Chapter 10 – Karaoke, Snakes, and Third Eyes
As the mornings and evenings became noticeably cooler, in the 1LDK living room where the kotatsu futon had returned, we were rolling sushi by hand. The ingredients prepared by Hime ranged from traditional items like salmon roe and sashimi to variations like Mexican chips, corn mayo, avocado, and carrot sticks, providing a rich variety.
“Autumn is when salmon is in season,”
“Indeed, it’s delicious with its fatty richness. Although these hand-rolled sushi are a bit challenging,”
As Mars made a mess around his hands and mouth with the overflowing ingredients, he stared intently at the beautifully rolled temaki sushi I made.
“Wanna try?”
“Yeah, sure.”
He accepted the salmon and ikura temaki from me, opening his small cat mouth wide to devour it. However, the temaki seemed too large for Mars’s mouth, and ingredients were spilling out from the sides. I guess I should roll them a bit thinner.
“This hand-rolled sushi is a traditional Japanese home-cooked meal. I saw it trending on Isosta, so I thought we’d try it today.”
“Traditional… Well, when you put it that way…”
“It’s a bit tricky to eat, but this dish is pretty good.”
As Mars spoke, he savored the tuna, egg, and cucumber hosomaki I made. Yeah, the thinner rolls are easier to eat. Maybe I should make some tuna mayo rolls next. As I reached for the seaweed, Hime’s index finger tapped my right hand.
“What?,”
“Hey, Tonbo, make some for Hime-chan too,”
she said, pointing to the sushi Mars was enjoying with her finger.
“Oh, sure…”
Of course, for Hime Hime, I’d do anything. After presenting the tuna, salmon, and tuna mayo hand rolls I made to Hime’s plate, she seemed to have made some for me in return, as sushi also came from her direction. From Hime’s hefty temaki, something green was peeking out.
“Hime, what kind of roll is this?”
“Well, it’s um… Shrimp, avocado, and wiener with Genovese sauce roll.”
“It’s quite filling…”
Well, the ingredients are not bad, though. As I put the heavy roll into my mouth, I absentmindedly watched the TV that had been left on.
“At the Saitama Fourth Dungeon today, four people have gone missing again, and this morning, the Omiya Garrison’s search team…”
On the TV screen, the entrance to the Saitama Fourth Dungeon in Soka was crowded with Self-Defense Force troops.
“Ah, looks like Tama 4th dungeon is getting serious.”
“When we investigated there, there was nothing.”
“If the ice slimes the Anemone of Death mentioned are the cause, maybe they hid between the rocks when the drones came?”
Immediately after we learned about the fatalities in Tama 4th dungeon, we sent in a large number of drones to search every nook and cranny. However, we couldn’t find any large monsters at the time, just the map of Tama 4th dungeon filling up.
Furthermore, the number of deaths and disappearances in Tama 4th dungeon continued to increase, leading to the deployment of the Self-Defense Force this time. It seemed Tama 4th dungeon might be closed off, and some adventurers might start flowing into Tokyo. At that time, I was thinking about such matters while casually eating sushi with a strangely mysterious taste.
Then, literally, a pillar of fire erupted from Tama 4th dungeon a week later. It happened on a Sunday afternoon, right in the middle of the autumn outing season.
“Today, in the early hours of the morning, a massive two-headed snake suddenly appeared from the explosion accident at the Saitama Fourth Dungeon, knocking down surrounding buildings and beginning to emit fire and ice from its mouth! The Self-Defense Forces are surrounding the dungeon… Ah! The Self-Defense Force vehicles just exploded! They exploded!”
On this perfect holiday afternoon with the autumn breeze blowing through the city, as we ate the remaining somen noodles of summer, the TV reported something serious happening.
“The heat waves from the snake’s flames are reaching here! It’s an incredible amount of heat!”
On the screen, a monstrous snake that had blown apart the entrance to Gyokusou was spewing flames and ice from both its mouths in all directions. Surrounding it, Self-Defense Force members engulfed in flames were rolling on the frozen ground, desperately trying to extinguish the fire burning on their clothes.
“Shiho-chan! Oh no, oh no! Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate!”
“We’ll also evacuate for now! Everyone, please stay indoors and—ah! They’re firing! The Self-Defense Force has started firing! Look! The special unit’s giant gun is spewing fire!”
The sounds of gunfire from infantry units, the guns of the special unit, which were combat robots, and the firing of tank main guns lasted for a few seconds before a massive flash as bright as daylight erupted from the snake’s mouth. The flash instantly turned the area around the dungeon into a sea of flames, and the continuous sound of explosions could be heard.
