Chapter 41

The magical girl is discovered.

“It’s time~”

I’m awoken by a slap to the face from the demon.

…I’m already awake, so stop hitting me!

I swat away the demon with my hand and get up from under the covers.

Is it because I don’t have enough blood, or is it the aftereffect of pushing myself in battle? My body still feels heavy…

“Come on, hurry up and go into the darkness, we’re going shopping!”

I think the phrase “go into the darkness” is pretty problematic if you think about it normally…

The demon performs a tackle like a hurricane mixer and clings to me.

(Well then, transformation and then another transformation)

I transform, suppressing the emotions that well up and maintaining composure.

I feel like the dark feelings growing in my chest each time I fight a magical girl are getting stronger…

I didn’t originally have good feelings towards magical girls, but a different emotion is bubbling up.

I don’t know the exact cause, but I’ll keep it a secret from the demon for now.

(Alright, where are we going?)

“There’s a new shopping mall that just opened at the edge of the commercial district. Let’s go there.”

Edge? Does the Fairy Realm even have edges?

Putting that aside, I remember Sweep and Princess Bramble talking about the new shopping mall.

Apparently, they handle clothes that are fine to wear even while being a magical girl or something.

The body and magical girl uniforms are protected by magic, but normal clothes aren’t.

Magical girl outfits are created by the magical girl’s own magic, but just because they’re damaged doesn’t mean they’ll immediately repair themselves.

You either have to wait for them to naturally repair over time or have them fixed by a fairy’s magic.

In my case, it’s hard to say that my outfit was made by my own magic.

While the darkened state comes completely from me, the White Mage aspect is more like a collaboration between the demon and me.

Magical girls are always on the brink of death.

I don’t want to live or fight in regular clothes.

For their sake, this shopping mall was prepared so that they can enjoy fashion while having decent defensive capabilities.

It was made possible due to the acquisition of large quantities of high-quality magic stones, with magical girls who wanted to enjoy fashion using fairy magic working hard.

Apparently, the prices are reasonable compared to before, so even magical girls with low income can afford things.

By the way, the reason why we got so many high-quality magic stones is because they were obtained when I defeated M·D·W.

After M·D·W, since I was declared dead, my reward disappeared, leaving S-Rank and A-Rank magic stones unclaimed.

At first, an important person from the Magic Bureau apparently yelled that they should distribute them to us, but Thalagong shot them down.

When we discussed what to do with them at Thalagong’s place, we decided to donate everything since dealing with it all afterwards would be troublesome.

We’ve already earned more than enough money from previous battles, so I’m kind of regretting it now with tens of billions…tens of billions…

While I’m muttering these things to myself, we transfer to a secluded spot and head towards the shopping mall.

(Pretty visible even from quite a distance…)

“Well, it is the crystallization of magical girls’ dreams, so its scale is the largest in the past few years.”

I see. Now I’m starting to feel gloomy.

I wonder how many people will be there…

Walking slowly enough to avoid complaints from the demon, after a few minutes, we reach the entrance of the shopping mall.

There are already a lot of people, even though we’re just at the entrance.

(The stares are annoying…)

“Haruna is cute and beautiful no matter what form she’s in. Can’t help it!”

That compliment brings me absolutely no joy.

I just want to finish shopping according to the demon’s instructions…

“Look, that girl was in Tohoku the other day…”

“I heard she’s unregistered. How did she end up here…”

Alright, let’s enter before anyone approaches me.

I straighten my back and walk leisurely.

Since I’ve been scolded repeatedly by the demon about my behavior in public, I try not to act too brashly.

Suppressing the urge to leave the crowd quickly, I enter the shopping mall.

(They seem to sell a lot more than just clothes…)

A little ways from the entrance, there’s a signboard. Clothing and accessories shops are the most numerous, but there are quite a few other stores as well.

“Let’s go to a place called Labian on the second floor first. It seems to have good reviews online.”

(Acknowledged)

Labian is right near the escalator on the second floor.

A small sigh escapes me, but it’s my fault for failing.

Taking my eyes off the signboard, I head towards the escalator when I make eye contact with a familiar magical girl.

She’s the purple-haired magical girl with a distinctive tone of voice who accompanied me on a monster-slaying request a few days ago.

Take Mikadzuchi, also known as Mika-chan, is staring wide-eyed at me.

Marin and Princess Bramble are also standing next to her.

Mika-chan’s expression looks bad!

“Hey, you’re…”

“Do you need anything?”

(Somehow managed to cover it up…)

“Who would have thought we’d meet here… Try not to reveal your true identity.”

Yeah. I can tell the demon is smiling smugly…

The curious Marin and Princess Bramble aside, Mika-chan seems to be trying her best to cover up… Hang in there.

