Act 2: Chapter 9: Reunion?

Act 2: Chapter 9: Reunion?

Philia, who was standing in front of me, then pointed her hands towards the magician standing on top atop the roof.

「Calm down, Philia-chan!」

Though I tried to call her, she didn’t seem to hear my voice.

Philia’s expression wasn’t her usual angelic face; it was a vigilant expression.

「Pakkun!」

Philia clapped her hands.

The roof on which the magician stood warped, forming a reddish brown giant mask.

It was the effect of Philia’s power, 《Dream Sand》’s power.

I never expected for her power to have such a vast range and could be activated in just a moment.

The mask’s mouth opened wide and swallowed the magician whole.

「CATCH!」

Though Philia triumphantly announced so, I doubt that she’d managed to catch that magician.

I mean, that magician was circling around towards the blindspot of the giant mask. Their movements were so fast to that point that even I almost missed them.

From Philia’s perspective, however, it looked like the giant mask had swallowed the magician.

「PHILIA-CHAN! ERASE THAT IMMEDIATELY!」

The magician’s arms finally came out from their robes and peeled off the glove that was covering their hands with their mouth. All that magician did after that was poke at the giant’s mask with two fingers.

The giant’s face stopped moving, twitching as if it was paralyzed.

At the same time, Philia’s body twitched as well before falling to the ground.

I moved quickly to support her body.

「Kyuu~... sorry, Kanata... Philia... can’t move...」

Philia spoke to me as she turned towards me.

It seems that her body was completely powerless.

It looks like both that giant and the little girl were Philia’s real body. They shared the same HP and MP even if she split apart. This was already something I’d confirmed in our fight before.

Rainbow colored light fluttered around the rooftop as the giant mask turned back into a normal rooftop.

The citizens who’d gathered due to the commotion raised loud screams upon seeing the giant face turn back into the rooftop and the magician who stood on top of it.

「Ka, Kanata-san... Philia-chan’s level... should be really high right?」

「Just now... where is that eerie guy who was standing on the roof go to?」

「What is this? A fight between adventurers?」

The onlookers has also started to get noisy.

It seems not even they saw where that magician went.

I ran on the wall of the building all the way up until I reached its roof.

I looked around, but the figure of the magician had already disappeared. I couldn’t feel their presence nearby either.

「Lunaire-san... no, it must be just my imagination.」

I muttered her name as I stood on the rooftop by myself.

If that person really was Lunaire, why did she come after me at this time and why did she run away from me?

Well, that person’s atmosphere, stature, and hair did bear some resemblance to Lunaire, but Lunaire would never wear such gaudy robes.

Maybe it really was just my imagination. I mean, I missed Lunaire so much to the point that I’d mistaken that magician for her just because of some resemblances.

But, enough with my reminiscing. This means that someone stronger than Zorophilia has already set their eyes on me right after I arrived at the magic city.

Though they have yet to show any hostility, there’s a high possibility that I might get involved with troublesome matters in the near future.

I should’ve closed in at once and used 《Status Check》 on that magician.

But... I have this feeling that it’s only a matter of time before I meet that magician again.

Maybe that magician had come solely because of their curiosity regarding Philia.

If my memories serve me right, that adventurer named Alfred did say that he wanted to meet with the magic city’s S-rank adventurer who’d already half-retired.

If that magician isn’t Lunaire, could it be that magician’s identity was that half-returned S-rank adventurer?

「O-Oi, where is the dude who ran along the wall just now?」

「It must be just your imagination.」

「Like hell it was... look at that footprints on the wall.」

I heard an astonished voice from below the building.

Oh crap, I forgot to hold back because I thought that magician was Lunaire. I have to keep a low profile to avoid dangerous guys’ attention.

「《Short Gate》」

The magic circle enveloped me and sent me towards the base of the building.

Though the distance between the roof and the base was short, there was no safe landing spot due to the gathered onlookers, so I decided to use teleport to go back straight towards Pomera and Philia.