Volume 2 – The World Sneered
The party met up in front of the inn after safely finishing their battles.
The building’s shape did not even resemble what it used to be, though.
Over half the houses in the village of Lemingen were destroyed and lost, and fires still smoldered.
“This is what happens when arcana users go all out against each other……”
Elastis watched the village on fire and quietly muttered.
Meanwhile, Mary and the others had already seen the terrible things that happened in Captis, so their reactions were faint.
“I see, so you managed to beat Chariot.”
“Yes, he was quite the strong opponent, though.”
“Me and sis won because of our love!”
“Love…… Love, huh……?”
Cutie appeared to be irritated by this word.
Mary noticed this.
“Looks like General Ox didn’t change much, huh?”
“He was constantly shouting about Francis while he attacked. I don’t think his obsession with you has changed either, Mary.”
“He’s so disgusting, both in looks and deeds. The fact that he pretends to be beautiful in looks just adds to it all.”
“I wish we killed him here. Why did Digi get in our way?”
“She said she doesn’t care about whether Ox lives or dies, but did she really mean that? Ugh, I can’t believe a woman like that got in our way.”
“It can’t be helped, we can’t beat him with the skills of our powers. We have to crush him when we attack him head-on one day.”
“Yeah, he’ll definitely come out if we reach the arcana of World. Let’s cheer up, Calaria.”
Calaria faintly smiled after Ami and Mary encouraged her.
If Digi was World’s subordinate, they would definitely clash somewhere.
That would be their one chance to defeat the secretive Magician out in the open.
“But she was more like a clown than a Magician. She ruined the battle.”
“She said some ominous things too, actually. She talked about preparing for something before she came to save Ox.”
“Did she mean a trap? I don’t think she did anything in the village, but still……”
“We can’t use this inn anymore, so let’s just leave. Majoram will clean up after us, right?”
“Yes, this place will be completely back to normal – no, even better than that!”
“You’re thinking about business even in a rural area like this……?”
“Don’t worry, I only made a mutually beneficial offer. So, let’s move. I’ve secured beds for tonight as well.”
Cutie spoke confidently while puffing up her chest with pride.
The group entered the car that was parked outside the village, and left Lemingen.
◇◇◇
They headed North for 30 minutes.
Mary and the others left the car by the side of a beautiful river with no villages around.
They climbed up the stairs in front of them, and saw a wide park.
But it was simply a wide space without any playground equipment.
The minimum arrangements were made for toilets and water supplies, and there was a big tent set up nearby.
The surrounding area was even more rural than Lemingen, and there were no signs of people anywhere, so it was a little strange to see a completely new tent.
“Come, this way.”
“Wait, are we camping?”
Ami pouted with dissatisfaction, but Cutie’s confidence did not waver: ‘Heheh.’
“I figured you’d say that, but look! There’s a barbecue!”
There was a grill and a table with food ingredients on it right behind the tent.
“Oooh…… Shrimp! Fish! That’s top class meat!”
Ami instantly flip-flopped and frolicked.
Calaria and Mary also reflexively smiled.
“Looks delicious.”
“Indeed. I’m hungry after the fighting.”
“……Do you people always eat this luxuriously? While you’re planning to kill the king?”
“I’m accompanying them, so I may as well use my financial powers, right?”
“That’s true, but…… when did you arrange this?”
“My staff works very hard.”
A female employee standing nearby was pointed at by Cutie and smiled.
Her catchphrase was, ‘The lady’s happiness is our happiness’.
“What a terrifying company.”
“There’s more to it than you know. Besides, food is the source of vitality. Neglecting it will affect our fighting.”
“Of course, but that’s a luxurious way to think about it. But it’s normal for a company president’s daughter and a princess, I suppose.”
Elastis seemed half surprised and half fed up.
She did not know about Ami’s circumstances, so her reaction was not out of the ordinary.
They did not trust Elastis enough to tell her about that yet.
Mary just let her be surprised and did not particularly react to it, and lined up next to Ami who was intensely staring at the food ingredients.
