ch41-ch60 · 058-ch57

Chapter 57

Pulling two plastic umbrellas from his magic bag and handing one to Tia, Toru realized he'd never returned the umbrella.

Of course, Kujo Reiko's butler Kashiwazaki Joichiro probably wouldn't be bothered by not getting a plastic umbrella back, but Toru still couldn't quite grasp that kind of difference in sensibility.

Anyway, they left the building. After having Tia switch back to her village-girl appearance, they started walking aimlessly, but since this wasn't an area he usually visited, he had no sense of the layout. He thought he could vaguely orient himself by figuring out which direction the prefectural office was... but that seemed like a hassle.

—Well, whatever.

With that sort of reckless abandon, he walked aimlessly through the unfamiliar streets. Eventually he'd hit a prefectural road or a major city road. Listening to the raindrops pattering against the umbrella as he walked for a while might calm his frayed nerves, too.

"Ah."

Tia, walking a little behind Toru, let out a sound. The reason was immediately clear. At the end of the road, near a corner, stood a man in a suit without an umbrella.

At first glance, his skin color was different, so Toru didn't immediately recognize him, but it appeared to be Lugardo in his human disguise. He had a sullen expression and raised his hand slightly, leaving Toru a bit unsure how to respond. He also wasn't sure whether he should comment on the fact that Lugardo's suit — which had been reduced to rags by Tia's beating — had been replaced with a new one.

"I was watching the building you guys entered while using stealth, and I sensed the presence of one of my kind... a residual scent. Gilgeil was probably here."

Since Lugardo started walking alongside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Toru had no choice but to sigh and hand him the plastic umbrella. Three people with only one not holding an umbrella would look bad in the frame. Resigned, Toru took Tia's umbrella and pulled her closer to share his. If there had been an elementary schooler around, they'd have made a joke about it.

"You all are pretty sensitive to the presence of your own kind, huh. Couldn't you track that presence and find Gilgeil?"

"You took one look at me... well, I guess you couldn't see it. You figured out I was a Demon from my presence in that 'stone cage,' didn't you. The feel of magical power is different between humans and Demons."

"Yeah. So, about Gilgeil?"

"You talked as if you know Gilgeil — if that's the case, you should understand. It's impossible to pursue him once he's decided to shake off a tail."

"Honestly, Demons are such a pain."

Tia let out a heavy sigh directed right at Lugardo himself, but Toru had no particular grudge against the race called Demons, so he couldn't really share the sentiment.

"...The holy sword Lightbringer's previous owner, or so I heard. Did you really kill the Demon King of old?"

"The Demon King of old, huh. The way you say it, Lugardo, you were born after the Demon King died. But you weren't born in this world either, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Though I'm still among the younger ones of the Demons that came here."

Lugardo nodded in a perfectly ordinary tone. Toru was half-amazed and half-impressed that he could so calmly chat with someone who'd unilaterally beaten him up.

But regardless — it seemed the race called 'Demons' had also come to Earth at the end of the last century, like the others. Not by their own power, but swept up in the 'World Fusion' just like the beast-people, elves, and dwarves.

And on top of that — Toru, and probably most people, had never heard of a demi-human race called 'Demons' until today. He'd never even heard the word until today.

Which meant they'd hidden themselves almost immediately after coming to this world — which was another world for them — through the 'World Fusion.'

Lugardo, walking near Toru and Tia under the umbrella, looked like nothing more than a young man in a suit. His skin was Japanese-colored, his facial features somewhat sharp, but not so much that you'd loudly call him a foreigner. His vibe was clearly different from when he was pale purple, suggesting he was used to disguises that blended into his surroundings...

"Did you guys live in hiding in your original world too?"

At Toru's question, Lugardo raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"Toru, was it. What makes you think that?"

"I'd never heard of Demons until today. Which means the other otherworlders — beast-people, dwarves, elves — never met Demons in this world either. At least, ordinary people didn't. But in this world, there are almost no places where you can remain unknown. Unless you happened to appear on some uninhabited island, you'd be found by the humans of this world and get involved with society, like the dwarves and beast-people."

So the Demons, in this world they weren't supposed to know, likely hid the fact that they were Demons and contacted the humans of this world. Interacting with others that way was probably normal for them.

And then, they likely chose the right time and the right person to disclose their information.

