Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 8 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

TO STEAL LUCK

  Pfle

“Going out to negotiate a kidnapping personally is the sort of boldness I wouldn’t want to imitate.” As Pfle quipped from her wheelchair, she pulled a sudden turn on the carpet, fixing her gaze on the other figure.

Princess Deluge—of course she knew the name. She was one of the artificial magical girls who had been “developed” in the underground laboratory and was currently the only known survivor. After the incident, Princess Deluge was all the high officials of the Magical Kingdom had been talking about for quite some time.

It all began when Grim Heart had tried to obtain the artificial magical-girl project that a certain someone had been pushing forward. Relying on her powerful magic, Grim Heart had tried to steal all their research by force, but a bunch of magical girls had stopped her, her plan had failed, and everything had been exposed, leading to Grim Heart’s and Shufflin’s deaths in an “accident.” Everything up to that point was public information.

Now that artificial magical girl had come to blackmail Pfle.

Pfle had received notice that morning that her capable guards had been routed, Patricia included, and that Shadow Gale had been kidnapped. Less than an hour later, Deluge had contacted her, and after she had acceded to Deluge’s demand to negotiate, the girl had immediately come herself.

The place of their meeting was Pfle’s office. She was basically diving right into enemy territory, but she had no hesitation at all. She had to have absolute confidence in the negotiation material she held. In other words, she knew about Pfle and Shadow Gale’s relationship, and there was no room for slipups in this negotiation.

Shadow Gale’s—Mamori’s—face rose in Pfle’s mind, and she tapped at her forehead.

Pfle had done her utmost to avoid making Shadow Gale’s existence public. Of those connected to the Magical Kingdom, there were a very limited few who knew of her relationship to Pfle. So Pfle doubted this was the kind of information Deluge could acquire on her own. Exactly who was pulling the strings behind her?

“…So then, what is your demand?” Pfle asked Deluge.

“I want you to lend me people. I don’t need many; two or three is enough. But I’ll need the strongest fighters you’ve got.”

“What would you have them do?”

“…Well…”

“You’re not going to tell me that’s irrelevant, are you? You might express this demand in short as ‘the strongest,’ but the sort of abilities needed will vary depending on the situation. I can’t offer you the most appropriate personnel without knowing your goal.”

“…True.”

“Since there is the possibility that Shadow Gale will not be returned if you fail, from where I stand as well, I must make the perfect selection.”

“…You’re being quite cooperative.”

“You’ve compelled me to be so. Come, your goal.”

“The Osk Faction is after Premium Sachiko, Puk Puck’s protégé. I want to cut in and snatch her away.”

That really wasn’t something Pfle could respond to immediately.

“Surprising,” Pfle said finally. “It’s one thing to kidnap someone to use as a ransom when demanding personnel to carry out yet another kidnapping, but to think you would also try to start a fight with two of the Three Sages, the highest powers in the Magical Kingdom, at the same time.”

“Are you scared?”

“Of course I am. This isn’t something a magical girl in her right mind would even conceive of. You do understand just what a grave demand you’re making of me, don’t you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“What a cold thing to say to your ally in conspiracy, however hastily made. Though if you have any other allies, then do introduce us, please.”

“…I’ve learned that Premium Sachiko has run away from Puk Puck’s estate and that she’s hiding somewhere in W City. Due to the lingering effects of the recent incident, neither the Puk nor Osk factions will want any big roundups. They’ll have elites on each side wanting to retrieve Sachiko quickly. I want people who will be able to retrieve their target from under their noses.”

“Oh-ho.” Pfle examined the magical girl before her once more.

Facial expression, breathing, sweating, word choice, remarks—all these elements would speak to her character. Going by the records, this girl Deluge couldn’t have been a magical girl for very long, but she was equipped with plenty of presence. She was cool and calm, capable of considering matters based on the material currently at hand. This could hardly be because she was an artificial magical girl.

“Understood,” Pfle said. “Then I’ll arrange for some magical girls immediately.”

  Princess Deluge

She hadn’t been told anything beforehand about this person called Pfle—merely that she had a lot of clout with various magical girls and that she was the head of the Magical Girl Resources Department. Deluge hadn’t been interested in asking. She was also uninterested in what sort of relationship Pfle had with Shadow Gale. She was someone Deluge would use for the sake of her goal. That was all.

However, upon actually speaking with her, Deluge felt keenly that she was not just any regular magical girl.

She reacted completely differently from what Princess Deluge had anticipated. She was unfathomably deep. If Deluge was to be negotiating with her, she couldn’t let her guard down for even an instant. Deluge steeled her nerves once more without a single change in her facial expression.

Thinking about what she was about to do nearly made her legs tremble.

But there was no going back now.

Deluge didn’t really remember what happened to her after the incident. It had mostly involved people taking blood and saliva samples and asking her questions over and over. Through that process, Deluge had learned who had and had not survived. All the Pure Elements, aside from Deluge, had been killed. The people who asked her questions had not taken care to show consideration about things like that.

