Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 6 - Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

MY FRIEND

  Tepsekemei (Time remaining: seven hours, ten minutes)

Mei didn’t know who was an enemy and who was a friend. It should have been Weddin and Kuru-Kuru Hime and Rain Pow and Postarie and Captain Grace and Funny Trick and Toko who were her friends, but Weddin was with people she’d thought were enemies, then escaped from the people she’d thought were enemies, and Tepsekemei didn’t really understand what was going on.

Other magical girls might understand, she figured, but when she asked Weddin and Funny Trick, she didn’t get a clear reply. Nor did she get a clear reply when she asked why Weddin had been with the enemy. She understood she was asking very difficult questions.

“Let’s meet up with someone first.”

Tepsekemei went into the air to scout someone out. But she just couldn’t tell who was an ally and who was an enemy. If they were going to meet up with someone, then who would it be?

Funny Trick’s and Weddin’s faces were different from usual. When Tepsekemei asked why, they told her, “This is what people look like when they’re worried.” Tepsekemei didn’t really understand worrying, either. It was nothing but difficult things, and she didn’t like it.

“Pukin, Sonia, Frederica, and Tot Pop—those four are enemies, no matter what.”

“And rabbit ears and the ninja?”

“If what Frederica and the others discussed is true, they’re the inspection team. I really doubt they hold us in high regard, but still, they might cooperate… In fact, I think perhaps we should cooperate with them.”

“And Toko?”

“She’s out. From what Frederica’s party said, she tricked us.”

“But… Can we believe what they said?”

“Hmm… Good point… But back then I was being controlled, and Funny Trick, you were tied up. Would they go to the trouble to lie in that situation? It’s not out of the question, but I believe it’s unlikely. Right now, rather than chasing unlikely possibilities, we should think about what’s most plausible.”

“So then all that’s left is Kuru-Kuru Hime, Rain Pow, and Postarie… Right?”

“Do you think Toko’s partner is one of us? Or do you think she’s someone else?”

“Who knows…?”

Tepsekemei listened to Weddin’s explanation. Bunny Ears and the ninja were allies. They had been enemies, but for now they were allies. The one who had killed Captain Grace plus her three allies were all enemies. Weddin had been friends with them, but now they were enemies. Toko was an enemy. Postarie, Rain Pow, and Kuru-Kuru Hime were tricky but allies. Tepsekemei didn’t quite understand the meaning of the word “tricky,” but when she asked, the reply she got was hard to understand. For anyone else, they would decide if they were friend or foe based on who they were with.

“Who are the enemies?”

“The one who killed Captain Grace, the other three who are with her, and Toko.”

“And our allies?”

“Bunny and the ninja. And it’s tricky, but Postarie, Rain Pow, and Kuru-Kuru Hime.”

“Do you know what sort of magical girl Postarie is?”

“She moves ribbons.”

Weddin and Funny Trick heaved deep, long sighs.

In the end, they decided that if Tepsekemei caught sight of a magical girl, she was to remember their location and characteristics and then return to the mountain where Weddin and Funny Trick would be. Also, she needed to be careful not to touch the barrier.

Tepsekemei had thought that becoming human would give her more freedom. She’d thought that a magical girl, which was stronger than a human, would be even freer than that. But in actuality, it was nothing but restrictions. She had to help her allies, and she had to follow the leader’s instructions. And their enemies were powerful. These enemies wouldn’t run away if you snapped at them.

The black-winged magical girl she had fought in the sky above was strong. Tepsekemei had nearly been frozen. If she’d continued fighting, she would have been killed.

The magical girl who had killed Captain Grace was strong, too. Anyone but Tepsekemei would have died, and even she would have died if she’d taken one more hit.

Tepsekemei decided she would not fight either of those two ever again. No matter what Weddin said, or even if Weddin got mad at her, Tepsekemei would absolutely not fight them. If it came to that, she would carry Weddin and run away.

Tepsekemei thinned out her body, making her appear fainter. Gliding through the sky, it became harder for enemies to find her. If she made herself too thin, she would be blown away in the wind, so she modulated it, flying high in the air as she observed the world below.

There were disturbances happening all over. People were gathering; “cars” were gathering, talking, listening, moving, not moving. There were no magical girls. Where were they? Tepsekemei flew toward the school.

On the way, she saw a road with a circle carved out of it. There were quite a lot of people there and a rope that ran all the way around the hole. No magical girls there.

As she flew, she checked all the places visible from above: the tops of buildings, on top of an iron tower, atop roofs. It just made her eyes tired, and she didn’t find anything special.

There was no one on the roof of the school, either. Some humans were running on the sports oval. No magical girls there.

Tepsekemei landed on the roof and sat down, leaning against the wall. She pinched the spot between her eyes in her fingers and rubbed lightly. She’d been using her eyes this whole time, and they were tired.

There wasn’t much difference between doing nothing in the air and doing nothing while sitting, so Tepsekemei just sat there and gazed up at the gray clouds. They were no different than they had been the day before. They were thick, and she couldn’t see any higher in the sky. They hid the sun, making it cold. As she looked at them, thinking, The wind won’t blow away the clouds, will it? something that was not a cloud flew toward her. It looked like a bird but wasn’t one. It was something small that moved its wings to fly but was not a bird. As she looked hard at it, it seemed as if it was flying toward her, and it was more interesting to watch than the clouds.

As Tepsekemei continued to observe the flying thing, she realized that it really was headed toward her. Gradually, the outline of the thing became clearer.

It was a lamp, which had sprouted birdlike wings, flying toward her. She knew that lamp. It was the one Captain Grace had given her. Come to think of it, she’d lost it at some point.

She didn’t know what made a lamp useful, but being inside it had been calming, so she’d figured that’s what it was for.

Slowly and steadily, the flying lamp came closer until it fell lightly into Tepsekemei’s hand. The bird wings melted into the air and disappeared. She poked the lamp in her hand, then tried sniffing it. There was no mistaking it. It was that lamp, after all. It still smelled like Tepsekemei.

“Oh, so you came back to the school.”

Two magical girls appeared, hopping over the iron fence. Tepsekemei confirmed they were not enemies. However, their names were rather vague in her mind, and she couldn’t remember them. She’d just split up with Funny Trick and Weddin. So then one of these was Rain Pow, and the other was Kuru-Kuru Hime?

“Do you know where the other girls are?” A tiny fairy poked her head out from one of the girl’s chests. Tepsekemei wouldn’t forget this: Toko. Toko was an enemy.

“Toko is an enemy.” Tepsekemei voiced her thoughts out loud. When she did this, others would correct her when she was mistaken, and someone would explain to her about what she didn’t understand. That was the correct course of action this time, too. The two girls reacted to Tepsekemei’s statement, and that told Tepsekemei that her statement wasn’t wrong.

Rainbows scissored Tepsekemei from in front and behind, slicing her in half, and Tepsekemei blew a gust of wind, attempting to blast the enemy over the iron railing. Tepsekemei abandoned her lower body and her upper half fled into the sky, from where she shot wind at the two girls and Toko one more time. The more colorful of the girls braced herself in the wind, but the other one couldn’t resist it and was tossed backward. Right before the plain magical girl flew over the iron railing, the fancy-looking one reached out to her, grabbing her friend’s arm with her left hand as she gripped the railing with her right, holding on. The sudden motion caused Toko’s tiny frame to spill out of her top, and so Tepsekemei focused her wind on Toko, blowing the fairy away until she couldn’t see her anymore.

Tepsekemei left both magical girls as they yelled and cried out, before rising high, high into the sky.

