S-Class Conference: Meeting with Lower S-Class Masters

"… Hmph. A shabby-looking man. You really beat this noble, beautiful Demon Lord and Queen.

"The fair Ursula Belzebute-sama…? Hard to believe."

Zeiros was rude from the get-go.

"… Is that so."

What was I supposed to say to that. Rude, yes, but not quite enough to make me angry.

… I mean, if we fought I could beat him, right? It didn't seem worth getting worked up over.

But rude, definitely. What to do… my mood wasn't lifting.

As for Ursula, she seemed to be getting angry, but also seemed to think it wouldn't do to step forward over me.

Kanan too was quiet. Rather than not caring, it was that she seemed convinced no matter what a man like this said, my worth wouldn't be shaken.

"… Well, fine. Even the perfect, beautiful Ursula-sama can make a mistake sometimes, I suppose.

"That side of her is truly charming too…

"And it's a fitting role for one of my noble birth — to play the knight who rescues Ursula-sama… Fufufu, suitable to my noble birth, is it not. Fufufu…"

… This guy was clueless!

What, the Zeiros I'd been thinking of as Mob 1 or Mob 2 was this clueless? On my side, I was already thinking of him as nothing more than candidate #1 to lose to Eve or Ruria next year.

… S-Class Masters might be a more colorful bunch than I'd thought.

… And, well, the guy was rude, but I was being just as rude in my head, so I couldn't really get worked up.

… Because grandiose talk unsupported by ability is just farcical.

"Is that so. Well, when that time comes, I'll be in your care."

I brushed him off with a light laugh.

"… Hmph. Not even the spirit to bite back.

"… Well, fine. I'm a senior who has been S-Class Master 2 years longer than you.

"If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask. Instructing one's junior is also the duty of the noble."

"Thank you. But it's all right.

"Ursula teaches me anything I don't understand."

"…"

Piku, piku-piku…!

Seeing me drop the honorific from Ursula's name, Zeiros twitched.

His temples were twitching…

"… You… Ursula-sama is a noble, fair Queen. Enthroned at the pinnacle of futanari Garumon, the object of us futanari aficionados' drooling devotion!

"Don't call her name so casually! Address her as Ursula-sama!"

I got scolded.

"H-haa…

"Futanari aficionado… is it."

"… Hohou. So you understand too. The beauty of futanari Garumon. The wonder of them…

"Very well. Then, if you should bow and request it, I may permit you to join my Futanari Aficionados' Society."

With that, Eleine-san handed over a pamphlet.

… Could I rip this up?

… Stein was probably a member too. And hey, this girl in the pamphlet — I'd seen her in Stein's party… so she was a member too…

"… Fufufu… if you should say you wish to bring Ursula-sama and join this society…

"Fu, fufu, t-then I shall most warmly welcome you.

"No, I would even cede the chairman's seat! H-how about it! Ursula-sama, Ursula-sama into my society's membership!

"No, as honorary chair! You did, at least nominally, become Ursula-sama's master — so you must be able to issue commands to Ursula-sama! Just this once, I'll permit you to command Ursula-sama!

"Come, come, come now!"

He was pushing crazy hard!

… Uwaa…

I was recoiling. Hard. So hard…

"… Sorry, this isn't really my thing…"

It was no use, I couldn't keep being polite…

"W-what?! You! Do you mean to refuse my generous offer?! If you do that, we, the Brigade Violated By Futanari Garumon, will become your enemies! Even so…"

"Enough already, Zeiros.

"… Pressing one's hobby on others is a breach of manners. If an S-Class Master cannot keep that much of an unwritten rule, prospects are dim."

"… M-my apologies, Ursula-sama!

"… A-ah… to be scolded by Ursula-sama…"

… He was enjoying it…

"B-but…"

Still, Zeiros tried to push back.

Pi-pi! At that moment, something reacted on Zeiros's end.

"Zeiros-sama…"

His secretary, Sveria, called out to Zeiros.

"… M-mmm… damn, can't be helped, then…! Akai Naoto! I shall not give up! That you alone monopolize the right to savor Ursula-sama's o-chinpo through your ass…! That cannot stand!