After that was a complete blank. Thinking back on it in retrospect, it felt like about a month had passed, but she only had a vague memory of what she’d been doing, whom she’d been with, and where she’d been. There was just a hazy recollection of her living in a private residence together with the owner. She had the feeling the owner had been a magical girl and also that she’d been human. It seemed there had been many people there and also that there’d been only one; maybe they’d had a pet, but maybe there hadn’t been any animals, either. She thought they’d been good people. She thought they’d been kind to her. That much she could vaguely recall.

For some reason having to do with the owner of the house, Deluge had been forced to move out of that temporary residence, and after that, she’d returned to her own home. It seemed the Magical Kingdom had used magic to deal with the situation; her family had reacted as if nothing unusual had happened.

After that, she remembered things decently enough.

At a rate of about three or four times a week, they had demanded she present herself at a building they’d called the headquarters of the Department of Research and Development. Deluge’s role as an experimental subject was not over yet. At that facility, a magical girl who had introduced herself as Bluebell Candy was constantly poking her nose into something.

Then one day, Deluge overheard Bluebell admonishing another magical girl, and she now came to understand what her own position was.

Bluebell had said, “Her being an artificial magical girl has nothing to do with it—now she’s just another magical girl, like the rest of us.” Based on the context of that conversation, Deluge basically inferred that the “artificial magical girl” referred to her.

If she had been paying a little more attention to what went on around her, she’d probably have realized it earlier. Upon close examination, the magical girls looked at Deluge differently from others, and something felt off about the way they talked to her. Even before becoming Princess Deluge, as Nami Aoki, she’d had a sharp nose for such things. She had made accurate assessments of people’s opinions of her and where she herself stood; and so as to not be made an outcast, so as to not be bullied, she took great pains to carve out a position for herself in the class.

Over the past month, she’d been too overwhelmed to do that. She hadn’t gone to school, instead spending her days crying. Deluge pieced together information from her various chats with Quake, Inferno, and Tempest to find their houses, then she got permission to burn incense for them, take sketchbooks from Quake’s closet, and things like that. All their families were in mourning. Deluge had heard the families’ memories had been manipulated, but that couldn’t change the fact that the girls had died. In the sketchbooks, her friends smiled the same smiles.

Her life became a routine of staring at the sketchbooks on her bed and nothing else. After about half a month passed, her parents seemed to think they couldn’t allow things to continue like this, and they began to scold her more strongly, but even so, she continued to cry. She couldn’t talk to her family or anyone else. She couldn’t stop feeling sadness, regret, pain, and anger, either.

It was too hard to stay at home, so on Bluebell’s recommendation, Deluge went to the R&D Department building and began staying over in their break room.

During this period of misery, she had been thinking about her friends. She and the other three had been a team, as the Pure Elements: Princess Tempest, the cheerful and energetic elementary school girl; Princess Inferno, the active high schooler who loved sports; Princess Quake, the kind and reliable university student; and Deluge’s classmate, Prism Cherry.

Why had things turned out like this? Where had Ms. Tanaka, who had made them all into magical girls, gone? The Pure Elements’ mission was supposed to have been fighting the Disrupters, creatures from another dimension—so why had they been forced to kill and be killed by other magical girls?

She remembered Filru, who had shown consideration to others until the end. It was that same consideration she showed to the enemy that got her killed. She’d been murdered while Deluge had survived. And for what purpose?

She remembered Prism Cherry, who had yelled that she was going to do what she could as she went right for the enemy. She’d been a poor fighter. She’d vaguely smiled her way out of joining their training bouts. But she had voluntarily fought the enemy herself and died as a result.

None of their deaths had been acceptable. None of them had wanted to die. They had all struggled to live, but they’d failed, and they’d been killed. By magical girls. By Grim Heart. By Shufflin.

Deluge wasn’t overcome with sadness—just anger. According to Bluebell, Grim Heart and Shufflin had been arrested. There was no longer anyone she could take her aggression out on. Despite how all of them had been unable to do anything but run from those two, someone from somewhere had managed to capture them. The Pure Elements, who had been fighting to save the world, had not been heroes of a story or valorous characters of legend—they were treated as simple victims, and the villains had been punished through the actions of someone who was actually strong.

So then what had the Pure Elements been? For what purpose had they become magical girls?

Had Prism Cherry known? Bluebell told Deluge that Prism Cherry had been a “normal magical girl.” Normal magical girls didn’t have to take medicine periodically, and they could remain transformed at all times. A normal magical girl didn’t need a Princess Jewel in order to transform. A normal magical girl couldn’t do an Ultimate Princess Explosion when four attacked at once. A normal magical girl didn’t fight Disrupters but rather went around town helping people in small ways.

Deluge learned everything from Bluebell, the only person who’d shown her any consideration when Deluge was miserable, the only one who would come talk to her; all the magical girls at the R&D Department headquarters seemed so busy, and no one would give Deluge the time of day. At a glance, the headquarters looked like the brand-new high-rise office building for some business, and the people who worked within were also in a hurry in the way of businessmen.

Sometimes, Bluebell would use her magic to create magical candies that altered people’s feelings. Creating a pretty green candy in her palm, she had prompted Deluge to put it in her mouth. Figuring it probably wasn’t poison, Deluge put the candy in her mouth; as soon as she did, it melted away and vanished. The flavor was indescribable, like it could be bad or good. It did actually make her feel a little better. It didn’t really make the thing stuck in her chest go away, but it made her feel like it had shrunk a little.

