Chapter 43

Magical Girl Kaede doesn’t have… many friends.

“I’m home.”

A magic circle appeared on the floor, and a woman emerged from it.

The room where the woman appeared had geometric patterns drawn on it, and it occasionally emitted light.

There were ten chairs in the room, all of which were occupied.

Among them were the figures of Rinne and Lockwert.

“Welcome back, Witch. Was number 15 there?”

“Yeah. The atmosphere was different, but they were there.”

The witch replied to Rinne while sitting in a chair.

The Demons known as Arcana are, so to speak, rare friends for the witch.

Having explored countless possibilities and repeatedly brought about the end of the world, the witch had intended to advance her plans much earlier if not for the appearance of the Arcana.

However, the number of those Arcana had dwindled during the battles.

And eventually, something began fleeing from the fight.

―That was the Demon.

“It’s really true, isn’t it? When I first heard about it, I thought it was questionable, but this is intriguing.”

“Rinne always said things like that, no matter which world she was in.”

“So, what’s the point of gathering everyone? It wasn’t easy to find all of you, you know?”

Lockwert, seated in the chair marked “10,” muttered at the witch, but the witch chuckled faintly from beneath her hood.

“I apologize. Since the Arcana have appeared, I thought it was time to officially begin the plan.”

As the witch gestured with her hand, a hologram was projected.

It displayed information about various monsters, including M·D·W, and the Demons known as Arcana.

Also shown was consolidated information about the peculiarity of Inny Flowering.

There was some murmuring, but it quickly subsided.

“The first phase involving M·D·W has failed. Well, since eighty percent of it failed, don’t worry about it. Next, we’ll proceed with Rinne’s proposal.”

“According to the witch, a magical girl called Inny Flowering appeared for the first time. There’s also a connection with the Arcana, and I wanted to investigate a little.”

Rinne spoke, supplementing the witch’s explanation, and explained her own strategy.

The reason Rinne took an interest in Inie was due to something she heard from Lockwert recently.

The witch didn’t know about Inny Flowering and mentioned seeing a magical girl who could transform into two different forms for the first time.

Not only that, but she could use magic powerful enough to heal damage and possessed enough firepower to defeat M·D·W.

Even the witch found it amusing and laughed, saying she’d never seen such an unusual magical girl.

Since the witch had observed the Demon’s reactions this time, she was somewhat interested in Inie as well, at least enough to offer a greeting.

Then, Rinne finished speaking.

“Here’s the gist of the plan, but can someone help me out?”

“I’ll assist you.”

A woman sitting in seat number five raised her hand.

“Alright. Let’s plan it for next week or so. Once it’s finalized, I’ll send Lockwert over.”

“Understood.”

“It seems fine. Starting now, the official ‘Anhelen Plan’ begins. I look forward to your cooperation until ‘The End of Days.'”

With those words, the witch disappeared back into the magic circle.

The others also left using their respective methods.

Among the few who remained, Rinne approached the woman sitting in seat number five.

“I didn’t expect you’d offer to help.”

“I thought it might be interesting. Didn’t Velt lose twice?”

“There’s no helping it. Things like transforming and regenerating after having both legs cut off are unfair, right?”

While listening to the conversation, Lockwert interjected while drinking vegetable juice.

The first time, he challenged Jeanne thinking it was a duel but got attacked from behind.

The second time, after thinking he had defeated her, she regenerated and transformed before attacking him again.

Honestly, Lockwert felt that actions like ambushes and restarts by the supposed side of justice were questionable, but a loss was still a loss.

“Don’t get discouraged. It’s just that the opponent was tough.”

The woman in seat five lightly waved her hand to console Lockwert, but it only irritated him further.

Since Lockwert wasn’t a combatant, he couldn’t help it. That’s how he felt.

“As explained earlier, we’ll use the barrier created by the witch. Inny Flowering likely won’t be able to escape.”

“Am I supposed to capture Inny Flowering then?”

“Yes. If she resists, the witch said it’s fine to eliminate her.”

Rinne wanted to capture her, hear her story in detail, and ideally recruit her to their side.

If she had skills in healing magic, there was a possibility she could join them.

Though there was the issue with the Arcana called Demons, ultimately, they faced a future of destruction.

Defeating the witch was impossible for anyone…

And even if they did, another monster awaited them…

“Understood. I’m in Africa right now, so please let me know once the schedule is set. See you later.”

With that, the woman in seat five disappeared somewhere.

Only Rinne and Lockwert remained in the room.

“Are you planning to recruit that person as an ally, Rinne?”

“Yes. Innie can become both versatile and specialized, making her a valuable asset. Do you dislike the idea?”

“Not particularly. But…”

Lockwert discarded his cup of vegetable juice into a rift using magic, looking dissatisfied at Rinne.

