5 / 100 | Sagawa Kyouko → Todou Mihane → Asagi Yuma

| Todou Kyosuke

“Good… morning…”

Last night, I took the precaution of maxing out my physical restraints to avoid any potential… mishaps. Specifically, to prevent any unfortunate scene that might resemble a slaughter.

I think I managed to set my strength to roughly that of a first-grader.

This was to counter the potential wandering around of Mihane, Yuma, and Kyouko in the middle of the night.

After all, yesterday’s Thanksgiving had been full of surprises—things I never would have anticipated.

Feeling too uneasy to let my guard down, I used a binding spell—one I’m not particularly skilled with—to place a vow on my body before going to bed.

And so…

“This is what mornings are like, huh?”

“Wow… You really are our dark prince.”

“Amazing.”

…Are they holding a viewing session of me?

Is this “viewing day” on the morning after Thanksgiving?

With the binding spell preventing any voluntary movements and my strength reduced to that of an elementary school student, I struggle to open my eyes. Difficult! Focus all your energy on just opening your eyes!

The clock I manage to glimpse reads 7:00 AM.

The three of them, for some reason, have swapped their swimsuit aprons for… apron lingerie.

Is this a new level?

Was the Thanksgiving festival not truly over?

Usually, feasts lasting two or three days are thrown after defeating a major monster or liberating a city from demon rule.

Granted, yesterday, I was defeated by these three adventurers.

Actually, that’s true in more ways than one. But let’s not dwell on that.

Or rather… what’s happening here? Is this preliminary research before they launch into the “conquest,” or are they now fully prepared adventurers ready to tackle the next stage?

Was yesterday just reconnaissance, and today is the real assault?

“Um, like this, right here.”

“Yes, just like that.”

Gulp.

“Okay, preparations are complete!”

Preparations for what exactly!?

I mean, I get the general… direction. I get it, but I’d at least like to know the end goal here!

“…Yuma-san, I can’t help but feel there’s a bit of a superior tone from you. Right, Mihane-san… Mihane-san?”

“Amazing scent.”

What’s the best way to handle this? I admit, I had unilaterally decided on our Thanksgiving goal last night without consulting them.

I’d labeled it all as “helping out,” thinking I could justify things and that they’d settle down after a night’s sleep, so I wrapped it up with a “victory face” and declared three clear wins.

A hat trick. At least, in spirit.

Wait.

So I thought I’d reached the goal, but this… isn’t really the end, is it?

Like a “when did you think this was the goal?” kind of moment?

The real final boss is still waiting just beyond this?

“…There’s no way there’s a Great Demon Lord after Alefgard’s Demon Lord, right? No more summons, right? I’m starting to feel a little uneasy… Ah, maybe if I just don’t give up on this world, it’ll be fine.”

Thankfully, I don’t feel any urgent need to, uh… go to the bathroom, so that’s okay.

No, it’s really not okay.

This is getting really serious. Unlike with Aika or Tomoka, this feels less like a regular situation and more like a reversed one.

“What if we rotate yesterday’s roles clockwise?”

“Rotate?”

“Yes. Yuma-san can mimic me, I’ll mimic Mihane-san, and Mihane-san will mimic Yuma-san, moving all the way around.”

…Alright, time to get up and stop this.

Wait… what? My body won’t move… why? Oh! The binding spell!

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Stay calm. Breathe, hero.

You’ve been in tight spots like this before.

The Great Tomb of Ozier in the Urud Desert, the Reanimated King!

———You’ve faced them countless times.

The zombie dragon of Yuringen Falls!

———And come through every single time.

The giant demon ape of the Bincarea Plains!

———You’ve conquered every one of them.

Yes, a hero’s true strength lies in focusing in the heat of the moment!

Now, focus and—ah, ah, ahhh—

They keep whispering and touching me everywhere, and I can’t concentrate!

This balance between wanting to undo the binding and thinking “well, maybe it’s fine as is” is tipping, making it impossible to control the magic!

Binding magic is tricky for me to begin with.

Since I’m not good at it, I haven’t mastered the level of control needed, so it’s applied inconsistently.

Imagine a jagged, imbalanced pentagon—poorly balanced.

To be specific, my body can react, but I can’t move it of my own will, and while it has reflexes, I can’t make a sound either.

Apparently, Marie thought it was too un-heroic and called this a sadistic spell.

Hahaha.

No, wait, that’s not it.

I’m not used to these physical restraints in this body, so it’s tough to control them precisely.

Especially without being able to focus!

“But when it was Mihane’s turn, Kyosuke-kun was moving, wasn’t he? Should we wake him up for Kyoko’s turn?”

“No need. I’ve done all my studying. I’ll show everyone as I go. Let’s let Kyosuke-san sleep for now. That rare sight of his sleeping face—I can’t miss it.”

What am I supposed to do? At this rate, the situation’s going to escalate into another kind of festival. And I’m basically at a first-grader’s strength right now. You’re all onee-chans, so this is heading toward an even more forbidden kind of event. Please, onee-chans!

“No photos, but alright. Let’s rotate.”

“Yes! I want to try Kyoko’s technique!”

“Then, clockwise order works, right? Hehe.”

“Huh? Sounds good to me!”

“Alright, Kyoko first.”

“Hehe. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

Ah, no, not there, stop, ah, ahh, stop—

Ah, stop, ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

◆

“Kyosuke-saaaan…”

“Onii-chan, shuki…”

“Dark Prince-sama…”

…In the end, my counter kicked in and, in a different sense, I ended up knocking out all three high school girls.

“You were all wonderful. Thanks for waking me up. I’m going out for a bit. Oh, feel free to keep sleeping.”

Yes, on a day like this, an outdoor adventure sounds perfect!