There Was No Secret Organization to Fight with the World's Darkness so I Made One (In Exasperation) Chapter 24

Who's the traitor? – Part 1

It was time for the betrayal event featuring Baba. It would start with the disappearance of some PSI drives.

Tricked by the wicked Demon King who was allegedly manipulating the World's Darkness, Baba would hand over a couple of PSI Drives and their blueprints (she wouldn't actually hand it over), and leak Amaterasu's classified information (no, she wouldn't leak anything either).

The students would fortuitously notice some PSI drive were missing and report it to Kaburagi-san. But Baba would successfully cajole Kaburagi-san into not pursuing the matter any further. Seeing Kaburagi-san turning a blind eye, both of them would feel a sense of crisis. The unreliability of adults would make them take matter into their own hands and start an internal investigation.

Frankly speaking, it was going to be a detective game. They would investigate and find clues and investigate more and find even more clues. Eventually, they would realize the culprit was Baba who was enticed by the Demon King's.

Afterwards, “Get back to your senses, Babsan!” Shoutkun would yell and give her a wake-up punch and follow it with the infamous detective line “The culprit is…you Babsan!!” which would shock Baba greatly and cause her to regain her sanity. This would make Baba happy and she would give Shoutkun a hug.

In other words, the betrayal of Baba, the appearance of the World's Darkness, the prolonged depression, and the unending conflicts were all caused by the Demon King.

THAT FARKING BASTARD!!!

In the end, this internal conflict would be caused by an external entity. If Baba betrayed of her own free will, it would have collapsed the organization. But since we fortunately have a wicked being who toys with people's heart, called the Demon King, we might as well push all the blame onto him.

 

Now then, the outline of the event has been decided. Let's begin preparing as usual.

First, we need to mass produce PSI drives. Since we have insufficient numbers, it would be ludicrous if some were to suddenly go missing and no one noticed. But with a large number of PSI Drives we could effortlessly smuggle out a few of them. It is difficult to manage such large numbers, so we didn't notice the missing PSI drives…it would create such a convenient cover. Remember, both Shoutkun and Toukchan are intelligent There's a real possibility that they would see through it as a match pump if we half-ass it.

Now, for the sake of producing the fuel (blood) to run the PSI drive, we recommended 200ml blood donation once every two months to the members of Amaterasu. For this purpose, I spent two whole weeks studying about blood collection and set up a blood collection room at our secret base. The centrifuges, roller mixers, and refrigerators were brought in, so we could manage the blood collection, refining, and storage in bulk.

As for the cover story for mass-producing PSI Drives, it was for the newcomers who would join Amaterasu in the future, and to have spares in case the ones being used break down.

Currently, the plan is to mass produce roughly 100 PSI drives. Since it would be too much work for Baba to handle alone, an industrial robot would produce the basic parts of the frame and later Baba will give the finishing touch. She would need to hand-craft the intricate machinery of each individual drives as it could not be entrusted to a machine.

 

As a result, the effect and efficiency of PSI drives differed based on the fuel (blood) used. For example, the first prototype dagger is optimized for fire attribute, so it has high heat resistance, and can release flames in any direction the ESP'er wants. However, if fuel (blood) of ice attribute ESP'er is used, it will only spill cold air everywhere. If an ESP'er with time attribute uses it, then that ESP'er will stop completely, and nothing will happen. Essentially, if the PSI drive does not match the fuel, it will not have any meaningful effect.

 

The first prototype PSI drive for my psychokinesis power exploded immediately after taking in my blood, so it was stored inside a reinforced container as a memento in a fragmented state. When I analyzed the pieces, there were traces of it being blown away from the inside. It seems the frame couldn't endure the ridiculously high power output. My power is too strong!.

And, even if I dilute my blood and reduce the power 100,000 times, the strengthened frame still breaks apart with a *gachi-gachi* sound, making Baba sigh in exasperation.

Please, don't do that!

Hm..My psychokinesis is too strong.

