Chapter 38
Mint Aurora here~
Sorry it’s been a while since my last upload. The new semester has started, and I’ve been busy with school.
Now, here’s Episode 38.
Please take care of me again in 2025 as well.
“A y–yokai?!”
Mion’s eyes flew wide open, his face frozen in disbelief.
When Meina nodded to confirm it, her back broke into a cold sweat.
At the same time, as if reacting to the fear swelling inside him, all four walls began to shake violently.
In an instant, their positions shifted, forming a square prison-like space.
“……”
“We’re trapped!”
“W-w-w-what’s going on?!”
One person watched calmly.
Another was shocked by the sudden change in terrain.
The last one trembled at the bizarre phenomenon unfolding before them.
Zazat—
The lines on every portrait twisted, the patterns warped—and at that exact moment…
—All of the eyes of the painted figures swiveled toward the three standing back-to-back in the center.
Evil grins curled on their lips.
A few seconds later, several eerie low whispers overlapped, echoing right next to their ears.
“Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku…”
“Haaaatttteeee yooouuuuu—”
“You’ll neeeever get ouuuuut—uhehehehe…”
“Fresh bodies… you look delicioussss…”
“Join usss… geh-heh-heh-heh!”
They were surrounded on all sides. No escape.
Kneeling down, Mion shut his eyes and covered his ears, repeating “sorry, sorry, sorry,” but it didn’t save him from the nightmare reality.
The voices pierced through his defenses, relentlessly tormenting his eardrums.
“Emergency! We have to exorcise the yokai! Anyone have salt? A charm? Or maybe—”
As Meina tried to lighten the mood, Misty—who had been silent until now—stepped forward and stood right in front of the panicking boy.
There was not the slightest hint of agitation in her eyes.
“<Clear Mirror–Spiegel>…”
She whispered softly, and a smartphone-sized mirror materialized in her palm.
She gripped it tightly.
(Good! Seraphine’s magic can repel yokai! Lucky!)
Misty’s plan matched Meina’s expectations—this was the time to exorcise the monsters.
But her method was nothing like the traditional rituals the spirit girl imagined.
“What a pointless trick…”
Reflected in the mirror, the paintings emitted faint blue glimmers invisible to the naked eye—thin like threads—floating through the air and connecting to the frames.
Target locked.
Misty leaped toward the light like a gust of wind and sliced the thread in one swift motion.
“One.”
She murmured, steadying her breath.
She shifted the mirror’s angle to find the next faint glow and attacked it the same way.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Her movements were fast, precise, and efficient—without a single wasteful step.
She kept going until every light-thread dissolved into fine particles.
“Whew… that’s the last one.”
She blew the remaining particles from her hand and exhaled lightly.
When she dispelled <Clear Mirror–Spiegel>, the paintings gradually returned to their inert, lifeless forms.
“Seraphine, you’re amazing… a yokai-banishing master—no, a yokai slayer!”
Meina offered Misty genuine praise for resolving the crisis in moments.
But when she looked at Mion, still trembling and frozen, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
She shook her head.
“Haah… Master, how long are you going to stay like that? It’s already over.”
“Eh?”
Looking around, Mion finally realized he was being stared at by the two girls.
He scrambled to his feet, face reddening, and cleared his throat.
“Ahem… That was disgraceful… Um… I’m sorry, I was completely useless… I’m honestly just so incompetent, forgive me.”
He bowed his head. No excuses left.
“Well, can’t be helped. Like you said—you’re bad with yokai, right?”
“Yeah… Sorry, Seraphine. Thanks.”
Mion took the escape route Misty kindly offered.
“But seriously, to drive away every yokai alone—if this were Silphes, you’d be qualified to be a shrine maiden.”
“I don’t know what that is, but enough joking. Those weren’t yokai!”
“Huh? They weren’t?”
“It was obviously magic! A spell that manipulates objects—I’ve read about it in an academy book. And there’s only one.”
“What is it…?”
“Special magic: <Manipulation–Manipulator>.”
Pointing to a distant painting, Misty continued:
“The caster connects magical threads to inorganic objects and controls them. They can control ten—one for each finger.”
“Like some creepy puppeteer… gross.”
The image of eerie puppets flashed through Mion’s mind, making him shudder.
“Magical threads? I didn’t see any.”
“Of course. Only my <Clear Mirror–Spiegel> can reveal them, fufu…”
Her voice carried a hint of self-mockery.
<Clear Mirror–Spiegel> could create mirrors—nothing more.
Because of its limited usefulness, it was considered one of the least practical special magics.
Her parents and older brother Liam told her to treasure it, but Misty never found any pride in it.
Even after it proved useful today, her impression of <Spiegel> remained unchanged.
“So, what do we do now?”
Meina’s question brought them back to reality.
“Damn…”
Mion pushed the walls with all his strength, but none budged.
