Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 7 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

THE MAGICAL-GIRL HUNTER

  Grim Heart

Finally, she was forced to act more cautiously.

Her stock of magical girls for replenishment had run out, and she’d also used up the experiments for that purpose, too. She needed to capture the remaining experiment without killing her and carry out the plan without replenishing Shufflin again.

Even thinking like this was humiliating.

Normally, she would have cleared this with ease, like a giant crushing ants, but the ants were scampering all about in confusion and she couldn’t fix her aim properly, and in fact, they were biting at her and resisting.

So far, she had gone with the Joker’s plans. And they had all backfired.

Of course, the Joker was at fault.

Grim Heart had been too generous. The girl had thought so very hard with her little lacking brain, so Grim Heart had gone with her plan, and that had been the cause of their failure.

From now on, things would be different. Grim Heart would take command. If the general was incompetent, the monarch would lead. Wielding a sword on the front lines could not be said to be the monarch’s battle, but directing the army could just barely be described as such.

As she was thinking about how she would attack now, a report came.

“The mist in the watery area has cleared.”

“Oh?”

The barbarians had cleverly filled the room with mist to block the view from the monitor. They had also built up water and frozen it to create a flash flood that had greatly damaged the Shufflins.

Grim Heart had been late to realize that room was a difficult place to attack—though if she’d understood that fact, she would have seized the place immediately.

Now, that mist had cleared. Was it due to some kind of accident? Perhaps they couldn’t create mist anymore, now that the fire-elemental experiment had been eliminated.

Peeking at the monitor, she saw multiple magical girls. The experiment… was there. She was alone some distance off, and looking closely, Grim Heart saw she was lying on the ground, tied up.

All the magical girls were looking up at the monitor. One of them put her hands to her mouth and cried out, “If you’ll guarantee our safety, we’ll hand the artificial magical girl over to you! We would like to be allowed to negotiate the conditions of the delivery and everything else between two representatives!”

Grim Heart tilted her head. “What did they say?”

“It was a little difficult to hear, but… it seemed she was saying that they will hand over the experiment, and they want to negotiate about it.”

“Oh-ho! So they’ve finally realized their own lowliness, have they?”

“No… I believe it may be hasty to assume so.”

“Why?”

“They may try to lure us someplace to negotiate and then launch a surprise attack. After all, these barbarians know no shame.”

“Hmm.” Indeed, being barbarians, they probably would pull that sort of nonsense. What the Joker had pointed out was reasonable enough. “So then shall we say there is no room for negotiation?”

“If we cause them to become desperate, then worst case, they may destroy the experiment.”

“We can’t have that! Can’t we do something?!”

“Let us set conditions to prevent us from a sudden attack.”

Grim Heart considered the possibilities: This was either a trap or an advantageous situation.

The odds were fairly high that this was the former. The barbarians knew no shame and were, without exception, trash. They were not creatures worthy of trust. They weren’t such that trust could be established in the first place.

If it was a trap, then for that trap, it would be best to put forth conditions that would eliminate all such odds. If there was no trap, and they would beg to raise the white flag under the most advantageous conditions possible, then she could listen to them, at least.

“It would be impossible to use any of the Shufflins but yourself for negotiation, wouldn’t it?”

“They can’t understand the Shufflins’ language, and the Shufflins lack intellect. Even using them as an intermediary would cause problems.”

“You’re not permitted to go there personally.”

“If I were to be killed, all the Shufflins would be eliminated. We can very much assume that’s the enemy’s intention.”

“So then you would have me go?”

“My deepest apologies.”

Grim Heart put her hand to her mouth. What sort of inconvenience could come about from her going to negotiate? Unlike the Joker, even if her magic were canceled out, those lowly peons’ attacks would never inure her. Might there be any other inconvenience? If there were, then she just had to stamp them out.

“Would my negotiating pose no problems?”

“First of all, you choose the location and person to be negotiated with. Negotiation within the briefing room is out of the question. Also, the Magical-Girl Hunter cannot be there. If you allow her to negotiate, she will learn your secrets and instantly be able to read the password from you. And that wild beast Marika Fukuroi might do anything. When you indicate who you would negotiate with, the magical girl with the needles and thread, who seems to be heavily injured, would be a good choice. I believe they called her Filru. We must not be lax in our observation of the monitors. They could aim for the moment when you’ve left to attack the briefing room, being shameless, as they are.”

“Wouldn’t it be best for the experiment to come negotiate herself?”

“No… Well… I doubt they will want to bring the experimental subject to the place of negotiation.”

“They have no right to choose what they do or do not wish.”

But then the Joker added that they would refuse to negotiate. So then Grim Heart would have to agree. It was irritating to let the barbarians push their luck like this, but she could vent her anger later.

“We will choose the place of negotiation as well as the person to negotiate with,” said the Joker. “Furthermore, let’s also do a thorough physical examination of her. It would be a disaster if she were to be carrying some of those explosives. Also, during negotiations, you’ll be as far away as possible. Since if any of their lowly spit were to get on you, it would dirty you. Also, let us attach some Shufflins to you as guards—so that their lowly blades may never reach you.”

“What a bother.”

“If you refuse, they might kill the experiment.”

“Hmph… Negotiation is the task of a monarch, is it not?”

“Only the noblest can arrange a negotiation with the leader of an enemy force.”

