Chapter 147 - I'm Right Here, You Know
Having finished my consultation with Angelica, I put my smartphone in my pocket and started walking.
Since my opponent is a candidate for being a "person with nothing to lose," it is a race against time.
I must take measures against the intelligence degradation as soon as possible.
I hurried through the corridor and exited the station. My destination was Otsuki Books.
I had originally intended to stop by, but I never thought the day would come when that crazed bookstore clerk would become a countermeasure against debuffs.
Feeling a strange sensation that one never knows what might happen in life, I chant Concealment Magic.
Turning into an invisible man, I begin to sprint at full speed.
Concealment is a very convenient spell.
Not only do people around me lose sight of my form, but they also cannot hear my voice or footsteps. Since it also prevents tracking from monsters with keen noses, my scent must be disappearing as well.
Erin and I can both use Concealment.
However, neither of us possesses skills related to perception or detection.
It is a battle between humans who are good at hiding and humans who lack a sense of smell.
...But a moment ago, Erin approached within several hundred meters of me and unleashed an area-of-effect debuff.
Does she already have a grasp on my exact location?
No.
If she had found me long ago, she could have attacked me as many times as she wanted while I was losing my sanity.
And yet, she did not pursue. On the contrary, she moved away toward a distant location on her own.
Thinking of it that way, it feels more natural to assume she just happened to pass near me.
Perhaps Erin has only just been transferred to Japan?
Setting the transfer point near me is something that can be done easily.
That is how Angelica arrived in Japan as well.
It was fine that Erin was summoned near me, but because she was on the other side of a wall, she couldn't find me. Or perhaps she was in a place where she could see me, but she feared that my combat strength had improved since I was in the other world.
In any case, judging that fighting like this was reckless for some reason, I hurriedly applied the intelligence degradation debuff, bolstered my defenses, and escaped the TV station.
Given her personality, this is the most plausible interpretation.
Erin is a cautious witch.
She is different from that certain High Priest who would make desperate confessions to men more than ten years her junior, or spout nonsense like, "Is there any reason why we, who believe in the one and only absolute God, should lose?" and employ nothing but reckless charge tactics.
As for what Erin will do after this, it will likely be either using her [Skill: Brainwashing] to increase her combat strength, or manipulating someone connected to me to take them hostage.
If left alone, Angelica and the others will be targeted.
As the Hero and as a guardian, I must avoid that at all costs.
I raced through the town, kicking up a whirlwind, and arrived at Otsuki Books via the shortest route possible.
The sun had already set; it was evening.
Ayako-chan might have already returned from school.
It would be convenient if she were watching the shop so I could call out to her inside, so I peeked in.
However, unfortunately, it seemed the shop owner was in charge of the register today.
I want to call Ayako-chan out somehow, but I wonder what kind of business I should make up.
...Should I try entering?
It's a bit dangerous, but I also want to confirm the specifications of Concealment Magic and the Party Member system.
Let's do it.
I went around to the back of the shop, jumped, and leaped onto the second-floor balcony. I'm sure this was Ayako-chan's bedroom.
Through a gap in the curtains, I can see Ayako-chan sitting at her desk, staring at a computer monitor. Perhaps not much time has passed since she got home, as she is still in her school uniform.
"Ayako-chan, it's me."
I raised my voice and tried knocking on the window.
Ayako-chan didn't even spare a glance at me standing by the window, instead focusing intently on fiddling with her keyboard.
Just as I thought.
It seems that even for a person who has once been recognized as a Party Member, if you use Concealment Magic while at a distance, it works without issue.
That means I might be able to return home without being noticed by Angelica and the others—a somewhat questionable idea occurred to me, but now is not the time for that.
I have to deactivate Concealment and talk to Ayako-chan.
Unlike the Ayako-chan I live with, I am not that close with this Ayako-chan. Even so, there is no change in the fact that she is Ayako Otsuki.
If I ask her earnestly, she should grant most requests.
"...?"
While I was pondering how to strike up a conversation, Ayako-chan suddenly stood up and approached the window.
Could it be that she can see me?
Without changing her expression, Ayako-chan silently opened the window.
...Does that mean I should come in?
