Chapter 2: The Mole People and the Magical Girl

We laid the girl down in the guest room on the second floor of Nozomiya, and I had Satsuki make her some rice porridge. She seemed very weak, but some food and water went a long way to improving her pallid appearance.

“...Whew. Thank you, I appreciate it,” the girl said as she got up from her futon and bowed. The accessories she was wearing, which appeared to be made of stone, clinked together as she moved.

She seemed to be out of danger now. Sitting on either side of her, both Satsuki and I felt relieved.

“I’m glad you’re doing better,” Satsuki replied, smiling.

“Thank you. I dropped my light and my food on the way up... I figured it would be better to head for the surface instead of going back. That’s how I ended up like this.”

I blinked.

“Head for the surface?”

That made it sound like she’d come from somewhere strange.

“Yes, actually. I’m from an underground village on a mission to the surface of the earth.”

“...”

Did that mean she was one of the mole people?

She gasped and looked down when she saw our expressions.

“I’m sorry. This must sound incredible, huh?” She bowed to us again.

“Umm...” I tried to say something, but was quickly stumped when I realized I didn’t know her name.

She introduced herself as Tetra Metra Retra, and when she turned to look at me, I could see her brown eyes. Evidently they only shone in the dark.

“Okay, Tetra. When you said ‘help me’ back there, what did you mean? You said something about a monster... Can you tell me more?”

It was just me, Satsuki, Tetra, and R in the room now. We were all well-versed in the fantastical, so we could listen without any prejudice.

But Tetra looked at us each in turn, a little skeptically.

“Okay, I don’t mind, but... I’m really going to tell you about a monster. So, um...”

“Well, we are just ordinary high school kids. We may not be able to help you, but... Come to think of it, did you have anyone you were planning to contact when you got here?”

“No. It’s out of our control now, so I came to the surface as a last resort...”

“I see. Then your ‘last resort’ is probably me.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you see...” I explained my lineage to Tetra.

“The bloodline of the Namidare...”

“Well, it might be hard to believe. But that’s why I think I probably have to help your story, too.”

“...I see.”

Just what you’d expect from a fantasy story with a monster. She accepted the story of the Namidare bloodline without question.

“I didn’t have anyone to turn to in the first place. Perhaps it was fate that brought me to you. If you would, please listen to my story.”

She told me how she was born in a village beneath the surface of the earth, Jizu Village. She told me how the village came to be, and about the seal that protected them from the Monster Who Defied God. And then she told me that the seal was about to break.

“A village of guardians below the earth, huh?”

“Yes. My ancestors have protected the seal for tens of millions of years, according to lore.”

“Wow, that’s a long time. Satsuki, when were humans born on the surface?”

“About 7 million years ago, I think.”

Hmm... So maybe the mole people and surface-dwellers were both human, but had different ancestry? They had shining eyes, after all.

“But why is the seal being broken all of a sudden? If the monster is a living thing, it should weaken as time passes, and it’s lasted this long, right?”

Tetra shook her head, confused.

“We don’t know. But the seal is also tens of millions of years old. Maybe it’s not as strong as it used to be. If the Monster found some way to restore its energy, it might be able to break the seal.”

“...And if the monster revives, it’s going to destroy both your underground village and the surface, huh?” I glared at the roof as I spoke.

My opponent this time was a “monster” from the age of gods, huh?

“Is it possible to seal it away again?”

“...I’m sorry. I don’t know how.”

According to Tetra, the traditions on how to restore the weakened seal, or to redo it, had been lost from their village. That’s why she’d come to the surface.

But Satsuki and I had a trick up our sleeves.

“I’ll be right back,” Satsuki said as she stood up and left the guest room.

Satsuki was the mage who wielded the Magic of Omniscience. She had the access rights to the Akashic record, the annals of everything that had happened in the universe from the dawn of creation to the present day. It would be easy for her to recover a lost tradition.

The existence of the magic she used was a secret, so she couldn’t use it in front of other people, but soon she would be back with the knowledge to seal away the Monster. In the meantime, I tried to come up with a way to explain how we found out...

But when Satsuki returned, her face was pale.

“Satsuki?”

I was concerned by how my childhood friend looked, but she ignored me and stared at Tetra.

“...?” Tetra tilted her head and looked apprehensive.

