I’ve suppressed my emotions, so let’s solve the remaining problem.
First,
“So, where’s my original body?”
I asked Kagami.
“I don’t know either.”
Kagami replied refreshingly.
…..
Ah, that makes sense.
If the government intended to do something with my corpse, they wouldn’t just carry it around carelessly.
Even if Kagami has an information source, they probably wouldn’t be able to provide information right now given the situation.
Moreover, thinking about the circumstance, it’s possible that any sources of information that existed have already been cut off.
After all, this is a situation where we could be seen as rebelling against the ‘government.’
“But… what then…?”
“What then?”
Kagami asked back with a bright smile.
“No, I mean. Considering what that corpse might be up to, shouldn’t we prevent it?”
Watching Kagami speak, I felt somewhat uncertain.
That doesn’t mean my thoughts have changed. I still believe I have to deal with that corpse somehow.
It’s just… I feel like saying that kind of thing to Kagami in ‘this situation’ seems inappropriate.
“Even if we try to stop it,”
As I was lost in thought, Kagami opened up.
“We don’t have any weapons on our side.”
“Huh?”
“Yuuki’s knife was taken by them.”
“……”
I glanced at Yuuki. Yuuki avoided my gaze.
Indeed, Yuuki’s knife, which he always carried around, was nowhere in sight.
But there’s no need for him to apologize while avoiding my eyes.
“Besides, I don’t think you’d want to use another friend’s blood, right?”
That’s referring to Sota.
I nodded.
If I were to confront Nirlas directly, Sota’s blood wouldn’t just be ‘a little’ necessary. The opponent is a being entirely different from the slimes we usually see.
That said, I can’t be certain if my attacks using Koko’s body would even work.
Right? For some reason, Nirlas hadn’t taken residence in Koko’s body, but ultimately, he was the one who put in a lot of effort into creating that body.
If Nirlas thought about being reborn here, he’d have that in mind.
“So, now we have no way out.”
“……”
I blankly stared at Kagami, who smiled brightly despite saying there was no way out.
So, what she’s saying is that she really hadn’t thought about what to do after resurrecting me.
Kagami.
That… leader of a certain religion, Kagami.
I swallowed a dry gulp.
Now that I think about it, Kagami did seem a bit strange. It wasn’t just because of her shrine maiden attire and apron, but fundamentally, there was a different vibe from the usual Kagami.
The usual Kagami?
What was the usual Kagami like?
In reality, I’ve hardly seen Kagami’s ‘usual’ self. I hadn’t sought her out unless I needed something, and Kagami had shown a certain distance from me.
She always had a smiling face in front of me. Whatever I did in my usual life, Kagami didn’t seem to mind and took it easy.
I don’t even know the size of the group she’s a part of.
“Kagami.”
I said, looking straight at her.
“You didn’t care about what happens to this world, as long as I just came back to life, did you?”
Kagami smiled without answering.
“What do you mean, what happens to this world? What are you talking about?”
“……Yuka.”
At Yuka’s question, I turned to her with a somewhat dazed expression.
“That is, uh…”
Where should I start, and how should I explain?
Yuka knows that I serve some god. She knows that I borrow power from that god using blood.
Perhaps she already knows that the god is quite capricious because Yuka stabbed me with a knife because of that god.
But… did Yuka really know?
That the god was already asleep inside my body, and that my existence as a soul was suppressing the god’s manifestation?
If she knew that, would Yuka have helped with my revival?
“A powerful foreign god that has nothing to do with this world.”
But before I could explain, Kagami spoke up first.
“The being we serve is exactly that kind of being.”
The eyes of everyone in the room turned to Kagami.
“I have given birth to many children receiving powers from that god.”
The atmosphere in the room froze even further.
Yamashita and Fukuda were at the door, and Hagiwara and Nakahara had gone up to my room for now.
They were probably showing consideration for us to talk amongst ourselves.
However, it didn’t seem like Kagami considered that when she spoke.
Kagami’s tone sounded like she was unloading something completely.
“Thinking back, there may only be two actual beings born.”
Kagami’s gaze turned to me and Koko.
“Uuh…?”
“However, the first being born might have been torn apart because it couldn’t maintain its human form. Who knows? Those beings called gods.”
“……”
The gaze focusing on me and Koko.
The atmosphere was… a bit strange.
Normally, if you think of the being you knew as a god or monster, you would initially show a negative reaction regardless of the past relationship.
Then you would think about whether to accept the situation or not.
But the atmosphere of gazes I’m receiving now is not like that.
