Silent snowfield.
In the dark night sky, with the aurora shining brightly, a woman wearing a black veil sat motionless in a chair, admiring the aurora. A crow draped in a dark blue scarf was perched on her shoulder, reporting in a blunt yet kind tone.
“She was a girl with a very difficult dream.”
“Is that so?”
“But as we pondered together, the answer came to us.”
“Is that so?”
From the moment three guides were born in this world, for some reason, the crow flew north without looking back. Whenever she was not on duty, she would come and chatter to the woman dressed in black.
The crow, Tana, did not understand why she did that.
However, being beside her somehow felt as comforting as being with family.
She simply acted as her heart directed.
“…Thus, I guided yet another girl to the path of enlightenment.”
“Yeah. Amazing.”
“Asuka.”
“Hmm?”
“Praise me more.”
“Really really amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
Yeonseo merely watched the two of them with a bemused smile. To avoid disturbing Alisa’s scenic contemplation, she was preparing a meal with her grandfather in front of a tent set up far away.
A small village in the snowfield where people, wounded by death and reality, quietly lived.
They faithfully spent each day as the guardians of that place.
“Asha, the stew should be ready soon. Please call Alisa over.”
“Yes, but Tana can’t eat with a plate since she’s a crow, what should we do?”
Yeonseo’s grandfather silently shook a long cup, and Yeonseo couldn’t help but laugh as it reminded her of some tale from an old fairytale.
The realm of the reaper, managing the deaths and rests of the magical girls, was filled with quiet chatter, the delicious smell of stew, and the fragrant flow of nostalgic memories.
Everyday stories
Scheduled for tomorrow
Recent battles
And
Very occasionally
They would bring up the story of a silver-haired girl who had once entered Alisa’s dream together at the hospital. Whenever her story came up, the four gathered would look up at the moon beyond the aurora.
The pure white moon rising in the black sky.
The pure white that only shows its face on the path to tomorrow.
They gazed at the white starlight, looking forward to another day.
“What will happen tomorrow?”
“Whatever happens, it’ll be fun.”
“Yes, I look forward to it.”
“So do I.”
＊
“Kwahaha!! Finally got it!! The brainwave controller that can dominate all humans!!”
“Ahhh!! It’s a demon!!”
“Run away!!”
“Kwahaha!! Don’t move, everyone!!”
Boom!!
The maniac, with his sight completely corrupted by black energy, waved his lab coat as he pressed the button on the massive device. As the box-like apparatus on his back came to life, the movements of the citizens circling the plaza came to a halt.
“…!”
“…!”
The maniac dripped black energy from his mouth, grinning the most disgusting smile a human could muster. With every step he took, a foul smell wafted as black liquid dripped down, with the immobilized people praying he wouldn’t come near them.
“Hehehe, it’s a success!! I did it!! Now everyone who laughed at me and caused me pain will be my slaves. Hehehehe!! I, I’ll also have a beautiful college girlfriend and… love!!”
The maniac, clearly in his mid-40s, made his twisted declaration, sending chills down the spines of the female students present.
Please,
Please don’t let that maniac come for me.
It was in that moment of despair for the citizens that a girl’s shout resonated.
“That’s as far as you go, you villain!”
“Huh?”
It was a girl in a horse mask.
Suddenly, a girl in a horse mask appeared in the plaza frozen with people.
“……”
The corrupted maniac, even in his deranged state, was taken aback by the girl’s bizarre appearance.
“…Horse mask?”
“By the name of love and longing, I appear here!! The magical girl of the [Fragment] that grants dreams!! I, Yamashita Asuka, will not forgive you, villain!!”
“…A magical girl with an alias.”
The maniac, not at all fazed by the girl dressed in the Magical Girl Academy’s beginner uniform, increased his vigilance at the name she declared.
Not a colorless magical girl who could only display a feeble power, but rather a true magical girl capable of launching attacks infused with her dreams.
No matter how young a girl is, once she has awakened her alias, she is not someone to be underestimated.
For the mid-40s maniac dreaming of romance with university girls, he had a goal he absolutely wanted to achieve, and he had to defeat her no matter what.
“If you’re a magical girl with an alias, I won’t hold back!!”
Drip drip…
With the maniac’s shout, all kinds of tentacles emerged from the device on his back. Branching out like an anemone, the tentacles dripped a disgusting-scented liquid.
At the end of the tentacles were grotesque protrusions that made it embarrassing to even describe, writhing, which caused the surrounding female students to retch in disgust despite being frozen in place.
Wiggle wiggle
Wiggle wiggle
“……!”
“……!”
A sight so ugly to behold.
It was the manifestation of the maniac’s filthy inner nature now revealed due to his demonization.
The horse mask girl stood tall, striking a proud transformation pose without flinching at the maniac’s appearance.
‘What is this? Could she, could she be a 2-Star magical girl?’
Currently, the Witch of Swiftness, who even S-Class demons feared, Sato Hana had awakened her 2-Star ability since elementary school and had finally advanced to 3-Star in the great war.
If that bizarre horse mask girl were a genius like Sato Hana…
‘Then, running away is the better option.’
As a mere C-Class demon, it would be tough to handle even a 1-Star Blooming Magical Girl.
“……”
“……”
A standoff between the demon and the magical girl.
The horse mask girl slowly took off her mask.
