NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57
After breaking the contract between City H and the Fairy Queen and banishing her from this world, I started managing the aftermath. Specifically, I was retrieving the World’s Enemies and artificial Spirits I had scattered across other cities.
These were created to destabilize H Group and lure out the Fairy Queen. Now that H Group’s monopolistic stature was shattered, there was no need to leave these creations unchecked.
“Send the self-destruct order, and then…”
Next, it was important to make people realize what had been happening to them. They needed to understand that there were parasites feeding on their Souls, stealing their emotions.
People needed to know how the World’s Enemy comes into existence, licking human Souls and devouring their emotions, a truly horrifying reality.
But to do this, explaining the concept of Soul was necessary, a burden I found rather bothersome to handle alone.
“I think there was a Scholar member researching Souls…”
I had heard there was a member exploring the existence of Souls, an endeavor to manifest the mysteries of life and death through science. Scholar members typically kept their identities secret but accessing details about each other’s Research was relatively easy.
Thinking I could just send a paper on Souls to that member, I dove into drafting the material. It felt like forever since I’d been this busy with the pen.
After all, no scientist worth their salt would ignore such a provocation. Even my professor would give a round of applause for a job well done.
“Eight? You seem in a good mood. Something happen?”
“Something did, but it’s over now.”
“Oh, really? That’s unfortunate. It’s a good time to be in a good mood.”
“Why?”
“The Boss wants an explanation. Isn’t it you who released the Spirits and the World’s Enemy?”
“Aah—.”
I suddenly remembered I hadn’t reported separately to the Boss. With the Research funds used for creating and distributing the Spirits and the World’s Enemy showing up in the account records, hiding this was impossible.
Worried that the Boss might die of high blood pressure at an early age, I carefully left the Lab and headed to the Chairwoman’s Office.
“Scientist—!”
The Boss yelled in her refreshingly youthful voice.
A vein was throbbing visibly on her forehead.
I deployed the tactic ‘Pretend to Be Sorry’ as taught by my professor.
The effect was outstanding!
* * *
The newly emerged entities vanished as suddenly as they came. The World’s Enemies, which seemed to engulf the entire world, and the artificial Spirits turning everyone into Magical Girls disappeared like so much vapor.
Due to this, villains that were about to disappear began to reemerge, and a rash of public indecency incidents occurred where middle-aged men loudly declared, “I am a Magical Girl!” in the streets.
(TN: Lol, imagine an old man transforming into a cute girl)
Of course, the research data on them didn’t vanish just because the World’s Enemies did, so the public bombarded City H with rebukes.
“—Mayor of City H. Did you truly have no idea that the World’s Enemies grew by feeding on human miseries?”
“That question is best answered by my deputy mayor…”
“How could you not know! Reports suggest City H’s unusually high happiness levels were all due to the World’s Enemies—.”
Amid the sharp questions from the journalists, the Mayor merely wiped away cold sweat, sticking to the claim of ignorance. Regardless of this consistent denial, the journalists, having taken the bait, began probing current allegations of collusion between the Mayor and H Group.
H Group couldn’t escape responsibility either. With all the World’s Enemies gone, employees, who’d been working contentedly in happiness, entered a collective strike.
“H Group, compensate us! Compensate us!”
“How does losing 3 fingers make it okay, you bastards—!”
“Executives, wake up!”
H Group’s strategy was to dominate the market by producing quality goods using cheap labor. Now that the strategy had faltered, only a downward path awaited H Group.
At this point, sourcing cheap labor from other cities was not even conceivable. The labor they had used was cheaper than anything else in existence.
And the Magical Girl Association.
The association found itself the most troubled by these events.
— Pipi, we can’t return to the Spirit realm…
— We can’t contact the Queen, kunk.
— Then what are we supposed to eat, chyaa—!?
“Shut up, you damn freeloading fairies—!”
“Oh my, Magical Girls should watch their language, don’t you think?”
“We need to figure a way out of this mess…”
With the World’s Enemies gone, Magical Girls were effectively unemployed. Although their powers as Magical Girls and Spirits didn’t vanish, the connection with the Spirit realm, mainly with the Fairy Queen, was severed.
The Magical Girls and Spirits were bewildered. Unsure what their new roles should be in the changing tide.
“Can’t we just continue our idol activities? I never liked fighting anyway.”
“Is that even possible? We have to go out and combat villains or something.”
“Do you not recall that using our power against humans strips us of our status as Magical Girls?”
“Villains are fair game! They’re trash, even worse than the World’s Enemies!”
Of course, no plausible solutions emerged from a gathering of teenage girls brainstorming. The association ended up dividing into two spheres—those who thought it good that the World’s Enemies were gone and wished to continue idol activities, and others who felt they should fight villains instead.
“Precisely! They won’t just leave us be?! Might as well show we’re willing to battle villains from the start to earn more funding—!”
“I disagree. Also, does simply shouting make your argument right? Your noise is overwhelming.”
“What—!? You damn…! You’re just opposing me because you dislike me, aren’t you? Come out, you—! I’ll teach you a lesson!”
