I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 7 Read online

  Prologue 0-1: Mio Kotozuka

  “Thanks for coming to see my concert today, everybody!”

  The voice of the girl on stage echoed through the concert hall as the crowd began to roar her name. “MIO! MIO!” they cried. MIO was Japan’s top loli idol, and her popularity was undeniable. The 10,000-seat venue was filled to the brim with her fans.

  “I’m so happy to meet all of you! I hope you have a great time today!”

  “Hooraaay!”

  A deafening cheer erupted from the audience for MIO, a.k.a. Mio Kotozuka. She waved at her fans and took a deep breath, trying to exhale the exhaustion that was building up within her.

  Uh-oh... I think I’m a little dizzy.

  First it was the traveling, then the costume fitting, then the rehearsal, and now the concert itself. Of course she was taking breaks, but she was a petite girl with the stamina to match. She was in good shape because of her job, but she still had her limits. And even though she was starting to feel it get to her, she never stopped smiling in front of her fans.

  “All right, let’s kick things off with our first song!” she yelled.

  After a short pause, a cheerful song intro began to play. It was her hit single that had been used as the opening song to an anime. One of her music videos even had her cosplaying as the anime’s heroine, which was how many of her current fans had discovered her. As she started to sing, the crowd began waving their light sticks in unison. It was so pretty. Mio always loved to see it.

  Oh, but I do feel a little slow... Maybe...

  She was so tired, but all she wanted to do was sing. At least, that’s what she told herself.

  If I was doing a ballad, at least I wouldn’t have to dance.

  With a slow, emotional number, she’d look better if she just stood there and sang her heart out. They could dim the lights and use some smoke to set the perfect mood for a sad song. But unfortunately, the set list for today was nothing but anime themes and upbeat music, not ballads. It wasn’t that she couldn’t sing ballads, however. In fact, she thought they were one of her strong suits. Her debut song had been one... Granted, it hadn’t sold at all.

  No, wait... I need to focus.

  Mio tried to clear her mind and focus on her singing, but it didn’t work. It felt like the exhaustion was wearing down her concentration. She gazed out at the audience, almost glassy-eyed.

  Huh?

  When she did, she spotted a strange boy in the crowd. It wasn’t that what he was doing was strange... In fact, he wasn’t doing anything at all. He wasn’t dancing or waving a light stick. He was just staring at her.

  Of course, the other fans were staring at her intensely, too. But they were looking at MIO the singer, and he was... Somehow it felt like he was just looking at her.

  What’s with that guy? I’ve never seen him at any of the fan club meetings. He looks kind of grouchy... Is he in high school, maybe?

  The young boy didn’t even seem to be paying much attention to her song, which annoyed her a little.

  Oh, no!

  She lost her focus for a second, throwing her dancing out of sync. She quickly tried to get back into the rhythm, but it didn’t work. Mio mustered all the energy she had just to keep her singing in time with the music.

  Oh, jeez!

  She thought about just flinging her microphone at the boy that had thrown her off as she managed to make it through the end of the song. There was supposed to be a 30-second pause before the next number.

  But Mio never got to sing it. She couldn’t.

  Prologue 0-2: Ellicia Otto

  Ellicia had no parents. Of course, that’s not to say she sprouted out of the ground. Someone had given birth to her, sure, but there was no one she could truly call a parent.

  Fortunately (or not, she wasn’t sure), she only found herself alone after she was old enough to think for herself and manage subsistence on her own. If she’d been abandoned before that, she likely wouldn’t have survived.

  Living alone wasn’t easy, but fortunately (or not, she wasn’t sure about that, either) she had a special talent. The best way to describe it would be “wall walking.” She could walk through the walls of houses, buildings, or even bank safes like they simply weren’t there. She was what people would call a psychic.

  But that wasn’t the only interesting thing on her résumé. She was also a thief. At least for a time. Ellicia got out of the thievery business at the age of 13.

  Back then, she’d worked for the mafia. Her ability to sneak in anywhere to get information or steal things made her extremely valuable to them. She was treated well and didn’t have to suck up to the boss to survive. She was special. But it was exactly because she was so special that they were prepared to kill her at the first sign she might run away.

  Now, that wasn’t particularly an issue for Ellicia. She had nothing else to do, and she had no real plans for her life. If they were willing to keep her fed, she was planning on staying with them forever. That is, until someone came along one day and wiped them all out except for her.

  “We’ve come here for you.”

  “...?”

  Ellicia stared suspiciously at the man who offered her his hand. He was wearing a suit that was black, almost too black. The sharp look in his eyes, the scar on his cheek, the blood on his suit, and his apparently taciturn nature set off all kinds of red flags for her.

  “I’ve gotten offers from other families before, but none of them were this enthusiastic,” she eventually said.

  “I’m glad you understand our interest.”

  The man didn’t move so much as an eyebrow. She couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking.

  “Well, I never swore loyalty to this family. So if you’re willing to feed me, I’ll go with you... But I would like to know who my new owner is.”

