I, Who Couldn't Become a [Hero], Have Decided to Tell the Truth

"I'm sorry, calling you out at a time like this…"

"No, no, I just hap-pened to still be at the office, and if it's a request from you, Raul-san, I'll listen any time, y'know?"

… A little alleyway right near Raul's apartment, where Myuli had presumably been taken.

The beautiful girl in uniform who'd come rushing over the moment she got Raul's message swept up her coffee-colored hair with one hand and closed one eye at him.

"In ex-chaaange, next time, it's Raul-san's turn to listen to my request, all right?"

Winking with a sweetly upturned gaze, she pulled the goggles down off her forehead.

Sonia Magicgate, Illegal Magic Item Agent of the Magical Science and Technology Ministry, schooled her expression into something serious and began inspecting the bracelet-shaped item Raul had handed her.

… After a moment.

Sonia lifted her magic-syntax-visualizing goggles and let out a small puff of breath.

"… Bingo. This one, no question. With this 'Magic Syntax' and mechanism, sure, it could mimic a demonkin's magic… Strictly the look of it, mind you?"

"I knew it…!"

Raul nodded vigorously.

Looking up at the boy, Sonia murmured admiringly.

"But how'd you figure out this thing was that kind of thing in the first place?"

"Yeah… The thing is, we've, well, for various reasons, had a few chances to see demonkin magic up close before, and… this time, it just felt off, somehow…"

"The color of the light was wrong, and it wasn't strong, either… and, y'know, there was no 'smell'!"

"N-no, 'smell'?"

Sonia parroted in spite of herself, and Fino bobbed her head in front of her.

"When an adult demonkin uses magic, there's this special smell…!"

"Demonkin high-pressure mana dielectrically breaks down the air, so when they cast, ozone comes out. That's probably what she's talking about…"

"Ohhh, I see…"

At Raul's gloss, Sonia blinked as if convinced, then folded her arms and let out a low "Hmmm…"

"But that means this rumored mana-child kidnapping case isn't being done by a demonkin at all. It's a human using an illegal item to pretend to be one, right? Which means…"

"Sonia-san, do you have some kind of lead?!"

"A lead, well, sort of…"

Faced with Raul, whose voice had pitched up before he could stop it, Sonia hesitated a moment…

Then, with a faintly uncomfortable look, she went on.

"… Raul-san, you've heard the term 'Mana-Slave,' haven't you?"

"Mana… Slave?!"

At the word Sonia let drop, a chill ran up the back of Raul's neck.

— "Mana-Slaves." Beings kept in the manors of the wealthy and of royalty and aristocrats, made to serve not just as slaves but, on top of that, run ragged as power sources for the giant air conditioners and amusement devices that propped up their masters' comfortable lifestyles. An inhumane existence.

… Ever since the magic-item revolution swept Panasonia, securing mana had been everyone's biggest concern. The average human's mere 5 kilobyle of "Magic Capacity" was a major constraint on running magic items, and mana-cars and mana-airships were almost never built. With only 5 kilobyle of mana, you couldn't even counterbalance your own body weight.

In industrial plants that refined metals and the like, large dragons were sometimes kept on hand for the sake of obtaining large quantities of mana at once, but the mana-voltage involved required specialized equipment, and once you factored in feed costs, the fuel efficiency was hardly anything to brag about. Naturally, the far more space-efficient, higher-efficiency "Holders," with the same mana-voltage as a human, were prized as power sources… but…!

"I'd heard the rumors, sure, but it never made the news or anything, and I figured 'Mana-Slaves' were just an urban legend…"

"No… Sorry to say, it's a real thing."

Sonia shook her head.

"Within the United Kingdom of Everead, human trafficking is a major crime, of course, but in the member nations far from the royal capital, there are plenty of places where the alliance laws don't really function. There are even countries where the royal family openly uses 'Mana-Slaves,' so for political reasons it's become taboo…"

"Damn it…!"

Sonia's pitiless words. At the merciless reality, Raul couldn't help but spit it out.

Because of me, Myuli's in danger like that…!

"… But, if that's the case, your little sister's probably still being held somewhere in the royal capital or nearby, right…? They wouldn't risk trafficking right here in the capital, and hauling kidnapped kids off to a different city one by one would be terrible for efficiency…"

Sonia folded her arms and muttered as if organizing her thoughts.

