Chapter 49
Flash—!
The Balloon Sword showed no sign of stopping its glow for quite some time.
A blue window appeared amid the swirling glare.
Ding—!
[Option assignment complete.]
Only then did its momentum finally die down.
I quietly examined the balloon in my hand.
As always, it was a cute sword with a colorful appearance.
The only difference was that a soft glow now shimmered from it.
‘What...?’
I stood there, still unable to make sense of it.
The status window continued its explanation before me.
Ding—!
[Balloon Sword+]
-Category: Growth-Type Weapon
-Rank: E+
-Maximum Growth Rank: None
-Condition: Colorful, soft and squishy, sparkly
-Description: A special balloon sword. It emits a faint light of purification from its blade. A weapon capable of growth.
“What.”
I blankly read down the words on the screen.
In short, it meant purification and illumination options had been added.
In other words, it had acquired an LED function.
My Absolute Balloon Sword had evolved into an Absolute Bright Balloon Sword.
‘That’s not all.’
The weapon had gained a growth option.
It meant that rather than merely sparkling, its functions would continue to improve.
“What is this thing?”
This was the first time I had ever seen options like these attached to a mere balloon sword.
Was this the reward for the hidden quest I had completed out of nowhere?
Three hundred parries with one weapon, granting options to that weapon.
I had somehow gotten something good.
Squoosh, squoosh—.
I fiddled with its sparkling surface.
A faint light of purification leaked out.
“Hmm.”
Growth type.
The weapon’s attribute was purification.
Its rank started at E+.
A sweet smell wafted up from somewhere.
“Items like this usually have a high ceiling...”
That was generally how it worked.
Weapons that grew tended to have a higher ceiling than weapons that were complete from the start.
What was more, this one had no maximum growth rank listed.
Normally, it should have been rated around B or A.
But the fact that there was no such designation meant...
‘Could it break through the S-rank ceiling entirely?’
For now, it looked like a balloon sword with an LED implanted in it, but if raised well, it might become an endgame weapon.
Of course, I wasn’t certain.
For all I knew, even after raising it to S rank, its performance could still be merely so-so.
Besides, how was I supposed to raise an E+ item all the way to S rank?
‘I’ll think about that later.’
I gathered my scattered thoughts.
A smile rested on my lips.
‘I never expected to get a haul like this.’
Swish, swish—.
Grinning broadly, I swung the balloon sword a few times.
Perhaps because it was so dark around me, the trails it left were especially brilliant.
It was as if I were holding a lightsaber.
‘Fucking cool...’
There were three things that stirred a man’s heart.
One was dinosaurs.
One was Faker.
And the last was lightsabers.
‘It even changes color.’
I didn’t know how, but the color changed whenever I touched the blade.
Blue, red, purple, green, and so on.
A color scheme that brought to mind the knights of some galaxy.
I walked on, feeling even more satisfied than I had with the rewards I had obtained in droves earlier.
When we reached the designated point, Carmilla, who had arrived first, greeted me.
“Victor.”
“Your Highness! You were waiting.”
“As you asked, I have finished things in the research wing.”
“The hallway is clear as well. Shall we move to the next point?”
“Let us. Hmm, but... was that balloon sword always glowing?”
“Isn’t it splendid?”
“Indeed... Its glittering appearance is quite striking.”
“I knew it! I knew Your Highness would recognize this sword’s value!”
“My aesthetic sense is rather exceptional.”
We walked on, exchanging nonsense for a moment.
The cultist branch had already been reduced to rubble.
We had wiped out every cultist and smashed all the experimental facilities.
‘All that remains now is...’
The head of this branch.
In other words, the stage boss.
Regardless of the dungeon’s difficulty, there was always a boss monster.
And we were on our way to hunt one now.
“Hmm... Speaking of which, where is that research director hiding?”
“Probably on the third basement level. That’s where the director’s office is.”
“You said the civilians captured as test subjects were on the third floor as well.”
“Let’s deal with the director first, then free the people.”
“What do you think of this director fellow, Victor?”
“What do you mean?”
The girl tilted her head slightly.
Her red eyes glittered between strands of falling silver hair.
“Is he strong?”
“I’m not sure. I’d say he’s about a fifth as strong as Professor Glinbert.”
“He doesn’t seem particularly strong. Perhaps because he isn’t a combatant.”
“That’s right. Though Professor Glinbert is also absurdly strong.”
“But didn’t Professor Jaber render you helpless?”
“That’s because Professor Jaber is exceptional...”
Jaber was simply in a different weight class.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been dragged into the Glinbert incident.
The youngest chief investigator.
The dean’s disciple and adopted daughter.
The de facto second-in-command of Grandia Academy.
‘To think I got a wish ticket from someone like that...’
I had struck it rich in more ways than one.
Besides, Jaber was the sort of person who was rigidly principled.
