"Tanaka-kun!"
As Suzuki returned to the castle, it was already a little late, but his classmates quickly discovered him.
"You all look hungry. I bought a lot of food."
Suzuki still showed his harmless smile as he gave everyone the food that he had bought at the market before. Naturally, they were still freshly hot, as he kept all of them in his inventory, which meant they were always kept in perfect condition.
The delicious scent of the grilled meat wafted to everyone, and no one hesitated.
"Thank you very much!"
All of them were trained directly by Captain Meld and were hungry. While the dinners were being prepared, they were still young and suddenly forced to train their physical abilities like Spartans.
How could they not be hungry, right?
Fortunately, due to their special otherworldly physical abilities, they were roughly okay, but they knew that they were at their limits.
"Come on. There is still more. I keep all of them in my inventory. Eat them all."
"Thank you!"
Everyone cried as they felt their bodies filled with the meat.
Frankly, while some people hated him because Suzuki had always been better than all of them, they knew he was smart. No, he was the smartest of all, so they knew that even if he didn't train and went out to the outside, he must have discovered something. So if they try to antagonize him, what would happen if he gave them fake news?
More importantly, Suzuki was a merchant, and watching him share a lot of food with everyone on just one outing showed that he was capable of making a lot of money.
What if he somehow invested in a few groups of people and ignored the rest?
What would happen to those who were ignored?
Wouldn't they only have old, worn-out gears, then?
"..."
FUCKING SHIT!
All of them, those who hated him secretly, could only curse inwardly, especially when Suzuki could easily make everyone his friend, and also made a lot of money.
Money.
While it might be something common, everyone needs it. While many had heard of Suzuki's good reputation, they also often heard of his bad reputation, as some bad guys, such as Hayama and his group, had heard that during his time in the long-distance running club, he blackmailed an upperclassman, making all of them his followers, and they gave him the anchor position despite his freshman status.
In this world, although Suzuki didn't have a combatant job, he was still a fearsome character.
If someone antagonized him and mocked him because he was an orphan, someone with a lower status, Suzuki wouldn't beat them. Instead, he would look for their weakness, blackmailing them, using them again and again, and when they were useless, they were either discarded or let go as they graduated.
Suzuki wasn't a good person, and only those at the bottom knew it; the rest of the world didn't, thinking he was a saint despite being the cruelest.
Still, did he like being cruel?
No, it was because he was pragmatic, and if he didn't do so, he would be the one who was devoured.
Showing a weakness meant that he was an easy target, so no matter what the situation was, he had to show everyone that they shouldn't mess around with him, or else, they wouldn't be able to stay alive.
"Thank you, Suzuki."
Yuka Sonobe smiled softly as she wiped her greasy lips, which strangely made her erotic.
"No problem. I can't do much anyway, and all I can do is to support." Suzuki then looked at everyone, then found Shizuku, whose ponytail swayed as she ran in his direction
"Welcome back!"
"Thank you."
Shizuku wanted to hug him directly, but she was in front of everyone, so she was a little embarrassed, yet her hand reached his.
"..." Everyone.
They didn't know what to say, yet, watching the famous Iron Lady at the school, they became so smitten, as if a puppy encountering its master, and they felt jealous somehow. Naturally, it wasn't just the men who felt jealous of Shizuku; the women did too, wanting the same peace of mind as she had.
Still, without a doubt, it was clear Shizuku loved him, which made Kouki, who also came from behind, have a complicated expression on his face.
Why did you choose him, Shizuku?
If Suzuki knew what Kouki was thinking, he would roll his eyes at Kouki, as Kouki was the one who gave Shizuku a reason to be with him. Being Kouki was exhausting. It was troublesome. If Kouki and Shizuku hadn't been childhood friends, she would have left him behind, but since no better guys appeared, Kouki became delusional and developed a martyr complex. In the original world, the threat was just a normal delinquent, which she could easily handle, as she was the heiress of a famous swordsmanship dojo.
However, being with Suzuku made Shizuku relaxed, and she could be the woman she had always wanted to be, being a weak, protected, and being loved, which in return, she cared for and loved him dearly.
She had always put everyone's wishes before her, taking care of all the troublesome, as they expected him to be able to do anything when the truth was, she was exhausted, and had her own wishes, which was why, when she was chosen, and had her life changed due to him, she was liberated.
So, even if they were teleported to another world, and even if he was a merchant, it didn't matter, as she knew well that he was someone who wouldn't give up, and as he took care of her, making her able to face what she wanted to do, this time, truly, she would do the same for him.
"...why are you looking at me like that? You are going to make everyone think that you are going to swallow me."
"I-I am not like that!"
"Ahem!" Kouki coughed as he tried to hide his complex expression, feeling even more at a loss when he saw how feminine Shizuku had become, leaving him feeling that way for a long time. "Did you just return Suzuki-kun? I have heard that you left on your own to the outside. I don't think that is good for the group, as you know that we're a team. We should gather together instead of being separated—"
"Are you hungry, Amanogawa? Here, eat some."
"...."
Kouki felt his stomach grumbling, and Kaori suddenly stepped in and said, "Wow, I am so famished! Let's eat, Amanogawa-kun."
"O-Okay, if Kaori says so..."
Kouki accepted the treat and ate the meat, sighing with comfort. After all, as a "hero," he trained harder than anyone and naturally consumed more calories than others.
"Thanks..."
Suzuki quickly thanked Kaori.
"Give me the best one," Kaori pouted, but she knew well that she was taking advantage of her cuteness and how Kouki's feelings toward him to stop this guy from being so overbearing.
"No problem."
"Yeah, you can have the best, Kaori." Shizuku also smiled.
"...."
Kaori was speechless, then ate the grilled meat with a bitter expression!
Still—
"Um... Tanaka-kun, you have been outside, right? Can you tell us more about what you see?"
When everything was moving in the right direction, all of a sudden, someone asked about this critical situation, which made all of them quickly turn their gazes toward him with expectation and hope, since among all of them, Suzuki was the only one who had come out of the kingdom to see how the kingdom truly was.
Information.
This was vital, as they had no way to learn about the world except from the soldiers, or those in the castle, and could they trust them?
Instead, it was because Suzuki was in the same class as them, so his information was more trustworthy than anyone else's.
Yet Suzuki didn't immediately answer; instead, he looked at the person who asked him the question, a cute girl with glasses and a bob haircut, Eri Nakamura.
"Sure. I will tell you what all I know after I went out before, or is there anyone else who doesn't want to listen?"
"We all want to listen!"
"Good."
Still, as Suzuki shared his story about his outing previously, he had to say Eri's eyes on him were a bit weird sometimes.
---
The 5th Suzuki has been decided!
It will be fun~!