LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 31
It was around the time when the gardens inside the translucent orbs, resembling soap bubbles beyond the skies of Japan, became familiar.
“…That is impossible.”
“Is it because that is the law he has set?”
Sumire gazed intently at her father for the first time.
His face was that of a lord leading a family alone on a blood-soaked path, bearing the weight of countless lives and responsibilities.
Should he be blamed as a villain?
Should I blame the things that could have happened due to my father’s ignorance?
Should I blame what was lost because of ignorance?
Was I not also lost in ignorance?
‘I too was a foolish one who didn’t know where to put my strength.’
It was something much too vast and complex to assert for Sumire.
Thus, she offered a logic that Sumire could convince herself with.
Perhaps it was the first time she earnestly revealed her intentions in front of her father.
“It’s because I am a Magical Girl.”
“……”
“Because I am Fujimoto and a Magical Girl.”
Sumire looked at the blue ribbon she held in her hand as she spoke.
“I wish to take responsibility from my position just as you do, Father.”
“…Are you intending to bring down Fujimoto?”
“I also wish to [Guard] Fujimoto.”
The great righteousness.
That was the answer Sumire had come up with over the last two months since the first Walpurgis’ Dream.
Eiji stared at his daughter, momentarily speechless.
What stood before him was no longer his daughter following his words, but another lord standing firm with her own beliefs.
‘As a successor of Fujimoto, she has gone astray.’
Eiji quietly turned away and took a katana off the shelf, handing it to Sumire. She grabbed the sword with her bare hands instead of covering them with her sleeves.
It was a meaning of separation.
Even if the beliefs of father and daughter did not clash, they had diverged in different colors, and Eiji could not accept it. Nonetheless, it was a final farewell to the jewel of the family he had cherished most over the past 17 years.
“Goodbye, Father.”
Sumire quietly left the rooftop garden.
“……”
As Eiji looked up into the sky, he muttered.
“Under the laws of the sky, the laws of man seem meaningless.”
Eiji pushed aside the memory of his daughter who had flown away into the distant sky, becoming not a lord of the family but a fairy, and he reorganized his plans to lead Fujimoto again.
Eiji Fujimoto was still the ruler of the human world, and there were too many things resting on his shoulders.
As Sumire exited the Fujimoto headquarters building, four girls approached her.
Among them, Lena casually placed her hand in the pocket of her khaki hoodie and spoke.
“So? What are you going to do now, boss?”
“Don’t worry; I’ll foot the bill for finding your families.”
“I didn’t expect those people to change their names and hide overseas, so I’m not worried about how long it takes.”
As Lena said, the families of their party, found by searching ten years’ worth of accounting books in Kabukicho, had all changed their names years ago and left no trace.
“I guess I’ll continue to manage the issues that arise while working with the Magical Girl Council.”
Sumire glanced at Kaede.
Kaede remained expressionless, but upon closer inspection, there was a hint of gloom.
“Kaede, please return to being Mumei. I am no longer a member of Fujimoto.”
“Since the mission ‘Assist the young lady’ given by the elder, I have not received any other commands.”
“I’m no longer a Fujimoto servant.”
“I have also been expelled from Mumei.”
“……”
Sumire lifted her head to look at the rooftop of the Fujimoto headquarters.
Even though Mumei was the lowest rank, they were entrusted with secretive tasks, so she couldn’t understand her father’s careless response.
‘To let go of the kunoichi who was defeated in her first appearance…’
Coincidentally, Sumire already held a sword capable of defeating enemies in her hand.
And since she had not come into contact with the family secrets, one of the low-ranking kunoichi who had been used as a touchstone to gauge enemies.
‘Fujimoto possesses two swords.’
The villain who had killed his own sister for the family handed two swords to his daughter, who would go out to protect something greater than the family.
Was this a complete separation, or was it a final gift from a father?
Now, what must be [Guarded] with the two swords held in hand?
“For now, it’s time for the regular meeting, so let’s head to the Central Garden.”
“Okay, boss!”
“Yes, young lady.”
“Yay!”
“Uh-huh…”
Even as the five girls vanished from the street, sparkling, no one was surprised or shocked.
“They were Magical Girls.”
“Now that I think about it.”
Then six girls in white uniforms rushed into the now quiet street.
Each held a phone, checking directions while hastily sending messages somewhere.
“Leader! Let’s go a bit slower!”
“No, we’re already late! We have to check 11 more hospitals by today!”
“Director Himari gives us such a tight schedule!”
“At least the number of cheerleading team members has increased, so we’re running around! Back in my day, I had to fly in a helicopter!”
