Episode 128 – The Essence of Magical Girls (8)
“Time has dragged on a bit, but the situation has changed a little.”
“That’s true. The so-called Special Task Force has toppled over on its own. But that’s not the important thing right now, is it, Chair Baroque?”
At this point, just before the gathering to summon the Magical Girls, several Fairies had their heads together with serious expressions.
However, in that situation, Chair Baroque frowned at the words of Executive Winston, who was speaking as if blaming him.
“In the end, nothing has improved. The local human forces have turned the Magical Girls into their loyal subjects, engaging in horrific modifications with Monsters. And that’s not all?! Our internal factions have also split, derailing the plans for the next parliament!”
Winston continued to assert strongly as if he hadn’t seen Baroque’s frown. In fact, he was absolutely right, so others just exchanged worried glances without taking any active stance.
After all, they were the ones who had opened the Dimension Gate to bring the Monsters in.
“We must correct this. Absolutely.”
“There are many who oppose defining the betraying Magical Girls as enemies. The companies that the traitors belong to are lobbying for that. It’s impossible to rectify this unless we get rid of them.”
At Winston’s insistence to correct things, Chair Baroque scoffed. The resolution of the situation had indeed slipped from their grasp.
“So, you mean we have to take action during this gathering?”
Winston’s eyes sparkled instead. If it had slipped from the Fairies’ hands, then paradoxically, it could be solved by the Magical Girls themselves. Unlike in the past, now the Magical Girls could band together out of their own will.
“What exactly do you plan to do, and how?”
“The humans on Earth are also fighting among themselves according to their interests and beliefs, and the Magical Girls in that society are no different. We don’t even need to give them orders. Just nudging those who oppose them from behind might make them move.”
Winston spoke confidently as if he had a plan in mind. And with no better options, it was concluded that they would accept Winston’s suggestion.
“Wait. What about Takilas? Are we abandoning the original plan to persuade her?”
“Of course not. Absolutely! Don’t touch a hair on her!”
Just before leaving the meeting, Winston shook his head in shock at the mention of Takilas.
*
“It’s time. You just need to go.”
“Still doesn’t feel great.”
Early evening. Hidden away and sneaking out of the room, I received the invitation that Ren was holding on the roof of the facility, clicking my tongue.
To be honest, I could have exercised my right to refuse until the end, but I thought it might be better to make an appearance there before anything strange happened.
I figured nobody would come up to me anyway.
“It’s a fascinating magic. The awakened power embedded in the formation is inducing my body’s magic to trigger space travel.”
“I-I don’t know about that! Hold on tight!”
The moment I gripped the invitation, a powerful force burst forth and pulled me and Ren along. Grabbing Ren’s long ears, which kept hanging onto my skirt, I let the strong current carry me away.
“Didn’t know such a place existed. Their talents are impressive.”
When the movement finally ended, I found myself in another part of the Fairy world where the Fairy Company was located.
Looking up at the sky, I sighed softly.
This entire space, complete with a massive castle, was surrounded by an enormous magic circle. This was what it meant for time to not flow.
“Let’s go down. Rana should be here too.”
The chick-like Ren, still clutched in my hand, squirmed and pointed at the castle. I headed there obediently.
As expected, other Magical Girls were meeting each other with the help of their Mascots or heading to their affiliated companies.
“I’m getting quite popular.”
And at the same time, I had to receive their gazes. Various Magical Girls of different races and nationalities, all engrossed in their own affairs, were eyeing me and raising their tension from the moment I landed.
Without doing anything, the atmosphere turned icy.
“It’s been a while… since I last saw you, Takilas.”
Rana rushed over to break the tension. Her face looked even paler than the last time I had seen her.
“I had a hunch. I’m not planning to make a scene, so relax.”
Moving to a slightly quieter place, I took a sip of the drink on the tray. The moment I detected alcohol, I instinctively glanced toward the glass in Rana’s hand.
Noticing my gaze, Rana nearly set her drink down. By the way, more than half of the Magical Girls were minors, and yet here they were with alcohol.
“But you look quite tired.”
“It’s to be expected. Just as many events occurred on Earth, this place, which had remained unchanged, has seen many changes as well. Frankly speaking, I didn’t think it would reach this level.”
She briefly explained the changes happening in this world because of the incident with Casilena, the chaos caused by the emergence of the Special Task Force, and how the parliament had split into factions and started squabbling.
She seemed to be enjoying the fact that the council was crumbling and chuckled.
“The Chair and those old politicians will do anything to avoid responsibility. But it won’t be easy for them to hold out without justification.”
“…It feels satisfying that the council is losing power because of the incidents on Earth. It makes sense.”
Setting my glass down, I savored the pleasant scent of alcohol and let out a faint smile.
“There are still many unresolved issues on Earth. Those who proactively opened the Dimension Gate, or those who informed the Special Task Force about the power operation methods to complete it, like the One Road.”
“…!”
At my quiet remark, her eyes widened in shock. Until now, all she had was vague suspicion, but it was gradually turning into certainty.
“Both those actions couldn’t have been done solely by Earthlings, nor by Magical Girls ignorant of magic while using it. It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Rene. So the only ones capable of that from the current influential forces on Earth are the dimensional Monsters adept in magic or you Fairies.”
However, the dimensional Monsters that had appeared before the Dimension Gate could be noticed by the Magical Girls like Mamute. Thus, by the process of elimination, there remained only one option.
“I-I don’t know anything about the Dimension Gate!”
Rana, sweating profusely, suddenly leaped to her feet and dropped to her knees, bowing her head.
Is it because she knows me too well? Her situational judgment was sharp as a blade.
“M-Master…”
Even the flustered Ren couldn’t continue his words, and I just smiled wryly. In fact, I hadn’t had any particular thoughts on it.
“Let’s put the Dimension Gate aside for now. So, you informed the One Road about the technology to establish the Special Task Force, weakening the Magical Girls’ position, and aimed to attack the council behind it… is it the old politicians harboring grudges against the council?”
As I solidified my hypothesis with her drinking glass stolen for a sip, Rana could only tremble in silence.
“…That’s correct.”
“You’re scared for no reason. There’s no need for that. While there were certainly concerns, I think it was a necessary trial.”
Rana seemed to think I would strike her down at any moment, but I had no such intentions.
More than anything, I believed that the series of incidents caused by the Monsters that emerged from the Dimension Gate was significantly aided by the Magical Girls consolidating through the Special Task Force.
The emergence of a more proper cooperative body, the Frontier, and the expansion of Casilena’s scale ultimately made it possible for us to advance further, and that was thanks to the trials we faced.
“Enough about that. Let’s talk about something else. In this situation, the Special Task Force shouldn’t be an issue anymore.”
“…That’s true. Now there are others in our Fairy Society that have risen as the true problem.”
“Did they come here?”
“They did not. None of the 3606 Magical Girls active in the continent known as China have responded to the invitation.”
“Can we still call them Magical Girls?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief.
It was clearly wrong for the Fairies who had misinterpreted the will of Yggdrasil to treat Magical Girls, who were supposed to act with their beliefs and justice, as mercenaries at a subcontractor level. Some Magical Girls led by Rene tried to correct that.
But beyond that, it was absolutely insane to ally with local power or pledge loyalty, being reduced to mere soldiers stripped of belief and justice.
“So, what does your council plan to do about that?”
From the perspective of a ruler, it was quite an interesting situation. It felt completely like someone else’s issue.
At my question, Rana adjusted her glasses and sighed without realizing it.
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