Chapter 11

“…The monster from earlier is eating the Mahoroba grass.”

“So that’s it…”

“There are medicinal herbs over there, so we’ll have to pass near the monster. The ‘Search Glasses’ are responding.”

Nanami-san steps away from me and starts fiddling with something on her back—she removes and then puts back on the head portion of her protective suit, pulling out and then re-donning something.

“These are the glasses I made. They let you see things that are registered as glowing.”

“Eh… Can I wear them?”

“Even just looking through the lenses is fine.”

Following her instructions, I see that the path ahead is indeed glowing. There are several medicinal herbs—not just a few, but so many that it’s beyond counting with fingers.

“…How is it?”

“I’m amazed at how useful this is… Can Magic Engineers create things like this?”

“We can make various things. As long as we have the materials.”

Nanami-san seems confident, but her skills seem to be in another dimension. I wonder how many high school freshmen can create magical tools like this.

“—Myaa!”

“Ah…!”

I hear a small cry—Nanami-san also exclaims, and a small shadow moves away from the Mahoroba grass and begins to dart toward a nearby thicket with lightning speed.

(Is it going to attack…? It’s so fast…!)

“—Watch out!”

The shadow leaps at Nanami-san—somehow I manage to react and shield her, but my arm is grazed.

Life Force: 26/30

My gaze shifts to my student card, and I realize I’ve taken more damage than expected.

(If I take a few more hits, it’ll be really bad… If it continues like this, intervention from Akizuki-san might happen. But…!)

“Nanami-san, stay down for a bit!”

“…Fujiwara…!”

“I’m fine!”

If the enemy targets me, I should be able to handle it—concentrating my nerves to be ready for any direction.

“—Mew!!”

I hear the cry from behind. I don’t need to turn around—there’s no need.

《Skill ‘Fixation’ activated. Spatial coordinates of the target are fixed.》

The approaching presence ‘stops’.

Turning around, I see the creature suspended in mid-air—a small, cat-like creature, though it’s not clear if it’s a monster.

(No way… I can fix it without any physical base. Or is ‘air’ the base?)

“…It’s stopped… Is this also spatial magic? Or is it time stopping…?”

“This is also an extension of ‘Baggage Carrier’, or something like that.”

“…Anyway, it’s clear that Fujiwara is amazing.”

Nanami-san’s evaluation of me seems to be rising rapidly—her voice has a warm tone.

“Can I touch it?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. As long as I don’t decide to release it, it’ll stay stopped.”

Nanami-san catches the suspended cat. Then—

“Th-the cat is glowing…?”

“…It’s okay. It doesn’t seem to be an attack.”

The cat’s body begins to emit light, causing a bit of a panic, but the light soon settles down—and then—

《Condition for capturing the magical beast has been met.》

“Ah… It seems like ‘Capture’ was possible, so does that mean it’s safe now?”

“…? How do you know?”

It seems that only I can perceive this kind of information flowing in my mind—this information is also helpful, so perhaps there’s more given to me beyond just skills.

“I sort of just know… I can’t keep it fixed like this forever, so may I release it for now?”

“Understood.”

“If it seems dangerous again, I’ll have to use ‘Fixation’ once more.”

“Be careful with magic depletion; it’s dangerous.”

I let Nanami-san place the cat on the ground and release the fixation—the cat doesn’t show any aggression. It starts grooming itself and then looks up at us.

When Nanami-san picks it up, the cat comfortably allows itself to be held. It licks her hand when she extends it.

“……”

Even if I’m silently observed, I can’t say much. I hope Shizunami dormatory isn’t strict about pets—and now that the danger has passed, the medicinal herb gathering is finally nearing its end.