The Dark Magical Girl's Defeat
Magical Girl Mk.II. While Arima rummaged through the city's junkyard in an attempt to escape his permanent TS state, Aile—who had been eliminated from the contest for Eight's affection—channeled her gloom and stress into an invasion. In other words, she led the World's Enemies in an assault on H City.
The unplanned invasion prompted the Magical Girl Association president to contact her in obvious distress.
—Um, Chairwoman? I thought I mentioned that midterms are happening right now, so we'd appreciate it if you could hold off on the invasions…
"What does that have to do with me? Why should magical girls care about exams? Just protect the city properly."
—I-it's not that simple… Understood…
Aile invaded H City alongside the World's Enemies Eight had created for her. Not the sanity-shattering horrors that made people lose their minds at a glance, but adorable little creatures that wouldn't feel out of place in a children's anime.
It was an imitation of the tactics used by the evil organization she belonged to. The only difference was that World's Enemies took the place of the usual combat troops.
Shortly after the World's Enemies she summoned began attacking H City's citizens, a magical girl appeared in the distance.
"—You goddamn bastard!"
The magical girl who appeared hurling curses didn't bother with any self-introduction. She immediately unleashed flames straight at Aile. Flame, the fire magical girl. A magical girl who had become famous in reverse by focusing solely on annihilating her enemies without caring about her own fame.
The flames Flame shot incinerated the cute World's Enemies in an instant. As citizens screamed in shock, Aile looked at the magical girl who had appeared before her and let out a small laugh.
"Coming this quickly? I'm impressed."
"I could've been here even sooner, but I was late because I had to shower. You little shit."
"Oh my—were you enjoying some lovely time with your lover? In that case, did I perhaps interrupt…?"
"Shut up. I don't have a lover."
"I figured as much. With a personality that nasty."
While exchanging small talk with the flame magical girl, Aile pulled out her staff and responded the moment she saw Flame charging at her.
For Aile, who had single-handedly beaten multiple magical girls, facing just one was something she could do with her eyes closed.
Effortlessly blocking Flame's attacks with one hand, Aile even attempted a psychological attack.
"The other magical girls seem to be studying for their futures and couldn't come out. Seeing how you showed up right away without any of that, I guess you don't have to worry about your future, Miss Flame."
"Don't chat with the enemy! You crazy bitch!"
"Or maybe—you just can't study? Well, your cheap way of speaking makes it pretty obvious how uneducated you are."
"—Fine. Let's see how long you last getting beaten by this uneducated bitch."
Flame approached. But Aile didn't think much of it. She simply faced the magical girl the same way she always did.
That was carelessness. There was a gap between them that carelessness couldn't bridge, but carelessness was still carelessness.
Magical girls were beings capable of performing miracles that defied common sense.
"Huk, huaaagh—!"
"H-huh—?"
"I said I'd beat you until you dropped…!"
Lying on the ground, Aile looked up at Flame mounted on top of her in bewilderment. How did this happen? Before she could even process it, the magical girl's fist came crashing down.
It was the first defeat of the dark magical girl, and the consequence of an otaku forgetting the rule that magical girls become stronger when fighting alone than when fighting in groups.
Even though I'd become an evil scientist, I sometimes got confused about whether I was an evil scientist or an orphanage teacher. Especially when I played the role of a father to the boss who was an orphan and went to school with her, or when I helped a runaway girl study so she could pass her equivalency exam.
Today was no different. When I headed to Aile's private waiting room to check her homework, instead of finding her studying diligently, I was met with a wriggling caterpillar wrapped in blankets on the bed.
"Aile?"
"……."
"What are you doing there instead of studying? Come out right now…"
When I forcibly pulled back the blanket, I froze at the sight of Aile's face filled with gloom. Her face was clean, but she looked as if she'd been beaten by someone.
Seeing her expression, I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment and carefully spoke.
"Did something happen?"
"……Nothing happened."
"I see. Can you still study?"
"I can. Study……"
"If it's too hard, you can rest today."
Aile muttered as she weakly headed toward her desk. Watching her, I became even more certain that something had happened.
It wasn't her period. As far as I remembered, her cycle was still far off, and she wasn't the type to suffer from it anyway.
