Chapter: 114
Espoir de Eternal Dark, the organization formerly known simply as Eternal Dark, stretched out her hand and shouted.
“You really don’t need to show your true feelings—arise!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“Rise up from the abyss, my Dark Minion! Eternal Dark Wave!!”
Piiiyooyoon!
Unlike the silly sound effect and her nonsensical chant, the power of the Four Heavenly Kings Dark was formidable. The dark energy that emanated from her hand struck the ground, and a massive hunting dog emerged from the shadowy pit.
“Th-th-that’s! A creature summoned by the Evil Organization through impure energy! We must use pure energy to purify it!”
“Does that mean we should beat it with magic…?”
“Not that! Magical Girls need to draw their pure energy from positive emotions!”
Grrrrr! Gaaah!!
The shadowy hunting dog took a step forward and lunged at them with its mouth wide open. Magical Girl Oh Hye-in stood in front of Roderus, swinging her wand.
“Brave Shield!”
Kyaaaah!
Bang—!!
A brilliantly shining Golden Shield appeared to absorb the hound’s attack. However, perhaps due to the clear difference in their powers, Oh Hye-in was sent flying back along with her shield.
“Ugh…!!”
Leaning to the side to watch the battle, Dark received a transmission from the outside and recited her lines.
“Indeed, stepping into an uninhabited mountain was your mistake, Magical Girl! Only that unlucky man over there can extract emotional energy here… and he is filled to the brim with negative emotions!”
“Roderus, think happy thoughts! If you don’t, Hye-in will be in trouble!”
“What on earth does that even have to do with…?”
A thought flickered across Roderus’s mind. The magic in this world was different!
It was odd for his own magic to have vanished. But even stranger was the fact that his ability to sense magic remained intact.
If the nature of magic was different here, then it made sense. According to their conversation, the magic here came from a person’s emotions.
The Evil Organization extracted impure energy from negative emotions.
Magical Girls drew pure energy from positive emotions.
And the only person present on this hillside, aside from the combatant Oh Hye-in, was Roderus.
“Kreeeaaah!!”
“Ugh, ugh…!!”
“We’re really in trouble! Roderus, think positive thoughts…!!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Positive… thoughts.
Happy, beautiful, cheerful, warm feelings.
Roderus’s mind went blank. Reviewing his past life revealed nothing of the sort.
Aside from the shallow thrill derived from stepping over others and the superiority complex that supported his ego, there was not a glimmer of a sparkling heart. Only anxiety came to mind.
Even the moment he completed Duke Redburn’s orders, the only feelings he felt were relief at escaping punishment.
“I, I am…”
Krooaaahhh—!!
Negative emotions burst forth from Roderus. The shadowy hunting dog, which had absorbed the impure energy, swelled to twice its size.
Its paw, as big as a person, swung menacingly.
Ku-wahng—!!
“Gugh…!!”
As the shield shattered, the Magical Girl was sent flying. Oh Hye-in brushed past Roderus and crashed into a tree, sliding down it.
Paaahh.
Light enveloped Oh Hye-in’s form, and her frilly dress vanished, leaving a plain school uniform-clad girl behind. Her transformation had been undone.
Thud.
With a sound as if losing its grip, a circular hand mirror fell from the girl’s hand. Roderus watched this unfold, then turned his gaze back to the shadowy hunting dog.
The monster, fed with Roderus’s dark emotions, continued to swell larger and larger.
“Hye-in! Hye-in! Get it together! Wake up!”
“⋯⋯It’s so loud, Spirit.”
She was deep in thought.
He needed magical energy. To survive this toothy monster, he needed some magic to use right now.
But he couldn’t feel the magic within him.
Oh Hye-in had been overflowing with magic just moments ago. But now, he sensed none. This meant the likelihood of her having used an artifact was high.
That would be it.
The jeweled circular hand mirror that had fallen around Oh Hye-in. That’s the artifact!
Grab.
Roderus picked up the hand mirror. It still had warmth.
“Wait! That Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror) belongs to Hye-in!”
“Shut it, Spirit! Just tell me how to use this artifact! If I hesitate here, Oh Hye-in will die!”
“B-but it’s a guy’s thing… I-I don’t know!”