  Postarie (Time remaining: six hours, thirty-five minutes)

Since Toko couldn’t come back on her own, it took quite the effort to search for her after she got blown away. She ended up caught on the branch of a cherry blossom tree, which had been planted in one corner of the schoolyard to commemorate some graduation, wailing shrilly. Postarie reverted to her human form so as not to be noticed by the students out with their sports clubs, approached the tree quietly, instantly transformed again in order to climb the tree and retrieve Toko, then came down and detransformed once more. She checked all around and saw that nobody was paying attention to her. They were focused on running hard. She was relieved.

On top of the roof, Toko and Rain Pow argued.

“Now everyone knows that you’re a bad guy, Toko.”

“Huh? Why’re you saying that like it’s my fault?”

“’Cause it is your fault. Everyone’s all cautious of us because they know you’re the bad guy!”

“But you’re the bad guy, too, Rain Pow.”

“I haven’t been found out, though.”

“Why d’you have to make it like I’m the only one at fault here?”

“I mean, this is all your fault. Now we can’t meet up with any of the others.”

Though it seemed like they were trying to blame this on each other and shouting each other down, they weren’t seriously angry. You could tell that much easily, just watching them. As they argued, their facial expressions and tones of voice clearly never left the realm of good humor. They were enjoying it.

This had to be what friends were. Toko and Rain Pow were friends. So what did they think of Postarie? Rain Pow had said she thought of her as a friend. Postarie had decided not to think about whether or not she really felt that way.

Never once before had a classmate needed Tatsuko Sakaki. She’d been alone from preschool to elementary school to middle school. When they’d gone on school outings, she’d eaten the rice balls her mother made for her all by herself. When they were deciding groups for school field trips, after everyone else had settled in groups, she would be assigned to whichever group didn’t have enough people.

She’d taken it for granted that things would be this way and felt it was easier to spend time alone. Solitude formed the foundation, while being in groups took effort. It was a pain having to take care not to end up isolated, to smile to flatter people, to be forced to watch popular TV shows she didn’t care about in order to keep up with the conversation. If people weren’t going to bother with her, Tatsuko took no issue with that. As long as it didn’t develop into bullying, that was fine. If they just laughed at her sometimes, like, “She’s always alone, huh?” then she could suck it up.

After befriending Kaori, Tatsuko concluded that friends really were a bother, after all. Talking, smiling, hanging out, and doing things together was all more troublesome than being alone—but it was really fun.

Friends were a curse. Tatsuko didn’t want Kaori to abandon her. Before, she’d taken it for granted that she wouldn’t have friends. It had been normal for her. But now, having friends was normal and something she took for granted. She’d say hi like it was normal, eat lunch together like it was normal, and they’d invite each other over to each other’s houses after school like it was normal.

Without Kaori, she would lose that normalcy.

Toko was a liar, and Rain Pow was her accomplice. Rain Pow had said she wouldn’t kill Postarie for now, since she was going to make her a hostage. That wasn’t the sort of thing you’d say to a friend.

But Postarie had gone and saved Rain Pow. She sort of understood that the ninja had probably been on the right side of things and that Rain Pow and Toko were probably the real “evil mages,” but she’d saved Rain Pow anyway. When she’d seen that ninja trying to defeat her, Postarie had taken action. She hadn’t wanted Rain Pow to die.

As a result, Postarie had killed the ninja. She’d killed the one doing the right thing.

Postarie didn’t feel much shock over the fact of having killed her. She was actually a little gleeful at having done something bad, the same sort of thing Rain Pow and Toko, the villains, did. And she was shocked at herself for being glad about it.

Postarie was clinging to the possibility that Rain Pow saying she’d make Postarie her hostage had just been a convenience for use in that moment. It had to have been just something she’d blurted out in order to ensure the ninja wouldn’t attack Postarie. She was clinging to Rain Pow so hard, she was even trying to deceive herself with these implausible fantasies. She wanted to believe that she’d not made the wrong choice, at least.

Toko and Rain Pow were arguing about who was at fault. Feeling and hoping strongly that she was part of their group, Postarie smiled.

  7753 (Time remaining: six hours, seventeen minutes)

“Whatever unbending convictions or principles you may have, bend them, just this once,” Mana told her. She said this as someone who had abandoned her own convictions and principles. And she wasn’t wrong in that. “This is an order from the team chief. Use your goggles on everyone, no matter who they are.”

“…Understood.”

“Even if it’s someone you’ve seen before, don’t let your guard down. We don’t know how the situation may have changed. Some people might mean well but do crazy things. Don’t make an exception for even a single person.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Not even for me.”

“Wait, but—”

“You can’t trust me just because I’m me. Don’t forget that there’s someone here with mind-control abilities. Nobody’s gonna commend you for getting stabbed in the back.”

“Yes, ma’am… I understand.”

7753 couldn’t look at herself through her own goggles. In other words, if she were to lie in her reports, then nobody could nail her for it. Mana knew that and was still ordering her to use her goggles without exception. It was no different from saying she intended to die together with 7753. Mana was telling her that she would take the leap of faith that 7753 was not an informant, so she should handle things in the easiest way possible.

Mana had been antagonistic, mean, and angry, had grabbed her by the collar, and had yelled at 7753 and Ripple, the outsiders, but in spite of all that, she was now saying she would trust 7753.

If the reason for that was that Hana had told 7753 about her relationship with Mana, then this basically meant 7753 was deceiving her. Her boss had given her that information, and she’d been ordered to say that and had done so. That was all. Hana had never trusted 7753 to the point where she would talk about her personal relationships.

In contrast with 7753’s sinking feelings, Mana was moving briskly.

Pukin had killed Hana, and after 7753 had stopped Mana from immediately seeking revenge, Mana had become restrained. She’d made the calculated judgment that if 7753 were to betray her, then she would lose, no matter how she struggled, so she’d decided to trust 7753 and was aiming to use her powers to the fullest. Hana had died in battle, and her trust in 7753 had to be a big part of this. 7753 couldn’t help but feel miserable.

Mana was not a magical girl. She hadn’t had a wink of sleep, so she had to be exhausted, but she didn’t show it. Her hair was a mess, she was covered in dust, and her glasses were cracked, but she was still standing firmly. When she gave orders to 7753, there was drive in her voice, and 7753 could see no hesitation in her.

7753 would even have preferred that Mana not trust her. She wasn’t actively betraying Mana, but she was essentially passively betraying her. 7753 had received orders from her boss, and she was hiding that fact. She was hiding that Archfiend Pam was dead, she wasn’t telling them that Pam’s death was driving the Department of Diplomacy into chaos, and she wasn’t saying anything about the weapon of mass destruction that might hit the town. She was trying to keep Mana, the team chief, in the dark about it all.

She wanted to talk to Mana. She wanted to tell her. But her boss’s instructions remained firm: “don’t talk to her” and “don’t tell her.” No matter how 7753 tried to convince her, her boss wouldn’t listen. Mana and her boss were similar in that they both believed they were doing the right thing. At this point, just what was 7753 trying to protect?

They met up with Kuru-Kuru Hime again on the roof of the radio station, and 7753 didn’t even have to look through her goggles to know she was haggard. 7753 knew about what had happened. She couldn’t think of what to say.

Kuru-Kuru Hime held out a smartphone to her. “I got a call. She said to call back…”

“A phone call? From who? A student?”

Kuru-Kuru Hime silently shook her head and pushed the phone toward her again. It was as if she was saying she didn’t want it.

