VOLUME 6

Chapter 5 – Slime Makes Right

Chapter 5: Part 1

It was a certain cold, winter Sunday after the school festival.

I was a self-proclaimed convenience store fanatic, so I was wandering around the neighborhood convenience stores, window shopping. I was in the midst of deciding whether I wanted to buy some oden, when I saw someone I didn’t expect to see.

She had a mature air about her and long, beautiful hair. Her slender body was covered in an elegant long coat.

Her eyes were sharp, and her movements were beautifully graceful. Her face just exuded refinement, and she stood in stark contrast to the convenience store she was right next to.

Her name was Sarasvati. She went to the same school as I did, and was actually a kind of monster known as a vampire ninja.

She also seemed to notice my presence.

“Hm? I thought I caught a whiff of garbage, and here I find my garbage darling standing right in front of me. What perfect timing.”

Her sharp eyes pierced me like daggers, and she beckoned me over with a finger.

“Yo, Saras. What’s up? What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Hm? Is there something strange about me visiting a convenience store?”

“Yeah, I’d expect to see you more in a fancy j.a.panese restaurant getting a seven-course dinner.”

“That almost sounds like a compliment, but I sense some ridicule in those words. Please go die.”

“It’s not good to jump to ‘death’ five seconds into a conversation… anyways, what are you doing here?”

“Hm. We have a test soon, yes? I was going to study all night, so I wanted to stock up on some late-night snacks in preparation.”

Saras crossed her arms and began glaring at some cup ramen.

“Cup ramen? You? Wow, that’s such a mismatch.”

I chuckled, but then Saras sent her elbow right into my stomach. I’m a zombie, so I felt no pain. But I still lost my breath, and that was pretty uncomfortable. Saras paid me no mind as I began to cough violently, and just continued talking without a care in the world.

“These things are what high schoolers usually eat for late night snacks, correct? I was thinking of trying some tonight.”

“I see. You want some food not as a vampire ninja, but as a high school student. It’s pretty impressive how dedicated you are.”

“However, there is a problem. I am not very familiar with such low-brow items like this. My darling, will you please share your wisdom with me?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean, you did help out a lot at the school festival.”

Saras was one of the vampire ninja commanders, but she also had a lot of influence at school. This means that she ended up helping me out both with monster extermination and events at school. I guess you could say I was one of her frequent customers.

“An ordinary person like you must know quite a lot about these miscellanea.”

“Certainly, to the uninitiated these might all look the same, but… how about this here?”

I really wanted to help Saras out to pay her back for all she’s done, and I recommended a new limited-edition product. This was a super rare item that would only be sold today, called “Hiraga Gennai would be super surprised! Seafood Udon.” (1) Maybe j.a.panese people just had no self-control when it came to limited edition products, but the one I picked up was the last one in stock.

“Udon, hm? Okay. You seem to understand my mood well. I will try this.”

“Ahh, I’m glad I could be of some use.”

Saras seemed quite pleased, but then seemed to feel a bit embarra.s.sed and quickly averted her gaze.

Who could’ve expected that this little meeting would be the trigger of those horrendous series of events?

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) Hiraga Gennai is a j.a.panese pharmacologist that lived during the 18th Century.