NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57 – The Virtue of a Magical Girl (7)
“I don’t know the full details, but I can see it looks pretty complicated.”
“Yeah, to be honest, it’s quite confusing.”
In the spot where Takilas had just left, Seria remained in silence, standing in the abandoned building, unaware of the missile commotion occurring in the daylight.
From her perspective, it was something that made it hard to snap out of her daze.
The fact that the one-eyed tentacled monster, Demon King Takilas, was actually the brilliant being she had dreamed of was shocking. She couldn’t even imagine meeting Takilas in her current state as a transformed magical girl.
To make things even stranger, Takilas appeared as a black-haired beauty, different from what was known.
Anyway, since she was ‘married’ in name, the fact that her spouse took the form of a smaller girl was as unbelievable as the clever tentacled monster itself.
“Hey, don’t think too much about it. Like he said, we’re basically strangers now. It doesn’t matter what he looked like before… it’s irrelevant.”
“That’s true, but…”
Seria bitterly smiled at Fluffy’s attempts to comfort her. It was safe to say that the events she experienced in this short time in the Demon Realm were more shocking than anything she had ever lived through.
“I feel like my mind is so blank that I’ve forgotten what I was going to do.”
“Then how about taking a look around for now? You might find something productive, and it could change your mood.”
Fluffy, a veteran mascot, gently coaxed her along the way, leading her to productive results. And Seria was different from Takilas.
At least she had a minimum sense of conscience, so she didn’t completely lack the desire to fulfill her duties.
“Awaken your senses. From now on, we’ll catch anyone who is harmful to this world, whether they’re monsters or criminals. You can use the fact that your original appearance doesn’t belong in this world to your advantage.”
“I can feel it. It’s the malice that I need to burn away.”
Once she exited the building, she shot up into the sky, expanding her senses according to Fluffy’s words.
Regardless of minor differences in importance, there wasn’t a world where what was called a “magical girl’s achievements” disappeared entirely. This is how Seria officially began her magical girl activities.
“…That person is a new magical girl from the same company as Takilas?”
“Yeah. Seems like Rana Land brought in quite the powerhouse.”
Meanwhile, those watching Seria soaring through the sky weren’t just taking pictures and videos out of curiosity.
Magical Girl Aria, now a typical high school girl, was gazing out the window with her mascot, Lulu, on her head.
New magical girls were commonplace. The reason for the interest was that Seria belonged to the same organization as Takilas.
“Still, it doesn’t seem like Takilas would run amok like that.”
“…You mentioned showing up for a brief moment earlier, right?”
She frowned at Lulu’s words.
After casting off the scars of her past and becoming a magical girl, Aria had always focused on her own training, seeking inner strength. For the first time, Takilas had a strong influence over her.
Someone who threatened her life and beliefs, while also saving her. In that process, their bond had already become tightly knit.
Now, she found herself flustered, with Takilas’s face popping up in her mind like a pop quiz at the worst moments.
“Let’s ignore it and do our own thing. Mamute has already been taken down… Anyway, we need to increase our achievements. Our rankings are slipping.”
“No way. I want to keep an eye on her.”
“What?!”
Along with Lulu’s shock, the bell rang. They returned to the classroom for now, but Han Eun-seo had no intention of finishing the day’s classes. The moment class concluded, she planned to leave early and investigate Seria’s activities.
“Everyone, quiet down. We have guests coming this afternoon.”
“It’s Jang Soo-chan from The One Road.”
Once class started and the guests from outside entered to start their discussions, her focus remained entirely outside.
“I’m sick and need to leave early? Go ahead. Make sure to visit a hospital.”
After class, in the teacher’s office. Han Eun-seo went directly to the teacher to announce her early leave. The teacher nodded without suspicion.
Teacher’s trust was a privilege usually given to the quiet, top-ranking model students.
“What?! No, teacher! She can go, but I can’t?! I’m sick too, you know?!”
“…So-hyun, your attendance is on thin ice. And you don’t look that sick, anyway.”
However, the scene before them caused Jeon So-hyun, who had arrived first, to widen her eyes and boil over in anger.
Han Eun-seo frowned at So-hyun’s finger pointing at her and adjusted her glasses.