When Deluge had told Bluebell this, she’d been as pleased as if this were her own personal business, saying, “I’m so glad to hear that.” And that had brought a smile out of Deluge, too. She thought this had to be the first time she’d smiled since the incident.

For some reason, it brought to mind Prism Cherry, who had worried about how her own magic might be useful. The girls put their heads together and came up with the strategy of showering the Disrupters with the light of the sun. Back then, Prism Cherry had smiled as if she was sincerely glad. Deluge felt like there was something about Bluebell that was similar to Prism Cherry. It was hard to put into words—something beyond just her magic or her aura. When Deluge looked at Bluebell, Prism Cherry’s face automatically rose in her mind. Despite feeling Bluebell was being pushy with her kindness, it was hard to refuse.

Deluge started to spend more time with Bluebell, partly because no one paid Deluge any mind and also because Bluebell had the most free time of anyone at the headquarters. When Deluge was with Bluebell, for some reason, it made her remember her friends, and eventually, Deluge could no longer refuse Bluebell.

During the day, she would be with Bluebell, while at night, she was alone. The illusion of having her friends by her side crumbled away like a castle of sand, leaving Deluge alone, sitting on her bed. Quake was not there. Inferno was not there. Tempest was not there. Cherry was not there. They had all been killed. They’d been killed by official magical girls. When Deluge lifted her head, her friends were there, and when she reached out her hand, they vanished. Though she could hear their voices coming from somewhere, she couldn’t see their faces. Every day was more of the same. Her friends were not there. Because they were dead.

That was when the “friend” had made contact with Deluge.

  Pfle

“Come in.”

“Pardon me.”

Responding to the sound of the knock, she beckoned in the guests. A magical girl all in black came in first, while one with large glasses and another with a scholar’s cap and white coat followed.

“Long time no see.”

“Hiya.”

The scholar and the glasses girl came in rather cheerily and bowed to Pfle.

“Ohhh, looks like things have gotten pretty intense, huh?” said the scholar. “I heard Patricia got zapped during this kerfuffle. And one-on-one, too.”

The glasses girl was startled. “Whoa, really? That cavewoman, the one who was practically born to punch people? One-on-one?”

Though the content of their discussion was violent, they somehow seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“And they say the mercenaries she was in charge of all got snuffed, too,” the scholar girl added.

“Wow. All Patricia’s mercenaries were snuffed?”

They were like a comedy duo.

“They say the enemy was using new-model demons.”

“Oh, yiiiikes… Mind if I just go home?”

“Absolutely not. It’s a big no-go to collect a paycheck and then not do the work!”

The magical girl with the scholar hat was Micchan the Dictionary. The one with the glasses was Glassianne. Hardly anyone could tell at a glance that these two were skilled fighters. Even very sharp experts would be fooled. That was exactly why they could mingle with other magical girls and nonchalantly live ordinary lives.

Unlike those two, the one in all black, Dark Cutie, didn’t talk much. Since she’d been the model for a character in an anime, she’d stick out badly if she lived a normal magical-girl lifestyle. It didn’t take much for a celebrity to draw the attention of others. Rumor had it that when she wasn’t on missions, she spent all her time holed up inside, but who knew if she was the kind of magical girl who would sacrifice her lifestyle to live for her work. When this trio worked together, Dark Cutie was their leader.

“Patricia was a good person,” Dark Cutie muttered, not really addressing anyone in particular.

“The good ones get killed by the bad guys,” said Glassianne.

“That’s cruel,” said Micchan.

“Sure is. By the way, who’s that?”

Micchan, Glassianne, and Dark Cutie’s gazes all gathered on Deluge.

Showing no timidity at having all their eyes on her, Deluge glanced over at Pfle, then gave a small bow of her head.

Pfle opened her mouth. “You’ll be under her command for this mission. I ask that you give her full support in accomplishing the objective.”

Pfle could tell the three of them became more cautious. Eyes never leaving Deluge, Micchan asked to confirm, “Is that a request from the Magical Girl Resources Department?”

“Yes it is.”

She wanted to be absolutely sure this client was from the Magical Girl Resources Department.

These three were highly skilled professionals who typically worked as normal magical girls, only summoned at critical times. Even with an introduction from Pfle, they weren’t so cheap as to be hired by someone they had only just met, and they knew that the most dangerous thing of all was to be used with incompetence.

Their twisted unit leader was Dark Cutie, with her pride, anger, resentment, joy, regret, pleasure, and sense of both superiority and inferiority toward being a bad guy. Micchan the Dictionary was a born assassin who infiltrated enemy territory empty-handed, using all sorts of weapons to carry out her missions. Glassianne was the ultimate observer: She could see deep into enemy territory from the front lines or even holed up deep in a base.

These magical girls were not easy to deal with. Using them required much effort, too.

Putting her hands together, Pfle said to them, “Since we’ll be fighting together from now on, let’s introduce ourselves.”

  Princess Deluge

The unsociable Dark Cutie, the mild-mannered Micchan the Dictionary, and Glassianne, who acted cheery but never smiled with her eyes—they were three very different magical girls, but they also had things in common. The three of them were entirely without weaknesses.

