CH 123

Audition

Translated by Dawn

Audition

Three hours later.

After I finished my work of teleporting the metal generated by Miina to the warehouse district while Shisae and I exterminated the non-native animals as usual, I returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and teleported to the underground parking lot.

“Vice-Minister Sayuri, how is everything going?”

“Well, we’re just finishing up now.”

Taking her gaze away from the girl who was covered with flames all over her body, Vice Minister Sayuri turned to me with her arms folded.

“Although we call it an audition, almost all applicants have been accepted. Otherwise, it would be meaningless. However, we will classify them according to the type of ability and strength, and there will be five leagues: A League, B League, C League, D League, and E League.”

“Does ‘almost’ mean some of them failed?”

In response to my question, a group of five people appeared in the room sometime later.

“Sorry Okui, it just wasn’t enough with just me starting a fire like a lighter at my fingertips.”

“I guess just creating a slight breeze isn’t enough, too…”

“Damn, just making them feel a chill isn’t enough.”

“I thought it would be cool to have a faint glow on my body.”

“If only I could reduce the gravity of everything I touched by 0.2 percent instead of 0.1 percent…”

“I’m going to train my nose taser to become a nose electric shock!”

—It’s these guys again!

After complaining, I took one last look at the flame-clad girl who was auditioning.

—Flames, Pyrokinesis Girls, huh…

“Vice Minister Sayuri, are the Takmi siblings in the A-League or not?”

Although self-proclaimed, those two were the ones who boldly claimed that they could reduce Shuri Castle to ashes in one minute.

They must be very capable.

However, Vice Minister Sayuri shook her head from side to side.

“Those two aren’t here.”

“What? Are they working as bodyguards?”

“No, they are not, because the sister, Takami Mikata, was removed from the psychometric examination because of her personality disorder.”

I let out a sigh as I remembered the sister, Mikata, who was threatening to burn Shurijo and her brother to ashes, and the brother, Morikata, who had knocked my sister unconscious with an electric shock and then lied about collapsing from anemia.

“I see. But why?”

“Look, Honey, those two were also vacationing in Okinawa, weren’t they? I bet they are on vacation again.”

“Ah, that reminds me.”

From their tone of voice, they must be from a relatively well-to-do family.

Even if they didn’t have a salary, they could at least go on a trip.

I agreed with Kiriha’s point, but Vice-Minister Sayuri denied that.

“They are indeed on a trip, but the sister, Mikata, has clearly refused to be a part of this. The younger brother, Morikata, said that if his sister wouldn’t do it, then he wouldn’t either.”

“Hmm, then it can’t be helped.”

“You don’t want to invite them, Honey?”

“I can’t force them. And just because everyone has combat abilities doesn’t mean they’re all athletic. Some people are afraid of fighting.”

“I see.”

I regained my composure and turned to Vice Minister Sayuri with a positive attitude.

“Come to think of it, what kind of people are there who have combat-type abilities?”

“There are too many to count. There are fire users, lightning users, metal users, slash attack users, shock wave users, body enhancement users, and beast transformation ability users. I will e-mail you the data later. With all these people, we should be able to stage a pretty spectacular battle.”

“Wow, I didn’t interact with people with combat abilities, but I didn’t know there were so many talented people.”

—I wonder if Bando would have been there if he hadn’t caused that incident…

“I’ll get back to you later about publicity and PV. You can go home today.”

“Yes. Then, Kiriha, should we go to Kyoto this afternoon?”

“Yes. Vice Minister Sayuri, do you have any requests for souvenirs?”

“Raw yatsuhashi, please.” (+)TLN: Yatsuhashi is a Japanese confection sold mainly as a souvenir snack. It is made from glutinous rice flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Raw, unbaked yatsuhashi (Nama yatsuhashi) has a soft, mochi-like texture and is often eaten wrapped around red bean paste.

“You can buy that at Tokyo Station, no?”

“No, I wanted to eat the raw yatsuhashi that bought in Kyoto.”

—What’s with that mysterious obsession?

Her cloudless, straight face was dazzling.