When 7753 checked the call history, she saw that there had just been a call from another cell phone. Was this the one she was meant to call back? 7753 pressed redial, and before the first ring was even over, they picked up.

“Is this Kuru-Kuru Hime?” It was a girl with a sonorous voice. She sounded young, but there was something mature about her tone, too. She was either a magical girl who was an adult, pretransformation, or one who was still a child but had had a long career. Those conditions applied to none of Kuru-Kuru Hime’s allies.

7753 gave Mana a look. Eyes narrowing, Mana listened carefully.

After a moment of hesitation, 7753 replied, “No, this is 7753.”

“7753? The one from Magical Girl Resources?”

“…Yes. I’m with the inspection team now.”

This girl knew about 7753. Her voice was unfamiliar. She’d managed to call Kuru-Kuru Hime’s smartphone. 7753 couldn’t think of anyone to whom all this could apply. “Who might this be?”

“My name is Pythie Frederica.”

7753 drew her face away from the phone and closed her eyes. This brand-name phone now looked to her like some abominable magical artifact. She looked over at Mana and saw an expression of sincere disgust on her face, one eye scrunched.

Mana stole the phone from her. “Just what the hell do you want with us, Frederica?”

“Who is this?”

“Mana, the team chief.”

“Oh, so this is Chief Mana? That works out perfectly.”

If Frederica was the one talking, that explained why Kuru-Kuru Hime didn’t want to touch the phone.

“Might you and I cooperate?” Frederica’s voice was inappropriately sunny.

“Cooperate? What d’you mean by that?”

“Archfiend Pam is dead. I’ve also checked Ripple’s body. I know what she looks like, pretransformation, so there’s no mistaking it.”

Ripple was dead. What should she feel? What should she think? Though 7753 had anticipated this, her thoughts and feelings were all in disarray. She closed her eyes.

“Is Hana Gekokujou well?”

7753 hurriedly placed her hand on Mana’s shoulder, figuring it’d be bad if Mana were to get emotional, toss the phone on the ground, and break it. But Mana instead breathed a deep sigh. “Pukin killed Hana.” Even standing beside her, listening, 7753 could tell that Mana was doing her utmost to restrain her tone of voice.

Frederica’s tone lowered slightly as well. “We’ve also suffered severe losses. The assassin—the rainbow user of the middle school group—killed Tot Pop, and Archfiend Pam killed Sonia Bean. Pukin is alive, but…she attacked me. She’s like a cat who’s been sprinkled with cold water. She’s out of control.”

That was some pretty incredible stuff to be saying so casually. The assassin was the rainbow user from the middle school group. Had she let that information slip to show off how useful she could be, or was she trying to confuse them with lies? Or maybe she didn’t even see it as important information.

Without revealing any upset, Mana prompted her, “…So?”

“So would you cooperate with me? Both our parties came to this town with the goal of capturing the assassin. Being that our goals are the same, shouldn’t we be able to cooperate? Personally speaking, I would have no complaints, as long as the individual in question faces proper judgment. I did intend to be the one to stand as witness to her injustice, but I shall compromise. If what needs be punished is punished through fair trial, that’s all I ask.”

“But…the antiestablishment faction got you out of prison, right? In other words, you’re a hired hand. Can you decide something important like that on your own judgment?”

“Unfortunately, I am alone. In absence of command, the lone soldier must take the lead.”

“You can get in contact with the outside, can’t you? Using your magic.”

“With regards to that—that’s the reason I would request your cooperation. The truth is—though this is embarrassing to say—a magical girl named Funny Trick has stolen my crystal ball. If possible, I would hope that perhaps you might have Kuru-Kuru Hime tell her to return it.”

7753’s hand on Mana’s shoulder shook. This scum had killed Kuru-Kuru Hime’s father and was now brazenly asking a favor from her.

“I can use my magic to have all of you escape the city, but I’ll need my crystal ball back no matter what it takes. So I request your aid.”

Mana told Frederica, “We’ll discuss it,” then hung up. She was far calmer than 7753.

“Can I hold on to your phone?” Holding the phone raised at a diagonal, Mana asked permission, and Kuru-Kuru Hime weakly nodded. 7753 realized her hand was still on Mana’s shoulder and hurriedly pulled it away. Her hand, her legs, and her lungs were all tenser than they had to be. She exhaled the breath she’d been holding in.

Mana put the phone in her bag, then took out a clear glass bottle. She turned it over and shook out the tablets inside into her palm, then tossed them into her mouth, crushing them with her teeth. 7753 was not going to ask what sort of medicine it was.

That was when the phone rang. Mana dropped the bottle, and 7753’s hand shot out to catch it. Mana pulled the phone out of her bag again, looked at the display, and narrowed her eyes. 7753 peeked in from the side. Displayed on the screen was an unregistered cell number different from the one that had just called. Mana stared at the phone as one whole ring passed by before accepting the call.

“…Hello?”

“Is this Kuru-Kuru Hime? This is Weddin and Funny Trick. We went back through a friend of a friend of a friend and somehow managed to get your number, Miss Himeno. Though we should have figured that out a little earlier. So what’s happened with you? Are you safe? Tepsekemei was with us, but she went out to scout and hasn’t come back. But Tepsekemei being who she is, I don’t think we have to worry, although… Hello? Can you hear me?”

Mana handed the phone to Kuru-Kuru Hime.

  Pukin (Time remaining: five hours, forty minutes)

Time calmed her anger. Or rather, to be more precise, hunger, brought about by the passage of time, quieted Pukin’s anger and brought her appetite back. Being angry made her hungry, and hunger settled her anger.

So she headed out to a small shop near the apartment building to nab some ready-made food: stuffed bread, chocolate candy, jerky, Chinese buns, fried chicken, and fries. When the rude staff tried to call her to task for it, she cut them down with a single slice, then returned to the apartment building to indulge in her meal. Eating alone was quite wearisome and made her feel Sonia’s loss most keenly. And since Pukin had used her magic again, Weddin had escaped, too. Tot Pop was dead, and Frederica had run off. Pukin was the only one left.

She sucked on the chicken bones, snapped them apart with her teeth, and sucked out the marrow. She hardly even chewed the chocolate or the pastries, instead shoving them down her throat like drinks. It gave her energy. She needed energy in order to get angry. And she would need more energy after that, too, in order to do anything.

Packages and crumbs scattered all about, she took a break. She leaned against the sofa and rubbed her nose, looking at her face in a hand mirror. Her nose was beautiful again. Magical girls’ bodies had powerful recovery abilities. Bones would heal cleanly, even if they weren’t set. Wounds that caused a fatal amount of blood loss to a normal human would be repaired with food and rest. And stronger magical girls like Pukin had particularly potent healing abilities, with a very short amount of time needed for self-recovery. So quite conveniently, before you knew it, not only your physical injuries but even the damage to your costume would be repaired.

The fracture caused by Archfiend Pam’s head-butt was gone, and she’d stopped bleeding, but the wound in her stomach from the rainbow had yet to heal entirely. Pukin still didn’t have enough energy to fix it yet.

Pukin more or less avoided thinking. However, when she was alone like this, she was forced into it. Before moving into action, she considered how she would express her anger.

Frederica was one of her attendants. Her laziness was unforgivable, and she had to be punished, but dealing with attendants wasn’t a high priority.

Archfiend Pam was the most unforgivable of all her enemies. She’d killed Sonia and caused Pukin fear, leading her to that unsightly flight. Pukin had to dispel this humiliation quickly. But Pam had already been killed. Toying with her corpse was a fine idea but quite a bit lower on the list of priorities.

