Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #47
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 47:
Please Refrain from Soliciting on Campus
After
school the next day. We had come to a university somewhere in Tokyo to report
to our client that the quest had ended.
Normally,
a quest would end by just delivering a report or the desired item to the Guild,
but in a quest like this where the life or death of a person is involved, it is
kind of concluded by reporting directly to the client. It had become a custom.
In
many cases, the client, who might not be satisfied with an inorganic report
from the Guild, would be satisfied with a report from an adventurer who had
seen the body in person.
"Woo~ so
this is a university, huh? Everyone looks so fashionable and mature~."
Anna,
who had just entered through the main gate, looked around and exclaimed in
admiration.
It
was the first time for her to visit a university, and unlike a high school, the
place seemed liberating and sophisticated.
The
college students around us were all stylishly dressed and their hair was
groomed in a neat way, and they seemed to have a calm demeanor even though they
were only a few years older than us.
When
I saw high school students when I was a junior high school student, they seemed
quite mature, but from the perspective of high school students, university
students seemed to be a whole world away, even more mature.
...However,
just as you realize that you haven't really changed much on the inside when you
become a high school student, you may realize that you are not that much of an
adult when you become a university student.
".....Umm,
Senpai. Are they staring at us?"
The
fact that we were wearing our high school uniforms seemed to attract the
attention of those around us, and we had been getting curious looks from the
college students for a while now.
No,
no, not like that. The reason why we stood out was because of Anna's looks and
Oribe's fashion.
As
we were feeling uncomfortable, a man who was standing by the fountain near the
main gate approached us.
"Um, are
you by any chance the Jushichiya-san who accepted my request?"
It
was a mild-mannered young man of about 20 years old who walked up to us.
Anna,
who must have immediately recognized the young man's identity, answered,
"Ah,
yes! By any chance, are you Aoki-san?"
"Yes, I
am Seiya Aoki. Thank you very much for accepting my request."
Saying
this, Aoki-san bowed his head.
"It's
not appropriate over here, so for now, let's head to the club room."
"Oh,
yes."
Aoki-san
led us to the club room.
The
club room was unexpectedly small, with a table in the center taking up a lot of
space and various things crammed against the walls, creating a cramped space
for five or six people to fit in.
I
had the idea that a university club room would be more luxurious than a high
school club room, so I was surprised to find it unexpectedly shabby.
However,
even such a club room seemed to be enough for Anna, who looked around the room
with sparkling eyes.
"Senpai,
senpai! It's
a club room, a club room! It's so small and hard to move around,
it's just like a club room of a weak club, isn't it~!"
"H-
hey!"
How rude of
her!
In
a hurry, Oribe and I make Anna bow her head. Us moms will be embarrassed if you
do something stupid!
Aoki-san,
seeing us like that, laughed bitterly and said,
"Oh,
sorry, we're just a small circle of a few people. The Adventurers' Club has a
much larger room with more people."
"Ah, is
that so......"
I
didn't really understand the difference between a club and a circle, so all I
could do was reply like that.
"So...
you found Shoko's body?"
"Ah,
yes. This is the proof of belongings identification."
Anna
handed over the certificate issued by the Guild.
Aoki-san
took it and bowed.
"Thank
you....... As expected, Shoko was dead, wasn't she......"
I
asked Aoki-san, who was muttering sadly, while hesitating whether it was okay
to inquire,
"...Um,
what relationship did you have with Shoko Sato-san...?"
"She,
was my girlfriend."
"So it's
like that..."
Anna
and I remained silent, not knowing what to say to Aoki-san, who had tears in
the corners of his eyes after losing his lover. At that moment, Oribe, who had
been silently observing the surroundings since entering the clubroom, suddenly
opened her mouth,
"......This
is an adventurer's circle?"
"Huh?"
Aoki-san
was taken aback by the sudden question.
"You
mentioned earlier that the ...... Adventurers' Club place is more spacious. I
also noticed that there is a pile of adventurer's supplies by the wall."
When
Oribe said that, I looked at where she was pointing, and there was something
that looked like body armor peeking out of a bit of cardboard.
This guy, you
sure spotted it well,.......
"Ehs,
yes........ That is right. We are an adventurer's circle. Unlike the serious
Adventurers Club, we are a group of just a few people who have fun......."
"I
see....... Do you often go to the dungeon with your girlfriend?"
"Yes. We
started dating because I became her mentor. The cards she was using were
originally ones I rented, so it just came naturally..."
When
I heard that, I was shocked and thought, "Seriously? There was such a
way to make a girlfriend! I might as well go to college after
all!" but I felt something stuck in the corner of my mind.
"Wow!
It's amazing that you're in charge of teaching your juniors and can even afford
to rent cards!"
