Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Volume 3 Read online

  Games and the Lottery

  Friday, July 10th

  Entering July, summer slowly began to find its way into room 106 where Koutarou and the others lived. The crying cicadas could be heard coming from the trees planted along the road, and the strong sunlight came beaming through the window, raising the temperature. The temperature, however, was even higher inside with seven people crowding into the small six tatami mat room.

  “Waaaaah! Blue Knight dieeeeed!”

  “Well, if you recklessly keep pushing deep into the dungeon, it was bound to happen eventually.”

  “Tell me, pleb! How do I save Blue Knight?!”

  “Form a rescue party and get to where Blue Knight and the others died.”

  “All right, I’ll give it a try! You stay here and give me advice when appropriate, pleb!”

  “I got it, so just calm down a little. It’s just a game.”

  “How could I calm down?! My Blue Knight just died, you know! Ahh, getting lazy and calling all the magicians Yurika backfired!”

  “That’s a false accusation!”

  Raising the temperature in the room even more was the worn-out console hooked up to the TV. Koutarou had gotten his parents to buy it for him when he was young, and even though it was now outdated, he had gotten so attached to it that he brought it with him to room 106. Ruth had found it while cleaning the wardrobe the other day, which is how it ended up where it currently was.

  “You’ll need party members that’ll be useful right away for a rescue mission, so don’t bring advanced classes with you. You won’t need a thief either.”

  “And what about the equipment?”

  “It’s common for the rescue party to get stranded as well, so use the best equipment that you have available.”

  “I see. Then let’s go!”

  The one showing interest in the console was Theia, having come from a different planet. Initially she was timid about it, but as she picked up a controller she behaved just like a kid playing a game for the first time. And ever since, she had Koutarou accompany her as she went on adventures.

  “But to think Theia would be interested in a game this old...”

  Sanae was amazed by Theia’s behavior. Sanae gave her a dirty look as she watched her sit there, gripping the controller in excitement.

  “Heehee. Her Highness does love competition, so she likes most games, but this one is special.”

  “What do you mean?”

  On the other hand, Ruth and Kiriha were warmly watching over her. The two of them were sitting down at the table drinking tea while observing Koutarou and Theia playing games.

  “Actually, back when Her Highness was in school, her research theme was computer history. That’s why she has a special interest in early computers like this one.”

  “A research theme... at that age?”

  Shizuka looked surprised. Having nothing to do, she had come to room 106 and joined Ruth and Kiriha for some tea.

  “The royalty of Forthorthe has always been encouraged to study liberal and military arts, so it’s tradition to finish their university research projects before starting their trial.”

  “So you mean that’s a custom in Forthorthe...? I guess societal expectations are high, no matter where you go.”

  Kiriha brought her teacup to her lips as she smiled wryly. She had her own opinions on the matter of customs, but chose to stay silent. Ruth didn’t seem notice the slight change in her expression.

  “Hmm, being a princess sounds really rough...”

  Shizuka also sipped on her tea as she admired Theia. In the warm room, the cold tea was especially refreshing.

  “Out of the vast history of computers, Her Highness chose to focus on the history of games.”

  What did it mean to use computers to play? That had been the starting point for Theia’s study, but her historical research gave her an insight into modern technology and allowed her to predict future developments. What had started with a commentary of a single game resulted in a thorough discussion of media theory. Her comprehensive research received high acclaim in the university.

  “Forthorthe is rich with over two millennia of history, so even the oldest game still in existence is far more advanced than what you can find on this planet. That’s why these primitive Earth games are almost like a legendary treasure for Her Highness.”

  “I see. So Theia-dono doesn’t just love games as a hobby; it’s also an academic interest.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Hahh... I’m glad I wasn’t born a princess.”

  As Kiriha, Ruth, and Shizuka were chatting, Theia and Koutarou’s adventures continued onscreen.

  “Hey, Tulip. Yurika B is about to die.”

  “I don’t care. Just give up on her. I don’t have the potions to spare.”

  “I guess that’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine at all! Please heal her!”

  “I refuse.”

  “Whyyyyy?!”

  Before anyone knew it, Yurika was tagging along with Theia and Koutarou on their adventure. The three of them were glued to the TV, fussing over what to do.

  “And you too, Koutarou. You’re already a high school student. What are you doing...?”

  Sanae acted amazed by the three of them, but she was really just unhappy that she was being left out. She wasn’t mature enough to speak up and join the group.

  “I quite enjoy Her Highness and Satomi-sama getting along like this.”

  “They’re both just kids, ugh...”

  She wanted to join in, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. Instead, she had been begrudgingly glaring at Koutarou’s back for quite a while with her cheeks puffed up. Despite what she was saying, Sanae was the most childish of them all.

  “A magician without mana is useless, just like you.”

  “She’ll be useful! Just stay at an inn and recover her mana, please! And I’m not useless either! I really am a magical girl!”

  “A magical girl, right...”

  As Yurika desperately tried to plead her case, Koutarou gave her an icy cold stare.

  “Wh-What?”

  “Why don’t you get a grip on reality already?”

