Chapter 54: Piercing

“…Seriously…I’m going crazy…”

Summer, damn summer, it’s so hot I feel like I’m going to die…even in Kivotos, June and summer boasted terrible heat, and this was enough to make me regret deciding to go out, saying that the weather was nice.

Actually, in the morning, there was a bit of wind, and it was bearable, but as it went into the afternoon, the heat rising from the heated ground and the sun, which was now just past noon and pouring down hot light,

made me feel like I was becoming a well-fried chicken, to borrow a Gehenna-style derogatory term…

The reason why I’m still staying out and not going in is…boredom, yeah, the me of the past life who had no impact even when alone is gone, and now I’ve become a person who gets lonely and can’t live without people…

The Onee-chan and seniors of the Tea Party all left, saying that they had urgent work to do today…especially Onee-chan, it was her day to be on duty at Schale, so it was half-forced…

Ichika-senpai said that the Justice Realization Committee couldn’t lose in the tactical competition against Gehenna in July after the Great Sports Festival, so a large-scale training started under Hanekawa-senpai’s leadership,

so it would be impossible for a while…

“Ugh…”

The cold drink I bought at a separate cafe a while ago wets my throat, and the coolness spreads little by little through my body.

At this moment, I’m glad that I’m a Trinity student.

Trinity has a well-developed tea culture, so it’s easy to find cafes, and I’ve already finished three drinks.

However…the third drink was also running out, and it was a bit burdensome in many ways to buy more drinks here…so I was worried (고민 means troubled) about whether I should really go in now…

“Huh…? It’s been a while?”

“Huh…? Kazusa?”

I encountered a really unexpected person, Kazusa.

It seems that it wasn’t just me who couldn’t overcome boredom in this hot weather, Kazusa was also wandering aimlessly.

However, unlike usual, Kazusa came up to me while chewing on an ice candy.

“What…I also came out without a plan, but there was one more person like me?”

“Same here…what about the Dessert Club?”

“Sigh…Natsu heard another strange rumor and brought something strange…”

“So…everyone got sick?”

“That’s right…everyone except me, who was away at the time, was wiped out…”

I had the same interest in desserts as the Dessert Club from the first time I met them, so I quickly became comfortable with them, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t meet them often.

It was nice to meet like this.

And the story that followed was a group illness…it was a ridiculous story, but it was a mistake that was like Natsu..? so I couldn’t worry too much.

The time when they ate natural maple syrup? and were taken care of by the Knights Hospitaller was a truly incomprehensible mess…

“By the way…weren’t you a high-ranking person? Is it okay for you to be here?”

“I’m not a high-ranking person…I’m just an ordinary attendant…”

From the first time I met them and revealed that I was a member of the Tea Party, the members of the Dessert Club used to tease me by calling me a high-ranking person.

Thanks to that, I once had an experience where I was misunderstood and received the attention of everyone around me when I was talking during lunchtime in Trinity school, so even if this joke didn’t stop, the level became lighter.

“That being said…in the end, we have nothing to do…”

“Ah, then I heard that there’s a store nearby that sells ice cream cakes with fruit for a limited time, do you want to go?”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you had nothing to do?”

“Actually…I went…but the atmosphere of the store is a bit…to be alone…and some menus can’t be ordered without a companion, so I gave up.”

I was a person who had finished three drinks, so I wasn’t hungry…but it was certainly time to eat something.

However…it’s burdensome…I didn’t show it to others, but…I take care of my body. I’ll gain weight…

But more than that, I couldn’t overcome boredom…and I decided to follow Kazusa to that dessert shop, thinking that I would just eat a little.

“So this is what you meant…”

“…Sorry…?”

As soon as I entered the store, I understood the words that it was a burdensome atmosphere to be alone.

Yeah…a character theme cafe…the store was decorated here and there with a character named Peroro, and the store was full of people who were presumed to be fans of the character and groups of couples or friends.

Certainly, if you come to a place like this alone, it’s perfect to be misunderstood as a fan of that character.

