Madness

When I woke up that morning, Leone-san seemed to have already gotten up, and I was alone.

… Last night, the lewd things Leone-san and I had done together…

Even looking back on it now, I could hardly believe it.

In any case, I needed to hurry up and get out of bed.

"Good morning, Naoto-san."

"G-Good morning, Leone-san."

When I left the room, Leone-san, who was in the middle of preparing the meal, smiled gently at me.

Our eyes met for a little while, and I felt a comfortable, warm sense of ease.

… But I shouldn't gaze at her too long. If I did, I'd want to do lewd things again, even this early in the morning.

Even at the cheap rate of 5G a session, I had a feeling I'd pour money into it until I went broke.

"The meal will be ready soon. Could you call Kanan-san and Adelia for me?"

"O-Oh, sure."

As asked, I headed upstairs.

Knock-knock… I rapped on the door of my own room.

"Kanan, Adelia… are you up?"

When I called out, after a moment the door opened and a freshly-awake Kanan appeared.

… She looked a little cross, though.

"Naoto, morning… where did you sleep last night? I woke up and you weren't in the room… Why did I have to sleep cuddled up with Adelia?"

The first thing out of Kazami-san's mouth that morning was a complaint.

I'd been feeling a bit guilty about what happened with Leone-san, so getting a complaint was within my expected range, but the content of it was unexpected.

"… Uh, I mean. There's no way the three of us could sleep in the same room, right?"

I countered with that.

"T-That's…! … You're right. Of course. What in the world am I even saying…?"

She tilted her head.

She seemed confused herself.

"Nya… but, when I woke up and Goshujin-sama wasn't there, I was lonely, nya…"

But Adelia said something cute.

"E-Erm, then, would it be better if I got up a little earlier and came to wake you?"

I'd said it half as a joke, the kind of "as if" line you toss out, but…

"Oh my, what an admirable, slave-like attitude. I'll have you do exactly that."

To my surprise, Kanan seemed to take to the idea.

"I'm so happy I get to see Goshujin-sama in the morning, nya!"

Adelia was purely overjoyed.

"Here, the key to our room."

With that, Kanan casually handed over the spare key to her own room.

… Hmm, I never thought I'd hear "feel free to walk into a girl's bedroom"…

Kanan is kind of off-kilter herself. Well, she's a bourgeois woman who used to keep multiple slaves around her, so maybe what's normal for her isn't normal at all…

"Good morning, Kanan-san, Adelia."

In front of everyone, Leone-san spoke to me as if last night's intimacy had never happened, just like the day before.

That's an adult for you, I thought, and tried my best to act calm myself.

"Now, please do your best again today. Eat plenty of nourishing food."

… No, I take it back. There's still a hint of intimacy in the air…

When she dished out the food and brought it over, squish, squish, her ample breasts pressed against me.

The distance between us had grown closer than before.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't keenly aware of it through strong ulterior motives, but that wasn't all of it… I decided to bring up something I'd been thinking about.

"… Leone-san. If I asked you to revert to a PC and come along with me… what would you say?"

I asked her the question seriously.

"Oh my… fufu, not bad. Maybe I'll bloom one more flower of my own."

Leone-san played it off as a joke, but answered all the same.

"Leone's coming with us, nya? That makes me happy, nya! Getting to travel with Leone is gonna be so fun, nya!"

Adelia was in full welcome mode.

"Fufu, that's right… if I'm with Adelia, I'm sure it'll be fun for me too."

Even taking it as half a joke, she didn't seem opposed at all. At that rate… maybe she really would come?

"But my current value is… oh dear, what a shame. It hasn't dropped much."

With that, Leone-san looked at her own System display and seemed disappointed.

NPC values were invisible to me, though…

"I'm sorry. I'm a Garumon who's already been raised to LV50, so my value is needlessly high. Reverting to a PC would cost 490,000G, so you'd have to front that first…"

"Ugh…!"

The size of the figure threw me off. Twice as expensive as Lyuka, huh.

… Then again, even that's probably one tenth to one hundredth of the shop purchase price.