"So they're probably planning to round up a certain number first, then move them all at once… in which case, our only option is checkpoints on the big transport dragoncarts and ships, but I wonder if they'll cooperate…"

At Sonia's words, Raul ground his back teeth.

Myuli was still, surely, somewhere in this royal capital. But warehouses, offices, basements, even the room of any ordinary apartment… in the royal capital there were any number of places to hide a person. Searching for Myuli without a clue would be like looking for a single grain of sand on a beach… and then.

Fino, who had been thinking hard about something, suddenly raised her face.

"Raul, I'll be the bait…!"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

At her words, Raul's and Sonia's eyes went round—.

"How's this?! Like this, I'd get kidnapped, right?!"

Silver hair done up in twintails, a dress with puffed sleeves.

Right after her bait declaration Fino had bolted off into the apartment, leaving the two of them dumbstruck; now, having come pattering back down, she looked up at Raul and Sonia with an upturned gaze.

"W-well, how do I put this…"

"… Less off-putting than I expected, maybeee…"

"Reaaally?!"

… Apparently bought at the gift shop on Brave Island, the Maou-kun-faced backpack plushie was clutched tight to her chest with both hands, her eyes shining.

"My staff badge with the tracker in it, I made sure to bring that too… all that's left is to get kidnapped!"

"… Yeah, but even so…"

Sonia looked down at the brimming-with-confidence Fino and swept her hair back, troubled.

"I wonder if it'll go that smoothly… the royal capital's huge, and they aren't out kidnapping kids twenty-four-seven, are they? It could end up being a pretty long game, y'know…?"

"But we don't have any other leads…! I'll try until I get kidnapped, all right?!"

Fino declared it with a face full of resolve. Raul, who had been wavering, raised his voice.

"Sonia-san, do you know where the incidents have been concentrated? You know, somewhere with even slightly higher odds…"

"Y-yeah…!"

Sonia nodded and pulled a MagicPhone out of her pocket.

"The logs should still be in the office, I'll have somebody check right now, all right? … Mm, hello, Log? Wait, you're already asleep?! It's wor-or-ork, all right?!"

"Sorry, you're saving us here…"

Raul thanked Sonia for roping in her subordinate on the spot, then glanced down at the Fino beside him.

"Fino, I'm sorry… right now, you're the only one I can rely on…"

"Mn-mm."

… At Raul's apologetic words, Fino's twintails swung as she shook her head.

"I'm okay. At least, if these guys are slavers, they wouldn't kill a valuable mana-holder kid they'd kidnapped, right?"

"Well, no, probably not… but who knows what they might do to you…"

"It's fine!"

Backpack still tucked under her arm, Fino looked up at Raul head-on.

"Because Raul's gonna come rescue me right away!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Fino said it flat out.

In front of Raul, who caught his breath in spite of himself, Fino smiled softly.

"Let's definitely save Myuli, okay…? Don't worry, if it's Raul, definitely!"

Words and a smile so full of trust they would have given anyone courage.

His heart unexpectedly skipping a beat, Raul rushed to raise his voice and cover the embarrassment.

"M-more importantly, what the heck is even in that backpack of yours?!"

"Fufu, secret!"

Fino giggled mischievously at Raul's question… and then.

"OK, Log, thanks for the hard work! … Raul-san, sorry to keep you waiting, got it, all right?!"

"Sonia-san, thank you!"

Raul rushed over as Sonia hung up the MagicPhone.

"According to police records, the place where kidnappings have been concentrated is… eh?"

… And Sonia, who had begun to answer, abruptly cut herself off.

"Sonia-san, what's wrong?"

"U-um… F-Fino-san, where'd she go?"

"Huh?!"

At Sonia's hesitantly-asked question, Raul looked around… and his eyes went wide at the disappearance of the girl who had been there only a moment ago.

"Wait, hold on, d-don't tell me, already, kidnapped…"

"… She, kinda, was, maybe…?"

… Pulling a receiver from somewhere in her uniform, Sonia turned her ash-grey eyes onto it.

A point of light was moving westward at frightening speed. Tracking the mana waves coming off Fino's staff badge, Sonia, looking somewhat dumbstruck, murmured to herself.

 

*

 

… A slow, heavy rocking around her body.

A small room walled off by iron bars inside a dimly-lit building.

A black-clad man with red eyes had grabbed her by the arm and pressed something tingly to her neck, and her consciousness had slipped away… when she came to, she'd been thrown in here.

