Kore wa Zombie desu ka?:Volume 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – "What I like is the Tsubamegaeshi secret sword technique. My special skill is the Tsubamegaeshi secret sword technique. My hobby is the Tsubamegaeshi secret sword technique."

I came to this dirty world in order to exterminate Megalos, but my magical powers have been taken away by that sketchy guy. The situation can't be any worse. Though I wanted to send him flying, I restrained myself to do so, and thus decided to only kick him to make him become a star. However, I didn't think that a B-level Megalo bear would be beaten up by him in just one strike......could it be that he's the rumoured devilish baron?! It...it's possible.

When I opened up my eyes, math class had already ended. The next class has started without me noticing. Also, this class is almost finished too...

I glanced on my left. The curtains of the window were swinging from the wind. Probably because of this torrid weather, the window was opened. Though I don't know who did it, nice curtains. As I was thinking about this, the bell rang to mark the end of the class.

Next is—eh, is it already noon? Bento, bento.

What I took out was a hand-made bento. The one who made this bento – I don't need to hide that – is actually Haruna-chan. Yes, it is the genius-bishoujo-devilish-baron.

"I have a lot of confidence in my omelettes!" she said, while preparing the food with a sense of triumph.

Hehe. I put on the greatest zombie smile and lifted the bento's cover. Instantly, my already dead facial muscles spasmed......

The end has already been decided. I've got that premonition since the beginning.

"Please forgive me."

I muttered while bracing my myself. If it's like this, rice would be better. Pure white rice would be better.

In my bento box, there was only a yellow colour.

"I have a lot of confidence in my omelettes!"

I only know that. However, you are overconfident. It's only omelettes.

What is this green plastic separation made for? At the very least, it wasn't to make something like a ranch fence around the omelettes.

"Aikawa. It's really surprising to see you with a normal bento......"

Over there, a man appeared. His name is Orito. He has tea-coloured spiky hair and wears glasses, and was just an annoying classmate that you see everywhere.

His height and weight is just like any other normal person, his face is also ordinary, and he's not someone with any special trait. He probably understood the latter, and thus decided to have a trademark of his own—that spiky hair. This ill-fated relationship started since daycare, and he's a bothersome guy who always hangs around me.

"Waa......"

Orito saw my bento and was surprised.

Please, don't look at me with that compassionate expression in your eyes that you use to look at dead animals.

"Didn't you take that joke too far? It's so far that I can't even laugh at it."

Shaking his head, Orito dragged the chair beside me, and opened the very ordinary bento on my desk.

"I, simply really like omelettes."

While explaining that, I prepare myself to take a bite—but I didn't have chopsticks.

Hey, hey, why would you commit such a low-level mistake, devilish baron. I'm lucky to have here a pair of one-use chopsticks from the supermarket.

"Hn? What is it?"

"Since when it started? Aikawa never said such things as he'd eat at his seat."

That's because you'd still eat beside me no matter how many times I said that, so I've given up.

"Then, you can go eat at your seat. I want to eat alone. Please don't come."

"Well, what's wrong with that."

For some reason he showed a satisfied smile. Aaah, he's really a troublesome guy.

In the back of the classroom, I took out a pair of chopsticks from the closets that no one locked, and started my battle with the yellow demon in front of my eyes.

How scary. Even though after I've become a zombie I've battled with many types of creatures, compared to them, that's really scary. I get the feeling that something will happen for sure. I plunged my chopsticks into it. I took a deep breath, grabbed a piece and swallowed it in one shot.

"Hmm!"

I unconsciously let out a weird voice.

Delicious! How can it be so delicious!? It's so good as if the cosmos were in my mouth. Is that person a premium cooking chef? I didn't even know that something that simple could touch me to that point.

But—Ah.

I don't need the amount to fill a bento. Plus, since it's so good I long for rice even more. Even tears were almost coming out of my eyes, and for many reasons. The eyes of a zombie can still shed tears.

—That is why I proposed something.

"Hey, Orito. I now hold some really amazing omelettes. Trade with me, even if it's just a bit, for that Japanese spirit."

"Ha? You should have said that you wanted some rice from the beginning. Don't put up that kind of dumb—"

Though he got angry there, he still traded with me.

Taking that omelette which feels like a silver river inside of his mouth, Orito opened his eyes wide.

"What is this!" And he stood up, facing me.

"Hey! Aikawa's omelettes are too amazing! It seems that you can trade it now for rice."

Hey, hey. Orito-kun. Don't do such a rash thing. Zombies are beings who really love peaceful lives.

After hearing this, some people walked towards us. Alas, it can't be helped. The quantity of omelettes is stupidly great. It's not as if I can't share with you guys.

Though I thought of this at the beginning, there was a hot spectacular event of "Aikawa's ultimate omelettes", and before I noticed it, the yellow-coloured bento has become full of rice. And it was filled with every kind of taste.

It's true that I've said just before that "Compared to that, pure white rice is better", but it's really sad.

I didn't think that the greatest simple thing in this century would be traded into rice.

However, I didn't say "Why did it turn out like this".

Seeing the schoolgirls put on a smiling face and saying "Delicious, delicious", how can I say such a thing?

Even if it was a game or a movie, occasionally zombies can read the atmosphere, right?

—That is the same for me.

The afternoon classes calmly ended.

......Though I've slept through them.

After noon, that sun was quite foul. I thought that I'd die, really. Now I'll wait until the sun entirely falls before going back home.

I turned my gaze to the schoolyard under the sunset. The track and field team was running around on the orange field like kids playing in a park. What is there to be happy with? Everyone's vibrant smiles seem to be overflowing. Looking at the girls on the field, I hold an immense respect for the one who invented bloomers.

Now, there was basically no student in the classroom. Every time, it's just me and Orito who leave last. The ordinary students who are living their life of youth, left the classroom while smiling.

Orito is also getting ready to go home, placing the bag on his back, he yawned deeply.

"Aikawa. Speaking of which, you seem to go home very late. What are you doing at school?"

"Sleeping."

"You still plan to sleep even after sleeping that much?"

Orito patted my back while laughing. Though that is called sleep, it's rather falling from a battle with the sun......they're all the same.

"My house is nearby, so it's alright. There are many murder cases in these times, right? Shouldn't you be careful?"

So YOU are worried about me. Hehe, I laughed a bit with my nose. There are indeed some frequent dismembering murder cases in the past few days. It is probably done by the same person.

Plus, I was also killed by him. Right now, I'm the victim.

"Though I want to meet the murderer."

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Talking about meeting someone, Aikawa, my little sister's friend is also a victim in the serial murder case. She's called Kyoko-chan. Do you know her?"

Eh—Eh? There's a survivor? Hey, hey. She's a survivor from the serial murder case? Well, I should also be counted as one too.

"I don't know her name. What kind of kid is she?"

"As for the age, she's 14, just like my little sister. She's slightly taller than the average middle schooler, but she has the face of a child. Her chest is very big. She's many times cuter than my little sister.

"I don't know her. That, does Kyoko-chan want to see me for something?"

"Hehe, Aikawa doesn't know, but Kyoko-chan knows about you. That means that it's love at first sight."

Hehe. Exposing a smile like an idiot. The pair of eyes behind those glasses are the ones of a pervert.

"Isn't it way too one-sided if you only rely on that point."

"I don't even know how many things Kyoko-chan asked about you......she's in love with you for sure! She's a middle school girl who lost both of her parents, and want to meet with the man she loves. Don't you understand~ can you go meet her at least once, please?"

How can there be anyone as bothersome as that guy. To join both of his hands while showing that kind of smile makes me really want to send you flying twenty meters away. No, it actually doesn't matter. I need clues. Clues about the murder cases are there.

"It's perfectly okay. I also hold some interest in this kid."

"......Aikawa......you are, as I thought, a lolicon."

"I'm not one for sure. I don't have any interest towards her in a sexual way. Rather, why don't you make a move?"

