Can Someone from a Tradition-Ridden Village Pull Off a Narou-Style Story in a Modern Dungeon? ～The Higher Being Behind Me Is Way Too Much of a Final Boss～ - Chapter 146: From out of the blue (Patreon)

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and CannedbreadFollow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-

The road to the abandoned inn was full of nature, and it was extremely pleasant.

The sea breeze blowing through as if to soothe Shio, and the trees softening the sunlight, made her forget she was in the middle of a mission.

Though, even without such things, the current Shio didn't have her mind on such things.

(...Huh, I was kissed...?)

A small bird is singing overhead.

It's surely affirming it.

To the extent that she thought such silly things outside her actual thoughts, her mind was captive to Minako.

"Minako"

"What?"

"Did you kiss me?"

"I did."

"I see..."

Minako, walking a little ahead, answered without stopping.

With a light tone as if saying the sea is blue, as if it were obvious, Shio slowly chewed over those words.

(So, I was kissed...?)

Having chewed them over, she understood nothing at all.

Why had she kissed her? Or rather, what was a kiss?

Apparently, this is what happens to a person's thoughts when someone directly unleashes such an utterly unexpected action on them.

While watching Minako's broad back as she walked, humming a strangely catchy scale in high spirits, Shio repeated meaningless thoughts.

(If I was kissed, that means... she likes me...? Huh? Th-there's such a thing?)

But she'd been acting normal until just a moment ago, Shio thought and grew even more confused.

She wasn't particularly insensitive.

Rather, when it came to reading the expressions of Enri Bearers as a dispatched employee, it could be said she had one step ahead over others.

That's exactly why she should have immediately noticed such feelings in Minako, who was so close to her.

(We've been together for years, and I didn't notice... Since when...!)

Had she liked her since the first time she worked as a dispatched employee?

No, maybe it had been that way since they met.

(Wait? When was it that I met Minako?)

Such a question suddenly came to mind.

She'd known Minako for quite a long time since they met.

That much she understood.

But other than that, she didn't really understand.

"Minako"

"Hmm?"

"When was it that we met?"

"......Ahaha."

Minako still didn't stop walking.

Shio couldn't even imagine what expression she was making now.

Was she exasperated that Shio didn't remember even that, or was she angry?

Or perhaps something else.

Maybe because of tension, she strangely felt she could hear the sound of waves clearly.

It's probably because we've gotten closer to the abandoned inn, Shio unconsciously convinced herself and waited for a reply.

She wanted to make clear where Minako had come to like her.

"It was when Shio was still at Enri Academy. Come on, we were in the same class."

"......Ah, that's right."

Confirming the memory that clearly existed within her, Shio let out a foolish voice.

And still in that foolish voice, she asked.

"By the way, since when did you like me...?"

"When I first found you, I thought you seemed interesting."

"I-I see."

It was a somewhat off-the-mark reply, but the current Shio couldn't even understand that much.

(Wh-what should I do... It's not like I dislike it, and I-I might even be happy about it... but why now...!? Why this timing...!?)

For ordinary-person Shio, Enri Bearers were hard to understand.

They'd been active together for so long up to now, so wasn't there a more suitable timing?

Why kiss when the person you have feelings for is near death and eating a rice ball?

And it was even her first kiss.

No matter how she thought about it, she could only think Minako had a special quirk.

(Minako... a pervert...?)

While seriously thinking something rude, and thinking about how to reply and how to interact from now on, she suddenly bumped into something.

Staggering, she checked ahead and saw that Minako had stopped, and she seemed to have bumped into her back.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. More importantly, we're here."

Minako said that in her unchanged cheerful voice and pointed at the abandoned inn.

Beyond the unused parking lot with dead trees and leaves piled at its edges, and the stairs continuing above it, there was an old two-story wooden building.

If it were still in operation, the word "long-established" would have suited it well.

In that parking lot, a single black van was parked, and a woman was just then loading something into it.

From her familiar black clothes, Shio immediately understood that she was the Enri Bearer in charge of this area.

"Hey."

