Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Part-time Job

Sunday, April 5th

“Haaahh...!”

“Color me surprised, Kou. You managed to wake up on your own.”

“I did turn in early, after all. I got plenty of sleep.”

Dressed for work, Koutarou and Kenji were walking side by side up the road. Being an early Sunday morning, there were very few other people or cars around. The two boys were the only ones out on the street at this hour.

“Like I said before, I’m already a self-sufficient adult living on my own, Mackenzie-kun.”

“And I hope it stays that way.”

“Of course it will.”

“We’ll see about that... By the way, did anything happen in regards to you-know-what?”

“What?”

Kenji’s expression and tone turned serious. Noticing that, Koutarou furrowed his brow a little.

“You know... About it appearing in that room?”

“‘It’? ...Oh yeah, right, the ghost!” Realizing what Kenji was worried about, Koutarou smiled and slapped his fist into his palm. “I didn’t see anything like that.”

“You didn’t?”

“Nope. Nothing happened before I went to bed, and things were quiet while I slept. Just think about it. If there really had been a ghost, do you think I’d have woken up in the morning?”

“That’s true. Knowing your sleeping habits, there’s no way you’d wake up before getting enough sleep.”

Feeling relieved, Kenji loosened up a little.

“Hahaha. But still, I didn’t think you believed in ghosts, Mackenzie.”

“Huh?”

“It’s always science and logic with you. So to think that you’re worried about ghosts...”

Koutarou began poking at Kenji’s cheek with a wicked grin on his face.

“So what? Can’t a man of science hate ghosts?” Kenji snapped back.

“If you’re scared, just say so. You’re not being honest.”

“Yeah, I’m scared. It’s scary. Ghosts or not, freaky things happen all the time.”

“You’ve got it bad, huh?”

As Koutarou shrugged his shoulders, the boys passed by Kisshouharukaze High School where they both would be students starting tomorrow.

Kisshouharukaze High was about a twenty minute walk from the closest station, Harukaze Station. It was also twenty minutes away from Corona House. On a map, Corona House, Harukaze Station and Kisshouharukaze High School formed a equilateral triangle with almost every urban convenience concentrated within it.

Kisshouharukaze High School was established a few years ago, immediately following the merging of the neighboring municipalities. As Kisshou City and Harukaze City came together, a new high school was needed to accommodate the children of both cities.

Since there were already plans for construction in the area, they simply decided to increase the scale of what would become known as Kisshouharukaze High School While it wasn’t as big as schools in the major cities, it was the largest school in the suburban area.

“Fight, fight, fight! Harukaze, fight!”

And because of that, despite it being spring break, there were already plenty of students participating in club activities in the Kisshouharukaze schoolyard.

“The baseball club, huh? The spring tournament just ended, so the third-years must have handed the club over to the next generation by now...”

“They seem quite lively. They’ll get even more lively when the first-years join, I imagine.”

Watching the students in their uniforms, Koutarou and Kenji walked by the school’s front gate. Their worksite was just a little farther ahead.

“...”

Even after they passed the school, Koutarou was still glancing back at the schoolyard. Balls were being pitched, bats swung, and balls caught. It wasn’t that long ago that Koutarou had been doing the same thing.

“Hey, Kou... Are you sure about not joining the baseball club?” Kenji asked in a serious tone as he watched the way Koutarou was acting.

“It’s fine. I can’t live on my own, work part-time, and play baseball all at the same time.”

Koutarou finally took his eyes off of the schoolyard and gave Kenji a smile.

“Kou...”

Kenji could see the wistfulness in Koutarou’s smile.

“Besides, there’s the knitting society. So there’s no reason to be so pessimistic.”

“What’s with that anyways? The knitting society, I mean.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you serious about joining that club?”

“Yeah. I’m as serious as I can be.”

On the day the results of the high school exams were announced, Koutarou had been recruited into the knitting society and was earnest about joining it.

“You’re kidding, right? No matter how you look at it, it just doesn’t suit you...”

Kenji looked Koutarou up and down as he spoke. He had a large body, stocky physique, and big hands. Kenji couldn’t imagine that knitting and handicraft were in any way suited for Koutarou. If anything, he would be better at tearing things up than making them.

“How rude. Just you wait. I’ll knit you a handmade muffler one day.”

“Stop it. You’re making me feel ill... I’m getting chills down my spine just imagining it.”

“Yeah, I feel the exact same way now that you mention it. I’ll just knit one for myself.”

The boys smirked at each other.

“Admit it. Your real goal is the beautiful club president that recruited you.”

