Undercover vs. Undercover (2)
"That's true enough," Raban sighed.
"Is there some problem, sawayo?"
"I've already tricked Salamandine into thinking I'm a mascot."
Inian stared at him with an expression that screamed, 'Where the hell does this thing keep its conscience?'
Feeling a pang of guilt, Raban waved his hands defensively.
"I had no choice! If I'd left her alone, Nai Hyun would've died! To get Salamandine on board with burning down the Black Forest, I had to stretch the truth a little!"
"You conveniently omitted 'before I could harvest the negative emotions' from 'Nai Hyun would've died,' sawayo."
Missing Inian's sharp sarcasm entirely, Raban shook his head.
"Anyway, that's the situation. Why would Salamandine come to a mascot for counseling? Unless we wipe her memory."
"If you had the mana to erase memories, it'd be better to just seal her away, sawayo."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
Inian let out an ahh of a sigh and propped her chin on her hand. This was an unexpected variable. Who could've guessed that damn black mage's mouth had already run ahead of them?
That black mage's silver tongue was like a surefire killer move that worked once but never twice—not because of any real eloquence, but because he set up the perfect environment where you had to fall for it. After the first time, you'd be on guard, and the deception's success rate plummeted.
Plus, the scam he'd pulled on Salamandine had made her think he was on the enemy side—which, to be fair, he pretty much was. Her wariness was probably maxed out by now.
Watching Inian tilt her head back and forth in thought, Raban smirked with a 'you're trying hard' look and shrugged. The dynamic had flipped from just moments ago.
"Give it up. No amount of scheming will make the impossible possible. Just like how you can't drop out of magical girl mode right now."
"Be quiet, sawayo. You're the type who's better off not thinking at all if you want to survive."
Raban felt hurt, but Inian meant it sincerely. That black mage was beastly—far more dangerous when he let instinct take over instead of intellect. His record of raiding the demon world's grand duke vaults proved it: his "meticulous plans" often got busted early, but once he bolted on pure animal reflex, you couldn't stop him without massive losses.
"Living in a nice house with three square meals a day has dulled your inner beast, sawayo."
As Inian racked her brain for a way to lure in Salamandine, she recalled the "unjust tale" Raban had shared the night before.
"What did that Magi White magical girl say to you, sawayo?"
"Something like, 'It's your fault, black mage!'"
"That's a line I say a lot. Didn't you say she ranted about curses and declared her ambitions, sawayo?"
Raban mulled over the memory. He'd been blamed plenty in his life, but getting chewed out for curses he hadn't even cast was a new one, so he'd remembered it in detail.
"'You tempted people who could become friends to devour them!' Something in that vein."
"I've found the solution, sawayo!"
Inian clapped her hands and shot to her feet. That weird remark from Magi White, combined with the mascots' position as "protectors of magical girls"—put them together right, and there was a breakthrough.
"Who do you think Magi White meant by the one trying to absorb mana, sawayo?"
"Magi Black, obviously."
"...Think about it, sawayo. Magi Black and Magi White are already friends. If she said 'people who might become friends,' there has to be someone else in the running for it to make sense."
"They could just be business partners."
Inian ignored Raban's cynical quip. That was just the nonsense of a guy with no friends even back in the demon world. Fighting side by side naturally made comrades, didn't it?
"She meant she wants to befriend a Heavenly King, sawayo?"
Raban wanted to object just to poke holes. 'They wrecked the Ebon revival ritual and always go at each other tooth and nail—friends?' But he suppressed the impulse bubbling from deep inside.
"Exactly! So you just keep up the mascot faction disguise! Invite Salamandine to counseling under the pretext of supporting magical girls' dreams, sawayo!"
Arguing with Inian while she was this fired up would probably earn him a physical rebuttal, so Raban opted to point out practical issues instead of nitpicking.
"But how do you get her to the counseling room?"
"That's a foolish question, sawayo. From Salamandine's perspective, you're a mascot's messenger. Tell her there's something to discuss privately, and she'll make time even if she has to."
"That's not the issue—where do you have that talk? The mascots don't monitor inside the counseling room out of respect for student privacy, but getting her there is the problem."
