Chapter 49: Iijima Kanon Wants to Break Everything

"Not good! There are multiple hybrid-types!"

"What are we supposed to do about this!?"

Voices echoed all around me.

"Damn it, there are tons of regular beast-type Deep Curses too. What the hell is going on?!"

"They were getting wiped out instantly earlier. I heard there was supposed to be a Curse Seeker unit specialized for extermination."

Everyone sounded exhausted.

"W-We’re gonna die! What are these things!? Get away from me!"

And then came the screams.

That’s why I sing.

"《Sound Wave》— 'Negative Beat.'"

A low, oppressive sound wave spread outward. Humans couldn’t hear it, but the beast-type Deep Curses visibly slowed as the sound reached them.

"Isn’t this getting way crazier than expected?"

Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be deployed. But when the opportunity came up, I rushed out anyway.

All those overflowing voices, and the endless swarm of enemies, kept pulling at my attention.

"Everyone, let’s give it everything we’ve got!"

This time, a lively melody rang out.

"《Sound Wave》— 'Positive Beat.'"

Riding the flowing rhythm, I sang.

As my voice reached them, the wounded fighters gradually got back to their feet, recovering the will to keep fighting.

Honestly, when I do this, I kind of feel like an idol. Though maybe thinking that way just means I lack a sense of crisis.

Apparently, the operation had gone smoothly at first, but now everything had descended into complete chaos. So Iijima Kanon-chan is going to give everyone a little present.

I’ll deliver my song to everyone, then head toward Mahiro-chan.

For me, everything in life comes down to whether it’s fun or not. I don’t want to waste time dwelling on painful things.

People always call me optimistic, but honestly, why wouldn’t you focus on the fun things instead?

It’s not like I have some tragic past, anyway.

Of course I’m scared of fighting. I don’t want to die.

But because death is always so close in this world, I think it’d be a waste not to enjoy life while I can.

That’s why I’ve been using my skills to forcefully stop my mind from spiraling into negativity.

Though honestly, most things usually work out with charm alone.

Sometimes I even think maybe I should forcibly raise everyone else’s spirits too. Well, at least for the people who are way too gloomy.

The person who made me realize that approach was wrong was Mahiro-chan.

Compared to everyone else, her mental state was seriously unstable. Though, to be fair, everyone here is kind of a mess.

I thought, Let’s make her more positive! and tried using my skill to shake up her emotions.

And she completely broke down.

A total emotional collapse.

I definitely remember thinking, Oops. I screwed up.

But at the same time, it made me realize that girls like her needed proper healing instead.

So after that, I just played calming sounds and let her sleep.

Little by little, I started paying more attention to Mahiro-chan.

She’s always flustered despite having insanely powerful abilities. She lacks confidence even though she’s already cute, yet she still wants to become even cuter.

She’s such a strange girl.

A girl I accidentally hurt because of my own actions.

She really doesn’t need to suffer like that, but I don’t think she’ll understand unless someone tells her directly.

You should try living a little more for yourself too, you know?

Don’t you think so, Sora-chan? President of the Mahiro Fan Club.

"Hey, you. What’s with those injuries?"

"Ehehe, I kinda messed up last time. But I’ll do my best, so I’ll be fine!"

"No, you are definitely not fine."

"Yep, yep. Quiet down already. Don’t get in my way, okay? 《Sound Wave》— 'Shake.'"

Just like that, the people trying to stop me became a minor inconvenience, so I gave them a little wobble and kept moving.

By the way, Shake is a skill that slightly disrupts the inner ear and throws off a person’s balance. It doesn’t last very long, so it’s probably fine.

Yeah. Forgive me.

Far off in the distance, I could see two gigantic shadows.

There wasn’t much I could personally do against them, but I could at least support the people heading toward them.

Though honestly, I’m not trying to play the role of some super serious hero or anything.

At the end of the day, as long as I can sing my heart out and brighten the atmosphere, that’s enough for me.

Still, I can’t find either Sora-chan or Mahiro-chan.

...Maybe they’re deeper inside?

Just wait for me.

Mahiro-chan is probably drowning in guilt and overthinking everything right now, but I’m going to smash all those feelings to pieces.

Because I do what I want to do.

And I decided I’m going to tell Mahiro-chan that it’s okay for her to live that way too.

"Ah."

"Hm?"

As I continued singing cheerfully, the Deep Curses slowed down again, allowing the Curse Seekers to cut them down during the opening.

While repeating that process, I noticed someone staring at me.

"Oh! You’re one of Mahii’s acquaintances!"

"Uh..."

A girl with red hair tied behind her back stood there. I think I’d met her in the hallway the other day.

Next to her was another girl with long blue hair. I didn’t recognize this one.

"I’m Kurokawa Kisa, and this is Kototsuka Reina."

"Could you stop introducing me as 'this one?'"

"Ah! I’m Iijima Kanon!"

After we exchanged introductions, they carefully looked me over, as if confirming something.

Maybe they were wary of me. They might’ve seen me use my skill when I asked Sora-chan for a favor the other day.

Well, might as well be honest.

"I want to go where Mahiro-chan is. Do you know where she is?"

The moment I asked, Kurokawa-san went, "Ah..." and looked away.

Meanwhile, Kototsuka-san thought for a moment before pointing toward the massive hybrid-type behind us.

"There."

"Huh? Uh, yes. That’s a hybrid-type, right?"

"No. That’s Nishizono Mahiro."

"Yeah, okay, wait— what?"

"I said that’s Nishizono Mahiro."

"...Huh? Seriously?"

"Yes. Seriously."

I was currently being told something my brain absolutely refused to process.

Umm... there was definitely only one hybrid-type at the center before, right?

But now there were two?

And one of them was literally crushing newly spawned hybrid-types underfoot.

...So that’s Mahiro-chan.

I see.

I’d heard that Install could imprint the information of an entire existence onto someone, but... it can do something like that too?

"...Well, I don’t really get it, so let’s just go together!"

Thinking too hard in situations like this is bad.

My motto is take it easy and go with the flow.

"...You’re actually kind of insane, aren’t you?"

"Eheheh, people do say that sometimes."

"Alright, alright. Let’s all go together."

And just like that, our newly formed team set out.

"By the way, Kanon, you look completely wrecked. Are you okay?"

"Honestly, my whole body hurts."

"How did you even come here in that condition?"

"Ehehe, they tried to stop me, but I threatened them and forced my way through!"

I stuck out my tongue playfully to dodge the issue.

Kototsuka-san lowered her eyes in exasperation while Kurokawa-san gave a dry smile.

"It’s fine. I’m just here to make music, after all."

A grin spread across my face.

Because blowing away situations like this is the most fun thing of all.