Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?

"Haaa~~h..."

"Color me surprised, Kou. For you to wake up on your own..."

"I went to bed early, after all."

Koutarou and Kenji, who were dressed for work, walked side by side.

Since it was a Sat.u.r.day morning, only the two of them could be seen on the sidewalk.

"Like I said before, I"m already a self-sufficient adult living on my own, Mackenzie-kun."

"And I hope it stays that way..."

"Of course it will!"

"We"ll see about that... By the way, what about that thing?"

"What thing?"

Kenji put on a serious face and lowered his voice.

"You know, about them appearing in that room..."

"Appearing? Oh yeah... You"re talking about the ghost!"

Understanding the reason for Kenji"s worries, Koutarou clapped his hands and smiled.

"The ghost didn"t appear at all!"

"It didn"t?"

"Yeah, nothing happened up until I fell asleep and it was quiet all throughout the night. Besides, thinking about it, if a ghost had appeared do you think I would have been able to wake up on my own?"

"You have a point there. If you hadn"t slept properly there"s no way you"d wake up on your own."

Feeling relieved, Kenji loosened up.

"Fuhahaha, Mackenzie; I didn"t think you"d be one to believe in ghosts."

"What?"

"For you to worry about ghosts when you"re always talking about science..."

Koutarou was poking fun at Kenji.

Kenji puffed up his cheeks and said.

"So what? Can"t a citizen of the science world hate ghosts?"

"If you"re scared, just say so!"

"Yes, scary, so scary. Whether ghosts exist or not, freaky things happen every day"

"You"re taking all this too seriously."

As Koutarou shrugged, they approached the gates of a school.

Kitsushouharukaze: that was the name of the school the pair would be attending from the next day on.

Kitsushouharukaze was about a 20 minute walk from the closest station as well a 20 minute walk from Corona House.

Corona House, Kitsushou High School and the station formed an equilateral triangle, with all urban necessities gathered within it.

Kitsushouharukaze had been established a few years ago after the merging of the neighboring munic.i.p.alities, Kitsushou and Harukaze.

After the merge, a high school would be needed for children of both munic.i.p.alities to attend.

Plans to construct a school had already been in place before the merge, and Kitsushouharukaze naturally became a large scale high school.

It was not as big as a school in the city, but for a suburban school it was as large as could be.

"Fight, fight, fight! Harukaze Fight!"

Due to this fact, there were many students partic.i.p.ating in club activities, even during spring break.

"The baseball club... The spring tournament must have ended, and the third years have graduated by now."

"They seem quite lively; more so when the first years join, I imagine."

Looking at the uniformed students, the two pa.s.sed by the front gate. Their work site was slightly further ahead.

Pa.s.sing by the front gate, Koutarou kept his eyes fixed on the schoolyard.

Pitching, batting, running and catching... Koutarou had been doing the same a while back.

"Hey, Kou... Are you sure you don"t want to join the baseball club?" Kenji asked Koutarou in a serious tone.

"It"s alright. Living on my own, working part-time, and playing baseball at the same time is just not possible."

Koutarou took his eyes off the schoolyard, looked at Kenji and gave him a smile.

"Kou..."

Koutarou put on a lonely smile.

"Besides, there"s the Knitting Society, so there"s no reason to be so pessimistic."

"What"s with that? The Knitting Society?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you serious about joining that club?"

"Of course I"m serious!"

Koutarou had decided to join the Knitting Society when he had been recruited during the announcement of the entrance exam results.

"You"re kidding, right? It just doesn"t fit you."

Kenji stared at Koutarou"s body as he said that.

Big body, st.u.r.dy physique, and large hands.

Kenji did not think that knitting and handicrafts were in any way suitable for Koutarou.

If anything he would be better at tearing it up.

"Just you wait and see. I"ll be sure to knit a m.u.f.fler for you sooner or later."

"Please stop, you"re making me feel ill... I"m shuddering just imagining it."

"You"re right, I feel the same way. I"ll just knit one for myself."

The two smiled wryly and looked at each other.

"Admit it, your goal is the beautiful club president who recruited you."

"It has nothing to do with that."

Oh? I didn"t expect that response... I was certain you were after the club president... Was I wrong?

Being a childhood friend, Kenji saw through Koutarou"s reaction.

"Either way, I"ll be spending my youth with Sakuraba-senpai in the Knitting Society"

"Hmm, that does sound fun... Maybe I should join too..."

"Leave it be. If a lady-killer like you gets close to Sakuraba-senpai she"ll be tainted."