"I, of noble birth, am the one suited to it! Now is the time to reconsider! Otherwise, I shall not let you off!"

With that, Zeiros hurriedly returned to his own Pod and… ended the meeting and pulled away.

… What the hell was that. I was exhausted…

"… What was that…"

"That fellow is…"

Before we could really discuss with Ursula what Zeiros even was…

"Naoto-sama, S-Class 22nd Shaina Fervey-sama has arrived, and applied for a meeting wishing to speak with you, Naoto-sama."

"Eh!"

"… A complete reversal into a full beaming smile."

"Whoa… I mean, from the moment I first saw her, I'd thought she was cute and wanted to be friends — Shaina Fervey!

"I could finally meet her! Whoa…"

The unpleasant feeling I'd had from meeting Zeiros was swept away in an instant.

"Permission immediately!"

"Yes, understood."

To my obviously thrilled self, Colette returned an obviously thrilled smile of her own.

"… Mm. If Shaina is coming, I'd best step out."

"Eh? Why?"

"It seems I'm hard for her to deal with.

"… If there's no problem, call for me. I won't come until called."

With that, Ursula left.

"Is that so…?"

Was there anything that made Ursula hard to deal with? Sure, I did think she was so beautiful she was intimidating, but…

Well, I'd talk with Shaina, and if it was a misunderstanding, I could call Ursula back.

Soon enough, Shaina's Pod arrived…

Shun, the door opened… and a peek…

"Yahho!"

With a light voice, Shaina Fervey showed her face.

Wow, cute…!

A very adorable bishoujo with big round eyes. If anything, slightly cat-like in a way that resembled Adelia.

Her hair was a short cut too.

A lovely yellow color. Her eyes also a luminous yellow.

Just plain bright-feeling, and she really was a bright-seeming girl.

Her beaming smile was sunny and very approachable. I naturally found myself greeting her with a smile too.

"And so… I'm S-Class 22nd, Shaina Fervey. Nice to meet you, Naoto."

She'd dropped the honorific right off the bat, but I had no intention of making a fuss. If anything, I was very happy that she was being friendly.

It was a different culture, so it wasn't that there were no honorifics. The translation worked through my perception, so even if her culture only used "Naoto", since the translation adjusted to the speaker's awareness, it would come through as Naoto-san, Naoto-sama, Naoto, or omae as appropriate.

I had heard there was something like honorifics, though.

Her dropping the honorific seemed to me an expression of her friendliness.

At a glance, she really was an unrivaled, peerless bishoujo, but…

Normally, in front of an overly beautiful person, you tense up, but with her, that didn't happen.

She had a charm, an ease of approach.

As if she were a childhood friend of ten years or a best friend.

This wasn't because I'd grown accustomed from contact with many beauties and bishoujo. Absolutely not.

I mean, I wasn't used to it yet. Even dealing with my companions, I was always getting flustered.

And yet, in front of her, somehow I wasn't getting flustered.

Strange.

Not that she lacked charm — she was hugely charming — and yet this approachability was mysterious.

"Yeah. S-Class 24th, Akai Naoto. Nice to meet you, Shaina."

So I, very naturally, replied in casual speech too.

"Yeah!"

Shaina, not at all put off, returned a smile.

A very friendly first contact.

Just from seeing her photo, I'd thought "I feel like I could be friends" — which, back then, had felt presumptuous.

Now, I was getting more and more sure that intuition was right.

Shaina looked around and…

"Ursula-sama isn't here…"

and was relieved.

"Huh, Shaina, are you bad at dealing with Ursula?"

I asked, with no guardedness, just blurted it out.

"N-not bad, exactly. But… it makes me tense, doesn't it? She's so beautiful and… of noble status, truly beautiful… beautiful…"

"You said beautiful twice."

"Let me! She really is beautiful! I get tense…!"

Shaina got embarrassed.

I see — the "fan who flees from the object of admiration" type. Cute.

"In that case, if I mediate, you can talk with Ursula too, right?"

