Chapter 70: Unattainable Love
“I don’t actually remember much about what happened immediately after I was transferred to the other world.”
For Emi Otomezaki, this group transfer was even more shocking than her encounter with Yuri.
Unable to adapt to the sudden change in circumstances, she panicked and her mind went blank.
She remembers Sayaka trembling in her chest, and some of the students rushing to denounce Ran. And then Tarao dismissed him.
There was some sort of argument, and it was decided Kirishima Ran was kicked out, and each of them, was given skills to fight, and they had to overthrow the demon king to return to the original world - honestly, Emi dislikes the situation she’s in now. Because of this all her classmates became suspicious of each other, one of ‘her’ friends was kicked out.
Yuri and Sayaka, perhaps out of concern for Emi, did not tell her in detail why Ran had been kicked out.
Emi is not a princess in a cage. No matter how careful her friends are, information and rumors are bound to leak out from somewhere. Emi has also found out about the situation to some extent through rumours. There are a lot of self-serving rumors going around that Ran was given the skill to humiliate women, or that he was given a skill that the humans in the royal court didn’t want, so he was disposed of as a failure. Emi even felt sorry for Ran, as she hadn’t seen some of them defend Ran. They had blatantly hated each other out with human hatred and jealousy.
A mistake on the part of the Royal Court has given him skill that is despised by all of his class - and it has cost his young life.
But now, knowing the whole situation, she would not perceive Kirishima Ran as a complete victim. This is the kind of peaceful thinking that is typical of Emi - or rather of modern Japanese people.
Anyway, what Emi is currently thinking about - or worrying about - has nothing to do with her classmate’s exclusion.
In the moonlit bedroom, Emi slams her paperback book shut.
The only personal item Emi brought to the other world was a book. Original language that can be deciphered without translation magic - a novel written in familiar Japanese. Until she got used to this life, she was crying every night, and it was wet with tears and runny nose, and it was tattered.
“……If you’re going to be summoned to another world, at least we should have been summoned by a prince, or a knight with a taste for young girls (JK).”
Fumbling with the novel she has read so many times, Emi tilts her face to the window.
Why, of all places, was she summoned to a male-oriented world? If the ideal of Yuri and Emi - and maybe Sayaka - was to be fulfilled, Emi would have preferred to be summoned to the world of (fake) medieval Europe or shoujo manga.
Like Emi had been reading on countless books - surrounded by handsome men who hold their position and wealth in the world, they’ll love her from the bottom of their hearts (although it would be fun to be left alone, given only the basis of life and to do as she please), and continue to live a happy life! -Emi wished she could have been summoned to such a different world.
After transferring to this world, Emi has always dreamed about it.
“But that’s not what I want right now……”
Emi bites the edge of her lip as she feels a tightening in her chest, a feeling that is probably different from infatuation.
“No, it’s not. It can’t be. This can’t be right.”
“I thought I was more understanding than the average person, but…… It’s true that it’s hard to admit when I’m in a situation like that……”
Emi meditates, completely shutting out all visual information. She felt behind my eyelids the sight of squishy reds and yellows popping against a dark brown background, and then she exhaled deeply.
The image of a girl appears.
A smile, a surprised face, a sulking face, an angry face… faces with all kinds of emotions appear and disappear into the darkness.
Each time Emi remembers the face, she feels some sort of heaviness in her heart. It’s a little different from the warmth that comes slowly. It is a weight of steel, a mixture of guilt and coldness.
“I hate, hate, hate the way my heart accepts the hugs and glances and touches of friendship as pseudo-sexuality.”
She doesn’t understand how she can accept pure friendship as lust.
“Since when? So, when did I start to be troubled by this mysterious feeling?”
When she was transferred to another world and cried every night for my hometown, this feeling didn’t bother her so much.
When Emi finally got used to it, and was able to talk to Yuri and Sayaka. She remembered getting really excited in front of the scene where Haruto Tanaka confessed his love to Yuri.
