Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 17 - Chapter 6

Snow White Raising Project

The magical girl Snow White made herself an outcast. After surviving the Musician of the Forest’s final exam, she was both a victim of the incident and an accuser of its crimes—brutal bloodbaths.

Once the incident came to light, she was for a time seen as the hero who had indicted Cranberry, and she also garnered sympathy as a pitiful victim. But she had a very stubborn attitude about it, always brushing off any expressions of comfort and respect. Eventually, nobody—not even outsiders—tried associating with her.

But the Magical Kingdom did have to get involved with Snow White. They needed to be clear about how they dealt with her. They had to emphasize their sincerity toward the victims of the Cranberry incident, and prevent discontent and unease from spreading to other magical girls… At least, that was my belief. The Magical Kingdom often slapped a temporary bandage over any problem.

Soon, Snow White received unprecedented treatment: She was made an honorary citizen of the Magical Kingdom, which substantiated my beliefs even further. This was clearly bait.

Made to choose between continuing as a magical girl with this reception, or having her memories related to magical girls erased and return to society as a normal person, Snow White chose the former. The Magical Kingdom would have preferred, if possible, that she would quit. That would mean no future trouble and no hassles. Based on how Snow White had acted during her exam, there had certainly been the expectation that she would choose the latter. But Snow White had not abandoned being a magical girl.

The day I learned this news, I volunteered to be Snow White’s mentor.

Snow White had never taken any legitimate exam or been properly mentored, and if she was going to become an honorary citizen of the Magical Kingdom, then somebody would have to educate her on how to become a respectable magical girl. It was a bit like training a new bride in the domestic arts.

I am not a product of Cranberry’s exam system. I was selected as a magical girl through a legitimate exam. My residence was comparatively close to the region Snow White was in charge of. I was a veteran in a pretty good position, with a fair amount of free time. I also had a passable experience with the Magical Kingdom. That fulfilled the conditions for being a mentor. I was fairly sure that if I just volunteered for it, then I would be chosen.

And so I was chosen. I was the only one who volunteered to mentor Snow White. I was the only eccentric who actively wanted to get involved with her.

I was interested in Snow White. She was a strange girl—despite having experienced something that would not only disillusion her to magical girls, but make her despair of them, she was continuing to be one. Even knowing what had happened during Cranberry’s final exam, all I could think was—why her? I could see the other survivor, Ripple, continuing on because she refused to give in, or because of her fighting spirit or that sort of mentality. And Ripple hadn’t actually quit being a magical girl. But Snow White’s decision still left a bad taste in my mouth.

That bothered me, hence why I volunteered my services. Having been chosen without any review, I immediately gave Snow White a call. I introduced myself, briefly mentioned my reason for calling—that I was now her mentor—and said, “Meeting face-to-face would be difficult due to time restraints, which is why I’ll mainly be contacting you by phone.” Then I finished with a standard insincere remark: “Do feel free to consult me if anything is troubling you.”

Snow White’s listless reply made it painfully clear that she really didn’t want to be friendly with me. But I wanted to be friendly with her, so I tried a bit harder.

“Anything at all. Even the slightest concern or issue. When I was just starting out, I asked my predecessors for help with the littlest things.”

“I see.”

“So please don’t hesitate to ask me questions. Not just about magical girls—it can be about school, or things at home. It can’t be that absolutely everything is going perfectly, right?”

She did not give me a conventional reaction.

“Frederica, please tell me one thing. What should I do to become stronger?”

That remark seemed simple, and yet it could be interpreted in various ways. I tilted my head and cracked my neck. Just as I’d hoped, she was an interesting girl.

“What sort of strength are you referring to? Do you mean emotional strength?”

“I mean who’s stronger in battle.”

“I believe that what a magical girl needs is not strength. Kindness, charm, consideration, friendship, earnestness—I would say perhaps things like that are what they need.”

“They’re not what I need right now.”

A rather argumentative exchange followed, and then Snow White excused herself before hanging up the phone.

I’d made her angry.

Indeed, perhaps there had been none of that among those who came out of Cranberry’s exams. And argue idealistically as you might in attempt make yourself look good—it wouldn’t turn the hell she’d lived into a utopia.

So instead of criticizing her rudeness, I sent her a message, thinking to inch just a little closer:

Why is it that you need strength?

Her reply: I need it for what I’m trying to do.

Then I asked: What are you trying to do?

The answers stopped there.

It had to be something that she couldn’t say to her mentor. I decided to inch a little closer.

You were in Cranberry’s exam. There are eyes on you. It goes without saying that engaging in anything illegal is a bad idea at the moment, or anything semi-illegal, for that matter. If you get involved in a violent incident, even if you are in the right, everyone will say you are just like Cranberry—

I ended up deleting most of that and rewriting my response.

You were in Cranberry’s exam. Other matters aside, I doubt any magical girls will want to train you in combat. And those who do are Cranberry sympathizers who love battle and combatants, and those magical girls are currently being dealt with by the Magical Kingdom.

With that, I sent the message.

Why was I so tired when all I’d done was send one text? I picked up the binder at my side. I sat down on a kitchen chair and slowly turned a page. In this file, I’d saved photos of the magical girls I’d seen earlier. Their hairstyles had angelic luster and a supple sense of energy, done up so properly to the point of perversion. Simply gazing at magical-girl hair eased my stress. After resting my mind for a while, before long, my magical phone pinged, and I tossed the binder on top of the table.

By “dealt with,” do you mean they were all apprehended?

I read and reread the message on my screen, then replied: Some deftly slipped through the authorities’ fingers.

Halfway through typing, I made revisions.

There are rumors that some deftly slipped through the authorities’ fingers. However, I believe those are nothing more than rumors.

That should suffice.

As expected, Snow White leaped on this subject: Is there any truth to those rumors?

I basically had an idea of what she wanted. Magical girls who had gone through Cranberry’s exams—commonly called “Cranberry’s children”—were, for better or for worse, often rather guileless.

My interest in Snow White was right on the mark.

I sent an insincere message: There isn’t, but I want to believe my friends, then turned off my phone and picked up my binder once more.

They said the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry, had always remained in her magical girl form, but I could never do the same. I paid my rent, paid my taxes, and even if I had no occupation, I maintained my life as a human. Things were more enjoyable when experienced through a human’s senses, compared to those of a magical girl—at the very least, when it came to pastimes. I really couldn’t help but feel that way.

I had no basis for it. What’s important was that I felt that was so.

As Snow White’s mentor, I was able to look into some very detailed documents about her. Her real name was Koyuki Himekawa. Her magic was to “hear the thoughts of those in need.”

Those documents also detailed the exam in N City that she beat her way through.

The mobile game Magical Girl Raising Project, which had sold itself as being free of charge, had been bait to search the player base for those with magical potential and make them magical girls. This selection method had been made possible through Cranberry’s work with the digital fairy mascot Fav, who had a mastery of nonmagical technology and lived in a master phone that was connected to the worldwide web—something traditional small animal–type mascots couldn’t manage, given how clumsy it was to work a magical phone with paws.

That reminded me—since the exposure of the Cranberry incident, there’d been a revival of opinions that the small animal types were better than the digital fairy–type mascots. A balance of the two types was much better, although the Magical Kingdom wasn’t unique in how it tended to jump from one extreme to the other. But getting back to the topic at hand.

Fifteen magical girls with potential had been discovered through Magical Girl Raising Project. Joined by their examiner, the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry, the sixteen participants had begun the exam.

Things turned lethal when the examinees began stealing magical candy, the in-game currency, from each other; the amount of candy decided who dropped out of the game. There were betrayals and traps as participants killed one another. As the conflict ramped up, a sudden accident led to, of all things, the killing of the examiner, the Musician of the Forest.

With Cranberry’s death, the exam was suspended. Fav had announced that the game was over. But after the murder of her friend, Top Speed, Ripple’s rage was not satisfied, and she challenged Swim Swim to a fight—and killed her. Ripple herself was gravely wounded.

It was all quite the bloody affair, but the girl in question—Snow White—only ever came up as a victim. She was attacked by Ruler’s gang, then she was attacked by Magicaloid 44, and she was just about attacked by Tama before she was saved. It was all things like that. That really didn’t seem like the same magical girl who I’d spoken with on the phone and through messages.

Was it precisely because she was powerless that she’d come to seek strength? Whether she’d grown sick of her powerlessness, felt a serious sense of crisis, or a yearning for power, I couldn’t say without trying to talk to the girl herself. And talking was not enough—thorough observation was needed.

I looked up the current address of Snow White—Koyuki Himekawa in the human world—and chose a moment when she was at school to intrude on the Koyuki household. I was used to missions of this nature. This was the most orthodox way to acquire some hair, after all.

