Episode 14
It was a bit early for dinner, but Shaitan and I headed to the cafeteria. Since our school was a boarding school, the cafeteria was quite busy even at this hour.
I lectured Shaitan on how to behave and we sat at the end of a long table. Being a demon and someone who wasn’t exactly popular, it was only natural that people kept their distance and avoided our company.
“Let’s eat,” Shaitan said, clasping her hands together in a Japanese-like manner.
“You really stand out in this world,” I commented.
Shaitan blushed as she remembered her own actions. Giving this klutz boss-level powers might have been a mistake.
“Oh, Viper, can I sit here?” Ryuuki and Irio asked as they sat down next to us, filling the empty seats.
“Huh? Who are they?” Shaitan tilted her head, looking at them curiously.
“Ryuuki and Irio. We’re on the same team for the class battle,” I introduced them.
“I see. Nice to meet you. Uh…” Ryuuki, sitting beside me, smiled and greeted Shaitan.
“I’m Shaitan,” Shaitan replied, turning her face away with a pout.
“Don’t worry, they won’t do anything like Goose and the others,” I assured Shaitan.
“What did they do?” Irio asked.
“They were bothering Shaitan,” I replied.
“I see…” Ryuuki and Irio fell silent, understanding the situation.
“Well, honestly, I feel like an outcast in Class A too. My family has a long history of leading frontline heavy infantry, so that’s where I ended up. But I’m a scaredy-cat, you know? Just having someone with a weapon in front of me scares me…” Ryuuki explained.
“I’m from a rural area, and they used to make fun of me, but I don’t really care,” Irio added.
They were the last two left when it came to team formation for the class battle, which made them understand how Shaitan, or rather, how demons, might feel.
“So… that’s how it is…” Shaitan hadn’t expected to find someone who could empathize with her, and she blushed as she looked down.
“Well, Viper probably gets treated even worse. It’s partly his fault, though,” Ryuuki said, chuckling as he put his arm around my shoulders.
“Wha… Ha-ha…” Shaitan looked at us, her nostrils flaring widely as she succumbed to her fangirl tendencies. That’s right; this person was deeply involved in the world of fangirls. Watching her favorite characters engage in romantic relationships with other men was probably like a reward for her.
“Ryuuki, come on, give me some space,” I said.
“Nah, it’s fine!”
As I tried to pull away, Ryuuki clung even closer. Despite his timid nature, he was an A-class heavy infantry. It was hard to believe where all that strength came from in his slender frame, but it was quite formidable.
“Ha-ha… Muhuhuhu…”
“Shaitan, are you okay? Do you have a fever or something?” Irio genuinely worried about Shaitan, who was now driven by wicked emotions and excitement. Under Irio’s sparkling gaze, Shaitan began developing yet another coupling, muttering, “Ryuvai and Vairi are irresistible…”
This boss-level fangirl was out of control.
As I scratched my head in frustration, Ariniki walked past Shaitan with her friends. She glanced at me and waved, and I returned the gesture with a smile. However, the lie I told Ariniki weighed on my mind, making my smile seem oddly awkward.
Ariniki and her friends sat at a nearby table. Every time our eyes met, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Viper, what’s wrong?” Shaitan was sensitive to any changes in her beloved.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Nooo! There’s definitely something going on!”
Shaitan persisted. I decided to share my concerns since I couldn’t keep them bottled up.
“You see… lying, it’s not a good thing, right?”
“You’re saying that, Viper-kun!?”
“I’m living honestly.”
Shaitan was surprised, as she didn’t know about my decision to live without lies and betrayal. It was understandable that she would be shocked.
“Huh? Have you two known each other for a long time? You Know about
Viper from before,” Ryuuki asked.
“W-Well! V-Viper-kun’s story is famous even in the demon world!”
Ryuuki’s question caught Shaita off guard, and she answered hastily. This klutzy boss always ended up making mistakes so quickly.
