When we just stared at the dropped envelope full of cash without saying anything, Honjo-san collapsed onto the floor and burst into tears.
"Ghh...! So having a flat chest is a sin!?"
I had no idea how wronged she had to feel to be crying while reacting like that, but I guess if it mattered that much to women, then that was that.
"...Itsuka-kun, let's just go?"
"...Yeah. The part-time pay is fine, so let's leave."
Since we were already getting enough money from [Ratatoskr], there was no need to take it, so we were about to refuse and head out.
"Wait, wait!"
Honjo-san grabbed onto our pant legs and clung to us.
"No, why are you doing this!?"
"Then I'd feel bad! Let's do this: I'll go on a date with one of you next Saturday!"
"A date...?"
Stunned by a proposal I never could have imagined, I asked back, and Honjo-san nodded and continued.
"Yeah, a date! The place is Akihabara! I haven't been shopping lately, so I figured I'd like to go for the first time in a while~"
In other words, she just needed a helper.
"Itsuka-kun should go."
When it came to this kind of thing, it was best to throw it to Itsuka-kun.
"Eh!? You go!"
"No way, if I go, those other people will beat me to death."
If I accepted her offer and ended up going around with Honjo-san under the pretense of a date, it was obvious how the others would react if they found out.
At best, I'd only get interrogated. I didn't even want to imagine what they'd say.
Especially the Fire Keeper's reaction was the scariest, so I was dumping it on Itsuka-kun.
"Huh!? What are you talking about? Are you stringing people along?"
"What kind of nonsense is that...?"
Honjo-san was startled by my words and said something weird.
Should I even call this stringing people along?
Hiss, on one hand it did sound kind of right, but there was definitely a difference.
For one thing, I wasn't dating them for the purpose of getting something out of them, and I wasn't dating them at all in the first place.
I just couldn't choose one because I didn't want to hurt anyone.
...Wasn't that basically the same thing?
"That does sound a little right..."
"...Don't talk nonsense."
When Itsuka-kun said that, I almost blurted out, while bringing up Rinne, "Then isn't what you're doing adultery?"
And this from someone who knew the circumstances.
"Well, anyway, neither of us is interested, so find someone else. How about going with a friend?"
"Hmm..."
When I politely refused and suggested she go with a friend, Honjo-san's reaction somehow wasn't very good.
"Well, the thing is, I actually don't have any friends~"
"Wow, Itsuka-kun. How can you say something so cruel to someone who doesn't have any friends...?"
Telling someone without friends to go with a friend? What a terrible person.
To put it another way, it was like telling someone who had no bread to eat cake.
"How is that my fault!? And Hieta, do you realize what you just said was even worse?"
At his aggrieved attempt to pin the blame on me, I shrugged and looked at Honjo-san.
She was watching us tease each other with a look that seemed nostalgic, or maybe envious.
"...?"
I found that odd, but I didn't ask in case it would be rude, and just turned back toward Itsuka-kun again.
Then—
"Pfft! You two are seriously funny!"
She suddenly burst out laughing.
"So this is what real close friends are like."
"Well, I guess that's about right."
In a way, Itsuka-kun could be called the first friend I made in this world.
I met the commander earlier, but with her, it was a little harder to call it friendship.
Since the commander and the others were the opposite sex too, the one I could really relax around was probably just Itsuka-kun.
"By the way, are you really fine with just that?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"〈Jod〉."
After stopping her laughter, she said something meaningful, then uttered a single word and made light burst from her body.
It was something I had seen before.
Right, the phenomenon that appeared when the commander or the other spirits summoned their [angel], whether through partial manifestation or full manifestation.
That was what Honjo-san was releasing right in front of us now.
When the light finally faded, what appeared was Honjo-san, manifesting an [angel] that looked similar to a nun's habit and staring at us.
"Wasn't your role to make spirits fall for you? Itsuka Shido and Higakieta Hai."
Calling out our names, which she had never once been told, she revealed that she was a spirit.
******
"...Oh, a transformation."
