Valentine’s Day (1)

After that, since I still did not know the map very well, I had no information about which spots were good for ricochets or where a shot would bounce depending on where I sent it, so I was not able to slaughter everyone, and our team ended up being eliminated fairly quickly.

According to Yuzu-neesan, it was actually more convenient to leave a strong impression and then lose fairly quickly than to win one-sidedly, since that would direct people’s expectations and attention toward the next stream.

As for the fact that I had talked big with something like, “Entertain me, humans,” only to lose, apparently Gem Pro fans had taken it quite favorably overall.

Yuzu-neesan’s view was that my sniping ability and the impact of the ricochets had been highly praised, and that there was probably also the fact that I was the kind of character Gem Pro did not already have.

Yeah, of course.

If someone like me were actually part of an agency, I would probably cause problems almost immediately, and I doubt I would be able to behave as freely as I do now.

Someone like me really would never be in Gem Pro.

I would probably be headed straight for one of those “hiatuses for personal reasons or illness” that quietly turned into disappearing from the scene altogether.

Anyway, several days passed after that, and today was February 14th.

The day when boys started acting strangely restless as it approached and thoughtfully emptied out their desks had arrived: Valentine’s Day.

Not that I had the slightest intention of giving anything to a boy.

Even including the time before I recovered the memories of my previous life, Valentine’s Day had always been completely unrelated to me.

After all, I had never even had anyone to prepare friendship chocolate for.

Yuika had actually asked whether we should exchange friendship chocolates, but Tomo seemed busy, and her circumstances were different from those of Yuika and me.

So we ended up deciding that the three of us could just go enjoy chocolate cake at a café instead.

“Morning, Rinne.”

“Morning. Huh? Tomo isn’t with you today either?”

“Huh, didn’t I tell you? Tomo’s working until sometime after noon today. The person she’s giving chocolate to is working with her too, so it sounds like she’s giving it to them there.”

“Oh, really?”

I had assumed she was giving it to some boy at school, but apparently not.

The boy standing nearby looked visibly crushed, though… was he aiming for Tomo or something?

I did not know his name, though.

…Huh, another boy was making some kind of gesture at me like he was trying to tell me something.

Hmm…? …Ahh, I see.

“What about you, Yuika?”

“What about me?”

“Chocolate. Is there anyone you’re giving some to?”

“I told you, there isn’t. Maybe it’s because I work with older people so much, but I just can’t really think of people my own age or classmates that way. Besides, I want to focus on work, so I’m not interested in that stuff.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

My apologies, nameless boy.

You may have just been shattered into tiny pieces, but please gather your strength and recover.

You looked like you desperately wanted someone to ask her, so I merely did you a favor. I did nothing wrong, okay?

“What about you, Rinne? You suddenly got super cute, so don’t tell me there’s secretly someone you like?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not.”

“Whoa, instant answer.”

“Yeah. I have no interest in romance.”

“R-Right. Sure.”

When I answered with a completely straight face, Yuika, who had been grinning, immediately killed all expression and nodded.

“Ah, th-then what about obligation chocolate? You’re not giving any of that out either?”

“Actually, a long time ago, I casually shared some sweets with someone, and it caused a small misunderstanding.”

“Huh? What happened? Tell me, tell me.”

Back in my previous life, there had actually been a similar sort of occasion, and I had merely shared some sweets with a subordinate I happened to see, only for them to exaggerate it into something like, “Her Majesty invited me to tea today and treated me to sweets,” which ended up creating some strange rumors.

Because those rumors spread, I called that subordinate back in afterward and carefully explained that I had only happened to see them by coincidence, that I had not specially summoned them or invited them to tea, and that I would have shared the sweets with anyone else I happened to come across.

I also explained that I did not even know that subordinate’s name, had probably never seen their face before, certainly had never thought of them romantically, and most likely had never even spoken to them before, so I apologized for giving them sweets without realizing it was the sort of occasion that could cause a misunderstanding.

Then that subordinate quit the Demon Lord’s Castle and disappeared somewhere that very same day, if I remembered correctly.

The other subordinates who shared the office with me had all turned bright red, kept their heads lowered, and shaken violently at the shoulders, so they were probably angry at me for being so careless.

It must have been my blunder.

I had probably upset them by behaving in such an ambiguous and disrespectful way on such an important day.

I recalled that experience and retold it in a more modern context, but as I spoke, Yuika’s expression gradually hardened into something resembling a Tibetan sand fox, and for some reason several boys nearby clutched their chests, leaned against the walls, or dropped to their knees.

…What was going on?

