The Place We Arrived At
“Based on the direction, it should be this way. If we follow the road, I’d say it’s about a ten-minute walk.”
After getting off three stops past the station near our high school, Riena takes the lead—peering into that familiar crystal and guiding us toward the resting place of Demon King Kanan’s soul, stepping in for me since I’m weak in detection techniques.
“You really are amazing, Riena—so dependable.”
“Supporting the Hero is my duty, after all. Now, please follow me.”
Riena makes it all look so effortless, but this, too, is an extremely advanced technique. I can’t make heads or tails of how it works.
From what I can tell, she’s reading distance and direction from all sorts of shifting indicators.
(She really is a genius—became the youngest High Priest in history, and it’s honestly no exaggeration.)
We exited the station through the north gate and started heading north along the road.
Before long, a newly developed residential area came into view, lined with relatively modern-looking houses.
“…”
But the closer we got to our destination—
The more an unshakable sense of dread welled up inside me, swelling until it was almost too much to bear.
My instincts—honed from countless brushes with death as a Hero—were now screaming, warning me with deafening clarity.
“What’s wrong, Hero-sama? You’ve gone awfully quiet. Could it be you’re feeling a little nervous about facing Demon King Kanan again? I bought some really tasty candy—want one? Doing something else might help calm your nerves!”
Riena asks, clearly trying to be considerate.
Offering candy like that—she was starting to sound a bit like one of those Osaka aunties.
“This is Hasumin’s house.”
“Eh? Oh—mint flavor? I bought a mixed bag… I wonder if mint was in there?”
“No, I’m not talking about the candy. Hasumin’s house is just up ahead.”
According to Nitta-san, Hasumin’s address was in a residential neighborhood you reach by getting off three stations from our high school, exiting the north gate, and heading straight along the road for ten minutes—exactly where we are now.
“Hasumin-san… wasn’t she the classmate you’re, well… intimately involved with?”
“That’s not exactly how I’d put it, but… more or less, yeah.”
There’s no real need to spell it out again, but for the record—Hasumin and I haven’t reached that kind of relationship yet.
Over the past week, I’ve had plenty of chances to talk things over with Riena. I thought I’d made that clear.
…Well, that’s not really the issue right now.
“…You think it’s just coincidence she happens to live near here?”
“Thing is, Hasumin’s been absent from school for the past week—ever since the day I reunited with you, Riena.”
“That’s… a little too coincidental, don’t you think?”
“Exactly. And my instincts as a Hero—are absolutely lighting up with warning signals.”
“That’s the Hero skill known for sensing danger through sheer intuition—[Vision], right? —Ah!”
Riena’s face suddenly tensed.
“What’s wrong, Riena? —Wait, is this… is this Demon King Kanan’s presence?!”
I asked, but even as the words left my mouth, I, too, realized what she had sensed—just a moment behind her.
“So you felt it too, Hero-sama?”
“Yeah, I did. There’s no mistaking it. That bone-deep chill, that monstrous, malevolent aura—I’d know it anywhere.”
“It’s hidden well, cloaked with great care—but a presence that powerful can’t be fully suppressed once you get this close. Not when it’s on the level of a Demon King.”
“Which means… they’ve probably sensed us as well.”
I felt it—a faint brush, like a veil barely grazing against me, as though something was probing my presence.
“Your holy power is the pinnacle of sanctity, Hero-sama. It’s not exactly something that can stay hidden either.”
“Looks like there’s no avoiding a fight this time.”
Ahead of us, a single house came into view, right at the heart of that ominous presence.
It looked completely ordinary, indistinguishable from any other house—but the fact that Demon King Kanan was inside could no longer be denied.
The aura wasn’t even trying to hide anymore—its darkness swelling, growing stronger by the second.
Then I saw the name on the gateplate. I didn’t show it on my face, but inside, I was screaming.
The name etched into the metal was “Hasumi.”
This was—without a doubt—Hasumin’s house.