Chapter 148 – New Magic and Tomorrow's Contact

Аftеr parting waуs with Littlе Ira, Mаrinna returnеd.

Shе sееmеd kind оf floatу.

“Ahh, it reаllу is a mуstеriоus sраcе. I was mistаken for а rеgulаr аvatar аnd got sрoken to sо mаny times.”

“Well, yеаh. Non-human appеаrances are рrеtty normаl in virtual sрасеs, right?”

“Is that so… My lifе’s work was соrruрting humans and drаgging thеm intо aberrаnt transformаtions, but here, evеrуone’s аlrеadу transformеd into aberrаtions, sо thеre’s nothing for me to dо. It was quitе а shоck.”

“Аre yоu аn еvil grimoire оr somеthing?”

“Nо, nо. I’m а рeасеful grimoirе nоw. My attributes change based on my master, you see~”

Marinna was trying to dodge Spice’s probing.

Though, come to think of it, didn’t she transform the Witch of the Sea into a non-human and make it so she couldn’t change back?

“So, did you get anything out of it? You dove into the electronic sea. That’s a world-first achievement for a grimoire, right?”

“I suppose so… I did obtain some wonderful results. This truly is a sea that spreads out toward the world. Right now, it’s like… the power of flame is exerting influence from beyond the stars, and seas everywhere are being severed.”

“Ah, maybe that ‘Great Flame Demon General’? That’s the last of the four great elemental demon generals, right? I hope Little Hazuki does her best~”

“Hmm, the real world has become far more terrifying than the underworld where witches used to reside… No wonder witches are living in hiding. Even evil witches who were once infamous are now pretending to be upstanding citizens and living secretly.”

“Really!? What are they so afraid of…?”

“Streamers have become too powerful, so if they encounter one in a dungeon, there’s a danger of being hunted down one-sidedly. If they get their hands on genuine grimoires like us, they can gain the power to exterminate even such streamers… But when powerful streamers gather, you end up with a situation like the other day.”

“Clearing it was fun~”

“Master is basically the type to devise schemes, crush the witches’ hands, and perform giant killings, so you might be their natural enemy. How can you keep winning one after another with that level of magic proficiency?”

“That’s the gamer mentality, I guess. Player characters are basically weaker than the enemies, right? So you memorize their patterns, focus entirely on dodging or countering during the enemy’s attack turns, and then go all out when they’re weakened. I love that kind of clearing~ Anyway, Marinna! New magic!”

“Oh, right. I’ve become able to connect the electronic sea and the real world. Originally, I could summon a sea wherever there was water, but now I can do it at an even lower cost. As long as there are radio waves, I can drag someone into this VR space in an instant.”

“Nice, nice~! Let’s do a little research!”

With that settled, Spice and the others prepared to return to reality.

The news that Marinna had powered up! caused a stir among the grimoires, and Ignite, burning with competitive spirit, pestered Mashiro until she let him put on a VR headset.

Are those two going into VR?

More importantly, is it okay even if he’s not with Spice!?

Flota answered this question.

“Ignite is pretty flexible in that regard~ He makes it easy for even an inexperienced user to wield flame, though in exchange, they undergo aberrant transformation!”

“That’s no good.”

“This time, it seems he’s just asking Mashiro to guide him, so it should be fine. After all, she has absolutely no talent for magic.”

Apparently, those with a half-baked talent for magic are the ones who get absorbed by grimoires and go crazy.

I see, that’s profound.

And so, Spice, having returned to reality, became ‘me’ again…

“Let’s contact Little Ira on Zakko to play again… Oh, he replied right away. That guy is perfect with business emails too. Now, next is the Four Guys… Huh? What’s this? A shrine area is being added starting tomorrow?”

“A shrine area? Does that mean we’ll be visiting it?”

“We probably will.”

“I’d like to see a real shrine too, you know~ Last year, I used up all my time finding this hideout and settling in. When Master went for the first shrine visit of the year, Ignite and I were left behind.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Then this year, let’s all go to the virtual shrine together!”

“Let’s go~! When you’re a witch’s grimoire, you only really get chances to infiltrate places like churches~ I’m looking forward to it!”

So you do infiltrate churches…

By the way, both Mentaris and Marinna were enthusiastic about the first shrine visit.

“I heard this one is limited to streamers? I’d like to visit a regular shrine too~ I saw it in a video, but it’s amazing how humans swarm and pack into a religious facility like that. I can peek into so many human minds~”

“Are there any sea gods among those enshrined? Wow, I want to visit those shrines too! Let’s go next time, Master!”

Surprising!

The grimoires liked shrines!

Well then, tomorrow we’ll go with the full Spice army assembled!

“By the way, you two. In the VR space, we grimoires are also recognized as regular characters…”

“What!? A place where aberrations aren’t rare!? Humans are something else~. To have already reached that domain…”

“Are they doing some kind of mental thing?”

The grimoires were chattering excitedly about VR.

Eventually, wouldn’t these guys need avatars too?