I was Reincarnated as the Scum Older Brother of the Protagonist in a Romance Battle Game, But I don't want to Die, so I'll do my Best - Episode 28

“Thanks for everything, Ane-san Ume.”

“Mr. Kaizuka… Thank you for everything…”

At the entrance of the training grounds, seeing Mr. Kaizuka off, I bowed deeply before the large gate.

“I’m glad to see you both safely concluded your training.”

Mr. Kaizuka returned a slight bow and a greeting.

“Well then, you both have academic obligations tomorrow and the day after, so please have a safe journey home.”

“Alright, I’ll come again.”

“You stay well too, Mr. Kaizuka.”

I descended the stairs, and just as Mr. Kaizuka was barely visible, I turned back and bowed once more.

I hadn’t slept a wink yesterday, so I was worried if I could walk the mountain path today, but surprisingly, my body felt lighter than when I arrived.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Joji?”

“Oh, ah, my body just feels oddly light…”

“…Joji has gained strength from the training, and… I feel a strong power too.”

(She’s talking about Byakko, right…? But Byakko seems to be with Nanbara Joji right now.)

“All of this is thanks to Mashiro.”

“Hm, tomorrow’s the deadline for submitting the members for the untrodden region test.”

I had forgotten! I remembered the printout said that participants for the untrodden region test had to fill out the participation form and submit it by May 1st… That was a close call!

“A-hahahaha, of course! I definitely remember, hahahaha.”

Mashiro looked up at me with a sidelong glance.

“…Joji forgot, it’s written all over your face.”

I had forgotten that clumsy excuses were useless before Mashiro’s Ryuseigan eyes… I scratched my head and made strained excuses to Mashiro as we walked down the mountain path towards the nearest station.

“No matter how deep in the mountains it is, it’s the last day of the long weekend, you know?”

“Hm, it’s nice and empty.”

There were only two people in our train car… Mashiro was engrossed in the manga I brought.

(Come to think of it, I’ve really messed up the game’s progression…)

Suddenly, I thought about that and tried to recall the game’s progress.

By the time Golden Week began, Kitano Joji had already been disinherited from the Kitano family and had been expelled from school after the last week of April.

Then, Takeru used Golden Week to move from the school dormitory to the apartment where Joji used to live and met Tachibana-san, his caretaker.

Only if the hidden event — the alleyway event with Michiyo on her way home after the engagement annulment — had been completed before this point, followed by the event where Tachibana-san consults about Joji’s sexual harassment, would the Michiyo heroine route option become available.

Then, on May 1st, upon arriving at school, he would be asked by Aru to challenge the untrodden region test.

On the evening of May 2nd, he would be called back to the main Kitano family residence, and on the 3rd, he would return home, where it would be announced that he had officially become Aru’s fiancé in Joji’s place.

On May 4th, he would visit the orphanage where he grew up and swear to the elderly female director, who had taken care of him, that he would succeed in the Kitano family and repay her someday.

He would then return to Tokyo on the morning flight the next day…

(That’s how it went, I think… Mashiro wasn’t participating in the untrodden region test at that time…)

“I wonder what’s going to happen next~”

“Hm? Next, in the Yoshiwara district, Nezuko and Tanjiro will fight together.”

“Huh? Oh, no… Ohh, is that so! The enemies are demon siblings too, right!”

Luckily, Mashiro misunderstood my soliloquy, thinking I was talking about the future developments of “Blade of Immortality” she was reading, so I skillfully played along and covered it up.

“Huh? Is that so? I don’t think that was mentioned until last week, though?”

“Ah… Oh? Was that it~? A-hahahaha…”

Or so I thought, but I seemed to have dug myself an even deeper hole…

“For me, to have overlooked something in Blade of Immortality?? Impossible… I must re-read all the volumes…”

“W-well, Mashiro, don’t take it so seriously~ it’s just a manga…”

“Hmph?”

Mashiro’s icy gaze, as if an ice age had descended, pierced me for my careless remark.

(This is no good, this guy’s personality changes instantly when it comes to Blade of Immortality, scaryyyy.)

After that, in an atmosphere like a funeral, we somehow safely arrived at the station closest to the school.

“Hm, well then, Joji, see you tomorrow at school.”

“Yeah, you rest well too, Mashiro.”

I have to transfer further ahead, so I waved to Mashiro and got off the train, heading to the opposite platform.

As I was checking the electric bulletin board for the next train’s time, a train arrived on the opposite platform…

(Hm? Is that Takeru and Aoi?)

They got off the train and walked out of the ticket gate together.

(Their closest station is indeed this one… Did they go out to play together during the long weekend?)

“That’s no longer my concern… No, rather, I should try not to get involved with them from now on…”

As I muttered such things, my destination train arrived, and this time, I was pushed into a crowded train, and the previous sight completely vanished from my mind while I was being jostled.

Finally, after returning home utterly exhausted, with my remaining energy scraped away, Michiyo-san had made delicious ginger pork. It goes without saying that I secretly shed tears upon tasting meat for the first time in several days.