Chapter 63

"Hey, hey, are you girls from that cabaret over there?"

"Yes, we are. Gentlemen, do you need something?"

"We're about to leave, though."

In the entertainment district of Sapporo, Susukino.

At the edge of a less crowded street, two men—one a tall, silent man and the other a brown-haired man with numerous piercings in his ears—were having a casual conversation with two cabaret girls dressed in casual clothes.

"Do you guys want to pick us up? If you come to our place, we can have a drink with you."

"It's a bit different from that. Let's go somewhere out of sight first."

"Wait, what, what?"

"Hey, let go of me!"

The men forcibly led the two cabaret girls into a deserted alley.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything indecent. I'll just punch you a few times. I might lose control, so stay still. Otherwise, you might end up with a lifelong scar."

"Stop it!"

"Someone, help..."

As the brown-haired man finished speaking, the large man pulled back his fist and threw a punch at one of the cabaret girls.

"Ah, that's enough. You can't mess with our girls."

Immediately after, a lazy voice came from right behind the men, accompanied by the sound of bones breaking.

"Huh? Who are you? You showed up like a hero, but it's too late..."

"Ugh...!!"

"...!?"

The brown-haired man, reacting to the groan, looked to the side and saw the large man with his right arm crushed and in pain.

The sound of breaking bones was from the large man's arm, and the punch had not reached the woman's face.

"Dies!"

"Good work on the decoy. I'm sorry for scaring you. There's a car waiting for you over there, so get in and go home quickly."

"Okay, got it!"

"Thank you!"

Following the instructions of the man called Dies, the cabaret girls ran quickly in the direction of the waiting car.

"You guys were the ones attacking our girls. Come quietly. Otherwise, you might end up with a lifelong scar."

After glancing at the fleeing cabaret girls, the men turned their attention to the intruder.

Dies, a tall man with short golden hair and a chiseled face, was dressed in a suit. He had no weapon in his hands and showed no signs of drawing one.

"Don't get cocky, there are two of us!"

The brown-haired man thrust a knife he had taken from his pocket, and the large man, using his uninjured left arm, lifted a sign and swung it at Dies.

"...!?"

"No way!?"

Immediately, the men's expressions changed to shock.

The knife did not pierce even a millimeter and only chipped the blade, and the sign shattered into pieces, but Dies, the golden-haired man, did not move an inch.

"Is it a bulletproof vest!?"

"No, but that level of attack can't kill me."

While sweeping away the pieces of the sign, Dies glared at the two men who had attacked him.

"Then, let's go with the lifelong scar option."

In the deserted alley, the dull sound of breaking bones echoed quietly.

◇

"What's the source of the noise?"

"Yes. After searching, this was the object making a rattling sound."

"Is this the one that was rattling?"

Now in front of us lies a single antique sword that my grandfather collected.

During cleaning, an unnatural noise came from the storage room. To investigate the cause, I had Nia operate a clay figure created with the 'Toy' ability to thoroughly search the storage room, and the result is this sword.

"Given the situation, it's definitely not good..."

The sword was making a rattling sound, which was already bad enough, but the situation in which it was found was even worse.

A letter from God, which had been stored nearby, had crumbled as if it had lost its power.

It's definitely not good. This thing must have some incredible power.

"Hmm... I can only tell that it has some kind of power. I can't sense anything with 'Pseudo-Perception'."

I had Crow, who can replicate abilities and techniques with near-perfect accuracy, check it out, but he couldn't figure it out.

I tried to have the clay figure draw the sword, but it couldn't be pulled from the scabbard, as if it was rusted.

"This presence feels familiar... but I can't recall it."

"Kaka..."

Shiro also felt the presence but couldn't remember it. I don't recognize it either and have no memory of it.

Afterward, Shiro and Nia tried to analyze it, but they couldn't figure it out either.

"Touching it directly is not a good idea."

"It might be a cursed magical item. It's best to avoid touching it."

"Yes. Even if it's not cursed, it might activate some effect like the 'Fairy Seed' when touched."

"Kaka..."

Shiro agrees.

Alright, I'll ask the class president about this sword. Until then, it's sealed. No touching it, just to be safe.

"We're back!"

"We're back!!"

As we decided what to do with the sword, Rin and Ul returned.

"Welcome back, slackers. The cleaning isn't finished yet, so help out properly."

"Ugh, I thought it would be done by now! What's this, what's this?"

"A sword!"

As soon as they returned, Ul and Rin became interested in the sword.

"That's a sword my grandfather collected. A noise came from the second floor earlier, and when I investigated, it was this, Rin!!?"

"What?"

As I started to explain, Rin picked up the sword without any hesitation. Her natural gesture made it impossible to stop her!

"Rin, put that down immediately."

"Rin, that might be dangerous. Please put it down."

"Kaka, kaka..."

"No way!"

Holding the hilt, Rin ran around the room. The sword slid out of the scabbath without any resistance.

"Whoa!"

"What kind of presence is this..."

Crow also felt something when he saw the blade.

The strange presence he felt during the battle with the black dress. This sword is dangerous!

"Rin! Put that sword down immediately... huh!?"

The sword in Rin's hand began to glow in seven colors.

"Quadruple Barrier!"

I took the sword from Rin's hand and surrounded it with a full 'Quadruple Barrier'. This should protect us even if it explodes.

"There's no change in the light."

"The color combinations seem random."

"Kaka..."

Ten minutes later, the sword continued to glow in seven colors without anything happening.

"Same as Ul, huh!"

As I pointed out, the sword continued to emit a seven-color fluorescent light, as if trying to say it wasn't dangerous.

Chapter 4, 'General Edition' begins!

And the last family member has joined us safely!