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“What’s the Pandemonium Era?” I asked from the staff holder that night. Stella was at her study desk reading a particularly thick book. She had borrowed it from the library to write her report.
Stella answered without even looking away from the book. “Right now we’re in the Goddess Calendar. What came before was the Pandemonium Era. It was a time of chaos and war.”
“So what, that was over a thousand years ago?”
“Uh-huh. There were tons of witches with cursed power back then, and the continent was never free of war. It only ended when the Goddess descended and defeated all the witches.”
“The witches... Stella, what defines a witch?” I asked. The Goddess had called Stella a witch, but I didn’t believe it. If she had that kind of power, why wouldn’t she wield it against the villainess? I did seem bound to this staff, but there was no proof Stella had done that herself. It was fully possible the Goddess just had some kind of grudge motivating her to lie to me about Stella.
“What defines a witch...? Well, they live a long time and use magic,” she said, flipping through pages in the book. “There’s a description here.”
She pulled me out of the staff holder and held me in front of the book. That was all well and good, but...
“Stella, I don’t know this world’s language. I can understand pictures, though.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll read it to you, then.”
Stella cradled me so she could read while holding me; her hair brushed against my cheek. It had a nice, faint smell, perhaps because she had just bathed.
“During the Pandemonium Era, more deaths were caused by Liliana the Witch of Submission than any other. She stood before armies of thousands and ordered them to submit; the soldiers, under her magic, would cut their heads off. The witch would then stroll through the mass suicides as the mounds of corpses echoed with her perfect laughter.”
The book had a picture of a witch, indeed, strolling past headless soldiers. She was depicted as a black-robed figure with a maniacal smile and spread-out arms.
“Vesta the Witch of Pestilence would chant ‘eat,’ then cast malicious curses that blackened fruit. Those who ate an afflicted fruit would perish instantly, while animals would morph into violent magibeasts that followed the witch’s every command. Malbella the Witch of Conflagration would chant ‘perish,’ then unleash fires that burned unending for hundreds of years, turning the towers of the continent to ash.”
The illustrations depicted a witch with beasts following her and a town in flames.
That all sounded pretty brutal. Not exactly the kind of book I wanted to read while embraced by a beautiful girl.
“That’s what a witch is,” Stella concluded. “They control people, make magibeasts, and spit out fire that burns for over a hundred years. Magic really is a terrifying, world-warping force.”
“I’d say miracles are pretty terrifying too, considering you can blast out fireballs with a short chant...”
“What’s terrifying about that?” Stella asked, her brow furrowing. “They’re literal miracles granted to us by spirits. Magic comes from cursed power the witches wield themselves, it’s totally different. I mean, look, witches don’t even have staves since they don’t need spirits.”
She pointed at the book. Just as she said, the witches in the illustrations didn’t have staves.
“So you’re saying the difference is the miracles come from spirits, while magic comes from individuals...? I can’t say I really understand why that’s a big deal.”
As someone who had come from a world without anything like either, both miracles and magic were basically the same thing. Tomayto, tomahto.
Displeased by my response, Stella puffed out her cheeks. “Why are you so stupid? The entire civilization of the continent got wiped out by wars caused by magic. How could such an evil power be anything like miracles?”
“The civilization got...wiped out?”
“The continent was way further developed before Pandemonium. There were towers of silver that reached all the way to the heavens, flying chariots, and carrier pigeons that could go between the edges of the continent in the blink of an eye.”
“Sounds fantastical.”
“And the witches destroyed all of it. They twisted the world with magic.”
“What do you mean by twisting the world...?”
“I didn’t see it for myself, so it’s not like I can explain it specifically, but... That’s what they say about magic in textbooks. It erased those silver towers and flying chariots and all that. They’re just gone now. It’s gotta be more dangerous than I can even imagine,” Stella said, disgust clear on her face. It seemed like magic really was best avoided in this world. “The Goddess gifted the survivors miracles to help them recover after their civilization was destroyed. If not for miracles, we couldn’t fly, we’d struggle just to make fires to cook, and we couldn’t even bathe properly.”
“You’re using miracles for all that...?”
