The Former Swordmaster Who Pretends to Be the Worst, and the School’s Top-Ranked Chairman’s Daughter Who’s Way Too Sweet in Public, It’s a Real Problem
Several days had passed since the incident targeting Rika.
It seemed the poison I’d ingested was extremely dangerous; apparently, I’d been rushed to the hospital after losing consciousness. I was placed in the intensive care unit, where visitors were barred for about two days.
After I finally woke up, I was hooked up to an IV and recuperating.
And starting today, I’d been moved to a private room—but—
“Here you go, Saito-kun! I peeled an apple for you, Aaahhnn!”
“…………”
—I was about to be dealt the final blow by the childhood friend I thought I’d saved.
What was on the spoon in her hand didn’t look like just grated apple; it was definitely something other than a dark red apple. I couldn’t tell if the smell wafting from it was sour or sweet.
If possible, I wanted to run away right now.
But hooked up to an IV, I had no freedom.
“What’s wrong, Saito-kun?”
“Ugh…”
I thought peace had finally come after one battle had ended.
It seemed that my life as Saito was coming to an end right here. Still, perhaps this ending was the right one. Yes, I had no choice but to accept it.
Just as I resigned myself to this and was about to speak,
“Wait a minute, Agatsuma! What are you trying to slip into Aragaki’s drink!?”
“A, Agatsuma-san…? What on earth is that monstrosity?”
Takanashi and Edward burst into the private hospital room where I was lying.
To be more precise, the girl rushed in in a panic, while the boy trailed behind her with a wry smile. Stopped by the two of them, Rika tilted her head in confusion.
Then, looking as if to ask what was wrong, she said:
“Eh? I just grated an apple, that’s all…?”
“Bullshit!!”
“You’re lying!!”
Immediately afterward, a retort rang out loud enough to echo through the hospital.
I couldn’t help but smile at my friends’ playful banter.
◆
—And so, after disposing of whatever my childhood friend had created…
I decided to ask her again about this whole incident and what happened afterward.
“I see. So Nishimiya was a spy from Novozarsk, then?”
“……Yeah. To be precise, it was him and me, though.”
Takanashi said this as if to confirm it, sounding apologetic.
She lowered her gaze slightly, but continued with a clear, unwavering tone.
“In Novozarksk, they were trying to create children with a high aptitude for magic through semi-artificial means. If they succeeded, it would be the same as sending a massive number of weapons onto the battlefield.”
“Weapons? You can’t be serious…!”
“…That’s just too terrible.”
Rika and Edward furrowed their brows at Takanashi’s story.
The two clenched their fists as if unable to forgive it, but Takanashi, as if to calm them, scratched her cheek and said,
“—Well, even so. They’re still a long way from success. If things were going well, ‘failures’ like me wouldn’t have been born.”
Hearing those self-deprecating words, I gasped.
She certainly didn’t possess the innate talent for “magic” that was required. That must be why she always belittled herself and laughed as if to cover it up.
“Though now that I’ve become a spy, I’ve lost my ‘place’ too… haven’t I?”
“Takanashi…”
The one who knows Takanashi’s true self best is me—the one who was in the lowest-ranked class with her.
The past, the circumstances, and the guilt hidden behind that innocent smile. Just imagining all that made me struggle with how to approach her.
But just as I was thinking that—
“…That’s not true, is it? Azusa.”
“Huh…?”
It was Edward who spoke those words in a serious tone.
He looked straight at Takanashi and spoke to her like this.
“You didn’t lose your ‘place.’ You were freed from that ‘bondage.’ Just like I was saved by Saito, after I had once bound myself.”
“…Ed, what do you mean?”
Takanashi’s eyes widened at his unexpected words.
As if to demonstrate this to her, Edward sent a glance my way and toward Rika. I had a pretty good idea what that look meant.
And my childhood friend seemed to understand without needing to say a word.
With a quiet yet gentle smile, she gestured for me to speak. So—
“—Listen, Takanashi. A place to belong isn’t something you force yourself to create.”
“Aragaki…?”
I nodded once, then told Takanashi.
“Who you want by your side is up to each individual. But that’s definitely not something you create on purpose; it’s something that just happens before you know it.”
“It just happens…?”
“That’s right. For example, for us—”
—It’s nothing special at all.
I proved that she belongs there.
“Like how Takanashi Azusa is an important friend to me,” I said.
Even if she wasn’t born into privilege.
Even if she had no talents whatsoever.
There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be qualified to laugh and have fun together.
It’s just fine the way it is.
“…………Is everyone okay with this?”
“Since Saito-kun says it’s fine, I have no reason to object.”
“Edward…?”
“I was always going to accept you, you know!”
“…………”
Faced with such an ordinary “affirmation,” Takanashi stood there dumbfounded for a moment.
“H-hey…? That’s… weird…”
Without even meaning to, she began to shed big tears.
Rika handed her a handkerchief, while Edward placed a hand on her shoulder. The girl, who must have been on edge for so long, had finally found her “true place.”
I watched the three of them from my bed and found myself smiling.
And then,
“Well, it’s not what we originally planned. But—”
I murmured my heartfelt thoughts.
“This kind of peace isn’t so bad, is it…?”—
Maiban