It was about a month after the Viral Smartphone Phantasm incident shook this highly controlled society.

Natsukibara. The district for Beastpeople was spread out like a puddle of stinking mud. Unpermitted constructions multiplied, attached to the main avenues like parasites. Filthy shanties were stacked one on top of another on the roofs and verandas of buildings where the lifelines of the city—electric, gas, plumbing—still existed.

The Beastpeople who lived in them were all addicts, too far gone to return to the outside world.

They had no place else to go. They had gone so crazy for Monster Tonic and spent so much time in Natsukibara that they had lost their status and social credit. They’d given up on dreams, careers, and hope. To sustain themselves and feed their habit, they did whatever work came their way—legal or not—and simply waited for the end.

And in the sky above them bloomed a dazzling, grotesque flower.

At the very center of that government-designated slum where Monster Tonic was rampant, was the seat of the ruler. The hub of the corporate giant Beast Tech was packed into a building that resembled the corpse flowers that bloomed on the southern islands.

It had seven departments: administration, security, inspection, legal affairs, research & development, human resources, and accounting.

There was also general affairs, sales, and information systems, but those seven were the core of the company.

Beast Tech significantly influenced the national tax yields of Akitsushima, which was an economic powerhouse of the Far East, and were said to account for thirty percent of the country’s economy. And while the departments worked in concert, they were also engaged in fierce competition to raise their own standings.

The internal politics were complex and strange. And as the elites aimed for higher positions, they probed scandals, set traps for one another, and sometimes even made use of armed forces. Then something created a stir in their ruthless world. It happened at the crack of dawn one morning.

“This was a rather sudden summons…”

The administration floor at the BT head office building was remarkably pristine. The maintenance system was so meticulous, the average medical facility couldn’t even compete. Automatic cleaning drones sterilized on the hour every hour, looking like wharf roaches skittering over the walls and ceiling as they whirred around, combating any pathogens brought in. But they were a mundane sight to the staff, who just worked silently and didn’t pay the drones any mind.

However, there were practically no actual people at the office. Administration personnel worked almost completely remotely. They attended work virtually, using cutting-edge VR equipment that granted a sense of immersion right from their own homes.

Even an empty corridor was most likely packed with formless employees—literal ghost staff.

The administration department, sitting at the very top of the seven departments at head office, was stiflingly silent. Like the charnels of old or a place of worship—so deserted it was bizarre.

“What an eerie place. You are actually here, right?”

“Of course, Chief of General Affairs. We are always at your side—”

General affairs was the powerhouse that operated in the background, separate from the seven main departments, but was often treated as irrelevant within the company. They didn’t stand out, but they were well aware of the general state of things at the company and exerted influence within all the departments.

An old stereotype of bygone eras was that a business executive was large—basically, an obese middle-aged man. But in this ultracritical society, the archetype was the opposite. His face had been made handsome through orthodontics and minor plastic surgery, his expensive, tailored suit fit him perfectly, and he was moderately fit thanks to his workout regimen at the gym.

He was in his fifties and in a management role. He was a bit past his prime.

“…But…well, it’s strange.”

As an elite employee of the modern era, he was the type who worked on himself and always kept up with both his deskwork and exercise. This very managerial person was wearing mini-VR goggles as he walked administration’s management floor.

A disc-shaped multipurpose drone hovered ahead of him. It looked a lot like the old cleaning robots, but it was no simple cleaning drone. It worked as an artificial body for staff who attended remotely.

Walking a little behind the drone, the chief of general affairs saw a staff member on the same coordinates as the device—

A fabrication projected into reality.

In this expanded world, the staff who attended remotely were valued as highly as real attendees. It may have been hollow in reality, but in the virtual world, he could see a bustling office.

“I do understand the CEO’s intentions. But proximity is important for business, after all. It’s hard to trust a coworker whose face you’ve never really seen,” he said curtly.

“The CEO is afflicted with a disease that’s difficult to treat even with modern medicine,” said the “ghost staff” responsible for guiding him—though the VR reproduced her real body, her looks were enhanced by about thirty percent. While smiling prettily with an avatar that could even be adjusted with makeup, she gently chided him. “The CEO manages her illness while also working as the vanguard and producing results. She has actualized the ideal method of work in modern society. Please be aware that this is our company’s ideal, as well.”

“Perhaps so. Well, it’s an individual choice. But if we were all fine with illusions, then would we even need an office?”

There were no words, no sounds. Such silence was grating.

When he took off his goggles to look at reality, there were just drones working briskly and intently, like insects.

“So then the CEO should focus on her treatment and give orders from the hospital. If remote work alone is enough, then this space is unnecessary. We should let the other departments use it.”

“Please offer your opinion to the CEO directly. I don’t have the authority to pass it on.”

“Good grief, you’re no fun. I can’t even make petty complaints or jokes.”

The chief of general affairs smiled wryly as he followed the secretary’s avatar.

Escorting me straight to the administration management floor, where even the chiefs of the seven departments rarely come… What is this about?

His attempts to aggravate the secretary were a sign of his anxiety.

Internally, the chief of general affairs was upset, rattled by something close to fear.

At Beast Tech, general affairs was weak. Administration held full authority in guiding internal affairs, so general affairs’ job was to take care of things like managing attendance, equipment, facilities, and maintenance—things that were important, but felt insignificant.

If we were more strategic, then we could greatly improve company performance. Has administration noticed my frustrations in that area?

He had nothing to feel guilty about. He’d done nothing dishonest. Even if he didn’t have the authority of the seven main departments, he held an important position and had walked the elite course. The chief of general affairs couldn’t tolerate such risk.

It must be about that…the issue of the tonics that were leaked outside the company. But that should be security’s fault. I’m not responsible for anything that would necessitate a summons. I don’t know anything, and I’m not involved.

The leak of the Mythic Tonic and Phantasm Tonic that was being researched by their R&D department—

If they had just settled matters confidentially, things would have been fine.

But the string of incidents by the hit-and-run centaur had kicked things off, and then the situation had escalated.

The viral smartphone was an absolute disaster… If security takes the blame and that’s it, then I’ll be fine, but…

The Phantasm that had infected individuals via the internet had made the company bring out their last resort: the digital warfare weapon entrusted to Fantastic Sweeper. The events had even caused ripples outside the special district and had yet to be resolved. Security and R&D were still in a scuffle about cleanup, each trying to foist responsibility onto the other.

So no matter how one looked at it, there was no way he would be blamed.

I’m sure it’s some minor issue—the usual unreasonable demands from the witch, the chief of general affairs told himself. Then, immediately, the drone whirring ahead of him stopped.

“The CEO is waiting. Please enter.”

“…All right.”

The drone glided soundlessly out of his way. The avatar bowed respectfully.

He bowed briefly in return to both the real and the virtual, and then entered the CEO’s office.

I wonder what the room is like?

His curiosity was piqued. The CEO was functionally the highest authority in the nation, and this was essentially her living room.

Even the heads of the seven main departments didn’t know how their ruler lived, but it had to be quite luxurious. Though she was fighting an illness, her quarters certainly had to be beyond anything he’d seen bef—

“…?!”

The first thing he noticed was an unfamiliar smell.

It was no aromatic oil. The scent was strange enough that it made him want to simply call it a stink.

It was like a combination of boiling meat, the distinct fragrance of a traditional Chinese medicine-type drug, and a grassy, herbal scent, and it was coming from…

“A kitchen…?” he blurted out.

In the left corner, there was a very plain office with a lone desk topped with a work computer, and an automatic cleaning drone. But in the other corner of the room, there was something quite out of place: a built-in kitchen—most likely top-of-the-line. With a large gas stove, an industrial freezer, and a wide variety of tools, one could even call it a restaurant kitchen. The chief of general affairs didn’t know much about housework, so they were all tools he couldn’t identify.

If it were no more than that, he could have reasoned that the CEO had a cooking hobby.

The issue was the strange mountain of “ingredients” spread chaotically around the kitchen area.

“…!!”

For example, what appeared to be the liver of some unidentifiable creature.

Soaking in a cloudy liquid inside a glass bottle, it was pulsating vigorously.

There were snakes and lizards writhing in cages, giant spiders as large as his palm crunching into frozen mouse meat, and the tails and bones of mystery animals floating in a broth that bubbled on the stovetop.

Said broth was sprinkled with red, blue, and green herbs. It must have undergone some kind of chemical change, as the liquid was a metallic silver like mercury, emitting that abnormal stench and turning the pristine office into a nightmare.

“Welcome, Chief. Pardon my sudden invitation. Are you hungry?”

The chief of general affairs just barely wrung out a “…N-no…!!” along with a polite smile. He felt like he deserved praise for managing that.

Standing in front of the pot was a beautiful woman of undiscernible age—she looked to be in her midthirties, or even her twenties.

Her clothes were very plain, resembling what someone would wear while hospitalized. There was no attempt at fashion, and she wore slippers. At a glance, anyone would assume she was a long-term patient at a hospital and not the CEO of a large company.

Her long and beautiful black hair reached her waist. But on her face…

“A…plague doctor mask?”

“It’s an authentic piece from the seventeenth century. Though I’ve made improvements.”

It was grotesque and made from tacks in old leather, sporting a birdlike beak and inhuman lenses for eyes.

The calm voice of a woman coming from the eerie bird mask made the chief of general affairs very uncomfortable.

“Though its efficacy is lacking, it’s for preventing the spread of infection through exhalation. Though just about everyone in the modern era should be immune to my disease, I can’t take it off, just in case.”

“I-I see… I’m very sorry I haven’t been able to visit you during your illness.”

“No need for concern. In fact, I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable,” she apologized calmly.

She brushed back her long hair, and on both the back of her neck and the pale fingers of her hand…

Fine cracks ran over her exposed skin.

They were an omen of destruction, like a marble statue hammered as hard as possible. The way her cracked skin contrasted against her beauty and feminine curves somehow resembled the tattoo of a criminal.

“This is why I avoid meeting people in person. It’s not as if I’m ashamed, but I’m sure I make a lot of people uncomfortable. Even if the risk of infection is low, it’s frightening.”

“Not at—” all, he began to say, but his voice caught in his throat and wouldn’t come out.

As if he were having a nightmare, the moment the chief of general affairs took one step farther into the office, he was paralyzed.

His legs automatically began to shake. That urge to urinate, like after having too much coffee, was from fear. He was terrified, terror more powerful and raw than standing before a carnivorous beast, or encountering a man-eating shark up close—

…No.

His instincts were faintly warning him.

Though this looks like a human…

He gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. It was hard to swallow, and even that movement felt heavy.

…it’s something…completely different…!!

Key individuals at BT headquarters knew that Mythics or Phantasms were real. However, none of them had come face-to-face with one. And if they had, it was just remains, thoroughly dissected and reduced to the ingredients for Tonic, as powder or paste.

“I assigned observation to Narasaki, but since he’s won over his supervisor and the chief of inspection…it’s been a struggle to pin down this little matter he’s been hiding,” said the woman standing in the kitchen—the CEO of Beast Tech. “Do you know about the Franken Babies? A modern Mythic Beast, the electronic warfare weapon that inspection entrusted to Fantastic Sweeper. When the Franken Babies were cleared for use the other day, they apparently investigated Beast Tech’s digital records as well.”

“What…?!” the chief exclaimed reflexively as shock released him from paralysis. “Isn’t that a major abuse of authority?! Using a device that can falsify digital records on our own company, of all things?!”

“Indeed, it’s quite bad. But after looking into it a bit, I understood that it was necessary.”

Her cracked finger touched the tablet that lay casually in the kitchen. The finger slid smoothly on the liquid crystal panel. On it, a number of digital records were displayed as a soft light illuminated the screen.

“The hit-and-run incidents caused by that girl addicted to the leaked Mythic Tonic—the hit-and-run centaur… After the culprit was arrested, she was killed in an explosion, hospital room and all, and the matter was treated as medical terrorism.”

“…Yes. A heartbreaking coincidence.”

“Indeed. However, there are signs, including the electronic signature of the person who gave the order, that the security department arranged the explosion. Browsing that information was restricted to the Seven Stars—only the rank of department chief or higher could view it.”

“Wha—?!” That could mean only one thing. “You’re saying it was covered up on company orders?! That’s impossible—at the very least, I heard nothing of it!”

“Oh, really? How strange.”

Another swipe on the panel. The electronic signature was enlarged and displayed.

“I believe what I have here is your signature. Am I mistaken?”

“…!!” The chief of general affairs trembled, as if he’d received a death sentence.

He stared at the screen thrust toward him. The sophisticated handwriting was undoubtedly his own. Though he didn’t recall doing it, the electronic signature with biometric authentication attached, was undeniable.

“I-I don’t understand…!!” he practically shrieked an excuse wrung out from his heart. “I don’t know anything!! This is impossible! It’s a fabrication! A trap! Please believe me!!”

“Yes, indeed,” she agreed, surprisingly quickly. “You don’t know or recall anything. I believe you—based on your regular attitude toward your duties, I can trust you.”

“Th-thank…you?” Slightly confused by her indication of trust, the chief bowed his head.

So he didn’t see.

Among the cooking tools around the kitchen lay something unfamiliar, lined up alongside the black silicone spatulas and ladles—

A black staff of ancient wood, which the CEO picked up to draw characters in the air.

“Ri-berate.”

“Ergh!” His lungs were crushed, drawing out a sound from deep in his throat.

The shining characters she’d drawn with her staff, this mysterious stuff, flew toward the chief as he bent over. The moment it touched his head, his stomach, and his crotch, the flesh there swelled up explosively.

His skin bloated like a full water balloon, and he burst.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

There was no heat or blast wave, like from explosives.

Just the remnants of a man who had exploded like a frog with air blown into its ass.

Blood splattered everywhere, feces spilled onto the floor and stank up the place, and something was shining among the lumps of meat.

“““Gyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”””

A grating chorus filled the air. The screams were elicited by the light from the spell as it revealed a secret.

A little person dressed like a Taoist, and a small komainu, a lion-dog, were dragged out from the entrails, wet with crushed brains.

The two—along with a grotesque ox-headed caterpillar lurking where the man’s hip used to be—were the sanshi, the Three Corpse Worms.

In an ancient faith from the continent, these Mythic Beasts would record the evil deeds of humans and report them to Shangdi, the supreme deity. These unnatural beings that should not exist had been captured by the mysterious light of the spell and brought toward the CEO.

“Activate automatic cleaning. Sorry, but can you take care of this for me?”

“Understood.”

This machine represented modern wisdom, far removed from magic.

The cleaning drone was activated by voice recognition, and retrieved the remains on the floor. It cleaned up the mess in a few minutes, right down to specks of bloodstains and tiny pieces of flesh.

Occasionally checking on the device’s progress out of the corner of her eye, the CEO gazed intently at the three Mythics she had caught.

“The mantra of Shoumen Kongou: on deiba yakisha banda banda kakaka sowaka.”

She read some elegantly written characters out loud. The Koushin faith was a combination of beliefs from the continent and Akitsushima, both Mythics, and this mantra they’d developed was thought to restrain the sanshi. The fantastical handwriting was in simple hiragana due to Western magical interference.

“He was brainwashed and controlled without being aware of it. The top brass were inscribed with some suitable countermeasures, but if those were broken so easily… This is a millennial-class curse…and that of a high-ranked eastern Mythic. One who has visited the mundane world many times.”

Kee-kee-kee, kee-kee-kee…

The insect-like sanshi cried out and writhed when her cracked fingers traced the magical script.

“I doubt I’ll get anything from R&D or security. To think they would use the chief of general affairs for their rite.”

If not for the thorough investigation of electronic records on Narasaki’s order, she never would have known.

Of course, even the man himself hadn’t known he’d betrayed them. The Mythic sanshi had controlled his body while he was asleep, instructing him to put the variety of cover-ups in place. And then the staff of the espionage section, who had also known nothing, had done their jobs to carry it out.

“But now I have a lead… Since the techniques for turning curses back on their casters exist in both the East and West.”

A curse will always come home to roost.

If one curses another, they must prepare themself to be cursed. Karma—the obvious aphorism.

“Laibartere.”

When she chanted the word and swung her staff—

Her nails cracked audibly. The fractures running across her skin widened and dripped fresh blood.

The wounds spread like red tree branches, tracing along her fingers to her wrist. The skin crumbled away, falling to the floor, making a heavy sound before it sank into the puddle of blood.

“This should allow me to trace them. I’m sure this will be my final job, so…” Her face didn’t twist in pain, and she seemed unconcerned as she gazed at her wounds. “I need to call Narasaki. I’m sure he’s hidden her all this time because he didn’t want me to do this, but—”

She picked up the tablet very casually and used the internet to make a call. The ringing sound filled the room, and while waiting for it to connect, the CEO made one more remark.

“I’d like to meet this daughter of mine he’s finally found.”

And with this callous remark, the era began to shift considerably.

On the same day, at the same time, somewhere in the Masquerade, the Beastpeople district of Natsukibara…

“The rite has been turned back on us. It seems the witch has caught on.”

In an old shanty, a hideaway sort of bar made inconspicuously between two high-rise buildings—

A man wearing black traditional clothing, with his kimono sleeves tied up with tasuki cords, was polishing the counter with a rag in one hand. A stagehand mask completely covered his face. The mysterious individual—who looked like a cosplayer—seemed embarrassed.

“ ’Tis not the occasion for such an insouciant attitude. Those barbarian dogs… The cleaners will be coming anon!” responded a boy clad in classical hakama pants, tied at the ankles, and a suikan robe. Though he appeared to be a child who had served the aristocracy in ancient times, his voice seemed terribly aged, with a rough sound that grated the ears. “We’ve no time for cleansing! We must leave at once!”

“But this edifice has granted us its space for some time, so…” The man stretched out the rag, wringing the water out and carefully folding it as he spoke. “…we should purify it before leaving. This is not without purpose—for example, erasing evidence.”

Hearing his companion play ignorant irritated the child, and a vein bulged at his temple.

He tore off the tokin headgear that he wore to keep off dust and tossed the broom in his hands aside.

“This frivolity is wasteful! There is little time before the curse affects us!!”

“Don’t worry, we have time aplenty. There are numerous efforts at work, so let us wait and observe the results…so the expression says.” Smoothly undoing the tasuki that tied back his sleeves, and putting on some fingerless leather gloves that didn’t quite match his overall look, the masked man continued, “In this past month, our Doburoku Thirty-Six—the illicit Tonic—has been selling rapidly to the villains seeking to conquer this city. Among those clients, the most notable individuals would number about a hundred.”

In their Edo-period account book, a long list of contacts was written in brushstrokes on the old-fashioned paper.

“We have made connections with those called ‘gangsters’ from their phone numbers to their ‘social media accounts.’ Even their residences and their ‘friends’ on ‘messaging applications.’ ”

“So what about them? Could some mere brigands of the mundane world defeat the witch’s dogs?”

“ ’Twould be unlikely. However, that will be handled with yet another curse.”

Contacts and communication devices old and new were lined up on the freshly cleaned counter: a black old-fashioned rotary phone, a brand-new smartphone and tablet—even postcards, letters, and a pager.

Slim fingers tapped the smartphone, turned the rotary phone dial, and took up the brush to write.

All to the contacts of the hundred gangsters, the villains gathering in the special district.

Immediately after the letters were written, rats and crows took them in their mouths and vanished into the night with abnormal speed.

“Let me see.” The child peered at one of the smartphones with a dubious expression on his face.

The content of the email that had just been sent out was so extreme, it made his brow furrow even more deeply than it already was.

Seeing that sloppy message, the child wailed like he was ready to smash the smartphone. “You fool! No matter how simple these mundanes may be, they won’t be ensnared by such nonsense!”

“But the information is true…” Unbothered, the masked man tapped the link in the email. It displayed a single image. “I retrieved the hidden stash of cash of the one who paid for the ‘Dead Doll’ Phantasm Tonic, totaling one hundred million, and hid it in a certain place on Kamimachi Street. There are countless clues: the buildings in the photo, signboards, the sky. For anyone familiar with the town, it will be easy to grasp a rough position from this one photo. So all that’s left…”

Clearly visible in the photo, taken casually with a smartphone, was the dangerous money, dirtied by blood: some scattered banknotes and a bag shoved in a garbage can in some unknown back alley of the Masquerade.

“First come, first served, a scramble for cash. The villains I’ve chosen are all guaranteed to give in to avarice. While they may doubt and think it deceit, they will be drawn one after another to gather to my curse, marked in that text.”

The energy in both the handwriting by brush and electronic text—

It was a meager clue, the sort that an ordinary person would disregard as a worthless, stupid fraud.

But the addicts infatuated with Monster Tonic, those who were addicted to blood, violence, and money—they would grasp at straws.

“Modern Onmyou: Villain Vermin Poisoning. It is ready.”

Before the seeds that had been sown would sprout—

In the few hours before the CEO turned back the curse and they were hit by a new one…

That is where this story begins.

This merciless message was delivered to the smartphone Reiji had only just bought.

“Why? All I did was tweet every day pretending to be my little sister, who doesn’t exist…!”

“Don’t say something like that with such a clueless look on your face,” his friend snapped.

Black-and-white two-toned hair. Faint mist emitted from his skin and the ends of his hair as it volatilized, indicating the boy was not normal. This boy, Reiji Kasumi, had once been told he seemed like “the type of pretty boy who’d be kept by a rich older woman.”

His companion was a girl with a look of utter exasperation on her face. They were at the Fantastic Sweeper office in Natsukibara, the Masquerade.

In the evening, soon after school let out, two Fantastic Sweeper staff members—Reiji and Getsu—had gone to work, bringing two high school girls along to the cluttered office.

“I-I didn’t get banned though, did I?” said the other boy. “But I do only have three views…”

“That would be Kasumi, Mei, and myself,” said one of the girls. “Just your friends, but I don’t think that’s a surprise.”

The delinquent-looking boy with pale blond hair was Getsu Raisan.

Because of his muscular physique, he seemed intimidating at first glance, but the kindness and gentleness in his eyes gave him charm, like a big dog hiding his fangs.

And at his side, pushing her friend’s wheelchair, was a modest and upright-looking girl in a school uniform: Kei Kakiba. Her pale skin and black hair made her look like an old-fashioned young lady, but there was warmth in her beauty.

She was like frost on the trees melting in the sun of springtime, and the next thing she said was—

“I think it’s scary for ‘anmitsu’ to be the first thing out of your mouth. And it’s just canned fruit salad, anyway,” Kei stated randomly.

“What the heck? Are you trying to set up a joke or something? That’s just too surreal. That’ll weird people out hard,” replied the person in the wheelchair.

She wore an Akanebara Municipal High School uniform, just like Kei. Her hair was short and a bit wavy, suiting her sharp and fierce features. Her unyielding personality came out in her unreserved and assertive manner of speaking, with an air like an unfriendly cat.

She was Mei Mezuki, a former high school star athlete and the client in Reiji and Getsu’s investigation.

Furious about the hit-and-run centaur incident in which her former junior, Mai Ikeda, had become a criminal, she had invested personal funds to request Fantastic Sweeper’s investigation. Ever since, she had been frequenting the company office.

Reiji and Getsu worked at Fantastic Sweeper, and were categorized as Special Permanent Beasts: Vampire and Werewolf. They had not been granted human rights. In exchange for being allowed to participate in human society, they had sworn loyalty to the company. They were currently working to fulfill Mei’s request.

Kei Kakiba—the Cocktail Witch. Using everyday drinks based on hunches and taste, she could make special tonics that had unusual effects. She had previously worked nights at a bar in the Masquerade, dressed as a high school bunny girl.

Ever since she had lost her job in a tragic incident related to the leaked Mythic Tonic, she had taken on Mei’s request as a friend, and she was helping the guys investigate the case. They were classmates at the same school, but after hours, they secretly investigated corruption of the Masquerade in Natsukibara.

“But like—! I heard sweets are a total winner! Don’t girls love that stuff ?!” Getsu wailed.

“Fruit salad poured into old empty sake jars doesn’t count as ‘sweets.’ That’s a poor person’s meal…,” said Mei.

“I feel like that might get you accused of a crime,” Kei added.

The childish tears welling in Getsu’s eyes really clashed with his bad-boy appearance. He and his partner Reiji were completely hopeless.

Not only were they unfamiliar with social media, but they were making mistakes that even preschoolers wouldn’t make.

“You’re the one who brought me your smartphone while crying that you got a warning for suspicion of underage drinking. And stop using empty sake jars as cups—buy some drinking glasses, at least,” said Mei.

In the end, it was just a warning, and it hadn’t gone as far as to lower their credit scores or suspend their accounts.

The delinquent-looking boy, in tears, had attracted suspicious looks from their classmates when he pulled out his phone during their break at school. It put Mei in quite a mood.

“But it’s a waste…,” Getsu whined. “The sake glasses are pretty well-made, so convenient to use, and they’re free.”

“You don’t normally call it ‘free’ when you pulled it out of the trash. No matter how much you wash it, trash is still trash.”

“For real…? It’s no good, even though I washed and sterilized it? Real society is tougher than I thought…”

Both boys were truly hopeless.

They’d been rewarded for their efforts during a recent incident—a Phantasm disaster on a national level and world-destroying scale. For resolving the Viral Smartphone incident, Reiji and Getsu were awarded used smartphones and even provisional citizen registration numbers. However…

“I thought now, finally, we would join the upper class…,” Reiji said, troubled.

“I think you’re low class, if anything. Having a credit score of zero is pretty bad.” Kei was exasperated.

“Not being allowed to pretend to be a child tweeting about anime—freedom in this nation is dead…!” Reiji wailed.

“That sort of freedom should be dead. In fact, I’d kill you for it,” Mei retorted.

“I really don’t think you have to go that far, Mei,” said Kei. “Even if he is creepy, he does have the right to life.”

“Stop firing jabs while pretending to console me, Kakiba. You’re more brutal than her…!”

On Reiji’s first weekend after purchasing a smartphone, he had applied and been approved for a social media account.

He had filled out his profile as if he were a female elementary school student, changed his icon, and began talking about anime. The platform had detected that this was inconsistent with his identification and judged it was identity fraud, leading to his account being frozen.

Getsu’s situation wasn’t as bad. He’d just gotten off with a warning, but it was still a major blunder in a strictly monitored society.

“Perhaps it was too early to give beasts social media. As your supervisor, I’ll be held responsible as well, so watch yourselves. And to be specific, your reprimand will come out of your next paycheck,” Narasaki, the president of Fantastic Sweeper, lazily chimed in.

“You don’t get a warning for this workplace harassment?”

“Society is definitely in the wrong…,” said his secretary, Neru Hoozuki, who stood at his side holding a tablet.

Narasaki picked up an amber-colored pipe from his desk, which was cluttered with antiques and curios, and played with it rather than lighting it. Then he told his unhappy staff, “I’ve even quit smoking due to societal pressure. Just fifty years ago, nearly every man would be puffing out smoke all over the place. It’s become a very uncomfortable world.”

“So it was uncomfortable back then as well. It stinks, and it bothers other people.”

“I feel culture is being killed this very moment. There’s depth to this hobby, you know… Scents differ by brand, and then there are differences between the types of pipe, cigars and cigarettes, and more.”

“Freedom’s dead, so culture will be killed, too. Duh,” his secretary concluded brutally. Neru had the innocent looks of a child, but was wearing a fitted suit. With Narasaki’s aesthetic of a profligate university professor, they looked like a father and his cheeky daughter.

Ignoring their banter, Mei—a former athlete with one paralyzed leg and client of what was an exploitative and shady company—glared at the staff as they continued to derail matters.

“So what’s going on? Did you call me here to show me some boring comedy sketch?”

“It hurts to hear you say that so bluntly. Today I have some good news and some bad news.”

“…Did you make progress on the investigation?”

Mei had offered to pay them with insurance money she’d received for the accident that had maimed her—two hundred million—in exchange for looking into a tragic series of events.

Upon learning that Mei would never be able to run again, her club junior had taken the news hard and engaged in a twisted form of revenge. Shifting the blame for the accident onto strangers instead of the driver responsible, she’d murdered several people after taking a Tonic that transformed her into a centaur. After being apprehended by Reiji, she had gone to the hospital, where she and her family had been killed in an explosion that was labeled a terrorist attack to cover it up. Although her new friends had learned some things about the incident, there had been no major developments.

“I haven’t heard anything,” said Reiji.

“Nope,” Getsu echoed. “Though if the info went to the boss or Neru, I wouldn’t know.”

Reiji and Getsu were confused. This summons was sudden even to them, and they were the ones doing the legwork.

“That’s how it is. You’ve been cleaning up after the Viral Smartphone incident this past month, as well as searching the hideout of the suspects, but you’ve produced no major results. Isn’t that right?”

“…We ran into a lot of issues,” said Reiji.

Fantastic Sweeper was commissioned by Beast Tech to manage the town—the government-designated slum of Natsukibara known as the Masquerade.

They did everything from maintaining the peace, corpse disposal, investigating incidents, to even garbage removal. These “special” boys were not the only staff. There were a fair number of people, including temps, part-timers, and transfers from Beast Tech. However. there weren’t nearly enough hands—particularly after what had happened the other day, when the dead doll had stolen money from an illegal casino and then murdered his allies after a falling-out with them.

Following that, social media was polluted by the Viral Smartphone Phantasm. The aftereffects of these violent incidents had been serious, and while it seemed as if things had settled down, the town was actually in turmoil.

“You guys have looked pretty worn out lately. Overtime?” Mei asked.

“Until late at night. It’s common for us not to get back until three or four in the morning,” Reiji answered earnestly.

“We’re young and night owls, but three hours of sleep really makes it tough to go to school. Seriously…” Getsu echoed.

“Kakiba isn’t even an employee. We can’t drag her into activities that aren’t about the investigation. We’re shorthanded.”

“Petty gangsters and non-yakuza criminals have found out that some dangerous stuff is real… Rare products like Phantasm and Mythic Tonics. So they cause a lot of issues,” Reiji said with a bitter, fed-up expression, recalling the various cases they’d encountered. “The Indian elephant who was yelling, ‘Yeah, rainbow unicorn! Shake that ass, bwooo!’ was a real pain—the one who tried to stick his thing into the change slot of a vending machine. When you’re over two tons, those antics are violence.”

“What sort of life do you lead to have a hallucination like that? I don’t get it,” said Kei.

“He believed the rumors that mixing Monster Tonic with ten bottles of cough syrup gets you real high, and apparently he actually did it. The result was that he was arrested and detained for suspicion of raping a vending machine.”

“Does ‘rape’ apply to inanimate objects?”

“I don’t know. Stuff like that happens every night… Things have just finally calmed down these past few days.”

Perhaps they had gotten used to such unusual events, as the two high school girls didn’t even blush when hearing these completely filthy stories.

“There was the rumor about a very low chance you could find some ‘rare product’ mixed in with regular Monster Tonic. Idiots went around prying open vending machines in town, counterfeiting cans that seemed different and selling them.”

“Oh yeah, and wasn’t there that weird story, too?” Rubbing his eyes, which were puffy from lack of sleep, Getsu added, “There was that gang that was fighting in some back alley over territory or whatever. They’d had conflict a bunch of times before, but that’s when we got information of sightings of a weird-looking Beastperson.”

“Could that be…?!” Mei’s cheeks turned red. This is what she was spending large amounts of money for—clues about the one responsible for her junior’s death.

Someone had sold a very dangerous Tonic to Mai when she had been seeking revenge, made her a monster, and had her blown up to tie up loose ends. In all the incidents so far, those who had transformed into monsters had a similar story, bringing about many tragedies.

“It’s possible. But we haven’t managed to collect evidence yet,” said Reiji.

In the Masquerade, where information was deliberately restricted, only limited areas had cell phone reception.

While most people in modern society carried a smartphone with a camera, in the back alleys where the eyes of technology didn’t reach, photo and video evidence couldn’t be taken. What information that could be obtained was vague and uncertain.

“Since the witnesses are generally intoxicated or under the influence…it’s hard to discern what’s a hallucination and what’s a proper testimony. But still, it’s a clue, so we were thinking about looking into it tonight.”

“I thought that report was the reason the girls were called here,” said Getsu. “But was that not it, Boss?”

“You’re right. And that’s the good news. We found the culprit behind the murder of Mai Ikeda’s family,” Narasaki replied to his staff’s question—it came so naturally, and so abruptly.

Even Mei, the one most affected, was frozen, unable to understand it for a while. “…What?!”

“And there’s one more thing—some very bad news. Neru, go ahead.”

“Yep.” Fingertips sliding over the tablet in her hands, the secretary worked on something.

While she looked like a little girl, she oversaw intel for Fantastic Sweeper. During the previous case, she had revealed her true nature—a weapon designed for electronic warfare, a monster capable of accessing all information—to save them from a dire situation.

“The money that you transferred to our company’s account… The payment of one hundred million yen for your request: investigation of the Ikedas’ death by explosion, as well as taking steps to identify the perpetrator… I’m going to return it to you.”

“Hey… What the heck? What’s this about?!” It was so sudden, Mei couldn’t keep up. She quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Electronic signals were blocked off in the Masquerade, but there were several exceptions. The Fantastic Sweeper office building had a direct line to the outside, and it was possible to comfortably use the internet.

Faster than she could get her phone out of sleep mode, the message arrived.

“A deposit notification…? So this is for real?!”

A nine-digit number—a hundred million.

Seeing the amount that she had offered with such determination come back to her account as is—

Mei went so pale that it looked like she would collapse.

“Unfortunately, it is for real. Sorry.” With all eyes—except for those of his secretary Neru—on him, Company President Narasaki put his hand to his head. “Due to some company circumstances, we were unable to fulfill your request. And so we have refunded the full amount, including expenses and the bank transfer fee. Trying to pilfer some would be poor manners, after all.”

With the president’s gestures, seemingly an expression of his distress, the people in the room exploded in displeasure.

“You mean you’re annulling the contract?! Without a discussion?! Just what is going on?!” Mei leaned forward.

“So you’ve finally lost your good sense, you sketchy old man…!” Reiji spat.

Getsu was less articulate. “Idiot! Scum! Tyrant of a boss…! We’re finally gonna strike!!”

“I’m going to pluck out your beard. Oh, I’ll do it. To borrow your verbiage—for real.” Kei made a plucking gesture with her fingers.

Bearing the brunt of the youths’ anger, Narasaki’s expression was, unsurprisingly, uncomfortable.

“I didn’t want to do this, either, though? We are continuing the investigation, however it will not be as an external request, but a direct order from BT headquarters’ administration department.”

“…In other words, we don’t get a reward?”

“I figure you will get a bonus. Just one or two month’s salary, though.”

“Th-that sucks… Never mind tuna, we’ll only get to eat fish sausages…” Getsu’s shoulders slumped.

“What is the meaning of this?” Her retaliation depended on his answer—she wasn’t going to let him off easy. Eyes blazing, Mei pressed Narasaki. “From what we discussed before, you were to keep my request a secret from headquarters. Now your company is suddenly sticking its nose in. Is the company’s administration department that big of a deal?”

“If you’re asking if they’re important, the answer is yes, very. The administration department sits at the top of the seven major departments, right under the CEO of the company. From where we stand as a subsidiary, no more than a branch of the conglomeration, they’re basically royalty.”

In the death by explosion of the hit-and-run centaur, aka Mai Ikeda, there had been ominous signs of someone powerful trying to cover up the incident.

“I, myself, was the one to suggest that. It would be completely impossible for those two animals to investigate that avenue, wouldn’t it? And so, since there was a good opportunity the other day, I gave it a shot.”

“The other day… Wait, you’ve been doing something besides just standing here and looking smug?!”

“Can you not look so sincerely surprised? I may not look it, but I do work as the company president, you know. Just the other day, we had a situation that required the strategic weapon that is the pride of our company. Neru had her restrictions lifted, right?”

Getsu and Reiji twitched.

“Neru’s restrictions… Um, that Franken-something thing?” said Getsu.

“The Imitation Children—the Franken Babies. The equipment from head office’s inspection department, the newest Mythic Beast?” said Reiji.

“Yup.” Neru’s reply was short and direct.

So said the girl-like monster who was considered inhuman, and denied human rights.

“I’m not human. I’m like you. But I’m not interested in being human or living as if I am one. I’m a fake human. A counterfeit, I guess you could say? Not like it really makes sense to me.”

“Well, if you’re saying you were created, I’m something similar… Like a test tube baby?” Feeling a strange empathy, like they were victims of the same crime, Getsu smiled. “How many siblings do you have, Neru?! I have easily over three digits. Though they’re all dead.”

“I have somewhat fewer. And they’re not dead. They’re fine, in the basement here. Swimming.”

“Really?! Introduce me sometime, I’ve gotta say hello, at least.”

“This conversation sounds so nonsensical from an outsider’s perspective…” Reiji looked exasperated. He clapped to get everyone’s attention. “You’re allowed to share the things you have in common, but let’s get back to the subject at hand. At this rate, Mei’s gonna slip her leash.”

“Grrrrrrrrrr…!”

“Calm down, Mei! Whoa, whoa… This isn’t good. I don’t have any treats or bones,” said Kei.

“Shaddap. Don’t treat me like a bad-tempered pet… So?!” Mei snapped. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was clearly irritated. This prompted them to get back on topic as she shook off Kei’s restraining hands. “I know about the little secretary being a Mythic Beast. What does that have to do with the case?”

“My power is a nuclear warhead in a society so reliant on information technology,” said Neru. “By aligning myself with the brains of the Aquatic Colonial Organism Neuro-Unit—my siblings—I can extract information from any type of wirelessly connected device and alter it as I please.”

“…In other words, you’re a super hacker? That’s amazing.”

“Don’t put it like that… It’s lame.” Her cold and expressionless face twisted in distaste. Clearly, that phrase was just too uncool for her.

“The restrictions on my functions were lifted to resolve the Viral Smartphone incident. That old man took advantage of the situation and had me do something that caused the contract annulment.”

“An old man making a little girl do something—that couldn’t be anything other than a sex crime. What did he do to you?” asked Kei.

“That’s not what happened!” Narasaki protested. “Putting it that way invites misunderstandings… I asked Neru to secretly investigate head office’s records. If Beast Tech covered up the hit-and-run centaur incident, there would be an electronic record from the one who gave the order. Of course, it couldn’t be found easily. However…”

The ultimate electronic warfare weapon had intellect, not artificial intelligence. It could interfere with any device under Narasaki’s order, and also—

“In compliance with the wishes of the inspection department, which has dispatched me here, I hacked the system. I verified private emails, internal documents, and even confidential folders that only management can access. This is against company regulations and, of course, is also illegal.”

“Shocking. It’s like a thief is among us,” Mei commented.

“Things were rather at a stalemate, you see. Since we are being paid, we will take risks. But…” Narasaki’s expression darkened.

Mei guessed. “It didn’t work?”

“The opposite. We found out everything. We learned too much.”

Electronic documents labeled dramatically as “confidential” and “company secret” were displayed on-screen one after another. These were considered solid evidence in a digital society, with protection settings keeping them from being falsified.

“The chief of general affairs came up as the orchestrator of the cover-up. But after looking at the company security cameras on the day of, the testimony of his secretary, and the operation records of his computer and tablet, it seems he wasn’t aware of his own involvement. While completely ignorant of his actions, he gave direct orders to a different department, going over the department’s head—the chief of the security department—to tell BT security department’s espionage section to carry out the bombing and even reward the nurse who did the handiwork.”

“…What the heck?” said Mei. This was so strange that even a high school girl who didn’t work in the business thought it was extraordinary. “Are you trying to say that he was controlled by radio waves from space or something? Bullshit!!”

“I think it’s certain that he was being controlled. Though they weren’t using radio waves, and neither was it from space.”

As for where it had come from—

“It was one of our brethren. We can assume that it was a trap by the ‘person in traditional attire’ that we heard sightings of before. You yourselves have seen that mysticality and Mythics are real, causing miracles and the impossible.”

“…Like the internet curse attack bastard, or the underwear energy twisting guy, or the bondage Japanese doll. I did hear about those…but is it possible to control a person?”

“Yes, it’s possible. The type of evil supernatural creature that deceives people is standard in any time or place—from nation-toppling beauties who beguile men with their charms to countryside youkai. In fact, the problem is…” With a reproachful glance at Neru and a pout, he said, “My secretary, Neru, is on lease from head office to monitor me. So some use in emergencies is overlooked, and I meant to go through my connections in inspection to cover our tracks…”

The reason that Narasaki had been able to grasp the details about the original cause of these incidents, the leak of the Phantasm and Mythic Tonics from the R&D department, was because he had a connection in inspection leaking that to him. It was a relationship based on mutual interest, give and take.

Trusting him for that reason, they had secretly been planning to apprehend the chief of general affairs, but then—

“BT head office administration department has the right to view inspection’s logs. Since the CEO found out about the results of our investigation, all records were confiscated. Most likely, the CEO will be wielding a purging scalpel in the management ranks tonight. I figure those who did the legwork for the mastermind will also be dealt with somehow. Since even if they were deceived with false orders, terrorism is pretty bad, after all.”

“A purge…? Like being demoted or removed?” asked Mei.

“Removed, yes—their heads from their shoulders. That’s the kind of company we are.”

“What?!” That punishment was about a hundred times worse than what Mei had expected, making her jaw drop. “Just what kind of corrupt corporation is this?! That chief of general affairs was at fault, but he was being controlled, right? If you’re told you couldn’t have been responsible for your actions, common sense says people will stick up for you!”

“Oh my. This is the person responsible for your junior’s death. You’re not going to demand severe punishment or ask for the death penalty?”

“I would absolutely be into that if he’d done it for the sake of money or his own success! I’d have no regrets about pushing the execution switch, and I wouldn’t be scared, no matter how much his family resented me for it!”

She was overflowing with fighting spirit, a former resident of a world where a split second meant victory.

Even after having left the sport, Mei’s nature hadn’t changed, and she was resilient when it came to the stress of competition. If it made sense to her, then she was fully ready to settle things, even if it meant others would hold a grudge against her.

“But some victim of control getting executed without understanding what he did isn’t the same thing. The perpetrator should actually understand what they did and atone! Not run from it by casually killing him and leaving it at that!!” She cried out what she believed was right.

But the corrupt company man waved dismissively. “It’s not running from anything,” he said, fiddling with the unlit antique pipe. “I’ll omit the technical details, but by exposing the magical traces in the chief, who was being controlled, and turning the rite back on the caster, it’s quite likely that they can gain a major clue as to the whereabouts of the true culprit. That will probably be done in a few hours, and the mobilization order will be given. I think the security department might send in the execution unit, with their prestige on the line.”

“…You guys aren’t going to be the ones doing it?” Mei asked.

“If the security department can’t do it, then our turn may come. So for tonight, you’ll be on standby. Now that the incident is being handled by head office, I can no longer fulfill your request…and thus the annulment.”

The brainwashed chief of general affairs’ secret orders meant confidential material had been taken outside of the company.

That had been the source of the trouble, and it had done a lot of harm. BT head office’s security department would be held responsible, so to recover from that major blunder in their internal company politics, they had to produce results immediately.

That was what had brought Fantastic Sweeper’s efforts to a halt, and as a result—

“My request is canceled, and that’s why you’re returning the money?” said Mei.

“That’s right. Do you have any requests regarding the chief of general affairs’ execution? As part of our client services, if evidence is necessary, we will offer it, though it will be in the format of image and video that cannot be reproduced.”

“I’m not interested in seeing the corpse of some old man I’ve never met,” Mei spat, with no pleasure or joy on her face.

“…So it’s over?”

“It’s over.”

Like a child left behind by its parent—

As the ground was crumbling beneath her and she was right on the verge of falling, Narasaki offered no consolation.

“What the hell? So I…!” Forsaken, Mei didn’t cry—couldn’t cry.

Sinking back into her wheelchair, she trembled with a feeling beyond outrage. Emptiness.

“I’m going to lose everything again…!”

In the accident, she had lost the use of her right leg, and the track and field dreams she’d staked her life on were crushed.

The meaning, the reason, the goal that had kept her going since losing everything had been to restart her life, to start over, to settle the incident, and find closure. Now she had lost that opportunity as well.

“…Mei. Are you all right?”

“This sucks… Just checking, but there’s no point in complaining to BT, is there?”

“There’s no point—rather, this is what the CEO wants. I would prefer it not be the case, and I meant to continue our work discreetly as much as possible, but I was beaten to the punch before I could lay the groundwork with inspection.”

Mei sensed that probably wasn’t a lie.

She didn’t know if it was simply that he was after money, or if he had some other goal. But the tension in Narasaki’s hand as he toyed with his pipe was that of indignation with no outlet. There was irritation in the smirk that attempted to conceal his emotions. That seemed credible to her—so long as he wasn’t acting.

“What about you guys? If you’ll do this on a personal basis, then I’ll just give you the money,” Mei said, figuring the answer was “No” anyway.

Reiji and Getsu both shook their heads apologetically.

“Sorry, but there’s nothing we can do,” said Reiji. “We’re able to live in human society because of the company’s references and support. Even if we were to obtain a large sum of money now, in the worst-case scenario we’d lose the backing of the company, and then we would be stuck. We wouldn’t be able to live.”

“We’d either have to live like criminals in this town or run into the forest and live off the land like survivalists,” said Getsu. “…Sorry. I’m really sorry, but that’d be too rough. I wanna help, but I can’t go against the company.”

“I see… But the investigation is ongoing, right? Will you tell me once things are settled?”

“Of course. But…are you gonna be okay?” Reiji asked.

What he meant was that when someone was in shock, they would react by crying, wailing, and making a scene. These were all normal reactions, a process to deal with human emotions—temporary confusion.

But Mei was different. She didn’t lash out. She was just quiet.

“…Ah…I’m not okay. I’m very angry. But…,” she continued, “taking it out on you guys when you’re just doing your jobs won’t get me anywhere. If I could solve things by shrieking, then I’d gladly act like a monkey, but if there’s no point, then there’s no point.”

At first glance, she looked coolheaded. But…

“So I… I have no idea what I should do, what to do next…” She looked up at the ceiling. Her sigh had a long, long trail, like a comet. It was the reaction of someone hollow. Emotions that couldn’t be dealt with were just stuck deep in her heart, in limbo.

Though they mulled it over, her friends couldn’t think of what to say to someone who had just lost hope, and they all shared little glances before discussing very quietly.

“…What do we do? We’ve got to cheer her up… It doesn’t matter how!” said Kei.

“I don’t know, don’t ask me. Food—should we give her something to eat? That’d help me,” Reiji suggested.

“Wh-what about desserts?! Bingeing on something sweet… Oh, not like I have the money for that, though,” admitted Getsu.

The three of them had a whispered conversation. But they had no concrete plan or budget to make it happen.

Unable to do anything when their friend was hurting right in front of them, they were feeling quite flustered, but then something happened.

“By the way, crew. Like I just said, you’ll be on standby tonight. But…”

“What is it, Boss? If the security department is gonna catch the culprit, then there’s nothing for us to do, right?”

“Oh no, no, no, no, no way they can. The security department is strong, but arming some former police officers and soldier Beastmen and sending them in against someone who has caused this much chaos isn’t going to work.”

When up against beings wreathed in mysticality—Mythic Beasts granted ancient powers by the Tonic, or Phantasms who could control fantastic and monstrous powers like in urban legends—ordinary military forces might not be useful.

“The unit that’s being sent out is just for security’s appearances. They’ll either lose or be outmaneuvered, and then you’ll be sent out in the end, anyhow. So you should assume things are going to get rough tonight.”

After getting to that point, Narasaki reached into the pocket of his suit. From an old-fashioned wallet made of real leather, he pulled out an expensive-looking piece of paper and waved it around.

“Send the girls out of the Masquerade. Since there is no pretext for her request, there’s no reason for them to be here. And use this coupon to get something to eat while you’re at it.”

“Food? I’m fine with that, but do we have time to eat?” asked Getsu.

“You have two or three hours before the chief of general affairs is summoned and the rite is turned back on its caster. I’m feeling rather badly about having broken our contract, so while I can’t say this is compensation…” Seeing his staff’s sighs and depressed reactions, Narasaki handed Getsu the ticket.

The little piece of paper featured the logo of a high-class butcher shop that owned a building in the most expensive publicly facing area of Natsukibara, in front of the station.

“A free meal ticket for the fourth floor of Meat Heaven. Yakiniku, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, beef stew, and lobster… It’s a fancy restaurant where the wealthy go to eat when they visit this part of town with bodyguards.”

“What?! Seriously…?! Isn’t this super expensive?!”

“…I think it is quite expensive. At a ticket reseller, it would go for a hundred thousand yen—no, maybe even more.”

“Wait, calm down. I don’t understand. Is it possible to spend that much money on a single meal…?!”

The piece of paper he’d been handed was so valuable, Kei and Reiji crowded around Getsu, who held the coupon.

“By the way, that’s a premium coupon you get as a bonus for being a shareholder. It’s all-you-can-eat with no limitations on the menu or the number of people eating. You could order all the meat in the restaurant if you can eat it on the premises within one hour.”

“No way! This is like a magic lamp that grants wishes, dude!!” Getsu cried.

“I can’t believe it,” said Reiji. “I misunderstood you. I thought that you were as stingy as you could get, a dubious middle-aged man who flaunts his wealth to a disgusting degree… To think you were so generous as to grant us a treasure like this…”

“His recent treatment of us has really made me dislike him, but unfortunately, now I’m seeing him in a better light… Meat, and high-class meat at that. I wonder what it tastes like? I can’t even imagine.” While touching the coupon with hope in her heart, Kei turned to her friend in the wheelchair. “I can’t tell you to cheer up…but it’s yakiniku. Wanna go?”

“I have no appetite. Frankly, I think it’d taste like sand, no matter what I eat.”

“Still—most problems seem small if your belly is full, you’re warm, and you can sleep well. Though I think all of those will be difficult for you now, let’s try anyway.” Kei stood and grasped the handles of the wheelchair forcefully. “Let’s eat a full meal. We’re stress eating. The boys will catch the villain behind the incident for us. Even though the one you could call the culprit died, the biggest baddie is still out there. So until we get our answers…”

“…The all-you-can-eat has a one-hour time limit. How long do you plan to sit around there?” asked Mei.

“Then let’s go to karaoke or a family restaurant on the outside. Worst case, we can go to Mr. Garoo’s host club. I’m just not going to let you be alone tonight.”

“…You idiot.” A weak insult. There were no tears, and her frozen heart was unmoved, but still… “This is the problem with loners. You give mixed signals, idiot. Stupid…!”

“How rude! My grades are better than yours.”

Everyone there choked back the words, That’s not what she meant—

Not noticing Mei’s expression as she hung her head, Kei pushed the wheelchair along, about to leave the office.

“Thanks for the free coupon. But I still hate you.” Turning around, she made a face at Narasaki. Kei stuck out her tongue, making a face to express her hostility, and then let the door slam shut.

“…That was probably her being mad, right? It was really cute, though,” said Getsu.

“Was it? My little sister often made faces like that. Though it was generally when things were my fault,” said Reiji.

“Stop judging all girls by comparing them with your sister, it’s lazy. Also, those two are going out but haven’t taken any Tonic.”

While talking, Reiji and Getsu headed for the exit.

“So, Boss,” said Getsu, “we’ll take advantage of your offer and go eat. If anything happens—”

“It’s a fancy restaurant. Right in the middle of the main street, in the area around Heaven, anyone can talk on a phone, even in this district. I don’t mind, so long as you don’t leave the area. So, well, save your energy.” Narasaki gave them permission quite readily.

Then, right as the poor employees were leaving…

“I know there’s nothing to be done, but this was really lame, Boss,” said Getsu.

