I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 12 Read online

  Prologue 1-1: Chirika Shinomiya

  Somewhere on a dark mountainside, a shadow ran down an animal trail, noisily kicking aside leaves in its wake.

  “Damn you, Gold Yaksha!”

  The shadow—Chirika Shinomiya—clicked her tongue and cursed.

  She wore a battle haori with familiarity, a conical hat tied around her neck, and carried her belongings wrapped in cloth. At the waist of her hakama hung a single katana. It wasn’t a shabby old blade picked up off the battlefield either, but a properly maintained blade representative of her status as a rare female samurai in this emergent time period of the warrior.

  The fact that she was using her trained night vision to dash through the mountain on this rainy, moonless night with no difficulty at all was testimony to the fact that her outfit wasn’t simply for show. She was a natural swordswoman of a certain unnamed school.

  And as for the reason why Chirika was running through the mountains in the dead of the night... Three days ago, her master, Princess Izuko, was kidnapped by a yokai that called itself the Gold Yaksha.

  “If you want the princess back... then bring all the gold in the castle... to the Hidden Mountain.”

  The Gold Yaksha had disappeared into the night with that whispered ransom note, the princess slung over one shoulder.

  The Hidden Mountain also went by the name of the Disappearing Mountain, infamous for legends of people setting foot on it only to disappear and come wandering back several years or even decades later. And apparently, the Gold Yaksha was using it as its lair.

  This situation is all a result of my failure as the princess’s personal bodyguard! I must retrieve her from that filthy yokai’s hands at once, no matter what!

  Chirika had rushed out of the castle with that thought, determined to pursue the Gold Yaksha all the way up the Disappearing Mountain. She eventually caught up with it at the summit, where a solitary Japanese cedar grew.

  “Did you... bring the gold?”

  The Gold Yaksha’s face was as terrifying as one would expect of a being called a demon. It was enough to make babies cry, ladies faint, and the elderly drop dead on the spot. But Chirika was no average girl.

  “Prepare yourself!”

  She whipped her katana out of its sheath without a moment’s delay and charged the Gold Yaksha. The yokai’s towering figure was roughly eight shaku (roughly 2.4 meters) tall, but it swiftly avoided Chirika’s blade with the dexterity of a monkey.

  “Too slow!”

  But Chirika could read its movements, and her blade followed right after it. However...

  Clink!

  “Tch!”

  The Gold Yaksha’s arm was as tough as bronze, and the iron blade of the katana glanced right off. Chirika clicked her tongue and put some distance between herself and the yokai, bracing herself and aiming for its eyes.

  I don’t see the princess. Was she stowed away somewhere...?

  Chirika agonized over the predicament in her heart, worried sick for the princess’s well-being. Princess Izuko was the one who picked her up when she was teetering on the brink of death after losing her parents. She’d saved her life, and there were no words to express the gratitude Chirika felt for that. She would be indebted to the princess for as long as she lived.

  Chirika had then honed her skills with a sword and was elated when she was promoted to the role of bodyguard. Chirika wasn’t born a samurai, but she had the natural disposition for the job. She swore absolute loyalty to her master and would happily lay her life down fighting. That master—Chirika’s one and only master—was Princess Izuko.

  “Mrugh!”

  Avoiding the heavy swing of the Gold Yaksha’s arm, Chirika put some distance between them again. Her opponent had the advantage in agility and strength, but Chirika had techniques she’d risked her life to polish. Her body was still overflowing with vitality after running for three days and three nights thanks to the chi circulating in her limbs, too. All in all, they were evenly matched.

  “Grrrgh!”

  But Chirika refused to accept being at the same level as the Gold Yaksha. She was an excellent samurai, but she had the tendency to be a little impulsive.

  “You fiend! Judging by that mug of yours, you were once a human, weren’t you?! One that was so consumed by greed that you became a demon, no?!” Chirika yelled, pointing the end of her sword at the yokai’s head.

  Indeed, the Gold Yaksha’s face was staunchly ragged, but it did bear some resemblance to that of a human man. It wasn’t unheard of for people to turn into yokai. And for this one to be demanding gold... Chirika figured it must have been a man at some point in its miserable life.

  “A lowly fool who’s strayed from the path of humanity will never best me! I’ll have you pay for the dire crime of kidnapping my princess right now!”

  Rallying herself with those words, Chirika’s chi grew even greater as she readied herself to leap at the Gold Yaksha once more... when suddenly, a flash of light came crashing down from the sky and directly struck the lone Japanese cedar on the summit.

  “?!”

  Chirika was swallowed in a flood of light like nothing she’d ever seen before.

  Prologue 1-2: Nyanyan Atlantia

  “Hahh, hahh, hahh...”

  Nyanyan was running underground, beneath the temple. The polished marble floor was so smooth that it was free of the slightest protrusion that might scrape the foot of anyone running across it barefoot.

  Normally, Nyanyan would have no difficulty running down this corridor, but right now, it was all she could do to stay standing. Because the corridor, the ceiling, the entire building was shaking violently. It was even worse than usual.

  Oh, no, please no...

  Nyanyan repeated those same fearful words in her heart as she ran as fast as she could.

