Side: Amahashi Kakeru

Today, the day after the emergency closure, there was a school-wide assembly before classes started. It was the explanation about the underground space the earthquake two days ago had brought to light.

The principal went on and on with a long preamble before getting to the point, but the gist was that there had been a prewar basement that even the school hadn't known about.

He apologized that, due to a handover error with his predecessor, the school had failed to grasp the information.

"That explanation's pretty off, isn't it?"

The second we got back to the classroom, Kitamura let his complaints spill out.

A natural enough reaction, I supposed. There was an underground space where people had been attacked by a creature of unknown origin, and yet the school hadn't touched on the creature at all, apologizing only for the existence of the basement.

I didn't think it had been a sincere response, and if you asked me whether it sat well with me, the answer was no. But after everything that had happened in the other world, honestly, I didn't expect that much from people anymore, so it wasn't enough to make me angry.

Was the school covering it up, or had they simply not believed us? Surely they'd at least surveyed the basement—though the possibility that they hadn't searched the whole thing thoroughly enough to find a monster was… no, surely not.

"I wonder if they just didn't believe what we told them? I really can't accept that."

"I mean, that creature's still down there, right? What do we do if it comes out?"

Horii-san and Aizawa-san—natural reactions, all of them.

"Amahashi-kun, what do you think?"

"Whether they didn't believe us or they're trying to hide something, either way it's going to be a pain. Maybe Horii-san's dad will come down here for us, but if he makes too much noise, there's his position to consider too."

I answered because Horii-san had asked, but the truth was I couldn't really say.

After going through that whole Hero business over there, I'd come to understand—more than I ever wanted to—how adults and society actually moved. Especially with a delicate matter like this one, pushing through an individual's will was both difficult and dangerous.

Everyone had a grievance with the school, but with the police involved, there was a chance the school itself didn't even want to cover it up.

"Amahashi… you're kind of detached, or, I dunno, jaded. Makes me feel like an idiot for getting mad."

"I'm not saying I don't have a problem with it. But if that stuff is real, it's not a problem the school can contain. Who exactly are we supposed to demand the truth from? And there's the question of what we'd even do once we knew."

I had no intention of disturbing the peace, and no intention of stopping anyone.

That said, if you asked what the upside of kicking up a fuss would be, it was iffy—and I kind of wished they'd pick up on that on their own.

"…Well, you've got a point there. There's no guarantee that thing only exists in that one place. The problem might run deeper."

Apparently Horii-san had noticed the same thing I had.

"So I was wrong to get mad?"

"That's not it. The question is what you want to do in the end. Even if that stuff is real, there's nothing we can do, and nothing we want to do, right? They say let sleeping dogs lie."¹

Kitamura still didn't seem to get it, but Aizawa-san had clearly already caught on.

"Well, yeah. I'm no Amahashi—I don't wanna pick a fight with something like that."

"I'd rather pass too."

No, seriously, stop making me out to be some battle junkie. That had been an emergency measure. Even a Lesser Goblin's dangerous if you panic.

Incidentally, according to Horii-san, the entrance to that dungeon had already been enclosed in a temporary prefab shed, so you couldn't see what was going on inside from the outside.

Whether they'd sealed it or were managing it, I couldn't tell, but for now the school had apparently decided it was safe.

Well, Horii-san's dad was apparently going to lodge a protest, so I'd cooperate with that much. Demanding a proper explanation once couldn't hurt.

Not that I thought it would solve anything.

"Oh right, this isn't the time for that. Amahashi, what's your relationship with Filia-san?!"

Once the conversation had settled and Horii-san and Aizawa-san moved off, Kitamura suddenly kicked up a fuss, like he'd just remembered.

"Relationship…? She's just someone doing a homestay with me, though?"

"There's no way one woman does a homestay by herself at a young guy's house!!"

The energy was on a whole different level from before. Was this conversation the more important one to this guy?

"What are you talking about?"

"Listen to this! This guy's got a gorgeous foreign woman doing a homestay at his place!!"

Maybe because the girls had cleared out of the area, the guys in class latched onto Kitamura's story. It was kind of nostalgic—I remembered that yeah, this was the reaction and the vibe you got from people my own age.

Back in that world, there hadn't really been anyone nearby I could goof around with like this. There'd been one person a little like that among those who trained me in combat early on. But the gaps in level and Skills opened up fast, and I stopped being able to see them.

I wondered if that person was still working at the royal castle even now.

"No way. That's no good."

"This isn't a manga…"

While I was escaping reality for a moment, most of the guys in class had latched onto the story and were making a racket. How girl-crazy were these people?

Look at the girls' slightly cold stares. There was no way around it—your likability was dropping.

"Ah, no, it's not just one person. There are three other foreign women too. So if anything, it doesn't turn into that kind of atmosphere."

In that instant, the room went dead silent.

I'd only blurted out the truth right away because hiding it would've been a pain later.

"Is that… okay?"

"Well, if it's not one-on-one… I've got an older sister and a little sister, and when there are a lot of women around, it's rough."

"No, that's no good. No matter how you look at it. You're not related by blood. It's a harem, you can take your pick."

"Dude, face reality. There's no way something like that happens, that's manga stuff. If anything, won't they drag guys in and turn the place into a hangout?"

How carefree, I thought. Was it because it was someone else's problem? They were people with their own positions and standing, and there were even non-humans among them. It wasn't such a simple thing.

"So how is it, really?"

"Pretty normal, I'd say. It's like being a landlord with college students doing a homestay. There's a normal sense of distance, too."

It hadn't been an environment where I'd see them as romantic prospects or anything. I'd been thrown headfirst into a world of aristocratic politics swirling with scheming and intrigue. I hadn't had the leeway to look at anyone that way.

To put it a bit more bluntly, on the first night a woman had come into my room and it had completely freaked me out. I'd even thought that if I let my guard down and showed a weakness, there was no telling what might be done to me.

"You're so dried up, man."

"It's fun if you keep an appropriate distance. Our values are different, too. I think they're good as friends."

Kitamura wore a face like he couldn't comprehend it, but the women themselves looked good and weren't bad personality-wise. Honestly, hanging out with them as friends would probably be fun.

That was what I thought, based on the experience of talking with them directly more often these past few days.