Don’t You Ever Forget. Potatoes… Are Part of the Nightshade Family – Part 02

“Actually, I’ve got a lot of questions for you,” I said.

“You can’t have information without a little give and take.”

“I’ll start, then. Magiclad Weapons aren’t physical objects.”

“Of course not. They don’t belong in the realm of what this world calls science.”

“But you thought they were something you could carry, didn’t you?”

“Yes. If they’re not in a container, they’ll activate.”

“A container, huh? So she’s a container.”

“She?”

I hesitated for a bit, but I needed her information, so I told the truth.

“The Magiclad Weapon you were looking for before is inside a girl named Tomonori.”

“So when she said she hid it in this world, she meant inside a person? After preaching not to do anything inhumane to people?! That fucking bitch!”

It sounded like this bitch she kept mentioning was Big Teach.

“No wonder I couldn’t find it. It was not in someone’s possession, but inside them. Makes sense. So, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me about Big Teach.”

“I figured as much. Very well. That bitch tricked me anyway. I concede.”

“What do you mean, tricked?”

“Miss Ariel only joined us to take the Life Orbs from me. And on top of that, she gave me a defective weapon and then took him from me as well. Ugh! It pisses me off!”

“Wait. Why would she even do that?”

“She only cares about toppling Villiers, so it’s probably related to that.”

“Hold on. What’s toppling Villiers supposed to mean?”

“Huh? Haruna’s just a grunt, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t know, but I thought you’d been told.”

“Isn’t Villiers the name of the world you Magiclad Girls come from?”

“Yes. Miss Ariel wants to overthrow the current queen. She’s been recruiting strong humans, creating Life Orbs, and building weapons. Since she couldn’t risk the weapon being discovered, she hid them in this world.”

Recruiting strong humans. Come to think of it, when Sera and I first met Big Teach, she suddenly tried to recruit Sera.

If it was all to take down a Magiclad Girl, then I could almost understand making such a dangerous weapon. Magiclad Girls were among the strongest beings I knew.

“Why do you have the power of a Vampire Ninja? Why were you working with the King of the Night?”

Kyouko showed a sad expression, silently asking me not to touch on that topic, then her face softened into a peaceful one.

“I used to have a dog. Did you know he works at a pet shop? Surprising, huh? Well, that’s how we met. My dog had bad legs, was always sick, and looked miserable all the time.”

I found Kyouko’s face adorable as she told this old story. If she hadn’t gone down the wrong path, she’d be just a cute girl.

“So what do you think he did with my dog?”

“Took care of it?”

“He killed it.”

“What? Why?”

“He’d always said that living is harder than dying. I confronted him, demanding why he killed my dog who was trying so hard to live. But in reality, that was just me being self-centered. When you want someone to live, that is your own desire, not theirs. That dog might not have wanted to live like that.”

“That’s nonsense. What animal wants to die?”

“Well, you and he just don’t see eye to eye. But some people believe a life sentence is worse than death.”

“You think it’s better to die than to suffer? That’s just a weak way out!”

“I don’t want to die either. Actually, I want to live forever.”

“Then why would you work with someone like that?”

“Because I wanted to kill him for his own good. But I couldn’t. This applies to you too, you know.”

“Because I’m a zombie?”

“I heard Eu left you. Yet here you are, stubbornly chasing after her, believing she wants to be with you too.”

“That’s a different matter.”

“No, it isn’t. She wanted to run away rather than suffer. But you won’t let her. Aren’t you just like those egotistic people who tell others to live, spouting nonsense about how life is precious even if the person wants to die? I believe that’s what the people of this world calls misplaced kindness.”

I couldn’t argue. Kyouko gave a contented smile.

“As for my ability to summon a twister… He was also given Eu’s immortal blood. I just had some of it. I’m so obsessed with living, and that’s probably why he cast me aside. Ah, he’s so cool.”

“Cool? What’s so cool about him? I really don’t get how your mind works.”

“So childish.” Kyouko chuckled quietly.

Damn it. What a nauseating backstory.

