Chapter 39 : Seeds Harboring Malice

Near Manchester Victoria Station in England, there was a shop in an alley that sold cheese sandwiches that locals had tasted at least once.

Mrs. Brown, as generous in physique as in personality, would wake up at 4 AM to prepare cheese sandwiches that even people from the neighboring Piccadilly would come to eat.

[SOLD OUT]

Mrs. Brown finished her morning routine by setting aside just one sandwich and putting up a sold-out sign.

Sitting in the shop and turning on the TV, news about the terrorist attack that happened a few days ago was constantly coming out.

[The girls who have lost all their power can no longer use healing abilities…]

[Such large-scale robbery incidents have also been confirmed in the Middle East and China…]

[Hundreds of saints who appeared worldwide have lost their power…]

The announcer was delivering the news with a grief-stricken face as if witnessing angels falling from heaven.

It wasn’t a particularly relatable story for Mrs. Brown, who had genes that allowed her family to live over 90 years without minor illnesses for generations.

Knock knock

“Mrs. Brown! I’m here!”

“Come in.”

Mrs. Brown welcomed Emily, the clever village child who had grown up so suddenly, no, who had now become a proper lady.

“I’ve put it on the table there, so take it.”

Emily smiled brightly as she put the sandwich Mrs. Brown had set aside into the cloth bag she brought and placed some bills on the table.

It had been a promise between them since the day Emily, who had been adopted by the neighborhood church, first ate Mrs. Brown’s sandwich.

“People who came from Piccadilly and made a wasted trip might get angry if they see this.”

“Oh my, are there no bakeries over there? Don’t worry too much about it.”

Emily was the pride of this alley.

The sight of a brown-haired kid with glasses carrying around brick-like books that even adults found difficult was familiar to the people in this neighborhood. While other children of the same age were learning words like apple, butterfly, and cheese, she was devouring papers published in academic journals.

Eventually, the bookworm who read papers while eating sandwiches in front of Manchester Victoria Station succeeded in entering Oxford at the age of 11.

That day, the alley was full of customers asking if there was a football match they didn’t know about because of the cheers echoing through the alley.

“It still feels like yesterday, but you’re already getting your doctorate this semester…”

“I hurried a bit because I have things to do from now on.”

“If it’s you, I’m confident I wouldn’t be surprised even if you appeared as a politician or scholar moving the world.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Emily, who was expressing her gratitude with smiling eyes, suddenly looked at the TV playing in the shop.

The announcer was still reporting about girls who had their stars stolen along with terrorism around the world, with an expression as if the world had ended.

“That’s what happens when you depend on and cling to such miracles.”

Mrs. Brown had run this shop in place of her husband, who passed away early due to heart disease, and succeeded in raising five strong sons and marrying them off splendidly.

She was proud of the family peace she had achieved alone with her own hands.

“The world has always been unfair and fierce, not knowing that means someone else was taking the hit for you.”

Mrs. Brown, perhaps annoyed by the announcer’s voice, who was now crying and whining, waddled over to turn off the TV, and Emily watched this scene with utmost adoration.

“That’s right, Mrs. Brown.”

“You too, Emily, achieved your degree among those pseudo-smart kids who just pour money and delay graduation at university, didn’t you?”

Mrs. Brown, perhaps seeing her own life in the fierce life of Emily, who was much younger, held her hand tightly and said:

“This world is a war. We’ve always fought and won to achieve our lives.”

“Mrs. Brown, you should be proud of yourself.”

Hearing those words, Mrs. Brown smiled like a sunflower.

Emily hugged Mrs. Brown and whispered:

“Congratulations on your victory, Mrs. Brown.”

“Thank you, Emily. My little laurel crown.”

Emily, who had exchanged words of blessing with Mrs. Brown, disappeared far away, with steps like a lark, towards the church that was her home.

Mrs. Brown shuffled back inside the shop to make the lunch menu she had to sell at lunchtime.

Emily passed by the sanctuary as she went to her room inside the church in the alley.

Inside the sanctuary, people were praying for the success of tomorrow’s challenge and seeking comfort from God while ruminating on the pain of defeat.

Everyone was continuing their big and small fights in their own lives.

‘May everyone be victorious in their own fights…’

Emily walked through the gloomy corridor where creaking sounds echoed and sawdust flew.

Creak

When Emily opened the door, there was a woman in black clothes with knives all over her body.

Although it was black attire with a strange sheen, it wasn’t difficult to guess what caused that sheen due to the bloodstains falling around.

“You’re here, Anna.”

“Looks like I’m the first to arrive?”

The woman’s face was mostly covered with a leather hat and mask, and several leather straps were wrapped around her legs, visible below the skirt.

Countless razor blades and daggers were stuck in the leather straps with their sharp blades exposed.

“Thanks to the bombs Alex lent me, it was easy to attract attention; they all went crazy when I just slit one throat?”

“Haha, I can never get used to Anna’s methods.”

Thud

Crash

Several large potato sacks were in Anna’s hands, and when she put them down on the floor, a faint sound of glass breaking was heard.

