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Published at 13th of October 2018 05:56:56 AM


Chapter 23

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The sticking was carried out the next day off.
As of late, the destiny going that one extra mile to bully me—Mr. Fate was becoming truly merciless, and he had finally reached the point where his splendid programming would destroy my day off, the final paradise I had left.
The tragedy began with a single phone call.
‘Is this Satou? It’s Dorisen. Can you come to the station right now?’
“… I’m pretending that I can’t.”
‘Today’s meeting should prove beneficial for you to spend the rest of your days in peace.’
I hopped right aboard that cajolery, fortifying my body with Jeans Mate, Lord Uniqlo, and compass, kicking my bike into maximum overdrive all the way to the station.
“Sensei? Where are you?”
The moment I arrived at the meeting point plaza, the sort of beady-eyed vengeful spirit straight out of a Shimizu Takashi horror attacked me in the form of Ryouko.
“Gyaaaah!”
My heart really did stop for a few seconds. My technician took off.
“You——!”
Fear shifted to anger. Grabbing Ryouko’s small head in my right hand, I shook her front back, left and right.
“Nom.”
“Oww!” She bit me again.
“It’s your fault for scaring me!”
When Ryouko showed her selves, the eyes of the people who were only just enjoying their day off pierced into us in one fell motion. Especially since I had raised a scream this time.
“W-what about Dorisen? I got a call, but… why are you here, anyway?”
“The researcher was the one who made the call.”
“Hah! That’s a lie. I heard the real Dorisen’s voice.”
‘It’s love, Mens. We’re on the search for love.’
“Your mimicry is at a genius level, I see!”
“A simple task with the voice changing functionality of the multipurpose device.”
“No, this has nothing to do with machines. It’s imitation. I’ll hand it to you, you’re on an ungodly level.”
So it was a trap to lure me out.
“Wait, how did you get my number? I never told you.”
“Hacking.”
“Liar.”
“Social Hacking. Call to Dorisen. Solution obtained.”
That really was a fundamental technique of cracking.
Even in the hardest of times, what a wonderful homeroom teacher I had, who’d so easily leak my personal information.
“That’s foul play, Ryouko. You’ve hurt me deep inside. I refuse to search with you in town.”
“As Ichirou actively sabotages search attempts, The Researcher has continued the search on her own. Efficiency is exceedingly poor. The Special First Order Advisor Ichirou should promptly rejoin the search and provide backup for his master unit. Habeo imperium. Habeo imperium.”
“… Isn’t searching school enough? Huh?”
“While a Dragon Terminal definitely exists in school, there have been readings confirmed in town as well, so no way.”
“Ah, the way you just said no way was really human-like. Spotted a seam in your acting. Hooray, hooray.”
“……”
Ryouko continuously nudged her shoulder into me. It was a means of protest.
“Hey, don’t push me, that’s dangerous, whoah.”
I was this close to falling into the fountain.
Tearing Ryouko’s body away, I reinitiated negotiations.
“Then where is it in town? You’re always just rambling around places filled with people. If you put so much into this setting, then that dragon terminal o yours is something you made yourself and hid somewhere, right? Let’s head straight for it.”
“Ichirou’s misunderstanding is remarkable. The Dragon Terminal is something that has always existed. Not something that has been made. They are the defensive form a dragon that has lived over a thousand years takes upon a change to its environment. Therefore, their rarity and value are high.”
“I’ve had it with that setting… Zeusheim, and Igknight and the like. It’s bullcrap.”
How was I supposed to be released from this nightmarish chain?
“For starters, that robe… well, it does kinda look like a baggy trench coat, so how about you properly button up the front, and play the part of a bystander?”
‘The Spell-based Concealment ritual a Researcher Utilizes Targets Not Only Residents of the Phenomenal Realm but All Forms of Informational Entities as Well. The Plenipotentiary Power Holder Concludes Satou Ichirou’s Proposal Carries With it No Practicality.’
“… I’m putting a ban on that ventriloquism too.”
The medal was yet another suspicious item. Making sure not to touch it, I tucked it into the inner folds of her robe.
“And hide the staff. Your secret robe will hide it all.”
And with that, she barely managed to play a person who was just wearing slightly baggy clothing… or not! Not at all! It was impossible! Suspicious, she was way too suspicious. An accident waiting to happen! Admittedly, I knew it was impossible from the start!
“Even Boogiepop-senpai usually hides his outfit in his sports bag! Take a page outta his book!”
Even as that went on, the sniggers of passersby were incessant. I had to run without a moment to spare. From the curious looks, the wry laughs, the condescending glares, the cold sneers, the numerous emotions I didn’t want to be smeared in again, and more than anything, from my detestable past.
Ryouko’s stomach rung out right on the dot.
While she properly had a tendency to neglect her health, her body worked properly, and would properly signal out its hunger at noon.
“Ryouko, I think we should start with replenishing energy.”
“You may have my approval for that request.”
Oh, how high and mighty. But this was a chance to move out of the public eye.
The station’s east entrance was populated with department stores and such making it considerably bustling, but out the west entrance and around five minutes away, the plating of the business district was immediately stripped away. We were only a step up from the stix, it was all to be expected. When you entered the district with nothing but empty lots they planned to erect housing in, the sights immediately changed for the better. People rarely passed by.