“Sigh… No good. We’ll have to wait until morning for rescue…”
“Not necessarily.”
While Mion openly showed his desire to give up, Misty’s attention shifted upward.
There was a gap between the top of the tall wall and the ceiling.
If they could reach it, they could escape.
“We might get out through there.”
“No way.”
Mion immediately rejected her idea.
The problem was the height—about seven meters.
Climbing was nearly impossible.
“What if you used <Red Wing–Araloger>?”
“If I could fly, I wouldn’t be this depressed! Right, Meina?”
Mion turned to the thinking spirit girl.
“Yeah. For some reason, <Red Wing–Araloger> and Master don’t work well together. He can’t fly properly.”
“Then how did he fight Samella in midair?”
“That wasn’t flight. That was… hovering.”
“Hmm… A special magic that’s incompatible with its mage. That’s ironic…”
“Very strange, though. Even though they’re assimilated.”
Assimilation—when magic activates automatically in accordance with the user’s will.
Proof the magic has accepted its wielder.
Hearing that word, Misty rushed up to Mion, excited.
“Wait—seriously?! You assimilated with <Red Wing–Araloger>?”
“Yeah. Well, at least that’s what Meina said.”
“I see. That explains why you can use its abilities even with low mastery.”
She remembered the previous battle clearly.
Mion had taken Samella’s blow to protect others and lost combat ability.
When he prayed for hope, <Red Wing–Araloger> activated on its own.
She had doubted whether that was assimilation back then—but with Meina confirming it, she had to accept it.
Suppressing her envy, she steadied herself and looked at Mion seriously.
“Mion, this is sudden, but I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“Use your imagination.”
“Huh?”
Both Mion and Meina made confused faces.
“After assimilation, magic sometimes activates on its own, following the user’s intent.
But the details of the action depend on the user’s imagination.”
“So what do I do?”
“Make <Red Wing> understand that you want to get out of here.
Then imagine a way to escape and leave the rest to the wings.”
“That’s… quite a jump! Running before walking, huh… well, I’ll try.”
Heart pounding, Mion swallowed, clenched his fists, and closed his eyes.
He emptied his mind and focused.
(Remember… that feeling from last time… <Red Wing–Araloger>!)
He shouted the spell’s name inwardly with all his might.
At that moment—
Bshuuuu—
Huge, elegant wings burst open, semi-transparent like glowing red gel.
“Yes! Let’s go—full speed!”
Encouraged by the success, Mion raised his right arm dramatically and yelled upward:
“I! WANT! TO ESCAPE! RIGHT NOW!
So help meeeeee—!”
In response, the wings began to expand.
They grew to four times his body size, stretching forward and hooking securely over the wall’s edge.
“I see—that’s how it works.”
“Yep. Safe and efficient. Better than the user, maybe.”
“Hey! That hurts, you know!”
Apparently, the wings intended to hoist Mion upward and support the descent afterward.
“See you in a bit,” Meina said, returning temporarily to the “Mind Room Oasis.”
Left with Misty, Mion offered her the only option:
“Alright, hop on.”
“…Fine.”
Blushing, Misty wrapped her arms around his chest and clung to his back.
Her face, red as a tomato, hovered near his shoulder.
“If you touch anywhere weird… I’ll kill you.”
“I—I know!”
Through their clothes, Mion could feel her quickening heartbeat.
He understood. His was the same.
“Hold on tight. We’re going.”
Everything was supposed to proceed according to plan.
……………………
—But this time, <Red Wing–Araloger> behaved unexpectedly.
“Eh? Isn’t it supposed to lift us upward?”
“No—it’s moving on its own!”
Unable to control it, Mion’s body was dragged backward step by step.
Biiing—!
The stretched wings vibrated like rubber being pulled to its limit.
“Déjà vu… this pattern… Wait—this is a slingsho—”
He realized the wings’ true intention too late.
Before either could react—
BOING—
They were launched like stones from a giant slingshot.
“WAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!”
“GYAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!”
They flew with tornado-like speed, perfectly clearing the gap—
but landing was still far away.
Lights and elegant European-style décor blurred past them.
The wind howled in their ears, mixing with their screams.
The magic had obeyed Mion’s wish—
but it misunderstood “here.”
He only wanted to escape the wall prison.
Not the entire art gallery.
Thud!
Crash!
Ten seconds later, they slammed into the floor.
Mion felt like every bone shattered, nearly blacking out.
Misty avoided harm thanks to her human cushion.
“I’m gonna break! I’m gonna break!!”
“S-sorry…! Ah, so bright!”
As Misty stood up, she was blinded by intense light.
As her eyes adjusted, she saw a massive Earth model standing tall in the center of the space, encircled by golden iron rings.
Whatever the process, <Red Wing–Araloger> had completed its mission.
It had flown over the entire gallery, shot down a hundred-meter hallway, and delivered them to the place where all exhibition halls connected—
the main lobby of the City Museum.
