Inugami: Here you have chapter two!
Noriya: It's fortunate you started college on a Friday!
Noah: Yeah, so now you have a weekend to write!
Blair: ...P-please enjoy this chapter...
Chapter Two: Forward On
"10,000 kilometers!? Just how far is 10,000 kilometers!? What is this, 3000 leagues in search of mother?!" Chisame exclaimed as she looked at the map that her little mice had calculated out for them. Thanks to Chachamaru being an endless supply of electricity, Chisame was able to charge her laptop and phone so that her artifact would actually be of use to her.
"Chisame-chan, you don't have to scream…We're right here you know?" Noriya spoke as she leaned on the younger girl's shoulder. This comment gave the mage a sudden slap in the back of the head.
"I realize that! Baka! Furthermore, you're telling me that this entire world's area is one third that of the earth's surface? And it's populated by high-level monsters? And that we need to search for seventeen people in all parts of this ridiculous other world? Who the hell's selling this piece of shit game!" Chisame screamed as she began pulling on Noriya's cheeks once again.
"Agh, hey! Don't take this out on me!" Noriya exclaimed as she tried to pry Chisame's hands away from her face. The net idol didn't look like she was going to stop pinching her cheeks any time soon, so Noriya took advantage of this by planting a quick kiss on the girl's lips. Not only did this cause the otaku to let go of her, but it also stopped her from yelling again.
"There. Have you calmed down?" Noriya asked as she looked at the girl's blushing face.
"…Yes I have. Now can we just leave so we can get to that town that we found? We only have another two kilometers to go until we reach civilization…" Chisame grumbled as she turned her head away from Noriya. This caused the other three to laugh as they headed off towards where the town should have been on the map.
After walking around in weather that was probably over 100 degrees, Negi and Kotaro quickly ran over to the side of the cliff and began shouting.
"Ah! There's the town!" The two shouted as they began to jump up for joy.
"That really was long wasn't it? Traveling 300 kilometers in four days. This is really the best summer vacation ever." Chisame sarcastically commented as she looked at the town ahead of them.
"What are you talking about? You were flying with Noriya-nee-chan for most of the way." Kotaro retorted.
"Here we go!" The two boys shouted as they jumped over the cliff.
"Hey, hey! Don't separate from us, you brats!" Chisame shouted after them. Noriya came up behind the girl and help situate themselves on the staff.
"But you know, the town doesn't look very fantasy-like on the outside. That's a relief." Chisame sighed as she wrapped herself around Noriya's waist.
"Shall we go as well?" Chachamaru asked as the three jumped off the cliff and flew down to where Negi and Kotaro were.
Once in the town, Kotaro and Negi were happy that they had found food. Chisame and Noriya were looking at how the town really was very fantasy-like. It only made Chisame uneasy. There also seemed to be no such thing as a public order or police system.
"Shouldn't we use a long distance phone or telepathy to call for help from Megalo Whatchamacallit?" Kotaro asked as he munched into an apple.
"You're right, we definitely should. If Donette-san is alright, she might be already searching for us." Negi replied as they continued their walk through town.
"This is the midday news." The five heard the voice of a woman and looked up. From what it looked like, there was a television in the middle of the street.
"The picture quality sucks…" Chisame snorted as she held onto Noriya's hand, in hopes that the girl won't go wandering off.
"This is a follow up report to the incident which occurred five days ago, where magic power within the gateports went wild in various locations throughout the world. Magic energy continues to be discharged at each of the gateports, and with no outlook for recovery, travelers are being stalled…" The anchorwoman spoke.
"This must be about what happened back then." Chachamaru whispered.
"Various places throughout the world…?" Chisame and Noriya said as they looked at one another.
"There had also been no world of a responsible party. The background of this incident remaining a mystery. However, we have received new images today from Mesembria authorities for public release." Suddenly a picture of a boy showed up on the screen. Of all the people it was, it was Negi himself on the screen.
"The person you see here is the perpetrator of the incident, a human boy who appears to be no more than ten years old. He has been labeled as an internationally wanted criminal with a reward posted." Noriya quickly turned to face Kotaro, who covered Negi's mouth so that he didn't shout from surprise.
Noriya then quickly flew down to the two on her staff and pulled Negi's hood over his face. The others did the same as she did as to make sure their faces weren't seen. The picture of Negi continued to flash on the screen, and underneath his photo was the amount that he was being posted at if he was turned in. It was a whopping 300,000 drachma.