“It’s humiliating not to be able to do the job we took on. I’m fine resigning myself to no reward, but this isn’t like you… Is the CEO that scary?” Even Reiji, who normally spoke politely to Narasaki even just for formality’s sake, was being belligerent.

But there was no reply. “……”

“Silence, huh? Let’s go, Getsu.”

“Roger. We can’t abandon Kei and Mei, after all!”

Once the office door closed and the sound of footsteps grew distant, silence followed.

Then the sound of a striking match broke the silence, burning tobacco in a pipe, and wafting smoke.

“No smoking,” said Neru.

“I gave up on quitting. Having these young people get mad at me is really making me depressed, you know?”

The light in the office was like a will-o’-the-wisp, illuminating Narasaki’s face in the dark. The easygoing expression he maintained in front of his staff now turned blank, as if a thread had been cut.

“I’m not frightened, I’m sad… Because I’m going to lose someone important again.”

Was that how he really felt, or a lie?

After that remark, heard by only his secretary Neru, the office was consumed by silence.

Not far from the Fantastic Sweeper building in Natsukibara, the Masquerade, across the Raisei bridge that went over the Tagami river—

Armed Beastpeople were stationed in front of imposing gates reminiscent of a military barricade.

There was nothing DIY or makeshift about this operation, like leather jackets or nail bats. Their bullet- and knife-proof body armor, electromagnetic batons, and tasers suggested they had powerful connections on the outside.

In the quarantined, government-designated slum, this gated community was surrounded by yet another steel barricade.

“Otherwise known as Kyoto Bubble. It’s a theme park of sorts that reimagines, to a degree, the culture of long ago—long before we were born—back when this country’s economy was flourishing…or so I’ve been told,” said Reiji.

Brawny security guards armed with guns monitored the entrance twenty-four hours a day. The barricade that surrounded the Natsukibara area was perfunctory, like they expected it to be overcome, but the security around the Kyoto Bubble area was on a different level.

“Even during the recent riot, the Beastpeople who charged in here were all rounded up and shot. This is a playground for Beast Tech sponsors and the wealthy. Simply entering is tough.”

This area was the picture of cleanliness. Unlike the bubble era long ago, there were no piles of vomit from drunks or discarded cigarette butts lying around randomly—just crude lighting that dominated the night sky with signs of famous stores and expensive brands known even on the outside, crowded close together, sparkling.

“Your staff IDs are surprisingly convenient, getting you into a place like this,” said Kei.

“Even if we can get in, it’s not like we can afford to do anything.”

After getting changed and taking the Tonic if needed, they presented their IDs as Fantastic Sweeper employees.

They spent about twenty minutes in an entrance inspection, and then finally reached a certain place in the area—

“This actually suits you. I never knew you two had clothing like this.”

“We do sometimes come for work. Though usually we’re fine in just overalls,” said Reiji.

“Important people sometimes invite us to accompany the boss when he’s being entertained or something. That’s what these clothes are for,” added Getsu.

The two boys had traded their usual uniforms for suits.

They were nothing fancy. They were a couple of off-the-rack outfits bought at a men’s mass retailer, but Reiji was still a young man in a proper suit. He was hiding his face with a mask, as if he was sick, but his black-and-white two-tone hair was the same.

And Getsu, the other boy—the blond one who looked like a delinquent—had transformed completely.

“Entertainment… So do you get free food, then?” asked Kei.

“Nah, the boss is too cheap for that. We just look scary and stand behind him while he’s talking with the important people. If they’re just boozing, it’s fine, but when it’s fancy Chinese or yakiniku or whatever, I get so hungry I could die,” grumbled the Mythic Beast with an unhappy look, his shirt swelled with fur and muscle.

He was an authentic werewolf and exuded a wildness that set him apart from the common canines produced by the mainstream Tonic. The girth of his skeleton and muscle, and the fangs big enough to stick out of his mouth, were indicative of his pure wolf pedigree.

“How awful. While it would be crude to ask to be treated, that’s still tough.” Pushing the handles of the wheelchair, Kei let out a little sigh.

She had changed as well, and her pure-white fur and long ears made her a true high school bunny girl.

She had taken off her uniform and was wearing a tight-fitting dress she’d previously worn as a disguise to walk around town. Nothing else would better suit the bubble-era aesthetic, so much so that she even caught glances from the well-to-do passersby.

The cocktail witch—Kei. With the market Monster Tonic as the base, she would mix random ingredients and a catalyst from the model animal, making Tonic through a process she didn’t even understand herself.

This unusually talented girl peered down at the girl in the wheelchair. “So how is it? I hope this’ll be a bit of a diversion.”

“…I never thought there would be a street that doesn’t smell in this rotten place.”

Mei had also taken off her uniform and was wearing an expensive brand tracksuit.

She had not taken the Monster Tonic. She had firmly refused, so for her sake, they had decided to do something to conceal her identity, and that was the reason for all their cosplay-like outfits.

“Isn’t this tracksuit expensive? Why was it just left in a locker?” Mei asked.

“It’s for a disguise. It’s best not to ask where it came from,” said Reiji.

“…Now that makes me really curious. Don’t hide it, fess up.”

“Then I’ll tell you… Most of these things are from dead people. When we clean up bodies at a scene, we take clothing and belongings that nobody retrieved and recycle it, since it would be a waste.”

Valuable items like the contents of wallets, rings, and necklaces, etc., were stolen right away.

Reiji and Getsu picked out leftovers that were in good condition and used them as supplies or sold them.

“Sometimes, Neru will sell them through legitimate online auctions. It’s a part of the job.”

“So this is a dead person’s clothing…” Mei didn’t seem to like that. Of course, stripping the dead of their clothing wasn’t a very pleasant thing.

But the reply that followed was a bit of a letdown.

“No, that was something we picked up after a drunk old man who was puking said it was dirty and threw it away. We thought it could sell if we washed it, so we had it cleaned!” Getsu said nonchalantly.

“I’m the one who washed it. I plan to sell it to a secondhand goods store for about a thousand yen,” Reiji added.

Mei’s expression soured even more. “…Wouldn’t you be getting ripped off ? In the used clothing stores outside, you could add a couple more zeroes before selling it.”

“Because of where it came from, it’s kind of unavoidable that it’d go for a low price. It’s better this way.”

A lot of people wanted to live in the Masquerade, but if they did, they’d have a major problem.

“Work. Just about every place is short-staffed. But when it comes to taking the Tonic and becoming a Beastperson, part of the appeal is the anonymity,” said Reiji.

“A lot of businesses will make you reveal your identity to your employer as a condition for hiring during the interview,” said Getsu.

Having once worked in customer service in the Masquerade, Kei remembered her struggles keenly. “The late owner never did that, but I heard a lot of stories like that from my friends at the bar. Like, they’d say if you want work, provide sexual favors, that sort of thing. Or unfairly cut their pay.”

“That sounds like a labor camp from way back when… You’d instantly get arrested for that sort of thing on the outside,” said Mei.

“I think so. The worst were the ones who managed to get the bar girls into gambling and skimmed their income. No matter how much money they have, it wouldn’t be enough, and they can’t get out until they’re ruined.”

It took everything from them, like a bottomless swamp.

Villains who targeted the foolish were all over that town.

“I hear that’s why some girls will seek customers on the street, even knowing that there will be trouble,” said Kei.

“Since they can’t get proper jobs, huh? It’s all such nasty stuff.” Mei sighed and looked coldly out over the brilliant and colorful city.

It sparkled gold, but all of it appeared hollow to her.

I know they’re trying to be nice to me. And I am glad about that.

But their concern felt stifling.

In the first place, Mei understood that what she was doing was foolish. Plunking down a large sum of money on a shady cleaning company to help with her vigilantism was about as foolish as she could get.

She questioned why she was doing something like that, why she had wanted to do it.

Thinking about it, it was surely—

“What is it, Mei? You look like you’re about to cry,” said Reiji.

“Does your stomach hurt? You can use the washroom of the convenience store here. Wanna go?” asked Getsu.

“It’s cleaner than anywhere else in this district. The bidet isn’t broken, and it’s worth seeing.”

Just like parents of a child who had started to whine, her friends fussed over her as she sat frozen.

That was when it suddenly struck her… Oh, I see.

The reason she had dumped all that money on this—it wasn’t just a memorial to her friend, or to get her revenge.

I didn’t want to break my connection to these guys.

She wanted something to make up for what she had lost.

Even though she knew there was no need for that, and that she could remain with them even without adding money to the mix.

She hoped she could hang out with them like she had with friends before her leg had been injured, without any irritating pity or condescending looks—but she feared her hopes might be dashed, and had attempted to avoid disappointment by using money.

Even though my stubbornness has caused them heaps of trouble, Mei thought.

And she’d done the same when coming to the Bubble.

Normally, the obvious thing to do was to take Monster Tonic to become a Beastperson and hide one’s identity. The sort of cheap disguise where somebody changed their clothes and pulled their hat down over their face always carried the risk of exposure. Discovery would result in a steep credit score drop. That wasn’t a big deal for Reiji and Getsu, who were worse than homeless.

But for Kei, who was exempt from tuition as a scholarship student, that would be devastating. If she were caught out at night, not only would she lose her academic support, she might even be kicked out of school and her apartment. But despite that—

They will never push me to take the Tonic.

Because they knew she had lost her junior to that sort of thing, and they knew it would hurt her.

They silently took on the risk without making her feel indebted—they were hopelessly good-natured people. These people, these friends, were so kind, nobody would believe they had survived in this crazy place. They were wasted on her.

No. If they’re just being nice to me—

It would make her feel useless.

So even if there was no way for her to show how she felt, even if she’d lost her means to do so—

She didn’t want to get used to leaning on someone, to being loved.

Plunk, tunk, tunk, tunk.

“…A ball?”

As she was caught up in her unpleasant thoughts, a dirty ball fell from above.

A basketball had flown over the barricade of the quarantined area and landed right in front of Kei.

She heard the voice of a child who had to be on the other side.

“Ahhhhhh! What’re you doing with the ball?! We only have oooooone!!”

“S-sorry, I’m sorry, Mike! My hand slipped…”

“You don’t have to apologize, just go get it! Right now!”

There were three high-pitched voices. Children. They heard them on the other side of the thick barricade, following the bouncing ball.

“Hey, you guys,” Mei said as she pointed from her wheelchair. “Mind if I pick that up? We might be a little late for dinner, but I’ll give it back to them.”

Frankly, it was just a whim. She felt so ugly at the moment that she didn’t want to eat with her friends; that was all.

Hearing her proposal to buy time, Getsu said, “It’ll take time to go through the gate again, though?”

“So let’s do this the fast way. You handle the wheelchair, Getsu,” said Reiji.

There was a fssssssss sound like a light spray.

Pulling down his black mask slightly to let his mouth show, white mist spewed from Reiji’s mouth to cover the ground around their ankles like dry ice, then wafted upward.

It was like a cumulonimbus cloud, or an oddly shaped construction crane. The rising mist quickly crossed over the barbed wire peak of the barricade, giving him a view of the other side.

Reiji was a Special Permanent Beast—a descendant of Mythics called “the Brocken.” The main characteristic of this relatively unknown being gave Reiji the special ability to turn his body into mist and control it at will, remaking it into various shapes.

“Oh my, how convenient. But wouldn’t it be dangerous if you were caught by security?!” said Mei.

“It would. So lower her quickly so I’m not caught, Getsu.”

“Roger!” The werewolf lifted Mei’s wheelchair onto his shoulder, as if he were lifting a handbag, and leaped from the cloud footing to cross over the barricade and land on the street.

“…Huh?! What— Who is that?!”

“Yeek…!”

The first people they saw were three frightened-looking children.

They definitely weren’t well-off. They all wore old clothing with visible patches, and they’d been drinking Monster Tonic. A trio of a piglet, a baby squirrel, and a kitten were standing in the open area at one corner of a back alley.

“A basketball court…?” Kei said, coming over the barricade shortly after Getsu.

“The barricade lighting keeps things bright. That’s a little life hack for you,” Getsu answered.

Between buildings that were basically ruins, there was an open area. The basketball hoop was installed on a cracked wall.

“I’m kind of impressed. So they play actual sports in this rotten place,” said Kei.

“It’s unusual, though. From what I hear, it’s different overseas, but this is the Masquerade,” Reiji told her.

In the slums of foreign countries, sports were an effective method to get out of poverty. Children with talent would pick up a ball in an attempt to change their lives, dedicating themselves to soccer or baseball. But here, in this place where all residents became Beastpeople and abandoned their human rights, nobody bothered.

“And hey…is it okay for children to take the Tonic? I thought it was eighteen and up,” said Mei.

“People often say that, but there is no fundamental age restriction. Though no normal parent would bring their child here.”

After living in this place, Reiji and Getsu knew what kind of background these children had.

The four friends stepped down from the cloud stairs that went over the barricade, and the cloud scattered and vanished. Getsu carefully placed the wheelchair he’d been carrying down on the road, and Mei noticed the two of them were acting strangely.

“You know something?” she asked. “Something you’re hiding?”

“…Since it’s rather vulgar. It’s not really good for a boy to tell a girl,” Reiji said vaguely, like it was hard to talk about.

Frowning, Mei pressed him. “What, something sexual? You’re not going to tell me those kids were kidnapped for sexual purposes?”

“No? That sort of thing does exist, but it’s underground, even here. That’s—”

After some hesitation and observing the children dressed in rags, Reiji said in resignation, “I think they’re unregistered children. Children born of parents turned into Beastpeople.”

“What…? Well, I’m sure if you had sex, it could happen, but… Huh…?!” Mei’s eyes widened, and she looked intently at each of the frightened children.

“Taking Monster Tonic induces a state of excitement that can include sexual arousal,” said Kei.

“You don’t mind talking about it, Kakiba? It helps if you explain,” said Reiji.

“It’s better than a boy saying it. I’ve heard about it from my late boss, anyway.”

In this town, even if one wasn’t selling their body, it was something they should know if they were in the nighttime entertainment industry.

“The implantation rate of unions while in the Beast state is very low… Um, in this case, should I explain this with a stamen and pistil? Or would cabbages and storks be better?”

“You don’t have to give us the talk. Am I a little kid?”

“I’m glad you understand. If people randomly have sex once, it isn’t easy to conceive. But it’s not impossible…and if someone is impregnated, what happens?”

So long as the fetus was not aborted, then it would develop like an ordinary pregnancy.

However, the children born of unions between Beastpeople would be very different.

“The children born will inherit many of the characteristics their mother and father had when they became Beast. In other words, they’re born Beastpeople… They look like that from the start, without the need to use the Tonic.”

“What?! So then they’re like you guys…?!”

Reiji and Getsu were categorized as “Special Permanent Beasts.” Those who were born due to procreation between Beastpeople, and the two of them—who were the descendants of Mythic Beasts—were classified as the same social category.

In other words, as creatures with no human rights—basically animals.

“It’s a little different for us,” said Reiji. “The company is our guarantor for personal identification, granting us human rights under its custody.”

“But unregistered children don’t get that,” Getsu added. “They can’t use public services, and they’re treated like they don’t exist. There is something like school for them, though.”

“…Now that you mention it, I’ve heard rumors about that.”

It felt like quite a long time ago—chatting with some classmates on the day that Reiji and Getsu had transferred in.

“There is what they call a ‘school,’ but the other name for it is ‘prison.’ It’s an educational facility for certifying unregistered children as Specials. But well, in actuality…yeah, it’s pretty awful,” Getsu said, almost nostalgically, but also like he was reflecting on a bad memory. “There are none of the constraints there’d be on the outside, and it’s real bad. Bullying, violence, and murder are all over the place. It’s a trash heap worse than a prison, where the adults don’t do anything. There’s no actual education.”

Tuition was free. Anything could get in, if they wanted to. Not “anyone,” but “anything.”

“Strays that have never been educated ever since they were born are basically wild animals. They’re smart, they’ll try to kill you for real, and an average gangster could never beat one. It’s just that dangerous.”

“Hmm… But these kids don’t look like that,” said Mei.

“Yeep…!”

When they glanced over, the Beast children were frozen there, huddled together. It was clearly a defensive reaction—they could tell the kids were frightened.

Mei’s expression relaxed and she gave them a kind smile. “You don’t gotta be scared. But yeah, we’re pretty damn sus, so maybe that’s impossible.”

“…Um, er, sorry…about the ball. Did it hit you?” the piglet timidly asked.

They had to be older than the little squirrel and the kitten. Perhaps since they were taller, they were guarding the other two.

“It didn’t hit us, it’s fine. This belongs to you guys, right? We just came to return it.”

“Return it…? Huh? Why? We don’t have any money…!”

“We don’t need that. Just so you know, we’re not going to say anything stupid, like ‘Now you owe us,’ or ‘If you want the ball back, then do something for us.’ Just…” Mei closed her eyes for a moment and tried to sort out her feelings and put what she was doing into words.

Why did she want to do that? She must have felt she should do it, as the answer was— “I was just irritated. I was feeling down, and angry at how the world is unfair.”

There was the sudden dropping of her request, people acting carefully with her—and her own weakness causing trouble for her friends, whether she liked it or not. A feeling of debt had been thrust upon her, and the irritation had compelled her to come up with an answer to the feelings she had been covering up with money.

“So that’s why I wanted to feel good about myself, like, ‘I did a good thing!’ You get that? So there’s no reason for you to feel indebted. But thank me. Because it’ll make me feel better.”

“…You’re being really honest, big sis.”

“An old-fashioned tsundere.”

“You’re being so honest it’s scary… More of an animal than us…”

“Shaddap. Don’t hit me with those weirdly accurate comebacks, you brats! Here!” She tossed the basketball.

The piglet hastily came up and took the ball. After squeezing it in their arms, as if testing its bounce, the three of them all smiled.

“““Thanks, big sis!”””

“Good. Nice, I feel better!” The reset showed immediate results. After saying that and bringing her indecision to an end, Mei turned around. “Okay then, let’s go out to eat, c’mon. After I’m full of yakiniku, I’ll think about what to do next.”

“…That’s fine, but you sure are a tough guy, as always, Mei.” Despite his astonishment, the smile on Reiji’s face was rather warm.

Looking over, the other two had similar reactions.

“I think it’s fine to be good at cheering yourself up. I think it makes you stronger,” said Mei.

“Yeah. Reiji and I are the types to not let go of stuff.”

“Just so you know, I’m not fine. But angsting over things forever isn’t my style.”

She was the forward-thinking type—and, in fact, it was unusual for someone to be this clear-cut and straightforward.

She hadn’t resolved everything, but she felt like she had her special sauce back, and so when she smiled—

“That’s all well and good.”

“But why don’t we talk a bit, as birds of a feather?”

They suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice.

“…?!”

The moment they heard that, Reiji and Getsu took action.

Grrrrrrrrrr, rumbled in Getsu’s throat as he protectively put one arm out in front of Kei, and the other around Mei’s shoulders.

The werewolf positioned himself as a shield to guard them, while—

“…I didn’t sense your presence. You know what you’re doing.” With a hissing sound from his mouth, his sleeves, and the ends of his hair, Reiji turned to mist. The microscopic droplets dispersed and spread, moving toward the direction of the voice—rising in a current of rotten gas that rose from an abandoned garbage can.

The Brocken was an amorphous being. Thanks to his ability to shift his form between solid and gas at will, those mist-like strands worked like fingertips. An extremely accurate sense of touch probed around the dead-end alleyway and detected a presence.

“A bat woman… You pulled a winner.”

“That’s an honor to hear from one of the rumored ‘rares.’ ”

“No comments about me? I think I got a good one, too.” And then there was the hiss of a tongue.

The voice came from an impossible direction—a ruined wall that rose at a right angle, straight up, under a torn electrical line.

A gentle breeze passed through the hazy back alley, the crescent moon illuminating the space. When the Beastperson there appeared under the faint light, her figure was so fantastic that it made Mei cry out. “…Wiggly Sexy?!”

“That’sss a unique way to put it…,” said an exasperated voice. It sounded like his tongue touched his lips in between words.

Against the wall of the building was a snake in clothing. Little limbs like those of a baby grew from its thick torso, with an eyelid-like membrane that opened and closed over its yellow eyes.

Covered in scales, his was a cold beauty. No body heat could be sensed from this almost completely reptilian creature, a poikilotherm. It adapted completely to the temperature around it, and under the cover of darkness, it was practically undetectable—a silent killer.

Its black mesh pattern was like a tattoo, winding around the still-humanlike body.

“I’m the pit-viper man,” he said with a smirk. The human-sized venomous snake had a uniquely arrowhead-shaped head.

“Call me the bat woman. Thank you for returning the ball, rich girl.” There was a woman hanging upside down at his side. Mei’s evaluation of “sexy” was not wrong, because…

“Is there a point in wearing just underwear when you aren’t wearing clothes…?” Reiji asked.

“Boobs hang, and it hurts when they bounce.”

“…Is that so…?” Reiji cocked his head doubtfully.

The bat woman was almost entirely naked. Since her whole body was covered in fine fur, no skin was exposed.

Her sex could be identified by her knee-length bike shorts, bra, and distinctive bust. They were eye-catching, like large dangling melons covered in short fur.

With long ears and a strange charm, she was—

“The Japanese long-eared bat—more colloquially called the rabbit bat—is my species. Isn’t that nice and cute, bunny girl?”

“…As an actual rabbit, I have complicated feelings about that. But I think you’re cute in your own way.”

Kei’s expression was hard to read. The bat woman had similar ears to hers, and a charming face.

“What do you want, viper man and bat woman? I don’t recall doing anything to pick a fight with you,” said Reiji.

“We just wanted to say thank you. We’re these children’s guardians.”

“Huh…? Can a viper and a bat give birth to a pig and a squirrel…? Was there an affair?”

“No! And hey, what sort of acrobatic sexual acts would give birth to all that…?”

“Just because we live in this town, it doesn’t mean we sleep around that much. Well, I guess misunderstandings are inevitable,” the snake smoothly shot back. He sounded like he could be in his twenties—young. “We’re volunteers. At a facility that cares for children,” he said to Mei, raising his head.

“I just heard about those—the prisons?” Mei asked.

“No. It’s a way better place, run by an organization on the outside. These are good kids, aren’t they?”

“…They are. They did thank me, and they’re honest.”

Frankly, you would expect them to be the worst children, having grown up in an environment like the bottom of a ditch in a completely controlled society.

But the sincere way they spoke and the way they enjoyed playing with a ball seemed similar to the kids on the outside.

“There’s the barricade here, and security in the area. So it’s on the safer side,” said the viper.

“That’s why we live here. Our organization’s care facility is right that way. They’ve gone and made this their playground,” said the bat woman.

“Isn’t that squatting…? Well, it’s pointless complaining about that in this place, though.”

It was a comparatively open spot in a back alley—a place that seemed like it would be immediately filled with garbage if left alone.

That it was clean enough for children to play there was proof that it was being regularly tidied up.

“So? As volunteers, what do you need with us?”

“We’re interested in others like us. And we want to thank you for being kind to the children,” said the bat woman.

“Though perhaps this is unnecessary meddling for the lady being escorted by her guard of rares,” said the viper.

“Rares” was a slang term that was going around town.

Beastpeople who didn’t know the details behind the strange and frequent incidents caused by the Mythic Tonic and Phantasm Tonic would witness such events and conclude from what little information they had that the perpetrators were superhumans who had taken special Tonics—rares.

Because she was roaming around openly with such types, they’d determined she was a VIP. The pit-viper man continued, “Miss. Why won’t you take the Tonic?”

“Huh?” Mei’s reply was short and flat. “None of your business. I’m not into it, that’s all.”

“Is it? But that wheelchair must be inconvenient… No, sorry if I offended you. We were the same. We couldn’t move on our own. We couldn’t even eat or use the bathroom or do anything ourselves anymore.”

“You’ll never understand how pathetic it is unless you’ve had your ass wiped by someone else, you know?” said the bat woman.

“Please don’t ask me to agree with you. So then you guys are—?!”

“Yes.” With a slithering sound, the snake came down from the wall.

There was a flutter, like cloth flapping. It was the sound of the bat woman, who had been hanging upside down, spreading her wings to descend.

“We were ill. It was genetic. Basically full-body paralysis. A disease afflicting only a few people in the world,” said the viper.

“I heard there was some groundbreaking new medicine,” said the bat woman, “but there were too few patients, and it wasn’t worth it financially, so they couldn’t make the drug. Though it should be treatable, we were abandoned in the hospital. Of course, we stayed close to each other.” A vulgar laugh. She spoke with gloom and cheer—like dark and light combined.

The weight of what she was saying made Reiji step forward. “Mei. Do you want to hear any more of this?”

“Where’s this coming from?”

“If you don’t want to hear what they have to say, I will take you right now back over the barricade. Getsu.” He nudged his partner.

The werewolf, who was now covering his black nose, furrowed his brow. “They’re not lying. They don’t smell like it. It’s actually like… I dunno. They smell like they’re worried. The snake is hard to figure out, but a bat is just barely a mammal, so you can count on my nose.”

“So it seems,” said Reiji. “But even if they’re not lying or hostile, they might be thinking of entrapping you. A decent guard would end this right away and secure your safety right now—but we’re friends.”

They were not her servants or her bodyguards.

Theirs was a weak relationship, built purely upon mutual goodwill, and that was precisely why.

“We can’t protect you,” said Reiji. “Because that would hurt your pride. So decide for yourself.”

“You guys are such a pain.”

Things would have been faster if their relationship was strictly about the money. Then, they wouldn’t ask her stupid questions, and they would just take her straight over the barricade. But doing that, now that they had dissolved their client-hire relationship, would mean robbing Mei of her own choices.

“If I tell you to save me, then you’ll do it?”

“Yes. Since I want us to go have some tasty yakiniku right now.”

Hearing that awkward attempt to conceal his shyness, Mei chuckled. “I’ll hear them out. I don’t know what they want to say, but it’d irritate me to run now.”

“I see. Then…” Kei stood, saying to the children who had been watching, dumbfounded, “Will you let me join your game? I’m actually pretty good at dribbling.”

“Huh? Really?!”

“Can you get it in the basket from there? We’ve never done it before!”

“I heard the left hand is just for supporting the ball. I’m sure it’ll go in… Probably.”

The children immediately grew excited, forgetting about the complicated discussion. While being welcomed to join them, Kei turned back just once to share a look with her friends. Her intention was—

“What a good girl. She made sure these kids didn’t hear some stupid story,” said the bat woman.

“She’s a really good friend. If I were a man, I’d be confessing my love to her,” Mei puffed her chest out as proudly as if they were talking about her.

The viper man hissed in reply. “That’s good. By the way, you act like a gangster, but you dress well… I thought you were a rich girl come as a tourist…but it seems there’s some reason why you’re here.”

“Personal information is personal. Don’t pry, that’s the etiquette here. And hey, are you laughing?”

“I am, since that was so heartwarming. Well then—” You’d think his snake face wouldn’t be very expressive, but it warped, making a surprisingly human expression as he approached the girl in the wheelchair whom he’d said was the same as them.

“My companion and I met at the hospital,” he continued. “The same patients of the same disease. The only two in this country, cared for until we died, we planned to shrivel up in bed until the end. Even if we loved each other, we couldn’t even have sex.”

“We did try to do it, once,” said the bat woman. “It was impossible. He couldn’t get hard, I couldn’t get wet, and even if it did go in, we couldn’t move on our own. It felt like, oh, why are we even alive anymore?”

The viper and bat cackled as they conversed, very familiar with the absurd.

“…I don’t need to hear about your sex life. Skip that part,” said Mei.

“Aha-ha, sorry, sorry. People around here enjoy that kind of humor, though.” The viper man laughed shyly.

The friendly bat lady continued. “Where was I? Ah, the hospital. We met at the hospital and got married. But we couldn’t hold hands, and we didn’t know anything—not the blue of the sky or the cold of the wind.”

“That was when we found out about this area, and about Monster Tonic—that there was a drug that could turn people into animals. We were going to die anyway, so we thought we’d try it,” said the viper.

“Fortunately, we had internet,” said the bat woman. “We saved money and got a, what do you call it, a ride service? The Tonic is illegal to take outside of the special district, but we had them smuggle it out, keeping it a secret from the doctors and nurses, and took the Tonic.”

There was heat in her voice. They must have been remembering that time, as they both reached out their hands.

The viper man’s arm was small, like that of a baby’s, going around the bat woman’s waist.

The bat woman’s arms were abnormally thin and long. She embraced her lover with the patagium that went from her side to her stomach.

“…It was amazing,” said the viper.

“We were able to walk for the first time. We could talk. We could go to the washroom, and…we were able to go outside!!” cried the bat woman in an explosion of joy. Both their voices were impassioned to get their message across to their audience of one, Mei.

It was the ultimate moment that would never fade, no matter how many times they recalled it.

“Are you ill? Or did you injure your leg? I don’t know, but…,” said the viper.

“…You should screw up your courage and take it. Thanks to the Tonic, we could be normal,” the bat woman finished.

“We got our lives back instead of waiting in bed to die. So we recommend it,” the viper added.

They surely meant well.

As the viper and bat couple spoke, embracing each other with smiles on their faces, Mei said, “…In other words, you guys approached me to recommend the Tonic?”

“Yes. It might be scary, but it’s a good thing,” said the viper.

“You can walk, you can run. Just how important that is, how happy that can make you—” said the bat woman.

The importance of what most people took for granted.

“—is something we thought you would understand, so we came to talk to you. Don’t you want to walk again?”

“It’s none of your business,” Mei said—flat denial. But.

For real…? Does it do all that?

The reason Mei had been avoiding the Monster Tonic was difficult to express.

She had lost her ability to run in an accident caused by a drunk driver who had recently left the Masquerade. Then, there was her intoxicated junior’s violence, and what had become of the Phantasm Tonic addicts that Reiji and Getsu had told her about. Those experiences were enough to hold her back.

But all this time, she had been avoiding thinking about the possibility—so she wouldn’t see it, so she could forget.

In this place, I could— I could run again…?

She wouldn’t set records, she couldn’t compete, and it would do nothing for her future.

Mei understood that she was lucky. Her family was wealthy—she had so much financial support from her parents that she couldn’t use it all. She received twenty-four-hour complete care from a drone, and would want for nothing until she died.

But, but.

She didn’t want to get used to such a lifestyle.

Being unable to do anything myself forever really sucks…!!

This completely controlled society had a system that ensured she got help from others for every little thing, and she was supposed to be thankful to them all her life. That made her, as a differently abled person, like a magic wand for the abled. By helping her a bit, the government would reward her helpers with points for their good deeds, increasing their social credit and privileges.

They were compensated. She should just be proud and accept their service.

Yes, there was nothing to be ashamed—

“There is!!”

“That’s sudden. What is it?”

“It pisses me off. Whether I’m paying for it or they’re getting points, I’m not able to do things myself.”

She was angry, furious, enraged.

“I’m just like these guys you call ‘rares.’ I want to be normal. How much you benefit doesn’t even matter—no matter how much it cost me, it’d be a hundred times better to be able to walk again… But!” She pointed at Reiji with her thumb.

He was surprised to have the conversation suddenly turned to him. “But what?”

“I’d feel like I had lost. It’d definitely be easier, it’d benefit me, and I get that you’re recommending it. But!!” While frustrated that she couldn’t put it into words very well, Mei spoke her feelings. “I haven’t settled things in my heart. If I take the easy road before I’ve done that, then I’ll never be able to stand up again. That means I wouldn’t be me anymore. Maybe it depends on the person, though!!” she cried, sorting through her own confused thoughts.

It even felt new to her, like, So this was what I was thinking.

“I’d rather die choking on my regrets than go easy on myself !! I’m just putting up with it out of pride! Is that a problem?!”

““…””

The snake and the bat blinked.

Eyes wide, one of them with a nictating membrane sliding open and shut, they shared a look.

“That’s quite amazing… You’re very strong-willed,” said the bat woman.

“I suppose our concern was unnecessary. I feel like if you can have it easier, then it’s better to do that, though,” said the viper.

“I guess. I do think I’m missing out, and maybe I’m just being difficult.”

She was making a foolish choice.

A smarter person would have abandoned these fixations. That would be far easier. Taking the miracle drug, she would be able to walk and run freely—if only in this area—and with loads of money in hand, she could live her life hanging out with her friends. If she wanted to do it, surely she could, but…

“I think doing that would make me useless. So I won’t.” Because this was an issue of her stubbornness—her pride. “I’m not going to criticize your lives or your choices, but I’m gonna…struggle a little more.”

At the end, her expression was somehow peaceful—without any irritation, as if she was satisfied.

After hearing Mei out, Getsu said, “…I feel like I want my life to be a little easier, though.”

“I agree,” said Reiji.

“That way of thinking is really you,” said Getsu. “Much more than angsting about things.”

“Shaddap… There’s no helping it, this is just who I am,” Mei grumbled.

Somewhat relieved by their familiar banter, Reiji ended the conversation. “If that’s all, then we’re going to go. Do you mind?”

“Go ahead. In fact, I’m sorry for bringing up a strange topic. I just thought we had similar situations,” said the viper.

“Wheelchairs are unusual in this place. I simply wanted to say that taking the drug would make things easier,” said the bat woman.

Taking a closer look at the woman, the bat’s wings were modified fingers. What she could move freely was her first finger—in human terms, what used to be the thumb. It wasn’t suited to grabbing, and could only claw at things.

Getsu sniffed.

Discerning a faint smell in the air, the difference in hormones, he said, “You’re expecting, aren’t you?”

“You can tell? You’ve got a good nose, doggy.” With her thumb, she touched her modest belly, which was covered by thin fur, and gave them a rather charming smile.

“A child…?! There’s a baby?! In there?!” Mei cried.

“Yes. Though I don’t know what form they’ll take when they’re born. Will it be an egg, or a baby?”

The pit-viper man was silent, but he protectively wrapped his thick torso around his beloved wife. At a glance, he looked like a great snake strangling his prey, but the way he coiled around his wife to protect her was the complete opposite.

“We were able to find happiness in this place. By taking the Tonic, we got our lives back,” said the bat woman.

“We just thought you might be able to do the same, miss,” said the viper.

“Busybodies… I don’t mind people like that, though,” Mei said.

The strange pit-viper man and bat woman were a mysterious couple.

But after a wry smile, the information that Mei had recently learned came to mind. “Wait… If they’re being born in this place, that means they’ll be unregistered?”

“Yes. But well, that’s also why we’re volunteers,” said the viper.

“We want to improve the environment children here are born into as much as we can,” the bat woman added. “The facility that took in those children is connected to a charity organization on the outside. So we have some access to support for their education, and getting them family registers…”

“In other words, it’s for us, for our own children. Disappointed it’s all for ulterior motives?”

Even Mei, who was no canine, could sniff out the lie lurking behind the couple’s words—the scent that they were making themselves out to be bad guys.

“Liar. You guys just like children, don’t you?”

“Perhaps that’s a part of it. It’s true that we have ulterior motives. If we find a wealthy sympathizer, it might help our child. Living here really takes money,” said the viper.

A safe house, clean water, and decent food.

If someone had the foundations of a livelihood on the outside, then that wouldn’t cost much. But if you were basically living on the street, you couldn’t earn money.

“So you’re squatters? People who live in this part of town and don’t return to the outside?”

“That’s basically how it is with us. We have a place around here, but it’s certainly an illegal residence,” said the viper.

“We’d like to buy a decent education, human rights, and official registration for our child. But for that you need money, money, money!” said the bat woman.

The snake’s yellow eyes flashed and the bat’s mouth showed fangs.

Mei noted these clearly threatening gestures without flinching. “How much do you need?”

“If we tell you, will you give it to us, miss?” asked the viper.

“No. I’m rich, but I’m never going to engage in something that could be misconstrued as human trafficking.”

But still—

“I just got to know you, and you showed concern for me. Even if you had ulterior motives, I’m allowed to show you equal concern. Though…I don’t know what I can do.”

“…Thank you, miss. It’s all right, we have other ways to get money.” The pit-viper man spoke honestly. He wasn’t lying as he twined around the bat woman, sharing her body heat.

“We appreciate the sentiment. I think it’s good that we crossed paths,” said the bat woman.

“Changing the topic, but we’re about to go eat yakiniku. Inside the barricade.” Mei glanced over at the others.

Figuring out what she meant, Reiji shook his head in exasperation and began digging around in his pocket.

The coupon for a super high-class meat restaurant that they had gotten from Narasaki—with no restrictions on the menu or number of people. All you can eat for one hour.

“We have this coupon,” said Mei. “It’s not my money, but something I got from the president of a shady company. How about it? You can bring the kids, too. I’d like to have a nice party.”

“…We aren’t allowed past the barricade, though. If we’re found, we’ll be shot.”

“We can manage that with some mystery powers. You can do that, right?”

It went without saying that the owner of said mystery power was Reiji. With Mei looking at him to check, he sighed. “If you promise to dress appropriately and not cause trouble… Do you have proper clothing?”

“Huh, for real?! So then…!” said the viper.

“Meat! Meat! It’s been so long!” the bat woman cried.

Surprise, and then hope. The bat woman and the viper man looked like they couldn’t believe it.

And right as they were about to reply, a phone rang.

It was an ordinary vibration, the sound of a message. That was the normal setting on the outside, the one they’d hear going off anywhere and anytime. But they’d heard it from someone who normally should have had no connection to society—the viper man, specifically, from the shirt he was wearing.

“…Sorry. It looks like we have a job.”

He dexterously pulled out his phone with one of his small baby hands and looked at the cracked screen.

It was clearly a stolen product, or scavenged. In this place, the only way to get a phone that still connected was to rob someone, and its presence would always be questioned. There was little to no value in braving the danger to carry it.

This was a gated community, almost completely isolated from cell phone reception. It was dead weight. One of the few exceptions was here, close to the outer wall of the special district within a district for the wealthy, a place that got the same cell reception as the outside, for the sake of entertaining the rich.

“Thank you very much for the invitation. We were glad to be invited,” said the viper.

“I’ve called for a lady from the facility to come get the children, so until then,” said the bat woman.

“Could you watch them? It’s really too bad about the yakiniku, but now we won’t have to worry about owing you anything.”

Reptile and mammal spoke in turn. Both their gazes were nailed to the broken touchscreen. The pale light was reflected in the couple’s eyes.

They seemed excited. Seeing them quickly tuck away the phone, Mei asked them, “This is sudden. Something more important than high-class, all-you-can-eat yakiniku?”

“Yes. It’s very, very important. For our child, and our future,” the bat woman said heatedly. With her husband still wrapped around her waist, she leaped.

It was an incredible jump. Using a trash bin on the street as footing, she leaped again. Displaying leg strength that the original animal lacked, she flew up into the night sky like a pinball, hanging on a broken and dark streetlight to spread her wings.

“Thank you. Perhaps we’ll see each other again, if it’s meant to be!”

“Perhaps.” Waving goodbye, Mei watched them go.

The strange couple flapped away. It had been sudden, but she felt rather refreshed.

This new encounter had certainly changed her mood. Though the pair had declined her invitation to eat, she felt like she could stretch her back tall and have a little hope for this miserable world,.

“Hnn… It’s too bad that they rejected my offer, but oh well. I got to hear an unusual story.”

“A bat—that’s very unusual to get with the Tonic on the market. One capable of flying is pretty rare, too,” said Reiji.

“And she could fly on her own wings, though she got a running start. She’s got it pretty bad, and her husband, too,” said Getsu.

“Atrophy of the limbs and a more animalistic shape… Just like the report from head office,” said Reiji.

“What’re you guys talking about?” With a feeling like they’d just put a damper on her refreshed mood, Mei turned around in her wheelchair.

Behind her, Getsu was holding the handles. Reiji was standing beside him quietly.

Reiji’s expression was as cool as always. Though they hadn’t known each other long, they knew each other well enough that she’d learned to read him a little. He was hesitating, as he sometimes did when he wasn’t sure whether to tell her about the dirty side of this place.

“There something you want to say? Out with it; don’t hide things,” she said.

“Yeah… It’s not very nice, though. I can’t let the kids hear it.” Reiji checked how they were doing, and saw Kei deftly dribbling the basketball.

“Not bad. You’re pretty good, bunny sis!”

“I’m surprised, too,” said Kei. “I never get any passes in school, so I didn’t know how good I was.”

“Are you a loner?”

“…!” Kei didn’t answer, tossing the ball.

It went right into the net that was attached with screws to the ruin wall. The children cheered. A tubby lady—a cow Beastwoman who must have gotten a call from the couple—approached them.

She had to be there to pick up the kids. There was nothing particularly unusual, no threats, and no risk that their conversation would be heard.

“The pit-viper man and bat woman. Those two won’t last much longer.”

The boy muttered like a doctor pronouncing a patient’s death.

“See you, big sis!”

“Come play with us again. You were good at basketball!!”

“All right… Just so you know, I’m not a loner. Let me set the record straight, okay?” Kei said, putting on kind of a tough front as she waved.

The facility staff thanked them repeatedly while taking the children home; it was a relatively decent orphanage, paid for and run by a charity organization on the outside and in a relatively safe part of the district. These young lives were lucky to be saved.

“What do you mean, they won’t last much longer?” Before parting ways with the children, Mei asked him to clarify, a stiff smile on her face.

It had been about ten minutes since they had parted ways with the couple.

Reiji answered, “Just what I said. I told you before that the miracle drug—Monster Tonic—creates dependence.”

The one escape allowed in a completely controlled society, where just about all substances that caused intense intoxication were regulated.

With huge amounts of caffeine and the shock of sugar, the anonymity and sense of omnipotence it conferred, countless people had become addicted to the ecstasy of taking Monster Tonic, and became regular users.

“If it’s just letting go for one night, that’s no problem, but using it for years is terrible. Your body becomes accustomed to it and it becomes less effective. Your animal instincts become too strong, and they can influence you.”

“…I’ve heard about those who attack people and eat them. Like the consumption incidents?”

Around the time they had first met, when Mei had first gone into the Masquerade, Reiji had told her about that danger.

The most popular Monster Tonic was Carnivore. Beasts who got addicted to it wound up seeking live prey and would attack people.

“That couple didn’t seem like that. Aren’t you thinking too hard?” said Mei.

“The viper man… Remember how small his limbs were?”

His limbs had looked very disproportionate compared to his torso, thick and long like an anaconda.

Mei thought back on his figure—unbalanced and even grotesque. “This is my first time seeing a snake Beastman. Isn’t that normal?”

“Even with snakes, a Beastman’s limbs will normally be somewhat larger.” Reiji gestured with a finger as if drawing the silhouette of the type of Beastperson, the silhouette of a snake. “They have human arms and legs, with a tubular body like a snake that can bend and coil freely, with quite a long tail and neck. Overall, they’re shaped similarly to an upright lizard. You have to tell them apart by the length of their neck.”

But that viper man had been quite different.

“The atrophy of human qualities like the arms and legs when transformed—that’s the sign of someone who has been using the miracle drug regularly, without breaks. He might have two, three years.”

“The bat lady had similar signs, since bats can’t normally run.” Getsu continued awkwardly, but with certainty. “Beastpeople who fly in the air can’t do anything but fly. Since it takes a lot of muscle to fly in the air at human size, about half their muscle is concentrated in the chest, and their legs get smaller, making it hard to walk.”

“…Pigeons in the park run pretty fast, though?”

“Birds aren’t as bad. Bats are worse, since the purpose of the legs is to dangle from things,” Getsu answered.

But the bat woman had run. Not only that, she had climbed a wall and made an extraordinary leap.

And then there was the abnormality of her flying in the air, carrying another Beastperson—the viper man.

“With her, it’s the opposite,” said Reiji. “As she’s been taking too much of the drug over time, it’s become harder for her to change—her human traits are becoming stronger, and her animal traits are fading. Right now she’s still in a spot where she’s got some good advantages, though.”

Her excessively large bust, thick legs, and superhuman muscle: those were all the signs of the human elements suppressed by Monster Tonic gone into overdrive.

“Once the balance falls apart, it’s over. When her human traits get a little more intense, most likely that illness of theirs will resume,” Reiji continued.

“—!!” Mei’s breath caught in her throat. Though the pair had spoken casually about it, the disease had been eating away at the two of them.

That which had been suppressed by Monster Tonic would awaken once more.

“Supposing that what they said about their background is true, they’ve been avoiding treatment for years. All the while, the disease will have been progressing. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know the details,” Reiji finished.

“…Why didn’t you tell them?!” she exploded at him, the feelings bursting out of her.

“Because they should already know,” he replied sadly.

“About the danger of taking too much, and that they’re just covering their illness. They’re the ones doing it—there’s no way they don’t know.”

That was common sense in this place. They must have been aware.

“We’re not doctors or volunteers. We’re just cleaners. We can’t interfere. That’s one of the rules of this district: freedom. That includes suicide.”

“…Suicide. Those two?”

“It’s fair to call it that. Frankly, though I don’t like to talk about it, there’s a risk they could go out of control before their illness relapses.”

If they caused a major incident with aggressive behavior, or devouring others due to the Monster Tonic’s influence, then Reiji and Getsu—Fantastic Sweeper would be taking on the role of exterminators.

“Then we’ll be catching them. Usually it’s too late, and we wind up disposing of them,” Reiji said dispassionately.

“…!!” Furious, Mei gritted her teeth. “And you’re okay with that?! Isn’t that callous?! Come on!”

“Calm down, Mei… This is Kasumi’s bad habit. Do you have to put it that way?” Kei cut in suddenly. Putting a hand on the raging Mei’s shoulder, she shot Reiji a glare. “He can only state it like a threat, it’s proof of his social ineptness. You should phrase it differently.”

“…I don’t get it. How else should I put it? You’re setting the bar too high…”

The facts were basically a death sentence—of course it would stress him out.

Picking up on the doubt and pain in his words, Mei’s shoulders slumped. “…Sorry. I went too far. So is there no way to treat overuse of the Tonic?”

“You have to stop taking the tonic for a while. If you stop for about a month, it resolves entirely.”

“That’s all? Isn’t that eas—” she started to say, then realized. “Wait. Those two… They’re sick!”

“If they stop taking Monster Tonic to treat their overuse, their illness will resume. Even if they don’t die on the spot, they would have to be treated at a proper hospital before it was too late. But…”

Until the drug was out of their system, they would be back to being the living dead.

They had spoken so earnestly of the joy of freedom: walking by themselves, talking, flying, living. All of that would be stolen from them.

“If they’re going to treat their illness, then they have to leave the Masquerade. Do you think a hospital on the outside would make the same mistake twice?”

They had managed it once—smuggling out Monster Tonic to escape the hospital and hide in the Masquerade.

But successfully escaping a second time would be impossible. In a fully surveilled society, personal identification was necessary to receive public medical treatment, and most likely they had been levied with heavy penalties.

“Escape from a medical facility and leaving without being discharged. Patients with such a history would be closely watched. In other words, they wouldn’t be able to take the Tonic again—and they would have no choice but to wait for death in the hospital.”

So long as they kept taking the Tonic, they would die from overuse.

If they stopped taking the Tonic, their illnesses would relapse, and they would die.

Even if they stopped taking the Tonic and went to a hospital outside so they wouldn’t die, they would never be able to leave again.

“…They have no options at all. What are they supposed to do about that…?!”

“If you don’t mind an idea that’s unlikely to actualize, there is one way.” The idea was a desperate one, and his tone suggested that he knew it would be nigh impossible. “There are doctors in the Masquerade, too. They’re sort of back-alley quack doctors, and there’s good and bad. Even if you’re an amateur, if you have a needle and thread, you can sew up a Beastperson when they have an arm or a leg torn off since it’ll heal even with sloppy work.”

Beastpeople didn’t catch normal diseases and possessed amazing vitality. They could heal minor wounds easily, so there were plenty of back-alley doctors who could treat someone after a fight.

“But there are exceptions,” Getsu said with a complex expression. He jabbed a finger behind him—to beyond the barricade of the segregated area.

To the golden castle-like “Kyoto Bubble.”

“They have a hospital for rich people with special treatments that aren’t permitted outside, where they do plastic surgery and stuff. There, so long as you have the money, they’ll do anything for you. I think even life extension until the Tonic gets out of their system is possible.”

“How much would it cost?” Mei asked very seriously—the same question as before.

But he said, “I don’t know exactly…but at the very least, fifty million each. You’d want a hundred million for both,” Reiji answered. His basis for this estimate was his own medical fees.

Human Tonic was an unlicensed medicine with no insurance, and his prescription issued through a medical corporation that was a subsidiary of Beast Tech. That sum was always deducted in advance from his salary, and he hated it every time he saw it.

“You just said before, right? That you wouldn’t give them money,” said Reiji.

“…I did say that.”

“And you shouldn’t. You should eat all the meat you want, go to karaoke with Kakiba, and sing and have a good time and forget about it. There’s no reason for you to save some complete strangers whom you have no connection to, with whom you only chatted briefly.”

“…I know! I know that, okay!”

What Reiji was saying was right. Mei’s good sense had taken her to the same conclusion.

But it bothered her. Her uncertainty was bothering her.

Right after she’d felt refreshed and put in a better mood, now her heart was full of something nasty and miserable again.

If she were to put this feeling into words—yes. “I’m pissed off… About the annoying logic society calls smart, and tragedies that can’t be stopped.”

“That’s something a kid would say. Throwing a tantrum won’t do anything.”

“I know that. But I’m still pissed. If I’d never found out, then I’d forget about it and that’d be it, but now that I’ve heard about it, it’s gonna leave a nasty aftertaste forever. Now, even if I have yakiniku or sweets, it won’t make me feel any better.”

“You’re the one who told us to tell you. Just saying.”

“I get that, too. So let me draw things out a little longer.” Mei turned around and stretched her back to face Getsu, who had his hands on the wheelchair handles. “You can still track their smell, right? Sorry, but follow them!”

“Sure, I can do that…but what’ll we do after we catch up?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet. But I want to try talking to them. Since…!” The past was rushing back to her. The old memories, the bitter thorns that stuck deeply in her heart. “If I’d just had a proper talk with her, then I could’ve stopped that idiot!”

Mai Ikeda was Mei’s junior, the murderer who had killed people in the name of revenge—the hit-and-run centaur.

If only Mei had realized how her friend was feeling before the incidents, and just talked to her.

Scared of facing her lost glory, Mei had turned away from her old relationships, and she bore responsibility for that decision.

Saying that she hadn’t even imagined Mai would do something like that would be an excuse. It was the sort of excuse that most people would probably accept, thinking, Yeah, makes sense. But Mei wouldn’t accept it herself.

“I don’t know if I’m gonna give them money or not. But I’m not so shameless that I could eat a meal after hearing that the people I just talked with are gonna…die with their baby. So I’m following them. And we’ll talk. You got that?!”

Her appeal was like a cut—her gaze sharp, her expression desperate.

Looking her straight in the eye, Getsu touched his belly—grabbing his empty stomach that hadn’t had anything since that afternoon. “…Seems like we can’t eat yakiniku until this gets done, huh, Reiji?” Getsu looked up at the sky as if he would sniff it.

“…Yeah. If that’s what Miss Sponsor says, then we’ve got no choice. This is for the yakiniku,” Reiji resigned himself with a sigh.

“Don’t be shy, you could just say it’s for Mei. You’re such a boy, and it’s a pain,” Kei said like she was scolding a child.

“Kakiba. I don’t want to hear that from a girl who’s as much of a pain as you.”

“I think the couple went that way. Not that far off… Let’s go!” Getsu pushed the wheelchair, and the four of them raced through the lawless district.

Creak-creak-creak-creak, ahn-ahn-ahn, bark-bark, yip-yip, ahn-ahn-ahn-aaahn…!

“…Here again?” Kei asked.

