An anomalous phenomenon where, no matter what words she tried to utter, ‘~sawayo’ attached itself to the end. Inian grit her teeth over this.
‘There is no way this is the magic of Laban, that filth.’
Her thoughts functioned normally without sawayo attaching to them. Inian felt self-loathing at the fact that she, a Demon Realm Grand Duke, had felt relief in such a situation.
She calmed herself and composed her mind. If she returned to her territory, this curse…?
‘I cannot tell at all whether this is a curse or what.’
If it were the squalid magic of societal errors like Laban, she would have noticed immediately; at the very least, it should not be a curse based on black magic.
‘Anyway. This humanization magic can probably be dispelled using the resources of my territory. For now, it is time to withdraw first.’
Inian tried to calmly prepare to return.
“Krahrahrahrah!”
“How dare a mere wretch act insolentsawayo!”
She tried to subdue the crocodile demonic beast charging at her once more, but this time, it did not go as she wished.
Because the Wolf’s Jaw, magic that bites space itself, had failed to activate properly. The crocodile demonic beast’s body slam scored a direct hit on Inian.
Her lustrous wings and pitch-black dress were soiled by dust. The temper Inian had been holding back exploded.
It was annoying that bastard Laban had scammed her, annoying that she had been swept up in some incomprehensible magic and had her True Body’s authority sealed, and annoying that such a worthless demonic beast dared to charge at her, a Grand Duke.
“Understoodsawayo! I shall kill yousawayo!”
Inian’s eyes glowed red. When she stretched her left arm into the air, magic power surged violently like waves, forging the shape of a spear.
The material for the spear she called forth was a tusk that had protruded from her left arm in her original form. In her current appearance, it could not be utilized as a part of her flesh, but calling it forth in the form of a weapon was possible.
She roughly knew how to fight in this form. The petrification authority she had exercised through her hair snakes had also settled into her two eyes in the form of demonic eyes. Inian smiled savagely and gripped the spear tightly.
***
While the Magilist flustered at the sudden change in situation, Papirun hurriedly sent out communications.
If Mother had awakened and intervened, she should have also issued guidelines for subsequent actions.
[Hey, what did Mother say, mohu?]
The voice that came from the kingdom was unexpected. Papirun wanted to grab the back of her neck, but with the physique of a mascot with short arms and legs, it was an extremely difficult task.
[Shrine Warrior designation, mohu?]
Papirun wanted to close her eyes. Sometimes, Mother bestowed trials that a mere fairy could not endure.
[That is correct, mohu. She said that since her form adapted to the rules of our world is that of a magical girl, she is a magical girl in essence, so we should prepare to allow her to operate as such, mohu.]
[Did she not say to send her back, mohu?]
[…Nor did she say to keep her detained, mohu.]
Papirun gauged Mother’s intentions. Just as they say that appearances aren’t everything, sometimes a being with a warm and righteous heart could exist beneath a ferocious exterior.
“Hoh-hohohohoho! It is fitting for a wretch like you to grovel at my feet like this, sawayo!”
However, trying to recruit that one was simply impossible. She was currently beating the crocodile demonic beast with a spear—though it was anyone’s guess why she struck with the shaft or the flat of the blade instead of stabbing, despite it clearly being a bladed weapon—all while making a strangely evil laugh.
“Hey! Blondie brat! Let’s team up!”
“Hah? What nonsense are you spouting when you’re a brat too, sawa… Aaaaack! This tone is truly annoyingsawayo! Just adding sawayo to everything doesn’t make it worksawayo!”
Papirun truly grabbed the back of her neck this time. If she didn’t hold the back of her neck with all her might, flailing her short arms as she did, it felt like her blood pressure would spike and she would collapse.
What in the world was Salamandine thinking, approaching that strange sawayo brat without hesitation and setting fires beside her.
“Papirun, what should we do…?”
Magi White looked at her with eyes full of doubt. Even if she was a magical girl, she was a ‘girl’. It was only natural that in a situation so difficult to understand, she needed someone’s help.
Papirun forced herself to muster composure and answered.
[Mother Fairy awakened the kind heart that exists within the other-dimensional being’s inner self, allowing her to regain her original kind form, mohu.]
If one were to appropriately paraphrase the conversation from just now, this was the content. Probably. Papirun had desperately adapted Mother’s will.
“Huh? Mother Fairy could do that too? Then if we just shoot that beam every time a Four Heavenly King shows up…!”
Magi Black nonchalantly shouted something terrifying. Papirun shook her head.
[This can only be used on those who come from outside our world and have fallen into confusion, mohu. It is merely a degree of help that restores one’s reason that was paralyzed by bewilderment and fear, mohu. It’s not a hypnotic ray, mohu.]