“...Satsuki!”

“Oh!” Satsuki gasped as my shouting snapped her out of her trance.

“...It’s no good. The seal requires a special tool, and it can’t be used anymore,” she whispered as she returned to her seat.

“...Seriously?”

Even with Satsuki’s knowledge, I was still empty-handed. Since I’d thought that all I was going to have to do was find out how the seal worked, it came as quite a shock.

Did that mean I had to fight the “Monster Who Defied God” head-on? No way. I’d turn tail and run if it came to that.

I was out of options surprisingly fast.

“Jeez, come on...”

It would have been nice to find an item or a sidekick for once that could just take care of the story for me.

“Peep peep peep!” R was sticking her bottom half out of the ceiling and playing “Reverse Inugami Clan” as she imitated the cry of a bird.

As I thought about grabbing her by the ankles and yanking her out, there was a knock at the guest room door.

Was it Tsumiki? I stood up and headed towards the door that divided the guest room from the hallway...

“Hey. Do you need me to taste test... something?”

I opened the door and froze. It wasn’t the Nozomiya waitress who was standing there. And it didn’t look like one of her parents, either.

It wasn’t even human.

“Hello. I’m Bah. Nice to meet you.”

On the other side of the door was what looked like a creepy-cute version of a super-deformed elephant, holding some kind of weird stick. Almost like some sort of fairy.

“I’m coming in!”

Bah flapped his elephant ears and slipped through the air right past me into the room. I was too shocked to stop him.

“R-Rekka? What is that thing?”

“Huh?!”

The girls responded to the creepy-cute elephant thing by immediately backing five or so meters away from it.

“Hello. I’m Bah. Nice to meet you.”

He repeated the introduction he’d given me, and then landed on top of the futon where Tetra had been sleeping.

“Hm?”

There appeared to be a comically large bandage on his back. I was a little perplexed, but there was so much else weird about him that I didn’t know if I should bring it up.

“Wait, who are you?! Do you want something from us?!”

“Of course I do. That’s why I’m here. And I have a name, you know! It’s Bah.”

“Don’t give me some typical anime answer! A weird creature just showed up out of nowhere and I’m not even really sure what to do about it. Should I call the local news?”

“That wouldn’t be very nice. I’m here because I’ve got information you need. Shouldn’t you hear me out first?”

“...”

Not all that long ago, I would’ve flung Bah out the window, pulled the covers over my head, and told myself it was all a dream.

But right then and there, I needed something—anything—that could help me solve this story. And so I sat down in front of Bah, determined to listen to what he had to say.

“So, what did you want to tell us?”

“Well, first, I want to confirm something. Are you Rekka Namidare?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Yes, good. I’m glad to hear that. I only know your name from rumors, so I didn’t know what I was going to do if I had it wrong.”

Had I done something that would make fanciful creatures like him gossip about me?

“All right, I’ll start with the most important thing.”

Bah shot me a creepy-cute smile that gave me goosebumps.

“Rekka Namidare. I’ll lend you my power, so become a magical girl and defeat the Monster Who Defied God.”

“......Huh?”

The whole room froze. Obviously.

▽

“Huh? I thought magical girls were what you called mages in Japan.”

“That’s only in anime and manga!”

Evidently Bah was a foreigner. Maybe a foreign fairy?

People who weren’t from Japan had all kinds of weird ideas about the country. Some of them supposedly even thought that half of Japan was composed of ninjas.

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” I started, trying to get the conversation back on track. “So who are you? Tell me your real name, not just your nickname.”

“Aww, but I went to all the trouble of changing my appearance and name to be like a magical girl mascot character. “ Bah sighed, looking extremely disappointed. So much so that his face looked like he was about to breathe poison. “Okay, I’ll tell you who I am, then. I’m Bah. ‘The Perfect Beast,’ Bahamut.”

Come on. Who calls themselves perfect, normally? But that name... I was sure I’d heard it somewhere before.

“B-Bahamut?” Satsuki, who was still keeping her distance, shouted in surprise.

“Hmm? Satsuki, you know him?”

“Know him? Bahamut, behemot, behemoth... There are many names for it, including the Perfect Beast, but it’s a huge creature from the age of myths whose body was so large that it covered the earth. Are you saying that’s you?”