“Then there’s no helping it.”

With a heave, she stood from her throne. She would have this summit conference with the barbarians.

  Shufflin

The briefing room quieted as if a fire had vanished from it once Grim Heart left. She was the only one who would initiate any talk. Heart Shufflins were lacking in intellect, so they would cry out, but in the Joker’s presence, they would be properly controlled.

The Joker’s eyes dropped to the monitor. The Shufflins were all at their posts.

On orders from the Joker, first, the hearts took action. Holding up the tapestry that was the proof she was the messenger like it was a flag, a heart headed to the watery area. For the pole part, she had appropriated a spade’s spear.

The Seven of Hearts, who was holding up the tapestry, pushed the panel and headed into the watery area. She wound up surrounded by magical girls with raised weapons, but her opponents didn’t want to fight. Of course, the heart did not, either.

The Seven of Hearts was able to enter. However, since they couldn’t talk to each other, in order to communicate their intentions, the heart had been ordered to repeat a gesture as the Joker had instructed her: to search for Filru and point, then place her hand palm up and bend her fingers twice. It was a signal that meant to come this way. No matter what they tried to say, it wouldn’t get through anyway. So she would just repeat that gesture until they accepted it. Point at Filru, bend the fingers. They had to be persistent about teaching the barbarians that they would not bend.

The Joker switched the monitors to the forest area.

Grim Heart was sitting on her throne, boldly positioned in front of the door on the briefing room side. The Shufflins attending her were all those with strong combat abilities. All the upper spades and clubs except for the Ace of Spades were lined up there.

The Ace of Spades was standing by the Joker’s side. Though it was necessary to ensure Grim Heart was defended, she was not going to neglect the defense of the briefing room, either. She had the Ace of Spades, a number of lower-number spades, and also some clubs. Worst case, the Joker would also have to have the diamonds and hearts go out.

The Joker switched the monitor to the watery area.

Filru got up.

Just as instructed, the Seven of Hearts immediately lent her a shoulder.

One of the reasons she had chosen Filru to negotiate with was because she was severely injured. Careful to keep her from falling on the way to the place where they would negotiate, the heart helped Filru walk.

What would the other magical girls do?

The Joker checked on what they were up to.

Marika Fukuroi, Styler Mimi, Snow White—then there was the water-elemental experiment lying there tied up. There was no particular activity. By flipping channels between the pond area and the desert area, she viewed both concurrently.

When Grim Heart was present, she would complain if the Joker were to flip through screens quickly. Since she was gone, the Joker chose the most effective method of observation. She watched the magical girls in the pond area on one screen while she observed Filru being disarmed in the desert area on another.

She had already ascertained Filru’s personal magic: needle and thread.

This was the second reason she had chosen Filru. If she were to choose someone whose magic she was unsure of to negotiate with, there was a chance, however slim, that the worst might happen.

Of course, she checked for any weapons other than her needle and thread and thoroughly examined Filru’s entire person. If she were to bring in a grenade, it would be a horrible sight.

When the heart pressed her wound during the inspection, Filru let out a low moan.

The Joker breathed a small sigh. For now, things were going well.

But she was not at ease. Perhaps this was only in her mind, but she really couldn’t be at ease.

This would have been easier if Grim Heart hadn’t sacrificed all the experiments. If she wanted to make a super-high-class magical girl, then she should have allotted more resources to the task, emotionally speaking. And it would have been better if she had been more diligent and put more effort into the matter. With such disrespectful thoughts about her mistress on her mind, she switched the monitor over to the forest area.

Filru, with two spades as security on either side of her, came out from the bulkhead. She looked pale. But she was a magical girl. A magical girl wouldn’t die right away, even if she did push it.

The Shufflins supporting her at either side stopped her a hundred feet away from Grim Heart and pointed their spears at her throat. If she were to do anything suspicious, they would kill her immediately.

Grim Heart was also fortified with five upper-rank hearts. They’d been ordered to act as her shield to block attacks, no matter what happened.

Unlike the lower-order hearts, the higher numbers were brave, considering their lack of intellect.

The Shufflins were possessed of nothing that could be called “life” in the first place; they were all made in subordination to the Joker. Despite that, the lower-number hearts possessed a sense of fear and avoided death. She would have liked them to shape up a little more, if she could say so herself.

Meanwhile, all the arrangements had been completed.

Flipping over to the pond area, the Joker fixed her eyes on the screen. Until now, there had been nothing unexpected. Everything was proceeding smoothly. Grim Heart canceled her magic, and the negotiation began.

“We will… hand over Deluge… to… guarantee… our safety…” The girl’s speech was broken and weak. It wasn’t even clear if it had been loud enough to reach Grim Heart. But even if it wasn’t, that wouldn’t be much concern to Grim Heart.

“The experimental subject is very valuable to us. If you simply hand it over, we shall forgive your wrongdoing.”

To Grim Heart, “those lacking in manners” meant everyone but herself.

To Grim Heart, justice was whatever she said it was.

Was there anyone who could negotiate with one who only ever had her own way and took it for granted that she would? Even now that Grim Heart had canceled her magic, that would not change.

“So long as you hand over the experiment, we shall forgive your wrongdoing. On my honor, I swear it.”

The Joker knew—she would say anything, and she had no intention of keeping such a promise. Grim Heart believed there was no need for the noble to keep their promises to the vulgar masses.

