Editing Ultimate Antihero:Volume 3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 3===

When Sumika peeked inside the shop, moldy smell characteristic of old books pierced her nose.

What next entered her sight as information was, five lines of bookshelves, then old books which were bound by string, western books attached with locks, yellowing bundles of paper, all of that were stacked up disorderly inside the cramped shop. What entered her sight was such a scenery.

The memory of her own room after an all-nighter of researching sorcery came to mind, it was quite a terrible sight.

“Excuse me―.”

There was no reply even when she called out.

Even at the counter that was visible inside behind the lining up tall shelves, there was no sign of anyone.

“Excuse me―. Is there no employee here?”

She called out once more but just as she thought there was no reply back.

There was a note [Shop Open] attached outside, the lock was also opened so the business should still run.

Had the shopkeeper gone out somewhere leaving his store opened?

Or else it was because of this kind of location. Usually there was no customer or anything, so perhaps the shopkeeper stayed inside sleeping.

No matter which one it was, this was extremely careless.

(If I’m a thief then what would they do I wonder?)

Well, however, there was no shopkeeper but if there was a [Shop Open] sign, then surely there would be no problem with her looking around inside.

Deciding that, Sumika entered the unmanned shop.

And then she was going to approach a bookshelf, …she took a deep breath after looking under her feet.

“This place feels exactly like a place one must not even step inside isn’t it. This is more or less a service business so they should clean up this place just a little bit more.”

Well, originally it was a store in this kind of location.

Maybe the owner opened this only for their hobby and didn’t think of profit.

“Yo, tto”

While Sumika was paying attention to not step on the books and parchments that seemed to be scattered on the floor, she walked until in front of a bookshelf.

The thing called an old book might be sold at an absurd price depending on the book.

For example, the first edition of Copernicus’ [Regarding the Revolution of Celestial Sphere] was recorded to be sold at the end of an auction with its price skyrocketing until $2,200,000 (About 200,000,000 yen).

She didn’t know whether the books scattered all over the place around her had that kind of price, but they were products that she couldn’t carelessly dirty or damage.

That was why.

Just by moving for five meters from the entrance, Sumika was relatively exhausted.

When she arrived in front of the bookshelf she aimed for, a regret of why she forced herself like this and didn’t immediately go back filled her heart.

While Sumika was hating herself who lost to her curiosity,

(Let’s just take a glance and quickly get out…)

She laid her hands on one suitable bundle and pulled it out.

Instantly――




“—――――!?!?!?”




Sumika screamed inarticulately and released the book that she pulled out from the bookshelf.

<nowiki>*GARAN!*</nowiki> A stiff sound was raised from the metal fastened book which fell to the floor.

Why did Sumika release the book?

That was because the instant her hand took the book… it was as if countless maggots were creepily crawling through her palm, her back of the hand, her fingers, such sensation that made her feel a primitive disgust was awakened in her.

Were there bugs springing out from the book?

No. The book that fell to the floor wasn’t infested with any bugs. But――

“Just now…! Don’t tell me, this is…!”

Sumika who used a sorcery called <Grim Bullet> had once felt that kind of sensation.

She looked at the title of the western book that fell on the floor of the gloomy old bookstore.

It had a thick dark leather cover and was bounded with a metal clasp.

The title that was engraved there was… [De Vermis Mysteriis].

(The mystery of demonic maggot…! Furthermore it’s the original copy of the Latin version…!)

It was exactly a grimoire just like Sumika imagined.

And then it was also not just a mere grimoire.

Since the moment in year 1542 when its first edition was sold, it received suppression procedure from the <Holy Path Church> due to its too dangerous nature, it was a S-rank rare book with hazard level where there was a need for this book to receive <Sealing Treatment>.

She had heard that it was burned to ash altogether with the sealing facility in <Walpurgis Night>, but why was this book now in this private old bookstore――

No, right now such circumstances were trivial.

More than that,

“By any chance…!”

Sumika turned her eyes in panic to the bookshelf and read the letters written on the book spines one after another――she was dumbfounded.

…Correct. [De Vermis Mysteriis] was not the only one.

[Unsigned Ritual Writings]

[Monolith’s People]

[Gold Twig Compilation]

[Ponape Scriptures]

[Revelation of Guraaki]

The books lined up on the shelves, there was not even a single one upright book among them.

All of them were the same as [De Vermis Mysteriis], they were grimoires with power.

“This is a lie, right…”

The number, variety, and danger level of this book collection… was incomparable against the likes of the academy library.

No, even that Great Britain Library surely didn’t have this many a collection of rare books.

――This place was obviously abnormal.

“Just what in the world… this shop is…-“

What was this?

The moment she was going to express that question,

<nowiki>*Gii*…</nowiki>

The rusty sound of a door opening was audible from the entrance where Sumika entered before.

“――-!”

When she directed her gaze there in panic, there was a black skinned youth there holding a paper bag from street stalls in both hands.

“Fuu―, what an awful crowd there. However, it’s fine to be bustling, yet I want to get spared from getting trapped in a line up thirty minutes just for buying kebab. …Hm? Eh? Is there a customer by any chance? How rare this is. Welcome to [John Doe’s Old Book Hall]. Have you found the book you are looking for?”

