October 32nd
On the second floor of the hotel sat the Grand Bloom, an enormous reception hall.
Given the circumstances, dipping into Association funds felt a little too conspicuous, so Eve had rented the place out of her own pocket. The crew working on my face wasn't Association staff either—she'd brought in an outside makeup team, and they were currently applying themselves to the task with impressive dedication.
Eve herself, of course, was nowhere near this room.
Strictly speaking, Eve and I weren't supposed to have any connection at all. Which is to say that the evil organization Mogumogu-dan and the Magical Girl Association were, officially, to have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.
Officially, that is.
"Mommy's so pretty!"
Kabe was perched on my lap, gazing up at my face with unflagging wonder. I stroked her hair and glanced back at the mirror.
I had to admit it. I'd lived as a man my entire life and had never once sat for makeup, so the degree to which a layer of cosmetics could transform a face was genuinely startling. The whole time they'd been working, the artists had been gushing about how good my skin was, and I'd felt nothing in particular. But looking at the finished result... yeah. This was something else.
"Is Mommy pretty?"
"Yeah! Super pretty!"
Kabe couldn't take her eyes off my face. Her mouth hung open in a delighted little gape, a steady stream of admiration pouring out of her.
Well. Being pretty was hardly a bad thing. Beauty was power, wasn't it?
Script in hand, I gently set Kabe down and rose from the chair.
"Kabe, when Auntie Dusick gets here later, you stay right by her side, okay? Got it?"
"Mhm, I got it, Mommy."
I listened to her sturdy little reply and checked myself in the mirror, already in my transformation outfit. No matter how many times I looked, the thing radiated uniform. Not so much feminine as imposing—the word gallant suited it far better.
I faced my reflection, flashed a grin, and left the room.
The clock read 5:45 p.m.
"That's blinding. Ease up on the flashes, would you?"
I said it without much expression, and a good number of the reporters sheepishly lowered their cameras.
The questions themselves were nothing special. What had I done before this? None of their business. What were my ambitions going forward? World domination. And the magical girls? They were all enemies, so I would crush them.
I had not the slightest intention of playing the lovable villain. Even if I tried, it wouldn't land. Not after the stunt I'd already pulled. A likable villain? Don't make me laugh.
"I'd like to hear a comment regarding yesterday's incident at Samseong Police Station."
There it was.
The question had come later than I'd expected. I'd been sure it would be the first thing out of someone's mouth.
I picked up the microphone in front of me.
"That question took quite a while to arrive. I assumed it was the one you were all most curious about."
I looked around. Nearly every reporter in the room had their eyes locked on me.
"It was self-defense. A proportionate response to the insult directed at myself and my subordinate."
"I'm having trouble understanding how that constitutes self-defense. Was that not, quite plainly, an act of violence against human beings?"
I regarded the woman holding the microphone, studying her for a moment. She didn't look away. She stared right back at me.
Bold. Or maybe just fearless.
"Let me ask you something, reporter. Even if it was an act of violence against humans—is that a bad thing?"
"Yes, it is."
Not a second of hesitation. I'd expected as much.
"Why is it bad?"
The reversal seemed to catch her off guard. Anyone who'd finished elementary school knew that hitting people or bullying them was wrong. And here I was, asking her why.
"Well... because violent acts are bad...?"
Microphone still in hand, I stood. I walked slowly around the press-conference table and came to a stop in front of the assembled reporters.
The moment my full figure came into view, camera shutters erupted in a storm of flashes. I ignored the trivialities and swept my gaze across the people around me.
"Ten years. It's been a mere ten years, and yet you all seem to have forgotten a great deal. I am the leader of Mogumogu-dan. The head of the evil organization that invaded you. I am not human—I am a Main. Before the magical girls appeared, plenty of humans died by our hands, and plenty more lost everything they owned. And you intend to lecture someone like me on how attacking people is wrong?"
The reporters looked rather taken aback. Fair enough. On the surface I looked like an ordinary human, and it was a surprisingly well-known fact that the leaders of Mogumogu-dan had, generation after generation, been of human origin. Except among people like me, who'd never paid much attention.
"Why does the Magical Girl Association wield supernational power? Isn't it because they are a military force whose strength far surpasses every weapon you humans have spent so long developing?"
I swept my coat open and raised my left hand. Dark magic power rose from it in coiling wisps.
"With this hand, I have already defeated two of those magical girls—Prequ and Frilly. Do you understand now?"
Answered it, my ass.
But the reporter who'd asked me couldn't manage a reply. She just nodded a few times and sat back down. A hand went up from the back, as if they were tagging in, and I looked that way and nodded.
"I have a question."
A different reporter. A fairly large man with notably deep-set eyes.
"This is information obtained through unofficial channels, but I understand that the reason Mother destroyed Samseong Police Station yesterday was an insult directed at a subordinate. Is that correct?"
"It is."
"And the first person you attacked was a student by the name of Go Taesik. Were you aware of this student's background?"
