Now then, the partyâs running smoothly, so itâs about time that I leave. Since I canât drink alcohol, Iâm just going to be a bother if I stay. And Iâm already full, after all.
ăNow then, I have to go now.ă
ăWhat? Youâre not staying till the end?ă
ăMidou, please think of my age. I canât stay outside too late in the night.ă
Iâm still a minor. If I stay until the end, itâll be way past 9 pm by then. Even though I do have bodyguards, itâs not good for a high school girl to be walking outside that late in the night.
ăWell, thatâs true. Will you be fine alone?ă
ăI have the usual people with me, so Iâll be fine.ă
Theyâre probably waiting just outside. I donât think that theyâd enter here. After all, once theyâre in, itâd be pretty tempting to drink alcohol. Akari seems pretty impulsive too.
ăWell then, everyone, please continue to enjoy yourselves.ă
ăWill you really be alright?ă
ăShe should have bodyguards, right? You know, since she is who she is.ă
ăRight, now that you mention it. Somehow, seeing how you are lately, Iâm starting to forget that fact.ă
Teacher Kondou, you call me by my last name at school, so like hell youâd ever forget. After all, the fact that Iâm a Kisaragi will never change.
ăIâll be lonely if you leave, KotoneâŠă
ăThen why not spend some time together with Kondou?ă
ăHmmmâŠâŠ Nah.ă
ăOi, donât just snub me so casually, Cathy.ă
Since this is a chance, I thought of matchmaking Teacher Kondou and Teacher Cathy, but I guess things never go that easy. Besides, itâs an unnecessary gesture too.
ăWell then, thank you for having me today.ă
Closing the door, I took out my phone and sent ăAt least invite her for an after party.ă to the president. The reason this drinking party was rushed was because the president and I exchanged contact details, and I got annoyed by how he kept asking me about this every night. I didnât think that heâd actually contact me about it, you see.
ăOwner, thank you for the wonderful meal.ă
ăWhat, youâre going home early?ă
ăYes, I have to go home now.ă
ăI see. Take care on your way home. Still, now I understand why I thought you seemed similar to him.ă
ăEh?ă
Did I do something? I donât really know if I had some habits that I kept from my past self, but I donât remember doing anything particularly weird.
ăThe way you eat is exactly the same as his. And you two donât look the same at all, so itâs a real mystery.ă
ăIs that so? That is a real mystery indeed.ă
Thatâs literally all I can say. And if I force myself to think of an actual reply, heâd probably find it weird.
ăAbout what you asked earlier, I wouldnât mind answering myself but we really canât.ă
ăIt canât be helped. After all, Iâm sure it isnât something to be casually shared with strangers.ă
Iâm sure that they wouldnât carelessly talk about other peopleâs private incidents, not just mine. For as long as the owner or his wife doesnât get drunk and lets it slip out, that is.
ăStill, if you two ever meet, things will probably get messy.ă
ăWho?ă
ăThe very person that can answer your questions, Iâm sure that sheâll take a liking to you.ă
ăâŠâŠ? That doesnât sound like it would be messy, though.ă
ăWell, youâll understand when it happens.ă
Yeah, I can roughly guess who it is. Still, does that mean that sheâs involved in my incident?
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ăThen I will excuse myself now.ă
ăSure, take care on your way home.ă
After all, no matter what the generation, itâs dangerous for a woman to walk home alone. I have bodyguards, so it shouldnât be an issue. Still, are there different people on shift when itâs night? I donât know anyone else other than the two though.
ăStill, it feels like I got more questions than I gained answers.ă
I never imagined that researching about myself would be this difficult to do. Moreover, to know more about what happened, Iâll have to get into contact with my old acquaintances. I donât know how I can come across them, so Iâm basically stuck.
ăLooks like itâs about to rain soon.ă
June is usually the rainy season but I donât think itâs that rainy this year. While itâs true that the weather is unstable and itâs mostly cloudy, there hasnât been a really heavy rain either. Still, it doesnât change the fact that I canât dry the laundry outside. The recent washing detergent has evolved though, so it is nice that it doesnât smell much even with just indoor drying. Still, the sky is currently covered with thick clouds. Though itâs hard to see now that itâs night.
ăAnd I donât have an umbrella either.ă
I did bring a hat just in case but since it was clear skies the whole day, I didnât bring an umbrella. Though I did bring a hat from my starting inventory since I thought it could keep me somewhat covered. I guess I shouldâve at least brought a bag.
ăNo choice, guess Iâll run.ă
ăă!?ăă
I feel like I heard someone behind me hold their breath. Probably the bodyguards. Theyâre camouflaged in casual clothes and, moreover, theyâre not the pair Iâm familiar with. Still, is it really that bad if I run? Rainâs likely about to fall soon. My apartmentâs pretty far away.
ăS-sorry, but allow us to take you home.ă
ăItâs common sense to not follow random strangers.ă
They suddenly talked to me, so I made sure to have just enough distance if ever I needed to run away. Well, yeah, Iâve already guessed who they are, but just to be sure. Because I really do have no idea who they actually are.
ăWeâre Kyousuke and Akiraâs workmates. Weâll get the car ready, so could you wait for a moment?ă
ăYou think I can trust that?ă
ăPlease, give us a break. How many kilometres from here do you think your apartment is? Keeping up with the morning runs is hard enough already.ă
Well, since they know my daily routine, I guess itâs not their first time guarding me. As for me, since a bit of exercise would also help with my digestion, running would kill two birds with one stone. Come to think of it, have these people eaten dinner yet?
ăHave you two eaten dinner yet?ă
ăThere was no telling when youâd leave, so we only had light snacks. What about it?ă
ăThen in that case, would you mind if we drop by somewhere? Of course, it would be my treat.ă
Somehow I just feel like eating dessert, you know? Also, if I go home now, I feel like Iâm just going to end up thinking to myself endlessly, so I want to be with someone else for a bit longer, I donât know.
ăAre you sure? This is your first meeting with us, isnât it?ă
ăIf you were kidnappers, then you wouldnât let this chance slip away. Rather than continuing this conversation, you would have already carried me off.ă
ăWell, point taken, but still, youâre acting different from what we were told.ă
ăThatâs true, we heard that youâre keeping distance from us bodyguards.ă
ăItâs just a whim of mine. Besides, if that was the case, then I wouldnât have talked to Akira and Kyousuke.ă