The Ideal Magical Girl

The fat old woman in the magical projection fixed me with a stern gaze. "I understand what you're trying to say. But your mission isn't only to assist the magical girls in combat."

The escape attempt had failed. Because the Matron wasn't on my side. Had this woman ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ever taken my side? Frustrated, I scratched furiously at my neck with a hind paw. Having a dog's body really did seem to have turned my mind into a dog's as well. Regardless, the old hag's sermon continued without end.

"Guiding the magical girls so they walk the right path is also a fairy's role. Your duty is not yet over."

A perfectly textbook answer. But I didn't want a lecture on justice. I wanted a way off this tightrope where one wrong word could cost me my life.

"I've already failed! You know that, Matron! You know exactly what those crazy bitches are doing out there!! Guide them to the right path? I'd be lucky if I don't get chained to a car and dragged around!"

The Matron let out a deep sigh. She seemed to recognize how impossible her own words sounded.

"Porim. Listen to me. You once told me your dream was to create the ideal magical girl."

After the lecture came the emotional appeal. But neither righteous speeches nor heartstring-tugging could save my neck.

"That was then."

"No. It's still true now. Am I wrong?"

This time I was the one who fell silent. Sensing she had the upper hand, the Matron's voice lifted slightly.

"And you haven't failed. There are still magical girls you haven't contracted, aren't there?"

She was right. Two Souls remained. But it didn't mean much. The two left were each missing a screw or two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to qualify as anything close to ideal.

"But... those two have some potential..."

It wasn't just potential. One was a petty villain who couldn't even manage a proper antagonistic role, the other had nothing but flowers floating around in her head. I swallowed the rest of my criticism about their mentality.

"Potential, you say... It wasn't lack of potential that caused Serafina to fall into darkness. Meet them yourself and judge. If, after encountering the remaining two, your heart still hasn't changed... I will seriously consider your request to retire."

Essentially a white flag. Even the old woman peddling emotional appeals seemed to know there was no real hope left.

"If that's what you want, Matron, then I understand... But not both of them. Just one."

There was no way to find Xena since I had no idea what she looked like before becoming a magical girl. The only one I knew was Pania. She'd be in the slums outside the city. After organizing my thoughts, I set off for the slums.

The demons' invasions struck simultaneously across multiple regions. No matter how superhuman their powers, the magical girls alone couldn't defend every single area. In the end, only a handful of cities were protected as strongholds. The rest had been reduced to wasteland and left abandoned ever since. Simply put, everything outside the cities was wasteland. There was only one qualification for entering a city: being acknowledged as valuable by the magical girls.

Love's Magical Girl, Pania. No—Kim Ye-eun had never been chosen. The land beyond the magical girls' protection was, to anyone who saw it, no place for humans to live. Makeshift shacks cobbled together from discarded tires, rusted scrap metal, and concrete rubble, all draped with cloth. Buckets placed in front of each to catch rainwater. In this garbage dump without even a sewer system, the poor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had only one wish: to get inside the city.

It was almost funny when you remembered the corpses hanging from the gallows—those who had tried to escape the city.

"Where the hell is this kid..."

Sand dust carried on the wind stung my nose. I wanted to get back quickly. Looking around, I spotted people hauling grain sacks and setting up wooden fences. Between them moved vigilantes in shabby uniforms. Life here was under constant threat too. You never knew when remnants of demons or wild animals twisted by magical energy might come bursting out. Still, even factoring in those dangers, the slums were better than the city. At least here your survival odds could improve through effort. Magical girls who killed people on a whim were natural disasters, but demons or wild beasts... at least you could try to fight them off.

Following the communal workers, I soon reached a warehouse. It stored corn, the slums' staple food. In front of it, a girl with her hair tied up on one side was carrying grain sacks. She was about half a head shorter than the women inside the city, but her unusually brisk movements made her easy to spot. I remembered her official age was twenty-one. A bit old to call her a girl? Still, among the magical girls in the original story, she counted as one of the younger ones. Even in a magical girl genre, there were too many restrictions around underage characters. Adult circumstances, as they say.

Anyway, I'd found Kim Ye-eun.

But... what do I even say to her?

Suddenly asking her to become a magical girl would come off as completely suspicious. Better to observe first. I couldn't interrupt her while she was working.

Even after I yawned three times, Ye-eun didn't rest once. When break time came and everyone sat down, she alone kept moving, carrying sack after sack. It was the same even after sunset when the other workers left.