“It’s okay, it’s not like I particularly dislike it.”

“Really? Thank you. I really wanted to try the dessert here.”

Thanks to Hifumi-senpai, I no longer had any resistance to the character Peroro…no, I didn’t have any resistance from the beginning, and when I looked at the desserts on the tables here and there…I gave up on managing for today.

Is it because it’s a character theme cafe, or is it because the store itself is a large store with two floors and outdoor tables?

Fortunately, there was no special line, so I was able to avoid the disaster of waiting in line in this heat.

The taste of the dessert itself was as good as proving why the scale of the store is large, but it was a little stimulatingly sweet.

I don’t dislike sweets itself, but I can’t eat a lot…

“Ugh…my mouth is sweet…”

“Haha…it’s delicious…but it’s hard to eat…”

“…”

I was already swept away by the violence of sweetness several times with various drinks, so I got tired of it even faster.

Kazusa, who usually eats sweets often, was also having a hard time eating it because it was composed of desserts with a strong sweetness.

Nevertheless, the reason why so many people flock to it is probably because the sweetness is not a stupidly strong sweetness, but a proper harmony of the scent of fruit and the sub-ingredients…

no, no matter how much I say it, this is too sweet.

“Kuh…I didn’t think it would be this much, I’m sorry…”

“No, it was very sweet…but it’s not like it’s not delicious…”

So the two of us were spending a lot of time at the dessert cafe, and it was time to get up.

“Awww…what should I eat…I’m thinking because of the goods…awww…”

“I’ve decided, I’ll go with the Skull D cake.”

“Fufu, Hifumi-san, even so, since all five of us ordered one each, we can get all the goods, right?”

“Ugh…I didn’t know this character…could have this kind of dessert…”

I heard familiar voices from behind.

It was the voices of four people that I could never forget.

“Huh…?”

“Eh?! It’s Sora!”

“Someone you know…?”

As soon as I looked back, Koharu from the opposite seat reacted.

The Supplementary Lessons Club, four members of the Supplementary Lessons Club were right next to me in the same store…there’s no such coincidence…

“Oh my…you seemed busy lately…but I guess it wasn’t today?”

“Long time no see, seniors, Koharu.”

“Wow! Long time no see! Are you guys also getting Peroro-sama’s goods…”

“No, senpai…we just came to eat limited-time desserts.”

“Awww…that’s a shame…”

The Supplementary Lessons Club, which I met after a long time, seems to be getting along well with each other.

Although it was a relationship that started with bad, dark stories and suspicions, the result is bright and lively, so it couldn’t be better, right?

However…there was one person who wasn’t a member of the Supplementary Lessons Club.

And there was a child with a very familiar face mixed in.

“Yeah, I see you here too…”

“Atsuko, it’s been a while. But…it’s unexpected…?”

I’m relieved.

I spent quite a long time trying to raise the awareness of Arius from other Trinity students, but I was worried that the people themselves would not be able to adapt, but I can relieve that worry a little.

The children of the Squad, including Atsuko, often see each other in the office, so I have some intimacy with them, so I keep taking care of them and paying attention to them.

That being said, I thought Atsuko would hang out with quieter children, but thanks to Azusa-senpai’s introduction and Hifumi-senpai’s sociability, and the atmosphere that became lighter thanks to Hanako and Koharu, she was able to blend in easily.

“Are you two getting up now?”

“That’s right, by the way…wasn’t the Justice Realization Committee busy?”

“…”

What? Did I make a mistake?

Koharu’s expression rapidly darkened. I rotated my head at full speed to figure out the reason, but I couldn’t figure it out.

Suddenly Hanako came up next to me and brought her mouth to my ear.

Wait, what are you doing?!

“That’s…we’ve joined the Supplementary Lessons Club again…all four of us…this time it’s purely because of grades…”

“…”

Ah, fortunately, Hanako didn’t play the prank I was worried about, and she whispered the reason why Koharu was like that.

Ah…I see…the reason why I didn’t stick around this time was simply grades…and Koharu had to study with them again.

