Chapter 68: Let’s All Go for the First Shrine Visit of the Year!
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Several days had passed since the end of the worldwide simultaneous terrorist attacks by the Ivera Church.
In this incident, the Ivera Church’s organization completely collapsed, and all its executives were supposed to have been imprisoned, but the reality was different.
Only a very select few knew, but since the Ivera Church executives were capable Gifted, they had escaped capital punishment thanks to Kazuma’s Subjugation Magic.
However, they were to dedicate their abilities to the nation until their deaths, so in a sense, it was like a life sentence.
“Hmm…”
Kazuma, the one who had contributed most to resolving the recent incident, was looking at SNS on his bed.
What he was groaning and looking troubled about was the battle scene of the girls, including Charlotte, clad in the new model Powered Suits.
Unlike last time, the internet was fine this time, so their battle scenes were circulating on SNS.
“This has become a huge topic…”
What was causing a stir in the public wasn’t the Ivera Church’s atrocities.
It was Charlotte and the others.
Their brilliant battle achievements were still exciting the public.
Alicia was already famous as the Witch, so it wasn’t new for her, but Charlotte was different.
Her alias was Holy Maiden.
Everyone believed her to be a pure and innocent maiden.
That’s what they had believed.
But, due to Kazuma’s fiendish modifications, she had been reborn.
She had changed to an almost irredeemable extent.
Charlotte, clad in a new white and blue-themed Powered Suit, leaped about freely, hunting down dozens of Ibinom.
That video was posted on SNS and became so famous it surpassed one hundred million views.
In the comments section, there were those praising her, as well as those lamenting and wanting her former self back.
‘Am I having a nightmare?’
‘This is the Holy Maiden…?’
‘Oh, God…’
‘Boobs, so bouncy!’
‘They’re shaking!’
‘That’s some overwhelming chest armor…’
‘Whoever designed those thighs is, to put it mildly, a genius.’
‘No way? This is the same person who healed me when I was injured!?’
‘Give us back the original Holy Maiden… Give her back…’
It was that kind of thing.
Kazuma hadn’t commented or anything, but there were some he could sympathize with.
Namely, that her body was truly magnificent.
“Mhm.”
“What do you mean, ‘Mhm’!?”
“Ouch!”
What was suddenly thrown was a plastic bottle.
The plastic bottle, which scored a clean hit on Kazuma’s head, flew through the air, fell to the ground, and made a hollow, clattering sound.
Now, who on earth could have thrown a plastic bottle at him? Kazuma raised his head.
There, he saw Momoko, breathing heavily, her hair disheveled.
“Momoko-chan. No matter how close we are, you should at least knock when entering my room.”
“I apologize for that!”
Told something obvious by Kazuma, who had ignored being hit on the head with a plastic bottle, Momoko apologized properly.
Hearing her apology, Kazuma forgave Momoko and continued the conversation.
“By the way, what’s with the sudden visit?”
“What’s with it!? What is the meaning of this!”
What Momoko thrust forward was a video posted on SNS, similar to the one Kazuma had been watching.
It was a battle scene where Momoko, clad in a pink-themed Powered Suit, was fighting hard against Ibinom.
Without feeling anything particularly out of place, Kazuma pointed out that there was nothing wrong with this video.
“What about it? It’s just you doing your best, Momoko-chan.”
“The comments section!”
Urged by her, Kazuma peeked at the comments section.
‘Cute, but can’t see her face.’
‘The visor is in the way.’
‘I’ve become a fan of Pink-chan.’
‘There’s quite a disparity in chest armor with Purple, isn’t there~’
‘Such poor chest armor…’
‘That’s a cutting board shield.’
‘It can also be a runway.’
‘Flat chests are a status symbol!’
‘She’s rare, so I should protect her.’
Many other comments had been posted, and Momoko’s video was also bustling with activity.
“You’re famous now!”
“While people are struggling with post-war processing, such inappropriate videos are being circulated…!”
Unlike Kazuma, Momoko had been busy with post-war processing.
Thanks to that, she had been so busy these past few days that she hadn’t even had time to look at the internet.
She had been interrogating criminals, using Mind Reading to confirm their testimonies, and repeating this dozens, even hundreds of times.
That had finally ended, and the first thing Momoko did after being freed from her grueling work was to browse the internet.
It was a choice made because she didn’t have anything particular to do.
