Chapter 41
I tried talking to Ayako-chan as we eat our breakfast . I thought I might get some details about when she was slashed in two .
Sponsored Content
“…I couldn’t see his face . He suddenly closed in from behind me . ”
“Right…did you hear any voice?”
“…no, nothing . ”
So that’s another bust .
Dealing with a surprise attack in the darkness of the night is difficult, especially for an ordinary civilian who never received any combat training . The information Ayako provided might not be reliable .
“Then do you remember anything strange happening recently?”
Maybe the culprit had met Ayako-chan beforehand . The suspicion would fall into a person who seems strange in the past few days .
“…I don’t remember anything noteworthy . ”
“Really . ”
“…yes, but…”
“Anything comes to mind?”
“Mom told me that a former classmate started to come to our bookstore frequently since last week . ” I couldn’t think that it’s got anything to do with it, she continues . “…but there’s nothing else I can think of . ”
“Classmate, huh . From last year?”
“No, from middle school . ”
Sponsored Content
“…a boy?”
“Yes . ”
I thought that he’s suspicious .
“Do you think he’s some sort of a secret admirer?”
“…no way . ”
“Why? You seem to be popular, right? So it shouldn’t be weird if you have a secret admirer or two . ”
Honestly I think she should be pretty popular as long as she doesn’t expose her personality too much .
“That person isn’t someone who could do something bad . ”
“You mean he’s a good person?”
“That’s not what I mean . He’s weak”, Ayako-chan whispered .
“Weak?”
“Yes…He got bullied right after entering middle school . I felt sorry for him, but…he stopped going to school from the second year . I heard that he rarely even goes out of his house, even now . ”
“So he became a shut-in . ”
I’ve heard of it somewhere before; someone who suddenly falls into being a shut in suddenly started to be active again .
Yeah, pretty much just like me .
Sponsored Content
Of course I wasn’t just shut in my room . I was thrown into another world, while they manipulated the people here to think that I was shut in my room the entire time .
…maybe he’s the same .
“Do you know his name?”
Ayako-chan scowled at my question .
“…I’m sorry, I’ve never talked to him, so I don’t know his first name . I know his family name, though; his name is Saeki-kun . ”
“No, no, that’s a good information . You…probably don’t remember his address, do you? Oh, how about going to your house again and looking at your yearbook?”
“It’s not possible, the yearbook doesn’t include contact addresses . ”
Right…I’ve heard of that somewhere . Compared to the yearbooks in my age that includes a lot of personal information, today is a difficult age .
“Ah well, that’s fine . Seems like we’re progressing anyways . ”
Saeki, Ayako-chan’s middle school classmate . I wondered if he’s also a summoned hero like me, but of course, I received no answer .
“But…him being a stalker…I never even spoke with him…how did he come to like me so much?”
After several transit, I reached the TV station . Originally, they plan to continue the hero interview on me, but the office is obviously more interested in the cloned people, seeing how much people got cloned . Once I felt dispirited knowing that my existence is gradually getting forgotten, Kurosawa the producer called out to me .
“Nakamoto-san, the numbers aren’t bad . The emphasis on your build paid off, don’t you think?”
“Really? I felt bad for looking like a narcissist, so I’m surprised it’s well received . ”
“The media is full of girls these days, you see, so the ratings would go up if we include some guys stripping . ”
I feel like I’m living in a completely different time than the 2000s, it’s completely different .
“So anyways, since you’re so full of spirit, I want to ask you to get involved with the other news that’s also so full of spirit . I have an advice about that, you see . ”
“…what kind of job is it?”
“It’s that, you know, that . The cloning incident” said the producer . “It’s also the center of people’s attention, right? Combine that with the anticipated genius magician with your physical beauty, the ratings will definitely soar through the roof!”
“…so what should I do?”
“I was about to say you should clone people as well but that’s going to be difficult, huh . ”
I could do it if I try though .
“That’s not going to be possible . That’s going to surpass the limits of what a human can do . ”
“True, but it doesn’t seem like the society thinks of it that way . We can just prepare a nameless twin for you and make it seem like you cloned them . ”
“That’s not going to…”
“It’s fiine, even magicians across the seas had twins pop up from now and then . That’s how they do those teleportation tricks these days . ”
I didn’t want to know that .
“So…it’s just a trick, but I just have to stand in front of the camera and make it seem like I cloned them, right?”
“That’s right, and try to do it like you’re provoking the culprit . ”
“…huh?”
“We’ll put on subtitles that emphasize it like “look I can do this too” so I’ll leave the rest to you . ”
Well…what do I do now .
“…can I request something before that?” Kurosawa looked confused when I asked that; he raised an eyebrow with a “hm?”
“Can I provoke him more directly? I’m thinking talking trash to him or something, like a people-cutting pervert or something . ”
“…you’re going to war, huh . ”
“I mean he would use his magic or whatnot to clone people into two, right? Doesn’t that make him a criminal?”
“Hmm…” the producer groaned as he strokes the tip of his nose .
“…Alright . Some people treats the culprit as a hero, but a lot of people in the internet calls to get him killed . The internet hates us so it might benefit us if we follow their ideas . We can use this to reconcile with the public . ”
“Thank you . I’ll do my best . ”
If Saeki is really the culprit of the cloning incident, the provocation should work . Well, there’s a big chance that he’s going to ignore it though . It’s like throwing a pebble into the waterfront, I’m just doing this with a faint hope that something will happen . Either a fish will pop up or a water spirit will, but it’s still better than nothing .
I can ask Rio to help me find out Saeki’s address since she went to the same middle school as Saeki and Ayako-chan, which means her brother King Leo went to the same school too, so there’s a chance that they might used to be classmates . I can ask that Lion of a brother to find out his identity and provoke him through my phone . Even if Saeki isn’t involved in this incident, it’s still likely that the culprit is a returned hero either way .
Besides, I happen to know how to trigger that sort of person .