Chapter 112
For a moment, I couldn't understand what I'd just been told.
Senpai...? Did that guy just call me Senpai?
Impossible.
But right now, I was disguised as Ichinose-san.
I was confused.
The shock shook me to my core.
Yet the emotions welling up inside me were suppressed and calmed the next moment.
My mind settled into a stable state.
(Is that the effect of 'Mental Abnormality Resistance'...?)
The Skill I'd acquired while fleeing from that gigantic golem.
Apparently, it worked even when I was shaken or confused. What a relief.
"Um... could you... let go, please?"
I played the part of a timid girl desperately trying to pull my hand away.
Nijo suddenly came to her senses and let go.
"Huh? Ah, wait... S-sorry! I mistook you for someone else!"
She abruptly bowed her head in apology.
"I'm sorry. It's just... there was someone I've been searching for. I couldn't see very well in the crowd, but your gestures, your presence, your scent... Something about you was incredibly similar to the person I'm looking for, so I just... I'm really sorry."
Oh, she'd made a mistake...
Don't scare me like that... I was terrified she'd seen through my disguise.
Hm? ...Wait, didn't she just say something strange?
"What's up, Nattsun?"
Rikka-chan, having noticed the commotion, turned toward us.
I quickly hid behind her and pretended to be frightened.
"Ah..."
Nijo reflexively tried to reach for me, but Rikka-chan stopped her.
"Who are you? What do you want with my Nattsun?"
Apparently Rikka-chan had bought my act, because she glared at Nijo, openly wary.
"S-sorry! I wasn't trying to do anything to her! P-please, hear me out!"
"Hear you out? About what? I don't want to hear anything from someone who scared my Nattsun. I mean, seriously, you're annoying. Who even are you?"
Rikka-chan is scary.
That girl has one seriously menacing voice.
Hey, that's not killing intent a high school girl should be giving off. That's a monster's killing intent, isn't it?
"Ah... um, well..."
Overwhelmed by Rikka-chan's sheer intensity, Nijo sank to the floor.
She was trembling more than a newborn goat.
More importantly, this was bad.
(Hey, Rikka-chan, calm down.)
(Huh? But she was trying to do something awful to Nattsun, right? I'll punch her. No, I'll kill her.)
(No, no, she didn't do anything to me. Don't say such violent things.)
She was seriously scary.
The light had gone out of Rikka-chan's eyes.
(If we make an even bigger scene, we'll attract pointless attention.)
We were at the edge of the floor, and everyone was focused on the mayor, so we weren't attracting much attention yet, but this was about to become a problem.
(Oh, right. Sorry, Nattsu―――Ah, no, that's wrong. Come to think of it, you were actually an older brother on the inside... I completely forgot.)
This girl had forgotten the whole premise that I was disguised as Ichinose-san.
(Please don't forget something that important.)
(No, but you do such a great impression of Nattsun, big brother. At first it was just an ordinary imitation, but then you became so similar that even I started mistaking you for her, so...)
Could that have been the effect of acquiring 'Acting'?
This girl really was sharp.
(Oh, I remember now. Come to think of it, this is the person who was at the coast earlier. She's your coworker, right, big brother?)
(Yes, that's right. But as I told you, I have no intention of revealing my identity. I want to handle this peacefully.)
(Got it.)
I crouched down and held out a hand to Nijo.
"Um... s-sorry. Can you stand?"
"Y-yes... thank you."
Nijo stood up and looked at my face again.
I quickly looked away.
"I-it seems you mistook me for someone else... So we're done here, right? Let's go, Rikka-chan."
"Yeah."
We tried to put some distance between ourselves and Nijo.
"W-wait! Um... could you tell me your names? I'm Kamome Nijo, by the way..."
I know.
"I-I'm Natsu Ichinose..."
"...I'm Aisaka Rikka."
I introduced myself timidly, while Rikka-chan gave her name with a sullen air.
"Ichinose-san and Aisaka-san... I'm sorry about earlier. I really didn't mean to startle you..."
No, you startled me plenty.
Actually, I wish she'd stop talking to me.
I wanted to leave this place already.
But Nijo seemed determined to talk to us, and she kept looking our way.
What a pain.
"Um... this may be a strange question, but do either of you know a man named Kudo Kazuto-san?"
That's me.
But both Rikka-chan and I pretended not to know him.
"To be honest, there's something about Ichinose-san... her presence, I suppose? It was so similar to his that I couldn't help calling out to you..."
"Is he someone you know, miss?"
"Yes, a coworker... Someone who helped me a lot."
"Oh, I see."
Rikka-chan glanced at me.
We're not that close.
I don't remember doing anything for her, and we're just senior and junior coworkers.
"This is a picture of him. Did you happen to see him on your way here?"
Saying that, she took out a group photo from a company trip.
She pointed to me, standing at the very edge of the group.
(Big brother, you look really grumpy.)
(I didn't want to go.)
I hadn't been free to do as I pleased, I'd been forced to drink alcohol I didn't even want until late at night, and I hadn't been able to see Momo for days. It had been the worst trip ever.
"...I'm sorry, but I don't recognize him."
"Um, I don't think I have either. Sorry."
"I see..."
