Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku: Breakdown Volume 1 Chapter 4

Chapter 4

☆ John Shepherdspie

Mages tended to have a strong tendency to weaken their food and drink intake, regardless of their old age, and there are even those who think that the pleasure of consuming food is equal to sinning. “It’s unnecessary for anything other than nutrition!” “You shouldn’t waste your time eating and drinking!” “You should use that time for study and research instead!” “Just saying those things is like living in a culture of lazy pigs!” There were plenty of those who badmouthed it, and not many of them who were proponents of cuisine. Probably the only thing close was “If you create food with magic, it’ll probably taste even better.” Making food with magic was equal to automation using machines, you’d need human hands for the delicate balance and innovations.

Shepherdspie was a simple man. His thoughts are that “Whatever is delicious is good.”

The phrase Whatever is delicious is good echoed in Shepherdspie’s head. He opened his eyelids and saw the light from the curtain slits. This sunlight… was it already evening?

Ah, that’s right. Whatever was delicious was good. He needed to act for the sake of these delicious things. He can’t just keep laying down here. Shepherdspie moved his body, placing his elbow on the bed. This is much more fatigue than a simple one. When he fell down, his injuries were only bruises, and he didn’t have any broken bones. Then was this damage not physical, but mental?

There was certainly a huge mental shock. However, there was no way he could lay down forever. Shepherdspie had responsibilities. He took off his blanket.

He prepared for the day. Preparation wasn’t painful. Exercise, studying, magic, techniques, the only thing that the half-hearted Shepherdspie had any pa.s.sion for was food and cuisine. He lifted his body.

There were a lot of ingredients that have been examined on and on again. Various vegetables, meat and bones of boars, pheasants, fish, and in addition to these food ingredients, there was beef steak, beef bones, celeries, green onions, bouquet garni. He ordered many other ingredients. It was delicious. Not to mention beautiful. True cuisine is beautiful even when it’s still only ingredients.

Ah, how wonderful.

He sliced the meat, shaving it. Broke the bones, crus.h.i.+ng it. Delicately, and sometimes boldly, craftsmans.h.i.+p like this can’t be achieved using convenient magic… No, instead of craftsmans.h.i.+p, he should refer to this as a creative activity, rooted in fundamental pleasure. Focusing his eyes to the extreme to remove the lye. Filling in the bouillon with a golden color, the amber colored fond was equal to an art work no longer. Soups and sauces, so called essences of food tortured the cook with how much it couldn’t be preserved, but if you placed it in this cabinet, it could keep being in the state as if it were made just now. Occasionally he would use magic at some points, but it wasn’t simply for amateuristic needs, it was to reach the heights of ‘cuisine’. He wasn’t just some simple host, he was a chef that had to satisfy his guests.

I must pour in all the skills I’ve learned

Shepherdspie increased his own mood. He lifted his body off of his bed.

Every effort should also be made in deciding the menu.

Since there are older folks, he should avoid making heavily oiled food, but since there are children as well, he should have some pudding and ice cream as candidates for the pet.i.te voile. There were commoners as well. That meant that there was no need for highly mannered dishes, they were capable of talking to themselves and being pleased while eating casually. He chose a ma.s.s apple brandy with a low amount of alcohol that looked like antique wine. For the children, he focused and chose several kinds of fruit juices. No intrusions, no interruptions, only then can his cooking truly rise. A chef also has the sense to the meals before they cook.

Yes… There are… There are people waiting on me as a chef.

He gritted his teeth as he stood up. He placed his hand on his knees, straightening it.

Since this wasn’t a traditional course meal, he was free to pick the menu. The food that Shepherdspie loved the most, the self-named ‘Shepherd’s Pie’, was a little too homely to be served to Mages, but fine if served in a buffet style meal. There were plenty of mashed potatoes, and also… the Shepherd’s Pie also used beef—actually it used sheep meat, which Shepherdspie loved, but since Merry was here this time, he had to think of her too—meat, Époisses, smoked bacon with Naki cherry chips, just a touch of olive oil, and some fresh cream for some hidden taste.

Hmhmhm, Fuhahahaha

Just imagining it made him drool endlessly. It’ll be delicious. He could bet all of his wealth on it. Shepherdspie had that kind of confidence. Those who speak of it will only speak praises. It’s not that Shepherdspie respects or loves the guests. It’s not that he wanted to put himself in power to gain pleasure from them. However, he would like some praise. As Shepherdspie had excellent skills in the field of cuisine, he’d like to get praised for it. Applause, ovations, tributes, surprised cheers. He wanted something like that.

He took off his nightcap, putting on a robe on top of his sleepwear. He raised and lowered his legs which seemed to drag him a lot, and approached the door, he unlocked the door, opened it, and saw light, a dazzling light. Shepherdspie narrowed his eyes, covering them with his right hand, it was a beautiful light as if the sunlight itself was showing a prosperous future-

“...Huh?”

He said it out loud. The light also had a reason to be here. For some reason there was no wall. Wait, ‘no wall’ wasn’t right, there were still parts of it remaining. However, it would barely fit the role of a wall. It was exposing unbearable marks of destruction, it wasn’t just the light of the sun from the outside, it was the wind blowing as well. If he looked up, he could see that not one, not two, but three floors above him had disappeared. Due to the wind, he unconsciously s.h.i.+vered, placing his hands on the wall, but he stopped just before that. If he grabbed the wall as it is now, it’d probably collapse.

Shepherdspie quietly shut the door behind him. His mind was the opposite of static, but if he emotionally shut the door, it may cause the rubble to collapse. He looked roughly from left to right, but there was almost nothing left. Since what used to be a wall was now a mountainous pile of rubble, he a.s.sumed some cleaning up had been done. He placed his hand on his head. How long had he been asleep? What happened while he was asleep to cause this?

Restraining his broken mind and body, Shepherdspie headed for the kitchen. He walked as close to the walls as he could, but he couldn’t even do that. It was too dangerous.

The surrounding trees have been pushed down. The entrance to the bas.e.m.e.nt had been destroyed in the confusion. The ceiling had collapsed in the hallway. Were two Mages locked in battle, or was there an explosion?

Oh, that’s right. The guests

Were the guests that came to this island safe? As a host, it was an obligation to keep his guests safe. Then, he remembered the two Magical Girls. Were Chelsea and Merry safe? Immediately after that, Shepherdspie’s body s.h.i.+vered, his abdomen fat hitting his thighs. Chelsea and Merry were fine, he thought as he believed he was worrying too much about them. In fact, there was a high possibility that those two may have caused this destruction—Shepherdspie shook his head left and right. He stroked his hair, once more walking ahead. Chelsea did crash the floor, she did push Shepherdspie downstairs, but she hasn’t done anything this bad before. At least, she hasn’t broken anything deliberately.

