Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 8 - Chapter 4.0

<School, Part Three>

Establishing Type Twelve at her new school had required the involvement of a whole lot of different parties. Through all sorts of illegal measures, they’d set the stage for her in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, her attendance appeared completely normal, and she was accepted as another ordinary student.

On Type Twelve’s second day, Magical Blue arrived hot on her heels. She, too, was generally accepted by their classmates. Her cover story—that their parents knew each other through work and were transferred for similar reasons—seemed to have been the correct play.

While several students seemed suspicious, they had no idea what was really going on—that Type Twelve was an alien linked to the recent UFO sightings. And while they might have had questions, they never took the initiative to ask them.

After school that day, the other students held a welcome party for Magical Blue, and Type Twelve and my neighbor joined them. Per majority vote, our pretend family took its second day off while the three of them spent time as classmates instead.

The mechanical life-form’s school life appeared to be getting off to a smooth start. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t continue for long.

It happened on Type Twelve’s third day, just after lunch period.

A dry bang echoed through the school. It sounded like a gunshot.

“What was that? It hurt my ears.”

“Hey, was that a gun?”

“It sounded really close, too.”

“A gunshot? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“But it really seemed like it came from inside the school.”

“Maybe it was that gun they use for track and field.”

“But they’re not practicing now. It’s lunchtime.”

I heard several students speak up around me.

At that point, I had just finished watching over my class’s lunchtime and was on my way from Class 1-A to the faculty room. Hoping to use my lunch break—which was incredibly short compared to my previous job—to its fullest, I was hurrying down the hall when I heard the bang.

“Ah…”

Before joining the bureau, I’d have dismissed the possibility immediately. But now I could say for certain—that was a live gun, and the shot had to be linked to Type Twelve somehow. My senior colleague used a gun on a daily basis, so I knew exactly what they sounded like.

Pasting on a relaxed expression, I headed in the direction of the noise. Nearby students began to follow me, but I stopped them by putting on my teacher voice and telling them to stay calm and wait while I went to check it out. Then I hurried down the hallway.

Meanwhile, there was a second bang.

This helped me determine the direction of the sound and, thus, the location of the action. I ran all the way to the end of the hall and dashed down the stairs.

My destination was the first floor. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw the scene of the crime.

Two adults in casual clothing were lying on the floor to one side of the hallway. I recognized one of them from their clothes—I’d seen them in the faculty room earlier. Both of their heads were caved in, and they lay on the ground, unmoving. It seemed they’d both been shot in the face—there was zero chance they’d survived.

Nearby, I saw someone with a gun in his hands.

It was a boy in his teens, and he was wearing the school’s uniform. He looked Asian, and I noticed he had somewhat pronounced facial features. His skin also looked darker than the students in my class.

When he noticed me, he immediately aimed his gun in my direction.

“Tch…”

I hastily put up a defensive barrier and hid behind one of the pillars in the hallway.

Not a moment later, there was a third bang.

The bullet struck the reinforced concrete pillar, scraping away at its surface.

I wondered if this kid was an agent from another country or organization, like Captain Mason had suggested. The captain had been sure they wouldn’t make any bold moves with us on the lookout, but here this boy was, right in front of me.

He was armed with a gun, which meant he definitely wasn’t a regular student. His upper right arm had been sliced up along with his clothing. It was stained red with blood, but impressively, he still held the gun steady. Psychologically, this was not your average teenage boy.

From the fact that he’d attacked them, I assumed the two fallen faculty members were Captain Mason’s comrades, bureau employees, or members of the JSDF. Seeing no bladed weapons around, I assumed they were psychics.

And yet they’d still lost. They’d probably mistaken the boy for a regular student.

The term child soldier crossed my mind.

“……”

I pulled up the front-facing camera on my smartphone and used it to get a look at things from behind the pillar. The boy still had his gun raised and was carefully observing me. I doubted he’d be so careful if he thought I was just another faculty member.

He probably recognized my face. Maybe he even had orders to assassinate me.

After all, everyone seemed to think I was the weakest link around Type Twelve. Based on the available information, I was the easiest target in our fake family. Some group or another had targeted me back at the amusement park, too.

Fortunately, this attack was taking place in a very convenient location. There were no regular classrooms on the first floor.

Afternoon break had just begun, and the hallway was otherwise empty of students.

“Come out!” he barked in broken Japanese. “You! Come with me!”

I was right. He was definitely after me.

In that case, speaking carelessly to him and outing myself would lead to a lot of trouble. If possible, I wanted to make it look like none of this ever happened. Ideally, Captain Mason and Miss Inukai would come running and resolve the situation, then sweep it all under the rug.

“……”

But a moment later, my hopes were dashed.

At the opposite end of the hall, past the armed intruder, a student appeared. It was a girl, holding a big pile of notebooks in her hands. She must have been delivering homework to the faculty room or something. When she saw the boy with the gun and the two teachers lying in pools of blood at his feet, she froze.

“Eeeek!”

Without wasting a moment, the boy approached her.

I couldn’t keep hiding and biding my time now.

“Wait! Please!” I burst out from behind the pillar.