It was around the time Emi started bathing with everyone in her class. In the first place, Emi does not suffer from the same sensation as before when she sees the bodies of other girls.
Emi remembered when she was sure of the change.
When she saw Yuri sleeping unguardedly in the royal library, which is free to come and go - when she saw her drooling comfortably with her arms on the pillow. It is true that she remembers having different feelings than friendship.
In the beginning, she thought she was simply trying to wake up her best friend who was sleeping in a strange position.
The sound of her breathing and the sight of her vulnerable face. She found herself staring at her sleeping face from the distance of her breath.
At the time, reason overcame her desire and she stopped herself before she could do anything. At the time, Emi was completely convinced that Yuri was a “girl”.
Even the slightly excessive friendliness characteristic of Yuri makes Emi’s heart beat faster.
It’s probably not meant to be deep. But Yuri has no qualms about hugging Emi, burying her face in her hair and sniffing her, and without question - exposing her bare skin right in front of Emi’s eyes.
“You’re so defenseless, Fujiyoshi-san.”
When Emi jokingly suggested that she should wipe herself down, Yuri unsuspectingly took off her clothes in front of her. Emi was sure Yuri would never understand the filthy feelings of lust and guilt that swirled inside her at that moment. But she doesn’t want her to understand at all.
“Just a few minutes ago, I would have recognized her as an ordinary classmate’s female body. Why is it that the depths of my heart are stirring like this?”
“More than anything, I felt like a cowardly - and very ugly - creature for harboring such unpleasant feelings towards Yuri, who had trusted Emi to expose her naked body to me.”
That’s why Emi turned away from her own discomfort and acted as stoutly as she could.
She did not want to let anyone know that she was harboring unpleasant feelings for Yuri, so she faked her own true feelings.
As before - as best friends of the same sex, the three of them, including Sayaka, could spend time together.
But it was impossible.
The more she thinks she can’t do it, the more she thinks of Yuri.
Is this really love? Is it the same as heterosexual love - lust?
Or is it simply an extension of unadulterated friendship?
If so, what is the weight of this buzzing chest?
“—Ah.”
She rests her face against her writing desk, tormented by the strange feelings that dominate her mind. A cool sensation caresses her cheek, and as she sighs, a red blob appears in her vision.
It was Yuri’s glasses that she was wearing at breakfast today. She left them in the dining room and Emi brought it back.
The lenses are made of a flat glass, which makes them feel a little lighter than the glasses Emi usually wears.
After playing with them with her fingertips, being careful not to drop them, Emi put them away in her glasses case.
Yuri’s eyesight is 2.0 in both eyes. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem if she lost her non-integrated glasses.
There is a part of Emi that wants to see Yuri, no matter what the reason.
“She must be worried about her glasses. I’ll have to give them back to Fujiyoshi.”
Emi uses a light green hair clip to tuck away her fringes and combs her long black hair down her back. In preparation for the sudden transfer to another world - which, as mentioned above, assumes a princely summoner - she took out the bare minimum of cosmetic tools that she normally carries with her and dressed up inconspicuously.
It’s night time - no street lights, no fluorescent lights, it’s dark. There’s no need to get all worked up about it.
Emi puts her glasses back on and leaves her room.
Taking the utmost care not to disturb her sleep, Emi went to Yuri’s bedroom and knocked on the door.
It’s a little late in the day to be visiting someone’s room, but Yuri, like Emi, watches late night anime, so she’s probably still awake.
She waited for a while in front of Yuri’s room, her chest heaving. But for some reason, the door of the room did not open.
“…… Did she fall asleep in the library again?”
Yuri always sleeps in an unprotected place where anyone from the Royal Palace can come and go as they please. Emi had warned her before when she smelled a man’s odor while she slept.
She wondered if her warning had not reached Yuri’s heart.
