"Whoa! So many ingredients!" Hinako glanced excitedly as she stared at the aisle of the vegetables section. She observed all of the different kinds of ingredients she could find. I smiled reflexively, seeing somewhat of a childish action from Hinako. 

"Don't stray too far from me, okay?" I notified Hinako, while picking up a generous portion of meat and ingredients that could last us for two weeks. The ingredients in my house had been running low, so we went into the supermarket to do a little shopping. 

After I told her about the state of this world, Hinako was shocked. Even then, I could see it in her kind blue eyes that she truly cared about me, until suddenly her stomach growled loudly seeking for food, even though she just ate breakfast. 

"Hey, Sayoko, what are these things called?" Hinako asked playfully while holding a decently sized ball of green vegetables. 

I answered, "that's cabbage."

Hinako looked at the cabbage she was holding with intense eyes. She went over to the next section of the vegetables while hopping around in excitement. 

I stopped at an aisle to find some potatoes and other vegetables, not to mention some rice and soy sauce. While I was busy picking stuff up, an unnerving feeling hit me. I immediately switched my gaze to search for Hinako, however she was around ten meters away from me.

Hinako was happily observing some meat and fish while holding her magic staff she found this morning. I sighed in relief, however the bad feeling didn't stop. I could feel familiar atmospheric changes in this grocery store. 

With a sudden movement, a single light opened up resembling a portal I saw this morning and yesterday, however the size of it was slightly bigger than the previous one. The portal appeared right by Hinako's side. 

"Hinako, run away!" I shouted with all of my might and reached for my DI42. 

Two giant crabs the size of a big motorcycle appeared from the portal, with two blue goblins riding it. The goblins roared right after they saw Hinako. I immediately put down those two goblins with a swift motion using my handgun. 

Bang! Bang! 

The goblins fell and splattered towards the ground leaving gross green liquid residues, while the giant crabs made clicking sounds with their pincers after they saw their riders fall towards the ground. They moved left and right chaotically. 

With continuous motion, I tried to shoot the crabs repeatedly which stunned both of them, however they didn't stop moving. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I tried emptying the remaining bullets on my DI42, however the damage it caused was minimal, while the two crabs continued to ravage the supermarket aisles. I panicked and searched for Hinako. 

"With the prestige and blessing of the Goddess of Light, I request you, through the deepest dimension of the universe, to give me power to defeat my enemy. Aether Strike!"

Hinako's surroundings turned into a gorgeous starry sky as lights pierced the air from her staff, creating a magnificent view of light show around her. 

A crispy sound vibrated gracefully as lights around Hinako started to condensed into a small ray of bright shine, it penetrated the shell of the giant crabs with ease. The crabs stopped its rampage with its corpse laid down in a slightly creepy motion. 

The lights slowly dissipated from Hinako's staff, she fell down to her knees with a sudden movement. I immediately rushed towards her, "Hinako, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I'm still not used to this magic staff," Hinako said with a cheerful smile, hiding her short breath of tiredness. 

"That's… the staff from the winged snake from before, right? Do they drop items after being killed, or something?" I asked curiously, using knowledge of modern games and such, which was met with a confused Hinako as she tilted her head trying to comprehend what I just said. 

Hinako smiled bittersweetly before answering, "It's not that the winged snake had these staff to begin with, it's just… it means that the winged snake ate the staff."

"Ate… the staff?" This time, I was the one that tilted my head in confusion.

Hinako nodded her head with a sorrowful expression, "It usually means the winged snake killed magicians or healers, and devoured their staff as a source of nutrients."

I secretly sighed, I shouldn't have asked that, as it put Hinako in a weird mood. I tried to come up with something to switch topics, however Hinako seemed more interested in the deceased giant crabs as she walked closer towards it. 

Hinako turned to me excitedly, "Hey, hey Sayoko! Let's have crab meat for lunch!"

Natsumikan

Support your local supermarket