Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 –

I’m Sorry, the Camera is a Little...

The sky is the domain of magical girls. That’s not an incorrect statement.

Unless they have special abilities, villains cannot fly in the sky.

Even I, I am relying on a tool called a motorcycle for flight.

The sky is a vulnerability for villains.

However, if there is a reason magical girls fight on the ground, one is that even for them, simultaneously flying and fighting is an unexpectedly difficult motion that drains their magical power like a greedy horse.

And another is that in order to defeat the villains operating on the ground, they have no choice but to descend.

If a villain disregards fighting a magical girl and attacks civilians just to accomplish their own goal, what else can they do? They have to go down and fight. Attacking from the air at long range isn’t very magically efficient.

However, despite this background, the fact is the sky is a much more advantageous condition for magical girls.

Unlike magical girls whose limbs are free, I can’t separate from my motorcycle.

My current self is truly no different from a rat trapped in a jar.

“Well then, how should we take care of that villain brat?”

“Don’t get too cocky, big sis Deneb. That villain is extremely strong!”

“Having confidence is important when fighting. Vega, it’s okay to be confident now.”

While watching the three magical girls ponder how to take me down, I opened my mouth. “You girls are under one misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” Red Vega responded to the conversation. Fortunately, it seemed I could buy some time.

“I’m not a villain.”

“Then what are you?”

The answer was obviously one thing. “A human.”

“Oh... Didn’t you think that didn’t make sense as you said it?” Red Vega seemed to understand for a moment before immediately refuting it.

That’s right. Even I think it doesn’t make sense.

Riding a flying motorcycle, my outward appearance is the very epitome of an S-grade villain’s dreadful armor, and the power I use is of the constellation-class.

To people unfamiliar with things like transforming heroes, my fearsome appearance would make anyone think I’m a villain.

Who would believe I’m human?

“Oh, didn’t you say earlier you didn’t want to talk?”

“I said I didn’t want to talk to you, Blue Sirius. It’s unpleasant, so I wish you wouldn’t talk to me.”

If it’s Deneb and Vega, of course Altair should come and form the Summer Triangle, so why is Sirius butting in shamelessly?

“Ahahaha! The senior got burned!”

“...Deneb. Shut up.”

Deneb seemed to find it quite funny and laughed without any tension. “Ah... That was fun. Okay, you’re human? Then you have to show us proof.”

Then, as if nothing had happened, she changed and snapped her fingers. Her mischievous attitude is like a brat’s, but I know she’s a good person at heart. That’s why she’s able to do things like be a magical girl.

Proof.

Distrustful, she told me to present a harbor to anchor her trust.

That distrust is understandable in a way. It’s not simply because of my appearance and the way I defeated Red Vega from the very first day.

The history between villains and magical girls that has existed here.

A history of trust and betrayal is supporting it.

In the past, not all magical girls were antagonistic towards villains.

Some magical girls advocated integration between villains and humans and tried to form friendships with villains.

The targets were of course S-grade villains capable of using language and thus closer to being human.

For about a month, they only caused problems like theft and property damage without any loss of life, showing the possibility of rehabilitation.

However, as soon as they realized they had become friendly with the magical girl looking after them, they went out on the street and killed 300 people.

Their goal was to see how tolerant humans could be towards those they loved.

This wasn’t the only case of magical girls trying for peace with villains only to be betrayed.

Afterwards, friendship between magical girls and villains became almost taboo.

No matter how much friendly feeling towards humans a villain seemed to have, a villain’s friendly attitude stemmed from the utilitarian idea that a human could be helpful for their own exploration.

They can kill or destroy without feeling much regret.

Fundamentally, they are different beings.

Although beings originating from humans do exist, villains are severely lacking in something.

That distrust is understandable.

It’s only natural they can’t believe mere words.

I exhaled deeply. My heart, weary with fatigue, throbbed heavily.

There is a very simple way for me to gain their trust.

I just need to put my hand on my belt and release my transformation.

Take off my mask here and show my bare face that is no different from yours.

Of course, even showing an outward appearance identical to a human’s may not completely dispel suspicion.

‘Wow, hero landing.’

