Lief watched Alice listening attentively in class with nothing better to do.
She glanced again at the three girls who seemed strangely familiar, but she still could not remember anything about them.
"Strange. Why do those three feel so familiar? This is really odd."
Lief questioned herself, but no matter how thoroughly she searched through her memories, she could not recall anything connected to them.
She had never encountered their presence or anything resembling them before. They were complete strangers.
Then where did this inexplicable and unsettling sense of familiarity come from?
After the final lesson of the day ended, the teacher did not immediately dismiss the class. Instead, he adjusted his glasses and asked, "Lake still hasn't come to class today?"
"Yes, sir."
The class representative answered his question.
"I see."
The responsible teacher, who cared deeply about his students, frowned before dismissing the class.
Alice packed her belongings and picked up her schoolbag, preparing to go home.
However, she noticed that Lief was still floating blankly beside her desk.
Only after confirming that everyone else had left and no one was watching did Alice approach her and ask, "Lief, what's wrong? You've been spacing out a lot today."
"Ah, it's nothing. Maybe adjusting your magical-girl powers all night left me too tired. Whenever I hear certain names today, they somehow feel familiar..."
"By the way, Alice, do you know anything about the student named Lake?"
Alice thought carefully before answering with a troubled expression.
"I don't know Lake very well either. She has always been withdrawn, and she likes wearing a red hooded cloak over her school uniform."
"I don't know why. The teachers told her to stop many times, but she never listened. Later, they seemed to let it go because of some special circumstances."
"Oh, right! I heard from some of the other students that Lake's family owns a large wolfhound."
"Someone said they once saw her walking through the park after school with a huge, impressive-looking dog."
"That's all I wanted to know. Let's go, Alice."
"Tonight will be your first battle as a magical girl. Have you decided what name you want to use for your magical-girl form?"
"I haven't settled on one yet."
"Then you should think carefully while you still have time. Otherwise, you'll end up stuck with whatever nickname your enemies or random bystanders give you."
"Don't blame me for failing to warn you if they come up with something awful!"
"I understand!"
Once Alice's attention had shifted elsewhere, Lief silently looked around the increasingly empty classroom.
"Why does that name feel even more familiar?"
"And why does it feel like the name of someone who is already dead?"
Lief felt that something was becoming increasingly wrong.
Her inexplicable visions and sense of familiarity were growing stronger.
Besides, this did not seem to be her Little Garden world.
Just as Lief appeared to remember something, and her expression gradually turned pale with fear, an eerie low murmur suddenly sounded beside her ears.
At the same time, she smelled a strange floral fragrance.
All the fear and unease vanished from her face.
She returned to her innocent appearance, smiled sweetly, and flew out of the classroom to catch up with Alice.
...
Inside the faculty office, the teacher who had asked about Lake sat at his desk and released a heavy sigh.
When he thought about everything he still needed to handle, his expression became even more troubled.
Caelus had also finished teaching his final class and was organizing his belongings before leaving.
After noticing the man's intense frustration and concern, he stepped forward and asked, "Mr. Asayama, what's wrong?"
Koichi Asayama looked at the newly arrived teacher, and his eyes immediately brightened.
"Mr. Caelus, there is a student in the second-year class who has been absent for quite some time."
"I wanted to visit her home, but I've been far too busy. I still have many things to deal with after work, so I genuinely don't have the time."
"Could I trouble you to visit her instead?"
Caelus thought about it.
He had nothing else requiring his attention, so he agreed to visit the student who had recently stopped attending school.
After obtaining the student's information from Mr. Asayama, Caelus took the train directly toward Lake's home.
She lived in a relatively remote area near the outskirts of the city.
Her records also clearly stated that she came from a single-parent household and lived only with her mother.
Caelus arrived before a villa with a courtyard in the suburbs and pressed the doorbell.
A moment later, the villa's front door opened.
A girl emerged wearing an oversized red cloak that concealed most of her body, along with a red hood.
Although the hood covered most of her hair, the few strands that remained visible revealed that she was blonde.
A large gray wolfhound followed behind her.
Even while standing on all fours, it already reached half the girl's height.
The girl, dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, looked at Caelus standing outside the gate.
Her usually cold and composed eyes changed slightly.
Visible shock stiffened her entire body for a moment before her expression returned to its former indifference.
The girl walked over while leading the wolfhound and opened the iron gate.
The two emotionless figures, one adult and one child, one male and one female, silently stared at each other for several moments.
"Lake, correct?"
"According to the school's records, you haven't attended class for two months. Has something happened?"
"Whenever the school contacted your family, they only said that a problem had occurred and that you needed to temporarily suspend your studies."
"Mr. Asayama asked me to visit and determine what was happening."
Caelus briefly explained why he had come, then showed her his faculty identification to confirm his identity.
The atmosphere fell silent once again.
The two continued standing at the entrance, staring quietly at one another.
Eventually, even the wolfhound Lake was holding became impatient and tugged at its leash.
Only then did Lake blink and step aside to let him enter.
"I won," Caelus suddenly said.
"External interference. It doesn't count," Lake replied in the same calm tone.
Apparently, immediately after meeting, these two unusual people had somehow begun competing to see who would blink or move first.
...
"I'm dead."
Shadow spoke calmly as he removed a cigarette from inside his clothes.
He lit it and took a deep drag.
Then he exhaled a ring of smoke while staring at the terrifying, indescribable shadows constantly shifting throughout the darkness beyond the universe.
He knew he was finished.
As someone whose main abilities revolved around darkness and shadows, Shadow naturally understood exactly what those things were.
"Me, fight the Three Pillar Gods?"
"Hahahaha! Fuck!"
"This entire world is one enormous ritual site!"
Shadow suddenly burst into crazed laughter.
The corners of his mouth split apart from the force of his grin, and blood continuously flowed from the torn wounds.
Amid one burst of laughter after another, the shadows swallowed him completely.
When the darkness receded, an identical Shadow stood in the same place.
Even the exhausted look in his eyes was exactly the same.
He slowly exhaled the smoke from the cigarette he had just been holding.
Then Shadow sank into the darkness and returned from beyond the universe to the planet below.
Afterward, everything returned to silence.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ 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.)