I Came Back but the World is Still a Fantasy!? - 4-43: Blue and Red’s Declaration of War II (5/7)

4-43: Blue and Red’s Declaration of War II (5/7)

“Among other things—We could fall into a dimensional hole right at this very moment and be sent to another world. Who knows?”

“!”

Shinichi added lastly in an indifferent tone, as though to say, ‘Oh, this happened too.’

A calamity born not out of someone’s malicious intent to harm another, but purely a supernatural one born out of the mad chaos that is nature.

“Your daily life would easily come to an end in the face of that,” Shinichi laughed. Yet despite his laughter, this was the realest his voice sounded yet.

There was no one else who could be more persuasive than him when it came to this point. At the very least, Myuhi didn’t know anyone who could.

She felt ashamed of herself that she’d actually forgotten this little tidbit about him.

Indeed, he knew more than anyone else just how fragile the so-called ‘daily life’ was.

After all, he himself had already fallen once through that dimensional hole.

“A house of cards built on thin ice. That’s how fragile and fleeting peace is, and yet we yearn for it so much. Since you know that much, then don’t you think you should be doing your best to protect it? *Munch *Munch.”

Shinichi casually said as he optimistically enjoyed the taste of daily life(the donuts).

But Myuhi could no longer look at him with astonishment.

This was something he’d lost 8 years(2 years) ago, and in fact, he still hasn’t gotten it back.

That’s why she even felt that Shinichi had more right than anyone else to speak of this matter.

But…

“…I don’t understand. If that’s what you think, then why are you letting me(・) run free?”

There shouldn’t be a bigger obstruction to that daily life than her, so why?

With the threat he’d made, she knew that he had no intentions of handing her over to the ‘current’ authorities or defeating her, but that just made it all the more difficult to understand.

He had been acting normally, so she didn’t notice it, but actually, there was no reason for him to let her off.

“I should’ve expected you’d pick up on that given the flow of the conversation.”

As it turns out, Shinichi had been doing that intentionally.

Shinichi had been enjoying the taste of the donut, but her question changed that to a wry smile that quickly stiffened.

“Which do you want to hear first? The joke reason or the serious reason?”

Then he gave her two strange choices to pick from. Myuhi knit her brows, puzzled.

Despite wearing a serious face now, apparently, he still talked in that jesting manner.

“The serious reason. Hearing a joke after everything is just exhausting.”

“I see, that’s true too, I suppose. I wanted to start things off on a funny note, but this is fine too. It’s a pity, though,” Shinichi said as he emptied his ice milk, then he started speaking seriously.

By the way, Myuhi glared at him with frustration when she realized that he didn’t get a white beard after drinking his milk ice.

“You asked me last time, right? Back there at the department store. If we could work together?”

“Yeah, but I was mocked, refused, and then beaten to a pulp.”

“Didn’t take you for someone to hold a grudge… It was in the middle of a battle, so give me a break, okay? But… What if I told you I want to put your offer on hold? Will you believe me?”

“Huh?”

Myuhi opened her eyes wide from shock, her tail standing on end.

No matter how she might’ve racked her head to anticipate Shinichi’s serious reason, this still came unexpected.

Myuhi still remembers their argument that day.

No matter which way she looked at it, that was clearly a fatal crack in their relationship, a fundamental difference in their beliefs.

Yet now he’s saying that he wants to start over?

“What do you mean by that? Are you saying there’s now room or reason to work with us?”

Inadvertently, Myuhi found herself leaning forward onto the table as she looked closely at Shinichi’s face with suspicion.

Surprisingly, she was less expectant and more suspicious by his proposal.

But Shinichi didn’t mind that much and just looked at her as he continued.

“That time I firmly rejected you. But I’ve always been concerned about your screams(・・) that day. Despite appearances my ears aren’t actually so bad that they can’t tell the difference between a real scream(・・・・・) and an act.

That alone he wouldn’t mistake.

That without a doubt the scream back then was Myuhi Ruona screaming as a human being.

“I-I see.”

She said indifferently as she sat back, but she immediately started spinning the ice in her glass.

Her tail couldn’t be seen from where Shinichi sat, but they were swinging for no special reason.

While it was certainly true as far as Myuhi was concerned, it was not something that could be explained with just words.

In the first place, it was only because she was overly emotional then that she ended up screaming.

