The Omnipotent Super Chuunibyou - Chapter 26

“Why? Why would Izumi-chan suddenly say that?!”

Fujiwara Chika continued to feign righteousness, but her gaze had already begun to falter.

“Sage, have you noticed something?” Takanashi Rikka recovered from her shock, her eyes flashing with suspicion.

“Take a close look at the top left corner of the joker card,” Hasegawa Izumi said, pointing to the spot in question.

“Hm?” Following her instructions, Rikka picked up the card. As soon as her fingers touched the edge, she felt something off. The corner here had clearly been worn down, unlike the other cards!

This way, it would be possible to avoid drawing the joker card.

“In other words…you’ve been manipulating me, Fujiwara-san! how dare you pull trick on me, mortal?!” Her expression abruptly changed as she stood, leveling a scolding at the girl with the pink hair and black bow.

Chika instantly lowered her head like a mischievous child caught red-handed, her lips pressed together and cheeks flushed, silent.

Being caught cheating was incredibly awkward!

“Chika, I’m afraid you haven’t kicked this bad habit after all.”

Hasegawa Izumi’s tone neither angry nor dissapoint. He’d long since grown used to this.

Chika had tried every imaginable trick to defeat him in their games, but he’d blocked them all.

He’d hoped she’d quit while she was ahead, but it seemed she was still trying her luck.

“I just…just… I just wanted to win against Izumi-chan for once!”

With her face burning red, Fujiwara Chika fled outside the room. Having been caught exploiting a bug, and without a back up to fall back on, her only option was to temporarily log out of the game.

“What’s going on? What happened? Did Hasegawa bully Fujiwara, and that’s why she’s crying?”

“I doubt that. Maybe Fujiwara-san confessed and got rejected!”

“Stop joking around. There’s no way Fujiwara-san is dating anyone, and certainly not Hasegawa!”

By now, the other students in the class were also staring, each sharing their own opinions.

Just as the first period of the afternoon ended…

“Hasegawa-san.”

A voice suddenly called from the door at the back of the classroom.

He turned to see a girl with glasses, Asahi Shizuku, the Club President of the Mass Media Club, a girl who seemed gentle.

She brought them unexpected news.

“They rejected?”

Near the corner of the rooftop, Hasegawa Izumi heard her words, somewhat surprised.

“That’s right. I’ve already confirmed it. The soccer club rejected your challenge,” Asahi Shizuku said, nodding.

Takanashi Rikka sneered, “To choose to run from the battle they were fated to fight is the act of a complete weakling! They might as well disband. This world is merciless; there’s no place for the weak.”

“Their reason is—there aren’t enough members,” the girl explained, pushing up her glasses.

“Members?” Hasegawa Izumi uttered in surprise.

“Right? I almost forgot about that. It would be too much for me to go and play soccer against an entire team by myself, so it’s understandable that they refused.”

‘You weren’t planning to do that, were you?’ Asahi Shizuku’s lips twitched imperceptibly, and she barely managed to suppress the urge to roast him.

“That’s not the case. Last year, quite a few members graduated, and this year, for certain reasons, the team had to be reorganized. At present, they haven’t even reassembled a single team,” she replied.

“Fine, then we’ll bypass the soccer club and challenge the basketball team instead,” Hasegawa Izumi muttered, swiftly shifting his target.

In any case, he’d made a sufficient splash with the announcements, and losing one more similar club wouldn’t make much difference.

“What about the time? Tomorrow?”

Asahi Shizuku asked, considering that she needed to give her opponent time to prepare.

“No, let’s set it for this Friday, after school.”

He shook his head.

Isn’t this guy always in a hurry?

Asahi Shizuku was surprised, but she didn’t pry. Instead, she turned and left.

“Sage, will you be devising a new strategy?” Takanashi Rikka stepped closer and asked.

“Rikka, what are your thoughts?” He smiled slightly, refusing to answer her directly.

Another test?

The girl closed her eyes, searching for clues in their earlier conversation.

She trusted that Izumi wouldn’t say such things without reason.

Abruptly, her eyes snapped open. “Earlier, the Sage emphasized the number of people, then deliberately selected a quest with a large number of participants, and finally left ample time. This indicates that the Sage doesn’t plan to challenge it alone, but… will assemble a strong team to complete the quest.”

“Correct, that’s precisely my intention,” Hasegawa Izumi said as he headed downstairs. Rikka followed closely behind, listening intently.

“We did not establish the Far Eastern Magic Society for the sake of a single person; our very purpose is to seek out more Fellow Seekers. So, I intend to use this opportunity to support potential candidates.”

“Is that what the Sage intends?” The girl’s eyes glimmered with hope.

“That’s right,” he confirmed.

The girl said nothing further; she had everything she needed in her heart.

Izumi’s greatness speaks for itself!

But how do we select them?

This question became a problem for the two of them.

A normal basketball team needed five starters and seven reserves, for a total of twelve players. Obviously, even without reserves, a team capable of participating in the club’s activities still needed five members. That meant they needed three more, excluding themselves.

Where will we find them?

By the time school let out in the afternoon, the classroom was practically deserted.

Hasegawa Izumi and Takanashi Rikka looked at each other, slightly awkward.

The plan could be changed on the fly, but they’d forgotten to consider the most important factor: their social network.

Could they count on Eriri? Not a chance! If their frail childhood friend were to get injured, he’d never be able to repay Aunt Sayuri for her care.

That was out of the question.

“Chika, Nibutani… And Shinomiya could probably count as one?”

As he considered this, he almost laughed out loud.

What kind of choices were these?!

Just then, Rikka broke the impasse from her seat beside him.

“The time is ripe; it’s time for her to join the game!”

“Rikka, do you have anyone in mind?”

Her expression was odd. From what he’d gathered, she seemed more like a lone wolf.

“Of course! It’s all thanks to my loyal servant’s recommendation that I was able to meet the Sage here,” she said with conviction.

“It was me, Cardinal. I’ve been moving things along, following the order of the Vatican’s Magic Association. The situation is such and such, and so forth…”

Without wasting a moment, the girl dialed a long-unused number on her cell phone.

“Impressive. You even use coded language? Your security’s pretty good.”

He offered his praise.

After a while, the two of them made their way to a park outside school, where they waited quietly.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rustled the nearby foliage.

A figure leaped up from the flower bed beside them, landed in a half crouch right in front, and stood before them, one hand braced against the ground, her blue eyes clear and bright.

“Takanashi Rikka’s, wielder of the True Eye of the Evil King, First Servant and Mjölnir’s Wielder, Dekomori Sanae, reporting for duty!”