Chapter 26: Summer Means the Sea

Click-clack. Scratch, scratch.

Outside, the cries of cicadas announce the arrival of summer. Under the blazing sun, children with energy to spare are completely absorbed in play, darting around with water guns in hand.

Meanwhile, indoors—where the atmosphere is dim and utterly opposed to the brightness outside—the relentless sound of someone scribbling on paper mingles with the clatter of a keyboard. Every so often, the silence is broken by the slurp of an energy drink being drained.

"…Ah, it’s almost lunchtime."

"…Yeah… with this, it’s been three straight days of work with basically no sleep… achievement unlocked…"

…Greetings from the garden of corporate slavery, dear observers. It’s me.

What kind of situation is this? One glance should make it obvious. Towers of documents stacked high. The scattered remains of empty energy drinks. And the deep, dark circles under our eyes—no, even darker than usual—on both of us.

Yes. This is the current state of things for me and Sensei.

The root cause of all this… to put it bluntly, is that Kivotos has entered summer.

Yes—summer.

The days grow longer, the nights shorter. Sports festivals and cultural festivals. Pools, mountain bug-catching trips, and all that seasonal nonsense. For a shut-in, introverted person like me, it has absolutely nothing to do with my life… if anything, it’s just an irritating time of year.

Apparently, though, it’s different for most residents of Kivotos. They get excited in a way appropriate for their age, which leads to countless reports of problematic behavior—and, in turn, ever-growing piles of paperwork.

All of that inevitably leads to this.

"Komori-chaaaan… Sensei’s tired… pet me… please…"

"Yes, yes… there, there… come on, just a little more… let’s do our best, okay…?"

"Yeah! Sensei’ll do their best!"

It’s about time Sensei’s mental state started looking genuinely dangerous.

"…By the way, Komori-chan, don’t you ever go to the beach?"

See? There it is. They’ve started losing it.

"…Why would I? It’s me, you know? The moment I go to the beach, I’d melt…"

"Eh…?"

"And besides… isn’t the beach something you go to in winter?"

"…Huh?"

…Huh?

"Because, you know… in the gacha games I play, swimsuit events usually happen in winter… right now it’s more like we should be going to a snowy country…"

"That’s just that one game…"

…Ah. Right. Yeah. That’s bad. Reality and games are starting to blur together. I might be in a pretty rough mental state too.

"So? Are you going to the beach, Komori-chan?"

"I told you, I’m not going… Besides, I don’t even own a swimsuit…"

"…Th-then are you going to swim naked?"

"…Maybe. Maybe I will."

I see. So I’m going to swim naked.

"Alright! Komori-chan! Let’s take a break and put on a swimsuit!"

"Hey—"

Whoa, whoa… please don’t stand up so suddenly, Sensei. The document tower is going to collapse.

"A swimsuit, huh… It’s not like I was planning on going to the beach anyway—"

"I can’t exactly let a student go swimming naked."

"Ah, you weren’t listening…"

Still, a swimsuit. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. It’s been several years since I woke up in Kivotos and ended up with this absurdly cute loli-girl body… and yet, surprisingly enough, I’ve never once worn proper, cute, girl-like clothing. If I really had to name something, maybe the leggings I wore because a hoodie alone felt embarrassing—or the tights I put on because it was cold.

Yeah. I’ve been way too indifferent about fashion.

But can you really blame me? The formerly—and currently—hardcore introvert that I am has no real understanding of fashion.

"…Well, if you say so, then you choose one, Sensei… I don’t really understand swimsuits, so…"

Given that, maybe this is a good opportunity to learn a thing or two about girls’ fashion.

"Don’t worry. I figured as much, so I already prepared some recommendations."

"Ooh… as expected of you, Sensei…"

As expected of Sensei. You really do spend every day thinking about your students.

"Fufufu… let’s see, it should be around here somewhere… oh, there it is."

As they said this, Sensei carefully avoided the scattered corpses of empty energy drinks and rummaged through a shelf in the corner, crammed full of their personal belongings. They pulled out a single piece of cloth and brought it over, leaving behind a pink book and several other items they’d taken out during the search.

"Oh…? And that would be…?"

"Do you remember? From the Eden Treaty incident…"

"Yeah… that thing, right…? The infinitely spawning lewd Saint Council uniform."

"The Justina Saint Council."

"Yeah. That."

"You know, when I saw it back then, it left such an impact… I wondered if I could make something similar in the craft chamber. And, well—it's a swimsuit, but I actually managed to make it."

"You say ‘managed to make it’ like it’s nothing…"

…Still, this is… hmm. I see, I see. Sensei really does have excellent taste. No wonder we get along so well.

"…So what’ll it be, Komori-chan? Looks like wearing this is going to require some resolve."

…Heh. As if that’s even a question.

"Of course I’m going to wear it…!"

I snatch the swimsuit straight out of Sensei’s hand.

I see… this truly is a frighteningly small amount of fabric. Enough that a normal person would hesitate to put it on. But for me, it’s as easy as controlling a cleaner unit in an FPS while taking on mercenaries mid-fight.