“What’s your problem with the villains, I wonder? Are you just acting out of self-hate? Trying to wield violence so easily, it’s frightening.”
“Oh, look, there’ll be one more Evil Magical Girl today.”
As Magical Girls clashed in a fierce battle of wits, the current head of the association, a senior Magical Girl, timidly raised her hand.
Despite her timid and frail personality, which didn’t inspire much trust, being the head, the other Magical Girls still focused on her.
“U-um…”
“What is it? Don’t want us to fight? She started—.”
“No, it’s not that… We have a guest scheduled for today…”
“A guest? Who is it? Since you’re involved, are they famous?”
A Magical Girl inclined toward the entertainment industry beamed and showed interest. The entertainment industry is a jungle where having strong backing provides a clear advantage. Cozying up to someone powerful enough to receive a personal invite from the head wasn’t a bad move.
Upon hearing those words, the head appeared somewhat troubled as she scratched her cheek. They were indeed famous, and you could say they had power.
But not in the way they might have imagined.
“I’ll call them in then? Don’t fight or anything since they’re a guest…?”
“Come on, we’re not kids. Why would we fight…”
“Ha, is that so? From what I heard outside, you’re just like kids.”
And at that moment.
The door to the Conference Room opened, revealing a Magical Girl with a rather familiar look. Upon seeing how she was dressed, the Magical Girls inside hastily grabbed their staves and prepared their magic.
“—Evil Magical Girl!”
“How are you here!?”
“You came at a great time. I was just looking to blow off some steam…”
Amidst the heated atmosphere as Magical Girls voiced their anger, the Evil Magical Girl, who had stepped right into enemy territory, calmly took a seat in the Conference Room.
“They don’t even offer refreshments to guests here?”
“…Guest? You?”
“Yes. Ask the head?”
Hearing this, the Magical Girls turned their eyes to the head. Under the combined gaze of many, the head yelped quietly and nodded.
Seeing the head nod, the Fire Magical Girl exploded in anger.
“No way! Why accept someone like her as a guest? Have you forgotten where we are!?”
“U-umm, let’s just hear her out…”
“Be quiet! Talking to an Evil Magical Girl? That’s asking for corruption—!”
Just as the Magical Girl bellowed, preparing to cast magic at the Evil Magical Girl, Ayle snapped her fingers with a sharp click. Her magic engulfed the surroundings in darkness, and the Fire Magical Girl, who needed to manifest light and heat, realized her magic wasn’t activating.
“Heh, calm down… Once you hear what I have to say, you’ll feel less angry.”
“…You, bastard.”
“Isn’t it troublesome now that the World’s Enemies suddenly disappeared?”
“Ah, come to think of it—why didn’t you disappear with the rest of them, back to your filthy home?”
“Oh dear, I’m not a World’s Enemy; I’m an Evil Magical Girl. It’s only natural I’d stay around, right?”
Ayle smoothly shrugged off the questions and got straight to the point. The reason she made an appointment to visit the Magical Girls’ association.
“—Everyone, don’t you need something to do?”
“…Something to do?”
“Yes. For instance, a new adversary to fight.”
As she spoke, Ayle produced from her palm a small, adorably modified World’s Enemy. An inky black creature with wiggling tentacles. Unlike the mind-shattering terror of the former World’s Enemies, this one looked cute enough to serve as a toy shop novelty.
The Magical Girls, seeing this creature, wore expressions of realization—ah, of course.
“You, you— that’s…”
“It’s a World’s Enemy. Well, a fake one.”
“…Fake?”
“Yes, fake.”
Following the disappearance of the World’s Enemies and the resulting slackening of duty for Magical Girls, I specially requested from a scientist to create artificial World’s Enemies.
Unlike their previous form, they’re cuter and less threatening, making them suitable for broadcasting.
Ayle came with a plan to use these creatures to revive the Magical Girls’ significance.
“It’s kind of like a WWE… Think of it as a different type of pro wrestling.”
“…You want us to act?”
“Yes! Actually, we’re already doing it back where I’m from.”
She had borrowed the idea from scenarios where an evil organization faced a hero association.
She didn’t wish for the complete downfall of the Magical Girls, so she quickly devised this plan.
Understanding Ayle’s proposal, the Magical Girls exchanged glances with stifled groans.
“…Give us a moment, just a moment.”
“Can’t give you too much time?”
“Sure, it’ll be just a sec.”
Afterward.
The Magical Girls hastily went into a conference.
Amidst the heated and opposing voices in the meeting room,
Ayle was confident that her plan would be accepted.
* * *
How did it end up like this?
“—You son of a b*! Are you really that good at research?”
“…No, not really.”
“Then what is this—? Even if you’re mocking me, there’s a limit.”
Facing a woman with bronzed skin hurling papers at me, I put on a blank expression. What she was throwing were my recent papers on Souls, and she was a fellow Scholar member.
A supposed genius scholar who dedicated life to solving the secrets of life and death through soul research.
‘…I handed in the answers, so why’s she mad?’
Really, I had no idea what was going on.