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CHAPTER 2 – UNDERGROUND PEOPLE AND THE MAGICAL GIRL

PART 01

——

Quickly, we brought the girl up to the guest room on the second storey of “Nozomiya” to rest, while Satsuki whipped up a simple porridge for her. The girl, who had appeared so weak when Satsuki first brought her in, slowly started to gain strength as she ate and drank.

“…Fuuu, thank you for the meal.”

The girl, who was sitting upon the futon, bowed her head in gratitude, stone accessories clinking gently with every movement.

Seeing her out of the danger zone, the group of us gathered around let out sighs of relief.

“It’s alright, I’m just glad you’re ok,” Satsuki reassured her with a smile.

“Tetra apologizes. She accidentally dropped her rations and light on her journey to the surface… Anyway, it was a shorter trip up to the surface compared to going all the way back to the village, so up she came.”

“…? What do you mean, journey to the surface?”

Did she come from somewhere other than Earth?

“Exactly what it means. Tetra came up from the underground village.”

“……”

Did that mean she was some sort of mole person?

Seeing our confused expressions, the girl cast her eyes down.

“Tetra apologizes. It must be hard to believe what she is saying…”

She bowed her head in apology.

“Erm…”

Just as I was about to clarify the situation, I remembered that we didn’t even know her name.

“Tetra Metra Retra, but Tetra is just fine,” the girl, Tetra, replied as she turned her brown eyes to me. They looked perfectly normal now, so I guess they only glowed in the dark.

“So, Tetra, what did you mean when you asked us to save you just now? You were talking about a ‘monster’…can you tell us more?”

Only Satsuki, as well as R, were present with Tetra and I at that moment, so I felt that it was alright to ask, since I was sure she had some fanstastic story to tell.

However, Tetra looked doubtful as she glanced between Satsuki and I.

“Alright, Tetra is not afraid to tell…but there’s really a ‘monster’ in her story, so…”

“Oh… I guess we look like normal high school kids who won’t be able to help… Anyway, did Tetra come to the surface to seek help from someone specific?”

“No, because Tetra and her people won’t be able to handle the situation on their own anymore, so she’s come up here as a last resort…”

“I see. I’m guessing the ‘last resort’ is me.”

“…? What do you mean?”

“Well…”

…I explained the “Namidare Lineage” to Tetra.

“‘Namidare Lineage’…”

“Well, I’m sure it sounds preposterous, but I think the ‘Lineage’ is what brought you to meet me.”

“…Oh.”

It was obvious that Tetra was a “heroine”, what with her “story” involving something as fantastic as a “monster”. It was classic “Namidare Lineage” material.

“Since Tetra is not really looking for anyone specific to help, her meeting with Rekka-san of the ‘Namidare Lineage’ is probably destiny. If you don’t mind, please listen to Tetra’s story.”

With that, Tetra began her tale.

She was born in Ziz Village*, an underground community created for the express purpose of standing guard over the sealed “Monster of Haishin”. And right now, it seemed that the seal was in danger of breaking open.

“A guardian village underground…”

“Yes. Tetra’s ancestors were created billions of years ago, and have been standing guard over the ‘sealed space’ ever since.”

“Wow, that’s a really long time… Satsuki, when did humans first evolve on Earth?”

“About seven million years ago, I think.”

Hmm, did that mean that while both surface and underground people were humans, we had different origins? Their glowing eyes were definitely different, for one.

“But why is the seal suddenly breaking? If the ‘monster’ is a living thing, then its strength should have ebbed throughout all these years of being sealed away. Does that mean it is still as strong as ever?”

Tetra shook her head sadly at Satsuki’s query.

“Tetra isn’t really sure…but since the seal is billions of years old, it might have deteriorated somewhat over the years. Which means that if the ‘monster’ finds a way to regain its strength, it will be able to break the seal totally.”

“…And if the ‘monster’ is revived, both the underground village and Earth’s surface may be destroyed by it again?”

I groaned as I glared up at the ceiling.

So my newest enemy was a godly “monster”.

“Isn’t there some way to renew the seal on the ‘monster’?”

“…Tetra apologizes. Nobody knows how to do that anymore.”

Judging from Tetra’s story, it seemed like all the methods to strengthen the seal and keep the ‘monster’ trapped were lost to history, and that was the reason which had driven her up to the surface to seek help.

However, Satsuki and I had a way to deal with that.