Even though it may seem like I'm bragging about it, but it makes me honestly sad to see the PSI drive Baba made so earnestly, breaking apart just like that. No matter how I think about it, my psychokinesis is too OP. If Shoutkun and Toukchan were said to be living a supernatural school life doing superhero stuffs, then I am in a sci-fi universe where stars and planets and everything keeps exploding.

FARK! MY ROTTEN LUCK!

That aside, finding out that 200ml of my blood was sufficient fuel for powering about 100,000 PSI drives was a good news.

Now if we could further develop a PSI drive optimized for healing, it could be carried around as a recovery potion. And a drive that designed to mimic my psychokinetic barrier could be used as a gadget to deploy a force field and prevent damage to the surrounding area during a battle. The possibilities are endless. For instance, the wind power generator I've been moving with my [Nenrikin] up until now could also be substituted with a PSI Drive. If I succeed in doing so, I would be free and could take it easy for a while.

And of course, we will have to remove the PSI drive's psychokinetic attack function[1] . At the very least, until I can defend against it. I don't want to get hurt every time the World's Darkness is attacked.

The PSI Drive's psychokinetic attack is like sending a virus over internet to crash a computer, so there is no point in physically protecting the computer with a barrier. Basically, you could physically block the PSI drive, but the energy[2] behind the attack would penetrate the barrier and hurt you. It needed special defense training.

Therefore, I had Baba make me a knife-shaped PSI Drive that specialized in psychokinetic attacks, and I began training at Amaterasu's secret base at night. I diluted the psychokinetic fuel[3] five hundred billion times and created an invisible force field around the knife.

…Then I stabbed my arm covered in a barrier.

OUCH! It hurts!

I concentrated on my defense and stabbed my arm again.

OOWW!

I slowly tried to stab again while focusing on my psychokinesis to push back the knife…. It still penetrates!

Hmm, let's try flexing [Nenrikin] at the point of contact.

Stab! Ooww! It still hurts!

There has to be another way to defend, right? Right!?

 

Watching me stab my arm like a madman, Kaburagi-san's face stiffened and she averted her eyes.

“Sago-san, it's frightening me.”

“Hmm? Ah, don't worry. I'll have Ig heal me later..Ouch..So there's no problem.”

“…It hurts, doesn't it?”

“It does but I can handle this much pain!”

While I was talking (and stabbing myself), Kaburagi-san closed her eyes and covered her ears. Is this training that awful to look at? It might be fatal if I suddenly stab with a powerful PSI drive, but with this low-performance prototype, I wouldn't die.

…No No No!

That's not the problem here! No sane person stabs himself with a knife and act all merry. I guess I'm too used to this level of pain, so I don't mind it much. But to an observer I might appear as a lunatic. Let's be more careful.

 

When the assembly line at Kaneyama Tech was up and running, we began mass producing PSI drives. With the help of Baba we fine-tuned PSI Drives with various shapes like clubs, shields, spears, watches, and handcuffs. These were stored in special briefcases, lining up in Amaterasu's weapon storage. By the time all this was done, two months had passed and it was February.

It was the perfect time as Shoutkun and Toukchan had just finished their high school entrance exam.

Now, let the betrayal event begin!

TL Note 2
[1]: Basically the attack spreads like a wave and hurts the user. I couldn't find a proper term. ↩︎

 

[2]: The invisible energy or hidden pain or sword qi. Something like that. ↩︎

 

[3]: Referring to his blood. ↩︎

It is widely believed that a rumor dies out after 75 days, yet the rumors about the Super Water-Ball Incident remained a hot topic for quite a while. However, even this rumor that made headlines globally started to lose steam once a year had passed. It was only when a feature TV program called “One year after the Super Water-Ball Incident” started airing, people started recalling that incident.

But none of this matters. Why? Because regardless of the enormity of an incident, people still feel hungry. They still have to do their job. They still have to clean up, go to toilet, and pay taxes. Their daily life continues to be the same. Those eccentric foreigners overflowing in Tokyo in search of the paranormal have become a common site as well. The Police have also gotten used to dealing with the shenanigans of these wannabe ghostbusters[1] . Now the Tokyoites won't even stop and gawk at foreigners with some gaudy tattoo on their necks.

