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

  The two girls were wind spirits, or sylpheeds. Spirits were more powerful than fairies. They could of course run faster and fly higher, too, but there were two things keeping the sisters from flying away right now.

  One was that the sky overhead was filled with other sylpheeds who’d gone mad, as well. Lyun was one of the more powerful spirits, but Sophie was still too young to have the power or speed she’d need to escape while flying, and Lyun certainly wasn’t going to abandon her.

  The other thing holding them back was maneuverability. Though sylpheeds could fly fast, they lacked precise control while doing so. So, while taking to the skies overhead wasn’t an option because of the maddened sylpheeds, trying to fly through the forest wasn’t a good idea, either. They could easily run into a tree and badly injure themselves.

  And so the sisters’ only choice was to escape by foot. Thankfully, it gave them something of an advantage. The tree cover helped keep them hidden from the sylpheeds overhead, and even if they were spotted, the sylpheeds were in such a crazed state that they would likely just crash into the trees before they got to them. Lyun was also confident that they could outrun the slower sylphs behind them now.

  But none of that solved the real problem. There were just far too many of them. Every time she tried to escape the valley, sylphs would appear and block her path. The two sisters lacked the stamina to get around them all and escape up the road out of the valley, so the only way to escape was to go back down into the valley, go back up a different side, hide to catch their breath, and then try again.

  Why... Why is this happening?!

  Lyun gasped. She knew the answer.

  It was the virus that was driving all the fairies and spirits crazy. Anyone infected by it went violently insane. They lost all sense of themselves and started to attack others. Worse yet, anyone who was bitten by an infected sylph or sylpheed also became sick and went on to attack others.

  It started with one, then spread to another, and within a day, the whole valley had been infected. Lyun thought it was too unbelievable to be true, but there was no denying what was right in front of her. The outbreak had already happened. Why wasn’t as important right now as how they were going to get out of this mess.

  “Big sis...”

  She had someone to protect.

  “Everything will be fine. Just don’t let go of your big sister,” Lyun said with as bright a smile as she could manage to comfort her sister.

  She was going to save Sophie no matter what it took. That’s what she told herself as she grabbed her little sister’s hand and held it tightly.

  Prologue 1 (July 20th)

  The rainy season was over, and exams were finished, meaning it was finally time for summer vacation—my first summer break as a high schooler. It was a time of hopes, dreams, and infinite possibilities. But in reality...

  “It’s just too hot...”

  Ever since the start of July, temperatures had been on the rise, and they were hitting new records almost every single day. It was only morning now, and it was still stupidly hot.

  “Can’t you just turn the air conditioner on?” R asked as she floated nonchalantly in the air.

  “No, Harissa doesn’t like it.”

  “But she’s not here right now, is she?”

  R was right. Harissa had left to go do some kind of magical experiment. And for some reason, she’d taken the remote control with her. Was that part of her experiment or something?

  “They say it’s bad for you if there’s too much of a temperature change when you go into a house. It can send even healthy people into a kind of shock.”

  “Well, if you don’t mind, I certainly don’t, but let me remind you that heatstroke is still possible indoors, so it might not be a bad idea to avail yourself of the blessings of modern civilization. Also, make sure you drink plenty of water.”

  “Are you my dad or something?”

  “I just don’t want you dying over something stupid. And besides, shouldn’t you have said ‘mom’ there?”

  “Yeah, well, my dad was the one who took on that role in my family. The stay-at-home type.”

  “I see.” R nodded, then seemed to remember something. “Which means that the last big hurdle for the heroines won’t be your mom, but your father, Jigen, right?”

  It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting her to say.

  “What?”

  “You know how it is, right? ‘If your miso soup tastes this bad, I can’t let you marry my son!’”

  “That’s what a mother-in-law would say...”

  “You never know. A stay-at-home dad might say it, too.”

  “Well, mine wouldn’t... He wouldn’t... He wouldn’t, right?”

  I started to feel less confident each time I said it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed frighteningly possible.

  “No, my dad would never... No. No way.”

  Ugh... Why did I have to imagine something so creepy?

  “Oh, isn’t this song...”

  “Hm?”

  I looked up to see what R was talking about. She was watching a commercial on TV with a bunch of idols at a concert hall.

  “This song has been playing a lot lately, hasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. MIO, right? She’s going on tour, isn’t she?”

  I wasn’t into idols, but I knew MIO. She was a petite, particularly young-looking pop star who’d made her debut two or three years ago. She was incredibly popular now, and it was understandable why. She had a great singing voice. The song playing from the TV was one of hers, and the commercial was a preview for her upcoming tour.

  “R, I didn’t know you were into music.”

  “Hmm, I’m not really. I’m usually watching variety shows when the music programs air, but I suppose I might be interested one day. If that happens, I look forward to your cooperation.”

  “Ugh...”

  That’s right. If R ever did get into music, I’d be the one who had to download songs for her. I could already imagine how expensive that would get.

