On the lower floor, there were shops related to decorations, a bookstore, and a grocery store. I didn't buy anything in particular, and when I was looking around──.
"A-a fire! There's a fireeee!"
"Huh?"
One of the customers suddenly shouted that. The other customers who heard that voice looked surprised and doubtful at first, but when they saw the smoke flowing from the upper floor, their expression changed.
"U-uwaaaa!"
"Hey! Don't push me!"
"Just get downstairs already!"
After we looked at each other, Ryo hurriedly took out his smartphone and called Kaede and the others.
"…Not good, I can't contact them!"
"A-ano! Which floor is on fire?"
I asked one of the customers heading for the exit, and it seemed that the fire had broken out in the corner of the game center. If it were true, we'd have to rush out and wait for the fire-engine, but we'd come to the escalator to get to the upper floor.
"Game center… Kaede and the others are right up there! But with all this smoke…"
"W-what should we do!?"
As Ryo said, the smoke was more intense than I expected, and the heat could be felt near the escalators and stairs. But I spontaneously moved once I arrived at the location of the escalator.
"Yu-Yuuya! Wait! Hey!"
"Eeeehhhh!?"
I could hear Ryo and the others' surprising voices behind me, but I had already run upstairs. In hindsight, I would have had to act more calmly and thoughtfully. But as soon as I realized that Kaori and the others were in danger, I couldn't stand still.
"Kuh!"
The heat gets stronger and stronger on my way upstairs. My clothes right now are just a uniform, so I don't have any protection. If I went into them at this rate, I would die too. Then I suddenly remembered that I had recently become able to use magic.
"That's right… magic would be useful in a situation like this!"
At first, I thought about creating a large amount of water, but I dismissed it because I thought the floor might collapse under the weight of the water while it was brittle from the fire.
So first, I use magic to put a thin veil of water and air over my body. At that moment, I'm free from the suffocation and heat.
"Alright, now…!"
In front of the raging flames, I jumped in with determination. The floor of the game center was already entirely on fire, and if I didn't have magic, I wouldn't have been able to proceed at all. I immediately activated my skill [Presence Detection] and checked to see if there were any people in the vicinity who had failed to escape.
"There's no one on this floor…"
As soon as I made sure no one was there, I ran upstairs again. While searching for Kaori and the others in this way, I detected three signs frozen in place. When I hurried to the location, I found Kaede and the others collapsed in pain.
"Kaori! Kaede! Rin!"
"Yu-Yuuya…kun…?"
The three of them were right in front of the women's restroom, and they probably didn't notice the fire. The fire alarm wasn't even ringing in the first place, so it's probably broken, or no one pushed it. They should maintain it properly!
I couldn't help but swear, and I checked with my skills to see if there were any other people left. It looks like it's really just Kaori and the others, and if I save the three of them, it will be over. But all three of them fainted the moment they saw me, so I would have to hold them all alone.
I used my own uniform jacket, Kaori, and the others' jackets, and first tied Kaori to my back to secure her in place. Then I carried Kaede and Rin on each of my shoulders and hurriedly ran from the location.
All three of them must have inhaled too much smoke. I have to hurry and get out of the building. But it's impossible to jump into the flames of that game center floor with three people like this in my arms.
"…Alright."
After thinking about it for a bit, I'm going to do something super reckless that I can only do because it's me now.
That is to──
"──… break it!"
I stomped on the floor as hard as I could. A hole in the floor caused us to go straight down. Moreover, instead of destroying one floor, I also destroyed the floor right below it.
I was falling faster and faster with the three of them in my arms, passing the floor of the game center where the fire originated in one fell swoop and approaching the first floor.
But if I landed like this, I might give the three of them a tremendous impact. I used my magic as I imagined my body wrapped in the wind. Then, just before we landed, our falling speed slowed down, and we succeeded in landing gently. Then, when we landed, I ran straight to the exit and kicked the door open.
"Whoa!" said the people outside.
When I went outside, the firefighters had already arrived and were working to put out the fire.
"Hah… hah…"
"Are you okay? Hey, you! Bring a stretcher!"
As I left Kaori and the others with the paramedics, I dropped down on the spot.
"Haaaahhh! I made it in time!"
I loosen my uniform tie and exhale as hard as I can.
"Yuuya!"
"Yu-Yuuya-kun!"
Ryo and the others, who had escaped safely, rushed to my helpless body.
"You… don't be reckless! I was so worried about you!"
"T-that's right!"
"Ah… well… sorry."
Ryo and Shingo-kun were right; my actions were quite reckless. Even if I, myself, had some leeway due to my ability to use magic, it would have looked like a suicide mission to others who didn't know that. Sure enough, the firefighters were very angry at me.
The fire was safely extinguished, and we were safe for the time being. I found out later that the reason the fire alarm didn't go off was not because of poor maintenance, but because of bad luck.
However, the game center where the fire started seems to have been caused by the mishandling of the wiring cords. At any rate, Kaori and the others who were transported to the emergency room woke up safely. Thanks to that, Kaori's father, Kaede, and Rin's parents flew over after receiving a call from the firefighters, and then they gave me their extreme gratitude, and I felt grateful for that.
"Thanks to you, Kaori is safe… thank you. Thank you so much…!"
When I saw him tell me that with tears in his eyes, I felt both tender and lonely at the same time… I didn't have a family that worried about me anymore… I felt a little gloomy, but I had to answer the question of what happened at the time of the fire.
But when the topic of why I was able to save the three of them safely comes up, there was no way I could say I used magic, so it was very hard to cover it up. Eventually, I settled on the conclusion that I was super lucky, which was also as unrealistic as magic, but if I didn't tell the truth, no one would know the truth.
I managed to get home, being both berated and thanked for it.
"I'm home…"
"Woof!"
Then Night greeted me.
"Night… you've been waiting for me?"
"Woof."
Night rubs his face against my chest as I hug him. I couldn't help but hug him tightly for his cuteness.
"Thank you."
"Woof."
"Alright, then, let's get some food."
"Woof!"
Now I have Night in my life. I smiled because I loved his existence so much.