While denying it in his head, that thought still won’t disappear. It was like a burn at the bottom of a cocotte, it wouldn’t disappear no matter what.

“Aah! Shepherdspie-San!”

Waving her hands running around, there was a human woman. What was the name of the outfits that let your ankles show? He was a sure a movie used that name before, but he couldn’t remember. In addition to being dirty, the girl with the white dress had her sleeves broken. She tied up her hair with waves behind her, did she normally have them semi-long? Her age was around the 20s. Her fingers were long and her fingernails were trimmed. There were callouses showing on them.

Shepherdspie narrowed his eyes. He was ashamed at observing a woman at a time like this. However, including Magical Girls, the figure of women was artistic without exception, that was also reflected in the cooking that Shepherdspie made—as Shepherdspie was thinking repet.i.tively, the woman stopped just shortly before him. The woman wanted to say something, but she was breathing so heavily that she couldn’t talk. She had her hands on both knees, panting. As Shepherdspie breathed in shortly, she would already be breathing out 10 times more.

“Merry?”

“Huh!? H-How? How did you know!?”

The girl was surprised, stumbled, and fell on her b.u.t.t. Shepherdspie should point at her, but he thought that’d be too inappropriate. The girl stood up, tapping her pump shoes twice on the ground, dropping the mud that stuck to it. The mud on her shoes was already dry, so she probably didn’t notice it until she fell down.

“So you’re… Pastel Merry, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right… I-I can’t transform right now, see? How did you know?”

Well firstly, her att.i.tude was the same. Then there were the callouses on her fingers while she was wearing the dress of a beautiful girl, which doesn’t really tell that she’s an artist who draws pictures but it does give the impression that she does it for a living, then she called him Shepherdspie-San, which only convinced him further. But now is not the time to explain that bit by bit. He’s had bad reactions when he bragged about things like this in the past before, so without revealing his reasons, Shepherdspie lied.

“Lucky guess.”

“Huh!?”

“Also, it’s the way you fell.”

“Please don’t distinguish me like that.”

“That’s your own fault. You told me your physique was different when you’re a Magical Girl.”

Shepherdspie looked down at Merry.

“It hasn’t changed by a lot.”

“It’s changed a little bit!”

“The other Magical Girls changed a lot. You don’t see them falling around everywhere, do you?”

“You can’t see the changes from the outside!”

She’s making excuses as a human by saying how you couldn’t see from the outside. She’s definitely thinking the same thing, he nodded on how shameful it’d be. On the other hand, excuses like this were important to learn from.

Shepherdspie took a deep breath. He was surprised at how he had the energy to talk. Or rather, since he had his hands full—of wasteful things—he had no time to be in pain.

“Well none of that matters right now.”

“Oh, that’s right! We’re in trouble! We’re in big trouble!”

“I can see that.”

“No, I mean this is really big trouble!”

So there’s an even bigger problem than losing consciousness and having half the building destroyed while he was out? He didn’t want to think about it. However, Shepherdspie had to listen.

“What happened exactly…”

“All the Mages collapsed, all the Magical Girls detransformed!”

That was probably why Shepherdspie wasn’t feeling so good. Was it a disease? Was it a gas leak? Or was there another cause? He remembered the manor’s systems, but it’s hardly enough to say he was completely familiar with this island.

“Shepherdspie-San, do you… not know why this happened?”

“No, or rather, I don’t quite understand myself.”

“I know you said the manor’s enchanted, but do you think some of that magic may have malfunctioned?”

“When magic malfunctions, there’s usually a visible sign of it… Ah. The explosion.”

“Did something you were studying leak out?”

“I don’t think so, but…”

In terms of heritage distribution, he did compile all of the Magical Items in the warehouse of the manor. It’s just for inventory, but Shepherdspie, who wasn’t an expert, had no idea what the effects of all those items would be. The higher the expertise, the higher the objects will be, even now there may be things that haven’t been shown from them.

“Is the collapse confined to here only?”

“Uhh, you could see the range from here.”

So the warehouse should be safe. So the Magical Items couldn’t be the one that caused this, but he wouldn’t dismiss it entirely, magic is still magic.

“If you could, I’d like to get opinions from the experts.”

“But I told you, everyone’s collapsed!”

“It’s that bad?”

“Well, there’s one boy. The other Mages just groan and struggle. Some Magical Girls were headed to the Gates to look for help… Oh wait, you’re walking just fine, Shepherdspie-San, aren’t you? But aren’t you a Mage?”

Though he was lazy, it wasn’t enough to make him stop moving. This was also thanks to his fat. Or maybe it was because of his obsession with cuisine. When he thought of the word cuisine, Shepherdspie raised his head.

“That’s right… The food.”

“The Mages can’t eat right now, but detransformed Magical Girls would be really hungry, right? So I thought we should fill our bellies before we investigate the island, and there was food in the kitchen so… That’s okay, right?”

She laid that all on Shepherdspie. Causing his body to collapse hard. He was dizzy. Did this woman just say that she took the food in the kitchen? If she’s saying what she’s saying then—Shepherdspie ran. Actually, he only thought that he ran. Since his body had to respond to his mind, he ran quite fast, but it was sudden. From behind him, the girl’s voice called out.

“Shepherdspie-San, everyone’s asking if you know anything! If you do, please tell me! Can you hear me!? Shepherdspie-Saaa-”

The chasing girl screamed out, then Shepherdspie heard a sound of falling on the floor.

She probably tripped on something again, somehow. Shepherdspie did not turn around, and obviously, didn’t lend a hand. Ingredients were just ingredients, it wasn’t just food. He took all his trouble thinking of how to make fond and bouillon, he didn’t intend for them to be eaten just like that. He wanted to make a true dish and entertain his guests. Now those Magical Girls ruined it.

Shepherdspie loved cooking, he respected people that made food, but it didn’t mean he respected every non-Mage. He was not a philanthropist nor was he a humanist, he hated stupid and desperate people. People who handled food poorly, people who had to be tamed when eating. Because of this, he didn’t particularly like Magical Girls who didn’t need food, but he shouldn’t hate them because they didn’t need to eat or drink, he should hate the person who made them that way, blaming a Magical Girl would be barking up the wrong tree. However, making blasphemous acts on food was another problem entirely.

