

Akuto thought, but he didn’t feel like he could ask him directly. The fact that the houses seemed to be empty just made it harder to ask.

Once they were inside the dorm, Miss Mitsuko motioned for him to come with her. He followed, confused, only to find that he’d been given a personal room.

“Everyone else is sleeping in a big room together, right?” Akuto complained, but Miss Mitsuko just laughed.

“Just be happy you got to come at all, okay? And this lets you have some private time with your girls, too. Good luck.”

“Good luck with what?” Akuto sighed, but then he realized that Miss Mitsuko might know something about Hiroshi.

“So I heard that this is where Hiroshi was born...” he began. Miss Mitsuko frowned.

“That’s right. But he doesn’t seem to like it very much. I wonder if it’s just the usual teenage rebellious phase.”

“I don’t understand why someone would hate the place they were born, though.”

“That’s because you don’t have a home. Just remember that he doesn’t understand how you feel either. So just be kind to him.”

Miss Mitsuko smiled.

“You think so? I guess...” Akuto said, but honestly he didn’t understand what she meant.

“Since you’re here, though, forget about stuff and have some fun,” Miss Mitsuko said with a wink.

○

There were 30 students to a class, and classes A through F. All in all, about 180 students from first year had come to the retreat. That was a big group, but the beach was plenty large, so each of the students had room to go wherever they liked.

Akuto had set down his towel a distance away from everybody else under the shadow of some rocks, and was sitting down on it. Keena was next to him, lying down under a parasol.

She was wearing a two-piece bikini, and lying face down as her legs bounced up and down happily.

“This is kinda fun, isn’t it?” she said, smiling at him.

Akuto wasn’t sure how to respond. Keena had to take off her clothes when she used her invisibility magic, so if anything, he was more used to seeing her naked. But when she smiled at him in a revealing swimsuit, he wasn’t sure where he was supposed to look. As he sat there with a blank expression on his face, Keena tickled his knee.

“Uwah!”

“Come on, you need to have some fun. Or are you just too enamored by my swimsuit to speak?” Keena giggled.

He was used to jokes like that from Korone, but hearing them from Keena was different. He blushed.

“You’ve got the face and body of a child, though,” he said. Keena puffed out her cheeks.

“It’s okay! My face and body are still growing!”

“I hope your brain does too,” he laughed, and Keena laughed too.

“Are you sure? If I grow up, I’ll have you wrapped around my finger.”

She sounded like she was joking, but a cold shiver ran down Akuto’s spine. It didn’t matter what the other girls said, but when she said it, it sounded true.

—Keena really does feel different than the other girls...

Suddenly someone jumped on him from behind.

“Wh-What?”

He was shocked to feel bare flesh pressed against his own, and turned around. Korone had jumped on top of him.

“Would you please rub suntan lotion on me?”

“Huh?”

Akuto was completely caught off guard.

Korone had changed her swimsuit. For some reason, she was wearing a school swimsuit like the ones middle school girls wore. It fit her figure perfectly, but it felt out of place here. It even had the name “Korone” written across the chest.

Korone slipped herself between him and Keena and lay down.

“Would you please rub suntan lotion on me?” she repeated, and then she took the lotion out of the bag on her shoulder and handed it to Akuto.

“...Do Liradans get sunburnt?”

“Read the package carefully.”

The package read: “Suntan lotion for Liradans! Stops your coating from coming off in bright sunlight, and keeps the salt from getting into your body when you go into the ocean!”

“It sounds like car wax... But even if I wanted to, I don’t think I can when you’re wearing that swimsuit...” Akuto said.

“It’s fine,” Korone responded. “You’ll need to put the lotion on the part covered by the swimsuit, but that’s a simple matter of sticking your hand inside it. See? The swimsuit opens here. You can just stick it in.”

She flipped around so that she was facing up, and then grabbed the lower part of her swimsuit and lifted it. The front of it was open, and he could see beautiful alabaster skin underneath.

