Chapter 85

After the meeting with Kim Deok-sung.

Makoto returned to her accommodation and bowed her head, looking at her unfamiliar dress in the full-length mirror.

"I look like a boy..."

---

Standing at the classroom door, Kim Deok-sung took a deep breath and firmly held the secret letter given to him by his mother.

---

Amidst the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

---

Arisu leaned against the window, gazing at the distant mountains while deeply reflecting on yesterday's events.

---

Standing at the classroom door, Kim Deok-sung took a deep breath and firmly held the secret letter given to him by his mother.

---

In the hotel suite, Arisu, who was left alone, peeled and ate a tangerine with skilled hands while looking at the night view of Kyoto.

"Kim Deok-sung..."

Arisu's silver eyes narrowed.

As she had said to him earlier, Arisu had a rather favorable view of Kim Deok-sung.

He possessed both kindness and a sense of responsibility, the two major virtues of a hero.

It would be a lie to say she had no interest or curiosity.

"Plus, he's bold..."

The student council president of Shuohou Hero Academy.

The runner-up of the Great Game.

In front of her title, not only the students but even active heroes would often feel intimidated.

Indeed, Hoshino Kasumi, who was standing next to Kim Deok-sung, had shown clear signs of tension throughout their conversation.

'But Kim Deok-sung is different.'

Kim Deok-sung spoke boldly and casually, as if talking to a friend, without showing any signs of being intimidated.

Since entering Shuohou Academy, she had always been revered and praised by those around her.

The comfort she felt in the suffocating routine of constantly pushing herself was a rare experience.

Ironically, Arisu felt a sense of relief in her conversation with Kim Deok-sung.

'He must have a reason for being so bold.'

Every time she met him, the principal, Seira, would praise Kim Deok-sung with a face like a love-struck girl.

Although she had heard rumors about his complicated relationships with women, Arisu didn't believe them.

She knew that rumors circulating in the academy were often unreliable, and the Kim Deok-sung she had met didn't seem to fit those rumors at all.

Moreover, the tangerine he left for her as a gift was from Wakayama Prefecture, where her family farmed.

'I knew he was a tangerine ghost...'

She hadn't told anyone about her hometown.

It felt like being back home...

"Merakessan, are you crazy..."

Arisu, flustered, inadvertently spoke in Kansai dialect and quickly covered her mouth.

She looked around.

"No one saw, right?"

The room was empty.

"Phew, that was close..."

Arisu's face turned red.

"Ugh..."

It was a secret that no one, not even the student council members who were like her own limbs, should know.

I am not a country girl named Arisu.

I am Arisu Saijou, the Silver Queen, the pinnacle and strongest student at Shuohou Academy.

Thump.

Even though no one was there, Arisu's heart raced, feeling as if her secret had been exposed.

Perhaps it was because she was thinking about him, but she felt Kim Deok-sung's gaze.

"Ah, I'll be watching you, Kim Deok-sung!"

Arisu, her face red, spoke in Kansai dialect.

The Kyoto Tower stood tall, reflected in her silver pupils.

Are you okay?

After the three-way meeting.

Kasumi, in her room, was trembling under the covers, muttering to herself.

"Senpai saved me again."

Kim Deok-sung kept his promise.

As he had said, the student council president neither condemned her nor held her responsible.

Instead, he encouraged her, assuring her that her status as a student would be protected.

"Kind... President Senpai... Senpai..."

She didn't want to lose anyone.

Anyone.

Kasumi thought.

Thump.

Her heart raced.

The person who made her feel less alone, who had given her friends, who had called her beautiful despite her monstrous appearance, who had accepted her true self, who had promised to save her, who was her only confidant.

All of them were him.

Kasumi's heart was filled with thoughts of Kim Deok-sung alone.

"Senpai..."

I love you.

I love you. I love you.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Kasumi's eyes lost focus.

"My Senpai."

My savior.

My life, my everything.

I would die for Senpai.

Kasumi thought this as she picked up her phone.

[Hoshino Kasumi? When is a good time for you?]

A message from the student council president of Meijin Academy, Maruyama Ryouji, was there.

Kasumi threw off the covers.

To help Senpai, she needed to get close to this person and extract information.

With this in mind, she tapped her phone with hands that no longer trembled.

[Let's meet tomorrow.]

[Understood. The location is...]

Kasumi's eyes turned cold as she read the message on her phone screen.

---

The next day.

In the hotel lobby, the person I met was Mako.

"Lord. I'll be accompanying you today."

Mako, who was touching her green hair that covered her neck, was wearing a sparkling hairpin, a white dress, and sandals, standing beside me with a flushed face.

"O, oh, how do I look? Is it strange? I don't look like a boy, do I...?"

Mako, looking awkward, fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

"I, I tried it on after getting advice, but it still feels strange... I guess it doesn't suit me... I don't look like a girl at all..."

Mako lowered her head.

Her shoulders slumped.

Do I have to listen to this nonsense before we even start?

It's not like I'm bowing to receive a beating.

She's going to flip out.

"What nonsense? You're a girl. You look fine, so let's go."

Today's companion is Mako.

It's actually a good thing.

I had something to discuss with Mako.

"R, really?"

Mako looked up.

Her eyes wavered.

"R, really? Really? Lord? The hairpin and the dress both?"

Mako leaned in and asked.

"You look fine, so let's go."

Are you for real?

"..."

Mako smiled softly.

"Thank you, Lord. I'll lead the way today!"

She seemed in a much better mood and led the way with a happy expression.

We took a bus from the hotel and arrived at Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its thousands of torii gates and fox symbols.

'This is my first time visiting a shrine.'

Although I've been in Japan for quite some time, this is my first visit to a shrine.

I had thought I would visit one someday, given how often they appear in anime and manga, but I didn't expect it to be like this.

"We're here!"

Mako smiled and blushed.

She ran excitedly, her chest bouncing under her puffy dress.

A bust morphing scene straight out of an anime.

In the world of light novels, it's a different level.

As we approached Fushimi Inari Shrine, the red torii gates came into view.

Torii gates.

Wooden, red-painted, T-shaped structures that serve as symbolic entrances to shrines.

"Lord, let's go quickly."

Thump.

She grabbed my hand and led me.

She still hasn't gotten rid of this habit.

I sighed and followed her into the shrine.

Fox statues and fox-shaped wish boards fluttered in the wind, fitting the shrine's nickname as the Fox Shrine.

"From here, the Senbon Torii starts!"

Mako, with an excited expression, led me up the mountain path lined with endless torii gates.

The Senbon Torii path, with its layers of red wooden gates forming a vermillion tunnel, was a spectacular sight.

The sunlight filtering through the torii gates was more impressive than expected.

A pretty good view, comparable to the one from the stage at Chishu Temple.

I took a photo with my phone.

Nice.

Following Mako up the mountain, the open view of Kyoto city below was breathtaking.

"The air is good."

Mako closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them.

She sat on a rock without a word.

My body's stamina is quite good, but climbing a mountain path is still quite tiring.

I hate hiking.

"Lord... I live right next to here, but this is my first time in Kyoto."

Mako spoke in a low voice.

Although she sometimes doesn't use her dialect, Mako is from Osaka.

Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara are neighboring areas, so if she had grown up in a normal family, she would have had many opportunities to visit Kyoto.

Mako quietly placed her hand on her chest.

She spoke in a low voice.

"Always trapped in the mansion..."

Mako's past is something I've confirmed from the original work and the setting book.

It's not surprising now.

It shouldn't be.

But my heart still aches.

Mako fidgeted with her hairpin, blushed, and smiled softly.

"But now it's okay. I have