Ch.1616. Before Epilogue – Infiltration

“Vine, did you get in? You weren’t spotted, right?”

“Yeah, Ellie. Why are you worrying so much? It’s the disguise you made for me. I won’t get caught, so stop worrying.”

Sigh, Ellie really does worry too much.

To infiltrate the Association, I dyed my hair light brown, changed my eye color, and even recreated my walking stride and habits completely.

For clothes, I’m not wearing a uniform or anything like that, just dressed appropriately.

And I’ve researched various materials to match a girl of this age, so the chances of being discovered are practically zero.

I’m even wearing a device that conceals the external emission of magical power.

“This way, everyone! Welcome to all of you who came for today’s special Association tour! I see we have many children with us. You’ll even have a chance to meet the magical girls you admire, so please listen carefully to what I say, okay?”

The children responded with cute and enthusiastic answers, and the Association staff member with the microphone smiled and guided us.

Well, I didn’t want to be discovered either, so I had no choice but to respond along with them.

Hmm, I don’t understand why they admire these so-called magical girls.

What’s so great about magical girls who interfere with our boss’s long-cherished wishes?

Besides, I see them all the time, so they’re nothing special to me.

Following the staff member down a long corridor, we arrived at an exhibition hall explaining the history of magical girls.

It was a space so grandly decorated that everyone, children and adults alike, couldn’t help but be amazed by its magnificence.

I pretended to be impressed too, but hmm… I didn’t expect it to be this big.

“Everyone, please focus here! You were all surprised by the Magical Girl History Hall, weren’t you? Now, once you hear the explanation, you’ll be even more amazed, so please follow me!”

The staff member suddenly pulled out a flag like those seen in package tours and waved it while calling everyone.

Viewing the history hall while following the staff’s guide. For now, I had no choice but to comply obediently.

Combat footage of magical girls preserved on video, dioramas recreating battles against giant monsters.

Replicas of costumes worn by magical girls throughout history, unreleased training videos.

And a large wall listing all the villains that have appeared so far.

Villains who were defeated or captured had their names dimmed with a glowing mark next to them, while those not yet caught were highlighted with a soft glow.

‘Secret Society Eden’s Second Division Chief, “Dark Vine” Vine’

And there was my name, still glowing.

“This section shows a list of all villains who have appeared so far! We’ve collected information on all villains, even from when magical girls operated in secret.”

Most names were dimmed, with only Eden members and various other villains’ names remaining lit.

Hmm, showing it this way creates the impression that they’ve captured many villains, so it’s probably for propaganda purposes.

“Do you see those glowing names? Among the occasionally lit names, there’s a cluster of villain names. Over there where I’m pointing with this laser.”

“Those names you see belong to members of the famous secret organization ‘Eden.’ These are individuals registered as villains.”

“Including their regular members and companies suspected to be their funding sources, they’re estimated to have at least 50,000 members worldwide. What they’re hiding could be even larger.”

“Our Association is working with governments worldwide to completely eliminate them.”

“As you all know, Magical Girl Blanc is working hard to capture Eden’s ace, Vine.”

“Oh, and coincidentally, the magical girl you’ll be meeting today is Blanc herself. It would be nice to give her some words of encouragement as she fights against Eden!”

Wait, what did they just say?

Meeting Blanc? What kind of bizarre monster cry is that?

I knew we would have a meeting time with a magical girl and the Association director, but…

What does this mean?

If Blanc shows up, the probability of being discovered is… too high.

As much as I’ve investigated Blanc, she’s probably investigated me just as thoroughly.

Then, how am I going to deliver this box…

Let’s think about it when we get there.

Right now, mapping the interior of this Association is a more urgent mission than delivering this.

Yes, following the staff member behind the wall with the list, we moved to a place exhibiting materials about villains.

The staff member told us we would have about 10 minutes to look around freely before moving to the next location, so I started exploring.

Looking around a bit, I figured there must be a section documenting me as well.

