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Volume 3A, Chapter 2: Insufficient One at a Half Place

The sufficient ones are the abnormal ones

To think I would

Still be using that excuse in high school…

Point Allocation (Accumulation from the Past)

“Hey, Tenzou.”

The morning air still hung over the road as a voice joined the sounds of wooden hammers striking stakes and of light gods of war moving around.

“What is our class going to do for the spring festival?”

“That is a good question since our usual supplier, Shirojiro-dono, is focusing all his attention on the Marube-ya.”

That response came from Tenzou who was working with Toori to set up a tent for the Far Eastern Academy Store on the central road below the academy.

“Well, we still have Ohiroshiki-dono and Hassan-dono, so we should have plenty of sweets and curry.”

“Isn’t eating curry with sweets kind of revolutionary?”

“They apparently eat yogurt after curry in India.”

“So it’s actually doable, huh? Asama’s in the tea ceremony club, so if we get some tea from her, I guess we’ll be set for food and drink.”

Tenzou faced Toori who was tying on the tent’s canvas roof. And while he adjusted the height of one of the main support poles, Tenzou said,

“It’s too bad you can’t run the shop this time, Toori-dono.”

“Well, after what happened last time, they’ve banned anyone from starting consecutive events.”

“Yeah, that play café you ran last year was something else. First Mitotsudaira-dono brings a real sword for a prop, then it flies into the audience seating, and in the end you were arrested.”

“That was so not fair.”

“Judge. The guards took one look at Adele-dono and said a girl that small could never throw a sword that large. But Adele-dono can do that easily and she didn’t really throw it; it slipped from her hand. It has a different grip than her spear, after all.”

But…

“I think the real problem was when you shouted ‘That’s right! I did it!!’, held the sword in your crotch, and chased the guards around with it. Unlike the chocolate way back when, I’m amazed it didn’t slip out.”

“Well, I had a spare gravitational control charm from setting up the place. And if you don’t use it all, they’ll cut your budget the following year.”

“By breaking the regulations, you just about had the entire thing eliminated, not just the budget.”

But more importantly…

“I know it’s way too late now, but did you ever apologize to Mitotsudaira-dono?”

“She muttered ‘My heirloom…’ with a blank look on her face, so I said ‘Your heirloom preserved our honor’. But that only made her give me one hell of a glare, so I had Shiro teach me how to prostrate in apology. She took it back saying she would have it cleaned, but then a crazy expensive bill arrived later on and I had to increase my part-time shifts.”

“I see.”

Tenzou looked at Toori who was leaning back and standing on a chair while tying on the roof canvas.

And after a while…

“Toori-dono.”

“Hm? What is it, Tenzou? Is there a problem?”

“Judge.” Tenzou nodded. “Why…are you crossdressing?”

Tenzou looked up at the idiot who was leaning back and standing on a chair.

Frighteningly enough…

“The scary part is that you really do look like a girl.”

“Yeah, figuring out what to do with my dick was a real pain.”

“Please don’t bring that up out of the blue!!”

“It turned out stealth just wasn’t enough, so I’m using a technique to store it in a pocket dimension.”

I must avoid thinking he should use that passion for something more useful. He is an entertainer.

There is no helping it. But…

“Why are you dressed up as a busty blonde?”

“Huh? You can’t tell? I felt sorry for you, so I had no choice but to go with the busty blondes you love so much.”

“Oh, how considerate of you. Thank-…”

Tenzou trailed off before saying “you”.

“I-I don’t want that kind of consideration!”

“Eh? R-really? Do you hate busty blondes now?”

“I love busty blondes! I rented a video yesterday, waited until my parents left in the morning, and watched it before coming here!”

“So if your faith is real, then why aren’t you reacting to my busty blonde? Oh, is it that thing where you don’t notice the charm of someone who you take for granted!? That’s it, isn’t it?”

