“However, it’s still unfair that only Saki-san gets to go out with you.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes, indeed. Therefore, I shall grant you the right to go out alone with me as well! Be grateful!”
What cheek. You forgot what you said yourself less than a minute ago, this Gold Drill.
“Okay. Let’s go have fun together next time.”
“Then let’s schedule it for this Saturday. I look forward to the date plan you come up with.”
“Huh? Date?”
“Ah! Ahem ahem! I mean, an outing plan! An outing plan, that is!”
“Haha, yeah, that’s right. For a second there, I thought you said date and got surprised.”
“Ohohoho! Unless you’re a person befitting the prestigious Gold Drill household, dating me would be a dream within a dream! ………………Though, in your case, there might be a possibility—or rather, how should I put it……”
“Huh? What was that? Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear the end there—”
“Never mind!”
When will these two just leave already.
After a bit longer, the conversation finally seemed to wrap up, and the two of them left the spot. Ah, finally freed. Just as I let my guard down—
“From where exactly were you listening?”
“Hyu……”
My spine went cold. Standing next to me was Gold Drill staring at me with a blank expression.
“It was only for a moment, but I thought I sensed a faint presence, so I came to check… and lo and behold, it’s Yukiharu san.”
So she left once but came back. Touji was nowhere to be seen—it seems she came back alone on purpose.
“I’ll ask once more. From where exactly were you listening?”
An atmosphere of pressure emanated from Gold Drill that made me feel like I’d be erased both physically and socially if I said the wrong thing. What happened? What did I do to upset her? The fact that I secretly listened to their conversation? The fact that I found out about their date plans?
“Ah, um, well… uh…”
Bad move. Actually, what was Gold Drill’s real name anyway? Since I’ve been calling her Gold Drill in my head the whole time, I forgot her actual name……
Gold Drill joined Touji’s harem relatively late, so by the time she did, I had already left the group, meaning we don’t know each other very well. Well, we’re in the same class, but her family name is so memorable that I can’t recall her given name. At this point, my only choice is to somehow push through this situation without using her name.
“Well, I knew you guys were talking about something, but the wind was so strong I couldn’t hear much of it.”
“You’re lying.”
Why don’t you believe me when it’s me, but you believed Touji so easily just now?
“Listen. Secretly eavesdropping on personal promises between individuals is absolutely unforgivable. You, as his friend, attempting such cowardly—”
(Shut up, you indecent Gold Drill. Weren’t you the ones who started talking in the first place right where I was standing?!) —such things I obviously couldn’t say, and all I could do was go “U-huh… uh-huh…” in response to Gold Drill’s high-handed lecture.
I don’t have the protagonist-attribute-overflowing friend’s ability to face Gold Drill’s high-handed attitude with a counterattack, win through a duel, offer consoling words, and follow up with a head-patting combo……
After that, as an apology for listening to their conversation, I told her about a restaurant that Touji frequents, which got her to back off peacefully. Of course, I added the incantation about extra garlic to boot.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
-Bank Robbery
“Everyone put your hands up! Anyone who resists will be shot!!”
Dear Mom and Dad, I hope you’re both doing well. As for me, since entering high school, I’ve been caught up in my tenth—bank robbery.
While I do feel excited about stepping into the extraordinary, this is when I really miss peaceful, normal living. Yours truly
What is the security situation in this city?! In just over a year since entering high school, I’ve gotten caught up in bank robberies ten times!! That’s the number of times I’ve been involved, not the number of robberies that actually happened! This is ridiculous!
I stopped by the bank to withdraw some money to buy a new game, and this happened. It was the new release in a series I’ve been buying since I was little, and with this being the first complete open world in the franchise, my excitement was through the roof just minutes ago. Now my enthusiasm won’t stop plummeting.
“Hand over the money fast! Or I’ll kill the hostages!”
From what I can see, there are five robbers total. They’re all armed with firearms. I think about it every time: in a city where unusual powers are completely normal, trying to pull off a bank robbery with just firearms is way too reckless.
In fact, two of the ten times I’ve been involved, an organization like an ability police force easily suppressed them and the robbery failed. The remaining seven times, someone protagonist-like suddenly showed up and performed a dramatic fight scene using their powers to suppress the robbery. At this point, the bank robbery has basically become a stage prop for protagonists.
By the way, I’ve never heard of a bank robbery actually succeeding, and I’ve never heard of anyone actually dying either. At most, there are minor injuries.
Once, there was even a bank robber who told a girl with heroine-like qualities, “If you don’t want me to kill the hostages, take your clothes off!” Don’t turn this into an 18+ situation. Just do a proper bank robbery.
Anyway, because of all this, including me, none of the hostages have expressions of anxiety on their faces. Of course, we’re not exactly looking cheerful either.
“How many times is this this month?”
“This is the eighth time. Looks like we might set a new record this month.”
The bank employees next to me had expressions like seasoned soldiers who’d seen countless battles. I don’t know how they haven’t quit yet. Without combat pay included, there’s no way they could keep doing this job unless the salary was pretty incredible.
“I will never forgive people like you who take innocent people as hostages!!”
Ah, it seems the protagonist boy who saves us this time has shown up while I was thinking about pointless stuff—or so I thought, but it was none other than Touji.
As you know, Touji possesses a very protagonist-like ability: nullifying the powers of any enemies within a certain range. Huh? So he’d be useless against firearms like in this case, right?
Well, this protagonist boy apparently had his grandfather as a master of an original martial art, and he was trained harshly since childhood, so he’s strong even in combat without powers. ……That’s not fair, is it? I’d really like some of either of those powers passed on to me.
While I was feeling envious, the protagonist boy’s suppression was complete, and the ability police rushed in. Either way, it’s all settled now. I can finally go buy that new game—or so I thought,
In a story, this is where the tale ends, or time jumps forward a bit and a flag is raised with the rescued heroine. But in reality, it doesn’t work like that.
In addition to questioning each person very carefully, there’s the mental care procedure. Furthermore, there are examinations to check for any effects of ability-induced brainwashing, and basically, you end up being detained for a full day.
In other words, regardless of how the bank robbery turned out, the moment I got caught up in it, my plan to buy the new game went down the drain.
I really wanted to buy it on release day—while pretending not to see my friend flirting with one of the girls who had been taken hostage in my peripheral vision, I decided to purchase it online instead.
-Team Formation
Standing on the platform, Tachibana-sensei says those words. For some people, ordinary words. For some people, words that fill their hearts with hope. For some people, words they’ve been waiting for.
For me, words that plunge me into despair.
“Alright, form groups of six and submit them to the academy.”
You’re saying something unreasonable. Just forming a pair of two is already a high hurdle for a loner like me, and six people is basically “Where’s the bar?” territory. I have enough Friends list space in my gacha games to fill it…!
“As I mentioned before, starting in your second year, you’ll begin training and missions as teams.”
I’ve been feeling quite gloomy these past few days, and this is the reason why. During first year, lessons and ability training were basically graded on individual performance alone. But as sensei said, starting in second year, in addition to regular classes, you get credits for missions completed as a team. Your grades are determined by the number and quality of missions you complete, and there’s a minimum quota, so if you slack off, you don’t get credit.
If this were me from a year ago, my heart would leap at the word “missions,” but for me now, it’s a spirit-crushing word straight down the line.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
