The Virtues of a Magical Girl (7)

The Virtues of a Magical Girl (7)

“I don’t know the details, but even I can see that your head seems complicated.”

“That’s right. Honestly, I’m a bit confused.”

In the place where Takilas had left, Seria remained in that abandoned building, standing blankly, unaware of the missile commotion that had occurred in broad daylight.

From her perspective, it was a bewildering situation that made it difficult to come to her senses easily.

It was shocking enough that the one-eyed tentacle monster Demon King Takilas turned out to be the excellent intellectual being she had dreamed of, but she never imagined she would meet Takilas in this state after transforming into a magical girl and coming to another world.

Moreover, Takilas appeared as a black-haired beautiful girl, completely different from what was known.

In any case, since she was nominally here to ‘get married’, it was as unbelievable as an intelligent tentacle monster that the person who was supposed to be her spouse appeared as a girl smaller than herself.

“Don’t, don’t worry too much about it. As he said, you’re strangers now anyway. Whatever his pre-transformation appearance was… it doesn’t matter.”

“I suppose so.”

She smiled bitterly at Fluffy’s attempt to comfort her. It was certain that the events she had experienced in this short time in the Demon Realm were more shocking than everything she had lived through until now.

“My head is so foggy that I seem to have forgotten what I was trying to do.”

“Then how about looking around for now? You might find some work to do, and it’ll change your mood.”

Like a veteran mascot, Fluffy gently coaxed and comforted her, guiding her towards accomplishments. And Seria was different from Takilas.

At least she had a minimum sense of conscience, so she wasn’t without the desire to fulfill her duties.

“Awaken your senses. From now on, you’ll be catching those who harm this world, be they monsters or criminals. You’ll be able to use the advantage of your true form not belonging to this world.”

“I think I can feel it. That evil I must burn away.”

As she left the building, she soared into the sky in one breath, expanding her senses according to Fluffy’s instructions.

Although the importance may differ slightly, there is no world where the achievements magical girls speak of completely disappear. With that, Seria officially began her activities as a magical girl.

“…That person is a new magical girl from the same company as Tequilas?”

“Yes. She looks extraordinary. It seems Lana Land has brought in another big shot from somewhere.”

At the same time, those watching Seria crossing the sky were not just people taking photos or videos with curious eyes.

Magical Girl Aria. Han Eun-seo, now an ordinary high school student, was looking out the window with her mascot Lulu perched on her head.

New magical girls are common. The reason for this interest was because Seria belonged to the same company as Tequilas.

“Still, I don’t think she’ll go wild like that crazy Tequilas.”

“…They said she appeared briefly earlier.”

She frowned at Lulu’s words.

Tequilas was the first to have a strong influence on her, who had always been devoted to her own training and pursuing inner strength after becoming a magical girl, shaking off past wounds.

A being that threatened her life and beliefs, and also saved her. Through this process, their fates had already become strongly intertwined.

Now, from the moment they first met until now, she was flustered by Tequilas’ face appearing in her mind anytime, anywhere.

“Let’s ignore it and focus on our work. Mammoth has already fallen… Anyway, we need to improve our performance. Our ranking is slipping.”

“No. I want to keep an eye on her for a while.”

“What?!”

Along with Lulu’s surprise, the bell rang. For now, she returned to the classroom, but Han Eun-seo had no intention of finishing today’s classes. She planned to leave early after this class and investigate Seria’s movements.

“Let’s all be quiet. We have guests this afternoon.”

“I’m Jang Su-chan from The One Road.”

Even as the class started and guests from outside came in to tell their stories, her attention was entirely focused on the outside.

“You’re leaving early because you’re sick? Well, go ahead. Make sure to visit the hospital.”

After classes ended, in the teachers’ office. Aria (Han Eun-seo), who came right away, told the teacher she would be leaving early. The teacher nodded without any suspicion.

The teacher’s trust was like a privilege given to model students who were always well-behaved and ranked among the top in the school.

“What?! No, teacher! You said I couldn’t go! I’m sick too, you know? Why can she go and I can’t?”

“…So-hyeon, your attendance is already borderline. And you don’t look that sick either.”

However, witnessing this scene, Jeon So-hyeon, who had arrived earlier, widened her eyes and threw a fit.

Aria frowned at So-hyeon’s pointing finger and adjusted her glasses.