“That’s right. If you don’t believe me, why not ask your Akashic record, omniscient girl?”

“?!”

Satsuki’s face was flushed with shock once more. So was mine.

“Oh, but if you want to look it up, try where the ‘Bahamut That God Created’ is right now, or something conditional like that. If you try to access the hundreds of millions of years of my existence at once, it’ll probably fry your brain and turn you into a vegetable.”

“Wha?!”

A vegetable? Seriously? This magic was serious business, but I didn’t realize it could be dangerous.

“Wait! Hang on, Bah.” I cut him off and whispered into one of his big elephant ears, “...How do you know about the Magic of Omniscience?”

“Like I said when I introduced myself, I’m somebody amazing. I can use magic, too. Even so, it took me a little while to find you, but...” Bah said proudly.

“That is amazing, but this magic’s a secret, so don’t go telling people about it, okay?”

I glanced behind me.

“?”

Tetra must not have known much about magic, because she simply looked confused. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, but I didn’t want people finding out that Satsuki was heir to such powerful magic.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t the magic I was interested in, so I didn’t think about it.”

“Sheesh...” I sighed and glared a little at Bah. “Fine. She already knows now. Satsuki, do as he says and try it out.”

“Okay.”

“But if it’s dangerous...”

“It’s fine. Like Bah said, if I limit the search, it’ll mean less information flowing into me.”

“I hope so...”

“Tetra already heard, so I’ll go ahead and do it here.” Satsuki closed her eyes and activated the Magic of Omniscience. “...Yeah. It looks like the real Bahamut is here in the room with us. Not that I can believe it.”

“You really were someone amazing?”

“Hahah. Yes, but behold my current form. No need to show me the respect I’m due. Just call me Bah.”

He had said earlier that he’d changed his appearance. It was a little hard to imagine his true form when what was sitting in front of us was a creepy-cute elephant fairy.

“...Wait, why’s a creature that’s so amazing going to help us?”

“Basically, I want revenge on the Monster Who Defied God.”

“Revenge?”

A not-so-cute word came out of his super-deformed mouth.

“The true identity of the Monster Who Defied God that’s sealed in Jizu Village is Leviathan.”

“First Bahamut, now Leviathan...?” Satsuki whispered.

“Um...”

Again, I had no idea what she was talking about, so I had to ask.

“Leviathan is a monster that’s often spoken of as a counterpart to Bahamut. Just as Bahamut is called ‘The Perfect Beast,’ Leviathan is called ‘The Strongest Beast.’”

After hearing Satsuki’s thorough explanation, I understood most of what I needed to know about Leviathan.

...Wait. “The Strongest Beast”?

Talk about an ominous name. I bet something like that could destroy the surface a dozen times over. To be safe, I had Satsuki look up Leviathan’s location. But just like Bah said, it was sealed in Jizu Village.

“Both Leviathan and I were created to be devoured by the gods as a sacrifice at the end of time. But...” Bah looked down.

A chill ran down my spine.

I could sense a powerful emotion coming from him as he stared at the floor. It made my hair stand on end.

“Leviathan was the Strongest Beast, and had a cold, cruel personality. It destroyed the earth’s surface just for its own amusement back then. And then it stole something very important from me.”

Revenge—that’s why he’d said he wanted to work with us.

But how long ago was this “back then” that he was talking about? We were talking millions and millions of years... He’d probably kept his hatred building up that long.

It was a span of time so long that I couldn’t even get my head around it. Just trying to imagine it made me feel like I’d go crazy.

“Okay. If that’s what’s going on, let’s work together to defeat the Monster Who Defied God.”

“...Thanks. You’re a big help!”

“No, thank you.”

In reality, if our opponent was “The Strongest Beast,” its counterpart was the strongest ally we could have.

We shook each hands—in Bah’s case, it was more like his front limb—and swore to work together to defeat the Monster Who Defied God.

“Alright, let’s get started. Rekka, I’ll lend you some of my power.”

“Thanks, but what power is that, exactly?”

“Well, it’s half magic. I’ll power up your basic abilities severalfold, and make it so you can use area of effect attack magic that will work on Leviathan’s vast body. Or can you already use area of effect attack magic?”

“Huh? Of course not!” Why did he think I could use magic? I didn’t know, but I made it clear that I couldn’t.