Filru continued to argue vehemently, her voice so weak, it was difficult to hear it at all. She just wanted some guarantee, and without that, they could not hand over Deluge.

Grim Heart preached to her the value of honor.

They were like parallel lines that would never intersect. To begin with, they held different assumptions. Grim Heart sincerely believed that since she had gone to the trouble of personally showing up to negotiate, the other party would compromise. Surely Filru was now despairing, having discovered what her opponent was like.

It was a pseudo-negotiation where both sides kept doing the same thing, but the Joker did not yawn from boredom. She maintained her sense of tension as she focused on the monitor, quickly flipping between areas.

“Consider this your last chance. I shall not offer you louts any further ones.”

Filru hung her head. There was no place for her to run.

With or without her magic, it was a mistake to think anyone could negotiate with Grim Heart. She activated her magic once more and cut off the negotiation without any further discussion.

Filru tried to keep talking, but she must have realized nothing more would get through, as she trudged back.

Grim Heart had to be thinking that the negotiation had concluded most wonderfully. She triumphantly put her throne away in her sack and, chest puffed out, went through the bulkhead. Perhaps you would call this the affectation of a leader who had smoothly ended a summit meeting. Despite being suited to the blue collar, she would not touch something so lowly as physical labor.

The Joker removed the forest area from the cameras she flipped through, and that was when suddenly, she felt something was off.

She didn’t understand right away just what it was.

The pond area.

As usual, the magical girls were making no attempt to hide, listlessly sitting or lying there. It even seemed viable to storm them, now.

Scanning the whole scene on the monitor, she searched each thing one by one for what had made her feel something was off. Was it just her imagination, or was there some cause?

There was nothing different or strange about Styler Mimi or Marika Fukuroi. The same went for Snow White. They were sitting and not moving. The experiment was tied up and lying on the ground.

The Joker stopped the camera there. The bulkhead on the briefing room side was frozen by ice. The ice was thick, and there was no sign of melting. Its surface was not wet. It looked like touching the bulkhead with a finger would get yourself stuck, unable to pull away. It was frozen cold.

That it was frozen wasn’t an issue. The barbarians had built up water and frozen it to defend themselves. That wasn’t the problem—what was strange was that its surface was not wet now. Time had passed. If nothing were to affect it, ice could not stay frozen. If something had affected it, that would be something else. So then didn’t that mean the ice-elemental experiment was still using her magic on it?

Why was the experiment, who was captured and about to be sold out, helping them block the door?

Wouldn’t she see the other magical girls as traitors?

The Joker stood up and gave instructions to the Shufflins.

  Princess Deluge

She went out to greet Snow White, who was returning from the negotiation room. Here on out would be a contest of speed.

Snow White, who had headed out to negotiate in Filru’s clothing, helped up Filru, who had been on standby in Snow White’s clothing, and then Snow White dropped her into the four-dimensional bag. Since Filru was wounded and couldn’t run as well, the only way to get her out was to stick her into the bag.

Deluge undid her fake restraints, got up, and ran.

Marika Fukuroi and Styler Mimi sprinted off, too. Before the enemy could notice, they’d return to the entrance, then input the password and leave before it was changed or pursuit came. Then they’d seek help.

The only one of the enemies who could have negotiated with them was Grim Heart. Allowing the Joker near the enemy would have risked the destruction of all the Shufflins, and no Shufflin but the Joker was capable of negotiating.

So if they sought negotiation and the enemy agreed to it, the only one who could come out for it would be Grim Heart. They had anticipated that she would temporarily undo her magic and, in a negotiation that couldn’t be called negotiation, demand their concession.

They had also anticipated who of their allies would be requested for negotiation. Given the current situation, the one whose offensive capabilities were most crippled would be Filru. Their enemy would not show her kindness just because she was injured.

That was why they had switched Snow White and Filru beforehand.

They had swapped their costumes, then used Styler Mimi’s magic to create a wound like the real thing on Snow White’s stomach. They’d also used Styler Mimi’s magic to completely make up their faces to swap their appearances.

When Styler Mimi had said that it wasn’t difficult because Filru and Snow White looked alike to begin with, Filru had made a complicated expression.

Snow White, disguised as Filru, had headed out to the place where they were to negotiate and faced Grim Heart. In order to negotiate, Grim Heart had needed to undo her magic. So now Snow White was able to use her magic on Grim Heart. She could hear the internal voice that Grim Heart had not wanted heard.

After that, they ran from the lab as fast as they could. Snow White and Filru didn’t have time to change clothes. They headed for the entrance fast, as fast as they could, focusing on their speed alone.

Forcing her tired legs to move, Deluge passed through the bulkhead. She was going to get back alive. She had promised that to Inferno. It had been a one-sided promise, but she still had to keep it.

  Fal

Deluge had frozen the entrance on the briefing room side. Now that she had left the area, they didn’t know how long the magic would hold.

Even if the ice melted and softened, it should take longer than a second or two. Even if it was just a minute or two, all it had to do was buy them some time for the bulkheads to roll up.

Marika Fukuroi led the group, kicking up splashes of water as she ran and soaking all those behind her. Still she kept running, unconcerned. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! Fighting to escape is the best kind of fight! Yeah!”

