Is it Tough Being a Friend? v5 Chapter 1 Part 2

“Oh, you’re late, Kobayashi Ichirou.”

I arrived home and took off my shoes at the entryway.

The “Three Princesses of Hell” weren’t there to greet me, but rather the “Blood-kin of Eternal Darkness.”

Elmira wore an apron over her school uniform and had a pair of slippers on. Judging by the fact that she didn’t change into casual clothes, she went straight to my house after school.

“What are you here for…? I thought you weren’t staying in this house anymore.”

“I thought I told you. I’ll come here whenever I feel like having a good time. Mion’s cooking is really good.”

Indeed, she did say something like that before. However, she’s been coming over too many times.

Elmira spends half of the week here. Furthermore, she’s just here for dinner. The amount of money we have to spend on food is no different from when she took refuge here with Shizuma.

“In what world does a main character get along with three princesses…and spend almost every evening eating with the enemies?”

“I don’t see the three princesses as enemies anymore. Besides, today is a big day, right?”

“Big day?”

When I raised my eyebrows in confusion, Elmira immediately flared up.

“Are you still half-asleep?! Today’s the day Taotie will head to the spirit world! The day he’ll check on Shizuma’s safety!”

…Oh right. I planned on asking Taotie to check on the spirit world today.

According to Taotie, the “Evil Spirits” have the ability to move to the spirit world. Even though most of them can’t open doors to the human world, they can still enter and exit alone.

That’s why we decided to have Taotie travel to the spirit world and contact Shizuma about once a week.

Truthfully, I’d really like to check up on him everyday, or actually, every few hours. Shizuma is a young child who only looks like a two-year-old. Furthermore, he’s actually just a little over three months old.

However, that would interfere with Shizuma’s mission to “regulate the spirit world.”

Having an “Evil Spirit” visit is enough. Shizuma needs to just come to the meeting place that Taotie tells him in advance. We can’t risk revealing ourselves.

“Now then, go through with it! Come out, ‘Evil Spirit’ Taotie!”

The vampire pulled on my ear and shouted.

Immediately after, a young man with my likeness fell out from inside me while shouting “Whoa!” It was Taotie, of course.

“D, don’t yell at me so suddenly! You made me spill my juice! Carpet stains aren’t easy to remove!”

The “Evil Spirit” complained to Elmira while droplets of juice trickled down his head.

What way was he drinking his juice for that to happen? Is there really a carpet inside me?

“This isn’t the time to leisurely drink juice! Go to the spirit world at once!”

“I’m meeting Shizuma at seven o’clock! If I go there right now, I’ll be wasting time! I can only stay in the spirit world for ten minutes!”

Looking at the clock, it was five minutes until seven. In order to make the most of his limited time, it would be best to arrive there right on the hour.

“Then head there immediately once it’s seven o’clock! Get into a crouch start until then!”

“I’m not sprinting there! I’m TPing!”

“Stop speaking like a hoodlum! Say teleportation, no abbreviation!”

“Hoodlums don’t even talk about teleportation!”

The two didn’t force themselves to act polite in front of the other. Having lived under the same roof for a few days, it seems they’re familiar with each other now. I wonder if that’s okay…?

Once it became seven o’clock, Taotie departed.

When his figure disappeared, there was a scream coming from the kitchen.

(Good grief, what a noisy house…what now?)

When I rushed into the kitchen, there stood the three daughters who seemed to be preparing dinner.

They were the freeloading apostle generals who boasted top class strength, the “Three Princesses of Hell.” The heron Mion, king cobra Jyuri, and Hokkaido wolf Kiki.

For some reason, they were holding onto each other while trembling. As soon as they saw me, they firmly clung onto me as well. The three had tear-stained faces.

“This is serious, Ichirou! It’s here! It’s finally here!”

“Oh, this can’t be happening…”

“Official state of emergency!”

Based on what they’re saying, it seems that a cockroach appeared. We may not see them all the time, but they’re always lurking.

“Are you guys really generals? Get a hold of yourselves.”

“We’re girls before we’re generals!”

“The enemy seems to have escaped to the back of the refrigerator…Ichirou, you’re our only hope!”

“Don’t let it escape! Find it and kill it!”

When I turned around, I couldn’t find Elmira despite her being behind me earlier. It appears that she’s not good with cockroaches either.

“It seems I don’t have a choice. You can just hit the cockroach with a spray and then it’ll be over.”

I grabbed some insecticide and approached the refrigerator. The three princesses watched me from a distance while yelling “Do your best!”

I stuck the spray nozzle into the back of the refrigerator and squirted the bottle’s contents.

Sure enough, a tiny cockroach scuttled out. Then for some reason, it made a beeline towards the three princesses.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The generals ran while screaming. They were in a state of total panic.

However, the cockroach soon laid on its back and died. I picked it up with a tissue and tossed it into the trash.

Mion was unable to stand up from the fear. Jyuri was on the verge of fainting. Kiki was crying.

…I wonder if cockroach apostles don’t exist? If they did, perhaps they could single-handedly defeat the three princesses.

“Gahaha. That’s a nice reaction from you all. Even Kyouka wouldn’t be scared by a mere cockroach, you know?”

A voice suddenly came out from behind me.

When I turned around──the upper half of a large, bandit-like man manifested and recorded the three princesses with a video camera.

It was the “Evil Spirit” Hundun. One of the four fiends and the one I’m temporarily looking after on Kyouka’s behalf.

Like Taotie, he’s one of the “Apostles of Hell’s” rulers, and he also served as the final boss of part one. Also, that video camera is my father’s property.

“I need to show this to the other apostles.”

Aware that they were being filmed, the three princesses came to their senses. Then, they fiercely drew near Hundun.

“Hundun! Don’t record!”

“We’ll lose face! We’ll have no authority!”

“To think my first screen performance would end up like this!”

I watched sadly as they repeatedly punched the ruler’s head, tugged on his ears, and kicked his back.

Has there ever been an evil organization with members this close to each other? No, there hasn’t (that was a rhetorical question).

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