Chapter 69
Epilogue (2)
Side: None
A certain prefecture, a certain location. An apartment building near a movie theater.
In one of its rooms, a cat-eared girl sat slumped on a sofa.
No—not a girl, but an adult woman who looked like a little girl. Tomi Komari gazed up at the ceiling with her mouth half open.
Her face looked as though her soul might slip out of her mouth at any moment.
"...Senpai. Aren't you letting your guard down a little too much?"
Yasuda entered the room, lightly pressing her wet hair with a towel, and said that first thing.
The Public Security agent known within the organization as a legal loli, Tomi answered without taking her eyes off the ceiling.
"Of course I am. Why the hell did I have to get shot at with assault rifles from every direction just because I followed them thinking, 'It'd be a pain if the extremist group and the target happened to make contact'...?"
At Tomi's words, Yasuda quietly looked away. Even she had nothing to say.
That's right. To reveal the truth, Tomi Komari had been at the site of the Zmeu spiritual disaster.
Though people referred to Public Security as one organization, it contained multiple departments and teams. After hearing from one of them about an area where 'Calamity' was making suspicious moves, she had secretly followed Yahiro Kota and the others.
Despite her conspicuous appearance, she had not joined Public Security for show. Keeping some distance, she had carried out a perfect tail without being noticed by them.
While Yahiro and the others were stopping at a family restaurant on their way back from exploring the dungeon, she had watched them naturally from a hamburger chain in the building across the street.
She had thought they were about to return home without incident... and then 'that' happened.
"That must have been awful... Truly."
"Yeah... And doing it without being seen as much as possible? That was completely incompatible with my 'usual way of fighting,' damn it."
"Your language is getting vulgar."
Yasuda moved to the vanity in the corner of the room and began drying her hair with a hair dryer.
This had originally been her safe house. Then this stray-cat-like government employee had barged in.
With the hair dryer going whirrrrr, Yasuda asked Tomi a question.
"So, how was that 'golem' you were concerned about, Senpai?"
"I only got a glimpse of it... but unless someone was using an ability to move it, there's no way it could be real."
Tomi, who had been staring at the ceiling until then, finally turned her gaze toward Yasuda.
"Its movements were far too natural. The golem they were secretly experimenting with in the United States was only at the level where a soldier could easily pin it down in hand-to-hand combat, right?"
"Oh, the one where they were trying to somehow modify an existing robot into a golem? Apparently it can run and jump, at least. I also heard it can handle firearms to some degree."
"Even so, it was supposed to have problems with its weight and the mismatch between the AI and the golem itself. And despite costing a fortune, its combat ability was still pitifully low... So that thing is strange, right?"
"Was it really that impressive?"
"It was that impressive."
Yasuda switched off the hair dryer and worked oil into her hair.
"Well, I'll put everything together in a report later. I'll share it with you then."
"Thank you. Oh, Senpai, do you want some ice cream?"
"I do."
At Tomi's answer, Yasuda washed the oil from her hands in the bathroom, then brought back two cups of ice cream and spoons from the refrigerator.
"Here you go. Vanilla was fine, right?"
"Yeah. As expected of my junior. You may relax."
"Yes, ma'am."
Laughing cheerfully, the two of them sat side by side on the sofa in casual T-shirts and shorts.
Tomi slowly swayed her tail from side to side.
"Sorry for talking about myself so much. I'll buy you something sometime."
"Really? Then please buy me a designer handbag. Or French cuisine at a three-star restaurant."
"I'll buy you an eco-bag from the hundred-yen shop. Or a cup of instant noodles."
"Aww."
"Well, good work to you too. Looks like you managed to guide the people at the shelter properly."
At Tomi's words, Yasuda smiled while eating chocolate ice cream.
"That's my specialty to begin with. There were a lot of reporters rushing over, so it was easy to blend in with them and approach the shelter."
"...As always, your disguises and silver tongue are terrifying."
"Aside from my narrow eyes, I have an unremarkable face."
Yasuda was also a member of Public Security. Her specialty differed from Tomi's, but her ability was unquestionable.
Manipulating ordinary people through sheer skill, without using an ability, was easy for her.
