Harem Sync: Divine Edition

Chapter 112: Baptism (10): Yellow Uniform

"I know," Genius replied. "Who?"

"Whoever you’re looking for."

"I wasn’t looking for anyone."

"You were."

Genius glanced at her sideways. "You’re observant."

"Elf," she said, as if that were explanation enough.

They fell silent again, but differently than before. The kind of silence between two people who’ve already decided the conversation will continue.

"Did you used to study here?" the elf asked. "I could swear that the last time I heard from you... you were bedridden. Serious illness."

"Serious illness..." Genius processed. "She’s not talking about me. She’s talking about Genius Genials, the game character. Who gets sick at this point in the story."

"Remarkable recovery," Genius said slowly.

"Indeed," the elf agreed, her eyes still on the courtyard, her voice completely neutral.

"She didn’t confirm or deny it," Genius thought. "She’s not testing me; Seline knows Genius."

"Sometimes the body decides to get better when it has enough reason," he said.

"Reason like what?"

"UNCLE!"

Genius turned.

Yukihime was running toward him, hair loose, uniform slightly wrinkled, the expression of a child who’s found the person she was looking for.

She hugged him around the waist without slowing down.

Genius absorbed the impact without falling, whether from training or instinct, it wasn’t clear.

Seline stood up, unhurriedly, without any dramatic farewell, and left. "See you around, Genials. My dad sends his regards to yours..."

Genius didn’t pay much attention to Seline; Yukihime was speaking.

"Uncle, do you remember me?"

"Of course I do," Genius replied.

Seline stopped ten meters away. She had turned around, looked at Yukihime hugging Genius, then at Genius.

She processed it.

She kept walking.

"So, is it or isn’t it?" Rey asked when she came back.

"It isn’t." Blandina replied before he could, watching Genius play with Yukihime. "Gamers don’t have that kind of connection with NPCs. It doesn’t work that way."

"Then why isn’t he sick?"

"For the same reason the character Blandina is here," she said. "In the original game, Blandina doesn’t come to the gym."

"Gamers change the course of history."

She thought for a second.

"Maybe Genius’s dad is a Gamer. Or some fanatic of the character cured him."

"Come on, he isn’t."

. . .

"SPEED UP!" The boss shouted from behind, standing on the wagon, trying to unzip it with dignity while everything swayed.

Haru was on top of Whisky the horse, reins in hand, leaning forward.

Whisky ran as if he’d been waiting for this his whole life.

Three imperial guards on horseback, in light armor, with expressions of disbelief that they were chasing continuers.

"STOP!" The guard in front shouted.

"YOU’LL NEVER CATCH US!" A freshman shouted from inside the wagon, atop the supplies, holding onto the side with one hand and raising his canteen with the other. "WE CONTINUOUS ARE THE ONES WHO CLEAN UP ALL THE SHIT!"

The guard raised his hand, casting a freezing spell, aiming at the wheels.

"LEFT!" The leader shouted, finally managing the zip, satisfaction in his voice.

The wagon had already turned. The spell passed through empty space.

"My left is your right!" the chief corrected. "Turn right, sailor!"

"YES, CAPTAIN!"

Haru turned Whisky to the right; the wagon nearly tipped over, two supplies flying out, a porter cursing in three different languages.

The younger guard jumped from his mount straight onto the wagon, landing in the middle of the supplies.

He stood up.

He looked around.

A servant slowly raised his hand and recited a spell in a low voice, almost as if ashamed.

A gust of wind. The guard retreated the way he came.

"THEY ARE NOT MERE CONTINUALS!" the guard shouted as he fell. "THEY ARE STUDENTS OF ELDRATH!"

Another continuum raised a barrier of earth, blocking the remaining horses, buying ten seconds.

And the boss, standing on the moving wagon, finally free of the zip, raised his face to the night sky with the expression of a man at peace with the universe and began to piss as they went...

"WE ARE CONTINUOUS!"

"WE CLEANED UP ALL THE SHIT!"

"AHAHAHAHA!"

Whisky entered through the gym’s service gate at a speed no regulation could have anticipated, and from there everyone got out and went wherever they pleased.

. . .

When Haru regained something resembling lucidity, he was standing behind the Chinese man, who was seated in a room he didn’t recognize.

Veterans all around. A long table. Dim lanterns.

"How did I get here?"

"Again." A senior said.

Silence.

"Again, the hideout was empty."

"Again?"

"Again."

The Chinese guy always had that expression that never changed.

"Not to mention that again the freshmen attacked a senior." He said. "And they had mana and potions."

Murmurs.

"How many were there?"

"Five in the attack. Coordinated. They knew where the senior would be."

A different kind of silence now.

"Someone’s leaking information."

Pause.

"Or helping them."

And then everyone looked at Haru, not because they suspected him. But because he was the only freshman there. The dog. The new variable.

The Chinese guy spoke up. "Toy."

His voice was calm as always.

"Find out who it is."

Haru’s stomach made a decision of its own.

He leaned forward.

