Chapter 17 : Potential Villain Behind the Scenes

The gate opened over a wide area.

Despite the chaos that could be counted among the worst in recent years, thanks to the magical girls’ efforts, the monsters were swiftly defeated.

• Aren’t the monsters too weak now? It’s kind of bland.
• Now it’s almost on the same level as North Korea firing missiles.
• It’s not quite that bad.
• Actually, they were weak. The strongest was D-rank.
• Since nothing else works, are they just pushing with sheer numbers?
• The 4th and 5th generations had many members, so it was covered.
• If it were before, Seoul might have been devastated.
• Sometimes the mascot’s judgment is correct.
• Let’s contract about 100 from the 6th generation.
• Why don’t all girls just become magical girls?
• Then the mascot would die.
• From overwork? Or murdered?
• Even-numbered generations have a legend about killing the mascot…
• That’s why Scarlet Lily is 5.5 generation, right? Haha.

Panic almost disappeared.

This was partly because people adapted,
but also because their trust in the magical girls was firm.

• Why isn’t Scarlet Lily appearing this time?
• Seems like she’s not interested in weak monsters.
• An S-rank monster appeared but was caught without anyone noticing.
• It was a one-hit kill, so no one probably knows what rank it was.
• Haha.
• It’s not easy to tell the difference between 1mm and 2mm by eye.

Both LF-rank and S-rank were one-shot!

• Is it a spear beam? Haha.

Every time an incident like this happens,
there is an indispensable figure.

Interest in Scarlet Lily remained hot.

Her strength was beyond dispute, but there were still people who did not give up their doubts.

• One hit is strong, but maybe weak against multiple attackers.
• There’s no chance against multiple attackers.
• Did she not show up because she didn’t want to be exposed?
• If not, she should have come out and fought. Coward hiding? Uh huh.

Where there is light, there is also shadow.

Some blamed her, but their words were usually refuted.

Even if it’s a secret organization, without a goal it’s no different from a club.

They couldn’t have recruited members by blocking all information.

Maybe that’s why, in the letter Reaper Morse received, the organization’s goal and vision were clearly stated.

It was to return freedom to the magical girls.

It stated that they would free them from mascots and obligations, helping them regain their own lives.

It sounds good but is nothing but sophistry.

Because magical girls are already free.

They are not locked in a camp.

They don’t have grand missions or menial tasks.

They have to fight if monsters appear, but that’s it.

Other than that, each lives the life they want.

There are even many substitutes, so they don’t have to go out unconditionally.

My time was somewhat different.

The key difference is that now they are given time to carefully consider whether to become a magical girl.

Maybe because two were murdered.

It’s said the third generation Armo doesn’t force contracts on people who refuse.

At least the era of human rights blind spots is over.

“So you were here.”

While walking down a quiet street, Armo came.

She floated beside me, wagging her tail.

“You’re hiding your form, right?”

“Of course. I never make the mistake of skipping stealth magic.”

Humans close to Armo are mostly magical girls.

If seen talking, her identity could be revealed.

So we usually meet in empty rooms and when out, she uses stealth magic to talk like this.

“I told you not to come again. Why did you?”

“That hurts my feelings. Even if we’re not contracted, Scarlet Lily is a magical girl. As a mascot, I have a duty to take care of her.”

Armo wore a proud expression.

“I’m telling you again, I hate mascots.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s physiologically unpleasant.”

“That’s harsh… Scarlet Lily is too much!”

She slumped her small shoulders.

“I don’t know what happened in the past, but I’m different from the previous Armo. I don’t do things that earn resentment.”

“You’re saying you live to protect your body.”

“That’s not wrong. Even so, I hope you believe we’re on the same side.”

He also knows that I am the 1st generation magical girl, Scarlet.

I didn’t plan to reveal it, but since only certain people can contract, it naturally led him to the truth.

“You didn’t tell the juniors about me, right?”

“Aqua persistently asked, but I thoroughly ignored it.”

“Aqua?”

“Probably before she became close to the 5th generation.”

Was it when she hated me?

I don’t know why, but I decided not to dig deeper.

“More importantly, I want you to share progress.”

