Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 11 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

STOP THIS FINGER

  Shadow Gale

It wasn’t that the work was not progressing, but you couldn’t quite say it was moving along smoothly. It would be most accurate to say it was making slow progress. This turn of phrase lacked the positive inflection of “We’re making progress, even if it’s just bit by bit,” while including a generous helping of “Progress is so slow, all we’re producing is irritation and a sense of helplessness.”

What they had to do was clear. Shadow Gale had to modify the device into precisely what Puk Puck had in mind. Unfortunately, problems were piling up along the way, and the magical girls had to solve each and every one of them.

The first obstacle was the talismans stuck on the surface of the device. Using magic to contaminate a target from afar, they dirtied the magical talismans, which would make anyone who touched them or even looked at them fall asleep, and then, once that mess could be perceived as garbage, they removed it with magic that would clean up any garbage.

The next thing to get in their way was the thick armor. The device had no openings or screw holes, so they had to dig into its smooth and slippery body. What’s more, since there was a magical barrier under the armor, they had to stop digging into it before they got that deep. The method they tried was to have a magical girl with strong claws scratch at the outer armor, peeling at it right to the point of almost touching the barrier. Each time her claws, which could rip through steel or titanium, were overcome by the toughness of the armor, cracking with blood flying as they hit their limit, the magical nail artist would restore them, enabling the task of grinding and scratching away to resume.

They had to clear each stage of the process one by one in order, while in the meantime, the other parts—in other words, the other magical girls who had been selected to access the device—were made to wait. Every task was a specialized one that used magic, so others weren’t able to help. Since those who had finished their tasks were left at loose ends, some had been heading out to the battlefield of their own accord. But they apparently really dragged the others down, and so Puk had told them, “Puk’s really thankful for the sentiment,” and had gently begun forbidding them from going out.

The work did grind to a halt at points. Cold looks rained down on the magical girls who paused in their tasks, or on the whole group. Regardless, rushing through things wouldn’t produce good results. They were absolutely forbidden to focus solely on speed, rush through it, and wind up with an unsatisfactory result. Right now, they had the talismans removed, and they’d somehow peeled off the outer armor that coated the device, reaching the stage where they were trying to input a password to undo its giant lock.

It had been tough to get this far, but the trouble posed by the lock and password was huge. The lock used a magical password that hadn’t been made to let you unlock it: A passcode of twenty digits out of a few hundred million possible letters, numbers, and symbols was replaced randomly every few seconds. If not for the manual Puk Puck had given them, they wouldn’t even have known how to start deciphering it. First, they used magic to give the device an artificial personality. Then they used a different magic to make its mind foggy, so it would repeat a certain pattern, and from there they just had to input the password at the right moment, but that wasn’t going very well.

Pfle had asked Shadow Gale to modify machines daily. There had been troublesome orders and requests for solutions she’d never managed before. She had experience going through multiple all-nighters to complete tasks, but she’d never been very motivated in her work. Now things were different. She was burning with a sense of purpose. She had absolutely no desire to slack off. And not only Shadow Gale—all the others were the same. It wasn’t as if they liked each other, but they had a shared goal in their hearts as they worked to get the device going. So that the great Puk Puck would be happy with them, so that she would smile at them, and, with luck, so that she would pet their heads, they were frugal with time but not labor as they pushed toward their goal.

Yes, they were enthused about the task. There was unmistakably enthusiasm, but even so, the atmosphere was gradually growing stale. Despite the high ceiling and wide space, this was still an enclosed room with no place to run. The massive device took up space, sitting there heavily without even the slightest diffidence. They’d all only just met for the first time that day or the day before, and they were putting their heads together to work endlessly on a job that kept stuttering to a halt over and over, so of course the atmosphere wasn’t amicable. Some made stinging comments over the errors of others, some snorted, some clicked tongues, and others made more blatant disparagements.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere affecting her, but even Shadow Gale, whose turn to work hadn’t come yet, was getting annoyed. The irritation filling the space continued to swell, increasing in size like a balloon, passing the point where sticking it with a pin would make it pop. If things went on like this, it was going to explode even without a needle—and right then, two magical girls appeared at the entrance.

