I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

Entering the clumsily made haunted house, the reactions from the people were twofold.

To be precise, I could hear both responses at the same time.

“Gyaa!?!”

At first, they were obviously terrified.

I mean, was it really that shocking to scare them? Even though I covered the windows with blackout curtains, the decorations were awkward, and the interior was nothing compared to a properly made haunted house.

Furthermore, due to the nature of the school building, the sound insulation wasn’t great. The regular classrooms had large windows overlooking the hallway, and the windows facing outside were obviously big and clear.

If you closed your mouth and listened quietly, you could hear the buzz of voices from the people in the hallway way too easily.

Additionally, the classroom next door, where Sasaki and Yuka were located, was also a place where many people gathered, which meant that this place was far from quiet.

Even so, the twin girls with their faces completely covered in hair and red paint seemed terrifying to the guests without any preparation.

However—

“Oh, but up close, you’re cute.”

“Right? Great disguise~”

“……”

Since the guests knew we were just students, they were only surprised for a moment before coming closer and examining our faces, saying things like that.

“Uu?”

Moreover, Fukuda’s ‘Uu, Uwa, no touching’ didn’t affect Koko at all.

Every time guests chatted in front of us, Koko tilted her head with sounds like that, and the guests, captivated by her cuteness, handed us snacks or candy as they left.

Around eleven o’clock, Koko was still busy munching on something.

“Want some?”

As I watched Koko, she offered me a chocolate ball.

“……Thanks.”

I had many things I wanted to say, but explaining to Koko, who didn’t find ghosts or anything scary, seemed pointless, so I just accepted it.

In the end, our haunted house was a huge success.

Including Fukuda and Yamashita, we received feedback that “all the ghosts are pretty,” and eventually a bunch of guys flocked over. Well, I guess it’s better than no one showing up at all.

*

“Puhat.”

Then, close to the end of our shift, Kaoru and Izumi visited our room.

They had helped out in their own class for a bit, finished the setup for the Literature Club, and then locked the door behind them.

Apparently, they came to see what we were up to since they already called us over.

“No, Kaoru.”

Izumi said seriously to Kaoru, who was bursting out with laughter.

“But I think for students, this level of effort is impressive. We just feel a bit underwhelmed because we went through that situation ourselves.”

That’s true.

Thanks to the dim lighting, the first people who entered were indeed surprised. It was a problem that they only ended up being shocked without any further reaction.

“Hmm? Is that so?”

However, Kaoru always had a wealth of knowledge regarding stuff like this, even claiming to be the nonexistent president of the Occult Club.

Given the horror movies he must have frequently watched, our appearances, decked out in red lipstick and paint, surely didn’t look very realistic to him.

“Well, it doesn’t matter! You guys, when will you be done?”

“We agreed to finish by lunch, so it’ll be soon.”

“Really? Then we’ll be outside… wait.”

Kuh kuh kuh.

Kaoru raised a hand and grinned sinisterly.

Well, to be accurate, it’d be more accurate to say she was pretending to look sinister. The way she raised her hand like a cat in front of her face didn’t appear that ominous at all.

“I’ll wait in the next class! I’ll reserve a table, so just come right over.”

I think I understood why she said that.

This world, while not overtly obvious, resembled the typical light novel world that loosely follows the harem genre formula of that era.

Even if it is a story about divine beings, you wouldn’t be shown people dying from start to finish.

Since it was a harem and light novel, it would include some sweet romantic scenes.

And naturally, there are scenes that need to be shown during a cultural festival, right?

*

That’s right.

I wasn’t quite sure how the reality of a cultural festival was.

When I attended school festivals during high school, it was mostly a day spent in the classrooms doing various things, followed by watching kids dance and sing in the auditorium. In college, I can only remember chugging Makgeolli after a show from some guest performer and then totally losing my memories.

This was my first time enjoying a cultural festival in Japan.

So, I had no idea whether maid cafes were part of the real cultural festivals here, but what’s the problem with being ignorant?

