Calamity Mary's Transaction
Warning: Content contains graphic violence, death, and psychological horror. Reader discretion advised.
Transaction with Fav established. Calamity Mary has survived.
— Fav (Master Device)
The Musician of the Forest, Cranberry, had survived the selection exams.
A luxurious sofa, expensive glassware, and an interior adorned with glittering chandeliers.
This was the hideout of the mafia.
And the one in charge of this place was the magical girl known as the Western Outlaw—**Calamity Mary**.
“You never imagined I’d save you.”
Cranberry leaned back against the sofa, gazing at Mary with an elegant smile.
Mary smiled and poured wine into a glass.
“I felt a strange kinship with you from the start.”
Fav, floating like a bubble atop the master device, thought to himself.
At first, he and the others had planned to kill each other on sight.
But thanks to that kinship—or perhaps something else—they had chosen not to fight.
Calamity Mary took a sip of wine and spoke.
“A few days ago, that guy Magicaloid 44 showed up here. Fascinating, really.”
She lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Magical candy accumulates even without doing good deeds. Just by solving someone’s troubles.”
“…What do you mean?”
Cranberry narrowed her eyes and asked.
Mary slowly rose from her seat.
“I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
Mary smiled and drew the gun from her waist, pointing it straight at Cranberry’s head.
But Cranberry showed no sign of alarm.
“Fighting magical girls just to steal their magical candy isn’t fun.”
A brief silence fell.
And then Mary spoke with evident delight.
“Wouldn’t it be far more fun to drag innocent citizens of N-city into the game?”
“You’ve misunderstood.”
The Musician of the Forest placed her glass down with a smile.
“You speak as though you are the operator of this game. Unfortunately, I am not.”
“…Indeed.”
Calamity Mary lowered her gun and laughed.
“But I have a rough understanding of what’s going on in this situation.”
She crossed her legs and leaned back against the sofa.
“I know that a human claiming to be a mage appeared in N-city, and that you are the selector.”
Cranberry’s red eyes narrowed.
“The competition among magical girls for magical candy has lost all meaning now.”
The corner of her mouth slowly curved upward.
“Wouldn’t a more stimulating version be better?”
Mary laughed, almost as if giving advice.
The Musician of the Forest smiled back.
“I see. I didn’t expect the Magical Kingdom’s oversight to take this turn…”
She traced the rim of her glass with a finger.
“Rule changes… that sounds rather entertaining.”
Fav, floating lazily above the master device, had no idea what was being plotted.
“True, it does seem more fun this way. But we can’t turn every ordinary person into a magical girl. How do you plan to change the rules?”
Fav floated there and spoke.
Calamity Mary raised an eyebrow at Fav.
“Why? Because it’s impossible?”
“As I said before, there’s not enough qi flowing from the ground. We can’t increase the number of magical girls any further.”
Fav shook his tail as he continued.
“Even if it were possible, everyone would complain anyway.”
“Ah, so that’s the setting…”
Mary shook her glass, her interest waning.
“Well, forcing ordinary citizens into it is out of the question, but involving them is perfectly fine.”
“That’s boring. So boring.”
Mary clicked her tongue in frustration.
At that moment, the Musician of the Forest spoke gently.
“Then how about this?”
Every pair of eyes turned toward her.
“We abolish the current magical candy competition and turn it into a battle royale among magical girls.”
“…Oh?”
The corner of Mary’s mouth lifted.
Cranberry continued with her smile intact.
“In other words… we kill each other.”
The air in the room grew cold.
“Whether we use citizens as hostages, leverage them, or whatever else… I don’t care.”
Mary set her glass down and laughed.
“You have my approval?”
“However, it will naturally turn into a team battle this time.”
Fav chuckled.
“That’s always been our way. In that case, I’ll follow the master’s lead.”
The Musician of the Forest closed her eyes, then slowly opened them.
“Magical candy competitions are no longer necessary.”
Her voice was calm, yet it carried unmistakable madness.
“Even if it means blocking the Magical Kingdom’s oversight, allying with others is important.”
The conversation was not over.
A new beginning was quietly beginning to take shape.
◇Snow White
“You know, Emi started dating again.”
“You switch boyfriends too often. She’s popular, though. Does one man ever stay by her side for long~?”
Inside the morning bus on the way to school.
Himekawa Koyuki sat with a flushed face, listening to her friends’ chatter.
The topic was boyfriends and love.
“Koyuki… lucky you.”
Yoshiko, who had just sat beside her, sounded relieved.
“Eh? Why?”
“Well… I thought something bad had happened lately. Your face looked off, and I didn’t know what to say.”
“…Ah.”
Koyuki averted her gaze, embarrassed.
“But today you’re super cheerful! Must be because of a boy. Tell me. I’m dying to hear about these things.”
Himekawa Koyuki’s face turned scarlet in an instant.
“N-no, it’s not like that! Koyuki and Souta aren’t in a relationship or anything…!”
“Souta?”
Yoshiko’s eyes sparkled.
“I’m even more curious now~”
“Yojan, you’re mean…”
Smirile next to her immediately joined in.
“I think Koyuki is wrong about that. Lately her face has been off and her expression gloomy.”
Smirile crossed her arms and laughed playfully.