With the sounds of the vacuum cleaner her mother was using in the first-floor living room as BGM, in Koyuki’s room, I picked up a hair that had fallen on the carpet.

Hair cuticle. It smelled nice, too. I could just about put it in my mouth like this.

I quietly tucked the hair into a piece of tissue paper.

When I turned into a magical girl, aside from the standard extraordinary outfit, I carried a large crystal ball the size of a child’s head. Tying my target’s hair to my finger revealed their current location in my crystal ball. I could tie a hair to each one of my fingers, and though I could not do simultaneous broadcast, it was possible for me to change channels.

There were some drawbacks: I couldn’t use my magic on those with no hair, or those with hair so short that I couldn’t wrap it around a finger. But that was fine. That slight inconvenience added to the charm.

When I activated my magic, the girl was reflected there, just within reach. And if I reached out my hand, I could actually touch her. The primary use of my magic was to insert my hand into the crystal ball and pull someone to my end, which I didn’t do, as that would ruin everything. Restraining my urge to reach out to the strawberry-blond hair ruffled by the wind, I simply observed, and nothing else.

Magic was a fuzzy sort of system—so with Koyuki Himekawa’s hair, I could observe her completely, even when she was transformed into Snow White. So from that day forth, I became able to observe Koyuki Himekawa, a.k.a. Snow White, so long as I had the time.

Aside from that she often had her head in the clouds, she was the sort of middle schooler you’d find anywhere. She was fairly diligent about her classes. She had friends. She wasn’t that incredibly charming. She was in her second year in middle school, when studying was her job. Every little thing about her, from her school-bag, socks, and scarf, to her pleated skirt, made me feel nostalgic—I supposed that was my age showing.

Even as a magical girl, she wore a costume that had the motif of a student uniform. The large white flower decoration hanging from her waist had a charm quite a bit different from Cranberry’s, even if they’d both sported blossoms.

Her activities were basically the sort that were endorsed by the Magical Kingdom. She rushed this way and that, searching with precision for people in trouble. Sometimes she watched over students who anxiously walked down the street at night, and other times she carried a drunk on her back to take them home.

She was probably doing this with her magic to “hear the voices of the heart of people in trouble.” I had assumed her magic was used on people right in front of her, but the range of inner voices she could pick up was far greater than I had imagined. I would hazard that there was no other telepathy-type magic that could cover such a broad range.

She would pick up a specific voice of the heart with precision, and then make sure to deal with their issue. There weren’t many freshly debuted magical girls who could do this well. Perhaps she could handle using it over such a broad range because there was a limit to the content she could read.

I knew of one magical girl who had complete telepathy with no limits at all, and when a magical girl who was skilled at rapid thinking sent her information all at once, she was unable to withstand the burden, and her mind had been destroyed. That would probably never happen to Snow White.

After doing her job, Snow White would go to meet up with another magical girl who also worked in N City. The place was a little children’s park, and the time was close to dawn.

She wore a black costume based on a ninja. Her long black hair was styled to the side. The most distinctive things about her were her left eye and left arm. A deep and large wound ran through the left side of her face, as if it had been carved out by a dull and heavy knife, destroying her left eye. Her left arm cover fluttered in the wind from the elbow, indicating that there was nothing inside.

Her name came up in the documentation, too. It was Ripple.

In addition to her history of having gone beyond the scope of the exam and killed a magical girl out of personal enmity, being a magical girl with one eye and one arm made her look incredibly intimidating. Based on this prior information, I’d imagined her being like an Asura or rakshasa, but the black-clad magical girl in the crystal ball was smiling kindly.

Ah, I thought. She smiled like one who had retired from the sphere.

I didn’t think it was because she couldn’t move like she had before, as a warrior. I’d heard that Ripple requested herself that she didn’t want her wounds from the exam to be healed.

Had that been in order to punish herself for having killed someone needlessly, even if it had been getting revenge for a friend?

Or was it a lesson to herself, so that she absolutely would not forget Cranberry’s exam, and so that if the other magical girls saw Ripple, they would also be forced to remember?

Or was there some other reason?

I wouldn’t know unless I asked Ripple herself. And even if I did ask, I didn’t know if she would tell me.

The black-and-white magical girl pair sat down side by side on the park steps, exchanging a few words here and there. Ripple looked at Snow White the way a senior student looked at a junior, or a parent looked at a child, or a teacher looked at their student, convincing me that Ripple’s stance really was like that of a retiree. She had come to a sort of conclusion, within herself. I didn’t know what sort of conclusion, or about what, though.

Snow White was different. She seemed like she was trying to say something to Ripple but couldn’t bring herself to. Her attitude was indecisive and mumbling. It was like watching a teenage boy and girl together, and it calmed my heart. It was cute. But Snow White’s business was nothing so adorable as that.

She was trying to get stronger. She wanted a teacher who would guide her to the top. Being one of Cranberry’s children, she had no one in the Magical Kingdom who would teach her how to fight. If she did, it would be someone in similar circumstances—yes, like Ripple.

It had to be difficult to ask. I could tell, just from seeing how Ripple was. I would assume that she meant to have already stepped down from the stage. She had fulfilled what she wanted to fulfill and completed what she wanted to complete. Snow White would feel bad dragging Ripple into what she wanted to do. That had to be what it was.

Snow White lacked arrogance. She lacked the shamelessness to ignore another’s wants, whether it be her parent or her friend, and to show no diffidence for what she wanted to do. Cranberry had been the best at that—ignoring everything for the sake of what she wanted. While Snow White would surely not want that, that was what she should be aiming for right now.

Ripple and Snow White parted ways, and Snow White gave a little wave. Once Ripple was out of sight, she breathed a sigh.

I turned off the image in my crystal ball, undid my transformation, and pulled out my coffee grinder. I took my time grinding some beans, and while listening to the sound of the kettle whistling, I thought about Snow White.

I came to a conclusion. If I pushed her a little, then she might become just the magical girl I sought.

Many before me had considered what a magical girl should do to become strong. I read over the documents such people had left behind—Cranberry’s exam records included—and added in my own experiences.

There were the magical girls’ individual magic powers, their physical capabilities, and finally, their combat techniques.

Magical girls varied wildly in all these domains, from the time they were born as magical girls. Some magical girls would describe this as “having a different kind of world.” Some magical girls would fight with a universe-scale evil god, but other magical girls resolved neighborhood troubles while making clumsy mistakes along the way.

I didn’t believe the difference there was so hopelessly great. The problem was when you believed there was a hopeless difference.

For a human to become stronger, they needed to be thoroughly realistic—in terms of the time they committed, or how they did it. But we were magical girls. We didn’t need scientific training through perfect schedule management. We didn’t outfit ourselves in rough weapons and armor, but decorated ourselves in frills and ribbons to become stronger. We existed beyond logic.

It was about the height of our ambitions, the awareness of our goals, our love for magical girls, and not having doubts about any foolish behavior, while maintaining the strength of will to carry through to the end. Rather than using a training facility and avoiding harming your health as you practiced under the guidance of an excellent coach, it was much more effective to be reckless, to use the homemade training brace your father made and train as a part of your normal life.

It was meaningful to be stubbornly naive. Let me repeat—we were magical girls. Each and every one of us was a protagonist. A protagonist cannot forget that they are a protagonist, and spending tears and sweat on behaviors that seemed like clear foolishness to others could open new horizons, if they kept aiming for the goal that lay beyond strength.

Of course, I didn’t do such things. It was too much trouble, and I didn’t have the energy. But it wouldn’t tire or burden me if others did it. If Snow White wished to become strong, I wouldn’t be unhappy about it.

I tapped the number into my magical phone.

“Hello, is this Snow White? This is Frederica.”

“…Hello.”

“How have you been?”

“The same as usual.”

I could tell she was wondering when she’d be able to hang up.

“You mentioned before that you want to become stronger—has that changed at all?”

“No.”

“You haven’t given any thought to what I said, that a magical girl does not need strength?”

“No.”

“You want to become strong, even if it comes at your own expense?”

“I do.”

“What if it comes at someone else’s expense?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Your friends and family. Do you want to become strong, even if it’s at the expense of those close to you?”

The conversation faltered. Snow White didn’t speak, but neither did she hang up.

Without waiting for a reply, I said simply, “Please think about it,” and then ended the call.

It was fair to assume that Cranberry’s exam was Snow White’s impetus in seeking strength now. Magical girls had died in that incident, and Snow White’s friends and allies must have been among them. One magical girl called La Pucelle, and another called Hardgore Alice, had died protecting Snow White.

Snow White must have reflected on her own powerlessness. Rather than being filled with a sense of omnipotence and being drunk on magical girl power, it was better to know that you were helpless. In order to aim for the top, first, you should be aware of how low it was where you stood.

