CH 201

Chapter 201 – Mansion Base

“Tch, why do I have to escort you?” (Shakuhara)

It seemed that Sayuri had entrusted her with the role of escorting me during our outing.

“Kei-chan, isn’t being the escort of God’s Messenger a big role? It shows just how much we’re trusted.” (Saniwa)

“I appreciate that, but I’d rather be entrusted with a different task. Just when my strength was acknowledged and I was allowed to join the hunting faction too…” (Shakuhara)

The Maiden’s Rebirth cult had different factions based on their roles. The main mission of the hunting faction was to hunt men. In other words, they were the fighting force of the order, but not everyone could be assigned to this group. Only those who were willing to fight and were talented in combat were chosen, but I didn’t know what their minimum criteria was.

Even if they were talented, they were women, so many of them wouldn’t have received any kind of special training in the military. Their selection criteria may actually just be based on who was good at handling weapons.

“And plus, your acquaintance is from that barbaric organization, the Inochi-shirazu, right? Why in the world would we have to talk with them?” (Shakuhara)

“Dunno? Only they could tell you that.” (Torimoto)

“Damn, you’re useless.” (Shakuhara)

“Come on, Kei-chan! Don’t be so rude!” (Saniwa)

“It’s whatever. He’s a man after all.” (Shakuhara)

But to me, dealing with her attitude was a breeze. My mental state wouldn’t be shaken so easily when I had been exposed to much dirtier, muddier emotions in the past.

Besides, I knew that she had her reasons for being like this. I was aware that she had suffered a tragedy that even Saniwa couldn’t speak about.

That was why I didn’t mind her venting her anger on me, and as someone who had similar thoughts, I… couldn’t condemn her for acting this way. She just didn’t acknowledge men.

In the same way, I didn’t acknowledge humans. I didn’t expect anything from them anymore. It wasn’t that I thought that all humans should be exterminated, but I did think that I wouldn’t care even if all of them were wiped out.

There was also a difference in the intensity of these emotions, but Shakuhara and I… were probably in the same boat.

At that moment, the car stopped. I noticed that we had arrived at our destination.

When I got out of the car, I saw an old western-styled house in front of me. The architecture was similar to a haunted mansion from a horror game.

""

“This is one of our bases. Please come in. We have a conference room prepared.” (Sayuri)

“No matter how many times I come here, I always feel like a ghost is going to appear.” (Saniwa)

“S-Stop it, Riwa!” (Shakuhara)

Shakuhara began to frantically look around her with fear in her eyes.

“Are you not good with horror?” (Torimoto)

“N-N-No, that’s n-not it! I mean, hey! Don’t talk to me all of a sudden!” (Shakuhara)

“Ugh, Kei-chan… Sorry, Torimoto-san. Kei-chan doesn’t like scary things. She can’t even go into a haunted house at a fair.” (Saniwa)

“Hey, Riwa! Stop saying unnecessary things!” (Shakuhara)

Yup, I can tell from her demeanor. Interesting. It might be fun to give her a bit of a scare.

“Haunted, huh…? Well, it’s better for you not to know.” (Torimoto)

“W-W-What are you talking about?! C-Can you… see ghosts?!” (Shakuhara)

Hearing my seemingly meaningful comment, Shakuhara hurriedly moved away from me in fright.

“Well… I wonder. But…” (Torimoto)

“B-But… what?” (Shakuhara)

“This mansion…” (Torimoto)

“M-Mansion?” (Shakuhara)

“…No, you know what? It would be better for me not to say.” (Torimoto)

“I-If you’ve already said this much, just spit it out! We’ve been to this base many times already!” (Shakuhara)

Shakuhara glared at me with teary eyes.

Ah, I just thought I’d do it in moderation, but I got a bit carried away. Well, her reaction was more amusing than I’d expected.

“It doesn’t matter. Rather than that, if you don’t go, Sayuri-san will scold you.” (Torimoto)

“Wuuuu…” (Shakuhara)

“Kei-chan, are you okay?” (Saniwa)

“I-I’m fine… Of course I’m fine. G-Ghosts don’t exist. They don’t exist. As long as you can’t see them, they don’t exist.” (Shakuhara)

“….AHHHH!” (Torimoto)

“Ah, Kei-chan!” (Saniwa)

“Ahahah, maybe I went a bit overboard?” (Torimoto)

“Sorry, Kei-chan was supposed to be your escort, but she ran off…” (Saniwa)

Saniwa gave me an exasperated look.

“No, no, my bad, my bad. I went a bit too far. I’ll go in first. You two take your time.” (Torimoto)

I waved my hand and entered the mansion.

In the conference room, there was a round table occupying the center of the room. The heads of each organization were sitting at opposite ends of the table with their subordinates standing behind them.

Incidentally, I sat in a chair between both parties to watch over the proceedings.

Just before the meeting started, Shakuhara and Saniwa entered the conference room and stood behind me. Shakuhara gave me a sharp look that said, ‘I won’t forget that!’, but I simply ignored it.