Bonus Short Stories

Question Corner 2

Tomochika: Hello! I’m Tomochika Dannoura, and this is Question Corner 2! Yes, the second one! I don’t know if there was much demand for this, but we’ll be responding to questions from readers just like last time!

Mokomoko: Indeed, this time we actually received questions from readers, so we will be able to answer them properly!

Tomochika: You admit that you made the last ones up yourself awfully easily!

Mokomoko: There was nothing to be done about it. Saying that we could receive questions without asking for them from the future or another dimension was simply an attempt to fool the audience!

Tomochika: Really? Okay, whatever. Let’s go on to the first question!

Q: Hello, Miss Dannoura. My favorite kind of bun is cream-filled. I’m a total bean sprout. Do you have any recommended training regimens or health practices?

Kanna Izayoi

Tomochika: Oh, looks like we actually have a name this time!

Mokomoko: We did talk about adding names when we were making the questions ourselves but decided that would be too much work.

Tomochika: So, training? I wonder why they’re asking me...

Mokomoko: No doubt because you practice an ancient martial art.

Tomochika: I suppose that’s true. I don’t do anything particularly special. I guess the most I do is walk around half-bent over.

Mokomoko: For a serious response, run! If you run, things will generally work out well!

Q: Hello, hello, Yogiri. My favorite rice ball filling is chopped bonito. What’s your favorite topping for bread? Also, could you eat a curry bun that used to be part of someone’s head?

Yukiko F.

Yogiri: Bread toppings? I like piroshkis.

Tomochika: I like tuna the best, personally.

Yogiri: As far as the curry bun that used to be someone’s head, that’s from that kids’ anime, right?

Tomochika: Yeah, everyone kind of ignored it, but you never see such a weird thing anywhere else, do you?

Yogiri: I guess it would be hard to turn it down if he tore it off and gave it to me. In the end it’s just a curry bun at that point, so I could probably eat it.

Tomochika: I’m more worried about the health aspect of it.

Mokomoko: Aside from the hero’s rival, there are no germs or bacteria in that world, so it is probably safe to consume, don’t you think?

Yogiri: Bacteria just die on their own for me, so I’m not that worried about food poisoning or anything.

Q: Greetings, one named Yogiri. Would your power be capable of slaying an individual’s powers?

Kanraru

Tomochika: Whoa, it’s a question actually related to the content of the series!

Yogiri: I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it would be difficult, I guess. My power is really made to kill living things.

Tomochika: Uhh, up until now, you’ve killed plenty of things like ice, gravity, and radiation, though.

Yogiri: Well, a situation like that will probably come up sooner or later, don’t you think?

Q: Good evening, Mokomoko. I like tenshindon with red bean paste on it. What do you think of the trend of everything being its own diet these days? Also, how do you feel about not being able to eat now that you’re a ghost?

Falcon

Mokomoko: The basic principle of the Dannoura way is, “Eat when you can! Weight is power!”

Tomochika: Okay, no connecting this to a conversation about my weight.

Mokomoko: As far as not being able to eat as a ghost, well, I am not too concerned about it. There is nothing to be gained by complaining.

Q: In a previous “Instant Death” work, you made a reference to the “Noro General Hospital.”

Did Noro end up fully awakening as a vampire?

You said they had seven servants of their own. What is the breakdown of those servants (as far as moderates and radicals)?

881374

Tomochika: I had no idea what this was about, so I had to look it up. This is talking about a comment from volume five, chapter three. I did know there was a hospital with that name, but I don’t know anything else about it, so I’ll pass this one on to Mokomoko!

Mokomoko: I suppose I would be the only one who knows about such things! Aiko Noro did in fact fully awaken. Chiharu got wrapped up in all sorts of things that ended up happening.

Tomochika: Oh, Chiharu is my older sister, by the way. I think she was mentioned in passing in volume one!

Mokomoko: Then, as far as moderates and radicals... This may seem a bit confusing to people who suddenly come across this in the question corner, but I suppose out of her twelve thralls, three of them would be considered radicals.

