kscans

Chapter 113 - Chapter Five: Prologue

Chapter Five: Prologue

‘The multiple simultaneous dungeon overflows that occurred again at the end of June. The number of dead and missing has surpassed 2,000, and the government is treating this situation with the utmost gravity—’

‘What in the world is going on here! Weren't the municipalities supposed to be conducting mandatory inspections of vacant houses?! And despite that, we have this simultaneous overflow! Honestly, what has the government been doing!’

‘It's clearly a lack of resources at the local government level. The central government irresponsibly dumps work on the regions without providing any support. They think they can solve everything just by giving orders.’

‘The current administration lacks the ability to respond. This is true of their policies, but the Self-Defense Force's rapid response capability is far too low. How long does it take for them to get to the site after an overflow occurs? I would very much like the Prime Minister to explain the reason for this.’

‘Please take a look. A week has passed since the overflow, yet the firefighting efforts are still not complete. Helicopters from the Fire Department and the Self-Defense Force continue to drop seawater, but here in Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture—’

‘This is Shibuya, Tokyo! The scene that was once the cutting edge of youth culture is no more. The scramble crossing is still stained with graphic bloodstains, and most of the buildings have collapsed—’

‘President Fudge Valentine of the United States has announced large-scale aid to Japan, drawing praise from the international community, while raising questions from the American public.’

‘A strong bond of friendship exists between America and Japan! To abandon a friend—what kind of pioneers would we be? We travel with our friends, forging ahead into the wilderness... It is by pioneering unseen lands that our country became the world's greatest power. We must not forget that spirit!’

‘The U.S. Forces in Japan will be actively involved in dungeon countermeasures going forward, but what kind of impact will this have on Japan? Today, we have invited experts to the studio to discuss—’

‘We are broadcasting live from in front of the "Awakening Support Center"! Please look. Out of fear of the unending threat of overflows, many citizens are training to become Awakened Persons—’

‘Awakened Persons are dangerous! They should be managed by the state, no, by the United Nations! It's wrong for civilians to possess such power!’

‘Awakened Persons are the guardians of the world. Who is it that fights, who is it that protects everyone? The overflows in various regions prove it! Those three mysterious girls, that unidentified group of dragon slayers!’

‘It is reported that two of the four large-scale overflows were suppressed by civilian Awakened Persons. While voices of gratitude are rising for the actions of the Awakened, the calls for their powers to be officially managed under the state are growing louder by the day—’

‘This is the evacuation shelter in Shibuya Ward. It is said that this area was protected by the adventurer clan "Walkers" and three mysterious girls—’

‘Another great success! The mysterious girls have repelled the horde of giant beasts that attacked Tokyo! In pursuit of their identities, we are seeking eyewitness information—’

It was the beginning of July. A week had passed since the day we fought the Cuelebre, but the events of that day were still the talk of the town, both online and on TV.

The damage that resulted was just that immense. The damage in Tokyo was especially severe, and it seems to have had a huge impact not only on human lives but also on the economy.

Regarding the Cuelebre incident, our house was fortunately outside the blizzard's range, so my parents weren't attacked by the monsters.

Still, I had worried them sick, and it was painful to see the Professor bowing her head to my parents.

I was the one who made the decision to fight then, and above all, the Cuelebre were the ones at fault. I don't think the Professor had any reason to apologize, but she was adamant about going to apologize herself and wouldn't be swayed.

What was honestly surprising was that even Aira-san came to my house with the Professor to apologize. In her own way, it seems she felt responsible. I don't think the person who was kidnapped needs to feel responsible, though.

Well, that aside, I'll be billing her for a portion of Byakuren's repair costs. In her case, she'd probably be bothered by that kind of thing otherwise.

In any case, despite the awkwardness, it was a peaceful week.

...Though I couldn't exactly relax, since I was investigating a certain being.

Aira-san's home. The Professor seemed to be busy with various things, so the four of us who gathered this time were myself, Erina-san, Aira-san, and Mia-san.

We surrounded the living room table and looked down at the birdcage on top of it, and the "fairy" inside.

"So. There really is a fairy that only you can see, Kyouta-kun? A small person with blonde hair and blue eyes, with insect-like wings growing from her back. And she's wearing a green one-piece dress, was it?"

"Yes. Even now, she's sitting on the swing inside the birdcage, watching me."

The mysterious fairy was just staring at me.

For some reason, this thing was only interested in me. Even when Erina-san brought her finger close or Aira-san shone a light on it, it only stared at me.

To be honest, it's scary. Very scary.

Frankly, her face is truly beautiful. Her figure is like a model's, and the short one-piece dress shows off her lovely, bare legs, which are dazzling. Even though she's pint-sized, she possesses a beauty that, I must admit, made my heart skip a beat.

But more than that, there's something terrifying about her. I don't sense any hostility, but I feel an unease from her emotionless eyes staring fixedly at me.

As for the identity of this mysterious creature... being?

"Ahem. The answer derived from my Appraisal, the alchemy knowledge that Kyouta-kun somehow possesses, and the, again, mysterious magical knowledge in the heads of our magic users is..."

Drrrrrrrrrrum.

"Erina-san, you don't need to play a drumroll on your phone."

"Then I'll do it with my mouth!"

"Be quiet."

"Okaaay!"

"Drrrrrrrrrrum!"

"Big Sis."

"Yes."

The number of people to play the straight man has increased. There is no greater joy...!

