kscans

Chapter 104 - An Abrupt Nosedive

With Mia-san joining our ranks, we were now a party of three. Including Aira-san, the newly formed Invisible Ninjas was a group of four.

Name aside, our very first mission together was...

"I've been... deceived... again!!"

...to make this disappointing college girl get some exercise.

At the entrance of the city's Awakened Person Training Facility, Aira-san, now changed into a tracksuit, was on her hands and knees, wailing.

Seriously, I can never tell if she's smart or an idiot.

With tears, snot, and drool streaming down her face, Aira-san glared at Erina-san. My, my, everything that can come out of a face is coming out of hers.

"You twicked me, Ewinna-kuuun!"

"Paisen. Here, blow."

"Honk!"

As Erina-san offered a tissue for Aira-san to blow her nose, Mia-san wiped away her tears and drool with a handkerchief.

Having finally returned to her original beautiful face, the disappointing co-ed stood up tall.

Then, she dramatically pointed a finger at the self-proclaimed ninja. The ninja in question struck a mysterious pose with a smug look on her face.

"I was told we were going swimsuit shopping to prepare for summer! That's why I dragged my little butt out of the house!"

"Little?"

"You there! Quiet, my sister! It's smaller than yours, so it's a little butt!"

"M-my butt has nothing to do with this!"

I think both you sisters have very nice, big butts.

"I was thinking about what kind of sexy swimsuit to put Mia in!"

"!"

"A micro bikini, a slingshot, or maybe the Wedding Dress of Living Shame...!"

"!!"

"I was so excited, my proud bosom trembling with anticipation, wondering just what kind of naughty swimsuit would adorn that bewitching, lewd body of hers!!"

"!!!"

Aira-san... I will follow you for the rest of my life!

For a brief, fleeting moment, my gaze darted to Mia-san's explosive chest and the slender waist that somehow supported it.

...You know, maybe we should go to the swimsuit store after all?

"Too bad! Your reward comes after the exercise!"

"DAMN IT ALLLL! DAAAAAMN IIIIIT ALLLLLL!"

It's a good thing we're in a deserted area, because normally you'd have to shut her up, even if it meant knocking her out.

"I was even going to pick out a swimsuit for Kyo-chan-kun...!"

"!"

"No, thank you."

"I was going to make you wear a Booomeraaang! swimsuit!"

"A Booomeraaang?!"

"No, thank you."

"You're wrong, Paisen! Kyo-chan is going to wear a fundoshi!"

"A fun... doshi...!"

"No, thank you."

Who would want to see that? Don't drag me into this.

For some reason, though, Mia-san was blushing and staring at my body... I wonder what's up with her.

"Come on, Paisen! For the sake of that exciting and embarrassing swimsuit shopping, we have to exercise, YO!"

"NO☆WAY☆"

"And with that, we'll be taking you in. Senpai, grab that side. Kyo-chan, get the door, please."

"Understood. Come on, sis, let's go."

"Right."

"LET☆ME☆GO☆"

After that, we made her do a whole lot of cardio.

*

"Erina-kun... would you be so kind as to write my last will and testament...?"

"Got it! I'll call a lawyer!"

"Hold on."

"You're being dramatic..."

Inside the car driven by Mia-san, the two idiots in the back seat were spouting nonsense, so I shut them down.

For the record, the car itself belonged to Aira-san. Erina-san hadn't marked the training facility, so we had her provide the vehicle.

Of course, Mia-san had driven on the way there, too. Aira-san? She was sleeping with an eye mask on.

"When I die... delete all the data on my computer and hard drives...!"

"Sounds like a ninja! Leave it to me, I won't let any information leak to other organizations...!"

"Isn't that a bit of a cliché last request?"

"I think that's only a cliché on the internet..."

As we were having this stupid conversation, we got stuck in traffic.

The car in front of us wasn't moving, despite the light being green. Ahead of it, I could see the back of a truck.

"That's unusual. A traffic jam like this around here."

"Really? I don't come this way very often..."

"Yeah. I only pass through on the bus, but there aren't many people living around here, nor are there any tourist spots."

It was a generic, unremarkable provincial city. A little further out, there were rice paddies and fields, and the area in front of the station was full of shuttered shops.

It wasn't that it was hard to get to, since there were national roads, but... it was just a town with nothing special about it.

A traffic jam in a town like this. That meant the cause was...

"They're probably doing some construction somewhere."

