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 16

Chapter 16

Side: Yuuji

After that, the police arrived.

Not just one or two—several patrol cars pulled up, surrounding us all at once.

Still, no one resisted, and the questioning was done right there on the spot.

An ambulance was called as well, and the fallen Academy SP members—along with the Gyokuhoutai founder I’d given a quarter kill—were taken away immediately.

For some reason, Wakita took charge of explaining this whole chaotic mess to the police.

And despite having seen only a small part of it, his testimony was frighteningly accurate.

On top of that, he skillfully framed the story so I was completely in the clear—

Guiding the officers’ eyes toward Sara, who was wrapped in a blanket and trembling, he painted it like,

“If the hero Yuuji Takahashi hadn’t arrived, that girl would’ve suffered something truly horrible by now…”

—A story that was very convenient for me.

(Well, to be fair, it wasn’t wrong.)

As for Sara…

Right after something that terrifying, she couldn’t speak at all.

She couldn’t even stand—just crouched there, frozen in place.

Then—

Something happened that completely changed the atmosphere.

A black luxury car pulled up out of nowhere.

From it stepped a man and a woman in suits, both giving off a very distinctive presence.

“Hey… see the crest on the hood? The one with two overlapping wings. That’s the Hagoromo family crest.”

Wakita, ever the walking encyclopedia, quietly explained.

Which meant…

They were related to the Hagoromo Conglomerate.

The suited attendants leaned in and whispered something to the police officers.

The officers’ faces immediately went stiff with shock.

“U-Upper management… themselves…?”

“That’s right. The young lady over there is the esteemed daughter of the Hagoromo Conglomerate. We requested permission to take her into our custody first, and approval was granted. We’ll be taking her with us.”

“Y-Yes, understood!”

Normally, this should have meant taking her to the station for questioning—but it seemed Sara would be going straight home instead.

So this was what deference to a conglomerate looked like in real life.

Wakita’s words really had come true.

“Milady! Are you hurt anywhere!?”

“I’m… fine…”

“Thank goodness… Then please, allow us to escort you back to your residence.”

A woman in a suit—probably a servant—gently wrapped an arm around Sara’s shoulders and began guiding her toward the car.

“Alright then, you’ll need to come with us to the station.”

“Yes.”

As for me, I was about to be led toward the patrol car, following behind an officer.

But then—

This time, a weak tug from below stopped my steps.

I slowly looked down…

Just as I thought—Sara was still sitting there, clutching my sleeve.

“Don’t go… Yuuji…”

Looking up at me with teary eyes, calling my name in that soft, pleading voice—

Sara did that.

The woman in the suit looked back and forth between us in shock, while Wakita watched the scene with a “well, well” kind of grin plastered on his face.

“Please… just stay with me a little longer…”

“O… okay…?”

Did Sara Hagoromo always make a face this clingy…?

In the game, once you entered this bad-end route, there was no way out—it went straight to the end.

So in a way, I’d completely smashed the original fate to pieces…

Was this some kind of bonus event afterward?

Well, who knows.

“Yuuji, why don’t you take Sara-san home?” 

Wakita casually tossed out the suggestion.

Of course, the police immediately objected—almost reflexively.

“No, that’s not—”

“But why not question him after he takes her home?” 

Wakita pressed on.

“It’s not like he’s going to run away. He’s a hero of justice, after all!”

“That’s… a separate issue—”

“But the victim’s mental care is important, isn’t it? If she shuts down like this, the investigation will only drag on longer. Sara-san wants to stay with Yuuji for a little while—so respecting that is the best move right now. Don’t you agree… everyone from the Hagoromo Conglomerate?”

With perfect timing, Wakita turned to the conglomerate’s attendants.

They exchanged looks and paused for a moment… clearly considering it.

“We’ll take responsibility for escorting this male student to the police station ourselves, so please show some leniency here.”

“H-Huh… I see… Understood…”

In the end, state authority continued to defer to the conglomerate—

And just like that, I ended up sitting in the back seat of a Hagoromo Conglomerate luxury car, together with Sara.

