The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 14. Thugs

14. Thugs

With smirks on their faces, the thugs slowly approached us, acting as if they were savoring the moment. I handed the eco-bag filled with cash to Isezaki-san.

“Isezaki-san, you should run first. Can you go get help?”

I had to take the risk here. For now, as long as Isezaki-san and the money were safe, that would be enough.

However, although Isezaki-san seemed to snap out of it, she hesitated and didn’t take the eco-bag.

“It’s okay, sir. I’ve been through situations like this before. Please leave it to me. Um, may I… um… take your hand, please?”

Blushing, she tightly grasped my hand.

She had held my hand a few times before when using magic, but she still seemed unfamiliar with it.

While her innocence was endearing, she could think of my hand as just a wooden stick or something. Isezaki-san whispered in my ear.

“When I count to three, please close your eyes. Okay?”

“Uh, okay. Got it.”

I figured she was going to use some kind of magic, but there was no time to ask. The men had already stopped in their tracks and were leering at Isezaki-san.

“Oh… if you look closely, this one’s quite a gem.”

“We’re gonna have some fun with this.”

“We’ll treat you real nice, hehe…”

Despite the thugs’ brazen stares, Isezaki-san’s expression remained unchanged. With a serious face like when taking a passport photo, she looked straight ahead and spoke.

“Sir, here I go… One, two, three!”

“Flash Flash!”

I heard Isezaki-san’s sharp voice. At that moment, even with my eyelids tightly shut, the burning light still assaulted my eyes.

“Aargh! My eyes! My eyes!”

“What the hell is this?!”

I opened my eyes wide at the men’s cries. They were clutching their eyes with both hands, writhing in pain.

“It’s a flash blindness spell! Sir, now’s our chance to escape!”

“Got it!”

We turned around and dashed towards the direction of the town.

—

We couldn’t afford to get caught. I ran desperately through the wilderness. But as an adult, apart from almost missing a train, I rarely had the opportunity to sprint at full speed.

“Hah, hah…”

Regretting my lack of exercise, I panted heavily, pushing myself forward.

But suddenly, I noticed that I couldn’t hear Isezaki-san’s footsteps beside me anymore.

It must be Isezaki-san. I thought she might be running far ahead with her graceful running form, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. There was nothing but the empty wilderness.

Could it be that she was captured by the thugs?! I stopped in a panic and looked back.

There was Isezaki-san. She was approaching me without being captured, but what the heck was that!?

Her hair was disheveled, and her limbs were flailing wildly.

Her erratic movements didn’t resemble running at all; rather, they looked like a avant-garde dance portraying a jellyfish flailing around. It was anything but ordinary.

“Isezaki-san, are you hurt!?”

As I called out, Isezaki-san, who had been looking down, raised her head.

“I’m… I’m completely fine! I’ll catch up soon, so please go ahead and wait for me…!”

Sweating profusely, Isezaki-san tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Isezaki-san!?”

I rushed over to help her up. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have any major injuries. She looked away shyly, her hair stuck to her face with sweat.

“I-I’m sorry. Actually, I’m not very good at sports…”

“Uh, yeah…”

Apparently, she had been running seriously, not dancing. But it seemed like it went beyond being just not good at sports.

“…Anyway, let’s hurry. Can you run again?”

I tightly grasped Isezaki-san’s hand. It would be faster to pull her along like this.

But—

“Hey, you! Get back here!”

“Damn it! …I still can’t see properly!”

“I’ll kill you!”

I saw the thugs running towards us with furious expressions.

I immediately turned my face towards the town. I could see the outer wall surrounding the town from here, but it was still far away. There was no doubt they would catch up to us.

—We couldn’t stay like this. We had to reach the town, the outer wall, as soon as possible.

At that moment, my magical power inside my body began to move. It was swirling around, searching for a way to be released.

This sensation was similar to what I felt yesterday before transmigrating from Japan to this other world. Surrendering myself to that magical power, I tightly grasped Isezaki-san’s hand—

My vision went black.

And in the next moment, I and Isezaki-san found ourselves in a completely different place from where we were just a moment ago.