Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2

Part 1

It had begun.

It had finally begun.

A fight to the death being broadcast live nationwide. The Bright Cross pitted Archenemies against each other to dispose of them.

Level 4. The Colosseum.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Karen-chan here will be your host tonight!! And for some high-level a.n.a.lysis, we’ve brought in experts in the fields of martial arts, biology, religion, and more!”

The blue bunny girl continued her mic performance.

Even if the start time was 10, that apparently did not meant the actual fight would begin then. It seemed to be like the live broadcast of an international volleyball match. And I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to the lengthy ceremony.

I probably had 15-30 minutes…no, even less.

Whatever the case, I had to make the best of it.

“Itou-san, take this!”

“?”

After an official took the blonde girl from the cage, I handed her a small headset.

“At this point, we just have to do this. So focus on surviving, Itou-san!”

“…”

The small girl tried to say something, but it looked like the words wouldn’t come out. The officials grabbed her on either side and tossed her into the transparent bug cage with her gla.s.s wand in hand.

I hated it.

But it wasn’t over yet. We still had a chance.

It was only a thin, thin thread, but we couldn’t give up hope yet!!

“Maxwell. Let’s start by checking both sides’ specs. A witch and a mermaid. That sounds like a combination from a fairy tale, but what can they actually do and how much can they do with it?”

“Sure. First of all, Western and Eastern mermaids are very different, but since they are pitting her against a witch, it should be a fairly safe a.s.sumption that this is a Western mermaid.”

Maxwell communicated using a short text SNS, so he could not send much text at once. He instead sent message after message.

“With that in mind, a Western mermaid lures sailors into the ocean with her song. There are a variety of theories as to why they drag the sailors down to the ocean bottom: to eat the human, to gather mates, to eliminate an external enemy, etc. In each case, there is no chance of escape once you have been dragged down. The few known countermeasures are all ways to prevent the mermaid’s song from luring you in, so there is no mention of how to recover after falling into the ocean.”

“Where did you get this data from?”

“Sure. Randomly from the internet.”

Page after page displayed and they were from both personal and corporate sites. Some were even web novel sites and encyclopedia-format game walkthrough sites. Some had a harp and some didn’t and the design of their swimsuit-like outfit changed, but all of them had a woman with a fish tail for legs singing as she sat on a stone jutting up from the ocean surface. And as I looked at it, one thought came to mind.

…Could we really rely on this?

This wasn’t walkthrough information for a game we could retry as many times as it took. This wasn’t a message board post of someone who thought they knew what they were doing and made a fool of themselves.

This was a life.

A human life was riding on this decision and all I had was online information gathered by who even knows who?

“No, I can’t just stop here. I have to make a decision. Maxwell, what about the witch? And is a witch even an Archenemy?”

“Sure. During the age of the witch hunts and the inquisition, witches were already legally known as nonhuman, so they could be subjected to various tortures, executed, or stripped of their property. In other words, their ‘human’ rights were taken from them.”

“Is Itou Helen a medieval witch?”

“No. That was merely an example. If the official announcement was accurate, she is a Circe witch. Circe is spoken of in Greek mythology.”

“Be more specific.”

“Circe mixed a special potion that could remake humans into animals or grotesque monsters. It was identical to the way the Greek G.o.ds punished humans. And those who have inherited those techniques are cla.s.sified as Circe witches.”

…

I see. So that’s why.

It had honestly seemed weird to me that witches were cla.s.sified as Archenemies alongside vampires and zombies.

“Maxwell. Give me the definition of the undead…of Archenemies.”

“Sure. 1. A life form that has surpa.s.sed the limits of known biology and has a lifespan either infinitely or immeasurably long. 2. A life form created from or by a human. 3. A life form that’s individual traits present a risk of spreading to or infecting unrelated people around it. The details can change somewhat depending on the exact conditions, but that is the general definition.”

“They stole the technique of the G.o.ds and spread it throughout earth. By transforming humans with a divine potion, they count as a source of infection.”