That was my reaction after witnessing Honjo-san manifest her [angel] firsthand.
I didn't know whether Itsuka-kun was too shocked to speak or had some other reason, but he just stared silently.
"What~? Don't you have a better reaction? I went to all the trouble of transforming~"
Unhappy with our response, Honjo-san complained.
"Huh?"
"Something more like... W-what!? Or maybe your heart goes doki! for a girl who suddenly changes!?"
"...Ehh, that's a bit much."
I was surprised on the inside, but honestly, the fact that she was a spirit wasn't all that shocking.
There was already precedent with Miku, who had been an idol and also a spirit, and since most of the people around us were spirits, it didn't really leave much of an impression.
So my expression didn't change either.
Also, maybe because I'd already seen that Honjo-san was a hopeless person, the kind of heart-fluttering reaction she wanted was impossible.
"Eeeh~ Look, isn't this [angel] pretty lewd?"
Honjo-san sat on the desk Itsuka-kun had been working at a moment ago and stretched her legs out, striking a pose.
Like she said, it was a pretty revealing [angel]... but...
'...Isn't Ren's more revealing?'
Thinking of the [angel] Ren had worn when threatening us as Samael, this one wasn't actually that revealing.
They were both basically translucent scraps of cloth, but there was something in the vibe, so Ren's felt more like that sort of thing.
"Don't brush it off. Nia, I get that you're a spirit, but how did you know about us? That..."
"You mean how you were dating spirits one by one and making them fall for you?"
"...Yeah."
That was something I was curious about too.
Even if she had guessed our names from the fact that Itsuka-kun and I called each other by our surnames, the fact that we were targeting spirits was something nobody knew except [Ratatoskr] and DEM.
So while I was focusing on getting the answer, Honjo-san held out a hand and opened her mouth.
"〈Raziel (Seopgo-pyeon-jil)〉."
At her call, a book materialized in the air. The book, with a cross-shaped design and a blue jewel set into its cover, was Honjo-san's [angel].
"This is your [angel], Honjo-san?"
"Yeah. My [angel], 〈Raziel〉. It's the [angel] of omniscience that sees through everything in this world."
"Omniscience..."
Omniscience.
Meaning knowing everything, and if Raziel really was the [angel] of omniscience as Honjo-san said, then in terms of information warfare it was an ability no one could surpass.
"E-everything in the world?"
"Yep. What's happening where in the world right now, and who is doing what. For example... yeah, like when you two were following each other and arrived in front of that alley."
Hearing that, I couldn't help but be shocked.
I had never explained it to Honjo-san, yet she even knew why we had ended up in front of the alley where she was.
As she said, that was proof that Raziel's ability was truly omniscience.
"Then, meeting us was..."
"Did you really think it was a coincidence? That I just happened to save a girl collapsed in the street, and she just happened to be a spirit? If it were me, I wouldn't make that the opening of a story."
What she was saying was that everything about our meeting had been intended by Honjo-san.
I had no idea since when, or why she had done it.
Did she have some business with us?
Before I could solve that question, there was one more thing I wanted to know.
"...Was making us help with your manuscript also intentional?"
Don't tell me that asking us to help with the manuscript had also been part of the plan?
"Ah, that was really just because I needed some help."
"So that part wasn't fake...?"
Should I call this a relief? Asking us to help with the manuscript really had been because the deadline was close.
No, seriously, then she really was just a hopeless person.
"So, what's your goal?"
"Hmm, I don't really have a goal. I just wanted to see you two in person. I was actually held by DEM until not too long ago."
Crack!
The moment I heard the word DEM, my hand clenched without me even realizing it.
"H-Hieta?"
"Boy, isn't your killing intent a little too strong?"
"...Ah, sorry."
I'd been screwed over by DEM so many times that just hearing the name seemed to make killing intent spread around me.
Those bastards. If I chewed them up and swallowed them, it still wouldn't be enough.
"Well, that's why I took a five-year break from serialization. Still, I managed to escape when they let their guard down the other day, so I was finally able to get back to work."