“No, wait a second. I-I can’t put my hand in there...”

Naturally, Akuto refused. He glanced at Keena, who seemed actually upset for once.

—Yeah, even she realizes that Korone is acting weird.

Korone suddenly sat up. She grabbed the swimsuit and pulled it to the side, then yanked it down to her waist.

“What are you doing?!”

For an instant, he saw her breasts. He quickly looked away, but Korone made no effort to hide herself.

“It’s cute how you get upset over a naked girl. I took my clothes off to make it easier to put the lotion on. Come on, touch my breasts.”

She grabbed his hands and tried to lead them to her chest.

“W-Wait a second...”

Akuto tried to resist. But since he didn’t want to get rough with her or push her away, all he could do was look away and try to keep his hands from moving.

“W-Wait...”

But before anything else happened, he was strangely rescued by a fierce blow hitting him in the back of the head.

“Wh-What are you doing, you pervert?!”

He turned around and saw Junko, her fists clenched and face red. She was wearing a simple one-piece swimsuit that looked like it might have been intended for a competition.

“Th-Thanks. You actually saved me this time.”

Akuto moved away from Korone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Junko wasn’t sure why he was thanking her, but she knelt down in front of Korone and pulled her swimsuit back up. Korone calmly let her do it.

“Sheesh... how can you act like this with Keena watching? Anyway. I came to tell you that Miwa’s visiting his family.”

Once she was done dressing Korone, Junko stood up and turned to him to speak.

“I see. So that’s why he’s not here. He was acting kind of weird, I hope everything’s okay.”

“Miss Mitsuko was a little worried, so she asked me to tell you. Now, I’ll be on my way...”

Junko went to leave. Akuto grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

“Wait, want to go swimming together?”

He wanted to get away from Korone, and he figured it would be a good time to apologize for what happened on the bus.

“Huh...?” Junko smiled for a moment, but then she quickly scowled and looked away.

“Do you think you’ve got any right to ask me to go swimming with you? Do you think you can try to seduce every girl you see, and then only ask me to swim when it’s convenient for you?”

“If you’re mad about what’s happened on the bus, then I’m sorry. For the record, Korone has been acting weird. But I think it’s partially my fault too. I’m sorry.”

Akuto lowed his head.

Junko seemed unable to stop herself from smiling.

“F-Fine. If you’re willing to apologize, then I suppose I can go swimming with you for a while. You’re probably lonely, since without Miwa you don’t have any friends.”

“Thanks. I’ve really never had a chance to do anything like this. It would really help me if you’d tell me what I was supposed to do,” Akuto said.

The serious look on his face seemed to be enough to convince Junko that he meant it. She burst out laughing and stared at him.

“What is the deal with you?” she asked. “Just enjoy yourself. Wait, maybe I’m not one to talk. I’m not great at enjoying myself either.”

She grabbed Keena, who’d been watching the two of them with a grin, and made her stand up.

“You come too. You can’t come this far and not get in the water.”

“Okay!” Keena nodded enthusiastically. Before she left, she took a glance back at Korone, but Korone seemed to have decided to let the three of them have fun by themselves. She was sitting on a towel and not moving.

The three of them went up to the water deep enough that the waves lashed against their ankles, but they paused as if waiting to see who was going in first.

“Being the first one to go into the water...”

“...takes some courage, doesn’t it?” Junko and Keena laughed.

“Maybe there’s some psychological resistance to getting wet,” Akuto said as he walked forward. He got waist-deep before turning around to see that Junko and Keena were still where they’d been.

“What’s wrong? You’re not coming with me?”

Keena just laughed in response.

“Ackie! This tickles!”

Keena pointed at her feet.

“The waves wash away the sand beneath your feet and it feels really weird.”

Junko’s legs were fidgeting.

Akuto laughed when he saw it.

“It’s kind of surprising to see you acting that way, Hattori.”

“Y-You dummy! What are you talking about? I’m perfectly calm!”

