Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: A Moment to Breathe
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Magical Girl Mint Turtle.
Her real name was Seiki.
She was in a very good mood.
Or, to be a bit more precise, her mood had soured slightly before brightening back up.
The reason it had soured was today's Magical meal: Magical peanut butter.
'Magical allergy, and they still serve this shit.'
For someone with a severe Magical peanut butter allergy like her, it was impossible not to feel pissed.
But when she remembered that in just a few more days, she could attend the Magical Vocaloid concert, her mood lifted again.
She hadn't made any special preparations, so she hadn't managed to get Magical reservations, but it didn't matter.
Thanks to that lunatic calling himself a Hero today, she'd scored some Magical scalped tickets.
'Worst case, I can just snatch some tickets anyway.'
Her mood couldn't help but be great.
It was called a Magical Ikusa Battle, but it was basically just Magical tribute collection. She could sort out the Magical pecking order at night and make some money too.
Truly, a Magical one stone two birds.
A Magical win-win.
So Seiki's attention wasn't on Kim Siyul in front of her at all—it was solely fixed on her vacation.
'Hope that bastard registered it properly.'
The Magical Girl handling vacations was a total slacker.
Rumor had it she had early-stage Magical dementia, and sure enough, she'd forget even after being told repeatedly.
Honestly, Seiki was feeling a bit anxious even now.
She'd been a Magical Girl with a flashy combat record, after all.
'Well, it should be fine. Properly registered.'
Otherwise, she wouldn't be making such a fuss. Seiki nodded slightly, shaking off her worries.
In truth, Seiki hadn't planned on taking vacation in the first place.
Going out on leave to catch the Magical Vocaloid concert was something she'd stumbled upon while suddenly deciding to take time off this time.
Seiki had a real reason for abruptly requesting leave this time.
Magical Girl Magenta Eagle.
A Magical Girl who'd once teamed up with Seiki but had temporarily split off to handle Magical deliveries.
The reason was that she'd lost her mind.
'Mental breakdown over something like that? What a pathetic bitch.'
Of course, Seiki had no intention of seeking Magical revenge for Magenta Eagle.
She wasn't particularly close to Magenta Eagle. To her, Magenta Eagle was just a Magical Girl she could discard anytime if things got serious.
Just one she wouldn't normally throw away.
To Seiki, Magenta Eagle was a decent Magical Girl. She followed orders obediently and was a big spender—a Magical sugar mama, in other words. Or a Magical sucker.
However.
When Magenta Eagle went insane, Seiki lost that useful Magical benefactor.
The culprits were the Magical dorm where Ray and Sora lived.
More precisely, it was Kim Siyul's fault, but Seiki just targeted Ray and Sora instead.
She'd hated Sora and Ray from the start anyway.
Kim Siyul wasn't so much hated as just fucking annoying.
Anyway.
For those reasons, Seiki had been grinding her teeth in wait. Magenta Eagle's mental collapse gave her the perfect excuse to act in earnest.
In simple terms, payback for the inflated Magical Engel coefficient.
While Seiki was biding her time, she heard an intriguing Magical rumor.
A Magical tidbit that Ray was using extra vacation days to meet Sora outside.
She vaguely heard it was for something really important, but that was none of her business.
'If they're pissed, they can cover my Magical cigarette costs.'
Compared to her skyrocketing Magical Engel index, that shit was worthless.
'Perfect, you fucking bitches.'
And Seiki didn't stop there.
Planning to harass them thoroughly, she went to the Magical Captain and made a request.
To completely block Ray's vacation.
Of course, it wasn't easy. The Magical Captain was more of a greedy materialist than expected.
'Why's that bitch so into Magical bribes?'
But after padding her pockets nicely, things went smoothly afterward.
The Magical Captain warned all Magical Girls in the same vacation cycle not to swap leave with Ray and completely blocked her outing requests.
She even threw around threats that it was all on the Magical Battalion Commander's orders, just in case.
In short, she name-dropped the Magical Battalion Commander.
Whatever, it didn't matter to Seiki.
Even today, when she'd briefly contacted her about the Magical Ikusa Battle, the Captain said she'd handle it herself. Again, in the Magical Battalion Commander's name.
'At least worth the money I fed her.'
And from overhearing Kim Siyul and Ray's conversation, it seemed the Magical Captain had grabbed Ray's ankle hard right up to the end.
Making her burn that much cash on a mere Magical steel pipe.
The Captain probably just wanted her cut, but it was good for Seiki.