“…Yeah. Rinne… um, how should I put this… you know… yeah, that was a tragic incident…”

“…? Well, yeah, I guess. So I figured I should probably avoid giving that kind of thing out.”

“…Yeah… probably… Rinne might be better off staying exactly as you are…”

Why was she saying that while staring off into the distance?

Well, obviously it was better not to do things that hurt people badly.

In fact, the me from my previous life had definitely been rather oblivious about that kind of thing.

But the current me was different.

I had not only lived as a Demon Lord; I also had the knowledge I had gained living as an ordinary girl in this world, along with the common sense I had cultivated here, so I would never repeat the same mistake.

Hehehe. Even I had grown, you know.

When I told her that, Yuika inexplicably patted me on the head.

…I did not exactly dislike being patted by Yuika, so I did not mind, but why was she doing it?

Feeling somehow unconvinced, I walked through the school, which was filled with a strangely buoyant atmosphere.

“…The boys really are restless today, huh?”

Yuika whispered to me with a teasing grin, so I gave a small nod.

As we walked toward the classroom, whenever I briefly made eye contact with a boy, he would immediately look away as though trying to say he was not interested, then strangely make a show of pretending he had not noticed me at all.

…What were they trying to accomplish?

Could it be that my hair was sticking up strangely or something…?

No, I used magic every morning to make sure my appearance was in order, so that should not have been a problem.

“Hey, Yuika.”

“Hmm? What?”

“My hair isn’t sticking up really badly, is it?”

“…Nope, you’re fine. So please stay exactly like that.”

“Really? Wait, what do you mean by ‘stay exactly like that’?”

“Because you’re cute and funny.”

I did not really understand what Yuika was trying to say as she gave me a firm thumbs-up, but if there was no problem, then I supposed it was fine.

I spent the time struggling against the sleep-inducing classes that were basically just coasting toward spring break.

Grrr, damn you, teacher.

To think you could inflict this much drowsiness upon me when I possessed enough resistance to withstand even mind-affecting magic. Impressive…

I fought against that frustration as well and somehow endured until the break.

Just as second period was about to begin, Yuika’s smartphone rang while she was talking to me, and she simply said, “Sorry, one sec,” before answering the call.

“Thanks for your hard work. …Huh, Tomo? No, she’s not at school, and she said she had work today in the first place, so I don’t think she simply forgot… I wonder what happened… Understood. I’ll try calling her too, and if she doesn’t answer, I’ll head back and check on her place. …No, no, it’s fine. Yes, goodbye.”

She ended the call looking confused, immediately operated her phone, and placed another call.

But apparently it did not connect, because after several seconds Yuika lowered the phone back into her hand and looked at me.

“Sorry, Rinne. It sounds like Tomo never showed up for work… and nobody can get in touch with her, so I’m going to her house now.”

“Huh? Maybe she overslept?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. Tomo gets up really early, so even if she overslept, she’d still wake up in time to make it to school. So our plans today might end up getting canceled. Sorry, okay?”

“No, that’s fine. Let me know if anything happens.”

“Thanks. I’ll definitely contact you later!”

Yuika hurried out of the classroom.

I had never seen Yuika get this flustered over Tomo before, and while Tomo looked pretty gyaru-like and gave off a casual sort of impression—though that was admittedly just my own prejudice about gyaru—maybe she was actually an extremely responsible person.

That was kind of surprising.

Well, it was not as though being a gyaru automatically meant someone was careless.

Either way, if both Yuika and Tomo were gone, there was not much reason for me to stay at school either, so maybe I should just go home.

Going home and doing various things there would be more productive, and it was not like I was trying to expand my circle of friends or anything.

Yeah, I would go home.

“—Taki-san, do you have a minute?”

I had finished packing my things and stood up to leave when someone called out to me.

When I turned around, I found myself being addressed by a girl I had never spoken to before.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I want to talk to you about something. Could you spare me a little time?”

Even though she was asking me such a simple question, she looked strangely cornered, and there was none of the casual ease you would normally expect to see at school.

Hmm.

Part of me felt like I should just say I had nothing to talk about and leave… but something about this was setting off my Demon Lord instincts.

Ignoring her probably would not accomplish anything, and I had a feeling I should hear her out.

“…Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Really!? Thank goodness… This isn’t really the place, so could you come with me?”

She was obviously relieved, so yeah, there was definitely something going on.

As I followed behind the girl who had approached me, I found myself wondering pointlessly what exactly she meant by “this isn’t really the place.”

Now then, what was that saying again? Whether a demon or a snake would appear?

I wondered what was waiting for me.