But those simple, innocent childhood moments did not last long.
After a barely satisfying lunchbox meal at noon, the homeroom teacher suddenly brought news that afternoon classes were canceled.
Most elementary school students were happy to hear that there would be no classes, but a small portion of the students cared about the reason.
Tohsaka Rin was one of them.
She went to the teachers’ office, intending to ask for the reason, but at the door of the office, she overheard the discussion inside.
The teachers were talking about the children who had gone missing over the past few days.
Because of King of Conquerors Iskandar’s actions yesterday, Caster’s magecraft workshop had been destroyed.
The commotion caused during its destruction had drawn outside attention, and the atrocious criminal case involving the slaughter of young children was exposed to the public.
One of the students who had previously gone missing from Miyama Town First Affiliated Elementary School was among the victims.
Furthermore, it was said that the culprit had still not been arrested by the police.
The culprit’s range of activity was around Fuyuki City, and quite a few students at the school came from Fuyuki.
For the sake of the students’ safety, after receiving the notice about the child-abducting murderer in Fuyuki City, the principal of First Affiliated Elementary School decided to cancel the afternoon classes.
For the next few days, everyone would surely be on edge.
It might even lead to several days of canceled classes in a row, at least until the culprit was arrested, or until the terrible impact of the incident faded from the public’s mind with the passage of time.
Standing outside the office, Tohsaka Rin listened until her body began to tremble.
She thought of the girl who had not come to school today, her deskmate, Kotone, who also lived in Fuyuki City.
Worried about her friend, Tohsaka Rin went to the school’s payphone, inserted a coin, and called her friend’s house.
The call was quickly answered, but what came through was a woman’s anxious voice.
“Is this Kotone?”
“I’m not Kotone.
My name is Tohsaka Rin.
I’m Kotone’s classmate.
Kotone didn’t come to school today, so I wanted to ask what happened to her.”
Rin’s answer made the person on the other end somewhat disappointed.
“Kotone is missing.
She disappeared yesterday.
We’re looking for her too.
If you have any news about her…”
After the call ended, Tohsaka Rin looked somewhat dazed and dispirited.
As a mature little adult, she liked pretending to be grown-up and watching television news.
Because of that, she knew a little about the kidnapper who had appeared in Fuyuki City.
She just had not expected such a disappearance to happen to a friend by her side.
“There’s no class this afternoon.
Let’s go play soccer on the field.”
Back in the classroom, some of the children who could not go home right away began suggesting what games to play in the afternoon.
Compared to their carefree attitude, Tohsaka Rin, who was the same age as them, was weighed down by worry.
“What’s wrong?”
Through the Crystal Palace, Broly noticed that Tohsaka Rin’s happiness value had dropped, so he could not help asking.
“Kotone… Mm, it’s nothing.”
People with worries always had the urge to confide in someone.
But if the person they could confide in was someone they felt would only be burdened by hearing it, then it was better not to say anything.
Tohsaka Rin was mentally more mature.
In her eyes, Broly was a little deskmate who needed looking after.
There was really no need to say things that would make him afraid too.
Broly: “…”
Nothing?
Then why had her happiness value dropped?
One had to know that every lost point of happiness value was equivalent to some food that had not yet been obtained vanishing into thin air.
How could a foodie who cherished food not be anxious about that?
But Tohsaka Rin clearly did not want to say more, which left Broly unsure of what to do.
It was only after the school gates opened and the children who could go home were allowed to leave, and after Tohsaka Rin left the school carrying her small schoolbag, that Broly followed after her.
Tohsaka Rin decided to go to Fuyuki City and search for traces of her good friend.
This was a reckless and impulsive action, but the thought that a friend by her side might die made it difficult for her to bear.
The girl, burdened with worry, did not notice the little tail following behind her.
She bought a ticket at the train station ticket counter, passed through the checkpoint after inserting the ticket, and boarded the train to Fuyuki City that had just arrived at the station.
Broly had no money.
He did not buy a ticket.
Instead, using the advantage of his small height, he crawled under the ticket gate barrier.
Somehow, the ticket inspector nearby did not notice him, and he also boarded the same train.
After boarding the train, with more time to think and calm down, Tohsaka Rin began to feel a little afraid.
In the end, she was only a seven-year-old child.
Although she usually behaved like a little adult, she knew her own situation well.
Later, she might have to face the culprit who had abducted her friend and was suspected of being a child-abducting murderer.
How could a child like her possibly…
“Eh?”
A pair of small shoes appeared by her feet, making the girl raise her head.
When she looked up and saw her little deskmate standing beside her, Tohsaka Rin’s mouth opened wide.
“Why are you here?”
She asked directly.
“I followed you here.”
Broly answered honestly.
“Ah, why?”
Tohsaka Rin was somewhat confused.
“You weren’t doing too well.
I was worried about you.”
Broly was concise and to the point, leaving out the key factor of her happiness value continuing to drop.