It clearly meant there was something she couldn't tell me. Pretending to help with her studies, I secretly searched the internet to investigate what had happened to her.
It didn't take long to discover that she had gone out as the dark magical girl and been defeated by the flame magical girl, and that she'd been beaten half to death in the process.
‘……Ah, so that's what happened.’
Only then did I understand why Aile was so depressed. She must have felt humiliated at being thoroughly beaten by the magical girls she had looked down on and considered beneath her.
Never mind the physical pain from the beating.
The reason she looked fine on the outside was thanks to the barrier on the dark magical girl suit I'd given her and probably the red potion she'd secretly drunk after returning to headquarters… It just meant that while nothing was visible on the surface, she was badly hurt both inside and out.
"Um…… Scientist?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"I don't understand this problem……"
Look at that. The same Aile who had no interest in studying, who used to whine about not knowing why she had to do it, who would forget the problems I'd taught her and get them wrong multiple times without even trying to figure out what she'd done wrong—now she was the one asking about things she didn't understand?
That alone made it easy to understand how deeply hurt she was. Maybe she was even thinking that being a magical girl didn't suit her and she should just focus on studying.
It was welcome that she was showing interest in studying like this, but I couldn't just leave her in this depressed state forever. Especially knowing that her only way of relieving stress was becoming a magical girl and playing around with other magical girls.
"—Aile."
"Y-yes…… Ah, this problem. It was one you taught me last time, right…? I'm sorry… I can't even remember something like this and have to ask again……"
"Want to go on a date today?"
"……Huh? What do you—"
"Get up. Let's go."
I pulled Aile to her feet and left headquarters with her. We wandered around stores she would like—magical girl-related shops—and I did my best to lift her mood.
Once she seemed to have cheered up a bit, we talked about magical girls together. Specifically, later-generation magical girls. In other words, magical girls who had grown stronger to match the increasingly powerful enemies.
"So that's when the original Lyrical introduced the rear-mounted magic cannon…!"
"Mm-hmm, I see."
"They store up magic power normally and then use it when it really matters to double the power! Not only that, but there were a lot of changes to the suit as well—"
As expected of a magical girl otaku, Aile knew an incredible amount about magical girls. Things I could never have imagined, of course, but also who the strongest magical girl was and what the strongest magical girl looked like in her imagination.
While committing all of that to memory, I began to figure out the direction for modifying the dark magical girl suit she would wear.
‘So the dark magical girl I created lost……’
What of it. If she was depressed because she'd lost to a magical girl, I just had to make her even stronger.
That was exactly what an evil scientist should do, and what only an evil scientist could do.
—Well done, meow meow! As expected of my partner, meow!
In an ordinary 21-pyeong apartment. Flame, the magical girl covered in bruises, with several broken bones in casts and a face so smashed she couldn't even open her eyes, frowned at her spirit spouting nonsense.
"Well done, my ass…… Look at me. Ugh, I still don't know how I won even thinking about it again."
—Still, the dark magical girl must've taken a huge hit from this, meow! She might never show her face again……
"That would be nice."
Thinking that, Flame turned on the TV. The variety show she always watched was just starting its live broadcast. As she smiled at the opening, already showing signs of laughing, someone rang the doorbell. Thinking it was a delivery, she opened the door without caution and was startled to see a suspicious-looking man standing in front of her house.
After confirming Flame's face, the man in the tight suit raised his hand and shouted.
"Heil Evils—!"
"W-what? Who are you—"
"This is a package from the dark magical girl."
"What? What are you—"
"Yeeee-!"
The man handed her a box and disappeared. Receiving the box, Flame transformed into her magical girl form and carefully unwrapped it, wondering if it might be a bomb or poison.
Inside was a bottle of red medicine and a single letter. After reading the letter, Flame let out a hollow laugh.
【Duel Arena】
『Month X, Day X. XX:00. At the comprehensive sports stadium. The medicine is enclosed. Please take it and recover quickly. From the Dark Magical Girl』
"Ha, seriously."
A duel arena? Calling herself the dark magical girl but doing all sorts of things. She even included medicine……
At this rate, who could tell who was evil and who was justice? Flame muttered the joke to herself.