Instead, I can sense tangled and complex emotions.
And the most prominent emotion is sympathy.
“And both beings were failures.”
As Kagami continued, seemingly unconcerned about that atmosphere, the gazes of the kids bounced back, filled with ‘anger.’
It must be in reaction to the statement that Koko and I were regarded as failures.
Could it be that Kagami is still acting? Just like when she used to torture me in front of the other kids?
……I don’t know.
I’m not sure, but I feel like it’s probably not that.
The calm Kagami has a strangely different vibe from the Kagami I knew.
She resembles the Kagami I saw when I presented her with a gift on Christmas. Of course, she’s much calmer now compared to that time.
“The god did not inhabit.”
Ignoring everyone’s gaze, Kagami looked at me and continued speaking.
“The first being born was an existence that could not maintain even a human form, devouring all beings that reached it. A creature living only by instinct, devoid of even intelligence, let alone a god.”
“Uuh…?”
Should I take Koko outside? But Koko only tilted her head and seemed to not understand the situation clearly, so I decided to let it be for now.
If I go out and miss an important story, that would be a disaster.
“After continuously giving birth to such torn beings, the last being they birthed is precisely…”
Kagami looked straight at me.
“It’s you.”
“……”
What should I say?
I have countless things I want to say, but at the same time, I want to say nothing at all.
However, it was clear that my expression, which I was trying to maintain in a blank state, broke. Just by seeing the kids’ expressions as they looked at me.
Only Koko maintained the same expression as before the conversation started. Was she already aware?
“I was alive for certain, and unlike the previously birthed beings, I had the complete appearance of a human, but still, there was no god inhabiting inside. Whatever happened around, I just laid there without any reaction.”
In the end, we decided to leave you as is.
Even if you are a failure, there might come a time when you can still be useful.
Kagami’s voice echoed.
“……So?”
Yuka finally spoke up.
Her voice was shaky.
“What does that mean, that the point of view has changed now?”
“Guess you could say that,” Kagami said.
“It’s strange. When you first opened your eyes and began to move, the only emotion felt was fear.”
“……”
“The more we talked, curiosity grew, and as I realized you basically posed no threat, I felt a slight fondness. You were the only being I could talk to in this situation.”
Was that so?
That might be the case. To Kagami, I was like a god, so she could have shared some stories with me that she couldn’t with her followers.
Within Kagami’s stories were truly important facts or situations, but mixed in, there were also her own brief thoughts.
“Now that it’s come to this—”
Kagami said.
“Yes, now that it’s come to this, I guess that’s the most appropriate way to put it. I wonder why that curiosity and interest could somehow shift to something similar?”
Kagami briefly closed her mouth and sank into thought.
While we were in silence, Kagami slowly opened her mouth again.
“Actually, I don’t really know. If you had acted like a total clueless infant from the start, the story might have been a bit different. If your body was that of a teenager but resembled a newborn, I probably wouldn’t have liked it very much.”
“……”
“For some reason, you behaved like you knew everything from the very beginning. From the moment you opened your eyes.”
Yuka and Yamashita looked at me in confusion.
They had expressions as if asking what that meant.
For reference, Shi and Sota didn’t have a clue at all.
“How the world operates, how to act, how to show etiquette. When you made me food that day, I was quite taken aback.”
“……”
Oh.
Well, that’s to say, I was sweating for another reason.
“But the reason for why that happened, I decided not to think about it anymore. I don’t care what kind of being you are. Whether you are a divine being trying to suppress Nirlas or a being who was reborn with a ludicrous sense of logic, not even a year old.”
“……”
Yuka’s face paled even further.
If I go any further with that talk, Yuka might become impossible to revive.
Having gone through various experiences just a moment ago and in the past.
So I easily recalled that this situation wasn’t very natural.
Holding her cellphone tightly, Kagami spoke up.
“One thing that is certain is, I gave birth to you.”
“……”
I slightly opened my mouth and looked at Kagami.
“That’s why—I’ve decided to no longer think logically, to no longer think with the intent of gaining advantages. I’ve only decided not to let go of the beings in my hands for different reasons.”
Despite Kagami’s atmosphere, her tone was calm and composed.
However, between that calmness and composure, I could sense some… emotion.
Maybe because I had met with Kagami several times and talked?
The gaze Kagami directed at me seemed similar to when she referred to me as a divine being before, saying she’d trust me and wouldn’t mind no matter what I did.
This time, it seemed those words were directed at herself.
“So now, I can’t say such things. Even though saying this feels incredibly shameless.”
