"It's great that everything turned out fine, Lance~"
"We absolutely can't be this careless next time, Rakel!"
Swept up by the mood, the three fairies with their peculiar verbal tics—Sharuru, Rakel, and Lance—happily circled around Ai-chan. Just as Rikka was enjoying the moment, an unfamiliar gaze from behind her jolted her awake.
"Hm, hm?"
No, no, no! Suddenly realizing something was wrong, Rikka's eyelids twitched.
Why did you all just come out so casually? There are still ordinary people here! If other people saw fairies—ah, no, just seeing a baby with wings on her back would already be shocking enough!
But this gentleman didn't seem to ask anything.
Ash's gaze shifted slightly toward the fairies. Only now did the three fluffy creatures belatedly realize there was an outsider present, hurriedly pretending to be dolls as they lay motionless on Ai and Rikka's shoulders.
Of course, it was far too late for that. Ash wasn't blind, so he had naturally noticed these scientifically impossible "dolls" immediately. However, he had no intention of exposing their clumsy disguise.
Rather than asking questions and making everyone too awkward to speak, he might as well keep quiet and figure out what was going on first.
Turning around somewhat stiffly, Rikka met the man's gaze.
"Um..."
Before Rikka could explain anything, the man spoke first.
"You're students from this school, right?"
"That's right. Big brother, you don't seem to be from Daibei Junior High School, do you?"
Ai looked at his somewhat handsome face. Beneath his black bangs were eyes of the same color. The two girls began guessing at his background and age. Judging from his appearance alone, he seemed like a college student or high schooler. His clothes didn't look like something a teacher would wear, and staff usually wore uniforms. A little vest