An Offer She Can't Refuse
"You're hurt pretty badly," the girl murmured, staring quietly down at the torn hem of Märchen's costume. "Let me heal you."
"Huh?" Before Märchen could even reply, a faint, dark magic flowed from the girl's fingertips, wrapping around Märchen's body.
Swoosh— The shredded fabric of her costume knit back together, and even her scrapes and bruises vanished as if they had never been there.
What?
"H-how...?" Märchen stared blankly down at her hands. Healing. She had never heard of anyone capable of such a thing.
Instinctively sensing danger, Märchen took a step back. Or rather, she tried to. If not for the sharp pain throbbing in her side.
"Ugh..." Her body refused to move. Though every single one of her physical wounds had been perfectly healed by the girl, the phantom pain still lingered.
"W-who... who on earth are you...?"
"That doesn't matter." The girl's fingertips gently cupped Märchen's chin, lifting it. Her touch was warm and soft. Staring straight into Märchen's eyes, the girl continued.
"I'll get straight to the point. Don't you want to quit being a magical girl?"
For a moment, Märchen doubted her own ears. "W-what...?"
"I asked if you wanted to quit. Being a magical girl, I mean."
Did she want to quit? Honestly, she had thought about it before. Balancing her part-time job at the convenience store, her school life, and her duties as a magical girl was suffocating. There were countless days when she wanted to throw everything away and just sleep for days.
But. Märchen pictured her grandparents' happy faces. And then, the face of the girl she had met for the first time today, whom she had felt strangely drawn to.
I have too many people to protect. For the sake of those precious bonds, she couldn't quit.
Slap! Märchen roughly brushed away the girl's hand. Meeting her gaze head-on without flinching, she spoke coldly.
"No." Märchen's voice no longer trembled. "I don't know what you're planning by saying this, but I won't quit being a magical girl. No, I can't quit."
"..." The girl's expression hardened. Seizing that brief opening, Märchen drove the point home.
"I have people to protect, and a daily life that I love. And it is my duty to protect them—"
"Sorry, but you don't have a choice." Huh?
"This isn't an offer, it's... hmm, what did that Ma-in say again...?" The girl rested her chin on her hand, pretending to think. "Sorry. I forgot my line."
She tilted her head, staring into empty space for a moment, before smiling again and continuing. "Ah, I remember now. This isn't just a simple offer... Huh? Popo. What do you mean I sound like an AI all of a sudden?"
"...?" Märchen stared at the girl, her mouth hanging open. There was absolutely nothing in front of her. At most, there were the ruins of the convenience store left by the rhino monster and the distant wail of sirens. Yet, the girl was carrying on an incomprehensible conversation as if someone were standing right next to her.
What is this? Märchen felt a strange sense of déjà vu. The girl in front of her looked remarkably like someone she knew. That blank, slightly dazed expression she had just made, and her soft, gentle way of speaking. It was...
No, that's impossible. Märchen stared blankly at the girl before shaking her head violently. It was a fierce denial of the doubt that had just crept into her mind.
Her heart hammered uncomfortably against her ribs. I'm going crazy. I've officially lost my mind. To think she had actually superimposed Mir's face over this bizarre, cruel girl, even for a split second.
Mir was quiet, a bit of a goofball, but possessed a warm, gentle kindness. There was no way that child—who seemed to be the very definition of harmlessness—could be the same entity smiling so creepily in front of her. The sheer stress of the intense battle must be eating away at her sanity.
"Hmm, where was I?" The girl tapped her lower lip with her index finger, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, before shrugging. "Well, let's just get to the point. See over there?"
"...?" Märchen's gaze naturally followed the direction of her finger. Her eyes swept past the destroyed convenience store, past the familiar main entrance of the hospital, and pointed toward a spot on the 14th floor. Wait. The 14th floor? That was...
"...?!" Instantly, goosebumps erupted down her spine. The spot the girl's finger was pointing to was none other than her grandparents' hospital room.
"Over there, you see..."
"S-stop!" Märchen instinctively gripped her staff. Slipping into a combat stance, she aimed the tip of her staff at the girl. "If you do anything to my grandmother and grandfather, I'll never forgive you!"
