“That was incredible. You were like a bug.”
What? A bug?! Does he mean I was graceful like a butterfly? Or maybe a grasshopper since I was hopping around. Well, I guess there are parts of me that make me seem like a grasshopper cyborg.
“What kind of bug?”
“A cockroach.”
I see. I guess people see different things when faced with something beautiful. Everyone’s sensibilities are diverse, so I won’t comment on his response.
The hero awkwardly averted his gaze from me and looked up at the footing blocks that were still floating. “I have to say, I’m surprised... I can’t believe you’re using a spell that surely burns a lot of mana this many times at once.”
Well, yeah. Patrick is incredible. He can prepare footing blocks for everyone, command troops in battle, fight on the front lines, and file his taxes on the side all at the same time.
“If I’m preparing enough for everyone, I won’t be able to fight in the battle myself. Do you have any questions?”
“I do!” I exclaimed. “Can you file your taxes?”
Patrick completely ignored my question, and the Demon Lord didn’t say anything either. My claims had been disproved, and since no one had any questions, we were ready to go at any moment. The hero then unsheathed his sword and raised his voice, the tip of his blade pointed at the sky.
“Let us head out, then. Though I’ve swung my sword for this kingdom countless times, this is the first I’ll be doing so for the world.”
“Hmm...? Huh? For the kingdom...? You were just going on a rampage because you wanted to,” the Demon Lord said, completely confused.
We ignored the Demon Lord and began executing our plan. Perhaps it was because we didn’t have much time, but Patrick had already activated his wind magic.
In order to conserve mana, it was most efficient to be flown up to a certain height using only wind magic. My body was being lifted into the air, and we began to ascend. The way that the wind was blowing upward made me feel like I was falling through the air. It was a strange sensation.
This was a spell that required quite a bit of skill...or rather, it was something mostly used for entertainment, so there probably were only a few people who’d experienced this before. Despite the rarity of this experience, the hero and Demon Lord, of course, didn’t seem surprised at all.
The Demon Lord’s expression normally didn’t change, so his surprise was all internal. I looked at him and saw he was mumbling something.
“Even if you’ve tidied up your appearance and now act all classy, you’re just as aggressive as always...”
Deemie, could it be that you have a crush on Hero? I kept that thought to myself. I knew it would play out as an embarrassed grade school girl objection and lead to an annoying mess.
Finally, we were getting closer to the rampaging Left Yumiella. Our party facing this world-ending crisis was four people: the hero, the Demon Lord, the hidden boss...and Patrick.
“It feels like you just got mixed up in our thing,” I said to Patrick.
“That is what’s happening.” He spoke as if he were the only victim here, but I was in the same boat—I’d gotten mixed up in the fated connection between the hero and the Demon Lord. I’m a victim too! Oh, but they came to the living world because of Left Yumiella...
I was going to stop looking at things in such a black-and-white manner, like victims and perpetrators. Nothing was so clear-cut in this world. The only thing I knew for sure was that at this rate, Left Yumiella was a big enough danger that she could bring an end to this world, and she was definitely evil! I’m really starting to look like a perpetrator here. Negative thoughts are no good—let me think positively.
“Is that really me? I’m not that evil-looking, am I?”
“Stop trying to deny reality. It’s too late for that.”
Just as Patrick delivered that stinging line, the unidentified flying object that probably had no relation to me made a move. Trying to be cautious, Patrick paused our ascension and kept us floating in midair.
Several panel-like objects shot out of Left Yumiella’s back. There were a total of...twelve. They were about thirty centimeters in length, and... Oh, they’re making a boxy U shape! They’re clanging around and changing like a robot!
The panels were separate from the main body, but they were flying around in the air as if they had their own minds. I feel like I’ve seen this before somewhere.
“I’m sorry, Patrick. That thing is definitely me.”
From the looks of it, the objects were likely made out of magical energy, so making them change form was only a waste of time. Left Yumiella could’ve just made them in the U shape in the first place. Since she had copied something from an anime, there was a ninety-nine percent chance she was me. There was probably a one percent chance that she was a different person and a genius who could come up with something that was so obviously cool.
Patrick seemed confused by my sudden change in attitude.
“Why are you admitting it now?”
“I thought it was very like me to go out of her way to make things look cool.”
“Do they look cool...? They kind of look like tweezers.” Patrick didn’t understand, and he tilted his head. That was the moment I became one hundred percent sure it was me. “Do you know what they’re going to do?”
“I think they’re going to fly around like drones, or bring out a particle cannon, or three might combine to become a force field...”
“Drone...?”
Since the panels were shaped like the fins on a fish, I was going to refer to them as fins moving forward. As I explained my thoughts to Patrick, Left Yumiella continued to manipulate the fins and fall towards land, ready to destroy the planet.
The first to make a move was the hero. He jumped forward, and all of the fins rushed towards him. Ignoring gravity and aerodynamics, the twelve units each independently followed a complicated path. Not only did they surround him on all sides, but they trapped him from the top and bottom as well. That’s what you get for making a move on your own...
This formation meant that the fins were probably going to shoot out a beam. I needed to save him, or the hero was going to be in a pickle. I was about to step forward, but the Demon Lord held his hand out and stopped me.
“There’s no need to join in.”