“I thought she’d had her heart broken. So who’s Souta?”
Koyuki flailed, utterly lost for words.
Her face was burning red, and it seemed steam might rise from her head at any moment.
“Just… a childhood friend.”
After getting home somehow, Koyuki transformed back into Snow White.
The meeting place was the former “Ten’nichien” orphanage site.
A rundown building surrounded by plastic sheets and construction fences.
There, waiting in plain clothes with only a jacket, was Shinomiya Gaku of the Audit Division.
Several magical girls had gathered at his summons.
This was not in Nabukashi City.
But the rules stated that merely being outside Nabukashi did not automatically disqualify anyone, so all were free to move.
The faces gathered here were familiar ones.
Sister Nana, Ves Winterprison, Ripple, Top Speed, La Pucelle, Hardgore Alice.
And the magical girl with sky-blue hair.
The first to speak was Sister Nana.
“…Thank you for calling us. In times like these, we must stand together. I’m grateful you made this arrangement.”
Ripple clicked her tongue in displeasure.
“Tch.”
Shinomiya Gaku shrugged.
“Thank you all for coming. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would show up. Sorry, but can we get to the main point?”
“Yes… of course.”
Gaku took out his phone and displayed a screen.
Inside was a knight’s report from twenty years ago.
Top Speed tilted her head.
“What is this…? It has nothing to do with the exams.”
“Really?”
Gaku held up the screen as he continued.
“Cranberry became a magical girl twenty years ago. And the selection exam took place right here—at the old Ten’nichien.”
Ripple glared coldly at Gaku.
“…Even if you found out where Cranberry took the exam, so what?”
She crossed her arms.
“We can only obtain that information. We can’t actually use it. To survive, we have no choice but to gather magical candy.”
Gaku was silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“If the Musician of the Forest was never like that from the beginning… then the twisted, wrong part lies with the Magical Kingdom.”
“You… what are you saying now?”
Ripple’s voice sharpened.
“If you feel sorry for that trash, then forget being a mage.”
Top Speed tapped Ripple’s shoulder.
“…Whoa, Ripple. Calm down.”
Gaku chuckled.
“Then what if I told you that by digging into an enemy’s past, even a single piece of information can become a powerful weapon to shake them? Even if it’s just words.”
After a pause, Gaku opened his hand.
“So… would you mind hearing the story?”
“Tch…! Do as you please.”
Ripple turned her head away in annoyance.
Shinomiya Gaku continued calmly.
“During the time when Ten’nichien was still operating, a major incident occurred there.”
The surrounding air grew still.
“At the time, it was an orphanage. And the Magical Kingdom held magical girl selection exams there.”
He paused.
“The only survivor of that incident was a nine-year-old girl named Kurano Ichigo.”
All eyes turned to him.
“And… that girl would one day become the Musician of the Forest.”
“…How do you know that?”
Ripple asked sharply.
Gaku did not answer with words. Instead, he began drawing a magic circle on the floor.
An intricate star-shaped pattern.
In the center he placed his phone, and at each corner of the star he set a 500-yen coin and a bottle cap.
He murmured the incantation in a low voice.
The final line was clear enough to hear even from the ears of all present.
“…Reproduce.”
Light flared.
Shinomiya Gaku gasped for breath immediately after activating the spell.
It was a heavy burden, but it had succeeded.
Two spirits rose in the air above, taking human form.
They were records of the past.
“…I’m exhausted.”
Gaku wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered.
“This is a spell to reproduce the past.”
A small chick lay dead.
Before it, a crying young girl.
Kurano Ichigo.
A nine-year-old who was clumsy, timid, and had poor words.
Another girl soothed her.
Miyamiya Momo.
The two were always together and got along well.
Ichigo, being smaller than her peers, was often bullied.
Momo and Ichigo buried the dead chick together.
They stuck a popsicle stick into the ground to make a tiny grave and covered it with their own hands.
And the scene changed.
The selection exam.
Ichigo asked with a trembling voice.
“…How many can pass?”
The selector said there was only one slot, so they had to work hard.
But the exam went out of control.
In the final stage, the demon that needed to be dealt with had gone berserk, and the children began to suffer serious injuries one by one.
Friends fell, and cries filled the air.
Ichigo was about to die, but
Momo hugged her and protected her.
In anger, fear, and despair, Ichigo gained strength.
And with that strength, she defeated the demon.
The scene after that was brief.
Fav appeared before Ichigo.
And whispered sweetly.
“You want to see an even more fun, more stimulating exam, don’t you?”
“If you become the master, anything is possible.”
“…Impossible…”
Sister Nana gazed at the past vision with sorrowful eyes.
After that, it was simple.
Ichigo became the selector and began to impose harsh and cruel trials upon the magical girls.
During that process, deaths became commonplace.
Shinomiya Gaku said quietly.
“The Magical Kingdom has a treaty.”
Everyone turned back to him.
“Living beings called demons cannot be used without permission from the three highest executives.”
His voice lowered.
“Twenty years ago… it’s not exactly the same as now. But the danger was already known then.”
A short silence.
And Gaku stated plainly.
“In other words… this was planned from the very beginning.”
---
“…Reproduce.”