I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 2 Page 5

  For a second, it seemed kind of gruesome, but maybe it was a good idea. That way, I’d be able to save both of them: Tetra’s village and Nozomiya.

  But that meant...

  “...I’ve gotta put up with this outfit, huh?”

  “That’s right.”

  Ugh... Well, compared to the stories of these two girls, my self-respect meant nothing... At least, that was what I told myself.

  “Okay, once we’re done preparing for our trip to Jizu Village, we’ll leave,” I said, trying my best to hide my embarrassment.

  “R-Right... Bwahaha!”

  “U-Um, okay! Heh! Please, Rekka... Don’t look at me with such a serious look on your face...”

  Tetra and Satsuki were laughing again.

  “Rekka, don’t do that. You’re a biological weapon capable of inflicting death by laughter on anyone who sees you now. We need to keep you in a dark, confined place so that you don’t hurt anyone.” R joined in and made things worse.

  I felt like I wanted to cry.

  We split up temporarily after deciding we’d all get ready and meet up again at the mountain behind school in an hour. That’s where the secret entrance to the underground was, supposedly.

  Evidently I could store my magical girl outfit inside my bracelet. Once I stowed it, I was back in my school uniform. It was convenient, but I wish I’d been told before the girls laughed at me.

  But the biggest problem wasn’t my clothes. It was Nozomuno.

  It was late, so when I told her that we were going home, she didn’t really mind. But when I told her that I wouldn’t be able to come to Nozomiya for the next few days, she jumped down my throat.

  “What? You said you’d help me at school! Did you give up on the first day?!”

  “No, it’s not like that... You saw that Tetra girl, right? She’s apparently a foreign chef, and she’s come all the way to Japan to find a legendary ingredient in the depths of the Fuji jungle.” I fed her every excuse I could think of, but Nozomuno only glared at me more. “So I asked her to let me go with her. If we get the legendary ingredient, we might be able to win Food Champion.”

  “Liar!”

  “I’m serious!” It was an obvious lie, but for now it was the only thing I had.

  “...!”

  Wham!

  Tsumiki slammed her fists down hard onto the restaurant table, glaring at me with eyes that were a little teary.

  “Tell me the truth. You’re leaving because there’s no way for me to win, right?!”

  “That’s not true,” I answered immediately.

  On the contrary, I had no intention of abandoning Tsumiki. But she continued to glare at me suspiciously.

  “You keep saying that... But what’s the real reason?”

  “The reason?”

  “That’s right! Tell me why you’re helping me! Otherwise, I don’t know if it’s okay to trust you!”

  The reason I wanted to help her, huh...?

  Because she was a heroine, and I’d been caught up in her story. That was probably why.

  At least, that’s how it had started.

  “You’re really stubborn, and you try to do everything yourself, but you work really hard, don’t you? Even if you’re terrible at it, you’re trying your best to come up with a new menu item.”

  “...Why are you suddenly complimenting me? You can’t fool me, you know.”

  “I’m not trying to fool you.”

  There was no way a kid could do something to get a restaurant’s finances back on track, anyway. Sure, it was her family, so it made sense that she’d be worried, but how many kids would actually try to do something about it? I wasn’t sure I would.

  Even as high school students, we were still just kids. And it’s normal for a kid to depend on their parents—but Tsumiki wasn’t normal.

  “To be honest, I think it’s amazing. I like that about you.”

  “What?!”

  “I like people like you. So I want to help you... Wait, are you okay?”

  “Nwaaah?!” Tsumiki jumped backward in her chair, screaming in a weird voice.

  “Tsumiki?”

  “St-Stay away from me!”

  I took a step forward, concerned, but she hissed at me. What was her problem?

  She took several deep breaths, but evidently it wasn’t enough to calm her down. She put her hands on her cheeks and turned away.

  “H-How can you say something so embarrassing like that?!”

  “Hmm?”

