I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Read online

  “It’d be quite troublesome if he got caught up in something weird while I wasn’t around.”

  And so I went home for the day. I had all of summer vacation to finish this special mission, so I could take my time. Oh, and I would have to pretend to be seeing the heroines’ swimsuits for the first time while we were at the pool so that Rekka wouldn’t suspect anything. But I had only actually seen Lea and Corona wear theirs, so it shouldn’t be too hard. I wonder which swimsuit Hibiki and Iris chose in the end... Come to think of it, I haven’t seen over half the heroines in swimsuits yet. I was really looking forward to going to the pool.

  Episode 1: River Ride of the Mermaid Princess

  With half of summer vacation already gone, we made the decision to venture out to an amusement park near where Hibiki lived. Our goal was to enjoy the pool together. Originally, we’d planned on going to the main park and riding all the rides, but with how stifling hot the past few days had been, we all agreed at the last minute that the pool in the water park section would be much more in our interest.

  It was past lunchtime now, so the sun was already high overhead, glaring down at us mercilessly. I really wished it would take a break.

  “So, this is what a water park is like...”

  Rain covered her mouth with her hand politely as she stared agape at the huge dome building.

  “Yeah, they close the dome roof on rainy days, but it’s sunny today, so they’ve got it opened.”

  “I can’t believe they fill this entire building with water.”

  “No, the water doesn’t go up to the roof... Well, you’ll see for yourself soon.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Rain replied with a contented grin.

  If she was that happy about coming, then it was worth bringing her here.

  “Rain and Fam finished two days’ worth of summer homework yesterday just for this.”

  “Ugh... My head hurts...”

  Shirley giggled as she watched Fam clutch her head and groan. Garnet stood next to her, carrying her belongings.

  Summer homework, huh? I still had to do mine, too. I’d gotten caught between an organization of psychics and a family of mages, plus a world of spirits and a world of demons, right at the start of vacation. And after that, I went to Mio’s concert with Tsumiki and accompanied Harissa back to her hometown. I’d barely had any time for homework. I figured I’d just get Satsuki to help me out with it later like I did every year.

  But even though I was behind on my homework, I’d managed to save a few stories over the summer, so at least some good had come from it. Like Chelsea and Hibiki being able to chat happily.

  “Come to think of it, I’ve never been somewhere like this before. What about you, Hibiki?”

  “This is actually my first time coming to a pool outside of school.”

  “Huh... I bet you always have all the boys staring at you with a set like yours.”

  “Wah! S-Stop, don’t poke them! Anyway, Chelsea, if we’re comparing chests, then yours is...”

  They... sure seemed to be having fun. It was kind of embarrassing watching them.

  I hadn’t seen Chelsea for a while after her story was resolved, but she’d just moved to Hibiki’s neighborhood recently. She was my point of contact with the Margaret family. I would deliver information about Aburaamu to her, and she would pass it on to them—that was the role assigned to her by Nartessia, the head of her family. In order to fulfill that role, she’d relocated her treasure hunting enterprise to Japan. And thanks to that, we were now able to invite her out like this whenever she was free.

  “Whew, I’m really looking forward to Chelsea’s swimsuit...”

  “You never change, do you?”

  I sighed at R, who was doing somersaults in the air. For some reason, the girl from the future was already changed into a swimsuit. How enthusiastic.

  “But Rekka, Chelsea wasn’t with us when we went to Berano. She still hasn’t shown off her swimsuit yet, unlike the other heroines.”

  Hmm... It was true that we hadn’t been able to invite Chelsea to the beaches on Rain’s home planet. She was overseas at the time.

  “You must be curious, too, no? Wondering how much those breasts being jostled around by Hibiki right now could be enhanced by a swimsuit...”

  “I-I’m not curious!”

  No, really, I wasn’t. I wasn’t staring at those bouncing lumps under her tank top. Not at all.

  “Speaking of swimsuits we haven’t seen yet, those two will also be an interesting sample.”

