Side Story: Spirit Girl Lulushi

A few weeks after Luke had awakened.

It had been only a few days since he had begun adapting to this era—since he had started thinking that the world had changed far too much, that unlike the past it was far too peaceful—when it happened.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Aaaagh, run!"

"Citizens, this way!"

A stampede of fleeing people, and a handful of others trying to guide them.

Luke, wondering what on earth was going on, pushed through the crowd and found himself looking at a figure standing in the middle of the road, laughing boisterously as it hurled a car through the air.

Or rather—calling it a person was generous. Monster was closer to the mark. The only things it shared with humanity were bipedal locomotion and the ability to speak.

The car it had thrown slammed upside-down onto the road and began blaring its horn—a loud, grating beep, beep.

Apparently the noise irritated it. It leapt high, stomped the car flat, and the racket stopped.

"Kwahaha! Well then—is there no one who will stop me?!"

Perched atop the wreckage in a pose of arrogant command, as if it were a vanguard captain, the creature had a face like a crocodile's and wings on its back that looked as though ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they belonged to a bat. Its muscles bulged with menace; its skin gleamed a deep navy blue.

The one mercy was that it possessed enough intelligence to wear trousers, at least. Then again, even goblins and orcs knew to cover their private parts. If something could speak human language, pants were hardly a stretch.

But what kind of monster was this, that it could rampage so freely through the heart of a great city?

Come to think of it, something was very strange. In a metropolis of this size, there was not a single figure maintaining public order.

In the five thousand years I was gone… what in the world happened…?

Luke was just taking a step toward the monster, thinking he might have to intervene himself, when—

"Stop right there, you villain! Keep this up and Meruru the Spirit Girl will never forgive you!"

"Hmm?"

At the still-childish voice of a young girl, Luke turned his head at once.

What…?

What he saw was a girl who looked about thirteen to fifteen, dressed in airy garments utterly unlike modern fashion, leveling an ornate staff as she shouted with defiant confidence.

That little thing is this city's deterrent force?

It was truly bizarre. In Luke's own era it might have been different, but he had been told that fifteen was not adulthood in this age. That meant she was a child. And sending children into combat was something you only did when a war had already gone past the point of no return.

She was far too young for city vigilante work.

"Whoa! It's Meruru the Spirit Girl!"

"We're saved!"

"Go, Meruru!!"

Luke was thrown by the sudden turn of events. The girl called Meruru gave the crowd a little wink.

"It's about to get dangerous, so everyone run!"

"We're rooting for you, Meruru!"

The moment everyone turned to flee, Luke alone could not.

What madness was this? Leaving their backs to a child while the adults ran away?

He could not understand it. He did not want to understand it. If he did, then everything he had done—leaving the Academy and the Mage Tower to join the war—would have been entirely meaningless.

Luke had gone to war so that the boys and girls of his age might suffer even a little less misfortune.

And so, now, he could not take a single step back.

"Kid, hurry and run!"

Meruru shouted at him, urgent. Luke raised a hand toward her and activated the circle engraved upon his heart.

Only First Circle—but I have mana enough. Used properly, it should be more than sufficient to kill the enemy.

If he forced the flow, Second Circle was within reach; once, with even odds, he could push as far as Third.

A speaking monster would surely possess high intelligence. It might even use magic. Luke wrapped himself in a shield and sank slightly into a low stance—a posture from which he could generate thrust in any direction at once.

But the monster, seeing him, only laughed louder.

"Fuhaha! Looks like this little one is scared stiff!"

From its point of view, the ten-year-old child looked for all the world as if her legs had given out and she was about to collapse.

Luke made no effort to correct that impression. An opponent's carelessness was always to his advantage.

"In that case—I'll take you as a hostage!"

Whish—the monster's razor claws shot forward at a speed matching its explosive musculature.

Luke straightened at once, intending to coil mana around its arm with a temporary Second-Circle working—then immediately spun his circle another way.

He wrapped mana around the soles of his feet, reducing surface friction. A foundational enchantment; ordinarily it did little more than make the ground a bit slippery. Operated at Luke's level of refinement, however, it became indistinguishable from wet ice.

Above that, he fixed mana solidly at two points in midair—temporary spatial anchors—and strung a slender line between them.

Grease. Mana Spot. Mana Wire.

A magical trap assembled on the spot in a fraction of a second. The simultaneous deployment of Grease, Mana Spot, and Mana Wire.

Twisting the creature's attack trajectory upward with the wire, adjusting it into an angle easy to throw—that much was simple. At this rate the strike would miss cleanly. The shield would have kept him unharmed even on a direct hit, but once his body left the ground, counterattack became impossible.

