Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 10 - Chapter 6

Choices and Consequences

Kii had been taken to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. Since Maya had robbed the owner of their deed and memories, nobody would come anywhere near the building for some time yet. As such, the building was unattended, and though it wasn’t old, it was dusty and there were cobwebs here and there.

Maya took Kii to the basement of the building. The vast space was originally used as an underground parking lot, but Maya had used it to build an altar for her ritual magic. The altar itself was about ten meters wide and the majority of it was covered with a geometrical pattern that had been painted using a special dye. It formed what was known as a magic circle.

There was a curious machine sitting at the edge of the magic circle. Contrasting the classic look of the candles and other ornaments decorating the magic circle, the machine was more modern and it quite clearly stood out sitting on the altar. Kii had been left next to the machine inside a cage made of metal and glass. The machine and cage were hooked up by multiple cables, making it clear they had some connection to each other.

“Hmm... So this girl has quite a bit of power as well. Is her lineage still present even after so many generations, I wonder? With this, I should be able to get better results than expected with the spiritual energy capacitator.”

Maya operated the machine with a satisfied smile. The altar served to enhance Maya’s mana, and enabled her to use large-scale magic. Large-scale magic could be used to cast a spell on an entire city or do something like summon a powerful demon.

Maya’s plan was to use Kii as a sacrificial catalyst for the ritual. First the machine, the capacitor, was going to drain Kii’s spiritual energy, and once it had taken as much as it could, the spiritual energy would be immediately converted into mana using the magic circle. The end result would be that Kii would die from having her life force drained, and Maya would obtain vast amounts of mana.

Normally an altar only consisted of a magic circle and a cage that would contain the catalyst, but Maya had added the capacitor to her configuration. It was a piece of equipment she’d gotten from her dealings with the People of the Earth. It was capable of temporarily storing spiritual energy, and because of that, it greatly reduced the requirements of the catalyst. Up until now, only someone with abundant spiritual energy like Kanae’s daughter would work as a sacrifice, but with the capacitor even a normal person should suffice. Maya was pleased at that prospect, and she cheerfully prepared for the ritual.

“...Onii-chan...”

Meanwhile, Kii was obediently sitting inside the cage. Though she had struggled and resisted at first, she had no chance against Maya. The cage was also robust, so she couldn’t break out of it on her own. That left a young girl like her with no other option other than to sit and wait for rescue.

“...I’m sure Onii-chan went to save his mom...”

However, Kii wasn’t expecting anyone to come save her, not even Koutarou. She was sure he’d gone to save his mother instead. Even her six year old mind realized that Koutarou saving both of them would be a near impossible feat.

“...But this is for the best, Onii-chan... It’s really sad when your mom dies... You’ll be all alone until you find her star...”

Kii knew what it felt like to lose a mother. It left you alone and afraid, searching for her warmth even after it was long gone. How could she expect anyone to abandon their mother when they had the possibility of saving her? If he didn’t, surely the grief would break Koutarou’s heart into tiny pieces. That’s why Kii wanted him to save his mother so badly. She didn’t want him to feel that way. That was just how much she’d come to love Koutarou.

“...Kii met... with her mom. I’m sure that even if I die... I’ll become a star next to mom. But you’re different, Onii-chan... You’ll be in pain until you find your mom’s star too... so don’t come save Kii, Onii-chan...”

Kii was already preparing for her own death, but she didn’t fear it. The thought that she would meet her mother again alleviated her fears. That’s why all she felt she needed to do now was pray that Koutarou could save his mother.

“You sure are calm... Aren’t you scared?”

Kii was behaving very differently from all the catalysts that Maya had used before. Curious, she tried talking to her.

“I am a little scared of dying, but I’m more scared of what will happen if I’m saved.”

“You think that boy is coming? That’s impossible. Nobody can approach this place.”

Maya had cast Sanctuary, a magical barrier that kept people out of a designated area. It not only blocked electromagnetic waves, visible light, and sound, but it also actively repelled people by using something of a hypnotic suggestion to keep them away. Just like the name of the spell suggested, the building had become an inviolable sanctuary.

