Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 187. Otherworld(1)

“I’ll be back shortly,” I said to my students.

Well, the two weren’t really concerned.

Maybe it’s because I often wander around.

Or it could be that my students were plastering pain relief patches all over their bodies and collapsed on their beds due to the aftermath of training.

Anyway, it wasn’t that hard to sneak out of the house.

Except for one little problem.

“Wow, I’ve never returned home like this!”

“It’s so loud. Be quiet!”

That white trash was clinging to my shoulder.

“I’m just talking like usual! Well, it might not be true! But what can I do? I’m going after 30 years!”

“Yeah, yeah.

You seem excited, so

keep the noise down.”

The fluffy creature chirped as it began to twist its body around my neck.

“Hmph. We’re going home. We’re going home.”

It even started humming a weird tune.

I felt the impulse to grab its tail and whirl it around before tossing it into the garbage heap, but I endured it quietly.

Because Al’sel had told me to.

“Uh, isn’t there a flesh-eating mascot at home?”

“There was.”

“If possible, please bring that guy along.”

“Why? I want to leave him because he’s annoying.”

“That mascot is a being from the self-proclaimed Magic Kingdom, so just having it around will help us reach our destination.”

“You say that like it’s guaranteed.”

“It’s about a 0.01% chance, but at least around 0.1%. You see, the return instinct in the Otherworld is surprisingly important.”

Then, just in case, I brought that up, and our flesh-eating white trash replied.

“Oh, for that, we have coordinate magic. Well, it fails about 99% of the time, but we can give it a shot?”

It seems that the value had gone up.

From 0.01% to 0.1%. Then to 1%.

Leading beings belonging to that world, and you’d think that, with an expert in that field, such odds would be truly pathetic.

But what can you do?

On the other side of the hole, the Otherworld was inherently that kind of place.

But there was something I was curious about.

“Unho.”

“What is it? Was I too loud again?”

It was noisy, but that’s not the question I wanted to ask…

“No, it’s not that. I’m just a bit curious about one thing.”

“Concerning the core attack? Our Magic Kingdom’s species composition? How we live?”

Not that I was particularly curious about that.

I would find out that information once I arrived.

And since whatever Unho said was always wrong, taking him at his word could lead to issues from incorrect information.

“Last time you said the success rate was only 1% for using magic, right? The coordinate magic.”

“Exactly! Oh, that’s just the success rate! Just because the coordinates are set correctly doesn’t mean you can get there!”

Let’s leave that aside for now.

“Then how do you guys wrap things up and return?”

Unho, you’ve been stuck here for 30 years. I doubt that my mascot will return in a year and go through that hellish return process every time.

Within that speculation of mine,

“The queen will open the door for us!”

An unexpected reply flowed from the mouth of that white insect.

“Yeah! The direct portal to the Magic Kingdom! We can do the same when sending someone to another world too!”

…Is that really a thing?

“Then why was I invited and not given access to it?”

I wasn’t begging them to let me in. If they invited me, shouldn’t they open the door?

Huh? By just listening to you, you sound like a transcendent being that can specify world coordinates, yet you can’t do that one little thing?

Filled with complaints, I pressed Unho, the lowly creature of that world.

“Well, I don’t know? I have no idea.”

Unho looked at me with bright eyes, swinging their thin waist as if they were trying to appear cute.

I thought that might have been an attempt to look adorable, but in my eyes, it was infuriating behavior.

“C’mon, I’ll send you to another world.”

“Poyo?”

Grabbing their jiggling belly.

Stretching one leg back and twisting my waist dramatically.

“Poyooook?”

Just like a pitcher throwing a baseball, my right arm, shoulder, and waist contorted excessively.

As I loosened all the muscles that had built up due to that.

“Go out of the atmosphere and come back, you little brat!”

With that, I hurled the trash clutched in my right hand towards the sky.

“Pooooooooooooo! ”

Kuwung.

Was it due to the massive acceleration?

With what sounded like a sonic boom, the voice of the white trash stretched out and vanished into the distance.

Lately, I’ve been hearing this often inside Al’sel’s office.

In front of each of us was a cup of jet-black coffee, and we exchanged silent glances.

Al’sel quietly opened her mouth without saying a word and took a sip of her black coffee.

After a gulp of that black mud flowed down like an octopus’s throat.

“Now… I have a question before we go,”

Finally, Al’sel threw the first question at me.

I had expected it to be a question about my health, whether I’d give up, or how prepared I was.

“What’s with that black rag?”

Al’sel spoke in a tone of disbelief pointing at the black trash on my shoulder.

Hmm. It’s not a big deal.

“You told me to bring it.”

“I don’t recall asking for a black rag.”

Well, indeed not.

Thinking that, I shook the black soot off the thing before Al’sel’s eyes.

“That’s Unho there. Haven’t you seen him a few times?”

“Pogorolong, Munor Gaemurisineya. Ganmaniyaa.”

Could it have come to?

Returning to consciousness after being lifted, Unho wiggled his grubby hands, speaking a weird language.

…The last time I saw him, he was white.

“Well, various things happened. He’ll be fine if left alone.”

No matter how much Unho it was, re-entering the atmosphere barehanded seemed to have been tough.

That guy turned completely black as a result.

Aside from Unho’s current state, something else was bothering me.

