“Plain sugar.”
I put my elbow on the counter of Donut Shop Hungry and made my order. Yep, the usual.
I always get a huge craving for donuts on days with great weather like this.
Hungry is a donut food cart that’s always basking in the bright sunlight at the riverside park, and it’s one of my favorite places to eat it.
“Geez, again? It wouldn’t hurt to ask for something different for once, you know?”
The shop manager, with his unique hairstyle and well-built body, twisted his hips like an innocent maiden as per usual. However, I wasn’t planning on changing my mind.
“Plain sugar.”
I repeated myself with a smile.
But the manager wasn’t one to give up that easily.
“Here, look at this. It’s today’s special, our newest creation: the Heartwarming Donut! As the name suggests, it’ll warm up your heart with its heart-like shape and all those colorful mini heart-shaped chocolate bits! Even the coldest of hearts will warm up with just a bite! What do you think? Looks delicious, doesn’t it?”
As he shot out his fast-paced explanation, he shoved today’s recommendation in front of me.
It really did look delicious.
Hungry’s daily recommended specials are created from the manager’s inspiration and his unique quirks, and have proved to be a popular menu option. Today’s recommendation was topped with the kind of decorations girls would jump at, and it had a strong aroma that really tickled the appetite.
“Well?”
Before I realized it, the manager’s face had drawn so close to mine that his heavy nasal breathing was hitting my face.
“One plain sugar, please.”
I silently pushed back today’s special as well as the manager’s face that was practically close enough to kiss me.
“Geez, you’re so stubborn.”
The manager put away the special in defeat and instead brought out the usual plain sugar.
“There’s no donut that could possibly beat this one.”
After I took the donut with a wink, the manager put on a cutesy girly pose. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cute at all to me. His face was perfectly shaved and his clearly well-groomed skin glowed in the light, but it didn’t change the fact that he was a bonafide man.
I have no intention of judging people’s hobbies, but he actually has a pretty handsome face, and could probably sell even more donuts if he put on a more proper look. Actually, no, maybe his shop is only this beloved because of the way he is… As I thought about those pointless things, I bit into my donut.
“Damn that’s good.”
It had a simplicity to it that was incredibly surprising considering the manager’s quirks, as well as containing just the right amount of sweetness. Hungry’s plain sugar donuts really are the best. I quickly took another two bites.
I have a few memories regarding plain sugar.
It was the first donut my parents gave me as a kid. I remember how my mom and dad had the hugest smiles on their face as they watched me wolf down my very first donut. Seeing them like that made me happy too, and I began to ask for plain sugar donuts whenever we went out together, and eventually, it just became one of my favorite foods.
“You really like donuts, don’t you, Haruto?”
My mom would tell me that as she watched me with her kind eyes…
“Is it good?”
My dad would say that with a satisfied smile on his face…
Whenever I take a bite into a plain sugar, it’s like the warm childhood memories of my family resurface within my heart…
Filled with nostalgic warmth, just as I was about to take another bite, the cellphone in my pocket began ringing. When I quickly answered it out of reflex, I was greeted with a “Haruto?” in that bright-as-ever voice. It was from Rinko.
“Are you free right now? There’s something I want you to check out with me real quick.”
Her voice sounded a little nervous. It sounded like something had happened.
“Sure, no problem. Where are you right now?”
After confirming the location, I hung up and was about to head out. But at the last second, I turned around and called out to the manager.
“Actually, I think I’ll get one of those specials.”
The manager looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“You’ll eat one?! Haruto!”
“It’s for Rinko. I thought it’d be the perfect thing to get for her.”
Upon hearing those words, the manager’s face quickly took on an annoyed expression as he glared at me reproachfully.
“Oh, so that’s what it is. Geez, you two are so close that it almost makes me jealous.”
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything going on between us that could warrant someone getting jealous.
Knowing how hardworking Rinko is, I was just thinking that she probably skipped lunch and was starving right about now. And I know all too well just how scary a hungry girl can be.
