14 — Sorry, Mom. Your Son Became a Terrorist (08)

No matter how skilled the mage is or how strong the mental concept, advanced magic can't take shape without the words being spoken.

Depending on the mage's domain, the chant can be drastically shortened, but that doesn't mean the attack's power will be any weaker.

"『Advanced Magic: Incinerator』"

A command.

The ultimate expression of the concept.

When it stops being theory and becomes law.

A clause added to the rules of physics.

"!!!"

When I heard those words, I jumped on top of Minami-san and used my body to shield her. It was almost a primitive instinct, and also... one of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life.

I'm not the kind of person who sacrifices himself for others. Especially not for someone I barely knew. Still, I leapt as if it were the most natural thing to do. As if my pathetic body with not a single drop of mana could block an advanced mage's attack.

What a joke.

Dying like this didn't sound fun at all.

"..."

The heat rushed toward my body at an alarming speed.

The world in front of me started to ripple, and I could feel the effects of dehydration while I squeezed the thin body of that red-eyed psycho.

Tch.

Thinking about it, the scene was kind of ironic.

Maybe Minami-san was right when she called me a womanizer.

"Kobami Haruki…"

Knowing it was useless, I shut my eyes.

I acted like a kid who pulls a blanket over his head and expects it to protect him. As if the simple act of closing my eyes could summon some miraculous response from the universe.

Of course, in the real world, that doesn't happen.

There are no magical clichés with instant solutions.

Reality can be a lot crueler than we imagine.

Still...

Even knowing that...

I hoped I might be saved.

"Don't worry, Minami-san. This time I'll protect you."

There was a high chance the attack would pierce my body and burn us both to ash, but I'd always wanted to say those words, so I hugged her tighter.

"Kobami… Ugh! That—"

My throat began to itch.

The CO2-laden smoke was rocking my consciousness. I started to feel hazy.

Ten seconds had passed since I'd jumped on Minami-san and— wait?

Ten seconds?

What did I just think?

That made no sense.

The first time we were hit, the blast hadn't struck us directly and yet we nearly died instantly.

So... how were we still alive?

"...What the hell is that thing you brought?"

When I opened my eyes, Minami-san looked bewildered.

I could feel the heat and hear the fire crackling behind me, but oddly there was no pain.

<— Combustion Magic Detected —>
<— Diagnosis: Full Absorption —>
<— Activation: Initiating —>

"What...?"

Like me, most people don't believe miracles happen in real life. It's not skepticism or anything like that; over time, the impossible becomes common sense.

Acceptable.

"..."

Even watching it happen now, I still couldn't believe it.

"What kind of reading device is that? Explain yourself."

The baseball my grandpa had given me—the one he called a protective charm— had absorbed the fire magic completely.

<— Activation: Complete —>

It wasn't just me.

Minami-san, and even the asshole who'd attacked us... nobody knew what had just happened. A device capable of nullifying an attack like that shouldn't exist. And crazier still: that didn't seem to be everything.

Once the 'activation complete' message finished, the ball kept floating in front of us. Its metallic surface grew hotter and hotter until it turned bright red, like the flames it had swallowed.

Just when I thought it was over, the ball sprouted arms and legs. Then it dropped to the floor and spoke to me.

"Yo! Haru-chan! Thanks for the meal."

"Huh?!"

"U-um, a robotic teddy?"

Minami-san's words described the thing in front of us perfectly.

Still. They didn't explain a damn thing.

Just...

"What are you?"

Before I knew it the question slipped out of my mouth, but even as I asked, I already knew I wouldn't get a satisfying answer.

In fact: there was no satisfying answer.

"Response to Haru-chan: I am a protection charm created by your grandpa. Codename KUM4-001. You may call me Kumacchi."

"Kuma…chi?"

I don't know why Minami-san seemed so impressed by the name. That wasn't even the strangest part. What I really wanted to know was how the hell that thing was even considered a charm.

"Haru-chan, stand back. My task isn't finished yet."

Kumacchi turned toward the fire mage who was approaching us.

"What the hell was that?! This little tin can absorbed my magic? Haha! Amazing. How'd you do that, little guy?"

"Response to matchstick: Your fire magic is nothing more than an entropy increase stimulated by your brain cells in contact with the mana core. It is not difficult to interfere with—"

"Kobami Haruki!!! Why's your teddy giving him a scientific lecture? Not the time for chit-chat! This idiot is our enemy!"

Minami-san was right. As bizarre as the situation was, we were still in the line of fire.

"Uh... Kumacchi, you heard her, right?"

"Response to Haru-chan: Affirmative."

"Hey, girl. That was cruel. We're enemies, sure, but no need to be like that, right? Huh. Now that I look, your body's okay? So your magic didn't just freeze time... it healed you, too? And now this weird teddy? Damn. I gotta admit, you guys keep surprising me."

