The Ninth Region (Yesod)
Hibiki gently touched the gate and whispered.
“Connection, code Astral Dress. Authentication starting ? Information/Encryption key request ? standby for wavelength assimilation.”
Hibiki’s arm sank into the gate.
“Hi, Hibiki-san?”
“Please be a bit quieter.”
“Ah, yes.”
From the indescribable intensity, Kurumi couldn’t help but refrain from speaking.
“Wavelength coefficient conversion, NZ 1845. 003. 926. 335. 01……”
Crackling, the sound of an electric shock resounded. Kurumi felt her hand sore from Hibiki tightening her grip.
Therefore, Kurumi knew Hibiki was in the middle of resisting with great difficulty the anguish as well. The sweat flowing from her forehead was not from exercise, but from a sign of pain.
“Hibiki-san!”
Even though Kurumi shouted her name, Hibiki didn’t respond as she continued to whisper without emotion in her voice.
“Three……certification, coherence setting is complete! Erosion is 32%, transmission accuracy is 83%! Well, let’s go Kurumi-san! Listen, there’s only a single moment to pass through the door.
If not done properly, you could merge into the door! Let’s charge throooooooough!”
The gate never opened. However, Hibiki still vigorously took a step forward. Her body passed through the door as her footsteps didn’t cease.
And finally, with it firmly clasped, Kurumi’s hand also slipped through the gate.
“Hiyah!?”
Kurumi screamed in horror as she almost stopped moving, but then she immediately recalled what Hibiki had said earlier.
You could merge into the door.
How could one reach such a bizarre situation? While pondering that over, Kurumi dived into the door without fear of collision.
The touch of the door felt like water.
Her eyes were dazzled by a flood of light as rainbow grains of light swirled and rotated around Kurumi’s surroundings, transforming into droplets that splashed incessantly onto Kurumi.
“Now, let’s hurry!”
As Hibiki and Kurumi held hands, they raced through across the .
The road was made of the same material as the gate just now, but curiously they didn’t slip through it.
“Hm, why, so, necessarily, in a, hurry?”
“Yes, it’s because, you want, to see him, right?”
Hearing those words, Kurumi grasped her dream tightly once again.
“That’s right!”
“Then, hurry up! There’s no time to lose!”
Being pulled by her words, Kurumi rushed forward.
“Don’t run before me.”
Hearing the strong competitive spirit in those words, Hibiki lightly smiled.
Well, after reaching about 200 meters, both of them were nearing their limits.
“A, a little……I overdid it rushing……”
“Yes……ah……”
In the Neighboring World, each action will consume reiryoku. Unlike the other world, the Neighboring World was full of reiryoku, so it would never truly run out. But on the other hand, it would take some time to recover once consumed.
In other words, stamina also played a pivotal role in the Neighboring World.
“But thanks to that, it’s coming soon. Look up ahead.”
The gate to the Ninth Region was within sight.
“Un, would the same thing need to be repeated the next time around?”
“No, since you have already successfully logged in, this route can be bypassed next time.”
Listening to those words, Kurumi issued out a sigh of relief……but then unease creeped into her heart.
“That’s right, what was that babbling nonsense Hibiki-san was saying before?
“Mogen. What is that supposed to mean?” (Hibiki is confused about Kurumi choice of word ?? (mogen) here and asks about it hiragana ???? (mogen)
“It’s not a greeting. It’s……um what you said about being an idol.”
Kurumi fancied that she misunderstood this or those words were simply misspoken. No matter whatever the case, having to become an idol was extremely ridiculous??
“Yes. The Ninth Region Yesod has a strange sense of values; idols that can sing and dance are beloved and well respected.”
So it was unavoidable??
“That’s too unusual.”
Kurumi sighed while holding doubts in her mind.
“But, isn’t that strange? Even though you say ‘beloved’, I wouldn’t imagine that there are fans of idols in this Neighboring World.”
“No, there are surprisingly many Quasi-Spirits seeking an existence by becoming a fan. Of course, it would be impossible to fill a venue with this alone, so Quasi-Spirits that are determined to be idols will purposely fill the venues with fans full of fan power.”
