It's a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, and the skies were as blue as a vast blue painting. The wind is warm, and the birds can be heard chirping as if they were reciting their songs. Yes, it's a perfect day for a picnic.
It was a wonderful day, but not with...
*GRWRRRLL!!!
*BAMMMMMMM!
...a loud explosion that shook the ground and emitted a lot of smoke. And what is the cause...?
"{Intermediate Magic: COMPULSION BURST!}"
*BAMMMM!
...was me fighting some random giant monsters in the open!
(grrrwwwlll!)
"What the hell is with that number?! Andrea-chan, DRAGON BEAM, one please!"
I had no choice but to flee! Did you just see the shockwave of spiral winds that I sent? It literally bounced off their skin!
In addition, from this vantage point, a swarm of lizard-like monsters is chasing me mercilessly. (Monsters with fangs and claws and armed with obviously tough scales pursued him relentlessly; to be more specific, those monsters appeared to be wingless dragonewts.)
How long have you gone without eating for you to be this hungry? You should know that I'm not at all tasty!
But my, this girl is fast. How did you manage to run so fast with such a small frame? She's taking the lead in the race. Even with that expressionless face, she dashed for it as if her life depended on it. It does, indeed. That is true for both of us! Dude no! Runnnnnnnn! And Benjirou, where the hell are you?!
"Is the magic not ready yet my beloved Andrea?!"
[Complaints: My Shitty Master, please don't treat me like a fast-food restaurant! Hmph, but it can't be avoided.]
"Wait a minute—that sharp tongue of yours!"
She was complaining, but she was clearly listening to me. And, with a smug expression on her face, she came to a halt, shifted her body towards the chasing monsters, and began to make a move.
[System Alert: Shifting to BATTLE MODE! Confirmed! Starting the battle system! activate! Synthesis is finished! Report: Battle mode is now fully accessible! Engage, Guardian Golem! Launch: DRAGON BEAM! }]
*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-ZAZAP!
Uwa... That amazes me every time I see it...
(An arrow of blue light rushed forward for a burst after a sonic charging sound, directly to the hungry monsters, like a firefighter spraying water to put out a fire.)
But, you may wonder, how did this situation come to be this way.
It was earlier in the day when we decided to embark on our journey.
.
.
.
"Now, Andrea, teleport us to a forest near the Magic Academy you mentioned; it would be bad if we landed in an area full of people who don't know who we are."
I was standing above the view of sitting Andrea, as I pointed somewhere. Is this even the right direction? .... (He has non-assurance sense of location.)
[{Understood! System scan has begun: finished! Transferring to the Magic Academy...Error! _The system has failed. Reason: Inadequate data...]
Eh? Did I just heard something like some system failure there? Let us ask her for the time being.
"What's the matter, Andrea?"
[It is impossible, Master. Teleporting to the specified location is impossible due to a lack of data. It won't fail if you know how to get to the Academy, Master. Well? }]
Guh! She is correct... Let's be honest this time.
I shook my head.
"No, I have no knowledge of that location, either; I only knew about that academy because you told me about it, and I had no knowledge of that in VLF to begin with."
[Tsk. You're useless, Master.](Note: This is Andrea.)
"Hey girl, did you just chucked your tongue?!"
[{Denial: No, your imagining things, you shitty Master.}]
Ouch! So harsh!
"No, I heard it clearl—.."
[{Your imagining things!}]
"I hear—.."
"YOU'RE IMAGINING THINGS!"(Note: This is Andrea raising her tone to her master.)
"Yes, it's as you said, Lady Andrea!"
This girl...
(Andrea wins.) Am I really the master of this girl?! Sighed...
"It can't be helped then. Benjirou."
"My, lord?"
I shifted my gaze to the side where Bejirou stood slightly behind me.
"Fly as high as you can and scan the entire area; you know you can use wide-ranging search magic, right?"
"As you wish, my lord."
"Pinpoint the location of the Magic Academy and telepathically transfer the data to me; you can do that, right?"
"It's simple, My Lord; consider it done!"
Whoa... That's fantastic! That's something I'd like to say as well (He has some weird motivation.)
Benjirou flew off like a bullet shoot into the sky to do what I told him to do.
"Yes, yes... That's exactly how you treat your master, right? Benjirou? I'm glad I have someone like you." (He said it with teary eyes.)
"You too should learn manners from—?"
"Hmmph!"(Note: This is Andrea)
W-what..?
"Hmm?"
"HUMPH!"(NOTE: THIS IS STRONGLY ANDREA AVERTING HIS GAZE FROM GUREN!)
Arara? What's this? Is this girl pouting? Is she sulking? Arara.(he's grinning.)
"Hmm? Andrea-chan? Are you perhaps being jealous? Hmm? Hmm?"
Kuku. I'll get you back girl! You're being hard on me lately, huh. Kukuku.(Now he's being annoying.)
I'll punish you for being such a bad girl! Kuhahahaha! *inner self Laughing maniacally.
(Note: This is our protagonist.)
"From where did thoust thought comet, you foolish Master!" (Note: Thy person est Andrea)
"No, Andrea, you're speaking strangely, even stranger than before! Where did you get that kind of speech?"
