All I Have Is Ari
I only had Ari. The Cute Girl Train had been christened the MSNT-Mayuriho. It wasn't a name I'd given it. The attendants had come up with it themselves.
Even so, the Cute Girl Train belonged to me. Maybe because I'd redefined what used to be the "Hell Train" as the Cute Girl Train and given it a new identity.
"But why MSNT-Mayuriho of all things?"
"Because you're the owner of our train, Lady Mayuri! It only makes sense to name it after you!"
"That's... way too much pressure.... What does MSNT stand for?"
"Mi-So-Nyo Train!"
"Unbelievable...."
The usual office. Though it was a bit different from before. We'd introduced a duty rotation system. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was really necessary, but whatever.
The dog-eared attendants took turns standing duty at the office, one at a time. Maybe there'd come a day when I'd need their help for something. To ensure quick response times, we'd decided to station one here every day.
"With your permission, Chief, our train has resumed autonomous operations. However, after reopening as the brand-new Cute Girl Train, we've been banned from several stations."
"I... see...."
"That said, there are still plenty of hells we can access. We're traveling to those, picking up passengers along the way. We no longer ferry souls back to the living world like before, but transporting them from Hell A to Hell B still pays the bills just fine."
Apparently, they used those earnings to stock up on VIP room wines and such.
"So, if I hop on the train, I could go to hell too?"
"Of course! Would you like to?"
"I'll pass for now...."
"Just say the word if you change your mind! I know all the best hell spots!"
I had zero interest in hell tourism. I was an indoor type, after all. Honestly, when the number of cute girls exploded, I'd been terrified.
The attendants had a totally different vibe from office staff like Ari, Lisa, Nao, and Sua.
It's basically like I've gained a subsidiary organization.
Ririri Detective Agency subsidiary: the Cute Girl Train! I still couldn't wrap my head around how an office's branch could be a damn train.
From what the on-duty dog-eared attendants told me, the train had its own fully built-out system from the start. There was nothing for me to tinker with. In other words, it had always been an independent entity. The only difference now was that I was their majority shareholder.
So, they were independent cute girls who didn't need my backing! Independent cute girls. Who knew such a concept existed?
"Thanks for the rundown. Lunchtime's coming up—wanna eat together? What do you feel like?"
"Dining with our divine Chief? We couldn't possibly!"
The dog-eared attendant bowed deeply to me. No....
"I'm not a god, I told you! I'm just a normal person! Geez!"
There was one thing they just couldn't get through their heads. For some reason, to the attendants, I was a god-like existence.
Probably because I'd applied the Cute Girl Mod to the Hell Train, effectively making me its owner. But still—god?
"Chief, may I make a bold statement?"
"Go ahead."
"You've turned countless Muksi Saengmyeongche into humans so far."
The dog-eared attendant glanced at Sua and Ari beside me as she said it.
"You've transformed Muksi Saengmyeongche into humans and revolutionized us attendants into humans too. It's the recreation of life itself—the redefinition of urban legends. What human could do such a thing? Only a god!"
"......"
I couldn't argue with that...! It was so logical, I was speechless.
Of course, I wasn't a god. This world was actually a game, and I'd just used the power of a mod. But to the attendants, it must've looked like divine intervention.
Even if I told them I came from another world, they wouldn't believe me.
And even if they did, it wouldn't change anything....
They'd probably react like, So you're from the realm of the gods! So I kept my true identity secret.
"Sua, you know I'm human, right?"
"Yep, Watson the detective assistant knows the detective is human."
"Good. As long as you know."
"But to this detective assistant, the detective is god-like. You're human, but you're also my god, yep."
Damn it. Asking a menthal assistant had been a mistake.
"Lisa, you know I'm human, right?"
"Of course. Lady Mayuri is a human more precious than any god. If a god ever tried to harm you, I'd slice it up and cook it for you."
"...Nao?"
"I don't care if you're human or a god, sis...! Honestly, you're too much for a pure human, but I love you no matter what!"
All I had was Ari. Get lost, you menthals!
So for a while, I hugged Ari's waist and buried my face in her thigh. Ari whined, "It's stuffy," but whatever.
