Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

MYSTERIOUS CANDY

  Shadow Gale

“Player deaths don’t make items disappear,” said Pfle. “So then what happens when a magical phone is destroyed? What about the items inside?”

“When a magical phone is destroyed, the items inside return to their original locations, pon. If there’s an event item, that event will reactivate. Items sold in shops will be available for sale again, pon.”

“Is it possible to carry around an item without installing it?”

“All items are just data and can only be materialized once installed in a magical phone, pon. All items must be installed first, whether you’re looking to equip weapons and armor or use pots and cooking utensils, pon.”

Since Fal had announced that death in the game equaled death in real life, making it clear that this game was illegal and unsanctioned by the Magical Kingdom, the mascot had been getting more hate than a tick or a cockroach. But Pfle had pressed the HELP button anyway and was tossing questions at the mascot as if this were the obvious course of action.

But she wasn’t asking questions like “Why are you doing all this?” or “Do you resent us for some reason?” All her queries were positive in nature, those of a player looking to complete the game.

Shadow Gale was once again struck by what an abnormal human being she was. Though Masked Wonder had only worked with them for three days, she’d been their ally as they moved through the game, and her death had been brutal. To make it worse, now they knew she wasn’t dead in the game alone. But Pfle showed no sign at all of shock or grieving.

The girls had offered a variety of opinions: Some had discussed how they might communicate what was going on to the Magical Kingdom, while others suggested that other magical girls could save them. None of this went anywhere, and ultimately, these proposals may not have been constructive. But wasn’t it still better than dancing to the tune of the master who had forced them into this game?

Someone had suggested that the various parties should all work together, so the four leaders had had a discussion in the square. But Pfle had ended it early and gone back to Shadow Gale.

Currently, Pfle was speaking to Shadow Gale across a desk in one of the buildings on the first floor of the mountain town. This building was larger than the other houses, and Pfle could maneuver around it easily, even on her wheelchair. Also, like all the other buildings, it was empty, so no one would complain if they hung around indefinitely.

“That’s all of my questions. Thank you, Fal.” Pfle even included a polite expression of gratitude as she closed the HELP menu on her magical phone. The window disappeared, leaving the item confirmation screen on display. “There is one thing that’s odd.”

“You still haven’t told me how your discussion went, though,” said Shadow Gale. “What happened?”

“If I’m going to talk about that, there’s something else that has to come first.”

“What do you mean?”

Earlier, Fal had gathered everyone in the wasteland town square, and there, it had announced something unthinkable. Then, while all the others were restlessly worrying over what they should do, Pfle had dropped another bomb: Masked Wonder had been murdered, and all her items and candy had been stolen. Pfle had then asked the culprit to come forth.

Just recalling the vicious manner of Masked Wonder’s death made Shadow Gale sick. Masked Wonder had been a weirdo, and sometimes rather pushy, but she’d still been a good person, and softhearted enough for Pfle to hook with her bandages trick. She’d been a righteous magical girl of justice who fought to protect the weak. There was no reason she had to die like that.

Pfle had told them that Masked Wonder had been mugged, meaning that whoever had the Miracle Coin had to be the culprit. Come on, she’d said, rushing them along. Cooperate with me in searching for the culprit. Let me check all your magical phones, please.

But then they’d gotten stuck on the last girl. The samurai girl had refused to show her phone, and when the suited girl had criticized her for that, the samurai had cut her up. The samurai must not have killed her—the victim had disappeared afterward. The two girls from her party were apparently looking for her, but no one had called to inform them of her location or say that they’d found her body anywhere.

The samurai had rampaged as violently as a typhoon, cutting everything in sight. She sliced and sliced and sliced to kill, even cleaving a building in two. Pfle would have died if Shadow Gale hadn’t saved her. Pfle must have taken it for granted that her companion would do so, as she didn’t voice a single word of gratitude. Maybe Shadow Gale should have kicked her to safety instead, if that would have worked.

Ultimately, the ruined building became the villain’s tombstone. The samurai had been fighting with the girl in the Chinese dress, and then, right when she was about to kill the maid girl in front of her, a building sundered by the samurai herself had dropped on her from above to crush her. It was horrifying to know that there were so many magical girls in the world who could pull off such terrifying stunts.

The Chinese-style girl had then sealed the destroyed edifice away once more inside one of her talismans. Left in the center of the earthen pit was…the samurai girl. Shadow Gale didn’t really want to recall what she’d looked like, exactly. Her magical phone had been completely unusable, the protective case broken and the LCD screen shattered, so they hadn’t been able to check and see if the stolen items were on it. But since the samurai girl had refused to present her magical phone and had attacked so suddenly, and no one else had the Miracle Coin, they all just figured she must have been the culprit. So their search for the killer ended there.

After that, they all offered their opinions on what to do next and prepared for the party leaders to have a discussion. As the others occupied themselves with suggestions like “We should do this” or “We should do that,” Shadow Gale became lost in her troubles, her mind hazy.

How could all of them be so quick to get over this? Three people had died—and furthermore, they were being forced to play this game with their lives on the line. Far, far more of them should have been crying and wailing and losing their minds. Wasn’t it messed up that they were all having a composed discussion about how to best deal with the situation?

All of them are trying to trick me, she thought.

When Pfle left the conversation early and came back, Shadow Gale very emphatically tried to communicate the thoughts boiling in her head.

Pfle responded, “They’re not all necessarily as calm as you think they are, Mamori. Though I am.”

“I know you’re not bothered, miss—”

“But yes, now that you mention it, perhaps they’re all relaxed about this. Look, do you remember that examiner from back when we became magical girls? Well, no matter. You know what she said. When you become a magical girl, you don’t only become stronger physically—you become strong of mind as well. Your sense of fear diminishes.”

“I don’t feel any less scared.”

“I’m talking about the kind of ideal magical girl that the Magical Kingdom wants. The kind of saint who won’t hesitate to sacrifice herself when push comes to shove. No one with a regular mentality could do that.” Pfle was making sense and speaking rationally, but whether or not that would convince Shadow Gale was another issue entirely. “There’s an app being sold at the shop in this town called the Item Encyclopedia. It’s the item version of the monster encyclopedia that was sold at the grasslands shop.” Pfle handed Shadow Gale her phone as if to say, “Go on, take a look.” Displayed there was a long list of names. “These are the names of all the items. You can see a graphic, too, if you click on them. When you see question marks rather than an item name, it means no one has acquired the item yet. Sliding to the right, it lists how to acquire the item, how much it costs at shops, and then its use.”