“Sorry, but it’s here… This isn’t sexual harassment, this is for real, okay?!” Getsu wailed.

It was the place in the city where the moans of men and women rang out from every street corner.

The window of a station wagon casually parked there was clouded from the inside. The car creaked as it bounced up and down.

The area was humid and sultry at night, with fishy-smelling sweat and fluids of whoever was “exercising” within.

“Kamimachi Street… This is the roughest area that’s still close to the station.”

This place was centered around the ruins of out-of-business love hotels, where unlicensed prostitutes had begun to take customers at some point. To work in a proper brothel, one needed to present their personal information from the outside. So women who avoided that gathered here, and the men seeking them followed, ultimately producing a rotten poison fruit, the whole area like the venue for a prostitution orgy.

Walk around a little, and one would find used contraceptive devices lying around. The boys in proper suits and Mei in a wheelchair stood out terribly, with prostitutes and gangster Beastmen shooting them looks.

“They’re really suspicious of us,” said Mei. “Well, I guess that’s to be expected, wearing suits in this freakish place.”

“I don’t think it’s just our fault, though. And hey, I just stepped on one. I stepped on it just now…!” Reiji cried.

“Eugh! Wash your shoe later, Reiji! And sorry, Mei…I stepped on one, too,” said Getsu.

“Hey! My tires! I do sometimes touch my wheelchair tires, you know!”

The remnants of dried condoms stuck to the bottoms of their only dress shoes and the tires of Mei’s wheelchair.

A wheelchair was unsuited to traveling through this garbage-strewn place. Mei couldn’t avoid the trash and obstacles, but neither could she ignore them. Though she made her way through the stench, she couldn’t help but comment.

Kei pointed to a corner of the night sky. “Wasn’t the crime scene before close to this place, too?”

Getsu nodded. “Yeah. The ruined building where the dead doll was hiding.”

There were many ordinary ruins in this district, but the incident that had occurred there was fresh in their memories.

“They still haven’t found the hundred million that was stolen from the illegal casino,” said Getsu. “Someone apparently leaked the info about that, and there’s been some treasure hunter types lurking around for a while, causing a lot of fights.”

“Like, fistfights?”

“Basically. Most of them have been going around searching in small teams…groups of four or five. They get into quarrels with the prostitutes’ bodyguards, who say they get in the way of business since they’re not customers. They steal garbage that looks like it might be treasure and fight until they’re bloody. Well, it’s all a lot of trou—” Getsu didn’t finish his remark.

“Monochrome Mist Style: Barbed Black Spines.”

“Kyeeeeeeee!”

“Huh?!”

Reiji’s chant, the high-pitched shriek, and Mei’s cry of astonishment rang out at the same time.

Black mist spewed out through Reiji’s mask. His continuously fluctuating humanity—Reiji’s body in mist form—hung faintly over the narrow alleyway, touching something that lurked on the wall of the dilapidated structure, something that couldn’t be seen at all.

Suction cup fingertips stuck to a broken and dangling air conditioner unit, and a Beastman’s fangs were bared. This someone lurking in the darkness with a black hoodie was shot down and fell into the alley.

“What, what did you do just now?!”

“Barbed Black Spines. Do you know black longspine urchins? They’re a type of urchin with venomous spines.”

The moment the Beastman clinging to the wall had shown hostility, the black mist that filled the space had instantly hardened.

Sharp like a line of spears, they were clumped up like a bed of nails thrust toward the enemy, then broke off easily and shattered.

“That’s what I based those spikes off,” said Reiji. “They have barbs, and they’re sharp, and can penetrate safety shoes or leather jackets. What’s key is that they’re hard but fragile. They’ll break off, and by leaving their fragments inside the wound, they keep the enemy from moving around. If they do move, they spines will pierce their heart.”

“Grrrrrrkrkkkkkk… Damn…it…!!”

“I get that it’s an amazing technique. I think there’s a problem with suddenly stabbing someone who hasn’t done anything, though,” Kei warned them, despite her own shock.

Reiji pointed to an object lying at their feet. “If I’d waited until he did something, someone would have died. Look.”

He kicked it away—a large crossbow painted pitch black with matte spray paint.

“This is…a bow?”

“Just like a gun, it’s regulated on the outside and forbidden to circulate or to possess. They’re completely allowed in this district, or rather, there’s no way to control them. Some people carry them.”

Leaving Reiji to guard the girls, Getsu approached the Beastman lying on the ground and yanked him up. “That’s a pretty nasty weapon for just a robber. Hey, show me your face…huh?!”

The moment he saw his face, the werewolf’s animal visage twisted in confusion. “The heck is this? This doesn’t make sense. What type is this guy?!”

“…Yeeeeeep… It’s a special order. A sniper gun custom made for me…!!”

The Beastman’s limbs were those of a slick amphibian—a newt or a gecko—stealthy and capable of moving vertically along a wall. His head was covered in fluffy down, and his goggling yellow eyes and orange beak stood out.

With his humorous, charming head and a slimy body, he was an indescribably fantastical Beastman. His form was human, with gecko limbs and the face of a raptor—an owl.

“A mix of a bird… An owl and a gecko? That’s ridiculous. Impossible…!” Reiji shuddered, and there was a reason for that. “There’s a Monster Tonic for birds, and one for fish, but they’re not supposed to be sold on the market.”

“Really? Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen them sold,” said Mei.

“Both have had trials, but there were too many accidents. The selling point of a bird is flying, but if you don’t train, you’ll fall right away. And there are too many obstructions in this district, what with electrical lines, garbage, and laundry.”

A bird’s bones were easily broken because they needed to have low bone density in order to fly. For that reason, Monster Tonic that enabled transformation to birds wasn’t sold in the Masquerade, and only those in restricted situations and positions—those who had trained in facilities recognized by Beast Tech—could buy it.

“And fish especially breathe through their gills. While some can also breathe with lungs, just in case, aside from types that are good in muddy water, they can’t do anything outside of clean and non-chlorinated water. That Tonic is only sold to professional divers, or used for business.”

“Well, it makes sense it wouldn’t be sold. But that person isn’t either, is it?” Mei pointed out.

The well-informed Reiji and Getsu both cocked their heads.

“The gecko I get, since it is on the market in the reptile and amphibian type of Monster Tonic…but…” Reiji trailed off.

“Who knows about the owl? And just checking here, but…” With an uncomfortable look, Getsu spoke vaguely as he asked Kei, “You don’t have any ideas, do you?”

“No. This is news to me.”

Kei was called the cocktail witch because she could mix Monster Tonic using ingredients sold at stores. Previously, she had mixed Tonic that enabled transformation into rabbits with stronger human elements, and sold it to her place of work. But since she had been pushed away from that business since the death of the bar’s owner, she hadn’t continued.

Further, in order to mix a Tonic for transforming into a specific animal, specific catalysts were needed: parts of its body, like animal fur, scales, or bones. Because of that restriction, Kei was eliminated from their potential suspects.

Both Specials arrived at that thought at about the same time, and derived a certain conclusion.

“So that means… No way, it can’t be that bastard in old-fashioned clothes?!” said Getsu.

He was referring to the information they had gained in the cases thus far in the process of tracking the Phantasm Tonic.

“A guy in weird traditional clothes came to talk to us…,” Yasuo Arimoto, the gangster who had taken the rag wringer Phantasm Tonic and been arrested, had testified.

Of course, they didn’t know the oddly dressed suspect’s face or age. All they knew about this mastermind was that they wore traditional clothes, that they were the one BT head office had a lead on, and planned to attack that night. He was the only one they imagined could have done it.

Did he take something from BT head office besides the Phantasm Tonic and the Mythic Tonic?

A mix of multiple animals that shouldn’t exist and the change into birds was possible, for a trial product at head office…maybe. Thinking this far, Reiji said in a threatening tone, “Hey. You called it a weapon custom made for you, right? Where did you get it?”

“…Geh…!”

He stepped on the stomach of the gecko-owl man, who was still lying on his face with needles in him.

Broken fragments had to be digging into him as he cried out in agony. “Gyeeek! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Stop, stop it! My innards, my innards…!”

“Spit it out now, or next comes the animal trampoline execution. I’ll even make it fancy and hum a tune for you.”

Reiji acted like he was going to stomp hard with both legs. The threat of torture was exceptionally effective.

“Th-that’s crazy! The cleaners are worse than the rumors say. I shouldn’t have tried…!” The Beastman whimpered and moaned.

Reiji furrowed his brow suspiciously. “You recognize us… Just like the couple before. Are people talking?”

“Well, of course…? Get in a fight that crazy and people’ll pay attention…!”

Getsu wordlessly searched the man’s possessions. The wallet that came out of his pocket produced nothing but cash and a crumpled flyer. The werewolf spread it out. Just a piece of scrap paper.

“Hey, Reiji. This…”

“…‘The Local Tonic Vendor’?”

The sales flyer was very casual, but the content was also quite nasty.

It used a familiar free font that looked like handwriting, and had a lot of illustrations, but they were all common and free for commercial use—childish-looking art. The sales slogans were warm and friendly.

“ ‘I’ll make a Monster Tonic just for you!’…I know this kinda stuff. You see similar flyers for children’s hobbies, like transformation belts and toy cars.”

“You know a lot about it, Kakiba.”

“They were standard Christmas presents for kids at the orphanage, after all. But this…”

Though it appeared friendly, the content was too dangerous to let it pass.

“When you go to the place for the deal, there’s a weird guy in super vintage clothing… He wears a mask to hide his face, and we don’t know who he is,” the gecko-owl testified in a groan, bearing with the pain, believing that as long as he was moving his tongue, he wouldn’t be killed. “When you pay him, he sells you doburoku. It’s a dark color like mud, and when you dissolve a catalyst in it, you can make an original miracle drug…!”

“Wait, is that it? You don’t need any other ingredients, like candy or coffee cream?”

“No… We’re not making sweets here, you know? It tastes like ass, so if you cut it hard with juice, chuuhai, or cocktail syrup, then it makes it easier to drink…” His muttering went on. He seemed to gradually become more worked up, spitting as he talked.

“I tried dissolving a gecko tail and owl feathers… I couldn’t grow wings, so I can’t fly, but I was able to see real far in the night sky, so the sniper rifle…!”

Flicking his tongue out of his beak, excited as if he was drunk, the owl-gecko cried, “…There was a name, but it’s long as hell, so nobody calls it that. Everyone calls it doburoku. He only sold it to special clients, to people like us who’d pay a lot!”

“I got the gist,” said Reiji. “So you took the product, and now you shoot down people in alleys?”

“I don’t normally…but you guys are special. There’s a reward out for the town cleaners’ heads!”

The town cleaners. The duo of a werewolf and an unknown creature.

Images and videos were circulating on the deep web, and it was also spreading via rumor. They could hardly believe that all they had to do was kill the two boys and bring proof.

“You can exchange proof for two liters of the Tonic Vendor’s doburoku! Its street price is a hundred million, you know! It’s worth a shot, ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-keh…!!”

“I see. In other words, I should beat you up so hard that you never want to do this again,” said Reiji.

“Huh? Well… Hgreeeeek?! I won’t do it again, I won’t do it again, okay?!”

Grind grind, grind grind.

Reiji thoroughly stomped on a spot in the guy’s ribs, and the Beastman wailed.

This wasn’t enough to kill him; Beastmen were tough. Understanding that, Reiji was merciless.

“Gerrrgh…guh!”

“He passed out. Contact the company, call for the retrieval team, and restrain him… Wait, do we have the time for that?”

“Hold on a sec… I’m seriously not keeping up with this!” In her wheelchair, Mei was not hiding how rattled she was by how the situation had changed in just a few minutes.

“That stupid exploitative boss of yours said, right? That tonight, killers from your company were going to go to the mastermind, the bastard in traditional clothes. And you guys were the rear guard, and were supposed to be on standby, right?”

“That’s right. But well, though I’m sure if we do nothing, head office’s assassination team will eliminate the cause of this…”

“The assassination team was pretty weak, weren’t they?” Kei pointed out.

“You just went and said it, Kei…,” said Getsu. “Well, it’s true, though. Since the guys at head office are all office workers.”

It wasn’t that they were weak. At the very least, Reiji and Getsu, knowing the situation, weren’t going to belittle them. “The security department’s espionage section are trained pros. Not only do they know martial arts and how to handle firearms, they’ve also received training in combat while Beastmen. In other words…”

“They have the muscle of wild beasts, the technique of professional soldiers, and weapons for real combat. Of course they’re not weak… If you’re comparing them to national forces, I figure they’re stronger than the SDF or the police,” said Getsu.

“If you’re using common sense, sure. But based on the information we have now, we’re up against someone very absurd.”

This string-puller had continued to operate behind the scenes for months while brainwashing top management at the tightly guarded head office, strutting about town in an attention-getting outfit, and never leaving any witnesses.

Of course, he could not be an ordinary person—he was clearly from their world.

“I doubt the assassination will succeed. We’re definitely going to be called to the scene.”

“And this stuff about a price being on our heads, or illegal Tonic going around, is also news to us. Sorry, Mei, but from here on out it’s gonna be really dangerous. You should take Kei and go home.”

It would be fine if the girls could be guarded the whole time. But now that Reiji and Getsu expected a summons they couldn’t get out of, walking around with friends who couldn’t protect themselves in a place that was usually hazardous would be too risky.

“…And there’s the matter of that couple. You may not like it, but safety comes first… Please,” Reiji said, anticipating the familiar drama, imagining a quarrel when the heroine refused to go back to safety.

“Fine. We’ll go,” Mei agreed immediately.

“…You’re surprisingly willing,” popped out of Reiji’s mouth.

“I’m still worried about that couple. But causing you unnecessary trouble and putting a friend in danger for that is the wrong way to go. I get that much.”

“…You’re a weirdly commonsensical berserker.”

“I think that’s her strong suit,” said Kei. “You can tell she’s actually got communication skills.”

Reiji and Getsu stood by the unconscious Beastman. Clasping the handles of the wheelchair nearby, Kei said, “Let’s leave the yakiniku for another day. You boys need to get back safely, or we’ll eat all the meat ourselves,” Kei threatened jokingly. She was smiling, making it clear that she wasn’t serious.

“We can’t have that. I very much want to know the taste of the meat that rich people eat,” said Reiji.

“It’s gotta be different from the fish sausage we normally eat… Ngh, we’ve gotta get this done quick!” Getsu said.

Right after that exchange…

“…Hey.”

“Yeah.”

“I know. It smells strong…!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the air changed.

Tension ran through the three who had supernatural senses. The high school bunny girl’s big ears twitched, the black-and-white boy sent mist around him, while the werewolf sniffed the wind. Mei was the only one sitting there, confused.

And then, there appeared—

“…You think we’d let you get away? Your heads’re worth two liters of doburoku.”

“Calling himself a sniper, trying to get a head start on us. Damn shitty-ass camper.”

“Hell yeah, real life FPS time… Punching, kicking, knives and teeth all a go, right?!”

“Tee-hee-hee, heh-heh-heh, fu-hoo-hoo… A cute female. A young female! I wanna jump on her!”

Shadows—four of them this time.

“Hold up. Where the heck did they buy catalysts for that…?!” Getsu cried.

Beastmen appeared from between the ruined buildings, following a large man who seemed to be the leader.

His saggy skin made smacking noises as it swung around when he cried out, “Listen, yakuza had their hands in everything—anything that made them money!”

He was a large breed that had been used as a fighting dog for centuries: the mastiff. With short fur, hanging ears, and a flat nose, he came off more ugly than charming, probably because the original man had an awful face to begin with.

He was also incredibly muscular and had bull horns. In the meat section of the supermarket, they sold it by the gram. The macho mastiff, a mix with the fangs of a fighting dog and the muscle of a large Wagyu bull, said, “Animals were a great source of profit—until the social surveillance system was introduced. We smuggled them all the way from their home countries, but they make noise, so you have to sedate ’em and put ’em in a cage. Right?!”

“Mreooooooooooooooooooooow!” came the broken cry of a cat.

The other creature following the mastiff was a feline man with a dangerous look in his eyes. The two-legged feline was giggling to himself, lapping at his paws with an empty stare as he walked along.

He was high. He had become a Beastman from the catalyst of a lion that had wasted away and died in a cage—a drug lion.

“D-d-did you know? Birds evolved from dinosaurs…?!”

Another hid behind the mastiff and the lion. He had a small frame, sharp spurs, and black wings. A lizard covered in down, he was just like the archaeopteryx of the prehistoric world, halfway evolved into a bird.

A mix of iguana and crow—a fake dinosaur.

“The rest are from izakaya. There’s some real fanatics out there. Wild game, you call it? It was in, a long time ago. The bars that serve people who wanna eat weird meat have all moved to this district…!”

It had been a culinary fad, all flash and no substance, before the pandemic—during times of peace. These days on the outside, businesses that served regulated wild game and rare meats were out of business, or they had moved to the Masquerade and continued on a smaller scale.

What had become of that dreadful meat they had gotten in stock—

“The Hokkaido brown bear. It’s been six months since he got into carnivore Tonic, and he gets high as fuck. He’s a total cannibalistic freak, he’ll eat any kind of meat. His favorite is young girls!!”

“Woman! Female!! Sho soft!! Meat!!”

The cannibal bear was so worked up, he was foaming at the mouth, slurring as he wailed. As the end result of Monster Tonic abuse, his humanity had been overwhelmed by his animal carnivore instincts, and he’d wound up more vermin than animal.

“…Another freak? How conscientious, everyone introducing themselves,” said Reiji. “…Getsu.”

“Roger. Leave it to me.” Getsu’s instant response was reassuring. He guarded his two friends—Mei and Kei.

They were up against four very violent Beastmen. They were all hardcore types, not right in the head.

Any society had its burnouts—specifically, people with no aptitude for anything but crime. This place was the final destination for such people, the bottom of the ditch in a completely controlled society, where you would die if you didn’t claw your way up.

The boys had seen plenty of the dirty, the ugly, and the evil. Even the weak and the victims were not necessarily good. Alongside his partner, he continued to work to make this hell even just a little bit better.

It’s for money. But…not just that.

To Reiji, this district was the one place where he was allowed to live as a human.

Born as descendants of Mythic Beasts, their family had been excluded from society. After abusing Reiji, who was a throwback to his monster ancestors, his parents had attempted a murder-suicide. The only one kind to him, his younger sister, had gotten caught in the cross fire and died.

“If trash like you were erased from this place, then maybe…it would be a little cleaner.”

It wasn’t as if no part of him was thinking that it was legitimate self-defense, since it looked like they were going to harm him and his friends. But more than that, this was to fulfill the work assigned to him as a monster, his role as a member of society.

“I’ll fight you, vermin. It’s time to clean up.”

So the boy muttered quietly as the four Beastmen surged toward him.

Claws, fangs, horns, fists, and hooves assaulted him in every possible manner, crushing him.

“Out of signal range again? I told them not to leave the Kyoto Bubble.”

“Should’ve given them a mobile base station. Negligence.”

“Those are heavy, and would get in the way. I couldn’t tell them to walk around with a satellite antenna while going out to eat with the girls. But still, this is a problem… It seems like it’s about to begin, too.”

In the president’s office of the Fantastic Sweeper company building, Narasaki was leaning his chin on his hand with a bored expression, the receiver of the landline phone in one hand as he pouted.

Turning the dial that could only be described as antique, he dialed a number, only to receive no response.

“So Neru, you said you already have video? Show me.”

“Here. Just look yourself.”

“Oh, how cold. A rebellious phase. That hurts. You could be sweet to me.”

Their banter went back and forth. He peeked at the girl’s desk and the monitor of the desktop computer there.

The video streaming in real time was in first-person perspective. The footage, filmed with a body camera, had been acquired through BT head office’s security team command center, and was being streamed to a number of other departments as well.

“If the security department is publicizing their operation, then they really must want to regain their position.”

“Don’t get it. What do you mean?”

“The mastermind who was controlling the chief of general affairs has been ahead of the game during this whole affair. Even with the Viral Smartphone case, he never revealed his presence, so the security department must want to distinguish themselves. They want to act big.”

“…Are they old-fashioned delinquents? Sounds stupid.”

“Well, the logic of social groups hasn’t changed much since back in the day. You prove to each other that you’re more important, you’re stronger, to steal hegemony from each other.”

It also applied to a megacorp that had grown to seize control of the nation.

“The security department has bared their fangs: a team for whom all weapons are allowed—their so-called assassination team.”

“Doberman Beastmen. Plus, they’re free to fire at will. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Well, they are. All of them take special Monster Tonic… They’re the pride and joy of the security department, the strongest ‘fangs’—combat abilities doubled with twice the caffeine and multiple other drugs combined.”

The body camera footage showed the pack of black dogs. They briskly made their way into the alleys of the Masquerade—where a tactical vehicle couldn’t enter. They had their futuristic rifles at the ready, wearing body armor bedecked with occult-esque talismans.

They didn’t broadcast on wireless comms, but they exchanged hand signs wordlessly, their brisk progress looking controlled to any viewers. The only sound was the thump of military boots.

Dobermans. These soldiers, who had taken the Tonic of the animal famous as a military dog, entered a certain ruined building. At the same time, they threw something in through a broken window, as they would a bomb or something.

Clang, roll roll roll…

The body armor camera zoomed in and focused.

A test tube lay there on the broken floor of the ruined building. A military knife had cut the sealing wax that corked the bottle, and whatever was inside crawled out, leaving a thick trail behind it, like a slug.

“What is that?”

“In Eastern logic, a shikigami. That’s what’s become of the sanshi that were brainwashing the chief of general affairs—the Mythic Beasts controlled by a caster. They were caught by a Western-style spellcaster, turned back, and now…”

Burble burble, gurgle gurgle, bubble bubble, sizzle hiss burble…!

There was a sound like intense boiling. The roiling viscous liquid surged up like bubbles, taking grotesque form. The camera shook as if to indicate the agitation of its wearer, but advanced camera stabilization made the video appear clear.

“It’s an embodiment of mysticality in the West: a so-called ‘demon.’ ”

A manifestation—Beelzebub.

“Beelzebub, Belzebuth, Ba’al Zebub… the Lord of Flies has many names. He’s a divine being who was once made a demon by God and by conquerors. He’s not something you can have serve you so easily.”

The bubbling, viscous liquid changed shape to become a large creature, as big as a bull.

“The CEO has exerted herself. To think it would be an incarnation so precise that it would even be reflected in the digital data.”

The largest frog in history, gone extinct in the distant past, manifested through the catalyst of a fossil.

“A virtual of a demon of equal fame. Both a yorishiro and a rite, it is the hiki: a giant frog that eats the sanshi insects. You can think of it as the repelled curse, bound as is into the form of an animal.”

The giant frog with a sinister expression lumbered down the rubble-strewn hallway of the abandoned building.

Rifles raised, the black dog unit trailed after it. It was as if they were following their frog general. Depending on how one looked at it, it would even look comical, but the strange sight was too eerie for anyone to laugh at.

Grok. Gerp. Gerk…

It croaked. The throat of the frog swelled up like a bubble to make sounds as it crawled slowly, like an animal hunting its prey with the utmost caution, down the ruined hallway.

“Since time immemorial, it has been custom for witches to have crow or toad familiars. By patterning it after ancient mysticality, shaping it according to classic beings, she gains that power. Now then, what will they do? They can’t reflect this back so easily.”

“I don’t really get it. But it’s gross. Frogs are ugly-cute,” his secretary Neru gave her dispassionate opinion.

All the while, the giant frog made its way through the ruin, steadily creeping up on a certain spot. By an old sign at the entrance of a hidden-away bar, something had been set up that was different from any other trap.

“They stopped?”

“It’s a barrier… It’s a very basic one, though. Seems like the target didn’t have time for much else.”

The frog came to a halt. There was a triangular lump of salt laid to the side of a door leaning off its hinges—

And each time the frog inched forward, it slowly burned, thin smoke rising from its pointed tip.

“The enemy is aware that the rite has been turned back. Even if they run, they will be pursued since that giant frog has absorbed the ‘insects’ that they released. That’s a catalyst even greater than nails or hair.”

When cursing an enemy, using a part of their body as a catalyst would ensure the curse hit its target. Standard practice in what was called “sympathetic magic” was that they who hurts another, hurts themself—and those who curse would be cursed. If a cast curse was broken, then it would become all the more powerful and attack its own caster.

“In itself, the idea is just a silly fantasy. It’s no different from some idea scribbled by a small child in their school notebook. But a fantasy that has been passed down over the course of decades, centuries, will go beyond that.”

But even so, in the outside world, where myth and legend had been forgotten, the power of curses was meager.

However, there were exceptions. This place where feasts were held night after night and inhuman beasts danced with witch’s brews in hand, was a singularity of mysticality. It was a place where the ancient powers had revived and were made manifest.

“Magic becomes form and curses take shape, becoming real power that attacks. See!”

…Crackle!

With that cry from Narasaki, the pile of salt exploded. As salt turned to ash and scattered around, the giant frog leaped, breaking down the door.

It leaped toward an old bar counter. The black dog unit charged in at the same time. Black clothes appeared in the body camera. A masked man, dressed like a stagehand. Having found its prey, the frog opened its great mouth and made to swallow the figure whole.

“—!”

Gazing at the screen, Narasaki’s hands trembled.

The moment lasted less than a second. In the face of a giant frog as big as a bull, the figure in black raised his right hand.

He wore black leather fingerless gloves that clashed with his traditional attire, but also seemed, somehow, to suit it. He clenched his fist, pointing the back of it at the frog like a shield. A golden embroidered pentagram sparkled there, and an invisible force repelled the frog.

Splat. There was the sound of breaking cartilage and shredding flesh.

“Oh dear, my oh my…”

Wordlessly, the black dog unit all aimed their rifle sights at the figure.

After being knocked away, the giant frog lay still on top of a dusty sofa, crushing it. As a mysterious fluid splattered around, one of the odd man’s pinky fingers flew off, and a bloody fingerless glove fluttered through the air.

“You tore my finger off. Now I can’t make proper hand seals…ow, ow,” came a voice, sounding amused.

“…Fire!”

Little finger gone, the figure in black waved his hand in a manner that belied his words—like he didn’t really feel much pain—as bullets rushed toward him.

Gunpowder smoke and an explosive sound—the body camera image was blocked. Watching the incredible gunfire with disinterest, Narasaki wore a serious expression as he poked the monitor. He told his secretary, as if he’d swallowed something bitter, “So he sacrificed his finger to sever the rite. But that won’t do it. He won’t die.”

“But they’re shooting him like crazy.”

“Kinetic energy means nothing to creatures like us…especially that sort of specter. I think firing a kabura-ya arrow would work better than lead bullets. Those are our rules.”

Flash, shooting, shrieks. The camera tilted. The body camera touched something and was blasted away.

The moment the video was cut, it showed a similarly blown-off dog’s—

“Whoops, let’s end it there. Dog lovers will get quite angry to see images of doggies meeting cruel fates.”

“They’re not dogs, but Beastmen, though. Still?”

“I’m not sure. I think that it’s fine, since it’s a different category… But, well, that was worse than expected. That voice sounds familiar. Was that supposed to be a disguise? Good grief…!”

“Huh?” The secretary Neru looked up in puzzlement.

Narasaki did not answer her innocent question. His face was unusually stiff, his lips tight. With a deep sigh, he said, “We need the rear guard immediately. It won’t be long before the doggy unit is wiped out, and it’s only a matter of time before we lose sight of our target. Our only method of tracking him is the ‘insurance’ that was entrusted to us from head office, just in case. We need to hurry and contact Reiji and Getsu, but we still can’t get a hold of them, can we?”

“Why don’t you run? Get some exercise for once.”

“I don’t think I’d make it. I’ve got no choice—I’ll send a familiar.”

He searched his desk for a piece of paper the size of a stamp—not of plant-based paper, but an ancient manufacturing method. He picked up a stamp-sized piece of tanned sheep’s skin parchment, and stretched it thin.

“Just listen, and be selfish about this, Reiji. We’re at the critical juncture, already…!”

Looking antsy in a way he had never appeared before, he tossed out the little letter he had written.

“Now please. Go to your master.”

The letter fluttered along like a butterfly, vanishing somewhere in the offices of Fantastic Sweeper.

In a corner of a certain room, a dimly outlined shadow took the letter in its mouth—and swiftly rushed off.

The sound of beasts slowly crunching on cartilage.

Grind crunch crack slurp gulp—not through the air, but through the vibrations transmitting through flesh and blood, jaws and teeth.

In a back alley of Kamimachi Street, the modern red-light district, four Beastmen were devouring a boy.

Reiji’s posture was calm, completely unfazed. As he stood to protect his partner and two female friends, the first attack had come from the macho mastiff’s weapon.

“How’s this for a hello?!”

The mastiff was bulging with muscle. The illegal drugs spiked with steroids he had taken along with the miracle drug had given him formidable strength, and he struck with a signpost that he had ripped up from the street somewhere.

Skull depression fracture, cerebral contusion, neck fracture. The boy’s neck was bent, his head was crushed, brain included. As he fell and writhed around, the cannibal bear scrambled to be first. His fangs dripped saliva as he chomped into the flesh of the boy’s shoulder.

The small-framed, crow-headed iguana—the fake dinosaur—was armed with sharp claws. Curved and as long as human fingers, they were as hard as metal knives and tore at the boy’s back.

Coming late, the drug lion roared with an intoxicated look in his eyes, drunk on blood and violence.

With sadistic joy, they assumed they could enjoy the fear and despair of the remaining three, whom the boy had been protecting, since they had to be shaken after witnessing such a cruel death.

But their expectations were wildly off the mark.

“I know he’s all right, but that looks painful…,” said Mei.

“It’s really not good how he does that. He thinks it’s fine if bad things happen to him,” said Kei.

“Sheesh, no appreciation…” Getsu sighed. “The girls don’t like it, Reiji. Time to start fighting back!”

“Gah?!”

Not frightened, not cowering—unflinching.

Some of it had to be a tough front. But even while witnessing a brutal murder, the girl in the wheelchair, the bunny girl holding the handles, and their werewolf guard all acted like they were watching a sports game.

“…Hn, guh, geh…geh…bwaaaaaaugh!”

“Wh-whoa! The hell…? Puke?!”

As the cannibal bear was absorbed in eating flesh, making a mess, something strange happened to him.

The blood and flesh he had swallowed suddenly vaporized. The moment the solid released into gas, its volume expanded explosively, and just as if someone had dropped a Mentos into a stomach full of cola—

With black gas spewing from his throat, nose, and finally from his ears and even his tear ducts, he writhed in agony.

“A rare…a monster…a Mythic Beast. They’re this insane?!” the macho mastiff cried.

“Kehhhhhh!” the fake dinosaur wailed.

The scattered flesh and bone melted into mist, and even the boy’s damaged corpse vanished. The released mist once again took form above the Beastmen’s heads, and the form of a completely intact boy appeared in the hazy moonlight.

“Monochrome Mist Style: Wounding Black Prison.”

Instantly, as sudden as a spring—

The mist that surrounded the four Beastmen sharpened and hardened. It became many mist spears, branching into a cage, piercing the Beastmen from every direction as it pinned their bodies.

“““Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh?!”””

A harmony of shrieks.

It was just like a shrike, impaling the corpses of insects on twigs to dry and eat. The vital spots that would kill, arteries and organs, were avoided. The black branching spears that pierced their bodies became hardened crystal that remained in place.

“It seems information about us is going around—but not the details,” said Reiji.

“Egh, guh, geh… I’ll die, I’m gonna die… A-ambulance…!” the macho mastiff moaned. His tongue hung out, tail sagging in complete surrender.

“An ambulance? How audacious of you when you attacked, planning to kill me. Just who do you think you are?” The boy showed no carelessness or mercy, flicking the Beastman’s pathetic nose with a finger. “An original miracle drug made from pure essence, huh? In a fight between Beastmen, these specs would definitely put you at an advantage. Unfortunately, I’m an exception. You can’t hurt me with fangs or claws that have no shred of mysticality.”

“…The hell is that? That’s…against the rules…!!”

“I won’t argue that it isn’t cowardly, unfair, and against the rules, but you guys came here seeking freedom, didn’t you?”

A world of true freedom, in this lawless district.

“There are no rules in a battle for survival. It’s that nice, this is the freedom you all love. Enjoy it,” the boy told them with no elation whatsoever.

“Gerrrrrrghh…!!”

The large fighting dog, the cannibal bear, the fake dinosaur, and the drug lion all fainted from the pain, and Reiji turned back to his friends as if nothing had happened.

“Sorry for the wait. It’s done.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that… You’re strong as heck. I mean, it’s not even a fight,” Mei said in wonder.

Reiji easily brushed it aside. “I can’t be getting into serious trouble every time, against amateurs. This is work, and we’re busy.”

It was true that the Beastmen who had taken this original miracle drug were fundamentally stronger than ordinary Beastmen. They were about fifty percent stronger to start, and the combination of their abilities made them about two or three times stronger on top of that. But no matter how high the numbers got, if none of it actually worked, then there was no contest.

“We’ll contact the company and have them collect these guys. Sorry, Kakiba—I’ll send you to the station, so you and Mei go home.”

“Fine. Are you okay?”

“I’m not injured. Of course I wouldn’t be,” Reiji said.

But Kei shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. It’s about your feelings, not your body… You were irritated just now, weren’t you?”

“…” Reiji silently admitted to himself that it was true.

He didn’t even have to think about why he would feel that way—

“I don’t like these guys. They’re idiots indulging themselves. They had to have once been decent people.”

Reiji was not human. He had been born a Mythic Beast, an animallike monster without human rights. He’d paid a price for it until he’d gained a family register and had his rights somewhat recognized. He’d had no choice but to live by flattering those with power and wagging his tail, with all the attendant humiliation, and a pathetic lifestyle that squeezed him economically.

These vermin had no problem abandoning what they had to attack people, even when they had what he couldn’t get, even when he sought it so fervently.

“…It’s true that I don’t like them. I should be calmer now. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s common enough with young boys, like middle or high school students.”

“…I don’t really like having it seen as some ailment of puberty, but thinking back on how I was just acting, I guess it was similar…?”

At the end of the day, it was taking things out on others. Becoming aware of it made his cheeks heat a little.

“It seems they were after you guys… Isn’t that strange?” Mei pointed out.

“What is, Mei? Though this isn’t the time to be standing around talking,” said Reiji.

“I agree, but when it’s strange, it’s strange. It was like they were lying in wait for us, but it’s a coincidence that we came here, right? Since we came here at my demand.”

Due to their profession, Reiji and Getsu often went to Kamimachi Street. However—

“We weren’t planning to come here today,” said Reiji. “Well, it’s true. It’s weird that we’d get ambushed.”

“Right? So why were they here? And they were some pretty crazy villains, even for this place. I don’t want to believe those types are walking around everywhere.”

“…Was there some reason besides us?”

It was possible they were just thieves, robbers, or rapists targeting unlicensed prostitutes, but—

“Maybe. Hm?” said Getsu.

“What is it?” Reiji asked.

Still skewered, not allowed to live or die, the Beastmen twitched and spasmed. Though they were basically naked, the sole lingering proof of their humanity was that some of them were wearing shorts or jackets.

The werewolf’s nose sniffed, tracing past the bloody wounds to some pockets.

“There’s a different smell. The heck is this? It stinks… It smells fishy, or like medicine.”

He groped around in a pocket and found bloody change and small bills. Leaving that aside, what caught Getsu’s eye was the flyer for the “Tonic Vendor” that was crumpled up with a bunch of gum wrappers.

“That’s the same one the owl had. Seems these guys are buying from them, too,” said Reiji.

“Yeah. This is the source of the weird smell,” said Getsu. “There’s something written on the back… What’s this?”

The Tonic vendor’s flyer had a handmade feel to it, like it had been printed with a copy machine or something. And the paper used wasn’t anything special. It was common copy paper, white on the back. And there, in the margins, a certain line caught their eye, seemingly written in ink with a brush—unusual these days.

“…These lines look familiar. Is it a road map of this area?” said Reiji.

The line written beside it read, “ ‘A hundred million cash lies here’…?”

The precise location couldn’t be identified.

If one were familiar with the Masquerade, then they could tell that the lines indicated the roads in the Kamimachi Street area.

“A hundred million… Could that be the illegal casino money we were talking about before?!” said Getsu.

“Most likely. If it’s written on a Tonic flyer, then it seems that the man in traditional clothes acquired it. It’s very possible,” said Reiji.

The one who had diverted Phantasm Tonic to the culprit in the illegal casino incident had also been the man in traditional attire. It wouldn’t be surprising if he had acted the quickest and acquired the hidden cash. So why the need to disseminate the hiding spot? That didn’t make sense.

That was when a clammy wind blew through.

It was a night wind, neither hot nor cold. Getsu’s stiff whiskers swayed, and when he sniffed at the air—

The fluffy hairs on the back of the werewolf’s neck all stood up, puffing out. “…It stinks. All over the place. They’re fighting somewhere, and it smells like blood.”

“Yeah… I can hear it. The groans… The Beastmen are killing each other,” said Reiji.

Just as if they were in the tropical rainforest on a distant southern continent. The dubious smells that had once filled the town, the coquettish cries of the prostitutes, and the excited voices calling out to women all stopped flat. Threatening howls and shrieking cries of beasts rang out close by.

“What…what?! The hell is going on, here…?!” Mei cried.

“I don’t know,” said Kei. “But I can imagine… The information on this flyer, saying there’s hidden money…” While huddling close to the trembling Mei, she pointed at the writing on the flyer Reiji still held. “If lots of people got this, then what? If the customers of the local Tonic vendor—the sort of people who would go to the trouble to buy an illicit Tonic—got the chance to get a lot of money…”

“Robbing each other, killing each other…seems likely. Should I have kept one uninjured for questioning?” Reiji asked.

“We couldn’t afford that,” said Mei. “…Though since my presence is the reason for that, I shouldn’t be the one saying it.”

It had seemed as if he’d easily defeated them. In fact, there was no reason he would have lost.

But even so, I…

Having someone in a wheelchair with him, someone who couldn’t protect herself, had to be a weakness.

Because she understood that, Mei continued. “These guys’ initial goal was the hundred million, so they came here for the cash. But they attacked you guys instead because of that prize on your head—isn’t that how it went?”

“Most likely. The couple that we were following—the viper man and bat woman.” Their scent trail led straight to Kamimachi Street. “They said they had something very important. For their and their child’s future.”

A huge sum—a hundred million. With that much, they could go to the hospital for the wealthy and treat their dependence on the miracle drug.

So those two might be in a fight to the death somewhere in the area.

“She’s pregnant! Getting into a fight like that… Are they crazy?!” Mei cried.

“I agree,” said Reiji. “But right now, prioritize your own safety over others.”

“I know. This isn’t the time to be losing my head. I’m really mad, but I’ll suck it up…!”

It was enough money to stake one’s life on. She could understand being drawn to the opportunity to get that much. But even so, she thought it wasn’t something an expecting mother and a protective father should be doing.

“There should still be time until the special order from head office reaches us,” said Reiji.

There was no cell reception. He checked the time on his phone, now no more than just a stylish pocket watch.

It had been less than half an hour since they had left the Kyoto Bubble and missed eating yakiniku.

“In the meanwhile, we’ll stop this chaos,” said Reiji. “If we find that couple, we’ll stop them, too. Is that fine?”

“…Please do. Of course, your safety is the priority. But, but…!” Choked, Mei clenched the handrail of her wheelchair.

“I get it. You don’t gotta say any more, Mei.” The werewolf grinned, showing fangs. “The baby didn’t do anything wrong, after all. We’ll save them if we can. That’s fine, right, Reiji?”

“Yeah. Frankly, if this is about scrambling for cash or attacking for the reward, I don’t care…”

Reiji and Getsu were both just that practical and jaded. They were not the sort of do-gooders in movies or manga who would save any person they’d been involved with. They didn’t think they could be heroes.

“But there’s a possibility that it’s not that, and we’re going to protect the life about to be born. As humans.”

As proof they were not monsters, but human.

The moment Reiji announced that, they suddenly heard an unpleasant voice.

“What a humanistic statement. Very wonderful, but sorry, this takes priority.”

“Boss? Where are you…?!”

A voice rang out inside his mind. Narasaki was a Mythic Beast with human rights, a magus, and he was skilled at this magic that they had experienced many times before—speaking clear words directly into their minds.

Instantly, Reiji searched for the source of that voice, and he caught sight of something at his feet.

He was struck speechless, eyes wide in shocked disbelief. He was so surprised it felt like his heart would stop, and—

“Pardon me for appearing in this form, my Specials. I have the body of a rodent, but the mind of a human adult… I am not a famous detective or anything, just your beloved boss, Narasaki.”

Its gestures were strangely human. With its front limbs, it held a balled-up parchment the size of a stamp.

It was a rodent with a charming pale brown coat and a round bottom—a hamster.

“Butt?! …Is it you? No way, Boss… What did you do?!”

It was the memento of his family that Reiji loved as much as his partner and his friends—no, even more. The little creature was supposed to be kept at the Fantastic Sweeper office, eating sunflower seeds as he scampered on his wheel. Seeing his late sister’s pet pop up on the dirty street, and hearing his boss’s voice come out of its mouth—

Reiji cried out more sharply than ever before.

“Do you know the lifespan of a hamster?”

The company president—in the shape of a charming rodent—shrugged as if he were thinking, Oh dear. It was like a cartoonish animal seen in anime. Every sophisticated gesture he made was irritating.

“Don’t change the subject! Release Butt, Boss! Is he all right?!”

“Calm down, Kasumi… I kind of get what he’s trying to say.” Kei gently remonstrated with him.

“What do you mean, Kakiba?! Just what do you…?!” Reiji raised his voice. The red eyes of a white rabbit met his gaze.

Her expression was stiff. Her stiff lips told him the cruel truth. “I thought it was odd, ever since you showed him to me. A hamster’s lifespan is two or three years.”

“…What?”

“I remember when you introduced Butt to me as your only living family. When was it that you lost the rest of your family? Wasn’t it over three years ago?”

“How do you know that?! I didn’t say anything about it. I never told you!!”

“I know. Because we’re friends.” Her very direct manner made her words sharp as a knife, digging into Reiji’s heart. “You’re a pretty strange person, pretending to be an elementary school girl, or preferring things that girls eat…but you’re not the sort of person to do strange things like that without a reason. Isn’t that right?”

“What basis do you have for that? Stop prying…!”

He’d never meant to hide the story of his family. He just hadn’t said it. It was pointless to go on about one’s misery. He didn’t want to do something stupid like get his friends to pity him. Kei, Mei, and Getsu all had their own reasons to keep facing their difficulties and misfortunes and live on.

“…It started the year I entered elementary school…”

The Mythic Beast bloodline, passed down since ancient times, was an eternal brand that marked his family register.

Only granted the minimum social security, the family had just barely managed to survive on regional welfare. Born to parents with that label, his sister had been born a year later.

It was an era of aging and a declining birth rate. Subsidies were poured into childcare. The thoughtless parents had given birth to their son and daughter one after another, seeking the subsidy money. Their care was lazy, the minimum necessary to avoid inspections.

But even so, even so—

“I love you, Big Brother.”

Even now, Reiji remembered the warm words of his sister.

“My blood awakened—the Mythic Beast blood. I didn’t know the family’s traditional method of control…Monochrome Mist Style. When I turned to mist, they were afraid others would see me and persecute them. So after that, I was always—!”

He was about to say, but Kei stopped him.

“You don’t have to give the details. If you want to talk, then I’ll listen. But if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

Startled, he lifted his head. The other three were around him.

Without him even realizing, Kei was holding his hand, looking at him earnestly as she spoke. Getsu must not have understood the situation, as he was standing there silently. Mei didn’t say anything either, but he understood that she stayed silent out of consideration.

“Everyone here has complicated family situations,” said Kei. “That’s not the issue here—it’s the hamster. How many years ago did Butt…that little guy join your family?”

“…Right before the rest of my family died. It was…”

The year when Reiji should have started sixth grade. She’d said it was so that Reiji wouldn’t get lonely while she was at school, as he was turning into mist more and more.

“Ikka brought him home. She saved up her allowance and said that she wanted one. But that wasn’t why. It was for me, since I was locked up the whole time…!”

The hamster she had brought, the rattling as his wheel went around, and his cute shape had charmed Reiji.

A modest comfort—but that happiness wouldn’t last.

Pushed to their limits, his parents had grown tired of living with a monster, and in their derangement, had planned a family suicide. After stabbing his sister, they had spread gasoline around the house and burned everything.

“I’m sixteen now. Back then, I think I was eleven… No, was I twelve…?”

After that hell, the one thing left had been the hamster cage, having fallen out of a window broken from the fire.

He’d lost the will to live, just barely returned to human form, and was starting to disperse in the hospital that had admitted him.

It had been none other than Narasaki, the company president, who had brought him that little life—Butt.

“At least…five years have passed…?!”

“That’s basically it. The miraculous survival of his pet hamster was the one reason that Reiji would live on, having lost his family. I figured if he lost that, too, then he really would die.”

Kei squatted down and reached out her hand to the hamster that waddled over the dirty street.

It did a little jump. Fluffy fur on her palm, she brought it before Reiji and asked, “…Was it really okay? You didn’t give him a fake, did you?”

“Whoa, what a lack of trust, if I do say so myself. Even I wouldn’t go that far. There’s such a thing as a human heart.”

“Just checking. So then, you…!”

“It’s just as you’ve surmised, Kakiba.”

The hamster stood upright in her palm.

Just like a magician on the big stage, he gave the stunned Reiji a theatrical bow.

“In order to preserve the pure blood of an endangered Mythic Beast that still lives in this country, I had to keep this little rodent, his reason for living, alive, two or three years past its lifespan… No, even more.”

The man was also an extraordinary being.

Keeping it alive past its lifespan was miraculous, so to make it happen…

“This little creature is my familiar. It’s a spell that connects our spirits, shares our senses, and turns him into a quasi–Mythic Beast…just like the black cats witches have in fairy tales, or the owls wizards keep.”

“Wait. So all this time, I’ve been…thinking of you as family, and taking care of you?!” Reiji cried with serious anger—hostility, even.

When pressed, the cute hamster shook his head.

“I wouldn’t like that, either. Aside from synchronizing lifespan and senses, I’ve done nothing to this little guy. Those times you rubbed your cheek against him and such were very uncomfortable, so I bit you, but that’s all.” The hamster threw out his chest.

“…So that was you!! Do you know how much I cried, thinking Butt hated me?!” Reiji yelled angrily.

Getsu hastily stopped him. “C-calm down, Reiji! The boss is a jackass, but his body is your hamster!”

“I did plan to tell you eventually. You’ve made friends, and you seem to be enjoying life, so I figure you’re all right now.”

“At a busy time like this… If you’re going to reveal yourself, then do it when things are more peaceful.”

“I couldn’t do that. The situation has changed dramatically. The fastest way to get hold of you kids was to get you into my casting range by using this guy. Do understand.” The hamster’s expression was serious, his gestures comical. “The BT head office’s assassination team has acted more quickly than anticipated. They discovered the ‘mastermind’s’ hideout, and failed their raid. He fled from the ruined building he was using as his base. An emergency mobilization order has been given to Fantastic Sweeper from the head office’s administration department—”

In Kei’s palm, he announced his business. “Time to work, gentlemen. Head immediately to the scene and arrest the mastermind.”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, Boss. Hold up! This place is a mess too, right now!” Getsu said. Screams, roars, and the sounds of combat were still filling the air. The riot on Kamimachi Street over the hundred million was just getting more intense. “If we leave this be, who knows how many will die?! Can’t you figure things out there yourselves?!”

“It’s because I can’t that I came prepared to leak that spoiler. While it’s unfortunate to lose a fighter, let Getsu guard the girls, and you quickly finish off the mastermind. I’ll give you the location now,” Narasaki said, and the hamster offered up the stamp-sized letter it had been holding, the piece of parchment to Reiji.

It was a cute gesture, but there was an irritating old man behind it—a contradiction. Feeling conflicted, Reiji plucked the paper from the hamster’s grasp.

“It doesn’t have anything on it… How do I use this?”

“Put it on your palm.”

When he did as he was told, he felt the note on his hand slowly begin to move in a certain direction, even though he wasn’t touching it.

“The hell? This is creepy… It’s like a bug.”

“It’s a by-product of the study of artificial life—the principle of homunculi. It’s made to detect the presence, odor, and invisible traces that certain types of Mythic Beasts emit, and draw them to you.”

“…I’ve seen something like this before in that world-famous pirate manga. Did you steal the idea?”

“Turning fiction into reality is the dream of any magician. It’s all right, there’s no such thing as copyright for concepts,” the hamster said nonchalantly.

His cuteness made it horrible, but right now, this was deciding their fate.

“This has a portion of the shikigami that they sent into BT head office worked into it. I got it from head office as insurance for when the assassination team failed. It’s the one method that remains to us to track him.”

“Roger, Boss. I’ll settle the matter of Butt afterward. Don’t you run from it.”

“Whoa, you look so serious. How scary, what’s going to happen to me? No violence, okay?”

“If it’s no lie that you extended his life, then I won’t do anything. I’m angry about how you lied to me and how you bit me when I was trying to cuddle him. Since it really hurt.”

“You hold more of a grudge than I thought, like you’re easily hurt, Reiji…,” said Getsu.

“A glass heart,” Kakiba agreed.

“Shaddap, Getsu, Kakiba… Sorry for getting upset. And…” Reiji let out a deep sigh as if he’d finally regained his calm.

Accepting the hamster from Kei, he tucked it into his breast pocket. It was just the right size, with just his face poking out. That started to soothe him, but then he remembered what was inside, and he was disappointed again.

“Mei. You can go straight home, right?”

“…Of course. I’ve just been waiting for you guys who were standing around talking…”

Reiji knew it must be painful for her.

Mei was strong-willed, brusque, and sharp-tongued—but nevertheless compassionate, forgiving the junior who had committed murders, and even kind enough that she had once tried to die with her.

“There’s no way I could let something dangerous happen to a friend!!” she said.

Even now, that pain lay deep in her heart.

She understood why he felt this way, why it hurt so much.

“…The people I know aside from you guys are the same. Like the hit-and-run idiot Mai…and that couple, the viper man and bat woman. Even though it’s not like we’re close.”

Though Mai had admired her, they hadn’t even been friends. Mai was just a junior at her club.

And the couple were strangers with a baby on the way, just a pair they’d met by chance and chatted with.

If they hadn’t noticed, they would have just passed these people by—but in passing, they had clawed deeply into Mei’s heart, making wounds that would hurt forever, then they’d died.

“It’s nothing short of a nuisance. I’ve got no obligation to save them, and they’re free to meet disaster if they want!!”

Contrary to her strong words, tears welled in her eyes.

Hurt, wounded, and suffering, her feelings were expressed only in spilling tears as she cried out, and a short sob.

Kei leaned close to her, silently rubbing Mei’s trembling shoulders with the pads of her palm.

Watching, Reiji said, “You’ve got that right. So long as you understand, we’re abandoning them and saving you. That’s an adult decision.”

“…Hngh…sniff. That’s…what I…just said…!”

“But unfortunately, all we have here are minors. We’re ignoring the standard play to aim for a high score. You’ve always been lecturing us about how young people this and young people that. So you’ll help us, right, Boss?”

“Pardon?! What are you going to do, Reiji?” The hamster was unusually discomposed.

Looking down at his shaking breast pocket, Reiji said, “I’m going to get closure for what happened that day… I planned to kill Mei’s junior, the hit-and-run centaur, because I knew that was far easier than living, bearing a sin that she could never atone for.”

That was his own real and intimate experience.

