3 bar menu

The Crafty Journalist and the Spiritual Mafia – Part 01

“Wait… Leave the capital? You don’t know when you’ll be back?”

When Paula received the news, she was dumbfounded—the situation had escalated rapidly.

As a Rank B adventurer party, the Four Eastern Stars were expected to act obediently and swiftly in response to guild directives.

“We received a call for aid from the Theocracy of Bios,” Selyse said. “They need the Four Eastern Stars too. Plus, it might involve the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas o Saak, so this should be interesting. There seems to have been significant changes in this world while we were in Japan.” She sounded delighted.

“If His Holiness the Pope is in trouble, I’d like to be of assistance. I wish you could come along too, Paula.” Sophie said, looking disappointed.

They were going to Bios now and coming back. Ten days would pass in the blink of an eye. The job would likely last into the New Year.

“So about the spell for crossing worlds,” Paula said.

“Unfortunately, it’s better to use it right away,” Selyse said. “We’ll be well-prepared, but there’s still the unlikely event of us getting wiped out. Maybe you can open a rift to Hikaru, but to eliminate any uncertainties, it would be best to cast the spell in the capital first and have those two return here for now.”

“But…” Paula shifted her gaze briefly to Selyse’s side.

“No way!”

“I don’t wannya! I want to go to Japan!”

Serika and Sara were throwing a tantrum, rolling on the floor in protest while holding bottles. They were actually wearing clothes, Japanese-style loungewear resembling a cat costume and a penguin one.

“You can ignore these two.”

“O-Okay.”

Paula wondered if they liked Japan that much. For now, Hikaru and Lavia were more important.

“So, let’s use the spell for crossing worlds right away. Though it’s only been four days since they crossed over, we have an urgent situation at hand.”

“I-I understand.”

With that, Paula, Selyse, and Serika—Selyse cradling Serika under her arm, making it look like she was carrying a giant cat—made their way to the old warehouse that linked Japan and this realm each time.

The night was growing late, and even the royal capital was quiet.

Paula felt bad for Serika, but she was glad that Hikaru and Lavia would be coming back sooner than expected. She wanted to hear about what Lavia had seen. And then next time, she could go with them.

No, no. I can’t think like that. The Four Eastern Stars are going on a difficult mission.

“You’ll be the one casting the spell this time, right?” Selyse asked.

“Yes, that’s right. If I can successfully execute it, it means that even someone with no connection to the other world might be able to use it.”

Then they could have more people in the rotation when using the spell for crossing worlds. This was essentially an experiment.

Needless to say, diagrams and catalysts for five invocations were stocked for this purpose. The preparation was thorough.

“I-I think it’s around that corner,” Paula said.

“Yeah,” Selyse replied. “Serika, stop moping around and get on your feet.”

“Waaah! I wanted to see the year-end lights and watch the TV specials!”

“That badly?”

“The holidays give me that feeling that I’m really back in Japan!”

“I see. Then let’s go again next year.”

“Next year is so far away!”

Though Serika was still whining, Selyse, carrying her, mercilessly continued onward. A moment later, the two (plus one luggage) stopped at a corner.

“Wait… what?”

This was supposed to be a street lined with old warehouses and unused buildings. But they were gone.

The warehouse they used and the ones on both sides of it had disappeared. Walls were broken. Debris lay strewn all over.

“Wh-Wh-What happened?!”

There was a notice board bearing the words: Danger. Construction site. Keep out.

Hikaru’s words echoed in Paula’s mind. The magic formula for the spell for crossing worlds worked only when utilizing the mana produced by the Four Elementals Fusion Theory.

This theory aimed to extract immense pure magical energy by mixing the four types of mana—fire, water, earth, and wind. The ratio had to be precise, allowing only negligible deviation. Even trace amounts of magic in the air had to be taken into account.

Without using the Four Elementals Fusion Theory, the world-crossing spell was imperfect, allowing the transfer of objects but not humans. Moreover, the imperfect version required extremely large elemental magic stones to be used as catalysts, which had been scarce lately and nearly impossible to obtain.

“Are we still good, Paula?” Selyse asked.

“I-I don’t think so.” Paula’s voice cracked. “Mana in the air messes with the ratio required. Lord Hikaru said that he chose the warehouse because the air inside was stable. S-So, I don’t think we can do it in this environment.”

It was the worst-case scenario.

“The spell for crossing worlds won’t work!”

Paula almost broke down into tears. An old chair lay next to the debris, the same chair that had witnessed the spell being cast numerous times.

This was definitely the warehouse where Hikaru executed the spell.

And now it was destroyed.

Conversations in a language other than Japanese had been coming from deep inside. Their tone was calm, but held a hint of tension.

“Kijima, what’s the deal with those guys? They’re not Japanese, right?”

“…”

“We followed you because we respect you. This town is utterly boring, but you said you’d make it exciting.”

“…”

Kijima, the man who recently broke into the Doyama residence, was squeezing the plush toy of a mysterious creature, the mascot character of Fujinota Town.

He lifted his gaze to find three uneasy individuals. Like him, they were born and raised in this town, left for Tokyo right after high school, and then returned together.

