However, in Kanda Park, a woman dressed in office attire seemed a little drunk. She staggered along with a half-empty bottle of liquor in her hand, muttering things that were hard to make out.
"Hehe, hic, now, hic, I'm about to lose my job, hic, and my man's left me, hic. Men are all trash. What's so great about them, hic?"
As the woman passed a clump of bushes, a murderous gaze fixed on her. Then, the next second, a flash of light darted past.
"Whoosh."
"Rumble."
A rolling liquor bottle and a cold corpse lay in the park.
That night would be a sleepless one, and the beginning of a night of bloodshed.
--The protagonist returns home---
"Click."
After Senba Gari opened the villa's front door, he turned to the figure behind him and said,
"Come on in. From now on, this is our home."
You don't have to tell me, Master. I was going to come in anyway. ╮(‵▽′)╭
Silver Phantom, now in robot form, followed Senba Gari into the villa. The display on its chest showed an expression, too.
Looking at the expression on Silver Phantom's chest display, Senba Gari complained, utterly exasperated.
"I mean, why do you still like using expressions so much after turning into a robot?"
That's because I'm very interested in human emotions, so I want to learn about them. ??(???ω?? ?)?
"Is that so? I didn't know you had such a 'human' side to you."
Senba Gari seemed to have gotten used to Silver Phantom's expressions. He returned to his bedroom and spoke to Silver Phantom at the door.
"Haah~ I'm going to bed. If you've got nothing to do, shut yourself down. Haah~ I'm exhausted."
The next morning, at Senba Gari's home.
As soon as Senba Gari woke up, he got out of bed and left his room. He saw Silver Phantom, in robot form, watching TV with great interest.
You're a robot, aren't you? Do robots watch TV, too?
He complained silently to himself but didn't say anything. Why? Because if you picked a fight with a robot—especially one you couldn't understand using an ordinary person's way of thinking—you'd already lost.
Senba Gari was just about to brush his teeth, wash his face, and then go look for work when Silver Phantom called out to him.
Hey, Master, come look at the TV. d(?д??)
"What's wrong? And what's with that expression this time?"
The expression on Silver Phantom's chest display left him speechless, but then a news report on TV caught his attention.
(A woman's body was found in Kanda Park today. She is believed to have died last night. There were no signs of a struggle, and the method was the same as in the previous murders of women. Nothing was stolen from her. The only marks on her body were three cuts on her neck. The police are now investigating the case. We urge all women to be cautious and avoid going out alone at night.)
"Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight, either."
Senba Gari watched the news report and spoke helplessly, then turned to Silver Phantom.
"Fantasy, look into the recent murders of women online and see what they have in common."
Understood. What about you, Master?
"Me? Of course I'm going to investigate the park in Kanda."
With that, Senba Gari headed to the bathroom.
Before long, Senba Gari was ready to go and rode off to his destination on Silver Phantom, which had turned into a motorcycle.
"Eee."
As he passed a shrine, Senba Gari suddenly stopped and got off. Silver Phantom's voice came through his earpiece.
Master, why did you stop?
As he walked, Senba Gari spoke to Silver Phantom through his earpiece.
"Nothing. I just want to take a look around and pay my respects to the deity there."
Oh, go ahead. I'm not exactly suited to going in like this.
"Yeah, thanks, Phantom."
No need. We're practically family.
A few minutes later, Senba Gari stepped out of the shrine gate, then turned around and looked up at the plaque above it. It read "Kanda Myojin Shrine." As he looked at it, his expression filled with nostalgia.
"It's been so long since I came back. I wonder when I last visited."
Then he spoke sadly.
"The first time I came here, Dad and Mom dragged me along. After that, our whole family would stop to pay our respects every time we passed by. A few years later, it was just the two of them. And now, it's just me."
As Senba Gari was overcome with sadness, a clear female voice reached his ears and brought him back to his senses.
"Um, are you all right?"
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine. I came here to pay my respects to the deity."
When he turned around, he saw a girl in a white-and-red shrine maiden outfit. She had long purple hair, the back of which was tied with a white cloth, emerald-green eyes, and a curvy figure beneath her shrine maiden outfit.
Looking at her, Senba Gari suddenly thought she looked familiar. He spoke to her.
"I knew you looked familiar. You're the girl who was with that blonde girl the other day."
That's right. The girl before him was Nozomi Tojo, also known as the Devil Nozomi.
Nozomi Tojo recognized him, too, and looked at him in surprise.
"Oh my, you're that strange man who snuck into Otonokizaka the other day."
At Nozomi Tojo's words, Senba Gari's mouth twitched.
"What do you mean, 'snuck in'? I got permission from the gatekeeper. And don't call me 'sir.' I'm only a year older than you."
"Really? But, senpai, did you come to pay your respects to the deity?"
Nozomi Tojo was a little surprised by Senba Gari's age. He always gave off the air of a grown man.