Because right now! I am Komori-chan, the super miracle genius beautiful girl who has awakened her 【girl power】!!!!

"Unngh… huh…? Sensei, did you know my size?"

"No, it’s kind of like an OOPArt. It seems to adjust itself to the wearer’s body."

"What a pointless feature."

Well, whatever. For now, I hide myself behind the stacks of documents as best I can, slip off my clothes, and put on the swimsuit.

…Mmgh… yeah, just as I thought, the level of exposure is pretty extreme. There’s no way this could be worn in public. But if I’m the one wearing it, that’s another story. No idiot would get worked up over a body this loli-like, and besides, in Kivotos there aren’t any human men other than Sensei anyway. I seriously doubt the machine-headed folks or certain overly dramatic residents would feel that way about a student.

More than that, I’ve got a fair bit of confidence in the “cuteness” of my body. Because I’m an absurdly beautiful girl, after all. Sure, it’s a loli body—but loli bodies have their own appeal.

If we’re talking sheer cuteness, I’d say it’s top-tier. Yeah. Definitely.

"…Alright. Heh. So, Sensei—what do you think…? It suits me, right?"

"O-oh. Yeah. It suits you."

"…See!"

Of course it does!

"This is… my resolve…"

…And then, right there, an idea occurred to me.

—If I’ve shown my resolve, shouldn’t Sensei show theirs too?—

"Alright… Sensei should wear one too… Sensei should show his resolve as well…"

"E-eh?"

"I’m the only one doing this—it’s not fair… I want to see your resolve too, Sensei…!"

"A-are you serious?"

"Just wait a second… I’m changing now…"

Come on—show me your resolve…!

"…You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair for me not to show mine after seeing yours, Komori-chan."

Saying that, Sensei stood up, rummaged through a dresser, and pulled out a “second piece.”

"Don’t worry, Komori-chan. I bought two, just in case…!"

"Ooh…!!"

"Wait here a moment, okay? Sensei’s going to change."

With the swimsuit in hand, Sensei opened the bathroom door and went off to change.

Heh heh… now then, let me see this so-called resolve of yours, Sensei. And the hidden beauty of the body usually concealed beneath those clothes…!

"♪ Hm-hm-hmm ♫"

Rikuhachima Aru is a sixteen-year-old girl from Gehenna Academy who longs to be an outlaw.

An outlaw—specifically, the kind of cool villain you see in movies. Someone who toys with heroes through carefully laid schemes, captivates people with silver-tongued rhetoric. Not a cheap antagonist who exists only to make the protagonist look good, but a heel who stands as an equal—and even outsmarts the hero.

The girl who dreams of becoming such a villain continues her efforts today as well, alongside her comrades in Problem Solver 68, striving to become a proper bad guy under the motto of “One Evil a Day.”

"What should I do today, I wonder? No requests coming in, either…"

If there’s nothing to do, then it can’t be helped. Constantly charging toward one’s goal is admirable—but sometimes, it’s also important to stop and reflect on oneself.

"…That’s it. I’ll go help Sensei. Komori sent me some weird message too…"

With that, she starts walking toward Schale, where Sensei is.

Changing topics for a moment—she has her own idols when it comes to outlaws. In Kivotos, a place where public safety is far from ideal, there are figures so outlaw-like that she genuinely admires them.

The Masked Swimsuit Gang she encountered during the Abydos incident. The Seven Prisoners who’ve been stirring up trouble lately. And—the Cleaner.

A mercenary of the underworld she once confronted alongside Sensei. Like Problem Solver 68, they’ll do anything for money. But with a staggering 100% job completion rate, and despite being targeted by the Federal Student Council, Gehenna’s Prefect Team, and Valkyrie, their identity remained unknown for years—a truly legendary mercenary.

Even now, after defeating them with Sensei, uncovering their identity, and gaining them as an ally—though she doesn’t show it openly, out of consideration for the person herself, who looks up to her—that admiration remains intact.

If anything, it’s the kind of excitement you feel when a powerful enemy becomes a comrade.

"…I wonder if that kid’s eating properly…"

…Even if the truth is that they’re a shut-in, socially maladjusted loli, admiration is still admiration.

Lost in those thoughts, she arrives at the Schale building. She opens the door and steps into the elevator.

With a cheerful ding, the doors open. She exits and walks down the hallway for a while. She wonders how Sensei will react to a sudden visit not even mentioned on MomoTalk, or whether Komori’s room has turned into a trash heap. Thinking about all that, she stops in front of a single door.

Three knocks.

She flings the door open—

"Sensei! I’m here—"

"Twenty-three, twenty-four… twenty-five… okay… feel it… the muscles are roaring…!"

"Hnh! Hnh! Hnh! …Uoooh!!!"

"This is Sensei’s resolve… not even close to—ah, Lady Aru."

"Huh?"

A grown man wearing a dangerously borderline high-leg swimsuit, doing sit-ups, and a loli girl wearing an equally borderline high-leg swimsuit, sitting on his feet and counting.

"……"

Confronted with the bizarre sight of two very familiar people, she promptly lost consciousness.