“Thank you,” she suddenly said. “Talking about it helped me feel better.”

I felt mixed emotions for her gratitude.

“Make that face all you want. I’ll never let you go.”

“Ah, it’s not like that. Don’t worry. I’ll take whatever punishment Villiers hands me.”

Then, I noticed something. Outside the window, on the roof of the neighboring house, there was a woman.

A woman holding a violin.

It was a sight I’d never seen before. Only Santa or ninjas climb onto roofs, and neither of them would be playing a violin.

“What are you doing?!” Kyouko yelled.

I opened the window, and music drifted in.

I didn’t know much about music, but I could tell this was classical.

Because I opened the window, there was a sudden pop, and my nose turned into an elephant’s. When I became an elephant, I realized the long part wasn’t just the nose, but also the upper lip.

I wanted to trumpet loudly, but as classical music flowed into my ears, which had turned so large they would surprise the Seven Lucky Gods,^[1] I felt refreshed, like a breeze was blowing through.

Sera spotted me and flew into the music room. By then, my strange transformation had stopped. So it healed that fast. Thank goodness.

“Thanks,” I said. “At the end of the day, you always come through.”

“Well, you were begging me for help. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep soundly.” Sera raised the violin primly.

I placed my hand on the music room door. “All right, I’m opening it.”

“Any time you’re ready.”

As soon as I opened the door, feral humans surged in. But entranced by Sera’s beautiful music, they stopped in their tracks, tears streaming down their faces.

Like a deflating balloon, their animal traits faded. Some were more than halfway transformed, but it looked like we could fix them all.

“Ayumu!” Haruna burst into the music room. Apparently, the music reached the hallways too. “Oh, leaf lady is here.”

“Yeah, I called her. Haruna, take Kyouko to Villiers.”

“Huh? Okay.” Haruna puffed out her cheeks.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. It’s just… I did a lot today.”

“Oh, that’s right. Good job.”

I patted Haruna’s head. She rubbed it against my palm, moving it herself. In a way, she’d always been like a cat.

“Meow. I mean, you idiot!”

What was she mad about?

“Ah, Sera. I’m coming with you. If the Vampire Ninjas try anything, I’ll handle them.”

Sera stepped into the hallway, and I followed her.

“You stupidiot!” Haruna shouted.

---

The next day, school ended after the all-school assembly and the handing out of report cards. Tomorrow, summer break would begin.

Thanks to Sera, not a single student was lost. Some had nearly shrunk away completely, but everyone survived.

Catching Kyouko helped me start regaining the confidence I’d lost to the King of the Night. Sure, Haruna and I had teamed up, but we’d beaten her without transforming. That was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Granted, Kyouko hadn’t transformed into a Magiclad Girl herself, and we’d fought her before. Still, she was strong. Maybe I’d gotten stronger too.

Hehe. Creepy? Hehehe.

Now if I could just learn some magic, I might even beat the King of the Night. Then, I could welcome Eu back with my head held high.

Thanks to Kyouko’s intel, we now know the source of the pseudo-Megalo. They weren’t made in one place but in dozens of locations. No wonder they appeared everywhere.

Haruna was currently in Villiers, attending a meeting to wipe out those sources.

Smack! A green sword struck my shoulder.

“Ayumu, what’s going through your mind? Lose focus in battle and you’ll die.”

Before me was Sera, sharp-eyed. Since I planned to search for the King of the Night and Big Teach with Haruna when she got back, I was killing time by letting Sera give me some sword lessons.

“My bad.” I raised my chainsaw high.

“Shall we begin?”

Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. A shallow strike to throw the enemy off, followed by the returning blade delivering the true strike. Ah!

“Go easy on me, will you?! Why are you trying to hack me up with a real sword?”

“I may have gotten carried away. I apologize.”

May have? She’d been going all out the entire time.

“So, what shall we call that move?” Sera asked.

“Was that not a Swallow Reversal?”

She let out a snort. Lovely but infuriating.

“Your eyes are so blind it makes me sick.”

