Aftermath of the Fourth Development
The corpse of the awakened beast was dealt with by the police who arrived late. They saluted us and pulled a check from their pocket, offering it forward.
“Thank you for your service. This is the reward money. You can cash it at city hall.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. There will also be a ceremony for the Righteous Citizen Award later, so we hope you’ll attend…”
“Of course! I’ll definitely be there!”
Vira answered with a bright smile. The moment the officers disappeared into the distance, she casually tossed the check into a nearby trash can. She dusted off her hands and turned to me with a shrug.
“What? An executive of an evil organization can’t exactly accept an award from the police, can she?”
“Levitan works as a police officer, though.”
“Working and receiving awards are two different things. She only became a cop because it was the only job she could actually do.”
With that, Vira naturally draped her arm over my shoulder. Her slender forearm pulled me in without warning.
“More importantly, how about it? Your big sister’s pretty amazing, right? Fallen for me yet?”
“Amazing is one word for it… though it’s still the same flimsy ability that got your limbs blown off before.”
“Agh—! You’re bringing that up!? That’s a trauma, you know!”
Vira puffed out her cheeks and stuck out her lips in an exaggerated pout. Watching a grown woman deliberately act cute was, frankly, difficult to witness.
When I simply stared at her with a blank expression, Vira seemed to realize her performance had gone too far and let out a small laugh.
“Hehe… was that a bit much?”
“No. It suits you.”
“That sounded more like an insult than a compliment… Anyway, as long as my barrier’s up, almost no one can get through to attack you. Even when I lost my limbs, I still protected the young lady.”
I recalled the awakened beast’s charge from earlier. It had been the size of a rhinoceros, moving faster than most vehicles. In other words, a creature weighing several tons had come barreling forward at over a hundred kilometers per hour. Biologically, no ordinary animal could achieve that speed. Muscle strength scales with cross-sectional area, while weight scales with volume. Considering that a cheetah, a hundred times lighter than the beast, could barely reach that speed, the implication was obvious.
That charge hadn’t been powered by muscle alone. It had been infused with esper ability. The physical energy contained within it must have been comparable to tank artillery…
‘To block that without even flinching… it’s sturdier than I thought.’
For a brief moment, my scientific curiosity stirred. Just how much impact could it withstand? What would it take to break through it?
I forced down the urge to analyze her barrier in detail. There was no need for that in this world. With a wry smile, I slowly pulled away from her.
“You smell like sweat.”
“……Huh? Really? Sorry— I got too close, didn’t I…?”
“I was joking.”
“—You little—!”
Vira playfully clung to me, her sun-warmed, sweat-slicked skin pressing against mine.
After that, Vira returned to the organization and announced her return to the other members.
“Vira—? Your limbs grew back. I thought they said it couldn’t be fixed.”
“Yep! Lucky break. I didn’t think it would turn out like this either.”
“Well, if he can fix my body, limbs are nothing… Does that mean we can finally have a proper match?”
Galrm grinned at the sight of Vira’s restored limbs.
“Unnie—!? Your arms and legs……”
“Aile-aile—! Come here and let big sis hug you!”
“Ugh…… G-get off me……”
Aile looked at Vira with a strangely reluctant expression. She seemed happy, yet something more complicated was clearly troubling her.
“Vira—!? You’re all better!?”
“Levitang! All fixed!”
“Kyaaang—! That’s great! Let’s go play together!”
Levitan greeted Vira with her usual overwhelming energy. Watching them, I finally understood why Aile had looked so uncomfortable earlier.
Introverted and socially awkward, Aile was weak against outgoing, lively people. Until now, there had only been one such person in her life: Levitan.
But now her closest unnie had suddenly grown her limbs back and evolved into the ultimate extrovert—the very type Aile disliked most. Her reason and instincts were clearly at war as she looked at the new Vira.
‘Time will solve that.’
I smiled, already picturing Aile’s future. Whether she found the new Vira awkward or not, she would eventually warm up to her again. She would grow used to the extroverted unnie and even enjoy feeling a little more outgoing herself.
And in doing so, that gloomy personality of hers might improve a little. That would be a good thing. In many ways. She couldn’t stay withdrawn forever, after all.
“Um, Scientist……”
“Aile? Go play with Vira some more. Why’d you come over here?”
“That’s… it’s just… Unnie feels like a completely different person now… like she changed overnight……”
“She was probably always like that deep down.”
“Anyway, talking to her feels like it’s draining my energy……”
Aile leaned against my shoulder as she spoke. I quietly adjusted my posture so she could rest more comfortably, and she smiled in satisfaction.
Having escaped from Vira and Levitan—who never stopped talking and wore down her nerves—Aile completely relaxed beside me, as if my side were a safe haven.
