Kays Translations

Interlude: Tragedy Kitchen

Arrogance is a privilege reserved for geniuses.

So, I think anyone who doesn’t use that privilege is an idiot.

“Got it? Your job is to stay hidden behind me. Don’t step forward. Do you understand?”

On a weekday evening, in a typical apartment parking lot, as soon as our supervisory role was lifted after getting out of the car, I said this to the girl in front of me, and she nodded obediently.

“No using magic. Don’t get too far ahead. No dying. Is that all okay?”

“Yes! I won’t get in Senpai’s way!”

Saying that, the girl who nodded like a parrot had told me she was in the sixth grade when I asked her age while still in the car. Yet, despite being in the second year of middle school, her height was not much different from mine. Annoying.

“Alright then.”

Sighing, I looked at my smartphone.

My final test to become an exorcist was to exorcise a “demon” of the “Second Rank” with a girl younger than me.

A girl whose parents, like mine, were killed by “monsters.

She’s a strange girl like me who aims to become an exorcist even though she’s a woman.

And unlike me, a girl who lacked talent in magic.

To become an exorcist and take on “jobs,” passing an exam was necessary. To suppress the already high casualty rate, one needed to be strong, talented, and be a magic user who could protect someone.

So, my final test involved exorcising a monster while dealing with a hindrance.

But having such a handicap is only natural.

After all, I am of the “Third Rank,” I acquired “Kaijutsu” at the age of four, and I exorcised a “monster” at the age of six. Normally, exams conducted upon graduating middle school would be taken at the age of fourteen, but I can take them because I’m a genius.

Therefore, I can do as I please.

Heading from the parking lot toward the room where the incident occurred. Room 305.

Leaving the parking lot behind and at the right moment, I suddenly thought about it.

I shouldn’t be thrown up during the exorcism.

Just to be sure, I’ll ask about her resolution.

“Hey… What’s your name again?”

“I’m Tsumugi.”

“Ah, right. So, have you ever seen blood?”

As we approached the bottom of the apartment, there was no elevator. I had to climb up to the third floor. I clicked my tongue involuntarily, and Tsumugi’s shoulders shook. Annoying.

Even if I start living alone after leaving the “facility,” I swear I’ll never live in such a cheap apartment. I affirmed this as I climbed the stairs.

“Blood, you say?”

“Yeah. Not your own, but someone else’s. Like, gushing out.”

“It’s from my mom…”

“Then that’s fine. Don’t cry.”

“It’s okay! I’m also aiming to become an exorcist!”

“…Fine.”

, I won’t say it’s impossible. Even a “Second Rank” exorcist could join the police or become an exorcist contracted by a school. Whether this girl is an ideal exorcist, I’ll leave that for later consideration.

Well, if you want to become an exorcist, maybe you can use it, I thought, so I asked.

“Can you use any magic?”

“I-I’m Tsumugi! I can use ‘Basic Attribute Transformation’ a little.”

“How about ‘Composite Attribute’ or ‘Trait Transformation’?”

“I’m practicing it.”

“Then, don’t use magic at all. You’ll just get in my way.”

Attribute transformation is the basics of being an exorcist. But, with just that, you’ll lag behind the “monsters.” You’ll be killed. It’s better not to be a hindrance and not get in the way, rather than risking the monsters noticing you by using magic. 

After reprimanding Tsumugi, we stopped on the third floor.

The setting sun shone between the tall buildings of Shinjuku, casting long shadows in the apartment’s outer corridor. Silence.

After the incident, it seems everyone on the same floor had fled.

I can’t say I don’t understand their feelings. All three family members who lived together were killed. Somehow, they were carved little by little while alive and used as pizza toppings, according to the story.

And, for some reason, the “monster” seems to have sold the pizza through regular delivery services, infiltrating it. So, there were people who unknowingly ate the pizza. I can understand wanting to run away if such an incident occurred right next door.

People who experienced such an incident next door, people who unknowingly ate the pizza, and, above all, the family who got involved, well, it’s a bit of a pity.

Well, it’s more pitiful for me, though.

