Chapter 7
☆ Clantail
Although the tapestry map was quite simplified compared to real life, she could roughly understand the island’s overall topography. She checked every branch one by one as she went between the trees, running across the hilltop for a minute as she exited. From there she went towards the forests.
Clantail didn’t get lost. She had no time to waste. She went for the dark green spots in the tapestry and looked for Grayfruits along the way, but she couldn’t find any. She rushed up the trees, wondering if there were any growing at the topmost parts, but there wasn’t any there as well. Shepherdspie said they were scattered everywhere. They shouldn’t be that rare.
Was she just not searching efficiently? Time’s not going to stop for her. Ignoring her patience, Clantail kept moving on. Despite going onwards and onwards in the forest, she couldn’t find her fruits. She stopped. Even if she changed her way of searching, her earlier methods were far better. She wasn’t just searching for the Grayfruits either, she was also looking for Pastel Merry.
She checked the tapestry, when she reached the area where there were orange rocks drawn on them and actually climbed up the boulders, she checked it again, making sure she wasn’t losing her directions.
She stood underneath highest pointed boulder as a leopard. Her lower half transformed into another creature.
The brown spots that were scattered among her wings were quite badly strewn, as if Clantail’s entire body was excessively decorated. She had fine but thin legs, and although her large wings scattered with scales would be invisible to a butterfly, her body was huge, and she didn’t like the deep hair either. She wasn’t a pretty and beautiful lovely butterfly, she was an agonizingly grimacing moth. Since it was trying to match Clantail’s size, her waistline was about the size of a small drum, her wingspan was over three meters long, if someone who hated moths saw her now, they’d probably faint on the spot.
Clantail flew up with her wings, landed on the tip of the sharp boulder, and rested her legs. She flew up in the sky, she didn’t transform because she wanted to look down from the sky to search. She picked a flying creature that would maintain her fine balance wherever she flew. The fact that Clantail’s head wasn’t transformed despite her body being transformed makes her stability, speed and strength impaired when flying. That would cause her attention to be distracted.
Her target wasn’t flying. Clantail listened carefully. The Magical Girls and Mages in the main building were all huddled together, the water on the pond rippled. Was that a sheep eating the grass? There were other things moving as well. Clantail flew higher with her wings. She didn’t fly far or powerfully. She was just trying to maintain balance.
Certain moths have a wide hearing range. Meaning their ears were quite good. Despite being someone less than bats or dolphins, moths were still able to pick up soundwaves that couldn’t be picked up by humans. However, more than anything, the most advantageous thing that moths have over bats and dolphins is that the part that receives sound, or their ears, aren’t in the head. It was in the body. Clantail considered most animals that have their best abilities in the head pretty useless for her.
In the past, Clantail couldn’t find any hidden people. Especially since most animals with sharp senses—such as eyes, nose, ears, and tongue, etc—tend to have them all in the head, so Clantail couldn’t gain those senses. Because of that, the person that Clantail wanted to protect, someone important to her was lost, all because she couldn’t find this hidden person.
Whenever she remembered that day, her entire body burned up. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t get her back. No matter how much she hated it, or was pained by it, she could never forget it.
Clantail—Nene Ono, collected and investigated so much knowledge on animals because she liked them and it was fun. But ever since that day, she’s changed her ways. In order to gain what she needed, she was also investigating insects.
Since she can’t transform without having some knowledge of them first, this Winter she went to the Insect Garden two stations over. Since there was a massive sickness that wiped out most of the insects, the facility was about halfway closed. Still, she was able to meet many species of insects.
Clantail didn’t want to lose another person she wanted to protect again. She remembered her body temperature fading under the water, her breath becoming smaller, before it finally disappeared. She hated it. She regretted it.
She heard a sound in the ears rooted on her wings.
As the sound vibrated, she detected the shape and the place of where the creature was. However, the forest had so many objects shielding them, even the Grayfruits hiding among the branches and leaves would be difficult to find.
Clantail frowned. There was too much information to be retrieved from hearing alone. The leaves rustling, the insects chirping, the owls hooting, the wind, the water, they’re all surprisingly noisy when she heard it. Even if she eliminated that, there were a lot of places where she’s heard animal noises. She’s heard that this island was filled with wildlife, she thought it’d be fun to find and meet new rare breeds of wildlife, but ever since she came here, she’s seen none of them. But it seems like there’s plenty of birds that never show themselves in the islands. Then there was the sound of the hooves of sheep. The sounds of the leaves. The sounds of water trickling. There was no shortage of animal sounds.
The Forest Musician Clamberry could hear better than she could see. Clantail had no Magical Skill that was like that, so whenever she got some sharp hearing, her ability to use it was still awkward. But still, she had to try.
She flew from boulder to boulder, then back into the forest flying at a low altitude. It was more painful to pick up sounds in the thick grassy forest than the rocky areas. She had to dedicate her full attention as well as possess informational analytical abilities.
She continued across the landscape without ever losing line of sight, processing all the information while flying at low speed. She also can’t forget that there’s a killer on this island. She had to find the killer as well, but for now she just had to find Grayfruits. For Ragi, for Clantail, and the other Magical Girls and Mages. Despite fighting an unknown enemy, Grayfruits are far more important now. She swept and flew between the trees, past the bushes, through the wildpaths, and atop the hills. Despite checking the tapestry once again, she still couldn’t find either the Grayfruits or Pastel Merry.
She flapped her wings, relaxing her speed as she passed the boundaries of the wetlands. She turned, aiming for another part of the green, but unexpectedly, her vision was covered with darkness. The smell of trees, dirt, grass, and night dew began to diminish. All of the various sounds disappeared at once. Her half-moth body disappeared, naturally her wings would as well. Clantail’s head crashed towards the ground, as she used both her hands to cover her upper body, rolling until she hit a tree, stopping in her tracks as her back bent. Pain reflected through her body as she laid on her back. It’s as if her hands had no power. If she tried to move, the pain vibrated even further. She could have broken her bones.
It took a few seconds for her to notice that she had detransformed.
Just trying to get up hurts. She held her knees while standing up, but since the pain was also in her arms, she let out a small groan. She breathed out, then in, standing in pain. She couldn’t see a thing. It was all pitch black. She could taste blood on her tongue. Did the inside of her cheek get cut? It hurt if she licked it.
The one that was in the most pain was her right hand. Her left hand only felt numb. She tried to move it, stroking her face and head with her left hand. It wasn’t scratched up, just a bit bumpy. It didn’t seem to hurt when she touched it, but she seems to have lost her glasses.
The moonlight and the stars finally shone through the branches they were hiding behind. Though her vision started to clear, it was still blurry on account of having lost her glasses.
Nene looked around her. Trying to process information back then was tough, but now it’s even harder. She couldn’t see a thing, as if she was thrust into a world she’s never heard of. She couldn’t tell where she was standing. She couldn’t tell what she was looking at due to darkness. She tightened her scarf, wrapping it around her mouth so that she could bite it to prevent a scream. If she had detransformed because the effects of the Grayfruit had worn out, then the people back at the main building would be in trouble too. She had to go back.
The branches shook. The birds flew towards the sky. Nene gripped her scarf even tighter, breathing out and huffing her shoulders up and down. She couldn’t think straight. For now, all she could think about was getting back.
As she carefully looked around her surroundings, she slowly lowered her waist and placed her hand to the ground. She needed to find her glasses. She needed to see. Her tapestry was gone, so she should find that too.
She’d carefully rub around whilst on her knees. When her fingers grabbed something, she’d pull back, wondering if it was her glasses, before slowly touching it again and finding out that it was a stone or a branch, causing her to continue once more.
She couldn’t find it. It never ends. A broken sound came out from the back of her throat. She covered it with her right hands now, though the pain caused her to groan once again. She just had to find her glasses, then the tapestry. She crawled with her hands, searching. She heard the pitter patter of drops falling on the ground. Was it her tears? Sweat? A runny nose? She didn’t know, but she didn’t bother wiping it. She just focused on searching.
There was a sound from the bushes behind her. Nene shuddered, stood up on one knee, and turned around 180 degrees. The only sound she could hear next was the her own gulp. The sound of the insects ceased. There were still sounds on the grass, meaning it wasn’t Nene’s imagination.
Whilst still crawling her fingers around the ground, Nene began to head backwards. She went from standing with one knee to a half-rising posture, so that she could run away.
She then heard a loud noise in the distance—like something had exploded. Nene was surprised. She turned to look in the distance, then retreated back to the bushes.
She couldn’t hear the sound of the bushes. Nene could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat. Even her breathing sound somehow stopped. She didn’t even bother to swat the sweat that passed through her brows towards her eyelashes. She was trying to make as little sound as possible, she just had to get back. She even took out all thoughts of her glasses or the tapestry.
One step, another step, one more step… The leaves rustled, a branch broke, and something jumped out of the bushes. Nene gulped once again. It sounded, smelled, and had a silhouette like a dog, but it was far bigger than what she had imagined. With a body the size of a calf, there was nothing else Nene could think of besides its sheer size. Nene went backwards until her heels hit something. There was a tree behind her, and there was no way for her to retreat anymore.
Even without her glasses, she could feel the beastly growl. It overlapped with barking and howling.
The beast jumped, and Nene sidestepped, yielding her body to fate as she jumped sideways. The beast missed and slammed onto the tree, letting out a scream that wasn’t of pain, which trembled Nene’s already frail heart at its core.
I’ll be killed. I’m going to be prey.
She didn’t properly think of what to do when attacked by a dog, or where a dog’s weak points are. She simply focused her hardest on moving her body. She stepped across dead branches and stood up between the trees, but she was attacked by the wolf who would jump at her face between the trees. Reflexively, she reached for the ground. Her hands grabbed a lump of dirt, and threw it at the snout of the dog whose fangs were already bared.
This time the wolf cried out. It stepped on the branches and bushes, kicking them around in a rampage, as Nene rolled on the grass being blown away.
She hit something hard and stopped rolling, groaning as she held down her shoulder with her right hand, though her right hand itself was still in pain. She leaned on a tree and stood up.
As the smell of the earth scattered about, it was interrupted by the smell of the beast. It had the anger that was directed at an annoyance, the anger that was directed at something it hated, and probably an appetite too. That was the kind of thing fighting Nene right now. She heard another rustle, and she seemed to see a posture that was ready to jump that she couldn’t see before.
Nene stood up, turning her back to the beast as she grabbed hold of a tree. It was slightly sticky and may have slight prickles, but it wasn’t slippery, so she could still climb it.
She was good at climbing trees. Her small physique actually helped her on that, and she often climbed to satisfy her curiosities, like wanting to see crying cicadas, wanting to find owl nests, or trying to see if squirrels and mountain rats lived nearby. She grabbed on the branches, stepping on some of the protrusions, and climbed the tree that was surprisingly higher than expected.
She heard the beast barking from behind her, as Nene hurriedly sped up her lower half of her body.
The last time Nene had climbed a tree was in elementary school. Although she physically hasn’t grown much, she still had blanks in her memory. Not to mention her vision was horrible. Could she even hang on to the branches? Her body had been battered and bruised everywhere, and her right hand was especially in pain, as it hurt if she just moved it.