Nijo's shoulders slumped visibly.
"Then if you happen to meet him somewhere, could you tell him this? 'Kamome Nijo is at City Hall. I've been waiting for you this whole time.'"
"...I'll let him know."
When I answered, Nijo's face lit up with delight.
...What was with that expression?
(Don't you think she likes you, big brother?)
(...That's impossible.)
Rikka-chan murmured that in my ear, but that was impossible.
She couldn't possibly fall for a man she barely knew—a mere work acquaintance, and one with whom she'd had only a superficial relationship.
There was nothing about me that would make someone like me, and I'd never tried to make her like me.
Because I didn't care.
(More importantly, look. It seems the mayor's speech is over.)
(Oh, you're right.)
Looking over, it seemed Mayor Uesugi's speech had ended.
He climbed down from the platform and left the floor.
(Now what should I do...?)
Should I rejoin Ichinose-san for the time being, or gather a little more information first...?
The strange feeling I'd gotten from the mayor earlier was bothering me, too.
Maybe I should gather a little more information before heading over to Ichinose-san and the others.
After finishing his speech, Mayor Uesugi had returned to his office.
He sat in his chair and sighed.
"Now, what should I do...?"
He took a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it.
He hadn't smoked for a long time, but for some reason, he was craving the taste now.
He drew in the smoke and gazed out the window.
(...Wonderful.)
The darkness of night.
Amid it, this place—City Hall—alone shone brightly.
(Restoring the electricity really was the right decision...)
It was like a single ray of light.
Wasn't it a beacon of hope shining on people trapped in despair?
In fact, everyone's reaction when the electricity came back on had been dramatic.
Their expressions had brightened, and their smiles had returned.
Besides, seeing this light would surely lead even more people to City Hall.
Of course, there were risks, too.
This light might draw in not only people, but monsters as well.
That much was obvious without even thinking about it.
But even so.
He couldn't let this light go out.
It was hope he had finally obtained.
(...It was something he absolutely could not lose.)
But that was precisely why he was troubled.
Was it truly all right to tell everyone about the 'thing' he was burdened with?
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
At his command, the door opened and the person who had knocked entered.
It was Fujita.
"Good work."
"Mm."
Fujita sat down on one of the sofas provided in the room.
"Hadn't you quit smoking?"
"Sometimes I feel like having one."
Saying that, he stubbed out the cigarette, which still had more than half left, in the ashtray.
Fujita thought it was a waste.
"If there's one good thing about the world changing, it's that we can smoke anywhere now."
"That's not something the mayor should be saying..."
"There's no one listening besides you. And even if someone did hear me, it's too late to matter now."
"That's true."
"So, what is it? You didn't come here just to make small talk, did you?"
"No, well..."
Scratching his cheek, Fujita broached the main subject.
"About that speech earlier, why didn't you mention the next 'condition'?"
Mayor Uesugi's expression changed.
He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
(So it was about that...)
Taking his silence as a sign, Fujita continued.
"You aren't going to brush it off by saying you forgot, are you?"
"...You really are perceptive. And you don't hold back."
The unease Kazuto had sensed in the mayor during the speech had not escaped someone else, either.
Someone else had noticed it, too.
In Fujita's case, however, it wasn't a Skill; it was simply the result of his exceptional powers of observation.
More than anything, Fujita had known Mayor Uesugi for a long time, both professionally and personally.
He could immediately see through the slightest inconsistency or secret.
"Tell me, Mayor. What was the condition for the next level-up? What exactly did it require?"
"..."
After thinking in silence for a while, Mayor Uesugi took a piece of paper and a pen from his desk drawer.
He scribbled something down and handed it to Fujita.
"―――Those are the conditions presented this time."
Fujita stared intently at the paper he had been given.
"I see... Now it makes sense. I can certainly understand why you hesitated."
He nodded and looked up at the ceiling.
Then he muttered, 'Damn it.'
Mayor Uesugi's Skill, 'Town Building.'
This Skill differed from other Skills not only in its effects, but also in how it could be leveled up.
With ordinary Skills, you could raise their level by spending SP or using them over and over to increase their proficiency.
But 'Town Building' had no such method.
Instead, it presented 'conditions' for leveling up.
Clearing them raised the Skill's level.
For example, the conditions for reaching Lv. 2 had been obtaining ten monster magic stones and securing ten residents.
When it reached Lv. 3, the conditions had been obtaining one hundred monster magic stones and securing fifty residents.
Securing magic stones and subjugating monsters didn't require him to act personally; if his companions did the work and handed him the magic stones, the conditions were fulfilled.
He had expected a similar set of conditions this time, but they had far exceeded anything he could have imagined.
(Just how steeped in malice is this world...?)
What lay beyond the light.
Had it really been hope?
With a long, deep sigh, Mayor Uesugi looked at his Status Plate.
It read as follows:
'Area Expansion Conditions'
・Secure 100 residents
Completion Rate: 76/100
・Obtain 100 monster magic stones (any type)
Completion Rate: 8/100
・Defeat 'Queen Ant, Individual Name: Alpa'
・Defeat 'Guardian Golem, Individual Name: Titan'
Fulfill all the above conditions within 72 hours.
Time remaining: 70:29:12