Anna, with her blood-red pupils reduced like albino eyes, said while glistening:

“Each one isn’t much, but it starts to feel strange when you really gather about 100, like connecting to the world…”

“It’s hard for me to imagine what that feels like?”

At the innocent response, Anna narrowed her eyes, which had momentarily become dreamy, and glared at Emily.

“That’s because you…”

“Anyway, Alex and Anna succeeded, and what about Doctor and Li?”

“Doctor is running wild controlling puppets in the Middle East, and Li walked to China.”

“More precisely, she flew riding on a sword.”

“I’m jealous that everyone except me can fly.”

“If you leave it to the Doctor, Anna could fly around, too. Should I talk to him separately?”

“No thanks, it’s undignified for the magical girl of [Revenge] to fly around like a robot in cartoons.”

Emily giggled and then unfolded the map she had kept under the desk. She scribbled red markers on the European region and triangle shapes on the Middle East and China before folding the map.

“What’s the meaning of that action?”

“I have to mark separately the areas where tactical objectives have been achieved and areas where operations are ongoing.”

“It’s really amazing. You’re finding magical girls all over the world just by using your head even though you haven’t bloomed yet.”

“Hehe, human behavior patterns are simpler than you think.”

Emily stroked the books on the desk and said in a gentle voice:

“When you put an invaluable treasure in front of them, wouldn’t they put it in the place they think is safest?”

“That’s only easy from your perspective.”

Anna carelessly flipped through old maps placed on Emily’s desk with her blood-covered hands. Compared to the current operation map, different types of plans had been written.

“It seems even the smart you had many unexpected parts, seeing all these failed works scattered around.”

“Uuu… originally, I shouldn’t have had to meet you guys even by pulling the gravity of fate!”

Emily sighed deeply and made a crying face.

With her messy brown hair and glasses, making such an expression made her look like a high school student who had failed an exam.

“It’s… ‘Animus’ doesn’t know which side’s apostle [Beginning] is either! Even though those who use distorted aliases of magical girls can’t use power!”

“Hmm, it seems even the smart personality doesn’t know everything.”

“Plus, the four apostles are bound by the gods’ contract to be active from the day of advent in June next year, so she doesn’t know why they’re already going around declaring domains.”

Hearing those words, Anna casually asked about something she was secretly curious about.

“Heh, isn’t it meaningless if that woman suddenly goes around the world declaring domains?”

“Animus says not to worry because the areas that can be ruled by domain declaration are limited due to the restrictions set by the gods.”

Anna nodded and then flopped down on Emily’s bed behind her.

The white sheets had now become almost black due to blood.

“By the way, it’s troublesome… of all things, the apostle who awakened alone is active from the land where the goddess’s remains fell.”

“What does that mean?”

“Animus is worried that the seeds that should get used to chaos while preparing for future battles might lose their way in peace.”

“That really sounds crazy; just fight in my domain in advance to get used to it because you’ll have to fight in the future?”

Anna crossed her legs, wrapped in black stockings on the blood-soaked bed and sneered.

“They say the apostles are protectors set by the gods, but what they’re actually doing is throwing them off a cliff.”

“Are you perhaps thinking of ‘that person’…”

“Shut up before I rip your mouth open.”

“Sorry, hehe.”

Emily cleared the desk full of maps and books and sat by the window where the light was coming in, mumbling while eating her sandwich.

“Still, according to Animus, magical girls like you who possess the fully bloomed third light of struggle are free even within an apostle’s domain, so you can fight as much as you want.”

Anna took out her blood-red Glass Star and looked at it.

Inside the Glass Star, a third light burning in an ominous dark red color was faintly shining between two large lights.

“You’re 3-star, I’m 3-star too. So if the goal is achieved, I can just kill you and absorb your power?”

[Try if you can.]

Anna turned her gaze to the side and looked at Emily.

The pupils visible beyond her glasses were fully dilated, containing madness rather than the wisdom from earlier.

Due to the sunlight coming through the window, her expression wasn’t visible, but her reddish-brown burning pupils were clearly visible.

[Do you think a world made by merely attaching others’ starlight is equal to the world created by the gods?]

Emily’s brown hair, visible between the shadows, was overflowing with a red aura.

“I get it, so stop glaring. Show-off.”

“Hehe, Animus sometimes sets the mood, but she’s a good kid!”

“She’s just crazy.”

“By the way, why isn’t Alex coming?”

“She said [Beginning]’s domain might still be difficult, so she went east with a bunch of Doctor’s puppets to test the waters around it.”

“Oh dear… if Alex said she’s going to test the waters, I wonder how many thousands will die.”

Anna turned her head incredulously, and the room was filled with silence.

“…Come to think of it, you seem like the real crazy one.”

“Why~?”

“It’s confirmed that you’ll essentially die next year when the goddess’s apostle devours your personality, but you’re cheerfully laughing, chattering, and eating.”

Emily smiled brightly at those words.

“Isn’t Animus the one accurately understanding and trying to practice this world?”

Because humans have lived by fighting and killing and should disappear while fighting themselves.