It Seems a Demonkin Has Snuck Into the Magic Shop

"I-it's broooooken!!!!!"

An unsettled, buzzing atmosphere closed in all around them. Fino's small frame, frozen under the crowd's gazes, looked like it was trembling, almost imperceptibly, and Raul, stepping forward to shield her, raised his voice on reflex.

"There's no way a demonkin would be in a place like this!!!?"

"Th-that's right, Airi-san."

As if agreeing with Raul, Ciel, who had finally pulled himself out of his shock, nodded along.

"The whole 'demonkin mixing in with humans' thing is nothing more than a rumor, and this item is still just at the prototype stage, so it's gotta be some kind of mistake—"

"But it's actually reacting, isn't it!!"

Whipping around, Airi shot back at a volume that could match the alarm.

"There's a demonkin! Right here, close by!"

"I-Airi-san, please calm down…"

"This isn't the time for that!? If it's a mistake, fine, but if it's actually true, that's a huge deal!?"

"—What's going on here?"

… And then.

A man came hurrying over from the entrance, drawn by the commotion. The instant they spotted him, Airi and Ciel both cried out at once.

"Store Manager!!"

"—!?"

Amada's manager? Without meaning to, Raul found himself staring at the man who'd appeared.

Long, raven-black hair, eyes thin as thread. A tall frame fully on par with Leon's Assistant Manager Visor, dressed in the same white shirt and vest, necktie, and blue apron as Ciel. At his collar, the gleam of an Amada employee badge. About thirty years old, give or take. Pretty young for the manager of a flagship store… Though, well, not as young as our store's Manager.

"What in the world has happened?"

"I'm so sorry…"

Even in a situation like this, Amada's manager spoke in a perfectly composed tone. Looking up at the man's tall frame, Ciel gave his report with a troubled face.

"The promotion for the 'Magic Orb' just ended, and we were in the middle of the demonkin radar's promotion, when, well, somehow, the radar reacted…"

"… The demonkin radar?"

For an instant his expression hardened, just a touch. With a hint of confusion in his voice, Amada's manager went on.

"Ciel-kun, didn't you read the memo from PR? That item should already have been pulled from the promotion list."

"Eh…"

Ciel went pale at the words. Eyes narrowing slightly, Amada's manager turned to Airi.

"… Airi-kun. Lend it to me."

"A-ah, y-yes!"

Prompted by the manager, Airi held out the demonkin radar she'd been clutching. Taking the small, box-shaped item, he first turned the dial down to silence the shrill alarm. Then, with a slightly difficult expression, Amada's manager stared intently at the Magic Display that surfaced on top of the unit. Soon enough, his face softened.

"… Ah, just as I thought. This is a malfunction."

"Eh?"

… Said with utter finality.

In front of Airi, slack-jawed at being so thoroughly deflated, Amada's manager continued, his expression still gentle.

"This radar is still in development and has a lot of bugs, so it was urgently dropped from the list. Here, take a look. The total magic capacity within its detection range has exceeded a gigavile and is unmeasurable."

"Eh, no way… a gigavile…?"

As if only just realizing, Airi hurriedly peered into the display. Beside her, Amada's manager smiled as he added,

"… Mm. In other words, what this radar is telling us is that, within its detection range right now, there's enough magic capacity to blow this entire Capital sky-high in an instant."

"—…"

"There's no way such an abnormal number could be real."

Having declared it in that imperturbable tone, Amada's manager quietly shook his head.

"The magic of an average demonkin, even a powerful one, caps out at around ten megabyle. A hundred times that, a gigavile, would be a monster of [Demon King]-class, well beyond even the Four Heavenly Kings. The idea that a demonkin like that would be slipping into a humble magic shop like this… well, surely that's impossible, don't you think?"

"R-right, of course…"

The manager's words were full of conviction. Yet beside a visibly relieved Ciel, Airi alone wouldn't let it drop.

"But…!"

"—Ladies and gentlemen."

Cutting across Airi's renewed protest, the manager casually looked up. Surveying the buzzing crowd from atop the stage, Amada's manager began to speak.

"I am the manager of this Amada Magic, Royal Capital Store. My name is Quan Segment. We sincerely apologize for the error on our store's part in using an incomplete product still in development for the promotion. I offer my deepest apologies for the unnecessary alarm we've caused you all."

His tone and bearing brimmed with sincerity. The manager bowed deeply toward the assembled crowd.

"Our store will take this lesson to heart and devote every effort toward bringing this product to market. We humbly ask for your continued patronage…"

"… Geez, that was a close one."

In the gleaming, dust-free aisles of Amada's Royal Capital Store. Threading between the still-new display fixtures, Raul, leading Fino by the hand, let out a sigh of relief.

"Seriously, I thought we were done for. Lucky for us that manager misread it."

In the end, with Amada's manager's apology drawing the curtain on the promotion event, the crowd had dispersed. While Airi, still unwilling to let it go, kept at her superior, they'd slipped through the gap, lost themselves in the crowd, and escaped the scene.

"… Probably best we head home for today."

Squinting wearily, Raul suggested it.

"That 'All-A'… Airi didn't look like she'd accepted it either. And there might be other items like that around…"

"Raul."

His name, suddenly called.

Raul cut himself off mid-grumble and turned to find the silver-haired girl looking down, her hair swaying, hesitating on her words. After a moment she lifted her face and spoke uncertainly.

"… Are demonkin really so scary, from your guys' perspective…?"

A voice forced down low. In that instant, Amada's manager's words flashed through Raul's mind.

Magic capacity in excess of a gigavile. Enough energy to wipe out the entire Capital.

