Chapter 36: The Strange Hotel's Three Brothers' Oath
Hearing that, Asagiri nodded in satisfaction and let out a pleased chuckle.
"Mm. Beloved minister, your words truly soothe my heart."
Asuna stared at him, half speechless.
"Wasn't this Water Margin? How did it suddenly turn into an emperor?"
Asagiri answered with absolute conviction. "This is the Water Margin IF route. Three Brothers' Oath in the Peach Garden. Romance of the Three Kingdoms Gundam Linked Super Enhanced Version."
"What are you even saying?" Asuna pinched the bridge of her nose. "How did it jump from Water Margin to Three Kingdoms again…"
She rolled her eyes, then turned to Kotoko, who was sitting with perfect posture, elegant and composed like a true young lady. Asuna held out her phone.
"Kotoko, since we've decided to team up, let's add each other as friends first."
"Okay."
Kotoko didn't make a big deal out of it. She simply opened the eye icon APP, tapped into the add friend function, and lightly touched her phone to Asuna's.
[You have successfully added "Player" Yuuki Asuna as a friend]
[You have successfully added "Player" Iwanaga Kotoko as a friend]
"So that's your name…" Kotoko glanced at the notification, then handed her phone to Asagiri with a smile. "Should we add each other too, Leader?"
"Sure."
[You have successfully added "Player" Iwanaga Kotoko as a friend]
[You have successfully added "Player" Utsunomiya Asagiri as a friend]
Kotoko's eyes flicked across the confirmation again, thoughtful.
"So those are your real names. Then 'Leader' and 'Violet' were just code names you used in the dungeon?"
"Yes." Asuna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her tone calm. "To avoid exposing our real names. You should come up with a code name too."
"A code name…" Kotoko looked genuinely intrigued. She rested a finger against her chin, thinking with exaggerated seriousness. After a few seconds, she smiled brightly.
"Then I'll be called Leader's girlfriend."
Asuna froze for a full beat before her eyebrows shot up.
"Hey. Pick a proper code name. Don't sneak in your personal agenda."
"I think it's great," Kotoko replied, completely unrepentant, as if she was ready to register it on the spot.
Asuna sighed, pressed a hand to her forehead, then turned to Asagiri for backup.
"Leader, say something. How can she…"
"Yeah." Asagiri nodded gravely. "How can she come up with a code name like that?"
Asuna's shoulders loosened in relief, right until he continued.
"How about this. I'm the Butter Shooter. You'll definitely become a Warlock or something later, so you're the Ham Sausage Warlock. And Violet will be the Bread Swordsman."
Asuna's eye twitched.
"What kind of ridiculous code names are those? Are we some kind of western fantasy sandwich combo?" She jabbed a finger toward him. "And besides, yes, I'm a Swordsman, and she might become a Warlock, but your profession and talent have nothing to do with being a shooter."
"Heh." Asagiri's grin turned smug. "No relation? Do you know what won best shooting game of the year?"
"No," Asuna said flatly. "I don't play games."
"It doesn't matter, because the winner wasn't a game either. It was a certain software called JM Paradise."
"Huh?" Asuna blinked. "What does that have to do with shooting?"
"That's exactly why you don't understand why I'm the Butter Shooter." Asagiri waved a hand like a seasoned scholar. "Later, I'll explain it slowly."
Asuna opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.
"Okay… Wait, no. What do you mean, 'okay'?" She caught herself, horrified at how the conversation had slipped away again. "You two, please, be serious."
"A proper code name, then." Kotoko tilted her head, finally relenting. "In that case…"
Asuna watched her like she was defusing a bomb, terrified Kotoko would say something even worse.
Fortunately, Kotoko didn't make trouble this time.
"Necro. How about that?"
"Necro…" Asuna repeated, frowning slightly as she turned the word over in her mind. "Is that even a—"
Asagiri cut in with a smile. "Necro comes from the Necronomicon, from the Cthulhu Mythos. The first five letters. It suits you, and it fits your talent."
Kotoko's eyes brightened with interest. "Oh? Leader, you know Cthulhu?"
Asagiri waved his hand modestly, even while clearly showing off. "Just a little. Just a little."
Watching Kotoko and Asagiri talk so naturally, Asuna felt a strange little sting in her chest. Before she could stop herself, she cut in.
"Fine. Necro it is." She steadied her tone, then looked at Kotoko seriously. "But I'm curious. You and Leader both awakened exclusive talents. What does that APP base its judgment on? How does it decide what talent suits someone best?"
Kotoko's smile softened.
"I'm not sure about Leader's situation. But for me…" She paused, then said quietly, "God of Wisdom of Supernatural isn't something I awakened after entering a dungeon."
Asuna's eyes widened.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Kotoko's expression remained gentle, but the words she spoke landed like a stone.
"God of Wisdom of the Supernatural isn't just my exclusive talent. It's also my identity in the real world."
Asuna's face changed completely.
Before Asuna could even ask the next question, Kotoko continued on her own, as if she'd already decided there was no point hiding it now.
When Kotoko was eleven, she did go missing. But it wasn't kidnappers seeking ransom who took her.
It was a group of yokai.
That was why the police could never find any clues.
The reason the yokai took her was simple. Most of them weren't very smart. They needed a God of Wisdom to mediate disputes, resolve incidents, and maintain balance between the world of oddities and human society.
And the price of becoming that God of Wisdom was losing one eye and one leg.
Kotoko emphasized one thing calmly, as if she'd repeated it many times before.
The yokai did not force her.
Trading an eye and a leg for the position was her own choice.
From that day on, she gained the ability to observe oddities. She became the God of Wisdom for the supernatural, the Princess of the yokai, and she had remained in that role until now.
"No, wait." Asuna's voice came out cautious, disbelieving despite herself. "Are you saying… in the real world, yokai actually exist?"
"Yes," Kotoko said simply. Then she smiled, as if to reassure her.
She rose, smoothed her skirt, placed her white beret back on her head, and spoke with calm certainty.
"But you don't need to worry. Most yokai won't harm humans, and they won't interfere with normal society. They just want to live quietly. And they aren't allowed to appear freely in front of humans, so there's no need to be afraid."
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