Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: A Classmate Has Run Away

“Uh, could you wait just a moment? I need to sort things out in my head…”

“When someone tells you something so sudden, that’s a natural reaction. Take your time to think it over.”

Overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information, I asked for permission from Mr. Kosumi and stood there, lost in thought.

First, our homeroom teacher turned out to be an agent from Alicia’s organization. To add to that, it seemed the student Alicia was actually the teacher’s superior.

At that point, I was already completely confused, but the situation got even more complicated: Alicia had stolen classified data and escaped.

And now Mr. Kosumi was asking me to capture Alicia…

“I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

As I pondered, Kyori raised her hand and addressed Mr. Kosumi.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Teacher, how long have you been an agent of the organization Alicia belonged to?”

“I can’t disclose the exact timing, but I was already an agent by the time you two enrolled… with the mission to observe your activities.”

So that meant Mr. Kosumi had been watching us from the very beginning.

Though this stirred up all sorts of uneasy feelings, I decided to set that aside for now. I’d activate my Appraisal skill just in case.

“Then, since when has Alicia been an agent?”

“I’ve heard since she was six years old. Apparently, her younger brother’s awakening of his special abilities brought her into contact with our organization, and she became an agent thereafter.”

In other words, Alicia had been a battle-hardened agent in this dangerous line of work for nearly ten years.

That explained why she had treated some people clearly older than herself as subordinates before.

“Finally, what will happen to Alicia if you manage to capture her?”

Kyori asked next, and Mr. Kosumi’s expression briefly showed a flicker of anxiety before returning to his usual poker face.

“Alicia will be sent back to a training facility and serve in a rear support role. You won’t see her again.”

“I see… Shu-kun, what will you do?”

“Mr. Kosumi, I’m sorry, but could you give me some time to think? This is too sudden and I haven’t sorted it out in my head yet.”

I half-interrupted Kyori and replied like that.

Hearing this, Mr. Kosumi murmured “I understand,” looking disappointed.

At that moment, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

“If possible, please let me know your answer by the end of this week. Well then.”

Mr. Kosumi stood, bowed neatly to us, and left the literature club room.

I confirmed through the sensory link with the drones spread across the school that the teacher had completely left the building.

Then, to prevent eavesdropping, I activated a Recognition Inhibition Magic.

“Shu-kun…”

“Alicia supposedly ‘intends to contact those who would harm this country’ and ‘will return to the training facility to serve as rear support.’ That’s a blatant lie. Alicia’s organization is trying to capture and kill her because she knows something inconvenient to the upper echelons.”

“K-Kill her, really!?”

“Yeah. That’s why I didn’t want to give an answer then.”

After using Appraisal on Mr. Kosumi’s conversation, the only truths were that he was once Alicia’s subordinate and that he needs our cooperation.

Apparently, there’s information Mr. Kosumi himself hasn’t been told.

Either way, we can’t just trust his words.

“So, Shu-kun, what do you plan to do?”

“I’m going to refuse by saying something vague like ‘I don’t know what Alicia might do.’ They’re hiding things and probably not telling us the essentials, so getting involved would only cause trouble.”

“I see… Then I’ll do the same.”

Kyori nodded firmly after hearing my answer.

“Oh, right. It seems Alicia’s organization is constantly spying on the electronic devices we use. It might be troublesome, but please send important messages via Shikigami.”

“Got it. …If we stay in the school building any longer, someone might scold us. Let’s head home.”

“Agreed. I’ll walk you to the station just in case.”

I deactivated my skills, took Kyori’s hand, and left school with her.

On the way to the station, we tried to shake off our anxieties by chatting casually about our next date plans.

After parting ways at the station and heading straight home, my phone suddenly vibrated.

“Oh?”

I opened it to see a notification for a new message.

And the sender was…

(Alicia…!?)

According to Mr. Kosumi, she was supposed to be missing after fleeing the organization.

I froze, staring at the screen in disbelief.

“…”

Though suspicious, I knew I had to check the message to know more.

So I activated Magic Counter and Appraisal just in case, then tapped the screen.

“Sorry for the sudden contact. To be straightforward, could we meet alone tonight? There’s something I really want you to confirm. Of course, I have a reward prepared.”

That was all Alicia’s message said.

…So, what was my reply?

“I heard a lot from the teacher, but is it really okay to meet? Aren’t these conversations being spied on too?”

“Just for tonight, it’s okay. But I won’t be able to send messages from tomorrow onward. Please, listen to what I have to say.”

At the same time I read the message, Appraisal showed white—this message was definitely from Alicia herself.

She truly wanted to tell me something important.

“If we meet, where would it be? This town is full of watchful eyes, right?”

I sent that, and in reply received a link to a privately run cafe and bar in town.

“Tell the owner you’ve come to the tea party. Then we can talk without anyone watching.”

Hmmm, according to Appraisal, this message is also genuine.

So, it really might be possible to talk privately without surveillance.

(…Well, it seems like I just need to confirm a few things. I’ll go and see.)

Thinking this, I quickly sent a message to Kana: “I’ll be late coming home.” Then I headed toward the bar.

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