I barely managed to regain my balance right before hitting the ground to pull that off. Otherwise, I might have fallen head-first and snapped my cervical vertebrae.

Well, I was wearing armor, so at worst I’d have just reverted from my transformed state.

Thankfully, as Deneb said, there didn’t seem to be any civilians around, no blood or body parts scattered about. Just those same pinkish raven familiars from Deneb’s wings circling the area.

As I staggered back to my feet, the first thing I saw was a towering skyscraper. On the electronic billboard hanging there, a news bulletin was scrolling by, shot from a high angle looking down.

And what was clearly displayed there was none other than...

‘Oh shit.’

My breath caught in my throat. My hands trembled uncontrollably and my head spun, addled by the impact. Pain and dizziness. My vision narrowed and swam. A crushing sense of vertigo weighed me down, like I was aboard a spacecraft.

That was undoubtedly me up there on that billboard. Obviously being filmed from a news helicopter.

The veil of pink ravens slowly dispersed, like the curtain lifting on a play I was utterly unprepared to perform in as the actor.

What greeted my eyes were the densely packed gazes of people, like swarming insects. Office workers and students on their commutes, stopping in their tracks to turn their eyes this way. What!

Do they have nothing better to do than gawk at others’ battles?

Among those stares, one figure in particular caught my eye.

“You seem to be having quite the ordeal. A rough morning’s work, I see.”

He was clearly addressing me. His appearance was not that of an ordinary person. His features were nowhere to be seen naturally, as his head was a potted cactus, its symmetric form resting atop his shoulders.

He was dressed in a crisp suit evenly split down the middle, one pure white half and one jet black half in a peculiar design.

“You do appear to be in quite the predicament. An individual opposing a group is inevitably at a disadvantage, an imbalance if you will.”

That distinctive manner of speech. It had to be.

“You... Don’t tell me you’re Paradox!”

“Haha, correct! This distinctive appearance is not so easily forgotten, is it?”

The people around him didn’t seem to notice his presence at all. The people to either side of him held up their smartphones, aimed at me. I felt nauseous. I shouted at both the student and Paradox simultaneously.

“Get lost!”

I had to get them to stop pointing cameras at me before I completely lost my composure.

I rushed over to the student, snatching the smartphone pointed my way out of their hand.

“Kyaa!”

Then I snapped it in half and threw it to the ground.

“If you don’t want to end up like this, all of you get lost! Every single one of you, get lost! If you don’t want to die, then get out of my way!”

Trying to reason with a lot of them was pointless. But this emphatic performance should get the message across even to the deafest person.

“Uwaaah!”

“S-Save me!!”

– S-grade villain begins rampaging in the city center...

I ripped a signpost out of the ground and hurled it at the billboard broadcasting that news report, embedding it in the center of the screen like an axe.

“Shut up!”

Damn, I need to find the source of that helicopter noise and shut it down. But the ringing in my ears mixed with the surrounding screams made it impossible to pinpoint.

“That’s far enough!”

Then a magical girl descended from the sky.

“Well, I mean. I was kinda hoping that...”

“Wow, hardcore! Nice going smashing that billboard!”

At that moment, the ringing stopped. Not because of her voice. Just the realization of how dangerous this situation was with that other villain here besides me.

No, if they’re here then I can’t...

“Hmm, a clash of majority and minority, is it? Clearly an imbalance.”

Even as people scattered in chaos, he remained unmoving from that same spot, refusing to budge.

Damn pest.

“You get lost!”

“My apologies, but I cannot abide by your demand. At present, putting my discomfort first is the true way to respect myself. Should one not respect the self before considering others?”

This madman.

“Materialize.”

[Reveal the truth.]

Darker than the voice from my belt, that transformation call rang out as his form began to waver in shades of blue and red.

A suit of blue lenses and crimson plates split precisely down the middle left and right. The sharp protruding portions bore white accents, the only exposed skin being black leather undersuit.

“Now I shall take your side! For I champion equality!” He extended his arms to reveal himself to the magical girl.

“Who should die first, that this battle might be more righteous and enjoyable? Is it not a fascinating conundrum?”

I had to stop this lunatic.

That single minded thought filled my head.

/ippostranslations