We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
No one can stop them.
“A bear!”
“A boar.”
“A wolf!”
Wild beasts appeared.
“Um, for tonight’s dinner?”
As if sensing a bad omen, the beasts fled.
“We won’t let them escape.”
“We won’t let them get away.”
But it was their misfortune to appear before us. Yufilia and Nina, wielding the Ryūhōken, fiercely pursued the beasts.
“Big sisters, please don’t go wild!”
Sefina hurriedly followed after them.
“Oh my, oh my, this is troublesome.”
“Don’t get lost now~?”
It seems we shouldn’t give the twin princesses the excuse of “adventure.” No one could control Yufilia and Nina as they rampaged freely.
“Let’s leave those two to Sefina and hurry ahead.”
Mistral sighed, looking a bit troubled.
“It’s a monster!”
“It’s a magic beast, indeed.”
“It’s a spirit!”
Dangerous creatures appeared.
“Um, shall we be friends?”
Priscilla-chan looked at us, seemingly wanting to make more companions.
“No, no, Priscilla-chan. Monsters don’t become friends!”
We readied our weapons and attacked the monsters. Mistral charged forward, gripping his jet-black katatekon, while I activated a spatial jump with my white sword. In the blink of an eye, the monsters were annihilated. Seeing this, a magic beast quietly turned back.
“Um, I won’t let you escape?”
“Um, she says she won’t let you escape!”
*Gasp!*
As if sensing a terrible future awaiting us, the magic beast fled at full speed.
“Whoa, wait, wait!”
“We’ll catch you!”
And then, the Mimicho sisters gleefully chased after the magic beasts. Adventurers stared with wide eyes as Alicia-chan and Priscilla-chan, using spatial jumps, approached the magic beasts.
Speaking of which, I hadn’t told them, had I? That those two are Mimicho.
“Ah, ah…”
Doran, perhaps too shocked to speak, pointed at Priscilla-chan and her companions, his lips trembling.
“Alicia, please take good care of Priscilla.”
To Mistral’s warning, a faint voice from afar was sent back, “Leave it to me!”
“Uh, well then…”
I watched the rampaging group go and turned back. Then, spirits in the form of small children and small animals gleamed in their eyes, as if waiting.
“No no no, we’re busy, so we don’t have time to play with you, okay?”
Or rather, Priscilla-chan! Why did you chase after the magic beasts instead of the spirits? If you’re Mimicho, I wanted you to deal with the spirits…
But, I see. We can always play with the spirits, but we have to chase after escaped magic beasts to catch them. That’s why you postponed playing with the spirits…
Still, we watched as spirits manifested one after another. Was it because of Mount Holm towering nearby? They seemed to be mostly fire and earth spirits. Moreover, these two types of spirits appeared not as faint lights or small insect-like creatures, but in the form of animals. This means the gathered spirits possess considerable power. Such powerful spirits approached us, inching closer.
“Wh-what is this!?”
The adventurers, perhaps lacking experience dealing with manifested spirits, retreated at the sudden appearance of children and small animals.
“Everyone…”
Gulping, Doran and the others looked at me.
“Run!”
“Kyaa!”
Seeing us, who had instantly defeated the monsters, turn tail and flee, the adventurers seemed to sense an unusual crisis. They fled desperately, screaming.
However, a problem arose here.
“W-wait!”
Doran, in his heavy armor, lagged behind. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to escape quickly, clad in heavy armor and wielding a large shield and spear. But if things continued like this, they’d be caught and toyed with by the spirits! The stragglers become prey. That’s the law of nature. The spirits, making excited noises, approached Doran.
“Doran-san, jump with me in sync.”
At that moment. The Goddess appeared… No, Madrine, the last of the Ladies of Chaos, extended a helping hand. Madrine took Doran’s hand and jumped in unison with him. Simultaneously, she activated the sorcery “Hoshigawari” (Star Crossing).
“Hyaah!”
Startled by the sudden high-speed horizontal movement, Doran let out a cute scream uncharacteristic of his bulk.
“As expected of Madrine-sama.”
Ruiseine, who was fleeing with me, nodded in admiration.
“What do you mean?”
I asked, skillfully evading a spirit that sprang out from the side.
“Hoshigawari is a very convenient movement sorcery. However, synchronizing it with someone who has no knowledge of magic power is surprisingly difficult.”
“Really?”
As I said that, I took Ruiseine’s hand. And in unison, we hopped. Then, lo and behold. We slid through the air as if gliding. It felt strange. Without exerting any effort, our bodies moved forward on their own. It didn’t feel like being pushed or pressured by someone. It was as if the world itself was moving to accommodate us, rather than us moving horizontally. However, I couldn’t tell if this was the unique sensation of the sorcery “Hoshigawari” or Ruiseine’s consideration… No, I soon learned it was Ruiseine’s consideration!
“Hahahaha! Ruiseine-sama, that’s unfair!”
“Ruiseine, what are you secretly doing, holding hands with Elnea! Elnea, escape on your own!”
As Ruiseine and I were fleeing hand-in-hand, Mistral and Laira charged towards us.
“Oh my, oh my, this is difficult. Elnea-kun, we’re escaping.”
“Eh! Escaping, from the spirits, right!?”
Could it be from Mistral and Laira!?
