Chapter 58: The Sea, The Monster, And The Girl (2)

“Please take care of me from now on, Emerald-sama.”

“Ah, yes…”

Judging from the way she was addressing me, I guess she doesn’t remember.

I let out a sigh of relief inwardly, feeling both regretful and relieved.

It might be much better if Sapphire didn’t remember.

If Sapphire had memories, she would definitely go attack Akari with Ruby.

[By the way, she’s really polite.]

“That’s right.”

Thinking back, Ruby and I were dispatched to support each other, and that was our first meeting.

Her expression was really cold, but her eyes sparkled, so I remembered it clearly.

I never imagined I’d experience that again.

“Did you two talk a little?”

“Yes.”

While talking to Sapphire like that, I nodded at the guide who spoke carefully.

It was a fun time after a long time.

I guess I thought that Sapphire is still Sapphire, even if she doesn’t remember.

“The Association wants you two to hurry and check the black cloud layer. Could you start exploring as soon as possible?”

“I’m fine right now.”

And even Sapphire’s confidence was in my memory.

No, to be exact, it wasn’t confidence, but a sense of mission.

If there was something that threatened or made people feel uneasy, she would step forward and try to solve it first.

Normally, she would have been really reassuring, but since it was related to Akari, I couldn’t really like it.

“How are you, Emerald?”

“I’m fine too.”

“That’s fortunate. Even without that, the magical girls who were dispatched from other places came back injured after going on an investigation…”

I gave an awkward smile to the guide who let out a sigh of relief.

I shouldn’t say that it was lucky that I came back injured.

Let’s get a grip.

First, let’s make sure that no one else gets hurt.

Even if it was related to Akari, I couldn’t forget my duty as a magical girl.

Alright, let’s give it a try.

Since I’ve broken through the despair of Apocalypse before, I’m sure I could do it this time too.

“More importantly, are the people who came injured okay?”

“Yes, fortunately, they say she wasn’t seriously injured. Since there are some magical girls who have been dispatched with recovery abilities, I think you can rest assured.”

I nodded at the guide’s words.

It was truly fortunate.

If Akari had caused irreparable damage to others, I would never have been able to stay still.

“Let’s go, Emerald-sama.”

“Yes.”

I nodded at Sapphire’s words.

Just wait a moment, Akari.

I will definitely bring her back.

---

The magical girls were stirring up the area every day.

I think it’s because of a guy who got hurt while messing with a nearby monster…

They were like a swarm of wasps who stung a book of magic and then came rushing in.

Of course, no magical girl had come through the clouds yet, but if that happened, the magical girls who would come would be narrowed down to one.

“I wonder if Emerald is coming.”

Grumble—

“What kind of guy is Emerald? Well, it’s hard to say.”

If I were to define Emerald, there were still too many things to think about.

I hate these complicated relationships.

A relationship where I can say “good” if I like it and “bad” if I don’t, that was the most ideal relationship for me.

On the other hand, my relationship with Emerald was…

“I felt more at ease when I was fooling her.”

I never imagined that she would treat me the same way as usual even though I was going through a circuit of despair.

If anything, I would have thought it was even more terrifying, saying that she was a speaking apocalypse.

Ruby was the living witness to that.

“…Hmm?”

Squeak—

I thought about Emerald for a moment.

I turned my head away at the unpleasant feeling of hopeful energy I could feel from afar.

Has there ever been a magical girl who visited this area recently with that much hopeful energy?

Judging by her momentum, it seemed like she would break through the clouds at any moment.

“It doesn’t seem to be Emerald or Ruby… Since I had experienced both of their hopeful energies, there was no such thing as confusion.

Then who could it be?

Swaaaah—

Grumble, groan.

“It seems dead, so can I eat it?”

“No.”

My curiosity about who the magical girl who tried to pierce through the clouds was was resolved faster than I thought.

The problem, if there was one, was that the answer to that curiosity was completely different from what I had expected.

“Excuse me, excuse me—Are you alive—?”

“..”