His family had tried to kill him and let his sister die, and the cause of everything—Reiji—had survived, alone.

He could never redeem himself for that guilt, and the eternal cross he bore was heavy.

“But Mei chose atonement. Mai Ikeda’s parents, too. I didn’t believe in the goodness, the strength of people. That’s why I just about killed her, and as a result, the hospital was blown up, causing further tragedy.”

“…That was out of your control. You’re not responsible for that.”

“Maybe so, but it’s not an issue of legality. This is for my own closure. Even if it was returned to her, Mei attached the price of a hundred thousand to our work and tried to pay it—after-sale service included.”

Precisely because he knew the value, the weight of money, Reiji said, “It’s not fair to avoid responsibility with some yakiniku. I will fulfill what the client truly desires… To borrow your words, Mei, it’s all written off. Zero! …That’s all.”

That was what Mei had said to forgive Kei when she’d offered atonement.

“That’s the worst impersonation,” said Getsu.

“Shut up. This is going to wind up taking us some more work, Getsu. I’ll give you this letter—you follow the culprit. You don’t have to fight, just don’t let him get away until I’m done quelling things here and I join up with you.”

“Roger, partner… I like it. I’m more motivated about this than doing whatever the old man says!!”

Accepting the letter for tracking the mastermind, the werewolf gave a tough smile.

Then suddenly, a hand reached up. “If that’s what’s going to happen, then I’ll help,” said Kei. “It’ll be nice to settle things, a weight off my shoulders.”

“We’re not deciding an elementary school class rep, here. You don’t have to raise your hand over everything. You go home, Kakiba.”

“I’m Mei’s friend, too, and she also hired me. Besides, if Getsu alone were to track down the mastermind and you couldn’t get hold of him anymore, then what? There are no phones anywhere around here.”

In this place, where proper methods of contact and communication were limited, what could be trusted most was running on your feet and telling someone directly.

“I think I can act as messenger, at least. Let me help. For my friend, and for myself.”

“…Don’t do it!” said Mei. “It’s dangerous! You guys don’t have to go that far just for me…!”

“It’s not just for you. As Kakiba said…it’s for a friend, and also for personal closure. It’s not about being stuck in the past and trying to atone. It’s…” For the future, for tomorrow.

“To continue to be friends with you, we’ll do our jobs. So long as you need us monsters.”

“…Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, you’re all so stupid! What do you even plan to do, specifically?!”

“To settle things simply. The one who spread the information about the hundred million was the mastermind—most likely, he meant that as bait to throw us off his trail. He’s easing the pressure off himself by making us send forces to suppress the scramble for cash.”

Narasaki and BT head office’s judgment was not wrong. They should just let the vermin kill each other while scrambling for cash.

They had no duty to save them. To completely ignore it and just follow the mastermind—that would be one answer.

“Screw that logic,” said Reiji. “While you and Getsu are following the mastermind, Kei, I’ll suppress the mob. Sorry, Boss, but call the BT security department. I want to ask them to take care of Mei and secure those I capture once things have settled.”

The head office’s security department was not strong enough to fight Mythics and Phantasms.

But they had enough forces to guard one girl in a wheelchair, and arrest some vermin.

“…Are you quite in your right mind?” asked Narasaki. “It’s true that you won’t be hurt by attacks from ordinary Beastmen, and if you get serious you can attack over an extremely wide area. I’m not concerned that you would lose to some vermin. But…”

The problem was the price that he paid to exert that immense power.

“If we consider the scale, you’ll be using the White Technique. Dispersing and altering yourself as gas greatly erodes your humanity. Are you sure you can defeat the mastermind after all that?”

“You’re the one who hired me. I’m telling you I can do it, let me do it,” Reiji said without looking at his breast pocket. He didn’t want to see his adorable family member being controlled by a nasty old man.

“You have a debt to Mei, too. You accepted that job, then canceled on her—normally that’s not something you could cover with just a yakiniku coupon. Am I wrong?”

“…If you’re going to be like that, I have a hard time arguing. Well, all right. Then let’s say this makes us square.”

It was a half-hearted but clear agreement. Their plan of action was decided.

“I will make up for the mistakes I made that day. You got that, Mei?”

“You just gotta decide everything without my input, huh…?!” Mei mussed up her hair in irritation, acting like a displeased cat.

“I’ll do it. Let’s do it! Go kick some ass, Reiji!!” she cried.

“Roger. I will unlock ‘White.’ ”

And with that, the monster was unleashed.

Finding out belatedly about the “essence” that the Local Tonic Vendor—the mastermind in traditional clothes—had disseminated, the company president Narasaki spoke eloquently in his usual smooth and attractive voice.

“Do you know the manufacturing process in the Monster Tonic factory of Beast Tech’s production department?

“You don’t know? Of course you don’t, it’s a company secret, there’s no way you would, normally. In a word, a silver liquid…the ‘base’ or ‘elixir’ which comes from the administration department—is diluted with pure water. Then genetic samples—in other words, body parts—divided by type into carnivore, herbivore, and reptile, are dissolved in it.

“If you remove the process of adding caffeine, liquid sugar, carbonation, etc., to adjust the taste, then it’s the same as what the Tonic vendor is doing—but do you think some ordinary man who is not a Mythic Beast could achieve the miracle of mixing Monster Tonic? That’s a bit of a specialized field, in the difference between hidey and laibra.”

The most ancient of Mythic Beasts, born about the same time as humanity: a magus.

Having evolved in a variety of different ways depending on East or West, religion, culture, and language, in the modern day, they were also called occultists.

Their true nature, a hidey, was—

“To be frank, it’s a secret code to the world. It’s like the hardware, loopholes, cheats, the game FAQs on Wazzap sort of thing that the programmer always leaves when creating a system. If you wave a staff and chant the spell, then the world will acknowledge it, and a fantastical Mythic will become reality… That’s the superpower passed down in our blood only.”

If someone who hadn’t inherited the blood of an occultist were to wave their staff in the same way, nothing would happen.

“Since they don’t have the requirements for the account connecting to the world, it won’t accept it. That’s the easiest way for you to understand it. But there is a loophole to this law—and that is laibra, the answers to uncovered mysteries.”

Laibra: an elucidating magic. The name meant the revelation of laws, making something become “common sense” in the world.

“Hideys get exposed and become elucidated. Once, death by infection was thought to be caused by a magical curse, lightning was the roar of dragons, and wind was a god’s anger caused by prayer. But all of those were elucidated by the laws of science, and now that has become an immutable law that all can work with—a laibra.”

The compounding of Monster Tonic, the miracle drug, was another law exposed.

“Once, it was to stop the global pandemic. The CEO of Beast Tech elucidated mythicality and exposed it to the masses. That was Monster Tonic. Now, the entire population of Akitsushima, and many others throughout the world, know of its existence.

“Because they know, anyone can make it. However, the formula to make the essence, the base of Monster Tonic, is still a hidey. There was not enough time to elucidate it, and quick mass production was necessary to avoid the destruction of humanity.”

The base of the miracle drug that was currently manufactured and sold day and night from the factory owned by BT production department—

“That—that alone is still handmade by her. It works even when diluted millions of times, therefore supply is not lacking… But, well, that aside.”

The laibra that was Monster Tonic was a law that had been exposed so the populace could use it. But there was a great divide, between those who knew everything about it and those who did not, in how it could be handled.

“Frankly speaking, if you melt the base elixir with a catalyst, it makes Monster Tonic. But it’s safe to assume that an amateur using haphazard measurements and such, outside of the prescribed recipe, would be unable to tweak the mixture at all.

“I’m being long-winded? Fine, fine, you’re so impatient. I’ll get straight to the point—”

His tone of voice changed completely, becoming melancholic.

“An illegal Tonic made by an individual is incredibly dangerous. Animal natures assembled at random will mercilessly destroy human reason and make them more like beasts. Basically, they’re getting high as kites.

“One hit and you’re an addict. Not only that, the side effects…the manifestation of rage, loss of sociability, impulse to eat too much and eat strange things…they will almost certainly become cannibalistic psychos…!”

No one could have known this hellish answer.

The regulars of Kamimachi Street were fighting and eating each other in the back alleys in their scramble for cash, and it only got worse.

The air was stuffy. It was night in the Beastpeople’s special district, where the stench of dirty streets and gas clouded the air.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, the hell is going on?!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek?!”

In a van that was selling women, an ordinary pig man crumpled to his knees with his underwear down. And a dog girl in skimpy clothing dropped the bra she’d just taken off and rolled around in the vehicle.

Kree-kree, kree-kree-kree, kree-kree…!

The rusty vehicle creaked. The source of a rocking not caused by the coupling of a man and woman was outside the dirty car windows.

“The heck…what is that?! A Mythic Beast?! Are those real?!”

“C-creepy! I-I-I-I hate bugs!!”

“Grrk grrk grrk grrk grrk grrk grrk grrrrrrrrrrk…!!”

It sounded like the creature was talking—it was the rubbing of the legs that grew from its jaws.

It had extremely thick arms and a forward-leaning stance. The way it walked, putting its fists on the ground—knuckle-walking—was the sign of a primate. But its body was covered in a black carapace, and only its large protruding jaw had a humanlike tongue that waved around as if tasting the air.

The recipe was sawtooth stag beetle mixed with Japanese macaque. The illicit Tonic had been mixed with an eye to synergize monkey speed and the power with insect strength and armor, but turned out to have the negative effect of reducing his intellect to less than that of an insect.

This was the biggest reason that insect Monster Tonic was not sold on the market. They were comprised of exoskeletons, with nerve ganglions that showed at their joints. These parts operated as what could be called accessory brains, and they would overwhelm the human cerebrum—causing severe mental degradation and reflexive behavior.

It was too late for regrets; it didn’t have the intellect for regret.

“Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! Stop, stop iiiiiit!!”

“I’ve never heard of beetles having seeeeeeeeeeeex!”

Kree-kree-kree-kree-kree-kree-kree-kree.

The insect man must have taken the car for a female beetle, as he leaned over the glossy black vehicle and thrust his hips instinctively. The pair inside the car were shaken around violently. Glass shattered and the frame twisted. The creature didn’t even hear the poor customers and prostitute’s screams.

And there were about a hundred such monsters in total around Kamimachi Street.

They’d all scrambled for the cash at once, engaging in bloody disputes in search of the hidden hundred million.

“Bzzzzzzzzzzzz! Abuzzzzzzzzzzz!!”

A large silvery fly flew around, wearing human clothes. He must not have taken a full dose, as right under his giant compound eyes was a human jaw. The wings that popped out of his back, tearing through his dirty jacket, vibrated at super high speed, enabling rapid flight.

An overnight bag was hanging from a hand-turned-claws. The vibration had opened up the zipper partway and sent the contents spilling out. When it hit the ground, monsters crowded around to grab it.

“Moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! My moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!”

“Mine! Miiine! Diiie! Don’t take!! Die, die, die, die, die!!”

The bag that had been buried in garbage was full of high-value bills—a hundred million in cash, packed tight.

Unfortunately, it had been discovered by multiple groups at the same time. Of course they didn’t have the rational capacity to split things evenly, so they were robbing and killing each other on the spot. With this three-way fight going on, the fly man snatched the money.

Bills rained down in a great cash shower. Beastpeople shoved, robbed, and punched each other, trying to get the falling bills. A pair who stood out particularly among the crowd were struggling to drag the fly man out of the sky.

“Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp! Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp!”

One had a crocodile head. Its body was covered in fine down that packed his leather jacket full. Thick and strong ostrich legs extended from his cut-off pants: he was an ostrich crocodile.

The culture of wild game cuisine was just about extinct in the outside world. Ostrich and crocodile were standard fare, and they circulated in the Masquerade as food.

“Moneeeeeeeeeeeeey! Mooooneyyy!!”

The other was an herbivore, and a large one—big and heavy, and therefore strong in a fight. Scattering spit from his long neck, the giant herbivore Beastman was almost seven feet tall—an antlered camel.

With the towering antlers of a Yezo shika deer, and a distinctive hump on its back, it kicked and shoved away the crowds, causing the sounds of crunching flesh and bone as it charged its way forward. Aiming for the fly man’s hand and the bag dangling from it, he paid no mind to the many he trampled on the way.

Right as the massive Beastman was thinking he could grab the bag—a rope of flesh dropped from a tilting streetlight.

“Ngyah?!”

“Sssssssssssss!!”

A snake hissed. It was a snake man larger than the legendary anaconda: the viper man.

His arms and legs were as small as a baby’s. He had made use of the darkness of the street corner and wrapped himself around the streetlight to wait for his chance.

His timing was perfect—he’d managed to block his target. He immediately wrapped around the upper body of the antlered camel, sinking his long poison fangs into its neck. Piercing the thick bundle of muscle, the poison traveled through his artery straight to his brain, and instantly knocked out the giant creature.

Hooves slipped, and it fell in a wreck like a truck accident. The massive creature of over a thousand pounds—nearly a ton—collapsed while still charging, hitting the ground hard on top of the viper man with an impact that turned those around it into ground meat.

“Ergh!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Contrasting shades of meaning filled that cry—joy in having gotten the money, and the pain and despair of having lost her partner.

As the fly man was slowing down from the force of having the money bag yanked, a black shadow assaulted him. The bat woman bounded off the wall of the ruined building with feet just as dexterous as hands, snatching away the hundred million.

There was the sound of the zipper on the bag she’d torn away popping, and further high-value bank notes scattering, and more beasts gathering. The antlered camel lay unconscious on the street, tongue lolling out, with the viper man crushed underneath. You didn’t need to be a medical professional to tell it was bad.

While she knew that he may be beyond saving, she cried, “Darling! Darling! If you’re alive, then run! Hurry, this way!!”

“Ha-ha… Sssorry, I…bungled it. I…can’t…!” With that laugh spilling from his lips, the viper man demonstrated the vitality of a snake.

His torso was half-crushed. His thick snake stomach, which was so wide one could barely wrap their arms around it, couldn’t beat the mass of a large herbivore.

Just ending up underneath the fallen hunk of meat alone was fatal. He spewed blood from his still-humanlike mouth, and something deep in his throat swelled. It was like a snake swallowing an egg as he made the sounds of bringing up something he had swallowed.

“I…love you. You…and the child…be well.” The viper man panted.

“No…no, no, no, no, no!! We have to be together!! No…!!” The bat woman flew low to the ground, trying to snatch him away.

But the sharp-eyed Beastmen would never miss such an opportunity. The moment she descended, the crocodile man with ostrich legs jumped while opening his great maw, making to snap her and the hundred million in his jaws. “Slurpa-slurpa-slurpa-slurpa-slurp!!”

“Ah…gyah—ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

“Slurp?!”

A sudden thunderclap. A violent explosion occurred at point-blank range: the bursting expansion of flesh, and the transformation of a skeleton.

The viper man’s whole body swelled like a balloon, and his flesh was condensed and put back together. The container he had kept hidden deep in his throat broke, and the contents—the illicit Tonic that had been mixed for him—was absorbed by his digestive organs.

“Th-the baaaabyyyyyyyy!!”

Crying out for the child whose name they hadn’t even decided yet, the crushed half of the snake’s body was regenerated.

His shape was that of a four-legged animal—the human elements were overwhelmed by overuse of the Tonic. He had a still-humanlike monkey head, the legs of a scraggly stray cat, the torso of a masked palm civet—a non-native species that bred on the streets—and a snake tail.

They had simply mixed catalysts acquired from the street, the black markets, and low-quality food stalls—and his Tonic overconsumption made it go out of control, a kamikaze recipe purely for the sake of raging wildly until you broke down and died.

Of those Beastmen who witnessed this, those who just barely retained their good sense, cried out. “No way, a Mythic Beast…a nue?!”

“Chuku-chuku-chuku-chuku-chuku-chuku-chuku-peep! Chuku-chuku-chuku-peep!”

While cheeping like a sparrow, the monster—what might be described as a Japanese chimera—sprang upon the enemy.

The cat claws struck at the ostrich crocodile, slicing him open with a scratch. Yanked back right before he could bite the bat woman, the ostrich crocodile was slammed into a nearby wall before he could turn around.

The bat woman lost her balance and fell. On the verge of plummeting down, protecting her belly rather than the bag, she clawed the concrete to slow herself down—with scattering stacks of cash and high value bills raining around her.

“Pip-pip-pip-pip-pip! Peep-peep-peep-peep! Squee-pip-pip-pip-pip…!”

“Slur…slurpa-slurpa-slurp?!”

Both Beastmen had lost the ability to talk. One of them tweeted like a little bird, and the other had lost his vocabulary and could only use his own special language.

It was clear which was stronger—the fright and consternation spreading on the crocodile man’s face communicated fear. On the other hand, the monkey face was flushed bright red, great mouth opened wide in agitation to bare his dog teeth. There was nothing in his expression but the impulse for violence.

Crunch!!

There was a sound like biting into an apple, and the monkey fangs sank into the crocodile’s eye socket. Consumed by their wild instincts, the two monsters just chomped and scratched and mauled one another, abandoning themselves to instinct.

That was when another Beastman, lost in a different instinct, heard the commotion and took action.

“Grrk-grrk-grrk-grrk-grrk-grrk…!”

“Yeeeeeeeep!!”

Having barely managed to crawl out of the crushed van, the prostitute and customer fled.

With a rigid erection at his crotch, indecently wet with car oil, the insect man—the beetle ape—came forward. All that was reflected in his glassy compound eyes were the thighs of the bat woman as she lay fallen in the street, and the white of the underwear that covered her pelt.

“No! Noo! I have a baby! I’m pregnant! St-stop!!”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk!!”

He didn’t comprehend her words. Now, it was instinct alone.

The crotch that had violated a car, dirty with automobile oil and soot, stood erect as he pushed the bat woman down. He didn’t care what it was anymore, be it car or human, so long as he could vent his desires.

Her skirt was torn off, her underwear shredded. As the mad insect made to violate the sacred area beyond that carried a life, something like a cudgel flew in, slamming the head of the beetle monkey away like the kachiage strike in sumo, shoving him upward with an elbow.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep-peep!! Cheep-cheep!!”

“Ahh…” Signs of joy appeared for just an instant on the bat woman’s face, then vanished. “Yeep?!”

Her relief was overwhelmed by despair. The beetle-monkey had been slapped away by—by what had been her husband.

The imitation Mythic Beast had manifested due to excess consumption: the fake nue. During his long time living in the hospital, he had loved reading e-books, and on acquiring the illicit Tonic that could be mixed at home, he had mixed the catalysts according to what would look like the ancient legends. And the result—

“I don’t plan to use it. But it’ll be like a good luck charm, right?” So the viper man had said with a smile. Now, that man was no more.

A monkey held the ostrich leg, ripped from the hip socket, in his mouth. That face, which still resembled that of her husband, showed no human reason.

A smile of joy was carved on the lips that sucked on that raw flesh, dripping blood.

The witnesses to this hellish sight.

The prostitute and the customer, the latter still with his pants down, even forgot their fear, dazed.

“That’s no good…,” said the customer.

“They’re crazy,” said the prostitute.

That very brief remark rang true.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep!!”

“Grrrk! Grrk-gak-grrk! Greeeeeeeee!!”

The birdlike and insect cries were hellish. The pseudo-insect and the mixed monster tangled up, fighting over a female. Whichever of them made it out, the bat woman no longer had a way to escape. Her fingers were broken—her wing crushed. She could no longer fly. Her ankle was also bent in the wrong direction.

No matter how robust a Beastperson’s healing capacity was, this was too much to heal quickly. The prostitute and client dumbly watched on as the bat woman crawled up beside the fighting pair, struggling the best she could to survive.

“No…no, darling…!! Forgive me, just let the baby get away…!!”

A claw pierced through her ankle as she was trying to escape.

“Nooooooooooooooooooo!!”

“Chirp.”

The sparrow cheep sounded innocent, even.

He held down the pseudo-insect, tearing apart the muscle-connected exoskeleton—and having literally torn victory from his enemy, the fake nue, with his pregnant wife before him, had nothing left but hunger and lust.

“Chee-peep-peep-peep-peep! Chee-peep-peep-peep-peep!!”

“No…no no no no. Ah…ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…!!”

A slick line of drool extended from his mouth.

The creature—its monkey fangs a vague connection to humanity—grabbed the bat woman’s ankles and spread her legs.

And the very moment he extended his tongue out to lick her crotch, about to take a big bite—

“Monochrome Mist Style: Scent of the White Plum Blossom.”

That declaration, gone unheard, completely transformed the situation.

The air in the Natsukibara Masquerade always stank.

The stench was generated by all sorts of activity: the fermented gas that spewed up from manholes, the public toilets that hadn’t been cleaned properly, the pheromones of those copulating in the street, trash thrown on the ground, the fumes from rain puddles, or made by restaurants—

Lit by the faint moonlight and the streetlights that were just barely lit in the nighttime city, a thin line of smoke shone. A boy stood in a certain spot in Kamimachi street, a girl in a wheelchair at his side.

“Fwooo…”

His right hand made a little circle with his thumb and index finger.

When he blew through it as if he were going to make bubbles, his breath became a startlingly thick white fog that filled all the corners of the alley. As the name of the technique indicated—it smelled like plum blossoms, erasing the stench of the district.

“…What a nice scent… It’s like perfume,” said Mei.

“Many creatures rely on smell,” Reiji explained. “Not only canines, but just about every type of animal.”

Humans were basically an exception. Since they relied on vision, they only had a minimal sense of smell left. But smell still had a strong mental effect on humans. Bad smells made them uncomfortable, while pleasant smells brought pleasure.

While spraying the scent of white plum, the black-and-white boy, the Brocken, explained the key to this technique.

“The smell is actually minute particles… My body. It enters the bodies of anyone breathing within the designated range on Kamimachi street, then manifests its true nature when it reaches their lungs.”

His family had passed down an oral tradition of unusual abilities. These Mythic techniques were controlled with human consciousness.

“Monochrome Mist Style: Scent of the White Plum Blossom. Just like the plum blossoms that you can smell in the springtime, it’s a rapid sleeping gas that will knock out humans instantly. It’s harmless in the air, but the moment it touches lung membrane, the particles rearrange their composition and are absorbed into the body.”

“…Nasty!” That was frightening enough for Mei to cover her mouth with her sweatshirt sleeve. “That’s basically poison gas. Is it okay to just use that casually?”

“It’s better than killing them. If I wanted to just kill indiscriminately, there are many other ways to do that,” he explained. Frankly, this was about how… “I regret what I did. That day, back then… If I had captured the hit-and-run centaur unharmed, then maybe we could have avoided that assassination in the hospital.”

“…That time was pretty nasty, too. You burned her with a sort of acid, didn’t you?”

“I meant to kill her. I thought that was all vermin deserved. But…” Reiji recalled that fight, and he acknowledged his own mistake. “Even if she was vermin, there was someone who believed in her. I came to think that, perhaps, someone might love her. I’m not trying to dwell on the past, but I did feel that there are times when you should capture someone unharmed and have the law judge them.”

“Do you mean that to be an apology to me?”

“…I’m just acknowledging that my decision was okay, but not the best.”

He stepped out of the alley. The street had gone dead silent, with Beastpeople lying all over.

The place looked like a mountain of corpses: prostitutes and clients sleeping, covered in garbage; countless bodies trampled, crushed, and kicked away; and Beastpeople who had lost consciousness while struggling with each other. And amidst them all was one—

The bat woman was still alive, looking up at Reiji and Mei as they came toward her. She implored them, “…So it was you who did this, after all.”

“You knew? Well, I figured you did, though.”

The promotional video that the mastermind who sold the illicit Tonic, the man in traditional clothing, had disseminated on the deep web had been blurry, but it had featured Reiji fighting—and he’d figured someone with sharp eyes would notice that.

“Please, let me go.” With high-value bills drenched in drying blood clasped in her right hand, and holding her belly with her intact left, the bat woman clasped a wad of bills with her wing membrane as she entreated him. “I didn’t attack you before, did I? Even though you had a price on your head…!”

“I’m not so kind that I would believe that to be goodwill,” said Reiji.

Though the battle in the promotional video had been low-resolution, it had been enough to convey his strength. Anyone other than vermin stimulated by taking illicit Tonic would be frightened.

The werewolf, Getsu, could get a general read on someone’s emotions by smell, so he didn’t say anything. Reiji figured out why.

“I don’t think attacking us was out of the question. You were just too scared. And so you chose to curry favor with us instead…more precisely, with Mei, whom we’re guarding. You told us your story to gain sympathy.”

“…That’s right. Do you think that’s cowardly? Do you think it’s sneaky…? So what?!” Taking care not to awaken the sleeping nue, she lowered her voice, but cried her truth. “I didn’t have a choice. I want the money, I want to be saved. I have a baby…!”

“It’s not like I’m blaming you. You had the right idea, if results are what matter to you.”

The weak were not always good, or honest, or right.

Precisely because they were weak, they would try to outwit, entrap, and make mistakes—Reiji had seen such darkness many times.

“I’m not the one who decides that. That’s why I didn’t target you with my technique just now,” Reiji said to the bat woman as she offered out bloody cash.

The bat woman’s gaze went behind him—to Mei.

“Please. I’ll give you the money. Everyth… No. How about fifty million?!”

“Then what?” Mei asked her instantly, in a tone that sounded cold. “Things are a complete mess. That monkey or cat or whatever thing…it’s your husband, isn’t it? Handing over the money that you made a mess of someone you care about to get, while all beat up, and with a baby, and being sick, too.”

There was a soft snoring sound. The fake nue was fast asleep, looking like a sleeping cat. But its bloody fangs and the severed head beside it turned it from cute into hellishly repulsive.

“So what the hell are you gonna do now, with things like that? If we let you go, can you be happy?”

“…I mean!!” Her charming ears were pointed like those of a rabbit. Tears welling in her eyes, she cried out, “There’s nothing I can do about that…! Everything is just too late! It’s too late!!”

“What’s too late? You’re alive,” said Mei.

The wheels squeaked along as the wheelchair approached, while Reiji stayed close, protecting his friend.

“If you’re alive, then things will work out,” Mei continued. “Though it’s over if you die.”

“Don’t say that so lightly. You—a rich girl like you—wouldn’t understand!!”

Mei gritted her teeth. With eyes like quiet blades, she listened to the woman, then said, “I do understand… My dead friend was doing something just like you guys. She took some weird drug when she lacked any guts at all, getting high off it and killing people, and then she died. I thought at least I’d get revenge, but then someone else yanked that away from me. Even though she died for me, I couldn’t even pay for her, and was driven off like I was in the way.”

It made her angry—so angry.

That was what it was, in the end. She was at the mercy of the logic of irritating adults, and couldn’t do what she wanted.

Because she didn’t just want to be protected; she didn’t just want to be helped. She felt like she couldn’t take being looked down on forever just because she couldn’t run, couldn’t walk. Mei’s soul was strong enough that she was ashamed of herself for being weak.

“My resentment, my rage! It had nowhere to go anymore… So!!” she cried out, voice heated.

The bat woman sat there dazedly, the bloody bills in her grip trembling.

“So I will save you!!”

“Huh…?”

“For my dead friend’s soul. For the life that was lost. For the new life.”

There were plenty of reasons to do it, and she couldn’t think of any reason not to.

Following her heart, Mei made up her mind. “For my own future. Because if I don’t get myself closure, then I’ll feel all uncertain forever…! So I will save you. You got that? It’s complete selfishness, but you’re going along with it!!”

“…What? How could you save me…?”

“You have money now, right? It seems like it was originally stolen, but that doesn’t mean shit in a lawless district. The only one who can complain is the victim. Even if you apologize for it after, you can still use it.”

“…That’s ridiculous reasoning. Are you a bandit?” Reiji said with an exasperated look.

Mei huffed out her nose and answered unequivocally, “Sorry? Complaining about it won’t change anything, I’m me. I’m a bitch anyway.”

“It’s great that you have an accurate grasp of your own character. Self-awareness is your one saving grace here. Besides…” Reiji let out a soft chuckle. “A bitch who can save someone is better than a bitch who can’t… Whoa there?!”

“Peeeeeeeeeeeep…peep, peep…!!” The beast slowly rose. Vacantly shaking his head, the fake nue blinked as he peeped like a little bird.

As Reiji looked straight at those crazy eyes, drunk on the illicit Tonic, his breast pocket moved.

“A manifestation of imagination. He must have known about the stories of old Mythic Beasts—the nue—so he combined existing catalysts to create something that looked like one. Even if it is a coincidence, it’s rather well-made.” Putting his front limbs on the edge of the pocket, the hamster leaned forward.

The gesture was cute—but thinking about how it was his boss inside, Reiji couldn’t simply enjoy that, and became irritated instead.

“So that was why the Scent of the White Plum Blossom didn’t work very well. So then, let’s make it a bit stronger.”

“W-wait! Please…don’t kill him. He’s my husband!!”

“I know,” he answered curtly, and the bat woman looked anxiously up at him.

The vague expression on the beast’s face twisted, and he bared his fangs. He attacked—the claws of an alley cat, the fangs of a monkey, and the tail of a snake were all lethal. Never mind a full-on hit, even just a skimming blow from any of them was violent enough to rip off the skin and shred the flesh of a normal human.

“Peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-picheep!”

All of them whiffed by in vain. The fake monster had been made by coincidence, as a result of mixed ingredients. The mythicality in its claws and fangs was very weak, and could not injure a real monster like the long-established Brocken.

“…Peep…?!”

The monkey jaw hung open. Even his intoxicated mind could understand that this was absurd, the embodiment of preposterous.

Reiji didn’t laugh, bounding lightly off the ground to waft upward. His body half mist, he slid through the sky, appearing to the side of the fake nue’s face to kick him in the jaw, hard, with a graceful leg.

“Gah?!”

His neck, thick as a log, bent horizontally. With a gesture that felt gentle, if anything, Reiji grabbed the monkey’s head in his palm and covered both of its ears. Before the agitated beast could dodge, Reiji finished intoning his curse.

“Monochrome Mist Style: Black Ear Needles!!”

“…!!”

The nue let out a strangled shriek.

The palms over his ears leaked black mist that slid into his earholes.

This very real fake nue, a Phantasm half-detached from worldly laws, had a structural weakness as a creature—its ears. An extremely small explosion occurred inside them, within which the eardrums governed his sense of balance, and the roar and vibration rattled his brain.

“Ah…geh…!”

That impact was equivalent to bullets rupturing inside his ears.

But it didn’t injure him at all, he just felt the impact of it.

“I exploded my mist particles inside his ears. The vibration traversed directly to his brain without bursting his eardrums. His error was mixing in monkey—since their bodies are structured similarly to a human’s, it was easy to find his weak point.”

The massive creature was completely unwounded, foaming at the mouth as he lay there. When Reiji had defeated a similarly sized creature before, he had burned her body with powerful acid, wounding her badly.

“You haven’t killed him, right?”

“He’s alive and unharmed… The security department’s safety team is here. They should be able to admit him right away.”

The blaring sound of sirens could be heard. An armored vehicle plunged into the alleyway, and armed Beastmen restrained or admitted the unconscious and the wounded, one after another. The searchlights illuminated Mei and Reiji.

“Both with a terrible disease,” said Reiji. “And he’s a Monster Tonic addict who took illicit Tonic and killed multiple people. Frankly speaking, he’s trash. Even if you spent money to save him, he might not necessarily regret his actions.”

Under those dazzling lights, he asked, “Are you still going to save him, Mei?”

“Of course.” Just like the other time, Mei did not hesitate. “This is all just one bitch doing this to feel good about herself. I’m just being selfish here, happy as long as I get what I want.”

She didn’t need their debt or obligation; she just did it, earnestly.

“That’s all it is. I’ll take care of them until the baby is born, and their addiction is cured, too—then they can do what they want. That’s what freedom means in this place.”

“…” Reiji didn’t answer, calmly smiling before he touched his breast pocket. “So she says… You deal with the cleanup, Boss.”

“I feel like you’re treating me with less and less respect as time goes on. I’m quite disappointed as your beloved boss.” The serious-sounding man’s voice came from the hamster as he popped his hamster head out. “I’ll accept basically whatever you ask for, just hurry over. We’re at the drop deadline crunch, here!”

“I have no idea what you just said… But if Getsu and Kakiba are in danger, then we have to hurry.”

He turned around. Mei shared a look with the worried-looking boy, then puffed out her chest like usual. “We’re okay here, just go. I just need to listen to what the security guys say, right?”

“Yeah. For now, let them take care of you. They’ll keep you safe.”

The armed Beastmen—the safety team from BT head office’s security department—captured the bat woman, and once they had determined she wasn’t resisting, carried her away on a stretcher. Reiji left Mei there, watching the scene, and soundlessly flew into the night sky.

“You’re Miss Mezuki, right? We’ve been told by President Narasaki to take you into protection. Please, this way.”

“…Thank you.”

Sensing the boy’s presence grow distant, she followed the orders of the brisk security officers and moved her wheelchair into the armored vehicle. Getting a wheelchair-accessible vehicle was very unlike the lawless district.

Things were being put in order, but the air inside the vehicle smelled like beast. Inhaling that air, with the relief of having gotten through a bloody spectacle, now, Mei finally said farewell to her departed friend.

This time, I will save them.

Though it wouldn’t replace the one who had been lost—

Serving as the minimum consolation, flowers to offer to the dead—

“Sorry, Mai.”

Those words of apology were the one earnest remark, vanishing into that corner of the lawless district, along with a single tear.

Two shadows followed the piece of paper that wavered to guide them.

Getsu, the original werewolf, and the high school bunny girl, Kei, leaped from ruined building to ruined building. Hopping off deteriorated air conditioner units and ventilation ducts like stepping stones, they bounded vigorously toward—

“…The letter’s stopped moving,” said Getsu. “Looks like it’s around here.”

“Seems like it. But…isn’t it too quiet?” Kei wondered.

The piece of paper in his hand had been gradually moving toward the target, but now it stopped as the werewolf landed on a certain building.

Kei hopped after him, looking around the area. Before the Masquerade had been made a special district, the building had been a housing complex—condominiums. Not maintained for many years, the concrete on the roof was filled with large cracks.

Look down below, and it was Natsukibara station, with the massive building that twisted around like an iron flower—BT head office. Far beyond that was the outside of the special district. The dazzling capital city of Kyoto was shining brightly, surrounding the special district.

“Are they inside the building?” Kei wondered. “…This thing tells us the horizontal axis, but not the vertical one. It doesn’t work.”

“Now that you point it out, yeah. And hey, it’s dangerous, so stay close.” Getsu stayed at Kei’s side as she looked far out over the edge of the roof.

Seeing him antsy, she giggled. “You’re a worrier. You can just think of me as a friend and treat me however.”

“I can’t do that, you’re a girl. Me and Reiji’ll both heal up when we get hurt, so long as we don’t die.”

“He was fine even having his head blown off, wasn’t he? Can you take your head off, too?”

“No, that’s scary! I’m not some beat-up doll… Though I could reattach a limb.”

“…I think that’s enough. I suppose I’ll do as you say, since refusing seems like it would cause you trouble.” Kei was somewhat astounded to hear that he was even tougher than she’d imagined.

Getsu sniffed, picking up on a milky body odor, and realized something. “You don’t gotta worry about Reiji.”

“…I haven’t said anything.”

“You can’t hide stuff from me. Your thoughts and feelings come out in your smell. Sure, maybe I shouldn’t say it, but if we’re friends, then I shouldn’t hide this stuff, right?”

“Yes, that seems honest to me. But there’s no point in worrying about Kasumi. He won’t die.”

“I agree. But, well, I’ve had those feelings as well.”

Burying his claws in the fur on his neck, he scratched himself and looked around awkwardly.

Expression somehow humorous, the werewolf continued, “Even knowing he’ll be okay, I still think about it. And I do worry, though I know it’s annoying. I thought it might be kinda similar for you. Am I wrong?”

“…No.” Cocking her head cutely, Kei wondered for a moment. “It’s true that I do feel some tightness in my chest. I’m sure that’s what this feeling is. Perhaps you’d call it motherly, or like a caretaker? Though that’s strange to feel that way about a male classmate.”

She had yet to sort out what this feeling was.

Could it be that I envy him?

Kei had no friends. She prioritized her studies, and since she was raising money to send to the orphanage where she grew up, she couldn’t really hang out with anyone, and she hadn’t the time to think about such things.

And even if she had, she was such an awkward person, she might not be able to make friends anyway—or so she had calmly concluded. Driving that thought away into a corner of her mind, thinking about the friends she had made just recently, and their relationships…

I don’t like Mei being taken away from me. Because I feel like there’s something like trust between her and Kasumi.

That was probably it, Kei thought while tilting her head, coming to that conclusion about her feelings.

“Motherly? I’m not his mom!” said Getsu.

“True. If anything, you’re like broth—” Right then, as the high school bunny girl smiled and turned back to the werewolf at her side.

She saw a figure standing backlit by the moon.

“Raisan… Behind you!”

“Huh?! Ah?! No way, where… Huhhhhhhhhh?!” Getsu wore an uncomprehending expression.

There was the unique shape of a person who had suddenly appeared.

It was a place he absolutely couldn’t have been. Standing right in the middle of the roof, a place where nobody could possibly overlook them, was a child. So small that he could only be described as such, he was wearing cosplay-like ancient attire with a bob haircut.

If either of them had had classical knowledge, they would have remembered how children appeared in history textbooks.

A being, modeled after the boys who had served aristocrats in the capital long ago, was floating there, in the air.

“…No way. He’s flying…?” said Getsu.

“Your boss can fly, too,” Kei pointed out. “…Isn’t it common?”

“Hell no. It’s impossible. If he can do something like that, that means…!” Getsu wailed.

The child’s face, pretty like a Noh mask, broke into a smile. He inhaled deeply, then spoke.

“Because by the artifice of the monk-regent…

“About three hundred youths from fourteen to sixteen years old, having trimmed their hair into kaburo style…” The child recited sonorously. Something about his voice sounded old, contrary to his youthful appearance. “…wearing red hitatare ceremonial court robes, went out in his service.”

His white noble’s robe, with ties at the ankles, changed color.

Raising his voice, each flutter the graceful child made dyed his costume a brilliant red, starting from the sleeves and hakama cuffs.

And that was not all. With every move, he left an afterimage in his trail, and every image became material: children with the same face, same clothing, and same hair, like mirror reflections in swarms.

“He can duplicate himself…?!” Kei cried.

“A ninja?! Is he a ninja, or what?! N-no way… This isn’t a manga!” Getsu said.

The high school bunny girl and the original werewolf were stunned, frozen by this unbelievable sight.

The children multiplied in the blink of an eye. A hundred—no, even more. Too many children to count pressed in around the two of them standing at the edge of the ruin, they smirked wickedly.

“The cleaners of Beast Tech…the witch’s dogs, appearing so brazenly.”

“Don’t talk so weird… Are you a kid, or an old man?!”

Hundreds of mouths spoke, ringing like ripples.

Surrounded by the group of children as they slowly moved toward them, Getsu put Kei behind his back and sniffed the air.

What’s this smell? He showed up so suddenly. It stinks like incense powder… Real strong.

He had to have perfumed his clothing with it. A smell like incense wafted pungently from the child’s clothes, completely erasing his body odor. Getsu’s werewolf sense of smell, which could read movements, emotions, and even some thoughts, wouldn’t be of any use.

“I think what they call us in this world is ‘ell-gee-bee-tee.’ Wait…that’s not right, is it?”

“There’s someone else?!”

On a rusty, tilted, elevated cistern on the roof a little ways away, a figure in black traditional clothes had gotten up there without Getsu even noticing. The little finger on his right hand was missing from the root, and the blood had soaked into his black fingerless gloves in dirty spots.

His face…was not visible. It was completely hidden by a mask like a stagehand in traditional theater, and the voice that came from behind it seemed like it could have belonged to a woman or a man.

“Since that is a sensitive issue, I cannot answer,” said the stagehand. “Oh, what a world of constraints we live in.”

“Uh… I feel like they’re getting everything wrong, but would butting in be a bad idea?” Kei asked.

“Yeah. I think they’re waiting for you to make a joke,” said Getsu. “That annoying way they talk has got to be deliberate…!”

The two of them were surrounded.

On the roof of a ruined apartment building, Getsu and Kei stood at the edge, where the fence to prevent falls had crumbled.

The children in red kimonos made an arc of people that went all the way around, hundreds of them. And behind them, standing atop the elevated cistern to look out over everything, the figure in black traditional clothing looked down on them curiously.

There was no longer any question as to who this was.

“…So it’s you guys,” said Getsu. “You’re the masterminds who spread that weird-ass Tonic.”

“Yes, that I did. More precisely, I am still doing so.”

“Then that makes things faster. If you give yourself up easy, then I’ll break your collarbone and leave it at that.” Getsu bared his teeth threateningly to hide his fear, facing off against the figure in black. For Getsu, this was the worst it could get.

“Oho…!”

I can’t tell. Are this red grampa-child and the stagehand bastard strong, or what?

If they were here and still alive, that meant they had fought off head office’s assassination team.

That wasn’t impossible—Getsu and Reiji were just different. The security department’s forces were for humans, and hadn’t been made to fight Mythics and Phantasms. If they were told to fight them, they could do it. But still.

I have no clue what they’re gonna throw at us! This is way harder than some Phantasm with melted brains…!

They were having a conversation. Even if it was kind of a weird one, this anachronistic duo were smart opponents. On top of that, they had unknown powers, and looking at their sudden explosion in numbers, the situation was clearly to Getsu and Kei’s disadvantage.

But the plan was just to follow them… The hell is going on here?!

There was just one way to win.

I’ve got to let Kei escape, and call for Reiji. I’ll hold them off until then…!

He bared his fangs. Hackles rising, he clenched his fists. The situation was explosive, tense with animosity, when—

“Shall we come to an accord?” the masked man said at just the perfect moment to knock the wind out of Getsu’s sails.

“…Huh?”

“Fighting would be troublesome. You’ve been bestowed with a spell to follow our trail. Relinquish it, and we will all return in good health. What say you?”

“…You mean this thing?” The scrap he held in his palm. He didn’t remember the rationale that the boss had babbled on about at length now, but as long as they had this, the enemy couldn’t avoid being tracked. That had to be why the enemy hadn’t run, and lay in wait for them.

“Unfortunately, can’t do that,” said Getsu.

It wasn’t out of loyalty.

The only reason he obeyed the company that had birthed him in a test tube and had treated him like consumable goods was because he had nowhere else to go. In this completely controlled society, the descendants of monsters had no other way to mingle with humans.

“I’m a dog. I can’t turn tail and run without even doing some howling!”

“Pitiable. The lineage of an ancient bloodline, made tame by a witch.”

The werewolf instantly picked up on the scent of animosity—intense anger that couldn’t be covered by the smell of incense. That moment, Getsu understood that the hundreds of children were no illusion—they had physical form.

“Run!!”

“Yeah!!” The high school bunny girl leaped backward. There was a smack as they slapped their hands together.

Right as she left, the moment they high-fived, he handed her the letter. The white rabbit leaped without hesitation between two buildings, bounding off the outside walls as quick as a pinball, running to the opposite side of the street. She withdrew unerringly—the reason for that was, of course…

“She trusts me, huh? Then…I can’t let you pass!!”

“I will devour you, dog!!”

It was just like a zombie movie.

The boys’ pretty faces twisted, and their mouths ripped to the ears. Within their open mouths were rows of fangs like sawblades, and those jagged rows of teeth, fundamentally unlike those of humans or monkeys, opened wide.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!! Stay back, you toothy old man!!”

“Your muscles are firm, and you smell like a beast… Not very appetizing, boy!!”

All the children leaped on him at once, creating a loud flutter of clothes. Getsu repelled the attacking enemies one after the other with his strong arms.

But there were just too many of them, and it was impossible to block them all. They scratched him, like sharks swarming their prey they bit and tore his clothes, and blood spurted from Getsu’s pelt.

“The bastard ate my finger!!” Getsu howled. “…Though it’ll grow back right away… You owe me money for that!!”

“Hiss!”

One of the children had the finger that he’d bitten off in his creepily wide mouth, crunching away at it.

The finger instantly regenerated—a new bone growing, and flesh and skin reconstructing themselves. The moon was a tilted crescent, and though the original werewolf’s vitality wasn’t as powerful as during the full moon, he was not inferior to the horde of strange boys.

Flung away when he bit Getsu’s arm, one of the boys was sent flying to slam into a wall. “Geh! …He’s strong…!” He must not have been immortal like the werewolf, as he was gushing dark red blood from a wound on his face.

Seeing the boy grimace as he wiped it with his sleeve, the stagehand said, “Dear, dear. BT’s secret weapon cannot be underestimated indeed. So then, as we discussed…”

“ ’Tis too late for that. Help me, Kashin!!”

“I would like to, however—” The stagehand suddenly turned in the direction that the high school bunny girl had leaped.

Without missing a beat, about a dozen of the strange children, more than Getsu could stop, followed her.

Bounding off the smallest footholds with bare feet, they got their fingers into cracks to climb one after another. As Kei leaped off a dilapidated veranda to leap even higher, one of the children’s claws reached out to grab her leg.

“Don’t touch me!!” she cried.

“Gah?!”

She stomped downward and struck his bob haircut, then jumped off the child’s falling body. Her trajectory seemed free from gravity as she landed on the roof of the opposite building, and there—

“…Why are you here?”

“Because we followed you. From above.” Kei forgot her surprise, looking up dumbly at the man who had suddenly appeared. “I apologize for deceiving you. If I were to accompany you directly, then I would most definitely have been detected, and they would have gotten away. And you were perfect for this—I estimated that you wouldn’t want to be followed, and would take the opportunity to fight back.”

Atop an antique old broom with an ancient wood handle, unlike the cheap plastic products that were sold in hardware stores—a tall man stood upright in brand-name leather shoes, but he didn’t seem unstable at all.

There was no string hanging him from above, nor foothold underneath.

“Who…are you, scum?!”

The strange child climbed up to the roof. It was the one that had just been kicked in the head. He had a clear shoe mark on his face.

“I heard what you said. Kaburo—the fourth scene of that ancient war story. A Phantasm born from the fame of the tale, who has survived to the modern era. The urban legend of the Kamakura period.”

In the man’s right hand was a wand. A pale light like that of a firefly lit at the end of the wood of an ancient sacred tree, bound with the heart tendons of a Mythic Beast—a dragon.

“That’s rather old-fashioned. This is the bottom of the final witch’s cauldron, the night of calamity that continues for eternity. Phantasms and Mythics like you affiliated with the ‘bureau’ were supposed to have been strictly forbidden entrance, by the agreement.”

That man carefully removed his fashionable glasses, tucking them away in his jacket breast pocket as he said:

“Why are you here? Brother.”

The president of the subsidiary company Fantastic Sweeper, part of Beast Tech, managing the development, sale, and wholesale of Monster Tonic.

Narasaki’s question was directed at the masked individual standing on the elevated cistern on the opposite side of the street.

“No way… You’re brothers?!”

Atop the ruined building, Kei’s white bunny ears fluttered in the wind. Looking up, she saw the company president, Narasaki, standing atop his broom.

She looked back to where she’d come from. It was hard to see because they were far apart, but the stagehand was standing atop a tilting water tower. The many children who had stayed behind with Getsu were still engaged in a bloody battle, and her sensitive hearing picked up on the sounds of bones breaking and flesh being crushed.

But there was something that bothered her more than her worry over her reliable classmate, Getsu, right now.

“…Now that you mention it,” she said, “I think you do seem similar—like that self-important way you talk…!”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. That’s what strikes you? He’s masked, and I’m a handsome man. That’s a big difference.”

“You should stop talking the way an old man texts. It’s creepy.”

“Oh dear, high school girls these days. There’s no end to the stinging remarks they have ready to make middle-aged men suffer.”

Appearing put-upon, Narasaki said, “Though we are brothers, we’re not related by blood. We both awakened as Mythic Beasts around the same time, so we just sort of see each other that way.”

“Our connection is something like sworn brothers. Nostalgic indeed.” The stagehand standing atop the elevated cistern folded his arms like he was at a loss. “By the calendar of this age, it’s been about five centuries. I glimpsed you the other day during the rag-wringer incident, but you’ve changed so… A makeover, one calls it?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. What’s with that outfit? Are you cosplaying a novelist?”

“Yes, something like that. I choose a costume appropriate to the era.” The stagehand puffed out his chest—somehow proudly—even though they should have been bitter enemies.

“…This feels like a couple of relatives who lived far apart being reunited… Is this okay?” Kei interjected timidly.

“It’s fine, since we’re both old-timers,” Narasaki said like it was nothing. “We’ve been alive since the era when it was commonplace to kill your enemy, whether they be sibling or family. By the way, Brother, what do you go by nowadays?”

“Kashin.” That was a fragment of the name that he had once had, decayed deep in history. “Because ‘Devotee of the Seven Treasures, Kashin Koji’…is so very long. Since ‘Koji’ is a title for an unaffiliated man of letters, I thought that simply ‘Kashin’ was perfect for one such as myself, being that I am attempting to harm this world.”

“That’s strange. This is why I hate magi. Internalized prejudice, as they call it,” Narasaki grumbled.

“I don’t think I want to hear that from you,” said Kei.

“The girl has a point. Kashin… He’s your brother?! What is the meaning of this?!” snapped “Kaburo,” the strange child and ancient Phantasm who had wound up left out of the conversation.

The hundreds of identical beings—some of them clashing with the werewolf, others gathering beneath the elevated cistern—all roared like starving beasts, expressing blatant suspicion.

“That is the dog of Beast Tech, one of those that brought about the pandemic in this world, a magi of the west!”

“Do you need me to start my explanation there?” Narasaki sighed. “Well, though being behind the times is something like the nature of a Phantasm…”

That which brought about a Phantasm—rumors, fantasies, urban legends, conspiracy theories—would reflect the times. Whatever people feared or respected… In order for mere idle talk to spread enough to create a Phantasm, there needed to be something that would touch the people, and that would become stale over time.

“Phantasms are the essence of culture in the era when they came about. They cannot change, and will not change. Very rarely, they are taken up by the media and made into characters, which develops them, but most of the time, they are old, as if they had traveled through time from the past. You can tell that just looking at his clothes, can’t you?” Narasaki asked Kei.

“I don’t mean to reject the culture of traditional Japanese clothing…,” she prefaced, “but it’s true that it feels old. So then that means that child…is a Phantasm that has lived hundreds of years?”

“That’s right. Though he doesn’t count as a Mythic Beast like me and my brother…”

Narasaki spoke eloquently about the difference between the Phantasm that appeared like a child—Kaburo—and himself and Kashin.

“We are what has been consolidated as ‘occultists’ in the modern era. Go back in time, and the oldest human Mythic Beasts—the ancient shamans, the worship of spirits and ancestors in primitive societies—can be roughly classified into Western and Eastern types.”

So it had been believed.

“But there’s hardly any difference between the two. There’s a biological difference, but we are both human, and the magic we use differs by associated culture, religion and such, but in essence it is the same.”

“““Nonsense!”””

Multiple children went into a fury, forgetting to even attack the werewolf in order to glare at Narasaki.

“Hwah?!”

“If you would prate that we are the same, then you should cease interference in mortal affairs, as we have, and engage in austerities. It is this behavior, like that of mundanes, that has brought about destruction!!”

“…Huh? What’s he talking about?” a bloody Getsu cut in. He was breathing hard, his clothes torn here and there, with fresh claw marks on his fur. But the bleeding stopped and the wounds healed before their eyes—super-healing by the werewolf’s regenerative ability. “I don’t get what you’re talking about! You’re the ones who’re causing trouble for the world!”