The populace was rapidly adapting to the strangeness that the Super Water-Ball Incident had brought about.

Now, acclimatization eventually dulls our senses. Like how a tear-jerking song cease to evoke any emotion after listening to it for an extended period of time. The familiarity and oblivion that this incident brought about, gradually erased the fear of the Super Water-Ball from everyone's mind.

What happens then? The World's Darkness starts to flourish. In place of fear, desires appear, and even though people don't speak out loud, they still have the desire of “I too want to blow away a super-strong enemy” roaring in their hearts. However, if they hit a stranger, police would arrest them. That's why they start to suppress their desires, and this suppression ultimately fuels the World's Darkness.

Welp. At least that's the setting we are going for.

 

Amaterasu is the secret organization that fights the World's Darkness. Even today, one of its members, the buddhist bishoujo,[2] Hasumi Touka, was fighting the World's Darkness as usual.

Under the moonlit night, Toukchan was fighting within a forest on the grounds of a small shrine surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Because she came here in a hurry in the middle of the night, she was wearing a simple outfit with only a jersey over her pajamas.

Earlier, she had deployed a prototype triangular psychokinetic PSI Drive which formed a semispherical barrier over the area and prevented any light or sound from leaking out. The pitch-black semi-spherical dome would stand out if used during the day, but it blends in perfectly in the middle of night. It was a battle field made solely for the ESP'ers and the World's Darkness.

The World's Darkness that Toukchan was fighting this time was somewhat tall, and had a pitch-black body. It wiggled like a jelly every time it took a step.

*yura yura*. [3]

It dodged every swing from Toukchan's flame sword. The sword was getting hotter with every swing.

4000° C.

Every single swing released a heat wave which distorted the air, charred the leaves and scorched the grounds.

“TAKE THIS!”

Clearly irritated, Toukchan produced even more flames from her sword and slashed at the World's Darkness. However, the World's Darkness nimbly ducked and evaded the attack. Immediately afterwards it gained it's balance and took a shadow boxing stance on the spot. This time the World's Darkness was a boxer type that specialized in evasive maneuvering. It was probably the manifestation of the subconscious violent desire of the people inspired by last nights Boxing World Championship. That was a damn good fight!

The World's Darkness loosened its shoulders, lowered its stance and raised its fist as it charged in.

“Hell's Inferno”. [4]

Toukchan yelled. She dispelled her fire sword and immediately flames shot out from her whole body.

A tornado of thick flames rose up with Toukchan at the center. The World's Darkness that jumped into it burned. It's black membrane vaporised in an instant, and after a short while it died pitifully.

Once the battle was over, Toukchan extinguished the flames, crushed the burnt and fragile core made of stone. Then, she looked around to confirm there were no hidden enemies, and finally released her guard.

 

Umu~~. The battle ended. Toukchan, being influenced by Shoutkun, recently started shouting her technique's name.

So frikin cute!

Toukchan smoothed the rough gravel which was heated to the extent that sweet potatoes could be baked. She then took out a fold-able staff-shaped PSI drive from the pocket of her jersey trousers and activated it. Cold air blasted from the PSI Drive and cooled the whole area preventing any chances of fire.

When she finished the clean-up, and was about to go home after disabling the psychokinetic barrier and retrieving the PSI drive, I gave a call to the part-time actor I hired for this moment and cut the call after one ring. This was the GO sign.

 

In front of Toukchan, who was about to ride her bicycle parked a few yards away, a delinquent in gaudy clothes with golden hair, and ear piercings appeared from behind a telephone pole. His lips were blue and he looked pale as he has been waiting in this weather since thirty minutes.

Shit! I should have told him to put on some more layers.

However luckily, Toukchan didn't notice the subtle unnaturalness of this encounter and braced herself warily.

Baito-kun[5] gave a vulgar grin as he looked at Toukchan from head to toe as if to lick every inch of her body.

“Oooh~, What a cutie. What are you doing here in the middle of night like this? It's dangerous here. Come, this Onii-chan will drop you at your home?”