Deluge was going to use the three of them to carry out her goal. She was going to get revenge. Maybe someone was tempting her into this, maybe someone was leading her to do this, but that was fine. The facts were the facts, and if Deluge was standing here because of the sacrifices of her friends, even if she was just being used by someone who was trying to take advantage of her, she was fine with that.

It had begun with a piece of paper. There had been a single piece of copy paper folded on the bed Deluge had been using in the break room of the R&D Department. I’m on your side. I’ll tell you things you don’t know had been written on it, and after that, papers had been left there at irregular intervals.

All the information that came from this source was concerning, but no one could assure her if any of it was true or not. Deluge herself was the only one who could confirm anything.

Deluge decided to use Bluebell. When she told Bluebell, “My friends wanted to become great magical girls, and I want to carry out what they wanted. So I want to know more about magical girls, about the Magical Kingdom,” tears had welled in Bluebell’s eyes. “That’s so admirable,” Bluebell had praised her, and she’d begun showing Deluge around to places. It seemed that Bluebell not only had spare time, she also had a fair amount of authority, and she took Deluge to a wide variety of locations.

To the places where scouts went searching for those with magical talent.

To the places where many budding magical girls had gathered to take the exam to become official magical girls.

To the exclusive library where books about magical-girl history were kept.

Bluebell also guided her through a special gate to the ruins of a magical-girl prison and joined in with a group she said was doing combat training. They were also allowed to observe at a facility where she said they carried out research on items and mascot characters that helped magical girls.

Bluebell took personal joy in seeing that Deluge was starting to do things proactively of her own accord, and she promised that if there was anything else Deluge wanted to do, anything she wanted to see, she need only ask.

When Deluge had said she wanted to see the Pure Elements’ laboratory again, Bluebell hadn’t looked happy, but when Deluge had pleaded earnestly that she really wanted to see it one last time just to remember them, she had somehow managed to get Bluebell to take her. The laboratory was cordoned off with tape here and there, and it was full of places they were forbidden to enter, but by making the request of a magical girl who seemed to be an investigator, they were able to enter the briefing room.

Bluebell looked around the area with curiosity. To Deluge, it was a nostalgic place. Though it had only been barely over a month, it felt like it had been long ago that she’d been a magical girl here. That was the table Inferno had scolded Tempest for putting her feet on. Tempest had burst into tears and buried her face in Quake’s chest, and Quake had worn a very serious look as she petted Tempest’s head. Just looking at the tables, chairs, ceiling, and walls made memories like that overflow in her. And then the memories that emerged at the very end of the end never changed.

Deluge made a request of Bluebell. She asked her, “I want to know how my friends died. Isn’t there some way to find out?” Bluebell had been reluctant, saying that wasn’t something she should know, but when Deluge had said passionately, “I want to know so I can get closure and move forward as a magical girl,” Bluebell’d been instantly touched. Deluge had always been good at pretending to be earnest and sincere. Tears in her eyes, Bluebell had said, “Then I’ll do want I can,” and had helped her out. Thanks to her, Deluge had managed to learn how her friends had died.

She hadn’t needed a week after that. Deluge used Bluebell’s pass to sneak into the laboratory and seize some experimental subjects, including various items and the new-model Disrupters, and following the information and instructions of her “friend,” she had attacked Shadow Gale and secured a new team as well.

  Pfle

Bringing the teacup to her lips, Pfle found it was already completely cold. She drank none of the lukewarm black tea, returning the cup to the saucer, pushing it to the corner of the table with the back of her hand. The marble table was slippery. Moved along by momentum, the teacup fell off the side of the table, and Pfle caught it in her palm.

Magical girls did not require intake of nutrition via eating or drinking. There was no point to drinking black tea or eating snacks, but for various reasons—as a mannerly thing, or being enjoyable as an indulgence, or just by force of habit from being a human, many magical girls at least loved to drink tea. This was one of the things Pfle liked to indulge in as well, but cold black tea tasted bad, and she wouldn’t enjoy it.

She leaned back in her wheelchair. She was the only one present. All the others were out on the job.

Pfle sorted out everything that had been on her mind all this time.

It seemed her memories were incomplete for some reason. And before she had been able to finish investigating the cause and reasons for that, this incident had occurred. Did the incident have nothing to do with that? That seemed very unlikely.

Pfle understood that Deluge had a deep grudge against the Osk Faction. Grim Heart had been an incarnation of Chêne Osk Baal Mel. Deluge surely thought of it as no different from Osk themselves having robbed the lives of her friends as well as the lives of those magical girls who had tried to save them.

The Puk Faction was trying to hold this ceremony while the Osk Faction was trying to disrupt it by force, and while the two forces fought in W City in the attempt to secure Premium Sachiko, they were going to snatch her away. The Osk Faction would see this as having been beaten to the punch. And if they were going to engage in some sort of negotiation with the Puk Faction, then having Premium Sachiko in hand would be serious leverage, too.

