There are times when I have nightmares.
They don't necessarily come when I'm feeling down or overly excited—there's no clear connection to my mood. But sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, I just have a bad dream.
And today, by coincidence, was one of those times.
It was the kind of nightmare where it felt like I was being chased by something, or like I had to protect something, or even like I was being asked to do something utterly unreasonable by someone. One of those absurd, frustrating dreams.
And, before I could even say anything in response to the unfairness of it all, I woke up.
The first thing I felt upon waking was an overwhelming heat.
It's the end of October now, the deep part of autumn. Winter is just around the corner, so the mornings and nights have been getting quite cold. Yet here I was, sweating profusely as if it were summer.
And before even a second passed, I realized that someone else was in my futon with me.
More than that, I was being hugged tightly by this person.
I immediately recognized the sensation because, during the colder winter months, Hina would often sneak into my futon to stay warm. She would always hug me like I was a hot water bottle.
So at first, I thought it must be Hina who had crawled into my futon again.
Since this was something that happened often enough, I just sighed and opened my eyes. But what I saw in front of me was blonde hair.
Wait, does Hina have blonde hair? I asked myself, still half-asleep. That thought barely had time to register before I suddenly turned around in a hurry, only to find Nina-chan lying next to me.
"Mmm...?"
Sitting up, I glanced around my room. Sure enough, the two futons that had been neatly laid out earlier were still there—except one of them was empty.
The occupant of that futon had, for some reason, migrated into mine.
Why...?
"Oh, good morning, Itsuki..." Nina-chan murmured, still half-asleep.
"...Good morning," I replied.
While I had now fully woken up thanks to the shocking situation of finding a friend, and a girl at that, sharing my futon—something I never thought would happen in my life—Nina-chan didn't seem to share my shock. She remained drowsy and clung to me without any intention of letting go.
"Nina-chan, how long have you been in my futon?"
"I was cold..."
Was that really an answer? Not exactly.
But Nina-chan mumbled it as if that explained everything.
"You're warm, Itsuki."
"Uh... thanks?"
My response felt just as awkward as hers had been.
As I was mulling over the situation, Nina-chan finally seemed to fully wake up, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Talking to you woke me up," she said with a slight smile.
"Did you have any bad dreams?" I asked.
"Nope, no bad dreams. Thanks," she replied cheerfully, nodding.
Well, if that's the case, then it's all good.
Even though I had essentially been turned into a human stuffed animal for her, as long as Nina-chan had managed to sleep well, that's what mattered most.
But on top of that, close combat training like this requires "Body Strengthening" magic to handle the sheer force monsters can unleash.
However, I've never seen either Ireena-san or Nina-chan using that kind of magic.
Curious, I decided to ask her.
"Does fairy magic have body-strengthening spells?"
"Yes, of course. They're called 'buffs,' you know?"
"Buffs?"
Hearing that word outside of a video game context caught me off guard. As I raised an eyebrow, Nina-chan continued, exhaling as if explaining something obvious.
"It's this kind of magic."
As soon as she said that, a fairy appeared at her feet.
Should I call it "one fairy"? Or "one person"?
After all, while it had the upper body of a human—specifically, a woman—the lower half of its body was that of a fish. Chapter Stay:
In short, it was a mermaid.
"This one is called a Siren."
"I've heard of that name before."
The siren swam through the air as if gliding through water, casting an eerie smile my way.
But the smile didn't quite suit her appearance, seeing as she looked to be about ten years old.
As the young mermaid floated, she began to sing—a clear, gentle voice that sounded like a single droplet of water hitting the surface of a still pond.
After listening to the song for a few seconds, I felt a surge of strength welling up from within me.
It was as if a match had been struck inside my body, spreading warmth and power from deep within my core.
"This... is body strengthening?" I asked.
"Exactly. It's a 'Body Strengthening' buff," Nina-chan said proudly, puffing out her chest.
I stretched out my limbs to get a feel for the magic.
Unlike the "Silveit Thread" strengthening I usually use, this enhancement felt more evenly distributed across my entire body. While the concentrated power in specific areas was weaker than usual, the overall balance and performance seemed better.
"How is it? Pretty impressive, right?"
Nina-chan beamed, and I nodded deeply.
"It's amazing, but... does this mean you're also getting body-strengthened right now, Nina-chan?"
"Yep! Everyone within earshot of the siren's song gets strengthened."
...That's incredibly convenient.
My "Silveit Thread" strengthening only works on me, but it seems like fairy magic offers an advantage in that it applies to multiple people. I couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
Having shown off this new magic, Nina-chan smiled and made a request.
"So, Itsuki, why don't you teach me how to fight?"
"Alright. Let's start with the basics of how to move your body."
With that, I turned to face Nina-chan, ready to begin her lesson.