“What are these numbers?” asked Shadow Gale. She stared at some large numbers beside some smaller numbers in brackets. For example, to the side of the travel pass, the text read 10,000 (4). Its meaning was indecipherable from a glance.

“Good on you to have noticed that. That’s important. The larger number is the upper limit for that item. The smaller one indicates how many are presently circulating in the game. With that in mind, look at this.” Pfle’s finger pointed to where the Miracle Coin was listed. Her finger moved to the right and then stopped at the spot where the upper limit figure and the amount in circulation were listed. There, it read 1 (1).

“So what? What does that…huh?” Shadow Gale tilted her head, confused. “The number in circulation is…one of one?”

“That’s right. Strange, isn’t it?” Pfle’s voice held a note of enthusiasm. From the look on her face, she seemed to be enjoying herself. “When a magical phone is broken, the items within return to their original source. Any event items in there will cause the event to reactivate—that’s what Fal said. If that hooligan swinging around that katana had stolen Masked Wonder’s items, then when her phone was crushed by the building, the number of Miracle Coins in circulation would have turned to zero, and the event would have activated again.”

“Maybe she was just carrying it around and never installed it in her phone,” suggested Shadow Gale. “Or she hid it somewhere.”

“That can’t be done. You can’t materialize an item without installing it first. I’ve already confirmed that fact with Fal.”

“How do you know Fal isn’t just lying again?”

“Fal won’t lie. He’s said that he’ll only tell the truth from now on.”

“How can you trust such a chronic liar?”

“Listen…” The enthusiasm in Pfle’s voice was heating up. Her hands had been resting on the wheels of her wheelchair—but at some point, she had begun gripping the rims tight. The rubber warped, and with nowhere to go, the air within bulged out like it was about to pop. “I’m no ace detective like Detec Bell. When I seek out a culprit, I don’t gather evidence or tear down alibis—though I do make inquiries, at least.”

“What are you trying to say, here?”

“Fal is missing many things useful to judging his character: vocal timbre, physical appearance, clothing, gesture, body odor, and tone of voice, as well as the volume of secretions such as saliva and sweat. But really, even without such things, it’s simple enough to get a grasp of his character. He resents his master, he’s dissatisfied with this game, and he’s on the players’ side.”

“Weren’t you just saying you’re not an ace detective?”

“I’m saying that when searching for a culprit, I pick them out based on their character. I don’t need evidence or alibis—because if I believe they’re the culprit, they most certainly are. There is only one condition that needs to be fulfilled for an autocracy to surpass the rule of law, and that is to have a sovereign who never errs. I never misjudge a person. Fal wants to cooperate with the players.” Pfle released the wheels of her chair. Her elegant, white palms were dirtied black. She extended her hands to Shadow Gale, who pulled out her handkerchief to wipe them.

“Fal told us the truth,” said Pfle, “and the coin is still in circulation. In other words, this has to mean that the one who killed Masked Wonder and stole her items is alive.” Once her hands were clean of dirt, the ardor that had filled Pfle’s words suddenly cooled. She was back to normal. “Genopsyko Yumenoshima’s disappearance is connected to this, too. Someone is up to something.”

“So does the lady sovereign who never errs know who that someone is?” Shadow Gale had meant to say that sarcastically, but Pfle’s expression was unconcerned as she shrugged.

“I don’t know yet. And that’s exactly why we should refrain from cooperating with other parties. We can’t open our arms and get chummy with someone who might be the enemy, now, can we?”

  Detec Bell

Presenting the results of her investigation into Magical Daisy in front of the whole crowd had felt good. Detec Bell had really felt like an ace detective. Even though her life had been in danger then, too, she’d been terribly proud and gotten really into it.

The problems came afterward, once they’d subdued that rioter swinging around the katana.

The leaders’ discussion reached no conclusions; it didn’t even come close, and then it had ended without going anywhere. They had broken the meeting up early because Nokko wanted to go search for the vanished Genopsyko Yumenoshima. Pfle had said, “Talk to me once you have an objective,” and then left, as if this had nothing to do with her. Detec Bell had attempted to win over Clantail, saying that even if it was just the two of them, they should still cooperate, but Clantail’s sullen silence had made it hard for Detec Bell to figure out what was on her mind.

Clantail had the lower body of a horse, so when the two faced each other, Clantail ended up looking down on Detec Bell even when they were both sitting down. Plus, the centaur had a tremendous force of presence. Clantail did basically give her a nod at the end, so maybe that meant Detec Bell had gotten her understanding. But since they never decided on anything concrete, that understanding was pointless.

Disappointed and exhausted, Detec Bell returned to the shop in the wasteland town where her party was—and where another draining, disheartening incident awaited.

“She was there! For serious!” Lapis Lazuline was freaking out. Her shoulder-length black hair and kind, pale-brown eyes made her look like a reserved sort of person, but she was always, always noisy.

“Who was here?” asked Detec Bell.

“Genopsyko Yumenoshima,” said Melville. She, by contrast, was loud only in looks. Her hairstyle—the quintessence of loud, with curled orange locks dotted with purple flowers—contrasted with the person herself, who was quiet and spoke falteringly. “Genopsyko Yumenoshima, th’ lass wha’ fell in the waestlan’ taun, she ’os watchin’ us from ’round yon corner.” Melville pointed behind a building.

“No way, I mean, Genopsyko Yumenoshima was—” Detec Bell had been about to say, “killed in the wasteland town,” but her lips snapped shut there. Nokko and @Meow-Meow were still searching for her, since it was basically unknown whether she was alive or dead. Detec Bell figured that someone had hidden the body, but since some people still believed that Genopsyko was alive and were looking for her, Detec Bell hesitated to voice her opinion that there was no way a dead person was going to show up.

“She had a real bad stab wound in her face, goin’ through her cheek into her mouth and right to the end of her jaw. That was probably where she got cut,” said Lazuline, and Melville nodded. “But that wound was stitched up like Frankenstein!” Lazuline cried with a ghoulish expression, and Melville nodded.

“So then what happened?” asked Detec Bell. “Did you call out to her? Did she say anything to you?”

“Well, she wouldn’t have been able to talk, anyway. Even her mouth was sewn shut. We were so busy screamin’ and freakin’ out, I couldn’t even begin to try talkin’ to her.”

It had to have been just Lazuline and Cherna Mouse freaking out. It was difficult to imagine Melville screaming and causing a fuss.

“Anyway, where’s Cherna?” Detec Bell asked.

“Genopsyko scampered off somewhere, so Cherna’s chasin’ her down,” Lazuline explained. “Once Cherna brings her back, you’ll know we’ve been tellin’ the truth.”