  Koutarou looked away from the TV and turned his attention to Yurika. Although she flinched at his cold look, she still desperately objected.

  “That is the reality! I really am a magical girl!”

  “It’s already July, but those ‘enemies’ you mentioned are nowhere to be seen.”

  “They’ll come! They’ll definitely show up!”

  Sensing something earnest in her frantic appeal, something crossed Koutarou’s mind.

  “...Does this have anything to do with next month’s Comiha?”

  He meant the Comic Heart Network, or Comiha for short. It was a manga expo that would be held next month, and it was the largest event in the world for cosplayers. Koutarou figured Yurika was getting so desperate because she and her cosplay friends would be having a showdown at the event.

  “It has nothing to do with that! How does this always come back to cosplay?!”

  “That’s because it’s cosplay no matter how you look at it,” Sanae butted in, but with a gentle look of sympathy this time.

  “D-Don’t look at me with pity, please!”

  “But I do pity you.”

  “Well, just hold on, Sanae.”

  “Koutarou?”

  “Yurika, I understand why you can’t accept things like this, so let me make it perfectly clear.”

  As he said that, Koutarou started shoving his hand into his clothes like he was searching for something.

  “What? What are you doing?”

  Interested, Theia tossed aside her
controller and crawled over to the tea table.

  “Ah, found them...”

  Koutarou pulled two photos out from one of his pockets and put them on top of the table. The other six—Yurika, Sanae, Ruth, Theia, Shizuka, and Kiriha—all peeked at the photographs.

  “Ah, it’s a picture of me!”

  “And that girl. What was her name again?”

  “That’s Sakuraba-sama, the girl who won at the sports festival.”

  “The sports festival... All that comes to mind is the disgrace I suffered...”

  “This photograph is well shot.”

  “So what about these two photos, Koutarou?”

  Koutarou pointed to the pictures of Yurika and Harumi and said, “Let’s just say that one of these two girls is a magical girl.”

  “All right, and then?”

  “I’m not pretending! I really am a magical girl!”

  “Calm down. Just bear with me.”

  “Uh, I can’t agree, but...”

  Yurika couldn’t accept what Koutarou was saying, but she reluctantly withdrew. With her backing down, Koutarou continued.

  “Let’s say one of them is a magical girl and the other one is a normal girl. With that in mind, I have a question for you all: Who do you think is the magical girl?”

  Everyone but Yurika pointed at the same picture.

  “This is the one you’d expect.”

  “From personal data, I can tell she is mentally strong.”

  “It feels like I’m admitting defeat, which is incredibly displeasing, but out of the two, it would have to be her.”

  “I feel like this person has a mysterious aura about her.”

  “I’m sorry, Nijino-san...”

  The other five girls all pointed to Harumi’s photo without any hint of hesitation.

  “Ugh...”

  Instead, Yurika was the one hesitating.

  “Th-This is unfair.”

  If it was anyone else, Yurika would have picked herself immediately. But this was Harumi, someone she admired. Yurika couldn’t choose.

  “I-I’d think sh-she would be the magical girl t-too...”

  Yurika’s trembling finger slowly pointed at Harumi’s photograph. Like her hand, her voice was trembling. Her expression was unpleasantly distorted. Yurika had to admit it too. Even though she might not be able to use magic, Harumi was far more like a magical girl than she was. It broke her heart to do it, but Yurika pointed at Harumi’s picture instead of her own.

  “Do you understand now, Yurika? Whether you have magic powers or not has nothing to do with it.”

  “I know... Even I know that I’m not suited for this job...”

  Yurika weakly stood herself up.

  “If only the enemy would show up... If only you could see me fight... Then you’d believe me... Hurry up and attack, Darkness Rainbow... Hurry up and disturb the peace and save me... Waaah haa haa...”

  Tears streamed down Yurika’s cheeks.

  “I believe in love and courage...! What’s important are the bonds you make...”

  Yurika started mumbling a song and disappeared into the wardrobe.

  “I know this is a strange thing to say, but... Satomi-kun, couldn’t you just believe her?”

  Hearing the sobbing from the wardrobe, Shizuka couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her.

  “You want me to believe her when she’s asking for the enemy to show up and cause trouble?”

  In contrast to Shizuka, Sanae’s impression was deadpan.

  “She does call herself a magical girl of love and courage, after all...”

  If it were Harumi, she would never wish for enemies to appear. In the end, the real problem was Yurika’s personality. She just wasn’t acting like a heroine of justice.

  “By the way, Koutarou...”

  “Hmm?”

  As Sanae called out to him, Koutarou looked up from the photographs on the tea table.

  “Where’d you get those pictures?”

  “Wh-What does it matter?!”

  Koutarou hurriedly shoved the two photos back in his pocket.

  “It does matter! You showed Yurika’s picture to the cosclub, but where’d you get Harumi’s photograph from? You pervert!”

  “I-It’s nothing like that!”

  “Then spit it out! When did you take that picture? You’ve never taken my picture before!”

  Agitated, Sanae started choking Koutarou as per her usual.

  “E-Even if I take a picture of you, it’ll just turn into a ghost photo!”

  “I don’t care! This is humiliating!”

