Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

THE DETECTIVE AND THE MURDER CASE

  Detec Bell

Detec Bell was a detective.

Equipped with her deerstalker cap, prop pipe, and magnifying glass, she looked just like a female Holmes. But she wasn’t merely a magical girl with a detective-themed costume. She was a detective, because Shinobu Hioka, when she wasn’t transformed into Detec Bell, actually worked as one.

Shinobu had a brother who was four years her elder. When she had been in kindergarten, she’d followed him everywhere, much to his displeasure, but follow him eagerly she did. She even tagged along during his bus trip with the local children’s club. The club was supposed to be for elementary school kids, but she’d thrown a fit, screaming and crying and wailing that it was unfair and mean that only her brother got to go. Her force of will overwhelmed her father, who ended up negotiating with the head of the neighborhood association on her behalf.

The excursion was to a farm in a neighboring town. It was spring, and the bright sun was warm and perfect for children to frolic in. They bubbled at the sight of cows, shouted when watching the horses, fed the sheep and rabbits, got to try milking cows, and then clambered onto the bus to head back home. That was when Shinobu encountered her destiny.

Shinobu was watching a rerun of some anime on the on-board TV while the other kids slept, exhausted. The night before, she had been so excited for the excursion, she’d gone straight to sleep after dinner and then slept like a log right up until they left for the trip, so she still had plenty of energy left even after all the excitement of the farm.

On-screen, a child detective was solving a locked-room mystery. To Shinobu at the time, they might as well have been reciting a list of technical vocabulary. She didn’t understand what the characters were saying, but she saw a child her age dismantling the plots of adults and getting praise, even respect, from them and the older detectives around him. As for his weapons, he had a few secret tools, reliable allies, and above all, his brilliant mind.

To a kindergarten-aged child, the term “murderer” was more exciting than “world domination” or “the extinction of humanity.” The kid on-screen was a hero for fighting criminals like murderers. Swept up in the emotions of the story, Shinobu’s hands balled into fists amid the snores inside the bus.

Shinobu became a huge fan of that boy detective and got her brother to borrow the original manga from his friends. She read every volume. Luckily, it came with pronunciation guides, so even when she couldn’t read the words, at least she could sound it out. “Alibi,” “plot twist,” “locked-room mystery”—the many fascinating phrases captured her imagination. She stopped following her brother around. He claimed it was a relief, but he also looked a bit disappointed…or maybe that was just what Shinobu wanted to believe.

She asked her father to rent the DVDs, and once she’d seen every single episode and movie, her interests moved to the mystery genre in general. That was when she started on her father’s personal collection. His bookshelf, created from cheap colored shelves on a Sunday afternoon, was filled with mystery series. But when he found her reading his books, he confiscated them with an admonishment that they were for adults. So she turned to reading them in secret. There were no pronunciation guides in these, so she had to learn as she went. The words she couldn’t understand she assumed from context, and while the other children were glued to anime and shows with flashy special effects, she was hiding alone and reading her mystery novels.

Her favorites were the ones with kid detectives. In the anime she’d first fallen in love with, the detective was never wrong—a perfect jack-of-all-trades. Throughout elementary and middle school, she read detective novels day and night, and in high school she founded a mystery fan club. One investigator solved locked-room mysteries with a superior brain and intellect, always finding the killer. In another, the hero struggled against a powerful organization for no reward in order to save a helpless girl. The adventures of these tough, cool detectives made her heart race.

For the high school culture festival, her club put on a dramatic adaptation of the famous detective novel Village of Eight Gravestones and covered the gym in gore. The PE teacher chewed them out for that one, but the over-the-top production was a success, and the audience really had a good time. Oh, the enthusiastic storm of applause for Shinobu as she played Kosuke Kindaichi! Just remembering it gave her a shot of euphoria.

This was what it was like to be a detective. No—being a real gumshoe had to be even more amazing. Maybe this should have steered Shinobu toward the path of an actress, but it only strengthened her resolve to work as an investigator herself.

Ignoring her parents’ objections, Shinobu got a job at a detective agency straight out of junior college. That was three years ago. Soon after, she happened to receive a message inviting her to take part in the magical-girl selection test. She made it through the trials and finally got her powers. Shinobu was sure that her newfound status would help her solve mysteries. First and foremost, she was a detective.

She still remembered vividly the first time she had transformed into a magical girl.

She was beautiful. Shinobu wasn’t really the type to long for looks or beauty, but it still left a big impression on her. Just looking in the mirror was enough to set her heart racing. She stretched a little in an attempt to distract herself and found that her every movement left a fruity, sweet, and pleasant fragrance in the air.

The message hadn’t been a joke or prank. She pinched her cheek to see if she was dreaming or hallucinating, but the pain said otherwise. This was clearly impossible, scientifically speaking. But Shinobu had become a real, true, authentic, genuine magical girl.

Detec Bell’s costume was more subdued than those of the other magical girls, which allowed her to blend in with the regular people in town and do her job. Her physical abilities, however, far surpassed any other living creature’s, and her enhanced endurance allowed her to work for days without rest. Her night vision was excellent, too—she could see as well at night as she could during the day. These were all great skills for tracking clues.

Every magical girl possessed a unique ability, and Shinobu’s was perfect for her detective work. With her magic, she could solve any locked-room mystery and any seemingly impossible crime. No criminal could escape her.

Unfortunately, none of her detective work involved locked-room mysteries or grand capers. She’d worked at the agency for three years. She was perfect at tailing and stakeouts, thanks to her magic. Her clients loved her, and some even offered to fund her to go independent. But she was also learning the reality of being a detective.

Shinobu would have been fine with just investigating cheating spouses and searching for runaways, but new recruits like her were stuck on filing and phone duty. Her superiors constantly demanded she clean and serve tea. And on top of more miscellaneous tasks, she was also forced to watch pets, assist in house cleaning, and even carry boxes for people when they moved. Her superiors worked her to the bone. Her boss was a kind-looking old man who would tell her things like “This’ll be good for you” and “This is the first step to becoming a first-class detective” while ordering her to do petty tasks. The juxtaposition of his looks and his unconvincing remarks made him a particularly nasty boss to have.

But Shinobu still knew who she was. She knew the true experience of being a detective, but she hadn’t abandoned her dream. She would always aspire to solve mysteries, and she liked herself for taking the steps to make it reality.

Magical Daisy ended up failing out of the game.

She had tried to show off by shooting a monster with her Daisy Beam, but it ended up ricocheting right back at her due to the ability of the “powered skeleton” to reflect projectile attacks. One shot had finished her.

After interviewing her party members, investigating the scene, and analyzing the body, Shinobu had determined this story to be true. All the evidence pointed to an accidental death, and there was no possibility of it being premeditated murder.

But the fact that it was unintentional wasn’t the issue. The real problem lay elsewhere.

Immediately after logging out of the game, Shinobu requested some time off. Her boss yelled at her over the phone. “You think we can afford to give you three days off when we’re so busy?”

Shinobu gave him some flimsy “Yes, sir, of course, sir” lines and then turned off her flip phone’s power. Unfortunately for him, her day job was not her highest priority.

First, she searched the Internet for “Magical Kingdom” and how to contact them on her special phone. She had a ton of questions for them, but for some reason, all her messages bounced back. After a lot of trying and failing, she gave up on that angle and focused on scouring the web.

She typed “Magical Daisy,” added a space and a few search keywords, and pressed ENTER. One site caught her attention with an article discussing how the background in the Magical Daisy anime resembled a certain train station. This complemented the information Shinobu had gotten from Genopsyko Yumenoshima.

After compiling her search results, she learned which location the show’s setting was based on. Apparently, among the more hard-core fans, it was celebrated as a holy land. Even years after its original airing, Magical Daisy was still relatively popular in the early-morning Sunday kids’ anime slot, but these days, no one was raving about the holy land anymore.

Closing her magical phone, Shinobu transformed. She pulled her cap low over her head so as to appear inconspicuous, threw her wallet and other necessities into her work bag, and left her apartment complex.

She rode the bullet train headed for Tohoku, transferred to a regular train, then switched again to private rail and rode three stops down to an empty station. After dropping her ticket into the turnstile, she stepped out into B City, B Prefecture. Checking her surroundings to be sure no one was looking, she lightly kissed the station wall. A caricature of a human visage appeared on the cracked and dirty surface. It resembled a shabby middle-aged man, more like something from anime or manga than real life. The face her magic summoned differed from object to object.

Huh, so this is the one you get from an old, empty station like this, she thought.