"Heh. I'll just lure her in under the pretense of a school tour, sawayo?"
"Damn, you're a genius?"
"Sargasso. That... 'sawayo' guy. What do you think?"
Curiously, both the guardian fairies and the Four Heavenly Kings had given Inian the same codename, thanks to her distinctive speech pattern.
"......"
"Hey. Sargasso!"
Only after Salamandine called his name a couple times did Sargasso snap out of it with a startled "Ah!"
"My apologies. I was pondering that crocodile beast. What was it?"
"That sawayo who smashed the crocodile beast."
"Hmm, she wielded some impressive power."
While he rated her strength highly, Sargasso didn't seem particularly interested in sawayo herself. His mind was fixated on the crocodile beast.
'That mana was unmistakably...'
"But no matter how strong, she's from another dimension, right? Once the commotion ended, she probably went home."
"Nah, she transferred in today?"
"...?"
Sargasso blinked, failing to process at first, then asked who and where. After several confirmations, he glared at the Ivory Tower's ceiling and muttered.
"What is the world coming to? What are those fairies thinking, admitting an otherworldly abomination as a student...?"
"Oh ho! You mean that lovely lady with the exquisite wings!"
"Dunamis... Have you already forgotten her intimidating aura? The Mother Fairy's power may have altered her form, but the danger remains unchanged."
"What are you saying, my friend Grata? Her raven-wing beauty was just as stunning before and after!"
"Ugh, seriously. Grata! Take that birdbrain outside before his chirping drives me nuts!"
As the rock giant dragged the eagle-winged playboy away, Salamandine refocused on the topic.
"You admit it too—sawayo's combat prowess is no joke. She took down that crocodile beast easy, and even two magical girls struggled against it."
Sargasso stroked his watery mustache and raised a skeptical brow. "So?"
If a third force this powerful had infiltrated Lux Tierra High School, they'd need to investigate thoroughly.
"How about recruiting her?"
"To where?"
"Our Ivory Tower!"
'Ugh, that old fogey.'
Sargasso had griped for a while about "daring to bring filth into the great Ebon's temple of knowledge!" but majority vote won out. Dunamis was all for it with his "ooh, pretty wings~," and Grata agreed they needed stronger forces against recent anomalies.
Rubbing his temples like it was a headache, Sargasso asked one last time before final approval.
'But this is unexpected.'
'What is?'
'With your personality, I figured you'd challenge her to a fight first. Using conciliation instead?'
'Ha! Battles need both wisdom and might!'
That's what she'd told Sargasso. But in truth...
"......"
Salamandine reflected on what sparked the idea of recruiting sawayo—that is, Inian.
It stemmed from Magi White's words: "those who might become friends someday."
If a magical girl reached out to a Heavenly King, then surely a Heavenly King could reach out to another...
'Ugh, what weak thinking!'
Dine shook her head. She wasn't trying to befriend them.
'Right! Strategy! I'm stealing the magical girls' strategy and using it against them. Sabotaging their power boost.'
Slapping her cheeks a couple times to steel herself, Dine quietly opened the classroom's back door. A chorus of "Hey!" greeted her from the rowdy class.
"Good morning."
Returning the demure greeting in kind, she scanned her surroundings. She'd lure Inian out somewhere quiet and secluded, away from prying eyes.
And so began the inexplicable showdown between the Four Heavenly Kings scheming to drag a demon grand duke into the Ivory Tower, and the demon grand duke scheming to drag a Heavenly King into the counseling room!
Dine thought, 'Aah, seriously!'
Why was she so popular? Sure, small and cute made her huggable, but hugging her like a teddy bear on your lap? What was with this school's overly friendly students?
Inian thought, 'Is she really a monster?'
Dine was the picture of a model student. A quick glance at her notes showed neat, readable summaries packed tight, and she split class presentations about evenly with that Schne girl. Why was she so dead serious about school life?
During breaks, the Heavenly King and the demon grand duke kept trying to approach each other, but the swarm of students around them foiled every attempt. The two girls realized lunch hour would be their moment to strike.