“Fan power……?”
It was a very difficult choice of words for Kurumi to understand.
“Well, it should be fine. Anyway, just pass through here.”
“That’s true, then let’s head to the Ninth Region Yesod!”
Thus, the two girls jumped through the gate to the next region??
“……So, what is this supposed to mean?”
“I, I don’t understand. I didn’t expect the security here to be so alert……”
There were ten Quasi-Spirits behind the gate, each with their own Unsigned Angel pointed towards them. There was a selection of guns, swords, spears and bows.
“Who are you!!”
“How did you get through the gate!”
“D-don’t move! Absolutely don’t move! Understand, do you understand!?”
Who should be defeated first? As such a thought passed through Kurumi’s mind, she soon immediately noticed one thing.
Ara, ara, ara. These Quasi-Spirits were afraid of dying.
Upon closer inspection, the tip of the spear was clearly shaking, the direction of the muzzle was unstable, even the grip of the sword handle was a bit too strong from distress.
Unlike the Tenth Region Malkuth which was the world of the Ashura, the peaceful Quasi-Spirits here seemed to be trying their best to fulfill the role of the police.
Everyone’s faces were full of confusion and fear as if they couldn’t bear to attack. Hibiki lightly slammed her elbow at Kurumi.
“We surrender ?? !”
After hearing what Hibiki had said, Kurumi sighed.
“Yes, yes, I got it.”
After saying that, Kurumi put away her pistol and raised her hands. Immediately, the surrounding Quasi-Spirits felt relieved. As Kurumi raised her hands in surrender, the other party also lowered their weapons.
“Great ?? ”
“That really scared me ? ”
“It’s my first time encountering this situation ? ”
Soon after, they began to chatter amongst each other. Certainly, Kurumi and Hibiki were unarmed now. But, in the first place, an Angel that operates on reiryoku could be recovered at any time.
“Um, sorry.”
Hibiki raised her voice with some hesitation.
“W-what, what are you doing!?”
“No, I just wanted to ask if it was okay to put down my hands now. Speaking of which, what are you going to do with us?”
“Ah, um. How should we handle this……w-wait here for a second!”
The Quasi-Spirits gathered again to discuss.
Kurumi glanced towards Hibiki as she let out an ‘ahaha’ laugh.
“I see this region truly is rather lax.”
A gatekeeper is an important but easily ignored role. But no matter how sturdy the castle, it would inevitably collapse if caught in a pincher attack from both the inside and outside. However, there hardly seems to be a precedent for this region to come under attack in this Neighboring World, but……
“It’s a nice place, but a bit painful after adjusting to the Tenth Region Malkuth for a while.”
“Three days should be enough to massacre everyone.”
“Don’t do that!”
Likely having reached a conclusion, a Quasi-Spirit who seemed to be the leader came forward and coughed before speaking.
“U-uhh…...so, what are your names?”
“Oh uh, my name is Higoromo Hibiki……Quasi-Spirit, seventh genus.”
Kurumi sighed for the third time before informing.
“Quasi-Spirit, third genus……my name is Tokisaki Kurumi.”
Kurumi reluctantly agreed with Hibiki’s proposal of avoiding calling herself a Spirit. According to her, it would be treated as a joke just mentioning a Spirit. …..However, sometimes this would
be taken seriously; just like when self-proclaiming to be a Spirit when trying to kill each other (date) in the Tenth Region Malkuth.
So why did you call yourself a Spirit during that time?
Aah, that’s simple. It’s because I wanted to scare the others.
Hibiki recounted that with an embarrassed look. The opponent she was aiming for was the strongest Quasi-Spirit who ruled the Tenth Region Malkuth, Doll Master. In order to terrify her, Hibiki had called herself a Spirit. Although certainly, at that moment she did have an incomparable power not so different from a Spirit.
“This way ? Hibiki-chan and Kurumi-chan! Nice to meet you!” (Kurumi is written incorrectly as ?? , which is pronounced the same phonetically, but literally means walnut) For some reason, there was the feeling of her name being misspelled. But she didn’t stop them since calling out such an accusation would be useless.
