Instant Death

Two full days had passed since checking into the hotel.

Yogiri spent the whole time sleeping while Tomochika lived as a shut-in. It was a peaceful two days.

The hotel rooms had a comfortable temperature, its lighting was freely adjustable and even food could be ordered all the way to the room with a quick call to the front desk.

On a side note, while the entirety of Hayabusa was equipped with a telephone network, it was impossible to make calls to other cities. The world had not yet invented wireless communication networks.

Moving on, the bathroom had a flush toilet, the sink's faucet worked without issue and even toilet paper was available. Secluding herself in one of those rooms for a while longer could have made her forget she was in a different world.

"I wonder how long I can just live like this."

Tomochika spoke to no one in particular as she vacantly gazed outside.

Her room was on the 5th floor, but all those buildings as tall as the hotel were blocking most of the room's view. Despite how comfortable it was, spending all day inside with such a feeling of being caged up started feeling a little depressing.

『Until the youngster wakes up, probably.』

Mokomoko, who was floating in the air next to her, answered.

"Can you check whether he's still asleep? You can go through walls, right?"

『Oh I certainly can, no difficulties there. But no, too scary.』

"So scary you can't even take a quick peek?"

『Oh, when he's asleep he's especially scary. Entering his room without permission is madness, who knows what might happen.』

"Not like I'm telling you to go wake him up."

『Trust me, best to just wait for him to wake up on his own. Let sleeping dogs lie, don't wake a slumbering child, you know what they say.』

"But there's nothing to do until he wakes up, is there?"

They had come to this city to meet up with their classmates, and because they had no other business here there wasn't much for her to do in the meantime.

『Oh? So you had plans for something to do in a room with just the two of you?』

Mokomoko floated up close with a grin as wide as her already wide face, and Tomochika replied with bright red cheeks.

"W-what are you saying! As if we would do… t-that!"

『I should be the one asking what you're saying, obviously you have to get a good grip on him or he'll break up with you.』

"Breaking up you say, it's not like we're dating…"

Although Tomochika wasn't sure how to describe their current relationship either.

『Luckily he has already expressed interest in your chest. For starters, how about letting him fondle and lick a little?』

"Stop with that, idiot!"

『Hm? Doesn't enticing him with your body sound the simplest? That way he'd also have a reason to continue protecting you.』

"No no, It's not like I'm only trying to get him to keep protecting me. I believe there's a way I can help as well… somehow."

『As I said, there's a very easy way for you to help him.』

"I'm glad I can't see what you're imagining!"

『Why get so worked up over it? I'll have you know, I myself have spent a lot of time sneaking into bedrooms at night on my search for strong blood with which to enrich our family.』

"Shouldn't the guy be the one sneaking around!? Now I feel sorry for my ancestors!"

Tomochika couldn't help but feel like she had to apologize to all of history's great men. Having a woman as massive as Mokomoko sneak into their rooms must have been a terrifying experience.

『Don't be worried because it's your first time, I'll teach you everything there is to know!』

"How do I look up 'How to exorcise a guardian spirit' in this world!?"

A grueling image started coming afloat in Tomochika's mind, but she successfully shouted it away.

『I suppose if it's absolutely necessary I'd even leave you two alone for a while.』

"Does it really take that much to get you to leave me alone!?"

『What kind of guardian spirit would I be if I abandoned you on some whim every now and then?』

Tomochika couldn't see the discussion taking a turn for the better and instead turned her head back to the window and sighed.

"Anyway, staying in here for much longer sounds pretty unbearable, I think I'll at least take a stroll… wait, what's that?"

Something strange was happening outside.

The main street right below Tomochika's window was getting boisterous and all the horse-drawn carriages hurriedly steered to the sides to halt.

Screams and shouts; the pedestrians were frantically scattering into whichever side alley was closest. All of them had their heads turned in the same direction they ran away from, and when Tomochika looked that way herself she saw several vehicles making their ways across the street at full speed.

"Huh? Are those trucks?"