Aside from ordinary activities as a magical girl, I also had experience working as a scout-slash-examiner. I’d found what I considered to be “good material” rarely enough that I could count these occasions on one hand, but even so I was one of the select career magical girls, those who made their daily bread receiving payment from the Magical Kingdom. I had pride in it. I’d grasped the trick of finding personnel. I didn’t use the template method the Magical Kingdom recommended, but rather had my own conditions.

My first condition was that they be looking up from a low position. I acquired the hair of teachers at preschools, day cares, and schools, and searched for children who seemed like they had the makings. Or I made use of the hair of the children themselves.

I searched for those who stuck out from the group. Those who were clearly excluded. Those who smiled sheepishly, even when stones were thrown at them. Those who had rumors whispered about them and pretended not to hear as they passed by, despite being bothered. Those who found their desks decorated with a vase containing a single chrysanthemum when they arrived at school in the morning.

It wasn’t just about what happened at school. There were those who had a cheery and fun life at school, while hiding the bruises and cigarette burn scars on their stomachs. Those who feared the footsteps of their stepfathers visiting late at night. Those who just couldn’t stand going home, and who sat hugging their knees in the forest with piles of illegally dumped household appliances.

They were depressed and repressed, the energy pent up within them with no place to go. Even knowing how bad things were, they couldn’t break out of it or run away. They wanted there to be some way out of this. They wouldn’t mind suffering for it, and they could put up with pain. They hoped, prayed, and wished for an escape.

Such a single-minded will shone brightly and guided them to the top as a magical girl. Even if it was twisted and faltering, that just made it that much stronger. Perhaps insane asylums would have contained the greatest material.

It wasn’t as if this was without problems. It all depended on the nature and character of the individual, but most were satisfied somewhat by turning into magical girls and resolving their problems. They didn’t try to aim further than that, to go beyond—it was just “Oh, what a relief,” and it was over. Their imagination didn’t try to go forward from that.

I’d tried before to broaden my targets to include adults. I’d thought that with the depth of their desires, surely they would be stronger than children. I couldn’t deny that was a careless stereotype.

The former elite businessman who got kicked to a downsized position under the pretense of technical training, the former factory manager who continuously fled from loan sharks and was living in a home made of tarps and cardboard boxes, and the former playgirl who despaired of ever being loved again because of her age and being drowned in alcohol were all pretty close, but lacking in a final clincher. All of them wound up feeling strange about being magical girls.

In that respect, the highest rate of compatibility really was with children, or women into their twenties, at most. Even if the rare talent who could become a magical girl as an adult would often have exceptional aptitude, it was difficult to find them because they were so few overall—so then gathering child candidates and screening those could enable you to gather talent more efficiently. But then children would be satisfied once their desires were somewhat fulfilled.

And so, Snow White.

She had participated in Cranberry’s exam, been greatly affected by it, and wanted power. She sought the combat ability to stop magical girls who would do something similar to what Cranberry had done. There was no end to that desire. It was like a shounen manga where no matter how strong you were, a stronger enemy would appear—she would have to strengthen herself until she became an invincible magical girl who would never lose, no matter who she was up against.

And she would carry that out, with a strong will. This was not some vague longing for strength. She was one who had made the choice. This just meant that there was no limit to the power necessary for the methods she had chosen. She would continue to seek it forever. Just as Cranberry had, most likely, until her death.

I thought it truly was fitting to call them Cranberry’s children. The way the Musician of the Forest lived continued to attract both those who envied her and those who hated her, in equal measure.

Well then, what about the one who had “stepped down”?

One hour before Snow White would finish her daily helping activities, I went to visit Ripple. In order to make contact with her, I had to gain the permission of the magical girl who was her mentor. It seemed that she had not taken an interest in the mentoring role, but rather had had the role basically forced on her. So while she was exasperated with my enthusiasm, she easily gave permission, saying “do as you please.”

Ripple also spent time helping people, but it wasn’t as if she was running around restlessly to busy herself everywhere and not settle in one place. She had an orthodox style: She patrolled along a fixed route, would pause briefly atop a tall building, then patrol again, resolving problems as they occurred. Not being able to hear the inner voices of those in need like Snow White, that had to be the easiest way for her to do things.

Making use of hair that I’d acquired by sneaking into Kano Sazanami’s apartment beforehand, I checked in on her, and then when she stopped briefly on the roof of a department store, I called out to her.

She noticed me by sound or by my presence before I even said a word, reaching for the hilt of her sword and turning around to face me. She really did move like Cranberry’s youngest. Her movements were efficient, and her eyes were sharp. Most of all, she was fast. In half a blink, she was fully ready to fight, readying in a low stance, nearly on all fours on the stone paving.

It seemed her ninja-style costume was not just for show, and her speed was top class, even compared with magical girls overall. And with her magic shuriken that always hit their targets, she was pretty strong. It made sense that she’d made it through that exam.

And as she moved, her long black hair fluttered like a living thing. It was very rare for black hair to shine in the darkness. It was fine hair. It made me want to comb it with my fingers. Just imagining the smooth texture flowing between my fingers was irresistible, but I would hold back for now.

I held my palm out at her and smiled, showing that I had no hostility or ill will. Ripple moved her hand away from her sword, and she straightened up. Her expression was still hard.

I bowed and gave her my business card. Having even one business card on your person made a slight difference when you were a magical girl in a position of power.

“I’m also Snow White’s mentor, as I’m sure you’re aware,” I said.

“Snow White’s?”

I thought I saw her expression soften a little. Even with the marks of a ghastly battle remaining on her face, she still looked somewhat cute—well, she was a magical girl, after all. The scar on her face had thinner skin of a different color, and when she expressed hostility, it was brimming with impact and intimidation. But right now, I felt as if it had the air of a wounded soldier’s sorrow, left all alone after her comrades-in-arms died without her.

I didn’t let my feelings show on my face, however.

“She asked me for some advice,” I said.

“Advice.”

“About what she should do in order to become stronger.”

Ripple’s expression visibly darkened. A wrinkle gathered in her brow, and her scar seemed to grow tight.

“Are you aware of the reason why Snow White is trying to become stronger?”

Ripple didn’t answer and simply hung her head. Her eyes were on her own toes, on the feet that wore single-toothed geta. Even with such unsteady footwear, so long as it was her original costume, a magical girl would always be able to move around without issue.

I focused on the present and continued. “Snow White was a participant in Cranberry’s final exam, as you yourself were. Others will be watching you closely. If you’re just trying to get stronger, that’s one thing, but if you have some kind of goal…I can’t imagine that will go well.”

Ripple didn’t open her mouth and didn’t make to meet my eyes.

“I have no intention of reporting you to the Magical Kingdom,” I told her.

Ripple seemed mildly shocked, lifting her chin.

I nodded at her. “If I meant to report you, then I wouldn’t have come to talk to you.”

I gave her a casual smile in an attempt to ease her wariness as much as I could. Its efficacy aside, it’s practically become a habit of mine.

“However, if the Magical Kingdom learns that she’s seeking strength and I’m unable to explain that sufficiently, then I’ll be relieved of my post. And if that happens, who knows what sort of magical girl will be assigned to her next? If someone intensely hostile toward Cranberry were to become Snow White’s mentor, I strongly believe that would be bad for her.”

Ripple gave me a penetrating look with her remaining eye. It was a serious expression indeed.

Somewhat satisfied, I let out a breath and surveyed the area.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the roof of a department store,” I said. “Oh, this takes me back.”

The department store roof that I went to once a week when I was a child seemed bigger, had a higher fence around the edge, and the retail stands and play equipment were fancier. Perhaps that was because I had been looking with a child’s eyes, or perhaps it was a change of the times and the coming of the recession. The popcorn stand, the stone paving, and part of the iron railing were new, so it seemed it wasn’t entirely abandoned.

I turned back to Ripple once more. She seemed a little bit bewildered. Toying with her a little bit like this made negotiations easier.

“Could you question Snow White about her motives for me? I tried asking, but she was evasive and wouldn’t answer. If you were to ask, then she just might tell you.” I gave her a firm look. “If it’s the right thing to do, then I shall help, too. Snow White is in need of aid, isn’t she?”

Ripple gazed at me with unwavering eyes. She was evaluating me. Having lived a life of battle, it didn’t seem like she would be experienced at all in negotiation—from what I’d seen of her background, she had more than the look—but Ripple was tough in that area, too. That was what it meant to be one of Cranberry’s children.

I exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers with Ripple. Now I could contact her at any time. After that, I took her hand for a light shake, released it, then waved my hand with a smile and leaped down from the department store roof. When I turned away from her, I sensed her tense up at my having so casually given her an opening. It was a very mild murderous aura. She would never turn her back on someone so casually. Even if she seemed as if she’d left the battlefield, she was still a fighter. That was rather nice, I felt.

