A Rider Doesn't Need a Youth Romantic Comedy [9]

“So Hiratsuka-sensei called you out to ask about club activities?”

After class, Sakamoto turned around, asking Makoto Rōma casually.

Ever since Rōma arrived, Sakamoto found himself talking more frequently.

Though he wasn’t exactly the aloof type before, his circumstances had always prevented him from forming deep friendships.

Rōma’s presence, without question, had brought some new color to his otherwise monotonous life.

“Yeah. But when I said I'd join your club, she stopped pressing the issue.”

With his hands clasped behind his head, Rōma leaned casually back onto the desk behind him.

Kouno Sakura, who sat directly behind him, stared helplessly at the test paper that was now trapped beneath his elbow.

Should I remind him?

For Sakura, who was timid and somewhat lacking in self-confidence, this was a huge hurdle.

The previous time she’d asked for contact information had only been possible after repeated urging by her close friend.

And to be honest, after exchanging their contacts, neither of them had sent a single message.

Gazing anxiously at her paper pinned under Rōma’s elbow, Sakura silently encouraged herself.

It’s okay. It’s just starting a conversation.

“By the way, what should we eat for lunch today?”

The moment food was mentioned, Rōma’s eyes instantly lit up, his posture shifting from leaning backward to enthusiastically leaning forward onto his own desk.

Phew...

Seeing Rōma “release” her test paper, Sakura quietly sighed with relief and quickly tucked her paper away.

Neither Rōma nor Sakamoto had noticed this small moment.

The two were engrossed in discussing their lunch options.

“Should we get onigiri again? The convenience store on campus has been pretty good lately.”

Sakamoto pushed up his glasses slightly as he suggested.

As far as Sakamoto was concerned, it didn't matter what he ate—nothing would ever affect his natural aura.

“We had onigiri yesterday though. Maybe switch it up today?”

Rōma wasn’t particularly fond of the onigiri sold at the school store.

Perhaps to accommodate most students, the store’s onigiri flavors were always quite bland.

But Rōma preferred stronger flavors, only occasionally switching to lighter foods.

“Then how about yakisoba bread?”

“Actually… Let's just stick with onigiri.”

In the end, Rōma gave in.

He’d rather eat mildly flavored onigiri than settle for yakisoba bread.

Ring-ring-ring-ring—

As Rōma prepared the textbook for the next lesson, an unusual ringtone interrupted him.

“Your phone?” Sakamoto glanced at him suspiciously. Normally, Rōma’s phone was always set to silent during class.

“Maybe something came up?”

Rōma didn't seem too worried. After all, if something really serious happened, the research institute wouldn’t just casually contact him through his phone.

“I’ll step out for a bit.”

After informing Sakamoto, Rōma stepped outside the classroom, pulling out his phone and connecting his earbuds as he walked.

“This is Makoto Rōma. What’s up?”

While answering, he casually headed towards the rooftop.

At this hour, the rooftop was probably empty, and he figured it was a good place for a quiet call.

Besides, taking a break outside was refreshing. Even though school wasn’t exactly stressful, wasn’t it normal for students to be curious about a rooftop that was officially off-limits?

Many students passed by Rōma along the corridor, but none took notice of him.

A white, paper ema tied to his waist swayed gently with each step he took.

This was one of the anomalous items discovered by the institute, able to conceal one’s presence.

Since they were plentiful and posed no harmful side-effects, these ema were now widely used by operatives.

Whether or not ema were meant to be used like this, Rōma didn’t care—he always tied it casually around his waist.

“We’ve made progress with the fallen angel. She spilled everything quite quickly.”

The liaison on the phone reported concisely.

Initially, that fallen angel had tried to act tough. But once strapped to Dr. Jane’s operating table, she caved almost immediately.

Well, who wouldn’t panic upon seeing all those abnormal organisms floating in jars?

Where she came from, what her original world was like, her personal connections, her faction and its enemies, the powers and resources at her disposal—all spilled out of Raynare’s mouth like beans.

The researcher taking notes calmly recorded everything, utterly unfazed.

Just a fallen angel, after all. Nothing new here.

In their line of work, encountering monsters and demons was routine. A mere fallen angel? Piece of cake.

“Understood,” Rōma replied briefly.

Standing before the door to the rooftop, he stared curiously at the clearly well-used lock.

Wasn’t the rooftop officially off-limits?

Though Sobu High had reinforced all building rooftops and even provided benches, officially, students weren’t allowed access.

Officially, anyway.

“This rule really feels meaningless.”

Pulling a lockpick out of nowhere, he fiddled briefly, and the lock instantly opened with a click.

Rōma casually complaining about the meaningless rule conveniently ignored the fact that he was blatantly breaking it.

Much like a certain marine admiral who kept whining "How scary~" while casually stomping pirates, Rōma was the same:

Complaining about the system while effortlessly undermining it.

“Oh right—Princess Syalis had a message for you.”

Remembering something, the liaison’s tone turned amused.

“Wait, wait. I really don’t want to hear it.”

Rōma immediately waved his hand in refusal. He had no interest in whatever message that troublesome princess wanted to deliver.

Despite his clear reluctance, the liaison cheerfully continued:

“She said you did well, and next time she needs something, she’ll be counting on you again.”

Then the call abruptly ended.

Standing alone on the rooftop, Rōma fell into a deep silence.

Next time? She’s expecting a next time?

Hey, I have to go to school, you ancestor-level troublemaker!

Should I just quit school altogether?

At this point, “good student” Rōma began to seriously consider dropping out.

School really was inconvenient, after all. Even something as simple as answering calls was troublesome.

If emergencies arose, would he have to imitate all those high-school superhero types and skip class every single time?

Considering the practicalities, taking a long-term leave or a temporary suspension seemed more realistic.

Ah, screw it—might as well just drop out.

---

T/N: oh ancestor level basically means like SUPER SUPER TROUBLESOME like how in slacking sota uses it for the kids he met when he was young

This is a fan translation of 骑士不需要青春恋爱物语 by 青琮 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!