“You’re all working so hard!”

It was as if a ray of sun shone down on just that spot. A comfortable warmth like a patch of sun in spring and a perfume that tickled the nose and brought to mind fruits from a southern land radiated out from the entrance, and Shadow Gale remembered the concept of happiness. So there was something so good, someone so good in this world.

The magical girls stood up from their tasks all at once, and when Puk Puck restrained them with both hands, saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” they sat down again. But none of them returned to their work. They all gazed upon Puk Puck, enraptured. The irritation that had been continuously growing was all gone. It hadn’t withered and disappeared—it had been made so that it had never been there in the first place.

Snow White accompanied Puk Puck as she entered the room, and under her direction, a whole line of Puk Puck’s magical girls followed. They carried large digital screens, batteries, cords, and cardboard boxes, avoiding the device as they placed the screens and batteries all over the place and connected them with extension cords. The magical girls who’d been working to activate the device watched in silence. Looking at their faces, you could tell they were all confused.

Snow White stepped toward Puk Puck, bringing her lips close to her ear to whisper something. That gesture alone was enough to make Shadow Gale jealous, but she didn’t let it show on her face, just squeezing her fists in her lap and keeping her emotions in check.

Puk Puck smiled and nodded, then faced the device repair team. “This is a present from Puk.”

They decorated a giant TV screen that was bigger than Shadow Gale was tall with rings made out of origami paper. Then, when Puk Puck clapped her hands, the power on everything turned on at once. Color gradually rose on the black screens, and Puk Puck appeared. Puk Puck was there on every single monitor, singing songs and dancing.

“Puk figured you guys would be lonely, so Puk decided to show this video to cheer things up. Now you can remember Puk and work hard!”

The magical girls all applauded with joy on their faces. Even Snow White and those who’d been setting up the screens clapped and praised Puk Puck. She was cutely bashful, gazing at the ground with flushed cheeks.

“Um, and Puk’s brought a bunch of other things, too.” And cans of cola and bags of potato chips were distributed to all the people there.

As everyone was eating the snacks with relish as they worked, Puk Puck scooted up to Shadow Gale’s side. “You’re in charge of the finishing touches and activation, right, Shadowy Sis?”

Savoring the honor of being the one of all the many magical girls present whom Puk Puck had specially addressed, with a cracking voice, she replied, “Yes.”

“Then here.” Puk Puck offered her a single sheet of paper. Numerous items were listed out on this letter-size paper, with boxes for check marks. It had to be some kind of a survey, or a contract. “So anyway, this is a premium contract. You hold on to it, Shadowy Sis. If Puk contacts you, then you’ll be using it, so take good care of it, ’kay? You can’t lose it.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“You won’t necessarily be the one to use it. Puk’ll make sure to tell you who’ll be using it once the time comes. If you get stuck somewhere, we might wind up using it then. If that happens, Puk’d be glad if you came to ask before using it. You’re not allowed to use it without permission, ’kay?”

“Yes. I understand.” Shadow Gale pulled out her notebook and wrote that down to prevent even the smallest chance she might forget. Seeing that, Puk Puck smiled with satisfaction. It was a smile that would melt the brains of those who saw it into utter enchantment. Of course, Shadow Gale’s brain was also enchanted.

Even after Puk Puck left, the screens continued to display her image. The girls focused single-mindedly on the device with no further twists or tangles. Puk Puck pacified their irritation and anger and heightened their morale, and their sense of superiority and purpose in working for Puk Puck, knowing that if they didn’t do this, no one else would, welled up endlessly. The difficulties where they’d been stuck got resolved as if there’d never been a problem in the first place, and each accomplishment led right to the next.

The gifts from Puk Puck had gotten everything pointed in the right direction. This is exactly what makes her Puk Puck, that’s exactly why she’s Puk Puck, Shadow Gale thanked Puk Puck and the gods who had led her to Puk Puck.