"Oh… Naoto, you're a good guy!"

Bashi-bashi!

I got slapped. Easygoing. But I was happy.

Somehow, she was talking to me with utter naturalness. And not even within the group — this was a first meeting, and yet what was this approachability?

Come to think of it, I'd never had a female friend in my life.

Maybe, for the first time, I could build a friendship with a woman.

… No, wait, I'd never had friends at all.

Haru was… already my lover, wasn't he…

In that sense, if Shaina were to become a lover too, I'd of course welcome it, but the relationship called friendship was, in its own way, valuable and wonderful.

I mean, I wanted to have sex, though.

Really badly.

… The phrase "male-female friendship can't exist," I think, holds with people you don't want to have sex with.

But once married, there's also sexlessness?

I really couldn't believe in the word "sexless."

Something that felt that good — 50 times a day wouldn't be nearly enough.

… Anyway, back on topic.

A silver-haired, long-haired adorable loli, Shita.

Obsidian-like black skin. Night-sky-black hair, black eyes, an exotic beauty, Carla.

Shaina had brought them both.

… In other words, she'd come with everyone.

"Shita-san, Carla-san, pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Akai Naoto."

With that, I greeted each of them.

"Yep, nice to meet you, Naoto-san."

"… Ah, regards."

A friendly Shita, and a curt Carla. But Carla was simply that kind of unsociable person, not particularly hostile to me or harboring ill will.

In place of the breezy Shaina, she seemed on guard enough to think "I have to watch out instead," maybe.

"Oh, Naoto's representative Garumon Kanan, and your secretary — the Hero Colette! Wow… both of them are cute! I'm jealous, you you you～!"

Shaina greeted Kanan and Colette while teasing me.

A pleasant chat among the gathered six began.

If anything, the configuration was: me and Shaina, Kanan and Carla, Colette and Shita.

"Well, I'd been wanting to talk with you at some point, Naoto."

So Shaina said.

"Why?"

"Why? You're the hottest person right now! A regular in the Garumon Weekly.

"A Master who transferred from another world, and the central figure of the Reido Academy Mass-Transference Incident!

"The only one to complete the Elite Course this year!

"The victor in a death battle with Ursula-sama!

"And right after S-Class promotion, an attack-op success! A super-rare Demon General acquirer!

"There's no idiot who wouldn't pay attention to a talented rookie Master like that!

"I mean, there must be tons of people wanting to get close to you.

"You're impossible, you ladies' man."

I got jabbed in the side… A fairly hands-on type.

It made me happy somehow.

A gloomy guy like me being clung to by a sunny girl like this was embarrassing but happy. I was probably falling for her.

And she was an utterly transcendent bishoujo.

… Yet there was none of that hard-to-approach feel. A miraculous balance.

Hmm, what was it? Her beauty was faultless, perfect, nothing to fault at all, but somehow… she also felt innocent, with lots of openings. Maybe that was the approachability.

Plus her expressions moved quickly and brightly and adorably. Looking at her, my face naturally softened.

Well, if I kept mentally praising Shaina the conversation wouldn't go on, so let me focus.

"Well, hardly anyone's coming close to me… Sure, lower-ranked Masters are after me to make them knights or join their societies. But contact from other S-Class Masters is basically zero.

"Leonhardt-san did explain that incident directly to me, but…"

"Eh, really? Why…?"

Shaina tilted her head.

"I mean, Shaina, you hadn't contacted me until today either, right?

"If you were interested, you could have contacted me earlier, no?"

"… B-but… if I contacted you, Naoto, it might end up meaning I contacted Ursula-sama too, and that was embarrassing…

"Today I took several big deep breaths, calmed my heart, screwed up my resolve, and came over～"

That tense, huh…

"How was Ursula thought of by the other S-Class Masters? She was 24th, the lowest-ranking Master, right?"

"Eh, well that's… no, not just the lowest. Her actual ability was way higher, but the word was she was at 24th out of respect for her mother Esta-sama… and from a long-standing noble family, a princess, with that beauty…

"Even among S-Class, she was treated like a princess — somewhat in a class of her own.

