“Wake up, Itsuki.”

“…Hm? Okay.”

As my mom gently shook me awake, I mumbled and curled up under the warm covers.

I wanted to sleep a little longer. After all, I had been physically active for the entire three-day weekend, and now my whole body ached with muscle pain.

Sure, my body in this life is young—or rather, still a child—so sleeping usually takes care of the fatigue. But the muscle soreness sticks around even more stubbornly.

“Nina-chan is already awake, you know.”

“Uh!”

Hearing that, I quickly opened my eyes.

Oh, right. Nina-chan spent the night!

I scrambled out of bed, hurriedly changed my clothes, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. When I finally made it to the living room, I saw Nina-chan sipping on some miso soup.

She looked over at me and said one word.

“Good morning, Itsuki.”

“Uh, yeah. Good morning.”

Having a friend stay over at my house was a completely new experience for me—so new, in fact, that I couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered.

Honestly… I had never stayed over at someone’s house, nor had anyone ever stayed over at mine. Even with Aya-chan, despite almost having a sleepover due to her dad, Renji-san’s work, it always ended up being postponed or muddled for some reason.

So this really was my first time.

Though, to be fair, all we did was finish Nina-chan’s unfinished homework, have dinner, take baths, and go to bed.

Still, it was a fun experience, without a doubt.

“Nina-chan, did you sleep well?”

“…Yeah, I slept fine.”

Although Nina-chan answered that she had slept well, her face didn’t look like she had gotten much rest. Well, I couldn’t blame her—sleeping at someone else’s house for the first time can be unsettling, even if you’ve visited a few times before.

I had similar experiences during school trips back in my previous life as a student. Some people can fall asleep easily in unfamiliar hotels or inns, while others can’t—I’m definitely in the latter group, and judging by Nina-chan’s reaction, she seems to be the same.

As I picked at my breakfast of grilled salmon, tamagoyaki, and miso soup, I thought to myself. By the way, this wasn’t a special meal because Nina-chan was here. This was just the typical breakfast at my house.

Impressive, right?

“It’s my first time eating rice in the morning.”

“You usually eat bread?”

I asked, and Nina-chan nodded.

I thought maybe it was a cultural thing since she wasn’t originally from Japan, but even some Japanese people are more into bread for breakfast, so I kept that thought to myself.

As we quietly continued eating breakfast, Hina, who was still half-asleep, was led into the room by my mom. Her hair was a mess, she was still in her pajamas, and yet, she was clutching a hairbrush in her right hand.

“Here you go, nii-chan.”

“Alright.”

Even though I was only halfway through my meal, there was no way to ignore Hina when she came over like this.

I obediently took the hairbrush and started brushing her hair. This wasn’t exactly a daily routine, but Hina would occasionally ask me to do this for her.

Mom used to do it, but she’s so busy in the mornings that I offered to help out, and it’s been my job ever since.

As I ran the brush through Hina’s long, silky hair, I couldn’t help but admire how smooth and beautiful it was. Was it because she was still a kid, or was it just her natural hair type?

Either way, even someone like me, who has no interest in hair, felt a little envious. Must be nice.

“Do you do that every day?”

“Huh? Oh, no, just sometimes.”

As I continued brushing Hina’s hair, Nina-chan asked curiously.

I immediately shook my head, but she seemed somewhat puzzled and responded with a quiet “Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

She murmured, stuffing another bite of grilled salmon into her mouth.

By the way, I couldn’t help but notice how much Nina-chan’s chopstick skills had improved.

After finishing brushing Hina’s hair, I quickly finished my breakfast, grabbed my school bag, and we left the house.

Usually, I went to school alone in the mornings since Nina-chan and I would practice magic together beforehand. But now, for the time being, we’d be walking to school together.

It felt nice not to be walking alone, I thought, breathing in the cool autumn air.

Around us, I could see people heading off to work, as well as a few middle and high school students on their way to school. But I didn’t see any other elementary school students.

Well, that made sense. Unlike middle and high school students with club activities, elementary school kids don’t usually leave for school so early. Of course, there wouldn’t be many around.

Just as I was thinking that, Nina-chan suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, Itsuki. Do you think that rumor is true?”

“Rumor? Which one?”

I asked, a bit caught off guard by the sudden shift in conversation. Nina-chan clarified.

“The rumor about monsters increasing.”

“Well…”

It did seem like monsters were on the rise. After all, my dad and Renji-san had been going on more and more work trips lately… but now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t noticed an increase in monster sightings around us.

“Irena-san said it was happening all across Japan, so maybe it’s just… not happening around here.”

I was about to continue, but then I suddenly stopped.

There was a good reason to stop.

Because right in front of us—there it was.

A monster.

A long, snake-like finger was wrapped around the traffic light pole. Its full length was probably about three meters.

At the end of the finger—where the snake’s head would be—was an actual human head, grinning with an impossibly wide smile as it opened its mouth.

“Good morning! A-a-and now, it’s 6 PM in the morning!!”

“…!”

Nina-chan gasped softly and grabbed my hand. It was a habit of hers.

She no longer froze in panic or hyperventilated when confronted with monsters, but the sudden appearance of one still sent waves of fear through her body.

That’s why she always held my hand—she had told me that once.

“It’s okay.”

I tried to soothe her with a gentle voice as I extended my “Silveit Thread.”

In one swift motion, I sliced off the head of the snake-like finger.

“Oh, oh! It’s morning, so I’ll be just fine! Greeting people is important!”

Bizarrely, despite having its head cut off, the monster’s body started to regenerate from the severed head.

Meanwhile, the headless end puffed up like a balloon before bursting open, revealing a brand new head.

“Now there are two of me—now it’s 6 PM and 9 AM!”

The two long fingers, now with snake-like heads, started intertwining with each other as if they were mating.

…Gross. And I still had no idea what they were saying.

With a grimace, I wrapped both of the snake-like fingers in two strands of “Silveit Thread” and began chanting.

“Flame Cocoon.”

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A wall of fire erupted around the snake-like fingers, engulfing them.

“Oh, oh! It’s hot, it’s burning! Now it’s 8 AM! Now sizzling at 10 AM!!”

The two snake fingers writhed in agony as their faces contorted in pain, but my flames wouldn’t disappear, nor would they allow them to escape.

Of course not.

This spell wraps around its target with “Silveit Thread,” creating an inescapable prison of flames. Unlike “Flame Sting,” which pierces its target, this spell has higher damage potential, especially against slower-moving enemies.

The charred remains of the snake-like fingers fell to the ground, completely motionless. They soon dissolved into black smoke and drifted up into the sky.

As the morning sun pierced through the rising black smoke, Nina-chan quietly spoke.

“Hey, Itsuki.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… always fight monsters on your way to school?”

“No, not that often.”

“R-Really.”

Hearing my answer, Nina-chan let out a small sigh of relief and started walking again—but she didn’t let go of my hand.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep