Angel Hunt 2 (3)
At that moment.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh...."
A woman with light purple hair, Shuri, had been scribbling away on her magic pad under the covers for quite some time. She set it down and giggled to herself.
"It's been a while... but I finally finished one."
Inside the pad was an image of a woman's body that resembled Shuri yet didn't quite—fully exposed in all its glory. If released at the academy as-is, it would earn demerits for public indecency. The level of explicitness demanded special caution for anyone under 17. On the flip side, for students of academy age, while it might be a bit much for public viewing, it was fine(?) to enjoy in private spaces, as long as it didn't bother anyone else.
"Heh heh heh...."
The illustration Shuri had created was unknown to this world. After all, it was born purely from the movements of her own two hands.
"Now for this... ahem."
Shuri habitually reached to attach a mana stone to the bottom of the pad but snapped back to reality. Transferring the image from the magic pad to a mana stone enchanted with image-storage magic would surely fetch a price far beyond the stone's base value. One painting could be sold to many. Especially if she tapped into sales routes targeting male students, she'd build a steady customer base.
She couldn't interact with male students right now, making sales impossible—let alone finding mana stones with image magic. But she could stockpile illustrations now and start selling in earnest later. Yeah. It wouldn't be too late.
"...She's late."
Shuri cautiously poked her head out from under the blanket. Her roommate, who had been venting all sorts of complaints at her, still hadn't returned. She'd unleashed a torrent of gripes, but since Shuri barely reacted, she'd stormed out—and hadn't come back.
Not even after Shuri finished one full illustration!
"...Isn't it curfew?"
The moment the thought hit her—what on earth was she doing out past dorm curfew?—Shuri's instincts as a secret illustrator kicked in. She instinctively withdrew the mana she'd been channeling into the pad.
Knock knock.
A knock from outside. She wondered if her roommate was back, but roommates didn't knock.
"Student Shuri Comishness."
"......!!"
The voice from outside was one that shouldn't belong in the girls' dorm—a man's. It was a name Shuri distinctly remembered from orientation.
"......."
She cautiously wrapped the blanket around herself like a robe and approached the door. Just in case something went wrong, she prepared to shout as she opened it.
Creeeak.
The door swung open to reveal a familiar face. Shuri recalled the name of the blond-haired, golden-eyed male student before her.
"Julius Keiar... sir?"
"Oh dear."
The student shook his head at being called by his full name.
"You know how you're supposed to address me at the academy, fellow student Shuri."
"Student Council President... Keiar-sir?"
"Yes. Keiar-sir... or just Ar-sir, please."
Having swiftly sorted out his preferred title, Ar-sir student council president gestured toward the room.
"I came looking for your roommate. Do you know where she is?"
"Uh, well...."
Shuri had no idea what to say. The student council president entering the girls' dorm right before curfew? This was no small matter. But the real issue was that she wasn't close to her roommate at all.
"Um...."
She couldn't even remember her roommate's name—a sign of her poor social skills. She knew it well enough, but she didn't feel the need to fix it.
"Is my roommate... in some kind of trouble?"
"Something might happen soon, but this isn't the place to discuss it."
Ar-sir student council president glanced left and right, then nodded.
"For now, would you come with us?"
"......!!"
Flanking the student council president were academy guards in suits.
"I-I haven't done anything wrong...."
Could it be? Had she been caught?
"It's not about you, Shuri. Think of it as being questioned as a roommate witness. Somehow...."
Ar-sir student council president scanned Shuri up and down once.
"I think we might get some clues from you to figure out the reason."
"??"
"You'll understand soon. And...."
Ar-sir student council president glanced at the empty bed.
"Depending on Yuribel Canvas's tastes, it should help us distinguish things clearly."
"......."
Shuri finally remembered her roommate's name exactly one week later.
"Where is Yuribel right now, and what is she doing?"
"Give me back my womaaaaan!!"
The angel revealed its true colors.
Anyone would snap if the woman they were after got toyed with—and they had the power to forcibly reclaim her.
"KyaAAaAgh!!"
By the time we arrived at the old school building's command room, the angel's rampage was a pitiful sight.
"What do you think, Evangeline?"
"You're the first to carry me around like this!"
Evangeline, hoisted like a giant teddy bear, shrieked. I could understand her slight embarrassment—my arms were supporting her underbust while my hands reached between her armpits to pull her abdomen tight. But she knew the drill. She'd supported Unia from behind with mana during my fight with the first angel, Angelica. And now she was reaping the benefits, behaving obediently after I'd sat her in the chair, adjusted her mana, and carried her here.
Boom, boom, KABOOM!
Each time the angel thrust its fist, light burst from its hand. The punch, glowing with pure white holy power, struck like a laser, blanketing someone. The fist-laser barrage exploded on one of the roads leading to the old school building, kicking up massive clouds of dirt.
Whoosh.
A werewolf doll emerged from the dust unscathed, cradling the angel's target—Hanelis—like a princess.
"Put her down right now!!"
