† Fauna & Flora †

In a split second, he, his sister, and his grandmother were propelled forward at breakneck speed. If he were still in his home world, he would probably have died from the number of G's he would have just suffered, but there didn't seem to be any such problem here.

—Hence the power of fantasy worlds...

They had also gained altitude, flying several hundred meters above the ground, passing through the small patch of stratus clouds, and coming out soaked. The landscapes at their feet whizzed by as his grandmother kept firing... red-hot katanas with her two revolvers to gain more speed.

"Hehe! Unreal, isn't it?" His grandma asked proudly. "And it's far from the fastest I can go."

"This is… cool, but a bit scary too."

"N-No, this i-is just scawy! I want to go back to the ground! Waaa…"

"Well, we're almost there, Sadako. Hang in there, will you."

To a certain extent, Ren understood his sister's concerns. Suppose they landed poorly or decelerated too quickly; who knows how it would turn out for them? Broken bones and brain damage aren't the best thing.

Their grandma knew her stuff, but the enchantment he unknowingly weaved with the guitar compelled her to use her magical power… or maybe she was just wild.

Maybe.

"...oh! W-Wow! Is… Is this a Griffin? The animal from Heaven's legend?" Sadako gestured towards a winged creature coming closer in the background.

"Ah? Oh. Yes… It's a griffin… There shouldn't be any around here, but… Why is…?"

"Um… I think it's coming our way!" Ren exclaimed as the creature nosedived toward them. "What the—"

"Hold on to me, kids. It will rock for a while, but don't worry. It's just a giant dumb bird."

"Wha—"

It took less time for the creature to attempt to mow them down with its powerful talons than for Ren to answer. A strange aura shrouded the beast, causing fierce winds to blow around it, altering their trajectory and succeeding in pursuing them with ease despite their bullet-like speed.

"Waawaaa! I-It's trying t-to grab me!!"

"Hands off of my granddaughter, you turkey."

The Magical Girl, flying in a straight line until then, took out one of the katanas she had at her waist and cut, while turning around herself in lightning-fast movement, one of the animal's talons, causing it to howl.

"Yaku-yoke blade! HA!"

Now covered with blood, the katana rotated around her too fast for the eyes to follow it, like the electrons from an atom. The now enraged creature attacked them with its second talon but got slashed underneath its limb. Wasting no time, their grandmother swiftly moved above the creature, using her akimbo revolver to move without using bullets, using only the recoil, and pulled out a second katana.

This one was red-hot, releasing steam, like the one that came out of her two revolvers and threw it into the animal's body.

"Kōtsū-anzen blade. Dragonbreath gauge."

Just as the katana was about to drive into the creature's abdomen, his grandma pulled the trigger of one of her pistols and aimed it at her target, firing and propelling the blade without the "bullet" needing to be inside the cylinder, thereby impaling the animal in a burst of flame that briefly radiated off the weapon before igniting the Griffin from within.

Rushing toward it, she left no time for the creature to react and took a second red-hot blade, threw it from above, and said again: "Dragonbreath gauge."

The creature, bombarded from two sides and the inside, was looking at his prey, now towering over him with two revolvers pointed at its battered body. Every time the old Magical Girl pulled the trigger, the two katana bullets within the creature hurled it toward the ground ever faster as it screeched for mercy.

She took another katana out of its scabbard, nose-diving toward the Griffin. As they approached the ground, the giant bird crashed into it, bones crushed by the impact and now pinned to the ground by the blades.

Readying her katana to stab the Griffin in the skull, she countered her own nose-diving speed by firing below her, then, in a fury, took the knob of her katana in both hands, blade pointing down, and put all her strength to put the animal out of his misery.

"KISSAKI!"

However, the katana came to a screeching halt as the impact of her feet—or rather her getas—on the ground created a thunderous shockwave that blew the leaves off the nearest trees.

"I'd rather you avoid murdering any of my animals, dear magical girl."

A woman's voice—sultry and dreamy but also sounded quite disappointed. None of them could see who it was since the shockwave blasted dust everywhere, but a hand with long, pointy nails stopped the downward track of the katana as small trickles of blood dropped on the ground.

Both this unknown hand and their grandma's arms jolted as they resisted each other strength.

"Good grief, Bagara... I was looking for you." Their grandma sighed, loosening the tension in her arms and sheathing her katana. "Take care of your stupid peas-brained birds. It attacked us for no reason."

