Saikyou Series Volume 2 S1chapter 6

Jinrui Saikyou no Jun'ai – Nisioisin
p. 30-33

After all that, I was taken by Shimegiwa to Doctor Kitsuregawa’s laboratory. I’d a.s.sumed it would be a windowless building or an underground facility located deep in the mountains, far away from civilization, or maybe on a desert island or in a ghost town, but Doctor Kitsuregawa’s laboratory was right in the middle of a residential area, of all places. I quipped, what, are you stupid? The world’s most dangerous researcher does the world’s most dangerous research in a private house like this? Yet the more I thought about it, maybe a compact environment is ideal for an unaffiliated researcher who doesn’t belong to an organization. I thought he’d get a ton of patent fees just from that s.p.a.cesuit, but development expenses are nothing to be sneezed at, so maybe this is all he can manage. I wonder if the neighbors are aware, though. “Kitsuregawa” was written bold and clear on the nameplate, as if mocking us. …It’s compact for a laboratory, but for a house, it’s on the bigger side; it seemed as though a large family could be living here.

“This is Shimegiwa. I’m back.”

Said “Campfires”, pressing the camera-attached intercom next to the nameplate. I’d thought he was a brat who’d never learned his manners toward the elderly, like me, but I guess he knows how to be polite after all.(1) In that case, maybe Doctor Kitsuregawa is more popular than I imagined. There was no reply from the intercom, but after a brief delay, I heard the clack of the gate being unlocked from the entryway beyond. Then, the door opened—I certainly hadn’t expected Doctor Kitsuregawa to greet us in person, but it wasn’t a research a.s.sistant or an employee who pushed open the door and appeared; it was a small child. A little girl about five years old.

“Welcome back, Matsuri.”

The girl looked at us, fighting the weight of the door—she was somehow managing to keep up, barely, but if we didn’t enter soon, it looked like the match would turn sour. Shimegiwa must have thought the same thing; he opened the door and quickly moved toward her. That’s odd. Well, I probably shouldn’t be calling it odd, since the image I had of Doctor Kitsuregawa being alone and without any family was entirely my own a.s.sumption; I’d never entertained the idea that a large family would actually be living in a house that seemed fit for a large family. But to think he’d have not just a family, but grandchildren at that… She is a grandchild, right? Even if it was prejudiced of me to think he didn’t have a family, surely there’s no way Doctor Kitsuregawa is a good-natured old man who’s adored by the neighborhood kids…

“Are you Jun Aikawa?”

As soon as I’d walked under the eaves of the entryway, the girl asked me that, staring at me intently from behind Shimegiwa. Somehow, that direct look from the eyes of a child felt more piercing than being glared at by Shimegiwa’s sanpaku eyes… Well, even bearing that in mind, this girl was looking at me rather too directly, as if running me through with a straight line from her eyes. Yeah, this is definitely not a neighborhood kid… This kind of gaze makes a lot of sense if she’s a blood relative of Doctor Kitsuregawa.

“Yep, that’s me. I’m Jun Aikawa—humanity’s strongest contractor.”

No sense being bashful in front of a little kid, right. I greeted her boldly. He seemed to have taught his grandchildren their manners; the girl quickly bowed her head.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Hotsure Kitsuregawa.”

She raised her head, and continued.

“I’m grateful for your help testing the Closet s.p.a.cesuit I developed. It made me very happy.”

Huh? She spoke with a lisp, so I couldn’t quite follow… Did she just say “the Closet s.p.a.cesuit I developed”?

“Your mind reading isn’t infallible, Jun Aikawa—I’m relieved. I got nervous thinking everything in my head was being overheard.”

Shimegiwa said proudly from the side.

“I’ll introduce you. This is, as she’s known to the world, the heretical researcher—Hotsure Kitsuregawa-sama.”

Once again, I looked in the direction Shimegiwa was gesturing. No matter how many times or in what way I looked, all I saw was a girl, about five years old.

Footnotes:
(1) In the original, Jun expresses surprise that Shimegiwa “can say desu (the polite copula) in a sense that doesn’t mean death (p.r.o.nounced the same in j.a.panese)”.