"So that's why the serialization stopped..."
Those five long years weren't just because of health problems; she'd been held by DEM the whole time.
This looked like one more reason to crush DEM.
"But while I was being held, I found out that [Ratatoskr] or whatever had started moving as a secret organization searching for spirits."
So [Ratatoskr] had started operating during the five years she was locked up.
Since I had only joined relatively recently, I didn't really know when [Ratatoskr] had begun operating.
"Um, then can't you use that Raziel to find out about me?"
"Nah, that's impossible. No matter how omniscient Raziel is, it can't know the future or people's hearts."
"So omniscience only covers things that happened in the past."
She called it omniscience, but what it covered was only things that had happened in the past.
The future and people's hearts weren't included.
"That's right. But this kind of thing is possible."
With that, Honjo-san pressed a pen to Raziel and started drawing something with quick strokes.
By the time the pen stopped moving—
"E-eh? My, my body moved on its own...!"
"Hyaaang~"
Itsuka-kun lifted up Honjo-san's [angel].
"...Control?"
Given Itsuka-kun's personality, there was no reason for him to do something like that, and since Honjo-san seemed to be drawing something in the book before it happened, I figured maybe she could control other people by some means.
"Oh, pretty close. More precisely, it's future notation. Everything written in Raziel is true, even if it's newly added."
"Whoa..."
As Honjo-san explained her ability, Raziel showed Itsuka-kun lifting up her [angel].
It was literally the power to write down the future you wanted and make it happen.
It wasn't a reality-manipulation power like Rinne, Rio, or Ren had, but just being able to make the future however you wanted was still an absurdly broken ability.
"Anything written in Raziel comes true. But it takes a lot of work, and it's pretty troublesome."
"A lot of work...?"
"It means I have to know exactly who the subject I'm drawing is."
Since it was such a broken ability, its restrictions were also extremely strict.
That was only possible because Honjo-san was a working professional manga artist; if someone else had drawn it, future notation might not have been possible at all.
You could say the ability had found the right owner.
"I-I see. That's surprisingly inconvenient."
Ah, Itsuka-kun had the face of someone who still didn't realize how broken Raziel was.
"Ah, boy. You still don't know how scary Raziel is, do you? Hey, boy? You were pretty skilled earlier when you were drawing... you've tried making manga before, haven't you?"
"...!"
Itsuka-kun panicked, apparently hit right in the weak spot by Honjo-san's words.
So he had been pretending not to do anything while working earlier?
"What kind of manga did you draw, I wonder~? I should ask Teacher Raziel!"
With that, Honjo-san used Raziel.
Then a knight appeared on Raziel, along with information about him.
"Oh, Black Knight Rivan."
"Ghk!"
Next, a woman was drawn.
"You'll need practice for drawing women..."
Then, the original version of the technique he considered his greatest source of embarrassment was drawn.
"This finisher is awesome! Swift Slash! Great Blast!"
"Oh-ho, so you drew this first and then acted it out."
"You came up with an original character in middle school, huh."
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
Seeing Itsuka-kun scream and collapse after his dark history was exposed made me realize once again just how terrifying this ability was.
"Next is Higakieta Hai. Let's see the red boy's."
"...Huh?"
Wait, what did that mean?
"Here we go!"
When Honjo-san used Raziel again, something began to be drawn on the pure white paper.
That was how it should have been.
But for some reason, nothing was drawn.
"Why isn't this working? Again!"
Startled, Honjo-san activated her power again, and this time something definitely appeared.
It was a dragon whose body had been ruined in various places by abyssal corruption.
"...Midir, the Darkeater?"
"If it's Midir..."
And facing it was a red-haired knight.
"Wait, this is..."
Thud!
Before the drawing could even be completed, something knocked Raziel out of Honjo-san's hand and sent it rolling across the floor.
"...Hieta?"
The one who had knocked Raziel away was none other than my hand, which had suddenly started pouring with cold sweat.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register