Seeking Connections

Seeking Connections

After giving Rosso-san a general explanation.

We changed locations and gathered around the table in the living room.

"Hmm..."

Rosso-san had changed into her gothic lolita outfit along the way and now stood with her arms folded beneath her ample breasts.

"Takanashi... Miyu was a child soldier who had merged with machines in the world one hundred years from now."

"Yes."

"Monsters had conquered most of the world, leaving only parts of the United States and the United Kingdom. Even those were merely waiting to be crushed."

"Yes."

"In that situation, you were sent to a parallel world—and into the past—by Demiurge."

"Yes."

"You have no idea what to do, but you are doing your best for the sake of a 'better future.'"

"Yes."

"The young oni, Riko, and the master already know this."

"Yes."

"In the future, the young oni is famous as the legendary Super Pervert No. 2."

"Yes."

"Excuse me?"

Didn't you just slip in some unnecessary information? I felt as though things had been arbitrarily made worse.

"And that I became an evil vampire and was slain by the young oni."

"...Yes."

"I see..."

Ignoring us, Rosso-san nodded several times, then said:

"I want to say, 'What are you talking about?'... but I suppose I have no choice but to believe you."

"Really...!?"

Takanashi-san looked slightly surprised that Rosso-san seemed to have accepted it.

"I thought you would have trouble believing it. Especially the part about your death."

"...Well. Kenning's existence is also proof that you are from the future, but there is that, and then there was what happened the other day..."

Rosso-san lowered her gaze.

"When I think that if you people had not been there that time... I can only understand why the version of me in that parallel world fell into darkness."

"Rosso-san..."

Her heavy words left me unsure of what to say.

I could not casually claim that I understood what Rosso-san had felt toward the people at the shelter back then.

But at the very least, it had been more than enough to drive her to become a true avenger, and eventually a slaughterer.

I, Riko-senpai, and Miyu-san could do nothing but fall silent.

"Also, there is something thrilling about my own fall into darkness."

"Shall I punch you once?"

Don't put people on an emotional roller coaster.

And don't rub beneath your nose while blushing. This isn't some heroic tale, seriously.

"Well, it happened in a parallel world. In this world and this era, I'm innocent—or uninvolved, anyway. It's someone else's business, and no victims exist yet, so purely... you know?"

"'You know' nothing. Give us back the feelings we had while considering your plight."

"...Sorry!"

"I forgive you."

She apologized with a smug expression, but since the conversation was going nowhere, I nodded.

"But what will we do now? From what I just heard, you have no prospects at all."

"About that..."

Riko-senpai rested her cheek on one hand and spoke.

"Actually, I have an idea."

"Yours? That's incredibly worrying..."

"How about I throw an all-night party at your house?"

"Please don't. Really, please don't. I'm in an apartment now. The neighbors might give me the legendary 'wall doon.'"

"Why did she pronounce 'don' as 'doon'?"

"Anyway, it wasn't my idea. It was Grandma's."

"Oh, the master. Then it should be fine."

"Is there really such a huge difference in how much you trust me and Grandma...? Is it just my imagination...?"

"Rest assured, Riko-senpai. It's not your imagination."

"Great! That's reassuring! Remember this later, you bastards."

"And what is this brilliant idea?"

"I mean... it's not exactly brilliant, but it's a possibility, okay?"

Leaning back against the chair, Riko-senpai continued.

"According to Miyu-chi, the Japanese government of this era may already be under the influence of monsters."

"And?"

"Then conversely, isn't it possible that 'anyone besides the politicians currently in office' hasn't been influenced by monsters?"

"...Huh? What do you mean?"

"Five major ministers, including the prime minister at the time, died in a spiritual disaster in April, remember?"

Riko-senpai raised one finger.

"Right. It was major news at the time."

"We don't know whether that was truly coincidence or whether the prime minister at the time was targeted. But that was how the current caretaker cabinet came into being."

"And with the 'goblins and Zmeu' incident, I already don't have much faith in the current government."

I spoke up as well and shared my thoughts.

Miyu-san had said that, in the future, goblins were believed to have been the first monsters to understand human weapons and tactics. That did not fit with what had happened the other day at all.

It could simply be a discrepancy caused by this being a parallel world, or the butterfly effect caused by time travel.