There were the more trifling characters, with Weddin on the top of the list. She deserved certain death for so insolently defying Pukin. Hunting down just one single rabbit wouldn’t satisfy Pukin. But trifles were trifles. She could put them off until later.

That left the fairy, Toko, and the rainbow magical girl. Those two were Pukin’s top priorities. She’d been wounded too badly to continue fighting them and judged in that moment that it was best to make a temporary retreat. She was confident in her decision. But even so, the humiliation of having fled enraged Pukin.

She got up off the sofa, twisted the sink faucet, and put her mouth straight under it to drink. The nutrients she’d absorbed through her stomach and intestines made their way around her body, blood pumping hard to circulate it. She pulled her lips away from the faucet to run water over her hair instead, and once she’d had enough, she shook her head, shaking the water off. She saw herself reflected in the mirror that hung at the kitchen entrance. Satisfied by the beauty and nobility communicated in her reflection, she stuck her waterfowl feather in her hair.

She’d replenished her energy, and she’d also settled on which enemy she should prioritize hunting. Once the barrier was undone, she would make contact with the antiestablishment faction or something to that effect, and until then, she could just do as she pleased.

Pukin loved fairies; they were the best subjects for torture. They were so tiny, you had to be so very careful that they not die from blood loss when pulling out their nails, peeling off their skin, and cutting open their stomachs. A fairy’s reaction once she realized what horrible, irreversible things were happening to her was always more interesting than that of humans or magical girls. The stark difference between their regular expressions and their faces when twisted in pain were so far and above anything either humans or magical girls would do.

There was more variety in mascots these days, and Pukin had heard some of them didn’t even have physical forms anymore. It was difficult for her to understand why they would create something so boring. Simple and classic familiars like Toko were best.

In Pukin’s day, she had even paid to participate in the torture of fairies, to torment them, slice them up, and dissect them. In order to keep them alive when hurting them, it had been necessary for Pukin to study the biology and anatomy of fairies in earnest, to become familiar with them as a scholar, and so Pukin had become more knowledgeable about fairies than anyone.

Fairies were filled with energy. They were the ultimate medicine of healing, a tonic, and a pain killer. A fairy would heal Pukin’s wounds completely and would grant her greater power than what she had currently. In order to heal her wounds, in order to vent her anger, Pukin needed Toko.

  Rain Pow (Time remaining: five hours, fifteen minutes)

She’d originally returned to the apartment building to gather information.

Rain Pow had eliminated the enemy she’d known would be the greatest threat and had shattered the enemy’s fighting line. Doing this had made the town much less dangerous for her. But since now even Tepsekemei had found out that Toko was a crook, her plan to meet up with Weddin and the others to shore up her safety even further had failed. So she’d gather intel instead. They didn’t know from where or via what route Toko’s misdeeds had been exposed. It was also possible there was a network of information exchange going on in this city which Rain Pow had been excluded from.

As they sought to collect information, they discussed a plan to stay in hiding until the barrier’s time limit was up—or rather, Toko and Rain Pow discussed that, keeping an eye out for enemies as they returned to the apartment building.

When the three of them searched inside the apartment, Postarie discovered a smartphone. Rain Pow snatched the phone away from her. Postarie seemed nervous and uneasy, but she muttered in a somehow accusatory manner, “Should we be looking through other people’s phones like that…?”

“It’s fine. Now’s not the time to be worrying about manners. So whose is it, huh…? Shibahara? She’s got a message.”

“What kind of message? Show me, show me!”

“It’s nothing. It’s from her parents, saying to call them… Oh. So that’s it.”

“What is it, Rain Pow?”

“We can’t use our magical phones. But it’s not like we can’t use normal phones.” She undid her transformation, returning to Kaori Ninotsugi to stick her hand in her coat pocket and pull out her phone. There was a message on her phone, too, but not from family. Her sister wouldn’t do something so ill-advised as to attempt to restrict her behavior—not anymore.

“It’s some kinda weird e-mail.” The sender’s name was listed as anonymous. It was blatantly suspicious. The message contained no attachments. The subject line said Urgent Business.

“Spam?”

“It looks like it, but I don’t really know… Might as well just take a look.” She opened the e-mail and immediately knew who it was from.

I contacted your magical phone but got no response, so I’ll e-mail this phone, too, meow. I also heard about how you got rid of Archfiend Pam, meow. Good job, meow. I’ll give you a nice pet for that, meow. And a special bonus for it, meow. However, this doesn’t mean the problem is gone, meow. I hear a radical faction within the Department of Diplomacy is saying the two people Pythie Frederica broke out of jail—the fencer, Pukin, and the patchwork girl, Sonia—should be terminated by whatever means necessary, meow. I’m also hearing rumors they might use weapons of mass destruction to get rid of the escaped prisoners, meow. I’ll promise you a special bonus to deal with that, just like with Archfiend Pam, meow. I look forward to seeing good results, meow.

With all those meows, and given what the message was about and that they knew Kaori’s e-mail, it could be none other than her employer.

“A bonus! That sounds wonderful!”

“As usual, you love it when things work to your advantage, huh, Toko?”

“Sonia’s been dealt with, so that means Pukin’s the only one left. ’Cause of what they said about the radical faction and stuff, I think it might be best to make sure we get rid of her.”

“You just want that bonus, Toko.”

“Tee-hee.”

“Don’t tee-hee me! Ugh, honestly.”

So they were forced to change their plans to hide until the barrier was undone. Rain Pow would eliminate Pukin. If there were any other powers who would further interfere with this situation, it was best to erase the reason for their interference.

Postarie was wringing her hands in worry. Now that it had come to this, she’d have to stick with Rain Pow until the end. Rain Pow smacked Postarie on the back. “Don’t worry, Tsuko. When the time comes, I’ll protect you,” she encouraged her. She wasn’t lying. She did mean to keep her safe. Postarie was a useful pawn and her hostage for whenever she needed it.

  Weddin (Time remaining: four hours, forty-five minutes)

Now that Tepsekemei was back and Kuru-Kuru Hime and the two inspection team girls were there, with six magical girls packed into the tiny observatory, it felt cramped.

Kuru-Kuru Hime was so relieved to see her students again, she burst into tears. Funny Trick was surprised to see a teacher crying, but since Weddin knew part of the reason for her tears, she furrowed her brows heavily.

Frederica’s party were, without a doubt, real villains, bad enough to make even calculated and selfish Weddin learn righteous indignation. And now it was less about righteous indignation and had guilt mixed in there, too. Even if she had been under Pukin’s control, Weddin had been with them when they’d gone out to Miss Nozomi Himeno’s house. Just remembering it made her want to vomit.

She didn’t know what sort of people the inspection team were. But if they were against Frederica’s group, then surely, they had to be better people. From the way Bunny Ears had seemed to have a silly side to her, and the ninja had been exceptionally skilled but had avoided killing and nailed Weddin to the roof instead, Weddin could surmise they operated within a comprehensible set of rules. So she should be able to work with them, unlike with Frederica’s party, who had been incomprehensible and without rules.

The two girls from the inspection team introduced themselves as 7753, who wore a boys’ school uniform, and Mana, who wore a pointed hat. Mana was more like a witch, and the elements like the goggles made 7753 more like an action heroine. Both of them were far from the archetypal magical girls of Weddin’s imagination. 7753 was slightly absentminded, and Mana, who popped a pill from a bottle she had about once every five minutes and chewed it up, didn’t seem quite entirely trustworthy, either—they both seemed fishy. But still, they had to be better than Frederica and Pukin.