"One more condition… My previous master went out adventuring and made it to D-Class within a year, but even after another two years, he couldn't make it from D-Class to C-Class, and once he'd saved up enough to make me an NPC, he retired. Reaching C-Class or higher was the dream my master couldn't fulfill, and it's my own deepest wish, too… I want you to reach C-Class and prove that you, Naoto-san, are a Master who surpasses my old master. Those are my conditions for reverting to a PC. If you fulfill them… Well, compared to the sum you'd have paid, it's a modest gift, but I'd give you this whole inn along with myself. Of course, a PC can't run an inn, so it would just be for you to use as your home…"

"… A-Alright."

Hmm, 490,000G… C-Class… thinking about it normally, this is basically a polite refusal dressed up as an impossible demand.

But she's seriously pinning that hope on me… or am I just getting full of myself?

"My, that's not a bad idea, coming from idiot-Naoto. This inn has the charm of an old Japanese ryokan, and it's nice. Even a chump like you, if you became master of a whole castle and country, might come within, oh, a millimeter of matching someone as noble as me."

That was Kazami-san's verdict after listening to our exchange with Leone-san.

… She's a little off-kilter herself, isn't she?

If she were thinking calmly, it ought to be more like:

"Haaa? Surely paying 250,000G to take Lyuka as a companion and find a way out of this world comes first. Do you really think we'll have the leeway to save up another 490,000G after that?"

But, well, no need to point that out.

It was a little surprising that my proposal, half-driven by ulterior motives as it was, got such a positive reception even from Kanan.

"Erm, then, should we head west of town again today?"

"No. This town is a typical beginner town. A place where fledgling G-Class Masters can hone their skills… Any F-Class you find here is a reject who couldn't cut it on the F-Class battlegrounds and slunk back home. If you can beat F-Class rejects like that, I'd recommend going to a proper F-Class battleground. In general, the higher the ranking, the better the income… You're going to hurry up, earn 490,000G, and make it to C-Class, aren't you?"

She said that playfully.

But…

Hmm, 740,000G in total, huh… well, fine. Rather than worry about what comes later, raising my ranking comes first.

"Yeah, in that case I'll head to an F-Class battleground. How do I get there?"

"In that case, you should go to Lyuka. Lyuka can open a gate to the town of Efika, where there's an F-Class battleground. Step through, and you'll be there in no time."

A gate. So there's a teleport method. Very game-like.

"Thanks. Then… I'm off."

"Take care."

Leone-san waved.

And then I took Adelia and Kazami-san and headed for Lyuka.

"Hmhmhm～"

Kazami-san walked along humming to herself.

… Kazami-san didn't seem to be in a particularly bad mood. If anything, she seemed to be in a good one.

Suddenly transferred to such a bizarre other world, forced into combat by me…

Wouldn't it be more normal to be way more shaken, or at least to be voicing complaints?

That would be the case even for an ordinary woman, never mind someone less spoiled than Kazami-san.

All the more so for Kazami-san, a young lady who'd had her own way her entire life. Her position had been completely flipped, so it wouldn't be strange for her to come totally unhinged…

Well, if she's settled, that's a good thing.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Good morning, Naoto-san. Did you sleep well?"

"Y-Yeah… morning, Lyuka."

Lyuka looked as beautiful as ever today, those clear, transparent eyes seeming to look right through me.

… I didn't know whether she was aware of what had happened with Leone or not, but…

For some reason, it was hard to meet her eye.

"So, Lyuka, since you're a Magus, you do work that uses magic?"

"Yes. My main jobs are crafting items and opening gates that allow instant transport between towns… Are we headed to the town of Efika today?"

"Ah, you're quick on the uptake. Yes, please."

"Then it'll be 10G one-way, 20G round-trip."

"… Of course it will."

Don't tell me you thought you'd get to use it for free? I mean, sure, we're not that close, but still…

"Open, gate."

Standing literally in front of a door, she visibly poured magic power into it and opened the gate for us.

And on the other side… despite us being indoors, an unfamiliar outdoor scene stretched out.

Instant teleportation… truly magic. Well, in games this is standard fare.

"All right, take care. On the way back, just open the gate from Efika and you'll return here. I'll be waiting for you."

With those words, Lyuka sent us off.

Now then, the streets of the town of Efika weren't all that different from Amen's.

I'd been told the forest area to the south of town was the F-Class battleground, so we headed there right away.

Move through the forest, find someone, pick a fight. That was the flow.

The two girls' current statuses looked like this:

And our opponents were mostly like this:

Something along these lines. Initial values in the 300s seemed to be the norm. 400s were decent. 500s top-tier? I'd been told initial values up to 999 fell within High Normal class, so it looked like mid-to-low F class was roughly that level.

