Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 8 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

HOT START

  Fal

The origins of the Magical Kingdom were, of course, in the kingdom records. But how many people out there could guarantee those records were correct? Inconvenient truths would be omitted or corrected or perhaps twisted entirely in the opposite direction, leaving what was written there only a legitimate nation where nothing underhanded or anything to feel guilty about existed at all.

As for the origins of the Magical Kingdom, the records said as follows:

There was the First Mage, who had created everything in existence. This mage also created three disciples and taught the trio everything they knew and were capable of. Based on the teachings they had learned, the three disciples made a world, and using that world as their base, they furthered their exchange with various other worlds. Seeing that their three disciples and the world they had made was now fully matured, the First Mage was very satisfied. The mage figured things were such that they were no longer needed and so entrusted everything to their three disciples before suddenly vanishing.

That the people involved in this episode of the nation’s establishment were still alive could be considered unusual for these sorts of foundational tales. But when the only people to say “This was something that really happened” were those who claimed to be the ones in question, the Three Sages, you were bound to feel reservations about their trustworthiness.

Regardless, the story’s veracity wasn’t all that important. What was important was that the three disciples called the Three Sages were, to the Magical Kingdom, the heroes of the nation’s founding and also its greatest powers and not people a single magical girl could oppose.

Fal was terribly anxious. He’d probably be dry-mouthed and sweating bullets, maybe even light-headed and puking from stress, were he not an electronic fairy-type mascot. Snow White, however, showed no sign of nerves. Her heart rate was a little elevated but still within the normal range—that of somebody reasonably alert.

From the outside, this estate looked big and luxurious, but upon entering, it was quite strangely a traditional-style Japanese house. The wooden floorboards in the halls creaked slightly when you put weight on them; rows of shoji paper sliding doors let faint light seep through; the thick alcove posts had little nicks; and the tatami mats were still green and fresh-smelling. Gravel blanketed the yard with white stepping-stones crossing over it. The gravel was dyed in metallic colors of red, blue, white, black, green, and yellow, with a wealth of fluorescent colors and variations that were a terrible eyesore. Instead of stone lanterns, there were randomly scattered structures resembling upside-down totem poles. Planted in the garden was the sort of stately tree so enormous it brought to mind Yggdrasil, the world tree, or something of that nature. It was so massive that ten people holding hands might barely be able to circle the trunk. The giant tree had not been visible from outside the wall. Normally, a person could have spotted something of that size from three miles away.

That alone was enough to make Fal understand quite well that this place existed in a realm beyond common sense. And someone who called a place like this her home had invited them. Since that person was one of the Three Sages, Snow White could not refuse.

“Go ahead, have some,” the owner of the house said to Snow White, who was sitting on her knees in front of the low tea table. On the table there was a cup of cola and a snack bowl filled with potato chips.

Not long ago, Snow White had outmaneuvered a magical girl named Grim Heart, but not via direct injury. Grim Heart’s magic prevented such things, though she was someone Fal would have liked to physically harm, if possible. But still, even if Snow White hadn’t hurt her, good things had not happened to Grim Heart. After Snow White had outplayed her, she’d been arrested, and while being escorted away, she had “died in an accident.” Fal didn’t know what had actually happened to her, but that was what was recorded in the Magical Kingdom documents that were accessible to him.

Grim Heart had been the mortal incarnation of one of the Three Sages, Chêne Osk Baal Mel. And Puk Puck, the one who had summoned Snow White, was a magical girl and the incarnation of another of the Three Sages, Av Lapati Puk Baltha. Being summoned by the incarnation of one of the Three Sages was essentially no different from being summoned by one of the Three Sages themselves.

Snow White did not help herself to the cola or the potato chips. She only closely watched the girl sitting opposite her.

The girl looked young, even for a magical girl. Younger than elementary school age—not quite a kindergartner, or maybe she was a toddler. She was sitting informally, with her legs sort of crossed on a thick cushion. Her costume, a white toga and curly golden hair, gave her a vaguely divine air. Her smile was pure and innocent, and she seemed gentle in a way that drew you in unawares. But still Snow White’s expression remained stern. She wasn’t the type to laugh or flatter to try to entreat herself to people, but considering who this person was, Fal wished Snow White would at least be friendlier.

“You’re not gonna have any?”

“What was it you wanted to discuss?”

Fal was on edge. Snow White cut in so close, it wasn’t clear whether Puk Puck was done talking or not. It also came off like an assertion she was not going to talk anything but business.

But even after witnessing this, the girl continued to smile brightly. “If you tell Puk your favorite snacks, we can get you some.”

“What’s your businesses with me?”

From the garden came the loud clunk of a scaredeer.

“Um…Puk wants to be friends with you, Big Sis Snowy.”

“Why is it you’ve called me here today?”

Beyond a sliding screen, a magical girl moved. Fal hadn’t seen her—he had detected her with radar. There was Snow White, plus Puk Puck in front of her, then one other in waiting behind that screen. She was probably Puk Puck’s subordinate. If something was to happen to her master, she would quickly rush in to eliminate the problem.

That was what had moved. Fal became even more tense. Thoughts rose in his mind and then disappeared. Should he caution Snow White, at least, and say, “Wouldn’t it be best to speak a little gentler to her, to be more respectful?” Or would it perhaps be even ruder to interrupt in the middle of their discussion?

“So, so, Puk wanted to be friends with you, Big Sis.” She leaned over the tea table, looking up at Snow White pleadingly. Snow White’s heart rate rose. “And, and, um…”

“What am I here for?” Nothing had changed on the surface. But Snow White’s heart rate had accelerated.

“Uh-huh, so Puk’s—”

“What would you have me do?”

“…Hmm.” Puk scratched her head with her middle finger. She looked sincerely troubled, just like that sound implied. With Snow White’s ability to hear the thoughts of people in trouble, she would be able to see through any lies.

“Puk thinks this’ll be good for both of us. You beat Grim Heart, right, Big Sis?”

So it was connected to that, after all.

“And the Osk Faction’ll be watching you, too, right? And not only that, maybe they’ll do something even worse? But then, but then, if we make friends, Puk can help you out, and Puk can protect you, y’know?” This was an invitation—she was saying, “I’ll back you, so join my faction.” She was using gentle language, but the actual content of her offer was considerably questionable.

Fal thought maybe they could trust this for what it was. Puk Puck’s desire to integrate a capable magical girl who had struck a heavy blow to an enemy faction into her own was easy enough to understand. And even though Puk Puck’s offer seemed sketchy, he felt he could trust her somehow.

“And plus, I can help you find your friend, Big Sis.”

Snow White was indeed searching for Ripple, who was missing. But she’d always done the investigating privately. Fal was silently astonished Puk Puck had looked into Snow White so deeply. Snow White’s heart rate rose even further, most likely because Ripple had been brought up.

“Pardon me.” The paper screen door slid open. A magical girl stood there. Her long hair had gradations from brown to pink and was tied in pigtails that nearly reached the floor. Her eyes were different colors: The right was reddish-purple, and the left was pale blue. Her neck scarf was pinned with a rabbit badge, and stuffed animal legs peeked out from her ponytails. She seemed like a composed sort of girl, but she was breathing hard, shoulders heaving.

“Let me introduce you, Big Sis. This is Sorami Nakano, one of Puk’s friends. She analyzed for Puk a protected disc we stole from the Osk Faction, and thanks to her, we’ve learned that a lot of our info has gotten out. And you know, Sora and Puk are always good friends, like during dinner two days ago…”

“Pardon me,” said Snow White, and Puk Puck looked at her with curiosity.

“What?”

“It looks like she’s in a hurry.”

Looking at Sorami Nakano, Puk Puck gave a little nod. That seemed to be a prompt, as Sorami began speaking, appearing rather relieved. “Yeah, I kinda am.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Puk Puck.

“It’s Sachiko… Premium Sachiko ran away.”

“…She ran away?”

“She left a note behind that said, ‘I don’t think I can manage such an important ceremony. I think it would be better not to do it at all, rather than causing trouble for you with my failure. I hope you can handle the rest…’ Well, basically, it’s the usual.”

Puk Puck put her hand to her forehead and looked up at the ceiling. It was the first gesture she’d revealed since Fal and Snow White had come into this room that gave a sense of experience inappropriate to the age she looked.

“Now of all times…,” she murmured, seemingly thoughtlessly, and it sounded hoarse like an old woman.

Puk Puck heaved a great sigh and then turned back to Snow White. “Well, um, this is a little embarrassing, huh? So this is just a teensy-weensy bit hard to say, but if I’m gonna ask you a favor, then I have to say it, right? Yeah.”

