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 128: Encounter
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-
The oppressive blazing sun was so harsh and severe that it made one forget it was currently October.
The sea beyond the heat haze rising from the asphalt looked far more appealing than usual.
If this hadn't been the mission assigned to her, Shio would have headed to the beach right away.
"It's so hot..."
"Shio, are you okay? Do you still need to puke?"
"I haven't thrown up. And I don't want to puke, so I'm fine."
By the time they had continued along the road from the abandoned hospital and entered the town, they were already drenched in sweat.
This area, lined only with old houses and long-closed private shops with rusted shutters, must once have been lively.
Faded 90s posters stuck to grimy window glass seemed to represent the decline of this town.
"Shio, your clothes are so frumpy. Isn't it tough being in work clothes all the time?"
"It's regulation."
The navy work clothes were covered in countless pockets from jacket to trousers.
Rather than being convenient for work, they were uncomfortable to wear, as if turning the wearer themselves into a portable tool container.
Because the bare minimum syntax was sewn into them, they slightly raised the chances of survival against aberrant entities, but in the end even that was meaningless.
That was because most work for dispatched personnel was premised on dying.
"You get used to it. You can even hide snacks in them and no one notices. But I hate how stuffy they get this time of year."
"Huh. Why not just take them off?"
"You know if I take them off without permission, a signal goes to the Enri Agency."
"........Oh, right, right."
Minako seemed to have forgotten; she laughed sheepishly to cover it up.
Watching that alone, she inevitably looked less like one's superior and more like a large dog.
A friendly smile, and a sense of distance that trusted people completely.
To Shio, all of that was hard to believe.
"Besides, there's someone wearing even crazier clothes than me, so I can't take them off."
"Crazy clothes...?"
"A Touen relative."
Shio indicated Nene walking ahead of them with her eyes and whispered.
"Why is that person wearing a long coat in this damn heat...!? And she hasn't sweated a drop. Do you get like that when you reach S-rank?"
"Hmm, Senano-chan and Ei-chan are normal, so I don't think that's it."
Though their pace was unhurried, the three walking ahead were certainly walking point as if protecting Shio and Minako.
That came from the confidence and experience backed by all the missions they had completed up to now.
It was thanks to that that the backs of the three looked so large and reassuring, even though one of them was a girl smaller than herself.
"If you're curious, want me to ask? She might have a syntax for cooling down or something."
"Eh, no, you can't just casually talk to—"
"Hey! Nene-senpai!"
Minako, seemingly not hearing Shio's attempt to stop her, dashed toward Nene.
Just as Shio hurried to follow—
"Hello."
Suddenly a voice came from beside her; Shio stopped and turned her gaze toward it.
The cheerful voice was a girl's.
It was definitely directed at Shio, and since she actually felt eyes on her, Shio reacted.
But there was no one there.
"...Huh?"
The row of old houses continued as before.
A shadowed spot born from the gap between one wall and the next.
The voice had come from there.
How much better it would have been if it were just an auditory hallucination.
"Hello."
From that place, hardly even an alley, just a crude concrete drainage channel running through, still only the voice could be heard.
(This is bad. This is definitely an aberrant entity.)
She could feel her head rapidly cooling.
Feeling chills run across her whole body as if the heat from moments ago had been a lie, Shio called out to Minako.
Knowing that in this kind of situation she must not look away, Shio kept staring.
"Hey, Minako, hold on."
Carefully stepping forward, she unconsciously reached out toward Minako ahead.
Then, surprisingly, her hand was immediately grasped.
But Shio, who had been with Minako for a long time, could tell.
"......"
It was a thin, bony hand, strangely cold, that kept gripping hers tightly.
It was not Minako's hand.
Much less was it the hand of any of the other three.
"Hello."
"Hello."
The voices had increased to two.
The voices came separately from the alley and from in front of her.
With exactly the same intonation and the same voice.
"Hello."
"Hello."
The voices still continued.
It seemed to seep slowly into her body, and the grasped hand slowly crawled up along her arm.
(Liar liar liar liar! I absolutely hate this! Why only me! That's absolutely——)
Shio finally turned to face forward, trying to shake off the hand.
It was a scrap of courage and survival instinct she had wrung out, but it vanished immediately.
"Ah"
"Hello."
Under the blazing sun, right before her eyes, there was a box discolored dark red.
It was positioned atop an unfamiliar sailor uniform.