Minako waved casually and approached the Enri Bearer.

Shio followed behind her, hiding in her shadow so as not to show herself as much as possible.

"Hello! My name is Unabara Minako."

"What are you...!?"

"I'm an errand runner for the Enri Bearer Happou Fusagi."

"Ah, the one with the S Rank. ...I see, so you're indeed the real thing."

At her theatrical way of speaking, the Enri Bearer gave a wry smile and pointed at the van.

"That must be tough. So you want to borrow this, but unfortunately, no. I've already loaded another used one in here. As expected, I can't let you use it."

"Used...?"

Shio tilted her head at those words, but the Enri Bearer showed no sign of answering.

On the contrary, the eyes that glanced at Shio, who had spoken up, were cold, as if recognizing her as a tool, so she hid in Minako's shadow once more.

"I will hand over the observation data. Do you want it on paper or as data?"

"Hmm, data, I guess. Oh, and let me see inside the van."

"...Ah, you want to check its condition."

The Enri Bearer looked dubious for a moment, but soon nodded as if understanding.

But Minako, still smiling, shook her head.

"No. The door just opened on its own, so I got curious about what's inside."

"Huh?"

In the direction she pointed, the black van was still parked.

All of its doors were open, and the back door had just slowly risen.

"......I should have closed them."

To the ears of the Enri Bearer, confused by the unexpected phenomenon, Minako's voice came along with the sound of the tide.

"Is that some latest feature? I'm curious. Shio, let's go look."

"Eh? Ah, yeah."

"Wait, you aside, at least Matoi Shio—"

The Enri Bearer's legs, as she hurriedly tried to chase after them, did not move.

Looking at her legs, which did not move even a millimeter as if she had become a stone statue, there was something like deep mud only there, swallowing her legs up to the knees.

"Gh, an Aberrant Entity...!?"

When she raised her face to seek help and looked toward Minako, what was before her eyes was the face of a wrinkled old man.

Its whole body was cracked like a rice field left drained of water, and muddy water trickled out slightly from between the cracks with a gurgle.

At a glance, the Aberrant Entity looked like a hunched old man; it slowly raised a hand that was crumbling away and held up its index finger.

It was a "be quiet" signal that even a fool could understand.

(An old man molded from mud... Without a doubt, EN-134 『Mud Affliction』. This should be an Aberrant Entity that appears in groups during the calendrical summer regardless of temperature. And yet, why...?)

At the edge of the confused Enri Bearer's vision, she finally saw Minako and Shio arrive at the van.

At the same time, the mud marks clinging to the van, which she hadn't seen earlier due to confusion, made her understand who had opened the doors.

(This Aberrant Entity opened them? Wh-why...? In the first place, Mud Affliction should be an Aberrant Entity that made a window out of a legend told as a warning to those who neglected their fields. The targets it attacks are also always limited to people who own fields. And yet, why?)

The Enri Bearer thought about Mud Affliction acting differently from the data accumulated until now, but it was soon drowned out by a scream.

"Eek! Wh-what is this—me...!?"

At the voice, she looked toward the van again and saw Shio pale and trembling.

No need to think: she must have found that thing loaded in the van—the used-up Matoi Shio.

"Wow, this is amazing."

In contrast, Minako said that while looking inside the van with a smile.

Then she slowly turned back toward the Enri Bearer.

Her face was smiling as if to say that was her normal state, and it was as if she couldn't see Mud Affliction, which should clearly be in her field of vision.

"You'll have to explain properly what this means."

As if tracing memorized lines, Minako said it oddly clearly and deliberately.

"......"

At this moment, the Enri Bearer finally noticed that something had slipped into their plan.

『Mud, huh? It doesn't seem to go well with my mirrors or windows, but I can force it with wire, so please rest assured! Between shrines and mud, that person really likes old-fashioned things, don't they?』

『Are you assuming we're going to fight? Or rather, there's Shio-chan's corpse!? What does this mean!? Twins!? Was Shio-chan a twin!?』

『Kyah kyah』

『Why are you happy!?』

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and CannedbreadFollow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-