CHAPTER 7

THE WITCHES’ ATTACK

Weddin (Time remaining: fifteen hours, twenty-two minutes)

They were dashing through the night at intense speed in a destructive game of tag when four more magical girls appeared from inside the factory, interrupting them.

Now there were nine of them in total, some glaring at each other, others smiling foolishly in front of the abandoned factory that had gone bust after the economic bubble burst. The deteriorated landscape, filled with broken streetlamps, crushed asphalt, and twisted fences, clashed with the beautifully decorated girls.

Weddin shivered when she saw the four who’d appeared out of that hole. They were decisively different from the magical girls they had seen thus far. When that ninja had nailed her down, Weddin had trembled, fearing she was in for a painful experience. When Bunny Ears had chased her around, she’d felt despondent just thinking about what might be done to her if she were caught, and her yelling at Tepsekemei had been an attempt to alleviate such feelings, even just a bit.

Both of those magical girls had been very scary. Weddin was no match for either, and even Tepsekemei and Kuru-Kuru Hime, who were stronger than her, couldn’t beat either of the two one-on-one.

Seeing the four girls now emerging, Weddin realized her mistake. Her fear of Bunny Ears and the ninja had just been her own cowardice. She’d been needlessly frightened of enemies whom she’d fundamentally had no reason to fear. Bunny Ears and the ninja were firmly within the fantastical realm that encompassed magical girls. There was no raw violence to them.

These four were different. They carried nothing but the air of raw violence. Just standing here in front of them made Weddin want to slump down on the spot—or, barring that, grovel at their feet.

She resisted the urge to collapse. No matter how she tried to force it down, fear rampaged inside her, ready to burst out if it just had the chance. With the utmost effort, she calmed her feelings, put a lid on it all, and looked over at Bunny Ears. Her face had gone stiff—it wasn’t the way you’d look at reinforcements.

“I recommend doing your utmost to avoid resisting. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?” the fortune-teller told them. It seemed she wasn’t Bunny Ears’s ally. The enemy of her enemy was also an enemy. The situation was complicated. But being that things weren’t simple, there might be something Weddin could do here.

“No more games, asshole!” With that juvenile taunt, Grace sliced at the enemy, and the fencer responded leisurely, blocking her attack. The pirate’s boorish cutlass and the fencer’s magnificent rapier slammed straight into each other, the sound of clashing metal echoing through the narrow back road.

Grace pushed at her cutlass and tried to kick her opponent in the stomach, but the fencer slipped away, and the strike missed her body. Grace ripped the twisted chain-link fence out of the ground and threw that, too, but the fencer sliced it into bits with her rapier. Grace’s attacks still kept coming. She kicked off the wall of the building to get herself going, then turned back to kick through the cement-block barrier and showered her opponent with rubble. The fencer hopped onto a block of rubble as it flew through the air, then casually landed on the ground. The chunks of cement the fencer had dodged shot through the wall of the building like bullets, destroying it.

Weddin was about to go help Grace, but then she stopped herself. She could barely even keep track of how fast Grace was moving, and her enemy was trading blows with her cheerily at a speed no lesser. Any attempt by Weddin to join in the fray would bring about further danger. She should avoid intervening thoughtlessly. Weddin began to ponder what she should do—what move she should make.

Her allies didn’t move—or no, they couldn’t move, could they? Funny Trick was trembling, all the color drained from her face. Tepsekemei’s eyes were quite a bit calmer in comparison, the same old vacant expression as she focused her gaze on the remaining enemies. Their enemies were smiling, or smirking, as they watched the fight. They weren’t worried. Bunny Ears turned tail and ran.

The fortune-teller whispered something to the fencer, who nodded coolly.

The musician and fortune-teller jumped over Weddin and the others together, kicking off the building in a wall-jump to chase after Bunny Ears.

If Weddin was going to fight, now was the time. But even with the enemy’s numbers cut in half, Weddin still didn’t feel she and her friends could win. They shouldn’t try to win by fighting, in which case, Grace was getting in the way. Thoughts switching dizzyingly fast, in the end, Weddin yelled, “Leave me behind! Get out of here!”