The moment he replayed that fact, something cold ran down Raul's spine. The power of a [Demon King], able to bend every last demonkin to his will with magic alone, capable of snuffing out tens of thousands of human lives in an instant. Even if she was still un-Awakened, even if she couldn't yet use magic without a magic item to channel it, Fino held that terrifying power inside her… and yet.

"Can I even stay in your humans' world…?"

The girl's voice in front of him trembled with anxiety. Fino's blue eyes were fixed on Raul as if clinging to him, weighed down by some grim thought.

But this kid… she's always doing her best, working her hardest, and… she's a good kid.

After a beat, with a small sigh, Raul opened his mouth.

"… You're a staffer at our shop, aren't you."

In front of Fino with her big eyes gone round, Raul rumpled his black hair. To hide his embarrassment, he looked away as he tossed the words off a little brusquely.

"… Geez. Of course you can stay. Demonkin or not, you're already one of our store's people. I mean, like hell I'm letting our part-timer who's finally settled in run off on us. If you're gonna quit, at least wait till we find your replacement."

"… B-but… aren't you scared, Raul?"

"… Listen up."

In front of Fino, who still wouldn't drop it, Raul put on a deliberately exasperated face.

"Look, I'm a former hero-aspirant, you know? Setting customer complaints aside, what kind of would-be hero would be scared of demonkin or the [Demon King]? And of course, the Manager goes without saying, and the Assistant Manager, too… uh… probably… surely… a-anyway!"

Cutting off his suddenly less-than-confident trailing words by force, Raul gave Fino a pat on the back.

"There's nobody at our store who's gonna be scared of you, and everybody knows what kind of person you are. Everyone trusts you, so you'll be fi—?!"

"Raaaaaul!!!!!"

Fino's slim arms suddenly thrown around Raul's neck.

Pounced on with full force, Raul instinctively bent at the waist, and with her chin resting on his shoulder, Fino happily whispered into his ear.

"Raul, thank you…"

Her breath tickled against his ear, sending a numbing tingle down his back.

The supreme softness, everywhere, of the girl's body. And above all, the swell pressed against his collarbone through the dress shirt, asserting its presence with particular force…

"G-got it! I got it, now get off! W-we're drawing a crowd!!"

"Ah, sorry!"

The instant Raul shouted in a panic, Fino slipped her arms away. Relieved at being freed from Fino's hold, which was just way too stimulating on too many fronts, Raul opened his mouth to press the point.

"And, ah, you probably already know, but the fact that you're a demonkin is an absolute secret to anyone outside our store, okay?"

"Yeah! Don't worry, it's a secret just between us!"

Nodding firmly at Raul's words. Then, with a sudden "Ah!", Fino tugged at Raul's sleeve as if she'd just remembered something.

"… Oh, Raul, is my identity a secret from Airi, too? She's an acquaintance of yours, right?"

"O-o-of c-c-couuuurse it iiiis!!!!!?"

At those words, Raul's voice cracked on him.

A girl whose family was killed by demonkin, who carried a fearful, obsessive hatred for them. If she ever found out about Fino's identity, there was no telling what would happen!

"Fino! Listen, she's the one you absolutely cannot let find out! No matter what happens, you have to keep it hidden from her, got it!? I mean it!!"

"Y-yeah… got it… but, why?"

"That's because—"

The moment Raul was about to answer Fino's puzzled question,

"… So this is where you went?"

A sensation like being doused with ice water.

When Raul jerked his face up, her long honey-colored hair flowing softly behind her, there stood "All-A," Airi Ortinet, demonkin radar gripped tight in her hand.

"… The manager said what he said, but."

Speak of the devil. Sweeping her glossy hair back as she strode briskly toward them, Airi's face was grim.

"No matter how you look at it, the radar was reacting to you two."

"… Th-the number was an anomaly, wasn't it?"

Casually stepping forward to shield Fino, Raul answered curtly to hide his agitation, and Airi narrowed her eyes.

"Oh? Maybe only the magic-capacity number is wrong. The other functions might be working just fine, you know?"

"But—"

"I tested it."

Cutting Raul off, Airi said it lightly.

"I activated it outside the store, and the radar didn't react. But… look?"

The instant Airi touched the switch on the radar in her hand, the lamps started blinking like mad. Looking down at the sight, Airi gave a small shrug.

"The alarm's noisy, so I turned it off, but here, see? What exactly is this radar reacting to, I wonder… hey, Fino-san?"

"Airi…"

"… You're a demonkin, aren't you?"

Her tone was laced with certainty. Staring down a Fino who'd involuntarily stepped back, Airi continued.

"Saving us from a runaway magic item, chasing off a customer-complainer, going on about how work is fun… you almost had me fooled. Just what are you scheming behind that innocent face?"

"… Hey, 'All-A'!"

Unable to stand Airi's barbed words and the venomous atmosphere, Raul ended up raising his voice.

"You! Don't you think you're taking baseless accusations a bit too far!? We just happened to be in the front row, and there were plenty of other people in the direction the radar was pointing! There's no reason to single her out as the only suspect!?"

"But the radar's reacting like this. The customers who'd gathered earlier scattered, and yet the demonkin is still right next to you two. Isn't that quite the coincidence?"

"B-but, demonkin are supposed to have red eyes, right? Her eyes are blue!"

"That could just be contact lenses, or some kind of drug to change the color."

"B-but…"

A sweat-slicked palm balled tight in his fist. Driven by sheer panic, his heart hammered like mad… damn it, I've got to throw her off somehow!

Wracking his brain at full speed, Raul shouted in desperation.

"But! Then, it could be me, couldn't it!!"

"… Eh?"

In front of Airi, who'd gone wide-eyed and blank, Raul desperately spun his tale.

