Episode 4: A Boy Called Akira Ishigami
“How long have you been
here? Where did you come
from? Did you just say you're
a murderer?”
I ask the boy, who
calls himself Akira Ishigami.
I do my best to remain
calm and mature.
I can't afford to be
fooled by a child.
“Fufu, Oni-san, what's
your name?”
“I'm asking the
questions. You answer first.”
There was no way I was
going to reveal my identity to someone I didn't know.
This boy mentioned the
word "murderer," and he could be a witness who saw me do it.
“If I had seen what
Oni-san did, would you kill me too?”
The boy asks back with
a smile on his face.
“ ! ”
Shit.... Looks like
this boy witnessed my murder.
There's no way around
it.......
I raised my hands and
the boy looked defensive for a moment, but I went with the flow and got down on
my knees.
“Please, just let me
go!”
“Huh?...... what's
that?”
“What you saw was
self-defense! So please, keep your mouth shut, like I said!”
I got down on my knees
in front of all the employees, I don't care anymore if I have to get down on my
knees in front of one child now.
“Huh? I witnessed Oni-san murder someone. But you're not
going to kill me?”
“Of course not. Who
would kill a child?”
I have no interest in
killing children.
The last two murders
were unavoidable.
"Hmm...... It is
not what I expected, but I guess I'll give it a pass then.”
When he said this, the
boy reached out to me and put me under his umbrella.
“P-Pass......?”
I look up at the boy.
“Yeah, you passed ...
Oni-san has killed two people so far, including the woman you mentioned
earlier. That means you are level 3 and how many spells do you know?”
“Huh? Hey, how do you know about the level I'm at?”
“Why wouldn't I? After
all, I'm a murderer just like you.”
“Murderer......”
This boy had said those
words earlier.
“Don't worry, you're
safe. I'm not going to tell the police about you.”
“O-Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded heavily like
a child.
I stood up.
“You know, you say
you're a murderer—”
“My name is Akira.”
He said with a smile,
but it looked like he wasn't smiling behind his eyes.
“Ah...... what kind of
murderer is Akira talking about? What do you mean when you say Akira and me are
the same?”
In response to my
question, Akira stuck out his index finger.
“In this world, there
are people who are chosen by God to increase their level by one level for every
person they kill. They are called murderers. That would be me and you.”
“…O-Oh..”
“The bodies of people
killed by murderers disappear, as you saw earlier, so there's no evidence left
behind.”
“…Really”
That's why the bodies
of both the man and the woman disappeared.
“Oh, so...... Akira has
killed people too?”
“Yes.”
It was a difficult
question to ask, but Akira answered without hesitation.
“Hey, that's not
important, remember that question I asked you?”
Akira smiles at the
thought of having killed someone.
“Question? Ah, a spell I know. I have two.”
I'm sure I learned one
thing at a time when I killed Shinichi Gotoda and that woman earlier.
“Fufufu, are you sure
you want to tell me something important like that when we've just met?”
“You're the one who
asked me. Besides, I’m level three, so It should be normal to have two.”
I guess you learn one
spell per level.
“I think you
misunderstood me, so I'll tell you this: spells are completely random.
Sometimes you learn them as you level up, sometimes you don't, and I may not be
able to use a spell that you can use.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Since you told
me, I'll tell you a few of the spells I can use, including invisibility, silent
footsteps, sensing a killer's whereabouts, and reading their mind.”
“You can read minds?”
...... So are you
reading my mind right now, too?
“Fufu. I guess.”
Akira just said with a
wink, which was very mature for a child.
You're a little brat.
I'm sure you're reading
this too.
“Oni-san is funny…Try
saying - Status Open”
“What's that?”
“Just think of it as a
trick.”
I don't want to be
fooled by a twelve-year-old.
“Just do it. Come on.”
“All right...... status
open.”
As soon as I said it--
~Picon!~
Letters and numbers
appeared in front of my eyes as I heard a electronic beep like sound.
Scary. Seems like we got a maybe future comrade?
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