manga artist Kirito

"...What a pathetic wolf," Yukino-chan remarked truthfully, clutching her thin chest.

Of course, Yukino-chan didn't say anything more.

After all, she didn't understand, and she didn't know why.

In the past, she might have interrupted and continued talking.

But most of the people here are... well, I mean, working professionals. There are far too many people who know more than her.

There are practically no people here who can be defeated by words, like Yoshiteru Zaimoto.

After their previous conversation, Yukino-chan discovered that Kato Megumi, who doesn't talk much, is actually quite capable.

For example, Suguha was just a junior high school student back then. When was it... Oh right, when we first met, Yukino-chan already knew that Suguha put a lot of pressure on others with her words.

Yes, none of the members in this seemingly strange combination are easy to deal with.

Of course, as for fighting... well, it's alright.

Yukino-chan knows perfectly well that Kirito-kun's stamina is terribly poor!

Kiritani seemed not to have heard what the Haruno sisters said, her slender fingers supporting her chin as she fell into deep thought. "Hmm, it's supposedly an eel bento."

“It’s not surprising that it’s an eel bento in Hokkaido.” Shizuka and Kiritani made the same gesture. “Although I would prefer to eat Hokkaido seafood ramen, we still have time, so it seems we can’t let it pass us by.”

Kiritani turned his head to look at Asuna, who was clinging to his arm, and asked, "Ahuna, do you want some?"

"An eel bento..." Asuna pouted, thought for a moment, and said with a slightly reluctant tone, "Isn't that a bit inappropriate, with fighting and stuff..."

“Yeah, isn’t the most important thing for a manga artist their hands? Fighting is absolutely unacceptable!” Akane Kosaka agreed with Haruno’s statement, and then took the opportunity to criticize Shizuka, “Shizuka, you too, you’re supposed to be Kazuto’s editor, but you’re thinking about fighting with him. Have you lost your mind? If you get injured and can’t draw, I’d like to see how you’re going to complete your duties as editor.”

"Um... actually, what I meant was..." Asuna forced a bright smile, "I meant I went to steal some bento boxes, and you and I waited for me here to come back."

"No way!" Suguha raised her hands, interrupting Kirigaya-kun who was about to speak, and said loudly, "I'll get the bento my brother wants!"

"You don't need to trouble Suguha with this. Just grab a bento box, that's all you need to do." Mikasa tilted her head—fighting is my forte.

Although it's not very obvious, from one perspective, this statement can also be interpreted as—this is something I should do!

"I...I also want to get lunch for Kazuto." Shiina Mashiro said weakly.

"Just forget it."

Very consistently, whether it was Kiritani-kun, Asuna, or the other two, they all refuted Shiina Mashiro at the same time, causing her to wrinkle her nose unhappily.

Looking at the group, Yang Nai's eyebrows twitched slightly, then she looked at Kousaka Akane, who was rubbing her forehead—it seemed there was a reason why she lost.

Then, Jing Ke'ai concluded with a clenched fist, "In short, we should go. Gun Narcissus... uh, no, the Ice Witch and the others should be waiting for us."

…………

The rest of the story is rather unremarkable.

In the end, the lunchbox battle ended with Kirito fighting the Ice Witch. Kirito was eventually defeated due to exhaustion, while the Ice Witch collapsed after repelling Sato's Mikasa attack.

Asuna swiftly defeated the beauty of the lake and obtained her bento.

It took Jing Ke a lot of time to take down the two-headed wolf that hadn't said a word when it appeared... Oh wait, I think she did say something at the end—Ah, there's no shopping basket here. I'm as unlucky as eating durian-flavored Häagen-Dazs.

The remaining straight leaf not only obtained a bento box, but also asked the question that everyone wanted to know: the name of the tea plant.

Unfortunately, Chafa didn't say anything.

On this last day, Kato Megumi's presence was finally noticeably enhanced, as she suggested many of the games—excluding the "murderous ping-pong" game.

God knows why there's a leisure area like this next to the hotel.

After all, it was the last day, and we had done most of the things we wanted to do.

After that, Haruno didn't do anything special and behaved very well. In fact, she was almost completely outmatched by Kato Megumi, a girl who had been lurking for who knows how long.

Oh yes, we did play the watermelon-hitting game, but the method was a bit unusual—we hit it with our heads balanced on the watermelon…

However, not many people tried it, and even those who did didn't use much force, so the watermelon didn't even break the rind. Later, Teacher Xiaojing chopped it open with a chop.

Then there was the sand sculpture. Haruno tried to build a Yukino-chan, but Kiritani kicked it apart because it was too ugly.

Shiina Mashiro wanted to build a castle, and then Kiritani-san went over and gave her a little pointers. The castle subtly turned into an Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, and then... Kiritani-kun was buried in the sand once again.

Furthermore, it was Asuna who made the first move this time.

It might sound a little sad, but Kiritani-kun really doesn't want to recall the last two days of this trip because being buried in the sand was a truly unpleasant experience.

But it was Asuna who did it—okay, I wasn't upset at all, what I said earlier was all a lie.

Finally, as everyone parted ways, Haruno and Akane Kousaka whispered something to each other.

Of course, Kiritani-kun was unaware of this.

Before leaving, she received instructions from Akane Kosaka—yes, it was about the new project.

…………

Kiritani Kazuto and Yuuki Asuna, who were making a brief stop in Hokkaido, walked hand in hand towards the Hokkaido Station.

"Oh no! Where's her skin tone?!"

"...I went back with Yukinoshita first."

"Oh, I almost forgot..."

"Hey, Asuna, let's come watch the sunrise again sometime."

