My Favorite Thing is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My Special Skill is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My Hobby is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal – Part 06
We sat around the rectangular table in the living room, eating together. On the table were two bowls of rice, miso soup, and a heaping pile of pork kimchi. The rice cooker and the pot sat next to my seat, ready for the onslaught of refills from these two bottomless pits. I was the one dishing everything up.
I said two servings because I didn’t count myself. A convenience store box lunch was enough for me. What’s there to complain about in a hamburg steak set? Anyone who mocks convenience store food deserves a taste of my zombie secret technique.
“Ayumu, seconds!”
Haruna handed me her empty bowl with a bright smile. Eu, of course, wanted more too. Seriously, these two ate way too much. Weren’t girls supposed to worry about their weight and eat light?
“I didn’t know food in this world was so good for recovering mana. Even Mystletainn stopped rejecting me. If this keeps up, I might be able to transform into a Magiclad Girl again. Maybe, maybe!”
Haruna grinned as she poked at the pork kimchi, her little cowlick bouncing on her head with every move.
“By the way, that rolled omelet today was pretty good.” I smiled and gave Haruna a gentle pat on the head.
“O-Of course it was! Who do you think I am?”
For some reason, Haruna always went quiet whenever I patted her head. I caught myself showing off the creepiest zombie smile without even realizing it.
“What’re you grinning for?” She blushed and launched into a tirade of insults. “Gross. Just die, you idiot!”
Smack.
My eyes flew wide open.
Eu had leaned forward and slapped Haruna’s flushed cheek.
Haruna and I sat there, stunned.
Then, Eu—who never wrote during meals—held out a note to Haruna.
“Don’t throw that word around so lightly.”
“Don’t say mean things to my big brother!”
Her brows didn’t even so much as twitch, but I could see the anger simmering underneath.
“Eu, I appreciate the thought, but Haruna didn’t really mean it.”
“I did mean it. You should just die. Along with that negamancer.”
Another smack. Two this time. Haruna had slapped back.
“Dying is painful.”
That line didn’t translate into my mental version of the cute Eu. Even Haruna was at a loss for words. Eu’s blue eyes shimmered with sorrow.
Then, as if to break the silence, Haruna let out a wild cry like some wrestler’s entrance call, and shoveled rice into her mouth. Eu, too, returned to eating as if nothing had happened.
“Ayumu! More rice! Like, a ton!”
Yeah, yeah. I gave her a huge scoop and handed it over. She grinned, flashing her white teeth in a smile so sweet it made my own cheeks relax.
When I looked at Eu, a single tear rolled down her cheek from those large blue eyes.
I’ll admit, I was shocked. She was always so emotionless, and now she was crying out of nowhere.
“Hey, Eu. What’s wrong? Uh, er…”
Drip, drip. No sobbing, no change in her expression, just tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.
Eu raised her left hand to her cheek and traced the wet trail with her finger. It was only then that she realized she’d cried.
It was too sudden, I had no idea what to do. I looked to Haruna for backup, but she shot me down instantly, so all I could do was gently stroke Eu’s silky silver hair.
Was there anything else I could do for her?
Calm down, Ayumu. Why was Eu crying?
I glanced at the table. Her rice bowl was empty.
Of course! I’d been too caught up with Haruna to notice Eu needed a refill.
“Sorry, I’ll get you more rice right away.”
I quickly piled up a fresh serving. When I looked back at her face, her eyes had already stopped tearing up.
Even Eu cried, huh. Just as I confirmed that small bit of humanity in her and was about to enjoy the rest of the meal…
“I would like some miso soup, if you don’t mind.”
You got it. Miso soup comi—wait, who the hell are you?
Sitting around the table now were me, Eu, Haruna, and one more person. A woman. She wore low-rise jeans and a camisole, the kind of casual outfit you’d see on any ordinary girl. Her long hair was tied back with a simple band.
Wait, a-a ponytail?! There was nothing more enchanting than a ponytail!
Needless to say, she was attractive. Unlike the other two, she gave off a dignified air. Most striking of all were her gleaming jade eyes.
I said woman, but she looked to be about my age. She gave off a mature vibe, though.
Since meeting Eu, every girl who showed up around here was either cute or stunning. Her refined beauty was unforgettable, but I had no idea who she was.
Well, I still handed over the miso soup anyway.
“So, Ayumu, who is this?”
Uh-oh. Judging by Haruna’s reaction, this girl wasn’t someone she knew. That left one possibility. She was here for the necromancer, quietly eating next to us.
