Chapter 85: 85

Intention to Connect

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

“Even though her life is saved, Hitsugi Airi will definitely retire. …I already know that, but it makes me sick to my stomach. Who will be in charge of that thick lineup when she’s gone?”

A man muttered in the room where documents were piled up in a mess. In response, a red-haired girl smiled and opened her mouth.

“Oh well. I’m sure we can work something out. Even if they’re like that, many of them have a strong sense of responsibility.”

“All you have to do is take the initiative and lead the way, but I guess it’s useless to say that anyway…”

“Yes. Because that is not my role.”

The man sighed loudly and looked at the girl who was smiling elegantly – Toono Sumire.

“Miko-sama is also having a hard time, huh. …I’m going to change the subject, you were the one who mentioned Hitsugi’s disposition, weren’t you? Even if she was just being manipulated, the blow the government took in this one case was huge. It is too unnatural for her not to be held accountable at all, even if you look at it in a favorable light.”

–Hitsugi Airi was well-liked by the general government employees, but on the other hand, she was being watched with caution by the higher-ups.

The person herself might not be aware of it, but Hitsugi Airi’s centripetal force was outstanding. What would have happened if she had entered the government without causing any problems and had started to work with a clear intention?

–Perhaps a large faction would have been formed in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, there were definitely a lot of Magical Girls within that faction. For the upper management, who did not like change, Hitsugi was like a ticking time bomb.

However, the well-behaved Hitsugi couldn’t be eliminated for unreasonable reasons. It was bad to say this but for the upper management, this incident must have been convenient for them.

And yet, when the lid was opened, there was no punishment for Hitsugi and the job offer that had been decided on remained the same. In any case, the man could only think that some great power was at work.

“Hmm? How do you know it was me?”

Toono answered the man’s question as if it was nothing. In her mind, it was probably no big deal.

“The only people who can give their opinions to the upper management that oversees the Magical Girls are you guys from the Ministry of Divine Worship, who have the backing of the God Amaterasu. –Besides, you bought Hitsugi. I knew you would move. …Well, even for me, I wasn’t convinced that Hitsugi would be disposed of because of that one incident. I’m grateful to you.”

When the man quietly told her so, Toono exhaled a little and made a sad expression on her face.

“Because Hitsugi-san has done so much for this country, and by extension, for Amaterasu-sama. I think she deserves a little reward. If she was a little more talented, she would have the qualities of a hero …It’s a shame, really.”

“Hero, huh. It’s not like we are in the turmoil of 30 years ago, and Sakura Akane is enough as the existence of such an idol hero, right?”

“Oh, really? The time for a hero is probably not too far away.”

“…Perhaps, is this also an oracle? Oh no, you don’t have to answer. I’m sure it will be deceiving anyway. –So, why do you suddenly come all the way to my lab today? Do you come here to talk about nothing? Or does my resignation finally come from the top?”

Saying so, the man – Higoromo Yuki – laughed cynically.

“I don’t see how we can reduce our forces any further when Hitsugi is quitting. Please don’t say something stupid.”

When Toono said this in disgust, Higoromo’s shoulders dropped in disappointment.

“I want to retire as soon as possible. Anything more would interfere with my business… But it can’t be helped if just for a while. After what happened, it would be a burden on the rest of us if I suddenly left too.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say such an auspicious thing. I thought you don’t like to fit in? –Oh, by the way, I heard you were having a lot of fun playing with the girls the other day. Perhaps, have you changed your mind?”

When Toono said this in a teasing manner, Higoromo turned his face away in embarrassment.

“…That was the atmosphere then. Don’t make fun of me too much.”

“I think it’s good for Magical Girls to get along with each other. I was a little worried about you because you and Hyuga were having a hard time. –Hey, Shizuku-san.”

“…I don’t blame them for being hostile to me. To be honest, I have no idea what kids that age think. I don’t want to be asked for mutual understanding either. …Haha. If only I didn’t have a promise to God, I’d quit being a Magical Girl in a heartbeat.”