"Hey, Aikawa, don't put me in the same category as you. I, on the other hand, prefer mature women."

"How should I tell you that even though I'm in the flat-chested faction, I'm not a lolicon."

"I got it. I got it. Don't be so serious about it. Lolicon."

"Fine. Now, tell me the thing you love the most in the world—I'll transform it to the best that I can."

"In short, you can even meet her today if you want to."

"I got it. I'll meet her tomorrow at dusk."

"Speaking of which, why didn't I come to your house the past few days, Aikawa? Even though I always came there in the past."

I don't remember calling you over even once......hey, hey, don't think of any strange things.

"It has been long since I've come, can I go visit it today?"

You see. I know that it'd be like this—it'd be a headache. If you'd came here now, it'd be a headache. NO, not just now, but it'd always be a headache from now on.

"It's not possible. That......there are many important things I have to do. It's not easy to live by yourself, I'm really busy."

Is there something wrong? If you ask that question then I won't be able to say something back.

"Then it can't be helped......"

Orito looked through the window with a lonely expression. The happy voices of the sweating highschoolers in their club activities came from outside.

"I'm sorry. Right, how about going bowling next time? There's no way that you can beat me now."

Because I'm a zombie? I said that kind of voice out in my head.

"Fine! It has been long since we've place a comic book as wager! Let's go tomorrow!"

Rotating his wrist, Orito started to laugh in the corner of his mouth. That guy really loves bowling.

Just like this, we've casually chattered like this for a bit, and Orito left the classroom first. After hearing the footsteps completely disappear, I gazed again throughout the window.

The sky, dyed by the color of dusk......I didn't continue on what I was about to say. I've already encountered that kind of situation, I guess.

Haa, what good weather. Go eat shit. Sun, quickly fall and go eat shit.

Suddenly, I felt that the lights flashed for an instance, and it was followed by an ear-piercing noise due to the windows which broke, and it seemed that something entered the classroom. You'd understand if you look at it closely. It was a lobster. Wearing the school uniform, and slightly taller than an average person—WOW, THAT GUY'S REALLY BIG!

"I felt the magical energy of a masou shoujo and thus came here to see......"

The lobster shoved down the shards of the broken windows with his pliers, and furtively looked around in the classroom. Then, he fixed his cute little eyes at me.

"Masou—Shoujo......?"

It seemed that he inclined his head due to his astonishment. He's really full of human smell.

"Who are you? There are quite a few male masou-shoujos. Plus, your magical energy is really low. You, are you really a masou-shoujo?"

"Though I want to deny this, I guess I still count as a masou-shoujo."

"......Anyway, there are many responses in this area. I'm looking forward to that."

How is that called? The term use for these guys.

"Hn? There's one that is moving towards here......good timing. I can kill two masou-shoujos.

Oh, yeah, it's "megalo". The term used for these guys. I really remembered it.

At this time, beside the slowly drifting curtains, she appeared.

She was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of trousers. With a chainsaw in her hand, Haruna appeared in the opened windows.

With the track court tainted by dusk as background, with her shirt and ahoge swaying in the wind. How magical and comical was her posture.

"Ayumu! What the heck are you doing!? Beat the megalo until it pisses his pants in terror!"

I don't know what would be the state where he "pisses his pants in terror". Rather why did Haruna enter the scene like this?

"Haha! Another wrong guess! I can only wait for the ones left...after I kill you two."

The lobster bastard clicked his pliers, emitted a lively laugh. You're Baltan or what? Ah, the shape of the pliers is different. (T/N: Baltan from Ultraman. Google it if you don't know who he is.)

"Ayumu, finish him quickly! Wait, hey! Don't look here!"

Just like what the clearly angry Haruna asked, I faced the lobster standing on a chair. It seems that the reason why Haruna is blushing is because she feels incredibly embarrassed at the fact that her panties have been seen. If it's like that, then why did you go outside in that outfit? You fellow.

"Rather, what would the classroom become?"

"Ha. Something like that can also be fixed, because I'm a masou-shoujo."

"Then I can be in peace. First, that's a lobster, right?"

"Yes, that guy's an AA-class megalo, the lobster-mage."

That guy's a mage? I can't tell that by looking.

"Ah, no. Isn't it rather a super-evil outrageous lobster?"

"Hahaha! Then, let's begin!"

Suddenly, a warm wind came from the lobster.

From the looks, it seemed only to be a huge fart. Why did it do that? The disgusting purple wind seemed to be surrounding my body. Then, Haruna let out a low-pitched "Eh" and embraced herself. After receiving that wind, she should have felt a disgusting feeling, just like me, I guess.

"What, this is......impossible."

"What is it? Are you OK?"

"Ayumu......that feeling of numbness is......"

The lobster took a step close to us. Haruna shut her eyes tightly, and her shoulders were shaking.

"You, could it be that you're scared?"

"What,what kind of joke was that!? The possibility that I, would be scared of megalos......how can it be—"

At this moment, Haruna stopped talking. She suddenly felt strenghtless, and immediately sat on the ground. A ripple appeared on her glabella, and while clenching her teeth, she tried the hardest possible to control her shaking.

Anyway, I should first cut down the distance, and just like with the bear last time, the goal is the lobster's head.

However, before my hand could grasp the lobster's head, it already fell on the floor, bleeding.

"Oho? You are more capable that you look......male masou-shoujo!"

With his large pliers covering his eyes, it was laughing.

"Ayumu!"

Her cute scream resounded in the entire classroom. It was obvious that Haruna would be worried. My wrist was bleeding, and everything that was beyond the wrist has fallen on the floor. Not good, the situation's become bad. Lobster-san's movements are very quick. It has been cut off so easily. On the other hand, his opponent's eye has also been damaged.

"The problem is that it's my right hand...it'd be easier to deal with if it was my left hand."

To not be able to use my strongest hand is quite bothersome. The ticking blood sounded like sounds made by a clock, and the lobster was shifting his body according to the sound. That lobster was probably having the same thought as me.

—There's no flaw. The one who moves carelessly will lose. What should I do?

"Ayumu! Hurry up and transform yourself into a masou-shoujo!"

Suddenly, Haruna threw the chainsaw towards me. Hey, hey. I'll be cut in half the moment I'll reach out to this.

—Look at the situation carefully.

While jumping backwards, I grasped the chainsaw with my left hand. Of course, the lobster also closed down the distance and charged towards me with his body. Then he pierced my abdomen with his plier, causing me to vomit blood.

I slouched, and lobster sent a headbutt my way. A mountain of blood gushed from my nose and my back hit the blackboard. With all my strength, I sent a knee kick through the air, but lobster’s elbow bore into my body.

Dammit, this lobster… he’s too fast.

“Chant a spell!”

Haruna’s order echoed in my ears. No no, there was no time for that. Spells are pretty long things, right? And I had crammed them all into my head in one night.

The pincers hit me on the side, and sent me tumbling through the classroom, taking tables and chairs with me.

“The one thing I didn’t want to do was transform into a masou shoujo…”

But, there are no other options. This crayfish was strong. Damn strong. If I don’t transform into a masou shoujo, I probably wouldn’t be able to win.

Making my decision, I shouted. lobster-san, please hold on just a second.

“Nomobuyo, woshi, hashitawa, dokeda, gunmiicha, dei, ribura!”

Alright, now what? First, my clothes tore, almost as if they were bursting open, and light began to gather where I was. At this point, my embarrassment had already reached the summit.

The light merged, and a cosplay-like outfit made of a material I still have yet to identify began to appear on my body. It was the same outfit Haruna had been wearing when we first happened to meet, and the bottom was of course composed of a skirt. If Haruna wore it her undoubtedly cute panties would be completely visible… so I didn’t like this at all.

Power poured into my body. To the point where I myself was getting goosebumps. Well, it’s also possible the goosebumps were a response to me being in this outfit.

But, geez. With this, things should work out. That’s what I was thinking. Of course, I’m talking about the power of masou shoujo.