The corridor in front of her seemed to be lined with rooms just like hers, and from here and there the sound of children sobbing drifted in.

Curled in a corner of the cramped room, Myuli lowered her eyes.

… Big Brother… wasn't a [Hero] after all…

Murmuring it in her heart, Myuli tightened her arms around her knees.

… To tell the truth, she'd hated [Heroes].

Big Brother, who'd been crazy about [Heroes] since they were little, was always [Hero] this and [Hero] that, and he'd hardly paid Myuli any mind. So Myuli had always thought, I wish Big Brother would never get to be a [Hero]… And yet, that same Big Brother had saved Myuli with the very power he'd trained up to become one.

The day the village was raided by bandits, from the moment he pulled her out of that iron cage, inside Myuli's heart, Big Brother had become absolute.

Big Brother was more amazing than anyone, more right than anyone.

And because that same Big Brother had promised he would absolutely become a [Hero], no matter what anyone around her said, Myuli had decided she would absolutely believe in him… But.

… Big Brother was supposed to be more amazing than anyone, more right than anyone.

Big Brother stopped writing her letters.

And the villagers started spreading unpleasant rumors.

… No. Big Brother was more amazing than anyone, more right than anyone.

Even so, Myuli kept believing in Big Brother… Or rather, scared that the feeling inside her was going to waver, she'd thrown herself desperately into believing him. And so she'd clashed with the villagers and her parents, run away from home, come all the way to the royal capital.

The Big Brother she met after so long was, sure enough, more amazing than anyone… but somehow it felt like he wasn't a [Hero].

Unable to bear the swelling anxiety, she'd secretly bought a Hero Almanac at the amusement park.

The moment she saw it, something inside her cried out that she shouldn't look.

… Even though she'd known, somewhere, that Big Brother's name wouldn't be in there.

The Big Brother who was supposed to be more amazing than anyone, more right than anyone, had broken his absolute promise to Myuli that he would become a [Hero].

The thing Myuli had stubbornly believed in all this time had crumbled away, and she no longer knew what to do.

… In the dark corridor, an unsteady set of footsteps echoed.

Still hugging her knees in the corner of the room, Myuli flicked her gaze toward the man come to make the rounds… and her eyes went wide.

"Not… a demonkin…?"

The words slipped from her mouth. As if he'd caught them, the man stopped in front of her cell, narrowed eyes that had only just now been red, and grinned.

"… Mana-holder brats sell for a lot, all kinda uses for 'em…"

… He seemed to have been drinking, his face flushed. Leaning against the bars, propping his arms up on them, he looked down at Myuli with a smug expression.

"Just snatchin' you lot up'd get us caught quick, but if it looks like the demonkin did it, that's another story. Humans got no idea what those things are thinkin' anyway, so nobody pokes around, and it makes for a real nice smokescreen. How 'bout it, our boss is pretty smart, eh…?"

As he talked, he pulled a small bottle from his coat, popped the cork, and tipped it back in one go… wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he snorted.

"You lot, you're gonna get sold off to a fa-aar away country… Heh-heh, born with a little more mana than most, then caught on our mana radar… rotten luck for you…"

"…!"

Myuli stiffened as the man left, his vulgar guffaw trailing behind him.

Squeezing her knees tight, she buried her face between them.

 

*

 

"No, no doubt about it…"

Peering into the receiver as if to confirm, Sonia nodded firmly.

"Where Fino-san was hauled off to… it's probably right there?"

"Myuli's in there…!"

The humid, sticky air, the sharp salt smell catching in his nose.

Taking in Sonia's words and lifting his head, Raul bit his lip in spite of himself.

— Long past midnight, the deserted Everead Port. Moored at one corner of the moonlit pier was a mid-sized ship, perhaps forty meters long.

Its rust-stained metal hull made it look like any other ordinary trade vessel, blending in seamlessly with the other ships at the dock… yet, late as the hour was, you could just make out figures moving about up on the outer deck.

Damn it, no wonder…! Raul looked at the island lying behind the ship, Brave Island, the royal capital theme park he'd been to just the other day, and spat in his head. With their hideout this close, of course they would have attacked them at Brave Island… If I'd just chased after them right then, none of this…!

"— I wish we could storm it right now, but…"

Watching the ship tethered to its mooring post, Sonia muttered, troubled.

"I did get in touch with the maritime police, but as I figured, without solid evidence they can't move on it openly…"

"…!"

