This handsome man with an eyepatch was reading a book on his own. He exuded a bookish beauty that would not be out of place in an anime.

But… the book's cover was actually a beautiful girl in bikini-armor, and the novel had such a name!

It wasn't that Seiji objected to this person reading such a light novel. In fact, Seiji was more than happy to see others reading light novels. It was just that the impression he gave Seiji seemed totally unlike the type that would read such a novel.

Well, at the very least, there was a male supporting character with an eyepatch in this novel as well...

'Eh, why does it feel like I'm getting off track with my comments? Well, forget it. The boy's free to read whatever he likes.'

Seiji walked into the paG.o.da and sat down opposite the gray-haired boy.

He took out his cell phone and was about to contact the president when his phone started ringing; she had beat him to it.

"What's the matter, Natsuya?"

"Nothing. There's no need to worry. I just wanted to talk to you."

"A person named Shunsuke Furukawa told me that there's going to be a game of some sort later, but he didn't go into the specifics."

"I heard about this as well. Let's adapt to the situation. I'll try my best to avoid dueling, but..."

"I understand. I'll be prepared, so there's no need to worry about me," Seiji said with a chuckle. "After all, I'm your Spirit-branded Retainer."

"Yeah..." Natsuya felt a warm feeling in her heart when she heard this.

Their conversation ended on that note.

Seiji looked towards the gray-haired boy seated across from him. He noticed that the boy's brows were furrowed. The boy had a confused expression of "What the h.e.l.l is this?" as he continued reading.

"Did you encounter some part that you weren't able to understand?" Seiji asked reflexively.

The gray-haired boy looked in his direction.

"Sorry to distract you. I've read that novel before, so I spoke up when I saw your expression," Seiji explained. "If there's any part of this novel that you don't understand, you can ask me."

The gray-haired boy blinked. "...Who might you be?"

"s.h.i.+roya," Seiji said.

A moment of silence fell between them.

"s.h.i.+roysan... My name is Ryuuno Izawa. I would like to request your a.s.sistance regarding the contents of this page." The gray-haired boy turned the light novel in his hand to show Seiji the page that he was currently reading.

Seiji felt rather awkward explaining the fantastical events of a light novel to a boy with a serious personality.

According to Izawa, he wasn't reading the book of his own volition—his master had ordered him to do so. As well as reading it, his lady also told him to write a book report of at least five hundred words about it.

'An elementary schooler's homework!?' Seiji couldn't help but think to himself.

A book report on a light novel... As a light novel enthusiast, it was quite a simple task for him. However, it would certainly be a difficult job for a non-enthusiast. It was akin to asking Seiji to write a book report on some great cla.s.sic.

How could he possibly write a good book report on a book that was so difficult to understand and boring enough to put him to sleep!?

The same could be said when it came to understanding the book. Who would want to understand a book when they didn't even want to read it the first place? Since they gained enjoyment from reading it, how could they be pa.s.sionate about understanding it?

And this was excluding all the questions about an author's intention. Even the authors themselves were unable to answer some of those questions--the college examinations in his previous life were a great example of this...

Seiji coughed in his mind. 'I'm getting sidetracked.'

"Thank you for your explanation, s.h.i.+roysan," the boy said solemnly.

"No need to be polite. It was a simple matter."

'It also helped me pa.s.s the time,' Seiji thought to himself.

Suddenly, he saw a figure darting around in the trees outside the paG.o.da. It was the Spirit-branded Retainer that had been standing on the fake mountain.

He was an energetic little boy with short fiery red hair and a handsome little face. He was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, and his lips were parted in an innocent grin.

He jumped from tree to tree like a graceful acrobat. While he was in midair, he somersaulted, flipped, and spun. It seemed like he was giving a performance and enjoying it.

Seiji watched the red-haired boy dance through the air, then backflip and land on the ground when he reached the final tree.

The moment the boy landed on the ground, he did a handstand and flew up into the paG.o.da, landing steadily like a well-trained gymnast.

"h.e.l.lo, strange onii-chan," the little red-haired boy called out.

"h.e.l.lo, strange little boy," Seiji replied.

"Don't call me little boy—my name is Yuuki Oyok.u.mo!"

"Alright then, Oyok.u.mo-san."

"Don't call me Oyok.u.mo-san either—that sounds so old!"

"Oyok.u.mo-kun."

"That's fine." The red-haired little boy nodded. "Onii-san, what's your name?"

"s.h.i.+roya."

"s.h.i.+ro...ya? Is that your name?"

"It's my name."

"What about your family name?"

"You don't need to know."

"Eh... Onii-san, you really are strange."

Seiji smiled. "Oyok.u.mo-kun, do you have something you want from the strange me?"

"Nope. I just came by to say hi. I didn't think that onii-san... s.h.i.+roya onii-san, you look really strange, but seem easy to talk to."

"I'm just making polite conversation," Seiji responded casually.

A steady beat of footsteps sounded behind them.

"Yuuki, what are you doing?" a voice asked.

Both of them turned around to see a man with dark blonde hair. He had round-lensed gla.s.ses and was wearing a black jacket with long black pants. He seemed a little depraved, but in his eyes was a concealed sharpness.

"I'm talking to s.h.i.+roya onii-san," the red-haired boy said.

"s.h.i.+roya?" The dark blonde man looked towards Seiji. "I'm sorry, but what might your full name be?"

"Just call me s.h.i.+roya," Seiji said coolly.

The blonde-haired man's eyes narrowed slightly. "I see... my apologies." He then looked towards Yuuki Oyok.u.mo. "Come with me! Go over there with me, and stay put."

"Eh... I want to have a chat with s.h.i.+roya onii-san."

"You're giving him trouble, idiot," the blonde-haired man rebuked.

Yuuki was startled by this. "Er?"

"Stop talking, and leave with me now." The man beckoned with his hand, a serious expression on his face.

Yuuki looked confused, but when he saw the blonde-haired man's solemn expression, he relented and left the paG.o.da.

After they walked for a while, the dark blonde man spoke up again. "That person is using a disguise spell. s.h.i.+roya is definitely an alias. He obviously doesn't want to reveal his true ident.i.ty."

"What?"

"Just talking to him is giving him trouble. Do you understand?"

"Eh... But he..."

"You need to be more observant and use your brain more when interacting with others," the blonde-haired man said in a light voice. "Casually interacting with others might give the other party trouble, and it might bring trouble upon yourself. Remember that."

Yuuki frowned slightly but didn't say anything else.

Seiji watched Yuuki and the blonde man leave before turning away. He saw that Ryuuno Izawa had closed and stowed away the novel.

"You finished reading it?" Seiji asked.

"No."

"Why did you stop?"

"Because... I felt rather tired."

"Then could you loan it to me to read?"

Izawa blinked in surprise. "s.h.i.+roysan, didn't you say that you've already read this book?"

"I want to read it again because I'm bored."

Izawa fell silent for a moment. Finally, he took the book out again and handed it to Seiji.

"Thank you." Seiji opened the book and began reading it.

"s.h.i.+roysan," Izawa said after a while, "I would like to ask a slightly impolite question."

"Hmm?"

"Why is it that you don't show your true self to others?" Izawa looked directly at Seiji. "To be allowed to enter here at all means that your ident.i.ty is an established one. However, you're still covering yourself like this and using a fake name. I personally feel that this is a meaningless action, so I'm confused. Would you mind telling me the reason?"