Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 7 - Chapter 8

A Promise

Sunday, January 24th

The Super Space-time Repulsion Shell that Koutarou cut in half unleashed its stored energy and created a giant glowing cube. But since it wasn’t fully charged when it was destroyed, the cube didn’t grow to be the size Clan had intended. It was only large enough to cover the Cradle.

Once the glowing cube vanished, there was nothing left. No Koutarou. No Clan. No Cradle. Not even the air remained. It was the very definition of a vacuum. Utter nothingness. Although it had been on a smaller scale than intended, the Super Space-time Repulsion Shell worked just as designed.

The next moment, the air surrounding the empty cube began stirring to equalize and fill the void that had been left. There was a large quake following it, and at the same time, the air flooding the void created a shockwave.

“Emergency deployment of the repulsion field! Maximize the range! It doesn’t have to last long! Just focus on its integrity!”

“Karama, Korama, hold it in with the field!”

“Force Field! Modifier: Maximize! Effective Area, Colossal!”

However, the invading girls managed to prevent any damage from the quake and shockwave using their various defensive powers. If the cube had been a little larger, they would have been in danger, but fortunately, there was no harm to the surrounding area. Because of that, the play continued as if nothing had happened.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the girls who had been left behind. Koutarou had vanished into thin air alongside Clan and the Cradle. Not even knowing whether or not he was alive, they fell into panic.

“Koutarou! Where’d you go, Koutarou?!”

Sanae restlessly looked around the surrounding area, scouring it for Koutarou’s presence. Yet no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t pick up any sign of it. This was unprecedented. Not ever before had Sanae been unable to find Koutarou after looking for so long. Sanae was perpetually in a state of spiritual connection with him, but now that bond had been severed.

No, it can’t be true...

That could only mean one thing, but Sanae desperately tried not to think about it. Koutarou had become a part of her life. She didn’t want to think that he might be gone forever.

“The signal from the power suit has been lost?! Blue Knight, increase sensor sensitivity and scan again! And give me the data on all spacequakes in the last three minutes!”

Ruth was operating her bracelet with a pale face. The armor Koutarou was wearing had an identification signal, but when the cube had vanished, so had the signal. That alone would have been enough to worry her, but with a good understanding of Forthorthian technology, Ruth already had a faint idea of what had happened.

Satomi-sama... There’s no way you could have been thrown to the outskirts of space and time...

The data from Blue Knight only served to confirm her fears. The more she read, the deeper she fell into despair. It wasn’t the simple feeling of having lost something precious. It was more like having her light snatched away from her while walking in the dead of night. She had lost her direction, and she was now left stranded in the darkness.

“Karama, Korama, search through all life in the area and filter for Koutarou’s aura pattern.”

“Ho! That will take time, ho!”

“I know that much! I still want you to do it!”

“Understood, ho! We’ll get right on it, ho!”

Kiriha was angry. She put her hands together and showed a severe expression.

This kind of ending... I won’t accept this kind of ending, Satomi Koutarou!

She gritted her teeth. He was the only one that truly understood her on the surface. A true friend she could reveal her true self to. Losing him this easily was an unbearable blow.

But even so, Kiriha knew deep down inside that Koutarou would never make it out in one piece after being caught in the middle of all that. It was extremely unlikely that he had survived, much less that he was still in the area. That fact slowly sank in for Kiriha, and she grew angry at her own helplessness.

I am a cold woman...

And most of all, she was angry that she was able to remain calm despite believing that Koutarou was dead.

“In this situation, it’ll be faster to search for that spaceship rather than Satomi-san!”

It was possible, however, that the calmest one present was actually Yurika. In her case, she’d witnessed the last fight of her predecessor, Rainbow Nana, so she was no stranger to the feeling of the people close to her being in danger.

“If they really were sent off to a different dimension, I might still be able to detect something that big...”

Yurika closed her eyes and focused on the staff in her hands. She heightened her mana and spread out her senses, searching for traces of Koutarou.

That was a spaceship, and Satomi-san was wearing a spacesuit... If I find him in time, we can still save him...

Despite how grim things looked for her close friend, she hadn’t lost hope. That was the true strength of the magical girl she had gradually come to be.

“Koutarou...”

Of the five girls, Theia was the most devastated. She stood there motionless with her hand reaching for the sky. If it hadn’t been for the timing, Theia probably would have behaved more courageously. But it was in losing Koutarou that she finally understood her feelings. The moment she realized what she truly desired, it slipped right through her fingers. In that situation, not even the princess of a galactic empire could stay strong.

“Don’t leave me alone, Koutarou... You’re just hiding, right? Don’t be such a tease. Hurry... Hurry up and come out already...”

