Outside the window, snow was falling.
A mysterious light, neither real flame nor magic, was burning in the fireplace, warming the room. It was a light made from a special ore called “magic ore,” which can be easily used to keep warm and is very useful in this country.
Flora, a woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder-length gray hair, was serving stew in a bowl when she called out to the girl behind the desk.
“Noel, I heard it. I heard that the magic tool you made saved the village again?”
The glasses-wearing girl called Noel nodded wordlessly, “Yes,” as she immersed herself in the blueprints spread out on her desk.
Flora smiled as she placed the steaming bowl on the table.
“It’s truly amazing; the whole empire is so grateful to you and has high hopes for you. As the second in command of the court magicians, I must do more and more! Saving the helpless is the mission of people like us who have been given the special gift of magic!”
“…..”
Noel looked up from her desk.
The icy light blue eyes gazed at Flora from behind her glasses.
“…Nee-san, I’m…”
＊＊＊
“””Eh…ehh…eeeeeehhhhhh!”””
A sea of sand, where the scorching sun shines.
Three girls – Lexia, Luna, and Tito─who were going through the desert were looking up at the sky and screaming.
Lexia, the princess of the Kingdom of Arcelia, said, “I’m going on a journey to save the world!” and left the country with her escort, Luna, some time ago.
On this unprecedented journey, Tito, a girl who is a rare white cat beastman and a disciple of the “Claw Saint,” who has mastered the art of clawing, joined them.
The three of them solved a scheme swirling in the Sahar Kingdom and left the kingdom with the gratitude of many people, but──
But then, something fell out of the blue sky toward them.
It was a girl.
“””Eeeehhhhhhhh!?”””
The three screams overlapped beautifully.
“W-w-w-w-why is there a girl falling from the sky? I mean, what should we do!?”
Lexia, the princess of Arcelia and the initiator of this journey, was flustered, her jade-green eyes wide open.
Next to her, Luna, her escort, was the first to break free from the confusion.
“[Spider]!”
With her skill, she instantly weaves the strings of her favorite weapon to form a web.
“Anyway, I’m going to catch it! Hold the end of the net and pull as hard as you can!”
“! Yes!”
Tito, the girl with cat ears, nodded, and Lexia came to her senses.
“A-alright!”
The three of them took hold of the end of the net Luna had made and spread it out as wide as they could.
“She’s coming!”
“””All together now!”””
Pow!
In the blink of an eye, they catch the girl as she falls.
“Oh! W-we made it just in time…!”
“Whew. I was afraid of what would happen, but thanks to you, Luna!”
“But who is this girl?”
The girl who has fainted is gently lowered onto the sand.
She wore glasses and a strange, ornate outfit. On her back, she carried a heavy-looking backpack. Her short-cut gray hair was badly disheveled, but she did not appear to be suffering or injured.
“I was so surprised, but I’m glad she’s okay! But how did she fall from the sky?”
“Oh, look! There’s something floating in the sky…!”
Tito looked up at the sky and pointed to an object floating in the blue sky.
It was a huge sphere made of colorful cloth. Beneath it hung a basket large enough for a person to ride in.
Lexia stretched out her arms in curiosity at the unfamiliar object.
“What is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like that before!””
“There’s a big basket hanging from it.”
“…C-could it be that she was flying on that thing…?”
“Eehh!? If so, that’s amazing! If it’s a flying vehicle, many countries will want it so badly they’ll be begging for it!”
“If that was a vehicle, did this girl fall out of that sphere? Who in the world is she…?”
“Hey, let’s go after it quick! We might have a lead on this girl! I want to go for a ride on that thing! I’ve never flown before, after all!”
Luna holds back Lexia, who is about to start running.
“Wait! There’s smoke rising from that sphere…?”
“A-and it’s making a weird sound.”
As Luna and Tito said, black smoke rises from the flying sphere, and a disturbing pss, pss… sound can be heard.
Lexia and others who are watching to see what is going on, and at the end of their gaze.
Boooommm!
With an explosion, the sphere exploded into pieces.
“””Eh… Eeeeehhhhhhh…?”””
Standing there appalled, they stared helplessly at the fragments scattered across the desert.
Then, perhaps awakened by the sound of the explosion, the girl slowly opened her eyelids.
“A-ah…?”
“! You are awake!”
The girl, supported by Lexia and the others, slowly wakes up.
“I…?”
“Don’t you remember? You fell from the sky. Hey, who in the world are you? What is that flying vehicle? How do you keep something that big afloat?”