"What"s that supposed to mean? Don"t treat me like I"m some sort of bacteria!"

"Just think about back during Valentine"s when you monopolized all of the cla.s.s" chocolate[1]. The other boys cried tears of blood."

"That wasn"t my fault!"

Kenji sighed as he heard the same argument yet again.

"Not at all; it was entirely your fault. Don"t think a grudge over food will be forgiven easily!"

"But in the end you ate most of it anyway! Besides, that really wasn"t my fault. It"s easy to give chocolate to me, but indirectly it was given to y-"

Kenji stopped mid-sentence.

"Hmm? What"s wrong?"

"No, it"s nothing. In fact, I won"t tell you."

"What"s that supposed to mean?"

"We"ll be late if we don"t hurry."

"Wait up, what"s with the sudden rush!?"

The two arrived at the work site shortly after.

"HAAA!"

In time with Koutarou"s shout, a large stone began rolling.

"Koutarou-chan sure is strong."

The elderly woman struck up a conversation with Koutarou.

The woman was wearing farmers" clothes, and in her small hands she was holding a metal trowel.

"I"m still young, Obaa-chan. But as a result, I"m not good at careful work, like you.

"Hohoho, that might be true. Thanks for the help, Koutarou-chan."

"You"re always giving me sweets, so consider it even."

"What"d you call it again? Give and take?

"Haha, that"s right... Anyways, I"m returning to my post. I"ll see you later Obaa-chan."

"Thanks again!"

Koutarou parted ways with the elderly lady and headed over to his a.s.signed land division a few dozen meters away.

"Now then..."

As Koutarou looked back at the elderly lady, he saw her squatting down and shaving off soil by her feet with her trowel.

"Fufufu... I guess I"ll start up with my work again, then. I can"t afford to lose to Obaa-chan!"

Koutarou rolled up the sleeves of his work clothes, picked up a trowel and started shaving off soil by his feet.

Koutarou worked on excavating ruins; the elderly lady from before was a co-worker.

She had helped Koutarou out a lot back when he first started.

Kenji was doing the same job Koutarou was. However, he had been a.s.signed to a different land division, and since the excavation site was very large, he was out of Koutarou"s sight.

The ruins Koutarou"s group was digging up were generally called the Kitsushouharukaze Ruins.

The ruins had been discovered by chance when plans for expanding on the Kitsushouharukaze High School facilities were in the making.

As one could guess from the circ.u.mstances of the discovery, the ruins were close to Kitsushouharukaze High School.

The school was within a few minutes walking distance and stood halfway up a slope. The ruins were at the top of said slope.

Therefore, continuing the climb up the slope past the school would lead to the excavation site.

At the time the ruins were discovered, they were thought to be from the late Yayoi Period[2], and nothing of value was expected to be discovered.

True to this belief, the only items found at the beginning of the excavation had been common relics.

However, after examining the items, the ruins were determined to be priceless; they were actually 10,000 years old!

Even if the items found were common, they held astronomical value if they were 10,000 years old.

10,000 years ago was the early Jōmon Period[3].

Earthenware and bronzeware of types commonly used during the Yayoi Period being over 10,000 years old was enough for a large scale investment.

The discovery could completely overturn the archaeological field.

To speed up the excavation, a large amount of workers were required, and recruitment posters were printed en ma.s.se.

Koutarou and Kenji, who had been looking for part-time jobs, jumped on the offer, and since it was so close to school it was an obvious pick.

Squatting and slowly shaving away at the soil little by little was very tiring.

However, Koutarou, who had been a catcher during the entirety of middle school, was used to the position.

Though he was unaccustomed at first, after over a month of work he was completely used to it.

"All I find is dirt, no matter how much I dig..."

According to the archaeologists, the area Koutarou was in charge of contained a building used during religious ceremonies. However, despite the efforts of several tens of workers, nothing befitting such a place had been found.

"Aren"t we the only ones digging up someplace completely unrelated?..."

Since he started working, Koutarou had seen nothing but dirt.

"Mackenzie"s area seems so much more fun; he gets to discover a bunch of items..."

The tedious and unchanging work bored Koutarou.

"Koutarou..."

"Hmm?"

At that point, Koutarou thought he heard somebody"s voice

"I thought I just heard a voice... I wonder if it was Obaa-chan."

Koutarou stood up and started looking for the source of the voice, but he couldn"t find anyone who could have called him.

Koutarou was the only person in this area, and the elderly woman had her back turned towards him.

"I wonder if I was just imagining it..."

Koutarou tilted his head in confusion, and the voice entered Koutarou"s ears once again.

