ch61-ch80 · 067-ch66

Chapter 66

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Not a bad place you've got here."

Opening the front door, a large man in a hunting cap was standing there, and Toru couldn't help but smirk — it felt like a scene straight out of a modern yakuza movie.

"Hm? That wasn't a jab. Either way, once you hit B-rank or above as an explorer, most security measures are meaningless. Apart from the apartment residents, the nearest building is over thirty meters away. It's not a bad location."

"Didn't think it was a jab. Mornin', Soma-san."

There was something strangely likeable about this S-rank explorer's needlessly ominous explanation, and Toru found himself smiling more naturally than he'd expected.

"Yeah. Like I said on the phone yesterday. Swapped the rental for a wagon type. I'm babysitting the girls today. You're taking this one."

From beside Soma Kengo — who traced the brim of his hunting cap with his fingertip — a figure slipped into view.

A woman with long black hair, deliberately projecting a gloomy, brooding air.

Maisaka Risa.

The owner of 'The Scales' ability — the power to see through others' lies.

"...Uh... take care of me, alright?"

She muttered hesitantly, then gave a small bow. Toru bowed back on reflex, though from the outside it must've been an indescribable sight.

"Right. I'm counting on you. I'll hear your request tomorrow. Let me know when the details are set. The babysitting should be done by night."

Soma said all this without showing a single hint of whatever he might be feeling.

Toru craned his neck slightly, confirmed there was only one wagon parked in the apartment lot, and tilted his head.

"Well, not like one more person's a problem now. But uh — you came by car, and if you're givin' me the car, what're you gonna do, Soma-san?"

"My feet are faster."

With that, Soma turned on his heel and left without a second thought. Toru watched his back for a moment, then shifted his gaze back to Maisaka, who was standing rigidly by the entrance with a sullen silence.

She was projecting the same gloomy atmosphere as yesterday... but Toru wasn't the type to care whether someone was gloomy or cheerful. If he found her standing just outside a streetlight's reach in a dark alley at night, he'd probably be a bit startled, but that was about it.

He glanced at the mobile in his hand. 9:00 AM.

"Ah... well then, I'll go call the others inside. It's gonna get loud, and I do feel bad about that, but uh, just put up with it."

"Don't care. You good at driving?"

"Average, I guess."

"White, huh. I'm not. Pass."

She tossed him the electronic key with a casual flick. Toru caught it and nodded. "Yeah, sure." He really didn't care either way.

◇◇◇

The one-box wagon Soma had rented was a grade of car that old Toru wouldn't have bothered reaching for, but one he could maybe, just barely, afford.

The key was electronic — just having it on you was enough to lock and unlock the doors. The engine didn't take a key; you pressed a button to start it. Naturally, it was a magic-gasoline hybrid, and the moment the engine turned over, he could feel the difference in class from his kei car.

"Nice taste, Toru's senpai."

Shenna, who'd claimed the middle seats, said. Toru entertained the thoroughly biased thought that yeah, this type of car was exactly the kind flashy gals or yankee types would like.

Driver: Toru. Passenger seat: Tia. Middle row: Shenna, Mika, and Kujo Reiko. Back row: Maisaka Risa and Kawai Sakiho.

From the outside, nobody would have a clue what kind of group this was. Toru didn't either.

"Oh my, this is my first time going out in a friend's car..."

"Reiko, Reiko. Me too. First time going out with Toru."

"Oh my, we're the same, then. How reassuring, Mika-sama."

Toru watched through the rearview mirror as Mika tried to relax Kujo Reiko — who was inexplicably tense — and also checked on Maisaka and Kawai, who sat in the back row in silence. It didn't seem like the kind of atmosphere where small talk would flourish, but he didn't bother forcing it.

"Ah... well, let's hit a convenience store first, grab some drinks and whatever, and then head to city hall. After that, the car dealer. Mornin' might be boring for Mika."

"I'll be chatting with Reiko."

"Kujo-san, you okay with that?"

"Ah-hoh-hoh! But of course. I haven't had much opportunity to chat with someone like Mika-sama. I shall have her tell me all about Toru-bro-sama."

"...Right."

Well, whatever. Toru drove on.

From his apartment to city hall wasn't that far. Sugai Dungeon was closer, actually, but in the opposite direction. The urban area of S City — though as a regional city it wasn't much to speak of — was a little under twenty minutes away at a relaxed pace.

As promised, they stopped at a convenience store along the way and picked up drinks and snacks. Toru paid, and he was a little pleased to notice he didn't flinch at all when the total exceeded three thousand yen.

"I really like this 'ice cream' stuff. Nnfu! Delicious!"

Tia flashed her brightest smile over a cheap vanilla ice cream. She was currently dressed like a fantasy village girl, and the holy sword Lightbringer was tucked between her seat and the door.

By the way — Toru had suggested putting it in the magic bag, but according to Tia, Lightbringer's 'status' was so high it might break the bag if he tried. He'd never heard of such a thing, but he didn't feel like testing it.

"Come to think of it, you said your manifestation dissolves if you get too far from me. About how far can you go?"

"Hmm... let's see. At first I think it was about fifty meters, but now it's probably around three hundred. Toru's magic power's gone up too, and the connection with the holy sword's probably gotten stronger."

"So if my magic power increases, the manifestation radius expands too?"

"It's not that simple, but yeah, that's basically the idea. I've never been a ghost before, so I don't really get it myself."

Toru nodded. If Tia said she could go three hundred meters, she probably had a gut feeling it'd be fine up to that distance. Kind of like how when you toss a crumpled tissue at a trash can, you make it about eighty percent of the time.

