by Takehaya
Theia pointed at Koutarou as she spoke. There was plenty Koutarou wanted to say in return, but he decided to hold it in for now.
“Which means, in the end, we’re all after this room.”
“So it seems.”
Koutarou and Sanae wanted to live there, Yurika wanted to hold a party, Kiriha wanted to rebuild an altar, and Theia wanted to rule it.
“In other words, you all came here to invade my room.”
“Simply put, that would be the case,” Ruth chimed in.
Five girls were after Koutarou’s room. They each had their own goals, but they all wanted to take the room from him.
“But what do we do? None of us have any intention of fighting or leaving. Are we going to play games again?”
Another thing they all had in common was that none of them wanted to fight Koutarou. Because of that, they had previously agreed to settle things with games. But that was before Theia had arrived.
“Ohoho, games don’t sound bad. That is how wars of old used to be.”
“Then you’ll agree on settling things with games, Theia-dono?”
“On one condition.” Theia nodded confidently.
“Condition? What condition?”
“Hehehe, I will only play against that pleb.”
“What do you mean, Theia-dono?” Kiriha’s expression turned serious.
“It’s simple. If I play a game now, I have a one in five chance of winning. However, after I have eliminated the other invaders, my chances are one in two. The pleb aside, I have no reason to play games with the rest of you!”
“So that’s your plan...!”
“Do you really think you can win?!”
Tension in the room rose as Theia stood up with a fearless smile.
“Of course! In truth, I was just about to last time.”
“I wonder about that. I have already prepared weapons that will work on you. Karama, Korama!”
“Ho!”
“Yes, ho!”
Responding to Kiriha’s voice, the two haniwas appeared before her. Their designs had changed slightly from before. One had a sword hanging off its waist, while the other had something resembling a beard near its mouth.
“The Spiritual Energy Katana and Spiritual Wave Cannon have been prepared! Ho!”
“Ane-go, just leave this to us! Ho!”
“This means neither of us can block the other’s attacks.”
Kiriha slowly stood up and made her declaration, wearing the same fearless grin as Theia. The Spiritual Energy Katana and Spiritual Wave Cannon were similar to Sanae’s psychic powers. Since Sanae could supernaturally slip past Theia’s barrier, these weapons would work on Theia too.
“You impudent...”
“Which means victory for me and Kiriha. You can’t hurt me since I’m a ghost.”
Sanae floated up and created a will-o’-wisp. As she discharged electricity, the will-o’-wisp grew larger.
“Blue Knight, activate the Anti-Personnel Weapons System’s Mind Pulse and Motor Cannon.”
Obeying Theia’s orders, the two small disks reappeared above her shoulders once more.
“Those things won’t work on me.”
“We’ll see about that.” Theia remained confident. “Even if you are a ghost, you still have a mind. So as long as I use a weapon that targets your mind, I can defeat you!”
“Damn it, is there anything aliens can’t do?!”
Sanae stomped her feet in frustration as Koutarou and Ruth raised their voices.
“H-Hey, wait! Are you going to fight here?!”
“Please stop, Your Highness!”
“Back off, Koutarou! It seems we need to eliminate this alien princess no matter what!”
“If you get in the way, you’ll just get hurt!”
“Just stand back, pleb! I’ll show you how powerful your master is!”
“S-Stop it! God knows what will happen if you guys fight for real!”
“Your Highness! Please stop it, Your Highness!”
But the three girls refused to listen to Koutarou’s and Ruth’s desperate pleas. They just continued to stare each other down as the tension grew thicker.
“Wh-What’s going on?!”
As Yurika—who was unaware of the situation—opened the sliding door, the battle finally began.
“Victory to the attacker!”
“Gooooo!”
“Korama, the Spiritual Wave Cannon!”
What ensued was a disaster.
“Look out, Ruth-san!”
“Wha... What?!”
One of the stray bullets that shot out from the black disks above Theia’s shoulders flew directly towards Ruth, who wasn’t paying attention. Koutarou instinctively reacted and tackled her into the hall leading to the front door.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Being thrown to the floor hurt a little, but fortunately, the bullet passed over them.
“Th-Thank you, Satomi-sama...”
“Don’t space out, Ruth-san!”
“I’m sorry. Even though I’m a guard, I’m no good at combat...”
Koutarou helped Ruth back to her feet as Yurika came to hide in the hall as well.
“Wh-What is going on?! The futon in the wardrobe was just charred!”
“Tulip is planning on reducing the number of people in this room before she settles things with me!”
“Wait, so we’re not playing games then?!”
“She wants to single me out to increase her chances of winning!”
“B-But that’s terrible! That means I’ll be targeted too, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t worry. You’re probably not on her radar.”
“Waaaaah! I don’t want that either!”
Several minutes had already passed since the other girls had begun fighting.
“Fuahahaha! What’s the matter, you two? Do you think you can beat me like that?”
“What do we do, Kiriha?! She’s just ridiculous!”
“We will not lose either. Just calm down and look for an opening!”
Sanae and Kiriha were working together to fight off Theia, but her superior firepower meant the playing field was practically level.
“But what do we do? The room will be destroyed at this rate!”
