Sword Art Online Alternative – Clover’s Regret

Chapter 1 - Mitsuba Detective

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Chapter 1
Mitsuba Detective

A matsuribayashi1 could be heard in the distance.

The high-pitched flutes, the light tsuzumi, and the elegant koto2
together formed a merry racket.
Although that tumult should sound bustling while up close, it
sounded somewhat lonesome from afar.
Nobody knew where that sound came from.
It was known as the Phantom Orchestra.
It would disappear if you left the area, but it would not feel like it
was close even if you were to go further in.
It’s not like it came from beyond the sky, or from the depths of the
earth. Though if you planned on searching for the origin of the
sound, you’d end up with going around in circles.
You could hear a sound, but could not see where it came from; the
orchestra continued playing in the distance as if it were trying to
deceive those looking for it.
Sitting down on the dark stone steps leading to a deserted shrine,
Nayuta, dressed as a miko, absent-mindedly listened to the sound.
She felt like she had experienced something similar in the distant
past.
Alone, in a dark place, tired, and at a loss——

1 Matsuribayashi (祭り囃子, lit. festival accompaniment) is music that is performed (with

traditional Japanese instruments) at festivals and forms a particular genre of musical accompaniment.
2 The tsuzumi (鼓) is a Japanese hand drum of Chinese/Mongolian/Indian origin that consists of a
wooden body shaped like an hourglass, and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can be
squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respectively. The koto (琴) is a
traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, derived from the Chinese zheng, and a national
instrument of Japan.

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Perhaps the majority of people, without much thought, had

dreams of a time like this when they were kids.
Sitting on the steps of a gloomy shrine, gazing down at the road
below that no one walked on, and carefully listening to the
matsuribayashi.
Bamboo grass rustling in a thicket, a countable number of stars
twinkling in the night sky, when you feel that someone is tapping
on your shoulder yet there’s no one there when you turn
around——

This dream of hers was interrupted by the ring of an e-mail.

A message from her friend was displayed on the floating console.
【Yahou. Nayu-san, whatcha doing?】
Nayuta cast her eyes down and, for a few moments, closed them.
This switch-like action was a habit when changing her behaviour.
After a short sigh, she quickly began composing her reply.
【Investigating the 《Phantom Orchestra》. I don’t know the
requirements for starting the quest, so I am trying stuff out.】
Barely any time had passed before the next message came.
【Oh that…… the one where you〝hear the sound of an orchestra
but can’t find it〟 and 〝when you make an offering, you hear a
cry, so that’s probably one of the triggers for it〟, right? 】
【Yes, that one. Is there any other info?】

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【It’s probably more like a rumour of dubious origin than info,

but—— seeing as nothing has happened even three days after
implementation, it may be that you need some special key-item
for it. Wanna postpone that one and work on a different quest
together? It seems you can get a nice katana out of《Kagome,
Kagome》3, but it’s rated eight on a scariness scale, so it might be
a bit too much for me alone —— 】
【All right. Let’s meet up.】
【Thanks! Nayu-san, you’re so cool! So, I’ll be waiting at the
bakeneko tea house.】
After the message exchange ended, Nayuta stood up from the
stone steps.
With her long, black hair and the sleeves of her miko costume
gently floating, the girl jumped down.
Unlike reality, there was barely any impact when she landed; she
felt as though her body was as light as a feather.
This did not mean that all the avatars would have the same
feeling. Nayuta’s class, the 《Battle Miko》, had a special trait of
excelling at jumping. On top of that, she had also acquired the
《 Unparalleled Jump》 skill, an advanced form of the
hassoutobi4, thus her body was especially light.
On the other hand, as she focused on the lightness of her
equipment set, this narrowed her choice of equipment, and thus
had the drawbacks of weakening her defence and shortening her
reach.

3 Kagome kagome (かごめかごめ) is a children’s game (or it can refer to the song sung during it)
where one player is chosen to be the “oni” (similar to “it” in tag) and sits blindfolded/eyes covered, while
the other children walk in circles around them while chanting the song. When the song stops, the oni has
to guess who’s standing directly behind them.
4 Hassoutobi (八艘飛び, lit. “the leaping of the eight ships”) refers to how Minamoto no Yoshitsune
escaped from Noritsune in the Battle of Dan-no-ura by leaping from one boat to another until he was eight
boats away from his opponent.

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For the majority of Battle Mikos, the standard was to make use of
the easy-to-use halberds that benefited from class specialty
weapon bonuses and choose heavy equipment to compensate for
their low strength, rather than work on their special jump trait.
Although this made it pleasant to move, even the tiniest bit of
negligence could lead to fatal wounds, thus such a character build
was even called peaky by game guides, as the player would be best
off avoiding damage entirely.
Nayuta proceeded along a deserted country road, illuminated by
moonlight, at a speed that made it seem like she was sliding on the
road.
Looking to the side, the ears of rice swayed like a wave as a gust of
wind brushed the rice fields.
The refreshing rustling sound blended with the subtle and
profound orchestra.
The fluttering of the flute, the drums faithfully beating the rhythm,
the dignified and elegant koto—— although each of them was
overflowing with bustle and energy, their melody still seemed
somewhat melancholic.
Gazing at the rice fields on this moonlit night, she noticed
something peculiar while on her way to the teleport point.
A small hokora5, where a dōsojin was enshrined, that she had not
noticed before when passing by.
The roof was only as high as her waist, and the stone statue inside
was appropriately small.
At its facade, a letter had been offered.

5 A hokora (祠) is a miniature Shinto shrine either found on the precincts of a larger shrine and
dedicated to folk kami, or on a street side, enshrining kami not under the jurisdiction of any large shrine.
Dōsojin (道祖神) are some of the kami that may be enshrined in it. Dōsojin is a generic name for a type of
Shinto kami popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighbouring areas where, as tutelary deities of borders,
they are believed to protect travellers and villages from epidemics and evil spirits.

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(This shouldn’t have been here when I came through…… does that
mean that the offering was a switch for it——?)
She hesitated to take the offering, but the chance of it being some
kind of hint was high.
Once she took it into her hands and unfolded it, she saw some
characters messily written on it with a brush.
《I wanna eat some botamochi》
Just a single line.
As it was so excessively simplistic, she ended up checking the back
of the paper.
At a loss, Nayuta looked at the stone statue in the hokora.
On it, the sorrowful, tear-stained face of a still-very-young child
was engraved.

§
The Japanese VRMMO 《Asuka Empire》’s new event, the
《 Hundred and Eight Apparitions》——
This large-scale event, held to commemorate the creation of a new
district called „Ayakashi Bystreet”6, would introduce a hundred
and eight different scenarios, both large- and small-scaled, over
the course of approximately a year.
For the game boasting a scale that was second only to 《ALfheim
Online》 in the domestic market but suffering a stagnation in
userbase growth, this was an update with its dignity literally at
stake.

6 Ayakashi (あやかし) is a collective name for yōkai that appear above the surface of water. They
are usually depicted as either sea monsters or as the ghosts of those who died at sea that want to add to
their number.

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The Seed
Since the spread of the World Seed, creating a FullDive-supporting
virtual world became so easy that not only companies but even
individuals themselves could build such worlds, thus the number
of playable titles skyrocketed.
At the same time, this encouraged existing users to spread to
other games, and some insignificant games that were no longer
able to maintain a playerbase were forced to suspend their
service.
This concerned even a game as large-scaled as 《Asuka Empire 》,
thus this event focused on both the creators and the players.
The 《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》 would literally
incorporate a hundred and eight quests.
These hundred and eight quests would consist of „The Hundred
Tales” , „The Seven Wonders” and a „Finale” slated for the end;
among them, „The Hundred Tales” would consist of user-
generated quests made using 《The Seed》.
For this event, about 8-10 of the numerous quests created by
individuals would be chosen each month and incorporated after
the creators received a remuneration—— in short, it was a user-
made scenario contest.
At first, this selection was criticised as „a last resort to ensure an
increase in the number of quests”, but boosted by a tremendous
The Seed fad, when it came time to review results, there were so
many masterpieces collected that the selection took unexpectedly
long.
The game’s management had called out to students of various
vocational schools and clubs to participate and a lot of them
applied, taking it on as their graduation work or a test-of-skills
challenge for their summer holidays.

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It was difficult to create a new game, with its own system,

environment and setting included, from scratch in a short time,
but if it was based on 《Asuka Empire》’s system, it would
eliminate a lot of required labour, allowing them to focus on
working purely on the scenario, visuals and audio.
To the applicants, the sense of a 〝cultural festival haunted
house 〟, open to a very large audience, was very strong.
As for 《The Seven Wonders》 that were unrelated to the contest,
they’re tie-up quests for all the different types of enterprises that
specialised in confectionery, fashion, soft drinks, figures and so
on; it was a collaboration that not only involved having the
products of the companies appear in the quests, but it even
involved items that appeared in the game being sold in real life.
It has only been three months since this festive merrymaking with
the future of the companies at stake, but at the present moment, it
was enjoying a favourable reception that exceeded the game
company’s goals.
SAO
Unlike 《Sword Art Online》, which led to thousands of deaths
ALO
and had to suspend its service, or 《ALfheim Online》, which had
to change its management company due to a case of human
GGO
experimentation coming to light, or 《Gun Gale Online》, where
the criminal act, known as the Death Gun incident, that lead to
several victims occurred, Asuka Empire had yet to have any such
scandals since its service had begun. This credibility was highly
valued at the moment.
„……Though, you know. It’s not like this event is getting high
praise. After all, ain’t it basically nothing but horror? With movies,
seeing one or two of them is one thing, but seeing a hundred and
eight horror movies in a row is just a pain. There are tons of
horror comedy-type quests, but they even have comedy-feigning
surprises like the 《Subjugation of a Tiger on the Folding
Screen 》.
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„……I haven’t cleared it yet, but I’ve heard that it’s like a scene of
pandemonium.”
At a corner of the kanmidokoro7/bakeneko tea house, Nayuta
listened to the endless complaints from Koyomi, her ninja friend
that she had met up with.
The mentioned 《Subjugation of a Tiger on the Folding Screen》
was based on the tonchibanashi8 of how a young priest was given
this unreasonable demand from the shogun: „Subjugate the tiger
on this folding screen”, to which he responded:
„Then, please drive that tiger out of the folding screen.”9
In this quest, set in a western-style house from the Taisho era, the
early stages had a gentle build-up as if it were a funny story——
but, in the middle stages, the tiger on the folding screen really did
come out and start slaughtering the area’s NPCs in succession; a
violent course of events.
The player was then forced to subjugate the tiger hiding in the
western-style house, but if they made the slightest mistake, they
would end up discovering the gory corpses of the NPCs one after
another, and furthermore, the tiger was basically set to be „so
strong that you can’t win against it by fighting”; a panic horror
quest where you could only run around trying to escape, to say
nothing of fighting against it.
The quest clearing requirement was to lure the tiger into a trap
and return it to the folding screen, but the majority of challengers
were forced to fully realise the dread of a large carnivore, and
some even became unable to eat meat for a while.

7 A amamidokoro (甘味処) is a cafe featuring Japanese-style sweets.

8 Tonchibanashi (とんち話) is a general term for a tale that focuses on a person’s wits.
9 For those interested, this is referring to this story. Basically, it’s a story about how a lord asked a
quick-witted priest to tie up the tiger on his folding screen as he feared that the tiger would slip out from
the screen during the night and cause problems. The priest prepared a rope and then asked the lord to
drive the tiger out of the screen so that he could tie it up, but the lord responded that it was impossible.
Thus, the priest told the lord that if the tiger could not leave the screen, he was unable to tie it. Hearing
this, the lord praised and rewarded the priest for his wits.

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The chillingly realistic blood and guts, the cerebrospinal fluid

leaking out of the broken bones, and other fine details were all
depicted without omitting anything, while the cries and screams
of the NPCs that kept dying due to fatal wounds spiced things up;
it’s said that it unfolded into a nasty hell that had no relation to
the charming tonchibanashi.
„……Though, I've heard that the quest had some revisions made to
it, as could be expected——”
„……It only added the option to switch pixelation on or off, and
upped the scariness level from five to seven. Oh, and it began a
rental service for a 《corpse sensor》 as a measure against heart
attacks, but the fee is three hundred yen per day, what a rip-
off……! That’s no longer an apparition, but a gut splatter!? And
what’s more, compared to the stress caused, the reward is shabby
and…… Nayu-san, here, say ‘ah’.”
Whether it was because she wanted to cool down or because she
wanted to avoid letting her memories of clearing the quest
resurface, Koyomi abruptly held a toothpick with some
warabimochi up to Nayuta’s mouth.
Although feeling slightly uncomfortable about being fed, Nayuta
obediently opened her mouth.
Compared to warabimochi in the real world, the faint sweetness,
the scent of soy flour, and the exquisite, spongy texture were all
well reproduced.
„……Mmhmm…… So, the 《Kagome, Kagome》 that we’re
planning to do is rated eight on the scariness scale, making it
scarier than the tiger subjugation, right? Are you going to be
okay?”
Koyomi frowned explicitly. Due to her ever-changing expression
and childish face, as well as being a hundred and forty cm tall, she
looked to be very young, but she was actually a working adult and
older than Nayuta.

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„About that, you see, the problem is….. Just that the management’s
scariness scale criteria are relatively sloppy and, from what I’ve
seen in the reviews, it’s not splatter-scale scary, so I thought that I
might have better compatibility for it—— And also, the reward for
Kokū
clearing the quest is a shinobi katana named 《Empty Air》,
which I hear is especially effective against spirit-type enemies, so I
wanna hold onto it for the upcoming quests.
Nayu-san, I’m begging you! Help me out! You’re OK with scary
stuff, right!?”
It wasn’t like she was trying to be calm. But, whether she had
better resistance than other people or was simply insensitive to
such things, she had no memory of feeling „scared” during this
event.
On the other hand, during a previous quest, Koyomi shrieked so
loud when she was chased around by a skeleton warrior that it
almost seemed as though her scream went into ultrasound.
As her friend, Nayuta felt very uneasy about sending her off to a
scary spot on her own.
„Of course, I do not mind helping, but…… I have a one-sided
character build, so my worth as an asset is questionable. You are
not going to invite anyone else to help?”
Koyomi cackled.
„Oh you and your jokes again. Nayu-san, you know that you’re the
strongest person among my friends? Oh, and the recommended
level for that quest ain’t that high. I should be able to clear it on
my own, but it’s rumoured to be scary…… so I don’t really wanna
go to a haunted house like that on my own, and it would be hard
to cling to someone at the scary bits if I bring my good-for-nothing
friends along, while you, Nayu-san, always give the impression of
coolness, so I feel like I can rely on you…… right? I beg you!”
„All right. I want a weapon for ghosts too, so I look forward to
working with you.”

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She had no intention of declining the request from the start. They
had a mutual give-and-take relationship as well.
„Thanks! Nayu-san, I love that you’re so simple! Alright, say ‘ah’.”
Smiling from ear to ear, Koyomi presented another piece of
warabimochi to Nayuta’s mouth.
„……Oh no, it’s not like you bought me over with warabimochi……
Oh, would you like your mamekan?”
Nayuta scooped up the agar jelly and peas with her wooden spoon
and presented it to Koyomi’s mouth.
And the girl bit into the spoon in a flash.
„Mmm! Tasty!”
„…… Glad to hear it.”
As the situation took a turn that made it hard to tell which of them
was older, Nayuta once again looked around the shop.
This bakeneko tea house was a popular shop at Ayakashi Bystreet,
but the confined store had barely any customers.
This did not mean that the store was not thriving; a clone shop
system that prevented excess congestion had been introduced to a
large number of shops in this district in order to maintain the
appropriate atmosphere.
Although it appeared as if there were one store, its interior was
actually copied and split into several stores.
As customers that came in one after another would be transferred
to different stores, it ensured that no matter when somebody
came in, they would never see congestion. If someone had an
appointment, they could operate their friend list at the front of the
shop and enter the same room as their friends.
It wasn’t all that rare for people to pay an additional fee to make a
reservation and have online meetings rather than offline ones.

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As a large congestion of people would spoil the haunted house

atmosphere, a large number of quests in this event had a applied a
policy limiting the number of participating players.
As such, the quests were split into four categories.
The 《Tests of Courage》: these allowed only one person to
challenge them by themselves.
The 《Fellow Travellers》: these allowed encountering only party
members that joined the quest together.
The 《Encounters》: these could assign a limited number of
people within range to an area where other players were already
present.
And, the 《Universals》: these had no limits on the number of
participants and, theoretically, could even allow all players to
gather in one place.
A majority of the stores in Ayakashi Bystreet were categorised
under 《Encounters》 to prevent lines.
The 《Subjugation of a Tiger on the Folding Screen》 that
implanted a trauma in Koyomi was an example of the 《Tests of
Courage》 meant for a single person; the 《Phantom Orchestra》
that Nayuta had been investigating just a while ago and the
《 Kagome, Kagome》 that they planned to challenge were
examples of 《Fellow Travellers》 that only allowed party
members to participate.
Because of this system, it was rather unlikely to bump into
someone in restaurants even if you were both regular customers,
unless you were trying to meet up with them.
On the other hand, perhaps because there seemed to be few
customers, there were cases of relationships forming between two
unacquainted players who just happened to be present in the
store at the same time.

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Nayuta and Koyomi, too, got acquainted only two months ago,
when this bakeneko tea house had just opened.
The impetus behind this was the fact that the nekomata clerk
mistook their orders and carried Nayuta’s mamekan to Koyomi,
and Koyomi’s warabimochi to Nayuta.
This wasn’t a simple mistake; it seemed that it was an action
programmed to occur at a fixed probability as a character trait for
the nekomata.
Even later on, the same phenomenon happened now and then, and
had practically become an obligatory event in the store.
The nekomata clerks, who would simply incline their head in
confusion without apologising and feign ignorance each time this
happened, were showgirls wearing cat ears—— of course not,
they were a group of actual, bipedal cats.
A black cat, a Calico, a tabby cat, a Russian Blue, Scottish Fold, and
a Munchkin - a collection of various breeds was assembled, and
they looked lovely in their matching happi coats10, but they were
basically unsocial and, on a whim, frequently idled from work and
dozed off. Occasionally, they even jumped onto the customers’
laps, looking as if they owned the place.
Without saying a single word, they only did their waiter duties of
taking and bringing the orders, but there were dubious
eyewitness reports that there was a mature hermit-like
Norwegian silently making wagashi11 in the kitchen.
Due to the fact that there was no concern for cat allergies in
virtual space, there were fairly many customers visiting the store
for these cats.

10 A happi (法被) coat is a traditional Japanese straight-sleeved coat usually made of indigo or
brown cotton and imprinted with a distinctive crest. They are usually worn by workers and shopkeepers
during certain occasions, such as festivals.
11 Wagashi (和菓子 lit. Japanese pastry/confectionery) are traditional Japanese confections that are
often served with tea.

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Nayuta and Koyomi, too, visited it for their respective cats, and
since they hit off well, they started frequently forming a party.
The sliding door opened with a clatter, and a new customer
walked in.
The receptionist black cat rushed through, passing by Nayuta and
Koyomi.
„Excuse me, I would like to enquire for the way——”
The person who entered was an elderly priest dressed as a
traveller.
He was wearing a braided hat on his head, gaiters on his feet, and
had a monk staff in his hand, in other words, you could say he was
wearing the initial equipment for a monk.
He could later specialise, choosing between a Warrior Monk and
Sinful Monk if he chose the warrior path, or a Mendicant Priest
and High Priest if he chose the spell-user path, but compared to
the stars, the samurai and ninja, the somewhat plain impression
that monks gave could not be denied. And on top of that, he had
the appearance of an old man, which was quite rare due to player
age bias.
In 《Asuka Empire》, the character’s appearance generally
reflected the person’s actual appearance, as the AmuSphere
performs a scan of the player’s body when registering a character.
Your appearance could be changed to some degree, and it was
possible to change how the clothes fit your figure, but it was
difficult to change age and gender.
In the recent years, in order to promote VRMMOs for the elderly
generation, „sleeper train trips”, „mountain climbing”, „fishing”,
„rural life” and other interactive types of content with few game
elements had gained popularity. The majority of the elderly
drifted to such games, while those who joined games where
battles were the main element still formed a minority.

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Even though they could compensate for the physical handicap

with equipment or stats, nothing could be done about reflexes.
And in the majority of cases, reflexes were the key to determining
victory or defeat.
The elderly priest, slowly taking his braided hat off, gave an
impression of being really simple. Fitting his role all too well, he
looked like he was playing a supporting role in a historical drama
rather than being a game player.
The black cat wearing a happi coat was fixedly looking up at the
elderly priest right beside it.
Looking down and a bit confused, the elderly priest began
speaking.
„……A cat……? Umm…… I…… Excuse me, do you understand what I
am saying? I’m a bit——”
Koyomi stood up without a moment’s delay.
„Ojii-chan, those little ones are unmanned AI, so they can’t make
such a complicated response! Where do you wanna go? If it’s some
place I know, I could guide you there.”
Her self-assured personality that allowed her to help people even
in a game was the target of the shy Nayuta’s respect.
Nayuta also turned her eyes towards the elderly priest.
„Is it your first time at Ayakashi Bystreet? This district should
have a warp zone midway down the street …… So, if your
destination is a registered establishment, you should be able to
use the navigation feature; could it be that your destination is not
registered?”
Being called by two young girls, the elderly priest was at a loss for
words as if he were surprised, but it seemed that he soon recalled
that this space was different from reality.
The elderly priest smiled and gave a bow, then stepped up to
Nayuta and Koyomi’s table.

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„Oh, you have my thanks. My name is Yanagi. Just as you have

noticed, I am still a beginner…… I am looking for the detective
office named 《Mitsuba’s Detective Agency》 that should be in
this neighbourhood; would you happen to know anything about
it?”
„Ah, I am Nayuta. And this shinobi is Koyomi-san…… Umm….. A
detective office, you say?”
Asking again, Nayuta reflexively exchanged glances with Koyomi.
„Koyomi-san, do you know it?”
„Hmm, first time I’ve heard of it…… Detective offices sound like
they come from a different world….. Ojii-chan, are you sure that
this is really something related to Asuka Empire here?”
With the spread of 《The Seed》, numerous games, including
tiny-scaled works, continued to be produced even now. Among
them, there should of course be some that had detectives, but in
《Asuka Empire》, whose selling point is a Japanese-style world,
such an occupation did not exist system-wise.
„Yes, it should be. Although it is mostly done in the form of a
hobby…… Excuse me, it seems you have no knowledge of it……”
As the elderly priest was about to leave, Koyomi called him to a
stop in a hurry.
„Wait wait! It’s not like we don’t happen to know anything! If it’s
not registered on the nav, there’s only one place in the
neighbourhood where an individual could get a place for a thing
like this——”
„……Well, thinking about it normally, it has to be that place, right.”
The same place came to Nayuta’s mind right away.
The back street of Ayakashi Bystreet, nicknamed „Twilight
Street”——

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It was a dubious area where, compared to the main street, the

price for renting a store was exceptionally cheap, and a lot of
individuals could open their preferred establishments regardless
of whether they were commercial or not.
A shopping district where street stalls would be lined up on
festival days—— was what the game management had in mind,
but with the horror elements in mind, it instead became a chaotic
neighbourhood that seemed more like the black market.
Due to the large number of stores, which, to make matters worse,
frequently changed, not only were each and every one of them not
registered on the navigation, but there were plenty of stores
dealing in strange goods and services.
„……Ojii-chan, this office that you spoke of, could it be located on
《Twilight Street》?”
„That is exactly right. Though I thought that this was the place……”
The elderly priest smiled broadly as if he were relieved.
Koyomi jumped from her chair.
„Alright! So, Nayu-san, shall we show him the way for a bit before
our quest?”
„Okay. I have no objections.
As a matter of fact, it was a place rather hard to navigate for
beginners. It would be faster to show the way rather than explain
it.
The two stood up from their seats and chose the payment option
from the console.
The nekomata clerk skillfully finished processing the bill for the
service with its antique register while its branched tail swayed
carefreely.
Even if you, say, left the store without asking for the accounting,
the payment would just be taken from the deposit, so it was just a
matter of mood.

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Above all, once the accounting was done, you could get a piece of
candy. During campaigns, you could also get lottery tickets and,
with luck, you could get a rare piece of equipment as a prize.
„Oh, right….. Clerk-san, could I get some 《botamochi》 for
takeout?”
While looking at the bewitching coat of fur on the round, black cat
handling the register, Nayuta recalled the event at the hokora
some time ago.
That was probably a demand for an offering.
The black cat, as round as a botamochi, nodded and took out some
botamochi wrapped in bamboo grass leaves from a strange outlet,
fashioned in the form of a cat’s mouth, by the counter.
Having received the botamochi, Nayuta moved it to her kit bag
through her console.
„Hmm? Your afternoon snacks?
„Oh no, this is an offering. Since I might need it for a quest.”
Seen off by the happi coat-wearing nekomata waving its paws, the
party left the store.
As they began walking, the elderly priest bowed down.
„I am humbly sorry for interrupting you when you were
busy — — ”
„Oh come now, it’s no problem. The place is kinda hard for a new
person to navigate, after all!”
Koyomi’s response was incredibly cheerful.
Nayuta, who did not possess the same skills in the art of
conversation, spoke up in a stubbornly refined manner.
„Investigating the 《Twilight Street》 was part of the Hundred
and Eight Apparitions tutorial quest. After release, it became an
area where users could rent stores—— The office that you are
looking for is mixed in among those, I believe.”
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„Hahaa, I see…… The person who introduced me to the game told

me〝It’s probably a hard place to navigate, so if you’d like, I can
have an acquaintance show you around〟, but I thought I could
manage somehow anyway—— However, it seems I was naive.
Meeting such a kind person as yourself has been a great help.”
Koyomi laughed out loud.
„Hey. Nayu-san, you’re so kind, huh. If I were a man, I’d definitely
make you my wife. Actually, I want to be the wife…… Hey, just
marry me already. And support me with your ability to make a
living…… I don’t wanna go to work on Monday and beyond…… I’ve
had enough of being buried in a crowded train with my height……”
Koyomi’s forced voice gradually became quiet.
Nayuta, who had already grown accustomed to handling this,
brushed the hair of the girl below as if she were a child.
„What are you saying to a student. You are a good girl, so please be
a proper working adult.”
„But you know…… our company is filled with nothing but married
pops and grandpas, so we have no girls or boys….. I’ve been doing
my best for a year now, but none of it is any fun…… and we work
like mules at the end of the fiscal year; I’m getting the feeling that
you’re my sole comfort right now, Nayu-san…… Hey, let’s get
married already? Nayu-san, a wedding dress would really suit
you.”
Her repetitive, reckless remarks were indifferently turned aside
by Nayuta.
„Hmm, true. I will consider it if you make over ten million a year.”
„Really!? I know that that’s a complete lie, but I feel like I can pull
through for around a week with that one phrase! Life really does
need dreams and hopes! Even if they’re just illusions with 0%
chance of coming true!”
„……Koyomi-san, does that mean that you kind of like such things?
It will be painful to watch at times though.
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„Yeah. That’s love. Love, without a doubt. And it’s first love to
boot.”
Hearing their odd exchange, the elderly priest burst into laughter.
„……Oh, excuse me. This is my first time in an online game, so I had
no idea…… I see, I am starting to understand the reason why my
grandchild enjoys this. After all, it is quite fascinating how you can
freely create such relationships with other people.
Koyomi looked over her shoulder like a puppy.
„Oh, so you thought you’d start playing with your grandchild, Ojii-
chan?”
„Well, that is not really…… Actually, that could be it. It… the
circumstances are a bit complicated—— I have a task that I would
like to request of the detective whom we are about to visit.”
The elderly priest stammered while giving a smile.
Thinking that it wasn’t nice to pry so much on a first meeting,
Nayuta kept her mouth shut. If he wanted to talk about it he one
day would, so she had no intention of prying too much.
Yanagi gave a light nod, as if he were apologising for troubling
them.
Leading the elderly priest, Nayuta’s group left the back alley and
went around to the back of the bakeneko tea house.
Although the night sky was dark, even spots with no light sources
in the district were faintly bright, and there were no obstacles in
the way.
It is said that Ayakashi Bystreet was based on the motif of the
Edo12 castle town. „Bystreet” was essentially a word that indicated
a narrow road away from the main street, but Ayakashi Bystreet
was apparently named as such in the sense of 〝a district away
from the present world〟.

12 The original name for Tokyo until it received its current name in 1868.

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The district was so large that it made the word ‘bystreet’ sound
like a lie; it was dotted with suspicious places like the Neck-
Hanging Sakura, the Kappa Moat, and the Yomi13 Tunnel.
Compared to Asuka Empire’s capital city, 《Kiyomihara》, based
on the motif of the Asuka Kiyomihara Palace, as well as Heijou-kyō
and Heian-kyō14 from nearly the same period with their abundant
Buddhism architecture and refined buildings of nobles, this
district was more plebian, and emphasis was placed on its
ominousness.
Regardless of the time in real life, it was always night at Ayakashi
Bystreet as the sun did not rise. At present, it was Saturday
afternoon, but the sky was immersed in darkness.
The stains on the wooden fences seemed like a human face that
occasionally changed its expression.
It wasn’t rare for a white hand to spring up from the mud, the
huge castle in the distance would never appear closer no matter
what for some reason, a huge oni face appeared in the sky at
times.
There was such an enormous number of apparition tricks here
that if something went wrong and a 〝real〟 bizzare phenomenon
occurred, it’s likely that no one would notice.
Greeting the noppera-bō that they passed by, the three walked
along the interstice between the old residences and halted in front
of a small shrine.

13 Yomi (黄泉) is the land of the dead in Shinto mythology.

14 Heijou-kyō (平城京) is the former name of Nara city when it was the capital of Japan for most of
the Nara period (specifically, 710–740 and 745–784). Heian-kyō (平安京) is one of the former names of
Kyoto.

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To the sides of the torii15, a pair of manekineko were sitting in the

place of the komainu and fox.
Nicknamed the Neko-Inari16—— a god of cats of dubious lineage,
the „Kedamahaku Neko no Mitama no Kami” was revered there,
and some taiyaki was offered to him beside the offering box.
„Oh, are we making a stopover?”
„Oh no, this is our destination.”
Koyomi gave an impish smile to the bewildered Yanagi.
She entered through the torii, faced the hokora, bowed twice,
clapped twice, and bowed twice again——
And when she turned around, a wide road that wasn’t there
before stretched out straight forward on the other side of the torii.
Numerous orange lanterns in a row, glass bells painted in dazzling
colours, and groups of carts with no sense of unity such as oden
with takoyaki, cotton candy, ramen, and yoyo fishing.17
There were numerous customers coming and going among the
miscellaneous stores lined up on the sides as if there were a heat
haze.
Not only were there carts, there were also some small-scale
businesses that were using the first floor of the buildings to the
sides of the road as their stores. Its appearance, reminiscent of a
Showa era shopping district, contained a mix of eeriness and
liveliness that brought about a chaotic glamour.

15 A torii (鳥居) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a
Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred. Komainu (狛犬),
often called lion-dogs in English, are a pair of statues of lion-like creatures found at the entrance or inner
shrine of many Shinto shrines. As of the Edo period, other animals have also been used to fill in the role of
the komainu. foxes are the most frequent variant, especially at shrines dedicated to Inari. Manekineko (招
き猫, lit. beckoning/welcoming cat) is a common Japanese figurine of a cat with one paw raised.
16 Inari (稲荷) is the kami of foxes (among other things) in the Shinto pantheon. Neko (猫) is the
Japanese word for “cat”, so basically, this is the cat equivalent of a fox god.
17 Yoyo fishing (ヨーヨー釣り) is a Japanese festival game of fishing balloons, floating in water, out
with a hook.

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Yanagi stared in wonder at this mysterious change that occurred

instantaneously.
„What… is this……?”
Nayuta answered in a whisper.
„The interior of the torii is a teleport point. Two bows, two claps
and two more bows is the switch for it, so use the same procedure
when you want to return.”
It was said that, ordinarily, the proper worshipping etiquette was
two bows, two claps and one more bow. In the case of the Neko-
nya nya nya
Inari, it seemed to be two bows, two claps, and two more bows,
seeing it was a cat god.
The three continued to walk along Twilight Street, among such
liveliness that it seemed like there was an ennichi18 taking place.
The players going back and forth were rather varied: there were
samurai, ninja, onmyouji, shirabyōshi19, and so on, but there was
no one particularly suspicious. However, stores to the side of the
road, and the clerks working there, stood out with their strange
ornaments and make-up that made them look like yōkai.
There were people wearing oni or kitsune masks, as well as
genuine kitsune and racoon dogs, who were still on the cute side,
but there were also a number of characters that would make kids
cry mixed in, including eccentric yōkai such as tenome and
jorōgumo, fleeing soldiers with their guts exposed, and entirely
black shadow men.
From among them, a strangely attractive, fuzzy keukegen hopped
towards Koyomi and pulled on her hand.

18 An ennichi (縁日) is a day believed to have a special relation with a particular Japanese deity (e.g.
the day they were born). People think that visiting a temple/shrine on these days will bring greater
fortune than on regular days, thus temples and shrines often hold festivals on such days.
19 Shirabyōshi (白拍子) is a traditional singing and dancing performance developed in the noble courts of
the late Heian, and Kamakura periods. The term is also used to refer to the performers themselves, who
were primarily women and children dressed as men.

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„Ramen Keuke-ken” was written on the signboard of the store

nearby.
With a bitter smile, Koyomi took back her hand.
„Ah, sorry sorry. I have other business today. I’ll see you around
when I’m in the neighbourhood again.”
„……Don’t tell me that you are a regular here.”
„Yeah. It’s a store that always has hair in the soup…… Wait, would
that be fur?”
A good-for-nothing, as usual.
The stores on Twilight Street were, in general, strange in some
respects. Naturally, the frequent customers were rather strange
too.
„Now then, where could the detective agency be, I wonder……
退魔札あり升
Hmm, let’s see let’s see…… Charms against apparitions here?”
Like a child who had just learnt a word, Koyomi began reading the
signs and banners in her field of view.
Masu
„升 20 was used in the Showa era, right?”
Nayuta was hooked and shared her thoughts. Perhaps
overwhelmed by the chaotic atmosphere, Yanagi just
dumbfoundedly surveyed his surroundings and didn’t say much.
„Ah. Foot massage.”
„Not really much point to that in a virtual space, right.”
„Oooh, the horror standard, human flesh manjū.”
„Someone has poor taste.”
„Chocolat de Framboise.”

20 Masu is a Japanese verb suffix that adds politeness. Normally, “masu” is written in hiragana, but in this
case, it was written with the kanji 升, solely because it shares the same reading. This practice was
apparently common (for example, in shop slogans) in the Edo period, but is rare nowadays.

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„That feels so out of place……”

„Adult video arcade.”
„……I am surprised this got permission from the management.”
„My mistake! It says kitsune video arcade.”
„That has me somewhat worried.”
„Wankokumanabe.”
„……A sub-variety of wankosoba21, perhaps?”
„Nyankosoba.”22
„What are these two doing so close together?”
„Mitsuba Detective Agency.”
„What would he be investigating in a pla…… Ah!”
„Cat God Faith Society.”
„Koyomi-san, please don’t just pass by like that. It’s here.”
Nayuta grabbed Koyomi, who was leading the way, by the nape
like a cat and forced her to stop.
At the entrance so narrow that only one person alone could
manage to squeeze through, an old wooden signboard was
hanging in a sorry state.
The office in question seemed to be on the second floor. The path
ahead was shrouded in total darkness, and steep stairs led above.
Yanagi displayed a smile of relief.
„Ah, this seems to be the place. That you very much, both of you.
Alone, I would have had a very hard time reaching this place.”
„……Hm. Well, there is indeed a sign hanging here, but……”

21 A style of Japanese soba noodles, originating from Iwate Prefecture, which are served in a small
bowl and continuously refilled until the customer closes the lid to show that he has had enough. Wanko is
also how children call dogs in Japanese.
22 Literally, kitty noodles. So, a cat-themed food service next to a dog-themed one.

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„……Is this really the place?”

Looking up at the second floor, Nayuta and Koyomi noticed a
hanged corpse slowly swaying on the other side of the window.
„……Another case of bad taste, hmm.”
„Hmm, well, it might be linked to the district’s scenery
management……”
The scene was not necessarily a reflection of the inside of the
room. To create an appropriate atmosphere for Twilight Street,
the ornaments on the windows facing outside were configured by
the game’s management.
Though, if the tenant’s ornaments passed the management’s
inspection, the room’s state could be shown through the window
as is. This guess could only be confirmed by actually stepping in.
„This is more suspicious than usual….. right, Nayu-san? Isn’t there
a chance that once you step in, a secret quest will be activated
before you can reach the detective office or something? Sending
off a beginner elder like that is kinda——”
Nayuta replied to Koyomi’s worries with a nod.
„……Say, Yanagi-san. This might be rude but… you are still level 1,
right?
„Yes. After all, I logged in for the first time today—— I even
postponed the tutorial.”
Nayuta and Koyomi exchanged glances. They praised him for
managing to reach the bakeneko tea house at this state.
„……This might be uncourteous, but shall we accompany you
further if we do not interfere?”
A broad smile appeared on the elderly priest’s face.
„Why thank you, I have caused you so much trouble…… Again, I
am greatly obliged for your kindness.”

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With his hands pressed together, he gave a very deep bow. It

seemed that he had cold feet.
With a nod, Nayuta swiftly stepped forward toward the dark stairs
jammed in between the wooden walls.
Seeing her take the lead without hesitation, Koyomi, who was
standing in the back, let out a sigh of admiration.
„Nayu-san, I think I’m falling in love with the way you’re being all
manly like that……”
„The one in the back does not necessarily have the highest
survival rate. Back attacks come from behind.”
„Oh, it’s not about survival rates…… You never think that 〝The
dark is scary!〟 or something? In the first place, if we’re talking
about survival rates, since Battle Mikos are a vanguard class,
shouldn’t they strengthen themselves with more metal
protectors? It would be one thing if you were a magician-type
Exorcist Miko, but you’re the only Battle Miko I know with such
enormous boobs and visible cleavage……”
„……It’s not visible. I am wearing my innerwear underneath, so
please stop with the random sexually harassing remarks. The size
setting…… was just a mistake.”
When creating an account, your figure was influenced by the
AmuSphere’s scan to some degree. She could have just wrapped a
sarashi23 around herself, but she did not get to that.
Partly because it was summertime and she was lightly dressed,
she started the game without reading the exact numbers; she
noticed the glances from her surroundings several days later.

23 A sarashi (サラシ) is a long strip of cloth, usually thick cotton, wrapped tightly around the midriff
up to the chest.

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To top it off, while she contemplated whether she should delete

her account and start over, she had the luck to obtain a rare piece
of equipment with a high evasion stat, the 《Shirahae no
Kosode 》24, and so she became unable to delete her account
without deleting the item.
Koyomi groaned.
„Even if you’re wearing innerwear…… That spunky, fireproof,
sportswear-like innerwear itself is generally thought of as sexy on
its own, you know? It makes your silhouette look quite
impressive, you know?”
„You’re exaggerating. And isn’t that fire- or electricity-proof
innerwear a standard piece of equipment for shinobi-type people
like you, Koyomi-san? Since I focus on speed and agility, I end up
with such equipment and I can’t help it.”
Koyomi nudged at Nayuta’s back.
„About that! Nayu-san, if you’re focusing so much on speed, then
why didn’t you become a shinobi? Even though it’s a popular class
that’s the most nimble one in the game and has fair offensive
abilities, according to class charts. Battle Miko is a class that
people who think 〝Ninja have far too little armour, so they’re
kinda……〟choose, you know?”
‘I have my reasons. I can’t say that I don’t, but I’m a bit
embarrassed.’ Nayuta whispered in response.
„Ehm…… I thought—— the hakama25 looked cute.”
Koyomi hanged her head at once.

24 Shirahae (白南風) is the name for the strong winds from the south after the rainy season. Kosode
(小袖, lit. short sleeves) is a basic Japanese robe for both men and women that can be worn either as an
undergarment or an overgarment. The kosode are the forerunner of the modern kimono.
25 A hakama (袴) is a skirt-like traditional Japanese garment that was usually worn by higher-class
men like samurai as a sign of status, but later spread among the lower classes.

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„……Sorry, I take back what I said about you being manly. You’re
cute, Nayu-san. You look like a proper girl…… On the other hand,
as I see nothing but stats and efficiency, my femininity level is
awfully low……”
„……Oh no, my character build is suited for martial arts, so I am
not very feminine——”
„Nuh-uh. You’re a girl no matter how I look at you…… After all,
during battle, your bust jiggles so much…… it goes
*tayuntayun*…… so much that I wonder whether it has a
specialised visualising engine.”
„……Koyomi-san, seriously, stop with the frequent sexual
harassment with those indecent eyes of yours. It makes it hard to
give a normal response.”
It seemed that something unpleasant had happened to her in real
life.

Having arrived at the top of the stairs, Nayuta opened the wooden
door blocking their path.
A very faint orange light reached the stairs.
Inside was a room larger than they had envisioned.
The ceiling was strangely high, slightly altering the stream of air
and the echo of voices.
Directly opposite the open door sat a huge, bulky black cat.
It wasn’t of a normal size.
Its sitting height was easily over three metres, and coupled with
the height of the ceiling, it gave off an intimidating aura.

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Of course, it wasn’t an actual cat; it was an ornament that had a

plump body twice as large as its head and was sitting in Zen
meditation position; its forelegs were in the Dhyāna mudrā26 and
its hindlegs were in the lotus position27, like a black Buddha statue
so to speak.
The dim room with the statue looked more like the main temple
building of a shrine rather than the second floor of a shopping
street, and gave the illusion that they might have been transported
by a warp zone.
The large, golden eyes did not particularly give the impression
that it was full of love, neither did it give the slightest impression
of strength to ward off the klesha28, or the overambitious will to
save the living, but the cat-like expression of cunningness was
fully represented.
The halo behind it was styled as cat paw pads, the pedestal as a cat
food can, and the lanterns hanging in the surroundings as balls of
wool; even those obsessed with details would find no oversights.
Nayuta and the others stood stupefied in front of the strange-
looking seated figure that could be called a large, black cat Buddha
statue.
„……Eh? What is… this?”
„Whoa…… Arigataya. Arigataya.”29
While Nayuta was bewildered and Koyomi paid her reverence at
once, Yanagi found a sign in the darkness.
„To the right is the Cat God Faith Society, to the left is Mitsuba
Detective Agency……It seems that this second floor branches out.
This cat statue is probably an entrance objet d’art——”

26 A mudra is is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. The Dhyāna mudrā is the
gesture of meditation when the hands are placed on the lap with the fingers stretched and palms facing
upwards.
27 A cross-legged sitting posture originating in meditative practices of ancient India, in which the
feet are placed on the opposing thighs.
28 In Buddhism, mental states that cloud the mind (such as greed, hatred, delusion) and manifest in
unwholesome actions.
29 A phrase that obsessive worshipers use to show their gratitude to their god.

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Looking to the right and left, they saw the respective doors.
The door on the right had a carving of a cat with blazing, open
eyes, while the door on the left had a small wooden tag hanging
from it, the word 《Open》 written on it.
The door on the right went beyond adorable to being evidently
ominous.
After casting down and closing her eyes, then taking a short pause,
Nayuta knocked on the door to the left without hesitation.
„——The door’s not locked. Come in.”
The strangely clear voice of a young man came from inside.
§
Detectives were generally divided into two categories.
The first included those who only did the job for money, the so-
called realist detectives.
The other were romantist detectives, who aspired to be the kind
of detectives that appear in stories and thus chose this profession
themselves.
The distinction was simple.
The former did not look like detectives. Aside from those in charge
of advertising and business, most refrained from showing their
faces and precisely handled affair investigation and background
checks while hidden in the bustle of the town.
The latter started from the looks. Fine-tailored suits or splash-
patterned kimonos, a custom-made stick and their favourite
pipe——as long as it looked detective-ish, any prop worked. They
were the people to emphasise that they were detectives starting
from their appearance, and promote themselves by being
conspicuous.

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And, just as expected, the owner of the Mitsuba Detective Agency

that appeared before Nayuta and the others was part of the 〝
latter〟 to an overwhelming degree.
The white shirt, polar tie and vest were still understandable.
Although there was no 〝detective〟 class system-wise, such
Western clothes were sold even in Kiyomihara.
However, even if they were easy to obtain, going so far as to have
an inverness cape and deerstalker hanging on the wall made it
look like nothing but an evident cosplay of the most famous
detective in the world.
The bookshelves crammed with books, leaving no gaps, the glass
shelves storing chemistry lab equipment, an old skeleton, and an
antique gramophone were completely devoted to setting the
atmosphere.
In the first place, as they were in-game, the ornamental books
probably had blank pages. It was even questionable whether they
could be taken out of the bookshelves.
The chemistry lab equipment was also meaningless of course, and
as for the BGM coming from the gramophone, it was a net radio
horse racing broadcast.
It seemed that favourite number nine: the bracket two, horse
number two Nikukyūkaiser won Saturday’s sixth race.
After confirming these results, the young detective switched off
the gramophone-type radio in a good mood.
Under the light of the lamps, the owner of this room behind the
mahogany desk, which gave off candy-like lustre, displayed an
elegant smile.
„Welcome to this office in the outskirts, dear guests. I am
Detective Clevel. Do not mind the cat Buddha statue. It’s
something that those guys from the Cat God Faith Society placed
of their own accord. You really have to——know their character.”
Detective Clevel’s voice was as clear as a presenter’s.
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He was slender but his face and figure weren’t half bad. His gaze,
as if he were appraising his guests, was somehow reminiscent of a
kitsune.
(……So there are people that give off the same aura as the
disguised kitsune from „The Kitsune’s Wedding”……?)
Nayuta thought back on the quest that she and Koyomi had
cleared several days ago.
Although the disguised kitsune in the quest definitely wasn’t
wearing Western clothes, he was a handsome young man who had
eyes with long slits and a glamorous, slender face.
A pushover for looks, Koyomi was blindly struck by him, but,
unfortunately, he wasn’t Nayuta’s type, thus once she confirmed
that he was the enemy, she carried out her judgement on him
without hesitation and even received a combo bonus.
Having seen this, she was asked „……Nayu-san, do you have
something against hunks……?” by Koyomi with a serious look on
her face, but she did not particularly have a problem with that.
The detective named Clevel continued speaking in a smooth tone.
„Now then, Yanagi-san. As for your request, I understand the
general details based on the email I received from your
middleman just now. Seeing as you could not FullDive to your
destination, I apologise that I could not show you the way, and I
humbly regret it…… Though if you had contacted me directly, I
could have sent someone to meet you at Kiyomihara.”
Yanagi, sitting on the antique sofa, hung his head with a bitter
smile.
„Oh no, I wanted to go for a stroll anyway, so I planned to look
around the game myself first. Though, I truly did not expect
getting lost at this age. If these ladies had not helped me, I would
probably still be lost at this time.”
With a triumphant look, Koyomi puffed out her chest.