“I can go on my own.”

Toukchan coldly refused, but Baito-kun was unfazed and instead started walking closer.

“Ah~? Why are you rejecting Onii-chan's kindness? Come on. Don't do that~”

“Don't come close.”

Toukchan activated the PSI drive that was still in her hands and warned him.

Baito-kun took a step back and put his hands inside his pockets with an irritated look.

Oooh, good, he's just like a textbook delinquent. As expected of a member of drama club at college!

“Don't resist girl. Throw away that stick….no..eh..what the hell is that?”

However, when he saw the staff shaped PSI he was slightly bewildered. He was about to drop his facade.

Before his eyes was a lone bishoujo shopping at a convenience store in the middle of the night. In her hand is a weird silver staff and she is giving off a dangerous aura. It would make anyone uncomfortable.

I understand how you feel, but please endure for a little while!

“It's not a stick. It's a staff.”

“Ah, is that so? Staff, huh? I've seen things like this in mang…. I don't frickin care. I'll just say this once. Be obedient if you don't want to be in pain.”

Baito-kun somehow managed to calm down and pulled out a knife-shaped PSI drive from his breast pocket, activated it, and covered it in flames. Toukchan's eyes opened wide.

That's right. PSI drives are stored and closely guarded in Amaterasu's secret base. Only members of Amaterasu and researchers of Kaneyama Tech are aware of it's existence. How could a delinquent possibly be wandering around with a PSI drive in the middle of the night!?

Baito-kun gave a sly grin.

“How about this! Oi, did you see a ghost or something? Throw that staff away and come over here.”

“You. Where did you get that from?”

Toukchan didn't even flinch at the threat and asked him a question instead. Even though he was pointing a burning knife at her, she stayed calm as if to say that he was the one in trouble.

It was strange. A normal bishoujo would scream, tremble, and not be able to move, but Toukchan was calmly standing there. But, the pressure she was giving off overwhelmed Baito-kun.

“Sh..Shut up! Do what I say or I kill you!”

“Answer me. It's important.”

“Shut up, brat! Hurry up and get over here!?”

Hearing this Toukchan closed the distance and shoved her staff into his solar plexus without hesitation. Baito-kun groaned and Toukchan took the knife from the his hand while he was crumbling to his knees, and carefully observed the knife in the light of the streetlamps. It wasn't a modified gas lighter, it was an unmistakable PSI drive.

“You. From where did you get this?”

Toukchan asked once more, as if to chide a child who did something wrong.

“I-I do..don't know!”

“You do know, right? Don't lie, otherwise your virtue will drop, you know?“[6]

“Huh? Virtue…What…?”

“Answer me. Or do you want to die?”

Baito-kun didn't seem to understand what she meant, but apparently he understood that he was being threatened in an amazing way by a high school bishoujo. Whether it was an act or not, Baito-kun was trembling.

“Ha—, A weird guy gave it to me. He told me to attack you with this. He said he will pay me a lot of money.”

“What kind of weird guy was he…?”

“That— ”

Just as he was about to say something, Baito-kun's cell phone rang. On the second ring, Baito-kun hurriedly stood up and ran away. When Toukchan was about to give him chase, she sensed a surprise attack and jumped sideways to evade it.

“..!? Why at a time like this…!”

World's darkness-kun crawled out from the ditch at the end of the road and started to jiggle. Toukchan couldn't decide whether to chase Baito-kun or to fight World's Darkness, but in the end, she turned to face the World's Darkness. It was her second match tonight.

TL Note 2
[1]: Hollywood movie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters ↩︎

 

[2]: Bishoujo = Beautiful Gal. ↩︎

 

[3]: *yuryura* = Sound effect for jiggling. ↩︎

 

[4]: Transliteration of アヴィーチ = Avici. It's referred to in Buddhism. Avici is the Sanskrit word for “lowest level of hell”. ↩︎

 

[5]: バイト = Baito = Part time job. Therefore, Baito-kun = Part-timer ↩︎

 

[6]: “Virtue” is one of the traits in Buddhism. ↩︎

Who's the traitor? – Part 3

I called out to Baito-kun who barely escaped from Toukchan and was breathing heavily. He rushed into the family restaurant which I had designated as our rendezvous point, disguised in a beard and sunglasses.

