Artificial Sisters and an Outing Promise
I stared at my rapidly dwindling bank balance and muttered under my breath.
“I’m broke…”
It had only been about two weeks since I became a magical girl, and the money I’d saved up was already scraping the bottom. Sure, if I pinched every penny I could probably stretch it another two weeks… but still.
“Maybe I spent too much on clothes…”
“No, it’s definitely because you kept buying ice cream,” Ryuk grumbled from beside me.
“How am I supposed to make money…”
The problem was, right now I was a fifteen-year-old kid who couldn’t even prove her identity. No matter how short-handed places were these days, nobody was going to hire someone who looked like this.
“Haa… I don’t suppose money’s just going to fall out of the sky, huh~”
Flutter.
A 50,000 won bill gently landed on my face.
Wait. Did that actually work?
I quickly stuffed the yellow paper that had been blocking my view into my pocket and looked up. A massive truck was barreling down the street, flinging cash everywhere behind it. Several police cars and a magical girl were in hot pursuit.
They were probably the bank robbers who’d just hit a branch nearby.
Villains—monsters born when a monster gate creature possesses a human body and their desires spiral out of control. Of course, regular criminals who follow them get lumped in as villains too, and these days pretty much every crook gets called a villain, but technically that’s what they are.
I checked Magical Girl Gallery and saw that the ones who’d robbed the bank were underlings of Grid. True to his name, this money-obsessed villain mostly robbed banks or ran scams to steal from honest citizens.
I’d run into a few monsters and magical girls before, but I’d never actually seen a villain in person. So I quietly started following their truck. If I was lucky, maybe more cash would come flying my way like before.
While I was tailing them, Ryuk suddenly looked at my phone and yelped in surprise.
“What the—? These villain guys have actual bounties on them?”
I stopped and took the phone from him. The moment I saw the number listed under Grid’s name, my jaw dropped.
“How many zeros is that…”
And every single one of his underlings had huge bounties too. I actually started drooling without realizing it.
It wasn’t quite enough to completely change someone’s life, but it was definitely enough to let me coast comfortably for a long time. Probably because this guy caused more financial damage than most other villains, so the bounty was set that high.
“I wonder if I could claim a bounty…”
“No way. You’d probably get arrested right along with them.”
“Hmm…”
Still, I kept secretly following the villain alongside the other magical girl.
“Hey, Ryuk.”
“What?”
“A bounty… if you think about it, it’s basically just them giving you a cut of the stolen money, right?”
“Well… I guess, technically?”
“…Then couldn’t I just take the money and say I’m claiming the bounty?”
“Hey… wait a second… you’re not seriously thinking—!”
It’s been a while since I had a proper meal out…
Set…
“Transform!”
Turn to Noir!
I aimed my Magical Revolver at the fleeing cash transport truck.
Set… Blast!
I fired a massive magic bullet straight at the truck’s tires.
The tire burst. The vehicle lost balance, swerved wildly, and slammed into a nearby streetlight with a deafening crash.
The magical girls who arrived late stared at the scene with confused, startled expressions.
I didn’t waste the opening. I quietly landed on top of the truck.
Grid’s underlings, startled by the sudden accident, poured out of the vehicle and looked around. The moment they spotted me standing on the roof, both they and the magical girls shouted in shock.
“You’re…”
“Noir…!”
“Guess I’ve become a bit of a celebrity. Not that it matters.”
Grid’s men raised their assault rifles and pulled the triggers. Crimson muzzle flashes erupted from every direction.
But—
Change Weapon!
In an instant I drew my revolver saber and sliced every bullet out of the air. The halved rounds clattered uselessly to the ground beside me.
“Now… it’s my turn!”
I charged at Grid’s underlings surrounding the truck. In the blink of an eye, the barrels of their assault rifles were severed and fell to the pavement. Thanks to all the monster hunting I’d done, my physical stats had grown considerably. Taking down ordinary humans with no powers was almost too easy.
“Yah! Magical Girl Kick!”
I watched Grid’s men go flying from my kick and actually started humming at the thought of treating myself to a nice meal out for the first time in ages.
“Looks like I’ve cleaned most of them up… Guess I’ll just take a little~”
I was about to check the truck’s cargo when a huge shadow suddenly loomed over me.
It was a massive villain wearing a mask… He must have been stuck inside because of his subordinates.