  Puk Puck

Once they were done setting out the screens, Puk Puck hurried to her post. Originally, she’d meant to leave the job of placing the screens to her friends, but when they’d been preparing the equipment to take into the device sanctum, Snow White had advised Puk Puck that she should go there in person.

“It appears your magic’s attenuation rate is higher than usual for the parts who are engaged in the most stressful jobs, Lady Puk,” Snow White said. “I’ve received reports that at this rate, it will affect their work.”

“So you mean they won’t be friends anymore?” Puk asked. “Puk doesn’t want that.”

“If we can maintain a constant state of maximum effect for your spell, that should make their work the most efficient. With your magic, it doesn’t have to be you personally… Even an image of you will have the same effect. Let’s leave some of the screens we brought to play a video of you on loop, Lady Puk. Fortunately, there are plenty of your videos on user-uploaded video sites.”

“Ohh, that makes sense. So then should Puk ask them to set that up?”

“If you give them the screens personally, I think that will motivate them even more. Our accomplishing this goal and activating the device is ultimately up to their efforts. Let’s treat them as well as possible.”

Snow White’s suggestion seemed like a very good idea. If they got the device running, then everyone would become Puk Puck’s friend. If they failed to make the device work, all the things they’d been working on would all have been for nothing. She didn’t want that.

“So then let’s do what you say, Snowy Sis,” said Puk.

“Thank you very much.”

When Puk Puck came in, the color returned to the faces of the magical girls who’d been like dead people. Their expressions all sparkled with joy nonstop, they all moved with more energy, and Puk Puck could tell they were pressing forward as a single unit toward the goal of activating the device.

It was a really good thing she’d done as Snow White said.

“No, thank you, Snowy Sis,” Puk told her. “After this, Puk’ll make you pancakes as thanks.”

“Oh no…it’s nothing much,” Snow White replied. “I want to work for your sake, Lady Puk.”

Snow White was really doing a good job. On her advice, Puk Puck had sent back some of the Shufflins who’d recently become friends. She’d periodically contacted those girls through their magical phones, having them work for her in the enemy camp, getting them to tell her important information and stuff. And so she’d acquired information on the magical girls in the Osk Faction, and, of those, Puk Puck had selected the one with a farseeing ability, which she thought was the magic she most didn’t want the Osk Faction having, and said bye-bye to her. She really would have rather made friends, but she couldn’t be selfish here.

By combining their ideas, Snow White and Puk Puck had put together a single wonderful plan, and it had been a success. Puk Puck wouldn’t have been able to come up with something like that alone. She wondered if there were any other fun ideas, anything that might please her. That Snow White enabled her to carry out things like this made Snow White seem scary, but also reliable.

“Okay, Snowy Sis. Puk is going out on watch again.”

“Thank you for your efforts.”

“Yep, yep.”

Puk Puck going out on watch was another idea that would never have been thought up if it was just her. Puk Puck would add slight tweaks to Snow White’s ideas, making them even more wonderful and sparkly.

“I finished picking out your escort,” said Snow White.

“We’ll do our best together,” Puk said.

“We’re counting on you.”

“Uh-huh, Puk should just do her best to stop them, right? But what about you, Snowy Sis?”

“If, by some odd chance, anyone comes into the ruins…” There was a whoosh as Snow White spun her weapon around and readied it in her right hand. “Then I will handle them.”

  CQ Angel Hamuel

They went through the gates and started down the road along the narrow ravine bottom that led to the ruins. From here, if you ran along this winding path for ten kilometers, you’d arrive at the entrance. With the legs of a magical girl, it was far faster than taking a car.

Their march sped up suddenly. The rather relaxed atmosphere, exemplified by the exchange of business cards and small talk, had vanished, and now the air around them was sharp, saying, “We have to keep moving or we’ll die, we have to fight or we’ll die, if we lose we’ll die, if we let them activate the device we’ll die.” This was now beyond issues like, “If the Puk Faction activates the device, they’ll take control of leadership” or “Interests will go to their side.” The activation of the device would rob the magical girls of their own being. A life more miserable than death, one of living as livestock awaited them.

