When Takumi arrived near Maki's residence, the police had already surrounded the area.
An incident this severe occurring in the highest-end villa district of all Tokyo drew a rapid response. The officers had sealed off the wreckage-filled scene, which bore clear signs of intense fighting, and had escorted Maki and her family out of the villa for the moment to help them calm down, planning to ask them later for a detailed account of what had happened.
One could easily imagine this becoming a highly sensational case.
It might even become a major incident that attracted nationwide attention—after all, many people of high status lived in this area. There was simply no way they would tolerate the security they paid immense sums to maintain every year being breached by two people, who then stormed into a household and caused utter chaos.
That is, assuming the officers present didn't keep slipping into bouts of mental blankness.
And assuming the surrounding neighbors—who should have been outraged—didn't, one after another, start quickly feeling that this matter required no attention.
In the end, no one would remember this incident anymore, and no one would pay attention to it again. Even if they happened to encounter information related to it in the future, they would only mind it for a brief moment before once again forgetting, as if nothing had ever happened.
Except for the players.
When Takumi arrived near the Shijō residence (he had already managed to obtain her address beforehand), although the officers were still maintaining the blockade, its strictness had clearly weakened a great deal—enough for Maki to secretly change clothes, slip out, and quickly meet up with Takumi.
"You're not hurt, right?"
As soon as he saw Maki, Takumi immediately asked, his gaze repeatedly sweeping over the girl to check her condition.
Fortunately, she didn't seem to have any major injuries.
But there was a scratch on her finger, looking like a cut from glass.
"I noticed those two before they came in. They were very arrogant—probably relying on the fact that they had Obsession Items and thinking that no matter what they did, nothing would happen to them. I… went to the kitchen beforehand to get a kitchen knife, then locked my parents in the bedroom and removed the bedroom doorknob. Those two were strong, each carrying one or two Obsession Items, but their fighting ability wasn't too great. I spent some time but still managed to defeat them. It's just that Dad broke the bedroom door open and ended up seeing what I did."
Maki roughly explained her fight with the two intruding Women-Face Gang members.
Although the girl tried to make her account as brief as possible, judging from her still-frightened expression, that battle was likely anything but ordinary.
"Their flesh-type Obsession Item… probably has some very bizarre effect. This group isn't strong, but for them to be united and insane to that extent is really hard to imagine. Still, as long as you're safe in the end, you don't need to worry too much about those people. Let's go. You definitely won't be able to rest at home tonight, right? Want to find a hotel to make do for the night? Or come to my place? Don't worry, it'll be fine. If nothing unexpected happens, your parents won't continue to care about this tomorrow. After all, you used an Obsession Item during the fight, and under its influence, ordinary people gradually forget the related events."
Takumi reached out and gently patted Maki's shoulder, then, after thinking for a moment, simply pulled her into his arms.
The girl's warm body heat felt especially distinct at this moment.
Faced with Takumi's bold action, Maki trembled slightly at first, then soon relaxed, leaning gently against him for a short while.
"Becoming a player and all that… I really wish something like that wouldn't happen to me."
Takumi could hear the heaviness in Maki's voice.
"It's okay, it's okay."
Knowing that saying too much right now would be pointless, Takumi simply held Maki lightly, quietly staying by her side and waiting for her emotions to settle.
Back at the Shirakawa Apartments, when they fought against the two veteran players, Takumi had been the one in control. Although Maki had actually played an important supporting role, she still wasn't the one directly facing the enemy, the one who had to act with her own hands. But in tonight's conflict, she had personally eliminated two living people—and because of that bizarre flesh-type Obsession Item, she had actually needed to kill each of them twice for it to truly count. The psychological pressure that came with that was naturally much heavier.
Even so, this girl was still impressive—a girl raised in peaceful times taking down two veteran players. But considering that old player disguised as Maeda Miwa, along with the two Takumi had encountered himself, it could only be said that the overall strength of the Women-Face Gang truly wasn't high. After all, back in the Shirakawa Apartments, even Shinomiya Kaguya—who at the time had no blessing enhancing her—had been able to fight that traitor woman even while being ambushed. As veteran players go, the Women-Face Gang could probably only show off in front of those ordinary players with no connections, unable to obtain A-grade Dusk-level dungeon-evaluation Obsession Items, and with low overall strength.
