Academy SP 〜An Ex-Mercenary Reincarnated as a Mob in a Gal Game. I Ditched My Bodyguard Job to Enjoy High School Life, but When the Ultra-Rich Heroines Were About to Get Killed, I Stepped In… and Somehow Built a Harem Powerful Enough to Control Japan〜 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Side: Sara

“Hey, you all here? Hehehe… we caught the evil brat.”

The sky was dyed in the colors of dusk.
To me… it looked far redder than usual.

That wasn’t just my imagination.

There was red all around us.

The red, burning eyes of the people glaring at Sara with pure hatred…
And the red blood flowing from the Academy SP who had fought to protect me…

After that, we ran with everything we had, but sheer numbers crushed us.

One by one, the Academy SP who had trained in combat were beaten down, and we were dragged here—to the Shurei riverbank.

Under the massive bridge, it was dim and cold, stirring fear deep inside me.

To make things worse, hardly anyone passed through at this hour…

No one noticed Sara’s danger.

CLANG…!

“Kya!”

One of the men slammed an iron pipe against the ground.

A small scream slipped from my mouth.

Seeing that, his face twisted in pleasure.

“Hehehe… scary, huh?”

At that moment, my vision blurred.

Tears spilled out one after another.

My body trembled, and my voice wouldn’t come out properly.

Seeing Sara like that, the men burst into even louder laughter.

“You get it now? This is our anger.”

As he said that, the man slammed the iron pipe into the ground again and again.

Each time I screamed, it felt like he was enjoying it—

Like crushing me was satisfying his need to dominate.

“Seriously, those conglomerates do nothing but dirty things.”

“They don’t know a damn thing about how hard we struggle, yet they live in luxury with that ‘Conglomerate Card,’ huh?”

“Must be nice being an elite citizen, huh!? You high-and-mighty bastards!”

After that, I kept getting showered with abuse.

Hatred toward conglomerates. Anger at the unfairness of the world. Rage toward a society where honest people were never rewarded.

Everyone hurled whatever resentment they carried straight at Sara.

I could do nothing but stay silent and endure it.

Even so… the insults didn’t stop.

It felt like something had snapped, and their anger toward Sara kept escalating.

“Because of the Hagoromo Conglomerate, I got laid off from my company!!”

“Because of the Hagoromo Conglomerate, Japanese society’s gone rotten!!”

“Because of the Hagoromo Conglomerate, my life’s completely ruined!!”

Objectively speaking, their words made no sense at all.

It was as if they were dumping every bit of their misery onto Sara.

Even so, I couldn’t argue back.

I could only endure.

Just endure—

“We need to show our anger.”

“Yeah. Loud and clear, for the whole world to see.”

“If we’re gonna change this rotten conglomerate society… we need an example.”

That was when Sara felt it—the shift in the air.

A cold, creeping sensation… like something had crossed a line it could never return from.

My fingers went numb.

When I raised my face, I met the men’s icy, merciless eyes.

In that instant, I understood—

Ah… this is bad.

I felt my life was truly in danger.

“I-I don’t want to…”

My legs locked up and wouldn’t move…

I desperately dragged my body backward using only my hands, but… I was already cornered against the wall.

No…!

Am… am I going to die here…?

This can’t be happening…! Why…?

Why does it have to be Sara…?

That was when—

“G… gh… damn it… that hurts…”

Yamashita, who had been unconscious, woke up.

The men’s attention shifted to him, and for a moment, Sara felt a tiny sense of relief.

“Huh…? Why am I here…?”

Yamashita…

Among the men who were supposed to protect Sara, he was the strongest.

If it was him, maybe… just maybe, he could do something.

So… I tried to ask for help.

But—

“W-WAAAAAHHH!? I-I’m sorry!! Please forgive me!! I’ll do anything!!”

Yamashita immediately dropped to the ground in a full prostration.

“Hmph. Hey, kid. You her bodyguard or something?”

At the man’s question, Yamashita lifted his head and answered right away.

“N-Not at all!! I just got dragged into this!! I have nothing to do with her!!”

…Huh?

“Please! I’m begging you! I’m completely unrelated, so please spare me!!”

In that instant, Sara understood.

Ah… I’ve been abandoned.

Strangely, no anger rose up.

I just thought… maybe this was inevitable.

“Hahahahaha! Well, whatever. We’ll let you go.”

The men seemed pleased just to have shown their power, and they granted Yamashita mercy.

Yamashita, tears in his eyes, looked relieved.

It felt as if, without asking me, they had casually completed a deal to hand Sara over.

“I-I’m sorry… Sara-sama…”

Yamashita apologized to Sara.

“But… dying wouldn’t help anyone… I’m really, really sorry!!”

After saying only that, he took off running at full speed.

He even left behind the other fallen Academy SP students—his escape was almost impressive.

Seeing that, I thought how stupid I’d been to expect anything from him, even for a moment.

I had known it all along.

Just like everyone else, he wasn’t looking at Sara.

He was only looking at the name Hagoromo Conglomerate.

The moment he realized he wouldn’t benefit from it—

Of course he would betray me.

I should’ve seen it coming.

“Well then… looks like there’s nobody left to protect you now.”

“Hahahaha! Serves you right!”

“Looks like evil’s finally been wiped out!”

At their words, my heart sank deeper and deeper.

For some reason, it started to feel like maybe… this was all my fault.

“Right here, we’ll cut off the evil blood of the Hagoromo Conglomerate!”

“Hahahaha! You shouldn’t have been born into this world!”

“Next life, try being born into a normal family!”

The men’s words dug deep into my chest.

I wondered… was it really a good thing that I had been born into this world?

Papa and Mama… lately, it felt like they didn’t love Sara anymore.

Ever since I stopped being able to act like a proper conglomerate lady… I had felt it clearly, painfully so.

Next life—huh.

I was so tired.

There was no one who liked Sara.

No one who would protect me because I was Sara.

No one who would love me for who I was…

If no one was going to help me… then there was nothing left to do but give up.

Just… give up already.

Give up—

I closed my eyes.

At least… I hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much…

“GUEEEHHH!?”

But suddenly, a weird croaking scream—like a giant toad—echoed through the air.

That voice… was that Yamashita?

I slowly lifted my heavy head…

Yamashita was sprawled on his back, completely knocked out.

And right next to him—

An arm stretched straight out, cutting across the scene—

A male student wearing the uniform of Yushu Girls’ Academy.

He ran straight toward me.

I finally… let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

“Thank goodness…! I made it in time…!”

The person said that while resting both hands on his knees, letting out a breath like all the strength had drained from him.

The way he looked at me… it was like he’d been genuinely worried from the bottom of his heart.

I couldn’t help but stare in shock.

But then—

The next moment, he smiled and said this.

“You did great. You’re safe now. Leave the rest to me.”

That person—right, why didn’t I ask his name…?

I must’ve brushed him off as just some nobody and never bothered to remember it.

That small regret, the hand he reached out to me, and that warm smile that made me think it’s really okay now…

Tears started spilling from my eyes nonstop.

“Well then…”

He turned his back to me.

From that broad, sturdy back, I couldn’t see his expression.

But—

“You guys are lucky, you know. If I’d been any later, I would’ve beaten all of you half to death.”

That low voice…

“But since I made it in time—”

It was filled with rage, like the gates of hell had just been thrown open.

“I’ll settle for killing just a quarter of you.”