Chapter 85: Reliable Partner!
Kazuma’s eyes snapped open.
Kazuma, who had been sleeping lying down on a chair, sat up with a start and noticed a blanket draped over him.
It seemed someone had put it there while he was asleep.
Although Kazuma didn’t know who it was, he was grateful for the blanket and slowly rose from the chair.
“Uuugh… How long was I asleep?”
He checked the time on his smartphone; about thirty minutes had passed.
It seemed he had slept longer than he thought, and Kazuma clutched his head, thinking he’d messed up. But he quickly brushed it off with a “well, whatever” and looked up.
“Now then, where are Souji-senpai and the others?”
Kazuma looked for Souji and the others, who had likely moved while he was asleep.
As he craned his neck, looking around, a nurse came around the corner of the hallway.
Thinking it was nice timing, Kazuma happily approached the nurse.
“Ah, you’ve woken up.”
“Ah, yes. There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“It’s about Kenzaki Souji-san, isn’t it?”
“Eh, ah, yes.”
Kazuma looked at the nurse suspiciously due to her keen perception.
“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t explain properly. I’ve been coming to check if Satsuki-san had woken up every ten minutes since you fell asleep. I was entrusted with a message that Kenzaki Souji-san has been moved to a different room if you woke up.”
“Ah, so that’s what it is.”
“Yes. Well then, I’ll show you the way.”
At her words, Kazuma followed the nurse towards the hospital room where Souji and the others were.
Souji had been moved to a private room in a separate wing, the kind that so-called VIPs would use.
Now, why was Souji receiving such treatment?
Certainly, Souji was called the strongest student and had made a name for himself before Kazuma appeared, but he was still an ordinary person.
He might become a VIP in the future, but for now, he was just a student.
And yet, as Kazuma tilted his head, wondering why he was receiving such special treatment, the nurse explained.
“We can’t very well keep someone who is on familiar terms with the Jade Knight in a general ward, can we?”
“Is that so? I see~”
Kazuma, convinced by the nurse’s words, clapped his hands together.
Seeing this, the nurse chuckled, thinking what an amusing boy he was, and knocked on the room door.
“Excuse me. I’ve brought Satsuki-kun.”
As the nurse said this towards the door, a reply came from inside: “Come in.”
Having received permission, the nurse opened the door and entered the room with Kazuma.
When Kazuma stepped into the room, the nurse who had entered with him bowed her head once and then left.
“Yo, Kazuma!”
“Souji-senpai!!”
Souji, lying on a large bed, raised a hand to Kazuma as he entered.
Kazuma was overjoyed to see Souji conscious and looking well.
“You’re awake! That’s great-ssu!”
“It’s thanks to you. I heard from Issei, you know? That you brought the Jade Knight and saved me with Satsuki-ryu.”
“Satsuki-ryu is an all-powerful and invincible style, after all!”
“No, really, thank you. I seriously thought I was dead.”
Souji, who had fully recovered thanks to Kazuma but was being kept in bed just in case, sat up and bowed his head.
Seeing Souji bowing his head with such a serious attitude, despite being friends, Kazuma responded in kind.
“Please raise your head. You don’t need a reason to help a friend-ssu.”
“Even so. Thank you, Kazuma.”
“Ussu!”
Just as Souji finished his thanks, his family rushed over to Kazuma, expressing their gratitude with tears in their eyes, saying, “Thank you for saving our son.”
Following them, Aoi also approached Kazuma, bowed deeply, and along with her gratitude, offered words of apology.
“I’m sorry, Satsuki-kun. For doing something like using you…”
When Souji was rushed to the hospital and the doctors told them to prepare for the worst, Aoi had immediately contacted Issei.
Issei’s special Gift was necessary, but even more so, Kazuma’s presence was indispensable.
She figured that Kazuma, having connections with the Crimson Knight, would surely have a link to the Jade Knight, who had saved many in the past.
Convinced that if Kazuma heard Souji was in danger, he would definitely bring the Jade Knight, Aoi had guided Issei to contact Kazuma.
“I noticed your intentions, Tachibana-senpai. Don’t underestimate me too much-ssu!”
“You’re not angry? I… I used you, you know?”
“Like I said earlier-ssu, you don’t need a reason to help a friend. I don’t think I was used at all. So, don’t blame yourself too much. What you did, Tachibana-senpai, led to Souji-senpai being saved, so you should be proud. Well, the biggest contributor was me, though!”
Kazuma laughed heartily, his nose figuratively growing long like a Tengu’s.