"Well, actually, I am not very pleased to see you, considering the very first action you carry when coming here is to try butchering one of my very protégés mercilessly with this very bloodlust that is proper to your very lineage."

"Are you even listening?"

"Anyway, never mind. I am definitely, very not surprised, I can say. Coming from a very terrorist like you, I shouldn't expect anything else. After all, if you weren't like that, being your very true self, you would never have been exiled to these lands, am I correct? —Oh?" The lady stopped babbling, gazing at Ren and Sadako after they were put to the ground. "So your very own genes have been passed on to two new offspring. How quaint."

As the dust cleared, appeared an elf with long, curly black hair and full scarlet lips, looking at them with her deep blue eyes, whose pupils goggled at them with troubling intensity. She wore a revealing white robe, but what got Ren's attention was her shoulder pads and numerous jewels representing insects and celestial bodies.

A little further back loomed a rainbow-eyed black panther about three times the size of what he had seen in his former world, staring at them, purring, while even farther, a strange creature, half-unicorn half-giraffe, was feeding from the blue leaves of a tree in a clearing that led to a derelict temple.

On the other hand, judging by how the elf and their grandma looked at each other, Ren and Sadako knew they had many things to say to each other, so they moved around, his sister dragging him by the sleeve towards the panther, that said, Ren still reaching out to listen to their talk.

"Very well, very well." The strange lady muttered, raising her eyebrows as her eyes met Ren. "Yukari."

"Yes?"

"Could I know the names of these two sorry beings playing with my cat?"

"Don't call them that…" Their grandma growled. "The girl is Sadako, and the boy is Ren. My grandchildren."

"Well then, how about Sadako and Ren search for medicinal herbs in this forest to heal this Griffin while I get some unicorn blood? I just need some Angelica Sinensis and Artemisia Annua."

"They're not your new stooges."

"Come on. This isn't a very big deal, am I correct?"

"Bagara, are you hearing yourself? You want me to send kids to the Verdant Forest."

"Middlingy, I knew you would say that. So, you prefer them getting some very true, dark red blood?" The elf asked with a self-satisfied smile as she closed her eyelids. "You came here certainly expecting me to show your grandoffsprings the Idols around here. This is one way to meet the second one on your way, and as a Magical Girl, you should be very aware that nothing is obtained without sacrifice. I just ask for a bit of your time. That is all."

"You heard us speak?"

"I always listen to know how my friends are doing, especially when they don't tend to communicate with me that much."

"What trick did you use... again?"

"Some spiders have good hearing."

Yukari widened her eyes so sightly before scratching her forehead, sighing. She had known Bagara for over a century, and the elf had never changed. That said, she wasn't sure if she could call this obnoxious elf a friend.

She was more of a noisy older half-sister to her.

"Alright. That's just like you, but... Can't you just ask Panacea-sama to heal this chicken?"

"Nowise. It's been a while since she left to solve urgent matters in the Sultanate."

"The Sultanate…? Why?"

"This, dear, you'll have to ask her yourself, but I guess I can tell you about what I know."

"Well, then... I guess this has something to do with the Cloud God, isn't it?"

"Oh? Yes, yes, indeed. I can see why one like you would think that, but from what I know, it's more about the very only Sword Saint."

Yukari wavered momentarily. Considering what she saw on TV and heard from her daughter, nobody spoke about something related to the Sword Saint.

Well, this was to be expected. For someone like her to be given this title, her team probably kept every little action she performed secret or at least controlled what the media would be allowed to disclose.

Even more so because of her specific circumstances.

"...what did she do?"

"The little rat cut clean the sky around the Northern Hemisphere. Quite a feat, to say the least. Lots of people got ill from the very stuff escaping from it, just like blood gushing out a seeping wound."

"Are you saying she...? Who could have forced her to use that much power?"

"Really now, that is why you're still a very little girl to me." Bagara sighed with another self-satisfied smile, pointing her index finger upward. "There's is quite a bunch of individuals who can hold on against her and even a few who can defeat her, chiefly since she lacks experience, but still."

"...Ô mighty Fauna Idol, please enlighten me then," Yukari grunted, rolling her eyes. "My sorry self is indeed very much unaware of your very unworldly knowledge."

"Fufu.~ No need for sarcasm nor irony, dear. I'm just assessing information while conversing with your very self. I, myself, am shunted by all this. Most animals around the spot fled, and the rest seemed to have either died or something worse."

"You lost connections with the fauna back there?"

"Well, well, losing connection is a strong wording. The correct term would be: altered." She explained, closing her eyelid as she felt bad remembering. "And I don't dare attempt to reconnect with them. I have the very feeling that I would sink with them."

