Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Jin’s POV
   At the next day, Jin was half-expecting Tengu to dive inside his dream again, but nope. The former emperor didn’t show up this time.

   When Jin arrives at the classroom, he notices that Wakaba is keep on sneaking glances at him.

   “She knows, doesn’t she?” he asks Estyshana through telepathy.

   “...Sorry, she sort of figured it out when I told her the truth last night. ” the demon confirms.

   “Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.”

   “Say, I plan to tell Watanabe about my real identity too. Do you think it’s a good idea?”

   “I’m not sure. She’s friendly enough, but I don’t know how will she react when she finds out that you’re a demon.” he replies hesitantly. “Have you talked it over with Wakaba?”

   “Chifuyu assured me that Watanabe will accept me for who I am.”

   “In that case, I guess you can go ahead.”

   “...Okay.”

   Jin sees Estyshana takes a deep breath. She then walks over to where Watanabe is sitting.

   “Good morning Watanabe.” she tells her.

   “Good morning, Esty-chan!” the girls greets back energetically.

   Esty takes another deep breath.

   “I, um, I have something to tell you later. When we’re having lunch, to be exact.”

   “Are you going to share a secret with me?” Watanabe asks with sparkling eyes.

   “That’s right.”

   “In that case, let’s talk about it right now!”

   “...Right now?”

   “Exactly! Why wait?”

   “Because we have class soon?”

   “I’m sure we can get this done before the teacher arrives. Now come on, I know a good secret spot!”

   “Um, okay.”

   With that, Estyshana was dragged outside the classroom by Watanabe. Jin uses this opportunity to go to Wakaba.

   “Morning, Wakaba.” he greets.

   “Good morning, Minase-kun.”

   “So, Von Mantus told you everything last night, huh?”

   “Yes, but she didn’t really told me about you. I just managed to figure it out on my own, so please don’t blame her for it.” she assures him.

   “No worries. No secret can be kept forever, after all.”

   “Well, now that I know about your secret identity, please allow me to use this chance to thank you.”

   He raises his eyebrow.

   “Thank me? For what?”

   “For what you’ve been doing for far. Saving the people from the monsters, helping out my sister, all these things.”

   “You don’t really have to thank me . I’m doing it because I’m getting paid.”

   “Still, I felt that I owe you a thanks.”

   Estyshana and Watanabe came back right before the bell rings. And the two of them are linking arms. Estyshana has an absolute look of relief, while Watanabe looks completely unfazed.

   “We’re back~!” Watanabe announces to Jin and Wakaba cheerfully.

   “Welcome back. So, how did things go?” Wakaba asks Watanabe rather hesitantly.

   “It was awesome. Esty-chan told me lots of things. Or tried to. We didn’t really had much time, so she just told me about her, ahem, origins and her real hometown.”

   “And, what are your opinions on them?”

   “I’m totally cool with it. Rather, I’m happy that Esty-chan trusts me enough to tell me her secret. Now we’ve become really close friends. Right, Esty-chan?”

   “Yup! We’re besties now, Anri!”

   Wow. Her smile right now can melt the entire Antarctica.

   Wakaba lets out a sigh of relief.

   “Aren’t you glad, Esty?” she says to Estyshana.

   “Wait a minute. Does that mean that you know too?” Watanabe asks.

   “I’m sorry, Anri. I told Chifuyu and the rest of the Wakaba family first.” Estyshana says to her new best friend apologetically.

   “Well, I guess it makes sense. They had been taking care of you, after all.”

   Watanabe looks at Jin smugly.

   “I know something about Esty-chan that you don’t, Minase-kun. Are you jealous?” she asks him.

   “No. Not one bit.”

   Besides, he knows that so-called secret way before she did.

   “Hey, are you sure you told her that you’re a demon?” Jin couldn’t help but ask Estyshana with telepathy.

   “Of course I’m sure. I even showed her my horns and tail. Rather than being scared, she got super excited.”

   “I guess she’s too much of an idiot to be scared.”

   “We promised that we’ll be having a sleepover at Chifuyu’s house tonight. She’s going to tell me the rest of the story. Are you jealous now?” Watanabe continues to taunt him.

