Published at 17th of August 2019 9:10 am

Volume 18, Chapter 3: The Beginning

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Monday, September 13

Nana's new body was something that would be completed in a day or two. Koutarou and the others lived their normal lives as they gradually built her body. Since the discussion regarding the combat system was done, Koutarou returned to doing chores. Right now he was out buying food for today's dinner. Normally Kiriha, Ruth, Harumi or Shizuka most often went out to buy ingredients in a group that varied, but they were currently busy so only one of them went out with Koutarou. She was holding Koutarou's arm and quietly drew close to him.

“Hello, Kiriha-san”

“Hello, Obaa-san”

“Kiriha-san, we just stocked up on some new tea leaves. You can take some with you for free if you give me your impression after you've tried it”

“Thank you very much”

“Oh, Kiriha-chan, out on a date with your boyfriend today?”

Kiriha got along well with the people in the shopping district. Just from walking down the street all kinds of people called out to them; it varied from greetings to consultations to banter. Just listening to them, Koutarou could tell how well Kiriha and the people in the shopping district got along.

Her invasion is progressing smoothly. Good...

This was proof of how well Kiriha's invasion was going. It was a peaceful invasion where in the end everyone would hold hands and respect one another. Koutarou still didn't know if it could be called an invasion, but he was happy that it was proceeding smoothly. That's why he smiled as Kiriha spoke to the people of the city.

“Yes, we're on a date!”

”H-Hey!?”

However, Kiriha's bold remark blew away Koutarou's joyous emotions. Because he had spoken with his father and Kenji, Koutarou had started getting more conscious of the girls of room 106. As a result, he was somewhat shaken up when Kiriha declared that they were on a date.

“That's an awfully normal boy you picked for yourself, Kiriha-chan”

”I think normalness is important in the end. Besides, our memories are special”

”Well said... Gaaah, it's great to be young! Damn, good for you, kid!”

”Y-Yes”

“What are you saying!?”

”Ah, no, I didn't mean it that way!!”

The owner of the grocer's shop that was talking to Koutarou and Kiriha was caught by his wife and scolded. As a result, Koutarou and Kiriha were back to just the two of them again.

“Fufu, as I thought, being like this makes it look like we're on a date”

Kiriha glanced back towards the grocer's shop and smiled as she embraced Koutarou's arm again and moved closer. As she did, the smell of flowers tickled Koutarou's nose. It was most likely the smell of the shampoo or perfume that Kiriha was using, but Koutarou couldn't make a distinction between them. However, the faint smell wasn't overwhelming, and served to strengthen Kiriha's calming impression.

“We're only out to buy food for dinner”

”But it's still a splendid date. A man and a woman in such a relationship, or on their way to such a relationship, spending time together like this is called a date”

Kiriha smiled as she spoke and strengthened her grip around Koutarou's arm. To her, whenever she was with Koutarou she was always in the middle of a date.

“Of course, it would be a different story if you didn't hold any romantic feelings towards me”

But when Kiriha said that she wasn't smiling. Koutarou not having any romantic feelings for her was Kiriha's only fear.

“So much has happened between us, I've seen your good and bad sides and we've supported each other several times... with all that, there's no way I don't feel anything for you”

Since Kiriha looked so lonely, Koutarou honestly spoke his mind. The memories they had built up this year and a half were plentiful. Amongst them were many things that could let them progress towards a romantic relationship. That's why it would be a lie if Koutarou were to say he felt nothing for Kiriha.

“Then a date is an apt description”

A smile returned to Kiriha's lips and she looked up at Koutarou, pressing her body even closer towards him. She was so close that if she stretched her back a little further their lips would touch.

“...Feelings aside, would buying ingredients for dinner even count as that?”

Koutarou was happy to see Kiriha smile again, but he was too embarrassed that this was a date, being a boy in puberty after all. He couldn't help but let a wry comment leak past his lips.

“Then let's treat this as mischievousness”

Kiriha hugged Koutarou from the front. In the end Kiriha was one step above Koutarou. If it wasn't a date, then it was mischievousness. If it was something that only lovers could do, then it could still be forgiven if it was simply Kiriha being mischievous.

“I'm sorry for always troubling you”

Kiriha looked up at Koutarou from point blank range. Her eyes were moist and the reflection of Koutarou in them was wavering. It was quite clear that this was not her being mischievous.

“Geez... people like you could be called imps”

”Why?”