  This man’s small group had wiped out an entire mafia family. Ellicia stayed on her guard as she observed him.

  If I’m willing to go just on appearances... Is he Japanese? Chinese?

  Each country’s underworld had its own traditions. If she unknowingly did something to offend him, there was a chance she might get hurt. And at this point, Ellicia was far more interested in keeping herself safe than running.

  When she’d said she’d go anywhere as long as they fed her, she was serious. Yet even so, she still wanted to know who she was dealing with.

  “Let me start by saying, Ellicia, that there is no need to categorize us as a ‘race’ like humans do. The bonds between us are bonds of the soul, not of blood.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about...?”

  It was only then that Ellicia realized how strange what she was hearing was.

  Huh? How does he know my name? And... it’s like he somehow knows what I’m thinking.

  “That’s right.”

  “Wh-What?”

  “I can read people’s minds. I’m a psychic. Like you.”

  “Like... me?”

  Ellicia’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

  “How did you know I’m a psychic?” she said, but then laughed at herself. It was a silly question to ask someone who could read minds.

  “Hmm. I said I read minds, but that’s not quite it. What I should have said is that I read people. Reading minds is only part of my power. More specifically, I can see the waves that humans unconsciously put out.”

  “Waves?”

  “Something like a signal from your soul. The waves normal humans and psychics emit differ in a very subtle way. I happened to see you in town, and your waves indicated you were a psychic. That’s how I knew.”

  There was no wa
y for Ellicia to tell if he was lying or not, but she decided to believe him. Regardless of how he knew, he did know she was a psychic. That much was clear, but there was still something she couldn’t make sense out of.

  “Okay. Then I understand how you knew who I was, but what’s this about coming to get me? And why did you wipe out an entire mafia family to do it?”

  “To save you from them, of course.”

  “...Huh?”

  They’d come to save her? Ellicia hadn’t really had any problem with the way she was being treated. There was no need for anyone to save her. And now the only people she had were gone again. It was going to be the same no matter where she went. She was always going to end up alone.

  “Yang, I’m about done here.”

  “I see. Good work, Lucy.”

  As Ellicia stood there in silence, the man’s associates gathered around him. The woman called Lucy looked at Ellicia and smiled a little. Then she suddenly disappeared.

  “Hi there.”

  Ellicia gasped as someone grabbed her from behind. She thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She turned around and saw Lucy standing there with the same smile still on her face.

  “As you can see, I’m another kind of psychic. A teleporter. I can’t jump that far, though. We’re all psychics, too, so relax.”

  “Relax...?”

  “Yes. We share a special bond. Around us, there’s no need to feel guilty about having a power that other people don’t. So, like I said... relax. From now on, we’re your family.”

  Ellicia gasped. The reason her parents had abandoned her was exactly because she had a power other people didn’t. It made her different. Creepy. Weird. And Lucy spoke like she knew... No, she’d probably gone through the same thing. Maybe all of them had.

  That would explain things. They had something that bound them together more than blood or words. It was a bond of the soul. A resonance, perhaps, that only those on the same wavelength could experience.

  “I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Yang Danshey,” the man said. “I’m the leader of this organization. Ellicia, I want you to come with us and join us.”

  The only part of what they’d said to Ellicia that bothered her was the part about saving her. While she wasn’t allowed to leave, she’d joined the mafia of her own free will. She was resigned to her life there and never asked for anyone’s help escaping. But apart from that, what these strange people said really struck a chord with her.

  Ellicia had wanted a home. She’d always hated herself for being abandoned by her parents. For not being normal. She’d thought she’d die of old age before anyone understood her. And yet now someone had appeared out of nowhere to tell her that she was wanted. That made her happy. That much, she was sure of.

  “All right, Yang. I’ll join you.”

  And so, a new line was added to her résumé. But Yang’s organization had no name. It was just “the organization.”

  “We don’t need a name to differentiate us from everyone else. Anyone can tell that we’re comrades” was what she’d been told.

  Everyone in the organization was a psychic, and they were all without a doubt her comrades. After Ellicia joined, they recruited a few more people, and their organization gradually, little by little, grew bigger.

  Yang, their leader, would risk his life for his comrades but was incredibly suspicious towards normal people. His distrust had saved them many times, but often it seemed to go too far. Ellicia tried to ask Lucy about it, but all she did was laugh nervously. She never got a real answer out of her.

  Of course, Ellicia didn’t have any real problem with the organization or Yang’s policies. They worked hard to protect psychics. Sometimes Yang would discover them himself, but more often, they would keep their ears to the ground about anyone with special powers and then go seek them out.

  As time went on, more and more of the psychics they brought in were younger than Ellicia. Many of them had been mistreated or abandoned by their parents, and she took care of them like they were little brothers and sisters. Her goal was for the organization to be a haven for all psychics, and that became her reason for helping Yang and Lucy.

  Of course, the organization was like a home to her, too. Yang, Lucy, and her little brothers and sisters were her family. She wanted to protect them no matter what. That’s why she never thought the day would come when she betrayed the organization.