“I’m not accusing you of lying.”

“Aren’t ya? I can almost smell the skepticism rollin’ off ya.”

They wouldn’t lie—but they might have misunderstood what they saw. Lazuline was thoughtless, and Cherna was careless; however, Melville had been with them, too, so that meant Cherna and Lazuline had not just been imagining things. So Genopsyko Yumenoshima really had been there.

The stitches meant either she’d sewn herself up or someone else had. Why would she have done that rather than use recovery medicine? It also didn’t make sense that she was going off on her own without letting the others in her party know she was safe. There was no reason for her to do that.

Detec Bell turned her gaze away from Lazuline, who was grabbing her collar and leaning into her, and instead turned to Melville.

The orange-haired girl nodded and, with a jerk of her jaw, indicated just past the shop. “ ’Ere, she’s returned.”

A creature leaped out from between two buildings, running on all fours. Right before it was about to collide with Melville, it braked suddenly to a stop. It had left a track on the ground in its wake, and clouds of dust whirled into the air. Ignoring the coughs from Detec Bell and Lapis Lazuline, the figure—Cherna Mouse—lifted her right arm to report, “She wasn’t there!”

“Who wasn’t there?” asked Detec Bell. “You mean Genopsyko?”

“She just wasn’t there—you’d be amazed! Cherna figures she’s got to be super-fast. And, and, and what was really amazing was that she had no smell at all!”

“Maybe you guys were all just imagining things.”

“We weren’t! This really happened!” Cherna Mouse shook her sleeve, and something lightly rolled out of it. There were pockets inside her sleeves, and she typically stored giant sunflower seeds in there.

Melville, Lazuline, and Detec Bell all looked at each other, and then at the thing that had fallen. It was a rock wrapped in a crumpled piece of paper. As the parcel traveled across the ground, the paper unfolded, and they saw inside. Written on the paper in a script that resembled an earthworm wriggling around was a message: Watch out for the traitor.

“What’s it say?” Cherna asked, unperturbed, but nobody replied.

Melville kicked the rock. Now without its weight, the paper was caught in a gust of wind and flew away.

“Ahh! It’s flying away!” Cherna Mouse cried, running after it.

“An’ yer meetin’?” Melville asked Detec Bell.

“Oh yeah. We decided we’re all going to cooperate.”

“Nay, Ah shan’t.” Melville’s eyes never left the rock at their feet. “Some blackguard is schemin’, an’ we’ve no inkling who. Cubbe one o’ ye in ’is pairty. ’Tis chancy, it is, and we cannae proceed hence.”

“But if we all split up at a time like this—”

“Ah’d prefir’t to this.” Melville said, brooking no argument. Detec Bell couldn’t say anything to that.

  Nokko

Nokko walked around visiting people, but she didn’t find Genopsyko. Detec Bell’s party claimed to have seen her, so she had to be alive. But Genopsyko never showed herself to Nokko or @Meow-Meow.

Nokko activated the map application, figuring perhaps she could use it in her hunt for Genopsyko, but the location displayed there was the same as @Meow-Meow’s. It seemed the map didn’t display where the person’s position was, but rather her magical phone’s. It was entirely useless.

If she’s alive, she could at least come see us, Nokko thought—but she never voiced that. @Meow-Meow had hardly said a word since that battle in the town square, and Nokko kept finding her zoning out and staring off into the distance. Nokko tried as hard as she could to transmit fun and happy feelings to her, but she didn’t know if it was really working. They had been forced into this life-and-death game, they didn’t know where Genopsyko was, and at the end of her battle with that samurai girl, @Meow-Meow had killed her. Even if that girl had been a murderer and a thief, Nokko figured this had to be weighing down on @Meow-Meow along with everything else.

Nokko couldn’t say, “Genopsyko could at least come see us” or “I never knew you were that strong, @Meow-Meow!” or “Let’s all work together to make it out of this alive.” Any of that would dredge up painful memories, and remembering them would just make her even more depressed.

“Not magical girl anymore,” @Meow-Meow said suddenly during their meal that day.

Nokko was startled. They were sitting facing each other and ingesting a lifeless meal of preserved rations. @Meow-Meow was silent, and so was Nokko, and their wordless act held no more meaning than reducing their hunger meters. But then @Meow-Meow had suddenly spoken, breaking that silence. Nokko felt like it had been a very long time since she’d last heard the other girl’s voice.

“What do you mean, ‘not magical girl anymore’?” asked Nokko.

“I mean just what I say. Retired as magical girl.”

“Who’s retired?”

“Me.”

“Huh? You retired from being a magical girl, @Meow-Meow? But you were made to participate in the game anyway?”

“That what happened.”

Nokko was about to comfort her, but then she hesitated. It didn’t seem like @Meow-Meow had brought this up because of a desire for sympathy, and neither did it seem like just complaining. It was all words coming from her mouth intermittently. Her face still had this dazed look.

“Something really bad happen. So after, I stop being magical girl.”

“Something bad—” Nokko started to say and then stopped. Remembering that would only make @Meow-Meow upset.

“I no remember it at all. It must have been bad enough for me to quit being a magical girl, but I can’t remember at all what happened…” With just her front teeth, @Meow-Meow nibbled her nutrition bar, chewing it slowly. “Something awful happened… I quit being a magical girl…but then I participated in this game…like it was totally natural… I didn’t think it was strange, either…” She seemed obsessed—possessed, even. Whatever it was, she didn’t seem right. She just kept on whispering and muttering. “On top of that building, I was crying. Tears were falling. I was sad. Because I killed someone. Someone I couldn’t hold back with. I know that…but…”

She raised her head. There were no clouds in the sky, no stars, no moon. Nothing. There was only sprawling black, and @Meow-Meow’s eyes reflected that same darkness. “It was the…the second time? It was the second time, so I thought I could do better…”

There was motion in the thicket, the sound of leaves against leaves. Nokko moved to get up, but @Meow-Meow restrained her with a hand. “Who there?” she asked. There was focus in her eyes and awareness in her voice. The fact that @Meow-Meow was acting normal again was more surprising to Nokko than the fact that someone was there.

“It’s me.” The magical girl in the wheelchair—and the nurse girl pushing it. Nokko was pretty sure the one in the wheelchair was Pfle. She’d been in a party with Masked Wonder, the murdered girl. The nurse in black was… What was her name again? She was the one who attended Pfle and had leaped in from the side to save her life when she had nearly been killed… Nokko couldn’t remember her name.

“I would hope you remember? I’m Pfle, and this is Shadow Gale.”

