## Chapter 2042 – 2042. Savior Of The Academy
I spent the entire morning having sex with Choi Dayeon on the rooftop. It was only about two hours, but still.
Thanks to that, Choi Dayeon ended up skipping class with me. It wasn’t something she was particularly happy about, given her competitive streak with the Japanese students, but what was done was done.
I thought about grabbing lunch with Choi Dayeon, but she left to change her clothes. Her lower body was in such a state that I had no choice but to let her go.
“Where have you been wandering off to, showing up only now?”
I ran into Shinbo Reika in the hallway. Long green hair and pointed ears. Her emerald eyes glared sharply at me.
She, a first-year in Class 4 of Arashi Academy, was also wearing a maid outfit. My gaze unintentionally drifted towards her chest. It was a size bigger than Choi Dayeon’s.
“Reika, wanna grab lunch?”
“It is lunchtime… but aren’t you going to help out at the cafe?”
“It’s doing fine without me. And there aren’t many customers, right?”
“……”
Reika’s expression briefly crumpled before smoothing out. She couldn’t argue with my words.
“How did you know there weren’t many customers? You were skipping class, weren’t you?”
“Because it’s too ordinary compared to what the other classes prepared.”
The maid & butler cafe was ordinary. Aside from the academy students cosplaying, it was just a regular cafe. Were the coffee, tea, and desserts delicious? Not really. Most of them were pre-made. The handmade desserts weren’t particularly special either. And yet, they were expensive because of the cultural festival premium.
“You don’t seriously believe you can succeed with a hastily put-together cafe, do you?”
“Ugh. W-well, there were a few customers.”
“Most of them probably came to see pretty girls like you. At best, they’d order a coffee and take pictures of the maids.”
“……”
Reika fell silent, as if I had hit the nail on the head.
Yeah. Class 4’s cultural festival was a bust. Just looking at the other classes, they were doing all sorts of things like magic experiences and living dolls. And more importantly, coffee and tea were easy to get anywhere.
“Still, work is work. Slacking off is not allowed.”
“It’s lunchtime right now. Let’s eat first and then talk.”
Reika nodded as if she had no choice. I took her around the academy. It was crowded with regular people. I had no choice but to hold Reika’s hand.
“Wait, my hand!”
“It’s crowded.”
Ignoring Reika’s protest, I started moving around.
There were many places selling food. The stalls run by the clubs were scattered everywhere, selling food.
“If you’re hungry, you can just eat something. Why do you keep walking around?”
“There are only bad places. If we’re going to eat, we should eat properly.”
I could tell just by the smell, without even tasting it. Most of the food sold at the stalls was bad. A normal person might not notice, but it wouldn’t suit my taste.
After wandering around, I found a makeshift restaurant in a tent. It had a slightly chaotic menu and sign. The sign read: “Simple and Delicate Dishes by the Culinary Research Club.”
“Culinary Research Club, huh? Is that a proper club?”
“The Culinary Research Club is quite famous. I heard the headmaster directly supports it.”
A sweet smell wafted from the tent. It was hard to tell if it was delicious just by the smell, so I decided to go inside. There was a line, so we had to wait for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, we received countless requests for photos because we were wearing maid and butler outfits.
Finally, we entered the Culinary Research Club’s tent, which was packed with people.
I wanted to eat steak, but they only sold it in the evening, not at lunchtime.
“The one with the ‘recommended’ label… is an omelet. I’ll have an omelet.”
“Then I’ll have an omelet too.”
Reika decided to have an omelet, following my lead.
While waiting for our food, I stared intently at Reika.
『Name: Shinbo Reika
Strength: C+ Stamina: D Agility: B Durability: C- Mana: B-
Trait: Verdant Wind (A+)
Skills: Swordsmanship (B-), Spirit Contract (C+), Gale (A), Wind Walk (D)
Affection: 67』
Affection 67.
Affection levels 50-69 are the stage where romantic feelings develop, and 70 or higher is the stage where marriage is considered. Additionally, with an affection level of 70 or higher, you can even understand their psychology.
Right now, Reika has feelings for me.
‘At this rate, I could naturally take her.’
Of course, I can’t just jump her out of the blue. I’ll go on a date, set the mood, take her to a motel, and get it done.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Do you have something to say?”
“Reika, would you like to hang out outside sometime?”
“Outside… you mean outside the academy?”
“It’s not like we’re trapped inside the academy.”
A man and a woman hanging out outside. It could only be a date. Reika blushed slightly and lowered her gaze.
“Okay. But there’s a condition.”
“A condition?”
“Help out at the cafe this afternoon.”
“It’s not even busy.”
“The cultural festival isn’t about making a profit. It’s for everyone to enjoy. I want you to enjoy it too.”
“It’s not a difficult condition, so I’ll agree.”
Honestly, I didn’t know if that much labor was worth it.
We ate our omelets and returned to Class 4. The omelet was decent.
• • •
Wearing my butler outfit, I occasionally greeted the customers who came. Most of them were male customers who came to see the maid Reika. Reika was quite famous, probably because of her looks.
Unfortunately for them, Reika wasn’t at the cafe right now. It wasn’t her shift. The customers who confirmed that Reika wasn’t there quickly drank their coffee and left.
While I was spending my time idly, a familiar customer came.
“You weren’t here when I came in the morning… but you’re here now.”
Sung Hari waved at me, seeing me.
“Mom?”
“I’m not your mom right now, I’m a young lady.”
“A young lady at that age is a bit…”
“I said I’m a young lady!”