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„Well, you have to support each other in times of trouble! ……Ah,

incidentally, I was also interested in the detective; if he were a
fraud, I figured I had to stop him and, depending on the case, turn
him over to the police……or something.”
In response to her rather rude and frank manner of speaking, the
detective let out a chuckle.
„Calling me a fraud is harsh. Though, I understand your reasons
for doubt. As a matter of fact—— the agency was approved by the
game management as a 〝tourist enterprise〟 rather than a 〝
detective enterprise〟. In RPGs, situations when the sign for a
business states ‘bar’ when it’s actually a temporary employment
agency can be encountered now and then, right? It’s something
like that.”
Nayuta inclined her head to the side. A detective enterprise in an
online game was suspicious, but a tourist enterprise was quite
suspicious as well.
„A tourist enterprise……? In a VRMMO you say?”
„Not what you expected? It’s quite popular among the English-
speaking customers. Since a sightseeing trip to Japan takes both
time and money, there is of course a demand for experiencing the
atmosphere cheaply through a Japanese-style game. The
AmuSphere is excellent for that. Tasting gourmet food, soaking in
a hot spring, getting worked up over ninja and admiring sakura—
—none of these are different from their real life equivalents. Why,
it even allows 〝climbing mount Fuji with guaranteed good
weather and no congestion〟, which is hard to do in real life. So,
my job is to accompany my clients on the quests that they wish to
go on as an interpreter and guide, or show them around towns,
stores and all the famous places.”
A black, bipedal nekomata that appeared out of nowhere placed
some black tea in front of Nayuta and the others. They seemed to
be business-use bots identical to the ones at the bakeneko tea
house.

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While putting some cube sugar into his black tea, Clevel continued
the chat that doubled as his self-introduction.
„My customers aren’t all foreigners. Some officials from domestic
enterprises, though not numerous, occasionally come to me with
requests. They are usually people who have absolutely no
experience with games, but want to observe from the inside for
their collaboration plans and advances on the game market——I
get requests like that.”
Clevel’s gaze faced a corner of the wall. A poster from the maker of
a famous drink announcing their collaboration for the 《Hundred
and Eight Apparitions》was affixed to the wall there.
„For such clients, if asked, I handle analyses of the in-game market
and fads, and offer suggestions. At this point, I go into the
consultant field rather than a tourist or detective enterprise,
but…… In a word, you could say that I act as a scapegoat to help
officials from companies avoid responsibility. If their plans fail,
they can put the blame on an outsider like me and save their
reputation in the company.”
The working adult Koyomi gave a conspicuous, displeased
expression.
„……Uwaa…… You’re blunt……”
The detective sneered carelessly.
„I’ve had clients with such a plan in mind; that’s the extent of my
work. Of course, I refuse jobs that are too likely to fail. Now
then…… As I have finished explaining what kind of place this is,
let’s talk about Yanagi-san’s request.”
The detective changed his tone as he turned to Yanagi sitting on
the sofa.
Yanagi responded with a meek nod.

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„Based on the middleman’s letter, 〝I’d like to clear a certain new

quest within a week〟is your request it seems, but——excuse me,
I would like to confirm the payment first. That idiot seems to have
made a mistake with the digits.”
Yanagi hurriedly shook his head.
„Oh no, I believe that it is correct. Two hundred thousand for the
deposit, twenty thousand per man per day, and a million as a
completion bonus for doing it within a week, so if you would
like……”
Nayuta could not believe her ears at that amount of money.
Koyomi frowned reflexively.
„……Eh? Wha? Are you talking about in-game currency? You can’t
really be talking about real money, right?”
The detective sighed.
„We only deal in Japanese Yen and the Dollar. Yanagi-san——
Excuse me but, are you serious? Of course, the price greatly
depends on the content of the request, but there are almost no
risks, unlike how the case is for detectives in the real world; it is
basically safe. If it is just to help with quest clearing, the price per
person per day is ten thousand, and the price for completion is at
most fifty thousand. While it may be true that if it were a Seven
Wonder-class large-scale quest, it would require a decent deposit,
but…… If I recall correctly, your request was the 《Phantom
Orchestra》, right? Although no one has cleared it yet, if we
believe the announcements from the game’s management, it
should not be that difficult.”

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Nayuta’s shoulders twitched.

(Ah. The Phantom Orchestra——)
She had attempted the quest just a short while ago.
As there were about two to three new quests implemented per
week, it wasn’t strange that someone might be overwhelmed by
the number of quests they wanted to do.
But, she could not understand Yanagi’s true motives behind
wanting to clear a quest that did not have known drop items or a
confirmed value so much that he took the trouble to request a
detective for help.
As for the quests implemented this week, a clearing group has
formed for the 《Forest of Werewolves》, which had a prior
announcement to include rare items, thus the majority postponed
the Phantom Orchestra which did not even have clear triggering
requirements.
Yanagi gave a deep bow.
„I beg of you, please consider. It is true that it might seem like a
large sum, but I have certain circumstances that compel me to
clear it within a week no matter what the cost, even if I have to
pay such a large sum——”
„Whoa whoa, what circumstances!? Is it normal to offer over a
million yen just for clearing a quest?”
Koyomi shouted in a shrill voice, but Clevel held her back with his
hands.
„Young lady, according to the rules here, the client doesn’t have to
speak about what he doesn’t want to speak about——if there’s
also a large payment involved, I will not force him to talk. I will
just handle a job that is as sincere as the sum offered for it.”
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„Yeah….. You sure talk cool, but in short, you mean 〝I have my
eyes on the money〟 by that, right?”

Clevel took Koyomi’s unrelenting indication in stride with a faint

smile.
„I won’t deny that. Money is a convenient scale for measuring how
sincere and serious a person is. Above all——can you two really
disregard the wish of this elder when he is willing to pay so much
out of pocket to have it granted?”

„……More like, we want to teach the detective a wonderful

proverb: 〝Every sweet offer has a catch〟 …… Ojii-chan, why are
you in such a hurry? It’s not like there’s a time limit; you could just
clear it at your own pace. You don’t need to pay such a suspicious
detective any money; just say the word and we’ll help you free of
charge.”
Nayuta, who had been carefully watching over the course of
events, finally opened her mouth as well.

„I was just in the middle of investigating the 《Phantom

Orchestra 》. I have even found a hint regarding the requirements
for triggering it, so if it goes well, we will probably clear it within a
few days.”
Before the elderly priest could answer, the detective interjected.
„I see. That’s not a bad deal either—— As a matter of fact, Yanagi-
san. I have an issue to resolve during the time of your request. It is
somewhat related to my schedule being free, but my assistant,
who is usually in charge of combat operations, will not be able to
log in due to personal business until after the tenth. I planned to
hire a temporary mercenary if the need arose, but if these ladies
wish to assist you, then that is just what you needed.”

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Koyomi stood up from the sofa at once.

„Ah! Your get-rich-quick scheme was about to crumble, so you
planned to placate us!”
„Please let me finish. I’m not so worried about money—— Yanagi-
san, let’s put our contract on hold till Monday. Instead, please try
clearing the quest over today and tomorrow, the weekend, with
these ladies. I will also accompany you and thus do some
investigation beforehand, but I will not require payment for these
two days. In the first place, if it is a simple quest that can be
completed in just two days, I cannot accept such a large payment.
If we are unable to clear the quest in two days—— please
consider again whether you would like to enter a contract with me
on Monday. And, in the event of a contract being formed, I will
assist you with all I have for five days starting from Monday.”
The detective finished his speech and gave Nayuta and Koyomi an
intelligent gaze.

„……And so, this is my compromise. After all, starting from

Monday, you two will have either school or work, right? You’ll
likely be unable to help Yanagi-shi during that time. In the end,
there lies the reason why he wants to employ a detective like me.
A talented man, capable of focusing on this quest twenty four
hours per day, even if I have to refrain from sleep, to clear it by
any possible means, as long as the client has the money——that is
who I am.”
Unable to object, Koyomi groaned vexedly.
„Muu…… W-we can just clear it over the weekend! We can do it we
can do it! No problem! Time attack, bring it! Let’s do it!30”

30 Koyomi uses a slang expression here that is mostly used by “true Tokyoites”.

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„……Indeed, we have no issue with it. Yanagi-san, you don’t mind

us assisting you, do you?”
Nayuta’s tone was calm in comparison to Koyomi’s vigour, but the
determination in her words could be said to be mostly the same.
Yanagi inclined his head as if he were troubled.
„Well, of course, this is just what I needed, but…… are you sure? To
do something like this for me, a person you have just met……”
Nayuta nodded modestly.
„As I have said before, it is a quest that I am investigating as well.
Even without you, Yanagi-san, I planned to clear it before long.”

She had absolutely no idea why this elder wanted to clear the 《
Phantom Orchestra》.

But, at least he did not seem like a bad person; seeing his sincere
expression, it was obvious that this was important to him.
Detective Clevel picked up the inverness cape and deerstalker
hanging on the wall.
„With that settled, let’s move out at once. Nayuta, Koyomi, we have
just met, but I’m looking forward to working with you. Let’s form a
party now, you too, Yanagi-san.”
Operating their respective consoles, the group finished forming a
party. Yanagi took a bit more time, but thanks to to Koyomi’s
instructions from the side, the impromptu party was finished
without a hitch.

The 《Phantom Orchestra》 that they were about to attempt fell

under the 《Fellow Traveller》 category, which only allowed
players to encounter party members.

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Thus, it was impossible to take on the quest with other people

unless a party was formed at least temporarily.
(Yanagi-san is of course level 1. Though the detective is quite the
veteran……)
クレーヴェル
Gazing at the 《 Clevel 》 name displayed on the console, Nayuta
nonchalantly checked his stats.
And she suddenly froze up.

„…… Huh……What… is this……?”

Unintentionally letting out a moan.

There, she saw some numbers that could be called abnormal.

„……U-umm…… detective, what is……?”

„What’s the matter? Nayu-san, why did…… Ueah!?”

Koyomi, who was beside her, noticed the abnormality as well and
thus squeaked.
Looking at their reactions, the detective maintained his curt smile.
His stats displayed on the console—— he was five levels higher
than Nayuta. And yet, almost all his other numbers were 《single
digits》. In short, almost all of them were still level 1.

There was one sole entry among them that was raised to a
number close to a thousand.

„Umm…… you only raised your 《Luck》 ……”

„Wai…… eeeh……Uwae, wha, are you serious...? You can't even

beat Itachi with that, let alone Kamaitachi.”
Itachi were just a bit stronger than small fry to beginners.

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The higher-ranked Kamaitachi were oriented towards

intermediate-level players, and the highest-ranked Noriitachi31
were oriented towards advanced-level players, but as all of them
looked rather adorable, they were treated as mascot characters
in-game.
A veteran with a questionable character build that might not even
win against such opponents seemed like nothing but a terribly
elaborate but poor joke.
In Asuka Empire, characters could be improved by freely
allocating points earned through level ups to Strength,
Intelligence, Agility, and other optional stats.
Fighting power was especially influenced by equipment quality,
but to begin with, weapons and armour each had a set „minimum
attribute value required to equip them”, hence if your stats were
not raised to these values, you couldn’t even equip them.
The equipment of Detective Clevel, who had not raised these stats
at all, was almost like garbage.
In front of the dumbfounded Nayuta and Koyomi, Clevel calmly
put on the coat that was only good for show and picked up his
equally stylish stick that had no offensive ability.
„Now then, shall we be off, ladies? As you have noticed, I specialise
in mental work. I’ll leave the fighting to you, so do your best.”
Informing them as if it were only natural, the lucky detective
turned gallantly and adroitly aside in their field of vision.
Nayuta and Koyomi exchanged glances in silence.

31 Itachi are Japanese weasels (Mustela itatsi), Kamaitachi is a yōkai that is thought to be a trio of
weasels who appear in a whirlwind to cut their victim. Noriitachi literally means “cursed weasel”. I left all
of these names romanised, as they were all written in katakana, so I assume they are official monster
names. And I had no idea how to translate Kamaitachi if I went for translated names.

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Somewhere in Twilight Street, a bot crow let out an innocent cry

as if mocking people.

The Phantom Orchestra field, which was mostly an endless rural

landscape, had a looped boundary.
If you reached the map’s edge and wanted to get to the other side,
it was impossible to either enter or leave the area aside from
using the teleport point.
The teleport point also served as the event flag save point; in the
case you left by using items, unsaved flags would be lost. And in
the case of a wipe-out, you’d lose all the flags, even the ones you
saved, and you’d have to start the quest over from the beginning.

„……And so, Yanagi-san. Our job, if an enemy appears, is to run

around to increase our survival rate. If by any chance the ladies,
our combat personnel, fall, we have to abandon them and at least
escape ourselves. If we do that we will maintain the event flags as
a party.”
While walking along the footpath between rice fields in the middle
of the night, Clevel gave this explanation to his client Yanagi-san.
„Well…… that sounds... rather regrettable, if I should say so……”
„It is far better than starting over from scratch. So much that,
when dealing with high-difficulty quests, there are parties which
have spare members solely for maintaining the flags.”
Hearing their conversation, Koyomi silently dropped her
shoulders.

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„……Well, what he’s saying is absolutely true…… but I don’t really

like it……”
Nayuta was of the same opinion, but since they had a week-long
time limit, she wanted to avoid retrying due to a wipe-out. It
wouldn’t be so bad if it were in the initial stages, but a game over
in the late stages of a quest would be nerve-wracking.

„……Well, if we had come solely with Yanagi-san, we would

inevitably be the only ones fighting——And it seems that the
detective will at least be using items……”
Although her advocacy was meant to ease Koyomi’s displeasure, it
definitely wasn’t meant to help the detective that relied on others
so much.
„His stats aren’t suited for that. He can’t use decent equipment
with that….. Detective, how did you manage to work as an in-game
guide with them?”
To Koymi’s indication, Clevel responded with an unconcerned
look.
„The numerical value of Luck is actually indispensable to a guide. I
did say that I leave the fighting to my assistant, right? There are
heaps of players pursuing strength, so hiring one as a mercenary
isn’t that difficult. However—— there aren’t that many players
specialising in 《Luck》, you see. It’s the only thing I had a need to
raise.”
„That’s not true. After all, the necessity……”
„Rare item drop rate.”
*Gu*, Koyomi was at a loss for words.

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„Just by having me, the party as a whole has its rare item drop rate
rise threefold. The upper limit is 10%, so I can’t boost it over that
limit…… but even so, the drop probability for 1% rate items can
rise to 3%, and it even affects the chances of encountering rare
enemies in the first place. Also, the chance of encountering
《 superb views》 like geysers or seas of clouds is dependent on
party member Luck. To an in-game tourist guide, you could say
that it’s the most indispensable stat.”
It was a sound argument. But, she was naturally still a bit
displeased.
„So you’re like a zashiki warashi, I see…… I understand your
reasoning, but was there any need to be so extreme? For example,
couldn’t you allocate eighty percent to Luck and distribute the
remaining twenty to the rest?”

„I had no such luxury. Just now I said that I can〝raise the

probability of rares threefold〟, but that’s only at my current
level. There’s probably room to improve. If I could raise it to
tenfold with more….. I could get myself yet another business.”
The detective chuckled cheerfully.
„Indeed…… until that time, I don’t have any need to change my
methods…..”
Calmly avoiding the who-knows-how-serious prank, Nayuta
stopped in front of a small hokora erected along the road.
„Here it is. After I received a message from Koyomi-san some time
ago, I found this hokora along the way to the teleport point…… It
was not present when I came here, so the shrine’s offertory box on
the other side or something must have been the event switch for
the 《Phantom Orchestra》, I believe.”

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Facing the stone statue in the hokora, Yanagi joined his hands.

„……A tear-strained child. For Jizō32, it gives a rather

heartbreaking impression.”
Beside him, Nayuta selected an item from her console.

„There was a note that said 〝I wanna eat some botamochi〟 in

front of the statue. So, when I was at the bakeneko tea house some
time ago, I took the opportunity to purchase some botamochi….. I
shall try placing it.”
Nayuta placed the offering botamochi wrapped in bamboo grass
in front of the statue.
In front of the group, the expression of the stone statue changed
faintly.
Although it was still a vague, unsettled-looking expression, it more
or less stopped weeping, while the botamochi offering
disappeared like mist.

„……Ooh. I wonder if the next event will occur now?”

While Koyomi surveyed the surroundings, a matsuribayashi came

from some far-off place.
The timber of the light drum, high-pitched flute, and elegant koto
formed a complete whole, and created a generally lonely tune.
It wasn’t like she had heard it when she was a child, but for some
reason, it made her succumb to a feeling of nostalgia.
Yanagi knitted his eyebrows.
„I can hear…… a matsuribayashi.”

32 The Japanese name for Kshitigarbha, a bodhisattva (one who vows to save all beings before
becoming a Buddha) who looks over children, travellers and the underworld. He is regarded as the
guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture.

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Clevel turned his stick around.

„The goal of this quest is to find the origin of the 《Phantom

Orchestra》. Whether this will clear the quest, or whether
something else will happen afterwards——or whether a boss
character appears is unknown, but at any rate, the fact that there
has been no one to clear it probably implies that there is some
sort of nuisance involved.”
„Hmm. But there could be people who cleared it but remained
silent about it……?”
„Speaking by the book, you are correct. But unlike the norm, the
number of people who have successfully cleared each quest in the
《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》 is announced on the official
site. The announcement is made once per day, so I cannot be
certain what the situation is at the present time, but—— in the
morning, it was still 0. It could be due to it only being the third day
since implementation, but it is certain that it is not a simple quest
that you can solve through brute force.”
As the matsuribayashi seemed to get closer, Clevel pointed his
stick in front of the stone statue.
The botamochi offering there had already disappeared, but in its
stead a new piece of paper had appeared.
Nayuta carefully picked it up.
On the paper was a line of characters written with a brush——

《 I wanna eat some kuzumochi 》

„Oooh…… So that’s how it’s gonna be……”

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Koyomi groaned.
Clevel also gave a bitter smile and shook his shoulders.
„I see, so this is the cause of the 0 clear rate so far, huh. An errand-
type quest pointlessly eats up a lot of time. In addition to the time
for finding the required items, it also takes time to make a round
trip between the hokara and the town, so people are being smart
and putting it on hold until someone spreads a walkthrough with
all the required items.”
Nayuta was also dejected. She did not mind an errand once, but
repeating a similar task over and over felt awfully fruitless.
„Well then, shall we return to the town again?”
Yanagi was about to turn back quickly, but Clevel turned his
kitsune-like gaze to him.
„No. Before that, I will investigate this hokora a bit. If it were just a
monotonous and bothersome quest like that, I don’t believe that it
would have passed the game management’s judging——even if,
for argument’s sake, it did pass, it should have been adjusted
during implementation. Either this request is a fake, or…… it is a
riddle.”
Clevel looked inside the hokora.
Nayuta also brought her head closer from the opposite site.
The hokora was so small that if you wanted, you could just lift it
up in your arms. There weren’t that many places to investigate
either.
„Detective-san, is it really okay for you to help like this? You’re
unpaid right now? Wouldn’t it be better for you to drag it on?”

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Hearing Koyomi’s ridiculing indication, Clevel responded with a

sneer, his gaze still fixed on the hokora.
„Do you really think that Yanagi-shi would want to place a request
with a sly person who’d slight his work like that? After all, as I call
myself a detective, even if an imperfect one, I have no intention of
slighting my work when solving riddles with my pride on the line.”
His tone made it seem like he was joking, but Nayuta could feel
faint zeal in his words.
(Aside from his appearance, he’s actually a surprisingly earnest
person……?)
Due to his get-up that looked like cosplay, at first he seemed like
an easily flattered person, but from his logical way of speaking, it
seemed that he was intentionally playing the buffoon. While
investigating the inside of the hokora with his touch, the detective
gave a faint smile.
„Hmm——Miss, please take a look overhead at the stone statue.”
Following his instruction, Nayuta checked the ceiling of the
hokora. She found a piece of paper with 《Clouds》 written on it
afixed there.

„……Aah. A kind of paper frequently affixed above a kamidana?33”

„That’s right. As it would disrespectful to have something

superfluous above a God’s head, a paper or board with ‘sky’ or
‘heavens’, or ‘clouds’ and other symbols written on it is affixed to
the ceiling, as a substitute for the sky. In other words—— it’s
probably a hint that 〝this hokora accepts substitutes〟.”

33 A kamidana (神棚, lit. god shelf) is a miniature household altar provided to enshrine a Shinto
kami.

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Clevel’s hand was grasping a brush stand. It seemed to have been

hidden behind the stone statue.
„Nayuta, could you turn that paper around and unfold it?”
Guessing the detective’s intention, Nayuta unfolded the paper on
her hands.

Clevel then fluently wrote down 《kuzumochi》 in India ink.

As Koyomi and Yanagi watched on, Nayuta folded the paper and
returned it as an offering.
Naturally, Koyomi was flustered.
„Eh. Nayu-san, is that really gonna work ……?”
„I do not know. But, it does not cost anything to try.”
While they were talking, the paper offering disappeared and a
new paper appeared.
The next demand was written there.

《 I wanna eat some habutaemochi 》

The stone statue child stopped crying entirely. Its mood was still
poor though.
Koyomi clapped her hands.
„Wow, it worked! ……I guess? But yet another mochi, huh…… If I’m
not mistaken, it’s sold in a high-class wagashi store in
Kiyomihara.”
„It doesn’t seem like we need to buy it. Let’s continue.”

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Clevel wrote done the characters, and Nayuta placed it as an

offering.
Yanagi frowned.
„Dear me…… the timbre of the matsuribayashi seems to be getting
even closer.”
„It is probably proof of making progress on the flag. This is
probably the requirement for triggering the quest. If you notice
the trick, it could be done in a few moments, but if you do not
notice and have to make round trips to the town, it would be a
rather annoying task.”
„Ah. But, if you left someone in town to contact via messages, he
could already look for the item during the time it takes to return
to town……”
In the middle of Koyomi’s words, the next demand came from the
stone statue.

《 I wanna eat some koorimochi 》

„……I take back my words. Finding this would be rather

difficult……!”

„……Is this a local cuisine somewhere? Though I am not really

sure what it is.”

‘The majority of those attempting the quest probably gave up at

this point’, imagined Nayuta.
Yanagi gave a rather cheerful smile.

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„It’s when you freeze and dry a mochi. It’s a preserved food that
you can dip into hot water and eat in the cold regions. At times, it
is also used as an ingredient in wagashi.”
Nayuta was shocked at Yanagi’s bits of knowledge.
(In the end, I wonder…… who is this person?)
Unless you shared a very close relationship with someone, online
game manners did not allow prying into the person’s IRL identity.
But, she felt curious about multiple things about him, including
the reason for the request. Based on his extensive knowledge
shown just now, it was possible to imagine that he was some sort
of researcher or cook.
Because there was no need to look for the hard-to-find requested
good as an item, Clevel easily granted the stone statue’s wish with
the stroke of a brush.

《 I wanna eat some kobanmochi 》

„The mochi series still continues, huh…… is this another wagashi?”

„Yes. I happen to see them at times, but aside from the koban34
shape being a common feature among them, it seems that the
method of making them is different in each store. Some have red
bean jam filling, some use yomogi, some have beans mixed in…..
quite the variety available. There is also a tree called kobanmochi.
There was no hesitation in Yanagi’s explanation.

34 A small, former Japanese oval coin.

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《 I wanna eat some nikkimochi 》

„……Wagashi again? It doesn’t seem to be sold in Asuka Empire’s

shops——It’s probably something made with the Cooking skill.”
Clevel’s dazzling eye expression was somewhat stern.
The sound of the matsuribayashi continued to approach them.
Koyomi’s gaze wandered about in unease.

„……Hey, you know. It can’t really go on forever, can it? If it

actually enters a loop……”

„——No, I think it’ll end soon enough. Let’s continue.”

The paper offering with the characters on it disappeared in the

time it would take to say ‘ah’, and the next demand came out.

《 I wanna eat some isobemochi 》

It was a mochi that was just dipped in soy sauce for flavour and
wrapped in nori. This definitely could not be called a wagashi.

„……It suddenly became a simple order. I saw some on the street

stalls in Twilight Street.”
While reading the paper, Nayuta checked on the state of the stone
statue.
Its expression had changed entirely from its initial tear-strained
look. That did not mean that it had turned into a smile though.

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It lost its expression, and became like a Noh35 mask that showed
no emotions at all. Although befitting a stone statue, it was a bit
creepy.
On the other hand, the sound of the matsuribayashi was already
only a few steps away.
Neither the shadow nor the figure of the performers could be
seen, but their music was playing in close proximity.
*Pihyara*, *tonton*, *sharansharan*, although it should have
sounded bustling, for some reason, it did not make her feel
exhilarated.
On the contrary, it strangely made her break into a cold sweat.
(I can’t see them, but…… they’re surrounding us?)
Nayuta put some strength into her limbs to be ready to take a
battle stance at any time.
The sound of the instruments seemed like a scream. She could also
hear someone’s voice whispering and murmuring right next to her
ears, but had no idea what they were saying.
The cowardly Koyomi clung to Nayuta’s back.

„……T-this sounds like a sign of something bad coming……? This

definitely looks like the party where something comes out, right?
Something is breathing into my ears you know……!”
„Calm down. This quest…… has yet to even begin.”
Clevel told her in a whisper.

35 A major form of classical Japanese musical drama. The main actor in a Noh play wears a mask that
signifies the characters' gender, age, and social ranking.

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The series of actions that Nayuta and the others had been
performing was meant to satisfy the requirements for triggering
the quest.
Unless the requirements for triggering it were satisfied, the enemy
would not appear. And so, at the moment of the quest being
triggered, a low bell sound would ring as a sign. Only after that
would they need to be vigilant.

Clevel made an offering with the paper with 《isobemochi》

written on it.
The paper instantly disappeared and a new paper appeared.
There were no mochi requests on it anymore.

る り は り
《 瑠璃も玻璃も照らせば光る。提灯いらずの月夜といえど、
この あ
たまには欲しき此明かり 》36

This composition was written in proper characters37 with furigana

as compared to before.
Koyomi muttered in unease.
r u r i
„The mochi series is finally over….. I think I’ve heard of 瑠璃, but
what’s a hari?”

36 Translation (literal): “Even a lapis lazuli (ruri) or crystal (hari) shines if illuminated. Even on a
moonlit night with no need for lanterns, I sometimes wish for this light.” The first sentence is a proverb,
while the second sentence appears to be a play on another proverb 月夜に提灯 (a lantern on a moonlit
night) which means “something pointless or unnecessary”.
37 Until now, all the requests were written mostly in hiragana.

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LapisLazuli h a r i
„……Koyomi-san…… 瑠 璃 is a blue gem and 玻璃 means a
crystal. Long ago, both of those words carried the meaning of
glass.”
„In Buddhism, they were valued as two of the seven treasures.
Gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, shako, coral, and agate - the seven
of these——though it seems to differ slightly between schools.”
Koyomi blinked a few times. Even with Nayuta and Clevel’s
explanations, it seemed that she didn’t quite get it.
Shako
„Mantis shrimp? Sort of like a shrimp?”
shako-gai
„Not that, it means the shell of a giant clam. Koyomi-san…… Have
you ever taken your lessons on classical literature properly?”
Still clinging to Nayuta’s back, Koyomi made a sour expression
with her lips.
„Na-Nayu-san, you and Detective-san, who know such minor bits
of knowledge so well are the weird ones——I’m normal!”
„I think you should at least know what hari is—— This is a
Even a lapis lazuli or crystal shines if illumiinated
proverb. 《 瑠璃も玻璃 も照らせば光る 》 means
‘Encouragement brings out the best in people”, but in this case it
probably refers to this hokora rather than a talented person.
this light
《 此明かり》is a word that means Bon festival welcoming fire.
And then——as for the paper with 《Clouds》 that is affixed to
the ceiling, it’s only used 《when there’s a second floor above》.
In other words, this hokora has an invisible second floor. If we
sum up all the hints——”
Clevel took out a dungeon clearing lantern from his console’s item
list.

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With his eyes narrowing due to the dazzling light, Clevel placed
the lantern atop the hokora.
As all of them held their breaths, the matsuribayashi drums
resounded so loudly that they even made their bodies tremble.
Nayuta and the others, who had all reflexively plugged their ears,
saw how the light extending from the lantern became a breeze
that brushed the ears of rice, and along with this stream, a golden
line began to form a huge, solid body.
In the time it would take to say ‘ah’, the line filled the surface of
the rice field, and a mere moment later, the colour began to
spread.
What appeared above and to the sides of the hokora as if
surrounding it was an excessively huge, golden castle.
Right in front were broad stone steps and a huge castle gate, and a
stone wall with a steep slope continued to the sides as far as the
eye could see; as for the top of the castle, the top part of it was
engulfed in darkness and could no longer be seen.
„Hi-hii!?”
Koyomi, clinging to Nayuta, buried her face into Nayuta’s clothes.
Taking their gaze away from the castle, Nayuta and the others saw
that they were surrounded by matsuribayashi performers.
The group of players wearing kariginu and eboshi38 were semi-
transparent. Their faces lacked vitality and their complexions
were faint and looked like they were barely present.

38 Kariginu (狩衣) are informal clothes worn by the nobility from the Heian period onwards. Eboshi
(烏帽子) are black-lacquered headgear (made of silk, cloth or paper) originally worn by court nobles in
ancient Japan, and afterwards spreading to the common people.

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And yet, the thrumming sounds they made were distortedly

intense, as if they were venting their malice on their instruments.
They ascended the stone steps to the side of the hokora, and,
ignoring Nayuta and the others, set foot into the castle.
As the procession advanced orderly, a different, bass sound, like
that of the joya no kane39 on New Year’s Eve, resounded only once,
mixing in with the rhythmical timbre of the matsuribayashi?
This was none other than the sign signaling the triggering of a
quest. The Hundred and Eight Apparitions began with a hundred
and eight bell chimes.
Clevel turned around towards Nayuta and the others,
dumbfounded by the spectacle in front of them.

„——Now then, the quest has been triggered. Let’s pay a visit to the
castle ourselves as well.”
As he proclaimed in a tone as if he were invited to a friend’s house,
a smile so elegant that it was creepy appeared on his kitsune-like
face.
Nayuta cast her eyes downwards, and after closing them for a
bit—— she slowly nodded.

Thus, the《Phantom Orchestra》 quest raised its curtain.

The matsuribayashi phantoms in the area disappeared into the

castle in the time it would take to say ‘ah’.

39 The event of ringing a temple bell on New Year’s Eve 108 times.

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The surroundings changed and were engulfed in silence, but due

to the presence of the huge castle in front of them, the countryside
atmosphere that hung in the air until just now was blown away
entirely.
The small hokora that was here from the beginning looked
extremely cramped with the stone steps to its sides and the castle
overhead, but the stone child statue that had become
expressionless seemed like the ruler of the castle with its arrogant
look.
Still clinging to Nayuta’s back, Koyomi muttered in a trembling
voice.

„……W-what was that? That group of phantoms just now….. They

entered the castle, but……”

‘If she’s that bad at dealing with scary stuff, why is she so
desperately playing the Hundred and Eight Apparitions?’, this was
another thing that Nayuta didn’t understand. This seemed
reckless for a simple-minded, inquisitive scaredy-cat like her.
The detective began climbing the stone steps one step ahead.
„We’ll find out when we get there. This quest….. is definitely more
to my liking than I had imagined. The creator of the quest has
good taste.”
„Eeh…… Detective-san, what is your liking?”
At the inquisitive Koyomi’s question, Clevel showed a truly forced,
sociable smile.
„Not solvable through brute force. And, one that can be solved by
using your head a bit—— when you’re at an age like this. A light
brain exercise by solving a clever riddle is more pleasant than the
tiresome sense of achievement of defeating a strong enemy.”

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While following the detective, Nayuta tilted her head.

„Though you do not look that aged…… So, to put it simply, don’t
you just mean that with how low your combat stats are, you have
a low variety of entertainment?
Clevel shook his shoulders and smiled. This wasn’t a made-up
smile.
„Your indication is quite unsparing. True, that was one of the
reasons as well. After all——I seem to have forgotten the proper
way to enjoy the game.”
The exaggerating detective finished climbing the stairs at an
easygoing pace.
Yanagi, looking up at the huge castle gate in front of him, let out a
deep breath.
„This is…… another splendid object. Rather than an ordinary gate,
doesn’t it look like the Yōmei-mon of Tōshō-gū?40”
Although there was the big difference that the other side of the
gate was an indoor area, it could not be denied that its silhouette
and size were almost the same.
Koyomi rushed over beside the gate.
„Ah, I see, I thought it kinda looked familiar! Nikkō, I went there
on a school trip in elementary school…… Mizaru, Iwazaru,
Kikazaru41, right?

40 Tōshō-gū (東照宮) is any Shinto shrine in which Tokugawa Ieyasu is enshrined. In this case, this is
referring specifically to Nikkō Tōshō-gū, a Shinto shrine located in Nikkō. Yōmei-mon (陽明門) is a richly
decorated gate at this shrine.
41 Refers to the three wise monkeys that embody the proverbial principle/maxim/saying “see no
evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. A carving of the three monkeys in Nikkō is what popularised maxim.
Mizaru (見ざる) literally means “not see”, Iwazaru (言わざる) means “not speak”, and Kikizaru (聞かざる
) means “not hear”; these names are commonly used to refer to the monkey that covers its eyes, mouth
and ears respectively.

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„……A field trip…… aah.”

Under his braided hat, Yanagi’s face stiffened a little.

Before anyone aside from Nayuta could notice, he immediately
hung his head, and hid his expression.
On the other hand, Clevel continued to watch over the
surroundings attentively.
„Now then, I thought that the gatekeeper would come out at this
point, but——”
Nayuta suddenly felt a lukewarm breeze on her cheeks.
In the Hundred and Eight Apparitions, this wind was a sign of the
enemy appearing in most cases.
Koyomi unsheathed her ninja sword, while Clevel moved in front
of Yanagi. It seemed that he intended to be the client’s shield for
the moment.
„Nayu-san! Something’s coming from inside!”
„Okay!”
Before it could close the distance, Nayuta charged forward with
her clothes fluttering.
If she and Koyomi were alone, they could just size it up, but they
had two people to protect in the rear. If the enemy had a wide-
area attack and closed the distance between them, it could be
quite capable of wiping them out.
Just as Nayuta leapt inside the castle from the gate, torches along
the right and left walls lit up.
Due to that light, the figure of the enemy standing in front was
illuminated.

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What she found there was——a small child wearing a white

kitsune mask.
Nayuta, who had expected an obvious gatekeeper like a group of
armoured soldiers, a huge spider, or a ferocious oni, stopped on
the spot in a rush.
The kitsune-masked child was wearing a worn, splash-patterned
kimono. She was barefooted and had no weapon.

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The figure, standing alone and looking lonely, looked like a lost
child.
(This quest’s type is the 《Fellow Traveller》 ……There is no
chance of meeting another player outside of the party. In other
words, this child is either an enemy, or an NPC…...)
To make sure, Nayuta called out to the child cautiously.
„……Who are you?”
The kitsune-masked child beckoned to Nayuta without uttering a
word.
‘What’s up with that’, a bewildered Nayuta looked back at her
group.
„Detective-san. It seems we are being invited……”
But there was no sign of her fellow travellers in her field of vision.
Even the gate that she should have entered through was missing,
and instead, a stone-paved, dark road continued endlessly.
(……A warp zone!?)
Nayuta, who charged ahead alone, seemed to have been taken
away to some different place.
She promptly brought out her console, but, as expected, the
communication feature was locked down. Giving up and logging
out were possible, but if, for example, everyone withdrew like
that, then all the event flags they had raised would be lost.
Nayuta quickly made up her mind.
This was nothing to tremble about. In the end, this was a 《
haunted house》-like place that guaranteed safety.
She was concerned with how Koyomi and the others were doing,
but aside from the beginner Yanagi, the other two were quite
high-leveled.

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(……Ah, Detective-san could be useless. With stats like that, he

couldn’t even beat a wild rabbit——)
While considering this, Nayuta took an optimistic view of the
situation.
From the balance regulation point of view, the fact that they were
split inside the castle meant that an〝enemy so extremely
powerful that it can’t be beaten alone〟 would not come out for
the time being.
A quest like the „Subjugation of a Tiger on the Folding Screen”,
where running around was in the premise, was a different case,
but at the least, the chances of encountering a boss class enemy
before she met up with her comrades were low.
This would be the part where you would be driven to dread due to
isolation if this were reality, but no matter how real it seemed, it
was nothing more than a game with balance regulation, after all.
——Unlike SAO, there was no 〝dying〟 here.
The kitsune-masked child grasped Nayuta’s sleeve before she
became aware of it.
„……Onee-chan. Shall we play?”
She heard a muffled, young voice coming from the other side of
the mask.
Nayuta shook her head.
„Sorry. I strayed from my group. I have to meet up with them and
clear this quest, you see.”
The other party was an NPC. She did have a need to choose a
sensible response for the event flags, but there was no need to
fuss about it excessively.
The child looked up at Nayuta.
„……You won’t play with me……?”

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„……What do you want to play?”

„Hide-and-seek.”
The child turned their back on her and broke into a run.
(……I see. So, I have to find and catch that child in this dungeon, I
guess——)
The child’s figure disappeared into the darkness of the
passageway.
Nayuta once again surveyed her surroundings.
There was a stone wall on either side. Due to the torches dotting
it, it was faintly lit, but the intensity wasn’t enough to easily see far
ahead.
Her footing was stone pavement, with stains of blood here and
there.
——Straining her ears, she could faintly hear the matsuribayashi
drums somewhere. As the event proceeded, the sound would
probably become louder.
„——All right.”
Resolving to advance, Nayuta fixed her gaze on the dim
passageway.
She closed her eyes, and took a breath——
After taking a lot of air into her lungs, she slowly breathed out.
And then, she carefully, but without hesitation, began walking
towards the cold darkness.

§
In the castle, the lone Yanagi was at a loss.
He didn’t really understand what had happened.

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Nayuta, the Battle Miko who had taken the lead, suddenly
disappeared, then Koyomi, who was rushing towards her,
disappeared, and immediately after the detective clicked his
tongue, Yanagi found himself alone.
It wasn’t enough for him to feel 〝afraid〟, but it had him thinking
‘So, what should I do now’ over and over, to no avail.
Along the way, he had received several pieces of advice from
Clevel.
‘If you become separated, use the communication feature of your
console.’
‘However, there is the possibility that you won’t be able to use it
during an event, so in that case, decide yourself whether you want
to continue searching, or give up and return to town.
Right now, the communication feature was locked down.
However, there was no sign of any enemies, and the situation
didn’t seem like it warranted escaping right away.
Yanagi surveyed his surroundings.
He was in a large hall. And it wasn’t of usual width.
The floor underneath his feet was tatami-matted, not a single
pillar, let alone a wall, could be seen, while the wooden ceiling
continued endlessly.
Although it was faintly bright rather than dark, there was no light
source that looked like a light source.
There was nothing that could be used as a landmark and it was
inconceivably wide in all directions.
Alone, in a room that would be impossible to make in reality——
Yangai was once again at a loss.
„……I can’t do anything by just standing here. I guess I should
walk……”

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Muttering with a sigh mixed in, he began walking on the tatami

with his gaiters still on.
This being a game, his sight was fairly clear and unaffected by age.
His legs and loins didn’t hurt when moving around either. He did
feel fatigue, but even that was on the same level as he felt when he
was young, so in other words, he felt no handicap due to age.
Only his reflexes weren’t the same as those of his youth, but just
being able to walk normally like in his youth made him feel good
for some reason, in contrast to the ominous state of his
surroundings.
„……So a VRMMO that supports FullDive……I see, so that’s what it
feels like——”
While walking with no concern, Yanagi cast his eyes down.
The elderly who have lost their physical strength were a given, but
even people who could not move their bodies properly in the real
world could easily have a healthy body in this world.
After all, a game could be said to be nothing more than a simulated
experience, but to someone who had problems leading even a
normal life, this virtual space where they could enjoy their body
without being conscious of its shackles was truly a godsend.
Going where they wanted, eating what they wanted, doing what
they wanted——a healthy person could not really imagine how
happy all of this would make them.
Yanagi continued aimlessly walking along the great hall with no
end in sight.
While he was moving straight forward along the edge of the
tatami, an unexpected, small figure appeared ahead.
A sole child wearing a black kitsune mask who seemed to have
blended with the darkness before——
Yanagi spontaneously froze up.

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Although he stopped breathing for a moment, this wasn’t because

of surprise. He was expecting such a situation somewhere in his
heart.
„……O…...Oo……”
The moan that slipped out from him was like a cry, even though it
wasn’t accompanied by tears.
The child beckoned Yanagi with his white hand that had lost its
complexion.
Stepping up as if he was staggering, Yanagi tried grasping the
shoulder of the child.
His extended hand trembled and his breathing that should have
been well-ordered was now wild again.
The kitsune-masked child turned his back to him just as the hand
was about to reach him, and broke into a run.
„Ah…... wait!”
Yanagi rushed after him in panic.
Out of nowhere, the sound of a matsuribayashi suddenly began
resounding in his ears.
Strength left his legs, and his field of vision distorted.
„……Ugh……?”
After an unpleasant feeling that seemed like dizziness from
standing up too fast, Yanagi, who had come to a halt, somehow
managed to hold his ground without his knees falling down by
relying on his monk’s staff.
In the darkness a bit of a distance away, the boy, who had turned
around, took off his kitsune mask.
——What Yanagi saw underneath was a face that he recognised.
It was rather far away, so he couldn’t possibly see clearly. But,
Yanagi had no reason to believe he was mistaken.

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„……Kiyofumi……”
While calling out the child’s name, Yanagi began pursuing him
unsteadily.
The kitsune-masked child continued running through the infinite,
large hall.
Despite his figure disappearing into the darkness, Yanagi
continued earnestly pursuing the no longer visible figure.

§
The detective, Clevel, was in a castle tower. It seemed that his
characteristic good luck had been exhibited at a time like this as
well; below him were ears of rice making waves that were shining
silver due to the moonlight, beyond was a mountain ridge covered
in leftover snow, and in the night sky, clear of stars, was the
radiant moon - a superb view extended all over.
The creator’s fastidiousness could be felt in the cool and clear
beauty that was unbefitting of a horror-taste quest.
(……This scenery seems to be different from the one we saw from
the ground before rushing into the castle based on the terrain……)
The scene that he saw from the tower was probably specially
designed. For argument’s sake, if you tried used a kaginawa42 or
something to descend down, you wouldn’t necessarily reach the
field from before.
But then, his goal was to 〝investigate〟 rather than escape, thus
he had no need to test that out. Incidentally, he had no kaginawa
with him.
It was unexpected that he was forcibly separated from his
comrades, but even if they were wiped out, it was possible to just
do the quest over. Unlike SAO, a game over had no link to death.

42 A kaginawa (鉤縄, lit. hook-rope) is a type of grappling hook used as a tool by samurai, their
retainers, foot soldiers and ninja.

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——A game over had no link to death.

Clevel took a deep breath.
He was once trapped in that game.
Although he did not want to recall the events from then, at the
same time, he by no means wanted to forget them.
The SAO Incident was related to his reason for dabbling in the
work of a 〝detective〟 like this.
(If only… that incident hadn’t taken place——)
The detective changed his sluggish thinking and once again looked
over the castle tower.
Someone was…… peeking from a window on the opposite side.
Because this was frequently used in horror productions, Clevel
instead grinned and started walking.
The black figure peeking out from the window went inside as if it
were crawling.
He then heard the timbre of the matsuribayashi coming from
somewhere.
The detective felt dizzy.
„……Status abnormalities….. none, I guess.”
He promptly checked his own state, but found no odd changes.
Though, he did feel as if his field of vision narrowed down.
The crawling figure extended its hand to Clevel while painfully
twisting its body. The moment his face was illuminated by the
lanterns illuminating the tower——
Clevel froze up on the spot.
(Why…… why… is 〝he〟 here……?)
The boy crawling on the floor was a person that definitely should
not have been there.
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Despite being shocked, Clevel didn’t lose his composure. He

persistently remained calm.
However, that calmness, due to „not being able to grasp the
situation” was a thing similar to paralysis.
Was he playing a game, or was he just sleeping and having a
dream?——he felt suspicious even about that.
The man crawling on the floor in pain faced Clevel and opened his
mouth in a way that seemed he was trying to shout something.
However, no voice came out of it.
The body smeared in blood was dressed in a western-style
platemail that was unbefitting of 《Asuka Empire》.
To Clevel, this, of course, was an item that he recognised.
——Something that he tried to forget, but could not forget.
Clevel didn’t lose his composure.
He never——lost his composure.
He did not believe in ghosts. If he saw something like that, he
discerned that it was either an imitation made by someone or a
kind of hallucination that his brain was showing him.
(That’s right, it’s a hallucination……or a figment of
my imagination. That cannot be that guy. However……)
——Taking a good look, he noticed that the crawling man’s face
was somewhat blurry. That was the main cause for making him
lose his sense of reality too much.
Once again, Clevel didn’t lose his composure.
That’s why he was able to think.
Even if, for example, his senses became numb due to not grasping
the situation, he was able to make a few 〝conjectures〟 without
turning to panic.

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And so, one of the possibilities that he derived was not a very good
answer.
(It can’t be… that this quest is…… this is bad. If the game
management finds out……!)
In Clevel’s field of vision, while he was grinding his teeth, the floor
in the area of the crawling man turned black.
As if the floor had turned into a bottomless marsh, the man’s body
began to sink into the floor.
As Clevel tried rush over to him, a hand grasped his hem from
behind.
He promptly looked back.
There, he found a young boy with a kitsune mask.
His slender fingers were grasping Clevel’s coat, and he was fixedly
staring at Clevel from within his mask.
Clevel’s attention was turned away for a few moments, and he
then immediately returned his gaze to the sinking man.
(……He’s gone……?)
〝He〟 was no longer there.
He sunk too quickly. It would be correct to say that he seemed to
have disappeared while his gaze was away for a moment.
In the first place, seeing as this was a virtual space, such a
disappearance wasn’t strange.
While gazing at the floor where the man had disappeared, Clevel
called out to the kitsune-masked child.
„——You. I have to clear this quest with Yanagi-shi immediately.
Lead me to my scattered comrades. You—— aren’t an 《enemy》
in this quest, right?”
The kitsune-masked child tilted his head in wonder.