“I won’t deny it.”

Oh... I didn’t expect that reaction. I was certain that he was after the club president. Did I read him wrong?

Being childhood friends, Kenji could see through Koutarou’s reaction.

“Anyways, I’ll be spending my high school days with Sakuraba-senpai in the knitting society.”

“Hmm, that does sound fun. Maybe I should join too.”

“Don’t you dare. A ladykiller like you would taint Sakuraba-senpai just by getting too close to her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t treat me like some kind of bacteria.”

“Just think about it. Remember Valentine’s Day? You monopolized all of the class’ chocolate. The other boys cried tears of blood.”

“That wasn’t my fault.” Kenji sighed to hear the same argument brought up for the umpteenth time.

“It was definitely your fault. Don’t underestimate a grudge held over food.”

“But in the end, you ate most of the chocolate anyways. And it really wasn’t my fault. Giving chocolate to me was easy, so it would indirectly be given to you—” Kenji stopped himself mid-sentence.

“Hmm? What was that?”

“No, it’s nothing. In fact, I’m not going to tell you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, we’re going to be late.”

“Hey, wait up. Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden?”

The two arrived on the job shortly after.

“Haaa!” Koutarou shouted as he pushed a large stone out of the way.

“My, you sure are strong, Koutarou-chan.”

Watching the rock rolling away, the elderly woman next to Koutarou called out to him. She was dressed in farmer’s clothes and was holding a small, metal trowel.

“I’m still young, after all. But it also means I’m not as good at detailed work like you.”

“Ohohoho, that certainly might be true. Thank you for the help, Koutarou-chan.”

“You’re always giving me sweets, so don’t mention it.”

“‘Give and take,’ was it?”

“Haha, that’s right... Anyways, I’ll head back to my post now. See you later.”

“Thank you again.”

Koutarou parted ways with the elderly lady and returned to his assigned land division a few dozen meters away.

“Now then...”

As Koutarou looked back towards the elderly lady, he saw her squatting down and shaving away layers of soil by her feet with the trowel.

“Heh... I guess I should get back to work too. I have to work hard so I don’t lose out to that lady and the others.”

Koutarou rolled up his sleeves and began digging at the ground with tool in hand.

Koutarou was working with excavating ruins, and the elderly lady was one of his coworkers. She had helped him out a great deal when he first started. Kenji worked with them as well, but the worksite was so vast that his station couldn’t be seen from where Koutarou was stationed.

Koutarou and the others were currently excavating what had become known as the Kisshouharukaze ruins. They were first uncovered by chance when plans for expanding the Kisshouharukaze High School facilities were brought up. As one could guess from the circumstances of their discovery, the ruins were quite close to the school. They were just a few minutes’ walk apart. The Kisshouharukaze ruins sat atop a small hill, and Kisshouharukaze High School was about halfway down the hill, which is why the boys passed it on their way to work.

At the time they were discovered, it was believed that the ruins were from the late Yayoi2 period and that nothing of worth would be found. Only commonplace items were unearthed at the site.

However, when the items were tested for their age at the start of this year, it was determined that they were priceless. The ruins were actually over ten thousand years old. While only common items had been found, their sheer age made an astronomical difference in their value. Artifacts that old dated them to the early stages of the Jōmon3 period.

As earthenware and bronzeware typical of the Yayoi period were also found, these ruins had the potential to revolutionize the field of archeology. The budget was quickly increased to fund a large-scale excavation. As the scale of the project increased, so did the amount of labor required. Recruitment posters were printed and distributed wholesale. Koutarou and Kenji, who were looking for work at the time, had jumped at the offer. Its close proximity to school made it an obvious pick.

Squatting while slowly scraping away at the soil was rather tiring work. But having spent his middle school years as a catcher, it wasn’t too demanding for Koutarou. While he had struggled at first, now that he was over a month into the job, he was completely used to it.

“All I find is dirt, no matter how much I dig...”

According to the archeologists, a building used for religious ceremonies was buried somewhere in the area Koutarou was in charge of. But even with a dozen or so workers digging there, they hadn’t found anything that fit the bill.

“Are we the only group that’s digging somewhere so extraneous?”

Koutarou had found nothing but dirt since the day he started.

“Mackenzie’s area seems more fun. They find stuff all the time.”

Koutarou was getting bored with the tedious, monotonous labor.

“Koutarou...”

“Hmm?”

It was just then that Koutarou felt like he heard a voice.

“I thought I just heard someone... Was it the old lady?”

Koutarou paused and stood up to look around, but didn’t see anyone who looked like they had called out to him. He was the only one in the immediate area, and the elderly lady from before had her back turned to him.