Footsteps followed from behind him. Occasionally, it would make a falling sound. Shepherdspie moved on without looking back. He opened the kitchen door, there was someone on top of the portable stove, looking inside the pot, kneeling and moaning “aah”. Where there was supposed to be a large pan full of Bouillon was now wonderfully gone. The vegetables were packed in a bag. Did she use them all up too? There were still some sauces in the stacked dishes on the table. He could still smell it. Canned tomato sauce. Since it was already there, he couldn’t properly check its taste, commercial sauce had no adjustments, they had to be carefully selected before being used for food. Once more, there was an “Aah” voice.

“AAAH! You’re still here!?”

The footsteps that followed him went into the kitchen. She was blaming someone. It wasn’t blaming Shepherdspie. She raised her face indignantly. The self-proclaimed Merry had a troubled and angry look on her face as she looked down. She was looking at something, but Shepherdspie couldn’t see what she was looking at thanks to the mountain of dishes that blocked the way. The thing she was looking at put her hand on the table and slowly stood up. The girl facing the dishes was a woman in a bathrobe squeezing her own body with a soup bowl. She was familiar. It was Dreamy☆Chelsea’s detransformed state.

The bathrobe girl had soup on her right hand and a spoon on her left, she made a frowning face.

“It’s not what it looks like! This isn’t my fault!”

“Whether it’s your fault or not isn’t the problem. Something’s happened to the others, we can’t just sit around and be lazy, can we? But Chelsea-San, you always go back to the kitchen and eat soup when there’s time, don’t you? Didn’t lunch just end a while ago!?”

“But I need my nutrition.”

“Don’t you think other people need their lunch too?”

“I have bad metabolism.”

“That’s far too unreasona...AAAH! The soup is gone! You ate all of them!?”

“I can’t help it, this soup’s just so deliciou… Ah, Shepherdspie-Kun!”

She raised her head from the soup that she just slurped, the bathrobe woman grinned. Like a victim who found an oasis in the desert, there was a joyful look on her face.

“This soup’s super delicious, right? It’s the best! I’ve never had anything that transcended deliciousness! It’s great! Hey, tell me the recipe! I’ll have my mom cook it when I get home.”

“At least cook it yourself…”

“But my mom’s a better cook.”

“Well, okay, but that wasn’t what I meant.”

The bathrobe girl spoke. She talked about how delicious the soup was. About how she couldn’t live if she couldn’t eat this soup again. She talked about how if this soup was here, she’d be full of energy. Merry muttered out “If you have so much energy, maybe you should actually do something.”

Every time bathrobe girl praised him, Shepherdspie’s cheeks loosened, and before he knew it, he was smiling. His heart was filled with satisfaction. He drew up a chair and sat on it, looking tired. His face was reflected on the gla.s.s cupboard’s door, he looked calmer than he’s ever seen himself before. Although he’d be perfectly fine of dying as he is right now, now was certainly not the best time to die.

☆ Kotori Nanaya

This was a very bad. Recently, whether in work or in private, she’d be dismayed at having to transform as basically a Magical Girl. However, with her transformation gone, her pre-transformation clothes would just be even more unnecessary, she had no makeup, her hair hadn’t been set properly, she wasn’t even wearing shoes, she a.s.sumed none of these were necessary as a Magical Girl, so Kotori became sloppier and sloppier. Today was going to be her funeral. She wasn’t preparing to detransform, so she didn’t bring any clothes. She heard she was going to an island so she brought a bathing suit, but why would she wear something like that now? Besides, it was meant to fit 7753, so it wouldn’t fit her.

Everyone else was wearing school uniforms, suits, or something formal. They were proper. There’s some rough-looking people too, but they wore outdoor clothes as well. Even the maid outfit wasn’t that bad, since that’s technically work clothes. Basically, everyone was formal.

The only one with no makeup and wearing pajamas was only 7753—Kotori Nanaya. The others will probably remember her as “That pajama girl” or “The pajama Magical Girl.” However, Kotori, who would probably faint at a situation like this, didn’t do so, as the situation was far too tense.

By some unknown causes, the Mages had collapsed, and the Magical Girls had detransformed. All she could do was express a confused look, the other Magical Girls who looked to be more dependable than Kotori were firm, but they also looked confused. Even if you were to ask the Mages, the ones who would know the most, Ragi, and the closest one to that, Navi, have both lost consciousness. Yol’s eyelids were fluttering about, Agri and Mana were somehow still able to force out words, but although their symptoms were different, all of them were practically unable to move. There was one exception, Touta seemed to not be particularly bothered and was moving perfectly fine, but asking and relying on what seemed to be an ordinary elementary schooler was out of the question.

Their powers as a Mage—though seemingly not too important in terms of the danger of their life—were in serious condition. Although the Magical Girls were still able to move, they had their own problems to deal with. Their magical abilities that they used to take for granted were unusable. Now they were just a group of women stranded on an island with beasts.

Although they were joined by two Magical Girls who worked at the place, they also didn’t know what was happening. They don’t even know anything about the island, and the person who was supposed to know something is fast asleep and hasn’t awoken. Since she felt worried, she couldn’t even taste the deliciousness of the meal that she ate, but she still ate them for now.

She was worried for Mana too. She was worried for Tepsekemei too. If they were all human they could all gather here, but since Tepsekemei’s a turtle, it’d be difficult for her. Not to mention finding a tiny turtle in a huge island like this would be another problem entirely. If she detransformed in mid-air then, at worst—she stopped her thoughts there and shook her head.

—She’ll be fine, she’ll be fine, she’ll be fine. Mei is strong. That’s why we brought her here…

Nephilia, Love Me Ren-Ren, Rareko, and a fourth girl wielded a fire hook, a knife, a shovel, and a crowbar respectively, heading outside and aiming for the Gates. They plan to use the Gates to return to the outside world and seek help, Dreamy☆Chelsea and Pastel Merry would investigate the manor, and Kotori would check on the Mages in the annex. Then there was Clantail and Clarissa Toothedge, the two of them couldn’t rely on their physique. The only one who they could rely on were Miss Margarite and… herself.

She looked down at what she had. The hammer that she held felt heavier thanks to the dimming sunlight from the window. On her left hand was the lid of a pot. Since both of them had wooden handles, they didn’t feel warm. She was given these to protect from animals, but how useful would they be? Even as a Magical Girl she was bad at violence, what good would carpentry and cooking tools be? Just thinking about it made her feelings and stomach heavy. At least if she were a Magical Girl, her emotions would be happier, but she can’t even do that now.