Wait, there wasn’t a big test since then?

“Huh? I remember that there wasn’t a particularly special test after that?”

“…”

Hanako solved that question again.

“That’s…there was another performance evaluation this time…right?”

“…No, that was easy?!”

“…Death penalty…death penalty…it’s not lewd…but it’s the death penalty!!!!”

Ah, it seems like I’ve touched Koharu’s nerves again…well…yeah…thanks to that, I had to spend a long time trying to relieve the 100% sulky Koharu’s mood…

I spent a lot of time trying to relieve Koharu’s mood.

As a result, I neglected Kazusa for a long time, close to 30 minutes.

I also felt sorry…but it can’t be helped…Koharu was properly sulky there…

In the end, it was after two more hours that I and Kazusa left the dessert cafe…of course, I didn’t use all two hours to relieve Koharu’s mood, but I also used it to catch up with the Supplementary Lessons Club, which I met after a long time.

In the process, Kazusa also became acquainted with the Supplementary Lessons Club, and Kazusa also liked the children of the Supplementary Lessons Club, saying that it was okay and that this kind of thing happens,

so I was grateful.

“Phew…but after a while, it’s gotten a little better…”

“That’s right…”

It was 5 pm, a bit late, so I and Kazusa were thinking of going back.

It was a bit of a shame to just part ways, so I was thinking of taking a walk around the park and parting ways.

It was a pretty nice park, so I thought it would be nice to come with Onee-chan or seniors later, and while I was thinking about which course to take in my head…

“…”

“…?”

“Heeh…she’s a child, but she’s very good…”

A melody I’ve heard sometime pierced my ears.

A piano placed in the center of a place that looks like a plaza in the park, an emotion-filled…no, this wouldn’t be the performer’s emotion.

A melody that stimulates the listener’s emotions resounds.

It’s bright…and lively.

At the same time, it’s not noisy and it’s not uncomfortable to listen to.

The person playing it is not an old man, but just a small girl.

A small girl who is about to finish elementary school is performing this kind of performance.

That is definitely the realm of genius.

Not a genius who is complacent and stopped, but the realm of a genius who worked hard, so I feel a sense of incongruity.

I have a memory of hearing this sound, this performance somewhere.

But I don’t remember.

However, based on this memory engraved somewhere, the incongruity of this performance is thinly connected in my head.

It is said that the piano performance of a skilled person contains the performer’s emotions, but the performance that is heard now is not loaded with emotions.

But strangely, it moves the listener’s emotions.

No one notices this.

I don’t know the reason.

But that worry didn’t last long.

“Ah, it seems like it’s over…huh? Sora?”

“Kazusa…wait a minute…”

The performance of the song ended.

The performance ended, and the little girl finished playing and got up from her seat and looked around the audience-filled surroundings.

The reaction, the reaction was explosive.

Everyone admired and stood up and applauded.

As if by appointment, the applause of many people filled the park at the same timing.

The little girl looked around…her gaze was fixed on my side for a moment, but not long after, she left as if running away.

That’s why I could see her expression clearly.

Her expression is…yeah, it resembles me in my previous life.

I resembled the me who lost all value and had an expression that I didn’t want to do anything.

That’s why I couldn’t just leave that little child alone.

“Hey, hey! Sora!”

When my reason returned, I was already running after that child.

Is it because I heard the performance from a distant place, or is it because I went through a lot of people to follow her?

It took quite a while to catch up with that child.

And it wasn’t that I caught up with her by running, but that I caught up with her because that child stopped.

Haha, I thought it was a waste of money because Trinity’s snob had almost no money…but you had this talent? Let’s see each other often from now on, shall we?

“…”

A scene that I can’t ignore, a few delinquents, Sukebans, are extorting a girl who is about to enter middle school.

“Hey…slow down a bit…that’s…”

Kazusa, who followed, also takes in that scene.

From there, there was no need for conversation.

Because I and Kazusa did what we had to do without saying anything.