"Moron, don't yell!" Kotaro whispered frantically into Negi's ear.
"This is an image that has been publicly released." On the screen was a video of Negi destroying one of the pillars from the gateport.
"I didn't do tha…fmmghh!" Negi still struggled under Kotaro's grip as the boy still covered his mouth.
"Shut up!" Kotaro tried hushing the boy as he too pulled his hood up.
"Hey! What the hell is this?" Chisame exclaimed quietly as she and Chachamaru ran over to them.
"It's a forgery!" Noriya exclaimed as she pulled Chisame's hood over her head. Nodding to Chachamaru, the robot did the same as Chisame began to panic.
"A forgery?! By whom?! And for what reason?!" Chisame whispered to Kotaro and Noriya.
"Obviously, it's that guy Fate!" Noriya told the girl.
"He's shot us down twice now. That guy is really freaking pissing me off!" Kotaro grumbled. Chachamaru listened to the three of them panic and then came up with a valid comment.
"We should probably refrain from attempting to get in contact with them." The robot spoke as she looked at the four before her. Negi had finally calmed down a bit as well.
"Shit! We can't stay here! We need to leave town!" Chisame barked as she grabbed Noriya's hand and started pulling on her.
"P-please wait!" Negi said as he grabbed the back of Chisame's robe.
"Did you forget? The response from the next badge is in this town. We won't be able to search for the badge's owner if we leave town!" Negi told the four.
"He's got you there." Kotaro snickered as they turned to Chachamaru who began searching for the location of the badge.
"It's quite close." Chachamaru said as she pointed towards an alley.
"Really?!" Negi dashed to where the badge was supposedly at.
"It's a mere fifty meters at the end of this alley, in front of the building that looks like a bar." Chachamaru spoke as she watched Negi and Kotaro head over there.
"What…? I don't see anybody…" Noriya spoke as she too followed the others.
"Hey… Don't tell me…" Chisame spoke as her and Chachamaru ran after the other three. When they reached the bar, there at Negi's feet was an Ala Alba badge. After picking up the badge, the five of them hid in one of the back alleys of the town.
"…This situation couldn't get any worse. There's no reason to just drop such a handy badge…" Chisame sighed as she looked at Noriya and then at Negi whom was holding a bounty list.
"This doesn't look good either. It's not just Negi-sensei's picture. Everybody else from Ala Alba is listed with a reward." Chachamaru spoke as she pointed to her picture on the bounty list.
"This is a bounty, isn't it? Where are we, in a damn western movie?" Chisame grumbled as she soon saw Noriya's picture on the list.
"I guess we should be glad that Yuuna-chan and Maki-chan and the others aren't listed…" Noriya whispered.
"Everybody…if only I was more…" Negi was beginning to worry once again, but was cut down by Kotaro.
"Hey, Negi! Has that nice, educated brain of yours begun swirling around the same thing again? Did you forget what we talked about before?! You're worthless." Kotaro teased the boy as he began to make a spinning motion around his head.
"Kota-kun makes a valid point Negi-kun…" Noriya whispered to the child teacher.
"But, this is such a horrible state of affairs. Everybody is…" Negi tried to talk back.
"And that is why worrying isn't gonna get anything solved. Dumbass!" Kotaro shouted to the boy.
Chisame and Chachamaru were doing their best to stay out of the three's argument.
"Those guys'll be fine. They can handle something like this." Kotaro confidently told Negi.
"Yeah! Believe in them!" Noriya exclaimed.
"B-but that…telling me to believe that with no basis…!" Negi tried to contradict the two.
"Isn't a comrade somebody you can believe in without any basis at all?" Kotaro yelled into the boy's face, causing him to go into a state of shock.
"Oh, wow…Kota-kun said something smart for once…" Noriya mumbled sarcastically.
"Can't you use that accomplished head of yours a little more productively?" Kotaro laughed as he looked at the shocked boy. Chisame came up next to Noriya as she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
"…Are we good now? Then, let's confirm the current situation. Whatever fate we've been place into; we're wanted men with bounties on our heads." Chisame started as she looked at the others.
"Hmm, assuming we were caught now. Upon being brought to Megalomesambria, we'd need a way to appeal for our innocence." Noriya continued as she looked at Chisame.
"That probably wouldn't be wise." Chisame replied.
"You're right. As we're already in this position…There's no guarantee we could prove our innocence. It's possible that it'll be the end for us if we're caught." Kotaro told the group.
