Chapter 26 — Let Him Give Them a Good Rub

Two days had passed since they'd arrived at the hotel in Hanabusa. Yogiri had spent the entire time sleeping in his own room, so Tomochika was stuck in hers as well.

For now, they passed their time in peace and quiet. The temperature of the room was always comfortable, and the lights could be freely controlled. They could call the front desk to have any food they wanted delivered.

As an aside, while a telephone network had been set up within the city, it didn't extend beyond it. Apparently they hadn't developed wireless communications yet.

The bathrooms were fully equipped with plumbing, the faucets produced water when turned on, and they even had toilet paper. If they stayed there, they could live just as comfortably as back home. It really didn't feel like they were in another world at all.

"How long can we sit around here, though..."

Staring absentmindedly out the window, Tomochika spoke to herself. Her room was on the fifth floor of the hotel. From here, all she could see was an array of dreary buildings, so it wasn't particularly appealing scenery. As expected, being cooped up in a single room by herself was causing her mood to dip.

Until the boy wakes up, I imagine, Mokomoko answered from where she floated beside Tomochika. The ghost had warned her against going outside on her own, and while that was a danger she well understood, it didn't make her any less bored.

"Could you go see how he is? You can walk through walls, right?"

While I certainly could, I will not. He's far too scary.

"All you have to do is take a peek."

He is much worse when he is sleeping. Entering his room without permission would be inexcusable. Who knows how he would react?

"He never told us not to wake him up."

Our best option is to wait for him to wake on his own. It's best to let sleeping dragons lie. In this case, that means letting the child sleep."But even if he wakes up, we're still just sitting around waiting."

They had come to Hanabusa to reunite with their classmates. They didn't have anything else to do here, so all they could do was hang around.

What would you even do if he was awake, with both of you stuck in these rooms? Hm? Mokomoko floated closer, a sly grin rising to her face. As Tomochika realized what she was implying, her face flushed red.

"What are you talking about?! We're not like that!"

What do you mean? You should be clinging to him as much as you can so he doesn't dump you.

"Dump me? We're not dating or anything." Tomochika wasn't quite sure how to describe their relationship.

He already said he's interested in your chest, so why don't you let him give it a good rub?

"Are you stupid?! Why on earth would I do that?!"

Oh? I would think using your body to entice him would make it go rather quickly. And I'm sure it would increase the value in protecting you for him as well."Well, I do feel bad that he's always protecting me, but I don't know what I can really do to pay him back."

You can entertain him with your body, can't you?

"Do you have to say it like such a pervert?!"

There's no need to be afraid. We did all kinds of night crawling in search of strong blood for our family in the past.

"Isn't that kind of backwards? I'm so sorry, ancestors!" Tomochika suddenly felt the need to apologize to the great men of history. They must have been terrified by the approach of such a rotund woman.

Even if it's your first time, I'll be sure to teach you thoroughly!

"Don't make me look up how to do an exorcism!" Tomochika shouted as the worst possible scene came to mind.

Well, I suppose if you absolutely insisted, I could give you two your privacy.

"What do you mean you suppose?!"

It would be a much bigger issue if I could be separated from you so easily as your guardian spirit, don't you think?

This conversation wasn't going to go anywhere pleasant. Tomochika sighed, looking out the window once more.

"Looks like I'll really be stuck in this room the whole time. Even if I went out...wait, what's that?"

Tomochika realized that something was off outside. Some sort of commotion was happening on the street below. The carriages running down the road were suddenly pulling to the side and stopping.

A shriek filled the air. The pedestrians began scattering in a panic. Searching for the source of their terror, Tomochika saw something barreling down the road at full speed.

"What is that? A truck?"

Enormous vehicles were soaring past, paying no heed to the carriages that were in their path. Those who didn't get out of the way were sent flying, crashing into the sidewalk. The pedestrians that were too slow to escape were crushed underneath.

So that's what armored military vehicles look like, said Mokomoko.

There were three of the enormous things racing noisily down the street, built in a solid, angular design. She didn't know whether there were soldiers inside or not, but they must have been carrying something.

That is...not something proper. The scent of death is strong from them.

"I can tell that just by looking!"

Outside, death was everywhere. The armored vehicles showed no hesitation in spreading it all around them.

No, I am speaking of the contents. Within the armored vehicles is a sense of death so overpowering that any sort of strength the vehicles themselves possess is meaningless before it.

"What is wrong with this world?! This is so not okay! Why do people die so frequently here?!"

If the natural environment of this world was just that harsh, it would be something she could understand. But this was different. Like their experience on the train, she got the impression that the people in charge simply didn't care one way or another about others being caught up in their acts of violence.

They may be related to the Sages. Those armored vehicles were clearly developed with otherworlders in mind.

Closing the curtains, Tomochika retreated to her bed and took a seat. There was no point watching any longer. It would only make her feel worse.

You said you wanted to go take a look outside, right?

"Yeah, right. I think I'll pass for now. Wow, these high-class hotel rooms are so nice, aren't they!" As expected after witnessing such a scene, her appetite for the outdoors had been thoroughly squashed.

That would indeed be the safest option. For some reason, there seemed to be some kind of undercurrent to the ghost's words.

"What? What are you trying to say? You have a problem with me enjoying my life as a shut-in from now on?"

It's impossible to stay here doing nothing forever.

"This is a world where walking down the street gets you splattered by a truck, remember?"

But can you say those trucks won't come looking for you in here?

"Sounds like you're overthinking it."

That's just an example. Actually, since not too long ago, there has been quite a bit of hostility aimed at us in here.

"What? Why? What did I do?"

Relax. Whether it was your classmates, or those thugs, or the Sage, or the bandits, or the monsters, someone always seems to be out to get you. Is it that strange that someone would be targeting you here as well? Mokomoko asked, exasperated.

Tomochika had considered all of those things to be like natural disasters, but from the attackers' perspectives, that wasn't necessarily the case at all.

"So who is it this time?"

Someone is outside the room, down the hall, waiting for us to step outside. I can't see them, though.

"If you can't see them, how do you know they're there?"

As your guardian spirit, I can sense hostility aimed at your person. While not as precise as the boy's, I can tell to some degree when there are suspicious people about. If they were just standing around waiting, it would be fine, but it seems they've grown tired of that. There's a possibility they will attack the room itself."Well, what can I do about it? Okay! I'm going to call Takatou!"

Awfully quick to rely on him, aren't we?

Tomochika had nothing she could do against an opponent she couldn't see. But Yogiri could probably deal with someone like that easily enough, she thought. She leaped over to the phone and called the room beside hers.

"Hello?"

"So fast! You're awake after all!"

"I just woke up. The phone rang right beside my head, so it woke me up right away."

Tomochika quickly explained the situation.

"I see. I'll head over to your room."

"I know it's kind of strange to say this, seeing as I'm the one who called you, but are you sure about that? Apparently, there's an invisible person out there.""If they're just invisible, it's not really a problem, is it?"

There didn't seem to be any logic to his words, but Yogiri's voice alone made Tomochika feel a bit safer.