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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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On the second day of the competition, I had said I would just watch from the stands and cheer, but Sen insisted on dragging me to sit in the dugout where the players were waiting.
I thought I might end up sitting there alone, but Eve, dressed in her cheerleader outfit, came bouncing over like a rabbit.
“Daniel! Did you see me cheering just now? I didn’t mess up any moves!”
I had thought she had gotten everything wrong.
I was prepared to comfort her when she came, thinking she had been stumbling through it on her own, but she was much brighter than I expected.
“Yeah, you did well.”
I didn’t have anything else to say.
As Tana had said before, Eve was going to dominate with her physique anyway.
It would be hard to find someone with Eve’s physique not just in Aios, but in all of Pales as well.
“Um, excuse me.”
Just then, one of the male mana volleyball team members cautiously approached Eve.
“Yes, what is it?”
He looked like a second-year student, but he was still using formal speech.
Come to think of it, I didn’t think I’d ever heard Eve speak informally.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
I glanced behind him and saw other boys in the same uniform whispering and looking our way.
It seemed they were all curious, and this one had been chosen to be their flagbearer.
Eve made a troubled expression, then glanced at me and said,
“I’m sorry, but there’s someone I like.”
“…Oh, I see.”
The boy followed Eve’s gaze to me, glared, and then left.
Hey, he was so polite to Eve, but to me…
“I’m a senior too, you know.”
I said with a hollow laugh as I watched him continue to glare at me, but he didn’t seem to hear.
“That’s the fourth one already.”
“Huh? That many have asked you in just two days?”
It was true that with her glasses off and her braided hair let down, she didn’t give off the usual quiet, bookworm vibe, but still.
Somehow, her polite rejections seemed quite practiced.
“No, that’s the fourth one today. Yesterday there were about seven. Especially after the competition ended, a lot came from the Pales side.”
“Hmm?”
Eve plopped down next to me with a disgruntled expression.
“I thought a certain someone would be there to protect me, but they weren’t.”
“……”
I had been busy retrieving the betting winnings Bertia had placed yesterday, so I didn’t have time to pay attention to the others.
Of course, I didn’t tell her that.
It seemed Eve had been quite troubled by other boys swarming her while I was absent.
“What if I had been! Dragged away by other people! Or forcibly! You know?!”
For a moment, I felt a chill as I recalled the Charlie Kraush incident but Eve raised her fist and said,
“Of course, I delivered forgiveness punches to those who crossed the line. I forgave them for trying to put their hands on me.”
“Right, that’s good.”
“But Tana didn’t forgive them.”
So she meant that she and Tana had beaten up the boys who crossed the line among those who approached them.
I had made them exercise to raise them strong, but…
“You’ve become too strong.”
“What?”
“Nothing, more importantly, don’t move so vigorously.”
The cheerleader outfit was loose, so even small movements were greatly accentuated.
As if she had forgotten about it, Eve stared at me blankly for a moment before blushing and hurriedly adjusting her clothes.
“Ahem, anyway. Since Daniel didn’t protect me, don’t you think you should grant me one request?”
“How did it turn into that?”
“I’m just forcing a connection. And I’m also upset that you pretended your right hand was broken.”
You’ve become quite brazen.
Alright, I’ll listen because you’re cute.
“Is there something you want to buy? I’ve come into quite a bit of money recently.”
I had enough to live comfortably without working now.
I had received about half of what we’d taken from the pirates.
It was me who had told Elise to go all-in on the events I was participating in when we heard from Lavender about the gambling den and it was me who actually secured the victory.
Lastly, it was me who caught and beat up the pirates trying to escape after hearing Lavender’s report.
The pirates had stashed away quite a lot of money, so it had been a time of both financial and emotional abundance.
However, Eve puffed out her cheeks and poked my side with her finger.
“Do you think I’m with you because of money?”
“No… that’s not it.”
When people have money, they develop a habit of trying to solve everything with it.
As I apologized, Eve took out a book from her bag that she had stashed in the corner.
“Please read this and write a book report!”
“Can’t we just settle it with money?”
“W-Well, you’ll be bored on the carriage ride back to Aios tomorrow anyway, right?”
“Well, I guess that’s true.”
I glanced at the book’s title.
“Jasmine Blooming in the Library?”
Was it a romance novel?
Well, Eve did like old books, but she was also quite interested in romance novels.
I took the book and skimmed through it.
“A story about an academy delinquent and a librarian?”
This seemed somewhat familiar.
There were even illustrations inside.
A bespectacled librarian was smiling as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Looking at Eve, she confidently mimicked the exact same action as in the illustration, as if she had been waiting for this moment.
