I looked at the girl standing in front of me. Even though I'm a fan of long hair, this was the first time I thought short hair didn't hide someone's beauty at all.
"Hello, I'm Nobita Nobi!" I introduced myself.
"Hello, I'm Shizuka Minamoto!" Shizuka, standing nearby, introduced herself too.
We were just about to say more when...
"It's so heavy! Get off me!" Suddenly, I heard Suneo's voice from the side.
That's when we all remembered there were others still lying on the ground.
Suneo was pinned under Gian, struggling miserably.
Gian heard Suneo's cry and rolled off him consciously.
"You're so heavy! You almost crushed me!" Suneo slowly got up, holding his back, brushing off the dust from his clothes, and complaining to Gian.
Not far away, Doraemon was in the worst shape. When he fell, he landed headfirst like an upside-down onion, buried in the dirt and leaves, with his two chubby little legs flailing outside.
I facepalmed in exasperation, then ran over, grabbed Doraemon's flailing fat legs, and yanked him out of the ground with all my might.
"Phew!" Doraemon took a deep breath once he was out.
His pathetic appearance made everyone burst into laughter.
Suddenly, a strong earthquake hit, stopping our laughter.
We either crouched down or lay flat, grabbing onto something to brace against the intense shaking.
"Another huge earthquake!" Suneo said, sounding panicked.
"Another one?" Doraemon and I caught that keyword.
"It happened the day before yesterday and yesterday too. It's been like this lately!" Gian said straightforwardly, without suspicion.
"What's going on? Is this a sign of some major disaster?" Shizuka asked, full of worry.
Miyoko seemed to know the cause of the earthquake. While we were all dodging it, her eyes were fixed on one spot, sharp and intense.
After a while, the strong shaking stopped, and the earthquake ended.
We slowly stood up, a bit afraid of possible aftershocks.
"Let's get out of here quickly!" Miyoko said seriously to everyone.
"There's a weird aura floating around here!"
"This forest is withered because it's been affected by some powerful magic."
"Staying here too long could be dangerous."
Seeing that Miyoko wasn't joking, and combined with the dark, eerie environment, we believed her a bit.
"Ah!" Suddenly, Suneo screamed!
It startled all of us.
But his next words were, "My German broom is ruined!"
That left us all speechless.
Gian also yelled that his broom was broken too.
These two were really a handful.
Just as Doraemon was about to pull out his Take-copter...
"Don't worry, everyone can ride my magic carpet!"
With that, Miyoko waved her hand, and the wrinkled magic carpet that had fallen nearby flattened out and flew right in front of us.
The magic carpet looked like a huge playing card, with red edges and a green center, and a massive pentagram in the middle.
It must be some kind of magic circle, I thought strangely. Aren't magic circles supposed to be hexagrams?
"Wow!" Suneo and the others looked at the elaborate magic carpet with envy, but coming from the tech world, Doraemon and I didn't feel the same way.
Still, thinking about it, even a rich kid like Suneo could only afford a flying broom in luxury, while this wasn't an ordinary magic carpet. It was like comparing a bicycle to a sports car.
No wonder they were envious.
Seeing their envious looks at the flying magic carpet...
"Don't look at me like that—flying magic carpet? I have an A-class license, you know!" Miyoko said confidently.
Then how did you crash? I really wanted to say that.
Was it because she's a female driver?
While I was lost in random thoughts...
We all boarded Miyoko's magic carpet together. Later, I figured out why she crashed.
She drove it so fast!
It felt like lightning speed, and at that super high velocity, we were weaving and dodging through the dense forest.
All I could think was, don't they have a subject three test here? Isn't this speeding? Good thing we're in the air with no pedestrians.
After gliding like we were cutting across water, the magic carpet, under Miyoko's control, carried us out of that eerie forest.
In the eerie forest, far away on a withered tree trunk, a creepy figure stared at our backs, with the monkey-like creature that had attacked Suneo and Gian beside it.
...
After a short journey, Miyoko piloted the flying magic carpet and brought us to an ancient manor.
As soon as we entered, a statue holding a bow and arrow aimed its bow at us.
"Wait! It's okay, they're my guests!" Miyoko quickly shouted at the statue!
The statue slowly lowered its aimed bow.
Then it let Miyoko control the carpet to land.
This thing is voice-activated? I thought to myself.
"Security is tight here!" Suneo said, surprised!
He didn't understand who they were guarding against!
"This is a defense measure against demons!" Miyoko explained.
"Demons?" Doraemon asked, puzzled.
"Yes! The recent earthquakes and abnormal weather are all because the Demon Planet is approaching. That's what my dad said." Miyoko explained as she put away the magic carpet.
While we were all a bit confused, she led us into the manor's large villa.
The villa was pitch black inside. After we walked in, the big door behind us closed.
The darkness made us panic for a moment.
"Dad, it's me!" Miyoko shouted upward.
Then a hexagram circle lit up, and the villa's interior brightened.
It was like stepping into daylight outside.
With the light on, we could see the villa's interior. The decor was a bit like a church—maybe because Miyoko's family are magicians?
"You encountered demons and only got a little hurt? You're really lucky!"
A voice seemed to come from the void.
Then, a person flew out from a mural in the villa—a bald guy dressed like a priest.
He had a little German-style mustache.
Whoa! That's pretty showy, high style points! I thought.
If it weren't for knowing from the original story that this bald guy isn't much use, I might've thought he was the big boss on the good side.
Too bad he couldn't withstand one hit from the demon king.
"I'll treat your wounds first! Come to the room inside."
Later, when we went into the room, we found out the wound treatment was just bandages and ointment.
Uh! What about the legendary healing magic?
I was really looking forward to it! I felt speechless!
"Ah!" Suddenly, Suneo looked at the bald guy's face and screamed in shock.
"You, you're Professor Mangetsu?"
"Absolutely correct, I am Mangetsu!" Professor Mangetsu seemed proud that someone knew his name, happily twirling his little mustache.