Chapter 61: The Sea, The Monster, And The Girl (5)
by AfuhfuihgsIt was inevitable that people’s attention would be drawn to Sapphire, who had survived the black cloud.
A place that no magical girl had dared to explore.
Sapphire was the first and last person to escape from such a place after being there for almost a week.
“Sapphire-san! What was in that cloud!?”
“Sapphire-san! Could it be a sign of the end of the world? There must have been a monster that we’ve never seen before?!”
“Sapphire-san! Please answer me!”
“Sapphire-san!!”
The news that the magical girl representing the north had survived the disaster made many people excited.
Reporters flocked from far away, and many magical girls expressed their intention to explore the black cloud.
However, Sapphire, who had survived there, felt burdened by such attention.
“Sapphire-san! Just tell me what you saw inside! Everyone is curious!”
However, perhaps because the people’s demands were persistent, Sapphire, who had seemed like she would never open her mouth for her entire life, finally opened her mouth as if surrendering a day after returning.
“There was a monster I’ve never seen before in my entire magical girl activities.”
“Does the fact that you got out of there safely mean that you defeated the monster inside!?”
“No, I didn’t feel like fighting. I think other magical girls would have reacted similarly if they had encountered it.”
“T-Does that mean that it’s a dangerous monster?!”
“Yes.”
With that short answer, the association became a scene of chaos.
It didn’t take long for the article titled ‘The miraculous return of the magical girl representing the north!’ to be covered up by an article titled ‘A monster that makes even the magical girl representing the north lose her will to fight?!’
It was such a plain affirmation that it was hard to believe it was said by a magical girl who spread hope.
With that, Sapphire remained silent as if she had nothing more to say.
To be exact, it would be correct to say that she left under the pretense of recovering.
“Is it really okay?”
“…Probably.”
And, there was someone here who knew what kind of monster was inside the black cloud even though she hadn’t entered it.
I don’t know why Sapphire said that, but no, she must have said that because she was Sapphire.
“Let’s go see her.”
It felt a little bad to go straight to someone who had just returned from hardship, but there was something I had to check.
For example, what she thought of Akari, etc.
First of all, judging from her reaction, it didn’t seem like she had regained her memories, so yeah.
‘Please, I hope you only have a good impression of Akari…’
I tried hard to suppress the anxiety that was rising in my mind and hurried my steps.
I had already finished the interview, but since there was a chance, it would be better to check at least once.
Maybe it was because my mind was much lighter, but unlike when I entered the black cloud, going out was easier than I thought.
I wondered if I lost consciousness or anything like when I first passed through.
Even though Akari had given me some hints, the monsters didn’t attack me when I returned, so I was able to return safely.
Even when I went to the hospital, they said that there was nothing wrong except for mild dehydration, so it was safe to say that I was in good condition.
“Still, I think it would be good for you to rest for a few days.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
After receiving a prescription for a few light nutritional supplements, I left the hospital.
Perhaps because I had experienced such a strange thing, the thought that the Akari I had met might actually be a figment of my imagination kept coming to my mind.
‘But…’
Her actions, her gestures, her way of speaking, her voice.
And every single bit of the conversation I had with her.
If it was all imagination, it wouldn’t have remained so vivid in my head.
The sly smile, the halo floating above her head, and the red eyes that looked and felt like those of a monster.
It felt like I was possessed by a fox or something.
“Sapphire.”
“Who are you?”
My expression hardened for a moment at the sudden voice.
Surely no one knows what it looks like when the transformation is undone.
As I stood on guard looking at the girl with green hair and green eyes, the other person awkwardly laughed and took a step back.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought Sapphire knew.”
“_”
“It’s Emerald, Emerald. Here.”
As if to prove herself, the girl transformed for a moment, or to be exact, for about 2 seconds, and then untransformed—it was Emerald.
It was Lady Emerald.
I don’t know how she knew what I looked like before I transformed.
“Um… Could we talk for a moment?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I didn’t know when we first met, but now that I look at it, every single action was suspicious.
As if she was hiding something.
No, it was strange that she recognized me in the first place when I wasn’t transformed.
“I heard you met a monster inside the clouds.”
“Could I ask what kind of monster it was?”
What kind of answer did she want from me by asking such a question?
Lady Emerald’s voice sounded desperate in some ways.
Could it be that she had something to do with the black cloud?
Certainly, she seemed reluctant to enter the black cloud.
It was a level of despair that a magical girl would naturally be reluctant to give in to, but it wasn’t convincing because she was Emerald.
She spent her time fighting monsters while minimizing her sleep time, so she hesitated to enter the black cloud because she was reluctant to give in to despair?
It was something that could be suspected.
If she really had something to do with the black cloud—
Is it right to talk about Akari?
It was something I couldn’t answer right away.
I didn’t want to say anything rash because I wasn’t sure yet.
“It was an incredibly dangerous monster.”
“Is that so?”
“They asked me to tell them that it was so dangerous that they absolutely shouldn’t approach it.”
I tried to say it as if I was joking.
Should I get angry and tell her not to joke around, or should I show a different reaction?
Emerald-sama, who seemed nervous until I continued, opened her eyes wide as soon as I finished speaking.
And then, soon after, she let out a sigh of relief, but the dissonance was quite evident, as if she was a guardian who was relieved to hear that her child was safe.
“I’m glad you’re doing well.”
“…Is that what I thought?”
“Yes, probably.”
I was finally able to feel reassured when Emerald-sama smiled faintly.
It seemed that the monster I knew and the monster Emerald-sama knew were the same monsters.
“…Ugh.”
Gmmmm?
“No, I have a feeling that the two magical girls are talking about me.”
Judging from the tickling in my ears and the goosebumps, I knew that Emerald and Sapphire were having a conversation about me.
I could tell just by looking at them that the monster was dangerous, strange, and weird, and that it was a bunch of badmouthing me.
They weren’t just going to let me go.
They won’t join hands and attack me, right…
I slowly rubbed the back of my neck, making the worst assumption that could happen.
The thought of receiving the hope energies of both of them at once sent goosebumps up my arms.
Greak, greak, greak—
“So you’re saying I should’ve killed them when you said let’s kill them? Oh my, then all the effort I’ve put in until now would’ve been meaningless.”
Grumble—
“..Instead of working in that direction, why didn’t you work in hunting humans and magical girls? Is that something you should be saying?”
I snorted in frustration at the monster’s absurd words.
Why are people who want to hunt humans and magical girls here like this?
I was going to fix their quirks, but since they’d have to go on a despair hunt again once I left anyway, I decided to let them off a little bit.
Woof—
I think I can stop them if I do something right…
As I focused my mind on the desperately spinning despair circuit, it began to tick and slow down.
The rotation slowed down, so it wasn’t that different from before, but since there was a possibility that it might stop, it could be seen as a great achievement in some ways.
Being able to turn the despair circuit on and off at will meant that I could eat despair to my heart’s content in the future.
Squeak—
“You say magical girls have been appearing frequently lately? Of course they would. A lump of despair suddenly appeared in their front yard.”
I hadn’t settled down on an uninhabited island far from the city because I hoped that humans wouldn’t find me.
I never thought they wouldn’t find me in the first place.
Anyway, thinking that I had found a place where I could spend my entire life was all just a naive delusion from the monsters.
Hmm, the word ‘naive’ is too awkward for a monster.
Anyway.
Maybe the monsters that attacked me were wiser than these guys.
A beast with no teeth or claws could not survive in the harsh nature.
That also applied to the monsters.
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