Ever since the B-City incident, the times where she’d have to be a Magical Girl outside of work increased. Her habits of shopping for things when she was detransformed, or going to a popular hair salon to get her hair set were all gone. She’d remember the faces of the Magical Girls she met during the incident, then she’d just be hounded with painful memories. If she were a Magical Girl, that pain could be relaxed.

That may have been an escape for her. Kotori couldn’t deny it. Since she was always close with Tepsekemei, who escaped B-City, there’s no way she couldn’t remember it. No, she was just making excuses. Whether Tepsekemei was here or not, that incident will always be in her head.

They weren’t allowed to leave the island. Kotori was afraid as a human, thinking about Tepsekemei who wasn’t here and Mana who had collapsed, all she could do was stare at the annex.

“Um”

She turned around to see a girl in pigtails standing with gla.s.ses. She couldn’t tell if she had an expression or not. Her body size suggested a middle schooler or lower, her facial expression suggested a middle schooler or a high school first year, but she was definitely calmer than Kotori on the outside.

“You’re… Clantail, right?”

It’s strange to use Magical Girl names when they were a human, but since she didn’t know her real name, asking it would be stranger, so she’d have to use her Magical Girl name.

“Something wrong?”

“Called.”

She was a girl of few words. There was no subject nor object in her sentence. But then Kotori began to think. Someone must’ve been calling for her.

“Wait a minute, could I trust you to stay here, just for a bit?”

Clantail nodded her head, Kotori hurriedly ran into the hallway, she opened the door widely. On the sofa, the Mages were laid down limp. Perhaps they should’ve been resting in their own rooms and beds, but because of the limited amount of people they had, they had to be able to watch all 4 of these Mages together, so they had to lay them all down in the hallway sofa with blankets.

A girl with a skirt looked this way, pointing her thumb behind her. As an elementary school girl, the action looked quite strange, but thinking of her original form, it suited her. A woman with an English-print T s.h.i.+rt looked at her, before going back to work to fan the older Mages. She wasn’t much different than Kotori in age, but she was considerably different in dignity. She pa.s.sed by Touta, who was wiping away the sweat rolling off Navi’s forehead, going towards the innermost sofa, and sat next to a girl.

“Mana?”

“I have a request…”

She was speaking painfully. Just watching it was painful, she wanted to tell her to simply rest, but Mana’s eyes had firm willpower s.h.i.+ning in them. She didn’t call Kotori here because she was suffering or in pain. She had the eyes of a person with an objective.

“...My room.”

Mana breathed out. Her words were choppy and few, but she breathed out a lot. Kotori placed her ear close to Mana’s mouth.

“Take me to… My room.”

“Are you okay?”

“Medicine is my… Specialty… My luggage…”

“Oh, then I’ll just bring your luggage here”

“Don’t!”

It was a clear denial. Her voice was as loud as she could make it. Kotori had to move her ear away from Mana’s mouth, before looking back at her. Mana’s expression was resolute, meaning she won’t change her decision.

Kotori coughed out once, she took Mana’s arms and put it behind her head. She tried lifting her on her shoulders, but didn’t have the strength to do it. So she turned Mana’s arms behind her own thighs, and finally lifted her. She wasn’t confident in her physical strength, but Mana looked light, she could at least take her close enough to her room.

“Hey wait, where are you going?”

She heard a voice from behind her and turned around.

“Mana’s luggage might have some useful things in it, so we’re going to check it out.”

She replied back. She could sense that she was moving in the direction of Margarite.

“Wouldn’t it be better to grab the luggage and not move her around with you?”

“Mana... doesn’t like ordering people to move her luggage, cause… there’s some dangerous medicine that could get mixed up.”

When she was near Touta, she could sense that he stood up.

“I uh… I wanna help you.”

Now Touta wants to help. She was grateful for his kindness, but she really doesn’t want to be followed now.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m stronger than I look.”

She walked slightly more to appeal her strength to them. Though, she could feel people headed towards her back. When Kotori heard the footsteps of a child walking across the carpet, she trembled.

“Oh uh, Mana doesn’t like to be touched by other people.”

Then she continued on, “I mean, it took me a long time before I could touch her.” She sensed that he stopped behind her, went back to where he came from, and sat down. Even though she just sensed these things, Kotori apologized in her mind. She got better at lying than before. If Tepsekemei’s questions were too hard to answer, she’d explain it misleadingly, and while she knew Mana was investigating the B-City Incident, she never contacted her about her dealings with Pythie Frederica in the Human Resources Division. She was worthless.

Inside the hall, there was enough s.p.a.ce for the winds to blow, outside the hall, she carried Mana, who was breathing heavily. Although Mana’s weight was light, a human body was literally too heavy for Kotori, who never exercised, to carry. She opened the door to her room with a cough, yet she didn’t want to cough out, soon she can place Mana on the bed. Mana’s suitcase was a black boston bag and a dark gray suitcase, it wasn’t girlish, but it was Mana-ish alright.

“Is this the one? This one?”

She pointed at a suitcase, following the instructions of Mana while she was still lying down—like nodding—before opening it. Kotori checked once, and took out a brown plastic case from the boston bag. She pried open the case fasteners. She wasn’t used to using her hands as tools, and so she was nervous, wiping away the sweat on her cheeks. Inside the 10x15 cm case were thin ampoules lined up together. Mana’s instructions weren’t over yet. Other than ampoules, there were black syringes that were prepared as well. Mana tried to raise her own body with her arms that were like sticks, Kotori immediately tried to help in a panic.

Kotori followed the instructions of the gla.s.ses-wearing Mana—who sounded like a buzzing mosquito—as she raised herself up, she rolled up her robe sleeves, tightening up her left arm with a rubber tube. From now one, Kotori couldn’t do what she asked. Mana broke the ampoule while breathing roughly, used the syringe, and had it absorb all of the ampoule’s contents. She shook her hands as she brought the syringe closer to her arm, while hesitating many times, thanks to fastening her arm with the tube, she pierced her blood vessel. The piston extruded, reducing the semi-transparent liquid, eventually, most of it went inside her body. Since Kotori couldn’t stop her, she just looked. She didn’t know whether this was good or bad. Once, Mana had used medicine to match strengths with an unreasonably powerful Magical Girl. Afterwards, she lost consciousness, and was then immediately hospitalized. She couldn’t bear to do the same thing as last time. Although, she couldn’t say if Mana thought the same.

