Chapter 49

“Special Crystal Stone… If it absorbs the monsterization, what happens?”

“I don’t know either!”

“Right, I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”

—

Lying on the sofa with nothing to do on a peaceful day, I fiddle with the Special Crystal Stone.

Even so, it’s just that no signal comes to me.

Anyway, since I have plenty of time, I munch on snacks and beer while closely examining the Special Crystal Stone.

But no matter how much I look, there’s nothing I can see with the naked eye.

Still, for some reason, I keep staring at it.

—

“But this thing looks really weird. Should I say it looks like a giant stinger?”

“Actually, you stab with it to steal the monsterization!”

“…Really?”

—

Ah, could it be that they made it this way for those who don’t know how to handle it?

If so, well, that makes sense.

There are many who neglect common magic outside their own abilities.

So teaching them how to use it one by one would take too long.

In that case, it’s better to make something that just needs to be stabbed.

If necessary, you could even throw it and hit the target.

But it would be deeply embedded vertically, is that okay?

Even hypodermic needles are laid flat and swiftly inserted.

…Well, since the needle is short, it shouldn’t be a problem.

—

“By the way, Rampage. Do you know about this?”

“What is it?”

“Recently, monsters claiming to belong to Evil Crown have been appearing in droves!”

“…Evil Crown? Those idiots?”

“Yes!”

“Could it be that the lucky survivors regrouped and used the Medals…”

“That seems to be the case!”

—

That monsterization… It was about retaining all previous knowledge, memories, habits, etc., only to be devoured by the monster’s personality, right?

If so, it’s not strange for them to act like that…

Anyway, they’re not cockroaches, but they’re annoyingly persistent.

In the end, if you monsterize, you die, but those idiots think of it as a rebirth into a new existence…

Truly ugly, disgusting, and filthy to the end.

From now on, even as a joke, if anyone calls themselves Evil Crown, I’ll thoroughly kill them.

—

“So, what happened?”

“Most of them overseas have already been exterminated! However… some belonging to Evil Crown are showing abnormal growth rates, which is becoming a problem!”

“Ah~ Like Diamond Dust?”

“Exactly!”

“Then do I need to go?”

“Not at the moment! If a Grand Duke-Class or higher is discovered, it will likely be entrusted to Paladin or Rampage!”

“Got it.”

—

Since I’ve already seen Diamond Dust’s case firsthand, considering their numbers… it would actually be strange if none appeared.

In that case, I should start preparing too.

My wand is customized, and I’m using a light sword… so just using my First Ability should be enough.

No, is using the First Ability a bit overkill?

—

“But what about domestically?”

“Crazy Heart is leading the extermination efforts!”

“Unless an exception appears, she’ll probably take care of everything.”

—

By the way, Crazy Heart… I should start letting her solo Duke-Class exterminations soon.

She’s still a bit unstable, but if she trains separately, builds her strength, and improves her skills, she should manage somehow.

Should I train her for a while?

If she gets stronger, I can entrust Duke-Class to her with peace of mind, and my workload will decrease.

Having less to do is a good thing.

It means the country’s safety isn’t solely dependent on me.

—

“…I should act on this thought.”

“What is it?”

“Training Crazy Heart. But since we’re in the middle of the Evil Crown extermination operation, maybe after that?”

“…Ah! Rampage! One of the Evil Crown monsters is abnormally powerful!”

“Really? Then let’s go. Where is it?”

“Here!”

—

Checking, it seems Crazy Heart is holding it off now…

If I don’t hurry, it could be dangerous.

I’ll transform and go immediately.

—

“Let’s go, Chubby.”

“Yes!”

—

Opening the [Gate] and heading to where Crazy Heart is, I see she’s already covered in serious wounds.

Still, she’s fighting desperately, minimizing the damage around her.

…She won’t die, but she’ll need a few days of rest to recover from these injuries.

—

“Crazy Heart.”

“…!”

“…You held out well.”

“Ha~… Even so, this time is tough…”

“That looks like a Grand Duke-Class, so holding out this much is impressive.”

“Gra, Grand Duke-Class… Haha…”

—

She’s never faced a Duke-Class or higher before, but if she held out this long… she might be ready for Duke-Class exterminations soon?

Crazy Heart has gotten much stronger without me noticing.

I have high expectations for her training later.

She’s not at Pretty Heart’s level of potential, but she’s promising.

—

By the way, is Grand Duke-Class the limit for monsterization now?

It’s not impossible for them to get stronger, but nothing beyond that has appeared yet.

But since monsterization is essentially a medium for summoning monsters, we shouldn’t rule out the possibility.

—

“What are you?!”

“Don’t need to know.”

“?!”

—

…The [Energy Blast] I casually shot to the side cut it in half, even though it’s a Grand Duke-Class.

