Seeing that the tension in the hallway was thick enough to spontaneously ignite, Kaito knew he could no longer act like an ostrich.
He gathered the greatest courage of his life, grit his teeth, and, like a sapper about to defuse a bomb, cautiously stepped out from behind Gold City and placed himself between the two queens.
He raised both hands, palms outward, giving the internationally recognized signal for "stop".
"W-well... Ladies, please calm down, just calm down..." His voice wavered slightly due to nervousness.
Two sharp gazes pinned him simultaneously, instantly doubling the pressure.
Kaito felt that his back was completely soaked.
He cleared his throat, trying to use every ounce of emotional intelligence he possessed to deliver the most neutral, objective, and harmless "peacemaking" speech:
"Everyone... everyone here are fellow students of Tracen Academy, right? Harmony brings prosperity, doesn't it? Miss TM Opera O, I assume you were just interested in body care and wanted to ask some related questions, Gold City, you... try not to be so tense, okay?"
Dead silence.
Three seconds of sepulchral and suffocating silence.
"I'm doomed... Did I say something wrong?"
Kaito's crisis intuition wasn't just warning him; it sounded like an air-raid siren directly in his head.
The next second, the two powder kegs detonated simultaneously and precisely because of his words.
"Try not to be so tense?"
Gold City snapped her head around; her grayish-blue eyes, which had just joined against an external enemy, now spat fire, looking fiercely at Kaito.
She approached step by step, asking through gritted teeth.
"Are you implying that I should have just stood there, watching how she touched your face with that broken fan without reacting? Or are you saying you think it's okay for her to touch you whenever she wants?!"
"I didn't! I wouldn't! Don't talk nonsense! (Q﹏Q) "
On the other hand, TM Opera O slowly narrowed her beautiful purple eyes.
The feather fan she held gently tapped her palm, emitting soft "tap, tap" sounds, each beat resonating in Kaito's heart.
"Hehehe... A normal person asking questions?"
She chuckled, but her tone was icy, lacking any warmth.
"Ah? So, for the future exclusive supervisor of this Overlord, I am just an insignificant character? That is truly... a deeply disappointing phrase, Kaito-kun"
This is bad!
Only those two words remained in Kaito's mind.
Not only did he fail to balance the scales, but he wrecked the whole boat!
Worse still, Gold City and TM Opera O seemed to have reached a strange "ceasefire agreement" at that moment.
They stopped attacking each other and, instead, approached Kaito from the left and the right, trapping him firmly in the middle like the filling of a sandwich.
To the left was the scorching heat emanating from Gold City, mixed with sweat and fury.
To the right was the combined scent of TM Opera O's luxurious perfume and her icy aura.
Kaito felt like he was about to suffocate.
Suddenly, Gold City leaned into his left ear.
Her warm breath caused a tingling in his ear, but her words were like a Siberian cold front.
"You bastard, you better think carefully before you speak, whose exclusive property are you, exactly?"
Almost at the same time, TM Opera O approached elegantly from the other side.
Her fragrant breath gently brushed Kaito's right cheek, and her purple eyes flashed with a dangerous light.
"Rookie-kun, your next answer will directly determine your role in this Overlord's script, will you be the only male protagonist who shares the glory with me, or... a pathetic extra whose name isn't even mentioned, simply parading across the stage?"
"...!!! "
Caught between both, Kaito felt a cold sweat run down his temples.
His brain, unable to process such complex information, collapsed completely, leaving him blank.
When gods fight, mortals suffer! This was no longer just a battlefield of jealousy; it was a tribunal!
[ WARNING! ]
[ Host's vital signs are fluctuating violently! ]
[ Heart rate is skyrocketing! ]
[ Blood pressure is too high! ]
[ Immediate withdrawal from current environment is recommended! ]
"Ah! That!"
Driven by an immense instinct for survival, Kaito unleashed astonishing potential, suddenly ducking his head and slipping out from under their arms like a slippery loach.
"I just remembered! President Akikawa sent me an urgent message! Excuse me for a moment!"
He quickly invented an excuse that even he didn't believe, then fled desperately toward the end of the corridor at a hundred-meter-dash speed, without looking back.
Behind him, two significant gazes followed his panicked retreat for a long while.
A cold and determined smile curled Gold City's lips.
TM Opera O's feather fan gently tapped her lips, her eyes shining with the light a hunter shows when detecting an interesting prey.
Kaito knew this wasn't over.
His hellish (harem) life had only just begun today.