“I guess it’s bad luck that you let curiosity get the better of you for the sake of research. But who would have guessed that the renowned researcher Higoromo Yuki is really that Yukino Shizuku…”

With a giggle and a small laugh, Toono narrowed her eyes and looked at Higoromo. Higoromo sighed deeply and loudly, as if uncomfortable, and opened his mouth tiredly.

“I never thought that a man could be a Magical Girl either–until I was approached by God.”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

–Higoromo Yuki was originally one of the students in the university’s Magical Research Institute.

Higoromo was approached by the government because of his innate excellence, and he continued his research while analyzing data on Demonic Beasts and Magical Girls, constantly producing better results.

The reason why such a perfect researcher ended up working as a Magical Girl was solely due to Higoromo’s curiosity and carelessness.

“You, yes you. The unhealthy-looking one with dark circles who seems to survive only on nutritional supplements. –Are you interested in becoming a Magical Girl for a little while? Now you get the added bonus of health care, too, you know?”

Attracted by the words of Nasatya, the God who approached him with such a silly claim, Higoromo, who was at the end of his fifth day of work, somehow shook his head. …Soon afterward, he reconsidered and tried to withdraw from the contract, but it was already too late.

The rules for stray Magical Girls basically stated that a contractor couldn’t quit as a Magical Girl unless they obtained God’s consent.

The only exception to this rule would be if the government declared a suspension of activities, but that could not be expected unless he caused a major problem or broke his body or mind.

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Thus, Higoromo reluctantly ended up working as a Magical Girl

For a while after making a contract with God, he was taken around Japan by Nasatya as a Magical Girl. Through twists and turns, he was able to defeat an A-class Demonic Beast in just a few months.

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The reason Higoromo was able to accomplish such a feat was largely due to the fact that his Magical Girl skills miraculously meshed with his brain.

Originally, a Magical Girl’s skill was often greatly influenced by her own perception.

People like Mibu and Suzushiro, who lived by their sensibilities, deploy their abilities with their imagination without considering detailed theories. That sometimes produced a higher effect than thinking in terms of logic. In a sense, the slightly dim-witted ones were often the better Magical Girls.

However, Higoromo easily overturned this assumption. His carefully calculated use of his skills produced an effect that could be described as an art form.

From his point of view, the result of the battle might have been within his expectation, but from the public’s point of view, it was definitely a great achievement.

–However, it could be said that Higoromo’s hardships began from there.

He had to deal with his research, which was his main job, and with the government and the mass media, who were trying to find out his true identity. As the number of problems increased, Higoromo began to feel the limit in his efforts to keep the identity of “Yukino Shizuku” a secret.

After much consideration, he came up with the idea of creating a collaborator within the government. The one who was chosen was Toono Sumire, the girl smiling in front of Higoromo.

Toono Sumire was a person in a somewhat unique position within the government.

She had strong ties to the upper management of the government because she often appeared on the stage as a Miiko dedicated to Amaterasu.

Her contracted God, Yatagarasu, was the God who was originally in charge of the original Magical Girl, Sakura Akane, and some people were even proud of Toono, saying that she was the second coming of Sakura Akane.

For this reason, Toono’s opinion was quite high in the government, including the Ministry of Divine Worship, and she served as an advisor in a variety of settings.

–If it was her, she might be able to do something about “Yukino Shizuku” while concealing Higoromo‘s existence. That was what Higoromo thought.

He dared to enter the government by accepting the invitation to join Rikka, and immediately tried to make contact with Toono.

While Higoromo was determined to negotiate with Toono, Toono maintained a calm demeanor throughout. –It was as if she knew what they were going to talk about beforehand.

Higoromo still remembered that moment well. Toono, who smiled calmly as she listened to Higoromo‘s outlandish story, seemed like a strange creature even to Higoromo, a researcher by nature.

