Chapter 96: Cleanup
"Sorry... looks like Suzuka twisted her right ankle. Mind healing it with magic?"
Souta said that as he approached me with Suzuka on his back.
"Got it."
I hesitated for just a moment, but agreed. This would mean revealing the existence of magic to Suzuka, but there was no hiding it anymore. She had been watching the earlier fight alongside Souta, after all.
To begin with, the reason she got hurt was because she got caught up in our mess.
I reached my hand toward Suzuka’s slender leg, which extended neatly from where she was carried on Souta’s back, and began to chant the spell.
"Heal."
A warm, faint light glowed at my fingertips, then transferred to Suzuka’s leg, softly shimmering before fading away.
"Amazing... the pain is gone."
Suzuka let out a surprised voice.
"Suzuka, if you're feeling okay, I’ll let you down."
"O-Okay."
As Souta crouched, Suzuka reluctantly slid off his back. Then, she gently placed her right foot on the ground.
"...It doesn't hurt."
She rotated her ankle to check the condition. There was no sign of pain on her face.
"Thank you very much. Magic really is amazing... um, Kisaragi Ikuto-san?"
What came from Suzuka’s mouth was my real name.
"...How did you know?"
"Apparently, she overheard us while I was fighting Aymok. She put the pieces together. And... I figured Suzuka was someone we could trust, so I decided to tell her everything. Sorry for not asking you first."
Souta answered my question.
"If it's Suzuka, there's no problem."
"Please don't worry. I would never reveal the secret of someone who saved me."
"...I see. Thanks, Suzuka."
"More importantly, I'm sorry. I told a terrible lie about you..."
Suzuka apologized for the lie she told in the past. That was something I had already moved on from long ago, but since Suzuka had only just now found out I was Ikuto, it must have felt different for her.
"It’s fine, really. Like I said before, I’m not upset about it. If anything, I’m sorry for not telling you the truth sooner."
If I had just told her who I really was, I could have eased her mind much earlier.
Though I had my reasons, it still felt wrong.
"That was unavoidable... besides, with everything so unreal lately, I was able to believe what Souta said. But if he had told me under normal circumstances, I would have thought he was teasing me... and you really don't look anything like how you used to."
Suzuka said that as she gave me a fresh look. Right, she knew what I used to be like.
"Yeah, makes sense. Well then, once again—nice to meet you... um, will you still be my friend?"
"Of course! Alice-san is my dear underclassman and my Duel mentor... but since you’re Kisaragi-san, that makes us classmates, right? So maybe it’s weird to call you my junior?"
Hearing her say that, I realized my speech pattern had completely reverted to how it was when I was still Ikuto.
Maybe it was because the battle stirred up my male instincts.
I consciously shifted my tone back.
"Um... right now, I’m Alice. So if you could keep treating me like your junior, that’d be nice..."
"That means she’s my junior too, huh!"
Souta chimed in with a teasing grin.
"Oh really...? Then should I call you Kamishiro-senpai or something?"
I said that in a deliberately sweet voice, and Souta immediately made a disgusted face.
"Cut it out. Hearing that from you seriously creeps me out... I’m sorry, okay?"
"Hmph, that’s what you get for trying to act all senior with me."
"...Lately, I thought the two of you were getting awfully close—but so that’s what it was."
"Well yeah, we’ve been best friends since we were born."
"I can’t tell whether I should be relieved or not... it’s a complicated feeling."
Suzuka’s mutter reached my ears.
Up until now, I’d repeatedly denied having that kind of relationship with Souta, but she never seemed fully convinced. I figured now that she knew my true identity, she’d finally accept it... but why does it still feel like something’s off?
"Anyway, we really went all out, huh... So, how are we gonna clean up this mess?"
Souta’s words brought me crashing back to reality. I had been avoiding the issue, but now it was staring me in the face.
The outdoor event stage and parking lot at the beach resort—where we’d fought our magic battle—were now nothing more than piles of rubble.
The stage was shattered, the asphalt melted, and gaping holes had opened up everywhere.
...Damn, I should’ve at least patched up the holes while I still had the blessing active.
"...Crap, this is bad! The cops!"
Someone must’ve called it in. Sirens from police cars could be heard in the distance—and it sounded like fire trucks too.
Getting involved with the police would be a huge problem. I had zero confidence in explaining this wreckage without bringing up magic.
Wasn’t there any good solution...?
"I shall handle the cleanup. You all should leave this place."
The one who said that was Aymok. He had somehow appeared beside us again. It looked like he’d shaken off whatever had been binding him—his eyes now held a sense of willpower.
"...Are you sure? I mean, do you even have any legal identity in this country? And don’t even get me started on common sense..."
"That is no issue. I’ve already used magic to create a legal identity. Even today’s gathering was registered with the police under my name and had proper authorization."
"...You’re surprisingly thorough with that kind of stuff."
"Now then, look at this situation. What does it appear to be to you?"
"...A gas explosion, maybe?"
"Gas...? Very well. Then we simply need to make the arriving authorities believe that’s what happened."
The same magic I once feared so deeply from Aymok now felt incredibly reliable.
"...Thanks. That’s a big help."
"I was the one who dragged you all into this. There’s no need for gratitude... And I also apologize to the girl over there, for taking her hostage."
"Aymok-san was nothing but gentlemanly toward me. I don’t bear any grudge against you."
"...Now go. If you stay here, more and more people will start to gather."
"...Alright. We’re counting on you."
With that, we parted ways with Aymok.
We tried looking for Souta’s bike—the one we rode here on—but couldn’t find it. It seemed to have been buried somewhere in the rubble.
"Ah... my Meteor-Go..."
Souta lamented the loss of his beloved ride.
...You’re still using the same name you gave your bike back in middle school, huh?
"I’ll get us a replacement bike. Right now, we need to hurry and get out of here!"
Dragging the lingering Souta along, we broke into a run toward the back entrance of the beach resort, where no cars had come yet.
『Aymok-san... um, I’m sorry.』
I, Alicia, sent a telepathic message to Aymok’s back as we ran.
『...Water Priestess. Why do you apologize?』
『Because... I think it was my teleportation magic that dragged you into this in the first place...』
Considering Aymok’s origin, it was very likely that when I defeated the Demon King and collapsed in that place, Aymok had been nearby and was caught up in the teleportation magic.
『Ah, that’s all? It’s nothing to worry about... As I’ve said before, I had no choices left in that other world. If anything, I should be grateful to you. There’s no way I could ever resent you.』
『...I see.』
『I plan to truly look at this world now. I’ll try to find what it is I’m meant to do here. I don’t know when I’ll discover it—but fortunately, I have all the time I need.』
『...I hope you find your answer. I wish you luck.』
『Farewell, Water Priestess.』
—And so ended the final conversation between the two who had come from another world: the priestess and the cleric.
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