Power Struggle
The power struggle began with Pania’s mocking grin. “Come on, lighten up, huh? My little sister made a mistake. You’re not really sulking over something like that, are you~?”
Not a single trace of remorse flickered across that smiling face. I raised my hand without hesitation and slapped the smirking face as hard as I could.
─ SMACK!
Pania’s head snapped to the side, her left cheek blooming bright red. She let out a hollow laugh, then glared at me.
“What the hell are you throwing a fit for over nothing…”
“Nothing? I help you with your work, you help me with mine. Wasn’t that the promise we made to borrow each other’s strength? And stop laughing like an idiot.”
Apparently she had nothing to say to that. Her lips twitched, but no real protest came out. Even so, her wide eyes refused to yield. That stubborn look only pissed me off more.
She was the one who first suggested we work together, yet here she was trying to win a power struggle with me?
“You’re free to stab me in the back, but you shouldn’t have assumed we could still team up afterward. The contract is terminated.”
My announcement painted Pania’s face with pure panic. She clearly hadn’t expected me to play such a heavy hand right from the start. The anger from being slapped vanished without a trace.
“W-wait a second. For real? You’re joking, right? Over something this small? There’s no way an Ideal Magical Girl would come out of a farce like this. A-anyway, you were going to kill her, weren’t you? A-and think about it. Do you really believe you can fight the other magical girls without me…?”
She talked a big game, but she had no intention of actually ending the contract. Just as much as Pania needed me, I needed her. My skills and Gem’s were not even on the same level. Having fought the bastard directly, I felt that gap in my bones.
The fact that we had not only closed that impossible distance but completely overwhelmed her was entirely thanks to the combination of our two powers. But the market-rank monsters we’d have to face from now on were on an entirely different dimension—strong enough to make Gem look like trash.
In this world crawling with magical girls, they were the monsters who had clawed their way to the top through brutal infighting. Upper-rank magical girls. Compared to them, Gem was… well, she had been on the verge of reaching mid-rank, but she was still fundamentally a low-rank magical girl.
Even with Pania’s help, beating her had been difficult. The idea of facing an upper-rank magical girl alone was laughable. Still, that didn’t mean I could just let Pania keep acting however she pleased. There wasn’t even a shred of basic trust.
The only clause in our abnormal contract was mutual cooperation. If she wouldn’t even show the minimum level of cooperation, all that remained was risk.
“O-okay! I get it! I won’t do anything you tell me not to do anymore! There, happy now?!”
After a brief standoff, Pania was the first to lower her head. It was only natural—she had started at a disadvantage in terms of justification. That didn’t mean I was stupid enough to take her words at face value. But the important thing was that I had bent her will, even if only slightly.
“Good. Apology accepted. Be careful from now on.”
She hadn’t actually apologized, but I framed it as if I were graciously accepting one. I twisted the knife one more time. If I wanted to secure even the smallest amount of cooperation, I would need to keep pressing down on Pania’s arrogance whenever the opportunity arose.
“Ugh, seriously…”
Pania looked down and kicked at the ground in frustration. She clearly hated having to submit to me. Then maybe you should’ve behaved properly from the beginning. If you had cooperated like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t have had to blush like that.
I brushed the dust off my dress and looked down from the platform.
“You sons of bitches!”
“You were acting all high and mighty earlier, huh?! Say something now!”
The square had turned into a scene of brutal lynching. Now that they had a magical girl backing them, there was no way the citizens would leave the security forces—who had once abused them—alone. Emboldened, they were beating and stomping on the gangsters. The cheers that had once filled the square had already changed into curses and screams.
Pania glanced at me cautiously. “What should we do? Are you going to stop them?”
“Why would I?”
“You were putting on such a show earlier, acting like some apostle of justice.”
“I wasn’t.”
While we were exchanging pointless banter, a man climbed onto the platform. In his hand, he held Gem by the hair.
Even if the desired result hadn’t come, once you start a performance, you have to see it through to the end with proper structure. I quickly put on a smile and faced the man.
“Did you have something to say?”
“To Lady Xena, who has granted us freedom, I offer the head of this worthless bitch.”
“Oh my, how thoughtful. I’d like to know the name of this gentleman.”
“My name is Park Sang-pil.”
“Park Sang-pil. I’ll remember that. It’s a good name. Thank you once again for the gift.”
Without erasing my smile, I accepted Gem’s severed head. Park Sang-pil or whatever—his stupid name was erased from my mind the moment I heard it.
As soon as the man stepped down from the platform, Pania spoke again.
“Why the hell did you accept that? Just throw it away.”
Her tone was rude, but I decided not to point it out. It was a perfectly understandable question. Did she think I wanted to hold onto something this disgusting? I only took it because it had a use.