Luna stopped Lexia, who was immediately asking a lot of questions with a twinkle in her eye.
“Wait, if we stay in one place too long, the monsters will come closer to us, and it will be dangerous. We need to move to a safe place first──”
Tito’s cat ears twitched halfway through Luna’s words.
“! They’re coming!”
“Eh? W-what do you mean, they’re coming…─?”
Before the girl could even utter a question, a huge mouth leapt up from the sand.
“Gogaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”
“B-Big Eater…!”
The girl lets out a piercing scream.
With jaws that are strong enough to bite even rocks and sharp fangs that are lined up in rows, it’s easy to see why the Big Eater is so well-known. It is an A-class monster that reigns at the top of the desert food chain, lurking in the sand and taking its prey in one bite.
In the desert, encountering a Big Eater meant instant death.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“N-nooooooooo!”
The girl screams as the giant mouth closes in.
However.
“──[Fetters].”
A calm voice echoed, and the Big Eater, which was about to bite the four of them, stopped moving.
“G-gogya, gya…!”
“W-what’s going on…? T-that’s… a string…!?”
The girl looked dazed as she saw the string that was lacing up the Big Eater.
Lexia smiled as she held the girl by the shoulder to reassure her.
“Don’t worry; Big Eater is nothing to worry about. My companions are very strong, you know!”
Looking at the two, Luna shook her head as she reeled in her favorite weapon, a string.
“Good grief, I guess we don’t have to stay here much longer. Let’s clean up quickly and move to a more comfortable place.”
“Gogah, gogaaaahhhh!”
The Big Eater writhed with a roar of rage, and the strings creaked and squeaked.
Luna, however, was not at all intimidated by this power that would have made a normal person swoon but instead smiled fearlessly.
“It seems that you are very hungry, but you have picked the wrong person. ──Tito!”
“Yes, I’ll end this in an instant!”
Tito leapt toward Big Eater’s huge body.
Her claws, raised in a great leap, were covered in light.
“[Claw Concert]!”
“G-Gaaaaaah!? Goga, ga… ga…”
With countless slashes from the reinforced claws, the Big Eater, its entire body cut into pieces, vanished into the desert wind, leaving behind a desperate cry.
“Wha!? An A-class Big Eater was shredded in an instant…!”
“Hey, I told you, didn’t I? They’re my pride and joy!”
“T-that’s too strong… How can girls of my age be so…──”
The girl was stunned for a moment but then seemed to come to her senses when the threat of the Big Eater had passed.
“H-huh? Come to think of it, this is…”
She was looking around at the desert and trying to pull back the threads of her memory, but when she saw the netting under her, she realized that she had been saved by Lexia and the others.
She hurriedly bowed her head.
“T-thank you for helping me…!”
“It’s okay; it’s natural to help people in need. After all, we are on a journey to save the world!”
“J-journey to save the world…!?”
People might laugh at the idea of just three girls saving the world as a wild and ridiculous story. However, after witnessing the extraordinary strength of Luna and the others, there was a glimmer of hope in the girl’s eyes.
With unparalleled strength that could kill an A-class monster in the blink of an eye and the noble idea of saving the world… these people could possibly…──”
The ice-blue eyes gazed ahead, and Lexia rushed to Luna and Tito.
“You two did a great job! That was so cool!”
“Hehe, thank you!”
“You’re getting stronger again, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’ve trained thanks to your constant recklessness.”
“Fufu, that’s not so bad!”
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment. Sigh, you always stick your neck out on cases without regard for the dangers… No matter how many lives you have, you’ll never have enough.”
“Indeed, it’s a little worrisome sometimes…”
“Don’t worry; I’ve grown up too. After all, I defeated the chimera with magic!
“I still find that story hard to believe…”
“As I said, it’s true!”
“U-um, but more importantly, who is she…?”
“Oh, yes!”
Lexia came to herself and looked back at the girl.
“By the way, you are──”
The girl bowed her head toward the three of them.
“Please, please lend us your strength…!”
The three of them involuntarily rolled their eyes at the seriousness and vigor of the girl’s expression.
“Eh? Eh?”
“What in the world is…──?”
The atmosphere was so strange that it took their breath away.
At that time, there was a lovely sound.
“? What’s that sound?”
“It seems to be the sound of a belly…”
“Hah. Lexia, you, at a time like this…”
“No, it’s not me! I ate breakfast! What’s with that look? It wasn’t me!”
“…Um… I’m sorry, it’s my belly.”
The three of them turned around.
The girl with glasses raised her hand awkwardly.
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