Whose personality mask's power comes from the heroic spirit?

Shimabukuro Kimie's body was trembling slightly.

"So, when I pretended to be a longevity lady that time, I actually helped them..." Shimabukuro Kimie couldn't go on.

"What reason do they have to continue hiding it?" Shimabukuro Kimie raised her head and asked with a somewhat broken expression, "Could it be that they saw how hard I tried to pretend to be my great-grandmother and chose to continue hiding it out of pity for my efforts?"

"Why...why am I working so hard..." Suppressing her tears, Shimabukuro Kimie took out her cell phone and lay on the table, finding the text message her mother sent before she died three years ago.

……

“Ahhhhhhh——” In a dark cave off the coast of American Island, horrifying sounds continued to come out from the dim interior.

Chapter 13: Humans and monsters cannot understand each other

Finally, Shimabukuro Kimie decided to complete the last "Dugong Festival".

If for no other reason, it was just to give an explanation to myself and my mother, and to let the islanders have a taste of what "backlash" means.

By the way, she also wanted to ask those 'elders' on the spot whether it was very enjoyable to suck the blood of the Shimabukuro family endlessly.

After all, every time during the 'Dugong Festival', when everyone was collecting their money, she saw everyone laughing happily, with wrinkles forming at the corners of their eyes.

Akane Shinjo stayed to accompany Shimabukuro Kimie and comfort her.

Taichi followed Iwanaga Kotoko to the mysterious spiritual place.

"Your Highness, this is the sacred place." A kappa led the two to the foot of a cliff.

At the bottom of the cliff, a spiritual field that was cast into illusion appeared before Taichi and Iwanaga Kotoko after the monsters unsealed it.

It was a cave more than two meters high and half a meter wide.

"Although monsters can't enter or leave, humans should be able to." Kappa continued to introduce, "The human who died earlier was lured in by something in the spirit field."

"Wait, I haven't heard of this!" Iwanaga Kotoko interrupted Kappa.

"Eh? Do I need to explain this as well?" Kappa asked back in confusion, "I'm sorry, Princess, I thought it was just a small matter, so I didn't take it seriously. After all, it's common for monsters to lure humans."

"Besides the person named Kadowaki Saori, were there any other people lured here?" Iwanaga Kotoko did not pursue the question further, but brought the topic back to the main topic.

"The only human I know of is that one. As for whether there are others, I don't know." Kappa replied.

"Didn't I tell you in advance to keep an eye on this place at all times? Who is the monster responsible for this matter?" Iwanaga Kotoko asked with a roll of her eyes.

"It's my third cousin." Kappa shrank his neck, "I'll call him over right away."

Kappa's third cousin is stronger than him.

Looks a little dull, but does the job pretty well.

He really didn't let the entrance and exit of the spiritual field out of his sight for even a second.

His eyeballs were full of bloodshot.

According to him, from the time he hid near the cave entrance and kept watch until now, no human has appeared around the cave entrance.

"Monsters cannot enter, but humans can... or do humans have to be lured in and given permission to enter?" Standing outside the cave in the spiritual field, Taiyi muttered as he looked at the cave entrance in front of him that had been revealed by the revoked illusion.

"Let me try it first." Iwanaga Kotoko unceremoniously put her prosthetic limb in, then retracted it three seconds later and carefully checked her prosthetic limb. "Well, it's intact, and there's nothing wrong with the inside. It seems that there is no problem with the entry and exit of civilized creations."

"Next is... real flesh." This time, Kotoko Iwanaga used a finger, inserted it, and then pulled it out.

"No problem." After looking at her fingers carefully and confirming that they were correct, Iwanaga Kotoko took the lead and stepped in.

"Hey! Don't be in such a hurry. Wait for me to go in first!" Taichi, shocked by Iwanaga Kotoko's boldness, reached into his pocket and grabbed the smartphone.

Whenever something went wrong, he would immediately use the Mordred Armor.

Tick, tick.

The sound of water drops hitting the stone surface rang in my ears.

The dark cave was filled with the smell of fish.

Taichi raised the flashlight in his other hand to illuminate the road ahead.

"Iwanaga, don't stay too far away from me," Taiyi reminded.

At the same time, he was also asking Mordred and Minamoto no Raikou in a mental meeting whether they had any abnormal reactions.

But the answers they gave disappointed him.

They sensed nothing.