But we should assume the worst. It was possible that the Japanese government was already heavily influenced by monsters.

"So Grandma thought that if it was 'the previous government,' there might be a chance they were on the human side."

With a sly grin, Riko-senpai leaned forward over the table.

Her enormous breasts settled onto the table with a soft squish. I quietly looked away so I could concentrate on the conversation.

"'The previous'...?"

"The government that forced through the Dungeon Act and the Anti-Spiritual Disaster Agency a few months after the 'Day of Return,' then dissolved as if that were the price. Or the relatives of the ministers who died in April's spiritual disaster. If they were among the people keeping their distance from the current caretaker cabinet..."

"I see! So 'the only good politician is a dead politician'!"

"Exactly♪"

Rosso-san snapped her fingers, and Riko-senpai formed a finger gun and winked.

I could not help giving them a sidelong look at those questionable remarks.

"Please choose your words more carefully. You sound like some dangerous ideologue."

"I mean, Otaku-kun, people who say, 'The government has fallen into the clutches of monsters!' are already pretty dangerous ideologues, aren't they?"

"...Damn!"

"I see. So this is what it means to be left with no possible retort."

Miyu, don't calmly learn from this.

"Excellent. We are ability users, but only individuals. What we can do and see is limited. But if we gain a politician as an ally, our path may open wide...!"

"Right? Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it?"

"Indeed! As expected of the master!"

"If you ignore the fact that it's impossible!"

"What!?"

Riko-senpai suddenly pulled the ladder out from under her, and Rosso-san's eyes widened.

"W-what do you mean? I thought it was a good idea..."

"No, it's only that they might not have fallen into monster hands. It's not certain."

"Besides, we don't have connections to meet people like that..."

"Ah."

At our words, Rosso-san froze with her mouth hanging open.

"Grandma sometimes has mysterious connections, but only around this area. She has no ties to politicians."

"Rather, do you have acquaintances like that, Rosso-san?"

"Do you really think I have any friends besides you people?"

"...Sorry."

Her eyes sparkled so brightly that I reflexively looked away.

Well, I wasn't exactly in a position to criticize her.

As we continued that exchange, Miyu-san clapped her hands.

"Then I suppose we have no choice but to rely on her."

"Her?"

"...Tomi Komari-san."

I answered Rosso-san, who had a question mark floating over her head.

"She belongs to Public Security and is spoken of as one of the heroes of the future."

"Oh! There is such a person!"

"However, her appearance differs considerably from the picture preserved in the future, so I can't be certain."

"Hmm? Well, some difference between the real person and a picture is normal. I don't believe Nobunaga or Napoleon looked exactly like their portraits, either."

"This is what Tomi-san looks like in my era."

"Wow. Sexy dynamite."

Miyu-san placed on the table a printed picture of Tomi Komari as she was described in the future.

"And a person with the same name and the same Race suddenly transferred into my school."

"Wait, this sexy beauty is in high school!? Not as a teacher!? As a high school girl!?"

"She looked exactly like a legal loli."

"This sexy beauty is a legal loli!?"

"Judging from the data in Miyu-chi's mobile game, the current Tomi could easily be in her late twenties, right?"

"A legal loli pretending to be a high school student in her late twenties!? What is that, some new kind of pervert!?"

"I don't think someone who is twenty-five and has a severe case of chuunibyou should be saying that."

"Miyu! The young oni is bullying me!"

"To begin with, I don't understand chuunibyou. Please explain. Which part of Rosso-san is chuunibyou... this illness?"

"Let's drop this. I think I might actually cry."

Miyu-san asked with a completely serious expression, and Rosso-san sadly shook her head.

Well, she looked so pitiful that I decided not to pursue the attack.

"But is she really... that person?"

"That's what we don't know..."

"But we can't keep agonizing forever. There's a saying, 'Take your shot and shatter,' so we can only go for broke."

"I'm the one who has to check directly. I don't want to shatter."

"...I'll gather your bones, Otaku-kun!"

"I pray for your soul, young oni!"

"These guys..."

"Don't worry, Kota-san. I won't let you die."

"Miyu-san..."

"If necessary, I will disguise myself as you and meet her."

"I don't think that will work."

"Why!?"

At my immediate denial, Miyu-san turned her upper body toward me in surprise.

Her enormous breasts swayed softly as she did so.

