Shiinamachi-senpai’s Safe Day Episode 3 Part B (2)
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Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist Editor: Weasalopes
【Episode 3】Life and Mind: Part B (2)
「But… what exactly should we do now?」
「Kaguya, why don’t we start by explaining to Monjiro what exactly his immortality is?」
「Oh, I guess you’re right. I’ve promised to do that, after all.」
Shiinamachi-senpai took a number of deep breaths, and said to me while placing her hand on her chest:
「What has been bestowed upon you is one of Nightkin’s special abilities that grants immortality to its possessor. It is a death defying Gift, 『Divine Gift Thanatos』. 」
「『Thanatos』…」
「It is a god from Greek mythology who held the power over life and death in his hands.」
So that was the true name of the Gift I had in my possession now. Knowing that somehow put my mind at ease.
「As you undoubtedly know by now, it’s power not to let its user die, but to be more precise, it can be called an ability that makes the revival after death possible.」
『Not dying』 was fundamentally different from 『revival after death』. The first one made death itself impossible, and the latter allowed death to be defied by bringing its user back to life after experiencing death. So that meant that in order to be revived, I’d still had to die. At first, I thought it was simply a kind of ultra-fast regeneration, but I guess that was not it at all.
「So that was how he was able to return unscratched even after I drugged him. I see.」
「Yes, but there is one demerit to his power. You see, in order to be revived, a certain ritual must be performed first.」
A ritual you say? I guess that would make sense, since both times when I died, Shiinamachi-senpai was there after I came back from the land of the dead. So it was actually thanks to that ritual thing that she carried out on me.
「After the revival process is complete, the body is restored to its prime condition, regardless of what the cause of death was. As long as 『Thanatos』is active, even disease or disintegration won’t be enough to kill you, since you’ll always be brought back in optimal condition.」
「In his psychoanalysis theory, Freud equats Thanatos to something he calls The Instinct of Death, an instinct that all humans are driven by that compels them to unconsciously seek death. On the other side of the spectrum, there is an Instinct of Life which propels all animals, including humans, to procreate in order to pass their genes onto the next generation. If we look at your Gift from that perspective, its name is quite fitting.」
Listening to Shiki’s reasoning, I placed my hand on my chest. Instinct of Death, huh? I thought that the fact that an assassin such as myself got his hands on such a power was some kind of ironic joke.
「In other words, as long as you’ll die in a place where Kaguya will be unable to reach you, it’ll be Game Over for you.」
There it was again! I could feel the erie golden glow from one of Shiki’s eyes as she was taxing me with her eyes from behind the veil of her bangs.
「Shiki-san’s right. Without me performing the ritual on you, there will be no resurrection. As for the time frame, hmm, even if your body would be left unattended for longer periods of time and began to rot, I think you’d be fine as long as the body’s degradation wasn’t too severe.」
「Even if he were to turn into a pile of bones?」
As unsettling as that question was, some part of me also wanted to know an answer to that question.
「Even in that scenario, I think there’d be no problem.」
So I could come back even from such a dire state? I have to say,『Thanatos』 was really living up to its namesake reputation.
「So to sum it up: as long as senpai is able to reach me, the cause of death is of no consequence as I’ll still be able to come back to life.」
「Yes, but if possible, I’d like it if you could always be next to me if you had to die… but it’d be ideal if you refrained from dying at all if possible, all right?」
That much was a given. Death was painful, after all, and I thoroughly disliked painful things.
「When I drank that drugged drink, I am pretty sure that I died, even after I was only supposed to be placed in a state of suspended animation. Care to comment about that, Shiki?」
「Ah, about that. I think that the resurrection mechanic would trigger not only in case of death, but also when your body’s functions were about to cease. That was my assumption, at least.」
「And knowing that, you still made me drink something that dangerous?!」
「Pretty much. And FYI, it was a drug that was supposed to make your body function at the absolute minimum required for survival for about three days, making revival impossible without injection of a proper antidote.」
She said it. She came clean and outright said it!
「Kaguya, another question. 」
Shiki ignored my attempts at protesting and just continued the conversation with Shiinamachi-senpai.
「Could Monjiro still be resurrected even if there was no trace of his body left? 」
「No. At least one part of him, preferably the head, would have to remain intact.」
「So even after decapitation, revival is possible if the head itself still remains, even if the rest of the body turns to dust. Hmm… now that’s interesting. 」
When she heard senpai’s explanation, Shiki was literally raping me with those evil eyes of hers.
