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 26 & 27

Chapter 26

The moment I saw her, I froze.

Inside the car sat my mom, wearing a jade-green kimono decorated with hydrangea patterns. I couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“Ririko, there you are. I had a women’s association meeting today, so I was having tea there. Let’s head back together.”

“Y-Yeah…”

With her pale skin and red lips curved into a soft smile, I couldn’t help worrying whether my own face had stiffened.

“Oh my, are you all the famous Academy SP boys? Thank you for always taking such good care of Ririko.”

She thanked Hirota-kun and the others standing behind me, her Kansai accent refined and elegant.

“Hirota-kun, was it? You’re the son of the National Police Agency director, aren’t you? How impressive. I truly trust you.”

“I—I’m honored.”

“Alright then, everyone—please be careful on your way home.”

After that, I got into the hired car and sat in the back seat beside my mom.

My heart… started making an unpleasant sound.

Right now, it was just the two of us who had moved here from the main family, living together—but even so, being alone with her always made me feel uncomfortable.

“Do you always go home with those boys after school?”

At her low voice, my body twitched.

I took a small breath, trying not to let her notice my reaction.

“…Yeah. They said they’d protect me…”

“But you know, being surrounded by so many boys your own age doesn’t look very good. It almost makes it seem like you’re keeping men around you, doesn’t it?”

“…I-I’m sorry.”

I apologized without even thinking.

Mom let out a small snort through her nose.

I’d always been scared of her.

That was why I still hadn’t told her about the threat letters… or the dead rat incident either.

I knew keeping quiet wasn’t exactly the right thing to do—but still.

“I’m not angry or anything. But you’re the daughter of the Aketo Conglomerate. You need to start caring about appearances too. If strange rumors spread, any good prospects you have will go straight down the drain.”

Then—

Mom pulled out a thick stack of white mounting cards from her bag.

“M-Mom… what are those?”

“These? They’re marriage interview photos.”

“Eh…!?”

“At the women’s association, I showed everyone how cute Ririko is, and—oh my—requests just came pouring in!”

She said it cheerfully, but to me, it was nothing but trouble.

“That’s… doing it without asking me…”

At that moment, Mom’s eyes sharpened.

“Just to be sure—you’re not dating some boy from Academy SP, are you? For example… that director’s-son boy?”

“T-There’s no way that’s happening…”

“I see. If that’s the case, then fine.”

Mom pulled out a folding fan made from Aketo Weaving—one of the Aketo Group’s subsidiaries—and began fanning herself lazily.

“Sure, the Academy SP students might come from decent backgrounds—but they’re still not on your level as the Aketo Conglomerate’s daughter. Ririko, you deserve someone far more suitable.”

“…”

“Think about it properly. Among your matchmaking offers, there are sons of noble families—even people connected to the Imperial household. Those are men no matter how beautiful a woman is, she’d normally never even get close to.”

“…”

“And yet, you’re being approached for relationships with them. Do you even understand just how incredible a position you’re in?”

“…Even if you say that… I’ve never even met them. I don’t know if I’d actually like someone like that…”

“Listen. You won’t know until you meet them, right? I’ll choose someone suitable from this bunch for you.”

…Mom was always like this.

Always deciding things on her own.

I clenched the hem of my skirt, forcing myself to swallow the words that almost slipped out.

She wasn’t especially strict in general—but when it came to romance, she had a habit of pushing her own values onto me.

—A man’s worth is his ability to provide. Marriage isn’t about love; it’s about capability.

I’d been hearing that kind of talk ever since elementary school.

Because of that, I’d ended up not knowing how to interact with boys at all…

In truth, I’d never even fallen in love.

I didn’t really understand what love was supposed to be.

Maybe the dreamy kind of romance you see in shoujo manga or literary novels only existed in fairy tales.

“Alright then—keep your schedule open on your next day off.”

“…Okay. I understand.”

“Good girl. Listen carefully, Ririko. You’re blessed. You’ve got a pretty face, a good heart, and your family background speaks for itself. Make sure you marry a good man and live a good life.”

At this rate, my future husband would be decided exactly how Mom wanted.

Maybe… I didn’t even care anymore.

Even the fact that someone was threatening me felt hard to talk about… like it wasn’t something I should bring up.

But… during that recent SP tournament, I’d seen the girls in our class getting excited over the boys.

Talking about how cool someone was, how charming someone else looked.

Being part of that circle—even just a little—had been kind of fun.

Most of it was probably half-joking, half-serious, but some of them had said they’d like to date Hirota-kun…

Not that I had anyone like that myself…

But still…

I wanted to experience that kind of burning, storybook romance you only see in fiction—at least once.

—As for Sasaki-kun, the one I talked to about Ugetsu Monogatari today…

Hmm. He didn’t quite make my heart race or anything.

But talking about our impressions together sounded fun.

That day, when I read Ugetsu Monogatari for the first time, it was a little difficult—but the dark stories hidden deep inside human nature felt fresh and fascinating.

So much so that I found myself wanting to talk about it with Sasaki-kun as soon as possible.

But…

That was until the very next day.

Sasaki-kun was brutally assaulted—and rushed to the hospital in a coma.

Chapter 27

Side: Yuuji

—The next day.

The entire school was in an uproar.

Everyone was talking about how Sasaki, from the Aketo Conglomerate faction, had been attacked by someone.

“I heard he got targeted after escorting Aketo-san home and splitting up. They went after him when he was alone.”
“Seriously? Sasaki was crazy strong at judo, wasn’t he? He even placed really well in the SP tournament.”
“Do you think this is connected to those threat letters aimed at Aketo-san…? Apparently, he got beaten so badly his skull was fractured or something…”

Before, even our Hagoromo Conglomerate faction had been attacked by radical protestors, with some people ending up hospitalized.