My hands had gotten dirty.

The moment I touched Unho’s body, soot covered my hands and started to become grimy.

It must be because his fur turned to charcoal, scattering soot.

Glancing at the shoulder where Unho had been just before, that part had also stained black.

“Hm. Is there a washing machine?”

“We don’t have a washing machine. But are you considering doing some laundry?”

“No, I just want to wash something small.”

“Well, I have a dish washer next to the pantry, but… it’s not really for that.”

Before Al’sel could finish her sentence, I turned my head, and there, by the sink where Al’sel was brewing coffee, I spotted a white box.

Oh, that must be it.

Holding the black trash, I walked over and opened the door.

“Are you gonna use it?”

“Poyoul. I love the water.”

Perfect.

Following Unho’s hope, I opened the dishwasher and tossed it inside, then turned it on.

Wiiiiing.

With the sound of water spraying and bubbles forming.

Amidst that, I heard someone scream.

“Poyouk! The soap is in my eyes! Ugh!”

But I chose to ignore it and returned to face Al’sel with my coffee.

…Is this okay?

“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. Did I do something strange?”

Al’sel stared at me, seemingly not grasping my words.

…If the parties involved are okay with it, then it should be okay, right?

“My bad.”

With a sigh, Al’sel seemed to give in and said that.

Yeah, that’ll do.

“Uaaaaaa! The soap bubbles are in my mouth!”

An unexplainable echo filled the office, but it was probably just normal noise that had transformed into someone’s words.

…For now, let me tell you about the plan.

If you find anything that’s hard to understand, please do ask.

Honestly, I don’t expect all of this to be remembered, but I should say it all anyway.

“Nah.”

The octopus muttered as usual but ignored it, speaking in a haughty tone as Al’sel pulled out a stack of A4 sheets from thin air.

“First, about the holes we’ll use to cross into the Otherworld. This time,

we won’t be digging any holes.

That sounds different from last time.

“Last time, you said that the holes made by enemies were unstable and not lasting, so you dug through yourselves…”

“Yeah, in the general situation, it’d make sense for Seini or me to dig. But this time, it’s different.”

As Al’sel explained, she handed me a page of the A4 paper.

“There’s a hole here that’s much safer than normal ones; it’s stabilized and has no restrictions on passing through.”

On the A4 paper was a picture of a familiar place.

“It’s the Nanjido hole.”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen a hole as stable as that during my life. This is proof of just how dumb the trash that caused that commotion is.”

After saying that, Al’sel flipped the A4 paper and continued explaining.

“With the existence of this hole, we don’t have to worry about consuming a lot of energy to cross into the Otherworld. Plus, the most dangerous timing when crossing is eliminated.”

Also, when we successfully travel and return, we won’t need to dig another hole back to Earth.

I still remember when I first came to Earth; I was caught right away while digging and tasted bitterness. Hmph.

Ignoring Al’sel’s old stories, did that mean we secured a safe route to get around?

It’s hard to tell if that’s a good or bad thing.

If the hole is stable enough for us to come and go freely, then doesn’t that mean enemies can come through it too…?

I mulled that over for a moment, but soon dismissed the thought.

What difference does it make? They’ll probably manage it on their own.

It’d be better for the Association to have better tech than the bottom-feeding creatures to control it themselves.

“Let’s wrap up about the hole for now and shift to what happens when we cross over.”

Thud.

The sound of A4 pages flipping echoed, as a page filled with text appeared.

“What’s written here are the important points regarding entering the Otherworld. For now, I’ve copied the educational materials from the Association, but…”

As she said that, the octopus and I exchanged glances.

…You wouldn’t actually read it, right? Let’s move on.

After some time of finally doing something I liked.

“Alright, now for the important part. As you already know from visiting the Otherworld once, the first issue arises after crossing. It’s maintaining one’s ego and the discontinuity of time and space.”

I knew that well.

Just losing focus for a moment meant losing my way.

Almost immediately, the one holding my hand could disappear and return after a long time.

Of course, there are countermeasures in place…

“You have a reality stabilizer, right?”

Better make use of what I brought along.

“Yes, the reality stabilizer. It’s an excellent device. It should maintain its effects around the vicinity of the hole or other worlds.”

As she spoke, Al’sel pulled out a silver sphere from her pocket and placed it on the table.

It looked exactly the same as the last time I saw it, shining with a silver hue.

“However, this will not be enough.”

“Come on. I’ve brought you what you wanted, and it’s not enough?”

Are you going to ask for the Association tower next?

“Hm. I think you’re misunderstanding. The output of a reality stabilizer is sufficient. As I mentioned earlier, it’s enough around the holes or other worlds.”

Smirk.

A terrifying smile crept across Al’sel’s lips while her tendrils darkened the space around her.

“But… we aren’t just casually going to the Otherworld.”

Once again.

“What we intend to do is search for some other world existing somewhere in the vast Otherworld.”

Once again.

“And we will be stepping into a certain place at a particular moment. A location so far removed from any world that it is composed entirely of chaos, devoid of any order.”

Clack.

The reality stabilizer, having surpassed the friction threshold, rolled slightly and collided with the table’s glass, making a clear sound.

“A true Otherworld, a place where the reality stabilizer holds no meaning.”

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