MF Bunko J Summer School Festival 2019 Booklet Adventure Record Short Stories
Just past midnight. In a cramped bar in the basement of a mixed use building on the outskirts of Roppongi's entertainment district, occupying a space of just over 66 square meters. Only two customers were inside. A man and a woman sat side by side at the counter, peering at some phone.
"Looking at it like this, it really does look exactly the same as today..."
"Right? I was quite surprised when I saw this myself."
"But even so, isn't the image remarkably clear? It feels completely timeless."
The screen displayed a single photograph.
The person in it appeared to be Rose.
"It was actually a much older photo, but we used modern technology to retouch it and convert it to full color. It really did accidentally get mixed in with our collection of photos from the Western frontier era."
"Honestly, in this day and age, walking around outside dressed like that would be pretty embarrassing."
"I wonder what that child would say if she heard that? I'm really curious."
As Nishino said, the outfit captured in the photograph was a far cry from the student uniforms and all-black work attire of recent years it was something that evoked a bygone era. Heavy leather gloves and boots, a well-worn cloak, and underneath it all, a very revealing outfit.
It was the sort of assassin-like appearance seen in media works of that nature.
"Judging by this outfit, she must have been doing similar work back then?"
"Well? There are no records left, and I don't like to talk about it either, you know."
Beyond the counter, Marquis polished glasses.
Though he usually showed little interest in customers' conversations, today he kept stealing glances at the phone in Francisca's hand.
Just then, the shop door swung open.
A dry clang of bells echoed through the space.
The figure who appeared was none other than the person they'd just been talking about.
"Oh, Nishino-kun. What a coincidence to meet you here."
"Well, it seems the person herself has arrived at just the right moment."
"To show up at a time like this... "
".........What are you talking about?"
Following Nishino and Francisca's cryptic remarks, Rose stepped closer to the pair.
Her gaze naturally fell upon the photograph displayed on the phone in the latter's hand. The instant she saw it, her previously sweet expression stiffened abruptly. Her lips began to twitch and tremble slightly.
Sensing the impending commotion, Marquis silently distanced himself from them.
"Francisca, how did something like that end up in your possession?"
"Hehehehe, I was looking at young Rose-chan with him."
"............."
"Come to think of it, Rose-chan was quite the adventurer back in the day, wasn't she?"
"D-Delete it! Right now!"
"Since it was pulled from the organization's database, deleting it here won't matter there are countless copies. It's not something you or I can control with our permissions."
For a while after that, Marquis's stayed bustling later than usual.
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