Warning: Contains graphic content
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After school, I left with Hikari. When I told her we’d be having dinner together tonight, she was thrilled. Mom also took the opportunity to ask us to pick up a few things while we were at it.
『Since Hikari-chan is coming over, I’d like to add one more dish. You two can decide what to get. Oh, and it’s fish tonight, so just let Hikari-chan know.』
「Got it. We’ll stop by the usual supermarket on the way back.」
『You can make it a date if you want, but don’t stay out too late~♪』
「Stop saying weird stuff. Anyway, I’m hanging up.」
I ended the call and slipped my phone into my pocket.
「Hey, Yuuki, what’s Yuuka-san making tonight?」
「Something with fish, but I’m not sure what exactly.」
「Fish, huh… That’s tricky…」
Hikari put her hand to her chin, looking thoughtful.
「We already have karaage for the meat part…」
「What about you, Yuuki? What do you feel like eating?」
「Hmm… Something light, maybe?」
「In that case… How about eggplant soaked in broth with grated daikon and ponzu sauce? The oil from the karaage and the meat juices would balance it out perfectly.」
「That sounds amazing.」
Just hearing about it made my stomach rumble. My lunch hadn’t been enough today, so I was already looking forward to dinner.
「Alright! Looks like Yuuki’s stomach approves. Let’s pick up some eggplant. We already have daikon and ponzu at home, right?」
「I’ll check… Hang on.」
I texted Mom, and she replied that we had daikon for grilled fish. We still had ponzu, but it might run out, so she asked us to buy more just in case.
「That’s the deal.」
「Got it! We better hurry so Yuuki’s stomach and back don’t end up stuck together!」
Hikari grabbed my arm—well, more like she yanked me forward—and started walking quickly. She was pulling me along more forcefully than usual.
After buying the ingredients for dinner, Mom’s extra requests, and some snacks, we stepped out of the supermarket to find the sky glowing a warm, reddish orange.
「Wow, the evenings are getting longer, huh～?」
「Yeah. Summer solstice is coming up soon, right?」
「Yup! Summer’s almost here～」
Balancing skillfully on the curb, Hikari hummed a tune, clearly in a good mood.
「Careful, you’ll fall.」
「I’ll be fine—whoa!」
She nearly lost her balance, but I caught her just in time. Usually, since I’m slightly shorter than her, we’d end up falling together—but today, for some reason, I managed to hold my ground.
「Th-Thanks…」
「See? I told you to be careful.」
「Yeah… Sorry…」
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Hikari’s mood suddenly returned to calm.
We returned to our usual route home, walking down the familiar path while chatting about nothing in particular. Just as Hikari was starting to seem a little calmer, a piercing scream split the air.
「Did you hear that…?」
「It came from the park on the way home, right?」
「Hikari, stay here!」
「I’m coming too! If it’s an accident or something, two pairs of hands are better than one!」
We ran toward the source of the scream and arrived at the park.
「Ugh…！」
「Ah…！」
The moment we saw the scene, my stomach twisted painfully.
A pool of blood spread across the ground. Lying in the center was a young woman—probably a high school student. A goblin stood over her, holding a machete. It had just severed one of her legs and was gleefully devouring the fresh meat.
(Why…? Why is a goblin here—in this world!?)
「Yuuki, that’s…！」
「I don’t know, but—ugh!?」
The goblin noticed us. Its twisted face curled into a hideous grin as if it had just found its next prey.
「H-Hii…」
Seeing the grotesque face and the brutal scene before her, Hikari collapsed to the ground, frozen in fear. I reached instinctively for my waist—but my hand grabbed at empty air.
(Right… when I came back to this world… I returned my sacred artifact to the gods, and my mithril sword to Sid…)
「Wait… but why does it feel like I’m holding a sword…？」
「Gyaaaah！！」
With a feral scream, the goblin hurled something at us. It hit the ground with a sickening squelch right in front of me.
The moment I realized what it was, rage surged through my body, boiling my blood.