The negotiations themselves, fortunately, ended without any problems.

After agreeing to a few conditions, Higoromo was able to obtain Toono’s cooperation, and with the help of collaborators he met through Toono, he was now reluctantly continuing as a Magical Girl, while hiding his true identity from the world.

Higoromo himself had planned to retire as soon as he finished collecting raw data on Magical Girls and Demonic Beasts, but because he was highly qualified as a Magical Girl, the collaborators did everything in their power to keep him from retiring. In a sense, that was the biggest miscalculation of all.

–Even so, Higoromo opened his mouth as he thought about it.

“I made a contract with God and now I know for sure that men are basically unsuitable to be the recipients of divine power. I myself would not have been a threat to God, but I have my own special circumstances. –The existence of Magical Girls is really interesting.”

Tono looked at him with a face as if she was looking at something troublesome.

“Is this going to be a long story? I’m sorry. I’m not here to talk about research.”

“…You’re the one who’s been sidetracking me for so long. What do you want?”

When Higoromo asked this question, Toono reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a black USB. She put it in his hand and began to speak with a mysterious expression.

“I have a favor to ask you. –In this USB, there is data about the great fire of eleven years ago. I need you to find out more about the people involved in this case.”

At these words, Higoromo raised one eyebrow and looked at Toono quizzically.

“The fire? …I’m sure that case is treated as a taboo even in the upper management of the government. My God – Nasatya also said, unusually, ‘You shouldn’t get involved’. But why do you need that now?”

“Because it has become necessary. Yatagarasu also seems to have finally lifted his heavy shoulders. No matter how much I look away, I can’t escape the past.”

“Well, I owe you. If you ask me, I’ll do it properly but why do you choose me? If you just want to do some research, you could ask government personnel to do it for you.”

“This is a job that only a Magical Girl can do. To be more precise, there is no doubt that there are some Irregularities involved in that big fire. Although the prefectural government has done a good job of hiding the fire, the area at the center of the fire is still barren, not a single blade of grass has grown there even after eleven years. The pollution caused by the fire was so severe. The contamination is not limited to the land but extends even to information related to the great fire. The data was originally collected by government officials at the time, but they all died after suffering for three days and three nights. …The cause of their deaths was probably high concentrations of divine power contamination. They were ordinary people who were not resistant to the divine power, and it seems that they could not prevent the contamination. Having said this, you understand what I mean, do you?”

“So that’s why you ask Yukino Shizuku (me). It’s true that as a Magical Girl, I have some resistance to divine power.”

“And your contract God is the God of medicine, right? And if it is not directly related to the fire, I will contact the government and bring you the information. So please do me a favor.”

Saying this, Toono bowed deeply. Higoromo was stunned by this sight of her. It was the first time that Toono, who was always aloof and elusive, had ever shown herself like this.

“Well, I’ll do what I can. But you’re going to have to explain the details to me later. You are always too short of words.”

When Higoromo answered, Toono looked up, relieved.

“Thanks. I can’t move directly because of the circumstances. …It really helps.”

“But even though there is some rough information on this USB, there are limits to what I, a mere researcher, can do in terms of research. Are you okay with that?”

“It’s fine. I only know the person who is at the center of this case. I think you can look her up as the standard for your research.”

Toono said this and took out a black envelope from her bag. Carefully opening the envelope, she pulled out a photo of a girl, burnt in some places, in front of Higoromo.

“Her name is Shikabane Sakura. She was the leader of the religious group that was based in the center of the fire, the ‘Star of Dawn’.”

As she told this, Higoromo gazed at the girl in the picture. The young girl in the Miiko costume, with gentle wavy black hair flowing over her right shoulder, was smiling leisurely.

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“…What kind of a joke is this?”

–The appearance that bore a striking resemblance to someone Higoromo knew very well–Hagakure Sakura.

The gears of fate are accelerating in a place no one knows. Will the truth they arrive at be hope or despair? The time of collapse is approaching.

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