“Go ahead,” said Snow White.

“Puk wants you to protect a friend.”

Though she occasionally got sidetracked, Puk Puck continued, explaining the situation.

Puk Puck had some subordinate magical girls. She was planning to hold a magical ceremony, and one of the girls, Premium Sachiko, was a key figure involved. But another political force was against the ceremony.

“She’s got people after her… The Osk Faction,” said Puk Puck.

A slight crease formed in Snow White’s brow. The Osk Faction—the group of mages led by Chêne Osk Baal Mel. They saw both humans and magical girls as nothing more than experimental material, things to be used. That much had been made painfully clear to Snow White in the underground laboratory.

The Puk Faction was going to carry out this ceremony that relied on Sachiko. The decision to hold the ceremony had been made through a conference among the Three Sages, but the only party that had been against it, the Osk Faction, was ignoring the results of that meeting and planning to meddle in the ceremony. Basically, they couldn’t have the ceremony without Sachiko. So if she was eliminated, the majority decision wouldn’t count for anything.

“What sort of ceremony is this?” asked Snow White.

“Um, we can’t tell anyone else. But it’d be mean not to tell when Puk is asking you a favor, huh? If we make it so that you’re one of us now, Snowy, then Puk could tell you, huh? So then it’s okay for me to tell you?”

Fal got the feeling that what she was saying was cutting off all avenues of escape, but Snow White listened in silence without making any accusations.

With a proud ring in her voice, Puk continued. “Right now, the Magical Kingdom is in a real pinch. We’re using more power than we gather, and the power we stored up originally has been decreasing, bit by bit. The more difficult the magic is, the stronger the power needed. But when everyone is researching stuff and advancing technologies, things just wind up this way no matter what. Still, we can’t stop doing research and go back to how things were in the old days. At this rate, the power’ll be all gone, and it’ll be a big disaster. But now there’s this good thing. A long time ago, someone important—maybe you’ve heard of the First Mage—made a magical device, which stores up lots and looooots of magical power. In order to use it, you need a ceremony, and in order to hold that ceremony, we need our girl…Premium Sachiko.”

Even after listening to all this, Snow White did not react. Her heart rate remained elevated. This all sounded like utter nonsense, but if any of it had been lies, Snow White would have either pointed that out or silently stood from her seat. Maybe Fal should assume that since this was an incarnation of one of the Three Sages speaking, even if it sounded like a wild tale, it really could be happening.

“Right now, Puk is setting up a barrier in order to protect Sacchi. But, but, before I could finish setting it up, she ran away… I’m sorry, Snowy Sis, but could you maybe bring her back? And if anyone comes after her…Puk wants you to protect her.”

“Understood.” Snow White’s decision was instant.

Surprised, Fal wondered if he should say something but promptly judged he should not.

“Thank you, thank you!” Puk Puck cried as she took both Snow White’s hands and shook them up and down. Then, taking Sorami with her, she pattered off down the hall at a run.

Snow White’s vital signs slowed slightly.

The room was empty save for Snow White and Fal, who, without activating its hologram, asked Snow White, “What is it, pon? Should you be accepting so easily, pon?”

“It’s okay,” Snow White murmured. It sounded as if she was saying that to herself as she put her hands to her chest.

“Is it…?”

“I could hear her heart. Though when I heard I was going to be meeting directly with an incarnation of one of the Three Sages, I thought I wouldn’t be able to hear it, like with Grim Heart.” Snow White’s pulse, which had begun to calm, rose again. “She’s sincerely worried about the Magical Kingdom and honestly wants to save it through this ceremony. And she’s worried about Premium Sachiko for her own sake, too, ceremony aside. As are the other magical girls, including that Sorami girl.” Lowering her voice, she added, “As well as the one on the other side of the screen.”

“You mean she’s someone we can cooperate with, pon?”

“I…think so.”

From the way Snow White was speaking, Puk Puck must have been sincere in her offer about Ripple, too. Since it seemed as if Snow White was deliberately avoiding talking about it, Fal didn’t bring it up, either.

But more importantly, nothing would be more reassuring than allying with one of the Three Sages. Snow White had always simply taken down whatever villain was in front of her and never considered anything like a long-term outlook. To Fal, it looked as if she lived like she didn’t care when she might die. She never collaborated with anyone; occasionally she’d work with a lone-wolf independent of any organization, and even when she was in a group, she would stick out as “the Magical-Girl Hunter.”

Right as Fal was thinking, If she could gain a trustworthy backer in Puk Puck right now… they heard more footsteps coming from the hallway.

  Shadow Gale

The enemy attacked when Mamori was on her way to school. She had figured that if the sun started setting early, she might be attacked on the way home, but she’d never imagined she would be attacked first thing in the morning, right where people would see.

Her attacker was a magical girl whose entire body was fortified by armor with no openings or cracks. Her costume was boorish, lacking in the aesthetically pleasing elements that were characteristic of magical girls, and it looked to be very sturdy. In fact, even when punched or kicked, she didn’t seem to feel any damage at all as she advanced steadily and without a word. She had an unusually intimidating aura for such a petite figure. She fit a monster from a slasher film better than the term “magical girl.”

The magical girl who fought this armored girl was far more beautiful and extravagant, and most of all, bright with glaring lights.

Her costume was police officer–themed, subtracting the practicality while adding exposed skin and decoration. When she activated the police lights at her waist, the shine of the rotating flashers was dazzling. Though there was no siren sound, the lights aggressively emphasized her presence.

The armored girl did not flinch at the glare of the police lights as she thrust her fist forward, and the police girl, known as “Patricia,” wrapped the chain connected to her giant handcuffs around the enemy’s arm. The armored girl grabbed the chain on her arm and tried to yank it toward herself, but Patricia crouched down and dug in. Strength vied against strength, and the chain creaked.

Shadow Gale’s arms tensed, and sounding pained, Patricia muttered, “You’re stronger than I thought, Shadow.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, I think that’s probably a good thing. If I were to drop you by accident, the boss’d yell at me… Actually, it’d be way worse. I’d get rubbed out. Scary, huh?”

Shadow Gale squeezed tighter, clinging to Patricia. Given that right now, she was moving around fiercely while fighting off an assassin, the only place that could be considered safe was Patricia’s back. There was a sense of security; like if she was here, Patricia would protect her. Shadow Gale didn’t need anyone telling her—she did not plan to fall.

The girl in armor must have interpreted their idle chatter as a sign that they weren’t taking her seriously; she pulled the chain even harder, and Patricia turned back to her. As they struggled, gradually the force on the chain increased, and their opponent took a firm step forward. Breathing in time with the paving stones that broke at her feet, Patricia slackened her grip, and the other magical girl swayed backward, staggering.

The armored girl lost her balance. Her upper body was flung way back, and she pitched to the rear, ready to fall. Patricia stepped forward. As the armored girl fell, she kicked at Patricia’s chin, but Patricia turned aside to avoid it and took another step forward to punch the enemy in the face with the handcuff clenched in her right hand, as if she had brass knuckles. However, these were magic handcuffs. They were sturdier than anything—they would never break or bend. And using them was a magical girl with real muscle, punching with all her strength.

Patricia sent the armored magical girl flying; she cracked the pavement as she bounced. This time, Patricia was airborne right behind her, punching the girl in the back. She crushed the sturdy armor, her strike penetrating to what lay within. The armored girl still never made a sound, trying to twist away, but now Patricia hit her with a third punch that fired her backward, parallel to the ground. The blow knocked her straight into a bench, breaking it clean in two and ripping up some lilac bushes, earth and all, before she was caught by a thick chain-link fence and finally came to a stop. Before Shadow Gale’s very eyes, Patricia wrenched the fence up, peeling it out to break off its poles right from the middle.

Patricia was already behind the chain-link fence, waiting. She was so terrifyingly fast; she even outstripped the one she’d sent flying with her own punch. She hit once, twice more with the magic handcuffs, and when the armored girl staggered, this time, Patricia swung the chain to strike her, sending the armored girl to her knees.

Shadow Gale wasn’t any good at fighting, but even she understood how strong Patricia was. Of all the people Shadow Gale had ever met, the first thing that came to mind when she thought of who Patricia reminded her of was the Great Dragon she’d fought inside the game.

Even as Patricia was mindful of Shadow Gale on her back, she nevertheless overwhelmed her opponent. And the armored girl was no pushover, either. Despite having taken so many hits, she was actually trying to stand up. Something like black mud oozed from the gaps in her armor and was trying to support her body. Gradually, the black mud covered the armor. Shadow Gale gulped. The mud covered the dents, thickening the armor further, changing its shape, making it bigger—

“No more of that.”

