Chapter 19

[Emerald, what’s going on all of a sudden? Why is the outskirts of the city…]

“Something’s off. There should be a signal device that detects the despair signals of monsters—”

It’s gone.

The source contained within the signal device was always the hope of a Magical Girl.

If a Magical Girl approached, it would resonate and easily reveal her location, but this city had no such signal device.

‘…I’m sure the sirens went off every time a monster appeared.’

How could they have known about the monster invasion and sounded the alarm without a signal device?

The doubts in my head began to grow.

No matter how good a Magical Girl’s detection abilities were, they couldn’t cover the entire city.

Besides, to detect anything, they had to be in their transformed state, and staying transformed all day was impossible.

“May, we need to go to the Association.”

[You mean this city’s Association? I’ll guide you!]

There were too many suspicious things.

Surely the central government provided various supports to the outer cities for monster invasion defenses.

But they didn’t even have the most basic signal device prepared.

‘Even a rural village with less than 100 people has at least one signal device…’

Corruption, or something else.

In the past—during the timeline when the Apocalypse had brought about the world’s destruction—such things had happened often.

I’d never actually seen or experienced it myself, but I’d heard about it through the news.

‘If the city’s higher-ups really didn’t install the signal devices, the safety of the people here can’t be guaranteed.’

Having a signal device didn’t mean monsters wouldn’t invade, but at least it would give the citizens time to evacuate to shelters.

But they didn’t even install something that simple?

Anger boiled up inside me.

At first, I thought this city I visited to find the Apocalypse couldn’t possibly harbor such darkness.

[The building is… huge.]

The Association we arrived at.

It was a small city, so I expected the Association to be small too, but the building before my eyes was as large as the central Association building.

“Hello, may I ask why you’re here?”

“…I’d like to meet the Association President.”

“The Association President? The President’s schedule today—”

“Schedule? What kind of schedule?”

The receptionist’s expression stiffened at my sharp tone.

Whoa, calm down. Take it slow.

Snapping at the receptionist wouldn’t make things go any smoother.

“Uh, first, we need to verify your identity…”

“I’m Emerald, a Magical Girl from the central branch.”

“F-from the central branch…”

I didn’t want to throw my weight around just because I was from the central branch, but I had no choice this time.

The Association, which should prioritize people’s safety, had already committed such corruption, so I didn’t feel like treating them with respect.

‘Emerald, I haven’t lived that long, but there are people in this world more dangerous than monsters.’

‘…People more dangerous than monsters? You mean criminals?’

‘Criminals… you could call them that. But the real danger is that they’re in high positions. It’s not easy to send them to prison.’

I exhaled slowly, recalling a story I’d heard long ago.

People more dangerous than monsters.

They were the selfish ones who only cared about their own interests, without thinking of others.

‘They embezzle shelter materials, reduce the number of signal devices, and don’t replace outdated Magical Girl equipment…’

‘…’

‘Monsters are scary, but people are scarier. If everyone in the world were as kind as you, Emerald, it would be great.’

The senior who spoke with a pale face took her own life a week later.

The reason was that she was criticized by the media for ‘failing to protect people from monsters as a Magical Girl!’

It wasn’t her fault at all.

The Association’s higher-ups had told her, ‘You’re getting overtime pay, so working alone should be fine,’ when she begged for more staff.

“Central branch Magical Girls have the authority to inspect local Associations, right?”

“Ah, yes, I know!”

“Then should I use that authority to call the central inspection team, or should the Association President cancel their schedule and meet with me?”

“I-I’ll contact them right away! P-please wait a moment!”

Threatening wasn’t my style, but I’d learned long ago that this approach worked better.

If it were my past self, I’d have danced around the issue and created more victims.

‘…It was strange that the alarm didn’t go off when the Gamma-class monster appeared.’

According to the story, a Gamma-class monster invaded the shelter, but the sirens didn’t go off.

The alarm went off during the first Beta-class monster appearance, but when a Gamma-class monster appeared, it didn’t sound again?

The alarm sounds were different for each monster class, so there was no chance of confusion.

“Yes, yes… understood. I’ll relay that. Yes, Association President.”

“How did it go?”

The receptionist, pale-faced, wiped the cold sweat from their forehead after the call with the President.

I felt a bit sorry for putting them through this, but it was necessary, so I hardened my resolve.

“He’s coming right now…”

“Good. I’ll wait.”

I sat down on a nearby chair after watching the receptionist exhale deeply.

There were so many things I wanted to discuss about the city’s defense.

Maybe enough to talk about all day.

[Emerald, look over there.]

“…Huh?”

While waiting for the President, May pointed somewhere, and I turned my gaze.

‘Garnet… Peridot…’

A nameplate with the names of the Magical Girls active here.

Peridot was a Magical Girl I’d been quite interested in personally, as she’d driven off the Gamma-class monster this time.

‘The Association building is this big, but there are only two Magical Girls stationed here.’

Even if central branch Magical Girls outnumbered those in the regions, this was too few.

Only two Magical Girls in a city where monsters appear this often?

Even if Alpha and Beta-class monsters were the main threats, two Magical Girls were far too few.

‘They couldn’t have messed with the Magical Girl budget too, could they…?’

I could let the signal device issue slide since it was just for detecting monster invasions.

But the lack of Magical Girls compared to the city’s size was unacceptable.

No Magical Girls meant no way to defeat the monsters.

‘I was too focused on Apoca—no, Akari…’

If I’d known, I would’ve come to the Association first.

At this moment, the Association’s corruption was a greater threat to people’s safety than Akari before she became the Apocalypse.

[This doesn’t seem like something to take lightly, Emerald.]

“Yeah. I was thinking the same, May.”

I had a feeling things were about to get big.

All because of humanity’s uniquely vile selfishness and malice.

But that thought didn’t last long.

Weeeeeeeee—!!!!!

[Warning, warning. Despair energy Delta-class. Delta-class monster invasion. Warning, warning—]

I jumped to my feet at the blaring sirens.

Saving people took priority over the Association President, so it was the obvious choice.

***

Humanity’s pure malice is terrifying.

I swallowed dryly while staring at the soft-serve ice cream in my hand.

‘Can’t I just stop eating this?’

“Big sis, isn’t it delicious?”

“Yeah… well, it’s okay.”

I sighed inwardly as the child’s eyes sparkled while watching me eat the ice cream.

I was the fool for saying I’d try it because it looked interesting.

Ice cream was… well, it felt worse than the porridge I ate in the hospital.

‘It’s smooth but also sticky and melts…’

And it was cold, which made it even worse.

I’d rather eat hospital porridge.

At least in the hospital, I could somewhat lift my spirits with Tamako’s despair.

‘Ugh, for me, human despair is like snacks and ice cream…’

Humans, guarantee my monster rights!

Guarantee delicious monster food instead of this tasteless human food!

“I’m done eating.”

“Eh… big sis, you have to eat the cone too to really finish it!”

“…Is that so?”

Someone, please help me.

I pleaded silently as the child’s not-so-subtle pressure continued.

Weeeeee—!!!!!

“Kyaa?!”

Suddenly, the sirens began to blare.

Louder and more threatening than any I’d heard before.