“Okay, close your eyes for a second and stay still.”

“Sure.” I closed my eyes as I was told.

“——···—·—·······——”

Bah chanted something, and my body was suddenly struck by a strange feeling. It was hot, warm, and exciting—like power was welling up from within me. It was weird. Eventually it stopped, and I opened my eyes again.

“Are you done?”

“HAH!” Satsuki burst out laughing.

She had one hand over her mouth and was holding her stomach with the other. She was squirming and trying her best to stifle her laughter. It was a rare sight for my childhood friend to laugh like that.

Tetra was looking away from me, too, holding her hand over her mouth and shaking. There were tears in the corner of her eyes.

“That’s going to make for a very surprising before/after photo set,” R said flatly, with no expression on her face.

“What’s going on?”

I looked down at myself—and burst out laughing just like the girls had.

A colorful dress that was so girly it was depressing.

A frilly, lacy skirt that gave no thought to ease of movement.

Boots with tiny angel wings.

A shining, magical stick in my right hand.

An opal of hope on my chest.

“WHAAAAAAAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”

I screamed. But I was pretty sure I knew.

It was obviously, clearly, plainly, and unmistakably a perfect magical girl costume. That’s right. I was dressed as a magical girl.

If there was one flaw with it...

It was that I was a guy.

“THAT’S A FATAL FLAW, THOUGH!” This was no different from crossdressing.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?’

“There are lots of problems!” I yelled at the confused, creepy-cute elephant... Wait, wasn’t my outfit even worse than his?

Tetra and Satsuki were both still laughing.

I decided the best place to start was to demand an explanation for the getup.

“I thought for sure that when you gave someone magical power in Japan, you turned them into a magical girl.”

Wait, that’s what he said at the start! But I thought he’d realized he was wrong!

“What can I use this magic to do?” I asked, putting my embarrassment aside to get to the heart of what really mattered here.

“Just like I said before, you can use explosive, offensive magic that will affect a wide area. Try it out.”

“How?”

“Well, start by opening the window.”

“Hmm, okay.”

I opened the window.

“Now point with the stick.”

“Hmm, okay.”

I held the stick straight out.

“Tell it to explode.”

“Hmm, okay.”

That sounded simple enough. Um, ex—

“And everything you see will explode.”

“Are you trying to get me to blow up the town with my test fire?!”

That was close! I almost destroyed the whole town.

“Then why not point it at the sky?”

“I’ll do that.”

I looked up at the night and aimed for a random cloud.

I had no idea how strong it would be, so I figured maybe I should fire a less powerful shot... If I focused on making it weaker, could I do that? I gave it a try.

And... KA-BOOM!

And, man... It was a huge blast—a hundred times bigger than summer fireworks.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What was that explosion?!” I heard Tsumiki yell from downstairs.

Yeah. Sorry. That was me.

But Bah seemed to think nothing of it.

“Huh? How strange... That was several hundred times weaker than I’d planned.”

“What kind of dangerous magic did you give me?”

I whopped him on the head with my stick.

“Hmm, Rekka Namidare. Were you holding back just now?”

“I hit you as hard as I could!”

“No, I meant with the magic.”

“Huh? Well, yeah. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

And I was damn glad. If I’d fired it off at full power like Bah had told me to, who knew what the shockwave would’ve done to the town?

“I see. Then it looks like the power I gave you is working.” Bah nodded, satisfied.

No, I was gonna fight a beast called the “Monster Who Defied God,” so it was good to have powerful magic, but...

“But can we at least do something about this skirt?”

“Hmm, if you want. But that outfit has self-defense capability and gravity reduction built into it. It will take a while to create something new.”

“Grr... That’ll be a problem...”

If we waited too long, Leviathan might break the seal.

Leviathan was a huge sea serpent. If Bahamut was big enough to cover the earth, Leviathan was big enough to swallow the sea. If the two of them fought, even if we beat Leviathan, it would mean serious damage to the earth’s surface.

But Tetra said that the space beyond the seal was huge. The size of the earth, even. If possible, that’s where I wanted to fight the beast.

“And then there’s Food Champion, too...”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t tell you, Bah.”

I gave Bah a brief summary of the Namidare bloodline and Tsumiki’s story. While I was at it, I told him that we didn’t have a way to win the Food Champion tournament.

