“What’s this?”
“I don’t know. What the heck is this thing?”
With a soft tap from Suzumoto’s sword sheath,
“Squeak,”
…the creature uttered a single sound and then vanished into thin air.
All that was left behind was an indistinct color of light’s residue.
“…What is this?”
“…Don’t know.”
Thus, we had eliminated the first source of calamity.
“…Have we done something irretrievable?”
The unclear colored light eventually disappeared, leaving no trace that anything had ever happened here.
“Hey, don’t say scary things like that, Maido-san.”
“What if that mysterious creature was something we shouldn’t have killed?”
I mean, come on, it just popped out, got lightly tapped, and then disappeared with a squeak? It felt less like we did something and more like we accidentally erased it!
“No, but, it does match the temple’s description of ‘defeating the source of evil,'”
President might say that but…
“It felt less like we defeated it and more like it just fell over…”
Kadomi-kun was absentmindedly poking at the ground where the mysterious creature had been, looking somewhat forlorn.
…That was precisely the mood.
“We’ll know if what we did was right when we go check the abyss tomorrow,”
President mediated, and with that, somewhat ambiguous…kind of a lingering feeling, we decided to go back and sleep.
After all, there was no other way to confirm it.
So, it’s morning. Good morning.
Despite sleeping with Ketorami-san as both a futon and blanket, I ended up waking up hot under Marbello as the blanket again. I wish they would stop.
For breakfast, I opted for a Western meal.
Bread, fluffy and creamy scrambled eggs, and a minestrone soup that had been well-cooked so the flavors melded nicely.
Minestrone always tastes better on the second day or later, the flavors becoming milder.
…Yeah. I ended up warming up a huge batch I had made a while ago and stored in the physics lecture room…
You know, soups and stews taste better when made in large quantities… It can’t be helped.
After breakfast, Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun went to the abyss.
Why those two? Because they’re the only ones who can ride something that flies and move at high speeds.
It would have been convenient if someone who could “appraise” could fly, but well, I won’t be too demanding. Yeah.
I also made a saddle for Shuura-san.
It was designed to be slimmer and more delicate than Tera-san’s. I thought it wouldn’t be right to have a saddle that detracts from Shuura-san’s charm. Yeah.
After sending the two and the two beasts off to the abyss, the rest of us were on standby.
The others could have gone back to searching for the source of evil, but it was deemed too risky to go without Kadomi-kun, an excellent balance-type attacker, and Hagasaki-kun, our magic attacker.
You see, if we encountered something that only magic could affect, not having Hagasaki-kun would be fatal, and conversely, if we ran into something super hard that magic couldn’t scratch, not having Kadomi-kun would be just as bad.
So, we were waiting for their contact…and somehow, restlessly fidgeting around.
…Fidgeting while playing sevens, so maybe we weren’t that unsettled, but maybe we were.
[It’s there.]
Suddenly, the “Communication” bracelet lit up, and upon activation, this was the message we received.
[…Same as before, in the blue flower field.]
It was there! That means, eliminating that mysterious creature was the right thing to do!
“How much of it is there?”
However, even if it was found, it would be disappointing if the amount was only 1mg.
[Er…um, just come over.]
Oh, it seems to be an amount that’s complicated to explain.
“Maido-san, could you taxi us there?”
“Got it.”
For now, I’ll take President and “teleport.”
“Ah, they’ve arrived.”
“President, it’s this.”
Looking in the direction Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun were pointing, there was… well… yes.
“It was quite a small amount.”
“…Right?”
A modest pile of “Abyss Ash,” just sitting there…
“By the way, how many spirit medicines can this make?”
“Not even one.”
Ah, that’s no good!
“It’s far from enough for what Carissa-san asked for.”
Ahhhhh… well, fortunately, there are still nine more sources of calamity…
So, we returned.
And then, we decided to plant “Azure Seeds” in the sources of calamity again, aiming to eliminate about three more and increase the “Abyss Ash.”
Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun, as usual, were still on standby in the abyss.
They want to see the moment the “Abyss Ash” appears. Lucky them.
This time, we just went outside casually.
We already knew it would only be disappointing creatures popping out…
“Let’s go then.”
