A Rider Doesn't Need a Youth Romantic Comedy [8]

“All right, class dismissed.”

As soon as the bell rang, Hiratsuka Shizuka neatly closed the teaching materials in her hand and announced the end of class.

This decisiveness in dismissing class raised her favorability slightly among some students.

“Oh, right—Makoto Rōma, come to the staff room for a bit.”

Just before leaving, Hiratsuka seemed to remember something, turning to Makoto Rōma and calling him out.

Without waiting for a response, she walked straight out of the classroom.

“Huh?”

Rōma, who had just laid down on his desk to nap, slowly raised his head, displaying a puzzled look.

What did I do?

In Rōma’s mind, getting called to the staff room meant he’d surely done something wrong.

But carefully recalling the past few days, he had behaved quite properly at school.

“Did you do something?” Even Sakamoto turned around, giving Rōma a curious look.

Though the two weren't exactly inseparable, they were close enough that their daily routines matched well—both were the type to quietly stay in the classroom during breaks.

“I have no clue. I’ll go see what she wants.”

Getting up reluctantly, Rōma stretched out lazily.

Seeing this, Sakamoto didn’t press any further. If Rōma himself didn’t know, it probably meant he hadn’t caused any trouble.

...

“Um, Sensei… Is something the matter?”

Entering the staff room, Rōma carefully asked Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was organizing documents.

If possible, he wanted to remain unnoticed in class. Given his circumstances, it wasn't realistic for him to remain in school like a regular student. After all, he might need to apply for long-term leave or temporary absence at any moment.

“I checked your records. You weren’t attending school these past two years, right?”

Setting down the documents, Hiratsuka gazed at Rōma with a hint of concern.

In this society—especially in Japan—circles and cliques were notoriously rigid and exclusionary. Someone like Rōma, who hadn't attended school for an extended period and lacked clear social connections, was at higher risk of bullying.

“Yes, that's correct. Is something wrong?”

Though Rōma didn’t quite grasp what Hiratsuka was driving at, he answered honestly anyway.

No matter what, Hiratsuka was his teacher; there was no need to be rude.

“I won’t pry about the reasons. Have you made any friends at school?”

Choosing her words carefully, Hiratsuka continued.

The records regarding Rōma’s two-year absence were extremely vague, offering no explanation as to how he managed to re-enroll normally. Hiratsuka decided not to delve deeper into that mystery. Over the past two days, she observed Rōma’s personality and found him quite decent. Thus, as his homeroom teacher, she decided to offer some casual care.

“I’m pretty close with Sakamoto.”

“I see.” Hiratsuka nodded understandingly.

This was obvious enough to anyone paying attention, and she had asked merely as a formality.

“Then, what about clubs? Have you thought about joining one yet?”

Ah, this is what she really wanted.

Hiratsuka hoped that by joining a club, Rōma could quickly assimilate into the school environment. If he hadn’t decided yet, she planned to recommend him to the Literature Club, of which she was the advisor. The students there had decent personalities, which made her feel reassured.

“I plan on joining Sakamoto’s club.”

At this moment, Rōma felt he had a rough grasp of Hiratsuka’s intentions. Was she planning on throwing him into Yukinoshita Yukino’s club?

Forget it. Rōma had zero interest in dealing with those "model student" types.

When he first arrived in this world, maybe he still harbored childish fantasies of "Typical MC's"—conquering heroines and building a harem or something ridiculous like that.

But now, all Rōma wanted was a peaceful, quiet life—though admittedly, this "peaceful" life only existed during brief intervals between missions.

Besides, dating girls like these was way too exhausting.

Getting verbally stabbed, then forced to fulfill requests afterward?
Why bother with that when he could just sleep and play games?

This was a truth that single-for-over-a-decade Rōma had thoroughly grasped—at least, that’s how he currently saw it.

“Sakamoto’s club…?”

Hiratsuka paused, momentarily forgetting which club Sakamoto had joined. She knew the clubs of everyone in class, but couldn’t immediately recall Sakamoto’s.

“Hold on, let me check.”

Pulling out a file from her desk, Hiratsuka flipped through the pages. The break between classes was twenty minutes, so Rōma wasn’t in any hurry either.

“Here it is.”

Locating Sakamoto’s club application, Hiratsuka suddenly fell silent.

This "Modern Literature Club," how should she describe it?
It consisted entirely of go-home club members and other idle students who had no genuine desire to participate in activities. Its entire existence was essentially a shelter created by students wanting to avoid nagging teachers.

Could joining this club really help him quickly integrate into school life?
It felt more like just finding a plausible way to escape responsibility.

Scratching her head in mild frustration, Hiratsuka ultimately gave up the idea of forcing Rōma into another club.

Her initial intent was to help Rōma. If she ended up forcing him into something uncomfortable, that would defeat the original purpose.

“All right, just fill out the club application form and hand it to me this afternoon. I’ll be in the office until five, so don’t rush.”

After putting Sakamoto’s application back in the folder, Hiratsuka offered a few more casual instructions.

Incidentally, what remained with Hiratsuka was just a copy. The original forms students wrote were already officially submitted. Naturally, she wouldn’t carelessly leave personal documents lying around on her desk.

“Understood. I’ll head back now.”

Nodding politely, Rōma turned around, closing the door behind him as he left the staff room.

“Excuse me, please let me through.”

A clear voice sounded from behind Rōma.

Turning around, he saw a back facing him…
Ah, sorry, actually, that was her front side.

“I somehow feel you're thinking something very rude.”

Yukinoshita Yukino furrowed her brows, barely suppressing the urge to speak her thoughts aloud. In the end, she still managed to restrain her restless tongue.

Forget it, control yourself.

“All right.”

Recognizing Yukinoshita Yukino, Rōma was a bit surprised—but only a bit.

How should he put it?

Before meeting her, perhaps he’d harbored a small, insignificant fantasy. But after actually encountering her in reality, she was just… kind of normal, with nothing particularly striking about her.

In every sense of the word.

This was Rōma’s honest feeling right now. No matter how charming Yukinoshita Yukino might have appeared in the anime, in Rōma’s eyes, she was essentially indistinguishable from the countless others whose names he couldn’t remember.

If you truly wanted to discuss personality or charisma, even the weird things contained back at Chaldea had far more unique character than she did.

Having encountered plenty of unusual and charming women during his missions at Chaldea, Rōma certainly wouldn't experience a huge psychological shift just by meeting an ordinary girl.

Thus, this little interlude did nothing to change Rōma’s life.

Slipping into class just as the bell rang, Rōma whispered a quick explanation to Sakamoto, then pulled out his textbook from his bag and began seriously paying attention.

Today, Makoto Rōma remained a perfectly good student, as usual.

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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!