The Fate of the Protagonist Who Chose the Harem Ending - Episode 34

Kanefune Mahou: The Absolute Heiress

Kanefune Mahou, the absolute presence of a high-born heiress, gazed at me. 

“…I never intended to get involved with him in the first place.” 

“Good. Then that’s fine.” 

“But please tell me. Why are you insisting I stay away from him? What’s the reason? 

She, the heiress of a powerful zaibatsu family, posed a challenge instead. 

“Higashitani, answer this question.” 

What she presented was the same question asked once before: how to read the kanji “鍬”. 

This time, I knew the answer. 

But alarm bells rang in my head—a warning not to say it aloud. 

When I imagined saying it to Shizuku instead, the alarm stopped. 

Somehow, I instinctively felt that giving the answer to Kanefune-senpai wasn’t the right thing to do. 

“Shizuku, turn to me and listen.” 

“Okay.” 

“Suki.” 

“I like you too, Haru.” 

Ignoring Kanefune-senpai entirely, Shizuku and I exchanged heartfelt words. 

She seemed left out. But strangely, Kanefune-senpai appeared satisfied with our reaction. 

“Money can buy me anything… but not love. Honestly, I’m jealous of Amamiya.” 

“Ehehe…” 

Shizuku giggled, flushed with pride. 

“But precisely because of this, I feel I can entrust you two with a secret to carry to the grave.” 

Her words carried a grave warning—*never reveal this to anyone*. 

“By the way, how did you know to answer ‘suki’ for ‘鍬’, a term not commonly converted in that way?” 

“Because you taught me, Kanefune-senpai.” 

It was her playful quiz that made me aware of the answer in the first place. If she hadn’t, I’d probably still only associate it with the reading “kuwa”. 

“Exactly. I posed the question and taught you the answer.” 

She then revealed why she had such a complicated relationship with Ichijou—simultaneously obsessed yet dismissive. 

Finally, she unveiled her secret. 

“When I first met Ichijou, he answered this question—without hesitation—as ‘suki’.” 

“What?” 

“Wait, seriously?!” 

Ichijou figured it out instantly? How?! 

But I distinctly remember him saying “kuwa” in the classroom before! 

“Think about it. Who would immediately answer ‘suki’ for ‘鍬’, especially when we barely knew each other?” 

“……….No one would.”

“Exactly. And that’s why I’ve been wary of him since. Then there was that mass confession incident. Remember it?” 

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s an unpleasant memory now.” 

“I thought so. I was there too, and I came to this conclusion…” 

What she said next sounded absurdly paranormal, coming from someone like her. 

“He brainwashed every girl in that room except me.” 

“Brainwashing?! Seriously?!” 

The sheer absurdity stunned me. But strangely, it made sense. 

If they were brainwashed, he could treat them carelessly without consequence. 

Kanefune-senpai continued, 

“Don’t you think it’s strange? 

Normally, someone would demand that he choose just one person. 

Amamiya eventually did, but Ichijou never listened. 

What’s more, he never once said ‘I like you’ to any individual girl. 

When I tested him earlier, he answered ‘kuwa.’ 

But before the harem, he used to say ‘suki’. 

It’s strange, isn’t it? I concluded that he isn’t refusing to say it—he *can’t* say it.” 

*Can’t say it?* Now that she mentioned it, I couldn’t recall him ever confessing directly to any one girl. 

“When I investigated, I learned about a thing called the harem ending in games. 

So I asked Adachi Yuusuke, a gamer who’s knowledgeable about these things. 

He gave me an interesting answer, which I found convincing: 

Ichijou avoided expressing personal affection because it would trigger an individual ending.” 

“An individual ending?” 

“It’s where a story concludes with one person as a romantic partner. But when Higashitani became lovers with Amamiya, Ichijou realized an individual ending had occurred.” 

By becoming Shizuku’s boyfriend, I inadvertently caused the harem to collapse. 

Thinking back, after I started dating Shizuku, everyone else began leaving the harem as well. 

“But if that’s the case, couldn’t Ichijou-kun have kept some connections by taking action?” 

“…This is just my theory, but hear me out. 

Maybe he’s just terrible at communicating and doesn’t know what to say. 

And maybe, driven by selfishness, he’s unwilling to fight for anyone or accept reality. 

He doesn’t attack anyone because, deep down, he still has common sense. 

Honestly, I’ve come to think that, beneath it all, Ichijou isn’t anything special. 

The bonds that held his brainwashed harem together have broken. 

Now, even if he tries to converse, he can’t do so properly. That’s the kind of person I think he is.” 

Kanefune-senpai paused the conversation and took a sip of her tea. 

After placing the teacup back on the table, she shifted to the main topic. 

“I told you to stay away earlier, didn’t I? And I mentioned that the groundwork I laid was complete.” 

“Yes, you did.” 

“Now that everyone has left, it’s fully in place. No matter what he tries, he can no longer move.” 

Her gaze turned icy, colder than absolute zero, as she continued. 

“I judged it too dangerous to leave someone who could read the thoughts of a zaibatsu heiress unchecked. And he even tried to brainwash me. If Makoto Ichijou makes any move, the entire Kanefune conglomerate will mobilize immediately.” 

(Note: Oh yeah, “zaibatsu” means a large Japanese business conglomerate.)

Her words struck me and Shizuku like chains binding us in place. 

The fear of standing face-to-face with someone so overwhelmingly powerful. 

A bottomless terror. 

The feeling of having picked a fight we could never hope to win. 

But, as if realizing she had overstepped, Kanefune-senpai softened her piercing gaze. 

“Oh, my bad, my bad. Let me put it simply. If you stay involved any further, you’ll be touching the darker side of the Kanefune conglomerate. But don’t worry, he’s been rendered incapable of causing trouble.” 

Returning to her usual playful demeanor as the “black sheep” of the zaibatsu, she smiled. 

“Sorry for kidnapping you. You were acting overly cautious, so I wanted to reassure you in a place where no one else could listen.” 

She directed those words at us—or more specifically, at me. 

Though not explicitly stated, her tone seemed to say: *Go back to your ordinary life*. 

With her assurance, not as the eccentric heiress but as a dignified lady of the Kanefune family, I felt it was safe to return to normalcy. 

And so, Shizuku and I chose to step back into our everyday lives.