“Is that so? Fine. Let’s give it a cool name.”

“Hmm. A cool name, you say? How about Exploding Demon Dragon God Kick… Reversal?”

“Kick? You’re using a sword.”

“There was a time when I too believed swordsmanship had no kicks,” she said wistfully.

“Why not just call it something like… Fish Slice?”

A sharp sigh slipped from her lips. Her eyes said, Suggesting something so obvious just shows your lack of vocabulary.

“Then what if we add something cool in front of Swallow Reversal instead?”

“Such as?”

“Absolute Ice: Swallow Reversal.”

“Oh?”

She seemed pleased.

“Heaven and Earth: Swallow Reversal.”

“Hmm.”

Even more pleased!

“Divine Art: Nibelung Swallow Reversal!”

She sighed. Everything I’d built up crumbled to dust.

“I want to cut you down right now.”

And she said it with all her heart.

“Still, just slashing sounds too dull,” I said. “Couldn’t you make it, I dunno, shoot lasers or something?”

“If I could shoot lasers, I wouldn’t need a sword.”

Fair point.

“Well, your real ultimate weapon are those jugs, anyway.”

Zzzap!

Something like electricity surged through my whole body.

“So you can… shoot lasers.”

“That was just a lightning strike. Ninja arts. I’m not particularly skilled with it.”

“If you did that right after cutting with your sword, it’d be flashy and cool.”

“Like this?”

In a blink, Sera was behind me, slashing my back, then sending a current racing through me.

Aaaaaahhh!

Just because I was a zombie didn’t mean she had to go all out.

“Hmm. That felt good,” she said. “What should we call it?”

“M-Maybe drop the whole Reversal thing and just give it a cool name.”

“A cool name. Very well. Ketu-Rahu Sword: Dark Blade Slice.”^[2]

“Grungust? More like banger bust.”

“Hm?” Sera grabbed my cheek.

Sh-Shorry.

“You know those generic cool words. Dragon, god, that kind of thing? Put them in and the name will sound awesome.”

“I can agree with that. For example?”

One wrong answer here and I’d get another zap.

Cautiously, I murmured, “Dragon Fang Thunder God Strike… maybe?”

“Ooh.”

She likes it!

But to perfect this Dragon Fang Thunder God Strike, she kept electrocuting me over and over. Well, at least I got some chainsaw training out of it. A give-and-take, basically.

With breaks in between, we’d been going at it for about two hours, when Haruna finally returned.

“I’m home. Ayumu, you look kinda tanned.”

“Yeah, got struck by lightning a bit.”

“What are you two doing out in front of the house? You wanna end up in the slammer?”

“I didn’t even think about it,” I replied. “So, how’d it go?”

“They said they can wipe out the fake Megalo with just Villiers personnel.”

“So, no need for us to butt in. What about Big Teach?”

Haruna shook her head. “No sign of her.”

I figured. The King of the Night must have moved his base the moment he ditched Kyouko. I’d do the same. Which meant we were back to square one. Well, not exactly. If the pseudo-Megalo were gone, that was still progress.

“All right, then. Shall we go search for Big Teach again?”

“I… will have to pass,” Sera said.

“Why?” I asked, then noticed the look on her face.

She still didn’t want to meet other Vampire Ninjas. The fake Megalo were also being hunted by them, so there was a chance they’d run into each other.

“I guess that’s just the two of us, Haruna.”

“Just the two of us? I-It’s not a date, ‘kay?!”

“I could call Tomonori.”

“No way! I-I guess it can only be the two of us.”

“We’re going on a search. You understand that, right?”

“Hmm, what should I wear?”

She wasn’t listening. Eh, whatever.

---

1. The Seven Lucky Gods are Japanese deities of fortune often depicted together on a treasure ship. Key physical traits include Hotei’s large stomach (rubbed for luck) and Fukurokuju’s famously long earlobes and head, symbolizing wisdom and longevity.

2. The Ketu‑Rahu Sword is a weapon used by Grungust in the Super Robot Wars games.