LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 19
I briefly contemplated whether to speak formally or informally to the person in front of me.
The conclusion came quickly.
If this person is a “Shura Nirlas” envoy, I have no reason to speak formally.
I even speak informally to the fake brass.
While eating my rice and egg side dish, I observed the woman sitting in front of me. Her complexion didn’t look very good, but it seemed like it wasn’t due to a genuine condition.
The woman… was eating incredibly well. Whether it was the egg or rice.
Thinking back, I should have bought some mung bean sprouts or something to add another side dish… No, this isn’t the time to think about that.
I should focus on gathering information instead.
Upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem like this being was a yokai. Well, I’m not saying they’re human, but I started to think they might be like me, an ‘avatar.’
I felt none of the sensations I typically experience with yokai coming from this woman. It felt more like there was just a person sitting in front of me.
“Do you have something to ask me?” she said.
“…Didn’t you say you’d deliver a message from Shura Nirlas?”
I dropped my formality as planned. Nevertheless, the woman didn’t seem to care much.
“Um, that’s right. I came to deliver that.”
The woman put down her rice bowl and chopsticks. There was a little rice left in the bowl.
“Shall I start with my name?”
“…Yeah.”
At my reply, the woman smiled slightly and opened her mouth.
“My name is Kurosawa Kagami.”
Upon hearing that name, I immediately understood why this woman had come to find me.
But before I could say anything, she spoke up.
“Your mother… is her role.”
“…”
I froze momentarily while holding my rice bowl and chopsticks, staring at the woman who revealed her name as ‘Kurosawa Kagami’.
“My… mom?”
“Yes.”
“…How old?”
“That’s not important.”
Is that it? Like how in this era, asking a woman’s age is a huge taboo?
Though it might just be something she wants to avoid discussing.
“What about your age as a human?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m human, you know.”
She said something completely unbelievable. Last time I opened the door, she had completely vanished in between.
“I’m thirty-three.”
Thirty-three.
Since I’m officially sixteen right now… Does that mean she had a child at seventeen?
But looking at her face, she doesn’t look thirty-three. Surely, if she walked around outside, she’d be mistaken for my sister.
In some sense, that could be considered a light novel trope… Back then, married female characters often appeared with barely a noticeable age gap from their daughters.
Thinking back, it’s pretty much like that these days too.
“So, what do you want to say?”
“Um… I still don’t have anything else to tell you. Oh, right. That person said it’s a present. ‘Use it in times of trouble,’ they said.”
“…”
Use it in times of trouble. Am I being treated like a tool?
“It can be used for various purposes, what do you think?”
Don’t put an odd amount of emphasis on the strange parts.
“But looking at your expression, you don’t seem to want to spend time with me.”
Hmm—Kurosawa Kagami tilted her head and swept her gaze around the room.
“It seems you’re doing just fine on your own. In that case, you wouldn’t need a ‘mom,’ would you?”
“…”
I might need one, but that doesn’t mean I want to live with this situation. It’s a little… unsettling. Between her looks and attitude.
“Then let’s say I’ll only visit when absolutely necessary.”
“…How will we be in contact?”
“We’ll send emails.”
This surreal being suggested a surprisingly realistic method.
Honestly, exchanging contact information was a bit unsettling, but I nodded anyway.
“Okay, then. Let’s do our best going forward. After all, we’re mother and daughter, right?”
I’m not sure how long that moment will last, though.
Kurosawa Kagami picked up her rice bowl again.
“…Were you the one following me lately?”
At my question, Kurosawa Kagami picked up a fried egg with her chopsticks and replied.
“Um, I’m not sure about that?”
How nonchalantly sneaky.
I let out a deep sigh.
*
Kurosawa Kagami really only ate and then left.
It was a bit annoying not knowing when she’d visit again, but it seemed I had no way to stop her even if I refused, so what can I do?
After she left, I took out a cutter knife again and seriously contemplated, but I still didn’t cut my wrist this time.
Honestly, it hurts.
Not just that, my body isn’t even at a normal weight. It’s still a long way to go before my arms and legs get thicker. If I were to bleed too much, I’d get anemia again.
There’s no option to just cut lightly.
If I let blood out and the pentagram on my wrist turns red, that wound will open wide and form the shape of an eye. No matter how briefly our conversation lasted, the bleeding would not stop so easily.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t attempt other things.
“Kotkuuri-san?”
After school. Literature Club.
When I brought up Kotkuuri-san, Kaneko’s eyes lit up immediately.
She leaned toward me, her smile a bit burdensome.
“Kuu-chan was worried too? About that phenomenon from last time! Are you interested in the occult? Why don’t you just join our club?”
“There’s no occult club to begin with,” Ikeda interjected, reading his book with a look of disbelief. As if he was asking if she still hadn’t given up.
