Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Magical Accountant
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A single gunshot. Octopus's pained question.
Those two sounds alone were enough.
Enough to ramp up the tension for me and Sora.
"What the hell."
"Wh-what's going on?!"
In the midst of this sudden chaos, Sora and I whipped our heads around. At the end of our gaze stood Octopus and Whitey.
Though they were quite a far cry from normal.
"Why would you shoot magic at a girl like me?!"
Octopus was clutching one of her arms, apparently hit by Whitey's magic.
It wasn't fatal, but of all places, it was the arm holding her magic wand. She'd have trouble moving or casting spells for a while.
Meanwhile, Whitey looked no worse for wear on the surface, nothing like Octopus. She simply blew across the double-barrel shotgun's muzzle.
Business as usual for Whitey.
This was Whitey right after casting her spell.
The problem was her target.
Even if calling Octopus a full-fledged Magical Girl was a bit of a stretch, she was still one, objectively.
And yet.
Whitey had cast magic.
Not at a Monster, but at a Magical Girl.
She didn't even look surprised or apologetic that Octopus was hurt because of her.
"Ha... so close."
She just quietly voiced her regret.
"Senior, why our sister...?"
"Eh, probably the curse. Must've gotten hit back there."
This had to be the curse's doing.
I just didn't know what kind.
Couldn't get a read on it.
"Sister got hit with some kinda Magical curse, right? One that amps up negative emotions?"
Amplifying ill will?
"Could be."
Not impossible.
Whitey and Octopus weren't exactly on great terms normally. The curse could've turned mere dislike into murderous intent.
But I had to nix that theory.
Click.
This time, Whitey had her sights on Sora.
The magic wand always aimed at Monsters was now pointed straight at her.
If it was negative emotions amplified, she might go after Octopus or me, but not Sora.
Whitey never said it outright, but everyone knew she doted on Sora like family.
Which meant Whitey was under a curse vicious enough to make her attack even Sora.
And then, two more sounds rang out in quick succession.
"Sister...?"
Sora's hollow question.
Followed by.
Bang!
Another gunshot.
Thankfully, Sora was unhurt. I'd grabbed her, but she must've sensed it coming too, dodging nimbly herself.
"Sister, why... why would you...?"
Still, she couldn't wrap her head around it, separate from the dodging.
Coincidentally, where Sora and I had dodged to was right by Octopus. She shot us a look full of worry just then.
"You okay-sawayo?"
"Eh, for now."
Soon after, Sora and Octopus shouted at Whitey, faces twisted differently.
"Sister! Why are you doing this?! Snap out of it, please!"
Sora's expression brimmed with anguish.
"This isn't right-sawayo! No matter how inferior you are, you're still a Magical Girl at heart-sawayo!"
Octopus's face burned with rage and betrayal.
In that moment, Whitey—who hadn't reacted till now—suddenly sneered at us.
"Right now, I'm no Magical Girl."
Step by step, Whitey advanced slowly.
"My name is Ray."
Whitey snapped the shotgun shut with a click.
Clink, clink. Two spent shells hit the ground.
"I live in a grand Magical House in the city, with money to buy anything I want, immense social power and status as a top-ranking Magical elite."
Click, click. Two fresh shells loaded.
"And!"
Whitey swung the barrel back into place.
A menacing ka-chunk echoed in my ears.
"I'll smash the heads of ants like you all! And crush you flat!"
Thud. Whitey's steps halted.
"I'm a Magical Accountant!!!"
Ka-chunk. Whitey aimed her magic wand at us.
And then.
Finally.
"Time to pluck these Magical ants clean."
Bang!
A dry crack of gunfire, and magic manifested from Whitey's wand.
Sora reacted instantly.
"Fire will protect us."
A barrier of blue flames sprang up in front of us, blocking Whitey's spell.
Maybe because it was chantless, Whitey's magic fell short of what I knew her capable of. Naturally, it couldn't pierce Sora's.
But Whitey didn't get discouraged.
She just.
Bang!
Pulled the trigger.
Click. Click.
Reloaded shells.
And repeated.
Mechanically, like it was the obvious thing to do.
Meanwhile, Sora choked out a tearful plea at her transformed sister.
