“Well, that’s true, but… Ugh… Pillow tossing… Boy talk…”
Nagisa was slumping her shoulders as the elevator door opened before her.
Yukina led Nagisa by the hand into the corridor when she suddenly stopped. She raised an eyebrow as she guardedly looked all around.
“…Um, do you smell something odd?”
Prodded by Yukina, Nagisa gave the air a good sniff, like a puppy.
Kojou, too, noticed the faint burning smell wafting through the air. “Wow, you’re right! Is it a fire?! Wait, smoke?!”
Nagisa shrieked as she pointed at the entrance to her and her brother’s apartment. Black smoke was puffing out from the hallway-side vent like it was car exhaust.
“Why aren’t the fire extinguishers working?!”
Kojou hastily ran toward the apartment. Meanwhile, Yukina pulled a fire extinguisher from its holder in the corridor. The very next moment, the front door to the Akatsuki residence burst open with great vigor, and a woman with a cherubic face, wearing a white gown, flew out of the room.
Kojou and Yukina were stopped cold by Mimori’s unexpectedly calm state.
“Mhmm? Ah, Kojou, Nagisa, welcome back.”
Though she seemed somewhat hurried, she didn’t look like someone escaping the scene of a fire.
Nagisa stared at her mother’s face, sounding a little bewildered. “…Mimori?”
For some reason, Mimori looked like she’d just been thrown a lifeline. “Sorry, it’s in your hands now. An urgent job came up so I have to go. A very urgent job!”
Rapid-firing her lines, Mimori made a hasty beeline for the elevator.
Kojou and the others stared at his mother’s back, dumbfounded.
“What the heck was that…?” Somewhat at a loss, Kojou turned toward his apartment.
At the very least, it wasn’t on fire, but the fact remained that smoke mysteriously filled it. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but the smoke seemed…ominous. The scent triggered instinctive terror within him.
Then, as Kojou entered the apartment, the sight of Asagi, in an apron, wielding a kitchen knife, greeted his eyes.
Asagi, who for some reason was holding the kitchen knife backward, blinked and asked, “Ah? Kojou? You’re back early; weren’t you at school?”
Kojou stood rooted to the spot, aghast. “A-Asagi?! Whaddaya think you’re doing?!”
“What does it look like…? I’m cooking, cooking. You’re just in time. Mimori asked me to make something for her, but she had to go, so there goes that plan. Hey, waste not, want not, right?”
“Um…!”
Kojou grimaced as he recalled how Mimori had returned to her workplace in a big hurry. No doubt, having whipped Asagi into a frenzy, she’d fled the scene like the irresponsible woman she was.
Realizing that Kojou had gone pale, Asagi smiled.
“Don’t worry. I said cooking, but it’s only sandwiches. Tanahara said you can’t mess up a sandwich. It’s just cutting bread and stuffing some ingredients inside.”
Kojou awkwardly nodded. “Th-that so…”
The strange black smoke filling the apartment made it hard not to assume that something had already gone wrong. Maybe that was why the sight of a high school girl in an apron wasn’t doing anything for him here.
Nagisa’s voice quivered, looking like she was smiling through tears. “W-wow, Kojou. Asagi’s homemade cooking. You lucky dog.”
Yukina, silently retreating a step, spoke with a businesslike voice lacking any shred of emotion. “Er, senpai. I shall take my leave, then…”
As Yukina started to turn around, Nagisa firmly gripped her slender wrist. “Oh, no you don’t, Yukina. Desertion before the enemy is a serious offense.”
“But,” Yukina earnestly objected, “if my physical condition is thrown off, it’ll hinder my mission as watcher…”
But Nagisa’s desperation was no less than her own. After all, the greater the number of victims, the less the burden was on each person, potentially reducing it to under a lethal dose.
Kojou, resigning himself with a Well, fine, walked into the kitchen filled with strange smoke.
After all, Kojou Akatsuki was the Fourth Primogenitor, an immortal vampire. It wasn’t like he was going to actually die from it—
And so, another afternoon in the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island passed by.
The surface of the sea surrounding the man-made island, reflecting the rays of the sun, glittered like dazzling gold…
Afterword
I’m the sort of person who hates riding in vehicles I’m not driving, but for some reason, ships are the sole exception, and sometimes I really want to sail on one. I particularly like long-range ferries. For some reason, idly watching the ocean without a care in the world and heading to a distant land while doing nothing but lazily soaking in a hot bath—these are special pleasures. The shaking and the engine sounds are a bit of a bother, but they make you really feel like you’re inside a gigantic machine. Oh, and I’ve heard you can cure seasickness by pouring cold water between your legs, but unfortunately, I have not tried this myself. Even if seasickness can be cured by such a method, I somehow felt like I’d lose something precious to me as a human being…
So Strike the Blood Vol. 6 has finally arrived.
Compared to the Harrowing Festival arc that ended last volume, I wanted an episode with a lot of slice-of-life elements, but I’m not sure I quite pulled it off. Personally, I had lots of fun with the middle school student stuff you wouldn’t normally see in print. Also, ah, sorry for putting Asagi through the wringer, even more than usual. That said, if you had even a little fun with it, I’ll be happy.
This was an alchemist story. I wrote in a previous volume that the abbey Kanon lived at had a Caduceus staff emblem on it, but I was like, boy, I need to explain what that was all about, and somehow the timing just…slipped for a while. There’s a number of other dangling plotlines that I haven’t resolved. Please be patient, I plan on writing those, too, bit by bit.
Also, I mentioned the comic version of Strike the Blood in the last volume, but luckily, the first tankobon is now on sale. Great work, Tate-sensei, and thank you very much. The reproduction remained faithful to the original while being even more evocative in its visual details. In particular, the girls were drawn extremely cute. The serialization in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh will continue, so please show that some love, too.
In addition, our illustrator, Manyako, did truly outstanding work for us once again. In spite of my requests being even less defined than ever (an amorphous ooze, so to speak), the new character designs are just as I imagined. And starting with the editor Yuzawa, I thank everyone involved in the production and distribution of this book from the bottom of my heart.
Of course, I also give most hearty thanks to all of you who have read this book.
I hope to see you again next volume.
Gakuto Mikumo
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Strike the Blood, Vol. 6 (light novel): Return of the Alchemist Page 21
