by Asari Endou
What’s going on? Snow White wondered. A giant pileup had occurred on the highway, and the casualties were sure to be great. There was so much for the magical girls to do. Yet the angel had attacked her without a thought to the flaming vehicles, the toppled truck, and the countless injured.
Snow White quivered with anger, not fear. She was indignant that this girl could be so selfish and think nothing of others’ lives. Her magic let her read the minds of people in trouble to figure out what was wrong, and she could hear countless voices. She knew exactly where each one was, too. It was unbelievable that someone with their powers could just ignore them to fight. Maybe she was the only one who could hear, but it was obvious that people needed help. Could they not see, or did they not care?
The voices in her head were increasing and intensifying. Suddenly, Snow White noticed something. A strange voice was mixed among the cries for help.
Oh no… What do I do?
The source was thirty feet behind her. She looked, but there was no one there.
Swim said to attack them.
But shouldn’t I be helping with the accident?
Still, Swim did say…
Maybe I should just take her out, then go help…
“Is someone there?”
Huh? Can she see me? That’s not good… How can she see me?
“Are you a magical girl, too?”
The voice stopped.
“Sorry! She found me!”
A dog-eared girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“What are you doing? The plan was for me to act as a distraction while you took her out! You let her find you! Idiot! Stupid dog! Useless!”
The angel lashed out, frantically dodging the road sign.
“If you’re not going to use it, then give it to me!” she spat. She spiraled through the air, snatched a transparent cloak from the other girl, tossed it over herself, and disappeared. The dog-eared girl watched her go with tears in her eyes. Snow White and Hardgore Alice, still brandishing the road sign, turned to face her, and she let out a noise that was part shout, part scream, and part cry. She swiped at the ground below her, and a hole a few feet wide opened up below. She dropped into it and disappeared.
Hardgore Alice had served as both her reinforcements and her savior that night. The angel was gone, and the dog-eared girl had turned tail. Snow White limply dropped her raised fist.
“… Let’s go help some people, even if it’s just us.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Hardgore Alice set off in search of her rabbit plush, found it in the shadow of some rubble, and picked it up. With her rabbit in her right hand and the street sign slung across her shoulder, she followed after Snow White.
She shut off the TV. The accident on National Route X showed how gruesome things had truly become, but she felt no urge to rush over. If she went, she could do many things to help. But there was nothing she wanted to do.
Sister Nana… Nana Habutae hadn’t moved from her bed since she had fled Ouketsuji.
Shizuku Ashu. Weiss Winterprison.
Still on her belly, Nana moved only her face to the side. In front of her was the corkboard displaying the smiling photos of Sister Nana and Winterprison—of Nana Habutae and Shizuku Ashu. Shizuku had always been so kind. Cleaning, laundry, she did it all. She’d helped Nana with a report for university, and even called her cute.
Nana knew her outward appearance was only temporary. People had always called her cute to make fun of her, or to express some sense of superiority, but never had anyone truly meant it. But Winterprison wasn’t like them. Whatever it was she’d liked about Nana, her claims that it was “love” didn’t seem fake, at least. Maybe she just had bad taste.
Sister Nana had the ability to draw out the power of other magical girls. With her magic, Winterprison became stronger.
She’d cared about Nana quite a bit, but how did Nana feel? No, Nana didn’t return the feeling. She loved Winterprison. She’d loved her, but not really cared about her. After all, she’d led her to her death. She was a siren, leading her into danger.
Winterprison…
No matter how many times she thought about it, she arrived at the same conclusion. She was tired of thinking. Had it been hours, or had it been days? Her sense of time was long gone, and she couldn’t tell. Nana got up from the bed. Her joints groaned.
Nana was neither kind nor pure. She was conniving when it came to getting what she wanted, and only ever acted with her own best interests in mind. She was neither kind nor pure, but wanted to be seen as such by others. By Winterprison. By her dream prince.
The long scarf hanging from the chair must have been Shizuku’s. She doubted it was part of Winterprison’s magical-girl outfit. Nana picked up the scarf and chair.
If she’d told Winterprison that she wanted to die as a kind, pure heroine while protecting her prince, what would she have thought? Examining herself now, she could only conclude that was what she had wished for. A sense of loss overtook her sadness.
Placing the chair under the curtain rail, she stood on top of it. She tied the scarf to the rail, then formed a loop.
She had failed to become the heroine who died to save her prince.
She could have become a heroine that avenged her prince. If she’d teamed up with Snow White and Hardgore Alice, she could have magnified their power to assist the suffering people in that giant pileup. But she didn’t care.
She slipped the looped scarf around her neck.
She’d failed to save her prince and die, and she didn’t want to fight to avenge her prince. The only option left was to follow her prince in death.
Had Winterprison realized Sister Nana’s feelings? She’d probably foreseen that Sister Nana would abandon her to escape. Yet still she’d fought and died to protect her.
Sister Nana could never do the same.
And with that impassable rift between them weighing on her mind, Nana kicked the chair out from under her.