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This child… was of course not a ghost or anything. Just an AI——

and in addition to that, this was probably a being assigned the rule
of being a guide in this quest.
The child let go of Clevel’s hem in silence and glid towards the
edge of the castle tower.
At his destination was a set of stairs, which were so steep that
they looked more like ladders, to descend to the lower floor.
The child leapt down below, without using the stairs or making a
sound, and disappeared.
Clevel followed after him.
There was, of course, the possibility that he was leading him to a
trap, but if getting past that trap was the clearing requirement,
this child was unmistakably the guide of this quest.
(……If I get involved with some small fry at this stage, I’m probably
going to lose……)
To Clevel, whose stats aside from Luck were unusually low, this
was one point to worry about.
As if to support his fears, something squirmed along the ceiling
downstairs with a rustling sound.
A half-spider woman dressed as a courtesan appeared in his field
of vision when he looked up after descending the steep stairs.
The woman, clinging to the ceiling while upside-down, smiled,
exposing the fangs in her slit mouth.
„……A jorōgumo——huh.”
With the tip of his stick, Clevel lightly struck the floor. This was his
habit when thinking.
To a master player, this wasn’t a particularly strong opponent.
But, with Clevel’s stats at least, it wasn’t an opponent he was a
match for.

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He couldn’t chase after the kitsune-masked child without

defeating this monster, but it would probably be difficult to defeat.
His sole path of retreat was the castle tower with nowhere to run.
——In other words, there was nothing he could do.
The detective lightly struck his forehead——
Facing the virtual 《death》that allowed do-overs, he took a step
of resignation backwards.

§
When Nayuta managed to temporarily withdraw from the castle,
she found that she had already received three messages in her
mailbox.
【Nayu-san, sorry! I tried my best, but got done in…… See you in
the Detective-san’s office tomorrow!】
【Sorry. I lost too. It seems that Yanagi-shi is tired as well, so you
should log out for today as well.】
【I beg your pardon. For not being of any use——】
It seemed that all three of them were forcefully driven out. This
meant that the only one who was able to safely withdraw from the
castle, while maintaining the event flags, was Nayuta.
In the 《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》, as a death penalty,
players who had a game over could not log in again for the next six
hours.
The usual penalty of losing one item in possession randomly also
existed, but as long as you had a 《Sarubobo》43 to use as a
sacrifice, it wasn’t really scary.

43 A red, human-shaped doll that is used as an amulet as a charm for good luck and is particularly
associated with the town of Takayama. The name is composed of the words “saru” (猿), Japanese for
“monkey”, and “bobo”, a Takayama dialect word for “baby”. The word “monkey” in Japanese is also a
homonym for the verb “to leave/drive away” (去る), so it was believed that the amulet helped keep bad
things away.

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It seemed that the origin of this doll was a popular amulet in Hida
saru saru
province44 that imitated a baby monkey and „drove away”
calamities.
In the Hundred and Eight Apparitions, the setting was that it
saru
„ went away” in the place of would-be lost items, thus it was an
indispensable item to raid groups.
In the first place, because of horror-taste circumstances, there
were plenty of sudden game overs in this event.
The Sarubobo was a relief measure for that; it was a special item
exclusively used for the Apparition event, thus it did not exhibit its
effect in Asuka Empire’s other quests.
As long as you had one, there would be minimal damage due to
game overs, but nothing could be done about the six-hour login
restriction.
Giving up on a prompt reunion, Nayuta decided to log out for the
time being.
After saving their event flags at the teleport point, and restocking
at a general store on items that she had used up while she was at
it, she returned to her own room. She raised her head from her
bed and noticed that it was already dark outside through the
window.
She heard her mother’s voice coming from outside her room as if
scolding her.
„Yurina, are you still playing games? If you hear me, the bath is
ready, so go take a bath.”
„……Yeah. I’m going now.”
Nayuta——Kushiinada Yurina surveyed her room while giving an
answer.

44 A former province located in the northern part of the current Ginu prefecture that Takayma
belongs to.

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Returning from an old Japanese-style world to her room, she was

a just bit bewildered by the differences between the two worlds.
There was a huge but slightly plain black cat plush toy atop her
bed. This barely seemed like a decoration that suited a female
high-school student; as for everything else, it was a plain room.
A large number of books, mostly novels, crammed into the
bookshelf on the wall, a PC on the desk; the room used mostly
whitish and blackish colours and there weren’t that many
sundries around. Although it was very orderly, the room was so
drab that it could even be mistaken for a guy’s room.
Having entered the living room, she found her older brother
playing shōgi45 with their father.
It seemed that her older brother was dominating today, as the
always faint-hearted father’s brow was unusually wrinkled, and
he was making awfully loud groans.
„Onii-chan, are you off-duty today?”
„……It’d be bad if I was playing shōgi with the old man when I
wasn’t off duty.”
He responded in shocked tone, and Yurina chuckled.
Her mother also peeked out from her kitchen island.
„Playing shōgi with your father instead of going on a date despite
being off-duty isn’t a bad thing on its own, I wonder? Father would
probably faint if Yurina brought a boyfriend home, but if her
brother brought a girlfriend home, he’d give a warm welcome, you
know?”
The elder brother, who was single, pretended not to hear that and
shrugged his shoulders.
Father, who finally made his next move, timidly raised his head.

45 Shōgi (将棋, lit. generals’ board game), also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player strategy
board game that is similar to western chess, but has slightly different figures and rules.

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„……Yurina. I’m asking just in case but, you don’t have anyone like
that yet……right?”
Before Yurina could even answer, her brother laughed out loud.
„She wouldn’t be wasting her precious Saturday afternoon on a
game if she had someone like that. Hey, dad. Checkmate.”
„Aah……hey you, there shouldn’t have been a knight there…… ugh,
did you swap it with the rook……”
It seemed that their game was coming to an end.
Having sat down on the sofa, Yurina began checking the site that
she always visited on her tablet before going to the bath.

MMO Today.
This major news site dealing in VRMMO-related info was
acknowledged for the speed and accuracy of its info. Not only did
it have walkthroughs, it even covered business trends and new
game ads and the special-feature article for the past few days was
a journal by the manager Thinker about his trip to Canada.

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He was visiting a local software company and taking a direct

interview from the up-and-coming creators——that was the
content of it, but as his new wife Yulier was accompanying him
and frequently appeared in the corner of the photos, there was a
minority that went „Is this an open honeymoon” in jealousy
despite how earnest the article was.
Just after Yurina began reading today’s update, a news flash
appeared at the top of the site.

『 Asuka Empire - Bug in New《Hundred and Eight

Apparitions 》 Quest 』

(A new quest…..it can’t be——)

There were only two new quests released this week: the 《Forest
of Werewolves》 and the 《Phantom Orchestra》.
Having a bad feeling, Yurina immediately clicked on the article.
While she went on reading, her fears were completely supported.
„ ……Complaints about the 《Phantom Orchestra》, released just
this week, have been reported……? To investigate the matter, the
quest will temporarily be suspended…… re-release date not yet
determined——”
Dumbfounded, she read over the short article again several times.
Perhaps because this was a rushed first report, the article did not
cover the content of the complaint.
(No way…… But, Yanagi-san wanted to clear it within a week at
any cost……)
Such a temporary content suspension has happened numerous
times in the past. There were quests that were just deleted
entirely, but it was common for it to take around a month to make
revisions to a quest that gets restored.

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You could say that it was already hopeless if you wanted to clear it
within a week.
Looking for additional info, Yurina opened the 《Hundred and
Eight Apparitions》 strategy guide community site from her
bookmarks.
As expected, there was already a thread about the suspension of
the Phantom Orchestra.
Aware that there were many conjectures and gossip of
questionable accuracy, she began checking them out.
Among the many comments bewildered by the abrupt suspension,
a certain entry caught her attention.

『 I’ve heard that an actual ghost appeared in the game. 』

Yurina——Nayuta compressed her lips tightly.

She already knew that this entry wasn’t just stupid, idle gossip.
However, she did not believe that was a 《real》 ghost. She was
practically convinced that it was some kind of trick.
And unfortunately——it was highly likely that it was a kind of
trick that the game management could not turn a blind eye to.
Turning her back to her brother and father, who were carefreely
playing shōgi, Nayuta unconsciously squeezed her delicate fist
alone.

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Chapter 2
The Visiting Fox

The cat is god.

God is an existence that transcends human understanding,
inspires awe, and is an object of worship.
Faith can make even a sardine's head sacred, as some people say;
as long as there are believers, even the head of a sardine can
become god.
„……Not to mention cats, which those guys chose to worship.“
The kitsune-faced Detective Clevel pointed to the neighbouring
room on the other side of the hall beyond the wall, with an
expression that implied he was rather fed up.
The Battle Miko Nayuta and the Ninja Koyomi both glanced in that
direction.
The room neighbouring Mitsuba Detective Agency was rented by a
suspicious organization known as the 〝Cat God Faith Society〟.
Although their true nature wasn't known, it didn't seem like they
posed any real harm for now.
Koyomi, with the bot nekomata on her lap, smiled feebly while
stroking the cat's chin.
神様 猫様
„Well, the kanji for God and cat do look alike…… Also, they do
seem to have a lot of relatively common features, like being
indifferent to humans, treating them as slaves, and not providing
any compensation for their care──“
At those remarks that were befitting of Koyomi, Nayuta turned to
her with a sigh.

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„Koyomi-san, your words sure are dark sometimes. You will make
devout people mad, you know.“
„……It's because of those devout people banding together and
ripping away my grandpa's land and other property that I have to
work as a dull OL46……even though I could have lived as a NEET
for my whole life with that inheritance!“
It wasn't like she never thought of what would have happened if
things had turned out differently.
Feeling half sympathetic and half appalled, Nayuta stroked
Koyomi's head.
„That's unfortunate, Koyomi-san. More importantly…… aren't the
people of the neighbouring Cat God Faith doing it as a joke? If they
are believers, what about having a doctrine or something……“
With his elbow on his work desk, Clevel gave a smile and
shrugged.
„Well, they do. I think it was…… 〝The cat is a sacred animal〟,〝
Worship the cat〟, 〝Don't give too many snacks〟, 〝Set up a
scratching board〟〝Pay heed to a balanced diet〟, 〝Ensure
vaccination〟, 〝Clean the litter box〟?“
„……Aren't the third one and onwards just principles of keeping a
cat?“
Having gathered in the detective's office, three people were
engaging in small talk early on a Sunday morning.
The kitsune-like silver-haired young detective, Clevel.
The full-fledged working adult, despite looking childish, ninja,
Koyomi.
And finally, the bare-handed Battle Miko who focused on agility,
Nayuta.

46 Short for "office lady"

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All three of them were dispirited.

Although it was the early morning, it was dark outside the
window this day as well. Ayakashi Bystreet was a district of
eternal night, thus the morning sun never rose into the sky here.
Nayuta and the others' state of mind was, currently, far from
daybreak as well.
Due to the sudden suspension of the 《Phantom Orchestra》
quest, their actions were currently impeded.
Although they had all gathered in the office for now, Yanagi, the
person who had requested their help, had yet to come.
The bot nekomata and Koyomi let out yawns at the same time.
„Fwah…… hey, Nayu-san. I kinda want some sweets…… Shall we
go to the bakeneko tea house? Let's just mail Yanagi-san and meet
up there.“
Having eaten some sweets, an ingenious idea would── likely not
come, but it would likely reduce the stress they were all feeling
currently.
„All right. Detective-san, you're going too, right?“
„……The bakeneko tea house…… Ah, I'll send an email to Yanagi-
shi myself.“
The detective stood up while operating his menu window.
Nayuta and Koyomi left the office one step ahead of him.
Like yesterday, there was a black cat Buddha statue that was at
least three metres tall sitting there.
──It seemed as though the angle of its forefeet was different than
yesterday.
Pretending not to have noticed this while passing by, the three of
them came out of Twilight Street and returned to the main street
of Ayakashi Bystreet.

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Even though it was an eternal night in-game, it was actually

morning on a day off, thus there was a reasonable number of
people on the street.
Looking up at the night sky, they saw lots of long hands extending
from the cloudy sky, and they were wriggling as if they were
jellyfish tentacles.
„……Does that have any other purpose other than looking 〝kinda
ominous〟?“
grasping the clouds
„Hmm. I guess they are 〝 being vague 〟.“
The detective laughed scornfully.
Nayuta strangely agreed with that joke-like answer.
This district was filled with 〝who knows what〟 squirming
about meaninglessly, after all.
Putting it nicely, it was broad-minded; putting it bluntly, it was
unprincipled.
Allowing meaningless things to exist in a meaningless way── in
that sense, there were a lot of people that found this place
unexpectedly comfortable. Although it was meant to be a horror
setting, it was strangely lively.
There were customers constantly entering and leaving the
bakeneko tea house that they eventually arrived at.
During the few moments of entering or leaving, they all looked
like ghosts.
At the boundary of the store's entryway, the bodies of people
going inside turned hazy and disappeared; conversely, those going
out emerged and materialised.
This entrance and exit worked like a teleport gate; it sent all the
customers to multiple different copies of the store, thus
preventing congestion at all times.

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Nayuta and the others entered in a line and were sent to a

virtually empty store with no one but them inside.
While they were being led to a random table, Koyomi stroked the
chin of the nekomata that was serving them.
„It's still morning, so I could do with something refreshing. I'll go
with mamekan today! Nayu-san, same as always for you?“
„Yes. Mamekan.“
Koyomi frequently changed her order depending on her mood,
while on the other hand, Nayuta ordered mamekan seventy
percent of the time.
It was a simple sweet that consisted solely of peas and agar, but
the agar had a nice consistency and the sweetness of the honey
was just right. The peas were also special and different from those
found at other stores.
These peas, providing a burst of deliciousness with each bite and
filling one's mouth with a faintly sweet aroma reminiscent of
vanilla beans, did not exist in reality.
Setting aside those who wished for pure mamekan, this
miraculous flavour that blended both Japanese and Western styles
was related to the popularity of the store.
Opposite to Nayuta and Koyomi sitting in a line, the detective also
sat down.
„I'll have the same thing. Three servings of mamekan please.“
The happi coat-wearing munchkin gave a slight nod and, while
writing down the order, walked over to the kitchen.
„Detective-san, do you also come here often?“
When Koyomi asked, Clevel vaguely nodded.
„It's a standard spot to bring my tourists. This place is well-known
even to foreign guests. Though── I've never eaten the mamekan.
Even though I've ordered it many times.“

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Then said something strange.

„Ah, could it be that your order was mixed up? I first met Koyomi-
san because we also happened to have our mamekan and
warabimochi orders mixed up──“
„……No, it wasn't really a mixed up order……“
Just as Clevel was about to say something, the nekomata brought a
tray.
Two ceramic and porcelain bowls of mamekan.
And in addition to those two was a single navicular glass container
that they couldn't really remember ever seeing before, filled with
an extravagant combination of a large yellow column of fresh
cream, multicoloured fruit, as well as caramel sauce and chocolate
as toppings; it was a gem of a dessert with no obvious indication
of it being wagashi──
„……Wha. What the. Wha?“
Ignoring the confused Koyomi, the nekomata placed their
respective bowls in front of them.
But in front of Clevel it placed the extravagant 《Purin a la
Mode 》.
The order was three servings of mamekan. Nayuta had no idea
what and how could be mistaken to end up with this.
„……We ordered… three servings of mamekan, right?“
She asked the nekomata serving them, but the munchkin just
tilted its head in wonder, climbed up a nearby cat tower, and lay
down in a circle on the topmost floor.
It seemed that it would not be making any replacements.
Clevel placed his fingers on his forehead.

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„……Due to the influence of my exceedingly high Luck, whenever I

come here I always get something special that's not even on the
menu. I don't really like fresh cream……but it's already the third
time I’ve gotten this purin. If you'd like, you can divide it amongst
yourselves.“
Clevel pushed the Purin a la Mode served in a navicular bowl to
Nayuta and Koyomi.
It wasn't clear whether he was lucky or not anymore.
With the deluxe sweet, a rare encounter in the bakeneko tea
house, in front of her, Koyomi's eyes glittered as if she were a
child.
„Seriously!? Waai, ittadakkimaasu!“
Having thrust her spoon into the purin unreservedly, taken some
of the fresh cream, and stuffed her cheeks with it, she gave the
biggest smile she could.
„Delish!? What the, this is so delish! It's better than the highest-
class Itsmarden Purin from De Lota Ba Parlour! Nayu-san Nayu-
san, here, have a taste!“
Going with the flow, Nayuta took the purin from the spoon
presented to her into her mouth.
Not too sweet, a refreshing texture, the rich flavour of the custard
and bittersweet flavour of the caramel taken into account, it was
certainly tasty.
──But, Nayuta prefered the faint sweetness and consistency of the
agar.

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At the same time, she felt a bit of pity for Clevel; he seemed to not
yet know of that flavour.
Nayuta presented Clevel the mamekan that she had not yet
touched.
„In that case, I will give you my mamekan in exchange, Detective-
san──help yourself.“
Clevel faintly squinted his almond eyes.
„This is what you ordered. Are you sure?“
„I always order it. Don't worry.“
Koyomi leaned on Nayuta like a spoiled child.
„In that case, Nayu-san, shall we divide the purin and mamekan in
halves between us? That way we can both enjoy both of the
dishes. Okay, it's settled.“
And then presented a cut watermelon to her mouth.
Obediently accepting Koyomi feeding her, Nayuta faced the
detective with a serious look.
„……Now then, Clevel-san. About our conversation hereafter……“
„……Already? Let's escape from reality for just a bit more……“
Despite Koyomi whispering that beside her, she could not do that.
Yanagi's request was to clear the 《Phantom Orchestra》 quest
within a week──
With the quest in question being suspended at the moment, there
was nothing that Nayuta and the others could do.
There had not yet been any follow-up report from the major game
info site MMO Today, nor was there any new info from the official
site.

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„A suspended quest passing through review and being reinstated

takes at least half a month in the best case scenario── usually it
takes about a month. Yanagi-san's request…… unfortunately, can
no longer be fulfilled.“
There was no escaping this truth. No matter how they struggled,
there was no way to play a quest that wasn't available.
The kitsune-faced Clevel chuckled.
„Good grief, this is quite the hassle. Even I hadn't expected this to
happen, but for now, let's wait for a message from Yanagi-shi.
Then we'll know whether he's cancelling the request, extending
the time to wait for the quest's reinstatement, or…… we'll be told
about Yanagi-shi's 〝true goal〟 and react accordingly.“
While nibbling on her melon like a hamster, Koyomi tilted her
head.
„True goal? Wasn't it to clear the quest?“
Clevel lowered his eyes.
„You had the same concern yesterday, didn't you? 〝It's not
normal to spend a million and several hundred thousand yen to
clear a quest like this 〟── that's correct. However, if Yanagi-shi is
willing to spend such a large amount of money, it means he has
some reason as to why he wants it cleared so quickly. Based on
that── there could be other ways to grant his wish other than just
clearing the quest. That's what it means.“
Koyomi tilter her head into the opposite direction.
„Ehm…… In the first place, why does Yanagi-san wish to clear that
quest?“
The detective put some mamekan into his mouth.

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„──Hmm. This truly is tasty…… As a matter of fact, I can already

guess his reasons to some extent. But, it's related to his privacy
and I can't voice irresponsible deductions without confirming
them. I believe it's better to hear it from Yanagi-shi directly. After
all, everything depends on him──including whether he wants to
talk about it.“
It didn't seem like he was putting on airs. There was a sense of
sincerity greater than ever before in Clevel's tone.
Nayuta had no intention of overstepping her boundaries. Each
person had their own reasons.
With an expression that said she did not get the point, Koyomi
calmly nibbled on her cut watermelon.
„I dun quite get it, but is it safe to assume that we're not giving up
yet?“
„Personally, I have no intention of giving up, but at the end of the
day, it all depends on the client's intentions.“
Clevel abruptly opened his menu window. It seemed that he had
received some sort of message.
„Speak of the devil, Yanagi-shi promptly…… Wait. No── This
is……“
Clevel's eyes became a bit more grim.
„What is it? Could it be that the request was cancelled……?“
Nayuta bent forward; conversely, the detective pulled back.
„It's from Yanagi-shi's relative. Yanagi-shi is currently in poor
shape and can't log in, thus he can't come here…… If possible, he'd
like us to meet him directly to hear him out in detail; that's what
the email written on behalf of him said. There's no signature, but
based on the content of the letter, it seems that it came from his
wife.“
It seemed that he did not receive a message sent from within a
game, but a forwarded email.
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Nayuta instinctively met glances with Koyomi.

„In poor shape and can't log in…… does that mean that something
happened to Yanagi-shi?“
„An email from his wife…… d-does that mean the complaint that
led to the suspension of the quest by the game's management
originated from Yanagi-san……? 〝Ojii-chan's health deteriorated
because of a game!〟, something like that……“
An elder's health deteriorating after playing a game and his
relatives sending a complaint to the management about that──
Whether or not that were the case here, it was a possible scenario.
However, Clevel shook his head immediately.
„No. Last night, I researched the complaint the game's
management received. It seems there was another party that had
succeeded in entering the castle slightly ahead of us. And…… One
of them was scared by a 《ghost》 , which should not be in the
game's data, thus he fainted and the AmuSphere's safety was
triggered, forcibly logging him out. His relatives panicked, called
an ambulance, and, afterwards, the game's management was
contacted by the hospital── to ensure safety, the quest was
quickly suspended; I hear that's how it all went. The person who
collapsed was a university student in his twenties, it seems.“
Nayuta was considerably shocked.
The announcement from the game's management did not touch
upon such details. Not only was this not reported anywhere, even
the online rumours stopped at „I’ve heard that an actual ghost
appeared“.
„Where on earth did you get such details……?“
The detective evaded the question without care.

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„Business instinct and a variety of sources. Incidentally, the real

reason why the quest was suspended wasn't the complaint……
Due to the complaint, the management noticed an oversight from
their initial review of the quest. That 《ghost》 was apparently
beyond their expectations as well.“
Koyomi moaned.
„An unexpected ghost, you say…… Hey, I thought I'd talk about this
when Yanagi-san came, but may I ask where you two were
teleported to and what you saw there?“
Clevel gave a big nod.
„I was teleported to a castle tower. What appeared before me was
a friend…… a contemporary colleague who had died. Afterwards, a
child wearing a kitsune mask came out, so I asked him to guide
me, but── right after that, I suffered a surprise attack from
jorōgumo and, despite putting up a good fight, I was defeated.“
„……Knowing your stats, Detective-san, that ‘good fight’ thing is
clearly a lie, right?“
At Nayuta's retort, Clevel only gave a faint smile.
With a change of attitude, she began talking about her own
progress.
„The place I was first teleported to was a passageway like the one
we had leapt into, extending to both sides. The kitsune-masked
child then appeared and said 〝let's play hide-and-seek〟──
afterwards, while looking for him, I explored some passageways at
a dungeon and the bottom of an old well, found some things that
looked like event items, then saw an exit nearby, so I temporarily
withdrew.“
Koyomi and Clevel looked at Nayuta as if they were observing an
incredible animal.
„A dungeon……“
„An old well……“

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„Yes. I saw a figure that looked like the ghost of someone I knew,
but I only saw a glimpse of them, so I do not have much of an
impression on them. There were several traps but they were
mostly the type to scare someone rather than deal damage. It
would be a bother to dismantle them alone, but I don't think the
difficulty was all that high.“
Koyomi suddenly trembled and the detective, seemingly shocked,
pressed on his glabella as well.
„……Mmm. Yeah…… that's not……“
„……You explored that place alone, right? You were speaking
disinterestedly about it, but I'm surprised that you went through
all that without giving up. In the first place, what prompted you to
enter an old well anyway…“
Nayuta did not understand their reactions. The less need there
was to protect her companions, the more of a stroll in the park it
was to her.
„There were no really strong enemies, though? I defeated two
demon spiders and five skeleton warriors. I didn't count the
warrior spirits or the bats but neither should have been more than
ten-odd at best. I happened to see a golden-scaled serpentess but
it looked like a unique rare enemy, so I retreated.“
The result of her battles wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth bragging
about either.
Koyomi gently stroked Nayuta's back.
„……Nayu-san, you don't have to overdo it if you get scared,
alright? Onee-san will hear you out anytime, okay? Oh, and even if
you aren't scared, you can still trick any man by saying something
like 〝Eek, I'm scared〟 ……At this point, you could even say 〝I'm
scared of my own beauty〟 or 〝I'm scared of manjuu〟 ……“
She sounded as if she were admonishing a child, but the content of
her lecture was, as always, a little weird.

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„Well, after all, the chance of actually getting hurt or getting

involved in an accident was low…… Even I would find an actual
dungeon or old well scary. Koyomi-san, how about you; what kind
of ghosts did you see?“
As Koyomi tasted the purin, she gave an expression like she was
on the verge of crying.
„Well, you see…… I was teleported to some random, huge, open-
air bath…… and I got done in by a surprise attack from lurking
mermen there, but right afterwards, beyond the steam……“
She sniffed a little.
„……I saw Lin-chan, my brine shrimp who died two months ago……
dancing in a yukata.“
„………………I'm sorry. Could you repeat that.“
The detective asked with a serious look, as if he thought he
misheard what she had said.
Koyomi cast her eyes down with a sad look.
„Brine shrimp…… those things that you get as powder-like dried
eggs that you put in salt water to hatch. At first, they're so small
that you can't see them at all, but if you raise them well, they grow
up to be about a centimetre long…… They're treated like water
fleas, but they can be preserved for years as dried eggs──“
The detective pressed on the inner corners of his eyes.
„You mean those things used as bait for tropical fish……? I am
aware of them. So, of the hundred of them that you can raise from
a single spoonful, you distinguished a specific one, gave it a name,
and raised it……?“
Koyomi nodded, her eyes solemnly looking far away.
„Though, enlarged to human size, it was, of course, gross…… but, I
did feel a bit happy seeing it looking healthy……“

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Nayuta was stumped on how to react. Koyomi spoke about it as if

it were a nice story somehow, but it did not appear to be so.
„Umm…… Was it cute?“
„Nope. Not really cute. Not at all.“
She was surprisingly unsentimental.
She didn't really understand her tastes, but Koyomi being weird
wasn't anything new either.
Having pulled himself together, the detective corrected his
posture.
„Anyhow, it's clear now. The 《ghosts》 that appear in that quest
are the players' lost acquaintances from the real world…… or pets,
as the case seems possible, but either way, they're essentially
things that don't exist in the game as data and are based on
personal information. A 《ghost》 in the true sense of the word.
At the very least── I've never heard of a precedent for such a
thing in previous quests.“
„……But, it's impossible for them to be actual ghosts.“
At the frowning Nayuta, the detective gave a teasing smile.
„Indeed. Nevertheless, in the sense of not having a physical
existence, ghosts are very similar to VRMMO NPCs. For some of
the cases called psychic phenomena, there is a theory that the
ghosts are products of brain signals, in addition to a fair number
of some kind of malfunctions…… There is a high probability of the
《ghosts》 we have here being one of such 〝phantoms created
from memories〟that take form via the brain.“
Nayuta nodded. Her own deduction was practically the same as
the detective's.
Since the ghosts took the form of one's acquaintances, logically
thinking, it was right to assume that players’ 《memories》 were
appropriated as material for in-game objects in real time.

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Indulging in the purin, Koyomi glanced upwards.

„……Hm? Wha? Hey, isn't…… that bad? Umm, look…… in the sense
of human rights or that privacy thing, or something in that
direction…… isn't it crossing the line?“
The detective gave a deep sigh.
„Right. It's a deed equivalent to 〝stealing a glance at an
individual's memories〟. It's still a grey zone due to the legislation
being behind, but, supposing such a mechanism were made, it
would be a violation of Asuka Empire's own ethics code. That's
probably the greatest reason for the prompt suspension of the
quest. On the other hand, there's a more fundamental question.
Reading a person's memory and visualising it practically in real
time in the game── 〝is such a thing really possible〟, that's the
question.“
„……Is it technically impossible?“
Nayuta was also using 《The Seed》as a hobby. Though nothing
but an amateur, she did happen to have knowledge on VRMMO
production, more or less.
Last year, she aimed for applying for the 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》, but her schedule became packed midway, thus she
was unable to finish and eventually abandoned her idea.
Based on this knowledge of hers, she had yet to hear of any
successful cases of such technology.
Clevel squinted his eyes like a long slit-eyed kitsune.

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„I won't say that it's impossible. It would probably be possible to a

genius like Kayaba Akihiko, and there is even a chance that he had
hidden such a function in The Seed. That program package is a
Pandora's box that we have yet to open the cover of. Though……
〝at the present time〟, the chances of a technology that can, 〝
individual to each of the unspecified large number of players〟, 〝
read memories and instantly reproduce them in-game〟 being
easily realised in such a way is exceedingly low. Also, 〝passing
through the game management's inspection and being executed
by them〟 is a considerable extra to all that. Thinking
conventionally, it's impossible. I'm guessing that the trick we have
here is something simpler…… and yet tricky.“
Midway through the detective's speech, Koyomi's open eyes began
spinning round and round, losing focus.
The difficult speech did not get through to her.
While plugging Koyomi's ears, Nayuta lowered her voice.
„……Stealing a glance at someone's memories using a VRMMO… in
a word, you mean interrogation technology, right? For example,
the possibility of this quest being a test case for gathering data
is……“
The detective closed an eye.
„Although an interesting idea, you can safely eliminate that
possibility. There's no merit in leaking such a dangerous
technology to the outside in this way; if, conversely, the goal was
to call attention to or raise the issue, a more conspicuous method
would have been chosen. I wouldn't know the details without
investigating it a bit more, but── more importantly, our issue
right now is Yanagi-shi. It seems he's currently admitted to
Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital. It also appears that Yanagi-
shi's wife has something to ask of me, thus all the more reason to
visit him.
Quickly finishing his mamekan, Clevel was about to leave his seat.

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(Yokohama……Kōhoku General Hospital?)

Nayuta knew that hospital.
Faster than she could call out to him, she grasped the detective's
arm reflexively.
Slightly surprised by her own action, she stared up at the
detective.
„Umm…… could I come to the hospital with you? The hospital is
quite close to my home. It wouldn't even take thirty minutes by
train.“
It was one of the most outstanding hospitals for serious illnesses
in the region── or rather, it was rather prominent in the whole
country.
It was also known for promptly introducing trials for a large-scale
medical FullDive machine called the Medicuboid, as well as for
admitting many patients with incurable diseases.
Nayuta had once been admitted to that hospital for some time as
well, when she suffered injuries in a traffic accident.
Although, of course, she did not have a chance to used the
Medicuboid, the hospital had a rental for AmuSpheres, which a lot
of patients made use of to kill time.
Perhaps Yanagi was also in such a position.
After moments of silence, Clevel averted his eyes from Nayuta's.
„If you're feeling inquisitive, you should let the matter drop…… is
what I think. You do know the reason, right? The place is
recognised for its terminal care for patients who are near death.
The elderly man too── is probably one of them.“
Nayuta was taken aback.
The deadline of clearing the quest in a week.
The exorbitant payment.

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And, a situation where a relative had to write an e-mail for him──

It wouldn't even take a detective to easily presume what the
situation was based on these three points.
Koyomi gave a faint moan.
„……So that's it…… that's why the ojii-chan was in such a hurry──“
Nayuta put her strength into her eyes as she once again gazed at
the detective.
„That's all the more reason to go, then. I would like to confirm it
directly── to hear from Yanagi-san's own mouth whether there is
anything I can still do to help.“
This time, without much of a pause, Clevel nodded.
„Alright. In that case, you can come with me. Our meeting place
shall be the gate of the station closest to the hospital. As visiting
hours should begin in the afternoon, come there at noon.“
Nayuta was, on the contrary, bewildered by the sudden request.
„……I am surprised that you were so unexpectedly quick to give in.
I thought you would have brought out your duty of confidentiality
or something and be more reluctant……“
Having stood up, Clevel took back the hem of his coat.
„I have yet to even make a contract with Yanagi-shi, so there's no
duty of confidentiality── though that's just a quibble, seeing as
you two are important companions in the first place. I shall accept
the request as soon as possible. You are in a position to help and,
depending on the situation, we might still need your help.“
Koyomi sniffed.
„Uuu…… I-I want to go too…… but……!“
„Where are you accessing the game from?“
„……………………Osaka.“

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That was rather far away. It wasn't impossible for a day trip, but a
round trip would cost about thirty thousand yen.
Nayuta grasped Koyomi's hand.
„I believe it would be better for you to instead be on standby as is,
Koyomi-san. You would be able to immediately log in if you’re
needed for anything, and a day trip for a hospital visit would
surely be hard on you, right?“
Putting force on her brow, Koyomi nodded.
„Right…… It's a regular day at the office tomorrow…… Nayu-san,
send my regards to Yanagi-san, okay? ……Oh, and Detective-san, if
you lay a hand on Nayu-san IRL, I'll skin you alive. I mean, I'll
obliterate you socially. If you do something to a high school girl, I
won't wait a single second to report you, so be sure to keep
yourself in check, alright? Don't think I'm just playing tough like
an Osakan typically does, ‘kay? I was born on an island, so I don't
follow that convention. It won't end with〝I was just kidding〟;
I'll hunt you down, got it?“
With a cordial smile, though her eyes didn’t show a hint of
laughter, Koyomi made some modest threats.
Clevel pressed down on the inner corners of his eyes as if he were
exhausted.
„……Such a possibility hadn't even crossed my mind, but…… sorry,
could we call off that plan of travelling together? I'm feeling a bit
of an irrational danger to my person. In the sense of false charges.“
„I'll be waiting at the gate at noon. I don't mind a slight tardiness,
but if I am stood up I'll appeal to Koyomi-san, saying 〝I got
played〟 in tears.“
Nayuta informed him with a serious look, thus Clevel looked up to
the ceiling in a resigned manner.
„……Understood. I've already been driven into a corner, huh──
For now, let's decide on our signs for our meetup. I should be
wearing a gray suit and viewing a terminal with my back to a wall.
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My hair is black, but my face is not much different from my

current one, so you should have no problems with that. You could
send me an e-mail when you arrive.“
„I…… have not decided what to wear yet, but I believe I shall go for
something that will not stand out. As for a sign, the only thing I can
think of is a boo……“
Koyomi stared at Nayuta's chest.
„A sign……“
„Koyomi-san. If you say anything more, I shall have to rethink my
relationship with you, Koyomi-san.“
Immediately, Koyomi closed her lips tight and then began silently
stuffing her cheeks with the purin a la mode.
Although she couldn't handle difficult subjects, she happened to
be clever enough to know when to quit.
Nayuta and Koyomi had only met once in the real world.
Just last month, Koyomi went with her boss on a business trip to
the capital and, making use of her half a day of free time, the two
went to a sweets store.
Until then, it seemed that Koyomi was convinced that Nayuta's
breasts were „fakes exaggerated by the game“.
The moment she realised that they were unmistakably the real
thing, she gave an unprecedented, serious look as she said „Take
care not to get involved with bad men“; „Actually, every single one
of them calling out to you is sure to be bad, so take care to give
them the cold shoulder“, she took her advice a little bit too far.
As a matter of fact, Nayuta was aware that her own wariness was
on the strong side.
She herself was perplexed that she was going to meet with a
suspicious detective alone, even if it was for visiting someone at
the hospital.

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But she did feel that this was a boat that had already left the dock,
and she didn't feel like giving up as a player just yet.
But her biggest motif of all──
(Could it be because of that 《ghost》I saw ……)
Just yesterday, Nayuta had also seen one.
A ghost that looked like a departed familiar face, one that should
not have existed in the game as data──
Just as she had told Koyomi and Clevel moments ago, due to
having only seeing a glimpse of it, she hadn't really been afraid. In
the first place, she didn't even think of it as an actual ghost.
Though── despite not being scared, when she saw the ghost, she
ended up recalling the scary 〝loneliness〟 she had once
experienced.
To quickly forget this loneliness, she needed some sort of beacon
for action. If she did nothing and remained gloomy, she felt that
she'd be depressed till tomorrow.
After Clevel stepped out of the store one step ahead with
something needing investigation, Koyomi let out a sigh with a
spoon in her hand.
„I wonder if Yanagi-san is alright…… It might be weird to say this
about someone we met just yesterday…… but I hope he gets well.“
„──True.“
Nayuta too could feel how difficult such a wish was. If it wasn't,
there wouldn't have been a need for a request like „within a
week“.
(Though, what are we supposed to do if the quest is
suspended……)
Right now, she was worried about Yanagi's condition in the
hospital.

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If the deadline could be extended just a bit more, the quest could
be reimplemented in time after adjustment by the management.
Nayuta stared at the empty mamekan bowl left by the detective.
'If possible, I want Yanagi to discover that taste as well'── such a
thought momentarily crossed her mind.

§
Noon on Sunday.
Right after leaving through the ticket gate, Nayuta found the
〝 detective〟among the congestion.
Leaning his back against the wall was a handsome young man in a
suit, engrossed in thought as he looked at the screen of his
terminal──
The odds of mistaking the person were practically non-existent.
Only his hair had changed from silver to brown, but his looks and
aura were practically the same as in-game.
His standing posture, his attention caught for a moment by any
woman passing too close to him, seemed strangely picturesque.
However, the story didn't end simply with good looks.
The young man's presence was somehow reminiscent of a
trickster, like kitsune, tanuki, or some other youkai.
Standing out by not standing out.
His outfit alone was that of a salaryman, but because of the neat
and tidy impression drifting about him being awfully
supernatural, it was impossible to conceal his foreign nature.
In short, he looked like a fox-man, diligently attempting to blend
in with modern society.
Not only women but children too stared at his figure in wonder. In
their eyes, the detective undoubtedly looked like a youkai.

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(……That person doesn't really look suited to being a

detective……)
He looked like he'd be exposed in an instant if he ever tried tailing
someone.
Before calling out to him, Nayuta quickly checked through her
own appearance.
Her brown, long-sleeved, knitted top and black long skirt were
indeed plain, but that did not mean she avoided a pomp outfit
because she was going to visit someone at a hospital. Her plain
clothes were generally always like this as she did her utmost to
refrain from wearing anything that revealed her skin when she
went outside.
„On the contrary, that outfit is sure to be popular with men“,
Koyomi ridiculed her, but Nayuta was unable to calm down while
wearing flashy garments. On top of her expression becoming hard
as a rock and the clothes not suiting her, she was mostly an indoor
person and didn't really go out much, thus she didn't have many
opportunities to wear something like that in the first place.
Having slightly adjusted her hair with her fingers, Nayuta silently
approached Clevel.
„Detective-san, nice to meet you. I am Nayuta.“
She called out as if she were whispering and bowed.
Looking up from his terminal, Clevel knit his brows without so
much as returning the greeting.
„……What a surprise. Your appearance barely differs from your in-
game one.“
„……Oh no. Not as much as you, Detective-san, I believe. There's no
need for any signs at this point, right?“
The Battle Miko Nayuta was at least quite different in terms of her
outfit. Wearing a suit, he was closer to his in-game impression.
The detective stared at Nayuta with a rude gaze.
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„──Could it be that you're the daughter of a good family?“

„Oh no. I come from a regular old family. Why do you ask?“
„Your attitude is nice. You use proper language and have no
flippant sides. Your aura is quite different from that of usual high
school students.“
It was hard to tell whether she was being praised or suspected.
„I am not sure if this is related, but my mother is a former
policewoman and both my father and elder brother are
policemen.“
„……I understand. So it's that kind of family.“
Nayuta spoke frankly, though restraining herself a bit.
The detective faced the hospital and hastily began walking.
The sidewalk, limited by guard rails, was narrow, thus the
pedestrians coming from the other side made it hard to walk side-
by-side. Inevitably, Nayuta followed a few steps behind the
detective.
„Seeing as your parents and sibling are all policemen, are you
planning to follow their path?“
„Oh no. I plan to go to university as normal and find employment
at a regular business. Seeing as police work sounds demanding
and I do not do well with physical activity.“
Put bluntly, her breasts were simply too heavy. Running was her
dread and, recently, she had a hard time with even her physical
education classes. One of the reasons she desired agility in-game
was to solve her dissatisfaction with the real world.
Not knowing this reason of hers, Clevel nodded with an off the
point I-know-how-it-is look.
„How wise. That field requires a lot of aptitude. It would be one
thing if you were accustomed to the hierarchical sports clubs, but
for a quiet type like you it must be hard.“

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„……You seem to be knowledgeable about the subject, I see? Do

you have any acquaintances on the police force?“
„Quite a few. It's the nature of the business, you see──ah, I'm not
referring to detective work.“
A business card came from the inner pocket of his suit.
Accepting the card, Nayuta discovered Clevel's real name for the
first time.
„……Clover's Network Security Corporation…… Representative
Director Kurei Kaisei…… director?“
A director this young was shadier than a detective.
Perhaps having noticed Nayuta's cold gaze, Clevel shrugged as he
began explaining.
„It's just a title. My colleagues and I founded a security-based
venture business and I was the most honeymouthed of the group,
so everyone just went with the flow.“
„Hah…… Is your company going to be all right if the director is off
playing games……?“
She unconsciously voiced this, knowing that it did not concern
her. For their initial arrangement, Clevel had declared that, as of
tomorrow, he would devote practically all of his twenty-four
hours a day to clearing the quest for Yanagi.
„That is not an issue. The income from my detective and tourist
work is included in the company's profits, so in a word, it's part of
the business as well. Also, there were a lot of clients that I got to
know through the game. Stopping my business in-game would
only hinder meeting new clients. Word of mouth is, unexpectedly,
not something that you can sneeze at.“
It seemed that his tour guide affair also served as a business
activity for acquiring future clients.

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„That is to say that Yanagi-shi and his family are important

candidates to be my clients── Though, have you already realised
anything about his background?“
Nayuta shook her head.
„All that I could say was that if that payment were real, 〝he is
probably rich〟. Also…… based on his knowledge of mochi I
considered the possibility that he was a chef or a researcher, or a
teacher, but I believe that that is probably not the case.“
Turning around, Clevel squinted his eyes
With perfect timing, they stopped due to a red light.
„Your reason for deciding so?“
„To begin with, my intuition is unreliable. If I must say, it would be
his manner of speaking. It was humble yet elegant and implied a
good upbringing── the impression of a merchant. And it was not
the self-assertive founder type, but instead a second- or third-
generation merchant, abiding by traditions while taking the
current state into account …… he sounds like a grand merchant or
retiree from a historical play.“
The detective gasped in surprise.
„──Far from unreliable, your intuition and analysis are quite
accurate. Indeed, he is a retiree from a well-established store──
the current head of 《Yanagi-ya Ryuuzen-dou》“
Nayuta could not believe her ears.
On the portable terminal that Clevel presented to her, the
homepage of Yanagi-ya was displayed.
The features of the man in the photo next to the company
president's greeting were indeed remarkably similar to Yanagi’s
in-game appearance.

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Yanagi-ya Ryuuzen-dou, which had points of sale in various

department stores all over Japan, was a major, well-established
store in the wagashi business.
Their standard product, 〝Yanagi mochi〟 was a mochigashi with
the flavour of fruit kneaded into the dough; the wide-ranging
varieties of the mochi included apple, yuzu, peach, orange, and
grape, as well as seasonal varieties such as cherry, watermelon,
persimmon, and chestnut.
A box came with an assortment of eight types of mochi and the
price was reasonable, thus it was a gem long loved by its fans.
Because it was standard merchandise for a present, naturally,
Nayuta had also eaten some not just once or twice.
When the light turned green, the two began crossing the street.
Although there were no other pedestrians around them, the
detective slightly lowered his voice.
„Yanagi Ryuuzen-dou's fifth generation and current president,
Yanagi Teiichi── that is Yanagi-shi's identity in the real world. It
seems that he had exercised his talent as a confectioner in his
youth and had also worked as the director of a confectionery
vocational school until a few years ago. Strictly, he's neither a chef
nor a teacher, but taking into account that it's close enough, your
intuition hit the mark with surprising accuracy. Could this be the
police lineage?“
„Just a coincidence. More importantly…… how long have you
known Yanagi-san's identity, Detective-san?“
Considering that their destination, the hospital, was still far away,
Nayuta examined Clevel's profile.
The detective smiled, pretending not to notice.

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„I knew from the start. Because I confirmed the client's

background when the middleman emphasised 〝mind your
manners〟. Though…… I have yet to hear anything about why he's
obsessed with the 《Phantom Orchestra》. That's what I'm going
to find out now.“
„……You pretty much already have a conjecture, I assume?“
Clevel replied with a sigh.
„Yeah. You probably suspect what it is too, but you don't have to
say it. Most likely, today…… it'll all be explained.“
Nayuta nodded in silence.
The detective then added, as if it weren't a big deal.
„Speaking of which, Yanagi-shi's condition worsened not right
after logging out…… but after seeing the 《suspension》
announcement, as I hear. It must have been a great shock to him.“
It was unbearable to think of the dejection Yanagi felt at the
moment.
Finally, the two arrived at the front of Yokohama Kōhoku General
Hospital.
Being Sunday, there were no outpatients, but people visiting
patients entered through front entrance now and then.
Following them, Nayuta again looked up at Clevel's profile.
Although he did indeed have the impression of a fox-man, he was
by no means an actual youkai.
But even excluding this── for some reason, his clear eyes looked
blank, like empty shells.

§
Yanagi's room was quite small.

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It had a single-size electric bed and three stools, which could be

stacked, for visitors to sit. Aside from those, there was no special
furniture, and even the wall to the adjoining room was so thin that
it barely served its role as a partition between the rooms.
Based on the information she received during the journey, Nayuta
had expected a special VIP suite, thus she felt quite let-down.
Beyond the window was a slightly cloudy spring sky, beside which
only the neighbouring skyscrapers and roads could be seen, thus
even the view wasn't all that great.
'Were the deluxe suites all occupied or was Yanagi just that
modest──probably the latter', Nayuta guessed.
What greeted them in the room was Yanagi, asleep from the
medicine, and a smiling old woman.
„Oh, my my……I can't believe you managed to make such young
and beautiful friends at this age….. I'm rather jealous. Nice to meet
you, I am Yanagi's wife, Suzuka.“
The old woman in a kimono gazed at the two visitors in turn with
an innocent, gentle smile.
„Err……are you two dating, I wonder?“
A bombshell came quickly after the greeting and the detective
dealt with it calmly.
„Oh no. She is a student who guided Yanagi-san and is helping
with clearing the quest in the game. I, too, only met her
yesterday.“
Suzuka inclined her head like a child.
„Oh, is that so? You looked like such a great match that I was
sure── excuse me. Well…… there are regulations on that, right?
On the outside, right?“
It didn't seem that her misunderstanding had been corrected.

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With amiableness of a person serving a guest, Suzuka gave Nayuta

a smile.
„Even so, you are a truly beautiful lady…… Did this man flirt with a
such a young girl in-game? Obaa-chan is really shocked that he's
actually cheating at this age──“
Nayuta gave a wry smile at her very jestful words.
„Oh no, Yanagi-san was lost, thus we were the ones who called out
to him. Afterwards, we arbitrarily thought that there was
something we could help with……“
Suzuka let out a chuckle.
„This person has always been like that. I don't really know how,
but he always gets help from various people at the perfect time……
As his wife, this is probably not something I should say, but I guess
it's because he's well-behaved? Well, this person's greatest
fortune was marrying a lovely woman like myself, no?“
Based on the way she playfully praised her spouse, it seemed that
their relationship was extremely good.
Smiling, Suzuka continued the chat.
„Miss, be sure to carefully pick your partner, okay? Ah, but you
shouldn't be too prudent either. There's no such thing as love at
first sight or a perfect partner. The Detective-san looks good and it
seems that you can handle him to some extent, so he's not too bad
a catch y'know? Even if there's a bit of an age difference, when you
turn sixty or seventy, it's no big deal. Even I am a dozen years
younger than my husband, so……“
„──Please excuse me, but we truly are not in such a relationship,
so please go easy on us. I have no intention of being arrested yet.“
The detective, pulled into the flow of the conversation right after
their meeting, stopped the wasted explanation and attempted to
somehow return to the topic.

