kscans

Chapter 229 - The Local Hanako-san ⑤

"…Hey, Rika thinks this is definitely a trap, you know?"

About a dozen kilometers away from the tower apartment where Jimoko lived, four urban legends had entered a battle-ready state. They were the Fakers. However, only Feiko was fired up. The other three were not so enthusiastic. To erase their brethren in order to become the original. They had no hesitation about that, but they were not so foolhardy as to walk into an obvious trap.

"Listen. Do you really think I came here to kill her without a second thought just because I got trolled on a message board?"

""Huh, we’re not?""

The Headless Rider, though silent, projected the same reaction, "Huh, we’re not?" with the black mist overflowing from its neck. Faced with such a response from her top three officers, Feiko pressed her temples and explained her intentions.

"…Well, it’s not that I don’t feel that way at all. But in order to expand into the Kanto region, a clash with Hanako the Investor is unavoidable."

In a world with countless similar urban legends, they use a prefix like ‘the so-and-so’ to specify an individual. The blank is filled with a famous anecdote or location of that Hanako. Jimoko is called Hanako the Investor because she makes her money through investments.

"Hanako the Investor was born in the first year of Heisei, so she’s a newbie in the Hanako community, but her power and influence in Kanto are on par with a grand authority figure in the entertainment world."

The history of Hanako-san of the Toilet goes back about seventy years, if you include her prototype, "The Third Hanako-san." From that perspective, Jimoko, being in her thirties, could still be considered a youngster. However, as Feiko said, her power and influence in the East were considerable even within the Hanako community.

"Given that woman’s personality, if we invade the East, she’ll undoubtedly be the first to stand in our way."

【So what you’re saying is. The one who trolled you this time did it to draw your fire?】

"That’s right. In the end, it was going to happen sooner or later."

In that case, a swift attack would be, if not the best option, at least the second best, Feiko argued.

"In terms of economic power, she’s far superior. The more time we give her, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us."

Feiko’s assessment was not wrong. Since learning of the Fakers’ existence, Jimoko had been gathering information and trying to assemble forces for the inevitable conflict. The former went well, but the latter not so much. The Fakers were a threat to other urban legends, but not to humans or other apparitions. If they were a group that harmed people, the Mutual Aid Society would have acted decisively, and other humans would have gotten involved. But since that wasn’t the case, many hesitated to confront the Fakers, considering their power. The fact that only Kawasaki had accepted the job, despite the massive five-hundred-million-yen reward, was proof of that. Although, there were some who, considering the circumstances, believed they could still negotiate for a higher price.

"So, if we’re going to make our move, it has to be now, while we have enough strength to have a decent chance of winning."

"I-I can’t believe you thought it through so much… Rika is sorry."

"Me too. I’m sorry, Hanako."

"It’s fine. Now that you understand, you’re ready to face this, right?"

After confirming the three had nodded, Feiko powerfully kicked off the ground and leaped into the night sky. She formed a hand seal, chanted an incantation, and began to run a spell formula to create an Alternate Realm centered on the tower apartment where Jimoko lived. But.

"This is."

"Hanako?!"

An Alternate Realm was being constructed with the tower apartment as its base. However, it was not according to the blueprint Feiko had designed. Multiple spell formulas, placed so cleverly that even she hadn’t noticed them, were assembling the Alternate Realm. Moreover.

"I’ve been had! She hired a mage of this level?!"

The resources being used for its formation were the very ones Feiko had accumulated to cast her spell. The magical power and spiritual energy she had fully refined just before activation had been completely snatched away. Spells that absorb an opponent’s power, spells that utilize an opponent’s power. These techniques exist in various systems, both Eastern and Western. However, they are generally only effective against opponents of a lower rank. Forced to see that her enemy was superior as a spellcaster, Feiko gritted her teeth, but she quickly noticed something and shouted.

"Tch… Rika! Hanako! Rider!!"

But it was too late. The figures of the three vanished. They had been teleported somewhere else.