"In the direction the radar was reacting just now, it wasn't just Fino, I was there too! And now, with the radar reacting like this, I'm right here too, see! So, instead of Fino, maybe I'm the demonkin!?"

"… Huh?"

"I mean, you know…"

The longer he talked, the deeper he spiraled into desperation. Striking a pose, Raul thrust a finger at himself and declared boldly,

"I mean, the truth is, I'm the demonkin!!"

In response to Raul's declaration, Airi made a face like she'd been bewitched by a fox. After a beat,

"… Raul Chaser. In what world would there be a demonkin who attended hero-prep academy?"

A tone that screamed she thought he was an absolute idiot.

In front of Airi muttering in exasperation, Raul, now too far in to back down, raised his voice.

"D-don't go jumping to conclusions, 'All-A'! What if that was our demonkin scheme all along!? Infiltrating the hero-prep academy and snuffing out the would-be heroes from the inside! That could've been the noble purpose of me, the demonkin Raul-sama, the whole time!!"

"You didn't snuff out anyone! If anything, you studied harder than anyone! Your internal grades were ridiculously good! You were out slaying monsters constantly!"

"That's because! That was all part of the scheme to hide my true identity and throw the people around me off!"

"Oh, would you SHUT UP, Raul Chaser! For one thing, the moment you can build a 'Magic Circuit', there's no way you could be a demonkin!"

At that, Raul couldn't help but choke on his words.

The delicate "Routing Lines" of a "Magic Circuit" can't endure the high-pressure magic of a demonkin. Setting aside exceptions like the [Dominator's Bloodstone] that Fino's Pops (the [Demon King]) supposedly had, the ability to use magic in forms other than light and heat via magic or magic items is, fundamentally, a thing only humans can do.

In front of Raul, who'd uncomfortably fallen silent, Airi let out a quiet sigh.

"… Honestly, I've been thinking something was off about her for a while. This kid hopped clean over a register counter taller than a meter without even a running start. There's no way that's a human feat."

"Th-that's because! Like I said before, she grew up in the countryside—"

"What kind of countryside lets you grow up jumping two meters straight up vertically!? Are you trying to tell me her hometown is some special zone with ten times the normal gravity!?"

"No, don't underestimate human adaptability! If you grew up from birth in an environment where you couldn't survive unless you could jump over two meters, then you'd just have to, like it or not!"

"That's beyond the human limit!!"

"Hey, hey, a girl who was supposedly aiming to be a hero shouldn't go around narrowing the bounds of human potential, you know? Look, our idol, that legendary Hero Bios… they say he could clear three meters easy."

"Hero Bios is a guy who, while being human, supposedly had megabyle-class magic, fought a thousand demonkin to a standstill solo, swung around a greatsword taller than himself with ease, used magic that dominated minds, glowed all over in golden light, and is still apparently alive somewhere out there. Those legends have obviously been embellished to high heaven!?"

Getting heated as she pressed the point. But then Airi, glaring at Raul and panting hard, suddenly straightened up as if coming back to herself and crossed her slim arms imperiously.

"… But, well, true enough. There are plenty of magic items that boost jumping power, so that alone might not be definitive proof… By the way, Raul Chaser."

"Huh?"

Suddenly called on by name. Letting out an unwittingly stupid sound, Raul faced Airi, who asked in a meaningful tone,

"You learned this at the hero-prep academy too, right? The defining traits of a demonkin?"

"Uh… um, eye color, magic, physical ability, and… oh, and acute five senses?"

"Correct."

To Raul's hesitant answer, Airi nodded firmly.

"Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste… a demonkin's senses are all far superior to a human's. And so, here we go!"

She pulled something from the pocket of the windbreaker she had on and thrust it boldly at Raul.

"Huh…?"

What Airi held up triumphantly was a small, square aluminum tin. On the surface of the pitch-black lid, a wicked-looking red logo danced large.

"… What's that?"

Honestly, Raul couldn't grasp her intent. The moment he opened his mouth dubiously, it happened.

A black grain of unknown origin came flying into Raul's mouth.

The instant it made even the barest contact with his oral cavity, Raul's sense of pain exploded.

"～～～～～～～～～～～!!!!!?"

This was no longer something so gentle as a flavor; it was simply ferocious pain.

A pain with such overwhelming heat he could swear his mouth had erupted in flames. The violent stimulation set his tongue convulsing, and a saliva that felt corroded by strong acid mercilessly scorched his unprotected mucous membranes. The depths of his nose and the inner corners of his eyes stung sharply. A violent surge of nausea rose from his throat at the obvious invader, and Raul broke into hard coughing fits.

"—… bff… HEEAARGH!!!!!!"

The instant he reflexively spat 'it' out, Airi murmured reproachfully,

"… Spitting out food. I'm disappointed in you, Raul Chaser."

"This is not foooooood!!!!!!"

Even though 'it' had been in his mouth for barely a few seconds, even after its physical presence was gone, the unbearable agony kept tormenting his mucous membranes. Sweat and tears and snot poured out as if every faucet in his face had been cranked wide open. Raul wailed at her,

"And just! What the hell! IS this!!!?"

"It's 'Evil Lord's Hellfire Black Dragon Candy'."

Rattling the black tin in front of the writhing Raul, Airi answered nonchalantly.

"I bought it while I was looking for you two. It's the most popular punishment-game hyper-spicy candy at our store's party-goods corner. An aggressive treat designed around the concept of a spiciness so intense that a single grain could kill even the Black Dragon, the incarnation of hellfire."

"This is waaaaay past 'aggressive'!!!!"

"… Um, anyway, wipe your face?"