"For someone who looks like such a pain in the ass, you've got a busy brain, huh."

"For someone who looks like a smart handsome guy, you're kinda childish."

"Hmph... I get told that by my comrades too. I've been instructed to speak politely. I used polite speech with Kagurazaka Chizuru at first too, but she sensed something was off right away. That girl has strangely good instincts. But with that level of skill and that kind of intuition, she'll die young."

"Not my problem. She's got a great group of friends and a shitty boss, right?"

He didn't wish her dead, but if he heard that samurai ponytail had died somewhere unknown, it'd just make him feel bad. Well, he wasn't sure it'd stop at just a little, either.

Lugardo didn't say anything to that. He just whistled and twirled his umbrella. If his sense of self was already clear at the time of the World Fusion, he should be much older than Toru, but somehow he felt about the same age.

"Anyway, what did you come here for? Next to me is the holy sword user who beat the shit out of you without mercy, you know."

"Well, sure, that's true. But that Black-and-White woman vouched for my words, didn't she? That woman has some kind of 'special ability' for truth judgment, right?"

"Ah... the 'not an enemy of humanity' thing."

"And she healed my wounds perfectly too."

He really didn't seem to hold a grudge about being unilaterally and brutally assaulted. Toru, who tended to hold grudges, couldn't quite relate to that sensibility, but he wasn't about to advise holding grudges either. Not holding grudges was obviously better.

"Toru. You're unaffiliated and moving freely, right?"

"...Huh?"

"Kagurazaka Chizuru's personality isn't bad, but her clan is under the Labyrinth Agency's jurisdiction. The Labyrinth Agency can't be trusted. So where can you find trust? The answer is nowhere. Even the people sheltering us might have been tipped off by Gilgeil. That's why I wanted to get to know you — you're strong and free."

"The strong one here is the holy sword girl."

Tia, who was walking close enough to Toru to be practically snuggled under the shared umbrella, tilted her head with a strange expression. She held the holy sword in both arms like she was hugging it, but if she felt like it, she could probably cut off Lugardo's neck in under a second.

"Sure, your woman is strong. But I find you more frightening."

"Don't call her my woman."

"Huh? But I belong to Toru, though?"

When Toru corrected him wearily, the person herself corrected him further. This was getting annoying, so Toru decided to let it slide and jerked his chin at Lugardo to continue.

"Ah, the rest of the story. Give me your contact info. Let's exchange personal device contacts. I swear on the name of Lugardo that I won't leak your contact info to anyone else."

"...Well, fine."

Why does a Demon have better personal information literacy than most humans, Toru thought as he pulled out his mobile device, which had been notifying him of calls multiple times throughout the day, and exchanged numbers.

"This is a hunch, but I'll probably end up relying on you. It's been over ten years since Gilgeil betrayed us and left, but this is the first time he's even shown his shadow. Maybe he's found some kind of opportunity. There's probably no legitimate organization that can capture him or outmaneuver him. His goal is still unknown too."

"Ah... he's a real bastard, huh?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Lugardo and Tia's voices harmonized perfectly. An unpleasant duet.

"As compensation, if anything comes up, contact me. I can use transformation and stealth, and I'm pretty good at hiding my presence. I'm good at playing informant."

"...But Kagurazaka Chizuru saw right through you."

"A woman walking in the rain without an umbrella, barely concealing her presence, dressed like a springtime pervert, stumbling around — how the hell is she that perceptive? That was just an unfortunate accident. Well, meeting you guys might have been fortunate in a way, I suppose."

At his completely straightforward, unembellished way of speaking, Toru couldn't help but give a wry smile.

He thought he might be crazy himself, but he didn't dislike this Lugardo guy. If anything, he'd put him in the barely-likeable category.

Unlike that Habaki Ryo bastard.

Well, compared to him, almost anyone seemed likable.

"Well, fine. Just don't ask me to do anything too troublesome, alright."

"Don't expect much. I'm thinking of relying on you as a last resort myself, so if I do ask, it'll be troublesome. But — yeah, let me talk to my comrades and ask if I can disclose some information. As things stand, we can't even have a proper conversation."

"Ah... you mean the whole 'can't say' thing?"

"Demons can't break vows of that sort. Betraying an oath weakens them. It's not that they can't lie — it's that they can't nullify what they've sworn."