"And for that same reason, we can't request help from the police or the embassy, either." Chisame deduced as she thought more about their situation.
"And so, in the end… It seems we'll have to search for our friends on our own… And we'll have to struggle along on our own until we're back with Donette-san or some human we can trust… Or perhaps even until we've made it back to our original world!" Noriya said as she looked at Negi, whom nodded his head in response.
"The person who owns this badge…In other words, our comrade, I think the likelihood that they're still in this town is high." Chisame spoke as she held the badge up.
"Why's that?" Kotaro asked curiously.
"We've seen about five kilometers of this town in all directions. Even though we've been within the card's range of communication, we still haven't gotten a response. In short, they are not one of the six partners." Chisame replied to the boy.
"And according to Chachamaru-san's detection, this badge's owner arrived at this town last night. That speed of travel is too slow for Ku-chan, Kaede-chan, Blair and Noah-san. Ako-chan I know for sure is with Blair because he was holding onto her when we got separated." Noriya added as she looked back at Chisame.
"And so, the only one remaining is Asakura." Chisame said as she held up the badge.
"Certainly, it's hard to think that Asakura-san would head back outside after entering this dangerous town." Chachamaru replied as she looked around.
"Well, whatever we do, first we need to meet up with whoever this is. Even if we wanted to call out to them and search through the middle of town…the problem remains that we're wanted criminals." Chisame grumbled as she put the badge back into her pocket.
"It's gonna be hard to move around…" Kotaro groaned as he tried to come up with an idea.
"So, what should we do…?" Noriya asked as she leaned her head on Chisame's shoulder.
"Guys. Please leave it to me. I have a good idea." Negi smiled as he handed the bounty list to Chachamaru. After much discussion and talk, the five of them quickly changed into appropriate clothes and headed over to the bar that they found the lost badge.
Upon entering, the people in the bar glanced over to the oncoming travelers. The five had decided to use the age-deceiving magic pills that Evangeline had given to them and used it as their disguises. Chachamaru, Noriya and Chisame turned into kids while Kotaro and Negi did the opposite and turned into adults.
The five headed up to the bar table, and came to the realization that the men in the bar were all staring at Negi and Kotaro.
"M-milk tea." Negi stuttered to the bartender.
"Kelp tea." Kotaro said.
"Hey, hey." Chisame laughed at the two. Noriya was still clinging onto Chisame and telling her how cute she was as a kid.
"It seems like everybody's glaring at us." Negi began to sweat as he whispered to Kotaro.
"They're just keeping an eye on the newcomers. Make sure you make a face they won't make fun of." Kotaro whispered back.
"Hey. These disguises are a good idea and all, but are you sure we won't be found out?" Chisame whispered to Negi.
"These are the 'age changing pills' that I got personally from Master. So we should be absolutely fine." Negi smiled calmly to the girl.
"Watch the face." Kotaro whispered as he watched Negi show a more stern face.
"Excuse me, but… You didn't happen to see anybody in this picture, did you? Last night, maybe across the street or something?" Negi asked as he showed the bartender his class roster.
"What's this? Oh, these are those bounties they released a little while ago." The bartender replied as he took the roster and looked through it.
"Did you seem them?" Negi asked curiously.
"Hahaha. You must be stupid. If I'd any knowledge of one of these bounties I'd be off trying to catch them." The bartender laughed gently.
"Y-yeah, I guess so." Negi nervously replied.
"Hey, bro." Negi felt a tap on his shoulder. As he turned around, there was a huge bald man standing behind him.
"Huh?"
"I can't stand that mug a yours. Lemme get a shot at it." The man grumbled as he put his large meaty hand on top of Negi's head.
"I-isn't that a little abrupt?!" Negi cried out. Noriya quickly shielded Chisame from what seemed to look like an oncoming bar fight.
"This really is a lawless area, huh?" Kotaro laughed.
"No use arguing!" The large man spoke as he went to attack Negi. Negi however dodged the attack stealthily and watched as the man hit the bar table.
"I won't be hit for no reason." Negi told the muscle head. Noriya quickly picked up Chisame into her arms as she and Chachamaru jumped behind the bar counter to insure that they didn't get caught into the bar fight.
"Hah. I was once beaten to a pulp by an idiot with a mug like yers a long time ago. Since then, I've had this conditioned response whenever I see some red haired nancy boy, ya know?" The man cracked his knuckles as the rest of the men from the bar got up and supported the muscle head.
