Chapter 17: Black curtain candidate.

Gates opened across a wide area.

Despite it being one of the most chaotic incidents in recent years, the magical girls’ efforts swiftly subdued the monsters.

[Monsters getting too weak? Kinda boring.]
[It’s almost like North Korea launching missiles now.]
[Not quite that level.]
[They were weak, though. Highest was D-rank.]

[When all else fails, they go for quantity, huh?]
[Fourth and fifth gen’s numbers covered it; in the old days, Seoul might’ve been leveled.]
[Mascots got it right for once.]
[Sixth gen should contract like a hundred.]

Panic is rare now.

Partly due to adaptation, but mostly because of trust in magical girls.

[Why didn’t Scarlet Lily show up this time?]
[Not interested in weak monsters.]
[She probably took down an S-rank silently.]

[Everything’s one-shotted, so who knows what’s what rank?]
[Lol, true.]
[Hard to tell a 1mm from a 2mm difference by eye.]
[F-rank, S-rank, all equal under her beam!]
[Death-ray beam lol.]

A figure inevitable in such incidents.

Interest in Scarlet Lily remained fervent.

Her strength was undeniable, yet some still harbored doubts.

[One-shot’s strong, but she might be weak against swarms.]
[No one’s untouchable against a mob.]
[Hiding because she doesn’t want her limits exposed?]
[If not, she should’ve fought. Probably chickened out.]

Where there’s light, there’s shadow.

Critics existed, but their claims were usually debunked.

Even a secretive organization needs a goal, or it’s just a club.

They couldn’t recruit members while withholding all info.

So, the letter Reaper Mors received outlined the organization’s goal and vision concisely.

To give magical girls freedom.

To escape mascots, shed duties, and reclaim their lives.

Sounds nice, but it’s sophistry.
Magical girls are already free.

They’re not locked in camps.
There are no grand missions or menial tasks.

Fight monsters when they appear—that’s it.
Otherwise, live as you please.

There are even substitutes, so fighting isn’t mandatory.

Things were different in my time.

The key difference now is they get time to decide whether to become a magical girl.

Maybe because two mascots were killed.
The third Armo doesn’t force contracts on those who refuse.

The era of human rights blind spots is over.

“Here you are-mo.”

Walking down a quiet street, Armo appeared.

Floating beside me, tail wagging.

“You’re cloaked, right?”

“Of course-mo. I don’t mess up invisibility magic-mo.”

Armo’s close human contacts are mostly magical girls.

If someone saw us talking, my identity could be exposed.

So we usually meet in empty rooms, or he uses invisibility magic to approach outside.

“I told you we’re done. Why’re you here?”

“That hurts-mo. Even if you didn’t contract with me, Scarlet Lily’s a magical girl. I’ve got a duty to look after you-mo.”

Armo struck a proud pose.

“I’ll say it again: I don’t like mascots.”

“Why-mo?”

“They creep me out.”

“That’s harsh… Scarlet Lily’s too mean-mo!”

His tiny shoulders slumped.

“I don’t know what happened before, but I’m not like the old Armo-mo. I don’t do things to earn grudges-mo.”

“You’re just protecting yourself by making contracts.”

“Not wrong-mo. Still, I wish you’d trust I’m on your side-mo.”

He knows I’m Scarlet, a first-gen magical girl.

I didn’t plan to reveal it, but with limited contract candidates, he figured it out.

“You didn’t tell the juniors about me, right?”

“Aqua grilled me, but I played dumb-mo.”

“Aqua?”

“Probably before you got close to the fifth gen-mo.”

Back when she disliked me.

I don’t know why, but I won’t dig deeper.

“More importantly, I want updates-mo.”

Now to the point.

“Ask the others who interrogated her.”

Armo sensed something off about the recent chaos.

After hearing about Reaper Mors from Frozen Princess, he started investigating.

“I talked to the other two, but I want the top veteran Scarlet’s opinion-mo.”

Calling me Scarlet, not Scarlet Lily.

It irked me, but I let it slide.

“Too few clues. We can only monitor Reaper Mors, who’s linked to the mastermind.”

After catching her, we questioned her lightly and let her go.

She hadn’t done anything wrong, and we could track her.

Loitering on a rooftop during a crisis deserves a scolding, though.

That aside, using her as a double agent or bait seemed better.

“Calling her Reaper Mors isn’t good-mo. Angelic Luna’s a better name-mo.”

“She doesn’t want it.”

“How could she…?”

He was so shocked he forgot his “-mo.”

“It’s not like you named her.”

“It’s sad when a magical girl I oversee picks a villainous name-mo…”

From angel to reaper.
It suits her black outfit, though.

Enough chit-chat.

“The mastermind’s likely second or fourth gen, with a history of killing mascots.”

“Same thought-mo,” Armo nodded.

“But we can’t be sure. Could be a civilian researching magic.”

“Not impossible-mo.”

One more possibility.

“Another Armo might’ve snuck down from the celestial realm.”

Only Armo can make Magical Gems.

A strong contender.

“Unlikely, but not impossible-mo.”

Unlike monsters from the demon world, Armo’s from the celestial realm.

I know little about their ecosystem, so it’s a guess.

“You’re not the mastermind, are you? Pretending to investigate to cover your tracks?”

“No way-mo! That’s unfair-mo!”

I was about to press him but dropped it.

“Why’s the fourth gen so independent?”

A sudden curiosity.

Looking into Reaper Mors, I noticed the fourth gen’s bonds aren’t tight.

Third gen feels like tight-knit groups.
Fourth gen has one core group, others scattered.
Fifth gen’s complex due to numbers but leans third-gen style.

“Because the second Armo was neglectful-mo.”

“How so?”

“I only heard from magical girls, but he barely showed up and left them alone-mo.”

“What a jerk.”

Even among Armo, personalities vary like humans.

“I’m doing better than that-mo…!”

Seizing the chance, he boasted.

“Really?”

“Really-mo!”

“If that’s a lie, you’re getting a Scarlet Beam.”

“Eek… Too soon to return to the celestial realm-mo!”

The fourth gen has many lone wolves.

Some even cut contact with Armo, including Reaper Mors.

“Perfect target for the mastermind to recruit.”

No idea where to start fixing this.

Living in the demon world meant never letting your guard down.

Surviving taught me many skills.
That’s why I’m adept at magic manipulation.

Using this, I can memorize someone’s aura to track them.

Now that I can locate her, Reaper Mors won’t try anything stupid.

She doesn’t seem fully corrupted, just dressed weirdly.

Trusting that, we gave her freedom.

I visited a convenience store.

“Welcome.”

A female clerk greeted me as I entered.

I was the only customer.
After glancing around, I walked to the counter and stopped.

“What can I help you with?”

She looked puzzled as I stared.

“Reaper Mors, it’s me.”

“What… How do you know that name?!”

She jumped back, hitting the cigarette display.

Her eyes shook with panic.

Teasing her is kinda fun.

“Don’t know who I am?”

I flipped my pink hair, and she finally got it.

“Scarlet Lily…?”