Praise me. After I killed one Soldier and left a threat note, I came back and Shirakawa latched onto me and cried her eyes out.
I don't get why her emotions go up and down like a roller coaster, but it seems like she got it in her head that I'm some kind of Prince Charming on a white horse.
She thinks she's useless and can't do anything, but I'll risk my life to protect her... I mean, I don't actually remember ever risking my life, and making her drink that fruit wine was a mistake too.
In the end, she started saying stuff like "hold me tight until I fall asleep," and even after she was out, she kept snuggling up against me. I'm honestly impressed my self-control didn't completely fall apart.
I tried to think about something hard, so I tried reciting the names of the Tokugawa shoguns in order, but after Ieyasu, Hidetada, and Iemitsu, I jumped straight to Yoshimune and then immediately did the Meiji Restoration.
So then I figured I'd recite pi, but I got about as far as 3 and called it quits.
Just when I was thinking I had no choice but to give in to my desires, Shirakawa got drunk-sick and puked in her sleep, and I got forced into instant clarity mode.
"Sorry, seriously sorry... I am literally never drinking again for the rest of my life, so please forgive me," Shirakawa sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
When morning came and Shirakawa woke up, I made her use Clean, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the smell had somehow soaked in. Worst start to a day ever.
"You are... seriously the worst. If you do it again, I'm calling you Sleep Puke," I told her bluntly.
"I'm reflecting on my actions..." she mumbled, looking down.
I thought it was the worst morning ever, covered in sleep puke, and then a Soldier suddenly barged into the empty room we were using as a bed.
"Eeeek!" Shirakawa shrieked.
Shirakawa got scared and clung to me, but even though we were in the empty room, we were inside the Item Box, so the Soldiers couldn't see us at all.
"Are they here?" one soldier shouted.
"No, there's nobody here," another answered.
"Check under the bed too!" the first ordered.
"Nobody... they're not here," the second reported.
"Alright, next one!" the leader barked.
The Soldier, having no clue we were there, ran off with heavy footsteps to check the next room.
"That scared me so much... That just now, they were, like, looking for me, right?" Shirakawa whispered nervously.
"Probably. They must've found the Soldier I killed yesterday," I replied calmly.
I wanted to get breakfast, so I left the empty room to head to the Kitchen, and Soldiers were running all over the castle.
Every Soldier had this tense look on their face, like they were giving off killing intent.
Even after I killed the first three, it didn't cause this much of a stir.
Back then, everyone thought Shirakawa was the culprit, but it was also because they figured she'd already escaped the castle and fled to the city.
But this time, it seems like they think Shirakawa, who they thought ran away, was actually hiding out in the castle the whole time.
The Soldiers were running around like madmen, desperate to avenge their comrades.
"Yeah, that's it, that's right, get even more desperate. Realize that you've gone from being the ones doing the tormenting to the ones getting tormented," I muttered under my breath, watching them.
"Hey... do you think everyone who got caught is, like, okay?" Shirakawa asked softly.
"Who knows. Actually, probably not. Even if we saved them right now, I doubt they could recover mentally," I answered plainly.
I hadn't told her what happened in the Soldiers' Barracks yesterday, but Shirakawa heard the screams too.
She probably has some idea of how bad it was.
"Well, even if I improve their treatment, I'm still gonna kill every last one of them before we go back to Japan," I added, keeping my voice low.
"Are you gonna be okay, like...?" she asked, looking at me with concern.
"I'm not gonna screw up," I stated firmly.
"That's totally not what I mean. I'm asking if you're gonna get messed up in the head from the guilt of killing people, Kuroi..." she clarified, searching my eyes.
"Well, yeah, if I killed innocent people I'd be drowning in guilt, but there's no need to feel bad about pest control," I shrugged, dismissing it.
"I guess that's totally fine then..." she murmured quietly.
Yeah, bringing Shirakawa to the Soldiers' Barracks was a mistake after all.
Even if yesterday's emotional roller coaster was because of the fruit wine, I feel like that experience got burned into Shirakawa's subconscious anyway.
Honestly, I'm more worried about Shirakawa's mental state than my own.
If she throws a hysterical fit in the tiny space of the Item Box, that'd be a nightmare.
"Alright, after we eat breakfast, we're heading down to the city," I announced, breaking the tension.
"The city! Super nice," Shirakawa brightened up.
"Changing up your mood is important," I pointed out.
"I wanna try shopping and stuff, honestly," she admitted with a small grin.
"Well, that's after we scout it out. The way things are now, we'd probably stand out like crazy, or rather, we'd stick out like a sore thumb in town, so we're not leaving the Item Box until we've got a plan," I cautioned.
"Right. If we get caught, it's literally all over," she agreed, nodding.
"Exactly," I confirmed.
When I went to the Kitchen to snag breakfast, the Soldiers' eyes were watching here too.
They were keeping out of the cooks' way while shooting sharp looks from the corners of the Kitchen.
"Is this, like, because of yesterday's meat?" Shirakawa whispered.
"Probably... but what's done is done, right?" I noted casually.
"Yeah... it was super tasty though," she giggled.
"If the castle Kitchen goes down, we'll just get food in the city. As long as Shirakawa's with me, there's no worry about food poisoning," I said.
"Okay, leave the Purification to me, totally," she promised cheerfully.
For breakfast, I just snagged some bread, fruit, and milk, and kept it simple.
We'll use the Item Box function to move to the city.
That said, there's a limit to how far we can Instant Teleport at once.
With me and Shirakawa inside, we can't even move 10 meters.
But if this Instant Teleport function is the only way back to Japan, then I've got no choice but to train it like crazy.
Fighting off the nasty feeling of Magic Power draining from my body, I moved about 500 meters in roughly 30 minutes, taking breaks along the way.
Walking normally wouldn't even take 10 minutes, so if we're talking pure efficiency, it's absolutely terrible.
But by the time we got to the city, I could Instant Teleport about 20 meters at a time.
I can't tell if that's fast progress or slow, but I confirmed that training makes the ability better, so I'll take it as a win.
Alright, after a quick rest, let's go enjoy what this Other World city has to offer.
Trivia:
- Kuroi's joke about the Tokugawa shogun names skipping from Iemitsu straight to Yoshimune and then doing the Meiji Restoration mirrors his own habit of cutting corners and jumping ahead, which is exactly what he does when training Instant Teleportation later in the chapter.
- Shirakawa calling Kuroi her "Prince Charming on a white horse" is ironic given the series title frames him as a trash mob, and it hints she may be projecting a savior fantasy onto someone who openly admits he never actually risked his life.
- The detail that Shirakawa heard the screams from the Soldiers' Barracks even though Kuroi never told her what happened is a quiet setup for the idea that trauma seeps in without explanation, which is why Kuroi worries more about her mind than his own.
Notes:
• Shirakawa - Family name of Shirakawa Kiyoka, the dark-skinned gyaru and classmate of the protagonist who was summoned alongside him to another world.
• Kuroi - First-person narrator and Item Box user. Male protagonist summoned to another world. Has killed three people. Pragmatic and self-preserving, prioritizing his own safety and return to Japan over helping strangers. Plans to loot the castle and escape. Possesses an Item Box skill that lets him hide and store things, and keeps it constantly active, which may be why his leveling is faster. Cynical and rational, with a forgettable presence that he uses to his advantage. He knows the people of this world are trash and plans to return to Japan. He is a virgin and gets flustered easily by Shirakawa's teasing, often struggling to stay calm when she presses against him.