CH 106

Mysterious Letter

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

“Road closed?”

The road ahead seemed to have been blocked off because of a D-class appearance. It wouldn’t be lifted for another 30 minutes, so it was a bit of a detour.

Tsugumi, Azalea, and the junior high school girl were on their way to the government, as Toono had told them to. The cab driver told them this as they were getting into the car.

–The traffic restrictions due to the appearance of Demonic Beasts are not particularly unusual. On a normal day, you experience it two or three times a month. However, the timing is too bad.

“…How long do you think it will take to arrive…?”

“Right. At this rate, it would be about an hour and a half after the detour. The train seems to be running, so if you guys are in a hurry, it might be better to go that way.”

–As the cab driver said, it might be quicker to take the train than to go the long way around. However, taking Azalea, who was unfamiliar with Japanese roads, and the girl, who was exhausted, by train was somewhat difficult.

As he wondered what to do, Azalea said in a concerned voice.

“It’s okay if Nanase-kun takes the train ahead. You are worried about Chidori-san, aren’t you?　I’m going to take the car with her. –You, too, would prefer that instead of the train.”

Saying this, Azalea asked the girl who was looking down. The girl rubbed her red, swollen eyelids and gave a small nod.

“Yes, that’s fine with me too. …Because I can’t get on the train with a face like this.”

…It would certainly be cruel to ask a girl of her age to get on a train with a swollen, tear-stained face. And, going separately had its advantages for the Tsugumi. –Because he could move around with transportation.

Of course, if he arrived early, he wouldn’t be able to move as Nanase Tsugumi, but as Hagakure Sakura he could probe the government’s movements. There might not be anything that could be done, but it was still great to know the current situation in real time.

Thinking this, Tsugumi bowed slightly, feeling sorry for Azalea and the girl.

“Thank you, I’ll do that. –Driver. Please take care of the two of them.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

He asked the pleasant driver to take care of the two of them and handed him a few ten-thousand-dollar bills. The person in charge would at least pay for the cab when they got to the government, but just in case.

…It would have been best if the police who were there could have given them a ride, but they said they couldn’t do that because they were under a different jurisdiction. Organizations were a real pain in the ass.

“Then I’ll see you later at the government.”

“Yes, Nanase-kun, you take care too.”

After exchanging a gentle greeting, Tsugumi left the cab and began to run toward a narrow, unpopulated street, pretending to go to a shortcut toward the train station.

◆　◆　◆

Azalea let out a small sigh as he looked at Tsugumi’s back from the car’s window.

–I thought he is just a good-natured guy, but he’s still somewhat strange.

He had a keen intuition to detect spells that even Azalea did not notice, but he had a dull sense of crisis that he didn’t even move an eyebrow in the face of that fire monster – Toono Sumire. At first, Azalea thought they had the same gift of psychic vision, but it seemed that was not the case.

–I wonder if the inhabitants of this country and I, Azalea, a servant of God, have different views of the world. It is very interesting, but let’s leave that verification aside for now.

“…By the way, is Chidori-san going to be okay?”

Azalea muttered in a small voice. It was not a tone of concern by any means but was laced with deep bewilderment.

To Azalea, Nanase Chidori was a government official who was leading a double life by playing the role of “Hagakure Sakura”. But even so, how could a person who had made a contract with the demon (God) fall behind an ordinary person, even if the other person was a magician?　Azalea could never understand.

At first, he only thought that she was deliberately trying to get caught and get rid of the kidnapper, but her brother, Tsugumi, seemed to be seriously concerned about her.

It was possible that Chidori didn’t tell Tsugumi the truth, but even if that was the case, Chidori’s behavior was too lousy. The strange inconsistency of the situation bothered Azalea.

–It was the same when Tsugumi took him to talk to Chidori. She was smiling as cheerfully as a spring sunbeam, even though she was clad in suffocating night air. At first, he thought she was successfully hiding her true nature, but there was no sign of that. On the contrary, she seemed to have accepted Azalea’s presence without much caution. It was somehow a far cry from the image of Hagakure Sakura he had seen on the cruise ship that day.

…For Azalea, who had been in daily fights with people who hid their filthy true intentions behind their smiles, the Nanase siblings were a type of person he had never met before.

Both were good people, but he couldn’t see the bottom of their nature. It was just that, but somehow it sent a chill down his spine.

Azalea thought as he gazed blankly at the scenery that had begun to move. –It seems that this country is a more magical place than I had thought.

◆ ◆ ◆

After secretly transforming into the form of Hagakure Sakura in a back alley and moving into the government, Tsugumi was listening in a corridor where people were rushing around.

Apparently, Toono had already returned to the government and was planning to ride to the kidnappers’ headquarters as soon as they were ready. While relieved to hear such a story, Tsugum’s eyes shook with anxiety.

Even at this very moment, Chidori could be hurt in some terrible way. Just thinking about it made him want to scratch his head in anxiety.

–He knew that if he left it to Toono and the others, there would be no mistake. But was it selfish of him to still want to be the first to confirm Chidori’s safety with his own eyes?

As he leaned against the corridor thinking about this, a female staff member discreetly called out to him.

“Ah, Hagakure-san. May I have a moment?”

“Yes? What is it?”

The woman handed him a flower-patterned envelope.

“Um, what is this?”

“I just received this from Toono-san. She asked me to give it to you if I saw you, Hagakure-san. I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I thought you were off duty today, but did you have an appointment with Toono-san?”

When the staff member told him this, Tsugumi opened his mouth with a nonchalant look, hiding his agitation.

“It wasn’t anything like that… Yes, it’s from Toono-san… Thank you, I’ll check it out.”

When Tsugumi thanked her, the official bowed her head and left. Then, Tsugumi stared down at the envelope and frowned with a puzzled expression.

–Toono Sumire sent a letter to Hagakure Sakura? And at this timing? It was as if she knew that Hagakure Sakura would be here.

It was fair to say that even within Jukka, there was almost no relationship between Toono and Hagakure Sakura. They would say hello to each other at gatherings and in the hallways, but there was no memory of any small talk or personal conversation. It would be quite unusual for her to hand him a letter like this.

Feeling a little disconcerted, he opened the envelope and took out the letter inside. He opened the white paper folded in three.

–There was a simple handwritten map with symbols and numbers that looked like coordinates.

“Eh…?”

Puzzled, he looked up the coordinates on his phone and found that they seemed to point to a warehouse district in the port of Yokohama. …Considering the timing of when the letter was given to him, it would be best to assume that these were the coordinates of where the kidnappers were.

–But why would Toono give something like this to Hagakure Sakura? His true identity was known… He didn’t want to think like that, but the other party was a rare miko. He couldn’t let go of the idea that it might be possible.

When he looked at the letter again, he noticed that there was something written in very small letters at the bottom of the letter. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the letter.

[Whether you come or not is up to you. –Please make a choice without regrets.]

Tsugumi gasped at the words that seemed to see right through everything. Then, he muttered in a trembling voice. 

“…What does she know?

Tsugumi stared at the letter for a while, dumbfounded. –Without knowing that there was a black shadow observing him with inorganic eyes.