Frowning at Raul, whose face was slathered in various fluids, she pulled out a pack of pocket tissues and handed them over. Then, as if just remembering, Airi added,

"By the way, this candy is rich in Vitamin C, so it's apparently good for your skin."

"I don't care!! Who is that information even for!? I can't deal with that kind of consideration!! And why the hell did you feed me that in the first place!!!?"

"That's because, I haven't tried it myself yet, and I was wondering just how bad it really was…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!"

To Airi's utterly unrepentant answer, Raul couldn't help but let out a battle cry. Wouldn't it be way more productive to take this girl down than any demonkin!? Why does Amada, the biggest player in the industry, hire someone like thiiis!!!!!!

"R-Raul… a-are you okay…?"

"… Fino, thanks…"

Thanking Fino, who was anxiously murmuring as she frantically rubbed his back (and Raul was, in fact, pretty close to dying), with the pain finally beginning to subside, Raul, still clutching his tissues and sniffling pitifully, glared resentfully at Airi.

"… So. What the hell are you trying to accomplish with that candy-shaped weapon of mass destruction?"

"Don't you get it yet? It's obvious. An endurance contest, an endurance contest."

At Raul's question, Airi's face said it was the most obvious thing in the world. Popping open the lid of that nightmare candy tin packed with absurd lethal power, Airi puffed out her chest grandly.

"Even you, the top student of the hero-prep academy, ended up like this from a single grain. There's no way a sharp-sensed demonkin could endure this candy's spiciness for even a single instant. Therefore…"

Her gaze shifted. Holding the candy tin out, Airi turned a meaningful smile on Fino.

"You and me. We both put one of these candies in our mouths at the same time. If you can endure longer than me… well then. At that point, I might be willing to believe you're not a demonkin."

"… O-okay."

Airi passed a single candy to her. As she stared at the small grain rolling on her palm, Fino nodded solemnly… Uh, hey!

"Wait, knock it off, 'All-A', Fino! Are you two in your right minds!? You saw the state I was in just now, right!! Don't go adding to the pitiful casualties like me!!!!"

"… Here we go! Three, two, one."

Raul tried frantically to stop them, but it was already too late.

At the cue, the two girls tossed the candies in their hands into their mouths in unison.

The next instant.

"!!!!!!!!!"

Just as Raul had feared, a scene of unspeakable agony unfolded before him.

The two girls writhed in soundless screams.

Airi collapsed on the spot, her flowing blonde hair tossed wildly, clutching her chest as fat tears poured down her cheeks; Fino, unable to bear the agony, thrashed about on the floor. Airi's hiccup-wracked windbreaker had slid down to expose the nape of her neck, and Fino's skirt, as she wept loudly, had ridden up, the buttons of her dress shirt popping open to reveal her white belly and her cute belly button. Just how hopeless can these two get!!!?

"AAAAAAH, dammit, I told you so!!!!!!"

Acting on instinct, Raul bolted to the nearest register. Grabbing two of the one-liter mineral waters stacked on the shelf in front of the register, he shoved the bills at the cashier and, without waiting for change, sprinted full speed back, opened the caps mid-stride, and thrust the bottles at the two dying girls.

"—!!!!!!"

The moment they registered the bottles' existence, they snatched them from Raul's hand and started chugging them down single-mindedly. Looking down at the girls with a somewhat icy expression, Raul sighed with a thoroughly exhausted face.

"R-Raul, what do I do, I drank it… noooo… it's so hot in my stomach… ngh, it… it feels really weeeird…"

"Kh… y-you, you've actually got some guts… I'm a little impressed…"

Watery eyes, labored breathing. The dying girls staggered to their feet, clothing in disarray. Glancing back and forth between the two of them, Raul narrowed his eyes.

"… Geez. 'All-A', are you satisfied now? A draw works, right?"

"Wh-what are you saying!?"

But at Raul's words, Airi pressed on, refusing to give up.

"This is an invalid round, an invalid round! The rules were too lenient to begin with! The whole point is to endure the spiciness, so we should be competing on how long you can keep sucking on it without swallowing—"

"… Then, want a rematch? Just so you know, I'm not buying the water this time."

"Kh…"

At Raul's exasperated words, Airi caught her words, but eventually shook her head firmly.

"… No, taste is enough."

The moment she said it, Airi suddenly spun on her heel.

"—!?"

Her long honey-colored hair fluttered gracefully through the air.

Before they could even react, Airi had slipped behind Fino and locked her in a full nelson. Fino glanced flusteredly over her shoulder.

"I-Airi!?"

"H-hey, 'All-A'!"

"… Next is touch."

Receiving Raul's protesting voice with a thin smile. Pinning Fino's body with one arm, Airi slowly extended her free hand.

"Demonkin are supposed to have especially sensitive ears, right…?"

In a vaguely insinuating tone. The instant Airi's fingertips gently swept aside Fino's silver hair and brushed the cute ear that had been hidden beneath, Fino's body went stiff with a jolt.

"!!!!!?"

As if some enormous shock had run through her body. The color drained from her face, and Fino began thrashing wildly in Airi's arms.

"No… no, stop! S-s-s-stoooooop!!!!!!!"

"… See? That's clearly an abnormal reaction, isn't it?"

Pinning the small body that fought back desperately, Airi wore a satisfied smile. Each time her dainty fingertips traced along Fino's ear, Fino's cheeks visibly flushed.

"No, stop! S-stop, not that, that's bad! No, no good! D-don't touch my eaaarsss!!!"

"… Hee hee, I wonder how long you can hold out?"

"Stop…! Ngh… Airi, please… stop… ah… …"

"—…"

… Faced with the two beautiful girls tangled together, Raul couldn't help but swallow.

