A Commonplace Story Of Overpowered Sorcerer

Rio just smiled slightly and watched the exchange of the four close friends in silence. Though they had spoken without his encouragement, they still carried out the intended effect. In the end, they just followed Rio's subtle manipulation by controlling the conversation. With his knowledge of the official materials, Rio had full confidence in his decisions and moves.

After they calmed down, Kouki said something stupid that riled up Kaori.

"Still, should it be Nagumo? I mean, that guy is hopeless, right?"

"Kouki, how could you?! Take that back! I won't allow you to bad mouth Nagumo and calling him names! Besides, Nagumo is not helpless, though he seems very unreliable and always looked sleep-deprived every morning back in our world and always slept in the class!"

"But, that is what makes him no good, right?" Kouki had a troubled expression after listening to Kaori's protest, which had been hurting Hajime's image further.

"I must agree with Kouki this time, Shirasaki. You don't help his case by saying that." Ryutarou, at Kouki's side, nodded his head in a sagacious manner while giving Kaori a weird look.

Kaori gasped and looked at Ryutarou with a scandalized look. She then said, "What?! Even you too, Sakagami? Shizuku, please help me! I want them to know that Nagumo's an amazing person!"

"Er... Try to ask Rio's help."

Rio raised his brows at Shizuku when she threw off the ball of conversation at him suddenly. They immediately fixed their attention on Rio and waited for his response. Rio couldn't help but heave a sigh of helplessness.

'These guys and girls are still kids, though they are already at their second year in High School,' Rio thought without showing his inner exasperation in his face. He then said, "Well, try to tell them about what makes you fall in love with Hajime. Perhaps, it will help them to understand his good points."

After listening to Rio's advice, Kaori's eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree and she started telling Kouki and Ryutarou the story about Hajime who helped the old lady and her grandchild from a group of thugs when they were still at the middle school.

Kouki and Ryutarou had a complicated expression when they heard the story of Hajime's embarrassing and undignified moment despite he was trying to help the old lady and her grandson. In one hand, they were impressed by Hajime's guts. But, on the other hand, the way Hajime's begging to the thugs to stop extorting the old lady and her grandson was just too shameful and embarrassing. They couldn't help but feel pity for Hajime. Kaori was too savage without realizing it!

At least, Hajime's image in their eyes slowly changed little by little. And as Kaori poured out everything she knew about Hajime, to the point of freaking out both Kouki and Ryutarou, they were advancing to Hajime's exclusive workshop. Rio was leading them in the front while the rest were following after him.

Rio suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve and turned around. He found Shizuku who had split up from her friends and gave him a complicated look with a hint of gratitude mixed in it. "Thanks for what you have done," She started in a hushed tone.

"What do you mean?" Rio feigned his ignorance.

"That... Telling Kaori about her obliviousness towards Nagumo's problem and helping us to understand Kouki better. I never thought he has that kind of doubt in him."

Shizuku seemed mortified when she said that. She was conscious of Hajime's problems, but she had done nothing to lessen his problem. She only threw apologetic, sad, or regretful face in Hajime's direction whenever Kaori made a mess and affected Hajime adversely. Rio knew about this from his foreknowledge and his scrutiny in the past week.

"Forget about it. Anyway, I am curious about you. Why did you not tell Kaori about that? If you tell her, Hajime had not needed to endure so many troubles since the start of your high school, right?"

In fact, as Kaori's best friend, Shizuku had the most realistic and better chance to point out Kaori's mistake, but Shizuku didn't have the courage to tell Kaori about that. Although it made her seem like a hypocrite, Shizuku also had a problem of her own that stopped her for pointing out Kaori's fault.

Shizuku felt that she was unworthy to correct other's mistake when she was still struggling with her own problem. Rio understood about this. He even knew about Shizuku's secret problem that she kept in her heart for a long time. And Rio wouldn't waste his advantage to make Shizuku fall in love with him.

"Sorry..." Shizuku apologized faintly. Her expression was weak unlike her usual cool and calm persona. It was unexpected that she would show such weakness before a stranger like Rio. Well, Rio wasn't a stranger to Shizuku. At least, he wasn't at this point. But, he was still at the level of a mere acquaintance or the early stage in friendship if something like that existed.

Regardless, Shizuku's reason for showing her weakness before Rio was due to the dependable presence Rio had been projecting deliberately. The way Rio handled Kaori's problem and a small part of Kouki's problem just strengthened this image. Thus, Shizuku who was always longing for someone she could depend upon was drawn to him.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the plan to add Shizuku into his harem because he would send the whole students back to their version of Earth when they had their first expedition to Great Orcus Labyrinth.