The eyes of the three-foot-wide cartoon goggled as they landed on Detec Bell. “What do you want?” It was mumbling. Every object was different in this regard.

“Have you heard of Magical Daisy?”

“No.”

“It’s this girl.” Using her phone, Detec Bell showed the face a picture of Magical Daisy.

“Oh, I know her. She’s helped out some people in this station.”

“Okay, thanks.” She gave the face another kiss, this time on the tip of its nose, and it melted back into the wall. This was Detec Bell’s magical ability: conversing with buildings. There were some conditions. For one, it required a kiss to both activate and stop, and for another, objects would never incriminate their owners, but still, it was quite valuable in her detective work.

Incidentally, when she had tried using her magic on the dilapidated buildings within the game, they had replied coldly to her, “I am master’s property. I cannot speak on topics against master’s will. Please search for hints on completing the game through regular means.” She’d used her magic on the other buildings, too, but while they all spoke in different tones, they offered basically the same explanation. She was disappointed she couldn’t use her magic to get some easy hints.

After leaving the station, Shinobu stopped by a nearby convenience store and bought a local newspaper. In the sticks, these kinds of shops sat on huge plots of land with similarly large parking lots. Leaning against a cement barrier, she opened the newspaper.

Shinobu had learned from Nokko that Daisy had been in middle school while the Magical Daisy anime was on air. This meant Shinobu could reverse-calculate her age. Being in middle school, there was no way she could have done her magical girl work far away from home. She had to have been active in her local neighborhood. As long as they hadn’t moved, her family would still be here.

Magical girls also needed a place to transform without being seen. They were cautious about human witnesses, but nobody ever thought about the buildings. There had to be one in the area that had witnessed Magical Daisy transform. Asking structure after structure, Shinobu traced the path Daisy had gone as her magical-girl self. Eventually, she would reach her home. If the person in question wasn’t there, Shinobu would pursue the possibility that the family had moved. If they had, a building had to have seen it—and the brick and concrete never forgot.

The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether Magical Daisy was alive or dead in this world. Personally, Shinobu hoped she was alive. Fal had insisted that feedback from in-game damage wouldn’t affect their real bodies. That was the whole reason she’d agreed to participate in the game in the first place. This was ultimately just to assuage her doubts, just to make sure that no mistakes had cropped up anywhere. All that pushed her along was an uneasy feeling. She had no basis for her doubts, and she was fully aware of that.

Detec Bell folded up the newspaper and threw it into her bag. She had three days.

  Pechka

Just like before, Pechka changed clothes and went to give Ninomiya her homemade lunch. When she cut in line, no one complained. She could only hear them whispering “It’s that girl again” and “Who is she?” The first time, it had made her proud and happy and excited, though with a pain deep in her heart, and later, she’d floundered on her bed. Now, the second time, she didn’t feel any of those things.

The autumn sun set early. Darkness was quickly setting in, and the public playground was empty of children. The only one there was Pechka, sitting on the swings.

Just thinking about the game dampened her mood. Just as Fal had explained, upon hearing the logout announcement, she was instantly on her bed again. A look at the clock showed that the minute hand hadn’t even made one full rotation. But that didn’t make all of this okay.

She should have declined, but she hadn’t been able to. Apparently, one girl had already dropped out of the running. She recalled how depressed that girl’s party members had looked. They had been told that in-game damage wouldn’t affect them in the real world, but Pechka still didn’t like it. The game involved some exploration, of course, but ultimately, it was mainly about fighting, and Pechka wasn’t cut out for that.

She sighed.

Maybe it’s not too late to back out, she thought, but she was afraid of that, too. The other girls would surely be disappointed in her for dropping out without having contributed. They might badmouth her—maybe even hit or kick her. She knew the damage wouldn’t affect her in real life, but pain was still pain. Pinching her cheek hurt just as much in a game as in the real world. Dying in the game had to hurt like real death. Just imagining it upset her. Did the other magical girls just have no imagination?

The concept of a game based around killing enemies or whatever didn’t seem fitting for heroines like them. Their job was to help people. Maybe helping people required violence sometimes. But those acts relied on the enhanced strength and magical abilities that they had been granted in order to help people. Maybe it was okay that there were some fringe cases of fighting for the sake of others, but killing enemies to collect candy was not something a magical girl had any business doing.

But even if Pechka were to shout this at the top of her lungs, they would just take it as a weakling’s attempts to escape from reality. Nobody would listen to what she had to say. She breathed another sigh.

Maybe she should just focus on the reward. Completing the game would earn her ten million yen. That was so much money, like winning dozens of jumbo lotteries. Her party had agreed that if one of them landed the final blow on the Evil King, they would split the rewards equally among the whole party. In other words, someone like Pechka who didn’t want to fight had a chance, but…still, the number didn’t seem real to her.

If pushed to say, Pechka might be more glad about the hundred-thousand-yen participation award. Before going out, she’d checked her bank account, and sure enough, the money was there. She could already think of ways to use it. Food she could produce and prepare herself, so that left clothes and accessories such as rings, necklaces, earrings…no, she was a little scared to get pierced, so maybe just clip-ons. Shoes. Bags. Expensive, famous brands that celebrities wore, and the kinds of outfits you saw on models in fashion shows. If the hundred thousand yen wasn’t enough, she could always add in some from her new year’s gift and her personal savings. Fancy clothes might not look good on Chika, but on Pechka, they did.

Pechka was so consumed by her near-escapist fantasies, she didn’t even notice when the sun set.

The shadow she cast under the lamppost’s light was stretched long and came to a point. Hearing the tapping of approaching footsteps, she looked up to see a pair of baseball spikes at the edge of her shadow. In those shoes was someone wearing a baseball uniform.

Raising her head, Pechka nearly stopped breathing. It was Ninomiya. His black baseball club bag was hanging off his shoulder. His toned torso, clearly defined even under the uniform, heaved up and down. He must have been running. There was sweat on his forehead, and he was looking at Pechka. “Um…,” he said, drawing closer.

Pechka gripped the swing chain tighter. It was covered in thick plastic, but she could still feel the coldness of the metal beneath. She realized her temperature was rising.

“You’re the girl who brought me lunch, right?” he asked.

She shot up like a spring and nodded repeatedly. All the muscles on her face were as strained as they could be. Her free hand felt awkwardly empty, so she clenched the skirt of her dress.

“Um, this might sound a bit shameless, but…” He was right in front of her. He was close enough to touch, close enough that she could even feel his breath, and she could smell the sweat he’d built up by running to catch up to her. Ninomiya, the star she’d been convinced she’d never reach, the boy she’d admired for so long. She’d never been able to speak to him at school; she’d always just watched him from afar. Now he was right in front of her.

She was sweating. Her body was on fire. Her heart was racing. She felt dizzy. Who was it who had said love felt just like the flu?

Ninomiya put a hand behind his head, looking apologetic as he hesitantly asked, “Would you mind making lunch for me again?”

Pechka nodded over and over. Her tied-up hair bounced up and down.

“It was really good, man. Seriously, like, amazing. Like, I’d do anything you asked if I could eat that every day. It was crazy good.” The food Pechka’s magic created was magically delicious. Ninomiya did his best to explain just how excellent it had been, this time adding gestures. “I really wanted to tell you this, but no one on the team knew who you were. I had to run all over the neighborhood to find you. Also…could I ask you a favor?” He put his hands together and bowed his head.

Suddenly, Pechka found herself looking down at the back of his head. As was typical for baseball club members, he was forced to keep his hair buzzed short. His head was well shaped, and instead of the usual amusement a buzz cut might elicit, her first thoughts were of how clean it was. It had to be pleasantly fuzzy to the touch. Pechka’s right hand moved.

“My teammates liked your food so much that they kept ‘sampling’ it. I didn’t even get to eat the whole thing,” he said. Head still low, he chanced a glance up at her. Their eyes met.

Panicking, Pechka pulled her right hand back, but her pulse was rising, her breathing rough as her body attempted to keep up with the demand for oxygen. Ninomiya was looking at her. She’d watched him before, but now he was looking at her as she looked at him, and they were staring into each other’s eyes.

“In fact,” he continued, “there was only scraps by the time I got to it. But still, it was to die for! So I know you might think I’m greedy for asking this, but is there any chance you could give me another? Sometime when no one’s looking? I mean, I tried to stop the guys, but they wouldn’t listen and basically took everything. I’m serious.”

Pechka was so dizzy she was about to faint, but she managed a nod. “Okay.” She was so nervous, it came out a bit monotone.