Tohsaka Rin: “…”
She did not know what to say, but the panic and nervousness she had originally felt were indeed diluted somewhat by the sudden appearance of this boy beside her.
In fact, in front of this little deskmate who needed looking after, she once again put on her reliable, mature little-adult act.
With a stern face, she began lecturing Broly.
“Children should go straight home after school.
It’s dangerous.”
“Aren’t you a child too?”
Broly asked back.
“I’m different.
I’m going to find my friend.
Besides, I’m pretty amazing.”
Young Tohsaka Rin’s face turned red as she argued.
“Oh.”
Broly nodded and believed her explanation.
But that agreeing attitude instead made Tohsaka Rin feel a little lost.
“Aren’t you going to argue with what I said?”
“Were you lying?”
“No.”
Tohsaka Rin puffed out her chest, though her eyes dodged somewhat guiltily.
“Where do you live?
I’ll take you home first later.”
She changed the subject.
“My home is over there.”
On the train, Broly pointed in the direction of the Fujimura residence and said this.
“So, what’s the exact address?”
Broly did not answer.
He only looked at the girl with a blank gaze.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know your own home’s exact address?”
“I can find my way back myself.”
Broly indeed had not remembered the address, but he had remembered the direction.
The distance was not far.
It was not even as far as the distance between his home on Planet Vampa and the nest of the Vampa spiders’ cave.
“So, does that mean you’re lost?”
Tohsaka Rin felt her head starting to hurt.
Her old deskmate had gone missing, and her new deskmate had followed her and lost his way home.
“I’m not lost.
I can find my way back.”
Broly emphasized again.
But Tohsaka Rin did not believe a single word of what the boy said.
What “I can find my way back myself”?
It was nothing more than a boy’s stubborn refusal to lose face.
“I’m going to look for my friend Kotone.
After we get off the train, you go find a police officer and ask the officer to help you get home.”
“What is a police officer?”
“You don’t even know what a police officer is?
It’s fine.
After we get off, I can take you to…”
Tohsaka Rin suddenly stopped.
She realized that, at her age, if the police saw her, there was a high chance they would simply send her back home too.
“Forget it.
You should come with me to look for my friend.
After we find Kotone, I’ll send you home.
But you have to listen to me.
If we really run into danger, and I tell you to run, you run immediately.”
Taking a little companion along on an adventure was not very good, but in young Tohsaka Rin’s current view, this was the only choice.
After all, she could not go turn herself in to the police, nor could she leave her new deskmate, who clearly needed someone to look after him, alone in an unfamiliar place.
“Okay.”
Broly nodded obediently.
He had no objections to the things Tohsaka Rin had instructed him about in advance.
The great adventure team of young Rin and young Broly, bound for Fuyuki City, was officially formed on the train.
After getting off the train, Tohsaka Rin brought Broly along and began searching the route from the station to her friend’s house.
According to Kotone’s mother, and based on the deductions of the famous detective Tohsaka Rin, Rin believed that her friend had been abducted on her way home.
However, she was not a true famous detective who looked like a child on the outside while being a high school student on the inside.
Faced with countless intersecting routes and rows of buildings, Tohsaka Rin had no way of determining which area was more likely to be where the kidnapper appeared.
The girl could only use the clumsy method of checking every possible route.
And she was even using herself as bait while doing so.
Of course, there was also Broly, following behind her and joining in on this search operation.
“I can’t find anything.
I can’t find anything at all…”
From early afternoon until the setting sun painted the sky, Tohsaka Rin felt the helplessness of being a child.
“Broly?”
Just as Tohsaka Rin was preparing to continue searching around like a headless fly, she discovered that the little tail following behind her had disappeared.
She immediately grew nervous.
One old deskmate had already gone missing.
Was she going to lose a new deskmate too?
And from right under her watch?
However, after turning back to the street they had come from, she found that the boy had simply been drawn in by a takoyaki shop on the side of the road and had stopped in front of it.
“Do you want some?”
After discovering that Broly had not gone missing, Tohsaka Rin breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the boy’s somewhat greedy expression, she walked over and asked.
“Mm.”
Broly nodded.
The smell of takoyaki had stirred the gluttonous worms in his stomach.
“Then I’ll treat you.”
Tohsaka Rin took out her small wallet and bought two servings of takoyaki.
After walking so much, she was also a little hungry.
The two entered the shop and found a place to sit, then waited for the takoyaki to be finished.
“I’m going to the bathroom.
Don’t follow me.” This story is hosted at g.com.
While waiting, Tohsaka Rin felt the urge to use the restroom.
She stood up and headed toward it, but when she noticed that Broly seemed to want to follow, she blushed and said that.
Broly was very obedient and sat back down.
The sound of flushing water soon rang out.
Just as Tohsaka Rin finished washing her hands and was about to come out, the magical energy pointer hanging in front of her chest suddenly reacted.
This item was a birthday present her father had given her in advance.
It could detect people or objects in the world that possessed magical energy.
Its main purpose was to help her avoid hidden dangers in the world, but she had not expected it to react at a time like this.
