Chapter-01 · EP-026

Episode 26: Hikaru Kujo (Part 2)

"If you want to become a top-class dungeon explorer, you need to use top-class equipment."

"Ohh! That's cool!"

In the A-Class classroom, a student was showing off his newly purchased steel sword. His name was Akihiro Mochizuki, the eldest son of a Viscount family.

"How much was it?"

"A little over 100,000 yen. Well, that's a normal price."

Mochizuki bragged about the price of the sword. Perhaps boys liked this sort of thing; male students gathered around him.

"100,000 yen, huh… That's a bit expensive for an allowance."

"What are you talking about? An expense like this is an investment in your future self. In the future, you'll be able to earn 100,000 yen easily."

"That's true."

Praised by those around him, Mochizuki puffed up with pride. It was understandable that everyone envied him. Almost all first-year students, having just enrolled, were still using the wooden swords issued by the school.

"But isn't a steel sword too heavy to swing around?"

"This much is no problem!"

Mochizuki said, raising the sword. He swung it several times. If a teacher were here, they would have scolded him for swinging a weapon in the classroom, but no one told him to stop.

"Phew… It is heavier than a wooden sword, but it'll be fine once I get used to it."

"Ohhh!" admiring voices leaked from the male students watching his swings.

Pleased by their reactions, Mochizuki happily continued.

"Next, I need to get some armor. With this steel sword, I can handle even the 10th floor."

"I see~"

His classmates nodded along, taking Mochizuki's plausible-sounding statement as fact.

Delighted to be a step ahead of his peers, Mochizuki's mood improved further.

In his field of vision, he saw Hikaru Kujo sitting in her seat. He couldn't help but call out to her.

"Kujo-san, what kind of weapon do you use? Being from a Duke's family, you must have an amazing weapon, right?"

Hikaru turned around at being called. Mei Kisaragi, sitting next to her, also turned.

"I…"

Mochizuki waited with a smirk, curious to hear her answer.

He knew. He knew that Hikaru had struggled even to defeat a slime. He assumed it was because she wasn't using any decent weapon.

"I use a wooden sword."

"A wooden sword?!"

Mochizuki exclaimed loudly.

Annoyed by his mocking tone, Mei's irritation grew.

"You mean to say that Hikaru-sama, the young lady of the Kujo Dukedom, uses the same cheap wooden sword as everyone else?"

"My sword is a special one passed down to me by my brother…"

Without listening to Hikaru's explanation, Mochizuki continued his tirade.

"You should use a better weapon… Oh, I get it! Maybe the weak Hikaru-sama isn't capable of handling a high-quality weapon yet?"

"You…"

Mei, angered by Mochizuki's attitude, stood up impulsively. But Hikaru immediately reached out and stopped her.

Mei looked at Hikaru's face and halted.

"Oh dear, Hikaru-sama, can't you even control your servant?"

"Mei is not a servant. She's my best friend. Watch your words."

"Oh, sorry! She's always following you around saying 'my lady,' so I just assumed."

Mochizuki apologized with a careless grin. Mei clenched her fists, suppressing her anger.

But Hikaru was even angrier than Mei.

"That's enough. If Mei gets angry, even I might not be able to stop her."

Hikaru stood up, faced Mochizuki directly, and declared.

Mochizuki burst out laughing.

"Oh, sorry! Did I make you angry?"

His laughter wasn't unreasonable. Mei Kisaragi didn't have a frightening appearance. Short and with a cute face, they probably saw her more as a mascot than Hikaru's bodyguard. But in reality, Mei Kisaragi's combat ability was high. Having undergone special training, she possessed combat skills that could easily subdue any fellow student at the same level 1.

It was a student sitting nearby who stopped the tense situation.

"Mochizuki, enough."

"Okumoto-san…"

His name was Daiki Okumoto. He was the second-highest scorer in A-Class and the vice class president.

"I understand you want to show off your new weapon, but don't cause trouble in the classroom."

"Sorry."

Okumoto was from a Count's family, a higher rank than Mochizuki. Also, unlike Hikaru, Okumoto was skilled. Although Hikaru was the top student in the class due to her exceptionally high academic scores, her combat ability was low. Among the classmates, it was thought that overall, Okumoto was the top of the class.

So if Okumoto said something, Mochizuki had to comply.

"Kujo-san, I apologize for my rude behavior earlier."

Mochizuki changed his attitude and apologized to Hikaru.

"I accept your apology. Don't worry about it."

Hikaru forgave him readily. Mei, still unforgiving, glared at Mochizuki.

It seemed the matter would settle there. However…

"Mochizuki, if you want to show off your new sword so much, why not show Kujo-san how you fight?"

"Huh? Well, that might be a good idea."

"What do you mean by this?"

Okumoto suddenly made a strange suggestion. Hikaru questioned him.

"Kujo-san, if you're upset about him making fun of the sword your brother gave you and your best friend, why don't you show him your strength? This is my proposal: why don't the three of you explore together after school today? It would deepen your friendship as classmates."

Okumoto looked down on everyone except himself.

He looked down on Mochizuki, who boasted about his weapon rather than his own ability; he looked down on Hikaru, who lacked physical strength; and he looked down on the small-framed, seemingly weak Mei, who followed Hikaru around. If those three explored together, someone would make a mistake, or they'd clash and cause trouble. He thought it would be good if they had a scandal where he couldn't see, and dropped out.

Mochizuki, unaware of Okumoto's true intentions, readily agreed.

"Great idea. Kujo-san, Kisaragi-san, I'll show you how I fight. You see, boys are different from girls."

Mochizuki also looked down on Hikaru and Mei.

He assumed that the two of them, clearly more slender than him, were inferior to him in the dangerous work of dungeon exploration.

Before Mei, who was at a loss for a reason to refuse their proposal, Hikaru spoke.

"Alright. Let's explore together."

"Hikaru-sama?"

Surprised by the unexpected response, Mei looked startled.

"We need to be united as a class before the inter-class competition. Since we usually can only explore within the same gender, this is a good opportunity to interact with the male students."

Once Hikaru said that, Mei couldn't refuse.

Watching the three easily fall for his scheme, Okumoto smirked.