She tried to smile, but she couldn’t. She tried to speak, but voice was hoarse.

“Can’t you understand that... that I’m telling you to come out? That’s... That’s why you’re... a pleb...”

The only thing she could do was cry.

The other girls were much the same. They had all lost sight of themselves.

“Space distortion reaction increasing. Predicting a small-scale spacequake. Take precautions, my lady,” Ruth’s bracelet reported in an abrupt warning.

“Huh...?”

And while Ruth’s eyes opened wide in surprise, it happened. It was a glowing door, much like the one that Theia and Ruth used to travel between room 106 and Blue Knight. It suddenly appeared, stretching several dozen meters across the sky. It appeared in the very same place Koutarou had vanished.

“Detected a small-scale spacequake. There is a 95 percent certainty it is an incoming short warp.”

“A short warp?!”

Ruth hurriedly confirmed the data being projected in the air from her bracelet. And just as the AI had said, the data indicated that something large was warping in.

“Found it!”

That was when Yurika suddenly opened her eyes inside the Alunaya costume. Not a moment later, the tip of something came out of the light in the sky.

“Mass from the space distortion calculated. Report: There is a 98 percent certainty that it is the ship being searched for. Target has been located, my lady.”

It was a several-dozen-meter-wide dome. Seeing it, Sanae alerted the others.

“Something’s appeared!”

In the direction Sanae was pointing, the dome moved forward as it emerged from the gate. From the ground, it looked like a balloon blowing up. And by the time it grew to several dozen meters in length, the rear appeared. When it did, the silhouette changed from that of a dome to an egg.

“Is that the spaceship from before?!”

What had appeared was indeed the egg-shaped spaceship that had vanished in the cube just minutes earlier. It was the Cradle. And with its miraculous return, not even the normally calm Kiriha could hide her surprise.

“Koutarou!”

Seeing the Cradle overhead, Theia shouted out and called for Koutarou right away. She began looking around for any sign of him. She was desperate.

Where are you, Koutarou?!

She hoped that Koutarou would return alongside the Cradle, or that he had returned after taking it over.

“Where are you?! Hurry up and show yourself!”

However, Koutarou was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t near the bottom of the ship where he had been before, nor were either of the two Super Space-time Repulsion Shells.

It couldn’t be that Clan left Koutarou behind and came back on her own, could it...?

A new worry began budding in Theia’s chest. And it wasn’t just her. All five girls were concerned about the same thing. But the next thing they knew, a hatch at the thickest part of the egg opened. The five girls all stared at it, praying that Koutarou would appear.

“We’re here! We made it in time!”

However, as if betraying all their faith, the one that appeared from the hatch was the Cradle’s owner, Clan.

“Ah...”

Theia felt like she was sinking to the bottom of a very deep darkness. Her tears that had stopped began flowing once more.

“Koutarou...”

“Satomi-sama...”

Kiriha and Ruth also revealed pained expressions and lowered their shoulders. Although it had only been a small hope, their disappointment was profound. If someone had so much as blown on them in that moment, the three of them would likely have collapsed to the ground.

“...Huh?”

“Could it be?!”

However, Sanae and Yurika were in a much different state. In contrast to Theia and the others, their eyes were gleaming as they instinctively leaned forward in anticipation.

“There’s no time. Hurry up and get off, Clan!”

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

Koutarou, who had come up behind Clan, kicked her out of the hatch.

Koutarou followed after Clan and jumped out from the hatch. The next moment, the Cradle disappeared from view. While it might be near the mountains, they were still in the middle of the city. Standing out here would be a bad thing, so the Cradle concealed itself in accordance with the instructions it had been given in advance.

“There we go.”

Not minding the fall of several dozen meters, Koutarou’s sky blue armor rang out as he landed strikingly. It was completely different from Clan, who had hit the ground in a fluster just the moment before.

“What kind of education have you received to make you think you can treat a princess like this?!”

“That’s because we’re out of time and you’re just wasting it.”

“We’re only running out of time because you overslept!”

“Stop talking and start running! We don’t have any time!”

“Jeez, you’re so selfish!”

The newly arrived pair ran towards Theia and the others while arguing. Meanwhile, the five girls simply stared at them in astonishment.

Clan and Koutarou had gone missing after a fierce battle. No one was even certain they’d made it out alive. And now they had mysteriously reappeared from the Cradle. Even stranger still, it was like things were completely different between them. They showed no signs of picking up their fight from just minutes ago. Although they were arguing, it wasn’t the kind of argument enemies would have. It was about on par with the kind of bickering often heard in room 106.