“Any convenience stores around?”
Only a small soba shop more like a concrete container for a stall operated by the side of the road. It had the same make as the soba shop in the station.
I entered with Ryouko. While the couple in their fifties sent her a curious look, that was all. Did they interpret it as some incomprehensible fashion that came with the generational gap?
“Eat quietly.”
It wasn’t like Ryouko could choose from a menu. When I was about to place to orders, she pointed out an entry pictured on the back side of the sheet. It was an awfully, awfully rare action.
“What is this?”
“Mn? It’s just assorted tempura soba. Aah, the shrimp’s huge. And pricy. Twelve hundred yen.”
“The shape resembles a dragon.”
Does it now? I get that shrimp can look a bit monster-like, but… don’t tell me that’s the dragon terminal? … can’t be. If I ordered two of them, it would come out to twenty-four hundred yen.
I drove my thoughts towards the contents of my wallet only to notice I had no further plans to use any of it. I barely bought books for my own amusement anymore, I had no hobbies, and I wasn’t going anywhere with friends.
“… Two assorted tempura soba.”
Eventually, two orders on trays arrived. Obstructing Ryouko’s hand that reflexively burst out, I furnished it with chopsticks.
“Irrational implement.”
“Oh shut it. Everyone worked hard to get used to it.”
In the midst of a hard battle, without laying an eye on the noodles, Ryouko bit into a shrimp tempura. The plate of assorted tempura had two shrimp in the center, with the sides made of up breaded kisu, pumpkin and shiso leaf. In no time at all, the two shrimp had disappeared into the witch’s stomach. She seemed satisfied as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“You’ve never eaten shrimp tempura before?”
“The food of the phenomenal realm is irrational in its—”
“Yeah, yeah, I remember.”
With the harshness of a producer axing an unpopular anime, I forcefully severed the conversation.
“More importantly, how about you try something else.. The kis,” saying that one aloud took a bit of courage. “The kish fish tenpura’s good too,” of course, I bit my tongue.
While it was a seedy-looking store, the taste was surprising. Hand-made noodles were boiled in store, giving a resilience one could never find in dry noodles, all topped with a seemingly endless stream of finely minced green onion and sesame. The dancing consistency made for an all-around enjoyable experience. If you brought a tempura to your mouth in the interval between slurps, the crisp, dry coating shattered to a weightless texture.
Even Ryouko whose only interests went out to the shrimp, upon seeing the joy spread across my face, painstakingly brought a noodle to her mouth. Her eyes opened wide. The movements of her hand sped up.
Even the supporting cast, the shiso leaf was appetizing enough to down a bowl of rice to. Ryouko nibbled her tempura in small bits like a squirrel. Creepy-cute, I’d say. If I saw that on TV, I might laugh.
The old woman laid out two vermillion-lacquered containers. Ryouko didn’t let it escape her. She drew her eyes point blank to investigate the object from top to bottom.
“It’s just occurred to me, but your acting kinda rips off a person from that Hit and Run manga.”
“Necessity to investigate this article accepted.”
As a dream soldier boasts high mental defense values, low-offense retorts inflict no damage.
“… It’s soba water. The water used to boil the noodles.”
“Industrial waste.”
“You wanna get thrown out?” Thought if it was just her, I wouldn’t mind.
“After you’ve eaten all the noodles, you mix in as much broth as you like, and sip it. It’s like tea after a meal.”
Ryouko carelessly tilted the container and spilled its contents.
“…! …!”
“Stupid,” the area quickly formed a breakwater for it.
“Don’t play with water, idiot!”
The old woman looked troublesomely at us.
I’d taken a liking to the store so I wanted to eat here again, but I decided I’d be coming alone next time.
As I was paying the bill, I noticed an item I’d seen somewhere before in the ‘lost and found corner’ by the register. A metal stick. The engravings on it had been worn down shallow, it was in tatters. Where had I seen it again?
The infirmary. A light lit up overhead.
“If you like it, you can take it,” the old man said as he typed out our total.
“Really? It’s not like I’m the one who lost it.”
“That’s been here forever. I’m pretty sure it’s a toy. Go ahead.”
With a wry smile, I tried returning it to the box when Ryouko jumped at it. She grew violent.
“Hey! Customer! Eep, human? Ghost? The grudge!?”
Her means of attack was completely like a vengeful spirit, so I could understand his confusion. By the way, The Grudge is a movie of unfortunate events involving an endlessly replicating curse. It’s one of Director Shimizu Takashi’s works.
“Eeeh! Police, you have to call the poliiiice!”
“You can! You’ll just spread the curse! Like the Mamiya Couple from Sweet Home, you have to exorcize her with emotion… you have to make her reach nirvana!”
Was the store owner some horror movie buff?
“Just what are you!?” Snapping, I cried out as well.
“Ah ah ah ah ah!”
While she was always crazy, today was a full boost. As if she had awakened.
In a crisis, a protagonist or heroine surrounded in mystery would generally go berserk and awaken. And annihilate the enemy. It was the golden pattern to liven up a story. If it actually occurred in the real world, there was nothing more painful to watch.
Ryouko tore the stick out of my hands, slammed her shoulder into the door, and took off in a straight dash, the glass bell ringing all the way.
Once he’d calmed down, the old man (it seemed his suspicious of evil spirits had cleared up) handed over my change as he spoke out.
“… Could you two please not come again?”
“… Got it.”





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