Oribe
said it with a fawning smile in a peppy voice I'd never heard before.
While
Anna and I were appalled by this, Aoki-san was beaming, as if he were not full
of pride.
"No,
it's nothing...... Well, at least I got a two-star rating."
Hmm!? Two stars......?
It
was then that I finally realized the true nature of the slight discomfort I had
towards Aoki-san.
Oribe
removed her flattering expression and cut in sharply with a suspicious look on
her face.
"Two
stars ......? Um,
with all due respect, ...... have you not gone looking for Shoko Sato-san
yourself?"
"Oh! T-
that's..."
Aoki
choked up at Oribe's words.
That
is right. If he is an adventurer, and a two-star adventurer at that, then it
would not be surprising if he went looking for his girlfriend on his own. No,
it would have been more natural. The very act of issuing a search request was
unnatural.
A
tense atmosphere began to flow in the air.
At
that moment, a knock sounded in the room.
"Yo~!
Eh?! Visitors?"
The
one who entered the room saying so was a handsome Johnny-ish guy.......
"Huh!
Kitagawa-kun!?"
"...Ah!
Aoki-san?"
The
young man staring at me in surprise was actually Aoki-san... the adventurer I
had met and traded cards with in the dungeon that day, who had been waiting in
front of the train station.
"Eh,
uh...... Aoki?!"
Surprised,
I compared the two Aoki-san.
Although
there was a difference in the degree of their good looks, they seemed to have
something in common in their facial features.
Could it
be......?
"h, Let
me introduce you. This is my older brother, Minoru Aoki."
"Nice to
meet you! It's been a while, Kitagawa-kun."
"Oh,
it's been a while."
With
that, I shook hands with Minoru, who held out his hand to me with a cheerful
smile on his face.
Then
he whispered in my ear,
"......Whew,
I was worried about you. You know, I mean, something like that happened in the
dungeon, right? Before
I knew it, I found myself collapsed in the Dungeon Mart. I was questioned about
the situation and stuff. .....Kitagawa-kun, too, right?"
"Oh,
yes. I see..... Aoki-san also dived that day, after all."
"That's
right. Actually, did you do that?"
“No way!”
When I shook my head in surprise, he looked
at me for a moment, as if observing, but then he laughed and pulled his face
away, saying, "I see!"
“So, what
kind of gathering is this?”
"Ah, you
see, it's about Shoko's search quest.
At
Seiya's awkward words, Minoru's face tensed up.
"Oh.....
I see. ...Thank you very much for this."
"It's
nothing......."
As
I shook my head, I also remembered.
Right,
Minoru-san should also be a three-star or higher adventurer.......
"...By
the way, Minoru-san is also a three-star adventurer, right? Why didn't you ask
him to search for Shoko-san? Wouldn't you have been able to avoid paying the
request fee if you have asked your older brother?"
"Hmm?
Ah, I see. That makes you wonder. The reason is that I stopped my little
brother from going looking for her himself. I mean, it's dangerous,
right?"
"Dangerous?"
“Ah,
I mean, Shoko-chan, who has a year-long career and a well-developed D-rank
card, has gone missing, right? Well, there must be something going on. Besides,
there have been a strange number of disappearances in the F-rank dungeons
recently. Of course I stopped him from going. He's my younger brother after all.''
"That's.....
true, but......
"............................................."
Seiya-san
looked down with a somber expression as Minoru-san responded plainly.
......In
fact, Minoru-san's point was correct. He showed a calmness befitting a
three-star status. In terms of crisis avoidance, he was probably much more deft
than me.
However,
I think he may be too heartless in the crisis of his brother's girlfriend, who
was also his junior.
Besides,
now I wonder about the fact that he was in the same dungeon with me that day.
I
know it was not good to be too suspicious, but I'm beginning to even doubt
about trading the dragonet for the lycanthrope.
...However,
now I understand why Seiya-san made the request.
If
his older brother, who was better than him, stopped him for a justified reason,
and if that older brother was also unable to be relied upon, he would have no
choice but to submit a request.
"I'm,
sorry for asking such a strange question."
"No......"
The
three of us bowed our heads, and Seiya-san also seemed to have some thoughts,
so he easily forgave us.
Should
we go back for today.......?
"Then,
excuse us, we'll go now."
"Oh......,
thank you for taking the trouble to see me today."
"It's no
problem."
We
left the room in a delicate atmosphere.
As
we passed through the main gate still in silence, Oribe suddenly murmured,
"That
circle... it seems to be connected to the Star Mother Association."
"Eh,
why?"
Anna
looked at Oribe in surprise.
"Did you
notice the painting hanging on the wall?"
....Painting?
Was there such a thing? Did that happen? It was so messy that I didn't notice
it at all.
