Itsuka Sekai wo Sukuu Tame ni – Qualidea Code Vol 1 Prologue

Prologue / 1 - Observer

Everything starts from observation.

That was something that Shinomiya Akira --- Shino, had always been mindful of.

Humans acquire most of the information from their surroundings through their visual faculties. In theory, that can be as much as up to 80 or even 90 percent.

In that case, if he needed to know about a specific target, then the first thing he had to do was certain.

And that was to 「watch」.

Seeing is believing. Seeing once is better than hearing about it a hundred times.[1]

If we think about it rationally, it seems like an outrageous proportion, but it is certain that anyone who is a member of our everyday society knows that there is no exaggeration to this idiom.

That is how important our sight is. The rest of a human's five senses - smell, taste, and touch, are all inferior to sight when it comes to obtaining information on a target speedily.

So Shino watched.

Inside the ventilation duct.

Looking into a girl's room.

"............"

While keeping his breathing quiet, he looked down into the room beyond the mesh of the ventilation duct.

It was a s.p.a.cious room like that of a high-cla.s.s hotel. There was not a speck of dust on the floor, but instead, it contained a large bed with a canopy attached, and on the top of a intricately designed shelf was packed with soft toys and small articles.

Someone else instead of the inhabitant of this room probably tidies the room. Since she could not dispose of the stuff in the course of tidying up the room without the owner's permission, the top of the shelf was decorated like a birthday cake.

"--- hum hum hum, hum hum hum."

As Shino looked into the room, a girl humming a song terribly came into his field of vision.

A girl with dyed, thin hair tied into two tails. Her really white face with bangs, and in the middle of that, her pair of eyes were red like blood.

Her height was probably 140+ cm. If Shino was not mistaken, she was around 17, 18 years old, but yet, she was really pet.i.te compared to other girls of her age. Her limbs were proportionately slender and looked as if they could break with just a touch.

However. That body of hers, which was slender like that of a well-bred daughter, was clad in a pure white uniform that indicated that she was charged with the duty in city defense, as well as an overcoat which was adorned with large epaulets.

--- Tenkawa Maihime.

Shino brought the name of that girl to his mind as if to ascertain it.

That's right --- Defense City Kanagawa number one, Tenkawa Maihime.

The name of the girl dubbed as the strongest in this city.

--- the name of the girl whom Shino had to kill.

"Hum hum hum."

As Shino continued observing her, Maihime continued humming, took off the overcoat that was worn over her shoulders, and hung it on the hangar. Following that, she unfastened the b.u.t.tons on her uniform one by one.

She was probably going to change into her casual clothes. She took off her jacket, loosened her necktie, and put her hand on her shirt b.u.t.ton.

"......!"

Shino widened his eyes, lowered his stance and brought his face closer to the mesh of the ventilation duct.

Yup. You can't find a better chance than now to look at Tenkawa Maihime's nude body at such a close range.

But still, the thoughts running through Shino were somewhat different than those of a common p.u.b.escent student.

"...... upper arms, lower arms, they're all below average. The kind of physical strength in those arms is just unbelievable."

Shino mumbled in a voice too soft for Maihime to notice.

"Oh, I forgot."

Seemingly oblivious to the existence of Shino, after taking off her jacket and skirt, Maihime suddenly uttered and walked towards the closet in her underwear.

"............"

Shino narrowed his eyes as he looked hard at her. At her chest (pecs rather), and her b.u.t.t (actually the movement of her femorals that extended from the b.u.t.t).

Maihime poked her head into the closet, stirred for a while, then took out a casual outfit and spread it on the bed.

"Hum humm."

She then resumed her humming, and put her hands on the front hook of her bra.

"--- oooh."

Shino leaned forward unwittingly.

In that instant.

"...... huh?"

The place where his hands were pushing suddenly made a mishi sound and following that, the fixtures of wire mesh came off and Shino dropped right in before Maihime's eyes.

"Wah!?"

Maihime cried out in hysteria at the sudden event.

That was understandable. After all, a person just dropped into her room without any prior warning.

"............"

But in contrast to her reaction, Shino righted his stance calmly.

Of course, that is not to say that he was not the least bit shaken. His opponent was after all the strongest warrior in the city. If he messed up, he would lose his life.

However, it would be a bad move here to show his discomposure which might lead his opponent to become suspicious. The fl.u.s.tered Shino adjusted his breathing in order not to let Maihime notice, and he fixed his expression as if nothing was up.

"W-What're you doing......?"

Maihime said, still unable to quell her confusion, and then, widened her eyes, took her casual wear, shrugged her shoulders as she tried to cover up herself. Seemed like she noticed that she was half-naked a beat later. Her face immediately turned red.

"Wait. Calm down."

Without any change in his expression, Shino spread his hands in order to keep Maihime in check.

And he said blandly.

"I lost my way. By the time I realized it, I was in the ventilation duct. I'm not trying anything funny."

Then, Maihime's stupefied eyes went round,

"------ ohh, I see."

She sighed out in relief.

"Jeez, you really have to be more careful. Gave me a scare when you dropped down suddenly, and it's also dangerous."

"Sorry, I'll be careful next time."

"Yeah. ...... ah, the exit is there."

"Uh-huh. See you."

Shino nodded softly, picked himself up, and started making his way out of the room unhurriedly.

Just as Shino opened the door, he encountered a bespectacled girl who was just about to enter the room.

"Kya."

She was surprised by the door suddenly opening as she was about to knock on it. The girl had cried out softly.

"I beg your pardon."

Shino said curtly, slipped past her side and walked into the corridor.

The girl seemed to be stunned for a while but...... immediately, he could hear her conversing with Maihime behind him.

"U-uhmm, the person just now......"

"Oh, yeah, he lost his way and ended up in the ventilation duct."

"Err...... what about your clothes?"

"Huh? I was thinking of getting changed. More importantly, can this mesh be fixed. The screws came off though."

"Er, well, that's probably......"

"Huh?"

A few seconds later.

He thought he could hear the rough rustling sounds of clothes and right after that, a beet red-faced Maihime came running from behind him.

"Wait. Calm ---"

"Ugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Maihime cried out like a ferocious beast and punched Shino in the face.

 

"Ugh......"

The next time he opened his eyes, the ceiling of a familiar room came into view.

"Oh, you're awake?"

The voice that resounded was also a familiar one. Turning, he saw a seated girl who had a hair tied into a tail.

Rindou Hotaru. Like Shino, she was also an agent sent here.

"Hotaru."

"Thank heavens. You still have your memory."

Hotaru returned jokingly.

He sat up slowly. He put his hand against his strangely painful cheek and found a bulky compress there.

"I told you it was reckless. It's dangerous to approach the target carelessly."

Hotaru said chidingly. Which reminded him, Hotaru was against him approaching Maihime in the beginning.

She indeed had a point. No, that might indeed be the most optimum answer if it were an ordinary situation.

However, one could not apply common sense to the job this time. He turned his neck sideways slowly. My my, Hotaru sighed out.

"I don't care if you get yourself killed."

"Don't say that. It was worth the risk. Like I thought, it's necessary to observe her at close range. Besides ---"

"Besides?"

Hotaru c.o.c.ked her head. Shino continued while pressing the compress adhered to his cheek.

"She really is someone who's extremely afraid of others finding out her secret. And also, that attack --- seems like there's no doubt that she's a dangerous person."

"Uhhh....mm"

As Shino said that with a very serious face, for some reason, sweat dripped over Hotaru's cheek.

Translator's Notes and References Jump up↑ Seeing is believing: The literal translation of the equivalent j.a.panese idiom means 'seeing once is better than hearing about it a hundred times'.