I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

"Still, that’s a relief. At least it’s been resolved."
「Yeah. And it’s all thanks to you, Yu-seong.」
"I didn’t really do anything. If anything, Mahes had it way harder than me."

I said that while looking at the brown-skinned Egyptian ghost floating beside Ryuji.
「Hm. You should be grateful, contractor. Without me, that girl couldn’t have been saved.」
That was true. Without Mahes, Ryuji wouldn’t have been able to accept Saya… or rather, Chiaki now.

Chiaki had so much yin energy that if she’d possessed an ordinary person, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to just drop dead.
But because Ryuji already had Mahes—who carried immense yang energy—inside him, they were able to maintain balance by some miracle.
You could call it yin and yang in harmony.

Thanks to that, he’d gotten a massive power-up, and honestly, I was a little scared of how much stronger he was going to get.
After the possession was lifted, Sasha had taken a car back home, and the four of us stayed behind to talk about everything we hadn’t had time for earlier.
To anyone else, it probably looked insane.
Two perfectly normal-looking high schoolers talking to empty air.

That’s why we’d intentionally chosen a quiet, empty park as our meeting spot—to avoid those kinds of stares.
"How have you been?"
「Oh? Me…」

Despite it being their first time meeting again in a while, Ryuji and Chiaki chatted as if no time had passed at all.
Thanks to that, Mahes ended up a third wheel and plopped down next to me with a look of mild disapproval.
「Good for them.」

I turned to Mahes and asked,
"Come to think of it, Mahes—how old were you when you died?"
「That’s a bit sudden, don’t you think?」

"No real reason. Just curious."
Mahes let out a dry chuckle and answered.
「I died just past my thirtieth year. I was fighting alongside fellow warriors against the Clan of Night, who came from beyond the Nile.」

"Clan of Night?"
「They claimed descent from Set, the god of war. Our tribe worshipped the goddess Bastet, daughter of Ra, so naturally we were enemies.」
Sun and night, huh?

Smells like foreshadowing.
「Even though I died in our final battle, as the Sun's Great Warrior, the Clan of Night was nearly annihilated. Their lineage must have died out completely by now.」
"Yeah, that’s a flag."
「Hm? What do you mean?」

"In manga, saying something like that usually leads to, ‘Ta-da! The Clan of Night has actually survived in secret all along!’"
「Hah, you say the strangest things. Manga is just fiction. There’s no way a tribe that vanished thousands of years ago could still exist.」
Hard to take that seriously coming from the most unrealistic being in the entire world.

"Anyway, let’s change the subject. Something more grounded, please."
「Fair enough. Then let’s talk about something else.」
Mahes stroked his chin.

「From what I’ve seen, you’ve got tremendous potential as a warrior. Honestly, it’d be a shame to leave that raw talent untouched.」
"Please don’t say things like that. You’re just making it harder for me."

「True, strength like that could be more of a curse in peaceful times. Don’t worry, I won’t force anything. It’s not good for the dead to meddle in the affairs of the living, anyway.」

"…Don’t you think that’s a bit contradictory, considering how you usually act?"
As far as I knew, Ryuji’s contract with Mahes basically had him wandering Japan after graduation on a dojo-conquering spree.
All because this ghost couldn’t get enough of fighting strong opponents.

But instead of answering, the pharaoh just laughed heartily and clapped me on the shoulder.
「That kid’s already bound to me. Doesn’t matter. Meeting me was part of his fate anyway.」
"Fate?"

「Something that must happen—or something that inevitably will. Depends on who you ask. Him throwing himself into the tomb to save his family, meeting me there, making a contract… it was all part of a greater flow. You could say it was meant to be.」
I’d always known Mahes wasn’t your run-of-the-mill ghost, but it really felt like he was hiding something huge.
Still, as a third party, there was no way I could dig it out of him.

「That’s why I have high hopes for you.」
"Hopes?"
「Fate is like the waterfall of the Nile—you can’t swim against it. But the people around you… their fates, big or small, seem to warp in your presence. As a warrior and priest, I can feel it.」
"……."

