My True Goal
"Aaaaah!" Harang's slender scream echoed through the thick fog.
"Nice spirit. Let's try it one more time."
Although the unfamiliar warmth of someone so close felt like it would burn her mind to a crisp, Harang managed to grit her teeth and hold her ground.
"Snow. Imagine the hardest sword you can possibly conceive."
Following the girl's whisper, Harang's eyes glowed with a brilliant blue light.
The shattered fragments gradually reassembled in midair, finally taking the complete shape of a massive Ice Greatsword that easily towered over Harang's own height.
"I-Is this enough?"
The moment the sword was complete, Harang pulled away from the girl's embrace with a flushed face. Immediately—whoosh—she swung the heavy ice greatsword with all her might, keeping her head bowed low.
"Oh, going straight for an attack? You're more competitive than you look."
It wasn't so much competitiveness as it was a desperate desire to hide her beet-red face. Regardless, perhaps fueled by that very embarrassment, the strike carried incredible power despite it being her first time wielding a greatsword.
"H-Haah!"
"Hmm."
The girl lightly dodged the blow. But Harang didn't stop. If she stopped now, she would have to face her head-on with a face that felt like it was about to explode. Absolutely refusing to meet those blank, sly eyes in this state, Harang used her embarrassment as fuel—
"Urgh...!"
Whoosh, whoosh!
She began to swing the greatsword like mad. The destructive slashes were unbelievable coming from such a slender frame. Even though it took the shape of a sword, its essence was pure, honed magic. With every swing Harang made, explosive, frost-laden magic erupted along the blade's trajectory, scattering in all directions.
The girl slipped through the tempestuous trajectory of the ice greatsword, dodging by a hair's breadth.
"Oh, fierce," her admiring voice echoed.
"Yaaah!"
Harang gritted her teeth and unleashed a massive horizontal slash. Slice. With a sharp tearing sound, a scrap of white cloth fluttered helplessly into the air.
"Oh."
"Ah..."
It was a success. Though she hadn't cut the girl herself, the tip of the ice greatsword had sliced off the edge of the oversized coat she wore. Fluttering down, the scrap of cloth drifted to the floor. Harang stared blankly at her hands gripping the hilt.
Her heart pounded. She could hardly believe that she, too, had left a mark—however microscopic—on that miraculous domain Red had managed to touch just moments ago.
"Effective, right?"
Unbothered by her torn hem, the girl offered a satisfied, bright smile. "Good, good. You both look pretty decent now."
"Whew... haah..."
Having been dragged into an involuntary special training session, Harang and Red gasped for breath, still clutching their weapons. It had been a brief clash, but squeezing out every drop of their magic had left them drenched in sweat.
Just as the two of them caught their breath and prepared for another round, the girl suddenly checked her phone and muttered, "Ah, look at the time... Well, I should get going."
"...Huh?"
Just leaving out of nowhere like this? It was utterly baffling.
"You're just going to drop some vague advice and leave? Are you kidding me?!"
"Yep. I'm a busy person."
And then—
"Besides, you guys couldn't beat me anyway."
The girl smirked, shrugging her shoulders with exaggerated drama.
"W-Well, that's true, but...!"
Since it wasn't a lie, Red was momentarily left speechless.
"Then why did you suddenly help us?"
"Hmm... I just felt like it."
"What is wrong with you! You've been giving us nothing but vague answers this whole time! I swear, if I could just land one hit on—!!"
The moment Red angrily stepped forward, raising her magic wand—
"...U-Um."
Snow bowed her head.
"Thank you!"
Even though it had felt like a playful spar, she could feel that her combat ability had genuinely improved. Watching this, Red clicked her tongue in defeat and lowered her magic wand.
"Haaah... Thanks for the advice on my end, too. I'll at least keep it in mind when I fight from now on."
Even with Red's fierce pride, she couldn't deny the rapid growth she had just experienced.
"Heh, you're welcome."
Pleased by their reactions, the girl smiled warmly. Then, with a gentle wave of her hand, she vanished without a trace, like a mirage.
"..."
"That girl seriously looks down on us. Honestly, when someone is talking, she should at least lis—"
"But Red is fire."
What?
"Kyaaa!"
"Whoa?!"
The voice suddenly drifted down from right above their heads. Snow and Red jumped in unison. The white-haired girl who had supposedly vanished just moments ago was now floating in the air right behind Red, poking her head out.
"Y-You didn't leave?!"
"My ears are pretty sharp."
"...What are you even saying? You're so annoying!"
"Heh."
Brushing back her long, shimmering white hair, she looked back and forth between Harang and Red with playful, clear eyes.
"But since you both worked so hard today, I'll let you in on something as a special bonus."
"...?"