Yogiri: If you want to know more, read My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World volumes 1-7, published by HJ Bunko (English edition published by J-Novel Club).

Tomochika: And suddenly we’re doing ads?!

Mokomoko: That is all for now! We are still accepting questions, so please continue to send them in!

Expenses

In a meeting room at the Independent Higher Order Lifeform Research Institute, two men sat across from each other at a table. One was the researcher Shiraishi, the other his superior, Okudera.

“What is this?” Okudera asked, not hiding his irritation.

“I can’t really say I’m sure what you’re referring to.”

As Shiraishi tried to play dumb, a stack of papers slammed down onto the table in front of him. Okudera had been glaring at the documents earlier, so even Shiraishi knew what it was all about.

“Ah, the expense report is ready, then. Is something wrong with it?”

“Are you insane?! Are you saying you really need this stuff?”

“Honestly, I don’t think either of us know what is ‘necessary’ at this point. If Miss Takatou has decided that she needs it, I’m sure she’s correct.”

Okudera had shown up after Shiraishi’s previous boss had died, so he wasn’t too familiar with the situation underground.

“Listen, I’m not really worried about the money here. I heard there’s a monster down there capable of destroying the world. If you’re saying this is necessary to keep it restrained, I don’t care how much it costs. But this? Retro consoles and games? Why on earth would she need those?!”

“Probably to play with, right?”

“And this clock that measures button presses? Toys like this were around even when I was a kid!”

“Probably to help train him to hit buttons on the controller faster. That is what it measures, after all.”

“But why?!”

“Probably for this, right?” Shiraishi pulled out a paper with the title of a Famicom shooting game on it.

“Oh, so that he can destroy that giant face before everything merges together?”

“Oh, looks like you know about it. Some expert did that once, right?”

“I was a part of that generation...but that’s not what this is about! Is this really necessary for keeping ΑΩ in check?”

“I guess it’s probably not.”

“This Takatou person is probably just playing around, isn’t she?!”

“You think so? I can’t say for sure, but I get the same impression.”

“And you’re okay with that?!” Okudera shouted.

“Well, according to Miss Takatou’s reports, he likes playing the games with her, so I’d consider that necessary, wouldn’t you?”

“I can’t do anything about what happened before, but now that I’m in charge, I expect fully detailed reports about these things in the future!” Since he was new here, it looked like Okudera was trying to bring up some obvious problems in order to make his presence feel more pronounced.

“Now that I’m in charge,” huh? Shiraishi thought. People died here very often. Though he kept the thought to himself, he wondered how long Okudera would last.

Adventure Game

Under the Independent Higher Order Lifeform Research Institute, there was a deep underground cavern containing a small-scale village. It existed solely to isolate the boy known as ΑΩ, Yogiri Takatou, and was also occupied by Asaka Takatou, the woman responsible for taking care of him. Asaka regularly returned to the surface, but today was a rare occasion where she had brought someone down with her on her way back.

“Welcome home, Asaka!” Yogiri jumped out, greeting her energetically on her return. “Who is this?” He immediately looked suspicious when he noticed the young man in a lab coat standing beside her.

“Haha, I think we’ve met a number of times. My name is Shiraishi.”

Asaka could understand Shiraishi’s hesitance. Reminding Yogiri of who he was must have been an unsettling thought, but as Shiraishi said, they had already met before, so there was no point in trying to avoid it now.

“What are you here for, Shiraishi?” Yogiri asked.

“Miss Takatou asked me to help set up an old computer.”

“Oh, that thing. It’s over here!” He ran off into the mansion.

“You said you wanted to get an old computer working, but what exactly for?” Shiraishi asked, turning to Asaka.

“I wanted to try playing an old game, but when I looked it up there was no newer version of it, so you need a computer from that time period to actually run it. And when the computer arrived, I had no idea how to set it up.”

“I don’t have that much free time, you know?” Shiraishi said. Yet, he still treated it as a top priority, not wanting to risk anything that might cause Yogiri to lose his temper. Asaka knew something like that wouldn’t happen, but she had encouraged Shiraishi to come along anyway.

