Chapter 3: Idiosyncratic constitution.

The side of justice, defeating evil.
Strong and beautiful warriors.

Magical girls were both familiar and mysterious.

Saving people from monsters, then leaving with a bright smile.
That’s the image I think was common.

At least in my generation, it was.

“They’ve fallen, totally fallen…”

In a cost-effective business hotel.
I was lying on the bed, fiddling with my smartphone.

Watching modern magical girls on streaming platforms left me feeling dismayed.

By the way, I paid for the smartphone in full to get it activated.

I’d left money in my bank account, and while I was in the demon world, it gathered quite a bit of interest.

“Back in my day, we drew a clear line against this kind of worldly content.”

Looking back, today’s magical girls seem tied to the government.

That probably means their identities and personal info have been handed over.
Which is why they can stream so freely.

In the past, no one but our teammates knew our identities.

Feeling bitter, I closed the stream.

Next, I checked the news.

[Breaking News: Government announces “Scarlet is not sixth generation.” Classified as an unregistered magical girl, further investigation underway]

It was about the chaos from yesterday.

“They even did an interview…”

This was unimaginable in my time.

It was unsettling, but I decided to be generous and let it slide.

“Fine, whatever… as long as I do my part.”

I can’t lose sight of the essence.

I don’t have the right to force them to stick to mysticism.

“Let’s see how many juniors there are.”

Both online communities and news were buzzing about generations.

Seems like the number of members has grown a lot.

“Fifth generation is twenty…?”

Almost seven times the three from the first generation.
More than I expected.

The number of magical girls increased with each generation.

As of now, the first generation is all dead or retired.
The second generation has all but one stopped activity.
From the third generation on, most are still active.

The first and second generations were small because their prime was about five to six years, apparently.

“Guess my ability to keep growing was because of my unique condition.”

I’ve been getting stronger for over ten years.
It’s no wonder people don’t believe I’m Scarlet.

It’s not for nothing that sixth-generation talk came up.

“Only Stella and Spica knew I was a guy.”

That’s the secret of my unique condition.

Magical girls can only be female.
But I was an exception, chosen despite that.

The side effect was that I can’t untransform, but thanks to that, I suppose.
I had more magic power than my peers.

The reason is simple.

Maintaining this form constantly consumes magic power, and since I can’t untransform, that’s my reality.

Normally, running out of magic would undo the transformation or kill you, but my body uniquely adapted.

I could produce more magic power.
The amount I recover outpaces what I lose.

But I can’t live like this forever.

“I can retire now.”

I held up a small glass vial.

It contained a clear liquid.
An elixir from the demon world, kept for the day I might return to Earth.

Its effect is to purify and amplify magic power.

Drinking it could work a miracle.
It could let me untransform.

“But I wanted to announce my retirement.”

My thoughts shifted a bit.

If I explained properly, I might prove I’m Scarlet, but I decided not to obsess over it.

If peace is maintained without me, that’s enough.

I didn’t start this to become famous anyway.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, my smartphone blared an alarm.

An emergency alert text.

An empty road under police control.
A mint-green ponytail girl held a smartphone in one hand, streaming.

“Alola~! The magical girl who crushes enemies with radiant light, Aurora Lora, makes a dazzling entrance!”

She flashed a V-sign at the camera.

Her cheerful greeting flooded the chat with comments.

[Alola~]
[Alola]
[Whoa, that hammer’s fcking huge lol]
[Lora-chan’s here!]
[Why Alola?]
[It’s Aloha plus Lora]
[Alola~]
[Monster butcher has arrived]

The viewer count shot past 500 and kept climbing.

A mix of Aurora Lora’s regular viewers and new ones.

“Everyone doing okay? Wow, so many of you came to see Lora, I’m thrilled~.”

[How many are you turning into minced meat today?]
[Where are the other teammates?]
[Isn’t it too calm for being at the scene?]
[She looks hyped to fight.]
[Slaughter show starting?]

“You guys are too much! What kind of bias is this? I’m just a normal magical girl, okay?”

[Normal…?]
[Lol]
[No one’s falling for that anymore, Lora…]
[Put away that menacing hammer before saying that.]

Aurora Lora glanced at the hammer propped upside down.

“Hammer? This? It’s my magic wand. Like a bop hammer for monster-slaying. Not a weapon~.”

