1 Episode 0001



While the midsummer sun was shining and the intense sunlight was still pouring down, Saeki Reiji wiped the sweat off his forehead while waiting for a red light on his bicycle.

"It's hot. It's already hot."

 While hearing cicadas chirping, he glares disdainfully at the sun.
 Even though it was still past 10 a.m., the temperature had already exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.It is not uncommon for TV to report that the temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius in some regions, but for Reiji, who lives in a rural town in the Tohoku region, the temperature of 30 degrees Celsius is quite severe.

"If it were this hot, I should have been swimming in the river."

 This line probably shows how rural Reiji lives.It's a place where even cell phone signals can be barely reached.It takes more than an hour to reach this city by bicycle from home.
 Originally, he was busy studying for the entrance examination during the summer vacation of his second year of high school, but Reiji didn't care about that at all.After all, there are very few people who go on to school from Reiji's high school, and most of them go on to work locally.
 Therefore, with her ease, Reiji enjoyed her second year of high school summer vacation to the fullest as a long vacation.Of course, the assignment has been made, but it has already been completed in the first few days of summer vacation in order to fully enjoy the summer vacation.
 The reason why I came all the way to the city in this hot weather was simply because I was informed by a bookstore that a new novel I was looking forward to had been published.

"But after it got a little cooler... or should I have had my father or mother drive me off?"

 While complaining, he fanned his T-shirt and let out the heat he was holding inside.
 However, this is the temperature.There is nothing but water on a burnt stone.
 Wipe off the sweat that came out again for a few minutes while waiting for a red light and look around.
 It may have been quite crowded a few decades ago, but now more than 60% of shops close shutters.Even though many people find jobs in their hometowns after graduating from high school, the number of children themselves is decreasing, so it is inevitable that they will taper off.
 In fact, the demolition of the house started even at a place a little far from Reiji.

"I suppose it will continue to be depopulated,"

 That being said, I have no particular solution, so I can't help myself.
 That's how I felt."Dangerous, avoid it!" he said.
 When I looked at it almost reflectively, I saw a steel frame of about 5 meters... that was Reiji's last sight in the world.





"Oh... at last..."

 Reiji suddenly wakes up to hear such a voice.The white space around me was empty, and it seemed to go on and on forever.

"...where am I?"

 It was supposed to be a scene in which he cried, thinking that he must have been crushed by the steel frame, but he was able to judge with a strange calmness.

"Are you awake, my successor?"

 When I turn my attention to the person who spoke to me, for some reason I automatically see its existence.

"A light bulb?"

 Yes, it was a light bulb about 30 cm.It is flashing and flashing, but still making a voice.

"If it's my photosphere, you're also my photosphere. Do you understand that?"

 After hearing the words of the light bulb, he realized for the first time that his body was a light bulb.Indeed, he had neither hands nor feet, nor eyes or ears.And yet, for some reason, I can see and hear.

"What's going on?"
"Calm down, candidate for succession. ... No, aren't you upset?Should we call him a candidate for my successor?""Successor or candidate?"
"Yes, therefore he was called before me just before your soul disappeared."

 Reiji reminds me of the scene where the steel frame approaches the contents of the light bulb.Certainly, there is little chance of being saved in that situation.

"Well, I'm sure I'm dead... so to speak, is this the afterlife?"
"No, this is a kind of spiritual world between the world and the world.I used my tricks in search of my successor, and you fell for it."

 Reiji reacts briskly to the light bulb that says so in a low intonation voice.

"Did you kill me by interfering with something like causality?"

 It's a familiar development for Reiji, who enjoys novels, comics, movies, games, etc. ... but I wouldn't be happy if it happened to him.
 However, the light bulb in front of him again blinks and utters a voice.

"No, the technique I used is to induce the soul of a person who is qualified to succeed me to this spiritual world for a short time before going to this spiritual world."

 When Reiji heard these words, he felt a little by little.If what the light bulb says is true, my death has nothing to do with it... but if everything it says is true.
 I couldn't fully agree with the story of a stranger who had just met him for the first time...or rather, a stranger.
 However, Reiji encourages her to move on because she cannot stay like this forever.

"Go on,"
"Yes, as I have said, I have tried the art of summoning a possible successor.Therefore, it was you who appeared.Therefore, it is a candidate for succession.
"I've been curious. What's your successor?"
"He is the successor to witchcraft called witchcraft, which is already on the verge of disappearance."

 Some sad murmur and twinkle of light.

