Minutes later, we landed near the rubble where the Cultural Arts Center—the CAC—had once stood. We’d hoped to get closer to the main school building, but were intercepted by magic from below: a rainbow-colored beam spell. If Keiko hadn’t warned us in time, one of us might have taken a direct hit. How did she even notice? I marveled. I mean, I guess I knew the Greater Ninja was amazing…
Thanks to her keen eye warning us, Nahan’s shield fully blocked the rainbow beam. However, now that the enemy had spotted us, we had to be careful not to land too close to them. So, we chose the familiar ruins of the CAC as our landing spot.
“The enemy will be upon us soon,” Yuuki advised. “My team will draw their attention, so Kazu-dono’s team should go ahead.”
“Uh, Yuuki-senpai…”
“Worry not, we’ll catch up soon.”
Isn’t that a death flag? Or, in a sense, a survival flag…?
“We don’t have much time,” Coeurl announced, raising its head. “We must prevent Diasnexus’s forces from securing the Wedge.”
The monster was right; the forest was becoming noisy. It seemed we had no choice but to split our forces.
“Nahan, hide just us with your magic. And could you shrink down?” I requested.
“Yes, master.”
The turtle’s body shrank to a size I could easily hold in one hand. When I picked it up, it was surprisingly light.
“Let’s go, everyone. Grab hands.”
Hands linked, the four of us started jogging in single file. I led the way, holding Nahan in my free hand. Tamaki was next, followed by Rushia, with Arisu at the rear.
This arrangement was necessary due to the equipment they carried; Tamaki could strap her sword to her backpack, but Arisu needed one hand free to hold her spear. Coeurl kept pace beside me, glancing over occasionally. The message was clear: even with Nahan’s powerful invisibility, which theoretically only I could see through, the monster couldn’t be fooled.
I turned around, startled, as a quick succession of explosions came from behind us. The forest had erupted into towering flames.
All this commotion should draw the enemy toward it, I thought. Maybe now we’ll make it to the main middle school building faster.
Then, Coeurl stopped. “We’ve been detected. On the right.”
“Nahan!” I called, throwing the turtle into the air. Nahan expanded midflight, deploying a shield that blocked the incoming rainbow beam. The deflected beam mowed down a nearby thicket of trees as if they were toothpicks.
Beyond the felled trees stood a robed figure that looked like an undead magician.
“Sheesh, and that was the rebound… Nahan, drop the invisibility. We’re going on the attack here. Tamaki, Arisu!”
“We’ve got it! Arisu, let’s go!”
“Yeah, Tamaki-chan! Hold onto me!”
I’d decided to drop the invisibility to avoid friendly fire, but Tamaki and Arisu were ready to spring into action with Shape Lightning.
“Wait!” I said, grabbing the collars of their jerseys to hold them back. “Just to be safe, Rushia goes first.”
At my request, Rushia unleashed Prominent Snake. Almost simultaneously, the robed monster began chanting another spell. The second rainbow beam clashed violently with Rushia’s flame serpent, creating a massive explosion. Grimacing from the wave of heat, I gave the command.
“Go now, Tamaki, Arisu!”
“Woof!”
“Right. Shape Lightning!” The explosion stirred up dust and debris, obscuring our vision.
Even though the undead are said to detect their targets with special perception, Nahan assured us that the dust and debris would make an effective smokescreen. So, using the dust as cover, the two girls vanished like lightning. We’d often seen Sha-Lau use Shape Lightning, but we’d only recently acquired the spell for ourselves from the Mia Vendor. Even though Arisu had cast the spell, Tamaki was able to move with her since she was holding her hand. The sound of swordplay followed…
As expected, due to their skills, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves heading back to the White Room.
✦ ✦ ✦
Tamaki was the one who’d leveled up, catching up to Arisu at Level 46. It was the four of us in the White Room—myself, Arisu, Tamaki, and Rushia. Tamaki kept glancing around, as if looking for something she’d misplaced… or someone.
“It does feel a bit lonely,” Arisu said with a wry smile. Rushia, without saying a word, gently squeezed my hand. Silence filled the air.
In moments like this, Mia would always be the one to break the ice. With her teasing, fooling around, and general commotion, she was always trying her hardest to keep our spirits up. Our lives had become significantly quieter without her.
“Kazu.” Eventually, Rushia spoke up, her gaze fixed on me. She started to say something, hesitated, then opened her mouth to speak again… but was interrupted by her stomach rumbling loudly.
“Princess Rushia desires sweets,” I interpreted.
“… Yes,” she admitted, her face flushing red as she nodded.
✦ ✦ ✦
Not only Rushia, but Arisu and Tamaki indulged heavily in the summoned feast of sweets, devouring mountains of cream-laden cakes as if they were eating for the one who couldn’t be here with us.
“Ah, I’m so, sooo full,” Tamaki moaned, rolling on the floor with cream around her mouth.
“Tamaki-chan, you’re such a mess,” Arisu chided. “Kazu-san is going to be appalled.”
“No worries. With Tamaki, it’s nothing new at this point,” I reassured her.
“Exactly, let’s all totally relax, just melt away,” Tamaki suggested.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to lounge around forever. Exchanging information was crucial. I took the time to explain the cloths sewn into the back of everyone’s jerseys.
Rushia tugged at the chest of her jersey, her interest piqued by the material. “It’s much more comfortable than I expected,” she remarked.
“Right? Jerseys are comfy and easy to move in!” Tamaki agreed enthusiastically.
“But it does kind of outline your body quite clearly, which can be a bit embarrassing,” Rushia added, glancing over at us rather self-consciously.
Is she trying to hint at something? Well, not that I’d mind, but still.