She wasn’t the type to break a promise or pretend she didn’t know.
If anything, she was the type to do everything in her power to grant a request.
‘Of course... so long as it didn’t violate her own sense of justice.’
I thought I should have a conversation with her, just the two of us, sometime.
I had just thought of uses for her in all sorts of ways.
As I walked, lost in such idle thoughts...
Splish, splish—.
The sound of someone’s presence came from farther down the hallway.
From the direction of the director’s office, where we were headed.
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
We stopped where we were.
After we waited for a moment, something poked its head out from the end of the hallway.
“Intruders.”
It was a man with a robe pulled over his head.
Perhaps instead of waiting for us to come, he had decided to confront us first.
The stranger was casting a spell, drenched in demonic energy.
“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you... Do you even know where you are?!”
Kwooooh—!
Ominous shadows writhed throughout the hallway.
They condensed into a single stream and shot out like a bright-red laser.
“What the hell are you doing to my research instituteaaaah!!!!”
Kwo-gwa-gwa-gwa—!
The attack surged forward, literally smashing the hallway apart.
Perhaps he had lost his mind; the research director’s eyes had rolled back.
Even with that writhing laser before me, I didn’t retreat. I kicked off the ground and charged.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes, I shall support you.”
By then, I was already holding the pocket watch.
I pressed the button and swung the balloon sword.
Click—.
The straight trajectory of the laser bent out of shape.
A light parry, followed by another parry against the ensuing attack.
Carmilla blocked the debris flying in every direction.
“Who sent you?! Fuck, is it the Border Guard Knights?! Who the hell are youuuuu!”
The director shouted as if he had been wronged.
So he really was a throwaway boss who hadn’t even had a name in the original work.
He was so pathetic that he seemed almost pitiable, beyond merely ugly.
“Shit, shit, shit! Why are you doing this to us?! Why did you suddenly show up and start this shittttt!!!”
“Who knows?”
I snickered.
I had already deflected five lasers, and only a few steps remained between the director and me.
“It’s not as if you had a reason for tormenting people either, right?”
By then, I had stowed the watch and was holding the dark-red scythe.
A grinning mask was reflected in his pupils.
Without hesitation, I chanted the spell.
“Ignition. Axe.”
Thwack—!
Dark-black blood sprayed into the air.
***
Cultist Branch 31.
Kilgrim, the director of the research institute there.
The middle-aged dark mage breathed raggedly.
“Huff, huff...”
The axe had barely missed.
He had almost been cut in half at the waist.
Kilgrim widened his eyes and hurriedly backed away.
“Sh, shiiiit...”
His pupils were trembling violently.
Reflected in his vision were white and red masks.
They were a pair of lunatics who had suddenly stormed into the laboratory and were running amok.
‘Why, why...!’
Kilgrim felt wronged.
He should have been enjoying a pleasant time torturing the test subjects by now, but instead he was about to be murdered with no way out.
The feeling of his precious daily life being shattered.
The simple, beautiful routine of dismembering test subjects and stirring the organs of kidnapped people had been destroyed.
“Aah...”
Death approached before his eyes.
The white-masked one was advancing while swinging an axe.
He had already tried attacking several times, but the masked figure merely deflected his blows as if they were laughable.
“Don’t come any closer...”
Kilgrim was overcome with fear.
“I said don’t come near me...!”
But the mask paid no heed.
As Kilgrim backed away, a strange resonance sounded in his ear.
<I’ll lend you my strength.>
An utterly unexpected voice.
Kilgrim, panicking, could only respond stupidly.
<So... won’t you make a contract with me?>
“Uh, uhuhuh?”
<I’ll give you the power to defeat those guys. You’ll gain unimaginable strength.>
“I-I’ll do it! I’ll do anything! So please, spare me!”
He didn’t care what it was.
Kilgrim simply wanted to live for the moment.
Perhaps pleased with that answer, the voice in his ear gave a fresh, bright laugh.
<Good.>
Whirrrrr—!
At the same time, something coiled around Kilgrim’s body.
A white radiance spread like the source of power.
Soon, Kilgrim’s entire body was covered in light.
<It’s transformation time.>
The next moment.
Kilgrim was still standing where he had been.
But his appearance had changed considerably.
“Huh, huuuh...?”
It was strange.
It felt as though he had become someone else’s body.
He lowered his head and saw his altered appearance.
The gloomy robe he had been wearing moments before was gone, replaced by a fluttering short skirt and outfit.
“Eek, eeeek...?”
His voice had changed at the same time.
His body was no longer that of a middle-aged man, but that of a young girl.
She looked to be in her mid-teens at most.
<Can you feel the power?>
A whispering voice.
It was exactly as the resonance suggested.
A changed body.
Within it, Kilgrim could feel an incredible energy.
