360 My Light and My Salvation (2)

In the moment the character on screen leaps backward, a massive blade drops onto the spot where she had been standing.

A greatsword several times the size of a person. Following the blade's line upward, the handle is gripped by a giant's hand the size of a bucket.

She circles around the sword embedded in the ground, closes the distance, and swings the hammer she's holding with all her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might to strike its knee.

After hitting the legs several times, the giant's knee finally bends and it leans forward, and the hammer flies again to strike the head hard.

The giant lets out a scream as it slumps. And the body soon disperses like dust and vanishes.

"Strength? Ah... How to put it, I feel like I've broken through a wall at some point. It's not exactly recent, but..."

"Save from now on... For today, shall we end it here? Looking at the story flow, it seems like I'll get the ending by tomorrow."

Chat messages bidding farewell to Mary. Mixed in are words of regret for the stream ending, and surprised comments like "Is it already this time?"

Looking at them, she smiles faintly, gives a light finishing greeting, and the broadcast ends.

Even after the broadcast ends, Ninomae Hitomi sits in the chair for a while, then stretches her back.

'Seoyeon will be back tomorrow.'

The afterglow of the broadcast. The thought that follows is that.

Now that the broadcast has ended, the only one in this house—excluding the familiars—is Hitomi. It was because Han Seoyeon had gone on a short business trip overseas.

It seems she went to observe a meeting as a representative from the church.

The reason it happened to be Seoyeon is not because of any special reason, but because at this point, among the Apostles with empty hands, she is the closest to Mongolia.

There is Abraham who can operate without spatial restrictions as long as electronic devices are connected to the network, but in his case, he is currently on official hiatus from Holy Knight activities.

He has to drive a dagger into the Necromancer's back who will return someday. So until then, he has to show a dejected appearance, burying his intentions, and devoting himself only to VTuber activities.

That's why Seoyeon was selected.

The Vampire Syndrome incident that led to her dispatch to Japan has essentially ended at this point, and the black hand has already left Japan. That is, there is no longer any need to stay in Japan.

Of course, since she has a house and wife here, she will be fixed in Japan as much as possible. Then she'll go on overseas business trips occasionally.

If not, Han Seoyeon would definitely say "Just quit being an Apostle and live with Hitomi", so as the church, they have no choice but to pay attention to that part.

And honestly, this is the most docile type among the Apostles. Just attaching one person next to her makes it manageable.

"...Apostles are elite Holy Knights, right? Not some management target like SCP or something?"

When she heard the explanation, she asked back casually.

No matter how you look at it, it's very strong but not quite the type to be treated as a cursed tool with side effects or explosion risks.

Anyway, left alone in the house, Hitomi picks up the phone placed next to the desk and heads to the bedroom.

She thought about calling Seoyeon while walking, but gave up.

If Seoyeon is busy working and can't take the call, there's nothing to say, and if she had time to call, she wouldn't have missed the Mary broadcast, so she would call after the stream ends.

The call came at the exact moment she was thinking that.

Reflexively moving her fingers to answer the phone, Hitomi stops for a moment and freezes.

'It's not Sion...'

Since it wasn't a call from Han Seoyeon, Hitomi unconsciously makes a disappointed expression.

The caller is an unregistered number. Feeling strange about it, she hesitates whether to ignore it or not, but eventually answers. Maybe it's someone she knows.

The woman's voice that came back right after is very ominous. Not only is it a lowered voice as if whispering, but there's also a strangely cracked sound in the voice.

The first sensation Hitomi feels is a chill.

If there was a voice overflowing with yin energy, it would be exactly this feeling.

"Mary Tepes, right?"

"......!"

But what made her even more creeped out was the next words.

It mentioned the name 'Mary Tepes' instead of 'Ninomae Hitomi'. If it was the former, other possibilities could be considered, but if it's the latter, if it wasn't intentionally digging up personal information, such a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation couldn't have happened.

"Huh? Mary, what?"

But she can't show the emotion openly. Hitomi asks what that is.

"That's right. Mary... Ninomae Hitomi-sama."

"Who are you? No, this seems like a wrong call. It's not someone named Ninoma... "

"Lies. Don't lie."

"What are you talking about? There are really strange people... I'll hang up. If you have time to spout nonsense, check the phone number again."

Actually, the lie doesn't seem to have much meaning.

The tone difference is so extreme that even Han Seoyeon, a top Mary fan, couldn't distinguish it, so it's not that. She didn't seem to be faking it either.

She just thought that the other person was absolutely sure that her guess was correct.

In this situation, it's impossible to persuade and make the person think she's not the one they're looking for. If she continues talking, she'll just give more information, so Hitomi quickly hangs up.

And she quickly calls again. It's the contact for Sekiguchi Church, Tokyo St. Mary's Cathedral.

"Ah, yes. That's right."

The emergency line of Tokyo Cathedral. The call connects very quickly, as befits the 'emergency' name.

When receiving this number, she wanted to refuse because using the emergency line for personal matters is too much of a nuisance, but after being persuaded by the argument that if Han Seoyeon explodes because she's involved in an incident, it would be even more of a nuisance, she gave in.

Thinking about it now, it's really fortunate that she received the contact.

"Actually, it feels like I'm being stalked."

"I confirmed by calling if it's me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And... you know I'm streaming on YouTube, right? I mentioned that handle too..."

"You've blatantly dug up my personal information."

A small sigh comes from the other side of the phone.

It feels a bit like the annoyance of why this happened, and it seems not as serious as imagined, so she feels relieved.

"I... Well, this is just a gut feeling without evidence..."

Whether it's one or the other, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠saying this makes Hitomi feel a bit sorry, but she can't not say it.

"When I received the call, the feeling I got from the other person's voice seemed somehow eerie."

[...Ah.]

A sigh-like voice comes out again.

"I will immediately dispatch the Holy Knights. You probably don't have full confidence that it's a ghost, right? For now, I recommend closing all curtains or blinds on all windows, and preferably locking the door from inside the room."

"Yes, yes..."

"Do you know ghost stories well? Don't open the door no matter what voice you hear. The password is 'The Lord is my light and my salvation'. If not, even if they say they came from the church, you shouldn't open. If you have amulets or holy water at home, use them as much as possible."

"Ah, yes... I understand."

Since the other side doesn't know the exact situation, they can only give universal and common sense advice. But since most of the time it's the right response, Hitomi listens carefully.

Without hanging up the phone, she quickly runs to the warehouse where she stores the items Seoyeon uses for Holy Knight work.

Of course, she doesn't plan to confront right here. There are many things here that could be dangerous if touched carelessly.

So, Hitomi hurriedly takes only the safe amulets she knows for sure and comes back to the hallway. Then she hurries to the bedroom.

"Besides that call where you hung up thinking it was wrong, hasn't the other side taken any other actions yet?"

"......"

"No..."

Hitomi answers belatedly to the person on the other side of the phone. Her hand is faintly trembling.

Her lips feel dry, so she licks them lightly with her tongue.

Then she slowly opens her mouth again.

"...Did I tell you how I responded to that call?"

[...]

"Who are you, you?"

I got it? A strange metallic sound starts mixing in, murmuring softly.