Manya was quietly taken away by the police, still in her human form.
And apparently, she had actually tried to use some sort of charm skill on the officer, but considering the officer’s stats were what they were…
| [Name] Takahiro Sasayama [Gender] Male [Race] Human [Age] 28 years old [Occupation] Police Officer [Rank] Police Sergeant [Title] Idol Worshipper [Stats] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Level: 6 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Attack Power: 6 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Defense Power: 6 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Vitality: 7 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Magic Power: 0 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Mental Strength: 10 (+30)(+30) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Agility: 8 [Abilities] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Idol Worship VIII (His obsession with idols has reached the level of religious devotion. A significant bonus to Mental Strength. Also grants an additional bonus when making resistance checks against charm-type skills.) [Skills] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Karate VI, Judo IV, Kendo IV, others unknown |
Humans really are amazing. At least, that was what I thought.
Sasayama-san must have called for backup, because just as he left, a female police officer in uniform arrived. She’s a slightly plump, kind-looking middle-aged woman.
She bent down at the knees until she was eye level with us, then asked,
“All right, now. Why don’t you tell Auntie what happened?”
So I explained everything from start to finish.
How, after getting off the kindergarten bus, I’d been approached by a woman asking, “Wouldn’t you like to meet your real Papa?” And how, since it was obviously starting to look like an attempted kidnapping, I had called out to Sasayama-san when he happened to be passing nearby.
“I see, I see. And you’re only three years old, but you’re such a sensible little boy!”
She gave my head a gentle pat. I have to admit, it felt pretty good.
While we were talking, Yuko-san arrived.
“What!? Something like that happened…?”
“But your little boy wasn’t fooled at all. What a good, clever child.
“If only my own son were this dependable… (sigh).”
The policewoman explained the situation to Yuko-san, but by the end, the two of them had somehow devolved into the kind of casual housewife small talk you’d hear between neighbors.
After that, we went home and had dinner.
Shuji-san, who had come home unusually early, listened to the story with a troubled expression.
“Your real Papa, huh…”
For now, I’m being raised as a child of the Kirasawa family. Once I reach a certain age, I suppose they’ll finally tell me, “You have a real father.” Well, when that day comes, I’m planning to bring the house down with an emotional line like, “The only father I need is Shuji-tousan.”
But that’s a story for another day.
“There are a lot of strange people around in spring. Yoshito, Mia, you two be careful.”
Breaking news: apparently, the whole “real Papa” business has been brushed aside. That succubus lady has officially been classified as “a strange person.”
Well, objectively speaking, that’s fair.
I imagine she’d been going for some sort of mysterious-beauty vibe, but she was seriously lacking in what you might call common sense. Those cryptic, suggestive remarks of hers might sound meaningful to someone who knows the circumstances, but to an outsider, they were nothing more than the ramblings of a lunatic.
And more than anything, wearing a frilly dress to a park in broad daylight was just ridiculous. Dressing appropriately for the time, place, and occasion is the absolute foundation of communication, after all.
“Yuko, just to be safe, let’s make sure we lock everything up properly tonight.”
“I’ll put a message in the neighborhood association’s LINE group, too.”
“Yeah. Please do.”
So that’s how things work these days, huh?
Even neighborhood relationships involve the internet now. We’ve already stepped one foot into the world of science fiction, haven’t we? And somehow, it’s just our everyday reality.
After dinner, we watched a DVD Shuji-san had rented. It is the live-action Rurouni Kenshin. The first movie.
Shuji-san is the faculty advisor for the high school kendo club, so he had a habit of renting anything and everything involving swords. Maybe he actually wanted either me or Mia to take up kendo, and was trying to brainwash us into it from early childhood.
In any case, all I could do was pray that he wouldn’t rent some kendo anime featuring a whole bunch of girls. You know, the one where the weapon translates to “bamboo sword” in Japanese. Or that one about the F-ranked knight who defeats the strongest despite being the weakest.
Non-otaku adults can sometimes do things without realizing what they’re getting themselves into. That’s what worries me. Watching that kind of thing in front of your parents would be seriously awkward, at least from my perspective.
Maybe a historical samurai drama would be safer. I do like The Swordmaster’s Business. Ah, but that one has some pretty risqué scenes of its own.
Dammit. What kind of era are we living in really!?
And so, while my thoughts wandered into completely unnecessary territory, I am nevertheless enjoying the movie well enough.
Mia, on the other hand…
“……—”
Mia merely stared at the TV with a faintly dissatisfied look on her face.
Normally, her eyes would be sparkling, especially during scenes where people were cutting each other to ribbons.
Even Shuji-san noticed her reaction.
“Maybe I shouldn’t rent the second one…?”
He looked troubled.
Personally, I am dying to know what happened next, so I really hoped he’d rent it. Of course, I’d already read all the manga back in my previous life. I avoided the live-action movies because I’d had a bad feeling about them.
Looking back now, maybe I’d been missing out.
So, please, give me the sequel.
The movie ended with the protagonist—the guy with the cross-shaped scar on his cheek and the reverse-blade sword—defeating the manslayer who used a hypnotic technique known as Shin no Ippo. As far as the original story went, it was a pretty good place to stop, too.
The clock had already passed nine.
Time for a kindergartener to go to bed.