“Don’t movee――――-!”

Noticing the presence of a visitor, the youth made a mild business smile.

Sumika wasted no time to call out her contracted heroic spirit, the <Gun Saint> Billy the Kid.

She drew out her revolver that was her <Arms> and aimed it at the temple of the youth.

The youth was surprised in panic that he jumped on the spot from this.

“Hahe!? Uwaa, wha, what are you doing!? Don’t tell me, a robber…!?”

Well, it couldn’t be helped that he thought that from having a gun suddenly pointed at him.

In order to dispel that misunderstanding, Sumika calmly and indifferently introduced herself.

“No, you are wrong. I am affiliated with New Tokyo Sorcery Academy. I am Hoshikawa Sumika, the leader of the 101st trainee platoon. From the way you are talking you are related with this store right? By my authority as a trainee platoon member and article seven of Peace Preservation Act, I’ll arrest you for being caught red-handed in [illegal possession of sorcery relic].”

“Eh, eeh~? I, illegal possession? Wha, what are you saying…”

“I saw that there is the note of the shop being open in the front, so while impolite I came in by myself. Then I found that the shelves there are storing grimoires where roughly all of them are S-rank in danger level, no matter what kind of circumstance you have but those are not items where personal possession of them will be recognized. I have finished confirming the evidence goods so its meaningless to talk your way out.”

[[Image:Ultimate Antihero V3 p079.jpg|thumb]]

“Uu…”

Sumika’s words that didn’t give him the opening to talk his way out made the youth smile wryly――

Before long he released a deep sigh as if resigning himself.

“Haa… customer or the like coming here is really rare, so I really neglected to put down the note. Laziness is really something that must not be done.”

And then the youth thrust his hand inside the paper bag and rustled around.

“Don’t move!”

Sumika immediately gave the order to stop that act, but he didn’t even show any sign of stopping and took out a kebab that he had went out to purchase from a street stall.

“It’s okay. I’m just taking a late lunch. I’m not going to run so can you put down the gun for me? Even if this is my favorite food, but it won’t go down my throat if I’m being pointed at by the gun nuzzle of the <Gun Saint>’s contractor you know.”

“-!”

(He saw through my contracted heroic spirit…!)

Sumika was a famous magician.

Even a civilian would know her if it was just her face and her name.

But the data of contracted heroic spirit and the like were hardly disclosed to the civilians.

Was he seeing through her just by looking, or did he already know beforehand?

In any case, he was not a normal human.

In addition, the number of rare books inside this store.

It was impossible for a single human to gather this many goods.

It was better to consider this youth of having some kind of large organization as his backup.

Was it some cult organization, or possibly the instigation of some other country?

Whichever it was, he broke the law and gathered dangerous grimoires, and then from how he hid himself from public eyes, there was no way he was a friendly force for this country.

Sumika held an even stronger vigilance and put even more strength on her finger holding the trigger while asking.

“…I’ll ask you directly to the point. Who are you?”

“*chew chew*, I thought I’ve wrote it already at the front. My name is John Doe.”

“You think I’m going to believe a name that is obviously an alias like that?”

John Doe if it was translated to Japanese meant the [nameless palace guard], it was a fictitious name that was used to refer to someone whose full name was unknown in the English-speaking world.

When it was pointed out, the youth scratched his head with a troubled expression.

“…An alias, huh. Well, certainly that’s not my real name. It’s just… it’s also not an incorrect name to call me by any means you know? The [nameless palace guard]… it’s okay to even say that there is no name more accurate than this to represent my existence. If you ask why, that’s because I’m everyone, and I’m also no one.”

“……?”

“I am not even someone that is here, I’m also someone that is there. Therefore I have no interest in defining what kind of person I am. The one who defines me is always you humans. I have [faces] as many as the number of those definitions. I have [names] as many as the number of those definitions.”

“Eh…………”

――*throb*

The youth’s words rang out the alarm bell in Sumika’s heart.

Cold sweat drenched out from her whole body.

As if enjoying that uneasiness of the girl, the youth lifted the corner of his mouth.

“The person dwelling in the darkness.

Black sphinx without face.

The father of a million loved person.

The person howling to the moon. The faceless god. The bulging woman. The nonexistent priest. The black man――

――It’s fine to define me whatever you like. It’s fine to call me whatever.

All of that is me according to you, you know? <Grim Bullet> Hoshikawa Sumika-chan.”

<nowiki>“~~~~……!”</nowiki>

The surrounding air turned heavy.

As if sticky mud was pressuring on Sumika.

When she noticed, Sumika’s hand that was holding the gun was trembling.

Her wide opened eyes were shaking in astonishment.

It was natural.

A magician of a cult organization?

A spy of another country doing subversive activities?

――Just how much she would feel glad if this was only such a mundane thing like those.

But that was not how this was.

What was before her eyes was, …not even human in the first place.

It was the worst existence that far surpassed Sumika’s assumptions.

The girl knew.

About the being that was called by all of those aliases… that evil god.




“<The Crawling Chaos>… Nyarlathotep…-!”

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