Right. Pfle and Shadow Gale.

“I’ve come because I have a request,” said Pfle. “Would you lend us your ears?”

“I thought we already talk about cooperating with other party,” said @Meow-Meow. “If your request help us survive this, we have to listen.”

Nokko looked over at @Meow-Meow. There was strength and determination in her eyes. She was thankful that @Meow-Meow had pulled it together, but such a sudden, inexplicable change made Nokko anxious.

“It seems that Detec Bell’s team still continues to claim ownership over their territory,” said Pfle. “I’m told that those who approach their hunting grounds are threatened by a one-hundred-foot Cherna Mouse.”

Magical candy was a necessity for everything here. So of course, you had to gather a lot if you were aiming to complete the game. But stealing from one another would only drive them all farther from completion. The players’ solidarity was falling apart. And who would benefit from that? That had to be…

“What they thinking?! This no time to be fighting each other!” Nokko could hear @Meow-Meow’s teeth grinding. “We stop them. Having priority on hunting ground don’t matter for just finishing game.”

“Yes, indeed,” Pfle replied. “But I doubt that lot will listen if you try to use words to stop them.”

“But I no want us kill each other over it.”

“We won’t be doing that. I wouldn’t want that, either. That’s exactly why we need your help.”

  Shadow Gale

The newest unlocked region was now the city area. But despite its title, it was of course not the kind of city you’d see people living in now. It was more of a cyberpunk-style sci-fi area. The aesthetic consisted of jumbled-up cables and wires, and the level design was even more of a mess. It was smaller than the wasteland, the grasslands, and the mountain area had been, but it was like a maze that took some time getting used to.

The shop sold both armor and weapons. They were higher level than the equipment sold at previous shops, too, at +5 power. Shadow Gale bought a +5 weapon and installed it. When she summoned it, she got a wrench and gave it a test swing. It felt incredibly right. These weapons were clearly made with the players in mind. The feeling of the tool rolling in her hand lingered.

The monsters that appeared in this area were robot soldiers that called to mind the androids found in robot anime. According to the encyclopedia, there were four types: attacker, defender, gunner, and general. They attacked with lighting strikes, mini-missiles, body blows, etc., and they were quite a bit stronger than the goblins and skeletons had been.

They were formidable, so they dropped more candy and, what’s more, rare items at a rate of about one in a hundred. The shop would buy these arm parts, leg parts, body parts, head parts, etc. at high prices. These items were just vendor trash with no gameplay purpose—for any player other than Shadow Gale, that is.

Shadow Gale’s magical ability was modification. Using her wrench and scissors, she could bang away at things to improve them. She’d always used her magic for tasks that were simple but nonetheless made people happy, like improving TV picture quality, upping the gas mileage of a car, or increasing disk storage on a computer.

Right now, Shadow Gale’s hands were whipping about, using parts of every type to modify Pfle’s wheelchair. They’d requested the other parties gather the materials. When they had declared they would duel with Cherna Mouse, the others had all gladly cooperated. Shadow Gale understood quite well just how much everyone hated that party. Pfle had also asked @Meow-Meow to deliver the things they needed as well as help gather them. All this intensive modification had made the wheelchair dramatically less mobile and decreased how long it would work, so it helped a lot to be moving around less.

They accumulated more and more parts. No matter how Shadow Gale used them up, they never disappeared. She could see no end to the grind.

Pfle was using her magical phone. She seemed to be reading something.

“Um…,” Shadow Gale began.

“What is it, Mamori?”

“How long should I keep doing this…?”

“Until it’s satisfactory,” Pfle answered.

Who was Shadow Gale supposed to satisfy, and how? She got the feeling that asking those questions wouldn’t get her any answers. “Could I ask one thing…?”

“What is it?”

“While working on this, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.”

“That’s some pretty impressive multitasking, for you.”

“I’ve been thinking about who killed Masked Wonder.”

“Oh?”

“I think it could be @Meow-Meow.” Shadow Gale thought that was a pretty outrageous thing to have said. But contrary to her expectations, Pfle just kept fiddling with her phone with no apparent concern. Shadow Gale sullenly went back to her task. She continued on with that for a few more minutes, until Pfle broke the silence.

“Mamori…when you suspect someone, you feel a need to have some sort of basis for your suspicions, don’t you? You’re a different sort from me.”

Most human beings were a different sort from Pfle. It took talent to become that arrogant. “Yes, more or less,” Shadow Gale replied.

“Tell me your reasoning for why you believe @Meow-Meow to be the culprit. I’ll listen.”

“When she fought the samurai in the square, she attacked by summoning boulders.”

“Oh, yes. Seems like quite the convenient magic to have,” Pfle remarked.

@Meow-Meow had pulled rocks and buildings from those slips of paper, and then afterward, she’d sucked that building she’d summoned right back into the paper, too. Both of the things she used to fight had been everywhere in this game so far. It seemed @Meow-Meow’s power was to seal things inside her talismans.

Shadow Gale continued, “And Masked Wonder’s head was crushed by a boulder, right?”

“…That’s your basis? Because @Meow-Meow was using boulders? That’s all?”

“Of course that’s not all. It’s ultimately just one of many elements that make her suspicious.”

“Oh? So then what’s the main reason you suspect her?”

“The coin.” Shadow Gale spun the wrench and cut with the shears. Her power of modification wasn’t based on any reason or principle, so she didn’t really understand the point of each of her individual actions as she worked. “@Meow-Meow put that massive slice of building inside her talisman,” Shadow Gale explained. “If she can pull off something that extreme, then she might have an even higher-level technique for storing data itself inside her talismans without going through the magical phone. She may be capable of carrying the coin around with her without installing it.” Magical girls’ powers ignored rules and principles. It was just like how Shadow Gale could use the robot soldiers’ rare drops for a purpose other than sale. “If the culprit is someone else, I don’t know how they would be carrying the coin around without a magical phone. So, to summarize, that’s why I think she might be the culprit.” Shadow Gale finished off her explanation like an elementary school child would close an essay.

When she glanced toward Pfle, the other girl’s eyes had not left her phone. “Your deductions aren’t bad.”

“Right?”

“Perhaps I’ve misjudged you.”

Exactly what kind of person had Kanoe thought her to be?

  Detec Bell

Becoming a magical girl offered many opportunities to observe many strange things, starting with the girl herself. But still, not many of them would see something as unreal as this.