As for sleeping arrangements—
“I can sleep by myself as long as Oniisan is here.”
Thanks to that thoroughly contradictory statement from Mia, we’d already started sleeping separately from our parents. We had a bunk bed, with me on top and Mia on the bottom.
Once we were both tucked into our respective futons, I sent her a telepathic message.
『Mia, can I ask you something?』
『What is it, Oniisan?』
『Haven’t you been acting a little strange today?』
『Have I…?』
『Yeah. Ever since that succubus, Manya, approached you. Is it bothering you because there’s something demon-like in this world too?』
For the record, Mia also had the [Appraisal] skill. So she should have known that woman wasn’t human.
『Um… it’s not really that. It’s just… hmm.』
Mia seemed to be lost in thought.
『But I don’t want to confuse Oniisan by making him worry over something that’s probably just my own speculation…』
『Don’t worry about that. I’m your big brother, and I’m the Hero, remember? You should rely on me more.』
Mia had a tendency to hold back and be overly considerate.
If anything, I wanted her to lean on me more.
『Could that Manya woman be someone you knew in your previous life?』
『No way!? How did you know that?』
It was just a shot in the dark, but I decided to play it cool.
『I’m always keeping an eye on you, you know. Something like this is a piece of cake.』
『Uu…』
『What’s wrong?』
『C-could you say that one more time?』
『I’m always keeping an eye on you, you know. Something like this is a piece of cake.』
I could sense Mia trembling on the bed below.
『Ehehe… Oniisan, you really are looking out for me, aren’t you?』
『Of course I am. So, what’s your relationship with Manya?』
『Um… an aunt I’m not related to by blood, I guess? She’s one of Papa’s concubines.』
The “Papa” she’s referring to here must be her parent from her previous life—in other words, the Demon Lord.
『I might be mistaken, but she is a succubus, and the name matches, too…』
I wonder if it’s okay to bring up something completely unrelated.
This is a huge discovery. Hearing the word “succubus” spoken in a cute girl’s voice is incredibly erotic.
I’d love to keep replaying that sound in my head for a while, but…
“Hii…!”
…that thought is cut short by a small squeak of alarm from Mia.
『What is it, Mia? Hiccups?』
『N-n-n-no! T-the window… look at the window!』
What? What is it? Is something out there?
I open my eyes and look toward the room’s window.
There it was. Something translucent—looking a bit like a crumpled jellyfish—was floating outside. It had a single, bulging eye and was peering in at me from beyond the curtain I’d forgotten to close.
A Ghost Eye.
It’s a type of scouting familiar I often saw in the other world. I suppose it makes sense for the Demon Lord’s daughter to be afraid of it.
Well, she is human right now, so I guess it can’t be helped.
In any case, let’s use [Appraisal] on it.
| [Name] Kawakime [Gender] Male [Race] Ghost Eye [Age] 3 hours [Master] Manya Rafild [Rank] Police Sergeant [Title] None [Stats] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Level: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Attack Power: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Defense Power: 1 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Vitality: 2 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Magic Power: 10 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Mental Strength: 5(-1) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Agility: 10 [Abilities] ∙∙∙∙Information Gathering I: Transmits auditory and visual information to the master [Skills] Concealment III, Levitation III [Status Ailment] Dry Eye: Negative modifier to mental strength |
It really is Manya after all.
What the hell was that woman trying to do?
And while we’re at it, her naming sense is absolutely atrocious.
“Kawakime”? What kind of name is “Kawakime”?
Someone ought to give her some eye drops!
Ahem. Anyway, I might as well hack this familiar of hers. Something at this level didn’t even require an incantation.
I’ll just sent some bogus information… and there we go. Since I am at it, I figured I might as well connect it to the internet and make it watch some really gore videos. If you’re curious, search for “Don’t Search for Wally.” But don’t come crying to me afterward. You’ve been warned.
Now then.
『Mia, wanna head out?』
『Um… where?』
『Manya might be one of your relatives, right?』
Just as I’d been summoned to that other world in my previous life, there was a chance someone—or something—could be summoned from there into this world.
For all we knew, my Old Man might have performed some suspicious ritual and dragged Manya over here.
『I already know where she’s staying over there. Let’s go meet her in person. Might as well do so, right?』
『Oniisan, when did you…?』
『That woman was completely rattled when the police showed up, remember? She left herself wide open, so I planted a familiar on her.』
It wasn’t some big, intimidating brute like Ghost Eye, all size and no subtlety.
This however, is an insect-shaped familiar, crafted personally by the Hero and no bigger than a grain of rice. Since I’d prioritized stealth, it didn’t have many functions, but besides transmitting its location, I’d also equipped it with an alarm that would sound if someone tried to attack it. Oh, and a curse that makes people more likely to trip over pebbles.
The downside is that it stops functioning if it got too far away from me, but hey, I could improve that part later.
Anyway.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
I jumped down from the bunk bed and scooped Mia up into my arms. I’d boosted my strength with magic, so it was easy.
“Eeh? Hyaa!?”
“Don’t make so much noise. Mom and Dad will hear us.”
I put a finger over Mia’s mouth. Then I planted one foot on the windowsill and leaped outside.
Now then… was this all at my Old Man’s behest? Or was it something Manya had decided to do on her own, completely going off the rails?
Either way, I wanted to get to the bottom of that.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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