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“…Daigorou, I’ve got a job for you.”
**“Ruff?”**
“Go to the Ascles Church and bring back the Saint and anyone who can use healing magic. You know the way, right?”
**“Woof!”**

I inscribed a message onto Daigorou’s back using magic. The magically written text would last for a good three hours—plenty of time, and more than enough for that Saint to understand the situation.

The real issue was whether help would arrive in time—or if it was already too late.

“Hurry as much as you can. I’m counting on you.”
**“Woof!”**

Now unburdened of my weight, Daigorou bounded across the rooftops, heading for the Magic District just as instructed. But I couldn’t afford to just stand around and wait. As quietly as I could, I pushed the door open.

“…Is anyone in here?”

No answer. Not even a scream. At the very least, there were no pools of blood within sight. But the choking stench of blood remained just as strong, wafting from deeper within the facility.

“And *you* there—am I right in assuming you’re an enemy?”
**“Grrgh… gghhh…!!”**

From the depths of the workshop came a low, inhuman voice, and a creature stepped sluggishly into view.

It walked on two legs with birdlike, four-toed feet. Its short arms ended in clawed hands, and its body was covered in thick, scaled hide. Acidic drool dripped from its maw, which was lined with jagged fangs.

A raptor—closely related to wyverns. A wingless, ground-dwelling dragon-like beast. You’d expect to find one in some remote forest, not in the middle of a city like this.

“I’d prefer if you were the type I could reason with… but sorry, could you get your boss for me?”
**“GIIIIIEEEEEEE!!”**

With a screech like claws raking metal, the raptor lunged at me. Probably a young one—missed a meal and got desperate.

I lobbed a fireball along its trajectory, and the reckless lizard charged right into it. The blast took its head clean off. They’re only dangerous when hunting in packs. Even a student could handle one on its own, no matter how ferocious it acted.

“If anyone’s hiding, speak up! I’m here to help! What happened here? Is anyone still alive!?”

Slim as the chances were, I called out as I moved deeper into the workshop. But the chunks of flesh and pools of blood I encountered along the way only drained away what little hope I had left.

Lax as it might be, this city did have checkpoints separating its three districts. There was no way a magic beast attack should’ve happened in a place like this. If it did… then the only possible explanation was that someone had intentionally lured them in.

“Seriously—no matter what city I go to, it’s always something…”
**“GIGIGIGIIII!!”**
**“GISHAAAA!!”**
**“GIGIAAAGIIIA!!”**

Naturally, the moment I raised my voice, the raptors swarmed in response. I didn’t know how many they’d already devoured in this workshop, but they still seemed hungry. The red stains on their mouths clearly weren’t tomato sauce. All they cared about was stuffing their faces—and getting in my way.

“Disgusting creatures… Sorry, but I’m going to make a bit of a mess here.”

I offered a word of apology to the body of someone who had once been a person, now lying nearby, and summoned blades of wind. I would carry their resentment and regret—every last trace of it. In exchange, I’d see to it that their stolen lives were avenged.

Leave the prayers to the sorcerers who would arrive later. A wizard like me can only do this much.

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“Eeeek! I’m so late!”

By the time I’d entered the Magitech District chasing after Master, the sky was already glowing orange with sunset.

I meant to head out right after putting away the cleaning supplies, but the janitor lady caught me and we ended up chatting for way too long. Still, her stories about her old flames were so entertaining—I’d love to hear more. Maybe I’ll try asking her again tomorrow.

“Is Master gonna be mad at me…? Huh?”

I had been hurrying just enough not to bump into people, but my feet suddenly stopped. Something about the air in the city felt… off.

The people walking along the street looked the same as always. It was around dinnertime, so delicious smells were starting to waft from somewhere. Everything seemed peaceful, just like yesterday. Nothing had changed. And yet, my skin prickled.

“What is this feeling…?”
**“Woof! Woof woof!!”**
“Eh? Wah—Daigorou!?”

