Chapter 216 – Takeoff Again

“I’ll bе hеre! Seе уоu lаtеr!”

“Bye-bуе! Let’s chаt on Zakkо аgаin оnсе you gеt home!”

“Оf сoursе! Аnd I’ll dеfinitеlу win that studу abrоad spоt, sо lооk forward tо it!”

“I’m loоking forward to it!”

Аnd sо, I parted waуs with Windу.

Wow, this trip turned out to bе rеally fruitful, didn’t it?

“Oh, I should messаgе Mashirо toо. I’m hеаding bаck now… there.”

Аs soon аs I did, а rеply саmе immediatеly.

It’s 10 AМ in Graz, so it must be 5 PМ оver therе.

“I think уou’ll аrrive in the mоrning, so it’s okaу if yоu dоn’t come back уet… аnd!”

‘It sееms Mаster is taking his timе соming back~’

“Тhe jоurnеу isn’t оvеr until yоu’rе hоme! Gоttа drive safely.”

Inside my bag, the Grimoires were chattering away.

Right now, it seems Ignite and Mentaris are trying to mediate between Marinna and Karafuri.

Come to think of it, the guys are the moderate ones, huh.

Since we’ll all be living together at my place, I want them to get along.

‘Master, Little Floppy recorded the route we took coming here, so we can travel back at quite a high speed?’

“Eh, really!?”

‘Leave it to me, ehehe~’

Whoa—, Floppy is brimming with confidence!!

‘She’s the little sister we Grimoires are proud of~. She’s excellent!’

“Now that you mention it, Floppy was pretty strong during the showdown with the Witch…”

‘She’s been learning magic from her big sisters and brothers. Also, regarding her battery, she can now recharge by borrowing a bit of power from the Concurrent Viewers.’

“If I stream a little here and there, she could become a perpetual motion machine! That’s amazing.”

‘Under our tutelage, Little Floppy is undergoing Grimoire Transformation~. Since there’s never been a Device that could communicate like this before, there was no way to increase our numbers. There are copies humans have made of us, but they’re just degraded copies in the end, and since they haven’t fully analyzed us, no will resides in them.’

“Whoa—, I see!”

Entrusting myself to Floppy’s autopilot, I chat while zooming along.

The scenery is streaming past at an unbelievable speed, but I don’t mind.

Huh?

We’re already over Mongolia?

Isn’t that too fast?

It’s only been about an hour since we left Graz?

‘They say Grimoires that drive you mad if you read them~, but most of those are us! The others seem to have their specs heavily exaggerated and aren’t very realistic. Well, there’s only the previous master and you, Master, who possess this many of us!’

“Ehh, really~!?”

A shocked Spice!

So I’m in such an unbelievable situation right now—!!

‘Master, we’re over China. Please be careful.’

“Ah, yes. Wh-whoaaaaa fast! Too fast!!”

Flight has become something incredible!

And Floppy’s autopilot is way too skilled.

Aren’t we moving at like Mach 10 right now!?

Flota is also utterly astonished by this.

‘With Little Floppy, you can master Flight~! So the reason past masters self-destructed was… because they didn’t have Little Floppy!? That makes sense~!!’

The shocking truth now revealed!

Or rather, it’s just that Spice’s situation is abnormal.

And it’s only now, with Floppy having grown considerably, that this safe autopilot is possible.

It must mean the conditions are finally falling into place.

‘Aha~n? So that means Floppy-kun, you are very excellent, zansu? Hoho~! Me is very interested, zansu~’

‘No—! Little Floppy, you’ll be taught weird magic! Be careful—!’

‘Marinna, that sounds terrible, zansu! It’s like you’re saying you’ll go crazy if you learn magic from Me…’

“You’ll go crazy?”

‘A little.’

Karafuri, holding nothing back!!

He and Marinna popped out of the bag, arguing noisily, but with this vibe, I think they’ll probably get along okay.

“Ah, the Streamer has returned~”

Whoops!!

There was a Hermit Sage just now, right?

Floppy thoughtfully makes an emergency stop.

We stopped near the Japan Sea!

The Hermit Sage comes flying over with a desperate look.

“Huff, huff, what incredible speed. Using outrageous Magic Arts.”

“My apologies. You’re Fugen Shinjin, right?”

“Yes, yes. You’ve already looked into me? Really, I became Fugen Bosatsu to watch over things, and in an instant, the world turned into hell—it made my legs give out. Others like me, more and more Hermit Sages are returning. But, you see… that Demon King is powerful.”

The state of the celestial realm, now revealed!

Everyone had distanced themselves from the human world, but then Dungeons manifested and the world turned into a living hell.

They hurried back and have been fighting the Dungeons as much as they can, it seems.

By the way, Demon King?

A rather unsettling word just popped out, didn’t it?

Even with the Hermit Sages returning, there’s something dangerous that’s hard to oppose?

“I don’t know what method they used, but I received word from the humans. We’ve decided to work with them to reclaim this land. You must do your best too.”

“Ye—s! Also, thank you for the talisman! It was helpful!”

“I’m glad to hear it! You’re an honest, good kid.”

Fugen Shinjin saw me off with a smile.

And so, Spice’s journey truly ends!

As I zip smoothly through the mountains, I can see it—my town!

My apartment building!

Mashiro is on the balcony.

Was she planning to wait all night—!?

“Ah! Shogo—san!!”

She waves her hand energetically.

Spice returned home with a triumphant cheer.

“I’m home—!!”