I poked her cheek with my finger, but the magical girl didn’t move an inch.

I tilted my head, wondering if she was really dead, but I let out a sigh of relief when I heard her faintly breathing.

Well, she wasn’t the type of person to die so easily.

I never would’ve imagined I’d see her here…

When it came to hair the color of the clear ocean, there was only one magical girl that came to mind.

Magical Girl Sapphire.

One of the original protagonists, a magical girl specializing in defensive magic.

Does she have any memories? Or not?

“_Ugh.”

‘Oh, I’m awake.’

Thanks to poking her cheek for a long time, Sapphire opened her eyes with a small groan after a while.

Look, when she opened her eyes, it was Sapphire.

Her slightly dazed expression felt a little different from the original, though.

“You, uh…”

“It’s nice to meet you. Um, I’m Akari.”

She smiled and spoke to me, trying to make the impression as harmless as possible.

Of course, if Sapphire had memories, even that would have been useless.

Still, since she didn’t attack right after opening her eyes, there might still be hope.

“Monster…!!”

“It’s quite a wound to suddenly assume an attacking stance.”

“Are you a monster…?”

“What do you think?”

Sapphire prepared for battle immediately due to the halo floating above her head and the despair surrounding her, but she looked confused in many ways, perhaps because she looked human on the outside.

Well, it didn’t matter which way you thought of it.

“…I’ve never seen a monster that speaks like a human.”

“Congratulations. It’s your first time seeing a monster that speaks like a human.”

Life is all about new experiences, after all.

Of course, that’s true.

Telling Sapphire that I was a monster was just a whim.

I didn’t want Sapphire to think I was human and later say things like “You were a monster!?”

It was better to be annoyed now than to be annoyed later.

“But…”

“Why, don’t you believe me? Now, look.”

Grumble—!!!

When I gestured to the monster that was hiding far away, it hesitated at Sapphire’s hope energy and came toward me.

Oh my, that guy who used to whine so much to me is cowering in front of my hope energy?

If it’s a monster, shouldn’t I just charge at it without worrying about that?

Tsk.

“If it’s a monster, I’ll eliminate it with all my might…!”

“I don’t really have any intention of fighting. Think about it, if I was going to hurt you, wouldn’t I have attacked you when you were down?”

“.”

After hearing my words, Sapphire slowly began to calm down the energy of hope she had raised.

It felt like she was completely blocked up, but surprisingly, she was able to have a conversation.

It felt like I could somehow cook Sapphire up if I just spoke well.

“What exactly is your true identity?”

“For now, wouldn’t it be better to just think of me as a ‘monster that can speak human language?”

“To say you only speak human language.”

Sapphire’s words trailed off as she looked over my entire appearance with a trembling gaze.

It seemed as if she still couldn’t believe that I was a monster.

‘I think I know why the magical girls in the original work were so easily defeated.’

Humans usually hesitate when attacking something that looks like a human.

If even Sapphire reacts like this, how would the other magical girls react?

Even without me having to really imagine it, the situation was obvious enough to picture in my head.

Even though she had powers that surpassed humans, she was still a magical ‘girl.

It would have been difficult for a girl’s sensibilities to attack something that looked human.

“Okay. Then I’ll change the question. What exactly is your purpose?”

“Purpose…”

If I answered that I was living quietly, sucking up the despair of magical girls, I thought I would be treated as an idiot.

No, I would definitely be treated as an idiot.

It was a situation where she might attack me because she was so shocked.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself? Observe me and judge for yourself what my purpose is.”

“_”

In any case, no matter what I said, Sapphire would only believe what she saw.

In that case, it would be better to leave the judgment to Sapphire rather than answering myself.

I could decide how to respond based on Sapphire’s judgment.

“Oh, by the way, we didn’t give our full names. My name is Akari. What’s your name?”

“My name is Sapphire.”

“I don’t know how long you’ll be here, but… for now, I’ll be counting on you, Sapphire.”

Sapphire hesitated and answered with a smile as she said her name.

Then, shall we begin, deceiving the magical girl?