“Damn… If I skip again, I’m really done for. If I had known this would happen…”

“Why are you trying to leave early anyway? You don’t look sick at all.”

In the end, they left the teachers’ office with the same purpose but different results. Seeing So-hyeon sighing deeply, Aria reluctantly asked for the reason.

“What’s it to you? It’s my privacy.”

“I don’t care about anything else, but at least attend school properly. For your own future’s sake.”

“There you go again, talking nonsense like you’re so great… Hey!”

She tossed out a curt remark and left the spot. She ignored So-hyeon’s incredulous shouts. It wasn’t like this was the first time they had acted this way towards each other anyway.

“Ah, geez.”

Watching Aria’s retreating figure, So-hyeon kicked a bottle cap that was lying on the ground.

‘This is bad. I don’t think I’ll make it in time for the appointment… That gumiho, I can never tell what she’s thinking. Her threat to punish me might be real.’

So-hyeon, with a grimace on her face, started to head back to her seat. Even though she felt like she was going crazy with frustration, she couldn’t tell anyone, but she definitely wasn’t trying to skip school when she asked to leave early.

*

“Where is it?”

“That won’t be a problem.”

Han Eun-seo, having successfully left school early, didn’t go home but completed her transformation in a secluded alley near the school that she frequently used. Instead of a quiet and gloomy female student wearing glasses, a young fighter with exposed arms and legs and flaming red hair fluttering like burning flames dashed across buildings with a single leap.

On the mobile phone in her hand, an internet broadcast specializing in covering magical girls was playing.

It was possible to roughly guess in which direction the new magical girl using magic was going and what she was doing.

“It’s Aria!”

The number of gazes recognizing her also increased rapidly. From the beginning, the dedicated magical girl Aria was popular.

While most magical girls, either with years of experience or controlled by mascots, desperately chased after achievements, she always moved to carry out justice.

“They said she flew in this direction?!”

“…It’s over there.”

After lightly landing on a building with a leap of over 20 meters, she awakened her senses and surveyed the surroundings.

Her essence was that of a warrior. Using a warrior’s instinct, she could quickly detect where a fight was taking place.

“W-What’s that?”

“A magical girl?!”

As she got closer, the noise became louder. The location was between secluded alleys. Aria instinctively suppressed her presence and peeked at the scene while hiding her body.

‘Is this common school violence?’

The main actors at the scene were a few people wearing uniforms from a nearby high school. A blonde magical girl was blocking the way, standing with her back to a victim lying on the ground. It was a familiar sight even for Aria, a third-year magical girl.

After all, stopping violence was also one of the achievements for magical girls.

“Ah, hey, let’s go.”

The apparent perpetrators clicked their tongues and tried to leave.

This was a common phenomenon. Unless attacked first, magical girls rarely interfered with ordinary people, especially minors, so it was enough to just stop the violence.

It was also a compromise that magical girls, who are supralegal beings, made with this society, except for the variant called Takilas who rampaged around with overwhelming power.

The aftermath is left to the laws and police of this land.

“But is that right?”

At that moment, Seria snapped her fingers.

Both Aria and the perpetrators who were about to leave the alley were startled by the pillar of light blocking the alley entrance.

“Wh-What are you doing? We are guardians and sentinels, not executioners. Renée!”

“I know. But isn’t that simply set for convenience because magical girls are part of this society?”

Seria, no, Magical Girl Renée shook her head.

Clearly, Yggdrasil had told her to carry out justice. However, Renée knew well how fluid justice could be.

“Even those various forms of justice would agree that this is wrong. Is it right for them to be so brazen despite committing a crime?”

“Th-That’s…”

“As you said, I’m not a judge, but I’m also not a scoundrel who would ignore a clear crime after being ordered to carry out justice.”

Intense magical power leaked from Renée’s body as her sapphire-blue eyes flashed. Anyone could see her intent to attack.

“Stop it!”

Aria’s eyes widened as she reflexively jumped out. Her mind was filled with the thought that she couldn’t create a second Taquilas.

“Uphold the law and order, rookie. Judgment is not our job.”

Gritting her teeth, Aria flipped through the air, leaping over the pillars of light to block Renée. Her belief, which had wavered briefly after meeting Taquilas, was still firm nonetheless.

This was Aria’s justice, standing at the opposite end of Taquilas.