Nene’s stomach grumbled. The beast’s barking thinned. Nene placed her foot on the tree, climbing herself upwards. She reached out for a branch, fumbled, then hurriedly grabbed onto another branch.
Her feet slipped, but she endured. It was because her footing wasn’t that stable, but she endured, continued on, and with the tips of her fingers gripping the branches, pulled her body upwards. Something crashed into the tree, her fingers slipped, yet even then she endured. Nene couldn’t move her right leg. The beast had caught onto her shoe. Nene kicked the beast, removing her sneaker in the process, as the beast fell back down, raising a dust storm when it did. Nene’s hand still hurt, but she ignored it. Using both her arms and legs, of which she now only had her socks, she hoisted her body upwards.
Her hand touched a branch. It was a thick branch, thicker than even her arms. Her arms, legs, and even her head has reached its limit. She felt like they were about to scream. This was the end. Putting power into her arms and legs, she propelled up the branch. She sat on it, wrapping her arms around the branch. Her chest hurt. No matter how hard she tried breathing, her heart won’t rest.
A louder roar and sharp claws scraping the trees hurt her ears. However, it was far. Nene gritted her teeth. Am I going to die here? She asked herself thrice. Forcibly, she pushed back her fear of falling.
☆ Touta Magaoka
Touta didn’t want to separate from Margarite, but Rareko pulled Yol, and Yol and Touta’s hands were connected, so they ended up escaping together. Rareko took them running here and there throughout the forest, and in the process, they only found one Grayfruit. Touta desperately hugged Yol so as not to fall. Finally, they went to the beach. Rareko looked for a place that didn’t have many eyes prying on it, then with several punches and kicks carved out a small cave. There, the three of them hid, their bodies hugging close to each other.
He had no idea what they were doing, and he couldn’t exactly complain about escaping with strangers, especially not to Rareko. Touta did want to escape, he just didn’t want to leave Margarite. If Margarite was the last one standing, then being together with her would be encouraging.
Though, if she stayed, then he’d be separated with Yol. Yol was far more worried than Touta, so Touta didn’t want to let her go. While he couldn’t speak while he was escaping with Yol, when he was in the 5 meter long cave for around 20 minutes, he felt like there was enough time for a chat.
Touta had told them that they should go back, that it was better to be with the others.
Rareko had said it was dangerous, that she had no idea what that thing wanted to do. That she was only doing this “For the safety of My Lad… The two of you.”
When a man peered into the entrance of the cave, Touta could hear the sound of Rareko gulping.
Touta couldn’t say anything about strangers, but he kept hugging onto Yol to protect her, though he himself was surprised, or rather scared, and unexpectedly hugged Yol tightly because of it.
Though Touta and Rareko were surprised, Yol on the other hand…
“Navi!?”
They finally realized that it was Navi all this time. “Yo,” he said while waving his hand and smiling, despite being clearly tired and broken from fatigue, it was still Navi. His clothes were Navi’s, his look was naturally Navi’s, so it would be easy to assume it was Navi. Though, Navi currnently had red liquid running through his body from the neck under. His collar was all torn, and he must have been soaked with blood. Naturally Rareko was afraid, and Touta was too.
“What happened!?”
“Well, I ran, but it was real hard.”
“Your head!”
“Oh c’mon, it’s just a bald spot.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!”
Following Yol’s gaze, Navi placed his palm on his head, looked at his palms, which were red, then quickly wiped it off on his shirt.
“Oh you know, I’ve just been through a lot. I’m fine, it’s no big deal.”
“It is a big deal!”
Touta nodded, even Rareko nodded. Navi sat in the middle of a large boulder, whilst Rareko grabbed a towel to wipe his wounds. “How annoying,” muttered Navi. He may be talking about the situation or the fact that people are worrying too much about him. Touta could understand. He knew he’d be fine to attend a MagiBattle tournament once, but had to rest because of a little fever. Though what Navi was dealing with was a little more than a fever.
“Do you know where the others went?”
“No… We were separated… We haven’t seen each other since.”
“Same. I told Clarissa to search around.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“There’s no one she can’t escape. Well, in a place like this, it’s do or die, y’know?”
He huffed the sleeves, and something rolled out of them. Grayfruits. One, two, three, four of them!
“There’s so many! We only found managed to find one!”
And that Grayfruit had already been eaten by Yol and Rareko.
“Well of course, you’re kids. Clarissa and I, see, we stocked them.”
Navi’s other sleeves were bulged, and something was moving inside of them. That had to be some more Grayfruits. Touta breathed in. Touta didn’t need them. He knew that if Yol were to faint and Rareko couldn’t transform, things would go very badly. If he could, he’d find the Grayfruits himself, but he was more than happy to accept it from others. Touta stood up and bowed his head beautifully.
“Thank you.”
When you’ve been helped, you need to say your thanks and lower your head. Yols and Rareko followed behind him and lowered theirs as well. Navi scratched his forehead.
“What? I told you I’d be sharing didn’t I?”
Navi laughed, then looked downwards towards Touta, who was holding hands with Yol. He smiled, and gave Touta a pat on his shoulders, and Touta unexpectedly coughed.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Hm? Oh nothing. It’s just nice to see everyone working together and all.”
Touta felt like there was a sense of calmness in his line of sight. Touta may have probably released his hand normally at the time. On the contrary, Touta was now strongly gripping her hand, if Yol said “Ow” Touta would say “Sorry” and loosen his grip. Navi calmly laughed, then looked at all three of them.
“Yo, Rareko. You done yet?”
“The blood seems to have stopped.”
“Guess there’s a lot of blood pressure. Hurry it up a little, will ya?”
“Yes, as soon as possible.”
They didn’t have a doctor’s bag with an emergency first aid kit. They didn’t even have a toy doctor’s set. Still, Rareko rubbed his head with a towel, and Navi’s head looked shinier than before. Shining as bright as the moon and stars that it felt like a second moon entirely.
“Well then, I’m off.”
Navi patted his thighs and stood up.
“Go...? Where?”
“To meet up with the others, of course. It’s useless to hide around just cause it’s dangerous.”
He looked like he was happy as he smiled. Happier than he was when he came here. He feels more relaxed. If that was so, then maybe Touta has been useful after all.
“It’s fine. You all stay here. Keep quiet, ‘kay? Just in case the bad guy shows up and all.”
Navi flicked his arms and disappeared into the darkness. As Touta watched him from behind, he thought to himself “Wow, adults really are reliable, huh.” He thought he’d be the kind of old man who’d buy a chick, goldfish, or a turtle in a pet store, but he turned out to be very reliable when bad guys came around.
Sometimes children can be active in something adults can do, like borrowing books from the library, but right now, Touta didn’t think he could be of any use in what the adults are doing. Regrettable, but the reason Touta couldn’t do these things was because he was just Touta.
If Margarite were here, would she say anything comforting? She’d probably say nothing and rub their heads. She’ll probably say something like I’ll succeed thought Touta. Upon further reflection, she’d probably act a bit rude too.
“Will he be alright… Well, I think he will be, but he’s not giving a lot of thought to his own safety.”
“He isn’t?”
“If he makes it, he’s going to say that we should laugh this off later or something.”
“You really know him. Are you two family or?”
“No. My family has just asked him for stuff once. It’s all adult talk so, they never told me what they asked him for.”
“Hmm…”
Why did he ask her that? He didn’t really know. Though, because he asked, that why did I ask thought lingered in his mind. Touta didn’t really want to hide it, so he continued on.
“Um… He doesn’t really seem to care about his own safety huh…”
“Yes.”
“My aunt says that as long as people succeed, then they’ll be a magnificent person.”
Touta remembered himself. When Navi showed those Grayfruits, he didn’t think “Thank goodness!” He thought “Dammit!” instead. He probably thought of that. Even though it would be better for Yol and Rareko to have these Grayfruits, Touta still thought like that. That meant he was even regretting that Yol would be energized by these Grayfruits. He should’ve been happy that Yol would be getting energized.
He was certain his thoughts weren’t good thoughts. That’s why Touta started to talk about unnecessary things, to hide that feeling, and hope those feelings don’t get noticed. He kept being afraid and shivering, and while he knew he couldn’t do anything about it, it was still frustrating. He wanted to show his good side to Yol, and wanted to be praised by Margarite. All he could do was be afraid of things he didn’t know. When he thought of himself, Touta felt he couldn’t do anything.
“Your aunt says some difficult things, doesn’t she?”
“But someone who continues to succeed endlessly in their lives is also bad.”
Yol sighed out loud.
“Then in that case, I’ll also pray for him.”
Behind them, Rareko nodded many times.
☆ Ragi Jay Nent
Everything seemed to be hazy, but they weren’t painful. As if his perception could remember comfort better than the pain. Within his consciousness, it was better to die in comfort than live in pain. Even in his daily life, the reason and knowledge that he relied on would give up in the face of violent pain.
Ragi finally noticed. He wasn’t in comfort right now. He was thinking of unnecessary things in his head. What happened to Clantail? What were the other Mages and Magical Girls doing? Did they find a way to get out?
The pain that caused him to collapse had gone. He faintly opened his eyes, his sight fluctuated before gradually forming an image, and the outlines of objects slightly began to take form. The back of his throat felt like it hurt, but he seemed to be doing just fine. The inside of his mouth felt sweet. He could smell the fruit that went down his throat fully. It was the taste of a Grayfruit, far too sweet for Ragi’s personal tastes.
He breathed in the sweet air, sending oxygen towards his brain.
Ragi stood up halfway. His back hurt, so did his butt. The thing wrapping around his body was probably his own cloak. He was sitting on a rock. Sleeping on a rock would obviously make his back and butt hurt.
He tried to stare at his surroundings, but all he could see was a rocky cave, with no clue as to where he was. He didn’t have good night vision, and the wind blew him from one side. The wind was strongly blowing on him, probably due to only having one entrance in the cave. He let his hand roll around, and soon it hit a wall. It was angled and very rough. Rock. His left hand went thump as it touched on something, so he retracted it immediately. Fearfully, he reached out to the same place, touching whatever was there. What he touched felt like tree bark, far from the stone surface from before. He gripped it. It was the cane he normally used for walking.
He breathed out a heavy sigh.
When he laid his head down on his hands at the rock, he felt the rustling of his cloth. He pulled away, unravelled it, and noticed that it was his own hat. Not exactly a substitute for a pillow, he thought to himself as he patted the dust away before laying his head on it. He felt all torn over and undignified, but at least no one could see him like this thanks to the darkness. One of the good points of being in a pitch black place. The only people who could probably see Ragi was-
“Oh, you’re awake!”
A voice resounded from the direction of the wind. The shrill voice of a Magical Girl echoed in the cave, annoying Ragi far more than necessary. The voice spoke out with a casual tone as footsteps approached closer.
“That’s good, old man!”
Too late to turn back from the sourness he got from being called ‘old man’. Still, Ragi decided not to speak out his dissatisfaction. Ragi wasn’t in a condition to consult his human nature. He wasn’t thinking of choosing a gentle death over living pain either. Rather, he was quite angry at himself that he thought of that in the first place. His consciousness finally cleared, helped by the Grayfruit taste and smell that resided inside his mouth. Ragi didn’t find the Grayfruits while he was unconscious, someone saved him and found it for him. There is a high chance of that being the girl standing in front of his very eyes.