"I guided their thoughts so they would develop a favorable impression of ability users. The incident in Tokyo made that easier too."
"That thing, huh? I wonder how many people higher up are holding their heads over it."
"Well, I suppose it couldn't be helped. Personally, I'd rather complain to the people who let 'Calamity's' gun smuggling slip through."
Yasuda opened her narrow eyes slightly.
For just an instant, her gaze turned toward the small senior beside her.
The exposed, delicate little limbs looked soft to the touch, and not one bore a wound. But that was merely the result.
Being hit by that many bullets would normally kill even an ability user. Only a handful of powerful people or geniuses with extraordinary talent could survive.
"Hmm... Well, perhaps they had a reason it couldn't be helped either."
"Can that really be allowed to slide?"
"I'm saying there might be a way for it to be allowed to slide."
At Tomi's words, the spoon in Yasuda's hand stopped moving.
"...Which country?"
"I don't know that much. But that's not an amount a mere extremist organization could gather on its own. Nine times out of ten, there's backing at the national level."
Tomi put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
After crunching the ice cream between her teeth, she moved her slender throat.
"...So don't blame them too harshly. The people involved are probably blaming themselves by now."
"...Yes."
Tomi's tail lightly patted Yasuda's calf several times.
"Don't get depressed either. If you have time for that, help me with this report."
"No. I can't. Besides, Sato-san would notice immediately. 'Ah, she made her junior help her,' he'd say."
"Yeah, that old man really doesn't miss a thing. That's probably why he's survived this long, though."
Looking dissatisfied, Tomi gnawed on her spoon.
Yasuda gave her a wry smile.
"Well, Sato-san doesn't seem to be a perfect superhuman either."
"Of course not. The other day, he said he didn't know what he'd lost and spent ages searching for it. He must finally be senile."
"Yes. That happened when I made my regular contact call the other day too."
It wasn't that they particularly disliked Sato. They were merely spending some time casually complaining about their superior.
In that exchange, which had nothing to do with even being members of Public Security—
Yasuda once again spoke in the most casual tone imaginable.
"Sato-san accidentally got the time wrong."
"────Huh?"
Tomi's gently swaying tail stopped.
The spoon she had been holding in her mouth clattered to the floor.
"Senpai?"
"Sato-san got the time wrong? Really?"
Tomi stared at Yasuda, who seemed confused by her reaction.
Her eyes pierced Yasuda like blades, making it clear that no lie would be tolerated. Her junior flinched, but nodded.
"Y-yes. Though it was only about ten minutes..."
"Ten minutes. That much."
Holding her empty ice cream cup, Tomi looked up at the ceiling again.
She remained silent for several seconds without even picking up the spoon, until Yasuda timidly spoke to her.
"Um, what exactly..."
"Yasuda."
Tomi turned toward her junior again, but all emotion had vanished from her face.
It was neither the perfect fake smile she wore while undercover nor the weary expression she showed her comrades. It was an expression Tomi would never normally make.
Yasuda sensed something as well.
"From this point on, route all reports to Sato-san through me. That's an order from your senior."
"...Is that all right? It could cause problems with the chain of authority."
"If it becomes a matter of responsibility later, I'll go on a suicide run against some dangerous organization and die as my final act."
Her tone sounded joking, but there was no smile in her eyes. Tomi was serious.
Without realizing it, Yasuda swallowed hard.
"...Understood."
"Sorry. I'll buy you a designer handbag someday. I'll throw in a necklace too, at this point."
After picking up the spoon, Tomi stood from the sofa.
"That's not why, but I have something I want to ask you to do."
Then she turned toward her junior, and on her face—
"Investigate Sato-san. Help me."
For just an instant, a look of grim resolve appeared.
────In actual history, on this day, at this time, she was not here.
In the timeline where Takanashi Miyu lived, a certain dhampir and a certain café had no connection. As a result, Tomi Komari's surveillance target was not caught up in the spiritual disaster. She followed him home as usual, and Tomi returned to her own base.
Therefore, she never visited this apartment to complain, and never heard what followed from her junior.
Nor did Yasuda consider it important enough to remember for long. She never told her senior that Sato-san had gotten the time wrong once—for only ten minutes.
