Preparing for the Academy (1)
Whatever Serena Silphiel looked like in the past — which is to say, the child I now was — I couldn't remember exactly, but one thing was certain: she was one of the people who brought about the worst catastrophe in the latter half of the story. When she appeared before the protagonist's party in a half-human, half-beast form after contracting with Rekart, king of all demon beasts, the shock was nothing short of electric.
First, let's get one thing straight: Magical Girl Mika was a fatally toxic work for children to watch — a so-called "healing story," and I use that term with all the irony it deserves. Despite the magical girl title, the appearance of the demon beasts, the way they were dispatched, the depictions of the main cast dying — it was all seriously, unapologetically brutal. The moment it first aired, it was slapped with an age restriction almost immediately, and children who watched it knowing nothing ended up with genuine trauma.
Oh, and you're wondering why a killer like me knows all this in such detail?
Let's just move past that. Even a killer had modest hobbies, and one of mine was enjoying anime in my spare time. Even the most famous assassin has at least one habit they'd rather not get caught at, doesn't he?
"Serena? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing. Nothing at all."
I brushed off Serena's mother — well, the woman who was now her mother — with a vague answer and slipped back into the bathroom. In my current position, getting suspected over nothing and subjected to magical interrogation was something to avoid at all costs. If she learned her daughter was a killer from a place called Earth she'd never even heard of, her heart would pound like it was running laps around the neighborhood.
From now on, I needed to rack my brain. I was a killer who had been dropped into the body of the worst villain. If I simply followed the script, I'd have my head lopped off by the protagonist Mika long before I ever found the justice I was searching for.
Why exactly did Serena turn to darkness in the story? As I recall, season one was all just her butting heads with the protagonist in a classic rivalry setup...
I lost myself in thought as I turned on the magic-powered shower. This was a world where everything ran on magic rather than modern technology — water came pouring out with no hose attached at all, like one of those Bluetooth showers people used to joke about on the forums back on Earth.
"I remember now."
Serena had magical talent and skill rivaling the protagonist's own. But she kept falling behind, unable to overcome the protagonist's plot armor, and in her desperation to produce results she threw herself into demon beast subjugations alone, suffering grave injuries in the process. And then — her parents fell into danger, attacked by demon beasts. She was in no condition to save them, and even after requesting rescue from the Academy, not a single soul came. That was what broke her. That was when she went berserk — and fell.
The failed rescue request, the beasts devouring her parents at that exact moment — all of it was a scheme orchestrated by Rekart, king of the demon beasts. But Serena never knew the truth. Instead, she sold her soul and sealed the contract when Rekart came to her with honeyed words: help me annihilate the beasts who devoured your parents and the Academy that abandoned them. And so the strongest — and worst — villain in the story was born.
"Let's think about the best route."
Stay calm. Hadn't maintaining composure under any and all circumstances been my entire profession? So what if I'd been reincarnated into a world of magic and demon beasts? No need to make a fuss. What mattered was that I'd been given a second chance — and that I knew the future of this body.
There were several ways to prevent the misfortunes ahead, and since I knew this story inside and out, I had more than enough ability to change that future. The first option: simply never enroll in the Academy. Then Rekart would never learn of Serena's existence, and he'd never bother weaving a scheme tailored just for her.
But what if it's a fate that can't be changed?
If Rekart approaching Serena was destiny, then staying holed up at home praying would help far less than enrolling in the Academy and doing something about it. Especially since the current me couldn't even handle basic magic. Preventing the birth of the worst villain mattered — but saving my own neck from death came first.
The second option: never become the protagonist Mika's rival. That way, I'd have no reason to go hunting demon beasts alone in the first place, and even if an unchangeable fate brought Rekart to my doorstep, this time I wouldn't be alone — I'd have everyone standing beside me.
And the last option: build enough power to deal with Rekart myself. The hardest road, but also the most certain one. Sure, I was still too young to know the first thing about magic — but who was I? A man who'd made his name as the deadliest killer alive in a previous life. Killing people, killing demon beasts — different jobs, but strip it down to the principles and they're the same thing. Punishing evil and working for justice — isn't that close enough?
The hot water kept pouring, and the bathroom gradually filled with steam until my skin had gone pink and pruned. If I dawdled any longer, Serena's family would start asking questions, so I finished my shower and got dressed.
"Done washing up? Come eat before it gets cold!"
"We made your favorite today — braised short ribs, Serena~"
From the kitchen, wisps of fragrant steam and a rich, savory smell drifted up and teased my nose. Unlike my tangled thoughts, my stomach answered with a loud, honest growl.
