abcnovels
Chapter 122
Chapter 122: Inquiry and Confusion
After saying my farewell to Fujita-san, I am currently going through the mountainous regions. The parking area is already far behind.
“I guess this place will do.”
I park the motorcycle in a suitable place and store it in the Item Box. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to store it as the bike is something I borrowed from the City Hall, but there doesn’t seem to be a problem… I’m still unsure of what conditions I have to fulfill in order to store an item. Leaving the road, I enter a nearby forest. I shouldn’t be detected by anyone here.
“Kiki, please come out.”
“Kyuuu.”
Kiki pops out from the hood of my hoodie and proceeds to my shoulder, but I grab her and gently place her on the ground.
“Kyu?”
‘Why did you lower me? I don’t like it!’ As if to say that, Kiki attempts to climb up my body again, but I stop her from doing so.
“Kiki, right now, I’m about to show you my true appearance.”
“Kyu?”
Just in case, I look around. No problem. There isn’t anyone around. The surrounding trees are covering me, and “Enemy Detection” isn’t showing any signal.
I cancel the Ninjutsu. Ichinose-san’s appearance melts away, revealing my original appearance.
“As I thought, I feel more relaxed in this form.”
After all, my original appearance fits me best. It’s refreshing. While being disguised, it constantly felt like I was being forced to wear clothes that did not fit my body.
Now, how will Kiki react?
“Kyu?”
“Hm…? You aren’t reacting as much as I thought you would.”
I predicted that she would be very much alarmed. In fact, I even thought that she might run away. However, Kiki doesn’t appear particularly shocked.
Kiki tilts her head as if to ask, ‘What’s wrong?’.
“Kyukyu!”
She climbs my body and rubs her body on mine. Her fluffy tail tickles my neck.
(I often hear about foxes being smart. Did she realize that I was disguised? Perhaps it’s her intuition? Or is it a skill of hers?) Since she has the skills necessary to buff teammates, maybe she also have a skill that sees through disguises? If so, her reaction is understandable.
Well, there’s nothing wrong with her reaction though. I should consider myself lucky since I’m saved from the trouble of having to explain things to her.
I go out to the highway and take out a bike. This isn’t the bike which I borrowed; it’s the one which I had from before.
(There shouldn’t be any problem if I reapply my disguise when I’m near the City Hall.)
When I’m disguised, I’m at a disadvantage as I could not activate any of my other Ninjutsus.
While I’m moving alone, I have no reason to limit myself.
Sitting on the bike, I begin to consider the future.
“What should I do from now…”
As the Self Defense Force base has been destroyed, major changes must be made to our original plan. The main purpose of this expedition was to acquire modern weapons such as tanks, missiles, and military helicopters from the base.
At first, I worried that amateurs would not be able to operate those advanced machines, but when I thought about it, I realized that such problems could be ignored depending on the skills available.
Since there is a “Riding” skill that allows someone to freely operate vehicles, it wouldn’t be weird to have a “Handling” skill which allows for the handling of various weapons and machines.
(Even if I could not acquire such a skill, I could have used the “Riding” skill to control the tank or the helicopter. Ichinose-san would have been able to use the missiles and the rifles as well.) It is always better to increase the number of hidden cards on our hands. Having thought so, I executed the plan while performing actions which did not fit Ichinose-san’s personality. In spite of that, everything has to be scratched off now.
In addition, the destruction of the Self Defense Force base has proven one of my conjectures.
— Other prefectures and towns are not exempt from the threat of monsters.
This is something I predicted since a long while ago, and it has been proven this time around. Even if I leave the current city, it would be pointless if I encounter even more powerful monsters elsewhere.
“Since that’s the case, the first thing we should do is solidify our foothold in the city…” Now that the option of escaping isn’t available, there is no choice but to fight. Rather than fights monsters from other prefectures which we have no clue of, it is obviously better if we fight against monsters in this city which we have some information of.