Mana slowly lifted her chin, looking up at the ceiling. She opened her mouth, breathing out, sighing quite long, with Kotori watching as she was s.h.i.+vering in the cold. Mana breathed out everything at once, and looked at Kotori with what looks to be a refreshed face, her cheeks were filled with color once again. Kotori breathed a deep sigh and grabbed both of Mana’s shoulders.

“Are you okay? Do you feel weird? Let’s not take any more suspicious medicine, okay?”

In the blink of an eye, Mana’s eyes, who were fresh before, became cloudy. She shook off Kotori’s hands.

“Stop worrying about me!”

“But I have to worry. You were hospitalized last time, remember?”

“That’s a different kind of medicine. This one’s just for nutrition.”

“Just for nutrition… That’s exactly what someone who’s going to drink some dangerous medicine would say.”

“Why would I even lie to you? This really is just for nutrition. I should mention that it’s not for physical nutrition, this is for replenis.h.i.+ng magical energy.”

“Magical energy?”

“The Mages collapsed because their magical energy was being depleted, the Magical Girls detransformed too, right? Here, try some.”

She removed the second syringe, sucking up the chemicals from the ampoule. Mana grabbed onto Kotori’s arms, but Kotori hurriedly let go of Mana’s.

“What are you doing? Please don’t do that.”

“It’s not poison. Look, if you can go back to being a Magical Girl, then the cause of all of this would be clear.”

Mana held Kotori’s wrist strong enough that it felt almost painful, and pulled it. She’s never been fond of being injected before, but she can’t exactly refuse this. Honestly, not wanting to be injected made her feel nostalgic for her childhood.

“Um, what about disinfectants?”

“You don’t need it if you’re using this syringe.”

“What about using that rubber tube like last time.”

“I only did that cause I couldn’t find my blood vessels.”

Kotori gave up, she furrowed her eyebrows and closed her eyes. She felt a literal stinging pain, like something foreign entering her, she felt cold, horrible, discomfort, and a variety of other negative feelings, that when she felt the needle leave, she finally opened her eyes. There were some traces of pain remaining in her left arm, but that was all. She looked down at her arm, there was a tiny red dot. Mana was probably skilled enough to be a regular physician.

Kotori sighed as she shook her arm. It didn’t feel bad, but it didn’t feel good either. Her magical power should be restored just a bit like Mana said, but she didn’t really feel any fatigue when she detransformed in the first place. She detransformed almost naturally, and couldn’t transform again. She wanted to know if it could really be solved by one injection, so she tried transforming, and she succeeded. Just like when she naturally detransformed, she became the Magical Girl 7753.

For just a few seconds, she was dumbfounded, her limbs and costume, the large amount of hair, she checked if her goggles were there, before finally shouting out, Mana jumping in to close 7753’s mouth.

“Don’t shout, keep it down!”

“B-But I, but.”

“You can get excited or freak out, but don’t shout. Got it?”

Mana released her hand that she’d been pressuring 7753 with. 7753 sighed out, when she grabbed the doork.n.o.b, Mana held her wrist this time.

“Listen. Don’t make a fuss. Not here.”

“But we have to tell people.”

“And how do you know which person you should tell?”

She wanted to say that now’s not the time for that kind of talk, but kept it in her mouth. Mana’s face was extremely serious, 7753’s refutation would not be something she’d want to hear. Mana, who should be inferior in strength to her, was still stronger, so 7753 sat on the sheets, and Mana sat next to her. Mana moved her face closer to her, holding down her own voice.

“Check them out.”

“Check who out?”

7753 didn’t know what Mana was talking about. She had thought they’d be better off helping the Mages that were just laying on the sofa, or to help the Magical Girls outside, who could be in danger if they couldn’t transform. If 7753 could help them, things could be better. If she could rescue Tepsekemei—Slap, 7753’s thoughts were cut when Mana slapped her own thighs.

“Hurry. We need to prioritize figuring out the situation, use your goggles to check them out!”

“But, what am I even checking for?”

“We need to confirm if anyone here planned this. If we know the person we’re telling these causes to isn’t the culprit, only then can we safely talk to them. Until then, we need to pretend to be powerless.”

She chewed on the meaning of those words, taking her several seconds to swallow their full intentions. 7753 looked away.

“You mean someone did this!?”

“Keep your voice down!”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Someone may have planned this, but we don’t know for sure yet. That’s why we need to check on them. If someone did plan it, we need to know if it’s going according to plan.”

She was no longer the Mage who had collapsed and moaned, she was an Examination Division member, an investigator determined to find out a Rouge’s plans. 7753 bit her lip slightly, the white sheets crumpling.

7753 should have been one of the Magical Girls who fought at B-City. She temporarily discarded her way of life, her selfish desire to be safe, and in order to protect the city, in order to support the girls protecting the city, she stood against fearsome enemies. It’s because of those horrible memories that she wanted an escape, this was supposed to be a leisure trip, escorting Mana as her companion.

Mana was different. Even if she escaped, she could never forget it. She wanted to become a stronger Investigator. Hana Gekokujou would be proud of her.

“Okay. Understood. I’ll do it.”

She stood up, this time Mana grabbed her skirt.

“And just how are you planning on explaining why you’re a Magical Girl?”

“Oh, right… But what do I do?”

“Take off your goggles and detransform. Then you can just carry around your goggles like it’s a personal item.”

“I see… Umm, so basically… I have to change some settings in advance, and then I just look at people, right?”

“Yeah, you get it, don’t you?”

“So, what’s the settings?”

“Can you confirm someone’s degree of understanding of the situation at hand?”

“I think I can check by how many hearts they have.”

“Then do that. The culprit will naturally have a high understanding. Even if they aren’t the culprit… If they knew about what’s causing all of this and kept quiet about this, they seem dark or gray to me.”

First, she would look at the few people who were here. If there are still some lightness within them, Mana can divide the medicine with them. Next, 7753 would have to go outside, heading for the team that went for the Gate, to see if they were light or dark.

“What are you doing? hurry! This situation isn’t exactly good!”

“But-”

“The others, and especially the old man, are going to die otherwise!”

“But…”

Compared to the younger Mages who only lacked exercise, he was just an energetic old man, that’s what she wanted to say, but didn’t. Still, she continued on with small talk.

“...I heard he was pretty vigorous for his old age, though.”

“He’s not looking that healthy.”

“Really?”

“A couple of years ago he had a diagnosis result, he shouted out ‘There has to be a mistake! You can’t be serious!’... At least, that’s what my father told me.”