Everyone sharing the same feelings and goal made them faster. Of course, there was no point in only being fast. Pairing that speed with caution was precisely what made it meaningful.

The mascot Fal’s magical-girl radar streamlined this process immensely. It really bumped up their resistance to surprise attacks and increased their speed by just as much. The ruts in the road told them the enemy had come down here in vehicles, but their forces couldn’t be casually taking cars to pursue them. Hamuel had the Shufflin IIs take the lead, ordering them to trample any traps they found, while the other magical girls raced at full speed behind the suicide corps of hearts.

When they’d almost reached the ruins, they found the column of trucks the Puk Faction had taken there abandoned on the road, blocking their way through the narrow ravine. Past here, they would come out into a large open area surrounded by steep cliffs, and they had to go through the entrance on the opposite end to get into the ruins.

Swaying in her palanquin, Lethe gave out orders. “Ensure those trucks are removed without delay.”

“We do have to investigate them, just in case. It’s possible they could explode upon approach,” Hamuel pointed out.

“Then get it done quickly.”

It took time to make sure the trucks were nothing more, and all the while, Lethe’s mood was steadily worsening.

“They’re just trucks,” she said.

“Yes, indeed, they are just trucks,” Hamuel replied.

“So then have them pass over the roofs. To cover all our bases, it should be enough to remove only the tires.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Well then, let’s go with that.”

The diamond Shufflin IIs all got together to lift the trucks with jacks and remove the tires. If the enemy had left the trucks here to buy them time, then Hamuel was forced to acknowledge that they had served their purpose. Despite her irritation, Hamuel told the Shufflin IIs to pass over, under, or around the trucks.

The Shufflin IIs used rocks to make impromptu stairs, using them to pass over the roofs of the trucks before finally arriving at the entrance to the open space in front of the ruins.

Before they entered the vast circular space that lay before the ruins, the mascot Fal did a pass to check for enemies and told them there was just one magical girl sitting all alone in front of the ruins. That was probably Puk Puck.

Hamuel had a heart Shufflin II sneakily peek out from behind a rock, and when she checked the basin area in front of the ruins, she forgot herself and went running off into the ruins and didn’t come back. This basically confirmed that the magical girl out there was Puk Puck. Since before their forces had entered the ravine, Shufflin IIs had returned from scouting already controlled, leading to casualties, so they were treating Puk Puck’s magic with the utmost caution. They couldn’t push forward thoughtlessly.

The circular space was about the same size as the ruins. In other words, to attack from the basin entrance to the ruins entrance, you would have to reach a distance of two miles. What was more, there was the added handicap of not being able to look at Puk Puck.

Hamuel ordered the Shufflin II construction team to widen the road, creating a garrison space at a location not in the line of sight from the ruins. She drew the long, endless line of the forces forward into this space and did a roll call to organize everyone. But no matter how she arranged this unit, simply attacking head-on would only decrease their numbers while increasing the enemy’s. She had to come up with a strategy to eliminate Puk Puck.

If any sentient living thing could be charmed by Puk Puck’s magic, then Hamuel should use a machine that lacked sentience. It was a simplistic but straightforward resolution to the issue. First, Hamuel sent in some small tanks that operated on auto, but they were destroyed mercilessly by the simplest of attacks: Puk Puck throwing a rock. Reports said the tanks had failed to make even a single hit, and Puk Puck had evaded every single one. According to the mascot, which continued to monitor with his radar, Puk Puck had moved incredibly rapidly. You didn’t even need to think back to Grim Heart—Hamuel knew an incarnation of one of the Three Sages would be exceptional in terms of pure physical ability.

Hamuel called off the sortie by bombing drones. It was a bad idea to use explosives too close to the ruins. Causing a landslide to bury the enemy would also carry the possibility of damaging the ruins. The same went for an attack with fire or water. Hamuel clenched her jaw. There wasn’t even a second to spare. She didn’t even know if they had time or not. It would be tough if machines weren’t useful, but she had to find a solution anyway.