”Because you're only saying that because you know it's not bothering me”

Just a few months ago, Koutarou probably would have been troubled by Kiriha's actions. However, after speaking with Yuuichirou and Kenji, Koutarou had reached the conclusion that he needed Kiriha and the others. And that realization allowed Koutarou to understand Kiriha's intentions more deeply.

“The truth is, I'm actually hoping you will counterattack”

If Koutarou were to do anything at this point, he could blame it on Kiriha's mischievousness provoking him. Letting him shift all of the blame of whatever happened onto her. In other words, this wasn't some normal mischievousness, but rather a free pass in the disguise of mischievousness.

“...If you live like that you'll lose out”

Knowing that, Koutarou couldn't take any thoughtless actions. He placed his hands on Kiriha's shoulders and pushed her back a little. Since he treasured her, this kind of action was necessary. If he was swept away by the feelings on the surface, he would lose sight of what he really needed to treasure.

“Fufu, you haven't noticed, have you, Koutarou?”

Despite being rejected, Kiriha smiled happily, as if she had wanted Koutarou to do this.

“Notice what?”

”That you treasure us more than a normal boyfriend treasures his girlfriend”

Though Kiriha hadn't expected this action, it proved to surpass her expectations.

This action proved that once Koutarou made something fit for a lover, he would take responsibility himself. Moreover, not doing anything thoughtless to Kiriha despite them being so intimate was practically the same as saying that he truly loved her.

“What you aren't doing for us is clearly defining yourself as our lover or any direct expressions of love. You do everything other than that. Even more than a normal lover would”

”Eh...”

Koutarou found all nine girls important to him. That's why he wanted them to be happy and wouldn't hesitate to make it happen. He had reason enough to put his life on the line for them and he wouldn't hesitate to do so. The same could be said for the girls. In other words, Koutarou and the girls felt for each other, trusted each other and supported each other. If anyone was in danger the others wouldn't hesitate to offer their lives. Koutarou and the others relationship had already surpassed that of friendship and was reaching the level of family.

Becoming lovers or marrying could be said as welcoming strangers into your life as family. However, Koutarou had already done something similar with the girls. While he was protecting the pretext that they were now lovers, the distance between him and the girls was surprisingly short.

The question was if even lovers were this close. Kiriha didn't believe they were.

“Your hands tells me everything. Just why did these hands push me away? Because you hate me?”

“That's...”

Koutarou couldn't refute Kiriha. If they had just been friends, he could have followed the flow and taken action. She had prepared the free pass by the name of mischievousness for that reason. However, since he treasured her, he couldn't. He didn't want to push such an unfortunate role onto her.

“That's why I won't lose out even if I live like this. The reason for that is because you are so considerate of me”

Kiriha said and smiled. A deep sense of love and trust gleamed in her eyes. She believed that she would absolutely find happiness as long as she was with Koutarou.

“...I lose, Kiriha. Geez...”

Koutarou raised the white flag. Listening to her words, he started feeling like he wanted to live up to her expectation and trust.

“Then... you admit that this is a date?”

”Yeah, unwillingly”

“Unwillingly, huh. Fufufufu...”

“...”

Kiriha knew that Koutarou calling it unwilling was something his pride as a man made him say, but she didn't push it further. She believed a good woman was someone who let a man save face.

Part 2

Koutarou and Kiriha bought ingredients for today's dinners for a while. Kiriha had called it a date, and the two were certainly intimate enough to make everyone looking believe just that.

“Koutarou”

”Hm?”

”Do you prefer a normal apron or a kappōgi[1]?”

”Why would you ask that all of a sudden?”

“I wanted to know which one you'd like me to wear”

”Doesn't it depend on what you're making? An apron for European food and a kappōgi for Japanese food”

“I didn't mean it like that. When you come home to room 106, which one would you like me to welcome you home in”

“Hey...”

“Just tell me”

”...A-An apron, I guess”

“Why?”

“An apron has a more active impression”

“You mean I look like a tomboy?”

”That's what I mean”

The People of the Earth's problem with the radical faction had been resolved and their peaceful invasion of the surface was gradually progressing. As a result, the workload on the commander, Kiriha, was greatly decreasing giving her more time to act like a normal girl. You could say that Kii, who had been bottled up, was being set free. As a result, while Kiriha still remained calm and dignified, she would sometimes unleash her cute and energetic side like a surprise attack.

“Fufufu, you mean you're not forgetting about Kii”

”That's...”

“...It's not?”

“...You're not wrong, but...”

