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Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 113

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Chapter 113: The Cultural Festival Has Begun, Part 5

— In the haze of drowsiness, I dream.

Old, old memories. Traumas I wanted to forget.

“Why can’t you do it like me!? You’re my daughter, aren’t you!?”

— Shut up. I’m not your mother.

“Sorry, Ikoma-san. We have some family stuff, so can you cover the duty for us?”

— Lies. I know you’re just trying to dump the hassle on me so you can go have fun.

“...Ikoma? She’s just the errand girl, right? Ah, don’t tell her I said that. She might get upset if she finds out.”

— I thought so. If that’s the case, why don’t you say it directly to me instead of talking behind my back?

“Hey, ghost girl! I heard your dad ditched you!”

“You’re disgusting! Go cover that face of yours!”

“Wow, crying now? How pathetic!”

— Shut up. I know that better than anyone.

But what I hate most of all is this weak, ugly self of mine who can only smile bitterly and cower in fear, escaping into delusions even after all this.

“Your rage, I shall clear it for you.”

At that moment, I saw the jade-colored crystal turn into a dreadful, ominous hue.

◇◇◇

“Hah!”

With a powerful punch to the solar plexus, I silenced the last one of those shadowy figures.

I looked around; there were no signs of more enemies.

No need to linger here any longer.

“Kyori, are you alright?”

“Y-Yes, I’m fine.”

“Alright. Then let’s move forward.”

After confirming Kyori’s condition, we both cast healing magic on each other as a precaution, then proceeded deeper into the strange space, sending out our drone and shikigami to scout ahead.

After a while, we reached the edge of this otherworldly dimension — and saw something that shouldn’t be inside a classroom.

“Is this… a staircase?”

“Seems like it. But where does it lead?”

We aimed the drone’s spotlight down the stone stairs that plunged into a giant pit.

However, the light only illuminated about ten centimeters ahead.

Then, we sent the drone further down with water magic, but it stopped responding after about ten meters.

No other path. Looks like we have no choice but to descend these stairs ourselves.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I am. …Let’s go.”

Holding hands tightly to avoid getting separated in the pitch darkness, we carefully stepped down, lighting the way with the drone’s spotlight.

“How do you think this otherworld formed?”

After some time, Kyori suddenly asked.

Physically, I wasn’t tired, but mentally the endless darkness was exhausting.

“I think it was caused by Ikoma-senpai’s power going out of control, but I don’t understand why it happened now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she’s been unreachable for two days, right? If her power had gone wild, it should have happened around then.”

“So, you think she was desperately suppressing her ability, but finally reached her limit?”

“If that were true, she could’ve prevented previous incidents of power loss. I get the feeling there’s some kind of intent behind this outburst.”

— Well, I won’t know for sure until we see what’s at the bottom of this pit.

I ended the conversation there, but my mind wouldn’t stop turning over why this had happened.

With so many people treating Ikoma-senpai badly at the cultural festival, and this ability to “make delusions real” causing such an abnormality, it seems like revenge.

If she had the power to control it, or had recently learned to do so, that would explain things.

But it’s unlikely she was hiding the ability to control it — otherwise, she would have used it to avoid being treated so badly.

And it doesn’t seem like she learned control recently either.

(Could Alicia’s previous words about a third party with supernatural powers manifesting Ikoma-senpai’s delusions actually be true?)

Just then, the drone’s spotlight stopped showing stairs and illuminated a stone-tiled floor.

Looks like we reached the bottom of this pit.

“Kyori, prepare for combat…!?”

I was about to direct the drone’s spotlight forward when the entire space suddenly lit up.

Reacting immediately, I conjured countless ice spears in midair and turned off the drone’s spotlight.

What lay before us was...

“Is this… an apartment room?”

“I think so, but this is...”

Before us was a partly collapsed apartment room — probably the entrance.

From the gaps, the same dense fog covering the school building could be seen.

The lighting was sparse but bright enough for some visibility even without the drone’s spotlight.

“Any sudden attacks could come from anywhere. Stay alert.”

“Yes.”

We carefully opened the doors leading to the hallway from the entrance.

One door was a storage closet, the other a bathroom — neither had anything suspicious.

After searching, we sealed each door with water magic by creating slimes to prevent enemies from sneaking up.

I’m not sure how effective this will be, but better safe than sorry.

(The real challenge begins beyond here...)

I moved carefully, ready to shield the drone at any moment, and opened the door.

As expected, the room beyond was a living room, but far worse damaged than the entrance.

The houseplants were dead, the calendar torn, the dresser overturned, the sofa’s stuffing spilling out everywhere, and the TV was completely shattered.

The only things keeping their original shapes were the balcony window — which, due to the fog outside, reflected no scenery — and a glass table in the center of the room.

Scattered across the glass table were many sheets of paper.

“...”

I dispelled the magic on the papers and picked one up.

On them were words written densely, saying: “Why?”, “No”, “I want to stop”, “I want to run away”.

(I’ll try ‘appraise’.)

Appraisal Result:

Target: Paper torn from a university notebook

Effect: Causes mental confusion to anyone who reads the text.

Status: Currently deactivated by ‘Dispel’.

Notes: The effect was granted by the cursed Ikai Crystal. The letters are a transcription of Ikoma Juri’s thoughts.

I widened my eyes at the appraisal result.

The Ikai Crystal — the unknown-origin item recovered from the hero suit incident.

Could it be related to this case?

“?!”

Suddenly, the balcony window cracked, and half the living room literally blew apart.

The thick fog rapidly cleared away with the force of the wind.

“What the hell...?”

With the fog gone and visibility improving, the thing beyond the balcony window was exposed.

A massive jade-colored crystal with countless root-like tendrils enveloping the entire space, radiating a sinister aura.

And at its center—

“Senpai Ikoma!”

Kyori screamed as she saw it.

Inside the crystal floated Senpai Ikoma, eyes closed, curled up in a fetal position.

“...aaaaAAAAAAAA!!”

Ikoma-senpai’s gaze turned to us from within the crystal.

The crystal trembled violently and emitted a piercing shriek.

Using its tendrils, it summoned the giant puppet-like monster and the black humanoid entities we first encountered in this space, manipulating them like marionettes.

Appraisal Result:

Target: Ikai Crystal [Curse]

Effect: Allows the creator to read the thoughts of the person possessing it and remotely activate skills around them.

After a certain number of remote activations, the crystal can develop self-defense abilities and control the possessor’s ego.

Extracts magic power from another world and bears the MP cost for the possessor’s skills.

If lost, the link between creator and possessor is severed, and all active skills are nullified.

Status: Good condition. Ikoma Juri is sealed inside the crystal.

Current owner: [Access Denied]

I see. So the origin of this abnormal phenomenon is that crystal.

“Kyori! That crystal is the source! If we destroy it, this abnormality will end!”

“…That’s the source. What should I do?”

“Provide cover like before!”

“Got it!”

— This is probably the final battle inside this abnormal space.

I steeled myself and ran toward the giant crystal.

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