This was only my second visit, but my impression of Millennium as the academy that best fit the term "academy city" remained unchanged.
"Millennium's monorail is certainly convenient…".
"It is, isn't it? I'd love to introduce this to Trinity".
Of course, even as a Tea Party Host, I couldn't just do whatever I wanted.
Besides, a massive project like installing a monorail would surely bury me in work from the planning stages alone.
There was no reason to waste the budget on something so unnecessary.
After taking the monorail from the airport to the vicinity of the Millennium campus, a familiar face greeted us.
"Hello, Mika-ssi".
"Noa-chan! Have you been waiting long?".
"Well? How long do you think I've been waiting?".
Noa clasped her hands behind her back, a gentle smile on her face as she asked. The slight bow of her head and the teasing nature of her question were so quintessentially her.
"Ahaha, I'd feel too guilty if you waited a long time. For the sake of my conscience, can't we just pretend this conversation never happened?".
"Is that how you're going to get out of this…? A shame, but I suppose I'll let it slide. You were early, so I only waited for eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds".
"…Does that mean I should come ten minutes earlier next time?.
Hmm, that won't be easy".
"Fufu. For you, Mika-ssi, I could forgive you even if you were ten minutes late. You are a very popular person, after all. Oh, by the way, Haruna-san was bragging yesterday that she made you a stamina meal herself….
I feel a little hurt, somehow. Don't you think Haruna-san is being a bit cruel?".
…Hmm? Why would Noa be hurt by that? Were they that close?.
"Ah, I seem to have gotten carried away with small talk. Hello. I am Ushio Noa, secretary of Millennium's student council, Seminar. It's a pleasure to meet you".
"Amau Ako, Senior Administrator of the Gehenna Prefect Team. The pleasure is all mine".
Watching Ako's smiling face as she introduced herself to Noa, I felt an inexplicable urge to be difficult.
The difference in her treatment of me was just too much.
"Wow… Ako-chan. Your expression is completely different from when you first met me.
isn't it?".
"It's only because it was you, Mika-ssi, that I was that lenient. If it had been any other Trinity lady, I would have shown no mercy.
So always be grateful to Prefect Head Hina. Understood?".
Right, that was Ako for you. If Hina claimed she could make sweet bean paste from soybeans, Ako wouldn't just believe her; she'd find a way to make it happen.
"Ugh… You otaku. So creepy".
"…Excuse me? W-wait a moment. Take that back!".
"Noa-chan, shall we get going? Since we're here, I'd love to see a bit of the Millennium campus☆".
"Fufu, shall we?".
"Hey, don't just ignore me! I said take that back!".
I fell into step beside Noa, who had calmly ignored Ako and started walking.
Hmm, teasing Ako was just too much fun. She was, without a doubt, the student best suited for the role of a verbal punching bag.
As Noa guided us around the Millennium campus, I was struck by what a charming academy it was.
For any student in the sciences, choosing Millennium would be the obvious choice.
"And this uniform. Every time I see it, I wonder how it can be so pretty… I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side?".
"Fufu. In that case, would you like to transfer to Millennium?".
"No, I'll pass. Even if I came here, I'd probably just end up wearing a jacket over my normal clothes every day…
although, that is a more appealing option than wearing the Tea Party uniform every day".
But that aside, what club would I even join if I came to Millennium?.
Before I possessed this body, I would have proudly declared my intention to join the Game Development Department, but these days, I was so swamped with work that I barely even thought about games.
"This is the Millennium Tower. Many important clubs have their rooms here, in addition to our Seminar, but the top floor is used exclusively by us. As it is a vital location for Millennium, security is strictly managed….
The elevator itself operates on a fingerprint recognition system".
"It's a bit of a hassle, but the security is certainly solid. It makes me think the Tea Party could stand to strengthen its security a bit, too".
"That is a problem you can likely solve by consulting the unauthorized club you're looking for, Veritas. Since the president fundamentally refuses to allocate them a budget, they fund their club activities by providing security solutions to various corporations….
so you can be sure of their skill".
Hmm, Rio didn't give them a budget because of Himari, right? I wonder if helping Himari now will make Rio dislike me later.
That would be a problem, since I need to help her, too.
Seeing the Millennium Tower, it struck me that the Tea Party building, the Prefect Team HQ, and this tower were all skyscrapers built on academy grounds.
and I found it amusing that Makoto hadn't yet started construction on a new Pandemonium Society building, still unable to accept that it was shorter than the Prefect Team HQ.
When I casually mentioned this to Ako,
"…Isn't it more likely that she's just living in ignorance, like the fool she is? Please make sure that raccoon never hears about this".
"Ahaha, with Makoto-chan, that might actually be the case".
Ako spat her hatred for Makoto as naturally as she breathed. I found it hard to argue with her on that point, nor did I want to.
How could a commoner possibly understand the inverted peak of a mountain?.
