Labyrinth of the Blue Witch (13 page)

“Itogami Island is an artificial island constructed on top of the dragon lines that flow over the ocean’s surface,” the princess continued. “Logically, if spatial distortions are occurring in response to strong magical power, their effects are spread throughout the entire island.”

Sayaka’s shoulders unconsciously shuddered as she listened. The princess’s statement caused her to recall something unpleasant.

“If you’ll pardon me, princess… If your hypothesis about the effect of the distortions being stronger in proportion to the power of one’s spiritual or magical power is correct, then…”

A rare melancholic look came over La Folia as she replied.

“Yes. There is someone who would be suffering even graver effects than we are. No, rather, it is possible that his very existence is one of the causes of this anomaly…”

Even on Itogami Island, home to countless demons, neither of them had to think of who possessed the greatest, most titanic magical energy of all. The answer was obvious: the World’s Mightiest Vampire—the Fourth Primogenitor, Kojou Akatsuki.

“Th…that man… I turn my back for just one second and something like
this
happens…”

Sayaka instantly called the number from her cell phone’s “Favorites” list. Fortunately, the call connected instantly.

“Hello, are you listening?! Kojou Akatsuki?!”

“Kirasaka? Are you guys all right?”

“…Huh?”

Hearing a girl’s voice from the phone, Sayaka was at a loss for words. The tone of voice was very familiar to her, but she’d never heard the voice before.

“Who are you? Where is Kojou Akatsuki?”

“Ahh…er, that’s…gonna be a…long story…”

Sayaka felt great reluctance from the speaker on the other end. She realized that put her in an exceptionally foul mood. Apparently, that man had gotten wrapped up in trouble with
yet another
girl, somewhere behind Sayaka’s back.

After a short pause, she heard a very different girl’s voice over the phone.

“Ah, is this Sayaka?”

This time, Sayaka knew the speaker. There was no way Sayaka could mistake the sound of
her
voice.

“Yukina?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, for various reasons senpai cannot come to the phone right now, so I…”

“I-is that so? Is he all right?! Did something happen to that Pervogenitor?”

“Ah?”

Hearing the voice of her beloved former roommate, Sayaka became excited to the point of speaking complete gibberish. She always went off the rails when doting on Yukina to excess.

Seeing this, La Folia took the cell phone from Sayaka’s hand and picked up where things left off with practiced skill.

“Has something strange occurred on your end, Yukina? Particularly where Kojou is concerned?”

Yukina conveyed the situation in a roundabout fashion.

“Th-that’s right. It’s fair to say that a rather unbelievable emergency situation has occurred where senpai is concerned…”

Apparently things were in a rather chaotic state on their end. Having confirmed this, La Folia smiled to herself.

“My…”

“…Why are you so amused by this?”

“Ah, nothing at all. So that is the reason Kojou cannot come to the phone right now?”

“Yes. Ah, a variety of troublesome things have occurred so…”

Having said this, Yukina let out a sigh. The gist seemed to be that he had indeed been involved in some kind of anomaly, but was not in any immediate danger. Knowing that was plenty.

With a tone of concern, Yukina asked…

“Incidentally, where are the two of you?”

La Folia casually conveyed the essential facts.

“In a hotel. Sayaka and I spent the night together.”

“Aaaa!” went Sayaka, letting out an anguished cry. “It’s not like that, Yukina! Nothing happened with the princess last night at all!”

“…Ah?”

“Please pay no attention to her,” La Folia resumed, rudely fending off Sayaka’s efforts to steal back the phone. “Apparently, this anomaly affects people the greater their magical power. I want to investigate the cause of the phenomenon. It also makes rendezvousing with you and Kojou extremely likely to begin with.”

La Folia seemed to think a wise shrine maiden did not need any further explanation. She spoke commandingly, avoiding any unnecessary questions.

“Understood. Please be careful.”

“Yes, you, too.”

La Folia hung up with a smile on her face. Sayaka made a small “ooh” as she made a resentful glare from the side over the nonchalant look on the princess’s face.

“It seems I have support for my hypothesis.”