  Was it that strange to like people who worked hard? I thought it was pretty normal...

  “...Fine. I’m not REALLY sure that I trust you, but just this once, I’ll believe you.” Her voice was cracking a little, and she was still looking away.

  “I understand. Sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Y-You’re just my taste tester anyway! It doesn’t matter whether you’re here or not! I’m gonna practice cooking a lot, so... come back as soon as you can, okay?”

  “Yeah, got it.” I nodded firmly and left Nozomiya.

  Tsumiki never did say goodbye. She didn’t even turn around.

  Had I said something to upset her? I couldn’t help but wonder as I got home. I needed to get ready, and fast.

  “I’m back!”

  “Oh, welcome back, Rekka! Will you eat first? Or would you like to take a bath?”

  Harissa’s slippers flapped against the floor as she ran towards me. Her bunny apron was hopping left and right.

  And then all of a sudden... Grrrumble!

  Her tummy growled adorably.

  “Oh! Oh, no, how embarrassing!”

  Harissa’s face was bright red as she covered up the bunny on her apron with both hands. It was as if the bunny had made a noise. It was kind of cute.

  “I told you on the phone that I’d be late, right? You should’ve eaten without me.”

  “Yes, but... I wanted to eat with you, Sir Rekka.”

  Her face was still red as she fidgeted and fiddled with the edges of her apron. It made me happy to hear her say that, but I also felt a little guilty.

  “I’m sorry. I have something really important to do. I have to leave right away.”

  “What?!” Harissa’s cry was more in shock than protest.

  “I’m really sorry.”

  I threw off my shoes in the front hall and grabbed a large rucksack from one of the shelves. I stuffed it mostly with water and food—supposedly it was a long way to the bottom of the earth. And just in case, I grabbed a spare pair of shoes and a flashlight, along with anything else I thought I’d need.

  I thought about taking the Hero’s Sword, but decided against it. I still didn’t know how to use a sword, and that thing could only cut through magic. It wasn’t for slaying real monsters. It wouldn’t really work well with my magical girl power either, and I figured it was probably best not to take anything that wasn’t necessary.

  “Oh, man, I’ve gotta hurry.”

  I slung the rucksack over my shoulder and headed for the front door. Harissa was waiting for me.

  “Sir Rekka. I know you’re busy, but where are you headed at this hour?”

  She must’ve been worried about where I was going, given the way I was acting. Her eyebrows were arched and she was staring at me uneasily.

  “Um...”

  If I told Harissa I was going underground to fight a monster, she’d probably say she wanted to come with me...

  I’d have to use my last resort.

  I slid past Harissa, slipped my feet into my shoes, and ran out the door.

  “Wait! Sir Rekka!”

  “You don’t have to make food for me until I come back! See you later!”

  “W-Wait! Waah!”

  As she tried to follow me, Harissa tripped. It hurt to watch her fall to the ground, but I was doing this to keep her safe. I swallowed my tears and kept running.

  Of course, the sack was so heavy that I ran out of steam pretty quickly.

  “Hahh, hahh, hahh...”r />
  To be sure, I turned around to look, but didn’t see Harissa anywhere. I decided to walk the rest of the way.

  ▽

  I was surprised to learn there was a path to the underground in the mountain behind the school, but I was even more surprised how hard the path was to follow. There were plenty of steep inclines and rocks of all sizes, so it was practically all I could do to keep myself from tripping all over the place. Even with Bah’s magic lighting up the area, it was dark, cramped, and mentally exhausting.

  A ways into our journey, however, the ceilings got higher and the pathway widened. With more room to walk, it wasn’t as bad as some of the other stretches. But according to Tetra, the walls here were fragile, and we needed to watch for falling rocks that might hit us. We still couldn’t let our guard down.

  “How long have we been walking...?” I asked nobody in particular.

  “I think it’s been about ten hours...” Satsuki was pretty tired, too.