Realizing that himself, Koutarou began panicking. Since no one had the decisive upper hand in this battle, the room was taking most of the damage. There were scorch marks and bullet holes all over the apartment. It was a small miracle that there weren’t any fires yet.
“Satomi-sama, look out!”
“Huh?!”
As Koutarou peeked into the inner room to get a handle on the situation, a fireball launched by one of the haniwas came straight for him. Another stray bullet.
“Waaaaah! I’m going to die!”
“Quick Cast Fireball! Targeting Option: Auto Homing!”
Koutarou heard Yurika’s voice as he ducked to cover his head.
“What?!”
The next instant, the broom in Yurika’s hand began glowing red, and a second fireball appeared from its tip. The new fireball flew towards the first one.
“Hyaaaah!”
The two fireballs collided mid-air and exploded. While that prevented a direct hit, the flames from the explosions assailed Koutarou.
“I’m gonna die! I’m gonna burn to death!”
“Flame Shield!”
But for some reason, the flames didn’t hurt Koutarou.
“Huh? It’s not hot?”
Curiously enough, the flames vanished some ten centimeters or so away from him. A yellow light surrounded Koutarou. When the flames touched the light, they were extinguished.
“What’s this...?”
“Satomi-sama!”
“Are you okay, Satomi-san?!”
Ruth and Yurika pulled the surprised Koutarou back into the hallway.
“That’s dangerous, Satomi-san! Don’t poke your head out like that in a fight! If my spell hadn’t made it in time, what do you think would’ve happe
ned?”
“What?! Was that thing your doing, Yurika?”
Koutarou’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Yes! The fireball and the light protecting you now were both spells I cast.”
Yurika smiled triumphantly as she looked at Koutarou’s surprised expression.
“You, you really are...!”
“Yes, I really am a magical girl!”
Yurika’s eyes beamed with anticipation as she waited for Koutarou’s next words.
“You really are an idiot!”
“...Huh?”
Yurika’s smile froze. What came out of Koutarou’s mouth was the exact opposite of what she had expected.
“This place is already at risk of going up in flames, so why the hell would you use fire to fight fire?!”
“Whaaaaa?! That’s what caught your attention?!”
Yurika was deeply disappointed. She had truly believed that this time Koutarou would have to accept that she was a magical girl. This time, this time for sure... But reality is cruel.
“What else?! You idiot!”
“Auuugh... Please be surprised that I’m actually a magical girl!”
“I don’t care about that! My life is on the line here! Or are you trying to burn me to death?!”
“No, I used my spell to keep that from happening!”
“Good grief... I can’t waste time on this”
Koutarou gave up on arguing with Yurika and ran towards the front door.
“Aahhh... I’m starting to hate everything...” As Yurika watched him go, she squatted down, depressed. “My precious stuffed animals burned up too... Maybe I should stop protecting this room and everyone in it...”
The only reason that the room hadn’t already been destroyed was thanks to Yurika’s protective spell. It was also the reason the three girls fighting weren’t hurt. If it weren’t for Yurika, they would have been seriously injured fighting in a small room like this with nowhere to run. Not to mention the massive fire that would have started by now.
“This is painful... I thought being a magical girl would be more rewarding than this...”
Yet her efforts remained unacknowledged. In the end, the biggest contributor to protecting room 106 was sulking.
“Ruth-san, I’ll leave Yurika to you!”
Leaving the moping Yurika behind, Koutarou grabbed his bat from the umbrella stand by the door and marched to the inner room now embroiled in a fierce battle.
“Satomi-sama, just what are you—?!”
“I’m going to stop Tulip—I mean Theia!”
“Please stop, Satomi-sama! If you run in there now, your life will be in danger!”
“It’ll be too late if I don’t go now! I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if this fight breaks out of the apartment!”
Koutarou was well aware of the danger of jumping into the fight, but if he didn’t stop it now, it would get out of control. They would eventually move outside. And if that happened, there would really be no stopping them. Right now, fighting inside the cramped apartment was forcing each of them to hold back. It was keeping the damage to a minimum. But once they broke outside, they would be able to go all out.
“Now’s the only time we can stop them! There’s no time to spare!”
Koutarou had no confidence that he’d be able to stop them if they went outside.
“Satomi-sama...”
“Don’t worry. She can’t attack me, right?”
“Well, that’s true, but...”
Ruth anxiously looked back towards the inner room. She could hear the girls’ voices and she could see mysterious flashes.
“If I can restrain her, the other two will stop fighting too. Ruth-san, this is the best way to protect your princess.”
“Satomi-sama... You...”
Ruth looked surprised, but eventually nodded.
“I understand. I will support you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. This is for Her Highness’s sake”
Ruth nodded with a smile. It was the kind of smile that made Koutarou feel close to her.
“I’ll charge in and grab her.”
“Then I will intrude into the Blue Knight’s main system and lower Her Highness’s barrier. Capture Her Highness when it’s down!”
“Please do. Let’s get to work, Ruth-san. We’re running out of time.”
Quick to action, Koutarou rushed down the hall.
“Yes!”
Ruth followed his lead and took action.
