Chapter 6

Chapter 6. The Book That Records Mysteries (4)

Confirmation Bias didn't answer my question.

She probably didn't answer because she didn't know either.

Her ability was truly difficult to understand.

Its range, its conditions, and even its power were all unclear.

It wasn't like she rolled a die and activated a different ability depending on the number that came up.

Was this just how Mysteries normally worked?

“Bias.”

“…Yes.”

A tiny voice answered.

It was Confirmation Bias.

I asked her another question.

“You can't control your ability, can you?”

“No…”

“Is that because I believe you can't control it, or was it always like that?”

“It was always like this. I think it has been this way since I was born.”

“When were you born?”

Confirmation Bias thought hard before answering.

Her voice sounded strangely absentminded.

Almost as though she were dazed.

“I don't know.”

“What?”

“I can't remember. Not a single thing…”

That was a little unexpected.

Was this a side effect of Confirmation Bias becoming human?

“Wait. Then can you still use your ability?”

“…Yes.”

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

That brief silence before her reply bothered me.

I instinctively realized something had happened to her ability.

Probably something unfavorable to her.

Had her power weakened?

Maybe it had even disappeared entirely.

That wouldn't necessarily be bad for me.

The only reason I'd turned her into a human in the first place was to make her easier to subdue.

A human was much easier to restrain than a massless shadow.

That was the entire reason.

So honestly, it might've been better if she'd completely lost her ability.

As though she'd sensed those thoughts, Confirmation Bias shook her small head from side to side.

“My ability definitely still exists. It's just… gotten a little weaker.”

“How much weaker?”

“For one thing, I can only use it inside the bedroom now.”

“Wasn't that already the case?”

Thinking about it, her ability had only affected me inside the bedroom.

I'd started having trouble communicating with the Book from the moment I stepped inside as well.

“That was only the ability that alters reality.”

“Ah. So now even the ability that amplifies beliefs can only be used in the bedroom?”

Confirmation Bias nodded.

There was a chance she was lying, but it was more likely that she was telling the truth.

After all, the Confirmation Bias I believed in was a Mystery that held a considerable amount of affection toward me.

And even if that hadn't originally been true, it would be true now.

The one most strongly affected by her power was Confirmation Bias herself.

As though confirming my thoughts, Confirmation Bias whimpered softly.

“If it's like this… I don't think I'll be much help to Master…”

“It's fine. And… let's use something other than ‘Master.’”

I had no interest in having a girl who looked like she was somewhere around middle-school age call me Master.

There were countless other things she could call me.

Why did it have to be Master?

It was embarrassing.

Still, thanks to that, the last bit of tension in me faded away.

Exhausted, I unconsciously reached out and stroked Confirmation Bias's head.

Then I startled myself.

Even if I'd just relaxed after being tense, wasn't this normally something you did because you liked someone?

She was my ally now, but until only a short while ago, she'd been someone I felt nothing but hostility toward.

I'd even considered her a Mystery that needed to be subjugated.

And yet, in less than ten minutes, I'd somehow developed enough affection for her to unconsciously pat her head.

Even taking into account how relieved I felt, this wasn't normal.

Realizing that, I pulled my hand away.

Confirmation Bias, who had been leaning into my touch and almost purring, looked up at me with eyes full of disappointment.

With a dejected expression, she quietly asked,

“Then… what should I call you?”

“Hmm. Is there something you want to call me?”

I spoke while suppressing the affection trying to force its way to the surface.

Even while talking, I could feel my body relaxing and my tone becoming unusually cheerful.

If those were entirely my own emotions, I wouldn't have cared.

But I doubted they were.

It was becoming difficult to stay calm.

I hurriedly took Confirmation Bias out of the bedroom before she could answer.

The moment we crossed the doorway, I immediately felt my emotions settle down.

So I really had been under her influence.

I shouldn't go into the bedroom anymore.

Do I have to keep sleeping on the sofa until I solve this?

Maybe someone in the Gallery would know how to fix the problem.

Once I finished everything else, I planned to open the Gallery immediately.

For now, though, we should finish our conversation.

I sat on the sofa with Confirmation Bias.

She fidgeted with her tiny hands.

Right.

We'd been talking about what she should call me.

“Have you decided?”

Confirmation Bias swallowed nervously, then opened her mouth with a trembling expression.

“Um…”

“You can say it. What do you think would be good?”