She had the spade Shufflin IIs line up in a row to all throw their spears at once. Even if they couldn’t see the enemy, they could rely on numbers and bet that one or two shots would hit. And if they didn’t, they’d try a second or third time. But that plan was called off when the situation immediately turned to disaster: The moment their spears were thrown, the enemy ran into the ruins, so none of them hit, while on their end, since they were trying to avoid looking at the enemy, Puk Puck’s stones hit them at a maddening pace. It just resulted in the pointless sacrifice of the spades on the throwing team and the hearts playing tank.

Aside from that one time Puk Puck ran back into the ruins temporarily, she never moved from her spot. She wasn’t walking, running, or jumping, but simply holding down the fort. She went back inside just once before the main force led by Lethe arrived, and then immediately came out again, and she continued to play sentry the whole time after that.

Lethe sat down in a folding chair, assuming the pose of command. Sitting there alone with everyone around her carrying rocks and the sound of pickaxes ringing, she looked like a director at a construction site.

“It doesn’t seem to be going well, eh,” she said.

“Well, I suppose not,” Hamuel agreed.

“What is Pfle doing?”

While privately surprised that Lethe’s mind was on Pfle, Hamuel didn’t let that show as she replied, “She’s consolidating the mercenary forces that Magical Girl Resources gathered. Well, it seems she’s working very hard. That’s something to be thankful for.”

“What sort of magical girl do you think that one is, eh?”

“Not a very good one. Rumor has it the Osk Faction had her estate attacked to create a pretext for searching it, but nothing came up, in the end. The reports concluded that something should have come up, however, so, taking that into consideration, she must have prepared for the search somehow. And someone who would do that is without question no good.”

“That does sound reasonable.”

Pfle wouldn’t let others grasp her, and then she would probe others in a manner that wouldn’t let them realize what she was doing. Pfle was still an unknown to Hamuel, but she did sort of think that if you might ask whether she remained out of Pfle’s grasp, the answer was probably no.

Someone who was hard to grasp would either be incredibly incompetent or someone of capabilities beyond Hamuel’s measure—one of those two. Since a magical girl who had risen to the position of department head could never be incompetent, she would be the latter.

“But even if she’s no good, we must make use of her now,” said Hamuel.

“What are her troops doing now?” Lethe asked.

“They’re on standby behind the trucks.” In an attempt to word things in a way that would sound good, Hamuel continued with, “I’m having them keep watch,” but she didn’t actually have the right to use Pfle’s forces at will. That was just the last place she’d seen them. Since she had the Shufflin IIs watching them under pretext of guarding them, anything extreme was unlikely, but even as an ally, Pfle gave Hamuel a different set of anxieties.

Lethe smacked her own forehead with her fan. “What a lot of hassles, eh.”

“Indeed.”

“And she’s said to spare not only Shadow Gale, but Snow White as well.”

“Well, we’re having her contribute enough to make that promise to her.”

“Of course, I will make an effort to keep that promise,” Lethe said. “However, no matter how much effort is made, one cannot entirely eliminate accidents. This Shadow Gale person in particular seems to be important to the activation of the device. If it turns out that her elimination means the device won’t work, then some hotheaded types may well act without permission.” Lethe flicked her gaze around the area, then lowered her voice. “Form an assassination squad with an ace of clubs at the head.”

“…Yes’m.”

“I’m told direct teleportation into the ruins is unfeasible.”

“I sounded out a number of experts in teleportation techniques,” Hamuel added, “but they’re all loath to do it. It seems the location is too unique. I was told it would require supernatural abilities of spatial perception.”

“So then we must somehow get around Puk.”

Being forced to go up against Puk Puck herself was what was causing such a struggle. If it weren’t Puk Puck but some other magical girl, they could deal with her more easily. Another magical girl—if they were to remove the magical girls whom Puk Puck had gathered for the ceremony, it would become impossible to activate the device. Though Hamuel wasn’t enthusiastic about this plan, if it came down to it, she couldn’t be calling such measures abominable or whatnot. If her side failed, everything was over.