After taking the bag of donuts, I left the shop and put the Connect ring onto my right hand, which I then hovered over the hand-shaped mark on my belt buckle.
Once the buckle responded to the ring, a red magic ring about as tall as a door manifested next to me. After putting my hand into it, I pulled out my bike, the Machinewinger, from the other side.
I then noticed a kindergartener boy who was standing nearby watching me with surprise.
It was understandable. After all, he just saw a man who not only created a magic circle out of thin air, but also proceeded to pull a bike out of it.
“What was that just now…?”
“Magic.”
I responded honestly.
“You’re a magician?!”
The boy leaned forward with excitement.
“Pretty much.”
After saying those words, I stuffed my mouth with whatever was left of my donut and started up my bike.
That’s right, I’m a magician. The ringed magician who protects the people from the clutches of the Phantoms… Kamen Rider Wizard.
“I think this is the place…”
About half an hour later, I got off my bike and looked up at the building in front of me.
The location Rinko asked me to visit was an old warehouse in a forest a bit a ways off from the city centre. Maybe it was because of the thick overgrown trees, but the area was pretty dark even though it was the middle of noon. It was the complete opposite of the sunny riverside park that the Hungry shop was stationed at.
The warehouse sat inconspicuously in the shadows as if were hiding. The brick walls were covered with blackish moss and the rusted windows showed no sign of opening up any time soon… It was easy to surmise that the place hadn’t been used for quite a few years.
(It’s like a haunted house.)
As I thought about that, the warehouse’s small rusted iron door flew open as if instigated by the sound of my bike, and a pretty lady in a pantsuit who didn’t match the haunted house atmosphere whatsoever walked out. It was Rinko.
“Sorry for calling you out here all of a sudden, Haruto.”
“Kind of a weird place to bring someone for a date, don’t you think?”
Rinko made a small giggle in response to my joke.
“True. But if you ask me, your face doesn’t exactly look fit for a date either.”
Rinko was pointing at my mouth.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Donuts. You were eating them again, weren’t you? Your mouth is covered with white.”
“Oh shoot.”
Before I could wipe my mouth, Rinko’s finger slid across my lips.
Out of embarrassment, I quickly backed up and rubbed off whatever sugar was left on my mouth.
“You’re such a kid.”
Rinko’s eyes looked like a mother’s as she smiled.
I tried to smooth it over by clearing my throat with an “ahem”.
“And that kid’s brought the hardworking mother a little something.”
I then handed over the bag I got from Hungry.
“Oh wow, thank you!”
Rinko’s eyes lit as she took the bag from me, and after taking out the daily special, she immediately started digging into it.
“Perfect timing. I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”
It looked like my guess was right on the mark.
The tiny heart-shaped chocolates that decorated the donut stuck to her mouth as she wolfed it down.
“Geez. Now which one of us is the kid?”
This time I laughed.
Upon noticing my gaze, she quickly wiped her mouth and embarrassingly snapped back with “Yeah, yeah, I guess we’re the same.”
We’re the same, huh? I guess you could say that.
I first met Rinko back during my early days of fighting the Phantoms. I saved her from a Phantom who attacked her.
Rinko was a detective. From what I’ve heard, her late father was a police officer. She chose the same path as him because she respected her father for devoting his life to protecting the people, so she probably had a strong sense of justice from the very beginning. After learning that I was fighting the Phantoms, she told me she wanted to help out.
But I couldn’t allow myself to put a girl in the line of danger. And besides, normal people don’t stand a chance against Phantoms. I of course turned her down, but she proved to be quite insistent. She’d jump right into the middle of battle and stand firmly in the Phantoms’ way in order to protect the people.
“I might not be a magician… but I still want to protect people just as much as you do.”
When she said those words while looking at me, I could sense a powerful resolve behind her eyes.
Just as much as you do…
I felt something from those words of hers, and I came to terms with her throwing herself into battle.