He stepped forward.

"Well... I doubt you intend to explain anything, so why don't we just pick up where we left off? I'm curious how much this little guy can take."

"Kumacchi. Don't be fooled by this guy's grin. He's dangerous. Are you going to be okay?"

"Response to Haru-chan: My function is to protect you. Even if that contradicts the concept of 'being okay.'"

I honestly didn't get what he meant, and I had no idea what to expect from a roughly twenty-centimeter teddy bear. But there was no one else to help us. We needed it. Also, since it'd seemingly survived a direct advanced magic attack, maybe it could keep that matchstick bastard occupied.

(I took the liberty of using the nickname Kumacchi called him by.)

"I've never heard of something like this. I know the higher-ups had plans to develop an anti-magic shield, but I never imagined a teddy could do it this easily. If I hand you over to them, I'll get a nice reward."

The flames that had carved a tunnel down the corridor began to flare against the wind. It looked like a normal phenomenon, and I wouldn't have noticed any change if not for the grin on that bastard's face.

"Too bad I can't promise to take him back in one piece."

The sound of oxygen being consumed erupted.

A wall of fire crawled along the walls from the back of the corridor toward the matchstick dude in a spiral.

This did not look good.

"Let's play for a while, teddy. Advanced Magic: Gates of— Uggghwk!"

Before he could finish the command, Kumacchi leapt at him. A frontal attack was a terrible choice against a fire mage, but breaking all expectations, the teddy kicked the attacker straight in the sternum, interrupting the magic's manifestation.

"You piece of— Gaaah!"

Without falling, Kumacchi immediately followed with a second strike, hitting under the attacker's chin with his left paw. Everything happened so fast I could barely follow it with my eyes—which, normally, wasn't a good measure—but to Minami-san, the matchstick guy, and me, the speed was astounding.

Hoisted by Kumacchi's upward hook, the beach guy lost contact with the ground, and riding the momentum of his own jump, my 'charm' delivered another kick to the exact same spot as before.

I'm no expert, but I don't think that part of the human body was designed to bend that way.

Even with my eyes stinging from the smoke, I couldn't blink.

Maybe it was the element of surprise, but the advanced mage was flung back to the start of the floor with no chance to react.

"Haru-chan, a lesson for you: a mage's main weakness lies in what they consider their greatest strength: Advanced Magic. No matter how shortened the chant, it can't form without it. So if it's interrupted, it's as though it never existed."

"What?"

Hearing that gave me a weird feeling.

It sounded familiar.

It had been a long time since I'd heard someone talk like that, but... it reminded me a lot of my grandpa.

"Kumacchi. What the hell are you?"

"Response to Haru-chan: I am—"

"『Advanced Magic: Incinerator』"

"You goddamn bear! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Kumacchi!!!"

My shout came out sharp and high when Kumacchi was swallowed by flames.

He'd been completely destroyed.

"?!"

At least that's what it looked like, until I suddenly heard his voice from the middle of the combustion.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. And as for you, thank you for the meal, matchstick. Your habit of cutting off the dialogue with an em dash and then attacking from behind is becoming predictable."

"Hah... Is that thing really real?"

The fire mage's question was the one I wanted to ask as well. Whether real or not, the important thing was he was now on our side.

Badump.

Badump.

Badump.

I felt my heart race. For the first time, I believed we could win.

"Minami-san. We'll survive. I think Kumacchi can beat that matchstick— Wait! What's wrong?"

When I looked at her, everything clicked: I hadn't heard her voice for a while.

When did she faint?

How much of that smoke had she inhaled?

This was bad.

Not just for her.

How had I not noticed before? My skin was redder than usual. My body felt strange.

Idiot.

I was an idiot.

My heart wasn't racing from excitement or adrenaline. It was tachycardia. If we stayed, we'd...

I didn't want to imagine that scenario.

We had to get out of there, now.

"Kumacchi…"

I looked back at him. He seemed to be handling the fire mage well. We actually had a real chance to win, but staying opened up a ton of other variables.

Shit.

What a shitty decision.

If I left him behind...

Even if he beat the enemy...

Kumacchi would end up captured. That was the obvious ending.

"Kobami... Haruki... what are you doing... to me?"

I lost count of how many stupid, illogical decisions I'd made in the last few days.

In less than a week I'd denied all of my convictions and done everything the worst way possible.

And yet, even if it sounded hypocritical...

This time I didn't want regrets.

"Wait! You idiot! What are you doing? Put me down! Cough, cough! The mission! We have to finish what we came for! Let go!"

Sorry, Minami-san.

We'll worry about that after we get out of here.

—With her on my shoulder, I ran out of the institute.