When President plants the seed again, the flower blooms, glows like yesterday, and… huh, the sensation seems slightly different…
“…Maybe we’ve been misunderstanding something.”
I can understand why President would say that.
When the light settled, what was there was…
“Pugyuu!”
…a creature of an indistinct color, about the size of a small balance ball.
It didn’t seem very soft to the touch, “puni,” but it was still somewhat soft, and poking it didn’t make it disappear.
“…Hey, what do we do with this?”
“Just have Suzumoto hit it again.”
When Suzumoto prodded it with his sword sheath, the creature seemed to get angry and threatened the sheath.
“Pugyaaa!”
Then, raising its voice, it struck the sheath with its hand-like part.
Meanwhile, Suzumoto didn’t flinch… implying that was all the power it had.
“Wow, it’s cute.”
Katori, seemingly charmed by its actions, happily began poking and playing with the mysterious creature.
“Pugyaa! Pugyaa!”
The mysterious creature seemed to dislike being poked, resisting Katori’s hand, but Katori was undeterred.
Continuously poking and petting, drawn by Katori’s actions, Harui also started to poke and pet.
At that point, it seemed the mysterious creature reached its limit of tolerance…
“Pugyuu.”
It vanished with a “doron,” leaving behind only a residue of light…
“Ah, it disappeared.”
“It was cute, though.”
Well, we had to make it disappear, didn’t we!
[It came down.]
[It might be more than before.]
Then, once again, we received a message from Hagasaki-kun and Kadomi-kun, and I teleported with President.
Indeed, upon inspection, the “Abyss Ash” seemed to be more abundant than before.
“When we planted the ‘Azure Seed’ in the source of calamity earlier, a larger and more aggressive creature than the one that appeared yesterday came out.”
“Wow, so the amount of ‘Abyss Ash’ might vary depending on the size of the creature we eliminate.”
…Well, that’s fortunate, but still.
“The problem is, we still don’t have enough ‘Abyss Ash.’ And I wonder what size of creature will come out next time we eliminate one.”
From a soccer ball to a balance ball, next is… what could it possibly be?
“It’d be fine if they just get bigger, but if they become stronger and more aggressive, eliminating the sources of calamity will become a real hassle.”
Hagasaki-kun looked displeased as he gazed at the “Abyss Ash.”
…Ah, I sincerely hope this prediction doesn’t come true…
Seriously, if a huge one comes out and we have to engage in battle, missing the strength of these two would be problematic, so they also returned with me.
“How was it?”
“We found ‘Abyss Ash.’ It’s more than the first time.”
As Hagasaki-kun explained, it seems they were discussing similar things in the abyss as we were here.
Basically, “If we keep eliminating the sources of calamity, might we eventually encounter a monster so strong and huge we can’t handle it?”
…But without doing this, we can’t revive the choir members.
Well, then, there’s only one thing to do.
“Let’s go, then.”
Hoping our predictions are wrong, everyone watched as President planted another “Azure Seed” in a source of calamity.
…And as the flower bloomed and light overflowed, Hagasaki-kun, being cautious, created an “Ice Wall” around the source to encase it.
And when the light that had spilled over finally settled, what we saw was…
“…Bingo!”
Trapped in a thick ice box and squished tight was a huge, monstrous creature.
No matter how thick, ice is still ice.
It made a disturbing creaking noise before the ice walls shattered, and rather… it kind of attacked us like grenade shrapnel.
One piece gouged out my forearm, which startled me.
Well, since I had a maid doll that could use “Heal,” it was completely healed in a few seconds. Yeah.
The creature that came out seemed to be somewhat human-shaped.
Two arms, two legs, and something that resembled a head.
It was about… slightly over 2 meters tall, I guess.
However, it was colored like the source of calamity, with no face or anything.
…Well, you know.
That means, it’s not a dog, so it’s not my turn to act!
“Since it’s not a dog, I’ll evacuate.”
“Ah, please do!”
Before becoming a burden, I quickly evacuated inside the classroom and decided to watch from the window.
…Ah, yeah, it seems to be attacking quite a bit. It resembles magic, but it’s not magic.