“Well, you know what? I think I can help with that.” Bah slapped his stomach with his long nose. “Just like I said before, Leviathan and I were created as offerings to the gods. Our meat is more delicious than any of your human food. Once you defeat Leviathan, you can use it to cook something that’s sure to win.”

“Ugh... But are you serious?”

For a second, it seemed kind of gruesome, but maybe it was a good idea. That way, I’d be able to save both of them: Tetra’s village and Nozomiya.

But that meant...

“...I’ve gotta put up with this outfit, huh?”

“That’s right.”

Ugh... Well, compared to the stories of these two girls, my self-respect meant nothing... At least, that was what I told myself.

“Okay, once we’re done preparing for our trip to Jizu Village, we’ll leave,” I said, trying my best to hide my embarrassment.

“R-Right... Bwahaha!”

“U-Um, okay! Heh! Please, Rekka... Don’t look at me with such a serious look on your face...”

Tetra and Satsuki were laughing again.

“Rekka, don’t do that. You’re a biological weapon capable of inflicting death by laughter on anyone who sees you now. We need to keep you in a dark, confined place so that you don’t hurt anyone.” R joined in and made things worse.

I felt like I wanted to cry.

We split up temporarily after deciding we’d all get ready and meet up again at the mountain behind school in an hour. That’s where the secret entrance to the underground was, supposedly.

Evidently I could store my magical girl outfit inside my bracelet. Once I stowed it, I was back in my school uniform. It was convenient, but I wish I’d been told before the girls laughed at me.

But the biggest problem wasn’t my clothes. It was Nozomuno.

It was late, so when I told her that we were going home, she didn’t really mind. But when I told her that I wouldn’t be able to come to Nozomiya for the next few days, she jumped down my throat.

“What? You said you’d help me at school! Did you give up on the first day?!”

“No, it’s not like that... You saw that Tetra girl, right? She’s apparently a foreign chef, and she’s come all the way to Japan to find a legendary ingredient in the depths of the Fuji jungle.” I fed her every excuse I could think of, but Nozomuno only glared at me more. “So I asked her to let me go with her. If we get the legendary ingredient, we might be able to win Food Champion.”

“Liar!”

“I’m serious!” It was an obvious lie, but for now it was the only thing I had.

“...!”

Wham!

Tsumiki slammed her fists down hard onto the restaurant table, glaring at me with eyes that were a little teary.

“Tell me the truth. You’re leaving because there’s no way for me to win, right?!”

“That’s not true,” I answered immediately.

On the contrary, I had no intention of abandoning Tsumiki. But she continued to glare at me suspiciously.

“You keep saying that... But what’s the real reason?”

“The reason?”

“That’s right! Tell me why you’re helping me! Otherwise, I don’t know if it’s okay to trust you!”

The reason I wanted to help her, huh...?

Because she was a heroine, and I’d been caught up in her story. That was probably why.

At least, that’s how it had started.

“You’re really stubborn, and you try to do everything yourself, but you work really hard, don’t you? Even if you’re terrible at it, you’re trying your best to come up with a new menu item.”

“...Why are you suddenly complimenting me? You can’t fool me, you know.”

“I’m not trying to fool you.”

There was no way a kid could do something to get a restaurant’s finances back on track, anyway. Sure, it was her family, so it made sense that she’d be worried, but how many kids would actually try to do something about it? I wasn’t sure I would.

Even as high school students, we were still just kids. And it’s normal for a kid to depend on their parents—but Tsumiki wasn’t normal.

“To be honest, I think it’s amazing. I like that about you.”

“What?!”

“I like people like you. So I want to help you... Wait, are you okay?”

“Nwaaah?!” Tsumiki jumped backward in her chair, screaming in a weird voice.

“Tsumiki?”

“St-Stay away from me!”

I took a step forward, concerned, but she hissed at me. What was her problem?

She took several deep breaths, but evidently it wasn’t enough to calm her down. She put her hands on her cheeks and turned away.

“H-How can you say something so embarrassing like that?!”

“Hmm?”

Was it that strange to like people who worked hard? I thought it was pretty normal...

“...Fine. I’m not REALLY sure that I trust you, but just this once, I’ll believe you.” Her voice was cracking a little, and she was still looking away.