Looking at it that way, it made sense that they were cla.s.sified the same as vampires and zombies.

“Then let’s get to the crux of the issue. …Is Itou Helen really a witch? Or did the Bright Cross just make that up?”

“It is hard to say.”

It was rare for Maxwell to not give a clear yes or no answer.

“Her medical records show she was once hospitalized for a broken bone and the flu. And her recovery was within the average range. But…”

“But?”

“The patients in the same room as her recovered quickly. Or rather, the drugs they were treated with worked too well and with no side effects.”

She was a human herself, but she could change those around her.

That was a witch.

“I can surmise that she escaped notice until now due to that unusual pattern. A video site contains a video of a parrot Itou Helen looked after as the school’s student animal caretaker. Someone secretly filmed her wrapping a bandage around the injured bird only for it to recover at unnatural speed. This may have been when they discovered her.”

…What was she doing?

She had been caught because she was saving the lives of others? That was what did it? How did that make her a monster?

No.

It was possible Itou Helen had been unaware of her power or true nature before she was captured by the Bright Cross.

She may have found it odd how quickly the bird was recovering and merely been delighted by the small miracle.

Was that really an evil that needed eliminating?

I was much more disgusted that someone at our school had secretly filmed the girl, released it without her permission, and then creepily criticized her with their gossiping curiosity hidden by a thin veil of supposed justice. Was that only because I had Archenemies in my family?

“User, the Bright Cross is the world’s largest international organization with a powerful influence on humanitarian and medical fields.” Maxwell calmly interjected. “They are officially registered as a non-profit organization, but they receive considerable donations from pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment producers the world over. That is likely because they have a great impact on rulings concerning pharmaceutical decisions, welfare standards, and health insurance.”

“Get to the point.”

“Sure. From their perspective, the speed of recovery is unimportant. But they need their products to be as effective as the data says they should be. If someone near Itou Helen were to collapse, their product could be criticized. An unstable miracle is only a risk from a business perspective. …Isn’t it possible that this was influenced by those who think like that?”

I couldn’t believe it.

As the data says? A risk from a business perspective? That was only a theory, but it was still too much!

Itou Helen hadn’t done anything herself. The people around her had apparently recovered, but there had been no negative effects to their health. And yet she was being sent to the gallows because of a hypothetical?

“Understood, Maxwell. Whatever the details might be, Itou Helen is definitely an Archenemy, right? These aren’t false accusations and she really can do it?”

“Sure. In all likelihood.”

“Then what can a witch do? You said something about Circe making potions that remake people into animals, but…”

That was when the lights on the ceiling changed direction. The intense light dazzled me. And atop the giant transparent die-shaped bug cage, the blue bunny girl raised her ecstatic voice with microphone in hand.

“Now then, now then! The atmosphere has started to heat up in here, so let’s end the talk and get to the main event. Witch vs. Mermaid! Who will win!? Whether here, in the live viewing theater, or in front of the TV, get those tickets ready!! This is the cutting edge mixed species martial arts tournament: the Colosseum!!”

“G.o.ddammit…!!”

Whatever we were going to do, we had no time.

Itou Helen had some power, but she was not even aware of it. At this rate, she was no different from a normal high school girl who looked after the animals. She would be tormented to death by the mermaid who wrapped her hair around her bare skin and could breathe underwater!

“This would be pointless if both sides couldn’t take advantage of their strengths! To make things fair for Kuroyama Hinoki the Mermaid, the ring will be filled with water to a depth of 1 meter.”

…

“And in exchange, Itou Helen the Witch will be given 42 different chemicals free of charge! Okay, you two! Show off your utterly inhuman and entirely unrealistic powers as Archenemies!!”

To h.e.l.l with you!

I brought my smartphone to my mouth and shouted into it.

But I was speaking to Itou Helen in the bug cage and not Maxwell.

“Itou-san! Can you think of a way to use those chemicals!?”