He should thank her, though that would annoy him. He couldn’t say a word of thanks from his throat or tongue. He wanted to say “Thank you” but he instead lowered his head with the same thankful intent, then asked a question.
“...Where are we?”
“Hm?”
“Where’s everyone else? Why am I here?”
“Ohh, that’s riiight. You don’t know what happened, do ya?”
Clarissa Toothedge, the Magical Girl with the sharp cat ears clapped her hands. Ragi looked at her with squinted eyes. This place wasn’t safely concealed by darkness, the light of the moon and stars shone through. Clarissa was bending down, though her ears were still touching the ceiling. If Ragi were to stand up, his head would probably bash right in.
“We were attacked by this really scary thing, right? And it made everyone run off all over the place.”
“What scary thing?”
“Whatever killed Meier, I think.”
His head hurt. Where did he lose consciousness? He couldn’t remember a thing. Only vague thoughts came to mind. Were the screams he heard in his dreams or in reality?
“How… did this happen?”
“I dunno, but everyone’s all scattered.”
“Any victims?”
“Who knows. I don’t”
“But what about…”
His thoughts mixed in with someone from a different point in time.
“What about Clantail?”
“Clantail? She’s the girl with the horse and leopard body, right?”
“That’s the one. How is she?”
“She left before we all got attacked.”
“Clantail? Alone?”
“Well you looked like you were in pretty bad shape. She left to get some Grayfruits. We got attacked a bit later.”
“But why would she do that? We had a stockpile of Grayfruits.”
“Pastel Merry ran off with em.”
How unreasonable, they lack discipline. Magical Girls have chaos within them, they aren’t the kind of people who could follow rules and laws.
Ragi clenched his right fist on the rock surface. The sand that was on its surface began to gather up in his hand, and as it tangled together, it made an annoying sound. Each one of of them cracking with irritating detail.
From the very beginning, Ragi had always looked to be in a bad mood. When Clarissa mentioned “Geez, you don’t have to get that angry about it,” it made him even more angry.
“You telling me I can’t get angry at that?”
“Well, yeah, duh. I mean, stay positive, y’know?”
“Positive? Are you daft? What’s positive about this entire situation!?”
“Well rather than sulk around and get mad, don’tcha think doin’ something about it would be better?”
Even though what she’s saying makes sense, her tone of voice tainted it. More importantly, the fact that she was still Navi Ru’s Magical Girl shouldn’t go unnoticed. Ragi’s mouth curled that his bread got distorted. That’s right, Navi Ru hired Clarissa.
“Oy”
“‘Sup?”
“Where’s your employer? Aren’t you rescuing the wrong person?”
“Uh, just so you know, rescuing you ol’ baldy’s orders.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothin’. Like I said, you looked like you were in bad shape. He told me you’d be the one to say you’ll do everything yourself. That you wanna be left alone if anything happens, so he told me to save your old ass- Oh, pardon me. He told me to save the highly revered Lord Ragi.”
His frown became larger. The fact that he was borrowing something from Navi Ru frustrated Ragi. Humiliated Ragi. Even though he didn’t say a word, he was shaking, his cane was wobbling, and his back was shuffling about, as Clarissa gently massaged his shoulders.
“I heard you two were on bad terms. But hey we can’t always be like that right now, can we? You two are from the Osk Faction right? We gotta work together on this one.”
No matter how much time had passed, he could never forget what Navi Ru had done. While they parted their factions, he went to one side. He then gave information to the other side. Taking advantage of weaknesses, threatening them for gain, destroying. Ragi knew that Navi Ru didn’t do that by himself. He was ordered to do it. Navi Ru was only following orders. However, the fact that he didn’t show the slightest resistance means Ragi couldn’t categorize him as just “someone who’s only following orders.” Obtaining a seat at the Ivory Tower, a group of shadowy Mages, wasn’t something that Navi could resist. By demonstrating his prowess, Navi Ru was promoted and his status raised.
Ragi managed to loosen his gritted teeth enough to speak.
“...What’s the catch?”
“Huh?”
“I know it’s not in his nature to go and help someone just because.”
After a pause, Clarissa clapped her hands and laughed. She did that before, but this time her laughter was a fresh one that didn’t scream “We’re going to die here in this cave, never to see the light of day.” Magical Girls more or less had this kind of apocalyptic personality, and that made Ragi angry.
“Hey, look, don’t get so angry, alright?”
Clarissa said as she laughed again, shaking her hand to the silent Ragi.
“Well, you’re not wrong. He does have a reason.”
“...That’s quite honest.”
“But hold up, it’s honestly not as convoluted as you’d think. He’s just buying your favor, since you’ve got some skills as a Mage.”
“...Oh?”
It felt like Clarissa was about to laugh again.
“Ol’ baldy told me that whenever you were in a position of power, he’s gonna use you. So he thought he’d earn a favor for you now when that time comes later, even though his own life’s in danger, heh.”
Just what is he planning!? He wanted to shout out. Since Clarissa was always obstructing herself with her palms, Ragi swallowed his words.
“Well, that’s a pretty good deal, right?”
Clarissa was talking like she was having fun. Ragi was not having fun at all.
“How?”
“Well, you two obviously can’t be friends. Both of you think that. So rather than be friends, bein’ useful to each other’s the next best thing, right? Better to realize the relationship now than to misunderstand. Plus, it’s good for the Osk Faction, too.”
He could feel his chest puffing. He was proud. It seemed like a sound argument. He didn’t feel the slightest bit annoyd… Wait no, it was more like he already said what he wanted to say due to annoyance. This Magical Girl didn’t have any sense of tact, she’d say whatever’s on her mind.
“Okay, so why don’t you sit down for a bit, ‘mkay gramps? You’re kinda sick right now, moving’s gonna waste energy. That’s why I’m gonna put this here.”
Clarissa rolled something. Ragi bent down to pick up the sweet smelling thing that rolled to the tip of his cane.
Clarissa’s footsteps became further and further. Ragi hit the wall with his cane.
“Wait! Where do you think you’re going?”
“I gotta meet up with the others. Maybe one of em’s seen our attacker.”
“Wait, we’re not done talking yet.”
“I’ll try and see if I can find Clantail.”
“Oy!”
Ragi’s loud voice echoed back from the stone walls towards him, with no one to hear it but himself.
He shouted as he hit the wall with his cane, and as his hands became numbed from the shock, he dropped his cane, so he made a fist and planned to slam the rock, before stopping just on the verge of it. Thankful that he was able to stop just in time, Ragi took a deep breath, picked up his cane, and heard something moving behind him, causing him to turn around.
A centipede that was as long as his arm was moving from rock to rock. Ragi sighed even deeper, I’m surrounded by pests.
☆ John Shepherdspie
When his consciousness returned, the first thing he saw was the starry night from the gaps of the branches. The light and surrounding landscape caused him to sigh just by looking at it. Perhaps due to its beauty that could be expressed by poetry. If he had a pen and paper now, he could express it in one phrase. Shepherdspie breathed out once again, his surroundings really were amazing.
Quietly, his body was laid down. He was being carried beforehand.
The girls were looking down towards him. A circle of beautiful perfectly placed facial features surrounded him, with the moonlight shining through the branches on their backs painting a poetic scene, he may as well mistake this for heaven. Though the girls’ faces were heavy, and Sherpherdspie felt pain on the back of his head, his belly was hungry, and his back felt cold.
“Where are we…?”
“We had to leave the building. It was an emergency.”
“Can you move?”
“Are you… okay?”
“Mei wants fruit.”
Four people answered his question all at once. In addition to being woken up, an unexpected accident had happened, leaving Shepherdspie too tired to try and process their answers at once. He should probably speak to Mana first. Margarite gave off a cold impression, so he was too scared to talk with her. He didn’t understand anything Tepsekemei was saying, and 7753 didn’t really seem too reliable. He woke up, and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
“So why did we leave again?”
“The main building was attack.”
“Wha? Huh? Wait, what? Attacked? By who?”
“Probably Meier’s killer, and whoever destroyed the Gates.”
“Wait… Wait a minute… What? But… Wait just a minute…”
Shepherdspie looked towards the faces eyeing him. They all looked pretty serious. They didn’t seem to be lying nor joking. That’s when he noticed. There were far less people. Ragi, Navi, Agri, Yol, and Touta weren’t here. All of their Magical Girls, Margarite excluded, weren’t here as well.
“Huh… Don’t tell me… Are the other’s…”
“No, don’t worry. They got away. We don’t know where they are, but they’re scattered around the island.”
“Ah, I see. That’s good… Well, not the scattered part, but they’re safe so that’s good… That… is good, right?”
“...I guess, better than getting hurt or dying, at least.”
“Yes… Yes, you’re right…”
After some extra additional explanations, he had an easier time processing the situation. They were attacked by whoever killed Meier, and then Shepherdspie lost consciousness. The people who weren’t here were scattered off on the island, and the people that were here carried Shepherdspie and looked for Grayfruits for him. He appreciated his good luck for not dying, but the fact that it seemed to be more of a small speck of light in a darkness of misfortune tainted it. Before they could do anything, they had to find some Grayfruits.
Shepherdspie looked up at the sky. He was in a bad position, the stars were all obscured by the branches and the clouds from where he was. Were Pastel Merry and Dreamy☆Chelsea safe?
Did Merry really steal the fruits? Or did she just run off with them? He had hoped for the latter. If she ran off, it would make sense for the hapless and fearful Merry. If she did carry all the fruit, she would at least fall two or three times, scattering them everywhere. He hoped that Merry would at least tell him she’d run off before running off. Then again, Shepherdspie never really considered Merry the reliable type. At the very least, Shepherdspie would hope that she would be able to meet up with Chelsea.
As soon as Shepherdspie regained consciousness, he’d be sharing his part of their problems.
Miss Margarite had said that since the destruction of the main building, it’d be better to find more Grayfruits, and Mana has also shared in that opinion. They found some on the way home from Meier’s body, and suggested that they head back there to grab the Grayfruits—but although they had an easy time moving Shepherdspie, laying him down somewhere would be dangerous, so unfortunately they couldn’t do so. The scattered Grayfruits were also taken away by someone, with none left.
This would be trouble for their group. They had no idea where the Grayfruits would be. They had exhausted all of the Grayfruits around the main building. This was the situation Shepherdspie found himself waking up to.
7753 nervously spoke up.
“Um, do you think… Maybe some Grayfruits are in anywhere with people?”
“If we knew that… We’d say it way back then.”
“Right… sorry.”
Although he knew about the island, it was relatively minor compared to the other heirs. Not only that, but Ragi knew much more about the island’s systems than he does, and Rareko about the Gates. All he was confident was his skills in the kitchen. Though that was all well and good, it wasn’t very useful right now.
“Although…”
“Although?”
“I’ve looked around the island once, and I think I’ve seen some Grayfruit places.”
“Oh?”
“But my memory’s vague on it.”
“Oh. That’s alright. Sorry.”
“However.”
Mana interjected after 7753’s apology.
“An vague memory is still a memory, right?”
“I… guess so.”
“That’s a lot better than us, we don’t know anything at all.”
There was a word that described the weakest person drawing the shortest straw, but Shepherdspie didn’t utter it. He wrapped his arms together, shook his beard, and groaned.