The angel bellowed, and Evangeline craned her head back to ask me,
"You don't think that's aimed at you, do you?"
"No way. It's yelling at the doll you're controlling."
It wasn't telling me to put Evangeline down. It was screaming to release Hanelis.
"Can you put her down, though?"
"Absolutely not."
Evangeline channeled mana into her outstretched hand, remotely puppeteering the doll. Bang, bang, BA-BANG! Holy blasts poured toward the werewolf doll in an instant, but it barely dodged the divine power and widened the gap.
"Wanna give it a shot?"
"That magic doll's expensive!"
"I'll cover the damages."
"...Let's do it?"
The werewolf doll, which had only been evading, planted one foot on the ground. With both arms hugging Hanelis, that was its only option.
"Die—!!"
The angel roared murderously and swung its fist. Evangeline timed it perfectly, lifting the werewolf's leg.
Now.
I rapidly adjusted the mana linking me to the werewolf doll.
'Earth, fire, illusion. -01, +05, -04.'
They were as balanced as possible, but remote transmission disrupted it. I fine-tuned the seven-attribute mana.
"Ah...!"
Evangeline noticed too, letting out a sigh—but
CLANG!!
The werewolf doll's high kick sent the holy blast rocketing skyward. The straight-line laser shot vertically into the heavens, its glow fading bit by bit.
"Eeeeek!!"
"It worked. Good."
Evangeline sighed in relief.
"Phoenix Squad, fall back! The faculty will handle it!"
Instructor Esta waved, encircling the angel. Soon, faculty members arrived with magic rifles, firing at it.
"Aaaagh!!"
Angel Yuribel screamed. Most bullets lost power to the angel's holy resistance, but rare non-attribute rounds pierced its barrier, bruising the skin red. The pain was probably—like a bee sting. With over a dozen faculty and guards unloading like mad, and only a few stings landing, Instructor Esta gritted her teeth and gripped her sword.
Esta stepping in would decapitate it in one go. Angel or Yuribel Canvas student.
"Heh heh heh...."
Evangeline smirked faintly at the struggling faculty.
"Is it 'cause the non-attribute control worked, or 'cause the doll's safe?"
"Relief that Hanelis is unharmed, probably."
"Fair. But check this out."
I shifted my view through the werewolf doll's eyes, linked via Evangeline.
"Looks like Hanelis is totally smitten with you right now?"
"What."
Hanelis' gaze from the werewolf's arms was intense. Borrowing expert terms, her core in its mana pouch was pounding like crazy.
"Congrats, Evangeline. You just gained a follower."
"...No way, right?"
"Maybe."
"Ah, nooo!"
Evangeline flushed red and shrieked.
"I'm straight, you know!"
"You like guys?"
"Of course!"
"Sure. But this Breadcademy is pretty free-spirited on that front."
It's in the rules.
"The code forbids guy-on-guy, but says nothing about girl-on-girl."
"True, but...!"
"That's why there's a 'Garden of Lilies' hidden somewhere on campus."
"Phoenix. And Evangeline."
As we chatted, Rydmila approached.
"Shall we 'test' this side now?"
Rydmila clenched her fist. A faint shimmer of non-attribute mana danced on it.
"Ah, that test."
"What else would it be? Testing the angel... where are you looking?"
I'd thought she meant testing Turbulence, but apparently not. Makes sense. Too many eyes for a public Wind Fart just yet. And the angel wasn't that threatening.
"Phoooenix~"
Unia poked my back from behind.
"I'm ready, but it's nerve-wracking. Could you hold me too?"
Her subtle glance screamed, How long are you gonna keep holding Evangeline? I pointed to my back.
"Physical contact's all it takes. How about you cling to me, Unia?"
"R-Really?"
"Efficiency drops a bit, but it's not impossible."
"Then...."
Unia hugged me from behind. The moment her mana pouch touched, she drew up her power and aimed her staff forward instead of her bow.
"It'll really work, right?"
"Theoretically."
"Good enough! When you say that, Phoenix... it always works!"
Unia's rainbow eyes gleamed as she gathered mana. I assisted her flow.
'Oh really?'
She deliberately unbalanced the mana a tad, so I shot her a look. Unia stuck out her tongue playfully.
"Ehehe."
"Focus."
"Sorry!"
Unia straightened up and thrust her staff forward.
"Here I go!!"
"Everyone, fall back!!"
Instructor Esta pulled the faculty at Unia's signal. As angel Yuribel spread her wings,
"Bind!!"
Brilliant rainbow chains wrapped around angel Yuribel.
"Nngh, guh?!?!"
"Whoa, it really worked."
"Obviously."
Non-attribute hits every time. So what about support spells—CC, as they say?
'Same deal.'
For humans, non-attribute is all it takes.
"How... dare you...!"
Angel Yuribel glared at Unia.
"Inferior earthly creature, defying the great heavens—"
"Silence."
"......!!"
"Whoa."
Unia grinned.
"Gravity."
Thud!
"Heh heh heh...."
She smirked.
"What's next on the spell menu?"