The book in his hand was ‘Astrology Murder Case’… Isn’t he quite interested in that?
“If you and Kuu-chan join, we could make an occult club. It’s probably similar to whatever we’re doing here anyway. I’d say the books we read will be similar too.”
“This isn’t an occult book; it’s a mystery novel!”
Kaneko’s words fired Ikeda up.
Thank goodness it seemed they weren’t arguing about that.
“And if the president joins, Yuuki can join too, right?”
“…I have no intention of giving up on an activated club.”
Does he have some memories tied to it?
Anyway, I have no intention of interfering.
“So, anyway, are you going to do it or not?” Kaneko asked.
“…”
“Did you know? If you sit there doing nothing while calling Kotkuuri-san, she’ll look for other people first. If you just sit and read your book, might not she take an interest in you first?”
That’s a first for me.
I thought Kaneko must’ve made that up. I’ve seen kids in our class playing around with Kotkuuri-san.
They were, in fact, not paying much attention to those around them. Rather, people flocked around them, laughing and enjoying themselves.
Of course, nothing really happened.
“…”
Ikeda’s eyes slightly flickered.
Is he perhaps a little scared of this sort of thing?
“What do you think? Do you want to do it or not? I can wait outside the clubroom.”
When Kaneko teased him a bit, Ikeda sighed deeply, closed the book with a clap.
“…Fine. It might be a bit silly, but either way, if I tell you not to do it, you won’t listen, will you? Might as well join you, I can’t focus if you two are chatting away.”
It’s clear he was participating out of fear, but neither Kaneko nor I pointed that out.
“Okay, then.”
Kaneko rummaged through her bag and pulled out the Kotkuuri-san paper.
She carries that around, huh?
This time, there was a magic circle drawn on it instead of a Torii gate.
“This worked well when I drew it like this.”
Kaneko spread the paper out, placing a coin on top.
“Then, everyone, please place your fingers on the coin.”
I raised my finger without hesitation. Ikeda hesitated a bit, but ultimately followed suit.
Once again, Kaneko seemed to be firmly pressing down on the coin. The coin didn’t move at all when I placed my finger on it.
“Then, shall we begin?”
Kaneko said this with a grin.
“Kotkuuri-san, Kotkuuri-san, please come~”
Even after experiencing the situation directly last time, Kaneko’s chanting of the spell held no tension whatsoever.
And—
“Seems like you’ve found a method.”
I felt a presence that seemed to speak to me with mild interest.
Once again, the being’s form was hidden. I could clearly sense it nearby. There was a slight tingling on my back as it walked behind me, or the feeling of a whisper right at my ear.
Success.
Though it’s said that the response is even more important than the act of summoning, I guess this ‘Nirlas’ being must feel some sort of irresistible impulse too.
Seeing that it showed up this way without needing to cut my wrist.
Whether it was Kaneko or Ikeda who provided the inspiration was unclear. Maybe it was both, and perhaps the hiragana written on this paper played a role in acting as the magic circle.
“I want to know about the woman who came looking for me.”
Even when I voiced it this way, Kaneko and Ikeda made no reaction. They remained as still as the last time, as if time had stopped.
“You mean Kagami.”
I heard a giggling voice near my ear.
“…Is she also a being like you?”
“Well, that could be looked at that way, or it could be viewed otherwise.”
There was no eagerness to simply answer.
After pondering for a moment, I spoke up.
“…Is she human?”
“I’d say she’s a being similar to human.”
So she’s a subordinate, huh?
I still hadn’t shaken off the suspicion that this woman was a character based on Nyaralathotep.
“What do you think of humans? Why do you insert avatars among them?” I spoke without giving the other party a chance to respond.
“When I say that, if humans are beings that are of little value, then you are beings of little value too.”
It seemed that Shura Nirlas took a bit of interest in my words.
“I’d like to hear your grounds for that.”
“It’s similar to how humans are like ants. Or bacteria, perhaps.”
“Are you belittling humans?”
“No, not at all. I’m merely saying it’s a matter of worth.”
Humans die so easily. They are beings that can die from things that are insignificant, much like bugs.
They are just organic matter that happened to evolve and arise on a rock floating in vast, mostly empty space, a moving mass of proteins, water, and carbon all haphazardly mixed together.
But here’s the thing.
“If it’s merely occupying a part of an empty place and existing, it’s the same for you too. To exist, some mechanism is needed, and as long as you exist by that mechanism, you can never become something beyond that mechanism.”
The reason I was provoking like this was that this world is ‘Light Novel.’
If it were set in Cthulhu Mythos, there wouldn’t even be time for such conversation. I wouldn’t be alive, I’d probably be dead or gone mad in no time. Is there any point in conversing with tsunamis or typhoons? You just feel them coming from afar and evade them as best as you can.