This was clearly just an attempt to buy time, but that provocation was effective against the Kaburo.

“What an ignorant fool…!”

“…We of the ‘bureau’ are the descendants of those who have protected Akitsushima since ancient times,” said Kashin.

“To use your language, the ‘Eastern type’ gather ‘magi’ and ancient Mythics, Phantasms, and youkai…and in better times, divine beings, to bear the responsibility of spiritual protection. You do not know that history?!” all the Kaburo copies wailed.

“I don’t know!” cried Getsu. “I didn’t even go to elementary school! Though I’m studying history right now!”

“That’s right. You have to explain things clearly, or he won’t get it! Raisan is quite stupid!” Kei cried out, making a megaphone with her hands. She must have been listening to the conversation with her rabbit hearing, as her timing was precise.

“…Uh, yeah, that’s true… It’s true, but could you not say it so loudly, bunny girl?!” Getsu yelled back. He must have been pretty embarrassed.

The Kaburo before him looked at the werewolf with sincere contempt. “Foolish, ignorant, and unenlightened… Then you know not the true nature of the company that you serve!”

“The true nature?”

“The calamity that just about destroyed these times—to put it in your words, a global pandemic.” He pronounced it awkwardly, unused to foreign loanwords. “The very person who has slaughtered hundreds of millions of mundanes, creating and disseminating the disease that ended the activity of the world as it was—that’s the leader of Beast Tech, the company that you all serve, the witch!!”

“…Huh?!” The werewolf’s mouth hung open so wide no one could be blamed for calling him an idiot. Looking up at his boss, who floated in the night sky across the street. “Pardon, Boss. This is kind of a big question, but…is that for real?”

“It’s so big, it doesn’t feel real,” added Kei. Both were honest, in a sense. It was true that they couldn’t understand it, that it was hard to grasp.

“About seventy percent true, and thirty percent misunderstanding…I would say.” Rubbing his goatee, Narasaki said, “The root cause of the global pandemic was Western magi. There was an insurrection among the Mythic Beasts who had lived integrated into Western society since ancient times, as aristocrats or capitalists.”

That had come before these young men and women were born.

“On the Western continent, in European political and business circles, there are many different Western types, and they differed culturally, religiously, and historically. It all began with a particularly crazy faction using a ‘death curse’ against an opposing faction.”

“Murderous or deadly curses are common enough, even in this land. However—” said Kashin. “Quite unfortunately, the death curse infected their own Western type as well, and always killed its subject. It was a particularly powerful curse that was impossible to resolve. Oh, and the original user is unknown; they’re probably dead.”

“Oho, why think you so?”

“Its use in factional warfare wasn’t an issue, but then the ones who used it couldn’t control the curse. The curse swept over Europe, hitting all factions, and killed all the Mythic Beasts…in other words…”

“…Self-destruction?”

“Yes. Both factions were destroyed, and one who remained—the survivor of the death curse—is our godlike superior. The CEO of Beast Tech…the last witch.”

“…Wait.”

Hearing this story told by the two brothers, magi and onmyouji in turn, Kei raised an objection.

“A curse was the cause of the pandemic? If it only infects Western types, then ordinary people should be okay. But I heard there were far more fatalities.”

“An astute observation, bunny girl,” said Narasaki. “Humans and magi are related species capable of interbreeding, and have coexisted for many years—a symbiotic relationship, so to speak.”

Although with each generation the bloodlines thinned, and their powers as Mythic Beasts were lost…

The blood continued to thin, and eventually, the majority of the people living on the Western continent would have an ancestor of the Western type.

“The death curse reacts to blood. Perhaps they referenced DNA as well. In other words, it’s not only Western-type magi who have magic-using bloodlines. Even ordinary people who had an ancestor of the Western type could be infected, and it spread in a chain reaction, becoming what would later be called a disaster, the global pandemic.”

“Wait, old man,” said Getsu. “In other words…does this mean like, hundreds of millions of people died all over the place because they took what was supposed to hit our company boss’s buddies? That’s pretty bad, dude…!”

“Yes, indeed,” said Narasaki. “Most of the dead were of the Western type, but this curse traced blood connections, reaching all over the world. And even now, after it has been contained, many places in the world were unable to regain their national power, and have been in decline.”

“…!” It was just so big, Getsu’s breath caught. “Ke… No—Bunny girl! What do we do, hey?! It seems like our company’s kinda bad!”

“Calm down. This discussion has been very interesting, but there’s something strange.” Unlike the rattled werewolf, Kei’s pretty face remained cool. “Magi of the Western type die of the curse. So how are you alive?”

“That answer is simple. Many of the Western type were infected by the curse, but there’s still a small number who survive,” Narasaki replied. “Since the CEO discovered a way to prevent the curse’s progression, those who simply bear the blood of the Western type beat the illness and survive. But though the Western types who caused it in the first place have had their lives prolonged, even now a complete cure is impossible.”

Ordinary humans who bear the blood of the Western type = curable, surviving.

Pure Western type, magus = treatable but incurable, will eventually go extinct.

“That’s why I converted.”

Narasaki’s implication referred to ancient religious history. It was a word used when believers of a certain god abandoned their faith.

“I am a magus, but my bloodline is, like my brother’s, of the Eastern type. I’m of the species of immortals that are spoken of in folklore as a type of miko or Taoist wizard, who use mysterious magics. But I learned Western magic from scratch, converted my religion, and chose to save my people…the Western types.”

“Oh my, so that was how things came to be? I was ignorant of this.” Kashin acted detached. Speaking like he was impressed, he leaned forward slightly. “You say it so simply…but the nature of a magus is, regardless of East or West, in the pursuit of one’s magic. Doesn’t conversion mean abandoning hundreds, thousands of years of training?”

“I did. As a result, I am a rather worthless Western magus.”

That was why he invested great sums of money in the documents and relics of Western magic, which were limited in this country, gathering them and learning their use.

It was to make up for his lack of both technique and familiarity with tools.

“I saved money by paying the animals peanuts to buy catalysts and tools, and using many other sorts of tricks, but I’m still a far cry from a true Western type. I have many other side businesses, and I have schools and such to teach magic to the surviving children. I’m also a principal.”

After listening thoughtfully to the end, the high school bunny girl Kei said, “…There’s a lot I’d like to say, but cheating employees out of fair paychecks…” Then she told the werewolf across the street, “Seems it was a good idea not to change the plan. The president and the company are both completely exploitative—what they do is the same.”

“Yeah… Frankly, I never thought that our company was actually in the right.”

I mean, of course, thought Getsu.

A decent company wouldn’t control the nation, or direct a government-designated slum where drugs ran rampant. Or go through multiple rounds of human experiments to mass-produce test tube baby–like monsters.

“Maybe you guys are on the right side, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna do what you say. You guys are the ones who set fire to the bunny girls’ workplace, aren’t you?” Kei pressed the Kaburo on the sacrifices made.

“It was for righteousness.” The Kaburo was unwavering. “I care not if the brothels of this mundane world burn and some of the mundane die, to say less of some flesh-peddling owner.”

“That’s just it,” said Getsu. “I don’t like how you assholes look down on the world as some dirty place. Our boss is trash, but he does pay us, and he lets us go to school.” So at the end of the day, this werewolf’s sense of justice was self-serving and personal. “If my only options are both crap, I’m taking that one. That a problem?”

“So ’tis money, in the end? This is what makes mundanes so incorrigible.”

The werewolf and the strange child glared at one another, the air between them tense once more.

“It’s true that we’re not righteous, and we have no just cause. But…I think we have responsibility.”

Eyes somehow sad, Narasaki muttered like a soliloquy,

“Yes. Beast Tech…”

Not speaking to anyone who was there.

“…was made for the purpose of atonement, and salvation.”

So said the ancient Mythic Beast, while thinking back on the events that caused it all.

During those times, it stank everywhere.

It was a global pandemic, the great plague that broke out, originating in Europe. Even after taking every possible countermeasure, like masking and hand sanitizing, it continued to rage on, causing countless people to become ill, leading to a breakdown of medical services.

Just about every family nursed people at home without knowing what they were doing.

The infected experienced a hardening of their skin. It became rough and chapped all over, stiffening up, and even the slightest movement would make it crack and bleed. This was followed by endless coughing, high fevers that never abated, bloody bowel discharge, and diarrhea: an array of every kind of suffering.

At the time, many citizens would launder clothing dirtied by their family member’s feces and wear it anyway. The smell of illness hung everywhere in crowded areas—at crosswalks, on public transportation, in every possible place.

“So here I am, seeing an old friend on her invitation…”

In the isolation ward of a certain general hospital in Kyoto city—

The faint scent of perfume wafted, drowning out the antiseptic and rotten smells.

“…to find she’s in quite a state… It’s been quite a while, Lady Witch.”

“Has it? The times you lived in were also fairly dire, weren’t they?”

“Your manners have improved since then. Even with the dead lying there, no old lady is stealing their hair.”

“Oh my. ‘Rashomon’?” A voice, chuckling.

Two figures in the intensive care unit spoke across the sterilized plastic screen that separated them.

One wore a pongee kimono like an ancient scholar. The attire clashed entirely with the modern hospital. This man wore a mask of non-woven fabric over his face that didn’t suit him at all.

He had a book in his hand that he closed with a snap. With a brand-new indigo cover, it was the first edition of a novel thought to be a classic. Even a hundred years since its publication, the binding looked like nothing other than new, giving a sense of contradiction in spacetime.

“And those clothes, too,” she said. “…You’ve done your best to fit with the times, haven’t you? It suits you very well.”

“A mere century it’s been, and yet a whole century, since the last time the door to the divine lands was opened. In just that time alone, how shocking it is…”

The other, on the opposite side of the sterile plastic, was a woman connected to countless life-extension devices and tubes. She wore an ordinary hospital gown. But the various tubes were connected into a black leather mask shaped like a bird’s beak—

“…how much you have changed the world. Wasn’t that going too far?”

“I have no words,” the Last Witch, in her plague doctor mask, answered curtly, but with regret in her tone. “Our conflict ruined the world. This was the result of our fear of the Second World War, the appearance of nukes, and the progress of technology. This is what has come of excess interference in human society in the name of the regulation and control of non-magi.”

“They only imitate the worst of us.” With a soft sigh, the literary-looking man looked around the bed area. “I thought to peel an apple for you, but it’s become a very constrained world where we can’t even bring fruit to the ill.”

“There was that custom, wasn’t there? Though it’s long since been lost… No.”

The woman’s hand grabbed the sheets. Her dry skin cracked, and fissures of fresh blood ran to her upper arm.

It was a late-stage symptom of the disease that had swept the entire world. An ordinary person would pass out from the agony of a mere milometer of movement, and instantly the skin all over their body would shatter, and they would go mad and die—but in this hell, the woman’s voice remained calm.

“We killed it. The world has overflowed with curses, and even as we speak, they are continuing to die.”

“That’s why the ‘bureau’ stopped meddling in worldly affairs.”

At the dawn of every history and culture, there was always an era when mysticality ruled over society: an era when they determined luck via fortune-telling, relied on prayer for medical treatment, and even prescribed the future of the country with divination. But in this country, in Akitsushima, the age of mysticality had not lasted, and it had died out completely between the Middle and modern ages.

“Around the time when the shogun was installed and bakufu rose—the foundation of this town, of Kyoto, had to have been the last built. They controlled the water dragon to arrange the underground water channels, firmed up their spiritual protections, and then the heavenly and earthly immortals, all the great families of spirits of the bureau, disappeared.”

The decision of the “bureau,” the organization comprised of the Eastern-type magi, and the surviving Mythics and Phantasms—

“It was to end interference with worldly affairs, and just like how Ookuninushi once bequeathed his position as emperor, all of the bureau retreated to the divine lands… Basically, involvement with mortal affairs had become a hassle, so they just abandoned them and isolated themselves.”

“Oh my,” said the woman. “Aren’t there records after that of people of the bureau appearing in the world?”

“A few. There was the plot to destroy the imperial capital by driving the earth dragon mad, an order to curse the prime minister with death when he sought reconciliation… As the underling sent in each time, it was unbearable, though.”

It was idle gossip, buried by history. The way the man spoke, it was like something out of bizarre fiction.

“And this is another such case. In essence, I was told to curse you—to kill you—but I am not enthusiastic about that.”

“Oh my. Why is that?” The woman smiled in surprise. “The last survivor of the witches who destroyed the world. There are reasons to kill her, but is there a reason to let her survive?”

“There is… Rather, I can’t have you dying without sorting things out.”

What was done was done, and spilled milk would not go back into the carton, and the dead would never come back to life.

“Even if people wind up calling it an explosion of infections in an unprecedented pandemic, in reality, it was a curse—one which was impossible to cure with treatment based on science, with only slight life extension possible.”

“I did try to break the curse. But I couldn’t do it.”

“I’m sure. I did immediately try myself, on coming to this world, but there was nothing to be done about it.”

To be precise, it was not impossible—not if all the heavenly immortals who had governed all the mysticality and Mythics of this country, hidden on the other side, were to attempt it.

“The people of the bureau would be able to resolve the curse. But they are gods now. They do not live lives of predestined length, but are eternal. In short, they have no sense of time.”

“To live in eternity. You’re referring to those who have reached the other side and have completely sublimated to a higher existence?”

“A hundred years or a thousand is but an instant. Taking a hundred or a thousand years to rectify the world would be fast for them. The issue is that the mundane world will most certainly be destroyed more quickly than they take action.”

“The dignitaries must be quite angered.”

“They have been liberated from earthly desires, so they feel no emotions of that sort. Those with worldliness, such as spirits, earthly immortals, and types of spellcasters, will feel anger, but it will take them ten years to come to the mundane world.”

That would be too late—

So said the face through the curtain, even without words.

“We have committed a sin. A sin that can never be forgiven.”

“Yes.”

“The broken egg cannot go back in the shell. If we sit idly by, then the chick will not hatch, and it will die.”

“You mean the children of the Western type, who have been infected but are still alive?”

“Oh, you knew? You’re sharp.”

“I’m good at exposing the hidden. Browsing your electronic medical record took more time.”

“Then I don’t need to explain. Some of the Western types have just barely escaped from the Western continent with our bloodline—fifty children. This generation has yet to awaken to their powers, and won’t even acquire the trait of immortality. They’re no different from ordinary people.”

“So they have done no wrong… You say to let them go?”

“I’d like it if you let me make one more move. As you can see, I don’t know when I may die.”

Their gazes met through the sterile plastic. A man and woman—far enough apart that they couldn’t touch hands or share air. But the faint silence and tension brought about a strange atmosphere between them.

“A favor for you, the sinner who has destroyed the world, who may die at any time?”

“I request safeguarding the fifty very ill children who may die at any time.”

“That’s not negotiation. Quite incorrigible. Out of the question.”

“Quite true. But are you all right with that?” For the first time, the woman’s cracked lips parted, making a smile like a fissure on her face.

“Just what sort of chick will be born from these eggs, which have wound up so grotesque?”

Contaminated with the Mythic and Phantasm, cut off from the development of science and culture that they should have had.

“This something that will be born from myself, who has cracked the eggs, and you, who will mix them up.”

This world, history, and culture had shifted to an alternate universe, and nobody knew where it was headed.

“Don’t you want to see that? Our world’s future,” she said.

“…Ha-ha…!” He got shivers.

It was a sensation like the heat from his head descending down his back to his groin.

He found himself giving a mirror image of her smile. “Could you tell me your name, my lady ‘final witch’?”

“Fine. Then you tell me first, mister magus of the East.” Her words were like something both sweet and bitter mingled mouth-to-mouth, causing a viscous ache.

“My old name was . It was rather worn-out, so you may call me Narasaki.”

“So you saw out that window… Heh-heh, did you get that from word for oak tree?”

The leaves were rustling in the wind and the blue sky. It was like a cutout of the piece of the only sky in the isolation ward.

“Yes. In our world, names are incredibly important. The longer they are used, the more mysticality they gain, since that reveals one’s background and nature. So if I am to acquiesce to your request…”

“Then you will call yourself by a brand-new name that no one knows… How sincere. Then I shall return the favor.”

And then the witch told him her name.

“I am . It’s good to meet you, Narasaki.”

There was just one person before or since who would know that name.

It was buried in the heart of the man who was called Narasaki for the first time then. It never resurfaced.

He did not speak of these thoughts…

Around a group of ruined buildings in the Masquerade, a little ways away from Kamimachi Street, two buildings sat across the street from one another.

The strange child, Kaburo, with his countless identical faces with bob haircuts, yelled to Narasaki in the air. “How dare you expound such brazen nonsense, barbarian! Now that I know you’ve converted, you’re even more odious!!”

Narasaki had spoken of atonement and salvation. That had infuriated the ancient monster.

“No matter how you might dress it up, your piddling internal conflict destroyed the mundane world!! And then on top of that, you took over the land that we’ve been protecting, Akitsushima, with your rotten magics, making even the proof of our existence: every sort of tradition—mysticality, Phantasms, sorcery, onmyou— all material for your ill-advised mystery drug!!”

“Folklore—words—are living creatures,” Narasaki said in an easygoing manner.

The Specials faced off against one another, werewolf and strange child. The stagehand spellcaster, Kashin, stood on the crooked, elevated cistern atop the same building.

On the opposite side of the deserted street was Kei, standing on the roof of the other ruined building. In the sky overhead was Narasaki, atop his magic broom, as he spoke in a strange voice that sounded clear, heedless of the surging wind up high.

“Folklore always changes, so long as it exists. You have no right to complain, since you holed yourselves up in an unchanging world in fear of that. To put it crudely—”

Out of nowhere, Narasaki drew a twisted branch wand, and at the end of it—

Shone a white light.

“It’s like a husband who rages at his wife not to cheat on him, when he left her and gave her no money to live on. These days, they call that toxic masculinity. How does it feel to be called a new nasty name?”

“…Ngk, gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

The boy screamed, unable to bear it anymore. His handsome lips split to his ears, showing rows of fangs. They were shaped differently from those of snakes, boars, dogs, or cats—they were like short and sharp saws, similar to those of sharks or fish.

“I’ll kill you…! I’ll murder you!! Don’t you stop me, Kashin!”

“I shall not,” said Kashin. “But do not forget to destroy the tracking talisman that the rabbit girl carries.”

“You need not tell me!”

Like a group of monkeys going for their prey, the strange children charged.

The werewolf stood in the way. “Like hell I’ll let that happen!”

Standing tall with the inclining moon at his back, he ripped some rusted pipes from a nearby ruin like twigs, using a wildly swinging two-sword style to focus on slamming away the children who surged toward him.

Shadows were flung, fangs broke, blood gushed. Crowding at his feet, shoulders, shins, and arms, one after another to snap at him, the humanoid monsters were a literal human wave attack. But as the children clung to him with pure strength, the werewolf grabbed each one by their limbs, swinging them around and flinging them away.

“They’re coming for me,” said Kei. “…Mind if I run?!”

“I don’t mind. But I don’t think you need to,” said Narasaki.

With the crowd plunging toward her, the high school bunny girl was about to leap away. In the sky above, the magus glanced at his cuff.

It was a watch—a smartwatch. The ticking coming from it was the notification sound of a satellite GPS. The microchip integrated in the collar of his other half, his familiar, told him it had come while he had been buying time with chat.

“We’ve bought enough time. Prove your usefulness, Specials!”

“Monochrome Mist Style: Black Oak Wall!!”

A shadow smoothly stretched out, ignoring the laws of physics atop the roof of the ruin where Kei stood with moonlight streaming down. The matte black, like someone had spilled dark ink, flowed and flowed, reaching to the wall that the strange children were climbing up right that moment—

There was a sound like a spring firing, and the countless sharp branches and leaves thrust out from the shadow on the flat surface, becoming a black wall.

Confusion, and screams.

“““Gerk?! Augh—gah—damn—youuuuuuuu!!”””

The countless coal-like branches that had grown so suddenly became a line of spears that skewered the children. The children struggled with wild animal strength, snapping off the branches one after another with crisp sounds, but even after breaking, the branches continued to extend.

“Kyou is an old word, referring to an oak tree.” Reiji made the symbol with his right hand.

“That’s all well and good…but you’re too close,” said Kei.

“I agree, but right now just be quiet and let me protect you, Kakiba,” he brought his lips to her rabbit ears and whispered.

With his left arm, he hugged the high school bunny girl’s thin waist against him, making himself a shield to protect her.

Reiji continued, “The shadows I sent out are me, spanning thinly along a flat surface. Spread like a uniform coat of paint, the shadow grows suddenly when an enemy approaches. It’s like a wall of spears, bundles of sharp and pointed branches. Don’t think you can get through it so easily.”

Crak-crak-crak-crak-crak-crak…!

The black branches continued to extend, creaking. They dug into the hundreds of strange children and would not let go.

“What is this piddling thing…? Ladder!!” one of the children cried, and then more leaped at once, like acrobats.

“““Hyah!”””

The ancient Phantasm—appearing like a delicate boy—spun around in the air and then landed on another’s shoulders. Children leaped one after another, crossing paths as they jumped onto the structure on top of each other, creating a literal giant ladder of people.

“Are you trying to use that to leap over it?” said Narasaki. “Dear me, it’s like the folktale of the Japanese wolf. How old-fashioned.”

“If such is the way of the ancient race. Well then, let us amuse ourselves as well,” the masked man said affably.

“But this isn’t a game, though I shouldn’t have to say that.” Narasaki shot Kashin a rather cold sidelong glance. “I think you’re enjoying this world too much. Frankly, you’re being a right bother, Brother.”

“Indeed. My, I would ne’er have known without coming. Unlike the unchanging fantasy realm, the mundane world is as mercurial as a plethora of kaleidoscopes. Though my body may be unchanging, the excitement in my breast was enough to inspire a new spell.”

The stagehand pulled something out of his sleeve—a symbol of modern culture, completely clashing with his costume. “A smartphone, is this? My oh my, this is so very convenient. Casting youkai arts on paper to grant it flesh and blood, as is my forte, would take time and effort…but as you see thusly…”

His bare fingertips exposed by his fingerless gloves danced with precision on the touchscreen.

The high-performance digital device normally wouldn’t be getting any signal here, but the powers of a modern-day Phantasm forced a connection, illegally connecting to the paid services of a certain company, its computing power deriving a fearsome wonder.

“Inputting invocation prompt. Modern Onmyou: Demonic Bewilderment AI!”

The smartphone hummed. There was a strange sound, and he held up the phone to show a video playing on the touchscreen.

It was one of those AI-created videos—detailed but vague. It featured a ruined earth, little figures running about, and flames burning the sky as a fantastic colossus that resembled a Buddha appeared, laughing sonorously as he attacked.

Then, it leaped out of the little phone screen, suddenly swelling in size.

“Tohere!”

Right before the flames struck, Narasaki’s wand flashed. The characters he drew with the light at the end became an invisible shield, spreading before him. Though he was showered by a burst of blazing rocks and a gale of flames, there wasn’t a single burn on the magus’s body.

“…Not bad. You manifested an AI video?” he said.

“A modest art,” said Kashin. “But you withstood it magnificently… Oho?!”

The moment he replied, Narasaki vanished.

He didn’t run or dash. Drawing a trail behind him like a comet, the broom under his feet flew through the air, circling around to the side.

He waved his wand in an arc, and an invisible power thrust the other man away. He fell from the elevated cistern on the ruin—unstable footing. But his opponent did a forward roll in midair, spinning in the air like a wheel.

A torn electrical line had been strung in an alley—a rotten wire that shouldn’t have been able to bear the weight of a man. But the stagehand landed on it with both feet, sliding along the line as if he were completely weightless.

“You dodged? Won’t you just fall already?!” Narasaki cried.

“Ha-ha, very close, very close. Trying to make me fall? How lacking in refinement. Utterly charmless!”

“Most curses are largely your imagination. If you repel them with strong will, they’re no more than a sort of foul language. But attacks like this—hitting, throwing things, and knocking over—are generally effective on living creatures.”

While flying in the sky on his broom, Narasaki waved his wand as if conducting an orchestra.

“Iltrubent!”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Red bullets tracked after the masked man, one after another. It was a paralysis curse—the basics of duel spells commanded by the Western magi.

Whizzing along the electrical wire, the stagehand dodged by just a hair. All the while, the video he had manifested was shooting flames one after another from the heavens toward Narasaki as he flew around, trying to hit the magus with a red-hot giant slab and crush him.

It was a storm of shattering, falling rubble.

With a wave of his wand, the man on the broom made rows of characters appear that changed the world. The transformation curse “explodé” turned the rubble into a bomb. “Hanku!” meaning “take that,” fired a repellant force that struck the direction he indicated.

It was a classical barrel of gunpowder—a scientific weapon, just barely affected by mysticality. The rubble-turned-bomb shot back toward Kashin, blossoming in the night sky in an intersection of two types of fire: raining flames and rising flames.

And right in the middle of this portrait of hell, like something out of a disaster movie—

“What the heck is this?!” Reiji cried. “It popped out all of a sudden… Is it magic?!”

“It seems like it has to be real, but it’s not. This is…a picture. It’s a really realistic illusion!” Kei told him.

While holding Kei under his arm to protect her, Reiji bore it with a black mist shield. Meanwhile, shattered rocks and fireballs struck close by, soot and fragments flying at them along with fierce, stinging heat waves.

It was only natural to panic, given the situation, but the high school bunny girl’s intellect caught something wrong, and she figured out the truth.

“The flames are blinding, and the burning rocks will hurt if they hit, but our clothes aren’t burnt, are they?”

“—!” Reiji’s breath caught.

There were burn marks of varying sizes here and there where sparks or burning rocks had touched them, but there weren’t any burns on their clothing. There were just inflamed burns and blisters on their skin.

“Ordinary flames wouldn’t work on me,” said Reiji. “…I assumed that there was mysticality in the flames!”

“I think it works so that it can’t hurt things from reality. It’s the same as how two-dimensional things can’t destroy three-dimensional objects. We’re being affected…because we’re looking!”

It was because they had the intellect and soul to observe information in two dimensions and take that as reality.

For such creatures, this hellish sight of manifested AI-generated images was reality itself. However, for the inanimate with no way to observe it, they were meaningless—mere nothingness and less than static noise.

“Reijiii!” Getsu cried.

“I know! I’m coming your way, Getsu!”

Kei under his arm, Reiji made a hand sign, then transformed into a sea of black clouds.

The swelling clouds wrapped gently around the white bunny girl as they passed through the storm of fire, sliding across the sky.

If the enemy wasn’t occupying the sky, then escaping upward would have been an option…, Reiji thought. Though the same-faced monsters in antiquated clothing fought as well as Getsu, they couldn’t fly. If he weren’t being pressed by the AI-generated video made manifest, then the two of them could just escape into the sky, he would let Kei get away, and then he would be able to fight at full strength.

I need an opportunity—a moment I can attack. Just once will work…!

He wouldn’t consider a second or third chance. That was impossible, to begin with. He had used one big move already to suppress the Beastmen who had taken the illicit Tonic. Reiji was a human, not a monster, and manifesting his powers meant risking that his humanity might erode and volatilize his ego.

The skill passed down in his family, the White Technique, would unravel his ego as he atomized himself, turning to various shapes of acid, cloud, fire, or mist over a large area. This was the true strength of a Brocken, and it had an immense area of attack, but it exhausted him brutally.

And the Black Technique, its pair, would conversely solidify his ego. He would temporarily loosen the boundaries of his body, dissolving his cells, skin, and flesh into minute particles and reassembling them, hardening them into various shapes to create matter.

It was less exhausting than the White Technique—and in exchange, the attacks were smaller in scale. It could affect one or just a few people, and in order to manifest major firepower that could wipe out hundreds of these mystery monsters, he absolutely needed the White Technique.

“Sorry, Getsu, but you protect us. I’m gonna hit a spike, so toss to me!” cried Reiji.

“Roger,” Getsu called in reply. “…If we’re talking like basketball, then like, a rebound, right?”

Both boys were using sports metaphors they weren’t familiar with.

“Not like I know, but I think that’s wrong. Both of you!!” Kei shot back at them from the clouds.

Having broken through the flames, Reiji landed next to his partner, the werewolf, then manifested and took form—

“Monochrome Mist Style: Black Blade. It’s a black knife that will never break. Swing it around hard and slice them up!”

“Awright! Now this thing makes me happy!!”

Getsu guarded his friends as black smoke gathered in his hand and condensed. The black blade manifested with a hard shine like obsidian.

“Hss-hss-hss-hss-hss-hss-hss!” the children hissed.

“Woof !” With that doglike cry, the blade flashed. He swung the blade around with all his strength, an amateur’s sword technique.

But the werewolf was so ridiculously strong, he literally sliced through iron. When three of the strange children rushed him, he cleaved them all horizontally. He sliced the row of torsos in two, just like a swordsman of the Middle Ages testing out a new blade.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”

“Don’t look, Kakiba. This isn’t a situation where I have the privilege to avoid killing! Close your eyes!” Reiji attempted to show her consideration.

But Kei brushed that off. “Don’t talk nonsense. I’m not so shameless that I would make a friend be the only one to bear that burden!”

Both were trying to consider the other’s feelings, but were in conflict.

“This isn’t the time to be arguing, you guys,” said Getsu. “…These things actually died, right?!”

“““Kah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”””

They cackled loudly. Roaring with laughter, the strange children, now bisected at the torso, instantly vanished into mist. It was similar to Reiji’s transformation into mist, but there was something different about it.

They’re not bleeding…? No, that’s…

In the clouds, Kei’s rabbit eyes and ears had captured the moment of the kill. She had clearly seen the instant they had been bisected by the black blade.

The ones who were killed vanished. Just as if they had never been…

The grotesque sights that Reiji had feared did not manifest, and they kept coming as the rocks burning with illusory flame rained down. There were three hundred of the child-shaped monsters with bob haircuts and serrated teeth who spoke in the withered voices of old men, gathered in a swarm…!

“Hissss!”

“Aghhhhhh, you’re getting on my nerves!”

The children bared their fangs. Serrated teeth, like those of sharks or fish, carved marks into the werewolf.

One tore off a bite of flesh; the few fibers of muscle they missed were pulled and yanked off after. It chewed loudly with his chin covered in blood as the monsters laughed at once.

“““No use hiding in the clouds…!”””

“““The girl hid a curse on her! Hand her over, or…”””

“““…I’ll eat everyone here!!”””

They were a literal multitude. Surrounding the werewolf, the strange children leaped out at once with no fear of death.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!” The werewolf swung around the black blade, slicing multiples at once, but the numbers never went down…!

There was a blazing roar. A particularly large rock chunk was raining down toward them, searing hot. The black mist that was Reiji transformed, holding Kei, stretched out like an umbrella to avoid it, but the meteorite-like explosion burned him.

“Gah…!”

A serious burn covered his back. Even if it was illusory, the heat and impact of the manifested AI-generated video were no different from the real thing.

Reiji was the only thing that could block it—protecting his friends and burning himself. The fabricated napalm bullets pulled only the observers into this burning hell, and the garbage and rocks scattered around didn’t even have burn marks.

“Not fair! Not fair at all! How the hell are you fine?!” Getsu yelled as he fought madly.

Despite being burned by the illusory flame, just like them, the Kaburo were laughing.

“““Ka-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”””

They were familiar with this sort of immortality and invincibility. It was—

“…Just like the rag wringer! This guy isn’t a Mythic Beast…he’s a Phantasm!!”

A Phantasm crystallized becomes a Mythic Beast.

Though they had origins in ancient history, rumors of Phantasms continued even in the present.

Unlike those that would become cheap souvenirs, they lingered in the corners of historical documents as legends. Even now, people would fear them, sometimes worshiping them as gods and arguing that they were real.

“This guy’s got the best of both worlds,” said Reiji. “So long as we don’t hit his weakness, he’s invincible; and since he’s old, his mysticality is strong; and he has his own will and substance, not the false stuff from taking the Tonic…!”

A Mythic Beast unique to Japan—since ancient times, they have been called…

“Youkai. So then…we just have to crush him with even heavier mysticality!!”

“““Just you try, boy!!”””

Reiji made the hand sign for a gun and pointed his index finger, wreathed in black mist, at the youkai.

The condensed mist became pointed and sharp, making an ultra-thick needle the same size as his finger.

Then he added a spiral twist to increase its penetrative power, and just like a machine gun—!!

“Monochrome Mist Style: A Thousand Black Needles!”

“““Ka-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”””

The explosive thudding of their impact hit his eardrums. Skulls burst like fruit.

The penetrative power of this shooting technique, firing countless black needles from his fingers, gouging deep into the concrete, ignoring minor shelter to pierce the swarms of children, filling them with holes like cartoon cheese.

Just like the machine guns in the wars of old, they blasted away the youkai one after another… However!

“No matter how I wipe and wipe, there’s no end to them?!”

“““I have years on you, years!! Kwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, boy!”””

Strange children with shattered heads, crushed chests, and full of holes vanished one after another, decreasing their numbers momentarily.

But a beat later, an unwounded child would appear again. It wasn’t just Reiji’s bullets—even the scorching heat of the manifested AI video and the youkai that Getsu cut disappeared into smoke one after another, only to reappear instantly.

“I guess my mysticality can’t brute-force them. Then…!” Reiji murmured.

“We have to figure out his rules. But we can’t do that without any hints… We can’t internet search?!” Kei cried back at him while under the protection of the black dome.

“There’s no signal here! Agh, this is what drives me nuts about this district!” Getsu yelled, under the dome as well. And right that moment—

A voice suddenly rang out—from Reiji’s breast pocket.

“—Do you kids actually go to school?” Out popped the head of a hamster, leaning his chin on one hand, a nasty look on his cute face.

“Boss?! If you were listening, just tell us already?!”

“I just told you directly, though, weren’t you listening? What you’re fighting is the Kaburo—since he was celebrated in a war chronicle from the Kamakura period, he become an old legend, a Phantasm that has lasted until the modern day.”

“…A war chronicle from the Kamakura period?” The high school bunny girl’s long ears twitched and swayed like she’d suddenly been struck with a thought. “That’s what he is? I learned about that in Classics class. And we covered the highlights in History!”

“I still dunno! You do, bunny?!”

“I’m not familiar with the details, but if he’s based on that story, then the ending was…!”

While burying her face in the werewolf’s fluffy pelt, Kei cried, “ ‘That the cruel waves should thus swallow the emperor…’ ”

When she intoned the fragments of the vaguely remembered passage about the emperor’s suicide by drowning—

“““…Stop it!!”””

Screams, screams, and screams.

The three hundred strange children all raged and wailed in unison.

It was just as if they were covering wounds they didn’t want touched.

“ ‘The white waves that crashed on the shore were dyed scarlet…’ ”

A different line, not much else remembered—just the beautiful words that had left an impression, along with his fleeting end.

“ ‘…the deserted empty ships were driven aimlessly to and fro by the wind and tide’…I think? ‘Rocking sorrowfully on the water’ …It was a sad depiction of boats with no people aboard being washed away somewhere!”

The ancient legend, and the words simplified in her mind, ended there.

“If this story is your rules—if this is your fated end!” With a flash of insight, Kei cried out her conclusion, “Then fire isn’t it… It’s water!”

“Huh?! The heck? What does that mean?!” cried Getsu.

“The end of the story! The story that seemed kinda like historical fact! In a place called…Dan-no-ura? Those people meet their downfall, and it ends with the whole family drowning in the ocean… A bad ending!”

Her recollection was too rough to call a summary—just an outline learned in class by a top student, lingering in a corner of her mind.

Backed into a wall, the family had lost at the battle of Dan-no-ura, and so the young emperor had killed himself by drowning, and his commanders had followed.

“If the legend of that person who multiplies himself is the origin of the person connected to this story, then his rules should be in the story, too!”

“I see. I don’t really get it. So…” Reiji said, seemingly rejecting her conclusion, but— “I’ll trust you, since you do… We just need water, right?”

“““Stooooooooooooooooooooooooop!!”””

With that indication of his absolute trust, the Brocken made his move.

The strange children were clawing, biting, and shredding him, tearing him apart like a corpse at a sky burial. Nevertheless, he made the symbols with his hands—those of origin and rationale he didn’t understand—and with the words that had been passed down in his family, ended them.

“Monochrome Mist Style…Black Fishing Rod.”

He drew in a breath. Then that moment, Reiji’s right arm changed. The black mist wrapped around his flattened hand and hardened, becoming a sharp hook. When he swung it straight to the side, it warped and stretched incredibly. It was just as if his arm itself had become a black fishing rod. A thin string of black mist connected it to the hook at the end, which caught its target. It was a point over the Kaburo’s head—behind him!

“Back off, Getsu!!”

“Awriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!”

Kree-kree, kree-kree-kree, crak!!

There was the sound of strained metal snapping. His arm had reached up over the ruin to tangle around a pipe of the elevated cistern—that one of their foes, Kashin, had been standing on—digging in the hook to stabilize it.

White claws grabbed the extended arm. Reiji’s partner, Getsu, tugged with all his might, and the deteriorated cistern tilted slightly. The three hundred liters of dirty water inside surged through all at once.

“Hold on tight, you guys!” Reiji cried.

“Burble-burble-burble-burble!”

“Ngk…!!”

Clinging to Reiji, Kei desperately covered her ears with her other hand to keep water from getting in. Meanwhile, Getsu was drowning.

Covered in dirty water, his fluffy fur stuck flat to his skin, he and Kei wound up looking like pets after a bath, while Reiji, the only one unchanged, saw something unexpected.

“…Kakiba. Did you know about that?”

“Hardly… I can’t even imagine what sort of reasoning would turn it into that.”

“Kyeee… Gugh…koff…!!”

The over three hundred youkai Kaburo, the strange man-eating children, were now nowhere to be seen.

Beautiful red robes soaked to the skin, washed with rusted water, he looked nothing like he once had. Furthermore, even his skin had turned a nasty and gleaming slick, red like a frog. There was no sign of his former beauty in his wart-covered face, with a beak rather than lips, like a waterfowl or toad, or a type of fish—and there was a circular bald spot on the top of his head.

“Do you know about the youkai called a kappa?” The wet fur within Reiji’s pocket trembled, and the hamster muttered. “Said to originate on the continent, they appear continuously in sightings and ghost stories from ancient to modern times, and types of shrines, temples, and historic sites worshiping them are not uncommon. And among these stories is one alternative theory.”

When asked what color a kappa is—

—many people would imagine green, like a tree frog.

“But kappas are red. The flag of defeat, the symbol in the military chronicle, was also red. Depending on the region, the survivors or the defeated soldiers who fled are thought to have become the origin for the legends about kappa.”

Raising a red flag, the fleeing soldiers all in red clothing escaped pursuit from their political enemies and lived in hiding.

Those who saw them gathered in another world in the mountains, away from human habitation, thought them to be youkai—and so the legend was born.

“The core that generated the youkai Kaburo was a passage from a story where the ancient family sent out a spy. But that passage didn’t spread particularly widely, and originally did not fulfill the conditions to make it a Phantasm.”

So then Kaburo was…

“The answer lies with this: the name for the children’s bob haircut is an “okappa”—what became of them when they were chased from the capital and ruined. The creature that wound up as the youkai kappa is simply disguising itself in the attire of a beautiful story.”

“…I’ve heard of kappa. There were stories about them in books at the orphanage.” With her wet ears sticking straight up, Kei eyed it intently.

The kappa was curled up on the dirty roof, covering his face and yellow eyes and trying to hide as he writhed in agony.

“The real ones are scary. I imagined them to be cuter characters.”

“That idea was added in later generations by manga and art. Unfortunately, this kappa went to the divine lands immediately after being born, secluding himself in the other space known as the house of illusion, or the fantasy realm.”

Therefore, he had not been affected by the modern traditions, and he had maintained an ancient essence when he returned to this world.

“Therefore, he is a creature of the water’s edge who does mischief with his supernatural strength, but he can’t divide into three hundred people. And quite happily…as per legend that says he will die if the plate on his head dries up, he is weak to fire.”

“Ah…!!”

And right here and now—

They were right in the middle of a flaming hell made by illusory fires, the AI-generated image made manifest!!

“Gweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegh!!”

Hit by the hot downpour of rocks and the blazing storms, the dirty water dried up, and the kappa’s skin instantly dried and creaked. The plate on his head mercilessly cracked, and steam spewed out like fresh blood.

He extended his purple tongue as if seeking water, his withered eyeballs shrinking up. Now, just like an amphibian drying up and on the verge of burning to death, the youkai cried for help, unable to take any more.

“Kashin!! Kashin!! It’s hooooot! I’ll die!! Stop the spell, stop iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!”

“Oh my, my, my, my… Dear, dear.”

Narasaki and Kashin were in midair. They were right in the middle of an exchange of magic and youkai arts when they heard him.

“This isn’t good,” said Kashin. “Modern Onmyou: Demonic Bewilderment AI!”

Narasaki pulled a gold coin from a foreign land out of his pocket and tossed it in the air. “Sorry, Brother, but this is my chance. Penetrate Explodé!”

With that spell cast upon it, the currency glowed blue and became a bullet that went for the spellcaster holding his smartphone high. Right before it hit, an invisible force protecting him slowed it down, but the coin even penetrated that shield.

“Guh…kah!!”

The coin sank into his flesh, bursting and tearing him up.

Fresh blood stained his black traditional clothing, a vivid laceration clear there. Even with a large chunk gouged out of his chest and left shoulder, his input invocation played an AI video, and the youkai arts manifested it.

“Water, again?!” Getsu cried. Two-dimensional crashing waves surged up as high as Narasaki’s feet as he rode his broom.

It even reproduced the unique style of a painting—literally just the tidal wave of that famous ukiyo-e painting: blue undulation and white spray, pines on the cliff shore, and a moon in the sky. It was an illusion as if they had been drawn into the world of a painting, a muddy stream that couldn’t even be compared to three thousand liters of dirty water. It somehow surged over everything, and the whole block below them was swallowed by the flow.

“If they hadn’t taken my little finger when turning that initial rite back on me, this never would have been able to beat me.”

The output was so incredible, it inspired goose bumps. As a magus, Narasaki was, put kindly, second-rate. He only managed to contend with his opponent by consuming the mysticality contained in tools like his valuable wand and broom, and the ancient coin that was his catalyst.

For the Eastern-type magic, secret oral traditions—spells and signs made with the fingers—were vital. These rites had been passed down in an unbroken line from ancient times, and going through the right process would increase their mysticality and make them more effective.

It was just a single finger, and yet, a whole finger. Their pursuit hadn’t allowed him the time to heal, so Kashin couldn’t use his normal spells, and he’d been forced to use only this technique using his phone: groundbreaking and yet lacking in mysticality, and that was why Narasaki could have the advantage.

“That’s actually a serious injury,” said Narasaki. “Since we’re Mythic Beasts, and unlike Phantasms and youkai, we’re ordinary living creatures. To be frank, getting shot is a serious wound. Though of course I wouldn’t die.”

It was fair to say Narasaki had hit him hard enough. If he hadn’t given the talisman used to track them to Kei, then he could have pushed even further…perhaps.

But that really seems unlikely. He has some method to withstand it—be that divination, obstructive magic, or a barrier kekkai.

This was how a battle between magi worked. They would each play their hands—hiding their own cards, looking for the opportunity to get an effective move off on their opponent to gain the upper hand, which they would maintain as they went in for the finisher. But they had figured out Kaburo’s true form, so Narasaki figured that was good enough for a first round.

“So you kids need to get out of here, now. You still have work to do, all right?” Narasaki said casually as he controlled the broom, bringing it close to the ground.

The giant ukiyo-e wave was apparently a one-shot, and was already starting to recede. The illusory deluge left hardly any physical effects, and the rubble and garbage were not washed away, remaining on the roof of the ruin.

“You’re gonna make us do it again, you slave driver?!” Reiji cried.

“Koff…glug!” Getsu was choking. “I-I thought I was gonna die…! Kakiba…!”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Kei. “…Listen, Kasumi. Just how out of shape are you? Can’t you swim?”

“I can kind of doggy paddle… But never mind me—get Butt. Save the family my boss is holding hostage… The hamster is innocent…!”

The soaking Getsu used both arms and even his mouth to protect his friends—the observers affected—from the torrent. Digging the claws of his right paw into the rubble to support his body weight, in his left arm he held Reiji. He held Kei by the collar in his teeth.

This being her second time, Kei wasn’t doing so badly. But Reiji must have been worn down, as he was spewing water from his nose and mouth, vomiting painfully multiple times. And as for the hamster in his breast pocket…

“Don’t worry,” said Narasaki. “Little Butt is my familiar, so he won’t die so long as I don’t.”

“…Should I be glad, or should I be pissed at him treating Butt like a remote control?” Reiji wondered.

“I think it’s fair to be pissed. If Bunny was an old man on the inside, I’m not sure I could love him.”

With the others shooting him cold and resentful looks, Narasaki came down from his broom to the roof.

“Is Bunny your rabbit’s name? How basic. You don’t think that was a lazy choice?” Narasaki commented.

“I just can’t think of a cute name yet. More importantly, what more are you going to make us do?” Kei argued as she wrung out her skirt, exposing her thick rabbit girl thighs nearly up to the crotch.

The fake AI video manifestation would only become real around the observers. The flood just now would also become real around the living creatures that observed it, drowning them if they couldn’t swim, and getting their clothes wet.

“Hmm, what a nice sexy high school girl image. Well, I only like mature women, so I wouldn’t look twice, though.”

“Why’re you suddenly blurting your sexual preferences…?” Getsu said with an exasperated look.

Kei wore a similar look. “That’s sexual harassment. I’d like to sue.”

“Please don’t. I’d win, but it’d be a hassle. Now then, about your overtime tonight…” Narasaki took a step toward them.

“Your ‘mother’ is calling for you. It seems she wants to meet. Kei—she’s saying you’re the one person who can take over Beast Tech in her place as the next CEO…all right?”

On a certain ruin, somewhere in the Masquerade—

“Ohh, I thought I might perish.”

“Guh…geghhhh! Unforgivable, unforgivable…!!”

Flames burst and crackled. They were in a wrecked love hotel where the floor had collapsed, leaving it just a square box.

Kindling had been casually tossed into a burned oil drum, and an antique kettle was puffing out steam. Scooping out the hot water within and pouring it into cups, Kashin mixed it around as he said, “He calls himself ‘Narasaki’ in this world, but I never thought that …would side with them. It was thought that he had died since the bureau stopped being able to get a hold of him. How unexpected.”

“Indeed so?! You floundering fool… You didn’t realize when you saw him during the rag-wringer incident?!”

“I did not. Oh, for one who has mastered the path of onmyou and reached immortality to abandon hundreds of years of diligent study is quite the eccentricity… Will you wash your wounds with this, or drink it?”

“I need it not!!”

An apple-sized chunk was gouged out of the masked man’s chest—the flesh pulverized, the bleeding wound even reaching bone. His right hand held back the blood, while his left, missing a pinky at the root, held the teacup as he lightly raised his mask to bring it to his mouth.

He slurped on the green infusion. The potion made of matcha tea mixed with a variety of natural medicines worked immediately. No sooner had the bleeding stopped than the flesh began to swell up again.

“It takes five years to obtain the medicines and ten years to refine the alchemy for this jindan potion, but it’s far from a complete cure. Since it will take a little longer to grow back my lost finger, I believe we should avoid further direct fighting.”

“…Ngh, ughhh… It hurts, it hurts… Damn you, damn you, damn you…!!”

At Kashin’s feet, making wet sounds as he crawled pathetically, was the youkai, Kaburo.

But there was nothing left of what had been worth calling a beautiful child. His boyish silky skin had become red, warty, and toad-like, glistening and wet, and his face was that of a mercilessly crushed kappa. The way his long tongue dangled out from the end of his beak as he struggled to breathe was like an amphibian on the verge of death.

“If you hadn’t used that fire spell, they never would have struck my weakness…! You fool, you utter fool!!”

“Oh, pardon, pardon me. But be that as it may, ’tis the way of spellcasters and youkai not to pry more than necessary on others’ skills. I would have liked it if you told me ahead of time to avoid fire, since it’s super effective.”

“…Enough of your prattle!! You’ve been influenced more and more by the mundane world, and your jests are unbearable!!”

“No need for such panic, since our goal—the imperial command from the bureau to defeat the witch of BT head office—has already been accomplished. Could we not amuse ourselves a little, now?”

“What…?!” The kappa’s eyes went wide. “What on earth do you mean?! Tell me forthwith, Kashin!!”

“Oh yes, it seems that you have no knowledge of that ‘pandemic’—the death curse. It reacts to human dee-en-ay…the blood relationship of the Western type. It is engraved in their genes.”

It would possess their DNA, and when it reacted with even the slightest amount of the Western-type bloodline, there was a one hundred percent chance of infection.

Their body would harden all over and crystallize. Having lost their flexibility, the muscle and skin would tear at the slightest stimulation, causing intense pain and organ failure on top of that. However, the heart, brain, circulatory system, and cranial nerves would be affected at the very end.

In other words, it was a living hell that would continuously cause the utmost pain, keeping its victims alive and preventing them from dying.

“To put it most simply, think of it as torment and suffering without being able to die…something born of a torture spell gone out of control. There would ordinarily be just about no way to prevent it, however…”

“…Monster Tonic,” said the kappa. “So it can be prevented with that strange drug?”

“Yes. It will manifest the Mythic Beast factor that is preserved to a greater or lesser extent in humans of this world and mutate them into beast shape. Therefore, those who have taken it are able to prevent activation of the curse.”

If a human who didn’t have any Mythic Beast factor were to take it, they would mutate randomly based off the catalyst dissolved in it.

And for the others, those who had inherited Mythic Beast factors from ancient ancestors—when they took it, they would mutate into a specific animal with similar elements to that Mythic Beast, and stabilize on that one. Once they became that animal, no matter what Tonic they took, they would mutate into the same type of animal. If it was a kangaroo, then a kangaroo, if they were an okapi, then they would stay an okapi.

The Mythic Beast factor would establish them as a lycanthrope, and be stabilized.

Even if one who took the drug possessed the Western-type factor, so long as they took Monster Tonic, that trait would not manifest, preventing the death curse. However, because that was how it worked…

“ ’Tis ineffective on those who have already contracted the disease,” said Kashin. “If they never use magic, and they receive regenerative treatment from medicine of the mundane world, then their lives can be extended, but it’s a matter of time. Even that CEO…the witch is no exception.”

For the Western type who had been hit with the death curse, activation of magic was an act of suicide. The curse that had been held back by regenerative treatment would activate, and their health would rapidly deteriorate.

“But despite that, the witch turned the rite back on us. If the witch’s dog…that Narasaki, had not converted to the Western type, then she could have had him do it, but she couldn’t.”

“In other words, that means…!”

“Indeed.”

Joy rose on the kappa’s face. By contrast, the stagehand seemed like it was nothing to him as he said,

“The CEO of Beast Tech—the cocktail witch’s lifespan will be exhausted tonight.”

“No, I don’t need an ambulance—we need a truck and a mobile crane.”

Meanwhile, on Kamimachi Street.

The retrieval team dispatched from Beast Tech’s security department was disposing of the refuse scattered on the road.

The issue was excess consumption of Monster Tonic and poisoning from illegal Tonic. Beastmen manning tools and vehicles with the Beast Tech logo briskly did their work, and the dead were roughly tossed into body bags and thrown into a truck.

The mountain of protein packed into the back of the truck would be taken straight to the incinerator, where it would be classified as burnable garbage and vanish without a trace along with the vast quantity of trash produced by the city. The few dozen people that Reiji had quelled, putting them to sleep with his powers, were more or less captured then, but there was no facility that could contain so many.