Brushing her silver hair from her cheek, La Folia stood up and picked up the underwear she’d stripped off the night before. She proceeded to elegantly put them on piece by piece.

Sayaka looked like she’d regained her senses.

“Yes. However, how do you intend to ‘investigate’ the cause of the phenomenon?”

This was why she was a War Dancer of the Lion King Agency; even when heavily agitated, she never seemed to let a single word slip by her.

“The timing of the phenomenon’s occurrence…how does it look to you, Sayaka?”

Sayaka looked out the window as she spoke.

“The Hollow Eve Festival…you mean?”

That day was the main event for Itogami Island’s enormous festival. Even from inside a building, it seemed like the entire city was decked out for the occasion.

The greatest characteristic of the event was the arrival of a large amount of tourists from outside the island.

Those landing on Itogami Island underwent strict investigation; but while the Island Guard increased its on-duty personnel to compensate, there was no guarantee that they could completely prevent illegal entry.

“Are you implying this phenomenon was caused by a foreign intruder…?”

“Surely we should consider the possibility. If so, it means that someone deliberately created the phenomenon. It would be nice if we knew what benefit such a thing might bring, but…”

There didn’t seem to be any merit in casting an absurd spell to create irregular spatial distortions and random teleports of those with strong magical power. Also, surely there were more reliable methods for conducting indiscriminate terrorism.

But a spell to control space was far too grand to be used for a mere prank. It was difficult to believe that a person able to use dangerous, high-difficulty spells would use them for such a purpose.

No…

Even if the spatial distortions themselves were meaningless, was there some meaning in the result achieved by it…?

“Maybe the perpetrator’s goal isn’t to produce spatial anomalies at all…?” Sayaka murmured under her breath. The princess, in the middle of combing her hair, gasped as she put the brush down.

“I see. The spatial anomalies are merely a side effect. The original purpose is something entirely different, then. That is quite plausible. If that is so…”

The princess’s eyes fiercely glimmered as she reached to the holster she’d left on the side of the bed. Holstered within it was a golden, single-shot pistol. She checked it, confirming that it had a cartridge loaded that was made out of precious stones.

“Sayaka, contact the Gigafloat Management Corporation and the Knights of the Second Coming on standby at the airport. I must resort to somewhat rough methods. The roots of this anomaly may run far deeper than we think.”

“P-princess? Just what is it that you’re planning to do…?”

Sayaka put her long hair in a proper ponytail and stood up as well. She couldn’t hide how La Folia’s uncharacteristic vigor struck her as a bad omen.

Looking back at Sayaka with amusement, La Folia smiled elegantly.

“It seems this will be a busy day indeed.”

The Akatsuki residence living room was eerily quiet. It looked exactly like Kojou had left it. There was no sign of Yuuma or Nagisa having returned. Of course, Kojou’s own body had not returned, either.

Yukina murmured as she looked all around the apartment interior.

“…There really isn’t anyone here.”

Right now, she was wearing an aquamarine apron dress, looking very much the part of the main character in a fairy tale. There was a large, identically colored ribbon on the top of her head. Apparently she meant this to be her Hollow Eve Festival costume.

However, her right hand was gripping the silver spear with a tip like a swept-wing fighter plane. This was a Schneewaltzer, the secret weapon of the Lion King Agency. The metallic spear was at its full length, breaking the fairy-tale ambiance.

“Yuuma’s things are gone, too.”

Kojou made a despondent sigh as he checked the guest room.

Yuuma’s luggage, her change of clothes, and the various souvenirs she’d bought while touring the island the day before had all been neatly whisked away. The only things left of hers in the apartment were a single miniskirted witch cosplay dress and her physical body.

Even so, Yukina searched the area for any trace of Yuuma.

Finally, she made a deep nod to herself, as if having had some sort of revelation.

“I have a broad grasp of the circumstances. I also have a strong suspicion as to the nature of the blue shadow you saw behind Yuuma.”

“Huh?”

For some reason, Kojou felt unease at the certainty in Yukina’s voice. His animal instincts told him that the rest was not something he should hear. If he did listen to her words, he felt like something precious in relation to his old friend would be shattered without a single trace remaining.

