Nanjō Emi heard someone call her name. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, burped, and turned around to look.
"This isn't that someone... Oh, Uesugi Ririko!"
Shizuma Mafuyu, sitting to her right, sighed and said quietly, "Ms. Nanjō, he's Uesugi Tetsu."
Shizuma Mafuyu was very particular about not calling Nanjō a junior officer in public. Instead, she addressed her as "Ms."
Uesugi Tetsu froze when he heard that name. Only after he got a clear look at Nanjō Emi's hazy eyes did he realize what was going on. "So, Sister Nanjō, you're not only a chain-smoker, but also a drunk?"
He sat down on Nanjō Emi's left and reminded her, "I hear that if you smoke and drink heavily in private, you won't live past sixty or seventy."
After saying that, Uesugi Tetsu ordered an extra-large gyudon with triple the beef. It was a pre-cooked dish made from lab-grown cattle, but it was environmentally friendly, healthy, tasty, and cheap.
"So, Uesugi-kun, you think I can live to sixty?" Nanjō Emi laughed heartily and casually hooked an arm around Uesugi Tetsu's shoulders. The strong smell of alcohol made him pinch his nose. "Then I really have to thank you for your blessing."
That reminded Uesugi Tetsu of Hasegawa. It also reminded him that most of the people he had seen at the Special Affairs Division headquarters that day had been young.
Being an Onmyoji really wasn't a profession with a high survival rate, was it?
As Uesugi Tetsu was thinking, he suddenly felt something soft all around his arm, so he hurriedly slipped free. "Sister Nanjō, do you have a bit of a problem judging personal space?"
"Is that so? Is there a problem?"
Nanjō Emi looked up, smacked her lips twice in confusion, clinked glasses with Shizuma Mafuyu, whose face was full of worry, and happily drank the remaining half-glass. "Having a drink after work is just the best!"
Shizuma Mafuyu took a tiny sip and pressed her lips together bitterly.
Apparently, drinking with one's superior applied in every country. Shizuma Mafuyu must have been too eager to advance, voluntarily drinking with the drunk beside her...
Uesugi Tetsu pulled his thoughts back and brought up the main topic. "Speaking of work, I just ran into Kurosaki Akira."
"Talking about work after hours is terribly unromantic, Uesugi-kun."
Nanjō Emi put down her glass and lay her head on her arms atop the table. Her long, narrow eyes glanced toward him. "But... since you've met, you should already know what the job involves. Tell me what you think."
Uesugi Tetsu said gravely, "It was too easy. Easy enough to be abnormal."
"Ah! That's certainly true." Nanjō Emi licked the alcohol from her lips. "So you still need to be careful lately."
Uesugi Tetsu froze. Sister Nanjō's reaction clearly showed that she knew all about it.
He frowned. "If that's the case, why didn't you..."
"Because I finished my work and clocked out."
Nanjō Emi gave a tired yawn. Shizuma Mafuyu bought another beer and placed it beside her, replacing the one she was nearly finished with.
In just two or three days, Shizuma Mafuyu had grown from a timid intern into a qualified office lady.
The woman drank her chilled beer happily, looking utterly content. "I've already discussed this with my supervisor and coworkers, and reported it to the level above them. What else do you want me to do, Uesugi-kun?"
At that moment, Uesugi Tetsu's gyudon was ready.
Nanjō Emi thanked the clerk, took it for him, and gently pushed it in front of Uesugi Tetsu. "May I ask what the rest of it has to do with me?"
She pinched the rim of her glass and gave it a gentle swirl, the corners of her lips lifting. "I'm not some hero from a story who goes looking for trouble. I'm just a corporate slave who follows her superior's orders and works herself to the bone."
Uesugi Tetsu ate large mouthfuls of rice as she continued,
"To me, this job is no different in essence from being an accounting clerk. And after a corporate slave finishes her own work, of course she should get drunk and sleep soundly."
"Uesugi-kun."
Nanjō Emi poked Uesugi Tetsu in the waist with her elbow. The moment he turned his head, she pressed her index finger to his lips, then said seriously with a perfectly calm expression,
"You do what you can, and no more than that. That's my creed in life."
Her finger was warm and carried a strong scent of beer.