The next day, I contacted Snow White.

“Did you say something to Ripple?” was the first thing she said to me. That was also very nice.

“As your mentor, I wanted to know about your friends,” I replied. “I was relieved to see she is such a good one to you.”

“That was unnecessary.”

Her tone of voice grew higher and louder. I made sure not to let it pull my own voice higher.

“It was not. You’re in enough danger right now that from where I stand, it seems to me you have to be just that careful. Besides…” I paused. “You never did tell me, in the end, why you wish to become stronger.”

“I don’t need to tell you that.”

The tone of her voice dropped slightly. Snow White had flinched—just a bit.

This was my chance. I pressed further. “If you tell me, then I can help you. If you don’t tell me, then I won’t be able to help out. Whether what you want to do is criminal in nature or against the will of the Magical Kingdom, I will not let it slip to anyone else. I shall swear that on myself as a magical girl.”

I doubted that I was worth enough as a magical girl to be able to swear on myself, but I wouldn’t know how Snow White felt about it.

“Do you remember what I said before?” I continued. “About what you would be willing to sacrifice to get stronger. If the word sacrifice is too strong, then let me put it another way. What would you be willing to use? Yes, it’s all right. You may use me. It’s because you’re trying to do absolutely everything on your own that you’re so helpless right now.”

She fell silent. But she was listening. I could sense her on the other end of the magical phone.

“If you have no one to practice with, then you should ask Ripple. If a mentor is the type who likes to meddle, then just flatter her so she’ll do as you please—make her a tool for training yourself. You know—compared to the likes of Cranberry, it’s difficult to call me good at fighting. But I have raised a number of magical girls. I’m confident that when it comes to raising magical girls, I am just as good as Cranberry. I am truly the perfect person for you to use to get stronger.”

I paused for a breath there.

“Use me, Snow White. And to that end, please be open with me. What do you want to do? Why do you want to get stronger? If I know the reason, then I will be able to offer appropriate advice.”

“…You…”

It was less that the tone of her voice was calm and more that it had weakened. Having someone who might understand there was bringing out her weakness. That was a good trend.

“What is it worth to you to be used by me?” she asked.

“That’s just what it is to be a mentor. Schools in the human world are just the same. The students use the teacher and go out into society. If you can become more like the magical girl of your dreams by using me, then nothing could make me gladder. I’m doing this job prepared to be used.”

Silence came once more. Without waiting for her answer, I said, “I’m waiting to hear a favorable response,” then hung up.

On that day, unusually, Snow White had had a fight with Ripple.

My magic can’t pick up sound. So I wasn’t able to tell what they were talking about, but I could tell from looking, at least, that they were having a heated exchange. And having gone to both of them to shake them up, I could easily imagine what it was about, too.

Snow White was trying to get stronger. She was trying to put herself into places where she would fight.

Ripple couldn’t accept that. In her mind, the fighting was over.

Ripple was only ever thinking about Snow White. If Snow White had also been thinking of Ripple, then the two of them wouldn’t be clashing. But Snow White was wavering. I had made her waver. She was different from how she had been one week ago. If Ripple was the only one she had to rely on, then she would rely on Ripple.

With occasional tears welling in their eyes, the two of them continued their dispute before parting without ever reaching a conclusion. Snow White turned her back to Ripple as Ripple left and didn’t wave like she always did.

I immediately turned on my magical phone and called Ripple. “Hello. This is Frederica.”

“Yeah… Hi.”

“How did things go with Snow White? Did she tell you about her goal?”

Ripple didn’t answer. She would be thinking that me calling her like this right after they had parted ways meant, in other words, that I must have been watching her. It was a fact that I’d been watching her. I knew Ripple would find it suspicious. It was fine for Ripple to see me that way. It would actually be a problem if she felt I was someone she could rely on.

Certain that Snow White had told Ripple about her goal, I pressed further. “I’m concerned.”

“Concerned?”

“Yes, I am. That at this rate, Snow White might well do something reckless. That her desire to become stronger might grow so much, she might throw herself someplace dangerous without having a grasp on her own abilities.”

I had my magical phone in my right hand while I manipulated my crystal ball with my left. I could see Ripple, holding her magical phone. She looked like she’d just swallowed a bitter pill. It was rather nice when someone wore their heart on their sleeve.

“Even if I were to try to stop her, I doubt she would listen,” I continued. “But what about you, Ripple? Can you stop Snow White from being reckless?”

I knew the answer. There were no words that would stop Snow White.

“I’d like to do something before things go badly.” Emphasizing my concern for Snow White, I hung up the phone.

Ripple remained frozen in my crystal ball, still holding her magical phone. Satisfied with the results of what I’d said to her, I erased the image in my crystal ball.

If Snow White was left to her own devices, she would act on her own. She would head off someplace dangerous unprepared and get hurt. At best, she would get hurt—she would most likely die.

Rather than let that happen, it would be better to ensure she was prepared. Ripple should teach Snow White how to fight, and in doing so, heighten Snow White’s survivability.

I had implicitly said as much, and I figured Ripple had understood me correctly.

Next, I contacted Snow White. “Hello? This is Frederica.”

“…Hello.”

Her voice was trembling. Ah, she must have been crying. I didn’t have to use the crystal ball to know that.

I deliberately stuck to casual chitchat. I asked her about unimportant things, like how was school, what about exams, giving her advice that seemed very significant but was in fact the sort anyone could give. Then when I tried to hang up the phone and say good-bye, Snow White opened her mouth.

“Um.”

It sounded like she’d blurted that out and startled even herself.

“What’s the matter?” I prompted her, as gently as possible. There was a child inside the door who wanted it opened. There was no need for me to force it open from my end. I had set up enough that she should open it from that side. I should just wait patiently until the effects were shown. It would surely be that day, or the next…no, it was now.

After just over two minutes of silence, Snow White began to speak, with occasional pauses.

Everything she said, I’d anticipated, so I was not shocked at all. But nevertheless, I did more or less make it seem that I was surprised as I made interjections to have her continue, drawing it all out of her.

If there were any magical girls like Cranberry, she was going to stop them. She wanted to keep that from ever happening again. She also wanted to proactively interfere in major conflicts of the human world. To that end, she had to get stronger, no matter what.

The idealism was very like Snow White. As for if she could do it or not—I believed she could.

The Magical Kingdom’s monitoring system was slack, even with a problem child of note requiring special attention like Snow White. To put it unkindly, it was a careless principle of laissez-faire. That sort of thing never changed, not in a hundred years, and not in a thousand. If “Cranberry’s children” were to take the public stage, I was sure people would view them with bias, but if I were to help her out, attending her on the pretext of mentor-slash-monitor, then we could smother that as we pleased.

Snow White loathed certain kinds of behavior. Types like that lasted for a long time.

Ripple hated individuals. Those would burn out quickly.

But from what I could see, she hadn’t completely burned herself out. At the depths of her heart, she was smoldering. If I did my best to blow on those coals and nurture them into a fire, then she would come to help Snow White, at least.

I made it seem as if I was shocked by what she said, telling her to let me consider it a bit before I hung up the phone. I had to react to it at least this seriously, or she would either think of me as just a thoughtless magical girl or be suspicious.

Of course, I’d already come to my conclusion. I would make Snow White into a strong magical girl. With her personality, with her mentality, I might be able to get close to the ideal magical girl I had in mind. I might be able to update the old ways and change the moldy old Magical Kingdom. I sensed a talent I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was itching to put my skills to use as a mentor.

It would be best for her to become so great that even if the officials knew of her behavior, they wouldn’t be able to interfere so easily. She should expose a couple of magical girls who were doing bad things—that would be a wordless attack on the Magical Kingdom’s laissez-faire policy, earn her a nickname, and make villains fear her. Conversely, the Magical Kingdom would use her as a symbol for eliminating villains.

I would have to think up something frightening for the nickname. White Devil. White God of Death. No. Something more like…not about her appearance, but expressing her actions… I would leave that for homework.

I powered off my magical phone and placed it on the table, then left the kitchen and put my hand on the sliding door of the tatami room. A whirring sound could be heard continuously from within. The fan for air circulation was spinning on and on.

I slid open the door. When I stepped inside, my foot sank in slightly. I felt with the sole of my foot the tatami, a different sensation from flooring. Until a year ago, the tatami had still smelled refreshing and fresh, but the scent had quickly dissipated—perhaps due to the endless spinning of the fan.

When I entered this room, happiness suffused my whole body.

Instead of walls, both sides were filled with rough steel bookshelves, and the opposite side was also filled by a similar bookshelf. Just in case, I had used supports bought at the hardware store to make it earthquake resistant, but I had no idea how useful it would be if a major earthquake were to happen.

The shelves were lined with file folders. Following the English letters displayed on them, I picked up the file I was after and opened it. There was a single piece of hair, stuck in a piece of tissue paper. It was dark blond and slightly wavy.

This was an item in my collection that I was particularly attached to. Just looking at this strand of hair, so many memories rose vividly in my mind. But I also felt this had caused me to cling to it on and on, unwilling to let go and unable to move forward. But since now, I had a subject for my interest, Snow White—

Taking out the hair, I slid the file back in the shelf and returned to the tatami room. I placed my foot on the pedal and opened the kitchen garbage, letting the hair I’d pinched in my fingers flutter down. The hair, dropped on top of an avocado peel, looked a little sad… Oh, such sentimentality. I was embarrassed for myself.

I wound up carelessly missing just what sort of exchange the two of them had, but that wasn’t what I was curious about, anyhow. So long as Ripple kept supervising Snow White’s combat training, then I was fine.

Even calling it combat training, they weren’t doing things like running and jumping. They mainly sparred—Ripple guided her in the correct way of kicking and punching. If possible, I would have liked to see her do throws and joint locks against magical girls, but perhaps Ripple didn’t have such a technique; she mainly relied on projectiles.

Ripple seemed to be relieved.

Snow White was weaker, slower, and clumsier in technique than Ripple—in other words, she was inferior in every aspect.

She would never be able to go out into a real fight like this. In fact, maybe she would quit right now. I could imagine that was what Ripple was relieved about.

I was relieved, too. Even having the difference in their abilities and practical combat experience thrust in her face, even if she wasn’t taken seriously and occasionally was knocked to the ground in the park with her white costume covered in dirt, Snow White never lost her determination to fight. That really was nice. And cute.

It was fine that Ripple was stronger than she was. Ripple had fought her way through the violent battle where even Cranberry had lost her life, and survived. The wounds she had gotten were proof of her battle experience. Of course she would be stronger than Snow White, who most likely had never even thought about fighting. So then it was best for Snow White to not despair in their difference in abilities and not lose heart, maintaining her will to fight.

I observed Snow White’s and Ripple’s training for three days after that. Though the way she moved was starting to look good, there truly was nothing to be done about the starkly soaring difference in their abilities, and Snow White never got past being pushed around by Ripple.

I paid particular attention to Snow White’s expressions. Even failing to match her friend, day after day, she still was not giving up. But I could see her impatience. She was restless, wondering how much stronger she would get from continuing this training. And she was right to be impatient. Though Ripple was technically training with her, she didn’t want Snow White to get stronger.

After Snow White’s training that day was over, I contacted her. “I’ve made up my mind. I will help you out.”

I heard her draw in a breath from the other end of the phone. She paused for a good moment before replying, “Thank you.”

“Oh, no, please don’t worry about it. I told you before, didn’t I? You should use me. I want nothing more, as your mentor.”

I checked Snow White through my crystal ball. Beyond her apologetic face, I could see the ocean. The lights of a fishing boat were sparkling on the horizon. It seemed she was making this call from atop an iron tower close to the ocean.

“I’ll tell you the trick. Please remember this. The first thing is to spend as much time as a magical girl as possible. Make your time as a human the shortest possible, and generally remain a magical girl when you’re alone.”

Humans and magical girls had a different sense of time. When you were trying to learn something, it was more convenient to be a magical girl. So long as you had no special business, such as wanting to experience some time for a hobby, like me, then you should remain as a magical girl.

In my crystal ball, Snow White was conscientiously taking notes. It was truly charming, seeing this obedience added on top of her stoicism, in pursuing strength.

“Please believe that your life as a human is ultimately for show, and your true role is as a magical girl. It’s not enough to think it. You must believe it. And moreover, while you are a magical girl and while you are human, please be constantly simulating battles in your head. Do not simply think of it. Envision yourself in a whirlpool of killing and being killed. Do not wish it—believe in it.”

This may have been impossible for someone with absolutely no combat experience, but having had her mock battles with Ripple, then it should not be out of the question. It would still be difficult, but not impossible.

I believed that the greatest source of support for a magical girl’s strength was her imagination. It was written in Snow White’s profile from Cranberry’s final exam that she had a habit of daydreaming. Cranberry was a sinister but charming battle-mad woman who was happy so long as she was fighting, and Fav was a natural straight bastard and terrible person, but they were never wrong when it came to character evaluation of the examinees. Daydreaming and imagination are the same thing. Feelings, thoughts, prayers, and beliefs made up the unbreakable, thick, and supple backbone of a magical girl.

It was primitive, but that was fine. My personal method of raising a magical girl would be perfect for Snow White.

“Do not give up. Do not doubt. And remain serious. These three things are it. We are magical girls. In terms of general societal standards, our existence itself is absurd. That is precisely why you must be serious about this.”

It was by doing something foolish seriously that a magical girl became stronger. Adorable Cranberry was a good example.

“Our lives in human society are supplementary. You may be a student studying for entrance exams, but you will not study properly for your exams. Either cheat outright to pass, or choose a high school where you can pass without studying, or quit after middle school—choose one.”

If you tried a reckless move, you’d succeed more often than you thought.

I talked to Snow White about how to become stronger, and she noted every single thing I said down until the end, without voicing any doubts about what I was saying. When I apologized that I couldn’t watch her combat training myself, she told me that Ripple was training with her. Yes, I thought, I know.

“Thank you very much,” she said.

“It’s all right. Don’t worry about it. I’m doing this because I like it.”

“Oh, no, but please let me say my thanks. You’ve helped me a lot,” she said with a serious expression, clasping her hand in front of her chest.

Seeing her made my heart clench. Why was everything about this girl so cute? Cranberry’s exam records had noted that others protected her many times, too—was this sort of thing the reason?

What an un-magical girl-like devilish charm.

It took time, but Snow White managed to keep up with Ripple. It was more or less turning into a teacher-and-student situation, rather than her just being toyed with. Even if Ripple’s skills still towered over hers, Snow White had basically gotten started. She was aware of her goal and clearly pointed in one direction.

Snow White was sticking to my instructions with simple honesty. She imagined, thought, and believed. It wasn’t just two or three hours in a day. She used the hours when she normally would have been sleeping, whittling down on her time in human form to fight as a magical girl. She would go home and meditate. She’d finish her magical girl activities, then meditate. Right after eating breakfast, meditation. She was always battling in her heart.

The real sense of getting stronger was most fun when you were on the way. I’d experienced it myself, so I understood. Snow White seemed like she was truly having fun.

Ripple seemed like she was confused. She saw Snow White as someone to protect and not as a comrade-in-arms to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with. This was arrogant, but not wrong. If Snow White hadn’t gotten motivated, then most likely, their relationship would have continued like that.

While Ripple was still confused, the way she taught Snow White began to change. She became more like a teacher guiding a student, rather than dodging a playing child. But Snow White still wasn’t even at elementary school level—this was day care or preschool. All Ripple taught was the basics, and that alone was enough for Snow White.

That was fine for now. Magical girls were different from humans. It took quite a bit of training for a human to even become able to master a “correct low kick.” But a magical girl just needed a trigger, and emotion.

I had been thinking that Ripple didn’t want Snow White to get stronger, but it looked as if she was not entirely dissatisfied. Or rather, perhaps it was correct to say that she was glad to see Snow White enjoying herself.

I opened my file, adding in notes such as “it might be nice for this girl to have a little more moisture in her hair” on the photos that I’d newly added to my collection as I imagined my perfect version of Snow White. If there was anything lacking, then what was it? The complexly braided long, soft, and vividly golden shining hair gave a sharp kick to my inspiration. I had a flash of insight.

Range and attack power—areas she would continue to lack in even if she kept on training. Snow White hadn’t pictured herself with those skills. That said, forcing her in that direction and distorting her growth would ruin everything.

I placed the file folder on the table and pulled up the documents on my magical phone. There was something that had appeared in Cranberry’s exams, and its whereabouts were not in the records.

After making sure that their training was over and the two of them had parted ways, I contacted Ripple.

“Hello, Ripple? This is Frederica. I’m calling because there’s something I wanted to chat with you about. Do you mind?”

“…Sure.”

“During Cranberry’s exams, there should have been a number of Magical Kingdom items…such as a bag and a weapon. Do you know what became of those?”

“Holding on to them… Snow White and I…”

She was trailing off in places—likely because she didn’t want to say, and she was being made to talk about something she didn’t want to remember.

“So then do you two still have them?”

“Yes.”

“There should be five things—the four-dimensional bag, the invisibility cloak, energy pills, the rabbit’s foot, and a weapon.”

“Yes.”

“Could you tell me which of you carries what?”

“The bag, the weapon, and the cloak…are with me…Snow White is holding on to the rabbit’s foot. The pills…I think they were probably all used up during the exam. Since there were none left.”

I see, I see. So Ripple sees it as just holding on to them?

“It seems ownership of the items is unclear,” I said.

“Yes.”

“So you can lend and borrow the items between the two of you.”

“…Why are you asking me that?”

“If the time comes when Snow White means to fight, then it would be best for her to have more tools at her disposal.”

“Weren’t you against Snow White fighting?”

Ripple was blaming herself. It seemed that Ripple didn’t want Snow White fighting, after all. Maybe she’d been a little glad to see Snow White so happily training. It made sense to be happy when a friend was happy. But deep down, she hadn’t changed.

Right when the exam had been about to end, Ripple had fought for her friend and gotten revenge by killing her enemy. Had that been venting her anger against the one who had killed her friend? Hadn’t that partially been about lightening her own sin of letting her friend die?

Even if her sin was lightened, it would never vanish. She would carry it forever. She was still carrying it now.

Ripple couldn’t bear to see her friend in danger.

“What I was against,” I began, “was Snow White acquiring only a smattering of knowledge and, believing incorrectly that she had become strong, going out into danger. So long as what Snow White wishes for is not wrong, then I would like to grant it for her, as much as I can.”

“You can let her do that, even knowing it’s dangerous?”

“In her case, it might not be dangerous.”

Ripple clicked her tongue.

“A magical girl like her shouldn’t be in combat.”

“That’s something Snow White will decide on her own. It’s not for you to decide.”

She clicked her tongue even louder and hung up.

Ripple was getting emotional and not trying to hide it—perhaps out of guilt that she herself had taken Snow White’s hand and guided her into battle. Ripple was weak to such pushes…weak to Snow White’s pushing. When they’d fought before parting ways the last time, Ripple had begun helping Snow White with her training in the end, just like Snow White wanted. That partly had to be because Ripple had accepted my advice that the worst thing would be to let Snow White do something dangerous when she was still weak. But I believed the biggest reason she had accepted my advice might well have been Snow White’s tears during their fight.

She treasured her friend, and that was what bound her, keeping her from acting—that was Ripple, right now.

I picked up the file folder and began flipping through its pages to sharpen the workings of my mind. I imagined a completed version of Snow White, making corrections to my vision as I went.

In addition to athleticism and powerful magic, Cranberry’s strength had been backed by a wealth of experience, and the knowledge gained from that. Knowing the weaknesses and strength of a given magic was the key to victory in battles between magical girls.

Snow White lacked Cranberry’s knowledge and experience, but her magic was to hear the thoughts of those in need. Apparently, during the exam, she had heard the mental voice of an enemy who had not wanted to be found and discovered their location. She’d also heard Fav’s internal voice, thinking that he’d be in trouble if he was attacked by a Magical Kingdom weapon, and so had had Ripple attack him.

Yes, she knew what the enemy didn’t want done. Even without prior knowledge of their magic, she could fight from a similar position as Cranberry in any given situation. She could make good use of her four items and make the best choices for the situation.

By the time I was done reading, inside my head, Snow White had become the strongest and most absolutely invincible magical girl in history. Satisfied, I set down the file folder and stretched my back.

Just as I’d anticipated, Ripple did not give up on Snow White’s training. She prioritized her association with Snow White over her own selfishness.

Indeed, it was arrogant selfishness to take a sword away from someone who said they would fight, telling them to stand behind you and tremble. Ripple understood that, too. It was because she understood that she was angry at me.

Snow White fired a light jab, then made it seem like she was going for a right high kick—but when Ripple swept her pivot leg out from under her, she fell, Ripple twisting her right arm around and forcing her to the ground. The two of them broke apart immediately, and this time Snow White went from a jump to bringing down her fist with full power, which Ripple lightly brushed aside.

In just a month, Snow White had absorbed and memorized how to move her body, just like a sponge sucking up water. No—she had learned even more than she had been taught.

She followed up her jab with a high kick. This technique blocked one side with a fist, creating a blind spot before making the kick. She had made use of Ripple’s handicap of one eye. It was dirty, and not simply making correct use of what she had been taught.

This was nothing but a little craftiness right now, but give it a month, and that would change. However, her wildly telegraphed jumping punch was a little unsatisfactory. It was fine to come up with her own ideas, but Ripple would correct that sort of unnecessary performance.

I turned off the image in my crystal ball. Snow White was growing quite beautifully. I couldn’t spend all my time and attention on that. There was a mountain of things I had to get done. I was lagging in my regular business, too. I had decisions to make and things to think about.

Both humans and magical girls shone brightest when they were needed. The work most needed from me, the number one business on my priority list, was the next newbie selection exam. As a scout and as a mentor, I would send my ideal, most excellent talent. I would gather candidates, have them fight and compete, and select a magical girl. For the sake of my ideals, I would make a selection—of a righteous heroine who would defeat evil and uphold justice.

To that end, I needed preparation. And the plan for the next exam was…

Upon checking my magical phone, I noticed it was coming right up. I wanted to add a little accent to that. I skimmed over the faces of the participants registered in my magical phone. There just wasn’t any talent there that struck me. There were no magical girls with hair that made me want to touch it. To get out of this rut, I wanted to put in my own twist. Something small, even, would be enough.

I know.

I came up with an idea. How about making an amusement park the stage for the exam? It would be on the roof of the department store where Snow White first met Ripple. There was a certain atmosphere to the facility at night, surrounded by play equipment and vendor stalls.

I pulled out a file folder, so as to make my new idea a reality.

For the month following, it was fair to say things went generally, if not entirely, smoothly.

Ripple and Snow White’s sparring became more intense, and they moved their training grounds from the park into the mountains. They were concerned that they might gouge out the ground or break playground equipment, and sadden the children. This was a very magical girl–appropriate concern, both heartwarming and sensible.

Being in the forest enabled them to move more vertically, and they clashed like they would in real combat: jumping off rock walls to leap on each other, making use of that momentum to grab an arm and throw the opponent, doing three turns in the air to land and instantly strike back again.

Snow White’s powers of imagination were working brilliantly now, and she was much closer to the ideal in her mind. She was still a ways from Ripple, but she was still a good opponent. Considering how she’d been two months ago, it was astounding. Her powers of imagination were even more marvelous than I had thought.

Surprisingly, Ripple was moving better, too. She must have been set off by Snow White, as she had grown as well. Now Snow White and Ripple were helping each other grow. The two of them were so charming, sitting down side by side on some rocks and wiping off their sweat as they discussed with occasional smiles how to approach something.

I didn’t even know how I should describe it—perhaps I could say I looked at them like a mother. It was so emotional to watch over the two of them, thinking about how they’d grown into such good girls and gotten so strong. Sometimes, I even felt like I could shed a tear, oh dear.

Now she just had to get Ripple to lend her those items—but even when I called Ripple, she didn’t pick up. She was refusing my calls. That type can be so stubborn.

I needed to see Ripple and talk to her in person. She was vital for Snow White’s growth, and my communication with Ripple was also vital.

My phone calls with Snow White continued without interruption. I committed to the act of the good senior, making reference to what I saw of their training in my crystal ball to give her advice.

“I see. So she’s able to read your movements.”

“Yes, and she basically catches me no matter what I do. Um… If you don’t mind my asking, could we meet in person so you can see this for yourself?”

“I’m sorry—much as I would love to, my schedule is just so terribly busy.”

“Oh…”

She had implied subtly many times that she wanted to meet. Today, she was the most straightforward yet. As happy as that made me, I preferred to avoid meeting her face-to-face.

“Now then… Would you say you have a few quirks of your own?”

“Quirks…?”

“Drawing back your foot a little when you’re about to advance, for instance. Those small habits might clue her in to your next movements.”

Snow White actually did do that.

“You should dig through your habits and make use of them instead. Like with that example, if you come forward without drawing your foot back, you could take the enemy by surprise.”

Snow White listened to me obediently, and then deliberately exposed the habit that Ripple was already aware of to cause Ripple to make a move, then punished that initial movement and successfully smacked a kick into Ripple’s thigh. Ripple was surprised, but Snow White was surprised, too.

In the phone call after their training that day, I could easily tell how excited she was, even without using my crystal ball. I always praised her; all that joy made a magical girl even stronger. Snow White’s happiness was my happiness.

And so, things were going well in the Snow White area. As you can tell from how I explicitly added “in the Snow White area,” things were not going well at my principal occupation.

I’d held an exam on the department store roof because it had left quite a deep impression on me, but it had turned out to be a mess. The play equipment and facilities were damaged in vain, proving Snow White’s and Ripple’s wisdom in having moved from the park to the mountains, and on top of that, not a single one of the ten participants passed. Exhausted for nothing, I gazed at my file folder for comfort, flipping through the pages. The examinees had become new material to add to the folder, and in that sense it wasn’t a complete waste, but it hadn’t been enough to give my spirit any kick. Jotting in notes on the photos, adding in the used hairs at the side, I sighed, feeling like I was doing this out of obligation or inertia.

Oh well. There was Snow White. And I wasn’t just saying this to console myself in my exhaustion. Snow White was a very interesting magical girl. She was, without exaggeration, my type. Raising Snow White to adulthood would be my greatest job as a magical girl. So a minor failure over this exam was no problem.

Turning on the TV for no particular reason, I saw the news that ten girls had died in a bus accident. Looking at the mournful expression on the newscaster even made me depressed. I turned off the TV and went to making up the documents to submit to the higher-ups. Snow White was a very good magical girl with no violent tendencies at all and spent every day making use of her magic to busy herself in helping people, period dot.

Now that I’d casually dealt with my regular duties, I could finally devote all my time to Snow White. Though my unresolved problem was not Snow White, but Ripple, however.

Currently, I had managed to build a friendly relationship with Snow White. It was fair to say I had inveigled her.

Ripple was a hassle in comparison. Her tongue clicks over the phone cut sharper than a knife. Between her history as a magical girl and what she was doing, it was unmistakably clear that she treasured her friend. I would have to be flexible in persuading her and use Snow White to my advantage.

I made sure that Snow White and Ripple had parted ways and that Snow White had come down from the mountain, then went to visit Ripple.

The emptier the mountains, the more mystical they became, and the night of a full moon further enhanced that. It made even the insects gathering on mossy rocks and tree bark summon emotions. The spring water that trickled out from the rocks and through the trees merged with the river, and I aimed upstream, following along the river at the valley bottom with rock walls on either side. Hopping off the rocks at a good tempo, I flew along. A magical girl would not slip by accident.

Even after parting ways with Snow White, Ripple hadn’t left yet. She had her legs crossed atop a rock. I didn’t know if she was zoning out, meditating, thinking, or listening to the babbling of the river. She had always been like this, ever since Snow White’s training had moved to the mountains. If there was any moment we could talk, it was now.

Hopping up to the rocky area where she was sitting, I bowed my head. “Hello, it’s been quite some time, Ripple.”

As soon as I revealed myself, she gave me a completely disgusted look. Oh, she hates me.

“About what we spoke about before—were you able to consider it?” I asked.

She turned her head away. She clearly didn’t mean to listen. In her mind, I was surely a traitor who had failed to maintain her trust.

“I’m grateful you’ve managed to train her. Snow White has grown so much stronger, too.”

Ripple glared at me. With no light but the moon, Ripple’s right eye had a piercing glow. It didn’t look like that of a human or a magical girl, but like some kind of monster or apparition. Not that I’d ever seen a monster or an apparition, but I was sure they would have such a powerful look in their eye.

“So you were monitoring us, after all.”

“Huh?”

“How do you know that Snow White’s gotten stronger?”

Oh no. I said too much.

“It’s not quite right to call it monitoring. I believe it’s more accurate to describe it as watching over you. I have an obligation to watch and see whether she is truly walking the correct path.”

A tongue click. She was angry. But if she wasn’t going straight home now, then there was still room for negotiation. I just had to draw out lots of sincerity to win her over. I shifted from trivial small talk to talk about work, nonchalantly working in that magical girls who were like my students worked in various places after leaving me, to show off that I was a capable mentor. Then I added that some students still made me worry even now, sighing with a pained look, as I lightly wiped away my tears with a fingertip.

At this point, I examined Ripple’s face. Her bottom lip was stuck right out. It was cute, but it seemed she was still angry. Let’s continue.

I told her how glad I was to be able to meet a girl as talented as Snow White. I praised her humanity and her ambition. I spoke of her immeasurable potential, and how she might be able to change the Magical Kingdom, which thought little of magical girls and hardly paid attention to them, and how opening up the organization like this would make Snow White happier, too. I meant to speak calmly, so that I wouldn’t sound too flippant, but I wasn’t sure how she took it.

I examined Ripple’s expression. Ripple’s eye was trained on the other side of the river, and she had a “Huh?” look on her face. Drawn to look in the same direction, I found out that everything was ruined.

Snow White was there, at the edge of the mountain stream. In her right hand, she carried a white lump of fur—that had to be the rabbit’s foot. Snow White had not left. She had gone back home to come back with the rabbit’s foot. Maybe they had discussed redistributing their items. If that was the case, it would mean Ripple had actually listened to my opinion.

The rabbit’s foot. A magical item that brought good luck. Perhaps to Snow White, this was lucky—since she’d gotten a rare chance to meet with the mentor she adored.

To me, this was the worst sort of misfortune. Seeing Snow White’s expression, colored with shock, gradually twist up, I swung my right leg up high. My skirt fluttered up. I kicked down with my shin, aiming for the back of Ripple’s head as she stood beside me, and knocked her down from the rocky area.

I didn’t manage a clean hit. Though Ripple wasn’t able to avoid it, right before it connected, she placed her arm around the back of her head to cushion it. I was impressed that she managed to respond so well to a surprise attack from the person she had only just been speaking with—but still, I felt her arm break.

Ripple fell into the river, and beyond the spray of water that went up, I could see Snow White. She was running toward me, yelling something incomprehensible with a twisted expression.

This meant that it was definitely over.

The reason I had so stubbornly avoided meeting Snow White in person was because of her magic to hear the thoughts of those in need. If I met her and thought, I’d be in trouble if she knew that, she could well read my mind from just that alone. And I think that she had actually heard it. She’d reacted like she had, even before I kicked down Ripple.

Since I knew what her magic was, I had no way of stopping what I thought about it. This was an unusual case where knowing someone’s magic would in fact put you at a disadvantage. Snow White really was a special magical girl.

I would have liked to make my ideal magical girl. Strong, kind, cool, putting herself on the line for justice, crying for others—that sort of magical girl. That sort of magical girl wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye to how the Magical Kingdom was. I would be her counselor in her coup d’etat. And if she allowed it, then we’d take some time alone together, I’d lay her head on my thigh, and I’d stroke her hair. Because I loved magical girls like that.

Right now, I loved Snow White. Before Snow White, I loved the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry. Loving her, I peeked in on her life, and what she was doing stimulated my curiosity. Wondering about how meaningful her exams were, I tried imitating them a few times. I did get decent results sometimes, but they generally failed—just like the selection exam I’d held at the amusement park the other day.

Thanks to that, the only thing that had gone well was making it look like an accident.

I doubted that Snow White would forgive what I had done. I wasn’t expecting to be forgiven, and I didn’t even want her to forgive me. It was just too bad. I was sincerely disappointed that I would have to finish off Snow White and Ripple here, and return to my days of seeking my ideal magical girl. They had been such necessary material for actualizing my dreams.

Snow White was supposed to have gotten stronger. She couldn’t beat me the way she was now. It truly was regrettable. What a waste—when she was the one person I’d been interested in since Cranberry’s death. For her to have to lose her life because of my inattention…

To console myself, I would take the hair of the deceased. I knew it was sentimentality, but it was just so heartrendingly sad. I would take it all, along with the skin of her head. I would process it properly so that it would not rot, and make it just for me. I would store it separately from her file.

I would be able to remember Snow White each time I looked at it. While grinding my coffee beans, I could immerse my soul in memories and slowly pray for the next time I could meet her.

Snow White jumped, cracking open a rock as she went, and I unleashed a flying kick. A little shift to the side would keep something like that from hitting. She moved too wildly. After I’d told her as much, too—but she’d gotten too emotional and was just throwing herself at me.

Breaking the bones of the neck would silence anyone, even if they were moved by anger. I dodged Snow White’s attack, and then went for a roundhouse kick at her neck—whoops. Something metal came flying at me from under the rocky area, along a trajectory that ignored the laws of physics…a kunai, which I knocked down with my raised right leg.

She could still throw a kunai, even with her arm broken? Ripple, rising up from the river, dripping water, held her sword in her mouth. She swung up her leg—again. The kunai flew, cutting through the spray of water.

Its trajectory was difficult to read, but it was slower than when she threw with her arm. I fluttered my skirt, swiping it down.

Ripple was holding kunai in her toes and throwing them. Tossing off her trademark geta, she stood in a low stance, bending deep on her right knee and even farther at the ankle, reaching with her foot into her cuff or collar to pluck kunai from in between each of her toes.

With her sword in her mouth and kunai in her feet, she was such a violent sight, it overwhelmed any silliness about her appearance—but the light in her eyes was even more intense. If I were to speak figuratively, Snow White’s gaze was like a punch, while Ripple’s gaze was a lethal stab.

Unlike Snow White, she wouldn’t understand why I had attacked, but the pure fact that I had done so was fanning the flames of her anger. Her sword, dripping water, sinisterly reflected the light of the full moon.