But Japanese light novels often twist and deform such principles, scattering praises of humanity and whatnot.
As a result, these external beings tend to be… somewhat human-like. Most have emotions akin to people.
So, I thought there would be a way to communicate.
And just as I expected, it largely aligned with that thought.
“I’m curious about the main point.”
“The main point is, I want to know exactly where that woman stands. If we can’t discuss worth, then saying ‘she is superior to you’ or ‘she is inferior to us’ holds no meaning. The gap between those is simply too vast. Please categorize and talk properly.”
“Hm.”
Shura Nirlas let out a snort.
That snort carried a slight hint of laughter.
“I don’t entirely agree with what you’re saying.”
“…”
“However, it was an interesting assertion. Could it be that a foreigner from such a distant place would think like that?”
No, I think people who think a bit more scientifically tend to have such thoughts.
But I didn’t feel the need to voice that.
“Kagami… well, I can say she’s superior to you.”
Crap.
I thought to myself.
“However, she is below me.”
“…”
“Was that an acceptable answer?”
“…Yeah.”
“Did you know? I find you pleasing. So I hope you live long.”
“Eh?”
“Actually, the reason I came to see you today is that I wanted to tell you something.”
“Eh?”
“How about you refrain from walking alone at night?”
Are they worrying about me now?
No, it feels more like a warning to be careful at night, doesn’t it?
“…”
“I don’t suppose you’d die, but I think it would be more enjoyable for you, knowing this fact.”
“Wait—”
But before I could say anything, the world that had been still started moving again.
I realized it when Kaneko blinked.
I quickly closed my mouth.
“…”
Kaneko, who had been doing nothing for a moment, murmured.
“Oh?”
“Didn’t the coin move on its own last time?”
Ah, right. This time, the coin didn’t move on its own. So naturally, it just stayed right where it was.
“D-Don’t say strange things…”
Ikeda said.
“Should I ask something?”
Kaneko said that, then cleared her throat.
“Kotkuuri-san, Kotkuuri-san. Can I see the future properly without Koto Ne?”
“…”
The coin didn’t move.
“Eep.”
Ikeda made a noise to stifle a laugh.
“You seem to be trying to mess up your final exams. Kotkuuri-san isn’t responding either.”
“W-Wha-What are you talking about? I never said it would mess up my exam.”
“Last time the coin just moved on its own, right?”
“Ugh…!”
Just as those two were bickering—
Bang!
The door to the literature club burst open urgently.
Once again, Yuuki was catching his breath in front of the open door. A katana wrapped in cloth hung over his shoulder just like last time.
Yuuki looked at the Kotkuuri-san paper on the desk, then glanced at me again. His eyes narrowed slightly. The gaze of a person who finds something suspicious.
“…Looks like they didn’t come today.”
As I said that, Kaneko let out a big sigh, saying, “Well yeah. Why?”
“It’s because they did come. They just had nothing to say about your grades.”
Ikeda forgot his fear and started teasing Kaneko.
“Not true! And last time I did better than you in math!”
“You just guessed better!”
They must have messed up math during the midterms too.
My grades weren’t so great either.
I barely managed to avoid failing, but since I had plenty of time at home anyway…
The two of them had forgotten that Yuuki stormed in through the door and were just arguing away.
At least it was a relief that they didn’t ask what was on Yuuki’s shoulder.
*
“Are you not going to tell me?”
Yuuki asked me.
It was understandable since he had previously felt some strange energy coming from me performing Koto Ne and witnessed me slicing my wrist and letting blood flow.
“…I can’t tell you.”
But I had to respond like that.
The story… I didn’t want it to get too tangled.
In the stories, before characters based on Cthulhu were introduced, I hadn’t been able to read past the foreshadowing sections, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that those beings would be far stronger than the early yokai. The scale was different, right?
I didn’t want Yuuki to get involved and hit something great.
“…”
Yuuki stared at me intently before speaking.
“You didn’t forget that it costs 20,000 yen per case, right?”
…
Ah, I almost let it slip.
I barely opened my mouth slightly and then closed it again, yet Yuuki caught that exactly.
“…It must really be hard for you to discuss this.”
No, just because I almost spilled it when tempted by money doesn’t mean that’s how it is always.
Of course, I almost let it slip tempted by that 20,000 yen.
The truth is, I have no idea where to look for the entity. Even if I asked while slicing my wrist, I doubted I would get a proper answer.
“I understand. If you need something… just ask. I’ll do my best to help you. This is my area of expertise.”
“…Alright. I’ll let you know if it gets dangerous.”
But Yuuki’s expression… didn’t seem very trusting.
After that, until we arrived at the station, we didn’t exchange any words.