CH 65

「In lieu of an apology, I have two things I would like to bring to your attention. First of all, I would like to correct one thing that you probably misunderstood. We are not Natural Extremists.」

「You’re acting on your own initiative, regardless of faction, right? I kind of knew that.」

「…I see, you seem to have an excellent network of information.」

That’s what Knuckle-san told us before. If we build on what we have heard from the lower level of the faction and others, it’s unlikely that the faction is involved in this raid.

「This is a trend we are not exactly aware of, but perhaps the Natural Extremists are aware that we have been occupying Sakira Town for the past month or so. And we may occupy it as our own, thinking that this is already the territory of the Naturalist.」

「Wait, that doesn’t seem right. If these extremists and others try to come to Sakira Town, they will talk to you guys who are occupying the town, right? Why haven’t you guys caught on to the trend?」

「I guess that means the very faction is not monolithic. Mostly, I think they’re trying to sidestep the achievement.」

「That’s a possibility. We should not consider us and them to be Magical Girls in the same league, even though the means we took were the same. I understand that what we did was also inherently sinful and unforgivable. But we still have a degree of reason not to cross the line. They are beasts. If we clash with the Extremists and are defeated, there is no telling what they will do to us.」

Samurai Peach-san waited for Marine-san’s story, but Marine-san affirmed Knuckle-san’s prediction and continued the conversation.

Indeed, looking at the results alone, no one was seriously injured in this conflict. As much as it pains me to admit it, Marine-san has a point. There are beasts in this world that don’t seem to think of people as people. Marine-san and her colleague may have been outcasts, but they were not beasts.

「In Sakira Town, there’s Wind Witch-dono. Marine-kun and her group hired Rigor Witch-dono, but does that Extremist group have the means to deal with Wind Witch-dono?」

「We do not know that much. However, it is possible that they’re optimistic because of our occupation that the problem with Wind Witch-sama has already been taken cared of. Or maybe they have Ice Witch-sama on their side.」

「It’s always good to be on the lookout, but it’s all about possibilities, isn’t it? For that matter, you sound as if you are convinced that the Extremists are targeting Sakira Town.」

「That is another thing I wanted to tell you. It’s not by chance that I, Dryad, and Shadow came together, but by the guidance of a person. I was working to increase my voice within my faction, Shadow was working to find a place of peace, and Dryad was working for one purpose or another. Then, a message from an unknown sender arrived at our Magiphone. I won’t bore you with the details, but guided by that message, the three of us got together, hired Simeracres-san as a mercenary, and attacked Sakira Town.」

「I see then. So there is a real culprit who gathered you three with the same goal and had you attack Sakira Town.」

「I don’t mean to shift the blame, because it’s a misnomer to call us the real culprit, but there is an entity that is targeting Sakira Town. We don’t know what their objectives are, but we believe that if they know we have failed, they will most likely try to lure the militants next time.」

…Is it the Devil? But Marine-san and the other two attacked Elephant-san’s team when I and that Devil were having a tea party, so she must’ve not been involved in this attack after all. If the goal was to get me into the faction, then the timing is wrong. For a moment, I thought that maybe Marine-san and the other two were just accidental irregularities and that the real target was the Extremists, but then that would mean that the person who sent the message to Marine-san and the two had nothing to do with the Devil.

Just when I thought I was done with all the trouble, one thing after another keeps popping up!

「Can’t the Magic Bureau find out who sent that message? The Magic Bureau doesn’t get involved in the private struggles of Magical Girls, but if it goes too far, that’s a different story, isn’t it? Isn’t it a bit much to try to incite one private fight after another?」

「It’s not a praiseworthy act, even though it does not involve private matters, so until now we have not reported it from our own mouths. But I will report back to them later.」

Marine-san responds to Elephant-san’s question in an auspicious manner. You can’t say that you were about to hit a Hunting Ground and got a message from an unknown account that led you three here.

「It’s alright! We are stronger now, and we have more friends to reassure us!」

「…Eh!? I–Is it about me? Of course I’ll fight when the time comes, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up…」

「I’m counting on you, Shadow-san. Of course, we don’t intend to lose either.」

「Well, it’s just a little bit of magic on my part!」

「If you come when I’m not here, please call me immediately. I will fly over.」

I did say that Elephant-san and the others have become stronger and are not just protected, but I still worry about what worries me. If they come, I hope they come soon. I want to make them into minced meat so I don’t have to worry about them ever again.

「Umm, sorry to interrupt the excitement, but perhaps the Extremists were these guys?」

Simeracres-san, who was playing with her magiphone in the corner of the room, suddenly spoke up. I mean, she was there. We didn’t notice her because of the lack of presence.

No, it’s more that statement. The magiphon that Simeracres-san held out to us showed a dozen or so Magical Girls on ice and Permafrost-san taking a selfie with the ice sculptures in peace.

What is this…?

「Is this, Phantom…!?」

「Are you serious!? Phantom is the head of a radical group, isn’t she? And if you look closely, you can see Phantom’s cronies in the picture with her…」

Marine-san was the first to express surprise, and Shadow-san continued, muttering in disbelief. I had no idea, but I guess she is a famous Magical Girl.

「Does Blade and Press know her?」

「I’ve never heard of her…」

「I don’t know her either…」

「She’s a Magical Girl with a bit of a name recognition among Natural Lineage Magical Girls.」

Elephant-san’s group don’t seem to know about her, but Dryad-san seemes to know. I don’t know anything about it among the Natural Lineage.