“Continue the frontal attack as well, of course,” said Lethe. “Or have you run out of ideas?”

“Oh no, don’t worry. The assembly of the magically enhanced auditory weapon and the directional energy weapon is complete.”

It might even be said that their various tactics thus far had been buying time to use these. First, they’d pin down Puk Puck’s position by using the mascot’s enemy radar, and then, by attacking with sound waves, they’d damage her inner ears. Next, they’d focus energy using the directional energy weapon to form a high-temperature force field to fry her. The nice thing about these two weapons was that their attacks were invisible to the eye. Even with the physical capabilities of a Sage incarnation, she wouldn’t be able to see them to dodge them.

The issues with the weapons were that experiments had not succeeded in producing more compact versions and that they still took a lot of time to outfit and assemble. But those problems were about to be resolved. A total of three units of diamond Shufflins were working like mad, assembling the two weapons on top of trucks.

A suicide corps of heart Shufflins had been put together with the strict order to protect the weapons with their lives if any stones were thrown at them, and they were positioned in front of them.

Based on their earlier failures, they had calculated the force of Puk Puck’s throws. She threw so hard, you could hardly believe she was just throwing rocks, but it was possible to resist them for five minutes, if you lined up enough heart Shufflin IIs. And five minutes would be enough.

They set out the two weapons on the platforms of the trucks: One looked like giant speakers, the other like a giant parabolic antenna. Hamuel positioned upper heart ranks on the front lines. Rolling the trucks along at the speed of the hearts marching with shields raised, they brought the weapons to the entrance of the basin area.

Now, finally, Puk Puck was over. When Hamuel made the call, the switches were pressed—and that instant, all the heart Shufflin IIs were blasted away, and both weapons were destroyed in succession. Hamuel received the report that a high-speed aerial body had been fired from the ruins and that Puk Puck was no longer the only magical girl at the ruins entrance, but before she could tell the troops how to respond, there was a second bombardment. The trucks were shattered, the earth was gouged out, things were destroyed one after another. All the magical girls scrambled back from the basin entrance in a panic.

  Pfle

Since they were helpless in the face of the bombardment at the basin entrance, the allied forces pulled back their front line. This made it even more difficult for them to attack. Whatever they would shoot or throw, they had to make it to the entrance first to do it. But if they stood there, then they fell under fire.

The mood was only getting worse. Hamuel and Lethe were doubtless feeling irritated. They were on edge because they had to strike right now, but things weren’t going well. Now that the Puk Faction’s goals were clear, this was no time for complacent talk or standing around. The enemy’s plan to protect the ruins’ entrance by mainly using Puk Puck and having other magical girls provide supporting fire was working favorably. As for the Osk Faction, things were much less favorable.

The Osks would most likely shift to wilder and more extreme methods. They didn’t know how much time was left, so their side was all impatience. But the issue at hand was what form that shift in tactics would take. There was no way Lethe would not be considering that ignoring the hard target of Puk Puck to go for the soft targets—Shadow Gale and the others working to activate the device—was the best idea. Pfle would have to act to prevent that from happening.

The right moment for Pfle to take action was close at hand—the sort of moment when their side was on edge and ready to flee, one where she could take advantage of the confusion to take drastic action.

Pfle gave instructions. She ordered a magical girl who could create metallic items, Metallie, to make a “shell” for a giant bomb. Metallie could only make simple items, so she couldn’t construct a complex explosive. All she could do was pack it with basic black powder.

“What should I do with this?” Metallie asked.

“Roll it into a position that can be seen from the ruins,” Pfle told her.

“They won’t get mad at me?”

“You need only pick it up again immediately.”

Metallie would present to Puk Puck a giant bomb that was purely for show—it would look like nothing other than a massive explosive. It might seem as if the Osk Faction were trying to use that bomb to blow up the whole of the ruins and the device along with them. The destruction of the device was an absolute taboo for the Osk Faction, which was why they hadn’t tried to go straight to destroying it, even knowing they might be absorbed by it. However, Puk Puck didn’t know that. She could interpret this bomb situation however she liked—as the result of a foreign element acting of its own accord or of Lethe finally being pushed to desperate measures.