”Fufufu. I love you, Onii-chan”

“H-Hey... everyone is looking”

”It's fine!”

Koutarou found himself attracted to that new side – more precisely it was her original side – of Kiriha's. He wanted to see this part of her as well. Just like how he didn't want to see Yurika as a magical girl, he didn't want to see Kiriha as a commander.

“Now that I think about it, Kii-chan had likes and dislikes, but... has Kiriha-san's dislikes gone away? Like green pepper”

“Actually, I still don't like them, but I endure and eat them”

“You can be pretty enduring after all... You don't have to eat it when it's just the two of us”

”Fufu, how reassuring”

The two's final stop was the greengrocer. Since vegetables for nine people was heavy, they always saved it for last. As they entered, the store keeper greeted them with an energetic voice.

“Welcome! Thanks for your patronage as always, Kiriha-chan!”

“Thank you for always adding in a little extra too”

Like with the other shops on the shopping district, the owners of this one was familiar with Kiriha as well. Kiriha preferred to use this shop for vegetables over the super market. The vegetables here were far superior to the super market in terms of freshness and taste.

“So what did you come to buy today?”

”Green pepper, eggplants and onions. I was thinking of stuffing them with meat. So I also want some vegetables to use as salad. Let me know if you have any recommendations”

Kiriha let the shopkeep know her wishes and held Koutarou's hand so that the shopkeep couldn't see. Since Koutarou knew that she was continuing the topic that they had been on a moment ago, and smiled as he squeezed her hand back.

“I've got some good radish sprouts and lettuce in today”

”Then I'll have those”

“Good. Then it's green pepper, eggplants, onions, radish sprouts and lettuce”

The greengrocer filled a plastic bag with the vegetables Kiriha was after, however he stopped in the middle of it.

“That's right, Kiriha-chan”

”Yes?”

“If you see my daughter on your way back, would you let her know to hurry on home?”

The greengrocer had a daughter. Kiriha had gotten familiar with her through her volunteer work at the hero show. When she spotted Kiriha she would flash a brilliant smile and run up to her. However, that energeticness could be problematic as well, as the sun was already starting to set, but she hadn't come home yet.

“I understand. I'll let her know if I see her”

”Thank you, Kiriha-chan”

”No... I should be the one thanking you”

The greengrocer gave his thanks as he handed over the plastic bag. It didn't just contain the requested vegetables but also a bunch of extras. Kiriha gratefully accepted the bag and politely thanked the greengrocer back before she and Koutarou left for home.

Part 3

In room 106, Kiriha wasn't the only one who disliked green pepper, but also Sanae and Yurika.

“Koutarou, if you love me then eat my green pepper for me!”

”Fine”

“Aaaah, no, that's not what I meant! Let go! The taste is transferring over! Nooooooooooo!!”

”Have these too”

“Y-Yurika, y-you! Gueeeh, i-in that case, you're going down with me!”

”Huh?”

“Eat even more, Koutarou!”

”Hm!”

”Kyaaaaa! M-My mouth is being filled with the taste of green pepper!”

The moment they realized that today's dinner was green pepper stuffed with meat, Sanae and Yurika both decided to only eat the meat and leave the green pepper to Koutarou. However, their plan failed right away as Koutarou caught Sanae and forcibly transmitted the taste of green pepper to her through spiritual energy. Yurika was then promptly caught by Sanae and forced to share senses.

“What are those two doing...?”

Dumbfounded by Sanae and Yurika writhing in agony, Theia ate her meat stuffed green pepper. The Mastir territory that Theia came from was rich in farm produce, amongst them were pungent vegetables or those she disliked, but she had gotten used to that. Green pepper was nothing to her.

“If I were to guess, if we leave behind our green pepper, Master would catch us and force us to eat it”

Ruth cheerfully looked at the three. Koutarou's, Yurika's and Sanae's rioting looked fun to her, and at the same time she felt a little envious.

“...Bertorion would force us if we leave the green pepper behind, huh”

Clan gazed at the meat stuffed green pepper on her plate after hearing what Ruth said, and she began pondering if she should separate the meat and only eat that or not. Noticing Clan's behavior, Harumi called out to her.

“Clan-san, why don't we try leaving our green pepper as well?”

“I-I can't do something as shameless as that! It's a breach of manners!”

Embarrassed at having her feelings seen through, Clan hurriedly threw her stuffed meat into her mouth. Harumi suspected that was a breach of manners as well, but since Clan was showing such a cute reaction, she chose not to point it out.

