Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 55: Best Girl

Richard's P.O.V

Looking behind him to make sure that he hadn't been followed, Richard walked backwards a few steps just to make sure before he spun around with his hands out, ready to use magic to defend himself if necessary. After all, one never could tell when the serial killer of the story would appear behind the hero. Though, just like the countless times before, there was no one there and Richard sighed in relief as he could have sworn that he'd heard a girl's voice in the dark and empty hallways in the boy's dorm. However, he didn't think that anyone would blame him for behaving like this after finding out that they had been surrounded by yanderes all along. And even with his ex-harem all being contained by either the military or their noble parents, he still wasn't sure that he was safe until he finally reached his room and started to relax. Though, that relaxed feeling didn't last for long as there was light coming from the other side of his door, even when Mark was supposed to be gone visiting his parent's house that night.

"I'm not going to be a sacrifice!" Richard yelled, flinging open the door and immediately casting a fireball inside, only for the fireball to suddenly disappear in a ball of smoke and for a familiar face to appear where it had vanished.

"Welcome home, master." The girl bowed slightly as she greeted him, and suddenly Richard's alertness fired off in an entirely new direction as he realized who was in front of him. It was Koko Cryner and... she was in a maid uniform!?!!

"K-K-Ko-Koko?! W-what are you-?! What is-" Richard couldn't find the words to say as he looked at the spectacle in front of him. It was a beautiful girl in a maid's outfit there to welcome him home... the dream of all men, and it was happening before his very eyes!

"I've already drawn the bath and prepared dinner." Koko continued her act without replying to his stuttering. "Shall I help you take off your boots?"

"What are you doing?!" Richard was finally able to ask, though apparently he was loud enough to wake some of the other residents as several of the doors in the hallways opened. However, they didn't have enough time to yell at Richard for being to noisy as he suddenly found himself being pulled inside of the room by Koko with the door shutting behind him.

"I'm rewarding you." Koko finally started acting like herself again, putting her hands on her hips and giving him an award-winning smile. "It's not every day that someone saves me, you know. And seeing as you found out that your harem was really a gathering of psychopaths, I figured that you could use the distraction."

"Y-yeah... I guess so." Richard was still stuttering slightly as he stared at her, thinking that if distractions were like this, then he would try to never focus on anything ever again.

"So how do I look?" Koko asked, suddenly spinning in place and letting the bottom of the maid outfit expand beneath her so that it revealed the white knee socks underneath. The action also made Richard have to suddenly cover his face with his hands as he though he'd get a nosebleed otherwise. After all, a maid outfit and white knee socks was a dangerous combination.

"Thank you very much!" Richard suddenly shouted, bowing deeply as he couldn't find any other way to express gratitude for what he was seeing.

"D-don't get me wrong! It's not like I like you or anything, okay? It's just that I thought you deserved a reward." Koko suddenly acted flustered, and Richard had to squeeze his nose even tighter as she reenacted a tsundere perfectly. "Good, right? Though I'd be lying if I said that I've never practiced before. But don't tell anyone that or I'll make you mysteriously disappear."

"Then... does this mean that you really are from Earth?" Richard asked, completely memorized as he stood back up while looking straight into her violet eyes which seemed to shine in the candle-light.

"Save that for later. You're dinner's getting cold." Koko turned and gestured towards his writing desk, which she must have moved to the center of the room for the event's sake seeing as it currently had several different types of food on it. "You haven't eaten dinner in the cafeteria ever since our run-in with those cultists, right? Go ahead and eat, okay? We can talk later."

"I-I don't-" Richard looked at the food in surprise before he suddenly stopped and punched himself internally. This was an event, a very important one, and he had to act the part or he'd never get Koko into his harem... but if she was from Earth, then did that mean that she would be immune to his act?

"Hey, I don't normally cook and I worked hard on this, so the least you could do is humor me and taste it." Koko suddenly looked angrily at him, and any act that Richard was preparing was suddenly thrown out the window and he quickly crossed the room and sat down to what looked like the most terrible looking dishes that he'd ever seen. That wasn't to say that they looked disgusting or inedible, they were just simply presented poorly.

"Thanks for the food." Richard clapped his hands in front of him before reaching forward with the provided chopsticks and taking a bite of what seemed to be a mutilated sushi roll. However, even if the food had looked terrible, Richard couldn't help but smile in delight as he tasted something that he thought he'd never get to taste again.

"H-how is it?" Koko was the one to be hesitant now as she asked him.

"I-it's soy sauce." Richard replied with a full mouth as he turned towards her with tears in his eyes. "I thought that I'd never get to taste it again..."

"One of the first things that I did in this world was try to match the taste of soy sauce. Ketchup and barbecue sauce too." Koko laughed while confirming Richard's question from before. "Eating meals just wouldn't be right without them."

"So you really are from Earth? You don't really look Japanese though... and where do you get that blue hair from?" Richard asked as Koko poured what looked like juice in a glass next to his plates.

"You're from Japan, right?" Koko asked. "Transmigration?"

"Yes and yes!" Richard replied excitedly, ecstatic now that there was someone that he could actually share this information with. After all, keeping such a large secret to himself all of the time was nerve-wracking.

"Well, you might have transmigrated but I was reincarnated, so that's why we're so different." Koko explained. "And I wasn't from Japan, I was an American NEET who died after binge-watching anime, if you can believe that."

"American or not, I'm just happy that there's finally someone who can get my references." Richard replied happily. "So? What was your favorite anime?"

"The Ninja Clash Series, of course!" Koko replied, suddenly enthusiastic as her violet eyes shined even more than before. "The characters, the action and the drama... never has a more perfect series been created!"

"You mean other than Shinigami Tales, right?" Richard tried to correct her, though he suddenly had to close his eyes as his face was blasted by a wave of wind. And when he opened them, he started sweating slightly as her fist was only about an inch away from his face.

"How can Shinigami Tales even compete with the Ninja Clash Series? Grim reapers aren't even in a ninja's ballpark in terms of entertainment value." Koko asked threateningly.

"Are you kidding me? Ninja Clash is the most overrated series in the entire world." Richard refused to back down. "Shinigami Tales had way more depth with added humor."

"Excuse me? Just what did you normally smoke when you watched it?" Koko asked angrily. "Ninja Clash is superior in every way! And before you even... Oh, I guess our time is up."

"Huh?" Richard asked, though he soon knew what she ment as he looked outside of his dorm's window to see that Mark was coming back and heading for the dorm. And as soon as Richard saw his friend, he suddenly wished that the guy had never existed because it had ended his dispute early.

"You can keep the juice and the food, so thanks again for saving me. And also, cheer up, okay? You'll find other non-yandere girls out there, so don't give up and stay away from Christina!" Koko said happily as she opened the window and prepared to jump out of it. "Oh, and before you get any ideas, I'm not joining your harem. This was a one-time thing!"

"W-wait!" Richard ran to the window, though he was to late as Koko had already jumped outside and was moving in a blur in the space between the two buildings as she headed back to the girl's dorms. And as he watched her go, all Richard could do was sigh before smiling to himself. After all, he might have lost his harem, but he'd discovered the best girl in return!