"Sister...! It's me...! Sora...! Your sister...!"
Empty words appealing only to emotion.
Doomed to fade into nothing.
But.
"So... ra...?"
It actually worked, unexpectedly.
The gunshots stopped. Whitey's mutter filled the silence.
"S-Sister...? You... you know me...?"
"Urgh...!"
She even clutched her head hard, face contorted in agony.
A stark contrast to her reactions so far.
Hope sparked in Sora's eyes.
"Sister! Are you okay now─?!"
"Shut up, Magical ant."
Well, it didn't last.
Bang!
Whitey's magic rained down again.
Still, it wasn't total despair.
From Whitey's reaction just now, we could figure out her curse.
Just then, Sora put it into words.
"Sister must've gotten hit with a Magical brainwashing curse."
"More precisely, Magical hypnotic brainwashing-sawayo."
Hypnotic brainwashing.
A form of perception alteration.
The cliché that always pops up when an ally Magical Girl turns enemy.
Whitey was probably seeing herself as this "Magical Accountant," us as foes.
Of course, no blaming her. No thoughts of it.
The root was the Monster who cast the curse.
Besides, Magical Girls can't beat hypnotic brainwashing. As I've said a million times, it's documented in ancient texts and doujins alike.
Magical Accountant, though...
Honestly surprising.
Makes sense now why Whitey—who always seemed a bit dim—knew stocks from my lecture. There was a reason.
Intelligence and knowledge are separate beasts. Hits home today.
Still, Whitey's an idiot. No change.
Gifts are presents, not futures. Duh.
Anyway.
To break hypnotic brainwashing like Whitey's, you generally pick one of two.
Kill the caster Monster.
Or drown 'em in truth to snap 'em out.
Here, Sora and Octopus went with the latter.
"Sister! Please snap out of it! I'm begging you! It's me! Sora! Your one and only little sister!"
Sora appealed with tear-soaked words.
"Don't lose to some cheap Magical hypnosis-sawayo! Come back as the proud Magical Girl Gold Retriever, even with your lowly, pathetic Magical brain-sawayo!"
Octopus hurled unexpectedly complimentary barbs.
Did their sincerity ripple through Whitey's cursed heart? Her face twisted even more than before.
"Stop...! Stop it...!"
She couldn't cast properly anymore. Even the spells she barely managed were way weaker and sloppier than before.
Definite effect.
Pure Magical Girl trope scene.
That's when Sora and Octopus looked to me.
"Senior, help out here!"
"Right-sawayo! We need every Magical helper we can get-sawayo!"
Should I step in? Their eyes were so desperate, sitting it out felt wrong.
Guess I had to help.
I'm a Hero, after all.
I shouted.
"Wake up, Ray!"
First time uttering her name.
"That 'Magical Accountant' job you keep yapping about? It's not your real one!"
"You..."
Whitey glared at me, clutching her head.
I raised my voice a notch.
"That fancy comfy home, endless money for anything you want, all that power and status? Pure fiction!"
Me joining in amped her reaction more. Her pupils shook as she stared solely at me, speechless.
Good sign.
Precursor to the curse breaking.
Pour on more truth here, and it'd shatter quick.
"Uh... Senior, hold up a sec."
"Inferior breed, uh... maybe tone down the wording-sawayo."
Sora and Octopus tried to stop me, but no pausing now.
Hypnosis breaks by cramming max truth in minimal time.
"Wake up! Open your eyes! Reclaim yourself!"
So, I pressed the momentum.
To break Whitey's curse.
"Come work and clean with us till late every night, choke down three meals a day of that greasy, stinky slop with no flavor! It's not too late! Wake up already─!"
Bang!
But all that came back was a gunshot.
Meaning the curse held.
No—stronger now, probably.
Whitey wasn't grimacing or showing pain anymore.
Just.
"You, I'm definitely killing, you bastard."
Staring daggers at me alone.
"Sora, her curse isn't breaking."
"That's 'cause you said it like that, Senior!!!"
"Blame the inferior breed for ruining it-sawayo..."
"Ha, this ain't working."
We poured truth so hard, why the hell isn't the curse lifting?
Unfair. Dead serious.