Chapter 2
The monsters of the Abyss were, true to their name, usually black in color, and generally, the larger they were, the stronger they were.
Although unusual individuals with special abilities despite their small size or with high intelligence appeared from time to time, most Abyss monsters generally possessed only physical abilities far superior to those of humans and the ability to deflect attacks other than magical-girl attacks, so
even a freshly awakened magical girl could deal with a low-ranking monster without much difficulty.
As a monster from the Abyss, it only possessed the ability to render modern weapons ineffective; it did not have the kind of durability that could actually withstand that level of firepower.
"Grrr!! Kiiirrrreeeek!!!"
'At this level... it can't be anything higher than a D-rank.'
It had a humanoid shape roughly two meters tall, but the black aura enveloping its entire body and the long tongue grotesquely jutting out of its mouth were more than enough to make people feel disgust.
Measuring its rank by the amount of mana I could sense, it was D-rank.
It wasn't utter garbage, but it wasn't a particularly strong monster either.
If a magical girl didn't come out to deal with it and simply left it alone... it might cause up to ten casualties?
An Abyss monster collected only as much negative energy as it could recover in a single trip before fleeing, so leaving it alone didn't mean it would remain in the same place forever.
A high-ranking one might stay in reality for a long time and run rampant, but... that wasn't relevant right now.
"Moonlight Chain."
-Clatter-clatter!!
"Kiiirrrreeeek!!!"
"Everyone, you can relax now! Alice has arrived with the moonlight!"
After binding the creature that had been smashing its head into a concrete wall and damaging the building, I continued my performance as the 'Alice' people wanted to see.
Ten years had already passed since the Abyss invasion began.
Even though shelters where people could take refuge when a monster appeared had been installed throughout the country, busy modern people couldn't all run there the moment a monster appeared.
There would always be people who failed to evacuate in time.
"Whoa... It's really Alice!! A magical girl is here!"
"I-Is that really Alice? The one who's been active since ten years ago...?"
"I-I'm saved..."
Perhaps thanks to the relief of knowing they were safe now, the citizens who had been running frantically stopped where they were.
...Personally, they were just getting in my way, so I wished they would keep running straight to the shelter and get lost.
I should deal with this one first.
"Kieeeeeeeeeeeereeeek!!!!!!!"
"Quiet down, there!"
-Boom!
When I swung my wand, mana gathered into the shape of a star and flew toward the monster.
The signature main attack of the magical girl known to the world as Alice.
Starlight Shower.
If even B-rank monsters took effective hits when struck head-on by this technique, how could a lower-ranking D-rank monster withstand it?
The creature let out the low-frequency shriek characteristic of monsters, then dispersed into mana and vanished.
-Clap!
"There you have it, everyone! The monster has been defeated, so you can all rest easy now!"
"D-Did she really defeat it?"
"That quickly?"
"The magical girl I saw before spent about twenty minutes tussling with hers..."
-Beaming
It wasn't a smile born of genuine happiness.
The 'Alice' people wanted would save them here and give them a fresh, radiant smile, so that's what I did.
And in the first place, people should compare like with like.
I had been doing this for years. It was unreasonable to compare me with rookies who had just signed their contracts and hadn't even properly figured out their abilities yet.
Even a newly contracted magical girl could subdue a monster like this in ten minutes if she simply used her abilities properly.
Most of them just couldn't do that, which was the problem.
"Then Alice will be heading back now! Everyone, have a happy day!"
"W-Wait! Can I get your autograph before you go?"
-Flash!
I pretended not to hear the citizens belatedly rushing over to ask for autographs and vanished, enveloped in light.
An autograph, seriously? Did they think magical girls were idols?
They could ask those idiots who acted as though they were idols instead.
At least I wasn't one of them.
In the first place, weren't there very few people who properly treasured even the autographs they had gone to the trouble of getting?
If you went online right now, magical-girl autographs were being traded all over the place,
so unless they were going to sell it and give the money to me, there was no reason for me to bother signing one.
-Flash!
"Bunny. Can I go back now?"
The teleportation spell I had just used moved me to an uninhabited place away from people and nearby CCTV cameras.
It was a spell any magical girl could use as a matter of course.
It was mainly used to undo one's transformation after completing a mission.