  The shaking had been going on for over ten minutes now. Cracks were already running down the walls. If she didn’t get out soon, then she would be buried alive underground.

  “...!”

  Nyanyan let her handcuffed arms dangle loosely in front of her as she put all her effort into moving her legs up the stairs that led outside. It was no simple task. The shaking made it hard to walk on a flat surface, and the stairs were even more of a challenge. She had fallen several times just running down the corridor. She couldn’t even brace herself properly with the cuffs on. She was already covered in scratches and bruises.

  “Augh!”

  She stumbled again, this time smacking her forehead on the stairs in front of her. A sharp pain ran through her head, making tears well up in her eyes.

  “Ow...”

  But Nyanyan still considered herself lucky. If she had fallen backwards, she would’ve fallen down the stairs. Already on her hands and knees, Nyanyan gave up on the idea of standing and simply crawled up the remaining steps one at a time. The first thing she saw when she reached the surface... was that her hometown was sinking.

  “No way...”

  The unbelievable sight left Nyanyan in a stupor for a moment.

  “Atlantis... is sinking.”

  She was only saying aloud what was happening right in front of her, but she could still hardly believe it. Perhaps she was just feeling faint from all the running, but it all just seemed so utterly unreal.

  But that didn’t stop it from happening. Her homeland was indeed sinking to the bottom of the sea as she watched. Nyanyan collapsed against a pillar of the temple, lost for words.

  There didn’t appear to be any adults around to tap her on the shoulder and tell her to evacuate, so they must have run away already. But... where to? Just whe
re could they have gone? How would they be saved? Was it even possible to save anyone? It was pointless to even ask. But if there was even a one-in-a-million chance, then...

  “!”

  Nyanyan turned on her heels and headed back inside the temple. She’d be placing everything on that bet.

  Prologue 1-3: Sherlyn Doteyes

  Wooooo, wooooo, wooooo!

  The burglar alarm was blaring loudly. It overlapped the police sirens for a terrible chorus of electronic wailing.

  A crowd of onlookers gathered outside the major art museum, making a commotion about a break-in. A few rude police officers were yelling at the clamoring reporters and masses.

  “How inelegant.”

  Looking down from the tallest tower in the city, the burglar who’d just nabbed the art museum’s greatest treasure let out an exasperated sigh.

  This burglar’s name was Sherlyn Doteyes. However, that wasn’t what she called herself. She much preferred the term phantom thief. There were several gossip articles and people who even referred to her as a gentleman burglar. That was owing to how she used her talents. She took her spoils and sold them off to give money to the poor, or sometimes stole particular items to return to their rightful owners. But she herself wasn’t particularly fond of that title, either. She still much preferred being called a phantom thief.

  When she told this to a friend once, that friend had asked why. Sherlyn answered, “Because phantom thief sounds much more elegant, don’t you think?”

  Similarly, the fact that she wore a flashy cape and silk hat was simply because she believed that was the appropriate attire for the profession.

  “Now then...”

  Flicking the brim of her silk hat, Sherlyn picked up the treasure she’d set down on the ground beside her. The treasure she’d picked up this time was a crown salvaged from the depths of the Pacific.

  “Hmm, the exhibition plaque said this was a king’s crown, but it’s small enough to pass off as a queen’s tiara, too.”

  Perhaps it was designed to be worn by both men and women. Not that that really affected its value. The piece was absolutely exquisite. Compared to the wondrous ornaments described in literature, the craftsmanship of this crown far surpassed anything made in the same era.

  There were doubts that it was merely a modern-made fake, but the appraisal revealed it to be genuine. I wouldn’t have bothered to steal it otherwise.

  Because of the impossible technology and skill that would have been required to craft it, newspapers all over the world had been reporting it as a “new part,” instantly increasing its value by several thousand times. However, the newspapers were all talking about something other than its price... The curse of the crown.

  “Well, it’s a popular tale.”

  Rumor had it that anyone who wore the crown would die, but they were merely rumors. Many such objects of value were shrouded in similar mystique. But it triggered Sherlyn’s curiosity, and she eyed it carefully as she spun it around her finger.

  Let’s try putting it on.

  It was a bit of an impulsive decision, half out of the desire to test the curse and half out of a desire to try such a beautiful tiara on for herself. Humming whimsically, Sherlyn removed her silk hat and placed the crown on her head.

  “Oh, it fits just right.”

  She didn’t have a mirror to see it for herself, but the fit felt right. And surely it looked as good as it felt. She could probably blend in with the royals in England with no problems right now.

  When she thought of it that way, it made her a little reluctant to part with it, but that was how it had to be. Just thinking of all the poor families she could help by fencing it, she knew this would be the end of her royal charade.

  “Now that the officers have all gathered, I guess it’s time to make my exit. The buyer’s waiting for me at the port, anyway.”

  Sherlyn stood up and lightly brushed the dust off her cape.

  “Oh, can’t forget to put this away.”

  Remembering that she still had the crown on, Sherlyn went to remove it. However...

  “Hm? ...Huh?”

  It wouldn’t come off.

  “Huh? What?”