For some reason, she found the thought of her words(scream) reaching him really embarrassing.

But Shinichi shook his head.

“But it alone won’t be enough if you want to use the mask’s giant hatchet. You know full well what I’m capable of. One step wrong on my part, and the situation could easily take a turn for the worst. Sorry won’t be able to cut it.”

Not a hint of reservation nor concern for her could be found on his face.

He told her that while he would believe her, her response alone wouldn’t be able to move him.

“Fu fu, you really don’t hold your punches, do you? Is that something you’d normally tell to the person herself?”

But Myuhi just laughed, seemingly completely unaffected.

If anything she felt that that only made sense given the unparalleled strength he’d shown and the recent commotion.

She was exasperated during the incident, but she calmed down after being shown that.

It would be a lot more terrifying if the complaint of a single person was able to take advantage of his power, after all.

Above all, Myuhi thought it wasn’t like him.

“…Enough dilly-dallying. You told me to talk seriously, so you should also listen seriously. In the first place, you’re not the kind of woman that can’t figure out that much.”

Despite that Shinichi made an apologetic look.

With a face like that and his trust in her own abilities, Myuhi’s cheeks slackened.

“Alright, I understand. But if so, then exactly how does that connect to you putting my offer on hold?”

It was an important topic to the person in question, but he just let it pass like that, so a doubtful look surfaced on her, but she figured it was much better to just let it pass than dig it back up again, so she just sighed and continued.

“As you know, I know little about Garesto. And I doubt I’ll be able to sufficiently memorize anything taught by the school.”

“Icchi, you’re kind of bad at studying, aren’t you?”

Considering Shinichi’s circumstances, half of his difficulties must be because of his lack of foundation in middle school, but he must’ve studied on his own as well and tried his hand at various fields, leading to his imbalanced knowledge.

“Kind of? Oh no, I suck at studying.”

Or then again, it might be that intense academic inferiority emanating from his dispirited expression that’s actually to blame.

He seemed to have some fire in him, but he was the sort not to try again after being crushed.

Just seeing all the text books he’d thrown away not long after his transfer was enough to draw a wry smile on her.

“I don’t think that’s something you should be declaring so assertively, but I digress. Continue.”

“If all I wanted was information on the superficial level or those pertaining to the present situation, then I could just make a visit myself. No method could be better if I simply wanted to learn about a country or a territory or a city.”

Naturally, there were things that one couldn’t learn just from a textbook or the internet.

Visiting the place in person and walking on its ground with one’s own legs, seeing its sights with one’s own eyes, hearing its sounds with one’s own ears, and feeling its air with one’s own skin was – without a doubt – the best way to learn about a place.

Because what he wanted was information that transcended what could be learned through videos and data alone.

“As long as I’m in the academy, that visit will happen soon, but just visiting won’t be enough.”

After saying that much, Myuhi was more or less able to understand what he was trying to say.

In a sense, his request was a given, but it was really an absurd request.

“I see, so you also(・) want to learn the things that you can’t learn with just those. In other words, you want to know about our world, the dark side of our society. Your appetite’s a bit big, no?”

Yes, he wanted to know everything, both the surface and the parts hidden too.

Myuhi tacitly asked him if he understood what he was asking for, and he nodded with composure.

Strangely enough, neither enthusiasm nor bluff could be seen on him.

If anything it seemed as though he believed that she could definitely do this much.

“…This is actually what’s so scary about you, Icchi – how you seem to know everything like the palm of your hands.”

“For the record I’m not asking for minute data on every single Garestonian. I just want to gather enough information for me to make a decision. I just want to know the full picture of what’s actually going on right now.”

It had nothing to do with the two sides, he declared, then for a moment, hesitance appeared on him, and he carefully chose his words before continuing.

“I hate terrorists. But the environment that gives birth to them isn’t a matter that can be spoken of in terms of like or dislike. And even if I can’t agree with their methods, I do understand that some governments, no matter how much peace and order they provide… For the sake of the future, some things just have to be destroyed.”

“So you’re saying that you saw a glimmer of possibility within my words?”

“Well, something like that. It’s not as though I’ve come to desire a partnership with your organization(・・・). But I figured that I should at least keep the door of negotiation open with you(・・).”

The look in his eyes told her that her scream then held that much value.

Or perhaps he simply thought that it would be fine to trust the girl called Hina from the academy.