Cultivating Anthro CEO RPG Hero Harem Reincarnation In Another World

I was so relieved to hear that the outcome of the fight ruling had somehow—miraculously—swung in my favor. Since, for quite a while, I'd been dreading the prospect of having to leave Irorishiro: With all those days I spent stress and worrying, as I waited to receive a final judgment...wondering what excuse I would cobble up to tell Mom and Dad, when I dragged myself back home…

Sure, it still weirds me out that I'm living among a whole school full of people turned into little girls—but it was seriously just beginning to feel like home! One which I wasn't ready to give up.

It was a cause for celebration! And in that sense, Ms. Alice had come already well-prepared:

"I ordered a couple of pizzas for us at the canteen, that we can chow on in one of the nicer simulations," she said, glancing back over her shoulder while the group of us three: myself, Miko, and Miki, was following her through the bustling school halls. "I hope you're all okay with pepperoni."

Miko, who has been silently brooding since we set out, scoffs and turns her head. Grumbling, "like one big happy harem family."

"Yeah, but Miko—pizza!" Miki says excitedly, obviously trying to soothe her.

She glares at me, making my blood chill.

Gah…

What am I supposed to say?

It's not like I have any experience with maintaining a harem! Like how, earlier, when I told Miki I would be willing to stop seeing Ms. Alice if she and Miko both wished it.

Even though...that was actually a lie.

Dump Ms. Alice?! As much as I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, I could never…!

The things she makes me feel...on a deeper physical and emotional level, whenever we're together, are things that only a mature adult woman could be capable of. 

Is it selfish of me to admit I can't say no to her, for reasons of pure pleasure?

Does it make me...a terrible person?

When we arrive to pick up the food, it's contained in two otherwise plain white cardboard boxes, funnily stamped with the Irorishiro logo of a black Queen chess piece with a large, white capital "I" at its center. I've seen it adorn a few walls, here and there, as well as mundane objects such as this found throughout the academy, and always thought it looked kind of…cool. Maybe a little less so on a pizza box, but still.

"How did a school like this even come into existence?" I ask Ms. Alice, who is carrying the pizzas, as we start to move again—en route to the simulation room.

"There's a lot that went on in the old world, hidden from the public eye," she said, keeping her gaze held forward. "Irorishiro...was initially conceived of as the primary base of operations for a secret black ops private military complex. At first, starting out as a strictly defensive, anti-nuclear task force; over time, its powers and resources grew...until it became something of a trump card in Japanese foreign affairs."

"You're saying Japan had a private army all along?"

"Yes...before Tea Time hit, I was a drill sergeant stationed here." She glanced at me. "I'm half-Lithuanian and half-Japanese, by the way. Finished my combat training in Europe, then toured the middle east for a few years as a mercenary under hire by the United States."

I grin. "And now, you're carrying pizzas."

She gives me a smug look, bumping her whole body against me so hard that I almost stumble. "Only because it's your special day."

Miki giggles. 

Miko scowls, rolling her eyes.

Ow...I guess it's only right that I be teased like this.

Minutes later, we arrive at the simulation room. Some students that are gathered there give us looks as we proceed to the control console, and I can only imagine the kinds of rumors that will spread from this.

Granted, my actual existence has become like something incredible that you'd only hear about through gossip.

I've gone from a timid, chronically antisocial pariah to something like a majestically lazy old lion roaming the savannah with his pack of lionesses, in a matter of days.

"Where are we going?" Miki asked Ms. Alice, hovering her hand above the simulation console's input keys.

Ms. Alice smiled. "Look at you—all eager."

"Well…" Miki pouted. "I'm really hungry, okay!" Then, averting her sulky gaze toward me, touching two fingers together, she added shyly: "Also...I'm super happy Alex-kun won't be leaving us after all!"

After needing to take a moment to clear my face, I walk up to her—gently planting my hands on her shoulders.

"That's right. I won't be going anywhere."