"Eh? Father?! Are you talking about my father?!" Negi replied as he dodged all of the attacks the man threw at him.
"Huhhn? I didn't hear nothing bout him having such a big brat." He roared as he continued to throw punches at Negi, whom dodged or blocked all of them.
"Just how famous is that guy's father?" Chisame asked as she took a sip of her milk tea and watched the battle going on.
"I dunno, but then again, Nagi-san really was quite the thug from what I heard…" Noriya spoke as she messed with the nekomimi ears that were on Chisame's head.
No matter how many attacks the man threw at Negi, he dodged every single one of them. It was obvious that Negi's training with Evangeline had really paid off.
"Hn! You…restless little rabbit!" The man shouted as he began to power up with magic.
"That kid's good." One of the cat ladies spoke as she watched the battle.
"Yeah, but he's got the wrong opponent. Vargas is one high class magic user, with a body to match." Another one replied as they watched the man named Vargas power up.
"That's good. Now you've made me get serious! Melodia Bellax, Double acceleration!" Vargas had powered himself with an acceleration spell as he began to show off his new speed.
"Ah! Incredible!" Negi exclaimed as he watched in awe.
"I'm a master of the splendid quick move, too! Such smoothness already that's an earth shaking level! And more! Sagitta Magica five arrows of sand!" The man shouted as he got ready to attack.
"Oh?! Five unincanted arrows! Now that's something!" One of the men shouted.
"Vargas, you've improved haven't ya?" Another shouted.
"Five sand arrows able to strike in all directions and instant movement! That kid is history!" Yet another one had shouted as they began to make bets. Kotaro and Noriya laughed as they watched the two fighting. They knew something as weak as that wasn't going to beat Negi so easily.
"Hahaha! Sorry bout this bro! You're gonna get this all at once!" Before the man could even attack, Negi had already unleashed all of his power into a single punch on Vargas's stomach.
The man fell to the ground with a thud, and all the people in the bar let out a gasp of surprise.
"I…I'm sorry… You were strong, so I didn't hold back…" Negi apologized, a genuine look of worry on his face. Kotaro told the boy to watch his facial expression, as he watched Negi quickly pout.
"Bastard! How dare you do that to Aniki! Get him!" All the men that had been supporting Vargas quickly charged towards Negi, weapons and magic in use. Kotaro whistled as he joined Negi in the large bar fight. At the end of the battle, there were a pile of men lying in the middle of the tavern, and a crowd had applauded the two.
"Well, those two are strong." Chachamaru spoke as they watched Kotaro stand over the pile of men.
"Nah, they were just weak. I could've taken them all too…" Noriya retorted as she took a sip of her milk tea.
"I'm sorry about your tavern…" Negi apologized to the bartender as he let out a sigh. The man smiled at Negi.
"That's how it always is. I'll make them reimburse me for it, so don't worry," He replied as he gave Negi a smile and a wink.
"Still, you kids are pretty strong for your age. I'm also reminded of the old days." He added as he looked down at Negi's class roster.
"Huh? W-was that…" Negi started off, but was unsure of what to say.
"Why don't you two do some work as prize fighters?" The bartender asked as he looked at Kotaro and Negi.
"Prize fighters?"
"Yeah. As strong as you guys are, you could earn quite a tidy sum." Negi had been grumbling about his father when Kotaro quickly pushed his hand over his mouth.
"We don't care about money. What we want is information. Have you remembered anything?" Kotaro asked the man.
"Oh, yes. I remember now. She hasn't a bounty, but it was this kid. She came in and asked for a glass of water, so I generously…" The man's words were cut off when Negi and Kotaro interrupted him.
"Really?! Who was it?!" They both asked as they slammed their hands on the bar table.
"This kid. The cute girl with freckles. No mistaking it." He said as he pointed to the picture of Natsumi.
"Eh…?" Negi and Kotaro were surprised to see that it was Natsumi, considering they hadn't seen her during the gateport incident.
"Ah, that's right… She got into a dispute with some men on the street out there… There was another girl too… After that, they got on a carriage… I hope they didn't get caught by a slave trader…" The man nonchalantly spoke as he rubbed his beard.
"EHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"
Somewhere in the mountains of the magic world, Noah, Asuna and Setsuna were in the middle of the battle between some bounty hunters that were trying to turn them into the authorities.