"Usually quiet, but when she occasionally spoke, everyone listened in. Real presence～.

"There were lots of Ursula-sama fans, including me, even among S-Class Masters.

"S-Class idol, S-Class mascot… that kind of treatment, I'd say."

"Hee…"

You couldn't really ask Ursula how she herself was treated, after all.

"… Well, the most fanatically devoted of them all was probably… him."

"Him — you mean Zeiros?"

"Ah…"

When I gave the name of the guy I'd just been talking to, Shaina made a fed-up sound.

"Did something happen? … Well, I can imagine, but…"

"Yeah, exactly. He'd hit on me every time we crossed paths.

"Sending creepy love letters and stuff…

"He was so persistent I'd brush him off coldly… using his middling-good birth as a shield, an unpleasant guy.

"Anyway, at the last S-Class swap match, I had an injunction filed — for one year, no approaches outside official conference seats.

"Thanks to that, it's been refreshing lately."

Shaina looked radiant.

"An injunction… I don't think they mentioned that on the TV broadcast…"

"Ah, since that's a disgrace for Zeiros, they probably hid it for him?"

I see.

… Hm. Zeiros, at his 23rd rank… must have been delighted to be surrounded by 24th Ursula and 22nd Shaina, two wonderful futanari Masters.

But Shaina had gotten an injunction against him, and Ursula had lost to me and was no longer a Master — in such a miserable state, his nerves might be on edge too.

… In that case, there was some room for sympathy.

"Someone like Zeiros isn't your type, then."

"Ueh, stop it. I, even like this, am mentally a guy. I love cute girls!

"Right～? Isn't she cute. My girlfriend Shita!"

With that, she introduced Shita.

"And, my boyfriend Carla!"

With that, she introduced Carla.

"Nfu-fu-. Getting done by a guy — no thank you!

"But getting done by a wonderful futanari girl is the best!

"I have a cute girlfriend, a wonderful, beautiful boyfriend — I'm completely satisfied with this!"

So Shaina boasted proudly.

… I see. Since she was satisfied that way, she figured she didn't need anyone besides the three of them, so it stayed just the three of them.

… Putting it like that, it wasn't actually that different from Zeiros, but.

But imagining the bishoujo Shaina was erotic and cute, so it was totally OK.

Whereas with Zeiros, my brain refused to imagine it.

No, no, while talking with a cute girl like Shaina, thinking any more about Zeiros was a waste of life.

"So, that means…"

"Fu-fu-fu. If you're thinking of having sex with me, my condolences. I'm strictly into girls and futanari girls～.

"For a man trying to woo me, the bar is too high, I'd say～."

So Shaina laughed.

Eh…? If that was really true, it was terribly disappointing… terribly.

But, if she really was mentally a guy, then thinking how I'd feel if a guy hit on me…

Uwah, absolutely no thanks. No thank you.

I was of the school of not doing what people hate, so wooing Shaina was hereby sealed.

Whaaa… shock.

But, regrouping… if I could become proper friends with her, that would be good enough too.

Whatever her sexual preferences were, the fact that she was a girl pleasant to be with and compatible with me was unmistakable.

… Whether male-female friendship is possible just comes down to whether you can suppress your sex drive.

Becoming friends with Shaina was going to require strong endurance…

I wasn't quite confident.

But the feeling of wanting to be friends was real…

"Got it. In that case, I won't woo you or do anything weird.

"So um… I'd be happy if you could feel at ease and be friends with me."

"Ohh, friend! Nice, let's do it. Fellow Lower S-Class, let's help each other out."

I offered my hand and shook Shaina's.

A soft hand… slender, supple fingers.

A beautiful hand.

… Ugh, still too charming.

Really, having finally met Shaina, she was even better than I'd imagined, and being able to be friends with such a great girl was undeniably a joy, but.

To not be able to have sex with such a charming girl — it was torture beyond belief.

The feeling of wanting to be friends and the feeling of wanting to have sex — my heart was being torn a thousand ways.