Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 3 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE

There was just the smallest hint of suspicion hidden in the insincere smile of the server who came to take their order. They were probably worried. Possibly out of sheer kindness, or possibly out of the self-interested desire to avoid any problems in their workplace.

Mamori could sympathize with concerns like that. Seeing these two side by side would give anyone cause for concern.

“It’s gotten quite a bit colder lately.” Despite having said that, the girl was in a short skirt and drinking iced tea through a straw. Kanoe wouldn’t drink hot tea when she was out and about, and her reasoning for that was incredibly obnoxious. “The black tea they serve at restaurants is undrinkable, leaving me no choice but to mask the flavor with coldness.” They were even out on an open terrace. Kanoe had insisted on this spot because it was sunny today, and she had taken a seat immediately without giving the other two the option of refusing.

The other girl with them was silently sipping on a hot cocoa. Her silence was typical.

Kanoe stood out. Her clothing and accessories—their cost aside—were not really garish. Her makeup was restrained and tasteful, too. But her looks, from her luxurious curly hair to her flawless facial features, along with her haughty attitude, prevented Kanoe from being lost in the crowd. Some might say she had an aura, but Mamori thought she was just full of herself.

The other girl with them was extremely plain. She was short—so short she could pass for an elementary school girl. Twin braids hung from either side of her head, her glasses were unfashionable black plastic, and she wore no trace of makeup at all. Her skirt was probably school regulation–length. Her plainness called to mind a bookish nerd or a class president.

They were two entirely different sorts of girl, and you couldn’t detect anything they might have in common. It suggested something suspicious was going on between them. Today, all three girls were wearing their school uniforms. Kanoe’s and Mamori’s uniforms were from the same school. Only the third girl was wearing a different uniform, and she was a middle school student. Mamori couldn’t even imagine what sort of assumptions people were making about their group.

Being out on this café’s open terrace was making Mamori silently gripe to herself about the cold, but despite the temperature, people started to pour into the café once it hit lunch hour. All the customers led in by servers ended up staring at them. They must have seemed incredibly shady.

“Actually, since the game ended, I’ve been making some inquiries and talking to people,” said Kanoe. Mamori choked a little. “I’ve tried asking some questions about the master. It seems the Magical Kingdom’s negotiator has disposed of them in good order.”

“For real? They were dealt with?” said Mamori.

The master had been very literally like a god to them. They had met so many strong magical girls in the game…and some insanely strong ones, too, but even they hadn’t been able to touch the master. It wasn’t simple helplessness they felt before her. They’d been like ants before a giant. Mamori felt like they’d seen her as some kind of natural phenomenon, like a typhoon or an earthquake.

“Though if they’d been capable of dealing with the master, they really should have done it earlier,” said Kanoe.

Clantail—the sober and taciturn middle school girl, Nene Ono—nodded silently.

In order to fulfill her dream of becoming a zoologist, Nene spent every day immersed in study, and she’d also said that recently, she’d begun to study cooking. She didn’t seem like a bad girl, but when they’d first met, after Kanoe had revealed herself as Pfle, Nene’s expression had said, I see. But when Mamori had said she was Shadow Gale, Nene’s look had said, seriously? And that still bothered Mamori.

While sipping her coffee, Mamori recalled the game’s very sudden ending.

They uncovered the space under the fountain and pulled out Nokko, who had been hiding inside. Even though Nokko had manipulated their feelings and tried to force them into a battle to the death, for some reason, Shadow Gale couldn’t bring herself to hate her. Looking at the girl trembling under the blaring hot sun, any such emotions vanished.

Nokko was leaning on her shovel, thrust into the earth. Her face was pale, and she was trembling, but Shadow Gale could tell that she was still trying to put on a brave front.

Shadow Gale looked at Clantail. Her expression as a warrior magical girl was now gone, and she was biting her lower lip, shoulders drooping, back slumped as she looked down at Nokko. Even after Clantail had been scorched and had her fingers broken, now that she was on her feet again, she couldn’t lay a hand on Nokko.

Pity and sadness seemed to have welled up within Pfle, too. Shadow Gale had known her for a long time, and she’d never seen Pfle look at anyone the way she was looking at Nokko now. They knew if they killed Nokko, the game would be over, but Pfle was still motionless. She looked as if she were desperately racking her brains to try to come up with some other way.

Shadow Gale glanced at the scissors at her waist. She just had to make up her mind, and she could put an end to this game right now…but she didn’t want to. She understood Clantail’s and Pfle’s feelings so well, it hurt.

Nokko spoke, and it sounded as if she was mustering all her willpower and spirit. “Have you…memorized the address and name that was in my magical phone?”

“I have. I won’t forget,” said Pfle.

Nokko smiled. The smile was small and faint and seemingly on the brink of vanishing, but it left a startlingly deep impression. “Thank you.”

“So what’s this deal of yours?”

Nokko grabbed the handle of the shovel and pulled it out of the ground. “In exchange for what I’m about to do, send a portion of the reward to that address.” She pointed the blade of the shovel at her own throat.

Shadow Gale understood what Nokko was about to do. Nokko could tell that the three of them didn’t want to kill her, so she was going to finish the job herself. She was telling them they didn’t have to dirty their hands, so they should please give her some of the reward.

Shadow Gale reached out to stop her, but then she pulled her hand back. Right now, even if she did stop Nokko, it would be nothing more than hypocrisy. There was no point.

Shadow Gale looked away. But even with her eyes averted, Nokko’s feelings came to her. Shadow Gale’s face twisted, and she closed her eyes…then the game ended.

When they returned to the real world, Kanoe seemed sincerely glad, but Mamori was not in the state of mind for that. In fact, what mostly filled her heart was guilt for what she’d done to Kanoe, along with regret. Kanoe said she was just glad Mamori was alive, which made Mamori glad but also even guiltier.

And what was more, when Mamori thought about what had happened in the game, Nokko’s end in particular, she couldn’t help but feel depressed. After their return, Mamori spent her days just sleeping and waking, sleeping and waking, making the people in her life very concerned. That was when they got ahold of Clantail through the Magical Kingdom.

“Back then, at the end…” Kanoe smiled just a little sadly. “She might have gotten us.” Without saying anything more, she put her cup down.

Mamori got the gist of what Kanoe was trying to say. In that moment, neither Clantail, a combat magical girl, nor Pfle the pragmatist had been able to touch Nokko. Thinking back on it, Nokko’s magic had to have been affecting their feelings. Even after they’d found her out, Nokko had kept on fighting alone. She’d created a situation where the three of them would have trouble finishing her off so that she could negotiate with them. Then she’d told them she would kill herself for them in exchange for part of the reward.

There were some magical girls who fought, and some who did not. But that didn’t mean that the noncombat magical girls were weak.

Nene put down her cup. She was done with her cocoa. Kanoe’s tea was long gone, as was Mamori’s coffee.

“So then, shall we go?” said Mamori.

“Yes,” Kanoe replied. “Let’s buy some flowers on the way.”

“Do you have any prayer beads?”

“Do you think I’d forget that?” Kanoe replied. “Right then, let’s go.”

They had twelve graves to visit. Last time, they’d visited two, and they had ten more left to go. One of these visits would include the serious job of somehow giving a large sum of money to a member of Nokko’s household. It would be just a bit longer until it was all over.