Following the guidance of the magical energy pointer, Tohsaka Rin poked her head out from the back door of the takoyaki shop.
There, she happened to see a young man passing by the alley beside it.
He was holding the hands of several children with blank expressions, his whole body bathed in the evening sun, smiling brilliantly.
“Good children all follow Big Brother.
Big Brother will take you to play a really fun game.”
Ryuunosuke Uryuu was wearing the magical bracelet that his Servant, Bluebeard, had made for him.
The bracelet had a hypnotic effect on children, and with it, he had once again gathered a group of adorable children.
Ever since meeting Bluebeard, Ryuunosuke Uryuu felt that his creative inspiration was bursting forth at every moment.
Because of the police search, he still did not know that his works of art had already been tragically destroyed by Rider.
Right now, he was smiling brightly while thinking about the creation of his next artwork.
He had already made a handmade human piano.
That had certainly been art.
So, his next piece should focus on furniture.
For example, a handmade human piano chair—the kind that would let out a child’s beautiful wail when someone sat on it.
There’s something wrong with this person.
There’s a magical energy reaction coming from him!
Tohsaka Rin hesitated at the back door for a moment, then chose to secretly follow him.
She had no intention of calling Broly.
Compared to having her new deskmate follow a dangerous person who might be the child-abducting murderer, letting him stay in the takoyaki shop and eat takoyaki was the responsible thing to do for her little companion.
“Your takoyaki.”
Five minutes later, the takoyaki shop owner brought Broly the two freshly made servings of takoyaki.
Broly looked at the steaming takoyaki and swallowed his saliva, but at the same time, he felt that Tohsaka Rin was taking a long time.
The person locked onto by his aura seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him.
He did not know when she would return.
So…
It should be fine if I eat my own portion of food, the one my wife treated me to, first, right?
Thinking this, Broly reached out and picked up a takoyaki pierced with a toothpick.
The round takoyaki entered his mouth, hot and fragrant.
When he bit into it, the octopus tentacle inside had a springy, chewy texture.
To summarize in one sentence: it was delicious.
Then, seeing some of the other customers pouring sauce on theirs, Broly copied them.
While Broly was tasting the takoyaki, Tohsaka Rin was carefully following the suspected kidnapper and murderer down a staircase.
She hid behind a box at the corner of the stairs.
Only after that suspected child-abducting murderer went out again did she quietly enter a somewhat abandoned underground bar.
Inside, Tohsaka Rin saw several abducted children.
Among them was her missing deskmate and good friend.
“Kotone, Kotone…”
But no matter how she called out to her, the girl remained blank and lifeless.
“She’s been hypnotized by magecraft.”
After checking her, Tohsaka Rin deduced her friend’s condition.
“Oh my, what child might this be?”
Just as Tohsaka Rin was preparing to go out and find help, the path behind her was blocked by Ryuunosuke Uryuu, who had returned at some unknown point.
“If it weren’t for the old man’s familiar, I really wouldn’t have noticed I was being followed.
But fortunately, the one following me is such a cute child like you.
So, what are you doing here?”
“I-I just accidentally took the wrong path.”
This sudden turn of events caused cold sweat to form on Tohsaka Rin’s forehead.
As the girl defended herself, she tried to run past him.
“Since you’re already here, why not play with Big Brother?
A party is only fun when there are lots of people, after all.”
However, Ryuunosuke Uryuu blocked her and reached out to grab her.
He had thought that, with the hypnosis bracelet, subduing a child would be effortless.
But the moment he grabbed the girl’s hand, an electric shock-like sensation struck him, and, unprepared, he immediately let go.
“Do you have static electricity on you?”
Ryuunosuke Uryuu was somewhat surprised.
Since he was not a magus, he did not understand that this was an electric shock-like effect caused by the hypnotic magecraft on the bracelet being resisted instinctively by the magical energy within the girl’s body.
“Don’t climb onto the bar counter.
It’d be bad if you fell and damaged your body.
Creative materials should be kept as intact as possible.”
After some twists and turns, Ryuunosuke Uryuu once again caught Tohsaka Rin.
But as the girl endured the magical attack that made her consciousness grow hazy, she forced out her own magical energy and violently destroyed the bracelet.
The man was sent flying backward.
With the hypnosis tool destroyed, the children in the bar woke up.
Finding themselves in an unfamiliar place, some of them immediately began crying.
“Rin, what is this?”
“There’s no time to explain.
Hurry and come with me.
Everyone else too, follow me and escape!”
Under Tohsaka Rin’s loud command, the confused children all subconsciously obeyed her words.
But just as Tohsaka Rin opened the door and prepared to escape, a sea demon dropped down from above.
“A familiar?!”
The sea demon’s ferocious appearance caused the girl’s face to turn pale with fright, and she quickly stepped back.
“Good thing I have help.”
Ryuunosuke Uryuu climbed up from the ground, speaking with relief, then took a small knife from his pocket.