Weddin had made everyone agree to listen to their leader’s orders if the time came. Even if they hadn’t been serious when they’d made that promise, Weddin’s magic would not allow them to default on that contract.

Grace hopped up atop the building, still brandishing her cutlass at the enemy. Funny Trick leaped away, too; Tepsekemei shot Weddin a brief look, but as she couldn’t disobey the order, she floated up into the sky.

The last of the enemies—the one covered in patches, stationed at the factory entrance—nodded to the fencer, then rushed up to the top of the building. The fencer didn’t follow but instead approached Weddin. Having seen the fencer cross swords with Grace, Weddin knew she was no match for this opponent.

Her head was swimming. She had to concentrate, or she couldn’t breathe. It was hard to get ahold of herself. Transforming into a magical girl boosted her resistance to the cold, but a chill was running down her spine all the same. She felt she might freeze. A puff of white steam appeared when she exhaled a deep breath before slowly dissipating.

The clash between Grace and the fencer had been one of life-and-death, an excuse for Weddin to think she hadn’t interfered because they’d moved too quickly. There was no reason any rational human being would have interfered with that tangle of beasts seeking to rip each other’s throats out.

Calm down, she told herself. Bunny Ears had lured two of their opponents away, so they’d managed to split the enemies up. And since patchwork girl was chasing after three of them solo, at the very least, two of them would be able to escape—while sacrificing one. But Weddin wasn’t thinking about this in a sentimental fashion. Her judgments were based on calculation. They were running away from enemies they couldn’t beat, so even two out of three being saved was a good deal.

And besides, she had to fight one-on-one. The candles on her costume made fizzling sounds as they burned.

Don’t be timid. Be bold. I’m the leader. I’m not gonna lose.

The fencer was approaching, a broad smile on her face. She was refined and aristocratic but also looked like death itself. What would happen if Weddin died? Was there an afterlife? Could it be classified into heaven and hell? And if she died, was that the end? Once you lost your life, was it just eternal nothingness, with no consciousness?

The fear of death welled up in her stomach. She clenched her jaw and held back her feelings.

Weddin—Mine Musubiya—was egocentric in all respects. She based all her decisions on calculations of profit and loss. When she’d made all the others escape, she’d done it with the overall benefits and drawbacks in mind. Since she knew she was too slow to run anyway, she figured it’d be more beneficial to decisively remain than to flee. Her choice to remain had not at all been a generous one, based on self-sacrifice.

She had a chance at winning. Facing the fencer, Weddin raised both her hands. She forced her stiffening face to soften and smiled, as her opponent did. “I’ve lost. I surrender. I’ll fight no more. Please, spare my life.”

The fencer looked like she didn’t quite understand. Weddin then recalled that her opponent spoke a foreign language… She’d talked so fast, it’d been hard to catch, but she most likely spoke English. So Weddin corrected herself: “I surrender.”

Ten feet away, the fencer stopped in her tracks. She flicked the feather decoration on her head with a fingertip, the corners of her mouth turning up. Was she smiling? She seemed wary, too.

Weddin remained tense despite having declared her surrender. She hadn’t put her hands up because she’d sincerely given in. In fact, she felt the battle was just beginning.

Direct conflict and competitions of physical strength, like the sort Grace engaged in, were not the only ways to fight. Deliberately being captured by the enemy was another. Weddin’s powers forced people to keep their promises. The number of promises was unlimited, and even if she broke the promise herself, the other person would still be obligated to keep theirs.

Once captured, she would probably be questioned. Weddin felt uneasy about conversing in English, but she’d be fine if there was someone to translate for her. She would draw out the questioning just a little bit, then drag things out as best she could (without getting to the point of torture) and try to create more opportunities for conversation. Bit by bit, she would gather promises from them—it didn’t matter how trivial they were. Weddin would win if the enemy assumed verbal promises were meaningless. She’d work from the inside, dragging things out slowly, bit by bit by bit…

The fencer came within half a step of Weddin and brandished her sword twice before sheathing it.

“Is that so? An admirable attitude.” A moment ago, Weddin hadn’t been able to catch what the fencer was saying, but now, she could understand it clearly. It wasn’t Japanese. She was still speaking in English.