Even when hearing things about his own health, he was still being unreasonable.

“So, why don’t we hurry and uh... The medicine, how much of that do you have left?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly expect this to happen. Besides, I don’t even know what’s happening myself, I don’t think we should be doing anything that wastes our time… That being said, I’d like to know which of our allies are allies. We’ll know that we won’t waste our medicine then.”

She changed the settings on her goggles, placed it atop her bed, then detransformed. Afterwards, only her goggles remained. Kotori lifted the goggles in her hands, Mana pulled on her pajama’s sleeves.

“You’re going to have trouble hiding your goggles looking like that.”

They decided that she could borrow Mana’s robe. The size didn’t match, but since it was a good design, it didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Kotori changed her clothes, then left the room. She told everyone that Mana didn’t want her to have an embarra.s.sing look all the time, which explained the change of clothes, Clantail and Clarissa seemed convinced, and Touta nodded several times.

Although she was self-conscious, telling everyone that she had an embarra.s.sing look just made her lose face. Not to mention, she was also working frantically. Ragi, Navi, Agri, Yol, Touta, then Clarissa, Clantail, Miss Margarite. No one knew what caused this, so Kotori was relieved.

☆ Rei Koizumi

Her transformation method as a Magical Girl was reverted, she’s become human again. Her surroundings should be the same, yet it seemed different. The wind blew over the dust, the sunlight was strong enough to sting. There were wide leaves hanging from branches in view, just touching it would p.r.i.c.k her skin. The pathways didn’t feel like pavement, but rough stone. Then there’s the wildlife. She saw flying birds and fish in the pond, but she saw no large animals, other than the sheep. However, just because she didn’t see it, didn’t mean they weren’t there. They deliberately ordered Magical Girls to come along. It’s obvious that something’s going on. Everyone else thought the same too.

As Magical Girls, they were free. If they wanted to walk, then no matter the path lies before them, they’ll walk, but humans couldn’t do the same. Their progress was slow. Meier was leading the party with a crowbar at hand, behind her was Nephilia holding onto a shovel. Rei was second from the back, Rareko was walking behind Rei. She heard sounds and sighs like “Is everything okay?” “Man, why do we have to do this?” from in front of her, probably once every five times she’d hear her leader say “Shut up, Rareko.”

Acc.u.mulating stress by acting as humans was quite different. Severe winds and sunlight to a human would be gentle to a Magical Girl. How many of these girls are going to get tanned here? There were plenty of them who wore the bare minimum makeup. Since those things weren’t a problem for them, their crisis of life only nears ever closer. They don’t know what was happening, but they went out to the gates anyway. This was basically a suicide mission.

Rei continued to observe everyone’s movements and talks. They were completely unlike their Magical Girl selves. She saw only pain.

Pain?

But why was there pain? Why did she a.s.sume that? She already knew the answer, but she can just pretend to be unaware. What would Agri want to do in a situation like this? Would it be okay if she wanted what Agri wanted? Tap, her back was prodded. She turned around while walking, she saw the brown haired girl—Nephilia, with a confused face. Wonder what’s wrong? She thought. She turned back in front, then she felt her back being stroked. Now she knows it’s not her imagination. Rei turned around, she saw Nephilia’s face. Nephilia tilted her head as if she had no idea what’s going on.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘What’s wrong’?”

Unlike as a Magical Girl, her p.r.o.nunciation was better here. Still, Rei didn’t know what she wanted.

“You touched my back just now.”

“I didn’t touch it.”

She looked back in front. Seriously, what’s wrong? She wondered, before being touched in the back again. Rei turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

Nephilia’s facial expressions haven’t changed, “Oh, by the way” she muttered out. Oh, now you change the topic? Thought Rei, very close to actually saying it.

“You have a cute uniform. Are you in middle school?”

“No. High school.”

“Oh. You just have such nice skin, I thought you’re a middle schooler.”

“Oh… Thank you.”

“First year?”

“Second.”

“Really? I didn’t expect that. You have such a babyface.”

She wasn’t necessarily being praised unconditionally. Rei smiled with an ambiguous smile. Then she looked in front for trouble, before looking back at Nephilia, even i she talked intently, her expression hasn’t changed. She looked beautiful, and her skirt hems were as well. Her hair was dyed from the root. No black remaining. Her eyebrow thickness was normal, she took care of it, as if she had a pa.s.sionate and emotional feeling to her, but considering her nature, she looked more like like an elegant spokesperson. Overall, she was more difficult to understand than when she was the Magical Girl Nephilia.

“Hey, give me your LINE contact.”

“Huh?”

“You won’t?”

“No, I just meant, is now really the time?”

“We’ll be busy after all this, though.”

The leader of the party must’ve noticed their whispering. “Hey, keep it down there,” she said, Rei looked back in front. She heard a “Kus.h.i.+hi” laugh from behind her, which made her think “Aah, it’s Nephilia again” in relief.

Proceeding while watching their surroundings, stopping for every little noise, being relieved at the serenity of the riverside and the rustling of the leaves, being annoyed at the sunlight while heading for the gate. It took over three times the time it needed than before to arrive at the Gate. They climbed gentle hills through damp lowlands, looking down beyond the trees, they can see brownish square objects. She heard someone sigh out loudly. It was the Gate. Everyone either said “Finally!” or breathed a sigh of relief.

They tried calming their rus.h.i.+ng feet. They tried calming their distracted minds. Then they resumed their advance. Just seeing their destination being right there meant they needed rest no more. But afterwards.

The Gate they had been trying to reach all this time had its functions stopped.

“What’s the meaning of this!?”

Meier was angry. She swung her crowbar at it but it didn’t solve anything. Rareko, who knew more than the rest, tried using the touch panel, knocking on each part of the equipment, placing her toolbox lying down next to her. She was like a car repairman, fiddling with something, making creak creak creak noises, but when she got up, her expression was still cloudy, as she silently shook her head. According to her explanation, there was nothing broken, so it was a simple matter of just not having enough power. Also, this was something that was beyond her to repair. Meier was still angry, but that doesn’t mean she’s found a solution.

There were two Gates on the island. The Gate that Ren-Ren came through, and one more on the opposite side—The Southern Gate. If this doesn’t work, they’ll have to do the other one, so they headed in one line to the opposite direction. This time their movements were slower than before. I wonder why it broke, thought Rei. She had to do the opposite. There was no alternative.

Since the power they need was gone, anyone who saw this situation would be convinced. The Magical Girls couldn’t transform, the Mages were all collapsed and out of breath. It’s hard to imagine if finding the Southern Gate would be enough, but still, they had to confirm.

