Miru: “I see. So that’s what happened while we were sleeping.”
Igni woke up President Miri who was unconscious from being suddenly exposed to a massive concentration of Magic Power, and Igni showed her Abyss as he explained the most recent events.
President Miru nodded several times as she listened, and Miss Miko, feeling some guilt, continued to rub and pat Sara’s head. Miss Valia wasn’t here because she headed to go look after the members of the [Fortune Telling Club].
Miru: “And Igni, you are of the opinion that we should hand Abyss over to the Kingdom.”
Igni: “Yes. And I needed your assistance in restraining him with your Spell.”
Miru: “Gotcha, gotcha. If that’s the case, you can leave it to me!”
Abyss remained silent as he sat there.
He is keeping his eyes downwards and looking ghostly pale, so he’s probably hasn’t been released yet from the [Magic Exhaustion] conditions.
In a normal place, if you suffer [Magic Exhaustion], you’ll be suffering dizzying fatigue. So Abyss should be feeling pretty terrible at this point.
Miru: “[The darkness has no bottom, and thus will swallows and traps all]”
With a deep <SPLASH>, President Miru’s shadow turns circular and widens.
Miru: “Okay, put him in here.”
Igni chunks Abyss into her shadow and with a quick <SPLASH>........Abyss’ body sunk and disappeared.
Igni: “Do you think he can break out from the inside?” Miru: “Hmmー I wonder. No one’s been able to break out until now, but if it’s an [Extreme], they might find a way. But, that’s also if they are in their normal condition too…...though.”
Igni: “What do you mean?” Miru: “Inside of here, there’s no Magic Power. It’s zero. And Abyss is suffering from [Magic Exhaustion], right? So he wouldn’t be able to gather Magic Power from anywhere, so it’ll be almost impossible for him to use any Spells.”
Igni: “Then we don’t have to be worried about him escaping!”
Miru: “Exactly.”
President Miru spoke proudly as she puffed her chests out.
So big…..!!
And in the presence of such majestic scenery, Igni almost fell down and bowed down on his knees with fearful admiration.
And right now, Sara has her original bracelet on. They switched to the spare bracelet because there seemed to be some sort of malfunction, so there’s a high likelihood that something could go wrong again. But Abyss completely obliterated the spare bracelet. So they honestly had no other options left.
Yoori: “That’s amazing, Igni! You defeated an [Extreme]!”
Igni: “Right? I told you that I’m [The Strongest].”
Igni returns Yoori’s compliment with a huge smile.
Although he used his <Magic> twice, he hasn’t experienced any [Magic Exhaustion] because he has been receiving Magic Power from Sara, but he himself did not realize this fact.
Igni: (I’m on a roll today.)
ーーwas pretty much the idiotic thought he started and ended with.
Right then, from across the ocean, the sun began to rise. The night was over as the dawn began.
Miru: “It’s already morning. This trip was a lot of fun.”
Igni: “Yes it was.”
President Miru spoke reflectively, and Igni nodded to her words. The Student Council Trip was 3 days, 2 nights.
Today is the day they go back.
Igni: “Then let’s go home!”
Miru: “Yeah, once we eat breakfast, let’s get our luggage packed.”
And with that, the President stood up.
Lilly: “Igni, you haven’t slept, so will you be okay?”
Igni: “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you for being worried for me.”
Lilly looks at Igni’s face with concern, but Igni is fine even if he doesn’t sleep for a night!
And so Igni and his group headed to make breakfast.
Igni: (........hmmm, she seems to be avoiding me……..)
Igni stole a glance at Sara. Sara currently clung to Miss Miko and stared at Igni, but as soon as their eyes met, her face turned bright red and looked away.
Igni: (Hmmm…..did I do something to make her mad…….?)
Since he makes it a personal point to only do things that would make him Popular, he could not for the life of him understand why she would suddenly want to avoid him, so he thought carefully about this situation.
As he thought this and that, something brightly sparked in his sleep-deprived mind.
ThーThis is……!
<<<<>>>>
[Oye, Igni]
[What’s wrong, Grandpa?]