They'd done their homework. How had they dug up that level of detail in a single day?
"I was. I heard he's the son of some very important people."
"And you attacked him anyway. Why?"
"Because my subordinate was insulted. Let me ask you something. If a lawsuit comes in over an article you've written, doesn't your company protect you?"
"It does."
"Same principle. As you can all see, I am not like the bosses who came before me. An insult to my subordinate is an insult to me, and I will repay it with a corresponding—no, a greater—retaliation. Reporter. Has that answered your question?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Due to time constraints, we'll begin preparing for the scheduled broadcast. Mother, that concludes the press conference—is that all right with you?"
"That's fine."
I returned to my seat and took a sip of water. They'd said there would be about ten minutes of break. In that window the makeup team came over and touched up everything that had worn off.
"There are three cameras in total. Left, center, and right. Please speak while looking at whichever camera has the red light on top. Any other questions?"
"No."
I answered absently, scanning the room. I hadn't seen Kabe in a while. Dusick should have been back by now—was she with her?
I was getting antsy. Kabe was nowhere in sight, and I had no idea who she was with. The worry was starting to gnaw at me.
I kept darting my eyes around, and one of the staff members must have gotten concerned, because they started saying something. I waved them off. I was fine. It was fine.
"We'll begin in three minutes. Please take your seat."
"No need. I'll do it standing, right here."
I stood in front of the table the same way I had during the Q&A. I figured it would make for a decent visual, and once the staff checked my standing figure on the camera monitors, they sent over an okay sign.
I can't see Kabe.
I can't hear her voice either.
What is Keru doing?
Is Karin watching her?
She was supposed to be with Dusick.
This is way too nerve-wracking.
"Starting in five seconds!"
Nothing will happen. Yeah. Of course nothing will happen. The red light was on the center camera.
"I am Mother, the new boss of Mogumogu-dan. We have been quiet for some time. I trust you have all enjoyed a sufficient rest."
I walked slowly toward the camera, letting my heels click deliberately against the floor. My cold expression reflected in the camera lens.
"The time has come to end that rest. You humans place your faith in magical girls alone—foolish creatures. Look at this."
I swept my coat aside and raised my left hand. Dark haze coiled up from it, lending the gesture a surprisingly grotesque atmosphere.
"Forget the Mogumogu-dan of the past. Under my rule—under Mother—Mogumogu-dan begins anew. We sever all ties with that ridiculous history, and we will bring ruin and despair upon you humans, and upon our sworn enemies, the magical girls."
Wait, what came next? The script, the script is on the table... Damn it. I should have just sat down. The script was still at my seat.
"And, and..."
I fumbled for the next line, and one of the staff members started waving their arms frantically. I looked over to see what the fuss was—and the red light had already shifted to the right-hand camera.
Meaning the broadcast was currently showing nothing but my profile.
"AnywayonlyapainfulfutureawaitsyousoI'mtellingyounicely, sponso—"
That's not it!
"No—surrender. Those who surrender will be granted absolute suffering."
That doesn't even make sense. Why don't I have a teleprompter? Memorizing a script—isn't that a relic of a bygone era?
"No, those who surrender will be granted mercy. Those who resist to the end will find only suffering..."
That was when it happened.
"Mommyyyy! Auntie Dusick's heeeere!"
Kabe's voice rang out. A moment later she appeared from behind the cameras, Dusick sprinting after her—and then Kabe, charging straight toward me, caught her foot on a cable connected to one of the cameras and went down with a thud.
"Kabe!"
"Kabe!"
My voice and Dusick's rang out at the same time. But I was much faster.
"Uh, uh, Mo-Mommyyyy, waaaaah!"
I scooped Kabe up off the floor where she'd burst into tears. I patted her bottom and soothed her.
"Kabe, hey, it's okay, it's okay. You didn't get hurt. Mommy'll blow on it and make it all better, so no crying. Come on, all done, all done. Okay?"
"Uh, uhhh... auuugh..."
I'd been worried about the marble floor being so hard, but she didn't seem to have any actual injuries.
And that was when I remembered the microphone in my hand.
Ah. This is a live broadcast. I should probably wrap this up.
I was half-crouched, about to hand Kabe over to Dusick—who was standing just off-camera wearing a miserable expression, staring at the two of us—when Kabe locked her arms around my neck and started thrashing, determined not to be put down.
The words scrawled on the sketchbook a staffer had hoisted into the air made me want to faint on the spot. How was this supposed to look good?
And wait—couldn't they have been using that sketchbook to feed me my lines this whole time?
"...At any rate. To you humans... and to the magical girls... Mogumogu-dan hereby declares its revival, from this place. This month, on October 32nd, in Itaewon—try and stop our attack. Magical girls. That day will be the first step in demonstrating our overwhelming power."
"October 31st. Remember it."
A declaration of war, delivered while bouncing a small daughter in my arms.
I had to wonder how well any of this was actually going to land.
This is why I said I didn't want to go on the air...