Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 8 - Chapter 1

<Summary of Events Thus Far>

Sasaki was the kind of worn-out office worker you can find anywhere. But when he bought a cute silver-colored Java sparrow at a pet shop, the bird turned out to be a wise, illustrious sage who was reincarnated from another world.

This tiny sage granted him powerful magic and the means to pass between worlds. Sasaki named the sparrow Peeps, and before long, they began crossing to the otherworld together.

The two of them, a corporate drone in a dead-end job and an exiled former sage, both exhausted by their lives, immediately hit it off and began a business venture selling modern goods in the otherworld—all in order to secure a laid-back, relaxing life.

Mistaking Sasaki’s otherworld magic for psychic powers, an organization recruited him—the Cabinet Office’s Paranormal Phenomena Countermeasure Bureau—and he began working there. This new job came with a much more substantial paycheck, and he was able to buy more stock to sell in the otherworld.

But such smooth sailing didn’t last.

A child calling herself a magical girl with a grudge against psychics staged repeated, one-sided attacks on the bureau as Sasaki struggled to mediate between the two sides. Ultimately, he revealed his otherworldly magic to her and wound up in the role of “magical middle-aged man.”

Then a new force rose to block their path—they learned that a death game had begun in modern Japan, and Sasaki ended up embroiled in a proxy war between angels and demons. That was when he learned about a fourth faction—unaffiliated with psychics or magical girls. Abaddon, the demon contracted to Sasaki’s neighbor, requested his help, and along with Futarishizuka, it was decided that they would cooperate.

Furthermore, thanks to a little too much alcohol, Peeps leaked evidence of Lady Elsa’s visit to modern Japan all over the internet. This provided a reason for Sasaki’s various acquaintances to gather. His neighbor, who was involved in the death game; Lady Elsa from the otherworld; Miss Hoshizaki representing the psychics; and the magical girl, Magical Pink—four young women with vastly different backgrounds—finally came face-to-face with one another.

But almost immediately, Sasaki received word of a giant sea monster attack. The massive creature had appeared suddenly in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and was, according to Peeps, a species of dragon from the otherworld. Under Section Chief Akutsu’s instructions, Sasaki headed out with Miss Hoshizaki and Futarishizuka to take care of the threat.

Meanwhile, the proxy war between angels and demons was heating up, as plots spilled out of the isolated spaces and into the streets. The angelic faction, which saw Sasaki’s neighbor and Abaddon as a major threat, sent a spy to blow up the apartment complex where she and Sasaki lived.

After barely managing to survive, his neighbor encountered the suspected culprits: an angel and her Disciple. Sasaki, who witnessed the explosion, was able to secure his neighbor’s and Abaddon’s help with a decisive strike against the sea monster. Thanks to additional support from psychics and the magical girl, Peeps was able to slay the dragon in secret with his magic.

As for Sasaki’s neighbor, she may have been racking up victories in the death game, but she had lost her guardian and home in the process. In response, Futarishizuka stepped up to the plate and assumed custody over her. She set the girl up in a new home—a mansion in luxurious Karuizawa—and transferred her to a new school. Now with fresh surroundings, Sasaki’s former neighbor began her life anew.

Back in the otherworld, Herz’s succession dispute reached a boiling point when Prince Lewis, despite facing certain defeat, insisted on attacking the Ohgen Empire. Though unable to guess his motives at first, Adonis eventually came to understand his elder brother’s true plan, though by then, it was already too late for Lewis to be saved.

In truth, Prince Lewis had been fighting for the sake of his homeland, all alone, ever since he was a child. Inheriting his will, Prince Adonis crushed the imperialist nobles lurking within Herz and was subsequently crowned the next king. Thus, the struggle for the crown came to an end well before the promised five-year deadline.

Meanwhile, an unidentified flying object calling herself a mechanical life-form (model name: Type Twelve) arrived on Earth from the far reaches of space, and mankind suddenly found itself facing down an alien invasion. After much to-do, the alien girl, who had grown fond of Miss Hoshizaki, decided to stay with Sasaki and the others in order to research and fix the bug in her programming.

But soon, Type Twelve made a certain proposal: She wanted their whole group to play house with her. After facing pressure from a Japanese government eager to improve relations with the mechanical life-form, Sasaki and the others ultimately gave in and began spending part of each day inside the alien’s ship living as a fake family.

Futarishizuka, however, was not too keen on the situation and continued to devise ways to send Type Twelve back to her home planet. The others initially agreed to help out, but when Type Twelve bravely sacrificed herself in their time of need, everyone (except Futarishizuka) came over to her side, and the game of house continued.

And now our story changes locations, moving to the neighbor’s new school…