"Kanna, what do you think of Kazuma-kun?"
After finishing their meal and parting ways with Kazuma, the two girls walked through the city beneath the night sky. Kanna Hiiragi hooked arms with her best friend. "Why do you ask?"
Her question reminded Akane Nanao of the shocking scene earlier—Kazuma's absurd appetite.
The adorable kitten clinging to him had also left a deep impression. Akane Nanao nudged Kanna Hiiragi's shoulder teasingly. "I think he's pretty good, Kanna. Do you like him? Planning to confess?"
"No, that's not it!" Kanna Hiiragi nearly jumped. "What I mean is—he might be able to help you. That guy always feels mysterious, like he's hiding something…"
"But didn't Kazuma-kun say he's just an ordinary person? Maybe you're overthinking it."
"I trust my intuition. Even though he kept saying he's just an ordinary high school student, I could tell he didn't take Tougou seriously at all. Otherwise, he wouldn't have confronted him so directly."
Hearing her words, Akane Nanao recalled the events of the evening. At the time, both she and Kanna had been stunned. Curious and puzzled, she said, "I really didn't expect Kazuma—who's always so inconspicuous—to be hiding so much."
"Exactly! Maybe we'll be the first to figure it out."
…Even though he's already figured out my secret.
Kanna Hiiragi guiltily looked away.
Kazuma had no idea that the two girls were discussing him after he left. Once they parted ways, he carried his little companion back toward the school. Under the star-filled sky, the black-furred kitten toddled along behind him.
"I'll have to spend the night here," Kazuma muttered. On his first night in this world, he had nowhere else to go. Parks like the famous Okubo Park were an option—
—but those places were far too lively.
An internet café was another possibility.
In the end, he chose to stay at the school—not just out of convenience, but because his target was here.
"Little guy, looks like I'm homeless too—just like you," Kazuma said, lifting the kitten and scratching its chin. He suspected it was the effect of the Momotaro rice ball. Not only did animals become friendlier toward him, they also seemed able to understand his words.
The kitten apparently did understand. It leapt onto his shoulder and rubbed against his cheek, letting out soft, sweet sounds.
"Meow~.~"
Kazuma frowned slightly. "You're filthy. Come on, I'll clean you up."
"Meow!!!"
The school was silent late at night, with only duty teachers on patrol. Kazuma didn't linger in the classroom. After washing the struggling kitten, he carried it toward the abandoned old school building.
Students rarely came here—let alone teachers.
He had heard rumors that stray dogs appeared nearby. In Japan, stray cats were common, but stray dogs were rare. The likely reason was the back mountain connected to the abandoned building, where dogs hid and occasionally came down to forage.
Kazuma believed that dogs clever enough to evade animal control and survive would make excellent helpers.
Carrying the kitten, he headed toward the grove behind the sports field. Beyond the grove stood a barbed-wire fence. On the other side lay the abandoned building, a warehouse filled with discarded junk, and further back, the rarely visited mountain.
Kazuma stopped at the entrance of the old school building. Countless ghost stories and bizarre legends surrounded this place, which was why students avoided it.
Late at night, the decaying wooden structure exuded an eerie presence. Yet Kazuma felt nothing. "Even if ghosts really exist—like Hanako in the bathroom or Sadako—so what? In this world, even ghosts aren't scary."
He made a silly face. Truthfully, he almost hoped to meet one.
Carrying the kitten, he wandered through the gloomy corridors. "Little guy, if a monster shows up, can you protect me?"
"Meow——"
The kitten tilted its head back and cried sharply, breaking the silence. Seeing its confidence, Kazuma chuckled and patted its head. "Alright, I'll leave it to you."
"Meow~.~"
As expected, there were no ghosts—no legends either. Standing on the dusty wooden floor and looking out through a broken window, Kazuma instead noticed a panicked figure below.
"G-Ghost! A spirit—!"
He couldn't see her face clearly, but it was unmistakably a girl's voice. From her perspective, it was only a dark silhouette standing by the window. Terrified, she turned and fled.
Kazuma twitched at the corner of his mouth. There were still people wandering around?
Seeing her disappear into the distance, he didn't pursue her. Another ridiculous rumor about the old school building was about to spread.
More importantly, his target finally appeared.
In the dim moonlight, the shadow of a stray dog cautiously emerged. Kazuma smiled, took out a Momotaro rice ball, and tossed it out the window.
Startled, the dogs scattered and hid. Several minutes later, finding no danger, they crept back, sniffed the rice ball, glanced around, and swallowed it whole.
The next second, the dog froze.
It worked.
Even these experienced, wary strays couldn't resist the power of the secret weapon.
Kazuma came downstairs, looked at the stray dog lying obediently on the ground, and smiled brightly. He took a bag of Momotaro rice balls out of the system and said, "There should be other dogs of your kind on the mountain, right? Take these rice balls to them. Remember—each person and each dog can only eat one."
The wild dogs nodded with surprising ease at such complicated instructions, as if they had been trained countless times before.
The little black cat, however, seemed dissatisfied. It let out two squeaky meows, glared at the stray dogs, and then rubbed against Kazuma even more insistently.
Is he jealous?
There were originally four stray dogs, but before long, ten more came running down from the mountain. Seeing this, Kazuma's bright smile gradually turned bitter. "I only have twenty Momotaro rice balls in this bag. Once they're gone, they're gone."
He sighed. "Fourteen already used… that leaves only four."
As for where the last one went? Kazuma had used it from the very beginning—the little fellow was currently hiding inside his clothes.
Sitting beneath the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard of the old school building, Kazuma gazed at the well-disciplined pack of wild dogs in front of him. He grinned, his dark eyes gleaming with a moonlit depth—sometimes sharp, sometimes full of anticipation. "Akane Nanao, I've nearly emptied my pockets helping you. I hope your wish list gives me a decent reward."
"Don't disappoint me…"