Pfle could understand this—but why had Deluge gone this far? This was a girl who had trained in a place secluded away from magical-girl society, and there was no way she could have known anything about the Osk Faction or the Three Sages. Pfle only learned of any intel that came to the surface because of her lofty position. She had sent her roots out in each department seeking information, and she even had a number of sources within the Central Authority. That was why she had been able to learn these things. Even if Deluge had been the victim in that situation, there was no way she, as just one magical girl, could know such detailed information. And there was also the matter of Shadow Gale. Pfle had done her utmost to lay low and remain anonymous. There were only a limited number of people who even knew she existed.

Someone had told her. So then, who?

Having Deluge attack someone the Osk Faction wanted instead of the faction itself seemed like a fairly roundabout plan for someone who wanted revenge. If there was someone pulling the strings behind the scenes, then did that someone want Sachiko? Or did they want to make some deal with the Puk Faction? Just as they had kidnapped Shadow Gale to force Pfle’s hand, were they trying to force the Puk Faction’s hand by kidnapping Premium Sachiko? Was this an attempt to get involved in the ceremony the Puk Faction had planned? Was there something more significant to Premium Sachiko beyond her part in this ceremony? Often enough, all Pfle could do was guess at matters, but there were far too many elements here to even speculate on.

Three knocks jolted Pfle out of her thoughts.

“Come in.”

Obeying her call, Micchan the Dictionary popped her face in. “Are we about ready?”

“I want you to carry out this task in such a way as to satisfy Deluge.”

“I see… Roger that.”

“Oh, hold on a minute.” When Micchan was about to leave, Pfle called her to stop and pointed to her teacup. “It’s grown cold. Could you make me a new one?”

“Wait just a jiffy.” Micchan set a cardboard box on the floor and picked up Pfle’s teacup. “Koucha [black tea] to kombucha [kelp tea].”

Steam rose from the cup in Micchan’s hand, and a refreshing scent wafted toward Pfle’s nose. She could sense the faint saltiness and savory taste of the kelp tea. Pfle’s lips relaxed slightly into a smile, and she raised her right hand.

This magic was amazing no matter how many times she saw it. Just by changing one character of the name of the object she held in her hand to another, she could turn it into something else. Her magic was restricted to items of a size she could carry in her hand and also to inanimate objects, but even so, this ability was incredibly flexible.

“Should I make it into something else?” Micchan offered.

“I’m in the mood for kelp tea now. I think I’ll have this.” Politely accepting the proffered teacup, Pfle took a sip. “A fine job.”

“Great. Well then, I’m going back to work.”

Micchan left the room, and Pfle returned to her thoughts.

When Pfle stared at someone, she could understand their character. She had previously placed too much trust in this ability of hers, and she had been fooled by someone who hid her expressions with magic and also by someone who had disturbed her emotions. But of all the magical girls who seemed like they might be relevant, none of them had such magic. So was this person offering assistance from the outside?

A magical girl who had managed to make contact with Deluge and was currently acting on their own—the faces of a number of figures rose in Pfle’s mind, none of whom she would be glad to have betray her. Pfle sipped at the kelp tea.

  Glassianne

Over in the backyard, Glassianne waited for Micchan. That said, everything in this backyard—the garden trees, stones, lawn—looked expensive. It started to tick her off.

Once a month, Glassianne ran a cake shop. She’d bought a ramen shop with the interior included and remodeled it into a cake shop, and just one time per month, she’d open it up, and together with a magical girl who had a pastry chef motif, they would make magical cakes and sell them. When she heard statements like, “The storefront looks dingy, but the cakes are actually amazing,” or “I hear there are some really cute girls baking the cakes,” she would chuckle to herself. But this sudden summons meant her once-a-month fun had been canceled.

Micchan had also grumbled, “They just made a big library the next prefecture over, and I was planning to go today and have my fill.” Glassianne could sympathize.

But despite all this, the one they were supposed to be giving full backing, Princess Deluge, was not being cooperative. Had Glassianne been a teenager, back when she wasn’t as good with such things, Deluge would have made her want to shriek and give her a thwack. Deluge simply told them of her ultimate goal of “nabbing Premium Sachiko,” and then remained completely silent without even the most minimal reply. She ignored requests to share information about one another’s magic—she didn’t even so much as say hello.

Black creatures that hovered with square wings on their backs circled around them, and it felt like if they were to approach Deluge with impudence, the creatures would attack. These were the magical life-forms that had been nicknamed “demons,” primarily used by mages as security. Glassianne had been handling backdoor work for the Magical Girl Resources Department for a fairly long time. She’d been both their allies and their enemies. But she’d never seen the type Deluge had brought with her.

In other words, they were a new model. If Deluge was a magical girl who was allowed to use a new model of demon, that meant she was a pretty big deal. She wasn’t someone you should be making mad, and she was, of course, not someone you’d be allowed to give a thwack. If something was scary, Glassianne wouldn’t touch it. If something was stinky, she’d put a lid on it. If you wanted to have a long life in this line of work, then you had to live wisely and cautiously. Those who were unable to handle a wise and cautious lifestyle would either go off the rails as a magical girl or go off the rails in life, one of the two. Glassianne had no intention of choosing either, so she wasn’t going to punch this girl. She wasn’t willing to abandon her lifestyle of getting paid highly for letting off stress on the odd occasion when she was summoned for work, while at other times, engaging in her baking hobby.