Rinko proved her worth as a detective in all kinds of different ways throughout our battles against the Phantoms. She couldn’t defeat Phantoms, but her investigations would sometimes help uncover how to defeat them. And since she would always help the civilians get out of danger, I was able to fight the Phantoms without worrying about my surroundings.
No, that’s not all. Rinko’s bright personality and kindness have helped me more times than I can count. Whenever I was troubled or worried, she would always be there for me to offer her kind words or just silently watch over me if that’s what I needed instead. She truly saved me. Not just as a detective, but as a person, and as a woman…
“What, is there still something on my face…?”
I came back to my senses upon hearing Rinko’s voice as she stared at me dubiously. Apparently, I’d been staring at her face without realizing it.
“Oh, uh, it’s nothing. I just couldn’t help but notice how you were really wolfing that down.”
I tried to just say whatever came to mind in order to gloss things over.
“What do you expect? I really haven’t had anything to eat.”
She spoke with an annoyed face as she wiped her mouth clean with a handkerchief. It seemed like she didn’t notice my discomposure.
“So what’s so important that you had to come all the way out here without getting something to eat?”
I secretly caught my breath and changed the subject to the issue at hand.
Rinko’s face, which looked like a little girl stuffing her face with a donut just a moment ago, had turned back into that of a dignified detective.
“I found out about this building during my investigation, so I came to check it out.”
Rinko turned around to face the haunted house. I continued my questions.
“What even is this place?”
“I don’t know. But there’s no doubt that it belonged to that man.”
“That man?”
Rinko paused for a moment, and then quietly responded.”
“…..Sou Fueki.”
That name sounded familiar. Or rather, that name would never leave my head no matter how much I’d try to forget it.
Sou Fueki. That was the name of the man who gave birth to Koyomi, as well as the man behind what ultimately led me to become a magician.
He was a famous physicist. Well-versed in both medicine and chemistry, he made full use of his talents in a multitude of fields. However, he was a man cursed with misfortune. His wife passed away early on, and he lost his daughter as well to an incurable disease. That daughter of his could very well have been considered his hope for living. After losing that hope and falling into the depths of despair, Fueki turned his back on the realm of modern science that failed to save his one and only daughter, and instead delved into a forbidden discipline: the world of magic.
He gathered Gates—people who secretly held magic within them—and held a ritual known as the Sabbath.
Hidden inside Gates are masses of magical energy known as Phantoms. When a Gate falls to despair, their Phantom breaks out of their body and manifests as a monster in the real world. Fueki’s goal was to give birth to a countless number of Phantoms, and to inject their massive quantities of magic into the Philosopher’s Stone embedded inside the preserved corpse of his daughter.
The Sabbath forced the sacrificial Gates into despair one after the other, giving birth to Phantoms and ultimately dying for the sake of Fueki’s madness.
I was one of the sacrifices gathered for the sake of the Sabbath as well. However, because I never gave in to despair and held onto hope until the very end, I was able to somehow suppress my Phantom within me and survive.
“You’ve done well to hold onto hope and survive. You’ve earned the right to become a magician.”
After surviving that ordeal, those were the words spoken to me by a man known as the White Wizard.
After handing me the magic belt and rings that were the sole method of defeating Phantoms, he then entrusted to me a fellow victim of the Sabbath who had lost her memories: Koyomi.
However, Koyomi turned out to not actually be a victim of the Sabbath. She was none other than the vessel for the very same daughter that Fueki was trying to resurrect. Her body had come back to life thanks to the magic granted by the Philosopher’s Stone within her, but the same couldn’t be said for her soul.
Maintaining the Philospher’s Stone required a vast amount of magical energy. Noticing the quantity of magic within me, he gave me Koyomi so that I could serve as her supply source. Then, he gathered Phantoms under the name of Wiseman so that they could find new Gates for the sake of the next Sabbath.
The White Wizard who gave me the belt and rings, Wiseman, the leader of the phantoms, and Fueki, the physicist who had stepped into the world of magic, were all the same person.
I fought against the Phantoms without realizing a single thing and continued to protect Koyomi.