Nephilia was mischievous like an elementary school boy—touching hair, lifting skirts—despite doing all of those things, Rei ignored them. Part of it was because there were better things to think about, another was because she didn’t want to make Meier angrier.

Normally, there was a visible connection between pre- and post-Magical Girl transformation. As they’re still the same person, their personalities wouldn’t change. While there are rare cases where animals and males become Magical Girls, there probably isn’t a difference there, or at least, Ren-Ren had never seen Magical Girls like them. Besides, rare cases are the exception, not the norm.

Meier was strict on herself and her teammates. It was unlikely for a woman of her age to have such supple muscles. Her legs were also muscular. Meaning, it wasn’t due to her being a Magical Girl, she really was trained as a human. She wasn’t like an amateur when she was swinging that crowbar either. Emotional, yet trained. She could imagine that her emotions probably came from Yol’s current dilemma, meaning she’s just trying to express her professionalism.

Rareko was, surprisingly, able to wield her weapon. Unlike Rei and Nephilia, it looked like she was able to know how to properly hit something with it. She probably would’ve been left by Yol’s side, but since she knew how to fix Gates, there was no reason for her not to come. Conversely, it also meant that Meier trusted Margarite, who she had met long ago. Just before they left, she was talking to Margarite about something, probably about protecting Yol. Rei recalled Margarite’s stern look. She sighed.

They returned where they came. They saw the annex and the main building, and the two people that were above the hillside stopped. Rei looked ahead wondering what happened, but since the road went on and on, she saw nothing of interest. She looked at Meier, then looked diagonally above. Since she was looking from behind her, she didn’t know what face she was making, but she did know she was only looking upwards. Rei looked at the direction Meier was looking at. There, she saw a figure. It was familiar. She saw the figure in the main building once. They just didn’t introduce themselves. It was a Magical Girl with an Arabian Dancer motif.

“What are you doing?”

“That’s my line.”

Replying back like that was Meier’s att.i.tude. What’s her att.i.tude going to do if she’s up against a Magical Girl? The scene was a bit humorous, but even Rei was wondering what this girl was doing. Everyone was holding a weapon towards the Magical Girl—Her name was Mei, right?—and aiming it at her. Due to the situation, seeing a Magical Girl was quite strange. It’s natural to think that someone who could transform when everyone else couldn’t would know something about the situation.

Mei quietly landed on the ground, letting the others surround her. Rei observed them. Mei didn’t look bad, she didn’t have a s.a.d.i.s.tic smile, she was just selfishly eating. Munching with her mouth, before there was a sound of throat clearing.

“Mei is in a dangerous place.”

“How can you transform?”

“This is very important food.”

“Are you listening to me? How can you transform?”

“Mei is kind. Wedin said so. That’s why Mei helps ants. That’s why Mei helps spiders. This time Mei will help birds. If Mei meets him, then Mei will help Tos.h.i.+shun too.”

Meier didn’t try talking any further. She only replied in nonsensical sentences. Though she suspects that there’s doubt on whether or not Mei herself is suspicious. You’d have to be insane to think this freewheeling kind of girl would be the one trying to kill them, though it’s not an impossibility. Nephilia put her hand on her mouth and shook her shoulders. She’s probably trying hard not to laugh.

Mei’s expressions were very difficult to read. She wasn’t trying to display what she was thinking. She was different from the humans that Rei knew. She was different from the Magical Girls Ren-Ren knew. She can’t find a type for her. She can’t even find someone similar to who she is.

“So, basically.”

It wasn’t Meier. It was Nephilia who opened her mouth as she shook her shoulders. Her tone of voice was calm and collected.

“You’re saying that you’re kind, so you’ll help us?”

Mei nodded. The fact that they could temporarily communicate with her seemed like a miracle. She floated closer. This time, no one tried to get away. Rather, everyone tried to get close, Mei showed everyone what she had—a box of cookies, what?—and there were some gray objects stuffed inside—

“Mei!”

Above the hills. There was a Mage, but wait, that wasn’t a Mage. It was 7753, the Magical Girl they left at the main building. Earlier, she was wearing pajamas, but now she’s wearing a Mage’s robes. Someone lent her that so she wouldn’t have to look embarra.s.sing all the time. Probably Mana.

“You’re safe!? Oh thank goodness!”

Her voice was close to screaming. She ran above the hill like she was rolling, she opened her arms wide to hug Mei, but pa.s.sed through her. 7753’s shouting changed to screaming, since Meier and Rareko avoided her, no one was in her way to stop her, which caused her to fall and roll on the dirt. Nephilia didn’t suppress anything this time, and let out her “Kus.h.i.+s.h.i.+” laugh.

☆ Miss Margarite

The problem was being solved. There was a sufficient amount of Grayfruits taken from Graytrees. The Mages were back to being energetic, the Magical Girls can transform again. They didn’t know what caused this, and their approach to dealing with this was quite different.

“Hey, Margarite.”

“What is it?”

“How come only I can walk and talk and stuff?”

“Perhaps they’re not treating you as a Mage?”

“Seriously…?”

Although he was disappointed, he was also happy that the other Mages have recovered, he was talking with Yol about some strange things using strange terminology. It sounded like they were talking about a card game. Although she felt a bit guilty that she told him to leave his cards because they were unnecessary, since they promised to play at a later date, you could say that she helped establish a connection between those two. It’s good for Touta to make these connections.

The remaining problem is the Gate that they couldn’t use, the island’s administrator, John Shepherdspie, said that “I have some external batteries. If we used that, we could probably get it moving.” Meier and Rareko took out a black 15 cm squared cube with some kind of cable and headed towards the Gate.

Agri, Nephilia, Love Me Ren-Ren consulted about some things in their room. It’s hard to say that they’re actually going forward with the inheritance issues, it’ll probably be cancelled. Even if they’ll restart the next day, they’ll have to set a period. Are they talking about that agreement, or something else? To Margarite, Agri looked like a suspicious Mage. She couldn’t trust her without first meeting face-to-face. She asked Mana and 7753 to guard the annex’s halls. There was no other way to leave the annex than those halls, which made it very important.

Navi was shocked to see the trail of destruction in the main building, he was moaning something. It wasn’t even his place, why was he being depressed…? Though, there is the possibility that this place could become Navi’s property. Perhaps he was aiming for that. She ordered Clarissa to investigate the scene, but it seemed like she didn’t really want it, dropping her shoulders completely.