“But why have you come from the Tenth Region Malkuth?”
“Ah, yes. The Dominion of the Tenth Region……Doll Master has died, so we were discussing how to escape before the situation grew more chaotic.”
“I see ? ”
The gatekeeper Quasi-Spirits nodded as if convinced. Hibiki knitted her brow. The death of the Dominion of the Tenth Region Malkuth shouldn’t have been transmitted to another closed region.
“Um……so you agree?”
“Yup.”
One of the guards decisively expressed her reassurance.
“After all, our Dominion Banouin-sama announced that last time, so there is no reason to doubt that ? ”
“Banouin……!? W-wait a minute please. Certainly, the Dominion of the Yesod region was a person who was nicknamed ‘Mellow’. That person’s name was……”
Hibiki suddenly recalled the name.
“Yeah, I’m sure it was Kirari Rinemu-san!”
The gatekeepers looked back upon hearing the name Hibiki had said.
“That person is gone.”
“No longer able to stay in the Ninth Region Yesod……”
“Oh, why is it like that? Has she been killed like the Dominion of the Tenth Region Malkuth?”
All of the gatekeepers shook their heads at once in response to Kurumi’s inquisitive question.
“We wouldn’t do that! This isn’t the Tenth Region Malkuth! But, um, it just means that……being dead……there’s not much of a difference.”
“Is she still alive?”
“Yes. She’s alive??”
At that moment, one of the guards made a very clear explanation of the concept of ‘death’ in this region,
“She can no longer sing a song, so she can no longer be the Dominion of this region.”
“Can’t sing……a song……?”
“In the Ninth Region Yesod, it must be an idol. It must be an idol that can give off radiance when singing and dancing.”
“If you can’t do that, you’ll have to become a guard like us, or become a fan and start up a fan club to make all sorts of contributions ? ”
So it turned out to be like this. This region wasn’t as radical as the Tenth Region Malkuth. But just because of that, it didn’t mean that it was easier to survive.
“Ah, it doesn’t matter, let’s go. For the time being, we’ll report this to Banouin-sama.”
“Ah, my apologizes. I would like to see the Dominion of this region, Banouin-san.”
“Impossible ? !” “Banouin-sama…… ‘The Saint’ is now the top idol of this region ? !” “We all want to see her ? !” “At most you can only see the manager!” “But manager-san is also very handsome!” “Can the word handsome be used to describe a girl?”
Kurumi and Hibiki ignored the noisy group of guards and quickly left.
“Well, let’s go visit the top idol in this region.”
“Please hold the lethal force means as the last resort ? !”
“Yes, of course. I am the most polite and elegant among the Spirits.”
“Alright, I believe in you. Hibiki-chan believes in Kurumi-san! So please, please, put away that dangerous Angel that has appeared again!”
Tch! Kurumi smacked her lips as she put away the old-fashioned pistol.
As the two continued to walk for a while after passing the gate, the bustling atmosphere gradually increased. The gatekeepers were calling this area the central ward. Regardless of the region, development usual centered on the residence of the Dominion.
The style of the Ninth Region Yesod was a bit different than the Tenth Region Malkuth.
Everything here was built to make an idol shine.
The first thing that came into view was a huge building far away as the location headed straight ahead on this road. Likely, it was designed to mimic the Budokan.
“Last time I came here, that was a concert venue and residence of the Dominion.”
Kurumi’s speculation was likely proven just now.
“Hibiki-san, have you met the previous Dominion before?”
“I’ve been to and from here a few times, so I gave my greetings to her each time. At that time, there was still some exchange going on between different regions.”
“……Why are the regions closed off now and not communicating with each other?”
“I don’t know, because I didn’t care about that at all then.”
“……Makes sense.”
“Yes.”
Kurumi turned to look around in order to shake off the atmosphere that was growing a little awkward.
It was an odd scene of only girls here, but it also felt the closest to resembling the other world.
Even so, the streets here were all dedicated to promoting a live idol concert for people to gather.