“That would never happen, so don’t even try to suggest it! Besides, Toori-dono, if you hang around me looking like that, a busty blonde with a crush on me might say ‘Oh, Tenzou-kun is already dating a busty blonde. Sob.’, and cry with her breasts between her arms like this! Then I would lose a chance at love!”

“So what should we do for lunch?”

“You just ignored all of that, didn’t you!?”

“Just think about it. No busty blonde is ever going to have a crush on you.”

“B-back in elementary school, I would’ve punched you for saying that!”

“And now?”

“Now I think you’re probably right.”

The two of them laughed together and then Tenzou came back to his senses.

“I don’t want this. It will keep other busty blondes away and you’re actually a guy, so I gain nothing at all from it.”

“Don’t say that. You can just look at me and imagine I’m the ideal busty blonde. And I don’t think you’ll need much of an imagination there. I mean, check out this ass.”

Toori stuck his butt out from above and there was indeed nothing wrong with the shape visible through the gap between the side skirt and tail skirt. The color of the white panties portion was also quite nice.

“…This is dangerous. If I was a 1st dan in shudo, I would have definitely challenged you to a match.”

“Hmm, so you’re saying this sinful body of mine lights a criminal flame in people’s hearts…”

“But,” said Tenzou. “Why the crossdressing?”

“Oh, right.”

The idiot looked up toward the academy.

The ceiling was gaining the color of later morning. And below that, the crossdresser faced the school building illuminated by the faint light of the stealth barrier.

“So I can peep.”

Immediately afterwards, Tenzou saw something.

The crossdresser’s head was blown away.

“Toori-dono!”

He had been sniped.

“How about it, Ga-chan? Did I hit him?”

Naito asked that of Naruze while aiming her broom out of a third floor window in the academy’s rear building.

Naruze was outside the window. She used her wings to float and checked the guideline drawn from the end of the broom. The broom was aimed at a somewhat upwards angle in order to clear the front building and the ether line drew a slight curve from there.

“I think it probably got through. I took our relative positions and his height into consideration, so it should have blown away just his wig.”

Yes.

“Wigs are expensive. Blow away that and he probably won’t think about peeping for a while.”

“I see,” said Asama inside the building, but then a sign frame appeared next to her.

Asama sighed, suggesting it was the sniper victim himself. She then spoke to the sign frame.

“Um, Toori-kun? When you were arrested by the guards due to your nonsense early this morning, they placed a marker on you. So if you say or do anything dumb right now, I will be informed. They want me to nip it in the bud before you get arrested again. …Oh, your wig was blown away? You would have preferred getting arrested? Please stop pretending to cry. You’re troubling Tenzou-kun.”

“They never change, do they?” muttered Naruze.

Naruze thought about what she had just said.

…I guess it means the usual way of things is best.

That idiot could be thoughtful about a lot of things, like that automaton at the Blue Thunder.

The difficult thing about him was how he did not seem to be observing the others while he actually was. The even more difficult thing about him was how his idiocy made it hard to thank him even if something did warrant it.

Margot would casually say thanks, but Naruze just could not do it. Once, when she had forgotten a combination page rough for a doujinshi in the academy store’s copier, she had thanked Persona-kun when he brought it to her, but the atmosphere had frozen over and everyone had reacted like this:

“Are you having a bad day, Naruze-kun?”

“Naruze-kun, that isn’t very in character for you. Are you an imposter? When the real one tries to spin a pen in her right hand…kh, it got caught and wouldn’t spin!? It seems you are the real Naruze-kun.”

“Um, Naruze-dono… Wait, why do you get your usual look of scorn back when I try to help out!?”

What was with all that?

…Maybe I should just assume it means they understand who I am.

But, she silently added while entering through the classroom window. The light was fairly dim outside, but it was bright compared to the classroom.

…It can’t stay like this.

That was how it felt to her.

“Ga-chan?”

Had Margot realized what she was thinking?

Their relationship was not a particularly long one, but it was a very close one. So…

“Judge. It’s just a little something.”