“Over here, over here. Good work, Baito-kun! Here take some Iced-coffee. Ah, do you even drink iced coffee?”

Baito-kun nodded and sat down with a thump in a seat across me and took a sip of iced coffee. He took a deep breath and relaxed his stiff shoulders as he spoke in a tired voice.

“I've done my job properly. I managed to have her take away that weird lighter from me, and scare me into dropping a hint about the mastermind. But what's with that girl!! She has a cute face but seemed oddly terrifying to me. I'm not sure why.”

“I don't really get it either. I was just asked by a friend too. He said he was shooting a movie or something, but it's kind of fishy.”

Baito-kun shivered while I pretended to be innocent and spouted some nonsense. I haven't told Baito-kun anything about the World's Darkness, Amaterasu, or the ESP'ers. In the first place I hired him because he was good at acting and keeping his mouth shut.

Although he was a part-timer, I still took care of his safety. Unlike Shoutkun, Toukchan believed in ahimsa, so usually she refrains from using excessive violence. Even now she didn't used her superpowers. Despite that Toukchan was way stronger than an adult. And Baito-kun took a hit from that Toukchan and manage to escape unscathed. It seems I chose the right person for Amaterasu.

Now, I didn't want to talk long and risk being suspected, so I quickly handed over the envelope I'd put in the reward.

It was cash. For an hour, 50,000 yen (~$460). It's a relatively good amount for a part-time job. It also includes a mouth-shut fee.

Baito-kun counted the 1000 yen bills over and over, while muttering, “If only I could buy a good one.”

I was curious about what he wants buy, so I asked. It's probably not some illegal drug…

“Um..Yeah.., it's Mama's birthday the day after tomorrow, so I was planning to give her an automatic dishwasher as a present. But it's expensive for me.”

“Ooh, is that so!”

I'm moved by Baito-kun who said that in embarrassment. Isn't he a good guy? There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Go for it!.

Come to think of it, I haven't returned home for a while since I quit my previous job. I haven't even called my parents after that. If I'm free, I'll show my face next time.

 

The morning of next day.

After school, Toukchan rushed to Amanoiwato in a hurry, showed Kaburagi-san the seized PSI drive and told her about last night's incident. Shoutkun didn't came. He returned home and dyed his hair black for the school interview. And Ig-chan was taking a nap (as usual).

“I was wondering if besides Babsan there were other elves who came to our world and made similar weapons for the bad guys…..but that doesn't explain why my fire attribute was there on the knife. That's why I think this PSI drive was stolen .”

“I get where you are coming from. However you see, the vault is locked and the entrance is being watched by the (bar) master, so it would difficult steal something. But if a person had this PSI drive, there's a high chance that it's us who somehow lost it.”

Kaburagi-san cautiously agreed with Toukchan's statement.

“That's right. I think it would be better if everyone works together to review our security measures.”

“Hmm…”

As I listened to the story while grilling the pancakes at the counter, I realised that Baba's fears were correct. From the way she talked, Toukchan didn't even think of there being a traitor. She truly thinks that it was a theft. That's probably how much she trusts the members of Amaterasu. It's a bit worrying. Even if everything here is a setup, Baba is still acting out the part of a traitor.

Blindly trusting someone without a doubt, and making a concious choice to trust someone are two entirely different things Toukchan.

It's bad that she's only thinking of countermeasures against theft, but that won't progress the event.

I'll take measures against theft -> fails -> Further strengthening the measures -> fails

This will likely lead to an empty loop.

While offering them honey-filled pancakes, I secretely signalled Kaburagi-san. She nodded slightly and went on to end the conversation.

“I understand what you're saying. But unfortunately I'm going to be busy with business from now on. Could Toukchan check the weapon storage? A quick inspection would do. Just make sure there's nothing strange in there.”

“Understood.”

“Please.”

