Chapter 2: Honest Deception【Part 2】
【言語に関するご注意 / Language Notice】本作はすべて、英語と英語の表現で書かれています。翻訳作品ではなく、オリジナルの英語ライトノベルです。あらかじめご了承の上、作品をお楽しみください。
See chapter one for the main author's note.
Anza
[Profile #48
Name: Nene Kirishima
Department: Political Science
About me: ...and under no circumstances are you to approach me while I am drinking! Otherwise, unless you intend to cause a theatrical scene that legally relieves me of my duties, don’t bother me. And if you start making a habit of losing your items, I will personally ensure your life becomes—]
“Look at this one.” I nudge my screen into Asuka her line of sight.
She blinks at the text, blowing a dry whistle. “Looks like someone forgot to take their morning medicine. Pass.”
“I’m going with Vance,” Toma announces, a green clearance key already illuminating his face. “He teaches math. Precision should help with navigating the curriculum.”
I skim past another dozen files before tapping on a profile. “I think I’ll go with Ikeda. She’s been here since the founding, which should mean she won’t be easily fazed.”
“You guys are taking this way too seriously!” Asuka huffs from behind her phone. “I’m choosing someone who doesn’t look like they’re trying to sell me a house. How about... Ricardo? You can never go wrong with a name like that and the face that comes with it.”
A tap against the glass locks in my choice, washing the display in a bright green.
Together we move toward the metal turnstiles at the school entrance.
We take turns tapping our screens against the scanners. With a quick succession of high-pitched chimes, the gates unlock for each of us as we walk past them.
A wide road opens up, stretching as far as the eye can see.
Tall buildings flank the sides, but the street is so vast that their height fails to challenge the sun with any shade in the middle.
We stride down the avenue, where ivy on the walls and neat patches of grass break up the sterile stone.
“Wow, it’s so wide…” I murmur.
“I doubt it sees this much use outside of this time of the year,” Toma adds, his eyes trailing the greenery climbing the facades. He tilts his head further back to trace the vines all the way up, his mouth falling open slightly.
“Great, a stone oven designed to roast us alive…” Asuka sighs dramatically, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead.
“I’m sure that’s just your lack of hydration talking.” I reach over to Toma and gently push his jaw shut to return him to this dimension.
He blinks rapidly, shaking his head. “H-wuh?”
Skaters glide past in smooth streaks, weaving effortlessly through the influx of arriving freshmen. Following their path, it widens into the main square—an eight-way junction encircled by intricately decorated buildings.
The centerpiece steals my breath away.
It is... beautiful.
A wide stone fountain shoots water in all directions, sending up streams that collide into a brilliant, dancing display.
Festively decorated market stalls crowd the mouths of the branching streets, pulling the foot traffic inward like a vortex.
“Oh! Hold everything!” Asuka skids to a halt, her nose twitching toward a nearby side street. “My sugar radar is pinging! Target is locked! A sugar missile is imminent—we must answer the call!”
Pffft—you go on,” Toma chuckles. “I’m staying here for the speech. Hearing what the guy in charge has to say should prove useful.“
His expression drifts back into that quiet, analytical look he always gets in a new environment.
“BOOO!” Asuka thrusts her fists out, flipping her thumbs down like a gladiator boss demanding execution.
She lunges into my personal space, pointing a dramatic finger back at him.“Hear that, Anza? Officer Orderly would rather listen to a politician drone than taste paradise! We’re abandoning him, right?”
“I… I mean…” I shift my weight, trying not to stumble backward from her sudden proximity.
I look at Toma, then past him.
The distant stage sits surrounded by market stalls and a growing crowd, a vacant lectern resting at its center. Behind it, students in white uniforms with uniquely colored accents stand in flawless rows.
They do not look around. They do not talk. Standing perfectly rigid in the blistering heat, they make me wonder if they are even breathing.
“S-sorry, Toma. This place is just a bit too suffocating for me,” I admit, offering a small apologetic bow as the crowd starts to grow around us.
A deep chime echoes from a nearby clock tower to mark the half-hour. Right on cue, the fountain shifts its rhythm, launching a blast of water high into the air. The crisp splash makes Toma move his head back toward the center stage.
“Yeah, yeah, get out of here already,” he chides gently, waving a dismissive hand. “Oh, and just so you know, strawberry cake is my favorite—in case you need to bribe me later for the information you’ll miss.“
Asuka grabs my wrists, a triumphant smirk plastering her face as she yanks me along. “Prepare yourself for so much sugar that they haven’t even named the medical condition for it yet!”
“U-wah—bye, Toma!” I call out while being hauled backward.
Asuka sprints ahead, my shoes skidding against the stone as I struggle to keep up.
Just in time, I catch Toma glancing over his shoulder. He quickly snaps his eyes forward the moment he realizes I’m still looking, raising his hand in a lazy wave as if nothing happened.
Awww... he really is a softie at heart.
A warm smile touches my lips.
No matter how much he acts like our designated adult, deep down I know he cares immensely for our—
Masaki
“...large curves! Elegantly small curves! And look at the symmetry of that tripartite!” The words spill out of my mouth uncontrollably. “It’s just—I—I can’t—”
The world spins. Knees buckle. Darkness.
“And he’s gone. Again,” Sora sighs. I can feel the toe of her shoe casually tracing the outline of my body like a fresh chalk line at a crime scene.
“Hey, Masaki, can you come here for a moment?” a voice calls out from behind us.
“He’s just been Isekai’d! Try again in his next life, Daiki!” Sora shouts back.
“Oh, that is not a problem,” Daiki says in a tone too serious for comfort. “Just scoop his brains out and bring them over. This map is an absolute labyrinth.” The words come with the sound of faint tapping against a wooden board.
My survival instincts bolt me straight upright.
I wipe away a string of drool as my eyes bug out. “W-woah! Why is everything flat?”
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Discover what happens next in: Chapter 2: Honest Deception【Part 3】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
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