Chapter 24 - The Neighbor
Angelica and I were walking with a bit of distance between us.
With almost no conversation, and without meeting each other's eyes.
Not like father and daughter, nor like lovers, but like total strangers.
"Are you disillusioned?"
Angelica had been listless ever since then.
Perhaps the image of a father, or a Hero, that she had idealized in her heart was shattered by the incident where I threatened Gondo.
That was fine.
Because I wanted her to think less of me.
"A Hero does things like this too. If the opponent is a monster capable of conversation, it's not just once that I've resorted to intimidation. I'm no hero, Ange. They say the enemy of justice is another justice, right? In the same way, the enemy of evil is another evil. I'm just an evil that happened to be on the side of humans. I'm a hopeless man."
"What did you do with Rio-san?"
"So, instead of someone like me, you should find another proper man to like—"
"Did you lay a hand on Rio-san? That rough-looking person was saying things like that."
Just when I was trying to sound a bit cool with my self-deprecation.
She bites onto that.
"Hey. Show me that glowing board you were showing Gondo-san earlier, Father. It was called a smartphone, right?"
"Eh."
"Because I'm curious. The moment Gondo-san saw it, he was extremely excited. You showed him something related to Rio-san, didn't you?"
I felt my mouth going dry.
My tongue felt sticky, and my throat began to twitch.
"Can a smartphone see people far away, like a television? I'm curious what kind of appearance of Rio-san you're looking at."
Even though she shouldn't know the functions of a smartphone yet, her intuition was sharp.
I became terrified that if her knowledge of modern society increased in the future, any secret would eventually be exposed.
"Come to think of it, Father, you've suddenly started taking your smartphone to the toilet since yesterday, and you're touching it so I can't see, aren't you? Perhaps you're having exchanges with Rio-san that you don't want me to see. ...I hope it's just my imagination. ...Hey. What's inside that smartphone?"
Sharp. Too sharp.
But depending on how I thought about it, this might be a chance to be hated by Angelica in one go.
I could show her Rio's selfies and tell her I already have this woman, making her give up.
It was a cruel move, but it would be highly effective.
I didn't want to do it because it seemed like it would precisely wound a woman's heart.
I would feel bad if I made her so cynical that she never wanted to love again.
Above all, judging from the contents of the system messages I saw last night, I had a feeling that method would be counterproductive.
Look, even now.
"When we get home, be prepared. I'll make you understand whose papa you are."
Angelica's face, as she bit her lower lip, was slightly flushed.
Make me understand—what did she intend to do?
A system message crossed my field of vision.
[Party Member, Holy Maiden Angelica's Possessiveness has increased by 900]
[Angelica's Sexual Arousal has reached 70%]
[This is a numerical value where sexual intercourse is possible with consent. Do you wish to proceed?]
[If executed, there is a certain probability of conceiving a child]
[The born child will inherit the status tendencies and some skills of both parents, and sharing of equipment and items will also be possible]
[Furthermore, it will be possible to transfer classes to the child]
Unfortunately, it seemed Angelica was the type who burned even hotter when she felt jealousy.
Hinting at the shadow of another woman would likely be counterproductive.
I gave Angelica excuses while stammering.
I told her that brainwashing rays actually come out of smartphones and I used them to persuade Gondo.
I told her I couldn't show her because the eyeballs of a person without resistance would explode if they peeked at a smartphone.
I tried getting angry back at her, saying she was cuter than Rio so she didn't need to be anxious (???).
Just as I was losing track of what I was even saying, Angelica gave a little giggle.
"That's enough. I don't know what a passport is, but I got the nuance that it's something necessary for me. To prepare that, you absolutely had to use Rio-san, right?"
A smiling face.
Was she actually not that angry from the start? It even seemed that way.
"...You're playing with me, aren't you?"
"Eh? I was seriously irritated until halfway through, so it's not a game."
"You're trifling with me."
Angelica, with a smooth, sliding movement, approached and linked her arm with mine.
"Then why don't you just get back at me, Father?"
"In what way?"
"If I trifled with you, you should just trifle back... tonight."
I poked her, telling her she should value her own body more.
It's not something that should be made an offering to an old man.
Your body belongs to you.
She really has no aptitude for being a Holy Maiden, with this personality.
...Angelica's body belongs to Angelica...
A phrase that crossed my mind for just a moment turned into a spark in my brain.
