Chapter 44
I walked through the morning scenery of the town, and my destination, obviously, is Saeki’s home . I’m sacrificing my precious day off for this investigation, so I really wish this could show some good results .
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The reason why I decided to go at it alone is because I thought of the time when we had to fight back then . If Angelica were to be taken hostage again, a winnable fight might not be as winnable anymore . Angelica really wanted to come along, but I can’t let her do that .
Confirming the route through my phone, I continued walking . I’m pretty close to it now, I just need to turn left at that dental clinic .
After moving another dozen meter down the road, a two-storied private house came to sight . It doesn’t look fancy as if it belongs to a rich person, but it doesn’t look shabby either . It gave the impression of a humble home of a lower-middle class family who probably took out some loans .
The nameplate says that it’s the Saekis’ home . This is it .
I cast a concealment spell on myself and stood in front of the front door . Normal people wouldn’t be able to see me now, and if someone can see me, that means that person is a selected Hero . Of course I’d be found out immediately if they were to point a phone camera at me, but I doubt anyone would go around randomly pointing a camera at 7 AM in the morning, so I think I should be okay even if I do something bold .
That said, I shouldn’t just ring them through intercom, so I should try to enter through the garden instead .
Jumping over the fence, I landed on their flower bed . Their garden is well maintained, so I guess Saeki’s parents took up gardening as a hobby .
Should I jump to the roof and check the second floor from there? Usually the children’s room is up on the second floor . Saeki doesn’t go to school, so chances are he’s still sleeping in his room . If he were a returnee like I was though, he should be up early as a consequence of living in the medieval world, so there’s also the possibility of him being in the living room .
As I was troubled thinking what to do, I heard the front door being opened .
Is it his intuition? Or does his family just decide to go out?
I raised my guard just in case . Depending on what happens, it might turn into combat .
“I’ll be off~”
Yet it seems like my fear was needless . The source of that voice was a young girl . I’ll bet that’s Kana, Saeki Yuuta’s little sister, a girl in her teenage years, the same generation as Angelica and Rio . Clad in her uniform blazer, she lifts her shoulders, feeling cold from the weather .
Her looks are average, and knowing that they’re relatives, I guess Saeki himself would look pretty average as well .
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She left at a good timing . Now that their front door is open, I should excuse myself in .
Fully using my invisibility, I snuck into the Saekis’ home . Shimmying beside Kana, I entered through their front door . As for my shoes…I took mine off just in case . I still can’t be sure if he’s the perpetrator of the whole case, so I was still hesitant of sullying their house with my dirty shoes .
As I arranged my shoes, a middle-aged woman passed through . She must be the mother of the house . This being the early morning of weekdays, the woman with old-lady-styled hair runs around busily . I’ll bet she’s nearing her fifties .
Careful not to bump into her, I passed next to the lady and went up to the second floor .
As I reached the upper floor, I immediately spot two doors opposite of each other, one room belonging to Saeki and the other, his little sister .
I approached the door of the former and put my hand on the doorknob . It would be a huge hassle if it were locked, but fortunately it opened easily . Maybe they have a policy of not putting locks on the children’s room .
I slowly opened the door, but…
“…This isn’t his room . ”
I was immediately convinced that this isn’t his room . Why? Because the room is flooded by pink trinkets and plushies they probably won from crane games fills the bed . I’m sure this is the little sister’s room .
I closed the door and approached the opposite room . I quietly put my hand on the doorknob and realized that this room isn’t locked either .
Unsure what might come springing out, I only opened the door slightly and carefully peeked through the crack . Thankfully, I wasn’t greeted by Saeki standing ready with his sword or anything, so I heaved a sigh of relief .
There was no one in the room .
Feeling disappointed from the anticlimactic development, I opened the door further .
The dark room was decorated by blue curtains and carpet . There was a game console lying between a bunch of shounen magazines scattered about, truly a room befitting a teenage boy .
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There’s a 500ml pet bottle lying on the floor, half consumed, but other than that, there’s no other trashes around, but to hell with the trash, that’s not what’s weird here . There’s something else that’s abnormal about this room .
(Looks like he’s pretty angry)
There are holes in Saeki Yuuta’s walls . Judging by the size, I think he punched it with his fist, and there’s more than just dozens of them . These holes are made out of a great deal of anger .
I’ve no clue if he’s really just a shut-in or a summoned hero, but his mental state is a dead giveaway . A person like this is likely to cut someone from behind and split them into two . He could definitely attack a fellow person and it wouldn’t be enough . Being extra careful isn’t enough .
I considered the possibility that Saeki might be hiding somewhere in the room, so I looked around under the bed and in his closet, but I couldn’t find anyone . Saeki Yuuta isn’t in this room .
I exited the room, went back down to the first floor and headed for the living room . There, I found the mother figure hastily fixing her make up in front of a mirror, probably preparing to go to her part time job while the father figure is focused in reading his newspaper .
It seems like the absence of their son is normal for them .
Where could Saeki Yuuta be?
As I looked around the room, the father suddenly spoke as if remembering something;
“Is Yuuta still out on a walk?”
The mother didn’t respond and kept patting powder on her face .
“He used to always stay shut in his room but all of a sudden he decided to go take a stroll daily . What’s up with him?”
“Isn’t it better than staying shut in his room?”
“Like a certain someone?”
“…Just like you . Seriously you’re both two peas in a pod . ”
“He looks like me but he’s like you on the inside you know . You’ve been staying at home for damn near 10 years but all of a sudden you started working like you just remembered something . Yuuta is just like you . ”
“Well I’m aware that my husband fell out of an upwards track in his career, so obviously I’d go out and work myself . ”
“Huuh?”
This is a dangerous atmosphere . Why are they having a marital quarrel this early in the morning? You’re both gonna drag my mood down with you . I felt like these guys shouldn’t show this to someone who’s not your family .
Let’s just quickly investigate this place and go home .
According to the father, Saeki Yuuta is currently out, so it won’t do me any good to stay here .
I quickly head to the entryway, put my shoes on and exited the house after knocking my shoes in place . With their fence behind me, I crossed my arms . Now I just need to wait for the person in question to return home .
I sighed a white mist as the cold wave still sweeps the city . I look up to the sky and strained my ears for no reason .
About five minutes passed, and as I grew bored, I thought of playing something my phone, but as I was about to do that, I heard footsteps coming closer along with the sound of someone out of breath . Seems like the voice came from someone jogging early in the morning .
…the figure of a slender boy running in his tracksuit is coming closer . His unsteady footsteps carried him running to the garden and he ended up almost falling over .
Is this Yuuta?
“Open Status” I checked the crouching boy’s status .
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Name: Saeki Yuuta
Level: 1
Class: Jobless
HP: 35
MP: 0
Attack: 0
Defense: 50
Agility: 70
Magic Attack: 10
Magic Defense: 70
Skill: None
Notes:
A boy who turned into a shut-in after being bullied . He currently resolved himself to rehabilitate by focusing on developing his physical strength .
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And then, I realized that I was way off the mark
“…what?”
Saeki Yuuta is not a summoned hero . He doesn’t have any skill and his physical attributes are lower than average . He’s just a former shut-in, a harmless ordinary person who’s struggling to change himself . There’s no way he’s proficient at spells that can cut people clean in two and regenerate them .
Saeki is not the culprit of the cloning incident .
That was when I decided that I need to rethink my deduction .