“Aika-san, say aah”

“What now, all of a sudden?”

Maki was surprised when Shizuka suddenly thrust the stuffed meat in front of her. She wasn't following Shizuka's intentions.

“I was getting a little jealous of Satomi-kun and the others so I wanted to try out something similar”

”Ah... so that's what you mean”

When Shizuka explained herself, Maki finally understood. She also wanted to join in Koutarou's and the others ridiculous conversation.

“So, say aah”

“Aah”

Maki opened her mouth according to Shizuka's request. As she did, Shizuka pushed the stuffed meat inside. Even though the taste shouldn't change, Maki felt it tasted it better. This was the first time she understood that feelings affected the taste of the food.

“Everyone, that's no good Ho-!”

“We have no likes or dislikes Ho-!”

“I'm sure everyone would be more surprised that you eat at all”

”Nothing is impossible for a haniwa Ho-!”

“Fufu, that's right, you're― Hm?”

Kiriha spoke with the haniwas as she ate, but her cellphone vibrated in the middle of it. Kiriha pulled out her vibrating cellphone and saw the name of the greengrocer she had visited earlier in the day displayed on the screen.

What could he want at this hour?

If she had forgotten something he would have called right away, or he could have given it to her the last time she met. The same was true for change. There was also no meaning to discuss volunteer work during dinner either. Still wondering what it could be about, Kiriha got up from her seat and headed towards the kitchen as she picked up the call.

“Hello”

”Is that you, Kiriha-chan!?”

The familiar voice of the greengrocer came from the speaker. The voice was for some reason in a rush, and Kiriha was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

“Yes, what is the matter?”

“Actually, my daughter still hasn't come back!! You haven't seen her have you!?”

“What!?”

The time was already past 8PM. Yet the young girl who hadn't even begun grade school yet still hadn't come home. One couldn't help but think that the girl had gotten caught up in some incident or accident. Sadly, Kiriha's bad premonition had struck true.

Part 4

The greengrocer's daughter was called Youko, six years old, and would graduate from kindergarten this year and start grade school next year. As she started to get a grip of things, she started going out to play on her own more often. This was also partially because her parents were busy with the greengrocery.

Of course, her parents had made her promise to be extra careful around cars, not to talk to strangers and to come home before the sun went down. Until now, Youko had never broken her promise. She was a clever girl and knew nothing good would come from breaking these promises.

Yet she hadn't come home after the sun had set. That was when her father called Kiriha. Since her parents felt sorry for leaving Youko alone often because they were busy with the shop, they were in a real hurry.

“...And that's the situation. Since I'm worried I'll go look for her”

After finishing up her phone call, Kiriha explained the situation to Koutarou and the others. Once she was done with that, she would go look for Youko. As expected, upon hearing that an acquaintance's kindergartner hadn't come back after the sun had set, Kiriha couldn't just leave it be. She knew how lonely it got, walking around alone at night.

“I'll go too”

Hearing that Kiriha would be looking for Youko, Koutarou hurriedly stood up. He was going to go look too. He had also met with Youko after the hero show, so he knew what she looked like. He should be able to help Kiriha. Moreover, no matter how strong Kiriha was, he was reluctant to let her walk around the city alone at night.

“I will go as well”

Following Koutarou, Sanae also stood up. In her case, she wasn't just worried, but she also wanted to stick to Koutarou.

“Sanae, did you know how You-chan looked?”

“I don't, but I only need to find someone with a similar aura as the greengrocer right?”

“I see, please do”

”Very good! Leave it to me!”

Since Sanae could use spiritual powers, she was better than anyone else when it came to looking for people. Even if she didn't know how Youko looked, she was probably more likely to find her than Koutarou was. That's why Sanae was full of confidence as she stood up. Following Sanae, the other girls stood up one after another.

“Kiriha, Koutarou, I will come too!”

“I will help too”

“Pardomshiha, we're sending out unmanned scouts”

”Yes, Clan-san. Right away”

Hearing that a small girl was missing, nobody in the room could just sit around. They all agreed that they should find her as soon as possible.

“Thank you, everyone”

Kiriha politely bowed. Unlike Koutarou and Kiriha, the other girls had no direct relationship with Youko. So having them offer their cooperation was very welcome.

“You don't have to mention it, Kiriha-san”

”Yeah, Sakuraba-senpai is right! Right, Aika-san?”