  “Hahh... Hahh...”

  Ellicia gasped for breath as she ducked into an alley to escape the organization’s pursuers. She was in a town far away from the city centers of Japan.

  The organization often used ships to move about. While she was on one crossing the Pacific to get back to the organization’s base in China, she’d learned of Yang’s plan. She jumped ship on a lifeboat and made her way back to Japan.

  I never thought this would happen...

  Ellicia was almost in tears, but she kept a watchful eye on her surroundings. She had Lucy the teleporter and Ail the clairvoyant to worry about. Both of their powers were strong enough that they had lots of restrictions, but they could easily work together to find and catch her. Ellicia, on the other hand, only had the power to move through walls. It gave her an advantage in a chase, but that was about it. She was clearly at a disadvantage compared to the others. Yet even so, she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t let Yang get away with his terrifying plan.

  But... where do I go?

  She’d finally found a place to call home. Now that she’d given it up, where would she go? Ellicia asked herself, but no answer was coming.

  Prologue 0-3: Zaia Gardendos Corona

  The place once known as “the Dungeon of the Ruler” was a massive underground labyrinth with one hundred floors and countless traps. At the very bottom, however, its darkest depths held a girl who’d been sealed away there. Her name was Corona.

  Corona once had many names, and right now she was dreaming of a time she’d been called one in particular by the people of another world. They’d called her “hero.”

  A staff came down on Corona’s head.

  “That really hurts!”

  “Get yer durn head in the game, hero!”

  “Hnngh...”

  Corona turned her tearful eyes towards the holder of the staff—her traveling companion who was also the female wizard that had summoned her to this world.

  “Pastel!” Corona whimpered. “What was that for?!”

  “There’re some mountain vegetables growing there. I was sayin’ we should pick them together,” Pastel replied in her heavy accent.

  “What? You want me of all people to pick weeds? And to eat them?”

  “That’s ’zactly what I’m sayin’! Ya blew all the money the king gave us, so now we gotta get food ourselves!”

  “Hmph! You’re the first person to ever make such a foolish suggestion to me. Who do you think I am? I’m—”

  “Shaddup and do it!”

  SMACK!

  “That really hurts!”

  Pastel showed no mercy to anyone, not even a hero. She was also pretty strong for a wizard. Her staff was a force to be reckoned with in more ways than one.

  “Wh-Why you...”

  Corona wasn’t happy. It was all Pastel’s fault that she’d been summoned to this world and made to be this strange “hero.” In fact, when Corona first arrived and was asked to defeat the Demon King, she’d answered instantly: “Not happening. Send me back.”

  Pastel, the one who’d summoned her, had responded: “Only a genius like muhself can send ya back, but I’m ain’t doin’ it unless ya save my world.”

  No one had ever refused her before.

  “If ya wanna go back that badly, maybe I should make ya beg,” she’d suggested darkly. “If the Demon King invades, it’s all over, anyhoo. So, even if ya kill everyone but me, I’m not sendin’ ya back. Honestly, it would be faster to just kill the Demon King, if ya ask me.”

  Corona and Pastel glared at each other, threatened ea
ch other, and argued with each other for three days straight. And in the end, Corona gave in. She’d always been lazy, but she wasn’t stupid, and she did like fighting. She was also up against Pastel’s unrelenting stubbornness and the fact that it really would be faster to defeat the Demon King than to persuade her to change her mind.

  “Tch! I’m sick of this! I’ll just threaten that woman into sending me—Gyah!”

  “I heard that.”

  “Y-You...! Stop hitting me with the pointy part!”

  “Ya keep talkin’ like that, and dinner will be tree root soup.”

  “Anything but that!”

  Their whole journey had been like that, and she relived it now in a dream. Her sleeping lips whispered Pastel’s name with a smile.

  But this dream was endless for Corona. She would never wake up. Not until someone came and freed her from her seal.

  Prologue 0-4: Lyun Sylpheed

  There exists a magical realm called the spirit world. In its center lies the tiny village of Windsong Valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides.

  Two young wind spirit sisters were desperately running between the trees of those mountains, panting and out of breath.

  “Hahh... Hahh... Hahh...”

  “S-Sis... wait!”

  “Don’t stop! Just run!”

  Lyun scolded her younger sister, Sophie, as she pulled her along by the arm.

  “Rrrgh...”

  “Come on, just keep moving!” Lyun urged her sister on as she turned around.

  “Rrrgh...”

  “Hrrrgh...”

  “Rrragh...”

  Chasing after them were wind fairies, moaning oddly as they ran.

  The wind fairies, or sylphs, were smaller than the wind spirits. They were 30 or 40 centimeters tall at most, but some were even smaller. They had tiny wings and short limbs. Normally they were a cheerful race known for their charming laughter whenever the wind blew. But now their eyes were bright red, and the color had drained from their skin. Perhaps most unsettling of all was the constant groaning from their mouths, which hung slack.

  The two sisters ran as fast as they could, faces frozen in terror. Their bare feet were bleeding from running across so many twigs and exposed tree roots.