And that was why Maya had hurried back here. Even for a magician, it was difficult to find a good place to cast Sanctuary on quickly. Maya had chosen this place ahead of time to keep from wasting any of her precious ritual time. And with her preparation in place, the moment she made it back here, Maya was confident she’d succeeded. Now all that remained was to complete the ritual.

“I see... then I’m glad...”

Koutarou wouldn’t come. Once Kii heard that, she was relieved and smiled. That meant even if he’d tried to come save her, he surely would have given up by now and gone to save his mother. If what Maya said was true, then Koutarou’s mother wouldn’t die. That’s why Kii was smiling.

“You really are a strange child... even though you’re about to die...”

“Don’t you have something that you’d rather die for than lose?”

“...I do. But if that’s how you feel, I’ll make sure you suffer as little as possible.”

“Thank you...”

Maya felt respect for the young girl nodding in front of her.

If this girl had grown up and become the leader of the People of the Earth, they just might have survived...

Comparing the surface to the underground, Maya was certain that even if Tayuma’s group came out on top and declared war on the surface, they would be ruined in the end.

Regardless of how advanced their technology was, they were still only ten thousand strong at best. And the outcome of war wasn’t determined solely by technology. It was decided by numbers, including the manpower and financial strength of the nations involved. That was because regardless of how powerful their weapons may be, they didn’t last forever. And the numbers the People of Earth had just didn’t stack up. At best, their “war” would be considered terrorism.

Tayuma and his group didn’t understand that, or their pride simply kept them from accepting it. Either way, the end results would be the same in the end. They would be stamped out as terrorists by the people on the surface, and they would slowly perish without actually accomplishing anything.

However, Maya could sense a future in the girl in front of her. She was smart and resolute beyond her years. She was still young, of course, but she had the qualities of an excellent leader. That was why she respected this little girl. Granted, she had no intention of sparing her life. Maya also had a clear goal and resolve. But she didn’t see the point in making Kii suffer needlessly. It wasn’t that she felt sorry for her. If anything, she empathized with her.

Maya turned her back to Kii and began further adjusting the machine as she closely examined the spell she would be using. She wanted things as precise as possible to spare Kii of any undue suffering, just as she promised. Little did she know, however, that the time spent making those adjustments would change Kii’s fate.

“Hmm...?”

While she was tuning the machine, something caught Maya’s attention and she looked towards the entrance behind her.

“What...? This place was found? And the barrier was easily broken through...”

What Maya had sensed was the presence of an enemy passing through her ward.

“Just as I was about to get started, too!”

Maya stopped what she was doing and picked up her staff. She would have to defeat this enemy before she could start the ritual. If she hadn’t paused to make the adjustments on the machine, however, she would have already been well into the process and it would be too late for Kii. Since Maya was only making the adjustments as an act of kindness toward such a remarkable young girl, it could be said that Kii’s intelligence is what really saved her.

“Could it be...”

Looking at Maya, Kii realized that someone was approaching. She realized who it was too, but it brought her no happiness. She knew what his being here meant.

“Why did you come?! You should have just left me, Onii-chan!”

Though she’d wished and wished for him not to come, Koutarou had arrived in the underground parking lot Maya was using for her ritual.

Koutarou had found the place thanks to Clan’s transmitter. Since it used gravitational waves, it wasn’t affected by Sanctuary. Magicians might have known about electromagnetic waves and visible light, but they had no way of knowing about gravitational waves, and so the spell hadn’t been designed to block them out.

“I’m here to save you, Kii-chan.”

Upon entering the parking lot, Koutarou was relieved to see Kii’s face. Unfortunately, the feeling wasn’t mutual.

“Onii-chan?! What about your mom?!”

“I’ll take you with me to go save her.”

A dazzling light extended from the short metal bar Koutarou was holding. It was one of the two beam swords that Flair had used in their battle against Maxfern. Out of what Clan had to offer him, it was Koutarou’s weapon of choice. He picked it both because he wasn’t used to ranged weapons—most of Clan’s arsenal—and because she had personally recommended it.

“Then you won’t make it! You have to go right now!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll defeat her right away and then we’ll go save my mom.”