Iwanaga Kotoko turned her head to look at Taichi's side and shook her head with some disappointment.

"Neither Mordred nor Minamoto no Raikou showed up. It seems the conditions are not suitable."

"Let's go out first."

"Hey? We haven't checked anything yet, are we just leaving like this?" Taichi looked at Iwanaga Kotoko in surprise and asked.

"Without Mordred and Minamoto no Raikou to protect me, and without any monsters to command, how can I continue to go deeper into this spiritual place where the information is unknown and my life force may be sucked dry?" Iwanaga Kotoko spread her hands as a matter of course, "I am only the god of wisdom, not the god of battle. On the contrary, I am quite weak and have no fighting power at all."

"Most importantly, I don't want to die young." Iwanaga Kotoko winked and added, "Unless you plan to reveal your cards."

"Oh, then let's go." Taichi chose to support Iwanaga Kotoko's suggestion without hesitation.

We can all pretend to be stupid and be friends together, but once the truth is revealed... then we'll pack up and prepare to part ways.

"This voice... could it be that the princess has arrived?" A cautious voice suddenly came from inside the cave.

Tai instinctively directed the flashlight towards him.

The unknown monster with a pointed mouth was standing there blocking its eyes from the light.

Behind this monster, there are several small monsters huddled together.

"What? It turns out there are still living monsters in here." With a monster that she could control, Iwanaga Kotoko immediately stood up.

"Ah, it's really the Princess!" The monsters cheered excitedly, "The Princess has come to save us!"

"No, I'm not here to save you. In fact, I didn't even know there were monsters here until I saw you." Iwanaga Kotoko replied in dismay, "None of those guys outside told me about your existence."

She had long been aware that monsters were unreliable in providing information, but she was still tricked every time until she felt like vomiting blood.

"Well, tell me what you know first." Iwanaga Kotoko supported her body with a cane and looked at the monsters who gathered around her, and the fishy smell became stronger. She ordered, "Since the change in the spirit field, don't miss any details. Whether it is something you think is very common or unheard of, you must explain it to me one by one."

"Yes! Your Highness."

Although the information was fragmentary, Kotoko Iwanaga still managed to sort it out into a coherent thread with her powerful imagination.

"That is to say, there is a guy in a black robe who is not sure whether he is a human or a demon. He messed up the spiritual field here and also set up a barrier deep in the cave, so you can't get close."

"That human was lured into the deep enchantment before, and after he came out, a rotten smell came out of his body."

Chapter 14: Aix wakes up

"Is there something wrong?" Looking at the huge empty space in front of him and the pool of water connected to the sea not far away, Taiyi turned his head and looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and asked.

"It smells very fishy... and also has a rotten smell." Iwanaga Kotoko covered her nose and replied in a muffled voice, "As for what's wrong, of course it's wrong. After all, this spiritual field has undergone a change a long time ago."

"No, it's not that." Taiyi shook his head and replied, "It's a feeling I can't put into words."

[“Taiyi, I always feel like there’s something not so good left here.” Mordred also reminded during the mental meeting, “There’s a remnant of power that’s similar to the one I sensed in that hall.”

"How could it be... When can the power of the impression space affect the real world?" Taiyi communicated with Mordred in an internal meeting with his consciousness.

"I'm not sure about that, but I'm connected to you, Taichi, through the Impression Space, so I'm somewhat sensitive to that kind of power." Mordred replied.]

"You can't tell? Could it be the same as what happened in the Shibuya incident?" Kotoko Iwanaga unconsciously put her hand on her collar.

"No, it's different from that time." Taichi shook his head, "Otherwise Mordred and Minamoto no Raikou would have come out by now."

Iwanaga Kotoko narrowed her eyes slightly.

From Taichi's words, she deduced that even now, Taichi was still able to communicate with Mordred and Minamoto no Raikou.

It’s just that those two can’t show up now.

"...Things seem to be worse than we expected." Standing by the pond, Taiyi's face changed. He squatted down and shone the flashlight over to observe carefully. His expression became serious, "Iwanaga, come over here and take a look."

"Hmm? What's up? Any new discoveries?" Kotoko Iwanaga, who was observing the surroundings with the flashlight on her cell phone, came over.

That is the product of the death of algae.

But on that product, there are traces of human footprints.

Among the surrounding algae, only that small area had all the algae plants in a dead state.

Click.

