The World Is Overflowing With Monster, I'm Taking A Liking To This Life Chapter 78 Part1

TN: Sorry for the really late update. This chapter is over 6100 letters long, so I’ll split it in half.

A sudden sound of something being fired. A female student who was blown away. The people that were present froze in their tracks. It was as if time had stopped. They were unable to understand what had just transpired. After a few moments, however, someone screamed upon seeing the girl who had collapsed.

“K-KYAAAAAAA!”

“What is it? What’s happening?”

“Katsuragi-san?”

“Hey, is everything alright?”

“I just heard something!”

And time started to flow again. Chaos ensued. Among the ruckus, Rikka, who had been standing next to the collapsed girl, was still immobile due to the shock.

(What… just… occurred?)

It was incomprehensible. The mail that arrived out of nowhere. The voice that she heard within her head. The name of the sender, the content of the mail, and the event that just happened. From the beginning, she didn’t excel at thinking. By this point in time, her brain was experiencing an overheat as she failed to organize all the information.

(R-right, Katsuragi-chi is…)

She glanced at her cla.s.smate who had been blown away.

(….Eh? What does this mean…?)

Witnessing the sight, Rikka’s made a surprised expression.

---------We are watching all of this from the shadows.

“Ichinose-san”

“Y,yeah. I know.”

Ichinose-san readies her gun without lowering her guard. Momo and I are also in combat mode. Why are we in this situation? If I am to explain, we would have to go back in time.

-----Several minutes ago

We are undergoing our second infiltration.

“Okay, Momo, it’s all on you from now on.”

“Wafu.”

Momo replies with vigor. Momo is being carried around on Ichinose-san’s arms. By doing so, Momo also receives the effects of Ichinose-san’s “Cognitive Impediment”. Momo has to be outside of her shadows in order to sniff out the smells. This is the most efficient way of getting things done. Just for security, I have my skills activated too. We have to be ready to escape at any time if things go awry. In particular, I have “Detect Enemy” deployed at all times. Although the monster tamer is our primary concern, I don’t want to encounter the Student Council President either. It would be terrible if we are placed under the effects of “Brainwash” or “Bewitchment”. Since I know her presence, it should be fine as long as we keep our distance. While being carried around, Momo sniffs here and there

“That way…”

Momo shapes our shadows into arrows to indicate the directions we have to proceed in. While following her instructions, we lurk around the school… No one noticed us, right? When I look around, the students and the evacuees are walking pa.s.s us as if we didn’t exist. Despite knowing that we are safe, my heart pounds heavily.

“… There’s quite the commotion…”

Unlike when we first entered, we could feel the heavy atmosphere around us. The attack from the dark wolf must have been the cause. Students are moving about in a hurry, and we see multiple evacuees crying or shouting hysterically.

Nis.h.i.+no, I can remember the home center where you originally stayed at. The evacuees there were also creating a scene like this. It’s a wonder how these types of people never forget to a.s.sert themselves despite being virtually useless. To begin with, they are not in the position to complain while being protected by others. Mob mentality is truly troublesome. As long as there are enough people standing behind you, everything you say would sound justified. While thinking about this, two kids energetically pa.s.s us. They look alike. Are they twins?

“Hey, nee-chan, it’s real loud here. I won’t be able to take a nap.”

“Hahaha, lil’ brother. These guys are what we call ‘headless chickens’ You shouldn’t mind them.”

“Oooh, nee-cham, you’re amazing to know such a difficult word!... but what does that mean?”

“I have no idea!”

“As expected of nee-chan!”

Even in such an environment, the children are cheerful… Rather, I feel something powerful from these kids. Do they, perhaps, possess skills? From Momo’s reactions, they don’t seem like the monster tamer… It doesn’t matter. As “Detect Danger” and “Detect Enemy” isn’t setting off any alarms, leaving them aside is fine. We continue our search inside the building while listening to the kids’ voice fade into the distance….

“---Huh?”

“What’s wrong, lil brother?”

“… It’s nothing. I think I sensed something peculiar just now?”

“…?”

------

A few minutes after entering the school.

Arriving at a certain point, Momo lets out a soft bark.

“Wafu”

We have arrived at the cafeteria. So the monster tamer is here… There are around a dozen or so noticeable presences. As of this point, “Detect Danger” isn’t showing any form of reaction. We enter the cafeteria. The interiors are simple and open, with everywhere aside from the kitchen being visible from the entrance. There is a group of students gathered together. Within the group, I see several acquaintances. Nis.h.i.+no-kun, Rikkchan, Smart Gla.s.ses-kun, and the sports girl from the shopping mall.

“Riccha…!”

Ichinose-san also notices her.

“Ichinose-san, I understand what you are feeling, but please hold yourself back.”

“I-I know.”

I wonder if she truly understands… Regardless, I am curious about what the students are discussing. Using “Listening Ears”, I listen to the content of the discussion. They are trying to track down the monster tamer as well. They have arrived at the same conclusion as us, and it seems like the President was the one that took note of the abnormality. The students are about to go out to search for the tamer… As I expected, that President is clever. To reach the truth without having any prior knowledge of the situation. The only miscalculation she has made is about the location of the culprit. This is the case of a bug hiding on a lion. Momo sniffs each individual carefully before her gaze lands on a single person.

“Is ‘that’ who we’re looking for?”

Momo nods. Ichinose-san’s eyes open wide upon realizing who it is.

“Are, are you sure there isn’t any mistake?”

“It’s impossible for Momo to be wrong. Right?”

“Wan!”

Momo nods again, this time with confidence. So this person is the monster tamer…

Momo is staring at the sports girl from the shopping mall.

Her name is… oh, the word “Katsuragi” is printed on her jersey. That’s her right? So she’s Katsuragi. It is kind of unexpected. She doesn’t look like the type of person that would command monsters to attack other humans. Or was she acting all along? There’s a saying telling us not to judge a book by its cover and all that.

Now then, how should we act? Since we know who the monster tamer is, we could just send a mail to Nis.h.i.+no-kun and Rikkchan, after which we would retreat. Although I’ve told Ichinose-san about meeting up with them, simply mailing them should do the trick. It should be enough as long as the information is pa.s.sed on to them. Whether they choose to believe or not is up to them to decide, and there isn’t any reason to go so far for them in the first place. Yup, that’s right. Now that I think about it, why am I trying so hard to help others? It’s a request from Ichinose-san, isn’t it? It’s true that she’s a party member and she has saved me once, so until I pay her back… arriving at this point, I stop. Until I pay her back? But what will I do after I pay her back?