kscans

Chapter 126 - The Curse

Once I got home, I immediately looked up the phone number for the `Walkers` on my smartphone.

I’d heard they were a big organization, but they were apparently even bigger than I had imagined. I took a quick look at their official website while searching for the number and saw that, including their administrative staff, they were a clan—no, a guild—with several thousand members.

On top of that, they had over twenty adventurer clans under their umbrella in so-called partnerships. They were even working with the `Alchemy Enthusiasts Club`. As an organization of `Awakened Persons`, they were even larger than `Turohorse`.

That cat-eared guy was a pretty big deal, huh…

My ego got a little boost from the fact that I’d saved someone so important not once, but twice. Well, it’s not like I rescued him all by myself either time.

Still, the idea of dealing with someone that important was making me nervous. Was it really okay to call someone like that without an appointment?

But I was worried about Busujima-san and the others. It was a long shot, but if there was a connection between the people who attacked Yamashita-san and the ones they encountered, we might learn something.

Train-pulling is synonymous with murder. As their friend, if I had a connection I could use, I wanted to use it. That’s why I’d gotten permission from Erina-san and Mia-san beforehand to use that name. I just hoped he remembered his debt to us…

Steeling my resolve, I dialed the number and called the `Walkers`.

───Five minutes later.

To make a long story short, I was able to speak with Yamashita-san with surprising ease.

At first, I was naturally treated as some rude kid calling out of the blue without an appointment, but as soon as I said I was a member of the `Invisible Ninjas`, they put me right through to him.

I didn’t remember ever properly introducing myself to Yamashita-san. I did, however, remember him shouting "`Invisible Ninjas`" in the fairy forest.

Honestly, I was reluctant to use the name, but given the circumstances, I decided to just bear with it.

It was still a low-key shock that our party name was well-known enough for even the receptionist to recognize it. They definitely think I’m some cringey weirdo…

But I digress. I managed to speak with Yamashita-san, but… to be honest, I didn’t really understand what was going on.

In response to my questions, he told me:

‘`Turohorse` was involved in that incident.’

‘The recent string of dungeon troubles is because their subordinate organizations were suddenly ordered by headquarters to provide unreasonable tribute.’

‘This whole affair will be settled soon.’

‘They will face the punishment they deserve in the near future. So please, do not do anything rash.’

He answered everything so smoothly. It was almost unnaturally casual.

However, the truth is, I didn’t know how much of it I could trust.

I may have saved his life twice, but I was still just a high school student. For him to share such important information with someone like me felt strange, to say the least.

When I asked him about it, he just asked back, ‘It would be pointless to hide it, wouldn’t it?’ What on earth did he mean? I asked again, but he just dodged the question.

Well, he did repeat several times that `Turohorse` would soon be punished, so I figured their organization was about to be investigated.

After all, when I remembered him talking to some police officers at the store and asked, ‘You heard that from the police, didn’t you?’ he just replied with, ‘…You can read between the lines.’

Divulging information about an ongoing investigation to a civilian is a huge no-no, after all. Satisfied with that, I was about to end the call when he asked something.

‘Are you—are you all—thinking of retaliating against them? Are you planning to fight them?’

He was probably worried that a bunch of kids might do something reckless. To reassure him, I nodded emphatically, even though he couldn’t see me over the phone.

‘We have no intention of getting involved. We’ll leave everything to this country’s justice system and continue our activities as usual.’

After that reply, I thanked him and ended the call.

We—or rather, all `Awakened Persons`—are what you would call ‘superhuman.’ To varying degrees, every last one of us possesses supernatural powers.

Because of that, some start thinking they’re heroes from mythology and do reckless things or become arrogant. I can’t say for sure that I don’t have a bit of that in me either.

But this time is different.

The fact that it happened in a dungeon and the method involved monsters makes it seem like a special case, but… if I were to use pre-`Day of Awakening` values to describe it, the situation is basically:

‘My friends had their smartphones stolen by a group of people swinging around hatchets. And my personal information might be on those phones.’

Faced with that, very few people would say, ‘Screw the police! I’ll investigate this myself!’ Normally, you’d leave it to the authorities.

I have no intention of losing that bit of common sense, and I don’t want to.

Of course, I’m worried that we might be harmed as well. But what can I really do about it?

Unfortunately, I’m just a high school student with nothing but fighting power. The only connection I can claim is Professor Arisugawa, a university professor and former duchess, and Erina-san has probably already spoken to her. The professor might consult a lawyer or something, but that’s about the extent of what a civilian can do.

Like I told her, it’s not our place to interfere. It’s best to leave the case to the professionals.

Anyway, talking to Yamashita-san was nerve-wracking.