“That… It’s just that someone resembling an acquaintance caught my eye. Sorry.”

“Indeed, she does somewhat resemble Inie. The eyes are exactly the same.”

Princess Bramble? Did you really have such keen observational skills?

“That’s right. If it was a mistaken identity, I shall take my leave…”

If I can leave here, I should be fine. I was slightly startled that Mika-chan was here, but somehow…

“Hey, wouldn’t you like to shop together?”

Marin? What are you suggesting?

Mika-chan and Princess Bramble beside her look surprised.

(I’m definitely refusing!)

Making any more mistakes and getting teased by the demon would be unbearable.

“Sure, why not.”

(Demon!)

Before I could respond, the demon answered for me.

“Here comes the fun shopping!”

Marin smiles cheerfully, Mika-chan looks surprised, and Princess Bramble tilts her head.

Curses… Could all of this have been the demon’s trap?

I truly believed I could just go shopping alone. I was complacent.

I thought it would be fine as long as I was told I looked somewhat like the demon or was called cute…

Was I being plotted against this whole time?

“That’s great. Do you have any particular stores in mind? We were planning to go to Labian…”

“Ah, I was also planning to go to Labian.”

I endure, trying not to show my agitation.

I’ve given up.

But as an adult, if I’m doing this, I might as well give it my all.

Right now, I am a girl…a girl…

Am I managing to smile right now?

I probably have a blank expression.

“In that case, it’s perfect. Shall we go then? By the way, my name is Marin.”

“…I am Take Mikadzuchi. Please call me Mika-chan…”

“Tsuji-hime. Nice to meet you.”

Names…names… Ah, that’s fine.

“My name is Ayame.”

“Ayame-san, then. Shall we proceed?”

Following the three, I head towards Labian.

While giving appropriate responses to their conversations, I complain to the demon.

(Is all this part of your plan?)

“Nah, I knew the three of them were shopping, but I didn’t expect to actually run into them.”

Really? This feels too contrived…

Well, let’s just treat this as work for now.

Right now, I am playing the role of a girl.

“By the way, Ayame-san?”

“Yes?”

“You have such beautiful hair. How do you take care of it?”

The fake princess is asking unnecessary questions.

Since the demon takes care of my hair washing and styling, I have no control over it.

“I have a contracted fairy who takes care of it for me, so I don’t know much about it.”

“How rare. What’s the fairy’s name?”

Now it’s Marin’s turn… It feels like I’m playing a game where one wrong choice leads to a bad ending.

“The contract forbids me from disclosing her name, so I apologize but I cannot reveal it.”

“Is that so. Then, was coming to Labian suggested by the fairy?”

That’s right. It’s a penalty game related to Mika-chan.

Mika-chan, stop looking at me strangely.

“Yes. She said I should buy some plain clothes.”

“Then, I must buy a lot of clothes.”

“While we’re here, may we choose your clothes?”

Hmm. Letting others choose is fine. All I hear is the demon’s laugh echoing around me, so this guy is useless.

He’s probably just enjoying the show right now.

“If so, would you please? I’m not very knowledgeable about fashion…”

“That’s fine. Let’s see who can pick out the best outfit for Ayame!”

“Hmm hmm. Alright! I’ll choose the best outfit for…Ayame!”

Mika-chan almost said a name she shouldn’t have, so I glare at her.

With that, the three start chattering excitedly, and we finally reach our destination.

Recommended clothes for magical girls, current fashion trends, and various other things are written and displayed.

Entering alone would require quite a bit of courage…

“We’ll choose clothes that suit Ayame. Ayame, please look around the store.”

“Don’t you dare leave without telling us.”

As soon as we arrived at the store, the three disappeared inside.

Not having to choose myself is relaxing, but since we’re here, I might as well take a look around.

Still, there are so many varieties… Even though I don’t intend to wear them myself, it’s impressive.

(Why am I even here?)

“It’s not bad once in a while. Just fighting monsters or sleeping at home isn’t healthy for the body.”

(Aren’t you also doing simulation training?)

“That’s also solo, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s important to be with someone.”

Is that so?

I’ve always been alone since I was young, and I never tried to interact with people outside of school and work.

I also chose jobs that didn’t involve much interaction with others.

Being with others is tiring.

Now, I have the demon, but if it weren’t for them, I would have lived and died alone.

I still don’t know what the demon’s goal is, but I feel something inside me is gradually changing.

I want to return to how I was, but I don’t know how…

While I’m idly pondering such thoughts, I hear Marin and the others calling me.

So, this moment has come…

Alright, let’s put on a fashion show.