“Aside from those who have clearly taken illegal Tonic, they’ll just wind up out on the street somewhere again. This being where it is, some of them will be ordinary prostitutes and clients, so once they’re awake they’ll probably go off on their own.”

“…Isn’t that really careless?” Mei said as she leaned on the armrest of her wheelchair, at Reiji’s side as he gave instructions.

“The security department isn’t the police. They have no obligation to resolve crimes or conflicts.”

“That’s our job as subcontractors,” said Getsu. “Anyway, Mei, why’re you still here?”

Looking somehow tired as he stood beside a condom vending machine, putting coins into a drink vending machine with a cracked touch panel to choose mineral water from the drinks that were not Monster Tonic, was Narasaki.

Beside him, squatting like a delinquent with his tail dangling, Getsu chose a canned coffee with condensed milk, as if seeking any calories he could get, moving to position himself between Reiji and Mei.

“You were taken into custody by security, weren’t you? I thought you’d long since have gone home,” said Getsu.

“I assumed that’s what would happen, too, but…” Mei glanced to the side at the Beastmen wearing heavy military equipment—BT’s security department.

A squad of ten people had deployed from the armored vehicle that had parked halfway on the road and was watching the area. The squad were briskly pointing their guns at thin air, like a scene out of an action movie.

“They’re the security department, right? Those people told me to wait here. I was worried about you guys, and it was convenient, so I did what they said… What’s going on here?”

“I don’t know.”

A zero-calorie tea and cold lemon soda came out of the vending machine with a clunk clunk.

The high school bunny girl picked up the two cans. Her clothing and fur were half-dried, and rather flat-looking.

“There’s someone right there who seems like he would know the answers. Would you be willing to make some confessions, Mister President?” Kei said, handing the tea to Mei and pulling the tab of the lemon soda.

“I don’t mind taking the responsibility to summarize and explain everything this time, but I think, first, that needs to be dealt with.” Narasaki glanced off in a certain direction.

The truck and crane Reiji had called for were blocking the road. They were for vehicles, but the workers were packing in a body. Someone who had taken illicit Tonic to change—the fake nue.

Including the treatment of the bat woman, who had been transported to the hospital earlier in an armored ambulance—

“That will cost money. Including the pregnant bat girl, a hundred million. Are you going to pay it?”

“I am. With cash. Look.” Mei thrust out a bloody and dirty overnight bag.

She must have gathered the scattered bills, crawling on the ground, as there were scrapes on her hands and knees.

“The last one to carry this was that bat lady. In other words, it belongs to her, and there’s no problem using it for her treatment fees. I looked into it, but there was no name or anything on the tag.”

“Though it was covered in blood. What will you do if the illegal casino comes to you to complain?”

“I’ll say hell no. If they can prove that this was stolen money, then just try it. These are all old bills, and they wouldn’t have written down their serial numbers or used anti-theft dye. It’s first come, first served.”

“…Whoa. No hesitation to embezzle found articles,” Getsu shot at her.

“Using it to give birth to a baby is way better than giving it back to the wallet of some wealthy kingpin. If you’re saying that’s bad, then come at me. I’ll fight you,” Mei declared with a snort.

Getsu was taken aback, sipping away slowly at his coffee as he looked at his boss. “So she says. What’re we gonna do, Boss?”

“Well, I suppose I’m forced to acknowledge it… Okay, I will talk to the necessary people about it—from the treatment of her Monster Tonic overdose and testing of her disease to taking the Tonic again once her life extension treatment is done. And also…” Narasaki considered a little and added, “Since she has become pregnant while a Beastwoman, the child will be born as a Beastperson. Even if both parents were ill and had a genetic ailment, that trait will not be inherited. They will be born healthy, probably.”

“I see… That’s good, seriously.” Something tense within Mei must have been relieved. She let out a deep sigh, and clasped her can of tea tight.

Watching her out the corner of his eye, Reiji came up before the vending machine as he said, “Both of them will be sent straight to the hospital. Will you go with them? She’ll want to thank you, won’t she?”

“I don’t need that. Like I said before…” As Reiji was sliding his finger along the vending machine touch panel and choosing a product, Mei said, “I don’t need thanks or appreciation. I just did it because I wanted to.” It wasn’t like none of it had been out of concern for the other party, but… “I saved them to mourn my friend, that’s all. There are no debts, no obligations there, because I just went and did it on my own. So none of that annoying crap. You got that?”

“…Yeah.”

Beep, thunk.

The canned drink Reiji had chosen tumbled out, so he picked it up and said, “With best wishes for the baby’s safety, then…”

“A toast with tea and juice? So lazy… And what the heck did you just buy?”

Reiji held up the unfamiliar can to the streetlight. That characteristic logo in his hand was—

“Aside from Monster Tonic, the vending machines in this area have a lot of seized goods, unsold items, and expired drinks.”

It featured a really loud illustration of a cartoon umeboshi pickled plum wearing a male cheerleader costume.

“Yo!! Team Sour!! With ultra-concentrated plum pulp extract. They don’t sell it anymore on the outside, but it’s sour as hell and really good. One drink will wake you right up,” said Reiji.

“Just what I’d expect from Agent Ditchwater. What a conscientious choice. Give me a sip later,” said Kei, peering at the can with sparkling eyes.

“For real? You’re drinking that crap that looks like a mistake? And wait…,” Mei said, exasperated. “Ever since I got to know you guys, I feel like it’s just been so many hospitals and funerals and stuff. What the heck?”

“Because human life can be bought with money.”

Narasaki’s ironic remark thrust at the truth of this place—no, every modern society.

“They were saved this time around because extra money was lying around somewhere, but in a sense, that could be called the screening. If you have money, you’re saved, and without it you die. A simple principle.”

“That on its own is irritating, but isn’t that just prejudice against the poor? It’d be pretty unbearable if I were to criticized for using my money to help a relative.”

“Well, of course. But a child of Beastpeople is a Beastperson, and of course they cannot gain Akitsushima citizenship. They have no choice but to live as a wild person, as an animal somewhere in this district. Just the same as you two. Congratulations.”

Narasaki’s gaze was on Reiji and Getsu.

The Specials were exceptions—those who, despite being treated as animals, had been granted limited human rights. Having just barely been acknowledged as human, while these boys differed in their birth, their circumstances could be said to be the same.

“What an irritating thing to say, Boss. What’s the point of bullying Mei?”

“I’m not bullying her. I’d just call it—”

“…The truth, right? I have a lot of my own doubts about that, too.”

With Mei having taken his words from him, Narasaki huffily closed his mouth.

Mei did not get angry like usual. She tilted her bottle of tea to moisten her lips a little before she decided to say what she was going to say.

“I’ll say it any number of times, but saving those two lovebirds was just for my self-satisfaction. But if they get in trouble again later and go get themselves killed, that’d make me pretty pissed. Then there’d be no point in my having bothered to save them. It’s irritating.”

“…I can’t really tell if you’re being human or being pragmatic, dude,” Getsu said while scratching the fur on his cheek.

“I think that’s very like you, Mei. It feels like a…techno…barbarian,” Kei agreed.

“Who’re you calling a techno-barbarian? Well, maybe that’s not so far off.” Mei was a little miffed, but she continued. “If we just let things be like this, then the baby born from that couple is certain to get a bad ending. Even if the couple makes it through this crisis, they’re definitely going to become addicted to Monster Tonic again, and there’s no guarantee they can receive the same treatment next time. And what about the baby’s education and childcare?”

“…I can only think of getting them into a better orphanage,” said Reiji, recalling the Beastchildren that the couple had been taking care of on a volunteer basis. “That’s an organization that wealthy people on the outside are supporting. I think that they’ll take care of them somewhat, but…”

“Fundamentally, I don’t believe in anyone’s virtuous intentions aside from my own.”

“…I won’t say that’s wrong, but still.”

In other words, she had to take care of the child born of that couple herself, without outside help.

“That’ll take a lot of money,” Reiji pointed out. “What’re you gonna do about that?”

“I was thinking about giving them money, since I’ve still got that two hundred million I was going to pay you guys.”

But she thought that wasn’t quite right.

While she was waiting for Reiji, surrounded by soldiers, she had come to a conclusion.

“Then the baby and the couple would be just like my pets. If you don’t live on your own power, then your life is worthless. That’s my own personal policy, but it’s better than some half-assed pity.”

Words like “dignity” suited the girl in the wheelchair.

Overwhelmed by her personality and intensity, Getsu hung his tail and let out a little whine. “…Frankly, if we can get money, we’re pretty good with anything.”

“It’s not like I don’t understand,” said Reiji. “It’s about pride and dignity, right?”

Pride, dignity.

They were a drag, and got in the way of survival, but—

“Though it’s a burden to keep holding onto those things, without any of it, you become scum,” said Reiji. “But then you also feel like it’s not right to abandon them and not do anything, or to keep helping them out of goodwill. I guess that’s basically it, in short?”

“That’s it. You’re actually pretty smart, Reiji,” said Getsu.

“You just tend to put things in the most aggressive way possible, Mei. We’re friends, but I think that’s a flaw.”

“Well, true. I was told off plenty for that while I was running, it’s a little late to be telling me now. But that just means that I have to have enough positive traits that you can ignore the negatives, right?”

“…I just keep wondering, what exactly do you have to eat to get that kind of Supreme Ruler of the Century’s End mindset?”

“Chicken tenders, eggs, and broccoli. Of course,” she declared, the kind of statement that would create misunderstandings with bodybuilders and people who practice carb-restriction diets.

“How many people did Mai…the hit-and-run centaur kill, again?” Mei asked.

“We don’t know the exact numbers. Of the numbers we do have, it’s eleven bodies.”

“Eleven people, don’t you mean?”

“They weren’t in the state to be counted as people—not when you die without ID.”

Though those people had come to this place of their own accord—changing their form to be killed without their name or face being found—Mei did not run from those eleven lives, didn’t hesitate. She had decided she would face them head-on.

“Okay, then I’ll make that my goal. I’ll save eleven people—as many as she killed.”

“““Huh?!”””

With her friends—Kei, Getsu, and Reiji—all looking at her, Reiji said, “…Save them? What are you gonna do? They’re already dead.”

“If I can’t do anything about them, then I’ll save someone else. It can’t be just anyone—I’ll decide on who I want to save of my own volition. I’ll take responsibility for eleven lives in exchange for the lives that were destroyed.”

Just like a geas, the oaths ancient warriors would swear to the gods.

It was so that she could save herself—caught up in her guilt—as well as her foolish friend’s soul.

“It’s so that I can forget Mai. So I can make her sins just a memory, in the old-fashioned way of putting it, but so she can become a Buddha after death. I’m getting closure for this pain that keeps hurting,” she snapped angrily.

“…It’s a wild idea, but it also strangely feels like it makes sense,” said Kei. “What are you going to do, exactly?”

“First, I’m going to pay you guys your reward. With thanks and an apology for having stuck with me this far, it’s three million. You’re not allowed to say no. If you don’t need it, I’m burning all the bills.”

The poors’ reaction to that sudden offer was fast.

“No, don’t!” Reiji cried, trembling.

“You seem like you’d actually do it. That’s super scary… And wait, three million, are you serious?” Getsu asked, also trembling.

With a snort, Mei said, “That’s the minimum rate for my thanks. Improve your rock-bottom lifestyle a little. And hey, white rabbit over there acting like this is none of your business, there’s three million for you, too.”

“Huh…? Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on! I didn’t do anything, though!”

“Yes you did, dummy. There were a bunch of situations that would’ve been really bad if you hadn’t been there, right? So I’m making sure you get paid. That money is my good faith. You got a problem with that?”

“…Is this what it feels like to get smacked in the cheek with a stack of cash?” said Kei, holding her cheek with a stunned look. “I wouldn’t even mind if you asked for sex right now. Money is so important.”

“Calm down, Kakiba,” said Reiji. “That’s problematic in a different way.”

“I mean, it’s three million yen, three million! One carton of a dozen eggs is three hundred yen, so I could buy ten thousand cartons!”

“…Putting it like that is uncomfortable. I might be willing to play piano naked.”

“Calm down, you idiots. You guys doing stuff like that for me’d just make me laugh… Well, I guess getting a laugh would be a good thing, but ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. It’s money.”

What Mei had seen that night—the Kyoto Bubble. Paradise in the lawless district, built in the background with excess cash.

The children who lived in secret in the shadow of those ultra-bright lights, the prostitutes and the men who gathered at Kamimachi Street, the semi-gangster squatters, and the crazy vermin who had no problem abandoning their humanity to get stronger.

She wouldn’t say it was for all of them, but most of their problems—

“It’ll work out somehow, so long as you have money. Food, shelter, safety, and a family register can be bought if you save the money and do the paperwork. Earning an honest living at a proper job, you can get it without getting a handout from someone else.”

“There’s nowhere like that in this district… Wait.” Getsu was about to deny it, but then suddenly hit on an exception. “Kei’s place of work… Isn’t that what her late boss was doing?”

“Yes, that’s it. He created a place where they could make money and profit, and paid them a proper wage each month. That’s what I’ll do. Then I can save my staff, and they should be able to get their lives back.”

“…You mean like a high school girl boss?! You’re really starting a business?!”

“I don’t really have any business knowledge, so I can’t do it myself. I’ll hire someone who seems like they can and fob some of it off on them, and study up on the rest. Fortunately, I have some prospects, so it’ll work out somehow.”

“Prospects?” Kei cocked her head.

Mei shot her a rude glare. “I mean you, okay? You have the contact info for the staff of the girls’ bar that burned down, at least, right? And introduce me to his subordinate, that kangaroo guy who runs a host club on the second floor.”

“…Of course I know them. And I think Mr. Garoo can contact them, too.”

The brawny kangaroo Beastman, the elegant and large former boxer, would have been running a host club at the same place, but with the inheritance issues, there were concerns that he might wind up moving shop.

“After paying the reward, with the rest of the money, the hundred ninety million and some, I’ll buy the building. There was just a fire there, and the current owner went around killing people and is beyond hope of recovery. I should be able to get a bargain if I go through the formalities. What d’you think?”

“If you’re asking me, then it seems like you’re being serious.” Narasaki unsurprisingly looked quite taken aback. He had an oh dear look, eyebrows raised slightly. “This district is my jurisdiction. If you want to go through the proper agents to negotiate with the surviving family and buy the land and building, you can do it easily. It’s impossible to purchase through ordinary means, and can’t be liquidated.”

“Then please. I’ll just make the building the collateral to borrow some money—I should be able to get at least three hundred million. I’ll use that as capital to renovate, and then I can either restart the girls’ bar or change it to a new business. The host club will stay open, I’ll have them pay rent, and if I can get the okay, I’ll hire the owner to support me with management.”

The concrete plan came out smoothly.

She was rolling along so quickly, the Specials, who were supposed to be more used to the ways of the world, were the ones overwhelmed.

“…The scale… The scale is just so big…!” cried Getsu.

“You said you were borrowing three hundred million. That’s debt, right…? Why are you okay with that? Can you even borrow that much?!” Reiji asked.

“Don’t get freaked out; it’s just money. This sort of stuff is just numbers.”

Precisely because she knew how scary “just numbers” were, because she knew their weight, she could say, “It pisses me off, how a shit idea that we use just because it’s convenient for people to live is so overrated! I’ll handle the numbers somehow. So get your asses psyched up and start taking life seriously, guys!!”

“…The way you talk is so harsh…,” said Getsu.

“It’s startlingly awful,” Reiji agreed. “It’s a bad habit to swear when you get worked up, Mei.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t defend that at all,” said Kei. “…But…” Her friends looked at one another. Getsu, Reiji, and Kei all nodded. “I think it’s not a bad idea. If you can make a place for me to work, that would really help.”

“We could just help out sometimes,” said Reiji. “Though that’s only if the boss allows it.”

“You’re asking me? Well, the stability of this district is our duty. It’s quite possible to make some accommodations, and if Mei has made up her mind to be involved in this place, then I welcome it. But…” Narasaki paused, and then he continued with something unexpected, “…All of that comes after we’ve solved tonight’s issue. I’m counting on your support, gentlemen.”

At this moment, all the young people understood that the leadership had shifted to this man.

They got a strange, shivery feeling—there was a hostile presence that made them alert. Narasaki wore the same flippant expression, but a hint of something else showed on his face—a mix of serious impatience, anger, and pain was clearly apparent.

“That emotion’s so strong, you don’t need to be me to smell it.” The werewolf sniffed at the wind. Attempting to restrain his boss, he said, “Are you in a rush about something, Boss? Does that have something to do with what you said before…about stuff with Kei?”

“There’s no time. We don’t have the time to be standing here talking… But we all needed a break, didn’t we? Action is so hard at my age. I’m out of breath, my shoulders feel stiff…”

Letting out a deep sigh, he rotated his shoulders in a deliberate-looking gesture. It was such a “tired old man” thing to do.

The high school bunny girl glared at him coldly with her yellow eyes. “You mean how this person who calls herself my ‘mother’ wants to see me?” The reason for her coldness, and her look of complete mistrust was, “I’ve always thought you were a dubious man, but this just seems like fraud. Can I leave?”

“For sure. He’s sketchy; real sketch,” said Getsu.

“I thought this company was exploitative, but taking an illegal side job really is going too far. Have some remorse,” said Reiji.

“You kids…!” With even his staff attacking him, he must have realized that there was no point in concealing his intentions any longer. “As I said before, the CEO…your ‘mother’ wants to see you, and this is a fact. Saying, ‘please do bring her,’ in a courteous manner, just as I said. Please, all right?” The tall man put his hands together to beg, bowing his head to the high school bunny girl.

“…I don’t want you bowing to me,” said Kei. “What do you mean by ‘mom’ in the first place? I don’t have one…”

“Yes, that’s a fact. I already asked Neru to thoroughly investigate your background.”

Kei had been placed in the care of a children’s home when she was young, and had was raised there. Since she didn’t remember the time before the orphanage, there had been no clues at all to investigate her past, however—“To be frank, you all ate at the company office, didn’t you? I retrieved the disposable chopsticks you used then and had your DNA assessed. And then we compared it with the national database to search for relevant parties.”

“…That’s an even creepier tactic than I would have imagined. Like you’re some kind of pervert.” Kei jerked away.

“Whoa…” Mei did the same, speechless. They were holding hands as if protecting one another.

Such a real reaction must have hurt Narasaki, as he made a face, but then said, “The results were that you had no relationship to persons in the national database. Even if this is a controlled society, it’s not as if they have the DNA of all citizens on file. If you don’t have a criminal record, there won’t be any samples.”

“So did you compare with this woman who’s calling herself Kei’s mother?” Mei asked.

“Of course. That one is also a mismatch, and at the very least, there is no direct blood relation between Kei and the CEO.”

“So there’s even less reason for her to call herself my mother. What’s the meaning of this?”

“The important thing is the other bloodline. In our post-pandemic world, you’re a Western-type that does not catch the death curse, a descendant of witches… It means that only you can inherit Beast Tech.”

“Hold on.” Suddenly, Reiji stopped the company president. “That doesn’t make sense. What do you mean? Explain more specifically.”

“Roger. For starters, we magi are Mythic Beasts, but aside from certain traits, we are completely the same as humans.”

“I can imagine what traits those are. It’s whether you can use magic or not…right?”

“You’re surprisingly smart, Reiji. Exactly that, most Mythic Beasts have superhuman characteristics, so it’s difficult to have hybrids, and only a few bloodlines remain in the modern day. However, magi are the opposite since there was originally a large population. After breeding all over the place, the bloodlines thinned out too much.”

“Why would that happen…?” Getsu asked. “Magi just have to have relationships with only other magi, right?”

“Even if there was a large population, they weren’t just lying around all over the place, Getsu. Unlike the modern era, there were limited ways to meet people, and it was quicker to pair with some ordinary person.”

As a result, the bloodlines of the magi had spread around the world, both the Eastern and Western types.

“They’re so spread out that in the modern era, new lineages like psychics and people with ESP are coming about. We see that as no more than magi based in a new culture, so it’s nothing to be surprised about, though.”

“So magi are not as rare as you’d think?” Mei asked.

“They’re not terribly uncommon. Usually, all you get is a very sharp hunch, or unconsciously activating a spell that makes kneaded bread dough rise a lot—so, well, they’re no different from ordinary people.”

“Does that even count…?” Getsu grumbled. But right after that, it suddenly hit him. “The pandemic! That curse thing hit magi, right? Wouldn’t it be bad if there were a lot of them?”

“As it turns out, they’re fine. The death curse only infects a certain Western type and their lineage. In this country right now, just about all the magi in Akitsushima are of the Eastern type.”

Talking seemed to bring out Narasaki’s nature, and he began to gesticulate, speaking like a lecturer in front of an audience.

“To make a comparison—dogs.”

As a result of selective breeding by humans, the domestic dog had acquired different looks and abilities depending on the breed. But, no matter how different they appeared, they were genetically the same species. Even a large dog and a small dog could, theoretically, interbreed.

“The foremost condition for the infection by the death curse is a bloodline of the Western type. With even the slightest amount of DNA of a magus affiliated with the opposing faction to the one who cast the original curse, it is activated.”

“Based on that, it sounds like, normally, wouldn’t it end after you kill everyone in the faction?” Kei asked.

“The issue is the spread of the bloodline that I just described. In the West, the magi bloodlines are common with the aristocratic class, as well as with the intellectual class, like the clergy. They have wealth, long lifespans, and can use magic… In other words…”

Wealthy, aristocratic, with long lifespans. To put that in a more crude way—

“They were getting laid—and getting laid a lot. With all the sex and popularity they wanted, they could bathe in cash if they were so inclined. There wasn’t much entertainment at the time, so after all that sex, they had lots of children. Those with potential were educated and selected as relatives, but the rest were sent back into the street without awakening their powers, and became normal people.”

“Old-timey ethics make no sense to me,” said Getsu with an exasperated look.

Reiji wore a similar expression. “I know it’s pointless to judge history by modern values, but I still think that’s stupid…”

While gesturing like he was in an ad on the back of a magazine, Narasaki continued. “The Eastern type of this country detested such tendencies. They went the other way into isolationism—in other words, they selected those individuals with strong mysticality, who could use magic, and withdrew into another dimension. Those are the members of the organization called the ‘bureau’ with whom you just fought—the mastermind behind this string of incidents.”

“Hold up,” said Getsu. “Can you call a kappa a magus, too? Isn’t that in the wrong category?”

“That’s a youkai, so it is a special case. But it’s kind of like the ark of a certain prophet. It’s a one-way street to that world, and even new magi, youkai, and Phantasms who awakened to mysticality in later times would frequently stream in.”

It was the last place for forgotten youkai—what became of urban legends—Phantasms to go.

“The preservation of forgotten mysticality and Phantasms—like the red cape, the split-mouth woman, and Lady Hasshaku—is the work of the bureau. They’re like a neighborhood organization for the other dimension where the Eastern type live. They hate the current situation, where Akitsushima…Beast Tech leads a controlled society, where even the birth of Phantasms is controlled, and so they have been protesting it.”

Negotiations had broken down, and afterward things had gotten worse and worse, “At last, they have even been engaging in terrorism. Magi and humans aren’t so different.”

“I don’t think it’s very surprising,” said Kei. “I mean, they’re a group of people like you, right?”

“Don’t say such harsh things so nonchalantly, Kakiba…”

Then Narasaki lightly clapped his hands to get things back on topic. “Now then, let’s return to the subject at hand. There was a way to save humanity from the death curse that spread all over the world: a ritual completed by a survivor of the faction of the Western type that had been cursed—the last witch.”

Sublimating the Mythic Beast bloodlines that lurked in DNA, the very small amount of mysticality into a different form, and mutating them—“This is Monster Tonic, and the reason that the district of Beastpeople—the Masquerade in Natsukibara—was created: to take the magus factor that most modern people possess, and replace it with a neutralized sorcerous infection, the werewolf disease. To be frank, Getsu, that’s the reason that you and your siblings were created in test tubes at the R&D department.”

“…You mean it was to help people? And not some crazy mad scientist experiment?”

“Is that what you thought? How honest of you. Well, yes, it’s a fact that they weren’t scrupulous about methods, but it was to complete Monster Tonic as quickly as possible and end the pandemic. It was to save humanity.”

As a result, the pandemic was resolved in Akitsushima the fastest.

And having gained a stable foundation, with Akitsushima as its base, Beast Tech had resolved the world’s curse.

“The vaccine against the death curse which is circulating in various foreign countries right now is basically diluted Monster Tonic. It isn’t strong enough to transform anyone into Beastpeople, but it can stop the activation of the curse… That was what Natsukibara, the Masquerade was at the time—an experimental grounds for investigating the optimal compound. Well, now it’s just a place to blow off steam, though.”

“You’re talking like you’re revealing the truth of the world, but what does that have to do with Kei?” Mei demanded.

“It has plenty to do with her. Keep this between us, but…” Narasaki beckoned with one hand.

The young people scowled in response, but they did reluctantly gather as he whispered in their ears in a pointlessly smooth voice,

“At this rate, Beast Tech will be ruined. Because they won’t be able to make Monster Tonic anymore.”

“““Huh?!”””

Yet again, a chorus of cries.

When they all yelped in in harmony, Narasaki wrapped his arms around them and continued this discussion in whispers. “To be frank, Monster Tonic is made by the magic of the last witch, the CEO. The ‘base’ which is the raw ingredient for it is all handmade by her. Once she passes, it’ll all come to nothing.”

“For real?!” Getsu cried. “The CEO is sick, right?!”

“Oh I’m being quite real, very real indeed. She was originally infected with the death curse to begin with. She’s slowed its advance through various means, but she was always guaranteed to die.”

Even if the pandemic had been resolved in Akitsushima—“If the company goes down now, that’s the same as national bankruptcy. When the supply of vaccines to other nations stops, our relations will rapidly deteriorate, and without the venting zone within this country, dissatisfaction toward our super-controlled society will explode. So we need someone to inherit the company, a successor. That’s you, Kei.”

“Why bring me up, now? I don’t get it.”

“Since you can make Monster Tonic, can’t you? That’s the hidey that head office is desperately trying to reproduce, the ultra-advanced mysticality that we can’t recreate even investing the whole national budget. And the reason for the revival of that talent…”

A tapping of heels.

Narasaki’s brand-name shoes stepped lightly, as if tap dancing.

“…is that this is the Masquerade. A man and a woman with exceptionally strong Western-type factors escaped death by turning into Beastpeople, met by chance, and gave birth to a child. While born from Beastpeople, you were not born as a beast—you are a magus who conquered the death curse, a new type.”

“…Hold on!” All this information at once made her cry out. “There are more survivors of the Western type than that CEO person, right? Why me?”

“Because magic is the world of talents. Magic is culture, and without someone to transmit it, it will die off. But of course, some people are cut out for it and some aren’t, and in order to make Monster Tonic, witchcraft specialized in pharmacy and alchemy is needed.”

The surviving Western types—just a few in the world—were in a small village of the young. They had been isolated on a remote island in order to escape infection by the death curse, and lived studying magic there.

“The reason I abandoned all my training was to teach the magics that are going to die out to those of the next generation. That’s enabled me to educate them to some extent, but just about all of it has to be done via remote classes.”

“That part sounds very modern. You can’t meet directly because there’s a risk they’ll be infected by you?”

“You’re sharp, Kei. It will take ten years for them to grow, and they won’t necessarily have special powers like witchcraft. It’s gacha with very bad odds, but there was no other way.”

While doing whatever they could to extend the CEO’s life, they had bought time, waiting for someone with the ability to make Monster Tonic to emerge from those magi.

“If that’s your plan, then…” Looking down at herself, Kei said, “You don’t need me, do you? Can I go now?”

“You’re completely uninterested, aren’t you? Can you stop looking at me with that Tibetan fox expression? And we do need you, we need you quite a lot, so hold on a bit longer.”

“I feel like I’m being made to listen to the long-winded introduction to a poorly written web novel.” If Kei were to verbalize her situation loosely, it was something like that. “Hearing all this about inheriting a large company, or my mother, or whatnot, just puts me on the spot. It doesn’t feel real.”

“Perhaps you’re the type of protagonist who suffers from the love of a very powerful being? Well, in this case, just think of it like a dying wealthy woman just happens to want to gift her inheritance to a very distant relative, or something like that.”

When you got down to it, there was no need to complicate things with a new type of cocktail witch.

“What we need is someone other than the CEO who can mix the raw solution for Monster Tonic, the elixir. The CEO will bequeath you any conceivable sort of wealth to buy your abilities. That is all.”

“If that’s all, then hasn’t a lot of time passed since you first met her?” Mei interjected.

It had all begun with the intervention of the mysterious man in traditional clothing, and the intervention of the bureau. With that going on, Narasaki had discovered Kei, but he had not revealed her existence to head office, keeping it a secret.

“If you’re going to make a fuss about this now, then you should have taken me in right away. Why now?” Kei asked.

“…I had my reasons. I didn’t want to do that right away. Well, it was my own selfishness over company policy. I would have liked to buy two or three more years, though.” Once they found a successor, “Then the CEO…will lose her reason to live. I wanted to stop that.”

There was a faraway look in his eyes. This was a concept that had only just come about very recently in the social media world—hinting at having a girlfriend.

Sensitively picking up on his sorrowful air, Mei and Kei shared a look.

“Oh my, don’t tell me this is a love story?” said Mei.

“You said you prefer mature women… Well, I’ll listen,” Kei added.

“You two really leaped on that. You really don’t mind?”

“Sure. But let me just say this…”

Kei’s expression was more serious than ever before. She was tense, like a criminal brought to the place of conviction.

“If I inherit from that woman, would that make you my stepfather?!” Kei asked with an expression of despair.

“That’s a look I’ve never seen on your face before…,” Reiji commented.

“Real despair, man. What a look,” said Getsu.

“Would it be that bad?!” The middle-aged man who could well be called handsome seemed like he was about to cry.

“It’s not like we’re married, so that’s not a concern. Relax,” said Narasaki.

“Really? But you love her, right?”

“I won’t deny that. But I don’t know how she feels, and I don’t expect my affections will be returned. It’s just that I, myself, have decided to love her and devote myself to her. That’s all,” he said with resignation on his face.

Kei turned her back to him. “Kasumi. I’m treating you to ramen.”

“That’s sudden… If you’re treating me, I’d prefer cake. A strawberry fruit tart from Fruitcake Factory. Add a steamed milk and a second cake for the seasonal special combo.”

“That’s a very girly choice… Fine. You treated me before, after all.”

This was a reenactment of the conversation they’d had during the uproar of the Viral Smartphone incident, with their positions reversed.

“…I’m scared to go alone. So please, come with me,” said Kei.

“Understood. That’s a worthwhile request in exchange for a fruit tart.”

The white rabbit girl and the black-and-white boy chuckled and smiled as they shook hands and made their contract.

It was a strange relationship. They were closer than friends, but too distant to be lovers. If forced to say, it felt as if they were like accomplices, or part of a shared tribe. What lay between them was the sense of being in the same boat, a sort of trust.

“Hey, doggy,” said Mei. “…They’re not dating, are they?!”

“We’re legally animals, so we can’t. But since Reiji has a little girl living in his heart, wouldn’t they get along?”

“Crazy rationale, as usual… Old man, we’re following. You fine with that?” Mei said with a glare.

Narasaki gave an exaggerated shrug. “The only one I need is Kakiba, and you can go home. You’re still staying?”

“Yup. I’d just worry my head off if I went home while my friend was in a bad spot. And anyway…” Mei glared at Narasaki. “You’re the one who stopped me here.”

“Was I? Oh, I don’t recall that.”

“Don’t play dumb. Kei wants money, but she’s not the type to be tempted into anything with cash.”

That was the sort of girl she was, so he was using a different sort of bait.

“That was why you left me here,” said Mei. “If Beast Tech went down and the Masquerade was ruined, then I would lose my place to atone. You wanted me to win her over. You thought you could pull one over on me?”

“You overestimate me. Well, I did hope that might happen, though.”

“That’s called setting someone up,” Mei told him off. “Anyway, for now I’m sticking with Kei. You got that?”

Getsu raised a hand. “Then us, too. Reiji’s my partner, and Kei’s a friend. We’ve got the right to go.”

“Good grief. All right.” Smiling wryly as if he’d given up arguing, Narasaki pointed to a car parked on the shoulder of the road. “It seems matters have been settled. So get in, everyone.”

“Get in…? Into that?”

Tup!

The sound of boots, along with salutes—the Beastmen who had backed off so that they wouldn’t hear the group’s conversation.

The Beastmen from the security department, equipped with body armor and firearms, made a line and surrounded the five of them with Kei and Reiji at the head, bowing as they opened the thick and heavy door.

“You drive, Neru. Our goal is the Beast Tech headquarters building in the Masquerade’s Kyoto Bubble!” said Narasaki, his bottom lightly springing off the soft leather seating.

A voice came from the empty driver’s seat. “Roger. Loading updated map data. Beginning remote automatic driving support.” The secretary Neru’s face on the screen nodded, and immediately the engine began to roar like a dinosaur.

The armed and armored limousine had been modified for complete automatic driving. It was the same model that the president of a certain nation rode around in to avoid terrorism. The special vehicle, remotely driven from the Fantastic Sweeper building, departed surprisingly smoothly.

“…Maximum security objective has departed.”

“On the honor of the security department, keep them safe. We’re on high alert! You may shoot any obstructions while in motion!!”

The armored vehicles filled with armed Beastmen departed at the same time, surrounding the limousine protectively. On high alert as if they were defending a national VIP—no, someone even more important—the line of vehicles headed for the central area of the Masquerade.

“Oh my, oh my…? Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my?”

“What a racket! Agh, your voice is irritating to the ear as well, but what’s that cacophony?!”

The chorus of sirens ringing from the line of armored vehicles reached even the ruin where the mastermind was lurking.

They had reached the ears of Kashin and Kaburo.

“Emergency sirens. Sounding such alarms in the Masquerade means it’s Beast Tech’s security department. Though this space is filled with such clutter, it’s largely ineffectual noise.”

“Emergency sirens, you say?” With his ugly frog face covered in burns, the kappa’s eyes goggled. “They can’t be following us?!”

“I believe if that were the case, they would sneak in and not sound the sirens. It’s difficult for ordinary soldiers to defeat a spellcaster and a youkai in the first place, and I doubt they would attempt something so foolish, so then, the answer is probably that.”

“You’re beating around the bush. Just say it clearly, Kashin!”

“Oh, frightening, so frightening… No, the CEO of Beast Tech shall pass away tonight. So, of course, the quest is to bequeath her seat to a successor. Now that we, the hindrances, have backed off, it is their opportunity, is it not?”

“Wait… Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!” Making slapping sounds as he crawled along the dry concrete, Kaburo implored him, “A successor? I’ve not heard that tyrannical and corrupt enterprise that abuses their sacred knowledge had such a personage!!”

“Since she’s no connection of blood. I thought I’d advised you before that there was a rabbit girl who is of the witch’s lineage, thought lost, who can mix the elixir.”

“A rabbit? I do recall hearing such talk. She may or may not have been brewing handmade Tonic at the…girls’ bar? The brothel of this world where we picked up the centaur to whom we gave the drug the first time?”

“ ’Tis the one. By my estimation, that girl is of the Western-type lineage that was once dispersed in this town. Those who became Beastmen here in the Masquerade, avoiding the plague to survive, met one another, and gave birth to a miracle. In brief, she is a Mythic Beast, what might be called the next generation of witches in this world.”

“Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” A throat-splitting scream. “Kashin!! If you knew that, then why did you not slay the rabbit girl?!”

“I did try. I infused the gangster to whom we granted the rag wringer with delusions, and told him to kill her had he the chance. But after that, she was under the protection of the witch’s dogs.”

They had a security net that ordinary senses couldn’t pick up on: not only the secretary Neru’s mechanical eyes of observation, but also the barrier that Narasaki had set, a protective spell with complete control over the Fantastic Sweeper office building area.

“Approach without care, and they would have certainly figured out our course, and so I refrained from interfering. In the first place”—from a bloodied sleeve of his robe, he withdrew a white fan dotted with red blood, and snapped it open—“saying the child bears the sins of the parent, since she is off the witch’s lineage…would be mistaken. Since she was born in this land, in Akitsushima, shouldn’t we of the bureau take her into custody?”

“That’s naught but pretense!! If this new witch is headed to Beast Tech and has spoken with the dying witch, then not only will Beast Tech not fall, we’ll be entirely too late…!”

“Under the new CEO, they’ll be able to make even greater quantities of Monster Tonic than ever before. It may even be possible to export it to other nations on a grand scale—since ’twas the current CEO’s illness that was preventing that.”

Even if it was effective when diluted to a millionth—

For one witch, and one who would refine it with only minute powers to keep from triggering the curse, the amount of elixir she could manufacture was small. That was also the reason Beast Tech had not extended its influence outside of this country, Akitsushima.

“Well then…well then, even if we do kill the witch, it won’t do a thing! The Mythics and Phantasms of the land of the gods, Akitsushima, are in our charge. Just what think you of our imperial order to restore onmyou?!”

“Is that not the thinking of more important personages than us? The role that I accepted was to curse the current CEO to death, and to build a firm foundation for the bureau in the Masquerade. If I accomplish this mission…,” the stagehand said, fanning himself with his bloodied white fan.

The smartphone in his hand had all the registered contacts, information, and the know-how he’d gained.

“The restoration of onmyou isn’t so simple that it can be done in one fell swoop. After the passing of the current CEO, the executives will be rattled, and I believe our plan to divide them will be fulfilled. There is no need for undue haste.”

“ ’Tis no time to be acting so blithely! …I’ll kill her, no matter what it takes. I will slay the witch’s successor. If we miss this opportunity right now, before she enters firm protection, there shan’t be another!”

“Ohhh? Verily sooo?” The onmyouji expressed his contrary opinion in an incredibly irritating way, quoting a meme from a popular mobile game.

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Are you invested at all, Kashin?!” The youkai pressed him. He wrapped his damp arms around Kashin’s leg, as if to say that he would not allow any thoughtless answers, glaring at him with upturned eyes.

“Now, even if I were to agree…since you can’t shake sleeves that you don’t have, as they say…” Kashin waved his right hand, with the missing pinky. “As you can see, I am deeply wounded and on the verge of death. Your true nature has also been exposed, and you can hardly use your magic, can you…? Even if you were prepared to die to attack the line of cars with the rabbit girl, wouldn’t you simply be killed?”

“Ngh, nghhhhh…! Vexing, so very vexing! There must be something, some kind of plan!”

“I do have one, but I cannot recommend it.”

With a what can you do sort of attitude, Kashin once again searched within his sleeve.

“While the dignitaries of the bureau have rejected it, this world can be rather delightful. This place, the Masquerade especially, is like a revival of the old capital.”

“The capital…? Of which reign do you mean?”

“ ’Twould be the time when Masakado was in the east and Sumitomo in the west. This fleeting world is amusing indeed, to build the capital in the most eastern part of Bando to welcome the Mikado. Though it be our duty, ’twould be a shame to simply destroy it.”

“Foolishness. ’Tis a mere thousand years. For a heavenly immortal who lives with limitless time to be poisoned by human deception!”

“Deception and sport are fine things. The caricatures, the games, and the smartphones of this world…all are things we immortals could not make, no matter how many thousands of years we have. I would like to watch the future of this world play out as it may…”

“You damned…!!”

Sensing hostility, the Kaburo tensed in an attempt to break the leg he held in his arms.

His nature as an ancient kappa meant he loved sumo, and was said to drag men and horses into rivers. With his great strength, he should have been able to easily break the leg of Kashin, who could not at all be described as a warrior.

“Fingerless gloves are quite fine for using talismans. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“Kah…ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka…kah…!!” The kappa was frozen, unable to speak, move his arms, or even lift a single finger.

A piece of paper was stuck to his back. On the dirty and creased high-value bill, a pentagram drawn in blood from a shredded fingertip glowed faintly, capturing the ancient youkai in paralysis.

“Y-you fiend!! How could—betraying—the bureau…!!”

“How rude, I’ve not the slightest urge to rebellion. I just thought to grant your wish.”

The bloody high-value bill, and the intense energy contained within it—

That was Kashin’s ace.

“The soul of this spell, Modern Onmyou: Villain Gu Poisoning—is the hundred villains who fought over the hundred million of stolen cash abandoned by the roadside. This ten-thousand-yen bill gathers all the despair of broken dreams, making it a talisman curse—”

“Wai…wait!! Wha…what are you…? Don’t! Stooooop…!!”

“It should even be possible to remake an ancient Mythic, a youkai such as yourself, into a modern Phantasm. Now then…” Kashin rummaged around within his sleeve and brought out a little sake cup and a bottle of sake.

With a pop, the cork came out without a touch, and the bottle floated in the air, pouring its contents into the cup. The thick, undulating fluid was the undiluted solution for the elixir that Kashin had brewed at the camp they had abandoned—the illegal Tonic.

“This is the doburoku that I brewed from the base that is the raw material for the witch’s elixir, Monster Tonic. Ordinarily, a drug would never work on a youkai such as yourself…but right now…” As he was now, bound with a talisman sealing his powers— “…it should work just fine. Combining your youkai energy and the remains of a forgotten Phantasm that I got from the bureau, dissolved to make this Phantasm Tonic, you will be able to subjugate the rabbit girl.”

Sizzle…

Making a sound like carbonated water pouring, the fluid in the sake cup bubbled.

Kashin had brought out an old piece of cloth—a shred of dirty bandage. It was a relic of a Phantasm that had been born from gossip that had naturally circulated in Akitsushima before disappearing after the pandemic. It melted away in the fluid.

“The Phantasm Tonic Tonkaraton is now ready. Come now, swallow.”

“Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!! Mmg! Erk, ngh, geh…agh…gurgle-auuugh!!”

Kashin poured the black and bubbly fluid down the kappa beak.

Tears in his eyes, Kaburo twisted around, desperately trying to escape, but Kashin was merciless. The skin on the kappa’s paralyzed body split, and from within his red amphibious hide, dirty bandages speckled with dried blood appeared.

“The elements that comprise the Phantasm will be made from your flesh, blood, and bones.”

There was the crack of bones.

The bone of his arm stretched out abnormally long, like a stick of wood, and then suddenly glowed like steel, forming a handle wrapped with thread, and a hilt. A katana grew from the bone of his arm, and the change in his lower body was even greater.

“Agya-gya-gya-gya-ga-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!”

What had once been a youkai screamed like he was being crushed by stones, like the Edo-era torture method.

His frog legs bent and turned around. They were no longer legs, but wheels. He was a two-wheeled vehicle made of flesh and bone, resembling a bicycle, but pulsing like a living organ, closer to a motorcycle. The handles were connected to a human torso—not centaur, but half man, half vehicle. Instead of skin, he was covered in bandages, and a two-wheeled vehicle made of flesh supported his burly upper body. His respiratory organs groaned like a bellows.

Hair poked out through the gaps in his bandages on his head, and his face was human. Ironically, it resembled the princely Kaburo from before his true identity had been exposed, but his bloodshot eyes and pointed fangs were those of a beast.

“You still have some youkai energy left, too. Yes, the Kaburo numbered three hundred at their peak… And with your clone technique of deploying many at once becoming stronger in each unit, I’d say you can make about a hundred now.”

“…Don…ga…ra…ah!”

“Oh no, that’s no good. I forgot.”

Smoothly, from thin air, a needle and thread appeared in Kashin’s hand.

He showed not even the slightest mercy toward the lips that protruded from the bandages of the youkai that had been reduced to a Phantasm.

“—Mmmmmmmmk…!!”

“Oh my, does that hurt? But do bear with it.”

And he sewed together the gash of his lips.

Passing the needle into the flesh, he brought the thread through to make X’s so he could never talk or open his mouth.

“The Phantasm Tonic that you drank is a particularly powerful one. However, it also has a weakness that will have you easily defeated if they take advantage of the rules. So I must seal your mouth like this…!”

“Mmg! Mm! Mgggg, gnn…!”

“You can’t say ‘tonkaraton’ now, can you? Wonderful. Now you are completely invincible. So long as your rule as a Phantasm is protected, arrows, guns, and no sort of youkai technique or magic will ever penetrate your body.”

“Hngggggggggggggggggh…!”

Vrm-brum-brum-vrm-vrrrrrrr-brrrrr-vmmmm…!!

He made an exhaust sound like a verbal imitation of an engine.

The sound of heated breaths and saliva came from the exhaust pipe of the flesh motorcycle that his lower body had become. Groaning, screaming, since his mouth had been sealed and he had lost the ability to speak, even his resentment to the spellcaster who had captured him was turned to fuel. His eyes were filled with rage.

In the face of such incredible hostility, Kashin gave a courteous bow. “Well then, have a nice trip. I pray for your luck in battle.”

“Gnnn! Guh, gn…!!”

With that choked cry, the two-wheeled vehicle of flesh and bone leaped forward.

The tires of human skin rubbed the road, making a shrill skidding sound. Leaving behind the stagehand who watched him go, what had become of the youkai and Phantasm jetted off, making mumbling sounds with his sewn lips as he raced ahead.

“Mggguh, gnn…!! gnguhhhgn!! Gnngh, gnnn…!!”

He groaned in a peculiar rhythm. With each cry, his muffled voice could be heard doubled and redoubled, and then suddenly he had multiplied like shadow puppets.

“““Gnn-guh-guh-guh-gn! Gnn-guh-guh-guh-gn! Gnn-guh…guunn-guh-guh, guhhhhhh…!!”””

More, and more, and more of them.

In the blink of an eye, the ruined streets of the Masquerade were filled with flesh on two wheels.

The host’s own youkai energy was added to the Phantasm’s rules. By the powers of the Kaburo, which created clones, the added number of half-man, half-vehicle machines became a line of about a hundred, chasing after the entourage on its emergency trip.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!”

“A-a biker gang?! That’s way behind the times… Gyahh!!”

They came out of the back alley and onto the main street of the Masquerade. This was largely a paradise for pedestrians, with illegal street stalls and crowds. A gang of human flesh motorcycles appeared suddenly right in the middle of said paradise, charging through it like it was an obstacle course.

Their tires were abnormally springy. They bounced like grasshoppers, moving freely from the roofs of street stalls to straight up walls. The katanas in their hands sliced down the passing Beastpeople one after another, killing them indiscriminately.

“““Gn-guh-guh-gn!! Mghh-guh-guh-guh! Gn-guh-guh-guh!!”””

Their muffled cries rang out in a strange rhythm.

A creaking sound came from their lips, sewn together with thread and dripping blood.

The hundred two-wheeled vehicles ran down shanties as they raced into the street, toward the golden nightscape of the Kyoto Bubble that sparkled in the distance, and the massive building that blossomed like a flower beyond it, the majesty of Beast Tech HQ. And then—

Weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo-weeoo…!

Dramatic emergency sirens and flashing lights. Four armored vehicles of the security department, two in front and two behind the expensive courtesy limousine, pointed their guns at the strange group that suddenly approached.

The rear hatches opened, revealing lines of military-use automatic rifles, and the units, which were equipped to fight Beastmen, fired their bullets at the mass of half man, half machines that were charging them en masse. Shots, booms, sparks, explosions, and then—

“…This can’t be. It’s not working?!”

“Nguh-grr, hnnnnn!!”

Muffled cries were followed by the roars of engines of human flesh.

The flesh and bone that was connected to the monsters’ lower bodies throbbed, and live hearts rather than engines, blood rather than gasoline, manifested abnormal strength, rapidly accelerating them. The bandaged monsters approached quickly, wielding the katanas in their hands.

“…No way!!” The special unit cried.

At a glance, they were just blades, but these were incarnations of mysticality, born from youkai bones. The swords wielded by these mad monsters carved into the armored vehicles like knives through cheese, severing the most vital spots.

Honk-honk-honk-honk-hoooonk…!! The car horn sounded like a scream. The armored vehicle tilted, maintaining inertia as it toppled sideways. Scattering sparks, it blasted through the guardrail, sank into a nearby ruin, and blasted flame. The people inside leaped out like popcorn, the flame making them scatter and roll around on the ground.

Engines groaned and groaned. There were major burns, bruises, fractures, and more. The special unit writhed around in pain, but the Phantasms paid that no mind, the gang of Tonkaraton charging straight for their target.

The flames of the fight were glowing at the rear, and had reached the vehicle that was trying to escape.

“…There are tons coming after us! There’s a whole gang of weird things chasing us, look!” From the rear seat of the wheelchair-accessible vehicle, Mei looked back.

The grotesque pursuers could be seen through the windows. Wielding katanas, with their upper bodies connected directly to their motorcycles, and their bandages oozing blood. As the monsters charged toward them, the vehicle they rode in drove only slightly above the legal limit.

“It seems like a new Phantasm or Mythic… They don’t know when to give up. It seems they still had some tricks left.” Narasaki shook his head as if thinking, Good grief. “Neru, change driving to manual. Bring out the wheel. I’ll drive.”

“Is that a good idea? You don’t actually have much driving experience. You suck at garage parking.”

“You just don’t need a car in a big city like this. I do have the skills. I have no problem with basic driving.”

On Narasaki’s command, sitting in the driver’s seat, the wheel that had been tucked away mechanically transformed and deployed. But there was no dramatic change in their chase scene, and they continued driving safely while avoiding the chaos around them.

“…So slow! You’re slow as hell, Boss! They’re gonna catch up! Can’t you go any faster?!” Getsu cried.

“Having a car chase in this district, where there are no traffic rules or anything, we’d wind up running down five or six pedestrians. I don’t really mind that, but I think your friends would be hurt,” Narasaki pointed out.

“…Ah…” After getting worked up, Getsu’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry, Mei. That was insensitive.”

“It’s fine, thanks for your concern. But no runaway driving.”

“Roger. Now then, Neru, I give you permission to use the cameras inside and outside the vehicle. Based on the video recording, analyze our pursuers, and query the Phantasm database at BT HQ. Report any applicable or approximates.”

“Roger… I’ll be done quickly. I think, maybe.”

Her unclear remark ended there, and the secretary fell silent. That was right when an intense impact rattled the vehicle.

“Yeeek!!” Kei screamed.

“Ngaaaaughh!!”

A two-wheeled Phantasm had come up right by her seat and sliced at her.

This exclusive vehicle could even block a direct hit from a rocket launcher, with a track record of being used by presidents and government VIPs. If the monster was piercing through this protective armor, far more expensive than that of armored vehicles, it was only a matter of time before they were sliced up like sashimi.

“I’ll go out,” said Reiji. “Open a window or something.”

“No, Kasumi. You’re too flimsy!” Kei pointed out, not making an evaluation of his character—just stating a fact about his body.

“We’re not going that fast, but you’re made of mist. The moment you exit the vehicle, the wind will take you. And anyway, you’ve fought many times tonight, and you should be worn out. You can’t! Don’t!”

“But is there any other way…?”

Narasaki wordlessly flipped the switch that opened up the roof. As the tepid city breeze blew in, a boy swiftly stood in his seat, the yellow highlights on his fur swaying in the wind as he stood on the roof of the limo. “Leave it to me. This is what I’m here for!!”

“Brmm?!” came a choked-sounding cry.

Growling like a beast, Getsu Raisan—the original werewolf—leaped.

“Woof !” With that doglike bark, as he leaped off the roof, he swept a horizontal kick through the air.

The steel-toed, thick-soled work boots he had loosened while in the vehicle were pretty heavy. With centrifugal force, it made an impromptu catapult and struck an oncoming Phantasm right in the nose, making it lose its balance and fall, taking the one behind down with it.

The body lay on the ground, the motorcycle connected to it. Broken into a mess and then solidifying again as it slid along the pavement, it collided with an old vehicle abandoned on the side of the road, igniting its remaining fuel in a dramatic plume of flame.