Type Twelve’s transfer had already messed up these students’ lives. I couldn’t bear to think what would happen if a student wound up dead. How dare those adults selfishly rob these children of their education!

Middle school was when children began to get serious about their studies. Their efforts here could get them into a decent high school, from which they could aim for a good college. Maybe that was a stupid way of looking at things, but to the students, that stuff was incredibly important. I couldn’t allow psychics or aliens or any other weirdness to come along and ruin all that. I was literally watching where all that led, wasn’t I? The boy right in front of me was the end product.

“S-stay away!”

The girl threw her stack of notebooks at the boy and tried to flee. But before she could get more than a few steps, the boy caught her by the arm. Her momentum caused her to topple forward.

And now she had a gun up against the back of her head.

The boy turned to me and in a threatening voice said, “Don’t move. If you move, I kill girl.”

Instead, I dashed down the hallway. At the same time, I used a barrier spell and targeted both myself and the girl. I limited the girl’s barrier to areas likely to be targeted by the gun such as her head and chest. That would limit the chances of her noticing it. I couldn’t use this spell as skillfully as Peeps, but I was able to manage that much.

As I barreled toward him, the boy cursed me, and I heard another gunshot. This time, it was aimed at me.

“D-don’t move! Stop!”

Another bang, and another. As the gun went off, I dramatically took action. I swayed left and right as if I were dodging his bullets. I figured this would help me make excuses later.

In actuality, the bullets were blocked by my barrier spell. Then I used levitation magic to send them flying behind me. I didn’t know how convincing any of this was, though.

“Who is this guy…?!” the boy muttered.

After firing all the bullets in the chamber, he changed tack. Releasing the girl, he threw his gun aside, then lowered his center of gravity, assuming a fighting stance. He brought both arms up to his chest like he was boxing. I could see he had a knuckle knife in one hand.

I decided to charge him. My plan was to turn off the barrier spell and let my momentum do the talking. I rammed into him like a wrestler tackling his opponent’s legs—though due to the boy’s height, I slammed into his torso.

My middle-aged body, honed by daily evening drinks, had a good layer of fat around its organs and under its skin. My suit was slimming, but I had a great deal of weight to throw around hiding underneath. The boy couldn’t stop me; he collapsed backward.

“Urgh!”

Not a moment later, I heard a thunk. His head must have hit the floor.

“Stand down!” I shouted.

“……”

I straddled him, pinning both his hands to the floor.

There was no response. He’d passed out; maybe I’d hit him in a bad place.

Did I give him a concussion? I watched him, growing anxious. But I couldn’t have him waking up and going on a rampage again. While I was tempted to call an ambulance, I had to focus on disarming him first.

I slipped the knife out of his hand. Then I picked up the gun on the floor and, just to be safe, released the magazine. I’d been through several bureau trainings on handgun usage. Thanks to the strict instructor’s lessons, my fingers moved naturally. Rummaging through the boy’s pockets, I even found a hand grenade. Holy crap. That’s scary.

“Um, M-Mr.… Sasaki?” said the girl.

“Are you hurt?” I asked.

“No, I’m all right. But that boy, he…”

The girl’s face was familiar. She wasn’t one of mine, but I’d seen her this morning in third-year math class. She’d answered a question, so I remembered her.

In the meantime, Captain Mason and Miss Inukai came running.

Several adults I didn’t know followed them. I assumed they were working together. They didn’t have any guns out, but the way they carefully observed the scene made me doubt they were school faculty members.

“Whoa! Mr. Sasaki! What on Earth happened?!” Captain Mason said, keeping up his assistant language teacher bit in front of the female student.

“You’re not hurt, are you, Mr. Sasaki?” asked Miss Inukai next to him.

“I’m fine. Could you take care of her?” I said, gesturing at the female student.

“At once.”

Miss Inukai gave clear instructions to the others, and at her command, they quickly got to work. One of them, a woman, immediately secured the girl and took her away somewhere.

“Terribly sorry, Mr. Sasaki. This was our fault,” said the captain, resuming his normal demeanor now that the girl was out of sight.

“Who are they?” I asked, gesturing toward the others.

“My subordinates, as you’ve probably guessed. They were keeping watch outside the building. Unfortunately…”

He was looking at the two figures slumped in the hallway. Evidently, they’d been his people, too. As we stood conversing, the others collected their bodies and moved them outside through the window. They did the same with the boy I’d tackled. I assumed they had friends waiting outside.

All that was left now were the pools of blood on the floor.

“Was she the only witness, Mr. Sasaki?” asked Miss Inukai.

“As far as I can tell, yes.”

When I nodded back, she contacted someone on her smartphone. Was she giving a report to her superior or calling up a separate unit? I wasn’t sure. Meanwhile, my conversation with Captain Mason continued.

“We’ve sealed off the area,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any more leaks.”

“I think almost everyone heard the gunshots, though.”

“But they only heard them. There’s plenty of ways to cover that up.”

“That’s a relief to hear, sir.”

The principal was on our side, so we could be somewhat heavy-handed if needed. Still, the captain’s reply left me with a great deal of unease.