Saying that, Kaburagi-san ate the pancakes and left quickly.

Toukchan finished her share of pancakes and returned the dishes. She then thanked me with a bright smile. My sour face almost crumbled.

..So cute..

Is this child an angel or something?

Oh, lord Buddha. Forgive the sinful me for toying with the heart of this young maiden.

Toukchan then went on to fiddle with the gimmicky wine bottle which revealed the entrance to the underground secret base. Toukchan went straight to the storage room to confirm that there were white briefcases lined up on the shelf, and check the engraved serial number to ascertain none were missing.

The PSI drives in the storage room were fully fueled so as to bring it out quickly in case of an emergency. In order to prevent the fuel from degrading, the storage room temperature was set to 0°C. While warming up by cladding herself in flames, Toukchan went ahead and checked inspected each weapon case.

Certainly, Kaburagi-san asked her to do a quick inspection. However, it was supposed to come across as either overconfidence in their security, or a suspicious attempt to distract Toukchan from checking inside the briefcases so as to cover up any attempted tampering. Toukchan, you're supposed to open the cases. Our traitor (actor) Baba, is not stupid enough to steal the briefcase when she could just take the PSI drives inside.

However, my prayers were in vain. Toukchan only did a quick inspection and found nothing amiss with briefcases. As she turned back and was about to leave the vault, with no other choice, I used my telekinesis to move a briefcase. That made a faint noise, which normal people would mistake for the hum of the air conditioner.

But not Toukchan. She clearly heard it. So, she turned around and stared at the storage suspiciously for a while. She then looked around, crawled, and peered under the shelf. Was it a mouse or an insect? She thought.

Toukchan was puzzled for a while, but she abruptly reached for one of the briefcases. She removed the lock, opened it, and looked inside. She looked away immediately, rubbed her eyes in disbelief and looked at it again.

In place of a PSI drive there was a red fish. Strictly speaking, it was a fish with red paint on it. Thanks to the low temperature it wasn't rotten and it's surface was covered with a thin layer of frost.

Toukchan stared in disbelief for a few seconds but quickly recovered and started opening other briefcases as well.

In the end, she found that, of the 105 PSI drives in briefcases 20 have have been replaced with a red fish. It is difficult to tell just by looking at the briefcase, and even if the briefcase were to be lifted, one will be deceived by the similar weight of the fish. To be sure one has to open it.

With her face all pale, Toukchan's tried calling Kaburagi-san on her smartphone, but she suddenly ended the call.

She contemplated for a full minute, and without making any noise, she took a few pictures of the fish on her smartphone. Afterwards, she closed all the briefcases and carefully put them at their original position. Several deep breaths later, she exited the storage while putting up a calm demeanor.

Okay, alright. She seems to have noticed the possibility of this being an inside job.

Upon returning to the bar, Toukchan quickly prepared to return home. She didn't even give me a glance.

Of course, I'll track her with my psychokinesis. (TL: Yup! Nothing's wrong with a grown-ass man stalk…I mean tracking an underaged girl. Yup! Nothing!)

Once Toukchan got home, she looked at her smartphone and began to investigate the fish chart that she found on the internet. She seemed to be thinking about verifying the clues left on the scene before searching for the culprit.

…Kaburagi-san's trap has splendidly caught Toukchan. If I was not in the know, I'd have probably thought, “Why a fish?” and investigated it. But that IS the trap!!

Toukchan, who seemed to have decided to not talk about the issue for two days, investigated about the fish, and learned that the fish in question was called Clupea Pallasii commonly known the Pacific herring.

She wondered why the culprit painted it red, and she probably thought that there was some important meaning behind it, so she immediately searched Foogle for “red herring.”

Seeing the search results, Toukchan slammed the mouse hard on the desk, and yelled.

“Don't mess with me…! I don't know who you are, but I'll show you what I can do!”

The angry Toukchan finally started looking for the traitor.

Author's Note:
Red herring: Tricks used to avert attention by showing misleading clues or making them misread the truth.

TL Note:
This is the last part of chapter 24. I will release parts of chapter 25 starting next week.

Chapter end