My parents soon came home and I told them about what happened over an early lunch. And so, about an hour after the events, I was already on my way to the cafe Togo-san and I agreed on.
That shop was near a station, and it was about 15 to 20 minutes away from my house by car. It might seem far, but an Awakened One in a bike should have no problem getting there in no time. As I pedaled my bike toward the shop by the station, I found myself constantly scanning my surroundings. Like, I knew that fake nun likely wouldn’t be around after that, but I did so anyway just to be sure.
When I stopped at a red light, I noticed the intense sunlight and remembered a TV personality saying it would be like summer even in May. I once again found myself being thankful to this body as I was more resistant to heat. That said, even Awakened Ones were at the mercy of humidity. Which made me wonder if magic and whatnot could do something about global warming. But that kind of problem was surely better left to the big shots and the scholars.
With such thoughts in my head, I soon arrived to my destination. I parked my bike at the spot designated for bikes, which was at the edge of the cafe’s parking lot, and entered the cafe. The shop had a tranquil interior. It was also surprisingly empty despite it being a day off for most people. Maybe it was just because of the hour that the place was so empty?
“Kyotaro-kun, over here.”
Togo-san gently waved his hand at me, so I hurried myself ever so slightly toward his seat the back of the cafe.
“Sorry I kept you waiting.”
“Oh, don’t be. You’re five minutes earlier than we talked about, after all. If anything, sorry for asking you to go out.”
After bowing to greet him, I sat at the seat opposite him. Almost at the same time, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the shop’s manager came over and gave the menu. I received mine and said my thanks to the man.
When I looked at the menu, I was immediately startled. It was all so expensive. I mean, sure, prices had gone up overall due to overseas grain-producing regions and the like being swallowed up by dungeons, but even then, these prices were expensive.
Ooh, that parfait looks great…that price though. I’m not familiar with cafes, but I guess this is what they’re mostly like…
“Feel free to order what you want. It’ll be my treat.”
“Huh? No, that’s—”
“Come now, what kind of adult would I be if I let a high schooler pay for himself?”
“…I’ll take you up on your offer then.”
I said that and then asked the manager for an orange juice. Togo-san ordered an iced coffee for himself.
He smiled as though to say “no need to hold back, you know”, but it wasn’t like I could just say “oh really? Then I’ll have the grand chocolate parfait deluxe!”, right? I wasn’t that shameless. I did think of him as a reliable adult, but we were nowhere close enough for me to be like that.
…that aside, this was a shop that had quite the tranquil atmosphere yet it had this kind of naming scheme for its items.
Are you sure this is alright, Mr. Manager?
“So…well, sorry to get into right away, but can you tell me more about what happened now?”
“Oh, yes, of course. About that suspicious person”
I told as much as I could remember about Hanazono Karen to Togo-san. Togo-san, meanwhile, wrote down what I said in the notepad in his hand.
He wore a serious expression throughout. When I finished, he gave me a profound nod.
“Alright. I’ll pass down these details about this girl in nun’s clothing to my acquaintance in the police force. Thanks for telling me so much; you can leave the rest to us.”
“Thank you. But, ahm, isn’t it better for me to file a report too?”
“No. I think it’s better for you to avoid getting near any station. Media outlets are still groping around for information about that incident, after all.”
“I see…”
I was relieved that I was able to avoid some trouble, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but sigh upon hearing about another set of trouble. Specifically, it was about that Minotaur incident. Coverage on TV about the topic still haven’t died down as far as I could tell.
“I say that, but are you sure about this? If you come forward to the public, you might be celebrated as a hero. I wouldn’t recommend it, of course, but that’s ultimately just my opinion.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I don’t want to do that.”
Togo-san jokingly asked me that. In response, I took a mouthful of the orange juice and then vigorously shook my head.
“I mean, if I attract attention toward me, I’m sure there will be more criticisms than praise. Never mind being a hero, I might be accused of ‘using other people as bait’.”
As they say, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Just taking taking a look at Ogata-san’s case was enough for me to predict what could happen to me. She had been doxxed online to the point that even the identity of her family as well as friends from her student days were all exposed. TV reporters were also staking out her family home.
Articles about her filled with half-truths were being published in magazines. Reporters were provoking her to get her to say anything interesting. And people online were treating her like she was nothing more than their toy.
Anyone who saw what was happening to her and still decided to introduce themselves to the public was an idiot without a doubt. That or maybe they were an attention-seeking criminal who was going abroad where none of the backlash might matter.
“I’m glad to hear you say that. By the way, have you processed your feelings about that dungeon incident?”
“More or less, I guess. I mean, the clinic I go to says I would only have to visit one more time.”
“…if you’d like, I can refer you to a better clinic. I don’t know what kind of doctor you have at your current clinic, but from the way you speak, they don’t seem to be the most sympathetic doctor around.”
“Ah, no. I don’t think there’s any need to go that far.”