“About the girl, sir,” I said. “Could you not do anything too forceful to her?”

“We’re prepared to offer her significant compensation for her troubles. I promise nothing bad will happen to her.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Considering his phrasing, they’d probably force her to change schools. They’d work something out with her parents’ jobs and have her somewhere else within days, and she’d be none the wiser. The bureau did things like that during cover-ups, too. I assumed the captain’s people used similar methods.

That student’s life had been messed up, and it was all our fault. I felt so guilty.

I knew I wasn’t going to be a great teacher or anything. But I’d sworn to at least try my hardest to keep the students out of danger. And now this had happened. I might be a fake teacher, but I was still watching over other people’s children.

I need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again, I thought firmly.

A short while later, a few extra bureau employees arrived on the scene. I didn’t know who they were until they spoke to me, but they recognized me at a glance. We quickly traded information, after which I handed things over to them and returned to the faculty room with the captain and Miss Inukai.

Once afternoon classes were over, I received a phone call from the boss regarding the incident.

The culprit turned out to be a foreign spy. The boy in question had infiltrated the school’s campus as a student that morning, then hid until lunch break. From there, his plan was to either kill or kidnap me once I was alone.

As expected, I was his quarry. I was the weakest link around here, after all.

They’d had a separate team watching the faculty room through a telephoto lens from a distance. After spotting me, they’d had the boy sneak into the building, but he’d run into the captain’s subordinates and ended up fighting them.

Captain Mason had probably told the bureau all this after he’d finished questioning the boy.

The section chief praised me for daring to take on an opponent armed with a gun. I could tell he was scrutinizing me. I agreed vaguely and didn’t elaborate. Fortunately, there had been no security cameras at the scene; it seemed I’d been able to pull the wool over his eyes again.

That night, we all gathered for our first family dinner in three days.

All of us assembled in the traditional house set up inside the UFO. We were seated around the table in the Japanese-style living room, eating our fill. My neighbor and Abaddon were in charge of tonight’s dinner, and they’d made a traditional Japanese meal of grilled fish, meat and potato stew, and pork miso soup.

Ever since I met Peeps, we’d been living a very meat-filled lifestyle, so I greatly appreciated this change in menu. This was what I’d been craving, I thought gleefully as I reached out my chopsticks.

“Um, mister, how does it taste?”

“It’s delicious. The fish is grilled perfectly. The skin is so crisp.”

“That part was Abaddon’s job.”

“The miso soup is very flavorful, too. The pork and vegetables were boiled just the right amount.”

“I’m sorry. That was also Abaddon. He suggested it in advance.”

“Oh, um… You’re a very good cook, Abaddon.”

“She’s almost never cooked before, you see. The most she could do was throw an empty can on a campfire, fill it with water from a park, and boil some wild herbs in it. I think my partner did a pretty good job considering that, huh? C’mon. Give her a compliment.”

“Stop talking about that stuff, Abaddon. Also, I made cookies in home-ec class once. I may not have much experience in the kitchen, but I plan to do everything myself next time.”

“That so? I think you ought to be upfront about all your hard work, personally.”

“Hearing such stories makes me want to stuff you with all the free food I can manage,” commented Ms. Futarishizuka.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

The meat and potato stew had been prepared beautifully, too. But if kept going, my compliments would only have the opposite effect. I assumed Abaddon had cooked the stew as well. He’d blended into this family a lot more smoothly than I’d imagined. For now, though, I’d keep my praise to myself.

“And that makes one full round of dinner duty, doesn’t it?” mused Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Would you allow me to make dinner next time?” Lady Elsa asked her.

“Ah, then there’s hope for that local cuisine from your homeland?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’d love it if everyone ate some.”

“In that case, I’d be happy to partake.”

After a majority vote, it was decided that Lady Elsa would take charge of cooking the following evening with Ms. Futarishizuka’s help. I’d grown accustomed to food from her world, but I was a little curious how everyone else would react.

Our meal continued pleasantly for a while. Then, when everyone was about halfway through the food on their plates, Type Twelve spoke up.

“Mother, the youngest daughter has realized something after starting school.”

“What is it?” replied Miss Hoshizaki.

“The eldest daughter is very popular with the male students.”

“Is that true?”

At Type Twelve’s remark, everyone’s attention shifted to my neighbor.

At the mother’s question, the eldest daughter looked troubled. “I’m not sure that I’m popular. But there are a few students who always come talk to me.”

“Unlike at your last school, you’re the star of the class!”

Abaddon’s comment was fairly mild, but he made it sound like she’d been bullied before. Though I’d never seen anything, from her demeanor, I’d made some guesses. And so I was relieved to hear that her new classmates were treating her well.

It was an odd feeling—something akin to fulfillment. It was as though I’d accomplished one of my duties, and it put me at ease.

“In addition, more than female students, there is a tendency among males to be kinder to those whom they are interested in. They offer to carry their target’s things while changing classrooms or to clean up after lunch in their target’s place. I have seen several such acts of devotion.”

