Together with Alice, who took some time before she rebooted, we
arrived at the Arts Plaza (temp).
It was a large plaza with a fountain in the center, and just as Alice told
me, the atmosphere around here was different from the area with the
street stalls and was very lively.
A bard sat near the fountain, playing a harp-like instrument. A painter holding a brush in one corner of the plaza is painting the scenery of the
crowded plaza. There was even a sculptor who was making some sort
of statue, and seeing it like this feels interesting.
According to Alice, the puppet shows are rather popular in the plaza.
[Making and manipulating golems is easy, so it was easy for them to
make use of it to create a play. They are usually short plays, around 10
minutes in length.]
[Fumufumu.]
Saying this, Alice created a palm-sized golem and made it gently move.
I see… Come to think of it, I've seen Aoi-chan make a golem using a
magic technique before, and I think they could certainly be used for
puppet shows as well.
And when you add in magic with that as effects, that would certainly be
quite fancy, isn't it? Somehow, even though we're just supposed to be
watching a puppet show, I'm suddenly looking forward to it.
Aware of my tension that slightly increased, I was about to suggest to
Alice that we go and have a quick look at it, when Alice's lips twisted,
looking as if she's irritated.
[…Kaito-san, as I thought, can't we go somewhere else?]
[Eh? Why?]
[…It's hot and stuffy here…]
[Hot and stuffy—— Wha!? What was that sound just now!?]
Just as I was about to ask Alice, who for some reason is muttering in
deep displeasure, a loud sound resounded, as if a bomb had just fallen.
When I looked in the direction of the sound, I saw a huge lump of iron?
No, I don't know if that was iron or not, but there was a person grinding
a huge piece of metal with their bare hands.
Their long hair, which reached below their waist, bounced around so
wildly that one would think that they were the mane of a lion, and
combined with its bright red color, it even looked like blazing fire.
They stand taller than Chronois-san, nearly two meters in height, and
their brown skin is wrapping muscles so well-trained that I can tell just
by looking at them.
However, their muscles aren't swollen like those of gorillas, but rather
refined and lean.
With a belligerent smile on their face, the man… no, the woman?
Anyway, this person whose facial features looks gender neutral had a
belligerent smile on her face as they punched the chunk of metal for a
while before withdrawing their hand.
The punched metal is then transformed into the shape of a flapping
bird of prey, and seeing such a unique art form made me stunned.
They're very impressive… I wonder if they are Alice's acquaintance?
At the same time that such a question comes to mind, the person turns
around… and opening their eyes in surprise, the person vigorously
laughed.
[Ohhh! If it isn't Kaito and Shalltear!?]
[…Eh?]
[For us to meet in a place like this, it is quite the coincidence! What are
you doing here?]
[E- Ehhh!?]
What? Does this person know about me? H- However, I don't think I've
seen them before though… For a person to have such an impact, I don't
think I'll forget about them.
While I was tilting my head, clueless about the identity of this person, I
heard the nearby Alice clicking her tongue.
[Shut up. Red gorilla… Go home.]
[Aaah?]
["What are you doing here?" you say, that should be my line. What are
you doing here, "Megiddo-san"…]
[Eeeehhhh!?]
Eh? This person is Megiddo-san!? Seriously!? N- No, if you ask me, this
person completely looks different… No, as I thought, they're really too
different!
[M- Megiddo-san, is that really you?]
[Unnn? Ohhh, speaking of which, you've never seen my "human form"
huh.]
[Eh? H- Human form?]
[It's easy for a high-ranking Demon to change their shape. Well, there is
still an upper and lower limit to the size that can be changed from their
original form.]
H- Humanization magic certainly is one of the magic that I often see in
cliched novels, but to see that Megiddo-san who looked like the Devil
incarnate, actually turning into an athletic beauty is really shocking.
However, Alice doesn't seem to care about such a surprise and spoke to
Megiddo-san.
[So, what are you doing here?]
[Huh? Are you blind? I'm doing art.]
[Gorilla-san, go take a look at yourself in the mirror for once. Whatever
you did is so far away from art.]
[You don't know anything…"Even creativity is power"! Then, isn't it
natural that I would polish it?]
[Ahh~ I see.]
