Chapter 71: I don’t want to be seen as a dangerous person

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Translator: Soafp

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The next day.

Inside the carriage heading back to the Imperial Capital, after confirming that Victoria, Eri, and Lidiel were all asleep, I told Nee-san, who was sitting on the driver's seat, about what had happened the night before.

“So something like that happened last night. Then where is this Kokonoha person now?”

“She turned into this.”

“…That fox?”

A single pure-white fox lay quietly on my lap, breathing softly in its sleep.

It had nine tails, and its fur was even fluffier than Gal's.

“She looked really depressed, so I talked to her, and while looking at me she said, ‘…I see… I too am the same as the king… if I forget…' and then it looked like she used some kind of magic on her own head.”

“And that's why she ended up like this?”

“Yeah. …Can I keep her?”

“You're surprisingly quick to decide to keep something that was just recently human. Well, it'd be cruel to abandon her, so do as you like. …Let me pet her later too.”

Alright, I got permission from Nee-san.

When we get back, I'll need to buy a pet brush and some toys.

I should also look up what foods foxes shouldn't eat.

“Oh right, we need to give her a name.”

“…Isn't Kokonoha fine?”

“Since it's a fresh start, a new name would be better. When it comes to foxes, Tamamo-no-Mae… Tamamo… might be too ordinary. She's a nine-tail, so how about Kutama?”

“Ku—n.”

“Oh, you like it?”

When I called her Kutama, the nine-tailed fox opened her eyes and rubbed herself against me.

Cute.

“So, what about Belchika and Kokonoha's subordinates?”

“Belchika said she wants to conceal the underground space. As for the fox girls, I left them to the Indiscriminate Healing Magicians Nightingale, who came to recover Lauren.”

“…I see. The Indiscriminate Healing Magicians Nightingale is gradually turning into quite an amusing group.”

“Yeah.”

The craftsmen of the Indiscriminate Healing Magicians Nightingale will probably scream when they see the broken Lauren, but…

They should be able to make a tank-type Lauren, or a quadruped Lauren, or even a reverse-jointed Lauren.

Do your best, craftsmen.

“Still, how are we going to explain this when we get back to the capital?”

“Explain what? Just say the epidemic was a misunderstanding.”

“But how do we explain the Black King and the White God?”

“…Just say it was a case of chuunibyou delusions.”

The Black King and the White God.

Honestly, I thought they were just part of the chuunibyou group's made-up setting, including Belchika, but…

That humanoid tentacle thing, and that underground facility…

It feels a bit too large-scale to dismiss as mere delusions.

Maybe some of the events and stories I thought were just chuunibyou settings were actually real.

…Nah, no way.

So the hallucinations and voices I've been seeing and hearing since last night must just be my imagination.

[They're not hallucinations, and they're not auditory illusions either.]

“…Nee-san, Nee-san.”

“What is it?”

“Can you see the silver-haired girl standing there?”

“…You must be tired from staying up all night. Get some proper rest today.”

Looks like Nee-san really can't see or hear her.

In my line of sight—

There floated a girl with long silver hair, red eyes, and a jet-black dress, bobbing gently in the air.

Her chest was about on par with Nee-san's, I think.

[I've told you many times already: I'm something like a ghost. No one can see my form, no one can hear my voice. I can't physically interfere with anything except the scythe you carry, and at present, you're the only one who can observe me.]

“…Am I really that tired?”

[I told you it's not an auditory hallucination!! Accept reality already!!]

Seriously, what's wrong with me?

For now, I spoke quietly to the silver-haired girl so Nee-san wouldn't hear.

“At this point, I don't care if you're real or a hallucination, but if other people can't see you, then when I talk to you it just looks like I'm talking to myself, right?”

[Well, yes.]

“I don't want people thinking I'm some kind of weirdo, so please don't talk to me in public if you can help it.”

[Isn't a pervert who wanders the city at night spamming healing spells already weird enough?]

I don't really get what you're saying.

“So, who are you anyway?”

[Hm? …Very well. For now, I'll call myself Chloe.]

“Chloe… alright, Chloe. Please don't talk to me for a while.”

[Fine, fine. By the way, is this black-haired beauty your elder sister? Mufufu, she's quite cute. That modestly small chest is especially enticing—]

At that moment—

Nee-san, without even looking, threw a punch straight at Chloe's face.

“…? I wonder why, but I just felt an oddly irritating presence around here.”

[Isn't your sister scary? She shouldn't be able to see me, but she aimed straight for my face.]

“That's just something Nee-san can do.”

Still, it feels like I'm forgetting something again…

“King Ask!! Goddess Fran!! I finally found yooou!!”

“Oh, Luu.”

“Waaaaah!! I missed you so muuuuch!!”

The one who charged straight into the carriage was Luu, who had gone missing after I asked her to pass a message to Nee-san.

It's not like I forgot about her, okay? Yeah.

---

A few days after returning to the Imperial Capital following all that happened in Zotas.

“Ask Medicus!! Is Ask Medicus here!!”

“Hm? Isn't that the Duke of A*al's son? Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Who are you calling A*al!! Stop messing up my name already, you insolent fool!!”

The Duke of A*al's son holds a position leading the Kishirika Kingdom's diplomatic delegation.

Even though he's still a student, he stands as a representative of the kingdom, so he must always act with dignity and composure.

No one understands that better than he himself.

And yet, here he was, bursting into my room in a panic.

Just as I was wondering about that, the Duke's son spoke words I couldn't believe.

“Is it true that your sister is getting engaged to an imperial prince!?”

“…Huh!?”

Nee-san has a fiancé!?