GalaxyTL
Finally, my magic power ran out.
But we can’t let the organization members know. We have to buy as much time as possible! I need to tell Licht and Ronny. When I signaled with my eyes, they both silently nodded slightly. Alright, good.
We briefly discussed a plan so they wouldn’t notice. If the time comes, we just have to carry out our roles properly. My heart’s pounding, it feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest. I want to take a deep breath, but I feel like even that would make them suspicious. I might be overthinking it, but still.
Hmm, I always calm down when I do it during training…
“Haa… Hey, you brats, give up and come over here already.”
Gordon came over with an annoyed look. This is it.
I can do it now, I thought, taking a deep breath in and slowly exhaling.
『 This is something I always do when I’m nervous. Deep breathing. 』
『 Deep breathing? 』
『 Yeah. When you think it’s dangerous, that’s when you need to stay calm. If you panic and do something strange, it’ll only make things worse, right? 』
That conversation replayed in my head. Gordon had arrived in front of me.
『 Now then, here’s a question. Once you’ve calmed down with deep breathing, what do you think about? The dangerous situation hasn’t changed. So what do you do? 』
『 Run away? 』
Okay. I won’t do anything I can’t do. I’m only thinking about escaping.
『 The basic premise is to not get into dangerous situations, so it’s only natural to think about running away. 』
Gordon raised his saber. We all took stances, ready to move immediately.
『 Anyway, run away while shouting loudly. If you suddenly shout, even the other person will be startled for a moment. 』
Gordon swung down, and his saber plunged deeply into the ground, right in front of me. He must have been off guard, because it’d been repelled so many times. He was aiming for a different spot. But this was also as expected.
We immediately stood up, having dodged the first attack, and readied ourselves. I then threw the wooden sword I had in my storage bracelet to Ronny.
Sometime ago, Juma-kun had brought back some kind of wood as a souvenir from an expedition, and Dad, thinking it would be funny, made it into a wooden sword. And he just dumped it on me, saying he didn’t need it. I had no choice but to store it… but no one would have imagined it would be useful here!
” ” “HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” ” ”
Taking a deep breath, all three of us shouted loudly. In case help is here, so they can hear us. And above all, to get fired up!
Gordon, who had been confused by his saber getting stuck in the ground, was wide-eyed with surprise at our sudden shouts. So far so good. But this only works for a moment.
But using that moment, Ronny swung the wooden sword down on Gordon. I thought it was a direct hit, but Gordon must be quite skilled. He forcefully pulled out his saber and used the hilt to block the wooden sword.
Ronny strained, putting all his strength into his arms. Gordon, also using both hands, pushed back. Ronny, as a Dwarf, has considerable strength. It’s amazing that he’s not losing to Gordon, who’s used to fighting. But it seems like there’s still a difference in experience and age. Ronny started to get pushed back a little. He’s also exhausted, it can’t be helped.
“Go ahead!”
“G-Got it. Let’s go, Meg!”
“Y-Yeah! Ronny, come soon!”
I can’t let this opportunity Ronny created go to waste. Ronny also has that teaching firmly in his head. So he should create an opening and escape immediately.
『 If you’re caught, an opportunity will surely come. Wait for that moment, take advantage of the opening, and run. Remember this well! 』
Yes, master! I shouted that in my heart and then turned my back to Gordon and ran.
“Homura-kun! Please!”
『 Finally, it’s my turn! Leave it to me! 』
As soon as Licht and I jumped out of the only exit, there were, as expected, a ton of organization members. I thought so. I was vaguely guessing this was their headquarters, and I was probably right.
So I need to secure an escape route for Ronny, who’s coming after us. I went in front of Licht and had Homura-kun release flames. I’m sure there’s a staircase leading up in this passage, which is probably underground, I wanted to know the location.
“Homura-kun, do you know where the stairs are?”
『Yeah! It’s straight ahead, at the end of this passage!』
Apparently, he can sense what his flames touch, as if they were his own limbs. Homura-kun’s amazing! Homura-kun, having used a lot of his power, returned to the magic stone. Rest well.
By the way, I had him adjust it so the flames wouldn’t cause much damage. Am I being too soft? But I made it so they can still feel the heat, like they might get burned, so the enemies all fled!
“A-Are you okay, using that much magic?”
Licht, running down the now clear passage, said that as if exasperated.
“I can’t use magic anymore, but the size doesn’t matter. Because I have stored magic power and deferred payment!”
“Stored and deferred payment… you can even do that?”
It seems like Licht doesn’t know about nature magic either. Well, I’ll explain later. I just said that, and then we ran towards the stairs.
After a while, we heard Ronny’s voice calling out. We stopped to wait for him. But it seems like he’s telling us to run.
“Yeah, Ronny’s being chased too.”
“Will he be able to catch up… !?”
“Alright, leave this to me!”
I started running with Ronny again, the moment he caught up. Licht stopped for a moment and started gathering magic power.
“Water!”
When Licht shouted, water appeared from the tips of his fingers, then surged like a river, washing away the pursuers. I didn’t know you could use magic like that! Licht’s amazing.
“I think this will buy us some time… but there are probably enemies at the top of the stairs too, so don’t let your guard down!”
That’s right, in the end, this is just to buy us time. We can’t use magic that would kill people. Even more so in our weakened state. There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to escape once we get up the stairs, and even if we do, it’s questionable whether we’ll even know where we are!
I’m hoping we’ll be able to meet up with whoever Shou-chan called, but…
I was breathing heavily. The constant tension and fatigue from running out of magic power so many times. My breath didn’t get this ragged so quickly during training, but it’s incredibly hard right now.
But the fact that I can sprint with all my might on this uneven path without stumbling is the result of all my hard work. It was a short time, but seeing that it’s paying off, I’m really grateful.
“…Ravi.”
Licht suddenly stopped running, muttering the name of the person I was just thinking about. Ronny and I stopped too. A few meters ahead, in front of the stairs.
“…Are you running away?”
Ravi-san, our life-saver, was standing in our way.