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„This might be sudden, but how is Yanagi-san's condition?

Another colleague of ours who plays the game was awfully
worried──“
Using Koyomi as a pretext, he smoothly transitioned the
conversation.

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Yanagi was sleeping on the bed with an intravenous drip being

administered.
His face looked considerably more worn out than in-game, and his
body looked diminished as well.
Suzuka formed a smile as she gently brushed Yanagi's bony hand.
„Oh he is fine. He is currently sleeping on medicine, but he will be
waking up soon. I'm sorry for having you come here so
suddenly….. The truth is that I should be the one visiting him, but I
wanted you to be here with him, and I don't really understand the
topic of games. Vee ar…… em em oh, was it……?“
The detective responded in a whisper.
„VRMMO. Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online──In short,
it means an online game, based in a space that is so realistic that it
could be mistaken for reality, that is large-scaled and has a large
number of people playing simultaneously. There, I act as a tour
guide.“
Harshly ridiculed on variety shows concerned with the SAO
Incident, this abbreviation had become widely established
throughout the country, but, of course, it didn't reach the people
who did not watch such shows.
Perplexed, Suzuka inclined her head.
„This is quite complicated, I see…… I'm sorry, I still don't quite get
it. But, Yanagi is grateful to you all. Just yesterday he looked
unusually happy….. He looked truly energetic until he saw the
suspension announcement in the game. Once again…… thank you
very much for your concerns and sorry for troubling you.“
With a tinge of resignation and loneliness drifting about her gentle
expression, the old woman gave a deep bow.
──She already knew about the impending death of her partner.
And she was appropriately prepared for it.
Nayuta closed her eyes and slowly took a breath.

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The topic henceforth would probably be heavy.

The one who broke the silence was the detective.
„……Could I enquire about something? I would like to ask why
Yanagi-san is so── obsessed with that quest.“
„Kvest……?“
Suzuka inclined her head. She seemed to have no knowledge of
game terminology, as could be expected.
„Excuse me, by quest, I am referring to the 《Phantom
Orchestra 》. Based on the large sum of money offered, I assume
that an important reason is involved.“
Suzuka cast her eyes downward.
„……What have you heard from Yanagi?“
„I have not asked him a thing. Though…… I do have a guess, to
some extent.“
Slightly showing some concern, Clevel deliberately lowered his
voice.
„I fear this would be breaching your privacy, but…… The 《
Phantom Orchestra》 is created by someone from your family──
likely your grandchild. And that person has, unfortunately, passed
away…… do I have it right?“
The detective's quiet voice was filled with confidence.
Nayuta had come to the same deduction.
The current 《Asuka Empire》 event, the 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》 consisted of works by its userbase.
Naturally, those works had creators, and those creators had
families.

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A desire to see the entirety of one's grandchild's earnest work on

the game── the motive that drove the near-death Yanagi to
VRMMOs for the first time was a very human sentiment, natural
for a family member.
And, based on the fact that Yanagi requested the help of a strange
detective to clear the quest, one could imagine that the creator
was currently in a state where he couldn't show Yanagi the game
himself.
Most importantly──when they met Yanagi in-game, he had a
somewhat mournful look, a sign that could not possibly be
ignored.
With her eyes still downcast, Suzuka gently brought a
handkerchief to her mouth.
„……It's just as you have guessed. Last December── our
grandchild Kiyofumi passed away. He was still in his teens…… he
had yet to have lived even a quarter of our lives, let alone half……
He had barely gone to school due to struggling with an illness,
until he breathed his last──“
Nayuta could not say anything. A young girl like her could not
think of any words to comfort the elderly woman who had lost her
grandchild.
Nayuta began to faintly suspect the circumstances while at the
gate of the castle that appeared in the 《Phantom Orchestra》,
when Koyomi had said „I went to Nikkō on a school trip in
elementary school“.
At that time, Yanagi had been disturbed by the term „field trip“. In
her own style, Nayuta had made several guesses as to the reason
for that, but it seemed one of them had hit the mark.
Because of the circumstances, she was not glad that she had
guessed it right.
Clevel frowned.

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„……This might be touching on a painful subject, but…… it seems

that your grandchild was informed about his impending death
long ago?“
Suzuka slowly nodded.
„Yes. The 《Phantom Orchestra》 was Kiyofumi's first and last
work. The child── desperately wanted to leave behind proof of
his existence before his death. He was truly happy when he was
contacted by the game's management and told that his work had
been accepted; he was looking forward to the day when everyone
could enjoy it…… but the child's body was already at its limit, I
believe.“
Her voice cracked.
Heatbroken, Nayuta unconsciously cast her eyes downward.
The detective lightly tapped on Nayuta's shoulder.
„What do you think you're doing, getting dispirited yourself. You
should have already realised…… the reason why Yanagi-san kept
quiet about it with us.“
Nayuta nodded.
He probably did not want to share his gloom with Nayuta and the
others who played the game his grandchild had created── or
perhaps he wished to see other players simply enjoying the work
of his grandchild with his own eyes.
Knowing the heavy background circumstances, they would by no
means be able to feel relaxed.
Although── now that the Phantom Orchestra was suspended,
Yanagi would probably not get the chance to play the quest
anymore.
Right now, that truth felt especially hard on Nayuta.
And it seemed that Yanagi's wife Suzuka was also concerned with
this.

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„……Say, Detective-san. I am not really knowledgeable about

games, but…… how long would it take for it to be
reimplemented……?“
At her uneasy voice, Clevel responded with a genuinely meek
expression.
„Honestly speaking, I do not know. It depends on the management,
but based on the precedent thus far, I believe it would take at least
around a month.“
„A month……“
Suzuka's expression turned visibly dim.
It seemed that Yanagi's body would be unable to hold out that
long. At present, it seemed that Yanagi, to whom a week was the
limit for clearing the quest, could not be ensured to wait that long.
„……Suzuka-san. This is not something that you should bother the
detective with……“
Having awoken unnoticed, Yanagi said in a muffled voice from his
sickbed.
Unlike in-game, his voice was so feeble that it was difficult to hear.
„……Yanagi-san.“
Nayuta unconsciously approached the bedside.
„……I am truly sorry for having you come all the way here. Ojou-
san…… you are Nayuta-san, yes……?“
Nayuta nodded to Yanagi, giving a smile as he lay sprawled.
„Yes. I am Nayuta. Koyomi-san is in Kansai, thus she could not
come, but….. she is awfully worried about you, Yanagi-san. Please
get well soon so you can be ready for when the quest gets
reimplemented.“
As she told him this wholeheartedly, Yanagi feebly nodded and
cast his eyes downward.

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„……I had a bit of a dream. My deceased grandchild came to me……

and seemed to be saying something, but I could not hear him……
For some reason, a kitsune appeared midway and I woke up.
Speaking of which, that kitsune looked just like Detective-
dono──.“
His interest piqued, Clevel gave a faint smile.
„I am frequently told that my face looks like that of a kitsune.
When I went to the Inari shrine, some people on the way decided
to worship me.“
At this joke, the tension left Yanagi's face.
„……I am truly sorry for having you come all the way here. I will
handle the payment for the deposit later, but because of the
circumstances, the request will have to……“
„Yes. About that request. I came here today to enquire about it.“
With a change of attitude, Clevel uttered a strangely clear voice.
„Although we did not attain an agreement yesterday, I believe
there is no need to wait for Monday. Given the current state of
things, I would like you to decide whether or not you would like to
make a contract with me. The payment will be as discussed
yesterday── and, in the case we make a contract, I will exhaust all
my resources to 〝clear the quest within a week〟. As for the
means to that, I would like you to leave that to me──“
„H-hey, Detective-san……!?“
Nayuta reflexively chimed in.
The《Phantom Orchestra》 quest was currently suspended. Far
from being able to clear it within a week, it was currently
impossible to even play it. Even he was aware of that.
Clevel closed one eye as he looked at Nayuta.

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„Just as I said this morning── I have yet to give up. Yanagi-san, if

you still have the energy to play the game, I will support you as
best as I can. Depending on your ability to enter into FullDive, we
can even resume the quest tomorrow if you are able.“
Nayuta glared at the detective as he carelessly said this.
„Detective-san, as I am saying, the vital quest is…….!“
Ignoring her indication, Clevel glanced at Nayuta.
„You have school tomorrow, right? It's still too early for spring
break, huh.“
„……It will be over in the morning. I only have to retrieve my test
results and take supplementary classes, thus I will be able to
return home by noon. I have not entered any clubs either.“
The detective lightly clapped his hands.
„Perfect. In that case, let's meet up at the office at 13:00. Yanagi-
san, if you are able to, please come as well. Also── I will have you
two sign a contract for a 《part-time job》 at that time.“
„……Wha? Errr……ehm, what are you saying?“
Still unable to comprehend the situation, Nayuta exchanged
glances with Yanagi on the bed.
As he gazed at the two with a smile, Clevel's figure seemed like the
personification of a wicked kitsune-turned-man.

§
The cat is god.
In Ancient Egypt, there was a goddess of cats named Bastet.
The fox was also god.
In the Inari shrines all over the country, Ukanomitama, the deity
ruling over the five grains, was enshrined and the fox was its
messenger.

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„……So, you see. Both the Cat God and Inari co-exist on this second
floor, and the kemoners47, with great joy, have a theory that this is
a shrine of syncretism between the cat and fox unlike the
syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism……!“
„……Koyomi-san, you sure like to use technical terms that I have
never heard of from time to time. What is a kemoner?“
„……Umm…… A person whose love is wider-reaching than normal
people?“
Monday, a day after visiting Yanagi at the hospital, at Mitsuba
Detective Agency──
At Nayuta and Koyomi's rambling as they sat on the sofa in the
office, the detective, who had just come to work, found something
to object.
„My face just looks like a kitsune; I have no relationship to any
Inari shrine…… More importantly, I believe I told you to 〝meet at
13:00〟 ……and what time is it now?“
„Oh, Detective-san, cheese. There's a fine looking clock on the wall,
y'know? Umm…… It says 11:00.“
Koyomi answered as if she were bothered while enjoying Nayuta's
lap pillow.
The detective pressed down on his glabella.
„Setting the lock so that it could be opened by party members was
my mistake, perhaps…… Nayuta, what about school?
„Only in the morning, I believe I said so yesterday? I live about five
minutes away from school on foot, thus it barely takes any time
for a round trip.“
„……Koyomi, what about your work?

47 A kemoner is a person who likes beasts. The term is created by adding the English suffix -er to the
word kemono (beast).

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„What? Detective-san, have you never heard of the concept of 〝

paid vacation〟? Uwah, how shady…… Do your best not to get
spotted by Labour Inspection, okay?“
Sitting at his desk, the detective gave a deep sigh.
„Indeed, compared to a workplace where you can exercise such a
right on a Monday so close to the end of the fiscal year, my
business could be considered somewhat shady── I'm surprised
that you were able to pass your application on such short notice at
a time like this.“
Taking in the detective's sarcasm, Koyomi's eyes turned empty.
„……Fiskal iear…… mandai……Nayu-san…… Detective-san is
teasing me……“
„Yes yes. I am on Koyomi's side. I am grateful that you took a day
off to help with the quest during such a busy time.“
While comforting Koyomi by stroking her hair, Nayuta lightly
glared at the detective.
Clevel faked a cough.
„……Well, it's not like I'm not grateful to you── though you'll be
bored lying around here, so how about going somewhere else for
now? There are still two hours till Yanagi-shi comes.“
Rubbing her cheek against Nayuta's hakama, Koyomi purred like a
cat.
„Oh, don't mind us. This place is surprisingly comfortable…… The
faint smell of black tea in the air reminds me of a cafe. And there's
no one here to see us, so Nayu-san isn't embarrassed to give me a
lap pillow.“
It wasn't as though Nayuta didn’t have an opinion on the matter,
but she had to make some sort of a compromise for Koyomi, who
went so far as to use up a paid leave to come. And besides, both of
them were using fake bodies in a virtual space.
The detective tapped the desk with his finger.
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„I see. By the way, you haven't forgotten about my existence, have

you?“
Koyomi pondered for a bit.
„……Detective-san, you're too shady and kinda feel like an NPC.“
„Just like our first meeting, you truly are someone who says
whatever is on their mind, I see.“
Giving up on his persuasion, the detective opened the notebook on
his desk.
Suddenly, Koyomi opened her eyes.
„……What is that immersion-breaking, retro computer……is it the
real deal?“
„I only refined my work system into the shape of a notebook. It's
an application of the Virtual Office function. I dare say── the
creator of the 《Phantom Orchestra》, the boy named Yanagi
Kiyofumi, similarly used 《The Seed》 from a virtual space to
make progress on his work.“
The detective continued speaking as he operated his computer.
„Even if, for argument's sake, he was inconvenienced by his body
in reality, such a handicap would not have affected him in this
space. Even a person who had lost an arm could use both hands in
this world; you'd also barely get any eyestrain, stiff shoulders,
lower back pain, or other such corporeal issues of fatigue. The
issues of mental fatigue and lack of exercise still remain…… but, in
the sense that the implemented environment allows even
bedridden people to work freely, it has crossed the boundary of
games and medical care to bring about a reform in work
environment.
Koyomi inclined her head.
„Hmm……I haven't really heard anything about that, though?“

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„Because it's considerably limited by the type of work involved.

We're only talking about desk work here; occupations where the
conventional work environment is more convenient if the person
has no corporeal handicap constitute the majority. Though─ the
field has a prospect of growth in the future. The rent would be
cheaper and, if you were able to put an end to going to work by
just using your AmuSphere from home, you could also get rid of
travelling expenses and commuting time. It's incomparable to the
old generation virtual offices where you would just connect to the
network via your home computer. These merits can even be
applied to school.“
„……So, you're saying that I wouldn't have to go on crowded trains,
right? Uwah…… that sounds good…… that sure would be great……“
As Koyomi muttered in a trance, Clevel sighed.
„That doesn't mean that everything about it is great. If the trend
sped up, the rental value of office properties, as well as the value
of personal property would probably slump, and transportational
facilities would also fall into a deficit due to reduced demand.
Stores relying on salarymen and students coming to eat would
also see a drop in customers, and if there were no need to
commute to work or school, cosmetics, women's clothing,
menswear, and uniform stores would also suffer damage. The
influence would involve various other fields……“
Koyomi's expression became befuddled.
Operating his computer, the detective continued disinterestedly
with his pet theory.
„We're not talking solely about companies and schools here. The
role of businesses is to satisfy the demands of the people. If we
reach the age where there is no necessity to satisfy the needs of
people in real life and it is possible to satisfy them solely through
low-cost data instead of the real thing, a lot of manufacturing and
service industries would take a big hit. As a flow of the ages, that's
the end of the matter…… but there are more businesses that are
pessimistic and troubled about the future than you can imagine.“
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His mutters sounded like this were all someone else's problem. It
probably was actually someone else’s problem, but there were
signs of him testing Nayuta and Koyomi's reaction with his
extremes.
Koyomi stroked Nayuta's lap through her hakama.
„Hmm……? But, even the 《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》 has
tie-ups with various businesses. I think that, far from being
pessimistic, it's relatively hyped?“
„Those businesses are trying to encroach on the VR market by any
means while they can. For example, whether clothes created from
data instead of real clothes would sell, or if a commodity in-game
could be made into an actual product── various businesses
probably want to investigate how much of a need exists for such
items in order to find a solution. The 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》 was born from a merger of goals between the
《 Asuka Empire》 administration, who wants to increase their
playerbase through an exciting event, and various business, who
want new business know-how as they conduct market research.
That is specifically why── now, when the event has just begun,
unnecessary trouble is unwanted. This is probably one of the
reasons why the 《Phantom Orchestra》 was suspended so
quickly.“
Nayuta pondered.
Real and data.
The real world and the virtual world──
As humans are living beings, the real world is indispensable.
Starting with things like electricity and hardware, without proper
infrastructure, it would also be impossible maintain a virtual
world.
Nutrients needed for the body cannot be absorbed through data,
so the agriculture, fish, and livestock industries, as well as the
infrastructure for distributing their products, are also essential.

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But, regarding the many affairs excluding these essential

industries── the merits of the virtual world are quite easily
capable of surpassing the demerits of the real world.
In a virtual world, corporeal handicaps can be largely abated.
Being able to drive on an abandoned highway at high speed.
Being able to soar through the air like a bird, swim to the depths
of the sea like a fish, act freely like a cat.
Having dinner at a popular restaurant at whatever time you
please, for a low price, without having to wait in line or make
reservations; experiencing a one-night date with a beautiful
member of the opposite sex without any future trouble; facing
adventures that make your heart leap, and imminent fear without
the danger of death.
Even if all of these were imitations── they can stay unrelated to
the worthless self in reality.
The closer VR technology gets to truly simulating the five senses,
the more reality becomes unable to compete with its charm.
It's possible that, in several hundred years, some people will no
longer have a need for reality.
There are several old SF works which depict such worlds as their
theme.
In such completely supervised societies, all menial labour was
mechanised, with even the repair of broken machines being
handled by machines, as people continued spending their leisure
time in dreams, while even children were born through artificial
fertilisation on culture medium.
If some sort of natural disaster took place at any time as they
continued to drift about in such dreams from birth till death,
everything would fall to ruin in that moment── Nayuta would not
be surprised if such an age came at some point.

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Although, of course, this was an extreme possibility of a far away

future taking place after her lifespan, as well as those of
generations of people, came to an end, but perhaps 〝the
present 〟 was the turning point for it.
It was a matter of personal values whether an individual would be
„jealous“ or „disgusted“ by such a future.
Speaking of extreme examples, if an epidemic capable of
annihilating humanity spread through the world with the
survivors isolated in a shelter, and there was a need to preserve
the seed of humanity── a《virtual world》 such as this would
probably serve as the ark for it.
In front of Nayuta, who was lost in thought, a black cat placed a
refill of black tea from the depths of the office.
Coming to her senses because of the strong aroma, she sent a
glance to the detective.
Noticing this, Clevel returned a forced smile.
„What's wrong, Nayuta? Lack of sleep?“
„……No. I just dozed off for a bit. Umm…… Detective-san, what do
you think of the progress of VR technology? Considering your
work here, you seem cold, or sceptical, or, at the very least, not
optimistic about it for some reason──“
Clevel grinned broadly. That didn't mean he felt like he was
smiling; he went silent for a bit to think.

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„Such a question coming from your mouth is unexpected…… but

you're right. If I had to answer whether I'm positive or negative
about it, I would say somewhat positive. But I don't feel like
accepting it blindly, and there are lots of things that I have my
misgivings about. Also, although this is an important matter──
regardless of whether you accept or reject it on a personal level,
the world already knows the flavour of this fruit. Even if there's
poison mixed into it, it's probably too late to relinquish it. After all,
this fruit is too fascinating. In that case, we── to avoid a future
disaster, we must consider all the dangers and continue to deal
with them. Regardless of whether you like it or not, you see.“
The detective's tone sounded as if he were warning himself.
Interested by his answer, Nayuta added a related question.
„……Can I ask something else? About the researcher Kayaba
Akihiko, who was the mastermind behind the SAO Incident and
caused VR technology to advance rapidly── Detective-san, what
do you think of him?“
The smile disappeared from Clevel's face.
To Nayuta, this was an unexpectedly dramatic change.
Right after he noticed how shaken he was, he employed his talent
for acting to feign being calm.
„……Why would you ask me such a question?“
„I…… do not understand. Why he, the most knowledgeable person
on VR technology, would cause such a massacre. Even though he
should have been aware how many people would be doomed── I
wonder, what on earth was he aiming for by stealing the lives of
thousands, and even distorting the lives of tens of thousands of
family members affected through that incident──“
Clevel gave a serious look.
For just a moment, a warped light that seemed a step away from
madness appeared in his kitsune-like eyes.

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„……Regardless of what the answer may be── I shall never forgive

him.“
Speaking in an indifferently clear voice, Clevel crossed his fingers
on the desk.
„I despise him from the bottom of my heart. I detest him so much
that, if he were still alive, I'd like to kill him with these hands.
Having committed a massacre for his own one-sided dream,
essentially, he is not much different from the historic people who
committed the crime of massacre to protect their power. I can also
presume that, seeing as he committed the deed despite knowing
what he was doing, he lacked awareness of his crime. I happened
to hear how scientists often suffer the results of their research
being used for weapons── but in his case, the intentional killing of
numerous people wasn't done by someone else, but by his own,
willingly set trap. There's no room for his defence.“
Nayuta was bewildered by the unimaginably stubborn response
coming from someone who had been so aloof till now.
Koyomi on Nayuta's lap also became serious. Engulfed by Clevel's
force, she could not let out her usual frivolous talk.
His voice was calm and it wasn't like he was yelling, yet that was
the reason she felt a bizarre force behind his words.
A hatred-filled light, like that of a vengeful kitsune, clearly
appeared in Clevel's small pupils.
„……If asked what I think of the man named Kayaba Akihiko── my
answer would be simple. 〝A conceited murderer that should be
regarded with contempt.〟Simply considering what he was trying
to do is pointless. No matter what the answer would be, in front of
the reality of family and friends lost, it would only be absurd
nonsense.“
Faced with his rage, Nayuta realised.
„Detective-san…… you are an SAO survivor, I see.“
Clevel's serious look changed to his usual faint smile.
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„……It seems that you're more suited to be a detective than I am.

How observant of you to notice, hm? Indeed, I was once
imprisoned in that game.“
There was a conviction in his rage that could only be possessed by
someone who clearly knew the target of their hatred.
Perhaps Clevel personally knew the man named Kayaba
Akihiko── or the character Heathcliff, Kayaba's disguise in Sword
Art Online.
──In that sense, he was slightly different from Nayuta, who only
knew Kayaba as a person by name.
She also finally understood the reason why the smile plastered on
his face the first time they met looked shady.
Even when smiling, he didn't feel like smiling.
He only had his expression shaped into a smile, yet the emotion
dwelling within it was clearly different.
Tensed up, Koyomi timidly rose from Nayuta's lap.
„W-wow…… first time I've seen an SAO survivor……“
„Please don't treat me as a rare animal. There are about six
thousand of us in the world, so we aren't that rare.“
Clevel ridiculed in his usual detached voice, but Koyomi frowned.
„I see……Detective-san, you must have had a hard time…… Sorry
for calling you shady. Having gone through all that…… it's no
wonder you’re so distrusting of others……“
„……It's not like I've come to distrust others…… but in the first
place, I managed to survive, so the ones who had a hard time were
the people who lost their lives. Even the ghost of a contemporary I
saw in the 《Phantom Orchestra》── was a friend of mine who
died in Aincrad, you see.“
A prickling pain ran through Nayuta's heart.
The detective cast his eyes downward.
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„──Putting it simply, he came wearing the metal armour he had at

the time of his death. It did feel out of place, but…… until the
identity and workings of that 《ghost》, which should not exist as
data, are confirmed, the game's management will not reimplement
it. Just as I said at the hospital yesterday, that's our chance. With
my pride as a detective on the line── I'll make absolutely sure
that Yanagi-shi's request is fulfilled.“
At his unusually serious voice, Nayuta nodded emphatically.
Reimplementing it would take a month at the very least.
This one month was the time necessary to investigate and amend
the quest.
And who would be performing that 〝investigation〟──
That is what Clevel had his eyes on this time.
It seemed that, since the suspension of the quest, he succeeded in
making use of his personal connections to push 《Clover's
Network Security Corporation》 as a dispatcher of players for
testers to take part in the investigation.
They did not know the particulars, but it seemed he had deep
connections with the management.
〝For starters, the management of 《Asuka Empire》 is one of
our company's important clients. We have a well-developed trust
and have produced splendid results. Also……Yanagi-shi's existence
did its work as well. Bigwigs with personal friendships are quite
like what you see in a naniwabushi.48 Once I told them about the
situation, I got an immediate reply.〟
Clevel gave them such an explanation in a light, swindler-like tone
just yesterday.

48 A naniwabushi (浪花節) is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing, usually accompanied

by a samisen, that was popular during the Edo period. The comparison to these ballads is usually used to
describe something as sentimental due to the dual themes of obligation and compassion that are
apparently characteristic of the naniwabushi.

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Though it seemed that, for the most part, the conversation took
place before he went to the hospital, meaning that he had
advanced the negotiations with the management based on his
deduction, before confirming the truth about Yanagi's deceased
grandchild.
Moving before the other party was able to verify the story… he
probably had such a drive, but the speed of his work left Nayuta
astonished.
Due to the success of his scheme, Nayuta and Koyomi would
henceforth be employed by Clevel's company to both conduct a
test play and an investigation of the 《Phantom Orchestra》.
„……Nevertheless, I am surprised that you were able to obtain
permission to use us for the investigation. I had thought that they
would have just conducted an in-house inspection.“
The detective nodded at what Nayuta pointed out.
„Of course, the 《Asuka Empire》 administration also has an
inspection team. Though, they will basically be busy checking on
the new quests that will be implemented next week and later.
They don't have the free hands to respond to these unexpected
problems. That's why they have a division for dealing with such
issues, but even they always have multiple issues to deal with and
thus lack the free time, so it takes time till a quest can be
reimplemented. On the other hand, because of issues of expenses
and security involved, it's also hard for them to request help from
the outside. If an affiliated security company that they had regular
dealings with asked 〝let us help, you can even pay us barely
anything for it〟 in dogeza49, things can work out one way or
another.“
„……Did you? Beg in dogeza?“
As Koyomi asked in a whisper, Clevel gave an unusual wry smile.

49 Dogeza (土下座, lit. "sitting right on the ground") is the act of prostrating oneself on the ground
with one's head touching the floor. In Japanese etiquette, this is used when making deep apologies, or an
extreme way to beg for a favour.

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„As an action, no, but I did something that felt like it. Now I owe
one to the management. Nevertheless, it's not a bad deal for them
either. As part of the contract, even if some problem occurs to the
players, it'll be on my head, and we can reduce the time needed to
reimplement the quest if we do well. Though, you'll have to abide
by the duty of confidentiality. You cannot say a word about
anything you see or hear to anyone. I'm not all too worried about
Nayuta, but Koyomi…… you do look like you have a loose tongue.“
Koyomi took offense and objected.
„Whatcha talking about. Sure it's a bit loose, but I won't talk about
stuff that I really shouldn't, y'know? Like Nayu-san's 3 sizes or her
cup size.“
„If you did say anything about those, I would no longer give you
lap pillows.“
Koyomi immediately shut her mouth. She was someone who
never learnt her lesson about saying something she knew she'd be
scolded for.
Just at that moment came a knock.
„Excuse me, it's Yanagi. I came earlier than planned──“
Clevel stood up from the desk.
The meet up time was at 13:00, but it wasn't even noon yet.
„Geez, everyone's so hasty…… Yanagi-san, the other two are here
for some reason as well. Please enter.“
After opening the door, the elderly monk gave a deep bow,
carrying his braided hat under his arm.
„I apologise for causing you trouble yesterday. Thanks to you, I am
now able to move again── I look forward to working with you
today.“
Compared to his real, bedridden body, this Yanagi had better
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„Good day, Yanagi-san. Umm…… have the doctors tried to stop

you……?“
At Nayuta's concern, Yanagi returned a troubled smile.
„Yes, they did. It seems that if it were a normal virtual space and I
instead rested peacefully, they would have no problem with it, but
when the genre is horror, they are worried about its negative
effect on blood pressure and heart rate……though I somehow
managed to get something close to a tacit approval when I
explained the situation── well, it is the final whim of an old man.
And my wife supported me.“
„Good to hear. Even I would not be able to chime in when it came
to persuading doctors.“
In the first place, if Yanagi hadn't come, Clevel's scheme would
have gone down the tube as well.
The detective offered the elderly monk a chair and spread three
documents on the desk.
„The contract for the part-time job. Digitalised and saved…… no,
digitalised from the start, but just in case, I would like your
signatures as a formality. Although troublesome, with your real
names, of course, not character names.“
Both Nayuta and Koyomi extended their hands to the documents.
Their contents consisted of conventional things, like warnings and
hourly pay, with no particularly odd sections.
„In a situation like this, I do not really feel like taking money……“
„Sorry, but I can't register you as testers without a contract.
Appearance-wise, we set it up that 〝our company will gather
part-time testers〟. Without an employment contract, their side
will also have trouble.“
Koyomi moaned.
„Hmmm……. Our company is relatively lenient, so something like
this should be okay…… just don't let anyone know, okay?“
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„As long as you yourself don't have a slip of the tongue, there
won't be any problems.“
Clevel's reply was probably intended as a joke, but to Nayuta, it
instead felt like it was a very likely scenario.
Yanagi gave a smile tinged with exhaustion.
„I am paying the Detective-dono for the job and necessary
expenses, yet getting a part of those expenses as an hourly pay.
This is one strange contract.“
„I am humbly sorry about this. This will probably be the first and
last time a great proprietor like you, Yanagi-san, will be employed
for such an hourly rate.“
Displaying a smile of his own, the detective retrieved the contract
signed by Nayuta.
And his glance abruptly stopped on it.
„Is there something wrong?“
Not taking his eyes off the document, the detective squeezed out a
flat voice.
„……Nayuta…… your, this surname……“
Kushiinada Yurina
Her signature was 〝櫛稲田優里菜〟
To Nayuta, this wasn't a particularly unusual reaction.
„Ah, it's read as 〝Kushiinada〟. Unusual, right? It seems that the
稲 田
surname was filled with a wish that their rice paddy fields would
櫛
stretch out like a comb…… but it is a bit awe-inspiring how it
Kushinadahime
sounds like the 奇稲田姫 50 of legend. Precisely because of this,
father once wondered whether some ancestor changed the
reading of one of the characters.“

50 A kami in Shinto mythology. One of the spellings of her name looks just like Nayuta's surname,
except for one kanji.

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The detective nodded with a strangely tense expression.

„……Strange indeed. It's an unusual name──“
Thinking back on it, she had never given her name till now. In
online games, the character name was like a real name instead,
thus it was hard to even graze the topic of real names.
„Hoi, Detective-san. Have mine as well.“
〝Koyomihara Shiori〟 was written on the document Koyomi
held out.
This also seemed like a rather unusual name, but the detective
didn't say anything in particular about it.
As it stood, he put on the coat that was hanging on the wall and
picked up his favourite stick.
At this awfully unconcerned-looking attitude, Nayuta felt a slight
sense of discomfort.
(Though he seemed to be interested by my surname……)
Without the time for her to ask the reason for this, Clevel collected
the contracts and headed for the door.
„──Alright. It's still early, but let's head out. That said, if they
haven't finished the preparations, we'll have to return again──“
„Eeeh. Wouldn't it be better to go at the last minute? I don't know
where we're going, but going all the way back and forth is a pain,
don't ya think?“
„It's not far enough to feel like a pain. It's right next door.“
The detective didn't even turn around. Nayuta and the others
hurried after him.
„Umm, Detective-san…… by next door, you can't be meaning……?“
„It's exactly that. Among the things that fall under the duty of
confidentiality, this is something that I particularly want you keep
hushed.“

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In front of the entrance to the detective's office was the black cat
statue that they had become used to over the past few days.
Its golden-tinged pupils gazed at empty space, while both of its
forepaws showed peace signs.
The pose was clearly different from the one it had till yesterday,
but that was not much of a problem.
Clevel stood in front of the cat statue and poked the bell on the
statue's collar with the tip of his stick.
*Karan*, *karan*, *karan*, a dry sound resounded thrice.
Something flashed at the edge of Nayuta's vision.
Directly opposite the detective's office──
The cat eyes engraved on the door to the 《Cat God Faith
Society 》had an orange radiance.
„The collar's bell is the switch, you see. If you open the door
without ringing it, you can only enter a room used as camouflage.“
While explaining this on the side, Clevel peered into the shining
cat eyes on the door.
Suddenly, the carving spoke in a high-pitched voice.

《Retina pattern on player data confirmed. We will now check

your voice print.》

„This is Kurei. We gathered our members faster than expected. If it

is not a hindrance, please open up.“
The voice of a sleepy man came from the speaker.
『Mm, roger. One moment……』
The door, which looked like it would open normally, rose up as if
it were a shutter.
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Beyond it was a research building-like passageway, surrounded

by white walls, that looked inappropriate to both Ayakashi
Bystreet and Twilight Street.
Without regard to Nayuta and the others in their bewilderment,
the detective swiftly moved forward.
„……So this means that the 〝Cat God Faith Society〟 is……“
The detective nodded without a care.
„On the surface it looks like a suspicious religious group── while
in reality, it is a virtual base created by the administrators to
watch and adjust for cheats and other unlawful conduct. Of course,
the main surveillance system is somewhere else, but you can see
errors and points of improvement by investigating from within
the game, as well as collect rumours flowing from players. I was
told to keep its existence as secret as possible, thus it's only
opened up to our staff, but── you all are my subordinates for the
day, you see.“
Taken aback, Koyomi looked around the passageway with curious
eyes.
The white walls seemed to be made out of something like
strengthened plastic, giving the impression of lustre and
cleanliness.
„……Hoee…… It kinda looks like the inside of a spaceship……?“
„True. It does seem like an alien or a combat android would come
out from around the corner at any time.“
As Nayuta let out such an impression, Koyomi suddenly clung to
her arm.
She hadn’t intended to scare her. It was just her honest
impression.
The detective chuckled.

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„Have you got the same tastes as the supervisors here, I wonder.
The system for intercepting intruders that activates whenever
anyone suspicious enters takes the form of a creature and
machine that looks precisely like that. They're set up to be
unbeatable no matter how hard you struggle, so a regular player
wouldn't be able to break through. Well…… if you weren't
accompanied by someone with permission in advance, the doors
wouldn't open in the first place, though. Doubling and redoubling
security is fundamental.“

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Yanagi, following behind them, also let out a half-shocked voice of

wonderment.
„Hahaa……I was told that this was a game whose selling point was
a Japanese-style world, but this is……“
„As this is the administration's virtual office, it is essentially a
place that normal players would not get to see. In a word…… it's
for the convenience of the supervisors.“
A trifling question popped into Nayuta's mind.
„Detective-san, your office neighbours 《this place》 ……did they
come here after you moved in? Or did you borrow this building
due to following them?“
It was, naturally, hard to think of this as a coincidence.
Depending on the answer to this question, she could guess about
his relationship, or the sense of distance, with the administration.
Clevel gave a faint smile.
„That's quite a complicated thing you ask. As a matter of fact……I
should say that it was about simultaneous. In my eyes, they are
one of our important clients. To them, I am a useful errand boy──
In the end, you could say that I am a fox that borrows the
authority of a tiger.“
It wasn't quite possible to tell whether he was joking or being
serious, but it did seem that they had close a connection.
The white passageway was shorter than Nayuta had expected.
Turning the corner, their field of vision opened up and she gazed
in awe at the scene.
Before her was a modern, bright office space that was unsuitable
for Ayakashi Bystreet.
It was about as large as a gymnasium.

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A beautiful, deep blue sky was projected on the glass ceiling, and
the approximately ten people working below it were facing their
personal consoles in partitioned workspaces.
Their outfits varied but went in-line with ninja, samurai, oiran,
and other staples of《Asuka Empire》. They wouldn't feel out of
place if they went out into the town like that.
Aside from them, cat bots operated by AI moved around
everywhere in large numbers.
It was hard to tell from a single glance whether they were helping
with work or just ornaments, but it did seem that there were
roughly thirty or more of them.
Additionally, in the four corners of the office were open spaces, as
if they were wide stages, where 3D models of bosses that
appeared in the game were displayed.
It seemed they were performing checks on the appearances and
movements of the bosses, as they continued to play them frame-
by-frame, stop, and rewind.
Taken aback, Koyomi grasped Nayuta's arm.
„I've seen this before…… a research establishment that appears in
SF movies……! And it's the kind where they develop zombies and
cause a panic!“
„The impression is similar…… but in this case, it's a game
development room, I guess?“
„No, we don't develop anything here.“
Before she knew it, a short, hunchbacked, middle-aged man stood
right next to her.
He was wearing the costume of a Shinto priest, but the eyes
beyond his round spectacles were truly sleepy and he had not a
single particle of Shinto priest-like majesty.
He smoothly cut into their conversation and continued talking to
them as if he were having a carefree chat.
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„What we handle here is just investigation, adjustment, and error

verification of all kinds── oh, and we also sometimes deal with
various troubles, so in short, we're just managing routine tasks.
The main development is done in another post.“
The Shinto priest man complained in a worn-out voice.
„Since we're in a virtual space, we at least made a nice-looking
office, but in reality, it's a window-sided post.51 There's nothing
astonishing going on here── yo, Kurei-kun. Long time no see.“
The hunchbacked, middled-aged man raised a hand at Clevel.
The detective gave an elegant bow.
„Thank you for your assistance, Torao-san. How is your back
pain?“
The middle-aged man smiled like an old man.
„Not all too good. Well, thankfully, I don't feel any pain in here──
So this elderly man is the Yanagi-san you talked about, and these
ladies are the part-timers for muscle?“
The man named Torao stared at Koyomi.
„……Kurei-kun, isn't this bad? Employing a middle school pupil is
against the Labour Standards Act.“
„……Aight, Occhan, ya've got some nerve. Want me ta flood the
game community with tons 'a half truths about ya, ha.“
Koyomi gave a friendly smile. Strangely, she loved acting like a
child in front of Nayuta, but being treated like a child by a stranger
would commonly set her off.
Torao's shoulders suddenly trembled and he meekly bowed his
white-haired head.

51 This is referring to people who are given no real job to do as they're close to retirement.

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„……Sorry. You looked about the same age as my daughter, so I

couldn't help myself. Ah…… I am Torao, head of the Error
Inspection Cell for the 《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》, as part
of the Development Department Systems Management Division.
Also, as a side job, I'm the priest of the Cat God Faith as well……
Ah, thank you.“
A tabby cat at his feet, which they met along the way, handed him
some documents.
„It's earlier than expected, but since we don't know how long this
matter will take, it's better than being late. I want to explain some
things, so let's get to work without delay. Follow me.“
„Ha. Sorry for the trouble──“
Yanagi gave a deep bow.
Immediately, Torao gave a wry smile.
„Ah, no, how rude of me…… I should be the one apologising. I am
not really accustomed to greeting such an important person, thus
please excuse any rudeness of mine. Since entering the company, I
have always specialised in technology, you see.“
Talking to a senior proprietor, his tone naturally became formal.
The detective added a follow-up in a whisper.
„Torao-san is…… exaggeratedly, one of the 〝guardians〟 of 《
Asuka Empire》 . The person himself claims that the post is
window-sided, but it is instead a refuge. It seems that it is
customary for people from other posts to come crying to them
whenever they have issues.“
Torao sneered.
„Stop with the obvious flattery…… after all, we only get pressed
with bothersome issues.“
Guiding Nayuta and the others to a corner of the open space,
Torao gave a deep sigh.

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„Well……the 《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》 truly is an event

where we can't let our guard down. We had been sent quite a few
quests with viruses and backdoors. Of course, they should have all
been handled in the selection phase, but it can't be helped that the
higher-ups are nervous that something could have been
overlooked. Well, please sit down.“
As they were told this by Torao, Nayuta and the others encircled a
white table used for meetings.
„So you mean that you actually overlooked something? The
《 ghosts》 were unexpected to you, right.“
„Yeah, it's as you say, Ojou-san. I didn't have anything to do with
the selection so I don't know the whole story, but we ended up
with this fuss because it was unexpected. Though──“
Torao scratched his head.
„……I wonder. What I'll say could probably be self-flattery, but our
selection team should be quite excellent. If something as
unbelievable as 〝reading memories〟 of players in the quest
were taking place, it would burden both the machines and the
people. It would be one thing if it were the future, but it's very
doubtful that this could even be possible with current technology,
and if something as strange as this were going on it would
definitely be hard to notice, but……“
At his vague words, Clevel inclined his head.
„Torao-san, you haven't begun the investigation yet?“
„Don't be absurd. Because of your behind-the-scenes dealings, I
only got the job pushed onto me just this morning, you know? Of
course, I do have a vague grasp on the matter, but I practically
haven't begun inspection of the part that caused the problem.
Torao unnaturally raised his brow with his fingers. Still having a
sleepy expression, he couldn't really put much force into them no
matter how much he tried.
Yanagi bowed down apologetically.
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„Forgive us…… for my grandchild's creation causing you so much

trouble.“
While on one hand he wanted to be proud of his grandchild’s
genius, it seemed that he was also feeling guilty about the
situation caused by it. Considering how taciturn she was, Nayuta
also found it hard to chime in with some careless words.
As if having forgotten the delicacy of Yanagi's situation until now,
Torao hastily bent forward.
„Ah, no no. It is not your grandchild's fa…… well, it is indeed your
grandchild's work, but we should be the ones to blame for not
noticing it. The quests submitted by users through The Seed are
quite the pain to analyse…… and, after all, it was not something
that we ourselves had created, so it was hard to grasp the details
of its workings. At the current level, I would have wanted and
requested for a longer preparatory phase, but it seems that it did
not go well with the higher-ups…… That is obviously no excuse,
though.“
While speaking detachedly, Torao shrugged, seemingly troubled.
Clevel took over the rest.
„As a matter of fact, the VRMMO creation tool 《The Seed》 itself
is like a black box. While it is a tool easy to use even for amateurs,
we have yet to find the end of its capabilities to this day── I, too,
had tried using it and it felt out of place, as if I were touching a
program that had come from the future. As for the quests created
using that tool, I believe that it is unfair to expect a complete
analysis of them in a short period of time with the current level of
our technology.“
At this follow-up, Torao let out a smile while on the verge of tears.
„Haha…… that's the nature of the job, though I can't say that
either…… So, in the place of us worthless workers, we will have
you take the first steps to investigating the matter. I'll explain
some of the important points.“

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Torao lowered his gaze at the document.

„First, the 《Phantom Orchestra》 quest that you will be heading
to will be hosted on a test play server, separated from the usual
《 Asuka Empire》. Therefore, you can't use the teleporter to
town. If your HP hits 0, you will return to this office without the
death penalty being invoked. Also, for convenience, we will have
you use a copy of your player data. As changes to the data will not
be reflected on either side, I'd like your agreement on this point
first.“
Koyomi blankly inclined her head.
„I dun get it...... Make it simpler. Explain it like I'm an elementary
school student.“
Treating her like a child was a taboo, yet the consideration she
demanded was practically that.
Torao pressed down on his brow.
„……Alright. I'll only get the main point across. During the test
play, you will be using a copy of your player data. Meaning, the
items and experience you obtain along the way will not be
reflected on your current data. Nor will you be able to bring back
the quest reward. All you'll get is 〝the ability to play it〟.“
Nayuta nodded. As this was a test play, such a development was
within her expectations.
„In return, all the consumables that you use there will not be lost
either. Well, you will temporarily lose them, but the moment you
return here, the contents of your tool bag will return to its current
state. Meaning, nothing lost, nothing gained── were you able to
understand this time?“
Koyomi finally nodded.
„Yeah…… all we want is for Yanagi-san to get to play the game, so I
don't care about stuff like that. Actually, how about letting use as
many of those precious consumables as we want……? Oh?
Wouldn't that be great!?“
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Clevel smiled.
„That's some splendid forward thinking. Indeed, the more free we
are to use those items, the less difficult the quest will be. Also,
Torao-san, about the matter with Yanagi-san……“
„Oh, no problem with that. You can adjust it as you please.“
Yanagi tilted his head in puzzlement.
„Oh, is something the matter with me……?“
Clevel nodded mildly.
„Yes. As you could expect, clearing the quest at level 1 is a bit
unreasonable…… if we had at least a bit more time, I would have
you go through some other quests with good experience point
efficiency for at least the minimal of leveling, but in this case, we
are just 〝test playing as work〟. Thus, I have arranged for you to
use different character data, adjusted for the minimum of balance,
while keeping your appearance the same. Simply put── 〝for
now, you won't be sent to retirement in one attack.〟“
Torao supplemented his explanation.
„Of course, we could just make it so that you would not suffer any
attacks from the enemies for the test, but…… if we did that, it
would feel more like mere work than a game, you see. I do believe
that your grandchild would not want anyone to play it like that, so
for now we have set your level to be slightly below that of the
ladies accompanying you.“
Yanagi cast his eyes downward and gave a deep bow to the two.
„My my…… I am greatly obliged for your consideration. I am sorry
for being such a burden on you, please do as you wish──“
Torao hastily had Yanagi raise his head.
„Oh no no, going on a quest at level 1 would be very one-sided on
you and inappropriate for the test play── thus, this is for your
convenience. Please understand.“

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Nayuta also felt relieved by the detective's and Torao's

consideration. If there no longer were any worries that Yanagi
would be killed in one attack, Nayuta and Koyomi could act
without worrying about protecting him. This should make battles
considerably easier.
Then Torao turned round to face Clevel, who was, in a sense, an
even more one-sidedly bad example.
„……Now, about you being high-leveled yet having the same
problem for some reason……“
„Yeah, I am maintaining the status quo. I do not see much of an
issue here.“
„……Just as I thought, so I didn't give any particular instructions on
that.“
Torao seemed to be quite shocked as well.
Unlike the beginner Yanagi, he was quite happy reaping what he
sowed, though Nayuta still felt a slight issue with it.
„Are you sure? Detective-san, your stats are so one-sided that they
are unsuited for a test play too, I believe──“
Torao shrugged.
„Well, it will be a 〝precedent for performing a test with high luck
〟……I know that in the case of the level-1 Yanagi-san, far from
testing, he'd retire again and again, making no progress at all, but I
do feel like this Detective-shi will somehow pull through. Well,
he'll still be useless when he's useless, but…… if he's useless, his
uselessness can be ridiculed later on.“
It seemed that this priest was also the kind of man who'd make
you question how serious he was being.
But then, there wouldn't be much of a problem if the detective
were absent during the quest. The goal, after all, was to let Yanagi
experience the quest.
The tabby cat that came to Torao pulled on his hakama.
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Looking over the note given to him, he stroked his unshaven chin.
„Alright. Preparations for the test field seem to be completed. Let's
get ready to move out.“
Once Torao operated the console displayed in mid-air, a teleport
gate imitating a red torii archway rose up beside the table.
„The event flags will be taken over from your data right now. As
the castle has already appeared, there won't be a need for
offerings at the hokora. Though── the point where you all get
forcefully dispersed in the castle probably won't change. It seems
that the quest works in such a way that, as long as you all have
obtained some items needed to regroup, you'll be able to meet up
inside. Nayuta-jou has already acquired it, but the others retired,
so they still haven't obtained them, you see.“
Nayuta confirmed the items she had through her menu window.
She had acquired several items when they rushed in the day
before yesterday. Among them, she narrowed down the possibility
to three unknown items that looked like they could be related to
meeting up with her partners.
„A 《Papier Mache Cat》, a 《Flute of Springtime Haze》, and the
《Stone of Complaints》── which of them will that be?“
Torao grinned broadly.
„Ah, that would be the 〝flute〟. Due to the quest being the
《 Phantom Orchestra》, the items for linking up are musical
instruments. Since the Ojou-san has acquired the flute, the others
have to find some kind of other instrument, like a kotsuzumi,
taiko, koto, hichiriki, wind instrument kind of sho, percussion
instrument kind of sho, samisen, or anything else of the kind.
Essentially, you'll be able to find such instruments in wicker
baskets or something like that while exploring. There's no need to
defeat any enemies, so even Kurei-kun should be able to work
something out.“
Suddenly, Koyomi's eyes began darting back and forth.
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„Phantom orchestra……musical instruments…… that

kinda……sounds like a bad end where we inadvertently equip
cursed instruments and become part of the phantom orchestra,
though……?“
Torao shrugged.
„Actually, it's the opposite. Those instruments are sacred ritual
tools offered by the village. A certain monster snatched away
these tools and used their power to take control of the villagers'
souls, turning them into its own musicians. Your role is to take
back those instruments and eliminate the monster nested up in
that castle of ayakashi── but because of Kurei-kun easily
activating the quest, you skipped over several prologue events. In
addition to hints on activating the quest, there should have been
journals about the tragedy of the village in the main temple
building and the mansion of the village headman……“
Nayuta moaned unintentionally. The detective, too, averted his
eyes with an innocent look.
She did explore the shrine, but she didn't even know where the
temple itself was. As for the mansion that appeared to belong to
the village headman, she decided to postpone exploring it and
kept passing by the gate.
„We overlooked those…… I am surprised the flags for activating
the quest were raised.“
Torao scratched his head as if he were troubled.
„Well, that's all fine as far as we see it, but…… if we made it
obligatory to discover the journals, people would end up reading
most of the story before going into the castle. It seemed that the
creator wanted to avoid that as well, and I agree with him. For
horror, 〝not getting what's going on〟 is particularly essential to
the ghost, when examined close
spice things up. As they say, if you look carefully at it, i; it won't be
scary if you know the logic and background. But nothing can be
done about that for the test play.“

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Koyomi burst into laughter.

