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Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 79

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Chapter 79 – A Formal Invitation to the Mansion (Part 7)

『Gya, gyagyaaAAAH!!』
『Gwah, gieaa!?』

The towering monster—clearly the boss of the group—collapsed to the ground, and the smaller creatures scattered in a panic, scrambling to flee from me.

But for some reason, as soon as their leader fell, their already-distorted forms began to warp further. Eventually, their filthy bodies liquefied entirely and evaporated into nothingness.

All that remained was—

“So this big one’s the only thing left, huh.”

Its body was still partially twisted and deformed, but unlike the others, it retained a recognizable shape.

Might as well take a closer look while I can. It didn’t seem to be resisting either, which made this the perfect chance.

Putting my hands together in mock prayer, I approached the corpse and activated my ‘Appraisal’ Skill.

Target: Hobgoblin summoned from another realm
Status: Deceased
Note: Summoned into the Kuon estate’s hidden passage along with a goblin horde as part of a Reverse Summoning experiment. Some parts of the creature’s body have fused with this world’s matter, resulting in distortion.

“…Huh?”

The result left me blinking in confusion.

A goblin? As in, the low-level mobs you run into at the start of an RPG?

I’d suspected that monsters like that might exist, given what I’d seen of the youma [妖魔] roaming the world, but… what the hell is a thing like that doing hidden in the Kuon estate?

And what’s this Reverse Summoning experiment mentioned in the notes?

“Oh?”

As I pondered, the large creature’s body slowly began to turn jelly-like. Before long, it too evaporated into the air, just like the others.

“Hey, does the Kuon family seriously keep monsters like that as guard dogs?”

“…No. Even if we’ve adopted some Western-style techniques, we’d never be reckless enough to let monsters like that roam free.”

If Koharu was telling the truth, this hidden passage was supposed to be a convenient route for the Kuon family’s private movements.

Letting violent beasts run loose in such a space? It made zero sense.

Logically speaking, anyway.

“More importantly—what the heck was that earlier!? One second you exploded and disappeared, the next you were standing there without a scratch!”

Ah… I’d hoped the smoke and darkness had covered that, but I guess she caught on after all.

“That? Uh… let’s call it an illusion technique. You know, like in ninja manga—smoke bombs and substitution tricks and stuff.”

“…I see. If it’s one of your powers, then that makes sense.”

It was a pretty flimsy excuse, if I’m being honest—but apparently, powers—or Inō [異能]—were flexible enough to cover just about anything.

Or maybe she was just being nice about it.

Either way, Koharu seemed satisfied with the explanation and began walking away from the spot where the monster had melted.

“Ah, and… um, thanks.”

As she passed by me, she blushed slightly and mumbled her thanks, then hurried off into the darkness without another word.

(She can be kind of sharp-tongued, but… that was kinda cute.)

Welp. Looks like I’ll have to make my way out of here the old-fashioned way—from here on, no more puppets, just my own two feet.

Sighing at the thought, I followed after Koharu.

“So… I never got to ask earlier, but where exactly are we headed?”

“Before that—what do you think of the current Kuon family?”

Alicia had already given me a decent overview, but depending on how much I revealed here, things could get tricky.

So I kept my answer vague.

“…It feels tense. Fractured, even.”

“You saw it too, right? How my grandfather looked. There’s no way someone in that state can lead the family anymore. That’s why the whole house is locked in a war over who’ll become the next head.”

That part matched what Alicia had told me.

But calling it a war felt… intense.

“The ones who tried to attack you in the great hall earlier? They’re with the main family faction. They want to install Kuon Genji, the heir of the main bloodline, as the next head. The others, who support Kyōri-neesama instead, are known as the branch faction.”

Again, just like Alicia said.

Which meant—

“You’re part of the branch faction, then? Since you call Kuon ‘neesama’ and all.”

“…Wrong. I’m not part of any faction. I just want to get neesama out of this damn house.”

“Oh?”

“Didn’t that scene just now tell you everything you need to know!? They’re always badmouthing her behind her back, leering at her whenever they get the chance, trying to force their disgusting grandsons on her—”

“O-okay, okay! I get it! You really hate the Kuon family, huh?”

Still, that only raised more questions.

If she didn’t belong to either faction, what was she planning to do?

“I figured if neesama became head, those creeps wouldn’t be able to touch her. And I was fine with that. But then those bastards—”

Koharu clenched her fists, trembling with anger.

“The branch faction locked Kyōri-neesama up! Can you believe that!? Like I could ever work with people like that!”

“W-wait, locked her up?”

That was not what I expected.

They planned to make her head of the family, right? What kind of plan involved imprisoning your future leader?

“Why would they do something so stupid? That’ll only earn her resentment.”

“Because they don’t care about her! What they want is you! Neesama’s just bait—to lure you in and keep you from being harmed until they can claim you for themselves!”

Her voice trembled with fury.

And honestly? I was starting to feel pretty pissed myself.

But…

“Do they seriously think I’d work with them after pulling crap like that?”

“The main family and the branch both only care about one thing: your body. The fact that you're not on the road to ruin like the rest of us. They probably think they can tie you down and extract your power somehow.”

“…Wait. ‘On the road to ruin’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

At my question, Koharu flinched—clearly realizing she’d let something slip.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, but then sighed, as if giving up, and started to explain.

“When someone first awakens to their Inō, they usually panic. They reject their own power, struggle against it. That’s normal. These abilities are so abnormal, they scare people.”

“I… guess that makes sense.”

I’d been confused when mine first appeared, sure—but not terrified or anything.

“But after a while, that fear flips. They start to revere their powers—treat them as sacred. Eventually, they look down on anything that’s not their own ability.”

“Why does that happen?”

“Let me put it this way. If you could make fire appear anytime you wanted, would you still bother buying lighters or gas torches?”

“…Probably not.”

Come to think of it, I had been saving money ever since this all started.

“As their powers grow, they stop just looking down on tools—they start looking down on people. They treat others like toys. And finally, they start treating even their own bodies like toys. That’s when it happens—they lose their humanity. Their mind detaches from the flesh, and eventually, they become something else entirely. That’s what we call yōma.”

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

I’d encountered a few yōma—not many, but enough to know they were no longer human.

And now she was saying I could become one?

“It usually takes about a year. Less, sometimes. There’ve only been a handful of cases where someone lasted two years or more without breaking down—including the Kuon family’s founder.”

“…A year?”

“Right. So someone like you, who’s stayed human for years after awakening their Inō… you’re beyond rare. That’s why the whole family—both factions—want your body. Even if they have to trap their own heir to do it.”

At this point, I didn’t even know what it meant to be human anymore.

But apparently, to them, I was some kind of mythical artifact. Rare enough to justify imprisoning their own candidate for head of house just to keep me around.

“Look! There it is!”

As I was mulling it all over, Koharu came to a stop and pointed ahead.

A faint glow leaked from a rectangular crevice—barely big enough for one person to crawl through.

“What is that?”

I asked, puzzled.

With a smug grin, Koharu puffed out her chest.

“Hehe. This is a secret tunnel I made—to help neesama escape!”

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