“We’re finally going back today, right? No more surprises, got it, Iroha?” The three of us finally got up from bed after messing around for way too long. I was so happy with how things had been going that I was in a bit of a daze. Ririna wasn’t doing much better, and Carol seemed like the only one who was functioning properly. We were standing around in the room when she immediately got the ball rolling.

  “*Nod.* It’s about time, isn’t it?” I answered while stretching.

  “Ehh? You’re actually leaving?” Ririna was surprised even though she should have known already.

  “Sorry, Ririna. I told you before we had to go back home. I’ll come back soon, okay?”

  “You did say it, but we weren’t lovers back then. Married couples are supposed to stick together. I thought you’d change your mind…” Ririna went straight to the point while blushing lightly. She looked up at me optimistically while shuffling in place. Absolute cutie!

  “Hehehe~ I want to stick with you all the time too, but that’s impossible… Besides, we aren’t exactly married.”

  “Not yet…” So bold, so honest, so lovely! We’re getting married for sure!

  “Right? I can’t wait!” She made me so happy that I started getting carried away. “Can we even get married?” Is that allowed in this world? “Either way, I’m not going away for long. We have people back at home waiting for us, and we’ve been unreachable for a while. We just need to tell them that everything’s fine, then I’ll come right back.”

  “I’ll be waiting.” When she got kidnapped, Ririna was the one who left Iroha hanging. She wanted to stay together, but it was only fair for her to be the one to wait this time. “While you’re away, is it fine for me to go outside? Is it safe, or is there still anyone after me?”

  “Can’t say for sure… I think Carol and I defeated all the demons in the capital. If there are any survivors, it will take them time to regroup. They shouldn’t have the manpower to go after you… Right?” I turned to Carol for a second opinion. She looked a bit annoyed with how we’d been talking leisurely.

  “If there were any demons left, they would have launched their counterattack when the mansion was invaded. We took out all their forces, so you should be fine. You probably wanna try to be careful or whatever regardless.”

  “That’s good to know. I’ll be careful then.”

  “Were you planning on doing something?”

  “Well… I think I should return to the Alchemists’ Guild.” Huh?! She’s going back there? That’s not good! “They claimed I died, right? I gotta clear up the misunderstanding before they revoke my membership. It will get harder to continue practicing otherwise.”

  “You can’t go! Not after what they did to you!” What’s the right choice here? I can’t let the same thing happen to her again. “At least wait until I come back. I’ll go with you.”

  “Isn’t the Alchemists’ Guild under investigation right now? They can’t do anything. You’re making too much of a fuss, Iroha.” Ririna smiled reassuringly. “Besides, I’m taking smoke bombs and other things with me this time! I’m an alchemist who can gather materials on my own. I can handle myself!”

  She’s not wrong… Whenever she supported us during battle, she never really got herself in trouble. Without the demons there, perhaps she’ll actually be fine, but… “You’re my girlfriend, Ririna. I don’t want anything to happen to you again…” Though I’m going to cause trouble for her if I start telling her how to live her life… What exactly should I do?

  “Girlfriend…” Ririna blushed. “How about this then? I’ll try to contact Sarasa or Flanne before going. Nothing’s gonna happen if I’m with one of them, right?”

  “…” They’re both good people… If she’s with them, she’ll certainly be safe… “Fine, I guess… I’ll try to come back as soon as possible to accompany you if they’re not available. If the guild does anything to you, I’ll slaughter them all! You can count of that!” I said that last part with a silly tone, and Ririna laughed.

  “Ahahahaha! Okay, let’s do that!”

  …

  “Ughh… I’m so nervous… And worried! Is this what it feels like when you’re losing a war? Surrounded on both sides with no way of escape?” Carol and I crossed the portal back to our world and walked in the direction of the dorm. I can already picture it. Hecate’s gonna be so mad! And Ririna! Will she be alright? I’m surrounded on both worlds.

  “If you were going to worry this much, you should have just stayed with her. That’s what you wanted anyway.” Carol was walking in front, pouting.

  “No… I’d be causing problems for you then…”

  “Hmph! Now you care about causing problems for others? After forcing me into this weird arrangement?” She’s jealous, isn’t she? What do I do now?