“Combat has begun! It’s a battle! The city is on fire! The city is on fire! What kind of monster is that snake! Please, everyone… ah!! Look! The Self-Defense Force’s special unit is burning!”
“We need to run! We’ll die if we stay here!”
The camera shook towards the sky, and with the sound of something rattling, the screen returned to the studio. The commentators on the daytime program immediately began criticizing the government’s incompetence. I turned my face towards the princess and Mars, who were watching TV with me, while pointing at the screen.
“Isn’t that bad!? It’s right near my hometown.”
“Is that a snake from another world?”
“The drones we left in Gyokusou were completely wiped out, so they haven’t been investigated, but probably, right?”
Unlike the calm Mars and princess, I was already quite restless. After all, the place that snake was burning was just a bit away from my hometown. If that was a city-destroying monster, there was a good chance my hometown would be wiped out too. It was no time to stay calm.
“It’s not just that! I’m going!”
“Where?”
“Gyokusou! I’m sorry for mixing business with personal matters, but it’s a crisis for my hometown! Regardless of what you two say, I’m going with Third Eye!”
“Well, calm down.”
As I tried to leave the room immediately, Mars said that and tapped the top of the kotatsu table with his nails, which emerged from his fingertips.
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“Everyone has only one hometown. I’m grateful to the Kawashima family too, and with our robots, we won’t lose to that snake. I’m not saying it’s impossible.”
“Then let’s go now!”
“Hey, where are you planning to depart from?”
Still inside the kotatsu, the princess, who hadn’t moved, grabbed my pants while standing up and asked.
“…Huh? Well, from the road in front…”
Hearing my answer, she puffed up her cheeks and blew out a sigh from the corner of her mouth.
“Hey, this apartment is always being watched. If you block the road in front with a robot and stuff, you’ll be arrested right away.”
“Huh!? Is that so?”
“We’re under suspicion for various reasons, so there’s surveillance. Japanese people are polite and won’t enter a house without a warrant, but if you bring out armed robots, you’ll probably get arrested on the spot.”
From beside Mars, who said that with a stern expression, the princess, with a slightly angry expression, continued while pointing at my face.
“Just so you know, if we get caught, it’s not just Tonbo who’ll be arrested, okay? We’ll be arrested too, and so will Abukuma-san, and even your mom back home will be inconvenienced.”
“Then, what should we…”
Unable to go anywhere despite standing up with momentum, I was pulled back into the kotatsu by the princess.
“That robot has stealth and flight capabilities, so as long as we secure the departure point, we can go and come back without being caught.”
“It’ll still be suspicious… Well, that’s nothing new.”
“Then, let’s move to the factory first…”
“Even if we bring it out in the factory, we probably can’t take it outside because of the size of the exit.”
By the way, the factory’s exit is only about two meters wide… A robot with a shoulder width of about three meters wouldn’t be able to get out even if it crawled. What should I do? As I pondered this, the cool touch of the princess’s hand lightly tapped my head.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. If we just choose the right place, going there and back should be manageable, even if it’s nearby. But if we’re going anyway, we might as well pick a place where we can also secure an alibi.”
“Huh? How would we do that?”
When I asked, she smiled and replied, “Let’s go karaoke!”
Thirty minutes later, Mars and I were trespassing on the rooftop of an amusement building near the station.
“I wonder if anyone can really see this?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s invisible from the outside. We’ve anchored it and set up an optical camouflage field, so it should appear as if there’s no one on the rooftop from the outside.”
Mars and I had set up the anchors for the optical camouflage 3D holographic generator prepared by the princess at the four corners of the rooftop, boldly making final adjustments to the cockpit of the Three-Eyed Titan on the rooftop of the building. Inside the cockpit of the Three-Eye standing on the rooftop of the building, the system diagnostics program that the princess was running was sparkling brightly.
While the princess’s main body was doing karaoke in the karaoke shop inside the building, it seemed that according to the surveillance camera footage, we were also singing karaoke together. With this, we could secretly take off and create an alibi. It was indeed a good place.
[Tonbo, Ma-chan, it’s okay.]
With the okay from the princess’s voice coming from the cockpit, I climbed into the cockpit using the recessed steps on the front armor of the kneeling machine.
“Even though it’s only about five meters high, it’s scary to climb up.”
“If it were a bit newer, the front armor of the cockpit would be a lift.”
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scene transition
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Mars’s fur clinging to my shoulder gently brushed against my neck. But me, although I had the Galactic Police’s life support system on, was it okay to ride a combat robot in casual clothes…?
Feeling somewhat uneasy, I entered the cockpit, and the front armor closed automatically.
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