Full Power! Starlight Cheers! – Part 03

“It was the man known as the King of the Night.”

I swallowed hard. “The King of the Night.”

I knew that name. He was already gone, killed by Eu.

“With his power, there was no way he could beat Chris. But he did. No doubt about it. Chris herself grumbled about it while drinking.”

Yeah. He never seemed nearly strong enough to win against her. That only showed how overwhelming Chris’s power was.

“So that means there was something to overturn the difference in strength. In other words, a weakness,” I said.

I, too, was far weaker than the King of the Night, yet I managed to beat him by striking his weakness. Maybe he had done the same to Chris.

“It’s very possible.”

A sliver of hope came into view. But the King of the Night himself was already gone. Wait.

“Do you think Kyouko knows Chris’s weakness?” I asked.

“Kyouko? Oh, that girl. Who knows.”

Kyouko had spent some time with the King of the Night. I didn’t know how long she was with him, but she could very well have heard about his past battles, maybe even the truth behind that victory.

“I’d like to ask her about it. Where is Kyouko now?”

“She’s serving a sentence, locked up at the school.”

So she was currently imprisoned.

“Wait, what?! Locked up at a school? That’s way too dangerous!”

“If you want to keep watch on a Magiclad Girl, the best place is where the most of them gather. The only beings who can defeat a Magiclad Girl without a Magigear are Megalo and me.”

“Chris could too.”

“Yes. Which is why she was stripped of her power and banished from Villiers.”

“You actually locked her up, huh?”

“Why are you surprised? She committed a string of murders in your world, didn’t she? Is that not what she deserves?”

“True, in my world it was a huge case. But I figured in Villiers, it’d be seen as something small.”

The magical world of Villiers, home to Haruna and Big Teach, thought of humans from my world as insignificant. That’s why I found it surprising.

“Oh? By the way, do you know why Magiclad Girls erase memories after a battle?”

“Now that you mention it, why do they?”

“As I thought, Haruna didn’t explain it. Magiclad Girls have to stay a secret in other worlds. If, say, we invaded a world and they prepared countermeasures like the Megalo, wouldn’t that be a real pain?”

“Really?”

“Case in point: the Underworld did create Megalo. They stole Villiers’s magical technology to make them. To avoid repeating that mistake, Magiclad Girls go through the trouble of altering memories, and conspicuous actions are strictly prohibited.”

“So it’s not about the murders at all.”

“Exactly. She was too blatant. And if that causes harm to the whole nation, then they punish her. That’s about the level of their thinking.”

“Can I… talk to Kyouko?”

“Hmm, I’ll try speaking with her. Can I call you back later?”

“Yes, please.”

I hung up and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me.

Just the thought of figuring out Chris’s weakness got me excited. Finally, I could see it, a silver lining in the dark clouds.

Huh? My phone vibrated. Who could it be? I flipped it open. It showed a distinctive number, the one from Villiers I had just called.

“Yes?”

“Ah, Ayumu?”

Wait, Big Teach? I had just hung up with her. What now?

“I spoke with her.”

“That was fast! So, did you find out her weakness?”

“Weeell, she gave me one condition.”

Kyouko was the one who killed me. What sort of nasty condition did she propose? My eyebrow twitched.

“If we were at a party table, I’d talk.” Big Teach’s Kyouko impression was pretty spot-on.

“Huh? What? Pardon?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“It seems she’s fine talking if it’s in your world, in a place with looots of people.”

“Well, actually, there’s been some talk of having a party soon.”

On the other end, Big Teach’s voice suddenly rose. “You’re having a party?!”

Gone was her usual easygoing tone. Her clear voice almost sounded like Haruna’s.

“Yeah. Some classmates said they wanted to do something like a mixer.”

I remembered what Haruna had said earlier: “If there’s one thing Magiclad Girls love, it’s parties.”

“I’ll be right there! Geez, why didn’t you invite meee?!” she said sharply.

“Uh, sure, but… wouldn’t it be dangerous if Kyouko showed up?”

“It’ll be fine. I’m going with her, and I’ll seal off her magical powers.”

Big Teach was going too? Then even if Kyouko tried something, she’d get detained immediately.

“I’m not sure about letting a murderer loose here. And can she even get out of prison that easily? You’d be dragged into it too, Big Teach. Maybe we should just call it off for now.”

“So… no party?”

Wh-What a cute voice!

“All right.”

Shit, I just agreed to it.

So this was the power of a Magiclad Girl.

“Great! Actually, I already filed the request for bail for next Saturday.”

Figures. Even if I hadn’t brought up the party, she planned to throw one herself. Just how much authority did Big Teach have anyway?

Seriously, Magiclad Girls were so pushy.

Well… she’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.

---

The next day after class—inside a heated winter classroom—I was prostrating before a spiky-haired guy with glasses, short legs crossed, grinning smugly.