If the Energy Blade’s partial enhancement is this strong… how much resources does the overall magic enhancement consume?

Well… there was definitely a noticeable difference in magic through the wand, but I didn’t realize how inefficient it was.

Is it really okay for the power to increase this much…?

—

“Anyway, it’s funny that Evil Crown doesn’t know me. Don’t you know who wiped you all out back then?”

“…!!! So, so it was…! You’re the one…!”

“[Energy Blast].”

“?!”

—

No need to listen to this guy’s ramblings, so I just said my piece and killed him.

Talking to those who’ve fully turned into monsters is meaningless.

No matter how intelligent, no matter how much they try to converse… there’s nothing to do but kill them.

I’ll say what I want and just kill them.

If they blurt out some information in the process, great, if not, whatever.

—

But I don’t think there’s a need to expect information.

Because those monsters, despite being quite intelligent, don’t share information.

They just gather and focus on invading, not sharing their own information to plan intelligent invasion strategies.

It’s too mindless, but… well, that’s what monsters are.

Their way of thinking is different from ours from the start.

—

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine~…”

—

By the way, this girl, she could collapse any moment, but she’s holding on with sheer willpower.

The way she immediately flopped down as soon as she relaxed shows it.

But the fact that she didn’t lose consciousness means her mental strength is impressive.

This level of mental strength is really rare, regardless of gender.

—

“Ah, Crazy Heart.”

“What is it~…”

“From now on, come train with me. I have an exclusive training ground. Ask the mascot working at headquarters, and they’ll tell you.”

“…Huh? What did you say?”

“Come train. Don’t you want to start soloing Duke-Class soon? By the way, my exclusive training ground won’t break no matter how much you go all out.”

“Ah~ Now I have to go! And if you’re the one training me, it’ll be a big help!”

—

As expected of a battle maniac, she’s really excited about being able to go all out.

Other training grounds are public, so going all out would harm others, so that’s probably the biggest reason.

—

“When can I go? I can go right now!!”

“Calm down… Let’s finish off the Evil Crown first, then we’ll talk.”

“You promised! I’ll run over as soon as it’s over!”

“Sure…”

—

Is being able to go all out really that exciting?

The mindset of a battle maniac is hard to understand.

But well, it’s good for magical girls to be serious about combat.

Though being this crazily serious is a bit much…

—

“…By the way, senior, do you have the time?”

“For what?”

“Well~ I heard you have a lot of juniors now? Do you have time to spend passionately with me?”

“Why are you phrasing it like that… Well, I have time, so I’ll train you. I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise.”

“Totally a playboy~. I don’t mind that kind of senior!”

“Damn it, seriously…”

“Sorry!”

—

This girl, the way she talks is different from before.

Now she’s a high schooler, and back then she was in elementary school… so it’s bound to be different.

Why did she grow up like this, really…

Though she was already a battle maniac since elementary school, so that statement is meaningless.

—

“…Anyway, contact me through the mascot when it’s all over.”

“Got it! I’ll finish quickly!”

—

No need to rush like that…

Wait, since Evil Crown is causing problems in real-time, maybe rushing is the right call?

…No need to stop her.

Go ahead and kill those Evil Crown guys.

—

By the way, it’s really interesting to see Crazy Heart leading like that.

I really can’t do leadership.

Is it a personality difference? Or an experience difference?

Whatever it is, being good at leadership is really enviable.

—

“Hey, Chubby.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, are Evil Crown guys treated as regular monster exterminations, or something else with no rewards?”

“Since it’s been announced that ordinary people or superhumans who have monsterized are exactly the same as monsters, they’re treated as monsters!”

“Really? Then I’ll get some money too. Yay~ I wonder if we’ll have a financial crisis~.”

—

…Well, it’s not my place to think about it.

They said they’d handle it, so even now, they should cut useless departments or reduce budgets to allocate funds here.

It’s really money to save the country.

If they recklessly cut or reduce… they know international perception will be ruined again, right?

Given the times we’re in, they’ve been dragging the IMF excuse and doing bold politics without even budgeting for magical girls, always getting criticized.

Plus, they’re marked as a cautionary country by the Fairy Realm.

No matter how corrupt politicians are, they’re not stupid, so they won’t do something as foolish as cutting budgets now.

…No, seeing the recent state of national audits and such, maybe they are stupid.

Especially that department consumed by ideology, or that department obsessed with gambling… they’re complete tax-thieving trash.

—

“…Thinking about it, this situation is a real goldmine for magical girls.”

“That’s right! It’s a chance to make a lot of money!”

“Even so, powerless newbies can only watch and suck their thumbs.”

“Ah…”

—

Huh? Come to think of it, is that why the kids are so unusually energetic…?

If it helps end things quickly, then that’s good, I guess…