Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 6 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE

A cold wind blew through the courtyard as soon as she entered it. Looking up, she saw the gray sky stretch on and on. It would be cold even with leggings, never mind hose. In this season, a merry Christmas was close at hand, and in a few more sleeps, it would be New Year’s. She thought having tea out in the courtyard on a day like this was rather stupid but couldn’t say it out loud. At the very least, not in this household.

Mamori Totoyama slipped through the complex courtyard without losing her way. It was a strange thing, to call a courtyard complex, but the courtyard of this estate really was horribly complex. The manager had abdicated responsibility for the garden, and the daughter, who had taken over in his place, planted whatever trees she liked and pruned them into whatever shapes she wanted—thus the result was chaos. A large stuffed bear stood upright with its arms spread, a giant chess pawn blocked the path, an open book laid there so conspicuously, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace loomed headlessly over them. Once Mamori had made it through this maze of shrubs, with its lack of all consistency but “to the miss’s taste,” she came to a little round white table.

There, the master of this courtyard—Kanoe Hitokouji—was operating a panel connected to a magical phone. “You’re late, Mamori.”

“I did, in fact, come as fast as I could.”

Mamori set down the plate, black tea, and snacks beside the panel in that order and, once Kanoe indicated she had permission, took the seat opposite her. The rattan chair, worth as much as a full year’s worth of Mamori’s allowance, had been left underneath the cold sky and mercilessly chilled her rear.

Kanoe picked up the cup and took a sip, and then, without a word, slid a manila envelope across the table toward her.

“What’s this?”

“Your reward. It was quite a while ago, but you did some work for me. A few related projects have reached a certain stage of completion.”

“Did I do something?”

At a rate that went from once every few days to a few times every day, Mamori was forced into various labors. She was made to participate in mischief, made the target of mischief, worked like a dog, blatantly lied to, deceived, and made to carry the young miss’s favorite black tea out to the stupidly cold courtyard, but she’d never received a reward for any of it. Kanoe would say, “It would be incredibly boorish to give cash as thanks for your goodwill.” Mamori didn’t give a damn if it was boorish, but loudly arguing as much had incurred wrath from the Hitokouji family authorities.

“I thought you would never give me cash for my goodwill, miss.”

“I see, so your usual activities are indeed out of goodwill?”

“I’m sure in your mind, all of it is, miss.”

Though there was no way Kanoe would not have noticed her sarcasm, Kanoe smiled as if she didn’t. “This reward isn’t from myself. It’s official compensation from the Magical Kingdom.”

“Does the Magical Kingdom pay money?”

“To be precise, I am giving you a portion for your labor from the salary I receive from them.”

From the way Kanoe had emphasized the word “I” twice, she may have intended to make Mamori feel obligated. Simply living with the Hitokouji family in their service as her parents did, Mamori was already inescapably obligated, so she felt it was kind of crazy she would have more unnecessary obligation pushed on her. There were some people in the world who, if you were indebted to them, would turn it into something that could never be undone. She didn’t even have to think about it to know what sort of person Kanoe was.

Mamori took the envelope Kanoe’d given her in hand and opened the mouth of it, confirming its contents with narrowed eyes. “…Forty thousand?”

“No, it’s forty-five thousand yen.”

I think I’m okay with this, she found herself thinking, possibly a result of feeling frozen up. “By the way, about that conversation. What kind of work did I do, again? I’m scared to take money without knowing what I did.”

“You modified those goggles for me, didn’t you?”

“Oh…that? That was a while back, wasn’t it?”

The transmission function was one thing, but Mamori had detected the stench of criminality in both the log-erasure function and the transmission function that interfered with magical-phone reception. She recalled she’d been uneasy and wondered just what Kanoe meant to do with it.

“Your magic has grown, Mamori. It’s helped me make progress in various respects.”

“You won’t use that for anything bad, right?”

“Just what do you take me for?”

“I’m concerned because this is you, miss.”

“Why would you believe a good magical girl like myself would do something bad? Oh, these macaroons are rather good. You have some, too, Mamori.”

Mamori ate one of these recommended macaroons in one bite. It was grating that it did taste good. “What are you reading, miss?”

“A report from a subordinate.”

“That reminds me—you were promoted again last month, right? So is this a new subordinate?”