“Hm… Well, I guess… But it is a vague memory. I guess we could check it out, but if it turns out to be a waste of time, you know, it might not be best.”
“We’ve got nothing to lose. We are being hunted down, here.”
Shepherdspie nodded and stood up. They had to get Grayfruits. As Mana said, they should give it a shot since they’ve got nothing to lose.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
Shepherdspie swung both his hands as if he were casting a spell, and hit his fingers on a tree, and his casting stopped. He cleared his throat, this time checking his surroundings before casting a spell. He drew some runes instead of words, and touched his forehead with the tip of his finger. It wasn’t anything huge, simply magic to reactivate his mind, which should help him remember.
“This way… probably.”
He really did have a feeling that it was this way, but then he felt like it was probably his imagination. Oh well, better than nothing.
In order for Shepherdspie to do something in a quick amount of time other than cooking, he’d need to work at full capacity. He’d rent a Demon to help scout out the islands, and though he read his uncle’s journals, he sort of skimmed the section on plants. Normally, he wouldn’t even remember any of it.
“Man, I’m glad you’re here, Shepherdspie!”
7753’s words only pressured him much further, his poor stomach couldn’t handle it. It really was this way, I’m sure. He proceeded on towards his fading memory, being quite aware that he was surrounded by tense Magical Girls.
Tepsekemei did a single flip in the air, then sniffed out something.
“Mei smells something.”
Tepsekemei went ahead of Shepherdspie, and suddenly the leaders have switched. Every Mage knows that a Magical Girl has far more sensitive senses. If you think about it, Tepsekemei was the first one who ate these Grayfruits, so he could expect something of her, at least that’s what Shepherdspie was hoping for.
And then his expectations were betrayed.
“Are you sure this isn’t wrong?”
“Not wrong.”
“Ah… These look like they’ve been plucked. There’s only some traces of it left.”
“Looks like some ripped fruit remains are here.”
“Wonder if they were uprooted.”
They collected the fruit pieces, and licked the juice that remained. It was a bit disgusting, but it was replenishing, thus Shepherdspie continued once more as leader. After walking a while, Tepsekemei did a single flip in the air, then sniffed out something.
“Mei smells something.”
Shepherdspie couldn’t express how happy he was. It’d be wonderful if he could find even one fruit from his torn up memories, but now they found two Grayfruits in the short span of a single night. Tepsekemei’s nose is occasionally useful, but he was still lucky to be in this position.
When they arrived at the place Tepsekemei rushed towards, they saw another uprooted tree.
“Another one?”
“This one seems harsher than the last.”
“And I’m guessing it dropped over… Hey, Mei! You gotta share! Don’t just eat it!”
Why did this happen? How did this happen? Shepherdspie had no idea himself. He looked up at the sky and breathed a sigh whilst praying, drowning out the sounds of insects.
☆ 7753
After the third mid-air flip, the five of them finally started talking.
“Do you think this means something?”
“This opening’s just like the other ones.”
“It does look like someone’s collecting up all the Grayfruits.”
“Do you, uh… think it’s the one who attacked us?”
“Well whatever it is, it probably needs Grayfruits to sustain its magical powers.”
“Mei is tired.”
“We should think about the possibility that our enemy isn’t the one doing this.”
“Well, everyone needs Grayfruits, so it’d make sense.”
“Then we should all meet up.”
“Well as long as there’s someone worth meeting up with, perhaps.”
“One at a time, Margarite.”
“There’s a small chance that they’d refuse to meet up.”
“I know that.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh wait, that’s right. The opening from before’s actually quite new, so maybe we shouldn’t approach it just yet. Wait just a bit, Shepherdspie. Do you know if there are any Grayfruits there?”
“Well like I said, my memory’s hazy.”
“Oh, right. Well, uh. Sorry. Sorry about that.”
And so Shepherdspie took the lead and walked again. After walking a while, Mei did a single flip in the air, and sniffed something. “This time Mei smells a lot of somethings,” she said with a happy sounding tone, though with an expressionless face.
“Oh, that means there’s a bunch of them, right?”
“That’s what I’d expect.”
Tepsekemei switched again to lead. As she swatted the incomming mosquitoes, Mana told her not to be so loud, though Mei’s constant swishing in the back made it seem like she was barely listening. She then sniffed out and continued onwards, finally stopping.
Thanks to accidentally stopping, 7753 bumped into Mana’s butt, and apologized again. Margarite fluidly swooshed past in front of Tepsekemei.
“So it’s you?”
The flashy looking costume would be visible even in the denseness of the forest. The Magical Girl she was talking to dropped the Grayfruits stored in the plastic bag she was holding in her right hand. Slowly, she turned around to face Margarite. Since they could barely see anything, it would be difficult to tell which direction she would be facing.
Something’s wrong. 7753 pulled her goggles in, and as soon as the display read Dreamy☆Chelsea, she quickly removed in. Shepherdspie moved in front of Margarite, blocking her, and spoke up.
“Chelsea? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I had a thought…”
“Hm?”
“I had a thought. Chelsea is an amazing Magical Girl.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
Margarite restrained Shepherdspie with her left hand while her right hand rested on her blade handle. 7753 gulped. Meanwhile, Chelsea acted as if she didn’t see Margarite’s movements at all.
“But I was wrong… I didn’t know what a Magical Girl needed… I didn’t know love!”
“Chelsea, what’s going on? What happened?”
“I’m not the Chelsea you knew before! For I have discovered love!”
“Start making sense!”
“I really didn’t want to be alone! I’ve always wanted to be with someone. But I had no choice. I acted alone because others couldn’t match my actions!”
“Others?”
“Do your best Chelsea! Win Chelsea! Even though you’re alone, you’re never alone!”
“Where’s Merry? Have you seen her?”
Chelsea’s wide mouth seemed to open wider. Her facial features looked distorted. 7753 took Mana a step back.
“Merry-Chan! Don’t you forget about Merry-Chan!!!”
Shepherdspie lost his balance thanks to Chelsea’s loud roar. Mana tried to support him but lost her balance as well, leaving 7753 to get behind her and support her. Mana was now squished in between the two of them.
“Tepsekemei. Guard the perimeter.”
Margarite had already stepped forward. She pulled out her sword, reflecting the light of the moon.
Dreamy☆Chelsea raised her foot and stood on her toes. She stayed in this position for a while while floating, stopping at a height of around 30 cm above ground. Ignoring the laws of gravity, she stopped moving.
Magic. What kind of magic, though, she didn’t know. She reacted to Pastel Merry’s name, but was Pastel Merry controlling Chelsea? But for what purpose? For Chelsea to support Merry as an ally?
7753 pulled her goggles inwards. There was plenty of information she had to know. Though, something had hit the tip of her hat and her goggles were flicked away.
The goggles rolled away from 7753. There was some kind of shiny object that came towards her, but it was already deflected. 7753 kept an eye on her goggles, then looked towards Chelsea and stopped her gaze. Chelsea formed her hands into a heart shape. Chelsea’s movements were being manipulated by magic. That had to be it. Margarite continued to deflect attacks while keeping her posture low and muttered,
“Don’t move.”
Those words were directed at 7753. 7753 looked towards the bush where her goggles had flown, then lookd again towards Chelsea. She had no choice but to leave it to Margarite.
...What was happening?
The movements themselves were sharp, but it was also mixed in with some unnecessary flourishes. It was weird. She guessed that it was part of the magic, and stayed vigilant, though nothing came of it.
The two Magical Girls continued fighting without any words.
Chelsea broke the heart shape on her hands, and her palms slowly rose. Her index and middle fingers stood up, her other fingers curled in. She stood up with a smile, and both her hands made a double peace sign.
The wind blew, and the two Magical Girls stared it out, though both of them kept their postures intact without moving an inch. Chelsea aimed her double peace at Margarite, and Margarite simply looked. She couldn’t understand what she was doing or what she was trying to do.
The next one to move was Chelsea again. Her right hand opened up, and her left hand made a side peace sign towards her face. Margarite moved her center of gravity slightly to the left.
The wind blew harder, causing the grass to blow. Margarite’s feather decorating her hat started shaking around like a toy. Chelsea smiled a cute smile like she was an Anime Magical Girl, though that smile seemed to be a lie.
7753 couldn’t do anything. When Shepherdspie moves, Mana moves as well, which gets passed on to 7753.
It was slow, like mud, that’s how slow time seemed to pass. Though they could breathe in, it felt like they couldn’t breathe out. Chelsea also stopped her movements after her side peace. Margarite still hasn’t moved. None of them moved, never relaxing in tension, simply passing time. 7753 noticed then. The bag that Chelsea was holding was bumpy and bulging. That should be the Grayfruits. Chelsea had probably already consumed some, or even licked more of the juices compared to Margarite. Which means all she had to do was let time pass, and Margarite’s transformation would end faster than hers.
Just waiting for time to pass would be bad. 7753 realized it. Margarite realized it too, yet she also didn’t move and simply stared while allowing time to pass. She had to do something, but she couldn’t even move. Her frustration increased, 7753 still continued to stare, her throat tightened, her chest began to hurt… when suddenly, a phone started ringing. 7753’s heart skipped a beat. Somehow, her fallen body was still supporting them. The sound was a Magical Phone’s alarm, which made Chelsea spoke,
“It’s time!”
While still maintaining her peace sign, Chelsea slid behind the rocks and disappeared into the trees. Tepsekemei tried to pursue her in the air before Margarite shouted out “Don’t. It’s fine.” Margarite sighed out, grabbed the brim of her hat, and before she knew it, sheathed her sword.
“...She was strong.”
Another gust of wind blew on them, and Mana frowned.
“So you’re saying you’ll lose?”
“If she were that easy to beat, I would’ve taken care of her instantly. As far as I’m concerned…”
Margarite looked towards where Chelsea had disappeared.
“She uses a fighting style that I’m not familiar with. Her Grayfruit nutritional supply was also sufficient. As far as her physical abilities as a Magical Girl, they exceed my own. Even with Tepsekemei’s help, we’d still be fighting while trying to protect two Mages and one Magical Girl. I’ll repeat myself. If she were that easy to beat, I wouldn’t have let her escape. Even just acquiring that much Grayfruits should be enough.”
“If she’s not easy to beat, can you still beat her?”
“Well, if I wanted to kill her, perhaps.”
Margarite glanced at Shepherdspie, and Shepherdspie quickly shook his head.
“N-No! You can’t just kill her! T-That’d be ridiculous. Er…”
“I think she’s being controlled.”
“Controlled? By who?”
“I noticed she reacted to Pastel Merry’s name, but… I doubt it’s Pastel Merry. We just don’t have enough info.”
Margarite furrowed her brows. 7753 let out a huge sigh, oh that’s right, she remembered turning towards the bush. Without her goggles, she’d feel like she was naked, and if she lost any more of her stuff then she’d be nothing. 7753 placed her upper body inside the bush, dividing the branches and leaves with both hands. She couldn’t find her goggles, 7753 divided up the branches while moving inside the bushes, she found the rubber band of her goggles stuck within the bush and pulled it.
“...Huh?”
All she found was a cut up part of the rubber band. The goggles attached to it? They were gone.