If Puk Puck made a move first, that was just what Pfle wanted.

  Uluru

They’d come up with various offenses, but none of them appeared to be going well. They’d attacked again and again, only to be driven back. So Uluru thought as hard as she could. But she couldn’t come up with any good plan. No matter how she thought and thought, she never figured out anything.

She was irritated. She understood why—because she’d learned what Puk Puck was trying to do. Magical Pongee had said Puk Puck was trying to suck all magical girls into the device and turn them into energy. Originally, Uluru would have nodded along, saying, “If Lady Puk is doing it, it’s got to be right,” but she couldn’t do that now. She found herself thinking that she didn’t want to get sucked in just to become energy. But if she did something about that, that would mean betraying the Puk Faction.

If she didn’t want to get sucked into the device, then betrayal was her only option. Knowing that made her irritated, and she took it out on Mana.

“Why have these guys been doing nothing but messing things up! Are they even trying?!” Uluru snapped.

“Well, but—” Mana’s eyelids trembled slightly. Halfway into that remark, she looked up, raising her right palm to Uluru as she continued to rage on, while with her left hand, she stuck up a finger and brought it to her lips. “Quiet. Can’t you hear something?”

Uluru listened carefully. All she could hear was the clamor around them: pickaxes hitting rocks, people talking, machines operating, the clacking sound of plastic hitting plastic, and aside from that—Uluru lifted her chin. She’d thought it was the sound of the wind, but it wasn’t.

“Singing…? That’s—” It was muffled and coming from a good distance away, so it sounded intermittent and cracked, but as she listened more—it was a melody. Multiple voices united in song. They were singing in chorus. Uluru put a hand up to her ear. She’d heard it before. “…It’s Puk’s Choir.”

Mana gave her a questioning look. “Puk’s Choir? What’s that?”

“They’re a group that’s always practicing singing. Whenever Puk sings, like for someone’s birthday, or when they’re making a video to upload online, they do the chorus.”

Another voice joined in with the intermittent chorus. This one was closer than the crackly voices in the background. It had a beautiful, sonorous sound. Uluru had heard it before—sweet and light—just hearing it would make you feel like you’d rise to heaven and melt away in fascination, the whisper of an angel—

“The trucks!” someone yelled. When Uluru looked over, she saw the trucks were vibrating slightly. Their engines were on. What had happened? A card soldier was dazedly looking into a truck window. There was something shining, illuminating her face.

“Don’t look in the trucks—toward where you can hear the singing! There’s videos of Puk playing on the car navigation!” Uluru exclaimed.

The card soldier slowly turned her face toward Uluru and Mana. Her expression was one of utter bliss. She slowly brought her hands away from her ears, and with her club-like weapon in one hand, she raised it—

“Get down on the spot, or Lady Puk’ll die!” Uluru yelled.

Since Mana wouldn’t see Puk Puck dying as a problem, even if she believed Uluru’s lie, she wouldn’t get down. Only the card soldier went down, and the other card soldiers kept her pinned to the ground.

Disturbances were rising elsewhere as well. The card soldiers who had seen the video were attacking other soldiers, and the rest of the soldiers were trying to restrain the rampaging card soldiers, when—bam, Uluru heard a loud sound. She automatically turned her head toward it, but Mana leaped on her and blocked her, and she couldn’t look over.

“Don’t look! That sound came from a screen!” Mana cried.

The enemy had tried to draw attention with that loud noise to get more people watching. The commotion grew even bigger, and all over the place, everyone was starting to fight among themselves. Hearing a voice in her head telling her to destroy the screens, Uluru kept her eyes averted as she struck the butt of her rifle into a screen.

“Puk Puck is taking advantage of the confusion to come this way!” someone yelled. It was a voice she’d heard before.

“Everyone, head for the ruins!”

She knew that voice sounded familiar—it was Pfle. At her cry, the magical girls who’d been on standby behind the trucks raced out all at once. At their head was a wheelchair racing at high speed.