"Hmm." The girl didn't even blink at Märchen's desperate shout. Instead, she stared at Märchen as if amused, murmuring, "Oh, and your friend is there too."
"...Friend?" A friend? What friend? Wait. No way. It couldn't be. Mir had left. She had seen it with her own eyes.
Märchen's mind raced. Just moments ago, a monster had run rampant on this very street. If so, Mir, who had been visiting the hospital, must have witnessed the horrific chaos of screaming people fleeing for their lives.
Yet, despite that, Mir hadn't run away and was still in the hospital room where they had been chatting earlier. Which meant...
...Mir is so kind. A pang of emotion hit Märchen's chest. To have such a warm heart, thinking of others first even in a dangerous situation.
Indeed, Mir was a literally radiant being who could never be compared to the bizarre entity standing before her. Märchen recalled Mir's warm, gentle image.
"That's right. That wonderful friend of yours." Soon, the image of Mir in her mind blurred and scattered, replaced by this girl who, despite sharing the exact same facial features, exuded a chillingly unpleasant aura—an entirely different person.
"Y-you coward...!" Märchen squeezed her staff.
"What's it going to be, Märchen?" the girl asked in a languid voice.
"Ugh..." Märchen's mind was in a frenzy. What should she do? No matter how much she racked her brain, no viable solution came to mind. Should she call for backup? But Märchen was the only one assigned to this district tonight.
There was no way to send a request, and even if she did, it would take at least ten minutes—if not longer—for the Association's magical girls to arrive.
Most crucial of all were the hostages. Her grandmother, her grandfather, and above all, her precious friend who was staying there without knowing anything. Their lives were in this girl's hands.
"Ngh..." She clenched her fists. In the end, she reached the miserable conclusion that it was better to submit than to watch them get hurt.
"...I-I surrender." Trembling, Märchen lowered her staff to the ground. "Don't touch Mir, or my grandmother, or my grandfather. Leave them all alone."
"Good." Seeing her surrender, a deep, beautiful smile spread across the girl's face. "Now. This might sting a bit." The girl gently lifted Märchen's chin once more.
Zzzzt— "Ah?!" Instantly, with a tingling sensation, the blue magic inside her body began to be sucked out, flowing into the girl's hand.
H-how... is she forcibly taking my magic...? To think a monstrous being capable of such a thing existed in this world. Though panicked, Märchen could only groan as her magic steadily drained away. As her power left her, her vision blurred, and her mind grew dizzy and lightheaded.
"Mmm. Thanks for the meal." After violating Märchen's power for what felt like an eternity, the girl pulled her hand away with a satisfied expression.
"Ah, it'd be rude of me to just take it and leave. I'll give you a present."
"A... present...?" Märchen gasped for breath, staring blankly at the girl. The girl tapped Märchen's cheek playfully and smiled.
"Yep. Go back to the hospital. You're going to love it." With those final words, the girl dissolved into the air like mist and vanished.
"A present? What does she..." Wait. She snapped out of her daze and scrambled to her feet. A sudden, ominous foreboding washed over her.
No, it can't be. She had promised. She promised she wouldn't hurt her family and friend. Even as she tried to reassure herself, her feet were already moving toward the hospital.
How much could she trust the words of someone who had completely stripped away her magical girl powers? Now that she had achieved her goal, why would she bother keeping her promise?
"No, no...!" Once the anxiety took root, it rapidly spiraled into the worst-case scenario. Märchen began to run, stumbling. Gasping for air as if her lungs would burst, she sprinted frantically toward the hospital.
In an instant, she reached Room 1402 on the 14th floor. Having canceled her transformation, Seol-ah flung the door open. "Pant, pant...! Grandma, Grandpa! Mir...!" Huh?
Her heart pounding violently in her chest, Seol-ah scanned the room, her eyes widening in sheer shock. "W-what... how..."
"Look at this, Seol-ah! Your grandmother is walking in place like this! It doesn't hurt at all!"
"And what about your grandfather? Look! My legs are as spry as ever, as if they were never hurt!" Her grandfather was also laughing, his back perfectly straight.
Huh? As Seol-ah struggled to process what was happening, her eyes landed on a familiar face.
"You're back?" It was Mir. What's more, she was giving Seol-ah a big thumbs-up with a perfectly serene expression on her face.