Prologue

My presence in “Hinomori Ryuuga’s Story of Supernatural Battles” is steering off course at unprecedented levels.

Perhaps one would retort with “No, it’s been that way from the beginning,” but even so, I’ve managed to keep up appearances until now.

Part one was the Hundun arc, part two was the Taotie arc, each dealing with an “Evil Spirit.”

Aogasaki Rei’s and Elmira McCartney’s individual episodes were also added as interludes.

With a refocus in the storyline after all the sidetracking, we’ve come to the present. However…

(Part three is getting pretty chaotic. The story’s already beyond my control and is now rolling down a hill…like a rice ball.)¹This seems to be a reference to “Omusubi Kororin,” a Japanese folktale about a rice ball rolling down a hill and into a hole.

If things had gone well, part three should have been the Qiongqi arc.

However, the series’ composition had gone awry.

The final “Evil Spirit,” Taowu had resurrected early and became part of the story. Furthermore, one of the main characters, Yukimiya Shiori, was the vessel.

That by itself would have been fine. Well, not really, but I think I would have managed somehow.

I would have just changed part three into the Taowu arc…or at least I thought, but a transfer student put a stop to that. With this new character, Qiongqi became more prominent.

(To think that there would be a double booking of final bosses…that would be like having a match with FC Barcelona before having to deal with Real Madrid mid-game as well.)²FC Barcelona and Real Madrid seem to be Spanish soccer clubs.

The problem was that the “Evil Spirit” Taowu, also known as Tao, had already mended her ways. Furthermore, she was extremely inelegant.

I thought the mysterious transfer student, Tenryouin Agito, was the protagonist of another story, but it turned out that he was the “Evil Spirit” Qiongqi’s vessel.

Furthermore, Yukimiya’s butler, Sebastian, was actually an apostle general and Tao’s close associate, Renie. He’s also suspected of working with Qiongqi.

Not only that, but the protagonist’s mere friend character, Kobayashi Ichirou, was the one involved in all of these secretive affairs.

In addition to combining Qiongqi’s and Taowu’s arcs, there was also Yukimiya Shiori’s individual episode. Well, the most worrying thing in the end is “the matter of me.”

(I already have a headache just summarizing what happened so far…if I was part of the audience, this would be the point where I stop watching. I would go watch a ‘light slice of life show.’)

I walked along the road near the train station while looking up at the sky in gloom.

I was the only pedestrian on the sidewalk, so despite not looking ahead of me, I wasn’t worried about bumping into anyone. It’s no surprise that’s the case since it’s a little before 10 am…everyone’s already at work or school.

Second period class should begin right about now. Everyone’s studying hard.

(That reminds me, the school festival’s in one week, isn’t it? My class is going to do a maid cafe, but…I have no motivation for this school event.)

I was thinking to myself when my mobile phone suddenly received a message. When I took out my phone to check, the sender was our protagonist, Ryuuga.

‘To Ichirou. We all went to Shiori’s house, but unfortunately, we couldn’t meet her. In fact, Shiori herself declined it.’

Last night, Ryuuga and the other main characters fought Tao at the cemetery.

It started when Shima and Saihiru of “Hell’s Top Eight,” two apostle generals serving Qiongqi, attacked Yukimiya. When Ryuuga and the others rushed over, they treated Tao as an enemy and attacked her.

Then Mion, Jyuri, and Kiki, the freeloading “Three Princesses of Hell,” barged in to protect Tao, turning the whole thing into a chaotic three-way struggle.

(Ryuga’s team and the three princesses were even opening up to each other prior to this happening…but thankfully, I told Elmira about our side of the story…)

Ryuuga’s faction, knowing that Yukimiya is the “Evil Spirit” Taowu’s vessel, were naturally shocked and worried.

So they decided to visit the Yukimiya residence first thing in the morning.

Just like me, they skipped school.

‘We were determined to meet her, but…then Shiori sent a message. She knows what’s going on with her. She told us to leave the matter of Taowu to her. It seems that she doesn’t intend to make any immediate movements and is willing to talk.’

Yukimiya’s response was what I expected it to be.

Until Yukimiya can ‘convert’ Tao…that is, keep her under control, that “Inelegant Evil Spirit” probably shouldn’t take center stage in the story.

Last night, I had Yukimiya agree to that.

As for Tao, it should be possible to adjust her screentime. However, Qiongqi and Agito won’t care about these circumstances.

In that case, Ryuuga and the others should prepare for Qiongqi…that’s my judgement.

‘We can talk about this in detail at school. Are you alright, Ichirou? Is your stomach okay now? Recently, your stomach has been pretty unwell.’

I sent a reply saying ‘I’m fine. I’m heading to school now too,’ and closed my phone.

Of course, my stomach ache was a straight-up lie. This morning, I had an appointment with Agito, so I couldn’t accompany Ryuuga and the others on their visit.

That’s right. I entered the enemy’s stronghold alone.

That’s where I had a discussion with Agito, or rather Qiongqi, about our “views for this story.”

It’s not something a mere friend character would do, but I had no choice since I was personally called out to. I also play the role of the “story planner” in this tale.

(As for the results, we failed to reach an agreement, but…now that I think about it, I forgot to ask about the apostle amalgamation monsters, didn’t I…?)

Mysterious monsters have appeared twice so far and were killed both times. I’m fairly certain that’s Qiongqi’s doing, but I have no solid evidence for it right now.

(What if it’s a new enemy force that has nothing to do with Qiongqi…? I’m at a loss. The rice ball that is this story could roll down to rock bottom.)

I looked up at the sky again while sighing deeply.

I recalled the conversation I had with the “Evil Spirit” Qiongqi not too long ago.

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