Chapter 26: The Tome Has Disappeared
By coincidence, the apartment building where the Takanashi family lived was actually on the street right next to Kazama's own rental apartment.
The two locations were only a ten-minute walk apart, separated only by a 24-hour Lawson convenience store and a few aging ginkgo trees.
Kazama Chiba stood before the single-family home bearing the Takanashi nameplate, his expression carrying a hint of surprise.
No wonder he'd run into her at the convenience store near his place last night.
"We're here! This is the temporary stronghold at the edge of the Unseen Horizon!"
Takanashi Rikka pushed open the gate, instantly revitalized by the confidence of returning to her own territory. Her distinctive hair antenna bobbed cheerfully under the streetlights.
"Alright, don't just stand there at the entrance."
Takanashi Touka stepped past her sister and unlocked the door with her key.
"Kazama-kun, please come in. No need to change shoes—we don't have that many men's slippers anyway."
Kazama Chiba walked into the living room.
It wasn't the kind of nightmare decor he'd imagined—walls plastered with magic circles or skulls hanging everywhere.
On the contrary, it looked surprisingly normal.
A beige sofa, light wood coffee table, several thriving potted plants arranged on the TV stand.
If there was anything that felt off, it was probably the pile of weapons that looked like they'd been constructed from cardboard and aluminum foil stacked in the corner, along with several dramatically styled gothic dresses hanging from a coat rack.
"Please have a seat for a moment."
Touka hung up her coat and rolled up her shirtsleeves, revealing a section of pale forearm.
"I'll go check the kitchen for something to eat. It might be pretty simple, so don't expect too much."
With that, she turned and headed into the kitchen. Soon, the sounds of a refrigerator door opening and plastic bags rustling emerged.
"Wait wait wait! Ally, just a second!"
Rikka didn't even finish putting on her shoes properly before rushing toward the door labeled "No Entry (Except for the Chosen Ones)."
"I'm going to get that divine artifact! It's in my secret vault!"
"Mm."
Kazama Chiba acknowledged with a sound but didn't follow.
Though she was a chuunibyou girl with absolutely no gender awareness, he wasn't perverted enough to go touring a high school girl's bedroom.
Especially one undoubtedly filled with embarrassing chuunibyou history.
He stood at the boundary between the entryway and living room, somewhat bored as he surveyed his surroundings.
His gaze made a circuit before finally landing on the shoe cabinet nearby.
A picture frame sat there.
In this meticulously organized home, this frame's placement seemed oddly out of place.
It wasn't positioned facing the door, but rather leaning at an angle against the wall, as if someone had casually set it there.
It was a family portrait.
The photo showed a man and woman holding two small girls. The background was a brilliant field of sunflowers.
The man smiled honestly, the woman smiled gently. One little girl looked quite composed, while the other was making faces at the camera.
Those were Rikka and Touka, along with their parents.
Even through that thin layer of glass, you could feel the happiness practically overflowing from the image.
"Looks like it was a pretty ordinary family."
Kazama Chiba commented mentally.
For someone who'd been an orphan across two lifetimes, this kind of warm scene was like watching other people eat steaming hot pot through a shop window. Though he wasn't hungry, it still left his chest feeling somehow hollow.
"Hm? That's strange..."
Touka's slightly embarrassed voice came from the kitchen.
She emerged empty-handed, her face carrying a rare look of awkwardness.
"Sorry. I forgot... there's basically no food in the house."
She'd been so focused on worrying about her sister that she'd completely forgotten she hadn't gone grocery shopping in several days.
Aside from a few bottles of expired milk and half a cabbage, the refrigerator was clean enough to starve a mouse.
"It's fine. I'm not hungry."
Kazama Chiba withdrew his gaze and replied politely.
Touka breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up and noticed Kazama standing by the shoe cabinet. Following his line of sight, she saw the frame.
Why is that photo here?
In her memory, this family portrait was her most precious possession. It had always sat on the nightstand in her bedroom. Every night before sleeping, she would look at it. She'd never taken it out of her room.