“Sorry… Yuuji. I ended up being selfish…”

Sara apologized with a downcast look.

Her hand was still clutching the sleeve of my blazer.

“Don’t worry about it. If I can be useful, that’s good enough.”

“…Thank you. Ah, also… sorry for suddenly calling you Yuuji. That glasses guy kept calling you that, and I hadn’t even asked your name yet…”

“Don’t worry about that either. I’m Yuuji Takahashi. Call me whatever you like.”

“…Thanks. Then… Yuuji.”

The luxury car wasn’t just fancy on the outside—the inside was just as impressive.

The ride was smooth, with barely any shaking, and only the soft hum of the engine filled the quiet for a while.

Then, a different sound broke that silence—Sara’s voice.

“Yuuji… Sara’s scared to go home right now.”

“Huh?”

Her voice sounded small, almost like that of a much younger child.

Careful not to pressure her, I spoke gently.

“Why do you feel that way?”

“…Lately, Sara hasn’t been getting along with Papa or Mama. …Well, I haven’t even seen Papa recently, so I don’t really know. He’s always busy.”

Being the head of a conglomerate, it wasn’t hard to imagine he rarely made it home.

“Sara… might get scolded. After something like this happened, I caused trouble for the Hagoromo family… Sara really is a useless child…”

The girl on the verge of tears looked, to me, no older than a little kid.

With a tired sigh, I gently patted her head.

“It’ll be okay.”

“Eh…?”

“Your parents… aren’t that kind of people.”

“…How can you say that so confidently…?”

I decided not to answer that.

I had my reasons for being so sure.

Little by little, my memories of the original Sara Hagoromo route were starting to come back.

〇

By the time that happened, the sun had set and night had fallen.

The luxury car rolled straight into an upscale residential area—

A place that, to an ordinary person, felt like stepping into another world.

Massive mansions lined the streets, and among them stood one that was ridiculously huge even by those standards.

A thick wooden gate stood in front, proudly bearing the large crest of the Hagoromo Conglomerate.

Wow… this was Sara Hagoromo’s home.

Even bigger than in the original story.

Security guards were stationed by the gate, making the protection airtight.

And yet—

The very people meant to be protected were standing right there in front of it.

“Ah…”

Sara spoke up immediately.

She had spotted them—two familiar silhouettes.

“Papa… Mama…”

The moment the car stopped at the gate, the two of them rushed over.

As the automatic door slowly opened—

The couple pulled their daughter into a tight embrace.

“Saraaaaaaa…!”

“Thank goodness…! Thank goodness you’re safe…!”

Seeing her parents crying like that, Sara looked confused at first.

But little by little, she must have felt it sink in.

The truth—that she was loved, deeply and sincerely.

“Papa… Mama…”

Overcome with emotion, Sara honestly confessed that she’d been scared lately because she felt her parents had grown cold toward her.

Hearing that, her parents apologized right away.

They said they regretted not respecting her feelings more, and that they should have paid closer attention to their daughter all along.

“We heard about the incident and canceled our work to come right away.”

“Papa…”

“Listen to me, Sara. I might have been too strict with you. But more than anything else, you are precious to us. I need you to know that.”

“…Thank you.”

Hearing that, Sara hugged her parents back just as tightly.

The servants quietly wiped their eyes with handkerchiefs, tears spilling despite themselves.

I watched the scene with a small shrug.

—Yeah. This was one of the happy endings in the Sara Hagoromo route.

She had struggled deeply over her relationship with her parents.

But as the story went on, she realized it was all just a misunderstanding—

And in the end, they reconciled.

So… this outcome was inevitable.

“Thank goodness…”

I murmured softly.

The more I remembered the story of Academy SP, the more that feeling settled in.

I was really glad these tears weren’t filled with despair like in that bad ending.

That I managed to protect her…

That I managed to protect the gal-game heroine who once saved my own dark, lonely youth.