  “Hahh... Hahh...” Tetra was barely even able to breathe anymore, let alone answer me. She looked like she’d be more used to the underground, but she didn’t have any strength.

  “Hang in there, guys,” Bah said.

  “Rekka, the only male characters who are allowed to be weak are pretty boys,” R added.

  It was easy enough for her to say since she was floating. Who asked her, anyway?

  “Man, it would be so much easier if I could transform into a magical girl.”

  This subterranean path was treacherous enough for me to put aside my pride. And if I transformed, I could probably carry both of them...

  “Like I said before, I don’t recommend it. The magical girl ensemble is intended for one short, final battle. Just using it drains your physical and magical energy. You should hang in there as long as possible,” Bah warned.

  If only he’d made me something with better fuel efficiency...

  Damn, this was hard.

  “I’m amazed you made it up to the surface after you lost your light and food, Tetra. You had to walk uphill to get there, right?” I asked Tetra with as much respect in my heart as I could muster.

  “Y-Ywes!”

  “Sorry. You don’t have to force yourself to talk.”

  “Hahh... Hahh... No... I wanted to save the village... Hahh... Hahh...”

  Both her head and her limbs were shaking a little, and her eyes were blurry and out of focus. We were taking regular breaks, but she’d been like this for the past few hours.

  Even so, it was this diminutive girl who wanted to hurry more than anyone.

  “You really do care about your village, huh?”

  “Hwath?”

  “No, never mind. I was talking to myself.”

  Both Tsumiki and Tetra were carrying such heavy burdens on their tiny little shoulders. I wanted to help them as much as I could. I wanted to save both of their stories. I really did.

  But just then...

  Bah’s light went out abruptly.

  “What? What happened?!”

  “Is it Leviathan?!”

  We started to panic in the sudden darkness, when... Clatter!

  Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was just good karma, but I heard the noise in time.

  “Watch out!”

  “Huh?!” Satsuki raised her voice in surprise.

  It was enough for me to tell where she was, and I leaped forward to knock her out of the way. The crashing sound of falling rocks hit my ears just a few moments later.

  “Oww... Satsuki, are you okay?”

  “Oh... yeah. Um, Rekka... You’re really close.”

  As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see Satsuki’s face right in front of mine.

  “Wah! Sorry!” I quickly jumped off of her.

  “It’s okay...” Her voice was like a whisper as she gently stood up. She wouldn’t look at me at all.

  Gyah, how awkward!

  “Tch. Just needed another centimeter, huh?”

  R, shut up! And what difference would a centimeter have made?!

  “Wait, that sound...” I turned around.

  Just like I thought, a rock had fallen from the wall and landed right where Satsuki was standing.

  I was glad I was able to react so quickly... I should’ve thanked my ears for being so sharp.

  “Rekka! Satsuki! Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. What about you two?”

  Tetra’s eyes had begun to shine in the darkness, and I could see her and Bah coming toward me.

  “Bah, what happened to the light?”

  “Sorry, sorry. I got a bug in my eye.”

  “Huh? Seriously? A bug? Come on, be careful!”

  And then, a scraping sound...

  “Wh-Who’s there?” Maybe my senses were heightened after what had just happened, but I responded instantly to the noise behind me.

  “Aah... Aauuh...”

  “Oh?”

  Where I thought there would be an enemy, there was just a cute voice—one I knew quite well.

  A moment later, a flame the size of a fist appeared in the air and illuminated the underground passage.

  And from the darkness stepped—“H-Harissa?”—the young sorcerer that I thought I’d left at home.

  She had used her invisibility spell to follow me this whole way.

  “I-I’m sorry! You were acting strange, and I got worried... so... I’m sorry.”

  “...No, I should’ve explained myself. Sorry.”

  I didn’t want to get Harissa caught up in a dangerous story, but I’d managed it anyway. Was I an idiot?

  “Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t exactly send Harissa back on her own in this place, can we? She didn’t mean any harm, so let’s take her with us.”

