Chapter 78
Humans are devious creatures. As the saying goes, they are animals of adaptation; if they ultimately survive any extreme situation, they grow accustomed to it and forget how serious it is.
Even now, that was the case.
"Aaaah!!!"
"P-please calm down, Miss Black Rose. This is all fa..."
-Clatter!
"Aaaaah!!!!"
"Aaaah!!!"
'Sapphire!!! You said it wasn't scary!!!'
I had never been in an escape room before. I had played quite a few puzzle games, so I thought it might be similar, but experiencing it in reality was quite different.
I hadn't even chosen the difficulty. According to Sapphire, quite a few of these shops couldn't film inside because of their gimmicks, so she had spoken with the owner and said she would try to persuade them. In the end, she had succeeded, and we came inside.
She said the other rooms would be troublesome, but this one was fine because the puzzles weren't especially difficult and solving them wasn't the main attraction.
"Wh-what should we do? It's another lock. Where's the key?"
"There's a rock here. Aren't we supposed to break it with this?"
"Ah. As expected of you, Senior. We can break it with that. Then I'll hold the lock in place, so..."
<Guests!! That's not it!! The rock is just a decoration!! There's a key in the room, so please find it!!!>
A key? Why did we need to find a key? Couldn't we just break the lock?
No, to begin with, why break the lock? Couldn't we just break down the door?
Huh? Then could we just break through the wall and leave?
[...Um. I don't know much about the human world, but I don't think that's right.]
'What does a mascot know?'
[Isn't that a little harsh?!]
Well, of course I was only playing along. How many Abyssals had I caught while living as Alice? I'd seen all sorts of grotesque, disgusting monsters, so why would a mere skull-shaped decoration suddenly pop out of thin air and scare...
-Clunk!
"Eek!"
...Ha.
I would have to ask them to edit the escape room out later.
It didn't fit Alice's concept at all.
* * *
'Sob. Angel D. Senior told me not to follow.'
[You couldn't follow her in there in the first place. They said only members of the same party could enter.]
'But I wanted to go... An escape room with Senior... We could pick a scary room on purpose... and hug each other...'
[Ask her to go together later. You're pretty close with Alice... these days.]
'I want to more than anything, but she hates coming outside... I'd feel bad forcing her to come out for no reason...'
I was drinking a beverage at a café near the escape-room café where Senior had gone in, wiping away the tears that had slipped out.
I thought I had disguised myself properly. I had deliberately tied my hair differently from usual, and I was wearing the dark sunglasses I'd bought to look cool but shoved into a corner because I couldn't see well through them. My clothes were different from usual, too, and in case someone recognized me, I wasn't drinking my usual beverage. I was holding and drinking an ordinary one by hand.
...Why on earth?
'Angel D. Do you have any idea?'
[Who knows...? Maybe Miss Alice had simply grown used to you.]
'...Senior was used to me?!'
[I think it would be easier on your mind to think of it that way.]
My heart suddenly began to pound.
I had wondered if she'd recognized me because my disguise was clumsy. But when I imagined that Senior—or, rather, Sejin—had grown accustomed to me, seen through even my skillful disguise, and recognized me at once, excitement rose before the unpleasant feeling of failure.
'Mm. That must be it. How long have Senior and I been together?'
[About two months now, I think?]
'...That's shorter than I thought.'
After meeting Senior... Sejin, the intensity of my life had become so great that I thought it had been much longer, but less time had passed than I expected.
I had been a student until last year, in fact... And I had spent almost the entire first half of this year persuading my parents to let me live on my own. When my new life began, Sejin had been by my side.
Back then, I had thought of him as just a handsome, cute, unusual guy from next door... Though the age gap was a little too large for me to call him that.
No, but seriously. Even allowing for the secret of being a magical girl, wasn't being twenty-seven with that appearance a little too much? He looked convincing enough that I could ask him to pretend to be my younger sibling and people would believe it, yet he was actually seven years older than me. Magical girls might all look youthful, but he was especially remarkable even among them.
'I wanted to spend Christmas Eve with Senior, or Sejin. I wonder if he'll have time in the evening?'
[You should have asked him beforehand.]
'It's embarrassing.'
[At this point...?]