”Yes. If we all search for her we should be able to find her sooner”

In the end, all of the residents of room 106 decided to look for Youko. However, as they headed towards the door, Koutarou remembered something important.

“Yurika”

“Yhes, What ihs iht?”

When Koutarou called for her, she separated herself from the other girls. Her cheeks were stuffed full of food.

“You don't have to come”

“Eeeeehhh!?”

However, when those words came out of Koutarou's mouth, she hurriedly swallowed her food and began protesting.

“Why are you bullying me even at a time like thiiis!?”

Yurika was on the verge of tears. Just as she was going to work for the sake love and courage, Koutarou had cruelly rejected her.

“No, that's not what I meant”

However, sensing that she was about to burst into tears, Koutarou hurriedly shook his head.

“Then what do you mean?”

Even though Koutarou was saying that he wasn't doing this out of maliciousness, Yurika wasn't readily believing him. She stared at him with a suspecting look in her eyes.

“Maybe he's not being a bully, but he's just stating the truth that you won't be of any use?”

Theia put a finger up in front of her face and exclaimed.

“Is that whyyy!?”

“Theia, don't make this complicated!”

”That wasn't it?”

“While she might be useless, this time there's something else”

“So I really am useless!!”

“Could you guys shut up and listen!”

Koutarou loudly scolded the group that was starting to get noisy and explained why he had said that Yurika didn't need to come.

“Yurika, you stay with Nana. She hasn't gotten food yet, and there's other stuff you need to do right?”

”Ah!”

Koutarou had told Yurika to stay behind because someone was needed to take care of Nana onboard the Blue Knight.

Nana was currently handicapped and unable to move as she pleased. There were many things which she needed the help of others, such as changing clothes and taking a bath. And if she needed help, the most preferable one would be Yurika, whom she got along with the best. That's why Koutarou had told her that she didn't need to come. It wasn't like he was being mean to her.

“T-That's right. I completely forgot about Nana-san”

”What are you doing forgetting your master?”

“He, hehe, ehehehe”

Yurika laughed with an embarrassed expression. With her brain capacity being low, Yurika had forgotten about Nana once she got distracted with the kindergartner searching. Normally this could be called cold-hearted, but when comparing her master who was on the path to getting better, and Youko who was missing, there was a big difference in importance, and calling her cold-hearted was going too far.

Part 5

In the end, Koutarou and the eight girls, excluding Yurika, headed out to look for Youko. The problem was that many didn't know what she looked like, but this was resolved by having the haniwas display their memories. Yurika would stay behind to take care of Nana and pass messages along. If anyone told Yurika about something important, she would be letting the others know.

Koutarou was moving in a group with Sanae and Harumi. Though their reasons were different, they couldn't go on their own, so they went with Koutarou who was the most reliable.

“Satomi-kun, I've drawn up the directions everyone's headed towards”

While Harumi couldn't go on her own due to her weak constitution, she served as the brain of the group. Because she was calm and thoughtful, she could follow up on Koutarou and Sanae who was on the more lacking side of brain power.

“With the shopping district as the center, Theia-san and Ruth-san are going north, Kasagi-san and Aika-san are going south and Kiriha-san and Clan-san are going west”

Harumi had drawn a rough map and the directions everyone had headed in on her notebook. Names and portraits were drawn in giving them a comprehensible understanding of everyone's position.

“So we should go east”

Koutarou smiled for a moment as he looked at Harumi's cute handwriting and portraits, but he quickly pulled himself together. He had to find a missing kindergartner so there was no time to smile.

“Yes, but having members that can use magic on the east and south is a little bit grouped up, so I think we should circle up north”

”I see, that's a good idea”

They hadn't put much thought into it when they formed groups as they were just looking for a missing person, but looking at the groups closely there was a bit of bias in abilities. That was made more easily comprehensible when drawn up. Because of that, Koutarou believed it would be better to do as Harumi said.

“Fufufu, there's no need to worry!”

Sanae couldn't be one her own because of her personality. Since nobody could tell what she'd do on her own, she was placed with Koutarou for the sake of safety. Of course, Sanae herself wanted to be with Koutarou too.

“I'll find You-chan right away!”

”You sound full of confidence”

”This kind of moment is where psychic beauty Sanae-chan shines!”

Since Sanae could track auras, finding people was one of her specialties. In fact, she was scanning the area with her abilities even now. While it looked like she was just messing around she was doing her job.

