An Uninvited Guest and a Noise Complaint
Can I transform too? It was absurd for me, someone who was supposed to steal the magical girls' power, to actually help them.
It made no sense, but it was the result of running my own mental calculations. Thanks to them, I had actually enjoyed myself at the cat cafe today for the first time in a while.
"By the way, Popo."
"Yeah?"
"Why are you so quiet?"
Usually, by now, it would have thrown a fit, screaming, "Are you crazy, Mir?! Why are you helping them?!" But it was strangely quiet.
"Hmph! Even among magical beasts, loyalty is important. If you receive a good time as a gift, it's only common sense to return the favor!"
Hearing its answer, was it just my imagination that a deep, gruff voice shouting Ohhh! echoed in my head? "I see."
Nodding vaguely, I organized my current situation in my head. If I didn't keep my identities straight, even I would get confused about who I was.
First, there was the squishy Mir state, where my magic power was completely blocked without a single speck leaking out. In other words, civilian Mir.
Second, there was the public Mir state, where Popo was inside me suppressing my magic, but I still exuded an intimidating aura. This was the state in which I had just met Red and Snow.
Finally, there was my usual self, where Popo floated around me and did whatever it wanted.
I already have three masks. One for magical girls, one for attacking magical girls, and one for daily life. Anyone looking at me would think I had multiple personalities. Why is this so complicated?
Well, it was a hundred times better than having my identity exposed and getting dragged into annoying trouble, so I had no choice.
Magic power is truly a fascinating thing. Even though my clothes, face, tone, and vibe hadn't really changed, people still perceived me as a completely different person. Hmm, wait. If that's the case...
"Popo, can I do a transformation like the magical girls?"
"Huh?"
At my sudden question, Popo, who was floating in the air, turned to look at me.
"Of course. Materializing magic power and wrapping it around your body is the absolute basics."
According to Popo's further explanation, transformation wasn't just about changing clothes. It was the process of restructuring the body into its most efficient and optimized state for utilizing magic power.
It was thanks to this that magical girls, who were normally just ordinary girls, could exert monstrous strength to beat up monsters once they transformed.
An optimized body... Then what would happen to me? Wolf said my body had already been reconstructed into the perfect vessel to hold magic power.
What would happen if I transformed when my body was already perfect? Even for someone as thoughtless as me, this was a highly intriguing question.
"Maybe I'll try it when we get home."
At my murmur, Popo's eyes sparkled as it spun rapidly around me.
"Ooh, but Mir, you don't really need to transform, do you? Oh, aha! So Mir was secretly looking forward to it after seeing kids her age transform—"
"Shut up. I'm just checking to see how it changes."
Beep, beep, beep—chirp! The front door opened with the familiar sound of the digital lock. I had only been away from home for half a day, but it felt like several days had passed.
Kicking off my shoes and stepping into the living room, a wave of fatigue weighed heavily on my shoulders. They say you need stamina even to have fun. That saying was absolutely spot on.
"Whew, I'll just do a quick transformation test and go straight to sleep..."
Just as I was trudging into the house, rubbing my heavy eyelids, Popo, who was tucked in my arms, suddenly flinched. Its ears perked up.
"...Wait, Mir. Someone's inside."
"Huh?"
In that instant, an unpleasant laugh that sounded like fingernails scratching a chalkboard leaked out from the middle of the living room.
"Ahahaha! You're finally here! Wow, being outside after so long, even the air feels different. Ah, this feels so good!"
Someone was standing in the middle of the living room, right in front of the window where the moonlight shone through. The figure, casting a long shadow, was clearly far from human at a single glance.
A horn with a bizarre texture protruded from between her tangled hair, and her limbs were unnaturally long. No matter how diverse this neighborhood was, this was far beyond the realm of an ordinary person.
She was a woman... probably? Her chest was huge, so she must be. Anyway, she laughed like a maniac while staring into empty space, then suddenly twisted her head toward me.
"Hehehe."
It was a pose straight out of a horror movie, but honestly, I didn't think much of it.
"...Who are you? Why are you making a racket in someone else's house?"
I'm tired right now. Who is this making a mess in my living room?
"Ha, hehehe."
When I snapped at her indifferently, her laughter abruptly cut off. Her unfocused, mad eyes swept over my face as if licking it. Ugh, disgusting.
"Hehe, you're a Ma-in too, aren't you? You don't have to try so hard to hide your magic power in that pathetic shell. I've already figured it out, hehe."
She took a step closer to me with a smile that looked like it would tear her face apart.
"Ahaha! This terrible, sweet stench...! It's vibrating through the whole house, isn't it? It's no use trying to hide it. You're one of us!"
"...Stench?"
I wrinkled my nose and sniffed my sleeve. Sniff, sniff. I could only smell the savory scent of cats and fabric softener.