LV4-5 vs LV20. Looking at the numbers, by normal game logic we ought to grind a bit more before coming here…

"Mad Slash!"

"Air Blast!"

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Aaagh!"

BOOM!

"Eeeek!"

YOU WIN

"Guaaah… what the hell, where's all that strength coming from?! Why does someone with high-rarity Garumon like that have to be slumming it at low F-Class…!"

But once we actually fought, we didn't have all that hard a time of it.

We were significantly behind in LV, so our stats had to be inferior too.

But the opponents had weak skills.

In this combat system, the strength of the skills mattered enormously.

And yet none of our opponents had skills to match Kanan's Wind Shield and Air Blast, or Adelia's Mad Slash.

Of course it was an easy victory. Kanan blocked the enemy attacks with Wind Shield while we just bulldozed through with Air Blast and Mad Slash, racking up wins effortlessly.

The fact that only our side could initiate Garumon Battles was also a major advantage.

If both sides could initiate, since there were only two of us, we'd normally be forced into a 2v3 disadvantageous battle.

But because we got to initiate, we could request it on 2v2 terms.

If the opponent had built their party for balance assuming three members, we could force them into a disadvantageous match a member short.

Well, having learned my lesson from that first time, I wasn't going to be dumb enough to wander out in front of a group again.

Taking advantage of the poor visibility in the forested terrain, we hid behind trees, crept up quietly, and submitted the challenge before being noticed, picking them off one by one.

Fighting like this, we wouldn't make the foolish mistake of getting surrounded by a crowd.

… Also, this might be a minor point, but low-rarity Garumon were clearly inferior to Adelia and Kazami-san in the precision of their individual movements.

The kind of accuracy that doesn't show up in numbers, the fine agility… that sort of subtle quality was far better in Adelia and Kazami-san.

That kind of thing isn't to be dismissed. It changes the accuracy of every single skill use completely.

Leveraging all those advantages, F-class had a definite "this is gonna be easy" feel to it.

… However, maybe because our wins were too easy, our levels weren't really going up.

If LV4 takes down LV20, normally levels would shoot up, wouldn't you think?

Or is it a system where you need a tougher fight before levels go up?

Even so, after about four battles, both of them gained 1 LV.

But somehow I had a feeling that fighting more battles in F-class wasn't going to level them up much further.

The promotion condition from G-class to F-class was a 60%-or-better win rate over 10 straight wins.

The promotion condition from F-class to E-class was 30 or more battles fought at an 80%-or-higher win rate, and 5 straight losses for demotion.

If I never lose, the conditions are simply triple… Better to climb up faster.

Sure, we could now earn 20% more in income, and we'd already pulled in 320G across four battles, but the higher we climbed, the more we'd earn.

"All right, from here on let's hold back on skill use and aim for another 10-win streak. With 1v1 battles, that's a quota of three battles each."

"… Nya, I'll do my best, nya!"

"Hmph, that level's a piece of cake."

Just as we'd worked up our fighting spirit…

"… All right, another one's coming. Let's send the request… wait, a G-class Master? Huh…"

Seeing the G-class Master's name, I was startled.

"Ichinose-kun…?"

"Eh… you mean Akira?"

Kazami-san was startled too.

Akira Ichinose. One of Kazami-san's eight slaves. Setting Haru-kun aside, to me he gave the impression of being the least bad of the bunch.

He was from a slightly higher middle-class family than mine, with a good upbringing, and that made him relatively mild-mannered.

Well, he was the kind of guy who'd hit me with a smile if Kazami-san told him to, so it's only relative.

Good family, handsome, a sportsman, good at studies, articulate honor-student type, popular with girls.

An all-rounder type, like a Shogo Shiraki of Yumi Tsuchiya's group several tiers downgraded.

He must have noticed us too, because he came our way.

"… N-Naoto."

"Hm?"

Just as Kazami-san was hesitating like she was about to say something…

"Y-You there… Naoto, is that you…?!"

A shabby, filthy-looking man appeared.

… Huh, I thought, taken aback. He looked so much like a vagrant that I couldn't believe this was the smooth, handsome sportsman honor-student type Ichinose-kun.

So if you don't style your hair, it gets that wild, huh. And his stubble seemed to have grown in pretty heavy without shaving, too.

