I don't want to be an elf!

This is only natural. At that time, the three-dimensional world was about to become extinct, so who would care about the two-dimensional world?

Many manga and light novel authors disappeared in the war against Gastrea, either dying or changing careers, their works buried in the past.

The same applies to silver bullets.

Unexpectedly, ten years later, I can still hear this name again.

“Yes, Honjou Souji is my pen name,” Honjou Nia said with considerable pride.

"Wait, wait, this is too strange."

Rentaro Satomi raised his hand, somewhat disorganized as he sorted out his thoughts: "Back then, The Silver Bullet had been serialized for at least two or three years, so the author must have been between twenty and forty years old. Then another ten years passed, so Souji Honjo must have been at least thirty years old, maybe even fifty!"

"Hey."

"Hey, what is that?!"

Rentaro Satomi slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

Then, perhaps due to a lack of control over the force, the table between the two people split in two.

"..."

"..."

"I will make it up to you."

"Just give me two yen, I found the table anyway."

Can I pay on credit?

"Sure, but if you're willing to recommend me to your boss, these two will be considered as compensation for your hard work."

Rentaro Satomi hesitated.

The girl in front of him—no, the aunt—always seemed shrouded in mystery, and he didn't want his boss, Tendogi, to have any further contact with her.

but......

Two pieces.

A week's worth of food expenses.

"You're really a weirdo, actually wanting to join this lousy company."

In the end, appetite prevailed over reason, Rentaro Satomi said.

"Let me make this clear first, I'm only responsible for the introduction."

Chapter Five: The Agents of the Gods

"However, if you want to join Kisara's company, you must have the strength to fight Gastrea."

Rentaro Satomi looked her up and down, and asked hesitantly, "But if I may be so bold, you don't look like you've received any training at all. How did you get your police license?"

Becoming a police officer can be simple in some ways, but difficult in others.

Regardless of the mixed reputation of police officers in society, their job is singular: to eliminate Gastrea.

Although in actual combat, most of those fighting Gastrea are the cursed children of the Initiators, ordinary humans as Facilitators cannot hold them back. Even if they lack combat power, they must have the ability to protect themselves.

The work of police officers is extremely dangerous, even for those who are promoters of humanity.

With their mortal bodies, they lack the physical strength and self-healing abilities of the cursed children. If they are hit squarely by a Gastrea, they will either die or be seriously injured.

Furthermore, if a human is infected with gastritis due to injury, their DNA can mutate into a new gastrulator in a short period of time.

Without sufficient strength, the chances of death when facing Gastrea will increase significantly.

This is also why Rentaro Satomi questioned Nia Honjo.

First of all, he doesn't think a shut-in who stays at home all day can have much muscle.

Secondly, he didn't think a cartoonist really knew any fighting techniques.

"Actually, I haven't received my police license yet. I'm planning to apply for it tomorrow."

Nia Honjo opened a second can of beer from the refrigerator, took a few big gulps, and said contentedly, "But I've checked the information. The number of police officers has decreased in recent years, and the standards have been lowered quite a bit. Even someone like me can easily get it~"

"After all that talk, you haven't even gotten your license yet?" Rentaro Satomi said, his face full of exasperation. "Then aren't you a complete newbie? No, you're not even a newbie, you haven't even entered the industry yet!"

"Hey, what are you saying? If I were an experienced police officer, I would have applied to other, better companies long ago!"

“Uh…that’s true.” Rentaro Satomi scratched his cheek awkwardly. “But if you become a police officer, the International Initiator Oversight Organization will assign you an Initiator. You should be prepared, not every Initiator is as sensible as Enju.”

"Ah, no need, I'll just treat Nini's application as the initiator."

"Hmm? Is she a cursed child?" Rentaro Satomi paused, "But her eyes..."

“Enju-chan’s eyes aren’t red either.”

The cursed children look much like ordinary girls, the only difference being the color of their eyes.

If a child is born with red eyes, it indicates that the child has been infected with gastroenteritis.

Red eyes indicate that the gastrovirus in their bodies is active, but this state is not passive and continuous; it can be actively suppressed.

Once they learn how to suppress the virus, the red color associated with gastroenteritis will fade, revealing their original eye color again.

Enju Aihara is a cursed child who knows how to suppress the Gastrea virus; the virus only becomes active and red during battle.

"She's not a cursed child, yet you registered her as an Initiator?" Rentaro Satomi's lips twitched a few times. "I'm not saying anything, but you're being incredibly irresponsible as her guardian."

"Hmph, there's no need for the young man to worry about that."

Nia Honjo shook her beer can, two cans of beer bringing a slight blush to her face: "Our hidden identities will surprise you when we tell you!"

