Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!? Vol 2 Chapter 1.7

CHAPTER 1 – POSTER GIRL AND DARK MATTER

PART 07

——

We’d spent more time in the kitchen taste testing than I’d thought. The sun had already set by the time I stepped outside.

“Hmm?”

I spotted Tsumiki almost right away.

She was crouching in a corner of the garden at the back of the eatery, fiddling with something.

“……?”

Finding her behavior suspicious, I made my way over.

“What are you doing?”

“Hyaaah!? H-Hey, don’t creep up on me like that!”

Tsumiki seemed overly shocked as the shovel she was holding fell from her hands. Wait, a shovel?

“Are you trying to bury the Dark Matter underground? You know you’re going to end up polluting the soil in this area and it’ll become a piece of barren land for centur-… Huh?”

Just then, I caught a glimpse of the soil beneath Tsumiki’s hands and spotted a mysterious “hole”.

A shovel and a hole. I shouldn’t be surprised. But that “hole” was really strange.

Firstly, I couldn’t see to the bottom of it. It was no bigger in diameter than a dinner plate, so she’d have to dig really deep for the bottom of the hole to not be visible. Yet Tsumiki’s clothes were clean, a testament that she had not done any serious digging.

Furthermore, the fact that the entire hole was completely black was strange too. No matter how deep the hole was, the area which was nearest to the surface should still be faintly visible.

To top it all off, a weird black aura was emitting from the sides of the hole, trailing up into the air like tentacles.

In conclusion, it was not an ordinary hole.

“Wh-what’s with that hole?”

“What do you mean, what? It’s a hole where I dump rubbish.”

“No no no, that wasn’t what I’m asking! That looks just like a black hole, or the entrance to the underworld!?”

“Huh? Are you crazy?”

Damn! I did sound slightly unhinged, but…

“So what’s with that hole!?”

“I found it by accident when I was just a kid. I used to try filling it in with soil, but it never worked, so I usually place a lid on it and cover that with soil to hide it from view.”

“Why would you want to hide it?”

“I told you, right? This hole can never be filled, so it’s really convenient. Besides, it’s so small, so there’s no danger of me falling in.”

…I see. So she was dumping the Dark Matter into that hole.

Just as well. We wouldn’t want her parents to come home from their errand and discover the Dark Matter lying around.

“Hey…shouldn’t we ask your dad to help out with this afterall?”

“No. My parents don’t want me to worry about this issue, so I’ve always pretended not to know. And I’ve decided to take this on alone, so I need to get this done right by myself…”

I let out a quiet sigh.

Tsumiki was an obstinate girl, so it was just like her to shoulder all responsibility for her own actions and decisions. It was an admirable trait, but it was not going to help us in this case.

Besides, I was just a taste tester to her, and it was hard to help her when all she’d done was shoot down every one of my suggestions.

However, she was extremely far from achieving her goal right now.

I could even say that the whole thing was impossible.

The future seemed pitch black for her.

“……”

“……”

For a few moments, Tsumiki and I both stared at the mystery hole that could swallow anything, lost in our thoughts. Gazing at the dark hole in the evening light, I imagined myself going over the edge, falling forever…

“……!”

I shook my head to clear it of the morbid thought.

Tsumiki shook her head as well, as if the same thought had crossed her mind.

Then, she turned around and gazed up at me.

“…Hey.”

“What?”

“Why did you say that you’ll help me with this?”

Tsumiki asked, still crouched on the ground with her body curled into a ball, making her look really young.

“Oh… Well… Because I can’t just leave you alone.”

I gave a vague answer, since telling Tsumiki that she was a “heroine” I had to rescue due to my “Namidare Lineage” would probably sound too weird to her.

Tsumiki’s eyes widened, as if surprised by my answer. Then, she curled up even more, as if hiding her face from me.

“…Tsumiki?”

“S-Shut up! Stop saying such embarrassing things with a straight face!”

“……?”

Had I said something embarrassing?

Tsumiki’s ears were red, as if she was embarrassed herself… Or was it just my imagination?