Damn it, calm down, my worldly desires...!

"In my case with Miyu-san, I think the problem comes before whether we look alike or not."

"Impossible. Right now, I think my build is close to the picture of you from the parallel world..."

"That picture shows a different person transformed into a woman."

"So that means Otaku-kun has no portrait rights over this picture!"

"H-hey... I'm a little interested in that picture... I mean, purely out of intellectual curiosity, not because I want to fool around with it."

"Are we not having a serious discussion?"

I glared at the two idiots, but they both turned away and began whistling. These two...

I twisted my mouth into a hard frown, then quickly relaxed it.

Taking a shot and shattering wasn't necessarily the wrong approach.

Sometimes you cannot know anything until you make contact. After the Zmeu incident, I felt that I had developed at least a little awareness of the danger.

I didn't know whether that awareness was sufficient, but I had no choice except to steel myself.

"I'll ask Tomi-san now whether she can meet me outside school. It will depend on her schedule, though."

"Go for it, Otaku-kun! We still don't know if she's really in Public Security, but calling a girl from school out sounds exactly like a confession!"

"Fight on, young oni! If you go there thinking it's a confession and ask, 'Are you in Public Security and in your late twenties?' she'll definitely slap you, but show some guts!"

"Should I slap you two first?"

They were treating the whole thing as someone else's problem. Would these idiots die if they didn't make jokes?

"Kota-san and Tomi-san dating...? That might be good."

"...What?"

All three of us tilted our heads at Miyu-san, who had suddenly said something incomprehensible.

Why were we talking about that now?

"In the world one hundred years from now, it was believed that the children of two powerful ability users were more likely to become powerful ability users."

"No, um... Miyu-san?"

"However, monogamy is the norm in this era. We should avoid violating social order and taking unnecessary risks. Kota-san's partner should be chosen carefully."

"...Yeah."

Riko-senpai and Rosso-san exchanged looks, then nodded.

Please handle the sex education...!

"Miyu-chi. Listen, okay? Put aside the idea that dating equals marriage for now. That's something people who like each other do, or something like that."

"But even in this era, choosing a reproductive partner based on advantages and disadvantages was not uncommon."

"That may be so, but choosing someone based only on profit and loss from a young age is... not good, I think..."

"Age is irrelevant. For the sake of the future, powerful ability users should date other powerful ability users."

"Um... You know those tokusatsu shows I lend you? Everyone loved each other and built families. I want you to take your cue from that."

"...? Objectively speaking, I get the impression that complicated family circumstances and romantic relationships are more common. I recall cases where talented people developed romantic entanglements and ended up killing each other at crucial moments."

"Ah, sorry, Rosson. I can't convince her."

"Don't give up, Riko! Is tokusatsu weird about that!? I never had that impression! Don't they have more wholesome romances!?"

I felt as though we were losing the argument rather than persuading her, but I decided to leave Miyu-san's education to Riko-senpai and the others.

I sent an email to Tomi-san. Who would have thought that exchanging contact information after being swept along by circumstances would prove useful like this?

Who knew whether this action would bring good fortune or bad.

Even with a person from the future on our side, there were still so many things we did not know.

"With sperm donation and in vitro fertilization, the yin and yang of magical properties do not fuse properly, making spiritual talent difficult to inherit. Therefore, sexual intercourse is necessary..."

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a...!"

"Haa, haa, haa-waa-waa-waa...!"

...For now, there was only one thing I needed to do.

"Ah, sorry. I'm going to make some scrolls for a bit."

The conversation was heading toward an emotionless shade of pink, so I needed to escape.

"Don't run! Don't run, coward! Don't run! Don't leave me here!"

"W-wait, young oni...! I don't think I can beat this girl. She has too much explicit knowledge..."

"I have no experience either. Since I lacked spiritual talent, I was not considered a gene worth preserving, and I had no body in the first place. But precisely because of that, your genes should be passed down to future generations..."

Farewell, fake gyaru...! Chuunibyou in her twenties...! I will not let your sacrifice be wasted...!

Having decided to gather their bones, I fled toward the workroom I had borrowed.

Incidentally, on the way back, each of the two sacrifices punched me in the shoulder. Honestly, I was sorry.

I would ask the master to handle Miyu-san's sex education another day.