It doesn’t seem to be nullified by “Magic Immunity.”
But, without much trouble, it disappeared after about a dozen hits.
…Hmm.
“Good work.”
“…I wonder if the next one will be even stronger.”
Katori looked worried, but I think it probably will be.
However, if this amount of “Abyss Ash” is sufficient, that would be ideal.
If it’s enough, we won’t need to eliminate any more sources of calamity.
…That’s what I thought, but before checking, it’s time for lunch.
For lunch, we have dumplings and fried rice.
Eating quietly, the atmosphere still feels heavy.
Yeah, a soccer ball turned into a balance ball, and then it became 2 meters tall… What if the next one is about 4 meters tall?
“…President, just estimate. How many more sources do we need to eliminate before we reach our goal amount of ‘Abyss Ash’? Oh, can you pass the vinegar?”
“Here you go.”
“Well, I think we need to eliminate two more. Next, could you pass the vinegar to me?”
Oh, so that means… after two more… it’s going to be ridiculously huge…?
“Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it… How big do you think it’ll get?”
Right. If it doubles each time, 8 meters, huh?
…8 meters…
Thinking about it seemed to have dampened everyone’s spirits, as faces grew somber.
It’s understandable, as size does correlate with strength to a certain extent…
It’s likely to be incredibly strong.
It’s disheartening… even though I’m not the one fighting.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to… Ah, mom, can you pass the soy sau… ah…”
…
Everyone’s gloomy expressions turned warm as they looked toward Hariu.
Hariu himself remained frozen, his face stiff.
“…Maido-san, the soy sauce… aaaaaaaah! Sorry! I’m really sorry! Aaaaah!”
At that, it seemed everyone reached a breaking point, either bursting into laughter, turning away, or shaking with mirth.
As for me… I just gave a warm smile and a thumbs up.
Yeah, it happens. Accidentally calling the teacher mom can be super embarrassing. I get it.
…At least, it lifted the gloomy mood. Yep. That’s a good thing.
…Though it was unfortunate for Hariu, it’s true what they say, other people’s misfortunes can be incredibly sweet.
“What’s this?”
“I don’t know. What the heck is this thing?”
With a soft tap from Suzumoto’s sword sheath,
“Squeak,”
…the creature uttered a single sound and then vanished into thin air.
All that was left behind was an indistinct color of light’s residue.
“…What is this?”
“…Don’t know.”
Thus, we had eliminated the first source of calamity.
“…Have we done something irretrievable?”
The unclear colored light eventually disappeared, leaving no trace that anything had ever happened here.
“Hey, don’t say scary things like that, Maido-san.”
“What if that mysterious creature was something we shouldn’t have killed?”
I mean, come on, it just popped out, got lightly tapped, and then disappeared with a squeak? It felt less like we did something and more like we accidentally erased it!
“No, but, it does match the temple’s description of ‘defeating the source of evil,'”
President might say that but…
“It felt less like we defeated it and more like it just fell over…”
Kadomi-kun was absentmindedly poking at the ground where the mysterious creature had been, looking somewhat forlorn.
…That was precisely the mood.
“We’ll know if what we did was right when we go check the abyss tomorrow,”
President mediated, and with that, somewhat ambiguous…kind of a lingering feeling, we decided to go back and sleep.
After all, there was no other way to confirm it.
So, it’s morning. Good morning.
Despite sleeping with Ketorami-san as both a futon and blanket, I ended up waking up hot under Marbello as the blanket again. I wish they would stop.
For breakfast, I opted for a Western meal.
Bread, fluffy and creamy scrambled eggs, and a minestrone soup that had been well-cooked so the flavors melded nicely.
Minestrone always tastes better on the second day or later, the flavors becoming milder.
…Yeah. I ended up warming up a huge batch I had made a while ago and stored in the physics lecture room…
You know, soups and stews taste better when made in large quantities… It can’t be helped.
After breakfast, Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun went to the abyss.
Why those two? Because they’re the only ones who can ride something that flies and move at high speeds.
It would have been convenient if someone who could “appraise” could fly, but well, I won’t be too demanding. Yeah.
I also made a saddle for Shuura-san.
