Five days have passed since that tragic event where I fought with a flame dragon. I took time off for only the first 3 days, and by the fourth, I was going to school as I usually did.
In just a few more days, it would already be July. As such, the heat and humidity has been getting worse by the day. But then again, in just 3 more weeks, it would be our summer vacation, so the prevailing mood in our class seemed to be festive.
“I’m definitely going to Awaken during this summer vacation!”
“Me too! I can get to go on an Awakening training program in Kyoto, you know.”
“Seriously? That sounds nice”
“Man, should I join the Society of the Sages, after all? I just don’t know”
“Huh? But isn’t that new-age religion stuff scary?”
“But don’t people say they did plenty for the recent overflow incident?”
“There are some shady rumors about them, but they’re surprisingly legit, it seems like.”
As I heard that conversation, this was what was on my mind: making a pool in my Otherworld somehow and having a fun summer time with Layla and Yukine in swimsuits.
In the 15 years I have been alive, the only times I have been to a pool together with a girl were when I went with my Mom, during school events, or during local events for children.
But this year could be the year where I broke that streak. After all, I had Layla and Yukine now. I wasn’t able to do so last year because we didn’t have our Otherworld plus the fact that I didn’t want others to see Layla in a swimsuit.
I still didn’t want others to see them in a swimsuit, mind, so going to a pool or beach this year wasn’t an option either. In the first place, the government had issued a word of caution to avoid bringing familiars to public facilities. Given those reasons, I really didn’t see any other option but to build our own pool.
First, we’ll expand the Otherworld and then install a pool. Even a small one will do. And then! We’ll do the things that can only be seen in anime for adults…!!
“Huehue”
“Woah, that face of yours can win you the creepiest face world title, you know”
“If I was a girl, I’d have reported you already”
“Aren’t you guys being too harsh?”
Their sharp words wounded my heart. They seemed to have forgotten that my heart was still on the mend, geez. In fact, my psychiatrist hasn’t permitted me to go to a dungeon yet. But then again, they would probably give me the go signal on my next appointment.
I have the Otherworld expansion as well as the Golem creation to consider, so I really would prefer to earn money sooner rather than later.
“Anyway…look at the girls in our class and tell me what you think…”
“I think they’re sorely lacking tentacles.”
“You should just keep quiet.”
While pondering about Kumai’s question, I took a careful look—so that I wouldn’t get called out as a creep at least—at the girls in class.
“I mean…they look like usual to me…?”
Was he asking if I found them hot? Unfortunately, thanks to Layla and Yukine, my “taste” has been refined and I was no longer getting excited by upskirts and sneak peeks at their bras. At most, I would spare those a glance but nothing more.
…maybe next time I should ask Layla and Yukine put on gyaru clothing…
“If I had to say something though…nah, I’d get killed for it, so I’d rather just shut up.”
“Yeah, I thought you would notice it too. As expected of my friend.”
“Who knows if we’re talking about the same thing though. Either way, I don’t want to say it out loud right now.”
I could just tell that it had something to do with Kumai-kun’s preference for women. And as though to prove my hunch correct, I saw him glaring at Aihara-kun. Aihara-kun looked back at him for a second and then turned his gaze back toward the members of our class’s A group that he was talking with.
But just when I noticed that he was moving his left hand, my phone vibrated.
“Mm?”
I wondered what it could be so I looked at my phone right away. There I saw a message from Aihara-kun telling me to meet up with him later.
…and to bring along Kumai-kun and Uoyama-kun.
* * *
After school, we headed to the empty classroom we were told about.
“Don’t let your guards down, guys…! From here on out, it’s war…!”
“Don’t be so dramatic, man”
With bloodshot eyes, Kumai-kun kept walking through the hallways.
If it was any regular member of the A Group that summoned us, I would agree that we needed to be on full alert. But the other party this time was Aihara-kun. We had being Awakened Ones in common, so I felt like we could relax a tiny bit around him.
“We’re here. This is the place that guy said…!”
“Yeah, it should be.”
“This is the police, we’re coming in!!!”
“Calm down, man”
Kumai-kun opened the door with force and got smacked at the back of his head. How did that happen? I had no idea. Really. Anyway.
We entered the room and found it not completely empty. There was Aihara-kun, looking out the window and down at the school grounds. With his arms crossed and his face somber, he was frustratingly quite picturesque.
“That settles it, the flab that are peaking out of the gym clothes sure are great…”
If only he kept his mouth shut, that is.
“You bastard…you’ve got some nerve to say that to my face!”