"I don't really smell anything."
"Hey, Mir."
As I shrugged and replied, Popo gently tapped my cheek with its front paw.
"What?"
"...Never mind. She doesn't mean a literal smell."
"Ah."
"Ahahaha! Listen well, young Ma-in!"
The woman raised both arms, starting a mad speech as if my reaction didn't matter at all. It was quite a sight to see her raising her voice in such an exaggerated pose, as if she were standing on a stage.
"This pitiful, hypocritical city will soon become a paradise for the great Ma-ins and monsters! The fake peace built by humans will crumble, and only we, who possess true power, will become the masters of this land! Come, don't you feel it too? That powerful, massive magic power raging inside your body!"
I don't really feel it.
"Come with me! Join hands with us and liberate our other brothers who are still groaning, trapped in the darkness! Someone with your level of magic power is more than worthy of standing at the vanguard of our legion!"
Her passionate speech, complete with flying spit, was—sorry to say—incredibly boring. I was already exhausted, and listening to this bizarre nonsense was making me sleepy.
Yaaawn. I let out a massive yawn that felt like it would rip my mouth open, then looked at her with a face that practically screamed I'm dead tired.
"No thanks."
"...What?"
"I'm tired. Can you leave my house first?"
If you stay there, you'll be too loud for me to sleep.
"He, hehe."
Instantly, the air in the living room froze. The mad smile slowly faded from the woman's face, replaced by a chillingly expressionless look.
"He... hehehe. A refusal? Do you think this is a proposal, you little brat?!"
Her right hand twisted with a grotesque sound. Her knuckles grew unnaturally long, transforming into black claws. She thrust that razor-sharp hand right in front of my face and growled lowly.
"Kid. You don't have a choice."
The cold bloodlust radiating from the tips of her sharp claws brushed against my cheek. I looked at my reflection in the gleaming blade of her claws. I saw a super-tired girl with hollow eyes and fluffy but messy hair.
"Hehe, you must be so scared you can't even speak. Shredding someone like you into pieces of meat is child's play if I put my mind to it. Now, do you finally realize? Do you see what kind of situation you're in?"
Interpreting my silence as fear, she smirked sneeringly and shrugged her shoulders. I let out a deep sigh as I watched her noisy display.
"Sigh..."
"Yes, you must have realized by now. Take my hand—"
Before she could even finish her sentence—Slam! Using telekinesis, I instantly formed a massive, invisible hand and slammed the woman into the ceiling.
"Gack?!"
Her body cracked the ceiling, leaving a large fissure, before plummeting straight to the floor. Thud! Slam! Crash! Thud! I slammed her back and forth between the living room floor and the ceiling dozens of times.
"Ah, aaah...! You, you bitch, how...!"
This should be enough. Deciding that I had vented enough of my frustration, I dusted off the back of my hands.
With that same momentum, the woman's battered, ragdoll-like body shot out of the open window like a bullet.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
Her scream faded into the night sky. For someone who had made such a noisy entrance, it was a rather anticlimactic end.
The only thing filling the empty space she left behind was the dry sound of broken ceiling debris falling to the floor.
"Gasp, is it over?"
Just then, Popo, who had hidden in my arms at some point, carefully poked its head out.
"Yeah."
"How did you do it?"
"Blew her away."
The creature looked back and forth between the darkness outside the window and my fingertips, then suddenly did a complete 180 and began to make a huge fuss.
"Gasp! As expected of Mir! I knew it! Lord Popo firmly believed from the very beginning that a mere small fry like that would be nothing against your single finger! You truly are my partner!"
Wagging its tail and buzzing around me, it was quite a spectacle. I wonder who it was that got so terrified when that woman bared her claws earlier that they scrambled to hide in my arms.
"...Sure, sure."
Leaving its terrible acting behind, I massaged my stiff neck and walked further into the living room. I needed to quickly finish the transformation test and go to sleep.
So many exhausting things were happening today. Just as I was stretching my arms wide and preparing to draw up my magic power—
Knock, knock.
"Huh?"
At the sudden knock, both Popo and I turned our eyes toward the front door. Who could it be at this hour? Surely not that horned woman from earlier? Filled with annoyance, I opened the door.
"Who is it?"
"Excuse me."
What. Standing outside the door was a massive middle-aged man who exuded an aura far more overwhelming than the horned monster from earlier.
Wearing a sleeveless undershirt, with forearms the size of my face, he was looking down at me with a terrifying expression. What is this?
"Um, I live downstairs. I'm sorry to bother you so late, but... there's been a lot of thumping and banging."
Ah. Rubbing my hollow eyes, I bowed my head to the man.
"Yes, I'll be careful."
Noise between floors is a serious matter, after all.