I placed my hand on top of Gem’s head and focused. The head began to glow with blue light. Soon, a dark brown stone appeared in my palm.
It was the fairy’s exclusive right to retrieve a magical girl’s Soul. That ability had remained even after I became Xena. Back then I thought it was useless… and honestly, it still is.
It’s not like I’m going around appointing new magical girls. What would I even do with a Soul now? I just figured I might as well take whatever I could get.
“What is that? Is that a Soul? How did you just do that?”
Pania covered her mouth, eyes wide with shock. Her eyebrows were trembling so hard they looked like they might fall off. Whether she was surprised or not, I had no intention of giving her a long-winded explanation. We weren’t exactly on those kinds of terms anyway.
“Hey! I’m asking you! How did you do that?!”
She stamped her feet in frustration. In response, I kindly answered by raising my middle finger.
“Tch…”
She made a sound like air leaking from a balloon and kept glancing at the Soul. Her lips kept moving like she had something to say. I turned my back and stepped down from the platform. Pania followed behind, fidgeting the entire time.
What did she want to say? Seeing how interested she was in the Soul, it must be related to that. Maybe she had a way to use them?
“…No way.”
I snorted and shook my head.
The moment I stepped off the platform, every citizen in the square bowed deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle, as if they had been waiting for it. A sense of omnipotence surged through me, like I had become a god. This was the treatment magical girls in this world always received. In that context, I could almost understand their arrogance.
“What are you getting so smug about? It’s disgusting.”
A single voice shattered the mood. I turned to look at Pania. Even as countless people bowed in gratitude, she looked completely unmoved.
…Was it just me?
“I’m only human. Can’t help it. Doesn’t it affect you at all?”
“They’re all just scheming to use you. They bow their heads because you were useful. I bet they’re not actually grateful at all. They’re probably thinking about how they can squeeze even more out of you. Get a grip.”
Well, she wasn’t entirely wrong. Still, even knowing that, flattery feels good. Does this thing not have any emotions? Truly a creature without blood or tears.
Hearing such mechanical words coming from Pania’s body created such a strong sense of dissonance that it made me even more uncomfortable. If it had been the real Pania, she would have bowed back with tears in her eyes.
“If you have something to say, just say it. What’s with that face?”
“It’s nothing. The light’s just a little blinding.”
I brushed it off vaguely and avoided her gaze. Her ability to read the room was annoyingly sharp.
“Let go of me, you bastards…! You couldn’t even look me in the eye before… Gack!”
Meanwhile, another commotion was happening behind us. The gangsters, beaten to a pulp, were being dragged up onto the platform. It seemed it was finally time for the security forces to be executed.
The people who had climbed onto the platform threw Gem’s headless corpse down below, then began shoving the gangsters one by one into the stocks.
─ THUD!!
By some cruel coincidence, Gem’s body landed right in front of us. Blood and dirt sprayed up, splattering across our faces.
“Hey! Watch what you’re doing!!”
“S-sorry! You idiots! You almost hurt the magical girls! Get your heads on straight!”
“We’re truly sorry, Magical Girls! Please forgive us…!!”
Pania screamed at them while the citizens on and below the platform all bowed at once. I let out a deep sigh. Even in death, that bitch was still a pain in the ass.
“How filthy. There are plenty of other spots. Why the hell did it have to land here?”
I kicked the corpse aside and shoved it into a corner.
“Aren’t you being a bit too harsh? I’m glad you’re not spouting nonsense about giving her a proper funeral, though.”
“Give her a funeral…? Why?”
“Why? You were the one going on about her being the vessel for an Ideal Magical Girl, that she absolutely must not be killed… You protected her so fiercely, and now you’re saying this?”
“I did say that. But she’s dead now.”
There was no longer any possibility left in this lump of meat. A dead magical girl could never become an Ideal Magical Girl. Why hold a funeral for something with no value?
I shook my leg to flick off the blood that had splattered onto my shoe. That was when I felt a displeased gaze scanning me up and down.
“…What. If you have something to say, just say it. What’s with that expression?”
Pania was frowning at me with a look of open disgust. Seeing her face—like she was looking at some repulsive creature—made me feel sick too. You’re the repulsive creature here. I’m not even sure you qualify as a living thing.
Pania with her face twisted in displeasure, and me staring back at her with narrowed eyes. After a brief standoff, Pania slowly opened her mouth.
“No. The light’s just a little blinding, that’s all.”
It was the shallow, textbook excuse an idiot with poor impulse control and zero emotional regulation would use to dodge responsibility. Truly a pathetic answer perfectly suited to her level.