That bizarre and mysterious scene was enough to leave the five invaders dumbfounded.

“What’s up with that...?”

“Wh-Who knows...?”

Even Sanae and Yurika, who had realized Koutarou was back alive and well before the others, couldn’t do anything but blink.

“Besides, how could you oversleep at such an important time?!”

“That’s why I said you should wake me up early!”

“Are you asking a princess to babysit a knight?!”

“Theia did!”

“Well, excuse me!”

Koutarou and Clan’s relationship wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Their appearances were slightly different from before as well.

The armor Koutarou was wearing had more damage now. It wasn’t just damage from lasers and beams either. Both the number and variety of battle scars on the armor had greatly increased. There were dents from being hit by something hard, and his mantle had been slashed here and there. What’s more, there were now two swords at Koutarou’s waist. Just a moment ago he’d only had Saguratin, but now he’d gotten another from somewhere.

Clan’s appearance was odd as well. She was wearing the same dress as before, but she was also wearing a large overcoat on top of it. It looked like something a noble’s daughter would wear when heading out into town.

But to the girls, these cosmetic differences were only a minor issue. Their surprise that Koutarou was fine and right in front of them was so great that they hardly paid attention to his change in appearance.

Roughly two minutes had passed since the cube had disappeared. During that short time, they had panicked, fretted, and mourned. Koutarou disappearing was a huge event in and of itself, but his immediate return... The entire series of events was just one shock after another for the girls. Their heightened emotions had been thrown completely for a loop, and they were all too stunned to take any concrete action.

“Clan, what’s the time?!”

“There’s one minute left! We somehow made it in time!”

Ignoring everyone else, Koutarou and Clan were headed towards the back entrance to the gym.

“W-Wait, Koutarou! What happened?!”

“Satomi-san, what is going on?!”

As Koutarou approached them, Sanae and Yurika tried to question him. Since they’d realized he was safe before anyone else, they’d had a little more time to recover than the other three girls.

“Sorry, we’ll talk about that later! The play comes first now!”

But Koutarou didn’t answer either Sanae or Yurika. He simply ran past them with Clan in tow. He was headed for the stage. The last scene was about to start, so he didn’t have the time to answer their questions.

He continued right past Kiriha and Ruth too. But as he reached Theia, Koutarou stopped moving for the first time since reappearing. He then tossed the script in his right hand to Clan.

“Clan, hold my script!”

“Vel— No, Koutarou! How long are you planning on treating me like your servant?!”

While complaining to Koutarou, Clan caught the flying script. Despite sounding unhappy, she preciously clutched the booklet to her chest.

“I’m still a princess of the Holy Forthorthe—”

“Now’s not the time for that! I’m in a hurry, so quit your yapping and carry it for me!”

“Ah, jeez! You’re so selfish! You’re always like that!”

Clan was still complaining, but Koutarou ignored her. The same as he hadn’t had time to answer Sanae and Yurika, he didn’t have the time to deal with Clan either.

“Theia, come!”

“Hu... Huh?”

Koutarou grabbed Theia’s hand and forcibly pulled her to his side.

“I know you’re surprised, but I need you!”

Three people were needed for the final scene: the Blue Knight, the Silver Princess, and the Golden Princess. They wouldn’t be able to pull it off without Theia, the Golden Princess.

“Ah...”

“I need you.”

Theia was finally able to affirm that Koutarou was truly safe after hearing his words and feeling the warmth of his hand.

“K-Koutarou...”

The next moment, Theia’s knees gave way. She was so overcome with deep relief and joy that she could no longer stand.

“Ah, h-hey!”

In order to keep Theia from falling over completely, Koutarou quickly grabbed her.

“So you’re safe after all, Koutarou... I’m so...”

Now in Koutarou’s arms, tears scattered from Theia’s eyes once more. In the fading winter sun, they caught the light and glimmered beautifully.

“Don’t cry, from— Hmm, actually, keep crying. We’ll be doing the parting scene after all.”

Having lost all strength in her legs, Koutarou lifted Theia up as she cried. He was planning on carrying her to the stage like that.

“No, this isn’t a parting...”

Theia shook her head, gently touched Koutarou’s left hand that was supporting her legs, and looked up into his eyes.

“...Everything is just about to start...”

Tears were still flowing out from her eyes, but Theia had finally regained her smile.

“It’s just as you say, Theia.”

Koutarou started running again. He didn’t have the time to stand around. Inside the gym were all their comrades and friends waiting for them.

They would definitely make the play a success. That was the promise Koutarou had made with the invaders and the drama club, and the time to fulfill that promise had finally come.

Koutarou eagerly ran into the gym carrying Theia.