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
“You idiotttt”
Kusunoki’s roar echoed through the faculty lounge.
Though I call it a roar, it was the hoarse voice of an old man. I felt no fear from the shrill sound; if anything, it seemed more likely to cause physical damage to my ears.
The other teachers instinctively covered their ears as well, so it seemed they felt the same way I did.
But the supervising teacher, who was in the midst of a tantrum, kept shouting.
“I ordered you to evacuate, and yet you went on a solo suicide mission?! What the hell is this?!”
“Well… you’re absolutely right.”
“Do you even understand, you good-for-nothing student?!”
“…Hahaha.”
Now that it had come to this, there was nothing I could do.
Kusunoki was famous for his incredibly long lectures; I’d heard they went on until they completely wore you down mentally. I nodded back with a forced smile, but his nagging showed no signs of ending.
Adjusting his glasses repeatedly, he said,
“Seriously… Since it was Agatsuma san, who held them back, I didn’t get a single scratch, but wouldn’t a little pain be good for me?”
“Maybe so…”
As an aside, the story goes that it was Rika who defeated the dragon.
I was, after all, just the incompetent student who recklessly stuck his neck out and had his life saved by his childhood friend. Even if the reality was different, I didn’t mind.
More than anything, I hate standing out.
There was just one problem, however, that was currently unfolding—
“Muumumumu…!”
“………………Oh no.”
Peering at me from behind the staff room door was my childhood friend.
Rika was clearly displeased, glaring at Kusunoki. Well, if that were all, it would still be kind of cute. The problem was—
“Hii…!?”
“…What is this overwhelming magical power?”
“Agatsuma san, why are you angry…?”
It was because she was so enraged that she had lost control of her own magical power.
The force emanating from Rika—which could almost be called a natural disaster—had the other teachers in the staff room trembling in fear. As if that weren’t enough, the students walking down the hallway were also cowering in terror, wondering what was happening.
I thought, “This is bad,” but—
“Seriously, you really need to know your place—”
Perhaps too absorbed in his scolding, Kusunoki hadn’t noticed the situation.
If this continued, a disaster in the truest sense would occur.
A streak of panic ran down my cheek. Just then.
“Excuse me, Kusunoki san. …I need to speak with Aragaki-kun.”
“—Professor Nishimiya, what is it?”
A lanky male teacher had just stepped in between us.
With stubble, messy black hair, and dressed in a white lab coat, he—Professor Nishimiya—was scratching his cheek while sweating even more profusely than I was. On top of that, he cast a glance at Rika, as if sizing her up.
Then,
“It seems the Chairman is asking for him…”
“…The Chairman, is that right?”
“Uh, yeah… yes.”
he said this with a troubled smile.
The Chairman, of course, was Rika’s father. He was the head of the academy and a figure renowned as an outstanding magician.
To be called upon by a man like him was, in a sense, an extraordinary situation.
Upon hearing this, Kusunoki snorted lightly and said,
“Hmph… I suppose it’s finally time for the problem child to be expelled, is it?”
That was probably meant to be a parting shot.
He muttered to himself as he made his way back to his seat. Left behind, Nishimiya-sensei and I exchanged glances, both of us wearing wry smiles.
Just then, as if trying to shift his mood, he said,
“You know him, I suppose, but just make sure you don’t be rude, okay?”
With those parting words, I was finally released from the faculty room.
◆
“Why did Saito-kun have to get scolded like that…!?”
“It can’t be helped. They don’t know the whole story.”
“Even so! Saito-kun is—”
“Ah… Stop there, okay?”
“—Muu.”
On the way to the principal’s office, Rika kept venting the frustration she’d been holding in. Every student we passed turned to look at us, wondering what was going on.
I felt my heart racing under all that attention, but I just kept trying to calm my childhood friend down.
Maybe I should change the subject for now…
“But I wonder… Rika’s dad…”
“Hmm… I don’t really know either.”
As I said that, she tilted her head in the same way.
Naturally, no one but Rika knows about that thing of mine. So the fact that I helped her shouldn’t have anything to do with it.
Then what could it be?
“Ah, am I finally getting expelled for real?”
“If that happens, I’m cutting ties as a parent!”
“……I-I’m just kidding.”
I came up with a hypothesis based on what I could think of and said it half-jokingly.
But maybe I’d stirred up a hornet’s nest—Rika puffed out her cheeks again and clung to my arm. Once again, everyone’s gaze turned toward us.
I gave a wry smile, but then started thinking about it seriously.
Why had he—a renowned wizard—summoned me?
The fact that our families were close didn’t matter.
If that were the case, he could have just called me during my time off.
“…We’re here.”
As I mulled over these thoughts, we had arrived at the principal’s office before I knew it.
Even Rika seemed to have composed herself, releasing her grip on my arm.
And then, feeling an indescribable sense of tension—
“—Excuse me.”
I knocked, then opened the door.
Then,
“Hello, it’s been a while. …Saito-kun.”
An elderly man with a voice that exuded dignity beneath a gentle tone.
With a well-groomed goatee and sharp eyes, he had a handsome, refined face. Wearing a navy suit and black leather gloves, Agatsuma Ryota san roquietly broke into a smile.
And, as if seeing right through everything.
“My daughter is always under your care, isn’t she?”
He said.
Maiban