Chapter 7
☆ Clantail
Although the tapestry map was quite simplified compared to real life, she could roughly understand the island’s overall topography. She checked every branch one by one as she went between the trees, running across the hilltop for a minute as she exited. From there she went towards the forests.
Clantail didn’t get lost. She had no time to waste. She went for the dark green spots in the tapestry and looked for Grayfruits along the way, but she couldn’t find any. She rushed up the trees, wondering if there were any growing at the topmost parts, but there wasn’t any there as well. Shepherdspie said they were scattered everywhere. They shouldn’t be that rare.
Was she just not searching efficiently? Time’s not going to stop for her. Ignoring her patience, Clantail kept moving on. Despite going onwards and onwards in the forest, she couldn’t find her fruits. She stopped. Even if she changed her way of searching, her earlier methods were far better. She wasn’t just searching for the Grayfruits either, she was also looking for Pastel Merry.
She checked the tapestry, when she reached the area where there were orange rocks drawn on them and actually climbed up the boulders, she checked it again, making sure she wasn’t losing her directions.
She stood underneath highest pointed boulder as a leopard. Her lower half transformed into another creature.
The brown spots that were scattered among her wings were quite badly strewn, as if Clantail’s entire body was excessively decorated. She had fine but thin legs, and although her large wings scattered with scales would be invisible to a butterfly, her body was huge, and she didn’t like the deep hair either. She wasn’t a pretty and beautiful lovely butterfly, she was an agonizingly grimacing moth. Since it was trying to match Clantail’s size, her waistline was about the size of a small drum, her wingspan was over three meters long, if someone who hated moths saw her now, they’d probably faint on the spot.
Clantail flew up with her wings, landed on the tip of the sharp boulder, and rested her legs. She flew up in the sky, she didn’t transform because she wanted to look down from the sky to search. She picked a flying creature that would maintain her fine balance wherever she flew. The fact that Clantail’s head wasn’t transformed despite her body being transformed makes her stability, speed and strength impaired when flying. That would cause her attention to be distracted.
Her target wasn’t flying. Clantail listened carefully. The Magical Girls and Mages in the main building were all huddled together, the water on the pond rippled. Was that a sheep eating the grass? There were other things moving as well. Clantail flew higher with her wings. She didn’t fly far or powerfully. She was just trying to maintain balance.
Certain moths have a wide hearing range. Meaning their ears were quite good. Despite being someone less than bats or dolphins, moths were still able to pick up soundwaves that couldn’t be picked up by humans. However, more than anything, the most advantageous thing that moths have over bats and dolphins is that the part that receives sound, or their ears, aren’t in the head. It was in the body. Clantail considered most animals that have their best abilities in the head pretty useless for her.
In the past, Clantail couldn’t find any hidden people. Especially since most animals with sharp senses—such as eyes, nose, ears, and tongue, etc—tend to have them all in the head, so Clantail couldn’t gain those senses. Because of that, the person that Clantail wanted to protect, someone important to her was lost, all because she couldn’t find this hidden person.
Whenever she remembered that day, her entire body burned up. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t get her back. No matter how much she hated it, or was pained by it, she could never forget it.
Clantail—Nene Ono, collected and investigated so much knowledge on animals because she liked them and it was fun. But ever since that day, she’s changed her ways. In order to gain what she needed, she was also investigating insects.
Since she can’t transform without having some knowledge of them first, this Winter she went to the Insect Garden two stations over. Since there was a massive sickness that wiped out most of the insects, the facility was about halfway closed. Still, she was able to meet many species of insects.
Clantail didn’t want to lose another person she wanted to protect again. She remembered her body temperature fading under the water, her breath becoming smaller, before it finally disappeared. She hated it. She regretted it.
She heard a sound in the ears rooted on her wings.
As the sound vibrated, she detected the shape and the place of where the creature was. However, the forest had so many objects shielding them, even the Grayfruits hiding among the branches and leaves would be difficult to find.
Clantail frowned. There was too much information to be retrieved from hearing alone. The leaves rustling, the insects chirping, the owls hooting, the wind, the water, they’re all surprisingly noisy when she heard it. Even if she eliminated that, there were a lot of places where she’s heard animal noises. She’s heard that this island was filled with wildlife, she thought it’d be fun to find and meet new rare breeds of wildlife, but ever since she came here, she’s seen none of them. But it seems like there’s plenty of birds that never show themselves in the islands. Then there was the sound of the hooves of sheep. The sounds of the leaves. The sounds of water trickling. There was no shortage of animal sounds.
The Forest Musician Clamberry could hear better than she could see. Clantail had no Magical Skill that was like that, so whenever she got some sharp hearing, her ability to use it was still awkward. But still, she had to try.
She flew from boulder to boulder, then back into the forest flying at a low altitude. It was more painful to pick up sounds in the thick grassy forest than the rocky areas. She had to dedicate her full attention as well as possess informational analytical abilities.
She continued across the landscape without ever losing line of sight, processing all the information while flying at low speed. She also can’t forget that there’s a killer on this island. She had to find the killer as well, but for now she just had to find Grayfruits. For Ragi, for Clantail, and the other Magical Girls and Mages. Despite fighting an unknown enemy, Grayfruits are far more important now. She swept and flew between the trees, past the bushes, through the wildpaths, and atop the hills. Despite checking the tapestry once again, she still couldn’t find either the Grayfruits or Pastel Merry.
She flapped her wings, relaxing her speed as she passed the boundaries of the wetlands. She turned, aiming for another part of the green, but unexpectedly, her vision was covered with darkness. The smell of trees, dirt, grass, and night dew began to diminish. All of the various sounds disappeared at once. Her half-moth body disappeared, naturally her wings would as well. Clantail’s head crashed towards the ground, as she used both her hands to cover her upper body, rolling until she hit a tree, stopping in her tracks as her back bent. Pain reflected through her body as she laid on her back. It’s as if her hands had no power. If she tried to move, the pain vibrated even further. She could have broken her bones.
It took a few seconds for her to notice that she had detransformed.
Just trying to get up hurts. She held her knees while standing up, but since the pain was also in her arms, she let out a small groan. She breathed out, then in, standing in pain. She couldn’t see a thing. It was all pitch black. She could taste blood on her tongue. Did the inside of her cheek get cut? It hurt if she licked it.
The one that was in the most pain was her right hand. Her left hand only felt numb. She tried to move it, stroking her face and head with her left hand. It wasn’t scratched up, just a bit bumpy. It didn’t seem to hurt when she touched it, but she seems to have lost her glasses.
The moonlight and the stars finally shone through the branches they were hiding behind. Though her vision started to clear, it was still blurry on account of having lost her glasses.
Nene looked around her. Trying to process information back then was tough, but now it’s even harder. She couldn’t see a thing, as if she was thrust into a world she’s never heard of. She couldn’t tell where she was standing. She couldn’t tell what she was looking at due to darkness. She tightened her scarf, wrapping it around her mouth so that she could bite it to prevent a scream. If she had detransformed because the effects of the Grayfruit had worn out, then the people back at the main building would be in trouble too. She had to go back.
The branches shook. The birds flew towards the sky. Nene gripped her scarf even tighter, breathing out and huffing her shoulders up and down. She couldn’t think straight. For now, all she could think about was getting back.
As she carefully looked around her surroundings, she slowly lowered her waist and placed her hand to the ground. She needed to find her glasses. She needed to see. Her tapestry was gone, so she should find that too.
She’d carefully rub around whilst on her knees. When her fingers grabbed something, she’d pull back, wondering if it was her glasses, before slowly touching it again and finding out that it was a stone or a branch, causing her to continue once more.
She couldn’t find it. It never ends. A broken sound came out from the back of her throat. She covered it with her right hands now, though the pain caused her to groan once again. She just had to find her glasses, then the tapestry. She crawled with her hands, searching. She heard the pitter patter of drops falling on the ground. Was it her tears? Sweat? A runny nose? She didn’t know, but she didn’t bother wiping it. She just focused on searching.
There was a sound from the bushes behind her. Nene shuddered, stood up on one knee, and turned around 180 degrees. The only sound she could hear next was the her own gulp. The sound of the insects ceased. There were still sounds on the grass, meaning it wasn’t Nene’s imagination.
Whilst still crawling her fingers around the ground, Nene began to head backwards. She went from standing with one knee to a half-rising posture, so that she could run away.
She then heard a loud noise in the distance—like something had exploded. Nene was surprised. She turned to look in the distance, then retreated back to the bushes.
She couldn’t hear the sound of the bushes. Nene could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat. Even her breathing sound somehow stopped. She didn’t even bother to swat the sweat that passed through her brows towards her eyelashes. She was trying to make as little sound as possible, she just had to get back. She even took out all thoughts of her glasses or the tapestry.
One step, another step, one more step… The leaves rustled, a branch broke, and something jumped out of the bushes. Nene gulped once again. It sounded, smelled, and had a silhouette like a dog, but it was far bigger than what she had imagined. With a body the size of a calf, there was nothing else Nene could think of besides its sheer size. Nene went backwards until her heels hit something. There was a tree behind her, and there was no way for her to retreat anymore.
Even without her glasses, she could feel the beastly growl. It overlapped with barking and howling.
The beast jumped, and Nene sidestepped, yielding her body to fate as she jumped sideways. The beast missed and slammed onto the tree, letting out a scream that wasn’t of pain, which trembled Nene’s already frail heart at its core.
I’ll be killed. I’m going to be prey.
She didn’t properly think of what to do when attacked by a dog, or where a dog’s weak points are. She simply focused her hardest on moving her body. She stepped across dead branches and stood up between the trees, but she was attacked by the wolf who would jump at her face between the trees. Reflexively, she reached for the ground. Her hands grabbed a lump of dirt, and threw it at the snout of the dog whose fangs were already bared.
This time the wolf cried out. It stepped on the branches and bushes, kicking them around in a rampage, as Nene rolled on the grass being blown away.
She hit something hard and stopped rolling, groaning as she held down her shoulder with her right hand, though her right hand itself was still in pain. She leaned on a tree and stood up.
As the smell of the earth scattered about, it was interrupted by the smell of the beast. It had the anger that was directed at an annoyance, the anger that was directed at something it hated, and probably an appetite too. That was the kind of thing fighting Nene right now. She heard another rustle, and she seemed to see a posture that was ready to jump that she couldn’t see before.
Nene stood up, turning her back to the beast as she grabbed hold of a tree. It was slightly sticky and may have slight prickles, but it wasn’t slippery, so she could still climb it.
She was good at climbing trees. Her small physique actually helped her on that, and she often climbed to satisfy her curiosities, like wanting to see crying cicadas, wanting to find owl nests, or trying to see if squirrels and mountain rats lived nearby. She grabbed on the branches, stepping on some of the protrusions, and climbed the tree that was surprisingly higher than expected.
She heard the beast barking from behind her, as Nene hurriedly sped up her lower half of her body.
The last time Nene had climbed a tree was in elementary school. Although she physically hasn’t grown much, she still had blanks in her memory. Not to mention her vision was horrible. Could she even hang on to the branches? Her body had been battered and bruised everywhere, and her right hand was especially in pain, as it hurt if she just moved it.
