Now that I’ve defeated Kieryu, it’s finally time to head to Azumino.
Azumino.
It’s a city in the central, slightly northern part of Nagano Prefecture… or so I’ve heard.
There were quite a lot of mountains.
And rice paddies, I guess. But really, once you get a little ways out of the urban areas, there’s nothing but rice paddies…
From Lake Suwa, I arrived really quickly using Flight Magic.
‘Sniff… sob… We’re almost at… Nagano God’s… location… sob sob*…’
Tenri was genuinely crying.
Probably because her Onee-chan had reverted to her lazy version.
“‘Tenri? Why are you crying?'”
“‘Onee-chan has been lost… forever…'”
“‘No, I’m here, I’m totally here. Look at me properly, okay?'”
“‘Ah, our Onee-chan, who has ascended to heaven…'”
“‘That’s why I’m right in front of you! I’m here! Look, I’m here! Onee-chan is here! Your wonderful Onee-sama is here!'”
The AI sisters are getting along well today, too.
“Detective-san.”
“What might it be, Nagano Goddess-sama.”
…Ever since he saw my power, Detective Niekawa’s attitude towards me has changed.
Somehow, he’s started treating me the same way as those believers who were so common back in the other world…
“‘It can’t be helped. It’s because of Pon that it was revealed you’re a God.'”
“‘Don’t call Onee-chan ‘Pon’!'”
“‘I’m not calling Onee-chan ‘Pon’, don’t be ridiculous.'”
“‘I’m not being ridiculous!? Both are Onee-chama!?'”
“‘Don’t use ‘Onee-chama’ so casually, it’ll defile the name Onee-chama!'”
“‘You’re the one defiling it right now, though!?'”
Let’s just leave these two be.
“Detective-san, where is the Nagano God’s shrine?”
“It’s in an area called Hotaka Ariake.”
“Hotaka Ariake… I see.”
What an unusual name.
A monitor opened in front of me.
It seemed Tenri had brought up the location of Hotaka Ariake. Really, she’s a helpful girl… except when we’re in a pinch.
I followed the map, flying over the mountains.
“Huh? I can’t seem to reach it…”
I was flying just as the map indicated, but I wasn’t reaching my destination.
I was heading straight for the destination, but I kept getting suddenly diverted to a different place…
“Tenri, are we being obstructed here?”
“‘…………'”
“Tenri-san?”
“‘Uwahh~… I don’t knooow~…'”
Tenri-san!?
“‘Oh dear~. I just don’t knooow~. This is terrible~.'”
…Huh? Tenri, what are you doing?
Why isn’t she answering like she usually does…? Don’t tell me.
“‘This is a pinch, a real biiig pinch~. This is probably a matter that Onee-chama has to come and solve, right? glance, glance, glance‘”
…Th-this girl…
Is she trying to use this dire situation to motivate Sinri…?
It’s true, Sinri only goes into work mode when we’re in a pinch…
But, you know, Tenri. You’re naive…
“‘Munch, munch… Ahh! This oyaki is delicious!'”
…I could hear Sinri’s idiotic voice.
She’s probably off buying snacks somewhere.
“‘I always thought ‘oyaki’ just meant things with sweet red bean paste, but these savory-filled oyaki are pretty tasty too, you know~.'”
…This is no good.
Sinri-san isn’t even trying to switch to work mode.
“‘Huh? But our lives aren’t on the line or anything, right? It’s totally fine, isn’t it~?'”
“‘………………'”
That’s right. Sinri only gets serious when someone is threatening my life…
Any other time, this girl basically doesn’t switch to work mode…
“‘Onee-chama…'”
“Tenri. It’s okay. There’ll be another pinch eventually. When that happens, your beloved Onee-chama will come back, okay? So let’s be patient, alright?”
She looked so pitiful that I ended up consoling her.
“‘Mm…'”
…Huh?
Could it be that Tenri, just like Sinri, is also quite a handful…?
As a set with Sinri, have I ended up with a pair of troublesome kids by my side…?