Arriving in front of room 305, I inserted and turned the key given by the manager.

Creak, the door made a heavy sound typical of old apartments.

After confirming that the door was unlocked, I asked Tsumugi, who was standing next to me.

“Are you ready?”

“…Yes!”

“Let’s go.”

As soon as I pulled the door, there was a creaking sound.

“…Hi”

“…………”

As soon as I opened the door, Tsumugi let out a scream.

In the entrance, there was the upper half of a man’s body. Probably around 40. Since there was no lower half, there were traces of blood crawling, indicating he had probably crawled here. The upper half of the body had several holes, and it was evident that the flesh had been shaved off.

I took a brief glance at it and walked in with my shoes on.

Even after going up, Tsumugi didn’t follow, so I went back and slapped her on the butt.

“What are you doing?”

“S-Senpai! Th-this…!”

Tsumugi, who was trembling slightly taller than me, was scared. While other exorcists were probably undergoing similar tests, bringing such baggage with me to exorcise a monster, I couldn’t help but feel a little lacking in respect.

However, dealing with it was too much trouble, so I turned on my heel.

“If you don’t want to go up, you can stay there.”

“Ah, no, please don’t leave me behind!”

“If you’re coming, stay quiet.”

“Yes!”

After silencing Tsumugi, I continued forward.

As I passed through the corridor, I saw the dressing room. Although the door to the bath was closed, I could see through the frosted glass that the other side was stained pitch black, and I could imagine what had happened.

Moreover, seeing that the blood was black, the “monster” must have lost interest in that body.

If that’s the case, I could guess where the “monster” might be to some extent. So, I knitted the “Guiding Thread Silvate” and prepared for the enemies that would come out.

Passing through the corridor and entering the living room, a room completely stained with blood awaited.

However, there was no “monster.”

If that’s the case, I can speculate about the remaining location… I thought, and then I heard a sound coming from the kitchen.

Tonton, tonton, a rhythmic sound, as if someone were wielding a knife on a cutting board. Remembering my home economics grade of ‘2’ from the first semester, I felt a bit uncomfortable listening to that sound.

But if they’re making noise from there, it’s easy to understand.

It’s a typical selfish act of a “Second Rank” monster, not considering the consequences.

I whispered to Tsumugi in a very small voice before she could nod.

“I’m going to exorcise it.”

Before she could nod, I entered the kitchen.

I used magic in the direction of the sound. I shot small gravel, my specialty in attribute transformation, toward the source of the sound. It hit the head of the “monster” directly.

“…….?”

Clang, the knife rolled on the ground.

However, there was nothing there.

The “monster” that avoided my magic, the black mist left by the dead “monster,” nothing was visible. The knife that had moved on its own was now motionless.

“Why…?”

Could it be that there’s another “monster” lurking in another place?

No, that’s not possible. There were no signs of anything moving in the corridor or the living room. If it exists, it should be only in the kitchen…

I don’t know. I prepared the “Guiding Thread Silvate” at my fingertips.

Chin, a sound echoed.

Surprised, I reflexively shot toward the source of the sound.

The microwave, which had not moved until now, broke.

Along with the sound of destruction, the timer, which had not been working, suddenly started ringing.

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!!

As the timer rang continuously, I shot gravel toward it. The timer broke and stopped, but the refrigerator also broke.

Things were moving without being visible. Maybe an invisible “monster”…?

Just as I was thinking about it, Tsumugi shouted, interrupting my thoughts.

“S-Senpai! The corridor!”

“What!? Don’t get in my way!”

“B-But the corridor! The outside!!”

I suppressed the urge to punch Tsumugi, who was shaking and screaming, and looked into the hallway..

“Ugh.”

There, an infinitely long corridor stretched out. The endlessly extending corridor had several doors with scribbles like a child’s graffiti.

Thinking I might be shown an illusion, I created a lens with the “Guiding Thread Silvate” and looked through it. However, the view remained unchanged. So this was not an illusion. It was a spatial trait transformation.

A cold and hot sensation ran through my whole body.

A “monster” capable of such a thing is not of the “Second Rank.” Probably the “Fourth Rank,” maybe even the “Fifth Rank”…

Just as I thought that, a voice was heard.

