Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

The straitlaced sister, Betsuzaki Yuhi, was furious after being summoned by social media.

“You are!! About to fight! One of those Malign Spirit monsters!! I am not letting you go into battle in a skimpy bikini, Onee-chan!!!”

Yelling Yuhi was wearing a bright mint-green long-sleeve hoodie and dark gray shorts. Long sleeves weren’t well suited for New Sea City’s year-round midsummer weather. She also wore a thick belt covered in tools, so the outfit was probably related to a TV station.

“But, Yuhi, do you have anything else for me to wear?”

“I borrowed a spare shrine maiden outfit from Yahirodono-san.”

“Hell, yeah! Now I can finally look like a real pro just like Mugi- wait, it’s falling off of me???”

“Ugh!?”

“I know it’s Japanese clothing, but I thought it’d be easier than a yukata or furisode cause it doesn’t have the thick obi.”

The sisters couldn’t figure out where they had gone wrong, so they couldn’t make it look as nice as it did on the online shrine maiden. It would always open up in front like a bathrobe with an insufficiently tightened sash. Which left her exposed from head to toe. Japanese clothing really was a challenge. But she couldn’t exactly go back to the bikini, so she decided her usual modified short-sleeve sailor uniform would be safest.

“I’m not sure this is safe either. Your belly is still showing, so it doesn’t offer much more defense than the bikini did.”

“Hey, what’s that wonderful smell?”

The sisters opened the door to the nap room (which seemed to function as a certain someone’s second bedroom) and emerged into the office.

This was a detective agency and not a residence, but the kitchenette in one corner did have a cheap refrigerator, microwave, sink, and gas burner.

For some reason, the online shrine maiden was tearfully trembling over there. She seemed to have shrunk.

“Th-the curry is multiplying…”

“What? Like some kind of paranormal phenomenon?”

There certainly was a lot of it. Far too much. There was enough curry for a school sports team’s training camp.

“ ‘How to Make the Ultimate Curry Rice’. I made it exactly like it said to on Cookpod, so this has to be right. And yet…”

Rainy reached over and skimmed through the recipe on Tsumugi’s trifold phone, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. So what had caused it to “multiply” like this?

“Look here, Onee-chan.”

Yuhi pointed to the phone’s screen where something was written small in the corner.

(Note: Makes enough for 15)

“Ugh… What, do they subscribe to the idea that curries and stews taste better when you make a ton of it in a giant pot?”

The gyaru sister stared into the middle distance.

And on closer inspection, wasn’t this recipe based on the once-a-week aircraft carrier curry that the sailors always looked forward to? The kind where cooking a single batch made enough to feed 3000?

You could trust what Cookpod said if you liked, but you had to at least read the recipe thoroughly.

Hisame Kouga called for them, so the girls gathered in the reception area.

They checked over the job while enjoying the allegedly “ultimate” curry rice.

Despite being a complete amateur (or maybe because of it?) Rainy immediately raised her hand, leaned forward, and spoke.

“Attention here, everyone! I’m going too! I’m going with you and that’s final. I mean, I’m your friend, so I can’t let this tiny (except in one way) shrine maiden go alone to some super dangerous haunted pool in the middle of the night!”

“Onee-chan has been like this for a while now, but what do you experts think?”

“If we left her behind, she would rush to the haunted pool on her own and get herself killed.” “If we left her behind, she would rush to the haunted pool on her own and get herself killed.”

“Yeah, I supposed so.”

Yuhi’s shoulders slumped at the simultaneous response from the detective and the online shrine maiden.

Hisame Kouga’s natural skills of perception had already revealed Rainy’s personality to him. With perfect accuracy.

Simply put, it would be safer for the overexcited gyaru sister if she was accompanied by someone who could deal with the ghost.

With that settled, it was time for the meat of the discussion. The detective scooped up some curry in a spoon as he got started.

“This job comes from the leisure pool’s chief guard.”

“I doubt the grownup management would ''officially'' acknowledge the existence of a Malign Spirit.”

The online shrine maiden’s head tilt wasn’t her doubting the detective’s words. She was trying to decide if the early dinner of curry she was eating was really good enough to earn the qualifier “ultimate”. It wasn’t bad, but she had been expecting something more like an explosion of flavor in her mouth when she took the first bite.

“The managers who never leave their fancy chairs may not, but this is a hired guard who actually patrols the place at night. He’s going to be afraid of the continuing rumors lending credence to the story of the Malign Spirit.”

“Um, even though he’s an adult?”

The middle schooler’s honest question earned a bitter smile from the grownup detective.

“When you’re afraid, you’re afraid. It’s human nature. It isn’t something you grow out of. Reason and emotions are two separate things.”

“Oh, so like how no matter how much effort you throw into sports, it’s never going to get rid of your sex dri- ow!?”

Tears welled up in the gyaru sister’s eyes. The clear glass table meant everyone could see when her sister stomped on her foot. And the detective calmly ignored the quick exchange entirely. An impressive display of maturity.

“Whatever the higher ups might say, it’s up to him to keep himself safe. Just like checking for listening devices and inspecting so-called ‘sick buildings’, you can’t assume you’re safe just because you don’t see anything. The guards want to send in an expert and get their professional opinion. They want to be safe. Even if it costs them a fair amount of money.”

Since this was a job, they wouldn’t be illegally trespassing.

They didn’t ask for anything more than that.

Tsumugi was most curious about something else.

“What’s the star ranking?”

“Single Dread Star. The tentative name is apparently the Watery Gnawer. But these are both tentative, so don’t rely on them too much.”

Both sisters tilted their heads together.

They had been wondering about the ranking system. What made the number of stars rise or fall and who decided on the names? But explaining it to them wouldn’t actually change things any.

They only had to understand the goal here: crush and destroy the Malign Spirit.

If nothing was done, the timid homeroom teacher would arrive at the haunted leisure pool for her patrol. And then she would die. But if the Malign Spirit were destroyed before the homeroom teacher arrived, she could be saved.

Or to put it another way: if they didn’t do this tonight, she would die.

Without a doubt.

“One person has already died. We’re already running late. Don’t let even one more life be lost.”

Hisame Kouga glanced over at the gyaru sister before tossing over the old oil lighter.

The online shrine maiden caught it in one hand.

“Don’t worry. …I will settle this before it’s too late.”