These days, fewer magical girls were willing to risk their lives hiding their identities the way they had in the past, but unfortunately, I was the sort who staked my life on it, so I had to live like this.
Besides, the spell I had used to travel here to fight the monster took advantage of the passage the mascot had opened through the Abyss to move me nearby, so I couldn't use it to return to where I had originally been...
To put it simply so anyone could understand...
once you've been dispatched, you have to figure out your own way home.
"Could you answer me already? You know I hate being outside."
[U-Um... Alice...?]
Bunny began to draw out the end of his sentence with a cautious expression, as though he had something to say.
At that familiar tone, my own brow began to furrow as well.
There was only one thing to say at a time like this.
"No."
[S-Sorry! But a B-rank Abyss monster suddenly appeared over there! Of all the magical girls who can get there right now, you're the only one who can handle it...]
Abyss monsters were what the mascots called the creatures from the Abyss.
Unlike a D-rank monster, which could do little more than damage building walls and attack people, a B-rank monster was powerful enough to smash a few small buildings without breaking a sweat.
It wouldn't be strange for one like that to reduce an entire neighborhood to rubble if left alone.
"Using me like that is fine once or twice, but this is getting ridiculous. I already went out once just now. You're telling me to go somewhere else again the moment I'm done?"
[W-We originally expected a powerful Abyss monster to appear on this side... but it suddenly went over there...]
"Tell them to gather some other magical girls."
[T-There really aren't any other magical girls nearby! And you know that too, Alice! Against a B-rank Abyss monster, having a mediocre magical girl there is practically the same as having no one at all!]
"...Phew."
It was annoying, but I supposed I had no choice.
"Guarantee me two days off."
[Ugh... O-okay.]
"You understand, right? For the next two days, I won't be going out whether a B-rank, A-rank, or S-rank appears. Don't try to change your story when the time comes."
Magical-girl dispatches were managed by the mascots.
When an Abyss monster appeared, they used their network to determine which magical girls were nearby, capable of dealing with it, and in what condition each one currently was, then dispatched the appropriate magical girl. In other words, if you reached an agreement with the mascot, you could adjust how often you were sent out.
In short, this was a negotiation to say, 'Keep dispatch requests headed my way to a minimum for the next two days.'
[I-I said okay already...]
"Get ready to jump. I still have plenty of mana to maintain my transformation."
The reason this arrangement was possible was that if Bunny could screen it at his level, there would be little difference between Alice going out and another magical girl going instead. If a situation arose where Alice was genuinely necessary, however, I would be dispatched without mercy.
The mascots didn't want magical girls to collapse from overwork either, but there was nothing they could do when an exceptionally powerful Abyss monster appeared.
Well, I had complained about being dispatched twice in a row, but defeating a single D-rank monster had barely used any mana at all.
'A B-rank... That should be enough to make me pay attention for once.'
Separate from the fact that I found work bothersome and didn't want to do it, having to breathe outside air on the way home because monsters that died with a few lazy wand swings were no fun at all was a considerable source of stress. A B-rank monster, at least, could serve as a decent punching bag for relieving it.
'I just hope there aren't too many people around.'
No one could understand how grueling it was to act as the 'Alice' people wanted unless they experienced it firsthand.
The sort of idiots who would spread rumors at once, saying, 'Alice has changed lately. She's lost sight of her original self,' just because I accidentally frowned.
-Grind.
'Phew. Mind control. Mind control...'
I would be jumping soon, and if I failed to manage my expression, things would become troublesome afterward.
[I'm jumping now! Get ready!]
Along with Bunny's shout, my vision began to twist with that familiar sensation,
and when the wavering view cleared again, the scene spread out before me was
<Kraaaaaaagh!! Where have you hidden, magical girl?! You loathsome creatures!!!>
an urban center ringing with the monster's characteristic low-frequency voice.
<How dare you!!! How dare you pour that filthy mana into my leg and still think you can survive!! I will tear you apart before I return, you wretch!!!>
'...An intelligent type. And a beast type.'
If D-rank monsters had roughly the intelligence of animals, B-rank monsters and above often possessed a degree of conversational ability.
If it had that level of intelligence and a body the size of an average commercial building... it was good enough to be considered one of the upper-ranking B-rank monsters.
Judging from what it was saying, it seemed thoroughly enraged by the magical girl it had been fighting before.