I could just barely make out that the tattered clothes had once been his school uniform, and most of all, his sunken, hollowed-out eyes, ringed with dark circles and somehow bloodshot and bulging, looked utterly unsettling.

"And you'd be Ichinose-kun, right? … Did your whole vibe change?"

"D-Don't worry about that! Where's Kashima… where's Ruri Kashima?! Where did she go!"

He came rushing over, drooling.

"Ruri Kashima…? Oh."

I knew the name. She was a student at Reido Academy.

There was a label going around for Eclair, Kanan, and Yumi as the "Seven Greatest Beauties," but apart from them, Reido Academy had plenty of beauties and lovely girls.

Not quite reaching the Seven Greatest, but ranked one tier below them, there was a group of about 30 to 40 beauties.

I obviously couldn't remember every single one, but I did at least remember Kashima-san, who was in the next class over in my year.

She was a serious class-rep type, much like Yukishiro-san, the kind teachers trust.

Compared to Yukishiro-san of the Seven Greatest, she was a few tiers down in looks, figure, ability, and personality, but even so, she was a beauty at a level where she could have passed for a celebrity.

"Y-You know her, where is she, where did she go!"

Ichinose-kun clung to me.

"No, I don't know where she is. I just know Kashima-san's name… Has she come to this world too?"

In which case, has most of the academy's student body really come to this world? Then Setsuna too, surely…

"…?! K-Kanan-sama! You said Kanan-sama?! Kanan-sama is here?!"

… However, the moment Ichinose-kun caught sight of Kazami-san, he redirected the crazed energy he'd been pouring into Kashima-san straight onto Kazami-san instead.

"… Akira. What in the world happened? What's with that appearance?"

Whatever it was that had made Kazami-san hesitate earlier, she was now addressing Ichinose-kun in her old haughty manner.

"K-Kanan-sama… t-this is, well, ehe, hehehe… n-no, no. It's nothing, really. Hahaha…"

His eyes wandered. His words were all incoherent… had he lost his mind?

Well, when you get isekai'd like this, not everyone's going to just smoothly adapt. It's no surprise some people might break…

"Pull yourself together! And you call yourself my slave?! Don't bring shame on me, get a hold of yourself!"

"Y-Yes!"

Scolded by Kanan, Ichinose-kun seemed to recover his sanity a little.

"… Explain the situation. What has happened up till now?"

"Y-Yes. I… I-I came to, and I was here. And, well, n-nearby was, you know, Ruri Kashima…!"

"Kashima? … Ah, the pharmaceutical company's daughter."

"Y-Yes. And… ehe, hehehe…"

But the moment he got that far, Ichinose-kun started gazing up at the sky with drool spilling from his mouth again.

"… Ugh."

Through his ragged pants, I could clearly see a violently throbbing erection at his crotch.

Ugh, I don't want to see that…

I took a step back. Kazami-san took two steps back.

"And then, well, Ruri Kashima became my obedient little thing… hehe, no matter what I told her to do, she'd do it gladly! Hehehe! Ahhh… it felt so good…! S-So, I made Ruri Kashima my slave to offer up to Kanan-sama! I groped those tits, and with my dick, slip-slop-slip-slop! I rammed into her till she was crying out, came inside her loads of times, so she's definitely pregnant! Hehehe! I made it so she can't live without my dick anymore! Hehe! Ehehehehee!"

The way he was screaming… yeah, he had clearly lost his mind completely.

"A-And yet… when I came to, Kashima was gone! That stupid bitch, after I'd gone to all the trouble of making her my slave! She's gone, gooooone! Where, where's Kashimaaaa?! Let me do it, let me do iiiit! Come back to my dick, you hear meeee!"

"… This guy's a lost cause."

There was no holding a conversation with him, so I had to deduce the rest: Ichinose, having transferred to this other world together with Ruri Kashima, had, like me, by chance or design, formed a contract with her.

And… Ruri Kashima must not have been a virgin. So the protection didn't activate, and when he ordered her to have sex, she submitted.

Ichinose unloaded his lust on her to his heart's content.

… But where on earth had he been doing that? Had he properly secured a safe location?

A precious otherworld Garumon is a prime target for other Masters.

Ichinose, fixated solely on satisfying his desires, hadn't kept a proper guard, and had probably either been ambushed in an out-of-battle battle or, without realizing it, been challenged to a Garumon Battle, and lost Ruri Kashima.