The chain flew. Patricia’s giant handcuffs encircled the armor’s neck and legs with a clink. The armored girl stopped moving, and the black mud shivered wildly before receding into the cracks.

“It was the way you were moving, y’know?” said Patricia. “Like how you were trying to take hits before the counterattack. So then I’d just have to put a stop to that before you could strike back. Once my cuffs are on you, no one can resist, not a magical girl or a demon.”

Shadow Gale lifted her head. Sirens were gradually approaching from the distance—either police cars or an ambulance. After all this rampaging through the streets, someone in the neighborhood must have called emergency services.

“Whoa… That was close. Thank you so much. Anyway, let’s get out of—”

Before Shadow Gale could finish thanking her, Patricia dashed off, and Shadow Gale hastily clung to her. Patricia had broken into such a sudden run, it yanked Shadow Gale’s head backward. It was hard enough that if she’d been human, it might have given her whiplash.

“Wh-what’s going on all of a sudden?” asked Shadow Gale.

“I’m not getting a response from the other girls.”

“Huh?”

“I contacted the boss, but even if we do get backup, I dunno if it’d even be in time, y’know?” Running as she tapped away on her magical phone, Patricia swiftly dropped it into the bag hanging from her waist. She kept on running from road to road, going along the walls of residences, legs never stopping all the while.

“All your subordinates are strong, right, Patricia?”

“I mean, I guess so? We do this kinda work because people think we are, so I’m fairly confident in that, y’know?”

If Patricia was acknowledging them, then Shadow Gale figured they had to be strong. Just moments ago, until Shadow Gale had actually seen her in battle, she hadn’t thought Patricia was that good. However, witnessing that fight forced her to appreciate Patricia’s abilities to be a bodyguard.

When Pfle had assigned her as Shadow Gale’s guard, Patricia’s strangely familiar attitude had only made Shadow Gale more irritated with her. In any case, she didn’t seem to mean any harm and looked to be a pretty decent person for a lackey of Pfle’s. And the secondary house had in fact been attacked, so it was no wonder Pfle would be cautious. Shadow Gale had figured she had no choice; whenever she went outside, Patricia had always come with her.

Then she had been attacked on her way to school. The armored magical girl had struck leading a group of eerie black creatures, heedless that it was the middle of the day and people were passing by. Shadow Gale on her back, Patricia had fled while their reinforcements, over ten magical girls with weapons, had appeared from the shadows of buildings, from between the people trying to escape, and from the tops of telephone poles, and begun fighting off the black shadows. One magical girl sliced at a shadow with a sword, and the shadow blocked it with wings like blades while another swooped down to attack, and the magical girl dodged to the side to evade it. Magical girls went back-to-back to defeat the enemies in the skies above as the shadows attacked in coordinated groups.

While exchanging fierce blows with the armored magical girl chasing close behind her, Patricia traveled a long way. And with each new place she came to, there was more destruction.

Patricia had been constantly guarding Mamori. When she’d followed her to a new ramen shop that had opened up in the neighborhood, she had spoken disparagingly of it in quiet tones: “The char siu here smells kinda rotten, doesn’t it? It does, right?” Then she’d followed Mamori when she went to the pharmacy to buy medicine: “Stomach medicine is essential when you’re around our boss, huh?” she’d laughed. And as they’d swayed on the train, she’d asked Mamori questions like, “So do you have a crush on anyone at school?” with a rather disinterested expression, considering her tone. No matter where Shadow Gale went, Patricia would always follow. When Mamori was not Shadow Gale, but Mamori Totoyama, Patricia would follow in human form—she was a young woman who was cooler than she was cute—which gave Mamori pause: Can she really protect me in this form?

Maybe she’d been able to return to her human form because she’d had her subordinates with her at all times. Shadow Gale hadn’t been informed of the presence of the subordinates, either. Over ten magical girls who could fight with weapons was no small matter. Pfle had clearly anticipated that “something” would happen.

Kanoe had lost a part of her memories, but she still realized that something was off. Mamori had interpreted this whole bodyguard business as a pretense for surveillance, but perhaps Kanoe really was sincerely worried. Did that “something” involve this combat force that surpassed Kanoe’s hired guard? Or was it something that they could evade?

Running, Patricia crouched and set her hands down to brake. Black creatures skimmed over Shadow Gale’s head, and her nurse cap flew into the air. She looked up; there were countless creatures flying at such a density that the sky was painted black. These were the things that had attacked Patricia’s subordinates. With flapping rectangular wings, they were all focusing their aim on the two of them.

Patricia kicked the second creature that attacked, while the third, she backfisted, and the fourth, she grabbed by the ankle to swing around and smack into the fifth, sixth, and seventh. When the black shadows were struck by Patricia’s attacks, they fell apart, seemingly disintegrating into nothingness.

Patricia muttered in irritation, “These are a new model of demon I’ve never seen before. Every single one of ’em is scary strong.”

“They’re…strong?” asked Shadow Gale. “Because they don’t look it…”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha… Shadow, that’s just ’cause I’m stronger.”

Patricia dashed between high-rises as she dodged enemy attacks, wall-jumping to head diagonally upward, then whacking her upper arm into a demon’s throat on the way before kicking off the opposite wall for another diagonal ascent. She flipped forward to slam a kick down into a demon, moving between the walls of the two buildings while slaughtering further shadows until she reached the roof.

Patricia had voluntarily attacked the enemy, and the demons surged toward her from all around. Shadow Gale suppressed a scream as she clung to Patricia, who then grabbed the iron railing and easily pulled it up, concrete base and all.

However, not every single bar of the railing was encased in concrete; some were connected to the railings on either side. Yanking out one rail pulled off the bars to the right and left of it, and the bars to either side of those were yanked out, pulling the ones beside them, and in the end, the iron railing fluttered like a bamboo mat.

Patricia crouched low as she swung the railing around.

She struck the shadows with the twisted railing and lumps of concrete, smacking her enemies into the air and to the ground. Fragments of concrete rained down on Shadow Gale’s head as well, and she reflexively cringed.

By now, the swarm of flying demons had thinned out enough that you could get peeks of blue sky through the gaps. They kept their distance and didn’t approach.

“They’re smart,” Patricia muttered. She flung the iron railing at the swarm while she dropped into a gap between buildings, grabbing onto a window frame on the way down to kick through the window glass and burst into the building, race through an empty floor to smash the window on the opposite side, leap down and descend to a landing on her knees. Shadow Gale felt no shock of impact.

Patricia stood, then licked her fingertip and held it in the air. “The air’s…dry, huh?”

Shadow Gale looked up. A cold air stroked her cheeks. She’d assumed it was the windchill of being on Patricia’s back as she flew along, but even with that, it was too cold—practically freezing. The air was dry and chilly.

“It’s not just demons,” said Patricia. “’Cause if it was, me and the girls would’ve been enough.”

Patricia cut across a back alley and leaped out into a major artery. She took a sharp right at the intersection, leapfrogging over oncoming cars. As one suddenly braked behind her with a loud screech, she hopped over a cement wall and into a resident’s yard; she crossed it to come outside again. Shadow Gale got a peek of a middle-aged woman through the window as they passed by; she never once looked away from the TV and didn’t even notice Patricia.

Shadow Gale didn’t make a sound as she clung to Patricia’s back.

Tearing through a chain-link fence and running along the river, they came out through the culvert from the riverside to the street. From there, Patricia ran about ten steps before something suddenly struck her, and she promptly turned around. The impact almost knocked Shadow Gale off, but she somehow managed to grip onto Patricia and avoid falling, at least.

There was a magical girl—not the one in armor. She had a trident raised in her hands, and something that sparkled floated around her. She stared at Patricia and Shadow Gale, expressionless.

Patricia swung her weapon, and the enemy blocked it with her trident.

—A weapon?

It wasn’t Patricia’s. She’d had no choice but to abandon her own weapon in order to restrain the girl in armor. What she wielded now was a giant wrench, one of Shadow Gale’s special items. After swinging it, Patricia pulled it back toward herself and to the right, and the enemy’s trident followed, making the enemy pitch forward. Patricia had hooked the trident’s handle.

The sound of clashing metal rang out. Patricia held a pair of oversize scissors in her left hand. This was, like the wrench, another one of Shadow Gale’s special items. Whatever Patricia was doing, it was too fast for Shadow Gale to see. She’d probably swung the scissors at the enemy when she’d lost her balance. But why hadn’t the strike connected? There was a shallow wound along her cheek, and that was all.

