The Magic God and Science (Part 2)

The soccer ball the kid had been holding rolled aside. Even though he was the one who had been hit, he could only sit on the ground and tremble helplessly. Surrounded by five burly men, he naturally wore a frightened expression.

"You little brat, don't you watch where you're going? Our boss has a very fragile body, so you definitely can't get out of paying his medical bills."

It was quite scientific for those burly men to say such a line, but the one who actually said it was Mayuna. With a serious expression, she imitated dialogue she had seen before, because these people's builds and manner of entrance practically had 'I'm a villain' written all over their faces.

"This is what you're supposed to say, right?"

After saying that, Mayuna signaled for them to get on with it. Nor had she guessed wrong—thugs and scum could be found everywhere in any city. This group of five was the Dris Parasite Gang, led by Cham, and they spent their days picking fights and harassing the locals.

"Y-yes, B-Boss, e-excellent!"

One of the lackeys pointed at Mayuna and nodded repeatedly. It was impossible to tell whether he had been born with a stutter or had simply been so stunned by Mayuna's charm that he could barely speak.

"You two know each other?"

Cham was bald, without a single hair on his head. His flat, round cap seemed to grant him a little wisdom, making him stand out from his lackeys. At the very least, he had not rushed forward like an idiot to paw at Mayuna.

"No, we just happened to run into each other."

"Kid, since you ran into me, we can't just leave it at that. How about this? Fill this magic stone, and I won't charge you medical expenses."

Cham did not know what relation Mayuna had to the kid. Because of that rumor, he was somewhat wary of Mayuna's image, so he planned to deal with the appetizer first.

After rummaging through his pockets for a while, Cham pulled out a transparent stone and patiently coaxed the kid. Mana in a magical world could naturally be sold for money. Mages could absorb the mana contained in magic stones to replenish themselves, or use it for magical experiments. Of course, mana in this world was tied to life force, so having one's mana drained would inevitably leave the body weakened.

"If I do that, my mana..."

The kid naturally understood that he was in serious trouble. He could only keep looking around for help. As for Mayuna, he had long since ignored her. Someone who could not even use second-tier magic was better off running away early, though he had no idea why she was standing there watching with such relish.

"It's fine. You'll recover after lying in bed for at most a day. The world is so dangerous—if you keep wandering around outside, you'll get hurt. Uncle's only doing this for your own good."

"Anyway, I enjoyed watching your performance, but there's something here I want to try."

At some point, Mayuna had walked over to the kid's side. She gave Cham a friendly smile. What a beautiful smile it was. Before Cham could recover from the beauty's smile, he felt something hard pressing against his stomach.

"What is this?"

Cham lowered his head and saw Mayuna holding a black rod, its other end pressed against his abdomen.

"A stun baton."

Mayuna pressed the switch as instructed by the manual. The metal contact points began generating an electric current. The lackeys only saw their boss twitch a few times for no apparent reason before convulsing all over and collapsing to the ground.

"Oh! This thing is super fun!"

Mayuna excitedly examined the novel item in her hand. Compared to using magic to electrocute these people into charred corpses, she found the tool in her hand much more interesting.

"W-what happened? D-did she use e-electric m-magic?"

The stuttering lackey hurriedly picked up the fallen Cham. When he asked, the other lackeys all answered that they had not sensed any mana fluctuations.

"Kid, what are you standing around for? Run!"

While the lackeys were still worrying about Cham, Mayuna patted the kid's head and prepared to make a break for it. After that sneak attack, they would definitely be on guard and would not easily let her get close again.

"O-okay!"

The kid seemed to snap out of it only then. He hurriedly picked up his soccer ball and ran after Mayuna.

"Let's see, what else can I use... Kid, why are you running so fast?!"

Mayuna searched through her spatial ring for something useful as she ran. The others had recovered and begun chasing them, but she quickly realized that she was not suited to running. The kid had already pulled more than ten meters ahead of her.

"You're just too slow. Big sis, are you bad at both magic and physical stuff?"