The inspection team’s explanation of events backed up what Frederica’s party had talked about before: that they’d come to town in order to capture an assassin who had been going around killing people affiliated with the Magical Kingdom and that the assassin was Toko’s partner.

They all shared the information they had.

“Our friend Captain Grace was killed by Sonia Bean.” Weddin regretted saying it as soon as the words left her mouth. She could have at least phrased things a bit more delicately. Kuru-Kuru Hime looked at her with wide eyes. Her tears hadn’t even dried. She hadn’t yet known Captain Grace was dead.

Funny Trick must have wanted to help, as she followed up after Weddin—even though Grace’s death had to be a shock for her, too. “Um, the assassin is the magical girl named Rain Pow… Or so I hear. Tepsekemei here said Rain Pow cut her in half.”

“Postarie made Mei’s lamp fly.”

“And the one named Postarie is an assassin, too… Is that right?”

“I don’t know if they were in cahoots from the beginning or if Postarie is being threatened, but right now it seems clear that the two of them are working together. Rain Pow creates rainbow bridges, and Postarie uses her magic to make wings grow on things and send them back to their owners.”

“Oh, so she’s the one who made the van fly at us…”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

“Let’s be ready so we can dodge any desks or lockers that may come flying at us.”

“Mei’s lamp is pretty.”

Mana spoke next. “There are rumors in the town of cosplay murderers—probably because of Pukin’s group going nuts. There’ve been deaths all over the place, and apparently there aren’t enough police cars, the hospital is full of wounded, and emergency services have been late responding.”

“So if people see us in these outfits, we’ll be instantly reported?”

“Come to think of it, Frederica contacted us, too. She said Pukin’s dumped her and she’s on her own. She also said if we return her crystal ball, she’d like to cooperate with us… Do any of you have it?”

“Oh, yes. I have it. I stole it when I escaped.”

“So? Do we cooperate with her?” Mana asked them all, and Funny Trick and Kuru-Kuru Hime hung their heads.

“…I would rather not, if possible.”

“Me neither…”

Weddin was no different. She didn’t want to see Frederica ever again. She didn’t want to call her an ally—not even temporarily. “I don’t want to, either. Possible benefits aside, I never want to see her face again.”

“Mei is fine either way.”

“And besides, returning her crystal ball is quite out of the question. That would more or less be like giving her hostages, wouldn’t it?”

“She also said she could let us out of the barrier if she had her crystal ball. What about that?”

“We don’t need to borrow Frederica’s powers for that. We’ve already confirmed that we can use Funny Trick’s magic to get out of the barrier. Funny Trick won’t be able to get herself out, so we can’t all escape, but… Couldn’t we get outside and notify someone to have them help us or something?”

“So then for the time being, we can get out of the city to seek help, huh…? Either way, it would be best for civilians to be somewhere safe. We’ve lost most of our combat personnel. We can hardly do anything, and we can’t protect you. We need to get some firepower and not fuss over how long it is until the barrier runs out. Though with Archfiend Pam dead, I think getting backup will be pretty hard…”

Weddin wondered who she meant by civilians and then realized it was themselves. She heaved a sigh. It had only been a day since she’d become a magical girl, and she’d already forgotten she was a civilian.

  Pythie Frederica (Time remaining: four hours, nineteen minutes)

She stared at her phone, fiddled with it, and spun it around, but no matter how she waited, no calls came.

She’d been aware they would see her request for her crystal ball’s return as a threat to their safety. Her idea had been to present that most difficult request first thing to make them think about it and then start negotiation from that point, but it had failed, likely because they hated Frederica more than she’d anticipated.

Frederica had never imagined she would be popular, but as things stood now, she might be more despised than even rats or cockroaches. Pukin had killed Kuru-Kuru Hime’s father; Sonia Bean had killed Captain Grace; Pukin had mind-controlled Weddin; and Tot Pop had been the one in charge of the whole operation, but it seemed nobody was going to take that into consideration.

She was all on her own with no allies; everyone was an enemy.

What a thrilling situation. This is the sort of thing befitting the hero of a story, isn’t it?

Though hanging up a blue plastic sheet over the roof of this mixed-residential building and resting under it was less heroic and more pathetic. She was at an impasse. Should she make up with Pukin somehow or bow her head to the inspection team, saying, “I don’t need my crystal ball, so please let me be of help to you”? Whichever she chose, without her crystal ball or combat support, there was a limit to what she could do on her own.

Just then, her cell phone vibrated. Will I be able to negotiate with them, somehow? she wondered, but when she looked at the display, she saw it was an unknown number calling. Was it a call for the phone’s original owner? She was disappointed but chose to accept it just in case and picked up.

“Are you Pythie Frederica?” A high-pitched voice addressed her, and Frederica pressed her middle finger to her temple. It was either synthesized or altered via a voice changer. It wasn’t unthinkable that it might be an electronic fairy-type mascot, either.

“Yes, this is Pythie Frederica. Who might this be?”

“An ally.”

Who was it? How did they know this number? A mysterious voice that skipped all preamble to whisper that they were a friend. It was so suspicious and so the sort of thing Frederica loved.

“I’m about to give you some instructions on what you should do, where you should go, and how you should do it. However, I will lead you to do something illegal.”

“…Are you Tot Pop’s sponsor?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

If they were a patron of the revolutionary faction, then they would just order her around in a more straightforward manner. They had the right to do that. And what’s more, Frederica didn’t know just how they’d figured out this cell phone’s number. She’d just stolen it from a passerby. How could they have possibly come to know about it?

This patron had to be the sort who was fond of the eccentric and the theatrical. Frederica could understand that. Frederica loved the eccentric and the theatrical, too. “Well, either way, I’m at the end of my rope. I don’t have that many options.”

“Are you ready, then? Hurry up.”

“Please, don’t rush me so. I was just trembling in the joy of having finally found an ally.”

This person was trying to use her. Not only did she have no right to refuse, being that she was utterly cornered, she was gradually coming to feel it would be interesting to be manipulated by this person. “Must I obey you indefinitely?”

“I won’t say indefinitely. I just want your help for a little while.”

“Hmm.”

“Another thing. Those who refused will surely want to be your friend, too.”

  7753 (Time remaining: three hours, eighteen minutes)

She thought her hairdo was coming undone, so she put her hand to her head and instead touched cloth. It felt different from her hat. Stuck in her hair were the remnants of a scarf—the scarf she’d borrowed from Ripple was already in tatters. She couldn’t give it back. 7753 wasn’t fully attentive as she listened to the others engage in serious discussion.

Having lost Hana, Mana seemed to have actually become calmer. She was no longer pressing for her own team to capture the criminal, with their reputation staked on it. She was leaning toward the idea of letting the middle schoolers go, since they were just victims here, and calling for support—even if that took more time and even if she wasn’t the one to make the arrest.

The middle school group, who had to have been just ordinary kids until the other day, were bravely discussing with one another.

There was the girl whose friend had been killed in front of her, and the Japanese teacher whose father had been killed. They’d been deceived by Toko, with a traitor in their midst. There was another girl there who’d been captured by the escaped prisoners and could have been killed at any time. Even though they could so understandably have been crushed just by their own circumstances, they were talking together, saying, how about we do this, how about we do that. They were discussing over it all, not just for their own sakes but for everyone.

Hana had been murdered, stabbed in the chest. Although it had been clear to 7753 even without looking through her goggles that Hana had already reached her limit, she’d still tried to fight, right up until the moment she collapsed.