  With a wicked grin, R pointed her finger in a different direction.

  “Ooh...”

  “Aah...”

  Lea and Corona were standing there with their arms linked, both of them staring up at the dome in awe. My conversation with R led my eyes downwards towards their chests. No, really. There was no other meaning behind it. It’s just that they jiggled every time the girls nodded excitedly, attracting my gaze unwillingly...

  “Oh, Rekka...”

  Suddenly, I heard several girls talking behind me. It was Satsuki, Iris, and Tsumiki, all three of which were glaring my way.

  “And what might you be so fascinated by?” Satsuki asked.

  “Rekka! I’ll have you know that mine won’t lose to those two!” Iris proclaimed.

  “...You’re the worst,” Tsumiki sneered.

  I felt extremely attacked right now. Except by Iris, really. But that was barely anything compared to the gloom hanging over the group standing next to us...

  “If only mine were a little bigger...”

  “At least yours show promise, Harissa. Mine are...”

  “I hate this cutting-board figure...”

  Harissa, Mio, and Tetra were like a fountain of negativity.

  “Apologize, you! Tell Mio you’re sorry right now!” Tsumiki barked.

  “Huh? O-Oh, sorry.”

  I apologized on reflex, but... it seemed to make the mood even darker. Mio was our age, but she was also the top idol MIO. She had to shuffle her busy schedule around in order to be able to come today. I didn’t want to make her feel bad like this...

  “Hmph! Breasts are just sacks of fat, anyway.”

  “Mistress, use this to wipe your tears.”

  “I’m not crying!”

  Rosalind huffed and crossed her arms as her maid, Suzuran, tried to console her for some reason. The situation was getting rather complicated, and we hadn’t even made it to the pool yet...

  “Rekka...!”

  “Uwah!”

  And in the middle of things, someone hugged me from behind. Something soft was pressing up against my back...

  “T-Tokiwa! Please don’t jump on me like that!”

  “It’s so hot here... Let’s go in...”

  Tokiwa whined, panting in my ear rather deliberately. Her weak constitution made her more susceptible to the heat, so it was probably tough for her to be outside in this weather.

  “Listen to Midori, problem child.”

  The One-Eyed Student Council President—President Momone, who wore an eyepatch over her right eye—appeared next to Tokiwa and placed a straw sun hat on top of her head. It must have fallen off when she jumped me.

  “Having twenty-odd people loitering at the entrance will cause trouble for the other visitors. If we’re all here, let’s go inside.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  I obediently followed her suggestion and directed everyone to start moving towards the entrance.

  ▽

  Inside the huge dome was a wide variety of water play areas. There was a river ride, a wave pool, a shallow pool for children with a waterslide, and a diving pool. The tallest diving board was nearly as high as our school building... Who would jump from that?

  “It’s not that crowded.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not as spacious as the beaches on Berano, though.”

  At least we wouldn’t all be squished into a small public pool with barely any room to swim. We planned on meeting ou
tside the changing area by the pool entrance after everyone got into their swimsuits, but we’d be splitting up into groups after that.

  “The only problem would be... Lea and Corona, perhaps? They probably don’t know anything about places like this.”

  On the one hand was the Strongest Beast, who’d been sealed away for millennia, and on the other hand was the Demon King, who had been sealed away in another world. There was no way either of them knew how to play in a pool. There were also aliens and mole people and vampires in our midst, but fortunately, we also had plenty of sensible people in the group who could look after them as long as we split up tactfully.

  “Brother Rekka!”

  As I was wondering how all this was going to go, an energetic girl came bounding out from the changing rooms. It was Fam.

  “Huh? That headband...”

  “Oh, this? I normally hide my horn with my bangs, but that’s a lot more difficult to do with wet hair, so Shirley told me to wear this for today,” she explained, tugging on the headband she used to wear from her days as a space pirate. As a gremlin, she had a horn that she needed to hide around others.

  “Fam, don’t run around the pool.”

