Jinrui

Saikyou no Jun'ai –

Nisioisin

p. 30-33

After

all that, I was taken by s.h.i.+megiwa to Doctor Kitsuregawa’s

laboratory. I’d a.s.sumed it would be a windowless building or an

underground facility located deep in the mountains, far away from

civilization, or maybe on a desert island or in a ghost town, but

Doctor Kitsuregawa’s laboratory was right in the middle of a

residential area, of all places. I quipped, what, are you stupid? The

world’s most dangerous researcher does the world’s most dangerous

research in a private house like this? Yet the more I thought about

it, maybe a compact environment is ideal for an unaffiliated

researcher who doesn’t belong to an organization. I thought he’d get

a ton of patent fees just from that s.p.a.cesuit, but development

expenses are nothing to be sneezed at, so maybe this is all he can

manage. I wonder if the neighbors are aware, though. “Kitsuregawa”

was written bold and clear on the nameplate, as if mocking us.

…It’s compact for a laboratory, but for a house, it’s on the bigger

side; it seemed as though a large family could be living here.

“This

is s.h.i.+megiwa. I’m back.”

Said

“Campfires”, pressing the camera-attached intercom next to the

nameplate. I’d thought he was a brat who’d never learned his manners

toward the elderly, like me, but I guess he knows how to be polite

after all.(1) In that case, maybe Doctor Kitsuregawa is more popular

than I imagined. There was no reply from the intercom, but after a

brief delay, I heard the clack of the gate being unlocked from the

entryway beyond. Then, the door opened—I certainly hadn’t expected

Doctor Kitsuregawa to greet us in person, but it wasn’t a research

a.s.sistant or an employee who pushed open the door and appeared; it

was a small child. A little girl about five years old.

“Welcome

back, Matsuri.”

The

girl looked at us, fighting the weight of the door—she was somehow

managing to keep up, barely, but if we didn’t enter soon, it looked

like the match would turn sour. s.h.i.+megiwa must have thought the same

thing; he opened the door and quickly moved toward her. That’s odd.

Well, I probably shouldn’t be calling it odd, since the image I had

of Doctor Kitsuregawa being alone and without any family was entirely

my own a.s.sumption; I’d never entertained the idea that a large family

would actually be living in a house that seemed fit for a large

family. But to think he’d have not just a family, but grandchildren

at that… She is a grandchild, right? Even if it was prejudiced of

me to think he didn’t have a family, surely there’s no way Doctor

Kitsuregawa is a good-natured old man who’s adored by the

neighborhood kids…

“Are

you Jun Aikawa?”

As

soon as I’d walked under the eaves of the entryway, the girl asked me

that, staring at me intently from behind s.h.i.+megiwa. Somehow, that

direct look from the eyes of a child felt more piercing than being

glared at by s.h.i.+megiwa’s sanpaku

eyes… Well, even bearing that in mind, this girl was looking at me

rather too directly,

as if running me through with a straight line from her eyes. Yeah,

this is definitely not a neighborhood kid… This kind of gaze makes

a lot of sense if she’s a blood relative of Doctor Kitsuregawa.

“Yep,

that’s me. I’m Jun Aikawa—humanity’s strongest contractor.”

No

sense being bashful in front of a little kid, right. I greeted her

boldly. He seemed to have taught his grandchildren their manners; the

girl quickly bowed her head.

“Nice

to meet you. My name is Hotsure Kitsuregawa.”

She

raised her head, and continued.

“I’m

grateful for your help testing the Closet s.p.a.cesuit I developed. It

made me very happy.”

Huh?

She spoke with a lisp, so I couldn’t quite follow… Did she just say

“the Closet s.p.a.cesuit I developed”?

“Your

mind reading isn’t infallible, Jun Aikawa—I’m relieved. I got

nervous thinking everything in my head was being overheard.”

s.h.i.+megiwa

said proudly from the side.

“I’ll

introduce you. This is, as she’s known to the world, the heretical

researcher—Hotsure Kitsuregawa-sama.”

Once

again, I looked in the direction s.h.i.+megiwa was gesturing. No matter

how many times or in what way I looked, all I saw was a girl, about

five years old.

Footnotes:

(1)

In the original, Jun expresses surprise that s.h.i.+megiwa “can say

desu (the polite

copula) in a sense that doesn’t mean death

(p.r.o.nounced the same in j.a.panese)”.