“Um, uh, umm…”

The voice reaching my smartphone via the headset on her ear did not sound very hopeful. Of course it didn’t. What were those colorful bottles sitting on a silver cart? c.o.c.ktail ingredients and even fluorescent paint would have looked less threatening. And she was surrounded by water up to her waist. If those were powerful chemicals, using them wrong and dropping some around her would be dangerous!

Meanwhile, the situation refused to wait around.

The woman named Karen said more.

“It’s time for the valuable first battle of a new age! This death match has no time limit! I hope you’re excited!!”

A low, deep buzzer rang like when a prison door opened.

That signaled the beginning of the match.

But that was blown away only a moment later.

It was the mermaid.

It was the queen of the sea who had her slender body wrapped in her own long hair.

Irregular ripples ran across the surface of the water filling the die-shaped bug cage and then small white cracks covered every single reinforced gla.s.s surface. This was not Itou Helen the Witch who could not move. It was the first attack from Kuroyama Hinoki the Mermaid.

But she was not controlling the water.

Nor was this a power to destroy gla.s.s.

It was a song.

It was soundwaves.

It was the pressure from those waves.

Unlike my vampire older sister or zombie younger sister, mermaids did not actually remake their opponent’s body. But their song could break through a stormy night, win over wartime sailors, and manipulate them into falling into the ocean. The sailors offered their own lives. In that way, the mermaid was a source of infection. An Archenemy that controlled people.

“Agwah!?”

There was an explosive sound so dangerously loud that it nearly broke the smartphone speaker only indirectly playing it. And with that smartphone to my ear, I had to cover my ears and double over.

But.

That sound.

It wasn’t coming from Kuroyama Hinoki and her great mermaid’s song!?

The girl with wavy shoulder-length blonde hair was cowering down and trembling like a small animal. But around Itou Helen, a scarlet blast of flames swept in a horizontal crescent moon shape and that explosive blast pushed back the mermaid’s song!?

“Rechecking Itou Helen’s words. There was an unnatural waver in the amplitude of her voice. I estimate she was having trouble breathing due to extreme tension.”

Maxwell sent several messages to the screen.

“When you asked her if she could think of a way to use those chemicals, she grew nervous but not because she did not know how. She likely hesitated because she could instinctually tell how to use them at a glance.”

“…!!”

Knowing that was a type of proof.

Just like a vampire was sensitive to the smell of blood and a zombie to the taste of flesh, that witch could just tell how to use those suspicious-looking chemicals. And she had despaired at that fact.

I was speechless as I watched Itou Helen adjust her grip on the gla.s.s wand made of countless transparent tubes and protuberances. She stuck the openings of the colorful bottles into a trumpet or trombone-like collection of pipes and vigorously operated several pistons like she was playing a musical instrument.

The colorful liquids were separated out by color as they pa.s.sed through the clear tubes like it was a roller coaster and I finally felt like I could see what that gla.s.s wand was.

“What…is that? A vertical siphon coffee maker?”

“Sure. a.n.a.lysis complete. The concept is the same. It provides heating and cooling. It also allows for distillation and fractionation using steam. It contains the burner, reflux condenser, and three neck flask needed for all that. It also supports pressurization and decompression using air compression.”

“And what does that mean!?”

“That one device contains everything found in your high school’s chemistry lab. It should be enough to create a simple chemical weapon. An impressive display by a medical organization like the Bright Cross.”

And an impressive display by Itou Helen for using it so well the first time she touched it.

Computers and smartphones were so convenient that people could be overwhelmed by their many services, but I didn’t see any hesitation of that sort.

Meanwhile, the small witch continued releasing combinations of colorful chemicals from the gla.s.s wand. Each time, a ma.s.s of flames or a tornado of vacuum blades would sweep across the inside of the bug cage.

How was Itou Helen herself viewing this?

Was she proud that she was someone special?

Her back looked even smaller than before, so I seriously doubted it.

And the mermaid…Kuroyama Hinoki was not just sitting idly by.