An invisible fuse was lit, and an explosion of thought began.
A torrent of heat seeking an answer raced through my synapses.
"...Ah?"
Is that how it is?
I stopped walking and thought.
I grabbed the momentary flash and turned it into a clear deliberation.
—A female ghost wearing white clothes.
An out-of-season ghost story that had been witnessed around the apartment for a week before Angelica arrived.
Gondo, who started going in and out of Rio's house at almost the same time, and suddenly lost his restraint on the second day.
The neighbor who was unresponsive no matter what noise was made. Ayako-chan, who claimed Angelica had come to the shop before.
Angelica, who smelled good from the very beginning.
Countless threads tangled in my head, weaving into a single answer.
"Ange, sorry. I'm going to do something terrible to you now."
"...It's okay."
Angelica breathed out heatedly, turning eyes full of expectation toward me.
She was definitely misunderstanding, but right now every second was precious.
I picked Angelica up and, taking advantage of the fact that we couldn't be seen with Concealment Magic, I flew back home.
Treading on the roofs of houses, jumping over elevated lines, I flew the shortest distance toward the apartment.
The familiar black roof gradually drew closer. The soot-stained white walls. The room where Angelica and I lived.
The place we should return to was right there.
"No matter what happens, endure it."
"...I'm prepared for it."
"Don't cry. If your heart breaks first, you lose."
"B-Bring it on!"
I gently set Angelica, who was as red as a boiled octopus, down on the ground.
If I didn't care about the means, I could arrive in an instant.
We were back.
We had returned to our apartment.
The sun was already beginning to set.
The shadows of the two of us, illuminated by the sunset, stretched long and reached the building.
My shadow fell on my own room. Angelica's shadow fell on the room next to it.
It was as if it were an allegory.
"Come."
I grabbed Ange's wrist and started walking up the stairs at a fast pace.
Just like this morning, I saw the door stuffed with a large amount of newspapers.
The mail slot of the silent neighbor.<
I finally arrived. The answer was this close.
When I stopped walking, Ange was red all the way to her ears, saying, "Father, you're forceful."
"Well then, I'm going in."
"I look forward to being in your care...!"
And then I.
As soon as I entered the room, I went straight to the balcony.
"Father? Where are you going? Eh, it's bad if you open the window!? Do you intend to show us off!?"
It's common in narrow apartments, but the neighbor's balcony was right before my eyes. I could easily jump across.
Angelica, who hurriedly chased after me, was bewildered, saying, "That's not our room over there?"
"No, it's this way. There's someone I have to meet."
Though they're probably already dead.
When I put my hand on the window, it opened easily.
As expected, it wasn't locked.
I quietly slipped in and moved forward, pushing aside the mountains of trash bags.
Apartments are strange things.
Even if someone lives in a space with the exact same floor plan as yourself, the impression changes completely depending on the resident's lifestyle.
This was the room where the neighbor lived.
A rotten stench wafted through the air, and the space drifted with an ominous aura of death.
The futon spread across the floor was covered in yellow stains and food spills.
It was the very symbol of poverty and poor hygiene.
On the small table, there was a white plastic bag. The contents were tablets. He must have had a chronic illness.
Surrounded by those countless melancholy mementos, the neighbor was dead.
A white-haired man, thin as a withered tree.
This physique and the midwinter conditions must have delayed the decomposition.
However, even so, an unpleasant smell had already begun to linger. There would have been a limit eventually.
I approached the remains and quickly scanned them with my eyes.
There was no bleeding, and no noticeable external injuries.
Sudden death. Or death from illness. A lonely death.
Any word to describe this situation was bleak.
"This is someone's room, right? Is it okay to just enter without permission?"
With timid footsteps, Angelica arrived late.
As expected of a girl her age, this level of messiness must be hard to bear.
She moved forward slowly, carefully looking for a place to step.
"Is this a corpse!? Eeh...!?"
Angelica's face stiffened as she stood beside me.
"...Is this kind of thing normal in this world?"
"It's not normal, but it seems to be increasing lately."
With frightened eyes, Angelica asked me.
"Are you going to bury him? Or call someone?"
That comes later.
The police or whoever will handle it anyway.
I don't know how seriously people who collude with Gondo's group would do their jobs, though.
After finishing offering a prayer to the deceased, I looked toward the corner of the room.
The items piled in front of the TV stand were unnatural considering the resident's age.
"I knew it was here."