Clearly, Takumi had not realized how much his own S-grade double-blessing, along with Maki's and Kaguya's A-grade single-blessings (Kyosei's blessing had only been given to Takumi), amounted to an overwhelming dimensional-crushing advantage against other players. But given that he had never encountered any proper, competent players, such a misjudgment was unavoidable.
He wondered whether this counted as eliminating a group of pests for the player community.
"Al… alright, that's enough already. You, stop holding me like that."
Having recovered, Maki's face turned rosy as she shyly wriggled out of Takumi's embrace.
The warmth in his arms fading away left Takumi with an indescribable sense of loss.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on such things. He and Maki walked along the street for a while, arriving at an empty riverside path, where they sat together on a bench and began discussing the events of the night.
"In any case, if what that Gotō girl said was right and this group only had four people left, then this should count as resolving it. But… that flesh-type Obsession Item was far too bizarre. For it to completely eat its host after death…"
As she said this, Maki opened the pouch she always carried. Inside, Takumi saw a mass of dark-red material wrapped in several layers of plastic bags.
Even now, the thing was still wriggling continuously.
"Could this be that flesh-type Obsession Item from their bodies?"
The unexpected situation made Takumi show a surprised expression.
"I used Tanaka's Faceless Head. That thing ate one of them completely and spat out this lump of flesh. I thought there was something wrong with it, so I wrapped it up. And I made sure it never touched me the whole time."
Maki nodded lightly, explaining the situation to Takumi.
Tanaka's head-type Obsession Item really did seem to be a pure weapon for player-on-player combat. But to think it could extract an Obsession Item that would normally go berserk after its host died—this head might be far more useful than expected.
"Give it to me. My watch can store this thing. I suspect this Obsession Item is different from the others we've seen and might have some very strange properties."
Surprised or not, Takumi immediately took the Obsession Items she had captured from the two women during the fight—especially that lump of flesh.
Since it was an item carrying eerie obsessions, until they understood its function and price, it was better for Takumi to hold onto it. After all, the mysterious watch he wore could completely suppress all Obsession Items in containment, with no risk of any loss-of-control incident.
And then, once they finished discussing business, Takumi smoothly shifted the topic to something else.
"How about staying at my place tonight? My house is pretty big, and it's got plenty of rooms."
Takumi said this with a perfectly serious expression.
"…After what happened last time, do you really think I would go to your place?"
Maki wasn't falling for it at all. She looked at Takumi with full wariness and rejected him on the spot.
"Then let's find a hotel to rest at."
So Takumi offered a second option.
"And you're planning to stay in the same room with me for the night, right?"
Maki only gave Takumi a sideways glance and asked in a flat tone.
"Yeah."
Takumi's answer was brutally honest.
"Yeah, my ass. I'm not doing that. You were so proper at the beginning—how are you turning more and more into some pent-up pervert?"
Unable to hold back anymore, Maki lightly tapped Takumi's chest as she muttered.
'Pent-up? Honestly, have I ever been satisfied even once?'
Takumi really wanted to say that, but before he could speak, Maki's phone rang. After taking it out and glancing at it, she stood up.
"I'll be staying with my parents at a relative's place for the night. You should head back too. And what's with that expression? Are you really that disappointed?"
As she said this, Maki noticed the undisguised look of regret on Takumi's face.
"Isn't it obvious? Of course I'm disappointed. You really won't reconsider? I promise I won't lay a hand on you."
Takumi only smiled as he spoke, then stood up, ready to leave.
Going to his place or staying at a hotel had naturally been a joke—Takumi was only using this approach to lift the girl's spirits so she wouldn't brood over what had happened earlier.
Of course, if there really were such a possibility… no, no, that wouldn't be Maki's personality.
Turning away, Takumi didn't see Maki's lips slightly open and then quietly close again.
She admitted that, for one brief moment, she had considered going with him. For a girl who had just experienced a life-and-death struggle, only Takumi—someone who, in her eyes, belonged to the same world as she did—could give her a sense of calm.
But something like that… as expected, was still a bit too difficult.
In the end, Maki simply told Takumi, "Be careful on your way," and then returned to her parents.
And thus, the night quietly passed.
When the next morning's sunlight rose, Takumi—who had slept extremely well and felt no negative reaction at all from killing two wrongdoers—got up from his bed and saw a newly received message on his phone, sent by Shinomiya Kaguya.
Using the contact information Takumi and Maki had obtained from Gotō Hitori last time, she found a seller who possessed three Dusk-level dungeon admission tickets for the same scenario.
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