The two of them headed to the living room. There was a computer with a CRT monitor and keyboard built in sitting there. The cables were connected and the power was plugged in, but that was as far as Asaka had made it. She didn’t know how to get the programs they needed running.

“Well, getting these things working is pretty difficult for most people nowadays. Is this the game you’re trying to play?” Shiraishi picked up the cassette sitting next to the computer.

“Yeah. Apparently, it’s a legendary game, so I wanted to try it,” Asaka replied.

Shiraishi connected the tape recorder, inserted the cassette, entered some commands into the keyboard, and the game was soon playable.

“Are you good at things like this?” Asaka asked.

“To a degree. But please don’t call me down here for this type of thing again.”

“Okay, let’s try it right now!”

“Yeah!”

Yogiri and Asaka sat down in front of the computer. Displayed on the monitor was an adventure game based on the motif of a famous theme park that had named itself after Tokyo despite being in Chiba prefecture.

“You have to type in the commands yourself?! And in English?!” Asaka immediately complained. Actions in the game were all done by entering English words. That was the kind of game it was.

“Why did you decide to play this game if you don’t even know that much about it?” In the end, Shiraishi had to stay with them as they played through the game.

Question Corner 2: Bonus Section

Tomochika: Hello! Welcome to the question corner! Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, didn’t we already see a section like this?” That’s correct! Actually, we got a lot more questions than expected, so we decided to answer some of the questions we didn’t get to before!

Mokomoko: The other Question Corner was included in a different store’s special bonus story, though...

Tomochika: It’s fine! If you don’t collect all the different bonus stories, you won’t understand the full scope of the story!

Mokomoko: Well, the questions have no particular relation to each other, so if you don’t see them all, it won’t be any particular hindrance.

Tomochika: So, let’s get to the questions!

Q: Bad morning! It looks like it’s going to be raining ducks today! By the way, my favorite kind of udon is Nagashi Soumen! Takatou! I have a question for you! Between paella and French bread, what kind of ramen do you like?! Oh, when you answer, please say why you like that kind of fried food!

Kikuchisan

Tomochika: They wrote their name as “Kikuchisan.” So in the end it ends up being Kikuchisan-san? Anyway, I don’t understand the question at all, so next!

Q: I have a question for Mokomoko. Please tell me how you came to know Hiehie Dannoura’s son (your husband) in detail! Please and thank you!

Uenosuke Genkunin

Tomochika: If you’re wondering who Hiehie is, that’s the name of the creator of the Dannoura School of Archery.

Yogiri: He never came up in the novels, did he?

Tomochika: That’s right. Actually, he only showed up in the short story called “The Dannoura School of Archery” at the end of the first volume of the manga! So you can consider it like another store exclusive I guess! Anyway, go ahead, Mokomoko!

Mokomoko: Hmm. I suppose it could help in spreading the Dannoura school’s influence, so very well.

Tomochika: Actually, his father’s name was Hiehie, and your name is Mokomoko, but what was your husband’s name?

Mokomoko: Pikapika Dannoura.

Tomochika: What kind of name is that? Is he going to shoot me with a hundred thousand volts of electricity too?

Mokomoko: In the era I was born in, everyone had names like that!

Tomochika: What was wrong with the Heian era?

Mokomoko: Anyway, the question was how we met. He passed by the front of my family’s mansion. I thought he was beautifully robust and fell for him immediately, so I attacked him and dragged him inside.

Tomochika: So, love at first sight, then—wait, you attacked him?! And dragged him inside?!

Mokomoko: Why are you so surprised? That was how things were back then. Whether it was land or men, you took what you wanted.

Tomochika: What was wrong with the Heian era?!

Mokomoko: So, when Sir Hiehie came to retrieve his son, we got along so well that we decided to make the marriage official. And I spared no effort in helping to develop the Dannoura School!

Tomochika: So you left Pikapika out almost entirely!

Mokomoko: He was pretty weak. Such a person could never get their opinions heard!

Tomochika: And that’s it for the bonus questions! We’re still collecting more, so feel free to send them in!