“Say that again.” His tone was unbelievably, unbearably, outrageously annoying. Still I kept my head down.

“Please let me join the mixer,” I said.

“Hmm? I can’t hear you. Who wants to join what?”

“I do.”

“Humbly.”

“I want to humbly join the year-end party hosted by Master Orito—”

“Majesty.”

“I want to humbly join the year-end party hosted by the very embodiment of majesty, Master Orito.”

I clenched my teeth. Could there be anything more humiliating than this?

“So, what about Sera?”

“She can’t make it, but I’ll bring some cute girls.”

“Oh? What kind?”

“A young-looking busty kind and a gentle, pigtailed kind.”

“Very good!”

“By the way, has the date and place been decided yet?”

“Everyone said to avoid Christmas and winter break, but no, not yet.”

“Could you make it next Saturday, early afternoon? That works best for those two.”

“Okay. I’ll let everyone know. They’re super cute, right?”

“Unbelievably cute.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

For some reason, in that moment, Orito sparkled so brightly he actually looked like a handsome man.

I watched him return to his seat with a triumphant laugh.

I had no other choice. I had to do this—for the information that Kyouko had, to thank Big Teach for all that she’d done so far with a fun party, and to keep any assholes away from Eu.

Damn it. One day, I’m gonna make him grovel too.

I stood up and brushed the dust off my knees, when a black-haired beauty appeared.

Tall, slender figure. Long legs wrapped in black stockings. I was staring when she smashed my nose with a knee.

“Stop staring at me like that, my trash darling.”

I didn’t feel pain, being a zombie, but I pressed a hand on my shattered nose nonetheless.

“My bad. So, what do you want?”

“It’s about the council.”

She brushed her long black hair from her shoulders and put her hands on her slim waist.

“Oh? How’d it go?”

“The date is set. Next Saturday, one in the afternoon.”

Oh, crap.

“You’re kidding.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, my darling?”

“No, it’s just…”

In my head, I weighed it: Kyouko’s intel about Chris’s weakness (almost guaranteed), or Chris’s location (not exactly reliable). Which was more important?

“It’s fine. I’m looking forward to it.”

I chose both.

It wasn’t about the information or anything. It was probably just a high schooler’s curiosity, wanting to attend both the Vampire Ninja council and the mixer.

---

And now, it was just before one o’clock on Saturday afternoon.

I followed Sera, bundled in a down coat over a dazzling white dress like she’d been nominated for an Academy Award, down to Roppongi.

The weather was cloudy. There hadn’t been much clear sky lately, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Fun fact: zombies don’t handle sunlight well.

“Ayumu, don’t make such a gross face. I don’t want people thinking I’m weird too. I’ll prick your lips with a needle.”

Please don’t sew my mouth shut.

Walking beside the ponytailed beauty, I adopted a sharp, battle-ready expression.

Wait, this was supposed to be a meeting, right? Sera looked like she was heading to a party.

This was bad. I was going to the mixer afterward, so I wore a casual outfit—my favorite jacket and ripped jeans. But to match Sera’s outfit, I’d need a tuxedo.

We were almost at our destination when we ran into Saras, wearing an elegant long coat.

“Oh, my darling. I’m glad you came.”

Saras spread both arms in welcome. Huh? Was I supposed to hug her? No way. That had to be a trap! I raised a hand and just said, “Hey.”

Sera stopped and crossed her arms. “Saras, what’s with that weird way of addressing him?”

Apparently, she didn’t like how Saras called me. Saras was her superior, but they always spoke as equals. Though they clashed a lot, they were probably friends.

“I was simply expressing my love,” Saras said.

Sera didn’t say it aloud, but she was probably thinking, “Gross.”

“I see you still like dressing indecently,” she added.

Indecent. Huh, that was one way to put it. The pure white dress had a daring V-neck that drew all eyes to her cleavage.

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Sera replied sharply.

I had to do something or a full-on ninja brawl would probably start with each attack punctuated by “Impressive!” So I stepped in.^[1]

“So, Saras, what are you wearing?” I asked.

“My filthy darling. Curious, are you? You greedy thing.”

Saras opened her coat with a flourish. In contrast to Sera, she wore a black dress that suited her well. There was no suggestive cleavage like Sera’s, possibly because she was self-conscious about her lack of a chest.

“And that bag?”

“Stage outfit.”

Stage outfit?

She opened the large bag, revealing punk-rock clothes for a band. Hot pants and black tights. The bottoms were one thing, but the top barely had any fabric.

Wait a second. What were we actually here to do again?

---

1. A reference to the recurring Naruto phrase「大した奴だ」or variations of it, which became a meme largely due to Kakuzu’s repeated use of it during the Hidan and Kakuzu arc. ↩