The world diverged once again.
＊ ＊ ＊
Time rolled back slightly.
It was almost evening. As the edge of the sky began to redden, two girls walked through a certain part of Tokyo.
They were an extremely eye-catching pair.
One was a blonde girl with shimmering hair. Her features were childlike and her frame petite. She had an overall air of innocence, but above all, she was beautiful.
She wore a pale blue camisole dress over a white shirt, along with three-quarter-length jeans. Wearing blue-and-white sneakers, she kept glancing at the girl walking beside her.
The other girl also had beautiful features, but for some reason she wore star-shaped sunglasses.
They looked like something from a party-supply store. On top of a black T-shirt and white shorts, she wore a purple kimono. Her arms were through the sleeves, but she left the front open, letting the hem around her knees flutter in the breeze.
Her long, pale legs were fitted with tabi and geta sandals, which clacked as she walked.
It was an utterly bizarre outfit. Along with her long gray hair, it made her stand out, for better or worse.
The blonde girl wore an uneasy expression. The gray-haired girl looked as though she might break into a song. They walked side by side.
Eventually, the two arrived at a park.
Most of the playground equipment had been removed, leaving the place considerably more spacious. With sunset approaching, almost no one was there.
There was only one child, standing motionless beside a tree.
The two girls walked over to the child.
"What's wrong? It's almost dark, so you'd better go home, okay?"
The blonde girl bent her knees slightly and spoke to the child at eye level.
The child pointed upward with tear-filled eyes.
When the blonde girl looked in that direction, she saw a ball wedged between branches.
"I can't get the ball...! Micchan went home too...!"
"I see. So that's what happened."
With a clack of her geta, the gray-haired girl stepped forward.
Then she tousled the child's hair.
"I'll get it for you, so wait right there."
"Huh?"
Ignoring the child's surprise, the gray-haired girl took a small breath, and then—
────Clang!
A sound like a geta clacking seemed to come from her mouth.
Then, after bending her knees slightly, she leaped.
The gray-haired girl lightly punched the ball, which was about three meters up, and knocked it free from the branches.
The ball landed on the ground with a soft plop, and the child's eyes lit up as they quickly picked it up.
"Thank you, big sister!"
"Don't mention it."
"Now, your family will worry, so be careful on your way home."
"Okay!"
The child waved to them and ran off.
The two watched the child leave. Though they were still young enough to be called children, neither girl showed any sign of going home even as the sky began to darken.
"...Hey, 'Hozuru.'"
"What is it, 'Nanami'?"
Nanami, the blonde girl, lowered her gaze and spoke.
"Do you think the police will protect them?"
"...I'm sure they'll do their best."
Hozuru gave the anxious Nanami a gentle smile.
Her gray hair and kimono fluttering in the wind, she moved in front of her friend with a clack of her geta.
"But I don't think they'll be their top priority."
"...No, I suppose not."
"They have to protect every citizen. So if multiple death threats are issued at the same time, the priority will be the target whose death would affect all the citizens."
────The serial killer throwing the Kanto region into chaos.
His actions had grown increasingly brazen, and at last he sent simultaneous death threats to dozens of people.
Among them were Acting Prime Minister Izumihara and several cabinet ministers.
Their friend's family had also been targeted, but the anti-ability unit had been assigned to guard the acting prime minister and the others.
Yet the two girls had a certain conviction: the killer would target their friend's family.
Because although it had not been reported, they had once stopped one of his crimes.
It had been a complete coincidence, but the two of them had not forgotten the murderous intent directed at them then.
Their friend's family had probably been on the list of targets he had planned to attack from the beginning. If so, the killer would go after them first.
However, the killer in question was elusive. The girls had no conclusive proof that they had stopped his crime, and the police did not believe their testimony, treating it as an ordinary prank.
The larger the incident, the more false testimony appeared from people claiming to have seen or met the culprit. It was understandable that the police assumed theirs was another such case.
But the girls would not take this connection lightly. Until the very moment he escaped by teleportation, the culprit had glared at them with eyes steeped in hatred.
"Hey. Instead of fighting, why don't we run away? All of us. Then we can wait until the police catch him..."
"That won't work."
