Chapter 46: A Trip?
After leaving the market, we enjoyed our sushi and miso soup while looking out at the sea.
“Delicious.”
“Apparently it’s freshly caught.”
“The miso soup has a rich dashi flavor too.”
“And it’s warm.”
Somehow it feels like we’re on a tour around Japan. And with three girls, no less. I’ve really moved up in the world. But I wish Minato and Riku were here too…
“About what we heard regarding Hiroshima earlier—if we think about it in terms of our classmates, what kind of skill do you think it would be? At the very least, I couldn’t do it.”
Takamiya-san asked.
“I couldn’t either.”
Takamiya-san couldn’t, and Ayaka’s base Job was a sword-fighter type as well.
“I could do it. Actually, I feel like I’m exactly the specialist for that kind of thing.”
Kitaura-san was an Assassin. That made perfect sense.
“I could do it too. But since my method would be magic, I don’t think it quite matches the ‘Ripper’ image.”
If the culprit was being called a Ripper, their weapon was probably a blade.
“Maybe someone like Hina… Just to confirm, what about Minato and Riku?”
Hmm…
“Riku couldn’t do it. But Minato might be able to… though that guy’s weapon is a spear.”
“Thinking about it that way, we can narrow it down somewhat. The culprit is probably a sword-user or a rogue type.”
“Not our strong suit.”
“Magic users too.”
It inevitably comes down to that.
“No, do we even have a type we’re good against? We rogue types have less firepower than attackers like Ayaka, Mayumi, and Minato, but we’re strong against humans.”
“That’s the impression, yeah. We did struggle against Yamane-kun, after all.”
That’s true.
“Who among the advance group was a rogue type again?”
Takamiya-san asked.
“I think Iizuka and Yoshii were.”
Boys.
“Wasn’t Sugisaki-san one too?”
A girl.
“Ah, maybe. But man, those are names I haven’t heard in a while.”
It’d been a while since I’d said them too.
“We haven’t met any of those three at all. They’re in the advance group, so they’re probably strong, but I have no idea what they’re like.”
Maybe one of those three defeated the Demon King.
“For now, let’s be careful around those three. I don’t really remember them well.”
“It’s been ten years, after all… I saw Yuu-kun’s student ID, and he looked incredibly young.”
“Ayaka too.”
She was cute. She’s still the cute type now, but it’s like she’s matured from a girl into a woman.
“Can we see?”
“We’re curious.”
Takamiya-san and Kitaura-san latched onto the idea, so Ayaka and I took out our student IDs and showed them.
“Ahaha! So cute! A little boy, a little boy!”
“Ayaka, you were just a kid!”
I was a second-year high school student, after all. No, come to think of it, our student ID photos had been taken in our first year.
“You guys too, right? Show us.”
“I was already an adult.”
Takamiya-san produced her student ID, so Ayaka and I looked at it together.
“…Who?”
There was a resemblance, but…
“Oh right. Mayumi, you had short hair back then.”
She had long hair now, and her hairstyle was completely different. Also, it was a student ID photo, so it couldn’t be helped, but she wore a deadpan expression—not the ever-smiling Takamiya-san we knew.
“Leaving hairstyle aside, have I really changed that much? Hina hasn’t changed much, right?”
“How rude. Look for yourself.”
Finally, Kitaura-san took out her student ID, then tilted her head while looking at it herself.
“What’s wrong?”
“Who’s this?”
Kitaura-san tilted her head and showed us her student ID.
“Kitaura-san… maybe?”
“Yeah. I can tell it’s Hina.”
“You were a bit rounder.”
The photo showed a girl with a round face.
“When did you lose weight? Hmm… I don’t know.”
“We’ve been together the whole time, so we wouldn’t notice.”
“Honestly, even looking at a photo from ten years ago, I think ‘was I really like this?’ My memory of Hina is the current Hina.”
That’s just how it’s, I suppose.
“Yuu, what did you think when you saw me after five years?”
“Huh?”
I don’t remember…
“Hey.”
I mean, come on…
“Ayaka remembered, and since Takamiya-san’s seat was diagonally behind mine, we talked sometimes so I remembered her. But Kitaura-san’s seat was far away, and we never spoke…”
We were classmates for only a month, with no points of contact. Naturally, we only became close five years ago.
“…Was I supposed to object to that?”
“…Just let it go.”
Kitaura-san and Takamiya-san exchanged glances and spoke in hushed voices.
“Sorry about that. But if even we’re like this, isn’t it understandable that we might not recognize the others? I remembered Yamane because I met him in the other world and he left such a strong negative impression, but otherwise, I might not have recognized him.”
“I wouldn’t have recognized Yamane-kun either if Yuu-kun hadn’t told me. Maybe even among the girls.”
“Girls might be even harder to recognize, don’t you think? Their hairstyles and body types change more easily. I’m the same way.”
Even Ayaka, who hasn’t changed that much, is obviously different from her student days.
To put it in a slightly creepy way, I can tell because I’ve watched Ayaka so closely.
“Wouldn’t the guys get more muscular? They do a lot of physical work.”
“Maybe… This might be tough. Even we’re wearing clothes from this world instead of our otherworldly outfits.”
Like Ayaka and me, Takamiya-san and Kitaura-san were also dressed in local clothing.
“On the other hand, they probably wouldn’t recognize us either. As long as we hide our magical power, we should be fine. Though Yamane-kun had a strange Skill.”
He sure did. A stalker-like skill.
“Whether it’s Yamane or the Hiroshima Ripper, dangerous people will eventually make some kind of move. Let’s continue monitoring social media.”
We should be able to figure out something that way.
“Right. So what should we do now?”
Ayaka asked.
“Let’s look around a bit more, gather some information, then head to the hotel. We’ll leave the rest to Elvis and Linda-neesan. They’re our main hope.”
“Then let’s do that.”
After finishing our sushi and miso soup, we continued browsing the other souvenir shops. After wandering around for a while, it was noon, so we ate a bit more sushi at the market and then headed back to the hotel.