My transformation had definitely put lobster on guard. He put up his pincered hands as if he was a boxer, and carefully watched my movements.

“Come on, Ayumu! Quickly… go quickly!”

She pointed at lobster, and shouted while her ahoge jumped back and forth. Yeah yeah. I’m going, I’m going.

With my left hand, I brandished the chainsaw high in the air. Along with that, the moment lobster’s hands started to move, I threw a straight punch at him with my right arm that was missing its hand. Taking the opportunity, I kicked him and sent him flying into the hallway.

lobster collapsed to the floor, leaning heavily on the wall for support, and I brought down the chainsaw on him. Perhaps it was the magic’s effect, but the chainsaw glowed red and the blade began to turn of its own volition.

As expected, he guarded against the chainsaw. He skillfully interposed his pincers in between the chainsaw and his body. Like that, he threw the chainsaw off, and we once again entered into standoff mode, just a bit separated from each other.

“Bwahaha. You sure can take a beating. I’ve killed six masou shoujo up until now, but you’re the most troublesome of them all. Also… you’re strange.”

lobster made a sound as if he was laughing through his nose.

“Why, thank you. If you want to talk about strange, I believe both of us fit the bill.”

The atmosphere in the air sparkled with tension. It was the highest form of anxiety that came with life or death situations like this. Granted, I’m already dead.

In this narrow hallway, there was no choice but to attack straight on. No need for tactics here.

lobster’s right hand moved. He stuck it out in front of him.

And then, those huge pincers came flying at me.

“Uwaaah!!”

I was terrified. The pincers were detachable? Like a missile, it flew at me and I leapt to the side to dodge, when I realized it.

The moment I had let out my pitiful sounding shout, there was someone behind me that had let out a similarly pitiful sounding shout. When I twisted my neck around to look, I saw a single male at the top of the stairs on the other end of the hallway.

It was Orito.

Well, I suppose that lobster had shown up not too long after Orito had left, so it wasn’t impossible that Orito would come back to check on what all the commotion happening in the classroom was about.

And while I was thinking that, the pincer collided with my body. It felt like I had gotten hit by a truck. What a strong attack.

My body was lifted ridiculously easily into the air, and I was thrown to the other end of the hallway. Afterwards, the pincer returned to lobster’s body. If I hadn’t transformed into a masou shoujo, my body would have probably been torn to shreds.

“Aikawa…”

Orito opened his eyes wide and stared at me. His arms and legs were shaking, and even if I told him to run away it’s not like he would be able to move that quickly.

“What the hell are you wearing…? Is that supposed to be funny?”

Oh, well that was unexpected. I thought he would ask about the crayfish first. I understand why he might have questions for me when I’m dressed in this cosplay like this, but first and foremost there was the crayfish, right? The crayfish isn’t something you would see in everyday life.

“Hurry and run away. You’ll be killed.”

Perhaps he didn’t hear my warning, but Orito stiffened like a doll. This isn’t good… if he takes an attack, unlike me, he’s really going to die, right? After all, he’s not a zombie.

“Hey, Haruna! There’s a civilian here! Help!”

I yelled to the bishoujo who was probably still in the classroom. lobster’s huge round eyes faced the direction of the classroom. As if I’d let him interfere!

Crushing the floor beneath me, I rapidly closed the distance between me and lobster.

I went in with a flying kick, and waved my chainsaw around as its gears spun with a vrrrrmmm. It was all so lobster didn’t end up targeting Haruna. Trying to chase him into the middle of the hallway, I tackled him aggressively, and once again swung my chainsaw around.

lobster leapt backwards like a shrimp would do, dodging the chainsaw blade.

“Haruna! Hurry up and help him!”

“Shut up. I got it, so stop ordering me around.”

As if she were trying to ward off the cold, Haruna came out of the classroom rubbing her arms.

Please, Haruna.

A backhand chop… or should I say a backpincer chop… pierced me in the side. I had been looking somewhere else, which admittedly was a bad excuse, but his attack might have crushed a few of my internal organs.

The crayfish smiled. This bastard thinks he’s won, doesn’t he? I grabbed the pincer, twisted hard, and pulled his large body down to the floor.

I straddled him and brought my chainsaw, glowing a ruby color, down on lobster’s neck.

“Not good enough!”

The crayfish did not only have two legs. A number of legs extended from under his school uniform and pierced my body. It didn’t hurt, but how do I put it, it felt disgusting. I mean, they were twirling around in my body.

“Bwahahahaha! Die! Masou shoujo!”

“Sorry, but I’m already dead.”

The chainsaw roared into the crayfish’s neck. lobster-san had thought he had killed me so he had momentarily let down his guard. That happened often with these things.

The crayfish’s large round eyes, a feature peculiar to Megalo, opened wide in shock. lobster-san pointed a trembling pincer in my direction. It seems like he was about to detach his claws and launch that fierce attack he had before.

But he was too slow.

I tossed away the crayfish’s severed head. Losing his strength, lobster-san’s right pincer fell to the ground, lifeless. At that moment, the pincer that was supposed to be released in my direction… suddenly discharged.

“Uwoohh.”

Letting loose a pitiful sounding yell, I stood up. Like a rocket, the pincer passed through my legs. Geez… I guess this was his last desperate attack.

Feeling relieved, I turned around. I saw Orito there.

He was still there?

Didn’t I tell her to get them to safety? Did I say something wrong? Did she not hear me?

Maybe it was because I was a zombie, but I felt the blood drain from my face.

Before giving myself over to that disgusting sensation, I went into a spectacular low dive like a lifeguard. The last pincer that lobster had released was headed straight for Orito.

Hey hey, if I weren’t a masou shoujo right now I would have been wounded pretty badly by that pincer. If I weren’t a zombie, I probably would have died. I unconsciously opened my mouth wide.

Did I reach it? Even if I only touched it a bit, that would be fine. Even if I could just divert its trajectory a bit, that would be fine.

I reached out with the chainsaw in my left hand as far as it would go, chasing the pincer as it went straight ahead, spurting sparkling particles out its backside.

Just a bit more. Just slightly farther. That’s it. If I can just catch the end of it, that’s fine… alright.

Dammit, this isn’t going to work. I can’t reach it at all!

I was left speechless. I held my breath, and twisted my wrist.

I had to throw it. There was only one chance. I didn’t even want to think about whether I could actually throw the chainsaw properly from this posture, but I was out of other options!

“And gooo!”

306%. Exceeding the limits of human strength, I threw the chainsaw with just a snap of my wrists.

Answering my prayers, the chainsaw deflected the pincer. The pincer changed its course and drilled into the wall of the hallway. Orito clumsily covered his body with his limbs as the concrete shards that had popped off the wall poured onto him.

With one breath, I exhaled all the unpleasant air that had lodged in my lungs. Geez, what the hell was Haruna doing?

“Hey, did you see a short girl around here?”

“Eh? Ahh, that super cute girl? She glared at me and asked me where the toilet was, and when I told her she went there without another word.”

Orito turned his gaze to the end of the hallway. In the direction of our classroom.

Ah, I see, if she needed to use the bathroom that’s fine. Whatever.

Wait, it is not fine! When she comes back I’m going to lecture her on why life is precious.

“What are you?”

Rubbing down his chest, Orito put on an unusually serious expression and looked at me.

Well, it’s not like I can hide it anymore. Geez.

“I already died. I’m just a normal zombie.”

“When you become a zombie, you have to wear clothes like that?”

It seemed that the first and foremost thing on Orito’s mind was this costume. That would be a pretty long story to tell though…

When I explained the situation from beginning to end, Haruna returned from the bathroom looking refreshed. She shook water droplets off both her hands.

“Ah, it’s over? Then…”

Isn’t she acting a bit too casually about all this? Haruna nonchalantly walked over here, and touched the hands she had just washed to Orito’s forehead. When she did that, Orito collapsed to the floor.

“H-Hey, what did you just do?”

“Memory manipulation. I can’t deal with this entire area by myself as I am now, so you do it.”