Junko shook her head, and began to walk into the ocean with big strides.

“Oh, Junko! Wait!” Keena called as she followed after her.

“This is your fault for asking me if I wanted to go swimming with that stern face of yours...”

Junko got close to Akuto, then scooped up the seawater with both hands and splashed it in his face.

“...You’re definitely overly excited!”

“Uwah!”

Akuto’s face was soaked. He shook his head, sending water spraying everywhere.

“I didn’t even splash water at people when I was a... kid!”

Akuto splashed back at her. Junko was soaked from head to toe, and the two of them laughed at each other.

“Oh, that’s not fair! You look like you’re having such fun!”

Keena leapt at both of them, knocking them into the sea.

“Uwah!”

He screamed as he fell, but Akuto felt a sense of fulfillment that he’d never felt before.

—I never thought I’d be able to have a normal school life like this... I’m glad I didn’t die in an unfortunate accident or something...

“What are you grinning at? It’s indecent!” Junko said jokingly as she dragged Akuto down underwater.

Usually when she said something like that, it would be followed by a full-power punch, but today the strength in her hands was gentle. Akuto struggled just a little for show, and when he found an opening he dove deeper into the water and swept Junko off her feet. Junko screamed as she sank too.

They played for a while before he heard Keena say, “Hey! Hey!”

They both stopped and turned to look at her.

“Hey, what’s this? There’s a whole bunch on the bottom of the sea!”

Keena grinned as she showed it to them.

It was brown and cylindrical, and just fit in the palm of her hand. It was slimy and wet, and it had spots like a snake.

“That’s a sea cucumber, right? I’ve seen them in encyclopedias and stuff,” Akuto said.

“Wow, so this is a sea slug, huh? It feels really weird, like it’s all slick!”

Keena laughed innocently and began to rub the cylindrical object up and down in her hands.

“I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to play with that... okay?”

Akuto laughed and looked at Junko, who seemed afraid of the object in Keena’s hand.

“K-Keep that away from me.”

“Hattori, you don’t like them?” Akuto asked. She nodded without looking back at him.

“Th-That’s right. I don’t like things that are all slick and wet, like frogs.”

She was still staring at the sea cucumber in Keena’s hands. She seemed worried that Keena might throw it at her. Akuto realized what she was doing and warned Keena.

“Hey, Hattori doesn’t like it, so don’t point it at her too much.”

Keena nodded.

“Okay, I won’t!”

But in that instant, she must have squeezed hard on it. Something white came spurting out of the tip. It looked sticky.

—That’s right. Sea cucumbers spit out their insides, don’t they? I guess that’s what this looks like...

But when he saw where the insides had gone, he realized that this wasn’t the time to ponder sea cucumber physiology.

The white sticky stuff had landed on Junko’s face.

“Hyaah! Kyaaah!”

Junko screamed and leapt out of the sea and into the sky with the agility of a ninja. In an instant, she was back on the beach.

“See? I told you,” Akuto said.

“Sorry!” said Keena. She didn’t seem to know what to do with the sea cucumber, so she just played with it in her hands.

“I’ll go after her,” Akuto said as he went back onto the beach himself.

He followed after Junko’s footsteps in the sand, and it didn’t take long to catch up on her. Junko was near some rocks, trying desperately to get the white stuff off her face.

“Hattori, are you okay?”

When Akuto approached, she ran up to him.

“G-Get it off me! It’s all sticky!”

She hugged him and held him tight. He looked at her face. It was normally sharp and well-defined, but now it a white, sticky mess.

“F-Fine. Don’t move.”

Akuto carefully ran his fingers down her face. The stuff seemed like long white fibers. He carefully plucked them off her little by little.

“I don’t think it’s poisonous or anything, so you should be fine. Yeah, your face isn’t swelled up or anything,” Akuto said, trying to make her feel better.

“R-Really? Just get them off me.”

Junko seemed to have forgotten herself, and was clinging to him tightly. It made it hard enough to move that it was bothering him, so with his free hand he touched her arm.