But as a substitute from high-rise buildings, there were concert venues dedicated for an idol to sing and dance.
There was what looked to be countless Quasi-Spirits looking like the living dead, waving florescent light sticks in rhythm to a lovely voice.
“Hey, look over there. That’s fan power.”
“Fan power……”
……As it turned out, from the chemical light, several black shadows could be seen waving from the groups of Quasi-Spirits. Occasionally, a sound was heard as an idol in cute pink clothes was dancing in response to their voices.
A song so pleasant that it could even be heard standing from here.
Bathed in the glamorous spotlight, it was just like the concept of an idol that Kurumi recognized.
“Hey, look over here.”
At a small live venue, a little girl was greeting them. Only two other Quasi-Spirits were at the scene, as no huge black shadow was present.
“W-well then, please listen to my debut!”
“It’s a newcomer. I hope she can work harder.”
After playing the song, the girl began to sing, but her dancing was much worse than the other girl just now.
“Ah ? . Because of just starting out, her entire body is nervous. I think she almost want to sing the wrong lyrics.”
“The swaying streets are tempting??ah!”
Just like Hibiki had said, the girl seemed to be singing the wrong lyrics, making a blank expression along the way. The Quasi-Spirits speculated to be her friends desperately tried to encourage her: “Come on!” “Hurry up and sing!” The girl nodded to them and continued to sing without being discouraged.
Although her singing and dancing were very clumsy, not to be discouraged by the mistakes in the middle, the girl who sang the song once again bowed her head to the audience.
Peculiarly, the once unaware black shadows seemed to increase in number from the applause.
Even though adding two more people made it still less than then ten, the girl bowed once more in thanks while crying.
“Mina, Tomo! I did it……I did it……!”
The girl who made her debut shared her joy with her two fellow Quasi-Spirits.
“Just like that, one can gradually increase the fan power. This fan power converts into reiryoku that helps idols survive. Idols then use this reiryoku to move the hearts of Quasi-Spirit fans. This is the method to survive in the Ninth Region Yesod.”
“What a clever mechanism……”
This was much different than the killing in the Tenth Region Malkuth.
“How to describe it, the extent of killing in the Tenth Region Malkuth far exceeds the other regions. Of course, there are other dangerous places. The Eighth Region is dangerous even among dangerous areas.”
“It doesn’t matter to us anyway.”
As Kurumi said this, she narrowed her eyes at the concert venue where the noise was particularly loud.
“Huh? Kurumi-san, maybe you’re interested about idols??”
Hibiki’s joke stopped there. Since Kurumi wasn’t staring at the concert venue, but rather gazing at the Quasi-Spirits walking around the streets.
……No. It wasn’t the idols or the Quasi-Spirits she was seeing. Right now, she was likely looking for her own past memories.
After Tokisaki Kurumi had reverted back into being Tokisaki Kurumi, she had faintly revealed this to Hibiki.
I have almost no memories of the past.
How did she become a Spirit and what sort of life did she live in the other world? Such comprehensive memories certainly existed, but she couldn’t even recall how she arrived here.
Of course, Hibiki was also completely unaware as well. She had only imitated the personality and appearance. In order to protect her own past, the memories of Kurumi’s life before coming to the Neighboring World had been sealed for her as well.
Even so, Kurumi will still occasionally stare into the past.
Staring faintly and endlessly at a crying inducing feeling that was both sad and happy, something that was forgotten just like a dream.
Presumably, it must be about “that person”.
Pay no attention to this noise.
The usual sickening tide of people was just like a sweet-sounding current.
For that person, he would smile wryly at her, a little amused as if encountering a great white shark.
No, maybe it was like that.
For him, she would devour just a great white shark. It seemed there was no other choice but to think so.
Even so, even then, I am still……
“……Kurumi-san, it’s almost time to go.”
As Hibiki whispered that, Kurumi softly replied back with an ‘okay’.
The illusion had passed away. Begrudging with these lingering regrets was tantamount to a waste of time.
“Let’s go meet the Dominion of the Ninth Region Yesod??to Banouin-san.”
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