   “Like I said, no. Besides, why would I be jealous?”

   “Because I get to spend the whole night with Esty-chan?”

   “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

   “What?”

   He gestures towards Wakaba.

   “Meet Wakaba Chifuyu, your mentor from hell of the night.” he introduces. “She’s going to make sure that you get at least one month worth of knowledge cramped into that tiny head of yours in a single night.”

   Watanabe goes pale at once. She slowly looks at Wakaba who smiles angelically at her.

   “I didn’t know that you’re this diligent, Anri. We’ll be covering so much for the exams tonight.”

   Watanabe starts to tremble violently. She immediately hides behind Estyshana.

   “Help me, Esty-chan!” she pleads.

   “Do you think my situation is any better? I have to face her everyday, you know?”

   “Wah, I’m sorry for being mean to you just now Minase-kun! Get me out of this predicament!”

   “Nope. This has nothing to do with me, so I’ll be staying out of it.”

   In the end, the shenanigan was cut off as the teacher has entered the classroom.

   The lesson right before lunch is PE. The weather is getting cold, so everyone is stuck inside the gymnasium. The girls are playing volleyball, while the boys are supposed to play basketball. Not everyone can play at the same time, which is why they’re to take turns, play for a few minutes, and then give away their spot to others who have yet to play. Jin has yet to play, so he’s sitting on the ground while leaning against the wall.

   He doesn’t feel like playing at all. Naturally, it’s not that he doesn’t have the stamina. Rather, it’s because basketball involves teamwork, and he especially hates games which involve playing alongside others.

   After watching two games, the phone that should not be inside his shorts pocket vibrates. He might be receiving a request to sortie anytime, which is why he’s keeping his phone close to him, even if it means violating the school rule.

   He looks toward Daigo-sensei the PE teacher. He’s engrossed with the basketball game since one of the team consists of only members of the basketball club, and the other team is being thrashed really badly.

   “COME ON, DON’T LOSE TO THE BASKETBALL CLUB MEMBERS! SHOW YOUR SPIRIT AND WIN THIS!” he shouts.

   Slowly and carefully, Jin heads to the exit and opens the door softly. Once he has enough space to squeeze through, he passes through the door and heads outside. He makes his way to a secluded spot and answers the phone which, by the way, has not stop vibrating until now.

   “How may I help you, Sergeant Wakaba?” he asks.

   “My apologies for calling you when it’s the middle of school hours. However, we need you at the sewage treatment plant near the Ariake Station.”

   “Roger that. I’ll head over right now.”

   “Many thanks.”

   Even though Jin said he’s going, he’s still sending his clone. For one thing, he’s in the middle of a class. Besides, since Sergeant Wakaba didn’t sound urgent, it’s probably no big deal. No need for him to head there himself.

   While his clone is heading to Ariake, he slowly makes his way back to the gymnasium. He was so stealthy no one saw him leave-

   “Where did you go?” Estyshana asks telepathically.

   Except the annoying demon. Currently, she’s sitting together with Ayumi. Watanabe and Wakaba are at the court playing against each other.

   “Out to receive a phone call.” he replies with his mind.

   “Hold on, we’re not allowed to have our phone during PE. The school rule said so!”

   “It was work.” he says in a matter-of-fact way.

   She narrows her eyes and smiles mischievously.

   “I wonder what would happen if I tell our teacher about it?”

   He shrugs. “Go ahead. I’ll be able to take it back using Vault, anyway.”

   He goes to the same spot just now and sits down again. Hopefully, his turn will not come for a long time. Even better, the class will end without him ever playing.

   “On a more serious note, was that Chinatsu who called you?”

   “What about it?”

   “Please protect her.”

   “Don’t worry, I most definitely will. Now stop talking to me, I need to concentrate.”

   “Okay.”

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   As they’re talking, Jin’s clone has finally reached Ariake. He looks around since he’s not familiar with this area. After a few moment, he spotted the train station. From there, he makes the clone fly around some more before finally being able to find the treatment plant. He also sees Sergeant Wakaba standing all by herself at the entrance, so me makes the clone land there.

   “Thank you for coming on such short notice again.” she greets.