Raul, who had been glaring at the ship where Myuli, Fino and the others were presumably being held, opened his mouth.

"… I'll get on board and find the evidence."

"Huh… b-but, how on earth are you planning to infiltrate that thing?"

The instant he said it, Sonia's ash-grey eyes went round.

"That ship's pretty tall, the ladder's been pulled in, and you can't possibly mean to climb the mooring rope or scale the hull… wait, Raul-san?!"

Cutting Sonia off mid-word, Raul leapt out from cover.

Sprinting straight ahead, he began assembling a "Magic Circuit" along the sword in his hand.

"'Boot'!"

At the activation command, the sword began to shine, charged with mana.

The next instant, Raul kicked off the mooring post on the pier and made a great leap toward the ship.

Like a knife into a cake, his sword sank into the upper part of the hull just below the deck.

Using the embedded blade as his hold, hauling his body up on arm strength alone, Raul caught the deck edge with his hand, and a moment later was stepping lightly onto the outer deck as he pulled the dimly glowing sword free.

"What…?!"

The instant the man on the outer deck saw Raul's sudden arrival, his eyes went wide.

"Wh-who're you?!"

A threatening shout, and the man swung the thing in his hand at him. The instant he saw it, the dull-gray pistol, Raul muttered to himself. Yeah, looks like this is the right ship.

While the rattled man hesitated over what to do, Raul charged in.

In a flash he wrenched the man's arm aside, stripped the pistol away, and slammed his forearm into the man's jaw.

The man dropped to the deck without so much as a cry. — And then.

… He sensed someone behind him.

Raul dodged on reflex, and the ball of light hurled at him burst against the wooden deck at his feet.

"…?!"

Reflexively turning his head, Raul saw, lit by moonlight, silver hair and red eyes blazing.

Magic-light wreathing one hand, the man hurled another light-orb at him.

… But for fake demonkin magic, he didn't even need to dodge!

"'Output Raise'!"

The sword's glow intensified, and with a single sweep, the light-orb dispersed harmlessly into mist.

Realizing his threat hadn't worked, the man's white-painted face took on an expression no demonkin would ever wear…

Closing the distance, Raul drove the pommel of his sword into the man's solar plexus with all his strength.

"You really aren't just some ordinary guy, Raul-san…!"

Hauled up onto the deck by the ladder Raul had let down, Sonia looked up at him, her voice climbing in pure admiration.

Once she was on the deck, Sonia pulled her goggles down over her eyes, glanced at the two collapsed men, then knelt beside the fake demonkin, his face painted white, the black roots of his real hair peeking out from under the silver wig, and started rummaging through his clothes.

"Mmm, a bracelet that mimics demonkin magic, a glove that wreathes the fingertips in light, a pistol, a wide-area mana radar, a shockgun… just this lineup's enough to arrest the guy, isn't it? More than enough pretext for forcing a search on this ship…"

"Sonia-san…"

… And.

In front of the muttering Sonia, Raul, looking like he'd already made up his mind, opened his mouth.

"Look… I want to go after them right now…"

Glancing fitfully toward the entrance to the hold, he shifted in place.

At the boy's gaze, Sonia lifted her goggles and smiled softly, nodding.

"Yeah, you can't just sit and wait, can you… OK, leave the backup to me, all right? … Be careful, Raul-san."

"Thank you…!"

Raul thanked her and turned on his heel…

"Ah, Raul-san, hold on a sec?"

"…?!"

He stopped in his tracks in spite of himself.

Turning back with a puzzled look, Raul saw what Sonia was holding out to him: a cylinder with what looked like a button on its tip… wait, what?!

"Th-this, this is the shockgun he had on him…!"

"Take it, why not?"

Sonia answered the bewildered Raul without missing a beat… Wait, what?!

"No no no no no! That's an illegal item! No way, that's seriously bad!!!"

"It's fine, it's all fiiine, just this once, I'll look the other way!"

Sonia threw in a wink and laughed softly.

"You're not fighting monsters or demonkin, right? Holding back so you don't accidentally kill someone with a magic sword's pretty hard, isn't it? Even you, Raul-san, won't always have the leeway to fight a fight like that, so use whatever you can to make it more efficient. Right?"

"…! Thank you…"

… Raul thanked Sonia again.

The moment he tucked the shockgun she'd handed him into his coat, he ran his fingers along his sword.

"'Boot', 'Output Raise', 5,000 ampyle!"

Kicking off the deck as he spoke the activation command he'd grown wholly used to.

