The Idol and the Secret Business Partner (1)
Something unknown was surrounding the girl. I had a bad feeling that something very unpleasant was about to happen to her. But getting involved would be exhausting, so I was about to walk away. The moment that entity noticed me, it must have thought I was an intruder and charged straight at me.
I grabbed a discarded wooden plank from the ground and swung it at the creature. Crack! The wood shattered, sending the thing flying through the air. I didn’t even have time to coolly shout “Home run!” before grotesque creatures began raining down from above my head.
I kicked a piece of lumber rolling on the floor and launched it at the monsters. With a pathetic “Yelp!” that sounded like something a dog would make, one slammed into a nearby tree and exploded into pieces. At the exact same time, Primrose back at the house began to move.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Startled by the sudden event, the girl screamed and fell flat on her butt. But that wasn’t what mattered. Wait, what the hell am I doing right now?
In the tiny span of about two seconds, I had done two things at once. Using an artifact brought from the Serena Union, I equipped myself at a speed no ordinary human—or even a reinforced human in a power suit—could possibly achieve. And when I used that “strength” from earlier, I felt a magical power deep inside my body. It was similar to the power Primrose used, yet somehow different. I have mana? Me?
Before I could even be shocked, another beast lunged at me. I grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. Its mouth split open in a grotesque way as it tried to spit out bone spikes to kill me. Before it could, I crushed its face and killed it.
The instant I easily took down one, more beasts burst through the old school building’s windows and began circling me. Their movements were so fast that an ordinary person would have had trouble even tracking them. Normally I would have been helplessly overwhelmed by that speed, but because of this mana thing, their movements looked slow to me.
Wondering if I could summon a weapon like them, I tried calling one the way I had summoned the scythe last time. The weapon didn’t exactly “summon,” but a plain, unadorned sword shaped like a crude medieval longsword appeared in my hand.
How did I even do that?
With no time to think, I watched the monsters charging at me. Pouring mana into the blade with the same intent to kill as before, ferocious flames that looked like they could incinerate anything burst from the sword.
My blade brushed past a beast’s body. The moment I confirmed it was giving off a burnt stench and turning into ash, I hurled the sword and killed another one nearby.
While I took down two, one of them charged at the girl. I instantly created an ice barrier around her to protect her. At the same time, Primrose, who had left the house, landed on top of the ice wall holding a scythe twice her height, ready to attack at any moment.
Thanks to Primrose being the “girl,” once the young woman’s safety was confirmed, the “boy” Haru took up his sword and eliminated the remaining beasts.
When it was over, I—the “girl”—extinguished the fires that had spread because of the flaming sword. Just pouring power into it creates magic…? Isn’t that totally overpowered? I thought. Yet for some reason, a strange sense of hollowness came over me, leaving me with an uneasy feeling. But as the corpses around me turned to ash and vanished, that emotion disappeared like magic too. I brushed it off as Maybe I imagined it.
The moment I tried to ask the girl if she was okay, a male demon came running over in a panic and shouted.
“Nabi! I heard you scream! What happened!? Are you hurt anywhere!? Are you alright!?”
“I’m fine, Manager.”
The girl called Nabi addressed the demon as her manager as she stood up. She glanced at me and spoke.
“Um…”
Since it would be troublesome if people found out that the human Haru could use magic, I quickly changed the subject.
“Primrose, you took care of everything! Thank you!”
“Yes!… If Big Brother wants me to, I’ll come anytime!”
It felt like I was the only one putting on a one-man show, but humans don’t use magic. If something like that happened, it would be a global incident. I might end up being used for human experimentation or suspected as an Infected, and people would want me to kill myself quickly like Yu Daye so I wouldn’t harm society.
So I hurriedly acted like I hadn’t done anything. The girl called Nabi looked at us and said,
“Shining Nabi, the idol brighter than starlight and loved by everyone—I sincerely thank you both.”
“No need. I didn’t do anything.”
“I only moved for Big Brother’s sake.”
Even though I said that, the demon didn’t seem interested in us. He looked at the girl and asked,
“Did something attack you again?”
“Yes… and these two protected me from it.”
“I truly thank you both. By the way… this lady is…”
“Primrose…”
When I answered, the manager stared at Primrose with wide eyes and said,
“Would you be interested in becoming an idol?”
“What!? Me, an idol!? Th-there’s no way I could do something like that!”
“With that voice and appearance, you absolutely could! You could be a top star right away…”
He glanced at the girl who had called herself the “manager” and quickly added,
“That was rude of me. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
He bowed politely. I thought, Thank goodness. How could an ordinary citizen like me become an idol? If I stood on stage and thousands of people stared at me… I’d probably explode from embarrassment. Puff!
“Haru-nim.”
Someone called my name from behind. I turned and saw Sorcia walking toward us.
“Hello, Haru-nim.”
Sorcia greeted me, then politely bowed to the demon as well. The demon immediately dropped to one knee and returned the greeting with deep respect.