“Really? Seriously? Yes! Thank you so much!” Ninomiya grabbed her hand and shook it, thanking her over and over. Blankly, Pechka stared at him. She was just as dazed when she agreed to meet him in the park again to deliver the lunch. She watched as he scampered off, humming to himself.

Unable to stand anymore, she collapsed back onto the swing set. Her bottom was wet and cold, and she realized how much she’d been sweating. Slowly, the rhythm of her heart calmed, and her burning excitement cooled. She gradually settled down, but even so, the embers still burned deep inside.

Her magic, which she’d only ever considered a bonus, had turned out to be useful. She’d made Ninomiya happy, and he’d complimented her cooking. He’d even said he would do anything she asked if he could eat it every day.

That was it. Cooking. A path had opened up before her.

  Shadow Gale

Until a few years ago, Kanoe’s grandfather was the one in charge of the Hitokouji estate. Chronic disease had taken his legs and his sight, and he had needed a special wheelchair to get around, but his mind was healthy as could be. When it came to finance, human resources, investments, contracts, conferences, and a range of other things, his instructions were detailed and precise. There were even rumors that he’d conceived an illegitimate child in his eighties. Considering that the gossip had reached Mamori, it might actually have been true. He had continued to be the brains of the operation until his stroke, and even after his passing, some attributed the stability of the Hitokouji family to his hard work.

Even Kanoe, who was arrogant beyond belief, had been attached to her grandfather. One could see this in the way her manner of speech mirrored his more and more each year. Her parents, her brother, and the other adults in her life let her do it because they found it funny, but for a high school girl, she really talked too much like an old man.

Once Kanoe became a magical girl, her grandfather’s presence was clear in her magical-girl costume. The obvious influence was the wheelchair, but its lavish gold construction and fine detail also brought to mind an elderly king on his throne, reigning from the summit of his clan. Her eye patch seemed to represent his diseased eye, and the little birds carved in wood on the wheelchair’s fenders looked just like the decorations on the trusty walking stick her grandfather had relied on before losing the use of his legs.

Kanoe’s way of life also echoed her grandfather’s, Mamori thought. Never hesitating, never deliberating. Or, no—she did mull over things, but she never let anyone see it. She always appeared to instantly know the right answer, which only made people sing her praises ever louder.

But now, Kanoe was dazedly staring out the window of the cooking prep room. It was lunch break, so she was alone. She was clearly lost in thought. Normally, she’d be up to something, like chatting with her classmates in the classroom or speed-reading through books in the library, all the while thinking about something else at a million miles an hour. She never openly worried about anything.

After what had happened the day before, this behavior meant she had to be thinking about the game. And if Kanoe was so invested that she was worrying about it, then that meant Mamori was sure to get dragged in even deeper this time. Mamori was bound to lose weight just thinking about it.

“Trouble builds character. But I think you’ll like what I have to say,” said Kanoe.

“…Are you a mind reader?” Mamori asked.

“How long do you think I’ve known you? I can tell that much.”

It felt like she was accusing her of being shallow. Mamori was not amused.

Outside the window, some students in their gym clothes were happily chasing a soccer ball. This was a school for rich girls, and there were many different types. It was autumn, but still warm enough that Mamori was impressed they were running around. Watching them made her feel hot, too, so she loosened her scarf.

“It’s about the game,” said Kanoe.

So Mamori had been right.

“I know you don’t like such things,” Kanoe continued. “Fighting enemies, grinding for currency, and buying items. With your magic, you don’t need to do anything so tedious. You could just use your little cheat to win, but if that’s always in the back of your mind, then you’ll never enjoy yourself.”

“If you want to play the game, miss, then I can’t just leave you.”

“It’s your fault I got dragged into this,” she seemed to say with every bit of sarcasm in her body, but Kanoe didn’t seem to care about that. Her eyes still on the students running around outside, she pulled a foot up onto the chair. Her skirt slid to the side, exposing her thighs.

“That’s improper, miss,” said Mamori.

“There are two types of magical girls.”

“Those who fight and those who don’t, was it?”

“That game is for those who fight. But that doesn’t mean all the participants have to be fighters. There were girls besides you and me who don’t fight. So why are they participating?”

“Maybe the reward lured them in.”

“Speaking of rewards, we opened up a new area when we were in the game. The prize for that was deposited into one of the accounts I use for foreign trading. I don’t know how they found my information, but it was just dropped in there anonymously. Two areas makes two million yen.”

“Two million yen! Seriously?”

“It was deposited along with the participation fee. You should check your bank account. And learn to appreciate things other than material rewards.”

About five times a month, Mamori found herself wondering how good it would feel to punch Kanoe.

“According to Fal,” said Kanoe, “none of the magical girls chosen as test players declined the invite.”

“None of them?” That was surprising. It would be natural for at least one or two to reject it after the way they’d been forced into the game. Anyone who would become a magical girl had to have a stubborn will.

“Strange, isn’t it? So many players made to participate in such a forceful manner, yet not a single one of them declined. Some of them have to be self-interested types or those who would rather care for flowers than fight. So why didn’t anyone decline?”

“You didn’t, miss.”

“I’m just at that age. I’m aware that I’m unusual.”

“Yes, that’s for certain.”

“It was all just like reality: the smells, the sensations, the sights, the tastes, the sounds. In other words, punches hurt, too. No matter how convincingly they explained that there would be no damage to your real body, surely that would be reason enough for the nonfighters to balk. So why did they agree to participate?” Kanoe raised her knee higher, and her skirt slid some more. Such careless habits had made her some strange fans here, even though it was a girls’ school. “It’s ominous.”

“I see,” Mamori spat out indifferently and turned away. She ended up face-to-face with a skull, but unlike the skeletons in the game, this anatomic model would not be attacking. I bet she enjoys herself more when things get “ominous,” she added to herself.

“My magical phone is acting oddly,” said Kanoe. “I can’t contact the Magical Kingdom.”

“Well, my magic can’t fix the phones.” The devices were magically guarded to protect the information within. When Kanoe had ordered Shadow Gale to use her magic on one before, she’d ended up breaking it entirely. Shadow Gale had managed to lie about the reason for its destruction and receive a replacement—by herself, of course, even though it was originally Kanoe’s fault. Just remembering that ticked her off.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” Kanoe’s foot fell from the chair and slapped against the floor, returning her skirt to its original position. Mamori breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside on the field, it seemed things were getting intense. Someone had kicked the ball into the corner of the goal, and all her teammates were high-fiving her. One of the girls noticed them, and her mouth opened in an ah! Kanoe smiled back thinly and waved. The students’ screech of delight was audible all the way up in the classroom. Mamori scowled.

Three days later, they returned to the game world the same way they’d first traveled there. Seeing the fake brown buildings and wasteland and smelling the dirt as it filled her nose, it truly felt like Shadow Gale had returned to the same place. Opening the map, she noted the locations of her party members and made to meet up with Kanoe first.

“Well, you certainly kept me waiting,” said Pfle. “Come to me faster next time.”

“Yes, yes,” Shadow Gale replied. “I’ll run to you as fast as I can.”

Masked Wonder seemed to be trapped in an area a little ways away. She was a real weirdo, but still, she wasn’t two-faced like Pfle, and she kind of felt easier to hang out with. The icon displaying Masked Wonder’s location was stuck on one spot. They’d agreed to meet up with one another once they were back in the game, but Masked Wonder seemed to be waiting for them to come to her.

Pfle, who had needled Shadow Gale for being late, didn’t say a thing about Masked Wonder just standing there. But thanks to her observation of the Hitokouji family for over ten years, Mamori understood why. Investors were lenient with talented personnel. They always got priority treatment when it came to pay, care, and hours. The less talented, on the other hand, got the short end of the stick.

With great effort, Shadow Gale pushed Pfle’s wheelchair until they arrived in front of the building where Masked Wonder was waiting for them. Shadow Gale stretched her back and felt a slight chill there. She was sweating.

Was Masked Wonder preparing to do her stupid “victory pose” again? Irritated, Shadow Gale pushed open the door and saw her lying there. Her arms were stretched in front of her, as if reaching out for something. She was on her stomach, facedown, dark-red fluid staining her purple cape. The red-black wasn’t just dirtying the cape—it was spread out all over the floor, too. The flow originated from the back of Masked Wonder’s head, mercilessly crushed underneath a large rock.

Pfle rolled her wheelchair through the puddle of blood toward the dead girl, bent over, and scooped up her magical phone. She turned it on.