Vine, Secret Society Eden’s Second Division Chief

Height: Approximately 138cm

First Appearance: May, ****

Second Division Chief of Eden, currently under close watch by the Association due to overwhelming combat ability and learning speed. Appeared about ** years ago with one monster entity.

…

They’ve written down all these trivial details.

They even have combat footage.

And there’s my gun that I lost last time.

Although the doctor gave me a new weapon now, that one fit well in my small hands and was quite useful.

As I continued standing in front of my exhibit, the staff member who had been explaining to excited boys in front of the monster diorama approached me.

“Looks like our friend here is interested in Vine. All the other children are fascinated by the monsters, is there a reason why?”

Oh, damn it. Why?

“Ah, th-that, um, sh-she looks about my age, so I was wondering why, why…”

“Oh, you’re curious about why she became a villain? That’s something we haven’t figured out yet. She’s about the same age as you, but we’re still trying to understand why she became a villain and how she joined Eden. Despite her appearance, she’s an extremely powerful villain, so we’re working hard to stop her. So, when you meet the magical girl soon, be sure to cheer her on to defeat Vine, okay?”

“Y-yes…”

Ah, am I safe? They didn’t recognize me, right?

Fortunately, the staff member didn’t seem to notice my identity.

After speaking to me, they went to the exit of the exhibition hall and waved their flag to call us over.

“Everyone!! Let’s move to our next destination! Please gather around! We’re now heading to the training grounds!”

And so, I naturally blended in with the group of children and moved to the training grounds.

Playing the role of an ordinary child who neither stands out too much nor remains too invisible.

Showing appropriate amazement at impressive structures and reacting with suitable surprise.

That’s how we arrived at the training grounds.

“Everyone! We’ve now reached the place where magical girls train. If you look down through this glass, you can see a large indoor space and a passage leading outside, right?”

“In this indoor area, various structures are set up to help magical girls practice for indoor combat situations, so they won’t be caught off guard in real battles. The walls are all reinforced with magical power and mana, creating a space where magical girls can practice their techniques!”

“And if you come this way, you’ll see the outdoor training grounds, where we support magical girls through aerial maneuver training, outdoor combat training, and more, so they can handle any situation.”

The excited staff member continued explaining while pointing outside the glass.

“If you look this way, you can observe magical girls training through sparring sessions. It’s safe inside here, so feel free to watch, but please don’t tap on the glass or shine lights that might distract the magical girls during their training. Also, to protect the magical girls’ privacy and prevent strategy leaks, photography and video recording are not allowed inside. Now, let’s watch for a bit before moving on!”

As the staff member said, two magical girls were sparring below.

One was a crybaby… and the other had red hair.

Well, watching them spar doesn’t really excite me, but I shouldn’t act out of character, so maybe I should pretend to be amazed like the children here.

But if I get too close to the glass, they might notice me, so I’ll stay at a reasonable distance in the back.

“Friend! Come over here! Our kids are blocking the view. Children! Let your friend see too!”

A woman who appeared to be the mother of those children watching the magical girls offered me help from behind.

I’m not sure if this is actually helpful. I preferred being in the back.

“Thank you. Wow…”

“Those people protecting us are magical girls. Seeing them fight in person is even more impressive than I thought.”

“Wow… that’s right…”

Who would fall for such pathetic attacks?

Oh, I suppose they might look powerful to civilians.

Thinking about it that way, hmm, it is somewhat impressive.

If things are exploding all over and suddenly an axe shoots a beam that causes an explosion, I guess that would be surprising.

As we were watching the magical girls spar, they waved to us from inside.

Wait a minute.

I can’t be discovered.

I waved back as if I were seeing them for the first time, like someone thrilled to meet someone they’ve long admired. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to recognize me.

They didn’t come over here and went back to focusing on their sparring.

“Did you see that? The magical girls waved at us!”

“Hey, they were waving at me!”

“No, at me!”

Behind me, I could hear children arguing about who received the greeting.

Hmm, I who get attacked by them as a greeting routine every day, could probably completely crush them if I joined that argument… I was thinking this when

I turned my attention to a sound coming from the door.

The staff member was saying it was time to move to the next location.