I didn’t expect myself to exclaim that I was somehow suddenly all great just by going to another clinic. If that happened, well, that was just scary.
And frankly speaking, I found it all so bothersome, so I just wanted to get it over with.
“Anyway…ahm, the articles of the deceased I handed to that officer, has it been given to the family?”
“…I think it’s better for you to not worry about that anymore. I can’t imagine you getting too worried about someone you didn’t know will do you any good.”
“I was just wondering out of curiosity. If it’s something you can’t say anything about, then I won’t ask anymore questions.”
“…the officer whose effects you recovered was apparently Assistant Inspector Ogata Yune’s subordinate. Moreover, she directly delivered those effects to the officer’s wife. For further details though, you should ask Assistant Inspector Ogata herself, whom you should be meeting soon.”
“I see. Thanks for telling me.”
At the thought that the deceased person I found back then would be properly mourned, the tightness in my chest indeed eased up a little.
Watching the news about the incident, I learned that the corpses of those who perished in the dungeon while it was trying to expand were swallowed up by it when it shrank back. For those who were killed when the monsters first showed up and for those who died fighting elsewhere in the dungeon, I heard their graves contained nothing.
I was aware that asking made my supposed act of kindness insincere, but so be it. I felt better when these kinds of things were clear.
Just knowing they would be mourned was more than enough for me.
“Sorry for making it all about me. You had something to discuss with me, didn’t you? What might that be?”
In the first place, it was Togo-san who contacted me.
When I asked him that, he smiled wryly as he took a sip of his coffee.
“Oh, I was just wondering whether you’ve recovered from that incident.”
“Ah, really? Thanks for the concern.”
“It’s nothing. You did something you should be proud of, you know. So, if much so that when meddlesome adult like me is getting into your business more than you like, you should be confident in telling us to kindly sod off.”
“I don’t think I can do something like that…”
I was at a lost as to why Togo-san wanted me to put on airs like that, but when he laughed dryly, I took that to mean that he was just joking. Shortly after, his expression returned to being serious. He then took out his phone from his breast pocket.
“Right, I almost forgot, but there’s this new religion that has been gaining popularity lately.”
“A new…religion?”
“Yes. They call themselves ‘the society of the sage’”
As he said so, he put down his phone on the desk. Displayed on its screen was an excessively sparkling old man.
“What a, ahm…very reflective person”
If I were to not choose my words carefully, I would describe him as “a bald old man in a strange style”.
Aside from his oddly sparkling eyes, he didn’t really have a particularly distinctive face. In contrast, from the neck down, he wore a suit of armor decorated with an abundance of gold and what seemed to be diamond. He was spreading his arms as though he was about to receive something.
And then, there was his head. It was a sight to behold. I had assumed at first that he had a halo of sorts, but I soon realized it was just the sunlight hitting the back of his head.
Is Togo-san playing a joke on me?
“This is the founder of that group. Koyama Kosuke, 52 years old. I hear that his believers refer to him as Akatsuki-sama.”
“Akatsuki-sama? Well, his head certainly makes me think of dawn.”
“Let’s not talk about hair, shall we?”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Togo-san’s eyes scared me.
…your hairline’s fine though! There’s nothing for you to worry about! Probably!
“This society of theirs advocate for Awakened One Supremacy. They believe and teach that Awakened Ones will be the ones to lead and protect the world in the future.”
“Haa…”
It was yet another radical belief.
Certainly, I agreed that some preferential treatment should be given to Awakened Ones because we were needed to deal with dungeons and monsters. To put it in more concrete terms, I wished there was increase in monetary compensation for our efforts. However! I didn’t agree with the part about Awakened Ones leading the world or whatever.
I hate that I had to say this myself, but well, Awakened Ones working as adventurers were basically either people finding it hard to find a job or people who were doing it as a side gig. To be sure, there were smart and influential people among the Awakened. But those Awakened Ones wouldn’t work as adventurers and wouldn’t even fight monsters if they could help it.
“It was one thing if they were simply campaigning for Awakened Ones to have better social standing. Apparently though, they are also offering training for non-Awakened people to become one. That’s not a problem by itself, but if rumors are to be believed, they’re exploiting, harassing, blackmailing and doing who knows what else to those non-Awakened people. I believe the police force are going to launch an investigation toward them, but that investigation is more about the abuse of superpowers. It’ll probably be hard to obtain evidence against them for those other things.”
“Woah…”
It was a more dangerous place than I imagined. I definitely didn’t want anything to do with them. Even if no evidence for a crime could be found, with those rumors around and with the founder like this, let’s just say I had a bad feeling about it all.
“…there is a large gulf between Awakened Ones and non-Awakened Ones at the moment. I just hope you don’t get swept along by their conflicts.”
“Yeah…I understand what you mean.”
I still heard plenty of news about discrimination against Awakened Ones as well as about crimes against non-Awakened Ones. Just imagining that it was only going to increase from now on was quite depressing.