“If you could do that, tell me earlier! I had just explained everything to him.”

“As if I care! Just hurry up and do it!”

Geez. With Haruna’s difficult-to-understand instructions, in order to use this magic I was not used to, I pointed my chainsaw at the classroom. A red light extended from the chainsaw and enveloped the damaged classroom.

I had to do “something or other” to the “space-time something or other” within a certain area or something. Memory manipulation also seemed to make use of that principle.

… Let me just be frank, and say that I didn’t understand at all.

At least use technical terms, dammit. Don’t just say “space-time something or other.” And what’s more, it seems this magic couldn’t heal my body’s wounds, so my body was still in its worn-out state.

Well, I would return to normal with time. They say that often, right? Time heals all wounds.

Even though I didn’t really know what I was doing, I seemed to have pulled it off, and the classroom returned to the state it was in before lobster-san had come in.

I see. This way, there were no more signs that a battle had happened here. It could be possible that masou shoujo have always been fighting with Megalo in places that I don’t know about.

And then, by manipulating memories, in general those places wouldn’t be found out. That’s pretty convenient. As long as I could ignore this outfit, I would probably like being a masou shoujo.

Alright, next comes memory manipulation. Haruna had already seemed to have done it, but I couldn’t help but being uneasy.

I pointed my chainsaw at Orito, sleeping soundly and collapsed in the hallway. Once again, I listened to a hard to understand explanation from Haruna, and manipulated his memories.

At the very least, I had to make sure he forgot about this costume.

Even if he remembered the crayfish, even if he remembered that I was a zombie, he had to forget about this costume.

A short time after the crayfish’s attack, I began walking home, trying to avoid being seen. If you ask why, it’s because after I dispelled that cosplay, I became naked, right? And whether I went home in these clothes or completely naked, both would be equally terrible.

And what’s more, next to me walked Haruna, who was only wearing a T-shirt and a pair of panties. And I was holding a chainsaw. There was absolutely a hundred percent chance people would think we were wackjobs. The minute we got spotted, we’d probably get reported.

We finally chose and began walking through a dark, quiet, narrow road. The road was too thin for even cars to pass through. If we could slip through this road, my house would be just ahead. Ugh, just now, through my embarrassment, my annoyance was reaching its peak.

Why did I have to end up wearing this costume? That question repeated itself a countless number of times in my head.

I spoke up to the girl next to me who was looking the other way, and who was also the source of all my problems.

“You, go back to the magic world.”

“Huh? My world has a cool name, and it’s Virie! Don’t use any other words to describe it!”

“Fine. Fine, whatever, just stop it!”

Haruna had placed her thumb under my nose and rubbed it back and forth as if she had a pocket tissue she was trying to open. That burns! The area under my nose is burning!

“Anyways, go back to this Virie or whatever.”

“Huh? There’s no way I can go back!”

She looked at me as if I had just asked something stupid, and her facial expression soured.

“Why?”

“You stole my magical power so I can’t go back! Don’t you understand that much?!”

No, I didn’t. Could it be that she intended to stay at my house forever?

… Give me a break.

“Isn’t there a way you can go back? I’ll help you.”

“Alright, give me back my magical power.”

“How?”

“As if I know! Just do it somehow!”

With that, Haruna turned the other way, leaving me rubbing my head.

Alright, well that’s my house right there… it’s around 50 or 60 tsubo , I think. Well, something like that. It was just a normal two-story residence. Right now, there were only two people living in this house… whoops, I forgot about Haruna. Only three people, then.

Under the pretext of going on a honeymoon, my parents had been gone for around five years.

I could easily imagine how many laps they had already made around the world. My little brother had happily gone with them, but I was left here in Tokyo. After all, if I went with them I would have to be on a schedule that would be tougher than being on a tuna fishing boat.

Now, there was not even a shadow left of the peaceful lonely existence I had enjoyed before. Well, even now, I should be able to take back some private time. I’ll just believe that… so, with that, shall we enter?

I mean, Haruna had already gone in. Usually, you should wait for the master of the house to go in first, right?

Well, whatever. She definitely seemed to be embarrassed by her outfit, and we had walked the entire way here looking at the ground.

When I asked her why she showed up like that, her response was “Well, a Megalo showed up, so what else could I do?! Don’t look at me!”

When I went inside, I dispelled the costume. Stark naked, I ascended the stairs. My room was on the second floor. And in case you’re wondering, I had left the chainsaw in the entranceway.

The inside of my room was exceedingly simple. A bed, a dresser, a bookcase, a study desk, and a television. Even though I was a zombie, there was nothing worth pointing out in here. It was an uninteresting, exceedingly normal room.

I took a shirt, some trunks, and some jeans from a drawer in the dresser. Changing into normal clothes, I exited the room. So, where should I go? Of course, the living room. It was the gathering place of the family, after all.

There was a large square table in the living room along with a biggish plasma television. Today as well, I could hear the laughing voices from some variety program coming from the television.

In front of the television sat a single girl kneeling with a teacup in her hands. You probably could figure this out, but this was not Haruna.

Even though she was indoors, she was wearing a dress that would look appropriate on nobility, along with a Western-looking set of plate armor. Both her hands were equipped with gauntlets, and I had yet to see her with them off. It was an unbelievable outfit considering the heat.

… Her clothes may have been strange, but they really suited her.

“Was everything alright today?”

I spoke up to the girl in the living room. She didn’t even move her neck, but, with only her eyes, confirmed my identity and gave me a single nod. Even in making that nod, she barely moved her chin.

And then her gaze returned right back to the television. Even as she watched the comedians in the variety program laughing ceaselessly, she didn’t even let out a chuckle.

Her peculiar features lay in her flowing, straight, long silver hair and her transparent blue eyes. They were deep eyes that almost sucked you in, almost as if there was a whole other universe within.

This girl’s name was Eucliwood Hellscythe, or Yuu for short.

Glancing at me one more time out of her peripheral vision, Yuu didn’t turn her body at all as she put her teacup on the square table. Using her right hand adorned with that flawless gauntlet, she picked up the black ball-point pen lying on the table, and using her left hand equipped with a similar work-of-art gauntlet, she tore out a sheet from the memo pad on the table.

She put her pen to the memo sheet. And then, she tapped twice with her pen. I believe that was a sign for me to look at the memo she was writing.

In round Gothic lettering, she wrote the following on the memo sheet:

Prepare dinner.

I didn’t even see her pen move. I was watching her straight on, but it always happened that during the span of a single blink, she would have finished writing what she needed to. No matter how long the sentence was.

”Oo, Yuu is hungry. Hey, onii-chan. Won’t you make something? Pretty please?”

That was what was going through my head. Just reading what she wrote was just too lonely, right? I always imagined a cute Yuu talking to me when we interacted like this. Even though I’ve never heard her real voice.

“What do you want to eat?”

At my question, she tore off another memo sheet from the pad. Two taps with her pen.

Steven Segal.

That’s not going to happen. I couldn’t even translate that into cute-Yuu speaking in my head.

”You know, Yuu really wants to eat Steven-“ ugh no, that’s no good. Absolutely impossible. I tried for a bit, but I really couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to make the Yuu in my head say something like that.

Shaking my head back and forth, I shook the inner-Yuu out of my mind.

Right then, Haruna appeared. She was wearing a similar outfit as before, but she had on a pair of jeans for which the legs had been rolled up many times. When exactly did she steal my jeans?

Haruna passed by my side, and settled into a cross-legged position to the right of Yuu, directly across from me, putting her elbow on the table and looking in Yuu’s direction. Her gaze almost made it seem like she was admiring a rare animal.

Yuu seemed completely unaware of Haruna’s existence, and didn’t move at all even when being examined from top to bottom by Haruna. She quietly sipped her tea.

The situation was similar yesterday when I had brought Haruna home. Even when I introduced Haruna, her eyes didn’t move to Haruna at all. Haruna also didn’t try to speak with her, instead acting like she was at the zoo watching an unmoving koala bear.

