Chapter 68
Epilogue (1)
Two days after the spiritual disaster caused by the Zmeu,
the four of us had gathered at Café 'Alf'.
"Wow... You've become quite famous, Rosson."
Riko-senpai muttered that while looking at a newspaper in the café.
I took the newspaper from her and nodded deeply.
"Yes. Since you're the hero who saved the shelter."
Then I passed the newspaper to Takanashi-san.
"Yes. You are unquestionably a hero."
She nodded faintly but with clear satisfaction, then spread the newspaper out in front of Rosso-san.
In response, our 'hero'...
"I'm going to burn down the newspaper company right now...!"
Her face had gone bright red, and she was trembling all over.
'A Twenty-Something Dhampir Woman with Chuunibyou Devotes Herself to Defending a Shelter'
Amazing. And by amazing, I mean that no one here had even been interviewed by the reporter, yet the article described Rosso-san perfectly.
Where had they learned her age, Race, and chuunibyou...?
"Damn you, Mother...! Why would you say something like that in the interview...? Were you bragging...? Did you want to brag in your own way...?"
Ah. So her mother was the culprit.
Riko-senpai and I nodded at each other now that the mystery was solved. Well, then, there was no problem.
And it was a good thing I had made her promise beforehand to keep quiet about the three of us.
I didn't want us to become toys for reporters or the internet, but there was also Kenning to consider. Fortunately, although the blackout and communications problems had led to sightings of a humanoid robot, no clear photos of the machine had appeared online.
There were only blurry photos and videos, mostly showing a shoulder or a foot for an instant. That was all. The fact that there had been so few notable posts was lucky. No, perhaps I should call it bad luck.
As I thought about that, Rosso-san began pounding on the table.
"Who are you calling a chuunibyou!? I am a proud noble of the demon realm! I am 'Rosso Vendetta'! If I ever went to the demon realm, everyone would prostrate themselves before me! I am important, you know!? I am amazing, you know!?"
"Didn't you say you had been exiled from the demon realm before?"
"Don't poke holes in her setting, Otaku-kun."
"You lot!"
"Coffee and cake. Make some room, okay?"
"Ah, thank you very much."
"Sure thing. Come on, Rosson. I know you're happy about your article, but move it."
"I'm not happy about it!?"
While this exchange was going on, Takanashi-san picked up the newspaper and let out a small "Oh," her eyes sparkling as she read.
Rosso-san couldn't bring herself to interrupt her as she read so intently, and instead gnashingly ground her teeth.
"Daaaamn you... Even the newspaper company must be stopped... How dare you print such baseless things! Have you no pride as seekers of truth!?"
"I don't know about pride, but it does seem to be the truth."
"Wow. I'm glad the newspaper reporters are doing a proper job of seeking the truth."
"Do you people have some kind of grudge against me!?"
"A grudge? Nothing like that."
"It's just a little physical affection, my friend!"
"This is strange. This kind of friendship is absolutely strange."
Chuckling at our exchange, the master returned to the counter.
As Rosso-san and Riko-senpai continued to make a racket, I shifted my gaze to the newspaper Takanashi-san was reading.
The spiritual disaster and the shelter incident had been printed in the most prominent spot on the front page—or rather, not the most prominent spot, but the second-most prominent one.
Its placement varied by newspaper. At present, two stories were being widely reported by every media outlet.
The first was, of course, the Zmeu spiritual disaster.
The dead and missing numbered over a hundred, and dozens of buildings had collapsed in the fires. The police station was among them, and apparently the nearby city hall had also been damaged.
I heard that firefighters had been attacked by Zmeu while fighting the fires, greatly delaying the effort to bring them under control.
As a small piece of good fortune amid the misfortune, water flowing from a fallen pump on the ground meant that Rosso-san's house had escaped with only the trees in the yard catching fire.
For the time being, she and her mother had moved to an apartment fairly close to this café, thanks to an introduction from the master.
The shelter incident had left them with a lingering unease about continuing to live in that area.
The two men who had driven Rosso-san's mother out were now being sued, and apparently talks were underway with a lawyer known to the master.
Surprisingly, the other residents who had been in the shelter were cooperating with the lawsuit. In fact, even those two men apparently admitted their guilt.
They claimed it had been because of panic during an emergency.
The reason for their straightforward admission was unclear. Perhaps they feared retaliation, didn't want to weaken the local community's fighting strength, or had simply cooled down and developed a guilty conscience.
The human heart can't be reduced to all or nothing. Perhaps all of the reasons that came to mind were possible.
Regardless, I wanted them to atone for their crimes. Even in an emergency, what they had done was not something that could easily be forgiven.
Letters promising that the other residents would testify in court, along with phone calls of apology, had been arriving for Rosso-san and her mother. At any rate, it should be possible to beat them up through the legal system.
Whether they continued living in that house afterward would depend on their feelings.
But I digress. Naturally, those circumstances, known only to a limited number of people, had not been reported.
What was making headlines was the scale of the damage and the fact that 'monsters had used guns.'
Yesterday, television reported that the bodies of people belonging to 'Calamity' had been found, and that the bite marks left on their bones and the magical residue had identified the Zmeu as responsible. It also reported that a Gate had been found in the warehouse of the abandoned factory where the incident had occurred.