It was designed to be slimmer and more delicate than Tera-san’s. I thought it wouldn’t be right to have a saddle that detracts from Shuura-san’s charm. Yeah.
After sending the two and the two beasts off to the abyss, the rest of us were on standby.
The others could have gone back to searching for the source of evil, but it was deemed too risky to go without Kadomi-kun, an excellent balance-type attacker, and Hagasaki-kun, our magic attacker.
You see, if we encountered something that only magic could affect, not having Hagasaki-kun would be fatal, and conversely, if we ran into something super hard that magic couldn’t scratch, not having Kadomi-kun would be just as bad.
So, we were waiting for their contact…and somehow, restlessly fidgeting around.
…Fidgeting while playing sevens, so maybe we weren’t that unsettled, but maybe we were.
[It’s there.]
Suddenly, the “Communication” bracelet lit up, and upon activation, this was the message we received.
[…Same as before, in the blue flower field.]
It was there! That means, eliminating that mysterious creature was the right thing to do!
“How much of it is there?”
However, even if it was found, it would be disappointing if the amount was only 1mg.
[Er…um, just come over.]
Oh, it seems to be an amount that’s complicated to explain.
“Maido-san, could you taxi us there?”
“Got it.”
For now, I’ll take President and “teleport.”
“Ah, they’ve arrived.”
“President, it’s this.”
Looking in the direction Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun were pointing, there was… well… yes.
“It was quite a small amount.”
“…Right?”
A modest pile of “Abyss Ash,” just sitting there…
“By the way, how many spirit medicines can this make?”
“Not even one.”
Ah, that’s no good!
“It’s far from enough for what Carissa-san asked for.”
Ahhhhh… well, fortunately, there are still nine more sources of calamity…
So, we returned.
And then, we decided to plant “Azure Seeds” in the sources of calamity again, aiming to eliminate about three more and increase the “Abyss Ash.”
Kadomi-kun and Hagasaki-kun, as usual, were still on standby in the abyss.
They want to see the moment the “Abyss Ash” appears. Lucky them.
This time, we just went outside casually.
We already knew it would only be disappointing creatures popping out…
“Let’s go then.”
When President plants the seed again, the flower blooms, glows like yesterday, and… huh, the sensation seems slightly different…
“…Maybe we’ve been misunderstanding something.”
I can understand why President would say that.
When the light settled, what was there was…
“Pugyuu!”
…a creature of an indistinct color, about the size of a small balance ball.
It didn’t seem very soft to the touch, “puni,” but it was still somewhat soft, and poking it didn’t make it disappear.
“…Hey, what do we do with this?”
“Just have Suzumoto hit it again.”
When Suzumoto prodded it with his sword sheath, the creature seemed to get angry and threatened the sheath.
“Pugyaaa!”
Then, raising its voice, it struck the sheath with its hand-like part.
Meanwhile, Suzumoto didn’t flinch… implying that was all the power it had.
“Wow, it’s cute.”
Katori, seemingly charmed by its actions, happily began poking and playing with the mysterious creature.
“Pugyaa! Pugyaa!”
The mysterious creature seemed to dislike being poked, resisting Katori’s hand, but Katori was undeterred.
Continuously poking and petting, drawn by Katori’s actions, Harui also started to poke and pet.
At that point, it seemed the mysterious creature reached its limit of tolerance…
“Pugyuu.”
It vanished with a “doron,” leaving behind only a residue of light…
“Ah, it disappeared.”
“It was cute, though.”
Well, we had to make it disappear, didn’t we!
[It came down.]
[It might be more than before.]
Then, once again, we received a message from Hagasaki-kun and Kadomi-kun, and I teleported with President.
Indeed, upon inspection, the “Abyss Ash” seemed to be more abundant than before.
“When we planted the ‘Azure Seed’ in the source of calamity earlier, a larger and more aggressive creature than the one that appeared yesterday came out.”
“Wow, so the amount of ‘Abyss Ash’ might vary depending on the size of the creature we eliminate.”
…Well, that’s fortunate, but still.
“The problem is, we still don’t have enough ‘Abyss Ash.’ And I wonder what size of creature will come out next time we eliminate one.”