I was honestly floored by what he said.
Mahes had basically seen straight through me.
「Whether it’ll be a blessing or a curse, I don’t know. But at the very least, I hope you continue forward in the direction you believe is right. That’s all I ask of you.」

With that, Mahes stood up first.
「Let’s head back, contractor. The sun will be setting soon.」
Chiaki, who’d been flirting with Ryuji the whole time, looked up.

“Oh? Guess we should, huh?”
And got to her feet as well.
Since we were all heading the same way anyway, we left the park together and walked off into the sunset.

***
Nearly a week had passed since the second semester started.
Even the kids who’d hated going to class were starting to get used to the routine by now.

I was one of them—and honestly, school life wasn’t going badly.
But lately, something had been bugging me.
"……."

"Ryu-chan? What’s wrong all of a sudden?"
"I dunno… I felt like someone was watching me."
I reflexively turned my head, but there was no one there. I tilted my head in confusion.

My nape had been prickling for a few days now.
At first I’d thought it was just my imagination, but the constant sense of being watched was getting on my nerves.
‘Where the hell’s Chiaki when you need her?’

Just a week ago, I’d been exhausted from how clingy she was. But now that she was gone, the silence felt huge.
I must’ve gotten too used to having her around.
Anyway, we were in the middle of talking about Jump when I felt it again—

ZAP!
A sharp sensation hit the back of my head, and I jumped to my feet.
"Who’s there?!"

I heard hurried footsteps running away from the rear door of the classroom.

By the time I rushed outside, all I could see was a retreating figure in the distance.
Satoru popped out a moment later and said,

"Wasn’t that Ayabe-senpai from the Newspaper Club?"
"Ayabe-senpai?"
"You know, the one who tried to interview you when you were going around crushing dojos."

That comment made me recall something from the past.
‘Kim Yu-seong-kun! What are your thoughts right now?’
‘Please go through my manager if you want an interview.’

…Right. That was the one Rika had dealt with.
"But why the hell is someone like her spying on me?"
"You’re being spied on?"

"It’s been like five days now."
"Maybe the school paper’s just desperate for stories these days?"
She was in the Newspaper Club, so it wasn’t out of the question.

"But doesn’t she have to study for the university entrance exams?"
She’s got time to tail me all day?
Satoru shrugged.

"She’s insanely smart. Probably top ten in the third year."
A girl like that trailing me for five days straight… It just made less and less sense.
"If you’re that curious, why not just ask her directly?"

"What?"
"You’re in the student council, right? Use your shadow council powers and zap! Wipe her out."
Satoru even made a neck-slitting gesture.

That was enough to make the other kids start whispering.
"Yu-seong’s gonna ‘take care’ of her?"
"Think she’ll end up cemented and dumped in Tokyo Bay?"

"She’s totally disappearing tomorrow."
I could feel a massive misunderstanding brewing.
I shot Satoru a deadly glare, and he yelped, “Whoops, too hot!” before scurrying back to his desk.

Left alone in the hallway, I let out a small sigh and decided to deal with it during lunch.
***
Lunch break.

I’d come by the student council room to eat lunch for ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) the first time in a while and maybe ask about the Newspaper Club stuff, only to find the vice president mid-freakout in front of his laptop.
"What’s going on?"
"Just a little more! I almost had it! But then some random dragonfly took aggro and I died!"

I leaned over to peek at the screen.
Some dark fantasy-style game that was trending lately was running on it.
"…Best of luck, sir."

I left the broken vice president behind and turned to the student council president, who was seated in her usual spot.
"Madam President, have you eaten yet?"
She gave me a soft smile and shook her head.

"Not yet. Somehow I had a feeling today might be a good day."
With that, she stood up and moved to the guest sofa.
"Looks like you haven’t eaten either, Yu-seong-kun. Let’s have lunch together."

"Yes, thank you."
I gratefully accepted and took a seat across from her.