“Now relax. You just need to hold on to my hands. Like you’re giving me your weight.”
“O-Okay!”
For some reason, Rain blushed as she squeezed my hands tighter. For now, it seemed she’d gotten the hang of floating, so the next step was kicking.
Splish, splash, splish...
“Good, good. Well done.”
I matched Rain’s speed as I walked backwards with her in the water, still holding her hands and encouraging her at the same time. And just like that, we completed one lap of the pool, then two... By the time we got to five laps, she could keep an even keel and her form was looking good. She was a natural, but of course she was. She was a mermaid, after all. She was used to the water and swimming, so once she had her... sea legs... she’d have no trouble mastering freestyle and the other strokes. Though I bet she’d have the easiest time with the butterfly stroke. She certainly wouldn’t need my help with it...
Roughly half an hour had passed since we started practicing. Rain seemed to be getting the hang of it, so we decided to take a break. She stood up in the pool and took a deep breath.
“Well? Have you gotten used to your legs yet?”
“Yes... is what I want to say, but I’m still a little scared,” she said with a shy smile.
“You’ll be just fine with a little more practice.”
“...I wouldn’t mind practicing forever.”
“?”
“U-Um, Rekka...”
Rain balled her hands into fists and started to say something, when...
“Reeeeekkaaaaa!”
Wham!
A pillar of water rose into the air with a grand splashing sound, sending a powerful wave out from around it. I caught part of it directly to the face.
“Wuhbuh!”
I wiped my face off with one hand and tried to make sense of the situation in a panic. The spray of water droplets still hanging in the air reflected the sunlight like a shining fog. Rain was standing safely behind me, while the old man in the far lane had been washed up onto the poolside by the wave. As for the perpetrator behind the commotion...
“Rekka!”
Iris burst out of the water where the pillar had been and waded towards me at a ridiculous speed.
“Wh-What?”
“Why are you flirting with Rain?! That’s unfair!”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I informed Iris that I was helping Rain learn to swim.
“Then teach me how to swim, too!”
“You’re perfectly capable of swimming already.”
And much faster than me, for that matter.
“Ugh! That’s not the point!”
For some reason, Iris got mad at that. She slapped the water angrily. Lured in by that sound—or perhaps by the sight of the water pillar earlier—everyone from our group started to gather at the swimming pool.
“What are you doing, Rekka?” asked Satsuki.
“What was that water pillar just now?” asked President Momone.
More and more of the girls showed up until everyone was present.
“There you are, Rain...”
Of course, that included Shirley. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally saw Rain.
“I told you to tell me when you found her, Rekka.”
“Oh, sorry. I kinda forgot.”
“Jeez... So what were you two up to?”
“Um...”
I told Shirley what I’d just told Iris.
“Huh... So can you swim now, Rain?”
“No, not yet...” she said, shaking her head.
“I see. It might not be possible to master in a day, but like Rekka said, if you practice, you’ll get the hang of it in no time at all. If you’d like, I could help you out tomorrow...”
“U-Um...!” Rain shouted, cutting her off abruptly. “No! I-I want Rekka to be the one to teach me!”
Then she entwined her fingers with mine as though to make sure I couldn’t get away, and moved closer to me. Shirley looked shocked for a moment, but relaxed her shoulders soon after.
“And you’re all right with that, Rekka?”
“Huh? Well, yeah.”
Even though Shirley would probably make a better teacher. She probably knew some super scientific training method...
“Teehee...”
But Rain seemed rather pleased, so I decided against saying that out loud. If she was that happy to have me as her teacher, then I was happy to help.
“Jeez! I told you to teach me how to swim, too!”
“But you can already swim, Iris...”
“Sir Rekka! A-Actually, I’m not good at swimming, either...”
“You too, Harissa?”
Sploosh!
After that, it seemed that everyone had gotten their fill of the other attractions, so we all played in the swimming pool together. The old man from before had left, and the lap pool wasn’t popular to begin with, so we stayed there until it was time to leave. The wave pool and water slide were fun, but in the end, we had the most fun being together with each other. The more the merrier, after all.
Ah, this was the life...
That’s how I spent one day of my first summer vacation as a high schooler. No drama, no nothing. Just enjoying the sun and some good company.
—Fin—
R’s Special Mission 2
Once I snuck out from under Rekka’s nose and out of the house again, it was time to continue working on my mission. I hadn’t decided on anyone in particular to visit, but... Let’s see, maybe I’ll drop by the heroines Rekka met more recently. Corona’s investigation was already done, which left five people: Midori, Momone, Mio, Ellicia, and Lyun.
“Hmm...”
The five girls in question were all in different locations. One was even in a different world. But there was no helping that considering Rekka’s adventures... Might as well get down to it.
▽
And so I made my way to the spirit world. How I got there is confidential. A trade secret, if you will. Merely one of the many functions this unit comes equipped with. But setting aside how useful I am... My target, Lyun, was sitting on a soft-looking grass-green rug with her sister, Sophie.
“Go on, Sophie. Give it a go.”
“Hrrrngh...”