Even when I asked her “Haruna, is something about Yuu bothering you?” she just responded curtly with “not really.”

Even when I asked “Yuu, do you have any connections with masou shoujo?” she just completely ignored me.

As I thought, this just confirmed my philosophy that the best life is a lonely one.

“Ayumu, dinner’s still not ready? I’m hungry.”

I want meat.

Yeah yeah. Please allow me to make you dinner. Also, those two were complete polar opposites. That applied even to the way they sat; one was kneeling with her back straight and extended, while the other sat there slovenly and hunched over, cross-legged.

“Pork kimchi fine?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

Haruna showed me a smile. Her smile brightened up her countenance and was very cute, even if she didn’t intend it to be. It would be nice if she could always look like this…

Wonderful.

”Really?! Yaaay!! I love you oniichan!” is how I translated that. Heh, she really is quite cute, isn’t she?

Well, you’re probably wondering about this girl, so let’s talk a bit about Eucliwood-sama. Some of you have probably already guessed most of the situation, but just humor me and listen to my story anyways.

Why exactly was this strangely clothed girl in my house, when I was the one who said that I prefer being lonely?

Let’s talk while I prepare dinner for these two.

About that day.

***

It was around a month before I met Haruna, and the date was May 26th. As 1am was rolling around, I decided to head to a convenience store. It wasn’t as if I was looking to buy anything in particular. Rather, I was just looking for a diversion.

There, I saw a solitary girl quietly sitting in the convenience store’s garage, in which not a single car was parked.

Up to this point, I was never really interested in the girls around me. When I looked at the girls in my class laughing and playing around, I never really got the impression that I wanted to be with these girls… I think I was too busy chasing dreams.

But that day, I met a dream-like girl.

The girl had sparkling silver hair that would make anyone jealous, and was wearing armor and gauntlets.

Of course, this was the first time I had seen a girl dressed like that. It wasn’t something you would wear to go to a convenience store.

She exuded an aura of mystery and was extremely beautiful. I couldn’t help but be drawn in like a bee is drawn to the scent of flowers.

Usually, there’s no question that I would think that she was a weird person, and would take refuge in the convenience store while avoiding eye contact. But that night, I stopped right there in my tracks.

Because then and there, she had seized my heart.

Our eyes met. The girl fixed her gaze firmly on me.

She was just like a doll… that was the only way I could think of to describe her. She had graceful looks that I felt belonged in an anime or manga. Even though she looked very young, perhaps because of her blue eyes, there was an air of elegance around her.

Making up my mind, I began to move towards her. For the first time in my life, I felt the urge to talk to a girl.

I remember that Orito had once told me something. “Girls are attracted to erratic behavior,” he had said.

…. Alright.

“Excuse me, do you believe in Mononoke Hime?”

She turned her gaze away from me. It seemed that my first contact had failed.

Dammit… what should I do? This atmosphere is so uncomfortable now. What should I do… ah, umm… that’s right! If I go from a round-off into a moonsault, that definitely should earn a high score!

I quickly put some distance between us, and took a deep breath. I took off into a run and did a cartwheel. Alright, that had good power behind it. With that kind of power…

When both legs touched the ground, I tucked into a somersault of two flips and one twist…

Krchh!

Aaaaaaarghhhhh!!! My ankle!!!! My round-off had failed.

I glanced at the girl.

I saw her shoulders shaking a bit, perhaps out of fear. Certainly, having someone you don’t know doing such suspicious things in front of you might scare you enough to make you want to run away. I was an idiot for believing what Orito had said.

I covered my head with both hands. Ugh, the more I think about it, the more I realize how embarrassing that was.

As I was thinking that, the girl began to pull on my sleeve.

Her entire face showed no emotion when I removed her hand. She said not a single word, but just continued to stare at me. I couldn’t help but think that my soul might be stolen away by those blue eyes.

Under the light flowing out from the convenience store, Yuu took a ballpoint pen and a notepad from out of her skirt pocket, and tore off a single sheet… and on that sheet, she wrote this:

That was funny.

I was completely caught off guard and couldn’t respond. Wait, when her shoulders were shaking back then, that was laughter? Alright, let’s try a gag that Orito had done the other day. I lifted both my arms up.

So, don’t do it again.

What the hell. With nowhere to go, my hands found their way to my head, and I ruffled my hair.

Who are you?

Her expression didn’t change, her gaze didn’t change. But her eyes seemed firm. She was probably on her guard.

“Just a normal kind oniisan.”

I will be the one to decide that.

“Quite right. Well, what kind of person do I look like then?”

Yuu took a bit of time to think about that question. She was motionless, as if her batteries had run out. When I tried to break the silence, she took out another memo sheet.

However I look at it, a suspicious idiot.

I burst into laughter. I guess that’s true. No matter how you look at it, I was a suspicious idiot.

In the end, she never spoke, but her right hand was very chatty. We talked for quite some time.

I never expected that it would be so fun chatting with a cute girl like this. I liked being alone, but talking with a girl like this was not bad either.

Having met Yuu, I discovered that joy.

Now that I think about it, it was precisely from that first meeting with Yuu that I began to act warmly towards girls.

Cutting off the conversation at an appropriate point, I waved goodbye to Yuu and began to walk home.

Be careful.

Yuu didn’t wave back, but just coolly swept her hair back.

***

One corner away from my house, I stopped in my tracks. I looked up at the eerie, starless night sky, when suddenly something came into view.

A dark second-story window. Something was clinging to it.

What’s that? As I cocked my neck to one side, I squinted. I felt an unpleasant sensation, as if all my hairs had stood up on end.

Hey hey… isn’t that blood?

There were red marks stuck to the window, almost as if someone had thrown a tomato at it.

The series of scattered murders. Those words passed through my head.

A chill suddenly ran down my spine. Pushing down the inner voice that was telling me to run away, I took out my cell phone. For now, I should call an ambulance… or maybe the police?

My fingers shook, my heart thumped, and my throat was painfully dry.

Just as I was on the verge of pushing the call button, I heard it.

… That was definitely a human scream.

Right now, someone was being attacked in this house. Even if I called the police, it would take them a few minutes to get here. Looking around, I saw that there was nobody around here but me.

So… should I run the hell away? Or, should I try to help?

In times of hesitation like this, it’s better to make the courageous decision.

Nervously, I approached the entranceway of this unknown house, my back stiffening and my breath catching in my throat.

The door was not locked, so I opened it and softly entered. If this weren’t actually related to the serial murders, I would just be a normal criminal here. As I worried about the possibility of having made a mistake, I briskly walked through the dark, unlit hallway. Having come this far, I was finally able to return to my right mind.

What the hell am I doing here…?

It’s not like I can save anyone, right? What did I plan to do if I came face to face with the criminal? Am I an idiot?

It’s not like I’m going to make it in time. I was really asking for trouble.

As these thoughts ran through my head, my fear multiplied many times over.

Not good… this really is not good.

Desperately trying to gain control of my throbbing heart, my numbed legs began to move.

Without making a single sound, I began to run out of the house.

I paid careful attention to my hand on the wall, making sure I was silent.

Alright, if I can make it out the front door, I’ll start yelling outside, and the criminal won’t be able to do anything about that.

I softly turned the doorknob… huh?

I couldn’t move. It wasn’t like I was playing “Daruma-san ga Koronda” or something. It also wasn’t as if I was trembling in fear and couldn’t move. It was as if time had stopped, and my body couldn’t make the slightest movement anymore.

Gatan. I heard a sound, and my heart leapt into my throat. But I had been flawless. I can’t recall having made any sound at all. At any rate, I can’t move.

Kin. I heard the sound of metal. Of course, I wasn’t the one who had made that sound.

… Well, who exactly made that sound then?

I could feel the atmosphere behind me growing ominously cold.

… Please forgive me. I felt like my body was shrinking. And then, a sharp pain.

I had been impaled by something sharp. When I looked down, I saw that it was some kind of sword.