According to what I found online, it hasn’t even been three months since the `Walkers` was founded.

In such a short time, he grew an organization that started with only four people into one of Japan’s foremost groups of `Awakened Persons`. Yamashita-san must be a pretty shrewd businessman.

I want to become a respectable member of society like him someday… actually, no I don’t. Yeah.

I mean, the responsibility sounds immense. I want a job that’s as easy as possible, both physically and mentally. As long as I can make enough money to live on and enjoy my hobbies, that’s plenty for me.

Heck, maybe I could just work as an adventurer for a while and then live a life of leisure…

I shook my head, snapping my thoughts back to reality.

In any case, it’s highly likely that `Turohorse`’s time is up. I’ll pray it doesn’t escalate into a large-scale conflict and just do what I can. Arresting criminals is the police’s job, but self-defense is my own responsibility.

First, I need to repair `Mokuren`. Since they agreed to go easy on me regarding `Byakuren`’s armament in return, I need to get it back into fighting shape.

───Brrrring.

"Hm?"

Just as I was thinking that, my phone rang. The screen displayed Busujima-san's name.

"Hello, Yagawa speaking."

‘Hello. This is Busujima. I’m sorry to bother you, but do you have a moment?’

"Yeah, I’m free. Is something wrong?"

‘No, it’s just that there’s something I wanted to ask you.’

"Okay."

Apparently, Busujima-san had something she wanted to ask, too.

Since I had just been the one asking Yamashita-san questions, it felt a little strange. Now it was my turn to be on the receiving end.

‘I remembered after I got home… when `Mokuren` threw the spear, I was also wildly firing off magic at the monsters.’

"Well, that’s bound to happen when you get trained."

‘One of my spells might have hit the spear’s shaft… and Shizuku-san told me the `Concept Interference` power of that spear is only in the tip… The curse that landed on the shaft might still be there, but is there a chance the `Concept Interference` spread to the shaft later and dispelled it?’

"I’m sorry, I’m not an expert on magic either, so… but if there was no immediate reaction, I don’t think it was affected by `Concept Interference`."

‘I knew it…’

"Is something wrong?"

When I asked, Busujima-san answered, sounding a little awkward.

‘I think… that curse was the type that brings misfortune to whoever touches it. I was hoping that if the enemy in the lead tripped, the Kobolds behind it would stumble too.’

"I see. How bad is the luck from that curse?"

‘It should only activate once, on the first person who touches the shaft, but I think they’ll be struck by considerable misfortune… And it’s the type of curse that affects the surroundings.’

"Ah…"

‘If… if the criminals recovered that spear, there’s a chance I might have cursed them…’

"Honestly, it’s their own fault. I don’t think you need to worry about it."

‘But, if they end up dying because of it…’

You cast a curse that powerful…?

I was a little taken aback, but then I reminded myself that it was originally intended for monsters. In that case, it couldn’t be helped.

"It’s fine, really. Magic cast on a magic item usually gets repelled and weakened anyway. At worst, it’ll be something like, ‘the door to their house gets stuck,’ or something on that level."

‘I hope that’s the case…’

It wasn’t a lie. I was pretty sure I’d read something like that in the club’s documents.

Enchanting a magic item with another spell is far more difficult than enchanting a normal object. Simply changing its shape is one thing, but giving it a different effect requires proper preparation.

"You can’t track them through the curse either, right? That’s proof the spell has weakened. In fact, if something does happen to the criminals, it’s probably best to just think, ‘serves them right.’ Probably."

‘…You’re right! I’ll do that. Thank you very much.’

"No problem. So, that’s that. Oh, I’ll deliver `Mokuren` to Ooyama-san as soon as the repairs are done."

‘Yes, please. Well then, goodbye.’

"Yeah. See you."

I ended the call and took a breath. Maybe because I had just spoken with Yamashita-san, I was able to talk more naturally than usual as a sort of rebound. Being in work mode probably helped too. I hope I can maintain this level of social skill after summer break ends.

I debated for a moment whether to tell them what Yamashita-san told me, but it wasn’t the kind of information I should be casually sharing. If the police really are about to raid `Turohorse` headquarters, I can just tell them then.

With that decided, I pulled out `Byakuren`’s spare parts from the back of my closet to start repairing `Mokuren`.

I was starting to run low on these. I needed to gather more materials soon. I also had to go get materials for the egg-shaped barrier generator.

There was a mountain of things to do. First, I had to tackle the most immediate problems one by one.

Repairing `Mokuren`, creating the barrier device, my summer homework, preparing for the beach trip, and most importantly…

"Haaaah…"

Meeting Erina-san’s family is going to be so nerve-wracking.

I stared at the ceiling and sighed.

Please, let everything go smoothly.