“Viper, you’re amazing…”
Irio, taking Shaitan’s spontaneous lie at face value, believed it wholeheartedly.
“The demon world is far away from here. It’s insane to think that his reputation would reach there… Irio, what Shaitan said earlier was just her own joke,” Ryuuki explained.
“Oh, man, you really startled me!”
“Well… you know, there are times when you just have to lie to hide the truth, right? It’s like a heavy burden on your conscience… It can be really tough,”
Viper began, sharing his thoughts. It was a serious topic, and all three of us listened attentively. Shaitan was the first to speak up.
“You shouldn’t let that bother you so much. Sometimes, there’s no choice but to lie to hide certain things. Revealing the truth when it’ll only hurt the other person isn’t always the right thing to do. Viper-kun, isn’t it just that you want to feel better? Speaking the absolute truth doesn’t necessarily equal sincerity,” Shaitan said, unexpectedly touching upon a deep issue and making me reconsider my opinion of Shaitan. But She was right. Revealing everything could be cruel.
“Indeed… speaking the absolute truth doesn’t necessarily equal sincerity,” I nodded deeply as I watched Ariniki chatting and laughing with her friends. We had to keep the fact that Shaitan and I were reincarnators a secret, and if it required telling a lie, so be it.
I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if it ever got out. Would they accept it, or would they abandon us? The thought made my stomach churn.
Lost in these complex emotions, I blinked and then stood up from my seat. “Shaitan, do you need water?”
“Oh… yes, please,” Shaitan replied.
◆
The moment Viper got up to pour water, Ryuuki lowered his voice and addressed Irio and Shaitan. “Hey… you guys, didn’t Viper seem a bit off just now?”
“Yeah, he seemed less energetic than usual… like he was genuinely troubled about something,” Irio added.
“We couldn’t hear what was bothering him, but… he kept looking at Ariniki the whole time, right? At one point, he even looked like he was about to cry… Could it be… Viper’s hiding something… like an affair?”
“Viper getting involved with someone else? Unbelievable…”
Ryuuki and Irio exchanged glances and continued to watch Viper’s back.
“Eh… w-wait! There’s no way that’s true! It’s Viper-kun! He’s definitely loyal—uh, I mean, it’s nothing!”
Shaitan recalled her recent blunder and decided she had to act as if she didn’t know anything about Viper. Despite being a devoted fangirl who had immersed herself in official settings, bought doujinshi, and written her own dream stories about her favorite character, Shaitan had to remind herself that, for now, she had to treat Viper as just another stranger.
“From a woman’s perspective, do you think so too? Maybe he regrets cheating…” Ryuuki pondered.
“I wonder…,” Shaitan replied vaguely.
Shaitan shut down her thought process, behaving like a robot, and gave only ambiguous responses.
“In my opinion, we should tell him as friends,” Ryuuki said, taking a firm stance.
“Yeah, I agree. We can’t let Viper suffer alone. If he’s hiding something, we should hide it together. We need to share the burden,” Irio added.
Shaitan, feeling overwhelmed by their thought process muttered, “Teetee… teetee…”
◆
I returned to my seat with the water, only to find Ryuuki and Irio looking rather serious. Shaitan was still staring down, lost in thought.
As I sat down, Ryuuki adopted a formal tone and addressed me, “Viper.”
“W-What’s going on? Why the sudden formality?”
“Well, you see… as friends, if you’re going through something, we want you to talk to us about it. You don’t have to confess to her. We’ll share the burden with you. And if it comes to it and you can’t repair the relationship, we’ll cry together. Basically… we think leaving things as they are now isn’t the best approach.”
Ryuuki spoke with warmth, but I had no idea what he was talking about.
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Viper, you cheated on her, right?”
What?! What were they even discussing?
For the next few hours, I found myself passionately defending my innocence and trying to prove just how much I loved Ariniki. It felt like a punishment more than anything else.