First things first — time to melt into this life.
I sat down before Serena's parents — the people who had, without ceremony, become my parents now — and began to eat. Thankfully, the food wasn't all that different from Earth's, so it suited my palate perfectly. Perhaps because this body was starving, the dishes on the table began disappearing one after another.
One year remained until Academy enrollment. Within that year, I would throw everything I had into getting stronger.
Serena's body held mana rivaling the protagonist's, so I would pour myself into mastering the fundamentals first, using magic texts as my guide. A tower built on a solid foundation never collapses — that was Construction 101. And if I learned magic in a way that leveraged my existing skills, it would be all the more useful.
"You're quiet today. Is Mom's cooking not good enough for you?"
"No! It's delicious."
These were parents fated to meet a tragic end, all for the sake of the story's progression. I'd only known them a short while, but they were endlessly kind and gentle to their daughter. As long as I was here, I would never — never — tolerate a death that existed merely as plot convenience in this world.
After clearing every last grain of rice from the table, I made a firm resolution. This would be the first step on the road to the justice I pursued. Protect the precious. Punish the wicked. I didn't know where that road ended, but if I walked it to the end, I would find the answer I'd been looking for.
Damn you, fate. I'll accept you.
Just watch what happens when the world's worst villain chooses to stand on the side of justice.
[1 Year Later]
"Mother! Father! I'm heading out!"
"Going for your walk again today?"
"Don't come home too late~ You mustn't run into any demon beasts, you hear?"
"I will!"
A full year had already passed since I arrived in this world. I started each day the same way, following a fixed pattern, a fixed routine. Morning exercise every day, magic training after the workout, study of magical texts in the evening — that was how I'd spent an entire year.
My parents had asked me to stay within the barrier, but I hadn't been able to honor that request. If I wanted to grow stronger, a mountain course like this simply wasn't enough.
Dressed in light training clothes, I slipped out past the barrier once again and began my jog along my usual route. When I'd first arrived, I'd been winded in under ten minutes; now I could run for two full hours without breaking a sweat. For an ordinary little girl's body, that would have been impossible — but my heart was now wrapped in mana.
Everything changed once I awakened my mana. My physical abilities improved visibly, and I became capable of simple spells. Investing mana into physical enhancement was considered a fool's errand in a world of mages, but for me it was an invaluable tool. In my past life my fighting style had been built on close-quarters knife combat, so this was both an excellent form of magic and an essential skill I had to master.
After a year of effort, I had overcome my body's natural limits, and my current speed had reached a realm no ordinary human could hope to chase. At this velocity, assassinating a demon beast was more than feasible.
My only regret was that I hadn't yet been chosen for a Unique Magic. Even so, reaching this level of mana and physical capability in just one year left me deeply satisfied.
Unique Magic was granted only after Academy enrollment, in proportion to one's innate mana affinity. Serena's Unique Magic was, without question, fire-attribute. Barring any complications, that was what I would receive.
And once I was granted my Unique Magic, the staple of every magical girl story would appear as well: a summoned companion — in other words, a mascot. It couldn't be helped, since the mascot was the one who granted the Unique Magic in the first place, but honestly, I wasn't thrilled about it. I'd grown used to working alone back in my killer days.
Having someone chatter away at my side ruins my focus, after all.
Before I knew it, the end of my jogging course came into view. The beads of sweat lining my forehead slid down pleasantly, and the crisp air felt as though it could blow away every last impurity in my body.
Time elapsed: five minutes. Finishing a 5-kilometer mountain course at a pace I hadn't even pushed myself for left me thoroughly satisfied.
"In three days, I enroll in the Academy."
I'd prepared more than enough — but claiming I wasn't nervous would be a flat-out lie. What lay ahead would go beyond terror; it would straddle the line between life and death. I was intimately familiar with that territory, but having died once already, I knew I'd have to be even more vigilant and more tense than before.
I was leaning against a tree, sketching out plans for the future in my head, when a strange sound began drifting from the brush.
"Grrrrrr..."
It was unmistakably not the cry of any wild animal. Keeping my guard up, I fixed my gaze on the forest as it began to tremble.
"GRAAAAH!"
The trees started toppling one by one, and something whose shape I couldn't make out loomed slowly into view before my eyes. I swallowed drily — once, twice — then drew the fruit knife I'd smuggled out of the house behind my mother's back and dropped into a combat stance.
Before long, every tree had come crashing down — and standing before me, staring straight at me, was the first demon beast I had ever encountered in this world.