“Hmm…shoot. All her items and candy were taken.” Pfle spoke as if she were discussing how she’d guessed an answer on a test and gotten it wrong.

Shadow Gale listened in a daze, but nausea threatened to surface like a memory.

  Pechka

She’d gotten herself a pot.

The shop stocks varied by town: The wasteland shop carried recovery items, while the mountain shop had encyclopedias. Each shop also provided weapons and armor that were more powerful than those in the previous area. The wasteland store sold plain weapon and shield equipment, the grasslands shop had “weapon +1” and “shield +1” items, and at the mountain shop, there were +2 items. After installing a purchase, you could summon it, and each upgrade was more durable and looked more refined than the last. The weapons also varied depending on which magical girl summoned it, so putting one in Pechka’s phone produced a spatula, but Rionetta’s produced claws. The naming scheme “weapon +X” was bland, but flexible.

The only items a party could share were the random results of R and the special passes. R had been extremely popular at the beginning of the game. The first item Pechka’s party had gotten from it, the map, was so useful that the price of one hundred candy was totally worth it if all the drops were of the same caliber—or so they believed. But reality is never so kind, even in a game.

The second time they bought an R, they rolled another map. The third time, a map. The fourth time, a map. They’d been laughing it off up until the third one. The fourth made their smiles vanish. The fifth incited anger and suspicion. What the hell was up with this R item? Did it only drop maps?

“R generates items of differing rarities, and the probability of receiving any given item varies, pon.” Upon being summoned via the HELP button, Fal responded dispassionately and unflinchingly to their barrage of anger.

“We’ve only ever received maps, though.” Rionetta’s voice was shaking, and the corners of her lips were drawn tight.

But Fal was the same as ever. “The map is an extremely common item, pon. It’s normal for it to drop four or even five times in a row. But please just shake it off and roll again and again to try for a super-rare item, pon.”

Brandishing the map with beautiful and experienced form, Rionetta flung it against the wall. A message appeared:

This item sells for 3 candy.

After that, their party leader forbade them from purchasing any more R. The goblins that populated the mountain area dropped lots of candy, and the items in the shop were generally cheap anyway, so their candy stores grew and grew.

But Nonako Miyokata pestered them with “I want to buy an R, I want to buy an R” until eventually Clantail allowed it. The other three didn’t want any weapons, so Clantail had been using their candy to purchase armaments for herself. Now she wielded a long assault spear in her right hand and a large shield in her left. Perhaps she felt she shouldn’t be so stingy now, and that was why she couldn’t refuse Nonako’s request.

Rionetta still had reservations but ultimately agreed, so they spent one thousand candy on ten R and ended up with eight maps, one shovel, and one pot. The shovel was as ordinary as could be, about three feet long. The cookware, too, was a normal stockpot. Neither had any magical properties or unique effects.

At this point, Rionetta was furious. She wailed and called Nonako an idiot for spending a thousand candy on junk. Nonako snapped back at her for the insult. This turned into an argument, which Clantail attempted to break up, but neither of them listened to her, and their unproductive squabble continued until the fighting and scouting parties each went their separate ways.

Nonako Miyokata’s bad mood soon abated. As they explored, she mowed down every enemy they crossed, while Pechka ran away, avoiding them. Nonako purified a goblin and made it into her familiar, squealing over how cute it was. She even tied a bow around its neck. Back when it had been attacking them, it had seemed so creepy, but now that it was attached to Nonako…well, it could pass for cute, even if it looked exactly the same. Seeing them together was kind of heartwarming.

Rionetta’s mood, on the other hand, only worsened.

At night, they met back up with the combat party, but neither Clantail nor Rionetta would speak. They were so quiet, the sound of Clantail’s hooves clopping on the ground was deafening by comparison. Any eye contact with her elicited a screech of “What in the hell was that about?!” that made her anger clear. “What is that giant rat constantly blocking our path?!”

That “giant rat” had chased them away once before with a warning to stay away from their group’s hunting ground. Apparently, she’d done it again once Clantail and Rionetta had moved on to the mountain area.

Rionetta was so angry she snapped at everything in sight. When she spotted Nonako Miyokata’s tamed goblin, her eyes went narrow, and she shrieked, “Don’t you dare allow that thing near me! I don’t want its dirty smell on me!” and that sparked another shouting match until Clantail intervened.

Then Rionetta’s eyes rested on Pechka. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Um…the pot…”

“I was already quite cross that we squandered so much candy on that thing. I’d really rather you not force me to look at it any longer. Just remembering how we spent a thousand candy to get that and a spade will keep me awake at night.” Hunger was part of the game mechanics, but sleep wasn’t. In other words, her complaints of insomnia were complete nonsense.

“What’s with that queer pose, anyway? And why are you sticking your hands in the pot—huh?” Rionetta’s nose twitched. She sniffed and looked at the pot.

A stiff smile spread across Pechka’s face as she timidly fumbled to explain. “My magic, it’s, um… As I explained before…I can make nice meals. So, since we have a pot now…maybe we wouldn’t have to rely on rations… And I’m not using my candy… I can make food…without any ingredients at all…so, well…I think… I think it should taste…better than the rations…”

“Well, aren’t you confident in yourself?” said Rionetta.

“Not really… Um, we don’t have any utensils, so… I’m sorry, but you’ll have to make do with leaves…”

“Leaves! What a wonderfully rustic utensil!”

“If you’re going to complain about it, you don’t have to eat it, je crois.” Nonako Miyokata laughed, and her goblin chuckled and hopped about. Rionetta clicked her tongue, thoroughly irked, and plopped down on a nearby rock, where she purposefully kicked up dirt.

If Pechka put her mind to it, she could make the fanciest dish in the world. But if she were to serve a fancy dish outdoors on big leaves, she’d just be inviting a pile of complaints. “It’s too hard to dish out! It’s too hard to eat!” they’d say. So instead, she had come up with a simple, easy-to-eat meal that would place emphasis on the good taste of fresh food.

“Rice balls? After all that prating, you give us rice balls?” Rionetta insulted Pechka’s cooking on sight. “Why should I eat this peasant food? I’d rather eat rations,” she spat. Then she took a bite. Her brows came together.

Clantail and Nonako watched her with some suspicion. Ignoring their gaze, Rionetta took a second bite, then a third. She devoured the whole thing. Then she grabbed another without comment and chowed down on it.

Cautiously, Nonako took a bite of a rice ball. “Oh…” She voiced her surprise quietly, and then she began devouring the food, just like Rionetta. The goblin, seeing its master so excited, gobbled one down, too. Clantail was the only one who ate with even an ounce of poise, but her tail was wagging from side to side.

For now, everyone seemed to be enjoying the food. Pechka breathed a sigh of relief and began eating a rice ball.

She’d done the same thing once, long ago. She couldn’t remember very well, but she was sure something like this had happened before. Pechka had cooked a meal with her magic in an attempt to get a group of people to get along. But it couldn’t have been that long ago. It had happened once she’d become a magical girl, so there should be no reason she wouldn’t remember. Why couldn’t she recall it?

Rionetta, Nonako, and Clantail were all focused on stuffing their cheeks with rice balls. Only moments ago, they’d been so angry at being body-blocked out of a hunting ground, but now they were entirely focused on eating. Her magic, which Pechka had only ever considered secondary to her looks, had allowed her to approach Ninomiya and had even cheered up her party members. Maybe cooking is worth something, she thought.

  Nokko

Fourth year, class two at Manabegawa Elementary No. 3 was a “good class.”

On sports day and during cultural festivals, the whole class worked together as a group—but when people screwed up during these events, they were never scorned or belittled. If they did well, the whole class shared in the joy, and even if they didn’t, they were still all able to smile about it.

The class didn’t have any of the common social problems, like conflict between the boys and the girls, bullying of the weak, or nasty rumors going around.

Their teacher was Mr. Noguchi, who had taught sixth grade up until the previous year. He was famously short-tempered, quick to yell at students, and he had been nicknamed “the Square Teakettle” for the shape of his face. But this Mr. Noguchi, ever since transferring to class 4-2, had transformed into an entirely different person: the brightest, most fun teacher ever. He’d never yelled at a single child all year.

Why was class 4-2 such a pleasant place? Only Noriko Nonohara knew the answer.

If someone was upset, she would crank up their joy. If someone was sad, she would turn down their emotional fragility. Anger, jealousy, nastiness—everything unnecessary for a good class, she suppressed, manipulating the students to create a fun and bright class. By using her magical ability to transmit her emotions to those around her, the magical girl Nokko could unify her class from the shadows.