“The only reason we have peaceful lives at all is because the Goddess made miracles for us. That’s why we all offer her prayers,” Stella said, looking up to the relief of the Goddess on her wall. Its eyes were still blackened and destroyed. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes. “O Goddess, I ask that you protect us tomorrow as you have today.”
It was an honest prayer. I found myself unable to say anything. The Goddess she worshipped was trying to kill her... It was awful.
There was absolutely no way I could tell such an honest, faithful girl the horrible truth—the Goddess had crushed her wishes in her hands and given me divine power just to kill her.
With her prayer finished, Stella returned me to the staff stand. She looked at her mostly incomplete report and sighed.
“Aah, Professor Elyena always gives essays on minor topics. She had to have chosen the Pandemonium Era out of spite. There’s barely any records of it already, and the one book I could find is a total doorstop.”
“Why not just summarize what you’ve read for the report? She probably won’t complain as long as you fill in the page space.”
“Not a chance. Professor Elyena may be chill, but reports have a direct impact on my grades. I need to write something that gets full approval.”
“Are they really that serious...?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I want to join the Opti Baculus. Not even Antohsa graduates get a recommendation for them unless they’re top of their class.”
“Ah, so that part wasn’t a lie.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stella asked, shooting me a piercing glare. I shrugged it off. “Even this deep into the Goddess Calendar, there are still magibeasts remnants from Pandemonium that wander the continent. There are victims every day, and...”
“By magibeast, you mean like the fish from before?”
“Right. Plants and animals disfigured and transformed by magic. That fish was basically nothing; really deadly magibeasts can wipe out entire cities in one go.”
“Sounds pretty deadly...”
“My dream ever since I can remember has been to join the strongest band of fighters in Oravina and hunt the magibeasts plaguing this country. That’s why I joined Antohsa in the first place,” Stella said, a distant look in her eyes. I had no idea what she was looking at over yonder, but it was the duty of an otaku to support his idol’s dreams to their fullest.
“All right then. Sounds like I need to put my all into this too.”
“Heh?” Stella said.
“The quality of your miracles impacts your grades too, right? Sounds like a job for me—your spirit.”
“Excuse me? You’re not even a Great Spirit. Your ‘job’ is to make way for a better spirit once I find one. I have absolutely zero hopes for you whatsoever.”
“You were the fastest student in today’s endurance race, nooo? Is that still not enough for you, Stellaaa? Hmmmm?”
“Th-That’s...! I-I mean, I guess it was a good showing for you, maybe...?”
“Stella complimented me! Hooray!”
“C-Come on, it was the tiniest compliment possible. Only an idiot would celebrate over that...” Stella crossed her arms and tilted her chin away. I’d love to admire the expression on her face, but my inability to move in literally any way prevented this.
“And anyway, is that actually what you want?” she continued.
“Hm?”
“Didn’t you have other things to do than be my spirit?”
“Other things... Oh, right! I need to proselytize the entire school into the religion of Stella!”
“No! I’m talking about how you wanted to go back to your world!”
“Ah... Right.”
Honestly, it surprised me that Stella hadn’t forgotten about that yet.
“It was so important you went to plead to the Goddess in person, didn’t you? I don’t care about losing a weak spirit like you. Forget about me, just look for some way to go back to your old w—”
“Stella,” I called to her. She fell silent.
What expression was she making, exactly? She was so stubbornly facing away I still couldn’t see her face. Instead, I spoke to her silver hair.
“Have you forgotten what I am, Stella? I’m an otaku. Find any otaku and ask them if they’d abandon a chance to see their idol from good morning to good night... Each of them, down to the last man, would say no! It’s the dream of any gross otaku out there to become the personal possession of their idol! To be carried around by them twenty-four seven!”
“Wha—?!” Stella’s head shot in my direction with shock. Her cheeks were red.
“Calm down and think about it. Every day I get to be gripped, bashed, and even ridden by my idol. And, on top of that, I even get to stay in the same room. Living with one’s idol! Where I’m from, there is no greater happiness than this. Any otaku who heard about my situation here would die of envy.”
“You’re the one who needs to calm down!” Stella exclaimed, steam blowing out of her ears. “Jeez, you big stupid dummy! Dealing with you would take all night. I’m going to sleep.”