Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #46
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 46:
Chasing the Dead (2)
"A,
anyway, let's go after her......!"
"Ah,
um!"
With a
confused head, I managed to say that much and chase after the figure.
Why, did
Shoko Sato-san...? She is
alive? Come to think of it, no body was
found. She is just missing. But why is she still here? Is she an associate of the criminal? Or is she cooperating with them under
threat?
Numerous
questions filled my head.
But even
more questionable was her state.
Even though
she was being chased, she was not using her cards to escape, but instead was
running away on her own feet.
I thought
she might be trying to lure us in, but her appearance was clearly
desperate....... The face that she displayed as she looked back from time to
time looked as if she was saying that she would die if she was caught.
I was a
little hesitant, but decided to take the initiative and call out to her.
"......Wait! Hear us out!"
......No
good. No response. Perhaps she thinks that we are friends with the Hound
Master?
"You're
Shoko Sato, right!? We're
adventurers on a missing person search quest! We are here to look for you!"
I shouted
at her, but she still did not respond.
She
occasionally glanced back at me with a look of horror on her face, and then ran
away frantically with her legs, her speed gradually slowing down.
No matter
how you look at her, it doesn't seem like she was part of the Hound Master
gang.
Then she
stumbled over a tree root and fell.
For a
moment, the possibility of a trap crossed my mind, but I decided that I should
take the risk and catch her.
"You
guys can wait here."
Saying
this, I approached her alone.
But just as
I was about to touch her.
"......! S, she's gone?"
Shoko
Sato-san disappeared, as if she was a haze or something.
Oh no! I knew it was some kind of skill trap!
I
immediately jumped back, but.......
".........................................?"
...... but
nothing happened.
That's
strange ....... I inwardly scratch my head. I thought the enemy would attack me
by surprise any minute......
After a
minute of vigilance, nothing happened, so I turned back to Anna and the others.
"Uh? What do you think this means?"
But the
girls just looked at me with a furtive glance and didn't answer anything.
Eventually,
Anna asked me with a confused and pale expression,going on?
“…Um,
what… are you talking about?”
"What...?"
This time,
I was the one who was puzzled.
We just
found Shoko Sato-san to be alive, didn't we? No matter how you look at it, this
was an abnormal situation. Even if she was an associate of the criminal, even
if she was blackmailed into cooperating with them, she was still a strong lead.
And also
about the fact that she just disappeared right in front of us. If it was a
trap, we would have to be on the lookout for an enemy attack.
All of
these were questionable..... but the girls' reactions were somehow dull.
Anna said
hesitantly,
"What
were you ...... chasing and what were you ...... talking to earlier,
Senpai?"
"Huh......?"
A cold
sensation ran down my back.
……Did
Anna and the others... not see Shoko Sato-san?
Even though
she clearly existed?
"Um,
Master... there's a smell of blood coming from over there..."
"What……?"
Yuki led
the way, tracing the source of the smell.
As I veered
off the path and pushed through the vegetation...
"U......!"
"Hii......!"
"This
is......!
---- there
was a corpse, presumably that of a young woman.
It was a
miserable corpse that had probably been devoured by the dungeon's monsters and
no longer retained its original form.
Perhaps due
to the dungeon's characteristic of distorting space and time, the corpse's
decomposition has not progressed. However, on the contrary, it conveyed a
'fresh' sense of death to those who saw it.
It was as
if it was telling them that if they had been a few minutes earlier... she would
have been saved,......
If you were
talking about grotesque, the stench and appearance of Yomotsushikome would be
nastier.
However,
the 'death' of a fellow human, different from that of the monster cards, had a
totally different impact on all of us.
I couldn't
move an inch in front of the corpse, Anna let out a faint scream and turned
pale, and Oribe was looking at me with her eyes wide for some reason.
And ......
the clothes the corpse was wearing were those of Shoko Sato-san, whom I had
been chasing just a few minutes earlier, and the relatively undamaged face that
was still intact on the head also proved that this was Shoko Sato-san herself.
"......Gh."
When I
became aware of this, it was a shock to me that I did not anticipate.
It wasn't
the fear of what could have happened to me if I had been a little less lucky.
Certainly,
there was that fear, too. Who wouldn't be horrified to see this scene and know
that there was a good chance that you would have been one too?
But what
shocked me more than that was the fact that there were actually victims.
It sounded
bizarre, but even though I myself was attacked by the Hound Master, I didn't
realize that many people were dead......, and that many people were being
killed.
I thought I
understood that a lot of people were dying. However, it was information in the
form of text.
But now
that I saw a dead body, I finally understood what the Hound Master had done.
This
was...... gruesome. Too gruesome.
Before I
knew it, I found myself clasping my hands together in prayer for her.
Anna and
the others followed suit and began praying for the peace of her soul.