The Zmeu were said to have attacked them, stolen weapons meant to be used in a terrorist attack, and then used those weapons themselves. It would go down in history as the first time monsters had understood human weapons and tactics.
Even now, television and the internet were discussing how to deal with monsters while once again raising awareness of their danger.
...In Takanashi-san's world, why had 'goblins' been the first?
Was it simply because this was a parallel world with a different course of history? Or else────.
Had the Zmeu managed to remain hidden even after the spiritual disaster?
Could they really have managed that, intelligent monsters though they were?
Even if there had been a fire, bullet holes couldn't have been covered up. There must have been people who died from gunfire as well.
Although investigating crimes committed by ability users or monsters was difficult, crimes involving modern weapons would not escape existing technology.
If so... had someone 'hidden' them?
The traces left by the Zmeu, who had fired their guns wildly like trigger-happy maniacs?
Takanashi-san had told me about a theory said to exist in the future: that the shadow of monsters loomed over the Japanese government of this era.
That theory felt reinforced once again.
...Should we seriously put into action that thing the master proposed, which Riko-senpai mentioned before?
However, we had no connections. If there was anyone to turn to...
What came to mind was a cat-eared girl... or rather, someone who looked like one, but was suspected of being an adult woman.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained... I guess.
"Yahiro-san."
"Hm?"
Takanashi-san tugged on my sleeve, so I turned my gaze toward her.
The woman sitting beside me suddenly leaned toward me. The soft scent of shampoo drifted toward me, along with the sensation of her smooth hair brushing my shoulder.
More than anything, the view down at her enormous breasts drove every thought from my mind.
"W-what?"
"Please look at this article."
Takanashi-san's slender, pale fingers pointed to the other news story making headlines.
'Serial Killer Who Has Been Terrorizing Kanto Arrested by Two High School Girls'
The serial killer had caused endless turmoil throughout society. Even after the killer's face and name became known, the killer had continued to evade the police—and had not even stopped committing crimes.
And yet, the killer had been brought to justice by only two girls.
Apparently, they were adventurers active in Kanto. They were also the very same people who had distinguished themselves during the two spiritual disasters that occurred in Tokyo in April.
Since they were minors, the girls' personal information had not been published, but people everywhere were in an uproar. The internet in particular had become a mess, filled with posts of uncertain authenticity—mostly from people claiming to be one of them or claiming to know them.
The only thing that was certain was that the serial killer had targeted a friend's family, and that the girls had fought to protect them. It was an undeniably moving story.
It was astonishing that such an outrageously newsworthy incident had occurred on the same day as the Zmeu spiritual disaster.
...Well, the police were apparently having a difficult time right now.
On one hand, a police station had been burned down by monsters, and city hall had also been put out of commission at a crucial moment. On the other, high school girls had beaten the police to the punch in a major manhunt. Complaints about the police were rising everywhere.
All I could do was offer my condolences.
"With an ability user solving an ability-user case, and Rosso-san's exploits being reported as well, the divide between ability users and non-ability users may begin to close. This is a welcome development."
"Yeah. I really hope it does."
And, while they were at it, I hoped my school life would improve too. Seriously.
"To celebrate, how about a party at my home?"
"Whoa!? Miyu-chi is inviting us to a party!?"
Riko-senpai, who had been pulling on Rosso-san's cheeks, turned toward us with great enthusiasm.
Her cheeks were incredibly red. What were these two doing?
"Sounds good, sounds good! When should we do it? Today? Shall we have a night fever?"
"It depends on everyone's schedules. I am free whenever."
"...Well, I have nothing in particular to do either. Mother is handling most of the lawsuit and moving arrangements."
Rosso-san said that gruffly while rubbing her own reddened cheek.
"Uh, then I don't really have any plans either..."
I usually wasn't fond of parties celebrating a successful mission, but this time was different. It would be a good opportunity to discuss that matter and decide whether to tell Rosso-san about Takanashi-san's circumstances.
Takanashi-san nodded at our replies.
"Then let's do it tonight. Please don't worry. The preparations are already mostly complete."
"Oh, nice preparation, Miyu-chi."
"Yes. There will also be 'entertainment,' so please look forward to it."
"Seriously!? I didn't know you were this into it... As a gyaru, I'll go all out too! PON! PON!"
"Heh... A revelry. That would be acceptable as well. Perhaps I should regale you with tales of my valor... Um, is there anything I should prepare?"
"No. Please come empty-handed. Oh, if there are any snacks or other things you would like to eat, please bring them."
"Understood."
"Fwoooooooh! This is getting exciting, baby! I'll bring snacks and juice too—night pool! Splash splash! Mermaid by the shore!"
"Riko, don't get too carried away."
...Why?
Takanashi-san spoke in her usual expressionless, matter-of-fact tone, but she was strangely talkative. More than anything, I felt like her eyes were shining with an unnervingly sharp light.
A strange sweat ran down my back. I wouldn't call it a bad premonition, but it wasn't exactly a good one either. What was this? It was scary.
"Yahiro-san."
"Y-yeeees!?"
The mysterious 'pressure' emanating from her made my voice jump up involuntarily.
But Takanashi-san didn't comment on it. Instead, she gave me a meaningful, deep nod.
"Please look forward to it. The 'entertainment.'"
"...O-okay."
What is this!? I'm scared!?"