The Ace of Spades had put out one of her eyes, broken her arm, and beaten her face to a pulp. Now she was so energetic, it was as if those injuries weren’t even there. In fact, she didn’t have a single scar.

She herself had said that as long as she had water, earth, and the light of the sun, her wounds would heal, although the lack of sun underground must have caused her regenerative abilities to take longer.

When Styler Mimi scoffed, “She’s a plant, after all,” Marika didn’t even get angry; she merely replied with a laugh, “That’s right! And I like it that way!”

Marika swallowed a seed as she ran. Holding up Inferno’s scimitar, she charged up her head with the heat.

“Solar Canon!”

She continued to emit heat at the big sunflower that bloomed on her head, and the sunflower stored it up, rapidly growing bigger. She pressed the bulkhead panel.

Fal’s enemy radar pinged. “Three magical girls in the hallway!”

Three Shufflins had spears raised. As if bowing, Marika pointed her head into the hallway. “Fiiire!”

The enemy couldn’t rush over to them, and there was nowhere for them to go to avoid the sunflower’s light beam. The big sunflower burned up the three Shufflins, then wilted entirely. Marika immediately swallowed a new seed and began growing another.

They had anticipated that the enemy might have a lookout. If it consisted of just these three, then all of them should be able to escape. It would take a little time to change the password.

With the speed of magical girls, they would be able to tap in the twenty-five-digit number to open the door before the enemy could sense their movements and change the password, or before they could send in more Shufflins.

Though they had given Snow White a real wound and then sewn her up, her injury was nothing serious. It only looked awful because of Styler Mimi’s camouflage.

But Filru’s was a real wound. She couldn’t heal her injuries with water, earth, and sunlight like Marika Fukuroi could, and she’d merely sewn herself up in a hasty sort of triage. Normally, she would have had trouble running. But they couldn’t leave her there. If they did, Grim Heart would kill her.

They’d had to take her along while at the same time prevent her from slowing them down—and Grim Heart had given them a hint on how to do that.

Filru was tucked inside the sack hanging from Snow White’s waist, the very same method Grim Heart had used to conceal the Shufflins. Even living things could go inside the bag, and as long as they were conscious, they could leave of their own free will. The group could run at full speed and take someone heavily wounded with them, too.

“No magical girls in the hallway!” Fal informed them on his enemy radar scan, and they started up running again. The enemy would be looking at the monitor. They would know they were headed for the entrance, now. The enemy would have already realized they were trying to do something. They just had to open the door fast, before the enemy changed the password, before pursuit came after them.

Rushing down the hall, they impatiently waited for the bulkhead leading to the desert area to open. Once the door was open even a crack, Fal instantly scanned for magical girls on the other side.

“Desert area magical girl count is… fifteen?!”

The bulkhead opened to reveal the desert. No Shufflins were visible. Still, there were definitely fifteen magical girls already present. Could that many even hide in here? If they were going to send that many, then wouldn’t they have placed them in that hallway they’d just gone down? Fal couldn’t help but think the enemy was moving faster than anticipated.

The group dashed off again, barely reacting to Fal’s statement. Marika Fukuroi was now scattering sand in her wake.

“Fifteen of them are at the bulkhead on the other side, all gathered together… Now they’ve started moving, pon.”

Crossing over two sand dunes, they could see the entrance. There were fifteen Shufflins, clubs and spades both, all spread out and with weapons raised. It was apparent at a glance that they were protecting the bulkhead.

“Solar Canon!”

As soon as the enemy was in sight, Marika Fukuroi fired her shot. This was different from the hallway, and the enemy was dispersed in an open area. She only fried two Shufflins, but she managed to open a path. Sliding down to the bulkhead, Snow White smacked the panel, but it wouldn’t open right away. They all put their backs to the operation panel and prepared to counter the Shufflins—

“Additional magical girls detected! Four in the hallway, pon!”

Snow White struck aside a spear with Ruler, while Deluge spun her trident around, sprinkling frost all around the area. The moment there was a break in the Shufflins’ assault, Snow White slid under the bulkhead, and Deluge and Mimi followed.

But Marika stayed and didn’t try to enter the hallway. “There’s more out here, and it looks fun!”

With a click of her tongue, Styler Mimi returned to the desert. The two of them would stop the enemies from behind. It would be Snow White and Deluge’s job to go ahead. Deluge glowed blue and took the point.

When she was about to stab an enemy with her trident, a girl appeared. She appeared out of nothing, striking both enemy and ally dumb.

Voice trembling, Deluge murmured, “Prism… Cherry… You’re—”

“Sorry I’m late! I’ll do what I can!”

Drawing a sparkling trail behind her, Prism Cherry passed by Deluge and Snow White, slipping under the closing bulkhead into the desert area.

  Styler Mimi

“I’m on your side!”

The unfamiliar voice suddenly declaring she was an ally confused Mimi. The magical girl who entered the room through the closing bulkhead was as unfamiliar as her voice had been, and she was strangely sparkly.

“An ally? Awwright!” Marika yelled.

Mimi didn’t have the time to moan, “How can you just believe her right off the bat?” They were surrounded by fifteen Shufflins all with weapons at the ready. Their side, even including this self-proclaimed ally, had three. Marika’s flowers took time to bloom. If they were to go back to the hallway, fighting would be easier, but since Marika had gone to the trouble to stay, she had to be planning something.

