The girl and I sat next to each other at the counter seats.
I, who had changed my clothes in the cabin as we passed by, looked around the bar on the Diamond deck.
The inside of the bar is filled with chic colors… with the circular lights on the ceiling faintly illuminating the room in a white glow. At the back of the counter, I can also see numerous alcoholic beverages lined up.
The moment I sat down on the white bar chair, the bartender woman who came over smiled.
“What is your order?”
“You.”
“Sorry, but I can’t provide it because I am already reserved by someone. How about your companion?”
“Mineral water.”
Still with a smile on her face, the bartender woman withdrew.
As the bartender woman left, I stared at the girl sitting next to me with a grin on my face. Feeling uncomfortable with my stare, the girl brought her slit eyes down and stroked her nails many times, clearly showing her nervousness.
“So, what’s the matter? You want to be my mistress or something?”
“… Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t and I’m not interested. But, I might be interested in that depending on the situation.”
When I caressed her shoulder with my finger, she blatantly pushed my finger off.
“I’m Hizumi Ruri from Class A, the same as yo–”
“You are the girl who is in the same group as Lapis and Rei, right? Bartender-san! Give me a coke highball! And Plum Wine on the Rocks!”
The bartender Onee-san who was smiling then brought a glass of mineral water to the girl next to me. Then, she left just like that, as if she hadn’t heard anything beside that.
“I thought you didn’t know about me?”
“You were taking a leave of absence due to illness as soon as you entered the academy, right?”
Hearing that, her complexion changed.
I guess that’s a bit too much for a first meeting… I have to keep the line in check… There is no way I can say I got that information from Marina-sensei since she isn’t allowed to say that… let’s say that I got this information through the Sanjou Family…
With that decided, I foolishly laughed.
“Of course I will investigate you. Lapis and Rei are my women, my concubine candidates, so I thought why not bring the girl from the same group as them as well. The Sanjou Family can really do anything, you know?”
“… this rotten young master.” She whispered and then gave a fake smile.
“I heard from Rei-san. It seems your swordsmanship is good. To think you are also training and not just living with the name of the Sanjou Family, I think it’s wonderful.”
“Ee~? Is that the only thing you heard from Rei~? There was more, right? Did you not hear about ‘that’?”
“Ee, of course, I heard. It seems you can shoot a special arrow. It looks like a normal water arrow, but it’s actually different, something like that. That’s amazing.”
“That’s right~, amazing, isn’t it!”
Too bad for you girl, I’ve actually never shown nor talked to Rei about Nil Arrow.
“What kind of principle did you use to make that arrow? I hope you can teach me!”
She blatantly made a coaxing voice and asked with a smile. But, contrary to her voice, her eyes aren’t laughing at all. In those eyes, I could see the desire to get as much information as possible. In other words, she doesn’t seem suitable for negotiation.
“I think I can tell you if we’re in a place that’s a little quieter where we can be alone~.”
“…”
Hearing that, she caressed the back of her hand and her face stiffened.
“Hey, how about it? How abo– sorry, I’m leaving my seat for a moment.”
I stood up violently and went straight to the vacant restroom, leaving the dubious gaze of the girl and–
“OEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! (Vomiting)”
–vomited into the toilet.
This is bad… Mimicking Hiiro is more difficult than I had imagined… anger and discomfort is swirling inside my head, in short, it’s hell… If I continue this act any longer, it might seriously become life-threatening for me… and that girl is most likely black… so it should be fine to talk normally from now on…
I stared at myself smiling in the mirror and saw a great evil in it, so I raised my middle finger and shouted.
“DIE YOU BITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! DIE HIIRO, YOU BITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Fuu… (Reset successful)
Refreshed, I returned to the bar.
“D-did you scream in there…?”
“No, I didn’t. (refreshing smile)”
I then raised one hand and called the bartender Onee-san.
“Give me some milk please. Also, her cup is empty, so please give her a replacement. Do you have any other recommendations? I would like to give this girl a treat.”
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“There is. It is white grape sparkling juice. It is refreshing and not too sweet, something that I can recommend to anyone.”
“Then, one of those please. Since you have other customers, you don’t have to prepare it quickly. And thank you for your cooperation. Please say hello to your beautiful lover (enthusiasm)”
“Thank you very much.”
While giggling, the bartender Onee-san went back to do her job.
In regard to the flabbergasted Hizumi, I made some distance and faced her.
“Anyway, what are we talking about again?”
“Y-your right arm.”
After goggling in astonishment, the girl regained herself and smiled.
“It’s broken, right? Isn’t there any pain?”
“Eh, how do you know about it?”
“I mean, it is gipsed–”
“Because it is gipsed, it’s not necessarily mean it is broken. I mean, even a ligament injury needs to have the affected area covered.”
“Y-you screamed on the top of the ship, right? I could hear it from inside the ship.”
“You couldn’t.”
“… Eh?”
As we were having such exchanges, the bartender Onee-san came and placed two cups on the table. I then slid a glass of juice in front of her.
“You can’t hear it from inside the ship. The interior of a cruise is basically soundproof in order to disguise the noise of the operating machine. Which means, if that thick door leading into the ship was closed, you would never be able to hear my idiotic scream… unless you tailed me up to the deck.”
With that, her expression disappeared.
“What’s wrong? Drink it.”