Kagami slowly exhaled, speaking as if she was letting it all out.
“I don’t want to lose you now. Even if the world burns down. Whether it’s… my motherly instinct or something else, I don’t know.”
Kagami smiled.
And just then, the talismans on the floor that hadn’t been fully removed glimmered green.
“I feel like you would willingly go there. I revived you with difficulty, so I can’t let you fall into death again.”
While everyone in the room remained bewildered, Kagami spoke.
“……”
I could only blankly stare at Kagami like that.
*
Some say that human greed is endless.
After having repeated similar mistakes so many times, they continue to act the same, contemplating that it’s ultimately due to greed.
“……”
“……Hmph.”
With a blank expression, Nakahara chuckled at Hagiwara, who was staring blankly at her cellphone screen.
When Hagiwara looked up at her, Nakahara spoke as if in disbelief.
“Are you still not able to let go of that side?”
“……Is it easy for you to let go?”
Hagiwara said that and sighed deeply, setting her phone down.
“And, I haven’t let it go yet.”
“……”
Nakahara glared at Hagiwara, who avoided her gaze. In the end, it was Hagiwara who had a sensitive spot.
“I’m not close with Kurosawa, but—”
“……”
“No matter what, you have no right to tell someone to die, right? Isn’t that too harsh for a stranger?”
I had already heard this at least a few times.
This wasn’t mere bravado. Nakahara was sincere. Hagiwara knew that well.
So, that made it even more difficult to argue back.
It could be said that this was the last stand before crossing over… anyway, it could end up that way.
Worrying about what would happen inside would likely be a disrespectful topic for that kid.
However, it was also difficult not to worry at all. After all, Hagiwara wasn’t yet an adult.
“……”
Nakahara glared silently at the unresponsive Hagiwara and heaved a deep sigh, burying her face in the table.
“Ha, what am I saying to who…”
Then,
Zing!
“Wah!?”
Nakahara, who had her face resting on the table, jumped in surprise as the vibration of Hagiwara’s phone startled her.
“What’s going on?”
Although she asked in embarrassment, Hagiwara was stiffly looking at her phone with a rigid face.
“Why? Did you get fired or something?”
Nakahara, who doesn’t attend church, fumbled for the right words.
However, Hagiwara stared at her phone without answering for a while, then suddenly stood up.
“Wait! Senpai! Where are you going?”
“Right now—”
But before Hagiwara could say anything more.
The window started rattling.
And shortly after—
From afar, a loud scream could be heard.
Nakahara felt a chill run down her back.
It didn’t sound like an ordinary scream from many people. It seemed as if an incredibly loud individual’s voice echoed out and spread across the entire city.
Imagining the kind of creature that could produce such sounds wasn’t easy.
It was reminiscent of some twisted person playing a horror movie scream through a large speaker.
“Senpai…?”
However, a moment ago, Nakahara had experienced such a thing. And before that, she had gone through various incidents.
So, she could easily conjecture that this situation was not very natural.
Hagiwara stood there with her phone in a tight grip, staring blankly at the door.
*
The corpse seemed to literally come alive.
Of course, no one would charge at the corpse with some ulterior motive. That would simply be common sense, and above all, everyone knew that the corpse wasn’t an ordinary girl.
Thus, even if it meant moving a body of a dead girl using a large truck like a cash transport vehicle, nobody would find it strange.
There was also no question about the heavily armed soldiers seated inside that truck.
“So, where’s this going?”
“Who knows. Probably to some research facility.”
Even those soldiers had a bit of knowledge in this regard.
So, while having that conversation, they didn’t expect there to be much of a problem.
“It seems like they’re asking for samples from various places. They say that no matter how many times they get cut, she doesn’t die. They might be planning to research cell division or something.”
…Someone once said, human greed is endless.
If beings like yōkai exist, and if beings like evil spirits exist, then naturally there would be those who seek to exploit them.
Even if there’s a malevolent god wanting to destroy the world, there are always those who think they can control it.
Greed that doesn’t vanish through the passage of time.
And—
Bang!
“……Huh?”
As the side of the truck was torn open and a sharp tentacle pierced its belly, one of the soldiers, who hadn’t realized the situation, uttered such words.
Then, forgetting to scream, the nearby soldiers began to shoot their guns towards the outside.
Bang!
As if a car was racing along outside, a sound of impact could be heard.
—And it wasn’t just one of those humans.
There were always those who would fight to seize power first for their own greedy ambitions.
That’s where the problem always began.
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