Noriko Nonohara was a hard-core magical girl. How so? Because from birth to the present day, the time she’d spent as a magical girl far exceeded her time spent as a normal person. She’d become Nokko at age four and was now ten, so that was six years of magical-girl experience. She was a veteran among veterans.

The question of how to live as a magical girl was a matter of philosophy, and Nokko knew the easiest shortcuts. Though “easiest shortcuts” didn’t simply mean skipping out on school or shirking responsibilities. She knew shortcuts that brand-new magical girls couldn’t possibly be aware of.

The Magical Kingdom was incapable of adapting. It was stubborn and bullheaded, and it never backed down on its decisions. Perhaps that made it rather similar to human governments. Everything Nokko had told Magical Daisy about how Noriko had become Nokko was true.

But for all the Magical Kingdom’s stubbornness, it was comparatively lax with security. The region Nokko was charged with was managed through an experimental system whereby a leader-like magical girl kept watch over a number of other magical girls, reporting to the Magical Kingdom and acting as an intermediary. The Magical Kingdom didn’t observe or direct the magical girls’ activities directly, so they had to rely heavily on the supervisor’s discretion to enforce rules. If she was lazy, stupid, unruly, selfish, an anomaly, or didn’t care about obeying the rules, then she would be unlikely to report others for their lack of diligence.

The leader of Nokko’s group was the type not to report them no matter what they did, so Nokko was never admonished for using her abilities to improve her own life instead of helping others. Maintaining a low profile, she used her magic to solve problems on the sly. After school, she would visit her mother in the hospital and help ease her depression. Then she would go home and spend all her time doing chores.

Nokko’s magic didn’t allow her to control others’ emotions at will. She could only transmit her own emotions to them. If she wanted to make someone excited, she needed to focus hard on something she had once found exciting and then remember, remember, remember, until her magic finally worked.

As a result, she became an expert in fooling herself by the young age of ten. Since her mother was in the hospital, Noriko was in charge of housework. This was exhausting. She had no time to go out and use her magic to make the world a better place. Her hands were already full taking care of herself. But even so, she’d managed. At least, so far.

Six months earlier, Nokko’s superior—the leader magical girl—had been permanently expelled. Some unforgivable acts she’d committed had come to light. The Magical Kingdom had immediately dispatched a replacement, not wanting to believe that a magical girl, the symbol of hopes and dreams, could be a rotten apple. After that, the new girl served her role as leader with great enthusiasm. But the fact that she was picking up after someone who had been dismissed due to scandal meant that she was overly serious and inflexible, like a manifestation of the Magical Kingdom itself.

So on top of everything else, Noriko found herself required to complete her magical-girl duty of helping others. There was a real possibility of that stick-up-her-butt leader delivering a report: She only ever thinks of herself! She isn’t actually doing her job! At worst, it might even lead to her losing her status as a magical girl.

So Noriko now had to shepherd her class, help people in town, do chores, and participate in the game. She had no interest in the game itself and didn’t have time to help future magical girls, but the participation and completion rewards were mighty attractive. If she could get her hands on ten million yen, a sum she’d never even seen before, then she’d put in some effort to complete the virtual tasks.

Noriko looked at her bank account again. For more than six months, it hadn’t seen a single deposit. Now there was a hundred thousand yen sitting in it. And if she could open up a new area, that was another million yen.

Genopsyko’s helmet bubbled up to the lava’s surface. Then her visor, neck, and hands appeared, and a small key was in her grasp. @Meow-Meow, who had been holding her breath next to Nokko, let out a big sigh of relief.

“Found it!” announced Genopsyko. “There was an altar thing at the bottom, just like the ancient text described! It was right inside that! Man, I had to feel around for the thing, and it took a hell of a long time.”

“Yumenoshima, I thought you melt,” said @Meow-Meow.

“Nah, I’m not gonna melt. I told ya, this suit could take even the Big Bang!” Genopsyko grabbed hold of the cliff and hauled herself onto land. Just as she’d said, her suit wasn’t melted or burned at all. Genopsyko herself didn’t seem to be hurt, either. Scraping off the lava clinging to her, she lifted her visor and flashed a smile. “Gate key and one million yen, in the bag! Now we can head to the next area!” The area following the grasslands, the mountain area, was already unlocked when they’d logged back in. Some party had apparently done it right before logging out the last time.

The hordes of goblins, equipped with short spears, daggers, short bows, javelins, small shields, and leather armor, had slightly more brute strength and tactical organization than the skeletons. Some of the goblins wore dirty robes and wielded crooked staffs, and they would mutter mysterious chants to summon and launch fireballs the size of human heads. Goblins double the size of normal ones also accompanied these hordes, swinging clubs with all their might—a might which rivaled even a magical girl’s.

Even so, these goblins were no match for them, mostly with regard to speed and ability to take a hit. For every one movement a goblin made, a magical girl could make ten. And the monsters’ attacks hurt, but that was all. Similar attacks from the girls would leave their enemies with fatal wounds. Unlike the skeletons, though, the goblins bled, and this encounter with their biology was revolting. Seeing their jaws full of crooked teeth being crushed, white enamel and blood flying through the air, made Nokko feel sick. Smashing a skeleton’s skull was nowhere near as visceral as smashing a goblin’s skull with her mop. She really felt like she was taking a life. The corpses would disappear after two hours, but the sensation remained. There was such a thing as being too real.

On top of all this, Nokko still wasn’t over the shock of Magical Daisy’s death. But she couldn’t play this game if she was going to feel such disgust over killing every single monster. So Nokko focused entirely on distracting herself, filling her mind with happy, fun thoughts to support Genopsyko and @Meow-Meow.

Magical Daisy’s death had been an accident. No one was responsible. Nokko knew that if she started thinking about what-ifs, like what if Daisy had been more careful when confronting an unknown enemy, or what if they’d bought a monster encyclopedia before going out to battle, she’d never stop. Still, she couldn’t forget the brutal image of Daisy bleeding out from the gaping hole in her body. Most likely, it would never leave her memory. Nor would she forget digging a hole and burying Daisy’s body in it, then setting a stone on it in place of a grave marker as the three of them cried and hugged each other.

But that was an accident. Genopsyko liked to mention that Daisy wasn’t dead in the real world or anything, as if trying to convince herself that was true. And Nokko wanted her to think like that. That was how she should be thinking. And Nokko could help her party with that.

They couldn’t stay sad forever. Even if the game wasn’t real, the players needed to forget their sadness and focus on completing it. Nokko also threw her whole self into the task.

Upon entering the mountain area, they had come across a run-down shack. Inside, they discovered a book labeled ANCIENT TEXT. The title was no lie. From annotations to postscript, it was all written in a mysterious language.

So they purchased the app Translator Buddy in the mountain shop and deciphered the document. They had to obtain the staff of the mountain people and use that to perform their community’s ritual in their temple, granting them the mark of the mountain people. With it, they would proceed to the lake of lava and perform their folk dance, causing the altar to appear. Within it lay the key of the mountain people, which would let them access the next area. Also, as an addendum: They would learn the dance by placing the hookah of the mountain people upon the scales in the village, which would then unlock the instructions in their phones. The hookah itself would be assembled from three pieces, each of which could only be found by discovering the corresponding clues to their locations.

Once they were done reading about that long, tedious process, Genopsyko’s right arm shot into the air. “If it’s just lava, that’s easy!” she announced, and dropping her helmet’s visor and sweeping aside nervous hands from Nokko and @Meow-Meow, she dove into the lake of lava. She took her time reaching the bottom and grabbed the key.

“Man, Genopsyko, you’re practically cheating!” Genopsyko praised herself. “God-level skills, man, seriously god-level. A million yen! I’m so stoked! Why don’t we meet up offline after and spend some of this on a party?”

“Oh, a party sounds nice.”

“Yeah, how many time you get to drink one million yen for free?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! @Meow-Meow, you’re gonna blow it all on booze? At least save some! Money’s precious!”

Suddenly, the sulfuric stink and burning heat of a molten lake they’d rather have escaped as soon as possible belonged to the site of a wondrous memory. Chatting and hugging, the three of them laughed for the first time since Magical Daisy’s passing. Nokko transmitted the joy she was feeling into the others.

“Now we can move on to next area. Unlock area mean candy reward.”

“Oh, you’re right! We just got five hundred more candy!! Woohoo!” cheered Genopsyko.