We both then hugged, simultaneously looking at Miko—inviting her to join.

However, she still didn't appear convinced.

"It's fine," Ms. Alice said, brushing us out of the way to reach the console herself. "I'll enter the code myself. You all should just get ready."

'Get ready?' What kind of phrasing was that?

Immediately, my fight-or-flight kicked in.

"We are just going to a nice, relaxing simulation to eat...right?" I ask, fully conscious of the freshly formed beads of sweat running down the sides of my face. "You're not about to pull a fast one on me, on a special day we should be celebrating...are you?"

Smiling, she patted me on the cheek.

"Oh come now, Alex. Don't be so suspicious of your teacher."

"You've almost killed me, before."

"'Almost'—only because I was confident you could make it out alive!"

"Suuure. More like you were betting on it."

I heard a beep, straightening up in alarm. And, upon looking, I gasp with the realization that Ms. Alice had been inputting a simulation code, all this time—while she was sneakily distracting us with her talking!

I was furious when I saw it, because I knew it couldn't be good.

"You sneaky bit—"

ZWOOM!

An electrical whirring sound floods my ears, the world around me peeling away until all that remains is a featureless digital mesh.

Miki looked at me, her eyes wide with concern. "Alex? What's wrong?"

"I think we've got a fight on our hands."

"Aw," she whines. "But what about the pizza?"

"The pizza was a lie!"

"I've had enough fighting for one day…"

Miko came up to us, no doubt sensing the seriousness of the situation.

The digital mesh screen gradually begins to develop a texture, like an image loading on a slow internet connection. Until we find ourselves standing in the middle of a street lined with stalled cars; in a lifeless, dull, gray and white concrete cityscape of new age designed commercial buildings, loomed over by skyscrapers lined with rows of shimmering glass windows. 

"It's a city…" I mumble under my breath. "Like from before Tea Time."

Only, it was without any people.

Because aside from us four, as with all other simulations, the place was devoid of any signs of life: Of any singular traces of people ever having actually lived here, whether they be real or simulated. A mere shell of a city, meant to only replicate the image of a highly densely populated area, but made eerie by the complete lack of this one crucial defining factor.

"The signs are in Japanese," Miko noted, as we stood there cautiously with our backs to each other. "And that slutty teacher suddenly vanished."

I could feel Miki shivering against my back.

"Are you scared? It's just a simulation, so we'll be alright…"

"S-sorry. I always get this way before a fight. The doctors say it's all nerves, so I can't really help it—as pathetic as that sounds."

"That's part of why we always fight together," Miko added as, unlike Miki, she appeared extraordinarily calm and focused. "She has one of the most destructive powers imaginable, but she's too frail to even make much use of it."

"Really?" I cast Miko a sheepish look. "'Cuz she seemed fairly proficient with it earlier."

"But that's different…" Miki mumbled.

Even the smell about this place wasn't right: lacking any of the sort of substance, or grit, that one would expect in an urbanized environment. Certainly nothing like Tokyo, when I visited it before Tea Time.

However, I did catch one anomalous scent…

"Ah!" That smell is—"

Miki sprang ahead of me. "The pizza!"

We followed the scent trail to find a stack of two pizza boxes—the same as Ms. Alice had been carrying, marked by the Irorishiro logo—left lying on the hood of a stalled sedan!

"Not cool!" Miki protests, stomping forward to secure them. "They'll get cold if they stay here!"

What is Ms. Alice thinking?

I turn to Miko, looking just as perplexed as I am.

And then, it dawns on me:

"Miki-chan…!" I call after her, reaching out my arm. "Wait!"

"It might be a trap!" Miko added.

However, by now Miki has already picked up the boxes and is just standing there, looking between Miko and I inquisitively. "Alex-kun? Miko? Why are you both looking at me like I did something wrong?"

CLICK.

Just then the sedan, that the pizzas had been placed upon, exploded into flames.