Another metallic clang. This time, Shadow Gale somehow managed to see it. Patricia swung the scissors, and the trajectory had changed slightly, keeping it from connecting with the enemy directly, only skimming her.

That something that was floating around them became clear—it was blocking the scissors. The enemy reached toward the scissors and got a firm grip on Patricia’s left hand, which had tossed the tool aside.

“Using ice to block, huh? You’re pretty good,” Patricia muttered, impressed. Her right arm trembled, the blood vessels in it rising. With the strength of just one arm, she jerked the wrench up from a lower position, the momentum sending it flying into the air. She acted as if the enemy hadn’t even been holding her weapon down. Now both of them had one free hand.

“Then let’s do it.”

“Luxury Mode: On.”

Shadow Gale was yelling, no longer able to suppress a scream. Frost had fallen on Patricia’s left hand, which was grappling with the enemy, and it was starting to freeze. She was going white from her fingertips, and in the blink of an eye, the ice thickened.

Patricia didn’t even look at her rapidly freezing left hand, instead clenching her right fist to thrust it upward. The enemy raised her arm to guard herself, and the impact reached Shadow Gale through Patricia’s body. The enemy’s once-expressionless face was now twisted. Patricia forced her to block another attack, and this time, the enemy was unsteady. She cried out in pain. The ice on Patricia’s left arm had crawled up to her elbow. She had to have noticed it, but she didn’t even so much as glance at it.

With the third strike, Shadow Gale could hear the sound of bones breaking. That was when the wrench and trident hit the roof of the house they stood on. With the third strike, Patricia’s guard lowered and the enemy attacked. The lances of ice that were circling around them changed trajectory and attacked Patricia. They aimed for her neck and between the eyes, but she twisted around to evade one and take another in the shoulder. Just like with her grappling left hand, the ice took root, spreading outward from the shoulder it pierced.

But despite that, Patricia never stopped. There was nothing to stop her third punch, and she plunged it into the enemy’s side. Even Shadow Gale could feel bones breaking. Not simply one—multiple. Blood spilled from the enemy’s mouth. It wasn’t merely a dribble like she’d cut her lip. She’d been injured internally.

Ice flew. But their aim was off. They whiffed by twelve inches from Patricia’s face, not even skimming her. The enemy was clearly weakening. Patricia was gradually being covered in ice, but she still wasn’t slowing down.

The moment it looked like Patricia would fire off her sixth punch, suddenly, she twisted around. Shadow Gale couldn’t keep up with the sudden movement. Her arms released Patricia’s neck as she was slammed hard against the house, knocking the wind out of her. Her eyes watered, distorting her vision.

“What did you…?” Shadow Gale murmured.

Ice pierced Patricia’s brain stem and back.

Too late, Shadow Gale understood what had happened. Those last ice shots the enemy had thrown hadn’t missed. They hadn’t been aiming for Patricia—they had swerved to go for Shadow Gale on her back. Patricia had immediately shaken her off, and the arrows of ice had pierced her instead.

Patricia had taken that hit because she’d been protecting Shadow Gale.

A puff of air slipped from Patricia’s lips. Eyes looking into empty space, she trembled slightly until, eventually, she stopped moving. The ice encased her whole body. Shadow Gale stood up, yelling, but faster than she could even clench a fist to punch, she was hit in the stomach and kicked in the jaw.

In the corner of her dimming vision, she saw the ice sculpture of Patricia fall.

  Uluru

Stepping out from the gates of the estate, she swiftly checked right and left. No one was there. It was early in the morning, so maybe that was why the enemy hadn’t acted yet. Uluru paused a moment, then gave the signal to the two girls behind her that it was okay to come out.

The girls made up a mixed unit for the purpose of locating Premium Sachiko; Puk Puck’s personal guard—Uluru and Sorami—and now the newest addition, Snow White. They would catch Premium Sachiko and bring her back to the estate before the ceremony was to be held. If the Osk Faction attacked, they would strike back without fail, showing how powerful and fearsome Puk Puck was. They’d discipline the Osk Faction to ensure they would never defy her again.

That was Uluru’s job as the leader of Puk Puck’s entourage.

Just what did Premium Sachiko think she was doing? Puk Puck had taken her and Uluru and Sorami under her wing; they’d lived with her as long as they could remember. Uluru took obeying Puk Puck to be as natural as gravity itself. Running away from her was out of the question. Puk Puck had been the one to teach them about magic; Puk Puck had discovered their magical-girl potential; Puk Puck paid for their place to live, food, and everything else. Puk Puck had cared for them in all things.

Puk Puck was kind, cute, charming, and sweet. She had the abilities and character worthy of her position as an embodiment of one of the Three Sages, and she was beautiful, too. Plus, when push came to shove, she was more reliable than anyone.

And Sachiko had betrayed her expectations, running away right before the ceremony, of all things, and causing trouble for Puk Puck. Because Puk Puck was kind and calm and generous, she would surely forgive Sachiko. Any other master—for example, the other Sage incarnations—might not have ordered a search party for her. Instead, they’d probably have Sachiko eliminated, even if she was necessary for the ceremony to take place. Premium Sachiko had to be thankful. Having been with her for over ten years, Uluru had always thought Sachiko was lacking in gratitude.

Sachiko wasn’t the only one who irritated Uluru. There was yet another: Snow White.

Uluru had heard she was known as the Magical-Girl Hunter, and that she was a strong fighter who used powerful mind-reading magic. She’d chase down her prey to the ends of the earth, her legs never slowing until her fangs had sunk into their throats. Uluru had also heard from Puk Puck that Snow White had defeated Grim Heart, an incarnation of one of the Three Sages, Chêne Osk Baal Mel. According to Puk Puck, Snow White had the combat skills to oppose any interference from the Osk Faction along with the investigative know-how to search for Premium Sachiko. As a result, Snow White was the optimum personnel for this mission to find Sachiko, take her into custody, and guard her on the way home. Uluru had accepted this because it was an order from Puk Puck, but deep within her was a raging storm with gale-force winds. Why did Puk Puck have to expressly look for assistance from an outsider? Uluru couldn’t just ask, “Don’t you trust us, Lady Puk Puck?” So she held her tongue. But still, she wasn’t satisfied.

Most of all, Uluru was irritated by Snow White’s attitude. There was such a thing as too rude. Though she spoke with the minimum level of politeness, it was purely superficial, and Uluru couldn’t sense any actual respect. Puk Puck had personally considered how to be hospitable to her. She’d worried over so many things, like “Do kids these days not eat traditional sweets much?” “We have Western-style rooms, but I guess serving her cake and black tea in the nicest suite available wouldn’t seem quite right, huh?” “What d’you think of the combination of cola and potato chips? A bit too American, maybe?” “I wonder; I get the feeling that someone, somewhere, served Snow White that combination and messed things up, but I also feel like we can make it succeed this time, for sure. Hey, what do you think, Uluru?” But Snow White had never even touched the menu, insisting on discussing work only.

Uluru couldn’t butt in when Puk Puck wasn’t complaining. She’d been told that was “presumptuous.” But even knowing that, she wanted to chew out Snow White, just once. The one thing that was clear here was that this rude magical girl viewed the great Puk Puck with contempt.

After being introduced to one another, they had all had a meeting about capturing Premium Sachiko, and then they’d left the estate and closed the gates. Now, finally, Puk Puck was no longer watching. If Puk Puck wasn’t there, then it wouldn’t be presumptuous for Uluru to tell off Snow White.

Uluru glanced over at Sorami beside her. She was zoning out, staring at her magical phone. That was fine. They’d known each other for more than a decade; Uluru knew awfully well that she was not particularly reliable.

Uluru had heard Snow White was a dangerous magical girl. Just a little talking-to might result in bloodshed. But Uluru swore that even if that did happen, she’d never do anything to bring shame to her mistress. So putting her right hand to the gun on her back, she spoke from the gut. “Line up!”

Snow White shot Uluru a confused look, while Sorami looked at Uluru the way you would when you found a bunch of cockroaches in the kitchen at night. “Sis, we’re really gonna do that now?”

“Of course we are. This is an important job we’re about to do, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah… Sorry, Snow, could you come stand over here for a minute?”

Sorami and Snow White went to stand together with the gates of the estate behind them. The leader, Uluru, stood facing the two of them and took muster. “Roll call!”

“Ooone.”

“…Two.”

“Three, pon.”

Uluru was startled by the electronic voice but then remembered: Oh yeah, that’s Snow White’s mascot, the digital fairy. She really didn’t like its little sentence-ending quirk, or the apathetic responses from the other girls that lacked any sort of uniformity. That said, if she were to make them redo it, Sorami would respond with even less enthusiasm, so Uluru decided to leave it.