“So nothing has changed in the end…”
Defeat monsters and raise levels. In the end, that’s the only conclusion that I can reach. We have to be stronger regardless of what we want to do. Ichinose-san is gaining experience by sniping monsters while keeping watch, so I should also try to gain levels.
“Guardian Golem Titan and Queen Ant Alpha…”
We would have to clash with them sooner or later. If I am to earn experience points, I would have to start with the ants.
When I’m near the City Hall, I’ll start to hunt every ant which I come across.
“I hope Ichinose-san and Rikka-chan are doing well.”
Massive quantities of mails are being sent to me in regular intervals, so they shouldn’t be facing any issues.
I restart the engine of the bike.
Some time ago…
Nishino was confused in the Underground Mall near the City Hall.
(What does this mean? Why don’t I see her name?)
He reviewed the list countless times. However, the name Ichinose Natsu wasn’t found anywhere.
Nishino knew that the list of contacts would be displayed in the order of their encounter — more precisely speaking, it was in the order of their encounter after he acquired the skill.
He could sort the list in alphabetical order, but he didn’t use that function.
(Is my assumption wrong? Or is there a function which makes someone anonymous…?)
Rikka was the one who taught him about the skill “Mail”. He was certain that Ichinose had been the one to inform Rikka about the skill. If so, it was plausible to think that she had gained enough levels to unravel hidden functions.
(Since it’s a “Mail” system, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to have a “private” function…) Was his hypothesis too forced?
If his guess was correct, it meant that Ichinose did not trust them yet. While it wasn’t particularly pleasant, Nishino could accept such an explanation. After all, he could always build up trust. However, in that case, another question appeared in his mind.
(Kudou Kazuto… who is this guy?)
This name was displayed in the location where Ichinose’s name should have been. Nishino didn’t remember hearing such a name.
(Did we pass by each other?)
Nishino explored his memory and tried to remember the people he passed by after meeting with Ichinose. Then, he compared each name with the ones on the list. Fortunately, most of the people in the first half of his list were people he met in the meeting room after coming to the City Hall.
(The order of the names on the list definitely matches. Then why…?)
There were dozens of people in the City Hall, so it was possible for them to have passed by each other without noticing. In fact, the second half of the list contained names which he had never heard of before.
It wasn’t strange to have a name he did not know listed. Nevertheless, the location on the list which this person’s name occupied was strange.
(There is a possibility that this guy possesses a hiding skill and passed by me when I wasn’t paying attention…) If so, the “Mail” function could be used as a detection skill. That would be fine. Rather, that could be a powerful advantage if used correctly.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
Nishino looked like a delinquent, but he wasn’t an idiot. His judgment skills, insight, and intelligence stood out among countless other human beings. That was why he came up with a certain possibility. It was just that he did not want to believe that it was real.
The possibility that Kudou Kazuto was the name of the girl who claimed to be Ichinose Natsu.
(If a skill that can disguise or change a person’s appearance exists, then everything makes sense.) But in that case, what was the reason? Why was there a need to disguise himself? In the first place, did Rikka know about this? If she did, why didn’t she tell him about it?
“…”
He took a glance at Rikka. She was chatting with Shibata and Goshogawara.
(She doesn’t seem brainwashed…)
He himself was brainwashed by Touka Igarashi once. He understood the unpleasantness and the unnatural behaviors exhibited by those that were brainwashed. He didn’t feel any of that from Rikka.
(Asking her directly would be the simplest thing to do I guess…)
Various thoughts were circulating within his head, but he decided to ask Rikka first.
“Rikka, can we talk right now?”
“Hmm? What is it, Nisshi?”
“There’s something I’d like to ask—”
It was at that moment. Just as he was about to ask Rikka about Ichinose, a voice echoed in his head.
“You received a Mail.”
(Who is it? At this time…)
He wondered if someone arrived at the City Hall. Nishino opened his status screen and clicked on the unread mail.
His eyes opened wide. The name displayed as the sender was — Ichinose Natsu.
“What!?”josei
This time, he was truly confused.