“I know you’re scared, okay? But just ease off a little.”

Junko’s face turned bright red as she slowly took her arms off of Akuto.

“D-Don’t get any stupid ideas.”

“I know. You were just scared, right?”

“Th-That’s not it either! You dummy! Even if I was scared, I’d never go to you for help.”

“I know that, too. But you know, I was a little relieved. When we were out in the water, it felt like the time I first met you. It was bothering me how composed you are at school,” Akuto said.

Junko began to fidget a little and looked at him critically.

“H-How could you say that? I’m so humiliated that I ended up in this state. You’re the only one I’ll let see me like this, okay? And it’s only because you’re such a weirdo anyway.”

“I’m not acting any differently than normal. It’s just that everyone around me acts strangely.”

“That just means you were weird from the beginning.”

“Then there’s nothing I can do about it... there. Got it.”

Akuto took the last sticky white strand off her face.

For some reason, Junko looked disappointed. A moment ago she’d been trying to move away, but now she froze and looked up at him.

“What’s wrong?” Akuto asked. She shook her head as if embarrassed.

“N-No... I just realized I hadn’t thanked you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It was Keena’s fault to begin with.”

“What Keena does isn’t your responsibility, is it?”

“That’s true, but I’ve just got this feeling that it’s my job to keep an eye on her,” Akuto laughed. Strangely, Junko looked serious now.

“Y-You call Keena by her first name, don’t you? We’re friends too. So why don’t you call me by my first name?”

She looked down at her feet.

“It’s because you just seem like you’re really prim and proper...”

Akuto felt something warm and strange rising up in his chest, and didn’t know how to react.

—But when I see how differently she acts around me, it definitely makes me feel like I should call her by her first name. I guess it’s the right thing to do...

“Jun... ko...”

He said, feeling a little embarrassed. Junko looked up at him and started to mumble.

“A-Aku...”

And then before she could finish, it happened. It was so sudden that Akuto didn’t have time to react, and it must’ve been even more inexplicable for Junko.

At some point, Korone had snuck up behind Junko. And with her usual lack of expression, she’d put her hand on Junko’s swimsuit, and suddenly yanked it down to her stomach.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Both Akuto and Junko lost the ability to speak. Neither of them moved for a moment. And because of that, Junko’s bare top was exposed to Akuto for a good three seconds.

“Uh...”

“Hya...”

Finally Junko figured out what had happened.

“Hyaaaah!”

She screamed and dropped to her knees.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing, Korone?!” Akuto screamed, but Korone was unfazed.

“I was attempting to add atmosphere.”

“Don’t lie to me. Why would you do something so mean?”

Korone didn’t seem to understand what he was saying.

“Just because you’re my observer doesn’t mean you can do stuff like this, okay? You shouldn’t be causing problems for the people around me. You’re not her classmate, so it’s not okay for you to mess with her!”

“That’s correct, yes. I am not her classmate, nor yours. I am simply an observer,” Korone said, but her monotone voice seemed a little different than usual.

—Huh?

Akuto suddenly realized what was going on. There was emotion in her voice.

“Perhaps I was wrong to interfere with your life. However, please know that I’m simply not good at this. I didn’t intend to hurt you,” Korone whispered.

“W-Wait...” Akuto began to speak, but Korone continued in her sad, flat tone.

“Please don’t let it bother you. This is my fault. Please don’t forget that I just want to be by your side.”

“Huh? What?”

But Korone turned and walked off before Akuto could react.

Junko seemed confused as well. She just fixed her swimsuit and watched her go.

“Wh-What happened to Korone?”

“I don’t know...”

“But that’s not normal for her. And those last words she said... don’t tell me that Korone...”

Her sentence was drowned out by a loud voice.

“Ackie! Look at this weird sea cucumber!”

Keena came running up from the beach.

Junko froze when she heard the words “sea cucumber.”

“Keena! Don’t bring any of those things over here!” Akuto said, but Keena didn’t answer.