“Before we depart, there’s a little something I’d like to ask.” Snow White raised her right hand.

“Yeaaah?” Sorami replied. Her eyes were still glued to her magical phone, not even trying to hide her apathy. Uluru thought it was kind of rude to answer while using your phone, no matter how insulting the person you were addressing might be. Snow White didn’t seem in the least bothered as she continued.

“My magic lets me hear the thoughts of people in trouble.”

“So it seems,” said Sorami.

“And earlier, inside, I heard both of yours.”

“For real? That’s embarrassing.”

“And I heard Puk Puck’s, too.”

Suddenly, Uluru’s mind flashed red. “Out of line!”

Sorami raised her head, and Snow White turned to face Uluru, too.

“That’s out of line and over the line! Completely out! You can’t read the minds of important people! And of all the important people whose minds you could read, to read Lady Puk Puck’s… That’s absolutely, clearly out of line!” Uluru flipped out. She tried to grab Snow White by the lapels, but Snow White smoothly dodged her, which only fanned the flames of Uluru’s anger. She clenched her fist to give her a punch only to feel a tug on her sleeve. It was Sorami.

“Sis, you’re yelling too loud.”

“It’s out of line! Out of line! Insubordinate!”

“But you’re causing a scene. Look.” Sorami was glancing over at two elementary school kids who seemed to be on their way to school. The moment they were seen, they immediately averted their eyes and started striding away briskly. They made empty conversation as if trying to hide something: “I don’t wanna do the school marathon the day after tomorrow.” “Yeah, I hate sports events, but practice sucks, too, huh?”

“This is a top secret mission, right? So it’d be dangerous if we attracted any attention.”

“Urk…”

Snow White put on a pale-brown peacoat. Sorami gathered her overly flashy hair and tied it up, tucking the stuffed animals and other decorations into a backpack. Since Uluru’s costume was more subdued to begin with, she hadn’t come up with any particular plan to hide it, but she did tuck her gun and tail under her coat, at least. They were all being cautious about their costumes because this was that sort of job—a “secret mission.”

“And also,” Sorami added, “like, if we’re all yelling and making a fuss in front of the estate, we might get a weird reputation. And that wouldn’t be good for Lady Puk, right?”

Uluru quietly cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Um. Here isn’t good. As leader, Uluru thinks we should go elsewhere.”

“Then let’s do it.”

This wasn’t the place to scold someone. Uluru didn’t want to consider causing trouble for, disappointing, or saddening Puk Puck. She would live up to Puk Puck’s expectations. In fact, she would make efforts even beyond what was expected of her. That was the mission laid upon those magical girls who served one of the Three Sages. Being in a high position demanded the appropriate skills and achievements.

Leading the other two, Uluru briskly hurried ahead. Snow White and Sorami walked side by side, chattering idly with each other.

“So, like, your magic activates on auto, right?” asked Sorami.

“That’s right.”

“So then it’s not about being rude at all, right? Since you just hear stuff whenever you’re transformed.”

“I appreciate that.”

“And yeah, that seems so convenient. I wish I could do that. It’d be great to be able to hear people’s thoughts like that.”

“It’s really not.”

“Like when you go over to someone’s place, y’know like you came to us, and they say to you like, ‘So we want you to do this job for us,’ you don’t know if you can trust the person asking, right? So you can just turn down a job if they’re someone you can’t trust.”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, so wait—since you accepted this job, that means you think Lady Puk is an employer worth trusting, right?”

“Yes. Since she was sincerely concerned for Sachiko, as well as for all of you.”

Uluru sniffed. Of course she is, thought Uluru. Puk Puck had a big heart and would forgive any wrongdoing. She was even kind toward a runaway like Sachiko.

“I did hear Puk—Lady Puk Puck’s thoughts, and also Uluru’s from behind the screen door.”

“Ooh, you did, huh?” said Sorami.

“I heard how she was sincerely worried about Premium Sachiko. So I understood that you’re not trying to deceive me.”

No longer able to put up with such unpleasant conversation, Uluru stopped and turned around. She stuck out her finger at Sorami. “Leader’s order: no pointless chatter.” Next, she turned back to Snow White. “Listen. Uluru isn’t worried about Premium Sachiko. She’s just an ingrate who kicked sand all over Lady Puk Puck’s kindness. She really should be getting boiled or sawed to death or being made to drink poison hemlock, but Lady Puk Puck has very generously forgiven her.”

Sorami folded her hands behind her head, the corners of her lips curling up. “She can hear your thoughts, y’know? What’s the point of putting on that act?”

“How am I putting on an act?!”

“You’re actually worried about Sachiko, aren’t you?”

“If she’s said Uluru’s worried, then that has to be true,” replied Uluru.

“See, I knew it.”

“Because Uluru is under orders from Lady Puk Puck. She took Uluru’s hand and said, ‘You three sisters always stay close,’ so Uluru is worried about keeping that promise.”

“Ahh, uh-huh. So that’s how you’re playing it.”

“What do you mean, ‘playing it’? Anyway, no more pointless chatter,” Uluru said, and then she turned to face front again and resumed brisk strides.

Snow White and Sorami were silent for a while, but eventually, they started whispering to each other. Uluru had never said to them that they could talk as long as she didn’t hear it, but still, if she was to stop over every little thing, who knew how many years it’d take them to find Sachiko? Irritation mounting, Uluru strode onward.

  Sorami Nakano

If any permanent residents of Puk Puck’s estate were to leave the city without permission, it would set off an alert at the estate. Sorami didn’t like this since it made her feel like she was being watched, but it seemed this was part of the package when you served an incarnation of one of the Three Sages. The alert had not sounded, so that meant Sachiko was still in W City.

W City was known as a quiet residential neighborhood, and the average income of its citizens was quite a bit higher than neighboring towns and villages. While other towns here and there were doing mergers, the mayor and residents here had been stubbornly turning away from any of that, saying there was no merit in it for them, that public safety was good, and they were making enough tax revenue. That meant the town didn’t cover a lot of land. It didn’t make a huge difference, but it did make it somewhat easier to look for people.

When Sorami thought of Sachiko, the first thing that came to mind was her tendency to cry.

It was very like Sachiko to crumble under pressure and run away from home—but no one had thought she’d do that right before the ceremony. Only Sorami had had the vague sense that maybe Sachiko would run away, though she hadn’t said it out loud. She’d felt sorry for Sachiko, being under such heavy pressure and entrusted with this ceremony. Sachiko had been white as a sheet and looked shaky.

Just who was it that had put those papers up all over the estate? LET’S ALL WORK TOGETHER AND DO OUR BEST ON THE CEREMONY, WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS, THIS IS A MOBILIZATION OF THE PUK FACTION’S POWER! It was only natural that hanging stuff like that everywhere would make Sachiko feel pressured.

Whatever Sachiko did, she always looked pitiful. You couldn’t help but sympathize with her.

She’d basically always gotten through things by hiding in the shadows of others. When training, she’d always be the first to give up. Then Uluru would get mad at her, and Puk Puck would mediate, and Sorami would back her up. Whenever they marathoned films together and the DVD switched to a horror movie, Sachiko would get flustered and run to her room. Even if the others tried to coax her out, she wouldn’t answer.

This might be said to be the first big moment in Sachiko’s life, her first time as the star of the show. There was no way she could overcome that sort of pressure. Sorami saw it as inevitable she would run away from it all. Uluru and Puck were both a little off. Or rather, they could be ignorant to the delicacies of the heart, detached from mundane manners like these. They must not have ever even considered that the key figure who had been entrusted with such an important role would run away.

Honestly, Sorami wanted to let her get away for a while, until things cooled down. The problem was that Sachiko was being targeted by a violent crowd who wanted to overturn, by force, what had been decided in conference. Sachiko had probably run away because she was scared, and she hadn’t even considered that anyone was after her. Sorami really did feel bad.

Sachiko wasn’t the only one to feel bad for—there was also Uluru.

If you just saw her strutting ahead briskly, she would look self-assured. She had to think of herself that way. Sorami knew, though, that she was not, in fact, anything like self-assured.

A meow from a cat walking on top of a cement-block wall would make Uluru freak out and point her gun at it, which would startle the cat and make it jump, and the noise the cat made would startle Uluru, too, making her jump. Pulling the trigger on Uluru’s gun would just pop out a flag, and a cork stopper on a string would fly out—it was a toy. She mainly used it as a blunt weapon. But even so, she always carried it with care, never letting it out of her grasp.