"Isn't your hidden identity a manga artist?" Rentaro Satomi asked, half-believing. "Besides that, what other identities do you have? A homeless person?"

"How rude of me! I am a nun, you know, a nun!" Nia Honjou adopted the appearance of a devout believer. "Nini and I are chosen by God, endowed with special powers, and are acting on earth as agents to save humanity!"

"Hey...are you drunk?"

Rentaro Satomi glanced at Nia Honjou, who was sitting carefree on the sofa drinking alcohol, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans.

She then looked at the church, which she had ruined and completely devoid of any sense of holiness.

There's always a sense of humiliation, like being treated like a fool.

Which nun is so wild? Not only did she drink beer and dried squid without any regard for her image, but she also dismantled the church and turned it into a bedroom!

“If Jesus really existed, and saw you like this, I think he would clean house first.”

“I don’t believe in Jesus, so he can’t control me.”

"Then what do you believe in?"

"The God of Anime and Manga".

"...What is that?"

"A god born from the world of two-dimensionality."

Nia Honjo spread her arms wide and solemnly said, "Believe in our Lord, and a dump truck will knock you into another world. Sing the Lord's name, and you'll be reincarnated in the second dimension in your next life. How about that? Sounds like a pretty good religion, right?"

"Not bad my foot! You really are drunk!"

This time, Rentaro Satomi's tone changed from questioning to affirmation, becoming resolute.

No wonder this guy has been saying strange things since earlier.

Not only does he want to join Kisaragi's nearly bankrupt company, claiming to be a member of the plundered era in his forties and fifties, but he also wants Nibekol to take on the role of the initiator, and now he even talks about having faith in the god of the two-dimensional world.

I almost believed her, which made me feel like a fool.

"Haha, as expected, no one will believe you if you just tell the truth." Honjou Nia seemed to have anticipated his reaction. "Well, I'm not planning on proselytizing or anything, so it doesn't matter whether you believe me or not."

"In my high school, I knew one or two guys who were similar to you, always saying they were chosen. Is this how all anime fans are?"

"Oh? Looks like they're still suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) and haven't graduated yet. How youthful! It's so enviable."

"Actually, there's nothing to envy; they've been bullied quite severely."

"Well, that's a different story then." A hint of sadness flashed across Nia Honjo's face. "It seems high school students these days have it pretty tough, escaping to the world of anime and manga like I have at such a young age..."

As soon as she finished speaking, before Rentaro Satomi could ask anything, a smile returned to her face.

"Well, let's not talk about these unpleasant things. It's rare for the young man to come to my house, so why don't you have a meal with Enju before you leave?"

Honjo Nia stood up, went to the kitchen, and took over the dinner that Nibekor had not yet finished.

"As payment for dinner, I'd appreciate it if you could come with me tomorrow when I register for my police license."

Chapter Six: To Be Or Not To Be

And so, the two families had dinner together in the church.

It wasn't until it was completely dark that Aihara Enju, who had come to visit Nibekor, reluctantly left the church.

Before leaving, Nia Honjo also gave them a complete set of autographed copies of "The Silver Bullet" as a gift, which made Rentaro Satomi, who came empty-handed, even more embarrassed. He had no choice but to promise to accompany her to register for a police license the next day.

And so, having eaten and drunk their fill, Rentaro Satomi and Enju Aihara, carrying a bag of manga, finally ended their visit for the day.

The night breeze made Rentaro Satomi shiver, and it also gradually calmed his mind.

"I didn't really want to interact with my neighbors this past year because of my status, but I didn't expect them to be so easy to get along with," Rentaro Satomi remarked. "Well, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. It would be nice to get along well with the Honjo family."

"Yes, yes, I told you before, although Sister Niya always stays at home, she's a really nice person!" Lan Yuan Enju happily chimed in. "If Sister Niya and Ani could become police officers and join the same company as me, that would be even better!"

A year ago, Rentaro Satomi registered his police license with the Japanese branch of the International Initiator Supervision Organization.

And the one he was assigned to as his starting point was Aihara Enju.

In order to allow her to learn and play at school like other children, and also to avoid suspicion, Rentaro Satomi moved from his original residence to this neighborhood.

This is a neighborhood that is not very close to the central district. Respectable people rarely move here to live, and the people around him have some characteristics that are not accepted by mainstream society. Therefore, he did not intend to get along well with his neighbors at first.

The Honjo family are long-time residents of this neighborhood.

When he first met this family of two, he just thought they were a strange family.

A woman who looks no more than twenty lives in an abandoned church with a girl who is about twelve years old. The twelve-year-old girl even calls the twenty-year-old woman "Mom".

In his mind, all he could picture was a tragic family where a young woman got pregnant, was abandoned by a scumbag, and had to raise her child alone as a single, underage mother.