Chapter 10…
First Year, Section 1: Reunion
A New Fallen Star
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“You know… I had fun today. So, Maa-kun, will you… again—together…?”
Yui spoke while looking down, her words barely more than a whisper.
She must have held back a lot to choose those words. No matter how much I pushed her away, she wouldn’t give up and she worried about me.
She called me a friend.
Normally that would be met with, “That’s a good friend. Treasure them,” and that would be that.
But right now I hated that she was a good friend.
If we exchanged any more words, I felt like something inside me would break.
So I didn’t want to hear the sentence through to the end. I chose to run away from her.
I muttered a recognition-blocking chant to myself in a low voice, then put the bag I was carrying down on the ground.
That should make me unrecognizable to others here, including her. I crouched, put my left hand on the ground, and began to weave words.
“Earth. Earth that grants life peacefulness. Now, share that great power with me. Become a wall of earth that protects people from the miasma.”
A brown magic circle appeared under my left hand. The first-years of Seibō High and the supervising teachers here were enclosed by an earthen barrier.
Keeping a barrier of this size up is painful, as expected. But this wasn’t the time to complain.
I leapt toward the bus, landing on top of the earthen wall. I summoned my gear, slid in the plate, and covered my eyes with my left arm in the usual way.
“Star-armored life—”
My body was wrapped in light, and I donned armor that housed the power of constellations. I summoned my staff and spoke again.
“Fire. Fire, the symbol of human civilization. Now, share that great power with me. Become the flame that appears here and burns away all miasma that would harm people.”
A slightly larger-than-usual red magic circle bloomed at the staff’s tip. By designating the target, I increased its power. That also increased my star-power consumption, but getting everyone to safety came first.
I pointed the staff at the miasma and unleashed flames. In an instant, the miasma began to vanish.
Next, I designated two spots to the left and right of the earthen wall around me with my staff and moved away from there. Then I dispelled the earthen wall between those two designated points.
That opened a path to the bus. Once everyone got onto the bus and left this place, it would be over. Meanwhile, I had to reduce as much of the miasma as I could.
I dispelled the staff and dropped into the midst of the miasma horde.
Using a staff makes casting easier, but I could still use magic without it. And with this many enemies, it was faster to fight with strikes. I punched, kicked, and sent out spells, destroying the miasma.
But all I heard were confused voices. No one seemed to be moving.
“Why is no one moving?” I wondered—then someone shouted, “Everyone! Run to the bus!”
It was Yui’s voice. At her shout, the students began to move.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t protect everyone forever, so the sooner they escaped, the better for me too.
When I looked back at the miasma, there was still a lot left. I readied myself and increased my attack speed.
After a while I heard the bus engine recede in the distance. It seemed the bus had left.
At almost the same moment I eradicated the last of the miasma. I’d panicked when I was surrounded, but somehow I managed.
I let out a breath and relaxed.
But why had such a large amount of miasma appeared here? There had been nothing when I got off the bus.
Just as I had a moment to think beyond what was right in front of me, I sensed a loathsome presence.
It was the presence of a fallen star, but far darker and stronger than the others I’d faced.
Before I could even find the owner of that presence, a voice came.
“To protect that many people and defeat that amount of miasma at the same time… impressive.”
“Who are you? What do you want?”
“One question at a time. And it’s no fun if I tell you everything about myself right away, is it, Capricorn?”
…So it wasn’t going to be easy to get answers.
I turned my gaze toward the voice. If I couldn’t learn anything by questioning him, I’d get whatever information I could from looking.
A grotesque figure clad entirely in black. It was definitely a fallen star. But the last one that could speak so coherently was the Scales fellow.
…No, thinking about that now was a waste of time. What I needed to do now was identify the constellation he used.
Its body was covered in scales and it had something like a tail—maybe a serpent-type constellation, or perhaps Draco? But if it were Draco it’d be bulkier. It had no claws on hands or feet; if those were Draco’s limbs, they would be too feeble.
There are three serpent constellations; if it were Hydrus or the like, that would be the worst case. I didn’t have enough information yet.
I’d have to see other abilities first. For now, I had to avoid close range in case of poison, and I should cast anti-poison magic just in case.
After activating anti-poison magic without chanting, I asked him, “What’s your purpose?”
“Hm… I suppose I’ll tell you my purpose. To put it simply… I came to kill you. If I leave you as you are, you’re a nuisance. So I thought I’d kill you while I had the chance…”
If he had to “leave me as I am,” and “kill me while he had the chance”—
So was this the one who’d been behind the previous miasma and fallen stars? If I could take him down here, would no more miasma or fallen stars appear? If so, was he the cause of the magic anomalies being observed in Nebula City?
Questions multiplied. But first I had to beat the one in front of me. Other matters could wait.
I steeled myself and produced a staff with my right hand.
“If you can, try and do it. I’ll beat you here instead.”
“Hmm. Well then, entertain me.”
