episode_0019

The word “retirement” is a term that affects me quite sensitively.

One. I have not retired yet.

If I had retired, the polar bear would not have appeared on the scene so soon.

I am still active, and as long as I have the will, I will continue to act as a magical girl until I can no longer do so.

Two. My skills are still decent for retirement.

Although my form may have slightly diminished compared to Sandalphon’s prime, the class of Sandalphon is eternal.

Among the ultimate magical girls classified as S-rank in overall combat power, there are friends who are 21 years old, so being only six years older, I have no reason to retire.

I am still flourishing.

Three. I consider retirement as ‘leaving the realm.’

To shed.

Boundary realm.

Using words that mean ‘world,’ it becomes more relatable, like ‘leaving’ or ‘escaping.’

“The day I retire is the day I leave this world and return to the original world.”

I will return to the original world.

There is a reason I must return.

I will live not as a woman in this world but as a man.

That is why I cannot retire.

And four.

“Kanzaki, do you happen to think of me as a witch?”

“…….”

This magical girl currently thinks of me as a witch.

“Unfortunately, I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Oh, come on! Anyone can see you’re beautiful!”

“All magical girls are beautiful, but not all beauties are magical girls.”

“So… are you naturally pretty?”

“Well, yes.”

It is an undeniable fact that the physical body in this world is beautiful.

Whether one was beautiful before awakening as a magical girl or if beauty matured further as mana began flowing through the body after awakening is difficult to determine.

Even if both were true, I am definitely not a witch.

“I don’t know how to use magic at all.”

The moment I call myself a witch, the RGB team might start thinking of me as a ‘joker card that could be played if necessary.’

“Look. Would you like to touch it once?”

“Uh, sure?”

“To confirm whether magical girls have mana or not, there is one sure way to check.”

I took off my coat, stood up, and sat next to Kanzaki.

“Shall we check?”

“…Can I really do this?”

“Yes. Feel free.”

I was already prepared.

Seiya took a deep breath from behind and reached out towards my waist-

“Hah!”

With a shout, she grasped my chest firmly.

Paaah.

Mana began to flow from Seiya’s hand, starting to scan through my chest.

‘Naturally.’

I relaxed my body without resisting the mana.

Seiya started scanning my chest as if with radiation, but she couldn’t find any mana flowing through my body.

“Huh…?”

If she had found anything, it would have been mana accumulated in the body naturally during human life.

While this mana is highly condensed and compressed, Seiya still lacks the ability to notice it.

Even among the ultimate magical girls, the so-called S-ranks, no one can perceive the depth of my mana.

Just as one can feel the sea breeze on their skin but cannot grasp the depth of the entire ocean.

“Uh, ugh….”

Seiya continued to scan my chest from behind, still gripping it tightly, but she did not notice that I was a witch or a ‘magical girl hiding her identity.’

“Why are you getting drowsy little by little?”

“Oops, I’m sorry! That’s…”

“Well, it’s okay. It’s not even worn out.”

It’s fine to touch over clothes.

Direct touching is allowed only among comrades who have shared life and death or within reasonable limits.

“It’s just the chest.”

It feels like showing off muscles while doing workouts and letting someone touch your chest once.

Touching out of pure admiration and curiosity is permissible with consent, but it’s harassment if someone unknown comes and touches.

“Amazing… To think it’s that natural.”

“Some witches, after retiring from being magical girls, focus all their mana on maintaining their beauty. But that’s not me.”

I turned to Seiya, meeting her gaze.

“Kanzaki, will you give up?”

“…”

“Or will you return to the Anti-Monster Measures Department?”

“Well…”

“I heard from Chief Misaki. Through the chief, around midnight last night, you were considering ‘moving’ to another city.”

“…My parents are worried. I think they’re afraid I might be compared and all.”

Seiya lowered her head, fiddling with the parfait in her hand.

“The city’s representative magical girl has a mere overall combat power rating of B+. Even the mayor hopes for an unidentified polar bear to become the city’s representative. It’s not a wrong thought. It’s realistic.”

“Kanzaki.”

“…But.”

Seiya closed her eyes briefly before speaking.

“To be where you should be, that’s all. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Yes.”

That’s why I like Red.

“Where should I be…?”

She quickly ignites her own spark without needing me to say anything.

“That’s not something I can decide.”

I held Seiya’s hand and patted the back of it.

“The place you want to be is where you should be.”

“The place I want to be?”

“Yes. It’s not decided by your parents or the mayor, but by the world. Just like how I am here in Neodongtan right now.”

“Are you saying….”

“But that doesn’t mean you should irresponsibly live anywhere. If you could live anywhere, could you go live in the Middle East or South America?”