A sea cucumber, differently colored that the one before, came flying at them. Junko started screaming as she tried to knock it out of the air, and Akuto had an awful time calming her down.

In the end, they never got a chance to talk about Korone. Later, when he asked Keena why she did that, she cheerfully replied: “I thought that a sea cucumber with a different color would be okay!”

○

While his classmates were playing at the beach, Hiroshi was visiting home.

He followed the tiny path off the road to the dorm and headed for the village. Several squat huts with distinctive Japanese-style roofs dotted the road. There weren’t many, but the path was well maintained, demonstrating the love the residents had for their homes.

Strangely, there didn’t seem to be a single person around, but Hiroshi thought he knew why, so he went straight towards his house.

—This is why I hate this place. They’re too scared of the Demon King to come out of their own homes...

He tried to open the door to his house, but it was locked, frustrating him further. Normally the doors in this village were never locked.

“Mom, I’m home.”

Only then was the door unlocked.

“Welcome back. You must be tired.”

His mother welcomed him in a cheerful voice, and Hiroshi relaxed a little.

“It’s good to be home, Mom.”

He hated the place, but home was still home. Just going through the front door was enough to make him feel at ease.

His dad and sister emerged from further in the house too. But for some reason, his parents started to put on their shoes near the front door.

“What’s going on? Are we leaving?”

“You’re coming too. There’s a meeting at the town hall.”

His father seemed annoyed that Hiroshi didn’t know this.

“W-Wait, at least let me settle in a little.”

“I said there’s a meeting. And we can’t leave the door open, so hurry up.”

His father stood up and left.

His mother chuckled.

“He never changes, does he?”

Hiroshi didn’t answer, but he turned around and followed his father. And then his little sister, Yukiko, tugged on his pants. She was a little younger than he was, still 11 years old.

“Welcome back, Brother.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Everybody heard you were coming back, so we’re going to have a party.”

“Yeah? That’s great,” Hiroshi said. But he didn’t really mean it.

There were no young people in the village, so he suspected the “party” was just an excuse for everyone to drink. Sure enough, when he got to the town hall, a sea of elderly red faces turned to look at him.

“Oh, the future hero’s back, huh?”

“If you’re here, the village is safe.”

The elders laughed. There was a banner hanging from the rafters.

“Welcome Back, Future Priest” it said.

Hiroshi tried his best to keep from showing his displeasure. He was given food and drink, but he could barely taste it. He did his best to smile and make small talk for a while, but before long everyone forgot about him and began to chat among themselves.

—They’re all just sucking up to me because I might become a priest.

Hiroshi wasn’t just being a rebellious teenager. The elders weren’t exactly subtle. He’d heard them “joke” about how he needed to help the village ever since he’d been accepted to Constant Magical Academy. Some of them hadn’t even bothered with jokes, and had come straight out and said, “Our island is so poor... in the future, you’ll help us out, won’t you?” Even with Hiroshi’s easygoing personality, he didn’t like that pressure at all.

The party seemed like it was going to drag on forever, so Hiroshi left early, claiming that he had somewhere to be for school. In the end, he wasn’t going to relax at home after all. His parents didn’t go with him, as they were probably expected to stay. But his little sister, Yukiko, did.

“Hey, is it true the Demon King is at your school?” she asked as soon as they left the town hall.

“It’s not what everybody things,” Hiroshi said.

“Everybody’s scared. They’re all talking about some legend.”

“That legend is just a myth.”

Hiroshi went around to the back of the town hall, looking for a place to talk with Yukiko. There was a raised brick flower garden bed along the wall. He decided that would do just fine. They sat next to each other.

“But at night, I hear all these weird noises, and see weird people on the street, and I can hear ghosts in the distance sometimes,” Yukiko said.

She seemed to believe what she was saying, but Hiroshi figured that she was just being a kid.

“You only hear that stuff because you’ve gotten yourself all scared.”