Tia offered the clarification. Which meant his promise not to leak Toru's contact info to a third party wasn't just empty words.

But — it probably wasn't absolutely impossible either.

Promises exist because there are people who break them. If no one broke promises, the concept of promises wouldn't even be necessary.

"Then you could use subordinates or comrades bound by vows, have them swear, and on some level — break the vow while accepting the weakening, right?"

"............"

"...That's what Gilgeil did."

Tia and Lugardo both looked at Toru with "are you serious" eyes, but maybe the other world they'd lived in was somewhat more decent regarding human depravity. Then again, remembering Tia's attitude when dealing with people in power, maybe not. He couldn't tell.

"W-Well, fine. Toru, I swear in the name of Lugardo that I will not consciously act dishonestly toward you. Except in unavoidable circumstances, I will not participate in any action to your detriment. When I rely on you, it will be because I've judged it to be the best option, or because there is no other choice."

Tia was the one surprised by Lugardo's clear oath.

Toru wasn't that surprised.

Probably — this guy, in his own way, was serious and desperate. Whether he was a Demon or not, if he had no intention of harming humanity, he was just a slightly different kind of person. He didn't seem the type to actively lie.

"Got it. I don't get a penalty for breaking vows, but I'll say this — I'll respond to your sincerity with as much sincerity as I can."

"...Is that alright?"

"If things really go to shit, something terrible is probably going to happen anyway. Like a 'Dungeon Rampage' or something. I'd probably regret it if I just ignored it and took a nap."

He thought he was being incredibly stupid.

But there was no helping it.

Kujo Reiko had taught him that labyrinth exploration could be fun. He felt like he could enjoy diving into labyrinths on his own, to some extent. He probably could.

But — if a 'Dungeon Rampage' was going to happen, if he could be involved somehow, he didn't mind connecting with a shady Demon. That's just how he felt.

"I see. Thank you, Toru. And holy sword user too."

"If Toru says it's fine, I'm fine with it. Ah, but if you can disclose some information, let us know soon, okay?"

"I will. Meeting you might have been the best thing that's happened."

Lugardo curled his lips into a grin. It somehow suited him, which was a little annoying, but instead it made Toru laugh.

He'd only been irritated by that bigwig Labyrinth Inspector General or whatever, yet he found himself feeling some slight goodwill toward a Demon man —

"Well, I'm off. Contact me if anything comes up."

With that, Lugardo closed his plastic umbrella and handed it to Toru. The rain had stopped, and in the sky a little distance away, reddish-burnt sunlight spilled through the clouds.

It was already evening, and would soon become night.

Toru let out a small sigh and closed his umbrella too.

Lugardo's figure had already vanished.

◇◇◇

Apparently, while wandering aimlessly, he'd reached a large city road. He caught a taxi waiting for passengers in the parking lot of a small supermarket a little further down the road and headed home.

The driver didn't say anything to Tia, who was dressed like a fantasy village girl while clutching the holy sword, and courteously focused on driving, picking up on Toru's "please don't talk to me" expression. Feeling grateful for strangers' consideration was probably a sign of his mental exhaustion.

Anyway — there had been a lot, since morning.

Not all of it was bad, but just having one worst thing was enough to drag his mood down. He felt like he'd read somewhere that the human brain remembers negative impressions more strongly, but he couldn't remember where.

In times like this, the best thing was to eat quickly, take a bath, and go to sleep. Making that decision, he paid the taxi fare by electronic payment from his mobile device and got dropped off in front of his rundown apartment.

Money-wise, he could probably ride taxis every day without issue now, but it was too much of a hassle, so he'd have to buy a car — no, or maybe Sadoyama would bring up compensation... well, if that were going to happen, he'd have contacted Toru by now... thinking things like that, he reached his room, pulled the key from his pocket, and inserted it into the lock.

The click of the lock opening.

Bang — the sound of the neighbor's door opening.

"Yoohoo, Toru! Been a while! There was a woman sitting in front of your place, so I let her wait at ours. Ya better thank me! By the way, I'm really grateful to Toru for always looking after Mika. Thanks as always!"

The glamorous cat beast-person grinning like a mischievous child was Mika's mother — Shenna Sharyi Sonoyama.

And then Toru remembered that Kawai Sakiho had said she wanted to talk about something, and let out a deep, quiet, slightly long sigh.

The day still wasn't over, huh — he thought.