Chapter 92: Get Along With Your Appraisal Skill
We had four options.
One: Question Kikkōryū Junna.
Two: Question Kikkōryū Hōtoku.
Three: Question Kuwajima.
Four: Report the situation to the Sea God’s shrine maiden.
In this case, I wanted to check the places likely to take time first.
As for ninja father Hōtoku, we only needed to confirm whether the young master had stolen the sacred orb, so we could leave him for last.
Things would go more smoothly with the Sea God’s shrine maiden after questioning Kuwajima.
That left the ninja daughter or Kuwajima.
I gazed at the two women roasting beneath the midsummer sky.
“Which of you will answer honestly when I question you?”
I stood in the garden under the blazing sun and asked them.
Even as the heat seared my skin, they were surely appreciating the full greatness of sunlight.
Both answered, “Mmph! Mmph!”
“I can’t understand you when all you do is grunt. Could you speak proper Japanese? English, French, or another language I understand would also be acceptable.”
“Gouto-kun, interrogation suits you way too well. It makes you look terrible. Also, ordinary university students basically only speak Japanese. No languages other than Japanese for you, Gouto-kun.”
I see. So an ordinary university student you could find anywhere was only allowed to speak Japanese.
Honestly, learning a foreign language seemed more realistic than awakening to an incomprehensible ability, but if Meiko said so, it couldn’t be helped.
From now on, I would focus on studying the Kumamoto dialect.
A-Anyway, Meiko stopped me, so that was enough fooling around.
We definitely needed to question the daughter, who probably knew something about someone other than Hōtoku—the young master, Kikkōryū Terumi.
However, nothing could begin until this woman became honest.
The speed and reliability of information were both important. We’d secured a degree of speed, so reliability was the remaining issue.
Had she become honest yet?
“Kikkōryū Junna, answer my question honestly. You’re in love with Kikkōryū Terumi, aren’t you?”
“Mmph!? Mmph! Mmph!”
Even in her current state, she shook her head furiously in denial.
She still had plenty of spirit.
We could leave her roasting a little longer.
“I understand. I like honest informants. I’ll ask again once you’ve become more honest than you are now.”
Hoping time would deepen our mutual understanding, I made Kuwajima my first priority.
Meiko took her down and released her.
We left the black bandages in place and merely removed the gag, at which point Kuwajima roared spiritedly.
“Fu-hahahaha! This sun is nothing compared with the fires of hell! I am Goetheschwarz Sanzen Sanbyaku Sanjuuin, warden of the frozen prison who can usher in an ice age merely for sport!”
“Meiko.”
“In Kumamoto dialect, she said, ‘I gained ice powers, so the heat didn’t affect me and I’m invincible.'”
Kuwajima was more energetic than I’d expected.
But her eyes were teary and sweat streamed from her, so she was probably bluffing.
Or perhaps it was part of her image strategy.
Kuwajima wasn’t a trained ninja, so we had to beware of heatstroke.
Either way, leaving her hanging any longer would be difficult.
She didn’t seem particularly remorseful for flooding the villa, though.
Back inside, Kuwajima basked in the air conditioner’s breeze.
She made no attempt to remove the black bandages herself, so she apparently sensed that something dangerous would happen without them.
Removing them might awaken sprinkler Kuwajima again.
“Kuwajima, I should explain that the power you possess appears to be a portion of this region’s Sea God’s power. While you have it, the sea-serpent monster will probably hunt you. Are you willing to relinquish it?”
“Hmph. Those burdened with a chosen destiny have always been fated to bear an unjust doom as well. If escape from the seal engraved in the Akashic Record could be accomplished through one’s own arm alone, then the great current of the stars would likewise be no more than a clear and gentle stream.”
“Meiko.”
“In Kumamoto dialect, she said, ‘Even if you tell me to let it go, I don’t know how.'”
That was unsurprising.
This was a woman whose curse began with tying herself up and had clumsily continued binding her own life.
If she couldn’t even deal with the curse, there was no way she could deal with the Sea God’s power when told to do so.
That meant we would first rely on our previous successful experience.
“Taketsuru, if you hit Kuwajima with the Holy Sword, might the Sea God’s power pop out like her curse did before?”
“We can try, but what does the appraisal say? Does it call this a curse?”
“After I repeatedly told the hallucination I didn’t need it, it sulked and stopped showing me anything.”