Along with that rage, I felt something deep within me—a power I hadn’t sensed in years—stirring awake.
「This is… magic? I know how to use it…? No, my body remembers it…」
I channeled the magic welling up inside me, blending it with the mana of this world. Images of the techniques my comrades had used in the other world surfaced in my mind as I began to weave a spell.
「Gya, gyagya!!」
The goblin held up the severed leg and lunged at me with its machete raised high, ready to split my head open.
I focused my magic into a shield, just like the holy knight had once taught me.
「『—Shield Bash!』」
The goblin, clearly not expecting me to counter, was sent flying backward. I had used my bag in place of a shield, reinforcing it with magic.
Seizing the opening, I summoned another spell.
「Let’s finish this!『Lance of ice, pierce my foe and freeze—Ice Lance!』」
A spear of ice, roughly 70 centimeters long, materialized in my hand and shot toward the goblin. It pierced straight through its chest, freezing its blood solid as it fell limp to the ground.
(I managed to destroy the magic stone too…)
(Magic stone? Core? How do I even know about this…?)
I stood there in a daze until I heard Hikari’s desperate voice.
「Yuuki! Yuuki!!」
「Sorry, Hikari… Are you okay?」
「I’m fine, but… that girl!」
「Right!」
I helped Hikari to her feet and hurried over to the injured woman. The goblin’s severed trophy lay beside her.
She was still breathing—barely.
「…This is awful…」
(Her fingers are broken, her eye has been gouged out, and her leg… it’s been torn apart. The only healing magic I’ve ever managed was to close small wounds—but with her magic…!)
「Work please… 『Oh wounded one before me, be healed by my power! Let this force mend all injuries! ―Perfect Heal! 』」
The instant the spell was chanted, the woman’s leg sealed shut as if never injured. Missing flesh regrew and shattered fingers straightened themselves.
「Amazing…」
「Ahaha… I did it… thank goodness…」
After being healed, the woman fell unconscious, so they laid her on a bench. Yuki called both an ambulance and police, then waited while talking to Hikari.
「Yuki… what was that monster? It looked like a goblin straight out of manga or games. And you used something like magic just now?」
「No idea. But it looked exactly like an enemy from my dream today. The healing magic was what my dream companion used…」
「Huh… really? What kind of dream?」
「Hmm… I only remember the broad strokes…」
I recounted my five-year dream journey – how I initially clashed with a princess, defeated an evil god’s lieutenant to save an elf girl’s forest, and nearly died protecting a beastkin village from annihilation.
「Sounds like one crazy dream…」
「It felt unnervingly real though」
「Maybe you really traveled to another world?」
「Ahaha, if that’s true, I wish they’d at least let me keep the height I had there」
When police arrived to collect the goblin corpse, they asked 「Did you kill this creature?」 and I claimed we’d found it already dead with the woman collapsed in blood, playing ignorant.
After repeating the same story to paramedics, the sleeping woman was loaded into the ambulance.
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Finally free, me and Hikari reached home.
「I’ll go after putting my stuff away」
「Got it. I’ll take a bath first then」
「Do that. I’m frying stuff so I’ll wash before dinner」
「You’re the best!」
「Yeah yeah. See you later」
After taking a bath, I ate the dinner Hikari and mom made. I checked the news every now and then but it revealed nothing about the incident.
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Late at night, before going to bed, I was relaxing by reading light novels in my room when Hikari came in.
「Areh? What’s up?」
「Well… ahaha… couldn’t sleep after remembering today…」
She was probably thinking about what just happened this evening. With Hikari’s family abroad, she was home alone.
「Right… tomorrow’s Saturday. Wanna play something?」
「Let’s do ○Tetsu ’99!」
「No way, we’ll pull an all-nighter. At least pick Uncle Beard ‘s racing game or some Smash」
「Fiiine～, but I won’t hold back～」
Giggling, Hikari grabbed a controller.
We played together until dawn broke.
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