“Wait… Are you trying to get the whole class to simp for you or something?” asked Miss Hoshizaki, looking at my neighbor in apparent surprise.

Come to think of it, my senior colleague was frequently excluded at school, too. As a result, her wording was sharp. I started imagining her school life and felt a twinge of pain in my chest.

“Of course not,” said my neighbor. “Please stop accusing me of such things.”

“Well, that’s basically what she just said, isn’t it?” insisted Miss Hoshizaki.

“Sure, they offer to do things for me, but it’s not like I say yes.”

Of late, the members of our pretend family seemed to be growing closer—mainly Miss Hoshizaki with Type Twelve and my neighbor with Ms. Futarishizuka. But just as before, my neighbor and Miss Hoshizaki maintained a more distant relationship. It seemed to me like their personalities were simply incompatible.

“The youngest daughter has determined that these are sexually instinctive actions rooted in human courtship behavior.”

“Well, they are all in puberty,” mused Ms. Futarishizuka. “Eat, sleep, sex. That’s what they live for.”

“I would like to discuss something with you, Mother.”

“All right. I’ll help you with anything I can.”

“I would like others to, as you say, ‘simp for’ me at school.”

“……”

Her frank delivery was exactly what we’d come to expect from the mechanical life-form.

In Japanese culture, it was customary to be more roundabout when asserting oneself. As a Japanese man, I found her directness rather thrilling. Even Miss Hoshizaki had her mouth half-open, unable to respond.

Type Twelve ignored her mother’s consternation and continued. “And once I have obtained several understanding men, I will have them surround me and soothe me to my heart’s content. I believe that this is the way to repair the bug known as emotion. Being ‘simped for’ seems as valuable to me as being part of a harmonious family.”

“I’m, uh, sorry. I don’t think I can help you much with that…”

“Do you mean to say you have never been simped for, Mother?”

“I doubt most people ever have someone simping for them, actually.”

This was the first time I’d heard the term simp used so many times in one sitting. That said, I did remember at least one girl from my school days who was like that—always acting like the school princess.

“Ooh! I have,” Ms. Futarishizuka cut in. “In fact, people were simping for me as recently as last night.”

“Are you talking about one of your online games, Ms. Futarishizuka?” asked my neighbor.

“Sure am. Using a little girl’s voice during gameplay lures in a lot of lolicons. Then all I have to do is act a little clumsy and ask for their help, and they’re all mine. Oh, the joy I feel when those fuckboys empty their wallets on expensive microtransactions for me…”

“Hey, Futarishizuka, don’t teach Twelve weird stuff like that,” said Miss Hoshizaki.

“Grandmother, while Mother may be critical, the youngest daughter is very interested.”

“Hmm? I sense great potential in you, dear.”

The grandmother was certainly the worst candidate to teach a child about emotions. As the father, I had no choice but to support Miss Hoshizaki. Ms. Futarishizuka’s bad influence could wind up extending beyond Type Twelve to my neighbor, after all.

“Please. I’d rather you not get tricked by some strange man and blow up the planet,” I said.

“You need not worry, Father. No being more important to me than Mother will ever be born.”

“The more a girl says things like that, the more likely she is to devote herself to a domestic abuser,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“For the purposes of soothing my loneliness, romantic love and familial relationships are the two greatest options. I cannot ignore this.”

“For humans, love and hatred are two sides of the same coin,” I said. “You won’t necessarily get the soothing you’re after. Romance is a much more difficult prospect than maintaining familial relationships. If you go about it the wrong way, you’ll suffer even more than you stand to gain.”

Here I was, running my mouth. This wasn’t like me. I had almost zero romantic experience to begin with.

Now my neighbor was staring at me. “I’ll watch over her at school, too, mister.”

“Thanks. That’s a big help.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Time to win those points, huh? Put yourself out there!”

“Abaddon, please be quiet.”

I felt bad burdening a child like my neighbor with this. Recently, she’d been depending on Ms. Futarishizuka for food, clothing, and housing, as well as her status in society. This wasn’t the unconditional love a child gets from her parents, either—her current lifestyle was based on an adult relationship of mutual benefit. And she was sharp enough to understand that.

And now, too, she was showing mature consideration for my position. I couldn’t help the pang of guilt brought on by Abaddon’s comment.

“He may be talking a big game,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka, “but your beloved father here was going gaga over a colleague over a decade younger than him, you know. She almost took him straight home after the welcome party. Is this his romcom story arc? Is this late bloomer finally hitting his stride?”

The grandmother, meanwhile, was saying whatever she liked. Maybe the stress was starting to get to her.

“I am shocked. Father has already gone further than the youngest daughter?”

“What?!” exclaimed Miss Hoshizaki. “Is… Is that true?”

“Oh?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Does the patriarch’s adultery interest you?”

“N-no, not really. But Sasaki is… Well, he’s, uh… He seems oddly uninterested in all that, so…”

“As the eldest daughter, I ask that you refrain from troubling the family like this.”

“Could you please phrase things so as not to cause so many misunderstandings, Ms. Futarishizuka?” I said.

