I Came Back but the World is Still a Fantasy!?

Shinichi only found out about the full details of the department store incident half a month later during the Golden Week, which also happened to be a few days after he got caught up in a bomb incident upon transferring schools.

It’s not like he was completely uninterested until then, but he didn’t have any way to investigate the matter, as he was really spent from trying to convince the Nakamura couple to let him go to school.

“Returnees may have differences between them, but all returnees must go to Garesto Academy. Besides, the world has changed too much for my common sense to keep up, so while I may not need any drastic measures, I do need to study intensively or my future will be a problem. In that case, I might as well go to the most advanced school.”

There have also been eyes watching him ever since he returned to this world, and those eyes have become stronger since his involvement with the department store incident. He had to bring them away from his family.

What ‘Crimson’ said couldn’t be ignored either, and the Garesto Academy was also perfectly suited to handle any trouble he might inadvertently cause.

But of course, the number one reason was because ‘it’s painful being in that house’.

Still, that wasn’t something that he could actually say, even under forceful interrogation, so he had to list a bunch of reasons to convince the Nakamura couple.

But…

“You finally came back, so why do we have to be separated again!”

There were schools he could commute to from home, places with a more comfortable atmosphere. And that was basically the approach the Nakamura couple took to try and sway Shinichi from going to Garesto Academy.

In Rinko’s case, she even said in a roundabout way that it wouldn’t be possible for Shinichi to hide his secrets in a place without Nobuhiko.

Of course, she did not actually mention what ‘secrets’ she was referring to, and neither did Shinichi ask exactly what ‘secrets’ she was talking about.

In Nobuhiko’s case, he was overemotional during the entire time, and none of their points ever intersected.

With the Nakamura couple unexpectedly adamant about not letting him transfer, Shinichi had no choice but to lay bare his emotions.

“I’m sorry. Actually, the shock when I returned hasn’t worn off just yet. So I would like some time alone where no one knows me, so I can calm down and collect myself.”

But somehow he was still able to hide the crux of the matter, and after that, the Nakamura couple didn’t oppose his leaving anymore.

There was no way they could. Not when Nobuhiko was guilty from breaking their old family, and not when Rinko witnessed the events that day in person.

Shinichi knew that it was unfair to say something like that, so he didn’t want to say it if he could, but alas…

“Be sure to call us. Come back for your long break, make sure of it, and if school life ever gets difficult for you, tell us. Is that clear, Shinichi-kun?”

In the end, he had to agree to those obvious terms before they would agree to his transfer.

But of course, because of that he was in full self-loathing mode the whole time he was on the ship to Kutoria, which was further exacerbated by the various incidents that occurred then. And then the whole thing was concluded by a bomb incident of all things.

He needed several days before his mental state could recover.

Of course, he was at least aware of the publicly available information, like those broadcast on TV or published in the newspapers.

For example, there’s the story of how the real culprits and the collaborators fooled by them had a conflict. Some witnesses who saw the events that day testified for the collaborators, allowing them to escape from being charged with terrorism.

There’s also the story of how several anonymous people made large donations to the department store.

“…The donations other than those from the Padyuel Family are too suspicious.”

Shinichi did not doubt that the director was able to conveniently alter the truth, but the information projected on the airspace in front of him made him glum.

This place was the only privacy he had in this school – his room.

Because of that the concept of privacy anywhere else was suspicious to him.

Mana Hacking.

Photon and mana are the same kind and type of energy, so the new computers that use signals made with them were too easy for him to manipulate.

He was already used to opening several monitors at the same time and reading from them.

On one of the monitors was listed all the anonymous donations supposedly given out of goodwill.

Tracing them back to the source showed that they were made by different people, but after going even deeper, it turned out that they mostly came from the same place.

But the real identity of the person or organization wasn’t in the data.

Even Shinichi couldn’t investigate something if it hasn’t been inputted into a computer.

“Some of the donations were given by the Padyuel Family… That ringlet curls was there? The rest seems to have been given by that Crimson or the organization he belongs to… What a strange bunch of terrorists.”

He was thinking of apologizing for wrecking the place so badly, but considering they’ve already gathered so much money, he decided it wasn’t necessary anymore.

In the first place, he didn’t have a lot of money right now.

Most of the precious metals and jewels they had prepared in case he chose not to make contact with his family or live with them were still at Falandia.

They did bring some with them, and they’ve already sold them after masking their outward age and documents with magic, but they didn’t really amount to much.

Hypothetically speaking, if the department store hadn’t received so many donations, Shinichi could use the information he obtained illegally to make money legally, but it was best to avoid crossing such dangerous bridges.

“Even if they did have a lot of money, would you normally use it on something like that? The Padyuel Family’s reasoning at least makes sense. ‘Even though we were there we failed to stop the criminals. Please take this as an apology.’ Makes sense, but that aside… We’re they really serious about that?”

As Shinichi thought back to the speech, he turned to the monitor where Crimson was shown.

The unidentified combat personnel from Nameless. An infamous criminal who was wanted even in Earth.

If the code name the Garesto army had given were to be translated to Japanese, it would read: Red Ogre.

“Simple, but easy to understand. And besides, this fighting style certainly does remind one of a kishin (fierce god).”

On the projected video was a lone unit tearing apart an entire squad.

With two spears at hand, Crimson tore apart and skewered the exoskeletons.

With a variety of spears, Crimson fluttered about in the air and charged into the soldiers’ formation.

The way she changed her grip on the spears according to the situation and tore the enemy apart made it seem as if she only had one spear.

“If she had been using equipment she was familiar with right from the start and intended to kill me, it might have actually gotten pretty bad.”

The unit she was using in the combat videos stored in the database was different from the one he fought with. Perhaps it was a new model or an experimental unit.

“But, Master! In a one on fight, even if you’re not in your best condition, I’m sure you… Wait a moment— Please stop going off on a tangent! We’ll never reach our goal like this! And is that a woman!?”

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