“Don’t do that when we need it. Get along with your appraisal skill.”
Why did I have to compromise?
The hallucination had taken up residence inside me without permission.
For that matter, we could simply test the idea and learn the answer, so didn’t that mean I didn’t need the hallucination after all?
It was obvious Taketsuru wanted to delay summoning the Holy Sword until the absolute limit.
Reluctantly, I asked the auditory hallucination, with whom conversation was still possible.
Auditory hallucination, this power inside Kuwajima is that spirit energy you mentioned, isn’t it? Can’t you do anything about it?
“I still don’t understand what logic lets you speak to me… But never mind. Yes, most of the power I sensed is inside that girl. As for doing something about it, it isn’t impossible.”
Oh?
It had been a long shot, but asking proved worthwhile.
“Spirit energy is wavering, unstable, and without form. You first prepare a vessel for it to inhabit. Then, if the person herself possesses the will to relinquish the power, I believe it will naturally move from her into the vessel. Can I nibble on the excess produced by that process?”
…I supposed she could do whatever she wanted with whatever leaked out.
She’d asked for a share at the beginning too. Did the power look appetizing even to the auditory hallucination?
“Humanity probably doesn’t sense it much, but invisible power fills the world and circulates through it. It is born from human prayers and emotions, offered to beings like us, sublimated, then eventually returned to the world to enrich the land, whose blessings in turn nourish living things. Within that cycle are beings who have adapted slightly to the power and beings like us who are essentially condensed masses of power. And since human prayers and wishes also determine the forms we take, gods themselves are also—”
Thank you.
You didn’t need to launch smoothly into a lecture.
Knowing those things scored highly in terms of textbook—light novel—ordinariness, but I didn’t particularly need the knowledge at the moment.
What I needed was a way to do something about Kuwajima and a judgment as to whether doing so was necessary.
What awaited us was a mysterious sea-serpent monster. The ability that had entered Kuwajima could become important fighting strength.
Should we really leave it inside her?
“Regarding the power in that girl, honestly, extracting it would be safer… I feel sorry saying this, but she truly has no talent. If the power she absorbed is one hundred, I doubt she can output even one.”
It appeared the Sea God’s power was beyond Kuwajima.
The hallucination had previously said Kuwajima had no talents whatsoever.
This wasn’t particularly surprising.
You’ve helped, auditory hallucination.
The Sea God might be unavailable, but I’d continue the discussion by asking for an introduction to one of his acquaintances.
“I’m seriously counting on you! At worst, I’ll settle for a good personality and nothing else! But if possible, make him handsome!”
That was a desperate cry, but only the gods knew whether any kindhearted unmarried man remained among the Sea God’s acquaintances.
I ended my communication with the auditory hallucination and faced Kuwajima again.
After briefly explaining what I’d learned, I addressed her once more.
“So there you have it, Kuwajima. Apparently, if you prepare properly and try to let go of the ability, you can relinquish it naturally. So, Kuwajima… all right?”
“…”
I implied without words that she should relinquish a power beyond her capabilities.
Kuwajima’s face went slightly blank, and she tightened her lips.
Then she turned her head away a little and spoke.
“Rather, this power has always flowed from my very soul, and that Sea God was merely the catalyst for its awakening. Even if asked to free myself from destiny, what cannot be escaped is precisely what one calls destiny. Thus, even I can do nothing about it. Therefore, that plea cannot be granted!”
“…Meiko?”
“Um… She said, ‘This power is surely just my hidden power awakening, so I don’t want to let it go.'”
Even at this late stage, you still hadn’t cast off the Curse of Chuunibyou, Kuwajima.
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Bonus: Foreign-Language Proficiency
Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, and Various Others Group:
– Kirishiro Leila (Mother)
– Kirishiro Gouto (Ordinary University Student You Could Find Anywhere)
Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese Group:
– Kirishiro Retsuya (Father)
“I can somehow manage English…” Group:
– Kirishiro Kei (Younger Brother)
– Nekoyanagi Meiko (Childhood Friend)
“Foreign languages? Are they tasty?” Group:
– Kirishiro Aya (Younger Sister)
– Kuwajima Taeko (Female Best Friend)
“I’ve Already Forgotten the Oijgebnao Language” Group:
– Taketsuru Yuu (Best Friend)