"You all go in first! I'll carry a little more and then head back!"

The more I watched, the less it looked like diligence and the more like compulsion. What was she even trying to accomplish with all this?

"She's a good child."

An old woman had approached my side.

"Yes...?"

It was an abrupt statement. What was this old lady getting at?

"Every day, even after work hours end, she stays behind like that. And in this slum where the only food is corn porridge, she's the only one who gives her own share to others."

At her words I looked at Ye-eun again. Her face, drenched in sweat and dirt as she hauled the heavy sack, gradually came into focus. Looking at her, I realized something. Love's Magical Girl Pania had been a good person even before becoming a magical girl. And—

What if it had been Pania from the very beginning?

The realization that it should have been Pania, not Serafina. The resignation that had weighed on me began to lift. The hope I'd shoved into a corner of my heart started taking root again. The hope of creating the ideal magical girl.

Yes. From the start, power had never been what mattered. Fighting the demons was only ever secondary. Pania's True Name was Love. Magical girls drew their power from emotions rooted in the True Name that symbolized them. But love? Wasn't that less a desire and more a feeling of self-sacrifice? That was probably why Pania had been the weakest in the original story. Yet the essence of a magical girl was the desire to help others. From that perspective, wasn't Pania the most magical girl of them all?

"Then... please take good care of Ye-eun..."

The old woman left those final words, turned, and disappeared into the darkness. She had known I'd come looking for a magical girl candidate. She even knew I was a fairy. Most people in the slums wouldn't have any idea... With that certainty, I stood up. Then I stepped directly into Ye-eun's path.

"You're Kim Ye-eun, right? Mind if we talk for a minute?"

"A-a talking dog?! And how do you know my name..."

Her eyes widened. She stumbled back a step and plopped straight down onto the ground. It was pure slapstick comedy.

"What? First time seeing a fairy?"

"F-f-fairy? You mean... the fairies that follow the magical girls around?"

Ye-eun pointed at me with a trembling finger, then quickly realized how rude it was and lowered her hand.

"Yes. I hate dragging things out, so I'll get to the point. Do you want to become a magical girl?"

When I finished speaking, those clear eyes set in her grimy face studied me carefully.

"Someone like me, how could I..."

"You could help far more people. You'd be able to carry multiple grain sacks at once, and use your powers to offer even greater help."

It wasn't a lie. The moment the body was reconstructed as a magical girl, you became superhuman. Even Pania, who ranked among the weakest, could shatter concrete with her bare hands.

"I believe abilities like that should go to people more worthy than me..."

Despite my repeated urging, Ye-eun remained stubborn. That near-compulsive diligence was surfacing again.

"There are other magical girls already... It would be nothing but a nuisance if someone like me tried to join them..."

"Those ones are finished. You know the rumors."

They were no longer magical girls. They were monsters wearing human skin.

"Those are just baseless lies spread by people jealous of the magical girls!"

Ye-eun raised her voice at me. Yes. Even after seeing the world brought to this state, you still believe in them. Just like in the original story. Pania had stayed pure until the very end, and died while still pure. But this time it would be different. Because you were going to become the most ideal, the greatest magical girl. Because I would make sure of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it.

I let out a small chuckle and continued.

"With a magical girl's power, you could make this slum far more prosperous. Not just here, but other places too."

I had already known from the original work, but I felt it again now. She was the type of person who had no desire for material things or fame. In that case, the right bait was an altruistic goal—helping others. And, just as I predicted, she gave a cautious nod. The trembling in her eyes had cleared.

"If it's for that... then please take care of me, Fairy."

"Take care of me as well. And don't call me Fairy—call me Mr. Porim."

After speaking, I pulled out a pink-tinged stone. Pania's Soul. When I poured power into it, a warm light enveloped Ye-eun's body. Her form began to slowly reconstruct.

A moment later, where the light had faded, the matted hair tangled with wood chips and dust was gone. In its place swayed a side-tail of soft pink tied with a ribbon. The rag-like clothes had transformed into a frilled and laced mini-dress. Instead of the previous smell of dirt, a faintly sweet fragrance now drifted from her body.

"Um... have I become a magical girl? How do I look? Do I look strange...?"

"...Perfect."

It was a success. Especially the type—the part I'd worried about most. It hadn't registered as villain. I let out a sigh of relief. That said, a risk level of 0.8... Most newly born magical girls started around 1. Her specs really were low. But it was fine. I already knew that combat strength wasn't what proved a magical girl's true value.