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Tl: Sam

…

After we escaped, an investigation of the seabed dungeon was conducted, and it seems the dungeon’s destruction was successful.
Just to be safe, the surrounding sea area was also surveyed, but no monsters were found. It seems the dungeon core was properly destroyed.
No monster disaster occurred, so this exploration can be called a great success.
And we also safely brought back the guys we met in the dungeon.

“Heh, heh. Long time no see, Lord Cthulhu…”

『Iya』

When Dagosuke greeted him, wringing his hands, the evil god replied uninterestedly.
We are now in the basement of the Ministry of Magic’s research bureau. The evil god was placed in a giant aquarium built there. Unlike Riri and Dagosuke, the evil god is too big.
Its mental contamination effect is also strong, so it was determined to be difficult for it to live with us, and it ended up living here.
It looks a little cramped, but it agreed to it on the condition that Riri would visit occasionally.
I’m glad this guy was an otaku.

“Wonderful! Its internal structure is different from any existing organism, and the frequency of its magic energy is a pattern I’ve never seen before. As expected of an evil god, it’s worth a thorough investigation…”

The person who was speaking with wide-open eyes and an excited voice was the director of the Ministry of Magic’s research bureau, Maki-san.
Is this person already mistaking the evil god for her own lab animal? I thought the primary goal was protection, and dangerous experiments were forbidden.
Perhaps intimidated by her pressure, the evil god also said “Lu…” and seemed a little taken aback. Don’t make an evil god flinch.

“Maki-san. Please don’t do anything the evil god dislikes.”
“Hehe, I know, Tanaka-kun. By the way, pouring chemicals on it is safe, right?”
“…I’ll contact Dojima-san, you know?”
“Hahaha! It’s just a light joke. I won’t do such a thing… probably.”

Maki-san laughed meaningfully. Is this person really okay?
Sigh… I’m worried, but there’s no one else to entrust the evil god to. Well, she probably can’t do anything weird to the point of betraying Dojima-san. For now, I have no choice but to trust this person.

“By the way, how is Dr. Nero doing?”
“I’m having him look at my research findings. I’m confirming if there are any discrepancies between his knowledge and theories and ours. The laws of physics might be different in another world and this one. Once we’re done with that, I plan to ask him all sorts of things about his world. Hehe… I can’t wait.”

Dr. Nero was also taken in by the research bureau.
Maki-san and Dr. Nero are very similar. Maki-san would probably understand what the doctor is saying and be able to unravel various things about the other world.

“Even so, I wonder why the other world and this world are connected. It would be good if the doctor’s stories could shed some light on that.”
“Oh, you’re curious about that?”
“Eh? Aren’t you curious, Maki-san?”

I was surprised by Maki-san’s uninterested reaction.
I had assumed she would be very curious.
Shaking the smoke from her cigarette, Maki-san continued to speak with a genuinely uninterested tone.

“I’m interested in how the two worlds connected, but I’m not interested in the reason at all. The reason is either a coincidence or man-made. If it’s a coincidence, there is no reason. If it’s man-made, it would be for money, resources, or religious reasons… such boring reasons. I don’t want to put such useless information in my brain.”

Maki-san spat out the words.
If humans were the ones who connected the two worlds, then the reasons would indeed be along those lines. In that case, Maki-san would indeed not be interested.

“Well, even if the reason is boring, thanks to it, I’m able to research interesting things. If there’s a culprit, I might even thank them once.”
“…Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”
“Haha, I wouldn’t say that in front of the media. Even I have that much common sense.”

Maki-san laughed giddily.
Hmm, I can’t trust her. This person is careless about everything except her research.

“Well, that’s why I’m not interested in the reason. I am, however, very interested in what will happen when the two worlds become more deeply connected.”
“Please stop. I’m sick of having more work.”
“No doubt. In that case, you’ll be working a lot too.”

Maki-san smiled gleefully.
Sigh… The creation of a single dungeon is already a lot of trouble. I really hope nothing strange happens again.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Ah, I’m tired.”

Late at night. I returned home and lay down on the bed in my second-floor room.
It’s been two days since we escaped the dungeon, but I’ve been so busy with post-incident work that I haven’t been able to sleep properly.

“But tomorrow is a day off. I can finally sleep a lot…”

The fatigue from Zangyo Mode lingers for quite a while.
I’ll rest well tomorrow and recharge my batteries.

“Fuah… sleepy…”

I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
And just as I was about to completely let go of my consciousness, I felt something slowly get on top of me, and my consciousness awoke.

“Huh?”

I opened my eyes and saw a person straddling my body.

Who on earth could it be? I squinted to see the person, and it was someone I knew well.

“…Rin?”
“Yes. Welcome home, Sensei.”

It was already late at night, so I thought she was sleeping, but it seems she was awake.
It looks like she noticed I had come home and entered my room.

“Thank you for your hard work, working so late. I’m sorry, you had to take care of my post-incident work as well…”
“Don’t worry about it, you were the one who took the bigger hit.”

I said that and reached my hand out to Rin’s cheek, and she rubbed her cheek against my hand like a cat, cuddling up to me. What is this cute creature?
Rin had lost consciousness once due to oxygen deprivation. There was a possibility of brain damage, so she had undergone a detailed medical examination.
That’s why I was handling the affairs of the evil god and Dr. Nero for her.

“Thank you for coming all this way. But it’s late now, why don’t you go to sleep? Or can’t you sleep?”

When I asked that, Rin fell silent. She remained straddling me, with no sign of getting off.
What’s wrong? Can’t she sleep after all? Or is there something she can’t bring herself to say?
After a while, Rin slowly opened her mouth.

“…When I lost consciousness from oxygen deprivation, I truly thought I was going to die.”

In fact, Rin was in a dangerous state at that time.
No matter how tough her body was, there’s nothing you can do when you lose oxygen.

“At that time, I had regrets. I had so many things left to do… why didn’t I take action more proactively?”
“I see…”

It’s difficult to live a life without regrets.
I don’t know what she regretted, but many people would probably have the same regrets if they suddenly felt the danger of death.

“Yes, I regretted it. That I hadn’t yet dedicated myself to Sensei…”
“I see… huh?”

Did she just say something weird?
I feel like I heard her say something about not having dedicated herself yet, but it must be my imagination, right?

“Even though we’re engaged, our relationship hasn’t progressed. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to die in peace.”
“No, wait a minute. Look, Rin is still young and…”
“I’m happy that you’re so gentle, but if I wait for Sensei to make up his mind, I’ll become an old woman. So I apologize, but I will have to use force.”
“EEh?, eeeeh?.”
“Don’t worry, I have permission from my sisters, Yui and Amatsuki.”
“Eh?, eeeh?, eeeeeh?.”

Ignoring my confusion, Rin slowly undid her clothes and brought her face closer to mine. Her face, illuminated by the moonlight, was slightly flushed.
I, chickening out, tried to escape, but trying to force my way out in this state could risk injuring Rin. Even though she’s had a medical exam, I can’t risk injuring her after she just got back from the dungeon.
In the end, I just let her do as she pleased.

“Um, at least be gentle.”
“I refuse…♡”

…And so, the night between me and Rin grew passionately late.

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