… It hurts. Breathing, my body, my head… it all hurts.

I felt a sharp pressure pushing on my back, and then the sword that had pierced me was withdrawn. Blood gushed out.

I lost all power in my body and slumped onto the ground. As my consciousness dimmed, the last thing I remember seeing was a long haired person who was carrying something long and thin in both hands.

And then…

“Don’t die.”

The minute those words sounded in my head, I woke up in a graveyard. That place I was fond of. And right in front of me was that strangely dressed girl… yes, Yuu.

“You… am I alive?”

Putting a hand on my chest, I felt a gaping wound. But, I felt no pain from it. All I could feel was a sensation as if something was being zipped up inside my body.

You’re dead.

She wrote that cruel response on the memo pad.

“Did you do this?”

Were you the one who killed me? That’s what I was trying to ask, but…

Yes. I made you not die.

At any rate, it seems that she wasn’t the criminal, but rather had saved me. Certainly, if she were the criminal, she wouldn’t have a reason to keep me alive.

“Well, what? Did you turn me into a zombie or something? You a necromancer or something?”

Panicking in the face of these extremely preposterous events, my breath became ragged.

Yuu did not avoid my gaze at all, and gave me a strong, firm nod.

… Seriously?

“Hold on… hold on hold on… has the criminal realized that I’m alive? Could it be that the criminal is still looking for me? Give me a break… don’t tell me my life is still in danger…”

Completely panicking, my words became jumbled as I rambled on and on. At that sight, Yuu handed me a single memo sheet. On that sheet were written these words:

Don’t worry. I’m here with you.

Those deep sky blue eyes made me feel like I could rely on this person.

My life is also being targeted. So it’s best to not be alone.

So, that means, she doesn’t want to be together like this?

That thought went through my head, but I don’t think my savior would go so far as to say something that brutish. It’s obvious that it’s better to be together than to go home in fear.

There was still a lot I didn’t understand and couldn’t consent to, but I didn’t have enough strength right now to pursue those topics.

After all, I was still suffering from the aftershocks of the fear I had when I was killed.

But, along with that fear, there was a feeling of uncertainty left in my heart.

Who was it? Who had killed me? I hadn’t cared about this when I heard about it on the news, but now that these misfortunes had fallen onto me, I couldn’t help thinking about it… I’ll definitely find the killer.

And like that, I had become a zombie.

After that day, my everyday life took a turn for the supernatural.

On the negative side, I had to battle a bunch of bizarre things I had never seen before that came to my house aiming for Yuu’s life.

On the positive side, girls more beautiful than I had ever seen began to show up at my doorstep, one after the other. Things that I had thought were “impossible” now were happening right here.

If something has any possibility of happening, then it will eventually happen.

I guess that the probability of this phenomenon occurring might have been greater than zero. And if the probability is greater than zero, then sometime, somewhere, it would happen. The probability of it happening was just low.

It was just that sometimes, the probability of these things happening around me became high… quite high.

***

We all ate in the living room, sitting around the square table. On the table were two bowls filled to the brim with rice and miso soup. And of course, the large quantities of pork kimchi I had prepared were lined up. There was also a rice cooker and a pot next to me. I was expecting to have to deal with the surging waves of these ravenous two asking for seconds.

I had only made two people’s worth of food because a convenience store bento was more than enough for me. Who dares to complain about a hamburger bento? If anyone laughs at convenience store bento, I’ll unleash my zombie ultimate attack on him.

“Ayumu, seconds!”

Haruna energetically handed me her rice bowl. Next, Yuu also seemed to want seconds. Geez, you two are eating just a bit too much. Girls should be more wary about their weight and eat less.

“I’m surprised at how good the food is in this world at reviving my store of magical power! Mystletainn no longer rejects me anymore, so at this rate I might be able to return to being a masou shoujo soon! Maybe maybe!”

She dug into the pork kimchi with a smile. Every time she moved, the ahoge coming out of her head waved.

“Oh, by the way, the fried egg you made was delicious.”

Smiling, I stroked Haruna’s head.

“Ah, of course it was. Who the hell do you think I am?”

For some reason, when I stroked Haruna’s head like this, she didn’t object. At some point, Haruna realized that I had an almost-disgusting zombie smile on my face.

“What are you laughing about? Gross… die! Idiot!”

Blushing, she sent a storm of verbal abuse my way.

And at that time…

Bam! A dry sound echoed through the room, and I widened my eyes in surprise.

For some reason, Yuu had leaned forwards and smacked Haruna across her flushed cheeks. Haruna and I both stood dumbfounded at these sudden happenings.

And then, even though Yuu normally never picked up her pen while eating, she faced Haruna and thrust a memo in her direction.

Don’t use those words lightly. = “Geez! Don’t say bad things about oniichan!”

There was not a tremor in either of her eyebrows, but I could see that she was getting angry.

“Yuu, while I appreciate the sentiment, it’s not like Haruna was being serious either.”

“No, seriously die. Die with that gloomy necromancer over there!”

And then, another dry sound rang through the room. Two of them this time. Haruna had countered this time.

Death is painful.

I could not translate those words into the cute-Yuu-speak inside me. Haruna also seemed to be at a loss for words. Yuu’s blue eyes were filled with sadness.

Trying to break the silence, I gave out a strange yell of “Daaahh!” as if I was at the Inoki Bom-ba-ye. Haruna began to shovel rice into her mouth. Yuu also returned to eating with a nonchalant face as if nothing had happened.

“Ayumu! More! Super more!”

Yeah yeah, I’ll give you a lot this time. I piled up a mountain of rice into her bowl and handed it back to her. Taking the bowl, Haruna showed me a smile lined with her white teeth. Her smile was so lovely that it was contagious.

When I looked in Yuu’s direction, I saw a single tear come out of her eye and roll down her cheek.

That’s surprising… to think that the usually completely emotionless Yuu would suddenly begin to cry.

“Hey, Yuu! What’s wrong? Ah… umm… uhh…”

Drip. Drip. She didn’t give out a single sob, and her expression did not change at all, but tears began to spill out of her eyes.

Yuu put her left hand to her cheek, and traced the trails the tears left behind. And then, finally, she seemed to realize that she had been crying.

I didn’t know what to do at this sudden turn of events. I looked to Haruna for help, but she cleanly dismissed me, and in the face of my gradually growing bewilderment, I couldn’t do anything but stroke her silky silver hair.

Was there anything else I could do…? Anything else I could do for her?

Calm down, me. Why is Yuu crying?

Glancing at the table, I noticed that Yuu’s bowl was empty.

Ah, I see! Having been put into a trance by Haruna, I had completely forgotten about refilling Yuu’s bowl.

“Sorry, I’ll give you more rice right away.”

Flustered, I heaped rice into Yuu’s bowl. When I peeked at her face, I saw that tears were no longer flowing out from her eyes. Even Yuu can cry sometimes, huh? After confirming how Yuu could be pretty human-like sometimes, I tried to enjoy the rest of dinner.

“I would like some miso soup too.”

Yeah yeah. Some miso sou- wait, who the hell are you?!

The people sitting around the table… there was me, Yuu, Haruna, and one more person. A woman. She was wearing low-rise jeans and a camisole along with clothes you would normally see on girls everywhere. Her long hair was tied back with a rubber band. I-It was a ponytail! Ponytails were my biggest weakness!

Of course, she also had an attractive face and figure, but unlike the other two, she exuded a cold dignified air. And the things that drew my gaze more than anything else were her sparkling jade-colored eyes.

I had said that she was a woman, but she didn’t look older than I was. It was just that she exuded an air of maturity.

Since the time I had met Yuu, the girls that have been showing up at my door have all been cute or beautiful, without exception. They all had beautiful, graceful faces that I would not forget. But I haven’t seen this particular girl before.

Oh well, I’ll give her the miso soup she asked for.

“Hey, Ayumu. Who’s this?”