“We want to ride in the helicopter too~”
Hahaha!
Suddenly, the sound echoing in the street caused the girls to hasten their steps as they turned their heads toward the source of the noise.
Gurgle gurgle
Ten enormous shark plushies blocked the street, pushing the cars aside. On top of the largest shark plushie stood a girl wearing a shark-shaped hood.
Gurgle gurgle
“Praise the shark! The shark is the greatest being and the hunter of all!”
“Ugh, another Magical Girl?!”
“Hey! Cut it out! We’re busy!”
“To think we’d actually see the [Shark] march!”
Feeling the annoyance, curiosity, and interest from passersby, the shark girl felt the light of her star glowing. She burst into laughter.
Hahaha! “Simply marching increases the shark family!”
The cheerleading team members, who were blocked by the march of the sharks, asked their leader.
“Leader?! Aren’t we supposed to pass through there?!”
“Uhhh… If I miss the schedule, Himari is gonna yell at me…”
Weee-oo!
Doo-doo-doo
In that moment, the girls’ expressions brightened at the sound of a siren resonating in the street, and they looked at each other and shouted.
“It’s the Security Team!”
[Hey, you there! Shark! Didn’t I say that if you get caught again, you’ll be sealed?!]
[Don’t move!! Shark!! I am arresting you for violating traffic laws!! You’ve caused issues during Walpurgis multiple times, you know!! I’ll confiscate at least a month’s worth of starlight!!]
A girl with thick eyebrows holding a megaphone and a thirty-something man were shouting from a police bus.
Due to the insufficient number of security team members, the fatigue of the Magical Girl Task Force patroling nationwide translated into annoyance with the playful Magical Girls.
[Yamashita Inspector! I’m off to the regular meeting now, so please take command!]
[Uaaahhh, Team Leader!!!]
Light flashed inside the bus and the door burst open, with girls in security team uniforms rushing out with whistles.
Yamashita trudged out with a face full of fatigue.
Thud thud thud
“First squad, capture the [Shark] Magical Girl! Squads 2 and 3, use your Psychics to spread wide and block that damned shark plushie from passing!”
“Squad 4 will manage the traffic!”
“Uh, uh, right! Squad 4, use a traffic baton and control the vehicles!”
Beep!
Beep!
The security team Magical Girls efficiently took their positions, and the situation began to resolve rapidly.
Twelve girls spread their Psychics to herd the shark plushies, while six capture members employed Blink to bring the shark girl down.
“Graaah! It was my dream to summon an ancient giant shark! How futile!”
“Shut up!”
Click
The situation was wrapped up as a Magical Girl from the security team, filled with frustration from her tough duties, restrained the [Shark] Magical Girl with the capture gear provided during Walpurgis.
“Yamashita Vice-Captain, we shall go judge the suspect in the Garden.”
“Good work.”
Two Magical Girls, each restraining the arms of the [Shark] Magical Girl, vanished in a burst of light.
“The Garden…”
Yamashita muttered, gazing toward the increasingly expanding Aerial Garden even at this moment.
“The Magical Girls’ Garden…”
They were special beings using supernatural abilities and an alien group claiming their own laws.
Simultaneously, after their own judgment concluded, they fulfilled their responsibilities as members of society and actively integrated into it.
“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this just five months after the emergence of Magical Girls.”
Girls flying above, shining, drawing attention by causing big mischief.
Girls who flaunted beautiful appearances and wondrous skills.
Helping the sick and punishing the wicked.
Not merely by wearing dazzling clothes or exhibiting transcendent abilities, but because they guided a society that had previously stagnated towards a dream.
People called that magic.
So they were referred to as Magical Girls.
Yamashita picked up a piece of newspaper that the wind had blown in.
Crinkle
[Where is the Magical Girl of [Start]?]
[The first and strongest Magical Girl]
“The [Start] Magical Girl…”
Suddenly, the girl she had seen in Odaiba came to mind.
The Magical Girl who, surrounded by a mysterious aura, fought against the grown-ups to protect the Magical Girls.
The Magical Girls respected or feared the girl who had created the current world, calling her the ‘Faceless King.’
She hadn’t shown herself for two months since the establishment of the Garden.
“Yamashita Vice-Captain?”
“Ah, just thinking for a moment. I’ll be right there.”
The bus driver called out to Yamashita, who was standing there lost in thought, and she put the newspaper piece in her pocket as she boarded the bus.
Vroom
As the bus carrying the security team moved on, the pedestrians watching the security team returned to their daily lives.
Curious about what kind of Magical Girl would cause mischief or display an extraordinary skill tomorrow.