“Sorry, sorry, kept you waiting, huh?” Coming out of the back entrance of the house, Micchan the Dictionary waved a hand in front of her face in apology.

“No, hardly!” Glassianne replied. “Honestly, I’d be okay waiting here ten days if you wanted.”

“You’re always trying to slack off like that, Anne.”

“You say that, but whenever we get a job, it’s always bound to be something super dangerous, y’know? It’s just, like, I dunno. It just sucks!”

The two of them laughed for a while. Seeing that Dark Cutie alone was silent, Glassianne adjusted her glasses, and Micchan the Dictionary pulled together the collar of her white coat.

“Looks like this one’s gonna be pretty tough,” said Micchan. “The boss seemed different.”

“Sounds like there’s gonna be bodies… Aw, man.”

“Guess we’ve gotta be prepared if we’re sticking our noses into a power struggle among the Three Sages.”

In her work, Micchan was prepared to kill or be killed. Glassianne didn’t say, “Wow, you’re being so serious!” She only nodded. They were only ever called for troublesome or tough jobs, so this sort of thing did happen. She had no right to know things such as to what end the boss meant to interfere with that struggle.

“I’m all ready,” said Micchan.

“Ditto,” agreed Glassianne.

“Well then, as always,” said Dark Cutie.

“Then the mission starts now, huh?”

This was the first time Glassianne had heard Micchan the Dictionary expressly say something like “The mission starts now.” Dark Cutie, their unit leader, was the type to assume they would know this, even without it being said out loud. If it was only Micchan and Glassianne present, they wouldn’t need to make such an announcement. However, with Deluge on the team, things were different. Dark Cutie wasn’t capable of showing consideration, so Micchan’s way of showing care, figuring she couldn’t simply leave it to the boss, was the reason she was their number two. Micchan didn’t hold that title for nothing.

“Then let’s focus on Puk Puck’s estate first,” said Micchan. “Anne, would you mind shifting your visuals?”

“I shifted them the moment I heard we were going to W City, you know. Just leave it to me.”

Micchan the Dictionary was speaking particularly loudly, something she wouldn’t normally do even when giving instructions or telling someone off. She wouldn’t even raise her voice when she was getting emotional, not that she was the type to get all that emotional in the first place.

Glassianne understood why Micchan was speaking louder than usual. She was doing it so Deluge could hear, too. Though Pfle had ordered them to follow Deluge’s instructions, Deluge herself was completely refusing communication, so they had no choice but to have this briefing among themselves.

Micchan was trying to ensure their course of action was known to this presumed VIP without offending her. Glassianne could tell Micchan was taking care not to act callous toward Deluge, since even if she lacked communication skills, she was still a person in an important position.

It wasn’t that Dark Cutie was incompetent as a leader. This was basically about division of labor. Dark Cutie was a famous magical girl who had appeared in anime; that all-black costume of hers had a lot of presence. She had a dull look in her eyes but still a sense of presence. Often enough, things would go well simply by placing her at the front. Bluntly put, Micchan the Dictionary, with her scholar theme, and Glassianne, with the glasses and candy, would be underestimated due to their appearances.

And speaking of division of labor, Glassianne had her job to do, too. As for what she had done since being summoned that was anything like work, when Dark Cutie had asked for her impression of Deluge, Glassianne had replied, “She comes off villain-like.” As long as she said this, Dark Cutie would treat Deluge as one of them for the time being. Glassianne had never asked Dark Cutie about her thoughts on villains. It was enough just to know that merely the act of characterizing someone as villain-like would make Dark Cutie treat them decently.

“Well, then—,” Micchan began, then tensed. Dark Cutie crossed her arms and moved behind Micchan, and half a beat later, Glassianne positioned herself between the two of them.

“Deluge!” shouted a magical girl with a lily of the valley on her back. She’d emerged from the front door and crossed through the yard toward Deluge as if she didn’t even see the trio’s wariness toward her sudden entrance. “How could you do this? You should have told me if something was up!” she yelled as she shook Deluge by the shoulders. Deluge let it happen, her expression one of sincere irritation.

Micchan looked at Dark Cutie, but Dark Cutie’s expression was cool as could be, with no indication that she was going to do anything. Before Micchan could look over at her, Glassianne quickly averted her eyes. Micchan heaved a sigh.

“Pardon me, Miss Deluge…”

Deluge looked at Micchan.

“Are we all right with that person?” Micchan’s stance was low and she was polite, but she was forceful.

Deluge gave Micchan a grudging look, then immediately returned her gaze to the magical girl with the lily of the valley. “She’s coming with us, too,” she practically spat.

Glassianne snorted at how lax things had become—this raid felt more like a family affair than anything.

  Bluebell Candy

When Bluebell Candy had first met Deluge, she’d mostly been just curious. She’d sensed a cool, shounen-manga sort of romanticism in the promotional line of “a magical girl created by human hands, without help from the Magical Kingdom.” Bluebell was drawn to that sort of thing, hence why Deluge had piqued her curiosity. She’d sneaked a look at her from the shadow of a pillar.

After one glance, she became ashamed of herself for only being interested out of curiosity.