“W-Well? What do you think?”
“The intention is so obvious it’s a bit heavy-handed. But I’ll read it anyway.”
“Immerse yourself while reading. You know, try to imagine a friend who reads often and wears glasses.”
“Isn’t that a bit too blatant?”
“What does it matter? May calls you her husband.”
That girl was always the problem.
The reason delinquents were bad was not just their behavior, but how they muddied the waters for the normal kids around them.
“……”
As I was chatting with Eve about various things, a small girl suddenly stood in front of us.
“Sen? Weren’t you practicing?”
I thought the mana volleyball match was about to start soon, so I wondered what she was doing here.
Sen looked down at me sitting with my arms crossed.
Being looked down upon by Sen felt quite fresh and somewhat strange.
Anyway, she spoke with a rather displeased expression.
“You were brought here to cheer for me.”
“Yeah, I know.”
You forcibly dragged me here, after all.
“Don’t play around, cheer.”
“……”
“I’ll be watching.”
Hey, you should be watching the ball during the game, not me.
Anyway, Sen gave me a warning with a sharp glare typical of the Chokugen Faction before heading back to her teammates.
But Eve, who had been sitting next to me, stared blankly at her before poking my side again.
“Wasn’t it because of me that you were here?”
“…Huh?”
Ah, so that was what she had misunderstood.
No wonder she had seemed more cheerful than usual.
“Well, you know. It’s a bit of both?”
“Ah, a bit of both?”
Eve crossed her arms and crossed her legs, drawing out the last words.
I just want to go home.
No, not to my hometown, but back to the Demon Realm Forest to settle down.
“Are you going to read the book?”
Eve was now trying to take the book away.
I quickly tightened my grip and pulled the book back.
“Of course! I’ll read it. It looks interesting.”
I answered with an awkward smile, and Eve turned her gaze towards the volleyball court with a snort.
It seemed she was quite upset.
“Hey, there she is.”
“Wow, she looks amazing with her arms crossed.”
“Damn, her chest is insane.”
Male students were approaching, glancing around.
They didn’t look like they were from our school, shouldn’t they not be coming in here like this?
Without paying attention to their surroundings, they approached Eve and asked cockily.
“Wow, a real goddess. Aren’t you bored over there?”
“Why don’t you come have coffee with us outside?”
“Wow, even your sweat smells sweet.”
I immediately stood up, ready to intervene.
Thank you, you idiots! I’ll express my gratitude by not breaking anything while I give you a chance to score points with Eve!
But instead, Eve burst out at them.
“Can’t you see I’m with my boyfriend right now?!”
I froze in the position of getting up from my chair.
The Pales delinquents glanced at me and grumbled.
“What, she had a boyfriend?”
“Hey, why are you shouting? It’s not like we did anything wrong.”
“Wait, isn’t that the guy? The big shot from yesterday’s battle soccer.”
Why use the term ‘big shot’ when you could just say I played well?
One of them, clearly displeased with Eve’s reaction, reached out and grabbed her shoulder.
“Let’s go outside. We’ll talk outside.”
The guys were trying to take Eve outside.
I thought this was my cue to step in again, but…
Whack!
Eve’s fist connected squarely with the jaw of the guy who had grabbed her shoulder, and he collapsed on the ground, drooling.
“Huff, I’ll forgive you,” Eve said, blowing on her fist to cool it.
“You crazy bitch!”
“Why are you suddenly throwing punches!”
The other two rushed at her, but Eve leaned back, snatched the book she had given me, and used its corner to strike one of them on the head, sending him flying.
“I’m forgiving you for the sexual harassment you’ve been doing since earlier.”
“S-Shit.”
The last remaining guy stepped back after seeing his two friends collapse.
But Eve approached him, clenching her fist, with an expressionless face.
“I’ll forgive you for swearing, so come here.”
“W-Wait a sec…!”
Whack!
I almost applauded as I watched her punch land perfectly, twisting her waist just as I had taught her.
Was this really the same Eve who used to pant heavily just from running?
Other students and professors came over asking what the commotion was about.
We briefly explained the situation, adding that Pales students had snuck into our dugout despite it being our area.
As the commotion settled down and the mana volleyball match began, I shook my head and muttered.
“She’s not my little Eve anymore. She’s just big Eve now.”
I wondered when she had grown up so much, but Eve, who had been listening beside me, turned her head slightly and asked,
“Is that sexual harassment? I’ll forgive you for it.”
Seeing her immediately clench her fist, I hurriedly waved my hands.
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[EVE FTW (may and tana still best girls tho) ]