“Excuse me.”

With that, Satsuki stood up and left the guest room.

She was a magician gifted with the Great Magic of Creation, which gave her the power to access the Akashic Records, a record of everything that had happened in our universe from its very beginning to the present time. With that ability, searching for the lost methods was child’s play.

Since the Magic’s existence was to be kept in absolute secrecy, Satsuki had to be alone while harnessing its power to recover the way to seal the “monster”.

“How is she planning to recover the lost information?”


Just as I was conjuring up an excuse to Tetra’s question, Satsuki returned, her face deathly pale.

“Satsuki?”

I called out to my childhood friend hesitantly, but she ignored me, her gaze fixed on Tetra.

“……?”

Tetra tilted her head to one side, a confused expression on her face.

“…Satsuki!”

“Oh!”

I called out louder, taking her by the shoulders and shaking gently. Satsuki finally seemed to break out of her trance.

“…It’s useless. Sealing the ‘monster’ requires a special tool that can’t be utilized right now,” Satsuki whispered to me before hurriedly taking her seat once again.

“…You can’t be serious.”

I could only clutch at my head in frustration at her answer.

I was so certain that this could be easily resolved with Satsuki’s knowledge, so this was indeed a great shock to me.

Did that mean that I’d need to face the “Monster of Haishin”, a creature capable of destroying the Earth, head-on in battle? Impossible! I’d most probably run away than engage the “monster” in a fight.

It was a stalemate.

“Arggh~~~ Dammit!”

If only I had some convenient weapon to help resolve this “story”, or meet with a new character who could be of some help.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp.”

For some reason, R, who had floated up into the ceiling so that only her lower body still remained in the room, started to chirp like a bird.

Just as I was wishing that I could float as well, if only to drift up and give her a good knock on the head, I heard a sudden knock at the door.

Was it Tsumiki?

I stood and made my way towards the door leading out to the corridor.

“Come on in. Do you need me to taste test something again… Huh?”

I stopped short as I opened the door.

The one standing outside was not “Nozomiya”‘s poster girl.

Nor was it her parents, having returned from their errand in town.

Nor was it a human.

“Hello there. My name is Baa-kun, nice to meet you.”

It was a disgustingly-cute chibi elephant fairy(?) wielding a weird-looking stick.

“Excuse me~”

Flapping his large ears, Baa-kun drifted through the air and slid past me into the room.

“R-Rekka? What’s that?”

“What!?”

Both girls, eyes widened in shock at the sight of the disgustingly-cute fairy, immediately scooted all the way to the back of the room.

“Hello there. My name is Baa-kun, nice to meet you.”

Baa-kun chimed again as he alighted on top of the futon that Tetra was sitting on just a moment ago.

“Huh?”

Standing behind the creature, I spotted a huge chibi-fied bandaid stuck across its back.

It caught my interest, but the overall presence of the fairy was so overwhelming that I didn’t know how to respond. In the end, I settled with,

“Who the heck are you!? What do you want from us!?”

“I’m here on a mission, of course. And haven’t I introduced myself already? I am Baa-kun.”

“Enough with the stupid answers! Of course we’re shocked, what with the sudden appearance of a weird creature! Shall I call the TV station to report your presence!?”

“That’ll be too much trouble. I’ve come with information that will be useful to you. Won’t you hear me out?”

“……”

Usually, I would have just grabbed Baa-kun and thrown him out the window, then wrapped myself up in the futon and convince myself that it was all a dream.

But now, I needed all the help I could get to resolve Tetra’s “story”.

I walked over and plopped myself down in front of Baa-kun.

“So, what do you want to say?”

“Hmm… Before I start, can I just confirm that you are Namidare Rekka?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I see. This is great. I only know you by name, so it would be trouble if I got hold of the wrong person.”

How did such a fantasy creature even come to know my name?

“Alright, let’s start from the very end.”

Baa-kun let out a disgustingly-cute smile that gave me goosebumps.

“Namidare Rekka, I need you to harness my power and become a magical girl to defeat the ‘Monster of Haishin’.”

“………………………………………………………………………………….Huh?”

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the temperature in the room suddenly dropped to zero.

——

Note:
Tetra’s village is named after Ziz, a giant griffin-like bird in Jewish mythology, said to be large enough to be able to block out the sun with its wingspan. Behemoth, Leviathan and Ziz were traditionally a favorite decoration motif for rabbis living in Russia.



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