The Shufflins seemed to be flinching a little at the sudden appearance of this mysterious magical girl, too. Weapons up, they hesitated a moment.

And then the mysterious girl cried, “Please look away from me!”

She shone. Mimi wasn’t looking, so she didn’t quite know how it was happening, but there she was, glowing. The intense glare emitted made the Shufflins scowl and squint. Mimi and Marika had the light at their backs, so they fared better than the Shufflins.

Mimi cut at them with her scissors and kicked them away, and when they struck back, she blocked, restrained, dodged, dodged, then dodged some more—there were too many. She failed to avoid one entirely, and a club ripped off her wig while a spear skimmed her arm. She felt the skin and flesh coming away, then the pain. The spear she’d failed to avoid came forcefully into her right arm, and more blood spurted out. She tossed her scissors to get some distance.

Her combat was clumsy. And it wasn’t simply because she was being overwhelmed by numbers. The magical girl behind her had placed herself firmly on the spot and was not moving at all. If Mimi were to dodge poorly, the attack would hit the girl behind her. Why did she have to fight while protecting someone she had literally just met?

Marika Fukuroi laughed. She wasn’t just glad to be in a tight position. This laugh was familiar to Mimi.

“AH-HA-HYAAAA! HERE COMES THE SUUUUUN!!”

Oh, I get it, Mimi thought.

The warmth of this light was not only dazzling. It was the light of the sun. Despite how Marika Fukuroi needed it, she’d come all this way underground. And that sunlight—intensely powerful sunlight, to boot—was being continuously beamed out of the magical girl behind them.

Mimi’s plan had been to try to buy time until Marika could make her flower bloom. Cursing the damn woman for always doing whatever she wanted while buying time for her was Mimi’s job. That job had ended in the blink of an eye. This was not mere heat—it was the real, blindingly powerful light of the sun. The sunflower seed swelled up at explosive speed, accelerating to sparkle and glow.

“Solar Heaven!”

Mimi knew what would happen. She knew Marika trusted her to take care of allies. Mimi turned her back to the enemies and shoved the magical girl behind her down in the sand.

Light shot out.

This was nothing like the sunlight the mysterious magical girl had emitted. The energy of that sunlight, which she’d stored and stored, building it right up to the limit, right up to the brim, was released all at once.

Mimi spat out the sand in her mouth. “You’re always like this…”

“Hey, thanks for the compliment.”

“That’s not a compliment.”

“And thanks to you over there, too.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. I’m glad I could be useful.”

Marika pulled up Mimi, and Mimi helped up the mysterious magical girl. The radius around Marika was burned black. She didn’t even have to think about what had happened to the Shufflins.

“Eh, I’ll ask who you are later,” said Marika.

“Oh, okay.”

“For now, let’s follow after the Magical-Girl Hunter.”

“If we dawdle too much, we’ll get left be—”

On the other side of a dune, Styler Mimi saw a waft of sand rise up.

Before she could even think about what it was, her body moved.

She squatted, grabbed sand in both hands, and tossed it at Marika. Styler Mimi’s magic could change people’s outfits. And not only that—she could disguise someone as another person, and she could also confer upon someone perfect camouflage.

She made Marika melt into the desert, and next she showered the unknown girl with sand, giving her the same thing. It wasn’t just any camouflage—it was flawless, a total concealment. A camouflage created by Styler Mimi’s magic would even deceive the eyes of a magical girl.

She was about to cover herself in sand next, but the cloud of sand arrived first. The Ace of Spades was at the end, with the King and Queen of Clubs following behind.

I’m not gonna mak—

She was stabbed. In the neck. Swung around. Thrown. Hot. Blood overflowed from the back of her throat and leaked from her lips. She felt she was going to be torn up. She was still conscious. She couldn’t breathe. It was suffocating. Hurt.

It was the same as always.

No matter what the disaster, Marika Fukuroi was always the same. No matter how much Styler Mimi hated it, she would be forced into going along. Styler Mimi would refuse to go with her, and Marika would ignore her protests and drag her away.

Ahh.

The sand was dyed red. That was all she could see. She didn’t know anymore what had happened to Marika and the other one. Hurt. Pain. How could that idiot think to fight, no matter how much pain she was in?

If Mimi had really hated going along with her, she could have just left at any point. She knew that. Marika wouldn’t invite someone who really wasn’t into it. Despite how she seemed, she had a surprisingly subtle eye for people. Mimi knew that.

She also knew that she didn’t really hate being forced to join. Mimi’s protests always led to Marika dragging her along anyway. Somehow, it would all end safely, and she would complain all the way home—that was part of how things went, too.

This time, it was different. Mimi hadn’t even considered that anything would be different. She’d talked about how dangerous and scary it was, but deep in her heart, she’d been certain they would get back safe and sound.

She had no more strength left. So she would muster one last bit.

Pulling scissors from her sleeve, she raised herself up to throw them at a club Shufflin. She hadn’t even been aiming that sudden strike, but it hit her right in the throat. The Queen of Clubs clawed at her neck as she fell forward, and Mimi wound up on her back, facing the ceiling as she died.

  Marika Fukuroi

She was down on the sand like a four-legged beast. She made herself undetectable.

Mimi did not move. She’d taken a Shufflin down with her with one last throw.

Taken it down with her. Yes, she’d taken it down with her. That meant Mimi had been killed, and she’d killed a Shufflin, too. She wouldn’t move anymore. Because it was a fatal wound. That was a fatal wound.

