This chapter is updated by wuxiaworld.eu
One afternoon, I was looking around the city, looking at the other stores while planning to buy a new diary. The amount of writing I did was much less than before, but it has already become a habit, I still write a little bit every day.
The diary I had bought before was a bit difficult to use because the width of the columns didnāt match the width of the diary, so I was thinking about buying a different diary book when I saw the back of someone familiar.
[Hello, Shea-saāāā]
[What is it that the world needs?]
[I asked you, what is it that the world needs?]
When I tilted my head at the question Shea-san asked, with her arms crossed and still facing away from me, she continued without waiting for me to answer.
[What the world needs is THAT! Itās not passion, nor ideology! Itās not ideals, nor intellect! It is not grace or elegance! It is also not diligence or speed!!! Yes, what the world lacks, more than anythingā¦ā¦]
[ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦]
[ā¦ā¦It was Senpai huh.]
A person with the exact same face as Shea-san, who confidently shouts incomprehensible things even when we just metā¦ā¦ Yes, itās the self-proclaimed Incarnation of Seriousness, Serious-senpai. Incidentally, the senpai part was also her name. She also has the Gag Status Correction which makes her immortal, so her existence itself is rather insane.
ā¦ā¦No, I feel like there are a lot of people around me whose very existence is insane.
[ā¦ā¦Isnāt your reaction too pale?]
[No, please pardon me from that. Even if you were that high tension when you spoke upon our meeting, I donāt think Iād be unable to respond with the same intensityā¦ā¦]
[I guess thatās trueā¦ā¦]
A lot of what she says is incomprehensible, but rather than saying that sheās a good listenerā¦ā¦ When it comes to non-serious matters, Senpai is a rather sensible person.
For the time being, we decided to move to a nearby park to resume our conversation, since we didnāt want to keep talking in the middle of the street.
[ā¦ā¦Itās been a while. Errr, itās been about a year, right?]
[Unnn, it seems like āthe door to my room opens once a year and I can go outsideā.]
Errr, was it that? As I thought, was she suffering under some kind of special torture? No, but for someone who I think was under such a thing, she doesnāt seem to be feeling sad at all, and when she comes out like today, she wasnāt asking for help.
[Youāve got to be kidding meeeeeee! Youuuuuuu!]
[Uwooohhh!? W- Why are you suddenlyā¦ā¦]
When I asked Senpai who suddenly grabbed me by my collar while shouting, she shouted back with tears in her eyes.
[Seriously, there really isnāt any seriousness in the After Story!? Back in the Main Story, there were at least some salted watermelon, you knoooooow!!!?]
[Huh? Eh? After Story? Watermelon? What in the world are youā¦ā¦]
[Itās basically just a stable heartwarmingly story, with some lovey-dovey parts added, she said! Heartwarming, your face!? Bring out the seriousness! Whereās my seriousneeeess!!!?]
Most of what sheās saying doesnāt make sense, but she had been saying incomprehensible things from time to time when Iāve met her before, so I guess thereās no point in worrying about it. Also, even when I said that she was grabbing me by my collar, she was doing it āvery gentlyā, and I donāt feel like Iām suffocating at allā¦ā¦ In many ways, itās difficult for me to react here.
Just like that, Senpai shouted out her complaints and displeasure, but looking like she realized something, she let go of her hold on my collar.
[Well, I guess thereās no use telling you that huhā¦ā¦ S- Sorry, I might have grabbed you too hardā¦ā¦ Are your clothes wrinkled?]
[Itās alright, donāt worry about it. It seems like Senpai too, errrā¦ā¦ also have your own troubles.]
One minute, sheās crying and screaming, and the next minute, sheās meek, or rather, she looked like she was deeply movedā¦ā¦ Just like usual, her tension fluctuates wildly, switching speeds as fast as a roller coaster.
[ā¦ā¦Errr, youāre looking for seriousness again?]
[Exactly! Also, I was thinking of eating something delicious while at itā¦ā¦]
[I think the latter was your main purpose thoughā¦ā¦ That reminds me, do you still eat only baby castellas and choccy milks?]
Apparently, she was half locked in a room with a lot of baby castellas and choccy milk, and for a long time, she had been living a hellish diet of only baby castellas and choccy milk.
ā¦ā¦That isnāt a criminal case, right? I mean, her situation is just too uniqueā¦ā¦ Also, I hope itās just my imagination, but I have a feeling that Kuro is somehow involved in this. It was Alice that had come to fetch Senpai before, and when it comes to baby castellasā¦ā¦ Sheās definitely involved.
But in the end, Iām really clueless about her situation. Was she being held captive? No, but here she is, visiting the royal capital like usualā¦ā¦ Their intentions as to why Senpai had to live in that room were a mystery to me. However, I somehow feel like this isnāt a topic I should touch.
[No, some sort of God of Logistics has been frequently showing up in my room, so Iāve gotten much more comfortable lately. Even when I told her how I was going to the royal capital today, āshe gave me some moneyāā¦ā¦ However, these white gold coinsā¦ā¦ can it be used in normal stores?]
[No, putting aside if youāre going to shop in high class stores, if you want to shop in normal stores, you have to exchange it for smaller coinsā¦ā¦ If thatās the case, Iāll exchange it for you later.]
[Thanks, that would be great.]
A single white gold coin is worth 10 million yen, so itās impossible to use it in ordinary stores. Basically, stores on the main street often refuse to accept gold coins, and only silver coins can be used. Well, you can exchange money at the counters of large Trading Companies, so there are still means to use them.
