60. Clue
Changed Foreign Body to Foreign Substance.
The night on the same day.
[Well then, in celebration of Ayame’s rank up and Tsumu’s hikkikomori overcoming!]
[[[Kanpai!]]]The sound of four cups touching can be heard, and at the same time, they drank the liquid in the cup.
The green carbonated liquid was drank up by Tsumugu in an instant, and she breathed out.
[As expected…Donkey’s melon soda…is the best]
[If it’s melon soda, Tsumu can surely drink faster than Karen]Iwato leaked such voice upon hearing Tsumugu’s words.
After that, Ayame returned after a few hours.
As expected of a girl who Iwato thought 『beautiful』, she received many bouquets and congratulatory gifts, but
『Eh? Receiving something from men other than Iwato-sama and my friends is, to be honest, impossible. I don’t even know what’s inside……』
She who said that, crushed all of those without even opening it, and as a result, at the entranceway of the Nagumo house, there’s a bowling ball-like art.
By the way, Iwato asked her 『Why you only name me?』–
『Well, aren’t you my fiance』
She declared boldly, and had a little fight with Karen and Tsumugu.
Returning to the main subject.
Although many things have happened, in celebration of Ayame’s rank up and Tsumugu coming out of her room, they came to Fearful Donkey like this–
[Is that all? Pedo-sama]
[Hey! You still calling me that!!]Iwato became extremely want to go back.
[So why is Iwato-sama called as 『Pedo-sama』 by the waitress?]Ayame suddenly poked the core.
Iwato coughed as he was choked by the melon soda, and upon seeing that, Tsumugu grinned and said this.
[Although…it’s not well-known. Nii-san…is very…soft on children. Like children. Therefore…Pedo]By those words, Karen and Ayame turned pale.
[I-Impossible…… Master have another fetish like that other than shampoo……!?]
[Ku, me of all people……overlooked such fetish…… Huh? Isn’t this better for me?…… Why am I crying while saying it……]
[Wait a minute. Why is shampoo categorized as a fetish, Karen? And Ayame, you should stop saying anything more]Iwato replied so to them and sighed. Then, he talked to Tsumugu as if he recalled something.
[Come to think of it, Tsumu, what did the Unknown say to you?]Tsumugu reacted to those words with a twitch.
She recalled the words said by 『Silver Tiger』–and immediately following, she recalled Iwato’s face at that time and his words.
[……H-He…s-said…I’m an Unknown. That’s why…I decided to shut myself…to think a little]Before Tsumugu knew it, her face has already dyed in red, and she averted her face from Iwato while muttering so.
On the other hand, Iwato frowned and sighed.
[What’s with that. There’s no way Tsumu is an Unknown]That’s right, Iwato said his true feelings.
On that occasion, Ayame used her superpower right away to check the words are true or not, and she breathes in relief and opens her mouth.
[Well, nothing will change even if someone says that Tsumu-san is an Unknown, but why did he say such thing to you?]Tsumugu opened her eyes wide upon hearing those words.
[Ayame…you failed as a Special Forces. If I was an Unknown…you should kill me on the spot…no matter how close I am to you]That’s right, that’s how it is for a Special Forces.
Unknowns are enemies. No matter what feelings you have, no matter what you do, you can never change the fact that Unknowns are the enemies of mankind. You can only kill Unknowns recklessly.
That’s what Special Forces are–That’s why, Iwato is not good with the Special Forces or perhaps, the head, Tsukie. To be more precise, he 『was』.
Ayame smiled wryly by those words, and said this while looking at Iwato.
[Certainly, I may not be a good Special Force, but what I aim to become is an appropriate woman for Iwato-sama and the King of Black Coffin. If Tsumu-san is an enemy, you two will also confront the Special Forces–making enemies of the whole world to be Tsumu-san’s ally, right?]
[What are you saying? Isn’t that obvious]An immediate reply.
By those words, Tsumugu loosened her face as if she recalled something, and she grabbed Iwato’s sleeve tightly.
[Nii-san…cool. I’ll fall in love]
[Oh, Nii-chan is cool, isn’t it? I don’t mind no matter how many times you fall in love with me]Iwato replied so to Tsumugu.
At the same time, the sound of the trolley coming can be heard, and Karen who has dozed off, wakes up.
[Meat! I can smell meat!]
[Yeah yeah, please calm down]Saying that and upon seeing Karen and the rest start to make a noise, Tsumugu muttered this softly.
[I…have been in love with you since three years ago][Aaan, I also want to go to Donkey with Iwato and the rest! I want to go, want to go, want to go! Manabu is really useless!]
[Why me……]Isakai Manabu was astonished to hear the woman–Kanekura Tsukie’s selfishness, and he leaked a sigh.
[Haa, we need to investigate about the silent warp hole and the traitor related to this. You can’t go to where that…Iwato? is. Or rather, I won’t let you]
[Hmph! Stingy Manabu!]
[……]He swallowed the angry voice of 『Work, you f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h……』 somehow, and looked at the screen displayed.
[Arranging from what we know now. The first incident was the Sacred Beast cla.s.s settling on the wall. Regarding this, Tsumugu-chan who’s 『Vorme Kaiser』 subjugated it]
[By the way, Tsumu-chan is my daughter!]