But this time, Uesugi Tetsu didn't pinch his nose. He slowly nodded. "I understand."
"Good!" Nanjō Emi grinned, then turned and put an arm around Shizuma Mafuyu, repeating herself.
"I'll remember that too, Ms. Nanjō."
"Oh, we're off the clock now. Don't be so formal. Just call me Sister Nanjō. Emi is fine too."
"Huh? Ah? Um... no, no, no..."
"Come to think of it, Mafuyu, did you join us because you have some incredibly difficult dream to accomplish?"
"Mm... Because as long as I get through my internship, my younger sister will be able to find a stable job in the future."
"So you're doing it for your little sister! Wonderful. Then let's get along well during the next three months of your internship, Mafuyu!"
Uesugi Tetsu ate his meal and quietly listened to the conversation between the corporate slave and the already-not-so-new workplace newcomer.
Work, huh.
He swallowed the last bite of gyudon and thought that he had never really understood what kind of person Sister Nanjō was.
She just muddled through and focused on living well. No wonder Nanjō Emi had spent five whole years in the Special Affairs Division and was still only a junior officer.
Without saying goodbye to Nanjō Emi, Uesugi Tetsu left Yoshinoya alone, under Shizuma Mafuyu's hesitant gaze.
He casually found a subway station on the JR Line, entered it, and continued using his phone to browse news related to Kisaragi Station.
Of course, he didn't forget to fill in some basic supernatural knowledge.
For example, what kind of Supernatural Phenomenon the Right Bow he had encountered today was. This kind of understanding was essential, because if he clearly knew the other party's origins, he could formulate a targeted response.
As he browsed his phone, the time soon reached 10:20 p.m.
Clatter, clatter~
Accompanied by a cheerful little tune and the sound of an electric train slowing down, a perfectly ordinary train stopped in front of Uesugi Tetsu right on schedule.
He boarded with the crowd and stood by the window, gazing outside.
The train moved on. The scenery outside the window slowly changed, and the night grew deeper.
By the time the train reached the terminal station, there were hardly any people left inside. Only a drunk middle-aged office worker seemed to have missed his stop, and he staggered off behind Uesugi Tetsu.
Uesugi Tetsu glanced at him. After confirming that no one besides the middle-aged man was on the platform, he changed into his overcoat and mask within the man's blind spot.
The next train arrived less than two minutes later. Uesugi Tetsu boarded silently and found that the middle-aged man had followed him.
He paid him no attention.
There were very few people on this train. When it reached the original starting station, only he and the middle-aged man got off.
Uesugi Tetsu stepped through the doors, and a subtle chill immediately rose from the soles of his feet.
He looked around. The Tokyo nightscape that had been crystal clear in his eyes had already begun to blur.
Without hesitation, Uesugi Tetsu silently transformed into Laughing Brahma.
At the same time, he summoned Two-Shaku-Sama.
The white-hatted girl anxiously pawed at Uesugi Tetsu the moment she appeared. "Po! Tetsu-sama, you're actually still alive!?"
What a blessing to receive...
Uesugi Tetsu motioned for her to be quiet, then said softly, "In Everworld, even if I die, I can still come back to life."
Two-Shaku-Sama's mouth fell open, her face filled with disbelief. But just before she could make a sound, she covered her mouth with both hands and let out a faint series of popo sounds.
Uesugi Tetsu reminded her, "Putting that aside, there may be several battles later. When that happens, I'll have to rely on Two-Shaku-Sama to help me recover quickly between them."
--This was Uesugi Tetsu's assumption that a battle would occur every time they passed through a station.
--But there was also a high chance that this assumption was wrong. He had summoned Two-Shaku-Sama merely as a precaution.
Next would be the last train.
However, before Uesugi Tetsu could wait for the last train, another train identical to the one he had taken earlier arrived from behind him.
The train doors slowly opened.
A group of laughing high school students and a middle-aged woman absorbed in her phone stepped onto the platform, apparently oblivious to the changes in their surroundings.
"So I'm saying, Miyamoto, is our test of courage really going to take place at this train station? I don't see anything scary here at all. You can't scare me one bit, hahaha!"
Among the high school students, a girl spoke up.
Uesugi Tetsu's gaze sharpened when he heard the familiar term.
--Another test of courage?
Before you continue