There are four key original characters from the Zilnius Academic Institute.

All of them are members of the student council, and now Toa-chan and I were about to negotiate with this student council.

Even Mikage Academy seemed eager to form an agreement, and Aohoshi Miroku-senpai’s request was swiftly approved. By noon that day, we had already arrived at the Zilnius Academic Institute.

Now, it’s a fifty-fifty chance.

『What is?』

The probability that the original characters are beautiful girls.

Out of the four, two are beautiful girls.

And the other two are charming guys.

Either way, they’re characters we revere from the original story, but if possible, I’d prefer to meet the girls. That’s just the honest truth.

Come on! Beautiful girls, come on!

『Hmm, I agree. Meeting beautiful girls would certainly be preferable. For some reason, your abilities seem to improve when you’re around them.』

Why “for some reason”? That’s just normal, isn’t it?

What are you even saying?

“This here’s the main building of Zilnius Academic Institute,” Kūna Mirume said.

Led by Mirume-chan, we craned our necks to take in the enormous building before us, mouths slightly agape.

Huge… If Kiso Academy’s main building looked like a villain’s lair, this one seemed more like a futuristic science lab—so massive it felt like a giant robot could burst out of it any moment now.

Even on the way here, we saw countless enormous structures, giving us a sense of the sheer scale of the Zilnius Academic Institute.

Compared to other schools, they specialize in a wide array of dungeon-related research—like Dive Gear development, magic applications, and ancient relic analysis—so they attract a lot of support from companies in those fields.

Everything here is meticulously maintained, from holographic traffic signals to the perfectly pruned street trees, making it clear how much human effort has gone into crafting this place.

It truly felt like a near-future city.

“It’s huge…”
“Yeah. It doesn’t really feel like a school.”

“Alrighty, let’s head in! The student council room’s this way!” Mirume-chan beckoned us with a playful wave.

All we could do was obediently follow her.

Honestly, if we got separated, there was no way we’d find our way back.

“Oh, by the way, Mirume-chan, do you know the student council members? You seem pretty familiar with the place.”

In response to my question, Mirume-chan gave a casual nod.
“Yep, I owe a lot to Luka-san. I came to this city after starting high school, and she took care of me when I didn’t know my way around.”

“Ah, so you’re from outside. Must’ve been rough coming to the mainland. Reconstruction isn’t even done yet, right?”

“Haha, well, the major cities are mostly restored, and the infrastructure’s getting better.”

This world, the Lutra version of Japan, had once been on the brink of collapse.

Before the dungeons were consolidated in Hinotsuchi, there was an era when dungeons appeared all over Japan, spilling out monsters and causing chaos.

I only know about it from the principal’s flashbacks, but the damage was nearly catastrophic.

Apparently, it was the head of the Narou family who took on and conquered most of the presumed A-rank or higher dungeons around the country.

The details aren’t fully explained in the setting, but supposedly they even managed to tame one of the dungeon bosses.

With help from the Gatou family and the Mishima family, who developed Dive Gear, Japan regained its peace.

The essence of explorers is to conquer dungeons and use the treasures and technology they acquire to rebuild Japan.

“Life here is so good now that I barely remember the mainland. It feels like something from a distant past,” Mirume-chan said with a smile.

Look! A beautiful girl is smiling! She’s so cute!

『Adorable, isn’t she?』

“So, did you two come here together as kids?” I asked.

“I came when I was in sixth grade. Miroku-chan and Mizuhi-chan joined Fectom Academy in middle school, so I tagged along. I didn’t have any other friends.”

Toa-chan answered in a slightly downcast tone.

Maybe saying it out loud made her feel sad. I’m glad she’s made more friends now.

But wait—when did Narou Kei come into the picture?

Seriously, when did I join?

…Hmm, better stick with the original setting as the Narou family’s eldest son.

“I joined in middle school. Before that, I trained as an explorer at the family estate. My father used to put me through harsh training, but… yeah, life is way more fun now. No more grueling lessons.”

“Training… So the Narou family really is incredible!”

Toa-chan gazed at me with awe in her eyes.

