Chapter 43

“Everyone, go home before sunset.”

“Okay~!”

“Thank you~.”

Though there was a bit of an incident in the valley, we had enough fun… and safely returned as the sun began to set.

Pretty Heart’s friends, Jinju and Naru, were dropped off at the place we first met and sent home, and now we’re driving to Pretty Heart’s house.

“Rampage! New information about superhumans has arrived!”

“What is it?”

“They say superhumans have a growth limit! It seems like they develop magical circuits, but that’s where it ends!”

“…Really? So… what’s the maximum limit?”

“Uh… we don’t know yet, but there’s definitely a superhuman who boasts about being the strongest among them! They even have a record of defeating a Marquis-Class demon! Though it was quite a struggle!”

“Really? Hmm… Well, I can take them all down. As long as they don’t cause trouble, I won’t bother them.”

Even so, it seems like no absurdly powerful superhuman has been born yet.

Even with magical circuits, the limits of the “human body” probably cap out around Duke-Class… Well, nothing’s confirmed yet, so I can’t say for sure.

“Wow… Marquis-Class is impressive…”

“It’s not impressive. Unlike us magical girls, they don’t have infinite growth. So it’s meaningless. What matters is how efficiently they use their abilities.”

“Is that so?”

“You could probably take down a Grand Duke-Class before becoming an adult, right?”

“No way~.”

“…No, it’s possible. If you awaken your Third Ability. Even without it, it seems possible.”

“Third Ability…? That legendary one?”

“Yeah.”

The blooming of the Third Ability… it’s simple yet difficult.

Understanding your talent… that is, the “concept” you govern, and fully blooming your Second Ability, then elevating your emotions to the maximum during battle.

Depending on the type of talent, it must align with emotions or the nature of the talent.

In my case, I was lucky enough to go into a rampage that destroyed my limits, causing it to bloom.

For Pretty Heart… her First and Second Abilities have the power of “purification,” but that’s just a sub-“concept” of “Pretty Heart.”

So, that pure heart… the moment her desire to protect humanity and beautiful things as a magical girl bursts forth, her Third Ability will bloom.

I don’t know when that will be, but it’ll probably be a life-threatening moment.

I hope she doesn’t face such a crisis, but for the Third Ability to bloom…

“……”

“…Older Sister?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Maybe I should stop coddling Pretty Heart so much.

I’m still worried, but I can’t keep protecting her like this.

Still, as her senior, I’ll do the bare minimum.

“We’re here.”

“Too bad…”

“What is?”

“Ah, it’s nothing~.”

What’s too bad…? Is it because you couldn’t play more?

Well, kids love running around and playing, after all.

“Go home safely, and since we played hard, go to bed early.”

“Okay~.”

Now I’m saying the things adults always say.

Well, I guess I am an adult now.

“Rampage! Emergency dispatch!”

“What, suddenly? Okay… where?”

“…Canada.”

“Canada?”

“Magical Paladin is currently fighting a Grand Duke-Class monster!”

“…Magical Paladin?”

“Yep!”

That’s… my senior…

She didn’t contact me, and now it’s an emergency dispatch… Did she do it on purpose?

Even if she’s my senior, there’s no way she can win against a Grand Duke-Class.

I guess I have no choice but to go…

“Chubby! …Oh, I can open a [Gate] now.”

“…Ah, Rampage. Wait a second.”

“Why? It’s urgent.”

“The thing is… the emergency dispatch request just got cut off.”

“…What?”

The emergency dispatch request… got cut off?

I’ve never heard of that before.

Did she and her mascot die or something?!

…No, if that happened, it’d be even stranger for the dispatch to be cut off…

Anyway, I need to go.

“Chubby! Let’s go now!”

“Yes, yes…!”

Flustered by this first-time situation, I immediately opened a [Gate] and headed to Canada.

After arriving, I flew toward what looked like a heavily destroyed area… and found something completely unexpected.

“…Huh?”

“That’s… Magical Paladin!”

“Senior… won…?”

What…? What happened?

How did my senior, who shouldn’t be able to defeat a Grand Duke-Class, do it…?

No matter how you look at it, she shouldn’t be that strong…

“Senior!”

“Huh? Oh~ Dabin~?”

“What happened, Senior?”

“Ahaha, well… I won?”

“……”

“By the way, being genuinely worried about by Dabin… I must be blessed~.”

“What blessing…”

Really, what is she saying…

More importantly, how did she win?

“…Blessing or not, how did you win?”

“Huh? Well… I have a family and a child, so… I really wanted to protect them? Before I knew it, my Third Ability bloomed~.”

“Ah~ I see…”

Well, at this age, you’d really want to protect your family.

Plus, with 20 years of magical girl experience, she’s long since fully bloomed her Second Ability.

And above all, Senior is a Magical Paladin… a holy knight.

So if she’s desperate to protect something, her Third Ability would bloom…

I never dreamed that Senior, who had a particularly low growth rate, would awaken her Third Ability.

“Ah, by the way, why did a Grand Duke-Class suddenly appear?”

“Suddenly appear? What are you talking about?”

“What?”

“Of course, the same thing that happened in China appeared here~. Maybe I got stimulated by that, so I decided to take it down~.”

“Don’t overdo it…”

“I can’t keep falling behind my junior. Do you know how humiliating that is…?”

“No.”