Setting aside Kumai-kun who was baring his canine and looked ready to wrestle with Aihara-kun any time now, Aihara-kun finally turned around to look at us.
“Hey. Sorry for suddenly calling you here.”
“It’s fine, but what is this about?”
“Before I tell you that, there’s something I’d like to ask. Kyotaro, have you noticed something about the girls in our class?”
“Yeah, and I’m guessing you’re the cause, right?”
“I knew you would notice it. As expected of my brother-in-arms.”
“Uhh, yeah, no, I’m not your brother-in-arms.”
I replied so with a straight face, but Aihara-kun just lightly shrugged his shoulder.
Won’t you get serious already?
“My Spread the plump plan is progressing smoothly. In fact, nothing can stop it now…!”
“Why, you…do you realize what you’ve done!!?”
The Fat faction and Muscle faction representatives shouted so, both looking serious for some reason.
Uhh, can I go home now?
Meanwhile, Uoyama-kun began playing a game titled Tentacle Cultivation App~Sea edition~. I didn’t know there was a social network game like that.
“It was tough work, I tell you. But by telling them ‘it’s fine that you’ve put on some weight. In fact, I think you look better now’, well, that brings me one step closer to making plump figures the norm for women around the world. You’re going to wear a swimsuit soon so you should get in shape? What nonsense! Just look at America! Being plump is but another way to show your individuality!”
“That’s heresy! The world is understanding toward fat people because one’s fat percentage shouldn’t determine one’s worth, but none of that should be taken as an encouragement to gain weight! Being fit is important to one’s health! Muscles are needed for one’s health! But more than that, muscles are sexy!!”
“But this is what those girls want, you know. Summer makes them crave for ice cream while also making them lose the drive to exercise. It’s nearly the ideal environment to get fat!”
“You, what do you take muscles for, huh!?”
“A relic of a bygone age that somehow persists in these modern times. I mean, what else could it be?”
“You son of a—”
“Ahmm!”
I slowly raised my hand.
“If that is all you’re going to talk about, mind if we just leave…?”
“What’s the matter, my sworn friend?”
“I’m not your sworn friend.”
“What, aren’t we close? No need to act so distant.”
Don’t wink at me, please. And we aren’t close. If anything, I want to distance myself from you. I mean, look at our positioning. I’m slowly getting farther away from you guys. Physically speaking, at the very least.
“What…? Kyotaro, you’ve betrayed me…?”
“No. I’m not on either faction, in the first place.”
“Indeed, for Kyotaro is in the same faction as me: the tentacles enjoyer faction!”
“That faction should be destroyed!”
“!?”
At this rate, I feared things would only spiral out of control. The perverts would each assert the superiority of their fetishes and end up killing each other!
Is this what being in a religious war felt like? Surely, a certain trio of major religions in the past was like this too…!
“When I asked what this meeting was about, you replied before I tell you that. That seems to me that you have a main topic and the conversation so far is only small talk? If so, can’t we get that over with before you continue with whatever this is!?”
I’m not just asking, I’m begging you to switch to that. Else, I think I’ll cry. Oh, Layla…Oh, Yukine…how I wish I’m with you both right now, wrapped in your embrace and boobs…
“No helping it, I guess. Out of respect for Kyotaro, I’ll let this member of the antiquated Muscle faction live to see another day.”
“You sure spout a lot of bull. But you’ll have your comeuppance for your wrongdoings someday, you know, you Fat faction loyalist…!”
“Fools. You don’t even know that tentacles encompasses everything. It is the original and the best.”
Maybe I should just hit each of them then make my way home.
“Well, anyway, moving to the main topic…have you guys visited any underground website for Magic Tools?”
“Underground websites?”
“I guess in at least some cases, it’s more accurate to call them illegal sites?”
It seemed like the conversation about fetishes is now over. I straightened my back upon that realization.
“Nope, not me.”
“Me neither.”
“Me too”
“Ok. I don’t really know the details either, but apparently, you can sell low-quality, inexpensive Magic Tools you’ve made on those sites. Even when you don’t have the license to sell those stuff.”
Layla often made Magic Tools, but it was actually forbidden to trade certain types of them. I heard that staves and such were fine, but things like Magic Potions were regarded as medicines and thus needed the corresponding qualifications and licenses before they could be sold. One could be exempted from this restriction if sale was done through the Adventurers’ Guild, but that was only for the more normal stuff.
From that, I could infer that the Magic Tools being sold on those sites were not at all decent, to say the least.
“Well, some idiots from our school have been visiting those sites and…they’ve heard some strange rumors.”
“Strange rumors?”
“Yeah. As I was told, ‘Magic Tools which can hide dungeon gates’ are quite popular on those sites.”
