Campione! - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.3

Part 3
「Somehow this become a strange line up……」

Kusanagi Shizuku murmured.

She was in a hamburger shop at Shinjuku, Kabukichou district, Yasukuni-dori street.

She was facing a young man with sour look at the seat’s corner. His stature made him appeared to be in middle school, about the same age with Shizuka.

The young man──Lu Yinghua spoke with a displeased look.

「Indeed. At least if honored un──no, your big brother is here, it will be far better than this.」

「Hmmm, as expected.」

Shizuku smirked because it was as she expected. Lu Yinghua made a sullen look.

「What are you on about?」

「You, despite being re-ally crabby, but you seem obedient with my Onii-chan aren’t you? Ah, but don’t worry. It’s not like I’m thinking to “associate” with you by using my family’s big brother as pretext after all.」

「It helps if you will do that. Well, but」

Lu Yinghua, the Chinese young man shrugged his shoulder.

「Your big brother──Kusanagi Godou surely won’t allow something like that. He will be like, don’t use my name as you please, or something. After all he is a person who properly distinguish between associate and friend.」

「Hmmm.」

「What?」

「You quite understand about my Onii-chan.」

「Well yeah. I have several special skills and connections that I cannot boast to other people though. My “closeness” with you big brother is also one of those. Aa, by the way. This kind of call──you’re going to refrain from it as much as possible right?」

Lu Yinghua turned his gaze at the girl sitting beside him with a glare.

It wasn’t Shizuka who was at the opposite side. There was a girl who looked like she was in upper grades of primary school. For Shizuka she was her tea ceremony club’s senior’s──little sister.

Mariya Hikari smiled sweetly and faced Lu Yinghua.

「But Lu-san. Shizuku-san expressly──said that she want to have a chat with us. Isn’t this fine just for a bit?」

「Then, it’ll be fine if you two fellow woman just chat with each other alone.」

Lu Yinghua was indifferent even against the insistence of a cute girl younger than him.

Actually around an hour ago──

Here in this Shinjuku’s roadside, Shizuka unexpectedly came across Mariya Hikari.

It was a coincidence. They had only met once before, at the party that was held in Kusanagi family’s home at Christmas last year.

Mariya Hikari was quite an “able” grade school student.

『Long time no see. Thank you for looking after me at the Christmas party last time. I am Mariya Yuri’s little sister, Hikari. Do you remember me?』

Hikari greeted first before Shizuka could say anything.

She smiled sweetly and even bowed her head quickly.

She was quite a reliable person for a third year middle school student──. Shizuka had that kind of self-awareness. But, it seemed that Mariya Hikari was also in no way inferior to her.

It was a good contrast with her big sister, Mariya Yuri who was a young lady sheltered from the world.

And then, they entered a nearby hamburger shop for chatting a bit. When they talked about the time at Christmas, Shizuka suddenly spoke.

『Come to think of it, that time, there was just one boy who was mixed in. Recently I also met that boy by chance and talked with him a bit but……he was gone right away.』

『Lu-san is it? I know about that person contact information.』

Hikari took out her mobile phone.

Furthermore, she smiled mischievously and added this suggestion.

『Let’s call him for a bit. If I mention Onii-sama’s name to him, I think he won’t act hard-heartedly in reaction.』

Thus thirty minutes later. The Chinese young man whose residence was somewhere in Shinjuku joined them with a discontent look.

At the corner of the hamburger shop, Lu Yinghua spoke with displeased look.

「Besides, where did you got my phone number from?」

He complained at the sweetly smiling Mariya Hikari.

「I’ve got a bit of connection with your big sister but, I didn’t exchange phone number or anything with her.」

「Fufufufu. Actually it was Erica-san who taught me.」

「So that Nee-san is the source of leak. Shit, she is exposing it so casually like that.」

「Because, it’s better to know it rather than not after all.」

Hikari continued without breaking her amiable sweet smile.

「Like this, we can easily meet if for example there is the unlikely chance of an emergency situation. Especially right now──it’s a time when there are various disturbances.」

「Chih」

While she was a grade school student, what Hikari was saying sounded like a fair argument.

Lu Yinghua clicked his tongue and made a scowl.

This young man, Shizuka had guessed it somehow but, as expected it seemed that he was quite a problem child. On the other hand, Mariya-senpai’s little sister was a really able child.