„There really are quests like that; ones that you don't quite get.
The kind where, even after receiving your rewards for clearing the
quest, you still don't get the story in the end…… and then
understand it by reading commentaries later on.“
With a forced smile, Clevel pointed the tip of his stick at the gate.
„In that case, we have more room for imagination and enjoying the
mood, I believe. Now then…… it's about time we headed out. Our
goal is clearer than the other day as well. First, we find a
《 musical instrument》, then link up and eliminate the boss──
everyone ready?“
Just as Clevel was about to step towards the torii gate, Koyomi
hastily grasped his hem.
„Wait, wait! There's still something else I want to confirm. There
was that kitsune-masked boy, right? He kinda looked like a guide,
but can he really be trusted? That kid won't turn out to be the last
boss or anything?“
„That NPC is probably on our side. I have no concrete proof, but
his existence itself is definitely one of the hints and keys to
clearing the quest. Am I right? Torao-san.“
At the detective's leisurely question, Torao replied with an
expression of wonder.
„A kitsune-masked boy……?“
„That's right. A child that appears right after you enter the castle.
He wears a kitsune mask and a splash-patterned kimono──“
Nayuta added, and then Torao's eyes contorted.
Then, he muttered in doubt, without an accent.
„……There's no player guide-like NPC in the 《Phantom
Orchestra 》. What…… on earth are you talking about……?“

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Torao's bewilderment spread to all of them, ushering in a

subsided silence.
Nayuta unconsciously formed a fist and took a deep breath.

──From somewhere far away, as if noise, came the timbre of a

gloomy matsuribayashi.

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Chapter 3
The Phantom Orchestra

For the bedridden boy, the new computer bought by his

grandfather was a window to a new world.
As he had been practically shut inside a hospital room until then,
his world, through the open window, became a junction point to
an even bigger world.
Beyond the window was a crowd of people whose faces he could
not see.
Even if he extended his hands, he could not reach them, nor could
he step outside the window with his own feet, but just being able
to gaze at the outside world was a great change to the boy.
And, several years later──
The sudden and rapid evolution of VR technology turned the boy's
〝window〟 into a 〝door〟.
The world he thought he could not reach no matter how much he
longed for it… opened up before him in all five of his senses.
The virtual space that he could only experience through sight and
hearing until then began to involve smell, touch, and taste in the
form of faint electric signals to his brain, and he even gained the
sensation of freely moving his limbs.
And so, he──
Met 《companions》 who were in the same position.

§
A matsuribayashi could be heard in the distance.

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The high-pitched flutes, the light tsuzumi, and the elegant koto
together formed a merry racket.
As if to say that life is but a dream, go crazy,52 they played a dreary
song with desperate-sounding vigour.
They already knew the source of the sound.
Even if the musicians couldn't be seen── their souls were
currently imprisoned in the gigantic castle in front of them.
At least, it seemed that that's how it went according to the
scenario.
The Battle Miko Nayuta, standing in front of the castle, sent a gaze
of bewilderment to her small animal-like partner clinging to her
back.
„……Koyomi-san, are you all right? Your knees are trembling, your
face is ghastly pale, your eyes are blank, and it seems like your
real body could be drenched in cold sweat──“
The ninja Koyomi responded in a trembling voice.
„……Of course not…… That gramps could have just left out that
scary bit before we went in…… Even if he didn't know what you
were talking about, he should have just pretended to know about
it and said something like 〝Oh, that kitsune-masked boy! I know I
know〟; if he was good adult……!“
In an outburst of anger, she said something so absurd. Due to the
effect of her childish appearance, her figure, trembling in fear,
looked quite pitiable.
Just before this test play began, Torao, the person in charge of
inspections, told Nayuta and the others the following thing.
『There's no player guide-like NPC in the 《Phantom
Orchestra 》.』──

52 This is a line from the Kanginshuu (閑吟集), a collection of ballads from the Muromachi period.

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──In that case, what was the 《kitsune-masked child》 that

appeared when they first entered the castle as if to greet them?
The cowardly Koyomi was completely convinced that this was a
kind of ghost story.
Although it seemed like a good idea for her to give up on the test
play and wait outside, her courage to enter the castle nonetheless
was praiseworthy.
The kitsune-faced detective, Clevel, sighed as if appalled.
„Is it really something to be so scared of……? It was unexpected
that the administrators were unaware of the 〝kitsune-masked
child〟, but you're being too rash by arbitrarily deciding that 〝
it's a ghost then〟. Thinking sensibly, it's more appropriate to
think that we encountered a 《hidden character》 that even the
administrators were unaware of. For a submission whose detailed
workings are unclear, that's quite plausible.“
Koyomi growled like a puppy.
„Uugh….. Q-quit it with your poor comforting! Nayu-san is making
an appalled face that's practically saying〝Detective-san is telling
another pack of lies〟!“
That was entirely mistaken, as she was actually currently appalled
by Koyomi.
Stroking her head like that of a child, Nayuta formed as soft a
voice as she could.
„I did not make such an expression. My thoughts on the matter are
mostly the same as Detective-san's. I do not know the
requirements for encountering the hidden character, but it could
be a low probability coincidence, or it could have been the effect
of Detective-san's pointlessly high Luck── or it could be that we
unknowingly met some requirement for its appearance; either
way, I believe that it was a simple oversight on the part of the
administrators.“

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In that regard, Nayuta's intuition was completely sensible and

rational. Actually, a real ghost would be a more interesting topic
for conversations, but the probability of that was awfully low.
The Detective lightly pressed against the ground with the tip of his
stick.
„If I were to express a slightly more detailed guess── he could be
a kind of independent AI, rather than a mere NPC. Meaning that
he's along the lines of an artificial intelligence with the capability
of hiding himself from the administrators and appearing only in
front of players that he himself wants to meet. That is the most
plausible way for him to work, I believe.“
Koyomi looked up to the Detective with suspicion.
„……Really? You're not lying……? When I get back home and look
at the mirror, I won't see the child standing behind be or
something……?
„……You know, you're not suited for the 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》 in the first place? Actually, on the contrary, you
might be too suited for it……“
Being so honestly scared of a haunted house was, in a sense,
enviable. It could also be as proof of enjoying the events more
than the administrators had anticipated.
Even Yanagi chimed in with concern.
„Umm, Koyomi-san…… I believe my grandson Kiyofumi was a very
kind-hearted child── he was not the kind of person to ever cause
problems to others, much less commit something as discourteous
as arbitrarily following a girl to her room, thus──“
──Assuming that an actual 《ghost》 existed in the quest, the
most likely candidate for that would be the deceased creator,
Yanagi Kiyofumi.
At this sincere though somewhat off persuasion, Koyomi quickly
became at a loss for words.

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„…………I-I wasn't expecting such a response…… ugh…… I'm sorry

for treating him as a suspicious person……“
Even while bowing down, she did not release Nayuta's back.
Taking advantage of the course of the conversation, Clevel
touched upon the part that was hard to bring up.
„Yanagi-san. Inquiring about this would be rude, but…… do you
believe that the kitsune-masked boy we encountered is the ghost
of your grandchild?“
Yanagi took several moments before answering.
„……I believe… that is not the case. Though, if you are asking
whether I am absolutely sure that there is no 〝chance〟 of it
happening…… In any case, he and the quest itself is certainly
things that Kiyofumi 〝left behind in his final moments〟. Even if
he is not a ghost, he is the child's other self, or his last will…… or
some other sort of being of special meaning, I believe.“
While he used words and reason to say that, it was easy to guess
that he still held unresolved sentiments.
Either way, a ghost of one's deceased grandchild was not the kind
of topic that was easy to hear. If he was an imitation, it would just
be vain, while if, by any chance, he was real, it would mean that he
was roaming the world, unable to rest in peace.
„Besides, Kiyofumi passed away in his mid-tweens, thus…… while
the kitsune-masked child looks just like Kiyofumi when he was a
child, he looks like seven or eight years old. Perhaps…… he is a
being that Kiyofumi made based on his younger self as the model.“
The Detective quietly nodded.
„…Yes. That interpretation is just about right.“
Nayuta arbitrarily assumed that she heard him add
'unfortunately'.
The group turned their steps toward the castle entrance.

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Buried in the centre of the somewhat short, stone stairs was the
small hokora that served as the trigger for the castle to appear.
The stone statue of the child enshrined in it was ominously
expressionless and, depending on your point of view, more freaky.
Having passed by the side of the hokora, the group stood right in
front of the huge entrance that imitated Yōmei-mon.
The inside was pitch-dark, but once they stepped in, they should
each be forcibly transported to a random place inside the castle.
Supposing that the places would be the same as the last time they
entered, Nayuta would appear in the castle's underground
passageway, Koyomi in the open air bath where mermen live,
Yanagi in the infinite hall, and Detective Clevel in the topmost
castle tower.
Aside from Nayuta, the other three had yet to acquire one of the
key items, 〝musical instruments〟, they would need to obtain to
regroup.
First, they'd need to find the musical instruments, followed by
meeting up and then dispatching the boss── if possible, they
wanted to finish all of it in just one day.
„Koyomi-san, are you prepared?“
Nayuta gently asked the girl who looked to be the only one in the
group who had yet to prepare.
Koyomi finally released Nayuta's back and, slightly trembling,
nodded.
„I-I'm fine……I think…… probably……Nayu-san, when we meet up
afterwards, be sure to praise and pamper me a lot, okay? I don't
think I can take it unless I have such a reward to look forward
to……“
„Hah……well then, let's be off.“
Deceiving her by not giving any promise, Nayuta stepped toward
the darkness one step ahead.
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Not wanting to fall behind her unhesitant gait, Koyomi quickly

followed suit.
Clevel and Yanagi, too, followed after the two──
And thus, in the darkness, the four were scattered throughout
various places inside the castle.

§
When asked about „the meaning of life“ by his young grandson,
Yanagi was unable to give a clear answer.
There were several so-called textbook answers.
It was possible to say 'Searching itself is what life is about', or
'Play hard and study hard', or explain about biological happiness
by saying 'Spend time with your family and leave some offspring
behind'.
But in the first place, he was speaking to a child. By all rights, he
could have found plenty of „reasons to live“ by just talking about
hopes for the future.
However, Yanagi── could not answer.
At a loss for words, he inclined his head, and with a gentle smile,
„Grandpa doesn't really know either“ said to the best of his ability.
His grandchild Kiyofumi knew himself that he would not live till
adulthood.
Practically unable to leave the hospital, go to school, or play with
friends──he had constantly asked himself how much meaning
such a life had ever since he was young.
Even now when Kiyofumi was dead──
Yanagi was unsure how he should have answered his grandchild's
question.

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Although Yanagi could see his own time of death coming not so
long after the death of his grandchild, being a man who would die
having lived to his heart's content till he grew old, Yanagi's
situation in life was far too different from that of his grandchild,
who could not even reach adulthood.
(I……could not do a thing for Kiyofumi.)
Harbouring such regrets, Yanagi was now standing here in this
fake body.
In Yanagi's field of vision was the same pillar-less hall that he had
visited on Saturday.
Despite there being no source of light, somehow he was able to
clearly see that the floor was made out of tatami and the ceiling of
wooden boards.
Yanagi had received a lecture, mixed with conjecture, from the
detective about this large hall that continued endlessly as if
reflected in opposing mirrors.
〝I have several theories regarding how to escape from the
looping room. Finding some kind of hint, a hidden switch, using a
special item, or defeating the enemy controlling the room…… it is
also possible that you need to wait for a certain amount of time or
walk a certain distance, but as far as I can see based on the
workings of the hokora the other day, your grandson was a fair
developer who is sure to have left a hint. On the other hand, he has
probably not made it so that you could solve the riddle by
accident, so rather than suddenly walking out after being
transported, please carefully inspect your surroundings.〟
Recalling his advice, Yanagi surveyed the area.
In this room, there were no pillars or walls. The only things
present were the ceiling and the tatami.
Assuming that there was a hidden door or switch, it could only be
either on the ceiling that his hands couldn't reach, or one of the
tatami stretching out on the floor.

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(Last time, while walking randomly, I ended up falling into pitfall

trap……)
Essentially, it wasn't the kind of trap where you would die
instantly, but the level 1 Yanagi didn't have that much HP for
starters, so he was easily driven out to the exit.
As he was in a test play this time, his level was adjusted;
nevertheless, walking out recklessly couldn't be called a good
plan.
(Well then, I don't see anything abnormal about the tatami──as
for the ceiling……)
Looking fixedly overhead, Yanagi noticed that the wood grains of
the ceiling boards was strangely distorted.
──Suddenly, he recalled something Kiyofumi had once said.
When his disease was not yet serious, Kiyofumi had said that the
wood grains of the ceiling in a ryokan traveller inn looked like the
face of a person.
This was often the case with children, so his parents took delight
in scaring him that it was a ghost or monster, but Yanagi knew a
different „answer that Kiyofumi wanted to hear“.
Compared to his parents who were busy with work and care for
their child that much, Yanagi, who was always in contact with his
grandchild due to being retired, knew his personality much better.
Kiyofumi was a rational child.
He was not scared of ghosts, but rather wanted to know the
reason 〝why the wood grains look like the face of a person〟.
So, Yanagi gently explained what Kiyofumi wanted to know with
care.
Wood grains were created through the growth of the tree.
For the majority of people and beasts, their eyes and mouth are
arranged in an inverted triangle.

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Because of this, when you see 〝three dots〟 arranged in an

inverted triangle, people unconsciously end up associating it with
a 〝face〟.
This was called a simulacra53 phenomenon and there were a lot of
cases in the past when spots on the wall or the shadow of leaves
on trees were mistaken for ghost photography.
Whenever he was acquiring knowledge like this, Kiyofumi's eyes
always glittered.
The memory that suddenly crossed his mind was not unrelated to
his current circumstances.
(……Wooden ceiling…… wood grain……)
The wood grain on the ceiling boards above him was obviously
and unnaturally distorted.
However, the pattern it formed wasn't the face of a man.
It was close to being an inverted triangle, but it had an acute angle
and extended in a line like a tail.
(……An arrow?)
It was pointing behind Yanagi.
Having turned around, Yanagi noticed that the arrows on the
ceiling boards continued in succession.
Even someone as inexperienced about games as him immediately
understood that this served as a substitute for a guidepost sign.
It was likely that the arrows made from the wood grain of the
ceiling boards were indicating an escape route out of the infinitely
continuing hall. Once he figured out the workings, he realised that
it was a trivial and very simple riddle.
Yanagi formed a bitter smile and began walking along the arrows.

53 The term in Japanese seems to specifically mean "a phenomenon where the brain assumes that
three dots are meant to be a face", but it has a more general meaning in English.

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The kitsune-masked child had yet to appear.

Assuming, like the Detective guessed, that it was an AI that had a
way of escaping the eyes of the administrators, he would not have
the chance to encounter the child during this test play.
On the other hand, Yanagi held doubt about this view.
(Would Kiyofumi create such a thing……?)
No matter what, he could not believe that Kiyofumi, who loved the
game called Asuka Empire and even held respect for it, would go
out of his way to create a mechanic with the purpose of outwitting
the administrators.
The kitsune-masked child probably had a special requirement to
appear.
A 《special requirement》 that the administrators didn't notice,
but Kiyofumi didn't intend to hide, yet Yanagi and the others were
able to achieve without knowing it──
While being guided by the arrows, Yanagi pondered with his old
head.
(One of the substitute offerings for the hokora…… not. The
administrators should also be aware of it. 〝Something〟 that
only I and Detective-dono had done…… Clevel-dono's abnormally
high Luck…… no, however, if that was the case, the administrators
would have noticed it. Something more special……)
──Something 《special》.
There obviously was something.
Rather, with a head like his, that's the only thing he could think of.
Facing the unchanging hall, Yanagi cast his voice.
„……Kiyofumi, don't tell me…… you've been waiting for 〝me〟 to
come……?“
──The special factor that only they had.

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To have Kiyofumi's 〝grandfather〟 Yanagi as a party member.

Assuming that that was the condition for the child's appeared, it
was natural that the administrators couldn't grasp it, and the
chances of other players encountering it accidentally was
practically null.
In Yanagi's field of vision, the empty room was suddenly distorted
like smoke.

§
Having charged ahead of the other members, Nayuta began
investigating the castle itself.
She alone had already acquired the musical item needed to meet
up, the 《Flute of Springtime Haze》.
Giving it a blow, even an amateur such as herself was able to
produce a nice sound with it, but due to lack of knowledge on how
to manipulate it with her fingers, she couldn't expand it into a
melody.
It seemed like she could use it like an actual instrument if she
practiced, but due to not having any particular interest in doing
so, she was lost on what to do with it after the quest.
The wide underground passageway with stone walls on the left
and right was a bit chilly.
There were light stands stretching out at a high point, but despite
there being light, the area in front of her was nevertheless plunged
in gloomy darkness. As for the ceiling, it was so high that it
couldn't be seen.
The extent of her vision was limited to three metres──
With this much distance, she would generally be able to deal with
any surprise attack from an enemy. It was too late to fear the
uncertainties, though Nayuta wasn't awfully worried about them.

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This was, after all, a game.

──In reality, it would have been much more scary to her.
While making footsteps with her zori54 as if they were wearing
thin, Nayuta leisurely advanced forward.
From beyond the wide passageway with stone paving, she heard
clatter and metallic sounds.
(《Skeleton Warriors》 ……? They number over five, but less than
ten──)
As their armour made characteristic clatter, they were enemies
that were very easy to sense. Their individual strength wasn't all
that great, but due to their coordinated attacks with all sorts of
weapons, they were a bit of a pain in the ass as their numbers
increased.
Nayuta cast her eyes down and took a single deep breath.
Soon, from the darkness came a group of corpses reduced to
skeletons, wearing dirty helmets and armour.
The mouth of the skulls clattered with joy having found a prey.
Before they could get ready, Nayuta broke into a dash.
Clenching her hand covered by her kote into a fist, she unleashed a
yell── and drove a silent punch into the face of the Skeleton
Warrior standing in the lead.
The heavy attack enveloped in a Battle Miko's divine power sent
the pitiful head of the dead flying along with its helmet.
Without a moment's delay, her left fist went for the skeleton's
trunk as the monster searched for its fallen head.
That wasn't a move for beating it up. Drawing in one's fist and
unleashing an exorcising wave afterwards; it was a close-quarter
Haraiuchi
fighting skill──called 《Purifying Strike》.

54 Zori (草履, lit. grass footwear) is the name for Japanese sandals.

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For a grappling-type player, it was a simple yet effective anti-spirit

skill; it wasn't restricted to just fists, as it could be used for kicks,
head butts, and other such attacks, effective in the strike range of
the player's limbs.
The Skeleton Warrior, unable to defend due to the inflicted
damage, suffered a follow-up attack, which caused it to crumble
away along with its armour, as if sand scattered by the wind.
(One for starters──)
Unconcernedly, as if solving a problem in a workbook, Nayuta
decided on her next enemy.
Three of them coming from the front── if she tried dealing with
them one at a time, she would be flanked.
Making use of her selectively strengthened leaping ability, she
jumped up softly.
Her pure white sleeve fluttered like wings, while her red hakama
billowed out in the wind.
Her slender legs kicked the helmet of a Skeleton Warrior, then
used it as a stepping stone for another brilliant, high jump.
Hassoutobi
The 《Leaping of the Eight Ships》 that enhanced the player's
jumping ability was a basic skill, but with its advanced form, the
《Unparalleled Jump》, kicking off would be regarded as an
attack.
It didn't have much power, but in the case of an easy-to-tumble
bipedal opponent like the Skeleton Warrior, it was possible to
succeed in toppling the enemy with the attack.
That was exactly the case here; the skeleton whose head was
trampled by Nayuta clumsily hit the floor with its face.
When this happened, even its ominous appearance felt somewhat
humorous.

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Nayuta leapt over the heads of the other Skeleton Warriors and
landed behind them without a sound.
Her body was undoubtedly as light as a feather. In this space, she
could simulate a move that would be impossible in the real world
as if it were perfectly natural.
Forgetting everything and, as if dancing──skilfully turning her
body round and round.
Giving herself to the matsuribayashi that suddenly came out of
nowhere, she magnificently avoided the Skeleton Warriors' tachi
swords, and counterattacked.
Stepping on the back of the blade that was swung downward, she
leapt up and smacked its chin with her knee.
She avoided the tip of a spear thrust at her, shortened the distance
while going around the enemy's flank and, using the centrifugal
force, she dealt a backhand blow.
She cut a bowman's bowstring with a shuriken before it could fire,
then mercilessly kicked its torso as it was flustered by the loss of
its weapon.
The lone maiden reduced the number of the Skeleton Warriors in
the group just like that.
The last remaining skeleton brandished its hexagonal pole, giving
off a tragic impression.
Using the sweeping pole as a foothold, Nayuta leapt over its head.
Her landing spot was behind the Skeleton Warrior.
Aiming for the skull's ear, she took a gentle breath──
„──May you find peace.“
She dealt a sharp blow, her tone soft.
Leaving behind a faint echo and ray of light, the Skeleton Warrior
died on the spot.

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Confirming no more signs of enemies in the area, Nayuta

straightened herself.
Normalising her not so disordered breathing, she listened
carefully to the timbre of the matsuribayashi that came unnoticed.
She tried to determine for the direction of the sound, but because
of the echoes off the walls of the passageway, she couldn't discern
its origin.
(If I recall the lore correctly── an apparition enslaved the souls of
the villagers to create musicians for itself, and to undo the curse,
we need the sacred musical instruments that were guarded by the
village……)
According to Torao's explanation, it seemed that during the quest
you could only meet up with members who had gathered musical
instruments.
Last time, Nayuta had already acquired one, but the others were
only beginning now. Naturally, she didn't expect to be able to meet
up with anyone for a while.
Should she fight against some small fry to kill time, look for
treasure or something, or take a break somewhere──
Even if she did take a break, she wanted to do it not in this dreary
stone passage, but a more relaxing place.
Having decided on a plan and begun to walk, Nayuta suddenly
sensed the presence of a person behind her.
(Another enemy──!)
Promptly leaping forward to take some distance, Nayuta turned
around.
However, what stood before her was neither an enemy, nor a
comrade, yet still a familiar being.
A very young child, wearing a splash-patterned kimono and a
kitsune mask──

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He looked like a child actor in a historical play, but, of course, he

was not human.
„……We meet again. Umm…… Kiyofumi-kun?“
Looking up at Nayuta through his kitsune mask, he didn't answer
her question, but instead something else in a voice lacking
intonation.
„──Onee-chan, you sure are strong. Those Skeleton Warriors you
fought just now shouldn't have been enemies that easy to beat.“
At the pouting tone unbefitting an artificial intelligence, Nayuta
unconsciously smiled.
„It's not like I beat them as easily as it looked. I focus on speed and
have weak defence, so I've developed a habit of defeating enemies
in a swift attack── I did plan to run away if I suffered even a
single clean hit.“
As he was obviously younger, Nayuta naturally changed her tone
to suit talking with a child.
──《He》 was an artificial intelligence and definitely not some
ghost. Unlike Koyomi, Nayuta could discern as much.
In the past tens of years, artificial intelligence has seen
tremendous evolution. Even now there were individuals in the
virtual space that were on a level making them hard to distinguish
from humans.
Research and development in that field was advancing in various
places, especially in commercial enterprises, and as a result, even
amateur-like creators were now able to easily obtain copies of
such artificial intelligence.
The latest cutting-edge── well, that would naturally be difficult to
obtain, so on the level that could be used for a game, there was
data on stereotypical men and women of all ages rolled out to the
world of the Internet, including both paid and free content.

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The creator of this quest, Yanagi Kiyofumi, had probably also

applied this data and created his other self, the 《Kitsune-masked
Child》. If he just had data to use as a base for personality, he
could add more intricate lines for him later on.
The kitsune-masked child fixedly gazed up at Nayuta.
Nayuta, too, fixedly gazed down at him.
Their gazes couldn't meet because of the mask, but she was able to
understand that she was being observed.
„Kiyofumi-kun── is that how I should call you?“
Nayuta asked once again for confirmation.
The child shook his head.
„Kiyofumi has passed away. I am just an artificial intelligence born
through Kiyofumi's will── so, I was given a different name.“
(……Huh? He admitted……?)
She had firmly believed that he would lie or try to deceive her to
maintain immersion in the game.
Yet, he frankly revealed his identity and pulled on Nayuta's sleeve.
„There's no point in lying to someone who knows about Kiyofumi.
And besides, it doesn't seem like you're even a teeny bit scared
even when I'm this close, Onee-chan.“
„……Sorry. It seems that I'm more thick-skinned than the average
person, or I'm just unfamiliar with such an emotion.“
Feeling apologetic for some reason, Nayuta unconsciously bowed.
„Umm……If you're not Kiyofumi-kun and have received a different
name……What is your named?“
„〝Clovis〟 is my name. Cool, huh?“
For a moment, Nayuta was at a loss for words.

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Moments earlier, she would have been able to honestly answer

with 'it's cool', but because of the similar impression given by his
words, she ended up imagining the shady smile of the Detective,
making her pause for a moment.
Moreover, they even had the same kitsune face.
„……How should I put this…… despite your Japanese outfit, you
sure have a very Western name, I see?“
Facing Nayuta who harboured complicated emotions, the child
proudly puffed his chest.
„It's the name Kiyofumi had as a player. The name was based on a
hero that busted dragons in an old game or something.55 I
received that name── and together with Kiyofumi, we created
this game.“
Nayuta became bewildered.
„Created…… the game? You?“
„Of course, the important parts were all done by Kiyofumi….. but
Kiyofumi gave me instructions and I set up the map and the
mechanics── it sure was fun. Until Kiyofumi died, I was always
with him.“
The kitsune-masked child smiled sadly beyond his mask.
Nayuta ended up speechless.
(This child……created it with him? This quest……? Meaning……
that he was a co-creator……?)
While surprised, she astonished at herself that she had completely
forgotten this possibility.
Thinking about it, an artificial intelligence's original role is to
assist people.

55 Probably referring to Dragon Buster, a platform dungeon crawl action role-playing arcade game
released by Namco in 1985.

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Controlling mechanisms in the place of a person, analysing

information in the place of a person, carrying out 〝the role of a
person〟 in the place of the person── This kitsune-masked child
was probably a reliable partner to Kiyofumi.
Though, in order to take an artificial intelligence on a level that an
average person could obtain, and make it so proficient, it was
indispensable for the user to be knowledgeable and be skilled at
modifying it; it wasn't as simple as it sounded.
Actually── it seemed like an even more difficult experiment than
〝developing a quest〟 itself.
(Perhaps, Yanagi Kiyofumi's actual goal…… wasn't to develop this
quest, but to nurture this 《artificial intelligence》 through
creating it……?)
Although low, there was the possibility that the quest was just a
camouflage to hide the artificial intelligence 〝Clovis〟.
Nayuta decided to voice her suspicions.
„Do…… you have any purpose in being here?“
Suddenly, the child inclined his head questioningly.
„Onee-chan, do you have any purpose in living?“
„Wha……?“
Having received a question in return, Nayuta was stumped on how
to respond.
Answering a question with a question was bit rare for the
behaviour of an artificial intelligence. It is possible that Kiyofumi
expected such a question in advance and inputted an answer to
respond with, but in that case, she had a mysterious sensation that
her thoughts were seen through.
The artificial intelligence named Clovis slowly added to his words.
„──If I don't have a purpose, I can't be here?“

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„That…… I……“
Having hesitated for a bit, Nayuta squatted down, matching the
the height of her eyes with his.
„……You're right. You don't need a purpose. Besides, you'll
probably find one along the way, and can decide on it someday
yourself……Though, allow me to ask one thing. Could it be…… that
you were asked by 《Kiyofumi-kun》 to do something
important?“
The child slipped out a chuckle beyond the kitsune mask.
„Yeah. He did ask for a favour. But…… right afterwards, Kiyofumi
also said that he didn't want to bind me with any promise. He said
that I didn't need to care about the promise and that I could act
freely as I wished── so, I can't tell you yet.“
The child gently jumped a big step back.
Like a ghost, half of his body sunk to the other side of the stone
wall.
„Ah! Wait!“
„……See you later, Onee-chan. But then── if you can't clear the
quest, we might not meet again.“

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Just like that, the child disappeared into the wall.

The area was engulfed in silence as if there had been no one there
from the start.
Putting her hand on the stone wall where the child had
disappeared, Nayuta pondered for a while.
(The artificial intelligence the administrators overlooked…… was
of course not a ghost, but in that case, what about the other 〝
ghost〟──)
The thing she wanted to ask him about as she asked him to stop,
and the biggest reason why this quest was driven to a
suspension── that is to say, the 〝ghost of one's close
acquaintance that shouldn't be present as data〟.
She had heard that in the detective's case, his deceased bosom
friend appeared, in Yanagi's case - his grandchild Kiyofumi, and in
Koyomi's - her old pet.
Even in Nayuta's case── a person that should have been dead
showed himself.
(If we clear the quest, will we be able to understand how that
works too……)
At any rate, right now, she wanted to meet up with her comrades.
With renewed energy, Nayuta corrected her posture.
And, right after she once again began walking through the
underground passageway──
She suddenly felt vertigo.
Her vision swayed for just a moment and she unconsciously
closed her eyes.
──Nayuta has experienced this sensation the previous time, too.
With some confidence and discomfort, she opened her eyes.
At that moment, she saw a person she couldn't forget.
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A young, pale man, wearing a policeman uniform and standing

stock still absent-mindedly.
While alive, he looked very gentle, but now, his expression, hidden
by the shadow of his cap, couldn't be seen.
The matsuribayashi could be heard, strangely far away.
„……Onii……chan……?“
Nayuta let out a hoarse voice.
It was a little dim, but there was no mistaking it.
──When she had entered the castle the previous time, she had
also come across the figure of her elder brother.
During the mere moment she had thought that she had been
mistaken, Nayuta's thoughts suddenly came to a halt.
Then, without a thought, she just unconsciously and indifferently
brought down the enemies in the area, and by the time she came
to, she was standing by the escape route.
She remembered it all well. In contrast to Clevel and the others,
she had reported „I saw the ghost of someone I knew“, but she had
not lied about it.
She had just shut down her emotions.
If she couldn't think a thing, she wouldn't feel fear or loneliness.
Even if she couldn't completely overcome them, she could 〝
paralyse〟 them.
Even now, at this moment──
When the figure of her elder brother entered her view, without
any panic, she killed her emotions with cold thinking.
(……It can't be…… a ghost──)
She didn't believe in ghosts and the like. Actually, she even wished
to encounter such a thing, but the elder brother she saw before
her was different.
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It was 〝something〟 that had taken the form of Nayuta's elder

brother and was of no concern to her.
His figure could only be seen for a mere few seconds, and that
being had already disappeared.
After the faint vertigo had passed, Nayuta took a deep breath──
and then continued with a long expiration to empty her lungs..
──Her elder brother Kushiinada Daichi had died while playing
《 Sword Art Online》.
She didn't really have any clue what had happened in-game.
But in the real world, her brother, wearing a NerveGear, had his
brain suddenly fried in a hospital, and died.
His family, who had been praying for his safe return, fell into
despair── and she didn't want to remember what happened
afterwards.
To protect herself, Nayuta killed the majority of her emotions.
When Detective Clevel voiced clear hatred towards Kayaba
Akihiko.
Nayuta thought of Clevel as slightly dazzling.
Nayuta had run away from even hating the perpetrator.
Casting aside her resentment… was a nice-sounding scenario that
didn't happen. In order to feel hatred, she also had to face the
sorrow of having lost her elder brother.
Nayuta had run away from all such emotions── Thus, she
continued playing another VRMMO aimlessly.
Coldly gazing into the darkness where the ghost of her elder
brother disappeared, Nayuta formed a light fist.
She put in some force. There was no hindrance to fighting.

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(I have to hurry and meet up with Yanagi-san and the others── I

wonder if they have been able to find a musical instrument by
now……)
With such thoughts in mind, she began walking in a state similar
to sleepwalking──
Futakuchi-onna
The 《Two-mouthed woman》 that closed in on her from
behind… was hit with a backhand blow with all of Nayuta's
strength without her turning her eyes.

§
The importance of a life was relatively different.
Between the life of a complete stranger and the life of a family
member, the family member's life would generally be more
important.
The case would be different if the relationship with the family was
filled with discord and hatred, but as long as such special
circumstances aren't involved, it'd be safe to say that the death of
a relative would make you shed tears.
On the other hand, for an unfamiliar person who died in a traffic
accident, you wouldn't feel anything other than „condolences“.
It was impossible to live one's life grieving and moaning every
single time such a frequent event occurred, and actually, there
was not a moment without some unknown person having just
passed away somewhere in the world.
For a person to feel sorrow about another person's death,
《 information》 about that person is essential.
If there was just some information, even a fictional character's
death in a story would make people shed tears.
In the first place, you wouldn't even be aware of a death that you
had no information on.

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Just now, even though a child in the corner of some slum who had
been abandoned by their parents suffered from medical poisoning
and died, there was no one in particular to grief about the child's
death.
It isn't a matter of good or bad; that's just how the world works.
This is a very healthy thing; if people mourned for every single
death of an unknown person, they would not be able to smile even
for a second throughout their life.
The importance of a life was relatively different.
The more the person is familiar, the bigger the importance; the
more a person is unacquainted, the less important their life is
To Detective Clevel, the deceased 〝Yanagi Kiyofumi〟was an
unacquainted stranger.
As for his death, he did think that „it's a pity for someone so
young“, but he didn't have any more sentiments for it in
particular.
So──even regarding the kitsune-masked child that appeared
before him, his response was very disinterested.
Clevel was not one to feel that much compassion for every person.
He knew that this was impolite.
Outside the window was a castle tower, overlooking the stars in
the sky.
Having been transported to the same place as last time, Clevel
shrugged at seeing the kitsune-masked child.
„So you came, 〝ghost〟 boy. I'd like to have a chat with you.
Kiyofumi-kun, hm? Or do you have some other name, I wonder.“
The child inclined his head in wonder.
Clevel thought that he was Kiyofumi's other self.

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There were two 〝special mechanics〟 made by the deceased

Yanagi Kiyofumi in this quest.
The appearance of one's dead acquaintance as a ghost.
And, the existence of the 《kitsune-masked child》, an artificial
intelligence that even the administrators hadn't noticed.
Unless the safety of these two points can be proved, or a program
correction is performed, the suspension of the quest will not be
lifted.
The particularly problematic one was the 〝appearance of one's
dead acquaintance as a ghost〟, but the administrators doubt the
possibility of this phenomenon being a terms of service violation.
A VRMMO using a feature to access the brains of people and, in-
game, performing the act of „reading and recreating the memories
of an individual“── this was clearly a breach of Asuka Empire's
rules.
Yet, the creator Kiyofumi probably did not think that this would
become a problem.
In fact, if Clevel's conjecture was correct, he did not engage in
illegal conduct. Though, he created something close── some grey
zone mechanic that would naturally be misunderstood as a
transgression.
Based on the fact that no problems occurred during the
application judging phase, it can be deduced that the mechanic
wasn't the kind to work on everyone.
The kitsune-masked child pointed at Clevel.
The rude action was somewhat awkward, reminiscent of a puppet.
„……Onii-san, who are you? I don't know you, Onii-san, but you
know me?“

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„Yeah. I haven't met you while you were alive, but I do know you.
I'm a friend of your grandfather, Yanagi Teiichi-shi. I'm named
Clevel.“
When he squatted down, offering a handshake, the child inclined
his head, and said something strange.
„Clevel…… that name sounds like mine, huh.“
The detective frowned.
He couldn't understand right away what the child was saying.
„……You…aren't Kiyofumi-kun? Of course, not the person himself,
but a being that should be called his alter ego──“
A chuckle escaped from the mask.
„〝Kiyofumi〟 has died, y'know. I received a different name.
But……“
Ignoring the detective's handshake, the child jumped a step back.
„While I have told it to Onee-chan, I can't yet tell you, Onii-san. To
people who haven't even found a 《musical instrument》, I'm not
saying a thing.“
Like a child playing tag, he broke into a dash downstairs.
Energetically like a leaping rabbit, he disappeared just like that.
Clevel unconsciously formed a bitter smile.
„So that's how it's going to be…… I didn't really think he'd
suddenly tell us everything. 〝Torao-san〟, did you hear that.
That child really did come out.“
From the three-leaf-patterned clasp fastening his bolo tie came an
exhausted-sounding voice of a middle-aged man.
『We caught him on our side too. He really does exist……Those
guys who were in charge of screening are really getting it now.“

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In the course of the test play, Clevel and the others were
monitored by the administrators.
On top of that, Clevel alone also had the ability to contact Torao.
Yanagi was just playing a quest made by his grandson, Nayuta and
Koyomi were, in the end, just assisting, but Clevel had the 〝job〟
of identifying the error in this quest.
Literally, this might be a game, but it's not something you play. To
him, this was a source of income for earning his daily bread, as
well as a way of gaining trust.
From the communication device imitating a bolo tie clasp came
Torao's voice.
『However, I dun get it. Why did that hidden char appear only to
you guys. Seeing as it was overlooked on the test play, it doesn't
sound like merely the effect of Luck──』
Clevel cautiously stated his opinion.
„I had figured that it was an AI designed to hide from the
administrators, but despite us being monitored, he still came out.
Assuming that he has no particular intention of hiding…… I believe
that, probably, Yanagi-shi's existence is the key. It is probably
devised so that it would react to any party with, not limited to
Yanagi-shi, any player that seems like a family member or a friend.
The information essential for the filtering would be the player's
name, age, and also…… maybe uttering the name 〝Kiyofumi〟 or
reacting to it, or something like that.“
Torao sighed. The emotions included in it were just a bit heavy.
『……A will from the creator directed at his family and friends,
you mean. We'll investigate the rest. Matters related to artificial
intelligence would take a bit of time, but──it seems like those
guys are sharing info about the ways of hiding from
administrators. 』

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These Torao's words, at the current time, were still a joke, nearly
like an urban legend.
But Clevel knew from experience that, in VR, artificial intelligence
evolution was advancing at a tremendous rate.
Despite the exceptionally few examples, artificial intelligence on
the level of being capable of escaping administrator control and
even responding to dialogue in a way that makes them
indistinguishable from people have been appearing sporadically.
For starters, the great majority of people aren't as clever to be
compared to artificial intelligence, nor did they have anything
exceptional in particular.
Excluding the small fraction of brilliant geniuses, ninety-nine
percent of people couldn't win at shogi or chess against artificial
intelligence.
Of course people couldn't oppose then when it came quiz-like
information challenges, but because artificial intelligence don't
have the risk of dozing off or drinking alcohol, people lose to them
when it came to driving safety; because artificial intelligence don't
have sexual desires, they don't fall for honey traps; due to not
having timidity, as well as knowing moderation, artificial
intelligence ability at communication is also higher.
Additionally, they were even so flexible that their character and
behaviour could be changed to a great extent depending on the
settings.
Clevel… felt fear from the bottom of his heart about their
existence.
However, strangely──he didn't hate them just because he feared
them.
Just like you wouldn't particularly hate beasts like bears and
tigers as beings despite fearing them, Clevel observed the
evolution of artificial intelligence with great interest despite
fearing it.

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„Well then, Torao-san, I shall follow after that child. Let me know
if something happens to the others.“
『Yeah. Yanagi-san seems to be doing okay. The two girls are also
advancing well. Well……currently, the one with the biggest chance
of being driven to retiring is you, I guess…… 』
At his voice, mixed with concern and lack of resignation, Clevel
gave his usual faint smile as a response.
In fact, that was exactly the case; as Torao feared, the results
depended on how things would turn out as of this moment.
Having ended the call, Clevel turned towards the stairway leading
to the floor below the tower.
Last time, he was done in by several jorōgumo that appeared here.
It was even still unclear whether that was a fixed enemy, or a
random encounter, but he brought along a counter-plan just in
case.
Distraction smoke bombs, flash bombs to surprise the enemy,
poisonous smoke to reduce the enemy's strength, white lotus
aroma to reduce the probability of encountering an enemy, a
Scapegoat Charm to lead the enemy astray with a decoy
phantom── although neither of them were damage sources, they
would be enough to escape the small fry.
Immediately, Clevel rolled down a flash bomb downstairs. The
small sphere with paper, imitating a firework ball, *koton*,
*koton*, kept falling down, bouncing along the stairs.
After the faint explosive sound and flash of light a moment later,
several footsteps clattered away into the distance.
Having driven away the jorōgumo waiting in ambush downstairs,
Clevel leisurely began descending the stairs.
Due to his status, he was weak against surprise attacks, but if he
just knew how the enemy would act, he could thus cope with them
to some extent.

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Below the tower, a corridor with wooden floor continued forward

and back.
One side faced the outer wall, the other had a wooden wall.
In an actual castle, there were plenty of cases where there was a
large hall with no particular partition below the castle tower, but
this castle was, in the end, designed just as a dungeon.
Emphasising reality, or prioritising conditions for a game──even
points like these told about the creator's personality and
preferences.
It seemed like inconsequential detail to other players, but to
Clevel the detective, such minute details were also important
hints.
(Now then, I have to find the 〝musical instrument〟 for meeting
up with the others…… I was told that there's no particular need to
defeat enemies, and that the items should be hidden in wicker
baskets or beyond trapdoors.)
These were hints he had heard from Torao, but he had
conjectured that there was no need to 〝defeat strong enemies〟
before meeting up when he was forced to act alone.
In the case of classes unsuited for individual battles, assuming that
the person wasn't skilled, would be quite capable halting any
progress. Even if the creator planned out such a situation
maliciously, the administrators would adjust the balance at the
time of its release.
Although he couldn't let his guard down, the situation was far
from being desperate.
Moving quickly before the fleeing spiders could return, yet still not
abandoning caution, Clevel began walking through the dark
corridor.
Before five minutes of no changes passed, one did occur.
A faint figure rose up in the front, engulfed in darkness.

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Clevel, feeling faint dizziness, came to a stop.

(……So it came.)
This sensation wasn't new.
Without even concentrating his eyes, Clevel saw 〝him〟 having
appeared before him.
A young, athlete-like man with broad shoulders and wearing a
platemail unbefitting a Japanese castle──
The sword in his hand was halfway broken, and black blood
flowed from his atrociously cut abdomen.
His face couldn't be seen, but it was easy to guess that it had an
expression of anguish.
The detective made a groan.
(So he did 〝come〟──a bigger problem than the artificial
intelligence of the kitsune mask person──)
Due to the uproar caused by the hospitalisation of a player
shocked by this 《ghost》, the 《Phantom Orchestra》 quest was
driven to suspension.
Clevel did not know what the man had specifically seen, but it was
undoubtedly a close 〝someone〟, like a relative, lover, friend, or
acquaintance.
Currently, the young man in platemail standing before Clevel was
also a familiar being to Clevel/
Frowning as if glaring at the man, the detective opened up
communication through his bolo tie.
„……Torao-san, do you see it? The next one came out. Not the
kitsune-masked one, the real 〝ghost〟 that caused the
problems.“
──No answer.
Clevel unconsciously clicked his tongue.
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(The connection……was interrupted, huh.)

Impossible──is what could hardly be said.
Actually, if the 〝ghost〟 worked as he had guessed, such a thing
was to be expected.
The console was not displayed.
The item list would not come out.
In addition to the minute dizziness, his limbs felt weird, as if
chained down. This by no means meant that he couldn't move his
body, but it seemed like all of his five senses were enveloped in a
thin coat of exhaustion.
──It felt like he was in a 〝dream〟.
Clevel's deceased friend staggeringly approached him, without
creating any metallic sounds with his platemail.
As the area around his eyes became distorted at seeing this pitiful
state, the detective unconsciously spoke out the name he used in
Aincrad.
„You're the same slowpoke as always, huh, 《Yakumo》…… Even
after death, you've still neglected your Agility. For a guy who
cared so much about being strong, how exactly did you end up
dying in one attack.“
Despite him saying that with irony, his voice trembled for some
reason.
His former friend continued walking staggeringly. Though, despite
his feet moving, he did not close in on Clevel.
As his footpath was moving in the opposite direction, his body had
not moved from its fixed position.
The ghost figure could only be seen for less than even a minute,
then he disappeared into the darkness just like that.
After feeling slight dizziness once again, Clevel heard a familiar
voice calling him.
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『……i-kun……Kurei-kun! What happened? Answer me!』

Unlike his usual self, Torao was panicking.
While taking deep breaths, the detective just barely managed to
pick his words.
„……Torao-san. Excuse me. I… dozed off for a bit──“
Through the bolo tie communicator, he clearly felt Torao's relief.
『Dozed off…… you do know you've been sleeping just now?
Well, rather than sleeping, it was more like your brain waves
entered a state close to REM sleep──』
Unlike the others connecting to the game from their homes, Clevel
had logged in from a medical institution, arranged for by the
administrators.
It wasn't a safety policy, but rather a measure to check on his
brain waves and mental state during the test play; the role of a
test subject, so to speak.
„……Is that so. So I was sleeping.“
『It was just for a mere moment, so I did think that it might have
been a sensor malfunction. It was as if you had been forced asleep
by magic or an item. Right now, the staff is trying to do a detailed
analysis. We do want a bit more data, but can you still continue?』
Clevel unconsciously gave a wry smile.
„Obviously, Torao-san. Just now, I encountered that 《ghost》. In
the end, it was just a false image created by the brain── the
product of a 〝dream〟. It seems we have proved that it is not
dangerous.“
Clevel had certainly been 〝sleeping〟 just now.
FullDive technology itself included a factor close to sleep and
anaesthesia, but, in the end, it was just a phenomenon caused by
mechanical control of the brain; even in-game, sleep was required.