“Um.”
Behind the mask was a girl with a calm demeanor, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“Um…I-In fact, I haven’t awakened my alias yet.”
“Uh, um… Then can’t you just go home?”
“But…”
“Uncle has things to do.”
Awkward
Embarrassed
The maniac relaxed his wariness completely again, retracting his tentacles.
“Just go home.”
“Um, but I’m a magical girl, I can’t just leave…”
“What can a little girl who hasn’t even bloomed do?”
“Ah, my dad is a police officer.”
“Police officers are public servants.”
“Public…servant?”
“Yeah, they can’t meddle in matters outside of their department.”
“But my dad is a really high-ranked officer.”
“Then he wouldn’t need to be on the scene.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, off you go, kid.”
-What kind of ridiculous logic is that?
The female students nearby, overhearing their conversation, desperately signaled the girl to run away, fearing the maniac’s attention would shift to them.
But the girl named Yamashita Asuka, looking dejected, tried to exit the scene.
“Kuhihih, now that the interference is gone, which beauty will become my girlfriend tonight…”
At that moment,
A refreshing female voice rang through the plaza.
“What do you mean girlfriend!”
Whoosh――!!!
Boom!!
A streak of light fell from the distant sky.
As the light passed, a tempest arose in its wake, with a deafening roar that shook the very air.
A yellow meteor,
A colossal flash,
The massive yellow meteor spawned from the blue sky pierced through the demon in an instant.
Amidst the booming noise, a young woman appeared.
Her long side tails danced in the remaining gale, casually keeping one hand in her pocket while wearing shorts and sportswear.
She towered like an athlete, her well-built body exuding a dazzling yellow light that shone brightly even under the midday sun.
“Stop with the nonsense, and go sleep at the police station!”
The woman, surrounded by the yellow light, lifted the demon’s head with one hand without batting an eyelid. The now helpless maniac panicked, but then was overwhelmed by an immense amount of starlight, suffering greatly.
Voom!!
A massive starlight capable of purifying even S-Class demons shone bright.
“Whaaaaa?!”
“Phew.”
Thud
When the woman who appeared with the flash snapped her fingers, the yellow starlight that spread through the plaza dispelled the demon’s foul magic.
“That person is…!!”
“The Witch of Swiftness!!”
Once the liberated people realized her identity, they erupted in cheers.
“It’s Sato Hana!!”
“It’s Sato Hana!!”
“I’m a fan of Sato!!”
They rushed over, stepping over the unconscious demon.
Hana, the most passionate witch about helping people, was a beloved figure for any citizen. She always appeared like a meteor in times of need to lend a hand.
“Thank you all for your warm greetings. If you ever need help, I’ll always come rushing in! Like a meteor!”
Knowing the police couldn’t apprehend the demon in that state, Hana waved as she responded to the citizens’ enthusiasm and swiftly vanished with the demon in tow.
As Her form disappeared in an instant, the crowd felt a sense of loss.
“Aah, I wanted to see more.”
“…She’s so tall and really pretty.”
The men’s hearts raced at her incredible speed and dazzling abilities, while the women were captivated by her admirable stature and confident gaze.
“……”
Asuka, the horse mask magical girl, gazed at Hana’s back, wishing to become a shining magical girl like her someday.
Someday, I want to truly become a magical girl of [Fragment].
I want to fight on the battlefield alongside the brightest Sato Hana.
“Ugh, I should go to mom.”
Asuka tucked that dream into her heart and moved her weary legs towards the doll workshop run by her mother. Taking the subway, she walked along, stopping halfway on her way to Ikebukuro, where the doll workshop was located.
Swipe
Swipe
She saw a slender man, wearing a mask resembling a robot face, sweeping the street.
It was the part-time employee at the nearby model shop.
Upon noticing Asuka, he waved lightly to greet her.
“Ah, ah, hello.”
The uncle who was famous in the neighborhood for his robot mask along with Asuka was a local fixture.
He covered his whole body so that children visiting the model store would not be startled by his scars, making him a peculiar presence in the area.
“Hmm? Assistant Uncle? Hello.”
“Ah, welcome. Hey, Yamashita-chan. O-Oh, today as well… Model kits?”
“No, I spent all my allowance last time, so mom got mad at me.”
“I see.”
Clatter clatter
The robot-faced uncle nodded, glancing at her with sympathy.
“W-Well then, here, take this.”
While his trembling hands rummaged through his apron due to an old injury, the robot-faced uncle presented her with a small armored doll created by the shop’s owner.
“Oh! Thank you!”
“Then, be safe, there have been lots of demons lately.”
“Yes!”
When Asuka accepted the doll and peered inside the model shop, she noticed a mixed-race woman in a tank top chatting with a very skinny delivery girl, and a person in a lab coat with ‘Doctor’ written on it was gossiping with them.
Narrowing her eyes for a closer look, it seemed like a peculiar green light was flickering on the ceiling, indicating a ‘Ninja’ might have also visited.
Swipe
Swipe
The robot-faced uncle appeared a bit uncomfortable around the space filled with women, so he pretended to sweep the floor outdoors whenever friends of the delivery girl and the doctor visited.
“Hm.”
Asuka shifted her gaze from the model shop and walked again towards her mother’s doll workshop.
Thanks to the uncle’s gift, her mood was slightly improved.
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