"My name is Lexia von Arcelia! It's nice to meet you!"
After school.
When everyone gathered to begin the investigation of the mysterious phenomenon proposed by Yukine, Lexia-san, and Yuti, whom Luna had called in advance, were present.
They also decided to ask Kaori to join the investigation team, and before long, the group had grown fairly large.
Seeing Lexia, the princess of another world, Ryo and the others squinted in dazzlement.
"A-amazing…! What is this aura…?"
"Y-yes…! I'm just standing here, but I'm overwhelmed…!"
"Hahaha…!"
It may seem a bit exaggerated, but the actual atmosphere around Lexia-san is somewhat overwhelming and makes you realize that she really is a princess.
Then, seeing such a Lexia, Kaede looked somewhat anxious.
"U-um… Lexia-san is also living in Yuuya-kun's house, correct…?"
"Oh, Y-yes. That's right, but… just like Luna, it's a homestay!"
"I understand that, but… Mmm…"
"Hahaha! Kaede, you don't have to be so pouty! You know, isn't it good if you can turn things around from here?"
"R-Rin-chan!? What do you mean by turning things around… Ah, that's right, but…!"
While such an exchange was taking place, Kaori also had a difficult expression on her face.
"…To move so boldly… does it mean that both Lexia-san and Luna-san are that serious about it…?"
"Kaori? What's wrong?"
"Ah! N-no, it's nothing at all! More importantly, it's fun to go out with everyone like this!"
"Yes, that's right. This is what Japanese JK should be all about."
"…Merl, as usual, where do you get that eccentric information from…?"
At any rate, I was looking forward to it, too, because it was a new experience for me to play after school with such a large group of people.
"But then, it would have been nice if Akira had been with us too."
"Certainly! I think he's the type of guy who wants to be a part of this kind of fun, but he's kind of busy every day!"
Akira was also invited to participate in this investigation, but he seemed to have something to do and was returning home with tears in his eyes.
Ryo was right. He always seems to be busy.
As each of us gathered in this way to deepen our friendship, Yukine opened her mouth.
"…We're all here now, so let's get going."
"Y-yeah! I'm a little scared, but with this number of people…"
"As usual, Kaede is scared. But have you decided where to go?"
"…Yeah. There's actually this mysterious phenomenon happening right next to the school, so I thought we'd go check it out there."
This time, the investigation was to find the cause of the mysterious phenomena, but it also included the purpose of showing Lexia-san and Luna around the city. There is nothing wrong with that, but I have some concerns about the mysterious phenomena.
I called out to Kuro, the 'Evil' power lurking in my body.
"(Hey, Kuro. I wonder if it's possible for an evil beast to be summoned to this world like before?)"
"Huh? Well, that's not going to happen in a normal way, though. But it has actually appeared before. It would not be surprising if it appeared in this world again by some chance."
"(As I thought…)"
I wondered if an evil beast might be involved in this mysterious phenomenon.
If the identity of the culprit was unknown even after such a public uproar, it no longer seemed as if the crime was committed by human hands.
And if it really was the work of an evil beast, I couldn't just leave it at that.
While I was making a difficult face, Yuti looked at me curiously.
"Question. What's wrong?"
"Hmm? A-ah, nothing."
"Hey, Yuuya! Let's go first."
"Yes!"
For now, I put off thinking about difficult things and followed Yukine to the site where the mysterious phenomenon had occurred.
On the way there, Lexia-san came up next to me and smiled.
"Hey, what do you think of me in my uniform? Yuuya-senpai?"
"S-senpai?"
"Isn't that right? I'm in the grade below Yuuya-sama. In that case, it's normal for me to call you 'senpai,' isn't it?"
"T-that's true, but…"
"Then I'm a senior too, Lexia."
"Luna is Luna!"
"Hey, why?"
Kaede and the others were surprised to see the two of them continue to argue, but Yuti, who was enrolled in the same middle school as Lexia-san, looked at me with a tilted head.
"Question. Yuuya, a senior?"
"Heh? W-well, in terms of position, yes…"
"Yuuya-senpai… Strange."
"Strange, you say…?"
Certainly, it is strange to be suddenly called senpai by Yuti since she had never called me senpai before.
That should be the same for Lexia-san, but from Lexia-san's point of view, she seemed to enjoy calling me senpai.
"I see… that the hierarchical relationship on Earth is formed in this way."
"No, it's not that this is the only way…"
"But you are saying that those in the grade above yours should be called senpai, right?"
"That's true, but…"
As for Merl, she was also trying to acquire a lot of information in order to somehow fit in with the Earth's culture. Whether that direction is correct or not.
After walking around happily like that, we finally arrived at our destination.
"…I believe it's somewhere around here."
It was a back alley with few pedestrians, a place I would not normally pass by.
The area was littered with trash, and to be honest, it was hard to tell that a mysterious phenomenon had occurred here.
"It's kind of a dirty place…"
"…Is this the way back alleys are in every country? It still doesn't seem as bleak as it does over there, and it's better."