"OK……"

P.S.: This part of the story shouldn't end like this... but I found that I can't write that kind of scene; if I did, it would lose its flavor.

Left with no other choice, we had to end the story there.

In short, everything that needed to be clearly expressed has been expressed—whether someone is a friend or foe, and whether to continue, has all been clearly stated.

Those who are secretly observing should be doing so soon...

226

[NO.223 The beginning of a novel must be original]

Let me reiterate, I, Kirito, am not a lolicon!

Wait, I don't think I've ever made that statement before, so there's no need to use the word "again," right?

In conclusion, Kiritani Kazuto remains as pure as ever today.

…………

What is the situation now?

...High school life?

No, summer vacation has already begun, and a week has already passed since the trip started.

Of course, it's only the second day of summer vacation, but everyone at school doesn't seem to feel much about the temporary separation during summer break...

Come to think of it, since we're all in Chiba and live relatively close to each other, it's no wonder we're not sure what special feelings we'd have.

During that time, I spent three days traveling, and then all my time was spent on the manuscript, oh right, and the illustrations for Asuna's light novels.

Yes, the last week of this semester was completely busy.

Let's hope... the summer vacation will be a bit easier.

However, it's best to just think about these things.

Although Akane Kosaka hasn't contacted him yet, Kiritani-kun feels that the time to be called to help is approaching. After all, there's not much time left before the CM convention. When that time comes, both Kiritani-kun and Akane Kosaka's club will be busy with CM convention matters, and it will be difficult to spare a lot of manpower to carry out this seemingly important project...

Shortage of manpower is a common problem for most clubs. When starting large-scale projects, club leaders often choose to find outside help. However, Rouge en rouge, founded by Akane Kosaka, has never had a precedent of finding outside help. Because it is a top-notch club, no matter whether the outside help is more or less skilled, outside help that has not been trained will only drag down the team's cooperation.

So, I'll be very busy from now on.

Oh wait, what were we talking about just now?

Loli...

Yes, it's a loli!

I, Kiritani-san, had just finished eating ramen with Shizuka and we talked about the usual things. Shizuka left me on the street, and then I saw... well, a cute loli wearing white stockings.

...Um, the point isn't the white stockings, really!

—The key point is that they're lolis!

I don't think there have been any lolis before, right?

...Twin tails...Eri...Loser status doesn't count as being a loli!

Doesn't this girl with twin ponytails and white stockings look cuter?

Ah, although her twin tails are a bit short, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that she looks more like a loli than Eriri.

"Even though I was looking at you, it's kind of embarrassing that you're staring at me like that."

Kiritani-kun crouched down and carefully examined the little girl who seemed to be waiting for someone—note that this was not to get a close look at the white stockings.

She looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old, and her height was just up to my chest. Her legs under the pink dress... well, we're in public now, so it's probably best not to expose certain things.

Well, this little girl...

She was somewhat delicate, but there was a hint of wariness in her eyes, as if she had spotted the strange uncle who wanted to take her to see the goldfish.

Suddenly, the little girl hugged her chest and took two steps back, a look of panic in her eyes—as if she had seen a pervert.

For a fleeting moment, Kiritani-kun wanted to rush forward and hug her...

Wait a minute, this kid... seems to be staring at me...

What about the weird uncles and perverts I mentioned earlier...

What the hell!

However, the little girl quickly raised her eyes again and looked over with a somewhat stubborn expression.

Kiritani-kun seems to see a shadow of Suguha in this little girl. When Suguha was taken to the dojo after her family's accident, her demeanor was very similar to this cute little girl now, really very similar!

However, there's definitely a difference. This loli fits the definition of a loli better than Yezi because she's flat-chested! -- Big-breasted lolis are simply heretical, flat-chested... oh no, flat-chested lolis are our faith!

By the way, my previous belief was in white stockings!

But no matter what, Kiritani-kun had a very good first impression of this little girl!

So, Kiritani stood up and walked into the convenience store next door under the rather strange gaze of the little girl.

"Give me one of those lollipops over there...yes, that one."

Under the hesitant gaze of the shop assistant, who seemed to be asking if he should call the police, Kiritani-kun was given a lollipop. Then he looked down at his phone—should he call the police after all?

"Here, this is for you..." Kirigaya-san squatted down in front of the little girl again and handed her the lollipop with a smile.

The little girl looked at Kiritani-san, her lips slightly pursed, and her eyes becoming increasingly strange.

"—Are you a pervert?"

"……what?"

"My mom said that if you encounter someone like you, you should call the police immediately!"

"Have some candy. I'll call the police for you later. Anyway, if you get separated from your family, you need to find a policeman to take you home—oh, you have a phone, right?" Kiritani handed the lollipop to the girl, his expression unusually serious.

Holding the candy that Kiritani-kun had forced on her, the girl took a small step back, then narrowed her eyes, as if to confirm whether this guy had ulterior motives.

Incidentally, the way passersby looked at Kiritani-kun became increasingly subtle, and several even took out their phones.

Then, the girl blinked. "You want to kidnap a little girl?"

"What you're saying..." Kiritani shook his head helplessly. Why are kids these days so honest?

However, somewhat unexpectedly, the girl tore open the candy wrapper the next moment, chewed the candy into pieces and put it in her mouth, then returned the remaining plastic tube to Kiritani-kun, saying, "Mom told me not to take other people's things without permission."

"...Yes, it's very good that you understand this..."

However, before Kiritani could finish speaking, the girl shoved the packaging bag back into her hand.

She said in a soft, cute voice, "Thank you for your help, you pervert who doesn't look like a good person."

What kind of description is this?

Wait a minute, that doesn't seem so wrong. Not all psychopaths are bad people...