In front of the trembling girl, I smiled.
“It is the bartender’s recommendation, you know?”
“Y-you pretended to be an idiot… t-to fool me… I thought I could do it if it’s you…”
“Oh, you hurt me.”
I carried the milk to my mouth with my trembling hand.
“Of course I did it on purpose (the sound of a large amount of milk spilled)”
To be honest, I just thought that Tsukiori and the two wouldn’t come up to the deck, and the main purpose was really to relieve my frustration. ^_^
“….!!”
The moment I looked away, the girl tried to stand up before– I put the edge of Lux (Light Sword) against her neck.
I, who pulled out my blade with my left hand while sitting, then smiled.
“It’s my treat. To think you’re trying to leave without even drinking it, I don’t think such a rude act is something that an Ojou-sama from Otori Magic Academy should do.”
“I-if I scream… y-you will become everyone’s enemy… y-your fun school life will be messed up…”
“So what. It doesn’t matter. I would be fine as long as I can protect Yuri. I’ve decided since long ago that I will cut anyone who makes them cry no matter what happens to me… so, sit down quickly, let’s talk.”
I then put my blade back as the bartender Onee-san turned around. And with cold sweat flowing from her head, Hizumi sat down next to me.
“W-when did you notice….?”
“I’ve already had my suspicions after the attack of the B-class trio. You faked your illness to separate Lapis and Rei, right? When I asked the doctor in the medical office, she said that the girl called Hizumi Ruri never went there, after all… since my suspicion might have proven to be true, to confirm it, I set up a trap, which is to let you see me screaming at the front of the ship.”
“Y-you did all that just because of a mere suspicion?”
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“If I make even one slight mistake, my important persons will die.”
With my elbow on the bar table, I stared straight at her eyes.
“That’s why, I should eliminate such a possibility, even if it is just 1%. As long as I’m alive, I will never let anyone die no matter what happens… because I want to see a pure white Yuri field.”
“I understand that spirit, but… what is the 『Yuri』 that is sometimes mentioned from a while ago…?”
*Click*
I snapped my fingers and the bartender Onee-san came and placed a book in front of us.
Then, I pushed the manga toward Hizumi courteously.
“This is Sweet Blue Flowers by Shimura Takako-sensei. In some places, this manga is even called the Bible of the Yuri world… you’ll understand what I mean if you read it.”
“W-why did the bartender Onee-san have it?”
“I was already planning to lure you here today, after all. From the beginning until now, everything is like a skit of me and that woman. Thank you for your cooperation!!”
The bartender Onee-san puts her hand on her chest and gives a graceful bow (as expected of a professional).
“Eh… then, does that mean you spend a lot of time not getting into the main issue just to recommend this manga…?”
“This is the main issue, though…? (Innocent eyes)”
“W-what’s wrong with you…”
With a fearful look, she stared at me.
“I’ve been watching you for a long time, but how can you have that much power? Isn’t Sanjou Hiiro a woman-loving scum who doesn’t have a decent fighting ability? Was all of that an act?”
“You sure investigated it properly. Anyway, let me confirm this, the one who gave orders to those retainer girls on this cruise from behind the scenes was you, right?”
As it looked like my statement was a bull’s-eye, Hizumi groaned– and I added another question without a break.
“What contract did you have with Arshariya?”
Receiving a sudden question, Hizumi stiffened.
“W-what do you me–”
“You are originally supposed to be in a hospital bed because of an incurable disease which cannot be healed normally. Unless it was a miracle caused by the demon.”
Originally, Hizumi Ruri is not one of the characters that appears in this recreation camp. She is a miserable girl who is asleep for a long time because of an incurable disease, and she would only appear in the story much later. And Arshariya is, in fact, deeply involved in the treatment of her disease.
“No, Arshariya shouldn’t have awakened yet. Did the Arshariya faction give you something? It’s okay, just confess everything–”
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Suddenly– all the electricity on the cruise is wiped out.
Perhaps because the cruise is entering the other world, the intensity of the magic power in the air suddenly increases… and I draw Kuki Masamune in the dark.
“Eh… w-what…?”
Apparently, this wasn’t Hizumi’s trick.
I stood up, grabbed her arm and hid her behind me.
“Don’t move. Stay still.”
Something is here.
I squinted my eyes in the darkness and– a flash– I blocked the flying knife that flew toward us and descended with my left hand holding the sword.
The target was not me, that’s what I confirmed when I saw the trajectory of the flying knife.
In other words, its aim was Hizumi.
“Hizumi, can you run? Go up. Go run to the Tanzanite Deck.”
At the moment, I don’t think I have to fight whoever that attacked… well as long as someone had a decent brain, there is no way he or she would fight the opponent head-on in this condition.
So, I think I should temporarily retre– suddenly, I found that the knife was stuck in the Sweet Blue Flowers manga by Shimura Takako-sensei.
“…”
I rubbed my eyes, thinking maybe it was a mistake.
Then, once again, I stared at the Bible of the Yuri world on the bar table.
“…”
A throwing knife was neatly stuck in the center of the book.
Ahaha, no no, no way, right?!
There should be no one in the world can hurt this wonderful book–
“ISN’T IT STUCK THERE?! DIE, YOU BITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
I rushed toward the opponent with my Kuki Masamune head-on.