I Like… Penguins – Part 03

The second day of training was easier than the first.

If I could think that, did it mean I was steadily getting stronger?

Big Teach still looked completely at ease, and I was nowhere near her level, but at least I could see her movements now.

“You should transform today, and we’ll go all out,” she said.

“Transform, huh.”

I hesitated. I hadn’t run into any Megalo lately, so I didn’t need to transform. Now I had to put on that outfit again?

“Just pretend I’ve transformed.”

“Nope. Not good enough.”

Fine. Gripping my chainsaw, I recited the incantation.

“Htaed fo regnibrah a tub gnimrahc dna ylevol!”

My clothes burst apart, and the Magiclad Girl costume wrapped around me.

“Today’s training is offense.”

Finally. Offense suited me way better than defense.

“You’re not gonna transform?” I asked.

“If I did, you wouldn’t even be able to touch me.”

I could see that. Me transformed was probably only about as strong as her untransformed.

“He normally just stands still and doesn’t bother dodging,” she began. “But if you’re in your Magiclad Girl form, it’s a different story. That said, without transforming, you’ll never beat him.”

“How am I even supposed to land a hit?”

“It’s simple. Don’t think. Just rush in with everything you’ve got.”

“And then I’ll land a hit?”

“I doubt it. But if you keep attacking, eventually a chance will come. All that’s left is recognizing it.”

Following her instructions, I went at Big Teach. She avoided every strike, but I kept swinging.

Then I saw it. The moment she wound up her fist for a punch.

Now! This is it! I swung the chainsaw down.

Shit. I accidentally went full power. Oh no. I’m gonna kill her… or not. She avoided it, and I only managed to nick one of her pigtails.

She slipped behind me faster than ever and gave my back a firm shove.

“Good one. That was wonderful.”

She clapped for me, but I wasn’t sure if I should be happy.

“Now, I’ll go all out.”

Wait… was she mad? Was it because I cut her pigtail a little?

Hold on. Stop! Ugh.

My Magiclad Girl costume was in tatters by the time training ended.

She was too strong. Not that I’d expected anything less. In the end, the only hit I landed was that tiny nick to her pigtail.

“Now that today’s training is over, it’s time for your evaluation,” Big Teach said.

“Think I can win?”

“Not at all. Nowhere close. Your win rate’s about ten percent, maybe.”

“Ten’s plenty.”

“It’s not plenty. And that’s before factoring in his abilities. I’d say it’s wiser not to challenge him.”

“I don’t care. I’m doing it.”

“If that mist is thick enough to wrap around him entirely, your chances of winning are zero.”

“Because he can escape?”

“No, no. That mist teleports objects. If it wraps around his body, no attack will connect.”

“Then what should I do?”

“I don’t know. I’d blow it away with wind, but wind magic’s hard, you know?”

“I see.”

Without countering that mist, I had no chance of winning. A mist that teleported objects.

---

The next night, it happened without warning.

After finishing my magic training and Big Teach’s special drills, Sera burst into my room. I was in the middle of changing, so I covered my chest with my shirt and let out a scream.

“Eeek! Sera, you perv!”

“Stop being weird. It’s gross.”

She really didn’t get jokes. No need to glare at me like that.

“What is it?”

“Yokai are appearing in large numbers.”

She must mean those pseudo-Megalo. Wait, I thought they were shutting down their sources. Was the King of the Night making a move?

“According to Yuki’s information, about a thousand yokai appeared all at once.”

Why now? And that many too. No time to think this over.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“That’s exactly what I came to hear.”

“Color me surprised. I thought you wouldn’t wanna go.”

“Given the circumstances, we have no choice.”

When we stepped out of the room, Haruna was sitting on the floor.

“A-Ayumu.” Her legs were trembling. “C-Could you take me to the bathroom?”

I picked her up and headed there. “Do you sense the Megalo?”

“Yeah. It’s bad.”

If Haruna was scared, then these weren’t pseudo-Megalo. They were the real thing. What the hell was going on? When I dropped her off at the bathroom, Big Teach came out from the living room.

“The real Megalo have found his location,” she said.

So the genuine Megalo from the Underworld had shown up after all.

“You should come with us,” I said.

“I’ll be heading back to Villiers first. It’s the perfect chance to take down the Megalo, after all.”

So, she was going to bring in the Magiclad Girls. We scrambled into action.

Haruna let out a groan and stepped out of the bathroom.

“You okay? You can stay here if you want.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Of course I’m going!”

Yeah, I figured she’d say that. Either way, we wouldn’t know what was going on until we saw it for ourselves.

---

We took the train toward the city center.

Apparently, when someone tried to retrieve the last magic bomb, a bunch of Megalo showed up.

After getting off the train, we ran for about five minutes before reaching a spot that looked to be the place.

The roadway was packed with Megalo, like there was some kind of an event or a festival. They weren’t doing anything in particular, just standing there in a daze.

People seemed to think it was some kind of film shoot, smiling as they watched.

Well, they were all animals in matching school uniforms, so you couldn’t really blame them. If someone told you they were just rowdy students on a school trip, you’d probably believe it.

We were watching the strange scene from a distance, but there was another group giving them the same suspicious look.

In the middle of that group was Tomonori. The Vampire Ninjas had rushed over too, but they didn’t seem ready to make a move. With that many Megalo, who knew how much collateral damage a fight would cause? It made sense to wait until they figured out what the Megalo were up to.

Sera stood where the Vampire Ninjas couldn’t see her.

Seriously, what were the Megalo thinking?

When I looked up at the sky, I saw something glinting. It was headed toward us.

From beyond Tokyo Tower, a meteor shower was falling this way. Magiclad Girls. All the forces had finally gathered.

As they streaked down from the sky, the civilians scattered in panic.

The first to land was Big Teach. Right after her, a girl in a cute costume came down.

“I-I’m going with them!”

Haruna, who’d been itching to move, bolted toward the Magiclad Girls. Just a little while ago she could barely stand, but now she was full of energy.

“Haruna, wait!”

Sera tried to stop her, but once Haruna was like this, stopping her was no easy task.

Great. I guess I’ll go after.

Hold on. Where was the King of the Night?

I turned my gaze back to the sky. My eyes landed on Tokyo Tower.

Of course. Why hadn’t I realized sooner? He was probably watching this whole scene unfold with his trademark condescending gaze.

The observation deck. From there, he should be able to witness all this chaos.

I glanced at Haruna and Sera, then took off running without saying a word.

With Vampire Ninjas, Magiclad Girls, Big Teach, plus Sera and Tomonori all here, they could handle things. And besides, if I called it out and I was wrong, it’d be pretty embarrassing.