Chapter 38: 38

–The next time Tsugumi opened his eyes, every single person who had been there in huge numbers had disappeared from the scene. No, the one who had disappeared was probably Tsugumi.

Looking around, he saw the layout of the buildings and the letters on the signs had been reversed. –Inside a Magical Girl’s barrier was a mirror image of the real world. In other words, this place was already a dangerous zone where Demonic Beasts roamed.

Tsugumi clicked his tongue and searched for signs and noises with caution. If he were attacked in a place like this, his current self wouldn’t be able to get away.

He learned from an official government information site which only Magical Girls had access to that there were about 30 cases a year of humans getting caught in Magical Girl’s barriers. If they included cases like Tsugumi’s, which had not yet been discovered, the number would be much higher.

The people involved were all young women, and all of them were highly qualified as Magical Girls. The only exception was Tsugumi.

…That Chidori had an aptitude to be a Magical Girl was something that Tsugumi had somehow guessed.

Rather, it would not be normal for a man like Tsugumi to have the aptitude, while his twin, Chidori, did not.

–But I never thought it would come to this.

They were lucky to arrive together inside the barrier, but to be frank, there wasn’t a lot that Tsugumi could do here. In this situation, he couldn’t use his power as a Magical Girl.

He tried to put some strength into his fingertips to get a thread out that Chidori couldn’t see, but still nothing happened. …He had heard it in advance from Bell, but it seemed the power was really blocked.

–In the first place, the barrier was a kind of divine realm created by the God who had contracted with the Magical Girl. If Miko, a Magical Girl who had a contract with another God, entered such a place, it was only natural that the divine power inside her body would rebel and she wouldn’t be able to use her abilities properly.

However, Bell said that while he wouldn’t be able to use normal skills such as Thread and Transportation, he would still be able to use Invisibility and Gluttony, which could only be used inside the barrier, if he put his mind to it.

It seemed the side effects vary from person to person, but he should at least be prepared for unimaginable pain.

When she said that, Tsugumi laughed it off and said, “There’s no way I’m getting involved again,” but now he regretted not listening more seriously.

Additionally, in Tsugumi’s case, in order to use abilities such as Invisibility within the barrier, he had to transform once into a woman, which was doubly burdensome.

But neither of these skills were offensive-oriented, so he didn’t think they were very useful, to say the least. The only thing he could do was pray that a legitimate Magical Girl would defeat the Demonic Beast while he was hiding.

As Tsugumi was thinking about this, Chidori, who had been knocked unconscious by the shock of being caught in the middle of the action, slowly opened her eyes.

“What the hell is this place…? Where are all the other people?”

Saying this, Chidori looked around, holding her forehead painfully. There might be some discomforts remaining from the move. …When Tsugumi was caught up in the barrier before, he didn’t feel any discomfort and before he knew it, he was already inside the barrier, but perhaps there were individual differences.

“–This is the inside of a Magical Girl’s barrier. We’re caught in it. …Let’s move on for now. It’s not safe to stay here.”

Tsugumi, pulling on the hand of the confused Chidori, began to set out to the building. If they stayed in the middle of the road, there would be a higher chance of the Demonic Beast finding them.

“How does Tsugumi know that? –It’s as if you’ve been involved in this before.”

For a while, Chidori had followed Tsugumi in confusion, but eventually, perhaps unable to bear it any longer, she asked such a question.

Tsugumi was a little confused on how to answer, since there was a good chance that Chidori would find out if he told a bad lie. In that case, he had no choice but to weave the truth into his story.

“I didn’t want to worry Chidori, so I didn’t tell this, but I’ve been caught in a barrier like this once before. At that time, I heard about it from someone–“

As he finished explaining the current situation, Chidori opened her mouth, her face turning blue.

“In other words, we can’t get out of here unless the Magical Girl defeats the Demonic Beast.”

–They were in the same space as Demonic Beast. For Chidori, this must be the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced. Tsugumi supported the staggered Chidori and said in a cheerful voice to cheer her up.

“It’s okay. I’m sure the Magical Girls will defeat the D-class Demonic Beast in no time. –For the time being, let’s hide somewhere so we don’t get caught up in the battle. Okay?”

D-class Demonic Beasts were not that difficult to defeat for ordinary Magical Girls. But even if they were easy opponents for Magical Girls, they were still a sufficient threat to ordinary humans who had no means of countering them. Just like when Tsugumi was once almost killed by a D-class Gargoyle.

“But then again, how could we be the only ones caught up when there were so many people there?”

Saying so, Chidori tilted her head curiously.

…In the previous explanation, he did not dare to talk about the aptitude of Magical Girls. It might cause confusion. People with Magical Girl aptitude did not necessarily get caught up in barriers, and the absolute number of people with such aptitude was small to begin with. This case was, by all accounts, a rare case.

And he didn’t really want her to think that Tsugumi, being a man, had the aptitude for Magical Girls. From a trivial question, there was a possibility that it would be associated with Hagakure Sakura.

“I don’t know. Rumor has it that people who have near-death experiences or have an aptitude for Magical Girls are more likely to get caught. But is that really true? I’m here, so maybe there’s more truth to it than I thought, but…”

Having said that, Tsugumi involuntarily pressed his mouth with his hand. Because he remembered something very important.