It was not enough to worry about, but it was not “nothing”. That was what she told Margot.

“Okay.”

Margot nodded and the doubt vanished from her face.

They did not need to thoroughly question each other about every little thing. Because they were so close, they could ask for advice at any time and they could embrace each other without forgetting the things they had put off until later.

The way Naruze saw it, if you pretended to be close by resolving everything right away, you were either forced to because you had so little intimate time together or you viewed your relationship as something like a job.

So she passed through the window…

“—————”

…and returned inside.

There was a trick to entering through the window without her wings catching. When she closed her wings, she lost her lift. That would normally turn her wings into nothing but weights, so her body would topple backwards. And if that happened while passing through the window, she could fall outside.

So she would use the closing motion to make a light flap and then scrunch up her body while taking a light step over the windowsill.

She crossed over the desk where the idiot usually slept and she continued on to their seats.

And she looked around the classroom.

“What, are you changing already?”

“Judge. Sensei said she’s in charge in the gym, so she left the paperwork here.”

Some people had no sign frame contract and used a handheld shrine, so paperwork was a fairly common sight at events like this. It’s nice that the Far East primarily uses paper media, thought Naruze.

…Maybe I should make a quick sketch.

She began drawing everyone as they changed.

Suzu realized Naruze was occasionally looking her direction while drawing something on a Magie Figur.

Naruze had a certain habit when she began drawing in the classroom.

When she was drawing in serious mode, she would make scratching motions with her right arm, but her left wing would stop moving.

That likely meant she was using the left wing to support herself while her right arm moved her body.

When drawing like that, her right wing would move a bit to match the movements of her right shoulder. The swaying wing looked pleasant, like a baby’s toy, but Naruze must have been unaware of her surroundings because it would sometimes hit a passerby.

Of course, everyone would turn toward Naruze when that happened, but they would hold their tongues when they noticed how focused she was.

…That must be nice.

Suzu wished she had something she could get so focused on.

How focused was she while sewing? No, any sound around her would catch her attention, so it could not be that much.

And Naruze was now sketching them all changing, including Suzu herself.

…Yes…

Her parents had really liked the picture Naruze had given her the day before.

“Ho ho?”

That was how their reaction had begun.

“I had heard the rumors, but this – Nargot-san, was it? – is very good.”

“Yes, it’s Nalga-san and Maruze-san.”

…Mom, dad, you’re mixing them together. But they live together, so maybe that’s fine.

She had decided that was within the margin of error and opted not to correct her parents, but should she have done so?

Regardless, she had enjoyed having her friend praised.

It made her happy to have an amazing friend.

…But not because it makes me amazing too.

It made no sense to claim it did. If that logic worked, everyone around Toori-kun would be a nudist. So…

…It lets me believe that my life is something different from normal.

With housework, it was easy to just repeat the same things every single day. But with her friends there, she would never forget that there were people who lived different sorts of lives.

She had to wonder if there was no such thing as “ordinary” and everyone had a different idea of what it meant.

That may have been why her parents had stared at Naruze’s drawing for a very long time the night before.

“Is she always drawing things like this?”

“Yes. She says she…actually draws…the backgrounds too.”

“I see… But kids these days sure are mature. This is nothing like the manga when we were kids. It’s a lot more…realistic, I guess? And you look so mature in it, Suzu.”

“Hm? How?”

Her parents had fallen silent, so she had probably asked an awkward question.

They had then whispered to each other.

“…So Suzu is old enough to be seen as an adult.”

“…The artist is a girl too, so I doubt it was meant to be so sexual.”

She had felt a dull sweat soaking her skin, but when she thought about it, Naruze did like girls even if she was a girl. Would it be best to lie?

And after a while longer…

“Suzu. …If you don’t want to carry on the family business, you can just tell us, okay?”

“Yes, we’re prepared for that.”

“Eh? No, um. That isn’t...what Ga-chan meant by…having me dressed like…a Technohexen.”

