Chapter 24 — At This Point, It’s Starting to Get Funny

 The three unexpectedly reunited classmates had moved their conversation to one of the lobby's meeting spaces. Yogiri and Tomochika sat beside each other on a sofa, across from their classmate Yuuki Tachibana, with a table between them. The five girls following Yuuki now stood arrayed behind him. It had only been four days since he had arrived in this world, but he already had a group of his own companions.

 "Umm, to be honest, I don't really know what this is about, but this isn't just a confession of love, is it?"

 "Why don't you become my lover?" wasn't the kind of line one would expect from a high school student. Even Yogiri, who was completely deprived of friends to joke around with, felt the same.

 "If you don't decide quickly, I'm not going to offer such great conditions again. Do you think you can make up your mind in two minutes?"

 Pressing her for an answer, Yuuki set a harsh time limit. A classic move in trying to guide someone to a particular answer. But that would only work if there was some value to the offer. Yuuki, at least, seemed to believe wholeheartedly that there was.

 Tomochika, of course, flatly refused him. "I don't really care about your conditions. What I want to know is what you're doing here."

 The girls standing behind Yuuki immediately began to glare daggers at her. There was an unquestionable thirst for blood in their eyes, but it wasn't accompanied by any impression that they might carry out their violent wishes. Yogiri decided it was best to see how things played out for the moment.

 "Are you sure? If you ask to join me later, you'll be at best a mid-tier slave. This is a great opportunity for you."

 "I don't understand anything that's going on right now!"

 Even as she said that, Yuuki somehow managed to look more surprised than Tomochika herself. Apparently, he had thought his position quite strong.

 "Ah! See, slaves are divided into four tiers: top, middle, lower, and labor. But as my lover, you'd be special. It's an Eternal-tier slave, above all the others—"

 "No, I don't care about any of that!"

 "Then...what do you want?"

 "Well, to start with, who are all these people behind you?"

 Becoming more and more flustered by the conversation, Tomochika turned her attention to the girls accompanying Yuuki.

 "Ah. I guess I haven't introduced them yet. These are my bodyguards, chosen specially from my most qualified slaves. Hey, introduce yourselves."

 As Tomochika stared at him in disbelief, hearing him casually referring to the girls as slaves, they began their introductions. The first was the girl that had lashed out at Tomochika earlier. Her long blonde hair was tied up into twin tails, and her sharp eyes hinted at a strong personality.

 "Bodyguard Unit, Position Five. Erika. Honestly, I'd never give my name to someone like you, but if Yuuki tells me to then I guess I have to. Of course, I'll never let you become an Eternal slave!"

 The second to speak up was the brown-haired girl, her soft wavy hair giving a calm impression. "Bodyguard Unit, Position Four. My name is Stephanie. I have nothing to discuss with someone who would reject our master's invitation, but orders are orders. Even being a mid-tier slave would be more than you deserve."

 The third was the youngest of the group. Wearing a black frilled dress, she held a teddy bear in her arms. "Position Three. I'm Chelsey. Could you please die for me?"

 The fourth had long silver hair, which was a striking contrast to her darker skin. "Position Two, Euphemia. Honestly, it hurts just to look at you. Could you please leave?"

 The fifth was the oldest of the group. Wearing a white dress, the way she gently smiled matched her overall more mature impression. "First Position, with the honor of being Captain of the Bodyguard Unit, my name is Riza. Please don't take Yuuki's offer seriously. You may be excited by his promise to make you his lover, but please try not to think so highly of yourself — such a thing is clearly beyond you."

 "Geez, just one after another with you people! Tachibana, can you please keep them under control?" Tomochika's irritation at being talked down to by the other girls was starting to show.

 "Yuuki! Hanging around people like this is just a waste of time! We were supposed to go shopping today!"

 "Please don't act all high and mighty simply because he's your classmate! Just hurry up and become a slave so we can make you a plaything for the labor-tier slaves!"

 "Yuuki, can we kill these guys?"

 The bodyguards continued to layer on the complaints. But when Yuuki raised his hand, they all immediately fell silent.

 "Sorry about that. I'm not good at being strict with girls, but I think they went a bit too far. Everyone be quiet for a while."

 "Understood!" the five girls responded as one. But even so, they continued to glare at Tomochika.

 "Maybe it was too forward of me to ask you to be my lover out of the blue like that. Oh, are you worried about Takatou? Normally, I only take men on as labor slaves, but I can make him a lower-tier slave instead if that will make you feel better. He is one of our classmates, after all."

 "At first, this whole thing was pretty annoying, but at this point it's getting kind of funny," Tomochika muttered under her breath, her previous irritation apparently gone.

 "Up until now, there hasn't been any killing intent," Yogiri whispered back. The vibe he was getting was more like desire. He turned to Yuuki and continued. "There's no way we can join you without any explanation of what you're up to. Could you tell us exactly what you are doing here?"

 "I suppose that's fair. Okay, I'll explain it to you. But you'll regret it. You would have been better off just accepting my offer right away," Yuuki happily replied, his voice becoming serious. "First of all, please relax. We were told that if no Sage came out of our class, we'd become livestock for generating magical energy, but that's impossible. I'm already guaranteed to become a Sage, after all."

 "Wow, I've never seen such a smug expression before!"

 But Yuuki's confidence in himself was enough to let Tomochika's jab slide. "So...even if you do nothing at all, you'll be safe. But I'm not going to offer any rewards to classmates who don't contribute. That's only fair, right?"

 The entire class had been meant to act as a single group — a Clan. That Clan had been given the mission of producing a Sage. If a Sage was born, the rest of the Clan would become his or her attendants, and their treatment from that point on was up to their new leader. So the appearance of a Sage in and of itself didn't guarantee them any safety. Those who couldn't become Sages needed to get in good standing with those who could, so that once one of them "ascended," their own positions would be secure.

 "And that 'contribution' is becoming your slave or lover?" Yogiri had no intention of beating around the bush. He simply asked the questions that came to mind.

 "That's the best you two can offer, isn't it? To be clear, that doesn't just go for you guys, either. I'm strong enough that everyone else in the class is dead weight in comparison. The best that any of you can do is help to entertain me."

 Yogiri was impressed. Yuuki seemed to genuinely believe the things he was saying.

 "This is only the fourth day since we were summoned here, right? I don't know what kind of power he received, but his personality has really come a long way in a short time," he whispered to Tomochika.

 "No, not really. Tachibana has been that way from the start."

 "Wait, seriously?"

 "He's been a narcissist since forever. He was always popular with the girls, so it's kind of understandable, I guess. Didn't you know that?"

 "Seems like high school was a more interesting place than I thought..." Yogiri was struck by the feeling that maybe spending all his time at school sleeping had been a wasted opportunity.

 "Hm? Is something wrong? Ah, is being my lover not enough for you?"

 "Not even slightly appealing," Tomochika replied in a flash.

 "Unfortunately, that's the best I can do. In the end, I'm a very honest person. If I'm going to spend the rest of my life with someone, I have to test them thoroughly. Of course, I'm most likely to pick a wife from among my lovers and top-tier slaves, so becoming my lover now is as good a start as you'll get."

 "I'd appreciate it if you could rethink what it means to be an honest person," Tomochika said, exasperated. She had heard that he'd always been like this, but it definitely couldn't have been to this degree. "Why are you so confident in yourself? Everyone in the class is training but you, aren't they?"

 Yogiri felt that Yuuki's self confidence was on the same level as the three who had already been to this world before. Tomochika must have been thinking the same thing.

 "I don't need any training," Yuuki declared proudly. "My class is Dominator — the strongest class, fit to rule over everyone."