Episode 25: Is That a Magical Girl?
“Transform”
The girl quietly muttered, then was enveloped in light, her attire changing drastically.
The drab colors that blended into the forest transformed into a vibrant pink, matching her hair.
Even her silhouette was completely different. The whole outfit was adorned with frills and ribbons, the skirt shortened, revealing her thighs.
And finally, a long staff, almost as tall as she was, appeared in mid-air, which the girl took and twirled around.
This is… definitely a magical girl.
The magical girl’s staff touched a monster. At that moment, magical power was released, becoming a shockwave that blew the monster more than ten meters away.
Having driven away the enemies around her, the magical girl produced something like a tarot card from nowhere. She brought it close to the red orb at the tip of her staff. The card melted and was absorbed.
“Come forth from purgatory, Sin—overflow, Sloth.”
The moment the magical girl chanted something like a spell, my movements became sluggish. My body felt heavy, as if I were struggling in water.
Not only me, but Mizuha and Rosette were also slow.
The monsters, on the other hand, were almost completely still.
Yet, the movement of the grass and leaves swaying in the wind was the same as before.
Is it magic that only affects living things… no, only animals?
The magical girl, having stopped the monsters’ movements, nonchalantly beat them to death with her staff.
She seemed confident of victory, showing no sign of caution, but rather even carelessness.
“—Behind you!”
“Huh?”
At my shout, the magical girl looked bewildered.
Far behind her, a four-armed great ape was holding a tree trunk like a javelin. The fact that it was moving meant it was outside the range of this stagnation effect.
And if the stagnation only worked on animals, the thrown tree would naturally fly without slowing down.
“Tch!”
I tried to summon a spirit to push the magical girl away. But the spirit’s movements were also sluggish. How is the effect being judged!?
Then, I’ll do this!
I summoned a spirit directly behind me and detonated it.
Pushed by the blast, I accelerated towards the magical girl.
Alright.
While moving my own limbs is hindered, it seems there’s no problem with moving due to external factors like gusts of wind.
I tackled the magical girl, knocking her down. The staff fell from her hand. The heaviness that had enveloped my body vanished instantly.
I immediately created a black sword with magical power and cleaved the incoming tree trunk in two. The wood split apart and flew away.
And then, Mizuha and Rosette, now free, took down the four-armed great ape.
“…Phew. That was close. Are you alright?”
I extended a hand to the magical girl, who was still sitting on the ground.
“Ah, thank you very much… I was surprised. You three are strong. Especially, the boy… I never imagined someone could move like that during the activation of Sloth. It was educational.”
She took my hand and stood up, giving me a friendly smile.
She was about the same height as me.
Rosette immediately approached and stood next to the girl, comparing herself. And, confirming that she was slightly taller, she wore a satisfied expression. Despite being a great figure who will have her name etched in magical history, she’s acting pathetic. I bet she’s doing the same thing to every kid she passes in the village, isn’t she?
“…?”
“Don’t mind her. She has a special fetish where she smiles when she sees someone smaller than herself.”
“I, is that so… There are all kinds of people in the world…”
“My name is Akito. The one comparing heights with you is Rosette. The other one is Mizuha. If you don’t mind, could you tell us who you are and what you were doing here? Do you know the identity of those synthetic creatures (Chimera)?”
“My name is Misty. I’m grateful for your help.”
A girl who uses “boku” as her first-person pronoun is rare even in this world.
However, she seemed to have been using it for a long time, and it suited her well.
“…But, what the synthetic creatures (Chimera) are, and what I was trying to do, are things that have nothing to do with you all. I have to manage it on my own. Otherwise, I will become a worthless existence…”
Misty’s expression darkened.
She looked like she was afraid of something… like a child afraid of being scolded by their parents.
What is it? I feel like I’ve seen this same expression somewhere before. Many times. Close to me.
“W-wait! Aren’t you injured!? Let me heal you, show me!”
As Mizuha said, the sleeve of Misty’s right arm was torn, and the exposed skin of her elbow seemed to be peeled off.
However, there was no blood. There were no muscle fibers that should have been under the skin.
What was there was a texture like white porcelain… a ball joint?
Is this girl, Misty, structured like a doll with skin on top? Only her right arm? Or her whole body? If her whole body is like that, then this child isn’t human—
“You. Are you an Automata? And one made by Ms. Celine Dufour, perhaps?”
Misty nodded slightly at the question.
“An Automata? Can they move this smoothly…?”
“I couldn’t tell she wasn’t human… no, even now that I see the joints, she still seems human…”
Mizuha and I were captivated by Misty’s ball joints. Even though we knew it was rude to stare at someone’s body, we couldn’t help it.
“Celine Dufour. A magician who was active more than three hundred years ago. Her combat power was first-rate, but she is still known for her magic item creation skills. It’s not just that she was outstanding. We, in the present day, cannot surpass what Celine made three hundred years ago. Only Celine can create an Automata that is indistinguishable from a human. However… her movements, easily dispatching monsters. Her magical power. Even if she was made by Celine, it’s abnormal. And to even have a self-regeneration function… to think that a human from three hundred years ago created you, it’s incredibly disheartening.”
Rosette gave a wry smile.
From my perspective, Rosette also possesses tremendous magical skills and knowledge, like a doctor.
But even she seems to be far behind Celine Dufour.
It’s a realm I can’t even begin to comprehend.
“Self-regeneration… ah, it’s true. Her skin is healing… and even her clothes are fixed!”
“My master is a genius. Thanks to this regeneration ability, I have been able to maintain my functions for three hundred years.”
“Hmm. Why didn’t Celine announce a masterpiece like you to the world? Was she given some secret role? Is it related to the mass outbreak of synthetic creatures (Chimera)?”
“I cannot answer that. However, rest assured. I will solve the problem in this forest alone. That is my role.”
Misty muttered with a troubled expression—then, suddenly, she activated her magic.
Our movements slowed down again.
Taking advantage of that momentary gap, Misty disappeared.
“Hmm, to be able to escape from the three of us, as expected of an Automata made by Celine. I would like to investigate her structure, but…”
Rosette hesitated mid-sentence.
It was unusual for her, who was always so confident.
Was she afraid of investigating Misty and realizing the difference between Celine and herself?
She didn’t seem to have that kind of weakness…
“Hey, Akito-kun. Misty-chan… she had the same face as you did a long time ago. When you had just been hospitalized…”
“Me?”
I was startled by Mizuha’s remark.
That’s right.
I thought I had seen it somewhere, but I finally remembered.
I saw it in the mirror.