"...." (Note: This is Andrea. She fell in silence.)
What's the matter with her? I got the impression she was being shy. And it's a little difficult these days. Is there something going on? I'm at a loss for words.
"Say, Andrea. Is there anything bothering you lately? Tell me. You see, Hikari always gets angry with me saying I can't understand girls. If you have something in mind, please say it so I have even the tiniest clue what to do."
Andrea's sharp tongue has certainly become more frequent. Her disposition is always gloomy. What's the source of her agitation?
"...it's your fault..."
"Eh?"
"YOU ARE TO BLAME!"
She yelled. That caught me off guard!
"Benjirou! Benjirou! Benjirou! I was there longer before him! (Just a week) and yet, you praised him, but not me! You seem to get along better with him and not me! Even though... even though you just met days ago! I was there longer with you than him! I want you to rely on me more and not him! TAKE A HINT, YOU STUPID MAST—..?" (Note: This is Andrea, interrupted with her words.)
"I get it. I'm sorry."
I'm not sure what hit me, but I was hugging her tightly before I knew it. I had no idea Andrea, this girl, could get so lonely so easily. She never expresses herself, and her tone never changes. Andrea, I imagined, was a strong girl who had lived alone in the labyrinth for countless years.
But that isn't all. She was still a young girl. She is a childlike girl, as her appearance suggests.
"I apologize... I didn't notice."
[Hmph! Idiot.](Note: Andrea is still sulking while blushing!)
I'm doing this... I mean, hugging her isn't going to land me in jail, right? Like FBI knocking out on me?(It's isekai so prob not.)
[By the way, m'lord... Would you mind introducing me to your new friends? ] Formalized paraphrase (Note: This is Andrea.)
"Huh? Friends?"
What is she talking about?
I released her from that embrace.
[Yes! Please look behind you!]
(Grrr...Grrwwwll)
Wha.....
(Slowly, with a puzzled expression, Guren turned his gaze to his behind as he heard a certain growl; he knew, obviously just by the sound of it... It is something that, a kind of creature that calls for..."RUNNNNN!!!" as it readily gnawed on both of them... One, no, two? Nay! It was a number not of a single digit can count.)
And so we return to the present.
"How is it Andrea?"
I inquired. They've got to be done after witnessing the bursting blue beam, right?
Or at least, that's how it should be. What emerged from the smoke created by the DRAGON BEAM, however, were the barely damaged hungry monsters. And they appeared to be even more enraged than before.
[Yes, Master! It successfully failed!] *sparkle with a thumb up!*
Hah?! What does that thumbs up even mean anymore?
"What... the?! Why do you sound so proud reporting your failure?!"
Is it true that all monsters in this world are resistant to magic? What the hell is going on here?
"Eh?!"
What's up with this strange silence? For some reason, the chasing monsters came to a halt. Huh? Andrea?! Where... Eh?!
As I returned my gaze to the Golem Andrea...
"Wait a minute, Andrea! Don't you dare become supplements for those monsters!"
What in the world are you doing?! It was as if she was being bullied in the midst of a swarm of thugs.
"GAH! I've had enough of this!"
(Guren leaped to Andrea's location and landed like a heavy object, trampled the monsters attacking her. From there, Guren stood in the center with the Golem Andrea on his side, and began to emit a yellow-orange light, and after a short while...)
"You bunches, know your place! SUPERB MAGIC: FIRE FORCE!!!"
Kuku! Witness the power of fire!
(...he turned the entire area into a lake of flames! The whole area burned with the exception of them both. After the great flood of flames, all the monsters, their traces, and even ashes could not be found; they vanished as if they were never there in the first place. Furthermore, the entire area was flooded with the flames from the magic; no grass, trees, or anything else was burned; all that vanished were the wingless, hungry dragon-like monsters.)
Kuku. Environment friendly magic sure does troublesome things. I guess the *DENR(Department of Environment and Natural Resources) is pretty proud of this system.
"Hmph! So that's that huh... Oi. Andrea? Are you ok—ugh... I guess not..."
Uwaaah.. She has been traumatized... She became pale and shivered. So you, too, can be scared at times, huh? That's a nice change of pace...
(She crept closer to Guren, tugging on his shirt sleeve.)
He...Eh?! What?
(...After discovering that he wasn't entirely opposed, she snuggled into his arm and dragged him down ground.)
"O-oi..."
What is she thinking?
Ahh... Yes, I see... She was trying her hardest to hide her fear by sniffing weakly. She was like a chick burying herself in her mother's feather, if I may say so. But she's cute, so let's leave her alone.
Allowing her to rest will be best for her. I'll leave her alone for the time being because she was cute when she was docile. What a cute creature you are.
If you want, you can call me simp! But who in this universe despises a cute girl sleeping face, men of culture? NAY! THEREFORE, THERE ARE NONE!
Isn't that correct? Comrades? *sparkle*
...To be continued...
Chapter Quiz!
What will you do if a girl started crying in front of you and you are the reason.
A. I will hug her, just like Guren Did.
B. I will just stand still. It's better to leave her be.
C. I will hug her. I will apologize. If that person is important to me, I will do anything to reconcile.
D. I will ran away, and won't met her again.