A figure plunged through the fire, flashes of light and smoke—the werewolf. His boots were off, with exposed sharp claws—not feet—on his hind paws.

“Road closed ahead! Come and get me, biker gang!!”

“““Ngh! Mgh! Gn-gah-gn!!”””

There was a chorus of choked cries as drool of mixed blood and saliva fell from their sewn lips. The human-flesh motorcycles that were their lower halves roared in excitement, charging toward the limousine and Getsu atop it.

“Crap, give me a weapon, Reiji!! Anything works, just something I can throw!”

“Roger. Monochrome Mist Style…Black Wing Fangs!”

Getsu thrust a hand into the mist seeping from the open roof. The mist twisted, passing between his fingers to materialize. It was a hard, obsidian-like blade, a shuriken that would generate infinitely and automatically.

“I’ll keep you refilled. Fire as many as you want, Getsu!”

“Maybe I shoulda put on a bandanna or something. That feels pretty infinite!” he cried, recalling a stealth action game that he’d played in a classic video game archive that you could peruse for free. With shuriken in both hands, he threw them one after another, slamming them into the oncoming Phantasms.

With the werewolf strength and the Mythic weapons Reiji created combined, where their attacks connected, they crushed flesh and broke bone—however!

“…It’s not workiiiing! These guys are like those things! You gotta follow the rules when you attack, or it doesn’t work!”

The wounds cut into their flesh and their shattered skulls just vanished in vain moments later. It was as if they weren’t getting hurt at all. Even those that fell and blew up dramatically crawled up from the flames and came back, completely fine. Their numbers weren’t going down at all.

“Seeing how the security department’s fire didn’t work, I’d figured that was it… This is a Phantasm, after all!” cried Reiji.

It could be called the manifestation of the fantasies of the masses, a monster of urban legend.

When something that would ordinarily be no more than a rumor took form, it would become a literal immortal monster, on whom all attacks were useless aside from those based on its rules—the established end of its story. No matter how it was hurt, it could not be wounded—as contradictory as that statement was. So long as they didn’t hit the Phantasmified creature’s weakness from the rumors, myths, and legends, no matter what attacks it took, it would instantly regenerate.

“Ngh!”

“Guh-guh!”

“Fn-gh-gh, gn!”

“They seriously never get tired, dude?! There’s no end to them! You haven’t learned anything, Neru?!” Getsu cried, agitated.

Neru replied immediately. “Search complete. Compared image, video, and audio data. Precision ratio eighty-two percent,” came the communication to the headset fitted on the wolf’s pointed ears. The secretary Neru’s voice reached not only Getsu, but also the interior of the limousine at the same time. “Class: warning. Collection number Y030114—Tonkaraton.”

“That one, huh…? Oh my, it’s changed a lot. This is going to be a hassle!” Narasaki spun the wheel for a sharp turn. The limo cornered surprisingly well, just barely turning around. While avoiding the drunks and garbage bins scattered on the streets, Narasaki cried, “That’s a Phantasm that appeared before the pandemic, before BT head office rose to power. It’s a monster that appears singing ‘ton, ton, tonkaraton,’ is covered in bandages while riding a bicycle and carrying a katana!”

“No, Boss. That’s no bike—that’s a motorbike! And meat!” Getsu shrieked. Crouching while digging his claws into the car, he kept the Phantasms from coming close. “It’s got a sword, but that ain’t the same! Dude, what has to happen to get like that?!”

“Distortion and broader interpretation of the rules. That wouldn’t happen with the pure being itself—it’s mutated with Phantasm Tonic. That wasn’t leaked from head office, but rather made just like the illegal Tonic, by getting a catalyst.”

“Can you do that?!”

“Structurally, it is the same as Monster Tonic. You just have to dissolve a catalyst into the base… So that means that someone capable of acquiring a Phantasm catalyst besides BT HQ is the culprit.” Without even a moment to think about it, he said, “You know right away who it is. That mastermind, aka Kashin, has unleashed this beast. I doubt he would take the Phantasm Tonic himself, so he must have used the youkai who was with him, the Kaburo, as a yoriwara for it.”

“Can you not use specialized vocabulary, Boss? Please make it so an amateur can understand.”

“There are various terms for it—miko, oracle, shaman—but people with special powers who commune with Mythics and Phantasms are not unusual. And to strengthen their connection with beings in the other world, they frequently took drugs!”

Various methods had been devised to create a so-called divine possession, a trance state: the indigenous people of the new continent used cacti with hallucinatory properties, while in the West, poisonous plants were boiled in cauldrons.

“It’s just the same as that. The difference is between taking a narcotic versus an illegal Tonic. He gave a youkai Phantasm Tonic, and by summoning the Phantasm into a Mythic body, he gave birth to a Phantasm that has traits of both!”

“Was that a summary…? That’s so long!”

“This is just who I am! While it’s based on the rules of the Tonkaraton, it has avoided any inconvenient restrictions, and also uses a part of youkai power that the former Kaburo had. It’s absolutely cheating!”

“Not fair!!” Kei cried out.

The vehicle rattled hard. One of the monsters got past Getsu and struck with a katana, tearing through the thick armor to dig deeply into the vehicle.

“There are too many! Of just the ones I can see… Seven…eight…and more and more!!” cried Kei.

“The Tonkaraton’s rules originally included multiplication…but this is still very fast. It’s fair to assume that it has the same cloning ability as the Kaburo, after all.”

Screeeeeeeeee…!! came the grating sound of skidding rubber and hard momentum. A deftly handled right turn in the narrow alley, and the riders all thudded to one side of the wide seats, one on top of the other, when suddenly—

“…Trying to avoid a lucky perv moment at a time like this actually makes me think you’re failing to read the tension right now.”

“You’re not being fair,” Reiji said with a sulk. He’d turned to mist before he could touch the girls, to avoid any accusations.

“Let’s get this back on track! The rules of the Tonkaraton are a common youkai encounter story: You’re walking down an empty street, when suddenly you hear someone singing, ton, ton, tonkaraton… Before the startled POV character, a monster riding a bicycle appears, his whole body wrapped in bandages and carrying a katana, and he asks them a question!”

“That’s sounds pretty damn sketchy. Just call the police!” said Mei.

“If they could keep their cool, then it wouldn’t be much of a monster. So when the monster approached, he said:

“Say ‘tonkaraton.’ ”

“If you reply ‘tonkaraton,’ then the monster will simply leave. But if you answer ‘tonkaraton’ before he calls out to you, or if don’t answer him, then he’ll cut you up with his katana, wrap you up in bandages, and you wind up the same monster as him. This is Tonkaraton, a modern Phantasm from before the pandemic.”

“What?” said Mei. “So he leaves if you answer him, then—”

“There’s no way to answer. Isn’t it impossible for him to call out to us in the first place?” Kei followed up.

A monitor was installed on the back of the seats so you could see outside the car, and it showed footage from the exterior vehicle camera. Getsu was desperately driving off enemies in a high-speed action scene. The lips of the approaching monsters that made it past him were sewed together so firmly you could see it from a distance, a row of X’s.

“He can’t even say ‘tonkaraton.’ So that’s why he’s been making muffled noises all this time,” said Kei.

“Since his weakness is undisguised,” said Narasaki, “or rather, just very easy to find out, the thread sewing his mouth shut is a literal binding. And until the strength of the Phantasm’s rules surpasses the spellcaster’s power level, that won’t be cut so easily… In other words—”

“He’s a gimmick boss with a time limit who can’t be defeated. Let’s buy some turns, Getsu!!” Reiji cried, cutting off what his boss was about to say.

Through the roof, the werewolf replied, “That’s really easy to understand, but this doesn’t feel like a video game to me!!”

“It’s like a balloon full of air. There’s pressure building inside while the Phantasm rules can’t be enacted. Just like a girlfriend’s dissatisfaction at her boyfriend’s lack of attention!”

“That’s an irritating comparison and means nothing!!” Getsu cried.

“Perhaps that was a little too intense for some young people who don’t have boyfriends or girlfriends? But at any rate, it’s just a matter of time. In the meantime, even with the endurance of a youkai of many years, he won’t be able to bear the swelling Phantasm rules, and the restraints will burst. When that happens, if we give the reply according to the rules and take advantage of his weakness, we have a chance at winning…”

Scree!

Right as Narasaki was in the middle of talking and driving, he was cut off by an ominous skidding sound and vibration.

“Those bastards… They came up the wall!!”

“Mg-guh-guh—mm!!”

Even the main streets of the Masquerade were narrow. Just like the streets of the old continent, many of the signs standing in the ruins were still intact, garish neon lights shining bright.

It was just like an obstacle course. Ignoring gravity, their flesh tires dug into the walls practically vertically, many Tonkaraton leaping multiple times as they raced along, avoiding Getsu’s constant fire as they surged toward the limo.

“…Oh, crap!!” Reiji cried, without the time to make hand signs. His whole body became black mist and wrapped around Mei, who was fixed in place with her wheelchair, and Kei, who was conscientiously wearing her seatbelt.

Right after—impact. A roar. Rattling like they’d been thrown into a blender. The car practically pitched forward as it stopped. A giant obstacle leaped for the rear tires, making slick sliding noises as its wheels spun—!!

“Rwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!”

The werewolf’s strength overpowered the laws of inertia. He dug his claws into the armored plating, gouging into it as the car spun, only to be flung from the roof where he had been standing.

Getsu mowed down a sign, shards of broken LEDs raining down on him as he was slammed into the concrete. But before his friends could even witness this disaster, the limousine crashed into a nearby electrical pole.

Another roar, an impact, and then—it stopped.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow… Are you alive, ladies and gentlemen?”

“Barely…,” said Mei. “The bonus airbags worked, thank you. You’re allowed to touch my boobs if you want.”

“No. Are you all right, Kakiba?”

“I hit my forehead. I feel like I got a lump… It hurts.”

In the rear seat, Mei and Kei were caught between the activated airbags, and they were either unharmed or only mildly hurt. Reiji, who had turned to mist to stabilize them both and absorb the impact, was unharmed himself, but he looked very pale.

Overuse of abilities could make him lose his humanity.

Reiji was an ancient Mythic Beast, actually formless mist, and he kept human form by taking Human Tonic. Using his powers over a long period of time and in succession would wear him down fatally, and in the worst case, it could lead to the loss of his humanity.

“Looks like they slammed themselves into the rear tires.”

A literal suicide bombing, a kamikaze run. With the Phantasms caught in the tires, the limo had skidded dramatically, and they’d lost control and collided with an electrical pole on the side of the road. Narasaki’s glasses were broken from the impact of the crash.

“Neru, commence self-diagnosis on the vehicle. Can it still run?”

“Rebooting. Three minutes until completion. No fatal errors found, operation still possible.”

“So she says. In other words, we have to hold out here for another three minutes—”

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

It wasn’t the exhaust noise of motorcycles, but the strange sounds of respiratory organs, like a verbal imitation. The gang of half man and half machine Phantasms, the Tonkaraton, surrounded the vehicle, rushing around like a hive of excited bees as they chanted the forbidden word.

“““Mngguh, gn!! Mgguh, gn! Mgguh, gn!”””

“What a wonderful reception,” said Narasaki. “Reiji is worn out, Getsu has been flung away, and I’m the driver. We can’t deal with this using automatic driving, you know—we don’t have enough people.”

“…What are you trying to say?” Kei asked, feeling something amiss about his persistent enumeration of facts.

Narasaki snapped his fingers in response. “There’s a bar counter inside this car. They keep some chilled drinks inside.”

“You want one last drink before you die?”

“No, it’s the opposite. This drink will keep us alive… Mei?”

The fridge was open. Beyond the faint haze of the cold air that was wafting out was just one small canned drink sandwiched between mini-bottles of expensive-looking wines and whiskeys.

There was no logo—it was a plain aluminum can, something you would normally never see. On the ice-cold surface was a fancy-looking message in a magic marker or something.

“It’s time to get yourself ready. I know you have trauma, but it’s time to stop acting like a special guest.”

“…Are you trying to rile me up?”

“That too, I suppose. But that’s the perfect product for you. I guarantee it.”

Removing the safety straps for stabilizing her wheelchair, Mei reached out. When her palm touched the plain aluminum can inside the fridge, she felt its comfortable chill as she eyed the signature on the surface.

“So these are Mai’s leftovers?”

“Before handing it over to head office, I just kinda nabbed a bit for myself, ha-ha-ha.” The president nonchalantly confessed to misappropriation. She could imagine that the signature was his, too.

That had been the start of all these incidents, the starting signal—

“Mythic Tonic: Centaur.”

Her voice trembled as she read it out.

To Mei, that was a disastrous double bottom on the stock chart. This was the Mythic Tonic that had triggered it all. As she’d been at rock bottom, having lost her legs and her dreams stolen from her, the junior she had been close to wound up dead—and for her sake, of all things.

Frankly speaking, it was nauseating. Monster Tonic made her feel the same. She still couldn’t understand the trash who wanted to become monsters of their own volition, and she didn’t want to understand. But she knew that there were people who could only live here.

They were born here.

The faces of her friends flashed through her mind. Reiji and Getsu.

She didn’t know everything about them, but these monsters, who wished more than anyone to be human, could only live in this district.

They have no choice but to live here until they die…!

The same went for Kei. The outside world had not been enough to save her or her family. With a fragile smile, she had chosen to dirty her hands to catch the important things that had slipped out from the net of a completely controlled society.

The couple she had only just come to know—the pair who had been put into the hospital, who would have died without accomplishing anything. They had fallen in love and had a child, and were desperately struggling to live for the sake of their future.

I’ll stop now. Denying you—denying Mai.

She had always spurned Monster Tonic. She felt as if her fear of the mystery drug was like running away, a youthful and fastidious aversion. But more importantly, there was something she had to protect, something bigger than her own petty pride.

“I am me.”

She was frankly scared. She felt that she might get drunk on the power, like Mai.

She definitely didn’t have the overconfidence that she would be special. She was fragile, weak, foolish, sharp-tongued, and stupid. She just knew how to fight, and how to snap at people, and she’d lived on that alone.

She was self-aware. She understood. That was precisely why, just as that irritating company president said—

“I couldn’t take always being treated as a special guest, always being protected, acting like some obnoxious heroine who’s only ever saved by others… No way!!”

“Mei?!”

“Shut up. Reiji, take Kei and go.”

She clasped the chilled aluminum can.

The hand that was about to stop her paused. Kei grabbed Reiji’s hand and gave him an earnest look.

Her gaze met with Mei’s. Mei and the hard-to-figure-out, odd honor student had different interests, and their personalities completely clashed, but Mei had come to like this new friend quite a lot.

“Go sock that woman calling herself your mom,” said Mei. “Until then…!”

She pulled the tab. The pssht of spraying carbonation.

A smell like vegetable juice—a carrot flavor, a fruity red color.

She didn’t hesitate, bringing it to her mouth with determination and downing it in one go!

“I’ll smash open the way for you!!”

With her friends, those she cared about, dirtying their hands.

She couldn’t be the only one acting like it wasn’t her problem.

“…!! Ahh, hn… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Hot lightning streaked down her spine. Her heart pounded, and she curled up in her wheelchair. Teeth clenched, she bore the creaking pain as her teeth ground, the nasty sound resonating through her skull to ring in her eardrums.

Fur popped out of her skin. She felt her skull surging as it transformed, her organs and muscles painlessly changing position, the nerves in her spine that had been disconnected connecting, and for the first time in a very long time, the sensation in her toes returned.

“I am! Me!” she yelled, one more time.

The words gave her a firm sense of self, defining her. Her ears were pulled into points. Covered by thick fur, something hard and hot extended from her bottom, and she couldn’t stay sitting.

She kicked away the cushion to stand—on two legs, unwavering.

“I can stand. I can run. I…!”

Her thighs, quite developed for those of a high school girl, were covered thickly with light brown fur.

She had a short coat of hair and thick skin. Her joints transformed, her big toes turning into U-shaped hooves that tore the shoes she’d been wearing from the insides, and she stood on the spot with a feeling like she was wearing geta.

“…Just what about that is a centaur?” Reiji muttered, stunned.

“I do think this counts as a horse. But if anything—” With Reiji protecting her, Kei described Mei’s appearance like this: “You’re like an uma-oni-musume or something.”

“Like some kind of phone game?! Can you not make up dumb names for this?! It’s so demotivating!”

Horse legs extended from her miniskirt to stand her from her seat. The U-shaped hooves penetrating her socks were those of a horse, but she only had two legs. It was a unique form, like a replacement of human legs with a horse’s back legs.

On her head was long hair, with transformed ears popping out from the top of her head. They were pointed and sharp, just like those of a horse, but when combined with a human, they were like two horns. Her developed canines engaged like fangs, and the growl in her throat was predatory. The horse tail that grew from her rear snapped like a whip.

“Hryah!!”

A kick flashed, and the rear door of the limousine blasted away.

“Now then, ladies and gentlemen. Do you know the surname ‘Mezuki’?” Narasaki said in a tone like a nasty teacher. Nobody inside the car answered, but he continued to speak. “To get straight to the point, it originates from a shrine in a certain region. It’s what Mei’s ancestors called themselves in connection with their home village, when the Bakufu fell and the government ordered the common people to take surnames.”

It was not a family that had gone through the ages—it was very new, and without mysticality.

But there was a loophole there—

“Kotodama is a type of sympathetic magic where words that sound the same are viewed as the same. Since the surname ‘Mezuki’ sounds like the ‘mezu-no-ki’ demon of religious tales, a prison guard of Hell in legends, you have very good compatibility with horses.”

Gozu, mezu—so the Mythic Beast was called.

The Mythic beast, the centaur—and an Eastern Mythic Beast that shared the horse factor.

“The kotodama has connected all of these things. Mezuki the name is mezuki the demon, and mezuki becomes ‘horse,’ which becomes a horse person. It’s essentially the same as overwriting the Kaburo with the Tonkaraton—the result of a broader interpretation.”

Therefore, regardless of whether she was an amateur or a girl—

“In terms of pure power, she would even rival the original werewolf. Since she’s a horse!”

Crushing, twisting, and bending the thick armor with just a single kick from a horse’s leg, the uma-oni-musume ripped open the heavy armor that was installed to protect VIPs, abandoning herself to her excitement as she howled as hard as she could. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!! Come at me!!”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey… Are you a pro wrestler or what?!” came an unexpected interjection from the side when she came out onto the road of the special district. The werewolf had uprooted what was left of a rusted bus stop sign from the street and had it over his shoulder like a big sword, jumping to her side. “You made a sweet entrance, Mei! That’s cool!”

“Hah! This is why you don’t get girls, Getcha… Call me pretty, okay?!”

Her roar was far from pretty.

“Mggh, gn!”

Without any of the humanity to be surprised at this unexpected figure bursting in, the Tonkaraton attacked.

The half man, half machines drew their swords, racing every which way along walls and the road. Three of them charged, and as they passed, they pointed blades endowed with paranormal power at Mei and Getsu, and slashed horizontally. The Mythic swords could easily cut through even armored cars, but—

““Buzz off !””

““Mgh?!””

Getsu’s cry, Mei’s roar, and the Phantasms’s shriek came all at the same time.

The rusted bus stop sign struck the side of one blade, swiping it away and counter-striking. The iron plate of the bus stop hit the Tonkaraton in the face, crushing its nose all the way into its skull.

Just about the same moment as this graphic violence from Getsu, Mei was unflinchingly facing the blade coming toward her. Plunging in a hoof, the blunt weapon that was a horse itself made form to kick straight into the tire of the human flesh bike and fling it away.

The human flesh tire was flattened, bone spokes broken. The tire was bent into a V, shredded and blasted away, hit with such an impact that the half-man, half-machine Tonkaraton was slammed into the wall of a nearby building just like a fly.

Flesh crushed like a tomato, it began regenerating right away, but that would take more time than recovering from a minor wound. It was out of the fight for now.

Watching through the corner of his eye, Getsu whistled deftly despite his wolf mouth. “You’re powerful as heck. I feel like you’d beat me!” he said with a look of amazement.

“I don’t give a damn. That was my first time kicking a person. So that’s what happens!”

“Normally, no. That’s practically a traffic accident…” Getsu’s expression was exasperated.

And in fact, Mei’s legs right now were far stronger than those of a human, closer to a vehicle or motorcycle at this point. And they were up against a half man, half machine, which felt just about equal, but Mei had the determination not to flinch against the mass-produced monsters.

“You got one?” asked Mei. “They’re just gonna keep coming, though.”

“Yeah, they don’t give up… Here those bastards come!!” Getsu warned.

And then came an exhaust sound, like someone saying “vroom vroom vroom.”

A gang of Phantasms attacked, one after another. Of the eight that stood at the head, some had bent arms and legs, their faces covered in bandages—clearly not human, but those of beasts.

“What the hell?! There’s some different ones mixed in there!” Getsu cried.

“Ahh, they’re human on the inside. You shouldn’t kill them. Do hold back.” The company president’s voice rang out from inside the vehicle.

“What?!” Getsu’s eyes widened.

A katana was coming at him. Getsu and Mei shared a look for just an instant, and after just a beat, they fought back.

With his fur standing on end, the werewolf exposed his wild instincts as he avoided the first attack. Then, holding the shuriken he still had in his hand like a knife, he blocked the enemy’s blade, scattering sparks. He managed because of his martial arts training and being familiar with how to handle a knife, but there was no way an amateur like Mei could—

“Mei, run…!”

“Don’t give me this shit! C’mooooon! I’ll kill you!”

“Whoa…!”

Getsu, who was used to violent work, was freaked out.

With adrenaline pumping, the uma-oni-musume charged in unerringly. While exposing herself to the naked blades, she was not frightened at all, dodging with abnormal footwork as she kicked, stomped, and crushed. Her hooves were pure weapons at this point.

Her sweeping shin kick shattered the breastbone of a beast-headed Tonkaraton, one with a dog face. Peeking out from beneath the shredded bandages was familiar military body armor, and the logo written there caught his eye.

“Beast Tech… Isn’t this the security department staff ?! This one—I mean the one with an animal head!”

“That means it was one of the guys who was just guarding us,” said Mei. “I’ll keep the kicking nonfatal!”

“You’re way too eager with the violence! Are you sure you’re not a gangster?! Isn’t that kind of aggression hard to live with?!”

“Shaddap! We can angst about that after we survive!!”

As the two of them were talking, a Tonkaraton came before them.

It was a Beastman from the safety department, with a skimming scrape on his cheek and missing the equipment he should have had. His leg was bent the wrong way—he must have broken it when he was flung out of the armored vehicle, but—

“Mguh! Mgoh! Mgoooogh!!”

Bloody bandages welled out from the wound on his cheek like tentacles. In the blink of an eye, they enveloped his whole body, with two or three layers of bandages winding around his fanged dog snout, sealing his mouth like a gag.

“Hnggoh, goh! Mgaghhh, goh!!”

The way his lower body made cracking noises as it transformed made Getsu and Mei both look away.

“…So getting cut down by one of those guys makes you join them?!”

“I explained before, didn’t I?” said Narasaki. “The rule of the Phantasm Tonkaraton is to cut down with a katana whoever does not respond to its call, and those wounded will be wrapped in bandages and become Tonkaraton. That’s how the power works.”

“I dunno whether we’ll join ’em or not…,” said Getsu, “but I get that we can’t get hit by the blades!!”

“What a pain…! Just win with your fists! The rule is to end it with violence!!”

“Maybe this is weird coming from me, but I know that’s not it. Where’d you get that rule, a delinquent manga?!”

As they spoke, the attacks kept coming. They couldn’t afford even a single wound now.

Normally, it would be natural to be afraid and flinch away from blades that were basically like they were dipped in lethal poison. But the two of them didn’t show even the slightest fear, desperately continuing to protect the stopped limousine.

“System restoration complete. Go, Boss.”

“Roger. I love you, Neru. You can expect a big bonus for this!”

The engine roared. The tires strained, pulling the vehicle out of the rubble it had plunged into.

“Hnnggg, guh…!”

Two Tonkaraton attacked, targeting the vehicle as it was vulnerable and just starting to move.

Getsu responded instantly, striking back with a side blow from the bus stop sign. This Tonkaraton was not one of the transformed security staff. So he was merciless, his full swing making a flower of blood bloom as he flung the enemy away.

The other, Mei took. Seeing as it was a ways away, she judged immediately that she wouldn’t make it. So she kicked hard enough to smash the bumper of the expensive vehicle, sending the limo flying as it started.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”

“It’s gonna break, it’s gonna break, it’s gonna break! Just how much do you think this car costs?! It’s expensive as hell!!” Narasaki yelped.

“It’s better than getting chopped in two! Drive faster! I’m faster than you!!” Mei yelled back.

Dak-dak-dak-dak-dak-dak-dak…!! came the sound of hooves, like machine-gun fire. Sent flying by her kick, the limo accelerated, going straight onto the main road. Beyond the high-rises, an area of dazzling bright lights could be seen: the checkpoint for the wealthy ghetto, Kyoto Bubble.

Running alongside the vehicle as it raced along, keeping pace on her two legs, Mei yelled in excitement, “This is soooo faaaaast!! It’s great! The fastest! Easy win!! Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

“…She’s high as hell! Is that okay?!” Digging his claws into the trunk of the limo, Getsu was just barely managing to hang on as he tucked his tail between his legs.

“Once the tonic wears off, she’s going to regret this… Hold on, Getsu. If you drop behind, you’ll die!” Reiji encouraged his partner through the rear seat window.

At the checkpoint, they quickly noticed the runaway vehicle approaching, and the powerful glow of searchlights hit the Phantasms pursuing them all at once.

“This is BT HQ administration department’s special courtesy car!! Currently being pursued by a mob!! Save us!!” The familiar voice rang from the limo. It must have had external speakers, or Narasaki was doing it with magic.

“…?!”

Having gotten a clear request for aid, the checkpoint sprang to life. The bar that blocked vehicles went up, and armed security staff pointed their guns at the monsters, firing without hesitation. Though the shots weren’t fatal against the Phantasms, the wall of bullets provided suppressing fire. The bullets hit hard and kept the Tonkaratons in place, and the Phantasms were slow to respond.

“This is as far as it goes, Reiji. You go out, too!” Narasaki ordered, hands on the steering wheel.

“Huh?!” Kei instantly voiced her opposition. “Wait! Wasn’t Kasumi supposed to go with me?!”

“Sorry, but the situation has changed. The Kyoto Bubble is a district for the wealthy. If we let the monsters in and even a single drunk were to die, we’d have a real situation on our hands.”

“It’s about money?! So then—” Kei started to argue when suddenly there was the sound of a call.

It was the ordinary vibration of a phone, coming from her pocket. Normally, when you turned into a Beastperson, you would deposit that in a locker or something. But the smartphone she was not supposed to bring into the special district was ringing with the default tone.

“Put it on speaker, and leave the call on,” said Reiji.

“Kasumi… Then, you…!”

Holding up his phone with the call screen on, Reiji leaned out of the door that Mei had knocked out. “We’ll be connected, even when we’re apart… You’re not alone, Kei Kakiba.”

“Don’t say my full name like that. If we were lovers, that’d lead to a breakup scene.”

“You’re such a pain… We’re not lovers, so it’s fine.”

“It’s an issue of delicacy! I want you nearby if possible, and I’ll be anxious if you’re just over the phone. And if you can, I want you to instantly respond to messages, not with stamps but with text!”

“So demanding… Fine. Once all this is over, I’ll do all of that. So…”

The wind was blowing into the backseat. Already, Reiji’s body, his outline was starting to blur.

His body, become black mist, was unraveling and fading at the edges. Even so, he left a final shadow in the vehicle, leaving his final words with Kei, the person he was supposed to protect.

“Go settle this, Kakiba. We’ll protect you!!”

“…Fine!!”

The wind whooshed.

The last of the mist was blown away, taking form behind the limo.

At the same time, one landed, and the other, who’d been running alongside the car, turned around, both breaking asphalt with their arrival. The three monsters—the born Mythic Beast, the test-tube baby werewolf, and the high uma-oni-musume, all assembled.

In front of the Kyoto Bubble checkpoint, not far from where the guns were resounding on the battlefield…

“That was a pretty cool line, Reiji. You were acting like a hero for once,” said Mei.

“Sorry, but I’m no hero. I’m just an employee at an exploitative company.”

He tucked his phone in his pocket, the call still open. Knowing that this hands-free speaker call was likely being heard inside the car and by Kei, he purposefully put on a bold smile and a tough front.

“I don’t even know whether I’m part-time or a full-time employee, either. It’s kind of an unstable position…”

“There have been a lot of worthwhile jobs lately, so I’m feeling good, though the pay sucks,” the werewolf took over for his partner. He still had the bus stop sign over his shoulder like a weapon, throwing away a piece of the armor that had stuck to his claw when he’d leaped off the limo. He bared his fangs in a cocky smile. “I’m not letting you steal the show. Time to be heroes!” he enthused.

“Yeah,” Reiji replied coldly.

“Don’t let even a single monster past. Let’s go!!”

He yelled—the signal to strike back.

At the end of a close and heavy chase—

It was another cage within the cage of the special district. If you totaled the overall assets of the people who visited this place, it would be over eighty percent of the national GDP. The security staff left the barricade in order to protect the wealthy; theirs were the yells of those risking their lives for high pay. The gun emplacements installed at regular intervals going ratatata, and the trails of tracer bullets flashing like in a conflict zone.

“The special emergency vehicle is arriving!! Open some space!!”

“How could we clear any more… Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaghh?!”

As Beastmen in suits were scattering in a panic, the limousine charged on through. The tires were long since crushed, the bumper had been pulled off and was scraping the road and scattering sparks, and the windows were sticky with smoke and soot.

It didn’t look anything like a high-quality vehicle anymore—more like an accident by the side of the road. But the car still didn’t slow, coming up on the sidewalk and forcing itself up a flight of stairs, charging into the front gates of a massive building.

“Oh, we’re here, we’re here! Ladies and gents, thank you for coming!!” Narasaki announced.

“I’m never getting in a car with you again,” said Kei. “…This sucks, this sucks! I bit my tongue…!”

Narasaki emerged from the driver’s seat, which was tilted sideways, smiling as he casually tossed away the steering wheel. Next, Kei stepped out from the doorless rear seat, flicking out her tongue cutely with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you for your efforts, President Narasaki.”

“The CEO is waiting. This way, as quick as possible.”

Staff with the heads of goats and sheep, wearing expensive-looking suits, stood in rows, welcoming them. The way they lowered their heads and didn’t budge an inch was just like the sea, parted in two before the famous prophet.

“I hate this sort of performance,” said Kei. “It gives me the illusion that I’ve become important.”

“If we keep going, you are going to become rather important, so isn’t it fine?”

“Then I’ll put it another way—it’s not to my taste. The only lineup I need to see is at the ramen shop for lunch.”

She was surprisingly calm and self-possessed. These were the management, the executives, the directors, and the regular staff of the massive corporate giant that held a grip on the country’s economy. If you included those connected remotely, there were hundreds of thousands of people watching as Kei walked calmly by.

A red carpet rolled out without a sound. Kei and Narasaki cut across the lobby and headed straight for the exclusive administration elevator. Without waiting for Narasaki’s escort, Kei strolled up and touched the panel like it was a matter of course.

“It came right away,” she said. “This elevator is so fast.”

“They’ll offer that much consideration; this may be the next CEO’s first visit to the company building, after all.”

“I don’t recall ever deciding I was going to work here, though. I’m still a student.”

“The era when people were allowed a moratorium until they were past twenty ended thirty years ago. You’ll be starting a career from now on, and have the ethics of the profession drilled into you. It really is a pain.”

“That’s pretty persuasive, coming from one of those responsible for making the world that way. Can I hit you?”

“If it’s just a slap, I’ll take it—once the meeting with the CEO is done.”

As they conversed, the elevator doors closed, and with a light, floating sensation, they climbed up to the top of the super-high-rise building.

The number on the display ticked upward. Built with clear panels, the elevator gave a 360-degree view all around, and it was as if they were floating in the sky with magic. The two of them passed far over the heads of the staff, who continued to stand there after their departure, and the interior structure of the building, like giant snake bones, became visible.

“It’s in such poor taste,” said Kei.

“Is it?”

“I wouldn’t like living in such a ridiculously high place, looking down on the people around me all the time.”

“There is, more or less, a pragmatic reason for it, since she’s been infected with the death curse.”

“You mean it’s an isolation facility.”

“It helps that you’re so quick on the uptake. It’s a hassle to keep giving the expository dialogue. If she’s up in the sky, sequestered from the mundane world, then there’s no risk of her dispersing the curse to others. She chose her isolation out of kindness, praying she would be alone.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“What doesn’t?”

In the elevator, Narasaki was turned away from her the whole time as she said, “Whenever you talk about her, you talk a little too fast. But she’s one of those people who nearly destroyed the world, one of those who made the world destitute and wrong, someone you’d ordinarily think of as a very bad person.”

“Yes, you’re right. She and I are utter villains. If there is a God in this world, I would hope they would strike us down on the spot. But unfortunately, that will not happen.”

“There’s youkai and magi, but no gods?”

“There do exist Mythic Beasts that call themselves gods. But that’s merely a god that people thought up—just an idea. A creator god or an omnipotent, all-powerful god is ultimately just a wish.”

It was a wish, a delusion, a prayer.

“That was why she had no choice but to save the world that they had killed. Because in a world where there is no one to judge you, no one to punish you, only her own choice could punish her.”

“I see. Thank you, that was interesting.” The elevator stopped. As they experienced a mild floating sensation, Kei fixed her eyes on the opening doors and muttered, “I just like romantic gossip.”

“I meant that to be an important discussion about the fate of the world, though. Was it just romantic gossip to you?”

“To me, just bothersome romantic gossip from a middle-aged man I know, beginning to end.”

Kei didn’t know about good or evil. She thought that wasn’t something for her to judge.

“It’s not my business. I just came to deal with this issue I got dragged into.”

The doors opened soundlessly. Beyond the elevator doors, the air had the scent of disinfectant, like a hospital.

Everyone must have been sent away. The hallway was empty as Kei strode boldly out, and Narasaki followed just behind. The silence was deafening, like that of a hospital or a mausoleum.

“It’s just down there,” Narasaki told her.

So she passed through the empty administration management offices to approach a certain door.

It was a thick, airtight door, followed by a completely sterile clean room. Going through disinfection to enter, she saw a life-support machine operating a completely automatic intensive-care room and medical bed, and—

“You made it in time. Thank you, Haruaki.”

Her lips moved just slightly, cracking and spilling blood.

Her skin was cracked and hard. There, connected to countless tubes, was a single woman. With a large beak mask patterned after the plague doctors of the Middle Ages lying at her side, she was a beauty like a sculpture.

Her haggard and fragile visage was like an entirely withered dried flower. Her lips moved, and the AI speakers at her side that sensed the current in her nervous system spoke for her as she lay there like a corpse.

“That’s the first I’ve heard that,” said Kei. “So that was your given name?”

“The name is such a hassle. So old, worn, and horribly used. You’re the second in this world to learn of it.” Narasaki gave a wry smile, then passed by Kei and approached the bedside.

“I knew this would happen,” he said to the woman on the bed. “But I kept her a secret anyway.”

“You can’t lie to a woman. When a gentleman has a secret, his attitude changes right away.” The sense of a chuckle and a smile was communicated through the speaker. “I’m sorry, Kei Kakiba. I would have liked to share a meal with you, speak with you more, explain the positives and negatives, and win you over before asking this of you, but…”

“…” Kei didn’t respond to that, she just slowly walked up to the bed. “May I touch you? It doesn’t hurt?”

“No… But would you touch the dirty body of a cursed woman?”

“He told me I won’t be infected. So in other words, you’re just a sick person,” Kei said shortly, stating only the facts. “I mean, I’d like to have someone hold my hand when I die. I think that would keep me from being lonely. If possible, I’d like to hold your hand. I’d be glad to get your permission for that.”

“…I don’t believe we’re related by blood, though.” There was a hint of unconcealed gladness. Just slightly, her hand on the bed wavered.

Interpreting that as the answer, Kei took the woman’s hand, covered in the blanket. Her skin was hard and cold, less like that of a human and more like a stone sculpture, and also fragile as an egg, as if squeezing it would crush it.

“I wonder if we look alike. It’s like speaking to a young version of myself.”

“Yes. I’m sure you didn’t get boys, either.”

“Not at all. Even living hundreds of years, I never had a single husband. That was why I was the last to contract the disease, and I’ve survived this long. I’ve always been slower than others in whatever I do. It’s quite embarrassing.”

“I’ll take that as a lesson. If I have the interest, I’ll make it as quick as I can.”

“That’s good. You can’t end up like me. You’ll wind up like a rusted tin of food.”

“…So this is what the last witch and the new witch have come to talk about? It’s incredibly mundane,” Narasaki said, exasperated.

Still holding the hand on the sickbed, Kei said bluntly, “We only just met. We have nothing complicated to talk about, so this is the best I can do.”

“You will hold my hand nevertheless… You’re kind.”

“I think it’s only natural to be kind to a sick person. It’s nothing special.”

“True… This is the age when the world that broke because of us is born anew. I very much hope that you pass that kindness on to the future. That is the reason I called you here, and my last wish.”

“I think that’s too heavy to be bringing up so suddenly.”

“Indeed. I do believe it’s a great burden. But you’re the only one. Only you can do it.”

There was a light motor sound, and the nursing drone that had been sitting in the corner approached Kei.

It held up a tablet with electronic pages displaying one after another, official documentation guaranteed to be valid. Already legally arranged, all it needed was her signature to make it take effect completely.

“Your compensation is everything I have. The megacorporation Beast Tech’s stock and right of management, my remuneration from the time of incorporation until I worked as the CEO, my real estate and personal assets domestically and abroad… I don’t even know how much it totals, myself.”

“…” Kei fell silent.

The drone offered the touch pen and tablet to her.

“I have arranged for all the necessary documentation for adoption and otherwise. If you sign right there, I will give it to you. It’s not enough, as compensation for the responsibility of the next era—but please.”

A hard, cracking sound.

She must have tried to bow her head. On the bed, her neck lowered just slightly, cracks running through the skin. The dripping fresh blood, like her throat had been cut, made a stain on the sheets as she finished stating her dying wish.

“Kei Kakiba. Will you accept?”

“No.”

She answered instantly.

At the checkpoint of the special district within a special district—the area for the rich, the Kyoto Bubble—there was a small fortress.

The defensive wall surrounding the perimeter was made of thick concrete and iron walls with military armor and a rat guard to prevent climbing. It bent backward abruptly at the top, and even with a Beastperson’s strength, you couldn’t get over it so easily, with its high-voltage electricity and barbed wire.

The only aperture—the exit partitioned by a bar to stop vehicles—would instantly close in the case of an emergency situation, with armored shutters designed to prevent the intrusion of a riot. The watchtowers with guns equipped had cameras connected to the internet, and it was even possible to “enjoy” fights from inside the casinos or hotels of the Kyoto Bubble.

“…Wow. Is this really real? This is like a zombie movie…”

“Is this the Phantasm Tonic everyone is talking about? Hey, can you buy that? It looks interesting.”

“It’s too much power for the poor. I think a toy like that should be diverted to us first, don’t you think?”

A fierce battle, like one from a movie, was consumed as entertainment alongside drinks far more expensive than your average employee’s monthly pay. The half-man, half-machine Tonkaraton surged in, moving like bicycle riders at the circus as they attempted to cross the defensive walls. Information was sent to the headsets of the security staff—precise combat instructions.

“The insurgents are riding motorcycles and wielding katanas. Close-quarters or hand-to-hand combat is strictly forbidden.”

“We’ve received notification from Fantastic Sweeper that their blades are poisoned. If you’re cut by one, you’ll become the same monster as them. Don’t bother with the wounded; knock them outside of the walls. Don’t let them in!”

““Copy.””

That shocking order received not a single light comment in reply, and the trained and armed security staff—in essence basically the soldiers of the old era, fighters who protected the wealthy—desperately blasted the enemy with firepower as the Tonkaraton raced about like a school of fish.

Gunshots, cannon fire, and explosions sounded everywhere. Stray bullets and ricochets even reached the urban area, causing small fires and hitting passersby as well. But the Beastpeople who gathered in the Bubble had no sense of danger, and just backed off to watch from a distance.

“Whoa, duuuude! This is so cool, it’s like fireworks!!”

“Doesn’t it seem like it’d feel real cool to fuck while watching a battle?! Is there a hotel, or can we do it outdoors?!”

“The hell’re you doing, you stupid monsters?! Attack from a more brutal angle and kill some rich people! Once you break through the barricade, we can have some fun in the chaos!”

“Set it on fire! Set it on fire! Set it on fire!!”

It was said that in ancient times, during battles fought by rulers, the common people with nothing would always watch, and once it was over, they would kill the fallen soldiers with bamboo spears and handmade weapons and take their small share of the leavings.

They were the hyenas of the battlefield, recreated in the modern era. Though they were divided across the barricades, the wealthy were watching with webcams as the poor watched with the naked eye; both were enjoying the blood and violence.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be the one saying this, but seeing this shit-tier moral standard makes me doubt if there’s worth in staking our lives to protect them,” said Mei.

“There is.”

In the Kyoto Bubble, at the casino close to the barricade, a cloud ran up to the chic building designed for the rich. The thunderhead swelled up, carrying the uma-oni-musume and werewolf, then landed on a roof, looking out over the battle.

“The security staff are paid high wages,” said Reiji. “They get insurance when they die, and hazard pay.”

“We don’t get either, though,” Getsu commented.

“So despite appearances, they’re actually elites?” said Mei. “And wait, they’re actually protecting this place properly, aren’t they?”

The thunderhead took form, and Reiji appeared. At his side were Getsu and Mei. Currently the most powerful force in the special district, the monster trio stood there, analyzing the battle as it accelerated.

“They haven’t gotten over the barricade, and it doesn’t look like any of the security staff have died. It seems fine to leave them be,” said Mei.

“I’m just repeating what the boss said,” said Reiji, “but a space that’s divided off by something is what those fishy types call a kekkai.”

It didn’t have to have any sturdy fortress walls, and could even be a space cordoned off by rope.

Indicating that people should stay back and not come in would establish a kekkai. Since magi were involved right from the design stage, the special district within a special district would count as a magical fortress with spiritual defenses—so Narasaki had said.

“That’s pretty damn fishy,” said Mei.

“I agree,” Reiji concluded briefly. Then he voiced his new realization. “The enemy…the Tonkaraton isn’t well coordinated. It’s not commanding the masses, it’s just flailing about randomly, throwing itself at nearby defenses, like a free-to-play tower defense phone game.”

The greatest flaw of Phantasm Tonic was the price the user paid for their great powers.

“He’s gotten too high. He’s lost powers of judgment—that’s actually a problem. At this rate, he’ll keep charging in until he dies instead of backing off when he knows he can’t win.”

“In other words, what should we do?” Getsu asked.

“We don’t let the monsters escape or break through. That’s the rule,” said Reiji.

It was the basis of warfare, a common philosophy that had persisted since struggles for survival thousands of years ago.

“We just need to buy time, and they’ll destroy themselves. Getsu and Mei, you go to the front lines and watch out for katanas, don’t even let yourselves get scratched. Hold the line until I can hit them with a big move from here.”

“That sounds fine, but…that looks kinda dangerous!” Mei pointed to a group of monsters gathered deeper in the night, in front of the gates.

Getsu’s eyes widened. “…Whoa…dude, dude, dude, dude, dude!”

They were like ancient knights charging a fortress. The half-man, half-machine Tonkaraton, clustered in a group of ten, had sheathed their katanas on their backs and were carrying something like a palanquin. It was—

“I’ve seen something like that in a movie before!” cried Getsu.

There was a lot of construction in the Masquerade, renovation and repair to damaged buildings and collapsed ruins. They had driven the resisting workers from one of the construction sites that dotted the area and carried away a massive ladder.

The group carried the ladder over their shoulders, passing their arms through the steps where you put your feet. Their human flesh engines roared, the tires made incredible scraping sounds, and they accelerated like rockets as they flew along. It was…

“An impromptu battering ram… Are they going to try to break down the shutters with that?” Reiji wondered.

“Probably,” Getsu answered. “I saw that before in an old handsome delinquent movie. People actually do that for real?!”

“Sounds interesting. Once this is over, I’ll go see it,” said Mei.

Their reactions were complex, with shock, exasperation, and even wonder. There was an incredible crash, and the shutters warped.

The barricade swayed violently, and the security staff positioned at the top squatted to keep from falling. The monsters carrying the ladder backed off and took that opportunity to regenerate the flesh and bone that had shattered in the collision.

“So they’re taking some distance for another slam. We can’t have this continue! Stop them!” Reiji ordered.

“Roger!”

“Awright!”

The werewolf leaped down right away. A beat later, hoofbeats rang out as Mei jumped from the roof as well.

The two figures flew over the nightscape, drawing a parabola to fall on the other side of the barricade. For an ordinary person, this was basically suicide, the shock of impact bound to kill them instantly from breaking or bruising every bone in their body, but the two Mythic Beasts caught themselves with their own feet.

Without missing a beat, they jumped again. Crossing from building to building, they headed for the front lines—

“““Mgh! Ngoh! Mmmgoguh! Gn!!”””

““Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!””

It was a hundred on two. Yelling to encourage themselves, just the two of them, the werewolf and the centaur charged in, one swinging a bus stop sign like a great sword, the other with killer hooves that dug U shapes in the asphalt.

The gathering Phantasms were a storm of slashes, slashes, and more slashes. While dodging their way through the charge of knights plunging toward them at high speed on their bikes, the pair made their way forward unflinchingly. All the while, behind them was gunfire from the base they were to protect, sweeping fire of machine guns and bombs that didn’t care about hitting the wrong target. Shock ran through them whenever the bullets skimmed past their bodies.

Battle instincts overrode their fear, awareness seething with adrenaline.

“Hryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

““Gagogiguh, geh?!””

The centaur spun like a top. It was a so-called wheel kick to a rolling koppu kick. As she leaped in, she sent herself flying with both hands, then bounced over and over like a spring as she kicked all over the place, moving forward!

The Mythic Beast blasted away the half man, half machines like empty cans, knocking them aside despite their superior speed and acceleration. Smacking away the enemies one after another, not only her hooves but even her shins became red as if she were wearing boots made of fresh blood and flesh bits.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mooooooooon!!”

The werewolf running right at her side wielded more violence. Using the concrete weight that supported the bus stop sign as a blunt weapon, he swung the sign around so hard the pipe bent, crushing enemies as he pushed forward, aiming for the goal once they had broken through the swarm.

The impromptu battering ram was coming for them, the monsters carrying the ladder charging in madly. They were like a single mass, a rock rolling downhill and gaining speed, or a cannonball bursting out of the barrel of a cannon—and the pair challenged it.

“Wooooooooo…woooooooooo…!!”

The string strained. The monsters’ sewn-up lips were about to shred any moment.

With a strange cry, the half man, half machines made their suicide attack. A katana slashed down diagonally from the shoulder, and Getsu saw through its trajectory with animal intuition. He moved to repel it with the bus stop sign—shing, and the pipe was cut in half, the blade rushing toward him. Normally, he would just let himself be cut. With the regenerative powers of a werewolf, that wouldn’t kill him—in fact, that would be a sign that he could take the blade with his body and strike back.

I can’t let it hit me!

But he couldn’t let that happen this time. Just like any ordinary human, if he were cut, he would be turned into a Phantasm—basically dead. All the hairs on his body stood on end. Sensing fear, terror, death, his heart thudded in his chest, but—

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!! I really wanna live!!”

“Mm?!”

He just barely managed to see through it—the distance between him and the blade was less than one millimeter. His fluffy fur was shaved right off. He threw away the bus stop sign and leaped, twisting around. He did a wall jump off a nearby building, followed by a piercing kick. The werewolf kick dug deep into a cheek. Saliva and broken teeth scattered, and the thread that sewed the lips came undone, extending to the bare thinnest strands.

While stomping on the head of the fallen Phantasm, Getsu cried out to the night sky. “Awoooooooooooooo!”

A howl of triumph, the werewolf’s victorious shout. Under the moonlight, obscured by smog, his silver fur looked beautiful. The monster that had been running at the head of the battering ram crew collapsed, and the hard brake made the others crash into him.

Fall. Roll. Impact. It was a big pileup, rather like accident videos that could be found online. The half-man, half-machine creatures maintained speed as they rolled around on the road, hitting even more of their own as they crashed.

Looking down on all of this was a boy—Reiji.

Right now—while the scattered enemies were focused on the road in front of the checkpoint—was his chance. The battering ram had fallen, and for just a moment, the crowd had stopped. The Brocken’s abilities shone the most when it came to crowd control and wide-area attacks.

…But what will I use…?!

He just had one chance. He couldn’t catch the enemy when they were spread out, or moving continuously at high speed. Since his nature as mist wouldn’t change, his speed depended on the wind. Condensed firing techniques could overcome that restriction, but this time he wouldn’t be able to output enough density to shower bullets over such a wide area—he would be unable to finish them off, and the job would wind up half done.

Shooting techniques won’t work. I don’t think any poisons will work, either.

Paralysis or sleep by changing mist into chemical substances would only work on ordinary bodies that operated normally.

Unlike the pseudo-Mythic Beasts that had been half transformed by illicit Tonic, or the monsters of different creatures mixed together, the Tonkaraton’s host was a Mythic Beast and an ancient Phantasm, a type of youkai. The mysticality was too strong, and it wouldn’t work.

And any half-hearted attempts to restrain them would be no use. They have the horsepower to drive around at the speed of a car—they’d break out.

Any adhesive that would stick the enemy to the walls or floor, or restraints to tie them so they couldn’t move, were also pointless. They could free themselves by forcibly tearing off their own skin, flesh, and limbs, and they weren’t normal enough to even hesitate to do that.

So then—this is it.

He searched his pocket. The smartphone that he’d left in his breast pocket emitted a slight warmth. For the sake of the friend waiting on the other side of the speakerphone, and for the one family member he had left (though his affection had decreased a little)—

He felt fur in his pocket: his hamster Butt. Narasaki’s consciousness must not have been able to reach it, so he was just acting like an animal, sniffing at Reiji’s fingers when they thrust in, nibbling at them gently.

How cute. How charming. How pleasant… That was why!!

“I won’t die. I won’t die. For the people I’m connected to—for my new family!!”

His spirit was invigorated. That was why he could fight. He could bear the pain, the suffering, and the unfairness of the world.

There were dreams he wanted to make true, people he wanted to spend time with, and a future he wanted to see. The monster, who was disguised as a human called Reiji, had so many important things that he wouldn’t give up. They were so unbearably brilliant and radiant to him!

“Wounding Black Prison—Secret Technique: Sword Burial!!”

Reiji leaped. His whole body became a sea of black clouds, surging toward the Phantasms clustered before the checkpoint to surround them.

The jet-black swirl blotted out their vision, robbing them of the light. It slipped past cracked asphalt streets, twisted guardrails, walls of ruins, and electrical lines shredded here and there, and to the ground below the half man, half machines, the werewolf, and the centaur.

“This is…like back then?!”

Mei’s eyes widened. It was the technique that had once caught the hit-and-run centaur, but on a much greater scale.

She felt something shapeless slipping past their feet—like lukewarm water or a tepid breeze, this matte blackness undulated like a serpent, then, like a spring trap, suddenly leaped!

“““Mgohhhhh…!!”””

It discerned perfectly between enemy and ally.

Avoiding a single wound on Getsu or Mei, the two-dimensional snakes crawled along any three-dimensional surface, black shadows turning into sharp swordlike blades in a barrage from every direction that pierced the gang of Phantasms.