“Then first,” said Nokko, “we should return to the mountain town…”

Then all their phones sounded the text-alert noise. When they checked, they found the HELP buttons on their phones were flashing.

“This is an emergency summons, pon. Everyone, please gather in the square in the wasteland town, pon.”

Genopsyko tapped her helmet with a fingertip, then hurriedly snatched it away. Nokko assumed she had tried to scratch her head but the helmet got in the way. “You caught us right when we were having a good time, though,” Genopsyko said.

“This is very urgent, pon. You will all be teleported here in one minute, pon. Thank you, and see you soon, pon.” The black-and-white sphere, having delivered its message, disappeared. With no one to protest against, the girls had no choice but to obey.

“Well, looks like something’s happened,” said Nokko. “Let’s go and see.”

“That furry creep shows up at the worst times,” moaned Genopsyko.

“I hope it nothing bad.”

@Meow-Meow looked worried, and Genopsyko was clearly irritated. Nokko’s only choice was to think fun and happy thoughts.

  Pechka

“All right, Fal has a few corrections and announcements to make, pon.”

The square was once again full of magical girls, just as it had been the other day. Some were sitting on the fountain edge, while others leaned against the walls of buildings. It was quite the spectacle, even though Pechka had already seen it once before.

The atmosphere among their party had changed considerably since Fal’s message around noon. It had been about a day since Pechka had first cooked for the others, and since then, she’d also created two more meals. With her magic, she could make the fanciest dish in only five minutes. Making a full-course meal took no longer than heating a microwavable snack. And no matter what she made, they loved it.

Nonako Miyokata and Rionetta would praise her endlessly, each trying to outdo the other, and while Clantail’s mouth stayed taciturnly shut, her tail wagged happily from side to side.

“Délicieux! Pechka, this is amazing!” said Nonako.

“Exquisite flavor,” Rionetta agreed. “I would even accept you as my personal chef.”

Their change in attitude persisted even outside of mealtimes. They offered to do physical labor for her, prioritized her when distributing items, and did all sorts of other kindnesses. No one had further complaints about Pechka avoiding fights, not even Rionetta, who’d been so sarcastic about it.

“Just imagine if something were to happen, and your hands were injured in battle. You wouldn’t be able to create food anymore! That would be a loss not only for our party, but for the entire world.” Rionetta laid on the praise, eyes brimming with emotion as she clasped Pechka’s hands gently.

Now Pechka could be confident. She wasn’t useless anymore. They all needed her.

The other parties seemed fairly content as well, aside from one. The girl in the black nurse outfit was shaking, her face pale. She must be suffering, too, Pechka thought, concerned for her, though they’d never exchanged words.

“Let’s start with the corrections,” Fal began. Sand filled center of the fountain, and there was a magical phone fixed there from which Fal’s hologram was projected. The air in this place hung heavy with dust, of which the hologram illuminated every tiny speck.

“There was a difference of opinion between Fal and Fal’s master regarding damage feedback, pon. In terms of basic damage, your bodies will not be affected. Cut flesh and broken bones won’t reflect on your real body. But if you happen to die, your heart will receive a significant shock, pon. This is the unavoidable effect of a realistic experience of something as traumatic to a living creature as death—even though it’s a virtual world, pon. I hope you will please forgive us, pon. In addition, this is a very secret game, pon. If you talk to any outsiders about it, you will receive a punishment tantamount to in-game death, so please be careful, pon. And that’s all the additional information I have for today, pon.”

All sounds in the square disappeared except for the wind carrying the sand and dust. Everyone was staring at Fal, considering the meaning of what it had just said in silence. They were all speechless.

The first to speak up was a magical girl who was covered in blue. “Is this a joke?”

“No,” Fal replied. “From now on, I’ll only tell you the truth, pon. If you want to survive, please work to complete the game, pon. Even if you do perish, you can rest assured that your promised reward will be deposited into your account.”

“That’s bullshit!”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“You think we’ll accept that?”

Angry shouts flew around incessantly.

Fal, emotionless as ever, took it all without flinching. “This is essentially a selection test, pon. You are being tested on whether you deserve to be magical girls, pon. If you do, you can complete the game. If you want to survive this, work to complete the game, pon. As long as you can finish the game, you will survive, pon,” he repeated. “That is the message from Fal’s master.” Fal finished by informing them this was a decision from someone on high and was not up for discussion.

Pechka was shivering. She wanted to run, but she had nowhere to go. The blood was draining from her head. Her legs felt weak, like she could fall over at any moment. But she didn’t.

The girls yelled, screamed, punched walls, and tried to grab Fal, but they only ended up swiping at the air. Static noise filled the hologram, but they couldn’t touch the mascot.

“I have a few questions, if I may?” That was the girl in the wheelchair, Pfle. She was as calm as Pechka remembered her being during their last meeting, back in the grasslands town. Her steady voice carried through the chaos, silencing the yelling and screaming. Everyone looked at her.

Pfle addressed Fal. “About how you said we’d receive a significant shock to our hearts—is it possible to survive this?”

“No, pon. Certainly not as a human, and not even transforming into a magical girl would help.”

“What would happen if there was an attempt to resuscitate?”

“It wouldn’t work, pon.”

“You could at least have left us one way out… Well then, if you know the reason our phones are malfunctioning, I’d like to hear it. You’re the ones preventing us from contacting the Magical Kingdom, aren’t you?”

A murmur ran through the crowd. It was true: They hadn’t been able to contact the Magical Kingdom. Pechka had tried to contact them concerning the game, but no matter how many messages she sent, they had all bounced back. She should have found it strange, but she’d just figured that this sort of thing happened sometimes. It couldn’t have been solely because her head was full of thoughts of Ninomiya.

Fal blinked. “You’re not allowed to tell anyone about this game, so I think it’s actually a good thing that you can’t contact the Magical Kingdom, pon.”

“A good thing, huh?” Pfle murmured. Then she spread her arms wide and spoke loudly. Maintaining the projection, pitch, and beauty of her voice, she sermonized in a resounding tone that dispelled all the clamoring in the square. “It seems our overlords want us to continue this game whether we like it or not. As we can see from their ability to teleport us at will, they have the power to do anything they want with us.”

“We’re not gonna give in to someone like that!” the girl in the hamster suit yelled loudly, interrupting Pfle.

Pfle glanced over at her. “We’re in this situation precisely because giving in is all we can do.” Then she added, “Let’s continue the game.”

There were many protests to this. “So we just have to accept our enemy’s plan?”

“Just bow down?”

“There’s no point in playing this game!”

“Shouldn’t we be trying to defeat this new enemy?”

Pfle nodded at each objection but remained steadfast. “I know you all probably hate the idea of playing a game you don’t understand and doing whatever this master wants you to do while being completely cut off from the Magical Kingdom. But the fact that this individual can force a bunch of magical girls to play along means they’re easily capable of much more. We may want to defeat this enemy, but as long as we are in the palm of their hand, it shouldn’t be our goal. For now, let’s just do what we’re told.”

“But even if we do complete the game, there’s no real guarantee we’ll be released, is there?” That was Rionetta. Naturally, she was angry.

“It sounds crazy, I’m aware, but we have no choice but to trust this ‘master.’ I received a reward deposited into my account the other day. I’m sure others among you have confirmed your own deposits. So it seems they at least are intent on paying us. Though it’s just a conciliatory amount.”

“I’ll admit that the reward is attractive,” said Rionetta. “But didn’t we all agree to play this game on the basis that dying would cause us no harm?”

“Regarding that,” Fal interjected, drawing all eyes. Everyone was glaring daggers at the mascot. “There will be no lies or trickery from here on out, pon. Fal’s words are the master’s words. It’s all true, pon.”

“And I’m asking how we can be sure of that,” said Rionetta.

“Fal can only tell you to please have faith, pon.”

“They don’t need proof. If they tell us to do something, we have no choice but to obey. We’re birds in a cage.” Pfle’s choice of words seemed almost defeatist, but Pechka couldn’t detect any resignation in her tone. Her expression was so alive, it was eerie.

“May I ask something as well?” Another girl stood up, raising her right hand. She was wearing a deerstalker cap along with a cape and a coat, like a private eye. “I’m Detec Bell. I may not look it, but I’m actually a detective.” She clearly did look the part, so perhaps that was a joke meant to try to ease the tension. Maybe. But no one was laughing, and no one even attempted to point out the discrepancy.

Detec Bell continued. “The other day, immediately after being released from the game, I spent some time investigating the whereabouts of a certain individual. Their situation is extremely pertinent to what’s going on here.”

