Chapter 16 : Change #1

“I!! I will continue to pursue them!!”

“Yamashita, you’re crossing the line.”

“I’ve let them slip through my fingers twice! Please give me a chance to make up for it!”

“Yamashita.”

Rather calmed by the repeated insistence, Director Mori let out a deep sigh.

Although he was a bit of an unpleasant youngster, he had always been mentioned as the top candidate for future high-ranking positions within the Metropolitan Police Department. Seeing him now throwing tantrums like a child, abandoning his dignity as a man, it even made Mori feel somewhat pitiful.

“The last plan never happened, forget it all. It was something we didn’t know about.”

“Ugh…”

“It’s always been like this, hasn’t it? We live like flowing water, according to public opinion and circumstances.”

“Please… I beg you…!”

Yamashita bowed his body completely, lowering his head so deeply that his crown couldn’t be seen.

“The Superintendent General told us to keep our mouths shut tight. Forget about magical girls and the Busujima case.”

“…”

“Even Congressman Fujimoto himself, who’s involved, wants to let it pass quietly, what on earth are you chasing?”

Yamashita, who until recently had been favored by the Superintendent General and acted as a messenger.

But at some point, no information came down to him anymore.

An abandoned horse.

Tap

Director Mori, rather than reprimanding Yamashita who had acted more rudely than ever before, extended a hand of sympathy.

“Take a few days off and come back.”

“…”

Director Mori just passed by, and only Yamashita remained with his head lowered in front of the Criminal Investigation Division 1 corridor.

And in the corner of the corridor, a multi-colored afterimage faintly sparkled.

* * *

July 18th

“If you! Out of greed! Sacrifice! Girls!!!”

“I! Will! Awaken! The stars! Hidden in darkness! With dreams!!!”

“Then… hug… hic… ju…!!”

I don’t know how many times these guys have been mocking me for overreacting when I got emotional.

Two weeks have passed since the ‘Girls’ Debutante’.

The early summer with cool breezes blowing occasionally has stepped into full-fledged summer with tremendous heat that arrived with cicada sounds as a signal.

The series of events that started with Sato Hana’s walk.

They rolled and rolled, evolving into the structure of [Fujimoto VS Me].

Society was changing due to my resolution.

The future I knew from the original work seemed to be gradually disappearing.

At the same time, I felt relieved.

While preparing for a world that would become an apocalypse, I couldn’t shake off connections like the Sato family and the Master.

Despite having an overwhelming advantage as a born 3-star magical girl.

I wanted to save someone rather than harm them in my heart.

Contradiction.

Irrationality.

Fear.

My life for the past 2 years was a deception and torment I gave to myself.

The bloomed magical girls who should have appeared only in December this year were now being spotted all over society in mid-July. And the leader of FLAG, who should have been covered in blood all over her body crying for revenge, was peacefully joking around even at my workplace.

“Heh! Fujimoto, you’re a greedy-guts!”

“Don’t give blessings to magical girls, I say!”

“…”

It was a level of joking that might seem a bit dangerous if others heard it.

Fortunately, the Master had gone out to buy new coffee beans, so he was absent. So the only ones in the cafe were these two beggars who had been loitering for 2 hours after ordering just one espresso (200 yen).

‘It’s quiet now that the group of 13 has reduced to 3.’

After hearing the name of the police chief who had barged in right before the last escape, I had secretly infiltrated a clone into the Metropolitan Police Department to grasp the situation.

Fujimoto, who I thought would be raging after the incident, was quiet.

Rather, he expressed his intention to gloss over the supernatural ability weaponization plan.

-Is the Fujimoto Group acknowledging the facts?

-No, we are not.

-What do you think about the recent broadcast?

-It’s groundless.

After that, the spokesperson for the Fujimoto Group did not answer any of the questions from reporters who were pouring out more agitated questions than before.

-Th-Thank you! I think I need to go home now.

-Are you sure you’ll be okay without my help?

-My, my parents will be very worried. And, and I think I need to face trial now.

A moment’s mistake.

And the numerous responsibilities that follow.

Nevertheless, Haruko smiled brightly and tried to bear them all.

-I want to try on my own as Shirogane-san said.

Just before returning home, she thanked me one last time. And so, Haruko returned to where she originally was, 3 weeks after the day she ran away.

-Oh, really? Of course I should help~

Mrs. Sato’s original workplace, a local handicraft factory, had no more people to work, so Mrs. Sato, who was trying to quit her job because of Hana, was worried about not being able to hand over her work.

