Chapter 7

[Peridot, are you okay?]

Even though she suddenly gained enough attention to make the news, Peridot’s expression showed no signs of changing.

In the midst of the gloomy and somber atmosphere, the mascot beside her fidgeted and called her name anxiously.

“…Yeah, I’m fine.”

A faint smile formed.

But how much sincerity was really behind that smile?

The phrase “laughing because she can’t cry” might have perfectly described her right now.

‘They said I saved people, but the number of people I couldn’t save was far greater.’

Peridot wasn’t naive enough to feel better just because of a few words of praise from the media.

How could she ever forget that scene she witnessed back then?

“…Shio.”

[Yes, Peridot!]

“Is that older sister… going to be okay?”

[…]

Peridot closed her eyes.

In the pitch-black scenery where nothing was visible, the face she saw last began to vividly resurface.

Resentment, resignation, and despair.

Those dark and sorrowful emotions, which pierced her heart that used hope as power, lodged themselves like thorns into Peridot’s heart.

[…I can’t say she’ll be okay.]

“I thought so…”

It was a sight she had never seen before—a monster taking humans hostage.

If only she had continued attacking, maybe something would have been different.

‘If only I had kept my composure back then…’

I could have saved them.

Biting her lip and bowing her head, a small sob escaped through the cracks.

It’s my fault. Because I stupidly stood still, that person—

Ding-dong.

“Hey! Are you in there?! I’m coming in!!”

“…Huh?”

But a voice came that shattered the gloomy atmosphere.

The doorbell rang only once, neatly, but the voice from outside was far from calm.

As the beeping sound of the door unlocking echoed, she hurriedly got up to lock the door, but it swung open before she could reach it.

“Hey, rookie!!”

“Eek?!”

Just before she could reach it, the door flung open, and she fell flat on her backside.

Tears welled up as she looked at the person, whose eyebrows twitched in apparent anger.

“After all that heroic action, what’s with this despair?!”

“Se-senpai… I…”

“You’re the one who said, ‘I’ll save as many people as I can!’ even when told you might not be able to save everyone!”

“…But still.”

But still, I might have been able to save that person.

If only I had been a little more skilled. If only…!

*Slap!*

“Ow?! Senpai?!”

Peridot’s eyes welled up with tears as her back was struck by a firm hand.

Is this the power of a mid-level magical girl?

It seemed like a light slap, but the force behind it was anything but ordinary.

“Rookie.”

“…Yes, senpai.”

“Just save more people next time than the ones you couldn’t save this time.”

“…What if I couldn’t save people back then too?”

“Then save more than the ones you couldn’t save back then next time.”

Peridot let out a hollow laugh as she looked at her senpai’s confident smile.

That’s such a senpai-like thing to say.

But Peridot knew how much anguish was hidden behind those seemingly calm words.

She also knew how sad her senpai was when she couldn’t save people.

“…Really, senpai, you’re impossible.”

“Right?”

With a grin, her senpai placed a hand on Peridot’s head and began ruffling her hair.

It was as if she was telling her to shake off this gloomy mood already.

‘Right, I’m a magical girl.’

A magical girl who smiles, defeats monsters, protects people, and spreads hope throughout the world—

‘But… it’s too late, isn’t it?’

Can I really become that kind of magical girl?

A question she hadn’t even realized she was asking herself.

In that fleeting moment, a faint streak of gray was painted across Peridot’s heart.

A gray that would one day, in the distant future, consume her—a gray named obsession.

“Oh, by the way, there’s that magical girl you like, right? What’s her name again?”

“Emerald-sama?”

“…You, huh. Tch, you call me ‘senpai’ but you add ‘-sama’ to some magical girl you barely know?”

“Emerald-sama is the magical girl I admire! It’s only natural to use honorifics!”

Still, a girl is a girl, after all.

When the topic of her most admired figure came up, Peridot’s eyes began to sparkle with a bright green light.

A purely genuine emotion.

How many people in the world could say something negative in the face of such pure feelings?

“…Anyway, that Emerald girl, she’s suddenly coming here.”

“Huh?”

“Did your ears get clogged? That Emerald girl you’re obsessed with is coming to this city.”