Ahh, it seems like it wasn’t one of Haruna’s acquaintances. So that means…

She was an acquaintance of the necromancer silently sipping her miso soup next to me. So, while handing over a bowl of miso soup to that mysterious girl (the third mysterious girl)…

“For now… could you introduce yourself?”

“Understood. My name is Seraphim.”

Hooh, her name sounded like it could be an angel’s name. It was one of the angelic ranks, right?

Staying silent, I waited for her to continue.

“……”

With an imposing air, she fixedly stared straight forwards. I couldn’t help but be charmed by her beauty. The otherwise silent living room was dominated by the sound of miso soup being sipped.

“……”

Wait, that was her idea of an introduction?! And it didn’t seem like I was the only person who thought that way.

“That’s it? Don’t you have things you like, or special skills, or hobbies? C-Could it be that you’re a wizard?! You planning to blow me up or something?!”

Haruna. Are all the wizards you know cruel and merciless or something?

“My likes: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi. My special skills: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi. My hobbies: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi.”

Well at any rate, at least she responded to the question.

“Why are you here?”

“A mission.”

“What kind of mission?”

“To borrow the power of Eucliwood Hellscythe-dono.”

I glanced in Yuu’s direction. The necromancer in question was proceeding with her meal as silently as ever. She didn’t seem to care about what was going on around her.

Yuu often had her life targeted. She had the power to bring the dead back to life, so there were an endless supply of beings who tried to kill her and take that power for themselves. Up to now, a countless number of strange things had come visiting.

There were vampires, and vampires. Well, also… vampires? Now that I think about it, vampires came really often.

“Could it be that you’re a vampire?”

At my question, Seraphim-san widened her eyes. Her expression screamed “How did you-?!” But soon she returned back to her cold expression, and nodded once.

“Precisely. I’m a vampire ninja.”

As I thought.

Hm? No, it was a bit different. Well well well well, whatever, it’s fine… ninjas… demons… it’s all pretty much the same.

Wait, that’s not true at all! Am I an idiot?!

Listening to her, I learned that she was a ninja who needed blood to retain her youth and power.

She had been living in a secret mountain village, but the death of their chief had incited a war of succession. The war had continued for hundreds of years, it seemed. And, to suppress that war, she wanted to revive their fallen chief.

So there were still ninja villages in Japan… that’s surprising.

Hm? There’s also the point that everyone who’s come here so far has basically been a vampire. They all had deep crimson eyes and wore black cloaks, so of my own accord, I had labeled them as vampires.

When I asked about this matter, Seraphim-san nodded.

“Yes. They are trying to take Hellscythe-dono’s life and make her unique power their own. Their schemes are precisely meant to hinder our efforts.”

Pouring miso soup down her throat, Seraphim set her empty bowl down onto the table and continued.

“My mission is to request that Hellscythe-dono accompany me, and to protect her life. There are stubborn types that would prefer to just kidnap her, but we respect her power. So if possible, I would like to ask the person herself to come with me of her own free will.”

And that’s how the story ran. Mealtime had ended, and on the table that only bore empty plates Yuu placed a single memo. And then, she put her ballpoint pen to the memo.

Tap tap. She tapped the table twice.

Ayumu. I don’t care. Drive her away.

It seemed like the negotiations had broken down with a single blow. I had also worked hard to defeat all the vampire ninjas that had appeared at our house up until now. But, as Seraphim-san had said, they were the ones who were trying to force us to do what they wanted. They were trying to kidnap Yuu. So I could fight them with no hesitation whatsoever, but this time was a bit…

I mean, she’s a girl, right? And she also had said that she would protect Yuu’s life.

“But there’s no need to fight this time, right?”

At that question, Yuu tap-tapped on the table. She wasn’t writing anything. She seemed to want me to look once again at the memo she had already written. That’s what I thought, but it seemed that she had added something… when did she…

Ayumu. I don’t care. It’s fine, so drive her away.

Hm, what should I do? These were, once again, words that I couldn’t make cute in my head.

Haruna, say something to Yuu, won’t you?

“I see. If you’re a ninja, you can suddenly appear and disappear, right?”

She completely ignored me!

Without even trying to clean up, Haruna got up and left the room.

Did people who came from the magic world Virie not have any interest in supernatural beings outside of Megalo? This is why these young masou shoujo are so…

“What relation are you to Hellscythe-dono?”

As expected, from that beautiful mouth came a beautiful voice. Her fixed stare made me blush.

“Hm? How do I put it…”

Tap tap. I looked over at Yuu.

Servant.

Well, I guess that’s not technically wrong. Personally, I prefer “oniichan.”

“If that’s the case, I will also become your servant. Please call me Sera.”

Sera spoke with a completely serious expression. She won’t mind if I call her Sera too, right?

Soon, I saw that Yuu had added something to the memo on which she had written “Servant.”

I only need one servant. = “For Yuu, only one oniichan is enough!”

“If that’s the case, you don’t need him, right? No matter how I look at it, he seems to be stupid.”

Sera-chan. That really does annoy me, you know. I resent that.

The vampire ninja and zombie had a glaring contest. Sera stood straight up.

“Let’s find somewhere we won’t be disturbed.”

She seems to be pretty determined. Without cleaning up after the meal, I also stood up and we left the room. If we were going to fight, I knew just the right place.

That place that I was quite fond of.

***

The graveyard was quiet today as well. It was still too soon for people to have fallen asleep, but not even delinquents would want to hang around a graveyard at night.

Because this was a place where zombies came out.

The crater that had formed when I had met Haruna and Kumacchi had magically disappeared, and the gravestone that had been pulverized was also right there, sparkling.

I passed by the lined-up gravestones and headed for the area beneath the huge tree. Here, there was nothing around except that tree, so there was nothing to hinder our movements during our fight.

While listening to the rustling sounds of the leaves in the tree, we glared at each other.

Sera was pretty much the same height as I was, and her long hair, styled into that ponytail, fluttered in the wind. That expression that overflowed with majesty didn’t lessen in beauty even now, when we were on the verge of attempting to kill each other.

“Could I just ask you one thing?”

“What?”

“These vampire ninjas or whatever… do they attack humans?”

“Of course. Although, they do not kill them. They just take some of their blood.”

“Even the more forceful ones?”

“I cannot say ‘definitely’ with absolute certainty, but they definitely do not kill humans.”

Which was it?!

“But, right now, you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“It is for the sake of my objectives, so there’s no choice in the matter, is there? And also, you aren’t human.”

Quite right, she is. Her eyes bled red and a black cloak that seemed to cover her entire body appeared. This was her getting into battle stance, I suppose.

Sera spread her arms out, and green leaves appeared to fall out of nowhere. There was that big tree there, so a few leaves might have fallen off, but never this many.

“Let’s begin.”

With just that one word, Sera disappeared. At pretty much the same time, I felt something slice diagonally through my chest. If I hadn’t quickly taken a step backwards, that would have been dangerous.

In front of me, I saw her pretty, long hair and commanding red eyes. Beautiful. It was so beautiful it almost made me shiver.

At that time, her self-introduction earlier echoed through my mind.

“My likes: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi. My special skills: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi. My hobbies: Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi.”

Tsubame Gaeshi… making lots of shallow cuts to make your opponent falter, and then finishing him off with one true attack… something like that? But in any case, she was sending a barrage of attacks my way. I kicked off the ground and fell back.

As I had thought, her follow-up attack came at me and cut me deep.

Large amounts of blood fell onto the graveled floor. I was expecting it and tried to dodge, and it still ended like this. As expected from a ninja.

“Impressive. To think you could evade my Tsubame Gaeshi twice.”

Yes, in reality, after her initial counterattack, she had repeated the same movements. It was something like four consecutive cuts.

After that, I ran and she gave chase, and multiple sword flashes cut into my body. I couldn’t evade a single one. But none of the wounds were fatal.

Should I have brought the chainsaw?

No, it’s too late to have regrets at this point. Instead, I should be taking advantage of my immortal body.