Harang and Red's eyes locked onto the girl simultaneously. Resting her chin on her hand, she adopted a mock-serious expression and spoke in a low voice.
"My goal is..."
In a silence so profound you could hear a pin drop, the girl calmly continued.
"To return to the way I originally was."
"Huh...?"
Return to the way she was?
"Otherwise, this world will end. Or so they say. ...See? Nothing major, right?"
Their eyes went wide and round. No, that sounded like an incredibly big deal!
"Well, I'm really off this time. Bye-bye."
"Hey, wait! Why is the world going to end?!"
Red yelled urgently, reaching out. But with a gentle breeze, the sweet scent of milk had already scattered into the wind.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, on the top floor of the Magical Girl Association.
A woman, the supreme authority of the Association, sat with her chin resting in her hand, staring down coldly at a document. Standing before her was an active magical girl, visibly tense, anxiously fidgeting with her hands.
"...So, you are saying a mysterious white-haired girl recently appeared and suggested you quit being a magical girl?"
The silence broke as the woman's low, calm voice filled the room.
"Y-Yes! That's right, I swear it! And, um, it's not just me. Other colleagues registered with the Association have received the exact same offer..."
Just as the magical girl hurriedly tried to emphasize the gravity of the situation—
"Enough."
"Pardon...? But she might be a new type of monster..."
"You must have misseen her."
Without even looking up from her paperwork, the woman dismissed the magical girl's report with absolute ease.
"The frequency of monster appearances has been high lately, so you must be exhausted. Seeing things that aren't there."
"No, that's not it! I'm not the only one who saw her! Other magical girls have clearly witnessed that long, white-haired girl too...!"
Frustrated, the magical girl raised her voice to protest without realizing it.
Slowly, the woman raised her head to look the magical girl dead in the eye. Glare.
"H-Hieek...!?"
Meeting the woman's murderous gaze head-on, the magical girl felt her heart drop in sheer terror, her entire body beginning to tremble violently. A cold shiver ran down her spine. The color drained from her face in an instant, leaving her deathly pale.
"I will ask you again. There must have been some mistake, correct?"
"Y-Yes...! Yes, I-I must have been too tired from dealing with variant monsters lately...! I-I must have misseen her. Yes... it was definitely a dream..."
The magical girl quickly bowed her head before the inexplicable terror. An instinctive sense of crisis overwhelmed her, warning her that if she said another word, she might not make it to school tomorrow morning.
"Leave."
The moment the brief dismissal fell from the woman's lips, the magical girl scrambled out of the office as if fleeing for her life. Click, slam. The heavy door shut, leaving the woman entirely alone in the spacious office.
"Why."
Slam!!
"Why, why, why—!!"
The woman slammed her fist onto the desk before her. With a loud crash, the desk accessories scattered violently in all directions, and her phone bounced off the desk, rolling across the marble floor.
"The seal should still be perfectly intact..." the woman muttered under her breath, biting her nails anxiously.
Could someone have slipped through the seal like a slippery eel? As the thought crossed her mind, her brow furrowed deeply.
Slither...
In an instant, the woman's smooth right hand began to twist grotesquely. Her skin swelled and turned a dark, bruised red, completely losing its human shape as it transformed into a massive, writhing tentacle.
Rumble...
She extended the tentacle like a long whip. The tip wrapped precisely around the phone lying on the floor, pulling it back into her clean suit sleeve. Instantly reverting to a human hand, her fingers deftly tapped the screen to place a call. The ring didn't last long. As soon as the other party picked up, the woman spoke first in a cold tone.
"Yeah, it's me. I have a favor to ask."
...
"...Take care of that white-haired bitch running around lately. I need to go check on the seal. Please."
[Of course. Who do you think I am? Wolf... or should I call myself 'The First' whatever? Anyway.]
"...This is an encrypted line. Call yourself whatever you want."
[Got it, got it. So sensitive. Anyway, except for her, I was the strongest back then, wasn't I? Just leave it to me. So, where should I lock her up? Or should I just kill her cleanly?]
"Just neutralize her. I have some questions to ask."
[Okey-dokey~ I'll finish up quickly and call you back.]
Click.
"Whew..."
The woman slipped the phone into her suit pocket. Tap, tap. She walked toward the wall behind her desk. Approaching the wall, she reached for a corner near a large framed painting. She firmly pressed down on a candlestick that looked like a mundane decoration.
Creeeeak.
With a bizarre grinding noise, the wall slid open. Revealed inside was a hidden elevator bathed in the bluish glow of a magic circle. Without hesitation, the woman stepped inside.
"...I won't let those rootless traitors ruin the place I've built."
Frowning deeply, she muttered as if addressing someone. With those final words, the elevator doors slid shut, and she vanished from sight.