“No, this is a report regarding a prior subordinate. She was working under my direct supervision.”

“Huh.”

“I had to do some restructuring. She helped me with that.”

“Even the Magical Kingdom does that sort of thing, huh? It’s a rough world out there.”

“It definitely involved some cuts to our staff, but there was no reduction in the organization in the operational sense. It was a restructuring in the original sense of the word. She was very useful to the Magical Girl Resources Department in the past, but once I took over, her role became unnecessary. A fairy exiting across a rainbow… Isn’t that poetic?”

“Is it?”

“All of a sudden there’s so much more to be done. It’s quite the struggle.”

“You don’t seem like you’re having a hard time at all.”

“But I am. In my current position, I must handle the balance of power between departments quite delicately.”

“Oh, really?”

“For example, there’s the Department of Diplomacy. Why must they be so rough? I don’t know if it’s tradition or what, but I really must have them stop rather soon with these old-fashioned techniques of sending in a violence specialist to put pressure on other departments.”

“Right.”

“Although recently it seems the tables have turned, what with that ace the Inspection Department’s criminal investigations managed to muscle in… The diplomacy team shouldn’t have been thinking about trying to get a hold on the other departments’ weak points. They even put up a giant barrier in order to capture the culprit alive, and what great losses we all suffered for it! I’m told they were manipulated by fake intel an informant leaked to them. What foolishness. Well, I’m sure things will be quiet with them for a time.”

“I see.”

“Oh, yes, and speaking of incidents, there was also that major prison break. That’s led to a certain department being exposed for the vile deed of using convicts for their dirty work.”

“Wooow.”

“That was also, in fact, a department that’s been antagonistic toward us at Magical Girl Resources. So a lot of things have gotten easier, as a result.”

“That sounds good— What happened to the escaped convicts, though? They were serious criminals, weren’t they?”

“The Inspection Department’s inspection team dealt with two of the three without incident. That is to say, they killed them. They were unable to simply detain the criminals, but it seems the pair were incredibly notorious villains of historical fame, so I would say the inspection team did a fine job there. It seems their team chief is soon to be publicly commended for it.”

“And the other one?”

“It seems the last one managed to escape. Though, well, I hear she was the least significant of the three.”

“Oh, really?” Did Kanoe realize that Mamori’s replies were deliberately monotone?

“Mamori, you’re not listening to me, are you?” Apparently she did.

“You’re speaking in such vague terms, miss, I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s basically going in one ear and out the other, and none of it is staying in my head.”

“I know that. I’m telling you precisely because you’re like that.”

“Why bother?”

“I couldn’t talk about this to someone who understands what I’m saying and will remember it, can I, now?”

“Please do talk about this to someone who will understand what you’re saying and will remember it.”

“I do hope the day comes when I can talk to someone like that. Once the Magical Kingdom becomes a bit more decent, and once I get into the position where I can enact reforms, and once magical girls are more than just people to be used.”

Mamori was about to say, “This talk again?” But when she saw the look on Kanoe’s face, she closed her mouth. Her expression was serious, not teasing—a look Kanoe rarely showed on her face.

“…What is it?”

“Oh, nothing.” Kanoe shook her head, and she was her usual detached self again. “Of course, I haven’t been sitting here waiting for a windfall. I position myself where it seems things will work, then I work things moderately, I tamper, I connect, I galvanize, I urge into action by deliberately attempting to prevent, and I adjust things well for good results. And even after accomplishing my goals, I don’t let go, making sure to deal with the aftermath…”

A water droplet bounced off the round table with a plop. Raindrops hit her nose, her hands.

“Agh, geez. Let’s go inside now. We’ll catch cold if we get rained on in this chill,” Mamori said.

“Right then, let’s go in, meow.”

“Why do you have to end your sentences with that? It’s creepy.”

“Creepy! That’s a fine thing to say. I think it’s cute.”

The floor was concrete, and water damage stains marked the ceiling. The ceiling would drip during heavy rain, making the room damp, even on sunny days. You couldn’t really call it an environment appropriate for a wounded person, but being a fugitive, she was in no position to ask for luxuries.

The room was stark, and the furnishings could be counted on your fingers: a bed, desk, blinds, sink, bookshelf, and the residents. The rusted steel desk stood in the center of the room, and opening the largest drawer revealed lines of little bottles. Inside them were packed colorful powders.

