Countermeasures Against Magic-Power Sealing

After bringing Tsubaki down, Hiyori went to report to Kinrenka, who was waiting at the government office.

"I won. That was the deal, right? You'll provide the lumber now?"

"Yes, of course. You've been a great help."

"...You hadn't heard about the relationship between Tsubaki and me from Fuyou?"

"If I seriously hurt Onee-sama in a fight, she'd get angry at me. The Blue Witch should be fine, right?"

Kinrenka hid her mouth behind vines and smiled seductively, making Hiyori growl in displeasure.

Tsubaki climbed up my back, tried and failed to claim the top of my head as she had when she was a juvenile, and eventually settled for a shoulder ride, looking quite satisfied.

The things she does are exactly like Mokutan. They really are sisters.

"Oori, run like this."

"I refuse. Too much effort. I'll stretch up for you instead."

"Mii, I'm a little higher!"

"You can get a little higher by standing on tiptoe."

"Mimi... It's not much different. It's wobbly. I'm swaying."

While I was entertaining my pet, Kinrenka and Hiyori finished talking, and we decided to head back to the inn for a while.

Thanks to Kinrenka's introduction, the three of us checked in to a suite at a luxury inn with wooden Chinese-style architecture.

We haven't stayed anywhere but luxury lodgings since we began our journey to the Lushi Kingdom, have we? That includes the ferry.

Apparently, we won't be able to keep that up: heading west from here will take us into an economically depressed region.

Tsubaki entered the room first, sniffed around everywhere, then deftly burned the armchair by the window to ash and scattered it across the floor to make a bed. Hiyori, meanwhile, inspected under the bed and stuck her face into the closet, thoroughly checking for safety.

"Hey! That's hotel property! You can't burn it!"

"But they'll let us off if we pay, right?"

"Then I guess it's okay...?"

"Obviously it isn't. Don't let her talk you around so easily."

Hiyori prodded the ceiling with the tip of Kyanos, listening to the sound it made, and spoke in exasperation.

"Tsubaki, I'm sorry for breaking your Abyss Gold. Let's go buy some together later."

"Mimi... Abyss Gold is expensive. I'll run out of spending money."

"Don't worry. I'll pay for all of it. It was a long way from Japan to here, wasn't it? How did you manage to get money?"

"Healing magic. In Korea, I got a doctor's license and stuff, bought a pouch sparrow, and bought a map."

Sitting on the ash and explaining with earnest gestures, Tsubaki told us that she had apparently established a foothold in Korea, where policies favored demonkind and the administration was lax.

She had obtained identification, qualified as a street healer, earned money, gathered information, and set her sights on a major rapeseed-oil production center.

That's incredibly systematic! She's smart.

"You're a lot smarter than Mokutan and Sekitan."

"I'm the most Sugoizo! But I'm dumber than Spider-san. So I pay consultants to think about difficult things for me."

"I see? That's clever in its own way."

Knowing your own limits and making good use of other people is pretty smart in itself. It's a kind of worldly savvy, separate from academic intelligence.

She had made it all the way to Wuhan without being taken in by any shady consultants, so she clearly had a good eye for people too. Sugoizo! No, seriously.

My pet had social skills I never would have expected. Maybe this was thanks to Spider-san's tutelage.

The consultants Tsubaki referred to were mainly detectives and law firms. Apparently, if you consulted them about your problems and paid properly, they would generally put together a decent plan—or introduce you to someone who could.

After being conned once by a self-proclaimed ace lawyer she met in a bar, she apparently stuck to reputable places.

"Where did you learn magic-power sealing?"

After finishing her safety inspection, Hiyori tickled Tsubaki under the chin and asked, while the yawning incarnation of fire answered sleepily.

"I met an old man in Korea. A strong guy who made my tail go 'Miiiii...' He didn't have a tail anymore."

"It must have been Hatobato."

The description pointed to exactly the person we'd expected, and Hiyori and I exchanged a glance.

Hatobato seemed to have stayed in Korea for quite a while, so it wouldn't be strange if his stay overlapped with Tsubaki's, since she had been in Korea ahead of us.

Despite being one of the people from the magic civilization spoken of in epic poems, he had wandered around Busan as though it were perfectly ordinary. If he was in Busan, they could easily have run into each other.

"When the old man saw me, he was surprised and said, 'Pest!' He made a really disgusted face. Then he smacked me. I couldn't use magic power anymore. I was surprised too and said, 'Stop it!' Then the old man was surprised too. He said, 'You can talk? My apologies; it was a misunderstanding,' and undid the seal. Then he gave me some charcoal, and we said bye-bye."