I dared to meet with one of Sera’s slashes and moved through it. In exchange for her cutting me almost to my core, I punched Sera with all my might. At my attack, one leaf sprung up and stopped my fist. That single, fluttering leaf had stopped the attack I had put my all into.

But it only stopped that attack for a moment, and when I put more power into the attack I felt the resistance of the leaf vanish. Like that, I struck Sera and sent her flying. Aren’t people who punch girls the worst? Yes, that’s true. But I would never let myself be killed without fighting back ever again.

Sera quickly got up and closed the distance between us. I guess she wasn’t the type of person to keep her distance and calmly assess the situation. I preferred a slower, more calculated type of fight though.

In both her hands there was something that looked like a sword… I guess you could call it a sword.

But it was really a leaf. A single, huge leaf that had been made thin and long.

That extremely long and thin leaf definitely resembled a sword. Wait, does that mean she’s made all of these fluttering leaves into swords? As I thought about that, I was once again cut.

This time she had aimed for my neck, and as I wasn’t able to keep up with her movements, fresh blood scattered out of the newly opened wound. I tried to get some distance between us, but I couldn’t run away.

Now that I look at it, there are thin grass-like leaves piercing into my legs. As I thought, all of these had been made into blades.

“Got you!”

Right in front of me, this imposing girl waved her sword horizontally. She had cut through around half my neck, and blood erupted from the wound. Normally, this would be fatal, wouldn’t it?

“It’s not over yet!”

“Wha-!”

I grabbed onto the hand of the shocked Sera.

I pulled her close and struck her head with mine. Her head jolted back violently and I followed it up with a body blow. One leaf jumped up to block me, but I didn’t pay it heed and followed through. Then, I struck her with my knee, and punched her with my right hand. With 230% of the power a normal human could muster.

Kicking up gravel, Sera noisily tumbled along the ground.

As I watched her, something came flying at me and I blocked it.

It was what appeared to be an autumn leaf. It had been changed into something like a shruiken. I pulled it out after it had lodged itself into my arm, and even with 230% of my strength I couldn’t bend it… to think she could counterattack while in that condition…

… I mean, I had punched her with the intent to kill.

As expected from a vampire… no, a vampire ninja. As another member of the undead, I found myself respecting her.

“I underestimated you…”

Her cloak waving, Sera opened her arms wide. A pair of green colored wings appeared behind her. I couldn’t say that those many small leaves didn’t resemble detached feathers. She had gathered those leaves together and formed wings of blades.

“Here I come.”

She came at me even faster than before. And it was an attack that came from above. Her wings flapped, and numerous tree leaves fluttered down, looking quite like detached feathers.

“Hiken, Tsubamegaeshi… Hachiren!”

At those words, I was cut in eight directions all at once. It wasn’t just by the sword she was holding. The leaves around me had all been made into swords as well… not good. Here comes the follow-up strike.

In an instant, my body had been torn to pieces.

I twisted my body, but my right arm had flown off, and not only my legs, but my entire lower half was gone. There was no more strength left in my body as it lay on the ground like that.

I mean, she had attacked me from all angles, right? There’s no way I could have avoided it all. Absolutely no way.

The angel with the black cloak landed in front of me, and she turned those red eyes my way.

Those green swords she held in both hands and that long hair. I feel like I’ve seen something similar before. Ah, yes… someone holding a long thin object in both hands with long hair. The person who had killed me.

But really, to be able to use two swords like that was difficult even for a master.

Also, Haruna had said that ninjas were able to disappear and reappear. If it were a vampire ninja, it would be an easy task to infiltrate anywhere.

As I thought, Haruna was somehow connected to these events. I’ll have to ask her about it next time.

So the criminal… was a vampire ninja?

“… 300.” I rolled my way to my lower half and reattached it.

Like a magnet, my body was drawn in and I could soon move it, allowing me to run to collect the hand that had fallen on the floor. Perhaps she was shocked at my sudden motions, but Sera flew up into the sky.

“… 410.”

“He can still move?!”

I heard a rustling sound from behind me. It was the sound of those green wings flapping.

“502.” Reattaching my right hand, I kicked off the ground and flew upwards.

“Hiken, Tsu-“

Gritting my teeth, I hit her with all my might. Her wings tried to cover her body, but my full power attack was almost at 600% strength and easily penetrated her defenses, hitting her.

But, unfortunately, what I hit was not a person, but a log.

In the span of a second, Sera had transported herself atop the biggest branch in the tree.

What I had hit was the black cloak and the log. A body switching technique? Ninjas are cowards, aren’t they?

“Pretty strong, aren’t you?”

Sera came down from the tree, and we once again fell into a staring contest. Maybe she had used all the leaves to make those wings, but there weren’t any leaves flying around anymore. All that was left were the two swords she had in her hands.

“Could I just ask you one thing?” I spat out the same question that I had at the start of the fight.

“What?” And she gave the same response.

“Do you really not kill humans?”

“Yes. So what?”

She kept her eyes fixed on me. As beautifully and as directly as always… it was gorgeous.

“Well, then everything’s fine.”

I still had my doubts on whether I could completely believe her… but I decided to trust these eyes. This girl, Sera, didn’t seem to be the type that would lie. So she wasn’t the one who had killed me. I’ll believe that. If I do say so myself, girls were a huge weak point of mine. And it’s not like I can just keep on saying that until I fix that weak point… I should just live alone…

For some reason, Sera let go of her swords. Her swords transformed back to small leaves, and gently fell to the floor. Her red eyes returned to their normal shade of jade. She let out one breath, and showed me a slightly satisfied expression.

“Well, I’m stumped. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like I can defeat you. Even with my secret sword technique. I see that I need to train more. And I’m also not inclined to bring out my ultimate technique. I’ll have to think of some new moves…”

Somehow, it seemed that the battle had ended. Although, if she continued to use that body switching technique, it’s not like I would have been able to do much against her.

“So…”

“Yes. Please allow me to return home.”

As if she had guessed what I had wanted to say, Sera turned her back to me with her ponytail swish-swishing behind her and quickly left.

The masou shoujo Haruna and the Megalo.

The necromancer Yuu and vampire ninjas.

Lately, way too many strange things have been happening. Was this also because I had become a zombie?

I left the graveyard and slowly walked home. At any rate, that was quite a flashy way to chop me into pieces, wasn’t it? This is the first time I’ve found it so difficult to move.

When I arrived home, I took my shoes off in the entranceway.

I know that was a pretty banal statement, but this was strange. I mean, apart from Yuu’s shoes, there was one other pair. Of course, they weren’t mine. And I hadn’t bought shoes for Haruna yet. Right now, it seemed that Haruna was using the underwear I had bought for Yuu to use.

It couldn’t be… as I thought that, I turned towards the living room.

And in there was the form of that imposing vampire ninja.

Why is she still here?

Didn’t she say she was going home?

… Hm? Ah, I see. She meant my home.

Give me a break. Was she planning on staying here too?

Tap tap. As always, Yuu called to me in her usual way.

What’s the meaning of this? = “Oniichan. Why is this person here?”

Hmph. That’s what I want to ask!

Somehow or other, it seemed that like how I was Yuu’s servant, Sera had become my servant. And I consented to that arrangement.

Call it giving up if you must. If I were just living with Yuu, I could still find some alone time, but now with Haruna in the picture my dreams had vanished… so whatever, she can do what she wants.

By the way, if she’s my servant, she’ll listen to anything I want, right?

I can make her call me oniichan, right?

Well, isn’t that great? And so, I suggested it to her.

“No. That’s disgusting.” She clearly and resolutely refused. She seemed to be the type that would have no problem pointing it out when she didn’t like something. It seemed like she had an imposing personality no matter where it was applied.

“Well, at least call me master or something.”

“No. You shitty insect.”

Her eyes, pretty as always, pierced into me as if they were looking at the lowliest creature on earth, and her words shattered my dreams.

It seems that she was even able to make “words” into blades.