Chapter 31
Prologue
Now that April is over and it's May, the temperature has risen a little too sharply to call this spring weather.
I have something that can withstand even the slightly humid air announcing the approach of the rainy season.
That is.
"..."
My school life is even more humid.
From the time I arrived in class until lunch, I still hadn't spoken to anyone.
I'm isolated to an astonishing degree. The day I evolve from a loner into 'solitary' may be near. Though wouldn't that be devolution, not evolution? ...Ha ha!
While delivering a self-directed retort in my mind, I left the classroom with my lunch in hand.
I'm currently searching the school for a place where no one will come. Eating in the bathroom is a last resort. With the declining birthrate, there should be more empty spaces in the school building too. Somehow, I have to find a place of refuge.
Surprisingly many empty classrooms were locked. The rooftop was locked too, of course. Perhaps I should search the stairwells in a building with fewer classrooms in use.
As I was leaving the classroom, I noticed that the neighboring class was noisy.
I could hear classmates whose names I couldn't quite remember chatting as they watched whatever was happening.
"What's that? Did something happen?"
"You don't know? I heard a transfer student came today."
"Huh? At this time of year? That's straight out of a light novel."
"Yeah, yeah. And she's Gifted, too."
"Seriously? Is she dangerous?"
"I don't know. I wonder if she'll be creepy like Yahiro-kun."
...I took damage from that stray shot, but quietly peeked into the neighboring class.
I didn't want to linger and draw attention, but I had to check the situation. If she had ended up like me, I would have to speak to her.
And if possible, I wanted to form an alliance. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a friend...!
I felt guilty, as though I were wishing misfortune on someone else, but I had no choice. I focused intently with both eyes and looked into the classroom.
By the classroom windows, in the rearmost seat—a coveted spot among students, though one where teachers could surprisingly easily keep an eye on them. There, I found a Gifted person.
I could tell at a glance that her 'Race' was probably the reason.
After all, cat ears had grown where human ears were supposed to be.
Her hair was a shade somewhere between red and orange, unlike anything usually seen on a Japanese person. Cat ears of the same color twitched atop her head.
She had healthy, dewy skin and large, round eyes. Her features were well-proportioned, but she looked somewhat childish for a high school student. Rather than a first-year high school student, she looked more like a first- or second-year middle schooler.
Her build was also like that of someone who had just entered middle school, and she was small. With the cat ears peeking through her semilong hair, she had an appearance that strongly stirred one's protective instincts.
It seemed the other students had the same impression of the girl, who had an overall small-animal-like air.
Many students had gathered around her in a friendly mood.
"Hey, Tōmi-san! What club were you in during middle school?"
"I was in the literary club. Though really, I just chatted with my friends."
"Are you all right? I heard you were hospitalized after awakening your Gift, too..."
"Yes! I'm fine now! Thank you for worrying about me. You're very kind."
"Tōmi-chan! Do you have a boyfriend? Are you maybe looking?"
"Eep!? I-I don't, and I don't really understand that sort of thing yet...!"
"Hey, boys! That's sexual harassment, you know!"
...Yeah.
Apparently, she had already fit in from her first day at the new school.
I should have been happy that another Gifted person could enjoy a peaceful high school life. Apparently, the divide between the Gifted and non-Gifted wasn't as deep as I had expected.
Huh? That's strange. My eyesight should be excellent because of my Magic Eye, but my vision is getting blurry.
No, well, it's just emotional sweat. Yes.
It'd be gross to suddenly start crying in the hallway, so I desperately held back my tears and strode down the corridor.
...Maybe I'll settle for a bathroom stall today.
Even so, I continued on, choosing a place where as few people as possible would come.
What difference was there between me and her... this Tōmi-san? Was it our gender? Her cuteness?
...Social skills?
If my classmates had surrounded me the same way, could I have created that sort of peaceful atmosphere?
I had a strong feeling I would say something socially clueless and create an awkward atmosphere.
My lunch was saltier than usual that day.
＊ ＊ ＊
...That's awful.
Yeah...
Seeing something as miserable as, or even more miserable than, my own high school life restored my spirits a little.
We were in Takanashi-san's garage. Hanging in front of us was Kenning, suspended in a kneeling position with its right knee down.
The machine was secured by chains from the ceiling. Its left leg had been removed from the hip, and its right arm was also missing from the shoulder onward.
"The right arm is lost. The frame of the left leg is completely warped, and its motor is damaged. In addition, the frame is fractured and warped throughout, causing a critical misalignment in mana transmission."
"...In other words?"
"You could just barely call it moderate damage, but it's really a little more like heavy damage."
"Isn't that just heavy damage...?"
"...That could be said, perhaps."
This time, even Takanashi-san was pale as she looked back and forth between the tablet and Kenning.
Even I, an amateur, could tell that the machine was practically scrap metal. It had originally been moderately damaged, and Takanashi-san had performed emergency repairs so it could continue fighting by force.
According to her, it had already been operating at thirty percent below its original performance even then. Now, it probably couldn't fight at all.
"Fortunately, the core unit is unharmed. The armor gains anti-spirit functions from the mana supplied by the core, so I believe it can fight again if we replace the damaged sections."