"Did Tsubaki look like a pest to him? What's wrong with Hatobato's eyes?"

Dairi's favorability toward Hatobato decreased by 10!

Human sensibilities vary from person to person, but abruptly calling someone a pest and trying to seal their magic power is pretty damn hostile. What a jerk.

While I was fuming, Hiyori thought it over carefully and whispered in my ear.

"Maybe it's because their species reproduces by setting fires? I thought Tsugika was an utterly depraved pervert whose mind had been warped by lust, but perhaps that's not the case. Tsugika is actually serious-minded at heart. If they followed their instincts, they would have become an indiscriminate arsonist.

And when you consider that three of them were born from setting just one abandoned house on fire... If we assume the species as a whole reproduces at about that rate..."

"That's true. If everything had lined up, Tokyo might have become a sea of fire full of fire lizards..."

I shuddered at that terrifying what-if that wasn't even a joke.

How well a Transcendent's frame matches their innate personality is important. Tsugika was no exception. The idea of them as pests that multiply by committing arson might not be entirely wrong. Maybe that's how things were in the magic civilization.

If Spider-san's innate personality had been malicious, she would have become a terrifying monster that hunted people by driving them into terror.

Even the Hell Witch would have become a man-eating monster if her self-control had been merely average.

Considering how brutal the Iruma frame had been for two generations in a row, Transcendents strongly influenced by their frames really could have their personalities twisted beyond recognition.

Tsugika must be particularly good at resisting their instincts. Good for them.

That's admirable, but I still won't forgive them for making a move on my girlfriend. Hiyori wasn't my girlfriend yet when Tsugika had arson-sex with her, but that's that, and this is this.

"Magic-power sealing is strong. I practiced a lot and copied it. I thought I could beat the Blue Witch too, but I lost. Mii..."

"No, you were strong. You're amazing, Tsubaki. I really mean it. I'm not just flattering you."

"Mimimi..."

Tsubaki gradually drifted off as Hiyori gently stroked her, curled up in the ash, and began breathing softly in her sleep.

Hiyori stroked Tsubaki for a while with a soft, Madonna-like smile, but eventually turned toward me, her smile disappearing as she spoke gravely.

"As I thought, magic-power sealing is too strong. We need countermeasures."

"That strong...? But you won."

"Because it was a one-on-one fight under no-wand, no-killing rules. If my magic power were sealed and I were surrounded by several Transcendents, it would be fifty-fifty whether I could win."

"That's insanely strong."

"Yes. That's why we need to come up with a countermeasure."

I was awestruck by Hiyori's strength—she could still win half the time even if her wings were torn off and she were surrounded—but Hiyori misunderstood and solemnly nodded, thinking I was frightened by the strength of magic-power sealing.

Well, I could understand being frightened by how powerful magic-power sealing was too.

I had thought it was Hatobato's exclusive trick, but Tsubaki could imitate it well enough. There might be other users as well.

"Now that I've experienced magic-power sealing, I know that it interferes with the unknowable magic organ in the head. Once I grasp the method, I can resist it through magic-power manipulation."

"Then isn't that fine?"

"No. While I'm resisting or undoing it, I can't manipulate any other magic power at all. I need armor that will automatically protect the unknowable magic organ in my head."

"Oh-ho. This is getting into my field."

The Pandemic Mushroom is an old example. There are several ways to interfere with the magically important organ said to be in the head, including amulets and magic-power training.

When mushroom disease becomes severe, you lose the ability to use magic, so that might have been a form of magic-power sealing too.

Hmm. If I got hold of a sample of mushroom-disease mycelium... combined the amulet's force field with the magnetic interference from magic-power training... Depending on the principle behind magic attenuation, I might need Hollow Silver too...?

"... Well, rather than build the theory first, it would probably be faster to make a whole bunch of prototypes and accumulate data. Hiyori, setting aside for now whether I can actually make armor to defend against magic-power sealing, there's one important thing I want to ask."

"You can prioritize making the wand."

"That's important too, but that's not what I mean. Can I leave the armor's design entirely to me?"

"That's all? Sure. I leave it to you."

With Hiyori's permission granted, I couldn't help but break into a nasty grin.

Heh heh heh, I'm getting excited.

Magical armor to protect a witch's head? Then there was only one possible design.

"Hiyori! You will become a witch who wears an utterly stereotypical pointed witch hat!"