“Welcome to my kitchen.”

It resonated throughout the room, as if directly echoing in my body. A sound like that.

My body trembled on its own.

“Dear, precious guests. Let’s all give them a warm welcome.”

A “monster” capable of creating others. I thought that, and at that moment, I felt as if my stomach were grabbed tightly.

Feeling something rising from inside, I suppressed it. However, unable to endure the repugnant smell that came from the back of my nose, I ended up vomiting.

“No mistakes allowed. Clean up.”

As if scolding, a door attached to the endlessly extending corridor opened, and a human head twisted like a rag came out.

“Straight. Walk straight. Like pasta, straight.”

Shaking their entire body to the right and left, the “monster” approached us.

“…! Don’t come!”

I used magic. I aimed a small gravel at the head of the “monster” as planned.

Blood splattered out like a crushed tomato.

The moment it dispersed, multiple doors suddenly opened.

From there, a human face bigger than my body appeared and rolled around. It rolled over to the pool of blood and began licking the blood from the hallway with its big tongue. Bellow, bellow.

“…………..”

Tsugumi, who witnessed that scene, vomited just like me. However, unlike me, she didn’t bring anything up.

This is no longer a test! 

This is a fifth rank monster and we’re just….

“Ni, run away! Tsumugi.”

“To where……?”

“kitchen!”

The room had a window.

We could escape from there. If it’s around the third floor, I won’t get injured even if I jump down with “Body Reinforcement.” I have to run, have to run before I get killed!

Thinking that, when I turned around, I was dumbfounded.

“…Unbelievable.”

Because in the direction I turned, there was an endlessly extending corridor just like before.

“Senpai! Behind you! Heads!”

Stopping her feet, Tsumugi shouted as if blaming me.

I turned around. Then the heads that had finished licking the blood began to roll towards us.

“…! Tsumugi, run. In front of me!”

“Y-Yes!”

I can’t rely on Tsumugi’s magic.

I have to do something about it.

After all, I’m a genius so…

Now, in the straight corridor that has become a straight line, I created a stone wall to stop the “monster.” I overlaid “Attribute Transformation: Earth” with “Trait Transformation” to make it last longer. A rustling sound, a sensation of losing magic power.

From behind, a “monster” with only a head made a thud as it hit the wall.

Particles, whether dust or fragments, fluttered down from the ceiling.

I knew this would only be a delay tactic.

Knowing that, I turned back forward, and a door in front of us opened, unleashing “monsters” like an avalanche.

“Tsumugi! This way!!”

Grabbing the bewildered Tsumugi by the neck, I opened the nearest door, and we both jumped inside. Then, using “Guiding Thread Silvate,” I reinforced the door and transformed it into solid rock using “Trait Transformation” with the little magic power I had.

Looking back, there was a familiar kitchen.

I thought we had come back… but seeing there was no window in the room, I assumed it was a place created by the “monster.”

Fortunately, it seemed there were no monsters inside the room.

“…Are we safe?”

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t want to seriously answer such a stupid question, so I spat it out.

The opponent is probably a “Fifth Rank.” But we are only “Third Rank” and “Second Rank.” Normally, there’s no way we’d survive.

Thinking that, I sighed, and at that moment, a thud echoed from the door turned into rock.

Soon, it became a loud pounding. 

“How… Somehow, we need to find a way out of here! Don’t you have a smartphone!? To talk to the director.”

“Oh, yes. I have it! I have it!”

Saying so, Tsumugi searched in her bag. A pure white iPhone appeared, and when she turned on the screen, it displayed “No service.”

“The… The network… What should we do? What should we do!?”

“Noisy! If it’s useless, we have to think of another way! Is there no Wi-Fi or anything in this room!?”

“There’s nothing. Look!”

Tsumugi touched the smartphone. No radio waves passed through the room.

“How about a landline!?”

“What’s that…?”

“Why don’t you know!”

I kicked Tsumugi’s ignorant butt and searched the room. I thought there would at least be an extension phone, but there was no sign of a telephone in the kitchen.