Fino's cherry-tinged skin and half-tearful blue eyes as she panted protests between gasps. Letting out a sweet, melting voice one moment, the next biting down her thin pink lips as if holding something back. The short skirt swaying with every twist of her body, and from beneath it, occasional flashes of dazzlingly white thigh. With her hands pinned behind her, her chest seemed even fuller than usual through her dress shirt, swaying achingly with every painful writhe…

"… Hah, R-Raul… h-help… please… ngh…"

"—Whoa!"

Called by name by the squirming Fino, Raul snapped back to himself. Shaking his head violently, he protested to Airi.

"O-'All-A', stop! Any more than that is seriously gonna be bad!!"

But Airi, wearing an amused smile, leaned her lips close to the captive girl's ear,

"If you'll come clean about your true identity, I'll stop… how about it?"

At Airi's words, whispered with her breath right against the earlobe, Fino raised a pained gaze.

"Ah… ngh… Raaaul…"

Her flushed cheeks, her ragged breathing. Fino's tearful eyes fixed on Raul were desperately begging permission to reveal her identity to Airi. No matter how he looked at it, Fino was already at her limit. But still, there was no way he could let her find out Fino was a demonkin… aaaaaaah!

Steeling himself at last, Raul kicked off hard from the floor.

"Eh—!?"

In barely an instant, he'd circled around behind Airi, who was holding Fino from behind. Instantly on guard, Airi's body went rigid as Raul reached for her hair.

"Aahn…!"

The moment he touched the ear peeking out from her glossy hair, Airi's body jerked sharply, again and again. With an absurdly cute voice utterly unlike the girl's usual self, her blonde hair rippled as she arched backward, her expression strikingly seductive. Unable to bear it, she twisted away, her hands releasing Fino. Biting her trembling lips, Airi spun around bodily, her cheeks still flushed, and with eyes faintly welling with tears, she glared sharply at Raul.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what the hell was that, Raul Chaaaserrrr!!!!!?"

"Y-you reacted just as much!!"

Airi, more unraveled than he'd expected, was protesting with a face that looked about to cry, and now Raul was getting embarrassed too. His cheeks flushing despite himself, his voice cracked.

"H-how could that even be evidence! And besides, the people around us have been staring for a while now!?"

"Eh…?"

At Raul's words, Airi scanned their surroundings, and for the first time registered the leering onlookers gathered at a distance, faces practically slack with lechery, eager to see her and Fino's spectacle continue. Letting out a tiny "Ah…", Airi's face froze in indescribable mortification.

But after staring at the ground bright red, Airi suddenly drew in a sharp breath as if remembering something, grabbed Fino and Raul by the wrists, and strode briskly away from the scene as if fleeing.

"Wh-what the heck, suddenly!"

The empty corner against a wall they'd been dragged to. The moment they came to a stop, Airi let go of them and abruptly reached for the zipper of her windbreaker.

The girl's alluring skin was gradually revealed as the zipper came down. Her white nape, her collarbones, down to a small but well-shaped chest covered by a leotard…

At Airi, suddenly starting to strip in front of them, Raul let out a flustered cry.

"—h-hey, what are you doing all of a sudden—…"

"Eh… w-what, no! What are you thinking, Raul Chaser!?"

Her reaction was, conversely, flustered, and she covered her chest. Glancing at Raul and Fino's faces, Airi, her cheeks still a little flushed, opened her mouth.

"… Look, watch closely?"

Airi pointed to her flat abdomen, wrapped in a leotard the blue of Amada's brand color. The shape of her belly button was faintly outlined beneath the thin fabric. As Raul's heart skipped just a little at that, it happened.

As if he were watching a magic trick.

The blue leotard Airi wore shifted, smoothly, into pink right before his eyes.

"Amaaazing!!"

In that instant, as if she'd completely forgotten the situation she was in, Fino let out a heartfelt cry of amazement, looking up at Airi with sparkling eyes.

"What is thaaat!? How did you do that!?"

… Yet.

"Hey, that's not… could it be…"

A terribly nasty premonition crept up in Raul's chest. Frozen in stark contrast to the gleeful Fino, he asked in a hard voice, and Airi's poised reply came back.

"… I totally forgot. Now that I think about it, this is 'Magic-Woven Fabric'."

"'Magic-Woven Fabric'?"

I knew it!

The moment that word reached his ears, Raul's heart sank like lead. The blood drained from his body and his pulse started hammering wildly.

"Yes. It's a cloth where you can change the color any way you like by adjusting your magic output, and…"

Damn it, how do I get out of this!? Think! Think, dammit!

As if perceiving Raul's agitation, Airi, looking at Fino's face, gave a magnanimous smile.

"… And when a demonkin touches it, you see… the 'Magic Syntax' gets broken by the too-high 'Volta', and it turns pitch-black."

The instant Airi whispered it as if reciting a lesson, the moment Fino understood the meaning, her face went rigid.

But Airi caught Fino's wrist before she could try to bolt.

"… Where are you going, Fino-san?"

"A-aah…"

Airi smiling meaningfully, Fino's gaze darting around in fright. Raul couldn't help but click his tongue. Damn, at this point, there's nothing left but THAT!

"…?"

Raul reflexively extended his left hand, Fino tightly grasped his free one, and as Fino looked up at him in confusion, Raul subtly winked.

As if reading Raul's intent, Fino blinked back, and their layered palms began to warm. The magic flowing from Fino's body into Raul made his fingertips tingle and prickle… but.

"Come on, hurry up, touch it?"

Damn, not in time!

Before Raul could fully receive the demonkin Fino's magic through their invisible switch, Airi forcibly pulled the wrist she'd caught toward her own flank.