Nene’s stomach grumbled. The beast’s barking thinned. Nene placed her foot on the tree, climbing herself upwards. She reached out for a branch, fumbled, then hurriedly grabbed onto another branch.
Her feet slipped, but she endured. It was because her footing wasn’t that stable, but she endured, continued on, and with the tips of her fingers gripping the branches, pulled her body upwards. Something crashed into the tree, her fingers slipped, yet even then she endured. Nene couldn’t move her right leg. The beast had caught onto her shoe. Nene kicked the beast, removing her sneaker in the process, as the beast fell back down, raising a dust storm when it did. Nene’s hand still hurt, but she ignored it. Using both her arms and legs, of which she now only had her socks, she hoisted her body upwards.
Her hand touched a branch. It was a thick branch, thicker than even her arms. Her arms, legs, and even her head has reached its limit. She felt like they were about to scream. This was the end. Putting power into her arms and legs, she propelled up the branch. She sat on it, wrapping her arms around the branch. Her chest hurt. No matter how hard she tried breathing, her heart won’t rest.
A louder roar and sharp claws scraping the trees hurt her ears. However, it was far. Nene gritted her teeth. Am I going to die here? She asked herself thrice. Forcibly, she pushed back her fear of falling.
☆ Touta Magaoka
Touta didn’t want to separate from Margarite, but Rareko pulled Yol, and Yol and Touta’s hands were connected, so they ended up escaping together. Rareko took them running here and there throughout the forest, and in the process, they only found one Grayfruit. Touta desperately hugged Yol so as not to fall. Finally, they went to the beach. Rareko looked for a place that didn’t have many eyes prying on it, then with several punches and kicks carved out a small cave. There, the three of them hid, their bodies hugging close to each other.
He had no idea what they were doing, and he couldn’t exactly complain about escaping with strangers, especially not to Rareko. Touta did want to escape, he just didn’t want to leave Margarite. If Margarite was the last one standing, then being together with her would be encouraging.
Though, if she stayed, then he’d be separated with Yol. Yol was far more worried than Touta, so Touta didn’t want to let her go. While he couldn’t speak while he was escaping with Yol, when he was in the 5 meter long cave for around 20 minutes, he felt like there was enough time for a chat.
Touta had told them that they should go back, that it was better to be with the others.
Rareko had said it was dangerous, that she had no idea what that thing wanted to do. That she was only doing this “For the safety of My Lad… The two of you.”
When a man peered into the entrance of the cave, Touta could hear the sound of Rareko gulping.
Touta couldn’t say anything about strangers, but he kept hugging onto Yol to protect her, though he himself was surprised, or rather scared, and unexpectedly hugged Yol tightly because of it.
Though Touta and Rareko were surprised, Yol on the other hand…
“Navi!?”
They finally realized that it was Navi all this time. “Yo,” he said while waving his hand and smiling, despite being clearly tired and broken from fatigue, it was still Navi. His clothes were Navi’s, his look was naturally Navi’s, so it would be easy to assume it was Navi. Though, Navi currnently had red liquid running through his body from the neck under. His collar was all torn, and he must have been soaked with blood. Naturally Rareko was afraid, and Touta was too.
“What happened!?”
“Well, I ran, but it was real hard.”
“Your head!”
“Oh c’mon, it’s just a bald spot.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!”
Following Yol’s gaze, Navi placed his palm on his head, looked at his palms, which were red, then quickly wiped it off on his shirt.
“Oh you know, I’ve just been through a lot. I’m fine, it’s no big deal.”
“It is a big deal!”
Touta nodded, even Rareko nodded. Navi sat in the middle of a large boulder, whilst Rareko grabbed a towel to wipe his wounds. “How annoying,” muttered Navi. He may be talking about the situation or the fact that people are worrying too much about him. Touta could understand. He knew he’d be fine to attend a MagiBattle tournament once, but had to rest because of a little fever. Though what Navi was dealing with was a little more than a fever.
“Do you know where the others went?”
“No… We were separated… We haven’t seen each other since.”
“Same. I told Clarissa to search around.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“There’s no one she can’t escape. Well, in a place like this, it’s do or die, y’know?”
He huffed the sleeves, and something rolled out of them. Grayfruits. One, two, three, four of them!
“There’s so many! We only found managed to find one!”
And that Grayfruit had already been eaten by Yol and Rareko.
“Well of course, you’re kids. Clarissa and I, see, we stocked them.”
Navi’s other sleeves were bulged, and something was moving inside of them. That had to be some more Grayfruits. Touta breathed in. Touta didn’t need them. He knew that if Yol were to faint and Rareko couldn’t transform, things would go very badly. If he could, he’d find the Grayfruits himself, but he was more than happy to accept it from others. Touta stood up and bowed his head beautifully.
“Thank you.”
When you’ve been helped, you need to say your thanks and lower your head. Yols and Rareko followed behind him and lowered theirs as well. Navi scratched his forehead.
“What? I told you I’d be sharing didn’t I?”
Navi laughed, then looked downwards towards Touta, who was holding hands with Yol. He smiled, and gave Touta a pat on his shoulders, and Touta unexpectedly coughed.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Hm? Oh nothing. It’s just nice to see everyone working together and all.”
Touta felt like there was a sense of calmness in his line of sight. Touta may have probably released his hand normally at the time. On the contrary, Touta was now strongly gripping her hand, if Yol said “Ow” Touta would say “Sorry” and loosen his grip. Navi calmly laughed, then looked at all three of them.
“Yo, Rareko. You done yet?”
“The blood seems to have stopped.”
“Guess there’s a lot of blood pressure. Hurry it up a little, will ya?”
“Yes, as soon as possible.”
They didn’t have a doctor’s bag with an emergency first aid kit. They didn’t even have a toy doctor’s set. Still, Rareko rubbed his head with a towel, and Navi’s head looked shinier than before. Shining as bright as the moon and stars that it felt like a second moon entirely.
“Well then, I’m off.”
Navi patted his thighs and stood up.
“Go...? Where?”
“To meet up with the others, of course. It’s useless to hide around just cause it’s dangerous.”
He looked like he was happy as he smiled. Happier than he was when he came here. He feels more relaxed. If that was so, then maybe Touta has been useful after all.
“It’s fine. You all stay here. Keep quiet, ‘kay? Just in case the bad guy shows up and all.”
Navi flicked his arms and disappeared into the darkness. As Touta watched him from behind, he thought to himself “Wow, adults really are reliable, huh.” He thought he’d be the kind of old man who’d buy a chick, goldfish, or a turtle in a pet store, but he turned out to be very reliable when bad guys came around.
Sometimes children can be active in something adults can do, like borrowing books from the library, but right now, Touta didn’t think he could be of any use in what the adults are doing. Regrettable, but the reason Touta couldn’t do these things was because he was just Touta.
If Margarite were here, would she say anything comforting? She’d probably say nothing and rub their heads. She’ll probably say something like I’ll succeed thought Touta. Upon further reflection, she’d probably act a bit rude too.
“Will he be alright… Well, I think he will be, but he’s not giving a lot of thought to his own safety.”
“He isn’t?”
“If he makes it, he’s going to say that we should laugh this off later or something.”
“You really know him. Are you two family or?”
“No. My family has just asked him for stuff once. It’s all adult talk so, they never told me what they asked him for.”
“Hmm…”
Why did he ask her that? He didn’t really know. Though, because he asked, that why did I ask thought lingered in his mind. Touta didn’t really want to hide it, so he continued on.
“Um… He doesn’t really seem to care about his own safety huh…”
“Yes.”
“My aunt says that as long as people succeed, then they’ll be a magnificent person.”
Touta remembered himself. When Navi showed those Grayfruits, he didn’t think “Thank goodness!” He thought “Dammit!” instead. He probably thought of that. Even though it would be better for Yol and Rareko to have these Grayfruits, Touta still thought like that. That meant he was even regretting that Yol would be energized by these Grayfruits. He should’ve been happy that Yol would be getting energized.
He was certain his thoughts weren’t good thoughts. That’s why Touta started to talk about unnecessary things, to hide that feeling, and hope those feelings don’t get noticed. He kept being afraid and shivering, and while he knew he couldn’t do anything about it, it was still frustrating. He wanted to show his good side to Yol, and wanted to be praised by Margarite. All he could do was be afraid of things he didn’t know. When he thought of himself, Touta felt he couldn’t do anything.
“Your aunt says some difficult things, doesn’t she?”
“But someone who continues to succeed endlessly in their lives is also bad.”
Yol sighed out loud.
“Then in that case, I’ll also pray for him.”
Behind them, Rareko nodded many times.
☆ Ragi Jay Nent
Everything seemed to be hazy, but they weren’t painful. As if his perception could remember comfort better than the pain. Within his consciousness, it was better to die in comfort than live in pain. Even in his daily life, the reason and knowledge that he relied on would give up in the face of violent pain.
Ragi finally noticed. He wasn’t in comfort right now. He was thinking of unnecessary things in his head. What happened to Clantail? What were the other Mages and Magical Girls doing? Did they find a way to get out?
The pain that caused him to collapse had gone. He faintly opened his eyes, his sight fluctuated before gradually forming an image, and the outlines of objects slightly began to take form. The back of his throat felt like it hurt, but he seemed to be doing just fine. The inside of his mouth felt sweet. He could smell the fruit that went down his throat fully. It was the taste of a Grayfruit, far too sweet for Ragi’s personal tastes.
He breathed in the sweet air, sending oxygen towards his brain.
Ragi stood up halfway. His back hurt, so did his butt. The thing wrapping around his body was probably his own cloak. He was sitting on a rock. Sleeping on a rock would obviously make his back and butt hurt.
He tried to stare at his surroundings, but all he could see was a rocky cave, with no clue as to where he was. He didn’t have good night vision, and the wind blew him from one side. The wind was strongly blowing on him, probably due to only having one entrance in the cave. He let his hand roll around, and soon it hit a wall. It was angled and very rough. Rock. His left hand went thump as it touched on something, so he retracted it immediately. Fearfully, he reached out to the same place, touching whatever was there. What he touched felt like tree bark, far from the stone surface from before. He gripped it. It was the cane he normally used for walking.
He breathed out a heavy sigh.
When he laid his head down on his hands at the rock, he felt the rustling of his cloth. He pulled away, unravelled it, and noticed that it was his own hat. Not exactly a substitute for a pillow, he thought to himself as he patted the dust away before laying his head on it. He felt all torn over and undignified, but at least no one could see him like this thanks to the darkness. One of the good points of being in a pitch black place. The only people who could probably see Ragi was-
“Oh, you’re awake!”
A voice resounded from the direction of the wind. The shrill voice of a Magical Girl echoed in the cave, annoying Ragi far more than necessary. The voice spoke out with a casual tone as footsteps approached closer.
“That’s good, old man!”
Too late to turn back from the sourness he got from being called ‘old man’. Still, Ragi decided not to speak out his dissatisfaction. Ragi wasn’t in a condition to consult his human nature. He wasn’t thinking of choosing a gentle death over living pain either. Rather, he was quite angry at himself that he thought of that in the first place. His consciousness finally cleared, helped by the Grayfruit taste and smell that resided inside his mouth. Ragi didn’t find the Grayfruits while he was unconscious, someone saved him and found it for him. There is a high chance of that being the girl standing in front of his very eyes.