She swallowed several more times before finally answering.

“W-What about… Dad…?”

“Dad?”

“Yes…”

A father at twenty-two.

And not just any father.

A father with a daughter who looked somewhere in her mid-to-late teens.

Good lord.

That title was just as shocking as Master.

To think she could shake my emotions this badly even outside the bedroom.

She was already capable of controlling my emotions.

As expected of a dangerous Mystery.

“…Seriously? That's what you want to call me?”

“If you don't like it… that's okay…”

Her trembling voice.

Her wavering eyes.

Her moist eyelids.

Even the corners of her lips were twitching.

She tried to lift them into a smile, as if to say she was fine and it didn't matter.

But her stiff expression couldn't form anything resembling a natural smile.

The result was an expression that seemed to embody the very word pitiful.

What the hell had I done?

When I transformed her, did I really have to imagine a young girl?

Believing that she liked me had been unavoidable if I wanted to prevent betrayal.

But her appearance hadn't been necessary.

What had I done?

As guilt quietly washed over me, I had no choice but to nod.

At my approval, her expression slowly changed.

Her lips parted slightly as she stared blankly at me.

Then a radiant smile blossomed across her face.

Her bright eyes overflowed with uncontrollable joy, and her small white hands and feet trembled with happiness.

As though savoring the word, she quietly repeated it before calling out to me.

“Dad…”

“Yeah.”

“Dad…!”

“That's right.”

While we were doing that, the Book flew over and lightly tapped my head with its pages.

Calling it a tap was generous.

It barely even touched me.

When I looked at the Book and asked what was wrong, it sent several emotions directly into my mind.

The strongest one was jealousy.

Apparently, it was upset because I wasn't paying attention to it.

When I told it that couldn't be helped, the Book tapped me again.

This time, I heard a thought.

The Book demanded that I pet it immediately.

I stroked the Book with one hand while opening it with the other.

The prologue appeared.

Nothing had changed.

I tried turning the page just in case, but the next page still wouldn't open.

Wasn't this enough already?

Was raising affection normally this difficult?

I needed detailed information about Confirmation Bias and the Veil as soon as possible.

Neither of them seemed likely to cause any trouble, but the more information I had, the better.

Especially when it came to the Veil stuck to my hand.

At the very least, I needed to understand what it could do.

I stroked the Book even more vigorously and sank my entire body into the sofa.

“Maybe it's because I solved one incident.”

My body was gradually becoming sluggish.

It felt like I could fall asleep the instant I closed my eyes.

But I couldn't.

There was still one thing left to do.

It concerned the information I considered most important.

I turned on my phone and connected to the internet.

The internet was still working.

Feeling relieved, I opened countless websites, including MeTube and Gogle, and searched for Mysteries.

As expected, countless impossible videos appeared one after another.

Before today, I would've dismissed them all as fake or edited footage.

Apparently, I wasn't the only person who had encountered Mysteries.

“But they already know what they're called?”

People could've called them strange phenomena, anomalies, or countless other names.

And yet everyone was referring to them using the exact same word—

Mysteries.

Curious, I searched a little more.

Apparently, the government had officially designated those beings as Mysteries.

It was surprising that the government had somehow gotten the name exactly right.

Was that really a coincidence?

I was skeptical.

It seemed more likely that the government had a helper just like I did.

A helper that wasn't human—

But a Mystery.

“The whole world is full of Mysteries.”

News articles.

Online communities.

MeTube.

Practically every platform was overflowing with discussions about Mysteries.

As I looked through them, I realized just how many Mysteries existed.

There was a newly discovered island at the center of the Bermuda Triangle, along with an unimaginably enormous tree growing upon it.

There were photographs of the moon showing subtle changes in the patterns across its surface.

There was an area where every single person who had fallen asleep had failed to wake up.

There was even footage of a creature that looked half-human and half-wolf running around while ripping zombies apart.

There were countless Mysteries.

And just as many different types.

What amazed me most was that these weren't delusional stories written by some single lunatic.

Governments and organizations from all across the world had officially announced these incidents.

I'd never planned on going outside in the first place.

But now, I wanted to leave even less.

The Book, my pet.

The Veil, my pet glove.

And Confirmation Bias, who was something like my home's mascot.

With those three and the Gallery, I didn't think I'd feel lonely even if I stayed here.

I pulled all three of them close and opened the Gallery.