–How could I have forgotten?

Aptitude as a Magical Girl. What did Itadori, who was supposed to be at this Amusement Park, say in that hospital room?

–She said she had ‘the highest aptitude for Magical Girls in the record since the beginning of school!’

Rather, it was unnatural to think that a child with such a high aptitude would not be involved.

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Realizing this fact, Tsugumi bit his lip.

–I should go help her. His heart said so, but logic interfered. He might be able to get away with it if he was alone, but Chidori was here too. He couldn’t afford to take any bad action.

–Should I put the Chidori’s safety first, or should I keep my promise to Itadori?

…Amusement Park was a big place. If the Magical Girl was properly dealing with the Demonic Beast, everything would be over while she was hiding somewhere. But what if something unexpected happened? What if the Demonic Beast attacked when Itadori was all alone?

Tsugumi had taken Itadori’s hand once. And yet, this time he had to abandon her out of inconvenience. Such injustice was unforgivable.

But Tsugumi couldn’t leave Chidori’s side. He just couldn’t.

While racking his brain over this, something warm touched Tsugumi’s cheek. –It was Chidori’s hand.

Chidori looked at Tsugumi with a certainty in her eyes and smiled bitterly as if to say it couldn’t be helped.

“You’ve noticed something, haven’t you? Don’t worry, just talk to me. It’s okay. I usually work out, too, because I don’t want to bother you when something happens. …So don’t worry and stop that pained look on your face.”

To Chidori’s words, Tsugumi opened his eyes. Chidori didn’t know anything about it. Even so, she was waiting for an answer as if she had made up her mind.

“Maybe we’re not alone.”

Tsugumi looked down as if he was lost in thought, and he grasped Chidori’s hand and opened his mouth as if asking for forgiveness.　

“I need to talk to you about something.”

◆◆◆

–Something is wrong.

The Magical Girl who set up the barrier in the Amusement Park – Takasaki Kurumi – was puzzled by the sense of discomfort swirling in her chest.

The Demonic Beast that appeared earlier than originally planned was about three meters in size and shaped like a red Ogre. Takasaki started to fight in confusion, but the beast was too unresponsive for a D-class.

For Takasaki, who had little experience in combat, a D-class Demonic Beast was still a formidable foe. The D-class Demonic Beast she had faced only once before was much larger, and the pressure she felt was much greater.

And yet, the beast in front of her just repeated monotonous attacks, and there was only a hair’s breadth of difference in strength between the beast and the E-class Demonic Beast. It was true that weaker enemies were better than stronger ones, but this was a bit discouraging.

–Perhaps it’s a side effect of appearing earlier than it’s supposed to.

Takasaki thought so, but she had no proof. It would have been helpful if she could ask the contract God a lot of questions at a time like this, but she could not count on that.

Takasaki’s contract God was very reluctant to be seen or heard by others. Even Takasaki, who had a contract, never had a proper conversation before besides exchanging information.

–I envy Hagakure Sakura.

Takasaki thought sincerely. She must have a good relationship with her contract God. From the images on TV, it was clear that they were always on good terms. She was very different from Takasaki, who began her Magical Girl career at the same time.

Even today, she was suddenly told, “A Demonic Beast is coming, so you have to go now,” and was sent to this Amusement Park half-forcibly. But for Takasaki, the contract God was the one who saved her life and she owed a favor to. She wasn’t in a position to complain, but being treated differently didn’t feel good.

–Let’s just finish this quickly and go home.

Fortunately, or perhaps because the contract God was not interested in money, all the bounty went into Takasaki’s hands. The bounty for the D-class was three hundred and fifty thousand, five times the bounty of the E-class. …Weird feeling of discomfort remained, but she should just consider herself lucky that her opponent was weak.

Since the place was an Amusement Park, she thought it would be better not to prolong the fight. She couldn’t inconvenience the people who were waiting for the Demonic Beast to be defeated.

The red Ogre, which had sustained a deep cut on its neck from the attack, fell to the ground, spurting out a large amount of blood. Takasaki let out a sigh of relief as she gazed at it. For the time being, this was the end of the matter.

–Now, let’s release the barrier.

Just as Takasaki was about to call out to the contract God to release the barrier, she received a shock as if her body had been hit by a large object.

At the same time, she felt a pain that shattered her whole body and a floating sensation as if she was being blown away.

Along with the pain, she was lightly knocked unconscious and her vision went completely black. When Takasaki came to, she found herself lying on the ground with a large amount of blood pouring from her body.

–What in the world is happening?

Fighting back the pain and suppressing her agitated mind, Takasaki desperately looked up. –There was a blue Ogre standing there, looking at her and smiling. The corpse of the red Ogre was still lying in the distance. In other words, standing before Takasaki’s eyes was a second Demonic Beast.

“Why? Demonic Beasts are supposed to appear one at a time-!”

Before Takasaki could finish her sentence, the blue Ogre swung the black gold bar straight down. Once, twice, three times. The blue Ogre repeated the attack, crushing her limbs without inflicting fatal wounds.

Then it took one look at Takasaki, who had become a motionless doll, only spitting out groans, and moved out of the way as if it had lost interest.

The blue Ogre, bathed in blood, headed in the direction of the sign that said ‘South Exit’ – the place where the other victims caught up in the barrier were hiding.

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