Chapter 86

Mad the Darkness.

Once the responsible mascot of the senior, Magical Lunatic Poison.

Though its form is human, the rest of its body is pitch black… a very bizarre mascot.

And that mascot… is now waking up right before my eyes.

“…You came.”

“Yeah.”

“Long time no see… your eyes have changed.”

“Of course. It’s been over 10 years since then.”

Still, it’s an incredibly pitch-black creature.

More importantly… will it actually answer my questions?

I hope it answers smoothly, if possible.

“Well, let’s get to the point.”

“No, forget it. I already know what you’re going to ask.”

“Then answer me.”

“…Hmm. Is that enough to know?”

Oh, so unlike the Fairy Queen, it seems willing to answer?

If that’s the case, then coming here was definitely worth it.

“What you’re most curious about is that, right? What Lunatic… was foreseeing.”

“So, what is it?”

“Don’t be impatient. What she foresaw was Pandora… no, something beyond that.”

“Pandora… beyond?”

Pandora isn’t… the end?

No, I’ve been training just to kill Pandora, so what are you talking about?

“Yes. Do you know about the transcendent beings of the multiverse?”

“No, I don’t.”

“They are all as strong as Pandora. No, they’re even stronger than Pandora. After realizing that, she started searching for a way to kill them.”

“…Huh? Wait, just because there are such strong beings?”

“Well, she had her own intuition. Even though she had no knowledge of them, her intuition was suspiciously strong.”

“Just because of that…”

“Well, her plan will still be of great help in defeating Pandora.”

“What plan?”

“…You’ll have to hear that from her later.”

“…What?”

No, no, suddenly telling me to hear it from her, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?

The senior is dead… and you were the one who directly took out her Crystal Stone…?

Could it be that after being in a coma for so long, something happened to her head?

“Someday… there will definitely come a day when you use her Crystal Stone. The rest is a secret.”

“But that’s dangerous, isn’t it? Why are you so sure?”

“Hmph… Is the ‘Child of Heo’ worried about that?”

“…’Child of Heo’? That again? What is that?”

“…Fairy Queen. Didn’t you properly explain to the ‘Child of Heo’? That Pandora is keeping an eye on her? Shouldn’t you be boosting her power as much as possible?”

“Mad. I believe Rampage can reach that point.”

“Stupid girl. There’s no way that could happen. Even the most suitable one failed.”

“But this time, it’s the ‘Child of Heo’ with the next highest suitability. Rampage has the potential…”

“Haven’t we done this five times already!! Every previous ‘Child of Heo’ failed!! If that’s the case, shouldn’t we immediately absorb all the magical girls’ Crystal Stones to boost her power to fight!!!”

“…You’re too extreme, Mad. And I don’t make baseless claims.”

No, these guys… why are they bickering about things only they know…?

They’re not even trying to tell me the important stuff, and now they’re fighting among themselves…

Ah~ whatever, I’ll just keep listening quietly.

They might let something important slip.

“And, what you did to her Crystal Stone… isn’t it because you believe in it?”

“…I just don’t want to waste the will of the responsible magical girl. Whether I believe in it or not is a separate matter.”

“Then believe. Or are you planning to insult the will of the responsible magical girl after her death? Mad, I don’t think you’re that twisted.”

“Tch… fine, go ahead. If this fails too… the next world’s ‘Child of Heo’ will be handled my way.”

“Fine. Let’s prove in this world that you’re wrong and that she and I are right.”

…Finally, the argument is over.

To summarize… roughly, the reason the Crystal Stone is strange is because Mad did something, and the ‘Child of Heo’ can absorb the power of other magical girls infinitely and quickly boost her power?

And there’s also some mysterious other method?

Now that they’ve explained it, I feel at ease.

I roughly understand what I wanted to know.

Though there are still some questions.

“Sigh… in the end, all the waiting has become meaningless…”

“It’s your fault, Fairy Queen. Didn’t I tell you to stop hiding and stalling like that?”

“Well, if this works out… this will be the end.”

“That’s true. If this works out…”

Tsk… judging by the atmosphere, my responsibility is heavy.

But still, I’ll just keep going as usual.

There doesn’t seem to be anything urgent to do right now.

“…You catch on quickly, it’ll be fine. There’s potential. Historically so.”

“Historically… if you say so, I have no choice but to believe.”

“…So, what are you trying to make me become?”

“That’s…”

“Enough, Fairy Queen. There’s no need to make her curious about something that might not even exist. Whether you become it or not, your first priority is to gain enough power to defeat Pandora.”

“Really? …Well, okay.”

Certainly, my goal is to kill Pandora, and whether I become something or not is irrelevant.

Unless it’s necessary to defeat Pandora.

“Rampage! Is something wrong? Why are you so late… Huh?! Mad, you’re awake?!”

“…Hmm? Oh, Meriol, isn’t it? Haha, have you been well?”

“Y-Yes, I’ve been well!”

What, why is Chubby here… oh, it’s already been an hour.

