Weak, Pitiful, and Still Able to Eat

The more she said that, the more suspicious it sounded.

It had exploded the moment they came out. The bulletproof glass had shattered all at once, and even the outer walls were covered in cracks. Where in the world could there be such a coincidence?

The cracks resembled winding sword marks. Looking at them for too long made her eyes ache.

Rope hurriedly looked away.

It was related to swords, the timing was such a coincidence, and she had ample motive. And she still claimed she hadn't done it?

Rope was not a professional police superintendent. She had never followed the principle of presumed innocence when judging matters. She merely reasoned things out according to her simple worldview and arrived at what seemed like a perfectly reasonable conclusion.

It was you, wasn't it? You definitely did it, didn't you?

Rope smiled. "Don't worry. I absolutely won't tell anyone."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Hoshino tilted her head. She more or less understood what Rope was thinking. They said prejudice in people's hearts was like a mountain; apparently, that impression could not be changed.

Besides, using a tiger's hide as a banner to intimidate Rope a little was not entirely out of the question.

After all, I'm not some kind of demon.

The explosion at the Guard Department set off an unimaginable uproar. Lungmen's residents were the sort who never minded a bigger spectacle, and Rope followed behind Hoshino as they moved against the tide of people like two sharks cutting through heavy waves.

No, no, no. The boss was the shark. Rope felt that at best, she was a little tagalong stuck to the boss's belly button.

The crowd gradually began to disperse.

The Lungmen Guard Department had suffered an explosion due to [unknown causes].

There had been no casualties at the scene. Superintendent Chen, who had still been inside the building at the time, had not even gone to the hospital. The next day, she was already back at work in the temporary Guard Department. Aside from her hair being messier than usual, everything was business as usual. Construction crews stepped up their work, striving to complete all repairs within a week.

None of this had anything to do with Hoshino.

After leaving the Guard Department, she initially maintained the appropriate bearing of an expert, walking steadily and slowly against the noisy crowd. But she soon came to a stop.

Where should she go?

She did not know much about this world. She did not even know what era she was in.

And Hoshino had nowhere to return to.

Rope too—now that she was already a little tagalong, why was she still following so closely behind instead of stepping up and inviting her over for dinner?

Thinking of that, Hoshino could not help stopping and looking back.

Rope was right behind her.

The shrine maiden's wide sleeves fluttered in the breeze. Her long pink hair and soft ears swayed gently, giving off an indescribable sense of tranquility.

Light-colored clothes, sleeves that were almost cumbersome, a deliberately tailored off-the-shoulder outfit... Things full of beauty always seemed to conflict with practicality. Rope secretly studied Hoshino, then lowered her head to look at herself. She always felt a little shabby by comparison.

It was not something to be sad about.

Rope had merely encountered another person she wanted to become, nothing more. Dust envying sunlight—wasn't that perfectly normal?

"Cough, cough."

The cough interrupted her thoughts. Rope asked, "Um... is something the matter?"

Hoshino calmly replied, "I'm having dinner at your place tonight."

Rope's home was in the slums.

Small and empty.

Small was only natural, since smaller rooms were cheaper to rent. As for the emptiness, it was probably because she did not want to spend money on furniture. As a thief, Rope had to be ready to run at any time. Wouldn't having too much furniture be heartbreaking?

"You don't have a dining table?"

"I don't have anything that luxurious here. A dining table isn't necessary furniture."

Rope answered calmly.

The little rabbit's bed sat in a corner of the room, with two of its sides against the walls rather than positioned in the middle as usual.

That was also a sign of lacking a sense of security.

Hoshino observed carefully. It seemed that after becoming a shrine maiden, her thoughts had begun to drift toward that side as well. Her mind had become as meticulous as strands of hair, like Kamen Rider armor influencing its wearer.

It was quite fascinating.

Hoshino did not dislike this change.

Miss Rope lived alone, and her home was fairly clean, but it could not block out the stench from the slums.

The smell of sewers.

In fact, they had already taken care of dinner on the way home. This was Lungmen, after all, and there were snack streets with distinctive local flavors. The shrine maiden's appetite had also startled Rope. After calculating it, she realized her savings would only be enough to feed Hoshino for two months.

Those were the savings she had painstakingly put aside!

Her heart was bleeding.

At the same time, Rope had to force herself to look unconcerned, even as her mind was already working out how to earn the money back.

A shrine maiden's outfit had nowhere to keep a wallet, and with the other party's swordsmanship, her hand would probably be severed the instant she reached out. She could entertain the thought, but it would remain only a thought. Rope needed to find another way.

After thinking it over, she decided to take a path she was not good at.

Have an open and honest talk.

Yes, the thing Rope, a thief, was worst at was actually having an open and honest conversation with someone.

Come to think of it, that made quite a bit of sense.

Hoshino noticed Rope's hesitant little frustration and took the initiative to break the deadlock. She sat on the edge of the bed and lightly patted her thigh, signaling for Rope to come over.

"What do you want to say to me?"

"...I'm already pretty poor, but with your appetite, you'll eat me broke within a month."

That was what Rope said.

She still had not managed to be entirely honest. Her remaining savings could clearly cover two months of food, but she deliberately cut the time in half. Her purpose was obvious: make Hoshino solve the problem sooner while leaving herself a way out.

It was entirely instinctive planning. It seemed calculating, but in truth, it was a sign of lacking a sense of security.

Hoshino did not doubt her.

After all, she really had eaten a little too much just now.

She had once wondered whether the rice balls Yae Sakura made were so large as some exaggerated comedic effect. Only now did she understand that Yae Sakura really could eat rice balls as big as her head in one meal.

Hoshino had been restrained, only eating until she was seventy percent full.

As Hoshino thought, she reached down and stroked her smooth, flat stomach through her clothes. She marveled that despite all that food, it was like it had fallen into a bottomless black hole. There was not even the slightest bulge.

Maybe that was just what it meant to be a beautiful girl.

She did not dwell on it. The mission was not yet complete, and Spirit Katana: Sakura Blossom was still in the gacha pool. She had to help Rope as much as possible.

Perhaps if Rope had money, the mission would be completed?

She nodded.

Rope asked, "For a big shot like you, making money is usually pretty easy, right?"

Hoshino answered honestly, "For a shrine maiden... as long as you put an offering box in a shrine, money will come running in on its own."

"..."

For a moment, Rope did not even know where to begin criticizing.