"Yeah, that's right. I came to pay my respects to the deity, because..."
Just as Senba Gari was halfway through speaking, Silver Phantom's voice came through his earpiece.
Hey, Master, could you stop flirting? I've been waiting here forever.
"Ah, sorry. I've got something to do, so I'll be going."
With that, Senba Gari hurried away.
After Senba Gari left, Nozomi Tojo watched him go, then took out a tarot card. It depicted a knight wielding a blade and wearing crimson armor, surrounded by nine goddesses.
--A long-overdue scene break--
Kanda Park had once been crowded, but now no one came because someone had been killed there. It would probably stay that way until the culprit was found.
But the empty park gave Senba Gari a good place to investigate. To speed things up and cover more ground, he and Silver Phantom, in robot form, split up to search.
Senba Gari was crouched where the woman's body had been found, feeling around.
"Hmm."
Suddenly, Senba Gari furrowed his brows. About one or two meters from where the woman's body had been, there was a tuft of black fur.
Just as Senba Gari picked up the tuft of fur, before he could examine it, Silver Phantom's voice rang out.
Master! Come over here! I found something!
Lying in Wait
Master! Come over here! I found something!
Hearing Silver Phantom call out, Senba Gari clenched the black fur in his hand and hurried toward the lawn where Silver Phantom was.
"What did you find?"
Master, look at this.
Silver Phantom held out the tuft of black fur in its hand.
"Hey, you found some, too."
You found some too, Master?
Seeing the black fur in Senba Gari's hand, Silver Phantom took out its own tuft. Its eyes projected a fan-shaped beam of deep blue light, scanning the tufts in their hands from top to bottom.
At the same time, a series of readings appeared on the display on Silver Phantom's chest. Its voice changed back to its emotionless mechanical tone.
Beep beep. Initiating data scan. Beep beep. Comparing object DNA... Beep. Identical objects found. Unknown Mlortha substance detected! Type: feline monster Mlortha.
After Silver Phantom's emotionless mechanical voice fell silent, the data on its display disappeared. Its expressive voice soon returned.
Master, it looks like our enemy this time is another Mlortha. And this one seems rather troublesome.
"Yeah, it does. We don't know its purpose or how it's killing people. And if the police get involved, there'll definitely be a lot of casualties. Hmm? Phantom, come over here."
Senba Gari had been thinking about what to do when he noticed a strange footprint just one meter away.
Looking closer, it was a feline footprint about the size of an ordinary person's palm. The impression was shallow, and since it was on the lawn, the grass had partly covered it. An ordinary person would probably miss it without looking closely.
But Senba Gari had started learning archaeological work from his father when he was twelve, so his observational skills had long surpassed those of an average person.
What is it, Master?
When Silver Phantom came over, Senba Gari pointed to the spot where he had searched near the woman's body and said,
"Can you scan that area and see if there are any strange footprints or anything?"
Sure, I can.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Silver Phantom's eyes once again emitted a fan-shaped beam, but this time it was red.
As the beam shone over the area Senba Gari had pointed to, Silver Phantom's vision displayed it in red. The scan continued downward, revealing the outline of a woman's body. Then Silver Phantom spotted a footprint beside the outline, identical to the one Senba Gari had found.
Keeping its scanner on, Silver Phantom pointed to another footprint and spoke to Senba Gari.
Master, I found another footprint over there, identical to the one you found.
"Really? If I'm not mistaken, Phantom, expand the scan area."
Yes, Master.
Silver Phantom's scanning beam began sweeping over the surrounding area.
It didn't take long for Silver Phantom to find something. It pointed across the way, then turned to Senba Gari.
Master, there's another one of those footprints on the lawn over there.
"Okay, let's go take a look."
With that, Senba Gari and Silver Phantom walked across to the other lawn.
It's right here, Master.
Silver Phantom pointed beneath a large tree. Senba Gari walked over and took a closer look. It was indeed identical to the earlier footprint.
"Hmm?"
Feeling around the other footprint in the grass, Senba Gari seemed to notice something. He furrowed his brows, stood up, then gathered some of the spiritual power within him into his legs. His legs tensed and bent slightly before he leapt up onto a tree branch.
Then Senba Gari spotted three claw marks on the branch. The same marks appeared on the other branches in front of him. Farther ahead stood a secluded apartment building.
"That place looks like the most suspicious spot."
After jumping down from the tree, Senba Gari asked Silver Phantom,
"Phantom, did you find the information I asked you to look up about the women who were attacked and what happened to them beforehand?"
I found it, Master.
It seems that on the nights before they were attacked, the victims all encountered the same suspicious man and had sex with him. I think he must be connected to the Mlortha.
"Good. Then do you have some kind of machine we can use to monitor people?"
I do. Look.
Silver Phantom's chest suddenly opened on its own, and it took out a red cube.
Before you continue