…it looks like it’ll be more troublesome than I first thought if my classmates found out I’m an Awakened One. Then, I guess I should avoid going to dungeons near my home, except maybe the Salamander one. I wonder which dungeon my friends go to. I’ll try asking them next time.
“Sorry for all this depressing talk. I’ll be heading out first, but please relax here for a while.”
As Togo-san put away his phone and stood up with the bill in hand, I hurried to bow my head.
“Thanks a lot.”
“It’s fine; this is the least I should do.”
He waved his good bye but then stopped and turned around.
“…about that nun, I think she’s lying low for the moment. When the chance presents itself to her though, she likely will try to get in contact with you again. If that happens, I hope you ask the police for help. Please, don’t try to deal with the situation yourself. At the very least, try not to use force.”
“Huh? Yeah, of course.”
Why state the obvious? Did he think I was that violent?
As I sat there confused, Togo-san smiled then turned to pay the bill. Soon enough, he left.
“Please enjoy.”
“Huh?“
Just as I was about to put the straw back into my mouth to finish the last of my orange juice, the manager of the shop suddenly placed a parfait down at the table.
“Ahm, I don’t think I ordered this”
“It’s from the customer who just left. He already paid for it.”
The dandy shop owner said so with a smile and then stepped away. Meanwhile, I was left lightly scratching my face, feeling so embarrassed. I mean, did my gaze linger for so long at the parfait when I was looking at the menu that Togo-san noticed?
Oh well, nothing else to do but accept his kindness.
Not much time had passed since I had lunch, but hey, I was healthy, high school boy. I could fit in this much. The excessively named parfait was just as delicious as its appearance suggested.
* * *
POV: Togo Miyokichi
“…and that’s the fifth person done, huh”
I was currently inside my car in a parking lot, reviewing some documents.
These documents had the details about the survivors of what was now popularly called the Crete Tragedy. By Crete Tragedy, I meant the recent overflow incident in a dungeon where Minotaurs appeared.
It might be only for now, but it would seem that none of the survivors were suffering from any mental trauma. That said, some of them were slightly depressed. I should probably find them better doctors, perhaps by asking my connections for recommendations.
But then again, the fault might not be in the doctors. After all, what advice could one possibly give when consulted by something so unprecedented like “I have been attacked by monsters. I also witnessed monsters kill another person”?
I put away the paper documents—which were said to be rare these days—into my bag and then took out a cigarette from my breast pocket.
Still, I didn’t expect to hear the name of such a ridiculous person when I went to visit Okawa Kyotaro.
I recalled the data about a certain Awakened One. There were only a few domestically who knew of her. Although the Public Security Intelligence Agency was keeping a seriously close eye on her so that she couldn’t leave for another country…her entirely unpredictable actions made it easy to lose track of her.
This suspicious person was [Hanazono Karen], the one recognized as Japan’s strongest Awakened One.
The silver lining to her elusiveness was that she was not the type to hurt other people or to destroy property. However, she was still getting reported frequently to the police for other suspicious activities.
…I just hope she doesn’t get into a fight in the middle of a city with a powerful Awakened One and they end up killing each other.
If we were unlucky enough, the map for the area could very well be remade. Powerful Awakened Ones were beings that have become strategic weapons. To give an example, Okawa Kyotaro could be described as “armored vehicle in human form”.
A single armored vehicle being classified as a strategic weapon might sound like an exaggeration, but imagine if one were to appear all of a sudden in a peaceful urban area and then rampaged. How many deaths could that bring? In the first place, even dealing with a human-sized tactical weapon was no easy feat as there wasn’t yet any established effective weapon or strategy against such a thing.
Maybe shooting a bunch of RPGs without worrying about the surroundings could work to stop B+ Awakened Ones. For Hanazono Karen though, I just had no idea. Would we have to resort to aerial bombardment in domestic soil to deal with a single person?
“What the heck is guardian knight of yuri supposed to mean…? This old geezer sure as hell don’t know”
As I feebly exhaled smoke, I leaned back on my seat.
Apparently, yuri was not necessarily the same as lesbianism. Hanazono Karen supposedly had no desire to enter a relationship with another woman, and instead had a hobby, nay, a doctrine of “shoveling rice into her mouth as she enjoyed the sight of a yuri couple”.
As mentioned, she was under surveillance already, but due to her so-called “yuri sensor”, her actions were irregular and erratic. Worse yet, because information about her couldn’t reach other nations, those keeping watch on her must do so in a way that wouldn’t gain attention. They couldn’t give chase even if they wanted to.
Hanazono Karen told one of her observers that this “yuri sensor” of hers was apparently her simply following the guidance of the yuri goddess. I remember this bit particularly well because that observer handed their resignation the very next day.
…I must seriously be getting old. I can’t understand young people at all. Wait, does being young even have anything to do with this? Isn’t she just a different beast entirely? Haa……I wish all Awakened Ones were all as easy to understand as Kyotaro-kun.
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