Chapter 57: Taking a Break

“So Riku is looking for us too?”

Ayaka asked.

“He said he was looking for people, so I assume he’s doing the same thing we are.”

“If that’s the case, has he already left Hagi?”

“I don’t know… That photo seems to have become fairly well known, so wouldn’t he think we would eventually come looking for him if he waited?”

After all, that’s exactly what happened.

“If I were in Riku’s position, I’d be more worried about being found by one of our other classmates, especially after the Jack the Ripper incident in Hiroshima.”

“That’s probably true.”

If I were in Riku’s position, I would leave too.

“But it hasn’t been that long, so shouldn’t he still be somewhere nearby?”

“I think so. Unless Riku has someone like Elvis or Linda helping him, he probably can’t travel very far.”

He probably had no means of transportation, after all.

Riku was cautious. Rather than make a move at a time like this, he would probably stay hidden and observe the situation.

“Takamiya-san, what do you think?”

I asked our vice-leader for her opinion as well.

“I suppose the greatest concern is Jack the Ripper coming to Hagi?”

“Definitely…”

“Maybe we can’t stay in Hagi very long either…”

“That’s the difficult part. Hina, what do you think?”

Takamiya-san asked Kitaura-san.

“I think Riku would head east.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“Because he’d probably want to go to a human town.”

I see.

That was certainly possible.

We had Elvis and Linda as companions among the demons.

But without anyone like them, Riku would probably head for a human town first.

“What about the possibility that he was in Shimane and came this way?”

Ayaka asked.

“Would he really be transported to a human town and then deliberately head into a demon town? The humans probably have nothing good to say about demons, and I don’t think Riku would consider going to one under those circumstances.”

That’s true.

And it wasn’t just Riku. None of us in Team Dropout would think that way.

“Either way, it looks like he’ll probably be somewhere along our route.”

“Definitely.”

“Let’s discuss it again once Elvis and Linda return.”

I said that, and the three of them nodded.

“What about the situation in Hiroshima?”

Takamiya-san asked.

“It only gives us even less reason to go to Hiroshima. Give up on the okonomiyaki.”

“They probably don’t have any anyway, since there’s no wheat, right? Well, that’s fine. But if the culprit is human, then it must be one of our classmates, right?”

“Just as we suspected. I wonder how the rest of our classmates are reacting to the news…”

It was already being talked about on social media.

If our classmates were in a position to browse the internet, they’d probably come across it.

“Won’t their reactions fall into one of two extremes? People like us will hide, but there might also be copycats who try to do something similar.”

There could very well be people who wanted to imitate what had happened.

“This world is becoming more and more apocalyptic.”

“What’s going to happen to Japan?”

“Well, we’re staying out of it. Let’s reach Tokyo as quickly as possible and begin our third lives.”

That was ultimately the conclusion we’d reached.

“Should we do that, then?”

“Yeah. Until Elvis and Sis return, let’s play cards.”

“Yuu, stop trying to look cool while staring outside and come play cards.”

I wasn’t trying to look cool.

“The view outside is beautiful.”

Even as I said that, I went over to the others and started playing cards.

Then, around evening, I received a message from Elvis saying, “I’m heading back to the inn now.” I replied, “Okay,” and sent him our room number.

“Elvis sent me a message. He says he’s on his way back to the inn.”

“I got one from Sis too. She says she’ll be here soon. Wait, isn’t she driving right now?”

Takamiya-san, who had been looking at her own smartphone, tilted her head.

“There’s no point saying anything to Sis. She always does things at her own pace.”

She really was relaxed and did everything at her own pace.

We stopped playing cards and waited for the two of them.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!”

Ayaka answered, and the door opened. Elvis and Linda entered the room.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Oh? It looks like you’re having fun. Yuu-san, aren’t you enjoying the harem life?”

Seriously, she was always so carefree.

“We were playing perfectly wholesome card games.”

“That sounds fun in its own way. There we go.”

The two of them sat down, and Ayaka prepared tea and placed it in front of them.

“Thanks.”

“Thank you. You’d make a wonderful wife someday.”

That was certainly true.

“Thanks. So, how did it go?”

Ayaka asked.

“We asked around, and quite a few people knew about that photo of Riku-san.”

“Same on my end. They were laughing about it.”

I see…

“Actually, I met an imp in the hot spring, and he knew about it too. Let me tell you what I learned from him first.”

I told the two of them everything the imp had told me.

“Hmm, hmm… Some of that overlaps with the information we gathered here.”

“Same here.”

The two of them nodded.

“So it doesn’t seem as though anyone has realized Riku is human.”

“Not at all. The same goes for you—the amount of mana you possess isn’t human. There are all kinds of demons, and we judge people by their mana, not their appearance.”

“That’s right. And even if they did learn he was human, I don’t think anything would happen unless he caused trouble or happened to encounter an exceptionally aggressive demon.”

After all, these two were proof of that.

“Do you think he’s still in Hagi? There’s also a good chance he headed east toward a human-controlled town.”

“That’s possible. Apparently, there hasn’t been much fighting in Shimane, so security is fairly lax. I heard that some humans evacuated there from Hiroshima, but they’re mostly near the Hiroshima–Shimane border. Things are apparently peaceful along the coast.”

“I see.”

It didn’t sound as though entering from this side would be particularly difficult.

“It would be nice if we had some way to get word of us to Riku.”

“That’s the difficult part. I did ask people to contact us if they happened to see him or hear anything about him.”

“That would help.”

There was always a chance we could pass each other without realizing it.

“I obtained some information as well. Or rather, I managed to contact the person who took that photo and uploaded it to social media.”

“Huh?”

“Seriously? A goblin?”

“No. Apparently, he’s a werewolf and a surfer.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose demons like that exist too.”