[……Seriously]Manabu sighed once again by the new truth, but he immediately pulled himself together, and moved on to the next explanation.
[Next, the Sacred Beast cla.s.s Unknown called 『Chain Dragon』 that appeared suddenly in the town. Regarding this, there was nothing recorded by the surveillance camera, but the nearby recording device managed to capture the voice]Just like that, he operates the remote control, and at the same time, the voice recording of the Chain Dragon resounded.
『Fuhahahaha…. After so many years I saved this Foreign Substance power, I can finally enter this city…. Finally, finally I can meet that annoying guy』
Manabu terminates the voice recording after finish hearing it, and he recalls the words.
[『Foreign Substance』 and 『annoying guy』. Regarding the foreign substance, I a.s.sumed that……it’s the energy required to open a warp hole. And, the latter……]
[Well, surely it means the 『Black Pandora』]
[Right]Manabu said that, and scratched his head.
In his mind, there’s a potential guess.
The King of Black Coffin is living in this town. Therefore, the number of Unknown attacks is less than other towns. And also, the Minister of Defence and the Prime Minister are living here.
And, the Unknown on the wall and the Chain Dragon came to subjugate the 『King of Black Coffin』–or perhaps, just a scouting unit.
And–
[This Unknown might also be a scouting unit]Saying that, the one displayed in the screen is a humanoid wearing a black coat–Demon King Crabster.
[This Unknown is the third humanoid Unknown found in human history, and even after Tsumugu-chan failed to kill him, he was then subjugated by someone. A part of his corpse was found at the alley]
[Pandora-chan did it]
[Pandora-chan, huh……]When he thinks back like this, he reconfirmed that the threat has been removed by him. Manabu gritted his teeth by his incompetences.
Tsukie who saw that, used shadow magic and manipulated the shadow to press the b.u.t.ton on the remote control.
[Next is the laboratory that Nakajima-chan handled. If I’m not mistaken, that demon king went in and out, right?]
[Ah, yes. The surveillance camera in the laboratory showed that the Demon King Crabster met with the researcher, Albert. And also, apparently, the Mythical Beast cla.s.s Unknowns that appeared in the town were from this laboratory]
[Then, this is also black. The demon king who came to kill Pandora-chan is a diversion, or perhaps a real one]After that, the Force Academy’s training camp destroyed site was displayed, but regarding that, it has been concluded that it’s 『Albert’s own judgment』. And, there are some doc.u.ments found in the laboratory that supports it.
That’s why, Manabu skips the video–and upon seeing the next video, he frowned.
[Next is the swarm of Unknowns that appeared in the town suddenly. Regarding this, the powerless 『Black King』 who happened to be there, manage to stop them while Minister Kanekura rushed to there. Is it fine to interpret it like this?]
[Ah, it’s troublesome, so it’s fine]Although Manabu felt a little weird by those words, when he switched back his feelings, he talks about the things found on the scene.
[This is the first incident of the silent warp hole to cause damage. Because there was nothing like a hole on the ground, it’s impossible that they invaded from underground, and it’s also impossible to invade from the skies. Therefore, with this incident, the Special Forces start to move, but……]
[Unfortunately, the incident happens one after another]At the same time as those words, the screen changes.
What displayed there is the devastated camping site, and upon seeing that, Tsukie narrowed her eyes.
[If I remember correctly, there were four Sacred Beast cla.s.s corpses. Among them, there were two monsters with the Battle Rank above 70 and also humanoids. Other than that, there were also Mythical Beast cla.s.s and Monster cla.s.s. Several hundreds of corpses that had its body remained. It’s impressive that the damage was stopped until there]Upon hearing those words, Manabu looks at the doc.u.ments in his hands.
[According to the doc.u.ment, White Emperor of h.e.l.l Fire Tsumugu-chan, A rank member Nakajima-san, B rank member at that time, Sumikawa-chan, Hiragishi-kun who’s considered to have defeated a Sacred Beast cla.s.s Unknown, and the Powerless Black King were there. Other than that, two students from the Force Academy……]When seeing the name list, Manabu was bothered by it.
(Two at north, one at east, and one at west. Even if it’s Tsumugu-chan, can she defeat the Sacred Beast cla.s.s Unknowns that were in three different directions while suppressing the number of victims……? Nakajima-san was in charge of the victims’ protection…… And even if Sumikawa-chan fought with them, she can most likely defeat one only)
It bothers me no matter what.
a.s.suming that Ayame defeated one of the Sacred Beast cla.s.s, there are three more including the humanoids. One of them is an annoying type of Unknown that’s composed of lightning.
Can she really defeat them while protecting people by herself?
The answer is simple–she can’t.
(Then……someone else was there? Someone stronger than Tsumugu-chan……)
A person who lives in this town, and also, was also on the site. A person stronger than an Absolute.
Such person is obvious.
[D-Don’t tell me……among these people, Black Pandora is one of them……?]Manabu reached such possibility.
He looks at the name list, and–
Batan!!
The door suddenly opened, and at the same time, Tsukie’s secretary runs towards her.
[Huh? Secretary-chan, looks like……you have some new information, huh?]Upon hearing those words, she nods and
[The same flamethrowers used by the Black Crest Group were found in the underground laboratory!]Tsukie smiled ghastly as if the mastermind is just before her eyes.