Angel D. didn't understand human culture. No matter how close we were, from a woman's perspective, asking whether a man was free on Christmas Eve evening required an incredible amount of courage.
I would have been overjoyed if Sejin said yes... But the Sejin I knew seemed like the kind of person who would be extremely surprised if I said something like that out of the blue.
Before that, I wasn't even sure whether he saw me as a woman. I was confident in my looks, even if I did say so myself. Maybe because I was seven years younger, I didn't feel as though he regarded me as a romantic partner. It seemed more like he was only pretending to be my lover because it was necessary... And whenever I tried to initiate physical contact, he kept refusing...
'...I should have been born just a little earlier.'
-Sip
Today, in particular, the bittersweet taste of the yogurt spread through my mouth.
Of course, that didn't mean I intended to give up.
The senior I had admired all my life was, in a dreamlike situation, a man who was exactly my type. There was no way I could back down now, was there?
If two months weren't enough, then a year. If a year wasn't enough, then two years. I believed that if I stayed near him somehow and gradually advanced our relationship, I would reach him someday.
'But it's colder than usual today. I guess it really is winter.'
[You should have dressed warmly. Even magical girls feel the cold.]
Still, I resolved to ask him once filming was over and evening came. As I watched the building Senior had entered, I took out one of the cookies I had made at home.
"I'm sorry, but outside food isn't allowed in the store..."
"Eek, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
In the end, I had to put it away again.
* * *
[There are... ten minutes left on the time limit.]
"Uaaah... Senior... The puzzles are too hard..."
"...I could have sworn Miss Sapphire said this was a room where the puzzles weren't difficult."
It had taken longer than expected, but we were almost finished.
Because of the limited space, only one cameraman had come inside with us. Even when Black Rose or I sent signals asking for help, he continued filming like a shadow, remaining faithful to his role... I couldn't decide whether I should be annoyed or call it exemplary professionalism.
"Still, this seems to be the last puzzle... If we solve this one, we can get out..."
That was when it happened.
-Chill
Any magical girl—or, for that matter, any human living in this era—instinctively feels the sensation of an Abyssal appearing.
Even then, people differed in how sharp their instincts were. Some noticed it sooner than others, while some could only sense it after the opening had already appeared.
And I... had particularly good instincts.
Especially... when it came to certain ranks.
These were, in effect, monsters that could not be represented by the existing ranking system, to the point that people had given up trying to measure their rank. They were monsters on an entirely different level from the Abyssals that normally crossed over to Earth. When it came to calamities that had crossed over from another dimension to invade Earth... my instincts were quite sharp.
"...Everyone, get outside!!!!"
"What? Senior... What do you mean...?"
"Owner!! Or an employee!!! Open the door, quickly!! Every second counts! There's no time to explain!!"
[W-what's going on? Do you need to use the bathroom or something...?]
Right. If they understood me after being told once, they wouldn't be the citizens I knew.
-Crack!
"Miss Black Rose! And you, Cameraman! Get outside and... stay close to Miss Sapphire! Then run as fast as you can!"
"D-do you mean an Abyssal has appeared?"
"...Oh my god."
Not yet. It hadn't appeared yet. Whether those monsters were restricted in crossing the dimensional wall or simply enjoyed the process, they didn't appear right away. Since I had sensed it now, we had about three minutes before...
-Rumble!!!
'What the hell! Already?!'
[The wavelength is different from usual! It's not a giant monster...]
'You mean even a small one is coming out?!'
[I don't know...! But the odds are high...! And if it's small...]
The rest went unsaid, but I understood.
If it was small, it could cross the dimensional wall faster.
"Alice will go ahead, so evacuate safely!! There's already a hole!! It could appear at any moment..."
"S-Senior! I can help somehow..."
"This isn't your place to step in!!!!!!"
Ah. I had come on a little too strong. I hadn't maintained Alice's concept, either.
...But it was necessary.
I watched Black Rose's eyes fill with shock and tremble before finally settling into resignation. I really had to go now. Even as I stood there, the dimensional hole would be growing wider.
"...It's an S-rank Abyssal. If you want to be of any meaningful help, come back at least B-rank."
[Stellar Shift]
-Flash!
