That was way too closeeeeeeeeeee!
A girl was just about to get taken away by a higher being right in front of meeeeeee!
“Why did you get in the way? That was a human who tried to steal Ei’s manga. A person who deserves to die.”
“No no no no…”
Whispering to Sora beside me, I desperately shook my head.
Right now, we had left the abandoned movie theater and come to a nearby park.
It was the kind of park that looked suited for a nice walk, with paved paths and well-maintained trees.
The girl who called herself Senano was on the phone a little ways off, apparently saying she had something to report.
Even so, I was really surprised when Senano-chan suddenly came into that underground theater.
At first I thought some cocky brat had come to do a test of courage or something, but apparently that was not it.
She had some kind of glowing feather too.
A world where higher beings exist, a beautiful girl with insane hair color, a glowing item whose principles were obviously unknown, and all those boy-loving keywords I had been hearing from the smartphone the whole time… there was no doubt.
There was something supernatural here, a nicely fantasy-like modern Japan.
What a wonderful convenient reincarnation. God had not abandoned me…!
This was not a world with nothing but a village that felt like a huge dud from one of those scary story threads!
“We should kill her after all. We do not need her.”
“I told you, no…”
When Senano-chan took the manga from me, she did not seem to notice, but the higher being beside me was seriously dangerous.
With the same casual ease as killing a bug, she was about to do something.
I panicked and stopped her halfway through, but it looked like part of Senano-chan’s memory had been blown away… doing something like that is absolutely not okay…
And that was probably Ten’i… the thing that is going to be done to me in the end…
“Ei is kind. Even though your clothes were even stripped off.”
“Well, both of us took damage there, so it was more like a draw… well, we were at fault too.”
After Senano-chan learned my sex, she looked utterly incredulous and stripped me down in the bushes right after we left the movie theater.
As for me at the time, I was desperately busy gesturing to Sora, who was smiling while trying to use Ten’i, to stop.
“Anyway, you cannot kill her.”
“I would not be killing her, only emptying her out.”
“Let’s learn that sophistry like that is not going to work, okay?”
“…Ei, you are a little impertinent.”
“Eh”
Th-this is bad. I can hear cicadas in the distance…!
Maybe they are in the bushes nearby?
I really hope so…!
“I-I had a reason for stopping Sora! Look, this manga!”
Trying to change the subject, I picked up the manga.
Then I pointed at the cover and said,
“Doesn’t this character look like that girl from earlier? Hey, she does, right!?”
Without saying anything, Sora compared the manga cover and the distant Senano back and forth.
Among the characters in the manga I had read earlier, there was a red-haired tsundere heroine who used flames. The hairstyle was different, but the impression was similar.
“…Now that you mention it, yes. I have never cared about the characteristics of humans.”
“Right? She looks like her, right!? So I thought it would be a waste to kill her! Besides, that old man said that after reading a manga, acting like that character is fun too! So instead of killing her, how about we enjoy her as one of our pieces of content!? Come on, let’s keep her alive instead of killing her!”
“Acting like one… yes! Yoi also said that rather than only watching, actually experiencing it yourself is important! I definitely want to try that roleplaying game too! Ehh, then the character I will play is…”
My way with words was as sharp as ever today.
For a little kid around this age, acting like a fictional character and immersing yourself in its world is a perfectly normal thing.
I knew she would absolutely go for it!
Now all I had to do was keep steering the conversation away and away, and if I could say goodbye to Senano-chan at a good moment, that would be enough.
“Ei.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Keeping her eyes lowered to the manga, Sora spoke to me.
“Are you relieved that you managed to change the subject?”
At that instant, I had the illusion that my heart had been gripped by an icy hand.
My breath stopped on reflex, and a pounding noise rang in the back of my head.
If a higher being realizes you deceived them, it is obvious what happens to a puny human like me.
Fearfully, I dropped to the ground before Sora in a deep bow of apology.
It was the strongest method of apology passed down from my previous life, the homeland of my soul. I did not know whether it existed in this world. But it probably did, so I figured the meaning would come across.
“………S-sorry.”
『Hehe, Ei is cute』
Suddenly, I heard a voice from inside my head, and I reflexively raised my face.
There, my eyes met blue eyes.
Without saying anything, Sora looked down at me with the manga in one hand.
That alone forcibly made me realize once more that although she had a much younger and smaller body than mine, she was a terrifying being.
『Let’s keep getting along like we always have. I’m looking forward to the roleplaying』
Even though her mouth was not moving, Sora’s voice echoed inside my head.
That alone was already a supernatural phenomenon, but the terrifying part was that before I knew it, the place where I had been bowing was no longer concrete, but grass.
There was no trace of the city, only the familiar mountains and behind them a sky so absurdly blue it looked like a joke.
The cries of the cicadas sounded as if they were laughing at me.
『Ei, please get up. Your nice clothes will get dirty』
“Y-yes.”
“…Mm, good child.”
When Sora opened her mouth and said that, she stroked my chin and let her finger slide to my cheek.
Then she smiled innocently.
“Well then, shall we play together with that human for a little while?”
“…Y-Yes!”
It’s no use anymore, I can’t control her…!
What is with this monster power!? This is not on a level where it should be worshipped in some tiny countryside village! The whole country ought to devote all its strength to revering this thing!
“Then, let us go back.”
“Yessir!”
Right now, I was nothing more than a low-ranking pretty-girl-looking male sacrifice.
And so, the instant I nodded like the small fry I was, the scenery around us returned to the original park.
At that exact moment, Senano-chan came back after finishing her call, looked at me, and tilted her head.
“Why are your clothes dirty?”
“…From when I took them off earlier.”
“Ah!? S-sorry.”
Maybe because she remembered what had happened earlier, Senano-chan’s face turned bright red.
Sorry about that. With how I look, you would not think I was a guy.
But the one who let their guard down was also at fault, you know.
“Ah, right!”
The higher being beside me suddenly raised a bright voice, as if she had just thought of a great idea. I do not know what it is, but please stop.
“The next time we check, let’s change this human to female and scare her!”
Please stop.