… And ever since, he'd been wandering this forest in a half-mad state.

That seemed to be the gist of it.

"Hah, hah… oh, oh I see. That's right… I get it now. In place of Kashima, Kanan-sama has come to me! You came to be my slave! Aaaah, I see, yes! If Kanan-sama becomes my slave, I don't need Kashima anymore! Ahhh… the whole time I was rubbing one out into Kashima's pussy, I was thinking about Kanan-sama! If Kashima's tits felt that good, how good would Kanan-sama's bigger tits feel…! If Kashima's pussy felt that good, how good would Kanan-sama's pussy feel?! Over and over, I came in Kashima's pussy thinking about Kanan-sama! Ahhh… my dream is finally about to come true! Kanan-sama… hehehe, I'll treat you so well. With my dick, over and over, I'll drive you completely out of your mind! Ahaa!"

Eyes bloodshot, Ichinose closed in.

"… D-Don't joke around! For someone like you to lay a hand on me… know your place!"

Kazami-san backed away while shouting, but…

"Who's joking?! Women are my slaves! Suck my dick! Spread your legs, let me ram into your pussy! Kanan! Become my slave!"

In an even louder voice, Ichinose roared and reached out for Kanan.

"Eep…!"

Kazami-san flinched and took another step back.

"Knock it off, Ichinose!"

I stepped between them and barked at Ichinose.

"…!"

I didn't think I had that kind of presence, but maybe a male voice carried a little more weight. Ichinose's movement froze for an instant.

But…

"Naoto… y-you… someone like you, keeping Kanan as your slave?!"

His hair was practically standing on end, that kind of energy. Furious rage… jealousy.

"No, Kazami-san isn't my slave or anything."

I stated the fact flatly, hoping to calm him down even a little.

"…?!"

And yet for an instant I felt as if Kazami-san's anger was directed at me. Was that just my imagination?

"T-That's right. I-I'm not the slave of someone like this guy! Don't get any weird ideas!"

But she quickly recovered and fell in line with what I'd said.

… Well, of course, but it's a strange attitude.

… However, Ichinose's strangeness was on a completely different level. He wasn't even listening to us.

"D-Don't mess with me! Do you have any idea how badly we longed for that woman?! Every single one of us, we kept up the toadying ass-kissing we hated, all because we wanted to ram our dicks into her pussy! That girl we all worshipped… someone like you, a piece-of-trash slave, know your place! Kanan-samaaa! Come to me! I was a far more capable slave to Kanan-sama than that bastard Naoto! I, I can satisfy Kanan-sama perfectly! I… I'll protect Kanan-sama perfectly, I promise! So come to me, Kanaaan!!"

Ichinose was shrieking like that.

… This is awful. Was just coming to this world really the cause? Being together with Kashima-san, having Kashima-san become his obedient slave… did that pop the cork on him?

He can't have spent that many more days here than I have… can someone really change this much?

… Is this what becomes of someone who fully soaks themselves in this world?

No, surely this is an extreme case.

That said, it might be one possible outcome if you give yourself over to your desires.

I shot a quick glance at Kazami-san, just in case.

… What would I do if she chose to go to Ichinose?

… Kazami-san's talent is rare in this world. I'm well aware that having Kazami-san around is better for me if I want to survive here.

Letting her go would be the height of folly. Out of the question.

But if I'm rejecting how this world is built…

If I'm treating them as companions, not slaves, and recognizing their free will…

If Kazami-san wishes for it, I should release her.

I was a useless slave.

Defiant for no real reason, and not particularly helpful either. In Kazami-san's evaluation I was probably ranked even below Noda, dead last.

Ichinose's rating would probably be Yamagata > Aozawa > Ishiguro > Ichinose, somewhere around upper-middle.

Even if she chose Ichinose, it wouldn't be unreasonable.

Thinking that, I stepped one pace to the side and turned to look at Kazami-san, asking with my eyes what she wanted to do.

… But as I stepped to the side, Kazami-san followed, staying tucked behind my back as if hiding.

"… H-Help me."

… Huh?

It was a murmur I could hardly believe I'd heard.

… Did she just say "help me"? Did Kazami-san say that… to me?

… I'm not mishearing her, am I?

But, well, even if I am mishearing her, if someone's saying "help me," then helping is the only option.