“You’re so~ cold~.”

I don’t really get it, but if you fall behind your junior, you might feel inferior.

But still, since she’s my senior, she probably just pushed herself too hard?

And with that, her Third Ability bloomed… Senior’s determination is really something.

“Ah~ right. Since you’re here, let’s eat together at a restaurant.”

“No, why suddenly eat?”

“Well~ there’s a restaurant I want to show off, but I don’t have any friends coming over to my side…”

“Poor you.”

“Right? So, can you comfort this noona… no, this unnie?”

“Enough, enough. And it’s not noona, it’s ajumma.”

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that~.”

Ugh… what a bothersome senior.

Calling her ajumma gets that reaction… If you’re in your 30s and have a kid, you’re an ajumma, what else?

She expects way too much from me.

“So, where’s the restaurant?”

“Here, follow me.”

Well, I guess I’m having a meal with Senior…

But still, it’s been a while since I ate out, and it’s been a while since I saw Senior…

“Here, my favorite~ restaurant.”

“Nice sign.”

But this place… it doesn’t seem like a normal restaurant.

The sign is modest, but inside… it’s like fine dining?

“What is this place?”

“A course meal restaurant.”

Looking at the customers and the waiters… this is definitely fine dining.

Talking about it like it’s a local restaurant, but it’s this kind of place…

“Do you come here often?”

“Yeah~. It’s a regular spot.”

“Living like a rich person, huh?”

“Well, considering what I’ve defeated… I have to be rich, right? Plus~ I just took down a Grand Duke-Class…”

“Ah~ well, same as me.”

“That’s right~.”

Since Senior is a top-tier magical girl, it’s not unreasonable for her to frequent a place like this.

But for me, it’s my first time at fine dining… will I be okay?

And the food seems to have a lot of explanations, so I’ll need to use a translator.

“…Oh, is this how you eat it?”

“Did you understand?”

“No. I have a translator, so I used that.”

“Ah~ you have that~.”

All the dishes seem to have a lot of effort put into them.

This is fine dining… the plating is so impressive it’s almost a shame to eat.

But still, it looks delicious, so I’ll just dig in.

“By the way~ we didn’t talk much before.”

“True. How does it feel to have your Third Ability bloom?”

“…That’s the first thing you ask?”

“I don’t have much else to ask.”

“Sigh… Well, blooming the Third Ability felt incredibly liberating~.”

“Like a weight lifted?”

“Yeah~ that’s it~.”

I see, that’s how it feels.

I don’t remember, so I don’t feel it much.

“Then~ am I the second?”

“Who knows? Hatred probably already bloomed, but there’s no news, so maybe. If it were a big event, Chubby would’ve told me first. Lazy as he is, he’s quick with this kind of news…”

Chubby… I want to punch him every time I see him.

…And when he pretends not to know and tilts his head, I really want to hit him.

“By the way, this tastes really calculated.”

“It is calculated~. Fine dining is like that~.”

“Oh…”

So this is fine dining food…

After eating the main course, I’m surprisingly full.

My stomach is small, but this amount should be enough for most adults.

“By the way… what do you think about two Grand Duke-Class monsters appearing in a row?”

“…I’m just a magical girl, so I don’t know much~… but I have a guess.”

“What is it?”

“Since all invasions are failing, they’re probably racking their brains to make it work? But something feels off~.”

“Off?”

“No~ it feels like that, right? I don’t know why they only send them during the day~. It feels more like harassment than a real invasion~.”

“That’s true. Seeing them prepare all sorts of things and cause unheard-of incidents is a bit…”

“But they’re not very strategic~. Their plans are all reckless~.”

“…True.”

“But, something… feels a bit off. Just in case, be careful, Dabin?”

What Senior says makes sense.

Plus, Senior has always had good intuition… so I’ll keep it in mind.

I don’t know what that “off” feeling is, though.

“And one more thing… what about monsterized magical girls? Have you met any?”

“…I’ve caught three.”

“Three?”

“Yeah~ three. They all had hatred~.”

“Hatred…?”

“Here, there’s too much competition. There are kids who enforce hierarchy and bully~, and kids who get bullied and look dead inside~…”

“That’s terrible…”

I see… there are plenty of reasons for magical girls to monsterize.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll understand or forgive them for monsterizing.

“So, how were they?”

“They weren’t as strong as I thought~. But… they were at least two stages stronger than before.”

“Two stages stronger… so a Marquis-Class becomes a Grand Duke-Class?”

“Well, roughly~. There are individual differences, so it’s not an absolute standard~.”

“Right… but it’s a significant power-up, so I should be careful.”

“Ah, and there are superhumans who call themselves superheroes and monsterize, so keep that in mind~.”

“Really?”

There are quite a few weirdos who are jealous of me, so I should always be careful.

There’s a chance they might suddenly monsterize and come after me.

And superhumans monsterizing… that’s another annoying problem.

What’s their deal with monsterizing?

“That was delicious.”

“Was it good~?”

“Yeah. Definitely fine dining.”

“You should eat like this more often in Korea~. There’s omakase too~.”

“Too much trouble. Delivery is the best.”

“Sigh~…”

Well, the meal’s over, and we’ve said what we needed to… time to go home.

“Let’s go, Chubby.”

“Yep!”

“Come again~.”

“No.”

“So mean~.”

When I get home… I’ll have some beer.