I came back but the world is still a fantasy!? – School Field Trip Arc – Act 1: This Is What Happens When I Go on a Trip – 04-81: The Summit Meeting – Evil Machine God (2/5)

“Is that why you’ve been trying to provoke me for awhile now? You wanted to make the worst impression possible so that I’d act?”

“I could see that you had an unusually strong sense of responsibility. You watched over your disciples until the last moment and lent a hand when the situation got too dangerous. You even cleaned up thoroughly after yourself like you did during the incident at Kutoria… Even if doing so means puttign you at a disadvantage or costing you your honor.”

Since that Mask was involved, all she had to do now was to cause a problem.

Mikoto had indeed been taken aback by his appearance, but since he appeared, she might as well use him.

Whether he killed Mikoto, destroyed the clans, or even if he became hostile to them even before that, he would not be indifferent to the consequences. She was sure of that the moment she saw the face beneath the mask.

Shinichi showed nothing of the sort to Mikoto, but in that regard, he did not lose out even to Shouko.

That was just how obvious his good-naturedness was in the way he spoke.

“If I am an incompetent machine god《Deus Ex Machina》, then you are a convenient machine god《Deus Ex Machina》. A hero who would go out of his way to protect everyone and control the situation would surely not overlook the consequences sown by a clan that has lost control, right?”

『Tsuchimikado Mikoto!』

This was a threat only possible because of her anger, and because it was Shinichi she was dealing with.

So great was the faith she had in his good will that she was even trying to use him through it.

Because of that Shouko raised her voice.

Was she really going to try and get these unrelated children into this mess through such brazen methods despite her own powers?

Shouko’s voice was full of rebuke, but as expected, Mikoto paid her no heed.

“Unfortunately, Shouko-chan, there’s no point even if you get mad. Because I’m not going to stop. I’m going to end the clans no matter what happens and no matter who gets involved. I would flatter ambitious houses, I would instigate grudges between houses, I could even take advantage of the Ootsu family’s plan.”

Now then, what would happen then if she did that? Mikoto laughed like a cunning old witch.

“There’s no other way to solve this than to get rid of me. If you leave me be, the clan’s leadership will be a mess, and people will die once the organization collapses. I wonder if you’ll be able to remain indifferent then?」

『What a terrible thing to say! Have you fallen this far!? If it’s like this, then—!?』

Shouko was about to unsheathe herself(Kamunagi), but Shinichi raised his arm to stop her.

It was curious if that expression on his face, which was a blend of dismay, blame, and exhaustion, was merely an act or not, but…

“What an inconvenient forced double suicide. Why are old people always so troublesome once they’ve set out to do something because of some misplaced motivation?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh as though he were thinking about something.

Then a few seconds later, as though he remembered something, he opened them again and spoke.

“In the past, there was this friend(hero)… At the time, he was just an acquaintance, but…”

“Hah?”

Everyone was taken aback by him suddenly talking about that, but he ignored them and reminisced.

Oddly enough, or perhaps by intention, his story showed another perspective into this situation.

“It was his first trip, and he got separated from his guardian. When he reached a city, he found out that it had been taken over by a criminal organization, so realizing that people good people were suffering, he crushed the leaders and the members of the organization.

Believing that he had saved the city, he left for his journey again and safely rendezvoused with his guardian.

Then everyone lived happily ever after, or so he thought.”

“…What happened?”

“One month later, they had to turn around because of some situation and made their way back to that city, but what greeted them was an even worse situation than before. It was as if all the residents had been turned into scoundrels. All the good people could only cower in fear or flee at the sight of them. But that was only a given. After all, the organization might have been criminal, but it was still the organization that kept everything in order. Those that were able to flee from the hammer of justice were then able to take over or do whatever they wanted with no oversight, resulting in an even worse situation than before.”

“What a terrible situation indeed.”

Mikoto smiled as though he were talking about what would happen once she has been eliminated.

She urged him to continue his story with his eyes, and he was more than happy to do so, though her urging may not have had anything to do with it.

“He became depressed, so I had no choice but to show him a way to salvage the situation. We spoke to(threatened) the bigwigs of the nation the city was affiliated with and the various public institutions, then crushed every single one of the villains.

We installed elite personnel in the city’s public organizations and even set up a functioning security organization. We cleaned the city, developed local products unique to the city, then called merchants.

We also brought in those with nowhere else to go or those who wanted to return to their hometowns. We also minimized the disadvantages to the neighboring cities that would result from all these efforts.

Because of the location, we had to involve about five nations just to stabilize a single city.”

It was a lot of work, Shinichi said like a salaryman grumbling from working overnight.

“…”

“…”

『………』

Whether it was the irritated Mikoto, the angry Shouko, the anxious old man, all of them, without question, stared blankly at Shinichi.

It was not because the scale was too big, but because they couldn’t understand why he would go so far.

Moreover, if they were to borrow his words, he did all that just to stabilize a single city.

It was just too over the top, and there was no way to describe his answer other than excessive.

It even seemed as though he was intentionally doing something that he knew was excessive.

“…What do you want to say?”

But it was precisely because of that that Mikoto had a bad premonition and stiffened.

Whether he realized that or not, Shinichi answered.

“Lots. For one, though the work I put in might have been excessive, you have to put in that much effort at least if you truly want to save something. If you defeat evil, another evil will simply appear to fill in the hole left behind. If you destroy an organization, no matter what kind of organization it is, it’s bound to have an effect – good or bad – on those around it. That and… When I start working, the result is always like that.”

Do you understand?

The boy said with outstretched arms like an amateur stage actor, and when he grinned a suspicious smile, the world changed(・・・・・・・).

“In other words───────────don’t get ahead of yourself, little girl.”

In that instant where she could neither hear nor see, darkness gripped(・・・・・・) her.

There was no resistance, no screaming, no breathing, nay, not even her intuition could keep up.

The boy could be seen through the gap between the darkness, but there was also a monster(something) that overlapped him that was too terrifying to be described as a demon.