“In that sense, I would be another candidate for Sasaki’s mistress,” added Lady Elsa, murmuring under her breath as though talking to herself. Oh boy. I wish she hadn’t said that.

“Hm? What do you mean?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “I’d like details, if you please.”

“Oh! Um, I’m sorry. I can’t say any more than that,” said Lady Elsa, flustered, clapping her mouth shut. She wasn’t supposed to speak about otherworld affairs.

But others voiced follow-up remarks.

“Father has abandoned Mother and is attempting to have an illicit affair with a neighborhood woman,” said Type Twelve. “This is a matter of grave import.”

“I am doing no such thing,” I replied.

“Um, I’m… I’m sorry,” said Lady Elsa. “I know that a woman in my position must be respectful to your primary wife. I didn’t mean to imply anything. Please, I would appreciate it if you all forgot what I just said…”

Lady Elsa was very flustered. She was an honest girl at heart. She couldn’t act to save her life. I was sure she hadn’t made the remark on purpose; it had probably just slipped out accidentally. In the otherworld, more nobles than not had mistresses.

“Honey?” said Miss Hoshizaki. “You know you have me already, don’t you? What do you think you’re doing?”

“You always pick the worst times to start getting into character,” I replied. “Please stop.”

“But I almost never get the chance to tease you when it comes to this stuff,” she insisted.

“As the mother-in-law of the household,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “I support this new wife wholeheartedly.”

“You’re saying that on purpose, aren’t you?” I said. “You used that translator to listen in on Lady Elsa and Peeps. You must know what’s really going on here. I don’t think further discussion would benefit anyone.”

“Ugh. Rain on my parade, why don’t you.”

“So in the end, it was all Futarishizuka’s wild delusions,” declared Miss Hoshizaki.

“Delusions? How rude! It’s the truth.”

“I can tamper with this whelp’s brain if you need,” Peeps suggested, looking at me. “Would you like me to?”

“What? That’s terrifying! Don’t let him! Please!”

Ms. Futarishizuka settled down after Peeps’s warning. Miss Hoshizaki and my neighbor shot her suspicious glances, but everyone dropped the topic.

Meaning to move the conversation along, I reached for the TV remote on the table. Prime-time anime programming was about to start.

But just as I moved, the phone in my pocket started buzzing. I checked the screen and saw our boss’s name.

“Hello, this is Sasaki.”

“It’s Akutsu. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes, sir. Go ahead.”

“It’s regarding the matter of your former neighbor—the one currently under your protection. I wanted to let you know that your advocacy for her has borne fruit.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll tell everyone right now.”

“Please do. That was all I had to say.”

I was only on the call for thirty seconds before he hung up. As always, the chief was all business, all the time.

“Is it your job, mister?” asked my neighbor.

“Ugh, at this hour?” muttered Futarishizuka. “That’s crap. Utter crap.”

“There’s news from the higher-ups regarding the proxy war,” I said, turning to my neighbor and Abaddon. “It looks like we’ve secured your safety.”

The demon piped up right away. “Thanks. Now my partner should be able to walk around at night without quaking in fear the whole time.”

“Thank you, mister,” my neighbor added. “You’ve done a lot for us. And Abaddon, I don’t like how you put that. I don’t think I’ve ever ‘quaked in fear’ at night.”

“I was only the middleman,” I assured her. “It was no trouble.”

“You’ve been helping us so much lately,” said Abaddon. “You didn’t kill any Disciples, so I can’t grant you a reward, but if there’s anything else I can help you with, just let me know!”

“No need. You’re already doing more than enough regarding Type Twelve’s school transfer.”

“Yeah? Well, I still don’t think it all adds up.”

“Don’t forget that, as I said before, this is on the condition that you don’t target any other Disciples. If you wind up facing one by pure coincidence and have to fight, I’d like a report after the fact, if possible.”

“I understand,” said my neighbor. “If that happens, we’ll contact you as soon as we can.”

“Oh, hey. That means you’d better get his contact info, doesn’t it?”

“…Mister, um, about that…”

“You’re right,” I said. “I won’t force you, but if you don’t mind…”

“Y-yes! Please!”

Nothing screamed “danger” more loudly than having a minor’s number in your personal phone’s address book. So, instead, I took out my work phone. Now I could say it was part of my job.

As I worked on this, Ms. Futarishizuka looked at Abaddon and said, “There’s something about the death game I’ve been curious about, actually.”

“What’s that?” asked the demon.

“The youngest daughter’s points of contact and terminals are treated as biological life inside isolated spaces, just like humans. But memory media from the mechanical life-form’s civilization get treated the same way as our smartphones.”

“You mentioned that when we were trying to get off Miyakejima, didn’t you?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Indeed, I did. What I want to know is, where does the system draw the line?”

When you left an isolated space, everything inside reverted to its former state; it was like nothing had ever happened. One of the few exceptions was the memories of the game’s participants. And during the last game, we’d seen that the same principle applied to the mechanical life-form’s terminal.

But judging by what Ms. Futarishizuka had asked, it seemed that not all devices produced by the mechanical life-forms worked in the same way. Some of them had their data rewound, just like our own communication devices.