Wanting to know the current situation, she opened the internet, and the first thing that popped up was the battle scene of Momoko and the others, including Charlotte.
In Japan, Momoko and Sakura Hakanai were fighting valiantly.
Momoko, clad in a new pink Powered Suit, her face hidden by a visor to prevent her identity from being revealed, and Sakura Hakanai, clad in a new purple Powered Suit, her face similarly hidden by a visor.
They were heroes who unsparingly demonstrated the power of their new Powered Suits, defeated Ibinom, and saved many people, but unfortunately, the design of the Powered Suits was so erotic that it was harmful to the eyes.
It was especially effective on adult men.
To put it bluntly, it was very arousing.
And, naturally, there was also a lot of criticism.
As expected, due to the suggestive design, opinions such as it being demeaning to women were also appearing.
If things went wrong, it seemed like it could even escalate to protest movements claiming to protect them.
Even after the great damage caused by the Ibinom, energetic people were still energetic, but one wished they would choose their time and place.
“Uuugh… I can’t walk outside anymore.”
“Your identity hasn’t been revealed, so it’s fine!”
“It doesn’t matter if it hasn’t! The point is, it’s a matter of my feelings!”
“Ah, yes.”
Even though her identity hadn’t been revealed, it didn’t matter to Momoko.
Every time she felt impudent gazes on her, she would probably feel fear.
There was no doubt that every time she went out, she would be plagued by anxiety, wondering if her identity was known, if someone had realized.
“Haaah… It’s fine. I’ll try not to think about it for now. More importantly, I have a report.”
“A report? About what?”
“It’s about the Ivera Church. It has already collapsed and is no longer functioning as an organization, but it seems believers are still hiding in various places. We’re currently using Yumemiya’s Brainwashing to uncover their bases.”
“She’s useful, isn’t she~”
“The believers are also being overwritten by her Brainwashing, and they are currently on the mend. It will take time, but the common sense and doctrines instilled by the Ivera Church will likely be rewritten.”
“That’s insane~”
It was a Gift that made him truly glad she was an ally.
Brainwashing capable of even altering common sense was, as expected, terrifyingly potent.
“Also, thanks to her, the restoration work is apparently progressing quite well. After all, she’s Brainwashing the captured prisoners and ordering them to work proactively, so the efficiency of debris removal and reconstruction work has increased.”
“If she were the final boss, she’d definitely be a tough opponent…”
“Please, absolutely do not let go of her reins. I don’t even want to imagine a battle between the Crimson Knight and the Vixen.”
If Sakura Hakanai were the final boss, Kazuma would undoubtedly struggle.
Just Brainwashing people close to Kazuma and making them attack him would cause great mental anguish.
Furthermore, even if it came to a direct confrontation, she could simply use people close to Kazuma as physical shields.
Even if she were to be subjected to dark magic like that of Mahito or Amrutat, if she had ordered the brainwashed individuals to commit suicide in the event of her own death, Kazuma would be unable to act.
“By the way, we still haven’t gone for our first shrine visit of the year.”
Kazuma, who had held an international conference on New Year’s Eve and finished the decisive battle with the Ivera Church, remembered that the New Year had arrived before he knew it.
Remembering that he hadn’t been able to go for hatsumode because he had been busy lately, Kazuma proposed it to Momoko.
“Hey, Momoko-chan! Let’s wear furisode and go for hatsumode!”
“I refuse.”
“Whyyy!?”
Having invited Momoko to hatsumode only to be refused, Kazuma was wondering what to do when his phone rang.
The name displayed was Alicia.
“Yes, hello?”
‘Ah, Kazuma! Have you gone for hatsumode yet?’
“Not yet. I’ve been busy lately.”
‘In that case, why don’t we all go together?’
“Oh, sure! Should I come pick you up?”
‘Yeah! I’m contacting Shar too, so please come get us!’
“Okay! I’ll head over as soon as I’m ready!”
Hanging up the phone, Kazuma turned back to Momoko with a triumphant smile.
Seeing Kazuma’s eerie smile, she felt a chill and backed away, but she couldn’t escape.
“It’s an order from your superior! You’re going to wear a furisode and go to hatsumode with everyone!”
“Stop brandishing your authority for such trivial things! Have you no shame!”
“Hmph…! That’s what power is!”
As Kazuma let out a loud laugh, Momoko pressed her temples, but since she had known this would happen from the start, she sighed in exasperation and decided to look for a furisode rental.