The heavy, locked door at the entrance to the hold was sliced through like paper by Raul's magic sword.

 

*

 

… I'm tired now…

Hugging her knees in a corner of the cell, dazed and dreamlike, Myuli thought.

The Big Brother she'd believed in all this time wasn't the most amazing person, wasn't the most right person.

So now, whatever happened to a girl like her…

"Myuli!!!!!"

A familiar voice suddenly called her name.

Snapping her face up, Myuli let out a strangled noise.

"… F-Fino-oneechan…?"

… That familiar, silky silver hair, those blue eyes.

When had she gotten here? Wrapped in a childish dress, hair pulled into twintails, the silver-haired girl gripped the bars of the cell opposite, gazing at Myuli with what looked like sheer relief…?!

"I owe you an apology, Myuli… I got kidnapped on purpose, to save you!"

The moment her eyes met Myuli's, the silver-haired girl winked through the gap in the bars.

"Different from you, but I'm a mana-holder too, so I disguised myself like a kid and made myself bait! … I thought it'd take longer, but I got snatched up so smoothly, I was surprised! Well, these guys, you could say they've got a good eye…"

Wait, this isn't the time to be saying that…!

Faced with Fino's wildly out-of-place composure, Myuli could only flap her mouth open and shut.

In front of her, Fino said brightly:

"Don't worry, Myuli! Raul'll come save us right away!"

"…!"

At those words, Myuli's big eyes went round for a moment…

"… It's no use."

After a beat. Lowering her eyes weakly, Myuli shook her head, a small motion.

"Because Big Brother isn't a [Hero]… Big Brother is…"

The instant she said it, her nose stung and her vision blurred with tears…

… Looking at the about-to-cry Myuli as if exasperated.

Fino murmured "… What?" and shrugged.

"… Myuli, you said you were the senpai who knew everything about Raul, but really, you don't know anything about him, do you?"

"…?"

Myuli looked up reflexively, her eyes meeting Fino's.

The moment they did, a strong light in her blue eyes, Fino smiled and declared:

"Listen, Myuli! Raul is strong, and cool… he's an amazing guy!!!"

"Myuli——!!!!!"

The instant she heard it, a familiar voice cut into Myuli's ears.

The boy came charging in out of breath, gripping a glowing sword, his gaze fixed on Myuli with a serious expression…

A blinding sweep of his blade crossed her vision, and the iron bars, cut like paper, dropped clattering to the floor.

From between the wreckage of the bars, slipping past the hand the boy held out to her.

Springing to her feet as if launched, Myuli flung herself into Raul's chest with all her might.

 

*

 

"Hey, h-hey, Myuli, let go!!!"

"…! Big Brother… Big Brother…"

… Using the shockgun Sonia had lent him to knock the kidnappers out one after another, Raul had finally made his way to the deepest part of the ship.

He'd broken through the iron bars with a high-output magic-charged sword and somehow gotten Myuli out of the cell. But Myuli clung to his chest and wouldn't let go, and Raul could only scratch his head helplessly… And then.

"Everybody, we're here to save you-uu?"

Coming charging into the corridor lined with iron-barred cells was the beautiful girl in uniform, her coffee-colored hair streaming behind her.

"Sonia-san!!!!!"

"Fufu, that was fast, right?"

Sonia winked at Raul's voice.

The sight of the roughly ten police officers following her made Raul let out a breath of relief in spite of himself… As expected of the elite Agent Sonia-san, she'd marshaled her Illegal Magic Item Agent authority and roped in the maritime police on the spot.

In short order, Sonia and the others began breaking the locks on the cells holding the children, magic guns in hand… And behind Raul, Fino's impatient voice rose.

"Raul, get me out tooo!?"

"Fino! M-Myuli, hold on a sec, okay?"

Patting her head gently to soothe her, Raul peeled Myuli off and turned back to Fino's cell, sword raised again.

"'Output Raise'!"

A flash of light, and the lock was cut effortlessly in two.

When Raul pushed the door open, Fino, inside, puffed out her cheeks, put out.

"That's not fair… when it was Myuli, you cut the whole iron bars, not the lock…"

"Th-that's because the moment I saw Myuli, my head went totally blank, no time to even notice the lock…"

"That was way cooler…"

"O-okay, this isn't the time for that, is it?!"

"… Heh, I'm joking, you know?"

So saying, Fino grinned and threw her arms around him.