Emi was not only dismayed, but she felt lonely. Were Emi’s words so insignificant to Yuri?
She had asked for it out of consideration for Yuri.
“Why is Ms. Fujiyoshi so carefree……!”
In frustration, Emi clutched her glasses case tightly.
After confirming that Yuri would not come out, Emi turned herself around and walked down the corridor lined with girls’ rooms.
◇◇◇
Lately, there have been more Kingsguard knights hanging around the girls’ room.
There is a rumor that Reika Queenigaoka has been bringing them in. The truth is unknown.
In the first place, why would a male knight guard the wing where young flowery high school girls live, of all things?
It’s not that she doesn’t trust men, but as a girl of her age, she is still concerned about them.
Emi seems to suspect someone had touched Yuri while she was asleep. She can’t assume that the people in the palace are safe.
At least make it a female Kingsguard or there is another way.
Maybe a fighting maid or something. freewebn(o)vel.com
A cold night wind blows as Emi walks to the wing where the royal library is located.
She holds her skirt, which reaches her knees, in her hands and arranges her hair with a hand comb.
She tied her winter sailor scarf back on and took a deep breath.
Emi smiles half-heartedly, thinking that she looks like a heroine who has been summoned by a handsome hero. When Emi reached the storeroom, she made sure that the light was on and then peeked out.
“Fujiyoshi-san.”
Peeking out of the doorway, Emi scanned the stacks.
There was no sign of Yuri at the writing desk against the wall.
For a moment, she wondered if she was using the bathroom, but that thought was quickly dismissed when she saw the bottle of Yuri’s mark on the writing desk.
Yuri couldn’t just leave her juice poured from the bottle in a public place like this.
Emi felt that Yuri’s bottle would not cause any harm, but for some reason she felt cautious. Careful not to make a sound, Emi entered the library, picked up the bottle and hid it under the writing desk.
The juice shimmers and chatters in the bottle. When Emi grabbed the bottle, a strange warmth seeped into her palm that was hard to describe, but she didn’t care and simply wiped her fingers with a handkerchief.
“Fujiyoshi-san”
Emi called out Yuri’s name again, but there was no answer.
Emi wondered if it was just her miscalculation and that Yuri had already gone back to her bedroom.
If that’s the case, it’s unlikely that she would return with such an embarrassing bottle on her desk - and with the light left on.
Yuri must have been taken by force - if so, where? But this is still the home of royalty - the Royal Castle. It is not likely that vagrants or perverts - in other-worldly fantasy terms, bandits or clandestine operatives would be better described - would enter from the outside, and above all, Emi doesn’t know why they would target Yuri.
Anyway, it is not good to be too optimistic. Keeping the worst case scenario in mind, Emi tiptoed into the back of the library.
As she passed by the nearest bookcase, she noticed something had fallen behind it.
“…… This is…”
In between the bookshelves - thrown away - is an elaborately sewn women’s costume that, for all intents and purposes, does not belong to this world. It was the skirt of the school uniform used by Emi and her friends at their high school, if she may be so bold as to describe it.
Emi’s thoughts stopped at the unexpected drop. If this is Yuri’s skirt, it means that there is a very good chance that she is involved in such a thing.
Emi didn’t consider Yuri would voluntarily throw her skirt away.
If it were a mystery, this would be an important clue. Emi is not involved in a suspense or mystery, but in a male class transfer fantasy. She wonders if it’s common in male fantasies for skirts to fall off, which is not the case in the female fantasies Emi often reads.
Emi picks up her skirt, bringing her thoughts back to reality.
“What should I do here? Should I call someone to share the situation?”
But if this was just a prank by Yuri or a misunderstanding by Emi, she doesn’t want to make too big a deal out of it.
In any case, this is a problem that should not be left unattended.
In the meantime, the first thing to do is to consult with Sayaka.
“-ah”
In the midst of these thoughts, a mosquito-like voice struck Emi’s ear.