I just had to find out from now on.

“Wow!”

As I stepped into what was temporarily set up as a café rather than the classroom, a delicious smell wafted, and Koko’s eyes sparkled.

I did wonder how good the food would be.

In most countries, ‘restaurants’ tend to be pretty particular, meaning what could be sold was quite restricted. Apparently, fresh cream or fruits were big no-nos.

Mostly, what was being sold was made-up cookies, and even then, it’s only tea or coffee that students would prepare themselves.

That’s why students thought:

“The draw is ‘high school girl maids.’”

Even if the adults thought of it that way, it was something they couldn’t really say. But when the actual high school girls pushed strongly for it, teachers probably had nothing to say against it.

Plus, it seems they received almost unanimous agreement from the boys in the class.

To be honest, as someone who actually worked and did socializing, I couldn’t understand the mindset of wanting to do ‘work’ during the festival. I guess that’s the gap between a world-weary adult and a passionate student.

“Welcome, young lady!”

Since we were in our high school girl forms, I guess we were considered young ladies.

Normally, we would need to wait in line for a long time to get in, but thanks to Kaoru and Izumi reserving our spots, we could just walk right in.

I did wonder if it was okay to enter all covered in paint, but as soon as I walked in, I noticed a guy with a distinctive mustache in a red outfit sitting there, so I decided not to think too much about it.

“Here, here!”

Kaoru raised one hand and shouted.

In front of the two of them, there were still no food or drinks. It was quite a long line, so they might have just entered as well.

The sitting table wasn’t a desk. It was just a round table, often found outside convenience stores, covered with a lace tablecloth, making it look rather cheap. Even the chairs were the same as the ones we used.

Well, since it was students putting on a fun show, I guess they didn’t mind the quality.

“Look over there.”

Once we settled quietly, Kaoru grinned and pointed out.

Turning towards her direction, I saw Yuka, who was wearing a rather hard-to-find look.

Yuka, with a red face and dressed in a short dress-type maid outfit.

And when our eyes met, Yuka’s face turned even redder.

What’s up with that?

I just smiled a little.

Yuka wasn’t particularly popular in our class.

Of course, she was pretty and had a good figure, so there might be some guys who secretly liked her. But she usually acted aloof, making it somewhat difficult for anyone to approach her easily.

Who thought of dressing Yuka in a maid outfit?

For reference, in the original work, the reason Yuka wore a maid outfit was to compete with Nakahara and Hagiwara.

Looking around, I saw Sasaki as well. Surprisingly, there was even a male student working as a waiter in this café. He appeared to have the butler concept going.

“I’ll take your order!”

Kaoru enthusiastically shouted.

A nearby girl looked over, and upon making eye contact with me, I noticed that she seemed to recognize Yuka and me.

She gracefully approached Yuka and gently nudged her back.

I suppose that was meant to tell Yuka to go.

Looks like Yuka was settling in nicely with the class after all. Well, if it’s been two semesters, it’s no surprise there’d be some social groups forming.

Still, I wouldn’t say she had a lot of friends.

Eventually, Yuka came over to us.

“……Order.”

“Oh la la~?”

As Yuka spoke in her very stiff voice while holding up the order sheet and pen, Kaoru cocked her head to the side, making a triangle with her hand. She had an unmistakable cat look on her face.

“Isn’t there a set phrase for maids in this café? Did I missee it?”

“……”

Yuka stiffened.

I had forgotten about the big promotional tagline outside. “We strictly adhere to the concept!”

If Yuka was knowledgeable in this area, she would understand that among maids, there are those who are cool and speak briefly; unfortunately, she wasn’t that well-versed in subcultures.

She probably only knew games, which were most likely just the fairly popular ones.

Yuka glanced at me.

It seemed she was pondering the fact that maids here didn’t have to adhere to that kind of speech.

Of course, I didn’t say anything to her.

Honestly, I found the current situation pretty amusing.