Spurred on by Lyun’s encouragement, Sophie was turning bright red as she squeezed a pendant in her hand. It was an adorable sight to behold, trying her best like that... Though I had no idea what they were doing.
“...Pwah! W-Well, Sis?”
“Let’s see... Hmm... Yeah, there’s a little more magic in it than before!”
“Just a little, huh?”
Sophie threw out her limbs and fell over backwards, sprawled out on the rug. Spirits usually wore light skirts, so it was a rather nail-biting scene to witness. It was a shame Rekka wasn’t here. I would’ve liked to have seen his reaction.
At any rate, I deduced what the pendant was from their conversation. It was most likely one of the mana storage units that had been created from Aburaamian technology. The spirit world had suffered quite a bit in the previous story, and it seemed they’d learned something from it. They’d decided to stock up on mana to be prepared for future emergencies. This mana storage unit was probably one of the results of that.
“How much have you been able to store, Sis?”
“Hm? Well, watch this—hnnngh!”
At Sophie’s inquiry, Lyun mustered all her strength. She probably wanted to show off a little as an older sister. Mana flowed into the pendant several times faster than before... Wait, were mana storage and grip strength meant to be proportionate to each other? Eventually, Lyun gasped for air and gave up.
“How’d you do?” asked Sophie.
“Let’s see... Look! This is how much I stored up!” Lyun said, proudly sticking out her chest.
“Wow!”
Sophie clapped her hands, delighted as though she’d done it herself. These sisters sure were close.
&nbs
p; Lyun clipped the pendant around Sophie’s neck.
“If you wear the pendant around and charge it with mana regularly, you’ll be fine in case anything ever happens.”
“Right! Those human sorcerers sure can make some amazing stuff.” Suddenly, Sophie gazed up at the sky. “I wonder if Nammy and Rissy are doing okay...”
I didn’t recognize her nicknames for Rekka and Harissa there for a second. Apparently, it wasn’t customary for spirit names to be longer than two syllables.
“Nammy, huh...?”
Lyun mumbled Rekka’s nickname as she looked up at the sky too. Perfect timing. For me to use the Mind-Melding Device, that is. Gotcha!
I didn’t get the chance to see Nammy again in Aburaamu...
Come to think of it, by the time they returned to the castle from Harissa’s village, Lyun had already gone back to the spirit world.
I miss him...
Lyun’s honest feelings bubbled up in her heart, manifesting as a sad sigh on her lips. Ooh, and what a rare sight it was. The side of a heroine that Rekka usually didn’t get to see... Absence must really make the heart grow fonder.
I really want to see him, just to talk about anything... No, really just seeing him would be enough. I want to see Nammy’s face again...
Lyun’s feelings grew stronger as I continued to read her thoughts while the Mind-Melding Device was active, and then...
“Okay, Sophie! We’re going out!”
“Huh? Where to?”
“The Spirit King’s palace! We’re going to ask him to let us use that magic to cross into other worlds!”
This “magic to cross into other worlds” was presumably referring to Harissa’s connection magic. When Rekka and others visited Aburaamu and the spirit world last, she’d informed both worlds about her discovery with the catalyst from Red Thread. She accordingly had also prepared items with strong connections to three locations—that is, Earth (Rekka’s house), Aburaamu (the castle), and the spirit world (the palace). Of course, items connected to Aburaamu and the spirit world were also kept at Rekka’s house, along with one linked to the demon world for Corona’s sake. They also had a large stock of catalysts prepared.
They’d even developed a message spell to inform others of when they were crossing worlds. It was essentially a derivative of the connection magic, but it had an extremely short range.
Anyway, it seemed like Lyun and Sophie were heading to Earth to see Rekka. But there was quite some distance between Windsong Valley and the capital where the palace was, so they probably wouldn’t arrive until the end of summer vacation.
▽
Next, I returned to Earth and headed towards Ellicia’s location. She appeared to be in the organization’s headquarters. There were several psychic barriers surrounding the place, but I slipped right through them. Don’t mind me; I’m just letting myself in!
Wow, this place was unexpectedly nice. The furniture all looked good and sturdy, reflective of their leader, Yang’s, personality. I floated down the hallway towards Ellicia’s room. Ah, yes, here we are. It seemed not only Ellicia, but Yang and Lucy the teleporter were inside her room.
“So the negotiations with the Margaret clan are over?” Ellicia was asking Yang.
“Yes, we’ve finished discussing most of the aftermath countermeasures regarding this case,” Yang answered with a small sigh.
That discussion must have been tiring.
“We were the ones who stole the Margaret clan’s treasure. I feared we’d suffer greater consequences for it, but the head of the family, Nartessia, was surprisingly cooperative... No, if anything, it was like she was no longer interested in us.”
“Thanks to the other-world information that Rekka brought her, perhaps?”
“Probably.” Yang nodded grimly. “We owe him one for that. We’ll have to pay him back someday.”
Ellicia smiled at that.
“To think our Yang would say that about an ordinary human...”
“I don’t think it’s right to call that boy with that kind of destiny ordinary... But I get what you’re trying to say.”
“Your brow isn’t quite as wrinkled as it used to be, either,” Lucy added from the side.