He should thank her, though that would annoy him. He couldn’t say a word of thanks from his throat or tongue. He wanted to say “Thank you” but he instead lowered his head with the same thankful intent, then asked a question.
“...Where are we?”
“Hm?”
“Where’s everyone else? Why am I here?”
“Ohh, that’s riiight. You don’t know what happened, do ya?”
Clarissa Toothedge, the Magical Girl with the sharp cat ears clapped her hands. Ragi looked at her with squinted eyes. This place wasn’t safely concealed by darkness, the light of the moon and stars shone through. Clarissa was bending down, though her ears were still touching the ceiling. If Ragi were to stand up, his head would probably bash right in.
“We were attacked by this really scary thing, right? And it made everyone run off all over the place.”
“What scary thing?”
“Whatever killed Meier, I think.”
His head hurt. Where did he lose consciousness? He couldn’t remember a thing. Only vague thoughts came to mind. Were the screams he heard in his dreams or in reality?
“How… did this happen?”
“I dunno, but everyone’s all scattered.”
“Any victims?”
“Who knows. I don’t”
“But what about…”
His thoughts mixed in with someone from a different point in time.
“What about Clantail?”
“Clantail? She’s the girl with the horse and leopard body, right?”
“That’s the one. How is she?”
“She left before we all got attacked.”
“Clantail? Alone?”
“Well you looked like you were in pretty bad shape. She left to get some Grayfruits. We got attacked a bit later.”
“But why would she do that? We had a stockpile of Grayfruits.”
“Pastel Merry ran off with em.”
How unreasonable, they lack discipline. Magical Girls have chaos within them, they aren’t the kind of people who could follow rules and laws.
Ragi clenched his right fist on the rock surface. The sand that was on its surface began to gather up in his hand, and as it tangled together, it made an annoying sound. Each one of of them cracking with irritating detail.
From the very beginning, Ragi had always looked to be in a bad mood. When Clarissa mentioned “Geez, you don’t have to get that angry about it,” it made him even more angry.
“You telling me I can’t get angry at that?”
“Well, yeah, duh. I mean, stay positive, y’know?”
“Positive? Are you daft? What’s positive about this entire situation!?”
“Well rather than sulk around and get mad, don’tcha think doin’ something about it would be better?”
Even though what she’s saying makes sense, her tone of voice tainted it. More importantly, the fact that she was still Navi Ru’s Magical Girl shouldn’t go unnoticed. Ragi’s mouth curled that his bread got distorted. That’s right, Navi Ru hired Clarissa.
“Oy”
“‘Sup?”
“Where’s your employer? Aren’t you rescuing the wrong person?”
“Uh, just so you know, rescuing you ol’ baldy’s orders.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothin’. Like I said, you looked like you were in bad shape. He told me you’d be the one to say you’ll do everything yourself. That you wanna be left alone if anything happens, so he told me to save your old ass- Oh, pardon me. He told me to save the highly revered Lord Ragi.”
His frown became larger. The fact that he was borrowing something from Navi Ru frustrated Ragi. Humiliated Ragi. Even though he didn’t say a word, he was shaking, his cane was wobbling, and his back was shuffling about, as Clarissa gently massaged his shoulders.
“I heard you two were on bad terms. But hey we can’t always be like that right now, can we? You two are from the Osk Faction right? We gotta work together on this one.”
No matter how much time had passed, he could never forget what Navi Ru had done. While they parted their factions, he went to one side. He then gave information to the other side. Taking advantage of weaknesses, threatening them for gain, destroying. Ragi knew that Navi Ru didn’t do that by himself. He was ordered to do it. Navi Ru was only following orders. However, the fact that he didn’t show the slightest resistance means Ragi couldn’t categorize him as just “someone who’s only following orders.” Obtaining a seat at the Ivory Tower, a group of shadowy Mages, wasn’t something that Navi could resist. By demonstrating his prowess, Navi Ru was promoted and his status raised.
Ragi managed to loosen his gritted teeth enough to speak.
“...What’s the catch?”
“Huh?”
“I know it’s not in his nature to go and help someone just because.”
After a pause, Clarissa clapped her hands and laughed. She did that before, but this time her laughter was a fresh one that didn’t scream “We’re going to die here in this cave, never to see the light of day.” Magical Girls more or less had this kind of apocalyptic personality, and that made Ragi angry.
“Hey, look, don’t get so angry, alright?”
Clarissa said as she laughed again, shaking her hand to the silent Ragi.
“Well, you’re not wrong. He does have a reason.”
“...That’s quite honest.”
“But hold up, it’s honestly not as convoluted as you’d think. He’s just buying your favor, since you’ve got some skills as a Mage.”
“...Oh?”
It felt like Clarissa was about to laugh again.
“Ol’ baldy told me that whenever you were in a position of power, he’s gonna use you. So he thought he’d earn a favor for you now when that time comes later, even though his own life’s in danger, heh.”
Just what is he planning!? He wanted to shout out. Since Clarissa was always obstructing herself with her palms, Ragi swallowed his words.
“Well, that’s a pretty good deal, right?”
Clarissa was talking like she was having fun. Ragi was not having fun at all.
“How?”
“Well, you two obviously can’t be friends. Both of you think that. So rather than be friends, bein’ useful to each other’s the next best thing, right? Better to realize the relationship now than to misunderstand. Plus, it’s good for the Osk Faction, too.”
He could feel his chest puffing. He was proud. It seemed like a sound argument. He didn’t feel the slightest bit annoyd… Wait no, it was more like he already said what he wanted to say due to annoyance. This Magical Girl didn’t have any sense of tact, she’d say whatever’s on her mind.
“Okay, so why don’t you sit down for a bit, ‘mkay gramps? You’re kinda sick right now, moving’s gonna waste energy. That’s why I’m gonna put this here.”
Clarissa rolled something. Ragi bent down to pick up the sweet smelling thing that rolled to the tip of his cane.
Clarissa’s footsteps became further and further. Ragi hit the wall with his cane.
“Wait! Where do you think you’re going?”
“I gotta meet up with the others. Maybe one of em’s seen our attacker.”
“Wait, we’re not done talking yet.”
“I’ll try and see if I can find Clantail.”
“Oy!”
Ragi’s loud voice echoed back from the stone walls towards him, with no one to hear it but himself.
He shouted as he hit the wall with his cane, and as his hands became numbed from the shock, he dropped his cane, so he made a fist and planned to slam the rock, before stopping just on the verge of it. Thankful that he was able to stop just in time, Ragi took a deep breath, picked up his cane, and heard something moving behind him, causing him to turn around.
A centipede that was as long as his arm was moving from rock to rock. Ragi sighed even deeper, I’m surrounded by pests.
☆ John Shepherdspie
When his consciousness returned, the first thing he saw was the starry night from the gaps of the branches. The light and surrounding landscape caused him to sigh just by looking at it. Perhaps due to its beauty that could be expressed by poetry. If he had a pen and paper now, he could express it in one phrase. Shepherdspie breathed out once again, his surroundings really were amazing.
Quietly, his body was laid down. He was being carried beforehand.
The girls were looking down towards him. A circle of beautiful perfectly placed facial features surrounded him, with the moonlight shining through the branches on their backs painting a poetic scene, he may as well mistake this for heaven. Though the girls’ faces were heavy, and Sherpherdspie felt pain on the back of his head, his belly was hungry, and his back felt cold.
“Where are we…?”
“We had to leave the building. It was an emergency.”
“Can you move?”
“Are you… okay?”
“Mei wants fruit.”
Four people answered his question all at once. In addition to being woken up, an unexpected accident had happened, leaving Shepherdspie too tired to try and process their answers at once. He should probably speak to Mana first. Margarite gave off a cold impression, so he was too scared to talk with her. He didn’t understand anything Tepsekemei was saying, and 7753 didn’t really seem too reliable. He woke up, and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
“So why did we leave again?”
“The main building was attack.”
“Wha? Huh? Wait, what? Attacked? By who?”
“Probably Meier’s killer, and whoever destroyed the Gates.”
“Wait… Wait a minute… What? But… Wait just a minute…”
Shepherdspie looked towards the faces eyeing him. They all looked pretty serious. They didn’t seem to be lying nor joking. That’s when he noticed. There were far less people. Ragi, Navi, Agri, Yol, and Touta weren’t here. All of their Magical Girls, Margarite excluded, weren’t here as well.
“Huh… Don’t tell me… Are the other’s…”
“No, don’t worry. They got away. We don’t know where they are, but they’re scattered around the island.”
“Ah, I see. That’s good… Well, not the scattered part, but they’re safe so that’s good… That… is good, right?”
“...I guess, better than getting hurt or dying, at least.”
“Yes… Yes, you’re right…”
After some extra additional explanations, he had an easier time processing the situation. They were attacked by whoever killed Meier, and then Shepherdspie lost consciousness. The people who weren’t here were scattered off on the island, and the people that were here carried Shepherdspie and looked for Grayfruits for him. He appreciated his good luck for not dying, but the fact that it seemed to be more of a small speck of light in a darkness of misfortune tainted it. Before they could do anything, they had to find some Grayfruits.
Shepherdspie looked up at the sky. He was in a bad position, the stars were all obscured by the branches and the clouds from where he was. Were Pastel Merry and Dreamy☆Chelsea safe?
Did Merry really steal the fruits? Or did she just run off with them? He had hoped for the latter. If she ran off, it would make sense for the hapless and fearful Merry. If she did carry all the fruit, she would at least fall two or three times, scattering them everywhere. He hoped that Merry would at least tell him she’d run off before running off. Then again, Shepherdspie never really considered Merry the reliable type. At the very least, Shepherdspie would hope that she would be able to meet up with Chelsea.
As soon as Shepherdspie regained consciousness, he’d be sharing his part of their problems.
Miss Margarite had said that since the destruction of the main building, it’d be better to find more Grayfruits, and Mana has also shared in that opinion. They found some on the way home from Meier’s body, and suggested that they head back there to grab the Grayfruits—but although they had an easy time moving Shepherdspie, laying him down somewhere would be dangerous, so unfortunately they couldn’t do so. The scattered Grayfruits were also taken away by someone, with none left.
This would be trouble for their group. They had no idea where the Grayfruits would be. They had exhausted all of the Grayfruits around the main building. This was the situation Shepherdspie found himself waking up to.
7753 nervously spoke up.
“Um, do you think… Maybe some Grayfruits are in anywhere with people?”
“If we knew that… We’d say it way back then.”
“Right… sorry.”
Although he knew about the island, it was relatively minor compared to the other heirs. Not only that, but Ragi knew much more about the island’s systems than he does, and Rareko about the Gates. All he was confident was his skills in the kitchen. Though that was all well and good, it wasn’t very useful right now.
“Although…”
“Although?”
“I’ve looked around the island once, and I think I’ve seen some Grayfruit places.”
“Oh?”
“But my memory’s vague on it.”
“Oh. That’s alright. Sorry.”
“However.”
Mana interjected after 7753’s apology.
“An vague memory is still a memory, right?”
“I… guess so.”
“That’s a lot better than us, we don’t know anything at all.”
There was a word that described the weakest person drawing the shortest straw, but Shepherdspie didn’t utter it. He wrapped his arms together, shook his beard, and groaned.