  “Ahahahahaha… Sorry… Uhhmm…” How can I cheer her up? “Our journey took longer than expected, huh? I’m really glad you came with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Carol twitched, but she didn’t respond. I think she liked it… “I still can’t get over the fact that you took down both of the demons’ hideouts on your own. That was really impressive!”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “…” Carol suddenly stopped. Did I say something wrong? “I’ve got something to show you.” She turned around and threw something my way. “Catch.” Wha? A water bottle? I panicked and reached forward, only for the bottle to dissolve into mist when it touched my hands. “Huh?!” How? What? My hands are empty. Carol’s laughing. What happened to the bottle?

  “I figured it out, Iroha. I learned how to use magic. Pretty cool, huh?” Carol asked with a smug smile.

  “You mean the bottle? It was made out of magic?”

  “It was an illusion. Somehow, that’s the type of magic I ended up learning.” I can’t believe it… She really did end up learning magic. We weren’t even sure if that was possible or not, and she managed it so quickly! And without help from the VISS Driver!

  “Wow… Congratulations!” Her proud face was so cute I lunged forward into a hug. “This changes everything, doesn’t it? Who knew people from our world could use magic without the VISS Driver? Although…” I let go of her as a new thought popped into my head. “It’s a shame it wasn’t something more practical. Like tossing fireballs and stuff.”

  The sudden hug startled her. Carol tried to act composed, but her face was red. “Heh… What’s wrong with illusions? They can be amazing if used right…” Carol grinned. “Hands up or I’ll shoot!” WHAT?! All of a sudden, Carol was pointing a gun at me with a perfect poker face! My gun, to be precise! When the hell did she take it? I tapped the holster in a panic, but my gun was still there. What? “See?” She lowered her arms. “Even if it’s just an illusion, normal people can’t tell the difference.” The gun was a lie?

  “Damn… You got me. I guess I shouldn’t underestimate illusions.”

  “Yeah… You shouldn’t… Fufufufu…” She responded with a creepy voice. She hung her head, causing her hair to fall over her face, and stepped forward. What’s she planning? Then, the fake gun turned into a knife, and she lunged at me. “How dare you cheat on me?! You’re mine! Mine mine mine mine!” Ya- yandere?! Great! She was going for a scary expression while speaking with an unhinged, raspy voice.

  “This is the part where you were supposed to be scared. Why the hell are you smiling?” My reaction didn’t match her expectations, and she stopped.

  “Sorry… That was just… hot! And cute too!”

  “Hmph! Pervert.” The knife disappeared, and Carol crossed her arms.

  “What can I say…? I like what I like. Can’t really do anything about that…”

  “What you like…” Carol muttered to herself. “Wait wait wait! You told Ririna you liked other girls! Girls, plural. If it was just me and Ririna, you would have said another girl, not other girls! Meaning there’s more!?” She hadn’t noticed yet? I’m screwed, aren’t I? “You flinched! I’m right, aren’t I? Who else do you like? Is it someone I know…?” She thought about other girls we both knew, and her beautiful companions instantly popped to mind. “Katja!? Narumi? You wouldn’t go for Hecate, right? Though you did try hard to earn her trust… Knowing you… No… It couldn’t be… All of them?!” She grabbed me by the collar.

  “Uhhmmm… Ahahahaha…” There’s no way out of this, is there? I’ll just bite the bullet and try to make it up to her later. “You nailed it…”

  “No way… Why? I can understand accidentally falling in love with two people, but all three of them too?” Carol let go, feeling dejected.

  “Sorry… I never expected things would turn out like this. I’ll be honest with you. You four are actually the reason I started working hard to get stronger. When I first came to the house, you four immediately caught my eye. You were all very pretty, and your personalities were all uniquely charming. All I could think about was how to get you to like me more, so I trained hard just for that.”

  Carol listened closely, but so far, she was still looking down. “But at some point, the way I felt about you changed. You actually accepted me as part of the group, and you all became very important to me.”

  Carol closed her eyes and turned around before crossing her arms again. “You damn perv. I can’t believe you were that shallow all along.” After getting that out of the way, she relaxed and let her arms down. “But I guess I can forgive you since you’ve helped us out a ton…”

  “Really?” Our relationship is still something very provisional. It wouldn’t surprise me if Carol broke it off after she heard this. I’m glad she didn’t… Good thing I decided to be honest with her.

  “I forgive you for joining us with bad intentions. Don’t think I’m fine with you looking at other girls, though. I’ll make you drop that idea soon enough.” Carol pointed with renewed vigor.