“Hmm… All right. I suppose I could tell you, if you wanted to use your reward for it.”

“Ah. Then knowing about the system gives one an advantage in the game itself, does it? I can see the appeal in knowing, but I’m holding on to my reward for something in particular.”

She glanced in my direction. She was probably telling me to get a move on with the Prince Lewis affair.

I already had an idea about the line between organic and inorganic life, and using a reward to get the information seemed like a waste. If I ever ended up in an isolated space again, I could check my hypothesis. With Lady Elsa’s help, I bet I could replicate it.

“Anyway, could I turn on the TV?” asked Miss Hoshizaki. “There’s something I want to watch.”

“Here’s the remote.”

“Thanks, Sasaki.”

About the time I finished trading contact info with my neighbor, the TV flicked on. Hoshizaki scrolled through the channels rapidly, landing on an anime that started this autumn.

“Isn’t this the one Ms. Futarishizuka was saying good things about?” I asked.

“I didn’t know you watched it, too,” she said.

“It’s better than anything else this season,” our senior replied.

“Really? For a high school girl, I suppose you do have some sense.”

Everyone turned their attention to the TV. When the episode finished, our family time came to an end.

Once our pretend family duties were over, it was time for another trip to the otherworld. Like our family dinner, this visit was our first in three days.

First, Peeps warped Lady Elsa and me to Allestos. We landed in the court minister’s office—my room in the royal castle. From there, we headed to Count Müller’s private chambers, where we gave our regular report.

“Count Müller, I’m terribly sorry for asking the same question of you again, but have plans been made for Prince Adonis’s triumphant return yet? A rough estimate would be fine. I’d like to integrate it into my plans.”

“No, I think he’ll need more time yet.”

“I see, sir.”

“You’ve been curious about His Majesty’s return for some time. Has something happened?”

As always, we sat on a pair of sofas as we chatted. Count Müller and Lady Elsa sat next to each other across from me, and Peeps was perched on a little tree atop the table in between.

Today, though, I was a little bit nervous. The reason was what I was about to tell the count.

“Well, sir, since you asked, there is something I’d like to inform you of in advance.”

“These days, it’s rare for you to act so formal with me, Lord Sasaki. What is it?”

“Sir, I may have found a way to restore Prince Lewis.”

“What…?” Count Müller froze in astonishment.

The elder prince had been turned into a lump of flesh thanks to an otherworld spell. The only way I could think of to cure him was with a reward gained in the angel-demon proxy war, and Ms. Futarishizuka had just given me the green light.

“Little bird, is Lord Sasaki telling the truth?”

“He is indeed,” nodded the Java sparrow from atop his perching tree.

Peeps seemed a little plumper lately, probably because of all the meat he’d been eating. He said he used magic to deal with all the extra food—far too much for any sparrow to fit down their gullet—but maybe he’d let himself go a bit. Personally, I wanted to see him all round and fat. Maybe I’ll secretly increase the amount of meat I give him for dinner.

“Incidentally, I am not involved in this matter. Please understand this is the result of this man’s hard work on your behalf back in his own world. Though I cannot guarantee results, I believe this method is worth trying.”

“Lord Sasaki, you’ve done all this just for the sake of our kingdom?”

“You and King Adonis have both treated me extremely well, sir.”

“Even so, our efforts pale in comparison to what you have done for us.”

We had another of our usual exchanges—the count bowed low, I asked him to raise his head, and so on and so forth. The rotting-flesh curse must have been truly terrible. Then again, the Lord Starsage himself had all but given up on reversing its effects.

“In any case,” I said, “I wanted to discuss the matter with you. Could you arrange a meeting between King Adonis and me? There’s a possibility Prince Lewis may need to come to our world, and I don’t believe I should bring him there without asking.”

I ran through future plans in my mind. I wanted to set things up so that the actual curse removal could happen in either world. Based on the angels’ and demons’ names, they seemed indigenous to Earth, and there was no guarantee Abaddon’s demon powers would work here.

“Is there no way we can do this without informing His Majesty?” asked Count Müller, his tone formal.

“I am in agreement with Julius. Though I am optimistic, should this resurrection fail, I would rather not raise Adonis’s hopes only to shatter them. Why don’t we wait to inform him until Lewis’s curse has been successfully removed.”

Peeps was always ready to chime in with support. I thanked him generously in my heart. If we failed, we’d need to console Prince Adonis, and the king was currently on a crucial mission.

“I agree,” I said. “Let’s proceed as you suggested, then.”

“I’ll have everything prepared by your next visit. Would that be all right?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for taking the trouble.”

“I should be thanking you, Lord Sasaki. You’ve helped us so much.”

After parting ways with Count Müller, we set off for the Republic of Lunge that same day. There, we visited Mr. Joseph and sold the Kepler Trading Company some diesel fuel—nothing to write home about. They reported that everything was going smoothly for them and the Marc Trading Company. In addition, I collected a detailed write-up covering my sales from the previous visit. An insane amount of money was written on the slip.

We accepted Mr. Joseph’s hospitality that evening as usual and stayed the night in Lunge. The next day, we left the Republic—and with that, our work was finished.