Koutarou held the beam sword with both hands like he would a knight’s sword. He traced a circle in the air with the tip of the blade and then pointed it at Maya. Since the beam sword weighed so little, he felt somewhat off balance, but Koutarou was planning on fighting using the Forthorthian style.

“Why did you come save someone like me?! If Onii-chan’s mom dies because of me, then I... I...!”

Kii wanted Koutarou to run off and save his mother right away. She knew the odds of him successfully saving both her and his mom were incredibly low, and at this rate, his mother was going die. Koutarou himself might even die, and that was the last thing Kii wanted.

“Like I said, don’t worry. This is what a knight is supposed to do. I’ll save you and then we’ll go save my mom together.”

“Onii-chan... b-but...”

Koutarou didn’t really know if he’d made the right choice. If he’d reversed the order, he might have been able to save both, but he had prioritized Kii.

But now that he was here, he couldn’t exactly say why he’d made that decision. If he were pressed for one, he might have said that it was because he remembered why his mother had died. She’d given her life protecting Koutarou after he jumped out into the road. Without even a second thought, she traded her life to save the child in front of her. Koutarou was just doing the same thing, even if he wasn’t aware of it. Koutarou simply just couldn’t leave Kii to such a cruel fate.

“Are you really underestimating me? Do I really look that weak to you? ...Twilight Wing! Recall Precast Category Alpha!”

A large scythe blade then formed at the end of Maya’s staff. And at the same time, her whole body began glowing an array of colorful lights. With just a few short words, she released the power of over ten reinforcement spells that she had incanted ahead of time. With that, her physical abilities improved considerably. She had cast some reinforcement spells in her earlier fight against Koutarou, but this was on a different level.

“You won’t be able to beat me that quickly, boy.”

And she wasn’t lying. Seeing Koutarou with a weapon in hand this time, Maya knew she would need to be better prepared to fight him. She’d gone all out specifically to make sure Koutarou couldn’t beat her.

“...Even so, I’ll still defeat you right away.”

Koutarou understood Maya’s strength perfectly. Just looking at her aura told him that she was much stronger than before.

She’s about as fast as Flairhan, and her attack power is as high as Theia’s. She might even be stronger than Landlord-san. What a problematic opponent...

Predicting that the upcoming fight would be intense, Koutarou made sure to get a firm grasp on the beam saber’s handle. Any slip on his end could be fatal.

“Well, come at me whenever you want, boy!”

Maya swung her scythe around. It handled well enough originally, but now that her physical strength had improved, she was brandishing it with ease.

“Here I come!”

Petty tricks wouldn’t work at an opponent of her level, so Koutarou boldly charged at her from the front. He would have to best her with skill alone.

“Tiny Memory Flash! Modifier: Touch Trigger!”

As Koutarou and Maya closed in on each other, her glowing red scythe was wreathed in an indigo light. It was the spell that erased memories.

“That thing again.”

Koutarou didn’t know that the indigo light was a memory loss spell exactly, but he knew that strange things happened after it turned that color. He knew that getting hit with it or even touching it could be bad news.

I’m trusting you on this, Clan!

But Koutarou swung his sword anyway, aware of the potential danger. Maya moved to use her scythe to protect herself. She was going to block the sword with the scythe on purpose to activate the spell.

Clang!

Just like Maya had planned, her scythe caught his sword. Now she just had to wait a moment for the spell to take effect.

“What?! Could that sword be...?!”

“Good job, Clan!”

Much to Maya’s surprise, Koutarou wasn’t affected by the memory loss. The indigo light dispersed from her scythe as it came into contact with the sword without affecting him. While Maya was taken aback, Koutarou launched a flurry of attacks. Since the top of his sword had struck the scythe on his first attack, he twisted his body to use his momentum to target Maya’s side.

“Quick Cast Force Field!”

However, Maya summoned a shield to protect herself from Koutarou’s strike. Seeing that, he jumped out of the range of Maya’s scythe before she could counterattack. She took a swing at him as he moved away, but she was still knocked off balance by the initial blow and didn’t reach him.

“Good, I can fight like this!”

After getting some distance, Koutarou readied his sword again. Maya did the same with her scythe, but she was still visibly confounded.

“I am surprised. Just what is with that sword?”

