Can Someone from a Tradition-Ridden Village Pull Off a Narou-Style Story in a Modern Dungeon? ～The Higher Being Behind Me Is Way Too Much of a Final Boss～ - Chapter 125: Observation

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-

After graduating from Enri Academy, one's path is not necessarily limited to becoming an Enri Bearer.

It is also possible to use that knowledge and experience to become a researcher or a staff member working on the public side.

However, the path I chose was something else.

Sealing-Enri Dispatched Staff.

Normally, that is a role given to criminals whose identities have been processed and to people whose thought purification has become impossible. Today's Japan has no leeway to leave criminals or people with mental disorders idle. Even they are valuable human resources.

"Hey, Matoi Matoi Shio. It's about time to switch."

"Ah, yes."

An Enri Bearer man who had likely been dispatched to the site brusquely called my name.

His voice was thoroughly filled with contempt and arrogance toward us Sealing-Enri Dispatched Staff.

That was only natural.

No one who graduates from Enri Academy would deliberately fall into hell.

There is no need to give any deep thought to the role of people like us, canaries surrounded by torii gates and made to wear armbands.

But I had a reason for choosing it.

The pay is excellent.

If one is a criminal, the amnesty is only a pittance, but I have been promised compensation equal to or greater than that of an A-rank Enri Bearer.

For someone like me who couldn't become an outstanding Enri Bearer, the path left was to throw myself into a place of death like this.

Since I'll die to some Aberrant Entity someday anyway, it's high risk, high return.

"What's the state of the town?"

"Is that something a criminal should care about? Just shut up and keep watching."

The man handed me a pair of binoculars.

I told him I was from Enri Academy then, but whether he thought it was a lie or didn't hear me in the first place, there was no reply.

Remembering that I would be paired with this Enri Bearer for a while, I almost let out a sigh.

For the sake of high pay, I have no choice but to endure it.

"Listen, keep an eye on both the sea and the apartment building. Only report when there's an abnormality."

"Yes."

I obediently nodded and climbed onto the water tank.

The rooftop of an abandoned hospital located a short distance from town was our current base.

Officially, it was an observation mission for a suddenly appearing A-rank Aberrant Entity, but no matter how I looked at it, the scale was abnormal.

(Besides us, simultaneous observation from eight other locations. And not just the sea, but the apartment building too.)

The sea being dyed an abnormal black was probably due to the Aberrant Entity.

Reflecting none of the sunlight and mirroring none of the blue sky, the sea seemed to display its depth like an unfathomable darkness.

But, turning to the apartment building, what about it?

No matter how I looked, it was an ordinary eight-story apartment building, with no abnormality anywhere.

On the contrary, there was even what looked like a university student bringing in laundry――.

"...Hm?"

It was an ordinary scene, but in this place it was abnormal.

The town had already been sealed off, and the Enri Bearer man had reported that people had finished evacuating.

Then what on earth is it that I see?

A woman with faded, dulled blonde hair tied together in one, languidly gathering laundry in loungewear.

Just as I tried to observe it more carefully, through the binoculars I definitely made eye contact with that woman――.

"...!"

An utterly unremarkable woman had stopped moving as if staring at me from twenty kilometers away.

Even though the target should only be observable because of these special binoculars made by the Enri Agency, it was as if she were observing a small bird flying a little ways off.

Unable to bear it, I unconsciously shifted my gaze to another floor.

But I couldn't escape her gaze.

"!?"

Residents on the other floors had also come out onto their balconies and were looking at me.

I hurriedly shifted my gaze to the next room, but they were looking this way as well.

It couldn't be coincidence.

I slowly fiddled with the dial on the side of the binoculars and zoomed out.

I shouldn't have done it.

Against all odds of coincidence, I ended up checking the entire apartment building at once.

What I found there was a great many gazes.

On every balcony with a view of this side, the residents were standing there alone, staring without doing anything.

"Th-this might be bad..."

Even I could understand that.

This apartment building was far worse than the sea.

Ever since I saw that, a terrible ringing in my ears and chills have continued to assault me.

Rather than piercing, it was a gaze that slowly observed me and seeped deep into my skin.

My mind has likely been completely disturbed.

Before I knew it, I felt gazes from all directions.

The strongest were, as expected, from the front and―― behind.

Above me, where I was observing while lying on the water tank.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was standing there, looking down at me.

"...Th-the distance is still far..."

The option of lowering the binoculars had long since disappeared.

Without a doubt, there was something behind me.

There was something like a beast there, observing me with intelligence and assessing something.

Even though the lingering summer heat was still harsh, my body was growing terribly cold.

Sweat was pouring endlessly, but I could no longer hear the heat or the cicadas.

Instead, what remained was the scent of the tide that had never become familiar since arriving at this observation site.