Why would it end up on the entryway shoe cabinet?
Had she misremembered? Or had that bizarre dream experience earlier really scrambled her brain?
Feeling somewhat irritated and confused, she walked over and picked up the frame.
"It must be Rikka messing around again."
She gave herself this explanation, though she didn't quite believe it herself.
Though Rikka acted crazy most of the time, when it came to their parents' belongings, she was always more careful than anyone.
She nodded at Kazama, turned the frame face-down in her hand, and casually pulled open the TV stand drawer to place it inside.
Just then—
"How could this... How could it be gone?!"
A miserable wail came from the bedroom.
Rikka emerged like a squirrel that had lost its acorns, head hanging in dejection. Her usually perky hair antenna now drooped limply atop her head.
"Um..."
Her voice was tiny, carrying an obvious nasal quality.
"Ally... I mean, Kazama-kun."
"Didn't find it?"
Kazama Chiba didn't even need to ask. That expression like she'd just lost five million yen told him everything.
"Ugh..."
Rikka let out a pitiful sound, squatting on the floor and hugging her head.
"I clearly remember putting it in the center of the magic circle under my bed! It's a holy relic used to suppress the Black Dragon! How could it just vanish into thin air?!"
"Did you maybe forget where you put it?"
Touka leaned against the TV stand, habitually sighing. Rikka's commotion had diluted her earlier doubts about the photo considerably.
"Your room is such a disaster zone. Not being able to find something seems pretty normal, doesn't it?"
"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!"
Rikka shouted her rebuttal.
"Other things might get misplaced, but not that! That's the key artifact for my contract with the Ebony Flame Master! I check every day to make sure the seal hasn't loosened!"
"Even last night before bed, I confirmed it was right there!"
Watching this scene unfold, Kazama Chiba connected it to his earlier experience of running to every nearby store unable to find any matching merchandise. He could almost certainly conclude this wasn't Rikka's carelessness, but rather some mysterious force actively erasing traces of the Clow Cards from this world.
"Could it be..."
Rikka continued muttering to herself, pulling at her hair as she tried to recall.
"Was it stolen by Void Management Bureau agents? Or did it sense the ally's summons and automatically perform a spatial jump?"
"It's fine."
Kazama Chiba interrupted this argument destined to reach no conclusion.
Since it had been erased by that kind of power, even tearing apart the entire house wouldn't find it. Staying any longer was pointless.
"If you can't find it, forget it."
"But I promised you—"
Rikka started to say something more, her eyes reddening. She felt this was a failure as an "ally" and the disgrace of breaking a contract.
"Then we'll talk about it when you find it. Maybe you just forgot where you put it."
Kazama Chiba turned toward the entryway and began changing his shoes.
"I'm leaving."
"Huh? Leaving already?"
Touka seemed surprised.
"Won't you stay a bit longer? Even though we don't have a proper meal, I can at least make some tea."
She glanced at her sister, who looked ready to cry.
"Besides, she seems really upset. If you could comfort her a little..."
"I'm not good at comforting people."
Kazama said while looking at Rikka squatting on the floor, staring at him with those pleading eyes.
That expression was like a puppy that had lost its owner's favorite slipper—full of guilt and anxiety.
For a transmigrator who only wanted to grind money and power, this kind of pure emotional burden was the last thing he wanted to get involved with.
"Well... be careful on your way home."
Touka didn't insist further. She was perceptive enough to see he genuinely wanted to leave.
"Kazama-kun."
Just as Kazama Chiba was about to walk through the gate, Rikka suddenly burst out from the house, running all the way to the fence.
"I'm sorry!"
She shouted loudly.
"Even though the sacred tome is temporarily missing! But... but the Wicked Eye never goes back on her word! I'll definitely find it! Or I'll find an even better offering to present to you!"
Kazama Chiba stopped walking.
With his back to her, he waved his hand.
"Got it. I'm not in a hurry to use it anyway. When you've reclaimed it from enemy hands or found a new substitute, just give it to me then."
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