While doing so, the sound of pounding on the door gradually increased. “monsters” were gathering. Cracks were visible in the rock I created.

What should I do, what should I…

“No… No, I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die…”

While thinking about other things, the useless Tsumugi finally started crying.

It’s hopeless. I have to do something.

There has to be some way to survive. Because I’m not someone who can die here.

Born with a surprisingly low probability as “Third Rank,” I’ve worked hard practicing magic. I can’t die here. I shouldn’t die here.

Think, think, keep thinking!

Because I’m a genius…

At that moment, the timer rang.

“…!”

Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!! A timer that shouldn’t have been set to anything.

Without the magic power to stop it, I continued to think, feeling my nerves wearing thin.

The sound of pounding on the door grew louder.

Tsumugi’s sobbing voice could be heard.

The sound of the timer ringing continued.

Noisy. Noisy. Noisy, noisy, noisy!! Shut up!

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I never thought things would turn out like this. It was supposed to be over after exorcising the “Second Rank” monster. After finishing, if I returned to the facility, everyone would have praised me as a genius.

But that was supposed to be the case…

“Why is this happening…”

The moment that muttered voice was drowned out by other sounds, the doorbell rang.

Ping, pong.

For a moment, the sound of pounding on the door disappeared. Tsumugi stopped crying in surprise. Only the timer continued to ring like an idiot.

However, the silence lasted only a moment. The noise rushed back in.

Sound, sound, sound. Everything mixed together, and my eardrums felt like they were about to burst. There was no one to vent my frustration on, even though I was so frustrated.

Yet our lives were on the verge of disappearing, and I had to think of a way to do something about it. Even though I thought that, the sound was in the way. Everything sounded like dissonance.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen…”

I shouldn’t be experiencing something like this.

It’s a dream. Yes, surely it’s all a bad dream. I’m just nervous because it’s the final test to become an exorcist. So wake up. Wake up from this dream.

I pounded my thighs as if trying to wake up from the pain.

The shock, resonating down to the bones, made me writhe involuntarily. If I writhed, the stench of stomach acid spread in my mouth.

“It’s not a dream…”

What lay before my eyes, the sight that tried to shatter my ears—this entire scene was all too real.

“…No, it’s not.”

I didn’t want to see this. This wasn’t the appearance of an exorcist I aspired to be. I didn’t want to become an exorcist who couldn’t even pass the exam and ended up dead.

“No, I don’t!”

Unable to endure the unbearable reality and swallowing it all in, I was overcome with tears in the backlash. Once tears started flowing, they wouldn’t stop.

“It’s absurd! Why do I have to go through this alone? My parents were killed, I was belittled for being a girl, and told not to become an exorcist! Why do I have to go through this!”

I pounded the kitchen table. I had no magic power left to reinforce my body, and my punched fist hurt.

“I’ve had enough! I hate it all! Everyone, die! Just die!”

I screamed. There was no time to pretend anymore. I screamed, hoping that this situation would somehow change.

But just as I thought my scream might stop, the intercom rang again.

Ping, pong.

Moreover, it didn’t end there.

Ping pong, ping pong. Ping, pong.

Unable to withstand the repeated ringing, I screamed while crying.

“Shut up! The door is unlocked!!”

“Huh? Oh, really.”

In that moment, the sound of the doorbell vanished, and the door made a creaking sound as it opened.

Then, in the distance, a muffled voice of a boy.

Delayed, a roaring sound.

The entire apartment building seemed to shake with a thunderous noise. Due to that impact, the rock that had closed off the kitchen finally broke, connecting it to the corridor. In the connected corridor, a boy about first or second grade of elementary school age walked.

…A person? A “monster”?

I couldn’t tell.

But that child walked toward the back of the corridor without paying any attention to us.

Without thinking, I wiped away tears and left Tsumugi in the corridor.

The endlessly long corridor was in terrible condition. Distorted as if something large had passed through, everywhere was cracked.

And the black mist, a disappearance reaction of the monsters, overflowed to the point of obscuring the view.

“…Rough behavior in the store is prohibited.”