It had to be a mile or two away, but even so, the feeling that the brutal conflict might spill all the way over to them kept Detec Bell on edge. Even their slightest motions created intense dust clouds and noise. The one-hundred-foot Cherna Mouse and the one-hundred-foot… What would you call it? At a glance, it resembled a crab. Of course, it wasn’t really a crustacean. It was entirely mechanical. Pfle had called it a ten-legged tank, hadn’t she?

The ground rumbled and dust billowed up as Cherna Mouse ran to make a grab at the tank, which it blocked. Detec Bell could sense the sound and impact of their struggle all the way where she was.

Two of the machine’s legs grappled with Cherna’s arms, while one of the other eight legs took the opportunity to strike her side, causing her to lose her balance and fall over. Clouds of dust obscured her from Detec Bell’s vision, but still, Cherna Mouse rolled away from the tank, knocking over the high-rises in her way, cracking them underneath her massive frame, crushing them to the point where it hurt just to look at them.

Cherna Mouse withdrew, but the tank didn’t give chase. It stood firm. Then a protrusion where a crab’s eyes would be flashed, and something exploded a ways ahead of the tank. The tank had fired its lasers. It launched Cherna Mouse back and sent her rolling along the ground. Three buildings were destroyed in the exchange, but they were behind the tank now, and Detec Bell couldn’t see them from where she stood.

Even from atop a distant high-rise, Detec Bell could grasp the massive scale of this destruction. Melville was squinting her right eye a bit. Every time Cherna Mouse was attacked, Lapis Lazuline yipped, which was highly annoying.

Detec Bell could see where this battle was headed. The ten-legged tank was overwhelming Cherna. It had more methods of attack available to it, it moved fast, and it was also equipped with projectile weapons. Detec Bell never would have imagined that any magical girl could beat Cherna Mouse, but at this rate, she would go down.

It seemed like Melville and Lazuline didn’t want her to lose, but Detec Bell wouldn’t really mind. Maybe it would be better if she did.

That morning, they’d received a request.

“I would like to propose a nonlethal duel.”

The visitors came to Detec Bell’s party while they were eating breakfast. It was the magical girl in the wheelchair and the nurse in the black outfit…the Pfle and Shadow Gale pair. The very first thing out of Pfle’s mouth was an invitation to duel, creating a lot of question marks in their heads. But what Pfle said next clarified her intentions.

“If we win, we want you to stop monopolizing hunting grounds. You use the threat of force to back your actions. If we demonstrate our superior strength, then you wouldn’t mind stepping down, I take it? I believe Miss Melville over there has said that the strong rule.”

Promising they would give their answer later, Detec Bell had Pfle and Shadow Gale leave. She had the sense not to quarrel in front of another party.

“Is it true that you’re blocking the others from our hunting grounds?” Detec Bell asked Cherna Mouse.

“Yep.” Cherna Mouse didn’t seem in the least bit shy about it.

“Why would you do something like that? I thought we said that we all have to cooperate.”

“Cherna doesn’t care about that stuff,” she replied.

In order to unlock the gate to the next area, they had to get into the office in front of the city area’s defense headquarters, and for that, they needed a password. Detec Bell had tried to discuss this with the other parties, but their response hadn’t been positive. They’d hardly managed to have a conversation. Now Detec Bell knew why.

“Don’t give me that,” she said. “It’s not too late. Go and apologize. You can bring a gift for them, too, if you like.”

“No. Cherna hasn’t done anything wrong. If we’re gonna have a duel, Cherna’ll beat ’em up.”

This wasn’t going anywhere. She was not the kind of person who could be compelled to obey.

“Fightin’s never good, y’know?” Lazuline said, nodding with folded arms and a smug expression. She would be no help.

Detec Bell turned to Melville. “Make her stop.”

“Ah shan’t.” Melville’s gaze flicked downward. Her eyelashes stirred in the wind.

That was it. Cherna Mouse wouldn’t just go off on her own and do whatever she wanted. She always listened to what Melville said.

“Did Ah no’ tell ye? ’Ere be a vill’n among’s. To discuss’t’d be fer naught. Ye cannae unnerstan’.”

“Melvy’s sayin’ we can’t cooperate with people, since one of them might be a bad guy,” Lazuline translated.

“But if you’re going to be like that, then—” If Melville was going to bring that up, then there was also no guarantee that the bad guy wasn’t one of their own party… But that remark caught in Detec Bell’s throat. She just couldn’t say it. She bit her lip and tasted a little blood.

Cherna Mouse’s magic was simple: She could make herself bigger. It was simple but powerful. If a large enemy hit you, it hurt, but hitting a large enemy in return wasn’t really effective. Cherna had demonstrated her immense strength to them in their battles with monsters. Frankly, all they really needed in their party was this one giant monster—er, Cherna Mouse.

What’s more, their opponent had picked the wasteland as the duel’s location. It was a wide-open area, the kind of space where Cherna Mouse was at her greatest advantage. It was a sprawling plain with only high-rises dotted here and there. Those wouldn’t get in the way.

Cherna had ignored Detec Bell’s attempt to hold her back and had accepted the duel. One hour later, the hamster girl was already enormous, ready and waiting for her opponent. Detec Bell, Melville, and Lazuline observed from the roof of a distant building.

With the wasteland as their battleground, who would even be able to oppose this monster? Detec Bell was wondering, when @Meow-Meow trudged her way to the duel site. Is she going to be the one fighting? She’s strong, for sure, but it’d be a pretty tough fight for her.

But that wasn’t what was going on. @Meow-Meow tossed out a talisman and ran away. The slip of paper fluttered downward to explode with a boof! When the smoke cleared, a massive mechanical crab was standing there.

Its abdominal section was round. The glowing parts where a crab’s eyes would have been had to be sensors or something. From what Detec Bell could see of the layer edges, a number of armored plates had been sheeted over one another. The thickness of that armor made the tank seem like it would be slow, but the ten legs extending from its torso maneuvered with quick little movements. Each leg had two joints and a sharp point at the end. The limbs were covered in thick, metallic, armor-like plates on the front side, whirring, rattling, and clicking mechanically with every movement. The whole thing shone a metallic black, and the tank had no square parts. It was rounded in every way. Unlike a real crab, it had nothing resembling pincers, so it resembled a spider, aside from its number of legs. It was about the same size as Cherna Mouse and perhaps heavier. Basically, it was huge.

With Pfle on her back, Shadow Gale ran up one of the crab’s legs, opened up the lid on its torso, and literally kicked her in before she closed the lid and scrambled back down.

“Shall we begin the duel, then?” The voice was loud, probably amplified by speakers, but it was definitely Pfle’s.

Cherna Mouse was surprised, but she didn’t back away. She approached to grapple with the machine, and the duel began.