CHAT #5
Fav: So, uh, about this week’s cuts, pon
Fav: There are a lot more than usual, pon
Fav: Please pay attention so you don’t miss any, pon
Fav: Weiss Winterprison
Fav: Calamity Mary
Fav: Sister Nana
Fav: Top Speed
Fav: Yunael
Fav: The above have all been cut, pon
Fav: The remaining magical girls are:
Fav: Swim Swim
Fav: Snow White
Fav: Tama
Fav: Hardgore Alice
Fav: Minael
Fav: Musician of the Forest, Cranberry
Fav: Ripple
Fav: Seven, in total
Fav: Ohhh! We did it! We’re finally below the initially proposed eight girls! Wonderful, pon!
Fav: But unfortunately… this isn’t the end, pon
Fav: Those items you all received
Fav: have depleted our stores of mana again, pon
Fav: My, what a miscalculation, pon
Fav: So Fav must apologize to all of you
Fav: but the limit of eight is now down to four, pon
Fav: Do your best to earn candy until there are only four left, pon
Fav: Fav knows you all have what it takes to survive, pon
Fav: Well, good-bye~
CHAPTER 7
CRANBERRY’S SECRET
The chaos of Calamity Mary’s attack was ultimately explained as an act of terrorism. No groups claimed responsibility for it, but it was the only justification the world might accept.
Snow White and Hardgore Alice worked themselves to the bone helping people, leaving far more than a few witnesses. Additionally, the many weapons Calamity Mary had left behind lent credence to the terrorism story. No one, at least publicly, suspected a magical girl to be the perpetrator, partly because no one could imagine a lovely girl with superpowers as a gun-wielding soldier. Their existence was hardly public knowledge, despite the number of witness reports. Of course
, the syndicate that had supported Calamity Mary knew who was behind the attack, but they kept silent. Most likely they didn’t spare a thought for what a magical girl was supposed to be. They were just relieved to be free of the nuke waiting to go off.
“My, what an exhausting morning, pon.”
The white section of the sphere’s body was dull, and the butterfly wing beat weakly. At least, so it seemed.
“They’re calling it a scam, a hoax, fraud, lies, and all sorts of things, pon. Maybe it was too much to hope they’d believe we had to cut down to four just because we added the items, pon.”
“If they don’t believe you, then so be it.”
“Master.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t think it’s okay for Fav to suffer just because it’s Fav, do you, pon?”
“It’s your job to be hated.”
Lying on the bed, Cranberry put a hand to her cheek.
“So please, let them hate you. I have a lot to think about in the meantime.”
Several of their number had already died: Nemurin, Ruler, La Pucelle, Magicaloid 44, Weiss Winterprison, Sister Nana, Yunael, Calamity Mary, and Top Speed. It was a shame she wouldn’t get a rematch against Winterprison. She’d been so sure Winterprison would be the last one alive.
The game had passed its halfway point, and the most qualified contender, Winterprison, was out. Of those left, maybe Swim Swim or Ripple were most capable. Or perhaps Hardgore Alice. Cranberry preferred interesting opponents.
“Oh, one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Fav was going to make a progress report. Did you have anything specific to add, pon?”
The Magical Kingdom would periodically hold selection tests in order to find new blood. Capable candidates were chosen to compete, and one would be chosen to join their ranks.
As per custom, the selection test curators were called “masters.” After the Magical Kingdom dispatched the necessary members, they would adopt the role of adviser and seek out humans from the land the test was being held in, offer words of wisdom, and keep the test proceeding smoothly. Without a master to handle this role, the selection test could not take place.
The special phones provided to masters came preinstalled with various applications not found on normal magical phones in order to make the test as smooth as possible. Fav, who resided inside this supervisor phone, would obtain whatever items the master required. Fav was also an impish creature, and many of the apps he installed were alarming.
“Fill out the report as you see fit.”
“Yes, yes.”
Cranberry wondered if Fav would actually do as she said. The idea was to convince the Magical Kingdom that they were carrying out a perfectly normal personnel training session. It had to present their bloodstained death match as a test of peaceful, goody-two-shoes girls.
The Magical Kingdom sought talented individuals, but they would not accept applicant deaths in the name of this pursuit. They claimed it was wrong to disrupt other realms for their own gain.
Of all the idiotic ideas. Cranberry spat.
Reaching out to other realms for talent was a disruption in and of itself. All that crap about making the least possible disturbance was just their hubris talking. If they were going to come in and throw things out of balance anyway, then they might as well use everything at their disposal to achieve their goal. If they wanted talent, then they needed to purge the weak and pick from the strong.
An accident had occurred during the selection test that had made Cranberry a resident of the Magical Kingdom. One of the applicants had attempted to summon a demon in a basement, and it went berserk. By the time she’d subdued the demon, it had killed everyone except Cranberry: her fellow applicants, the supervisor who’d stepped in to help—twelve casualties in total. A great tragedy.