  No matter how she pulled at it, it was like it had welded to her skin and wouldn’t budge.

  “Ow...!”

  Maybe it was her imagination, but it felt like the crown was gradually getting tighter...

  “What? Wait, is this really a curse?! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  Sherlyn’s shouting echoed through the night sky colored red by the flashing lights on the police cars below.

  Chapter 1: The Story that Crossed Time

  As we flipped a page on the calendar, it was that time of year to change out our wardrobes with the season.

  “It’s been so long since I wore my blazer. It feels pretty good.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Even though it’s still hot...” Iris whined as she fanned her face with a hand.

  Despite it being October now, the sun was still beaming down like it was summer. Simply standing in it was enough to make sweat build on my forehead.

  “Phew, it’s hot. I’d rather lose the jacket if it’s gonna be like this...”

  Several of the other boys in my class were already abandoning their blazers and hanging them on the backs of their chairs during class.

  “If Rekka strips, I’ll strip too!”

  “No, Iris. It sounds weird when you put it that way.”

  Several of the boys in the class were now sending me death glares.

  “Honestly, what detestable heat. This season was a little cooler a hundred years ago.”

  Rosalind came over from her seat further away and made a similar complaint. She had visited Japan over a hundred years ago, so she wasn’t exaggerating just now. She was being quite literal. Global warming was scary. Well, as scary as it was, there were more pressing matters that I was afraid of right now...

  “It’s midterm season again, huh? I hate tests even more than the heat.”

  “Right?” echoed Iris.

  “Indeed,” agreed Rosalind.

  “You three... need to study more.” Satsuki sighed in exasperation at the three of us who hated studying.

  “That’s easier said than done.”

  “Right?”

  “Indeed.”

  “You’re all so in sync...”

  Satsuki looked a little sad.

  “We should have another study group like the one we did for summer vacation homework. We can invite Tsumiki too,” I suggested.

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Satsuki agreed.

  “Want to go to the library again? Or should the four of us gather at someone’s house?”

  “Hey... Don’t leave me out.”

  Rosalind raised a complaint this time, interrupting me and Satsuki. Come to think of it, we’d never invited Rosalind to a study group before. Not that we did them very often or anything.

  “You wanna come too, Rosalind?”

  “Yes,” she answered immediately.

  I didn’t think she was that motivated about the tests... She always seemed so bored during class.

  “Then let’s have one at Rekka’s house after school today,” suggested Satsuki.

  “Huh? We’re starting today?” I asked, startled.

  “The sooner the better. We only have two weeks until midterms.”

  Well, when she put it that way, it was hard to object. I knew I had to study, but having to study now was a real buzzkill... Was this simply the destiny of an underachiever?

  “Yay! Then let’s meet up at Rekka’s house in the afternoon!” cheered Iris.

  “Indeed, I shall look forward to it,” said Rosalind.

  “Since we’ll be intruding on you, I’ll help Harissa with dinner for tonight,” offered Satsuki. “Let’s drop by the shopping street on our way home from school.”

  In contrast to me, Satsuki was super excited. Even Iris and Rosalind looked happy about it... And I thought the
y were on my side.

  “How peaceful it is around here...”

  R didn’t seem too interested in all the good cheer, and she let out a big yawn before settling into a mid-air nap.

  Well, in spite of climate change and midterms, peaceful was good. We hadn’t had any world-shattering incidents over the past two weeks, which might be a new milestone. Yes, peaceful was very, very good.

  “Huh? What’s wrong, Rekka?”

  “Nothing... I was just thinking I’m getting totally jaded...”

  Thinking back on it now, too much had happened over the past half a year. Was there any other high school student born in Japan who could thoroughly appreciate these peaceful days more than I did? Okay, maybe that was being a bit dramatic.

  Anyway... most of my problems stem from me sticking my neck into things, so maybe I’m really just reaping what I sow.

  “Okay, then it’s settled. Rekka’s house after school. Make sure you let Harissa know too, Rekka.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I replied to Satsuki from where I lay sprawled across my desk.

  I wasn’t involved in any stories right now anyway. It would be as good a chance as any to try and catch up on my studies and act like a real student for once. Though I’d probably fall asleep midway.

  “We’ll have to ask Tsumiki if she’ll come along too later... Huh?”

  Suddenly, the cellphone in my pocket started to ring. I checked the caller ID before answering.

  “What’s up, Hibiki?”

  “You got a minute, Rekka?”

  “Yeah, but class is starting soon, so make it quick.”

  “Class is about to start here too. I’ll get straight to business,” Hibiki said without much preamble. “I want to borrow your power, Rekka.”

  “...”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  Well, that sure was an abrupt end to the peace... is what I was really thinking. But that’s how it always is, right? Here we go again.

  “What happened now?”

  I inquired as to her reason for wanting to borrow my power.

  “You see... Actually, this came from Chelsea. One of her friends seems to be in a bit of trouble.”

  If it was Chelsea-related, then maybe it was something about magic? Or maybe something about treasure hunting? I was hoping it was one or the other, because I didn’t really want to have to deal with the Margaret clan anymore. The current head of that clan, Nartessia, was generally a calm person, but extremely scary when angry...