Marika hadn’t been able to save her. She hadn’t tried to save her? No. She hadn’t been able to save her. She should have saved her. Why was she thinking something like that? Thinking about someone who was dead in the middle of a fight.

The Ace of Spades and the King of Clubs were back-to-back, weapons raised. They hadn’t found her. The new ally was hiding, too. Marika prayed, Stay still like that.

Still back-to-back, the two Shufflins shifted along slowly. Their sliding steps left lines in the sand. They were both aiming for the bulkhead. Mimi was close to it.

Mimi.

It was Mimi.

Styler Mimi.

Marika thought of Mimi again. She shouldn’t think about someone who had fallen and was not moving. Fighting was fun. Losing battles were the best. The enemy would focus all their body and soul on her, and she wouldn’t be able to think about anything but the enemy, and they’d color all her thoughts. How would she take them down? How would she take that hit? She would merge herself purely into battle and become a singular whole with the other. There would not be two fighting. It would be a battle of one.

There could be no impurities. But Mimi was lying there.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from that sight. She couldn’t get into the fight.

There was always an ally who fell and stopped moving. It wasn’t unusual for that to happen to her. If your heart would be disturbed by something so trivial, you couldn’t call yourself a warrior. The Magical-Girl Hunter and the Musician of the Forest and the Archfiend would laugh at her.

The Archfiend—she was dead, too. Marika had thought that even death wouldn’t end her. She’d thought the Archfiend would continue on as the Archfiend eternally, and Marika would be able to play until she died.

The Archfiend was dead. Mimi wouldn’t move, either. Marika had forced her to come when she hated it, and Mimi had died. What was she thinking? Mimi had hated it? Was that something to think about, now?

It was welling up from deep within her. A tiny ripple transformed into a great tsunami, and energy Marika had never felt before was trying to overflow from within her. It was power. Pure power was trying to transform her. The Archfiend had taught her that great movements of the heart could bring about drastic growth in a magical girl. That had been more than ten years ago, now. It was a miracle Marika still remembered that.

She sensed what was about to visit her.

Mimi was dead.

Mimi had been killed.

Marika had wanted to protect her. But she hadn’t.

She told herself: You’ve got to win with just what power you have now. If you’re going to use one more thing, it should be the camouflage Mimi left you at the end.

What she had right now was fine. She didn’t need anything else. That was something she shouldn’t have.

She had a scent for it. If she were to accept this gift, she would probably die. It wasn’t logic. She could understand it with her senses. Just as Mimi had taken that Shufflin with her, Marika would die with those two Shufflins. Marika wouldn’t die yet. The Archfiend had died. Mimi had died, too.

But Marika was still alive.

She tensed her limbs to hold in check the thing trying to well up from within her. When her heart seemed it would lose focus, she held on to it firmly, trying to convince her whole body. She didn’t need any more strength than what she had now.

No awakening!

No! I don’t need your meddling!

I can win fine without you!

Scram, now!

Her heart quieted. Strong movements of the heart were basically turmoil. That wasn’t something that should be in a fight. She quieted her spirit, restrained her desire for victory, and so as to avoid making a trail on the sand, so as to not make a sound with her steps, she made her body weight vanish. Lighter than a feather.

Using the technique of silent movement she’d learned from catching Melville, she circled around ahead of where the two Shufflins were moving. She moved faster than them; she had to make sure they would never notice her.

She slowly swallowed a seed. Her throat was dry, and it hurt going down.

There was no more sunlight. It wouldn’t bloom right away.

Buying time, she used the camouflage to prowl about until it bloomed. In pure physical capability, the Ace of Spades surpassed the best of the Archfiend Cram School. And this was the best of the school, Marika, saying so—so that was definitely true. In order to win, she needed magic power.

She moved on four legs, walking like a turtle, but still arrived at the bulkhead ahead of the enemy. Now first, she would crush the club Shufflin. Then she would make the Ace of Spades move from in front of the bulkhead and buy time.

Come at me, she thought as she readied herself, but the two Shufflins veered a little ways away from the bulkhead. It wasn’t that she’d been noticed. If she had, they’d have attacked her in a more straightforward way.

What were they trying to do? The two Shufflins continued away from the bulkhead to arrive before the fallen Mimi. When Marika realized what they were about to do, she forgot about trying to hide and cried out, charging in.

Mimi had already reverted to human form. She was dead—stabbed in the back.

Despite her horrible death, her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful. The two Shufflins raised her up, tore up her corpse, and swung it around. Great torrents of blood scattered all around.

Not just blood. Mimi was scattered.

The bits tossed about dyed the area red—the area that was occupied by Marika and the friendly magical girl who had been hiding. Once the red that was not sand stuck to them, the camouflage didn’t work anymore.

The club came to face her. The spade turned to the other girl. The friendly magical girl stood. Because of the camouflage, Marika couldn’t see her expression.

Marika swung at the club. She dodged it. Marika ignored that and went for the spade, but the club swung its bat at Marika. It split her forehead.

Her vision was tinted crimson.

The spade thrust her spear in. Marika screamed.

The ally girl weakened. The spade pulled the spear out. Gushes of blood flowed out.

The club swung at Marika one more time, and Marika smacked her forehead at the club instead. More blood scattered. When the club’s stance crumpled, she punched at it.