“W-welcome, young lady.”

In the end, Yuka spoke with a very small voice as if she was shy.

Hmm.

That would probably be popular.

If this were a proper café, her speech might catch the manager’s ire, but here, no one expected to be served seriously while eating.

So, there might be a demand for the shy ones too.

“Hmm, good, good.”

Kaoru nodded with a satisfied smile on her face. Izumi, who had been trying to stifle her laughter, poked Kaoru in the side. The vibe was like, “Hey, hey, stop.” But the expression made it not seem serious at all.

Yuka, don’t put so much force into it, or you’re gonna break the pen.

Of course, I didn’t plan to say anything that would get me in trouble, so I stayed silent.

Well, Yuka wouldn’t be the type to throw a fit or hit me.

“Then, I’ll have coffee.”

“Me too.”

“……Orange juice.”

“Cookies!”

Instead of ordering drinks, I ordered another juice for Koko, who only wanted snacks.

“How long will you be at it?”

Presumably satisfied from teasing Yuka, Kaoru was still beaming but less mocking in her tone.

“I only agreed to do the morning shift… but it’s a café, so I think I’ll be here until lunch ends.”

“Really? Then we’ll go eat first, so come up when you’re done.”

When Kaoru said that, Yuka’s face brightened.

Come to think of it, I wondered how Yuka had enjoyed the school festivals before today.

Or did she even enjoy them? Perhaps she had missed them entirely due to transferring from school to school. Each school had different schedules, so she might have slipped through the cracks during events.

Today, she seemed to be thinking about whether to change out of this outfit.

I bet Yuka would find it more enjoyable to be dressed like this. Of course, she wouldn’t want to enjoy the festival dressed up as a maid.

“Yes!”

Yuka, unbeknownst to herself, enthusiastically hugged the order sheet to her chest and replied loudly.

“Then, see you later.”

“Yup!”

Koko also happily replied and waved her hand.

Watching Yuka leave to take the order, I shifted my gaze toward Sasaki.

Sasaki was attending to a guest.

In the original work, he repeatedly stated, “I’m just an ordinary high school student,” but no matter how you think about it, that’s not the case.

His parents divorced, but on his father’s side, they were incredibly wealthy, renting an expensive house in an upscale neighborhood for him and his sister. Meanwhile, his mother was quite a mess, with extreme words and actions, and he himself had bloodline capabilities to subdue yōkai.

Furthermore, in the original work, I think there were scenes where he got hunted down by girls while walking down the street.

In summary, Sasaki was a handsome, wealthy, and complicated 10th-grade male student.

Of course, he’d be popular. Well, if you’re the protagonist of a harem story, you need to have that level of plausibility.

……I was getting increasingly envious as I got accustomed to my position and forgot about the perks of being a guy.

“Onii-chan!”

While I was mulling over the absurdities of the world alone, that peculiar honorific rang out loudly.

Naturally, everyone sitting in the classroom turned to look at the entrance.

The only one who uses “Onii-chan” towards Sasaki was Shii.

Well, it would be strange if she didn’t come.

“Shii.”

Surprisingly, Sasaki, upon hearing that reply, endured the attention directed towards him without a care.

Oh, right.

Shii had maintained a polite tone all day, so it was natural that people would glance over frequently as well.

As a good-natured person, Sasaki likely wouldn’t enjoy his sister’s uncommon speech patterns getting attention, so he would naturally indulge her.

“Sota!”

Then, as expected, Nakahara jumped out behind Shii.

Seeing Sasaki’s outfit, her eyes sparkled as if she liked the butler costume a lot.

“Sota, you look cool today.”

And behind her was Hagiwara.

Isn’t hitting on waiters and waitresses off-limits?

Well, hey, it’s 2004. Plus, it’s Japan. Hearing a girl say that to a boy would actually be something they’d hope for.

All the male gazes in the classroom shifted back to Sasaki.

The eyes of Hagiwara and Nakahara, moving between one another, were glimmering with rivalry.