Leaping right over my head was Daigorou, who was supposed to be with Master. He barked at me and kept running straight toward the workshop—but Master wasn’t riding on his back.

“Huff… huff… Oh, Momo. What a coincidence, meeting you here…”
“Oh, Ms. Roche? You too? You’re soaked in sweat!”

Following Daigorou, equally out of breath, came Ms. Roche and a few sisters from the Ascles Church. They must’ve been running all the way to the Magitech District at Daigorou’s pace—they looked utterly exhausted.

“M-Ms. Laika said there was an emergency… She sent a message… using a golem…”
“Master did? Understood. I’ll go ahead and check things out!”
“Hehe… I suppose I can’t tease Ms. Laika about her stamina anymore…”

I was sure something had happened at the workshop—probably someone was hurt, which was why Master had called for Ms. Roche. But this wasn’t just an accident. That sharp tingling sensation on my skin meant something much worse had happened.

“Daigorou! Wait up—Is Master okay!?”
**“Woof woof woof!!”**

He was probably telling me to follow him. I chased after Daigorou and quickly arrived at the workshop. From beyond the half-open door, the ominous sensation that tingled at my skin only grew stronger.

“Master! It’s me, Momo! Are you okay!?”
**“――Gigi, giii…!”**
“…Huh?”

I called out through the crack in the door, but the one who came out from the workshop wasn’t Master. It was a bipedal lizard—or rather, a tiny dinosaur. It looked just like the ones I saw in that dinosaur picture book a long time ago, the kind that attacked in packs and stole eggs from bigger dinosaurs.

Drooling, it slowly lumbered out of the building—and startled me half to death.

**“Grrrrrrr!!!”**
**“Gii-GIIEEE!!”**
“W-w-whoa!? No fighting! Stop! Go on, shoo!”

As soon as Daigorou spotted the dinosaur, he let out a growl. The two of them looked like they could leap at each other any second.

But I had no idea what kind of damage they’d cause if they started fighting in the middle of the city. After yesterday’s mess, if we destroyed the workshop again, Master would be furious this time.

**“GIGIGIGIAAA!!”**
“――*No! Go away!*!!”
**“Gi…gigi…!?”**

When I ended up yelling at it, the little dinosaur flinched in surprise and scurried back through the doorway into the workshop.

No, it wasn’t just startled…it felt more like it *actually listened to me*, somehow―

“Ms. Momo? What on earth just happened?”
“Oh, Ms. Roche! You caught up. I just got here myself, so I don’t really know, but—what was that dinosaur!?”
“Most likely a raptor. They’re violent, carnivorous beasts. Under normal circumstances, they’d never be seen in the middle of a city.”
“Then these aren’t normal circumstances, are they? Let’s go, quickly!”
**“Woof woof!!”**
“Ms. Momo, please—do be cautious!”

With Daigorou leading the way, I rushed into the workshop—and found it in a horrible state. Gouges and claw marks were slashed across the walls and floors, pools of blood stained the ground, and several small dinosaur corpses were strewn about.

Among them were human arms and legs as well…but now wasn’t the time to stop in shock. Finding anyone still alive had to come first.

“Master! Where are you? Please answer me!!”
**“Woof-woooon!!”**
“…Momo?”

Following the trail toward where more of the mini-dinosaur corpses lay, I found Master in one of the rooms at the end of the hall.

If I remembered right, this was Mr. Zaif’s lab. Compared to the other rooms, it was in terrible shape—the telescope he’d worked so hard on was completely smashed to pieces.

In the center of the ruined room, Master was holding Zaif’s… remains in her arms.

“Master! Are you okay? What on earth happened here!?”
“…I don’t know. But it seems the culprit wanted to erase something that was in this room.”
“Something…? What was it?”
“No idea. But he asked me to fulfill his last will. I’m going after the one responsible. I’m leaving this place to you.”
“W-where are you going, Master!?”
“――‘Regulus.’ Apparently, that’s where the culprit fled. You’re to come after me later, Momo.”