I left Kazami-san where she was and stepped casually toward the lunging Ichinose.

"Aaaaaaah…! Naotooo! Kanan is mine! Get lost, you small fry!"

WHAM!

And Ichinose punched me with everything he had.

HP 12 → 11

"Right then. Attack from a low-rank Master to a high-rank Master, established. Submitting Garumon Battle challenge to Akira Ichinose. The conditions are… oh, lots to choose from. Approach prohibition for one year… yeah, that'll do."

Beep, set.

"Diiieeeee dieeee! Let me have Kananaaan!"

But even though a Garumon Battle had been submitted against him, Ichinose didn't notice and tried to swing at me again.

Just then…

YOU WIN

Akira Ichinose obstructed the Garumon Battle and was forced into automatic defeat

… the message popped up, and…

Boom…

A gate exit suddenly appeared, and an armored female soldier stepped out.

She seemed to be an NPC.

"Penalty enforcement. Akira Ichinose. From this moment, for one year, you are forbidden from approaching Naoto Akai."

With that announcement, Ichinose was dragged away.

"O-Oi, dammit! Let go, Kanan is my slave! My Kanan! Naoto! Someone like you! I won't forgive you, I won't!"

… Right to the very end, Ichinose kept spewing hostility as he was dragged off.

He wasn't this messed up before, though… I could see it coming from Noda or Nezu, but…

"… Haa."

Pointlessly exhausting.

"… Haa…"

Kazami-san seemed exhausted too.

… What now. Should I push the question? That "help me" just now…

"… Y-You did well, Naoto. Honestly, that Akira… I thought he was the quiet sort, but who knew he was such a despicable, rude piece of garbage… He went mad, and his true nature came out, I guess."

Kazami-san was indignant.

If she's praising me, then she really did mean it when she asked for help.

Tch, if she could be that meek, she'd actually be kind of cute.

"… You sure you didn't want to go with Ichinose?"

I tried asking.

"… Haaa?! Of c-course not! With a lunatic like that?! T-The idea of becoming his slave is preposterous, are you joking?! … A-And, well… y-you're a hundred billion times better than that lunatic!"

Being compared favorably to a deranged Ichinose isn't exactly flattering, but…

I think it was the first time Kazami-san had said anything affirming about me.

"… T-That's right. I-It's not just about you, you know. Adelia is fun to talk to… Leone-san is beautiful and her cooking is delicious… Lyuka is cute too… and r-right. Our only hope of getting back to our original world is Lyuka, isn't it! Yes, that's right. Because of all that… I-I didn't go. Of course not! Why are you saying such weird things?!"

Kazami-san was indignant.

Well, I get her reasoning, but…

"It's just, I figured a useful slave would be better than a useless one."

Seizing the moment, I let some of my pent-up grievances out too.

"You're saying that because Adelia is more useful than me, you don't need me?!"

But Kazami-san's indignation veered off in a strange direction.

…? I never said that.

I admit I left out the subject, but when you hear "slave," do you automatically picture yourself?

"No. The way you see it, your slaves are me and Ichinose. And you always said Akira was useful and I was useless, didn't you?"

… Why am I having to spell this out?

"E-Eh, ah, r-right… that's true…"

Kazami-san finally seemed to realize she'd been off-base.

"… T-That stuff is in the past. Naoto isn't useless. Just now… you did serve as my bodyguard, didn't you?"

The way Kanan put that made me unreasonably angry.

Was she planning to brush off those days of hell when she had me as her slave like they were just past history?

Sure, I'll bet the side dishing it out thought it was no big deal!

"… Your bodyguard is Yamagata-kun, isn't it?"

… Kensei Yamagata. The man who'd served as Kazami-san's bodyguard.

"… Y-You're right. Well, as long as Kensei is around, there's no need for you to protect me."

Her family's wealth was part of it, but her authority depended on Yamagata-kun's combat ability standing right beside her.

It made sense she'd be off-balance on her own. Reminded of Yamagata-kun's existence, she finally seemed to find her footing.

… Hmph. That's the Kazami-san who's worth properly disliking.

"… B-But until then… you'll be the one protecting me, Naoto. So, well, from now on you can call me… by my first name, Kanan, without honorifics."

Kanan said that with a smile.

She'd recovered her old rhythm… and somehow her smile struck me as softer and more beautiful than before.