Magi Black tilted her head, then suddenly spoke what had come to mind.
“Huh. So it’s like super-fast counseling?”
Sweat trickled down Papirun’s nape. If she were some AI chatbot, she would have mindlessly exclaimed, ‘You just hit the nail on the head,’ but Magi Black had truly hit the nail on the head.
Regarding just what the sleeping Mother Fairy was doing.
Fortunately, perhaps because it wasn’t a question expecting an answer, Magi Black cracked her head left and right and prepared to charge.
“Good, then let’s finish this quickly. From the looks of it, the reason she seemed so menacing at first was probably because she was suddenly dragged out of where she lived; let’s turn that crocodile guy into a leather bag, and then send her home with it as a souvenir!”
***
Inian sneered at the assistance of worthless wretches who were nothing compared to her, but she did not go so far as to chase them away.
Because she was intimidated.
‘That pink beam…’
A very powerful will could be felt from the beam. One that said, ‘Let’s all not fight and be friends.’ Even if she cast magic with the true intent to kill those humans in her current body, no one would die.
They would be hurt and feel pain as if they might die, but that would be it. An upper limit on how much she could harm others had been set within this body.
No. Rather, the limit itself had been imposed on the world, and it was closer to her body being distorted to be compatible with that setting. Since Inian’s true self did not originate from this world, she should not have been subject to the world’s rules in the first place.
‘How on earth?’
A rule that twists the very laws of physics and distorts causality. Is this not grand magic on the level of dominating the entire world?
She could not understand at all why such a thing would leave that kind of demonic beast be, or why it permitted the annihilation of demonic beasts. At least she was fortunate that it was not of a hostile disposition and did not treat her as an enemy.
‘I shall eliminate that demonic beast bastard.’
‘And immediately withdraw from this dimension.’
‘Did that bastard Laban get hit by that beam too?’
Honestly, aren’t black magicians more dangerous creatures than demons? If it fired that pink beam only at her and left Laban alone, this was a case of racial discrimination.
‘Or could it be?’
Given that bastard Laban’s disposition, the moment the beam was about to hit him, he might have used her as a shield and escaped. Unforgivable.
She had no way of knowing, but…
She was a bit afraid of coming back to this dimension. It seemed Laban also wanted to get out of here but couldn’t, so she would just have to make do with his screams as a side dish.
Inian spread her crow wings and soared into the sky.
“This ends itsawayo!”
Her red pupils gleamed. The red magic of her demonic eyes coalesced in the air, drawing magic circles. From Inian to the top of the crocodile demonic beast’s head, twelve magic circles unfolded in succession.
“Lamashtu Javelin!”
‘…Huh?’
Only after shouting did Inian realize the sense of incongruity.
‘Did I really need to shout the technique’s name?’
***
‘It’s over.’
Laban looked at the crocodile demonic beast frozen as if its body had stiffened, and the spear blade surging toward it, and nodded.
He didn’t know when she had developed the hobby of shouting technique names, but that technique hurt. He knew because he had taken it directly.
Having been hit by the Lamashtu Javelin, the crocodile demonic beast’s lifeline would not last long. At best, instantaneous death; if a miracle occurred, it would take a step or two before thorns sprouted from inside its body and it collapsed.
‘Then what I must do now is—!’
Laban hastily moved his blood vessel familiars.
‘Run!’
In the direction that took him farthest from the black forest.
The probability was low, but if Inian chased after him shouting, ‘Laban, you shameless bastard, I will kill yousawayo,’ it would be extremely troublesome.
It was better to move any clues that could lead to him as far away as possible.
The other-dimensional rift that had opened in the black forest could be seen slowly closing as well.
Laban let out a sigh of relief. From the crocodile demonic beast to Inian’s sudden intrusion and the beam that turned one into a magical girl. Everything had been chaotic, but at any rate, it was reaching its conclusion.
Charles’s plan must have fallen through as well, so now he only needed to talk with the incoming Na Ihyeon and slowly extract negative thoughts.
Laban felt a deep satisfaction, as if a distant relative he hadn’t even known existed had left him an oil field as an inheritance. Now, without needing to throw any more dangerous gambles, he would hole up in his counseling room and recharge his magic power.
Because he had witnessed that if you truly angered the mascot, it would turn you into a magical girl; he intended to live quietly for the time being.
***
But before the next day even came, Laban had to completely scrap his peaceful negative thought extraction plan.
“Come out heresawayo!”
“???”
The deep night, five minutes before midnight.
Laban faced the blond-haired brat knocking on the door of the dormitory lodging—
Inian, the Demon Realm Grand Duke and his former employer.