“Was I just imagining it?”

Koutarou cocked his head to the side in confusion. As he did, however, he could hear the voice once again.

“Koutarou...”

“That isn’t that old lady’s voice. It sounds much younger. And it sounds so familiar... No, surely this is the first time I’ve heard it, right?”

“This way...”

“That way?”

Hearing the voice for the third time, Koutarou thought he could identify the source. It sounded like it was coming from a grove a few dozen meters away.

“All right, fine.”

Koutarou put down his excavation tool and approached the trees.

“Is this one of Mackenzie’s pranks, or is it someone else?”

Koutarou was pretty sure it had to be Kenji trying to pull one over on him, so he didn’t feel any danger whatsoever. However, he decided to go take a look just in case that it wasn’t him.

“Really? We’re about to be high school students, and he’s wasting time playing pranks... When I catch him, I’ll make him fess up whose voice he recorded.”

Koutarou couldn’t place the voice, so he assumed that it was the voice of yet another girl Kenji had hooked up with.

“Hmm, it’s pretty thick...”

Koutarou pushed the brush aside and entered the grove. The tall trees and overgrown weeds left him with a terrible view of the area. Even worse, the weeds were prickling his skin, making the entire area a pain to traverse.

“Hey, Mackenzie, I know you’re here! Come out and show yourself!”

Koutarou wanted to find Kenji quickly so he could get out of here.

“Get out here and tell me about this new girl.”

That was when the sensation of solid ground suddenly vanished from underneath Koutarou’s feet.

“Huh?”

Oh crap, a hole in the ground?!

By the time Koutarou caught on, he had already been swallowed up by the earth.

“Ow!”

Slamming into the ground below knocked the wind out of Koutarou. An acute pain shot through the back of his head.

Having fallen into a hole, there was good and bad news. The good news was that the hole wasn’t all that deep. The bad news was that Koutarou had hit his head on a rock when he fell.

“Owowow, that hurts... This is all Mackenzie’s fault.”

Koutarou put his hand on his aching head and sat up. Fortunately, Koutarou was born tough. Apart from the bump on his head, he hadn’t sustained any real injuries.

“Huh? Where am I?”

Once he sat upright, Koutarou finally got a view of his surroundings. It should have been pitch black considering he was at the bottom of a hole, but the area was strangely illuminated. While there was sunlight coming down from where he’d fallen in, the ambient light was too bright for it to be just from that. It was similar to an emergency exit sign in a dark hallway.

“There’s something here. Some sort of stand and several pillars... Even the floor is paved.”

It was a mysterious space, spreading roughly ten meters in every direction. The area was lined with flat slabs, forming a sturdy floor. Standing on that floor were several pillars about the height of a person, and on top of each pillar was a glowing sphere. The glow from these spheres was what lit up the room. In the middle of everything, surrounded by the pillars, was a single stand. And on top of that stand was a human statue, looking down on Koutarou still sitting there.

“Could these be the ruins of that religious building?”

The statue on the stand looked like some kind of god. Moreover, it was being illuminated by the surrounding pillars. Had someone told Koutarou this was a temple, he would have believed them without a second thought.

“Koutarou...”

The voice that had been calling out to Koutarou all this time could be heard once more.

“That voice... Hey, is someone there?! Why are you calling my name?!”

Surprised, Koutarou looked around. But the only thing moving in the room was him.

“Koutarou, I’ve been waiting for you all this time...”

“What? Waiting? Where are you?! Who are you?!”

At this point, not even Koutarou would think this was one of Kenji’s pranks. He shouted out his doubts to the mysterious speaker. But he didn’t get an answer in words.

“Uwah! Wh-What?!”

All of a sudden, the statue on the stand began glowing. But it wasn’t because of the light from the pillars. The light was coming from the statue itself. While it was only a dim glow at first, by the time Koutarou had taken a few breaths, the statue was shining brightly.

“Just how many times have I dreamed of this moment during the countless days and nights that have passed...?”

“The statue...? Are you the one talking?”

The light emitted from the statue seemed like normal light at first, but as the light began shining brighter, it slowly began taking shape.

“I am not a statue. This statue is but one of the prayers offered to me. Because of its purity, it allows me to unleash my powers, but I am not the statue itself.”

Eventually the mysterious light formed into the shape of a human. It was as if the very statue had transformed into a person.

“...Koutarou, we finally meet...”

“A girl...?”

The figure of light overlapped with the statue, revealing what looked like a young girl with calm and gentle eyes.