“…Hmph!”

Indeed, Red is weak in this aspect.

“There are various choices, but ultimately, it’s up to you to make that choice. Kanzaki, in your life, you are the protagonist, and no one else can make decisions for you.”

“If it were Mumei, what decision do you think she would make?”

Although I said this, there is one aspect to consider.

“I honestly don’t know. I understand my parents’ concerns, and I have two younger siblings. Even though they keep insisting on moving to another city, when it comes down to it, is there a chance of success in Tokyo? That’s also questionable.”

Seiya Kanzaki, 17 years old.

Not even entering university yet, she’s a high school girl.

“Kanzaki.”

Even if society entrusts the lives and various economic interests to teenage magical girls, it’s not right to blindly impose adult responsibilities on them.

“Kanzaki, what do you want to do?”

“Well….”

“That’s it.”

“What?”

I lightly extended my fist towards Seiya’s back.

“The choice your heart is telling you to make is what you truly want.”

“……!!”

Choose what comes to mind first without complicating things with other thoughts.

“Mumei…!”

Seiya suddenly stood up.

“I’ll leave the rest to you in the future!”

“Yes. Shall we leisurely have a meal then?”

“Huh…?”

“There’s still parfait left.”

I pulled the parfait that was placed in my spot and, sitting next to Seiya, I stuck the spoon back into the parfait.

“Since we can’t ask for it to be packed for takeout, let’s finish it all before we go.”

—

About 30 minutes later.

“Seiya.”

We received Mrs. Kanzaki’s call and returned home again.

“I understood everything Mr. Murata said. As for me, I should leave this city right away… sigh.”

Mrs. Kanzaki seemed deep in thought in various ways as she sighed, but she looked at Seiya with an expression that it couldn’t be helped.

“It seems like you’ve already made your decision.”

“Mom, that’s…”

“Sigh, as if you’re not my daughter.”

Mrs. Kanzaki hugged Seiya and patted her on the back.

“Since you’re doing it anyway, give it your all. That man, the mayor, you have to work so hard that he’ll come begging on his knees later. Understand?”

“…Yes!”

Even though there was no separate communication, did she catch on just by looking at her daughter’s expression?

‘Perhaps it’s because of being a family before being Red.’

Being the one who watched over Seiya more than anyone else – as family, Mrs. Kanzaki decided to support Seiya.

Perhaps the discussion with Manager Misaki was about considering ‘adult circumstances’ based on various options.

In very serious cases, of course, they would have to bend Seiya’s will or whatever as adults.

‘For example, like the Shibuya Underground Magical Girls.’

Things that adults cannot approve of.

If children were to experience all sorts of dirty and disgraceful things happening in the Tokyo underground due to their physical bodies not ‘breaking’ from their original form, it would definitely not be recommended to the children.

Fortunately, Mrs. Kanzaki doesn’t seem to be that kind of person.

Rather, to clarify where Seiya inherited the Red temperament from-

Click, click.

The door opened.

Since it opened with a key, I immediately realized who was coming in.

“Dad?”

“Seiya!”

A middle-aged man with a gentle demeanor wearing glasses, loosened his tie slightly, came back home swaggering with a face that looked like he had ‘fought.’

“Whatever you do, Dad will… Oh, excuse me. Are you from the Special Investigations Division? This is the evidence…”

Entering with a slightly temperamental attitude, Seiya’s father, with the polite manner typical of a salaryman, bowed his head to Misaki and greeted her.

“That…”

“I quit.”

“What?”

“I quit. The company.”

“……”

Mrs. Kanzaki’s mouth fell open, and Seiya’s face darkened slightly.

“The president said my daughter will fail no matter where she goes, so I wrote my resignation letter on the spot and left.”

“…Dad.”

“Seiya, don’t worry.”

It’s a loving family.

“No matter what you do, Dad won’t burden you. Don’t worry.”

That’s right.

With such love in the family, those colors emerge.

‘A shade almost close to pink.’

A passionate upbringing nurtured by love.

Truly, the color of the protagonist.

There was a time when I was also that color.

Well.

The past is the past.

The present is the present.

No matter what color it is now-

Eeeeeeek!

“……!”

Just then.

“It seems like there won’t be another opportunity to persuade the next person.”

Manager Misaki showed Seiya the information that popped up on his smartphone.

“It’s a 5-minute distance, Grade B. What will you do?”

“…Of course.”

Seiya clenched her fist and pointed outside.

“It’s time to move out!”

Seiya dashed outside.

“…Oh, she’ll transform outside! We can’t show the transformation scene to our family!”