"This sounds way too ominous. Didn't Nimitarh's officials send some troops to help? Or did they cower again?"

"Oh, now, fufu.~" Bagara giggled, placing a lock of hair behind her ear. "You're attempting to engage in political discourse with a hermit who spends her very existence accompanied by wildlife."

"Alright, you have a point, but since you have ears everywhere, I'm sure you know a bit," Yukari smirked, looking at her grandchild playing with the big black panther whose single paw was the size of their head. The beast could probably plow, carve, and bisect them in half, gut them, and lacerate them with a single claw swipe, but it acted like a kitten. "Nimitarh won't do anything, huh..."

"Well, Nimitarh people were, and still are, scatterbrained and skittish. It is probably the result of living far too long in the mountains, where they lack oxygen. Moreover, they are way too short for their own good; after all, the brain adapts to the size of its host. I understand that they need to be close to dwarfism to get into their ratholes, but still, are they not very ludicrous? Fufu.~"

"The cut in the sky..." Yukari said, paying no mind to Bagara's monologue. "Where is it?"

"Above the Great Pyramids."

"...has she tried to...?"

Seeing her grandchild getting impatient, Yukari sighed and turned toward them, followed by Bagara, who, once fully standing, was clearly taller than most people—a head and a half taller than Yukari.

"I'm surprised you're as curious as you are about this. Haven't you said you were very much done with warfare? Besides, you're wearing your Magical Girl clothes again." Bagara quietly inquired. "What are you worried about?"

"...my daughter got sent on a two-week mission to the Pyramids and I suspect all of this had to do with them..."

"Oooh~! Very nice, very nice. I wouldn't be worried about your main offspring. Given her Idol, I don't think she can die."

Ren couldn't catch the final words of their talk; his childish brain just wanted to play with the panther, who rolled around on the ground like a dog needing attention. Seeing a beast capable of dismembering a bear act that way was bizarre, but for him and Sadako, it was fun, just like it would for normal kids.

That said, what he heard was disquieting. He had never seen his grandma react that way nor heard about the Great Pyramids. Well, to be fair, he was never good at geography, so...

"Hey, Sadako."

"Y-Yes?"

"You know stuff about the Great Pyramids or something?"

"You were eavesdropping on Grandma, too, hehe."

"...Eh, it feels nice to have a partner in crime."

"Grandma w-wouldn't be too happy about that, though... Now... Me thinky... the Great Pyramids are like, erm... seven giant triangles made of big bismuth rock and mercury?"

"Huh?"

"I-I don't know how they were made! T-The tip of them is, um... made of large blocks of gold with a beacon on top that sends a beam t-toward the sky..."

"Giant like what?"

"Eeeh... r-really big?" She stammered, tapping her forehead with her index finger, trying to formulate another sentence. "I-It's close to the border of our home, though... In the m-middle of the desert, between dunes and hills..."

"Heh... And Mom's there-"

"You, there!" Teased a haughty voice. "Instead of snooping on us like little varmints, you'd be better off fetching me some very real Angelica Sinensis and Artemisia Annua since you heard about it. Go now. Shoo!"

"They heard us despite the distance...?" Their grandma muttered. "No... More importantly, I said no! They won't go alone. Next to that, how do you want them to know wha-"

"Oh, dear, you're very quite riled up today, isn't it? Very well then, I just called Ivern. He'll accompany and guide them. You don't have any objections now, do you?"

"If Ivern accompanies them, then... It's alright."

"Fufu.~ Isn't that wonderful? I'm coming to believe that you fancy this very comical pile of bones, wood, and flowers more than your very old friend, Bagara... Hm... I'll end up very jealous if this continues.~"

"I-Is Ivern the flowery skeleton hiding behind the tree?" Sadako asked, also hiding behind Ren. "How d-did he come here this fast?"

"Oh, aren't you the very cutest thing, hiding behind your brother, this little scrap of a man he is, fufu.~ In the Verdant Forest, each very root of every single plant, tree, and fungus is connected, so for anyone able to travel through roots, the journey from one end of the forest to the other is nothing but a breeze."

—Isn't that way too overpowered...?

Ren still meant to ask some questions, his childish curiosity getting the better of him, but Sadako, who seemed more intimidated by Bagara than by Ivern, pulled him by the sleeve to go with the skeletal Idol.

