Chapter 140: Countermeasures against magic sealing
After setting Tsubaki down, Hiyori went to report to Kinrenka, who was waiting at the government office.
“I won. As promised, you’ll provide the wood now, right?”
“Yes, of course. You’ve helped me greatly.”
“…Didn’t Fuyou tell you about my relationship with Tsubaki?”
“If she got badly injured in a fight, my sister would be furious. But if it’s you, Blue Witch, it should be fine, right?”
Kinrenka smiled seductively, hiding her mouth behind vines. Hiyori responded with an annoyed grunt.
Meanwhile, Tsubaki climbed up my back, trying to perch on my head like she used to as a child. She failed and eventually settled for a shoulder ride, looking satisfied.
She really does the same things as Mokutan… guess they are sisters.
“Dairi, run like this.”
“No thanks. Too much work. I’ll just stretch up instead.”
“Mi! I got a little higher!”
“If I stand on tiptoes, you’ll be even higher.”
“Mi… not much difference. It’s wobbly. I’m swaying…”
While I was busy entertaining my pet, Hiyori finished talking with Kinrenka, and we decided to return to the inn for now.
Thanks to Kinrenka’s introduction, we were able to check into a luxury suite in a traditional wooden Chinese-style hotel. The three of us checked in together.
Come to think of it, ever since we started this journey to the Rus Kingdom, we’ve only been staying in high-end accommodations—even counting the ferry.
Though apparently that won’t last once we head further west into less prosperous regions.
Tsubaki was the first into the room. She sniffed around, then skillfully burned an armchair by the window into ashes and spread them on the floor to make a bed. Meanwhile, Hiyori checked under the bed and inside the closet, thoroughly ensuring the room was safe.
“Hey! That’s hotel property. You can’t just burn it.”
“But if we pay, they’ll say it’s okay, right?”
“…Then is it okay?”
“It’s not! Don’t let yourself get talked into that so easily.”
Hiyori sighed as she tapped the ceiling with the tip of Kyanos to check its integrity.
“Tsubaki, sorry for destroying your Abyss Gold earlier. I’ll go buy you a new one.”
“Mi… Abyss Gold is expensive. I’ll run out of allowance…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover all of it. It must’ve been a long trip from Japan—how did you manage your finances?”
“Healing magic. In Korea, I got a doctor’s license, bought a bag, bought a map…”
From her enthusiastic explanation—gesturing as she sat in the ashes—it seemed she had established herself in Korea, where policies favored magic beings and administration was lax.
She got identification, obtained qualifications as a street healer, earned money, gathered information, and aimed for a major rapeseed oil-producing region.
That’s seriously well-planned. Smart.
“You’re way smarter than Mokutan and Sekitan.”
“I’m the most amazing! But dumber than Spider. So I pay consultants to think about hard stuff.”
“I see… that’s actually smart too.”
Recognizing your own limits and making good use of others—that’s a different kind of intelligence. Street smarts.
The fact she made it all the way to Wuhan without getting scammed means she can judge people well too. Amazing. Seriously.
Apparently, her “consultants” are mostly detectives and law firms. If you pay them properly, they’ll either come up with good plans or introduce you to someone who can.
After getting scammed once by a self-proclaimed skilled lawyer at a bar, she now only uses legitimate services.
“Where did you learn magic sealing?”
After finishing her inspection of the room, Hiyori yawned and tickled Tsubaki’s chin as she asked. The sleepy fire spirit answered drowsily:
“I met an old man in Korea. Strong guy whose tail went ‘Mii~’… but he didn’t have a tail anymore.”
“…Hatobato, huh.”
As expected, that description fit perfectly. Hiyori and I exchanged glances.
Hatobato had apparently stayed in Korea for quite a while, so it’s not strange that he and Tsubaki overlapped there. Despite being a figure out of epic tales, he was casually wandering around Busan, so running into him wasn’t unlikely.
“The old man saw me and got surprised, said ‘Pest!’ with a disgusted face. Then—bam—he hit me. I couldn’t use magic anymore. I panicked and said ‘Stop!’ and then he got surprised too. Said ‘You can speak? My apologies, it was a misunderstanding,’ and undid the seal. Then gave me charcoal and we said goodbye.”
“He thought Tsubaki was a pest? What’s wrong with that guy’s eyes?”
Dairi’s favorability toward Hatobato decreased by 10!
People have different sensibilities, sure—but calling someone a pest and immediately sealing their magic is pretty hostile.
As I fumed, Hiyori thought for a moment and whispered to me:
“Maybe it’s because their species multiplies through arson. I thought Tsugihi was just an unusually perverted deviant driven by desire, but maybe not. She’s actually serious by nature—if she followed her instincts, she’d be an indiscriminate arsonist.
If one abandoned house produced three of them… and that’s typical for their species…”
“…Yeah. If things went wrong, Tokyo could’ve become a sea of fire lizards…”
That “what if” was terrifying.
Compatibility between a transcendent’s nature and personality really matters. Tsugihi is no exception.
Calling them pests that multiply through arson might not be entirely wrong. Maybe that’s how they were in the magic civilization era.
If Spider had a cruel personality, she’d be a terrifying predator. If the Witch of Hell lacked self-control, she’d be a man-eating monster.
Given how extreme the Iruma lineage has been, transcendents really do get their personalities twisted by their roles.
Tsugihi must be doing her best to resist her instincts. Admirable.
Still, I’m not forgiving her for going after my girlfriend. She wasn’t my girlfriend back then, but still—some things are separate issues.
“Magic sealing is strong. I practiced a lot, copied it. Thought I could beat the Blue Witch… but I lost. Mi…”
“No, you were strong. Seriously. No exaggeration.”
“Mi-mi…”
Tsubaki, gently stroked by Hiyori, began dozing off and curled up in the ashes, falling asleep.
Hiyori watched her with a soft, almost maternal smile for a while. Then she turned to me, her expression turning serious.
“Magic sealing really is too strong. We need countermeasures.”
“That much? But you won.”
“That was one-on-one, no killing, no staff. If I were sealed and surrounded by multiple transcendents, even I’d only have a fifty-fifty chance.”
“That’s… still insanely strong.”
“Yes. Which is why we need a solution.”
I was more shaken by the fact she could still win half the time even in that situation, but Hiyori seemed to think I was reacting to magic sealing itself and nodded solemnly.
“Well… yeah, magic sealing is scary too. I thought it was Hatobato’s exclusive trick, but if Tsubaki can copy it, others probably can too.”
“After experiencing it, I realized magic sealing interferes with an unknown magic organ in the brain. If you understand the method, you can resist it with magic control.”
“Then that’s fine, right?”
“It’s not. While resisting or undoing it, you can’t use magic for anything else. We need equipment that automatically protects that organ.”
“Now that’s my field.”
There are precedents—pandemic fungi, amulets, magical training—various ways to interfere with the brain’s magical functions.
Severe fungal infection even prevents magic use… maybe that’s a kind of magic sealing too.
Hmm… combine fungal mycelium structures with amulet fields and magic interference… maybe Hollow Silver depending on the attenuation principle…
“…Honestly, faster to just build prototypes and gather data. But first—can I handle the design however I want?”
“Of course.”
With her permission, I couldn’t help but grin.
Heh. Now I’m getting excited.
A magic piece of equipment to protect a witch’s head?
Then there’s only one possible design.
“Hiyori—you’re wearing a classic pointed witch hat.”