Before she could understand who it belonged to and under what circumstances it was spoken, she turned her head in the direction of the voice.
A small voice, probably that of a woman, is heard near where the skirt has fallen. What can be imagined from this situation is either disturbing or suspicious. It is a momentary fantasy, but Emi quickly dismisses the image that pops into her head.
This would no longer be a time to go and call for help or anything like that.
There is not much difference in strength and stamina between Yuri and Emi, who are both indoor and cultural types. Compared to Yuri, who stays indoors during the day to make maps, Emi, who wears fighting spirit and is trained in attack skills, is a little stronger.
The skills given to Yuri are not aggressive, so she has no way to resist if someone attacks her.
Emi’s skill is [Tentacle Restraint Violence Execution] - a unique magic that allows her to create tentacle-like masses and manipulate them at will.
“I don’t know if I’d be able to face him head on, but if I could just catch him off guard, I could at least block his movement.”
“…… Fujiyoshi-san…”
Narrowing her eyes behind her glasses, Emi slides herself between the bookshelves.
Trying to make as little noise as possible, she walks towards the source of the voice. She hides herself behind the bookshelves and moves closer to the source of the voice.
As Emi walked past some of the bookshelves, she could faintly hear the rough and turbulent breathing.
“Is it anger, sadness or jealousy that is burning inside me?”
If it was anger, was it anger at an unknown enemy who was forcibly raping a defenceless woman? Or is it sadness, mixed with loneliness, for Yuri, who doesn’t care about Emi’s attentions and is going through the same thing? Or is it…?
Turning away from the last emotion, Emi manifests a light green tentacle in the void. These tentacles will be enough to bind an individual.
She is ready to move at any moment, and then peeks out from the bookcase.
The man’s back is reflected in Emi’s field of vision as he squirms lasciviously. She can’t see his face from this angle, but she can see exactly where the attacker is.
“Now all I need to do is make sure that this man is raping is Yuri.”
Emi tilts her body at an angle, clinging to her selfish dream that the person she is being raped by is someone other than Yuri.
But before Emi could see the figure, the answer to her question was revealed to her by the other side.
“Fyunaa,nyaa,hywaaa…If you hit me that hard, I’ll go crazy in the pit of my stomach!”
A familiar voice strikes Emi’s ear. Yuri’s voice, though laced with a flirtatious quality compared to her usual voice, was not something she could mistake.
It’s definitely Yuri’s voice. Right now, on the other side of this bookcase, a man from who knows where is raping Yuri.
Feeling angry, sad and jealous all at the same time, Emi turns her head to see the scene.
She imagined saving her best friend from the clutches of evil, and she sashayed out from behind the bookshelf like an anime or manga hero. But what she saw through her glasses was so different from what she had expected.
“-Eh?”
The scene in her brain and the scene she actually saw intersected and created a difference.
It’s not that Emi didn’t think about the worst case scenario, where a bizarre murderer gleefully attacks Yuri.
However, the situation that Emi witnessed did not match everything that she had dreamed of.
The situation was exactly what Emi had expected. A strange man was pushing an ugly thing into the important part of Yuri’s body and indulging in his own selfish pleasure - there was no doubt about it.
“Ahhh…here…wait…this ba…d, ah…wa-it-You can’t do that! If you keep doing that, I’m going to go really crazy!”
The image of a despairing, emotionless Yuri is not there.
The image of Yuri, weeping and twitching like a meat doll, does not exist.
The image of Yuri screaming, as if begging for help, is not there.
All that exists is a lusty high school girl, swaying her hips happily, drooling and flirting with a man.
The tentacles that had been floating in the sky crumbled like sand and dissipated.
Emi’s legs, which were shoulder-width apart, twitched and twitched, and she found it difficult to even stand.
Her brain can’t register the scene unfolding in front of her.
She felt as if her vision was blurred.
She sat there stunned, staring at the sight of her favourite friend being raped in front of her.
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