"Look out!"

Meruru, however, judged the situation extremely dangerous.

Thud—!

"Kh…!"

Meruru threw her arms around Luke and took the monster's blow with her own body.

Crash—clang!

They flew a long way before slamming into the ground. Luke checked Meruru's condition at once and called out.

"Meruru—are you all right?"

"Ugh… I'm fine. You…"

Meruru lifted Luke from her arms and looked him over as if checking for injuries. Of course, thanks to the shield, he had not so much as a hair out of place.

"You look okay. Thank goodness…"

But the girl saying so did not look okay at all.

Because this body of his looked so young, he had exposed the child to needless danger. Should he have explained beforehand? But he could never have anticipated Meruru's physical reflexes—to close that distance and shield him in an instant…

Luke touched Meruru's back where the monster must have struck her, intending to tell her not to worry about him.

"There is no need for you to worry about m—"

Before he could finish, one of the evacuating citizens hurried over to her.

"Meruru, are you okay?"

"I'm fine—just get this child somewhere safe!"

"Got it. Don't worry, Meruru!"

It happened in an instant.

"Ugh—wait…!"

"Stop—it's dangerous over there!"

Luke struggled, but the citizen who was desperately carrying him to safety only put more and more distance between him and Meruru.

A few days after that incident, a blue spirit who introduced herself as Pai appeared before Luke.

"Become a Spirit Girl!"

"A Spirit Girl, you say?"

"Right now, you're the only person in this city with any affinity for spirits!"

"…"

Looking at the blue spirit floating in front of him, he could hardly deny it. Spirits were invisible to anyone without the affinity in the first place.

"I am sorry, Pai, but I am no girl."

"Okay, then I'll call you a young lady."

"…"

That was not what he had meant…

"Anyway, you have to become a Spirit Girl right now! We never know when a kaijin might show up again! Meruru's hurt and can't fight!"

The reason Meruru was injured was almost certainly his fault. The thought made an uncomfortable tightness settle in one corner of his chest. Luke let out a low groan and pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Just what is this Spirit Girl business, exactly?"

"A Spirit Girl purifies monsters that have mutated into kaijin with evil hearts, and gives people dreams and hope!"

Kaijin? Purification? So they had not been ordinary monsters after all? Dreams and hope—what was that about now?

There was not a single part of it that could be rationally assessed, yet Pai seemed to consider the explanation complete, and produced from somewhere a wand-shaped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠staff decorated with extravagant flourishes.

"If you're going to be a Spirit Girl, take this staff."

In that moment, Luke's attention was completely seized.

Drawing a staff from empty air? Spatial storage magic required Eighth Circle—it was high-tier work!

At that thought, every prior question evaporated.

"That staff—where exactly did you pull it from?"

"That doesn't matter at all! If you're becoming a Spirit Girl, grab the staff already. Otherwise I have to go find someone else."

Luke finished thinking. Curiosity about what a Spirit Girl actually was played a part—but what ultimately decided ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him was guilt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and a sense of responsibility.

Was Meruru not injured because of him? And besides, that small child—though Meruru was a good twenty-five centimeters taller than Luke—had no business fighting monsters. Fighting was something adults did.

"Very well. I shall become a Spirit… that thing."

Calling himself a girl with his own mouth still felt… rather beyond him.

"Great choice! From now on, you're a Spirit Girl!"

Pai cried out with delight. Luke looked down at the staff in his hand.

This staff has some rather intricate and complex formulae engraved on it… though these mana circuits do not look as if they would function properly…

A thoroughly unfamiliar design. Perhaps because it was not a staff meant for class-based magic? Or was this yet another new magical system?

His interest was piqued.

"Okay, I'll teach you the incantation right away! Young lady, what's your name?"

At the words "young lady," his mind seized up. Was this spirit truly going to insist on calling him that?

"…Luke Irushi, I am called."

"Got it! But 'Luke' isn't cute enough. I know! From now on Luke is 'Lulushi'! An incantation made from Lu and Lushi!"

"Who said you could simply decide that on your own?!"

Changing someone's name without permission—how insulting…

"Now raise the staff overhead and shout, 'Spiriru Piriru, Lulushi Transform!' and you'll become a Spirit Girl!"

"That chant is…"

Spiriru Piriru—it sounded like the kind of meaningless singsong children made up. And yet the chant genuinely carried magical effect. Luke could sense that clearly enough.

Yes—one must not dismiss a chant merely because it sounds ridiculous…

In fact, if the pronunciation was not awkward, it ranked among the better chants. "Spiriru Piriru" was exceptionally simple to articulate, even among incantations.

Even so, Luke felt somehow embarrassed. He could not say precisely why.