“…huh!?”
Without thinking, I let out a shout but that didn’t matter right now.
“W-wait a minute. Isn’t that stuff just too dangerous!!?”
“Yeah, I agree. That kind of thing is liable to cause a dungeon overflow, like the ones recently. It’s quite the unbelievable item.”
“…but wait, why is that kind of thing popular? Oh, do you mean popular among terrorists and criminals?”
“If only it’s only them.”
At Kumai-kun’s question, Aihara-kun lightly shook his head.
“…could it be that it’s also popular for Awakening training?”
“You got it.”
“Huh?”
Uoyama-kun and Aihara-kun nodded at each other, but I absolutely had no clue what they were talking about.
“Training to Awaken is done at spiritual sites, right?”
“And dungeons are spots where the magic power leaking from the ley lines gathered.”
“In other words, dungeons are places brimming with magic power. That magic power might not be under control like it is in shrines, but for the purposes of Awakening, spiritual sites and dungeons might as well be the same.”
“What? But…”
I understood the reason for doing so, but I still couldn’t understand why someone capable of sound reasoning, someone human, would do such a thing. Lots of people die in a dungeon overflow. People die so easily that they were like nothing but mice being fed to cats.
I had been involved in two dungeon overflow incidents now. Recalling the scenes I saw back then was enough to make me feel sick. As far as trauma went, mine was a mild case, but the fact of the matter was I still got some.
And so, again, I was at a lost as to why they would do such a thing.
“The item’s tagline even seems to be ‘your companion in your Awakening training’. Non-Awakening people supposedly find an undiscovered dungeon and do their Awakening training there in secret. And once they Awaken, they’ll turn that dungeon into their own private hunting ground and make boatloads of money. That’s the plan, at least.”
“But that’s so irresponsible…!”
“But consider this: what if the place where a new dungeon formed just so happened to be your house? I don’t know about you, but I would probably want to keep it hidden.”
“Uoyama-kun?”
I looked at my friend who said so while adjusting his fake glasses.
“Everyone is obligated to report to the local government whenever a dungeon gate is discovered. But by reporting so, the owner of the relevant house and lot would not only lose their properties, they would also be forced to relocate. Relocate is one way of putting it, but another is discarding the life you currently have.”
“But…”
I recalled what I saw back when I went to the dungeon that had Cuelbre…
It was unknown just how many towns and villages were dying out due to the formation of a dungeon. There were so many affected, yet to this day, there was still no legislation that addressed this issue. Things were so bad that I even saw people on TV weeping because they being forced to move out of the temporary lodgings that the government had provided for them.
But supposing a dungeon appears in our home, would I be able to make the right choice? What even is the right choice to begin with?
Silence filled the classroom in the room until the sound of Aihara-kun clapping his hands snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Let’s get back on track for now. The problem is even students in our school are starting to gossip about that dangerous Magic Tool. If worst comes to worst, a dungeon overflow might happen somewhere nearby. What I’m trying to say in all this is that you might be close to some idiot who might use something like that. If so, try to caution them.”
“…sorry for derailing the conversation. And thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Seems like it’s a sensitive topic to you, so if anything, I should be the one apologizing.”
I lightly shook my head and switched gears. I shouldn’t mistake that hypothetical future to be what was posing the most threat to me right now.
“Alright, I’ll be mindful of the flow of magic power in my surroundings. But then again, I and Kumai-kun aren’t mages, so the flow of magic power outside of our bodies is rather fuzzy to us.”
“That’s good enough for me. What really matters is that you’re Awakened Ones I can count on.”
Aihara-kun shrugged his shoulders and then walked toward me.
“That about covers it for my main agenda. I just have one more thing to say”
“Which is?”
“Be careful of the Society of the Sages. I have nothing solid to base this on, but to call them shady is an understatement.”
“…yeah, definitely.”
From the start, I already didn’t want to be involved in any way with that group, but his words reminded me of a person who warned me of them before.
“…actually, I’m going to be meeting with someone from the prefecture’s Dungeon Countermeasures Division this Saturday. I’m thinking of telling them about this. That person’s quite reliable, so I’m sure they’ll be of help.”
If it was Togo-san…it might not be easy, but I was sure he would be able to do something about it.
“Oh, who are they? Are they a girl? What’s her body fat percentage? And her waistline?”
“Does she have toned muscles? How toned are they? Enough to be called a muscle girl?”
“—by any chance, does she have tentacles growing out of her?”
“You guys”
“““Yeah?”””
“You better start clenching your teeth”
“““!?”””
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