“We're counting on you”

”Leave it to me! In return, pat my head a lot later”

”Okay, okay”

”Satomi-san, you won't pat me?”

“...You too, Sakuraba-senpai!?”

“Discrimination is not good. Pat Harumi too”

“Fine, I get it, geez...”

“Fufu... I'm looking forward to it”

While Youko still hadn't returned home after the sun had set, they still weren't sure if this was a serious situation or not. Thinking about it normally, there was a high chance she was just lost, so if Koutarou and the others worked together they would definitely find her. That's what everyone believed. The reason for that was probably the confidence that Koutarou and the others had built up through their many battles.

“Oh, I've found something right away!”

Not betraying their hope, Sanae found traces of what she suspected was Youko's aura. Sanae hadn't met Youko before but aura's were naturally similar to ones parents. Since she knew the greengrocer, it wouldn't be difficult to search for similar auras.

“Well done! Where is she!?”

”It looks like she headed towards that park. A happy aura was heading towards it”

“Let's go, the two of you!”

Having found a lead, Koutarou and the others headed towards the park. They found their pace naturally increasing. They wanted to find Youko as soon as possible and reunite her with her parents.

Part 6

The park was located in the middle of a residential area and was a so called children's park. It was a small park reaching only about ten meters in every direction, and in it were swings and slides. Sanae felt traces of Youko in this park.

“Hm, it's kind of going around in circles”

”In circles?”

“Yeah, like this”

Sanae ran around the park as she traced the traces of Youko's aura. Seeing Sanae run like that, Koutarou soon understood what Youko had been doing here.

“It looks like she was playing tag or something here”

Still maintaining her youthful appearance, Sanae truly looked like a child playing as she traced Youko's steps. She looked just like someone running away from 'it'.

“But it looks like she stopped from time to time. Like here, or... here”

After running for a while, Sanae stopped inside of the park equipment and the bushes by the edge of the park. Both unsuitable places for running away from 'it'.

“Satomi-kun, they might have been playing hide-and-seek”

“Yeah, that might be it”

While the places might be unsuitable for running around, they were great for hiding. If one assumed she was playing hide-and-seek, it would be natural for Youko to stop in those places. Moreover since you ran around to find a hiding spot at the start of every game, everything made sense.

“So maybe she hid and just fell asleep?”

“Well, it's still this hot after the sun has set, so it's possible”

”Higashihongan-san, can you tell where Youko-chan headed to last?”

“Wait a minute. I'll find it right away. Uhm...”

Sanae looked over the park. Because the children were running all over, the traces of their area were intermixed. While finding the newest trace of Youko from there and following wasn't hard, it would take time.

“This one, I think”

After looking at the park for a while, Sanae chose one aura of the many existing in the park. She believed it was the most recent trace of Youko's aura. Sanae carefully followed after those traces, and she soon found herself outside of the park, walking down road.

“Did You-chan leave the park?”

“Maybe she wasn't playing hide-and-seek anymore...”

Once outside the park, the chances of her playing hide-and-seek dropped significantly. Koutarou and Harumi were confused as this was far off from what they had suspected.

“Anyways, let's go”

”Yes”

However, nothing good would come from thinking too hard about it. Koutarou and Harumi nodded at each other and chased after Sanae who was following the trail.

“Huh?”

A few seconds after leaving the park, Sanae suddenly stopped. She then tilted her head and looked around the area.

“What is it?”

”Hmm, well, the aura stops here”

Sanae had stopped because the trace of Youko's aura had stopped. As if a line drawn with a pen had been erased, the trace past this point had vanished.

“What kind of thing would make that happen?”

”When you hid within an even bigger spiritual energy, or when entering a holy ground like a shrine... I think”

Since Sanae was following spiritual energy rather than smell, color or sound, there were primarily two ways of removing traces. That was either blending in with someone who had an even more powerful aura, or entering a place that didn't leave traces behind.

“But there's no tracer of a bigger spiritual energy”

“Then it's some kind of sacred ground?”

”If it is some kind of sacred ground, it's something that moves, so like portable shrine or hearse... that's all I can think of”

There weren't many moving sanctuaries that Sanae knew of. Portable shrines and hearses were tools for ceremony, but there hadn't been any festivals in this area so a hearse was the most likely possibility.

“There's no hearse here, so did she get on it?”

”I think so, but...”

Considering the traces of Youko's area vanished here, it was likely that she had gotten onboard a ceremonial tool, but it was hard to imagine a situation where the girl would get on. Sanae still wasn't convinced and looked around the area. That was when Harumi spoke up.

