**Episode 029: Out of Magical Power**

“…Hey! …Hang in there…”

A voice could be heard from somewhere.

Wait, what happened to me again?
What’s the current situation?

“Hey! Can you hear me? Answer!”

Consciousness surfaced, and I realized that the voice I heard was directed at me.

“Mm… Ah…”

I slowly opened my eyes, attempting to respond, but my mouth didn’t move well, and I gave a vague answer.

“Oh, Rokudo! Are you okay?”

In front of me was Shuji, looking like he might cry, and he welcomed me with a truly relieved expression as I woke up.

“Seriously… I called for you when you didn’t respond after coming back, and when I looked around, I was surprised to find you collapsed in the backyard…”

Satoshi entered my field of vision, and with a face that seemed to mix concern and exasperation, he looked down at me.

“Nii! Nii!”

Feeling a warm and slightly rough sensation on my face, I realized that Enjyu was on top of me, apparently licking my face.

“My bad, my bad. Sorry for worrying you.”

I grabbed Enjyu’s body, lifted myself up, and bowed my head to everyone. Enjyu, seeing that I was safe, rubbed her head against my chest.

Absolutely adorable.

“Indeed. Seeing you collapse like that, I thought it was unbelievable. I even imagined a monstrous creature appearing, and you sacrificing yourself to repel it.”

“Haha. It wasn’t anything like that. Just ran out of magical power.”

Watching Shuji speak while trembling slightly, I gave a wry smile and explained the circumstances of my collapse.

“So that’s how it is. You seem to want to push yourself quite a bit.”

“No, it’s not like that… Well, maybe it is. Haha…”

After explaining to Satoshi, who looked around at the surroundings and responded with a mix of worry and disbelief, I could only let out a dry laugh.

“…It’s already evening, huh?”

After calming down, when I looked around, the sun was about to set, signaling the end of the day. I didn’t know exactly when the sun had set, but I probably lost consciousness in the afternoon.

“Ah. Just when I thought I’d share our achievements with you, it turned out like this. Lost all my motivation.”

“Let’s hear about it while having dinner.”

“Right. Since everyone’s accomplishments are a bit dirty, let’s take a bath first.”

“Sounds good.”

Since staying here any longer wouldn’t change anything, we took a bath and had dinner.

Electricity, gas, and water were still available for now, but we didn’t know when they might be cut off. It might be better to prepare for that possibility.

Especially considering that with magic, we might manage without relying on utilities.

By the way, concerning electricity, adjusting the power of Thunder with batteries might be a viable option. Let’s keep modern conveniences like that in mind.

“Well then, let’s start by hearing about Rokudo-kun’s achievements.”

“I get it.”

I conveyed what I had learned throughout the day.

“You’re seriously overpowered, aren’t you?”

“I never thought you’d spend the whole day casting magic without taking a break. Well, can we call it a magical power ghost that won’t disappear unless you go to such lengths?”

Upon hearing about my achievements, the two of them were not just astonished but outright disgusted.

Well, I admit I got a bit too carried away this time. However, I don’t regret it. Not at all. Got it?

“Alright, it’s our turn next.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

As I finished reporting my achievements, Shuji leaned forward eagerly, as if saying, “I’ve been waiting for this.”

Summing up what I heard from the two, it turned out that they had increased their levels by two in just one day, reaching level five.

Thanks to encountering enemies at convenient times and places for them, they were able to steadily level up. Also, thanks to Enjyu, they got quite a few drops from treasure chests.

However, without me around, the drops were fewer, and they were mostly low in rarity, with silver chests being the best they encountered.

“By the way, did your equipment change?”

“Yeah. How’s this?”

“Indeed. My outfit feels more like an assassin now.”

Listening to their achievements, I noticed that their equipment had completely changed from the beginner gear I saw when I was outside.

Apparently, in addition to their initial goal, they were able to get good armor through this leveling up.

“And just to be sure, we went to places other than the supermarket that Rokudo-kun went to and gathered supplies into our bags. So, if anything happens, let us know.”

“Got it. By the way, how are the people?”

After sharing each other’s achievements to some extent, the next concern was the situation of the people who had evacuated or remained in their homes.

It’s already the third day. It wouldn’t be strange for there to be some movement by now.

“Well, I’ve seen a few here and there. On the third day, it seems like some are running out of ingredients and starting to procure, awakening to their statuses and trying to fight, and those who have run out of patience are starting to move.”

“Understood. Sorry to bother you, but could you start investigating the movements of those people from now on?”

As expected. To avoid troublesome conflicts, we need to know the information about those people.

“Got it. Information is a weapon, after all.”

In response to my instructions, Satoshi smiled, revealing a somewhat dark side, but I chose not to say anything.