"...But doesn't that mean we'll have to replace everything except the core unit?"
"...That could be said, perhaps."
I thought that was the only way to put it.
Armor was damaged in various places, exposing wiring and other components beneath it here and there.
Takanashi-san lowered her eyes to the tablet with a troubled expression.
"...With the equipment here, preparing new parts will be difficult. Besides, I don't have that level of technical skill."
"...In that case, I guess we'll have to rely on someone else after all."
"...I have concerns, but yes."
For some time, we had been considering whether to find collaborators besides ourselves.
However, we had kept putting it off because the fewer people who knew our secret, the better. But this was about the limit.
"Why don't we talk to Master? I think we can trust her."
Inoue Mizuki-san. She was not included among the 'heroes of the future' Takanashi-san talked about. At the same time, she had not been described as a 'villain' either.
In other words, she was someone for whom information from the future was of no use. However, after actually spending time with her, I had come to regard her as a trustworthy adult. Takanashi-san probably felt the same way.
My parents were trustworthy too, but there was a difference between my parents and Master, who was both the head of a clan and an adventurer, in what they could do if the worst happened.
...And there was something I absolutely couldn't say aloud.
I didn't want to involve my parents. There might be someone in the government working for the monsters. If those fangs were turned on them...
After seeing so many corpses the other day, that feeling seemed to have grown even stronger. The deaths of people close to me frightened me.
It wasn't as though I wanted anything to happen to Master. Even so, I found myself assigning priorities.
No wonder I couldn't make friends.
"It may indeed be necessary to find other collaborators. But does Master know much about machines?"
"I don't know, but she might have some sort of connection. At the very least, it has to be better than worrying about it by ourselves."
"...You have a point."
Takanashi-san placed the tablet on the desk and folded her arms beneath her chest.
My gaze was drawn to her prominently displayed enormous breasts, but I somehow managed to turn my face away immediately. After taking a small, deep breath, I looked at her face again.
"Besides, it's not just Kenning. There are other things we should tell Master—or rather, things we should warn her about."
"Yes. Ishiyama Iwako. This concerns 'Rosso Vendetta.'"
I nodded at Takanashi-san's words.
"She doesn't seem like the villain described in the future. That's precisely why I think we need to be careful. I want the clan master to cooperate with us on that matter too."
"...I agree. However, if 'Rosso Vendetta' was actually a dhampir friendly to humanity, that would create another concern."
She took out the terminal she had brought from the future—the other one.
"If a villain was actually a good person, then a good person may have been a villain. Besides, this world and this era are different from the past of my world."
I nodded in agreement.
The 'Yahiro Kōta' who was the benefactor of both our ancestors was a different person. He wasn't completely unrelated to us, but he was someone we needed to consider separately.
"All we can do is hope that the trustworthy hero on the government side, 'Tōmi Komari-san,' is a good person."
"...Tōmi?"
I tilted my head at the surname I had heard at lunchtime.
I had heard about the 'heroes of the future' from Takanashi-san before, but there had been no one I seemed likely to encounter. I thought she was one of them, but...
"What kind of hero is this Tōmi Komari-san?"
"Yes. She is affiliated with Public Security, and it is said that this name may not even be her real one. No photographs of her remain at all."
"Public Security..."
They were the sort of people who were like Japanese spies in games and manga.
How cool.
"Even after Japan collapsed, she continued working with police forces throughout the country and is said to have saved many lives. She also had a Spirit Armament resembling a nun, and was once called a saint."
"I see..."
"Yahiro-san in my future was also once called a saint."
"I don't need that information."
The 'Yahiro Kōta' of Takanashi-san's world and I were different people. No matter what anyone said, we were different. Absolutely different.
All right. I had calmed down.
"There are no photographs left, but a picture of Tōmi-san apparently drawn by one of her friends does remain. I'll show you the image."
Takanashi-san came closer while operating the device's screen.
Her long black hair came very close to my nose, and my heart gave a nervous jump. I thought I caught the scent of soap mixed with sweat and machine oil.
I nearly let my thoughts wander somewhere strange, but managed to pull them back. Apparently she had finished operating the device, because Takanashi-san held the screen out toward me.
"This is a portrait of Tōmi-san."
What appeared on the screen was a black-and-white drawing, probably made with a pencil or mechanical pencil.
She had long hair and large, round eyes. Cat ears grew where human ears were supposed to be.
Her features were mature, combining dignified beauty with a bewitching allure. Only her upper body in a suit was depicted, but the ample swell of her chest suggested that she must have had a very mature figure.
...However, the surname Tōmi and a cat-beastkin Gifted person.
It was rumored that only one person in ten thousand in Japan was Gifted. The same surname, the same Race—could it really be a coincidence?
"Actually... a Gifted person with the surname Tōmi transferred to my school today. And she's cat-beastkin."
"What!? Really? Such a coincidence—no, such a miracle... But..."
"We don't have proof yet. Besides, she's with Public Security, so we don't even know whether it's her real name. But it's possible..."
"Yes...!"
Takanashi-san and I nodded at each other.
"She might be Tōmi Komari-san's... little sister!"
Whether it was coincidence or not, I felt as though I heard a crow cawing somewhere in the distance.