Chapter 133: 133

An Unexpected Collaborator

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

After calling out to Inaba, Tsugumi immediately flew to the location designated by the staff. The location was in the city center, an intricate area lined with houses. The evacuation order hadn’t yet been issued, and he could see a few shadows of people here and there.

Some of them look surprised at the sudden appearance of Tsugumi–Hagakure Sakura–but there was no time to worry about that. Tsugumi told the children who approached him out of curiosity not to move too far from the spot because it was dangerous, and he looked around.

“A ten-meter radius from this base point. …It sure is tricky.”

Tsugumi muttered. An ordinary Magical Girl with exploratory abilities would spend a considerable amount of time just searching for a flower. But only if they searched around with their feet. So, thinking about it, Tsugumi lifted the corner of his mouth.

–If it was just ten meters, the threads could reach it. No matter where the flowers were, as long as they were within range, he would definitely find them.

Tsugumi took a small breath, stretched a thin thread in all directions to connect with the sensation in the fingertips, and waved his arm as if conducting it. Once, twice, three times, he swung the string at different heights, penetrating the smallest gaps in alleys, drains, and the interiors of houses, searching for any familiar signs. Fortunately, thanks to his injuries, his body remembered the presence of the Demonic Beast.

Moving the threads to slip between walls and people, he searched for signs of the Demonic Beast while scrutinizing the enormous amount of information coming in through his fingertips. The extra information overloaded his brain and made him dizzy, but he bit the edge of his lip to awaken his consciousness. Even if he pushed himself too hard, he had to endure it for now.

Listening to the ticking of the second hand on the wristwatch he borrowed from a staff member of the Countermeasure Headquarters, he silently continued his search within the area. Time was slowly ticking away, and his heart was racing against the time limit, but he couldn’t let his impatience show. –What he needed right now was calm judgment and meticulousness that wouldn’t miss anything.

As he repeated the process, he concentrated all his attention on his fingertips, and then Tsugumi stopped moving.

“–I found it.”

The presence of a Demonic Beast containing unfathomable malice, transmitted through the threads. At present, he didn’t know if it was a dummy or the main body, but it was better to cut it.

Tsugumi grabbed a single thread as if pulling it in, and leaned over and put strength into his right leg.

He moved like a bullet. He ran lightly over the fence and arrived at a dahlia-like flower about the size of a ping-pong ball. When he saw it on the beach, it looked like a tulip, but maybe the type was different depending on where it was.

It will be better to put in a report just in case, thinking that, Tsugumi muttered in a cold voice, wrapping the thread around the flower.

“A flower that blooms by sucking the life out of others? –No matter how similar it may be to a flower, that’s nothing beautiful.”

With a snap, Tsugumi swung his arm aside and tore the flower to shreds the size of a grain of rice. The shredded flower fluttered to the ground, then dissolved into the air and disappeared.

Staring at it intently, Tsugumi took out his terminal and connected it to the Countermeasure Headquarters.

“Hello? I just exterminated a Demonic Flower over here. Any change?”

When Tsugumi asked that, the staff replied, “No, nothing yet. …It seems it was a dummy.” Then, he heard something being typed into the computer and the staff member continued talking indifferently.

“Then I’ll show you the next site. Are you ready?”

“Yes. I can fly anytime.”

Although his spirit was somewhat exhausted by the search through the thread, his power itself wasn’t consumed that much. Consecutive transportation and thread search would certainly be burdensome, but he’d push it down.

“The location is around a shrine in the mountain of XX City, Ibaraki Prefecture. The coordinates are–“

As he listened to the details of the location, he let out a small sigh. –It took him less than three minutes to get there. The pace was slower than he had expected but the more he got used to it, he should be able to shorten the time even more.

–But he didn’t have to be the one to defeat the original Demonic Beast. It could be any of the staff members, other Magical Girls, or anyone. So please, please erase the main body as soon as possible. Wishing this in his mind, Tsugumi flew to the next site.

◆ ◆ ◆

–Fifty minutes after Hagakure Sakura began to move. As more than seventy flowers were exterminated, the staff members continued their steady efforts in the countermeasure room.

“The mountain in Hokkaido at point 89, where Hagakure-san headed, is also a loss! Where the hell is the main body already!?”

“Shut up. I don’t know that, that’s why I’m looking for it so desperately. If you’ve got time to rant and rave, get your hands moving!”

The phone calls of inquiries that never ceased, the flurry of instructions, and tearful whining. Although they had been steadily destroying the points indicated by Sobi, they hadn’t been able to get to the main body of the Demonic Beast due to bad luck.

“The current number of dead is sixty… The speed rate of the number is increasing. …When are we going to find the main body?”

Saying this, Inaba bit her thumb.

They were steadily destroying the points, but they still couldn’t find the main body of the Demonic Beast. –Is there really the main body among them?

Thinking this, Inaba shook her head. She didn’t think Sobi’s exploration was wrong. They also had other Magical Girls with exploration abilities and sorcerers from the Ministry of Divine Worship, and their opinions were almost the same as Sobi’s.

One hundred and eight red dots placed on this map–among them, there was an Irregularity that caused the current disturbance. …But what if it couldn’t be found? What should they do then? Maybe they should think of the worst and plan the next move.

As Inaba was calmly pondering, a girl approached her with clattering footsteps.

“–Well, you look like you’re in a lot of trouble!”

“…Agatsuma-san?”

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The one who said that and looked into Inaba’s face was Agatsuma Suo, one of the Jukka.