Her song was apparently not her only weapon. However, she could not control all of the water to sweep the attacks away with a water gun.

It was something much more unexpected.

The tail fin created from the long hair around her legs slapped the water’s surface, and…

“What!?”

They were rocks.

The bug cage’s floor and the water’s surface were split by several sharp rocks that jutted up in front of the mermaid like a giant shark’s teeth. They acted as a s.h.i.+eld and deflected the ma.s.s of fire that Itou Helen had summoned.

She could control rocks?

Even though she was a mermaid that lived in the ocean?

No.

“Maxwell, show me the mermaid pictures. Weren’t they all sitting on a rock as they sang?”

“Sure. What about it?”

Needless to say, the mermaids that lured sailors off their s.h.i.+p or dragged them and their boat down were anthropomorphized versions of s.h.i.+pwrecks. They tended to appear in difficult locations such as reefs or straits.

But that meant mermaids weren’t symbols of the ocean or water.

They were rocks.

They were reefs.

They hid below the surface, struck the s.h.i.+p before they were noticed, opened a hole in the hull, and mercilessly took the lives of the crew. They were the anthropomorphized version of those sharp rocks.

In that case, this was bad.

One of them might “jut up” directly below Itou Helen.

No.

There was another issue.

“Where did the mermaid herself go!?”

She was gone.

She must have sensed that her song would just be pushed back, but if she had run away, where had she gone?

That was obvious.

Kuroyama Hinoki was a mermaid.

Her slender body was wrapped in her long hair to form the tail fin needed to swim freely through the water. And the bug cage was filled with a meter of water.

Worst of all, the mermaid sending the sailor into the ocean and sinking the s.h.i.+p with her song and reef were only the beginning. The preparation. Hadn’t it been said that the real threat was when she bared their fangs and preyed on the fallen humans?

I didn’t have time to yell a warning into my smartphone.

Her small body suddenly vanished. Into the water. It was as unnatural as someone being dragged from a car by a rope around their ankle.

The blue bunny girl rejoiced.

“What’s this!? Has this battle between girls super-evolved into a watery swimming tournament!? Then here’s hoping for some wardrobe malfunctions!! That’s bound to do wonders for our ratings!!”

Shut the h.e.l.l up.

Why did she have to be so hot? If I wasn’t careful, I felt like my soul would be taken away by her cleavage and the curves of her hips.

I sent a mental curse her way and shouted into my smartphone.

“Itou-san! She eats people after dragging them underwater. That means you’re safe if you leave the water. Use wind or something. Yes, can’t you make a potion that lets you fly!?”

“No. If Itou Helen is a Circe witch, then that is the wrong method.” Maxwell calmly rejected my idea. “As Circe is from Greek mythology, she can likely use the concept that all things are made from the four great elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. This has nothing to do with the laws of physics or chemical formulas. I can only call it the occult. That is how Archenemies work.”

“And? We don’t have time here, Maxwell!”

“Sure. Directly using fire, water, wind, and earth is the same as directly eating sugar or flour. The flavor and nutrition absorption is more efficient when it is reworked into bread or cake. Is that a simple enough explanation?”

“But what’s your point? What is the equivalent of ‘cooking’ for a Circe witch…for Itou Helen!?”

“Needless to say, that is a potion that remakes humans into an animal or monster.”

In other words, a reproduction of the G.o.ds’ punishment for humans.

“There is a monster known as the Scylla. It was originally a beautiful girl, but she was given a grotesque form by one of Circe’s potions and she ultimately ruled the sea and killed 6 heroes. It would likely be more efficient to have Itou Helen herself take the potion than to use it against the mermaid.”

We weren’t talking about a tiger’s claws or a shark’s teeth here. We would be turning her into a great demon lord that had sent a whole group of legendary heroes to their graves.

If so…

“Itou Helen should know how to use the chemicals. Check encyclopedias of animals, dinosaurs, or whatever else. Just search all the archives that might provide her inspiration!”

“Sure.”

We had no time.