For the past few days, the same news had been playing repeatedly on TV.
The "Large-Scale Expedition Team Annihilation Accident"—that was what it had been called.
—As you can see, the expedition team was very well-balanced in composition, so we believe there were almost no issues with their formation.—
—But I’ve heard that even mementos were hardly recovered? Considering that, it’s hard to ignore the voices demanding Echigo Trading Company be held responsible…—
In the end, the truth about the large-scale expedition team from the clan Echigo Trading Company and their master Echigo Yaeka was completely covered up. It was announced that they were wiped out due to the "appearance of an irregular monster."
Conveniently, the fact that an "Ameiva Lord Core" had been recovered from the reward box gave considerable credibility to that explanation.
And at the same time, it also helped to spread the fame of a certain Awakener—Kogami Inari—even further.
The one who ended the tragedy, a bright new idol among Awakeners. That’s how it was portrayed.
—Take a look! Fox-themed goods are a huge trend in the city right now! You can see people wearing the fox-ear headbands sold by FoxPhone. Let’s hear from some of them! Excuse me, do you know about the Awakener Kogami Inari?—
—Of course I do!—
—She’s so cute and strong, it’s amazing! I want to awaken and be like Inari-chan too!—
As opposites coexist to maintain balance, so too do bright and dark news stories cancel each other out, preventing the darkness from leaving too heavy a mark on people’s hearts.
Or maybe... people simply don't want to remember the tragedies. Or maybe, to turn away from sadness, they need hope. Well, you could explain it in many ways.
Either way, the Awakener Association was predicting that in another month or so, everything would return to normal daily life.
In any case, the Japan Branch of the Awakener Association would skillfully handle the information control.
The story about an "evil god" was considered too sensitive to even properly judge internally—and that was the main reason.
Whether that was truly fine or not, Inari couldn't say. She couldn’t, but… well, it wasn’t her place to say anything either.
Inari didn’t fully grasp the complexities of human society to begin with.
Thus, what was Inari doing now? She was sitting before a bowl of rice heaped with furikake, sparkling eyes filled with joy.
The collaboration of yellow egg flavor and black nori seaweed.
And beneath them, the gleaming white rice.
The harmony was so beautiful it was as if it had been divinely ordained.
The ultimate and most basic form of noritamago furikake.
Truly wonderful, Inari thought. It was nothing less than a crystallization of human wisdom.
Those tiny yellow grains, the finely shredded nori—each packed with history.
When placed in the mouth, the crisp texture and the delicious interplay with the rice created a symphony of flavor.
The rice embraced the furikake, enhancing the joy of every bite.
"Ahh, delicious... why is furikake so wondrously tasty, I wonder…"
"With your earnings, Miss Kogami, you could be eating way fancier meals... You could probably eat an entire restaurant's supply every day and not run out of money."
Sitting across from her, Yasuno grumbled between mouthfuls. Se had come over to deliver a report and ended up being treated to furikake rice.
"Even so, pouring furikake onto one's rice without restraint is, in itself, quite the luxury, I would say."
"I'm relieved you have such solid money sense..."
Honestly, Yasuno kind of understood too. Even if she were to eat high-class food, she probably wouldn’t tell much difference. Admitting that felt like losing, though, so Yasuno decided to stop thinking about it. When she glanced at the TV again, they were running a special on how fried tofu was becoming popular now.
"...They're really going all-in on this, huh."
"By the way, Miss Kogami, do you like aburaage?"
"Aburaage, hm... I do not dislike it."
"Not dislike, but?"
"Ye see, they stuff rice into aburaage and call it... inari-zushi, do they not?"
"Yeah, they do."
"To eat something bearing thine own name... it doth feel a little, well, strange."
"Uh, I guess...?"
Yasuno wisely decided not to say, “I don't really get it.” She stuffed another mouthful of furikake rice into her mouth and swallowed, letting any unnecessary comments go down along with it.
"...Furikake rice is super delicious though."
"Umu. I couldst live on this for all three meals, verily."
"Okay, that’s a bit much for me…"
Despite Yasuno's mild protest, Inari happily continued eating her furikake rice.
Dungeons, the System, beings akin to gods, their apostles...
The deeper she went, the more confusing everything became. What was happening to this world? What were the System and the Dungeons?
She had yet to obtain the key that would unravel it all.
However—Inari had no intention of stopping.
Step by step, slowly but surely, she would continue to solve the mysteries of this strange world.
She didn’t know what might lie ahead.
But still, she had already made her decision: She would keep moving forward.