Mushroom Lord (1)

Because today was her schedule to take care of the mushroom, Aria, who couldn't sleep for too long, finally decided to just wake up early so she could prepare the weapon she would use later. Starting from swords, arrows, daggers, to maces, everything was in that chest.

Though for obvious reasons, Aria grew even more agitated as she looked at all the weapons. "Goodness, what did he expect me to do with all of this?" She muttered shakily.

In Rei's words, as long as she channeled her magic into those weapons and attacked it, the demon would be defeated easily. "But how can he believe me that much even though he knows that I've never held a weapon--let alone fight monsters??" Thought Aria again, who was getting more and more shaky.

"Or, don't tell me this is also part of the training?" She muttered then. But she hadn't even passed the sandbag training before. So why is she being told to fight a mushroom monster already...

Unable to remain silent, Aria finally re-opened all the notes Rei gave before she got here. But when she was busy looking at it, suddenly she saw a small head sticking out from behind the wall.

"Oh, Helen?" Aria called. The girl immediately went back to hiding, but Aria decided to walk closer "What's wrong? Is there something you need?" She asked. And slowly, the girl finally showed herself.

Unlike other children, Helen always wore dresses all the time. Even the slight waves in her hair always look perfect. Even in a pandemic situation like this, habits since childhood really can't be changed just like that.

"It's okay. You can tell me." Aria asked again more gently.

Ang the girl finally answered. "That, Cal said if you can get rid of the mushroom, the plague will stop too." She said.

"Yeah, I hope so."

"T-Then I want to help!" She said suddenly with all her might. "Just like you, I can also use magic. So I want to help too."

Slightly stunned, Aria was silent for a few moments. She had actually heard from the other kids that Helen could use magic, but of course Aria had never thought of bothering her let alone asking for help.

"You're very brave." Aria said at first. "I'm really glad to hear that, but that mushroom is a bit dangerous. So let me take care of it."

"Why? My magic is pretty good. Everyone always said that I'm talented. Here, look!" The girl said again while showing off her little ball of light.

Again silent, Aria tried to think of another way to refuse her. Because judging from her attitude, Aria was actually worried that she would actually do something secretly if she kept getting rejected. "Um, you're right. Come to think of it, I also couldn't do it like that when I was your age."

"Really??"

"But if you're really going to help, I need to tell you something first." Aria said quietly. Helen still nodded, so Aria continued. "Actually, it's not just a mushroom. It's a demon."

"D-Demon? You mean like monsters?"

"Yes. Exactly like monsters."

"..."

Aria hoped that the girl would get scared after hearing that. But just as she had feared, Helen only strengthened her resolve even more. "E-E-Even so, there must still be something I can help you with, right? I want to help!"

"Hmh…" Aria sighed. But after thinking for a bit, she tried to brighten her face again. "Well, if you're that sure, I guess I do need your help." Aria said while holding out her hand. "Here come with me. I have something to show you."

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Returning to the place Feny had pointed out last night, Aria looked at the small mushroom again for the umpteenth time. And indeed, according to the picture Rei had given, the small mushroom did have a strange green trunk and ash head. The green light was also visible last night.

So there was no mistake, deep underground, some terrifying demon beast must be there.

It's just that, because they weren't completely the same, Aria still couldn't calm down right away. "…This one is a bit fatter." She muttered nervously.

'If that means the monsters will get stronger too, what should I do…' Aria grumbled--half scared, half annoyed. Because she actually sent a letter regarding this information to Rei last night, but she hasn't gotten any reply until now.

Although when she looked back, where Feny, Mr. Avo, Helen, and even Cal were waiting for her, Aria hastily steeled herself again. "Phew! I should just risk it then. I have to do it by myself anyway." She said, trying to convince herself.

And she finally drew magic circles.

If she remembered correctly, Aria herself had actually learned how to draw magic circles when she was a kid. Her mother used to say that it works as a catalyst for magic with special purposes.

But who needs special purposes when they're a kid? All she wanted to do was just make balloons and fireworks. So as time went by, Aria's brain started to put it as unimportant information.

And when Rei heard that, he immediately looked at her with a disgusted look again. "How uneducated!" He scolded her at that time--although his scolding soon died down after seeing that Aria's drawing was actually pretty good.

"Hh, I hope this works."