“Bell, you’re really primin’ for a dramatic reveal, here. Who’re you talkin’ about?” the blue magical girl asked.

Detec Bell closed her eyes. “I’m talking about Magical Daisy. I’ve been investigating her in the real world.” Opening her eyes, she continued. “Some of you may know about her. Her past exploits as a magical girl were the basis for a TV anime. So I set out to the neighborhood the anime was set in, using my magic to uncover the facts. Magical Daisy did, in fact, operate there at one time. So I investigated further, using my magic to track down her current location. I discovered her family’s home, then headed to her apartment from there. The building was surrounded by police cars, an ambulance, and a crowd. I asked around, and her time of death was during the time in the game world…which was just an instant in the real world, wasn’t it? It was essentially that very instant.”

Magical Daisy was dead. This backed up Fal’s statement that an in-game demise meant real-world death as well.

“Magical Daisy was quite famous,” Detec Bell went on. “Her sudden death could tip off the Magical Kingdom that something strange is going on. So perhaps now that they’re exposed, they can’t continue to hide the fact that in-game deaths will be linked to the real world as they force us to play.” Detec Bell looked at Fal, who bobbed in the air.

“You may interpret it that way, pon.”

Detec Bell nodded in satisfaction. “That’s all from me.”

She returned to her original position and sat down. The blue magical girl was clamoring, “Bell, that was amazing! You really are a super detective!”

But Pechka had to wonder if she truly grasped the situation. Those who did all seemed disturbed. Clantail was tapping her hooves, her tail between her legs. Nonako Miyokata’s face was half-angry, half-crying as she fiddled with her yin-yang ornaments.

Rionetta was clearly furious. “Oh, for crying out loud! Just what have we gotten into?”

“Je can’t believe this…,” Nonako muttered. They were all, in their own ways, reacting to the terrible news.

But it all seemed so empty to Pechka. Did they really understand the gravity of the situation? They’d all probably been sort of thinking that things might turn out like this. Every word out of their mouths sounded to her like lines read from a script. It seemed like she’d heard it all before.

“Mais Detec Bell said it, too…,” said Nonako. “Magical Daisy has clearly died in the real world.”

“She could be a spy sent by the master simply to support Fal’s story,” Rionetta suggested.

“Maaais, it just doesn’t seem like—”

“I’m trying to tell you that we can’t trust anyone!”

“May I add one more thing?” It was Pfle again. She’d changed places with Detec Bell and was sitting alone next to the mermaid statue. “This may not be something I should really be saying at a time like this…but if we don’t take care of this now, it could get much worse.” Her eyes met Pechka’s, and for some reason, she smiled. Pechka jerked her gaze away. What must be going on in her head right now for her to manage a smile?

“I propose we work together!” Pfle announced, her voice loud and clear. All eyes gathered on her. She continued, decisive. “After we logged back in, in the few moments before our party could find one another again, someone killed one of ours, Masked Wonder! If death in reality and this realm are linked, then this means she really is dead.” Her final words were like a whisper. “All of her items and candy, including the item we earned from the event before we logged out last time, were stolen! I ask that the criminal name themselves!”

“No way!” the blue magical girl shouted. “Comrade Wonder was super-strong! There’s no way she’d get killed that easy!”

“In a game full of magical girls, mere strength is no guarantee of survival,” Pfle stated.

Unable to refute that, the blue-clad girl’s face twisted, and her head drooped. Balling her fists tight, she quaked quietly. Detec Bell put a hand on her shoulder and said something to her. Probably comforting her, Pechka thought.

The crowd buzzed. It was only natural. Not only had Fal dropped a bomb on them, but here came another one out of nowhere amid all the chaos.

“So it wasn’t a monster that killed her?” Rionetta expressed her doubts, and Pechka sympathized entirely. Even without bringing up Magical Daisy’s fate, it was natural to assume that it would be the game’s enemies doing players harm.

“The only monsters we encountered in the wasteland were regular skeletons,” said Pfle. “I assure you personally, she was not the sort to be done in by such weaklings. Also…are there any here who were partied with Magical Daisy?”

A girl in a maid outfit who appeared to be about ten years old shakily raised her hand.

Pfle turned to her. “What happened to Magical Daisy’s items and candy?”

“Um…well…uh…some of it, we spent on the funeral. The rest…well…we, uh, discussed it, and decided to share it…” She spoke hesitantly, as if it were difficult to say. Of course—anyone would find that awkward to confess. Some people might certainly interpret their actions in the nastiest light and judge them to be grave robbers. After answering, the small girl made herself even smaller and hid behind the girl in the cheongsam.

“Did you hear that?” Pfle turned her right palm upward and traced an arc with her hand. “Dying to the monsters doesn’t make your items or candy disappear from your magical phones! But Masked Wonder’s phone was devoid of both! Is this not the ultimate proof that they were stolen?”

Rionetta, Clantail, Nonako Miyokata, and Pechka all looked at each other. They’d been teleported into the game with no say in the matter, so everyone had to have appeared at the same time. Their party had met up as soon as possible without stopping to do any side quests. Had there even been time for someone to commit murder and steal the victim’s items? Obviously, Pechka hadn’t done it, and she doubted the other three would have had the time to do so, either. At the very least, it seemed the murderer wasn’t among their party.

“I ask that the murderer be honest and name themselves!” Pfle continued. “Right after logging in, you couldn’t have known that in-game deaths would be lethal in the real world! Masked Wonder died because of this game! I will not blame you for it! Just come forth!”

Nobody moved. Whispers filled the air.

Pfle took out her magical phone. “Then show me proof. The murderer will have Masked Wonder’s Miracle Coin in their phone.”

More whispering. At length, Clantail sighed and stepped forward. “What’s the point in looking now? Are you trying to start a witch hunt?”

“I suppose ‘witch’ is not an inaccurate term for us. Clever.”

Clantail glared daggers at her for the crack.

Pfle cleared her throat and changed the subject. “It’s no great concern if some magical girl who’s usually a paragon of good conduct indulges in something naughty in a game, like this player kill. If she names herself and comes forth, we can just call it an unfortunate episode…but I do want the Miracle Coin back. If no one confesses, then I have reason to worry.”

“About what?” Clantail demanded.

“That there may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing among us. We can’t rule out the possibility that one of the magical girls here is carrying out the master’s will.”

Clantail said nothing.

Pfle took it even further. “She might not even be a spy. The mastermind could be among us. Did I get that right?” she asked Fal, but the mascot said nothing. It just floated there in silence. “Fal says he will speak only the truth, and now it seems he doesn’t want to reply. That just makes me all the more anxious to dispel our worries. So, first of all, is anyone willing to step forth?”

Every one of them kept their mouths shut.

“Then show me your magical phones,” Pfle ordered. “If you’re just a victim, merely one of the poor magical girls forced into this game, then you should have no problem showing us your item bank.”

Clantail spat on the ground and glared at Pfle. The flash in her eyes would have started Pechka crying instantly, but Pfle met her gaze head-on, her expression relaxed. Clantail flung her phone at her, and Pfle caught it with one hand.

The crowd hushed as everyone watched the pair’s exchange.

“Thank you. I appreciate this.” Pfle checked the phone. “Nope, no problem here. No Miracle Coin in your bank. Just to be safe, will you check my phone as well?” She handed Clantail’s phone back while also offering her own.

Silently, Clantail took it. “…Nothing suspicious.” She practically shoved it back into Pfle’s hands.

“Now, if everyone else would please cooperate. The only person who has reason to worry is the murderer. If you’re innocent, you shouldn’t have any reason to hesitate.”

A number of people complained, “Why are we under investigation?” and “Is she even telling the truth?” But it seemed everyone—including Pechka—arrived at the conclusion that it was better than being suspected. They lined up to have Pfle check their phones. From the moment she offered her phone until she got it back, Pechka was incredibly nervous, even though she couldn’t possibly be the murderer.

As Clantail had checked Pfle’s phone, she had also inspected the one belonging to Pfle’s companion, the nurse. Why would someone want to check the phones of those in Masked Wonder’s party, too? Pechka wondered, but then she quickly realized either of the two could have snatched all of Masked Wonder’s items while nonchalantly declaring that they had been stolen. It chilled Pechka to realize she was thinking like this.

Now that each phone had been searched, the line in front of Pfle dispersed. Everyone returned to their original positions, and Pfle called out to a certain corner of the square, “All right. I’ve checked everyone but you. If you aren’t the murderer, then I ask that you cooperate with us.”