「In the category of Naturalist, Permafrost-chan and Meteor-chan are well-known, but I guess you could call her the No. 3 below them. They say the top Extremists and Moderates are each about as good as the next, and those are the two Magical Girls, Phantom and Metal.」

「So, this person on ice is the most powerful person in that militant group?」

「Where did you find this image?」

「It’s in her social media. She posted that she was wandering around and got tangled up with a weirdo, so she turned the tables on her. The time would just be… right before the Duke-class appeared.」

「…It seems too good to be true, but is it a coincidence? It’s puzzling on why Ice Witch-dono was here in Sakira Town in the first place. I thought she was joining you guys and started the battle, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.」

「W–Wait a minute. Ice Witch-sama was here?」

「Nhn? Yes, well, I didn’t tell you about that. You know the Duke-class appeared, right? She showed up at about the same time I arrived on the scene. That’s impossible unless she was in Sakira Town from the beginning.」

「As I mentioned earlier, we were working independently of the factions. So I didn’t know that Ice Witch-sama had come to Sakira Town. If it was to join the Extremists, it would make sense, but turning the tables on them? Don’t tell me she had been trying to get a hold of the Extremists from the beginning to fight them off…?」

「I don’t care what she does, just give me a signed contract completion. I don’t know if you guys lost, but you got what you signed up for. How much longer do I have to wait?」

「Oh, right. I apologize for keeping in a standstill. Is this the right amount, Rigor Witch-sama?」

「Yeah, certainly. Well, if you need anything else, please hire me again. Witches get a special discount, so you two don’t have to be shy.」

What can I say, she is a person of her own pace. If I had heard this much, I’m usually wondering what happened, but she even went out of business to us and then simply left the room.

But, well, thanks to Simeracres-san, we know that the Extremists have already been repelled, and we should be grateful here.

「There are a lot of things that don’t add up, but I think it’s safe to say that the matters are closed for now.」

「Yes, I guess so… I apologize to Elephant-san and her team for the inconvenience we’ve caused, that also goes for Wind Witch-sama and then to Expansion Witch-sama. I apologize for troubling you.」

「Ah, m–my apologies.」

「I apologize for troubling you.」

Shadow-san and Dryad-san followed Marine-san’s lead and bowed deeply. I have my personal grudge, but I am not going to say anything about it as long as Elephant-san allows it. Please do your best not to disappoint Elephant-san.

「What is this, I have been this entertained. It’s also nice and fresh to be bowed out from Dryad. Nnhn? How do you feel now? How does it feel to bow to this me who used to say so much?」

「Tch, you still have that bad personality… I have to tell you, I’m sincerely sorry for Blade-chan and her team, but I think you especially should just quit being a Magical Girl.」

「Hey–hey, you’re not sorry at all, are you? Is that any way to speak to a Witch? I wish you would take a lesson from Marine-kun.」

「You’re a real pain in the ass…」

I feel like Extend-san is being even more annoying than usual. Before, I thought that Dryad-san might be a Magical Girl with some problems if she didn’t get along with Extend-san, but from the looks of it, I think it’s rather Extend-san who has the problem.

「Well, I’m going to go now. I have a girl waiting for me.」

「Okay. When she wakes up, give her lots of praise.」

「Yes, I know. Thank you, Blade-chan.」

Blade-san took the hand Dryad-san offered and shook it with a smile. I haven’t heard the details of the situation, but it seems that Dryad-san had a different reason than a territorial vandal after all. I am glad that Blade-san was able to convince her that the rut is over.

「I am leaving too. Even though they have been repelled by the Ice Witch-sama, we also have to think about how to deal with the iced-over militants. This is a Naturalist issue, so leave the cleanup to me.」

「I’m counting on you to do a great job with everything.」

「You’re a tough person to pin down. I may say it myself, but to beat me just after Phase 2 is a medium-sized gold star, right? I think you could be a little more excited.」

「If we play fair and win, I’ll brag about it all the time.」

「Hmmm, interesting. Next time I won’t lose.」

Marine-san and Press-san shook hands with each other with a wry smile, as if they were bad friends. Is this a Showa-era manga that friendship develops through fisticuffs? It’s a sensibility I don’t understand.

「Ah— Then, I’ll just stay here for a while… I’m not sure if I’m ready to move to a new location…」

「Do you have luggage or something? Do you need help?」

「Eh!? N–No, that’s, I can do it all by myself.」

「What’s your problem with Elephant-san helping you?」

「Hieeek! I–I–I h–have n–no c–complaints at a–all! Please do!」

「I’ll help you with that, too.」

「Hieekk!」

She was so rude to be frightened every time she saw my face since a while ago.

I’m just trying to help her out.

「Wind Witch-dono, why don’t you pull back that intimidation that creeps into her skin and talk to her first? Frankly, I’m shivering myself, wondering when your magic is going to hit me.」

「I’m not intimidating her.」

I don’t like it, Extend-san. That makes it sound like I’m jealous of her, Shadow-san, and I’m mad at you in a mature and unprofessional way. I am a respectable adult. I would never do such a deplorable thing.

「Come on, Sylph-chan, it’s all over now, so please get along.」

「…If you say so, Elephant-san.」

I didn’t intimidated her, but I was definitely a little tense. But Elephant-san rebuked me, so I repeated the breathing slowly to calm myself down.

「…W–Wow, she’s got a Witch in tow…」

Seeing our exchange, Shadow-san looks shuddering and looks respectfully at Elephant-san.

Not that I am in tow, but as Shadow-san said, Elephant-san is very amazing. It’s like a Magical Girl who knows how to talk a little.