I tried speaking to her again, only to have her shout at me to “shut up”… We were silent for a few moments, then,

“You’re so weird… You faint after eating my food, but you still want to help me.”

Tsumiki whispered to herself, with her face still tucked into her knees.

“Sorry for being weird…wait!”

Wait a minute. I almost missed that.

“So you remember me afterall. Then why did you ask who I was when I went to look for you?!”

“Shut up… That was because the others came to yell at me after I let them try my cooking, so I pretended to have forgotten you.”

That’s right. There were other victims as well.

I understood that she didn’t want to be yelled at, but wasn’t there any other way to settle the matter? She was really such an obstinate girl.

“…Hey.”

“What?”

“Did you think we’ll win Food Champion?”

“……”

“I-I’m not chickening out here!! It’s just that I want an objective opinion. Or maybe an outsider’s perspective on this.”

I wanted to retort that they were essentially the same thing…but I restrained myself.

How should I answer her? If I were to speak the truth, I would have to tell her that victory was a hopeless cause, that we had almost no chance of winning. However, I sensed that Tsumiki didn’t want to hear any white lies either.

What she wanted was a strategy to win this.

“……”

But I didn’t have the answer she wanted.

“I can’t cook, but I love the eatery. I love the customers from the business district who come to eat here… So I want to do something, even if it’s a reckless gamble. I’d rather struggle up until the very end than give up.”

Was she trying to motivate herself, with victory so out of reach…? Or was she really trying to reach out with her true feelings…?

Whatever it was, it had reminded me of something.

That even if this “story” was nothing special, with no magic or outer space or otherworldly happenings, no strong wizards or meteors or Demon Kings, it was still an irreplaceable “story” to Tsumiki.

“Come on, let’s continue working on the new menu. I promise to help you as much as I can.”

“…I still don’t get why you’re so eager to help.”

Tsumiki asked again as she looked up at me with suspicious eyes.

This time, I had an answer.

“Because I want to rescue you.”

“!! You’ve said it again…!”

“Hmm?”

Did I say something weird again? Tsumiki took a few deep breaths, as if trying to calm herself down.

A few moments later, she seemed to have calmed down as she turned to face me fully and stabbed a finger at my face.

“Humph! Don’t forget that you’re just a taste tester. So you should just keep quiet, eat my cooking and tell me whether it tastes good or not.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Oh dear, there was her obstinacy again. But if she had thanked me, she would probably turn red with embarrassment, and I’d probably feel embarrassed too.

Back to her usual self, Tsumiki stood up and dusted herself off.

“We’ve wasted so much time here. Let’s go back inside and continue.”

“Alright.”

“Be more brisk with your replies!”

With that, Tsumiki jogged towards the eatery and disappeared via the service entrance.

“Wow~ Seems like you’ve passed the test, Rekka-san.”

“What test?”

“If only you knew.”

I had no idea what R was talking about, so I turned to head back into the eatery as well… But at that moment,

“…Rekka!”

“…Satsuki?”

I hadn’t thought I’d see Satsuki until tomorrow, but here she was. And she wasn’t alone.

“Hey hey, who’s that girl…!?”

Satsuki was carrying a tiny girl on her back.

“I don’t know. I found her collapsed in the hills and tried to help her, but I don’t understand what she’s trying to say…”

“Shouldn’t we bring her to the hospital…?”

“That crossed my mind too, but… I was just hesitant, because she may not be human.”

“What…?”

I couldn’t imagine Satsuki cracking a joke at a time like this, so I peered over her shoulder to take a better look at the girl.

Her entire appearance was extremely monochromatic. The tips of her white hair were tinged with a slight green hue, and even under the failing light, I could tell how pale her skin was. She was dressed in a loose gown that was just a little muddy.

I knew she was sickly pale, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t human…

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the girl let out a weak sound and slowly opened her eyes.

“……!”

Her eyelids fluttered open to reveal…glowing eyes.

Just like how a cat’s eyes appeared bright under light…

This was definitely not ordinary.

“Please…help. The ‘Monster’ is…”

The girl fixed her eyes upon me and pleaded in a trembling voice.

In that moment, I realized that I’d just been dragged into yet another “story”.

Chapter end