Pechka looked to see who it was and was startled. It was a girl in a samurai-esque outfit, a naked Japanese blade dangling from her right hand. She remembered that girl. There was no way she could forget. She was the one Pechka had encountered at the beginning of the game. She’d wiped out the skeletons and proceeded to nearly strangle Pechka to death.

“Come,” Pfle pressed her, but the samurai girl didn’t move. She at least appeared to have heard, since her eyes were locked on the girl in the wheelchair. The sword at her side swayed.

“Hurry up, now. Everyone’s waiting.”

Pechka could have sworn she could hear the air creaking with the pressure. She swallowed. It was possible everyone was thinking the same thing she was. They had checked every other magical phone but this one, and the stolen item hadn’t been in any of them. In other words, the last person remaining had to have it, right?

Pfle kept her hand outstretched, but the girl refused to move. Everyone else watched with bated breath. They didn’t want to stare down some possibly unstable person with a drawn blade hanging at her side.

“Hey, hey! You there!”

To Pechka’s shock, someone did step forward. She wore a helmet on her head with little protrusions on the sides that looked like cat ears. The semitransparent visor was down, hiding her face. Her near-future-style skintight suit called to mind a costume from the reruns of a special-effects-heavy show Pechka had once seen about transforming superheroes.

“Being difficult is only gonna make people more suspicious. Just accept it and show us your phone, boss.” Her attitude was so confident, you wouldn’t think she was addressing a questionable individual with a naked blade. The girl in the power suit reached out to place her hand on the samurai girl’s shoulder, but she was swatted away.

The samurai narrowed one eye, studying the other girl. Her gaze was unrelenting. “…Are you the Musician?”

“Sorry?”

“Are you the Musician?”

“Oh, yeah, you could say I’m a musician. I actually sometimes use Vocaloids to make songs and upload them—”

The Japanese sword swung through empty air, followed by a soft slap like the sound of a wet rag. The inside of the suited girl’s visor splattered with red, and she crumpled to the ground.

Someone screamed.

  Nokko

“Now, calm down.” Pfle, her hand still outstretched, addressed the girl with the sword. Not a speck of blood stained the blade. It shone like silver under the intense light of the sun.

Nokko was doing her best to restrain @Meow-Meow from running over to Genopsyko. “Yumenoshima hurt! We have to…we have to help her!” @Meow-Meow cried.

“Calm down… Just calm down…”

Now was not the time to be rash. Nokko understood that @Meow-Meow was upset, but it was still a bad idea. The murderer would strike again if provoked. If anyone moved, someone was sure to die, and it would be the one who provoked her. Calming herself, Nokko transferred her serenity to @Meow-Meow. But even so, she avoided looking at Genopsyko.

“Why don’t you put down that blade first? We can talk this out once you abandon the weapon.” Pfle was smiling like she hadn’t just witnessed a death. Evenly, she pressed for surrender, as simultaneously, a ray of light shot out and then split in two. The dark-clad nurse flew forward, tackling Pfle. A giant slice appeared in the ground where Pfle had been just moments ago.

Nokko was a veteran. She’d seen plenty of fights between magical girls, so she had a certain amount of skill in analyzing confusing fights like this.

Pfle had taken the initiative, firing a ray of light from the little bird decoration on her wheelchair, and the samurai girl had cut it in half with a swing of her sword. She followed it up with a counterattack, but the dark-clad nurse at Pfle’s side had jumped in and saved her comrade.

As Nokko analyzed what had happened to this point, she was hiding in the shadow of a building. The other magical girls had also slipped behind walls and into the enemy’s blind spots. Some were also striking back, while others were just trying to get away.

Several large harpoons shot through the air, but the samurai girl cut down every last one. They were sliced, split, and smacked down. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally—all of them thudded to the ground before they hit their target.

The girl with the katana hadn’t moved from her original position, yet she’d still managed to destroy all those spears. When giant sunflower seeds flew at her, they too were cleaved in half, and when rocks hurtled her way, they all shattered before they fell.

Her power had to be a long-range slicing attack. Genopsyko, in her invincible suit, had been cut behind her visor. Her suit itself was undamaged, but the girl inside was bleeding profusely. In other words, this girl could probably cut anything within her field of vision. So since she’d been able to see Genopsyko’s face through the translucent covering, she must have been able to cut her face. Nokko could puzzle that much out, but there was nothing she could do about it. Basically, if she stepped out of hiding, she’d be struck down.

The girl behind the building with her was hugging her knees and shivering, her white hat about to fall from her head. Nokko probably couldn’t expect anything from her. There had to be other girls taking cover nearby, too, but Nokko couldn’t see them from her position.

Sounds of fighting ceased from both sides, and a few minutes passed—though Nokko was judging by her internal clock, so it might actually have been less. The square was silent, and nobody moved a muscle.

Then came a great grinding sound like stone and concrete rubbing together. Slowly, it grew louder. Nokko abruptly raised her head to see that the building protecting her was about to topple on her. Not the whole structure, though—just the top half. The twenty-yard-square mass had been severed at a diagonal angle, and the upper slice was sliding down toward them. Not even a magical girl could survive unscathed if crushed under that. Nokko kicked the other girl out of the way, using the recoil to propel herself in the other direction. This should get her away from the falling concrete and also help the other girl escape—probably.

The upper half of the building slammed into the ground. Crash after crash assaulted her eardrums. The impact was so strong, the surrounding buildings visibly wobbled, and she couldn’t keep on her feet. Both hands and feet on the ground, she looked through the billowing dirt clouds to see in them a girl shouldering a Japanese sword, standing there calmly.

“Are you the Musician?” The last syllable came out with a rush of air as the samurai girl raised her sword up. Nokko was just over ten yards away. Still, the assailant swung down.

In one strike, a massive rock ten feet high was sliced into two.

“Huh?” said the samurai. The way had been clear before she’d raised her sword. Just bringing the blade down should have cleanly bisected Nokko. But the moment the samurai girl’s arm moved, something had intervened. A giant boulder had fallen between Nokko and the samurai, and the stone had been sliced instead of Nokko.

“Not on my watch!” @Meow-Meow stood in front of Nokko. A total of eight slips of paper gripped between her fingers, she did the same kung fu pose she’d done before.

The two stared each other down. @Meow-Meow slid forward, letting out a deep breath. Across from her, the other girl slowly raised the tip of her katana skyward.

The moment samurai girl brought down her blade, a talisman flew. It disappeared with a small explosion, leaving behind a large boulder that fell in two pieces atop of the rubble already strewn on the ground. @Meow-Meow threw seal after seal, each branded with an @ mark. They all exploded, transforming into boulders.

The samurai girl let out a strange cry, drawing her wakizashi short sword with her left hand. Supporting it in a light grip using only her index and middle fingers and thumb, she twirled both blades so fast it was difficult for the eye to follow. Slicing, splitting, and smashing, the samurai girl carved every single rock into dust. Motes of broken stone flew through the air, the fine shavings forming a white mist that obscured everything in sight.

A gust of wind blew, scattering the dust and revealing two figures facing off amid a pile of mangled lumps of rock. One was the samurai girl wielding both of her swords. The other was Nokko, mop in hand.

Nokko was standing at the ready, but that didn’t mean she stood a chance. At ten yards away, she had no means of attacking, and the samurai girl had to know that, based on their exchange thus far. The samurai girl’s cheeks warped, flashing white teeth. She was smiling. She knew Nokko would go down without a fight; she was mocking her. The sudden shadow over the sun, the fact that @Meow-Meow was gone—none of it registered to the samurai girl. None of the details mattered. She was simply driven by her urge to cut down every enemy in sight. Her twisted smile never disappeared until the abandoned building crushed her.

Nokko looked up to the roof of the building that had come flying from the sky. There stood @Meow-Meow, her face distorted with tears, in perfect opposition to the expression of the samurai girl, which had lasted until her demise.

If @Meow-Meow hadn’t been there, Nokko would have died. @Meow-Meow had protected her with those boulders. She’d scattered her talismans, summoning barrier after barrier, all the while scaling a nearby building and leaping off the roof to summon one of the dilapidated office buildings from the wasteland. That had saved Nokko’s life. She wanted to thank her protector, but the sobbing @Meow-Meow wasn’t in the right state for that.

This reminded Nokko that Genopsyko had been hurt. Nokko looked to where she’d collapsed after being cut down, but she was gone. Nothing but her magical phone lay there.