Cherna Mouse was at a disadvantage. It was looking bad for her—she’d never be able to win at this rate. And to be honest, Detec Bell wanted her to lose. She’d made them into real hypocrites by being so uncooperative with other parties. If Cherna lost this, that would satisfy everyone else, and it would probably make working with them easier.

Cherna Mouse’s whole body was trembling like she was ill as she crouched down, crossing her arms over her eyes. She appeared to be protecting herself from attacks. Seeing her misery under the barrage of blows hurt to watch.

“We should make her stop. Cherna’s already lost,” Detec Bell said, looking over toward Melville, who was facing the battleground with a calm expression. “At this rate, worst-case scenario—Cherna gets killed. They said this would be bloodless, but sometimes people get impulses.”

“Shield yer ears,” was all Melville replied.

Cherna braced her legs wide on the ground, crouching down. Knees bent, arms spread wide, she opened her mouth so big it covered a third of her face, and her throat vibrated in a howl. The heavy-looking tank reeled, staggered, bowed backward, and then dug its claws into the ground to withstand the roar. Nearby buildings crumbled and collapsed. Clouds of dust blew away.

An instant before, Detec Bell had plugged her ears, opened her mouth, and thrown herself to the ground. The booming noise made everything shiver and shake as Cherna screamed and raged. This had never happened before. The giant magical girl extended her arms in front of her, leaning forward as she turned to face the ten-legged tank.

Detec Bell rubbed her eyes. Something was odd. She’d thought Cherna Mouse was stationary, but it looked like she was approaching them.

The crab’s eyes flashed, and another beam hit its mark. But this explosion was far smaller than the previous ones had been. Cherna Mouse’s hamster suit was already black with soot, and the explosion was so small, it only added one more black soot spot on her. She didn’t even wobble.

Then Detec Bell realized—Cherna Mouse wasn’t getting closer. The explosions weren’t shrinking. Cherna Mouse was growing. She was already twice…two and a half times…three times larger than the crab, and she was still expanding.

A black sphere about two yards in diameter fired from the hull of the crab into the distance before it landed and rolled away. But before Detec Bell had the time to wonder what it was, Cherna Mouse had taken half a step forward, closing the distance between her and the crab, and stomped it flat.

Detec Bell looked up at the sky.

  Pechka

They’d been deceived. If they died in the game, they would die in real life, too. But they couldn’t escape now. They had to keep playing the game. There was no other choice.

Next after the city area came the subterranean level. After passing through the gates, they emerged in a little room, removed the lid on the floor there, and descended through it to find an underground world. It wasn’t like a man-made dungeon, but more a natural cave, like a limestone hollow. It was all damp and slippery, floor included. Pechka raised her right foot up too high and fell, and when Nonako tried to catch her, they both went down together. Pechka hit her waist hard and felt ready to cry.

It was a cave, but not small at all. In fact, it was huge, about four times Pechka’s height to the ceiling. The width of the path varied a lot depending on location as it progressed, but it was generally pretty big.

Still, because it was a cave, it was chilly and damp and not at all a comfortable place to be.

Pfle and Cherna Mouse’s giant monster one-on-one had ended in Cherna Mouse’s victory. Pfle’s escape pod had saved her life. If not for that, she certainly would have died. Pechka had been so frightened, she’d stopped watching halfway through, so she had learned the whole story from Nonako Miyokata’s and Rionetta’s recaps.

Pechka thought that Pfle had done well. No other magical girl would have been able to stand against Cherna Mouse—she would have chased them off, and that would have been the end of it. They had gone to a lot of trouble to gather up all those parts, but still, none of them blamed Pfle for her loss. They expressed their appreciation with “You did well” or “You did your best,” and then they left. Pfle had failed to stop Detec Bell’s party, but Pechka figured that at least counted as firing a strike back.

The next day, the subterranean area was unlocked. They said that Pfle had been the one to decipher the cryptography quest in the city area that would unlock the next region. Pfle had simultaneously been preparing for the match against Cherna Mouse and finishing off that unlock quest. No one was offering gratitude now.

The scouters, Pechka and Nonako, ended up working together with the combat team, though not because the exploration team was useless. They hadn’t completed any of the area unlock quests, but they had done some side quests to earn items and candy. No, it was simply because the game had become too difficult to be splitting up their forces. The enemies in the subterranean area were strong. The Rionetta and Clantail team aside, it was a real struggle for Nonako to fight while managing a burden—Pechka. The weapons they’d bought in the city area were sturdy and easy to wield, but that didn’t mean they could somehow muddle through on strength of weapons alone.

Rionetta had really been the one to push for this plan. Reasonably, they would need the cooperation of every player to beat this game. But some of the players were refusing to work together. In that case, they should at least work on their own party’s sense of unity. Rionetta spoke passionately, and she had Clantail nodding. Then Rionetta had scooted over to Pechka and whispered in her ear. “You needn’t worry. I’ll keep you safe, Pechka.”

Nonako Miyokata decided to complain about this. “What are you getting all cozy with her for?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Pechka and I were on the exploration team together! We are les sœurs now! Basically sisters!”

“And which fine nation does that logic originate from?”

As usual, they were at each other’s throats. Knowing they could die put everyone on edge, and they were frustrated because they didn’t want to play this stupid game that they were forced to participate in.

Still, things seemed to have improved, and that might have been because now, they had accepted Pechka. Thrice daily, during their mealtimes, she was the star of the show. Even outside of mealtimes, they continued to respect her, due to her mealtime celebrity. With each spoonful, Rionetta would put a hand to her cheek, and Nonako Miyokata would praise her to bits with random French thrown in. Their joy in her creations was what made Pechka eager to cook.

Walking down the underground passage, very occasionally, they would emerge in dome-shaped open areas. There, dragons would appear. But though they were called “dragons,” they were only about two yards long, with a wingspan of four, and were a lot smaller than what one might generally imagine dragons to be, if asked to do so for a fantasy story. But even so, they weren’t easy enemies to fight.

A translucent thread shot from Clantail’s rear, tangling up a dragon’s wing. The creature screeched an uncanny, birdlike screech and tried to fly away, dragging her along as it flailed about. Using all eight of her spider legs, Clantail clung to a boulder, bracing herself and refusing to let go. The two strained against each other, and then Rionetta calculated just the right moment to jump in, when both of them were locked in place, and reached out far with her right arm to swipe the dragon with her claws. She ripped open the dragon’s neck, hard scales and all. Its blue armor fluttered to the ground, and then red blood followed, gushing like the water of a dramatic fountain.

