Honest Heartfelt Hope

Morning light filtered through my window, landing on my face. Groaning, I silenced the alarm on my smartphone. I threw off the covers to find that I was fully dressed in my school uniform.

It all came back to me at once, the orb, the pain, my mana, flying across the classroom, and… How did I wind up back in my own bed? Had it all been a dream? Yeah, that must’ve been it. I was so excited for my first day at school that I went to bed in my school uniform and had a nightmare that Blade and Shield was actually a magic school. What a silly dream.

My attempts at self-delision were shattered when Robolina poked her head through the door. “Good, you’re awake. Come have breakfast. We have a full day ahead of us.”

“That’s it?!” I raised my voice more than I meant to and ended up shouting. “You’re not going to apologize? You’re not going to ask how I feel? You’re just going to drag me along at your pace until I get hurt again?”

She looked straight at me, holographic tears forming in the corners of her eyes, before turning her head away. “I didn’t… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize forcing your mana to circulate would be so painful. I just wanted to… But now…” Her fists clenched so tightly that I could hear metal creaking, and she forced herself to look me in the eyes. “Are you going to stop being friends with me?”

“Huh?” That wasn’t what I expected at all.

“I wouldn’t blame you. After all, I got you into this mess in the first place, then I hurt you trying to make it right. It’s just… No matter how hard I try, none of the other students like me. At best, some of them tolerate me. I thought…”

Suddenly, her actions made a lot more sense. “So all that stuff about wanting an assistant was just an excuse to be my friend?”

She blinked and the holographic tears paused mid-animation. “No, I really do need an assistant. But helping me will help you gain better control of your mana. It’s win-win, so please continue being my friend.”

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my head. Everything seemed fine. I wasn’t even bruised. Yesterday had been trying, but I’d already come this far. No point in backing out now. Besides, deep down, I was just as lonely as she was.

I wanted to be her friend.

“Sure. I mean, yes, please continue looking after me. And don’t blame yourself. I’m at fault too for not doing my research on Blade and Shield. Next time, just let me know what you’re doing before you do it.”

Her tears vanished and a big smile replaced them. She jumped into the air, spreading her arms wide, and for a moment, I thought she was going to hug me. Instead, she skipped out of the room.

“Hurry up or your breakfast is going to get cold.”

A full Japanese-style breakfast was waiting for me in the kitchen. Rice, miso, pickled vegetables, grilled fish, and natto. My stomach grumbled as soon as I saw it. Sleeping through dinner had given me quite the appetite. I wolfed it all down. Aside from the natto, she was a great cook. Who knew golems could make a delicious meal?

“Why are we here?” I asked between bites. “After a blow like that, shouldn’t you have taken me to a hospital?”

“No need,” she said, scooping more rice into my bowl. “I used the mana stored in the stone to heal you. Besides, if I had taken you to a doctor, they would have asked what happened, and if the principal found out, she’d kick us both out of Blade and Shield.”

That made me pause my chewing. Sneaking around behind the principal’s back felt wrong. But then again, nobody ever achieved greatness by being overly cautious. Besides, there was a more pressing issue. “How come you know where I live?”

“I overheard some of your classmates lau--mention that you lived close to school. I walked around the nearby neighborhoods, and this was the only house with a Yamaguchi nameplate out front.”

Just great. My nervous flub yesterday had made me the butt of a joke. Well, if it wasn’t for that, Roabolina might have hid me in a broom locker or something instead.

After gulping down the last of my tea, I took my dishes to the sink. A cucumber fell off the edge of my plate and bounced off my chest. I kneeled down to pick it up off the floor, but all that remained was a small pile of ash. Had Senpu Hime smote my breakfast for attempting to stain the clothes she had blessed?

“By the way,” Robolina said, “is it alright if I enshrine Kooririnshu in your front yard?”

“They aren’t, but I’ll text them.” Pulling my smartphone from my pocket, I typed, My upperclassman wants to put a shrine to an ice god she created in our front yard. That OK?

My father was the first to reply. Is this some kind of LARPing thing?

No, it’s real magic school stuff.

Another message came in shortly afterward, this time from my mother. Just keep it away from the plants.

“Thank you,” Robolina said after I showed her my phone. “I’m sure Kooririnshu will be much happier with a shrine, and I won’t have to continually sustain him with my mana.”

Slipping on my shoes, I followed her out into the yard and watched as she put her hands in prayer. A layer of ice formed over a patch of ground near the sidewalk. It grew, forming into an ornate altar.