From there, we went back to Baytrium in the Kingdom of Herz, where I spent my remaining time relaxing with Peeps. I was curious about how the trade route was coming along, but not much time had passed since my last visit, so I assumed they wouldn’t have too much to show me. Instead, I used my time to practice horseback riding.

“At least you’re no longer likely to embarrass yourself in front of others.”

“Relieved to hear it, Peeps.”

“But you’ll need to keep at it if you hope to make use of the skill. If it is a matter of ceremony, you are only required to stay atop the horse, but if you wish to travel any distance, you will need much more work. Keep that in mind as you practice.”

“In that case, I’d like a partner who can be with me for a long time.”

“Yes, perhaps it would be best to find you a horse of your own soon.”

After spending all my available time practicing, I eventually learned how to turn. When the animal finally moved according to my instructions, I was moved beyond my wildest imagination. Considering how they used to throw me off their backs immediately, this was a major milestone.

If I told Ms. Futarishizuka I learned how to ride a horse before learning to drive a car, she’d probably punch me in the face.

On our last day, we went to pick up Lady Elsa at the castle and headed back to modern Japan.

With my visit to the otherworld behind me, it was time to get back to work as a bureau employee.

I left Ms. Futarishizuka’s villa first thing in the morning and headed to school. After homeroom, I taught math class for each grade. Since it was one of the five main subjects, it kept me pretty busy. I had to mark up homework, too.

I might have to start bringing my job into the otherworld soon.

Plagued by this unpleasant thought, I fought hard to wrap up my tasks before work hours ended.

I wanted this life of teaching to end as soon as possible. Having to get up at six AM every morning was really rough. It was awful—so awful it made me wonder if the true talent needed to be a teacher was simply being able to wake up early day after day.

Having to simultaneously deal with time speeding up in the otherworld felt like a mean prank from some divine being.

Type Twelve, on the other hand, was loving her time at school. From what I could tell as her teacher, she was getting along great with her classmates. But that meant we’d likely be stuck here a while. I mulled this over as afternoon break began.

“Ah, Saturday afternoons,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “What bliss. I love half days.”

“It’s a good thing neither of us have to deal with club activities at the moment,” I said.

“You’re going to jinx yourself, you know.”

“If that was a joke, I’m not laughing.”

I sat in the faculty room exchanging light banter with Ms. Futarishizuka, the bento box before me courtesy of her chef. Now that I was working from sunup to sundown, this was my only pleasure. The lunches her staff prepared were quite luxurious, too—they commonly contained spiny lobster and roast beef.

Back in Tokyo, you’d have to reserve this type of lunch days in advance, and it would probably cost around ten thousand yen.

“You two always have such expensive-looking lunches,” remarked Miss Inukai. “I’m not sure that even counts as a bento box anymore.”

“I am very jealous! Please share the pointy lobster!” exclaimed Captain Mason.

The two of them usually came over to our desks to join us for lunch. Their food was incredibly average: a bento box and savory snack bread they’d probably gotten from the convenience store. Ah, yes, I was like you two once, I thought in a silly, wistful way.

“Please,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “You’re not children. Eat lunch at your own desks.”

“I think lunchtime is a fun chance to talk with work friends!” exclaimed the captain.

“I’m sorry, um… Mr. Robert asked me to come along, so here I am,” added Miss Inukai bashfully.

But our peaceful meal didn’t last very long.

A moment later, we heard an explosion in the distance. Immediately, my work phone started buzzing in my pocket. I checked the screen and saw my boss’s name.

“Oh, I have a very bad feeling about this,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“What a coincidence. Me too,” I replied.

Soon, all the teachers in the faculty room were talking about the blast. Ignoring them, I answered my boss’s call.

“Sasaki, some of our people are in combat with a magical girl. I want you to back them up at once.”

“Is that what that was? We heard an explosion all the way over here.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“All right. I’ll head over straight away.”

The call was brief. As I put the phone back in my pocket, I turned my attention to Ms. Futarishizuka.

“That was Mr. Akutsu,” I told her. “He wants us to head to the scene immediately.”

“I’d like to have lunchtime to relax, at least,” she whined.

“It seems a magical girl has appeared. He probably wants to make use of your power.”

“What? Now you’re gonna hand the job over to me?”

“No, I’ll go with you. I’m not sure if we should go dressed like this, though…”

We couldn’t simply go out in broad daylight and start shooting strange powers at one another. It wasn’t clear if the bureau had secured the area yet. If we didn’t take proper precautions, we could endanger our role as teachers.

A moment later, Miss Inukai and Captain Mason’s phones started buzzing. After receiving their orders, they turned to us and explained.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Sasaki,” said Miss Inukai.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because our people aren’t strong enough to avoid troubling the two of you.”

“Have they already responded?”

“We received a message from those watching the route to school. They engaged in combat with a group of unknown psychics.” Miss Inukai looked at her screen as she spoke. “Then a magical girl appeared, and now she’s attacking every psychic she sees. It seems our people are prioritizing the fight and haven’t been able to evacuate the scene or set up barricades yet.”

