While Yuusuke and the others were beginning their training camp, the new recruit training for the Anti-Demon Officials had also commenced.
Under the relentless noonday sun, the group had finished greeting the owner of Oozono Mountain, Shinoto, and had reached the foot of the mountain. From here, they would enter the actual mountain to begin their investigation.
"...So this is it."
At the entrance, where they had cleared the vegetation to create something resembling a path, Tsukiko gazed up at the entire mountain.
It looked like any rural mountain, but there was definitely an unsettling presence about it.
Given Tsukiko's experience in exorcising countless supernatural entities, she could sense the size of an anomaly just from its presence. However, this time, the anomaly was elusive. It was scattered everywhere, making it impossible to pinpoint its core.
According to Shinoto, the suspected source was a shrine near the summit of the mountain, but there was no particularly strong presence near the summit.
These kinds of elusive anomalies were the most challenging to deal with.
And only a few people here seemed to have noticed that.
"Isumi-san, shall we begin as planned?"
One of them, Koresawa Rendai, stood next to Tsukiko and said that. While everyone, including the newcomers, wore combat uniforms suitable for the field investigation, Koresawa was the only one who remained in a suit, just as when they first met. Tsukiko had assumed it was for the sake of the introduction, but it seemed that Koresawa would continue wearing it into the mountain.
Perhaps her feelings were evident in her gaze, as Koresawa chuckled.
"This suit? It was actually issued to me when I was assigned to headquarters. But after hearing the price of a single suit, I couldn't bear not to wear it."
"Oh."
"I'm just poor person by nature. Can't really change this side of me."
Pushing up his glasses, Koresawa, who looked far from being a prodigy, said with a somewhat disrespectful tone.
However, according to Ayaka, he was a versatile Anti-Demon Official who could adapt to any mission despite not having particularly outstanding combat abilities.
People can be deceiving, Tsukiko thought somewhat impolitely while nodding.
"Well then, let's proceed as planned, divided into two teams."
"The situation is unknown, so let's not go too deep. I know it may be a long route from Isumi-san's point of view, but..."
"No, this time, the purpose is for training."
Koresawa lightly raised his hand and then addressed the newcomers.
"We're going to start the investigation now. Our main objective is to identify the cause of the spiritual disturbance. It's the first day, so don't push too hard. Let's examine it thoroughly. Please split into your respective teams."
The newcomers nodded in response to Koresawa's words and split into two groups. There were five newcomers in total. Three of them went with Koresawa, and the remaining two walked towards Tsukiko's team.
Unsurprisingly, Kishijou, who had started the quarrel with Tsukiko, was assigned to the other team, and Udoo Shinri was placed on Tsukiko's team instead. Kishijou, who remained eerily quiet, stood by Koresawa without saying a word.
"Thank you, looking forward to working with you."
"Yes, looking forward to it!"
Udoo didn't seem nervous at all, while the other girl appeared more anxious about Tsukiko than the mission, lowering her head.
"Well then, basically, I won't be giving instructions or intervening unless it's a life-threatening situation or something similar."
Tsukiko, not expecting to excel in communication, said this in a businesslike manner and sent the two of them off.
Despite some lingering concerns, Tsukiko was still thinking about successfully completing the training at this point.
She had to abandon that naive idea on the third day of the training.
* * *
When I woke up in the morning, the guys who should have been dead tired were huddled together, engaged in some kind of secret discussion.
The sight of these hungover guys gathering like ants around sugar and forming a small mountain was more than enough to ruin the refreshing morning.
Our room was originally for four people, but it looked like there were about six guys crammed into it.
Despite the room having an air conditioner, the temperature inside had risen due to the guys' body heat, creating an atmosphere akin to a steam room.
I hesitate to call out to them, but having them in my line of sight is annoying too.
"...What are you guys doing?"
"Oh, you're finally awake."
"You should join in too. But first, brush your teeth; your morning breath is killing us."
What's with these guys? My breath is as fresh as a morning breeze, even when I've just woken up.
Still, it's true that morning breath can be unpleasant, so I went to brush my teeth before returning to the room.
"Alright, take a seat."
"Hurry up, we're short on time."
"Yuusuke, oversleeping on a day like this deserves a fine."
I shut Matsuda up by giving him an elbow to the side.
"What are you talking about?