Maya had thought at first that Koutarou’s sword was capable of extending and retracting like a police baton since it wasn’t emitting any mana. If she’d sensed mana from it, she would have suspected it were a weapon created out of magical energy like her scythe. But since she couldn’t detect any mana from it at all, she had to assume it was a product of modern science. She’d guessed that it was an extendable weapon, and she’d assumed it had electricity running through it since it was glowing.

But both of those guesses were wrong. If it had been a product of modern science, her spell still should have activated. But since it hadn’t, that suggested the sword didn’t have a physical form. If the blade was ethereal, that would explain why the spell hadn’t flowed through the blade and into Koutarou—they wouldn’t be physically connected. But since she couldn’t sense any mana from the blade, that was impossible. Maya was well aware that modern science on Earth wasn’t capable of creating material without physical form. She knew that, and yet here it was right in front of her. She was having a hard time believing it.

Clan had suggested the beam saber for exactly this reason. After Koutarou told her that strange things happened when he touched Maya’s scythe, it was the first thing that came to mind. Essentially, the beam sword behaved very similarly to a beam cannon fired at point-blank range. It was just high density energy given the form of a blade. That was why the blade and grip weren’t strictly connected. Clan had suspected that even if the blade connected with the scythe, nothing strange would happen. It was just a hunch, but it had paid off.

“You are full of surprises... But isn’t that sword cheating just a little bit?”

Not even a magician like Maya could get her head around alien technology like this.

Maybe it’s a blade created out of force fields designed not to leak mana? But can all traces of mana be erased so thoroughly? And what’s the point in doing that? Or could it be that... the underground people gave him one of their weapons?

Maya tried to piece together an explanation based on the information she had, but her guessing only took her further away from the truth.

“Look who’s talking. That scythe of yours is pretty cheaty.”

“I guess that just means that we know nothing about each other then!”

“That’s right!”

Their fight had only paused for a moment. Realizing that contemplating each other’s powers wouldn’t get them any answers, they decided to focus on the fight at hand. Their goals hadn’t changed. Each of them was still intent on taking the other out.

Koutarou’s sword and Maya’s scythe clashed repeatedly, releasing a bright flash of light each time as both blades were made of pure energy.

“It’s been a while since I’ve fought someone that could keep up with me in this state!”

“There are many more stronger than me!”

“Then I’ll make sure not to fight them!”

“A wise decision!”

Since his sword could protect him from Maya’s favorite memory loss spell, Koutarou was able to put up a better fight than he had earlier. Maya could move faster than him now, but he was more skilled than she was at predicting movements. In the end, they were fairly evenly matched.

Not good! At this rate mom will die!

Koutarou was starting to panic internally. He was already short on time, so getting held up here would definitely keep him from saving his mother. He needed to finish his fight with Maya immediately, but he didn’t have anything that would allow him to make the decisive blow.

I’m not in a good situation... If we keep fighting like this, my reinforcement magic will run out eventually... and if that happens, I’m finished!

It wasn’t just Koutarou; Maya was starting to panic as well. She was greatly enhancing her physique through magic, but that consumed a great deal of mana to maintain for an extended period of time. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for much longer. The mana that Maya had stored from the ritual using Kanae’s daughter was currently being held in a crystal she had on her. She could use that to keep her reinforcement magic up for a longer period of time, but that would be a major setback for her plan. If possible, she wanted to finish the fight without having to go that far.

It’ll be a gamble, but it’s all I have!

I can’t risk a drawn out fight, I’ll have to finish things here!

Koutarou and Maya both reached their conclusion at the same time and dashed toward each other.

“Let’s finish this!”

“Let’s finish this!”

The both shouted out as their weapons clashed at close range. Their blades sparked as they locked and pushed up against one another with great force. But that wasn’t the end of things.

“Quick and Still Cast: Multiple Thunderbolts! Modifier: Maximize!”

Maya cast a new spell from that position. She sped up the casting time and omitted the gestures required while incanting to cast several thunderbolts at maximum strength. Because she was maintaining several reinforcement spells, they still weren’t all that powerful, but when fired from a locked stance in close quarters, even Koutarou would have a hard time dodging them.

