Episode 27

“Alright then, Kirisaki-san. I’m counting on you.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Kirisaki patted her chest lightly. In that moment, her ample chest bounced, and I couldn’t help but stare. Luminous shot me a sidelong glance, her eyes narrowing.

“Where do you think you’re looking?”

“…..No, nowhere in particular.”

“You’re being rude, seriously.”

Luminous pouted, while Seraph giggled softly. But since Kirisaki didn’t seem to mind being stared at, I figured it wasn’t a big deal.

“Now, now, Luminous-san. Takigawa-san is a boy, after all. So it can’t be helped. And I don’t mind, so don’t worry about it.”

Seraph said this while puffing out her chest. Since she said I didn’t need to be concerned, I decided to look without hesitation. But then Luminous tugged on my ear.

“That doesn’t mean you can just openly stare!”

“Okay, okay…… I’ll just sneak glances.”

“Don’t look at all!”

Luminous raised her voice angrily, clearly upset.

…I was a bit wary of the fact that she had pulled on my ear to scold me. This is because Luminous is the type of character who, when she likes someone, tends to get jealous if they look at others in a suggestive way. 

A bit of a tsundere, she uses this behavior to keep the other person in check.

…In other words, Luminous currently likes me enough that she’s in the “Don’t look at other girls” mode. I might need to lower her affection for me at some point…

“Anyway, let’s all do our best, okay?”

Michael, who had the largest chest among them, tilted her head cutely and smiled. With that, her chest bounced again. It made it nearly impossible not to look. In fact, it would almost feel disrespectful not to. So I stared once more.

“I said, stop it!”

Luminous shouted, forcibly pulling me along. As Michael waved at us with a smile, we left the staff room.

—

The next day.

Just as we discussed the day before, we had finished preparing for our trip to Shizuho City. We were waiting outside the house with our packed bags.

After a while, a car pulled up in front of us. Kirisaki got out, along with a woman who seemed to be the driver.

“Good morning. Did you wait long?”

“No, we’re fine… um—”

Instead of looking at Kirisaki, whose expression hadn’t changed as usual, my eyes shifted to the woman who was driving.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Martha, sent by the Lucifer Union to assist the Seraph & Luminous Union. In Shizuho City, we’ll mostly be getting around by car. So I’ll be your driver.”

Martha bowed her head politely. She wore a classic maid outfit adorned with black frills. Cute demon wings and a tail swayed behind her.

Her well-formed features and voluptuous figure made me think, “Yep, this is definitely the world of an eroge.” Martha, too, wasn’t a character that appeared in the game’s main story.

“Shizuho City… it’s more rural compared to here. There aren’t many buses or trains. So it’ll be inconvenient without a car.”

“I see. But why the Lucifer Union?”

I had a vague idea why, but I asked Kirisaki. She didn’t seem to have an answer, so she turned to Martha for an explanation.

“Why?”

“Lucifer-sama didn’t give a specific reason. But I assume it’s to avoid Takigawa-sama being mistaken for someone from the angel faction.”

I agreed with Martha’s explanation. While angels and demons don’t outright hate each other, there is a strong desire on both sides to be superior to the other.

That’s probably why they’re offering me such generous support—they want to pull me, someone in a tricky position, over to their side.

“Now that you mention it, Michael-sama also said something like that. She mentioned providing as much support as possible for Takigawa. Oh right, I’ll give Takigawa some combat training.”

“You’re just saying that because *you* want to do it.”

As they exchanged words, Martha opened the back door of the car.

“For now, let’s load the luggage into the car. Please place it in the back.”

As instructed, we loaded our bags into the car, then got inside. Kirisaki sat in the passenger seat, while Martha took the driver’s seat. In the back, Seraph and Luminous sat on either side of me.

The car started moving slowly, and Seraph spoke up.

“If I remember correctly, we’ll be using a lodge owned by the Lucifer Union in Shizuho City, right?”

“Yes. There’s a woman named Takasaki Yoshiko there. She’ll be handling meals and cleaning, so everyone will be able to focus on your respective duties.”

“Yoshiko-san…”

Kirisaki muttered the name quietly, a slight twitch on her face. Curious, I asked her about it.

“You know her?”

“Yeah. Shizuho City doesn’t have that many people, so I know most of them. She’s like my nemesis since she once made me eat my least favorite vegetables.”

That name never came up in the main game.

……Perhaps she’s someone who got caught up in the Void Shadow Incursion.

“With someone taking care of all our daily needs, it sounds like we’ll be pretty well looked after.”

“Indeed, leave it to me. Oh, Takigawa-sama.”

“Yes?”

“If you need assistance during the night, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Wait, really!?”

“Of course.”

Martha, a beauty who wasn’t even in the main story, with no lingering attachments… This is rare.

Lucifer really knows how to make great suggestions…!

Original Author’s Comment:

――――――――――――

I’ve written a new story, so I’d be happy if you’d give it a read:

“I Was Criticized as the Weakest S-Rank Explorer, but I’m Actually the Strongest in the World”

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093086515271194