Corpse March

Chapter 6

A voice rises above the din of rushing air. It has a sharp but light tone, like it’s telling a joke. It comes from a plain-faced girl with glasses so thick she can’t see the eyes behind them. The girl gives her a little two-fingered salute. She’s wearing a long black dress that goes all the way down to her calves. It’s reminiscent of Haru’s middle school uniform. She has her smooth black hair tied up in two long braids that flutter in the wind behind her. The veins on both of her hands bulge from the strain of carrying both the Vice Prez’s impressive bulk and Haru at the same time. Overall, 4/10. Some people like a little freckle the same way some people insist that heavy metal peaked in the 80’s. But Haru’s singles weren’t released in the 80’s so she automatically disagrees. A solid ‘Pass’.

“Thanks, ‘Mugi, I’ll remember this–”

“Save it.”

Bolts of light begin to rain on them. Some from the Monarchs shooting at them from above, others from the Magitech Anti-Air guns shooting at them from below. The girl stamps her foot on what Haru had thought was a broom but on closer inspection seems to be a staff emanating magical energy out of one end like how a rocket’s engine emanates flames. The magical energy triples in size and sound. The heart throbbing feeling of accelerating dominates every single cell in Haru’s body. The girl the Vice President called “‘Mugi” brings the staff in a series of vicious evasive maneuvers. And by ‘vicious’ she means vicious on her stomach. There goes her lunch right now.

It’s almost like she has some kind of preternatural sense the way the girl weaves in and out.  The criss-crossing lines slowly begin to blend together and form a net that slowly closes in around them. But the girl does not see the net, she sees the holes in it and simply flies through them. Doing it once is superhuman, but doing it over and over again the way she is is near impossible. Loops upon loops upon loops upon loops it just never ends. Haru isn’t even sure how the girl’s feet stay on the staff with maneuvers this sharp. Super Glue maybe? It’s growing increasingly likely as she starts drifting at acute angles.  

Finally, they manage to get to the point that most of the bolts are coming from behind them. Below, the land transitions from the harsh steel of the Monarchian facility to the gentle greenery of the forest canopy. After a while, the bolts stop entirely. 

“A-are we safe?”

“Yeah… I think–”

The staff quivers. 

“Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh? What do you mean Uh-oh? Like, ‘bad uh-oh’ or ‘oh god we’re going to die uh-oh?’”

The persistent blaze of magical energy coming out of the back end of the staff comes to a sudden halt. Save for the sound of moving air, everything goes silent. No one dares say a word, like they’re all scared of disturbing this fragile quiet. Then, they hit the first branch. Then the second. Then the third. Then the branches all blend together as they tumble into the forest floor. The Vice Prez gets stuck on a particularly heavy-set branch while both ‘Mugi and Haru are less lucky. They hit the ground running before falling over and rolling. By the time they stop, Haru isn’t sure which way ‘up’ is.

“Ugh, I can’t feel my arm.”

“Jeez, no kidding.”

The girl gestures at Haru’s arm. Or, what used to be Haru’s arm anyway. Now it looks like a straw that’s been chewed into a bloody pulp. 

“Yeesh.”

“Eugh, yeah. Let me just…”

Haru clears her throat. 

“Wound Curing.”

The words roll off of her tongue like smooth jazz. Haru takes special care to not mess up the incantation this time. She didn’t know that her pain suppression would still work with injuries this severe, she doesn’t want to find out what would happen if she accidentally made it worse. She sighs in a mixture of relief and discomfort as she feels her bones loosen up and knit themselves back together.

“Much better.”

“You can use magecraft too?”

Nearby, nursing some minor cuts and bruises, the girl the Vice Prez called ‘Mugi looks on at Haru’s spell with a mild curiosity. It’s the same way an athlete might look at a children’s soccer game. She knew that people within the Neo Magical Academy regard the magic of the outside world as infantile at best and backwards at worst but what she didn’t expect is how little mockery there was in her voice. 

“Y-yeah. It’s kind of what everyone does these days.”

“So you’re a spellcaster because it’s trendy?”

“No, that’s–”

She winces as a particularly misaligned bone snaps back into place. 

“I’ve been a spellcaster since elementary. I guess that kind of makes me an OG, huh?”

“OG?”

“It’s slang for one of the originals. A ‘real one’. You know, dependable… ‘real’. Agh– It’s complicated.”

“I’m messing with you, I know what OG means.”

“You do?”

“It’s not like we don’t have the internet in Takakumo.”

“Oh, sorry, I guess. I really don’t know much about the Neo Magical Academy other than what I’ve been taught in school.”

The girl smiles to herself a little, amused.

“No, it’s fine. If your first impression of Takakumo is backwards then you’re not entirely wrong. Most citizens really are as ignorant as you think. Some of them probably don’t even realize an outside world exists.”

“Most citizens…”

“Excuse me?”

“You said ‘most citizens’, does that mean you’re not ‘most citizens’?”

“You’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. I’m Haru Hamamoto, Adventurer Musician. But that’s a mouthful so ‘Mercenary’ is just fine.”

“Ah, where are my manners? My name is Tsumugi. I’m the Muse of the Takakumo Student Council.”

The Vice Prez finally manages to break the last of the branches holding her up. She lands with all the grace of a falling leaf. 

“And I’m Kentomi Kagami, Vice President of the Takakumo Student Council.”

Two student council members, that’s kind of a big deal if she thinks about it. Huh? When did she start bowing? She tries to lift her head but the amount of authority they both exude is insane. 

“Please, you flatter us both. You may rise.”

Both councilors’ voices sing out in refrain. Both drip with the boredom of having to repeat that exact line over a hundred times, only that Tsumugi hides her boredom slightly better. Haru feels her spine straighten, her body again responding without her having any say in the matter. It’s not a spell, but it certainly feels like one. 

“S-So. Um…”

About that favor you promised. If I may be so bold, may I ask for you to marry me? Is what she wants to say but the words don’t come out. They stumble on her throat and come tumbling down into her stomach where they drown. Curse this Tsumugi. She can’t make such an embarrassing request in front of an audience. Haru knows that she should be thankful for Tsumugi saving them in the first place, but right now, all she has for her right now is hatred. 

“Speak up. No one will hear you muttering like that.”

The command cuts through her brain. 

“U-um… I was just wondering...”

Haru fidgets. She never used to fidget before. Where was all this cute factor when she was in middle school? By the time she had her shiny smiley breakout in high school, everyone else was already taken. Agh, curse her brain for bringing up such a sore memory. Curse Tsumugi for putting her in such a situation in the first place. Indeed, Haru is the type of person that can multiply sins at will. 

“Would it be too much trouble if you could help me… um, this is kind of embarrassing to say, could you help me to marry?”

“Come again?”

Curse this deaf vice president as well. 

“Help me to m-marry."