All twenty-three girls from my class were present.
Adding Luminus-sensei, the vice-homeroom teacher, made for a total of twenty-four women standing around in an outdoor reception setup.
I couldn’t help but feel out of place, but I was technically an invited guest.
At the moment, I was alone, tearing into some meat.
It was extremely delicious, but since I hadn’t eaten alone in a while, I couldn’t say I didn’t feel a pang of loneliness.
Of course, this wasn’t because I was being pushed to the sidelines; it was simply the result of me trying to be considerate on my end.
The celebration for slaying Behemoth had been a huge hit.
The cooking duties seemed to fall primarily to Shi-on, our head chef—a clear-cut, beautiful girl—Loa, a capable maid with a gentle demeanor—and Nagahata, the plant magic specialist from Sumpho’s party.
Nagahata wasn’t outdone in her gentleness, but while Loa channeled that soft air into the service of a loyal maid, Nagahata gave off the vibe of a “kind mother to friends.”
They shared another common trait: an eagerness to help others. Perhaps it was precisely because they had these similarities that they got along so well in class, but from my perspective, they were different despite their likeness.
Since the celebration started, everyone had been grilling meat and vegetables on their own, but Shi-on continued preparing other dishes to offer as well.
The rice balls were disappearing at a furious pace—partly due to their nostalgic appeal—which was enough for several people to step up and offer to help.
Shion seems genuinely happy when she’s cooking, radiating a sense of fulfillment.
While there’s likely a desire to be useful for the party, it comes across that she is purely passionate about cooking.
Roa, dressed as a maid, works diligently, assisting Shion while also handling the serving duties.
She is probably using her 『Ability to Know What People Want』, distributing the food with precision by saying “Here you go” in a way that every girl reacts with surprise before bursting into joy.
Gathered around Head Chef Shion is the complete Sakko group.
At the center of the group is Sakko, a delinquent-style girl known for her kindness to anyone.
“Hey, good job everyone~!”
Responding to Sakko’s cheer is Ume, a lively black dyed-delinquent and the group’s mood-maker.
“Weee! If you guys can take down something that huge, doesn’t that make us invincible?!”
“That’s not invincible.”
Shina remains in her cool, aloof character whenever I’m not around.
“U-um. I think this time went very well, but if enemies like that keep appearing, we can’t afford to get complacent.”
Genju, the tall girl from the volleyball club, seems to serve as the group’s brake upon closer inspection.
She still shows signs of tension when speaking to me, but I recall her frequently using cautionary language in their conversations among themselves.
Upon hearing the words of Seline and Genchu, Juna slumped her shoulders. “I get it… I was just trying to liven things up…” As she said this, one of the girls patted her back gently with a thump-thump motion.
“Ahaha, you were in the same boat as me, Juna-chan. Neither of us got to contribute, right? But I totally get that sentiment about trying to boost the morale~”
I was Aoi Minami, the last member, someone with whom I had almost no interaction.
She was a lively girl from the swimming club with inward-crimped hair. Her distinctive features were the pins holding back the side hair and her healthy tan.
“That’s what it is~ Aoi-chan~”
Juna dramatically hugged Minami, and in return, Minami patted Juna’s hair while saying, “Yoshi yoshi, there we go.”
“Mm. I understand how you both feel.”
Shion smiled as she voiced her agreement with Juna and Minami.
“Shion is amazing! You’ve got everyone’s stomachs in your grasp!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’d heard you cooked, but isn’t that beyond the level of an ordinary high school girl?”
At those words from Shion, the energetic duo reacted instantly.
“Oh come on, there’s no need to dwell on that. What was it, ‘putting the right stone in the right place’?”
“Do you mean ‘the right material for the right place’?”
“Exactly!”
Seirina corrects Shouko’s slip of the tongue.
Normally, Fukami would be the one to point it out, but I suppose roles shift when the members do.
Watching from a slight distance, I find even such trivial differences enjoyable.
As for Fukami, the earnestly serious beauty who had just come to mind as a class committee member, she was having some kind of conversation with Inbun, the gloomy girl in the literary club who possesses the ability to manipulate shadows.
Because they were a bit further away, I couldn’t quite make out the words of their conversation.
”…-kun… truly… …team?”
“Eh? Uh, yes. Is something… happening?”
“N-N-No, not at all… You just… what kind of…” “What? T-That’s…”
All I could tell was that Fukami was blushing.
Inbun’s cheeks were flushed as well, and she seemed to be trying to coax something out of Fukami.
While it did pique my curiosity, intentionally eavesdropping would be a breach of etiquette.
I shifted my gaze, roughly scanning the area to locate the others.
Professor Luminous seemed concerned about the students and was making her rounds, checking in on them one by one.
Perhaps it was reassuring to see a familiar adult face in such dire circumstances; some students teared up while others threw themselves into their teachers’ arms.
The teacher returned the embrace with a gentle expression, clearly overjoyed to be reunited with the students.
As for my childhood friend Chiya, she was surrounded by a throng of girls, being mobbed in a sea of bodies.
Well, strictly speaking, they were expressing their gratitude.
Chiya had been supposed to head over using her Healing Magic to tend to the injured members of the Seifang party and those who had broken down mentally.
The ones thanking her were likely the very students she had helped.
“Thank you, Ishiyama-san!” “I was in so much pain… but thanks to you, I feel so much better.” “Could you help us again someday…?”
Despite the outpouring of gratitude from all sides, my childhood friend remained utterly expressionless.
Chiya gave a grand, exaggerated nod before opening her mouth.
“Hm. For now, I demand meat.”
I knew she was just joking around with a pretentious air, but would the rest of the class understand?
“Meat! I’m grabbing it!” “No, let me!” “It’s my turn to go here…!”
However, my fears proved to be groundless.
At the sight of their benefactor craving meat, the girls rushed in, each trying to be first.
In just a short while out of sight, a Sengyu harem had been formed.
Catching her eye for a moment, I mouthed, “Isn’t it great being popular?” She replied instantly without missing a beat, “Not quite like you.”
With that said, I had no retort.
It seems I still have much practice to do if I want to tease her.
“Sou-suke-kun, is now a good time?”
Turned by the voice, standing there with a beaming smile was—Momo.
The beautiful little devil girl who possesses the ‘Cloning Ability’.
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