"Raul, thanks… wait?!"

… And.

In that moment, the ship pitched heavily and abruptly—.

"—?!!!!"

"Kyaaa!?"

The interior of the ship suddenly tipped past a forty-five-degree angle.

Losing his balance, Raul came down hard on his backside and started sliding helplessly along the floor.

"Wait, Myuli!!!!!"

"Big Brother…!"

In front of Raul, just barely managing to grab onto a set of iron bars, Myuli slid away toward the far end of the corridor.

The hand Raul stretched out wasn't fast enough, and just as he shouted and tried to go after her, someone seized Myuli's arm.

"…?!"

"Myuli!!!!!"

A grimy shirt, a battered leather vest.

The man, evidently one of the kidnappers, hauled Myuli to him roughly and vanished into the back of the corridor.

"Damn it…!"

… For just a flash, he'd glimpsed Myuli's face, on the brink of tears.

Grinding his teeth.

Sword leveled, Raul sprinted toward the back of the ship, which had now righted itself.

 

*

 

""Myuli!!!!!""

"Stay back! You want something to happen to this kid?!"

… One deck above the hold where the cells had been.

The instant Raul and Fino burst up the stairs and shouted, the man, who had turned around in the middle of a room scattered with rust-eaten chains and anchors, shouted back, Myuli held in his grasp.

"Big Brother…"

A pistol was pressed to her head, and Myuli looked at Raul with tear-filled eyes… And.

"Settle down, now!!!!!"

Sonia, having chased after Raul and the others, leveled her magic gun and shouted from behind.

"We know you guys were pretending to be demonkin to kidnap kids! Backup's already on the way, and there's nowhere left to run, all right? Just give up and get arrested quietly…"

"Like hell anyone's getting arrested!!!!!"

Cutting Sonia off, the man fired his pistol at Myuli's feet.

"I'm getting out of here with this brat as my hostage, no matter what! There's plenty of bullets left in this gun, you hear?! If you value this kid's life, drop your weapons!"

"…!"

Wrapping a thick arm around Myuli's neck, the man shouted in self-destructive abandon…

… Feeling the back of his eyes flush hot with frustration, Raul did as he was told and dropped his sword… Following his lead, Sonia bit her lip and silently tossed away the magic gun in her hand, too.

A sharp gunshot suddenly rang through the ship.

An instant later, a searing heat tore through Raul's right shoulder.

"…!!!?"

"Raul!!" "Raul-san!?" "Big Brother…!!"

Fino's, Sonia's and Myuli's voices crying out his name beside him.

The man, gripping Myuli, whose eyes had gone wide with shock, laughed cheerfully as he kept his hand on her neck.

"Ha-ha! Serves you right! That's payback for hitting me in the gut earlier!"

Damn it, this guy's the one I knocked out on the outer deck…!

… Probably while Sonia had gone to call for backup, he'd come to and run off. Pressing a hand over his shoulder, where the flesh had been torn so deeply it felt as if his heart had migrated there and was pounding against the wound, Raul couldn't help clicking his tongue.

Pain made his head reel.

Staggering backward, the heel of his boot pressed down on a heap of chains, which clinked faintly…

… In that instant.

Catching his breath, Raul narrowed his eyes the slightest bit.

"So, where shall I shoot you next, hm…?"

Looking at the pale, teeth-clenched Raul, the man's face twisted into a grin.

"… If you care about this kid's life, you won't dodge, all right?"

"Big Brother…!"

In Raul's field of vision, Myuli cried out, on the verge of tears.

With a loud, triumphant laugh, the man took aim at Raul again.

… Now!

The instant the man's muzzle moved off Myuli and onto Raul's heart.

A blinding light suddenly welled up from beneath Raul's feet.

"'Boot'!"

"What…!"

… Staff-issue magic boots, embedded with rivets that let mana be fed into the store's air conditioner.

Pinned under Raul, the chain at his feet, fed mana through the soles of his boots, took on a pale blue glow and shot straight toward the man holding Myuli hostage.

"D-damn it!!!!?"

Still gripping Myuli, the man hastily fired his pistol at the chain, which writhed like a living thing.

But the chain, charged with magic, didn't so much as flinch, jangling its way around the man's legs.

"…!"

… Taking advantage of his moment of unanticipated panic.

Myuli suddenly looked down and bit, hard, into the arm wrapped around her neck.

"Aaaaagh!!!!!?"