“Muki! Only Ruiseine is being cowardly!”
No, it was from Madrine-sama! Madrine-sama, still holding Doran’s hand, activated Hoshigawari and was aggressively approaching. Doran seemed to be tossed around by Madrine-sama, being dragged along forcefully! Doran, who had been screaming cutely just moments before, was now screaming in genuine terror. It seems that no matter how skilled a Miko is at using Hoshigawari, without consideration, it becomes a terrifying technique. In that regard, Ruiseine gently took my hand and activated Hoshigawari with a soft hop. And so, we fled. From the blunt weapons swung by Mistral and Laira. From Madrine-sama’s madness. And from the spirits that were turning into a festive commotion!
“This is interesting.”
“It’s fun.”
“I’m pumped up!”
The earth spirits, despite their childlike appearance, were muscular. They formed mud balls and began throwing them towards us, *pon-pon*.
“We can’t lose to the earth spirits!”
“Dudes, let’s get ’em!”
Then, this time, the fire spirits started throwing fireballs.
“No, no, fire is bad! It’ll burn the trees and grass!”
But my scream was mistaken. Flames born from spirit arts don’t carelessly burn nature. However…
The mud balls and fireballs hit the ground. The moment they landed, a huge explosion occurred.
“Eeeh!”
They looked like mud balls and cute fireballs made by children, but their power seemed tremendous! Moreover, if they hit us, we’d definitely get hurt!! The spirits, after suddenly manifesting, chased us without question. Moreover, with spirit arts that went beyond mere play, explosions occurred one after another. In this situation, the adventurers fled desperately, screaming.
“Damn it, what is this!”
“Monsters and magic beasts are appearing…!”
“What in the world are these little brats!?”
Surely, when they usually go to pick those mysterious flowers, such a commotion wouldn’t happen. They might encounter monsters, but they wouldn’t often run into magic beasts. Even less so would they ever see spirits. However, by acting together with us, Doran and the others were caught in an unprecedented commotion. Poor them… But this wasn’t the time to worry about others.
“Older Brother. Hey, hey, look?”
A shadow approached us, cutting through the wind. Turning around, I saw Priscilla-chan being held by a monkey-like magic beast, squealing with joy.
“Elnea-kun, look, look!”
Furthermore, Alicia-chan, riding a wildcat magic beast, also returned, waving happily. Not only that. The magic beasts that had fled earlier began to run towards us, following Priscilla-chan. This is truly a zoo of magic beasts! And the innocent young girl, having joined forces with the spirits, was about to create the Kingdom of Priscilla.
“You know, if you catch Elnea-Older Brother, you win.”
“Go!”
“Attack!”
“Catch him!”
“Kyaa!”
I ran away, screaming.
“E-Elnea-kun.”
However, misfortune strikes when it’s least expected. At Ruiseine’s warning, I looked up. And my face contorted. A giant shadow rapidly crossed the sky.
“No way… ridiculous…”
The adventurers, now in despair. Brown-scaled wyverns appeared.
“You’re making too much noise!”
Mistral scolded Wipper-san, who seemed stunned, looking up at the sky, nearing his stopping point.
“Run! A first-class adventurer never gives up, no matter the situation!”
“B-but…”
Behind us, the spirits innocently threw mud balls and fireballs. And from another direction, a swarm of magic beasts approached. We were already struggling to handle that. And to top it off, multiple wyverns were attacking from the sky.
“Everyone, dodge to the right with all your might!”
Following Ruiseine’s warning, we took evasive action. The wyvern that dive-bombed us thrust its sharp claws into the spot where we had been running just a moment before.
“I-it’s over…”
“Help us!”
Benail and Baton screamed.
—
“Guh, it’s worse than ever!”
Look left, look right, and look up, it’s a BIG COMMOTION! And there’s no sign of it ending.
“We just came to pick some never-wilting, mysterious flowers.”
Why did we end up in this situation? Ah, that’s right. It all started with Yufilia and Nina’s rampage.
Speaking of which. Now that I think about it. Wielding the Ryūhōken just to hunt beasts is incredibly dangerous! Did those three sisters manage to secure tonight’s ingredients?
“Elnea-kun!”
Perhaps because I was lost in thought. Sefina returned at an unnoticeable speed.
“Sefina-san, what about Yufi and Nina?”
“More importantly!”
Sefina pointed to the east. “The never-wilting flowers we were looking for are over there.”
“Oh, what,!”
You never know how things will turn out. Sefina, who should have been chasing Yufilia and Nina, apparently found their destination.
“Everyone, let’s do our best to escape to our destination!”
Surely, there must be a clue to resolve this commotion there! …Or so I thought.
“Ah, ah…”
Dodging the rain of exploding mud balls and fireballs, evading the charges of magic beasts, and defending against the fierce attacks of wyverns, we somehow reached our destination. And then, we saw it.
“Elnea-kun, it’s a carnivorous plant.”
“Elnea-kun, it’s a swarm of monsters.”
Yufilia and Nina, wielding the Ryūhōken. And countless swarms of monsters. Among them, monstrous carnivorous plants with rows of jagged teeth embedded in their stems, blooming beautiful flowers on their tendrils, were rampaging. We stood there, exhausted by the increasingly chaotic situation…