"What, you noticed me?"
There was no reply.
Since I had barged onto her balcony without an appointment, she might be angry.
I am truly sorry for that.
I took off my shoes, hunched my back slightly, and entered the room of a seventeen-year-old girl.
"Even so, the specifications of Concealment are becoming more and more confusing. Why can the current Ayako-chan see me?"
Once again, she decided on no response. Ayako-chan leaned out of the open window, repeatedly observing the window of the adjacent room.
"Ayako-chan?"
"...I wonder if Father is sleeping..."
I see. Since the next room is Father's study, she's checking to see if she can have a private conversation.
I sat down on the floor, impressed by her precise judgment.
Ayako-chan closed the window with a clatter and pulled the curtains shut.
"I came here today because I have a favor to ask."
"..."
Without changing her expression at all, Ayako-chan sat down in her chair. She silently operated the mouse, opening some kind of folder.
"...Ayako-chan?"
"..."
"...By any chance, can you not see me?"
The sound of mouse clicks echoed through the room.
I quietly stood up, held my palm in front of Ayako-chan's face, and waved it a few times.
It must be an incredibly eyesore of an act for someone in the middle of work, yet she didn't seem to mind at all.
"...Crap."
It's confirmed. Concealment is working properly.
Ayako-chan cannot see me.
It seems I had mistakenly interpreted the fact that Ayako-chan happened to approach the balcony and opened the window for air or something as a "sign to come in."
An old man using magic to illegally trespass into a young lady's room...
I'm a pervert who can't make excuses.
I've snuck into this house once before, but that was when Angelica and the other Ayako-chan were with me.
It would be fair to say I'm now exuding a scent of crime that's one step further.
"This is bad."
Should I try coming back another time?
But if I open the window or the door, she will clearly see me, and she'll wonder what's going on.
If things in the room start moving on their own, it'll be a huge commotion. After all, the Ayako-chan here doesn't know about the existence of Concealment Magic.
She'll probably open the door to go to the toilet eventually, so I thought it might be safest to slip out of the room during that gap, but then I heard a voice muttering my name.
"Nakamoto-san..."
Me? I peered at Ayako-chan's profile, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
When I turned my gaze to the monitor, she was clicking on a folder named "Nakamoto-san."
The capacity was as much as 104GB.
A chill ran through my entire body.
And yet, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.
"Nakamoto-san... Nakamoto-san..."
The loading finished, and the folder opened.
"Eek!"
What was packed inside were countless versions of me.
Perhaps they were capture images from when I appeared on variety shows. Images of Keisuke Nakamoto taken from various angles spread densely across the screen.
"I wonder if I can use this."
What does "use" mean? While uttering those eerie words, Ayako-chan slid her mouse cursor and tucked an up-close image of my arm into a folder titled "Nakamoto-san's Biceps."
There was also a folder for Nakamoto-san's face, a folder for Nakamoto-san's butt, a folder for Nakamoto-san's legs, and a folder for Nakamoto-san's chest.
My entire body was finely categorized, each part boasting several GBs of capacity.
The one with the largest capacity was the chest folder.
"I like Nakamoto-san too..."
I felt as though Ayako-chan's breathing was becoming heavy.
Conversely, I felt like I was on my last breaths, as if my life force was being sucked out.
Just as I was thinking I should perhaps smash the window and run away even if I get caught, Ayako-chan suddenly reached out her arm and grabbed a tissue box sitting at the edge of the desk.
"...Wait, Ayako-chan, could it be that you..."
Anything but that, I'm watching!
But there was no way such a warning would be heard; Ayako-chan thrust her arm into her skirt and pulled her panties down to her ankles.
As a matter of minimum politeness, I decided to close my eyes tightly.
And so, perhaps thirty minutes passed. Ayako-chan tidied her appearance and quietly opened the window.
I slipped out onto the balcony amidst the confusion and took a desperate, deep breath.
I didn't feel alive. I thought I was going to die.
No joke, I was more nervous than when I was trapped in a high-difficulty dungeon.
Once I confirmed that Ayako-chan had left the room, I slumped down as if my strings had been cut.
Can I really have a calm discussion with a girl who just used me right in front of my eyes...?