  Shirley and Rain appeared next after the lively girl, followed by Garnet, who was carrying a waterproof purse.

  “Aww, why not?”

  “It’s dangerous to run around, both for you and the people around you. If you can’t understand that much, then you’ll always be a child.”

  “Hmph...”

  Unable to talk back to Shirley, Fam puffed her cheeks up and sulked.

  “I was just in a hurry to show Brother Rekka my swimsuit!” Fam protested indignantly, then turned away.

  For the record, both Fam and Rain were wearing one-piece swimsuits. They’d bought the same one in different colors to match each other. Fam’s was light green while Rain’s was pastel pink, complementing their respective hair colors.

  “Rekka, what do you think?” Rain asked.

  She was standing next to Fam, fidgeting with her hands behind her back as she looked up at me. She was obviously asking for an opinion on their swimsuits.

  “Oh, you both look very nice,” I answered honestly.

  Rain and Fam both smiled joyfully.

  “Oh, my, I want to hear Rekka’s opinion of mine, as well. How is it?”

  Shirley inserted herself into our conversation with a smooth pose. She didn’t seem too interested in swimming, as she was still wearing her glasses. Her pareo-style swimsuit was neither too fancy nor too simple, and it emphasized her charms tastefully.

  “I think it’s really nice. It’s new, isn’t it?”

  “We all bought ours through an intergalactic delivery service. They have water-repellent technology unavailable here on Earth... Wait, how did you know it was new?”

  “Um, the tag’s still on your skirt.”

  “Huh?”

  Shirley looked down in a fluster. When she spotted the tag, she blushed and called Garnet over to cut it off. Her three companions didn’t have tags on their swimsuits, so it seemed Shirley was the only one who'd forgotten... Either that, or she cut the tags off for the other three and missed her own. Either way, Shirley was kind of cute when she was blushing furiously as Garnet took care of the tag for her.

  “Come to think of it, we met Rain and the others on the ocean planet of Berano, but we never saw them wearing swimsuits. Rain and Fam went for a cute look appropriate for their age. Shirley normally doesn’t stand out, but looking at her now, you can really tell she has a slender and beautiful figure. Garnet has a functional and conservative style typical of an android...”

  For some reason, R had started to give live commentary on everyone’s swimsuits, so I decided to ignore her. Just in time, too. I spotted some of the other girls coming out of the changing rooms.

  “Hey, Satsuki! Over here!”

  “...”

  Huh? My childhood friend seemed to be in a bad mood. Her swimsuit was the same white two-piece bikini I saw her in at the beach last time. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so I had no idea why she was upset...

  Huh? Harissa and Tetra also looked dismayed, though not nearly as much as Satsuki. Rosalind was even chewing on her nails in frustration. Suzuran stood next to her master with her eyes closed. It seemed like everything was normal apart from their sour moods... Had something happened in the changing rooms?

  “Rekka! Thanks for waiting!”

  “Hm?”

  That was when Iris came running over with a beaming smile that rivaled Fam’s. And boy, did her chest bounce magnificently with every bounding step... It was too tempting to look at any more than that, so I turned my gaze away. But she walked right up to me so I could see her anyway, still grinning.

  “Rekka, what do you think of this swimsuit?”

  As always, Iris looked amazing in a bathing suit. I was about to say that when I came to my senses and stopped myself. Then, upon taking a second look at her, I noticed something.

  “Is that a different swimsuit than the one you wore before on Berano?”

  “Bingo!”

  Iris must have been watching Earth quiz shows on TV. She made a chiming buzzer noise to confirm my guess. The swimsuit I’d seen her in the first time looked amazing on her, but this one was a knockout, too. Not to mention... the design was a little more daring this time...

  “Yeah... I think it’s the perfect swimsuit for you.”

  “Heehee! I’m happy to hear you think so!”

  Iris seemed satisfied at the compliment. It seemed her good mood was attributable to her new swimsuit, but why were Satsuki and the others so upset? I still couldn’t figure it out.