The club staggered. But it wouldn’t fall. It grappled at Marika.

Aiming for the spine, Marika brought her elbow down two, three times. The club would still not fall. Raising its spear, the spade charged. It was too fast for her to react.

The spade’s spear slid by the club to pierce Marika’s chest. Tearing flesh, it buried deep.

An overflowing of blood. Then there came the shine.

The shine that had beamed down before. The light of the sun.

Stabbed by the spade, collapsed facedown, the magical girl was pointing her mirror toward Marika. In her mirror was the sun. It was so dazzling she couldn’t really see it, but she felt its presence.

Marika pulled the spade’s spear closer, thrusting it deeper into her flesh. Her blood was pouring out.

She embraced the spade’s shoulders, bringing her nearer. The point of the spear came out her back. The spade was trying to pull away. But it was too late. Marika had been bathed fully in the light of the sun. A yellow flower bloomed over her head.

“Genocidal Orca.”

Red spines burst out of her whole body—thick and sharp. They would pierce right through even the body of a magical girl.

Both club and spade were shot full of them, but when the spade still tried to move anyway, she stabbed it with one more spine. She pushed it through her eye socket to crush her eyeball, piercing her brain and splitting her cranium.

The blood of the Shufflins mingled with Marika’s.

The light of the sun died out. The ally magical girl dropped her mirror. Tangled up with the two Shufflins, Marika collapsed.

Ohhh… I’m tired.

She’d rest a bit, just a bit. Once she was up again, there would be a new fight.

Such thoughts in her mind, Marika Fukuroi lost consciousness.

  Fal

Snow White could even hear the heart of a digital fairy. Fal felt embarrassed and resentful about this, but when the time came to fight, there was also a major benefit to this in that they could coordinate without her having to speak to Fal.

There were three Shufflins in the hallway—two hearts and the Six of Spades. Snow White pulled out her magical phone and slid it along the floor, while Fal set the size of his hologram to the largest and turned on.

His form appeared suddenly before the opponents, giant, with volume set to max, and yelling loud to intimidate. When the enemy flinched, Ruler swung out, disregarding the hologram, to hit the spade in the lead, and Snow White and Deluge each kicked down one of the hearts that cowered behind it.

Without ever slowing, Snow White scooped up the magical phone, kicked off the wall to turn the corner and, running like an arrow, hit her shoulder to the bulkhead as she pressed the operation panel.

“Number of magical girls, one! We can do it, pon!”

Now, there would be no one there. They had probably already invested all the fighting power they had on this side.

But it wouldn’t be empty like this forever.

If all the Shufflins that had been protecting the briefing room side were sent to them, they would be faced with too many to ever fight. And if Grim Heart were to join in then, this time for sure, it would be game over.

Though Snow White had read the true nature of Grim Heart’s magic, even Snow White could not face her in a battle that was mannerly by Grim Heart’s standard.

The two magical girls raced down the hallway to stand in front of the door. The number Snow White had told Fal was saved within him. Fal would never misremember or make a mistake.

“2847392869036194836787709!”

“Password confirmed. Unlocking.”

They had made it in time. The password had not yet been changed.

A female voice informed them of the confirmation of the password, and then a door that seemed far thicker and heavier than the bulkheads groaned as it began sliding upward. Deluge exhaled a long breath.

They couldn’t relax yet. But still, Fal understood her relief.

Fal also felt viscerally that they had cleared the biggest obstacle. Now, they just had to get outside and make contact with people. This ridiculously long day would finally end.

So much had happened.

So many had died, and the survivors bore wounds both physical and emotional. Snow White, too—even if she looked fine, there was no way she actually could be. Because she could hear other people’s hearts, she would feel two or three times as much anxiety as anyone else.

Once they got outside, Fal would provide emotional care and support for her in the future. He had to make sure she knew she wasn’t alone, or she would rush into doing reckless things.

There was also the matter of the artificial magical girls.

There would be a need to negotiate as to what would happen with them from now on. If Fal were to use his information network—

“Password change confirmed. Unlocking terminated.”

The instant they heard that feminine voice, Deluge clung to the door. But now that it had started moving down, even a magical girl’s strength couldn’t stop it. There wasn’t even enough space to slide underneath.

The password had been changed.

The door was not going to open now.

Snow White stuck Ruler’s blade down in the gap between the door and the floor. Since Ruler was unbreakable, it wouldn’t be crushed by the door. The weapon stopped the door as it made grinding noises, trying to close. But the gap was never going to widen. There wasn’t enough space for a girl to get through. At this rate, they were stuck.

“Deluge, bear with me here.”

Snow White opened up her sack and flung it over Deluge’s head as the girl looked at her in shock. She kept going, dropping it all at once to the tips of her toes, lightly tying the neck of the bag to shut it completely.

Fal could tell what she was trying to do.

Snow White slid the bag with Deluge in it along the floor, underneath the door. Even if the gap was too narrow for a magical girl, the four-dimensional bag, which never swelled up, could pass through.

Snow White pulled out Ruler, which had continued to resist until the end, and now the door closed for certain.

With the heavy thud at her rear, Snow White ran back the way she’d come at the same speed.

Fal breathed a sigh. “Ultimately…”

“What?”

“Ultimately, we’ve wound up staying till the end, pon.”