Even if Black Rose was a promising rookie whose future looked bright, that was only by the standards of a beginner magical girl. In actual combat, there was even less she could do than Mia. It would have been different if she specialized in support or rescuing civilians, but Black Rose was a pure combat-type magical girl. With her abilities, the most she could do was deal with the small-fry Abyssals that followed through the rift created when the S-rank Abyssal crossed over.
...Pass this on to every nearby magical girl. An S-rank Abyssal is expected. Combat: B-rank or higher... Rescue: C-rank or lower... Fuck.
S-rank Abyssals were peerless even among the Abyssals generally classified from F-rank to A-rank... No, strictly speaking, they were creatures for whom the very classification of Abyssal was inaccurate.
Abyssals were monsters born in the Abyss that invaded surrounding dimensions to secure negative emotions for their survival and prosperity, but in other words, they were creatures in the Abyss that had to personally launch invasions into other dimensions.
It was easy to understand if you compared it to Earth's system. There were ranks among them as well, but a rank that ultimately meant personally going into the field... indicated that the position wasn't particularly high within the Abyss.
But S-rank Abyssals were different. Unlike Abyssals of A-rank and below, they had no limit on how long they could remain on Earth. Unless they were defeated, they could stay on Earth for years, turn it into a wasteland, and even terraform it according to the Abyss's wishes.
"...I don't know. Tell any bitch who wants to die to come, and anyone who wants to live to run."
[...I'll clean that up a little before I relay it.]
On an Earth that had spent ten years enduring Abyssal invasions, S-rank Abyssals had appeared no more than ten times. And now, one was appearing here. In the middle of the city, no less.
This was already a disaster. If it were an earthquake, its intensity would be at least seven. And it was happening right in the middle of the city.
If we were lucky, we would live. If not, we would die.
-Hummmmm...
"...There still hasn't been any word from the other magical girls. Do I have to hold it off alone?"
A black hole had opened in the air, twisting the surrounding dimension simply by humming.
At most, we had three minutes before an Abyssal emerged from there. It would be on the same level as the Leviathan that had devastated Seoul, but much smaller—a calamity compressed into a smaller form.
"...Being alone is actually easier. Even an A-rank could get in the way in a fight like this."
[Should I tell Ms. Mia to run?]
"...Do whatever you want."
That woman wasn't the type to run just because I told her to.
To make her leave, I would have to bark at her right in her face, but there was no time for that now.
"...Tell her to go. She won't listen anyway."
-Squeeze
I gripped my staff tightly.
Alice's symbol and the source of my power. A direct one-on-one confrontation with an S-rank Abyssal was insane even for me. The difference in strength was so great that I could only exchange blows if I succeeded at the most difficult stunt imaginable while in peak condition. At least, that was based on the Leviathan. Since the one appearing this time was smaller, I wanted to hope its destructive power would be lower as well.
...But if the world worked that easily, it wouldn't be the world.
-Crack!
Ah, it had begun.
The moment the wall separating dimensions was brutally shattered and reluctantly admitted an unwelcome intruder, the dimension's scream as it was forced open tore through the surroundings.
-Crash!
What shot out beyond the hole was a greatsword whose size could only be guessed at from the small portion visible. Only thirty percent of the blade was showing, yet it was enormous enough to carry an ordinary person.
Someone might ask why I wasn't using my ultimate move right from the start, but against an S-rank Abyssal, reconnaissance was more important than anything.
Even the Leviathan had been a monster I needed to run from while firing my ultimate move five times before I could kill it. Using a move that consumed most of my magical power against a monster of equal strength right from the beginning would be no different from attacking once and then getting myself killed.
I wasn't a crazy woman like my younger sister. I didn't have the power to beat an S-rank Abyssal by myself.
Even if we were perfectly identical twins in every way except our sex.
-Clank! Clank!
-Shing!
Eventually, what emerged was a gigantic... headless knight, around five meters tall and carrying a greatsword as long as it was.
<...I shall ask you, maiden.>
The head held in the arm of the S-rank Abyssal that the mascots classified as a Dullahan-type opened its mouth.
<Are you a sinner?>
-Shing
Before I could even hear an answer, it raised its sword.