"Detection is… probably impossible. I have to defeat the spellcaster, huh."

Though shaken, Feiko quickly regained her composure and headed straight for the roof of the tower apartment.

"Are you the spellcaster who created this Alternate Realm?"

She called out to the woman in a black sailor uniform waiting in the center of the rooftop. The woman, Kawasaki, gave a small nod in response to Feiko’s question.

"A pleasure to meet you, Feiko-san. I am Dr. Kawasaki. Please feel free to call me Doctor or Kawasaki."

"Feiko…?"

"As you have probably guessed, I have isolated Rika-chan-san and Kuchisake-onna-san."

A spellcaster like Feiko could regroup on her own even if isolated, but it would be impossible for the two physical fighters. That meant Feiko would have to go rescue them, but Kawasaki stood in her way as an obstacle. That was why Feiko had come straight to Kawasaki, the one who had created the Alternate Realm.

"Not bad… huh? Two of them?"

"Ah. Headless Rider-san is a separate matter. Satou-san wanted to play, so he took him for himself."

"Sato… Satou? Don’t tell me, Satou Hideo?!"

Feiko didn’t know about the connection between Jimoko and Satou. Jimoko didn’t publicly advertise their relationship. She disliked it because being associated with Satou would attract people with ulterior motives trying to curry favor.

"Yes. Even if you were to defeat me, Satou-san would just step in next. You’re checkmated no matter what you do… shall we continue?"

"Heh, hehehe."

What an unbelievable turn of events. The decent chance of victory she thought she had melted into the night and became a phantom. All she could do was laugh. But she had no intention of giving up.

"Don’t underestimate me, human! So what if the strongest is here? What of it? If that was enough to break me, I never would have aimed to be one of a kind in the first place!!"

Taking a deep breath, Feiko exhaled her resentment.

"You humans, who are given your very own name the moment you’re born into this world, you could never understand, could you?"

She wasn’t spreading negativity to gain sympathy. She was merely using her own nature to enhance her power.

"A name is proof of the self. An important boundary that separates me from them. It’s because of it that I can be myself."

Someone who doesn’t know that miraculous happiness could never understand this pain. Urban legends cannot change their names. Because they are apparitions, they are bound to their names even more strongly than humans. Even if Feiko were to give herself a stylish name, she would never be able to recognize it as her own. The more she insisted it was, the more she would suffer from the disconnect with her own self.

"Even if I’m going to die, I’ll go down fighting… I will prove that I was myself until the very end."

Clenching her fist, Feiko shouted.

"Come on, strongest! I’ll carve my existence into you!!"

"Um, actually, I’m the one you’re fighting first."

"I-I know that! Just go with the flow, can’t you read the room?!"

Kawasaki’s completely flat demeanor, devoid of any hostility, immediately took the wind out of Feiko’s sails. It was so frustrating that…

"And what’s with your outfit, anyway? You’re a grown adult, aren’t you? Aren’t you embarrassed to wear a sailor uniform? What, is that it? Are you trying to act like some kind of Japanese-style fantasy heroine? It’s honestly just sad."

But Kawasaki was completely unfazed.

"Hah. That’s precisely it. Satou-san seems to have a preference for that sort of thing. He gave me this sword too, saying it suited me."

Kawasaki patted the sword at her waist. The strongest’s fetish… who cares!! Feiko gritted her teeth at the utterly unaffected Kawasaki.

"Oh, that’s right. Speaking of fashion, I have a question for you."

"…What is it?"

"Actually, Satou-san was speaking quite passionately about your fashion sense."

With that preface, Kawasaki relayed what Satou had said, word for word.

"Is this correct?"

"…"

"I consider myself to have a decent understanding of Japanese attire, but when it comes to Western clothing… Feiko-san?"

Feiko, who had been looking down and trembling, lifted her head and screamed with tears in her eyes.

"I’ll… I’ll, I’ll kill you! Both you and Satouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

And so, the battle began on a rather anticlimactic note. For the record, Kawasaki had no malicious intent whatsoever.