  “S-Stop it, Sanae!”

  “Take a picture of meeeee, damn iiiiit! In fact, just go on and say, ‘you’re so cute, Sanae! Let’s try a more daring pose!’ You know you want to!”

  “D-Don’t get so full of yourself!”

  In order to combat Sanae, Koutarou brought his right fist towards her face. Clenched inside of it was the usual “evil spirits begone” charm.

  “Hah! Like I’ll fall for the same trick over and over again!”

  However, Sanae bobbed her head back and forth like a boxer, dodging Koutarou’s fist.

  “C-Curse youuu!”

  Because he was being choked, Koutarou was moving much slower than normal. And since he’d used the charm to blow Sanae away several times before, she had finally learned her lesson.

  “Oh my. You always get along so well, Satomi-kun, Sanae-chan.”

  “You look just like siblings to me. As an only child, I’m quite envious.”

  Shizuka and Ruth watched over the bickering two with smiles on their faces. Though Shizuka was strict about fighting in the room, she left them be. To her, this didn’t really count as fighting.

  “Hmph, they’re both just the same mental age. They’re children,” Theia spat irritatedly.

  She was unhappy too now. She picked up the controller again, but no longer had the same delighted expression as before.

  “...I see. Things are getting quite complicated.”

  Kiriha smiled as she shifted her gaze between Theia and Sanae. When it came to Koutarou, both girls would get really stubborn. Kiriha could clearly feel it.

  “Nyahahaha! How dare you hurt a maiden’s feelings?! As punishment for your sin, I’ll choke you out!”

  “A-As if I’d let you...!”

  Bam!

  “Ack!”

  But in the end, Koutarou held the advantage. He wasn’t holding a charm in just his right hand—his left was armed as well. While distracted by his right fist, Sanae was easily blown away by his left—the one holding the charm with “family safety” embroidered on it with golden thread.

  “Hah! Don’t expect me to always use the same trick, you fool.”

  “D-Damn it... Using two is unfair... Ugh...”

  Sanae collapsed onto the tatami mat with smoke rising from her head.

  “Thank you, grandma!”

  Koutarou paid her no mind. He was too busy celebrating his victory, shouting thanks to his grandmother who lived in the countryside.

  “Well then, it’s about time to go shopping.”

  As Shizuka watched Koutarou and Sanae finish playing, she drank the last of her tea and stood up. Since this was an everyday occurrence, she wasn’t worried about Sanae at all.

  “Ah, I will go too! Let’s go together.”

  Ruth also stood up, quickly grabbing Koutarou’s wallet next to the phone. Koutarou trusted her completely, so she was in charge of the budget for room 106.

  “Are you going shopping, Landlord-san, Ruth-san?”

  “Yes, the limited time sale at the supermarket by the station is about to begin.”

  “I’ll do my best not to lose out to the neighborhood wives.”

  Seeing Shizuka and Ruth smiling, Koutarou also got up.

  “I’ll come and carry the bags. I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  “W-Wait just a second, pleb! You’re choosing shopping over an adventure with your master?!”

  F
lustered, Theia shook her controller as she tried to stop Koutarou. However, he simply shook his head.

  “Sorry, Tulip. We’ll continue when I get back. You can’t get by in life just on playing games.”

  “Hmph...”

  Theia looked up at Koutarou, dissatisfied. But it wasn’t her normal piercing stare. There was a different nuance to it.

  “Are you sure, Satomi-sama? I could go on my own...”

  Ruth was observant of her master’s behavior and tried to persuade Koutarou to stay behind.

  “No can do. If my old man finds out I’m leaving all the housework to girls, I’ll get an earful.”

  Koutarou trusted Ruth with the housekeeping, but he wasn’t going to let her do it all by herself.

  “...”

  Realizing that Koutarou wasn’t going to change his mind, Theia turned her back on him.

  “That’s not what I meant...”

  “Koutarou, are you going shopping?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll go too! I want to eat takoyaki!”

  Ruth continued trying to persuade Koutarou, but things got more complicated after Sanae joined the conversation.

  “Well, then, let’s go.”

  “...Okay.”

  “Takoyaki! Takoyaki!”

  “Is food all you ever think about, Sanae?”

  “It’s fine! I’m still a growing girl!”

  “No, you’re already dead.”

  With Shizuka in the lead, Koutarou and Sanae left room 106. Watching them go, Ruth called out to Theia, who was playing games by herself.

  “I’ll be taking my leave for now, Your Highness.”

  “...Yeah...”

  Theia’s short answer made Ruth wonder what expression she was making right now, but it was impossible to tell with her back turned towards her.

  Your Highness...

  Ruth backed away and left room 106 with the others. That left only two girls in the six mat room now: Theia who was playing a game, and Kiriha who was pouring more cold tea into her cup.

  For a while, only the sounds of Theia’s game could be heard in the room. But roughly ten minutes after Koutarou and the others had left, Kiriha opened her mouth.

  “Are you fine with not going with them, Theia-dono?”

  After hearing Kiriha’s question, Theia’s hands stopped moving.

  “H-Hmph! Why should I have to do something like that? I’m busy playing games!”