Because her husband had been working overtime, Mrs. Yamada had recently been spending most of her time alone at home.
She was bored and lonely and wanted to try something exciting, but whenever her husband returned home, he always looked half-dead. The moment his head touched the pillow, he would fall unconscious within minutes. If not for his faint breathing, Mrs. Yamada might have thought he was dead.
Fortunately, she had recently met a charming younger man.
One was a lonely wife left alone at home, while the other had a particular interest in married women. They immediately hit it off, and once the sparks began to fly, there was no stopping them.
At that moment, the two of them were entangled like wild animals.
However, just as they were about to lose themselves in their secret affair and push their passion to its peak, their hearts suddenly became calm.
Like the exhausted Mr. Yamada, they lost all desire. Their minds became exceptionally clear, and their rational thoughts began to return.
The blond young man released his grip and stepped back several paces.
Looking down at his now-unresponsive equipment, he briefly wondered whether he had been overindulging recently and had somehow damaged himself.
Once Mrs. Yamada regained the ability to think and reason once again occupied her mind, she suddenly felt that what she was doing was deeply unfair to her husband.
The man and woman who had just been embracing like wild animals and constantly crying out now stared at each other in awkward silence.
Afterward, they calmly cleaned up the room as though nothing had happened.
They washed separately, then parted ways without exchanging a single word, even when the young man left.
Caelus licked his lips, then looked at Cyrene, who was watching him expectantly.
"That intense longing and the pleasure it produced did give me a little stimulation, but it is still far from enough to truly awaken that kind of desire within me."
"At least we've found the right direction!"
"It would probably be much harder to gather these emotions in other worlds, but because the people of this world possess such intense desires, their emotions are especially powerful."
"That makes them much more stimulating to taste. At this rate, Partner should be able to recover that desire before long!"
Caelus crossed his arms and looked at Cyrene, who was acting as though everything she had done was entirely for his sake.
"You're also doing this for yourself, aren't you?"
"...Partner!"
That single sentence made Cyrene's face flush red.
Embarrassed and annoyed, she threw herself into Caelus's arms and repeatedly struck his chest with her small fists.
...
Alice stared at herself in the mirror.
She wore a one-piece blue dress decorated with many adorable ribbons. Silver plates protected several vital areas of her body.
Rather than a magical girl, she looked more like a knight.
Of course, knights usually carried longswords, battle-axes, or war hammers, while the girl held a magical wand.
"Alice, as the savior chosen by destiny, you possess an all-round aptitude that no other magical girl has."
Lief smiled as she floated beside her.
"Different people develop different specialties after becoming magical girls because their natural aptitudes vary."
"Some are better at close combat, some specialize in magic, and others are more skilled at healing."
"But you are different. You can learn every technique and master all kinds of abilities."
"However, trying to master everything from the very beginning would be too difficult for you, so we'll start with the basics."
"Alice, how would you like to fight? Just choose whatever method you prefer. After all, you are an all-round savior!"
Alice thought for a moment.
She recalled the hero she had encountered earlier, the one who had wielded a flaming longsword and destroyed the tentacle monster in the brief instant between her closing and opening her eyes.
Her face reddened as she asked, "Lief, besides magical girls, are there other people in this world who fight monsters?"
"Of course not. In this world, only magical girls can fight those monsters."
"Could anyone else even obtain the power to fight them?"
"But when I was on my way home earlier, I encountered a monster. I only escaped because an older boy came to save me."
"He was also holding a longsword covered in flames. That was obviously a supernatural power!"
"That sounds incredible!"
A momentary look of astonishment flashed across Lief's face before she adopted a curious expression.
"Can you remember what he looked like?"
"With fairy magic, I can take you into your memories and allow you to watch them again as an observer."
"Why do I feel such a strange sense of déjà vu about that magic?"
Alice could not shake the feeling that there was something odd about it.
"Oh, don't think too much about that right now. Don't you want to find the person who saved your life?"
"Besides, I've never heard of anyone other than magical girls fighting those monsters."
"All right, hurry and recall what happened. I'm going to cast the spell!"
The tiny fairy waved the magical wand in her hand and pointed it at Alice with a smile.
Alice focused entirely on recalling the scene from that night.
The surroundings instantly changed.
Alice returned to the dark alley from before.
She saw herself cowering in a corner with her arms covering her head, as well as the tentacle monster reaching toward her.
Just as the monster was about to attack Alice, the scene suddenly distorted.
A gray-haired young man wearing a black trench coat appeared without warning.
He held a Western-style crossguard longsword engulfed in flames.
With a casual swing, the monster let out a miserable scream before turning into a pile of ash on the ground.
Watching the handsome display and the classic scene of a hero saving a girl in danger, Alice felt her affection for him increase even further.
"What a shame. I don't even know the name of the person who saved me."
"Then do you recognize me?"
Alice turned toward Lief beside her.
However, Lief was staring straight ahead with an expression as though she had seen a ghost. Her entire body remained motionless in midair.
Only then did Alice realize that the voice she had just heard was unmistakably male.
She abruptly looked toward the place where Caelus had been standing in the memory and discovered that he was staring directly at her.
"You... How... Lief, isn't this supposed to be my memory?"
Alice asked in disbelief, visibly frightened.
Caelus looked toward Lief, who was floating nearby.
After the two stared at each other for a moment, he said, "Hello."
Lief finally seemed to return to her senses.
A timid expression appeared on her face as she hid behind Alice and cautiously poked out her small head.
"Hello."
After speaking, she immediately hid again.
"Don't casually revisit memories of scenes where I was present."
Caelus spoke to Alice, then looked at her clothes and the unusual energy within her body.
"A magical girl... You have chosen a path beyond ordinary people, but it will also be a difficult one."
"Alice, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I hope gaining new powers hasn't made you forget that you still have school tomorrow."
Alice froze for a moment.
Then Caelus snapped his fingers, and the surrounding scene suddenly disappeared.
She found herself back in her bedroom.
"Why did he have to remind me about school?"
"But it really is getting late. I need to hurry and sleep, or I'll be in trouble if I'm late tomorrow..."
Alice muttered to herself, then turned toward Lief behind her and asked in confusion, "Lief, are you really that shy around strangers?"
"Alice... If possible, try not to approach that man."
"That man is dangerous!"
As for why, Lief had sensed an incredibly intense attention surrounding him.
However, she could no longer remember who that attention belonged to.
She only remembered that it had felt horrifying and terrifying.
Alice looked at the frightened Lief and gave her an adorable smile.
"It's all right. He would never hurt a good child."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)