It was a scent like an old fishing village, with not a shred of freshness, a musty blend of rusted iron and tide.

The scent and the gazes simultaneously grew in presence, as if eroding my very existence――.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Hyaaaah!?"

Startled by something touching my back, I pulled my face away from the binoculars and let out a pathetic cry.

Then, while tears streamed down, I turned my body face up, and there stood a girl straddling me.

She had indigo hair that seemed to reflect the deep sea itself, large eyes full of liveliness, and tanned skin.

Even taking into account that I was lying down, the overwhelming pressure I felt was probably due to her tall stature.

"Eh? What's wrong? Did you see something...?"

The girl crouched down in concern for me and waved her hand in front of my face as if checking whether my vision was normal.

There was no malice in her.

But I did not know this girl.

"Wh-who are you...?"

"Umm..."

The girl stood up slowly, letting out a somewhat taken-aback, puzzled voice.

Then she pointed her thumb at herself and made a bright, cheerful smile quite out of place here.

"Did you forget already? I'm Unabara Minako! The Enri Bearer paired with you for this observation mission. Well, I'm still only B-rank! And even my seniors looked worried when they sent me off!"

"U-Unabara Minako...?"

"That's right."

Minako nodded with a smile.

There didn't seem to be any lie in her face, but...

"Could it be you came to relieve that Enri Bearer?"

"That Enri Bearer?"

"Yeah, yeah. He's resting down below now, right? That around-forty guy with eyes that look like he has a bad personality..."

"Hmm."

Minako hummed, turning her gaze to the sky as if thinking.

"I don't know him. I mean, you and I have been a pair from the start, right?"

"Eh?"

"Right?"

Tilting her head to the side with a plop, Minako stared at me.

That gaze was completely different from the one I had experienced at the apartment building earlier, strangely cute and calming.

If I may express it without fear of misunderstanding, it felt pleasant.

It made me feel as if I were being bathed in a refreshing sea breeze on a boat.

A drowsiness that made me want to close my eyes and just surrender myself wrapped around my body――.

"Hey, don't fall asleep. It'd be dangerous to sleep in this blazing heat."

"...Ah, Minako, sorry."

"It's fine. ...Come to think of it, did you meet any Enri Bearers other than me today?"

Having woken me from dozing, she asked such a strange question.

"No, since this morning I've only talked to and seen you, Minako."

"I see, right!"

"Why do you ask?"

I tilted my head at such a very strange question.

Then, just as I was about to look through the binoculars again, they were snatched away.

"Ah, give them back."

"It's fine, it's fine. Skipping a little is okay. There's not much point in looking anyway. And other places are observing too."

"That's true, but..."

"A・n・d"

Minako gave an exaggerated wink while skillfully spinning the binoculars on her finger.

"A guest is coming here soon, so let's entertain them courteously!"

"A guest?"

"Yes. A friend of mine, S-rank."

"S-rank...!? Hey, doesn't that mean this incident is really bad after all?"

"Oh, they're here."

"...An S-rank is coming!?"

The direction Minako pointed to had a narrow road stretching into the forested mountains.

Down that road, a black wagon car out of place in the countryside was racing along, clearly violating the legal speed limit.

"Huh?"

"Yeah! It's been a while. Ah, when I heard they were coming, I hurriedly made some rice balls. Salmon, right? And kombu? Also, simmered seaweed made with nori harvested from the village where I'm posted――"

Her voice sounded as cheerful as if she were preparing for a picnic.

Seeing the scenery with the sounds of cicadas and the tide mingling in, I almost forgot it was October.

"Here, Shio-chan."

Minako held out a rice ball to me with a smile.

When I looked around wondering where she had taken it from, a backpack and leisure sheet were spread out under the water tank.

Judging by the bulging backpack, there was still plenty more inside.

"Go ahead and eat."

"Thank you."

I thanked her and accepted it.

Forgetting the unpleasant gaze from earlier, my body let me know that I was hungry before I knew it.

Come to think of it, I had only had a jelly drink this morning.

"Thank you for the food."

In front of Minako, who was looking at me with expectant eyes, I took a bite of the rice ball.

The soft rice, flavorful nori, and salted shredded salmon came together deliciously.

"Yeah, it's good."

"Really? Good, good. I'm glad you ate it."

Minako smiled in satisfaction watching me eat.

Then she too took a bite of a rice ball.

"As expected, my rice balls are delicious."

Those carefree words were hard to believe coming from an Enri Bearer about to welcome an S-rank.

『Ah, I can see it now, Sora. Isn't that it?』

『Oh my, two entities, is it?』

『What is?』

『Two entities, is it?』

『Can you stop forcing it?』

『＾＾』

『Two entities, yes!』

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-