With their positions as protégés of a Sage incarnation, there weren’t really any opportunities for real combat in the first place. Even though they did train every day, in case something happened, Sorami didn’t want to be smack-smacking anyone with punches, and she wanted to be the one getting whack-whacked with punches even less.

So that would mean Snow White, the Magical-Girl Hunter who was highly experienced in real combat, would act as leader, but this personnel selection was incompatible with Uluru’s pride. Uluru believed that as someone who served a Sage incarnation, she had to be better than Snow White, the outsider. Even if one cat was enough to freak her out, she wasn’t going to leave her position as the leader and giver of orders.

If Sorami was to advise her, “I think things would go better if you were more relaxed,” Uluru would reply, “You’re only trying to justify your own blatant slacking.”

Lowering her voice quiet enough that Uluru, walking ahead of them, wouldn’t be able to hear, Sorami poked Snow White in the arm and said, “So what d’you think we should do? Me and Uluru have literally no real combat experience. It’d be real bad if we panicked and, like, something happened that we couldn’t take back, y’know?”

“Should Fal and I think of something? Then we can make it sound like it was your suggestion.”

“I like the sound of that. Yeah, let’s do it.”

“So then we need a situation where we can talk about it naturally, pon?”

“Yeah,” said Sorami. “I think maybe it’d be better if she was a little more relaxed, too.”

Fal had deliberately added, “naturally,” so Sorami should assume that was an abridged statement that left out, “Since if we were to just talk to her normally, she’d be entirely inapproachable.” In her heart, Sorami apologized for her big sister being like this. Since this was Snow White, she should be able to hear even her mental apologies.

“So then how about something like this,” said Sorami. “First, Snow, you…” First, Snow White would pick up on the thoughts of passersby and tell Sorami if any of them were in trouble. Sorami would pass that on to Uluru, and the three of them would help that person.

Snow White tugged lightly on her sleeve. When Sorami looked where she was pointing, she saw a man who looked like a university student standing in front of a bicycle by the roadside.

“Sis,” said Sorami, “it looks like that guy’s in trouble. He’s forgotten the password on his smartphone lock.”

“So what?” said Uluru.

“We’re not gonna help? With my magic, I can find out the number.”

“We don’t have the time for that.”

“Come on, you don’t have to be so grumpy. It’s not like we don’t have a few spare minutes. Besides, remember what Lady Puk said: ‘Being kind to people in trouble is what magical girls are all about.’” Bringing up something Puk Puck had said would make Uluru go along with this, no matter what.

After telling the guy his password, the three of them helped people here and there as they made their way along. They carried an old woman’s things while she crossed the street and righted a fallen trash can and picked up all the garbage. Distracting Uluru like this would calm her down a little, and the sense that the three of them were working in cooperation would make her relax around Snow White.

Sneakily, so Uluru wouldn’t see, Sorami gave Snow White a thumbs-up, and Snow White responded with the same. She was surprisingly good at playing along.

  Uluru

They decided to use the train to get around. Only an amateur or a meathead would think that magical girls should just run everywhere. It’d be a big problem for someone to see a girl running faster than cars at ten in the morning. And being a magical girl in service of a Sage, Uluru couldn’t cause any big problems. She would stick to the rules.

When Uluru explained this, Sorami replied, “Yeah, yeah,” with her usual reluctant look, while Snow White, who Uluru had thought might be against this because it was a hassle, nodded with surprising obedience.

They bought three tickets, got receipts for them, and boarded the train.

At this time of the day, this train line wasn’t crowded. Once the three of them sat down in a row with Sorami in the middle, Snow White and Sorami started a whispered conversation. The shrill, childlike voice that occasionally joined in was Snow White’s mascot. Uluru didn’t know what they were talking about.

Not that I really have to know anyway, Uluru thought as she turned her gaze to outside the window. The scenery flowed by. The buildings moved from right to left, and in the distance, she could see Mount Shouki. Puk Puck had taken them there before. Sorami, Uluru, Sachiko, and Puk Puck had gone together on a picnic. The sandwiches Sachiko had made had gotten crushed flat, leaving her on the verge of tears. “You’re hopeless,” Uluru had said, switching her own with Sachiko’s, instantly bringing a smile to Sachiko’s face. They’d all laughed about it after, saying, “Oh, she’s so manipulative.”

Sachiko hadn’t changed since they were kids. She was a weakling, a crybaby, and a coward. In mock battles, just a bit of a hard hit would make her burst into tears, and if you gave her even mildly challenging homework, she’d give up. Uluru remembered how Puk Puck had spent so much time adjusting the difficulty level for her. Sachiko was supposed to have promised to save up a little bit of money out of her allowance each month for future use. But oftentimes, she didn’t even save enough for that tiny bit, and every time, Uluru would give her a loan, saying, “You really need to stop this.”

Incidentally, her magic wasn’t useful, either. If she used her magic to “use up a lifetime’s worth of luck all at once” on someone, it promised an absolute success at something one time, but Uluru didn’t even want to remember what had happened to those who had used up a whole lifetime’s worth of luck. They had died in brutal ways, like a meteor falling on their heads or an out-of-control truck crashing into a library, as if the world were ordering them to die.

You also couldn’t simply catch some random person and force them to use up their luck. In order to use Sachiko’s magic, the subject had to circle “yes” on each item on one of the contracts attached to Sachiko’s costume and then sign their full name—not the sort of thing you could do in the middle of battle. And even in noncombat situations, someone who was hostile to you wouldn’t do it. Wondering if it could be helpful for something, Uluru had sneakily borrowed one of the contracts, looked over all the items listed, and pondered it over, but there was no way that magic could serve a real purpose.

To put a fine point on things, Sachiko was downright useless in every single aspect: personality, physical ability, magic. But Puk Puck had supported her anyway. She spoke kindly to her, took her on outings, gave her an allowance every month, and patted her head whenever she did something good. Even Uluru gave her guidance, never abandoning her. She didn’t really know about Sorami, but it seemed she sometimes shared snacks with Sachiko.

But Sachiko had ignored and tossed aside all such debts of gratitude and ran away from Puk Puck. It wasn’t like this sort of thing had never happened before, though; one time, Sachiko dropped a bonsai pot and broke it, then swiftly ran away from home before anyone could find out. However, she was apprehended almost immediately and wound up getting scolded more harshly than was necessary.

But now was far, far worse. Uluru could imagine why Sachiko had run away.

The time had come when useless Sachiko could finally be useful. Since Puk Puck was so kind, maybe she’d come up with a way for Sachiko to be successful so she wouldn’t have to feel anxious about her general poor performance. Still, Sachiko had crumbled under the pressure and run off yet again. The word “ceremony” did make it sound scary, but it wasn’t as if they were performing some kind of sacrifice. Plus, Puk Puck had guaranteed nobody was going to die. So what reason was there to be afraid?

The Osk Faction had somehow learned of Sachiko’s disappearance and were tailing her because she was necessary for Puk Puck’s ceremony.

Uluru’s head hurt. She felt ready to sigh. But she was the eldest. It was the eldest sister’s duty to look after her little sisters. Puk Puck had told her many times, too: “Take care of the both of them, ’cause you’re the big sister.”

No matter how hard things got, a big sister wasn’t allowed to run away. A big sister had to endure.

  Sorami Nakano

On the train, Snow White explained to them the gist of how her magic worked. Her mascot Fal’s abilities were so wide-ranging, it was difficult to explain in a short period of time, so Sorami got to learn about it with her magic.

Sorami’s magic was to know what was in something without opening it up. Using her powers, she could also learn about the abilities of a mascot character that lived inside an administrator’s magical phone.

“I’m tiiired,” Sorami whined.

“What?” said Uluru.

“Let’s take a little breeeak. We helped so many people, I’m pooped.”

“Honestly, Sorami… Okay, five minutes, no more.”

The three of them sat down in a row on a station bench. Sorami took on an interpreter-like role by speaking to Snow White and Fal on the right and Uluru on the left, enabling them all to converse even if one party wasn’t directly speaking with one another. “Oh yeah, so this idea just hit me. Using your magic, Uluru…,” Sorami said, bringing up the proposal from Snow White as if it was her own.

Sorami thought Snow White came up with pretty good ideas, even when it came to other people’s magic. Snow White was pretty impressive—not that Sorami could say that to Uluru.

This was a digital fairy that had been modified by a magical girl who had been so powerful she’d even made the Magical Kingdom throw up their hands and do nothing—plus its master. Sorami could understand why Puk Puck had expressly called her there. She could also understand well how Snow White had outwitted Grim Heart. Though Uluru still might not believe that.