The man cried out at the sudden agony, trying to shake Myuli off.

In that opening, Raul stepped off the chain he'd been pressing down and kicked off the floor, closing the distance in a single stride.

"Take this—!!!!!"

Leaping over the now-dimmed chain and pulling his arm back to put his weight into the swing… the instant he did, unbelievable pain seared through his wounded shoulder.

… Even so.

Throwing every ounce of strength he had into it, Raul slammed his fist into the man's gut once again.

 

*

 

"…!"

Crumpling to his knees beside the fallen man, Raul let out a voiceless scream.

Literal writhing agony… The pain in his wounded shoulder was so intense he couldn't even cry.

… And then.

"Big Brother…!"

Myuli ran over and peered at Raul's face, on the verge of tears herself…

The instant he saw it, remembering what he had to do, Raul forced out a voice through the pain.

"Myuli… I'm sorry… I…"

… He knew it was too late by now.

Even so, this was something that had to come out of his mouth, no matter what…

"I… I… that…"

Damn it, you idiot! Why can't you spit it out even now?! … This isn't even "pathetic" anymore!

… Once again, looking Myuli straight in the eyes.

As if letting out the feelings he'd held tight in his chest all this time, Raul opened his mouth.

"I… I couldn't become a [Hero]…"

"… … … …"

"And… I didn't write you… stayed quiet all this time… I broke my promise, I'm sorry…"

In that instant, Myuli's big black eyes, gazing silently at Raul, slowly welled up with tears… and Raul's chest filled with regret.

Because I hid this, Myuli's gone through awful things, gotten herself caught up in something this dangerous, cried so much… I'm really, the worst…

"… Mn-mm."

Suddenly, Myuli's face disappeared from his view.

A beat later, something pressed itself tight to Raul's chest…

"… Even if you're not a [Hero], Big Brother is Myuli's hero…"

Burying her head into his chest, almost cuddling against him.

In a voice that only Raul could hear, Myuli whispered.

 

*

 

"Well, looks like it really is time to face the music, isn't it?"

In front of the kidnapper, his weapons taken and his body wound round and round with MagicRope, Sonia put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.

"All your buddies are caught, all the kids are safe and sound. Even after taking a hostage, you still couldn't get away. What a shame, isn't it?"

Whether it was over the heartless crime of trafficking children, or over the cowardly business of taking a hostage… or maybe she was put out about Raul getting shot. For once, Sonia looked angry, tossing her words at the kidnapper as if to provoke him.

…?

Pressing the handkerchief Myuli had used to stop the bleeding to his shoulder, Raul felt a vague, ill-shaped unease.

This guy, for someone who's just been caught, he's pretty calm… too composed…

… And.

"It's bad!!!"

A police officer burst into the room as if the wind had knocked him in.

"The ship… the ship's moving!"

"What…?"

The instant Sonia raised her voice in surprise, the kidnapper opened his mouth.

"… Tables turned."

… Chuckling under his breath, the man declared smugly:

"Y-you…! Turn this ship back to port right now!!!"

"No can do. The helm here is a magic item, the course is locked, and there's no way back to the royal capital."

Sonia grabbed him by the collar, but the man only sneered.

"This ship's destination's our buyer's country. Once it pulls in, their whole army comes out to greet us… heh, with the numbers you've got, there's no way you take 'em."

"…!"

Releasing the man, Sonia bit her lip, her face gone pale.

"You mean we, got tricked… there's no way out…?"

… And.

"Fuhahahaha…!"

As if to shatter the heavy mood, a laugh suddenly rang out from behind them.

Everyone in the room turned at once. The silver-haired girl, hands on her hips, chest puffed out, wore an expression so full of confidence she could have powered the ship herself.

"It's fine, I have this!!!!!"

So saying, what Fino pulled out of her Maou-kun backpack was a pale-blue Magical Negative-Ion Dryer, the third-place prize Fino had won at the beauty pageant on the Shinrurian Coast a few days back, the one that made your hair lay just so… wait, what?!

The instant they saw the item the small girl was triumphantly holding aloft, the assembled group stared, mouths slightly open.

 

*

 

"Fino-san, all done?"

… The main deck in the dead of night, lit by magic-lights.

In front of the maritime police Sonia had gathered, and the ten-odd mana-holding children who had been imprisoned in the hold, all watching with bated breath, Sonia pulled off her goggles, her long hair streaming in the sea breeze, and reported. Beside her, Fino let out a cheer.

