CH 155

Exotic Morning Glow

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

After a night spent with mixed feelings, the fateful morning arrived.

The city of London, which he visited early in the morning, was dimly lit, perhaps because the sun had not yet fully risen, and an unseasonably thick fog was hanging over the city. There was a sense of gloom in the air.

Around the area where the Tsugumi was, the streets were lined with exotic brick buildings, but the damage here and there showed the extent of the damage.

Gazing blankly at such a spectacle, Tsugumi’s eyes narrowed in relief when he spotted Chidori among the people gathered there. Chidori’s eyes were a little red, perhaps because she didn’t sleep well, but she seemed to be relatively fine.

Tsugumi himself was a little sleepy because he had arrived at the site a little earlier than the others.

It didn’t interfere with combat, but he had to be careful not to accidentally let out a yawn. …As expected, if he did something like that at this timing, he would get scolded by various people.

While that in mind, Tsugumi tightened his expression.

“–Sakura-san. Do you remember what I taught you beforehand? It’s different than usual, so you have to be careful, okay?”

Toono said as Tsugumi quietly gazed at the London cityscape. He nodded slightly at her words.

–This battle was different from the usual.

First of all, it wasn’t possible to protect buildings and the land with barriers. In other words, destruction in the battle would directly result in damage to the city.

Although they weren’t obligated to, they were told not to destroy the city too much during the battle. Still, they were allowed to give priority to their own safety so that they could respond flexibly.

Second, instead of using clothes woven with divine power, they wore highly durable clothes made of magic stone developed by a research institute.

Simply put, these clothes were like the military uniforms they were made to wear yesterday. Other Magical Girls in the area also wore clothes made of the same material, although the design was different. These clothes were surprisingly easy to move in spite of their tight design. They said it helped to suppress the waste of divine power.

–In the past, when fighting Hitsugi who was controlled by a Demonic Beast, Tsugumi deduced that the reason why he had consumed more power than he had expected was because of the maintenance of his battle uniform.

As a result of conveying this view to the government, it seemed that these clothes were made based on it. …It should have been only two months since the incident, but they worked too fast. Perhaps the idea of ​​a Magical Girl uniform had been around for a long time.

The third was doping in order to exercise power without restrictions outside the barrier–taking medicine made from magic stones. They said that there would be no aftereffects – only muscle aches and pains, but this hadn’t been proven yet, so he was still concerned.

Well, it was less accurate, but the skills that could only be used inside the barrier – such as invisibility – were said to be usable for a little while due to the effects of the medicine, so it should be enough for a combat force.

However, he had to be careful not to get injured.

Since they didn’t receive benefits from the barrier, their injuries would remain even after the battle was over. There were Magical Girls with healing skills standing by, but even so, it would be best to be careful.

Well, when it came to combat, both Toono and Tsugumi were basically long-range attackers, so as long as they didn’t get too close to the Demonic Beast, they wouldn’t easily get hurt.

But still, he thought, as he turned around and looked at Kazaguruma behind him.

For some reason, Kazaguruma was holding a large broom under her arm and had a large video camera in one hand.

Noticing Tsugumi’s gaze, Kazaguruma approached him and opened her mouth in her usual nonchalant manner.

“Does it bother you?”

“Yeah, really.”

She left out the subject, but he could understand what she was trying to say. So, when Tsugumi returned it in the same straightforward manner, Kazaguruma laughed.

“I’m supposed to film and comment on the battle scenes between you guys. This broom is provided by the research institute. I don’t know what it is, but it’s supposed to be able to fly powered by a magic stone attached to the handle. It feels a bit like being a witch, so I’m looking forward to it.”

“Um, I don’t know where to start…”

…The information was impossibly jam-packed.

If Kaguruma’s words were taken seriously, it meant that she would be on a flying broom to film Tsugumi fighting, but he wondered if she was really being serious.

When Tsugumi looked at Kazaguruma anxiously, she gave a small nod and opened her mouth.

“It will be fine. I stream video games as a hobby, so I’m good at commentary. Just pretend you’re on a crab boat.”

“But wouldn’t that make a mud boat much better?”

–I would like to ask you to stop using the story of the boat as an example. It was too much of a bad omen. Talking about a sinking ship would be better.

When Tsugumi sighed and said so, Kazaguruma laughed deceptively. …Her gesture was cute, but her words weren’t cute at all.

“…Aside from that, please be careful, Kazaguruma-san. Even if your role is to play as a photographer, you are still approaching combat territory.”

He didn’t doubt Kazaguruma’s evasive ability, but there was something about Kazaguruma that made him think she was going to do something reckless in order to get good footage. He couldn’t afford to take his eyes off her.

When Tsugumi told her this, Kazaguruma shrugged and said.

“No problem. In fact, the chances of me getting hurt are pretty slim, because I’m taking my medicine, too. I’ll just turn my body into smoke and run away.”

After saying this, Kazaguruma held her right hand in front of Tsugumi and turned her hand into a smoke-like substance.

–Kazaguruma’s main skills were smoke and light. Although they seemed to be conflicting abilities at first glance, they could be used in clever ways, such as showing illusions and playing tricks on Demonic Beasts by refracting smoke and light.

“And I’ve got orders from the higher-ups to hide the inconvenient parts. Either way, I wouldn’t go too deep. If the two of you do try anything, we’ll smoke you out, so don’t worry about the fight.”

Kazaguruma smiled as her hand returned to its normal shape.

Thinking about it, this might be the reason why the top management appointed Kazaguruma as the filming crew. It was safer to ask a Magical Girl who could disguise the images from the beginning to take videos than to have the British side send a drone to take whatever pictures they wanted.　 

…But why is the government so extreme in its use of Magical Girls?

It seemed that the conservatives who wanted to maintain the status quo and the innovators with their crazy ideas were fighting each other.

He couldn’t say anything since he didn’t have any jurisdiction in this area, but it seemed both factions were giving them a hard time.

He looked up at the sky, thinking that he would refrain from working for the government in the future.

At any rate, some mistakes would be covered up by Kazaguruma, so maybe he didn’t have to be so concerned.

–He was lectured on historical structures that shouldn’t be destroyed beforehand, but honestly, it didn’t sink in very well.

He remembered it reasonably well right after the lecture, but after one night he could only remember the clock tower named after the queen. …Humans really lose their ability to learn when it comes to things they are not interested in.

With this thought in mind, Tsugumi said to Kazaguruma, “Let’s do our best for each other,” and returned to Toono. –Because it was almost time for the Demonic Beasts to appear.

“The Demonic Beast will appear in about five minutes. Are you ready?”

“Of course. –I’ve already done the preparation.”

At Toono’s quiet question, Tsugumi nodded with a mischievous smile.

“This fog-filled city is already my sole domain. A mere flying lizard will be dragged down to the ground right away.”

Like a villain, Tsugumi narrowed his eyes.

“Fufu, I am counting on you. –Now it’s time to start the hunt.”

Toono looked up at the sky.

–The sky was shimmering with a swirling purple haze.