Ever since they’d begun fighting in the subterranean area, Clantail had spent more time with her lower body transformed into a massive spider. Her poisonous-looking yellow-and-black pattern, the rustling noises her legs made as they moved, and the massive size of her abdomen were so frightening, they made every hair on Pechka’s body stand on end. Just getting near Clantail made her feel faint. I wish she’d do her usual cute deer or pony, she thought, but it seemed that a spider had better grip underground. A hoofed animal would slip more easily.

The dragon fell from the sky, the impact of its face-first plunge sending a tremor through the earth. Now that Rionetta and Clantail had finished their dragon, they changed their equipment and faced the one Nonako Miyokata had been fending off. This time, all three of them ganged up on it. There was one more dragon engaged in an aerial battle with another of its kind, but when all three magical girls turned to face it, they overwhelmed their enemy and took it down before long.

Aside from Pechka, who hadn’t been participating in the battle, they were all wounded in some way. They made use of the recovery items stored with Pechka to heal their injuries. The one most heavily hurt was Nonako’s familiar, the dragon.

That goblin Nonako had cooed over so much had been relieved of its post the moment they had defeated a dragon. Now the dragon was the one decorated with a ribbon. When she had dismissed the goblin, it had tried to flee, but the dragon had killed it with a strike from behind. Upon witnessing that, Nonako had cried, “Oh là là! Strong! Powerful! Cute!” She was elated. Apparently, she was not at all attached to the goblin she’d been coddling not so long before. Was this what they called “continental rationalism”? Pechka really had no idea.

They walked in search of dragons, and whenever they found a place that seemed good, Cherna Mouse would drive them away. So they’d go somewhere else to find dragons, beat them, gather up the candy and rare drops, and then use that candy to buy recovery items and other things. The shop in the subterranean town sold protection charms, such as the red charm that would guard against fire elemental enemies. Some fine technique was required to employ the different charms depending on the type of dragon.

The party had given up on exploration. If they were all going to be in one group, then it was more effective to focus on grinding rather than searching around. Their approach was to just leave it to the others, since some other party would just unlock areas anyway. Nobody said that out loud, but they had to be thinking it. At least, Pechka was. They left game progression to the others, and since the good hunting grounds were occupied, they didn’t really feel like they should be cooperating. So they just ground for candy with the pessimistic rationale of “Well, this is better than doing nothing.”

And if anyone was going to be categorized as “doing nothing,” it was Pechka. She was only ever useful as a mule for their items. But no one complained. Far from it—she was cordially welcomed. The entire party looked forward to eating, and when mealtime was near, her food gave them all a boost of energy. They’d acquired some utensils from R, so now she could make a greater variety of dishes. The others were overjoyed, telling her how delicious and wonderful it all was.

It’s fine this way, thought Pechka. If things go on like this and nothing more happens, it’ll be fine. It’ll be…

That was when their magical phones rang, informing them that it was time for their pre-logout forced transport.

  Nokko

Three days had passed, and the magical girls had gathered once again in the wasteland town. The atmosphere in the square was dour. Cherna Mouse had beaten Pfle, and Detec Bell’s party was celebrating the height of their fortunes…or not, apparently. Detec Bell was by herself, a significant distance away from the other two. Maybe things weren’t going well among them.

Pfle had lost her wheelchair. Nokko had heard that the ten-legged tank had just been her wheelchair with modifications. And the tank had been smashed up—so in other words, her wheelchair was gone. But she seemed cheerful regardless. Shadow Gale carried her piggyback as the two of them discussed something. Pfle had also been the one to unlock the subterranean area. That she had the shrewdness required to both unlock an area and prepare that weapon concurrently made Nokko vaguely fearful.

As for Clantail’s party…Nonako Miyokata and Rionetta were squabbling. Nokko couldn’t hear what it was about, but just seeing them inches from grabbing each other, Nokko could easily imagine the kind of foul language they had to be abusing each other with. Clantail and Pechka weren’t even watching, acting as if nothing was happening at all.

It seemed @Meow-Meow had cheered up a little since all that had happened. Genopsyko still hadn’t shown up, but just the fact that she was apparently still alive was reason enough to be grateful. The information from Detec Bell’s party about how they had witnessed Genopsyko Yumenoshima was ambiguous and uncertain, but it was something to cling to. “I’m sure Yumenoshima have her reasons,” @Meow-Meow had said, and she seemed to have more energy now. She wasn’t lost in her anguish like before.

The monsters in the subterranean area were strong. Nokko had an attack elemental modification charm and was equipped with a Mop +5, but even then, it was a real struggle. Still, @Meow-Meow crushed the monsters with her summons and her martial arts, and somehow they had made it through to this point with a party of two.

Then Nokko had an idea. Two and two. If they could meet up with Pfle and Shadow Gale and form a single party… Once her train of thought reached that point, she remembered Genopsyko and promptly dropped that idea. Genopsyko was alive. Even if she wasn’t with them now, they couldn’t act like she’d never been there. Remove her from their party? Never. @Meow-Meow had been so stubborn about her. She would never agree.

In the fountain that occupied the center of the square, someone’s magical phone lay faceup. This was a familiar sight now—though Nokko didn’t want it to be. After a little waiting, the phone turned on and a hologram appeared, floating in the air. “I’d like to thank you all very much for gathering here, pon.”

The last time, they’d welcomed Fal with harsh jeers. But he was just as he was before, merely floating there, seemingly emotionless, as if all of that had been a dream. None of them would bother to rail anymore. It wasn’t constructive. It would be difficult to call it proactive. And it wouldn’t solve anything. But most of all, Nokko just felt like they’d all become apathetic.

“Today is group logout day, pon. At sunset, you will all log out together. As with last time, we plan to have you log in again after three days in the real world have passed for maintenance purposes, pon.” Fal twirled on a horizontal axis, scattering gold scales. “Just like before, there will now be a random special event. This time, the event is…” Fal’s voice cut off. They were all waiting for it to continue, but it was silent, frozen. Pfle had beaten them all by a wide margin during the previous event. What would this one be?

The image of Fal shrank and then stretched. Noise ran across it, distorting the picture. Fal was expressionless but, mysteriously, still appeared abnormal. “…Everyone, please check the amount of magical candy on your phones, pon.”

Nokko checked her phone. Total candy: 2,651. Being a party of two, they didn’t have to split the candy up as many ways. But they were surely less effective at monster extermination than a party of four would be. She and @Meow-Meow had only purchased a minimal amount of items: recovery medicine, the monster encyclopedia, attack elemental modification charms, travel passes, weapons for each of them, and a teleporter. But still, their candy stores had to be low compared to those of the other parties.