It happened on a night during the summer.
They were in the north, so in general, the [Demon King’s Realm] was pretty cool, but that day, it was exceptionally hot.
[What would you do when you begin to like a specific girl?]
[That’s a no-brainer. I’ll tell her that I like her!]
[Ha, so young. But for now, you are okay as you are.]
[What? IーI’m young?! But aren’t you supposed to confess to the girl if you like her?!?]
Igni was shocked as he got a peek into the world of adults.
[But look here, Igni. The people of this world cannot communicate their feelings that easily.]
[Okay……..?]
[What a lazy reply, but we’ll put that aside for now. But Igni, as you master the art of Popularity, there is a situation that you must absolutely know about. This is not an Ultimate Secret or an Etiquette. This is simply…….knowledge.]
[KnーKnowledge….?!]
[Yes. That is…...the like and avoid!”
[LーLike and avoid!]
[That’s right! That’s why you would do mean things to the person you like or find yourself avoiding them!!]
[What?! Why would anyone end up doing that?! That makes no sense!]
<SLAP!!>
[OWW!! IーI couldn’t see your hand…….! What was that super-sonic slap…….!!]
[YOU IDIOT!!]
Lucas’ angry yell echoed across the forest.
[ARE YOU EVEN A TRUE MAN?!?!]
[Whーwhat are you……?!]
[Even if she likes him, she still struggles to admit her feelings……! DON’T YOU THINK THAT’S CUTE AT ALL?!?!]
[...............!]
Inside of Igni’s head, his desires took priority over the unreasonable facts before him.
[IーI do…..!]
[Then you understand! What they are doing is close to a Tsundere! But there are some without the “Tsun” and just avoid the ones they like! They cannot look the person in the eyes being too embarrassed. They end up running away from them often. Do you get it, Igni?! Do you understand how good this timid personality can be?! IGNI?!?!]
[IーI get it……..! I GET IT, GRANDPA!!]
[YES! THAT’S HOW THINGS SHOULD BE!!]
[THAT’S HOW THEY SHOULD BE!!]
<<<<>>>>
I see. So this is “like and avoid!”
And with all his brain stats dumped into his optimism stats, Igni fully and without doubt, interpreted the situation positively.
The Ultimate Secret to Popularity No. 7 ーー “Women love forward thinking men”.
As Sara tried to steal glances towards Igni’s way, Igni met them with a smile, and the way Sara looked away with a red face and embarrassed was so endearing to Igni now……..and he continued to look at Sara.
And after they finished eating breakfast, Miss Valia came back.
Since there were still members of the [Fortune Telling Club] who were not doing well and were returning earlier, they wanted someone from the Student Council accompanying them.
Yoori and Miss Miko were selected for this task, and they both went with the [Fortune Telling Club] and went home ahead of Igni’s group.
Being left behind, Igni and the rest of the [Fortune Telling Club] members will all go home together.
Alicia: “So we’ll be together on the way back, Igni.” Igni: “So you were one of the remaining members, Alicia.” There may have been others, but Igni and his group was the very last carriage, and Alicia remained there too.
Lilly felt a little threatened by her presence.
The carriage was for 6 people, and Alicia and Lilly sandwiched him between each other.
In front of them were Miss Valia, President Miru, and lastly, Sara.
And as the carriage departed for the Rolmod Wizard Academy, Sara, who also stayed up all night just like Igni did, fell asleep. Miss Valia and Lilly also said that they weren’t feeling well and fell asleep as well.
With President Miru being the last one left, she began to doze off, and Igni spoke quietly to Alicia.
Igni: “Alicia.” Alicia: “.......hm?”
Alicia, who secretly wrapped her arms around Igni, whispered back.
Igni: “At the beach…”
Alicia: “Yeah” Igni: “You said three years but….”
Alicia did not say anything back.
That time limit will come much sooner than they both would like.
That’s why……
Igni: “If you don’t like that, you can rely on me. I’ll do something about it.” Alicia gently smiled at Igni’s words and….
Alicia: “.......thanks.”
And said the words with a smile.