Stop that… I don’t know anything about that stuff!

“And here we are! This is the student council room.”

Wait—why does the student council room have automatic doors?!

How much funding do they get? Our doors are wooden and fall off if you open them too hard!

There were tons of vending machines here—something we don’t have at all at Fectom General Academy. I really felt like a country bumpkin visiting the big city.

While I marveled at everything, Mirume-chan held up her Dive Gear to a device by the door.

With a soft whoosh, the door opened silently.

“Excuse me! Luka-san, are you here?!”

Mirume-chan called out loudly as soon as we entered.

Unlike the spacious student council room back at Mikage Academy, this one was a cluttered mess, like a failed moving-in attempt.

Piles of documents, scattered machines, and pipes and cables snaking everywhere made the supposedly clean white floor almost invisible.

Is this really the student council room?

“This is the right place, right?” Toa-chan asked.

I nodded hesitantly. Probably?

Come to think of it, Mirume-chan had mentioned that her own lab didn’t even have space to lie down.

Maybe this cluttered mess was just the norm at Zilnius.

“Hmm, no one’s here? Luka-san? Leon? Nico? Anybody home?!”

Mirume-chan stomped further in, her footsteps echoing.

I instinctively entered Super Mysterious Beautiful Girl Mode, upping my reflexes to make sure Toa-chan wouldn’t trip.

No way am I letting her fall!

『Oooooh! Not even a stumble allowed!』

Today, we were once again devoted to protecting beautiful girls.

It was then that a mountain of paper and circuit boards suddenly shifted and collapsed.

And from within it, a beautiful girl burst out.

“Sor… Sorciera response?! Where?! Is Sorciera here?!”

The girl, with messy blonde hair tied into a side ponytail, charged toward us, knocking over papers and machines in her path.

『 Oh no! Something got triggered!』

What the heck?!

“Oh, Luka-san, you’re here!” Mirume-chan said with relief.

“Quiet down. More importantly, there was a Sorciera response!!”

The beautiful girl holding a terminal stared at us intently.

“Are you Sorciera? Can I take a blood sample? Also, can I borrow your Dive Gear to run a quick test? And about my magic formula interpretation—”

“Luka-san! Stop! Back away from them! They’re not Sorciera!”

Mirume-chan pulled Luka-san’s lab coat, dragging her backward.

Luka-san had gotten way too close for comfort, and my heart was doing triple somersaults.

“Yeah, we’re not.”

“R-right.”

Toa-chan was trembling slightly, hiding behind me.

…This is bad.

『What’s wrong?』

If I go into Super Mysterious Beautiful Girl Mode, it’ll apparently trigger some weird reaction called a “Sorciera response.” But if I don’t, I’ll end up touching Toa-chan as a guy.

In other words, I’m a guy… being clung to by a beautiful girl!

『Judgment!』

Wait!

“Death.”』

There’s no process!? Wait, am I already done for!?

“—Eh? Aren’t you guys Sorciera?”

While my mental image of a court presided over by beautiful girls was running wild in my head, the actual girl in front of me suddenly lost all enthusiasm.

Looking closely, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she was swaying unsteadily on her feet.

“I’m sorry. I thought Sorciera had come to offer herself for experimentation after all my wishes were suddenly granted.”

“What are you even saying?”

Honestly, that’s a pretty dangerous thing to say.

『Hmm… But wouldn’t it be nice for Sorciera to be subjected to all sorts of experiments by a beautiful girl like this?』

The Starreader’s Staff has a point!

Indeed.

Still, I’d prefer to take the lead myself.

『But based on my online browsing wisdom, girls like Sorciera are almost always portrayed as submissive in doujin works.』

What kind of biased surfing are you doing!? I’m going to put a filter on your connection so you can only see wholesome sites!

“Ah, let me formally introduce her. This is Luka, the vice president of the student council. Luka-san, these people are my benefactors—Toa-chan and Kei from Fectom Academy.”

Toa-chan and I bowed our heads politely.

Hmm… So this is Utsumi Luka, one of the original characters from the source material.