The cloud-shaped spirit sweated profusely as it darted around; eventually, it disclosed the activation phrase for the artifact.
“The emergency transformation code is, ‘Pure Pure Fluffy Fluffiest, the cutest in the universe, I appear!’”
“⋯⋯Are you kidding me?”
“Does this look like a joke to me?! It’s a backup phrase in case the regular transformation command fails, and it’s a phrase so unique that I couldn’t blurt it out by accident! That’s a Transformation Device owned by Hye-in!”
It was a reasonable explanation. To transfer ownership of an artifact belonging to someone, special procedures were usually required.
If there were a secret command to bypass those procedures, it needed to be a phrase that no one would normally say.
A reasonable explanation, but… did it really have to be this phrase? Wasn’t this really the sort of thing a mad wizard would come up with to stimulate their brain?
“Pure Pure… Ugh!”
He wanted to bite his tongue. Roderus clenched his jaw, battling an extraordinary wave of shame he had never experienced before. How could a grown man…!!
But Roderus was an elite trained as an assassin. Thanks to the tough mental training bordering on torture, he was able to suppress his shame and finally called out the activation phrase.
“Pure Pure Fluffy Fluffiest, the cutest in the universe, I appear…!!”
Pikang!
Piiroong Piiroong Piiroong♪
A dazzling array of multicolored lights surrounded Roderus’s body. The prison uniform disappeared, replaced by a mystical glow.
“What, what is this?!”
Sharraaang!!
“What the hell is going on?!”
The hunting dog merely stared in astonishment.
With a cacophony of sound effects filling the air, stars floated everywhere, gathering light that began to transform Roderus’s body. His height shrank, while the weight lost was redirected to his chest and hips.
His hair turned sky-blue, lengthened, and blue ribbons were tied around his wrists and ankles. Pristine white gloves, drawer-like pants often referred to as pumpkin pants, and a tunic that covered his ample chest.
On top of that, a feathered hat and a cape reminiscent of the Three Musketeers were added, and a skirt fluttered around, barely covering his thighs. A rapier hung at his waist.
Roderus’s mouth moved of its own accord.
“Magical Girl, Pure Knight—appear!!”
Furrreng.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
For a moment, Roderus’s mind went blank. What the hell is this? Why am I a girl? Why is this artifact even a thing? Why is my mouth moving without my control?
It didn’t matter.
Roderus shook his head vigorously.
Really, it didn’t matter. The one who cares loses…! She transformed all her shame into rage.
“I’ll teach you a lesson, you mutt!”
Despite the pitifully small amount of mana compared to what he originally possessed, it was sufficient.
Roderus possessed sophisticated skills that Oh Hye-in lacked.
Shwaang—!
Roderus drew the rapier…
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
It was in the form of a rapier, yes, but it was decorated with pastel-toned cubic gems. It resembled a toy more than anything. Though the blade was sharp…!
“⋯⋯Die!!”
Roderus shouted fiercely and attacked.
With the rapier drawn, she twirled the point and stabbed with a sparkle, aiming for the eyes, joints, and connections. The barrage of glinting strikes was akin to a meteor shower.
Shashashashasha!!
“Kyaaaah!!”
The unfocused shadowy form let out a scream, its mouth gaping wide.
But Roderus was already gone from that spot. She had slid inside, wrapping her legs around the hunting dog’s neck, aiming the rapier at its nape.
“Shut it, you beast!”
Push!
With a deep thrust of the rapier, she activated a spell. The materialization of magic, simultaneously followed by a mana explosion. From the tip of the sword erupted a claymore.
Bgrrrrr! Kki-kikiki! Splat.
The shadowy hunting dog swelled like a balloon before bursting. Roderus readied herself, glaring at Eternal Dark.
Eternal Dark appeared displeased that her hunting dog had been defeated, huffing while preparing to summon another monster. But…
“Alright then, let’s see if I can win against the next one. Dark… huh? You want me to come back? Why now…?! Fine, I got it!”
“Are you retreating?”
“Think whatever you want! But you’re still in the grasp of our Demon Lord! In the end, you’ll be the one screaming in agony from your defeat! Hmph…!”