But at the same time, it was a dangerous move for Maya to make. She had released the automatic barrier she used in order to protect herself from any swift attacks that Koutarou might make. Since a person could only cast one spell at a time, Maya would be defenseless in the instant after she fired her thunderbolts.

I’ve got you now, boy!

But even so, Maya took the risk and was convinced that she had won. She was holding Koutarou’s sword back with her scythe, which kept him just out of range of kicking or punching her either, so she thought she would be fine even without her barrier to protect her momentarily. And in that moment, electricity would assault Koutarou from close range. There was no way he could dodge it.

“Nooooowww!”

However, that was when Koutarou did something unexpected. He pressed a button on the grip of his beam sword and the blade vanished.

“Oh n―”

Maya’s eyes shot wide open in surprise. At the same time, since Koutarou’s sword had vanished, she fell forward with all the weight she’d been using to push on it. Koutarou slipped under her scythe and approached her. The next moment, electricity shot out from the tip of her scythe as planned, but it diffused in empty air. Since he was now between Maya and her scythe, he had avoided getting hit.

“Take thiiiiis!”

Koutarou let his momentum carry him forward and he crashed right into Maya. At least she’d gotten one thing right and it wasn’t a punch or a kick. Instead, while Maya was still caught off guard, he leaned in for a headbutt. Maya, who had been unable to stop her own momentum, took it straight in the chin.

Im... possible...

In that moment, Maya realized her defeat even though she could scarcely believe the situation. Whether she believed it or not, however, there was no arguing with her darkening vision and fading consciousness. She had taken massive damage, and by the time she hit the floor, she was already out.

“I did it...”

Koutarou relaxed his shoulders some and looked at Maya. Based on her aura, he could tell that she had fainted. It didn’t look like she would be out for long, but Koutarou didn’t have any time to deal with her. He had to save Kii right away and then rush to his mother.

“Kii-chan!”

“Onii-chan! Hurry! Your mom, your mom will...!”

“I know!”

Koutarou reactivated his beam sword and struck the lock of the cage holding key. It easily crumbled under the energy blade, and Kii jumped right out.

“Hurry, hurry! Your mom is going to die!”

Kii was in tears. Being such a sweet girl, she was concerned about Koutarou’s mother like she would be her own. She just couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to Koutarou’s mother because of her. Driven by that powerful emotion, she rushed ahead of Koutarou towards the exit, paying no mind to the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Thank you, Kii-chan...

Koutarou turned off the beam sword while watching Kii run. Seeing her so desperate to save his mother made him feel like coming to rescue her had been the right decision.

“But for now...!”

Koutarou put the beam sword in his belt and chased after her. He didn’t have the time to stop and think about anything else right now. He had to hurry on to his mother’s side.

Maya came to just as Koutarou took off. Her injuries weren’t all that serious, and thanks to the reinforcement magic she had cast on herself, her regeneration had been greatly increased.

“I... I can’t let her get away...”

Maya could see Koutarou and the young girl moving away from her. After shaking her head repeatedly to clear her mind, she picked up the staff lying next to her. She was going to use magic to finish off Kii from a distance.

For the sake of both her own personal goals and those of Darkness Rainbow, she still needed Tayuma’s power. The knowledge and technology he had would be a great help to Maya and her allies.

“E-Energy Bolt... Target Option: Sidewinder...”

Though she was conscious now, she still wasn’t fully recovered from Koutarou’s blow. Her vision was somewhat distorted, keeping her from taking proper aim at Kii. That’s why Maya added a modification for the spell to automatically seek its target by heat source. Once the spell was cast, it would most likely target Kii who had a higher body temperature since she was a child.

“Go!”

A glowing red bullet shot out from her staff and it snaked its way along the ground, following after Kii and it quickly closing in on her.

“Quick Cast Flare.”

However, just before it could reach her, the bullet changed direction and charged towards a ball of red light that had suddenly appeared.

“Angel Halo! Recall Precast Silence.”

And as the bullet crashed into the ball of light, they both vanished without a sound. As a result, Kii was saved without even realizing the danger she was in, and she left the parking lot with Koutarou.

“Is that―”

“It is, Dark Navy.”

