The sight waiting for us at the falls made me groan. The majority of the class was slumped over the ground near the Otowa Waterfall. At first, I couldn't tell what had happened, but even from a distance, the smell hit me. The air was thick with the unmistakable scent of alcohol.
Essentially, this mountain of "corpses" was just a bunch of middle schoolers who were dead drunk.
"Axel-kun, this is terrible! It looks like the waterfall was spiked with sake, and everyone…"
"So it seems."
Negi ran up to me, looking panicked.
"Axel-kun, do you think this was a prank targeting tourists? Or was it…"
Negi clearly understood how unnatural this was. But right now, we had more pressing concerns.
"Negi, forget that for a second. We need to deal with this mess. Go find Nitta-sensei."
"What? Why? If the teachers find out they're drunk, won't they get in trouble?"
"If they were drinking on purpose, sure. But this was clearly a trap. There won't be any trouble for them. Besides, do you really think we can carry this many people back on our own? Without using magic, I mean."
"...Impossible."
"Exactly. Our best bet is to be honest with the teachers and get help. Luckily, it looks like they're just sleeping it off; no one seems to have alcohol poisoning. They'll be fine after a night at the inn. If we tell the teachers now, we won't have to hide anything later."
"You're right. Okay, I'll go get Nitta-sensei!"
Negi sprinted off. As I watched him go, I looked back at the fallen students. Natsumi and Chizuru were currently tending to a collapsed Ayaka.
"Ayaka too, huh?"
She might have seen the pitfall coming, but I suppose she hadn't expected someone to poison the water supply. In a way, it couldn't be helped.
Soon, I saw Negi returning with Nitta in tow.
"Hmm, Negi-sensei is right. Where is this spiked barrel you mentioned?"
"Oh, yes. I moved it over there."
"I see. I should probably contact the police and the shrine management. Negi-sensei, please take the students back to the ryokan. I'll handle the cleanup here."
"Understood. Um... could I get some help carrying them?"
"Ah, that might be too much for you, Negi-sensei. Seluhiko-kun, would you mind lending a hand?"
"Certainly."
I watched the teacher named Seluhiko hoist one of the Narutaki twins onto his shoulder. I scanned the area once more. This trap was likely set by the same person from the Shinkansen. If so, there was a chance she was watching us even now, but...
"Not that clumsy, I guess."
"Did you say something?"
My mutter caught the ear of Chizuru, who had drifted over to my side.
"Nothing. Just trying to spot the person who did this. No luck."
"Well, at least the silver lining is that our next stop was the inn anyway. If we had more sightseeing to do, these poor girls would have missed out on everything."
"I suppose that's one way to look at it. A blessing in disguise."
"Now then, Axel-kun, let's get back to the bus. With your current appearance, you can't exactly help carry anyone back without it looking… strange."
"You mean it would look impossible."
Even though I was in a child's body, my physical abilities were unchanged. I could easily carry several girls to the bus at once. But could a "normal" child carry a middle schooler? The answer was a flat no. If we were back at Mahora, I could have used a suggestion barrier to handwave it, but here in Kyoto, that wasn't an option.
"At times like this, I really hate looking like a kid."
"Now, now. Look, even Ayaka is just having a nice nap. It's not like anyone was actually hurt."
"Chizuru-nee, what do you mean by 'hurt'?" Natsumi asked, walking over.
"Well, you know. Getting young, defenseless girls drunk and making them sleep? If we're talking about 'harm'… surely you can imagine?"
"Ugh. You mean… something perverted?!"
"I'll leave that to your imagination, Natsumi-chan."
"You were totally going to say 'delusions,' weren't you?!"
Listening to their ridiculous banter, I found myself wearing a faint, weary smile.
"Axel-kun, do you have a moment? I have something I want to consult you about."
Once we arrived at the inn and the drunks were safely tucked into their futons, I was standing by a vending machine with a can of black tea when Negi approached me. Camo was perched on his shoulder, and Kagurazaka stood beside him like a worried guardian.
Chizuru and Natsumi were at the baths, so I was alone. Because of the special circumstances of our group, Konoe's grandfather and the other teachers had decided it would be inappropriate for me to share a room with the girls. I had been given a private room. I expected to share with Negi, but since he was technically a teacher, we were separated.
"Right, you mentioned that earlier. There's no one around, so go ahead."
I bought a second can of the same tea and tossed it to Negi.
"Thanks. ...Though, as an Englishman, I find it hard to truly welcome tea from a can. Real tea should be…"
Negi spent the next few minutes lecturing me on the nuances of tea. Between him and Yuuki from SRW OG, I was starting to wonder if all tea lovers were like this. Or maybe I just attracted the eccentric ones.
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