It had not been easy to keep them from starting a family meeting right then and there.

But her parents had touched on her life a bit.

…That was…different from…normal.

What was normal in her life was different from “normal” for her family. And it was different from normal for her to hear their reactions to it.

What was this called? She had a feeling Naruze had mentioned it before…

…Corruption…?

No. Well, that does seem to fit, but probably no.

The word “interaction” came to mind. Good. I’m glad I didn’t give up on thinking. She realized now just how important words were. And…

“…”

Thanks to her parents’ reaction last night, she had a thought about Naruze’s sketches.

…Wh-what does it mean…f-for them to be…mature?

Changing isn’t all that different for boys and girls, thought Mitotsudaira.

Girls changed their tops just like boys did their shirts and girls changed their tights just like boys did their pants.

Some people changed their top first and some changed their bottom first, but Mitotsudaira was the latter type.

She had a reason for that.

…If I change the bottom first, I can better respond to an attack while changing the top.

It was her legs that mattered. So when changing into a track suit, doing the bottom first would lighten her body sooner.

As a knight, she had to consider the possibility of an enemy attack at any time, and that alone was a good enough reason to change the bottom first.

Okay, she said in her heart while reaching into her bag and pulling out tights in a color known as Hexagone Blue.

No girl left their tights in their locker. They were light and could be folded up quite small. And track suit tights were designed to allow sweat through instead of being insulating, so they were not meant to be worn multiple times without washing them.

Thus…

“…Now, then.”

The first step while changing was to bring the front of her skirt together.

She connected the front of the side skirts to close the front and then attached the backs to the tail skirt. By lifting up the top of the tail skirt and having it dig deep into the hard point on the back of her hips, she could hide her crotch, legs, and butt.

Connecting the skirts all the way to the bottom was a fashion style known as the “bell” and it was popular with non-student women, especially married ones.

Mitotsudaira only had to connect them about halfway down her thighs.

…From there, I just have to change.

She first lifted up the side skirts and stuck her hands to the front of her hips below the fabric.

And below the skirt, she removed the clasps attached to the top left and right of her inner suit’s panties section.

That let the front of the panties section dangle down between her legs, but she ignored that and rolled up her sleeves so they would not touch the floor.

“…Nn.”

She stuck her fingers into the top of her tights and lowered them all at once.

She had known they would be changing today, so she wore a supporter below the inner suit. The trick to keeping the strings from being pushed down was to attach them to the hard points and wrap them around her hips.

…I generally don’t wear one, though.

Married women generally saw underwear as a necessity, but she usually only wore a set of pads within the tights.

…The recent ones are really well made, so they don’t shift out of place even with the inner suit pushing at them from above.

Yes, and the top is the same. Because I have a combat role, I wear something with some thickness in the chest for shock absorption. Yes, that is only natural for a knight and is certainly not about my personal pride at all…!

She made that silent excuse while removing the tights. Released from the insulation of the tights, she felt a ticklish chilly sensation between her legs. She knew that was the spring air, and…

“Now, then.”

She began to put on her track suit tights.

But just as she did…

“Copying my foolish brother: reverse edition!!”

Behind her, Kimi did what Mitotsudaira had done yesterday, but in reverse.

The night before, she had flipped up Asama’s yukata in Suzu’s bathhouse.

As the reverse of that, Kimi did not just pull down Mitotsudaira’s skirt but removed it from the hard points altogether. And that disconnected the underwear below as well.

The skirt’s connections came apart and the underwear fell down.

“——————”

Asama saw the girls silently speed up their changing after hearing a loud scream.

Naruze alone commented while changing.

“Oh, I see. So it looks like that when she’s only wearing the top…”

She continued sketching, but that was normal. That said…

…Should I call this “lively” or what?

“Wh-what are you doing, Kimi!? This is the classroom!”

“Understood. I’ll strip too, so bear with it! Isn’t this great!? Here, can’t you feel these clever cushions pressing against your back? Well? Well? You can tell I’ve stripped, can’t you?”