As if replacing Koutarou and Kii, another duo appeared in the parking lot. One was a girl around ten years old, wearing a pink outfit and holding a large staff. The other was a woman in her late twenties wearing a suit and holding a bow. It was Magical Girl Nana and her partner, Kanae.

“Nana... to think you’d appear now.”

“Completing your duty without being noticed is an ironclad rule.”

Maya slowly picked herself up as Nana calmly watched her.

I still have no chance of winning, huh?

Maya knew she was in trouble. Though Nana looked young, she was the strongest magician in Rainbow Heart. She also had an archer cooperating with her. She was already spent from her fight with Koutarou too, and with almost no mana left, the odds were utterly against her.

“We also had to clean up after you. It took some time before we were able to release everyone in that alley.”

“I see... So that boy got here quicker than expected because you helped him.”

Maya gave Nana a discerning look as she spoke. She knew she couldn’t fight in this condition, so she had to find some other way out of this predicament.

“Navy, just surrender. If you comply, we’ll at least spare your life.”

“But I’ll be executed either way after the trial, right? I’d rather die fighting.”

The magicians of Darkness Rainbow used magic to fulfill their own wishes. Though there were a few exceptions, the majority of its members used magic to commit crimes. Maya was no different, and she had sacrificed a lot of people. On top of abusing magic, her body count was well into the double digits. Even if she surrendered peacefully, she knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid the death penalty.

“Is that so? I thought you were a bit smarter than that.”

“Smarter...?”

Maya and Nana stared at each other. As they locked gazes, Maya desperately racked her brain. She felt like Nana was implying something.

Smarter...? Does she mean that I could escape after being caught? Or could she mean... No, more importantly, why is Nana saying this in the first place?

Struggling to reach a conclusion, Maya looked back at Nana, who was reaching her empty left hand out towards her.

“But regardless of what you do, you’re going to give me the focus gem you used for the ritual.”

A focus gem was a gem that would occasionally emit light in all the colors of the rainbow. It served as a storage mechanism for the mana created from Maya’s ritual, and it held a vast amount of it. Nana was holding out her hand to retrieve the gem from Maya.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

The corners of Nana’s lips lifted up as she said that.

I see, so that’s what she means... It must be hard to be an ally of justice. The rules are so complicated...

She was smart. She had a focus gem. Between those two things, Maya finally realized what Nana was asking of her.

“Okay, I’ll give you the gem.”

Now that she understood the situation, the corners of Maya’s lips lifted just like Nana’s.

Really... Not only are her magic skills to be feared, but her bargaining skills as well... Is this girl really just ten years old...?

Maya was amazed on the inside, but without saying a word, she jumped at Nana’s offer.

“Isn’t that great, Kanae-san?”

“Yes! Thank you, Nana-chan!”

Rather than Nana, Kanae was the one who rejoiced at the prospect of getting the gem. She was actually the one who wanted it.

“Here, this is the gem! Catch!”

Maya pulled the gem out from her bosom and threw it towards Kanae. It sailed through the air in a large arc, and at its greatest height, it let out a dazzling flash.

“Kyah!”

Kanae, who was staring directly at it, was temporarily blinded by the flash. Thanks to that, she missed catching it, but she could hear it hit the floor and roll along.

“Oh no!”

Afraid that Maya would steal it back, she dove to the ground and began searching for the gem. It was an extremely hard task considering she still couldn’t see anything.

If I don’t hurry, my little girl and Soutarou-san will...!

But Kanae was panicked. If Maya managed to steal the gem back, she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her goal. With the time limit closing in, she had to obtain that gem at any cost.

“...It’s okay, Kanae-san. The gem is right here.”

Kanae looked in the direction of Nana’s voice. She could vaguely make out a pink colored outfit. She was gradually regaining her vision. And though she couldn’t see anything clearly, she was certain that she was looking at Nana.

“Where is she?! Where did that woman go?!”

Kanae blinked repeatedly and looked around the area.

“She ran off using that flash to hide her escape.”

“Nana-chan, was it okay to let her go?”

This was a perplexing situation to Kanae. Based on the way Nana was acting, it seemed like she hadn’t been affected by the flash. Despite that, she hadn’t chased after the fleeing Maya. And that was hard to imagine considering Nana’s position.