Despite the speculative wording, Hozuru's tone was firm.
"He can pass right through barriers. Even the police don't know that—or rather, they don't believe us."
"But..."
"More importantly, even if we keep running, the culprit has too great an advantage. He'll catch us eventually."
Nanami's eyes moved from Hozuru's face—from the eyes hidden behind her sunglasses—to her fingertips.
Those fingers had slight calluses from sword practice, and they were trembling faintly.
"...But I'm scared."
"Yeah. I'm really scared. That's why."
With a flutter of her long hair and kimono, Hozuru turned to Nanami.
She reached her hand straight toward her.
"Lend me your strength, Nanami."
She said it with a fearless smile.
Her face showed not the slightest expectation that she might be refused. If the other person had been anyone but Nanami, Hozuru would never have made such a dangerous request.
She would fight alone, get hurt alone, and smile without ever telling anyone about her battles unless asked.
Nanami knew better than anyone in this world that her childhood friend was that kind of person.
"I suppose it can't be helped."
She answered with a sigh.
"I'm fragile, you know. Don't expect too much from me."
"Liar. I've got your back, partner."
The girls took each other's hands.
This was an event that also occurred in the world where Takanashi Miyu lived. Though this exchange was absent from the history she knew, the names of the two girls were clearly recorded.
'Domeki Hozuru'
'Kaneki Nanami'
One as the 'Valkyrie of Devotion.'
The other as the 'Saint of Betrayal.'
On the roof of a building several kilometers away, a girl wearing a crude eyepatch watched them with the full moon behind her.
As an entity calling itself a false god watched over them with a compassionate smile—
they walked onto the battlefield to fight for their friend.
This occurred on the same night that the Dragonkin and Yahiro's group fought.
＊ ＊ ＊
And so, the Dragonkin were defeated, and the serial killer was captured.
As Japan began showing fear of monsters and signs of reaching out to ability users—
In Washington, at the White House.
"...Yes. Yes, I understand. Good work."
Alone in a conference room, an older woman in a suit was speaking on a smartphone.
"The result was unfortunate, but there's no need to be discouraged. Let's proceed with the next preparations."
Despite her bright voice, all emotion had vanished from her expression.
She spoke to the person on the other end as though she were making plans to go out for fun.
"Understood. We'll do that. I'll send you some 'Mexican liquor' at a later date. Goodbye."
A few seconds after ending the call, emotion suddenly returned to her face.
The woman looked around with slight confusion, but soon put the smartphone into her pocket as though nothing had happened and began operating the tablet tucked under her arm.
At that moment, the door opened with a click.
"Hm? Catherine? Why are you alone?"
The person who entered was Vice President Miguel Tyler.
At his words, the older woman shifted the tablet more securely under her arm.
"Good morning, Vice President. The President is on the phone with Jim-san. I couldn't very well interrupt a conversation between partners, so I came to work in this nearby room."
"Ah, I see... Nobody wants to be 'kicked to death by a horse.' Though I imagine they're mostly discussing ability-related matters rather than sweet nothings. Once they get started, those two always end up bragging about each other..."
"...?"
Catherine, the woman and the President's secretary, tilted her head at Vice President Tyler, who was speaking with a weary look.
"By a horse? Oh, is that a Japanese proverb?"
"That's right. Apparently, in that country, if you interfere with someone's romance, they'll smash your head with a hoof."
"How wonderful."
"I find it frightening. Why do I have to be that considerate of a couple?"
As the Vice President shrugged theatrically, Catherine laughed brightly.
"Even so, you really do know a great deal about Japan, Vice President. If I recall, your wife is a huge fan of Japan."
"That's right. Ever since she traveled there about ten years ago, she's been obsessed with samurai. She even had part of our house remodeled and imported tatami and shoji. I've gotten used to sleeping and waking on futons myself."
"Oh my. However, bedding suited to your body is the key to good health, you know?"
Catherine looked at him with concern.
"Since you're so tall, Vice President, a bed with long legs would be better for you. One high enough that────"
She wore her usual smile and spoke in her usual voice.
"A person could hide completely beneath the bed."
For just an instant, she let all emotion vanish from her eyes as she said it.