The kid had no choice but to slow down and complain at Mayuna. She was an adult, yet she could not even outrun a child. How embarrassing.

"Don't call me big sis!"

Seeing that it was only a matter of time before they caught up, Mayuna simply stopped. She held a lighter in her right hand and pinched a long, thin firecracker in her left. Following the instructions in the manual, she lit the fuse and threw it at the feet of the pursuing lackeys.

Pop!

Anyone who had set off a firecracker at close range knew there was a huge difference between covering one's ears and not covering them. Even adults could have their ears hurt by the blast if they were not careful. Caught off guard, every one of them was startled into stopping.

Humans, like most living creatures, judged the level of danger by sound. Hearing a noise as powerful as the third-tier lightning spell [Thunderclap], the lackeys all unanimously decided that this thing was dangerous—far beyond anything they could withstand.

"This seems pretty fun too."

Mayuna pulled out another firecracker. As she took a step forward, the lackeys all took a step back in unison. What happened next was only natural. Mayuna completely shed her role as the pursued, chasing the lackeys down the street with firecrackers that popped and crackled all the way.

"Hehehe, you can't run away now."

Perhaps in their panic, the thugs ran into a dead end. Mayuna raised the firecracker in her hand with an evil grin, eager to try it out. The poor thugs huddled together in the corner, trembling. They did not dare imagine what would happen if a third-tier spell landed on them.

"Who's the bad guy here, exactly?!"

The kid loudly complained from behind Mayuna. What the hell was this? She had turned the tables way too fast!

"Ice Magic [Ice-Shattering Flying Blades]."

Just as Mayuna was about to light the fuse, she suddenly sensed mana fluctuations. She immediately spun around, grabbed the kid, and rolled across the ground. Sharp shards of ice now filled the spot where they had been standing.

"Boss Cham!"

The lackeys burst into tears at the sight of their boss appearing. If he had come a moment later, they probably would have died at the hands of that demon woman.

"You filthy woman, that shock hurt like hell! Pay the price for what you've done!"

"Haah, I guess magic really is the answer in the end. I'm still not very practiced at this. Kid, hold this and stay a little farther away from me."

Mayuna had not expected the gang leader to be capable of third-tier magic. That level of magic was already quite lethal. She believed the item Ruben had given her could handle a situation like this, but there was no time to slowly read through the instructions. As she spoke, she took the bracelet off her wrist and placed it in the kid's hand.

Mayuna had never said she would carry Magic-Testing Grass with her at all times. The only reason she had honored their agreement before was because she felt too embarrassed to deceive Ruben. This situation was different.

"Then, are you ready to go to hell?"

Vast magic power erupted forth, crushing everyone before her like a tsunami. No one, Cham included, could even think of resisting, because no matter how they sensed it, all they could perceive was magic power as terrifying as the Endless Sea.

"M-Mommy!"

How could those thugs possibly have experienced such terrifying magical pressure before? One after another, they fled in a panic, crying out for their mothers as though staying another moment would get them killed.

"So you're their mother?"

The kid behind Mayuna had not felt any strange power, so he voiced this question as he watched the thugs suddenly run away while shouting for their mothers.

"I'm not!"

Mayuna did not return to her little cabin until the sun had set. She was very happy with the experience she had gained from this outing, though the price she had paid was not small either—for example, she had worked up quite a sweat chasing people around and gotten her long skirt dirty after rolling on the ground.

"Ruben? Ruben?"

Mayuna called out several times without seeing any sign of Ruben. Her gaze finally settled on the table, where a cake covered in cream sat on a plate. The tart scent of cherries, the sweetness of cream, and a faint aroma of alcohol matched the written description exactly. Just one sniff made Mayuna drool, but she did not immediately dig in. Instead, she picked up the note tucked beneath the plate and glanced at it.

It was in Ruben's handwriting, and it contained only three simple words: You worked hard.

"Tch, what a hypocrite."

Mayuna lightly grumbled toward the entrance to the second underground floor. Yet with those words and the cake's consolation, this unusual outing of hers seemed completely worthwhile.