Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Invited to the Mansion – Part 3

“…Alright.”

After finishing lunch and returning to my room, I sent Rentarou the promised homework photos. Then I laid out two items on my bed—the slip of paper Ueshima-san had handed me, and the letter delivered by the Kuon family's shikigami.

I’d been debating which to read first, but now I’d made up my mind.

I gently picked up the note from Ueshima-san and unfolded it.

(…Is this an ID?)

Written on the slip was what looked like a chat app ID, along with a message: “If it’s okay with you, please contact me.”

I opened my chat app and typed in the ID. Sure enough, an account popped up that was clearly hers.

(Let’s do as the note said.)

Without naming names, I sent: “I saw what was in the note.”
Almost instantly, I got a reply: “Thanks for reaching out, Iori-kun.”

Yep. It’s definitely Ueshima-san.

I replied: “So, what did you want to talk about?”

A few seconds later, she sent a long message:
“It’s about Kuon-san. There’s something I thought you should know. Even over the phone, she sounded totally drained. Like, you could tell something was wrong. She also didn’t seem to be feeling well…”

She sounded that tired—even over the phone?

She mentioned during Obon she’d be too busy to answer calls, so this must’ve been before that.

“Did you tell her she sounded unwell?”

“I did. I said, ‘You don’t sound too good—are you okay?’ She told me it was just a little summer fatigue. But… Kuon-san has a habit of downplaying things when it comes to herself.”

I agreed with her assessment.

There’s no way someone like Kuon would easily admit weakness, and I doubted she’d be worn down that much just from summer heat—especially with her background.

Then a question popped into my mind.

“So… why did you decide to tell me about all this?”

When I sent the message, there was no reply for a long moment—almost like she’d gone silent.

Maybe something had come up and she had to step away. But just as I was starting to wonder—

“Um… It’s because you’re dating Kuon-san, right?”

I nearly choked when I read that.

Me? Dating Kuon?

“No no no! There’s no way someone like me could ever be dating that Kuon!”

Someone like me—who sticks his nose into anything out of curiosity—compared to someone like her, beautiful, brilliant, kind, admired by everyone, and responsible? We’re in totally different leagues.

I mean, how do you even come up with that idea?

While I was still flustered, another message popped up like a follow-up attack.

“Really? But you two were so close during the training camp. And whenever Kuon-san talks about you, she turns red and gets all secretive, so I thought maybe you were…”

She turns red when talking about me…?

Well, we did work together a lot at the training camp, but that was because of the cursed sword stuff.

And she was probably trying to hide things because Ueshima-san has nothing to do with that whole supernatural mess.

In any case, there’s definitely no romantic relationship between me and Kuon. That much is certain.

“It’s all just a misunderstanding. Kuon and I are just classmates—nothing more, nothing less. And if we were dating, I’d probably know more about why she’s absent today, right?”

A short pause, then:

“Yeah… You’re right.”

Followed by:

“Sorry! I totally misread things. Please don’t tell Kuon-san or anyone else what I said, okay?”

“Got it.”

“I’m really sorry!”

After that, we just chatted a bit more and the conversation naturally wrapped up.

…Still can’t believe someone actually thought Kuon and I were dating.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I turned my attention to the letter.

(This one’s probably even more of a headache…)

Still, I couldn’t exactly ignore it.

Just to be safe, I cast Magic Counter on myself before carefully breaking the seal.

Inside was a thick, folded letter straight out of a historical drama. The sender’s name, written in refined calligraphy, was none other than Kuon Sougen.

The letter started with a message of gratitude for helping Kuon.

Then came the real shock: as a token of appreciation, I was being formally invited to the Kuon family’s main estate, to be honored for my past assistance.

The invitation was set for the upcoming holiday weekend, two weeks from now.

Just like the shikigami had said, if I chose to accept, I had to drip a single drop of blood onto the letter before that day.

(…This totally feels like a trap.)

I didn’t have any solid evidence—just a gut feeling that something was off.

Sure, accepting the invitation might give me a better picture of what’s going on with Kuon.

But I had no way of knowing if the letter’s sender was genuinely grateful, or trying to lure me into a trap.

And they knew where I lived. Worst-case scenario—they could take Kana hostage if I wasn’t home.

That was the part that worried me most.

And yet…

(…I do want to know how Kuon’s doing.)

Her absence, Ueshima-san’s messages—after hearing all that, I couldn’t help but recall the look on Kuon’s face during the entrance ceremony… that cold, untouchable aura she had that drove everyone away.

(For now, I’ll just message her and try to get a better read.)

Opening the app again, I typed:
“You weren’t at school today—are you okay?”
And hit send.

Then I collapsed onto my bed.

I’d hold off on making a decision about the letter for now.

I also wanted to ask Alicia about it, but if I messaged her out of the blue, I doubted she’d answer anything serious.

If I really wanted answers, I’d probably have to show up in person with the letter in hand.

“…Tired.”

I was on household duty today, but I still had time before I needed to make dinner.

A short nap should be fine.

Setting an alarm on my phone and placing it beside my pillow, I closed my eyes.

And before long, the wave of exhaustion and sleep took me under.

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