This is probably the main point.

“You can just ask the ones we interrogated together.”

Armo said he also felt something strange after seeing the previous day’s chaos.

After hearing about Reaper Morse from Frozen Princess, he seemed to start the investigation in earnest.

“I already spoke to the other two, but I wanted to hear the opinion of the senior Scarlet, so I came.”

Not Scarlet Lily, but Scarlet.

I wasn’t comfortable calling her that, but I didn’t complain.

“There are too few clues. We have no choice but to monitor Reaper Morse who is connected to the mastermind.”

The day we caught Reaper Morse after pursuit, we interrogated her briefly and then released her.

She hadn’t done any wrongdoing, and location tracking was possible now.

Though she should be scolded for just watching from atop a building during the chaos.

But that’s that.

For now, I thought it better to use it as a double spy or bait.

“It’s not good to call her Reaper Morse. There’s a much better name: Angelic Luna.”

“You said you don’t like it yourself.”

“That can’t be・・・・・・”

Was he so shocked he even forgot to add ‘mo’ at the end of his sentence?

“It’s not even a name you gave her, so what does it matter?”

“It’s sad for a magical girl in charge to have a villainous name…………….”

From angel to reaper.

It’s a name that fits well with black clothes.

Let’s wrap up the small talk here.

“There aren’t many candidates for the mastermind. The strong ones are probably the 2nd or 4th generation, who have killed mascots before.”

“I think the same mo.”

Armo nodded.

“But we can’t be sure. There might be ordinary people researching magic.”

“It’s not entirely impossible mo.”

One more thing.

“Maybe another Armo secretly descended from the heavenly realm.”

Only Armo can create magical gems.

This is also quite likely.

“It’s unlikely, but mo the possibility can’t be excluded.”

Unlike the monsters coming from the demon world, Armo is from the heavenly realm.

Since I don’t know much about that ecosystem, it’s just speculation.

“Aren’t you the mastermind? Are you pretending to investigate to make an alibi?”

“No mo! It’s unfair mo!”

This cunning fellow!

I was about to accuse him but decided not to.

“The 4th generation seems to have many loners; why is that?”

I suddenly asked, curious.

While looking into Reaper Morse, I realized the bonds in the 4th generation weren’t that strong.

The 3rd generation seemed to group with those they got along with.

The 4th generation has one main group and the rest scattered.

The 5th generation is complex due to numbers but overall closer to the 3rd generation style.

“That’s because the 2nd generation Armo was indifferent mo.”

“Specifically?”

“I only heard from magical girls, but it seems they hardly showed themselves and neglected them mo.”

“What a rotten guy.”

Even among Armo, personalities seem varied like humans.

“Compared to that, I’m doing well mo…………!”

Seizing the moment, he quickly started bragging.

“Really?”

“Really mo!”

“If it’s proven a lie, you’ll get hit by the Scarlet Beam that day.”

“Eek…………..! It’s too soon to go back to the heavenly realm mo!”

I learned there were many loners in the 4th generation.

Some even cut off contact with Armo, and Reaper Morse is one of those types.

“The mastermind would love to recruit such a perfect target.”

I have no clue where to start fixing this.

Living in the demon world means never having a moment to let your guard down.

In struggling to survive, I learned many skills.

That’s why I’m skilled at manipulating magic power.

By applying this, I can track someone’s location by remembering their presence.

Now that I know where she is, Reaper Morse won’t do anything foolish.

She doesn’t seem completely corrupted, just changed into strange clothes.

Believing this, we decided to give her freedom.

I went to a convenience store.

“Welcome.”

When I opened the door, a female clerk greeted me.

I was the only customer.

After briefly looking around, I walked inside and stopped in front of the counter.

“What brings you here?”

When I stared at her, the clerk looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Reaper Morse, it’s me.”

“Ugh・・・・・・ How do you know that name!?”

She quickly stepped back and bumped her back against the cigarette display.

Her pupils shook from surprise.

This is fun to tease her.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

When I tucked back my pink hair, she finally looked like she recognized me.

“Scarlet Lily・・・・..?”

Now she recognizes me.