"How is it, did it work?!"

"Mmm, like you asked, I cranked the output to the limit, all right? Plus, I broke down my magic gun and built in the 'Syntax Module' inside it that cancels kinetic energy, and the mechanism…"

"… Uh, ummm, what do you mean?"

"… It's the thing that keeps your body from getting flattened, you idiot."

Looking down at the puzzled Fino, Raul muttered exasperatedly. This girl, don't tell me she made this suggestion without even thinking about that.

"Heh-heh…!"

The just-modified dryer back in her grip, Fino's expression was practically glowing.

In front of her, Raul checked the hand of his wristwatch against the stars overhead and spoke.

"The royal capital should be due east… Fino, that direction."

"Got it!"

"All right, Fino, you're up."

"Mn!!!!!"

Letting out a delighted sound, the demonkin girl squeezed Raul's outstretched left hand tightly.

In that instant.

A current of energy so intense it shook his body poured into Raul.

Fino's outrageous mana flooded Raul's body, now functioning as a magic item.

Tethering a consciousness that would have slipped away if he relaxed for even a moment, Raul raised his voice.

"Fino, Myuli… everyone, ready…!"

"Yeah!!!"

"Mn…!"

Fino and Myuli nodded. And the children who'd been captive just a short while ago.

Myuli and the children gripped the ship's railing in front of them all at once. Beside Fino, who held the dryer at the ready, Raul, his left hand still clasped with hers, set his right hand on the railing as well.

Closing his eyes lightly, drawing a breath, the unseen arms of his mind reaching out wide,

Raul flung open at once the complex circuit he had built up in his head.

"'Boot'!!!"

At the activation command, a "Magic Circuit" of soft light spread over the ship's port and starboard sides as if blanketing it.

The instant Myuli and the others gripping the railing poured in their strength. In the suddenly brighter glow, the forty-meter hull lifted, just slightly…

"Take this!!!!!"

The moment Fino flipped the switch, the dryer, filled with the mana of a girl who held the power of a king of demonkin, gave off a tremendous wind.

The "Magic Circuit" Raul had booted, its weight cancelled by the mana Myuli and the other mana-holding children had poured in to the limit of what they had.

The ship they were on slipped weightlessly and gracefully into motion, running in the opposite direction.

"…! Th-that's, impossible!!!!?"

Beside the man, who stood dumbstruck, Raul gave a small grin.

"… Tables turned, eh?"

Across the deep-blue sea, the ship raced straight back toward the royal capital, prow throwing up white wakes.

Hands clasped tight as they ran the ship onward, Raul and Fino exchanged a delighted look.

To Raul Onii-chan,

How's the wound? Does it still hurt?

Thanks to Big Brother seeing me off, Myuli got home to the village safely. The MagicKettle Big Brother gave me to take back, Mom was so happy with it. She said, now we can have hot tea any time, without lighting a fire.

The letter you asked me to deliver, I gave that to the village chief properly, too.

Everyone was relieved that Big Brother, who hadn't gotten in touch with us for so long, was doing well in the royal capital.

When I told them about the magic item shop where Big Brother works, they were really surprised, and the MagiO Exercises that were on the MagicPlayer you sent as a souvenir have become a huge hit (every morning everyone gets together in the village chief's field to do them), and the chief was happily praising you, saying, that's our Big Brother, working at a shop that handles such amazing things.

… I'm sorry, Big Brother. Myuli told everyone that Big Brother had sold his trophy to pay back his debt.

When she did, the village chief got angry and said, what a terrible waste, and now the whole village is in the middle of negotiating to buy your trophy back.

I don't know the details, but the rumor is that even the person who bought your trophy, when the village chief told him the story of how Big Brother saved the village, was deeply moved… but business is business, so he'll sell it back for 400,000 gold, apparently.

When the trophy comes back, they're going to put it up in the school entryway… Myuli's a little embarrassed, but getting to see Big Brother's trophy every day might make me a little happy too.

Dad and Mom also said, once things settle down, come home for a visit.

Mom was joking that she'd have a big steaming pot of Colonia potatoes waiting, but the apple-plum tree in the back garden bore lots of fruit again this year, so I'm sure she'll bake Big Brother's favorite plum cake.

Myuli wants Big Brother to come home too. I'm looking forward to the day when that happens.

Well then, work hard at your magic shop job. Don't push yourself too much, Big Brother.

From Myuli