BLEEEEAAAA. He threw up.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Chairs scraping. Seniors scrambling back. Someone cursing in a language Haru didn’t recognize.

The Chinese guy looked at the vomit on the floor.

Then at Haru.

Then at the vomit again.

"...clean that up too," he said. "You’re a janitor, after all."

"What the hell..." Haru said, falling asleep.

"What the hell..." Haru said, waking up.

"What a mess..." he said, brushing his teeth quickly because he was running late.

"What a mess..." he said, putting on his orange uniform, about to leave.

He sighed deeply, leaning against the door, staring at the ceiling.

"Last night I was tasked with finding out who’s leaking information to the freshmen. The newbies being initiated now even seem to have mana..."

"I hope this shit ends soon."

"Where do I start?"

A knock on the door.

"Come in," Golden said without looking up, lying on the bed with a

book open in his hands.

A freshman walked in, looking like he’d spent the night thinking up a strategy.

"Are you Golden?"

"I am. So what?"

"Are overpasses good places to hide during the Initiation?"

"Terrible idea." Haru and Golden answered at the same time.

The freshman blinked. "What do you mean? Nobody looks up."

"It depends," Haru said, putting on his shoe. "If they see you, they’ll catch you. But even if they don’t see you..."

He stood up.

"Sooner or later they’ll put something up that forces whoever’s on the overpass to come out in a panic. Like a rat in a pipe."

"Last time we almost froze to death," Golden added without taking his eyes off the book. "Those guys kill."

The freshman left with the look of someone who was going to rethink the whole strategy.

Haru opened the window.

"Slacker," Golden said. "It doesn’t cost anything to go down the stairs like a normal person."

Haru had already jumped.

He ran over; the group was already leaving.

"Damn."

"I can explain..."

"Explain what?" The boss looked at him with the patience of someone who’s explained this before. "Hangover?"

"I..."

"No one explains a hangover, kid." He turned to the group. "No work today."

"What!?" Haru processed. "Just me, or..."

"All the janitors." The boss crossed his arms. "Day off. Hangover, kid. Just relax, okay?"

Haru stood there watching the group disperse.

"Was I fired? Am I getting fired?"

"Wait," he began.

"No one kicks the shit guy out." The boss said without pausing. "Otherwise, who’s gonna clean up the shit?"

And he was gone.

"Right."

Haru stood there alone in the service courtyard.

Then he sighed, the long kind, like someone organizing a mental list.

"Well. At least now I can focus on this Baptism business."

"But first I need panties. No panties, no mana."

He glanced at the clock in the courtyard.

"I saw them eating in the cafeteria earlier. They should be coming back by now. I’ll wait near the gate to the girls’ wing."

He picked up the mop, more out of habit than necessity, and went.

The stone bench at the entrance was empty.

Haru sat down, mop resting on his shoulder, orange uniform, bruise still visible on his temple from three days ago.

He waited.

A security guard approached, a woman with an upright posture, looking at his uniform.

"You can come in."

Haru blinked. "...What?"

"You can come in," she repeated. "You’re a janitor, after all."

"Well... I am. But,"

"You’re working, aren’t you?"

"She thinks I came to clean."

Haru looked at the open gate.

Then at the mop in his hand.

Then at the gate again.

"She’s telling me to go into the women’s wing."

"Janitors can go anywhere."

"This uniform is the best I’ve ever worn."

"Thanks," he said, standing up. "I won’t be long."

"Boobs," he thought. "Ahahahaha."

It was just like the men’s.

Except there were flowers in pots instead of loose gravel. A different smell, not of wet earth, but of something softer, less distinct. The trees were trimmed. The streetlights were a slightly different color, warmer, more golden.

The same space. An entirely different atmosphere.

Security escorted Haru to the janitors’ supply room, brooms, buckets, rags, exactly the same as those on the men’s side.

"You can use whatever you need."

And that was it.

Haru picked up a broom.

He began sweeping the courtyard slowly, slower than usual, much slower.

Students passing by. Elves, beastskins, humans, some races he still couldn’t name. Chatting, heading to class, sitting on the benches.

Smiling at one another.

Completely ignoring the janitor sweeping the corner.

"I could sleep here," he thought. "My life would be so much easier."

"THE LOVE OF MY GODDESS!"

"No!" Haru said without turning.

He recognized the voice by the speed of the footsteps even before the shout had finished.

Kira came sprinting up and skidded to a halt when she was half a meter away, stopping suddenly like an animal that remembered its manners at the last second.

"...Grand Master!"

"No," Haru said.

"Master!"

He smiled slightly. "That’s more like it."

Kira opened his arms, then closed them.

He wrinkled his nose.

He closed them a little more.

"...Master smells bad."

Haru sniffed his own T-shirt.

"Ah."

"Drinks from yesterday," he confirmed.

"And you didn’t take a shower."

"I didn’t have time."

"No," Kira said with the firmness of someone who had made up their mind. "That’s a sin. C

ome on."

"Wait, I..."

He was already being pulled by the wrist