Right now,
this was all I could do.
"So..."
After a few
minutes of silent prayer, Anna suddenly muttered,
"Is it
correct to say that this person is Shoko Sato-san?"
"Probably.
There is no information that there are any other people who have not returned
from this dungeon..."
When I said
that, Anna looked at me in fear.
"If this
person is Shoko Sato-san..."
"Hm......."
"Then
...... what on earth is the thing that Senpai saw earlier .....?"
"..................................."
A quiet
chill ran down my back.
There was
no doubt that this body is Shoko Sato, judging from the clothes she was
wearing.
In other
words, the thing I was chasing was not the living Shoko herself. ......
Also, there
is no reason for the perpetrator to pinpoint her apparition only to me......
That means
that thing was .......
Anna said
as she crept away from me,
"Honestly,
is Senpai the kind of person who can 'see' that kind of thing,......?"
"N, no,
that should, not be the case......."
Since I was
born, I had lived my life without any connection to spirits or anything like
that.
In the
first place, I don't think that I have the ability to see spirits...I don't
think I have such skills like a main character.
But on the
other hand, I could not deny the existence of ghost...... or souls.
Because I
had seen the souls of children who were once captured by the Pied Piper of
Hamelin.
You could
think that that was just an effect of a skill. Considering what Renge said when
she saw the children's corpses, "They're still trapped here," it
should be a skill that utilizes the children's souls.
However, I
had never seen anything like that since then.
If I had
gained awareness of the existence of souls during the battle of Hamelin, and if
my astral vision talent had been awakened, then it should have been possible
for me to see them outside of the dungeon.
I wonder,
why it became visible at this time.......
Besides,
that thing from earlier was a bit strange to be called a ghost. It was not like
she was talking about her regrets. It was more like she just replayed the past
events of her life......
“Probably,
what Senpai saw was residual thoughts.”
Oribe
suddenly commented.
When I
turned to ask what she meant.....
"If the
spirit was not talking to Senpai, but was repeating the behavior just before
death, then it must be a residual thought. Senpai's eyes must have picked up on
the victim's strong thoughts that were burned into the scene of the
crime."
As Oribe
spoke so quickly, her eyes, unlike her usual stare, were wide open and shining
brightly.
"Does
spirits exist? This has not been scientifically proven, even now that
ghost-type monsters have appeared. However, some of the cards of the Shinto and
Buddhist types profess the existence of spirits, and some magic items allow
communication with the dead. In other words, spirits do exist, then it is no
surprise that there are ghosts!"
"S-Sayo,
calm down..."
"How can
I remain calm?!"
Oribe
stated as though biting Anna who was trying to calm her down.
......To be
honest, it was a little scary.
"There
are those who have communicated with the dead using magic items, but no one has
ever seen a spirit in the flesh! There
are plenty of self-proclaimed psychics out there, but my senpai is the real
deal! After all, he discovered the body with
his psychic ability! I never
thought that a psychic was actually real this close to me......! It's amazing, it's too amazing!"
Oribe was
looking at me with flushed cheeks, as if she had met a celebrity she admired.
Apparently,
the ability to see spirits had struck a nerve in her strike zone as an occult
lover and a chuunibyou sufferer.
But to be
honest, I was not happy at all. I would have preferred to be blind of them for
the rest of my life.
"How did
you awaken this ability, Senpai? Are
you born with it? Or did you
wander the borderline between life and death, and unfold your latent ability? Can you feel spiritual power? C- can you share it with me?!"
"N, no,
even if you ask that..."
I have no
idea how it happened, and if I could give it to you, I would.
When I was
flinching from Oribe's intensity, Anna, who couldn't stand it anymore, stepped
in between us.
"Okay,
okay, let's talk about that later, all right? It's not something we should be talking about
here......."
"Right,
right, right, we need to recover the body and belongings first. We can't let
her like this."
"Hm...
That's true, it's inappropriate. And her spirit is here, too......"
When we
mentioned that, Oribe meekly stepped back.
I sighed at
that, but suddenly paused.
......Who's
going to pick this body up?
I glimpsed
at the corpse. The state of damage of the body, which had probably been
devoured by beast-type monsters, was extremely severe, making it unbearable to
look at directly. I was hesitant to even bring it into view, so I felt even
more reluctant to touch it directly.
I'm sure I'll
have to do it,...... I'm the
only guy after all.
But ......
frankly, I don't want to do it .......
It might be
appalling considering that I had just prayed for her soul... but this was a
different story.
No matter
how much of an adventurer I am, I'm not used to human corpses.
I had never
seen a dead human body before, except for the corpses of the children of
Hamelin.
In other
words, when it comes to this kind of thing, I am just a high school student,
and there is no way that a mere high school student can take the initiative in
recovering a corpse...... that has been savagely murdered.