“I thought the humiliation wouldn’t start until we got to the measurements!”

It was all far too normal for them.

At any rate, Asama knew she had to get changed while Kimi was focused on a different target.

She had already changed the bottom. In her case, she wore a track suit with the red and white colors of a shrine maiden. It was from the Shirasago Brand that the Asama Shrine belonged to.

She began changing the top.

The inner suit could be worn as-is just like a shirt. If gym class involved some more vigorous activity, she could change out of the inner suit along with the track suit, but that would not be necessary today. Using a deodorant and purification spell through the hard point parts would be enough to clean it.

She had to remove her top and…

…Fold it.

It might be overly diligent to do that while changing. Heidi and Adele just placed theirs over a chair back after removing it.

It was likely due to the events and mindset of the past few days that she was noticing her diligence here.

She noticed Masazumi also placed hers over her chair. But…

…The way she does it seems more boyish somehow.

It was like a scene in a TV drama where a guy returned from work and placed his coat on the sofa. Did it only look that way because she crossdressed?

“Masazumi is wearing a different pair of underwear again,” said Naruze behind Asama. “Ever since she transferred in, she’s always wearing different underwear when we change. Is this an unexpected way to maintain her ‘girly’ side?”

Should I report this?

But standing here holding her folded top would change nothing. She placed it on her desk alongside her skirt. Then she removed the chest band from the side hard point parts and also removed the parts holding the chest band in place.

The collar parts kept the neck airtight, but she removed them here.

She did not forget to place a purification charm on them. That seemed excessive when she had only worn them since morning, but from an ether perspective, they were something she had “removed and set down”. For someone from the Asama Shrine, it was less about physical dirtiness and more about preventing impurities introduced by the situation.

But a divine protection version of these charms was periodically distributed free of charge to anyone with an Asama Shrine contract. So…

“Does anyone need a purification charm?”

“Oh, I’ll take one.”

While receiving a serious lecture from Mitotsudaira, Kimi turned toward Asama with a smile. Past her, Mitotsudaira clenched her fists and protested.

“A-are you trying to escape!? …Oh, and yes! I’ll take one, too!”

“Yes, yes. And, Mito, you should probably put your tights on soon.”

Mitotsudaira quickly continued changing while Asama opened a sign frame and checked a distribution list for purification divine protections. As Technohexen, Naito and Naruze were contracted with Musashi rather than the Asama Shrine. Heidi’s main shrine was the Inari Shrine, so she was not on the list. They all had their own methods.

Masazumi’s name on the list was a recent development.

Asama checked the list for everyone who raised their hand, including Masazumi, and sent out the appropriate divine protection version for each one.

“Okay, you can use it by setting it up from your hard point parts.”

There was no physical charm and the effects would end if the clothing was moved, but they all placed the same divine protection as Asama on their removed clothing.

While they began setting things up, Asama put on her track suit top. It used a Western collar and thus did not require the neck hard points, but she did not really like that type. However…

…A stage costume might include a Western suit or dress.

It was important not to throw out any interest she had. And with that in mind…

“Hee hee.”

She found it wonderful how her thoughts just assumed she would be performing on stage with a band. Just how much was she looking forward to that future?

“…Heidi-san, Asama-san just started laughing.”

“…I’ve heard any memories that make you laugh like that are usually sexual in nature! C’mon, Adele, could you go ask her what this is about? I’ll give you a cut of the profits!”

The frightening part about Adele and Heidi’s conversation was that they did not have a problem with speaking loud enough for her to hear. But she smiled bitterly when she realized she was excited enough for other people to tell.

I need to pull it together.

Right, right, she told herself before suppressing the smile and attaching a chest cloth to the inside of her side hard points so it would hold her chest in place from above in place of the uniform’s chest band.

The bottom was cut just below the chest and it tickled her breasts, but there was no avoiding that.

The physical examination here also included some strength testing, so it was important to be able to easily remove the clothing while also being able to move around a bit in it.