After finishing his preparations for the next Sabbath, Fueki tried to take back Koyomi, but since I had learned the truth behind everything, I stopped him and fought with everything I had in order to protect her.
In the end, Fueki lost his life to someone named Sora who was also after the Philosopher’s Stone. It was an ironic end, being betrayed by one of the Phantoms he had created. He had committed unforgivable deeds by sacrificing all those innocent victims for purely his own sake, but it didn’t change the fact that he was a parent who grieved over the loss of his daughter. The look he had on his face as he stretched his hand toward the face of his dead daughter was without a doubt the expression of a father who cared for his child…
“Fueki…”
Memories of Fueki came back to me, and I was filled with complicated feelings.
Picking up on how I felt, Rinko continued to explain while choosing her words carefully.
“Sorry, I must have brought back bad memories. You know about how we’re still investigating anything that Fueki might have left over, right? Anyway, there was something in the documents that referenced this place, so I thought it would be worth checking out.”
“And did you find anything?”
“Yes, something really crazy.”
“Really crazy?”
“Come with me. It’ll be faster to just see for yourself.”
With Rinko leading the way, I passed through the small rusty iron door of the haunted house.
The interior of the haunted house wasn’t as dark as I expected. The iron windows were closed shut, but there were numerous small skylights installed on the ceiling which allowed some light to shine through. There was nothing inside, other than the dirty brick walls that surrounded the area and the dust-covered wooden crates that were haphazardly tossed about.
“It’s just an abandoned warehouse.”
I spoke exactly what I had thought.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought at first, but…”
Rinko pointed at a toppled pile of boxes in the corner. Did someone cause them to topple over or something? As if picking up on my doubts, Rin continued.
“For some reason, there’s way more boxes here than anywhere else. I was curious, so I tried moving them around a bit. And then…”
Upon taking a look, I noticed that the boxes were covering up an iron door on the floor, and the opened entrance revealed a set of rusted stairs that led to a dark underground chamber.
“Don’t tell me you went down there alone…”
“I did.”
Rinko made an impish smile.
She has a tendency to be pretty reckless sometimes. Her line of work requires that she puts herself in some level of danger, but I’ve tried to tell her to stop jumping into that danger all on her own.
“Listen here…”
When I opened my mouth to scold her, she quickly interrupted me.
“But that’s why I called you here.”
“Huh?”
“I only peeked inside a little bit. I felt like it was too dangerous to go any further, so I decided to wait until you got here. Can’t complain now, right?”
Rinko had a proud look on her face as if she was a child that had kept her promise to her parents. This was also just like her. Her sharp mind sometimes outsmarted even mine.
Rinko handed me a penlight with that smug look still on her face.
“I’ll be counting on you to be my escort, Mr. Magician.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I replied in an annoyed fashion, but it kinda felt nice to be depended on by her.
After taking the penlight, I slowly made my way down the dark stairs toward the underground chamber.
The stairs weren’t that long, and soon enough my feet arrived on a hard floor. Upon illuminating my feet, a stone floor could be seen. The space in front of me was pitch black, and the air around me felt chilly. I held out my penlight to illuminate the darkness.
In doing so, a creepy face suddenly showed up, putting me on guard.
However, upon taking a closer look, I realized that it was just an old mask designed to resemble a monster’s face. I recalled seeing them in history textbooks. Ancient civilizations in southern countries used them for things like warding rituals or festivals.
As my eyes adjusted, I noticed that it was set on a stone pillar, alongside several other similar masks. They were all of different sizes and of different cultures and time periods, but they all had that disturbing inhuman look to them that filled the darkness with an evil aura.
“See? Crazy, right?”
Rinko, who had been right behind me the whole time, whispered to me in a small voice.
“If you ask me, it’s even crazier that you came down here all by yourself.”
“I mean, I didn’t think it’d be that creepy down here.”
Her hand that had been tugging on my shirt grew tighter.
(She acts tough a lot, but I guess she’s still a girl deep down.)