Eternal Dark opened a dimensional portal and vanished into the dark beyond. Whatever the reason for her retreating without finishing things, it was fortunate.
“⋯⋯Hmph, that was nothing.”
Roderus said with a mix of bravado as she sheathed her rapier. No further signs of enemies appeared, deeming the battle over.
“It’s amazing! How could you handle Pure Energy so skillfully?!”
“It’s basic. If you can’t manage that much, that’s the odd thing. Hmm?”
Roderus lifted the artifact that had belonged to the girl.
There was a strange sound as if something split apart during the fight, and a large crack was visible on the Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror).
It seemed to have been damaged during his spell. It was like connecting three mana stones to a one-stone standard.
More importantly, what he wanted to know was when this amusing artifact’s effect would wear off.
“When will this transformation wear off?”
“When you run out of Pure Energy, it will naturally untransform!”
“Is that so? Then I won’t be returning this junk.”
Whip. Roderus tossed the artifact to the spirit.
“⋯⋯The Dreaming Mirror—!!”
“I won’t be listening to nonsense about replacing the artifact or anything. Considering you caught the hunting dog on my behalf, you should thank me a hundred times. Now, let’s get you home, fluffball.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
“I promised to provide food, clothing, and shelter.”
Roderus picked up the unconscious Oh Hye-in. The spirit hesitated before finally leading Roderus to Hye-in’s home. It turned out to be a building known as an apartment.
There were no signs of her parents.
The fluffball spirit, who introduced herself as Mungae, mentioned that there was a spare room available and assigned Roderus a small bedroom. Eager for some rest, she fell asleep…
And when she opened her eyes, although the transformation outfit was gone, she still found herself in a female body.
===============================================================
Back to the present.
Roderus’s shout made Mungae and Oh Hye-in peek through the door.
“It’s a bug caused by your weird ability!”
“A bug…?”
“It’s an error that occurred.”
“And I lost the Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror).”
Roderus glared angrily at the two, pointing a finger at them.
“Return my body right now!”
“I want to do that too! But the transformation state got messed up halfway through, and the Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror) got bound to you…”
“And I’ve lost my Magical Girl powers, taken by my brother.”
“That’s not my problem! Hurry up and find a way!”
He couldn’t maintain his composure. What man wouldn’t be thrown into chaos when his gender switched overnight? It felt empty and hollow below his waist.
That sense of loss was rapidly transforming into rage.
And Oh Hye-in doused the flames of his fury with gasoline.
“Well, honestly, this change does work out better. No matter how good looking you are, your hysterics were annoying, but now it’s kind of cute.”
“You—!!”
“Oh, so now I’m not calling you ‘Oppa’ but maybe ‘Onee-chan’?”
Gah!
Roderus’s feminized body couldn’t handle the sudden spike in blood pressure. She felt her vision swim and toppled backward.
While the groaning Roderus lay on the floor, Oh Hye-in and Mungae began to converse.
“Is our hot-tempered brother going to help with our Magical Girl activities?”
“Yeah! We need Pure Energy to repair the Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror), so we have to show off our cool side by defeating monsters. So whether you like it or not, it’s happening!”
“Hey, you’re also from another world, right? You seem a bit lacking in basic knowledge. Your social skills are severely lacking too. Since we’re kind of the same age now, how about you go to school with us?”
“I’ll talk to the government officials about getting an ID. But I’ll need a name…”
Oh Hye-in and Mungae put their heads together and thought for a while. They debated between Roderus, or something like Scarlet due to his red hair.
“So how about Roderus because that’s your real name…?”
===============================================================
Ding-dong-ding-dong.
The school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher tapped on the blackboard, saying, “Alright, today we have a transfer student. Please introduce yourself comfortably.”
“Uh, I’m Oh Dae-soo… Nice to meet you.”
Bowing slightly, Roderus’s long hair cascaded down as she grimaced, enduring the mental agony.
“Wow, she’s super pretty…?”
“She looks like she just woke up with no makeup on, but still, wow…”
“Surely she’s got a boyfriend, right? No way she doesn’t.”
“Come on, moron. From a glance, she looks like an idol trainee. She probably doesn’t have one.”
Amidst the bustling classroom, Roderus awkwardly smiled. She had the urge to wipe them all out.
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