…Well, I won’t have to use my body too much today.

They would probably only do grip strength, back muscles, and flexibility today.

I wonder how I’ll do compared to last year, she thought, while…

“Kimi, Mito, are you done changing?”

“I will be soon.”

“Me too.”

Mitotsudaira was wearing a track suit colored the Hexagone Blue seen in Hexagone Fran?aise’s uniforms. Kimi wore a white track suit with a bit of yellow in it.

A lot of students wore track suits in colors other than the official Musashi Blue, but these two stood out due to their hair color or behavior. However, in their class…

“Heidi…what is that?”

Heidi wore a gold track suit that matched Shirojiro’s and, rather than “stand out”, it was completely insane. Last year, they had worn silver lamé made from silver coins, but that had been dangerous when they were hit during an event, so they were simply made to look gold this year.

Naruze’s was white with green lines and Naito’s was black with orange lines.

But everyone was focused on one thing in particular.

“Suzu-san…”

Suzu’s track suit.

“Yes.”

Kimi looked away from Asama and toward Suzu.

Suzu had finished changing at her seat by the hallway. She had just reached for her desk to grab the paperwork carried to her.

But she looked over in confusion when she heard Asama’s voice.

“You’ve retailored that, haven’t you?” asked Kimi. “Could you let us see?”

“Eh?”

Suzu turned toward them and lightly raised her hands.

She was blushing, but from more than just the attention.

“You retailored it because your new one, which you had just made for the second year, was tight in the shoulders last week, right? Twist your body and let me see.”

“L-like this?”

Suzu looked their way and twisted around to show herself off.

It looked like she was wearing a standard track suit, but it was not.

“I can’t believe you tailored that yourself,” said Adele. “That’s kind of amazing.”

“Not just that,” said Naomasa who chose not to wear the coat. The corners of her mouth rose a little. “My team has some people into the latest fashions, and having the sleeves a little puffy is fashionable now due to influence from Europe. Suzu, you did that too, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I-I did it while…I was fixing the…shoulders.”

“Oh?” said Asama while glancing over toward Kimi. Most likely, Suzu had not measured her size wrong.

“Suzu-san must be growing taller,” silently said Asama via eye contact.

“I think some other parts are gradually changing too,” replied Kimi in the same way.

Suzu was slowly growing into an adult. We all are, thought Kimi. Although…

“K-Kimi-san!” protested Adele. “Why did you just give me a look of pity!?”

There were some exceptions.

Regardless, Suzu smiled a little, turned back around, and raised her altered sleeves.

“Nn. D-does it look…weird?”

“No, no!”

They all shook their heads.

Everyone knew how skilled Suzu was. Part of that was because her mother had taught her, but her patient and thorough personality allowed her to properly make each of the many parts for their uniforms. Ever since she started working at her family’s bathhouse, she had started hearing the female customers talking about the latest trends, so she was the best of any of them at showing off those trends with her uniform and such.

They had all asked her to tailor something for them at some point.

Even now, Heidi gave nod.

“Could I get you to do that for mine?”

“Nn. Y-yes. It will take…some time, though.”

“Judge. I’ll make sure to pay you.”

“Right.”

Suzu nodded and Heidi nodded back with a smile.

…They understand each other.

Masazumi, however, did not understand them, so she looked over at Asama and asked a question, presumably about the divine protection.

“Asama, should I have paid for that?”

“Oh, no, no. Heidi’s a merchant, you see.”

“Right.”

Suzu nodded and turned toward Heidi, so the merchant girl shrugged.

“A merchant will make sure to pay even between friends. After all, Shiro-kun and I are gathering a lot of attention for how young we are. It’s getting to the point that Musashi’s Commerce and Industry Guild is starting to deter us.”

“Deter you?”

“That means they find us to be a nuisance. When the Hidden Dragon appeared yesterday, we took on the cargo waiting to be shipped out. Konishi-sama and the others were hoping to use the commotion to make some money, but Shiro-kun used the harbor laws to prevent any of the cargo from being moved around.”