Guys are weak to stuff like this. Seeing the usually-easygoing Rinko show her girly side every once in a while never fails to me cause a gentle wind to stir in my heart. But this wasn’t the time for that.
“All right, I guess it’s time for a date in the haunted house.”
After making a joke to lighten up the mood, I once again flashed the darkness with my penlight.
The ceiling of the underground room wasn’t that high, but the room itself was a lot wider than I thought. There were more stone pillars adorned with masks in the back, and several piles of old books could be seen between them. Other than that, there were also strange metal objects you’d never see in this day and age, paintings and tapestries depicting monsters, and statues and carvings of deities and wicked creatures… Artifacts from all kinds of time periods ranging even several centuries apart were lined up here and there.
“Wajima’s shop could probably make a pretty profit with all these antiques.”
As I imagined how the owner of the antique shop Omokagedou would examine these antiques with delight, I once again illuminated the various artifacts stuffed inside this underground room.
Just then, a blinding light shot out, causing me to avert my eyes.
“Haruto?!”
“I’m fine, but there’s something there.”
After reassuring the worried Rinko, I carefully stretched my hand out toward the source of the light.
“I see now. The light that attacked me was coming from this thing.”
Letting my guard down, I handed over what I found to Rinko.
It was an old mirror about the size of someone’s face. The blinding light that attacked me was just the reflection of my penlight.
The mirror was embedded into a metal relief, and the relief itself had engravings of a variety of monsters, surrounding the mirror like a ring of sorts.
“Look at this.”
Rin showed me the back of the mirror, which had a small magic circle and ancient text written on it.
“This might be a storage area for magic items…”
As I said that, I passed my eyes over the various antiques nearby.
Magic items are tools used for magic. They range from anything from metal objects engraved with spells, to carpets decorated with magic circles, ornaments filled with spiritual energy, suspicious drugs, and etc. The belt and rings I use are magic items as well.
All the antiques in the underground room seemed to be of that kind of variety. Upon taking a closer look, they were all connected to magic in some way, whether it be drawings of magic circles or engravings of ancient text.
“Fueki was probably collecting magic items from all times and places in order to obtain magic…”
Rinko placed the mirror back where we found it as she said that.
In order to resurrect his one and only daughter, Fueki had relinquished every ounce of his knowledge and assets.
(The ridiculous number of magic items gathered here just goes to show how persistent he was…)
As I thought about that, I once again looked over the piles of magic items that laid there silently in the darkness.
Suddenly, I heard a loud noise behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Rinko leaning against a toppled pile of crates.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t feel too well…”
Rinko’s voice sounded a lot more frail than earlier.
The underground room was definitely filled with an evil aura. It wasn’t strong enough to affect a magician like me, but the average person likely wouldn’t be able to last that long in a place like this.
“Let’s head out for now.”
I stretched my hand out to Rinko who was slowly getting up.
Just then, some kind of thing shot out from the darkness and slapped my hand away before violently pulling Rinko’s body away.
“Rinko!”
I tried to pull Rinko back, but I was pushed aside by another thing that had come from another direction, knocking me against the floor.
In the light shone by the penlight that had dropped from my hand, I could barely make out the form of the thing that had captured Rinko. The thing seemed to resemble a person. One of its arms held Rinko, and it was likely its other arm that had knocked me down from the other side. Unfortunately, the light didn’t reach its face.
“Mrrrgh…”
The thing let out a groaning voice.
“Haruto…”
Faster than Rinko could finish calling for help, I hovered my ring in front of my belt and shouted out.
“Henshin!”
A magic circle enveloped my body. I jumped through the burning red magic circle, transforming myself into the Ringed Magician, Wizard.
“Now, it’s showtime!”
I shouted out as if stirring myself up and leaped toward the thing that had captured Rinko.
But the thing was a lot stronger than I thought, and the thick arm that held her tight didn’t seem like it would break loose that easy.
“Girls don’t like guys that come on too strong, you know?”
I manifested another magic circle via my Connect ring and pulled the WizarSwordGun out from it. I lashed out with that magic-infused weapon, confident that it would prove to be effective against even the toughest of monsters.