Archfiend Pam had helped Hana escape, and then she’d been killed. If she’d only ever had herself in mind, she wouldn’t have considered Hana’s safety, too. She’d acted in consideration of another person and had gotten killed.

7753 squeezed the scrap of scarf in her palm tightly. Ripple was dead, now, too.

7753 was alive. She’d been diligently obeying her boss’s instructions in anything and everything. She was locking information she should be sharing in her heart, keeping silent, never telling anyone. Because that was what her boss had told her to do. Why was she obeying her boss? She was selling her soul for a paycheck. That was the nature of labor. She couldn’t fight that.

7753 tightly clenched the tatters of Ripple’s scarf.

Messages displayed in her goggles one after another.

Even the other departments are whispering about the Department of Diplomacy going off the rails.

Furthermore, there are rumors they’ve already arranged for the weapon of mass destruction and they mean to use it while the barrier is still up.

If Funny Trick says she’ll help you escape, then do it.

Staying put won’t accomplish anything.

You’re Magical Girl Resources staff, not a fighter, an inspector, or an assassin.

Who would blame a noncombatant for running?

I’m about to go to an emergency meeting, so I won’t be able to reply for a while.

At the meeting, I’ll be ascertaining whether it’s true they intend to use a weapon of mass destruction.

If it is, I’ll do my best to stop it, but I can make no guarantees.

So then your top priority must be to escape.

Escaping via Funny Trick’s magic. The Department of Diplomacy meant to use a weapon of mass destruction. So then what would happen to B City? They would leave nothing left. The Magical Kingdom would destroy the whole town in order to kill one assassin. They were sure to make it out to be a natural disaster and use magic to alter memories and records of the event in order to make that the truth. That was what the Magical Kingdom did.

If 7753 were to say nothing, then nobody would have to know. Nobody would blame her.

From the observatory, she could see out over the town. This was only a part of B City, but even so, it was too much for 7753 to encompass in her field of vision. It’s a lot of people, for a rural area, she thought. Were old men hanging their fishing lines down in the pond again, today? How was the catch? She’d wanted to try going to the beauty salon. Was the reason there were so many tangled back alleys here because it had once been a castle town? There were a lot of shops downtown with their shutters down. The pachinko parlor in front of the station was particularly large. There were streetlights left broken, asphalt left cracked, and guardrails left bent. She had nothing but bad memories here in this shabby, depressed, declined town, where everything was broken.

Her boss’s order to flee couldn’t be wrong. They no longer had anyone here who could fight. There was the mage, Mana, the Magical Girl Resources specialist, 7753, and the four newbies who had only just become magical girls. No matter how they fought, they weren’t going to win. It was best to escape this town, to abandon it.

7753 squeezed the scrap of cloth hard and brought her fist to her forehead.

What should she do? She should stop thinking about these things and just do what she’d been told. If she were to oppose her boss, she would no longer be safely employed. She would never receive another paycheck, and she would be tossed out into the world with no magic, no nothing. If she were to continue obeying orders, she could remain in this easy position where nobody would blame her.

The cloth touched her forehead and fluttered in the wind.

When had her life become this? How could she consider staying silent for the sake of her next paycheck when so many people would be killed? This wasn’t what magical girls were about. This wasn’t about being an employee, either. This was about being rotten garbage.

Kotori Nanaya had admired Cutie Healer back in elementary school. She’d declared to everyone that she, too, would become a cute, strong-hearted magical girl of justice, just like Cutie Healer.

7753 took off her goggles.

“Everyone… There’s something I haven’t been telling you about.” Steeling herself, she gripped the scarf. She couldn’t go back to how she was. So then, at least, she wanted to be a magical girl who wouldn’t be ashamed of Ripple, or Hana, or Archfiend Pam. “People are saying the Department of Diplomacy is running rampant now that they’ve lost Archfiend Pam, who was supposed to be their ultimate weapon. There are whispers that…if we can’t catch the criminals before the barrier is undone, they might unleash a weapon of mass destruction on this town.”

Everyone was looking at her. She was now past the point of no return. She looked back at them all.

Somewhere, a pheasant was calling. Before its long, long cry ceased, Mana slowly stood. “Our magical phones are broken. How did you find this information out?”

“I received the message from my boss, through my goggles.”

“…What?”

“When I told you that information about Pukin’s party, when I told you to be vigilant about Archfiend Pam, and when I suggested we work together, all of this was done on my boss’s orders.”

Mana lunged forward and grabbed 7753 by the collar.

Someone smothered a cry.

“You’re a real piece of shit! Hana died trusting you, and it was all a waste!”

7753 gazed back at Mana, who still grasped her by her collar. This was the angriest 7753 had ever seen her. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear apologies!”

Following Mana, the girl in the wedding dress stood. “Hold on, what do you mean? A weapon of mass destruction?”

“Their plan is to destroy the whole town and the assassin with it.”

“Please, don’t be absurd! Just what kind of nonsense are you getting at?! What on earth?! Just who do you think you are?!”

A look on her face like she was caught between crying and laughing, or maybe she really was crying, after all, Funny Trick muttered, “I don’t get what this means,” holding her head. Kuru-Kuru Hime was pale, stunned to silence.

Weddin yelled, “Isn’t this supposed to be the Magical Kingdom?! Isn’t it about dreams and fantasy?! How stupid are all of you?! How can you drag us all in, then blow it all up when it doesn’t work out?! The ones getting dragged into it wouldn’t agree to any of that! We’re magical girls, aren’t we?! Magical girls! We’re supposed to be kinder and cuter than anyone! All of you are scum! Pukin, and Frederica, and the Magical Kingdom, too! I should never have become a magical-girl fan! You’re nothing but genuine trash!” Halfway through her speech, Weddin starting crying and shaking with sobs. Mana, who’d been so furious, bit her lip and looked down. 7753 squeezed the scrap of scarf harder.

Mana slowly released 7753’s collar. “You’re right. We’re all trash. Me and all of you… I already figured the outside help were all working for the benefit of their own departments. If you want to play nasty politics, then go right ahead.” Mana’s words were self-deprecating and also resigned. She was saying that she had been an idiot herself for ever having trusted 7753. That hit a lot harder than being yelled at. “I’d thought you were oddly informed, but I didn’t imagine you had a gadget like that.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I told you not to apologize. I resent that you never said anything until now, but it wasn’t as if your advice was disadvantageous. And it frankly did help us in some ways. So I’ll say we’re even.”

“…Okay.”

“But don’t get in my way again. From here on out, it is my job. 7753, take the middle school crowd and get out of this town. I’ll take out the bad guys.”

7753 stared back at her as if asking, “What are you talking about?” Mana was looking straight at 7753, her eyes full of determination. She seriously intended to manage this somehow—even though there was no way she possibly could.

“There’s no way you can do it!”

“We don’t have any more time. Even if we were to call for backup now, we don’t know if they’d make it before the barrier is undone. I’ll ask Frederica to cooperate. Then I’ll get everyone out, including Funny Trick. And then I’ll lure Frederica in, and the two of us’ll figure something out. I’ll pull it off somehow, even if I have to die in the process.”

  Pythie Frederica (Time remaining: three hours, forty-five minutes)

“All right. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready, but… What’s the point of this?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“There’s a reason I’ve come all the way out here, isn’t there?”

“As I said, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Frederica looked down on the world below from the roof of the business hotel. It was already past noon, so there wasn’t as much foot traffic now as there was during peak hours. In comparison, there were somewhat more cars going by. It seemed they were doing construction in front of the station, like working on a gas pipe or something, as traffic was restricted to one lane with alternating flow, and it was making the street a little congested.

