Chapter 9

The next day.

I went to work.

My vacation had been canceled. Given the circumstances, I didn’t push back on it. As I was walking down the corridor, a girl dressed entirely in black approached from a distance.

It was Ayle, the infamous Evil Magical Girl everyone was talking about.

“Sc-Scientist! G-Good morning…!”

“…Yeah. Good morning.”

“Hehe…”

The sinister personality of the Evil Magical Girl I had seen on TV a couple of days ago was nowhere in sight. Instead, here stood this gloomy, awkward mess. I stared at Ayle, intrigued by the striking contrast.

Sensing my gaze, Ayle jumped slightly—thump—and cautiously lifted her head to look at me. Her pitch-black eyes sparkled under the lights.

“Oh, um… The, uh, Magical Girl outfit… I wore it well! It was awesome—really—!”

“Really? I saw it on the news yesterday—”

“Kyaaaaah—!”

While she seemed fine talking about herself, hearing it from others made her incredibly shy. Ayle let out a screech and dashed away like she was on fire. Free at last, I sighed and headed back to my lab.

As soon as I returned, I downed an energy drink I bought from the convenience store and glanced at my homemade tonic rolling around in one corner of the lab. It was a somewhat yellowish liquid that splash swished around.

‘How on earth do people manage to drink this…?’

I may have made it myself, but to be honest, I wasn’t feeling very confident about it. I’d rather die than drink something like that. With that thought in mind, I chugged the energy drink I had bought.

The refreshing zest and the sharp fizz went down my throat. After all, when it comes to this kind of thing, you can always trust big corporate products. Glancing at the label, I let out a small gasp. I couldn’t believe I was about to see this name.

‘Evilus Drink? Evilus is here, huh?’

It truly felt like a big company run by the Boss. I hadn’t expected them to even venture into small markets like this. I suppose if they didn’t have such power, they wouldn’t be able to scoop up a vagrant off the streets and turn them into high-ranking members of an evil organization.

I prayed that the Boss’s wealth would last forever and that her interest in running the evil organization would endure as I sipped my energy drink.

*

“Damn it—! What the hell is that thing!?”

—Meeeeow!?

The Elemental Flame, the Fire Magical Girl, smashed her fist down, startling the spirit assisting her into a little squeal. But she had long since stopped caring about that mascot. Every Magical Girl with a bit of experience had been there.

What was most important was the fact that a new type of Evil Magical Girl had emerged. And this Evil Magical Girl had single-handedly knocked out all the others. That was the main issue.

“Hey! Didn’t you say Magical Girls wouldn’t use their powers for evil!?”

—That was true, meow.

“So what the heck is that!? Why can she use magic on the whole city and beat up her own companions without a care!?”

Flame’s anger was justified. They had rules. If they weren’t villains, they couldn’t use their powers unless it was against bad guys or criminals, unless they were hunting down someone dangerous. Not to mention, dealing with annoying paparazzi was a tricky business; sometimes you couldn’t chase them away with magic, but ignoring them was equally bothersome—!

But this newly emerged Evil Magical Girl seemed to have none of those restrictions, casting spells across the entire city, threatening citizens, and mercilessly overpowering other Magical Girls. Some were so beaten up that they developed traumas from the experience.

—We don’t know either, meow! It was definitely a Magical Girl, but it wasn’t a Magical Girl, meow!

“What the hell kind of nonsense is that! Aaaaah—! Is ‘I don’t know’ all you can say!? You need to figure this out!”

—We’re doing our best, meow.

“If you keep this up, I’m not saving you from the world’s enemies anymore!?”

—T-That would be a problem, meow…

As Flame vented her frustrations on her spirit, she recalled the events of that night. A Magical Girl clad completely in black. The Evil Magical Girl had made her presence known to all those who were there that night.

Hadn’t she promised to make them never forget her existence? And truly, Flame felt she would never forget that event. At least, not while she was still active as a Magical Girl.

‘Damn, doesn’t anyone know her true identity?’

You can’t just stay transformed into a Magical Girl 24/7. They were human too, and maintaining that form consumed a lot of energy.

And the same likely went for this Evil Magical Girl. If they could figure out who she was in her normal state, they could strike when she was vulnerable. On their end, they had the numbers, so it wouldn’t be a problem to keep someone transformed all day.

But, surprisingly enough, not a single person managed to uncover the real identity of the Evil Magical Girl. Not even the spirits that bestowed powers on the Magical Girls, nor the worldwide Magical Girl otaku scouring the internet for her true form—!

‘Or maybe… is she really a world-threatening enemy disguised as one of us…? A foe who became a Magical Girl to fight us—’

If that’s not the case, then the only possibility left would be that she was someone inconsequential enough that no one cared to know about her. Like a powerless nobody without any special skills.

But when Flame recalled the power this Evil Magical Girl wielded, she swiftly banished that thought from her mind. A Magical Girl’s power is proportional to the strength of the superpowers they had before. With that kind of strength, there’s no doubt her true identity was that of a well-known superpowered individual.

She could even be an active hero or a hero-in-training…

—Meeeeow!?