“Yes, it was that kind of deal.”

“Deal?”

Kanae had now almost fully recovered her sight, and the first thing she could really see was the young girl dressed in pink. She was holding the gem that was shining all colors of the rainbow, and she looked at Kanae with a calm smile.

“What do you mean?”

“In exchange for Navy not doing anything to this gem, I let her go.”

Nana answered Kanae with a smile. She then put the gem in Kanae’s hands.

“If we had fought, Navy would have almost certainly used the mana in the gem.”

“Ah...”

“But if she did something like that, your daughter wouldn’t have survived it. That’s why I let her escape in exchange for the gem. Like I said, it was that kind of deal.”

Of course, that wasn’t everything. If Nana had fallen for the flash like Kanae had, Maya might have tried to make one last desperate grasp for the gem. That hadn’t come to pass, however. Nana had taken a chance on trusting Maya, but in the end it paid off.

“Thank you Nana-chan. For my sake...”

“Don’t worry about it. I still didn’t just let her run away.”

Nana had a spell up to track the whereabouts of Dark Navy. After she had finished her work here, she would go chase her down.

“It looks like Navy has taken a lot of damage, and she has also lost her altar and gem. Not even she would try anything major again right away. I only need to capture her before she can act again.”

“But won’t they get angry at you, Nana-chan?”

Nana was a magician, but more importantly, she was a member of Rainbow Heart, a special division of Folsaria’s army. Letting an enemy escape because of a personal judgment was a serious offense.

“What could I do? She managed to escape while the flash blinded me.”

Nana smiled brightly. She was going to tell the top brass that Maya had managed to escape by blinding her.

“I see... So that flash had a meaning behind it too...”

One could say that Maya using a method like that to escape was part of the deal. If she hadn’t made it look like she was escaping, Nana would have had to punish her. If Nana had followed her actual mission to a T, she would have ignored the gem in the first place and made her move to defeat Maya. But if Nana had taken that approach, Kanae would be unable to fulfill her own objective. That’s why Nana had struck a deal with Maya. It was a last resort of sorts. Being an ally of justice truly did put her in a difficult position.

“Now then, Kanae-san, let’s go home after destroying this altar. We have to return the mana in that gem to your daughter’s soul as quickly as possible.”

As Nana said that, she raised her staff above her head. She was going to use a powerful attack spell to destroy the altar. And while Kanae watched on, she firmly held on to the gem and let her anxiety leak out her lips.

“Will she survive...?”

“I’m sorry. To be honest, I don’t know either. But she shouldn’t die right away. I can at least guarantee that.”

Kanae’s daughter’s spiritual energy, which had forcibly been drained from her body and converted into mana, was stored in the gem in question. Maya had already used a portion of its mana, so there was no guarantee that it would properly merge with Kanae’s daughter again. However, if they destroyed the centerpiece of the ritual, the gem, after returning her mana, Kanae’s daughter should at least be able to escape the drain of the ritual. And if they could keep her spiritual energy from continuing to leak out, that should save her life. It would also take a great burden off of Kanae’s husband.

“I am really sorry. This is all because you got involved in our fight...”

“It’s unfortunate, but there is no need for you to feel responsible. You’re still so young, Nana-chan... It’s okay to act your age sometimes.”

Kanae’s daughter might not survive for much longer, but Kanae wasn’t going to blame Nana for that. Dark Navy was clearly the culprit in this situation. And no matter how strong she may be, Nana was still a child. Kanae couldn’t be harsh with her since she wasn’t much older than her daughter.

“Thank you, Kanae-san...”

“Don’t cry, Nana-chan. It’s not your fault...”

Kanae gently embraced Nana. Really, the biggest reason she held no ill will for her despite what had happened was because of the bond they’d formed while working together. This small girl would be continuing her fight all alone, and knowing that, Kanae wanted to do everything she could for her. Right now, she thought of Nana both as her own daughter and as a partner she could stick with through thick and thin.

“...I’m casting a spell, Kanae-san...”

“Right. Sorry for getting in your way, Nana-chan...”

And so the two of them foiled Dark Navy’s plot and successfully managed to save Kanae’s daughter.