The despondent girl sitting on the waiting room chair, shoulders slumped, was a pitiful sight. But despite that, Bluebell felt that perhaps it was rude to feel pity for her. Bluebell tried to look away but couldn’t bring herself to do so, continuing to squeeze the pillar as she watched Deluge. Though Deluge was pitiful, she was also very beautiful. The sparkling blue gem in her tiara and her similarly colored eyes should have been just as beautiful as those of any other magical girl, but Deluge was completely different.

Bluebell volunteered to take care of Deluge. She took care of her needs and desires and told off those who spoke badly of her. As a result, she was put on the receiving end of maliciousness herself; her snacks or her favorite pen would disappear, but even so, Bluebell did not leave Deluge.

The other magical girls in the Department of Research and Development hadn’t paid any attention to her even before meeting Deluge anyway. Bluebell knew people spoke badly of her, calling her the odd one out, useless, and a do-nothing. This was just a change from being treated as an outsider to being treated as an obstacle. So then Bluebell came to the clean decision to do whatever she pleased, too.

Bluebell couldn’t leave Deluge alone. If she did, Deluge would shatter and vanish. Bluebell had to stay with her in order to keep that from happening.

And slowly, bit by bit, Deluge had opened her heart to Bluebell. She started making requests of her, things like “I want this; I’d like to do this,” and Bluebell tried to fulfill those requests as much as she could. Occasionally, Deluge would ask more of Bluebell than she was capable of, but by begging her superiors repeatedly, somehow, she would get permission.

Once, Deluge showed her a sketchbook. Bluebell didn’t know anything about art, but the lively drawings of smiling children looking as if they were having fun were good enough that at a glance, you’d think she was skilled. When Bluebell had praised it, saying, “This part is great,” “That part is so well done,” Deluge gave her shy but glad smiles.

She hadn’t even imagined Deluge had a skill like that.

There were other sketchbooks, ones Deluge had promised to show her later. But before she could make good on that promise, Deluge had caused this incident.

Even now that things had come to this, Bluebell didn’t want to abandon Deluge. Just having someone be there for Deluge would help support her. It had to.

That morning, when she came to work in the R&D Department office, Bluebell heard what Deluge had done. At first, she felt uncomfortable. Some magical girls had ostracized Deluge solely because she was an artificial magical girl. So Bluebell had assumed this was just heartless magical girls getting up to that sort of rumor-mongering.

But several things helped her to finally come around: the damaged laboratory and the disaster zone that was the reference room, her attempts to e-mail or call Deluge that never went through, and her discovery that even her own laboratory pass had disappeared from her wallet. She felt like her knees would give way, but this wasn’t the time to fall apart.

The majority of the equipment, drugs, and research materials related to artificial magical girls had been snatched away. Two artificial magical girls created based on the research on Deluge, a machine for the manufacturing of new-model combat homunculi, and various other things had also been stolen. The burglar had beaten down the security homunculi and thrust weapons at the permanently stationed researchers, and then after they’d opened the safe for her, they’d gotten beaten down, too. And from the way the researchers described the burglar, she had to be Deluge. All the other circumstantial evidence pointed to Deluge as the culprit, too.

In the end, Bluebell went to the temporary bedroom Deluge had been borrowing and discovered a folded piece of paper that had been left on her bed.

After reading it, Bluebell dropped all her work for the afternoon and dashed out after Deluge.

  Micchan the Dictionary

It looked like the lily of the valley magical girl was someone Deluge knew. And since Deluge had recognized her, Micchan’s crew had no right to drive her away.

The aforementioned magical girl and Deluge were still quarreling over something.

“So who is that girl anyway?” Micchan asked.

“Looks like an acquaintance,” answered Glassianne.

“Seems like this’ll take some time.”

“Yep.”

“Should we have some tea?”

“We just had some, though. If I drink any more, my stomach’ll be all full of water.”

“I got a request today.” Micchan stuck a hand into her bag, pulled out three sheets of colored paper and permanent markers, laid them on the table, and pushed them over toward Dark Cutie. “Some acquaintances asked me for autographs. Leader, would you be so kind?”

Without a word, Dark Cutie picked up the marker and removed the cap with a pleasant-sounding pop, then slid the marker along the colored paper.

“Wow!” crowed Glassianne. “Precisely what I’d expect of a famous magical girl! You must be used to signing and getting asked for autographs!”

“Your fame takes a real leap if you get made into an anime, after all,” agreed Micchan.

“And the Cutie Healer series in particular is such a major title! That’s so cool! So, so cool! I’d love to get made into an anime, too, just once! I want to get aired under a title like Super Glasses Girl, something like that!”

Micchan knew the rumors surrounding Dark Cutie. Word on the street was when Cutie Healer Galaxy was still on air, there had been a scandal involving the boss of the public relations department, forcing them to resign. Then, the new department head meddled with production and changed the course of the show. As a result, the show had ended with Dark Cutie’s character in a horribly unresolved position.

Micchan had visited Dark Cutie’s house once in the past. She’d just meant to come over for a bit to say hi, but she’d wound up staying in that dim room of an apartment building that looked like it had been built fifty years ago, watching the whole Cutie Healer Galaxy anime DVDs from start to finish. Toward the end, at the point where Dark Cutie swore revenge against the heroes before disappearing into the throng, the real Dark Cutie had turned off the DVD. The screen had instantly switched over to a serious-looking newscaster seated in the center of the screen. Strangely, Micchan had a clear memory of the foreign news about an eight-year-old girl who’d wrapped herself in explosives and set off a massive explosion in a marketplace.