“Why are you here? I thought you were on vacation.”

Inaba said suspiciously. Although Agatsuma belonged to Juka, she was in reality a stray Magical Girl, just like Hagakure Sakura. On days when she wasn’t on shift – in other words, on her days off – she wasn’t under the control of the government and couldn’t be ordered to go out to work. Because of this, she didn’t ask her to cooperate in the current disturbance.

“Hmm, I was coming to the government to use the simulator, but I thought it was kind of noisy, so I asked the other girls about it and they told me about this case! You need someone with the ability to transport, right? I may not be able to do much, but I can help you!”

“‘Yes. …That’s true but is it okay with you, Agatsuma-san?”

“Huh? What?”

When Inaba told her that, Agatsuma tilted her head. She seemed to be saying she didn’t understand what she was talking about.

“No, I thought that Agatsuma-san isn’t really interested in this kind of thing.”

Saying this, Inaba immediately covered her mouth. –It was a slip of tongue. At the very least, it wasn’t something she should say to someone who had offered to help.

However, Inaba’s words also had a point. To begin with, Agatsuma Suo was the type of Magical Girl who didn’t take much interest in this kind of thing.

She might look and act like a bright child who was easy to get along with, but her true nature was quite the opposite. Although she seemed to hide it well from those around her, Agatsuma had a certain dislike for the government, or rather, for anyone related to Magical Girls.

The expression on her face and the sneering attitude hidden behind her cheerful words spoke for themselves. Perhaps it was because Inaba had dealt with so many Magical Girls in her life that she had come to understand this.

That’s why Inaba thought it was strange. She had never paid much attention to the fact that there were victims, but suddenly she was offering her cooperation. She couldn’t help but doubt her intention.

“Well, I don’t mind. –Well, I thought it would be nice to do something like this once in a while!　Hehehe, because I’m a good girl!”

Agatsuma said, smiling, and sat down next to Inaba. …Anyway, if she was willing to help, there was no way Inaba would decline.

“…Thank you for your cooperation. By the way, how many transportations are left?”

“Well, about seventeen! Considering the return, I’d like you to leave at least two times.”

–Agatsuma’s transportation, unlike Hagakure’s, had a limit to the number of times it could be used. It depended on the condition of the day, but generally, it was possible to make about 20 transportation in a day. The only difference was that Agatsuma’s skill could also transport living being together. However, there was a condition for this accompaniment.

“Actually, I wanted Sobi-san to accompany you for search efficiency, but Sobi-san is a little bigger than Agatsuma-san…”

The only living beings that Agatsuma could transport were things smaller than her.

“I’m a little bit smaller, so it’s hard for me to bring her along! –So, where do I go and what do I do?”

Regardless of the reason, Inaba thanked Agatsuma for her cooperation, pointed to a map on her computer, and began to explain.

“Well, first of all, I would like you to fly to point 102 on this map–“

After giving instructions, Agatsuma headed toward the site without any particular objection. …She might have been overthinking from the very beginning. As the busy days continued, her mind became dull like this. It was a bad tendency.

“Please–please find the main body quickly. Before there are any more deaths.”

Inaba knew that there was no time to pray like this. However, the regular sounds of reports of the dead only made her more impatient. Everyone was trying to bring the situation under control, but the results weren’t encouraging.

–Someone. Anyone. Please find the main body as soon as possible. Wishing so, Inaba prayed deeply. Unfortunately, her wish wasn’t fulfilled until 30 minutes later.

◆ ◆ ◆

Thirty minutes after Agatsuma joined the investigation. The moment they finished exterminating all the flowers up to point 108 without hitting the real flower, the seeds in the victims’ bodies vanished like an illusion. Perhaps they weren’t dummies, but an army that shared the core of their existence, like the grasshoppers that Hagakure Sakura fought before.

However, the Magical Girl who broke the last flower – Hagakure Sakura – said later in her report about this matter.

–Even though it is an E-class or lower-ranked Demonic Beast, it’s very unresponsive. Is that really the last flower?

But no one could answer that question. Because it was a fact that the seed disappeared with the extinction of the last flower.

After the incident came to an end a short time later, a government report stated

–A certain day in July. A large number of provisional F-class Demonic Beasts are confirmed. The presence of the Demonic Beast is so small that it might have slipped through the barrier’s prediction system.

There are over 300 victims, mostly young women. Since many of the victims are Magical Girls and women with an aptitude for magic, it’s recognized as an Irregular Demonic Beast that aims at girls with an aptitude.

A plant-based Demonic Beast that shoots seeds into the body and grows by feeding on the power – the life force – that circulated through the body. The seeds are entangled in the nerves and travel throughout the body in an instant. The absorption of life force is stopped when the seeds are removed, but the moment the seeds and roots are removed, the victim’s body feels pain as if their nerves are being torn apart, and most of them are in a state of shock and death.

The individual’s name is tentatively defined as [Mistletoe].

After analyzing the seeds brought in, the Countermeasure Headquarters determined that the flowers that attacked women across the country were the children and that by exterminating the Mistletoe flower, which was the parent of the mistletoes, the seeds spit out by the children would naturally disappear along with the roots. With the help of Magical Girls who are good at searching, the location of the parent flower (including dummies) was identified. At the request of the Countermeasures Headquarters, a Magical Girl with the ability to transport went to the site to exterminate the flowers and confirmed the disappearance of the Mistletoe flowers.

Of the victims, about 30%–92 people–died. Among them were many young girls who were not yet of suitable age.

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