“Now we’ll hole up with Fukuroi, Mimi, and Prism Cherry and buy time. We know help will be coming, so it’ll be easy.”

“It’s obviously not going to be easy, pon… Only one magical girl detected, pon! It’s just you, Snow White!”

  Filru

By the time she was pulled out of the bag, they were already in front of the ladder.

Filru was slung over Deluge’s shoulders, typing into her magical phone as Deluge climbed up. From here, the signal would reach the outside. They could seek help.

Her former boss, her coworkers, magical girls from tea parties, magical girls from karaoke parties, magical girls from mahjong parties, magical girls from camp, magical girls from weeding, anyone she’d exchanged e-mails with—as many as possible. Her job-hunting efforts hadn’t entirely been wasted.

She sent out a mass e-mail requesting backup to all of them at once, as well as to the addresses she’d recorded from Snow White, Marika Fukuroi, and Styler Mimi.

Now that she’d sent this many, they couldn’t hide it anymore. They had destroyed Grim Heart’s plans.

Up the ladder was the interior of the factory. The broken crane, the signs of destruction, the rust and dust and the square hole all felt like they were from so long ago. Filru’s stomach still throbbed. It felt like tears would come with every exhale. Not tears of pain—tears of relief.

Those tears came pouring down once she was out of the bag.

“Sorry, can you put me down?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Thanks to your help, I think I can run somehow, at least… I was able to rest in the bag, and that thing from Fukuroi worked.”

“Oh, that. It worked, huh?”

It still hurt. But now, even that pain was something to be glad of.

Filru looked at Deluge. She was smiling as she broke down crying. They both reached out their hands and clasped them tight.

She didn’t seem like someone Filru had fought atop a high-rise just the day before. At the time, she’d been so worked up, thinking she had to capture this girl. And now she was so honestly thankful to have her there.

Filru bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to cry now. Maybe it was a petty sort of pride, as the senior magical girl. “… Let’s go.”

“Right.”

It was nighttime outside. Perhaps not much time had passed since they’d entered—or had it been more than twenty-four hours already? Whichever it was, now they could check. Those who had been left behind couldn’t even do that.

They had promised to split the credit three ways. They couldn’t do that anymore, either. Uttakatta and Kafuria would surely complain. Filru would think of something to say in apology, at least. Now, she had the time for that.

The two of them were about to run off when there was a thunking sound, and they turned back. It had come from the direction of the kitchenette.

Something was there.

The sound of footsteps followed. Someone was there.

The one to poke her face out the door was a Shufflin. Filru was startled, but when she saw it was a heart Shufflin, she was relieved. The heart Shufflins couldn’t fight. They were just pitiful creatures who were only ever frightened.

The Shufflins had been their enemy this whole time. But when they’d first gone down there, Shufflin had been an ally. Kafuria had soothed the trembling Shufflin and had tried to converse with her, somehow. She had wiped Shufflin’s tears with her handkerchief. Yeah, that had happened, too.

Filru raised her hands and took a step forward. “We won’t do anything if you don’t. Should you let us pass quietly, we’ll—”

Deluge thrust her trident forward and pierced straight through Shufflin. Filru watched, dumbfounded. The heart’s costume tore, and underneath, there was a ten of spades. They had dressed the spade up as a heart.

She had fallen for the enemy’s deceit.

They’d even thought to weaponize the weakness of a heart Shufflin and left this final trap.

Filru staggered and leaned an elbow on the crane operation device. But she didn’t have the strength, and her body slid down until, eventually, she was on the ground. The Shufflin’s spear was stuck in her stomach. There was a hole in Snow White’s costume, and it was dyed red with endlessly flowing blood.

Deluge was crying. Filru had the feeling this girl had done nothing but cry.

In the end, she’d failed to get the credit. But she’d at least managed to be needed by someone. On that point, she was satisfied.

  Shufflin

Grim Heart was furious beyond words. Her clenched fists were trembling, and seeing this, the Four of Hearts trembled even harder.

They hadn’t changed the password in time. Doing so had required Grim Heart, who knew the current one. Making sure that only Grim Heart knew the password, for fear of Snow White discovering, had backfired.

Magical girls had escaped from the facility. Grim Heart had failed to fulfill her goal.

She kicked up her writing desk, and before it could fall to the ground, she pushed the bulkhead panel. She left the briefing room to pursue the fleeing magical girls.

The Joker watched her go. Grim Heart probably wouldn’t make it at this point.

The magical girls were free. They had been unable to keep them locked up. The Shufflins filed after Grim Heart.

Grim Heart had forgotten her comportment as a lady of nobility and was walking with great strides.

Joker had managed to predict it all accurately, until the end. It was no use for that woman now. If the Shufflins were to follow her, it would only bring destruction and no benefit. No matter how far they went, the end was the end.

Just where had they gone wrong? Shufflin was strong, Grim Heart even stronger. But they’d let them get away. Was it because they’d underestimated the Magical-Girl Hunter? Or was it not their underestimation of her, but of the magical girls of this world?

Looking at the monitor, the Joker breathed a sigh. At the same time, a wry chuckle escaped from her lips. For some reason, seeing Grim Heart panic was so funny. Joker followed the Shufflins, joining the line going after Grim Heart. She might as well follow her to the end.

It wouldn’t be so bad to meet destruction together with her.

It was what it was.