96. Hero Summoning 2

"Ah—," Isanamia muttered, reading the alert message, hand pressing to her forehead. The look of someone who'd just messed up.

"What's this warning, Isanamia?"

Firumia narrowed her eyes, asking.

"Huh, sorry, senior. This is a warning that pops up when a summoning spell activates. Someone seems to have triggered the experimental magic circle I was working on," Isanamia said. "You know, the one I made to send things to Shiro," she added, explaining.

Her magic circle had been set to trigger a warning if it reached a certain size—or if a living being was summoned. For now, they decided to explain things to the summoned person.

◇

Firumia and Isanamia hurriedly created a special white space.

Inside it, they formed a temporary body for the summoned being, linked their soul, and enabled dialogue. Then they started flowing time within that white space.

"Can you see me?" Firumia asked the four.

"Uh, where is this?" Kotone asked back.

"……" Mizuki stayed silent.

"Wait—goddess?!" Masaki and Makoto shouted in unison.

Seeing how excited Makoto and Masaki were, Kotone and Mizuki suddenly felt calm by contrast.

"…Um, this is—" Firumia started to say,

"Ah, it's the divine white realm, right?!" Makoto shouted. Masaki smacked him on the head. "Shut up, you."

"…Yes, that's right. I am the goddess Firumia."

Firumia smiled at the four.

All four fell silent, entranced by her smile.

"Let's get straight to the point. You've been summoned to Filidia—a world, from your perspective, an alternate realm. It's fundamentally peaceful, but currently under threat from a surge of monsters. That's why you've been called here," Firumia explained.

"Wait, no Demon King or anything?" Makoto asked.

"Idiot, I'm not ready to die yet," Masaki muttered.

"...No, there is no Demon King. Unfortunately, once the summoning magic is activated, it cannot be canceled. So we'll need you to transfer to that world immediately. For now, I, as the god of Earth and Filidia, will grant you the skills of a hero—meaning you'll be able to use magic," Firumia said with a smile.

"Yay! Magic! Magic!" Makoto cheered.

"Hey, Makoto! Cut it out and calm down!" Kotone finally snapped.

"...And your bodies will be converted to suit the Filidia world, so you won't die easily. Once you're there, seek out the individuals known as Apostles—they'll help you. And don't worry, you'll return to Earth eventually. Just wait here until we contact you," Firumia said, smiling at the four.

With that, Firumia resumed the magic ritual.

◇

"So, Isanamia, explain it to them, will you?"

Firumia said, smiling at Isanamia. Her eyes weren't smiling at all.

“…Sorry. I was testing a biological transfer spell for Shiro, but I took a little detour to check something for fun, and I left the magic circle behind. Just when I was called by my senior, you know? And I figured no one would come to a place like that… She’s Kotone, right? That part’s a bit of a stretch. But in her case, maybe it’s fate?”

“Fate?” Firumia tilted her head.

“Ehehe, she’s Shiro’s childhood friend. And….” Isanamia giggled, brushing it off with a vague smile.

“…You hardcoded the summoning target into that transfer circle, didn’t you?”

“Ehehe, yeah. I was testing the transfer spell until my senior called me. I was just messing around, thinking, ‘What if I summon Kotone?’ while writing the code, and then—bam!—my senior called, and I just left the circle there.”

And Isanamia continued.

“Um, technically, it was set to ‘the one most emotionally connected to Shiro.’ Sounds like fortune-telling, huh? On Earth, entity instantiation hasn’t been implemented yet, so we had to search through mental and soul data to find plausible connections—algorithmically identifying ‘emotional bonds,’ which turned out pretty tricky. I named it the ‘Fate’s Red Thread’ algorithm! Seems to have worked, don’t you think? What do you say, senior?”

I really think we should push forward with Earth's entityization process a bit more—simplifying the algorithm makes it easier, after all. Anyway, getting back to the point, the result of that is Kotone-chan! Kinda like, "Cute, right?"? Oh, and just so you know, I set the transfer safety margin to a cylindrical volume with a radius of ten meters and height of two meters… so the other three are basically caught in a collateral transfer, huh⁉

"…You know, transferring between Earth and Filidia is a pretty critical module. What are you playing around with…? And why are you so excited?" Firumia said, exasperated.

Eh, it's just a template, right? Isanamia muttered under her breath—but Firumia didn’t hear.

"Hmph. For now, please disable that magic circle's activation," Firumia said.

"Understood!" Isanamia replied.

"Isanamia, for now, freeze Earth's time. We'll hold off on Earth's processing until she returns. It's not like it matters—by the time Shiro arrives, it's already too late anyway," Firumia said.

"Yessir, understood," Isanamia replied lightly.

There was no point in dwelling on it, Firumia resigned, and let events unfold as they would.

◇

"Found it!" a voice called out.

"Who?" the girl asked.

"A soul who shares your thoughts. Will you fight with us, together with your will?" the voice said.

"Fight? …Well, if we think the same way, then yes…" the girl murmured, her consciousness fading.

"Thank you," the voice said, whispering, "【Soul Link】."

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