However, that asideā¦ā¦ God of Logistics? So there was a God like that huh. Iām getting more and more curious about what kind of place that room is. Iāve heard that Senpai is also apparently the embodiment of the concept of seriousness, so I guess itās not surprising that there would also be Gods like thatā¦ā¦
[Well, anyhow, Iām glad that youāve met such a good personā¦ā¦ God?]
[ā¦ā¦Goodā¦ā¦ person?]
[H- Hmmmā¦ā¦ Thatās very hard to decide. Her presence certainly has a lot of advantages, her personality itself basically isnāt badā¦ā¦ but itās like sheās a minefield.]
[If a certain topic was brought up, āsheāll distort the flow of time and talk about it for a few hundred million hoursā, feeling as if sheās trying to brainwash me, āgoes on a rampage quite frequentlyā and repeatedly says crazy things. Her specs are also abnormally high, so she couldnāt be stoppedā¦ā¦ and even if I avoid those mines, itās pretty common for her to āto go on a rampage without any reasonāā¦ā¦]
Just like that, Senpai continued to talk about the God of Logistics for a while, but the more I listened to her, the crazier that God of Logistics sounded.
After I finished listening to all of this, I told Senpai with a serious expression on my face.
[ā¦ā¦Ummm, Senpai. I donāt mean to be rude by interfering with your circle of friendsā¦ā¦ but from what I heardā¦ā¦ I think āsheās a very dangerous personā, so I think you should keep your distance from herā¦ā¦]
[I know that! I mean, rather than her being in my circle of friends, itās more like sheās āin your circle of friendsā, you know!?]
[ā¦ā¦Well, letās just brush that aside, and go back to the main topic.]
[Ahh, youāre looking for places with good food, right? I could introduce you to some shops I know.]
[Really!? Well~~ Iām looking forward to it~~ The shop you brought me to last time also had great foodāāāā wait, Iām not talking about that!]
A really smooth self-tsukkomiā¦ā¦ Her response was so resounding that she must have had a lot of experience. I donāt know if I should say that itās to be expected of Senpai or not, but it seems like sheās quite skilled.
[Itās just past lunchtime, so it seems like a good time to eat. How about we talk while we go find something to eatā¦ā¦ Roughly speaking, which do you prefer, meat or fish?]
[Hmmm, itās hard to say if I prefer one over the otherā¦ā¦ but I think Iāll go with meat here. Chicken meat is also great.]
[Chicken meat huh. You like your food spicy, right?]
[Iām fine with eating almost anything, but eating spicy food makes me happyā¦ā¦ No, hold on. Iād like to put that aside, and get back to the main pointā¦ā¦]
As for me, Iām not really sure what the main point that she was talking about was, so Iād like to fool her into just going along with this momentumā¦ā¦ but it seems like that would be difficult.
[ā¦ā¦You were searching for seriousness, right? I mean, itās a little late to ask this now, but what kind of seriousness are you searching for, Senpai? Do you have a specific situation in mindā¦ā¦]
[You id- What the heck are you talking about!? You arenāt supposed to step into that topic!]
She wanted to get back on topic, but when I tried my best to bring up the seriousness that she was looking for, she got mad for some reasonā¦ā¦ How unreasonable.
[Listen here, okay!? Just knowing the details of everything isnāt enough. There are some things in this world that are happier left in the dark!]
[For example, how do adventurers use the bathroom in dungeon exploration stories, or what happens if something goes wrong with your real body while youāre in-game in dive VR storiesā¦ā¦ If you write about such things in detail, it would just be long-winded and only a few people would appreciate it! Just as itās boring to describe each day in a monthās worth of training in detail, there are some things in this world that are better left vague!!!]
I donāt really know if I understand what the heck she was talking aboutā¦ā¦ but Iām not sure if the search for seriousness falls into that category. Also, the fact that she mentions ādive VRā as if itās the most obvious thing in the worldā¦ā¦ As usual, sheās as mysterious as ever.
[And so, I guess youāll just have to accept that Iām looking for something serious.]
[I seeā¦ā¦ So, what is your main purpose?]
[I donāt know much about it myself, so if you ask me for a specific explanation, I wouldnāt know what to sayā¦ā¦ youāre making me ultra troubled here.]
[ā¦ā¦Well, Senpaiās existence itself is rather vague.]
[Doesnāt it seem like youāre treating me more rudely than last year!? If you keep talking like that, youāre going to lower my Affection Meters here! Ahh, there it is, your comment just now lowered it by 1, and itās now only ā4865ā, you know!?]
[ā¦ā¦What was the maximum value of that again?]
Didnāt she say it was around 95 before? It has absurdly skyrocketedā¦ā¦ Heck, what about the maximum limitā¦ā¦
[ā¦ā¦W- Well, itās that, you know? The reason why Iām treating Senpai more roughly than before is that Iām feeling closer to you than before. Or something like that. I think.]
[H- Hmph! Itās too late to try to regain favor by saying thatā¦ā¦ Itās ā5030ā now.]
[Even above the maximum limit, it keeps on instantly skyrocketing huhā¦ā¦]
How should I say thisā¦ā¦ Just like usual, she was as unreasonable, but amusing as ever, and I couldnāt help smiling when I talked with her. Although it was a once-a-year meeting, there was no heavy atmosphere around her at all. Just like that, the two of us went to a restaurant together, chatting happily.
After that, I continued to go around with Senpai until eveningā¦ā¦ and it wasnāt until I got home that I realized that I forgot to buy a diary.