She intuitively knew it wasn't wearing the box, because the neck where it pressed against the box had turned reddish-purple and bore traces of blood.
As if its head had been forcibly torn off and the box placed on top of it, that arrogant, violent, horrifying being was now right in front of Shio, gripping her hand.
"Hello."
The top lid alone was slightly askew, and the voice echoed from within.
"Hello."
A cute girl's voice came from the box.
So the source of the voice really was this, Shio thought with strange calm; she could no longer move at all.
What she felt was the sensation of a hand crawling on her, and then——
(What is this... it feels like my internal organs are moving on my own...)
A strange pulse and spasms she felt from inside her body.
It was as though a hand had been inserted from outside and was carelessly squeezing her organs.
Strangely there was no pain; all she felt was discomfort and a premonition that something was approaching.
"...Ah, this is death."
Shio understood that what was approaching was death, and——
"Hey! Are you okay? Shio!"
Suddenly a floating sensation seized her body.
When she came to, Shio had been lifted into Minako's arms.
Minako, who had slipped her hands under Shio's armpits and hoisted her up as easily as soothing a child, looked at her worriedly.
"What's wrong? You weren't answering at all. We were just talking about taking a break at a convenience store."
"M-Minako...?"
Before she knew it, both the voice and the box had vanished.
The only one in front of her now was her friendly partner.
"Uu..."
"Eh, wait, don't tell me you're about to puke? Wait wait, in this position it'll all get on me! There's no river or sea nearby, so I can't wash my body or clothes!"
"I'm alive! Thank you, Minako!"
"Eh? Oh, yeah! I don't know what's going on, but good!"
Not quite understanding, Minako headed toward Nene and the others while still holding Shio.
It was a pose as if showing off a rescued cat, but Shio's face was a mess of tears, and she was in no state to care.
"Shio, maybe the heat got to you. Let's get to the apartment soon."
"That's worrying. Shio, do you feel anything strange in your body?"
"Ah, awawa...! I can call snakes and stuff, want me to cool you down with them!?"
"Stop, it'll only make things more chaotic."
"Uu, thank you... But I'm fine, I'm fine."
Senano and the others surrounded Shio worriedly.
Nene, watching from a step away, lowered the case she had been carrying on her back without changing her expression.
"Master?"
"Kaitou."
『Recognition connection, Oath-link disclosure. Confirmed.』
The answer was shown by action.
Nene hoisted a jet-black long rod from the case and, still looking toward the apartment, asked:
"Did you see a box?"
"......!?"
Without even looking at Shio, Nene seemed to have understood.
"I see. So you saw it. By the way, what kind of box?"
"Umm... it was like a rusty box... the top was open just a little..."
"Hmm... In that case, it's a 1 or a 2. It's fine. It's nothing serious."
Even as she said that, Kamikiri was gripped in Nene's hand, ready to be swung at any time.
"Minako, carry Shio on your back."
"Okay!"
"Senano, Ei, you two aren't being carried this time, for training. You'll run with us."
"Honestly, I prefer it that way, Master."
"Running... I'm not good at it..."
Watching Ei reluctantly begin warm-up exercises and Senano readjusting the guitar case on her back, Shio sensed that something was going on.
"So something bad really is happening..."
"Yeah. It seems this incident has brought in quite a number of residents. With me and my disciples it might be one thing, but I don't know if I can keep Shio safe. From here it's a race against time. The convenience store ice cream break is cancelled."
"...Eh?"
To Ei, who froze looking more shocked than anyone, Senano offered a caramel with practiced ease.
It was slightly melted from the heat, but Ei's face brightened immediately.
"Thank you!"
"You can eat it after we arrive."
"Yes!"
"Right... then, let's go!"
And so the five of them dashed toward the apartment.
Through the blazing heat, they ran through a silent town where only the people had vanished and the traces of everyday life remained.
A car with only the passenger-side door left open, an abandoned bicycle, automatic doors opening and closing pointlessly.
They ran through a town where something had been, or still was.
Heading for the apartment ahead, they were not allowed to stop even once.
『Hey, I keep getting greeted nonstop. There are so many residents with boxes for heads. What is this?』
『Ei's internal organs have already had their scariness removed, so relax and enjoy ^^ It's like a safari park ^^』
『Wow, safari parks can be in urban areas these days, huh. Though that's definitely not true.』
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-