“So they’re keeping their eye on you…?”

Masazumi looked skeptical, but Kimi smiled a little.

“If they aren’t, it means they think you’re a ‘convenient small-timer’. Right, Heidi?”

Kimi could more or less imagine what the two merchants had done.

That was why she turned her smile toward Heidi and asked for confirmation.

“Since we were on the scene, you lied about us telling you it was dangerous and you used that to keep all the cargo in place, right? You are young merchants starting to make a name for yourselves, so Koni-tan and the others left you with the standby cargo so you couldn’t directly trade with Aki. That way they could show you they are on a higher level than you. But…”

“Judge. Konishi-sama and the others were trying to immediately ship their cargo to Aki to inflate its value, so stopping them was the only option for us. And if it stayed stopped, their deliveries would be delayed and they would completely lose face. Only a really lame merchant would use ‘I had to obey the harbor laws’ as an excuse.”

“So how much did you make them pay?”

“Judge.” Heidi smiled bitterly. “The cost of the loaded cargo…plus the inflated value…doubled.”

“You mean…?” Mitotsudaira put on a bitter smile just like Heidi. “So you demonstrated that that money was only pocket change for Konishi-sama and the others, right? You managed to warn them not to take you lightly while simultaneously allowing them to show off to Aki how successful a merchant they are.”

“Exactly. And thanks to that, we’re seen as small-timers who defy our superiors.”

Heidi’s expression showed she was not sure what to do about that, but she was also smiling.

She was enjoying this. So…

“Yes, a merchant who’s viewed as a small-timer can’t exactly have Suzu doing her a ‘favor’.”

“Judge. To be blunt, I’d really like to pay a whole bunch of money to show I’m a merchant who will spare no expense for something truly incredible, but I know Suzu would just reject all that money.”

“Yes. I-I couldn’t possibly accept it.”

“Hmm, but I wonder.” Undeterred, Heidi smiled at Suzu and crouched down. She looked like she was about to scoot forward on her knees. “Given your character, Suzu, no one would complain if you did that. In fact, I think they would support you. How about it? Will you do it next time?”

“If I did…I would have to make…enough clothes to be…worth it.”

But…

“I would like to…make enough for…everyone.”

That was it.

Kimi was aware a breath of amusement escaped her mouth.

“It looks like it couldn’t be exclusive for you, Heidi.”

“I had a feeling,” said the carefree merchant girl.

This is a nice atmosphere, thought Kimi as Masazumi looked at her and Heidi before sighing. She wondered what Masazumi was going to say.

“You all are incredible…”

“If you work at becoming a politician, you’ll pull it off eventually.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. If you had said ‘Are you sure?’, I would have had to change my assessment of you.”

Saying “I hope you’re right” implied that she had a clear picture of that situation in her head.

But if she implied the opposite with “Are you sure?”, there was no hope. It would mean she did not have a clear picture of her dream. In that case…

“You will become one of us eventually.”

Did her foolish brother understand that?

He wanted to be a king, so did he understand that a future politician was so nearby?

…I’m not sure.

She had no intention of telling him. If he was going to be a king, he would have to notice it and make that politician an ally on his own. But if he needed some extra help at that point, she would give it to him.

Not lend it to him.

Give it to him.

After all, I am his big sister.

Just like Suzu and Heidi have their established relationship, I give him help.

I need no thanks. After all, a big sister is supposed to rejoice in her little brother’s happiness.

If he does thank me, I’ll probably laugh at how unnecessary it is. So…

“Don’t let a difficult future discourage you, future politician.”

“Judge.”

The reply was a little slow in coming, but it definitely came. And at that moment, Asama walked over from the right and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Come to think of it, Kimi, that reminds me of before.”

“Before? You mean this!?”

She pulled Asama’s track suit tights down to her knees and received a lecture much like before.