Weddin didn’t question this, accepting it as if it were natural. She bowed her head. “Thank you very much. I’m grateful for your generous treatment.”

“By the way…” The fencer smiled properly this time. She didn’t look even the least bit cautious. “Though it may not appear so, our occupation is that of an inspector. As one might expect, many liars have come before us.” Still unguarded, she calmly approached Weddin and put her hand on her shoulder. “We have encountered such folk over the course of many, many years, you see. And so we’ve come to understand people, somewhat, simply by looking at their faces. When one is bound to do evil in the future, or lies to us, or attempts to deceive us, or is plotting something, it’s all so apparent in their countenance.”

She gripped Weddin’s shoulders with the kind of closeness of an old friend and pulled her rapier four inches from its sheath to show her the blade. “I use this sword on such imprudent folk. This sword is magic. Those cut by it are struck by misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“Yes, misunderstanding. Just the smallest, slightest misunderstanding. For example, the misunderstanding that a foe one should be fighting is, in fact, the master one must protect with one’s life. They would not simply become our attendant. They would do anything in our service. Oh-ho, don’t you think of it as brainwashing. When we cut someone, their reality changes. Therefore, even one with whom ’twas impossible to communicate is now able to enjoy amicable conversation with us.”

She slipped her sword back in its sheath with a snap. “Now then, work yet remains… What’s your name?”

“I’m Weddin.”

“A good name. So then be of aid to us.”

Pukin dashed off, with Weddin following cheerfully behind. Weddin had admired Pukin for ten years. She’d always obeyed any order from Pukin, and following her was always the right choice. She had no regrets in betraying her allies for Pukin. Pukin came first, over everything.

Captain Grace (Time remaining: fifteen hours, fifteen minutes)

Grace was irritated at her body for running away against her will but also privately relieved that she’d managed to escape—and that feeling made her blood boil. She crossed over buildings and roofs, running, jumping, racing through pitch-black alleyways, but she could still feel the enemy behind her, never leaving.

This may have been the first time in Grace’s life that she’d hesitated in a fight. Umi Shibahara never wavered in the heat of battle. It was always clear to her what to do. Be it punching, kicking, or grappling into a throw, all she needed was to maintain the will to fight and enact violence as her body commanded it.

She’d always scoffed at the average Joe who’d freeze up whenever petty gangsters picked fights with them. If you can win, you should fight. If you can’t, then you should run. It was stupid to let them rob you without doing either.

When the four magical girls had appeared, it wasn’t that Grace had been unable to move. She’d just hesitated.

The four girls who had broken through the factory entrance to appear before them were strong. The one with the guitar on her back and the one with the crystal ball were so strong, they might have been on par with Bunny Ears and the ninja. The one with the sword and the patchwork girl were even stronger. Even though they were glaring at each other on equal footing, Grace felt as if she was being looked down on.

The situation was bad. Grace could try to fight, caught between these girls and Bunny Ears, but what about the others? Tepsekemei could escape into the air, but if the enemy went for Funny Trick and Weddin, Grace sensed she’d have her hands too full to defend them.

These thoughts felt like excuses and angered her. Grace slashed with her sword in an attempt to shake off her weakness.

Her plan was to slay the first enemy in one strike, but it had easily been evaded. Her opponent’s thin sword looked like it could be bent with the slightest smack, but it was startlingly flexible as it blocked her swing. The fencer and the other three foes who were watching the two battle had all grinned in amusement.

They’d been making light of Grace. The simmering in her mind passed the boiling point. Right as Grace abandoned trying to defend herself and was about to strike out with all her might, Weddin gave the order to retreat.

Weddin’s magic forced her to flee when she didn’t want to. It was maddening, but it enabled her to cool her head a bit. At the very least, she could pretend she’d regained her calm.

One of the enemy magical girls was chasing her—not the one with the sword but the patchwork one. Her eyes were shining in anticipation as she followed about thirty feet behind.

Weddin had ordered the girls to leave her behind and run, so she must have remained there. There would be at least one enemy there with her. Bunny Ears had fled prior to Weddin’s command, and Grace had noticed the crystal ball girl and guitar girl following after her. If you did the math, that meant none of the enemies were chasing Funny Trick.

