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Finally, he understood why those gangsters had been so terrified of him.
Not that Ryoji really wanted to understand.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that once he grasped these kinds of things, the entire TYPE-MOON Academy, and perhaps even all of Kinoko Town, would start to feel… off.
Ryoji decided it was better not to think about such terrifying possibilities.
"This isn't over."
The ahoge-less Alter grabbed the three thugs by their pant legs like dragging corpses and hauled them away.
Regarding Mother Tomoe, it was true, her little brother had acted inappropriately, so an apology was warranted.
But the fact that so many of her little brothers had "turned" because of him, leaving the group atmosphere extremely bizarre… that, she would never let slide.
"I didn't expect the legend to be true! Elder Brother, you really are impressive in every sense!"
Souji, ever eager for chaos, watched the scene with an almost wicked delight, her face full of that "taking pleasure in other people's misfortune" expression.
"Bam!" Ryoji backhanded her lightly.
"Go home and cook dinner!"
"You hit me again! If you're so good, why don't you cook it yourself?"
"I would dare to make it. But do you dare eat it?"
"Ah… uh…"
Souji shivered violently and fell silent.
Big Brother's culinary skills were, without exaggeration, catastrophically hopeless. Even "dark cuisine" could not compare.
"Aiya, Li, I heard you joined the Student Council?"
In the evening, Mother Yorimitsu returned home and immediately hugged Ryoji with unrestrained joy, practically siphoning his energy.
"They say students in the Student Council can get into top universities after graduation! My son really has a bright future ahead!"
Truthfully, whether he went to school or not, Ryoji would never lack food or comfort. But in the eyes of parents, attending a prestigious university was always a point of pride.
Still, he had only decided to join the Student Council this morning… How had the news spread so fast?
"I also heard you found a girlfriend?"
"I didn't."
"Huh? But Mom heard…"
"She's the one who found me."
"Hehe, such a mischievous boy!"
Yorimitsu gently ruffled his hair, smiling warmly, then teased, "Next time, bring this girlfriend of yours home, okay?"
"Maybe later, maybe later," Ryoji replied vaguely.
Nero was impressive, no doubt, but if she met his family, things could spiral quickly.
Then again… who's to say he won't manage his time better in the future? That way, he wouldn't lose out.
"Mom, are you really okay with this?"
Souji couldn't help but protest. "She's the heiress to the Roman Consortium! The next head of the family! The gap between us is enormous!"
"My son is the best!"
"…Soncon," Souji muttered under her breath.
"Of course! And my daughter is the best too!"
Yorimitsu's eyes softened, growing nostalgic.
"In the blink of an eye, even my son is old enough to marry… I wonder where my beloved is now. I wish he could come home sooner."
She reached out, tracing his brows and features with delicate fingers, as though glimpsing his father's shadow within him. A faint sorrow lingered in her gaze.
'Pfft. What a scum man!'
Ryoji silently cursed himself in thought.
With a wife like that, and still thinking about running away? Hopeless!
Night fell.
The stars hung suspended across the pitch-black sky. Without a moon, Kinoko Town lay under a dim shadow. Street lamps flickered intermittently, some malfunctioning, casting patchy light over the empty streets.
The entire town was shrouded in darkness.
"All right, let's begin."
What should have been sleeping hours found Ryoji in black casual clothes, scaling the fence lightly.
He almost knocked over a flowerpot, but caught it just in time, setting it upright before slipping quietly away.
The night swallowed him as he moved through the sleeping town, unseen, undisturbed.
Ryoji intended to investigate the changes in the town.
If Aozaki Aoko had appeared in this world as a matter of course, then the people around her might also be manifesting, and Kinoko Town could very well be different from before.
In the dim night, he wore a hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled low over his face, paired with a mask and sunglasses.
Stepping out of the shadows like that, he looked like a robber in the act, and several passersby nearly stopped breathing in shock.
From a distance, Kinoko Town seemed unchanged, rolling hills, scattered forests in irregular patches, winding roads stretching toward the mountains.
After wandering around for over an hour, everything seemed normal on the surface. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
"Hm?" Ryoji murmured, lifting his gaze to the sky.
Thanks to his Level 4 physical abilities, night vision posed no challenge, even behind sunglasses.
A small, pitch-black bird, about the size of a palm, circled overhead in the darkness.
A crow?
Or maybe not.
He studied it for a long moment. The bird left, only to return shortly afterward, as if pretending to leave and then turning back. Minutes passed, yet it never truly left his overhead path.
Even more unsettling, the tiny, bead-like eyes of the bird seemed fixated on Ryoji below. The eerie scene sent shivers down his spine.
From that black bird, he felt an unmistakable sense of being watched.
He bent down and picked up a stone.
Then, drawing back his arm, he hurled it with all his might, shooting it like a bullet through the night air.
The stone didn't strike the bird, it whizzed past, but it startled the creature. With a sharp "caw," it panicked and flew off.
Ryoji immediately gave chase, following the bird's retreating path.
His speed rivaled that of a moving car, his agility unparalleled. Between buildings, he weaved with ghost-like precision. Even with wings spread, the bird could not shake him off.
The bird glanced downward, seeing the figure on the ground trailing like a phantom, nearly losing its composure in fear.
"Smack!"
After a brief chase, the black bird suddenly expanded in size, then shattered silently like a firework.
An explosion?
Ryoji raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
A tactical sacrifice?
He accelerated further and arrived at the site where the bird had exploded. The ground was muddy, the fragments scattered within, impossible to distinguish.
Ryoji spent a long while searching, but found nothing.
"Highly alert."
He stood up, slightly annoyed.
That thing must have been someone's surveillance tool, a familiar in the Magecraft world.
Once Ryoji had detected and attacked it, it had tried to escape. But finding it couldn't outrun him, it was forced into a helpless self-destruction, protecting its Magecraft master from exposure.
"An outsider Magecraft user… or a local one?"
Previously, he was certain Kinoko Town had no Magecraft users at all.
Now, he couldn't be sure.
If it were a local Magecraft user, perhaps he could negotiate, get led into the inner world, and uncover the truth behind this chaotic world.
If it were an outsider, though… a fight was probably inevitable.
After wandering some more, either the opponent had grown more cautious, or there simply were no more traces to find. With the night deepening, Ryoji had no choice but to return empty-handed.'
(End Of This Chapter)