Frederica put her cell phone down on a corner of the roof. Considering the job she was about to do, it was best not to take it with her. It would be a bother if she were to break it by accident.

But anyway, just who on earth was it talking to her through this phone? They’d known the number of the cell phone Frederica had only just stolen and had also been quite aware Frederica was the one using it. They had to be using some kind of magic to do this, but Frederica couldn’t think of anyone applicable.

As the one being used, she wanted to know who was using her and for what reasons, at least.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

It was as if they were reading her mind, and it gave her the creeps, which was also a little fun. Frederica’s shoulders shook with her chuckles. If she was going to be used regardless, it was best if it was done by someone like this.

“That’s reassuring. I’m quite hopeful.” Frederica ended the call, then ran down the wall of the building.

Maintaining speed, she bent the trajectory of her sprint at a right angle, then kicked a middle-sized truck waiting at the light to knock it on its side. She ripped the door off the compact car behind it and yanked out the driver from inside, tossing him aside. The driver of the taxi in front of the compact car that had also been waiting for the light tumbled out of his vehicle and ran away. Frederica got a good hold on the compact car and lifted it into the air, winding it up to slam it into the taxi. Its glass shattered into a million shards, scattering in every direction.

Frederica just attacked and destroyed every car that caught her eye. She twisted bumpers, smashed windshields, and ripped off doors. Running, she kicked three vehicles in a row in their sides, knocking them over, and the fourth vehicle, a company truck, she sent tumbling over sideways into the entrance of a convenience store. She was particularly thorough about destroying an expensive foreign car with a fancy emblem on it.

Screams, yells, and the sounds of shattering glass flew every which way. Cars swerved, and people abandoned their vehicles to run, all of them fleeing Frederica as fast as possible.

Going on a monstrous rampage like this felt incredible. But she couldn’t hang around long. If it were the police or the SDF or whatnot, then well, if they came, they came, but if something else were to arrive—

Oh, so that’s it.

Causing a scene would bring magical girls coming to see what was going on. Then nearby dangerous magical girls might encounter one another. Understanding the reason she’d been made to go on a rampage, she was now aware of what a nasty character the one who’d given her that order was.

Joy in her heart, Frederica left the scene, knocking over three more cars right before she departed.

  Rain Pow (Time remaining: three hours, thirty minutes)

Rain Pow heard the ruckus, and by the time she’d rushed up to the top of a hotel there, the culprit was already gone, with only the results of their deeds laid out in the world below. Someone had clearly gone berserk. A number of cars had been knocked over and slammed, and some had even been tossed into stores. Only a magical girl could have done something like this.

But still, it wasn’t the sort of thing the inspection team nor the middle school group would have pulled. The only plausible culprits here were Pukin or Frederica. This style of destruction was very emotional, like a wailing child’s temper tantrum. Frederica was known to have a crafty and cunning personality, so such methods of venting or temper tantrums weren’t like her.

Pukin, then?

A car burst into flames with a whoosh, likely ignited by some leaking gasoline.

“Postarie, you keep an eye on our rear. Toko, keep watch above us.”

According to her information, even a single hit from Pukin would spell game over. Even though Pukin had been injured after Rain Pow had killed Pam, persisting in pursuit of her would have been dangerous. Rain Pow went on the alert, sharpening her senses and readying herself to deal with an attack from any direction. This spectacle seemed to indicate that Pukin was furious. If that fury was directed at Rain Pow, then she absolutely couldn’t let her guard down.

She was back-to-back with Postarie, with Toko above their heads. Neither of the two could be trusted all that much in combat, but they could have some use as lookouts.

Rain Pow slowly leaned over the roof’s edge, gazing down. There was no sign of any people. So that meant they’d all run? It should take a bit longer for police or fire trucks to arrive. Since there had been so many magical girls running wild elsewhere, emergency services had just that much more work to do. They could request support from outside the city, but it wouldn’t come immediately… Just like with the Magical Kingdom—

Rain Pow leaped to the side, then turned around. There was a fencer-style magical girl behind Postarie, glaring murderous daggers at them. Postarie slumped to the ground. The force of Pukin’s malice was like being pierced through the heart. It was more than a freshly debuted newbie could handle.

Over her head, Toko fled in the opposite direction. She understood what she had to do.

Rain Pow turned her rainbows on Pukin and formed a wall of multiple rainbows on top of the building. Unlike Ripple, Pukin wasn’t going to throw homing projectiles at her. No matter how fast she was, she always attacked directly with her sword. It was worthwhile enough to just inhibit her movements.

The rainbows raced toward Pukin from every angle, and she dodged them, knocking them aside with the rapier in her right hand and the dagger in her left. When Rain Pow caught a glimpse of her mouth through the veil of her hair, flowing in the wind, she saw Pukin was grinning.

Rain Pow was ready. Though she was wary of Pukin’s smile, she never let up with her attacks. An assassin never made an ineffective strike.

Pukin turned aside one rainbow with sharp swordsmanship, slammed into another, kicked aside the rainbow that grew from below, then turned in midair to leap from the roof railing before vanishing. Unease rose in Rain Pow again, just like when she’d seen that smile, and something about this felt harsher. It was often wise to weigh feelings over thoughts. If there was a reason Pukin had caused a scene, could it be that she wanted to lure Rain Pow here?

Absolutely do not let your guard down. Never let your guard down. No matter what happens, don’t let your guard down, she told herself, and she grabbed Postarie’s collar to force her to her feet. Pukin was mainly a close-quarters fighter, and Rain Pow was fairly compatible with that. No matter how swift she was or how sharp her sword, Rain Pow could prevent her from getting close. But Pukin would be aware of that, too. So if she’d lured Rain Pow here well aware of that, then she may have arranged some kind of trap—for example, Frederica. She had yet to reveal herself, but it may be that she and Pukin were looking to corner her together. Pukin might well have set a bomb or something on the roof of the hotel to go off at just the right moment.

Rain Pow often taunted her enemies verbally. But she would never actually take them lightly.

Holding the trembling Postarie under her arm, Rain Pow leaped from the roof of the hotel over to the cram-school building, then dashed up a rainbow. She ran a micron-sized rainbow, thinner than a string, all around the area to alert her of any attacks. If the time came, she would give a signal to Postarie, toss out the welcome mat wrapped around her middle, and they would grab hold of that to escape. But she would prefer to finish Pukin off now rather than running, if possible. It wasn’t just about the special bonus—it was best for both Pukin and Frederica to be gone.

Rain Pow focused all her senses on detecting attacks. Alert and ready to deal with anything, no matter from what direction, she heard Toko cry out from the sky above, and her concentration was broken. Looking up, she saw Toko being attacked by a black swarm. It was crows. They poked her with their beaks and scratched her with their claws, and Toko was wailing and trying to escape them. Rain Pow was about to drive them away with a rainbow but was unsure, worried she might hurt Toko instead. In that brief moment of hesitation, a figure leaped into the swarm of crows, grabbed Toko, and landed on the edge of the building.

“When fighting an opponent who uses projectiles, you keep the fairy under your clothing. When your opponent lacks projectiles or means to fly, you let the fairy escape into the air. It’s a logical strategy, but that only makes it simple to read.”

Toko in her grasp, Pukin looked down at Rain Pow. With the sun at her back, Rain Pow couldn’t see the look on her face, but from the tone of her voice, Rain Pow could tell she was smiling. She spoke a little on the slow side, perhaps to make it easier for Rain Pow to understand her English. “To control a murder of crows, one need only target the dominant bird. Simple, isn’t it?”

