Chapter 141: A Favor

Not all of the magicians in the chat group are strong people. Most of them are still the same normal people. Godou is still a teenager like me but he acts mature. Today, he finally revealed his weakness. Even though he is a real warmonger, if he is facing an enemy he fears, he will never be able to fight against it.

When I returned home, Maple came to visit again and is currently helping Anya. I was surprised when I saw her cooking in the kitchen but that doesn't mean I don't welcome her here.

"I'm back," I said before removing my shoes and putting on the indoor slippers.

"Welcome back, dinner is almost ready so please wait for a bit okay?" Anya said while she faced her back on me.

"Welcome back Kazuma. Sorry to intrude into your home again. It just became my habit despite you are already awake," Maple smiled while holding a ladle full of hot soup.

"Haha, don't worry too much about it. You are welcome anytime. I am sure Anya is also happy since I am always out of the house anyway," I said to her before I climbed up the stairs to go to my room and change clothes.

After changing clothes, I returned to the kitchen to wait for the dinner when the smell of the food wafted in the air. It was so good that all the weariness and fatigue accumulated in my body seems to be washed down the drain and was replaced with hunger. Who wouldn't like some good food anyway?

"Kazuma! Food is ready!" Maple's voice echoed below.

"Coming!"

...

The dinner is delicious and warm. To think I would be able to eat with someone again on a table like this. It has been a long time for me but it still feels heartwarming.

"Hey, Kazuma, have you heard about the rumors of missing people around your school lately?" Maple asked.

"Missing people? I don't think so? Besides, I am too busy with many activities so I don't have properly been listening to rumors at all. What is all this all about?"

"I am not too sure either but this was also part of the requests being sent by the higher-ups for us magicians to investigate due to how fishy everything is."

"Fishy? Is there something strange occurring for it to be called so?"

"Yes. The thing is that the victims themselves are acting too strange. Many of them have started to act like something a mental patient would act even though these guys have no record of whatsoever kind of mental disease from their whole life. Before they disappear, they will eventually start to hurt someone and it was to the point that they are ready to kill the other person!"

"Really? Are you sure those guys that have done those things are not some group of lunatics?"

"That doesn't seem to be the case here this time around. They just suddenly start doing those things despite not a person who usually does it. And after doing those sort of thing, they will disappear and will never be seen again," Maple explained.

"How many cases like this have already occurred?"

"From what I have gathered, there are already 70 cases with similarities happening around Tokyo. And to make matters easier for all of us, it looks like all the cases are all just from Tokyo and nowhere else."

"So why are you telling me this?"

"I want to ask for your assistance on this matter. This case is important to me."

"Important to you? Is it connected to you or something?"

"5 years ago, these incidents occurred and many people have gone missing. The magicians have made an effort to stop these incidents by cooperating with the other locals to find out the truth of the incident. My parents were also magicians and they are the ones tasked to do the investigations to the incidents occurring all around. However, before they can even conclude the investigations, they were killed by someone.

I was still a rookie magician practicing the fundamentals of magic at that time so when I heard my parents were killed, I decided to investigate the matter for myself. During that time, my older sister is the one dispatched to fill in the investigation of the incident. She is a senior magician so many higher-ups are already making their hopes upon her. However, it didn't work well because she also got caught by the incident's symptoms."

"The one where the missing person gets to go on a rampage, attack other people, and disappear after?" I inserted.

"Yeah, that one. She started to go on a rampage in the headquarters of the Magicians in Osaka and managed to incapacitate 10 magicians who tried to stop her attacks. After that incident, she disappeared and was declared by the magicians to be missing rather than going AWOL. She was also the last case of the missing people reported and the case stopped after that. The reason this is important to me is that I am still hoping my sister is still alive. I also speculate that the person who killed my parents is someone who is connected to the incident. So please help me with this one, I will make sure to pay you if you agree."

The mission she was undertaking is a serious matter. I was about to decline her request when Blue interrupted me.

"Accept this request Kazuma. If I am not wrong, this has similarities to the mission you have done with Yaya and the others. It is quite uncanny to be just a mere coincidence that her mission is almost identical to your missions too. Some things might help you get some sort of enlightenment in magic. The current you are too weak to handle serious matters so get it straight and get some experience. Staying holed up in here will not do much to you and going to school can be considered as something secondary for you."

"Seriously?! You want me to get involved in something again? I barely get any relaxation time since I woke up from a coma and now I have to go and fight?"

"Quit whining will you? You already accepted as a magician and now you wanted to relax or something? A magician never relaxes the way you do due to all of the dangers of the world so if I were you, change that attitude and become one honorable magician."

"Are you messing with me Blue? I don't laze around at all!"

"Yep, I am. But I am just reminding you that you needed some effort. If you want to decline this mission, I am against it and I suggest you accept it. There is no harm with it and an experience in more magic battles will reduce your chance of getting killed in dangerous situations. You also need to remember, you still have yet gained the power to control the Skull Knuckles so if I were you, I would get my body working to get it done before it gets too volatile for you to handle."