[Ever seen a real bop hammer?]
[Magic wand (for physical attacks)]
[No weapon’s as lethal as that thing.]
[Lie convincingly at least lol]
[Monster extermination, let’s go!]

“Newcomers might not know, but I don’t stream slaughter shows. I do occasionally show purifying evil, though.”

[Smashing with a hammer isn’t usually called purifying.]
[Could cause trauma, so minors beware.]
[I get nightmares every day because of Lora.]

“I’m saying I only show wholesome stuff!”

Aurora Lora playfully pouted and hopped around.

Once the mood was lively enough, she got to the point.

“Alright, now we’re heading to the scene where a monster appeared—”

“Streaming again?”

As Aurora Lora arrived, Frozen Princess shot her a disapproving look.

“Just for a bit, just a bit.”
“Don’t do it outside if you can help it.”
“Even if it’s to guide people to safety?”
“No exceptions.”
“Evacuation finished early this time, so it’s fine, right? Plus, tons of juniors are here, so we don’t even need to step in. Right?”
“The fifth-gen juniors are still shaky, so we need to keep an eye on them for a while.”
“True. …Oh! By the way, there’s a great restaurant around here. Wanna stop by after?”

She grinned, brushing it off.

“…We’ll see.”

Frozen Princess reluctantly dropped the issue.

You can’t fight while holding a camera, so streams usually cut off right before battle.

Aurora Lora didn’t push it too far and kept strict boundaries.

Plus, as she said, today’s job seemed relatively easy.
It’d probably wrap up without much trouble.

“Will she show up?”
“Who?”
“Scarlet.”

The mysterious girl claiming to be a first-generation magical girl.

The whole country had been buzzing about her for days.

“Whether she shows or not, we just need to take down the monster.”
“Always so serious. Aren’t you curious, honestly?”
“About whether she’s really her?”
“Yeah! I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty chance~.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s strong! And her techniques are the same.”
“But Scarlet’s dead.”

That’s what Spica, a teammate, had confirmed.

“They never found a body.”
“That’s the same thing. She’s been missing for ten years.”
“It’s not? Maybe she went into hiding to pull a big surprise.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because… it’s more fun that way?”

A deep sigh.

Hiding for ten years just to play a prank?
From what Frozen Princess knew, Scarlet wasn’t that kind of character.

While chatting and walking, someone ran up from ahead.

A fifth-generation magical girl, Parfait Alpha.

“Seniors!”

Snow-white skin, typical of Nordic descent.

The exotic-looking girl put her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

“Seniors, big trouble! Like, huge trouble! We were fighting with my team, and a giant monster showed up…!”
“Calm down, calm down.”

Aurora Lora patted her shoulder.

“We don’t use formal speech between magical girls~.”
“Oh, right! I mean, yeah…!”
“Honorifics are for when we’re untransformed, okay? You can always call me casually, though.”
“Got it! …But seriously, it’s bad!”

Parfait Alpha furrowed her brow.

“An S-rank monster’s wreaking havoc! At this rate, the country’s done for!”

Her slightly clumsy Korean conveyed the gravity of the situation.

“S-rank? I didn’t hear about that.”
“It just came up!”
“From a gate?”
“Yeah! We can’t just stand here. It’s gonna crush everything…!”

Parfait Alpha grabbed their arms, pulling them along.

“Hey, a magical girl shouldn’t use such crude words.”
“Come on…! We have to hurry!”

Frozen Princess followed.

“Did a supporter assign the rank?”

Supporters are government agents.

They don’t fight but assist magical girls and relay field info to headquarters.

“Yeah, I heard it over their radios! We might get wiped out…!”

The fifth generation are newbies with little experience.

It’s hard to expect precise judgment, but the situation was clearly urgent.

“Alright, let’s move.”

At the place Parfait Alpha led them to, several fifth-generation magical girls were already locked in a fierce battle.

“Wow… that thing looks brutal…”

Aurora Lora let out a mix of awe and shock.

The enemy was a grotesque creature.

Human-like but much taller, with pale skin.

Its upper body was freakishly developed, with broad shoulders.
Its arms were so long they touched the ground, like a zombie-infected ape.

As they observed, a blinding flash erupted.

“Ah, it’s doing it again… watch out!”

The moment Parfait Alpha warned.

Boom!

A beam shot from the monster’s mouth.

Dust rose.

Coughing, Frozen Princess urgently said.

“Lora, call every magical girl you can reach.”