But what happened to Sasaki sounded even worse than that.

Those graphic rumors spread through the classroom, making everyone restless.

“This is getting really serious…”

Wakita muttered, resting his cheek on his hand—then glanced toward Isoyama.

“…That settles it. The culprit is definitely a guy. No doubt about it, right, Hirota-kun!?”

Veins bulging at his temples, Isoyama demanded agreement from Hirota.

Hirota wore a troubled expression.

“…It’s still too early to decide that. The police are already investigating Sasaki’s case. All we can do is wait for updates.”

“Wait!? You think we can afford to take it slow!? One of our own faction got taken out! Damn it… they’re mocking us!”

As usual, his glare snapped straight toward me and Wakita.

“…I don’t really see how we could get into a fight with Sasaki-kun and actually win, though?”

Wakita said that with a slightly sarcastic edge.

“You don’t know that! If you gang up on him and ambush him in the dark, even Sasaki could go down. And more than that—he took such brutal violence that he ended up in a coma! There’s a high chance he was lynched with weapons!”

“—Alright, calm down, Isoyama.”

The one who stepped in was Akimoto.

He was slim, but around 180 centimeters tall—and apparently a well-known taekwondo athlete.

“I hate to put it this way, but… it’s better that the victim was Sasaki. …If this had been Ririko-sama, our parents’ companies would’ve been dragged into it too, wouldn’t they?”

Akimoto was clearly a realist.

And yeah—losing the Aketo Conglomerate’s trust would be a fatal blow for Academy SP students whose families were only moderately wealthy.

Sure, it would be ridiculous for kids to shoulder that kind of responsibility—but the moment you’re given the right to stand close to the daughters of the Four Great Conglomerates, some level of duty to protect their lives naturally comes with it.

That was just how heavy a conglomerate’s existence was in Japanese society.

“Sasaki sacrificed himself while protecting Ririko-sama. We’ll inherit his resolve—and fulfill our duty to guard Ririko-sama.”

At Hirota’s words, the entire Aketo Conglomerate faction, Isoyama and Akimoto included, shouted back.

“““Yeah!”””

Their eyes were burning with determination.

Morale was sky-high.

“…So, what do you think?”

Wakita asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

“The attack on Sasaki and the threat letters and dead-rat incident aimed at Aketo-san… With all of this happening in such a short time, it’s hard not to think they’re connected.”

“Right? Which means the culprit is probably inside Yushuu Girls’ Academy. …Personally, I’m betting on the theory that someone paid an outsider to attack Sasaki-kun.”

“That’s definitely possible. This is a rich kids’ school—we’ve got people who could afford that kind of payout. But that just makes the suspect list huge. Any student who holds a grudge against the Aketo Conglomerate could be involved. There’s no way we can narrow that down ourselves.”

“Yeah… Guess we really do have no choice but to wait for the police investigation.”

“…I should probably stop hanging out with Sara for a while.”

At that, Wakita let out a mischievous grin.

“Worried about your wife already?”

“She’s not my wife.”

“Well, I agree with you anyway. Once this whole mess is over, let’s go hang out as the three of us again.”

“Yeah.”

〇

—Then, the very next day.

With Sasaki still in a coma and his condition far from stable—

A second incident occurred.

This time, it was Akimoto—the taekwondo expert—who was rushed to the hospital.

Because of that, an emergency assembly was called.

The current principal, Toshizou Fukumoto, warned everyone to be extremely careful when heading home.

That said… he never once told us in Academy SP to stop our escort duties.

From the school’s point of view, the worst possible outcome was a daughter of the Four Great Conglomerates getting hurt.

If an Academy SP student had to be sacrificed to prevent that—

That was basically what they were implying.

It was an incredibly irresponsible stance.

But on the flip side, the Aketo Conglomerate faction students were burning with even more obsession.

—First Sasaki, then Akimoto. I’ll kill the bastard who did this!

Isoyama roared that in the middle of class.

Normally, Hirota would be the one to stop him—but even he looked furious this time, clearly thinking this was unforgivable.

Still, there were also voices of fear starting to surface.

“…I heard Akimoto’s right leg was broken.”

“Idiot, it’s way worse than that. Apparently his leg was bent the wrong way at the joint—only the skin and muscle were barely keeping it attached.”

“What the hell…? Is the attacker some kind of professional hitman or something…?”

No matter how much they trained their bodies, they were still just kids.

Being afraid of some unknown, overwhelmingly strong enemy was only natural.

That was when Hirota made a proposal like this.

“We still don’t know what the attacker’s goal is, but there’s a high chance they’re specifically targeting us from the Aketo faction. Anyone who continues escorting Ririko-sama could end up suffering the same fate.”

He paused for a moment.

“…So if anyone wants to step down, now is the time.”

Even in an emergency like this, Manabu Hirota stayed calm.

He needed as many people as possible to protect Ririko Aketo—and yet, recognizing the real danger to their lives, he deliberately created an atmosphere where people could back out without being blamed.

Still—

“Don’t say something so distant!”

“Yeah! We’re the strongest Aketo Conglomerate faction!”

“We’ll protect Ririko-sama no matter what!!”

Not a single person chose to step down.

Seeing that, Hirota nodded deeply, clearly moved.

I could feel it—the bond of the Aketo Conglomerate faction, centered around Manabu Hirota, was growing stronger by the moment.

—However, a few days later.

This time, Marui, another member of the Aketo Conglomerate faction, was found in critical condition… unconscious, just like the others.