“Don’t, fucking, mock me, AAAARGH——!!”
The black serpent — still rolling — roared. Different tone from earlier. So she IS the okama-type, then?
The mouth flew open and a water-bullet shot out. Mid-fall, so it flew in a direction so wrong it slammed into the circle’s barrier.
That’s dangerous. Everyone else was outside the circle, fine, but if that hit it’d be bad.
Aiming for the brief airtime of one of the falls, the tortoise opened her mouth wide.
[Eat this!]
Compressed water lanced out like a laser. And of course it went sailing off in some other direction too.
Like Linze’s [Aqua Cutter], that one. Annoying.
[Slip] makes you tumble at the slightest motion, so once you fall, you genuinely can’t stay still. Aiming would be hard, but I can’t guarantee it’ll never connect.
“No help for it. Let’s have you go down a little harder.”
[[Eh!?]]
I pulled two more bullets from the pouch, enchanted them, loaded the gun — and this time fired them not into the ground, but directly into the snake and tortoise.
[GUOOOOOOH——!?]
[UNYAEAAAAH——!?]
Both started tumbling far more energetically than before, no margin left for ranged attacks. Like they’d been dropped into a washing machine, spinning, falling, falling, falling, falling.
“H-hey — what did you just do!?”
“Hm? Just shot acceleration spells into them.”
"""""Demon."""""
Null-spell [Accel]. Normally it boosts the caster’s body speed, but cast on someone else it works that way too. Normally it also extends a magic barrier — I made sure to disable that part. Why is everyone looking at me like that?
Even Kōhaku, who’d been rolling with laughter, now wore only a strained, frozen smile.
…Bit much, maybe…
[Ohh… ohwehuew… it’s, it’s spinning… the world is spinning…]
[Please… forgive us… I don’t want to fall anymore… I don’t want to slip anymore…]
Overdid it. The black serpent was rolling her eyes back, head lolling; the tortoise had been crying nonstop. She might lay an egg at this rate.
“Ah… sorry. Overdid it. Apologies.”
The looks burning into my back were sharp. They conceded defeat and offered to contract, so I lifted [Slip] — but soothing them down afterwards was a lot of work.
[Ahh, what an ordeal that was… I see now why White Sovereign acknowledged him as master…]
The serpent muttered, head still wobbling. The tortoise had finally stopped crying and was looking at me steadily. I stroked her head and apologized once more. She lowered her eyes and lowered her body.
[Lord Mochizuki Touya. A master worthy of us. Please — let us swear the master-and-servant contract.]
The two of them bowed deeply.
“Right — names, was it?”
[Yes~. Please give us beautiful names, Master~]
[For these two, snake and tortoise would do.]
[Quiet, you! Want to go, huh!?]
The serpent bared fangs at Kōhaku’s jab. Mask is slipping. Mask is slipping.
To be honest I’d been calling them “snake” and “tortoise” in my head too. Close one. Snake-ko and Tortoise-ko would have been disasters…
Genbu — black, water…
“Then — Kokuyō and Sango, I think.”
[Kokuyō?]
[Sango?]
Kōhaku is named for a gem, so matching makes sense — and both connote black or water. Snake is Kokuyō (obsidian), tortoise is Sango (coral).
“How’s that?”
[Then with pleasure I accept the name Kokuyō~]
[And I shall henceforth name myself Sango. I am pleased.]
Glad they liked them. A summoned beast with a given name can leave the magic circle. Lumbering, Sango stepped out.
[Hold, Black Sovereign — er, Sango. We can manifest at all times via Master’s magic. But — your current forms would inconvenience him. Change.]
[…Is that so?]
[White Sov — Kōhaku-chan — small, like that? If so, right away — poof~!]
Pop! — Sango and Kokuyō shrank to a small form in an instant.
A black-shelled tortoise about thirty centimeters long, with a normal-sized black serpent coiled around her. That alone might look normal-ish — but the shrunken Sango and Kokuyō floated, hovering in the air.
