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 126: Reunion

Meeting up at an abandoned hospital, are you stupid or something?

Hey, it’s stupid, right? Why would they set up a forward base in a place that looks dangerous of their own accord?

What are they going to do if some other Aberrant Entity shows up?

...Well, I guess there are plenty of them we can beat, though.

“Wow, so this is the Enri Agency’s secret base.”

“No. We’re just using an abandoned hospital.”

I knew it!

So, I ended up being driven in a van and arriving at the content site.

There was no way I could run away. With the sky as my opponent, where could I even run to?

『Mm-hm, this is nice. This place is filled with content. Perhaps because a ley line runs through it.』

『Does content travel along ley lines?』

『Many ancient Japanese things follow that pattern.』

When Sora answered that seriously, I stopped trying to have a conversation.

No good. Right now, Sora is beyond conversation.

...No, it’s always like that! Wahaha!

In the first place, was I being presumptuous trying to understand the words of a god? Wahaha! Wahaha...

“We’re supposed to meet up with the local Enri here. They’re probably on the rooftop observing by now. Senano, Ei, let’s go.”

Master hoisted me and Senano-chan onto her shoulders and started running toward the abandoned hospital wall.

Then she kicked off the wall several times and dashed up to the rooftop in one go.

“Uwaaaah!? Is this what they call a roller coaster, Senano-san!?”

“No. It’s just training.”

Senano-chan seems used to it, or rather she just lets it happen.

In less than ten seconds, we had reached the rooftop of the abandoned hospital.

My sense of balance was shot, and even after landing on the rooftop I was unsteady.

“S-Senano-san... my eyes... are spinning...”

“Pull yourself together. Here, you can lean on me and take it easy until you feel better.”

“Ugh, thank you...”

I leaned against Senano-chan in a perfect and natural manner.

And I weakly stepped forward.

『How’s that, Director?』

『You’ve improved, Ei. To think you’d create content like this whenever you get the chance.』

『I’m unworthy of such praise.』

My mission is to resolve the incident that occurred in this area, but it’s also important not to cause any unnecessary incidents with this content monster.

So I have to supply it with content like this regularly or it might rampage.

“Now then. ...I am the dispatched S-rank Enri, Touen Nene! Is there an Enri here who is supposed to meet up with us!?”

It was an explosive voice that made me doubt whether she was really human.

The moment Master raised her voice, birds flew up from the nearby trees all at once, and my limbs trembled too.

It must be a feat made possible by her tremendous lung capacity and powerful throat, but couldn’t she have just called out normally...?

“Uwah!?”

See, you scared them, Master.

“Master, you’re loud.”

“Sorry. I sensed something unpleasant, so I tried to intimidate it a little.”

“Master, your way of handling things is the same as with animals. Or rather, it seems they were unexpectedly close.”

From on top of the nearby water tank, a girl fell with a pathetic shriek.

She was a girl with gray hair, wearing work clothes.

As someone who has been exposed to a great deal of content, I understand.

A normal girl absolutely could not have that hair color. That’s also content.

“Ow...”

“Sorry, did I startle you?”

“I thought my heart had exploded... Because just when I was about to climb down from there to come get you, I was suddenly shouted at. Or rather, weren’t you down in the parking lot just a moment ago?”

“I climbed.”

“Eh?”

“I climbed the wall.”

The gray-haired girl looked at us as if she were seeing something unbelievable.

Senano-chan and I nodded at the same time.

“So that’s what it means to be S-rank, huh. To think you’d even create your own path. ...This is what geniuses are like.”

The girl wore a pitiful smile that seemed approachable.

But my ears did not miss the small words she muttered at the end.

『Osora Service will even deliver the audio for you ^^』

Or rather, it wasn’t that I didn’t miss it; it’s that it wouldn’t let me miss it.

“I’m Matoi Shio, a dispatched staff member of the Five Sealing Families. Pleased to meet you.”

“Ah, pleased to meet you. I’m Touen Nene. This is Mikama Senano. Both are S-rank. And this is my apprentice, Oretsu Ei. He’s still inexperienced, but he definitely has something promising.”

“Nice to meet you. You can call me Senano. And you don’t need to use polite speech. Let’s take it easy.”

“Pleased to meet you! I’m Ei!”

As if I knew no wariness, I approached Shio-chan and was the first to take her hand.

With her hand grasped by my warm, sunny hand, Shio-chan was surprised but gently squeezed back.

“...Somehow, everyone’s really nice.”

“That’s right! Master and Senano-san are really nice people. And strong, and cool...! Anyway, they’re amazing and incredible!”

“Fufufu, indeed I’m an elite among elites, so that’s only natural praise! You can rely on me too, Shio!”

“Ah, thanks.”

Senano-chan, looking pleased from the praise, moved closer to Shio-chan and puffed out her chest to show herself off.

It’s cute that she doesn’t notice Shio-chan is a little taken aback.

“So, dispatched staff member Shio. I believe there is another Enri here who is supposed to meet up with us. Where is that person?”

“Ah, then that person went down just now saying they’d go meet you. They probably didn’t expect you to climb the wall. They might still be on the floor right below, so I’ll go call them.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Master said that and hoisted Shio-chan up.

“Eh?”

We made eye contact with Shio-chan, who had no idea what was happening, and for the time being waved our hands at her to say goodbye.

That ride has insane force and speed, so be careful!

“Let’s go, dispatched staff member Shio. Lead the way.”

“I get it, so put me down——kyaaaa!”

With the lingering echo of her scream, Shio-chan vanished from the spot.

This time she jumped properly through the rooftop entrance, so it shouldn’t be that exciting.

“We can just wait here, right?”

“That’s right. Hmm, still, the weather is nice.”

As if reflecting Osora-sama’s mood, the sky was a clear blue without a single cloud.

If my memory is correct, it’s October, but today is another scorcher over 30 degrees.

When it’s this hot, even I want to complain to Sora.

『Sora, just now, 『Ei, say you’re curious about that apartment.』 ...Yes.』

An order came in, so I’ll obediently do the work!

“Senano-san, Senano-san.”

Pinching the hem of her clothes, I pointed toward the town.

There was an apartment building blending into the slightly run-down streetscape that could be found anywhere.

The reason I felt it had a similar atmosphere to the apartment I visited during the Snake-Shadow Window Distortion Incident was probably the grimy exterior and the visible deterioration even from a distance.

That apartment building, which should have existed as just part of the townscape, certainly had an eerie creepiness.

“I’m curious about that apartment building. It’s kind of making me uneasy.”

What came back to me as I looked up anxiously was the warmth of a gentle hand.

I gently leaned into Senano-chan as she stroked my head with a familiar touch.

“That’s an ally, so it’s fine. Well, if you use it wrong, you’ll die instantly.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Because that is”

“—a curse, right?”

The voice and presence suddenly came from behind us.

The sound of the sea, which should have been far away, reached deep into my ears.

Tickling my nostrils was the scent of the tide, bringing a nostalgia I had no memory of.

“Wha, who!?”

Together with Senano-chan, who whipped around as if startled, I looked behind us.

There stood a girl I recognized.

With a healthy tan and a tall stature, though not as tall as Master.

Yes, she was—

“Hey, it’s been a while, you two!”

Unabara Minako. Also known as the Tide-Weeping Shrine Maiden.

At that point, I couldn’t help but want to go home.