“Ugh…”
A giant easily three times my height climbed out of the truck, dragging his enormous bulk with him. I hadn’t expected the underlings to be normal humans, but—
“This guy’s way too big!”
I barely managed to deflect a punch that moved with terrifying speed for his size and leaped backward. Rubbing my stinging arm, I pulled out the core I’d recently obtained—the Kaiser Core.
“I don’t know what you do, but… I’m counting on you!”
But contrary to my hopes—
Mismatched Core!
“Huh?”
The core refused to activate and only spat out a strange warning sound.
“That’s… weird? Why is it doing that…”
The giant villain didn’t miss the opening. His fist slammed straight into my face.
“Guh…!”
I flew backward and crashed hard into a building wall. I slid down and collapsed onto the ground with a pathetic groan. The Kaiser Core bounced away somewhere, slipping from my grasp.
“Ughhh…”
My face was burning. Not from embarrassment—my face literally hurt so much it felt like it was on fire.
Still, I slowly pushed myself up and wiped the blood trickling from my nose.
“Hoo… that was dangerous…”
At least he wasn’t a monster. If I’d been fighting one of those, that hit could have killed me. I’d have to test cores properly before using them from now on.
“Guess I can’t use that one…”
I switched to my Aigis Core and created a barrier.
“This shield even stopped a monster’s blade. Think you can break it?”
As expected, the villain’s punch bounced right off. Enraged by his own powerlessness, the giant slammed his fist down again. The barrier didn’t even get a scratch.
“It’s over.”
I spun the cylinder twice. Raising the now-enormous blade, I slashed the giant villain seven times in an instant. With each strike, the magic embedded in the blade exploded outward, and the massive man collapsed.
“Phew… that takes care of that…”
I looked at the magical girls and police officers who were just staring at me blankly, then boldly pulled a money bag out of the truck.
“Um… I’ll be taking this as my bounty reward, okay?”
I smiled, gave them a little wave, and leaped onto the roof of a nearby building. Then I quickly flew off into the distance.
Luckily, neither the magical girls nor the police tried to follow me.
“That should cover living expenses for a while…”
“I-I’m sorry, boss!”
“Shut up! Get out of my sight before I kill all of you!”
Grid was in a very bad mood right now.
“Goddamn it…”
Of course he was. A bank robbery plan he’d spent weeks preparing had been completely ruined by a single magical girl.
Noir.
He repeated the name over and over in his mind.
A magical girl who had suddenly appeared recently, attacking other magical girls, hunting monsters and then running away—doing all sorts of bizarre things. At first he’d thought she was some kind of villain like himself, so he’d let her run wild in his territory without interfering, but…
“How dare she touch my money…!”
Grid’s fist slammed down on the desk. More than the safety of his subordinates, the fact that money that should have been his had been stolen filled him with burning rage.
“I won’t forgive this… I’ll make sure you pay that debt back in full…”
At that moment, another villain emerged from the shadows of his room—Replica.
Villains normally didn’t intrude on each other’s territories. Of course there were some without any manners or rules, but still. So Grid openly showed his irritation and discomfort at the sudden visit.
“What do you want… Isn’t the great theatrical actor busy preparing for his next performance?”
Replica, who fought magical girls in the name of “performances” to fulfill his own twisted ideals, gave a faint smile.
“Even a performance… requires a sponsor, you see…”
“…I don’t have any money to give a bastard like you.”
“Haha, calm down, Grid. I never said I wanted your ‘money,’ after all.”
Grid’s eyebrow twitched.
“Grid… I believe I’ve fallen in love.”
“What the hell are you talking about…”
“Shall we say I’ve been captivated by that mysterious being known as the magical girl Noir?”
Replica spoke with exaggerated, theatrical gestures, as if dancing across the room.
“Lend me some of your actors… no, your employees, just for a little while.”
Grid ground his teeth. He’d already lost quite a few underlings recently. If he were certain he could beat the villain in front of him, he would have thrown a punch right then and there.
But he held onto the last thread of his patience and answered.
“Hah… and why should I?”
Replica answered by tossing him a large pouch filled with gold coins.
“Please, Grid. I need your strength.”
The moment he saw the glittering gold, a faint smile finally appeared on Grid’s lips.
“Hah… At least you’ve got a proper head on your shoulders. Fine. Take a few.”
“Thank you, Grid. Then I hope you enjoy my upcoming performance… It will be quite entertaining.”