Fwaaah…!

The room was wrapped in brilliant light. An extremely strong light—and yet his eyes did not sting at all, which meant it had been magically processed for safety.

What magic was this now? Luke took in every stage of it with his Mana Sight open.

Then, with a poof, his clothes were enveloped in light and burst apart.

Panic. In that fleeting instant, Luke could only watch as his clothes vanished, wrapped in radiance.

Wait—my clothes…?

Clothes Yerna had bought him with no small sum of money, erased just like that! Was that not going rather too far?

To suddenly leave me naked…

He might have felt a slight chill, but the light itself wrapped around him like clothing, taking shape and holding him at a temperature neither cold nor hot. Light that approached his hair stroked it gently, as if combing it, and set it in order.

Another instant passed, and with a bang the clusters of light that had formed the shape of clothing burst outward and transformed into a complete outfit.

As if to signal the end of the transformation, the light that had filled the room vanished as well.

"There—transformation complete! Look at yourself!"

Pai conjured a mirror in front of Luke with magic.

And what appeared was the figure of a pretty little girl: twin tails neatly parted, wearing a small vest decorated at the chest with a large ribbon and a bell, and an airy ensemble of frills, tiny ribbons, long gloves, and stockings.

"What in the world is this…!"

"That's a Spirit Girl's battle uniform!"

"How is changing clothes a transformation?! And this outfit is not remotely suited for combat! Something like a knight's armor would be far better than these thin, gaudy garments…!"

"Lulushi, you're wrong about that!"

Pai spoke as if instructing him.

"A Spirit Girl's source of power is people's dreams and hope! Thick, heavy clothes don't have a scrap of dream or hope in them!"

"That is…"

Luke looked down at the outfit he was wearing and covered his face. It was simply too embarrassing.

And yet—

There is no denying it. This outfit carries enchantments of an extraordinary level…

What he was wearing now was not mere clothing; it would be no exaggeration to call it magic itself. Mana arrays of a level he could barely comprehend, whose origin and system he did not even know, tangled together and resolved into his Mana Sight.

Faced with enchantments of a caliber utterly at odds with the bizarre design, Luke felt a mage's curiosity stir unbidden.

If I could fully decipher the enchantments on this outfit…

Then he looked down at the staff in his hand and thought,

The magical techniques contained in this staff are equally fascinating.

The embarrassment and bewilderment washed from Luke's face, replaced by an irrepressible hunger for knowledge and curiosity. Before he knew it, his eyes were shining.

"Looks like you like it now!"

Seeing that, Pai smiled at him—without the slightest idea of what was about to happen.

On a bright spring day, Luke was walking through the city.

A peaceful day, by any reasonable measure.

He was enjoying a leisurely stroll, letting the breeze wash over him, when the blue spirit trailing at his side suddenly cried out.

"Lulushi! Kaijin reaction over there!"

Following Pai's direction, he looked—and sure enough, a kaijin was laughing boisterously as it tormented the people.

Luke raised a hand at once and murmured,

Fwaaah—!!

"Kwahaha! Flee, you huma—guuuuh…!"

A pillar of pure purifying light, composed of raw mana, slammed straight down from the sky. In that pure white column, the kaijin was utterly annihilated.

An anticlimactic ending.

"…That's too much. There's no dream or hope in that at all…"

"Hope and dreams can bloom even in peace. The best course is to act before everyday life is put in jeopardy."

Once a kaijin had already begun its rampage, it was too late. The ideal was to unleash the strongest possible attack as quickly as possible—before any damage was done.

"You didn't even transform!"

"Have I not already finished analyzing that 'battle uniform'? I have engraved those same enchantments into every piece of my everyday clothing. There is not a single reason left to transform."

Luke had completely deciphered the battle uniform's mana formulae and spells, then personally enchanted all of his clothes with them. He had rewritten the formulae so that the uncertain mana supply of "dreams and hope" was replaced by the circle turning in his own chest.

"And you completely smashed the staff!"

"I did not smash it. I disassembled it and miniaturized it. It is mounted properly, so there is no issue."

The red gem that sat like an accessory on Luke's chest had once been the Spirit Girl's staff. Stripped of unnecessary formulae and arrangements and redesigned as compactly as possible, the staff could now pour out magic without ever needing to be held in the hand.

"Something's weird. This is weird…"

Pai grumbled.

"Ah, yes—research and development have kept me from asking until now, but…"

"Hm?"

Luke answered Pai in a somewhat chilly voice.

"Just how many children have become Spirit Girls in this fashion?"

"…I can't tell you that! I-I don't know anything!"

All Pai knew was that "Lulushi" was the final Spirit Girl.