“That reminds me,” said Micchan. “Have you heard about what happened with the next part?”

“You mean the next season?” said Glassianne. “They were saying they finished selecting a candidate for the leading role, right? Yeah, they totally were.”

“Yep, about that. They’d practically chosen somebody, but apparently they’re back to square one.”

“Whaaa?! But why?”

“’Cause she leaked online that she’d be involved with the next season of Cutie Healer.”

Glassianne put her finger to her glasses as they began to slide down, pushing them back up. With a deliberate-sounding sigh, she shrugged dramatically. “Why’d they do something like that?! Seriously, what a waste.”

“It really is, right?”

“Uh-huh, totally. I wish they’d make an anime of me, too.”

“You just said that. Magical Glasses Girl, right?”

“I told you, it’s Super Glasses Girl! And don’t you forget it!”

For magical girls, getting made into an anime was real status, a fantasy. When you watched a lot of magical-girl anime from childhood and then got to actually be a magical girl yourself, of course you would aspire to be made into anime, too. Micchan thought it’d be nice if even magical girls who did shady work like her and Glassianne could get made into anime. In fact, perhaps it was precisely because they did questionable work that they had such a desire.

“But like,” said Glassianne, “we’ve all been told magical girls aren’t supposed to be on social media. So she messed up.”

“Nobody’s openly being like, ‘I’m magical girl so-and-so.’ But I hear there are quite a lot of magical girls who talk anonymously.”

“If you’re anonymous, you wouldn’t get found out, right? Honestly, what a waste. It’s such a waste, my mom’s bound to come in here with a lecture.”

“Even if it’s anonymous, if you tweet about what you’re doing, people will naturally figure out who it is.”

“Oh, is that how it works?”

“Done.” Dark Cutie held out some lovely “autographs from a famous person” to Micchan—at a glance, you wouldn’t know what was written on them. There was a little Dark Cutie face drawn on the corner of each piece of colored paper.

“Thank you so much.” Micchan carefully wrapped them in cloth, then put them back in her bag.

“Leader, are you not into social media?” asked Glassianne.

“There’s no reason for me to be.”

“She’s smart about these things,” said Micchan.

“Ohhh, gotcha. I guess there’s no need to bother getting involved with risky stuff, huh?”

At some point, the chat had turned into a discussion about work.

“If we’re up against the one who defeated Patricia, it’s gonna be pretty tough,” said Micchan.

“You said that before,” Glassianne reminded her.

“I’ll say it as many times as I want.”

“Actually, it might not be her.” Dark Cutie lowered her voice. “Patricia was defeated by a magical girl who uses a trident.”

Glassianne readjusted her glasses; Micchan’s eye twitched.

“You mean…?” Micchan got a look at Deluge out of the corner of her eye. She was still quarreling with the lily magical girl. A trident was leaning up by her side. “Looks like we’ve got a sticky situation.”

“I heard some stuff about new-model demons, too.”

The “black silhouettes with square wings” that hovered around Deluge were clearly new-model demons.

Dark Cutie interrupted Glassianne, probably on purpose. “We’re not in a position to decide whether this is something we ought to involve ourselves in.”

“I’d be grateful to have someone so strong as an ally, though,” said Glassianne.

Deluge stood in the corner of Micchan’s eye. When Micchan looked over at her, her expression had changed. Deluge seemed angry but also glad.

“We have a report from a scout. There was a battle between magical girls in W City, where Puk Puck’s estate is located. The scuffle took place at the municipal park.” That was all Deluge said. She then leaped up from the spot, and two demons came flying in to lift her up under both arms. A few more demons followed suit as she rapidly ascended into the sky until, eventually, she was out of sight.

That was quick. Deluge was moving fast, but then again, so was the enemy.

“I guess that means she doesn’t need anyone who can’t keep up,” Micchan muttered, and the three of them stood. None of them were wage thieves who would use that as an excuse to stay behind.

“Taku [table] to kaku [bishop].” Lifting up the marble table, Micchan turned it into a shogi piece. “Kaku [bishop] to kami [paper].” And she turned that into a big, thirteen-feet-squared sheet of paper. Micchan took the right side of the sheet, while Glassianne took the left, and Dark Cutie faced the light of the sun, squinting, as she spread her arms wide to make wings. The shadow wings projected onto the poster board flapped, and Micchan and Glassianne let go of the paper. Now they didn’t have to support it anymore.

Dark Cutie held Micchan in a so-called bridal carry and had Glassianne sit delicately on top of her. Flapping her great wings, Dark Cutie flew into the sky. The lily-themed magical girl just barely managed to leap at them and cling to Dark Cutie’s leg. She swayed a little, but she was stable.

It was the middle of the day, so they had to take care not to be seen. They would have to fly at a high altitude.

“Sorry! Please take me with you!” cried the lily-themed magical girl.

“Sure, sure,” said Micchan. “If you’re an acquaintance of Miss Deluge, then that’s fine with me. But you’ll have to protect yourself.”