“Whaaat?! Tell me more! Why is Emerald-sama coming here?! This is just an outskirt city where only Beta-level monsters appear!”

A bombshell—though it wasn’t a bombshell to the person who dropped it, but still.

Peridot’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out at the bombshell.

At the same time, she grabbed her senpai’s clothes and began tugging at them.

The determination to tear the clothes if she didn’t get an explanation was palpable, so her senpai reluctantly decided to explain properly.

“Because something worse than a Beta-level monster has appeared, obviously.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. She’s not coming here to cause trouble.”

Though her senpai laughed, the silence that had taken hold of Peridot showed no signs of fading.

Emerald-sama is a magical girl from the central region.

Why would someone who fights Gamma-level monsters and worse suddenly come to an outskirt city like this?

And because a Gamma-level monster appeared?

‘If I had to survive alone, it would have been better to die…’

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

The voice of a girl echoed in her head.

At the same time, the mocking laughter of a monster filled her mind.

‘A monster taking humans hostage… Was that really a Gamma-level monster?’

If it wasn’t just a Gamma-level monster but something even worse, why would such a monster appear in an outskirt city like this?

Amidst the flood of questions, a single scene suddenly flashed through her mind.

*Smirk.*

As she recalled the girl who smiled faintly the moment she was captured by the monster, Peridot slowly closed her eyes.

What was that smile?

Was it a mocking smile directed at Peridot, who ultimately couldn’t save her? Or was it a serene smile at the thought of reuniting with her family?

If it was neither, then what was the meaning of that smile—

***

“I went through all the trouble of creating a magical girl to kill, but if she doesn’t listen, what’s the point?!”

“…”

“Monster Girl! Are you listening?! Tch, you made me like this and still have the nerve to look so calm…!”

The doctor’s ranting voice carried the familiar tone of a nagging mother.

Just from turning on one fluorescent light, the doctor’s body was wrapped in bandages.

Haa, should I turn on another?

As she stealthily reached for the switch, the doctor’s body twitched.

“Guh, guh! You really are my masterpiece! So evil, you’re no less than other monsters! No, you’re even more vicious!”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“It’s not a compliment, so it’s normal to feel that way.”

Who are you trying to tease, you failed personality of a doctor?

Since things had come to this, she decided to test how long it would take for the doctor to turn to ash if she kept the light on.

Yeah. If the doctor hadn’t clung to her arm with all his might, that might have actually happened.

“S-stop it! If I get any more light, I’ll burn to death!”

“That’s the point.”

“You…!”

Perhaps sensing the sincerity in her indifference, the doctor’s grip on her arm tightened.

Is this really the doctor I know?

Or did he regress to infancy from the light exposure?

He was never sane to begin with, being a monster, but now he seemed even less normal.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

“Don’t mock me, you test subject! The one I sent to secretly find this girl is wallowing in despair and taking his sweet time, what’s so great about that?!”

Oh, so you’re not listening to the doctor either?

Feeling a sense of camaraderie with the monster, she smirked.

Wait, more importantly.

‘I thought this monster felt a bit different from the usual ones, but it seems this one was also handmade by the doctor.’

By the way, handmade.

If it’s the doctor’s handmade, does that make us siblings?

Wait, was that strange familiarity I felt actually real?

“Ahem, anyway! A disobedient subject needs punishment. Test subject! Capture the Monster Girl!”

*Growl.*

“Stop dawdling and get to it!”

*Growl.*

Unable to resist the doctor’s temper, the monster wriggled its shadow and grabbed her.

I felt it earlier, but this texture is oddly addictive.

It’s a bit frustrating that I can’t move my arms freely to touch it as I please.

Anyway.

“With a magical girl as the base and a despair circuit installed, it’s a complete mess! I’ll fix that rotten mind of yours to be more monster-like!”

With the mad scientist’s signature grin, the doctor began to move.

Just how much more monstrous do I have to become to be recognized as a real monster?

Sighing internally, she decided to turn the light on again someday and roast the doctor to a crisp.

A true unfilial child.

Or, in monster terms, a monstrous act of filial piety.