   “No problem. So, what exactly is the problem?”

   “We have to head to the underground first. While we’re there, may we talk for a bit?”

   “Of course.”

   “How is she?” she begins as they walk together.

   “A numbskull as usual. She told Watanabe about her true identity this morning.”

   Sergeant Wakaba raises her eyebrow in surprise.

   “She did? How unexpected. How did Anri-san take it?”

   “As good as you might have expected. She wasn’t bothered at all.”

   “Not to be rude to Anri-san, but she’s a bit lacking when it comes to the fear department.”

   “True. Still, that became a good thing in this case. On a separate note, I would like to apologize for hiding her true nature for so long.”

   “No worries. You probably had your own reason. And it’s not like things went badly.”

   “I’m glad that you’re so understanding.”

   The two of them enter a two storey building. Sergeant Wakaba then brings the clone to an elevator.

   “Going down?” he predicts.

   “That’s right. A group of workers were sent down there this morning to do the usual maintenance. And then, well…”

   “What did they find?”

   “You’ll find out soon enough.” she says mysteriously.

   This is the first time Jin ever visits a plant that purifies sewage water, so he didn’t know what to expect. The moment they got out of the elevator, he finds the clone inside an underground tunnel. There’s a really long path meant for water to flow through, and two wide walkways at both sides for people to walk on. Right now, the water is completely still.

   Wordlessly, Jin makes the clone follows Sergeant Wakaba while being right behind her. Eventually, the two of them reach a place where there’s a much smaller tunnel with multiple metallic staircases.

   Through the eyes of the clone, Jin notices Sergeant Wakaba wrinkling her nose. As linking the sense of smell with a clone is impossible, Jin has no idea why she’s reacting that way. That is, until he sees the scenery in front of him after walking a bit more.

   Corpses. There are lots of corpses. Jin made the explanation really brief in order to make the scene less gory. There are also multiple barricade tapes like what he saw in the television. A few police officers are here as well, some familiar, others are new. Date is not here once again, for reasons unknown.

   Captain Yamasaki is the first one who notices the clone and Sergeant Wakaba approaching. He salutes respectfully at the clone.

   “Thank you for showing up, Silver Wolf!” he greets.

   “There’s no need to be so formal, Captain.” Jin tells him.

   “Pardon me, this is how I usually act.”

   “I see. More importantly, what happened here?”

   “According to the forensic team, someone, or something, has murdered these humanoid creatures and devoured them.” he reports.

   “He, she or it has bad table manners.” Jin notes drily while observing the state of the corpses.

   “Indeed. A few workers were traumatized after seeing, well, this. Speaking of which, is Date still resting his stomach, Wakaba?”

   “Yes, captain.”

   The Captain lets out a sigh.

   “That one will remain a greenhorn for a while.” he mutters.

   Jin stares at the corpses some more. From the size and skin color of them, they were most likely to be orcs. Fours pairs of legs means they were eight of them. Their equipments are simple: leather and bronze armors, swords, mace, battle axes.

   He sees some footprints made of blood leading away from the corpses. Five toes and human sized. A ghoul, perhaps? Wait, that can’t be right. Ghouls prefer to eat corpses, not living things. Besides, a single ghoul can’t win against eight armed and armored orcs. He activates the Eye of Truth next. Not a single trace of mana is detected. Whatever this creature is, it doesn’t store mana inside its body.

   “Can you come over here, Silver Wolf? There’s something I need you to see.” one of the officer requests.

   “Of course.”

   The officer bring Jin’s attention to a particular pair of the footprints. Both of them are slightly bigger than the others. The next pair of footprints, however, are the same sized as the rest.

   “...Did this creature or whatever grow the size of its feet for a second?” Jin asks.

   “It did. Do you know of any shape-shifter that may be able to do this?”

   “I do, but I very much doubt that it’s a shape-shifter.”

   “Why is that?”

   “I’ve fought a few shape-shifters before like doppelgangers. To make sure that their true identity are not found out, they tend to be extremely cautious with their actions. They prefer to lay low and complete their mission without drawing attention to themselves. But this? This totally alerted us.”

   “Perhaps this creature was really cornered.” Captain Yamasaki suggests.