  “Thanks, Carol…”

  “Don’t thank me. I’m out to ruin your silly fantasy, you know? Either way, if your real goal when joining us was just to get in our pants, did you say you wanted to solve the mystery of the portals just to please me?” That’s one way to put it! “Do you still care about that or what?”

  “Yeah, I still care, but… Can you not put it like that? You’re making me sound like I’m a completely obscene girl.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Is it obscene to wish for the people you care about to be happy? I’ll have you know at least 50% of my feelings are pure!”

  “Hmph… Could have fooled me…”

  “My focus right now is on you and Ririna. I can’t relax with a mysterious phenomenon looming over our lives. I actually have a lead on the portals I’ve been meaning to tell you. The source of the portals is apparently in the other world, somewhere in what they call demon territory. Don’t ask me how I know.”

  “You’re unbelievable… More secrets?” Carol shook her head in an exaggerated way.

  “Sorry… Just trust me on this one, okay?”

  “*Sigh…* Fine… So is our next goal to go to demon territory? Any ideas how we’re getting there?”

  “Actually… Nope, I have no idea. We’ll have to figure it out first.”

  “That’s just great. Wasn’t the other world from a game that you played? Is there anything about it that you do know?” Ouch! That one hurt.

  “Give me some time, okay? I’ll figure out something.”

  Carol shrugged her shoulder. “What else can I do? Take your time… We’re not in any rush. No supernatural event disrupting our normal lives or anything.”

  We’d been walking for a few minutes, and the dorm was finally in sight. We both stopped before continuing. “Looks like we’re back… Time to go get lectured, huh? Ready?” She shrugged while looking at me.

  “Let’s go.”

  …

  Then there we were. Sitting on the dorm’s table while hanging our heads apologetically. Katja sat in the middle on one side with Hecate standing behind her. Across from her were me, Carol, and Narumi. Which is strange if you think about it. Why are there three girls on this side when only the two of us disappeared? It’s the kind of thing that makes one think, isn’t it?

  “Uhhhhmm… Did Narumi do something bad too?” Her sitting here didn’t help the serious mood Katja and Hecate were trying to create.

  Katja blinked calmly and answered. “She said she missed the two of you and wanted to sit there. She’s distracted with her phone, so just ignore her.” Right… I can just laugh it off then… Hard to do with Hecate glaring.

  Somehow, Katja ended up as their spokesperson. Hecate was right behind her, looking like a small but ferocious puppy that spends the whole day growling at passersby behind a gate. It’s scary… I wish Katja would just say something already.

  “So- sorry… Sorry for disappearing all of a sudden. We didn’t mean to worry anyone.” Silence again… I can’t get a read on Katja. Is she staying quiet because she’s really mad?

  She looked at me for a while, then at Carol, then let out a sigh. “Was your training worthwhile?”

  “Eh?” Carol looked up in confusion. She was expecting something else. “Yeah… I think I improved a lot with Iroha.” Katja closed her eyes in response.

  “Good. That’s all I needed to know.”

  “Wait a moment. You can’t be that lenient with them.” I don’t really get it, but Katja was happy. It was the girl behind her who wasn’t. “Our group’s bonds are forged in blood. There can be no teamwork if our precious members disappear without notice.”

  “They’ve returned safely, and their training was a success. What else do we need?”

  Hecate didn’t like the method, but she couldn’t really complain. The safety of the people she cared about was the most important thing to her. They were safe, and they were stronger, meaning they’d be safer in the future. She just didn’t like being made to worry. “I suppose they can have an opportunity to redeem themselves.”

  “Right. Redemption is important. You worried us all by suddenly disappearing for a training trip. Your method was wrong, but the results might make up for it. Before we can settle this issue, we need to check if your training really paid off. Does that sound fair?” Katja asked me and Carol. Both of us nodded back.

  “It’s fair, but… How do we show that?” Katja continued to answer my question.

  “Very soon, we’re going to be receiving a new mission from the PSF. There’s a monster in a cruise ship docked here in Three Records City, and they’re gonna ask us to go and eliminate it. I want you to be ready for action so you can show off your training when the request arrives. Understood?”

  Isn’t that just a normal job? She’s being really lenient with us… How nice of her. “Understood!” Carol and I replied in sync. We really got off easy… I’m ready to go at any time, and I’m betting it won’t be that different for Carol.

  I wonder how much time we’ll have until then… Will I be able to go to class tomorrow? I should say something to Miyuki now that I’m back.