"What a comparison…"
While Lexia-san frowns, Luna, who has lived in the underworld as an assassin belonging to the Dark Guild, seems to think nothing of this back alley.
As we continue down the narrow alleyway, Yukine suddenly stops.
"…Ah."
"Hii!?"
Ryo looked at the place where Yukine stopped and shouted in surprise.
Caught by the voice, we turned our gaze…
"W-what is this…?"
"Claw marks…?"
There were sharp claw marks carved into the concrete wall as if some giant creature had gone wild here.
"Hey, hey, are you telling me there's a bear in the city?"
"E-even so, isn't it too big?"
Shingo-kun was right. The claw marks were too big to be from a bear. After all, the marks left by the marks were much longer than our height.
Then Merl touched the claw marks.
After examining something, she whispered to me in a whisper so that Ryo and the others could not hear.
"…It's strange. These claw marks don't seem to match the claws of any creature on Earth that exists in my database…"
"Then again, maybe it's not an earthly creature, but the work of some otherworldly creature? That would be an evil beast or…"
"Negative. It's not the size of an evil beast. And I don't feel any remnants of 'Evil.' It's a different creature."
"I think Yuti is right. There's no sign of evil around here."
Not only Yuti but also Kuro had denied the possibility of the work of evil beasts.
In this case, it would be better to think that these claw marks were caused by another being, different from the evil beast.
If so, what kind of creature could have made these scratches…?
As I contemplated various things in front of the claw marks, Kaede, who had been quietly keeping quiet, opened her mouth.
"H-hey, why don't we go home now…? L-look! We could check it out like this! Right?"
"Kaede says, but what about Yukine?"
"…That's right. I don't think we can find out anything by looking any further."
"T-that's glad to hear…!
"Geez… If you're so scared, you shouldn't have followed us at all."
"Eehh? Rin-chan, that's terrible!"
We decided to leave the back alley as we realized that we had nothing to gain from it.
"Ara? Are we done with this place?"
"I guess so. I don't think we're going to find out anything more by staying here…"
"Hmm… I don't know about it, but are there creatures in this world that can leave those claw marks?"
"No way! I've never seen claw marks that big before!"
"Hmm? Then what are those claw marks, then?"
Lexia-san and the others seemed to find the place itself, a back alley on Earth, unusual, and looked around, but for the moment, there was no point in staying here, so we agreed to leave.
"Right! Now that we're all here, let's all go somewhere and have fun!"
"Oh! That sounds great! With this many people, maybe a sports center?"
"O-or maybe karaoke?"
While everyone was talking about what to do, we were about to leave the back alley… that's when it happened.
"!?"
Suddenly, I felt a terrible chill, and a cold sweat broke out on my back. How can I describe it? I felt an irresistible sense of disgust.
I was bewildered by the sudden situation, and it seemed that I was not the only one who was feeling this sensation.
"W-what is that?"
"Suddenly, I feel cold…"
"…Maybe we hit the jackpot?"
"What do you mean, jackpot?"
Yukine was the only one who spoke carefree, but everyone looked around and was on the lookout.
Luna was also protecting Lexia-san behind her back, and before long, she was also preparing her weapon, a string.
"…Yuuya, do you know what this presence is?"
"N-no. I've never felt this kind of presence before either…"
"I'll tell you one thing; there's no sign of an Evil beast or an evil beast."
If Kuro says so, then this chill must be caused by a totally unknown entity.
I looked at Merl, who was operating a device attached to her left arm while hiding from Ryo and the others.
"…It's strange. I don't see any particular life forms in the vicinity…"
I've been trying as well with my [Presence Detection] skill, and there are no reactions around me that seem to be that.
To get out of this situation, for the time being, we try to get out of the back alley.
At that time──.
"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
"!?"
Suddenly, a monster we had never seen before appeared right in front of us!
The monster had the physique of a seemingly elementary school student at first glance, but its head was bald and clean, it wore no clothing on its body, its belly was greatly swollen, and its entire body was covered with reddish-black skin.
The most distinctive feature of its body is its claws, which are unusually long and sharp, disproportionately so for a childlike figure.
Because the claws were so huge, the monster in front of us was walking while dragging its claws.
The sudden appearance of this unknown monster made everyone in the place gasp in awe.
Then, the monster turned its sunken eyes toward us.
"──"
"Kuh!"
"Yuuya!"
It was almost a reflex.
As soon as I quickly thrust the bag in my hand in front of my body, the monster pierced the bag with its claws!
"Hah!
"Kii!"
After blocking the monster's attack, I threw the bag away, and at the same time, I flung myself at the monster and slammed a kick into its torso.
The monster was blown away by my kick, and I shouted to everyone while it was still in the air.
"Everyone, run!"
"R-run, you say…!"
"──Kishaaaaaa!"
"Shocked. Yuuya's kick didn't work at all!"
The monster in front of us did not seem to have suffered any damage at all, although I thought I had released the kick with a lot of force.
However, even if I tried to fight the monster, Kaede and the others would be caught in the middle of it, and I couldn't take out my sword or spear in the middle of the city.
What should I do…!