Due to certain reasons, Lockwert was hostile toward magical girls who could use healing magic.

Especially those who could perform miraculous feats like healing even physical impairments, whom he wanted to eliminate.

This included Jeanne, and now Innie, added after the previous incident.

“Well, if she’s joining us, I’ll endure it…”

“We don’t know how things will turn out, but I’ll count on you when the time comes.”

Rinne patted Lockwert on the shoulder and left the room to return to his usual place to read books.

Left alone, Lockwert sighed and disappeared into a rift to carry out his mission.

Due to failing the mission to assassinate Take Mikadzuchi, he had been assigned tasks by the witch, drastically reducing his free time.

One day, Kaede was restless from morning.

Kaede didn’t have many friends—let’s clarify: as a magical girl, she actually had quite a lot of acquaintances.

However, these were mostly professional relationships; she didn’t socialize outside of work.

Partly because she was extremely busy as the top-ranked magical girl, but most magical girls also considered Kaede intimidating and avoided approaching her altogether.

Among them, there was a unique magical girl who sought Kaede’s advice and wanted to meet her.

Her name was Inny Flowering, affectionately called Inie.

She was not just a newcomer but had slain an unprecedented number of monsters as a magical girl and had even defeated a quasi S-Rank entity.

The magic stones obtained from defeating the quasi S-Rank M·D·W were, due to certain circumstances, entirely donated, leading to the mass production of magical girl uniforms.

This expanded into a shopping mall-sized scale, bustling with activity even today.

Incidentally, Kaede had also recruited Inie into the academy.

Thinking it would be a good opportunity to learn about Inie’s life at the academy and her time living with Thalagong, Kaede waited for Inie in her office.

While Kaede was brewing tea, three knocks echoed through the room.

“Come in.”

With a polite “Excuse me,” the door opened.

Inie, wearing a white robe with a hood, had arrived.

“I’m brewing tea right now, so please take a seat.”

“Thank you.”

With practiced ease, Kaede brewed tea and served it along with snacks to Inie.

“It’s been a while since we met, hasn’t it? Are you feeling well?”

“I’m doing well.”

Kaede hadn’t seen Inie since the day she set off for Thalagong’s house.

She had met Thalagong several times since then and had consistently heard about Inie.

Thalagong would gush about how cute Inie’s gestures were, how adorable it was that she ate slowly, and how charming her frailty was—an outright case of parental obsession rather than sibling affection.

“Was living with Thalagoon troublesome or bothersome in any way?”

“…To be honest, he was quite annoying.”

Even the usually modest Inie answered candidly about this.

Being nearly ambushed while taking a bath had almost become traumatic for Inie.

“That man is incorrigibly meddlesome. He’s not a bad person, though…”

Many magical girls had been helped by Thalagong in the past, but his reckless and overly interfering nature often made him a topic of conversation.

“I suppose I did receive some care…”

“Hmm… So, what brings you here today?”

Kaede changed the subject, fearing that continuing to talk about Thalagong would make Inie’s already murky eyes worse.

Incidentally, Thalagong himself was currently in the middle of his world travels.

“I heard from Jeanne—can magical girls really summon their weapons?”

“—Well, it’s technically confidential information. What exactly do you want to know?”

Just like Jeanne’s Eternal Recurrence, many magical girls possess abilities not disclosed on the official website.

This is partly for self-protection and partly because excessive power can drive people mad.

Inie keeping her ability to enter barriers undisclosed follows the same reasoning.

Although Inie’s ability has become widely known, whether it’s officially disclosed or not makes a significant difference.

Then, Inie recounted how she lost the ability to use her staff after the battle with M·D·W, mentioning her research at the Library Tower and what she learned from Jeanne.

“I see… Normally, losing a weapon would prevent transformation, but since I’ve seen your weapon, why don’t we give it a try?”

As Kaede sat and raised her hand toward the sky, a magic circle appeared, and from it emerged a familiar wooden staff.

Taking it in hand, Kaede wore a perplexed expression.

“I see. I thought the staff had special abilities, but it seems to only provide auxiliary functions…”

Kaede had suspected that the reason Inie defeated M·D·W might lie within this staff, but upon confirming it, she was disappointed.

Its capabilities were limited to assisting magic and magical power.

In other words, the weapon itself wasn’t extraordinary—it was Inie herself. This is what Kaede concluded.

“To be safe, I summoned it for you, but since I’m the current owner, I’m unsure how it will behave…”

Though originally Inie’s, the staff now belonged to Kaede, who summoned it. While Kaede had lent out items she summoned to others before, they had never retained their effects permanently.

Kaede could easily erase them with the magic she infused or simply by willing it.

“It’s fine either way. Thank you for trying.”

“Understood. Here you go.”

Kaede handed the staff to Inie.

And then…