“It looks like your friends and mine are already responding!” said Captain Mason.

Evidently, they’d gotten the details via text message. By our “friends,” the captain probably meant other bureau employees.

“Assistant, quick question,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Can you send the blue girlie into the fray with us?”

“Oh! Do you plan on having them fight?”

Lately, Ms. Futarishizuka had been calling Captain Mason “Assistant” at school. It didn’t sound too odd, considering he was her assistant language teacher.

“But won’t that make Magical Pink hate you, Ms. Futarishizuka?” I asked.

“I was hoping the blue girlie might persuade her,” my colleague replied. “But I suppose that’s asking for the moon.”

“If I remember correctly, we heard during the Kraken incident that she and the other magical girls have known each other for a while. And yet she’s still going around hunting psychics. Don’t you think they’ve already tried and failed?”

The yellow magical girl had once fought alongside Magical Pink. I wasn’t clear on the girls’ relationships, but it seemed like they were friends. And Magical Pink had been desperate to save Magical Blue while we were trying to take down the Kraken.

“What are you talking about, Mr. Sasaki?” asked Ms. Mochizuki. “Is this about some video game you’re all playing?”

“Yes, something like that.”

Class 1-A’s assistant teacher came over to us as we were talking. But after glancing at our desks, she raised her voice in shock.

“What’s this?! Why do your lunches look like they cost a small fortune?!”

“Um, I think the principal was looking for you, Ms. Mochizuki,” said Miss Inukai. “It sounded urgent. Could you go check? He asked me to pass along the message if I saw you.”

“Oh yes! Thank you! I’ll go see him right away.”

Miss Inukai had cleverly gotten Ms. Mochizuki to leave the room. Since the principal knew what was going on, I figured he’d come up with something convincing. As one might expect from a National Defense Academy graduate, Miss Inukai dealt with such situations quickly and with great skill.

With the assistant teacher out of the picture, my colleague muttered, “Fine, then. Time for my trump card.”

“Do you have a plan?” I asked.

“Come with me for a minute.”

Oh, there is no way we’re getting back before dinner, I thought. I hastily shoved the last of the roasted spiny lobster into my mouth and got up. I wished I’d eaten it first instead of saving it for last—then I could have savored it.

I followed Ms. Futarishizuka out to the employee parking lot. In the trunk of her car, she’d stowed away a sailor uniform and a helmet, a bizarre set of horns, and a huge makeup kit that looked like something a pro would use on a film set. I’d seen all of these items before. Together, they made up the costumes for the Masked Sailor and the Demonic Middle Manager.

“Let’s get changed and head over there pronto,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“…You really like this Masked Sailor thing, don’t you?”

“Do you know how many chances I get to wear a sailor uniform in front of other people? Not many.”

“I see.”

“I’m actually pretty popular online.”

“You’ve been searching for yourself?”

“Yeah, and? What are you gonna do? Sue me?”

“No…”

“Anyway, it’s time for our transformation!”

“Won’t it take time to do the makeup?”

“Not to worry. I’ve called in some help.”

She stepped away from the trunk and moved to the back seat. As she opened the door, I spotted a familiar silver Java sparrow.

“Girl, what is the meaning of this abrupt summons?”

“Peeps?” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I contacted him while we were walking down the hallway.”

“She told me you were in trouble.”

The distinguished sparrow was sitting right in the middle of the back seat. He must have teleported here after Ms. Futarishizuka’s message. For the Lord Starsage, getting into a locked car was easy as pie.

“Thanks, Peeps,” I said.

“Of course. What is the situation?”

“Come on! Get into the car already,” urged Ms. Futarishizuka.

“All right.”

Following her instructions, I climbed inside. There, I donned my disguise. Ms. Futarishizuka’s car was extremely luxurious; it even had a curtain affixed to the rear windows, keeping us hidden from view. Of course, Futarishizuka was still in her underwear next to me, but I averted my eyes until she was dressed again.

Once we were done, a motorcycle appeared in the school parking lot, its big engine rumbling. Astride it was a familiar old gentleman—the same one who ferried my neighbor to and from school. He was tall and dressed in a suit and tie, and he looked right at home atop the rugged bike with its long, low body. I sincerely wished I would look half as cool when I was his age.

As we exited the car, he parked the motorcycle in front of us. Then he got down and handed Ms. Futarishizuka the key. Evidently, even bikes used smart keys these days.

After taking it, the Masked Sailor announced in a booming voice, “Time to set off!”

“But there’s no back seat on this thing,” I said.

“What do you mean? It extends all the way to the rear fender. See?”

“Are two people really supposed to fit on this? I don’t see any seatbelts.”

“Ugh! Just get on! Why would a motorcycle have seatbelts?”

At her urging, I eased myself onto the bike. She opened the throttle, and the vehicle lurched forward. I felt like my whole body was being pulled back. Panicking, I put my arms around Ms. Futarishizuka to stop myself from falling. I also employed a little flight magic to keep myself upright—otherwise, I would have been toast.

And with that, we zoomed down the road and away from school.