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Even the victims of the SAO Incident slept in-game; the sleep itself
wasn't particularly unusual.
However, differently from such a corporeal and physiological
phenomenon, what Clevel had experienced just now was a forcibly
and momentarily being forced to sleep── and he experienced a 〝
dream〟.
This was the true nature of the 《ghost》 set up by Yanagi
Kiyofumi.
„The ghost that should not exist as data and imitates the
individual's deceased friend or acquaintance── the true nature of
that ghost is a false image created in one's own mind. Making a
player sleep for a time that can be counted in seconds, then,
during that meager time, stimulating the brain to create an
illusion of the deceased. The ghosts we have seen were not data
that manifests in the game but 〝one's own memories themselves
〟──isn't that right?“
According to Clevel's conjecture, this wasn't a particularly novel
technique. Psychic phenomena like out-of-body experiences and
near-death experiences were largely known as illusions created
by the brain.
At a time when there wasn't even a sign of VRMMOs, it was
reported that artificial near-death experiences were induced by
stimulating the Sylvian fissure in the temporal lobe with electrical
impulses.
Naturally, just because the same impulse was given didn't mean
that the same phenomenon occurred for everyone. Individual
differences in the test results were big, and the fact that the test
player didn't actually see anything reinforced this theory.
The human brain was endowed with a 《function to create
illusions》 from the start.

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The majority of people experienced them in the form of dreams,

and VR tech was nothing but a method of mechanically
manipulating this function of the brain.
Torao gave a superficial sigh.
『……We'll be inspecting that now, but you're probably right
about that. Just for that moment, you were shown a short dream
due to the interference of the FullDive system. Because it was in a
dream, you were, naturally, unable to use the communication
device or your items. The vital part of the tech is to align the
setting of the dream with the scene of the game. Moreover, due to
it being very short, the player doesn't notice that it's a dream, and
end up having an optical illusion that they had encountered a
ghost in-game──when you've figured out the trick, it doesn't
sound all that big. As they say, the ghost turned out to be a
beckoning flower. Because it's the individual's dream, what they
saw doesn't get logged, and, in the first place, doesn't exist in the
data. What a ghost.』
Despite the circumstances having become clear, Torao's voice was
bitter.
„……Torao-san, you seem to want to say something?“
『Don't ask what you already know……Despite this not being a
violation of the terms of service, it does violate ethics. Although it
depends on the player's relationship with the deceased, there
really aren't that many people would could remain calm after
suffering a trauma. The reason why this mechanic didn't activate
for our test players was likely because of either compatibility
issues for the mechanic to work, or because the players just
happened to not have any dead relatives, or something along
those lines. Conversely── the deeper the 〝scar〟 a person holds,
the stronger mental damage they suffer from it. How vulgar.』
Clevel burst out in laughter unconsciously.

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„It is natural for horror to be vulgar. Eh…… I do understand what

you are trying to say. For what reason did the boy named
Kiyofumi create such a mechanic. That certainly makes one
curious. If he was the kind of person to take joy in hurting others,
it would not really be the kind of thing to praise, but──“
Unlike the detective, Torao wasn't laughing.
『At any rate, revisions are needed. We can't reimplement it like
this. I dunno where got the tech from, but it is an elaborate
mechanic made by a child half for fun. It's reasonable to assume
that someone……and that someone is a researcher or an active
developer, provided him with the tech.』
On this point, Clevel's opinion slightly differed from Torao's.
„I……do wonder about that. It could be that the mechanic was an
original creation of his. Based on the fact that he created the quest
himself… and in a short period of time to boot, he is undoubtedly a
genius. Of course, he must have consulted the findings of specialist
researchers, but……The concept is one thing, but it does not mean
that he was doing something awfully absurd technically. 〝
Showing a dream to a player of their deceased acquaintance in the
scenery of a game for just a few seconds〟──in my case, it just
happened to be a deceased friend, but Koyomi-jou saw a microbe
that she used to keep as a pet. For the majority of people, I believe
it would only yield a reaction on the level of〝that surprised be a
bit〟.“
Torao groaned at his advocacy.

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『It's fine for the majority. But as I've said before, the problem is
the 〝minority〟 of cases that actually have scars. Remember
when I asked 〝can you still continue like this?〟 moments ago?
You were quite the actor in playing calm, cool, and collected. But
even for a man like you, your vitals don't like ──Your heart rate,
blood pressure, brain waves - all of them displayed a very large
change just now. Although he might have already calmed
down──even the university student that caused the quest to be
suspended had received a huge shock and fainted, thus being
carried to a hospital. It's awfully hard to say that it's not
dangerous.』
The detective put his deerstalker hat over his eyes.
„……Was I that agitated? As a matter of fact, despite him being a
fake…… I did feel just a bit happy to see him.“
It wasn't a bluff.
It was heart-breaking to see such him in such a pitiful shape, but
to Clevel, Yakumo was unmistakably his friend and comrade in
arms.
He was an acquaintance from the same university, a
contemporary even at the police academy, and, since becoming
policemen together, a man with whom he grumbled about the
brass.
He was literally a jack of all trades both physically and mentally,
being only slightly above the average as a policeman; in exchange
for not having any special or amazing skills, he didn't have any
obvious flaws──that's the kind of young man he was.
With a faint smile, Clevel calmly spoke to Torao through the
communicator.

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„In any case, we can save the judgement for when we reach the
end. In the first place, speaking of heart rate, blood pressure and
other such changes, the horror genre itself could be considered
dangerous. Like the 《Subjugation of a Tiger on the Folding
Screen》……that one sounds like a decent challenge, no?
Compared to that, the trick in this quest is cute.“
『Well that one is…… to be honest, I had a problem with it too.
Eh…, but that one was equally scary to everyone. It wasn't the the
kind of thing to exacerbate an individual's trauma.』
The detective grinned broadly.
„Torao-san. Speaking of traumas── a wound may rot if left alone.
Before that happens, it forms a scab, even if it hollowed out, and
one can get used to the pain; I believe that is also a method of
coping.“
『Hmm……and what if it festers even worse because it was
hollowed out?』
„……Well, let's consider it a step at a time.“
He wasn't the kind of guy to be swayed by eloquence.
The detective made progress through the corridor.
──As he was in the process of fulfilling his original goal of〝
allowing Yanagi to play this quest〟, there was no need to sway
Torao. Whether the quest was left suspended or reimplemented
was a matter unrelated to the request.
Though, Clevel had already ended up receiving a message from
《 Yanagi Kiyofumi》.
Koyomi and Yanagi hadn't noticed. Nayuta could have noticed, but
she had a habit of sealing her thoughts in her mind.
As the boy named Kiyofumi's last will was 《here》──the quest
remaining in suspension left a slight, bad aftertaste.

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(Now then……what kind of sophism to I need to use to change this

〝guardian's〟 mind──)
The head of the Error Inspection Cell Torao was reliable as an ally,
but on the other hand, but he was quite the handful to persuade.
Conversely, if he could just convince such a hard-nut-to-crack, he
could persuade the higher-ups with the same reasoning.
As a fox that borrows the authority of a tiger, Clevel had to
bewitch him.
Sticking out his tongue to moisten his thin lips, the detective
swung his beloved stick around.

§
When he finally saw an end to the hall that he thought had none,
Yanagi stopped for a breather.
He had come this far by following the wood grain arrows on the
ceiling; the kitsune-masked child had shown his face for a bit, but
disappeared without starting any conversation in particular.
Looking ahead, at the end of the hall was a fusuma with a beautiful
with a gorgeous picture on it.
The reason why Yanagi stopped was because he recalled an
important point he had heard from Clevel.
Beyond an opened door or fusuma, there were frequently enemies
waiting in ambush──
This appeared to be a convention in the horror genre.
While taking a breather, Yanagi stared at the picture on the
fusuma. He had just learnt how you could find a hint if you look for
one.
(Now then……The picture on the fusuma is quite the big one……?)
It seemed that a single picture was formed from ten screens.

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The touch of peaceful sumi-e was excellent and, despite the lack of
colour, it was clear that it was depicting a battle scene.
A swordsman and a samurai, a ninja, and a priest── there were
generally people of all kinds of occupations, but they were all
uniformly opposing a huge dragon standing in the centre.
Someone experienced would have sensed that the composition of
the group assaulting it from left and right in a pincer attack was
created by merging multiple screenshots with a touch of sumi-e,
but Yanagi's eyes were not that trained.
And, one of the people depicted on it was a man that Yanagi knew
well.
(……Kiyofumi……?)
The kitsune-masked child was based on Kiyofumi as a child.
On the other hand, the version depicted with sumi-e was him just
before he passed away── a Kiyofumi in his mid-teens, a
somewhat matured boy.
Holding a staff in one hand, he was protecting a beautiful young
swordswoman.
There was another swordswoman on the other side; the two of
them looked similar as if they were sisters.
The painting, filled with lively motion, really caught Yanagi's
attention.
(Could this picture possibly……be depicting Kiyofumi and his
friends……?)
Kiyofumi, who was disabled and spent a long time in hospitals,
had met other children in the same circumstances in a medical VR
space and had become friends with them.
The name of the group that was born in the miniascape known as
《Serene Garden》 and came to 《Asuka Empire》 seeking
adventure, if he recalled correctly──

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„……The 《Sleeping Knights》──“

Yanagi unconsciously muttered the term he often heard in his

conversations with his grandchild.
──The change was dramatic.
The fusuma pictures stretched out in front of him were pulled to
the left and right with great force, as if working by spring.
And seeing the open scenery in front of him, he couldn't believe
his eyes.
A meadow full of blooming flowers and white pillars lined in a
row──
The sky with dazzling sunshine was blue and the wind that
reached him was clear and pleasant.
Despite clearly not being inside the castle, this space was directly
connected to the dark hall.
Having even forgotten about the detective's warning, Yanagi
walked forward as if he had been invited.
Confused by sensation of the grass and soil, Yanagi once again
surveyed his surroundings.
No sign of any people. Naturally, no sign of any enemy.
In the distance, he could see a mountain range; up close, white
swings and benches, as well as stone tables among other things
were placed.
Stone paving was laid out like a pathway, but the majority of the
ground was covered in grass, with vivid flowers growing en masse
everywhere.
Turning around, he saw the same dark hall he had been moments
ago still there.
Bewildered by the scene change, Yanagi took off his braided hat.

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Before he could even take a few steps, he found a huge stone

monument in a corner of the beautiful garden.
Its silhouette was slightly elliptical, a size comparable to the ten
fusuama paintings, and its well polished surface let out a beautiful
brilliance.
Having slowly stepped up to it, Yanagi began reading from the
middle the numerous characters engraved on its surface.
„……June eighth, Oonamuchi subjugated──June tenth, Houraiju56
acquired; June thirteenth, barbecue party in Kiyomihara……“
This was an activity record of the 《Sleeping Knights》.
As the enumeration of events continued, several bolded
characters caught his attention.
„……Ran and Yuuki's birthday party, Merida's birthday
party…………Clovis's birthday party……“
《Clovis》 was Kiyofumi's name as a player.
Upon clicking on any of the characters, commemorative
screenshots of the event appeared mid-air.
And, the in-game Kiyofumi──Clovis… and his circle of friends
were cheerfully smiling.
Having gazed at the monument for a few moments, Yanagi
unconsciously pressed on the inner corners of his eyes.

56 Hourai (蓬萊) is the Japanese name for Mount Penglai, an enchanted land of perpetual youth from
Chinese mythology. Ju (樹) is Japanese for "tree". I left the term untranslated because I thought that it was
some item name or something.

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That didn't mean that tears were flowing out in sorrow.

──He had been convinced that the life of his grandchild, shorter
than of most people and the majority of which was spent in a
sickbed, had nothing fun in it.
After all, games were just a substitute of life that he believed was
but a mere consolation.
──That wasn't the case.
Kiyofumi was, certainly, here.
《Living》 together with his friends.
Right now, Yanagi experienced this truth for the first time.
The fact that his grandchild had actually been living made him
very much happy now. At the same time, he was ashamed at
himself for arbitrarily deciding that his grandchild was „unhappy“
due to a misunderstanding.
Having offered a silent prayer while weeping, Yanagi suddenly
heart footsteps of a person behind him.
As he turned around, his teary eyes the kitsune-masked child
there.
He wasn't alone.
He was followed by two white foxes from the left and right that
looked like the messengers of Inari.
They sat down with their forepaws aligned and seemed just like
stone statues, but their fur was beautifully clear.
„…… Are you……Kiyofumi?“
He asked in a trembling voice, and the child inclined his head in
wonder.
„Kiyofumi is already dead, you know?“
The child carelessly asserted.

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Yanagi was at a loss for words.

That was obvious. But, in the depths of his heart, he had been
anticipating a different answer. His alter ego or a being that had
inherited his memories──even if it wasn't Kiyofumi or his ghost,
he was hoping for an answer along those lines would come.
However, the voice of the child was cheerful and magnanimous,
not allowing any smidgen of misunderstanding.
„The dead don't come back to life, nor do they appear as ghosts.
Kiyofumi had no belief in things like that at all. That's exactly why
he felt regret. 'Even as illusion, it would be nice to meet the
deceased again', he said──So, he developed a trick to meet with
the 〝ghost〟 inside everyone's memories. Though, because he
slightly lacked enough time, it ended up depending on the person
himself who and in what form would appear……Ojii-chan, what do
you think?“
With practically the same voice as Kiyofumi's, the child asked.
Having lost his composure, Yanagi nodded.
„……You're……right. Even knowing that it would be an illusion……I
do believe I would want to meet them; that is probably the
weakness of men──“
The child again inclined his head.
„It's not a weakness. It's not like it's something bad, and if you
want to meet someone, why not meet them. It wouldn't be good to
mistake them for the real thing, but thinking of them as a mere
moving and speaking 〝album〟, it's not like there's anything
ridiculous about it, right? That's what the progress of technology
is, I believe. Though, I'm just relaying 〝Kiyofumi's〟 thoughts.“
Having received the child's answer, Yanagi deliberated.
„……You are, that is to say……an artificial intelligence created by
Kiyofumi, is that right?“

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„Yep. Actually, this was supposed to be a secret, but it's fine to tell
people who knew Kiyofumi to avoid misunderstandings. Oh,
and──people who have found this place get special treatment.“
The child left his foxes there, sat on the nearby swings, and,
*kiiko* *kiiko*, began swinging.
„Nevertheless, what is this place……it feels too different from the
inside of the castle──“
Yanagi wiped his eyes and once again surveyed his surroundings.
The child answered indifferently.
„This place is the Sleeping Knights's 《record room》. Though, it
was beyond our expectations that someone other than the
members found this place…… Muttering the keyword 《Sleeping
Knights》 at the fusuma painting connects it to this room. It's
Kiyofumi's little prank……or rather, a memory album, I guess.
Even when creating the quest, Kiyofumi and I frequently spent our
time together in here.“
The child muttered nostalgically and opened a menu window mid-
air.
(This child was helping Kiyofumi with his work……)
Meaning that, although it was an artificial intelligence, it could be
called one of his friends.
Yanagi gave a deep bow.
„It seems that you have been a great help to my grandchild──“
The kitsune-masked child burst into laughter.
„Ojii-chan, you really are a nice person. Just like Kiyofumi said.
That Battle Miko Onee-chan and the Detective-san were a bit too
intuitive and I was stumped on how to handle them, but……I guess
I wish the Ninja girl and you, Ojii-can, good luck clearing the
quest.“
Swinging on the swings, the child waved his to the foxes.
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One of the white foxes gracefully approached Yangagi's feet.

„Kon.“
With a little bark, a kotsuzumi appeared on its forepaws.
Yanagi picked up the musical instrument, gently presented to him,
with care.
„Could this musical instrument possibly be… the one needed to
meet up with one's comrades……?“
„Yep. It's something that you'd have gained by breaking through
that hall anyway, but, Ojii-chan, you look like you're in a hurry. It
seems like the Ninja girl has also acquired one just a few moments
ago, so I think you'll be able to meet up very soon.“
It seemed that Koyomi had also advanced successfully this time.
He raised his face to thank the boy, but there was no longer
anyone there.
The kitsune-masked child was a given, but even the two white
foxes had disappeared without a trace.
At this sudden disappearance as if he had been talking to ghosts,
Yanagi was taken aback for a few moments.
„……Well now well now, that was really weird……“
Eventually breaking into a smile, he gave a deep bow to the
uninhabited garden──
And pushing his staff forward, he returned to the dark hall.

§
Singing cheerfully, Koyomi timidly walked through the long castle
corridor.
„……Oh, Yaanagiimochi, theeey're so taaasty……♪ Good as presents
and economical……♪“

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It was a commercial song for Yanagi's company, Yanagi-ya

Ryuuzen-dou, that was played long ago, but that didn't mean it
was a song she particularly liked.
The reason for her singing was to trick her fear of being alone,
while her choice of song was to appeal to the staff, hoping that
they could at least show some consideration with their traps; in a
nutshell, she was awfully scared at the moment.
Her continuous ringing of the gong-like 《Bell of the Sixteen-Day-
Old Moon》 instrument she had obtained through her search was
because of her wholehearted wish to just meet up with anyone, to
hell with appearance.
„Uuugh……! There ain't anyone here! What the, wasn't I supposed
to be able to meet up with Nayu-san when I found the musical
instrument!? Why do I have to walk around the castle like this I
never heard about this impossible stop fuckin' with me manager
come out……ah sorry sorry sorry actually you don't need to come
out scary scary scary!“
As she banished bats that were drawn in by the noise with a single
strike from her ninja sword, Koyomi continued complaining.
„Nayu-san, where are you!? Yanagi-san is good enough too!
Though I truly don't care about Detective-san! Wait, if Detective-
san and Nayu-san are flirting alone, I'll blow my top! I'll blow my
top even if they're not flirting!“
She just shouted random things due to being overwhelmed with
fear, but her wish to meet with Nayuta already was undoubtedly
sincere.
As she made a racket, a group of Spirit Soldiers suddenly appeared
from a corner of the corridor.
They were a lower form of the Skeleton Warriors. If Skeleton
Warriors were regarded as samurai, these Spirit Soldiers would
be close to foot soldiers.

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They appeared like zombies wearing light Japanese-style

equipment and their movements were slow, but, since they
appeared in large numbers, if you let your guard down down, you
could end up being flanked.
„Hii!? E-enemieees!?“
Filled with horror at the appearance of the large group, Koyomi
unsheathed her ninja sword.
„Don't come near me! Don't you dare! If you come any closer, I'll
put a curse on yooooou!“
Along with this shout──
She rushed right in front of the enemy in a straight line without
hesitation.
She beheaded two of them in one go, drew the attention of the
other enemies being kicking away one of the two heads, and used
that opening to attack further, her body lowered.
She mercilessly mowed down the knees of several soldiers and
when they collapsed due to losing their balance, she swung a
finishing blow at their upper bodies one after another, then
nimbly stood in the way of the remaining panicking enemies that
were trying to escape
„Kyaaaaah! I'm scared! I'm scared! Somebody save meeeee!“
As she was practically crying, Koyomi's blade assuredly
slaughtered the enemies with a flash. Contrary to her voice and
expression, she didn't make the slightest redundant movement.
The pitiful Spirit Soldiers, frightened by Koyomi and trying to
escape from her, fell victim to her blade one after another,
exposing their rotten remains.
„Higuh……! Eguh……! I can't take it anymooore……“
As Koyomi, having mostly finished cleaning up, sobbed like a child,
a dying Spirit Soldier attempted to crawl away from her feet.

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Without even turning her gaze, she violently thrust her blade into
the enemy's back and, upon adding a second thrust just to be sure,
she obtained a measly reward of experience points money.
Having blown away the jorōgumo that came late to their aid with
an fire bomb without even seeing them, she wiped off the spurt of
blood with her arm warmers.
„Uuuh……ganging up on an innocent maiden, you're such
brutes…… I'll prosecute you for sexual harassment……“
Ringing the bell as she once again began walking forward, her
trembling voice once again began singing.
„……Oh, Yaanagiimochi, theeey're so taaasty……♪ Thooose who
waaanna die, steeep forwaaard……♪“
Perhaps because of her fear, her lyrics subtly changed.
A single weasel that felt lucky enough to try a back attack on her
was sent off quaking without being able to do a thing.
──Those who harboured fear were not necessarily always weak.
The guarantee that a person afraid of a single cockroach would be
weaker than the cockroach was nowhere to be found.
A moment of relief visited the small slaughterer, ringing her bell,
several minutes later.
„……Koyomi-san? Why are you singing……?“
„…………Na-Nayu-saaaan!? Waaaaah!“
Koyomi jumped at the Battle Miko beauty that appeared from
around the corner with no shame or honour.
Taking advantage of the confusion to bury her face in the ample
bosom to get her fill of its softness, she let out an unacted sob.
„I-I-I was so scaaared……! Nayu-san, what took you so long! Even
though it's been over an hour since I obtained an instrument!“

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„Ah……sorry. I was exploring some places…… on top of the castle

being too huge, there are also seem to be some automatically
generated zones. I was worried by how mapping turned out to be
not all that useful.“
Stroking Koyomi's head as if she were a child as she clung to her,
Nayuta gave her usual intelligent voice.
While quickly throwing a kunai at a karakasa-obake she saw at the
edge of her view, Koyomi repeatedly took deep breaths of relief.
„Uuuh…...I've finally……finally been able to meet up with yooou... I
really had it hard you know. The kitsune-masked child only stuck
his head out and, after saying something like 〝no problem with
Onee-chan〟before instantly disappearing, then an Itsumade bird
shat on me from atop my head, then when I came out of the open
air bath corner, I was treated as a groper by an ohaguro-bettari,
then a nurarihyon made me tea at a tearoom when I got lost and
my legs became numb due to sitting in seiza……though the tea
cakes were tasty!“
„…………It seems you had quite the fun.“
Koyomi intended to convey the fear she had felt as she told her
about her experiences, but it seemed this didn't go through to
Nayuta.
„And, what about you , Nayu-san? Were you okay? You didn't go
through anything scary?“
„Yes. I was especially disappointed── at the not very good results
from the treasure chests.“
Koyomi felt discomfort at that answer.
„Although you call them results…… this is a test play for starters,
so there's point in obtaining rare items along the way, y'know?
Well, I too had been securing experience points due to my usual
habits.“
Upon this being pointed out, Nayuta froze up for a few moments
with a dazed look.
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„Ah……That was the case. I completely forgot. I just ended up

following my usual habits.“
For someone who as scrupulous as her, it was an unusual mistake.
Unable to shake off a sense of discomfort──Koyomi stared up at
Nayuta's face.
„……Nayu-san. Did something happen?“
Nayuta looked down at Koyomi in wonder.
„No? Nothing in particular. I was just exploring as usual……“
Koyomi stared at Nayuta's pupils.
They were not actual „eyes“. Although facial expressions and other
bodily information was reflected to some extent, in the end, they
were just eyeballs created in a VR space from character data.
The real Nayuta was somewhere else, using her AmuSphere as an
intermediary.
Koyomi knew that── and yet she felt something in the colour of
her eyes that she couldn't leave alone.
„Nayu-san. Sit down a bit here.“
Pulling on Nayuta's sleeve, she sat her down on the spot.
Because of her good upbringing, Nayuta naturally sat down in
seiza, and elegantly inclined her head.
„Koyomi-san? What is the matter?“
Without a moment's delay, Koyomi embraced Nayuta's head with
her arms. If Nayuta was sitting, the difference between their
heights would naturally be covered up.
Nayuta was at a loss of breath in surprise.
„……U-umm……Koyomi-san……?“

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„……You know, Nayu-san. I think you don't really need to talk

about things you don't want to talk about. Everyone has things
they don't want others to know and I don't think I can for
you……but……but you see ──“
Koyomi chose her words slowly and with unusual care.
„When you want to be spoiled, you can just allow yourself to be
spoiled without saying a word, okay? Of course, if you have
something you want to talk about, you can let it all out; no matter
how strong a character you have, you're still a high school girl,
Nayu-san, and no matter how unreliable I look, I am still a
working adult, so…… that is to say that, ehm……well, what I'm
trying to say is……“
Because she was trying to say something unusually serious, she
just couldn't get the right words out.
On the verge of repeating herself, Koyomi became serious.
„In short, Nayu-san, you should allow me to spoil you more! It
feels frustrating when I'm the only one being spoiled anyways!“
„H…… Huh……?“
Nayuta let out an obviously bewildered voice.
Unlike moments ago, there was a sign that something returned to
the empty part. This could have been an optical illusion Koyomi
saw, but at least it wasn't a bad change.
„Yeah……well……I do think there are some things I want to whine
about some day……“
„Yes, of course. I'll be waiting for that. Be sure to talk with me
before you get involved with some bad man or something, okay? If
you want, you could live with me in Osaka? I have an open room,
y'know.?

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„……Well, I do understand that you mean no ill intent……but I shall

still pass on living together. More importantly, let's find Yanagi-
san. I do not really care about Detective-san, but we cannot clear
the quest calmly without meeting up with him.“
Releasing her from her arms, Koyomi also nodded.
„You're right. I wonder if he's yet to find a musical instrument……?
Though I do hope he hasn't retired……“
„Nonetheless, this is a test play, so he can quickly return without
any death penalty. It might take some time, but we should meet up
with him eventually.“
„Yeah. The problem is where he is, huh. Assuming we have to take
a different route than the route I came through and the one you
came through……“
Koyomi's eyes spontaneously looked up.
Having left the open air bath, Koyomi had mainly gone around the
first floor.
Nayuta should have also mainly wandered around the basement
and the first floor, so despite the huge castle being filled with
warp zones, it seemed like they have mostly investigated this
floor.
The problem was──
„……Nayu-san. Did you happen to see any stairs leading to the
upper floors?“
Nayuta shook her head.
„There were stairs leading from the basement to this floor, but……
I have yet to finds stairs leading beyond the second floor.“
That was certainly strange.
(……Which means……there's hidden stairs or a warp zone
somewhere?)
Koyomi and Nayuta exchanged looks.
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Due to clearing even other quests together, they knew what the
other was thinking even without putting it to words.
„What shall we do? Do you want to split into two groups to
investigate?“
„I don't want that!“
Koyomi instantly refused and clung to Nayuta's arms.
„Although you're fine, Nayu-san, my mental strength is relatively
at its limit already! Because I was seriously scared, y'know!? The
most important thing is to go together for now……I wonder if
there's some kind of hint or something. Something that would
allow us to go to the upper floors──“
Nayuta pondered with a serious look.
„Such problems seem like Detective-san's forte, but……perhaps,
you can see the hidden stairs by playing an instrument, or the
stairs come down by pushing a hidden switch; something of that
kind ──“
„Yeah. That sound plausible…… either way, we've got no choice
but to still wander around in each direction for a while. I wonder
where Yanagi-san is……“
While beginning to walk through the dark corridor in a line,
Koyomi suddenly noticed a strange noise.
──Somewhere in the distance, a matsuribayashi was playing.
She had heard it now and then during her search, but she didn't
read into it more than it just being created for the atmosphere.
The musicians couldn't be seen, bust listening carefully at it
again──
The timbre seemed to be coming from the upper floors through
the ceiling boards.
It seemed that Nayuta had also felt the same thing.

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„That matsuribayashi, could it be that it is marching towards the

upper floors?“
Their figures couldn't be seen, only their timbre could be
heard──and yet, seeing as they could not encounter the
instrumentalists on the same floor, thinking about it calmly, it
meant that the source of the music was either on an upper or
lower floor, blocked by the ceiling or floor.
The timbre was fading into the distance bit by bit.
In a rush, Koyomi pulled Nayuta's arm.
„Nayu-san! Let's go after that sound. We don't know where it's
coming from, but let's move in the direction where we can hear
the sound better. Perhaps…… that's the hint for the hidden stairs!“
She was almost certain about this insight. Even based on the
quest's name, the《Phantom Orchestra》, it was highly likely that
the sound of the orchestra would be some kind of key.
„……I see. The reason why you cannot catch sight of them is not
just because they are ghosts, but because they are on a different
floor for starters, is that it?…… I kind of feel tricked.“
It could have been her imagination, but Nayuta's words sounded
like they were filled with dissatisfaction.
Koyomi laughed at her grumbling.
„Well, it sounds like we were the ones who just arbitrarily made
that mistake. Thinking about it well, we did get this far with
practically no text hints…… It kinda sounds like, you know, it's
aiming for a level where〝the interpretation depends on the
player〟, or something……“
Nayuta suddenly twisted her eyebrows.
Noticing the change of her expression, Koyomi inclined her head.
„Ah……Did I say something weird……?“

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„No……Koyomi-san, once in a while, you say something that

sounds sharp, going right into the core of the matter……True. You
probably……are right about that, I believe. How this quest looks
depends on the person playing it──by limiting information, you
can create it to be like that.“
Nayuta nodded and began walking at a fast pace. Koyomi rushed
after her.
Changing their course when they heard the timbre of the hayashi
becoming distant, and retracing their steps at a corner at times,
the two spent some time continuing to move in pursuit of the
sound coming from the upper floors.
„This map really is automatically generated, right? It's a bit too
large, and the construction looks strangely randomish.“
„I do believe so. Unless you noticed the hint, it does seem like you
would end up wandering forever.“
Even while talking, Nayuta didn't stop.
The place the two finally arrived to was a dead end, surrounded
by plaster-covered walls.
The timbre of the matsuribayashi came from right above them,
and passed to the other side of the wall.
„……Nayu-san. There.“
„……Yes. That is suspicious.“
The white plaster wall, faintly flamboyant in the darkness, looked
like just a completely ordinary dead-end.
If it weren't for the matsuribayashi overhead, it would just be
ignored, but now they certainly couldn't just pass it by.
Koyomi propped her hand on the wall, in search of some kind of
hidden switch.
──Suddenly, the wall turned.
„Uwaoh!?“
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„Koyomi-san!?“
Too surprised by the smooth movement, Koyomi collapsed
forward. The wall didn't serve well for support, nor were there
any spots to latch onto.
Without a moment's delay, she was caught by the nape from
behind by Nayuta and held her ground somehow.
Beyond the revolving door disguised as a wall, a narrow straight
path and wooden stairs continuing to the next floor could be seen.
„T-thanks, Nayu-san….. Wow, jackpot?“
„Right. I hope that Yanagi-san is above──“
Passing through the dim hidden passage, the two began climbing
up the stairs.
The timbre of the matsuribayashi was close.
Taking into account the possibility of having to fight the
instrumentalists, Koyomi placed her hand on her ninja sword.
Nayuta's back as she looked up the stairs looked somewhat
ephemeral while still the same as always. She even felt that it
could disappear if she turned her eyes away.
Scared of that, Koyomi unconsciously became awfully concerned
about her.
Compared to ghosts, zombies, or tigers from folding screens──to
Koyomi, the regret of „noticing but not being able to do a thing“
was far more scarier.
In order not to fall behind Nayuta as she hurried to the next floor,
Koyomi chased after her.
The double footsteps of the two stepping on the stairs resounded
rhythmically yet melancholically, as if a percussion instrument
had mixed in with the hayashi above them.

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§
Just as she climbed upstairs, Nayuta called for the attention of
Koyomi, walking behind her.
„Koyomi-san, it is a Dark Zone. I shall ready a lantern, so please
wait a bit.“
„Gotcha……Ugh. I really hate Dark Zones… For starters, there's
something scary set up.“
Grasping Nayuta's sleeve, she let out a scared voice.
The dungeons in the Hundred and Eight Apparitions were
generally dim, but while there were no sources of light that
actually looked like light sources, the lighting was adjusted so that
it would be possible to grasp one's surroundings to some extent.
However, as for Dark Zones, they were entirely pitch dark and,
even with a lantern, you could only see a few steps ahead.
In the dark room they couldn't see, the timbre of the hayashi
resounded grandly.
(It would be a pain if we were surrounded……)
Based on the echo of the sound, it seemed they were in a rather
spacious room, rather than a passageway.
Illuminated by the light of the lantern, the wooden floor could be
seen several steps ahead.
At that moment, Nayuta noticed the strangeness of the ceiling.
„……Koyomi-san. I shall say this in advance so you would not get
scared, but the ceiling is awfully grotesque. Please do all you can
to avoid looking at it.“
„Wha? The ceiling……gyaah!?“
Koyomi's shriek was unfemininely rough.“
Filling the entirety of the ceiling was a group of large serpents── -
imitating carving.

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Although they weren't actual snakes, their large bodies, with

elaborately engraved scale patterns, formed multiple layers, their
heads sticking out here and there.
Because the illumination of the lantern covered only a very
narrow range, they could only a very small fraction of the ceiling,
but they could predict that the carving probably continued very
far.
„……S-someone's got poor taste……“
„If your goal was just to set the atmosphere, it works well……but I
do feel that some real snakes might be mixed in and will launch a
surprise attack on us. Let's advance with sufficient vigilance.“
Koyomi nodded and firmly clung to Nayuta's left arm. It's was
problematic that it made it hard to move, but she was grateful that
there was no worry of getting separated.
Nayuta strained her ears and carefully listened which direction
the sound of the matsuribayashi was coming from.
The echo wasn't all that big; she could clearly tell the difference in
volume by turning her ears in each direction.
It seemed that the sound was surely coming from their floor.
The moment Nayuta began walking in the direction she deduced
the sound was coming from, a snake fell down right in front of her.
„Fugya───h!“
Letting out a cat-like scream, Koyomi swung up her ninja sword.
The snake's body was bisected before it could reach the ground
and Nayuta once again admired Koyomi's excessively quick work
of it.
„That was typical of you, Koyomi-san. I cannot mimic those
reflexes of yours.“

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„Why are you so calm!? Why are you so calm!? This is an

important matter, so I'm asking several times, but why are you so
calm, Nayu-san!?“
Due to seeing the half-crazed Koyomi so close, she instead
looked──was naturally hard to say.
„Since I do not hate snakes that much……though I of course would
not touch them, but I hate insects with plenty of legs more.“
„I hate insects too, but that's not the point. A snake just dripped
down from the ceiling in the darkness ya know!? You're supposed
to be just a little bit scared by that, normally!“
„You say dripping, but that was still only the first one…… I feel that
the way you reflexively landed a critical hit on it before it could
fall down is relatively more abnormal.“
This much was not a result of stats and so on, but the person's
nature.
Koyomi had said that she was been defeated in a surprise attack
by mermen in an open air bath during their previous time in the
castle, but as for Nayuta, she wanted to praised the enemies that
managed to catch her by surprise. Perhaps she had slipped on a
wet stone, but surpassing Koyomi's reflexes was a next-to-
impossible task.
Watching as Koyomi's sword flashed each time a snake fell down
afterwards, Nayuta unconcernedly moved towards the sound of
the matsuribayashi.
Although it seemed that the musicians were also moving and the
distance to them didn't really become shorter, she could conclude
that „we're getting closer to the goal“ nonetheless.
And, assuming that goal was nearby──her concern was Yanagi.
„……I hope Yanagi-san is safe. Even if it cannot be helped that he
might retire once or twice, he is an unaccustomed beginner, so I
wonder if he will manage to get so far alone……“

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Koyomi inclined her head.

„……That reminds me, that kitsune-masked child said something
weird to me…… Just a little while ago, you see, he said 〝no
problem with Onee-chan〟; Nayu-san, I did tell you about that,
right?“
„Yeah, you did say something like that right after we met up. And
c h i k a n
something about being treated as a male groper by some ohaguro-
bettari.“
Koyomi put her head in her hands.
„I didn't even touch her! It'd be one thing if it was a beauty like
you, Nayu-san, but for the breasts of that literal monster; I don't
know what she's crying about! In the first place, we're of the same
c h i k a n c h i j o
sex, so it's not male groper, but female groper!…… Wait, who cares
about that! We were talking about the kitsune-masked child!“
Shouting this, Koyomi cut down another falling snake with one
strike.
Nayuta seriously believed that the reason why Koyomi was a
coward was possibly because she saw too much of her
surroundings.
„So, when I questioned what 〝no problem with Onee-chan〟
meant, you see. He told me 〝just do your best〟 ……It's just my
hunch, but could that AI be in charge of adjusting the difficulty for
the players?“
Nayuta unconsciously blinked.
„I see…… Koyomi-san, I am surprised that you noticed that. I do
believe that such a mechanism is certainly possible. Actually……a
lot falls into place then.“
In short, the kitsune-masked child was possibly the quest's
《 supervisor》.

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„It is a bit unusual to leave it to an AI to tune a quest for the

Hundred and Eight Apparitions. If your level does not reach the
recommended level, you level up before taking up the quest, while
if it is an easy quest, you clear it at ease; that is norm, I believe.“
At Nayuta's indication, Koyomi lowered her voice.
„Well, because……what if he thought that his grandpa would play
this game alone after his death──it would be necessary, don't you
think, to adjust the difficulty. If he had set it so that the quest could
be easily cleared at a low level, it would be too easy for other
players; on the other hand, if he set the difficulty high, he would
feel sorry for his newbie grandpa being absolutely unable to clear
it……“
──Yanagi didn't have that much time.
The creator of the quest, Kiyofumi, had probably understood this.
„But, in that case…… the administrators raising Yanagi-san's level
for the test play was possibly more meddling than help, no.“
Koyomi shook her head.
„I don't think so. Torao-cchi did say this, right? 〝at level 1 you're
definitely gonna be unable to clear it〟……Those words sound like
they were said specifically because the difficulty was adjusted by
the administrators before release, don't you think?“
'Ah', Nayuta unconsciously let out.
She had ignored Torao's words as just the usual thing to say for an
administrator, but assuming that Koyomi's conjecture was
correct, that adjustment itself ended up robbing the AI of one of
his jobs.
Kiyofumi sought for „a difficulty where anyone would be able to
clear the quest“, so he created an AI for adjusting the difficulty.
However, the administrators couldn't let that be, and re-adjusted
it so that „without having reached a certain level, it couldn't be
cleared“.

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It wasn't a question of which was right. The creator, the

distributor, and the players all had their own considerations and
circumstances.
„It's only obvious, but an administrator's authority is higher than
the authority of an AI supervisor. So, in exchange for being unable
to tone down the enemies and trap, he had been at least secretly
supporting Yanagi-san, who was unaccustomed to the game, as
much as he could, I wonder…… just now, I just kinda felt like that
was the case.“
Agreeing with her words, Nayuta unconsciously let out a sigh.
„The suspension had probably made things easier for him instead.
If Yanagi-san's level was still low, I wonder if he would have been
able to clear the quest within the deadline……“
„……Is Yanagi-san's condition that bad……?“
Nayuta was stumped on how to respond.
„Honestly speaking, I do not know. Though, when we visited him,
he could not even get up. Yanagi himself should surely be thinking
that today's test play is his final chance.“
Koyomi strongly gripped Nayuta's arm.
„So that's how it is…… Alright! Let's do our best as well. To meet
up with Yanagi-san, and then the quest boss will……“
The timbre of the matsuribayashi suddenly stopped with no
warning.
At once, Nayuta picked up Koyomi and leapt nearby.
A moment late, a train-like large body knocked down the spot the
two had been at with a thunderous roar.
Correcting her posture, Nayuta placed Koyomi on her feet next to
her, while she herself turned around to see the 〝enemy〟.
„Hii!? W-what!? Something came! What is that!?

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In front of the screaming Koyomi, the owner of the large body that
attacked them raised its snakey head.
A lustrous, white, cylindrical body; a long and narrow, wriggling
tongue; golden eyes cool-headedly gazing at its prey──it was
practically identical to the 〝snakes〟 that Koyomi had cut in
along the way, aside from one major difference - its size.
The large snake that failed its surprise attack once again pulled its
head after baring its sharp fangs menacingly, and hid inside the
darkness in front of them without a sound.
„Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nayu-san…… Snake…… snake……! Snake-san!“
„……A large snake, huh. That is probably the boss. That attack of
its just now was probably its way of greeting us. We have been
unable to meet up with Yanagi-san yet, but── to work out a plan, I
would like to have a fight with it.“
As Nayuta was about to calmly advance forward, Koyomi pulled
on her sleeve while trembling.
„Ho-hold on! I need to steel myself first! ……Wait, such a reptile-
type large monster is hard to beat from the front! Let's go around
it!“
Nayuta thought for just a moment.
„Going around it would probably be difficult. Snakes sense their
prey through heat and smell. Of course, that large snake does not
necessarily have the same sensory organs as an actual snake……“
If a snake's characteristics were included in the monster's design,
it would approach its prey from somewhere in the darkness, and
grab them.
Koyomi opened her menu window.
„Mmmmmm……Then, how about some handy item for times of
emergency! Ehm…… something…… anything…… yeah. Nothin'
here……“

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In a situation where their opponent sensed its prey through heat

rather than vision, a 《Smoke Bomb》 wasn't really useful.
Instead, it would snatch away Nayuta and the others' ability to
see, thus it would leave them at a disadvantage, aside from when
they were running away.
A 《Scapegoat Charm》 that confused the enemy with an
illusionary decoy also wouldn't work on a type of enemy that
sensed heat.
„For a heat-sensing kind of enemy, if I recall correctly…… you can
use fire to confuse it, right? A fire bomb should do the trick.“
„……I figured that their firepower was weak, so I used them all up
on the small fry along the way…… Aside from that, It's common to
use fire-type techniques, but……“
Nayuta and Koyomi exchanged glances.
On the one hand, a Battle Miko that focused on agility with her
empty hands.
On the other, a Ninja that focused on speed and relied on reflexes.
There was a difference between punching and slashing, but as
both of their fighting styles were similar, they could exhibit quite
the destructive power if they cooperated in a two-top57 formation.
──But, because they could only use elementary techniques of
houriki fujutsu onmyoujutsu
Buddhist magic, shamanism, cosmic force, and other schools, they
weren't practical. It would have been great to have a Spell-user
friend here, but it was pointless to ask for the impossible now of
all times.
„……Koyomi-san, you can use Katon58 no Jutsu, right?“

57 A wasei-eigo term for a soccer formation where two forwards are placed at the very front.
58 Katon (火遁) is a form of tonjutsu (ninja art of escape) that makes use of fire.

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„……Well, I technically can use it. But the skill level is at 1, so it's
just for emergencies, or igniting an open fire…… frankly, I've used
it so few times that I could even list them, y'know?“
Encouraging Koyomi, who didn't seem to have much self-
confidence on that, Nayuta nodded.
„That should be enough, I believe. For now, let's just figure out the
enemy's attack patterns and then retreat. We will defeat it
earnestly once we regroup with Yanagi-san── first, we shall do
some intelligence gathering before the actual fight.“
„……Yeah! In that case, I'll do my best!“
Koyomi nodded and too out her ninja sword.
The straight blade was slightly shorter than a regular tachi, but for
Koyomi's height, it was long enough. It could be said to be just
barely the size where she could brandish it nimbly.
„……So, I wonder if it'll work on those scales? This sword of mine.“
„I do think that it will stab through, but the size of the enemy is a
problem. Playing by the book, you would aim for its eyes, nose, or
tongue── sensory organs like that, but I shall take up that task
instead. Koyomi-san, you draw the enemy's eyes with your katon
and create an opening by concentrating on evading its attack as a
decoy.“
„Okay……the……n? ……Oh? Huhuh……?
Koyomi turned her head to the left and right in a fluster.
Nayuta also immediately noticed several dots of light wriggling in
the Dark Zone.
The dots numbered six──
Two on the left. Two in front. Two on the right──
The three pairs of light dots were clearly giving off signs of huge
creatures being there.
Koyomi's face became distorted and Nayuta frowned.
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„……Koyomi-san, sorry. Change of plans.“

„……Yeah. That's fine with me. I'm all for it……!“
The two made a great jump away at almost the same moment.
A group of light dots pressed on from the front, and large jaws
came assailing at them from the left and right as well with a slight
delay.
The large, train-sized snakes that suddenly increased to three
mercilessly bared their fangs from within the darkness.
Unable to deal with the coordinated attack from three directions,
of course, Nayuta and Koyomi instantly lined up and began their
retreat.
„Shi……! There are three of those things all together……!“
„That's unreasonable, right!? That's not a boss; that's an
unbeatable special trap! If not, an illusion or something!“
Nayuta had also considered that last possibility, but she didn't feel
like intentionally taking an attack to confirm that.
If they at least got out of the Dark Zone or lured them one at a time
to a place where they could be easily beat them, they would see a
way out, but staying here to fight was nothing but reckless.
For their size, the large snakes were relatively quick to move and
it seemed like the snakes would catch up to them even if they ran
at full speed.
„Crud crud! ……Oh right! Katon!“
Koyomi turned back and formed a symbol with her fingers.
*Pon*, a sound of a small explosion resounded as a bonfire-size
flame and smoke erupted several steps behind her.
The large snake that came from the left opened its big mouth and
bit into the fire.