“You can float?”
[At this size — somehow. We cannot move quickly…]
Sango drifted swish, swish through the air. Indeed not fast. About walking pace. Although — a land tortoise swimming through air is surreal.
At this size she can come along. Fine.
“Pleased to meet you, Sango, Kokuyō.”
I lightly stroked the head of Sango as she perched on my shoulder, and then Kokuyō.
[I, Sango, shall prove of service.]
[And I, too~]
All right — getting straight to it, then.
[Made so you can breathe in the sea, yes?]
“Yes, can you?”
[Easy~. When it comes to defense, no one matches us~]
Even so, there might be danger. First me alone — go down, activate every magic stone. I can run all the elements solo. Then if the circle transports me somewhere, I can [Gate] the others over.
“If anything happens, [Gate] back right away.”
With Elze and the others worrying after me, Sango and Kokuyō perched on my shoulders, I walked into the sea fully clothed. Whoa — actually not getting wet. A magic barrier seemed to be set about a centimeter off my body. This is Sango and Kokuyō’s power.
I waded deeper. The water rose above my neck and finally I was fully submerged.
Not uncomfortable. I could breathe normally. And I’m not feeling water pressure, either.
“How strong is this barrier?”
[Hmm~. Against physical attacks it wouldn’t pass a dragon’s strike, but against magic it depends on the caster’s quality~]
Kokuyō answered, head wobbling.
[Even for us, an attack beyond the barrier’s limits, or magic designed to nullify barriers — we cannot stop those.]
Sango explained at my ear. Right — nothing’s universal.
I kept walking along the seafloor. Wait — does this nullify buoyancy too? My body isn’t floating. If I kicked or paddled my body did rise, so some was still in effect.
While I was experimenting with that, the great stones loomed up before me. I walked between them through the stone circle and entered the central staircase. Lighting the way with magic, I descended into the dark.
After a while, the great hall — the chamber with the magic circle — opened up. As expected from [Long Sense]: six pedestals around the center.
I approached the red one and channeled fire-magic into the stone mounted on it.
The pedestal itself began to glow softly red. Considered activated, I take it.
I activated each of the others in turn. Five lights revived; when I channeled magic into the last, the water stone, the central circle began to glow quietly.
“This means the transfer circle’s online?”
I stepped onto the circle hesitantly. … Nothing. Huh?
Why? All six pedestals are lit, that’s every — ah.
Maybe — Null.
[Gate] is null-element. If this transfer circle is modeled on it…
I stood at the center and pushed null-element magic in. The circle at my feet exploded with light, and I was gone.
I opened my eyes carefully against the blinding light. Garden. Flowers in full bloom, small birds wheeling overhead, slender water channels running through.
The same kind of magic circle spread under my feet — but no activating stone-pedestals were here. Looks like it’s one-way.
[Master~… where is this~?]
“Beats me…”
I stepped off the circle and looked around. Someone was coming from far off — a girl, maybe?
The figure resolved gradually. And as it resolved, I had to snap my eyes the other way!
Smooth jade-green hair cut short, porcelain-white skin, gold eyes. A girl carrying a mysterious air. Age about the same as Elze. That part’s fine.
Sleeveless black top, a large pale-pink ribbon, white knee-socks, black patent shoes. That part’s also fine.
Up to that part it was fine. Up to that part it was fine!
“How do you dO. I am Francesca, the terminal that manages this Hanging Garden of BabyloN.”
Hanging Garden!? Terminal!? I had a thousand questions — but a bigger question stood in front of me!
“Um… excuse me—”
“Yes. What is iT?”
“Why… are you not… wearing… bottoms?”
I shouldn’t look — I averted my gaze, but at a glance I’d seen: the girl’s lower half wasn’t wearing a skirt or trousers.
What was there — a single small scrap of white fabric. In other words — panties, on full display.
This makes no sense! What is going on!?
…But thank you!