Cutie meanwhile gave orders to her subordinate and she ignited the grill.
Calaria also had some experience with this, and started to help.
◇◇◇
The barbecue finally started and a large amount of meat was lined up on top of the wire mesh.
“Calaria, you’re putting on too much meat.”
“This grill is my territory, don’t meddle.”
“It’s a tool provided by my company! Ugh, fine. Then I’ll put on some seafood and vegetables.”
“Yaay! Meat, meeeaaat! Yaay!”
Ami turned over a bowl of meat and spilled the contents onto the grill right in front of Cutie’s eyes.
“W-What are you doing!? That’s top class meat! Top class!”
“Mhm, that’s why I’m going to eat all of it!”
“That’s not the problem! Meat like this has to be cooked in a certain way, one piece at a time……”
“Oh, sis. I’ll give you some if you want any, of course.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
Mary happened to be walking by, and gently stroked Ami’s head.
Ami accepted this with a defenseless smile.
“Ehehe.”
“Hehehe.”
“Will you two stop going into your own worlds while I’m talking?”
“Do you want to join us, Miss. Cutie?”
“Like hell! Anyway, let’s just grill this meat nicely. They’ll overcook if we wait for Ami to finish eating, so help me out here, Mary!”
“Meat, huh…..? Actually, I already……”
There was a mountain of grilled meat on Mary’s plate.
“Miss. Calaria told me to eat as much as I want.”
“Calaria, you!”
“I figured she didn’t have enough blood. Cutie, you need more iron too.”
“I’ll get that with fish! You people just want to eat meat, don’t you!?”
Cutie made a fuss by herself.
Then, the female employee who was watching approached her and gave her a report.
“The remaining two grills have a lot of seafood on them, so please use those.”
“See, you three? All my employees are excellent workers that think about nutritional balance. Learn a little!”
“But, my lady.”
“What?”
“You look like you’re having fun.”
The employee spoke while smiling.
It was a pure smile with no malice behind it.
In contrast, Cutie’s face quickly became red.
“I was just thinking the exact same thing too.”
“I think Cutie likes managing things.”
“I like it when she’s cheerful.”
The three added on, as if attacking a fleeing enemy.
Cutie opened and closed her mouth as if she was about to say something, but she could not find the words.
She eventually gave up on arguing back, and loudly sighed as her ears went red, ‘Ugh……’
“It’s fitting for your age to run from a fight, huh?”
Elastis was watching on from some distance away, and filled her mouth with shrimp after calmly making that analysis.
◇◇◇
After that, Mary and the others fully enjoyed the flavors of the various ingredients.
They laid on their bunk beds after entering their tent and had a casual chat.
Ami cornered Mary, saying she was going to kiss her.
Calaria also pretended to oppose this and made fun of them.
The love talk even spread to Elastis, and she started talking about the start of her romance with the princess – the conversation was fitting for their age.
They made noise, laughed, and talked heart-to-heart.
When the conversation reached a stopping place, the group went to sleep much faster than usual because of how tired they were after the fighting.
And the next morning, Ami woke up a little late.
Mary, Calaria and Cutie had already gotten out of bed, and all three of them said ‘good morning’ in a calm voice.
Ami gave a lifeless reply with sleepy eyes, ‘Good morning’, and stood up from her bed.
“Wait, where’s Elastis?”
Elastis was not in the tent.
“She probably went to the toilet.”
“She can’t run away anyway, so there’s no need to worry.”
A ring that Ami used a car wheel to create was put around her neck.
It was set up so that it would explode if she went farther from the group than necessary.
In case it was necessary, Ami could voluntarily stop this function if Elastis had to go far away.
As long as this was in place, the possibility of Elastis planning an escape was low.
“Toilet? I should go too.”
“Hehe, you should fix your bed hair too.”
“Huh? Is it that bad?”
“I wouldn’t say bad…… it’s cute. Heheh.”
Mary put her hand over her mouth and chuckled.
Ami felt a complicated mix of joy and embarrassment, and left the tent.