By now, both of them must have gone to work and school.

Then I should head home and have some food.

“Ah, Rampage! I confirmed Yura’s work and Diamond Dust’s school attendance!”

“Good job. I’ll be heading back soon, so prepare my meal.”

“Okay!”

“Hmm? Haven’t you eaten yet?”

“I just finished today’s training at the place the Fairy Queen made and came straight here.”

“I see. Well, I’ve told you everything I needed to, so go back now. My head still hurts, so I’ll rest a bit.”

“Rest… you’re such an old man.”

“I am old. The oldest among the fairies.”

“Is that so…”

This guy, is he really an ancient fairy…?

Well, whatever.

No need to worry about that.

I’ll just head home, have a delicious meal, and rest for a bit.

Lately, there haven’t been many emergency dispatch requests, so I can really relax during the day.

“Let’s go, Chubby.”

“Okay!”

Returning home through the [Gate], I immediately plopped down on the chair at the dining table.

And I just sat there, spacing out, watching Chubby prepare my meal.

After two months of training in that space without eating, drinking, or sleeping, the smell of food hitting my nose is so intense it’s almost unbearable.

“……”

“This time, it’s Coq au Vin! Will you have this for lunch too?”

“…Yeah. Let’s have this for lunch too.”

I can’t believe it’s Coq au Vin…

And this, it’s made with a really big native chicken, right?

And the shallots and mushrooms are whole… are we supposed to eat it like this?

“Wow… it’s so tender…”

“It’s a traditional French dish!”

“France? Then it makes sense…”

Even though it’s a huge native chicken, it’s incredibly tender.

And the whole vegetables and mushrooms are delicious too.

I don’t know what wine was used in the cooking, but the fruity flavor is just right…

And I can’t believe Chubby has mastered this too.

Did he start boiling it from dawn? When you pull it apart like this… it comes off the bone cleanly.

“Ah~ I’m full…”

“Would you like another glass of wine?”

“No. I’ll just finish what’s left.”

Wine… I’m glad I stocked up.

I never thought I’d be eating such dishes in my life.

Next time… Italian food, right?

Original pizza and pasta… with coffee and gelato… slurp… my mouth is watering…

Especially espresso poured over gelato… mmm~ that would be delicious…

Ah, come to think of it, besides pasta and pizza, Italy also has fried rice balls called arancini and lasagna, right?

And there’s prosciutto, similar to ham… ah, is tiramisu also an Italian dessert?

“Chubby. Next, let’s go with an Italian food set.”

“Huh? Okay! Um… I’ll just buy the ones I can’t make right away!”

“Fine. Making something like prosciutto at home would be… crazy, right? Unless you’re insane, how would you make that at home?”

“Right!”

“But I’m looking forward to the pizza. Come to think of it, we do have an oven in the kitchen, right?”

“Yes!”

“…What kind of equipment did I even stuff in the kitchen…”

“Right…”

I just stuffed everything in and left it to the guys, but there’s even an oven…

But since the kitchen is so big, even with all that equipment, there’s still space left.

It’s still amazing that I have such a big kitchen in my house…

“Sigh…”

“Why the sudden sigh?”

“What can I say… it’s absurd that the only luxury I indulge in is this kind of thing.”

“That’s true… I heard that normally, people buy accessories, clothes… and cars like crazy!”

“But I was originally a commoner. It’s hard for me to indulge in the kind of luxury that rich people do, or rather, I’m not even interested… no, I don’t even understand why they do it.”

The luxury I can indulge in… is food, IT devices like computers, bedding, right?

Ah, I do indulge in clothes too.

Mostly the ones Pretty Heart picks out for me.

Well, thanks to Pretty Heart, my fashion sense has improved a lot.

Thanks to that, I feel more satisfied whenever I go out.

“Meow.”

“Max. Why are you here again?”

By the way, lately, when I come back from training, Max greets me like this, which makes me really happy.

Delicious food, cute Max, and this fluffy sofa…

I’m glad I barged in and threatened them to hand over the money back then.

…That aside, being a vessel that can absorb the power of other magical girls…

Then that means I can absorb the senior’s Crystal Stone without any risk, right?

But why did Mad say, “hear it from her”?

……Could it be that this Crystal Stone… contains not just the senior’s soul but also her consciousness?

That would be creepy…

Ah, no way, something like that can’t be possible with just a Crystal Stone.

“Rampage! I baked sausage bread again, would you like some?”

“Sausage bread? Of course, I’ll eat it. But I’m full now, so just one.”

“Okay!”

Chubby… he’s really into baking now, making it every time.

Thanks to that, I can eat such delicious bread every day.

I’m glad Chubby has found joy in cooking.

But he makes a lot… I’ll have to bring some to Pretty Heart next time.

Bread loses freshness quickly, so there’s no choice.

Ah, maybe I’ll bring some as snacks for the juniors during training?

Hmm~ that sounds good too.

Alright, let’s do that.