Using more strength than he thought his sister could muster, she dragged him to the trunks of the first big trees in the forest, averting her gaze away from the somewhat intimidating big skeleton standing before them.

It came out of its hiding, inside a hollow trunk, before turning in their direction, towering above them. It was probably more than 2 meters tall, and despite its lack of eyes, it was like its eyes socket peered into their souls with a patronizing intensity.

Each of its bones, from its skull to its vertebrae, seemed to be made of both wood and osseous tissue, and between each small gap separating them, hundreds of small, multicolored flowers bloomed directly on it, accompanied by delicate grass, but the most flowery spot was inside of its thorax, which seemed to provide shelter for many different species, while some ivy fell to its pelvis, almost giving the impression that its guts were hanging out.

A small yellow bird chirped and landed on the skeleton's shoulder, tapping its beak against its skull.

"Don't pick my head, Archi..."

Coming off of the skeleton was the deepest male voice Ren had heard in both of his lives, which made Sadako even more afraid than she already was.

"Don't worry too much about the bird, kids. Archi can be a bit much. If I'm not being silly, you're looking for specific herbs, correct?"

"Yes, please. Angelica Sinensis and Artemisia Annua, but we don't even know what it looks like."

"Oh, yes, for a cicatrizing paste, I presume. Please excuse Bagara; she can be a bit overbearing sometimes, but she's not as bad as she seems." The skeleton muttered, lost in thought as he walked slowly away from them. "Please follow me; I'll guide you to some. If I were to make them grow before you, your whole venue would be meaningless, isn't it?"

"D-Do Mrs. Bagara and you know each other...?"

"As long as I can remember... Though my memory has been cloudy for a long time now... As Idols of Fauna and Flora, we are closely connected, like brother and sister, just like you two."

Sadako gazed at Ren for a second, shaken by the Idol's words, especially the gravitas with which he pronounced them. Something was humbling walking next to him and speaking with him. Even though he was no more than the carcass of a humanoid, he gave the feeling of being an encyclopedia of old-time stories, someone you could listen to by the fire all night long.

The further they advanced into the forest, the darker it became, light still filtering through the huge leaves of the overhanging trees, but the wind shook them enough to cover the sky in green with every gust.

That's when the three of them arrived at a cove brimming with succulents and lianas hanging from the trees. A wide stream cascaded down several meters, forming a waterfall where a hollow could be discerned on the other side. Tons of plants covered the ground so that none was the same. Finding the right plant was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Oh, I-I remember some of the books I've read... These are the two plants..." Sadako pointed, pushing Ren for him to pick them up. "T-They're used when people fight for 'mergency medicine."

"Emergency."

"E-Emergency."

"Alright, kids, if you pick them up, pick the roots too. That's where most of the good stuff is. Careful about not breaking them; it would be no good."

Following the Idol's instructions, they set to work, finally ending their search but now covered in dirt. The plants resembled those of his former world, at least the plants he'd seen in books, but these gave off a faint light, like an aura. Their scent was also potent, strong enough to attract insects or other living beings, so he could see tiny humanoid insects, probably fairies, flying around it.

"Mind you, kids, these plants didn't have any powers centuries ago, but since they were always covered with fairy dust, they became plants of virtues." Cutting him off, something got his attention as the skeleton raised his focus to his surroundings. "Oh...? Have they decided to come out of hiding after all this time?"

"What's the matter, skull face?"

"R-Ren! His n-name is Ivern! Grandma and Mom wouldn't be h-happy!"

"Haha! I don't mind, little one." He answered, gazing back at the dark abyss of the forest, aware that it stared back at them. Two seemingly "living" plants with what seemed to be a mouth sprouted from his skeletal palms as he extended his hand toward the kids. "A small gift from me. They are protectors."

"What's that?"

"Peashooters. Upon seeing something hostile, they shoot a pea. They're still seedlings, so take care of them."

"A-Alright, thank you for the gift, Mr. Ivern—Waa!"

Cutting her off, Ivern took her in his arms before following suit with Ren, simultaneously as a vine dangling from one of the trees snatched him by the shoulder and swung him forward only for a carpet of flowers to cause him to slide a long way, sending them hurtling through the forest.

Rounding a bend to dodge a tree, an arrow smashed into it, exploding on impact. The huge trunk collapsed in their direction, which Ivern managed to dodge by manipulating the roots of other trees to hold back its fall. However, his escape route was cut off by a salvo of arrows, forcing him to face up to the nature of the danger.

So that was their ploy.

"Really now... You elves must be desperate to get this close to the borders."