You heartless furball.
"Chief, phone call. Seems to be from Deputy Park Jong-cheol."
The on-duty dog-eared attendant handed me my phone. I decided to stop using mentally healthy Ari as a pillow.
I straightened my clothes and took the call.
"Hello?"
"This is Deputy Park Jong-cheol from the Fixer Division. I'm calling about the aftermath of the recent incident."
"Aftermath?"
"We dug deeper into the wanted criminals and uncovered a few more details. I figured you'd want to know too."
His subsequent explanation didn't differ much from what Deputy Park Jong-cheol had speculated before. The cultists had been planning to turn city-scale populations into monsters.
They'd gathered various additional clues, but even after resolving the Hell Train, the missing people hadn't returned.
...They all turned into Kongkong ghosts.
The missing had all gotten off at intermediate stations, sealing their deaths.
Like with Kunekune, humans killed by anomalies couldn't be revived as a rule.
"It's bittersweet, but there's nothing to be done. The Special Task Force will handle memory manipulation for the missing persons cases, and we'll provide appropriate death benefits to the families."
"R-right...."
Deputy Park Jong-cheol's tone was matter-of-fact. This kind of thing must be routine for him. In a containment fiction world crawling with anomalies, human deaths were probably commonplace.
"By the way, what happened to the missing people?"
I whispered to the on-duty attendant so Deputy Park Jong-cheol, still on the line, wouldn't hear.
She replied, "We let most of the passengers off at appropriate stations. We refunded their full fares, of course. There are plenty of other ways back to the living world besides the Hell Train, so they're probably reincarnating via those, right?"
"Hope they're all doing well."
"Who knows—maybe some of them ended up as our attendants."
"Huh?"
"We attendants were originally passengers. But I don't really remember who I was before. My pre-cute-girl self feels like someone else."
Come to think of it, there was that lore about hellhound attendants maybe being former passengers.
Which meant some missing people might've become attendants—now cute dog-eared girls?
"Th-that's getting too complicated. Pretend I didn't hear that...!"
"Huh? Why? Becoming a cute girl is a win! Especially with our divine Chief's blessing making us this pretty. It's proof of god's favor!"
"Stop right there! Never speak of it again! That's an order as your god...!"
Might as well abuse my authority. The dog-eared attendant nodded, "If it's god's command, no choice."
Anyway, we wrapped up there with the attendant. I finished listening to Deputy Park Jong-cheol.
"We've also acquired info linking the Mad Scientist to this incident. Do you know anything about the 'Mad Scientist', Fixer?"
"...The Threat Level 5 Muksi Saengmyeongche the church has contained, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Mad Scientist. A Muksi Saengmyeongche in the form of a mad scientist conducting forbidden experiments. Also a mid-boss level entity for the church.
According to Deputy Park Jong-cheol, the Mad Scientist was behind turning the Hell Train's conductor into a brain in a jar.
"It'd been quiet for a while, but the Mad Scientist seems to have resumed activity. It's extremely dangerous, so the Foundation is assembling a special team to eliminate it."
"Eliminate it, huh."
"Yes. It's not the type we can easily capture or control."
The Foundation wanted to capture and study every Muksi Saengmyeongche in the world. For them to say "eliminate" meant the Mad Scientist was an uncontrollable monster.
"If we can take down the Mad Scientist, it'll severely weaken the church. We'll use this intel to pressure them and update you if there's progress."
"Got it."
"One more thing... Have you seen Ryu Harin recently?"
"Huh?"
I blinked. "No? Last time was when I got caught up in the Watson thing."
"I see. Thank you."
The call with Deputy Park Jong-cheol ended. What was that about? Why bring up Ryu Harin?
"Making me anxious for no reason...."
I muttered to myself.
A day later, I got another call. Not from Deputy Park Jong-cheol, but Ryu Harin.
"I... can't make it to work right now...."
"...I think I've gotten caught in an anomaly."
"......"
Of all times, my unease hit the mark. Sigh, that unlucky anchovy.... Caught in another anomaly? Classic Ryu Harin.