  “Honestly, I wish you’d stayed home, too, Satsuki.”

  Of course I didn’t want to put my childhood friend in danger either. Things were already getting pretty dicey.

  “I’m the one who brought Tetra to you. I’m following you whether you like it or not.”

  “Ugh...” There didn’t seem to be much point in saying anything else, so I just shrugged. “Fine. Harissa, it’s dangerous, so don’t get too far away from me.”

  “R-Right! Thank you, Sir Rekka! And thank you, Satsuki!”

  Sheesh... It was hard to stay tense seeing how excited Harissa was.

  Well, when I had to fight the Monster, I could still do it by myself. Everyone would be safe that way.

  “Okay, Harissa, can you light the path the rest of the way? I don’t trust Bah to do it anymore.”

  “Haha... That’s so mean.”

  “I’m serious, though. So yeah, it’s your job now, Harissa.”

  “Right! Leave it to me!” Harissa responded energetically and summoned a larger ball of flame from her staff. The fire lit up a wide area of the passageway, and I could finally see my feet clearly.

  And so the four of us (plus one animal) headed further down the tunnel where we would reach our destination several hours later.

  Chapter 3: Prayers and Betrayal

  “All right, let’s go slay this monster!” Bah’s voice was still cheerful when we reached Jizu Village, but...

  “Not happening...” I said.

  “My calves are so stiff...” Satsuki said.

  “I can’t stand up without holding my staff...” Harissa said.

  Tetra just panted.

  By the time we reached the mole people village, we were all far too exhausted to go fight any monsters.

  “Hmm... Well, the seal’s weakening, but it’s not going to break any time in the next day or two, so I guess it’s safe to take a rest.”

  “You can tell, Bah? We’re still at the entrance to the village, right?”

  Tetra had said that the Hall of Sealing was in the temple at the back of the village.

  “I can get a basic idea, yeah,” Bah replied.

  Well, I wanted a break anyway, so I wasn’t going to complain.

  We entered J
izu Village, feeling a little better. It was a small settlement in a cavern that opened up underground. It almost gave the whole village the feeling of being inside a huge gym.

  The domed roof buildings were made of stone and dirt. There weren’t a lot of them, and they were all small.

  “There aren’t many people here,” I said to myself as I walked through the town.

  “That’s right. The village can’t get any bigger than the cave, so the population just naturally doesn’t grow.” Tetra looked a little upset when she spoke.

  “By the way, what is it that’s illuminating this village? It’s not fire, and can’t be electricity...”

  Now it was Tetra’s turn to explain.

  “The light has no source. It’s a blessing from God. The whole village is always surrounded by light.”

  “What do you do when you want to sleep?’

  “Huh? We close our eyes.”

  I guess they just got used to it.

  A man—probably a villager—approached. We bowed a little to each other, and then he kept walking. He just took a glance at us and went his way.

  “...That’s a very different response than from when I was in the other world.”

  Everybody had stared at me then.

  Tetra and the villagers were quite pale, but the sun had tanned our skin and made it a different color. He should’ve been able to tell instantly that we were outsiders. Did he just not care about other people? As I pondered this, Tetra halted at the head of the line.

  “This is the Jizu Village shrine.”

  “Huh...”

  I looked up at the building, which was significantly larger than any of the others.

  It reminded me of a smaller version of Greek temples that I’d seen in history or art books. But it was still much bigger than the other houses, and there were carvings on the roof and pillars. The materials it was made out of didn’t seem to have been excavated from underground.

  “It’s like someone just brought this down here.”

  “There was a time I tried to research it, although I didn’t learn much. This is another one of God’s blessings, so I think that might have something to do with it.”

  “I see.”

  I was still a little curious, but more than anything else, I just wanted to rest.

  Since there wasn’t any kind of inn in Jizu Village, we decided to rest in an open room at the temple. Tetra ordered the villagers to bring us beds, then escorted us to the room, but...