I Didn't Even Want To Live, But God Forced Me To Reincarnate! Chapter 59: Chinosato City (2)

"Hey, can I join, as well?"

The children that were about to start their game got surprised by Alt-nii's sudden request.

Alt-nii... you're really something. You don't even know any of these children, but you daringly wanted to join them...

"Fine, but you will just be a regular prisoner, is that okay?"

"That sounds good!"

And that's how he just suddenly fitted into the group.

"You're not going to join them, Murph?" Rupert asked.

"Ah... No, I think I will just look at them."

As the game started, the boy with bandage who became "it" quickly chased after his friends' shadows. He quickly stepped on the slowest girl's shadow while saying something I can't quite hear—and in that instant, the girl's movement stopped.

Wow, the girl's good at acting, eh? She can even notice that her shadow's being stepped and stopped her movements immediately.

Soon, the other children were caught—and now it's down to Alt-nii and the leader of the prisoners.

"Newbie, you're good at this, but I'm going to catch you!"

"Hehe, thanks for your compliment~"

The moment when Alt-nii's shadow was about to get stepped on, suddenly his shadow shrunk and the child who became "it" failed to step on his shadow.

"Huh, wha, how could it be?"

I can see that he's confused. Alt-nii, on the other hand, smirked even more.

"...He is definitely using his Void magic to erase part of his shadow," Mom deducted.

...Alt-nii, seriously? In a game?

As he ran around the park, he managed to see the other children whose movements are completely stopped. Really, the children are so good at pretending to be paralyzed. One of them had an amazing balance, as one of her legs were crossed to the back. Or did she wobble when I wasn't paying any attention to her?

Alt-nii seemed to be thinking when he saw the other children. And at the moment he slowed down, the child who chased him was about to step on his shadow. I was sure that Alt-nii would pull out his trick again, to erase the presence of his shadow, but... for some reason, his shadow wasn't shrinking at all. At that moment, the child managed to step on Alt-nii's shadow, and Alt-nii also immediately stopped.

Wait what, Alt-nii, you're also as good as the other children in immediately stopping your movements? Wait, could it be that the children of this generation often play games like this that they are so used to it? Did Alt-nii play this kind of game often at school?

The long-awaited moment is finally here. The bandaged child—the police, versus the half-oni child—the leader of prisoners. Instead of one being the chased and one being the chaser, the two of them seemed to be going after each other, and as their shadow was about to get stepped on, they would utter something and their shadow was manipulated in such way that the foe won't be able to seize it.

...Could it be, a chant?

They agreed on shadow manipulation during the final showdown, after all.

The chase continued on until the bandaged child seemed to get exhausted, and the game ended when the half-oni child stepped on his shadow.

"Alright, police, free my underlings!" The leader proudly announced.

"—kh, can't be helped then. I lost this time, but let's play again next time. I'll definitely win the next game!"

The bandaged child snapped his fingers and said something I couldn't really decipher what, and at that cue, the other children moved again.

"Rye-nii, how did you manage to stop as soon as your shadow's stepped on? That reflex is cool!"

"Huh? Ah, no, Murphy. The boy who became "it"—he's a dark magic user, you see? So, he always chants a spell to stop the others' movement once he steps on their shadows. That's how we can keep our last position without moving. That's pretty convenient, we don't get all wobbly although it is still quite tiring to keep our position~!"

Eeeeeh?! You can do that? That's actually cool...

"So, when are you going to train and use that move too?"

"Eh, ehhh?! N, no, I mean... the dark magic users here are free from any prejudice because it's Chinosato... but if it's me, uh... we are not living in Estrada island and Chinosato, so... Uhm, no... not now, at least? I don't feel like I'm ready to learn it right now."

"Eeeh? Come on, everything's gonna be fine~"

"Rye, it's fine. Murphy, we won't force you, but we just want you to understand that not everyone will always judge the dark magic users. See the children that just played here. If no one was a dark magic user, I think they won't be able to enjoy their game as much as they did," Mom said.

...that's right.

Even so, I still shuddered and stiffened my body at the mention of dark magic user—as I was often bullied because of it as Reinst...

But just so you know, I properly learned how the dark magic circle is like. Even when I haven't properly trained my dark magic. Just in case it is needed.

"Well, it's normal for magicians to have their own preferences on what affinities they like to use and which ones they don't really use, so we won't force you about that. But at least I don't want you to be prejudiced against any affinity," Mom explained her concern.

"Eh, really?"

"Yeah. One of my subordinates excels in both fire and water magic, but he put more efforts towards his fire magic just because he likes it better, but that's not because he's prejudiced against the other one."

'The first step required for Lyra is for her to be free from the prejudice,' Ca.s.sie thought.

"So... it's also okay for me to not...?"

"As long as there's no problem, yes. But it depends on the result of your second test plus some certain circ.u.mstances."

"O-okay..."

I don't know what that circ.u.mstances Mom mentioned might be about, but... if Mom insisted that I should do it regardless, then I believe it would be for my good, too. As she is the Head of Royal Magician, I don't have any reason to doubt her judgment, right?

Before long, we managed to see several places that are Chinosato's tourism spots, such as the museums, restaurants that sell Eastern and Oni country's foods, cultural exhibits, and so on. I came to understand how East and West have different culture and preferences. As someone who lived all her previous life in the West Area, this is a nice change.

Then, we visited a traditional medicine store before going back. I saw lots of medicines that I never came across. It's interesting! I think Dad bought some medicine and potions, for stocks, I guess?

"Dad, why are you taking that medicine? Shouldn't it be this one?"

A clear voice of a girl could be heard.