[Fortunately, the other magical girl bought enough time for the nearby citizens to evacuate safely. You can fight without holding back.]
'At least she's useful.'
I had been planning to bring my wand down on her head if she got in my way, but she had done something rather commendable.
[That magical girl is safe for now, hiding somewhere. As long as you don't fight too recklessly, everything should be fine.]
"Okay."
There were no civilians around anyway, so there was no need to shout that damned entrance line.
-Whiiiiir...
The most efficient way to fight was to strike first. More specifically, to hit them damn hard by surprise.
The crescent moon at the tip of my wand began to glow white, gradually filling out until it became a full moon,
<Huh?! This energy! Who's there?!>
and the monster finally noticed my presence and turned its head toward me, but it was already too late.
"Die!!! Lunar Blast!!!!!"
-Kraaaakabooooom!!!!!!!!
<Kraaaaaaagh!!!!!>
A thick beam shot from the full moon exploded as it flew forward, striking the monster directly in the face.
If Starlight Shower was a technique for dealing with multiple enemies with low defenses, this one was for dealing with a single enemy with high defenses.
<Kraaaaaaagh!!! Who are you, you wretch!!!!! How dare you hit my face!!!!!>
The creature's face had actually caved in as though it had been struck by a massive hammer after taking the Lunar Blast head-on.
"Hmm. It didn't pierce through."
If the exploding beam managed to pierce its target as well, it would be an instant kill, so it was a little disappointing.
<Guh... Magical-girl reinforcements... If this keeps up...>
"What? Are you going to run?"
<Don't misunderstand me, magical girl! This is a strategic retreat! I'm not running because I'm afraid...>
-Whoooosh.
"Who said I was going to let you run?"
Countless stars began to form behind my back,
"Go."
Starlight Shower.
-Fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh!!
They shot toward the monster in trajectories like a galaxy flowing with starlight.
<You think I'll fall for the same trick twice!!!>
-Graaaargh!!
The monster fired a series of fireballs from its mouth, as if determined not to take the attack lying down,
-Bang! Kaboom!! Bang!!
Three of the fireballs were canceled out when they collided with the starlight, while one flew toward a building in an entirely different direction.
Just as I was about to think it was an idiot who couldn't even aim properly, Bunny's frantic telepathy reached me.
[A-Alice! That magical girl is in that building!]
"...You said she was hiding somewhere safe!!"
-Dash!
I hurriedly leapt toward the direction in which the fireball was flying.
"This is why dealing with smart ones is such a pain!!"
Why was I rushing to save that magical girl?
It wasn't because of any particular sense of justice or duty.
If a magical girl died during a mission I had undertaken, my own reputation would fall along with hers.
That was the biggest reason I hated rookies who couldn't even do their own jobs.
'Alice' must not yield to evil.
'Alice' must not abandon her comrades.
'Alice' must love everyone and be loved by everyone.
Those were conditions explicitly stated in the contract I had signed eight years ago.
As long as I failed to uphold them, I couldn't quit this job.
Because that's the kind of contract it was.
-Flash!
By the time the fireball and I were almost at the building where the magical girl was hiding, I could make out a faint barrier.
What was with that pathetic barrier?
If she took that fireball with it, she would be one hundred percent dead.
'She's seriously such a pain...!'
As I drew closer to the magical girl, I swallowed the words that were un-Alice-like down my throat and forced out words more befitting of 'Alice.'
"Don't worry! Alice is here!"
Standing before the faint barrier with the fireball already almost upon us, I gathered the familiar stars, and they began to shine.
Twinkle Defense.
-Kraaaaboom!!
"Ngh!"
"Eek..."
Alice was a powerful magical girl, but she was famous for her attack power, not for having particularly impressive defenses.
In other words, she wasn't capable of blocking a fireball fired by an upper-tier B-rank monster without taking any damage, even with a barrier hastily thrown up in front of her.
"S-Senior Alice?"
"Y-Yes... Now that Alice is here, you don't need to worry anymore!"
The damage that slipped past the barrier had lightly scorched the once-white outfit, leaving black ash clinging to it.
For the moment, both the magical girl behind me and I were safe, but...
'...Who does this girl think she is, calling me Senior?'
I had never had a junior like her.
Especially not a rookie who couldn't even take care of herself.