“—can beat ANYTHING except a Demon Lord!”
And I nodded back at him, proud as anything.
“I’ll follow you for LIFE, Senpai!”
Yes — our hero, the strongest delinquent alive… Nakajima… Atomu-senpai…!
And right then, we spotted a little girl walking through the forest.
“Well now, fox ears. Fancy meeting THEE out here.”
Appearance: eleven, maybe twelve.
The blond twin-tailed girl was addressing a gorgeous fox-eared lady with a slender figure.
”…The fact that YOU’RE strollin’ around out here with no escort whatsoever… honestly creeps me out, it does.”
Man, though — that blond kid is beautiful. Like a museum piece.
Actually, straight up: extremely cute.
I’m not wired for genuine loli, so she’s outside my strike zone — but for people with THAT particular affliction, one look would put a bullet straight through their heart.
Me, I’ll take the fox-eared lady, thanks.
How do I put it — slender, but everything that should project, projects; everything that should recede, recedes.
Yeah. A wholesome kind of erotic.
Plus — divisive feature, I know — the Kansai dialect scores surprisingly high with me.
And right then… I noticed Atomu-senpai had entered a fugue state.
”…Atomu-senpai?”
“Is something that adorable even ALLOWED to exist?”
“The fox ears, right? That slim-yet-stacked situation is truly—”
“NOT the old one, you idiot! The blond twin-tails!”
—A GENUINE CERTIFIED LOLICON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!
…Come to think of it, there WERE rumors about Senpai in that department…
“Well, either way — we’re deep in the forest, no witnesses. The Sword Saint crew all know we’re criminal-guild alumni; that’s priced into the contract. Nobody’s stopping us. Shall we just grab ‘em? I’ll take fox ears, you take twin-tails—”
Senpai shook his head slowly and sighed.
“THIS is why you’re garbage, Miyamoto.”
“Meaning what?”
”…’Yes lolita, no touch.’ A little girl is to be adored with the EYES ONLY, understand?”
“Then at least the fox—”
“THIS. IS WHY. You’re garbage, Miyamoto.”
“Meaning WHAT?”
”…The twin-tails and the fox clearly know each other. Assault the fox alone, and… the twin-tails would be FRIGHTENED, obviously? I am not so boorish as to stain that angelic smile with terror.”
This absolute… gentleman pervert.
Still — an angry Senpai is a terrifying Senpai.
“So, Miyamoto.”
“Yes?”
Atomu-senpai produced… a bag of sweets from his coat, and said:
“Go hit on the blond twin-tails for me.”
“Hit on her?”
“I want to admire her up close… with my eyes. I want to gaze upon that adorable form and be HEALED. Also — this is the Forest of No Return, and I’m legitimately worried for the twin-tails’ safety. A little girl like a walking work of art cannot be allowed to wander into danger.”
Yep. Certified, weapons-grade gentleman pervert.
But — an angry Senpai remains a terrifying Senpai.
So I walked over to the blond twin-tails and held out the sweets.
“Mm… a commendable attitude, I must say,” she said — not displeased at all, apparently — and just like that, she joined our column.
The arrangement: we guarantee the girls’ safety as far as their destination. Which, oddly, appeared to lie in exactly the direction we were marching.
—And so, one thing following another… we arrived at our target: the home base of the loathsome palm-top rabbits. The cabin.