"—!"

Fino's hand, despite her desperate resistance, was pushed helplessly against the leotard woven from "Magic-Woven Fabric".

Without thinking, Raul squeezed his eyes shut.

"… That can't be."

But.

What reached him from beyond his closed eyelids wasn't Airi's triumphant voice; instead,

"Why… why isn't the color changing!?"

At that confused voice, Raul snapped his eyes open.

Airi's abdomen peeking through the open windbreaker, and Fino's palm pressed against it. Yet despite the demonkin Fino being the one touching it, the thin "Magic-Woven Fabric" covering Airi's body stayed the same vivid pink… what the heck!?

Watching the bewildered Fino and Airi, a hypothesis came to Raul.

Oh, right… because Fino is pre-"Awakening"…

In truth, the biology of demonkin is barely understood at all. In particular, child demonkin had long been a topic of debate, with their very existence in question because not a single specimen had ever been found. Even Raul, who'd studied demonkin in fair detail at the hero-prep academy, hadn't even known about the demonkin concept of "Awakening" until he heard about it from Fino…

Maybe, Raul thought, this demonkin "Awakening" thing was when the "Volta" of their magic rose. Demonkin magic, which is dielectrically discharged into the air at the high "Volta" of 100 MV (megavolta), Fino still can't use, but in exchange, she can use magic items built for humans, which run on 100 V (volta). Come to think of it, her magic is closer to a human's than to a demonkin's, so it makes sense "Magic-Woven Fabric" wouldn't change color. But wait, then why did the demonkin radar, which is supposed to measure "Volta", react to Fino?

"… Yeah, that thing's broken."

"That can't be true!"

Stubbornly shaking her head at Raul's observation, Airi squeezed the demonkin radar she'd pulled from her pocket tight in both hands and pressed on.

"Because it's reacting like this! There's definitely a demonkin nearby!"

As she pressed her point, Airi raised the radar again. Swept through a full 360 degrees, it did indeed blink most fiercely in the direction Fino was standing, and Airi began walking the way the blinking sped up.

One step, two steps. The distance between the radar-holding Airi and Fino kept shrinking…

She walked right past Fino, who had shrunk back fearfully, without even pausing. The instant she came around behind Fino, Airi's eyes went wide.

"—… Eh?"

Airi, Raul, and even Fino, who'd turned around in surprise, all caught their breath in unison.

Even after Airi passed Fino, the blinking of the radar in her hand didn't weaken; if anything, it kept growing stronger…

Very close to where the three of them had just been. At a corner of the deserted magic-furniture section, Airi, the radar in her hand now staying solidly lit, finally came to a stop.

"… It's… here…"

Looking down at the double-sized magic bed before her, she swallowed hard with a solemn expression.

"… There has to be a demonkin here!"

The moment Airi, clutching the radar, declared it with conviction, it happened.

"Look out!!"

Without warning, a glowing orb of light appeared in their field of view.

The instant Raul shouted, Airi reflexively leapt back. The arrow of light grazed her arm, flew up to the ceiling, and tore out a huge chunk of concrete with an ear-splitting shattering noise.

"—!?"

Shimmering, translucent short silver hair.

In front of a sharp-breathed Airi, a braced Raul, and a paralyzed Fino, a demonkin, covered in wounds, had sprung from under the magic bed, his pale face twisted bitterly, glaring at them with burning red eyes.

The screams of fleeing people echoed throughout the newly opened Amada's sales floor.

Airi nimbly dodged a light orb that had flown straight at her after leaving the demonkin's hand. But the demonkin, battered to his last legs, kept firing, one after another, the light orbs wreathing his five fingers, desperate.

"Kh…"

At this rate, we can't hold out long. As she dodged the haphazardly, rapid-fired bursts of high-pressure magic, Airi's expression went taut.

"Over here!!"

Tipping the bed in front of him vertical, Raul grabbed Airi and Fino by the arm at once and slid into the cover behind it. Just in the nick of time. Feeling the heavy impacts of the light orbs colliding repeatedly with the bed's bottom panel, Raul raised his voice.

"Hey, 'All-A'! Why is there a demonkin in a place like this!? What, at your store, do you keep demonkin caged under your beds!?"

"H-how should I know!! Ask that guy yours—"

Cutting into Airi's retort, the bed they'd been using as a shield groaned under the impact. A light orb pierced through the thick bottom panel and grazed her nose, and Airi let out a soundless scream.

"—～!!!!!"

"A pipe bed, huh… lucky, it's metal."

But beside the now-pale Airi, Raul held his breath and muttered to himself. Running his fingers along the bed's frame, he murmured,

"…'Boot'!"

With Raul's activation command, a "Magic Circuit" surfaced on the bed strut he'd used as his "Base". The next instant, the bed, now wrapped in a pale blue light, didn't so much as shudder against the light orbs that came smashing into it.

Letting out an involuntary sigh of relief, Raul heard Airi, hand in her pocket, mutter beside him.

"Seriously, how can you build a 'Magic Circuit' so fast…"

"Is now the time to be saying that!!"

At Airi's bitter words, Raul, sounding properly panicked now, snapped back.

"That guy seems to be hurt, but he's still a demonkin, and we don't have any specialty items or proper weapons here. I've got my hands full reinforcing this bed. 'All-A', do you have something we can use as a 'Base' for magic on you!?"

"I know!!"

Irritated, Airi pulled something from her pocket in answer. The instant Raul saw 'it', he couldn't help but raise his voice.

"H-hey! There's no way you can use 'that', right!?"

"… Be quiet, I can't concentrate!"

"That demonkin is hurt…"

… And then.

