Kays Translations

Chapter 23- Where Promises Are Kept

Nina-chan leaned forward and said quietly to my father.

"...... No. I can't take you as long as I don't know what you're capable of."

So much righteousness popped out that I couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about. Even though he’s right.

But I owe Nina-chan a debt of gratitude.

So I asked.

.“But papa, you took me with you, didn't you?”

“I know what you’re capable of. But I don't know what she can do and I can't put her in harm's way if I don't know.”

My father shook his head.

Hina-chan, who had been playing with my clothes, stopped messing around with the seriousness of the situation.

Nina-chan continued to insist, even though my father had no time to spare for her.

“But I…I want to become an exorcist! That's why I wanted to see a little bit of magic and monsters...!”

From the way Nina-chan talks, she probably hasn’t seen many monsters.

I'm sure her mother didn't take her to see them.

To begin with, it is not unusual for an exorcist to have children observe an exorcism in order to prepare them for the future. They just don't do it at an age like ours.

But that doesn't mean I'm special.

Even Aya-chan came along with us to observe the exorcism.

Yes, there is nothing special about the "observation" only.

“I say so, but you never know what will happen in an exorcism. That's why I can't take you...."

This time I interrupted my father, who was planning to refuse completely, by saying, "Hey, papa”.

I owe Nina-chan a debt of gratitude for having me practice magic with her after school for a week so far. She called it a 'promise.

If that's the case, I should be the one to keep my promise to her next time.

I mean, you learn that in elementary school, don't you?

You learn that in elementary school, don't you?

Keep your promises.

“I'm going to stay with Nina the entire time, Papa.”

“...... Itsuki?"

Nina-chan looked at me in surprise.

“I'll do my best to protect her. We’ll stay away from the monsters. I'm going to use my 'enhanced vision' magic and look at them from afar. How about that?”

“...... hmm."

My father squeezes one eye thoughtfully.

But before he can continue with anything else, the phone rings again.

My father changed the ringtone so that only work calls are immediately noticed. That's the one ringing now.

When he picked up again, he replied, 'Okay, two of them, right? I'll be right out,' he replied.

“No time for questions and answers. Itsuki, you promise to protect her?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

I nodded to my father and now turned to Nina-chan.

“Can you promise that you will never leave Itsuki? You must not enter the scene. You will only observe from the outside with Itsuki's 'enhanced vision' magic. Can you keep that promise?”

“I'll protect you! If you can watch the monster hunt, then that’s enough......”

“I understand. Then let’s get going.”

I nodded and my father instructed Nina-chan to take her school bag.

I wondered if he was going to drop her off after work.

Just as Nina picked up her school bag, I heard the front door unlock. My mother had returned.

When the three of us stepped out of the room, my mother turned her eyes at Nina.

“Oh, Itsuki. You have a visitor?"

"Yes, I do! But we have to go now.”

“You're busy."

My mother smiled and looked at Nina-chan, who came out of the room with me.

“Come back later."

“Sure…”

Nina-chan replied shyly. She also glared at me, "What?" as if she, too, had something to be embarrassed about.

We got out of the house and jumped into my father's car. The car sped off at a furious pace. My father told us about the situation as he accelerated down the road, putting out his patrol lights.

“The enemy is a monster of the third rank. It has kidnapped two children on their way home from school and is holed up in a park.”

"Hiding in a park?"

I asked, and my father nodded.

“Yes. They're standing in the middle of the park, yelling.”

"......?"

I tilted my head, but this is not the first time I have been unable to make sense of a monster's behavior. I can only assume that's the way it is.

As I was taking in the situation, I noticed that Nina-chan's hands were shaking as she climbed into the backseat with me.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm not scared at all.”

I only heard that she’s fine. Well, that's okay. It’s strange not to be nervous about exorcism.

It took seven minutes to get into the car driven by his father.

We arrived at one of those quiet residential neighborhoods you can find anywhere after a long way down the main street.

However, there was one unusual thing.

The police had blocked off all the roads leading to the park.

To my surprise, the park where the incident took place wasn’t only inaccessible from the outside, but couldn’t be seen from the outside.

This was to prevent the public from being caught up in the damage caused by the monster.

Since the park was out of sight, of course there were no onlookers. There was no point in drawing a crowd if they couldn't see anything interesting.

My father got out of the car and we followed him.

"Don't go any further than where I said, 'This is as far as you go. That's a promise.”

“Yes, it's okay. I know.”

“Just in case," he replied.

The police told us where the park was, and as we walked through the residential area, he turned a corner and extended a hand to us, stilling us.

“That's it. You may not go any further than this corner.”

"I understand.”

I nodded and leaned out of the corner to see a park at the end of the road.

The distance was about 150 meters.

The park was in a position where I could see it without using my "enhanced eyesight”.

It's a small park, I thought.

When I used the "Sight Enhancement" magic, I found that there were only two pieces of playground equipment: a swing set and a slide.

It was the kind of small park you often see in residential areas of Tokyo with a "just built for the time being" feel to it.

I could hear children crying and yelling from the park.

I looked around and saw a female monster in the park.

I found her and she was yelling something, so I gathered the "Silvate" around my ears and collected the sound.

“Don't cry! Don’t cry! I'm the one who needs to cry! 』

Upon closer inspection, the monster was angry at the crying children.

But the first thing that catches the eye is the way she is dressed.

The upper half of her body was wrapped in nothing but a bleached cloth, which could be described as almost naked.

It was as if she was showing off her body to everyone around her. And her body is covered with astonishing tattoos.

I've seen that outfit somewhere.......

“Good, little human! I'm missing my sister! My sister is dead! I'm the one who's sad, not you. 』

She screamed as she stomped down the slide.

“My sister was wonderful. She was the best. She was so beautiful, she was more beautiful than any human being. Every time I see the tattoos on her body, I shiver. I shiver, like when I have a cold. That's what chic is all about. Well, she was not a person. 』

She continued, as I was thinking, I've heard that before and not just the way she dresses.

“I respected her from the bottom of my heart, but there was one thing, really one thing, that I didn't like about her. Do you know what it was? No, don't answer that. No, you don't have to answer, because people don't understand. So I'll tell you. 』

As I looked at the scene in front of me, I thought to myself, "Is it really true?”

“The most beautiful shape in the world is not a cube. It is a sphere. 』

I wondered if I could show this monster to Nina-chan.

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