Uluru was stubborn, contrary, prideful, and rigid. She would calmly make declarations like “Have some pride as a magical girl in service of Puk Puck!” or “Conduct yourself in a way that won’t bring shame!” Sorami would be too embarrassed to say anything so old-fashioned.

Sorami knew Uluru wasn’t a bad person—she was just stubborn. She would bark orders like “Make sure you’re thoroughly prepared,” while she was the one most looking forward to an outing and rolling around all night unable to sleep. That time they’d gone out for dinner at a fancy restaurant, she’d said, “People tend to let their guard down when eating. Those are the times you ought to stay sharp,” while she herself had been skipping a little on the way to the restaurant.

And she was stubborn when it came to Sachiko, too. Uluru said she looked out for her only because Puk Puck had told her to get along with her sisters, but Sorami knew that this time, Uluru was genuinely worried. When Snow White had come, she’d been grumbling anxiously, “Lady Puk Puck isn’t going to give up on Sachiko, right?” And even just now, while she’d been arrogantly telling Snow White she was only worried because she’d been ordered to get along with her sisters, she’d been blushing. She hadn’t gotten shamed for it because Snow White was socially perceptive and Sorami was used to Uluru, and they hadn’t pointed it out.

In the end, it would be the same as always. Sorami would be helping her out. Though that fundamentally should have been the job of the second eldest or the eldest, the eldest was too aggressive, and the second eldest was too timid.

Even if not knowing about Snow White’s magic or Fal’s abilities would put Uluru in trouble, her stubbornness prevented her from asking them about it. Similarly, it was Uluru’s obstinance that kept her from telling Snow White and Fal about her own magic even if not doing so would cause problems.

Sorami also talked about what Sachiko looked like in human form. Staying as a magical girl had its benefits and drawbacks. Running fast and not needing to eat or drink were great perks, but magical girls also looked overly garish and tended to stand out, making it difficult to get lost in crowds and stay hidden. Snow White predicted there was an 80 percent chance Sachiko was fleeing in her magical-girl form. If there was still a 20 percent chance she was running in human form, then it was worth considering.

Sorami always served as coordinator between Uluru and Sachiko, but she wasn’t really sick of the role itself. She’d gotten used to it, and she was also glad to be getting along rather than fighting. It was tedious when Sachiko cried. So was Uluru being angry. Sorami didn’t need Puk Puck telling her to get along to think this way.

Departing the train, they headed to a capsule hotel. The three sisters had taken turns sleeping here once back when Puk Puck had gone to eat with some important person at a nearby hotel.

Sorami indirectly communicated to Uluru and Snow White information such as Fal’s ability to detect magical girls within two hundred yards, the range Snow White’s magic could reach, and how Sachiko should still be within the city limits since Puk Puck would be able to tell if she tried to leave.

After the capsule hotel, they covered the shopping district, the supermarket, and the department store. Next, they slipped by a local diner while keeping an eye out for magical-girl pings, then passed in front of the big bookstore, the shopping mall, and the electronics district, making their way along. Snow White listened for voices, Fal probed with his radar, and Sorami would touch buildings to learn their contents, reporting with each one that Sachiko wasn’t in there that day.

Sorami spoke to Snow White fairly often, expressing surprise at the functionality of a new model of some consumer electronic, bringing up a new volume of manga that was just out to sound out her tastes, talking about incidents that had happened where they were—telling stories of Uluru helping out Sachiko when she messed up, like for example, that time she had nearly knocked down the eggs piled up at the supermarket and Uluru had swiftly stacked them up again and saved her, stories like that—talking to her, she didn’t forget to emphasize that Uluru wasn’t really a bad person.

Leaving the municipal park, Sorami stopped there to say emphatically, “I’m tiiired. I wanna take a breeeeak!” in the laziest tone she could muster. Uluru would give her what she wanted that way.

“What are you talking about, Sorami?” said Uluru. “We just took a break at the train station.”

“But like, if you’re gonna be efficient with something like this, you need lots of breaks. I mean, if you walk nonstop without ever resting, it actually makes it inefficient instead, right? Look, there’s obanyaki right over there! I’m gonna go buy some, so wait on that bench for me, okay?” Being pretty forceful about getting her way, Sorami went to buy three obanyaki, then decided to take a break.

Magical girls don’t need to eat or drink, nor do they get tired easily. They have no need for breaks—that was how the Uluru type operated. The Sorami type considered taking breaks and making time for chitchat vital in order to build good relationships. Plus, having a little something to nibble on only facilitated things, so it was best to have something good to eat.

When Sorami returned to the bench with piping-hot stuffed pancake-like treats in her hands, an electronic voice rang out, preventing Uluru from starting up with the lecture that was about to come out then.

“Three magical girls detected in total, approaching slowly from the east gate. Their speed is about the same as a human walking… They’ve started running and they’re coming close, pon!”

If there were three of them, then it wasn’t Sachiko, especially if these three were running toward them.

Sorami surveyed the area. On the right hand of the brick-paved intersection, about sixty-five feet back, was the obanyaki stall. There were four people around it but none over here. It was impossible to avoid being seen, but they had to avoid involving those people in a fight, at least.

Ahead of the billowing cloud of dust, Sorami saw the magical girls running toward them. The three of them were stripping off coats as they ran. Snow White struck the brick with the heel of her shoe. Her mascot character went “Huh?” in its synthetic voice. The three magical girls looked startlingly similar. They were costumed like card soldiers, and the only thing different about them were the pictures on the cards: a jack of spades, a queen of spades, and a king of spades.

With spade-shaped spears raised and faces blank, the card soldiers charged, their strength apparent even at a glance.

  Fal

Fal was confused. Card-themed magical girls—Shufflins, without a doubt. He had watched Snow White and some other magical girls fight plenty of them back in the underground laboratory. However, the records said Joker, the leader, died in an accident afterward.

Fal wasn’t so naive that he would foolishly take such reports at face value. He knew the upper ranks had their way of “dealing with” things. Some people deemed too inconvenient to be left alive were made out to have died in an accident, something that wasn’t at all unusual.

But if that was what had happened, then this was strange. The Three Sages cared about appearances. It would be out of the question for a magical girl who had been made out to have died in an accident to show her face in public. If a magical girl who should have died in an accident attacked a magical girl from an opposing faction in a public park in broad daylight where anyone could be watching, that would really put them in a tight situation.

Before Fal’s confusion could settle, the magical girls took action.

Sorami spread her palms, readying them in front and behind. Snow White stripped off her coat and raised Ruler. Uluru drew a gun from behind her back, and right before the enemy could make contact, she yelled, “Get down and close your eyes! Otherwise, you’ll die!”

Fal was startled. He wasn’t equipped with the functionality to get down or close his eyes. Keek, who had modified Fal, had been emotional when it came to magical girls, but she’d been extremely pragmatic when it came to mascot characters. She’d modified Fal heavily many times, but she’d never given him any humanlike functionality.

And those choices Keek had made meant Fal would die here. He could not get down on the ground or close his eyes. And since he couldn’t, he was going to die.

He was hit with despair, which immediately turned to regret. Sadness and frustration seeped into him before fear reared its ugly head. He’d been in dire situations where he thought he might die many times before. But he’d never thought about what would happen once he died. His imagination had never gone in that direction. As for whether there was a heaven or hell, he doubted such a thing existed, and even if it did, it seemed unlikely either would open their gates to a mascot created through magic and technology. If he died, would he just return to nothingness? He wouldn’t be able to help Snow White anymore. Would she be okay on her own?

The three Shufflins dived headfirst onto the ground. Snow White and Sorami threw themselves to the ground, too, but then quickly stood up again.

Snow White was so calm, it was as if she couldn’t even hear what Uluru had said. She took the rope Sorami had tossed her, then tied up the arms and legs of one of the Shufflins on the ground, and Sorami and Uluru joined in. The Shufflins were still on their stomachs with their eyes closed. There was no sign at all that Snow White, Uluru, or Sorami were going to die.

Then Fal remembered. There was no reason they would die if they didn’t get on the ground and close their eyes.

“What do we do with these guys?” said Sorami.

“We can’t just leave them here,” agreed Uluru.

“I’ll take them into safekeeping for now.” Snow White opened up the four-dimensional bag hanging from her waist and tossed in the tied and struggling Shufflins one after another.

  Snow White

When stuffing the three Shufflins into the bag, Snow White secretly retied the ropes so as to avoid criticism from Uluru. You had to tie magical girls in such a way that would keep them tightly bound and prevent them from moving, or it was going to come undone even if it was magic rope. If she did this, they wouldn’t get away.

