The Spirit's Temptation
Welcome to the Happy City. Spirits fundamentally cannot interfere with the material world. The only thing they can do is grant their power to pure girls who have never known an outside touch in their entire lives. Only girls who have never experienced interference from others can accept a spirit's power, and even then, once those girls grow up and reach adulthood, they inevitably lose the spirit's power. And the fact that they can only interfere with the material world in such a limited way also means that the means to interfere with them from the material world are extremely restricted.
—Mew, mewuuu……
"Come on, why don't you just give up and talk already?"
—N-never, mew……!
After all, the world was overflowing with delicacies. Steaks that humans couldn't stop craving, sweet chocolate, soft whipped cream desserts—they had never tasted any of them. To a spirit that had spent its entire life feeding only on the spiritual currents of the spirit realm, these foods were pleasures so intense they could make every synapse in its brain explode.
—Mew, mewuuuut—!
The food had been specially prepared so even spirits could eat it. The spirit, force-fed bite-sized portions, trembled violently from the overwhelming pleasure of gastronomy, but the moment it saw the scientist and the evil magical girl grinning in front of it, it snapped back to its senses. It couldn't give in to temptation. What stood before it now was a villainous organization of the worst kind, and since its fellow magical girl had already been turned, it had to survive and escape back to the spirit realm no matter what……!
"Now then, Mr. Spirit? Aang~."
—A-aang…… Gasp!
Mew, who had unwittingly swallowed the dessert Aile fed it, shuddered once from the explosion of sugar and calories inside its body, then shuddered a second time at the realization that it was now casually following the evil magical girl. What a terrifying villainess……! To think she could train another magical girl's spirit this quickly……!
Regaining its wits too late, Mew licked the chocolate sauce from its lips and shouted.
—Mew, mewmew—! I-I won't submit to villains, mew! Never!
"Is that so?"
Eight, who had been trying to coax the spirit with carrots, stood up as if he had no choice. If carrots wouldn't work, it was time for the stick. When Eight gestured outside, Aile, who had been holding the spirit, locked it inside a spirit-sized cage and left the lab. As Mew tilted its head in confusion at the two people suddenly leaving it behind, light flickered on a monitor set up in one corner of the lab.
> Ah, do I just talk while looking here?
On the monitor appeared White Fang, wrapped in a towel with her clothes off—in other words, right before taking a bath. The fact that she hadn't removed her mask even in that state made it clear how badly she wanted to hide her face. Anyway, White Fang on the monitor waved lightly toward the screen and spoke.
White Fang said that and sank into the hot spring. The warm water that melted away the fatigue of her entire body enveloped her. After soaking in the hot spring for a long while to relieve her fatigue, White Fang finished her bath, savored the feast laid out before her, and then enjoyed a professional massage.
—Mew, mewuuuut…!
While someone was trapped in a cage suffering like this, the other side was enjoying themselves so carefree? A pitch-black darkness formed in the spirit's heart. Yet White Fang on the monitor, whether she knew it or not, continued to tempt Mew's heart.
—Mewmewt—!!
Mew couldn't endure it. It wanted to enjoy that comfort too. Eat delicious food, soak in hot springs, get massages! While Mew was fuming, the monitor screen changed and Eight appeared.
At those words, Mew fumed even more. As the saying goes, even if your cousin buys land, it makes you jealous. What torments intelligent beings most isn't their own misfortune, but others' happiness. If it had never known the taste, maybe it wouldn't matter, but it already had. In that situation, only its assigned magical girl getting to feel happiness alone was utterly infuriating.
—I-I'll talk, mewuuu……
[What? I can't hear you.]
—I-I'll do anything, so give me the same treatment, mew—!
Seeing the spirit finally declare its surrender, Eight grinned. A short while later, he entered the lab carrying a mountain of piled-up desserts. As the weight of the stacked desserts lessened, the spirit's mouth grew lighter in proportion.
* * *
—Earth? I've never heard of a world by that name, mew……
"Oh dear."
The answer he finally got after making the spirit talk was 180 degrees from what he had expected. Well, the universe was vast, and the number of people living in it was enormous. Humans couldn't even remember all the country names on a single planet, so remembering the names of countless planets was even more ridiculous. Let alone a low-level operative who had to work in the field remembering all of them……
—I could go back to the spirit realm and ask the Queen, mew!
"No, it's fine. That so-called Queen probably isn't someone worth trusting either."
—Mewmewt—!? Insulting royalty is a grave crime, mew!
The spirit had asked worriedly, fearing it might not get snacks anymore, but after hearing my words, it looked at me in shock. However, I had no intention of taking back what I'd said. There were several facts I'd learned while researching spirits.
'So there's no such thing as unconditional goodwill in this world……'
After all, even Jesus, who preached loving your neighbor, whipped the merchants. If even Jesus, who claimed to embrace everyone, was like that, then a spirit from another world had no reason to offer goodwill without cause. I fed the spirit a snack and chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. Eat this and keep it a secret, will you?"
—Mewuut…… W-well, normally I shouldn't, but… I'll make an exception this time and keep it secret, mew!
"Thanks. Tasty?"
—Mewmewt—! I'm so happy! I didn't know the snacks magical girls eat were this delicious! I hope the others get this happy too!
"Happiness, huh."
I smiled bitterly at those words. What the spirit had just mentioned was the very essence of spirits. More precisely, the reason they could exist and be maintained. Spirits lived by feeding on happiness. In other words, they would die if they weren't happy. Therefore, for spirits, happiness was an obligation.
'And the World's Enemies are monsters born from feeding on negative emotions……'
Spirits that lived on happiness. World's Enemies that lived on misfortune. The fact that these two resembled each other was no coincidence, I thought. In the first place, how would they know where the World's Enemies would appear and send spirits there? The universe was far too vast, and for a single individual to intervene was nearly impossible. Yes—unless they already knew in advance where the World's Enemies were heading.
* * *
Words announcing happiness continued to flow from the news and radio. Hearing those words, the citizens of H City began their day with beaming smiles.
"Mm—! My tie ironed perfectly today? I'm happy!"
"Look how well my makeup turned out! I'm happy!"
"The bread I ate this morning was delicious…!"
While people commuted to work with faces full of happiness, that happy mood didn't last forever. Being human, they inevitably accumulated complaints and grievances, and those piled-up grievances brought misfortune. On the way home from work. The livestock of society, embracing anxiety and unhappiness all day, boarded the subway. Late at night, the stress gathered together with the darkness was like a powder keg dried to the point of ignition. Gunpowder that could explode with the slightest spark. The rattling subway, the smell of sweat from the person next to you, failing a promotion, a failed confession. The moment those trivial emotions piled up and up, the moment the monsters beyond the dimension deemed them worth eating and devoured those emotions—
The stress the citizens had been carrying vanished in an instant.
"—Huh?"
"Mm?"
"Ah……"
The subway stopped, and the citizens trudged back to their respective homes. All the dissatisfaction and unhappiness that had accumulated throughout the day had completely disappeared. With the knot in their hearts gone. Today, the citizens of H City were happy. Happier than the citizens of any other city. And behind such a city, what maintained its balance was—
—!#%Dfd$æ
"—Ah, damn it. It's appeared again?"
A magical girl.