Three massive cars were driving down the road without any concern for the horse-drawn carriages still in the middle of the street, several of them getting thrown aside as if hit by a snow plow and crashing into the buildings lined up along the road. Some of the pedestrians were too slow with their escape and ended up squashed between carriage carts and walls.

『Hmm, armored vehicles used for transporting military reinforcements have a similar air around them.』

The three huge cars made their way past the hotel with engines roaring so loud they bordered on noise pollution. Tomochika couldn't tell what the trucks were carrying, but with their angular shape and robust appearance military troops weren't out of the question.

『Those… are bad news. Teeming with the smell of death.』

"Even I can tell that much after what just happened!"

Without any warning the main street had been turned into a living hell.

The armored vehicles had strewn death everywhere they passed by as they charged through the street.

『I meant whatever they are carrying; their insides were making the presence of death that was shrouding the cars themselves look like a joke.』

"What's wrong with this world! This isn't normal, people are dying way too randomly!" 𝑓𝓇𝑒𝑒𝚠e𝘣𝓷𝘰ѵe𝑙.com

She could understand if this world was simply more dangerous than her old one, but this went beyond reasonable. Just like back at the steam train, it felt as if people's lives weren't valued whatsoever.

『Maybe that was related to the sages as well. Even if armored cars weren't uncommon in this dimension, the ones that just passed by definitely felt reminiscent of our world.』

Tomochika closed the curtains and sat down on her bed.

Continuing to look on wouldn't have made the disastrous situation better, only her mood worse.

『Ah, didn't you say you wanted to go for a stroll outside?』

"Thank you, but no thank you, I'm fine. Ahh, this room really does have it all, have I mentioned that I could stay here forever?"

After seeing that macabre spectacle there wasn't any desire left to go outside.

『That may be the safest course of action, but, well.』

But Mokomoko's tone didn't make it sound like she was on Tomochika's side.

"What? You're making it difficult for me to enjoy my shut-in life."

『I hope you realize that you can't shut yourself away in this room forever.』

"Nonono, we're living in a cruel world, okay!? The kind of cruel where you go outside for a walk and get run over by a truck!"

『Ah, but can you say with confidence that those trucks aren't going to come crashing into this room?』

"I'm having a hard time even imagining that, so…"

『Well, that one was an example, but there really is some foe lurking in the corridor actually, probably waiting for you to come out.』

"…Wait, what? Why? Did we do something?"

『You did a whole lot, actually. Went around killing classmates, thugs, a sage, train raiders, monsters, a dragon… at this point it would be stranger for not even one of them to come targeting you, don't you think?』

Mokomoko replied, sounding a little irked.

Tomochika most likely wouldn't have been able to resist an attacker on her own, but there was no way for whoever was lurking outside to be sure of that.

"Any idea who it is?"

『I can tell that he or she is at the end of the corridor, but I can't see the actual person.』

"You can't see them but know there is someone?"

『Of course, as your guardian spirit I'm quite sensitive to hostile intent aimed at you. I can't grasp it as well as the youngster, but I can spot a would-be attacker any time of the day. I was thinking that there's no need to take action if we're only being watched, but it looks like your stalker is getting tired of waiting. Probably won't be long until this room is getting raided.』

"What am I supposed to do if that happens!? Ah! I'll call Takatou-kun and wake him up!"

There was a high chance of being attacked if she left her room to go wake him up herself, and if the person wasn't visible because of a magic spell or special item then there was little Tomochika could do against them on her own. However, she was certain that Yogiri would be able to handle it.

She hurried to the room's telephone and rang up the neighboring room.

"Yes, hello?"

"That was quick, were you already awake!?"

"Just got out of bed. Something noisy went down outside and woke me up."

Tomochika gave him a quick rundown of the situation.

"I see. Alright, I'll be there in a second."

"Erm, I know I'm the one that asked you to come, but are you sure you can just walk over?"

"Should be fine if not seeing them is all there is to it."

It didn't sound like he had anything to base his confidence on, but just hearing those words gave Tomochika a sense of relief.