On the contrary, it was Ragi who was full of energy. Rather, he was furious. He was yelling at Shepherdspie’s mistake, at being unable to maintain the island, Shepherdspie was just ashamed. Somehow, they still couldn’t solve the root of the problem. In contrast to his feared nature, the Magical Girl that Shepherdspie hired, Dreamy☆Chelsea, was arguing with a counterattack. Asking Ragi if he’d blame the owner of a house if a satellite landed on someone’s head while in their property, and other nonsensical things, the argument accelerated and heated, Pastel Merry created some sheep to stop them, but maybe because she made too much, some of the sheep didn’t obey their master and ran off, while the others were able to avoid and dodge them, Navi, who was crouching, became swallowed up by the herd.

Clantail changed her lower half to a sheep and began to lead the herd, and Ragi, trying to figure out the cause of this, was guided to the operations room, thanking Shepherdspie for guiding him, Clarissa helped up Navi, who looked injured, Chelsea pointed up at Tepsekemei and shouted, Merry fell over trying to stop her, her head falling on mud. Touta and Yol laughed as they tried to rescue Merry.

Margarite was the only person observing. Although they were making a huge fuss, it was a calm and peaceful huge fuss. There was a solution on the way, everyone stroked their chests. They were relieved. That should be enough. There was no problem.

Margarite took her hat on her hand, reworking it over again. Even when everything’s going well, she couldn’t really get along with popularity. It was still meaningful that everyone was optimistic and smiling. However, it can’t be denied that the nature of all this was disadvantageous.

She removed her sight from what’s in front of her, she looked behind her. A forest, overlapping with trees, something she couldn’t see through. Margarite concentrated her hearing on the forest. Something was headed this way. Fast. This wasn’t the speed of a normal creature. She placed her hand on her sword. Even in its sheathed state, she can pull it out and strike in one draw.

The footsteps sounded clear. Rough breathing. She saw it. A Mage-like robe—Rareko. Rareko was distorting her expression and running. Margarite met her eyes, she had a troubled face. Margarite avoided the trees and bushes, heading to the forest on small strides, meeting up with Rareko.

“This is bad… This is bad… very bad. The Gate. The Gate is broken.”

Margarite unconsciously furrowed her eyebrows, and felt bitter about it.

“Can’t you use the batteries?”

“No, that’s not the problem”

“Was it an accident? Or was it deterioration from age?”

“I told you, that’s not the problem. The gate’s been cut in half!”

There’s no way it could be broken like that unless it was intentionally destroyed. Margarite instantly widened her eyebrows. Her facial expressions disappeared, her tone calmed as she asked.

“Where’s Meier?”

“When Meier secured the North Gate, she ran. She told me to come here and tell only you, Margarite…”

Not a bad judgment call. She thought this, but what should Margarite do? She didn’t have enough time for long contemplations.

“Don’t tell anyone the gate is broken, understood?”

“Huh, what? Okay.”

“Make sure n.o.body does anything suspicious.”

“Y-Yes, understood…”

Mana told her that 7753 was finding out who knows the cause of this entire situation. She was impressed that she was able to think of that while being collapsed, but realized that Mana was overthinking it. As a result, the number of people that she found who knew about the cause, zero. No one intentionally caused this to happen. But was there someone who was taking advantage of this situation? Agri’s gang were in their room. Mana and 7753 were in the hallway. Shepherdspie and Ragi were in the operations room. Meier and Rareko were headed towards the Gates. The other Mages and Magical Girls were ones that Margarite could see.

Mages oftentimes use Demons. They would be able to destroy the Gates while the Mages were in the main building. Magical Girls have Magical Skills. A power to destroy things where they aren’t could work. Alibis were not equal to everyone.

These aren’t just things that could just be broken. It’s been exposed to weather, yet still it’s a magical Gate that kept on staying. If what Rareko said was true, then someone here wanted to destroy the Gate intentionally. Margarite kicked off from the ground, jumping between the trees. She had to check if what Rareko said wasn’t false. No, that was unlikely. Somehow, she believed in Meier, and she knew that Meier trusted Rareko, Margarite rang her nose. Rareko chose to use a fire hook for a weapon, she had mastery of that. The usage, how to move, and the stance were all like Meier’s. She had probably learned some techniques. Meier probably taught her some skills, as allies, or perhaps due to being a subordinate. You don’t teach people you don’t trust how to fight. That would be equal to teaching them your own weaknesses.

She jumped over the thick roots, kicking the boulders to jump diagonally.

What happened? She didn’t even understand it to begin with. It was as if she was standing above something ambiguous. Was it earth, concrete, or asphalt? Or perhaps she was standing on ice? Either way, it supported her weight, so she had to stand on it. The situation called on her to believe in someone because someone else believed in them.

She scent of the tides tickled her nose, soon, it became a strong smell that couldn’t be hidden. The forest became cut off, she jumped off the rocks. She soon saw the Gate—Margarite chewed her lips tightly. Its distorted broken appearance could only be the work of extreme violence. The touch panel was crushed, the door was torn from top to bottom. Margarite pulled out her sword, wary of her surroundings. There was no one there.

She approached the door slowly, she noticed red liquid collecting on the door’s backside. It was dark. She recognized what kind of liquid this is. The problem was, whose blood is it? She immediately found out. A woman with a suit had fallen down on her stomach. From there, a long depressed cane was rolling, wet with seawater.

Like some kind of candy, its pa.s.sion pink and white stripes were unmistakable. This was the magical steel cane that Meier used.

She bowed down, placing her hands on a rock, looking around. There was no one here. No trace of traps, none at all. Margarite touched the corpse with her sword, turning her over. She had a distorted anguished look on her face. Meier.

The steel cane had fallen, which means, she was transformed. She died while being transformed, and then her cane fell, rolling.

The waves gathered, hitting the rocks, scattering. The seawater mixed with blood.

Meier had authentic skill with staves, body handling, steps, just seeing her handle a cane was dazzling. She was at the top of the Mao’s School, she was an alumni, at the forefront of every battle, and in events, her name was always somewhere at the top.

Who could kill someone like Meier? This wasn’t some trick Demons or h.o.m.onculi could do.

...Furthermore.

If she really had to interpret the wounds, she was slain head on. Someone who could slay Meier directly with a slash, that would be difficult even for Margarite.

Margarite silently apologized to Meier, she picked up her cane and her own sword and ran towards the main building. It could be said that she apologized for leaving her corpse there, or possibly taking her cane, but in the long run, she simply wanted to apologize to her.