“Ugaah…!”
The thing let out a pained voice and let go of Rinko.
“Thanks, Haruto.”
“This way.”
I let Rinko, who was breathing heavily against my shoulder, step back, and then I readied myself against the thing that was crouching in the darkness.
“Now then, let’s have a look at that face of yours.”
But before I could even take a step, the thing suddenly turned around in attack with a roar.
“Whoa there.”
I wasn’t about to let myself fall for the same thing twice. I quickly brandished my sword, deflecting the thing’s attack.
…At least, that’s what I thought would happen.
The thing let out a kick faster than I anticipated, landing a severe blow against my stomach. I got launched away into a pile of antiques as I fell to the floor.
“Haruto!”
Hearing Rinko’s voice, the thing turned around and slowly began approaching her.
“Kyah…!”
Rinko tripped as she tried to step back from the thing within the darkness. For just a moment, a ray of light caught its face.
Rinko had tripped over the penlight, causing it to change its directions and reflect off of something, ultimately illuminating the thing’s face.
“Ugah… Ugaaah…”
The thing covered its face and groaned in pain.
“It’s weak to light!”
I took out my Light ring and quickly put it in front of my belt.
The violent light that shot out from my ring was as bright as the afternoon sun, illuminating the entirety of the underground room.
“Ugaaaah…!”
The thing’s suffering form could be clearly made out in the light.
It did have the shape of a person, but it was clearly inhuman. Its build was at least twice as large as mine, and the front of its reddish-brown body had an earthy dried-up texture to it, crumbling apart here and there. Black liquid oozed out from the crumbling areas, and upon examining it more, I could see numerous dark red tendons popping out from all over its body like blood vessels. Once it began throwing its hands around as if to cast away the light, its face came into full view, revealing two darkened empty eye sockets, a toothless mouth, and a nose that looked like it was about to fall off at any second. And engraved on its crack-ridden forehead was a small white magic circle.
(A doll that runs on magic, huh?)
I felt sorry for the puppet that was flailing around like it had lost its master with its skin falling apart.
“That body probably isn’t going to last you for much longer. I’ll put you out of your misery.”
I concentrated my magic into my sword and then put up a stance.
“Time for the finale.”
I swung my sword with all my might, slicing apart the doll’s body into two.
It then let out a dying cry as it dispersed into particles of light. Silence once again returned to the underground room.
“Phew.”
Using magic always takes a lot of stamina out of me. I let out a deep breath.
“You okay, Rinko?”
I turned around to Rinko and undid my transformation.
“I”m fine. More importantly, what was that thing…”
“A doll that ran on magic.”
I picked up the penlight off the floor and illuminated the box that had toppled over when Rinko collapsed.
The word “homunculus” was written on it.
“Homunculus…”
Rinko whispered the word as she read it.
“Homonculi are manmade humans created by magicians of the past. By mixing together the ingredients that make up the body in a still and then storing it in a container similar to the interior of a womb for a few dozens of days, a creature with the shape of a human is formed… At least, that’s what I remember reading in a document before.”
Was this a prototype for creating the vessel Koyomi was supposed to be…? I shivered in remembrance of just how strong Fueki’s madness and persistence were.
“Sorry, this is all my fault.”
Rinko bowed her head in apology.
“That monster would’ve never woken up if I had never knocked over that box…”
“Don’t worry about it. Just look at all these magic items here. We’re lucky that the doll was the only thing we managed to wake up.”
I replied cheerfully out of consideration for Rinko.
“Thanks. You really saved me.”
Her face grew a little brighter as she apologized.
“You should be thanking this thing.”
That thing let off a glint as I shined my penlight over it.
It was none other than the old mirror from before. The light that served to reveal the doll’s weakness came from the penlight Rinko tripped over, which had bounced off that mirror.
“Thanks, buddy. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
I picked up the mirror and flashed a smile at it.
As if responding to my words, the face inside the mirror made the same smile.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 