“……Scientist.”
“Yeah. What is it?”
“In a few days… there’s going to be a magical girl comic book event…? C-could you come with me…?”
“If it’s a request from Aile, anywhere’s fine.”
“R-really!?”
Aile’s eyes widened as she sought confirmation. I assured her I would go with her without hesitation. Not satisfied with just words, she even made me hook pinkies and stamp the promise with my thumb.
Apparently receiving that promise made her so happy that Aile—rarely—swung her legs and hummed a tune. It was a familiar melody: the opening theme of the magical girl anime she watched often.
Thus, Vira’s return brought peace to the evil organization. It had always been uneventful, but now it felt genuinely lively. Before, it had matched the name “evil organization” with its gloomy, shadowy atmosphere.
‘Peaceful… not very evil-organization-like at all.’
Still, the peace wasn’t a bad thing. I spent my time watching Vira and Galrm sparring in the distance, believing this calm would last.
On the promised day—the day I was supposed to accompany Aile to the magical girl comic book event or whatever it was—she appeared wearing her dark magical girl outfit.
“……Aile?”
“W-what…?”
“Even so, going dressed like that is a bit……”
Whether she wanted to proudly declare herself the dark magical girl or not, Aile, after being called out, pulled out an oversized trench coat from somewhere.
With the magical girl outfit hidden beneath the coat, she stretched out both arms as if to say “See? Problem solved.”
“L-like this, it’s fine!”
“It’s not fine at all……”
“N-no! It’s really okay! Please trust me!”
Her words weren’t exactly convincing, but in the end I failed to make her change out of the outfit. If she wanted to go like that, what could I do?
We boarded the car the boss had prepared and headed to the venue. Only after arriving did I understand why Aile had insisted it would be fine.
“W-wow…! That’s Magical Cannon, a first-generation magical girl…! The quality is amazing……”
“……I thought this was a comic book event?”
“Y-yes—! It’s a place that sells magical girl merchandise!”
The venue was filled with people cosplaying as all kinds of magical girls. If you want to hide a tree, hide it in a forest. Even if a real magical girl showed up, no one would ever suspect she was the real thing.
From the moment we arrived, Aile had been unable to contain her excitement. She immediately put on her mask and threw off the coat. The moment the most dazzling and eye-catching dark magical girl appeared, all eyes turned toward her.
“……It’s the dark magical girl.”
“Is she real?”
“Idiot. Why would the real one come here?”
People marveled at Aile’s quality, indistinguishable from the real thing. Whether the attention pleased her or not, Aile trembled slightly.
She glanced back at me, eyes pleading like a pet waiting for permission. I had no choice but to nod. Aile then strode confidently through the crowd of magical girls with perfect model-like steps.
Among countless fakes, only one true magical girl shone.
“—Eight.”
“Yes, Vira.”
“Don’t stray too far. Something could happen.”
Vira muttered while scanning the thousands of people gathered at the venue, but I wasn’t particularly worried. After all, the preconception that otaku gatherings contained no bad people was firmly lodged in my mind.
Of course, there might be a few mentally unstable individuals… but what kind of world was this? A world where non-powered people were treated like the disabled because everyone else possessed abilities.
Anyone dangerous enough to break through Vira’s barrier while also being mentally ill would have been locked up in a psychiatric ward or prison long ago.
“Don’t worry. There’s no way a dangerous person would be here.”
“That kind of carelessness is the most dangerous……”
“I trust Vira.”
“Trusting your bodyguard is good, but……”
“It’s fine. There’s no way a dangerous esper would come to a place like this anyway.”
As I spoke, I wandered around the venue. Vira stuck close to my side, glancing around warily. Perhaps because we looked like an awkward couple unfamiliar with the setting, the otaku around us shot us sharp, hostile looks.
Ignoring the murderous glares, I continued exploring until someone deliberately bumped into Vira.
“Ah— sorry.”
I thought it might be some creep targeting the seemingly fragile Vira in the crowded space, but it wasn’t. The moment she collided with the man, Vira vanished without a trace.
Before I could even react to her sudden disappearance, the man grinned and reached for me as well. The instant his hand touched me, I felt my body being pulled somewhere.
“……Huh?”
“Hello, mister.”
I was dragged into a vehicle and promptly lost consciousness. Another esper ability, apparently…… When I opened my eyes again, I found myself tied up in a completely enclosed room.
In front of me, the same man who had bumped into us earlier was fiddling with my phone. When I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of the situation, the kidnappers finally turned to look at me.
“This bastard’s laughing?”
“Leave him. Maybe he’s having a nice dream.”
As an executive of an evil organization, it was deeply humiliating.
I had been kidnapped.