“Geez… if I had known it would be like this…”
“Why are you trying to leave early? You don’t look sick at all.”
Ultimately, they left the teacher’s office with the same purpose but different outcomes. Seeing Jeon So-hyun let out an exaggerated sigh, Han Eun-seo reluctantly asked for a reason.
“What’s it to you? It’s my privacy.”
“Whatever else you do, just don’t mess up school. It’s for your future.”
“Who do you think you are, spouting such nonsense… hey!”
She tossed a remark and walked away, ignoring So-hyun’s exasperated cries. After all, this wasn’t the first or second time they had acted like this.
“Ugh.”
As Han Eun-seo’s retreating figure disappeared, Jeon So-hyun kicked a bottle cap that was lying around.
‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I don’t think I’ll make it in time… that nine-tailed fox, I just can’t figure her out. She might actually punish me.’
With her face twisted in frustration, Jeon So-hyun began heading back to her seat. Though she felt wronged to the point of madness, she couldn’t talk about it with anyone; she wasn’t trying to cut class or anything.
—
“Where is this place?”
“That’s not a problem.”
Successfully leaving early, Han Eun-seo didn’t head home but completed her transformation in a secluded alley near school, trading her quiet and gloomy appearance for that of a youthful fighter, revealing her arms and legs and letting her fiery red hair fly in the wind.
On her phone was an internet broadcast specializing in reporting on magical girls.
By roughly guessing where the newly transformed magical girl was headed and what she was up to, it was possible to predict her current path.
“Aria!”
The number of gazes recognizing her rapidly increased. After all, the devoted Magical Girl Aria was quite popular.
While most magical girls chased mere achievements, either burdened by their experience or manipulated by their mascots, she always acted to uphold justice.
“They said she flew this way?!”
“…Over there.”
With a leap of over 20 meters, she landed lightly on a building, sharpening her senses to observe her surroundings.
At her core, she was a projector. By tapping into the instincts of a projector, she could quickly sense where a fight was unfolding.
—
“What the…?”
“Magical Girl?!”
The closer she got, the more noise she heard. Located between secluded alleyways, Aria instinctively muted her presence, hiding her body to eavesdrop on the scene.
‘Is this some common school violence?’
A few individuals dressed in nearby high school uniforms were involved in the incident. A blonde magical girl stood, blocking the path and turning her back on a victim lying on the ground. As a year three student, Aria was familiar with the scene.
Anyway, violence was one of the achievements of magical girls.
“Hey, let’s go.”
The apparent perpetrators were tongue-clicking, about to leave.
This was a common occurrence. Unless a magical girl was attacked first, they usually wouldn’t bother civilians, especially minors; stopping the violence was usually enough.
With the emergence of the rogue variant known as Takilas, however, the magical girls, who were extraordinary beings, had settled into that societal role.
Cleanup was left to the law and police of that land.
“But is that really right?”
At that moment, Seria snapped her fingers.
Both Aria and the would-be fleeing perpetrators were surprised by the light beam that sealed off the alley’s entrance.
“What are you doing? We are guardians and sentinels, not executioners. Rene!”
“I know, but isn’t that just a convenience established because magical girls are part of this society?”
Seria, or rather Magical Girl Rene, shook her head.
Certainly, Yggdrasil had commanded her to act for justice. However, Rene understood all too well how fluid the concept of justice could be.
“All those varied definitions would acknowledge that this situation is wrong. Is it proper for someone guilty of wrongs to act so boldly?”
“Th-That’s…”
“As I said, I am not a judge, but I am also not so shameless as to ignore a clear crime I have witnessed, even if given the order to enact justice.”
A dense magical power seeped from Rene, her sapphire-like blue eyes shining with intent. It was clear she had demonstrable offensive intent.
“Stop!”
With wide eyes, Aria instinctively shot out. Her mind was filled with the thought that there could not be another Takilas.
“Uphold the law and order, newcomer. Judgement is not our job.”
Gritting her teeth, Aria did a somersault over the beams of light, placing herself in front of Rene. Despite having been briefly shaken by meeting Takilas, her beliefs remained steadfast.
This was Aria’s definition, standing firmly opposite Takilas.