Kotoko Iwanaga took a picture of the shape of the footprints with her mobile phone.

"When we go to see Saori Kadowaki's body later, let's compare the soles of the shoes she was wearing when her body was found." Kotoko Iwanaga checked the results of her photography several times and added.

"If my guess isn't too far off, Kadowaki Saori should have been standing in this place at the time... and then something was poured over her head, causing her internal organs to age rapidly."

"And the algae plants in the area where she was standing were also affected by that thing, so there are such residues."

"Well, it's very likely that it was a psychic who went astray." Iwanaga Kotoko scratched her chin with her fingers and said, "He used some kind of evil magic to deprive Saori Kadowaki and these plants of their vitality."

"Can you lend me your cane?" Taichi reached out to Iwanaga Kotoko for her cane.

"What do you want to do?" asked Kotoko Iwanaga after handing over the crutches.

"I don't have any suitable equipment with me, so I can only use your walking stick to make do," Taiyi replied. "I plan to turn over the soil in this area to see if I can find anything."

"I see. You're worried that there are still remnants of that thing on this land. If you touch it with your flesh, you'll end up like Saori Kadowaki." Iwanaga Kotoko guessed Taichi's worries at once.

"But you have to be careful not to cover up the edges."

"The color of the soil is not right." Taiyi dug a hole in the center of the area where the algae remains were, and then dug a few more holes in the surrounding areas that were not affected. After comparing the soil, he came to the conclusion that "the soil in this contaminated area is black in color, and when I use the crutch to poke it, it feels very easy to poke it in, without any obstruction at all."

"It's like, in this part of the area, besides the algae, even the soil is 'dead'."

[“He’s dead.” Axe’s voice suddenly rang out from the meeting in his mind.

"Aix! You're awake!" Mordred shouted in surprise.

"...You really have slept for a long time." Taiyi suppressed his excitement and greeted happily without shouting out loud in reality.

"Fortunately, the energy I sealed had a small area and the resistance I encountered was weak, so I was able to wake up so early. Otherwise, it is not impossible that I slept for decades." Aix replied, "Also, although I don't know where you are now, Taiyi, the situation here is not good. The area you pointed at with your cane just now has no vitality at all, including the soil and the microorganisms mixed in it, all of them are completely dead."]

"…The cane is fine." Taichi turned Iwanaga Kotoko's cane over and checked the bottom. He didn't see any signs of corrosion. "But just in case, don't use this cane anymore."

"Then I'll have to order it quickly." Iwanaga Kotoko used her phone to send a text message to her old acquaintance, "Well, how about preparing a few more."

"When you return to Shimabukuro's house later, borrow a few bottles from Miss Shimabukuro." Taiyi reminded, "Then put some of the soil here in and send it to a professional institution for research."

"Well, it was a good decision to hire you as my bodyguard." Iwanaga Kotoko patted Taichi's arm with a smile.

The barrier at the entrance of the cave had still not been lifted. After Iwanaga Kotoko instructed the monsters to disguise the entrance of the cave with illusion again, she and Taichi left this sacred place together.

Back at the Shimabukuro family, Shimabukuro Kimie had already recovered after being comforted by Akane Shinjo.

Although she was just trying to look cheerful on the surface, with Shimabukuro Kimie's special makeup, there was no sign of abnormality.

Just like when the three of them first met Shimabukuro Kimie when they first arrived.

This girl is not only amazing at makeup and voice changing, but her acting skills are also top-notch.

Taiyi wanted to take this opportunity to have a good chat with Aix about what happened during this period, such as whether time could ever get better.

But he didn't have much time at the moment.

Because at Minamoto no Raikou's initiative request, he is now using computing power to create Minamoto no Raikou's power phone card.

After all, it's not as rushed as the previous Mordred armor, so X plans to make a new phone card.

By the way, he plans to move from an old phone to a smart phone.

After all, the storage space in the old machine is too small.

He just took a nap, and Taiyi didn't use the old phone much, but after he woke up, he was still almost squeezed out of the little shelter he had.

Chapter 15: Shimabukuro Kimie breaks down again

"A second body has been found."

After playing mahjong in his mind all night with X, Mordred and Minamoto no Raikou, Taichi suddenly heard this news as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Death from old age again?" Taiyi curled up in the quilt and looked at Iwanaga Kotoko who was sitting next to the bed and asked.