Sidestory Chapter 2 The Student Council President and the Club
One week has passed since we were summoned to this world as heroes. We will have free activities tomorrow. I mean this is a good time to dissolve our current party and to form a new one. For now, let’s find people who want to defeat the demon king.
Right now, we are obligated to give a report to kingdom from time to time. The kingdom will be in trouble if they suppress us too much, so they give us some freedom. Of course, commissions are from the kingdom…
I will dissolve the current party and form a new one. There was talk about not forming a student council’s party, and I agreed to it, too. I’m going to dissolve our party, and Mizuhara, Orihara and Kino also agree with this plan.
I don’t want to talk about this, but I can’t ignore the fact Orihara has a part in it…
That’s right, Mizuhara seems to prefer going on adventures alone. I guess she wants to run after Shindo.
Mizuhara’s gift is <Sword Master>, making her a master swordsman. Not just a master of it, either. It allows her to use manga-like secret moves, too. She is strong, without a doubt, and good enough to go solo. I offered to go with her, but she flat-out refused.
About Kino…I don’t know. When I talked about dissolving the party, she just nodded. Well, Kino is more likely a person who talks with action rather than words.
Kino’s gift is <Color Variation> which creates bubbles of different colors which can give advantage to or hinder an effect when touching it, like support magic. Or buff and debuff, in game terms. You could say her gift is as a technique master.
Today was our last group activity, and we were summoned to the hall in the royal palace for a buffet party. It is the third big event for us in this world. The first and second weren’t very good stories. I mean… one of us is dead, and now we have to hold the funeral.
We were summoned here as heroes, and we have powerful gifts. However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t die. We still die easily, especially if we are careless. Actually, those two who died were killed by low-ranked monsters because they were careless.
After confirming the details, those two people were game otaku and enjoyed this world like they were in a game. Perhaps that’s the reason they lowered their guard and were killed. (Spec: Hardcore mode XP)(TLC: Is there any other mode?)
This world is like a game, but it’s not a game. It still hurts when we we’re hit, and there is no method of reviving dead people nor for regrowing missing limbs. Without that realism, I think this world would be like a good game, just on my whim… (Spec: Sakura, what do you want to say about this? XD)(TLC:Only if it’s for Jin-sama ?)
The death of a hero seems to be a serious matter, as well as scale of the funerals. However, there are only empty coffins because we couldn’t recover their bodies. By the way, the church is holding the funeral service. The state religion of this country is called “Goddess religion”. Because God exists, it is natural to have that religion.
In addition to the two who are dead, there are five missing people, as well.
One of them seems to have disappeared before I noticed. Because he wasn’t on the list of heroes when we confirmed our gifts, I’m certain he disappeared during that time. Or perhaps, he wasn’t summoned to this world? That’s impossible, though, because he was in the first group who spoke out when we were summoned into this world.
He complained about hero summoning, and now he is missing. So… it is natural to suspect this country. After investigating this, though, it appears doubtful that this country had nothing to do with it. In the first place, it isn’t easy to remove someone who doubts this country without being noticed by anyone.
Honestly, this case is a dead end. There is too little information. I have nothing to do but give up…
The remaining four people are in different situations. Their behavior wasn’t good in our former world. In fact, you could say they are delinquents, but they were leaders of their respective groups.
They were recognized as people who hated to be ordered around, so they slipped out on their own. The question is: Why didn’t they take their group member with them. Nobody knows their current whereabouts, at all.
Honestly, I don’t think people will want to break away after coming to a different world just a week in. There are a handful of adults among us, too, but they are busy on their own and have no time to take care of students. Unfortunately, there is no one among us who could take a leadership role.
Me? Student council president is actually focused on work behind the scenes. I’m not a person to put myself in front of everyone. From today forward, we will act on our own. It won’t change anything if someone is going to take charge now.
Well, I have to prepare myself to attend this buffet party. Why? Because I have to “talk with Orihara”. The last time I talked to him, I heard about relationship between he and Shindo. I’m not sure, but I think can understand his reasoning. In addition, he might need to fight with Shindo, depending on the situation…
The problem is Orihara’s position. I want to confirm whether he is with us or against us, when it comes to the hero. From our previous conversation, he was “making Shindo’s story interesting”, and he “doesn’t care about the demon king”, which isn’t the stance of a hero. I might need to take action if Orihara is against us.
Since we’ve always been in the same party, he normally listens to my decisions. However, Orihara’s awareness is really high.
Because of that, too, we’ve had few conversations in the party lately. Orihara is hard to deal with, so I want to have as little to do with him as possible. Mizuhara won’t talk with Orihara, either, because of Shindo’s instructions. Kino usually doesn’t talk, and Orihara doesn’t talk much, either. The result is that we have little conversation.
We are going to dissolve today. In short, this is my last chance.
I’d been looking for Orihara for a while… There. A tower of plates. I think the huge amount of plates piled up nearby might be unrelated. He is eating at such an amazing pace. Because Orihara’s gift is strength by eating, I’m sure he is the strongest person now that we’ve been here for a week.
By the way, Orihara’s gift is “unlimited eating”. In short, it is the source of Orihara’s appetite. Oh, I’ve heard he can eat poison, too. Hmm… Come to think of it, isn’t that the same as <Poison Immunity>? Right?
I approach Orihara and call out to him.
[Orihara, thanks for today. Can I talk with you for a little while?]