“Satomi-kun, there's something I would like to try...”

“What?”

Koutarou turned to look at Harumi, and she timidly explained herself.

“I was wondering if it was possible for magic to conceal spiritual energy traces...”

“Is there magic like that?”

“I don't know. That's why I was thinking of trying”

Harumi was wondering if it was possible to block traces of spiritual energy by using a magical barrier. Since she could use ancient magic through Signaltin, she wanted to give it a try.

“Okay, please do”

“Then... 'Oh spirits who live with people and rule life and mind. Gather before, hold hands and become a shield to protect against evil! Appear, Great Shield of Spirits!'”

Harumi spoke her incantation in ancient Forthorthe and her hair began glowing silver. The glow grew stronger as magical powered gather and caused her entire body to glow. Eventually, a thin film with a weak glow enveloped Koutarou and the others. It was a magical shield that removed any interferences regarding the soul.

“Now spirits shouldn't be able to see us”

Harumi wanted to confirm if not being able to be seen by spirits meant concealing spiritual energy.

“How does it look, Sanae?”

”Huh? I can still see your spiritual energy”

“Well, that's because you're inside”

“Right”

Sanae left the effective area of the spell and looked at Harumi and Koutarou once more.

“Ah! I can't see your spiritual energy!”

“Really!?”

“Yeah! I can see you two just fine, but I can't see the aura that should be with you!”

Harumi's spell had concealed their auras. As a result, Sanae who was on the outside of the shield couldn't sense their spiritual energy. Harumi's intuition had been right on.

“Now that I think about it, when Aika-san came, something like this happened?”

“Did it?”

“Yeah”

When Maki first fought Yurika, Sanae had lost sight of Yurika's spiritual energy partways through. The memories from back then had been erased with magic, but a short while after allying with Koutarou and the others, Maki removed the spell and Koutarou remembered what had happened back then.

“Well... this means that magicians might be involved”

“But Satomi-kun, wouldn't those magicians be Darkness Rainbow?”

”Eh? Those magical girlies again!?”

”Calm down, we still don't know for certain”

Yurika's Rainbow Hearts forbade the use of magic for self-interest. Which meant, that as long as a fight didn't happen, they wouldn't use defensive or stealth magic in the middle of a city. With that being the case, Darkness Rainbow became the prime suspects, but it was hard to make a decision right away. Right now, it was just one of the possibilities.

“Hm?”

Koutarou's cell phone vibrated once in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and looked at the screen to see that he had gotten a mail.

Koutarou and the others had split up into four teams to look for Youko, but Yurika's mail had been sent to Koutarou's, Shizuka's and Theia's teams. The reason why Kiriha's team hadn't gotten the mail was because the information had been sent from them, over to Yurika, who then sent it to the rest. The mail read as following.

'I got a call from Kiriha-san. It seems like the greengrocer went to file a missing person report with the police, but it seems like there have been many reports of missing children today. The police accepted the greengrocer's report and are now supposedly examining if they should launch an open criminal investigation'

Youko was not the only missing child. Several had gone missing over these past few days. The children all lived in different parts of the city, and at first it was thought that they were all unrelated cases. However, as more and more cases happened, the police suspected that the cases were related to one another. By the time Youko had vanished, the police explained that to her parents.

Part 7

The kidnapped children were in the corner of some dark abandoned house. They were all children that hadn't even begun grade school and they were horribly uneasy and lonely. Obviously that would happen to young children who were taken from their parents.

“I'm glad you're keeping quiet. Baby sitting is not my style”

As expected, Darkness Rainbow were the ones behind the kidnappings. While Green and Blue were preparing their ritual, Crimson went out to kidnap children. Using magic made it simple and it wasn't hard to hide the traces.

“So you say. But you put all the noisy children to sleep with spells”

Green, who had recently started working together with Crimson more often, stopped her work and sighed.

When the kidnappings first started, many of the children had been screaming and crying for help. However, Crimson cast a spell on those children to put them to sleep. Not knowing that those children were just sleeping, seeing them simply stop moving like that, the other children were horrified. As a result, the children that were awake now couldn't cry out and were grouped up and trembling.

“...More accurately it's thanks to that girl. Not your baby sitting or spells”

Blue said as she pointed to a small magic circle that the children were confined within. It was a cage made out of magic.

Within the magic circle were ten children. Amongst them, four had been put to sleep with magic, leaving six awake. The oldest girl amongst the children was desperately trying to encourage the others.