Moreover, I
had just seen what seemed to be her ghost.
When I
thought about what would happen if I was cursed by touching a dead body, my
fear slightly outweighed my sympathy for the victim.
Ah, if only
Eliza is here at a time like this...... At that moment I thought like that,
suddenly, Oribe stepped forward.
"O,
Oribe ......?"
Eh...... no
way, don't tell me......?
I looked at
her expectantly, and she put on a pair of white gloves she had taken out of her
pocket...
"Leave
this to me. There are things I want to check out."
She said
this as if it was nothing.
Oh oh oh,
sorry! Thank you! I'm sorry for being a pathetic senior!
While I
inwardly offer my heartfelt thanks, Oribe began to inspect the body.
"The
condition of the body is terrible. ......This doesn't tell us whether the
killer killed her or whether the monsters in this floor killed her. But if the
criminal did kill her, surely they use the same cards as the monsters
here,.......
But... are there
any signs of sexual assault? At least the criminal doesn't seem like a vile man
in that sense. Or maybe it's a woman...?
What's she
carrying with her? Her license, wallet, and a commuter pass, and smartphone?
This light clothing and the fact that she didn't even have a tear gas canister
on her, she must have been very careless. Are they targeting beginners or those
who are less cautious?
The wallet
contains ...... ten thousand yen bills? And a cash card with electronic money
function. It doesn't seem like the culprit was simply motivated by
money..."
Oribe,
while mumbling and muttering, quickly and efficiently collected the belongings.
Finally,
she instructed Yomotsushikome to place the body into a special bag he had
prepared, then turned back to us.
"Phew......
it's done."
"Oh, oh! Good work. No, seriously, you really
saved me...... so, did you find anything?"
"Yeah, I
found a license and a phone. As I thought, it looks like the devices has been
subjected to mechanical destruction. If it's just the phone, it will be
doubtful, but as the license is also broken, it's definitely the work of
gremlin."
"So,
it's confirmed that the method is similar to the Hound Master."
Is it now
confirmed that the culprit used gremlin in the crime? In other words, it wasn't
a coincidence that I was attacked by gremlins at that timing.
If I had
left at that time....... No, the Hound Master was clearly aiming at me. I would
have been attacked sooner or later.
In fact, if
I had left at that time, the Hound Master would have been more wary of me and
probably would have taken more precautions against me to attack.
If that had
happened, I would not have had time to use the [Transfer] magic card and I
would have lost my life.
In that
light, it was probably a blessing in disguise that I was attacked at that
time.......
"So, was
there that thing you were talking about?"
'No,......
unfortunately there wasn't. Well, I didn't expect all the victims to have it
from the beginning. In fact, it would be unnatural if they had it. Therefore, I
thought that even if they had it, it would be only one out of a few."
"I.....
see?"
Anna tilted
her head.
What is the
reason for the criminal to let the victim escape through the stairs? What thing
could the victim have in their possession that not all victims would have
......?
What in the
world is it......?
Since she
was not willing to tell us right now, we can't force her to tell us. ......She
did the dirty work for me, too.
“Now
that we have recovered the body, shall we return to the surface?”
There was a
possibility that the Hound Master might attack us.
It's better
to talk about various things after we get settled down on the surface.
......Then
again, what is all this psychic vision ability?
I thought
to myself as I headed towards the return gate on the bottom floor.
Why did
something that I couldn't see before become visible at this point in time?
Something
like some talent that was sleeping inside me has blossomed....... is something
unlikely. I know very well that I don't have that kind of special talent.
If I have
any such a protagonist quality, ...... I'd expect it to be something external.
External...
If this is an ability that was given to me by someone on purpose... ......
What are they
trying to tell me by showing me the spirits of the dead?
I
frequently recall the sight of Shoko Sato-san.
She was
running away. In other words, it became a certainty that she was not killed on
the spot by the Hound Master after giving her cards, and that she indeed was
let to escape up the stairs. However, what would they do if the victim happened
to meet another adventurer and was protected?
The fact
that they destroyed her license and camera must mean that they wanted to erase
any trace of themselves.
Yet, why
would they do something that could leave evidence in the form of the victim's
testimony.....?
These
questions kept going around and around in my head.
[Tips]
Subordinate Summoning
A skill
that summons monsters of a lower rank than the summoner. In most cases, a
monster one rank lower is summoned, but some cards can summon monsters of the
same rank or lower.
There are
two types of Subordinate Summoning: one is to summon a small number of monsters
every fixed period of time without limit, and the other is to summon a large
number of monsters at once, although the number is limited. Most of the types
that can summon monsters of the same rank are the latter type.
The
summoned subordinates have lower combat power than their original race, have no
skills other than inborn skills, and do not grow in combat power.
***
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