Even if Ray went on leave, she'd be heavily restricted without money.
Not that she'd have reason to go out anyway.
'Good call meeting her.'
Magical Girl Yellow Lion, real name Raina.
Seiki had casually met her to get advice since she'd fought Kim Siyul in a previous Magical mock battle, but she got an unexpected answer.
A very important one.
— "I don't remember well, but it seemed like he used a sword. Just watch out for that."
Sure enough, Kim Siyul had pulled out a bizarre sword. Suddenly, from empty space.
Just in case, she'd practically begged the Magical Captain for a standard-issue magic wand and barely gotten it—preparation that paid off.
Now, all that was left was to stomp him appropriately.
'What the hell's that guy's deal anyway.'
Even thinking about it again, Kim Siyul was weird.
No matter how much Seiki was Magically slacking, she was a Magical sergeant. A Magical Girl who'd climbed to that rank with real skill.
Yet what gave him the confidence to pick a fight?
She couldn't understand it at all.
He called himself the Hero of the Moon—did he really believe that crap and get cocky? Or was his already severe Magical mental illness flaring up worse than usual?
He reminded her of that Magical Kotowera saying: if someone acts insane, they're probably a real lunatic.
"Because I'm the Hero."
See.
Even now, spouting that bullshit with full confidence.
'Doesn't he feel ashamed?'
He was so pathetic it stirred a twinge of pity in one corner of her heart.
- Clankclankclankclank.
"Huh?"
In that instant, the sound of chains rattling came out of nowhere.
For a brief, very brief moment, when the chain sound hit, chills ran down her spine unbidden.
A eerie sensation she'd never felt even facing countless Monsters flashed by in an instant.
Not from rational thought or judgment.
From the realm of instinct craving survival.
For a split second, it felt like she'd stepped onto the line between life and death.
'What, what was that.'
Seiki quickly scanned left and right.
Of course, on the surface, she feigned maximum composure.
But nothing was there.
No chains, of course, and no other Magical Girl who'd heard chains unraveling.
'Hallucination?'
The only metal here was the Magical steel pipe Kim Siyul held.
'Whatever, probably nothing.'
In the end, Seiki decided to brush off the nagging feeling.
It wasn't a big deal anyway.
At that moment, Taishi and Muyong suddenly spoke up from behind the approaching Kim Siyul.
"Be careful! That bastard's Magical defense specialized—he uses a Magical shield that blocks physical attacks almost perfectly!"
"Oh yeah! That bitch can block almost any one type of attribute magic too! The shield changes color to match the attribute, so keep that in mind, hetero!"
"Got it. Thanks."
They'd suddenly spilled her magic's features, but it wasn't a big deal.
Seiki sneered.
"Nice try, you retards."
As they said, Seiki could block physical attacks and one attribute of magic almost perfectly.
'Unless it's a rank above.'
At minimum, no squad-level Magical Girl could touch her no matter how hard they tried.
No wonder she was a Magical sergeant.
A Magical frontline representative.
At least when it came to defense, she had supreme confidence.
'And I'm no slouch on offense either.'
If she'd been even a bit more diligent, Seiki figured she'd be a Magical major by now. And that wasn't entirely wrong.
'My skills aren't lacking to begin with.'
Plus, all Kim Siyul had was a single Magical steel pipe, rusted to hell.
A bit annoying, but a Magical Girl's strength could snap it without much trouble.
Yet.
Could a mere civilian like Kim Siyul, flailing with that utterly ordinary Magical steel pipe, even scratch her?
Impossible.
No Magical variables at all.
At that moment, Seiki flashed a wicked grin.
'Might as well make a few "mistakes" while I'm at it.'
She could use this chance to give the lunatic a little Magical education.
"So that's why you're acting tough, dickhead."
"Hey, fucker. Think that'll do shit?"
See. A Magical rookie punk daring to talk down to his sky-high Magical senior.
A prime Magical insubordination case.
'You're dead.'
Seiki vowed.
To pulverize Kim Siyul's limbs right here. To mock him as he crawled limbless, tears streaming.
"Even if you figured out my magic, what're you gonna do about it!"
And to further stoke Ray's guilt, ultimately driving Sora completely insane.
Tension? Worry? Doubt?
None of it. No need.
There was an insurmountable rank gap.
That's why Seiki was truly confident.
"You can't do jack anyway, you retarded bi—!"
"Red Moon."
And that confidence was severed in an instant.
"...Huh?"
Along with one side of her world, dyed red.