"Normally, I would guide you to the club room Veritas uses, but today, their president, Senior Himari, has requested a separate meeting place".
With that additional explanation, Noa led us to one of Millennium's club buildings.
After walking for a while inside, we arrived at a rather secluded spot. Noa looked around.
"I'm certain this is the place I was told.
This is strange…".
"…What in the world is this nameplate that says, 'Club for Proving the Correlation Between a Beauty's Sleep and Skin Trouble.
'?".
"Hmm… It's a little different from what I was told, but the name certainly sounds like something Senior Himari would do.
Let's see".
Knock, knock.
"Senior Himari, are you there?".
"Yes. You may enter".
As Noa lightly knocked on the door, a clear voice called from within, not long after.
…What is with that voice?.
With an awkward smile, Noa opened the door. Seeing that the lights were off, she found the switch and flipped it on.
With the curtains drawn and the lights out, it was the perfect environment for a nap. In other words, an environment Himari would love.
"…Hyaa?!".
"Oh, my apologies. It was so dark I turned on the lights without thinking.
But Senior Himari, why was the name on the plate different from what you told me?".
"…Ah, that's a nameplate I put up this morning. It suddenly occurred to me that I, a pure flower on a sheer cliff, have never once experienced skin trouble in my life".
"…Huh?".
Putting aside Ako, who seemed to be getting irritated by Himari's words for some reason, my first impression of Himari was something along the lines of, So you have to be this beautiful to get away with calling yourself a pretty girl with so many flowery adjectives….
So, her voice matched her appearance. No wonder it was as pleasant to listen to as Nagisa's.
Living in Kivotos, I had seen with my own two eyes that the named students were exceptionally attractive.
However, even among them, there were some whose beauty made you go "Wow…" and your eyes pop open.
One of them, it goes without saying, was right here.
An otherworldly beauty so striking that she was treated like a princess even before her title as Tea Party Host was revealed.
That girl was Mika Misono, and now, me, the current owner of her body.
Next was Haruna, who committed acts that could only be described as terrorism under the guise of pursuing gourmet, yet made you want to forgive her with just one look at her face.
She possessed a charm so overwhelming that even I, who had been trained by the considerably beautiful Nagisa, was easily swayed.
In a world overflowing with cute and beautiful girls, meeting this girl who had reached the pinnacle of narcissism, I could only think to myself, 'I guess I have to admit it.'.
Her pointy ears, which gave her an elven look, were an especially powerful charm point.
Of course, even Himari wasn't perfect. There was the matter of her legs, which made it difficult to move and confined her to a wheelchair, and the fact that a certain part of her was rather… extremely…?.
Hmm, it's probably best I don't mention that.
Himari herself would probably take such things in stride, packaging them with various words and transforming them into her own charms.
but I was the one who felt more awkward thinking about it.
"It is a scientifically proven fact that 'beauty needs her sleep,' and the correlation between sleep and skin trouble—that a lack of sleep leads to skin trouble—is widely known. But, does such a standard truly apply to a beauty like myself, who was born with the beauty of a single flower and has never once lost it?".
"To test this, two days ago, I slept for only four hours and recorded the condition of my skin. Today, I slept for ten hours and recorded my skin's condition again. All that remains is to check the results.
Of course, the outcome is so obvious it need not be revealed… but the process of confirmation is, in itself, proof".
"Fufu… I see. By the way, Senior Himari, your scheduled guests have arrived.
Might it be alright to postpone checking the results of your experiment for a little while?".
"Hmm, you're right. That was an uncharacteristic mistake on my part. For someone like me, whose considerate personality is as beautiful as her appearance, to neglect a guest would be unthinkable. Welcome, Senior Administrator of the Gehenna Prefect Team. And, the Host of Trinity's Tea Party. I am the pride of Millennium, the Super Genius Pretty Girl Hacker, and president of Veritas, Akeboshi Himari".
"Yes, yes, it's nice to meet you, Himari-chan. You probably already know our names, but… it's polite to introduce ourselves anyway. This is Amau Ako, and I'm Misono Mika.
You can call me whatever you're comfortable with☆".
"Come to think of it, this is quite a surprise. I thought from your profile that seeing a pretty girl of this caliber would be a first for me, aside from my own reflection in the mirror….
but seeing you in person makes me realize just how wide the world is".
"Ahaha, I'll take that as a compliment…?".
"Of course. I never dreamed the day would come when I would meet a pretty girl among pretty girls who could be compared to me, who shines as proudly as Venus at dawn. If I am a pitiful single flower, singing of my beauty alone on a perilous cliff… then yes.
It would be more fitting to describe you as a blessing and a gift from the heavens, wouldn't it? Fufu".
"Whoa…".
Honestly, I'd arranged this meeting thinking I just had to listen to Himari's self-praise for a bit.
But meeting her in person, I had a feeling she was going to be extremely difficult for me to handle….
Could narcissism be a sickness?.