“It is an honor to meet the Pure White FlowerSorcia-nim, the pride of the Serena Union.”
Pure White Flower?Sorcia, is that the weird nickname they call you in the Union?
Sorcia gave a light nod in response to the demon’s greeting, looked around, and asked him,
“It was a bit noisy over here. Did something happen?”
“It appears there was a monster attack… but fortunately, the comrade before us took care of them.”
“That’s a relief.”
Sorcia sighed in relief and looked at me.
“Are you and your little sister alright?”
“With Rose here, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Yes.”
At my answer, Sorcia looked relieved and said,
“I will officially file a report and have this investigated.”
“There’s no need. It was a minor matter,” the demon said.
“We have barriers set up so monsters cannot enter this place. And if your little sister, who possesses such power, moves….”
She made a worried face, then looked at me and smiled.
“But since her reliable older brother Haru-nim is here to protect her, it should be fine.”
She smiled gently and continued,
“Haru-nim, the people who came to see us have all left. So it’s okay for you to stay with us now.”
“Yeah…”
When Haru said yes, the other me—Primrose—spoke up.
“I’ll be going now…”
“No. This is a good opportunity, so we should register Primrose as well.”
“…Pardon?”
“Daisy’s father and I have already taken care of your identity registration with the Serena Union. You can attend this school with those documents.”
“Wh-wh-what did you say…!? Me, going to school?”
“We’ve already finished all the paperwork for Miss Rose! For now, you’ll attend the same class as us to help you adjust. Next year you can officially enroll as a first-year.”
“…I-I-I didn’t want anything like that.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility.”
“No… I don’t want to go to school, you know?”
I (Haru) am already going! Why do I have to go again!?
“If attending a human school feels burdensome, you can come and go as you please. Since you’re enrolling under the special privileges given to other races, you only need to attend when you feel like it.”
“In that case…”
“However, you’ll have to attend the same class as your brother for a while. So at least say hello to your new classmates, right? Since you’re already here, let’s do it right now.”
“R-right now!? I’m not prepared at all…”
“It’s fine, Miss Rose.”
“Sorcia-nim, it’s not fine for me!”
“Miss Rose, I said it’s fine. You’ve worked hard, so just do it.”
At Sorcia’s words that basically meant “You’ve suffered enough, now obey,” Primrose had no choice but to go along. When Haru tried to follow Primrose, the girl who had been called Nabi grabbed my sleeve and said,
“You’re a student here, right!?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’ll wait for you!”
The girl ran off busily before I could ask what she meant.
A princess of the demon race and the daughter of the Guide. The class already had two girls so beautiful they were nicknamed “the flower garden” even among races known for their looks. Now a new beautiful girl had appeared.
She said,
“Hello, I’m Primrose, Haru oppa’s little sister. I’ll only be attending for a short while, but… please take care of me!”
She called herself Haru’s little sister.
“Haru’s little sister?”
The boys, who were already furious that Sorcia and Daisy only ever followed Haru around, now had one more girl near him—and a stunningly beautiful one at that. Their rage pierced the heavens.
‘There’s no way Haru’s sister could be a different race when he’s human!’
‘Yeah. Even if it’s an excuse, that’s way too obvious!’
‘So she’s another girl following Haru around?’
‘What the hell is with that guy? Why do so many girls from other races follow him?’
The atmosphere was so hostile it felt like they were ready to tie Haru to a cross and burn him alive at any moment.
Do they all think there’s something going on with me? If I told them the truth, they’d hear that there’s nothing at all. I’m just an ordinary citizen!!
‘Trying to act normal… is probably impossible now, huh?’
I was no longer alone—I was two people. Plus I was in this truly bizarre state where I could use magic even in my human form. The word “normal” had become very distant.
‘It wasn’t like this before.’
‘It started after those two showed up. Maybe they did something to me? Like some secret experiment. Or maybe it’s some massive government experiment, and I’m just a clueless victim!’
I let my imagination run wild for a moment before thinking That can’t be it and returning to reality.
The boys glared at me—the male Haru—with eyes full of rage, while looking at me—the female Primrose—with eyes full of longing.
‘Primrose gets extreme favor, Haru gets extreme hate. Total opposites.’
If I left it like this they might actually try to kill Haru, so I spoke up.
“Hey, no matter what, thinking of your little sister that way? Are you crazy?”
“No matter what, thinking of your older brother that way… it’s physiologically… repulsive…”
“Only a crazy person would… No, even if you’re crazy, you shouldn’t have that kind of relationship with your sister.”
Loving yourself romantically? That wasn’t even narcissism.
“Haru oppa and I are really just older brother and little sister. The different races thing is… complicated. Anyway, we really are siblings! So please don’t think anything weird!”
At those words, the boys’ anger finally subsided. I could feel them directing hopeful emotions toward the female me. This is going to be annoying.
While Haru had no idea, the first-years were having a heated discussion about Primrose on the anonymous bulletin board. Amid all that commotion, an idol performance was taking place in the school auditorium.