She then entered the toilet.
Elastis was not inside.
“……Huh?”
She stood still and tilted her head, and could barely hear a conversation taking place.
It seemed to be coming from behind the toilet.
She got closer, peeked over, and saw Elastis with a portable terminal on her ear.
(I thought we broke her comms terminal.)
There was a risk of information being leaked to the outside.
So they had made sure Elastis did not have any means to communicate with the outside.
So where did she get this terminal?
And who was she talking to?
“Stop…… Please! It’s not like that! I haven’t failed my duty yet!”
Elastis’s face seemed to be turning pale.
“Ah…… Aaaah…… No way…… No waaay……”
The light was gone from her eyes, her mouth was half open, and the terminal dropped to the ground from the palm of her hand and bounced.
(Is she in shock? Her expression looks frozen……)
Ami stopped hiding and showed her face from the corner.
“Hello?”
She timidly spoke to Elastis, who was emitting a strange mood.
But there was no reaction.
“Elastis? What are you doing? Who were you talking to?”
Ami casually approached closer and repeatedly asked Elastis.
But there was no reply.
“Hey.”
Ami got even closer and looked at Elastis’s face.
She kept staring at her, but Elastis’s eyes never met hers.
She was only staring ahead with empty eyes not focused on anything.
Even when Ami waved her hand in front of Elastis’s face or pulled her cheeks, Elastis still showed no reaction.
This was strange.
Ami heard footsteps getting closer from behind her.
She turned around and saw Calaria there.
“Oh, Calaria. Umm, Elastis is-”
The moment she heard Ami’s voice, she glared at her with eyes that felt hateful.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands so tightly that they started to bleed, and the flame of revenge burned in her eyes.
Ami felt a direct thirst for blood that was not being hidden at all, and reflexively huddled her body.
Calaria took a step forward, and Ami took a step back.
Another step forward, and another step back.
This repeated a few times, and Calaria finally opened her mouth
“You’re Yueri’s enemy.”
She spoke with a deep voice coming from the depths of her abdomen.
“……Huh?”
“I’m going to kill you. I will never forgive yoooou!”
Calaria took her gun out and fired at Ami.
“W-Wait Calaria!”
Ami created a wheel in front of herself, spinned it and knocked the bullet down.
She spoke up again.
“What are you talking about? I’m Ami!”
“Do you think I’ll listen to your despicable words!? Die, die, diiiiie!”
She was bizarrely hostile – Ami felt that something was clearly strange, turned around the corner, and hid herself around the wall.
Then, she saw Mary and Cutie, who were getting some fresh air a small distance away.
“Hey, you two! Listen, Calaria is acting stran-”
The moment Ami spoke up, the two intensely glared at her.
(……It’s the same thing.)
She quickly realized it.
And, as she imagined, Mary and Cutie also held a pure, unhesitating bloodlust for Ami.
Mary gripped her scythe and leaped forward.
Cutie transformed a nearby street lamp into a giant snake and set it after Ami.
“You’re my sister’s enemy!”
“I’ll never forgive you for hurting my father!”
Ami was being blamed for crimes she did not remember.
For now, she decided to run away from the three attacking her.
“This is weird, this is weird, what’s going on all of a sudden!?”
She definitely was not aware of any sorcery being cast on her.
Even if Elastis had done something, she could not activate Lover without a bow.
So why was Ami being attacked now?
The first idea that came to mind was an arcana user controlling the other three.
Maybe they were attacked by someone right after Ami left the tent.
But that theory disappeared the moment she noticed something strange in the palm of her hand.
“……Umm, I remember this…… it’s when you write numbers in a different way, right? Sis and Cutie taught it to me.”
The letters ‘VI’ had appeared there before she knew it.
From what she saw, this had not happened to the others.
In other words-
“So I’m the one something is being done to. When did an arcana user attack me……?”
Ami felt confused as she ran away.
Her confusion deepened as the ‘people she loved’ shouted insults at her while baring their intent to kill as they chased after her.