  “I forgot Iris was supposed to be a princess...” muttered Satsuki.

  “Rekka just bought me new clothes the other day, so I couldn’t ask for more...” said Harissa.

  “I’ve been sending most of my wages back home to the village...” mumbled Tetra.

  “I can’t believe this little girl gained the upper hand over me...” said Rosalind.

  The aforementioned quartet of girls had gathered to grumble together. Suzuran joined them silently, making for a rather strange lineup.

  “Whoa, what happened here?” Hibiki asked as soon as she walked over and saw them.

  “Um... It’s probably best to ignore them,” I said.

  “Really?”

  With a doubtful look on her face, Hibiki zipped up the front of her hoodie. But Chelsea snuck up behind her, yanked the zipper back down, and flung open her hoodie all in one go.

  “Hey!”

  “There’s no point if you hide it, you know? Especially with a figure as great as yours.”

  “Ch-Chelsea!”

  Hibiki’s hoodie was caught on her arms, so she struggled to get it zipped back up. As Chelsea held it in place like that, she shot me a wink over Hibiki’s shoulder.

  “What do you think, Rekka? Of Hibiki’s swimsuit figure, I mean.”

  “Well, I... Oh, did you get a new swimsuit, too, Hibiki?”

  “H-Huh?” Hibiki’s jaw dropped at my observation.

  “Hmph...” Iris’s proud expression suddenly disappeared.

  The design of Hibiki’s swimsuit was definitely different from the one she’d worn on Berano. Decorative flowers were stitched on the right side of her chest, making it seem like a more fashion-oriented style of suit than before.

  “Um, the swimsuit I wore on Berano was rather old and didn’t fit well anymore, so I got a new one when I went out shopping with Chelsea so she could get a swimsuit,” Hibiki stammered.

  “The chest was too tight, right?”

  “Chelsea! Why would you say that out loud?!”

  “Hahaha!” Chelsea laughed happily as she teased a blushing Hibiki.

  In comparison, the design of Chelsea’s swimsuit was a little more simple, but it was strapless. It was all probably being held together in the back... Wouldn’t it come off while she was swimming? Since Chelsea had a great figure, it ma
de me feel all the more anxious... Or excited.

  “Mine don’t lose to that, either!” Iris interrupted just as I was starting to get distracted.

  “Wow, those three are quite the sight when they’re lined up... Perhaps I should say six rather than three.”

  R crossed her arms and nodded in deep appreciation of the two lumps of delight attached to every female. True, a federation formed from these six would be like a mountain range... Wait, the girl from the future was leading me astray again. I shook my head to purge those thoughts from my head, when—once again—two huge, pillowy marshmallows pressed up against my back.

  “T-T-Tokiwa! Please don’t hug me when you’re in a swimsuit!”

  “So crowded... tired...”

  Tokiwa, clad in a bikini and a sarong, muttered listlessly into my ear as she leaned on my back, pressing herself into me even more. The crowds of people seemed to have tired her out. The park wasn’t particularly busy today, but it was a lot to handle for her when her energy reserves were so low in the first place. But no rest for the weary. Everyone’s gazes on me were starting to feel more and more murderous, so I carefully peeled Tokiwa off of me and handed her to President Momone, who was wearing a sporty swimsuit with a line across her chest.

  “Hey, Midori—pull yourself together.”

  “Mm...”

  “...!”

  Tokiwa’s wriggling in President Momone’s arms pressed their chests together like two pieces of squishy mochi. I caught myself before I started staring and averted my eyes. After that, President Momone turned to everyone else.

  “Wow, I’m pretty popular myself, but I’ve never hung out with this many people at once.”

  “Yeah... I invited everyone I knew, and it kinda snowballed,” I said.

  “The ratio of males to females is strange, too. It’s not a group date, so there’s no need for exact numbers, but I’d at least put a little more thought into that kind of thing if it were me.”