"When I called you up, I had a rough idea of your memory.Unlike yours, there is magic in my world.I was a magician of great magical powers.And so is my family.What my family created was magic called the magic of animals.'
"Isn't it quite minor that it was your family that produced it, and that it was about to disappear?"
"I don't deny it.In the first place, the precondition for using the art of magic is that it has enormous magical power, so it is difficult for anyone other than my family to use it."
"A great deal of magical power... is that what I have I asked.

 As long as his enormous magical power is a precondition for the art of the beast, it would be impossible to say that he, who was regarded as his successor, did not have such magical power.Reiji thought so and asked, but Hikaru's answer was beyond expectation.

"Yes, or no one in your world will have more magical powers than you.You have such magical powers in your body....why was there such a special variation as yours in a world without witchcraft?It's an interesting case, but I don't have time to solve the mystery anymore.Therefore, I want you to listen carefully and judge."

 Then, what he said was as follows:As I said earlier, magic exists in this light bulb world.Among these magicians, it seems that Hikyu is one of the best magicians in the world who gathered together and created it.Although it was a group of magicians only, it is said that their military power was enough to destroy a country in a matter of hours.In such a world, it is said that the magic of a certain secret was created by the gathering of the best magicians.However, he needed enormous magical powers to use the art of the beast, and no one could master it except the family of Kogyoku.And unfortunately, it seems that there were no talented magicians in the younger generation, perhaps influenced by the gathering of magicians called geniuses in one era.Also, it is a major reason why the art of witchcraft was not popularized because it was used only once in a lifetime due to its increasing effectiveness due to magical restrictions.
 Magicians called geniuses naturally had a limited life span, and the number of magicians was gradually reduced, with one falling down and two falling down.
 The last surviving member of such a family was the light bulb in front of him, but he still couldn't beat his life span.I can't stand the magic that we created disappearing.However, there is no one in this world who can inherit the art of the beast.Then what about the other world?, he used all of his life and magic to perform his last tricks of his life.He created a spiritual world between the world and the world, and it seems that he explored the separation of souls qualified to inherit the art of the beasts from the world for nearly hundreds of years.Then Reiji's soul fell for it.

"I see. I understand the general situation. ... By the way, what would happen if I refused?"
"I can't help it.You will continue to travel into the afterlife, and will be reborn as a new life.""Then why don't you say you're going to take over the art of course.
"In that case, I will serve as my catalyst and give you a new body."

 Reiji's light bulb twitches when he hears what he says.

"... wait, there are a lot of words I can't miss.First of all, you are the catalyst?"
"That's what it means.It is a necessary procedure to pass my knowledge to you."
"Is that what you're talking about? Is it like this.
"No, I am but a catalyst.When knowledge is transferred to you, it is absorbed by you and disappears.But it remains the same that you and I are alone.The subject is you, but it is expected that there will be some change."

 Reiji, who hears that his personality will remain at least as it is, breathes a sigh of relief, and then moves on to the next question.

"And what is the new body?"
"You have lost your body in your world."

 The words of the light bulb remind me of the steel frame approaching my eyes.It was easy for Reiji to imagine that if he had been crushed by that steel frame, his body would not be in a proper condition.

"Well, that's for sure,"
Therefore, I will fix your soul in a new body that I and my family created by combining magical powers and techniques.'
"Well, is it a new body?"
"And of course, I will disappear after you succeed the art of the beast.Therefore, all the magical tools and precious materials that we and our family have left will belong to you."
"It's the legacy of some of the world's most powerful magicians who live in hundreds of years. It's a waste.But what about magic and so on when it comes to a new body?"
"No problem. Magic power is in the soul, not in the body."
"That is to say, the great magic that I have.But why don't you use that body yourself to come back to life?"
"No, my soul and its body are in conformity, and my soul has already aged and worn out.My life as a magician has already ended, when curiosity, inquisitiveness, and thirst for the unknown do not exist.I told you everything I should tell you.So let me ask you, will we inherit the technology that we have left behind?"
"... well, even if I refuse here, I'll only go to the afterlife. All right, I'll accept the offer."

 The light bulb blinks several times at Reiji's words.

"Thank you. Then let's start merging."
"Oh, what shall I do?"
"It's not difficult.You're already ready when you're in this space.Then, when I and you come into contact, the fusion is automatically completed and you are reconstructed.At the same time, your soul will take root in the new body and wake you up."
"All right. ... Do it."
"Well, let's start fusion from now on."

 When he declares so, the light bulb approaches Reiji and overlaps him.

"Reiji SAEKI, thank you and wish you happiness in your new life."

 At the same time, Reiji's consciousness sank into darkness.