「Do not even think about it, are we clear? 」
「You’re getting better at reading my facial expressions, Monjiro. I am genuinely impressed. If you keep that up, I might end up falling for you for real.」
「Do whatever you want, but I’m begging you, please don’t try to kill me again! 」
「I will take that into consideration, but I can’t make any promises.」
That must’ve been a witty retort in her mind, and I felt that for my own safety, I shouldn’t provoke her to continue along that line of thought.
「Jokes aside, now I finally know how my Gift works. It’s basically a 「Full Revive」 as long as I’m near you, right, senpai? 」
「Yes, I’ll be counting on you, Jiro-kun. 」
Senpai bowed deeply to me and I nodded in response. She was the one who saved my life to begin with, so it was only natural for me to do everything to pay her back for the kindness she has shown me.
「Now that we’re on the subject, I am quite curious what Shiki’s Gift actually is. 」
Because of her role as senpai’s information gatherer I thought it might have something to do with mind-reading, but apparently it was something more complex than that. What was it, exactly, and how someone as frail as her could have put it to use.
「Oh, that’s what was on your mind? I’m sorry to disappoint you, Jiro-kun, but 『Satori』is a very simple power. 」
Senpai glanced at Shiki and she nodded back at her.
「My Gift is the 『Demonic Gift Satori』, a power that enhances all five senses. 」
Shiki explained it as she was playing with her hair, looking disinterested.
「It is a Gift that increases sensitivity and performance of my sense of touch, smell, vision, hearing and taste, allowing me to essentially act like a human lie detector that works on audiovisual clues or analyze the surroundings, or even the characteristics of objects that I come in contact with.」
So that’s why it was called Satori. Now some of her peculiar behaviors started making a lot more sense. This was not mind reading, but actually something that was a cut above it.
The way in which people acted could reveal a lot of information about them just by looking them in the eyes or observing the way they moved their bodies, or deduce what they were doing by odors they emitted. Some people were even able to discern the characteristics of objects just by touching them, so doing what Shiki was saying she could do was by no means impossible.
That must’ve also been the reason why she covered her eyes with her hair and always had so much clothing, to reduce the amount of information she was receiving from the surroundings. It was just a guess, but if she was not doing that, then the sheer amount of external stimuli would’ve probably had a negative impact on her body. What immediately came to my mind was her room in the computer laboratory, so dark and cold. Was that how she was going on about her daily life?
「Now I finally get it…」
「I sense both pity and sorrow in Monjiro’s voice. Now, if given a push in the right direction, I could make him engage in an erotic activity with me that could only be shown in the special 18+ release…」
「What are you blabbering on about?」
「………」
Shiki said nothing, she just turned her gaze towards one of the windows and said, with a tinge of both loneliness and annoyance in her voice:
「Do you have any idea how painful it is to have your senses enhanced at all times, constantly being on the lookout not to get overwhelmed by them? ’Cause I do, and let me tell you. I’ve had just about enough of it.」
「Is that backstory made up, like most of the things that you say? 」
「Yo dog, it’s true. 」
That line just made it even less believable, and way more cringy.
「Ufufu, you don’t need to be so worried. Including Satori, every Gift can be turned on and off at will. People possessing Gifts can still live a normal life, choosing whether they want to use it or not. 」
The gift’s original owner – Shiinamachi-senpai – explained, prompting Shiki to turn her head to a different direction and whistle like nothing had happened. Good, so she was lying after all.
「My Gift’s obvious weakness is that if one of the senses that was currently enhanced got overloaded, things could get really bad. For example, seeing too much light when my vision is enhanced will render me temporarily blind, and a strengthened sense of touch would make any kind of injury hurts immensely. After all, 『Demonic Gift Satori』is able to strengthen the senses, but it can’t block them.」
So she had to time the usage of her Gift perfectly or suffer the consequences.
「With me present, as soon as any of those two tries any weird move during this『Heart-pounding☆Girly☆Pajama☆Party☆With☆Mandatory☆Wardrobe☆Malfunctions』, I will be able to tell and act accordingly. 」
「Then I’m glad to hear that. But there won’t be any wardrobe malfunctions, right? 」
「Even if there will, your head will be rolling on the floor before you’ll be able to catch even a glimpse, tee-hee~~」
「Without even catching a glimpse?! Not that I care, being immortal and all. Man, at times like these, resurrection could prove to be really useful.」
I glanced at senpai, only to see her looking somewhat troubled.
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