Apart from Raul and Airi's combative back-and-forth, Fino, who'd been watching the demonkin through the hole that had opened in the bed, murmured quietly,

"… We have to treat him."

The moment she said it. The silver-haired girl shot out from behind the bed and ran straight toward the demonkin who was still firing light orbs. Wait!

"Hey, Fino!!?"

"H-hey, what are you doing!!?"

In front of Raul and Airi, drawn to their feet, the wounded demonkin raised an arm wreathed in high-pressure magic and trained it on the rushing Fino. Damn!

The instant Raul clicked his tongue and tried to vault over the bed, Airi yelled.

"'Boot'… 'Byle Shot'!!"

In that instant, Raul's eyes went round. Wait, what is she thinking!?

The 'it' that flew from Airi's hand with the "Magic Circuit"'s activation command, a dull-colored coin, didn't, to any eye, look magically empowered. Beyond which, the moment the coin left Airi's hand, the source of the magic, the "Magic Circuit" wound around it should have lost effect… and yet.

That utterly ordinary coin began to shine dazzlingly just before it hit the demonkin.

"—!?"

Right in front of the rushing Fino, the moment the demonkin's thigh was pierced by the pale-blue glowing coin and he toppled backward, Airi sprang out from behind the bed.

"H-hey, 'All-A'! What did you just do!?"

Almost simultaneously, kicking aside the bed he'd been using as cover, Raul chased after Airi.

"How the heck can you put magic on a thrown object!? Magic is supposed to lose effect the instant it leaves your hand—"

"'Time Circuit'."

Cutting off Raul's rapid-fire questions, Airi said.

"Simple logic. Magic travels along a 'Routing Line' at 299,792,458 meters per second. At that distance, the coin I threw would take about 1.2 seconds to reach him, so I just need to build a 'Magic Circuit' around 360,000 km long."

"360,000 km!? On that tiny coin!?"

"'Extension Line'. You take a 'Routing Line', thin it down to its absolute limit, fold it up, and weave it into the 'Magic Circuit'. At that coin's size, I can adjust the activation timing up to a maximum of 10 million km, or 333 seconds."

As if it were nothing at all. Watching the casually-delivering Airi admiringly, Raul couldn't help but exclaim,

"That's amazing, 'All-A'! When did you even pick up advanced techniques like this!?"

"… You're the one who told me to."

She murmured it quietly in response to the praise. But before Raul could ask what she meant, Airi came to a stop, looking down with terribly cold eyes at the demonkin lying before her.

Shoulder, chest, abdomen, right arm… and the right knee just now pierced by Airi's coin. A wounded demonkin bearing deep injuries all over his body. On both his hands and feet, metal shackles with severed chains hanging from them.

Kneeling before the demonkin who'd collapsed limp, Fino placed her hand on his thin chest and at last murmured in relief,

"Thank goodness… he's still alive…"

At Fino's touch, the demonkin's red eyes wavered slightly. His lips moved feebly, faintly… but.

"… At last, I've found you."

Before the demonkin could spin the words he was trying to form to their end, a terribly cold voice rained down on Fino from above.

When Fino jerked her head up, there was a single girl standing there, her golden hair streaming behind her.

"Airi…"

"Fino-san. I'm so sorry for mistaking you for a demonkin."

Catching Fino's slightly fearful gaze head-on. The moment their eyes met, Airi quietly opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry for putting you through so many embarrassing things…"

As she spoke, Airi gently extended an arm and brought a coin she'd just pulled from her pocket to the demonkin's left breast, right over his heart. The moment Fino realized her intent, she cried out.

"Airi, what are you doing!?"

"Isn't it obvious. I'm going to kill him."

"Wha… w-why?"

"Because he's a demonkin."

In answer to Fino's panicked words, with eyes so cold they sent a chill down the spine, Airi silently lowered her gaze to him.

"You know, too, how terrifying demonkin are, don't you? … If I don't kill him now, there's no telling what he might do."

"B-but…! He, he might be a good guy…"

"All demonkin are absolutely bad."

Airi said it flatly to the protesting Fino.

"The only good demonkin is a dead demonkin. So, I kill him."

"—…"

At Airi's words, Fino bit her lip in frustration. Shaking her head violently, she raised a voice of protest.

"Why, why does Airi say such cruel things!? This guy, he can't fight anymore! He's so badly hurt, he looks like he's in pain, and suffering… hey, if Airi got hurt, it'd hurt too, right!?"

"That's a fitting punishment. Because this guy is a demonkin…"

"Is being a demonkin really such a bad thing!!?"

As if the emotions she'd been holding back had exploded. Cutting across Airi's words, Fino, on the verge of tears, pressed on desperately.

"Airi, are you saying that if someone's a demonkin, it's fine if they suffer, fine if they're killed!? Is being a demonkin so bad that anything done to them is okay!? Is being a demonkin really that bad a thing!?"

"Of course it is!!"

Airi shouted in fury.

Glaring down hatefully at the demonkin at her feet, she spat,

"… My family was killed by demonkin."

"Eh…"

In that instant, a small sound caught at the back of Fino's throat.

In front of Fino, frozen rigid with her blue eyes wide open, Airi, with a grim expression, leveled the coin in her hand.

"…'All-A'."

Raul caught Airi's arm from the side, the hand trembling as she gripped the coin. To Airi, who jerked her face up, he said quietly,

"Hey, isn't this enough already? Let the police handle the rest—"

"Why are you saying that too!?"

Airi slapped his hand away, shook her head, and glared sharply at him.

"Raul Chaser, you were aiming to be a hero more seriously than anyone! You were going to fight demonkin for everyone's sake, weren't you!? You were going to protect everyone from demonkin, weren't you!? Then why… why are you defending a demonkin!?"