It wasn’t that things didn’t go well in Tokyo. He worked like everyone else, earned an average income—not enough to live in a waterfront, high-rise condo—but his colleagues treated him well.

But after five years in Tokyo, he realized something. Looking up at the forest of office buildings with lights still on even after the end of the get-together and well past the last train, a thought came to him.

He was just another cog in the machine, working without a clear sense of purpose, performing routine tasks mechanically, and living without accumulating wealth or achieving any notable status.

He had never tackled life with such passion that he could claim, “I’ve reached the limits of my abilities.” The realization that he was only a cog was disheartening.

It could be that growing up in a laid-back countryside made him tired of the dry relationships in the city. Before he knew it, he found himself inviting his juniors to go back to Fujinota.

“It’s okay,” Kijima said. “Fujinota Future Society is doing fine. I even met the mayor the other day.”

He did meet the mayor, but only to be asked if they were actually doing meaningful work. The society was utilizing Fujinota Town’s system, borrowing the office for free for three years, and receiving introductions to local companies.

While the town wanted the young people who left to return, the mayor still had to check if the returning youth were being productive.

“But um, how do I put it? Aren’t you getting involved in some shady stuff?”

“Yeah, we heard you’re hanging out with some thugs.”

Fujinota Future Society was not at all engaged in meaningful work. They had no sales, and even though they paid zero office rent, there were still living expenses. The money they had saved from Tokyo ran out in three months, and it was a life of debt from then on.

In the midst of this, they met the president of Marumigawa Estate and accepted the job he offered. Unsavory characters started gathering around them, and eventually they even established connections with a secretary of a member of the National Diet.

“Yeah. Who are those people in the back?”

People from China—connected with the Mafia—had also arrived.

The president of Marumigawa Estate wanted to buy Doyama’s land using Fujinota Future Society, and while Kijima didn’t know why the man wanted Fujinota’s land, he deduced that a considerable amount of money was involved. He also had a hunch that he had gotten involved in something incredibly dangerous.

Kijima didn’t want to drag his juniors into this mess. He wasn’t trying to be cool or anything. He had his hands full protecting himself; he couldn’t possibly protect them as well. Since he was alone in this dangerous endeavor, if worse came to worst, he could skip town overnight alone.

“I-I said it’s okay. They just don’t speak Japanese well. I’m just letting them use the room in the back because they needed it.”

The door leading to the back room opened with a clatter, revealing a huge man standing at about 190 centimeters. His head was shaved, eyebrows trimmed, and he had no eyelashes or visible body hair. Wearing a thick but tight down jacket, he made his way out without even sparing a glance at Fujinota Future Society’s employees.

About ten men followed after him. One of them, who had worn a flashy college jacket before, said, “Thanks for help. You guys not needed anymore.”

The man had a scar running from his cheek to his ear.

“Wh-What? What are you talking about?”

“That’s what president of Mari… Maragawa? Estate said.”

“Marumigawa Estate?”

“Yeah, that.” He smirked. The others were already gone.

The four members of Fujinota Future Society couldn’t decipher the emotions hidden in his narrow eyes. All they felt was a chill, an instinctive sense of danger.

“We’ll handle Doyama matter. Don’t get in way, or you get hurt bad.”

“…”

“Besides, this situation interesting. Mountain noisy.”

“What about the mountain?” Kijima asked, but he received no answer.

In fact, he immediately forgot about it. As to why, when the man turned on his heel, his jacket flapped, revealing a gun tucked into his belt.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The four were stunned. Once the Mafia members left, one of the juniors plopped down on the spot. They realized they had gotten involved in something dangerous.

“Wh-What are we going to do, Kijima?! Th-That was a pistol, wasn’t it?!”

“Y-You moron. They call it a glock.”

“Eek!”

“C-Calm down, you guys,” Kijima said.

“H-How can I calm down?! I’m going back to my parents!”

“Your parents live in this town.”

“Oh, shit. You’re right.”

“You’re supposed to say, ‘I’m going back to my hometown.’”

“But this is your hometown.”

“Eek!”

“I said calm down!” Kijima slammed the desk.

“Shots fired!”

“Get down!”

“Eek!”

All three dropped to the floor. Kijima learned that seeing others panicking calmed him down.

“First, let’s clean up.”

“What? Clean up?”

“We know those guys aren’t normal. We’ll throw away all the trash left in the back room. Wipe down everything they might have touched. Erase fingerprints.”

“Y-You mean…”

“If something happens, we don’t want the cops on us. We have nowhere else to go.”

The three exchanged glances.

“Wh-What did you get us into? And who are those guys? And Doyama… is he the same person we talked to about selling the land before?”

“Beats me.”

“Beats me? How can you say that?! This is our town! Did you bring those maniacs here?!”

“Just clean up!” Kijima slammed the desk again.

“Eek!”

The trio jumped and scurried to the back room.

“Damn it.” Kijima sat down in a chair. “How did this happen?”

What was wrong with trying to liven up the town? What was wrong with trying to protect this place? How did it come to this?

Chaotic thoughts swirled in his head.

“This is our town!”

Those words clung to his ears for a while.