Rain Pow mentally clicked her tongue but didn’t let that show on her face or in her voice, sneering back at Pukin instead. It was harder than she’d thought to mentally translate into English and then insult her back.

Postarie, held under her arm, was trembling. But her trembling conversely made Rain Pow calmer.

“What’s the point of taking someone like her captive? If the Villainous and Vile Pukin the Mighty is gonna take a hostage, I think you could make better choices. Just saying.”

“Hey! Rain Pow! After all I’ve done for you!”

“Have you really done all that? Honestly, I’ve been thinking you were kinda a pain in the ass.”

“Stop it! Don’t pull anything! I don’t wanna die yet! Do what Pukin says!”

“No way. C’mon, Toko. At least yell something like, ‘Don’t mind me—kill her!’ Eh?”

Rain Pow had no intention of actually abandoning Toko. Toko understood that, and she was going along with her act.

Pukin flourished the sword in her right hand, pointing it at Toko’s stomach as she held the fairy in her left. She smiled gleefully. “My, my! Isn’t this grand! We have seen so many giving in to torture and selling out their comrades that it’s simply tiresome, but this is the first we’ve ever been witness to such lovely friendship!” Pukin held her stomach and laughed as if this were sincerely hilarious to her. This sort of real laughter also meant she was letting her guard down just that much.

Toko argued with Rain Pow loudly, and then, mouth open wide, she bit down onto Pukin’s gloved fingertip. Pukin let out a muffled cry and jerked to cover her left hand, and Toko used the moment when her grip loosened and slipped out from between her fingers, flying for Rain Pow at full speed. Pukin’s sword stabbed toward the fairy, but either the pain or the lack of preparedness made her move too slowly.

Rain Pow sent out a rainbow to block the sword and cover Toko, then followed up with another one to attack. Pukin rolled to a position on the hotel roof that was out of sight from Rain Pow’s position. If she was going to finish off Pukin, now was the time.

Rain Pow dashed onto a rainbow, meeting Toko halfway, and tucked the fairy into her shirt.

“Man, getting attacked by crows sounds like something out of a horror game.”

“I never wanna go through that ever again.”

With Toko in her clothing and Postarie held under her arm, Rain Pow dashed along the rainbow back to the roof of the hotel. Pukin was standing on the railing on the opposite side.

Was she planning to jump down again? Rain Pow wouldn’t let her escape a second time.

She sent a rainbow through the air to hold Pukin down and was about to generate more when she felt a prick of pain at her chest and froze. It was a very mild pain, as if she’d been pricked with the tip of a needle.

She looked down at her chest where Toko should have been. But a hand was there instead.

A hand?

It wasn’t someone reaching out to her with their hand. There was just a disembodied left hand at her chest. It hadn’t been cut off, it wasn’t bleeding, and it wasn’t cold. It had heat; it was warm—in fact, it was trying to move, so she grabbed it and struck it.

Frederica, huh?

This was Frederica’s magic—Toko had told her about it. Without a moment’s hesitation, Rain Pow shot out a rainbow to slice the hand in two. A spray of blood flew from it, and it spasmed. Rain Pow crushed it under her heel. Toko had told her that when Frederica put her hand into her crystal ball, she could meddle with the location reflected within the crystal ball. So in other words, did that mean she’d kidnapped Toko using that method? Rain Pow hadn’t noticed Frederica at all, and by the time she did, Toko had already been gone, and the left hand was there.

She turned to Postarie to warn her to be careful, then guarded herself and sent out her rainbows. Postarie wasn’t there. Standing there was not Postarie but Pukin, sword drawn. Rain Pow made a rainbow wall and sent rainbows toward her from all directions. But even though Rain Pow was completely within her stabbing range, for some reason, Pukin just stood there, neither evading nor attacking, as all the rainbows hit her, slicing her to pieces, and she fell to the ground.

Bafflement visited her before gladness or elation. Pukin had taken Rain Pow from behind. She could have killed her at any time, if she’d wanted to, right? Why hadn’t she attacked? Why had she just stood there until Rain Pow noticed her? And after she’d been discovered, why hadn’t she tried to move? Why had she just allowed herself to be killed?

And where had Postarie gone? Rain Pow focused her nerves on the movements around her. She placed her hands on the roof. She sensed vibration, humidity, warmth, and the movements of the air—everything. Even if Frederica had kidnapped Toko, Postarie wouldn’t go anywhere on her own. If Pukin had been the one up to something here, that wouldn’t have caused her death. Was someone besides Pukin or Frederica attacking her?

“Perhaps you should have been more cautious about a hostage who escaped on her own.” Pukin’s voice reached her ears, and Rain Pow turned around, but Pukin was still lying there, not even twitching. She’d been hacked up by rainbows and continued to bleed out.

“By the time we captured your precious fairy, we had already wounded her and made her our own. When she argued with you loudly and bit our finger to escape, all that was done under our command. We sent a spy to your breast to land a strike under your tight guard. We broke the tiniest piece off the tip of our sword and gave it to Toko to hold. Under my order, the fairy pricked your chest, and next, you were magicked, your perception distorted.”

I’ve been stabbed? By Toko? What’s she talking about?

“We mean to say that our magic has caused your perception to err. Look properly at what you’ve done, what has just come to pass, from the correct perspective.”

She heard a sound like a snap in her ears, and her vision twisted, then cleared. Pukin, torn to shreds, became Tatsuko Sakaki. The volume of blood and position of wounds were identical. Frederica’s hand was now Toko, sliced clean in two.

Very calmly, Rain Pow thought, Oh, so that was how I was seeing it wrong. She reassessed things, and she was puzzled at herself for being so strangely composed. When she wiped her cheek with her finger, she found there was blood on it.

“We’ve cast it again on you. Now, you are our vassal.”

I see, she thought, accepting it. That explained why she could be so calm. Pukin was standing close by, leaning against the iron fence. Pukin’s magic had also prevented her awareness of her presence.

Pukin broke into a cheery smile and brushed back her bangs. “Now then, for our first order—slice those two up in as brutal a manner as possible.”

Rain Pow shot out her rainbows. She didn’t even consider opposing Pukin’s command. Of course she would obey. Calmly, she sent forth her rainbows, pointing their sharp tips at Tatsuko’s and Toko’s corpses.

Rain Pow thought about the two of them. Heart cold and crisp, she properly understood now exactly how she’d felt about them.

Without Toko, she would probably have continued to be her sister’s slave. The selfish, villainous, and egotistical fairy had joyfully told her, “With your talent, we can take on the world!” It was because of Toko she’d made it this far. She could never thank her enough. Toko had been the first person in her life she could smile and feel happy with.

And as Postarie had saved Rain Pow, Rain Pow had also been unable to kill Postarie. She should have killed her early on, before even attacking Archfiend Pam, since she couldn’t know what Postarie might do. But Rain Pow just hadn’t been able to do it, creating the excuse for herself that she was making her a hostage, and had kept her alive. She just hadn’t been able to bring herself to think about killing Postarie.

But now it’s all over.

Rain Pow sliced up the two corpses with her rainbows, chopping them up finely to Pukin’s satisfaction.

Pukin smiled.

“Don’t you worry. Once matters have settled, we’ll return your mind to normal. You’ll hold the memory of how you murdered your friends in your heart as we kill you. That shall be the first forgiveness you’ll ever receive, drudge.”