“You can cast magic without speaking?” I asked.

“Magic doesn’t actually require incantations. We call out the names of spells to alert those around us.”

She explained it so simply, without criticizing my ignorance. Despite everything that had happened yesterday, I felt incredibly lucky in that moment to have her as my mentor--no, as my friend--and I wanted to do something to help her for once.

“Is there anything I can do to maintain the shrine?”

“Kooririnshu will protect the altar, but you’ll need to pray to it every now and then so he can maintain his connection to this realm. Here, I’ll show you.” Gently grabbing my wrist, she placed it atop the altar. Even though it was made of ice, I was surprised by just how cold it was. I instinctively tried to pull away, but she held my hands in place. “Kooririnshu rewards those who withstand his icy touch.”

“But won’t it melt?”

“Not unless Kooririnshu abandons the shrine. That’s why I wanted to put it in your yard. He can be difficult to please, but he should be happy as long as you’re around. We have more shrines to visit before school. Are you ready?”

“Is that what you need assistance with? Tending shrines?”

She nodded. “There are too many for me to give each god and goddess the attention they deserve.”

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Running back into the house, I grabbed my bag. When I returned, she had her hands on top of the shrine, deep in prayer. I didn’t want to disturb her, but she must have noticed my arrival. Nodding, she set off down the sidewalk, and I followed.

We visited four more shrines on the way to school--a mere fraction of her pantheon, she told me. Our first stop was an altar to a god of safe travels overlooking a particularly busy intersection.

“I had a few close-calls with distracted drivers here,” she explained. “Because my body is heavy, I cannot quickly dodge traffic. Ever since installing this shrine, there have been no accidents along this stretch of road.”

In prayer, I thanked the god for keeping Robolina safe, and asked him to continue protecting her. If anything happened to her, I’d lose my friend, after all.

Next, we visited a shrine to a goddess of harmony with nature, nestled between trees in a nearby park. “Many animals are afraid of golems. I caused trouble for people walking their dogs. A few even attacked me. Shizen no Hibikihime is an especially important goddess to me because she allows me to live peacefully here.”

Closing my eyes, I began praying fervently to Shizen no Hibikihime. Since she was so important to Robolina, I wanted to be especially earnest in my pleas that the goddess watch over her.

Our next stop was a police box. Just outside, she had constructed an altar to a god that reunited missing items with their owners.

“You must have lost something very important to create an entire god just to find it,” I ventured.

“A weapon. It was less important that I find it and more important that someone else didn’t.”

“It wasn’t one of those laser guns from Mechanoria, was it?”

The officer in the police box perked up at that, and Robolina elbowed me in the side. “Of course not. Those are illegal in Japan. Besides, It would be incredibly foolish to lose something like that.” She shot me a glare that perfectly communicated that I should hold my tongue.

Silently, I followed her to the next altar. Placed just outside our school gate was a shrine to a goddess of academic success. I figured Robolina didn’t need any help in that department, so I prayed for myself.

No sooner had I started than Robolina began chanting. “In pursuit of knowledge, let our ignorance be overcome. In pursuit of knowledge, let our ignorance be overcome.”

Feeling too embarrassed to follow her example, I quickly concluded my prayer. “This doesn’t seem difficult, but are you sure I’m helping? I never got the impression the gods were listening to my prayers.”

“And you probably never will. But there are telltale signs that the gods favor you. It is possible for some people to increase their mana capacity through fervent prayer, and when the gods grant them their blessings, they leave their mark on their mana. Your mana contains such traces of divinity, so I can only conclude that you gained such blessings without trying. This makes you the perfect assistant. I visit altars every morning and night, and it is still not enough.”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure the gods must be grateful for your devotion.”

“It’s the other way around. I am thankful for their favor. Without it, a golem like me could never use magic.”

“So we’re the same then? We have mana because we’re both beloved by the gods?”

Robolina remained silent for several seconds. “Sei, you should be more careful with your words. Yes, in a sense, we are the same, but I had to work for my mana. I prayed for years until I found an existing god whimsical enough to bless an artificial construct. It took many more years to nurture that ember to the point where I could create my first deity. For a time, I was shunned by Mechanorian society for my single-minded pursuit of mana.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“Let’s not waste any more time with apologies. It appears I was correct: Communing with the gods has calmed your turbulent mana. I think you’re ready to learn your first real spell.”