   Jin furrows his eyebrows.

   “Maybe. Was its trails cut off?”

   “Yes. It stopped after it dived into the water.”

   “A shame-”

   “NICE GAME, ALL OF YOU! YOU CAN GO AND REST NOW! CHANGE OF PLAYERS! FOR TEAM A, let’s see…TAKAGAWA, INOUE, KAZAMA, OOYAMA, AND MINASE!”

   Oh, drat.

   “Pardon me. I need to zone out for a moment.” Jin tells the officers.

   “Did something happen?” Sergeant Wakaba asks.

   “You can say that. Please don’t break my concentration until I say so.”

   Back at the gymnasium, Jin slowly gets up. He notices that Daigo-sensei is staring at him. Nice timing. He immediately acted like he’s about to faint. The teacher comes right over.

   “What’s wrong, Minase?” he asks with a worried tone.

   “I, um, my head is spinning. I think it’s because I skipped my breakfast.” Jin replies while feigning weakness.

   “You shouldn’t have done that! Here, let me give you a piggyback to the infirmary!”

   “Thank you, sensei…”

   Since the last nurse just retired last week and her replacement wasn’t found yet, there’s no one at the infirmary to call Jin out on his lie. Due to this stoke of good fortune, Jin gets to skip the PE class entirely.

   Now that the distraction is gone, he could concentrate on the case again.

   “Pardon me for my temporal zone out.” he tells the officers through the mouth of his clone.

   “What was that about?” Sergeant Wakaba asks.

   “I got called by my PE teacher. I had to think fast so that I didn’t have to take part in any exercising that might distract me.”

   “Ah.”

   The others have no idea on what they’re talking about, but didn’t press for the matter.

   “By the way, how old are the corpses?” Jin asks the (probably) forensic officer.

   “Based on their condition, at least two days.”

   “So the perpetrator is almost impossible to be found.” Jin mutters.

   “Isn’t there any spell you can use to help us?” Sergeant Wakaba asks.

   “I’m afraid not. I did learn a tracking spell, but I actually have to know what the creature looks like.”

   He pauses.

   “Her, on the other hand, might know something. I’ll go ask her and report to you later.”

   “Understood. For now, I guess you can go back to your class.”

   With that, he’s dismissed for now. Sergeant Wakaba told him to go back to his class, but he has zero intention of doing so. He plans to lie down on the bed until the bell rings, and that’s exactly what he did.

   While he’s napping, he remembered that he has things to ask his teammates, so he took out his phone and wrote a message in the LINE group that Ayumi created.

   “Got something to discuss with all of you. Let’s meet up at Ichihara’s place after school.” he wrote.

   As he has expected, there was no immediate reply since everyone else are still at class.

   He got up and left the infirmary the moment the bell rang. He made sure to watch out for Daigo-sensei in case he caught Jin being perfectly fine all of a sudden. He made his way to the changing room and changed back into his regular uniform. With that done, he goes back to his classroom and starts eating his lunch. A few minutes later, more and more of his classmates arrive at the classroom. Wakaba and Watanabe are surprised to see Jin so healthy.

   “Looks like someone skipped out on the class when he’s not supposed to.” Watanabe smirks evilly.

   He shrugs. “You got me.”

   “I wonder what should I do here? Should I tell Daigo-sensei since it’s the right thing to do? What do you think, Esty-chan?”

   “We totally should, Anri.” Estyshana agrees while also smiling like an evil villain.

   “Come on you two, leave him alone! I’m sure that he has his reasons!” Wakaba chides.

   “Oh, there she goes again!”

   “Mama mode activated.”

   “Stop calling me mother!”

   “Thanks, Wakaba.” Jin says to Wakaba.

   “You’re welcome, Minase-kun. You probably, um, had something going on.” she tell him while really choosing her words.

   Watanabe raises her eyebrow.

   “What’s that supposed to mean?”

   “It’s nothing.”

   “Yup. Nothing at all.”

   Thankfully, Watanabe was too hungry to ask any further. By the time she was full, she has already forgotten about it. The rest of the afternoon went by without any special incident, and it was the end of school hours in the blink of an eye.

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