“I’m off, Ruth-san!”
“Leave the barrier to me, Satomi-sama!”
Koutarou leaped into the inner room.
When Koutarou entered, the three girls were in the middle of a firefight. However, as Theia had more firepower, the other two were being pushed back.
“It’s no use! I have seen through all of your attacks!”
“Then how about me?!”
Koutarou jumped at the loudly laughing girl as she shot the room full of holes.
“What?!”
“Koutarou! Why?!”
“Get back, Koutarou! You’ll be killed!”
“All of you! Stop this stupid fighting right now!” As Koutarou shouted, he grabbed ahold of Theia’s right wrist. “I got you!”
“What?! The barrier isn’t working?!”
The barrier that had been protecting the girl proved ineffective as it allowed Koutarou to catch her. That was thanks to Ruth who had lowered the barrier as promised, but Theia was caught off guard by the situation.
“I won’t just let you do as you please!”
Koutarou pulled on Theia’s arm and glared at her.
“You fool! I told you that I wouldn’t fight you!”
“But if I just let this fight go on, it’s going to turn into a giant mess!”
“So what? Blue Knight, use only non-lethal weapons! I can’t afford to accidentally kill the pleb!”
“As you wish, my princess.”
Obeying her orders, the weapons that could be seen from within the holes above her shoulders were changed. Since Theia couldn’t kill Koutarou, she switched to non-lethal weapons in case of friendly fire.
“Not good.”
However, that just showed that Theia still intended to fight. Upon realizing this, Koutarou threw his bat to the side and forcibly embraced her.
“L-Let go of me, you fool! Don’t touch me so casually!”
“Like hell I’d let go! You’ll just keep attacking if I do, right?!”
“Of course!”
Theia struggled to break free, but Koutarou wasn’t going to let go that easily. It was clear that she would attack if she got free.
“All right, Koutarou! Just keep holding her like that!”
“Sanae?!”
As Koutarou turned his head to look at Sanae, he saw her floating his TV into the air.
“Stop it, Sanae!”
She was going to throw the TV at Theia. Koutarou desperately tried to stop her. It was the Satomi family TV from before Koutarou moved out, so it was quite large. A direct hit wouldn’t just hit Theia. Koutarou was in danger too.
“Hyaaah! Sanae-chan Drop!”
But sadly, Sanae ignored Koutarou and threw the TV anyway.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Uwaaah?!”
Koutarou threw himself to the floor while still holding on to Theia.
The TV flew past where they had just been standing and rolled across the floor before crashing into the wall and breaking apart.
“You idiot! Are you trying to kill both of us?!”
“I-I’m sorry! I just went with the flow!”
“You have my gratitude, ghost! Thanks to you, the tables have turned!”
Using the opening when they fell to the floor, Theia escaped from Koutarou’s grasp and turned her weapons on him. The guns inside the black disks were shining eerily.
“Oh no!”
“Karama, Korama! Block up those holes!”
“Leave it to us! Ho!”
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“Got it!”
“Fire!”
As the weapons were fired, the haniwas blocked a hole each. Theia’s attack hit them directly, but as she had only fired non-lethal weapons, the haniwas remained unharmed.
“You again?! Ugh, how annoying!”
Theia’s expression distorted in anger as she swung her left fist. She was wearing a metallic glove that had the power to blow away her opponents, but the haniwas saw the attack coming and easily dodged it as they returned to Kiriha.
“Thanks, Kiriha-san.” Koutarou thanked Kiriha while getting some distance from Theia.
“Don’t thank me.”
“Huh?”
For some reason, Kiriha grabbed ahold of Koutarou and pushed her large breasts against his back.
“With this, I can’t lose.”
“What are you doing?!”
Koutarou shouted at the girl before he could take the time to confirm the sensation of her chest.
“Koutarou, as long as you’re with me, that girl can’t defeat me. However, I can still attack her.”
“Ho!”
“Ho, ho!”
Moving simultaneously as Kiriha spoke, the two haniwas floated before Koutarou and Kiriha.
“Kiriha-san, let go! There’s no reason to continue fighting!”
“With this, I win, alien princess!”
“You put some thought into this, Person of the Earth or whatever!”
Theia grit her teeth and stopped moving. Like Kiriha said, Theia couldn’t attack her in this predicament. With Kiriha using Koutarou as a shield, Theia couldn’t use any powerful weapons, and any non-lethal weapons would just be blocked by the haniwas.
“Hey! Kiriha! Get away from Koutarou!”
“Sanae?!”
But things didn’t go down the way Kiriha had planned.
“You’re trying to seduce him with your adult figure again!”
“You’re wrong! Stop it, Sanae! You misunderstand the—”
“What exactly am I wrong about?!”
Unfortunately, Kiriha was unable to persuade Sanae, and the now furious ghost jumped in to pull Kiriha and Koutarou apart.
“An opening!”
Of course, Theia didn’t let this chance slip by.
“Blue Knight, eliminate everyone except the pleb!”
“As you wish, my princess.”
“Waaaaah, stop it! You’ll destroy the room!”
Koutarou had jumped in to stop the fighting, but it had only made things worse.