"It's obvious. We're discussing our targets."
The guy with the buzz cut, who was sitting cross-legged, replied with a serious gaze.
His gaze was as sharp as a warlord targeting an enemy general. Is he planning to go fishing in the sea or something?
"Today, we'll clarify who's going to approach which girl."
Targets, huh?
I heaved a sigh, and the guys around me nodded in agreement.
The glasses guy with narrow eyes slowly spoke up.
"...I'm planning to go for Rindou."
"You?"
"What a Hero."
A chilling murmur emanated from the surrounding area.
Rindou was friendly to everyone and had a petite, cute face, making her extremely popular among the male members of the club.
Targeting her meant participating in a fierce competition with those guys.
Indeed, among the men sitting in a circle, some had stern expressions.
The buzz-cut guy acting as the leader nodded in agreement.
"Rindou is cute, no doubt about it. Her face is cute, and her petite, girlish charm is great. I bet she looks adorable in a swimsuit."
These rough-looking guys discussing the loveliness of girls as if they were treasure hunters had an eerie quality that undoubtedly belonged to modern urban legends.
"But we're university students now. What we should pursue is undoubtedly mature women—Isn't that Isahaya-senpai?"
"What's so mature about her? You were just captivated by her boobs."
"He's a boob guy."
"Boobs are justice. If anyone dares to call them just lumps of fat, I'll sink them in the sea myself. Besides, breasts symbolize motherhood. Isahaya-senpai with her ample bosom is the epitome of a mature woman."
Despite their stylish words, they were just talking about breasts. But since many of the guys were nodding along, it was clear that Isahaya-senpai was quite popular.
"Isahaya is nice, but... I still want to date Hinata."
Oh, there it is. I know that name well.
The guys around me also agreed, saying, "Hinata does sound good."
I knew that Hinata was popular within the club, but hearing it firsthand made it sink in.
The stylish guy with the fashionable beard, who had casually mentioned Hinata, was in the same year as me, but he had repeated a year, making him older by two years. Even his well-groomed beard seemed a bit worn out, perhaps due to the weight of accumulated years.
"Actually, I've been inviting her to drinks for a while now. She'd come if it's a group thing, but she never shows up for one-on-one drinks."
"Of course, it's because she hates your face."
"It's because your beard is annoying."
"It's physically repulsive for her; give up."
"You're probably retaking a year because you're busy hitting on girls, right?"
"Hey, do you guys have some grudge against me or something?"
Well, it's probably because he's constantly flirting that he retaking a year.
Faced with unanimous agreement from all sides, the stylish bearded guy stood up vigorously, as if to shake off their criticisms.
"Anyway, I'm going for Hinata! Don't get in my way, especially you, Yamamoto!"
"Huh? Why me?"
When he suddenly called my name, it was the surrounding guys who looked surprised, not me.
"Why you? You two have been getting along lately, haven't you?"
"You even had drinks together at the party yesterday."
"Could it be you guys are secretly dating?"
A terrifying misunderstanding. If this kind of talk reaches Hinata's ears, I'll be the one sinking in the Izu sea.
"There's no way that's true. Sure, we get along, but Matsuda and Souji have also hung out with us."
"True, we know that Matsuda and Kongou sometimes hang out with her, but aren't you particularly close?"
"That's not the case."
No matter how I look at it, it's a misunderstanding.
Hinata probably likes more dazzling, high-spec guys. At the very least, she wouldn't go from Hero to an average university student.
"So, it's okay for me to go for her, right?"
The stylish guy with the fashionable beard looked at me for confirmation.
Hmm, honestly, if a cute underclassman like her were to date this flirty-bearded guy who's repeating a year due to his constant flirting, I wouldn't hesitate to cut the budding red string of fate between them. But if I said that now, they'd definitely assume, "So you guys are dating after all."
"Alright, I get it. But if Hinata doesn't like it, you'll stop."
"Don't worry; I know how to handle it."
"Is that so?"
I reluctantly nodded. If it's Hinata, she can handle an approach from a stylish guy like him without any issues.
And so, the secret meeting of these men bound for the sea continued. Whether I'd call it a meeting or a spooky tale session is debatable, but at least Kuroi-san wouldn't get excited over such discussions.
By the way, it seemed that even the dreamy hunters had some common sense, as no one mentioned Lisha or Kanami's names.
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