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
“So it really was you, Nishimiya sensei…?”
“…You say ‘it really was’? It seems you’ve been suspicious of me for a while now, Aragaki?”
As I burst into the so-called “chemistry prep room”—which was really just an empty storage closet—I found Rika there, her face contorted in agony. And there stood Nishimiya, wearing a smile more sinister than I’d ever seen on him before.
When I addressed the chemistry teacher, he asked me back without changing his expression.
There was something eerie about the way he maintained his calm tone.
“Since we have this opportunity, let’s hear your thoughts, Aragaki-kun.”
He wasn’t trying to buy time.
Nishimiya had likely posed this question out of pure curiosity. In that case, I had a few questions of my own.
Rika’s complexion had improved, so I decided to try to extract some information from her.
“The first time I felt something was off was when I was being scolded by Kusunoki sensei. When you looked at Rika, you were giving her a strangely leering gaze. ……At that point, I thought it was just my imagination, so I didn’t press the issue.”
“……I see. Go on.”
In response to my observation, she nodded as if strangely impressed.
Confirming that, I continued my story.
“Let’s say it was a coincidence that you conveniently showed up in the city at night. But the time you really let the cat out of the bag was when we spoke at the research facility yesterday.”
“Oh…? What exactly do you mean by a ‘slip of the tongue’?”
“When I regained consciousness, you said this to me.”
And there, I paused just once.
After taking a slow, deep breath, I drove home the point.
“You said, ‘I saved Rika twice’…”
—That was when I collapsed after eating Rika’s home-cooked meal.
Nishimiya, who treated me and explained the situation, mentioned it casually during small talk. It’s true that there have been two recent occasions where I could be said to have saved my childhood friend.
One was the attack at the coffee shop.
As for that, it’s no problem if people heard the rumors on campus. But,
“The battle with the dragon inside the dungeon. There’s no way she could know about that.”
“…………”
Yes, the problem was the other one.
During the battle with the dragon that occurred in the dungeon, the only two people present were me and Rika. Even within the academy, the story was that Rika was the one who defeated the dragon.
Under those circumstances, the only person who could definitively claim that I saved my childhood friend was—
“—The only one who could say that is the person who rigged the dungeon.”
The only other person who was “presumed to have been there.”
The moment that remark hinted at it, my suspicions toward Nishimiya had already grown. Then Takanashi’s involvement came to light, and I was forced to decide how to proceed…
“Thanks to Rika and Ed working together, we were finally able to drag you out into the open. You, who so underhandedly manipulate and use others.”
“I see… So, I was lured out by you, was I?”
Nishimiya nodded quietly in response to my deduction.
He didn’t deny it. On the contrary,
“Impressive, Aragaki-kun. …I’ll give you a passing grade.”
He clapped his hands and offered words of praise.
Then, looking somewhat satisfied, he made this proposal.
“It’s hardly a reward, but why don’t I tell you the ‘true identity of Takanashi’ that you’ve been so eager to know…!”
“…What?”
He spoke cheerfully, as if he couldn’t wait to tell me.
He spread his arms wide in a dramatic gesture and said,
“You saw a woman who looked like Azusa in the East City at night and chased after her, didn’t you? That woman was one of the ‘hosts’ I used in my brilliant research. And—”
Nishimiya revealed.
What he said could be called a violation of ethics in human society.
“She is a semi-artificially created life form—in other words, a ‘designer baby’,” he said.
◆
“A ‘designer baby’… you say!?”
“That’s right. I’m a test subject created through genetic manipulation—specifically, a ‘failed experiment’ that was never supposed to be born…”
“…That can’t be…”
Takanashi began to speak haltingly, as if she had given up on everything.
Edward, hearing her story, was so stunned he could barely speak. This technology is, of course, considered a “taboo” from an ethical standpoint.
“I wasn’t even born in Japan. I snuck with Nishimiya and over here.”
“…………!”
And then, the way she was treated like a disposable pawn.
Edward’s fists trembled, and he bit his lip hard, his anger plain to see. He couldn’t forgive a single thing surrounding Takanashi. He must not forgive it, he thought.
At the same time, something clicked inside the boy.
“So that’s why you were so fixated on finding a ‘place to belong’…?”
The girl gave no answer to Edward’s question.
But her silence was as good as an affirmation. Because of the miserable life she had led, the girl named Takanashi had been searching for something that would acknowledge her.
Perhaps that was why she had followed Nishimiya and resigned herself to being treated like a sacrificial pawn.
Because—
“I knew I was just being used.”
Even if that was the case.
“……But at least during that time, I had a ‘role.’ Even if I was treated like a pawn to be discarded, I could believe that I, too, had a ‘place to belong.’”
“What…!?”
Takanashi sat down on the spot, hugging her knees.
Seeing her like that, Edward shook his head from side to side.
“Then, that ends today. …Azusa!”
“Huh…?”
And, reaching out his hand, he declared.
“Starting today, your ‘place’ is right next to me!”—he said.
There was no basis for it.
Yet, Edward said it with conviction.
All that was there was a pure desire to save Takanashi. And nothing but his complete trust in Saito.
“If it’s Saito, he’ll definitely… take down that despicable bastard!”
“…………Ed…ward?”
Holding onto that belief, the red-haired boy stood tall.
But the girl lowered her eyes—
“It’s impossible…”
“…Huh?”
She murmured softly, then looked down again.
And then she said this.
“Aragaki doesn’t know. …Just how meticulous that man is.”
◆
“Guh…!?”
“Oh? It seems the poison is finally starting to take effect.”
—It was the very moment I was about to raise my voice in rage.
That’s when a searing pain shot through my chest, and blood-tinged vomit rose in my throat.
“You… what on earth…!?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I am, after all, a researcher.”
As I asked, desperately trying to steady my ragged breathing, Nishimiya replied with a defiant laugh.
“I know a little something about chemistry,” he said.
Maiban