Chapter 301 – Not much sightseeing in winter.

Whеn it соmes to Ноkkаidо…

“I wаnt to see Ноkkaido Univеrsity!”

“You’ll gеt lоst!”

Littlе Маtаgi shot me dоwn.

Getting lost insidе а universitу, within Sарроro сity…?

Shе drove mе thеrе in hеr car, аnd seеing the scenе mаde me understand.

“It’s а blizzаrd. Where does the univеrsitу even start?”

“That lumр оf snow ovеr therе is thе univеrsitу.”

“Yikes.”

So winter in Hоkkaido is а tеrrifуing plaсе.

Whу on eаrth did Powеred land in Hokkаidо in Februarу?

I thоught we’d bе walking outsidе, but we stayеd in Little Маtagi’s car the wholе time.

“Shосkinglу few рeoрlе аre walking оutside.”

“Неrе, thе mаin movеmеnt is frоm housе dоor to car, and from car to store. Sometimes we use the municipal subway, but—”

“I-I see…”

Seems like we came at a time when we can’t really play around.

Well, fighting Powered is our main objective anyway.

For now, we decided to go eat, so Little Matagi took us to her recommended ramen shop.

Ahh, the aroma of miso ramen~

‘Master, we’ll split up temporarily for information gathering~’

“Oh, Flota, you’re on!”

‘Information gathering is my specialty, yessir! Wooh, Mind Reading—!’

‘Me will assist, zansu yo~! Identifying mind-reading targets, zansu. Gathering a wide range of minor topics, zansu ne~’

‘Those two get along well, don’t they?’

Marinna, looking somewhat sentimental, seemed intent on staying with Spice.

Flota just yelled stuff like ‘Woo! Let’s do this!!’ and dashed out without any real plan.

‘Mmm, I’m interested in miso ramen. Authentic ramen! Wooh, materialization!! Manifestation!’

“Ah! Ms. Spice multiplied!!”

“This color variant is the grimoire Ignite.”

“I-I see. So this is the rumored…”

Ms. Matagi was impressed.

Perhaps Spice’s grimoires becoming human is famous.

Note: When Marinna materializes, she’s in a school swimsuit, so she abstained this time.

Spice, Ms. Matagi, and Ignite sat three in a row at the counter, eating miso ramen.

Thick noodles, delicious!

Aren’t the noodles intensely flavored?

And the stir-fried vegetables and roasted pork on top are clearly… different from what you get in Tokyo…!!

‘Tasty!’

Ignite agrees!

“Grimoires eat meals too…”

‘Mmm, originally unnecessary, but we can convert eaten food into magic power.’

“Wow! I have no connection to magic at all, so I didn’t know that. I’m learning something here.”

Little Matagi is a sniper-style streamer, after all.

She’s mastered assault rifle use for fighting in Dungeons.

She’s the top shooter in D-Spo!

Well, it’s her profession, so of course.

“By the way, Ms. Matagi, grimoires eat meals, right? They use magic power. After that, the absorbed nutrients become like energy, get released into the world, and apparently become fertilizer again.”

“Whoa—! Energy is cycling!!”

We enjoyed the ramen while having a lively, noisy time.

From there, we returned to the car, staying cozy while touring Sapporo city.

Even if we wanted to gather information, there’s no one outside!

It’s too cold and there’s too much snow!

Guess we’re waiting for the grimoires to Return…

Oh, Flota’s back!

When I opened the window, a snow-covered Flota flew in.

“How was it?”

‘No results whatsoever! Couldn’t obtain any~!’

“Well, yeah, rushing out without a plan… What about Snow White?”

‘Listen, Master! That girl uses magic to avoid snow and wind while infiltrating houses and such!’

“Ah, right, she’s a professional.”

“Having lots of grimoires is really convenient, huh…”

“They all act on their own! Actually, I think half of them dashed out because Sapporo is novel to them.”

They’re so curious.

Plus, unlike Graz, the Witch’s sinister influence isn’t spread throughout the city.

‘Mmm, with Powered, he doesn’t use indirect tactics or anything, he attacks head-on with force!’

Ignite, still in Clone mode, was kicking his legs in the back seat.

This appearance was adorable, making Little Matagi smile.

Beside him, Marinna switched to school swimsuit mode!

And Flota became a Clone Spice!

“They multiplied!!”

“Ms. Matagi’s car is spacious!”

The grimoires started chattering noisily, “waa waa kyaa kyaa,” in the back seat.

When Ignite transforms, his voice changes from a deep man’s to a high-pitched girl’s, which is funny.

While we were doing that, a color-variant Windy came and knocked on the window.

Snow White!

So when she goes into Clone mode, she becomes Windy, huh.

With her blue apron dress, she’s exactly like Alice in Wonderland.

She climbed into the passenger seat and squeezed in next to Spice.

“You didn’t have to force your way in like that—!”

‘Everyone’s in human form, so I should be fine too! By the way, in Kansas, two of us line up like this and play Shining games together.’

“Scary! Anyway, any information?”

‘I’ve got it~. That guy basically sleeps somewhere during the day and starts moving at night. Last night, he was around Misono Jujo in Toyohira Ward.’

“That’s amazing narrowing it down!!”

To grasp such core information without Mind Reading or anything…!

Now we just wait for Mentaris and the Karafuri duo to Return.

I wonder if they’ll bring back data for more detailed predictions of Powered’s movements…

About an hour passed as I thought that.

Then, a voice from Mentaris came: ‘Help, zansu~! Frozen by snow and can’t move, zansu~!’

Wh-what?!

Apparently, the two volumes that infiltrated Hokkaido University got buried in snow that fell in front of Dr. Clark and couldn’t move.

Spice, become a rabbit for rescue!

“Huh!? A bunny-girl loli in the snow!?”

Spotted!

This is going to become an urban legend…!