“Mgh! Ngh! Gograh! Gn! Gggggggggggggggg…!!”

The piercing black swords melted into the hanging black mist and became snakes once again before returning to their targets and turning back into swords.

It was as absurd as bullets returning to the guns that had fired them to be fired once more, a literal infinite besiegement by bullets. Swords, swords, and more swords stuck in the road, just like a black cemetery crowded with grave markers…

“…!”

“Don’t move, Mei! It’s dangerous!”

Guarding Mei, Getsu aggressively hunched over her defensively.

In the middle of the maelstrom, the black swords flew around madly, avoiding only them. No matter how they stabbed and pierced and cut, they couldn’t wound the Phantasm essence. Just like slicing the reflection of the moon in the water, there was no damage at all to its essence.

But…

If the water’s surface is churned up, then it can’t reflect the moon…!!

To Reiji, as mist, this was like continuously punching while holding his breath. Two seconds after he started, he felt a pain like his lungs were being crushed, and after five seconds, his dispersed consciousness was disturbed, and the longer he extended it, the more intense it got.

“““Gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah…!”””

But even so, he couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop. Fortunately, being a Mythic Beast, moving while holding his breath wouldn’t kill him. So long as he could take it, so long as he could keep bearing the pain, the Black Secret Technique would keep going, and it would hold them in place.

The gothic shadows were smashed to bits. The swords he fired shattered like glass, one after another, and melted away, becoming new swords. It was a cage, swords, and a trap as well, specialized for restraint and continuous damage, and it lasted for about ten minutes.

Oh…no.

His thoughts were unraveling. His consciousness was diffusing. It felt like his brain was coming apart and going blank.

He felt like he had forgotten something. He couldn’t remember the contents of his fridge, left in his small kitchen. The name of the tasty fish he was going to treat himself to wasn’t in his memory. He couldn’t recall why he was so desperately avoiding those two in the shadows when it would be easier just to stab everything.

I am—end—in—

His stream of consciousness was near its limits. The percentage of Reiji’s black hair was increasing, overwhelming his white hair.

He understood that if it turned completely black, then he would become unable to hold on to himself. He was most likely headed to the non-burnable trash, like the ramune bottle he’d stepped on—shattered remains, broken into pieces.

But even so.

“No.”

The smartphone that he had been protecting by wrapping it with mist vibrated as a voice sounded from it.

“There’s no reason for me to take it. There’s no way a simple student could be a CEO.”

Reiji couldn’t recall whose voice it was. But there was black hair, a face that sometimes turned back toward him with an inadvertent smile—perhaps surprised, perhaps pleased, and he had a feeling he’d liked that.

Oh, yeah. Because it looks similar.

To the one face that he couldn’t forget—one he had lost long ago, the last precious thing left to him.

Ikka… Kei!!

The warmth of the hamster wrapped in mist and the voice coming from the phone connected his consciousness and memory.

Oh, yeah. There was no way I could forget. I could never forget. Kei Kakiba. That girl. She was interesting. There was still more, more that I had to do. She’s going to treat me to food. Fruit tart.

Sweet cake was the promise for the future.

For someone who can’t eat that anymore. With her, I’ll…!!

He clenched the teeth that had melted away into mist. Now was the only time that the grinding sound that no one could hear, the pain of his teeth cracking felt wonderful to him. If he still felt pain, then he was still alive. He still existed.

“…So, how about employment instead?”

Kei’s voice. It didn’t sound like an incredible estate was involved—she was talking like she was adjusting her shift schedule at work.

“I’ll make the tonic base in your place, so pay me for it. I don’t have very much money, and I was looking for a part-time job, so I feel like this is perfect.”

“A part-time job, when I’m offering you a massive fortune?” said an unfamiliar voice. It resembled Kei’s somehow, but was much hoarser.

“Because what I really need can’t be bought with money. Like friends, or health, or time.”

“Kids these days are so enlightened… You don’t even think, ‘it’d be a waste, might as well take it’?”

“I’m not enlightened. I want money, but the estate of someone I don’t know is just a curse. It’s clearly a curse. You’re just trying to tie me down since I’m alive and you’re dying,” she pointed out so mercilessly, one wouldn’t think she was talking to a dying woman. “So I don’t need the money. I want you to let me inherit something more important than those cursed assets.”

“…And what could that be? I don’t think there is anything else important that I have, though.”

“There is. This place.” The sound of opening curtains could be heard through the speakerphone. “I’ll take this district, dirty as a ditch, for the sake of people who can only live in the garbage dump of a controlled society; to protect a comfortable space where me and Kasumi and Raisan and Mei can live.”

“…For that, you mean to take on the role of witch?”

“I don’t get it. Just some girl with no power, wealth, or any abilities becoming a witch… I don’t understand what that means, or anything about it. I’d just instantly be swallowed up in the mire of a greedy society…”

Somehow or other, he understood what that hoarse voice meant.

A great sum of money would be moving. This wasn’t just a conflict over an inheritance. It was a massive vortex of power over, not just this district, but controlling this nation from behind the scenes. The crafty and experienced villains, power brokers, and the wealthy operating there would all gather.

Kei was a sweet, sweet, and defenseless cake. The ants would devour the white cream, dirty her, and make her rot. If there was no refrigerant, no icebox, no show window to protect her—

“…Then I’ll…,” he said into the phone mic that was connected to her. “There’s me. I—we’ll protect you…!!”

“Oh my… You were listening?” She must have heard what Reiji was saying, as the unknown someone on the other end seemed interested, saying, “You’re that boy working for Narasaki, aren’t you? The ancient Mythic Beast…the descendant of calamitous spirits that struggled against the bureau. Can you protect this girl? You’re just a monster that can fight, with no money, status, or power.”

There was just one answer.

“If Kei will give me work.”

He didn’t need to think. His feelings burst out immediately.

“Then I just have to do it. It’s work worth doing, a mission worth fulfilling, and a reward of compensation. That’s something that a monster can’t do—only I…only a human can do it!”

With each word, his consciousness grew more awake.

His faded memories came back. He felt his memories grow excited, connecting to each other.

His black hair turned white, and the scales of onmyou were balanced. The fridge in his kitchen had the leftovers of a dish he’d made ahead of time for yesterday’s box lunch. The treat he’d been meaning to eat was the highest grade of yakiniku.

The reason he was avoiding hitting them was because they were his friends. His certainty brought back his humanity, and his pain eased slightly. It was a feeling of relief, like being allowed just one deep breath while you’re diving deep to the bottom of the ocean.

“Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh…” Laughter, through the phone. “He’s an interesting boy, Narasaki. I would have liked to scout him for administration.”

“He’s a part-timer lacking in loyalty, so you should avoid him. He dropped out of elementary school.”

His stupid boss irritated him. His anger brought back even more of his humanity.

“The time frame is until I graduate high school. If possible, I’d like to graduate from university as well, but I’ll compromise with high school graduation.” That would be almost a year, at least. The voice that set that deadline was Kei’s. “Until then, I’ll work for you, and after that, I’ll get a job at your company. How about that?”

“…Just like an interview. This is very fun, for a dying wish.”

“That’s just perfect, isn’t it? Since you’re going to die, but we’re going to live. So,” Kei said briefly, “Leave the rest to us. Good night, ‘Mother.’ ”

“Thank you… Ahh, I feel like I can…have a very nice…rest…”

Around the time the voice on the speaker cut out—

As the hell of swords was continuing, crossing the ten-minute wall—

The captured Phantasm, the hundred half man, half machines trembled, howled. The thread that sewed their lips shut, the curse that Kashin had woven, was cut, and the price for the Phantasm’s rules, not paid all this time and ballooned to the limit, was an explosion.

“““Say—ton—kara—ton…!!”””

The demand came according to the rules, and the black mist condensed.

Reiji’s form took shape. The pair who had been hiding, the werewolf and the uma-oni-musume, lifted their heads at the exact same time.

The three of them stood side by side. The moment they said the words they’d held back all this time, the words of destruction that would fulfill the Phantasm’s demand—

“““Ton—kara—ton!!”””

“Agyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

The moment they heard that cutting scream, the Phantasm left.

The hundreds of monsters writhed. Their figures blurred and faded, and they vanished. The security personnel and passersby who had been transformed into Phantasms gradually regained their human outlines, collapsing into piles of bodies. One of them was a battered and wounded bright red amphibian—what had become of the kappa, the Kaburo showing his true form, vomiting.

“Blagh-blagh-blagh-blagh-blagh…gueghhhhh!!”

The black substance that he spewed up was the broth that contained the Phantasm: scraps of bloody bandages and bodily fluids, rusted scraps of katanas, the flattened tires and spokes of a bicycle—the condensed legend that ordinarily should never fit inside a human body.

“Kashi…n…!! Damn…you…ahh…geh…ngk…!!”

His final words were pure resentment.

Now still, the youkai collapsed with a splat. The clothes he had worn and his belongings did not remain—he was singed black as if he had been covered in acid, only to ooze pus and melt away.

Nothing remained but the groans of the survivors, and then…

“I’m hungry. Let’s go have yakiniku… I’ll treat you,” said Mei with a nonchalant look.

“That’s the company president’s free coupon… And hey, I’m surprised you could have an appetite in this situation…!” Getsu was barely breathing, lying there.

Reiji wasn’t doing any better. “I’m tired. My head’s all fuzzy… If I eat, I’m going to vomit. No matter how expensive the meat is…!”

The three of them lay there in a circle as they heard the piercing sound of alarms. Not so far as to be called distant, the shutters opened. They sensed the armed security staff moving to provide aid, and the flash of sirens.

“I can’t, I’m so tired,” said Getsu. “…I’m dropping out. Good night…”

“I can’t take any more, either…” Mei groaned. “If I fall asleep here, will someone be having sex with me when I wake up…?”

“I…don’t think so. I think…probably not… I bet…” Reiji trailed off.

With their consciousnesses fading, hearing the sounds of approaching military boots—

Having exhausted all their strength, the three monsters passed out.

Meanwhile, on the Beast Tech head office’s administration department management floor—

“You’re not going to cry?” Kei asked.

“Adults can’t openly cry at times like these,” said Narasaki.

The body of the woman lying on the bed quietly crumbled away.

Blood oozed into the sheets that had been covering her. Her hardened skin cracked and broke into powder, and the tissue within spilled out.

Watching the cruel death, the end that came after the curse, Narasaki said as if seeing her off, “At first, she just irritated me, you know. We started the company together, and as we were enjoying ourselves…well, something like attachment came out of that. When you get down to it, I fell for a bad woman’s wiles.”

“You shouldn’t speak badly of the dead. Isn’t that inconsiderate?”

“Yes, I agree. I very much wanted her to stay healthy and well hated as she wielded her power over the world. Then I could have complained about her without reserve—but in the end, she passed.”

There were no tears. This man had to have seen life and death over a much longer timeframe than Kei could imagine.

Being immortal, abandoned by everything dear to you, the only one left behind…

“Those people were from the ‘bureau,’ was it called? I feel like I understand the feelings of those magi who left the world.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. If it hurts when someone who I’ve barely spoken to passes away, then having all your family and friends pass away before you would be unbearable… Being alone would be much easier.”

“So you’re saying that’s why they fled to a world where everyone is immortal?”

“I’m sure that’s it. But I think that would be painful, too, after all. Since nothing would change after a hundred or a thousand years, and you’re living with the same people the whole time, right?”

That was surely an unchanging hell.

“It would be painful to get sick of the people you love and the people you care about. I’m sure…there is no bluebird.” Quoting the fairy tale, Kei said, “We have no choice but to live. No matter how imperfect, cruel, ugly, or dirty…in this society we were born in, with only the important people we managed to meet to rely on.”

“You’re a poet. You’re exactly right, ahh, you’re quite exactly right, …”

His final whispered mutter sounded like the name of someone who had passed.

Kei’s rabbit ears twitched in mild displeasure.

“I couldn’t hear that. I wanted to know her name.”

“Sorry, but that’s a secret just between her and me. Because we made a vow in exchanging our names.”

“Is that how it works? The customs in rural areas sure are complicated.”

“It bothers me that you understand a contract between magi as being equivalent to a rural custom… You can’t have a little more mysticism, there? This is far worse than being somewhat lacking in romanticism.”

“I’ve just had quite enough of romanticism and myths and all that.” Unwavering and unshakable, she said, flatly, “I’ve decided to live in reality. Any complaints about that?”

“No. Now then, I’ll be counting on you from now on, part-timer.”

Lightly shaking the offered hand, the contract was sealed.

Natsukibara, the Masquerade—the government-designated slum of chaos and lawlessness—was born anew, and changing.

At the Beast Tech building, a meeting of the highest executives—

“The stock price fall due to the CEO’s sudden death is slowing, and our company has come to a turning point,” said the chief of security. Bald and bursting with muscles, this man in his prime had squeezed his brawny physique into an expensive suit to open up a meeting of the highest decision-making body, with all the department heads in attendance.

Beast Tech prided itself on a private security unit, functionally the national defense army. The chief of security administered the company’s greatest military force, which had been the first to make use of a combat curriculum with Beastman soldiers.

His eyes were flashing brilliantly. “Moving forward, we will unite as a single entity, spreading our market share not only within this country but also overseas, and with even further development, we should undertake the obligation of humanity’s salvation. Isn’t that right, ladies and gentlemen?”

“We share your goals, but you’re not the one who will execute them, are you?” interjected the chief of legal affairs, one of the seven sitting at the large, circular table.

She was twenty years old—former Japanese peerage, the child of a zaibatsu. She single-handedly dealt with all legal trouble inside and outside of the company, and was a keystone of company diplomacy, with the PR department working under her jurisdiction.

“The one I swore allegiance to was the former CEO,” she continued. “Isn’t it ridiculous for someone who is not a witch to occupy that position? This is beyond what can be solved with muscle, oh-ho-ho…!”

“Your trivial antagonism is unwise, Chief of Legal Affairs. We should discuss matters calmly.” The chief of R&D was the one remote participant, a black shadow reflected in a window installed at the round table. “The construction of the research and development department’s ocean development plant is proceeding smoothly. The key Ocean Tonic was a concern, but matters have been stabilized, and at this stage, the change rate into ocean mammals is over seventy percent.”

He was a massive creature, over three meters long. His hammer-like black head was that of a sperm whale. The chief of R&D was swimming leisurely in a huge pool made to recreate the ocean. He was a Beastman who tested the latest Tonics out on himself.

“In recent years, ocean resource development in exclusive economic waters has been aggravating conflict with other nations. I am in agreement with company unity and market share expansion, but we’ll have the rug pulled out from under us if we’re careless. We should be cautious.”

“Speaking from the accounting department, the financial waste of the current system is intolerable.”

The chief of accounting was a thin old woman. She was the one person in traditional attire, making use of an antique abacus and the newest tablet at the same time. She wore cat-eye frames over narrow slanting eyes that shone with sharp and overbearing light.

“It’s fair to say the investment in the security department, in particular, has been the least effective. They failed to prevent the leak of material from the R&D department, and neither were they able to arrest and eliminate the apprehended culprit. If this is what happens when they butt into the activities of affiliated companies, I’m forced to say that sparing the budget for them provides no value.”

“Our job is not youkai suppression! The goal of the department was ultimately to combat individuals and communities.” The chief of security was calm, but he’d clearly been hit where it hurt as he turned the criticism to another. “The leak is the responsibility of R&D and general affairs, where the mole came from. That’s not our issue.”

“The HR department functionally controls general affairs, so HR also takes some responsibility for this blunder.” Black suit, blond hair, and the elite look of beauty applied to business. With his honey-colored hair and skin like plaster, the handsome young man who looked just like a living sculpture, the chief of human resources, sighed. “But to be frank, being that it wasn’t simple headhunting and business spying, but magical interference, brainwashing, and intelligence through use of familiars, it was beyond our capabilities to handle. Substitute Chief of Inspection and adviser, what do you think?”

“…Sowwy?”

“The substitute chief of inspection says this: we’re currently assiduously investigating the matter, all right?”

One of the seven departments, the seven highest intellects governing Beast Tech sitting around this round table—

She was a little silver girl, sitting daintily on top of the chief of inspection’s chair, and at her side, carrying in a folding chair to brazenly sit there, was the pseudo-dandy, the president of the subsidiary company Fantastic Sweeper, Narasaki.

“The chief of inspection takes responsibility for Tonics, including the Mythic and Phantasm, and responsibility for the external leak of the elixir, and is currently under house arrest. As representative, the Franken Babies control terminal Neru Hoozuki, and the external advisor Narasaki, will answer. There are two caster culprits from the bureau, one of whom has passed away in a fit of anger. The remaining individual is presently still in hiding,” he said.

“Passed away in a fit of anger…?” The chief of legal affairs must have felt something off about that wording, as she flipped through the device at hand, the digitized documents. “Your staff repelled the enemy attack in the earlier incident. Didn’t the suspect die?”

“Mythics, Phantasms, and youkai rarely do die. Often, they will become unable to hold their form, but in the case that they have deeply cursed someone right at the end, they may sometimes linger as energy.”

Like, for example, the “killing rock” of legend—the case where a nine-tailed fox that had disguised itself in the imperial court was being pursued by military forces, and so turned itself into a rock and emitted poisonous gas, cursing the land and polluting it.

“That was what ultimately became of the Mythic Beast in question, the Kaburo. We anticipate that the target of his posthumous energy, the curse, is not an employee of Beast Tech or subsidiary companies, equipment included, but an individual outside of the company.”

“In other words…what does this mean?” asked the chief of legal affairs.

“A falling-out among allies, I would say. A curse always comes to roost, so the brunt of the curse of his defeat will go back on the caster. The suspect in hiding, otherwise known as Kashin, will have been hit with the curse of his pawn, Kaburo.”

“So the culprit is dead?” The chief of security pressed.

“I wouldn’t hope for that much.” Narasaki prompted caution. “But, well, he shouldn’t be able to make any proactive moves for the time being.”

A stir ran around the big round table.

“So we can lift the special alert against the bureau’s meddling and terrorism?”

“I’d say that decision is your responsibility, as security. It’s just that the bureau is isolated from our world, so even if we have eliminated Kaburos and Kashin’s observations as their vanguard, more are bound to come, and we don’t know when that will be.”

“That’s a vague answer… This is why I can’t stand the occult!”

“I agree that it’s uncertain, and that we rely very heavily on one person. That’s why we lost to science and society.”

“Will both the chief of security and the external advisor calm down? Regardless, attacks from the outside are currently unlikely. So we should be rebuilding and reestablishing the Monster Tonic manufacturing system.”

What the sperm whale displayed on the device app implied was this:

The source of Beast Tech’s power was the sole method of suppressing the pandemic—the vaccine against the death curse. And the keystone in the production of Monster Tonic, their method of eradicating the curse, had been lost with the previous CEO’s death.

“Fortunately, this fact is not known outside of the seven departments, and the death of the CEO has caused only the typical confusion that would occur with an ordinary company. That’s a major part of why the stock prices stopped tumbling.”

“As the accounting department, I have a question for R&D. In the case that you continued with the current system using the elixir you currently have on hand, would it be possible to keep up with demand until the development of a substitute drug?”

“No. In the first place, the manufacturing method of the elixir was dependent on a single individual. At the stage before becoming the Monster Tonic, which we understand fully, production was entirely supplied by the previous CEO’s personal labor.”

In other words—

“The foundation for not only the products our company has developed all over Akitsushima, but also overseas, depended on the CEO’s artisan techniques. Development of a replacement product is lagging and not making progress.”

“Then the dissolution of our company…and bankruptcy is in sight,” said the chief of accounting, causing intense agitation. As the executives were all astir, just one—

“As per the former CEO’s will, we will be welcoming a proxy aide to the executive officers. Acknowledgment from the seven departments?”

“Narasaki… You, as an external advisor, would interject on the matter of executive personnel?”

“I recognize that it’s going beyond my authority, but I hope you understand that this will resolve all the confusion within the company.” Narasaki clapped his hands, and the person who had been waiting in an adjoining room walked in through the door.

“…A student?”

“It can’t be. That mask is…!”

Tap, tap—her school-designated loafers tapped on the hard floors.

The pure and upright look of her Akanebara Municipal High School girls’ uniform was disrupted by something intensely uncanny. She wore an eerie mask with a bird motif, the one the former CEO had always worn to prevent disease…the plague doctor mask.

“Is this really a meeting of executives? It looks like a cosplay competition.” The girl’s voice was slightly muffled through the mask.

“I agree,” said Narasaki, “but withhold your quips. They’re all very unique people, but they all work hard, all right?”

The clear ring of her voice made the executives frown.

“…She’s just a child—still a student. She’s the proxy aid to the executive officers?” the chief of security said, incredulous.

“Do understand that this is necessary personnel,” said Narasaki. “She is the successor to the previous CEO—the one person capable of producing the elixir, the raw material that is the base for Monster Tonic.”

“““……!!”””

Shock ran through the room once more. The first to recover was the chief of security, who had just spoken. “External advisor, is that true? False statements will make you subject to an in-house trial!”

“On my head, all the assets of our company, and everything else, it is the truth. As proof, I will send you the sample data of the elixir that she produced based on the former CEO’s recipe. Do check it over.” Narasaki looked to his side with an affected air, and Neru Hoozuki’s fingers slid on her tablet. She instantly sent the data to the devices of each executive, and their gazes focused on the chief of R&D, who was the specialist.

There were a few seconds of silence. In the water, the strange-looking sperm whale man appeared faintly lit from behind. The chief of R&D manipulated his gigantic waterproof tablet, befitting of his massive size, and said, “…If this data can be completely trusted, then it will resolve all our earlier problems.”

“Really?! But we couldn’t make that, even investing a national-level budget into our researchers and equipment!” the chief of security cried, his frustration, irritation, shock, and confusion all clear. “And you’re saying a high school girl cosplayer will make that happen?! Is that even possible?!”

“If you mean this mask, I’m just wearing it since it’s my uniform for this part-time job,” said Kei. “It’s not a hobby.”

“…A uniform. A part-time job? So is the mask your personal interest, external advisor?!”

“It is about thirty percent to my taste, but not the rest,” said Narasaki. “It’s to prevent all of you from the seven departments from trying to curry favor with her. I’d like you to understand that her background is, as a rule, private. Until she joins the company in the future and is appointed CEO, she will be in my custody as an advisor. In the meantime, the practical business of the administration department will be decided, as now, by the executive meeting, and executed by current staff. She will be prioritizing her studies and treating the manufacture of elixir as a part-time job.”

“You would have us entrust business that generates not only hundreds of millions, but trillions in profit to a high school girl part-timer?!”

“I think you’re too fixated on the ‘high school girl’ part, Chief of Security. Is that your…personal interest?”

“Absolutely not, how shameful!! Completely out of the question! Use some common sense!!” The muscular chief of security howled as he slammed the circular table with a fist.

But the reaction of the other executives was quieter.

“The department of legal affairs is in agreement with the former CEO’s will.”

“You’re being lenient with her since she’s also a woman…!”

“It’s not an issue of sex. Simply being able to produce the elixir qualifies her to participate in the management of this company. So long as R&D has no alternate plans, we have no other means.”

“…Wonderful.” Ecstasy. The sperm whale smiled with his eyes as if he were drunk. “If we suppose that this data is correct, then the new elixir is even purer than that of the previous CEO. The current production line works with product diluted a few million times, but with revision, I can promise a cost cut of up to thirty percent.”

“Can we take that to mean it can be as effective as before, even when further diluted?”

“Exactly so. The applications are numerous: composite Tonics, insectoid Tonics without the powerful side effects—which we’ve thus far thought to be technically impossible—and even new medical applications.”

“Then accounting is also in agreement. We can also accept keeping her background private to constrain those who would bring the future CEO into company politics. Most of all, we cannot ignore the financial benefits of the new elixir.” The chief of accounting flicked some abacus beads.

Then, a warm applause rang out in the room.

“I don’t think HR has room to oppose, either. I would like to immediately apply for patent rights for the new elixir, but do you mind whether it’s in her name or in the name of the company? I would like to set up a meeting to coordinate with our external advisor.”

“We can call it new, but the recipe is that of the former CEO. Think of it as having been shelved, since she was unable to produce it due to her health. Therefore, the patent rights are with our company…all right?” said Narasaki.

“Yes,” the masked high school girl agreed.

The recipe that would bring trillions in revenue. The patent for it would be so valuable as to defy imagination.

Heedless of the massive rights that were dangling in front of her eyes, she said, “I don’t have the time to waste claiming rights on something I didn’t make. I don’t need it.”

“As you can see, she’s still at a rebellious stage. She’s at the age where she wants to choose something more important than money.”

“Ohh?” The chief of HR asked with interest as he pushed back his blond hair. “Just asking out of curiosity…but what would you prioritize over trillions of yen per year in profit?”

“Freedom,” the high school girl in a mask instantly replied. “Not a life where I’m swallowed up by the title of CEO, and even lose my own name. I’m going to buy from you all the time I can to be myself. I think it’s a good deal.”

“…How awe-inspiring. That’s an even more idealistic and beautiful answer than I expected.” The chief of HR accepted that reply, raising a hand with a wry smile. “The HR department will also agree. I’ll assume the inspection department will also align with the external advisor, and the administration department is on pause. The remaining five departments aside from security—legal, R&D, accounting, and HR—are in agreement. Shall we move to a vote?”

“…!!” The chief of security made a face like he had swallowed something sour.

As he expressed his displeasure with his whole body, the remaining department chiefs held a vote. The tally was totaled on the monitor installed on the big round table, and announced in an AI voice.

“The vote for the next CEO, her appointment as proxy aide to executive officers, and her hiring contract has been approved by the majority, and has passed.

“The administration department and human resources will confer further on the matter of her employment conditions, pay, and other benefits.”

“Absurd…!”

The chief of security’s groans were in vain, as the executives all sitting there gave a solemn applause.

With the addition of new personnel in BT management—the mysterious masked high school girl—they welcomed a new order.

“The old man was glaring at me like crazy. I have my doubts about him.”

“The security department are Beastman soldiers—they were planned to advance overseas as military contractors applying Monster Tonic. I think he’s angry since we don’t know whether that will be approved under the new system,” said Narasaki. Secretary Neru was with him, at Kei’s side as she removed the sweaty mask with a gasp of relief.

It was after the executive meeting was over, on the highest floor of Beast Tech head office, on the administration management floor.

“I doubt this is going to be a very nice job. Is the chief of security an ambitious man?”

“Our country hardly gets any information from overseas, but I can understand why he would be interested. Even just the major regions of global conflict number in the hundreds, and many powers have resorted to violent methods to shrink the economic disparities between nations that were exacerbated by the pandemic, making the arrival of Beastman soldiers extremely useful.”

Beastpeople were simply hard to kill. Their hides were as thick as bulletproof vests. They healed so rapidly that just roughly sewing a torn limb back on would make it connect again. The infectious diseases and illnesses that came with war could be nullified, and their organs could digest and absorb spoiled food.

“Even if it’s not in the previous agreement, he will be showered with offers from various foreign nations. Well, he’s going to deal with some pestering from impatient clients for a while, so he’ll be quarreling with us in the future as well.”

“Their internal affairs are such a hassle.”

“I agree. But that’s the path you chose—your contract has come from HR, so check it over later. The pay is good, with compensation for special skills making it quite high.”

“How much?” Kei asked.

Neru Hoozuki cocked her head. “About a hundred times more than his exploitation office. Rather on the high side.”

“Is it that their pay is low, or that mine is high…? It’s hard to tell.”

Checking over the digital paper she’d be handed, Kei’s narrow brows furrowed.

“Donate half of it to my family…to the orphanage. Is that all right, as well as the procedure we discussed before?”

“The renovation and everything else are done. By the way, I’ve already made arrangements with a moving company, and it’s just about done.”

“Thank you. What should I call you, from now on…external advisor, or company president?”

“Either is fine. But could you not call me by my given name?”

“I see. Understood.”

“You’re unusually willing. It does make things faster, though.”

“I don’t mean to be so foolish or insensitive that I would insult something important to someone. And besides,” she added, “I heard there was a large donation to my home orphanage. Anonymously.”

“Was there? There must be some commendable philanthropist.”

“Don’t play stupid… You made that donation from the late CEO’s estate, didn’t you?”

“Don’t make me say it. Back in the day, that was the cooler thing to do. Using something like that to assert dominance on social media, saying, ‘I made a donation!’ is rather crass.”

The furniture the previous CEO had left behind was surprisingly plain. Aside from what was needed for business, and the valuable items filled with mysticality, everything was purchased at modest prices from ordinary mass-market retailers.

While picking up a cup from the cupboard without permission and unsealing a bottle of Western alcohol that had been decorating the cabinet, Narasaki sniffed the booze with a bored expression. “It’s money with no use anyway—she had no relatives, and even if it were left to the company, it would just turn into a slush fund. It would be better to use it to clean up after the banquet, wouldn’t it?”

“The procedures for the establishment of a foundation funded by the late CEO’s estate will conclude within one month,” the secretary, Neru, read out loud. Making use of her massive estate, the undertaking to be launched was—

“The relief and education of the unregistered children within the Masquerade, financial support to a volunteer organization with confirmed transparent finances, with additional investment into the subsidiary company Fantastic Sweeper. It’s done,” said Narasaki.

“I’m shocked,” said Kei. “You even made sure to take some cash for yourself.”

“It’s necessary funding—for garbage trucks, hiring, and raising the pay for cleaners. Even if Beastpeople don’t catch ordinary illnesses, there is a risk that they could carry it outside, so improving sanitation is essential.”

“Raise our pay. We protest,” said Neru.

“I’ll raise it, I’ll raise it, I’ll raise it, so stop kicking me in the butt. I’ll improve the animals’ remuneration as well. Well, it can’t change dramatically, but somewhat?”

With the secretary kicking his bottom, Narasaki took a lick of the spirits he had poured into a cup.

Looking up at this middle-aged man, Kei pointed out a fact that had been bothering her in a cold tone. “I planned to take the car from here. Stop drinking.”

“It’s self-driving, it’s fine. And it’s not far, it’s right close by.”

Sticking up his thumb, he indicated below.

The place that Narasaki pointed to was, like Beast Tech head office, in the same wealthy area—the district within a district.

Within the Kyoto Bubble, on the fourth floor of the ultra-high-class general meat building, Meat Heaven, a certain meeting was being held.

“Well then, in celebration of the establishment of a new company, cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers! ”

“““Cheeeeeeeeeeeers!”””

It was a private room from the courtesy coupon for stockholders at an ultra-expensive restaurant for the rich—the space was so big, the room itself could have been a restaurant.

It was covered with a red carpet with a magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling and glasswork fireworks. The engravings on the walls and pillars seemed to depict some kind of history, but all the commoners could get from it was “wow,” and seeing it inlaid with real-life gold and gems expressed the difference between this and the fakes at cheap karaoke places.

Women in qipao with slits high up the leg brought in food one plate after another. They were all carefully selected sexy Beastwomen with lingering signs of beauty on their faces, but the customers were no less beautiful.

“Wooow, I can’t believe they found a new owner to restart the business! ”

“What with tuition, student loans, and paying my debts… I thought, worst case, I’d have to get a sugar daddy. This really helps!”

“For you, Bevvy, for inviting us. And for the new owner, and the late owner! Let’s work hard! Wooooo!!”

The high school bunny girls let out a cheer. The three girls were the former staff of the girls’ bar Pink Press, which had been destroyed in the rag-wringer incident: American Sable, French Angora, and Persian Hare.

They were just as beautiful as the staff in qipao. With the excited girls around him, the large man leading the toast—a kangaroo man in a suit—sniffled back his overflowing tears. “It’s so true. Humanity and justice are still alive… This has made me think, wow, life is really something.”

“Talking like that again, Mr. Garoo?” said Mei. “It’s already the sixth time…”

“And I’ll say it again! I’ve fallen for your manly, chivalrous spirit, Mei. Do you get that?!”

“…No. I just did the obvious thing, so that’s kinda uncomfortable.”

One of the group of friends surrounding the table, Mei, was not taking Monster Tonic, and her meal was untouched.

“I just apologized by bowing my head on the floor since my friends caused you trouble, and asked for help since I was going to be rebuilding the place, that’s all. In fact, I caused you a lot of trouble, so I assumed you’d blame me for it.”

“That was the nice part: you recognized wrongdoing. You knew how heavy and scary that is.”

She was neither a fool who couldn’t understand she would be blamed, nor so naive that she didn’t know the weight of wrongdoing.

“You were prepared, and came straight to apologize to me. That emotion moved me so much…! You’ve got my support now. I’ll cheer you on with all I’ve got!”

“Thank you. But I don’t know anything about business. So I’ll pay you extra!” Raising her glass to show her determination, Mei said, “The fire cleanup will be done by the beginning of next week. Once the interior construction and renovation is done, I’ll reopen the business. I’ll make a business where you can work hard and make lots of money!”

“““Yaaaaaaay!”””

The high school bunny girls all got into the spirit and clinked their glasses.

But suddenly, one of them got a serious look. “But it’ll be real awful if it winds up like before… What do we do if something weird shows up?”

“Mr. Garoo will be running his host club as well, and we just don’t have enough male help. That’s kind of scary.”

“Don’t worry. We got you a bodyguard. Look, over there.” Mei jabbed her thumb over toward someone who was practically eating the table—

“This is sooooooooooooooo goooooooooooood!! The hell, is this actually meat?! For real?!” Getsu was truly moved as he devoured the meat.

“…It’s so soft. The fat is sweet. If this is the real thing, then what’s the meat we normally eat…?” Reiji was shocked by the kalbi he held in his chopsticks.

Their typical culinary habits were at the bottom of the barrel. This quality was so far and above their typical bargain goods—meat of a class that knew no ceiling, and so different from usual—it was like an alien encounter.

“It’s true this meat is really good…,” said Mei, “but eat some better stuff, you guys.”

“The only thing we can scrimp on, with our low pay, is food. We’ve opened the forbidden door…!”

“What do we do?! What do we do, Reiji?! If we eat this, starting tomorrow, we won’t be able to eat the big economy bags of super-cheap sausages anymore, will we?! But that’s mostly what we’ve been eating in our lunches…!”

“…Don’t say that. Right now, just eat, Getsu. We’ll think about tomorrow, tomorrow…!”

They were on the verge of tears now, practically crying. Their chopsticks never stopped jabbing at the meal as Reiji suddenly realized something. “Oh yeah, Mei. You’re not taking the Tonic? You want to fit into this district, right?”

“Of course I do. But Mythic Beast Tonic isn’t something you can take on the regular. And besides…”

Even with normal Monster Tonic, drinking it would fix just about anything wrong with your body.

But it was just a fleeting dream, one that only worked while the drug was in your system. It wouldn’t fix the fundamental problem. And plus—“If it’s too convenient, I’ll get used to it. I want to make sure I can’t forget that I’ve become like this, that this is how I am. I’m not going to the Olympics, I’m going to the Paralympics after all.”

“So you’re actually doing it… But you’re running a business, too! Will you have the time?” asked Getsu.

“Of course. There’s no question of whether I’ll do it or not. I’m doing it.” It was a done deal. Eliminating the time spent worrying about it, she just started going. “Once the bar gets on track, I’ll get more personnel and lighten my load. Then I should be able to get time for training… I plan to hire that couple once they get out of the hospital, but I’ll look for others.”

“You mean Beastpeople who can only live in this town?”

“You’re one word off. Not Beastpeople—people. It’s just different skin, and they’re just people.”

That was the view she’d learned from making contact with the Masquerade from the outside.

“This is just what I’m imagining in my head, but I think that’s what this district was made for. It’s the last safety net for people who have slipped through the cracks of public society, the controlled system, a place where those who are forced out can live.”

“A last chance…huh?”

A place where monsters could live like humans.

And a place where humans could turn into beasts.

“At the very least, we’re sincerely thankful to you, Mei. Since you gave us money,” said Reiji.

“You’re so nice and honest. What did you use it for, in the end?”

“Fixed the toilet. Repaired the bath. No rusty water coming out with hot water meant we can soak in hot, clean water. Also, the toilet clogging was fixed all at once.”

“We also got a Washlet! Those are amazing! They feel great!” Getsu crowed.

“And a fully automatic drum-style washing machine. Now we don’t have to suffer, hanging up laundry after staying up all night. And no more discomfort of half-dried clothes. Just that alone is enough to thank you for…!”

“The rest goes into our savings. It’s looking like we can manage tuition somehow, so it really puts me at ease! Really!”

It was so modest, such a minimal improvement.

“…That’s a really great way to use your money, but it feels like you just crawled up from rock bottom to the bottom of the barrel.”

“Shut up, I’m just glad to crawl up. That’s enough for us,” said Reiji.

So long as they had dreams.

So long as they had the dream where they could live like humans.

“We will obey you. We’ll do anything—be guard dogs, assassins, or cleaning guys,” said Reiji.

“What an admirable mindset. Well then, let’s have you work twenty days straight, starting next week!” Hearing that voice suddenly, there was a clap on Reiji’s shoulder, and his expression turned ghastly.

“…Where did you pop out of, Boss? I was in a good mood, and it’s all ruined now.”

“Speaking like that to your beloved boss! Is this a rebellious phase? When I came here to escort the princess?” said Narasaki, appearing nonchalant as he briskly disinfected his hands with alcohol. He immediately picked up some chopsticks, with no hesitation in the way he plucked at his food.

It made Reiji groan dejectedly. “Seeing that face while I eat suddenly makes the food taste not so good.”

“Your choice of words when addressing your boss has gotten even worse—and when I came with good news, too.” While tossing high-quality meat onto the roaster, he said, “I’m giving your family back. Neru and the others should be bringing him back right now.”

“What?!” Reiji looked toward the door as if he’d been struck. A girl in a uniform and a little girl in a business suit were coming in side by side through the door, escorted by a girl in a qipao.

“Kasumi…it seems like you can keep him at home,” Kei said.

“Ohh…Butt! Butt…!! You were safe?!”

The hamster was covered in sawdust, rattling around on his wheel. Reiji didn’t even look at Kei, who was carrying his cage. He was busy gazing intently at his family.

“He still has our connection as my familiar,” said Narasaki. “Since, to be frank, if I cut it, he’d die of old age.”

“…I am thankful for that, but I really don’t want you watching my private life.”

“I don’t want to see that, either. If I do happen to see it, I will laugh at you quite a lot, so in times like that, just put a cloth over the cage or something. You care for him yourself, and pay for his food as well, all right?”

“You’re being dubiously stingy.”

“This is why nobody loves you,” said Kei. “If I’m going to have someone just as nasty, Mei’s generosity makes her so much lovelier.”

“Isn’t it just that she’s won you over with money?” Narasaki mused. “What a utilitarian friendship.”

“Money shows sincerity. Though that’s not all, but it is important.”

As they were having that rather dubious conversation, Neru and Kei sat down at the table.

While they were talking, some restaurant staff did wind up taking the hamster cage—but this was the first time that the friends could sit down and see each other since the earlier incident had ended.

“Kakiba… Did you finish cleaning things up?” Reiji asked.

“Somehow. It took a lot of time, and I got help from Neru and President Narasaki, though.”

Cleaning up after the former CEO’s death had not been easy.

“Because, frankly speaking, she was worth more than you all.” While dipping his nicely fried meat into sauce with a sulky look on his face, Narasaki said, “Both the original werewolf and the Brocken are only valuable for their combat abilities. They’re effective for countering Phantasms and Mythic Beasts, but in terms of social value, the cocktail witch is far superior. Frankly, it’s in the trillions—trillions.”

“Seriously?” said Getsu.

“Even more than five hundred billion, into a trillion…? That’s literally on a different level, I can’t imagine,” said Reiji.

“It’s not money that I’m going to be getting, so you don’t have to imagine it. I did dispose of things properly,” said Kei.

How would Beast Tech and the chiefs who led the seven departments comport themselves in the future?

Kei didn’t know. For now, all she could do was put on a ridiculous mask, hide her identity to make Tonic, and follow the recipe to sell the raw material. Doing that, she was no more than the company trophy.

The future attempts to curry favor with her and lure her away…the secret feud of the seven departments had already begun.

“By the way—I heard that you got three million each from Mei?” said Narasaki.

“…I’m not giving it to you!” Getsu yipped. “It’s got nothing to do with the company! You can’t tell me now that you’re confiscating it!!”

“Give me that serious look and refuse all you like, it won’t do you any good, Getsu. Here.” As if it was incidental to eating yakiniku, Narasaki briskly handed over a piece of paper.

“Taxes on your income. Will be claimed next year. Put away some money,” the secretary, Neru, pointed out.

“…Ah!”

“Geh?!”

Both animals cringed. Tax—an obvious concept for humans.

Since there was nothing like that in the special district filled with illegal enterprise, they had completely forgotten.

“Wait, wait, wait, Neru! Do we pay taxes? We’re legally animals!” said Getsu.

“Throwing away your pride to avoid taxes! So stingy. We put money in your accounts, so you’re stuck.”

“Once cash is digitized, it becomes a matter of public record. It’s safer just to pay it rather than leaving some possible shortfall. Though it would have been safer to let me handle it as cash, or to stuff it into your drawer.”

“Because if we gave it to you, there’s the chance we wouldn’t get it back…!” said Reiji.

“But then leaving it in the apartment is scary, since it might be stolen. Damn it, taxes…! They actually take this much?! This isn’t enough! We won’t have enough for tuition! What do we do?!” They had taken a sharp turn from heaven to hell.

As the werewolf was turning pale, Kei said, “I’m struggling with tuition, too. Fortunately, it seems like I can cover it with the pay I receive from the company.”

“You’re a scholarship student, though,” said Getsu. “Isn’t tuition, rent, living expenses, and everything else, free?”

“I stopped all that because it was cheating. I felt that since I was breaking school rules to visit bad places, and doing an illegal side job, I wasn’t qualified to receive public support.”

“I feel like it’d be fine so long as you just didn’t get found out, though,” said Narasaki. “Kids these days are worried about such petty things.”

“The people of the older generation like you were too unconcerned about it. Cheating isn’t good; that’s all.”

She was going from receiving special treatment while holding a secret, back to being a normal student.

And in order to repay the support and scholarship money she had received thus far—

“It seems I’ll have to prioritize making money here somewhat for a while. It’ll be a bit rough.”

“You mean working more hours, right? Well, you’ll be fine. You’re smart,” Mei said, unconcerned.

“I’m sure I can manage somehow with my grades, but commuting takes time, so I’ve decided to move. It was a pain to commute from my old rental to Natsukibara, and it cost train money and time,” Kei replied.

After letting that go in one ear and out the other, suddenly Reiji realized something. “Wait. That doesn’t mean…you plan to move to this district?”

“You’re surprisingly quick on the uptake, Kasumi. I’ve already made the arrangements, and she’s to be in the next room over in the same building.”

“…What?!” So startled he cried out, Reiji’s hand on his chopsticks froze as he shot Narasaki a glare. “So this was your work, Boss…?! That ratty old apartment is a terrible, unsafe environment. Having a certified beauty like Kakiba live there is practically scattering bait to stalkers and perverts…!”

“Could you stop casually complimenting me like that? It feels honest, and it’s embarrassing.”

“I am being honest, and you are a first-rate beauty. You’re crazy pretty, and the perverts will all come running. Be prepared.”

“…Don’t say something so obscene. It’s sexual harassment,” Kei said, turning her head away.

“Is it?!” Unaware, Reiji was aghast, shocked, and trembling at her words.

“I put her beside you two so you’ll protect her. We’ll be strengthening security, spiritual defenses included, so from now on, work on your neighborly spirit. By the way, rent and the rest will also be going up, mmkay?”

“…That’s a hell of a thing to say—and using an annoying, old-fashioned expression for it, too!” Getsu cried.

“How much—how much are you raising it?” Reiji asked. “But you’re already subtracting condo fees and management fees and the reserve deposit…!”

“It’s all necessary money. Thus far, I’ve been taking the burden on myself out of the kindness of my heart, but if I’m to treat you as ordinary people, then from now on I’m going to be taking ordinary payments. An ordinary life costs money.”

“But I thought we’d become rich…!” Reiji cried.

“It was an instant. A brief dream. This is so hard, when our pay has hardly been raised at all…!” Getsu moaned.

The Specials’ shoulders slumped. Reiji was particularly bitter about it. “…Kakiba. Frankly, it’s no decent place to live. You shouldn’t move there.”

“Just so you know, I’ll say this now—since we’re going to be neighbors,” Kei added quietly, and then she gave the boys a sharp look. “I think the idea that women should be protected is a prejudiced stereotype.”

“What…? You’ve completely changed the subject. What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you say that on the phone? That you’d protect me.”

“…Yes.”

Hearing that, he finally remembered. He had the feeling she’d said something like that.

Tracing back his vague memories and wondering why she was bringing that up now, he asked, “What does that have to do with this? I don’t get it at all.”

“It has everything to do with it. I don’t want to be protected—I want to do the protecting.”

“…Who?”

“You. My friends. And…” Kei looked all around.

Getsu and Mei had food in one hand as they watched. The kangaroo man and the high school bunny girls were enjoying themselves, Narasaki was calling for a server in a qipao and ordering expensive sake while Neru was measuring the cooking of the meat down to fractions of seconds.

As if to embrace all these people she had come to know in the Masquerade, and had chosen to spend time with, she said,

“…This trash heap of a town, where many nice people live. That’s why I’m moving here.”

She said it flatly, leaving no room for argument.

“…Will you let us help you with the move? At least.”

“I asked President Narasaki, and movers are bringing in my luggage. Could you just help me with unpacking things?”

“Roger… Private items are outside of my specialty, and cardboard boxes are recyclable, but they basically never pick them up in this place. It’s faster to get a bicycle trailer and take it yourself to the depot.”

“As expected of a trash man, you’re informed. Once I’m done, I will treat you to some fruit tart, just as I promised.”

“The fruit tart cake set. Don’t forget.”

After having that conversation, they both chuckled in exasperation.

Both reaching out at the same time, they bumped fists.

The district of Beastpeople, Natsukibara—the Masquerade.

The banquet to add a new resident to the government-designated slum in this ultra-controlled society, this paradise of misfits, passed—

Brilliantly, and enjoyably, with ephemeral smiles.

“Sorry for the wait, guys! Let’s go, go.”

“Okey dokey. Was the new café around here?”

“Yeah, yeah! The one people are saying has huge portions, with really pretty super-large parfaits!”

Girls who had met up at the entrance of Natsukibara, the gateway to the special district, all huddled together.

Their uniforms were worn casually, in gal-style fashion. They were doing a good job of hiding it, but they were students of Akanebara Municipal High School, having taken Monster Tonic to turn into Beastgirls, and they were also wearing masks to hide their faces.

“Yumi, you’re a sheep today? That actually kinda suits you.”

“Eh-heh-heh, right, right…? Wait, don’t say my name, we’ve got to use fake names here.”

“Oh yeah, oh yeah. So I’ll be Hiromi. And you’ll be Yuka.”

“That’s just one character different…and what’re you? A horse? A donkey?”

“An okapi… This sucks. Look, my thighs are all stripey.”

When she flipped up the hem of her skirt, there was a zebra pattern on the fine fur that covered her thick thighs.

As male gazes caught by the allure were giving her lascivious looks, the girls hooked arms with each other, sticking close, as if they were on a date as they walked to the café that was their goal.

“This area isn’t much different from the outside. I thought there’d be, like, people shooting guns at random.”

“That kind of thing only happens sometimes. Since normal people come to this part, too.”

“I wonder if, like, Mezuki and, like, the honor student and stuff, the ones who hang out with the transfer students people are talking about, if they’ve, like, you know? Gone to the deeper sort of areas. And then…had lots of sex there?!”

“I dunno about any of that. Who cares about what other people are doing in the bedroom?”

“Hiroko…I mean, Hiromi, this is why people call you a boy. Even though you’re sexy.”

“You’re too interested. You’re a master freak.”

“I’m not! I’m normal! …Whoops, I’m sorry…!”

When a passerby lightly bumped into Yuka’s shoulder as she was walking along, linking arms with her friends—

“Oh no, don’t worry! You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Yeep!”

Yuka apologized reflexively, but it was cut off.

The figure strolling along wore a black kimono and a black mask, a very suspicious-looking individual even in this part of town. But the real reason that Yuka was frightened was far beyond his suspicious and old-fashioned manner.

His voice was so clear and pretty. If not for the suspicious stagehand costume, just that alone would feel ominous—and the source of that elegant-sounding voice, his throat, had something wrapped around it…a red arm.

“Oh my, miss. So you’re the type who can ‘see.’ ”

“Yeep…huh? Ah, yes. Um, that’s…scary… What…?!”

“Ha-ha-ha, don’t worry about it. I made a little blunder, and was cursed when I betrayed a friend. He’s looking for the opportunity to break my neck whenever he has the chance. Oh dear.”

“…I have no idea what you’re talking about, and that’s not funny, seriously!!”

On the stagehand’s back, as if he were being carried on his shoulders, was a burned warty toad, its skin peeling off. His cloudy eyeballs were as big as baseballs, goggling and wiggling around, groping the stagehand’s windpipe with the suction cups on his hands as he looked for the opportunity to bare his fangs. It was no dying frog, but a kappa—the ghost of one.

“What’s the matter, Yuka? There’s nobody there.” Hiromi shook her head quizzically.

“Huh? There is, right here. What’re you talking about?! A person with a zombie sort of thing on his back!”

Hiromi looked around the area in a deliberate way. “…There really isn’t anyone here, though?”

“Huh?”

She wasn’t teasing her friend. She purely, truly, couldn’t see.

“Ha-ha-ha! Just as you see.” The man laughed teasingly, and even did a nice pose with a sideways peace sign.

“Look, he’s right there! A sideways peace! He’s right there, making a peace sign!!”

“No, there’s nothing there, for real… I’d obviously know if there were a funny guy like that there.”

He blocked their perception, walking through the city without his presence being noticed. With the curse on his back, the man in black gazed at the girl clinging to her friend as he bowed his head with a facetious gesture. “Miss, then I will take my leave here. This is a city of demons, so take care not to stray from the main path… If I see you on a shadowy street corner, then I shall invite you to a pleasing game.”

“…Huh? If it’s sex-related, then absolutely not! I have someone I like!”

“My oh my, too bad, so I’ve been rebuffed. Worry not, I would care for our child.” Wandering past the girls, the stagehand leisurely walked off.

As Yuka was dazedly watching him go, Hiromi grabbed her arm hard and asked, “…What’re you doing, standing there all by yourself ?”

“A ghost! There was definitely a ghost just now! Old…or young? I dunno, a guy in black with a zombie on his back, with a handsome voice! Kinda my type!”

“Ahh.” With an annoyed look on her face, Hiromi said, “If you’re hallucinating, then just say so… Did the Tonic hit you weird?”

“That’s not it! Believe me, come on!”

The girls chattered loudly away with each other.

While leisurely walking away from their conversation, the stagehand—the Devotee of the Seven Treasures, Kashinkoji—touched his own wounded and cursed body, smiling at the remnants of regret that whispered curses in his ear.

“Damn you…Kashin…!! You tricked me… Curse you, curse you…!!”

“Very good, very good, do resent me. Curses come to all curse-casters—in fact, this is nostalgic.”

While smiling happily, Kashin looked up at the city.

Far in the distance, beyond the sparkling night sky, the central pillar of the city of demons soared up—the BT headquarters building, the majesty of the iron flower.

“Now then. What shall I do next?”

While the ancient karma had come to an end, the curse had not.

Deeper, thicker, whirling around—it spread into the depths of the city.