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CHAPTER 2 – UNDERGROUND PEOPLE AND THE MAGICAL GIRL
PART 03
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“Alright, let’s get started. Rekka, I’ll lend you some of my power.”
“Thanks, but what kind of power are you talking about?”
“Well, I call it power, but it’s more like magic. It will increase your original strength exponentially, and you’ll gain the ability to wield long-range offensive magic against Leviathan. Anyway, do you already know how to wield long-range offensive magic on your own?”
“…? No, I don’t.”
Why did he think that I would be able to do so?
“Then please close your eyes and hold still.”
“Ok.”
I closed my eyes as instructed.
“…..—.—……—”
Baa-kun started chanting, and a strange feeling suddenly invaded my body.
It was at once hot, warm, and exciting, as power welled up from the depths of my body, accompanied by a weird creeping feeling. Finally, it was over, and I opened my eyes.
“Is it over?”
“Pfft!!!!”
Satsuki snorted at my query. With one hand over her mouth and the other pressed against her stomach, she trembled, as if trying her best to hold in her laughter. I seldom witnessed my childhood friend doubled over in laughter like that.
Tetra had her face averted from mine, her shoulders trembling as she pressed a hand against her mouth, tears of laughter sprouting at the corners of her eyes.
“That’s truly a complete transformation,” R whispered expressionlessly.
“What? What’s going on?”
I looked down at my body…and nearly choked in surprise.
A colorful dress that was hopelessly girly.
A skirt so full of frills and lace that it made movement look impossible.
Boots with angel wings attached.
A sparkling magical stick clutched in my right hand.
An opal of hope upon my chest.
“W-WHAT IS THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!” I screamed, though I already knew the answer.
This was unmistakably the perfect magical girl get-up.
But there was only one problem.
I’m a guy.
“This is totally wrong!”
“What’s wrong? Is there anything not to your liking?”
“Nothing’s to my liking!”
I whipped around and shouted angrily at the disgustingly-cute elephant…then realized that I was just as disgustingly-cute as he was. Satsuki and Tetra continued laughing.
I demanded Baa-kun to explain the rationale of the costume.
“Well, when I transferred my magical power to you, I just assumed it meant that you’d become a magical girl, since you’re Japanese and all.”
But I’d already told him right from the start! And I thought he’d understood!
“Anyway, what can this magical power do?”
I put aside my embarrassment and asked the important question.
“As I’ve said before, you can now wield a bombastic, long-range, destructive magic. Go on, give it a try.”
“How?”
“Let’s open the windows.”
“Ok.”
I opened the windows.
“Point your stick to the outside.”
“Ok.”
I held the stick out straight.
“Now imagine an explosion.”
“Ok.”
Would a simple image do? Hmm, an explosion would look like…
“And everything in sight will be destroyed.”
“Wait, you want me to destroy the entire city!?”
That was close!!!!
“Why don’t you aim up at the sky instead?”
“Alright.”
I looked up into the night sky and located a convenient-looking cloud.
…I had no idea how powerful the attack would be, so maybe I should restrain myself a little… Would it work if I imagined a smaller blast?
Either way, I gave it a try.
Then…
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!*
Whoa… It was an explosion a hundred times more powerful than a firework display.
“W-W-W-W-W-What was that explosion—!?” I heard Tsumiki scream from downstairs.
Sorry, that was me.
Yet Baa-kun looked unsatisfied.
“Eh? That’s strange… The blast is hundreds of times less powerful than what it should be like.”
“Just what kind of dangerous magic did you give to me!?” I shouted as I whacked the elephant’s head with my stick.
“Hmm. Namidare Rekka, did you restrain yourself?”
“No, I whacked you with all my might!”
“No, I meant with the magic.”
“Huh? Well, it’ll be bad if I bring harm to the city.”
In fact, I was glad I had restrained myself. If I’d fired an attack as powerful as what Baa-kun was suggesting, the shock waves would definitely have hit the city below.
“I see. So that means I’ve transferred the right amount of power to you,” Baa-kun said happily as he nodded.
Well, I guess I should be thankful, since I’d been given some powerful magic to aid me in battle against the “Monster of Haishin”…
“Anyway, can you do something about the skirt?”
“Hmm, it doesn’t matter to me, but I spent quite some time imbuing the costume with auto-defense mechanisms and counterweights, so if you want something else, you have to give me some time.”
“Argh! That’s not good…”
If we wasted too much time, Leviathan might just break through the seal.
Since Leviathan was a giant sea serpent, and Bahamut was enormous enough to envelope the entire land with his body, then I guess Leviathan would be just as huge, its body covering the entire sea floor. So even if I managed to defeat it, the scale of the battle would no doubt bring about a large amount of harm to Earth.
According to Tetra, the “sealed space” behind the door where the “Monster of Haishin” currently resided was made to be as large as the Earth. If possible, we’d have to make our way there as soon as possible and engage it in battle within that space.
“But there’s still the problem of Food Champion…”
“…? What’s that?”
“Oh, yea, I guess you hadn’t heard about that yet, Baa-kun.”
I quickly gave Baa-kun a summarized version of my “Namidare Lineage” and Tsumiki’s “story”, as well as the fact that we’d yet to find a way to win the Food Champion.
“Oh, I see. Well, I have a good solution to that,” Baa-kun boasted as he tapped his bloated tummy with his long snout.
“Remember I said that both Leviathan and myself were originally created to become sacrifices for the Gods? That means that our flesh is so tasty that it surpasses anything you humans can create… So once you’ve defeated Leviathan, you can use its meat to create a dish that will surely win the competition.”
“Oh…erm, really?”
The idea was slightly grotesque, but it sounded like a good plan to me.
It also meant that both stories involving Tetra’s village and “Nozomiya” could be resolved at the same time.
But that meant,
“…So I have to stay in this form until I defeat the monster?”
“That’s right.”
Arghh, I guess I could swallow my pride as a man if it meant I could resolve the two girls’ “stories”… I made a note to keep reminding myself of that.
“Alright, then let’s make our preparations for travel to the underground village of Ziz, and let’s go,” I said brightly, forcing down my embarrassment, but,
“O-Of course… Pfft!”
“A-Alright, let’s do thi-… Pfft! P-Please, Rekka, don’t look at me with such a serious expression…”
Tetra and Satsuki doubled over in laughter again.
“This won’t do, Rekka-san. You’re now a biological weapon, capable of killing the enemy with laughter with just one look. Let’s move to someplace that’s darker so that you won’t die of embarrassment yourself,” R delivered the final blow.
The whole thing just made me want to cry.