Aoi had felt guilty for using Kazuma, but she felt her heart lighten just a little.
She was filled with gratitude, thinking that he was probably laughing boisterously to console her.
Aoi didn’t understand, but Kazuma was laughing for no particular reason.
“Well now, just because Souji-senpai was saved doesn’t mean it’s all happily ever after, does it?”
Kazuma, who had been laughing, suddenly started speaking in a serious tone, and the people in the room couldn’t quite keep up with the abrupt change.
However, as Kazuma said, the story wasn’t over yet.
He had to ask something important.
Why Souji had ended up being rushed to the hospital.
“That’s right. I have to tell everyone…”
Souji began to recount what had happened to him.
◆◆◆◆
Around the time Kazuma was having fun at Kurashige Industries, Souji was engrossed in training.
As usual, he trained at the First Esper Academy’s training grounds, worked up a sweat, changed his clothes, and was heading home when he encountered a suspicious individual in strange attire.
“Combat Power of 1020, huh… So even in an island nation like this, there are decent warriors.”
It seemed the person was muttering something, but Souji couldn’t hear it clearly and slowly moved away from the suspicious individual, trying not to provoke them.
“Still, just a small fry in the end, I suppose.”
“Huh…?”
It happened in an instant.
An arm was protruding from Souji’s chest, who had been ten-odd meters away from the suspicious person.
Souji stared in a daze at the arm growing out of his own chest, taking several seconds to comprehend.
And the moment he understood, he coughed up blood and turned his face towards the suspicious person standing behind him.
“I brought a Neutralization Device (Pipopapo) just in case, but it seems it wasn’t necessary.”
“Wh-what are you… saying…?”
“I can’t hear you well, but oh well. Farewell, nameless Earthling.”
Pulling the arm that had pierced Souji’s chest, the suspicious person vanished like a heat haze.
The sight of the suspicious person disappearing was the last thing Souji saw before his consciousness faded.
Some time later, a passerby found Souji collapsed in a pool of blood and contacted the police and emergency services.
After that, as you know, his family was contacted, who then informed Aoi, and eventually, the news reached Kazuma.
◆◆◆◆
“And that’s what happened.”
“…So you couldn’t hear clearly what that suspicious person was saying, huh?”
“Yeah. Towards the end, my consciousness was hazy.”
“I see-ssu…”
Listening to Souji’s story, Kazuma began to deduce.
The UFO invasion he’d learned about from America the other day.
And now, this incident.
At first glance, they seemed unrelated, but Kazuma tilted his head, finding it all very suspicious.
He didn’t fully understand the situation at the time, but Kazuma decided to use whatever means available to him to investigate this case.
“Souji-senpai. I’m going to make a quick call.”
“Alright. If anything comes up, I’ll help. Just let me know anytime.”
“Roger-ssu!”
Thinking it would be a bother to make a call in the hospital room, Kazuma left.
He headed to a phone area within the hospital and called Momoko.
“Hello, Momoko-chan!”
“Judging by your voice, it seems you’re alright.”
“Yeah! So, there’s something I want you to do.”
“You don’t even need to finish. It’s about the Kenzaki Souji incident, isn’t it? I’ve already finished investigating.”
“As expected of the reliable Momoko-chan! I love ya!”
Momoko ignored Kazuma’s declaration of love and continued speaking.
“I’ll get straight to the conclusion. This was not the work of a human.”
His declaration of love was ignored, but hearing information even more critical than that, Kazuma braced himself.
“…As I thought?”
“I was also concerned about Kenzaki Souji’s case and looked into it. It seems there were absolutely no traces of the culprit left behind. They apparently used all sorts of agencies to check surveillance cameras, footprints, trace evidence, and so on, but…”
Listening to Momoko’s words, Kazuma’s thoughts narrowed down to two possibilities.
“Momoko-chan. About the culprit, my guess is…”
“Aliens, or perhaps someone with technology from another world like you, or an otherworldly being, I presume.”
“Yeah… I guess I can’t afford to be too complacent this time.”
“By the way, were you able to hear the details from Kenzaki Souji?”
“No good. She said she was suddenly attacked by a suspicious person. Apparently, they were saying something, but she couldn’t make it out clearly.”
“A suspicious person? Does she remember their build or appearance?”
“Ah, I haven’t asked about that yet…”
“Well then, please tell me later. We’ll try searching on our end too.”
“Will do!”
And so, Kazuma first returned to Souji’s hospital room, gathered the detailed information about the suspicious person, and then shared it with Momoko.