Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 62

Chapter 62 – I Had to Play the Villain, Part 2

“Huh? A… date?”

I couldn’t help but blurt it out in confusion at Alicia’s sudden suggestion.
Why would that word come up now? Did she mean something else and misspoke? Or was it some kind of code?

While I was floundering, Alicia let out a soft chuckle.

“You have a Skill that lets you charm others or make yourself look like someone else, right?”

Without any preamble, she brought up my ability—Recognition Inhibition Magic.

“…Assuming I do, what does that have to do with going on a date?”

“I had my subordinates look into it. Apparently, those Heroes pick their targets just based on looks.”

Well, that made sense. After all, they chose that student just for dyeing his hair during summer break.
…Okay, I was starting to see where this was going.

“So basically, you want to use my ability to ‘make us look like ideal targets for the Hero Suits,’ right?”

“Bingo. Talking to someone who catches on quickly is always such a relief.”

“…And after that?”

“We’ll plant one of my subordinates as the victim—someone meant to be scouted. Then we’ll pretend to be hypnotized, lure the Hero in, and take them down. After that, we go straight to their so-called ‘Base’—that flying fortress—and make a scene while capturing Hero-sama himself.”

“Whoa, that’s… pretty reckless. More like a brute-force plan—and one that relies on me way too much.”

Hearing Alicia’s so-called “plan,” I slumped deeper into the couch and started thinking through the options.

It wasn’t totally unfeasible. But something more—some kind of trigger—was still needed.

Hero-sama and the others didn’t show up during that huge skirmish, and even now there was no sign of them making any kind of move.
Whether they had been caught off guard or deemed it too trivial to respond to was unclear, but if we were going to act, we needed to stir things up.

“Alright. The main outline of your plan works. But I want to change one thing.”

“…I’m listening.”

“First, we’ll—”

After listening to my idea, Alicia fell silent and started thinking deeply.

Maybe I went too far? I was starting to worry when she finally looked up at me.

“Yeah, that might get a bigger reaction from their side. The only problem is getting everything ready for it…”

“Don’t worry about that. Give me one night and I’ll prep something that’ll shake them good.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you. I’m sorry for always piling everything on you.”

“That’s nothing new, right? Let’s not worry about it.”

When I said that, Alicia gave me a small nod.

Just as I thought we’d covered everything, my wristwatch beeped with an alarm.

Outside the window, the sun was up, and the sky was a clear blue.

“I ended up keeping you up all night, huh.”

“It’s summer break—I’ll just sleep when I get home. Message me the exact time of the op later this evening.”

“Will do.”

With that, I activated Teleportation Magic to return straight home.

…But just before I did:

“Hey, why did you suddenly start taking this case seriously? Back when you first called me, you didn’t seem the least bit motivated.”

At that, Alicia’s face darkened for a brief moment before she forced a clearly fake smile and replied:

“I have some intel I really want to get my hands on… and this incident is the perfect chance to move up the ranks in the organization. That’s all there is to it.”

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And so, three days after our battle with the Hero Suit squad, I was out on a “date” with Alicia—er, Arisa—to draw attention to ourselves.

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“Ooh! Hey, hey! I want that plushie!”

After we finished lunch inside the amusement facility and wandered around a bit, Alicia clung to my arm and pointed at a crane game.

“A-Alright. I’ll get it for you.”

I gave a stiff reply and stood at the crane game console.

(…Hey Alicia, you know I really suck at these kinds of games, right?)

(This is standard for couples, okay? Stop overthinking it and just play. Besides, the costs will be covered as part of the op!)

Grumbling internally, I inserted a 100-yen coin and reached toward the button, aiming for the plushie she wanted.

Well, I did have over Level 100 stats now.
I used to suck at this, but surely I could pull it off now...

…Yeah, no. That was wishful thinking.

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“…Think you can get it?”

“Totally. Next one’ll move it to a better spot for sure.”

“You said that just a few seconds ago too…”

“No really, this time for sure!”

I put in another coin and pressed the button again.
The claw caught the handle of the box with the plushie and lifted it up—

“…Ahh.”

But it couldn’t bear the weight.
The box slipped from the claw and landed at the top of the mountain of plush toys.

Reflexively, I reached for my wallet to grab another 100 or 500 yen coin—but all I had were 5-yen and 10-yen coins.

“W-Well, this happens sometimes, right!? Next we can go wherever you want—”

“...No. I have to get that one.”

I knew I was being stubborn.
But after throwing away this much money, my pride wouldn’t let me walk away.

Besides, I knew I could get it with one more try.
…I mean, I had no evidence, but still.

“I’m going to exchange some bills.”

“Hah… Do whatever you want.”

Not wanting to see Alicia’s (probably very disappointed) expression, I walked to the change machine.

Luckily, I still had plenty of part-time wages from Kuon, and Alicia’s organization was footing the bill for everything today.

“…Alright.”

After swapping a 1000-yen bill for coins, I returned to the machine to try again.

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“Hey, girlie. Why not come play with us instead?”

“Sorry… I’m waiting for someone—”

“Just ignore your little friend. You’ll have more fun with us.”

“Um…”

When I got back to the crane machine, Alicia was surrounded by some punk-looking guys.

(Appraisal says they’re legit delinquents...)

She seemed unsure how to handle them, while they kept hitting on her relentlessly.

“Hey, sorry guys. She’s with me. Mind backing off?”

“Huh? The hell are you?”

One of them tried to grab Alicia’s shoulder, but I grabbed his wrist first.

“Move that filthy hand. Unless you want—”

“—Unless I want what, exactly?”

I relaxed the Recognition Inhibition Magic I normally kept active to suppress the pressure my high stats exuded.
Then, smiling coldly, I looked directly at them.

“H-HIII!?”

The punks paled with terror and bolted.

Skill acquisition conditions met. New Skill [Pressure] has been added to your Skill list.

That cold mechanical voice echoed in my mind for the first time in a while.
I’d figured it was possible after gaining the Extra Skill—but looks like new ones can still be unlocked.

…But now wasn’t the time to analyze.

Recasting Recognition Inhibition Magic, I turned to Alicia.

“Sorry about that. Did they bother you?”

“N-No, I’m fine.”

She replied, but her voice was a little shaky.

It probably wasn’t because of the punks—but because I had temporarily lifted part of the magic, even if just for a second.

“What now? It’s probably about time.”

“…Yeah. Let’s step outside and check.”

Checking the time on our watches, we exited the amusement facility.

The whole scene had ended on a bit of a sour note, but just as I was thinking that—

“Gah!?”
“What... is this!?”

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced our heads, accompanied by an unnatural flood of thoughts and commands.

A specific directive echoed in my mind:

“Threaten the middle school girl in the alley behind the third building ahead.”

And with it, a thought implanted as if it were natural:

“There’s nothing wrong with extorting money through threats.”

Looks like Phase One of the operation was a success.

Confirming that, I cast Dispel on both myself and Alicia, purging the implanted commands.

“Hah... Hah... Looks like the enemy took the bait.”

“Yeah. All that effort to make them keep their eyes on us all day paid off.”

Having shaken off the brainwashing, we began walking toward the designated alley.

Time for Phase Two of the plan to begin.

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