The spellbook he had held inside had already transformed into a cute magic wand.
<Kilgrim, Magical Girl of Justice!>
<Blast away the masked villains before you!>
The trembling girl finally came to her senses.
Ahead of her stood the two masks, hesitating in apparent confusion.
Kilgrim swung the magic wand.
It was a power she was using for the first time, but instinctively she knew how to use it.
“With the power of love and justice!”
A glittering heart.
“Magical Beam☆!!!”
Kwooooosh—!
A beam sparkling with love burst into view.
The vile villains were swept up in the beam and vaporized without managing to resist.
“······!?”
“······!”
The hallway was left in complete shambles.
Only Kilgrim remained standing there.
The girl stared, panting, at the empty space.
“I-I did it...!”
She had vanquished the vile villains with unknown power.
Kilgrim had survived the crisis.
Only then did the girl examine her own body.
Her reflection in the blood pooling on the floor was utterly shocking.
“Eet, kore ga watashi...?”
A short skirt in adorable colors, with white thigh-high stockings visible beneath it.
The aura around her sparkled like stars, and her sky-blue hair was tied into twin tails.
The girl fidgeted with her body, looking a little embarrassed.
She was the very picture of a perfect TS magical girl.
“Whoa, whoa! The magical girl saved us!”
Then.
Her subordinates, who had been hiding here and there along the hallway, poked their heads out.
A magical girl who had descended like a shining star after breaking through the invasion of the vile villains.
“Damn, I knew we could count on you!”
“She really is a magical girl! To think the director possessed such incredible power!”
“Amazing! There’s no way some lowly villains could withstand a TS magical girl’s Magical Futanari-Kidnapping-Confinement-Porcio-Training-Climax Beam!”
The people cheered.
Kilgrim blushed slightly but waved at them in response to their passionate praise.
“Hehehe...”
Then.
The ceiling of the laboratory was torn away.
The dark ceiling vanished, revealing the blue sky beyond.
Beyond the collapsed ceiling stood an enormous Mecha Tyrannosaurus.
“W-What is that...?”
Kilgrim was flustered.
But the Mecha Tyrannosaurus spoke as if telling her to calm down.
“Calm down, Kilgrim.”
“Wh-Who are you?”
“Ah, I’m your father.”
“Father...!”
A moving reunion between father and daughter.
Kilgrim ran over and embraced the Mecha Tyrannosaurus, crying.
Then.
Light shone in midair, and a mysterious Masked Rider appeared.
“Kilgrim! Look at me!”
“W-What...?”
“I’m your mother! When you were only six months old, I had an affair with another man, abandoned you beneath a bridge, and ran away!”
“Mother? B-But you’re a man...”
“Men can be mothers too! Cast aside that narrow-minded notion that such roles are determined by gender!”
“Ah... I lacked LGBT sensitivity!”
“That’s right, daughter! Come embrace your mother!”
Clutch—!
The girl leaped into the Masked Rider’s arms.
This time, it was a moving reunion between mother and daughter.
“Sob, sob, Mother...! How can you show your face after having an affair and coming back!”
“My affair partner grew old and became impotent, you know! He was a useless piece of trash who couldn’t do anything except perform in bed!”
“So you came back to Father! You can’t use him in bed, but he has money, so you figured you’d sponge off him!”
“As expected of my daughter, you’re clever! Your father was kind enough to take me back.”
“Oh, come on~ Our dad is such a hopeless provider husband!”
Mecha Tyrannosaurus Dad.
Masked Rider Mom.
Magical Girl Kilgrim.
The whole family had gathered.
Kilgrim was happy.
“Hehehe... hehehehe...”
And so, peace came to the world.
Magical☆Director protected the world for a long, long time.
It is said that the reunited family fell apart before a year had passed.
A happy ending.
Medetashi, medetashi.
-The end-
Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin
The End
***
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“This.”
The princess suddenly called out to me.
At the end of where she pointed with her finger, something lay there, making a wet splatting sound.
“This fellow is smiling...”
“Huh, you’re right.”
The research director.
His name was Kilgrim, if I remembered correctly.
His entire body had been chopped to pieces by the axe I swung.
But the head rolling around on the floor was strange.
“Hehehe, hehehe...”
He had been smiling even as he died.
His eyes were rolled back, as though he was no longer conscious.
I tilted my head, but then dismissed it as if it didn’t matter.
“Leave him be. Looks like he’s having a nice dream.”
“Hmm. Very well.”
I had no business with someone who was already a corpse.
Thwack—!
At least his smiling face was cleaved in two by the axe.
Once the laughter stopped, I walked down the hallway again.
Carmilla also showed no particular interest and took her place beside me.
“Whew... Now that we’ve dealt with everything, we should collect our rewards, right?”
I grinned.
Wait for me.
Furube Yurayura.