"Koutarou..."

"This isn"t Obaa-chan"s voice... I feel like I know it very well... No, maybe it"s the first time I"ve heard it?"

"This way..."

"That way? On the other side?..."

After hearing the voice for the third time, Koutarou was able to determine its origins. It was coming from a wooded area about 10 meters away from him.

"All right..."

Koutarou left the trowel at his feet and approached the wooded area.

"Is this one of Mackenzie"s pranks, or is it someone else?"

Koutarou was almost certain it was one of Kenji"s pranks, so he didn"t feel any danger whatsoever.

However, in the event that it wasn"t, it might"ve been someone in trouble, so he decided to take a look just to be on the safe side.

"Really... We"ll be high school students tomorrow, and he"s wasting his time playing pranks... When I catch him I"ll make him confess whose voice he"s recorded!"

Having no recollection of the voice, Koutarou a.s.sumed Kenji had recorded the voice of some girl he"d hooked up with.

"Hmm, it"s pretty thick..."

Koutarou elbowed his way through the thick vegetation, rustling the bushes.

Because of the tall trees and the overgrown weeds his visibility was horrible.

The weeds poked at Koutarou as he walked through, making it painful to pa.s.s.

"Oi, Mackenzie! You"re out there, aren"t you? Hurry up and show yourself!"

The weeds poking at Koutarou started to irritate him and urged him to find Kenji and get out of there.

"Come out and tell me who this girl you"ve hooked up with is!"

Then the feeling of ground beneath Koutarou"s foot suddenly vanished.

"Huh?"

Oh c.r.a.p, a hole in the ground!?

By the time he noticed, Koutarou had already been swallowed by the ground.

"Ow!"

Suddenly hitting the ground caused Koutarou to exhale sharply, and acute pain shot through the back of his head.

Having fallen, there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the hole was not all that deep.

The bad news was that Koutarou had hit his head on a rock when he fell.

"Ouch, that hurts... This is all Mackenzie"s fault..."

Koutarou put his hand on his aching head and stood up. Thanks to his unusually st.u.r.dy body, he had sustained no real injuries apart from a b.u.mp on his head.

"Eh? Where am I?"

Koutarou"s surroundings met his eyes as he stood up.

Despite being the bottom of a hole, it was not pitch black; instead, it was somewhat bright.

It was too bright to be accounted for by the light entering through the hole up above. The light level was comparable to that of an emergency exit sign in a dark hallway.

"Something"s here... Some sort of pedestal and several pillars... Even the floor is paved."

It was a mysterious place, roughly 10 meters in every direction.

The ground was covered in buried flat slabs, which formed a st.u.r.dy floor.

Several pillars about as tall as a person stood on top of the floor, and atop each pillar there was a glowing sphere.

The light in the room came from the spheres" weak glow.

And as if surrounded by the pillars there was a single pedestal.

On top of the pedestal was a human statue looking down at Koutarou.

"Are these the ruins of that religious building that was supposedly buried around here?"

The statue upon the pedestal looked G.o.dlike due to the glow of the spheres on the surrounding pillars.

Had someone said this was a temple, anyone would believe them; it was that kind of mystical place.

"Koutarou..."

The voice that had been calling for Koutarou filled the room.

"That voice again... Hey, is someone here!? Why are you calling my name?"

The surprised Koutarou looked around the room, but he could not see anything moving.

The only thing moving was Koutarou himself...

"Koutarou, I"ve been waiting for you all this time..."

"Waiting? Where are you!? Who are you!?"

Not even Koutarou could believe this was one of Kenji"s pranks.

Koutarou felt doubts about the mysterious voice, but he did not voice them.

"Uwah, wh-what!?"

All of a sudden the statue upon the pedestal began shining. This light, however, was not due to the light from the pillars.

It was the statue itself that had begun to glow.

The light was weak at first, barely noticeable, but soon it began shining brightly.

"Countless days and nights have pa.s.sed; a never-ending cycle of sun and moon. Just how many times have I dreamed of this moment..."

"The statue? Are you the one talking?"

Another light burst forth from the statue. At first it seemed like normal light, but gradually the luminosity began to a.s.sume a shape.

"I am not this statue. This is one of the offerings given to me. Although its purity allows me to use it as the focal point of my power, it is not me."

Eventually the incandescence a.s.sumed the shape of a person. It seemed almost as though the statue had transformed into a human.

"...Koutarou, we finally meet..."

"A girl... ?"

The shaped light overlapped with the statue, revealing the figure of a young girl with calm and gentle eyes.