“I understand. Sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Y-You’re just my taste tester anyway! It doesn’t matter whether you’re here or not! I’m gonna practice cooking a lot, so... come back as soon as you can, okay?”

“Yeah, got it.” I nodded firmly and left Nozomiya.

Tsumiki never did say goodbye. She didn’t even turn around.

Had I said something to upset her? I couldn’t help but wonder as I got home. I needed to get ready, and fast.

“I’m back!”

“Oh, welcome back, Rekka! Will you eat first? Or would you like to take a bath?”

Harissa’s slippers flapped against the floor as she ran towards me. Her bunny apron was hopping left and right.

And then all of a sudden... Grrrumble!

Her tummy growled adorably.

“Oh! Oh, no, how embarrassing!”

Harissa’s face was bright red as she covered up the bunny on her apron with both hands. It was as if the bunny had made a noise. It was kind of cute.

“I told you on the phone that I’d be late, right? You should’ve eaten without me.”

“Yes, but... I wanted to eat with you, Sir Rekka.”

Her face was still red as she fidgeted and fiddled with the edges of her apron. It made me happy to hear her say that, but I also felt a little guilty.

“I’m sorry. I have something really important to do. I have to leave right away.”

“What?!” Harissa’s cry was more in shock than protest.

“I’m really sorry.”

I threw off my shoes in the front hall and grabbed a large rucksack from one of the shelves. I stuffed it mostly with water and food—supposedly it was a long way to the bottom of the earth. And just in case, I grabbed a spare pair of shoes and a flashlight, along with anything else I thought I’d need.

I thought about taking the Hero’s Sword, but decided against it. I still didn’t know how to use a sword, and that thing could only cut through magic. It wasn’t for slaying real monsters. It wouldn’t really work well with my magical girl power either, and I figured it was probably best not to take anything that wasn’t necessary.

“Oh, man, I’ve gotta hurry.”

I slung the rucksack over my shoulder and headed for the front door. Harissa was waiting for me.

“Sir Rekka. I know you’re busy, but where are you headed at this hour?”

She must’ve been worried about where I was going, given the way I was acting. Her eyebrows were arched and she was staring at me uneasily.

“Um...”

If I told Harissa I was going underground to fight a monster, she’d probably say she wanted to come with me...

I’d have to use my last resort.

I slid past Harissa, slipped my feet into my shoes, and ran out the door.

“Wait! Sir Rekka!”

“You don’t have to make food for me until I come back! See you later!”

“W-Wait! Waah!”

As she tried to follow me, Harissa tripped. It hurt to watch her fall to the ground, but I was doing this to keep her safe. I swallowed my tears and kept running.

Of course, the sack was so heavy that I ran out of steam pretty quickly.

“Hahh, hahh, hahh...”

To be sure, I turned around to look, but didn’t see Harissa anywhere. I decided to walk the rest of the way.

▽

I was surprised to learn there was a path to the underground in the mountain behind the school, but I was even more surprised how hard the path was to follow. There were plenty of steep inclines and rocks of all sizes, so it was practically all I could do to keep myself from tripping all over the place. Even with Bah’s magic lighting up the area, it was dark, cramped, and mentally exhausting.

A ways into our journey, however, the ceilings got higher and the pathway widened. With more room to walk, it wasn’t as bad as some of the other stretches. But according to Tetra, the walls here were fragile, and we needed to watch for falling rocks that might hit us. We still couldn’t let our guard down.

“How long have we been walking...?” I asked nobody in particular.

“I think it’s been about ten hours...” Satsuki was pretty tired, too.

“Hahh... Hahh...” Tetra was barely even able to breathe anymore, let alone answer me. She looked like she’d be more used to the underground, but she didn’t have any strength.

“Hang in there, guys,” Bah said.

“Rekka, the only male characters who are allowed to be weak are pretty boys,” R added.

It was easy enough for her to say since she was floating. Who asked her, anyway?

“Man, it would be so much easier if I could transform into a magical girl.”

This subterranean path was treacherous enough for me to put aside my pride. And if I transformed, I could probably carry both of them...

“Like I said before, I don’t recommend it. The magical girl ensemble is intended for one short, final battle. Just using it drains your physical and magical energy. You should hang in there as long as possible,” Bah warned.