As I felt a sense of sympathy for Mia-san, Aira-san pointed at the fairy with an unnecessarily dramatic gesture.

"The identity of this fairy! It is! A ‘Natural Spirit’!"

"W-what did you sayyy?!"

Come on, we all shared the results beforehand.

I ignored Erina-san, who was putting on a serious act, and returned my gaze to the fairy, a.k.a. the natural spirit.

As always, it was looking at me with an expressionless face. Eek.

"Well, it's a mystery why a natural spirit was dropped in the first place, though."

"To begin with, we only know about natural spirits from that ‘mysterious knowledge’..."

Mia-san pressed a hand to her head as if to endure a headache.

Apparently, people who can use magic as Awakened Persons suddenly have information about magic flow into their heads when they awaken.

Various theories have been proposed—that they've connected to the Akashic records, that it's memories from a past life, or radio waves from aliens—but the source of this knowledge is still unknown.

Including my Arcane Gear book, I don't know how much I can trust it... but still, if you use the spells as described, you get the results described in the knowledge. If you can use it, you might as well.

I hear there are some Awakened Persons who are so terrified of the magic itself that they desperately try to force the knowledge out of their minds, though.

But I digress. For now, the topic is this natural spirit.

"A natural spirit... a life form of mana that appears when the mana flowing in the natural world accumulates or exceeds a certain density. It has no physical body, and what could be called a sense of self is extremely faint. At most, it has a self-preservation instinct."

"However, if the flow of mana at its location of appearance is disturbed, its existence becomes precarious, so there's a possibility it will attack those who tamper with the land, right? According to the posts on the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club forum, anyway."

I nodded in response to Aira-san's words.

That club is apparently now dabbling in Artificial Spirits as well, and they've even posted their research process online. They say they want to gather a wider range of knowledge.

And they wrote, "I want to be able to chat and get lovey-dovey with my ideal Homunculus waifu!"

...That's not what spirits are for, but those guys are crazy enough to seem like they'd create a spirit for that purpose.

"Good grief. I'm glad that only a limited number of people can see spirits. When I was getting a possession permit for this from the Dungeon Agency, it was only recognized as ‘a magic tool that simply absorbs mana from living creatures inside.’ Well, they still almost took it away, though."

"The person in charge said that if they could disassemble it, understand its structure... and then reproduce it, the SDF and the police might be able to form golem units."

Honestly, when I heard that, I thought about just handing it over.

I mean, if the police and the SDF could do their best, the chances of me or my family dying in an overflow would decrease. It would be a bit of a problem if I couldn't enter dungeons anymore and earn money as an adventurer, though.

"If you hand it over to the current government, it'll just be taken overseas anyway. One of the conditions for receiving aid from America this time was that ‘the Japanese government will proactively hand over magic tools recovered from dungeons to the United States’!"

Aira-san smiled with only her lips.

"I will never, ever let go of something this interesting. This spirit holds an important meaning. It's still unclear whether I should call it a ‘she,’ but since it has the appearance of a young girl, I'll call her she for now. Her ability to remain unaffected by the surrounding mana might be thanks to this birdcage. I hear that normally, spirits cannot be born from the ‘current mana on the surface,’ right? There might be some kind of negative effect. She's a different species from artificial spirits like Salamanders, after all. To lose such a research subject would be a loss to the world... no, a loss to me!"

I was a little taken aback by Aira-san's rapid-fire speech.

The subjugation of the Rey Cuelebre was not something I accomplished alone. It was only possible with everyone's strength. And in my personal opinion, that includes Aira-san's contribution.

I can't decide what to do with this spirit on my own authority. As a result of a majority vote, it was decided that it would be kept in Professor Arisugawa's laboratory.

...Also, to put it crudely, if I cooperate with the research on this spirit, I'll receive a considerable reward from the Professor.

I'm not going to say that in the end, money is all that matters in this world. But it's also true that it's hard to live in modern society without money.

"Where was this spirit born? Where did it come from? Inside a dungeon? Or somewhere else? The secret of the ‘dungeon’ is packed into its history. This might just be a major discovery, Kyouta-kun!!"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm so glad you're a user of Spirit Eye! That skill is super rare, even without your unique one. You, you're a full-body ‘SSR’! A top-tier character destined for overwork!"

"I think I'm being praised, but it doesn't feel like it..."

Why does this person always have to use gacha games as an analogy?

"That's because, Kyouta-chan, the knowledge and common sense Senpai has outside of her research is all from games and manga!"

"Could you please not casually read my mind?"

"I was reading your expression, not your mind, so it's fine!"

"There's a dead big sister over here, you know!?"

" "

Pitiful, pathetic university student. Struck down by a sudden death spell from her blind spot. Damn you, self-proclaimed ninja.

Well, she'll reboot soon enough.

"An-y-waaay! Kyouta-chan!!"

"Yes."

As Aira-san shot up, I forced my gaze away from her bouncing chest and looked into her blue eyes.

Her eyes were sparkling. She was like an elementary school student before summer vacation.

"You have to somehow communicate with this spirit, YO!"

"Impossible."

"Heh!?"

"Impossible."

I said it twice because it's important.

Aira-san is mistaken, or rather, she has overlooked something. And that is...

"It doesn't speak. Its expression never changes. Do you really think my negotiation skills are high enough to communicate with such an inhuman being?"

"You socially inept loser!"

I mean, even someone with great social skills would have trouble with this, don't you think? And you're one to talk.