"Just our luck..."

Mia-san let out a small sigh.

Even in a rural place like this, it wasn't like traffic jams never happened. When they did, it was always because of road or water pipe construction.

Bad timing, that's all. We just had to accept it.

"...Strange. You two used this road on the way here, didn't you? Weren't there any signs or anything?"

"Nope, Paisen. This must be some kind of conspiracy!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say."

"Kyo-chan, you're no fun."

"Yeah, yeah. You virgin."

"Alright, I'm beating you both up later. And not in a fighting game."

What does being a virgin have to do with anything?

Besides, who would plot a conspiracy in a backwater town like this? That kind of thing happens in the underground tunnels of Tokyo, or at Area 51 in America.

Although, I do agree that fantasizing about it is fun.

"More importantly, excuse me, Mia-san. Are you tired? I don't have a license, so I can't take over driving, but... I can let you know when the car in front moves, so feel free to rest for a bit."

"No, no. When I'm driving, it's my policy not to let go of the wheel, even with the handbrake on. Though I only got my license recently."

Mia-san gave a wry smile, and I returned it with one of my own. I was surprised at how normally I was able to talk with her.

...Well, if I were to look down at the way her seatbelt pressed into her chest, I wouldn't be able to look her in the face at all.

Greaaat Dynamaaai—!

"Huh?"

Not knowing where to look, I shifted my gaze to the car in front of us. Just then, something white drifted down from the sky.

"...Snow?"

I couldn't help but tilt my head.

It was the very end of June. It wasn't winter, and even in January, this area only ever got a light dusting of flurries.

But it didn't seem I was mistaken. The amount of snow gradually increased.

This was clearly abnormal weather, no, an abnormal situation. I let my consciousness and mana flow throughout my body, scanning my surroundings.

"Erina-san, do you see anything?"

"Nope. Not a clue. But the temperature is dropping fast."

"What in the world is..."

"So cold..."

We weren't the only ones confused. The passenger window of the car in front of us rolled down, and a slender hand emerged. The owner held their palm up to check, then quickly retracted it in surprise.

Elsewhere, pedestrians on the sidewalk were looking up at the sky with puzzled expressions.

This wasn't some kind of illusion only we could see. Besides, that kind of 'magic' doesn't work on me, so something was happening to the weather itself.

In any case, this was not a good situation. Just in case, I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"...Everyone, unbuckle your seatbelts, just in case."

"Erina-san? But we're driving."

"Mia-san. I'm asking you too."

"What?"

"...It seems we'd better do as she says, Mia."

We were boxed in from the front and back, so we couldn't move the car quickly if something happened. In that case, it was better to be ready to jump out... I thought.

Honestly, I wasn't sure. After three bad experiences, I worried I was just being paranoid.

But just two seconds later──I would know that my judgment had been correct.

"?!"

My [Spirit Eye] foresaw the future, just seconds away.

"Get out!"

"Eh?"

"Sorry, Paisen!"

"Gugh!"

I shouted briefly as I partially materialized my knife and sliced through Mia-san's seatbelt. Grabbing her by the arm, I blasted the door open with a gust of wind.

Kicking off the floor of the car hard enough to buckle it, the two of us leaped onto the sidewalk. A moment later, a deafening roar echoed.

──CRAAAAASSH!!

There was no need to wonder what that sound was.

The car was being crushed right before my eyes. Utterly and horribly crushed, by a giant chunk of ice.

It was a purplish object, the kind that would never exist in nature. My eyes were about to be drawn to it, but then something red started to fall, pulling my consciousness upward.

In the falling snow, thick, viscous blood was mixed in. Red pools began to form on the white ground.

I looked up, below the grey clouds. Amidst the biting cold wind, a pair of bat-like wings beat slowly.

Two wings with a light blue membrane, and scales the color of rock. A dragon, clad in these features, with powerful hind legs like tree trunks.

It resembled a Wyvern, but I sensed it was a different creature, one I'd seen on the Dungeon Agency's website.

"A Cuelebre...?!"

Mia-san's trembling voice confirmed what it was.

A Cuelebre. A dragon from Spanish legend.

And───a B-Rank Monster.

An opponent that adventurers, as civilians, were forbidden to fight, no matter how much power they possessed. A creature of myth that the SDF could only face with an abundance of modern weaponry.

The monster, a creature that shouldn't be here, let out a roar.

The snow was beginning to turn into a blizzard.