Chapter 73: Takato Kotoha ①

When I stepped out of the room, RatLord was waiting right there. I jerked my thumb at the door behind me as I spoke.

"She seems like she’ll cooperate without much trouble."

"I never realized the young lady could be this terrifying," he said.

"RatLord, that’s quite a thing to say without even a greeting."

RatLord let out a thin squeak.

Fine, fine. I’ll let it slide.

"But that wasn’t a ranking by difficulty, was it? You just introduced me to the ones you especially want on our side first."

"…"

"Ah. Silence."

Shikarak had said he’d be “introducing them in the order of people I’d especially like you to get along with.”

Maybe he’d prioritized villains who seemed easier to win over. Maybe he was even cutting me some slack. I was starting to think better of him, but I’ll pretend that never happened.

"I might’ve been the one who gave you the push, but—my advice? Pull back before you go too far."

"Yeah. If it gets troublesome, I’ll quit."

Not that I ever had a good impression of Public Safety in the first place.

If they’ve executed that many espers, nobody in their right mind would go around saying they “just love Public Safety ♡.”

I don’t like them either.

But I do acknowledge their strength.

The fact that Japan has secured its place as the safest country in the world, with the lowest number of deaths, is undeniably thanks to Public Safety.

RatLord sighed.

"I was worried the young lady would be used up and discarded… but maybe I’m the one who should be worried, if she climbs to the top and tosses me aside."

I’ve got no intention of actually joining Public Safety.

After all this cooperation, that might sound contradictory, but there’s precedent—Professor Tsukishima.

Staying in the convenient role of “outside collaborator” suits me just fine.

"What, RatLord, don’t we go way back? If it ever comes to that, I’ll just smash the whole Public Safety system to pieces. So relax."

When I said that, RatLord’s ears twitched.

"Young lady, saying something like that here of all places…"

"Oh—does that count as a declaration of war?"

It’s safer to assume that everything said inside Public Safety gets overheard.

At the very least, Tome hears it all. That guy’s probably laughing right now.

"But hey, remember what Grandma used to say? If someone tries to take advantage of you, you make them understand."

"…That so."

RatLord muttered "Grandma…" under his breath.

He sounded like he thought it was too lofty—almost blasphemous—to call her that.

Apparently, she’s feared quite a lot.

Maybe my attitude would change too, if I learned more about her life and abilities.

She killed plenty of people, from the sound of it. That alone would be reason enough to fear her.

"I’ve lived my life crawling at people’s feet. I can’t even begin to grasp talk like that."

"If you hate living that way, then I’ll help you change it."

RatLord chittered.

There he goes again—slipping into mouse-talk whenever he’s cornered. Cut that out. I can’t tell if it’s yes or no.

If you don’t want to give me a straight answer, you don’t have to say anything at all.

But the way he squeaks makes me want to memorize it, like he actually wants me to learn mouse-speech.

Anyway, I changed the subject.

"Well, I’m not exactly free either. People say college students have nothing but spare time, but that’s hardly true for everyone. Especially the ones on scholarships—they’re just living on borrowed time. Even if you think you can skip the short hand on the clock, you’ll never beat time itself."

"…Meaning?"

"Meaning I’ll chat with one more person before I head out."

"I see. Just don’t push yourself too hard."

RatLord cautioned me as he guided me to the next room.

He chittered again, prompting me to enter. I knocked, then opened the door.

The room was bare.

Not as empty as Bitvine’s, but nowhere near as stylish as Tome’s place, which looked like a drama set.

The resident was a petite woman sprawled on a huge, soft cushion. I knew that type—it’s what some people call a “life-ruiner cushion.”

The corners of her mouth curved just slightly, giving her a constant smiling look. She seemed like the type whose face always looked cheerful.

In other words, she gave off a very approachable impression.

But before I could greet her, her eyes rolled in circles.

"Uwehh… uuhhh…"

"Hey, are you okay!?"

Her soft, wobbly voice—sweet and cute, like something out of an anime—was actually a groan, maybe even a sob.

She clutched at her mouth. Probably feeling sick.

"Should I go call someone?"

"Aheh, p-please waif a bit…"

"I don’t mind waiting as long as you need, but if you’re about to die, I can’t just sit here and watch."

"I won’t die."

With her saying that, all I could do was take her word for it.

I stepped back a little, making sure I could dash out of the room at any moment.

Of course, Public Safety was monitoring the room, and if things really went south, I expected them to storm in.

But their promise had only been to protect me as much as possible.
They never said anything about protecting the other side.

Just in case, I shifted so I could reach the door in a single move.

Watching her for a while, I saw the woman slowly get her breathing under control.

She took several deep breaths, smacked her cheeks lightly with both hands, and cutely pulled herself back together.

Honestly, every one of her gestures looked like something straight out of an anime.

Did she just walk out of a gal game or a moe anime?
No… more like one of those easygoing slice-of-life gag manga. She’d fit right into a four-panel strip.

With a soft sigh, she bowed her head to me.

"Sorry for the trouble…"

"Don’t worry about it. If anything, I’m the one barging in without notice. Guess I should’ve set up an appointment first."

"No, no, it’s fine…"

I thought, yeah, Public Safety should’ve set up the appointment, but knowing this organization and their near-zero regard for human rights, I doubted they bothered.

"My name is Takato Kotoha."

"Appreciate the formality. I’m Katagiri Inori."

"Since it wouldn’t be fair otherwise, let me explain my ability to you."

"Huh?"

So she already knew about my ability.

Even if she didn’t explain, I could always ask Public Safety and find out what hers was. Someone would tell me—at the very least, Omokage definitely would.

Which meant her power was one I needed to know right here, right now—or I’d be at a disadvantage.

"I can read minds. I know what you’re thinking."

The instant I heard that, a storm of thoughts tore through my head.

I froze up, but forced myself to say what had to be said first.

"…Sorry about that. Hopefully I wasn’t thinking anything too rude."

"No, don’t worry. I’m not all-powerful."

So she couldn’t read everything.

"I’m not very smart. When it’s someone like you—someone much smarter than me—their thoughts just overflow into me all at once. My head can’t take it. It feels like it’s going to burst."

"Then that makes it even worse. I’m the reason you got sick."

I am intelligent.

That’s not arrogance, just fact.

I have excellent memory—I can recall events from years ago as vividly as if I were staring at photographs.

For someone without that kind of processing, that volume of information would be a crushing burden.