"Oppugnare cum omni virtute, O' fifty-two spirits of thunder. Come together and strike mine enemy!" Noah shouted as he attacked one of the bounty hunters. He had used the Sagitta Magica as a diversion as he quickly leapt from his staff and concentrated thunder into his fist. In the clouds of dust, he struck the bounty hunter with a powerful punch to the chest.
"Heh, too weak." He chuckled as he looked over to where Asuna and Setsuna were. The two were just finishing up with the other two bounty hunters as they speedily ran through the forest. It was better to escape right then, than wait to regroup.
When they finally got a good enough distance away from the bounty hunters, the three stopped to get some rest.
"Damn. After that report about the bounties came out, we've been fighting new bounty hunters every other day…" Asuna grumbled as she took a sip of water from her canteen. Noah sat next to the girl as he pulled out his map.
"Hmm, because of that bounty hunter attack, we ended up getting a little bit closer to the other two badges. The thing is, every time I recheck the distance, it's almost exactly the same as when we first started." Noah spoke as he checked the location of the badges again.
"This means… It has to be someone that can travel at fast speeds. It could be Blair and Ako-san, but Blair can only fly for so long and because of the bounty he and Ako-san have on their heads, he'll want to keep a low profile…" Setsuna said as she looked to Asuna.
"It could be Ku and Kaede…" Asuna said as she tried to follow the flow of the conversation.
"I don't think it could be both of them, but one of them is possible. If it were both Ku-chan and Kaede-chan, they would be able to cover ground quicker. The chance of it being one of them, and then being someone else from the group is more plausible." Noah spoke as he continued to read the map.
"Hmm…Maybe if I had made a pactio with Kono-chan before we left for England I could try contacting her with my card…" Setsuna sighed sadly as she looked down at the ground with a grim face.
"Cheer up Setsuna-san! We'll find Konoka in no time!" Asuna tried to cheer up her master as she gave her a slap on the back.
"Actually, I think the pair could possibly be Konoka-chan and maybe Kaede-chan. My reasoning for that is the fact that I can feel Konoka-chan's magic energy. She had so much of it that it's easy to locate even though we're so far away. And it's either Ku-chan or Kaede-chan that is with her because the distance is usually always the same after we've travelled a day." Noah spoke as he focused his energy on trying to locate Konoka's.
"Wait! You can feel Kono-chan's energy!?" Setsuna shouted as she grabbed Noah's shirt and begun to shake him senselessly. Noah ignored the girl that was shaking him as he channeled more of his energy into locating Konoka.
"Yeah, I can feel her magic energy. There are traces of it in this area; she must have passed through here recently…" Noah calmly said as he pried Setsuna off of him.
"Really? Then eventually we'll run into them if we continue the way we are." Asuna deduced as she sprawled out onto the ground.
"We'll work on finding them in no time!" Noah exclaimed as he too collapsed onto the ground. Setsuna sighed as she knew that she couldn't deter the other two from continuing onward.
300 kilometers away from where they were, Kaede and Konoka were camped out together.
"I hope Secchan and Asuna and the others are okay… I want to see Secchan…" Konoka sighed as she looked into their campfire with sad eyes.
"Hmm, it's okay Konoka-dono. I'm sure Setsuna-dono and the others are just fine. Before you know it, you'll be in the arms of your beloved again." The ninja tried to cheer up the young mage.
"I know I know… It's just…I miss the sound of Secchan's voice, the way she smells and the warmth of her body… I miss her so much…" Konoka confided to the ninja. The girl smiled as she pat the mage's head and tried to reassure her that they would reunite soon.
In a huge city on the outskirts of Megalomesambria, Akira and Ako were tending to Natsumi whom has fallen sick from traveling around the desert for too long. The three had been captured by slave traders while Blair had gone to find some food for them. The boy was able to find them, and tried to get them out from the shackles of slavery, but was too late. In the end, he voluntarily became a slave so that he would be with Ako. The four of them was then taken in by a large furry woman, whom they called 'Chief'.
"Damn… Negi-kun…where are you?"
Inugami: Hope you guys liked that little chapter~
Noah: It's basically three stories going on at once...
Noriya: Haha, I turn into a kid!
Noah: It matches your personality too!
Noriya: What was that pretty boy?!
Blair: ...P-please, s-stop fighting...
Inugami: *Sigh* Anyways, while they're fighting...this is Inugami...
Blair: ...Blair...
Noriya: Noriya...! *Throws chair at Noah*
Noah: *Dodges* Noah...
Inugami: Signing out!