The air in the room relaxed a little.
“Well, I just hope all of us are as grateful to Rekka as I am. Who knows where we would be without him...” sighed Ellicia.
“Of course,” replied Yang. “There’s that debt I mentioned before... but he also has valuable connections. Especially that space scientist who’s knowledgeable about psychic powers. If the organization continues to rescue and host psychics, we’ll need their help.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds like you’re using Rekka.”
“That’s because we’re the ones relying on him one-sidedly right now. But we’ll have to bear that shame. It would be foolish not to borrow his help... though it pains me to admit it.” Yang closed his eyes and chewed at his lip. “His destiny will cause him to be constantly involved in some kind of commotion or another. As long as we keep up our relationship, we’ll be able to repay our debt to him one day.”
“And that’s what the Japanese division is for.”
Oh? Japanese division? I leaned my ear towards their conversation.
As a result, I discovered that the organization was opening several branches within Japan. The organization was going to proceed forward in their mission to help psychics all over the world, so they had to branch out in order to be able to find and help as many newly-born psychics as possible.
“I’m leaving the management of the Japanese division to you, Ellicia. Are you prepared?”
“I still have lots left to do. I’ll be traveling back and forth from Japan for a while. Next time I go, I’ll be doing some preliminary inspections.”
“Oh? But that isn’t your real goal, is it?” Lucy gave her a knowing smile. “It’s been quite a while now... Aren’t you going to Japan to see Rekka?”
“Wha...?!”
Caught off guard, Ellicia blushed. And it was there that I turned on my Mind-Melding Device.
“What are you saying, Lucy?!”
It’s true that I was going to see him, but...
“Who’d have thought Ellicia liked younger guys...”
“That’s not true!”
It isn’t because he’s younger...
“But he’s on your mind, isn’t he?”
“That’s...”
That doesn’t mean you have to bring it up here and now!
Even as she argued against everything Lucy pointed out, she agreed to it in her heart. It was surprisingly cute.
“Yang! Stop Lucy!”
Ellicia then turned to Yang for help, who had been silently observing all this.
“Hmm... He was 16 years old, right?”
“Huh? What about it?” a puzzled Ellicia asked.
“I hear the marriageable age in Japan is 16.”
“Not you too!”
Ellicia’s wails echoed throughout the room. I was hoping for more drama than that, but that was enough fun... Ahem, I mean, that was enough investigating for me. Time to move on.
▽
After visiting other worlds and foreign countries today, I was finally back in Japan. But not the town where Rekka lived. I was in a large room at a luxury apartment in Tokyo.
“...”
The owner of the room, Mio, was hugging a teddy bear as she vacantly stared into space. There was no telling when she would do something, so I used the Mind-Melding Device on her.
Click.
Today’s dance lesson was awful...
Hmm... Her worries were fitting for an idol, it seemed.
“...Oops.”
I need to drink some water.
Mio put the stuffed bear down on the floor and got up to go to the kitchen. She took out a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and poured some into a small cup. I guess she wasn’t the type to drink tap water. But still, water was water. And Mio didn’t look too satisf
ied.
I want to have juice... but my next outfit shows my tummy. If I eat like I did at the pool, I’ll...
Mio placed a hand over her stomach, but from what I could see, she had nothing to worry about. My sensors were capable of scanning down to the milliunit, so there was no mistaking it.
But I had so much fun at the pool... It’s been so long since I played with others like that.
She didn’t get to do that often, huh? She must really be busy with her idol work. It seemed like she lived alone in this apartment, too. She must have moved away from her parents to pursue her career.
But the water slide I went down with Rekka... made my heart race a little.
Oh? Rekka’s name finally came up.
I’ve never been so close to a boy like that...
Idols sure had it tough in that regard. They showed it in those Monday night dramas.
Was my swimsuit weird? Rekka said it was nice, though. But I look so childish...
Mio looked down at her body. At her chest, to be precise.
...There are so many girls with big boobs around Rekka.
Mio sadly groped at her own flat bust.
Hmm, I still hadn’t identified whether Rekka leaned towards the flat or the busty types. Every time I asked, he’d stubbornly declare, “Neither!” I wondered which it really was... The most well-endowed heroine for her height was Lyun. But even then, hers weren’t particularly big. They were just a little smaller than Shirley’s. And it wasn’t like Rekka’s reaction to her had been any different than the other heroines, so I honestly didn’t know what to make of his preferences. Perhaps this was the real cause of the War of All.
Maybe I’ll get someone from my company to teach me chest exercises...
With that tearful conclusion, Mio returned the mineral water to the fridge and went back to her stuffed bear. I wasn’t meant to show any favoritism in regards to the heroines, but I hoped her efforts would bear fruit.
When will I see Rekka again...?
Mio was busy being an idol, so it wasn’t easy for her to find time to see him.
“...That’s right!”
Mio suddenly brightened up like she’d had some kind of epiphany.
I’ll send a ticket to my next concert.
Ah, so that was her plan. Rekka had gone with Tsumiki to see her in concert last time, and he was pretty dependable about things like that. So if she sent him a ticket, he’d definitely come. It was a good idea.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Page 5