“What? Did you find something?”

—No, it’s just… My stomach’s growling since I skipped lunch, meow…

“You little food scrounger—!”

*

It wasn’t just the Magical Girls who were shocked by the appearance of the Evil Magical Girl. Various organizations across the globe were also in a state of disbelief, realizing that the power of Magical Girls could indeed be exploited for malicious deeds.

“Magical Girls can be used for military operations…?”

“No way, what the….”

“Send people to the Magical Girls immediately!”

However, it wasn’t long before they all reached the same conclusion. It was impossible to use a Magical Girl in that way; no matter what methods they employed, the Magical Girl would lose their powers.

“—So, you failed?”

“W-We’re sorry…!”

Crimson, the leader of the villain organization Dawn of Crimson, frowned deeply as he listened to the words of his subordinate scientist. It wasn’t even a complicated task. All he’d asked for was to brainwash a kidnapped Magical Girl with drugs and hypnosis to use her as a villain.

And to fail at such a simple task? How could this be happening?

“Did I ask for such a difficult task? We arranged the kidnapping of the Magical Girl and the procurement of the drugs, didn’t we? You only had to carry out the simple task of brainwashing her. Yet you failed at that?”

“I-I deeply apologize, Boss…! B-But—! Just as we were about to succeed in brainwashing the Magical Girl, her powers vanished…! It was almost as if the Magical Girl was saying she shouldn’t be used like that…!”

“Hah— What nonsense. It was proven yesterday that a Magical Girl could be corrupted. Someone succeeded at what everyone else claimed was impossible. And—if someone else succeeded, then we can succeed as well.”

That was the motto of the Dawn of Crimson. S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Crimson remarked as he lightly squeezed the scientist’s head. With a grip that far surpassed human limits, Crimson’s pressure crushed the scientist’s head as if it were a watermelon.

Despite a person bursting right in front of him, not a drop of blood stained Crimson’s body. With a tch of his tongue, Crimson commanded his subordinates to dispose of the body before taking a seat on his throne, casting a glance at his executives.

“I’ll give you time. Bring me results within a month.”

“Y-Yes, sir—!”

“Use any means necessary. Yeah. If possible—”

Crimson’s eyes glinted as he spoke.

“Kidnap the one who turned that Magical Girl so we can somehow reproduce those results.”

And so.

Unbeknownst to Eight, attention began to focus on him from all sides.

From both heroes and villains alike.

*

“—Um! In that case, I will commence the Evil Organization Executive Meeting!”

Clap— At Regalia’s words, Ayle was the only one to respond, giving a feeble clap and a dry cheer. The applause, coming solely from her, quickly faded when it became clear she was the only one clapping.

Regalia pouted at the cold reception and started to complain about her companions.

“—Boss. What is the meaning of this?”

Galm, looking at the Boss, inquired about the reason for their summons. Regalia, seemingly remembering, clapped her hands.

“Oh, right. I forgot to mention. Today’s executive meeting was called because of you, Scientist.”

“Wha—Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

I, who had been idly counting the stains on the ceiling, was taken aback by this sudden mention and looked at the Boss. What had I done wrong to be the focus of an executive meeting?

Yet Galm and Ayle nodded as if it was a matter of course. I had only been dutifully doing what I was asked… Were they perhaps planning a party disguised as a meeting? Unfortunately, the atmosphere didn’t feel that way at all.

They were genuinely holding a meeting to address an issue created by me.

“—Um, Boss? What have I done wrong…?”

“It’s not that you did something wrong. It’s not wrong, but… in a way, it’s worse than simply doing something wrong.”

“What does that even mean…?”

Could it be that they’d found out I had copied Earth-made gadgets to generate results? That couldn’t be possible. Even if there were products in this world that were similar to those from Earth, there couldn’t possibly be exact matches for what I had created. Those products existed solely in my head.

So what could it be? Maybe it was because I had slept for an hour without answering the call? I hoped they’d let that slide. After all, I had just pulled three all-nighters and finally wrapped up my research…

“The problem is that the things you’ve created are too remarkable.”

“Hmm…?”

“From now on, please let me know ahead of time when you’re making something like that. Got it? I nearly had a heart attack.”

Regalia stated this while sighing as she patted her chest. While it’s unlikely that someone as young as her would actually suffer a heart attack, I nodded, playing along with the performance. Something I made was considered amazing? I didn’t think that was true at all…

The Boss looked at me silently and let out a big sigh as if contemplating something. It was the kind of sigh you’d expect from a weary old man who’s seen it all.

“As long as you understand, that’s what matters. If there’s nothing else to do, how about making something to sell in our corporate line? Children’s Day is coming up soon. It’d be nice to create some gifts for the kids.”

“Gifts for the kids?”

“Yeah, like the robot you fixed at the mansion recently. If you make something like that, it shouldn’t be a major issue.”

With that, Regalia assigned me a new task. Frankly, I’d have preferred it if she just let me lounge around and collect my paycheck, but as an evil scientist and employee, I couldn’t act that way.

I forced out a wry smile and replied.

“Yes, well. I’ll do my best.”