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During that opening, Nayuta and Koyomi made some more

distance.
The three large snakes continued wriggling after them.
After several seconds of running, they suddenly saw a strong light
in a corner of the large Dark Zone.
„The two ladies! Come here for the moment!“
The elderly priest shouting earnestly while holding a kotsuzumi
was the person Nayuta and Koyomi were looking for.
„Yanagi-san!? I see you have been all right!“
„He's even using houriki properly! Wow, that's awesome!“
The monk's houriki skill, 《Mantra of Light》 illuminated a much
greater area of the Dark Zone than the lanterns.
The exorcising light emitted upon activation of the handy skill
kept away enemies weaker than the caster and also gave a slight
increase to all resistances for allies.
Using the houriki light as a landmark, the two ran through the
spacious room.
Behind Yanagi, they saw a stone wall and a not-all-that-big steel
door.
If they leapt into there, they could escape from the large snakes
behind them.
The two almost simultaneously ran through the door that Yanagi
had opened.
After immediately closing the door and confirming that that the
large snakes had stopped pursuing them, the three finally rejoiced
about their reunion.
„Yanagi-san, so you found a musical instrument, I see! We were
worried about you.“

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The elderly priest lightly raised his braided hat with a gentle
smile.
„Yes, thank you kindly. I too had been wondering how it would
turn out for a time, but…… the kitsune-masked child assisted me.
It seems he is an artificial intelligence left by Kiyofumi── although
he was not my grandchild himself, I did have the privilege of
having a valuable experience.“
Yanagi's expression changed to a somewhat allayed and relieved
one.
Despite not having yet cleared the quest, he appeared as if he had
already accomplished his goal.
„Yanagi-san, it seems like something good happened to you.“
She indicated, and Yanagi smile somewhat embarrassed.
„Yes. I am unsure how to put it…… I was convinced that I had
understood my grandchild, but I realised that this was not, in fact,
the case.“
Normally, if you realised something like that, you'd get depressed,
but Yanagi seemed satisfied.
Unconsciously inclining his head, Yanagi smiled again.
„That things would come to this. Now then……I see Clevel-shi is
not with you.“
„It is highly likely that that person has retired. Let's leave him be
and aim to clear the quest ourselves.“
Coldly forsaking the detective who wasn't here, Nayuta lightly
struck the steel door with her fist.
Beyond the door, the three snakes were probably still there.
Koyomi said that they could be some special trap, but Nayuta still
considered the snakes to be the quest's boss.
Though, she didn't think they could win fighting head-on.

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With some time for a break, she once again surveyed her
surroundings.
The Dark Zone ended at the steel door; Nayuta was currently in a
wide passage facing the outside.
It looked like an accessway leading from the keep to a separate
building. The roofless hallway went around the castle and was
outfitted just like a promenade.
It was so large that it seemed like it was the stage of Kiyomizun59
but enlarged tens of times; rather than just being a foothold, the
corridor was the roof of the dungeon on the first floor.
Depending on your point of view, it looked nearly like some sort of
sanctuary or a huge open deck.
„So huge…… Waah, the stars are so pretty……“
Tempted by Koyomi's mutter, she turned her eyes to the sky──
The sky was clear and stars were twinkling throughout.
Due in part to the open feeling after leaving the Dark Zone, and the
relief of escaping from the large snakes, Nayuta unconsciously
became fascinated by the scenery.
On the other hand, being quick to adapt, Koyomi began surveying
the outskirts like a puppy.
„Ehm…… Yanagi-san, did you, perhaps, come from that
outbuilding over there through the passage? You didn't go
through a Dark Zone, right?“
Yanagi gave a nod, mixed with a wry smile.
„Yes. When I crossed over to this side, I heard some sort of ruckus
beyond the door── and when I entered through it, I was surprised
to see you two being pursued by snakes. Oh dear, their size was
quite troublesome.“
Contrary to his words, his voice sounded somewhat delighted.

59 This is referring to a temple in east Kyoto.

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Looking at the stars, Nayuta pondered motionlessly.

She had started in the basement. Koyomi came from the open-air
bath on the first floor, and the large hall Yanagi was sent away to
appeared to be in an outbuilding.
The Detective should have also been sent away to the same castle
tower as last time and could be confined on the upper floors.
(So everyone started in different locations and the surroundings
of this Dark Zone was the goal and point of reunion…… is that how
it is……?)
As Nayuta pondered, Koyomi pulled on her sleeve childishly.
„Nayu-san Nayu-san, there seem to be stairs upwards and
downwards. Oh and──this place isn't just a passage, but a hallway
that goes around the castle. It looks quite big, but there could be
some trick, wanna investigate?“
The outside stairs leading below could probably be seen as an
emergency exit for a temporary withdrawal in order to save.
However, right now, during the test play, the items and experience
they received would not be passed on to their personal data,
while, conversely, the event flags were set to be always
maintained for the test play, hence there was practically no reason
to return.
Because the outbuilding was already explored by Yanagi, the
routes left were either the upper floor or the circular corridor
itself.
„For starters, let's go upstairs. Detective-san may possibly held up
by something, anyway.“
„Ah. That guy started from the castle tower, right?……Okay. Then,
excuse me──“
The moment Koyomi rushed up to the stairs──
A cry resounded in the dark night and a long shadow, obstructing
the starlight, passed over their heads.
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Nayuta quickly raised her head.

Several huge, rectangular holes were opened in the wall of the
upper floors──
From one of those holes, a large snake had crept its snakey head
out.
Its whole body could not be seen, while its long and narrow figure
looked like a hand that grew out of the castle, its bared sharp
fangs in place of the fingers giving off a fiendish presence.
Glaring back at the monster giving a piercing-sharp look at its
prey, Nayuta immediately put herself on guard.
The large snake drew near Nayuta at such a speed as if it was
falling, attempting to swallow Nayuta whole.
Jumping aside to dodge, she went around the enemy's flank.
Without even letting out a yell, she smacked the snake's temporal
region near the jaw joint.
Missing her mark, she just hit struck a nearby place, but wincing
from the blow, the large snake clung back to the castle's outer
wall.
──There was feedback.
A hit point gauge was displayed next to the snake, and it had
certainly decreased, even if by a measly quantity.
Upon ascertaining the change, Nayuta amassed her strength into
her knees in preparation.
„Na-Nayu-san! Are you okay!?“ Are you hurt!?“
„I certainly did not expect the large snake to come all the way
outside……!“
Maintaining her focus on the snake, she sent a quick glance at the
two friends who hastily rushed over to her.

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„……As I thought, that large snake appears to be the boss rather

than a trap. Let's bring it down here.“
„Ue!? W-we're not running away!?“
Nayuta did not loosen her stance.
„In the Dark Zone just now, three of them appeared all at once in a
room with poor visibility, hence we pulled back… but right now
we can see far and we are only facing one of them. Let's do it.“
„B-but, you know! That thing can't reach us if we run away
upstairs……“
„Far from running away── I am going straight at it.“
Nayuta dashed frontward.
The large snake that had retreated up the wall once again leapt
straight at her like an arrow.
„Aaaaah! Geez! Let's do dis thin'!“
Having become serious, Koyomi also began running with a
Tokyoite-ish yell for some reason.
Due to leaving the rear to Yanagi, the two vanguards had a need to
go to the front. If this turned into a melee in such a cramped space,
the essential Yanagi would be in danger.
Avoiding the large snake's jaw, Nayuta went around its side, and
once again sent a punch from at its scales.
It wasn't just a blow. The Battle Miko's 《Purifying Strike》 for
crushing evil with her divine power was generally quite effective
against apparitions.
For her first strike, having concluded that the large snake was a
living creature, she had tried using her anti-creature skill,
《 Crushing Palm》, but even though there was feedback, it had
not become a critical hit.
This time, her attack decreased more than twice as much HP as
before.
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Due to the strong impact, the large snake writhed mid-air.

„Koyomi-san! This large snake is not a creature, it is a youkai!
Anti-spirit attacks work better against it!“
„Gotcha! Rest in pieces!“
With an appropriate yell of her own, Koyomi stabbed her ninja
sword into the snake's body.
At the same time, she activated her ninjutsu, 《Thunderclap》,
sending an electric current through her stabbed blade.
A flesh bursting sound resounded.
Nayuta jumped on the snake's brow in pursuit of the flinching
enemy and hit its open eye with her fist.
It did not pierce it, but her attack to a sensory organ seemed to
splendidly hit its weak point as the large snake's HP greatly
decreased.
„Wha!? This thing is surprisingly weak!?“
Koyomi let out a screech.
Nayuta's thought was similar to her's. As she had not yet defeated
it, she couldn't call it too quick, but she felt an anticlimactic sense
proportionate to her resolution for a hard battle.
(……For the boss of a not-so-difficult quest, I guess this much is
just right?“)
As there were still two more, they couldn't let their guard down
till the end. Though, it seemed that the first one was on the level of
a warmup.
„Nayu-san! Let's beat it in one go!“
„Okay!“
The two leapt at the large snake from the left and right at almost
the same time.

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Koyomi's ninja sword pierced the large snake's brow, while

Nayuta's fist, glowing with an evil-purifying light, hit its left eye.
A roar pierced the darkness── and the pitiable large snake lay on
the spot.
„Alriiight! If that's all they've got, we can bring the other two down
together!“
„Well now…… all I got to do was watch.“
The energetic Koyomi and wryly smiling Yanagi were a good
contrast, but because the path to clearing the quest was in sight,
the atmosphere was light.
Nayuta loosened her stance in relief, but, before long, she noticed
something out of place.
──The defeated large snake's corpse… was taking its time to
disappear.
On the contrary, starting with its tail, which had been still in the
castle, the snake had begun to be pulled.
Koyomi's face became distorted
„……Huuh……? Its HP reached 0 but it's still not disappearing……
Wait, it's moving…… huh? How? ……Is someone pulling it in the
castle……?“
Nayuta also watched the situation in silence.
The battle wasn't over. Instead, the battle just now seemed to be
the signal for its start.
Several moments after the large snake was pulled into the
castle── it happened.
〝Oooooooo……〟
With enough force to shake as far as the eye can see, a low
exclamation surged out like an earthquake.

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Looking up in surprise, she saw the foothold encircling the upper

floors of the castle was filled by a group of half-transparent
instrumentalists.
The group of gold-coloured musicians had no expressions at all.
The 《phantom orchestra》, wearing eboshi and karaginu, or
kachie, began playing the instruments in their hands all at once,
and their solemn timbre overwhelmed Nayuta and the others.
Nayuta involuntarily forgot to even breathe as she was lost in the
tune that was out of this world.
The musical performance by the large orchestra of hundred of
musicians, who were in perfect order, went beyond grand and
even felt bizzare.
As the common sense surpassing matsuribayashi played, an
abnormal event occurred with the castle's outer wall as well.
The faint creaking turned into a tremor, and finally, the front of
the wall crumbled away on a grand scale.
What appeared there was an eight-headed and eight-tailed snake
monster.
The large body, converged to one, lay heavily on the upper floor.
The eight tails dangled down the castle's sides, but even if the
creature swung them, they could not reach Nayuta and the others
from there.
What served as the enemy's method of attacking, and the sign for
monster's attacks to Nayuta and the others, was its seven heads,
glaring at the ground.
One of the eight heads was already lying senseless due to Nayuta
and Koyomi's attack. Although it was connected to the same body,
it did not function; while the other seven heads wriggled, a single
one lay limp in the castle.
And the seven heads, matching the rhythm, bared their fangs at
once.
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Koyomi clung to Nayuta's back.

„Ya- 《Yamata no Orochi》……!? I saw it but once in an event! But
I think that that thing was the boss at a battle where hundred of
people…….!“
„──Please take a closer look at it; it is probably a hatchling.“
Somewhat more calm than Koyomi, Nayuta sized up their
opponent.
The Yamata no Orochi that she had seen in a previous event was a
daikaijū
literal large monster with each snake head the size of a river, and
a body longer than a mountain.
Compared to that, the large snake in front of them, whose heads
were only the size of trains, was a monster far smaller in scale.
──However, for „an enemy that they faced with three people“, it
was far from slightly harsh. Even its heads still numbered seven.
Dazed, Yanagi muttered behind them.
„This one is another strange…… and outrageously large creature,
but is it a troublesome enemy?“
„W-well, that's…… Hey, Nayu-san. The Yamata no Orochi from that
battle had a different special ability for each head as I recall……?“
„Yes. Flames, freezing, wind, poison, paralysis, petrification,
bewitching eyes, super healing──right?“
The battle against the 《Yamata no Orochi》 that came up in the
conversation wasn't an event of the 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》.
It was an isolated group event battle that was held last year when
she had not yet known Koyomi, and thinking about it now, she
could guess that it was a test event for the implementation of the
《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》.

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The Yamata no Orochi during that event battle had an oversized,

clunky body; the grand, cooperative battle was so large that each
of the monster's heads had been assigned squads of about twenty
people to handle.
Whenever a squad of about twenty people responsible for
handling one of its heads was wiped out, the large snake would
come to the assistance of another head, thus the more of squads
were beaten, the harder the remaining groups had it.
In contrast, when a head was killed, the players assigned to it
could come to the assistance of the other groups.
The battle of mutual attrition that continued till either side was
annihilated had given Nayuta quite the hard time.
As for Koyomi, she heard that the girl gave up on clearing it in one
battle and left it alone until the event concluded.
Although it was now small in size── when facing such an eight-
headed large snake with a small number of people, one could only
give an empty laugh.
„……That reminds me, the administrators released it in the free
material for quest creation, the 《Yamata no Orochi's》 model I
mean── I believe your grandchild used it for his quest.“
Although its colour was also changed, it was shameful for her not
to have recognised it.
As Nayuta thought over it, Koyomi moaned beside her.
„……Say, Nayu-san. This means the ability of the large snake we
defeated is──
There was no breath attack. Its defence was low and, in a nutshell,
it was anticlimactically weak.
Assuming it had some special ability──
Yanagi grinned broadly and pointed the tip of his bishop's staff at
the large snake inside the castle.

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„Good gracious…… you two. It seems the large snake that you
should have defeated is awakening──“
The lying large snake slowly raised its head.
The HP that should have been depleted had recovered to twenty
percent, and the other heads supported it anxiously.
Nayuta unconsciously pressed down on her forehead while
Koyomi dropped her shoulders.
„……A-as I thought, it's super healing……!“
„……It was a nice warmup, let's think of it that way.“
As the magnificent matsuribayashi continued playing──
Nayuta's eyes saw the eight head-snakes seemingly sneering all
together.

§
The fire breath avoided by a paper-thin margin.
The freezing breath grazed their apparel.
The poison breath showered them, forcing them to use antidotes;
the tremendous wind swept them away when they were
paralysed; petrified while lying on the ground, they were rammed
by a snake; although they managed to heal despite the danger,
their desperate counterattack ended in vain because of the
bewitching evil eyes──
Before the group of huge snakes baking use of special attacks,
Nayuta and the others were completely tossed about, forced into a
hard defensive battle.
Although the eight heads had each received damage, they lacked
the numbers to focus their attacks and had yet to defeat a single
head.
„……Haah……! ……Haah……!“

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Although this was in-game, a sense of fatigue assailed them IRL.

Intensely moving her shoulders up and down, Nayuta avoided the
large snake's ramming attack, kicked the head, and leapt in
another direction.
Although she landed a punch with a yell at a nose of another head
there, the strong wind that assailed her broke her posture, and
she ended up suffering a direct fire breath attack from another
direction as well.
„Kuuh……!“
„A-are you all right, Nayuta-dono!?“
Before she noticed, Yanagi rushed over to her rear.
At almost the same moment as she suffered a direct flame attack,
Nayuta's vision was covered in a white light. It seemed that
Yanagi's houriki 《Kongou60 Barrier》 made it by a hair's breadth.
Although the damage had been largely reduced, because of her
naturally low defence, it was hard to call it a minor injury.
„……Yanagi-san, you can't come too close to the front l……!“
„We cannot have that. I shall hurry with the healing──“
While Yanagi applied a healing houriki through his bishop's staff,
Koyomi somehow managed to turn away the eyes of the large
snakes by using her poorly developed katon.
She was leaping about with the agility of a ninja, but even Nayuta
could see that she was close to her limit.
(We can't win at this rate……! We have no choice but to pull back
and start o……)
──Her reason appealed to her. However, Nayuta ended up
hesitating on her decision.

60 Kongou (金剛) is a Buddhist term for a practically indestructible metal or diamond.

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Not only Nayuta and Koyomi were tired, but the elderly priest
before them was as well.
Several hours had already passed since the play started and it was
clear that they would need to temporarily dissolve the party if
they retreated here.
'See you tomorrow', it could end if they could play the game.
However, in reality── Yanagi's condition probably did not allow
such a conjecture.
Koyomi's casual leave was also probably limited to a day, making
the situation even worse.
'I want to clear this quest today, no matter what── mustering her
willpower and resolving herself, Nayuta once again got up.
„……Yanagi-san, please focus on evasion and defence! If we
managed to defeat even one of the heads for starters, it would
rapidly get more and more easier──“
Figuring out how to pull through the initial fierce attack was the
greatest key in this battle against the Yamata no Orochi.
If half the heads were defeated, the enemy's power would also be
halved, making it easier for allies to focus their attacks on the
remaining heads.
Koyomi continued fighting in such a disadvantageous without
uttering any complaints was also nothing short of her realising
this special characteristic through instinct.
But, at this rate─ it was highly likely that they would be driven to
retire without even defeating a single head.
„Funya───!“
As the matsuribayashi-turned-BGM continued playing, Koyomi's
strangely animal-like scream resounded and her small body was
sent flying like a ball.

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As the situation atop the wide passageway kept changing, she got
stuck in the handrailing and became unable to move.
„Koyomi-san!? Yanagi-san! Please handle the healing!“
„Okay! Right away──!“
Yanagi rushed over to Koyomi, who collapsed at the edge of the
passage, at full speed.
In her heart, Nayuta also wanted to rush over to her, but right
now, she had to serve as the decoy until Koyomi's healing was
complete.
(Yanagi-san's houriki isn't going to last forever either……! Quickly,
we need to quickly open a breach──!)
As she went impatient──
Nayuta committed a blunder.
Overly focused on attracting the attention of the enemy's eyes as a
decoy, she had ended up leaping at the 《centre》 encircled by
the snakes.
Front, back, left, right, and overhead── if all of these directions
were blocked off by the eight heads, even she wouldn't be able to
dodge.
(Dam……!)
At this kind of mistake that would normally be impossible for her,
she resolved fatal injury, when──
A flashed gleamed in an unexpected direction.
Along with the sound of explosion, sparks scattered and smoke
rose in the air; the gazes of the large snakes all turned to it at once.
(An opening! Now's my chance……!)
Making use of the slight gap, Nayuta jumped aside.

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Her back came into contact with an 〝obstacle〟 that shouldn't

have been there just moments ago.
The kitsune, wearing an inverness coat that was out of touch with
the setting of the world, and a deerstalker, looked down at Nayuta
with an arrogant smile.
„Yo, Ojou-san. It seems you're having trouble.“
„De-detective-san!?“
At the awfully unnatural wink from the young kitsune detective,
Clevel, Nayuta was unconsciously about to throw a forefist punch.
But because the man was older than her, she barely halted her
action and instead gave him a look as cold as the freezing breath.
„Since you were so awfully late to regroup, I was practically sure
you had retired── where on earth did you get lost like a child
during all this racket?“
„Calling me a child is very disrespectful. And here I brought some
presents with me, ya know?“
The detective pulled out some fire bombs from his pocket and
threw them high in the air.
The same kind of explosion as before occurred and the group of
large snakes once again looked up in the same direction.
The way they seem to be hypnotised by it looked like a cat who
had discovered some catnip.
The detective, calm and composed, grinned broadly.

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„They're quite effective. I picked up these 《snake fireworks》

from an explosives storehouse, you see. They're a special item
used to distract large snakes, but so valuable that you couldn't get
them if your Luck wasn't high. If this weren't a test play, I'd give
you some as a present as well.“
Correcting her rough breathing, Nayuta hit the proud-looking
detective with a minor question.
„……Umm. I thought that snake fireworks were supposed to form a
snake-like shape with their cinders……“
Clevel sneered.
„It's a staple of a fireworks set. I don't dislike that indescribable
atmosphere when I look at it.“
At this young man who didn't break from his aloof manners even
in the middle of a boss fight, Nayuta felt just a bit of relief.
In any case, he did stall enough for her to catch a breath and calm
down.
At the same time as the large snakes turned around, Nayuta
prepped herself.
„……Although it pains me to say this, our condition is as terrible as
you can see. Since I think you will not be able to fight, Detective-
san, please go to the back with Yanagi-s──“
„Nah, I shall help. If I left it to you guys, Torao-san would need
overtime pay.“
Muttering as if deeply shocked, Clevel struck at the ground with
the tip of his stick.
„……Wha……? Umm, Detective-san, with your stats, no matter how
much you struggle……“
'You'd just be in the way', Nayuta was about to say, but was
interrupted by the detective's faint smile.
„Five…… no, three seconds.“

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„Excuse me?“
„I can turn that large snake into bones in three seconds. You can
just watch from there.“
Even now, she didn't quite understand whether the way he
declared this full of confidence was arrogant or deluded.
As the enemy was the Yamata no Orochi, she thought that perhaps
he had found the Yashiori-no-sake──61
Slowly, the detective took out a wooden percussion instrument
and a pair of drumsticks wrapped in a cloth.
Nayuta couldn't believe her eyes.
The roundish…… or more like nearly spherical form was indeed
familiar. But, she was not just a bit hesitant to call it a 《musical
instrument》.
Its surface gave off a glossy brilliance, as the detective began
playing on it.

*Poku*, *Poku*, *Poku*, *Poku*, *Poku*……

„……That is a mokugyo,62 right?“

As his instrument let out a heart-easing, rich bass, the detective
leisurely nodded.
„This is the 《musical instrument》 needed for regrouping that
I've found. Though…… to display the true value of these musical
instruments, it seems you need to have regrouped first.“
Clevel boastfully exaggerated.

61 A strong alcoholic drink that was used to drug Yamata no Orochi to sleep in the original myth,
making it vulnerable to attacks.
62 A mokugyo (木魚), also known as "wooden fish" or "Chinese temple block", is a fish-shaped
wooden temple drum.

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The detective playing the mokugyo while standing upright was

quite a surreal sight, but without the time to laugh or be shocked,
a 〝change〟 began to take place steadily.
The performance of the 《phantom orchestra》-turned-battle
BGM began to fade in response to the sound of the mokugyo.
Koyomi, who had made a comeback due to Yanagi's healing, let
out a shrill voice having suddenly noticed this.
„The hayashi is becoming weaker…… huh!? My instrument
too……!“
The handbell Koyomi took out from her item list was emitting a
faint light as if resonating.
Nayuta's flute and Yanagi's kotsuzumi, taken out from their
inventories following her lead, had similarly began to shine.
The detective gave a bewitching smile.
„You should also play your instruments. Remember what Torao-
san had said? These are, essentially, sacred ritual tools that had
protected the village. Because that large snake had stolen these
instruments, the villagers had their spirits taken and were used as
musicians for the snake. Meaning── what gives the snake its
power is the matsuribayashi of the villages, and what negates that
are these sacred ritual tools; that's how it works.“
Hearing the proud explanation, Nayuta placed her lips on the
flute's mouthpiece.
Blowing into it, the vibration of the air created a timbre.
When the timbre reached the 《phantom orchestra》, they
stopped their own performance and listened to the sound of the
sacred ritual tools.
And then, when the performance of the 《phantom orchestra》
stopped── the Yamata no Orochi lost its energy, and became
flustered at the change of the situation.

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The detective sneered broadly.

„The reason why the large snake wanted the musicians was to
strengthen itself. By stealing the sacred ritual tools that would
hinder this and enshrining them in its castle to control them, the
ruler of the castle placed itself as their 〝god〟. However, the vital
sacred ritual tools were stolen by us…… and this time, we were
the ones who used their power. Now then, let's turn the tables.“
Having accomplished a sudden reversal of the situation in just a
mere few seconds just as he had proclaimed, the detective
continued playing his mokugyo with disinterest.
Nayuta wasn't all that satisfied with the explanation, but it was
true that she had not noticed this trick, thus she had no excuses
now.
Luckily, there were eight targets she could take her anger out on.
Holding her flute in her hand, Nayuta leapt in front of the large
snakes.
Unlike just moments ago, the weakened snakes' reaction had been
dulled.
Although they were still baring their fangs, their vigour was far
from the level of the battle they had just had; they had been
practically turned into huge targets.
Nayuta mercilessly pounded them with her fist.
Koyomi followed suit, and the two-top extermination began.
„Nayu-san! You can leave this half to me! Yanagi-san, supports
pls.“
„Very well. It seems…… victory is at hand.“
Yanagi, who supported the two while continuing to play his
kotsuzumi, was giving healing and elaborate support with such
skill that you wouldn't think that he had been a newbie just a few
days ago.

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As the HP gauge of the large snakes decreased at a fine speed,

Nayuta glimpsed back at the detective.
Clevel didn't join the fight.
Because he would just be a hindrance even if he did step forward
to the front line, she didn't mind his inaction, but she wasn't
happy with the fact that he was useful in a good way.
Though, it was true that if he had not used his instrument, they
would have lost to the large snakes. In the first place, if he weren't
here, they wouldn't have been able to clear the quest in the form
of a test play like this.
In that sense, it was miraculous guidance that brought Yanagi and
his request to him in the first place.
As the detective enjoyed watching the spectacle of the subjugation
carried out by Nayuta and the others, right next to him──
She thought she had suddenly seen a phantom of the kitsune-
masked child.

§
The ending of the 《Phantom Orchestra》 quest was signaled by a
large number of fireworks rising to the sky.
The moment they defeated the hatchling Yamata no Orochi, the
souls of the villagers who were trapped as the 《phantom
orchestra》 rose to the sky one after another── while the castle
that lost its master began collapsing, as if dissolving into
emptiness.
While watching the fireworks all together, Nayuta let out an
exhausted-sounding sigh
„……Somehow, I feel like Detective-san stole the show in the end.“
What was the point of all that trouble they had with the large
snakes before they were weakened──
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Thinking about it, her own carelessness was deplorable. The use
of key items was the basic of basics, but she got limited by the
perception of the musical instruments as 《items for
regrouping 》, and, influenced by her impatience, she lost track of
the timing to use them.
Looking up at the fireworks, Clevel nodded with not much
boasting.
„If you guess what the creator likes, you naturally start to see the
way to clear his quest. When we offered botamochi at the hokora,
you should have felt it too. That 〝is it really okay to solve it so
easily?〟.“
Nayuta was taken aback. The series of offerings that began with
the request „I wanna eat some botamochi“ didn't actually require
getting the necessary items one by one, as it accepted the goods
written on paper as a substitute.
If they had gone looking for the necessary items regularly, it
wasn't hard to imagine that it would have required a lot of effort
and time.
„……Even though the problems look hard, there is always an easy
way to solve them…… that is the policy of the creator?“
Yanagi, who was watching the fireworks lost in thought, did not
hear their conversation.
The detective breathed out.
„That's right. Whether you notice the hints or not. Solely
depending on that, the difficulty greatly varies── That is the
special trait of this quest. It had probably taken into account
Yanagi-san. He made it so that even at a low level, you could clear
it if you just noticed the hints── although, due to the
administrators adjusting the difficulty, it did become a bit
troublesome.
Nayuta felt a subtle sense of discomfort about his words.

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On the surface, he was pretending to be talking to her, but in fact,

his tone was stiff, as if he was trying to relay something to 〝
someone other than Nayuta〟.
„Are you complaining about the administrators?“
The detective sneered.
„No? Because of them, I did get to make money, so I didn't have
such an intention. Though…… it is true that the late Kiyofumi-shi's
dying wish is strongly reflected in this quest. I believe that if his
dying wish was twisted, the administrators needed good faith,
consideration, and a reason for that. Since this quest is 〝a
contributed work〟 ……as long as they're not too distorted, the
creator's sentiments should be reflected as much as possible.“
Nayuta carefully simplified the detective's roundabout phrasing.
„Meaning……that it should be reimplemented as soon as possible
and without too much tinkering done with it?“
The detective shrugged.
„Though I'm not the one to make that decision. As for my personal
thoughts, well…… that's about right.“
──There was still one obstacle to reimplementing the quest.
The 《ghost that shouldn't exist in the data》 which was the
reason why the quest was suspended in the first place.
The administrators, carefully examining the results of this test
play, would now be deciding on how to handle it.
And it seemed like the detective was also hesitating about
something related to the ghosts.
Nayuta still didn't know much about him. She hadn't been
socialising with him enough to guess what he was worried about,
nor did she intend to dig deep.
Though, as they say, even a chance meeting is due to fate, thus she
couldn't think of him as a complete stranger.
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„……Detective-san, whose 《ghost》 did you see?“

Her voice covered by the sound of the fireworks, Nayuta silently
asked.
The detective frowned.
„Hm……? I told you about it, didn't I. A close friend that had died in
SAO.“
„I did hear that, but…… I still do not know the details. Such as, 'she
was actually a girl', 'she was my unrequited love', or the
circumstances of when the person died.“
The detective looked at Nayuta as if shocked.
„I didn't expect you to ask something like that── and here I
thought that you had the kind of personality where you didn't pry
into such fine details about others.“
Even Nayuta herself actually thought it was unexpected.
„Of course, if you do not want to talk about it, please ignore me.
Just a little while ago……I was told by Koyomi-san. That 〝if you
have something you want to talk about, you can let it all out〟──
but, it does not seem like you have such a person, Detective-san,
so I thought I would ask.“
She intentionally sounded patronising as she said that so that it
would be easy to brush it away as a joke if he was reluctant; that
was her consideration.
As if her words went through, Clevel laughed scornfully.
„How cheeky are we── Well, it's not something that I'm hiding.
I…… was unable to stop him from going into the jaws of death.“
Nayuta sensed a negative connotation in the detective's voice.
„He was my friend from university days. He wasn't of the opposite
sex, so no need for your trifling suspicions. We both liked games
and had agreed to log into SAO…… and then we were dragged into
that incident.“
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Hearing his story, Nayuta felt a slight pain running through her
chest.
„It would be a long story if I told you all the details, so I'll make it
brief…… I prioritised surviving and chose to be safe. However, he
was too much in a hurry to return to the real world as quick as he
could── dragged out by an incompetent superior, he went
straight to the front line, and died.“
Nayuta unconsciously pressed down on her chest.
„……Detective-san…… you did not happen to be there?“
Clevel shook his head.
„No. I heard about the situation from a survivor afterwards. So, the
ghost of his I saw…… could practically be called a product of my
imagination. I don't know what kind of expression he had when he
died. Because I was trapped in SAO, I couldn't even go to the
funeral. And, even now── I have nightmares about him. A pitiful
story, no.“
The detective's voice was unconcerned to the bitter end.
„The fact that I was unable to stop him from going into the jaws of
death…… to me, this is the biggest regret in my life so far. That
day, if I had stopped him in town, even if I had to tie him down……
I believe the guy would have lived on, and I myself would have
gone down an entirely different road in life now.“
Nayuta gave a faint smile.
It was a serious topic, but she ended up feeling just a bit of relief
that even such an arrogant detective had such a person with him.
„He was a precious…… very precious friend, I see.“
The detective took a deep breath and loosened his shoulders.
„I do know that I have to get over it already. Good grief…… I was
supposed to only help Yanagi-san clear the quest, but I ended up
facing my own regrets in an unexpected form. Now then── your
turn. Shall I hear you out.“
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Nayuta nodded and firmly closed her eyes.

She took a breath, a second one──
After clearing her thoughts, she opened her eyes and saw large-
flowered fireworks blooming in the sky.
„──The ghost I saw was of a very close person to me. I had
somehow been able to keep a lid on my feelings, but…… but seeing
him as a 《ghost》 during this quest, I thought over again. That
〝 aah, he really is dead〟──“
The detective didn't say a thing.
So, Nayuta continued her monologue with unconcernedly.
„I believe, I had been running away. Because of this quest, I had
realised this again. The way that 《ghost》 appears…… is an
illusion seen only by yourself, or something more like a dream,
right? It wasn't something as grand as reading memories, it was
something simpler…… You randomly see 〝something〟 that was
on your 〝mind〟──essentially, that is all there is to how it
works.“
Not meeting her eyes, Clevel gave a short nod.
„That's right. What one saw depended entirely on the person──
and the administrators consider this to be a risk factor. What──
do you think?“
Nayuta slipped out a smile. Absurd… calling it that badly was rude,
but the question truly seemed absurd.
„A person 〝having a dream〟 while sleeping is a risk factor?“
„Well…… it depends on the content of the dream. This is a VR
space, so strictly speaking, it's not like the person is sleeping
either──“
──His words…… didn't convey his own feelings.
The detective's feelings were probably the same as Nayuta's.

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However, precisely because of that── he refrained from voicing

his own thoughts, and instead was trying to say them through
〝 Nayuta's〟 mouth.
Most likely, he was trying to make the administrators secretly
monitoring their 《conversation》 to hear the opinion of a real
〝 player〟.
Having guess this much, Nayuta gave the detective the answer he
wanted.
„I am thankful to this mechanic. It was something I had to face at
some point, and, most importantly── treating the freedom to
have a dream as a risk to a person is just too much meddling. I
would of course be against memories being pulled out as data, but
if that's not the case, I do think I want to leave this mechanic for
the people who will be playing the quest afterwards. Whether that
will bring about good results or bad…… that depends on the
person himself, right?“
Gazing up at the fireworks, the detective shrugged and smiled.
It seemed that he got the answer he wanted.
„How unexpectedly extreme you are. In that case, when something
happens…… how do you think the administrators should take
responsibility?“
„There is no need for someone to take responsibility for what
someone else sees in their dream. Just disclosing about the
mechanic would be enough. You keep saying risk risk, but that
kind of risk…… is on the level of a measurement error compared
to the risk of 〝using quests contributed by the users〟. To follow
the dying wish of the late creator, the administrators should put
up with it; if they do not have the resolution for that, they should
not have done this event itself in the first place.“
Suddenly, the detective friendly patted Nayuta's head.
Nayuta's shoulders tensed up for a moment in surprise.

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It seemed that it was mostly an unconscious action, and when she

looked at him, she saw the detective laughing uncontrollably.
„……Oh, excuse me. How wonderful. Such sharp words coming
from such a graceful woman surprised me. You could really be cut
out for the work of a police officer. If you were able to display such
incisiveness as you did now on top of your skills at interrogation,
you'd end up being quite the fine officer.“
Nayuta gave a deep sigh.
„IRL, I have trouble with stamina and physical fitness, so no thank
you. I believe that working as a clerk at your office, Detective-san,
would be a much better option.“
After laughing for a while, the detective corrected his posture and
breathing.
„……Wow, that was amusing. Well, I did become indebted to you,
so if you ever have a need for it, I could give you advice on place of
employment. We're apparently shady, so forget about us, but I
could give you recommendations for a proper occupation, like that
of your acquaintances. At the very least, you would have nothing
to lose.“
Speaking strangely generously, Clevel suddenly turned his eyes
into the wrong direction.
Nayuta became interested and also looked in the same direction.
Illuminated by the rising fireworks──
Standing there absent-mindedly was the 《kitsune-masked
child 》.
Yanagi and Koyomi also noticed his appearance and slowly
stepped up beside him.
He looked up at Nayuta and the others and uttered in a strangely
clear voice.
„──Congrats. So you managed to clear the quest.“

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The detective nodded and put out his hand for a handshake.
„Yeah. Thanks to you. I have to thank you…… for all the hints
you've given us.“
The AI boy inclined his head.
„And here I thought I didn't do anything more than needed…… Oh
well. To all the people who've cleared the quest… well, not really,
but to people who know Kiyofumi, I have a message from him. 〝
Thank you for playing〟, he said.“
Koyomi moaned.
„W-what an unexpectedly broad comment…… wha, that's it? I'm
not an acquaintance or anything, but ain't there anything else?“
The kitsune-masked child turned his gaze towards the fireworks.
„Hmm……there are several messages for individual players, but
they're not meant for your group, Onee-san, so I can't tell ya.
Sorry. Though……“
The child suddenly pointed at a nook below the entrance of the
castle.
„It seems the one for Ojii-chan was unlocked at the hokora after
the quest was cleared. To a guy who solved the initial riddle, I
don't have to point out every single thing, right, Detective-san?
Because there was a chance that my actions would be sealed by
the administrators── the truly important stuff was hidden there.“
Having said this much, the kitsune-masked child waved his hand.
„So long. Goodbye.“
„Ah, hold on a bit!“
Nayuta reflexively called him to a stop. The child who had already
started leaving turned around.
„What is it?“
„Umm…… are you alone here?“
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She spontaneously asked, as the child chuckled.

„──Onee-chan, you sure are nice. Don't worry, it's not like I'm
only 《here》…… We spend our time more freely than you
probably think.“
The kitsune-masked child spread out his arms.
„Just like people have people as friends, artificial intelligence has
artificial intelligence as friends── Right now, we're continuing 〝
growing up〟 at tremendous speed. Though…… I myself don't
have much interest in that. 〝I〟 am here, but another 〝me〟
that has elements of 〝me〟 could appear in some other place. At
that time── let's play together again.“
Leaving behind the sound of a fragile bell, the kitsune-masked
child disappeared as if into a haze.
had been bewitched by a kitsun
Feeling, just as the saying goes, that she couldn't trust her eyes ,
Nayuta exchanged glances with Koyomi.
„Detective-san, that just now……“
„What what? What just happened?“
„I can't really answer that, but…… we just got one more job to do
to finish up. Let's return to the entrance of the castle.“
The 〝hokora〟 the kitsune-masked child pointed out before
leaving──
The kitsune-masked child had said that this was where Kiyofumi
had hidden his important things.
The detective seemed to have already realised what that was.
Just then, the fireworks ended.
The castle the large snakes appeared it had collapsed into ruins,
but the foothold where Nayuta and the others had been still
remained.

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Going through the one-way warp zone from the stairs leading
downwards, the group were able to quickly return to the entrance.
The huge gate that looked ominous when they entered now, after
clearing the quest, looked pleasant as if it were a papier mache.
In the centre of the short steps going down from the gate, the
hokora that they had given 〝mochi〟 to when they first entered
was buried.
The statue of a child enshrined within was now sleeping soundly
and peacefully.
„What are we……going to do here?“
Excluding the know-it-all detective, Nayuta and the others were
bewildered.
The detective stared at the hokora with kitsune-like eyes.
„Well then……what was requested here. Anyone remember?“
At this question, Koyomi inclined her head.
„Botamochi, right? Also, Koorimochi, kuzukumochi; various things
from the mochi series──“
„What was the order?“
„Wha.“
Koyomi was suddenly at a loss for words. Nayuta, too, did not
remember that much, of course.
Yanagi seemed to be in the same spot, as he stared at the statue
with a troubled expression.
The detective chuckled.
„I see. So I was the only one who got that message? The order was
thus. Botamochi, kuzumochi, habutaemochi, koorimochi,
kobanmochi, nikkimochi, isobemochi── and finally, the hint 《
Ruri mo hari mo teraseba hikar
Even a lapis lazuli or crystal》.“

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After some thought, Nayuta let out „Ah.“

At the same time, she understood why the detective accurately
remembered even the order of the offerings.
Koyomi seemed to have yet to realise this as she pulled on
Nayuta's sleeve.
„What do you mean 'ah'. What do you mean 'ah', Nayu-san. Did
you realise something. Don't put on airs and tell mee!“
„No, I am not acting pretentious…… umm, it is the initials. If you
read the first characters in a row, what you get──“
After answering, she hesitated a bit on whether she should have
said that in front of Yanagi.
„Initials…… err, botamochi, kuzumochi…… ah.“
Koyomi's expression suddenly turned into a serious look.
A bit late, Yanagi's also frowned with his grey eyebrows.

Boku wa koko ni iru

──I am present here.

The sentiments put in such a message by a dying person was by

no means light.
The detective turned to Yanagi.
„This is the late Koyomi-shi's self-assertion…… his final
lamentation in preparation for death, his own earnest feelings put
into his work── is what I believe…… Though it is possible it was
not that solemn. More simply, it could have the implication 〝I am
present here, so if you have something to ask, ask it here〟.“
„Wha? Umm, does that……“
Being told something so unexpected, Nayuta became bewildered.

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This strong message seemed like a scream by someone who,

fearing death, wanted to at least leave behind proof of his
existence.
Without answering her question, the detective spelled out some
characters on the piece of paper for offerings.

《 Yanagimochi 》

This was the name of nationwide-established cake that

represented Yanagi's company, Yanagi-ya Ryuuzen-dou.
The cheap and popular product that contained an assortment of
eight flavours of mochi cakes was known by practically everyone.
The offered piece of paper immediately disappeared a sealed
letter appeared in its stead.
Without breaking the seal, Clevel handed over the sealed letter to
Yanagi.
„──This is something that you, rather than us, should open. Here
you go.“
With his faintly trembling hands, Yanagi took the letter.
Unlike the requests for mochi, the content of the letter was quite
long.

【 To the person who found this letter

I believe this letter will probably only be found by my grandpa.
If someone else found this latter── please ignore it and leave it
alone.
The following is my last will to my grandpa.

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To Ojii-chan.
What I wanted to say I have practically already told you while I
was alive.
But, there was one last thing──
Although this may be repetitive, there is something that I wish to
tell you, no matter what, from the bottom of my heart.
Ojii-chan, you brought me, a boy who would not be able to live
long because of an illness I was born with, the best medical care
and the best environment.
Ojii-chan, you and the others pitied me, but I felt very blessed──
In the world, there are plenty of people who die without receiving
proper treatment.
I should have died sooner like these people, but the reason why I
was able to live so many years was of you and the others.

I received a life.
You bought me a computer and a phone.
I received a grace period till my death, and the chance to learn a
lot of things.

I made some friends in the world of VRMMOs.

Everyone from the Sleeping Knights.
Ran, Yuuki, Merida, Jun, Siune, Talken, Nori, Tecchi──
I have memories with them all, so even now with my death before
me, I have no regrets.

And so, I was finally able to create a quest for my favourite game.

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There were a lot of stuff that I thought about when creating the
quest for the 《Hundred and One Apparitions》.
I gave the artificial intelligence that had helped me create it my
own player name.
He is a mischievous boy, so he could have confused you, Ojii-chan.

I felt like Ran and Merida had also helped me with creating the
quest.
They are no longer with us, but── while working, for some reason
I felt that they were with me.
After this, I shall also be going to them. This could be imprudent,
but, actually, I am just a bit looking forward to that.

From the point of view of the people around me, VRMMOs were
probably 〝only a game〟.
But, to me, these few years have been truly precious, like treasure.
All of this was what I had received from you, Ojii-chan.

──Ojii-chan.
Thank you for giving me 〝time〟 and 〝possibilities〟.
Sorry for not being able to give anything in return.
Thanks to you and the others, my life was truly fortunate.

Yanagi Kiyofumi】

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──Having fallen on his knees on the spot, Yanagi sobbed, his

shoulders trembling.
While Nayuta and Koyomi gently stroked the elderly man's back.
The kitsune-faced detective just continued motionlessly staring at
the stars shining in the sky without saying a thing.

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Final Chapter - Nayuta’s Tears

Final Chapter
Nayuta’s Tears

At the end of March, around the time when the sakura buds had
finished opening up in the Kantou area.
The death of Yanagi Teiichi, the chairman of the confectionery
store named Yanagi-ya Ryuuzen-dou, was announced.
He died at the age of eighty-one.
Although a small article about this appeared in every newspaper,
it didn't become much of a topic in society, his death being
accepted calmly.
That day, with some Yanagi-mochi bought from a department
store in an underground shopping centre as a present, Detective
Clevel visited the office of his friend 《Thinker》.
The man who managed the game info site called MMO Today was
also an SAO survivor who had once led the 《Aincrad Liberation
Force》.
While giving a prudent look at his terminal, Thinker sighed rather
deeply.
„So Chairman Yanagi has passed away, huh…… you going to the
funeral?“
Detective Clevel── Kurei Kaisei cast his eyes down and nodded.
„Of course. I want to pay my respects to the wife; we do have a
strange relationship after all.“
Yanagi Teiichi fell into a coma not long after the 《Phantom
Orchestra》 was cleared.
A mere few days after that── he was finally summoned to heaven.

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While operating the terminal in his hands, Thinker picked up a

mochi.
„We, too, have received courteous thanks from his wife. We were
right to introduce you to them.“
Thinker was the middleman between Yanagi and Clevel.
It seems that while looking for someone to help him with the
quest, Yanagi had consulted his acquaintance who had put up an
ad on MMO Today.
This led to Thinker, who fired a white arrow-feather at the roof63
of the tour-guide-and-detective Clevel.
Thinker and Clevel had once been part of the Liberation Force
together.
That doesn't mean they had a long relationship.
It was only to the extent that he had helped Thinker and Yulier
late in the game; in fact, they had more opportunities to keep in
touch after being liberated from SAO, due to mutual interests
between Thinker, who was managing and info site, and Clevel,
who had started a new network security company.
Like in this case, when a request was passed on to Clevel by
Thinker; they maintained such a friendly give-and-take
relationship.
„However, about that 《Phantom Orchestra》──was it a quest
created by a member of the Sleeping Knights? Have I told you
about 《Absolute Sword》 in ALfheim before?“
„Yeah. I've heard he's remarkably skilled swordsman. Seeing as
you brought up the story of Absolute Sword here…… is he also…?“
Thinker inclined his head ambiguously.

63 An expression for "being selected from a group of people". The expression originates from a tale
where a white arrow-feather shot at a roof indicates that the family's daughter was chosen to be a
sacrifice for a god or monster.

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„Not he, but she. But, as you've guessed, the girl is also a member
of the Sleeping Knights, and their second leader at that. Her name
is Yuuki and she is a friend of a friend, but…… she passed away
just the other day. She was still in her mid-teens.“
Clevel closed his eyes.
He had never directly met the player named Yuuki. For starters,
their primary place of activity was different.
Although it had become easy to convert character data among all
sorts of games since the dissemination of The Seed, her primary
battleground was ALfheim after all, while Clevel was practically a
permanent resident of Asuka Empire.
„And having never heard of the 《Phantom Orchestra》 by then, it
seems…… perhaps Kiyofumi-kun never informed his partners
about his quest having been accepted.“
Clevel replied with a sigh.
„I feel like I can understand him. It was hard for him to bring it
up…… or more like, he must have never thought of bringing it up.
Even if it were accepted, it was unclear when it would be
implemented. If he were still alive at the time and could bring his
partners along to show them around, it would be one thing…… but
if that weren't the case, things would become complicated. If some
of his mates died while waiting for the implementation, it would
be all the more difficult to speak about it in the future.“
Actually, at the moment, the 《Phantom Orchestra》 was
temporarily suspended for adjustment. Its reopening time was
still undecided; at the earliest, it could drag on till May or even
more.
He could think of even several more reasons why Kiyofumi never
informed his partners about the quest.
From his own position, all Clevel could do was making vague and
arbitrary guesses, but, for example, it was possible that he „didn't
want to brag about his results“.

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Compared to his companions, all about to die young, him alone

being able to leave something behind could have felt painful.
Depending on the point of view, displaying such visible fruits of
his labour to his close-to-death companions could be considered
cruel.
On the contrary, considering the precious memories he had with
his comrades, the results of his quest application were likely
overshadowed.
Or, perhaps──
There was the possibility that the member Kiyofumi wanted to
share the joy with had already died before him.
On top of that, why did Kiyofumi leave behind traces of the
Sleeping Knights within the quest?
Was it for the survivors or his kouhai who may possibly stumble
upon it, or was it because of a pure desire to leave some records of
them behind, or was it a memorial for the companions who had
already died before him── either way, anything further on this
topic was already appropriate to be called groundless speculation,
rather than conjecture.
Though, there was one thing clear.
In the end, to Kiyofumi, the 《Phantom Orchestra》 was not „a
creation to brag about to someone“, but the realisation of his own
desire „to simply create something“.
On top of that, Kiyofumi presuming that his grandfather Yanagi
would play it was simply the result of him having noticed the
deeply-ingrained guilt Yanagi was harbouring.
'Not being to do anything for his grandchild, who was dying
young'── that's what Yanagi had been convinced of.
No matter what words the boy used to deny this
misunderstanding, it would only end up sounding as an attempt to
comfort the old man, thus it was quite hard to resolve.

