Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Next Target
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Traitor Robelia.
The name of the former magical girl who's been the talk of the town lately.
Magical Girl Seriel.
She had low name recognition, and according to the data released by the Magical Girl Activity Support Department, her magic power reserves were noticeably low... Most people had glossed over the name of this magical girl without a second thought.
"Whoa... So this actually worked."
That was why, for former researcher Dr. Jeon—now streaming as Doctor Bella, a woman by the name of Ha Yu-ra, who had been studying magic power, the new energy source that began to be seriously researched alongside the emergence of magical girls...
"How the hell did she structure it to slice through magic itself?"
After her stream focused on Robelia... She had been scouring and analyzing everything about her without fail, day after day, losing track of time entirely.
"Haa... Armpit's insane, for real..."
Recently released footage—of Magical Girl Licorice creating a field of red spider lilies with crimson flames that seemed ready to melt the entire downtown area. And Robelia coldly slashing through those intensely blazing spider lilies, which were so vivid they tricked the eye into thinking you'd stepped into hell.
"...But, hold on a sec."
Only then did Yu-ra seem to notice something off. She began scrutinizing Robelia, who gripped a sword flickering ominously in purple light, as if ready to cleave through the screen itself.
"......"
Click. Her hand moved with silent intensity, switching back to the footage from Robelia's clash with a Ruby-level demonic beast, comparing it side by side with what she'd just been watching.
"Seriel... Seriel?"
Click. This time, she pulled up replay footage from a streamer who had captured Magical Girl Seriel's battle against an Amber-level demonic beast last year.
"......"
In the video, a boyish white-haired magical girl named Seriel fought a demonic beast wielding a blade sharp enough to slice through buildings like tofu.
Kieeeing...!
To be precise, it was the moment just before she severed the beast's windpipe. A single instant where a blue circular magic circle glowed on Seriel's arm.
Acceleration magic.
As far as she knew, it was one of the simple-structured spells even non-magical girls could use, boosting an object's speed—a basic one commonly employed by special forces in the military or close-combat magical girls.
"...How many layers is that? Overlapping them like this must put insane strain on the body."
Yes. That simple spell—Seriel was layering multiples on the same spot, activating them simultaneously across every joint.
Robelia did the same. In her fight with the Ruby-level beast, right before she vanished from the camera's view in a flash... Purple magic circles had gleamed on her arms and legs.
"So... She wasn't even going full power against Licorice...?"
If a currently active top-tier combat magical girl—one of the few who could count on one hand—or a legendary retired one with a dazzling career faced off against Robelia. Yu-ra's thoughts reached that point.
Tap, clack...!
She dazedly tapped the keyboard, as if entranced, and began planning her next stream.
【Magical Girl Review Even Florida Understands, Robelia Edition】
Meanwhile, the very subject herself—Ha-yul.
"Excuse me, sir. If you want cigarettes, I need to see your ID."
She stood atop a box at the convenience store counter... Dealing with yet another problem customer who had shown up today.
"Come on, look at my face. Does this mug look like it carries an ID just to buy smokes?"
"You think anyone would believe someone else was working the counter, stomping on boxes with my face?"
"...Sorry. I'll come back with my ID."
The rough-looking man, who had grumbled about needing ID to buy cigarettes at the neighborhood store, quietly conceded defeat at the sight of Ha-yul smiling brightly while flashing her own ID, and slunk away.
"You can't trust faces in this world, man."
Ha-yul grumbled as she watched the man's dejected back retreating from the store.
"Wow, Ha-yul. We were so worried when we heard you were working at a convenience store, but you're handling it great?"
"If you're not buying anything, get out. Who said 'our Ha-yul'? 'Our Ha-yul' is mine."
She sighed at the other troublemaker—Seon-ah—who had bought a single can of beer long ago and was slurping it through a straw from the corner of the store.
"Don't you have anything better to do? I thought the manager was gone, but now it's you, Seon-ah?"
"Me? I got fired."
"......?"
"For real. Last week when I got nicely grilled, that heartless captain didn't even call my company once, so they fired me for no-showing."
Long story short, the unemployed woman before her—who looked like she'd fit right in as a librarian—had been a lowly employee at some company. But after just two days without contact, she got a dismissal text.
"Fired anyway, so I get an extra month's pay. Worked over three months, so I can claim unemployment too. Hehe."
Ha-yul stared at the pathetic adult gleefully slurping her beer again, reveling in her jobless bliss.
"......"
If even the first squad member she'd met after the captain was like this... Ha-yul's expression turned serious as she slowly voiced her growing concern about what the rest of the squad must be like.
"Society's tumor..."
She'd slightly trusted him because he seemed so diligently upright on the surface, but now this one struck her as a different kind of headache from Bell.
"Get out. Stop sucking on that empty can and annoying people—go do something productive...!"
"Nooo... My beer...! Ha-yul, my little bro...! Don't do this...! There's still a few drops left...!"
Sluuuurp, sluuuurp. Ha-yul snatched the obviously empty beer can from Seon-ah, who stared up with pitiful eyes while sucking desperately, crushed it underfoot, tossed it in the recycling bin... And shoved the whining Seon-ah out the door.
"I don't know anyone who gets drunk on beer in broad daylight and starts babbling...!"
On a day when she had less than a month left as a convenience store clerk, Ha-yul belatedly realized the ridiculous reason she'd had no troublemakers until now: she was just too pretty.
A few days later.
"Villain activity's been quiet for a reason, huh."
"Must be frustrating by Robelia's standards, but can't be helped. Modified humans like Seon-ah here guzzle fuel."
"Unfair when magical girls recharge fully overnight."
Me, transformed as Robelia. Bell, in his usual suit, stroking his fedora. And Seon-ah, also suited up but with a sharper edge than usual. The three from Crown Theater Troupe gathered in the hideout across the border for a strategy meeting.
"Well then... A proper meeting room for once. Heh heh."
We haphazardly took seats in the theater auditorium that looked more like a rehearsal stage. Seon-ah and I quietly watched Bell, who stood center stage under the spotlight, gazing around nostalgically.
"You two might not know, but it used to be pretty lively here."
We hadn't heard the full story, but from the nuance, his attitude toward us... It was easy to guess. This place had probably been part of a much larger organization back then.
"We got our asses handed to us by magical girls after rampaging without a theme, though♥"
Bell let out an exaggerated sigh, stuck out his tongue, and shrugged, trying to brush it off lightheartedly.
"Anyway, enough chit-chat."
Clap! He clapped lightly, flung open the blackout curtains on stage... And powered up the massive beam projector.
"You've both read the script, so you know... This target's no pushover."
Bet that projector makes movies immersive. As I thought that, familiar faces of magical girls began popping up on the giant screen.
"My personal recon, but... Magical girl deployments in nearby cities have shifted lately. They're starting to take Robelia seriously."
Normally, one magical girl per city. Two or three in beast-heavy zones. But now the map showed expanded territories, with at least pairs or trios grouped per jurisdiction.
"So, we've got two options."
One: target fresh magical girls just starting out or still green without much experience, like before. Or...
"Go big, hook a whale, and show these deployments mean nothing."
As Seon-ah said, snag a famous one to spike my threat level instantly.
"Of course, the final call's yours, Robelia."
With all eyes on me...
"My goal's a world without magical girls anyway."
I pointed at one face on the screen's list—the most familiar one—and spoke.
"Isn't this what they call dramatic flair?"
If we're doing it, why not aim high?