"I…"

At her words, Raul's chest suddenly tightened with a sharp pain.

Heroes are amazing! So cool! I wanna be a hero too! I'll become a hero, get recognized, get famous! Oh, and I wanna get rich!

A childhood dream. The reason Raul aimed to become a hero. That had only ever been to show off his own strength; helping the people tormented by demonkin, suffering at their hands… I never…

"I… I'm…"

I'm not the guy you think I am. The words Raul had been about to say just wouldn't come out.

I don't want her to know. I don't want her to be disappointed. The girl who, even now, still recognizes me as her rival even though I never became a hero, who's now nothing… I don't want her to know just how slipshod, how selfish, how cowardly… how truly pitiful the real me is.

"—I have the power to fight demonkin."

Watching the now-silent Raul coldly, a "Magic Circuit" rose smoothly over the coin in Airi's hand.

"I'm one of the chosen humans, one with the power to protect everyone from demonkin. I have to fight, for everyone's sake. That's what I should be doing… that's my real work."

His words caught in the back of his throat, but in Raul's chest, something he couldn't quite put into words churned and churned.

Even if her starting point was revenge, the girl before him, trying to defeat demonkin for the sake of others, was so much more admirable, so much more righteous than someone like me who'd only ever tried to become a hero for his own sake, and so I had no real right to say anything to her, and yet…

… But, no, that's not right, Raul thought.

The unshakeable wrongness and contradiction. Beneath the girl's words, not just a pure sense of justice, but something muddier. And… I feel like I know it, too.

"And so, that other stuff isn't my real work."

With dark eyes. As if talking to herself, Airi muttered,

"… That's right. Bowing to customers, lining up products, ringing up the register… there's no way that's my real work. There's been some kind of mistake in me doing a job like that. What I'm really supposed to be doing is this, defeating demonkin. Because I'm a person who should have become a hero—!"

'Boot'!

The coin in Airi's hand, receiving the activation command, blazed especially bright. The instant the metal piece left her fingertips and began its free fall toward the demonkin's heart.

A hand suddenly extended from her side, Raul's hand, and knocked the magic-imbued coin away.

Losing its target and falling to the floor, the coin warped and melted as it glowed pale blue. The sour, acrid smell of the chemicals coating the floor burning hit their noses.

"Why…"

She murmured through trembling lips. With a fierce gaze, Airi glared at Raul.

"Why are you interfering! Defeating demonkin is my real…"

"… Airi, there are no more heroes."

The instant Raul said it.

… Airi's movements stopped dead.

"No matter how many demonkin we beat, we'll never become heroes anymore. There's nothing left for us to do but work ordinary jobs and live ordinary lives."

"B-but! What I'm really supposed to be doing—"

"Stop running from reality!!"

Raul cut sharply across Airi's desperate insistence.

"How long are you gonna keep dreaming! Sure, you're right, work might be all painful and miserable and full of unreasonable crap, but even so, you've just gotta do it! All we can do is throw ourselves into whatever needs doing, wherever we are right now! That's our responsibility!"

Rattling off the words like a dam breaking, Raul realized. The person I'm talking to right now isn't Airi. It's me. Even though I cut off my lingering attachment to being a hero, even though I made up my mind to work at Leon alongside Fino and become Manager someday, this same doubt that Airi has still surfaces in my chest now and then.

Is this really the right job for me?

Every time that thought crept up, anxiety and impatience seared at his heart… and to lecture himself, he was simultaneously hurling his unmanageable frustration at the mirror that was Airi. This is just taking it out on her… The worst.

His heart aching sharply with every word he spun, but he couldn't stop.

"For one thing, what's all this about a 'real job' anyway! There's no such thing! No matter how hard we struggle, the job we have right now is this! … You! Looking away from reality, chasing after some phantom that doesn't exist… going on about defeating demonkin for everyone's sake… in the end, isn't all of that just you running away!?"

"—…!"

In that moment, as if her most untouchable spot had just been touched, the girl's indigo eyes wavered, and her face took on a deeply wounded look.

"… Sorry. I went too far."

… Geez. Why do I have to…

An awkward silence. From the girl biting her lip with a face on the verge of tears, Raul couldn't help but avert his eyes…

Suddenly, the demonkin at their feet stirred.

"—!?"

As if wringing out his last strength. At the sight of the demonkin trying to push himself up unsteadily, Raul and Airi reflexively stepped back.

But Fino was still dazed, sitting limply right next to the demonkin who had begun to move.

"Fino! Run!"

The badly wounded demonkin reached out toward Fino, and the moment Raul shouted and tried to shield her,

"…-sama…"

The moment those ragged, fluid-stained fingertips caught Fino's defenseless palm, the color that had drained from Fino's eyes snapped back into focus.

"Ah…"

Fino's now-aware face reflected large in his red eyes. The demonkin gripping Fino's hand, under labored breaths, with a terribly earnest expression, whispered fragmentedly,

"My comrades… demonkin… still… captured… by humans… in great numbers…"

But the demonkin's pleading words wouldn't be spun out to their end.

A dazzling pale-blue light suddenly seared the surroundings.

A death rattle echoed in from beyond the whited-out world. The unpleasant smell of burning flesh. The sound of some large mass collapsing to the floor.

"Are you hurt, dear customer?"

Without knowing what had happened, a very composed man's voice intruded on the blank space his thoughts had become. When Raul jerked his face up, there, gripping a magically-glowing sword firmly, Amada's manager, having just cut down the demonkin, gave a courteous bow to Raul and Fino, who stood frozen as if turned to ice.