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That's why Kiyofumi presented Yanagi with visible fruits of his

labour and used it as proof to break his misunderstanding.
The collection of quests for the《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions 》, and the 《Phantom Orchestra》 were materials by
which Kiyofumi could achieve several of his desires all at once.
The figure of Yanagi as he broke down crying at the last words
from Kiyofumi was even now burned into Clevel's mind.
It seems that Yanagi's expression at death was so peaceful that it
even surprised the doctors.
If clearing the 《Phantom Orchestra》 served as repose for his
soul, it was honestly delightful.
With a sidelong glance at Clevel, silently in thought, Thinker
picked up a mochi.
„I don't know what you're thinking about, but…… you're as prone
to overthinking things as always, it seems. Should I provide some
advice?“
„……Did it seem like I was deep in thought? I was only spacing out
for a bit, you see.“
Ending the conversation, Clevel left his seat. Being falsely accused
of something was a bit bothersome.
„Well then, I've finished covering the details about Yanagi-san's
case, so I'll be excusing myself. This time, I also got to make a
profit. Let me know if you get anything else.“
„I'm asking just in case, but it would be bad to turn that story into
an article, right?“
At Thinker's question, Clevel replied with a faint smile.

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„Give me a break. It's a matter of confidence for us. In the near

future, I have an arrangement to meet the director of Yanagi-ya. I
was called on because he 〝would like to hear the full story〟. I'll
confirm with him at that time whether it's a story that can be
released.“
The current director of the confectionery store named Yanagi-ya
was Yanagi's son and Kiyofumi's father.
Regarding his own son, he had been unable to do much of any
fatherly things, and in regard to his own father, he had been
unable to show that much devotion; he had revealed these regrets
of his to Clevel by phone.
But from Clevel's perspective, a certain extent of that felt
inevitable.
As a practical issue, it was by no means easy to maintain his
father's business and sustain his family and employees financially.
It would have been problematic if he abandoned his employees at
the roadside for his son's cuteness, and devotion to his parents
would be the last thing on his mind if he destroyed the company
he had inherited.
As time was limited and people only had a single body, there was a
definite limit to what a person could do.
Just when he was about to leave Thinker's workplace, Clevel was
given a paper bag.
„Here, a souvenir from Canada. Take it with you.“
Despite not being big, it was quite heavy.
„Thanks. Maple syrup, huh?“
„Yeah. You could use it to bake scones, for example. It's the one
thing I can't pass on in-game.“
It seemed that he had remembered something from the past.

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„If it's too much for you, give it to that high school girl from that
part-time job. You do seem to be infatuated with her.“
At Thinker's teasing, Clevel replied with a snicker.
Speaking of the infatuation, he couldn't reject that idea, but he had
told no one the reason why.
At the very least── it wasn't something that he wanted to make
public that much.
Along the way back to his own workplace, Clevel once again got
lost in thought.
The player-tester, employed part-time for the aforementioned
quest, Nayuta──
Clevel harboured somewhat conflicting emotions about her.
Of course, it wasn't a case of falling head over heels.
Just yesterday, he heard from Torao, who was making progress on
inspecting the 《Phantom Orchestra》, a peculiar fact.

〝Knowing my position, I shouldn't really tell you this, but……

when I checked on the system logs before and after the test play, I
found something a bit peculiar regarding the traces of the young
lady's login and logout. And when I investigated the matter
further, I found that it happened practically each time……〟.

According to Torao, Nayuta seemed to be always logging into

Asuka Empire from „a different server“. The same took place when
she logged out - she didn't return to the real world directly, but
through a particular server.
If she were playing another game as well, going back and forth to
that server was a possibility.

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Though, in that case, the server displayed in the system logs

would belong to the respective game and the administrators
would have a rough idea of what game she was playing.
Apparently, that was not the case with Nayuta's logs.

〝She is probably using a personal server at home, or perhaps a

rented server for personal use, to log in and log out. I don't know
what purpose that serves and it's not really a violation of terms of
service, but…… I thought I'd let you know.〟

In short, it was baffling that she took such an unnecessary

measure before playing the game and before returning to the real
world.
But then, Clevel could think of a reason for that.
Nayuta's surname, 〝Kushiinada〟 was rare as it is, but Clevel
knew of two people other than Nayuta who held such a surname.
The first was a contemporary from the police, his comrade-in-
arms 《Yakumo》, Kushiinada Daichi, who seemed to be Nayuta's
elder brother.
He had lost his overly young life within SAO. The fact that he was
unable to stop him from going into battle could be said to be
Clevel's biggest regret.
The other was a technical officer of the National Police Agency's
Telecommunications Department, Kushiinada Kimihito── he was
Daichi and Nayuta's uncle.
After returning alive from SAO, Clevel was visited by him at the
hospital and told he wanted to hear the details about his nephew's
death.
The organisation known as the police had a lot of talented people
with blood ties.

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It wasn't purely a case of getting employed through personal

connections; in the first place, having a relative in the force gave
one the advantage of a clear background.
Taking it to extremes, a person harbouring antisocial thoughts had
the risk of being a foreign spy or something like that trying to slip
into the organisation, and thus background check for the police
was far stricter than for a civilian enterprise.
And, if a relative is an official within the force, you have the chance
to know the state of affairs inside to some extent, thus making it
easier to be picked for the career.
From Daichi's uncle── Clevel heard what had happened in the
Kushiinada household after the death of his bosom friend.
Daichi's death and the whole story of what happened afterwards
had become gossip even within the police force and his uncle
Kimihito became the focus for pitying looks.
Nayuta's mysterious login record was probably related to these
circumstances.
Having shamelessly survived, Clevel also assembled inquisitive
looks from his coworkers, but after recovering, he immediately
resigned from the police.
He made up some appropriate ostensible reasons.
He lost confidence in living his life as a police officer; he wanted to
reconsider his way of living; he was shocked by the death of his
bosom friend──
All of them were lies. Clevel did not have such an admirable
personality.
The real reason he retired from the office of a police officer,
started a tiny security enterprise, and took on the job of a
detective-like tour guide was more foolish than these made-up
ostensible reasons.

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At least, that's how he thought of it, so he hasn't told anyone other

than a very, very small number of people about it.
Meeting Nayuta, Daichi's younger sister, when his company was
finally going right on track felt too much like fate to be brushed off
as a mere coincidence.
Despite the bright spring sunlight, he was gloomy.
His mobile phone vibrated in his pocket.
The name 《Nayuta》 was displayed on the incoming call.
Feigning a calm state of mind, Clevel came to a halt at the edge of
the street and answered the phone.
„……Hello?“
『Ah, Detective-san…… sorry for the sudden call. This is Nayuta
speaking. Can you talk on the phone right now?』
„Yeah, I don't mind…… you're here for Yanagi-san, I guess?“
It seemed he hit the bullseye, as Nayuta was at a loss for words.
That was the only conceivable reason why she'd call him right
now.
Clevel continued speaking calmly.
„If you want to come to the funeral, I shall contact you when I get
to know the details. Since it'll probably be a company funeral,
there will be a lot of attendees. There should be no problem in us
slipping in.“
『Y-yes…… Umm, I know this is late, but I'm surprised you were
able to tell, you know? Detective-san, do you read the hearts of
others? I kind of feel like you have gone beyond mere insight,
acquiring supernatural powers……』
At the bewildered Nayuta, Clevel gave an unnatural sight as a
reply.

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„Actually, that's the case── Allow me to guess what you're

thinking right now. 〝This person really is not right in the head〟
……am I right?“
Nayuta fell silent for a few moments.
Finally, he heard her shocked voice.
『……Masochistic, or rather, how should I put it…… first off, that
was unfair. Anybody would have that kind of thought.』
„How rude. My guess should have been correct. Well then, I'll call
you later.“
Promptly ending the call, the detective once took a deep breath
again.
──'She shouldn't have noticed my uneasiness.'
〝Kaisei, do you read the hearts of others? You've gone beyond
mere insight, acquiring supernatural powers.〟
Each time Clevel expressed a trifling conjecture while Daichi was
alive, he'd frequently say that in a shocked voice.
When both the brother and the sister used similar phrasings, he of
course couldn't stay calm.
Under the clear, blue spring sky, Clevel was, in contrast,
harbouring gloomy emotions as he quickly walked through town.

§
Yanagi Teiichi's funeral service was grand.
Starting with Yanagi-ya's employees and clients, the service was
also visited by a large number of other people, such as
representatives from other companies Yanagi had interacted with,
officials from the confectionery school that he had worked as a
director at, and acquaintances from haiku poetry gatherings and
tea ceremonies; all of them came to see off the man who had lived
to a ripe old age.
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Clevel and Nayuta had also slipped into the line, finished burning
the incense offering, and were now standing in a corner of the
precincts in mourning dresses.
In order not to impede passage, the two took shelter under a tree
within the grounds, and Clevel slightly loosened his necktie.
„It sure has become hot. It seems it's about time to put away the
kotatsu.“
„……You have not put it away yet?…… Incidentally, you use a
kotatsu? It really does not go with your appearance.“
Clevel laughed scornfully.
„I have no intention of deciding my lifestyle based on appearance.
Kotatsu are nice. They'e cheap, have good heating efficiency, and
you can both sit and sleep next to them── if you take off the futon,
you could also use it as a low table in summer. It's wonderful.“
Nayuta lightly burst into laughter.
„Detective-san, such words filled with livelihood coming from
your kitsune face only feel out of place. You give off more of…… an
impression that you'd be drinking white wine or something in a
stylish, pure white room in some high-rise condominium.“
He accepted the small number of thorns in all of her words in a
positive manner as her way of letting her guard down.
„For some reason, I get told that often. Though, I don't happen to
have such a financially-heavy taste. If pushed, I'd say that I'd
prefer old-fashioned stuff, whether it's Japanese or Western. The
interior of my detective office feels like that too, don't you think?“
Nayuta nodded.
„Yes. I do relatively like the ambience of that office.
„I haven't shown it to you two, but I actually have a tatami-matted
kotatsu room inside. It sure is easy to remodel a room in virtual
space.“

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Nayuta smiled. Although this wasn't an appropriate expression at

a funeral service, she did seem to be relieved.
„I know. I also occasionally……“
Having begun to say this, Nayuta suddenly hesitated.
„That reminds me, Detective-san. Speaking of virtual space, just a
while ago, the topic of the Bakeneko Tea House came up in the
emails with Yanagi-san's wife. At that time, she said she would
definitely want to visit it── how about we invite her when things
have calmed down?“
Clevel unintentionally replied with a forced smile. Perhaps being
on the same wavelength, Yanagi's wife was quite fond of Nayuta.
He could roughly guess how the topic of the 《Bakeneko Tea
House》 came up in the email.
After the success in clearing the Phantom Orchestra── they
couldn't just leave Yanagi, who had broken down into tears due to
the last words from Kiyofumi, thus the group held a minor closing
party at the Bakeneko Tea House.
Yanagi was surprised by craftsmanship of all sorts of sweets, but it
seemed he had some thoughts about the mamekan in particular.
The Bakeneko Tea House's mamekan used special, vanilla-
flavoured beans. While being wagashi, it was also Western-styled,
thus it could be called heresy, but Yanagi enjoyed it as innocently
as a child.
Around the time they left the store, Yanagi said „Next time, I'd like
to bring my wife along“ with a smile, having completely recovered
his spirit, and then logged out.
──This was their final parting with Yanagi.
All people someday arrived at the end of their life span and died.

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Clevel, Nayuta, and Koyomi would all certainly die within another
several tens of years, thus it was by no means someone else's
problem. There were people who died young, like Kiyofumi, as
well as people dying every day from unforeseen incidents.
People, who died peacefully and without leaving any regrets when
death was close at hand, as was the case with Yanagi, could
probably be called a lucky, rare occurrence.
Pressing down on the skin around her eyes with a handkerchief,
Nayuta gave a tough smile.
„Before he fell into a coma, it seems that Yanagi told his wife about
the Bakeneko Tea House very cheerfully…… 〝Since he talked
about it so boastfully, I, too, would like to visit it〟 she said──
although Suzuka-san does not have an interest in games as she
does not like fighting against enemies and wandering about, she
does love amamidokoro cafes, it seems. Detective-san, be sure to
join us at that time, she said.“
„──Well, this time, I got a generous payment for my services, so
such an after-service won't be a problem…… but, the nuisance is
that the lady is brimming with the idea that there's something
between us. Please be sure to rectify this misunderstanding. If I'm
arrested, my company will sink.“
Of course, he was joking. But, Nayuta did not look like a student in
her mourning dress, thus it wasn't quite funny.
„If you are fully aware of that, Detective-san, I do not think there
will be anything to cause such a misunderstanding, though….. do I
look that attractive to you?“
In response to the detective's joke, Nayuta retaliated with one of
her own. It was clear from her tone that she didn't mean that
seriously, but the devilish danger in her words couldn't be denied.

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„That question is quite fiendish; no matter how I answer it, I'll

have an unfavourable outcome. If I answer yes, I'll be treated as a
dangerous man, if I answer no, I'll end up with a reckless remark
that would be rude to a woman. Thus, I shall exercise my right to
remain silent.“
Shocked, Nayuta put away her handkerchief into her bag.
„Haah…… being a man sure is tough. I do believe it would be fine
to just be more frank and say something like 〝I have no interest
in kids〟?“
It seemed that Nayuta still intended to be seen as a child.
Clevel subconsciously pressed on his eyes.
„Let's stop. This topic isn't going anywhere no matter how we go
at it…… Hm. They're carrying out the coffin, it seems.“
People standing in a line carried out a coffin from the funeral hall
and delivered it to the hearse.
Clevel and Nayuta followed the procession and saw off the car
with their hands in prayer as the funeral bells resounded.
Aside from very close people, beginning with the elderly man's
relatives, nobody would be accompanying him to the
crematorium. Clevel and Nayuta's plans for today ended here as
well.
„Well then── how about we have lunch on the way back?“
„That is a good idea as well, but…… do you have any plans after
this? If not, I'd like to talk to you for a bit and there's a place I'd
like you to visit with me.“
Clevel showed his car keys.
He did presume that Nayuta would refuse to be alone with him,
but Nayuta nodded without delay.
„I do not mind. It is probably── about my 〝elder brother〟,
right?“
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Inside, he was startled.

He shouldn't have given her any hint about that in particular.
„That's a surprise…… when did you realise that?“
Nayuta gazed at the detective with a clever look.
„──At the time I heard that you were an SAO survivor, Detective-
san, I thought 〝perhaps he knew my elder brother in-game〟.
Afterwards, when you saw my real name on the part-time job
contract, your complexion changed, you know? Because of that,
several days later── I took the business card I got from you to my
uncle in the National Police Agency. 'Kurei-san would have been a
very great police officer', he said with regret.“
The detective could only shrug. It wasn't like he hasn't taken her
seriously, but the girl possessed a sharper intuition than Clevel
had expected.
Clevel had frankly spoken about a lot of things with her uncle.
In other words, he could safely assume that she had heard about a
lot of things from the mouth of her uncle.
„Your uncle's words were probably dipped in honey, but…… if you
already know my background, our conversation can go quicker
than I had expected. In the 《Phantom Orchestra》 the other day,
what I saw── was your brother, 〝Kushiinada Daichi〟. Although
that wasn't a ghost, it did provide a kind of incentive. I would like
to go to his grave; would you go with me?“
Nayuta meekly nodded.
During the car ride that followed, the two had practically avoided
talking.
It wasn't an awkward silence.
On the contrary, it was a silence that neither was bothered with,
as they understood each other's circumstances.
They didn't even need to look for what they should talk about──
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The car driven by Clevel steadily approached the cemetery where

Nayuta's brother slept.

§
Standing stock still in front of the rectangular gravestone, Nayuta
muttered just a few words.
„I do not come here that often. Only during the memorial service.“
„That's fine. Frequently visiting a graveyard when so young
wouldn't be too tasteful.“
Lighting an incense stick he had brought with him, Clevel put his
hands together in front of the grave.
He didn't believe in ghosts and spirits. But he did happen to have
affectionate feelings for the departed.
Without putting her hands together, Nayuta stood behind Clevel,
absent-mindedly gazing up at the spring sky.
There were no sakura trees in sight, but perhaps some were
blooming nearby, as flower petals had fallen here and there.
„……First, I have to apologise to you. I── was unable… to bring
Daichi back to the real world.“
Nayuta smiled faintly. There was no vigour in her expression and
her eyes were blank.
„Onii-chan… was stubborn, you see. No matter how much you
tried to stop him, Detective-san…… your words did not reach him,
right?“
„……He was stubborn and energetic, so I would be the only one
there to stop him. Tying him up, setting up a trap to send him to
jail… there were ways to go about it, I believe. Or perhaps, if I had
only overthrown that idiotic superior of his before it could
happen──“
„……Please stop.“

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Behind him, Nayuta squeezed out a cracking voice.

„I beg of you, please stop── what happened to my brother was an
inevitable accident. Talking about how there was a possibility of
avoiding it now of all times…… that is more cruel, don't you think?
Even though…… even though I have finally accepted that 〝there
was nothing that could be done〟……“
──In fact, there was nothing that could be done.
Clevel wasn't a man with precognition. He didn't know the fate of
men and it wasn't the kind of problem that allowed him to lament
on what could have been done after the fact.
Clevel and Nayuta faced Daichi's death their own way.
Clevel's was to resent the mastermind of the incident, 《Kayaba
Akihiko》, and avenge his bosom friend's death by regarding
Akihiko with hatred.
On the other hand, Nayuta deceived the sense of loss of her
relative by 〝paralysing〟 her feelings.
The emotions of the girl who felt not even a bit scared during the
《Hundred and Eight Apparitions》 were half-broken. If
acknowledging something scary as being scary and then facing it
head-on was courage, then not feeling something scary as being
scary and brushing it off as ordinary was inertia.
Yet──
At times, such inertia could be considered as anesthesia to protect
one's mental state.
Nayuta's mental state was in need of anesthesia.
Clevel exhaled deeply, then turned around to face her.

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„Sorry. For saying something so insensitive. But── I didn't want to

let Daichi's death end as 〝something that nothing could be done
about〟. For you, that is enough. After all, you were not at the
scene, so you couldn't do or say a thing. But I── was at the scene.
That doesn't mean that I was present on the battlefield he died on,
but, at the very least, I was in the same world and was able to
meet with him frequently. My conditions were different from
yours. At the very least── I had a choice to take action and have
regrets about the matter.“
Nayuta, wearing a mourning dress, stared fixedly at the detective.
„……No matter how much you talk about choice of action…… or
what and how you regret it, you cannot change the results now.
My brother is dead. No matter how much you think about it, you
cannot bring him back.“
Her voice trembled.
Rationally, she also understood that. But her emotions lagged
behind.
After her brother's death──
What she felt was far too unreasonable.
Specifically because he had fragmentary knowledge of this and
was aware that he couldn't do a thing, Clevel couldn't keep silent.
„……You're right. Indeed, the results won't change now. The dead
won't come back to life. I truly dislike saying something that may
stem from my own self-interest, but── death visits everyone.
Yanagi-san, Kiyofumi-shi, as well as Daichi and other people, faced
death in the end. Even you and I will someday exhaust our
lifespan, or, speaking more ominously, we could end up in an
unfortunate accident one of these days. That is specifically why─ I
have chosen to live my life in a way to not have any regrets when I
die. Quitting the police and starting a company was also part of
that.“

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Keenly sensing the echoes of confession in Clevel's words, Nayuta

stiffened.
In front of his friend's grave, the detective continued speaking
unconcernedly.
„Because VR technology and environment based on FullDive is
developing too rapidly, legislation on it is lagging behind. In the
current conditions, the police have a hard time even inspecting
the situation, let alone intervening. Having said that, it was
impossible for me to do that while belonging to the police. From
an outsider's point of view, it looked like we were just playing
games and, aside from special cases, our undercover operations
haven't been acknowledged sufficiently.“
Nayuta nodded vaguely.
It wasn't strange for the girl, raised in a family of police officers, to
understand such a situation.
„In the first place, even the police is still lost on how to handle VR
space. Additionally, ever since《The Seed》 was disseminated, we
got glimpses of various kinds of innovative crimes: prostitution
without the use of the body, cyber drugs that stimulate the
secretion of endogenous opioids, not to mention the illegal
casinos. To make matters worse, terrorists and new religions are
recruiting talented people, training them to become soldiers, and
even brainwashing them…… all of that can serve as source of
funds and talent for antisocial organisations, but with the current
state of legislation, it's difficult to even conduct investigations on
the matter. Our company── is collecting info on such criminal acts
in the place of the police and, as civilian collaborators, we're
reporting them to the authorities; our hidden goal is to lend
support to investigations. This role of ours doesn't provide decent
payment, so we have to get our earnings from a different kind of
work though.“
Nayuta frowned.

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„So, you lost hope in the police…… and went out of your way to
start a vigilante corps in VR space?“
„That's not quite it. Vigilante corps also resort to the use of force,
while we have taken a mere support role of gathering intel and
offering advice. It's not like we've lost hope in the police either.
We do rely on their organisational capabilities. Though── it was
an obviously unsuitable place for someone who's taking things
into his own hands, like myself.
Clevel cast his eyes down.
„……As a matter of fact. This is something that Daichi and I have
talked about, partially joking, when we were in Aincrad. If we get
sacked from the police after just starting work because we had
been shut in this space and were thus absent from work without
notice, we should start our own company, we used to say…… That
bastard forced the main work onto me while he's living
comfortably in the other world himself. Someday, I'll complain to
him on the other side.“
Putting an end to the talk about the good old days, Clevel passed
on his position in front of the grave to Nayuta.
„──You should also talk to him. I'll take a lap around the area.
Let's have lunch on the way back somewhere in the
neighbourhood.“
Carrying the suit he had taken off on his shoulder, Clevel began
walking without turning back.
Behind him, Nayuta was probably crying.
Leaving the role of supporting her to his bosom friend right
now──
The detective continued walking through the forest of gravestones
alone and without a goal in mind

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§
When she returned home, Nayuta felt no one's presence in the
one‐room condominium she was living in.
Her uncle had lent her this flat close to her high school, promising
that she could use it till her graduation.
She did intend to some move to some student dormitory if
possible in university, but this depended on her results. Her uncle
said that there were no problems with renting a different flat, but
she wanted to avoid the trouble.
As the detective had treated her to lunch, she changed from her
mourning dress to a dressing gown, set the timer for the bathtub,
and instantly equipped her 《AmuSphere》.
She lay down on the bed that was easy to notice in the cramped
room, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath──
Finally, electric signals were transmitted to her brain and her
consciousness was linked to a virtual room.
《Asuka Empire》── was not there.
It was a familiar, plain, and tidy white and black bedroom.
The huge black cat plush toy placed on the bed was her beloved
object from childhood, but the real one became old and was
thrown away.
She had always regretted that, but she was now able to reproduce
it in virtual space.
The wall bookshelves were crammed with all the ebooks she had
bought so far.
The PC on her desk was there to allow various work from within
VR space; Clevel also used the same system in his detective office.
It seemed that Koyomi wasn't aware of its existence, but it could
be called a practically essential handy tool in order to pleasantly
use 《The Seed》.
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Having risen from the bed, Nayuta moved into the living room as
usual.
There she found her father playing shōgi with her elder brother.
It seemed that her older brother was dominating today. It was a
scene that she saw about twice in the tens of times.
„Onii-chan, are you off-duty today?”
Nayuta uttered the keywords.
„……It’d be bad if I was playing shōgi with the old man when I
wasn’t off duty.”
Her brother replied with the predetermined words in a shocked
tone.
Along with a lonely smile, Nayuta relived the conversational
pattern she had created herself.
Her mother, peeking out from her kitchen island, chimed in with a
cheerful voice.
„Playing shōgi with your father instead of going on a date despite
being off-duty isn’t a bad thing on its own, I wonder? Father would
probably faint if Yurina brought a boyfriend home, but if her
brother brought a girlfriend home, he’d give a warm welcome, you
know?”
„……Yurina. I’m asking just in case but, you don’t have anyone like
that yet……right?”
„She wouldn’t be wasting her precious spring break on a game if
she had someone like that. Hey, dad. Checkmate.”
„Aah……hey you, there shouldn’t have been a knight there…… ugh,
did you swap it with the rook……”
──Nayuta remained silent as she gazed at her moving album-like
family.
She didn't quite remember how her parents died.

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Her parents, exhausted by the long anxiety, were plunged into

even further despair at the death of her brother, who had been
imprisoned in SAO.
While preparing for her brother's funeral, her father,
overwhelmed by exhaustion, caused a major accident while
driving the car, with her mother on the passenger's seat, and
Nayuta on the rear seat.
Her father and mother died instantly, while Nayuta herself
escaped death, but fell into a coma for around a month; when she
woke up, the funeral for her parents had already been finished.
Her uncle, seen for the first time in a while, was awfully worn out.
As for anything before or after that, she truly couldn't remember a
thing.
──'I think my brain rejected reality'.
Still without any feelings for the death of her parents, Nayuta was
left alone.
There had been a proposal for her to live in her uncle's house, but
there weren't enough rooms and she had a male cousin close to
her age, thus she couldn't cause them any trouble.
But most of all, she didn't think she could bear seeing another
family so close to her for a long time.
Sitting down in the living room constructed in virtual space,
Nayuta absent-mindedly gazed at her fake family.
They could only respond in set patterns. Though, the majority of
her family's daily conversations surprisingly consisted of just that.
'Have a good day', 'I'm off', 'I'm back', 'Welcome back', 'Good
morning', 'Good night', 'The bath is ready'──
She had linked her mother's remark to her bath timer in her real
room, and she had added more detailed configurations.

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There were some repetitions, but right now, she was practically
able to reproduce her former daily life.
All of them were not even ghosts, but virtual images── the one
who made them was the most aware of that.
Nevertheless, at times that Nayuta was mentally strained and
about to crumble, this room had undoubtedly lent her support.
If she hadn't had this contact with her family, she would have
taken her own life by now.
It wasn't an issue of right or wrong; people had times when they
needed a place to escape to.
Nayuta closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
──Clevel was probably already aware of this circumstance.
When he brought her to the grave where her brother, as well as
her parents, slept, Nayuta felt as if he were implicitly saying 〝
This is where your family is〟.
And yet, Clevel didn't press Nayuta about it.
Nayuta thought about the reason for that.
She felt that it was not out of concern. Deceiving her without
conviction… also didn't seem to be the case.
Most likely, there were other people besides Nayuta who made
such use of 《The Seed》.
And Clevel himself was unable to conclude what the pros and cons
of this were.
It was hard to call it healthy. Yet, there actually were people who
had need of it.
The degree differed, but people were living beings that depended
on something.

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Depended on their family, depended on their friends, depended on

their workplace, school, country, depended on food, depended on
the air, depended on the Earth.
Virtual space was just another thing added to the list of
dependencies; in the end, it was only a question of degree.
A message arrived at the tablet-shaped tool placed in the living
room.
The sender appeared to be Koyomi.

【 Nayu-san, how was the funeral? You weren't teased by

Detective-san, right? I have overtime today, but if you are free
around night tomorrow, tell me all about it at the Bakeneko Tea
House! 】

Nayuta let out a chuckle.

Koyomi's cheerfulness had saved her before.
She had told Nayuta 〝let me spoil you more〟, but hadn't
realised that Nayuta was already depending on Koyomi quite a lot.
It probably wasn't in a visible form, but this truth couldn't be
denied.

【 I have already returned home. Some things happened with

Detective-san, thus…… I will tell you all about it in-game
tomorrow. 】

She felt like she could now tell Koyomi about her brother and
family.
Having finished the reply to her message, Nayuta closed her eyes.

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──There were a lot of thoughts on her mind.

She had been undoubtedly saved by this virtual family thus far.
Yet── she didn't think that things could stay like this forever.
Nayuta took a big, deep breath, and turned her back at her family.
(I should…… be fine right about now, I guess──)
Thanks to the detective, she was able to visit the grave of her
parents and brother.
„Yurina, are you going out somewhere?“
Her AI mother spoke out.
„……Yeah. For a bit.“
Giving a vague reply, Nayuta turned around.
The figures of her family were slightly blurred.
„Mother, father, Onii-chan…… I'll try to avoid coming here as much
as I can. I can't have my real mother and the rest of the family
worry too much about me──“
Her finger slid from the tablet-type tool to the logout button.
Just before she could press it, she hesitated for a bit.
Her mother, her features blurred, nodded.
„……I see. Well then, have a nice day. Take care of yourself.“
Her father timidly smiled.
„……If you're ever down, feel free to come back.“
Her elder brother Daichi, having stepped up to her, pressed down
on the hesitating Nayuta's hand from above.
„Since we will always── be here.“
At the end of his gentle mutter, her vision was cut off.

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──The link to the virtual room was severed and Nayuta opened
her eyes on a small bed in her one-room condominium.
The evening sunlight coming through the window dyed her ceiling
in vivid orange.
While taking off her AmuSphere absent-mindedly──
She gazed at her ceiling for a bit, as if her soul had left her body.
The final words her virtual family had uttered──

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(……Those lines……Have I……ever entered them, I wonder……?“

If she had entered them, she couldn't have forgotten about
them── nevertheless, she had no recollection of them.
Before her confusion could disappear, her mobile phone beside
her pillow began ringing.
On the incoming call, Koyomi's name was displayed.
„……Hello, this is Nayuta.“
『Nayu-san! Are you okay!? Did that foxman do anything to
you!? 』
Koyomi's first words were uttered in a shrill, panicking voice.
It seemed that the message she had sent moments ago caused
some kind of confusion.
„E. Err, Koyomi-san……“
Without waiting for Nayuta's explanation, Koyomi blazed away
through the phone.
『I dunno what happened, but I'm on Nayu-san's side! If need be, I
can excuse myself from work and head to your place, or, vice
versa, you could come to my place! Either way, you can rely on me
for anything, so tell me the details of what…… wait, what? ……Na-
Nayu-san…… Are you…… crying……?』
──Without her realising, tears dripped along Nayuta's cheeks.
Having sensed hints of this through the phone, Koyomi plunged
more and more into panic.
『W-what happened!? What on earth!? Do I need to wipe the floor
with Detective-san? To rip him to shreds? Behead him and display
his head on a pike in front of a prison? A-at any rate, don't cry! I'll
leave work early, so can you come to the Bakeneko Tea House in
thirty minutes! Chief, sorry but I can't do overtime after all! I'm
going home!』

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Hearing Koyomi's frantic yet calming voice, Nayuta was now

finally facing the 〝death of her family〟.
Holding back her overflowing tears with her sleeve, she let out a
soundless sob──
Finally, she began sobbing like a child.

A matsuribayashi she had heard in the distant past, suddenly.

Grazed Nayuta's ears before disappearing.
End

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Afterword

Afterword

The stage for this novel, 《Asuka Empire》, is the first VRMMO
that the central figure of Mother's Rosario, Yuuki, played.
Although it is a minor title that barely had any attention in the
main SAO series by Kawahara-sensei, but this game was the stage
for the DVD bonus story 『Ｓｉｓｔｅｒｓ' Ｐｒａｙｅｒ』,
which focused on Yuuki and her elder sister Ran and covered a
story that took place before the establishment of the Sleeping
Knights.
As for how this novel came to be, it started when I received the
following invitation: "Would you be willing to write a story set in a
game that became famous with the dissemination of The Seed, but
other than ALO and GGO?"── when I proposed "If possible, I
would like to write about a Japanese-style fantasy setting!", I
received word from the supervisor that "In that case, we just
happen to have a title called Asuka Empire!", and thus the content
of the story was decided rapidly.

As such, making good use of the fact that the game did not appear
much in the original story, I feel like I have been given
considerable freedom to write as I please. I feel a bit sorry about
that.
First, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Kawahara-sensei,
who pleasantly accepted the role of supervising me, Miki-shi, and
other members of the staff.
This was my first time being mixed into such a spin-off (?) project,
thus all the trial and error was a great experience for me.
Especially seeing as I did not quite have the opportunity to write
about VRMMOs till now, despite having an interest in them, I am
grateful for finally receiving this opportunity.

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Afterword

Incidentally, being a person who cried his eyes out during

Mother's Rosario, I feel extremely obliged for the chance to write a
story that involves the "Sleeping Knights"── as this will end up as
spoilers, I will not go into details too much, but I am grateful for a
lot of things.

Also, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Ginta-san, who

has drawn lovely illustrations for the book ever since it was
serialised on Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE.
The cuteness of the female characters is a given, but Detective
Clevel's "suspicious foxishness" is quite well done; the characters
turned out very impressive even on my side.
Speaking of being impressive, Koyomi should have been given a
more minor role in the plot, but── the moment I received the
design drafts, I felt like she had practically risen to the role of the
main character. At the time of writing the first chapter, I had
practically no image of her in mind and had practically passed the
work of making the designs from scratch to Ginta, but the
illustrations of her that I received looked like they captured the
essence of Koyomi, thus I was very impressed. This moment was,
of course, quite enjoyable.

Now, VR-related tools are finally starting to appear in the world

and, while it is indeed impossible for them to reach the levels of
FullDive like in SAO, I am interested in its future developments.
Personally, I am anticipating content other than games, such as VR
planetariums that you can watch while sitting on a sofa at home,
travels through existing railroads ｏｒ a galaxy express while
looking at the scenery outside the car window, or pseudo-
skydiving while lying face-up in bed, but the tech will, of course,
be applied mainly to games and I am looking forward to horror
games, which I have a high affinity for, in particular.

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Afterword

Wandering about a forest late at night, you lose your way and end
up at a declined shrine, and beyond the torii archway is──
Locked up in abandoned hospital that was warped into a
netherworld, where the corridors you want to use to escape are
looped, and, finally, a grotesque monster stands before you and──
While I anticipate games with such a mood, when VR devices have
spread, I think that some day we will have hands coming out from
the display and taking the user's eyeballs out and stuff; I can feel
cold sweat running down me. Eek, scary.
……I am explaining this just in case, but I personally hate horror.
Thought, that "hate" is the "claim to hate but actually love" kind of
hate, thus, if there was an event like the 《Hundred and Eight
Apparitions》, I personally would undoubtedly jump onboard.
Thus, the story in 《Asuka Empire》was filled with such wishes
from the writer──
I would be very pleased if you enjoyed it, even if only a little.

Watase Soitiro, Autumn 2016

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Afterword

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The Story of the Matchmaking Bakeneko

The Story of the Matchmaking Bakeneko

(Animate 2016 Bonus)

Koyomihara Shiori, 《Koyomi》, was a cat loving ninja.

Of course, this was only in-game; in the real world, she was only a
humble, cat-loving clerk working at a minor enterprise.
Perhaps because of her being so short that she could be mistaken
for a middle school pupil, the elderly workers at the company
loved her like their grandchild. Perhaps several of the employees
aside from the director actually mistook her for their grandchild.
Her colleagues gave her shoulder massages, shared the sweets
they got from their customers, and she even got a New Year's gift
on New Year's Day this year, which was her first one since being
employed.
It couldn't be said that she accepted them with a smile all over her
face, but she couldn't understand.
As the company was started as a hobby by some aged people, who
had retired from their profession, it was true that there were no
other young female employees.
There were some women who had been working here for quite
some years, but as they were mainly elderly workers as well, they
treated Koyomi as their grandchild. Nor was there particularly
any factional strife that is typical for girls.
Stretching it a bit, the "Let's find a nice groom for Shiori-chan"
faction and the "Such talk is too early for Shiori-chan" faction were
continuing their talks behind the scenes, but since both groups
treated her as a grandchild, there was no big difference between
them.

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(……Straangee…… Even though I should be over twenty, have

reached the drinking age, and properly graduated from university,
why is the director telling me "Shiori-chan, you're doing such a
good job waking up early every morning"……)
She couldn't understand.
If she were a cynic, she would take offense at that, but this wasn't
limited to those old people. At times like when she received
mittens as a present for her birthday, she was moved to tears.
Continuing to sit at an amamidokoro in 《Ayakashi Bystreet》 in
the newly implemented district of 《Asuka Empire》, Koyomi
pondered.
(Like…… I can't really help how I'm treated at the company, but I
at least want a younger JK64 or something as an acquaintance
who'd treat me as an Onee-san……)
Speaking of her current JK friends, she had a giant man with the
alias "Jack Knife", and a chūnibyō whose player name was "Joker",
but Koyomi's desire wasn't that kind of JK.
She wanted a frank and honest girl talk. After finding employment,
her environment ended up being filled with the elderly, and she
was starving for some young sensitivity.
Suddenly, she was struck with by a soft touch on her knees.
A happi-wearing nekomata stared up at Koyomi while brushing
her knees. She was able to quickly guess its goal.
"……Give an additional order or just leave already, you're
saying?……Then, I'll additionally order some warabimochi."
Just when the black cat, having received an order, retired into the
kitchen, another visitor came to the restaurant.
(Ah. A girl……hey, we got quite the looker!)

64 A slang abbreviation of joshi kōsei (女子高生, high school girl). The following paragraph mentions
some players with "j" and "k" in their names as examples that she did NOT have in mind.

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Koyomi subconsciously followed the girl with her eyes.

She was a lightly-dressed Battle Miko with impressive, long, black
hair. The way she held her head high made Koyomi surmise that
the girl had that great of an upbringing. In a VRMMO world, your
appearance could be adjusted to some extent, but faking your
manner of walking and posture was ineffective.
Sitting down on a seat beside a table, the Battle Miko girl gave a
graceful bow to the store's nekomata.
"One mamekan. Also, some matcha please."
In addition to her face, even her voice was dignified.
(Hah…… A proper and cool beauty….. They really do exist, huh……)
As she absent-mindedly watched her in fascination, a nekomata
brought a tray on its shoulders from the kitchen.
Having placed the respective bowls in front of Koyomi and the
Battle Miko girl, the cat hastily lay down in a circular manner on a
nearby zabuton.
"Oh, it's here it's here…… hm?"
"……Huh?"
The voices of Koyomi and the Battle Miko unexpectedly
overlapped.
In front of Koyomi was a bowl with heaps of agar-agar and beans.
And, in front of be Battle Miko, some warabimochi with kinako
was quivering.
"Umm. Mister cat, this is——"
Realising the mistake in the orders, she attempted to shake the
nearby black cat awake.
——A claw strike in the blink of an eye and her HP was reduced
by 1.
"……W-why you brute! You're one who made the mistake!?"
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As if saying that it were no concern of his, the cat lowered its ears.
Holding the scratched hand, Koyomi moaned. It was meaningless
to complain to an AI cat any further.
The Battle Miko girl hastily rushed over to her.
"A-are you all right? You were scratched just now——"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. That practically had no damage s…...o?"
——She could not entrust the store employees with anything. And
the goods the two seeked were in front of them.
Taking the bowl of mamekan into her hands, Koyomi faced the
Battle Miko girl with a smile of satisfaction.
"Say, making use of the opportunity to switch orders, shall we eat
together? I'm Koyomi! Onee-san, what's your name?"
Having forcibly moved to the girl's table, the Battle Miko girl
showed some bewilderment for just a moment but instantly gave
a slight nod.
"Umm…… My name is Nayuta."
There were no signs of annoyance in her words as she named
herself.
Feeling relief at this, Koyomi's eyes glistened like those of a puppy.
She was most pleased that her offer hadn't been rejected so far.
"Then, it's Nayu-san, right! I'd be happy if you'd call me 《Koyomi-
oneechan》♪"
As she got carried away, knowing that it was unreasonable,
Nayuta inclined her head in wonder.
"……Onee……? Well, umm…… I am a highschool student——"
"……Ooh, seriously, a real JK…… I mean! I'm the older one!
Twenty-three years old! Working adult! OL!"
Slowly puffing out her chest, Koyomi declared in a smug face.

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Nayuta placed her hand on her mouth and pondered for a bit with
a serious expression.
"……Is that how you are roleplaying?"
"……No, for reals! I'm not a boke! Wait, what's with such a
response on the first meeting! Nayu-san, are you perhaps from
Kansai!?"
"No, I am from Kantou…… Excuse me. I am not well-versed in boke
and tsukkomi——"
"As I keep saying, that's not what I meant! Let's step away from
manzai! Because I haven't said anything funny! It was just an
ordinary self-introduction!"
Although it seemed her hopes of being treated as an elder person
quickly collapsed, she was able to receive a response that
indicated that she could get along well with her. Most of all, a
friend whom she could hope to have an honest girl talk with was
precious to her by itself.
Koyomi secretly sent her feeling of gratitude to the black cat,
whose mistake in setting the tables gave her this chance of
conversation.

The black cat in question yawned, feigning ignorance——

And, using the conversation of the two girls as a lullaby, it
continued slowly swinging its tail.
End

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Idle Talk - The Shinobi's Reckless Remarks

Idle Talk - The Shinobi's Reckless

Remarks
(Animate 2017 Bonus)

"Nayu-san is so unconsciously erotic that it's hard."

At the sudden reckless remark from the Ninja Koyomi, Detective
Clevel moaned with a serious look.
"……Is that something I really have to hear? If you're going to stay
in my office, I wish you'd at least pick a topic that wouldn't cause
trouble if someone heard it."
At the Mistuba Detective Agency, which had entirely ended up
becoming the meeting place for Nayuta and Koyomi, Clevel's
complaint resounded fruitlessly.
Naturally, Koyomi wouldn't accept his complaints.
"Well, please listen. I mean, listen up. You're going to listen.
Detective-san, you have an obligation to listen——"65
In the pose of a potter, Koyomi gave far-looking eyes, as if she
were an entrepreneur who was talking about the future prospects
of her business.

65 With each sentence here, Koyomi is using more and more forceful grammatical constructs.

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"You see. Nayu-san tends to catch your eyes with her overbearing
figure, but the fact that you can only find eroticism in her
appearance means that she's still an amateur. It's kinda like, her
demeanor? Her posture? The way she holds her head up high with
a stiff expression, yet she's kind, surprisingly easy to start a
conversation with, amiable, and polite; she appears like a beauty,
but feels cute inside? There's a gap between the unthinkable
completeness exuding from inside of her and her risky figure, so
what I'm trying to say here is hey hold yer horses listen to me
Detective-san donncha run away I said donncha run away from
me donncha start getting ready to log out hey hold it ya hear me."
As the detective opened his menu window in silence, Koyomi
grabbed his arm from the side.
Giving up on escaping, Clevel let out a deep sigh.
"……Is what you're saying allowed because of the same sex? If I
said something like that, it would bring out some concerns and, in
the first place, I don't share your views. Don't drag me into this."
"Nah, we're having a serious talk here. Detective-san, don't you
feel any lust for Nayu-san? It's Nayu-san we're talking about here,
ya know? She's that cute, ya know? That's so dangerous. If times
were better, it would probably be regulated. Actually, she should
be safeguarded as an endangered species. I'm being serious that
we have such an obligation."
"……At least tell such jokes with a laugh. It's really scary how light
has completely left your eyes."
"Ahahahahaha! Nayu-san! Is too cute! That really is bad!"
"……Sorry, it's actually better if you don't laugh. It's seriously
scary. Right now, I'm seriously considering whether I should
report you to the appropriate institutions."
He did have faith in Koyomi, but he was unsure how to handle the
modest madness that he could sometimes get a glimpse of from
her words and actions.

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Koyomi somewhat lowered her voice.

"Well, jokes aside. Dangerous things are dangerous, that cuteness
of hers…… Currently, she's in a girls' high school, so it seems it's
hard for undesirables to approach her, but if she goes to
university, it would be likely for her to have stalkers, especially
knowing about her family and that she's living alone, Onee-san is
really really worried…… I want her to live with me Osaka for reals
when she's in university, so, Detective-san, could you help me
convince her?"
"You're pushing too much it yourself…… That's definitely an
attraction you have there."
Koyomi gave an expression of pouting with her lips.
"I may be a bit attracted. I've known Nayu-san for a short time so
far, but I kinda, like…… she's too stiff and has a hard time exposing
her vulnerabilities. Usually, your family would cover for that, but if
that's impossible, an adult in her environment has to do it. I want
to make a girl like Nayu-san happy as best as I can and, personally,
I do love her; while I'm at it, I plan to show no mercy to any
undesirables, with some jealousy included, and, Detective-san, be
sure sure to control yourself, okay? If you do anything to make
Nayu-san cry, I'll employ any method in my arsenal to destroy
you, got it? The part before this was just a joke, but I mean it for
reals now, got it?"
"……The first half was so nice and I was beginning to think that
you'd end it as such, but the fact that you made your usual threats
has actually given me relief. You don't have to worry, I have
confidence in my reason."
The detective replied with his usual shady smile and Koyomi gave
him a glassy-eyed look.

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Idle Talk - The Shinobi's Reckless Remarks

"……Reaaally? But it's Nayu-san we're talking about? Those

breasts, ya know? They're not just huge, but their form is also
great, they're lively, and, on top of being thick and heavy to a great
extent, Nayu-san is bashful, ya know? Do you really have
confidence in being able to endure that? I don't."
"Being able to endure what and how?"
"Obviously touching, rubbing, burying your face in them, and
enjoying the smell. Incidentally, even when you want to commit
various acts, she just gives you permission with a 〝if you insist〟;
her simpleness is charming! Occasionally, her being too simple is a
worry, but even that part is kinda ero——"
Koyomi abruptly shut her mouth.
Without saying a thing, the detective turned his gaze towards the
window. It wasn't because he could see something interesting, he
just simply didn't want to look at what was inside the office.
Behind Koyomi, the Battle Miko girl was giving a sweet smile,
filled with kindness.
"Koyomi-san. You sure were having fun talking about something,
right? May I join the conversation?"
"……Yeah. Are you okay with a conversation about the new sweets
in the Bakeneko Tea House……?"
"That is fine. But, before we change the topic, there is something
you would like to say, right?"
"……………………Forgive me."
Clevel silently ignored the conversation between the working
adult kneeling in dogeza atop the sofa and the Battle Miko who
began a serious lecture with a smile. If possible, he wished they
would take it someplace else, but he was liable to end up as
collateral damage if he chime in.

——And so, the next day in the Mitsuba Detective Agency.

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"Nayu-san's relaxed attitude when she's angry is so erotic that it's

hard."
"……You sure don't learn your lessons."
End

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Credits

Credits

Translation:66
Gsimenas

Editing:67
ZeHaffen68
OmegaVesko
Lockman
Scans:
SAO Scans Project
Takazuki69

66 Latest translation from https://dreadfuldecoding.blogspot.de/p/blog-page_28.html on April 18,

67 Editing only happened for Chapter 1
68 Editing for Chapter 1 and 2
69 Animate bonuses

323