  “At least wait until you’re done with your foreign dramas before you switch hobbies, okay?”

  “That won’t be for a while.”

  “I mean, you are watching 20 different series right now.”

  “If you’re willing to stay up with me, we could watch most of them this weekend.”

  “I need sleep, you know. Also, there’s the money...”

  “I’m sure.”

  As we chatted on about nothing of particular importance, something inexplicably fell down from the ceiling onto R’s head without warning.

  “Huh?”

  R was demi-material, and nobody but me could touch her, so it passed right through her and landed on the ground.

  “What’s that? A TV remote?”

  Actually, if I wasn’t mistaken, it was our TV remote. The very same one Harissa had walked off with earlier. As little question marks appeared above both our heads, I heard the sound of the front door opening.

  “Is that Harissa, you think?”

  “Probably.”

  As we guessed, Harissa appeared in the living room a few moments later. She was wearing a thin summer shirt and shorts. But she was also holding a big wooden staff, which seemed strangely out of place.

  “Sir Rekka, did the TV remote show up here?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s right there.”

  I pointed at the remote on the floor, and Harissa smiled brightly. Her cheeks were flush, but it didn’t look like it was just from the summer sun.

  “You said you were working on a magic experiment. Was it a success?”

  “Yes!” Harissa answered cheerfully as she picked up the remote.

  “Glad to hear it. What kind of magic is it?”

  “Um, do you remember a magic item called the Red Thread?”

  “The Red Thread... Is that the thing that lets you go back to your world?”

  Harissa had once given it to me. I’d used it to get back to her world after returning
to Earth.

  “More precisely, it uses the karmic bond between two people to connect them.”

  “Oh, is that how it works?”

  “Yes. People are connected by something called karma, and the closer they are, the stronger that connection is. The Red Thread follows that connection and brings one person to the other.”

  Huh...

  “That’s pretty interesting. You’ve heard of the red thread that connects lovers, right?” R asked.

  I nodded.

  “Do you know where that story comes from, then?”

  I shook my head.

  “Basically, there was a terrible monster that lived deep in a dungeon. In order to keep it from coming out and hurting people, the king would sacrifice someone to it every year. A hero appeared to defeat the monster, but the dungeon it lived in was no ordinary dungeon. It was a long, treacherous maze. People who went in never came out. So the princess, who was in love with the hero, gave him a long, red thread and said she’d hold on to one end and wait at the entrance for him. That way, the hero was able to defeat the monster and follow the thread back out of the dungeon.”

  “Interesting...”

  “What is, Sir Rekka?”

  “Oh! N-Nothing!”

  Oops. Harissa couldn’t see R, so it must’ve looked like I was talking to myself. I quickly tried to change the subject, but kicked myself a little. I needed to be more careful.

  “By the way, the hero and the princess split up after that.”

  “!”

  Gah! I almost laughed at such an unexpected twist of an ending. I glared at R to remind her not to do stuff like that to me when people were around, but she just ignored me.

  “So, anyway... what were we talking about? The Red Thread?”

  “Oh, yes. Um, it’s what I used as the inspiration for a new spell.”

  Ah, so that was where it came into play.

  “You see, the Red Thread connects two people through karma.” Harissa pointed to her chest, then mine. She seemed to be saying there was a connection between us. “I was curious if I could use a variation of that to connect different things, so I took apart the inner workings of the Red Thread and reformed it into a catalyst for a similar but different spell.”

  “How would that work?” I asked.

  She paused for a breath and declared, “Simple! It just follows the connection between two things!”

  Her eyes weren’t quite screaming, “Now tell me how awesome I am,” but she was beaming with confidence and pride. Me, on the other hand... I was baffled.

  “...”

  “...?”

  Harissa seemed confused by my lack of a response.

  “Sorry... I don’t really follow.”

  “No, I’m sorry. ‘The connection between two things’ is pretty vague, isn’t it?” Harissa stood up and cleared her throat, clearly ready to try explaining it to me again. “I believe I just told that you that people are connected by karma. Objects can sometimes be connected in much the same way.”

  “With karma?”

  “Yes. For example, I’ve used this staff for years, so there’s a strong connection between me and it. It’s one of my prized possessions, and we have something of a bond.”

  “Oh, I see. That kind of thing.”

  It was true that when you used something for years, even if it was just a mass-produced consumer good, it often became special to you. In that sense, I could see how you could develop a karmic bond with an object.

  “So... what’s with the remote, then? Everybody who lives here uses it.”

  From what Harissa had just said, it sounded like there needed to be a bond between a particular person and a particular thing.

  “That’s what’s special about the new spell I developed.” She puffed out her chest a little like she’d been waiting for that question. “Sometimes a thing can have a connection with a specific place rather than a specific person.”

  “A specific place?”

  “Yes. In the case of the remote, it has a special connection to this room.”

  “Hmm...” I mulled over what she was saying in my head. “So, let’s say I brought the flag home from school and used this new spell of yours on it. It would go right back to the flagpole at school?”