He hadn't been particularly worried, but the atmosphere in the car wasn't awful. Everyone was chatting freely. Shenna had a weird grin on her face that bugged him a little, but maybe she was just exercising her maternal instincts again.

The cat beast-person mother and daughter had already been living in the rundown apartment complex when Toru moved in. From the very beginning, Shenna had been familiar with him. At the same time, she kept an appropriate distance. Maybe it was experience from working night jobs, or maybe it was just her nature.

"Come to think of it... it's a weekday, but Mika-san, is it alright for you to skip school?"

Kawai said, as if she'd just remembered. Toru hadn't noticed since he'd lost track of the days, but she was right — it was a weekday.

"It's fine, it's fine. I told the school."

"Going out with Toru is more important than school."

"Mika gets bullied at school anyway."

Shenna said it lightly. First Toru had heard of it, but from her tone, it probably wasn't anything too serious.

"There's just some mean kids. I ignore them."

"With that kinda kid, I'd agree. Good thing it's a guy playing king of the hill. If you were cute, you'd get jealous girls and that'd be a real mess."

"I'm friends with Shiori, so it's fine."

"Ah, the leader-type girl. Her parents are solid too."

"Mika-sama has her difficulties too, I see."

"Reiko, were you ever bullied? Were you okay?"

"Of course I was perfectly fine! I spent so much time diving into dungeons I had no friends at all, so there wasn't anything to bully me about!"

Kujo Reiko laughed an "O-ho-ho-ho-ho!" and the cat mother-daughter pair shot her a subtle look.

"So even in a world this developed, bullying still exists, huh. People are the same everywhere. By the way, Toru, how was it for you? You went to school, right? You don't seem suited for group life."

Tia, now in high spirits after finishing her ice cream, asked. Depending on how you took it, it was a rude thing to say, but she didn't seem to mean it maliciously.

"Ah... well, I guess I wasn't really suited for it. Back in middle school, there was this one guy who was a real pain to deal with."

"A pain? How?"

"Like, y'know, a posturing bastard. I'm sure they're everywhere. Picks a target, talks 'em down, 'I'm so great, I'm so cool, this guy's lame, this guy's dumb, this guy's worthless' — grinning and showing off to everyone else. A monkey from Monkey Mountain, that's what he was."

Opening a drawer of memories he barely ever revisited, Toru was surprised at how easily they came back. He'd completely forgotten about it until he started talking, but once he tried to speak, he remembered it pretty well.

It had been genuinely unpleasant.

That much he remembered clearly.

"How'd you handle it, Toru? You don't seem like the type to just take it quietly."

"I said 'If you keep this up I'll punch you.' He kept grinning and came at me again, so I decked him and broke his nose. Later my parents got called in and we had a meeting with his folks too."

Fortunately — or unfortunately — the guy's behavior was bad, but his parents were decent people. Toru ended up paying the medical bills, but they actually apologized to him. Toru didn't have much choice, so he said "Hitting him was wrong, but don't ever bother me again," and that was the end of it. He never got hassled again, so looking back, he was glad he'd punched him.

As he reminisced about the past, everyone in the car was silently staring at the driver's seat. Apparently he'd managed to weird them out, Mika included.

"Toru's been Toru since he was a kid, huh."

Tia said.

Well, obviously, Toru thought — but didn't say. He'd probably just get them sighing at him again.

◇◇◇

S City's city hall was reasonably new, and the parking lot was fairly spacious.

Toru parked the one-box wagon as close to the building as possible and headed to the Labyrinth Department with only Kawai Sakiho in tow. The city had three labyrinths — well, Kamioka Dungeon had disappeared, so maybe it should be 'had' — so on top of normal city hall work, there was apparently a fair bit of labyrinth-related activity.

It was a weekday morning, so there was a decent number of people for regular city business, but the labyrinth section was fairly empty.

"Alright, I'll go file the paperwork for the new clan. I'll get the forms first, so Hayasaka-san, please think of a clan name and have your mobile's personal ID ready. Is the clan bank account managed by the Labyrinth Agency fine?"

"Ah... yeah, that's fine."

Toru watched Kawai bow briefly and head to the counter, then sat down idly on a nearby chair.

Man, I really suck at this kind of paperwork, he thought, scanning the various posters and announcements around the building — then noticed Kawai's interaction with a staff member at the counter seemed a bit off.

She wasn't arguing, exactly... it looked more like she was being stonewalled.

Curious, he got up from the seat he'd just settled into and approached.

"So you're saying you have no right to refuse a requested document. I'm asking you to give me the forms. Are you really going to refuse?"

"Huh, but you're that false accuser woman, right? If I carelessly hand over documents and end up an accomplice to a false accusation, that'd be a problem. Can't give 'em to ya."

The woman at the counter, grinning slyly, looked to be in her mid-thirties. Broad-shouldered, heavy makeup, and an ugly smile.

Apparently someone had watched yesterday's stream, and they didn't have good feelings about Kawai, who'd suddenly quit... probably. Toru couldn't really tell since it wasn't his business.

"Ah... sorry, she's sayin' she wants the forms. You not gonna give 'em?"

He cut in from the side.

Just then, someone came running over with hurried footsteps. A somewhat thin middle-aged man in a suit. He wore intellectual-looking glasses, and his expression was twisted with panic.

"H-h-h-hold on, Yamada-san! That's a problem! Do the work you're asked to do! I sincerely apologize, Hayasaka-san!"

He chewed out the woman at the counter with considerable force, then bowed deeply to Toru. Toru felt like he'd seen this guy somewhere before... or maybe not...

"Uh..."

"Ah, good morning, Mayor."

Kawai said.

Right, this was the guy from that meeting, Toru recalled.