Fragment 6. Keep Coming One by One

A few days later, that mysterious man kept appearing in front of the school. And as usual, no one noticed his presence. I tried my best to act normal and avoid him. Fortunately, he no longer targeted me. It seemed I had been crossed out from his list of people he was looking for.

Today, I went out with my friends after school. I felt bad for constantly refusing their invitations, so I asked my mother for permission the day before.

Even so, I still couldn’t stay out for too long. I had to be on the train home before sunset. Out of consideration, my friends decided to go to the nearest shopping mall.

Just when I thought today would be a good day since I didn't run into that strange man, my body stiffened when I encountered yet another mysterious figure. She was the woman in a suit who fought the fog monster the other day.

However, she wasn’t wearing her suit today and instead wore normal clothes. Even so, her style wasn’t too much different. She wore an oversized white shirt half tucked into slim-fit charcoal black trousers. She had sneakers below and glasses above. Her long silver-white hair swayed as she walked confidently.

In her hand, she held her phone, absorbed in whatever was on its screen. Meanwhile, she became the center of attention of everyone she passed, including my friends.

“Hey hey, that onee-chan earlier, isn’t she cool?”

“Yeah, look at that slender body and long legs.”

“Uhn! Her style is great too. Do you think she’s a model?”

“Definitely!”

No, she’s a demon slayer, I thought to myself.

While my friends were squealing in excitement, I could only grip the strap of my bag tightly and try not to stand out.

When the woman walked right beside me, I couldn't help but tense up. Thinking back, the woman and the strange man who always stood at the school gate both had silver hair. Their clothes were also similar. Although she didn’t wear a hat and didn’t radiate a terrifying aura, I was sure they were connected somehow. Whatever their relationship was, I should avoid them!

“Mibayashi-san, we're leaving you, you know!”

“Eh? Wait me!”

Before I realized it, my friends were already ten steps ahead of me. I had been too absorbed in my thoughts to notice I was left behind.

Feeling something awaken inside me, I instinctively grabbed my nape as well as my hair.

No! I have to stay in check.

As I chased after my friends, I didn't notice that the woman admired by everyone had stopped walking and turned toward me.

“Hm? That girl…”

She narrowed her eyes, observing the hair of the girl running toward her friends. Her hair was clearly brown, but the tips were icy blue. Strangely, the blue color receded, swallowed by the dominant brown before disappearing completely.

But as if uninterested, the woman turned away and continued walking.

When we arrived at the shopping mall, I couldn’t stop being excited. They said the mall we were going to was relatively small because it wasn’t the main one downtown.

But what part of this was small?! This place was far bigger than anything we had back in my hometown. Was this considered small for city people? As expected of a big city.

“Mibayashi-san, your jaw will reach the floor, you know.”

I immediately closed my mouth when reminded by one of my friends. While they giggled, I could only blush in embarrassment.

“Mou! Don’t tease me!” I protested, trying to hide my embarrassment.

“Hahaha! Sorry, sorry.”

After walking around for a bit, one of us suggested entering a clothing store, saying she wanted to look around just in case she found something nice. We agreed and went inside.

While browsing, I casually checked the price tag of a sweater I thought was cute. My eyes bulged when I saw how many zeros were printed there.

THIR-THIR-THIR-THIR-THIR-THIR-THIRTY THOUSAND YEN???!!! Isn’t it usually three thousand?!

Not believing my eyes, I checked other tags, but they were all in roughly the same price range.

What on earth are these made of? Golden thread?! Why are they so expensive??

Still in shock, I staggered backward and accidentally bumped into someone.

“Ups!”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

When I turned around to apologize, the person I bumped into also turned around. After bowing down, my head keep going up since the man standing in front of me was 180 centimeters tall.

Although middle-aged, he had a firm build. The suit he wore made him look broad-shouldered even though he was relatively lean. His sideburns were neatly trimmed, and his sleepy eyes looked intimidating. Even though he smiled, it was terrifying rather than friendly.

“I’m sorry! Are you hurt?”

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Well then, excuse me.”

I hurried away. I didn’t want to get involved with someone that scary.

While searching for my friends, I couldn't find them. The store wasn’t big, yet I couldn’t spot a single one of them no matter where I looked.

Then, I heard a chewing sound. Not ordinary chewing, but loud crunching.

When I turned toward the source, I saw a disgusting creature squatting in the corner. It resembled a short man with thick white hair. His hand moved to pick up something from the floor and bring it to his mouth. A grotesque crunching sound echoed as he chewed.

When I peeked at what he picked up, I saw a group of smaller dwarf-like beings running desperately to escape. But most of them failed and ended up as the big dwarf’s meal.

Seeing such horrifying and revolting scenery, I instinctively covered my mouth. As I struggled not to scream, someone tapped my shoulder from behind and whispered in my ear.

“What do you see?”

Panicking, I jerked away. It was the same man I bumped into earlier. He was no longer smiling and instead stared at me intensely, as if evaluating me.

I didn’t know what to do. My tongue was tied, and my brain stopped processing.

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, he said something even more confusing.

“You. Which organization are you affiliated with?”

“Huh?”

I’m genuinely confused. Organization? What the hell is this guy talking about?

“Don’t tell me you don’t know anything. Did your power just awaken or what?”

Still clueless, I just stood there, staring at the old man in confusion.

After confirming I wasn’t pretending, he sighed.

“A little advice from me. If you really don’t want to get involved in all this, go to the nearest shrine and ask for protection. Otherwise, you’ll keep getting bothered.”

After giving his advice, the man walked away without looking back. I could only watch his figure grow distant.

With my mind half blank, I left the store. My friends were waiting there.

“Mibayashi-san, are you done? Didn’t you buy anything?”

“Eh? Ah. Yeah.”

My brain still wasn’t functioning until I realized—Wait, why are they here?

While I questioned myself, the rest of my friends emerged from the store.

“Sorry for the wait,” one friend said cheerfully, carrying ten shopping bags.

“Uwah! She bought in bulk as always."

“As expected from the CEO’s daughter.”

After waiting another minutes, our group was finally complete after wandering separately.

“Where to next? Wait, are you okay, Mibayashi-san? Don’t you have to go home soon?”

“Oh! You're right. I should head back.”

“Let’s wrap it up then.”

“What? You guys go ahead without me.”

“We also need to head home before dark or our parents will scold us.”

Even though they said that, I knew they were just being considerate of me. But there was no way I’d say it out loud, so I simply played along.

At the entrance of the mall, we parted ways.

“See you next week!”

“See you!”

We truly separated this time to go home individually. I went to the nearest station and waited on the platform. A train soon arrived, and I boarded.

Perhaps rush hour had passed, which was why the train was empty—so I thought. My head was still full of the incident at the mall, so I didn’t realize the carriage I was in wasn’t just empty—it was completely deserted.

As I stared blankly, the scenery outside the window suddenly turned pitch black.