From a soccer ball to a balance ball, next is… what could it possibly be?
“It’d be fine if they just get bigger, but if they become stronger and more aggressive, eliminating the sources of calamity will become a real hassle.”
Hagasaki-kun looked displeased as he gazed at the “Abyss Ash.”
…Ah, I sincerely hope this prediction doesn’t come true…
Seriously, if a huge one comes out and we have to engage in battle, missing the strength of these two would be problematic, so they also returned with me.
“How was it?”
“We found ‘Abyss Ash.’ It’s more than the first time.”
As Hagasaki-kun explained, it seems they were discussing similar things in the abyss as we were here.
Basically, “If we keep eliminating the sources of calamity, might we eventually encounter a monster so strong and huge we can’t handle it?”
…But without doing this, we can’t revive the choir members.
Well, then, there’s only one thing to do.
“Let’s go, then.”
Hoping our predictions are wrong, everyone watched as President planted another “Azure Seed” in a source of calamity.
…And as the flower bloomed and light overflowed, Hagasaki-kun, being cautious, created an “Ice Wall” around the source to encase it.
And when the light that had spilled over finally settled, what we saw was…
“…Bingo!”
Trapped in a thick ice box and squished tight was a huge, monstrous creature.
No matter how thick, ice is still ice.
It made a disturbing creaking noise before the ice walls shattered, and rather… it kind of attacked us like grenade shrapnel.
One piece gouged out my forearm, which startled me.
Well, since I had a maid doll that could use “Heal,” it was completely healed in a few seconds. Yeah.
The creature that came out seemed to be somewhat human-shaped.
Two arms, two legs, and something that resembled a head.
It was about… slightly over 2 meters tall, I guess.
However, it was colored like the source of calamity, with no face or anything.
…Well, you know.
That means, it’s not a dog, so it’s not my turn to act!
“Since it’s not a dog, I’ll evacuate.”
“Ah, please do!”
Before becoming a burden, I quickly evacuated inside the classroom and decided to watch from the window.
…Ah, yeah, it seems to be attacking quite a bit. It resembles magic, but it’s not magic.
It doesn’t seem to be nullified by “Magic Immunity.”
But, without much trouble, it disappeared after about a dozen hits.
…Hmm.
“Good work.”
“…I wonder if the next one will be even stronger.”
Katori looked worried, but I think it probably will be.
However, if this amount of “Abyss Ash” is sufficient, that would be ideal.
If it’s enough, we won’t need to eliminate any more sources of calamity.
…That’s what I thought, but before checking, it’s time for lunch.
For lunch, we have dumplings and fried rice.
Eating quietly, the atmosphere still feels heavy.
Yeah, a soccer ball turned into a balance ball, and then it became 2 meters tall… What if the next one is about 4 meters tall?
“…President, just estimate. How many more sources do we need to eliminate before we reach our goal amount of ‘Abyss Ash’? Oh, can you pass the vinegar?”
“Here you go.”
“Well, I think we need to eliminate two more. Next, could you pass the vinegar to me?”
Oh, so that means… after two more… it’s going to be ridiculously huge…?
“Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it… How big do you think it’ll get?”
Right. If it doubles each time, 8 meters, huh?
…8 meters…
Thinking about it seemed to have dampened everyone’s spirits, as faces grew somber.
It’s understandable, as size does correlate with strength to a certain extent…
It’s likely to be incredibly strong.
It’s disheartening… even though I’m not the one fighting.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to… Ah, mom, can you pass the soy sau… ah…”
…
Everyone’s gloomy expressions turned warm as they looked toward Hariu.
Hariu himself remained frozen, his face stiff.
“…Maido-san, the soy sauce… aaaaaaaah! Sorry! I’m really sorry! Aaaaah!”
At that, it seemed everyone reached a breaking point, either bursting into laughter, turning away, or shaking with mirth.
As for me… I just gave a warm smile and a thumbs up.
Yeah, it happens. Accidentally calling the teacher mom can be super embarrassing. I get it.
…At least, it lifted the gloomy mood. Yep. That’s a good thing.
…Though it was unfortunate for Hariu, it’s true what they say, other people’s misfortunes can be incredibly sweet.