  “Probably, yes. Connections with people are stronger than connections with places, so if there was anyone who was particularly attached to that flag, it would go to them instead.”

  “Huh... In other words, you’ve created a spell that transports an object to the person or place it’s most strongly connected to?”

  “Exactly!”

  “Wow, you’re amazing, Harissa. Making your own spells like that...”

  “Heehee!”

  Harissa’s smile grew even brighter when I complimented her. She really had done something incredible, but there was one thing I still didn’t understand.

  “This is really cool and all, but what will you use it for? And you said you need some kind of... catalyst, right? Does that mean there’s a limit to how much you can use it?”

  “Yes. I only have the spare Red Threads I brought to this world with me, so I can only create two more catalysts with them,” she said with a nod.

  So this wouldn’t be like her other magic spells. She could only cast it two times... Well, three, if you included the experiment she’d just done. What was she planning on using it for?

  “So, um, Sir Rekka... I have a request...”

  “A request?”

  “Yes... I actually had a very specific reason for making this spell.” She hesitated for a moment and then looked up. “I’d like to go back home.”

  “Home? Like... to Aburaamu?”

  “Yes.”

  “H-How?”

  “If I use this magic on the Hero’s Sword, it should take me back to the castle there. It spent several centuries sealed underneath the castle, so it should have a powerful connection to the place.”

  “I see...”

  “The hero who originally used it has been dead for a long time, I’m sure, so the strongest connection now should be to that basement.”

  I’d once used the Red Thread to go to Aburaamu myself, so it wasn’t hard to imagine that her plan would work. The Red Thread was a powerful item, and was probably just as effective modified.

  “I came here without saying anything to anybody but the old lady who worked in the kitchen, so I want to see them again and let them know I’m okay.”

  “Yeah, I would, too.”

  Even if she was fitting in here, Harissa was still from another word. Iris and Rain were from deep space, but they could still go home anytime they wanted. Not Harissa. She was literally from another dimension, and she’d left her whole life behind there. It made perfect sense she’d want to go back.

  “All right... I’ll miss you, but okay.”

  “Huh?”

  “When are you going back? I’d like to get everyone together and have a farewell party or something first.”

  “W-Wait! Wait just a durn minute!”

  When she saw how sad I looked, Harissa began to flail her arms about.

  “H-Harissa?”

  “I didn’t mean forever! I’m just going back to pay a visit!” She drew her face right up against mine and emphasized the “visit” part. “I don’t want to leave you! Not ever! Don’t even joke about that, Sir Rekka!”

  “Okay, okay! I get it! Just calm down!” I yanked her off me. “Y-You’re just going back for a visit, and then coming back here?”

  “That’s what I meant the whole time! If I go back to Aburaamu, I can get all the materials for the catalyst I need. Then I can go between here and there as much as I want!”

  She had a good point. And if she could go back and forth freely, then there wasn’t really any difference between being from another world or being from outer space... or something? I was kinda starting to lose faith in my perspective on things.

  “I see.” I was relieved to know she wasn’t leaving for good. “Oka
y, I’ll get the Hero’s Sword out of the storehouse. How long do you think you’ll be gone? If there’s anything you need for the trip, I’ll go buy it with you.”

  “Um, about that...”

  “Hm? Oh, right. You said you had a favor to ask. What was it?”

  My misunderstanding had gotten the conversation a little off track, so she hadn’t yet told me what it was that she wanted.

  “Uh... Um...” She started to fidget and mumble. “I-I want you to come back with me...”

  “Oh, is that it? Sure.”

  It wasn’t like I’d expected her to ask for anything impossible, but this was easier than I thought it’d be.

  “A-And maybe I can introduce you to the elder of my village...”

  “Introduce me? Sure, I guess.”

  “That would be okay?”

  “Yeah. It’s not like it’s a big deal, right?”

  I didn’t really understand why, but maybe it was some kind of village tradition. I was an outsider, so maybe it was a good idea to introduce me to the village elder, anyway. Still, if that was all she wanted, there was no need to be so nervous about it.

  “Hmm... So that’s what this is?”

  R was mumbling about something, but I couldn’t ask her what with Harissa around. I just had to ignore her.

  ▽

  After promising Harissa I’d go home with her, I went out for a bit. I didn’t have any real reason, but I figured if there wasn’t any TV in the world Harissa was from, I might go to the bookstore by the station and get some light novels or manga or something. I headed there at a leisurely pace.

  “Rekka, Rekka. Don’t forget to get a portable DVD player,” R said.

  “Those are way too expensive,” I immediately responded.

  “But you’ll be there four or five days, right? What am I supposed to be doing then?”

  “I understand, but... Just put up with it, okay? I did just buy you a portable TV, in case you forgot.”

  There was no way I had the money for another splurge like that.

  “Hmm... When do you get your next allowance?” R asked, upset.

  “It’s always at the start of the month, so a little under two weeks, I guess.”