She’s more of a beauty than a cute type.

As an apprentice of beautiful girls, I’ll learn from her.

“Ah, hello. I’m Utsumi Luka. Oh, and here’s the signed agreement.”

““What!?””

Luka casually opened a window, sliding a document toward us.

Moments later, my Dive Gear received a file transfer notification.

…Agreement approved!

“Well, I’ll take my leave. I’m about to take a nap for the first time in 96 hours.”

““What!?””

As she shuffled off, sometimes stumbling, I hastily called out to her retreating figure.

“Ah, um!”

“Is there something else? I’m sorry, I really don’t have time for chit-chat. That bastard dragged the other members off for a field survey, and I haven’t had proper rest since… And why am I the only one responsible for building theories and implementing them? Can’t they send Nico to help? Seriously, it makes no sense. Sure, I turned them down a few times, but I was planning to join on the fourth invitation! How can they not understand people’s hearts? I want to work on convergence bombardment and Demonsgear development, too—”

Before her muttering could spiral further, surprisingly, Toa-chan cut in.

“Mirume-chan was almost killed in the depths of the dungeon. Her party abandoned and left her behind.”

“…Is that true?”

Luka stopped dead in her tracks.

She crouched slightly to make eye contact with Mirume-chan.

“Mirume, is what she said correct?”

“…Yes.”

“I see.”

Luka gently patted Mirume’s head, her expression softening into a smile.

“You’re talented. It’s only natural you’d encounter such trouble. Did these people save you?”

“Yes. Also, I owe a lot to Mizuhi-san and Miroku-san.”

“Mizuhi… Oh, that recently promoted S-rank student? Right, from Fectom Academy.”

Luka seemed somewhat intrigued by the mention of S-rank but quickly refocused on Mirume.

“Did you thank them?”

“Yes!”

“You’re not planning any revenge, are you?”

“Of course not! I’m following Luka-san’s teachings!”

Luka nodded in satisfaction.

“Good. We must act as rational beasts, driven by reason and guided by intelligence. You remember that well.”

“Yes!”

As Luka lovingly stroked Mirume’s head, Mirume snuggled closer, like a content puppy.

Luka-neesama…

『So where did that ‘take the lead’ statement go?』

Ah, right.

Almost lost myself there.

No way Sorciera would allow head pats! She’s solitary!

“If you saved Mirume, then I must repay that favor, even slightly.”

“In that case, do you know anything about Nameless?”

At my question, Luka tilted her head.

“Nameless? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Yesterday, Nameless attacked me. Actually, it’s been imparting strange knowledge to me even before that!”

Luka alternated her gaze between us and Mirume, then sighed deeply.

Maybe she sensed this was going to be a long conversation.

Beautiful girls need their rest.

“…Please, don’t feel obligated. You can prioritize your rest. This is just a matter of curiosity.”

“If you say so. Then, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Just as Luka was about to retreat for her long-awaited nap, Mirume suddenly spoke up.

“Oh, by the way!” Mirume handed over a hand-drawn note.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the magic formula and application method used during the battle between Nameless and Sorciera. I couldn’t measure the magic depth or efficiency since I didn’t have the proper instruments, but I wrote it down before I forgot.”

Wait, is this really the right time to hand that over?

Isn’t this person—

“…Mirume, you saw Sorciera?”

“Yes! It was amazing! Oh, and about that unidentified magic formula— It’s probably a restraint spell using virtual material generated by magic. Also, Nameless used the exact same spell as Sorciera! Oh, sorry, rest first. My bad.”

Are you doing this on purpose?

Mirume-chan, you’re doing this on purpose, right?

With a crack of her neck, Luka seemed to switch gears entirely.

“I no longer need a nap. Actually, it feels like I’ve been sleeping this whole time.”

“Eh, but—”

“Mirume, tell me everything.”

Luka gripped Mirume’s shoulders firmly.

There was nothing Toa-chan or I could do to stop her at this point, so we quietly shook our heads at Mirume’s pleading glance.

“While I remain a rational beast… quickly…!”

Her gaze was completely locked in.