“Princess La Folia is probably thinking the same thing I am. No doubt she called earlier in an effort to confirm her thoughts.”

“…What do you mean?” Kojou spontaneously replied. La Folia didn’t know Yuuma. Surely she was not yet aware that Yuuma and Kojou had switched bodies.

Surely the only thing the princess had identified so far was that the spatial anomalies occurring on Itogami Island were related to magical power…

“Wait, you don’t think the Itogami Island spatial distortions are Yuuma’s work?”

“In one sense, I do. However, that cannot be Yuuma’s true objective.”

“…Objective…huh?”

Kojou stared at his own palms in silence. He’d been so hung up on the whole body switch thing that he hadn’t actually thought that far.

Regardless of who or what Yuuma really was, there was no way she’d swap bodies with another person for no reason. Of course she had a reason for it—reason enough to deceive Kojou.

Yukina suddenly changed the subject. “Incidentally, senpai…was it Nagisa who cooked this meal?”

Thrown for a loop, Kojou nodded.

“Yeah, probably. It’s the same thing Nagisa always makes.”

The meal on the dinner table was a huge omelet with fermented soybeans, fried seaweed, and a big helping of white rice. Kojou couldn’t imagine another girl on the entire planet inventing an original recipe like
that
.

“If she prepared breakfast and left, that means it is unlikely that Yuuma dragged her along somewhere.”

“Yeah…I think so, too.”

Kojou nodded, a small portion of his tension relieved.

To Kojou, Nagisa running off was a problem every bit on the same scale as his own body being stolen. The existence of breakfast loomed large in his being able to avoid panicking. He figured she’d left of her own free will, unrelated to the Yuuma incident.

Besides, Kojou still didn’t think Yuuma was capable of hurting Nagisa.

“What about Nagisa’s cell phone?”

“No good. I tried several times.” Kojou sighed as he looked at his cell phone’s call history. “She couldn’t have been thrown somewhere else like Kirasaka and the princess, could she?”

Yukina smiled reassuringly at Kojou.

“…No, if the princess’s hypothesis is correct that only those of strong magical power are affected, the chances of Nagisa being influenced are low. Besides, no doubt Yuuma would not lay a hand upon Nagisa.”

“…How can you be so sure?”

“Because Nagisa has nothing to do with her objective.”

Kojou looked at her with a bit of surprise as Yukina replied instantly and without hesitation.

“Do you actually know what her objective is here, Himeragi?”

“Your body, senpai.”

“…H-her objective’s my bo… Eh?!”

For no good reason, Kojou covered his breasts with both arms. Of course, in this situation, the unexpectedly plump, bouncy feeling did not make him happy whatsoever.

Could it be that Yuuma stole Kojou’s body to use it for some kind of indecent conduct?

Or did she intend to engage in indecent conduct with Kojou now that he was a girl…?

Realizing the pale Kojou had misunderstood, Yukina furiously shook her head.

“N-not like that! What in the world are you imagining?!

“You truly are indecent,” Yukina said with a reproachful glare, which of course made Kojou pout.

“Well, you’re the one who said it!”

“I did not mean it like that, by your body, I meant the body of the Fourth Primogenitor!”

“…That’s crazy,” went Kojou, seriously sucking in his breath this time.

The last time he’d met Yuuma was four years prior. At the time, Kojou was an ordinary elementary schooler with no link to vampiric power whatsoever. Surely she had no idea Kojou had gained the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.

“How the hell does she know about…?!”

“There simply is no other possibility,” Yukina replied with a serious look.

“It might be rude of me to say this, but can you think of any other reason a lovely person such as Yuuma would go out of her way to trade bodies with you, senpai?”

“…Hey, that really
is
rude.”

Kojou felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, but he couldn’t refute the correctness of Yukina’s assertion.

Even at a casual glance, Yuuma’s physical attributes far surpassed the norm. She had great looks, and her athletic ability was top-notch. He could see her getting dates from any age and either sex. In contrast, Kojou had nothing you could call worthy of special mention. Aside from having happened to physically become a vampire, he came off as a very mediocre male high school student.