I passed the miso soup to this third mystery beauty and asked, “Would you mind… introducing yourself, maybe?”
“Understood. My name is Seraphim.”
Well, that’s one heavenly-sounding name. Didn’t it mean something like angel?
I waited in silence for whatever came next.
“…”
She sat there majestically, staring straight ahead. She was so beautiful I couldn’t look away. Only the sound of her sipping miso soup filled the quiet room.
“…”
Was that it? That was the whole intro? Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking it.
“That’s it?” Haruna said. “What about your favorite things, your skills, your hobbies? Wait, are you a mage? Are you here to blow me up?!”
Did she think all mages were merciless?
“My favorite thing is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My special skill is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My hobby is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal.”
She was at least willing to answer questions.
“So what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m on a mission.”
“What kind of mission?”
“I wish to request the aid of Eucliwood Hellscythe.”
I glanced toward Eu. The necromancer was still quietly eating, completely uninterested in the world around her.
People often targeted Eu. She had the power to raise the dead, after all. Plenty of folks would want to kill her and steal that power. Strange fellows had shown up at our door more than once.
Vampires, for example. Or vampires. And I guess… vampires? Come to think of it, we got a lot of vampires.
“Wait, are you a vampire?”
Seraphim’s eyes went wide. She looked like she was about to say, How did you know?! But she quickly returned to her regal expression and gave a single nod.
“That’s correct. I am a Vampire Ninja.”
I knew it.
Wait. That sounded slightly off. Well, vampire or ninja, same difference, right?
No, it’s not! What the hell am I thinking?
She explained that she was a ninja who gained youth and power by drinking human blood.
She’d been living in seclusion deep in the mountains, but when their chief died, a succession war broke out. It’d apparently gone on for over a hundred years. Now she wanted to resurrect the dead leader to bring an end to the conflict.
So there were still ninja villages in Japan, huh. That alone was pretty shocking.
Wait, did that mean all the visitors up till now were Vampire Ninjas too? They wore black cloaks and had crimson eyes, so I’d just assumed they were vampires.
When I asked, Seraphim nodded again. “That’s right. They sought to take Miss Hellscythe’s life and claim her extraordinary power for themselves. In doing so, they directly opposed our mission.”
She downed the rest of her miso soup and placed the empty bowl on the table.
“My mission is to accompany Miss Hellscythe and protect her life. It’s true some factions advocate kidnapping, but we hold her power in the highest regard. We wish for her to come with us of her own will.”
So that was the deal. As dinner wrapped up and only the empty dishes remained, Eu placed a note on the table and set a pen on top.
Tap, tap. She knocked twice on the table.
“Ayumu, you may send her away.”
So much for negotiations. All the other Vampire Ninjas who’d shown up were probably from the hardliner faction Seraphim mentioned. They had tried to kidnap Eu. That’s why I never hesitated to fight them. But this time was… different.
She was a girl. And she said she wanted to protect Eu.
“Maybe we don’t have to fight this time?”
Tap, tap. Another pair of knocks on the table. She hadn’t written anything new, or so I thought. Looking back down, the message had changed. When did she even do that?
“Just send her away already.”
Hmm. No way to twist that into something cute this time.
Haruna, can’t you say something to her?
“Right. A ninja can disappear and reappear at will,” Haruna said. A perfect deflection.
Without even helping clean up, she walked out of the room.
Did people from the magic world of Villiers just not care about supernatural beings that weren’t Megalo? Kids these days. Magiclad Girls just ain’t what they used to be.
“What are you to Miss Hellscythe?” Seraphim asked.
Beautiful lips came with a beautiful voice. And the way she stared at me so intently, man, it made me feel awkward.
“Hmm? How do I put this.”
Tap, tap. I glanced over.
“A servant.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. Personally, I preferred big brother.
“Then I shall become a servant as well. Please, call me Sera,” she said earnestly.
Guess I could call her Sera, too?
In the blink of an eye, something was scribbled onto the same note.
“One servant is enough.”
“I only need my big brother.”
“In that case, we don’t need you, do we? You don’t look particularly smart anyway.”
Now that stung, Sera. That was a little too much.
The zombie and the Vampire Ninja locked eyes.
Sera stood up. “Let us go somewhere more private.”
She seemed ready. Leaving the dishes behind, I stood up too and followed her out of the room.
If we were gonna settle this, I knew just the place. My favorite hangout.
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