“Then the Demon King doesn’t really exist? I’m too old to be scared of ghosts, but all the grown-ups say he’s real...”

“No. There’s just a person that they call the Demon King,” Hiroshi said. From the way Yukiko was talking, people were really spreading rumors about Akuto, so it would be hard to deny that he existed at all. “But he’s not like this Demon King everyone’s afraid of.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not scary. He’s my friend.”

“Really? That’s amazing!” said Yukiko, gazing at him with awe.

“So you see? He’s not scary, right?”

“Yeah!” Yukiko nodded.

And then they heard voices behind where they were sitting. On the other side of the wall, there seemed to be a smoking area, and several villagers had come for a smoke.

“See? I told you Miwa’s son was no good.”

“Oh yeah. From the look of things, I bet his grades at school are nothing special. Magic is all about having a strong spirit, you know.”

Hiroshi could hear them, but they didn’t know he was there. He knew he wasn’t going to like what he’d hear, but if he moved, they’d notice him.

“But we need him to become a priest, or the village’s future is dark.”

“They say even having a single priest gets your village an aid package. Can’t you become a priest as soon as you graduate the Academy? It’s not like being a high priest.”

“But they say the Demon King is at the Academy.”

“Yeah, I heard that’s true. He’s causing all kinds of chaos. I heard he’s already running the place, basically. I don’t believe the legend, but if the Demon King is just somebody with powerful magic who causes a rebellion, then he probably really does exist.”

“That whole Academy’s filled with kids who love to fight, anyway. I heard their student council president wiped out an entire Knight Corps.”

“We’d better hope they don’t come to the village then. We’d need a hero to protect us.”

“The whole thing about demon beasts and heroes is probably all a lie. But Miwa sure believed his son was the hero, hahaha!”

“Hahaha. No way in hell, he’s been a coward his whole life. He was the only kid in the village who couldn’t swim. He was always crying, and if you scared him he’d piss himself.”

When he heard their laughter, Hiroshi felt his stomach sink. The mix of anger and sadness almost made him to cry, but he couldn’t with his little sister watching.

Once the men had finished smoking and left, Hiroshi and Yukiko stood up.

“Big brother...” said Yukiko, sounding worried.

Hiroshi smiled.

“None of them really know the truth. But you do. So make sure to hold onto it.”

They went back home silently. Yukiko still seemed worried, but Hiroshi had to go back to the dorm, so he said goodbye to her at the front door.

On his way back, he started to cry a little, so he stopped to wipe the tears away.

When he did, he thought he heard a howl in the distance. He turned around and heard what sounded like a low roar coming from the mountain in the center of the island.

Hiroshi knew the legend well. There was a lake at the base of the mountain that marked the exact center of the island. That was where the beast was supposed to appear from. And the hero’s weapon was supposed to be around there, too. But he knew better than anyone that neither the beast nor the weapon were real. And that the “roar” he was hearing was a fake.

—If there is a Beast, I hope it destroys the village. I know there isn’t, though.

○

Akuto realized that someone was watching him. From the bushes on his way back from the beach and from the window when he was unpacking at the dorm, he could sense an unknown person staring at him.

It felt like his own senses were getting sharper. Maybe his ability to detect mana was increasing. But if that were the case, then maybe someone really was watching him in secret.

—I guess I should find out who it is before they cause problems for anybody else.

Before dinnertime, he deliberately went out the front of the dorm. Sure enough, he felt somebody watching him immediately. With this in mind, he made a plan. When free time came after dinner, he grabbed his shoes from the front hall so he could leave out the window.

Just as he was getting ready to go, he found himself staring at Korone. She was standing outside his window.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. There was simply something bothering me,” Korone said.

“Bothering you?”

“Someone is spying on you.”

Korone had been acting strange lately, but when it came to things like this, Akuto knew he could trust her.

“I’ve been wondering about that too. I’m going to follow them.”

“I hope it’s not dangerous. But if you’re going, I will follow,” Korone said.