“Everyone, cheer up. Someone will come save us”

”But, it's been so many days”

“Yeah! No one has come to save us!”

Youko was the one cheering up the other five children. She was almost done with kindergarten and having grown up in a busy home, she could keep things together better than the other children. While she did her best to endure her own fears, she kept trying to cheer up the others.

“Harukazeman will come! It's okay!”

”If it's Harukazeman...”

”But why hasn't he come yet?”

”He will come after beating up Baron Demon! So cheer up! He would be troubled otherwise!”

“Y-Yeah”

“Okay...”

Youko was a smart girl. She knew that Harukazeman was just a fictional character in a hero show. However, in this situation, his strength was needed. A hero of justice would come save them eventually, that kind of hope was necessary for the young children.

“...I'm glad she's just a child. If someone like that was an enemy it would be truly troublesome”

Calmly observing the children, Blue held Youko, though she didn't know her name, in high regards. Despite being in danger, Youko was still courageous, calm and thinking of how they could stay safe in this situation. Blue believed that Youko might even find a way to escape.

“In the end she's a kid. She can't do anything”

Crimson dropped her shoulders as she looked at the children. Since she believed power was everything, she didn't think a powerless child could do anything.

“Crimson, how were you ten years ago? Were you the kind of child that wouldn't do anything in this kind of situation?”

”That's...”

However, Crimson shut up when Blue pointed out. When Crimson had been a child, she had only been thinking about how she could pull one over the adults. She had been craving power since then, and she had outwitted adults who let their guard down more than a few times. She couldn't say for certain that the reverse wouldn't happen now.

“Let's put up some more tricks apart from the barrier to make sure they can't escape. That way it won't matter if they have power or not”

Green lent the confuted Crimson a helping hand. Even if there were several smart children in that group, they wouldn't be able to break through several different spells. According to Green's forecast, the chances of the children escaping after setting up several spells were next to none, and those near-none chances were almost all irregularities that could occur if the ritual was interrupted.

“Please do. I have to go out now anyways”

Crimson gratefully accepted Green's helping hand. And using that to her advantage she tried to leave to forcibly end the discussion.

“Where? We should have enough sacrifices”

However, Blue stopped Crimson. Crimson had been capturing children for sacrifices for their ritual, and having already gathered enough, there was no reason for Crimson to leave.

“I'm going to save Maki. The only uncertain element of this plan is what is going on with Maki right now, isn't it?”

While Crimson wanted to escape from here to avoid talking any more, she was also serious about saving Maki. Whether or not Maki was an enemy would greatly affect the outcome of this fight.

“Crimson, the plan I've come up with assumes that Navy-san has been mind controlled and will work against us”

Green who had come up with this plan had taken the case of Maki being an enemy into consideration. Machines, drugs, magic. There were all kinds of methods to control a human mind. It would be foolish to assume that Maki would just be a prisoner. Koutarou and the others would never actually do that, but since this was something Darkness Rainbow had done for hundreds of years they couldn't escape from the line of thinking that their enemies must be doing the same thing they are.

“But if Maki was on our side our chances of winning would go up right?”

“Well of course”

Green dropped her shoulders. There was no need to even forecast it, if Maki was an ally their chances of victory would become even more decisive.

“I've got nothing to do now that all the sacrifices have been gathered, so I think it's better than doing nothing”

”Well it is indeed better than just playing around”

After listening to Crimson, Blue changed her mind.

In this plan, Crimson was in charge of gathering sacrifices and Blue and Green were in charge of preparing the magic circle. However, Crimson had finished earlier than them. Even if Crimson joined in on preparing the magic circle they would lose time confirming the process and splitting up the work. Moreover, Crimson would be no use watching over the children, so leaving Maki to her was the most efficient way. Since if they could bring back Maki, the outcome would greatly change.

“Crimson, you just want to take back Navy-san, don't you?”

“Ahaha, you do get me, Green! I'll take her back, make her stronger and fight! Using all of my power!”

Crimson didn't want to save Maki just because of their mission. She wanted to help Maki because she saw her as her rival. According to Crimson's eye, Maki should be able to get stronger. Moreover, her strength should increase even more if given scientific magic. After that, Crimson would fight Maki. Since Crimson sought strength, she couldn't help but want to reclaim Maki so she could fight against someone strong.

Translator's Notes and References

1. ↑ A gown-like apron originating from Japan

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