But
Anna, who had been looking around the room a lot, seemed to remember it.
"Ah~,
there was something there, wasn't there? It was a picture of a giant bigger
than a mountain...was it? It's kind of cheap looking and weird."
"Yeah,
it's this painting."
Saying
that, Oribe showed us the screen of her phone.
It
depicts a naked beautiful woman larger than a mountain, and countless people with
black wings flying around her...beings that were probably fallen angels.
It
looked like some kind of religious painting,...... but was it a famous painting
that one could immediately search for and find?
"This is
an oil painting that is rumored to be sold by the Star Mother Association. They
claim that the albino saint is a half-breed between the fallen angel monster
card and a human mother, whether they are telling the truth or not. In other
words, she is a modern-day Nephilim."
The
Nephilim are giants born from humans and the Grigori, a group of fallen angels
that appear in the Old Testament.
The
Grigori were a group of angels who originally had the meaning of 'watchers'.
They descended to earth to teach the technology of civilization, but because
they were a group that only consisted of men, like students at a boys' school,
they were defeated by beautiful human women, as the sad anecdote goes.
Having
learned about sexual desire and women's bodies, the Grigori taught the 'secrets
of the universe', ...... which God had prohibited them to teach, various bad
knowledge, spreading corruption on earth and even creating the Nephilim, the
children of fallen angels and humans.
The
Nephilim were beautiful looking, but they were 1350 meters tall, ferocious in
nature, and would eat anything they could get their hands on, even committing
cannibalism.
As
a result, God, enraged by this situation, said, "Oh, there is no other way
but to reset it!" and created a great flood that washed away everything on
earth except for a few humans and animals.
Hence,
the famous Noah's Flood.
However
...... I never knew that the albino saint was set up to be half fallen angel
and half human.
Naturally,
I had never heard of a half-born between a monster card and a human or an
animal.
There were
masters all over the world who engaged in naughty acts with girl cards and
handsome cards, and yet not a single one of them had a child, so it must be
impossible to have a child with a monster card.
In other
words, the claim of the Star Mother Association was a lie, but I was curious as
to why they dared to pick the Nephilim, who was half fallen angel and half
human, rather than a messiah such as Christ.
"It
seems that people who join the Star Mother Association are encouraged to buy
this Nephilim painting. Well, it's a common story in cults. I hear the price
for one piece is as much as several hundred thousand dollars."
"Eh!
What a rip-off!"
I am
disappointed. I'll quit being a fan of the saint.
"By the
way, I heard that the number of groups belonging to the Star Mother Association
is gradually increasing within the adventurers' community at
universities."
"What? Why is that?"
"The
answer appears to be because of the generous support they will receive from the
Star Mother Association in relation to dungeon-related matters. I heard that
they are doing a wide range of things such as card and magic item exchanges,
high priced purchases, and also guidance and lectures for newcomers who are
unfamiliar with the dungeon."
......I see.
A safe
place to trade cards was something adventurers were dying to have.
If you can
get those access, it was not surprising if they bought one or even two
paintings in lieu of a membership card.
......But I
had no idea that the circle that Shoko Sato-san belonged to had connections
with the Star Mother Association.
What if…
what if...?
What if the
Hound Master was using the Star Mother Association? Wouldn't it be easy to get
a list of names, or other information about the adventurers' circles that was
attending the card exchange and the newcomer training sessions?
Approaching
the adventurers' groups under the guise of a card exchange, and looking for
suitable prey.......
They can
also collect gremlin cards, killing two birds with one stone.
The
adventurers' circle, full of joy seekers, would seem more reasonable, with a
lower risk of receiving a counterattack.
Besides,
the Aoki brothers. There were too many doubtful points to call them completely
innocent.
...... am I
indeed overthinking this?
Making
assumptions can hinder the investigation.
Even though
I thought so, combined with my distrust of the cult, my suspicions about the
Star Mother Association remained in the corner of my mind like a lump.
[Tips]
Nephilim
The
Nephilim are a mixed race of giants born between fallen angels and humans. The
Star Mother Association considers their saints to be a mixture of human and
messenger angel (= monster card) sent by the dungeon.
However,
there have been no confirmed cases of children being born between cards and
humans.
Because of
the nature of cards, which are good-looking and cannot go against their
masters, there is no end to masters who engage in sexual acts with cards, but even
now, nearly twenty years after the labyrinth appeared, there have been no cases
of children being born. and it is believed that it is impossible to have
children with a monster card.
***
Previous chapter | Novel page | Next chapter
Help us out and get Advanced Chapters on
our Patreon! (Psst, go and check out the FREE trial on the first tier!)
Or you can keep our spirit up by buying us Coffee (人ゝω・）