Snow White attacked, and Ripple threw her kunai, and I dealt with both as I made to counterattack—but right before my fist connected, I switched to defending from another kunai. The pair were working together rather well. It seemed they hadn’t been striking at each other for two months for nothing.

During the exchange, Snow White drew back her foot…but didn’t move. As I was anticipating a strike to come, Ripple’s kunai flew about wildly, and I was unable to dodge one, blood spurting from my right arm.

I leaped from one boulder to another. They were keeping up with me. Being that this was where they trained, I suppose they had the territorial advantage.

But it wasn’t enough. They weren’t going to match me by outnumbering me or knowing the territory. I was neither weak enough nor kind enough to lose to some inexperienced children.

Ripple threw not her kunai, but a short sword. It looped like a boomerang, which I easily dodged. That wasn’t enough to even be a feint. Avoided.

The next blade she swung at me, I struck, then pretended to kick while I fluttered my skirt to block her vision—it would leave me defenseless against Snow White for a moment, but I knew her range. She would just barely not reach me, and even if she pushed herself to get me, she couldn’t hit that hard—my ploy to gouge Ripple in her blind spot and strike her throat with my toes was interrupted by Snow White’s attack. I felt a sharp pain, then spun around and raced up to the rocky area upstream.

Snow White was not unarmed. She was holding the short sword that Ripple had thrown.

I realized: Aha. The short sword Ripple had thrown had not been an attack at me. It had been a pass to Snow White. So she had figured out that I was thinking I didn’t need to worry too much about Snow White’s attacks.

Repelling Snow White’s short sword as she pursued me, I barely evaded Ripple’s kunai. They were timing their attacks even more closely.

Was Snow White listening to the voice of Ripple’s heart? That pass made me think she most certainly had. Their coordination was just too fast.

I sensed that I was being pressed by my two opponents.

Ha-ha. This is so wonderfully strange.

I knew what they were capable of. Not just because of the blood that flowed from my shoulder. They were moving better and better. They were beginning to breathe in sync. They were raising each other up. They were experiencing the unique air of real fight, something that couldn’t be gained in practice. And add intense thoughts and feelings to that, and I got the ultimate form of my strategy for raising a magical girl: strength in feeling. Perhaps I shouldn’t say this when I was about to be killed, but this brought me such joy.

A kunai skimmed the crystal ball in my left hand. I had no more room for error.

While I was glad, I once again felt disappointed that this was such a waste. Of course Snow White was wonderful—but Ripple was, too. Their feelings being heightened from battle strengthened their desires, the bonds between the pair firm and tight as they struck at me like a single beast.

I kicked off a rock wall to leap off an even higher wall. I crossed paths with Snow White as she leaped from the wall on the opposite side—I blocked her kick with my shin, then did a vertical spin to swipe away a kunai with my skirt. I bounded off the wall on the opposite side, and as Snow White returned in the same manner, we crossed paths again, and she sliced up with the short sword, catching me in the cheek as I kicked down a kunai with my heel. I turned aside Ripple’s sword with the back of my hand as she leaped over Snow White’s back, and the rock wall behind me was sliced open like tofu.

It was truly regrettable for two magical girls with such aptitude to be killed by someone like me. Oh yes. I would make a decoration using hair from both of them, as a set. I would let them be close, even in death. With their hair gazing at me, I would reflect over the next exam. What a beautiful image of the future.

I clenched my crystal ball hard. There was a hair wrapped around each of my fingers on both hands. In my crystal ball, I reflected the owner of one of those hairs, a girl. She was not a magical girl. She was just a human girl. She didn’t have any potential, nor did she have any special abilities. She was an ordinary first grader, snoozing peacefully in her bed.

The essence of my magic was not using my crystal ball to peep—it was to draw the subject reflected in the crystal ball to me. It didn’t matter where the subject was. Distance didn’t matter, or even what world they were in—I’d pulled out someone who escaped into cyberspace before.

I raced up the stone wall, and when I was near the top of the cliff, I turned back and thrust my right hand into my crystal ball, grabbed the girl’s collar, and drew her out. She must have been half-asleep, as she was rubbing her eyes with a blank look.

Snow White’s and Ripple’s expressions were…yes, that was what I’d wanted to see. Their eyes were wide in shock as they looked up at me and the girl in my grasp.

Snow White and Ripple were both upright girls. They would never have imagined there were hopeless miscreants like me in the world. Some such miscreants were lower than vomit—those who had no shame at all about involving total outsiders for their own purposes.

It wasn’t as if I felt no prickles of conscience. After mentally apologizing with a cute Aw, sorry, I took action.

I gently tossed the girl from the top of the cliff. Ripple and Snow White, who had been catching up with me, flung themselves down to the bottom of the cliff to go after the girl. It would be all right. They would surely make it. I’d thrown her in order that they make it, after all. The two girls would save her before she struck the ground.

That would be my chance. If they wanted to save the girl, that would inevitably create an opening. To give myself that chance, I was willing to toss a girl who had nothing to do with this from the top of a cliff. I could do it because I was a bastard. It was because I was a bastard that I could win. In order to win, I would stomp on an unrelated weakling and take my victory. If I was up against an ally of justice, then I just had to play a corresponding villain.

I switched the image in my crystal ball. Snow White was cradling the girl in her arms. As for Ripple: When I switched the image, she was already running up the cliff. There they were, two righteous magical girls. My sentimentalism swung to max. Goodbye, my beloved magical girl. Snow White, I’m replacing you.

I could drag out the subject reflected in my crystal ball. In what state they were dragged out was up to my own abilities. I could also grab their neck fast enough to break it. No magical girl could move with her neck broken.

Fixing my aim, I quietly inserted my right hand—but the moment I touched Snow White’s neck, she flipped around and reached out her arm. Instead of grabbing her neck, I wound up grabbing her arm. On top of that, her short sword stabbed through the back of my hand to my palm—while stabbing her own arm in the process.

My right calf was sliced open at the same time, and I groaned at the shock, falling clumsily. A large shuriken bit into my right calf, stabbing in deeply. It was Ripple’s hair clip. Even if I wanted to pull it out, my right hand was pinned down, and my left hand couldn’t let go of my crystal ball. I was immobilized.

I sat down. The coldness seeped from the wet ground to my bottom. The wound in my calf was halfway to the bone. I couldn’t even crawl properly without my hands.

I breathed heavily, sending oxygen through my blood. The cold mountain air hurt my lungs.

How had Snow White seen through my attack? I had hidden my presence. She couldn’t possibly have read my hand’s mind. But the way she moved, I could only assume she’d read my mind… Ah, I see.

I’d hidden my presence to slowly sneak up behind Snow White, my right hand in her blind spot. But someone else had seen that hand—the girl in Snow White’s arms. Despite being in a whirlpool of confusion, she’d been looking. Even with only the light of the moon, this close, she would at least have seen that something had come flying. She must have felt that something would be trouble for her.

Even if she had cried out or shown Snow White with a gesture, it wouldn’t have made it in time. Snow White had heard the voice of her heart and reacted directly, grabbing my arm, and Ripple had acted in concert with her, removing her hair clip to throw it at me.

I could hear footsteps racing up the stone wall. As for myself, it really didn’t seem as if I could get up.

Ripple and Snow White had managed to use even a bastard like me. The harsher and more painful things became in the future, the stronger and more polished they would become.

How fun it was to think about their future.

How sad it was to not be able to see that future.

If my fate was to be relieved of my post at this point, then nothing could be crueler. Despite having managed to halfway fulfill my goal of creating the ideal magical girl, I was leaving the scene in the middle, without being involved until the end. It was a tragedy.

I could not become my ideal magical girl. I was rotten to the core, and I was never going to cry or repent or suddenly discover my inner justice. I could say that for certain. But even so, I’d always sought my ideal magical girl. She was a super magical girl who would destroy the Magical Kingdom, which only thought of magical girls as mere experimental animals, from the inside. She was a magical girl who could pull off what I was unable to do. I had taken on the role of teacher, mentoring, and tried to create my ideal magical girl: one who would stand at my side and become my ultimate partner in facing off against the Magical Kingdom. If only I’d had a little more time—just a little more.

Racing up toward me, Ripple was like a beast. She was smeared in blood, but she ignored her wounds, the flames of her rage blazing brightly. Loose and disheveled hair fluttering, she was hunting down the magical girl called Pythie Frederica. Sometimes, wild hair can be more beautiful than a neat hairdo. That beauty gave my inspiration a kick.

I came up with an idea. Magical-Girl Hunter. It would be fine for Ripple, but it also seemed it would suit Snow White. I thought it would be quite the nice nickname. I didn’t know if she would listen, but I would try suggesting it.