“Fifteen minutes from now,” said Fal, “the player who holds the smallest amount of candy will die, pon.”

The square went dead silent. After a few seconds, the square was filled with hissing and fierce roars of anger.

Once again, Nonako Miyokata and Rionetta were quarreling. “This is exactly why I told you not to squander all that candy on R!” accused Rionetta.

“Mon dieu, and who was it scarfing down all that food? You were like, ‘It’s so good, it’s so good!’”

The other members of their party made no move to stop them, and the other groups were too busy raging at Fal to even consider intervening.

The little spheroid just repeated the same message. “It can’t be changed now, pon. Your understanding, please, pon. I will repeat it one more time, pon. Fifteen minutes from now, the player who holds the smallest amount of candy will die, pon. The player who holds the smallest amount of candy will die, pon.”

Nokko was thinking. You could transfer candy to someone else. And likewise, you could receive it, too. In other words, you could steal it. This whole “fifteen minutes” thing—that was just giving the stronger girls some extra time to steal candy from the weak, wasn’t it? She glanced around. They were all in discussions with only their own party members, more or less, including the ones who were yelling at one another. So then if it did turn into a scramble, they’d probably steal from other parties. That left Nokko and @Meow-Meow’s smaller team in a bad position.

Nokko was horrified—then she panicked and erased that feeling. She didn’t squeeze her eyes shut and optimistically reassure herself that that sort of thing would never happen. What she did was make sure that her feelings of horror wouldn’t be transmitted around.

Many of them had to have realized the unspoken reality here: This was an endorsement for them to steal from one another. Nokko considered that perhaps she should do something before anyone else figured it out. Pfle and Shadow Gale were a party of two as well, and Pfle was weaponless to boot, being carried around by Shadow Gale. But when Nokko looked over to that party, she saw Pfle was facing Fal.

“Fal.” Even among the chaotic squabbling, her voice carried. Nokko, far away as she was, could hear her question to the mascot. “You said the player who holds the smallest sum of candy. So what happens if it’s not a player, but players? Will one be chosen at random? Or will multiple people die at once?”

Fal paused a moment. “In the case that there is more than one person who has the smallest amount of candy, then no one will be chosen, pon. The event would end with zero deaths, pon.”

Hearing that, Pfle wore a nasty smile. “Are you relieved to have someone notice that ‘player, singular’ part?”

Fal ignored Pfle and repeated the announcement. “I repeat, pon. In the case that there is more than one person with the smallest amount of candy, no one will be chosen, pon. The event will end with zero deaths, pon.”

There was something of a commotion.

“In other word,” said @Meow-Meow, “we should just temporary make everyone’s candy same number, right?”

“What? Cherna doesn’t wanna give up candy,” Cherna Mouse protested.

Detec Bell countered, “We just have to return everyone’s original amount once the event is over. That’d be allowed, right?”

“Of course, pon. Once the event is over, the amount of candy in your possession will no longer have any meaning, pon.”

“Maybe it’d be easiest to understand if we just made everyone’s candy zero,” said Lapis Lazuline.

Rionetta scoffed. “So we would buy items to zero our balance? Or discard all our magical candy? I decline either.”

“How about gathering it all on one person’s phone magique?” suggested Nonako Miyokata.

“What if she absconds wi’ the whole lot? I’ll be trustin’ no lass here with our candy.”

Lazuline interpreted for everyone. “Melvy is sayin’, we’d all be in trouble if they just took everythin’, right? Right now, there’s no one here we can trust with everybody’s candy. So…how ’bout takin’ it all out of our phones?”

“Um, magical candy is ultimately just a number, pon. You can’t take it out, so please be careful, pon.”

“Well then, how about we calculate the average of the group and set all our candy at that number?” suggested Rionetta.

“Let’s go with that,” said Pfle. “Everyone, report the number of candy you hold. Don’t over- or underreport it. Be honest and inform us as to the amount you have. And don’t forget to check your neighbors’ phones, too.”

When Pfle added “And don’t forget to check your neighbors’ phones, too” like an afterthought, Nokko sensed that some hidden malice was surfacing. But still, she was relieved that they wouldn’t have to steal from one another.

The curses, wails, and cries of anger disappeared, and they all quietly set into action. Nokko didn’t even have to influence their emotions. Magical girls were realistic and practical, and that still held true when they were using fantastical magic and being forced to play a kill-or-be-killed game. Wherever, whenever, whoever the magical girl, if shown a good way to go about things, she would cooperate and take that option.

They all reported the amounts of candy they held, and Pfle calculated the average in her head. There was a remainder of three, but it was decided that Pfle would take the extras. It would work just fine as long as there were multiple people holding the smallest amount in the end.

What was surprising was that @Meow-Meow and Nokko’s candy reserves were actually higher than average. They hadn’t been proactively grinding like the other parties competing for hunting grounds, and the only other thing you could spend candy on was R. Was there some quest or other that required candy?

@Meow-Meow pulled out Genopsyko’s phone, too. The amount of candy on it hadn’t changed. It had been at the same number since they finished that unlock quest, so now that the monsters were dropping more candy, her stores were comparatively low. Nokko helped manage Genopsyko’s phone, adding and subtracting candy from the other magical girls.

The only sounds in the square were the beeps of their magical phones. They all surrounded the fountain in a circle as they exchanged candy, monitoring one another for any strange behavior. Before long, the numbers on their phones had evened out, and all of them, aside from Pfle, ended up with the lowest number. Three more minutes to go until the time limit Fal had announced. Pfle, carried by Shadow Gale, walked to each girl and her magical phone, checking to see that there were no errors.

She gave the thumbs-up. “It’s okay!”

The beeping of the phones stopped, and some of the girls began chatting with the others nearby. Pfle told them all to “Keep your eyes on the phones of your neighbors!” But even so, the atmosphere had relaxed. Nokko looked at @Meow-Meow beside her. Their eyes met.

“Is relief, huh?” said @Meow-Meow.

“…Yeah. It is,” Nokko replied.

All of their phones rang. The time had come. Fal announced, “Holding the smallest amount of candy is…huh?”

A magical phone bounced on the ground with a clatter, and its owner followed, landing on her back. For some reason, she fell slowly, sleeves fluttering, hair flowing. The moment she collapsed, her sunflower seeds scattered around her. The device hit the girl’s body and fell over, coming to a stop by her head. The light from it illuminated the girl’s profile. Her expression was vacant, not understanding what had happened.

“The one holding the smallest amount…was…Cherna Mouse…pon.”