[Oh, Kudo-san, thanks for today. Talk? I don’t mind.]
I pick some food from nearby. There’s not much left here. It’s strange. Hmm… No, it is because of Orihara, no matter how I think about it.
[I want to ask something, Orihara.]
[What is it?]
[You said before that you are hostile toward Shindo, right?]
[Yeah, I did.]
[Is Orihara going to be hostile towards other heroes?]
A straight question. Orihara is hard to deal with, and I don’t think I will get anything from him by lying. I don’t think it needs to become uncomfortable. If he is the kind of person who will fight against his childhood friend so openly, then it would be easy for him to fight with other people.
[That’s right. I don’t plan to do that right now. Heroes could become supporting characters in Shindo’s story. Their fighting is unrelated to me, and there are no highlights. That is unworthy.]
I think Orihara thinks about this world as if it were like a manga. I can’t comprehend that, but I can understand him. In short, heroes might appear in Shindo’s story as support characters. It seems he is unworthy to become that kind of character himself.
But it is the opposite: he will do anything to make Shindo’s story become interesting…
[Then you won’t harm other people who aren’t related to Shindo’s story, right?]
[Hmm… I can’t guarantee that I won’t have either malice or hostility.]
[Isn’t that the same?]
[No, it is different. Completely different, primarily because people are really familiar with malice or hostility.]
Orihara keeps explaining while he’s still eating.
[For example, if Kudo-san wants to eat beef, that is virtually like saying you want the cow to “die”. That is malice, but won’t that cow feel malice towards you? Even if you think there is no malice, there usually is.]
In short, we exist because of “malice”…
Orihara’s example is easy to understand. But… Orihara said to kill a cow for the beef, so it isn’t essentially different to kill heroes… No, humans for the sake of story?
Since this conversation just took a turn to the worse, I try to change the topic.
[Then, what are you going to do from now on, Orihara? Do you want to kill the demon king?]
[I already said I don’t care about the demon king. What do I intend to do? Hmm… Work behind the scenes…]
His tone sounds threatening again… But working behind the scenes for Shindo’s story… Even if there is a stray bullet…
It seems what I did yielded a great result. It will be bad if Orihara is going to fight against heroes. It will be worse if he cooperates with heroes. Won’t it be bad if he becomes an ally?
So, no matter how it turns out, it will be bad, That’s for sure. It’ll be perfect as long as we don’t get caught up in Shindo’s story. Although the possibility of being hit by stray bullet isn’t zero…
[If you can, I don’t want you to be the cause of too much collateral damage…]
[Haha, I will be careful.]
A straight respond from this kind of guy…
[Orihara-sama, we come with more food.]
A group of four people approached us. There are two boys and two girls. All of them have food in both hands, and they’re probably bringing it for Orihara.
A tall girl is the first one who speaks. Her height is almost 180 cm. Didn’t she just say “Orihara-sama”? Why?
[Th-Thank you. My food is about to be gone soon.]
Most of the food on Orihara’s plate is almost gone. He was still eating while talking with me, but he only chews several time before swallow. Before I noticed, the food has already disappeared.
Those four people put more food on a nearby table.
[Who are they?]
I ask Orihara. No, I just want to know what kind of students they are, not their relationship with Orihara.
[They are my party members. I’m a party leader, and the party’s name is “Gourmet”… No, it’s the “Gourmet Club.” They are the big four.]
I never heard of that party’s name before. They aren’t complaining about the food, so it is might unrelated to it. What on earth is that “big four”? If Orihara becomes the boss, this four people will stand in front of Shindo, right?
[Wasn’t Orihara-sama telling you a little while ago? But I still think it’s a little strange…]
[Yeah, that’s right. We were saved by Orihara-sama. We respect him, and it is normal for us to work for him.]
The other three people nod. In other words, they respect Orihara and joined his party. I broke out a cold sweat, knowing their personal history.
[Did he do some kind of favor?]
[I’m sorry. I can’t tell you that because it’s a secret for members only.]
[I see… Too bad.]
Orihara finished his food and changed over to the next plate. When it was done, he just smiled at me.
[They are the owners of interesting abilities. They are useful to me.]
Orihara is interested in their gifts, but it will be hard for me to know what they have. Most of the heroes don’t talk in detail about their gifts. This is sensitive information. Although I could ask about it from people in this country, I’d only get an outline.
[I see… It seems your companions are here, so I should end my conversation now. Sorry for taking your time.]
[No, I don’t mind.]
I leave Orihara behind. Hmm… Let’s think about the information. I think I received some damage just from talking with Orihara alone… But not just that… Besides…
Those people. They were bullied by the group of four missing people from our former world… (Spec: O_o)(TLC: Indeed)
Four people were saved; four people are missing, and they are the same people who bullied those four… I don’t know how Orihara saved them, but I don’t think it’s unrelated to those four people.
Orihara told me he has no merit to fight with unrelated heroes. In short, it means he might fight with related people, and I think that’s more likely, considering Orihara’s character.
I don’t think he will let me obtain any evidence easily, either. These missing cases are completely unsolved mysteries…
Orihara might already be beyond saving. Are you an enemy? He might be. Is he going to take proper steps to avoid collateral damage? The worst case has happened already. *sigh* It is completely useless…
I pray I won’t be dragged into Shindo’s story after this.
Or maybe I should just find Shindo and lie prostrate on the ground while telling him this.
[Please stop Orihara!](TLC: Save that line for later…)
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