Clunk.

While I was watching this captivating dynamic, I heard the sound of cups being placed down in front of me.

Two coffees, two orange juices, and cookies.

“Wow!”

Koko joyfully laughed as she popped a cookie into her mouth.

“It’s delicious!”

“Really?”

I took a bite of a cookie as well.

It was indeed tasty. However, no matter how I thought about it, it didn’t taste like homemade cookies.

Well, I guess that’s fine.

While Yuka delivered the drinks and food we ordered, she glanced toward Sasaki.

“……That one’s acting weird again.”

At those words, I shrugged my shoulders.

Although Sasaki received Shii’s words cheerfully, he seemed utterly flustered regarding the sudden appearance of the two heroines and the hostility directed at him.

Well, it’s not common for them to show up in this classroom. After they leave, he will surely get bombarded with endless questions from the male students.

Maybe he might even face some physical confrontation.

But hey, it’s all just harmless teasing fueled by jealousy.

So, there’s no need to worry too much.

However, I did feel a slight satisfaction from seeing Sasaki flustered.

After that, I leisurely munched on orange juice and cookies while enjoying the sight of the bewildered Sasaki responding to Nakahara and Hagiwara.

Eventually, I stood up from my seat.

“O, senpai!”

“Shii.”

I waved my hand back at Shii, who was waving at me.

“You said you’re in the Literature Club, right?”

“……If you have time, come see the exhibition on the highest floor of the old building.”

“I’ll definitely go!”

Shii nodded in response to my words.

As for Hagiwara and Nakahara… I simply gave a light nod in greeting.

We did share secrets with each other, but I wasn’t sure if we were as close as the others.

And then, we headed toward the Literature Club room.

*

Naturally, it was quite empty around here.

Before Yuka arrived, a few people had come in and out, but none showed much interest and just took a quick glance before leaving.

In the first place, it was a room that only had managers inside, so it made sense that guests would feel pressured to walk in.

Isn’t it extremely awkward to enter a restaurant only to find there’s only one customer inside?

Also, among those managers, two were still in ghost costumes.

“Maybe I should’ve brought a jack-o’-lantern to put here?”

Kaoru pondered seriously, speaking aloud. At this rate, it felt like we might end up creating a belated Halloween celebration tomorrow.

But you know what?

That might not be so bad!

Feeling nice and festive, I thought that leisurely.

After waiting for a few more minutes, the Literature Club room opened.

For a moment, I thought it was a customer coming in, so we all straightened up in our seats, but it turned out to be Yuka.

“Sorry, I’m late!”

Yuka said this while smiling and sat down.

“Hey, you changed your clothes.”

I figured that’d be the case, and I thought Kaoru would’ve expected it too. But maybe feeling a bit disappointed, Kaoru spoke up.

“It looked good on you.”

“……But it’s not like I can wear that all day during the festival.”

Kaoru and Izumi’s gazes were now on me and Koko.

“Uu?”

“……You two are going to keep wandering around like that?”

“Yep.”

When Yuka asked, I boldly nodded in agreement.

Almost instinctively, Yuka opened her mouth to say something, but then quickly closed it again.

Suddenly, her expression became serious, and she brought her hand in front of her mouth and pondered for a moment.

“……I see.”

Then, as if she suddenly understood something, she jumped up from her seat.

“Senpai.”

“I know.”

Before Yuka could say anything, Kaoru nodded with a sly smile.

“Alright, you guys, let’s go! Go enjoy the festival to your heart’s content!”

“……What about you, senpai?”

“We’re alright.”

Izumi chimed in after my words.

A thick book was already spread across her lap.

“Yep, we already took a round earlier.”

Looking at their attitude, it seemed they had no intention of making me stay.

“……I’ll bring back something delicious when I return.”

“Wow!”

At my words, Koko cheered.

“Then, see you later!”

“Have fun!”

The two waved cheerfully, and for the first time, they really seemed like adults.

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