I don't mean to be rude, but I completely agree with Alice. Megiddo-san
and art… Rather than just a bit, I think it really doesn't suit him.
No, the bird statue he did is certainly stunning but… the composition is
somewhat different, and rather than looking like you've created
something, it feels like Megiddo-san crushed something to have it turn a
certain form…
[...…]
[Kaito-san, I know you may not believe it but… Although he has that
kind of personality, Megiddo-san is quite smart.]
[Really!?]
[Yes, this person… How should I say this, I guess you could call him a
training maniac, as he would always train himself, even in other fields.]
[Ohhh! And it was as I expected, refining strength is good!!!]
[Well, as you can see… He's smart, but stupid. He's so stupid it makes
my head hurt.]
[Oi, you b*tch…]
As Alice and Megiddo-san casually bantered, I was stunned.
U- Unnn. I'm not really sure I understand it, but I'm sure my mind still
hasn't caught up with the situation.
[So, what are you two doing here?]
[Fufufu, listen and be surprised! We're having a lovey-dovey date
today!]
[Aaah? A date?]
[Yes, that's right. So, please stay out of our way and quietly go home like
the good gorilla you are.]
I may be embarrassed to say it myself, but Alice just directly told
Megiddo-san to go home because he's in the way, with a slight blush on
her cheeks.
Megiddo-san doesn't seem to be bothered by her, as he puts his hand to
his chin, looking as if he's thinking about something.
[…Fumu, does that mean, you're that? Shalltear and Kaito huh… What is
this, Kaito? Along with Kuromueina, are you one of those people who
likes midgets with breasts as flat as their back? Well, "Shalltear's
breasts are indeed a bit bigger than Kuromueina's". However, I don't see
that much difference between them… Ah, you must be that! That
"lolicon" people!]
[Gafuuuhhh!?]
[Yeah, well, they can certainly change their size but… They were
originally that size, you know!?]
[Gofuuhh!?]
I had already thought that maybe, someone would tell me this at some
point. No matter how much I know that they're older than I am,
thinking like that after looking at them is something that couldn't be
helped… I should have been prepared for this.
However, I didn't expect that it would be Megiddo-san who would tell
me that.
But then, there was someone who reacted to Megiddo-san's words
more than me.
[Who did you say is a midget with breasts as flat as her back!? I'm
asking you who!!!? Fine then, you freaking gorilla, I'm going to rip your
mane off!]
[Unnn? Ohhh! What, you want to fight? That's great, isn't this the
greatest!!!]
Considering Megiddo-san's original size, I guess it's inevitable that he
will think like that, but Alice, who was being called a midget, held out
her thumb and made a sign of cutting her neck with it.
However, well, she's talking with the battle junkie Megiddo-san here as
instead of being bewildered, a happy expression appeared on his face,
and his crimson hair was dyed black… Holding a stance prepared for
battle.
I didn't expect that a quarrel between members of the Six Kings would
break out in such a place but… That unexpected event was because
we're talking about Megiddo-san here.
Megiddo-san was about to change places to fight Alice, but before they
could do that, a small hand placed itself on Megiddo-san's shoulder.
[…Hey, Megiddo? What did you just say about me?]
[…K- K- K- Kuromueina!?]
[My breast and my back~~ what did you say after that again?]
[Ahh, no, you're mistaken! It's not like what I said earlier has
anything…]
When he saw Kuro suddenly appear behind him, the belligerent
expression on his face disappeared, and Megiddo-san, sweating like a
waterfall from his face, tries to give excuses to Kuro, clearly frightened.
However, Kuro still didn't forgive him and quietly… but in a voice that
doesn't ask for any consent or refusal, she spoke.
[…How about you come with me and tell me about it? Okay?]
[…I'm sorry… No, please accept my apologies.]
With those words, Megiddo-san was taken away by an angry God of
Destruction.
That face Kuro had just now… It was as if she looked like a shura.
Megiddo-san, is he going to die?
[…Anyway, should we go back to our date?]
[I guess so.]
While praying for Megiddo-san's soul as he was taken away, I decided to
pull myself together and just enjoy my date with Alice.
Dear Mom, Dad—- I thought that Humanization Magic might exist, but
seeing it in action was quite shocking. But well, putting that aside— I
think that the mouth really is the source of disasters.