Chapter 13:
On the Night of the Full Moon
THAT NIGHT, as midnight approached and the insects quietly slept, Filia, Ashley, and I gathered in Ashley’s living room, ready to depart. We still had about an hour to go before midnight, but we figured it would be best to get to Moichi’s shop as soon as possible.
“Okay, Yuri, listen up,” said Filia in a hushed tone. “Please make sure you move quietly, so you don’t wake her, all right?”
“Yeah, I got it,” I replied, nodding.
We’d decided that it wasn’t the greatest idea to endanger a kid as young as Loli Loli, so we’d put her to bed. Loli Loli was sleeping comfortably right in front of us, and we didn’t want to make too much noise and wake her up. As such, we had to leave the living room very, very slowly.
Carefully, slowly, we made our way through the room one step at a time. Ashley’s house was made of good, sturdy material, so even if a person of my weight moved around in it, the floor didn’t make a single creak.
Briiiiiiiiinnnng!
Suddenly, a piercing noise echoed throughout the room.
“Hywahh?! A-Ashley, what was that sound?!”
“I-I don’t know! I didn’t do anything!”
“It’s going to wake up Loli Loli!”
“She’s already awake!”
Before we had time to figure out the source of the sound, Loli Loli’s eyelids, which had been firmly shut in her deep sleep, snapped open. We stared at her blankly. Loli Loli pulled an alarm clock out from the couch cushions behind her and pressed a button. The ringing stopped.
“I knew you were going to leave me here!” said Loli Loli. “Thank goodness I set the alarm clock!”
I hadn’t realized she’d prepared so carefully. She really did have a way of exceeding our expectations.
“I’m going too!” she declared. “Don’t leave me here!”
Ashley shook her head. “It’ll be dangerous. I think it’d be best if you didn’t come.”
“No! The villagers accepted me! I want to repay that debt of gratitude!” Loli Loli touched the flower crown on her head as she spoke.
Ashley, Filia, and I exchanged looks, then nodded.
“Okay,” said Filia. “But it will be dangerous, so be careful.”
“Okay! Let me handle some of it! I’ll beat those bad guys to a pulp!”
Overwhelmed by Loli Loli’s enthusiasm, we decided that it would be the four of us guarding Moichi’s shop.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once we arrived at the shop, we hid ourselves inside, concealing even our breathing. Our hiding place was in the kitchen, which was lined with leftover Donuts Sans Holes. It wasn’t really in my nature to hide, but if I didn’t hide now, the enemy would get too wary. If they were wary, they might not even show up. From the window of the shop, we could see the Fire God idol burning even late into the night.
Hmm. It occurred to me that the idol, which was right in front of the shop, might end up being useful cover if a battle broke out. I’d have to take our surroundings into consideration ahead of time. Just as I thought that, I sensed the presence of someone nearing the entrance.
“They’re here.”
The presence drew closer, coming in through the entrance toward the kitchen without making a sound. Tension and excitement shot through my body. I tingled and twitched, trying to hold myself back from making any rash moves. Not yet, not yet, not yet…
Now!
The instant we felt the presence move into the kitchen, we made our move. We’d already decided on our roles in advance; our battle plans hadn’t overlooked a thing. First, Loli Loli would turn on the lights by the entrance. Then Ashley would block the exit. In the event that the light Loli Loli turned on was targeted, Filia had her lightning magic prepared. Then I’d take on the culprit.
“Hey! Hope you’re ready for this!” I shouted, even though we were still under cover of darkness.
Then, with the agility borne of my daily training regimen, I darted toward my opponent and instantly threw a punch. The moment my fist collided with the presence, the lights in the store flared on.
“Wha—?!” I lost my balance because of my excess momentum. I was sure I should have landed a hit, but it was like my fist met nothing at all—and I mean nothing. I don’t mean that I didn’t hit, or that the surface was weirdly soft. I mean nothing-nothing. For a moment, I almost left myself open, but I quickly regained my balance by working my muscles.
I turned toward the presence I felt, wondering just what the hell I’d punched, and saw a semi-transparent black haze floating in the air.
“Huh? What is that?” I blurted, my confusion apparent.
It was a human-shaped, faceless black haze. What in the hell was it? It didn’t seem to be particularly strong from what I could sense, but…my fist had just passed right through it?
“Yuri, get away!” Filia cried, and moments later, she unleashed her lightning magic, blasting the haze. That seemed to do the trick, unlike my fists. Its humanoid form broke apart in the blink of an eye before dissipating completely.
A shocked silence hung in the air around us.
After an eternity, I spoke up. “What was that? My fist went right through it.”
All we could do was share intel we’d gained from that confrontation. That was our first priority right now.
“That magic was probably necromancy,” Filia said.
“Necromancy…” Ashley echoed. “I’ve heard of that before. It’s a type of magic that allows the caster to use spirits to do their bidding, because the spirits no longer have thoughts of their own.”
“Yes. What we saw just now was probably one such spirit. It’s no wonder physical attacks weren’t effective against it. Spirits have ethereal forms.”
“So, that means there’s somebody else controllin’ the spirit, right? Like a ringleader?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m almost completely certain.”
“Necromancy…I’ve never fought a spirit before. It sounds like a pretty unique opponent. Seems like it’ll be fun to fight!”
How do spirits attack in the first place, anyway? I wondered. Possession or somethin’? Just the thought of it was psyching me up.
Ashley looked like she was lost in thought too. “Yuri. You don’t have any magical energy, right?”
“Yeah, seems that way.”
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better if you took the rear guard and backed us up?” she asked.
According to Ashley, by covering your body with magical energy, you could prevent a spirit from possessing it. But I didn’t have magical energy, so I couldn’t use that method. I would be in danger—and might endanger others—if I went into this battle without any kind of countermeasures against ethereal enemies.
I was really grateful for her concern, but I had no intention of dragging the group down. “Don’t worry. Check out my muscles.”
I released my muscles. The trapezius, the latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis, triceps bacchii, and quadriceps femoris…every muscle in my body boldly asserted its presence, swelling to the point that they looked about to burst. Clad in my naturally hard muscle armor, I brought both of my hands up to my head. Then I showed off my exposed abdominals to my three companions.
“So…any questions?” I asked.
“Yes! Many!” shouted Ashley. “All of the questions, Yuri! That doesn’t convince me of anything at all!”
Jeez, way to freak out, Ashley!
“Well, I think Yuri might be okay,” said Filia. “I can’t imagine he would give the enemy any openings to allow himself to be possessed, and anyway, any spirit that tried to crawl into a body like his would just get confused.”
“You have a point,” I said. “Muscles are something you develop yourself. If you just snatch away someone else’s muscles, you’ll just feel empty.”
Yeah, that Filia understood muscles quite well! Someday Filia too would get totally shredded. I just knew it!
“Big Sis, what in the world is Yuri saying?”
“Don’t worry about it. Yuri is an unidentified life form; we still haven’t made enough progress in investigating the ecological ramifications of his existence.”
“I’m a human being.”
“Then could you do us all a favor and please try to act like it?”