But when four magical girls expressed their willingness to work this time, they were so welcomed that the elderly single lady president told them all to come in as her daughters.

-I’ll ask a welfare worker I know.

Although the Master spoke gruffly, he didn’t ask where those 3 orphan magical girls came from or why I was concerned about their whereabouts.

The very next day, a bus from a Christian welfare center drove to where the cafe was and took them away.

-Boss! Me and Nene-chan were going to return to our original orphanage.

-I talked to the director, and he said he had been searching a lot.

The 2 who found out that the director of their original orphanage had been so worried that he even issued a nationwide search.

They contacted the orphanage director in Hokkaido, and returned to Hokkaido with the director who flew down that very day.

-Boss. No, Ichika-chan! Sob… Thank you for protecting us all this time. Take care!

-Heh, why are you crying when you’re going to a good place.

Everything comes to an end.

Girls who were destined to go from the tragedy of becoming test subjects to war.

They left to find their own lives in a new time.

The day everyone left.

When the three of us, me, Kyoko, and Ichika, lay down to sleep.

The affectionate Ichika seemed to be crying quietly, holding back her sobs.

Of course, Kyoko and I pretended not to notice.

‘Even excluding the mass media being wary of Fujimoto, the public reaction was weaker than expected.’

Perhaps the impact was weak because we rescued them too quickly.

There’s always a brief article in one corner of the news about young people working for black companies choosing to end their lives because they couldn’t withstand office politics or various types of power harassment.

It was a world where young people dying from overwork didn’t even make the news.

It seems the impact wasn’t enough to even be buried under gossip articles about magical exploitation of minors without any victims.

“…”

“Ah~ This is boring. Leader, you’re not reacting at all now that you’re used to it.”

“Boss! There’s something new on Witch Talk, I say!”

“Oh, looks like Shizuku made a new magic bread.”

“Bread that shrinks with psychic power in your stomach so you can eat twice as much?”

“I-Isn’t this cheating?”

The quick retreat of companies that don’t want to clash with Fujimoto.

Because of that, the magical girl group plan was scrapped, but the girls who learned how to awaken their own dreams were active, showing their dreams through magic.

Peace.

With just one stage, the fate of magical girls was taking steps towards peace.

I muttered with a sense of achievement and relief that I had done it.

“Peace is good…”

“Right? Being peaceful is good.”

“That’s right!”

“But why aren’t you two leaving?”

Ichika and Kyoko were flustered and couldn’t answer my question right away.

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t we become comrades that night in Odaiba?”

“That’s right! You said you were counting on us!!”

“…Is that what that meant?”

* * *

“So?”

“I was overwhelmingly defeated.”

“I see.”

Kaede was prostrating herself while feeling her clavicle, which still hadn’t fully healed, rattling.

It took her two weeks to get up after the fight.

The tremendous healing power that comes naturally as a 2-star magical girl.

Even with that tremendous healing power, it took two weeks to get up.

“So there’s a big difference between those who have bloomed and those who haven’t, even among supernatural ability users.”

“…”

“To think an ordinary girl could inflict full-body fractures on a kunoichi from the Mumei unit.”

“…Please punish me.”

“I’ll make the decision, Kaede.”

“Yes, Elder.”

Fujimoto Eiji was neither angry nor flustered.

He was ignorant about supernatural abilities, and the opponent knew about them.

He was ignorant about the level of the opponent, and the opponent knew about it.

That was all.

What was consumed can be replenished, that’s all.

“I thought she was a thief trying to tarnish the Fujimoto name, but she was someone who was astonished at seeing a beggar digging the ground with gold.”

“…”

“I almost made the mistake of trying to consume a warrior with the logic of a common soldier.”

“…”

“This is good, I can give Sumire better swords.”

“…”

Fujimoto Eiji said as he left the dark room without any lingering attachment.

He had no interest in a touchstone that had already been used. Because he could get better swords.

“From now on, you will assist Sumire.”

“Yes, Elder.”

As Kaede answered while prostrating, she was bothered by her rattling clavicle.

More precisely, she was bothered by the person who had inflicted this injury.

An orphan like herself.

Yet free.

Under that fist, Kaede had crumbled helplessly.

What she had trained for her entire life gritting her teeth crumbled.

-A hunting dog without its own will should be beaten down!

She envied that free girl.

Crack

“Someday… definitely…”

Before she knew it, one feeling that a ninja should abandon was sprouting in Kaede’s heart.