If only he’d made me something with better fuel efficiency...

Damn, this was hard.

“I’m amazed you made it up to the surface after you lost your light and food, Tetra. You had to walk uphill to get there, right?” I asked Tetra with as much respect in my heart as I could muster.

“Y-Ywes!”

“Sorry. You don’t have to force yourself to talk.”

“Hahh... Hahh... No... I wanted to save the village... Hahh... Hahh...”

Both her head and her limbs were shaking a little, and her eyes were blurry and out of focus. We were taking regular breaks, but she’d been like this for the past few hours.

Even so, it was this diminutive girl who wanted to hurry more than anyone.

“You really do care about your village, huh?”

“Hwath?”

“No, never mind. I was talking to myself.”

Both Tsumiki and Tetra were carrying such heavy burdens on their tiny little shoulders. I wanted to help them as much as I could. I wanted to save both of their stories. I really did.

But just then...

Bah’s light went out abruptly.

“What? What happened?!”

“Is it Leviathan?!”

We started to panic in the sudden darkness, when... Clatter!

Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was just good karma, but I heard the noise in time.

“Watch out!”

“Huh?!” Satsuki raised her voice in surprise.

It was enough for me to tell where she was, and I leaped forward to knock her out of the way. The crashing sound of falling rocks hit my ears just a few moments later.

“Oww... Satsuki, are you okay?”

“Oh... yeah. Um, Rekka... You’re really close.”

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see Satsuki’s face right in front of mine.

“Wah! Sorry!” I quickly jumped off of her.

“It’s okay...” Her voice was like a whisper as she gently stood up. She wouldn’t look at me at all.

Gyah, how awkward!

“Tch. Just needed another centimeter, huh?”

R, shut up! And what difference would a centimeter have made?!

“Wait, that sound...” I turned around.

Just like I thought, a rock had fallen from the wall and landed right where Satsuki was standing.

I was glad I was able to react so quickly... I should’ve thanked my ears for being so sharp.

“Rekka! Satsuki! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. What about you two?”

Tetra’s eyes had begun to shine in the darkness, and I could see her and Bah coming toward me.

“Bah, what happened to the light?”

“Sorry, sorry. I got a bug in my eye.”

“Huh? Seriously? A bug? Come on, be careful!”

And then, a scraping sound...

“Wh-Who’s there?” Maybe my senses were heightened after what had just happened, but I responded instantly to the noise behind me.

“Aah... Aauuh...”

“Oh?”

Where I thought there would be an enemy, there was just a cute voice—one I knew quite well.

A moment later, a flame the size of a fist appeared in the air and illuminated the underground passage.

And from the darkness stepped—“H-Harissa?”—the young sorcerer that I thought I’d left at home.

She had used her invisibility spell to follow me this whole way.

“I-I’m sorry! You were acting strange, and I got worried... so... I’m sorry.”

“...No, I should’ve explained myself. Sorry.”

I didn’t want to get Harissa caught up in a dangerous story, but I’d managed it anyway. Was I an idiot?

“Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t exactly send Harissa back on her own in this place, can we? She didn’t mean any harm, so let’s take her with us.”

“Honestly, I wish you’d stayed home, too, Satsuki.”

Of course I didn’t want to put my childhood friend in danger either. Things were already getting pretty dicey.

“I’m the one who brought Tetra to you. I’m following you whether you like it or not.”

“Ugh...” There didn’t seem to be much point in saying anything else, so I just shrugged. “Fine. Harissa, it’s dangerous, so don’t get too far away from me.”

“R-Right! Thank you, Sir Rekka! And thank you, Satsuki!”

Sheesh... It was hard to stay tense seeing how excited Harissa was.

Well, when I had to fight the Monster, I could still do it by myself. Everyone would be safe that way.

“Okay, Harissa, can you light the path the rest of the way? I don’t trust Bah to do it anymore.”

“Haha... That’s so mean.”

“I’m serious, though. So yeah, it’s your job now, Harissa.”

“Right! Leave it to me!” Harissa responded energetically and summoned a larger ball of flame from her staff. The fire lit up a wide area of the passageway, and I could finally see my feet clearly.

And so the four of us (plus one animal) headed further down the tunnel where we would reach our destination several hours later.