Although, looking at how she was calling this young man Lu to this place half because it was amusing, she wasn’t a simple good child.

Could it be that she was hiding quite a mischievous heart? Shizuka was harboring such suspicion while suddenly changing the topic.

「Speaking about disturbances. A few days ago there was a great commotion around here right? Remember, like a dangerous contagious mushroom got scattered around or something──」

「……Ah, yes. Now that you mentioned it, there was such thing.」

「If I remember right, the imperial garden at Shinjuku is still quarantined even now isn’t it?」

「It’s not just the imperial garden. The whole neighborhood is included. Well, it must be something that people with really problematic personality did.」

For some reason Hikari threw an appropriate response with delayed reaction, while Lu Yinghua was speaking with a satisfied look for some reason.

「Such heinous scoundrel should just get divine punishment──ah, no. I guess such punishment has been handed down already.」

「Eh? The culprit is captured already?」

Shizuka was surprised at that news she only heard for the first time.

There, young man Lu suddenly leaned forward. Until now he had been sitting with a fed up look, but now it was as though such thing was just a lie──it was a really quick change of attitude.

He spoke with a grin.

「The culprit wasn’t arrested, but it looks like the two main offender were banished from Japan. It’s really something to be able to do that much toward those fellows who won’t just die even when they are killed.」

The way he was speaking sounded as though he couldn’t suppress his emotion.

Furthermore he murmured 「As expected from honored uncle」 with small volume. Looking closer, Lu Yinghua was squinting his eyes smilingly like a satisfied cat.

Shizuka couldn’t really hear the murmur just now, so she tilted her head in puzzlement.

When she was going to ask what he meant, Lu Yinghua spoke earnestly before she could.

「I’ve got to treasure this rare peace and freedom that I’ve obtained. It’s unknown how long this situation will continue, I’ll spread out my wings as far as possible while I can.」

「Putting aside peace, what do you mean by freedom?」

「It’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t mind me. It’s my own circumstance.」

Shizuku stared with suspicion, which Lu Yinghua responded with an extremely good mood. It was at that timing.

A ringtone rang out. It came from Shizuka’s smartphone that she put at the edge of the table.

「This mail again. Really, it has been coming since this morning. How persistence.」

「What’s the matter, Shizuka-san?」

「A spam……something like that? This has been the fourth time in just today. What’s more, all of them got the same content. As expected this is really irritating.」

Shizuka complained indignantly when Hikari asked.

She showed the screen of her smartphone. The content of the mail was displayed there.

『The legendary hero will resurrect soon ♪#&! He who hold the sword of world salvation is scheduled to appear majestically in order to eliminate the seventh devil king *+?!』

Unexpectedly──

Lu Yinghua and Hikari who saw the mail made a grave expression together.

「……Something similar also came to my phone.」

「……Me too. The hero of devil king slaying will resurrect, that person have the divine sword of salvation──the content is also exactly the same.」

The two of them exchanged glance with each other.

Nonsensical spam mail. However, the new friends of Kusanagi Shizuku looked like they were discovering a serious problem from that mail content.

–

A few months ago──.

This kind of folklore became talked in some part of Kanto region.

『Queen Oto tachibana-hime, jumping into the sea embracing a sword to sacrifice herself. The destination that sword is drifting too isn’t a place on the land, it also not a place at sea, but a floating island.』

It was a tale about a holy sword and its possessor.

The agent that was like a midday lantern, Amakasu Touma said this.

『History Compilation Committee and its predecessor organization had buried this folklore into darkness for several hundred years.』

『If there are people who are told, their memory will be erased, if there are record of it written it will be altered.』

『But, it’s no good. When several dozen years passed, someone will start spreading the same folklore again. It’s as though someone is secretly spreading it.』

Divine Sword of Salvation──.

This was one of the unusual phenomenon that was caused by that sword and Prince Rama.

And then a similar phenomenon occurred this time too. Spam mail that told of a legendary sword and hero──actually such thing was sent out repeatedly to the mobile phones throughout Japan.

It was to quietly make apparent──the existence of the mystique sleeping in a certain place at Japan.

The legendary hero would accomplish resurrection before long.

This was a phenomenon that was the sign of that.