One button was missing—had Clara, who had been grabbing wildly, torn it off? Kamui flew in the sky, adjusting her collar that Clara had pulled open…
“Huh?”
The magical girl’s combat outfit was generated by magic power, so losing a button didn’t matter.
She contacted someone who had been watching this side through her earpiece.
“Blue Cavalier, it’s over.”
“Mm, any conclusions?”
The voice on the other end was still female. Despite the day when the imprint would fully cover them drawing nearer, the Sigma Heroes were still taking it easy—weren’t they afraid they wouldn’t be able to transform back at all?
“Clara attacked the Naitemel mutant, but she didn’t strike right away. I’m not sure if she was waiting for an opportunity or hesitating…”
Kamui descended from the skylight onto a mobile storage unit by the roadside. There was no one in the car, but even after taking off her earpiece, she could still hear Blue Cavalier’s voice.
“So you still can’t determine whether she’s one of Naitemel’s people?”
“No. I want to try trusting her.”
Kamui canceled her transformation. The magic bracelet turned back into a magic gem, which she reattached to her pendant and tucked into her collar. Nangong Xiwang continued:
“That punch of hers was crucial. This opponent’s ability was extremely troublesome—at least for me it was. That girl created the conditions for me to counterattack… Without her, I really wouldn’t have had any way to deal with him.”
As long as he hid in the shadows, he could avoid physical attacks. Kamui, unable to destroy the shadows, would only be worn down unilaterally by the Shadow Guest.
Even if she didn’t want to linger, the opponent could easily escape through the shadowed facades of the buildings.
It seemed like a situation where she couldn’t possibly lose, yet Clara punched him flying. Especially at night, with shadows everywhere.
“So, about that Drive Unit—have you decided not to report it to the Association?”
“…I’ll observe for a while longer.”
Kamui didn’t give a clear answer and asked instead, “Blue Cavalier, have you ever heard of ‘God’s Relic’?”
“I don’t know. What’s that?”
“…Not even you know? Never mind.”
Gods and such… It seemed she had heard some incredibly shocking information today. In a world that had lost even its history, how could something like mythology exist?
“We’re here,” Blue Cavalier reminded.
The mobile storage unit stopped across from Bamen Subway Station.
“Alright, I’ll be going then.”
Blue Cavalier asked, “Are we continuing this plan?”
She meant the plan to make Clara hostile toward Naitemel.
Nangong Xiwang thought for a moment and replied:
“Continue.”
Although she said she wanted to try trusting Clara, that didn’t stop her from gathering more evidence.
“I’ll contact you if anything comes up later. Don’t worry about the Association—I’ll handle it.”
Since she had carried out a commission from the Hero Network without being registered on it, someone would naturally come to question her. Blue Cavalier was obligated to deflect these troubles for Kamui and Clara.
The door opened.
Nangong Xiwang got out, carrying her satchel and a takeout meal that had gone cold.
She headed toward Beast Fox Bell’s underground workshop. The stares of the passersby bothered her, so she quickened her pace toward the Naitemel Headquarters.
***
Supreme Leader’s Office.
【8:00 PM】
Inside the luxurious office, the Supreme Leader’s seat was empty. Whether he was dealing with the board of directors or off having fun somewhere, no one knew.
Although it was already after work hours in the evening, Secretary-General Maya was still at her desk, buried in work, handling various affairs of the organization on her computer.
Usually, the Supreme Leader only made final decisions, while the actual implementation of specific tasks was carried out by this capable Secretary-General.
Given that the Supreme Leader almost never appeared in public, to the average employee of Naitemel, this beautiful blonde secretary was the true helm of the organization.
However…
She was just constantly working overtime, constantly cleaning up after the Supreme Leader.
“…Sigh.”
Perhaps from eye strain, Maya’s right eyelid twitched. She sighed, shifted her gaze away from the computer screen, and took out an eye drop from a drawer beside her, preparing to soothe her dry eyes.
But just as she was about to use it, the internal line on her desk rang.
“Ugh…”
She missed.
The eye drop dripped onto Maya’s cheek.
She frowned slightly, put down the eye drop, wiped her face, and then looked at the phone.
It was a call from the Strategic Division.
“M-Ms. Maya, there’s an emergency.”
Hearing those ominous words, Maya felt a dull ache in her head.
She picked up the phone, and the operator’s somewhat flustered report began. Just from the opening, she knew there was another trouble to deal with.
“…What is it?” she asked.
“The infiltration operation at World Tree Technology… failed,” the operator replied. “Just a short while ago, the Minister of the Intelligence Department—Shadow Guest—his mission failed.”
Bad news, but not particularly terrible.
In fact, mission failures were the daily routine of a criminal organization. Still, the failure of a Minister-level mutant made Maya’s well-groomed eyebrows furrow slightly.
“Shadow Guest?”
She rubbed the throbbing blood vessels at her temples, the image of that four-armed man in a trench coat who let out strange laughs coming to mind…
And then her headache worsened.
“I see. Have him write a report and submit it when he gets back.”
“Don’t we need to get him out of prison?”
“Don’t bother. He has plenty of ways to get out. If he doesn’t come back in three days, then we’ll figure something out.”
“And then, the mission target seems to have been taken in by the Hero Association.”
The target of this mission was—
An ancient relic from a laboratory owned by World Tree Technology, something called “God’s Relic.”
Naitemel had already launched several attacks on World Tree Technology targeting this series of ancient relics.
Last night, Minister of Execution Syra and her subordinates hijacked a convoy of World Tree Technology and successfully obtained one of them. But today, luck wasn’t on their side…
However, how did the heroes get involved in this mission?
Maya couldn’t figure it out.
“God’s Relic” was a contraband item, potentially containing dangerous technology that could affect the world order. Therefore, it was prohibited by law for any organization or individual to possess it.
Since this was involved, the mission was a case of thieves stealing from thieves—would World Tree Technology dare to commission the heroes?
It would be like two gangs fighting, and the losing side calling the police, wouldn’t it?
The operator from the Strategic Division replied, “No, it seems it wasn’t a commission from World Tree Technology itself. It was that Hero Network…”
“That system that the Association heavily promotes and advertises? Then how did this system know of our actions? If it knew in advance that World Tree Technology illegally possessed ‘God’s Relic,’ why did it let it go?”
The operator didn’t answer, clearly this was beyond her understanding.
She just asked, “Ms. Maya, should the heroes who disrupted our operation be added to the targeting list?”
“Are they very famous heroes?”
If they were nameless heroes, there was no need to specifically target them.
“They are two Magical Girls—Magical Girl Kamui and Magical Girl Clara.”
The operator noticed a three-second silence from the Secretary-General on the other end of the line.
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