One by one, her classmates had been crushed, melted, mashed, and broken. Cranberry had been nine at the time, so it was a shocking experience for her, but the joy she’d experienced was even greater. Trading blows with violence incarnate, drooling with the elation of slaughter, firing off magic—then, when they were both at wits’ end, emerging dominant over her opponent. Truly, that was the definition of a warrior of justice. In defeating powerful enemies, she found catharsis.
The demon purged, she’d stood there intoxicated. Ecstasy coursed through every fiber of her being. She bathed in the joy of overflowing blood until a hologram rose up from the supervisor’s phone and asked, “How long are you going to keep standing there, pon?”
The real shock came when she heard it had all been because of an accident. The true selection process seemed so tepid, exasperating, and boring. The failures would laugh with embarrassment, and everyone would celebrate the winner together. But that wasn’t how it should be, she thought. It was all wrong. They should be stealing irreplaceable treasures from one another, killing, being killed—and only by surviving to the end did the winner get chosen. That was how things should be.
When she told Fav this, he had answered, “Then you should become a master, pon.” Taking his advice, she did just that. Fav admitted he was bored with the current system and eagerly looked forward to a more entertaining selection test under Cranberry’s supervision.
She wondered if something inside her had broken during the accident. But it was of no concern to her. As a master, she could conduct the game as she saw fit. As long as the Magical Kingdom never caught wind, she could do as she pleased.
“I just wish I could have enjoyed this as a participant. C’mon, can’t I get an invitation?” she muttered to herself.
Swim Swim pondered the situation.
The number of magical girls had been reduced to seven, yet they were given another quota. In order to ensure everyone in her group survived, three other girls would need to drop out of the race. Tama had come scurrying back after her skirmish with Snow White and Hardgore Alice, but Minael was still missing. She didn’t seem to be dead, though.
Their ambush had failed because even though Minael had successfully distracted the enemy, Tama had been discovered while wearing the invisibility cloak. It must have been the work of magic.
That magic that let its user find people. That made the invisibility cloak utterly useless. It also meant Tama couldn’t hide in a hole for a surprise attack, and if Swim Swim dived beneath the ground, she’d be found anyway. Snow White might even be able to sniff out Minael while she was transformed into an object. Ambushes had been extremely effective against people who believed in chivalry and fair fights, but Ruler had never cared for those things, so neither had Swim Swim. But if Snow White could sense them, that was that. It was a bad matchup.
In other words, they should avoid a battle with Snow White. Hardgore Alice seemed to be acting together with her, so they should stay away from her, too.
What about Ripple?
She had taken care of Top Speed by attacking from behind, but she’d had to let Ripple go after a head-on clash. The battle between Calamity Mary and Ripple had told Swim Swim that Ripple far outclassed her in reaction speed, agility, and quick thinking. This was why their fight had ended in a stalemate even though Swim Swim had rendered all of Ripple’s attacks useless.
Tama and Minael could run and fly faster than Swim Swim, but in battle they were no quicker than her. Swim Swim might be safe, but they would most likely get killed before they could get an attack off. A successful ambush would mean victory, but if they failed, the damage would be enormous.
If she went after Ripple, it would be best to go alone.
The only one left was the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry.
There was no information on her.
And mystery was a sign there was great danger lurking in the shadows. But the reason she had no information on her was because Cranberry had abstained from fighting—had never even run into another magical girl by chance. If she was confident in her skills, wouldn’t she have shown up for Calamity Mary’s attack on National Route X? Her name, Musicia
n of the Forest, also made it seem like she wasn’t a fighter.
Compared to Snow White, who couldn’t be ambushed, and Ripple, who was too fast to surprise, she seemed easiest to deal with.
They’d saved the energy pills because they had so few of them, but now seemed like a good time to test their effects. If they worked well, they would be useful in the fight against Ripple.
Tama was kneeling on the wooden floor, looking depressed, and Minael still hadn’t come back.
Yunael’s loss had hurt, but the remaining three had still made it into the final eight. Ruler would have kept them all alive, even once the limit had dropped to four. Swim Swim mulled over what Ruler would and wouldn’t have done.
The sound of a door opening broke her concentration. There was Minael. She was panting, just like when Winterprison had killed Yunael. Tama screamed, but Minael ignored her.
“I know someone we can kill! We won’t fail this time!”
Behind the back alleys of the Kubegahama street lined with fishing supply shops was a long stone staircase. During the day, it was a playground for children, but at night there was not a single streetlamp. Even the light from the stores that opened early and closed late couldn’t reach that far. No one was foolish enough to climb those long stairs with only moon and starlight to rely on, so the area was naturally empty at night. Except for magical girls.
Snow White sat on the first stone step, staring at the pebbles at her feet. The incident on the highway had been no accident. It was obvious from the giant holes, exploded vehicles, and people reduced to simply feet that it wasn’t a normal pileup. She had been too busy prying open car doors, lifting rubble off people, and carrying the victims to ambulances to even stop to think, but now that she did, she felt more and more that it could only have been the work of a being like her.