Sorami patted Uluru on the back. “Nice work, sis!”

Uluru puffed out her chest. “Your plans go well, sometimes.”

Watching them, Snow White smiled to herself. Uluru was blushing, and her hands holding the gun were trembling slightly. She must have been nervous. But despite that, she hadn’t made any mistakes, making proper use of her magic to bring the situation under control bloodlessly against the three powerful spade face cards.

It was a convenient ability, one that was also compatible with Snow White’s magic.

Uluru’s power to “make people believe her lies” had caused the Shufflins to believe her claim that “If you don’t get down and cover your eyes, you’ll die.” They’d thrown themselves down on the spot and closed their eyes. With the card soldiers left helpless, Snow White, Uluru, and Sorami had tied them up. Uluru’s magic immediately came undone once the victim realized she was lying, as it did with Snow White, who had heard Uluru think, I’ll be in trouble if they find out that’s a lie. It had also quickly come undone for Sorami, who knew how Uluru’s magic worked. Fal, meanwhile, had listened to an explanation of her magic earlier and remained confused for only a little while. Only the three Shufflins, who had not known of Uluru’s magic, continued to be caught up in it. Inside Snow White’s bag, they were still prostrate with their eyes closed.

Snow White picked up the coat she’d tossed away, and while putting it on, she said to Uluru, “We have to save those people.”

“I was literally just about to do that.”

Everyone within range of Uluru’s voice—the staff and customers at the obanyaki stand, unlucky passersby, the salaryman skipping work for a bit to have a rest in the park, the old man feeding the pigeons—all of them were on the ground with their eyes closed. Only the pigeons were pecking at their food, heedless.

“That was a lie, okay? You’ll be fine even if you’re not on the ground or have your eyes closed!” Uluru called out to them all, then immediately started walking off. Snow White and Sorami followed after her.

Lowering his voice to a murmur that sank into a whisper, Fal said, “What were those Shufflins, pon?”

Snow White replied at a similar volume, “It’s a different unit.”

“A different unit?”

“Different from the one we fought in the underground laboratory, at least in terms of appearance and power. Like they each have an extra ribbon on their boots, and their physical strength and endurance are slightly improved. The biggest difference is that there’s no Joker.”

“No Joker?”

“I heard them thinking that if they all die, it’s over. There’s no Joker, so they can’t be revived.”

  CQ Angel Hamuel

To describe the Osk Faction most succinctly, the best term would be “non-monolothic.” Just as a single world included a multitude of dimensions or a star system contained countless stars, just as nations innumerable crowd one planet, each of the three great factions of the Magical Kingdom were made up of forces of varying sizes.

The Osk Faction did not appoint locally hired magical girls to important posts; it would either make them pawns or material for experiments. Either way, they were generally used up and tossed aside. While it didn’t happen super often, it was a fact that there were mages in the upper ranks who did not balk at that sort of inhumane treatment.

For that reason, there were very rarely any magical girls who would choose to throw their lot in with the Osk Faction. But there were still a few. CQ Angel Hamuel was ambitious, and she figured fewer magical girls meant more opportunities for her. She was also confident enough to think that if she conducted herself so as not to be used up and thrown away, she’d be perfectly fine.

“Ooh, here they come! Confirmed from above. Three targets. Appearance is as described earlier. Yes, Snow White is the one who killed your sister model, but don’t bother with that. Nothing good will come of it, typically.” Hamuel was communicating via her magic wireless radio. With this device, she could communicate directly into the mind of anyone she had met before, no matter where she was—and, conveniently, the device also automatically translated into a language the person could understand. The recipients of her communications now were all the Shufflin IIs under Hamuel’s command.

Upon receiving instructions from Hamuel, aside from the three spade face cards who had recently been captured, a total of forty-nine Shufflin IIs moved into action. Shufflin II was an improved version, customized to fit her commander, with slight alterations to her abilities and appearance. The Shufflin II models under Hamuel’s command lacked a Joker, which boosted each individual unit’s capabilities accordingly.

Most would argue that the greatest feature of the Shufflin series was the Joker. No matter how much damage they took, you could restore your forces just by taking one magical girl as prisoner. This would force your opponent to fight a painful battle in which they couldn’t allow even a single person to be captured.

Hamuel thought differently. That may have been a viable idea if the powers of the Shufflin series had been kept completely under wraps. But Grim Heart had made a blunder of things, and the Shufflins’ abilities had been leaked to various parties, so that wouldn’t work anymore. If the enemy knew they’d be used as a sacrifice and executed if caught, they’d never, ever surrender. They would muster their most desperate efforts of resistance until the very end.

Soldiers who were prepared to die were frightening, much more so if those soldiers were magical girls. If a magical girl was determined to defeat the enemy, even if it meant sacrificing the most valuable thing of all—her own life—that clearly meant she was deeply moved. And sometimes, if a magical girl’s heart was deeply moved, it would make her magic grow. Her desperation would not simply be a desperate final struggle.

“Diamond unit, continue monitoring from close range. Clubs and spades, continue movement, avoiding a 550-yard radius around the position where the digital fairy was detected—that way we can respond to sudden movements. Magical girls are always dashing off suddenly, after all.”

Hamuel had underestimated the capabilities of the digital fairy’s radar. Its search radius was wider than she had thought, leading the three spade face cards that she’d assigned as the diamonds’ guards to enter the search radius just because they’d been sticking out of formation a little. And since they’d been discovered, figuring she had no choice, Hamuel had ordered them to gauge the enemy’s strength, and if possible, capture them—but the Shufflins had been easily captured instead.

Hamuel would not let an unexpected accident end as such. If she’d lost three of her elite spades, then she had to turn that into something positive.

In their clash in the park, she’d learned the radius of the digital fairy’s search function as well as how the girl with the gun’s magic worked—probably something like making people believe what she said. Seeing how all the humans around had been throwing themselves on the ground as well, it had to affect everyone who heard it. The pigeons strutting about the park, however, hadn’t seemed to react. They’d been frightened by the humans suddenly throwing themselves down, but when it seemed clear they wouldn’t move anymore, they’d gone to pecking at the popcorn spilled on the ground. Hamuel could assume that the magic was ineffective on beings that didn’t understand human language. Giving the Shufflin IIs under her command linguistic ability to help with the investigation had backfired.

In exchange, Hamuel had informed them there was no Joker. Snow White would know of its absence. She wouldn’t think she’d been “informed” of that, and her mind-reading ability had been a part of Hamuel’s calculations. Even bearing in mind the capture of the three spade face cards, the trade was still advantageous to Hamuel.

There had been an accident, but many positives had come out of it. That was fine; learning about the enemy was worth more than three elite units.

Hamuel would have the enemy search for Premium Sachiko, and then she would tighten the circle around them. Then a Shufflin unit spearheaded by the Ace of Spades, an immensely powerful fighter, would attack. If possible, Hamuel would have the enemy surrender before any damages occurred. Since there was no Joker, the Shufflins would not be revived.

The lack of a Joker made the Shufflin II more like a homunculus, but nonetheless, she was still Hamuel’s dear subordinate. The fewer injuries, the better.

Surely the enemy thought the same. If both parties sought to reduce damage, then maybe they could compromise somewhere, make room for negotiation. Hamuel’s magic was suited not only to command and translation, but also to negotiation and prompting surrender.

She also had information that there were other magical girls active within the city. Who knew when they might interfere? It was better to be rough and ready than slow and deliberate. She would end things as quickly as she could.

“The hearts will act as my escort—after all, I’m far weaker compared with you guys. But look, you’d be in trouble if your commander were defeated, right? Actually, I’d look really bad if you said you wouldn’t.”

Below, the three magical girls were going through the park toward the station. At times like this, the ability to fly was extremely convenient. When Hamuel was ordering her forces surrounding her targets to move, she happened to look over and see two boys of about elementary school–age playing catch on the sidewalk outside the park—playing catch inside the park probably wasn’t allowed. But still, there were quite a few cars going by, so it was a bit dangerous.

Hamuel brought her mouth close to her wireless radio. “You’re not allowed to play catch on the sidewalk. If this continues any further, I’m contacting your school,” she told them.

The two boys seemed rattled, looking this way and that for the source of the voice. But they couldn’t find anyone who could have spoken, and that seemed to get them even more worked up. Hamuel’s magic reached people’s minds directly. Distance was no object; her target could be at the opposite end of the earth and still her magic would take effect.

The boys fell over themselves running away. Maybe this would become some sort of new ghost story. Slowly, Hamuel descended toward the group of heart Shufflins.