“This is an apartment.”

The moment that voice was heard again, the child retorted to the monster. Unbelievable. Conversing with a “demon,” such a person… I had never seen anything like it.

The moment I thought I hadn’t seen anything like it, the child reached out. Stretching out to scoop something up. The moment he moved, a person tied up in front of the child appeared. Without a head above the neck and a large mouth on the abdomen, it was a monster.

The moment I saw it, I understood.

That monster was the monster that trapped us here.

And, in that moment, I understood.

This child was an ally.

“There should be two exorcists here.”

“We cannot answer about customer privacy.”

“Then I’ll find them myself.”

The child squeezed his hand, and the monster turned into black mist.

“W-Wait…”

“There you are!”

When I called out, the child’s shoulders twitched, and he turned around. He ran toward me  and immediately spoke.

“I heard there’s another girl.” 

“S-She’s in that room.”

“You’d better get out soon. This ‘closed world’ will disappear soon.”

“The world is closed…?”

I didn’t understand. I didn’t know what he was talking about. But the child left me, who was confused, and came out of the room, carrying Tsumugi, who was larger than himself.

“This way.”

The boy said so and went out through a nearby door. I followed him. The moment I passed through the door, a chilly breeze brushed against me.

The pitch-dark sky, the brightly illuminated skyscrapers of Shinjuku, and when I turned around, the door of an old-fashioned apartment.

“Th-thank…”

Tsumugi muttered, still being held by that child.

I, too, inadvertently felt my knees giving way. The seemingly helpless reality from just a moment ago disappeared as if it were all a lie.

Relief at being able to live and leave outside, doubt about whether it really ended, and a younger boy who could use magic better than me. Various emotions became a jumble, and even so, feeling that there were things I needed to ask, I opened my mouth.

“How did you get here…?”

“My mission was nearby. I was searching for any monsters, not monsters using concealment magic and this place flagged when I checked.”

“Concealment…”

To break through that, you would need a considerable amount of magic power.

“So, when I contacted Akane-san, she said it seemed to be used as an exam ground. She heard that two girls entered.”

The boy said that much and exhaled as if relieved.

Genius. The word wavered within me.

Shakily, like the corridor from earlier.

Somewhere, I had heard a distant rumor.

That there was a prodigy who exorcised the ‘Sixth rank’ at the age of five. That a ‘Seventh rank,’ born for the first time in hundreds of years, existed.

When I heard it, I dismissed it as a rumor with too much embellishment.

There couldn’t be such an exorcist, I hoped.

But what was in front of me…

“I think the cleanup crew will come soon. If you’re injured, I can heal you. Are you injured?”

Tsumugi widened her eyes, and shook her head vigorously.

That surprise was understandable. A boy younger than herself could use ‘healing magic.’

“What about you onee-san?”

“…I’m not injured.”

“Good.”

And so, the boy breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing him like that, he looked like a child his age.

However, he exorcised the ‘Fifth rank with one hand.

I knew the name of the exorcist standing before me.

“…Itsuki Kisaragi, right?”

“Yeah, but… Why do you know my name?”

Itsuki, or rather the boy, slowly lowered Tsumugi to the ground.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know. You’re a celebrity.”

“…A celebrity.”

Itsuki’s face twisted unpleasantly.

Why would he dislike that, I wondered as I exhaled.

The cleanup crew would come soon. There wouldn’t be much time to talk.

I had something I needed to ask.

“Thank you for helping. There’s one thing I want to know.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you so strong?”

In response to my question, the child widened his eyes in surprise and seemed to think for a moment. Then, as if he had known from the beginning, he answered.

“Because I don’t want to die, I guess.”

“…! Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

Arrogance is a privilege given to geniuses. That belief hasn’t changed. After all, without it, the balance couldn’t be maintained.

However, if there were geniuses who weren’t like that…

If there were individuals who faced only themselves.

How should I reconcile with that?

I’ve learned. I’ve seen. I’ve been made aware.

In this world, genuine individuals exist.

I’m not a genius.

The moonlight penetrated the exterior corridor. Under the moonlight, I looked strangely small.

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