Her guess that Funny Trick was escaping without anyone in tow calmed Grace, taking some pressure off. It seemed her partner’s life was safe, for the time being.

Kayo Nemura had received top marks in the first grade, but that wasn’t why Umi had approached her. Umi had used a trick she’d learned from anime—she’d searched for people with similar tastes by looking at the borrowing history on their library cards. In this case, Kayo shared her interests. She’d caught a sidelong glance at Kayo reading The Robber Hotzenplotz in the library at lunchtime, turning pages with an intent look on her face as if she herself were in the middle of an adventure. When Umi poked Kayo’s cheek with her pointer finger, she was so focused on the book that she didn’t seem to notice at all. Kayo’s cheek was soft.

Umi took a liking to her. Ever since then, she’d started proactively developing their connection. Umi was good at ignoring all rules or manners to invade people’s personal spaces.

Kayo and Umi had traversed the whole island of Honshu during summer vacation in fourth grade.

In fifth grade, when Umi had beat up the teacher of the karate dojo she’d joined, Kayo had been with her, too.

And when Umi had gotten into a spat with the motorcycle gang Love-Life in their first year of middle school, Kayo had been by her side then, too.

Kayo’s job was to soothe and chide Umi when she tried to barrel on ahead and push on forward. Even when Umi’s rational mind was telling her it was best to pull back for the time being, her emotions would move her feet of their own accord. That was the way she was. If she’d been on her own, she would have gone on raging and rampaging forever. She felt having Kayo there as her strategist enabled her to be her strongest. But that was embarrassing, so she didn’t say it out loud.

That was when Grace sensed something. There wasn’t just the enemy pressing in on her from behind—someone else was running alongside her, too. A new enemy? she thought and looked over to see it was a familiar magical girl running with her. Captain Grace kept herself from swearing aloud. It was Funny Trick. Funny Trick put equal distance between herself, Grace, and the enemy, drawing a triangle between the three of them.

It wasn’t like she had to be attached to Grace at the hip, so what was Funny Trick thinking, following her? They outnumbered the enemy, so if they’d have just run in different directions, then at the very least, one or two of them could have managed to escape safely. Does she get that these new enemies are crazy strong? Grace thought indignantly as she ran, but still, she was a little glad Funny Trick had followed her, and the corners of her lips curved into a smile. She couldn’t bring herself to believe the reason Funny Trick wanted to fight was because she couldn’t tell the enemies were powerful. She had to give her partner credit for that.

As Grace ran atop the roof, she stomped her feet to crack the tiles off, then raked the broken tiles with her toes and tossed them backward. The enemy ignored the shards flying at her, hot on her heels and not slowing even a hair. She didn’t seem to be injured or even flinching.

Grace was disappointed that the tiles were completely ineffective. But it seemed taking offensive action by tossing tiles backward was possible, and just checking that she could do that was meaningful on its own. Weddin’s magic was forcing Grace to flee, but she possessed a degree of discretion on just how she would do so.

She tried slowing down. Slackening her legs’ pace just a bit made the distance between her and the enemy shrink. It seemed she wasn’t compelled to run as fast as she could. She fastened some rope from her pirate ship onto her hook. She’d have liked to tie a marine- or sailor-style knot on it, but unfortunately, she didn’t know much about knots. So she just tied it tight, figuring it was okay as long as it held for now.

Grace jumped off the roof and tossed the rope and hook out to catch on the bridge of an overpass, swinging over to stand on top of it. The enemy still followed her—but unlike Grace, she lacked any tools. So Grace won herself some distance, even if it was only a few yards.

Because of the time of day, there were no cars going by on the overpass. Now, she could do this.

The enemy coming after Grace clambered up to the overpass, but then things started flying at her from the air above, booming with impact as they made contact with the asphalt in succession. Grace looked up into the sky. Tepsekemei was attacking while she flew away from the enemy.

It seemed the others also intended to attack as they ran away. Grace laughed out loud in delight. She saw Funny Trick coming after the enemy up to the top of the overpass.