“Hm… Well, I guess… But it is a vague memory. I guess we could check it out, but if it turns out to be a waste of time, you know, it might not be best.”
“We’ve got nothing to lose. We are being hunted down, here.”
Shepherdspie nodded and stood up. They had to get Grayfruits. As Mana said, they should give it a shot since they’ve got nothing to lose.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
Shepherdspie swung both his hands as if he were casting a spell, and hit his fingers on a tree, and his casting stopped. He cleared his throat, this time checking his surroundings before casting a spell. He drew some runes instead of words, and touched his forehead with the tip of his finger. It wasn’t anything huge, simply magic to reactivate his mind, which should help him remember.
“This way… probably.”
He really did have a feeling that it was this way, but then he felt like it was probably his imagination. Oh well, better than nothing.
In order for Shepherdspie to do something in a quick amount of time other than cooking, he’d need to work at full capacity. He’d rent a Demon to help scout out the islands, and though he read his uncle’s journals, he sort of skimmed the section on plants. Normally, he wouldn’t even remember any of it.
“Man, I’m glad you’re here, Shepherdspie!”
7753’s words only pressured him much further, his poor stomach couldn’t handle it. It really was this way, I’m sure. He proceeded on towards his fading memory, being quite aware that he was surrounded by tense Magical Girls.
Tepsekemei did a single flip in the air, then sniffed out something.
“Mei smells something.”
Tepsekemei went ahead of Shepherdspie, and suddenly the leaders have switched. Every Mage knows that a Magical Girl has far more sensitive senses. If you think about it, Tepsekemei was the first one who ate these Grayfruits, so he could expect something of her, at least that’s what Shepherdspie was hoping for.
And then his expectations were betrayed.
“Are you sure this isn’t wrong?”
“Not wrong.”
“Ah… These look like they’ve been plucked. There’s only some traces of it left.”
“Looks like some ripped fruit remains are here.”
“Wonder if they were uprooted.”
They collected the fruit pieces, and licked the juice that remained. It was a bit disgusting, but it was replenishing, thus Shepherdspie continued once more as leader. After walking a while, Tepsekemei did a single flip in the air, then sniffed out something.
“Mei smells something.”
Shepherdspie couldn’t express how happy he was. It’d be wonderful if he could find even one fruit from his torn up memories, but now they found two Grayfruits in the short span of a single night. Tepsekemei’s nose is occasionally useful, but he was still lucky to be in this position.
When they arrived at the place Tepsekemei rushed towards, they saw another uprooted tree.
“Another one?”
“This one seems harsher than the last.”
“And I’m guessing it dropped over… Hey, Mei! You gotta share! Don’t just eat it!”
Why did this happen? How did this happen? Shepherdspie had no idea himself. He looked up at the sky and breathed a sigh whilst praying, drowning out the sounds of insects.
☆ 7753
After the third mid-air flip, the five of them finally started talking.
“Do you think this means something?”
“This opening’s just like the other ones.”
“It does look like someone’s collecting up all the Grayfruits.”
“Do you, uh… think it’s the one who attacked us?”
“Well whatever it is, it probably needs Grayfruits to sustain its magical powers.”
“Mei is tired.”
“We should think about the possibility that our enemy isn’t the one doing this.”
“Well, everyone needs Grayfruits, so it’d make sense.”
“Then we should all meet up.”
“Well as long as there’s someone worth meeting up with, perhaps.”
“One at a time, Margarite.”
“There’s a small chance that they’d refuse to meet up.”
“I know that.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh wait, that’s right. The opening from before’s actually quite new, so maybe we shouldn’t approach it just yet. Wait just a bit, Shepherdspie. Do you know if there are any Grayfruits there?”
“Well like I said, my memory’s hazy.”
“Oh, right. Well, uh. Sorry. Sorry about that.”
And so Shepherdspie took the lead and walked again. After walking a while, Mei did a single flip in the air, and sniffed something. “This time Mei smells a lot of somethings,” she said with a happy sounding tone, though with an expressionless face.
“Oh, that means there’s a bunch of them, right?”
“That’s what I’d expect.”
Tepsekemei switched again to lead. As she swatted the incomming mosquitoes, Mana told her not to be so loud, though Mei’s constant swishing in the back made it seem like she was barely listening. She then sniffed out and continued onwards, finally stopping.
Thanks to accidentally stopping, 7753 bumped into Mana’s butt, and apologized again. Margarite fluidly swooshed past in front of Tepsekemei.
“So it’s you?”
The flashy looking costume would be visible even in the denseness of the forest. The Magical Girl she was talking to dropped the Grayfruits stored in the plastic bag she was holding in her right hand. Slowly, she turned around to face Margarite. Since they could barely see anything, it would be difficult to tell which direction she would be facing.
Something’s wrong. 7753 pulled her goggles in, and as soon as the display read Dreamy☆Chelsea, she quickly removed in. Shepherdspie moved in front of Margarite, blocking her, and spoke up.
“Chelsea? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I had a thought…”
“Hm?”
“I had a thought. Chelsea is an amazing Magical Girl.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
Margarite restrained Shepherdspie with her left hand while her right hand rested on her blade handle. 7753 gulped. Meanwhile, Chelsea acted as if she didn’t see Margarite’s movements at all.
“But I was wrong… I didn’t know what a Magical Girl needed… I didn’t know love!”
“Chelsea, what’s going on? What happened?”
“I’m not the Chelsea you knew before! For I have discovered love!”
“Start making sense!”
“I really didn’t want to be alone! I’ve always wanted to be with someone. But I had no choice. I acted alone because others couldn’t match my actions!”
“Others?”
“Do your best Chelsea! Win Chelsea! Even though you’re alone, you’re never alone!”
“Where’s Merry? Have you seen her?”
Chelsea’s wide mouth seemed to open wider. Her facial features looked distorted. 7753 took Mana a step back.
“Merry-Chan! Don’t you forget about Merry-Chan!!!”
Shepherdspie lost his balance thanks to Chelsea’s loud roar. Mana tried to support him but lost her balance as well, leaving 7753 to get behind her and support her. Mana was now squished in between the two of them.
“Tepsekemei. Guard the perimeter.”
Margarite had already stepped forward. She pulled out her sword, reflecting the light of the moon.
Dreamy☆Chelsea raised her foot and stood on her toes. She stayed in this position for a while while floating, stopping at a height of around 30 cm above ground. Ignoring the laws of gravity, she stopped moving.
Magic. What kind of magic, though, she didn’t know. She reacted to Pastel Merry’s name, but was Pastel Merry controlling Chelsea? But for what purpose? For Chelsea to support Merry as an ally?
7753 pulled her goggles inwards. There was plenty of information she had to know. Though, something had hit the tip of her hat and her goggles were flicked away.
The goggles rolled away from 7753. There was some kind of shiny object that came towards her, but it was already deflected. 7753 kept an eye on her goggles, then looked towards Chelsea and stopped her gaze. Chelsea formed her hands into a heart shape. Chelsea’s movements were being manipulated by magic. That had to be it. Margarite continued to deflect attacks while keeping her posture low and muttered,
“Don’t move.”
Those words were directed at 7753. 7753 looked towards the bush where her goggles had flown, then lookd again towards Chelsea. She had no choice but to leave it to Margarite.
...What was happening?
The movements themselves were sharp, but it was also mixed in with some unnecessary flourishes. It was weird. She guessed that it was part of the magic, and stayed vigilant, though nothing came of it.
The two Magical Girls continued fighting without any words.
Chelsea broke the heart shape on her hands, and her palms slowly rose. Her index and middle fingers stood up, her other fingers curled in. She stood up with a smile, and both her hands made a double peace sign.
The wind blew, and the two Magical Girls stared it out, though both of them kept their postures intact without moving an inch. Chelsea aimed her double peace at Margarite, and Margarite simply looked. She couldn’t understand what she was doing or what she was trying to do.
The next one to move was Chelsea again. Her right hand opened up, and her left hand made a side peace sign towards her face. Margarite moved her center of gravity slightly to the left.
The wind blew harder, causing the grass to blow. Margarite’s feather decorating her hat started shaking around like a toy. Chelsea smiled a cute smile like she was an Anime Magical Girl, though that smile seemed to be a lie.
7753 couldn’t do anything. When Shepherdspie moves, Mana moves as well, which gets passed on to 7753.
It was slow, like mud, that’s how slow time seemed to pass. Though they could breathe in, it felt like they couldn’t breathe out. Chelsea also stopped her movements after her side peace. Margarite still hasn’t moved. None of them moved, never relaxing in tension, simply passing time. 7753 noticed then. The bag that Chelsea was holding was bumpy and bulging. That should be the Grayfruits. Chelsea had probably already consumed some, or even licked more of the juices compared to Margarite. Which means all she had to do was let time pass, and Margarite’s transformation would end faster than hers.
Just waiting for time to pass would be bad. 7753 realized it. Margarite realized it too, yet she also didn’t move and simply stared while allowing time to pass. She had to do something, but she couldn’t even move. Her frustration increased, 7753 still continued to stare, her throat tightened, her chest began to hurt… when suddenly, a phone started ringing. 7753’s heart skipped a beat. Somehow, her fallen body was still supporting them. The sound was a Magical Phone’s alarm, which made Chelsea spoke,
“It’s time!”
While still maintaining her peace sign, Chelsea slid behind the rocks and disappeared into the trees. Tepsekemei tried to pursue her in the air before Margarite shouted out “Don’t. It’s fine.” Margarite sighed out, grabbed the brim of her hat, and before she knew it, sheathed her sword.
“...She was strong.”
Another gust of wind blew on them, and Mana frowned.
“So you’re saying you’ll lose?”
“If she were that easy to beat, I would’ve taken care of her instantly. As far as I’m concerned…”
Margarite looked towards where Chelsea had disappeared.
“She uses a fighting style that I’m not familiar with. Her Grayfruit nutritional supply was also sufficient. As far as her physical abilities as a Magical Girl, they exceed my own. Even with Tepsekemei’s help, we’d still be fighting while trying to protect two Mages and one Magical Girl. I’ll repeat myself. If she were that easy to beat, I wouldn’t have let her escape. Even just acquiring that much Grayfruits should be enough.”
“If she’s not easy to beat, can you still beat her?”
“Well, if I wanted to kill her, perhaps.”
Margarite glanced at Shepherdspie, and Shepherdspie quickly shook his head.
“N-No! You can’t just kill her! T-That’d be ridiculous. Er…”
“I think she’s being controlled.”
“Controlled? By who?”
“I noticed she reacted to Pastel Merry’s name, but… I doubt it’s Pastel Merry. We just don’t have enough info.”
Margarite furrowed her brows. 7753 let out a huge sigh, oh that’s right, she remembered turning towards the bush. Without her goggles, she’d feel like she was naked, and if she lost any more of her stuff then she’d be nothing. 7753 placed her upper body inside the bush, dividing the branches and leaves with both hands. She couldn’t find her goggles, 7753 divided up the branches while moving inside the bushes, she found the rubber band of her goggles stuck within the bush and pulled it.
“...Huh?”
All she found was a cut up part of the rubber band. The goggles attached to it? They were gone.