Sung Hari’s face flushed as she stubbornly insisted. It felt like she was sticking to what she had already said.
“Yes, young lady. Please come this way.”
“Wait. Let’s take a picture first. Is that okay?”
“500 yen.”
“…You’re charging money?”
“I’m just kidding.”
Sung Hari took out her smartphone. She asked another maid to take the picture. She openly clung to me. Sung Hari took about ten photos in various poses before she was satisfied.
“For the menu… I’ll have whatever Yujin recommends.”
“I’m going to order something expensive, is that okay?”
“It’s okay. It’s a special occasion, so I should boost my son’s sales. But since you’re a butler, you should use polite language, right?”
“Yes. I will serve you with special service.”
I ordered everything on the menu. I already knew Sung Hari’s wealth, so this wouldn’t be a problem.
As a special service, I decided to brew the tea myself.
‘If a dog spends three years in a temple, it can recite a poem. I should be able to do what Yuria did.’
I even brought the tea leaves from the [Baekhwan] world. According to Yuria, you just need to pour 150ml of warm water. I think she said to let it cool down a bit after boiling. I picked up the teapot and headed towards Sung Hari.
Sung Hari had been looking at me with sparkling eyes since earlier.
“Yujin, it suits you well. How about working as a butler all the time? Mom will give you a lot of allowance.”
“No, thank you.”
I have more money than Sung Hari.
I brewed the tea and handed it to her. As the aroma of the tea spread, she looked surprised and alternated her gaze between me and the tea. She didn’t seem to expect the tea at all.
Sung Hari took a sip of the tea and her eyes widened in shock.
“This is the most delicious tea I’ve ever had! My son has this talent… I’m a mother, and I didn’t even recognize my son’s talent!”
Sung Hari felt a sense of self-loathing, but she drank the tea as if she was inhaling it.
‘Is it that good?’
Maybe I had a talent for brewing tea. I took Sung Hari’s teacup and took a sip.
“Ah.”
“…Hmm.”
Talent, my foot. Sung Hari was overreacting. The tea was just a decent-tasting tea.
“No, I’m serious, it’s really delicious! Why don’t you quit being a hero and run a tea cafe with me? It’ll be a huge hit.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll think about it.”
I chatted with Sung Hari. Other customers came, but most of them were male customers who were interested in the maids, not me.
When Sung Hari was drinking her seventh cup of tea, both my and Sung Hari’s smartphones started vibrating at the same time. We looked at each other for a moment and then checked our smartphones.
Tenrai Nagisa: Emergency! Gather at the headmaster’s office!
Something had happened.
It was something I had expected. It was actually a bit late.
Sung Hari and I headed to the headmaster’s office together.
• • •
People gathered in the headmaster’s office. They were all people related to the Madoujeong and Tsukuyomi’s Magatama.
Tenrai Nagisa looked around at us with a stiff expression. In her hand, she held a crumpled letter.
“I just received a threatening letter from Madoujeong.”
“……Madoujeong has started to move. Considering the preparation for the ritual, I predicted they would move after the cultural festival ended…”
Miyakado Mieko, the shrine maiden of Tsukuyomi Shrine, muttered irritably. I could feel her blatant hostility towards Madoujeong.
“What does the threatening letter say?”
Sung Hari asked in a calm tone.
“They’ve planted bombs in Arashi Academy. If we move carelessly, they’ll detonate the bombs. It’s a very blatant threat, isn’t it?”
“They’re targeting the cultural festival where ordinary people are gathered.”
“We’ve already found and are interrogating the Madoujeong terrorist. There are at least 70 bombs planted in the academy. It will take at least a day to safely defuse the bombs. It would be easier if the terrorists told us the locations of the bombs… but that’s not likely to happen.”
“Shouldn’t we evacuate the people instead of wasting time here?”
“They said they’ll detonate the bombs the moment we evacuate the people. The purpose of this threatening letter is to keep us in the academy while the ritual is being conducted.”
“Do we need to get involved directly? The Japanese Hero Association can cooperate.”
Tenrai Nagisa turned on the TV on one side of the headmaster’s office.
The news was on.
-14 major cities, including Tokyo, are under attack! The terrorists are all Majin!
Boom! Bang!! Boom boom boom!!
The city was burning.
Indiscriminate acts of terrorism. The heroes of Japan were struggling to subdue the terrorists. The terrorists were cunningly using civilian hostages to buy time.
“……”
Everyone was silent at the violence of Madoujeong. It was Mieko who broke the silence.
“Headmaster, you need to make a decision. If we continue like this, we’ll only be dragged around by Madoujeong’s intentions.”
“If the planted bombs explode, the ordinary visitors will die, even if we don’t. Are you saying we should sacrifice thousands of visitors?”
“…That’s not what I mean. But if Madoujeong gets their hands on the power of a god… the damage could be incomparable to the deaths of thousands. Japan itself might turn into hell.”
“But we can’t sacrifice them.”
“……”
While everyone was frowning, she spoke as if to shake off the mood.
“The names written in this threatening letter are mine and Sung Hari’s. It means that Madoujeong is most wary of me and Sung Hari. In other words, if we’re in the academy, they can’t detonate the bombs. Even if it’s just to restrain us.”
“So you’re saying… we can move?”
“Madoujeong is underestimating you. They’re ignoring you, thinking you’re just students.”
“It’s our turn to move.”
The atmosphere became encouraging. But not everyone felt that way.
“Did you suddenly go senile? What nonsense are you spouting? Is it the headmaster’s job to push children into a death trap?”
Sung Hari glared fiercely at Tenrai Nagisa.