She pulled an old scale from the second drawer down, a smaller one, and put it on top of the desk. Grasping tiny weights with tweezers, she placed them on one side, and next, she poured medicine from one of the little bottles out on the other, adjusting the scale until it was even. She checked the scale, then poured the powder into a mortar and pestle. She repeated the process a few more times.

From the third drawer down, she pulled out a plastic bottle with no label and poured the translucent fluid within it into the mortar. Slowly, taking care not to spill, she ground and ground the contents of the mortar with the pestle until she felt no more friction from the rough powder.

After about an hour, a thick liquid medicine that shone metallic green was ready.

“Come on, it’s time for your medicine,” she sweetly addressed the girl who lay on the bed.

The girl shook her head, her expression unmoving. “I hate medicine.”

“Now, now, don’t act so stubborn. This is for your health.” Frederica narrowed her eyes and sat down on the bed.

The girl was covered in bandages. Frederica moved them aside to check the girl’s wounds and smiled, seeing that she was doing better than the day before. Even if this place was unsanitary and she lacked proper medical facilities, magical girls were strong and tenacious. They were made that way.

The one flaw of this deluxe medicine Frederica made was that it was, by nature, difficult to swallow. So Frederica dipped a dropper into the mortar to suck up some medicine, then pushed the girl’s jaw up and hung the dropper over it to stick it into her mouth. She administered it slowly, drop by drop, so that it wouldn’t get stuck in her throat. Once she was done with the first day’s amount, she continued over a second and third day until the contents of the mortar were gone. The girl was so cute with her mouth open like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

“You may close your mouth now.”

“Yes, master.”

Frederica lifted the girl’s torso, threaded her fingers through her hair, and combed through it. Her long black hair was glossy and smooth. It felt so good sliding between her fingers, and it reflected the glow of the fluorescent lights so beautifully.

As she ran her right hand through the girl’s hair, with her left, she stroked the girl’s left eye.

“That tickles.”

“Of course it does. I’m doing it to tickle you.”

The girl’s left eye was closed by a large, deep sword scar, and her left arm was missing below the elbow. Those parts weren’t going to be healed by Frederica’s special medicine.

Well, that’s fine.

With her two-hundred-and-fifty-sixth-note handkerchief, Frederica wiped the medicine off the girl’s lips for her.

The girl—Ripple—was lucky. Her opponent’s magic hadn’t intended to kill from the get-go, and their attack hadn’t been aiming for Ripple’s vitals. When she’d lost consciousness and fallen into the hole, she’d returned to human form, so her collar had caught on a jutting spot on the wall of the hole partway down, and she’d been saved from falling to the bottom. What’s more, Frederica, who had originally meant to flee right away, had turned her attention to watching how the battle would end instead and so had been able to retrieve Ripple quickly and give her emergency treatment.

She was lucky to be alive. Without any one of these factors, Ripple would have died.

Frederica had taken Ripple, hovering between life and death, to the local hospital, saying she was another casualty. She’d then acquired Pukin’s sword and used it on Ripple, to make her believe she had incredible vitality and recovery ability in order to call her back from death’s door, and then had spirited her away with her crystal ball. Ripple had been under Frederica’s care ever since.

Ripple had grown immensely since the last time they had met, quite some time ago. Frederica assumed Ripple had less potential than Snow White, but she exceeded her expectations to become a fine magical girl who would make anyone proud. She was surely something close to Frederica’s ideal.

Frederica had obtained the sword she’d stolen from Pukin, and she’d obtained Ripple, unconscious. Combine those two things, and she could create her ideal magical girl.

Frederica smiled at her. “Your wounds have largely closed. Come tomorrow, you’ll be able to get out of bed.”

“Really? I’m so glad.” Her expression didn’t change, and her voice was monotonous, too. Frederica was using another magical girl’s tool, so perhaps she’d adjusted it poorly. It seemed Ripple wasn’t lying about being glad, though, and it was cute, for what it was.

“You’ll be doing a little studying to become a magical girl.”

“What’s a magical girl?”

“Oh, well… It’s someone like me, I suppose.”

“Can I become like you, master? I’d be so glad.”

“And I’m glad you would say that. Let’s work together to make you the ideal magical girl.”