“Before that, why did you get busy last night? I will only give you the item after you answer me. Did you, by any chance, watch a juicy Magical Girls video? Share the link, dammit! I always gave you the link when I got one!”

“I was not!” Asa raised her voice, a bit pissed. “Some random idiot posted a video that needs to go through my verification! They are fucking insane, spreading false videos with a CGI! It was hard. The video is about a Magical Girl destroying a building in Shinjuku. There is no way that’s real.”

“Huh?” I let out a surprised voice. “Wait wait wait, did you say a video about Magical Girl destroying a building in Shinjuku?” I asked.

“Yeah. Crazy, right? And that person posted it a few times even though I always deleted all of them.”

They are crazy, Aru added in a low voice as she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

This… Isn’t this similar to that? Should I tell Aru about it?

What was the culprit thinking? Or did someone manage to record it while hiding somewhere? That was possible.

“Hey, Aru. Show me the video.” I said seriously.

“Huh, why?” She asked curiously.

“Just show me. I will give you the item plus I will let you see me transform into a Magical Girl if you do that.”

“Deal.” She answered without missing a beat and turned her chair around. She became happy. That girl licked her lips as her hands danced around the keyboard to find the video in question. As expected of someone who was called Professor, her hands moved fast.

In only 10 seconds, she found the video file and played it while pushing her chair away, letting me see the screen fully.

The video lasted only 6 seconds. A short one and it was shot from the ground.

As I watched that, I managed to catch a silhouette of a Magical Girl with white frilly clothes floating in the sky and pointed her wand to the building.  The next second, the building was destroyed without any sign of Magic being used.

The building in question was the apartment where the Teleportation Waypoint was located. It was shaky, and there was no real flashy Magic.

Earthquake Magic, huh? It’s the most inconspicuous Magic that can be used in Japan, where earthquakes often happen. She’s good.

I analyzed the video as my lips curled up into a grin. At the end of the video, I caught the Magical Girl's face.

“I see… Aru, let me tell you something.”

“Ah, no need. I know this video isn't fake CGI from your expression. Don’t involve me in something so troublesome. I only want to enjoy cute Magical Girls, not their conflict.” Aru said.

She pushed her chair back to the previous place and began to delete the video. “There. Gone from my computer. I won’t touch this dangerous thing.”

“Well, if that’s your choice, then I will respect it. I won’t force you. Anyway…”

I opened my inventory and put my hand inside. Aru looked at it with excitement. Her eyes were sparkling, and her mouth was opened wide.

“Woah, so that’s Magic?! Amazing!”

“Yes. Ah, here it is.” I took out the promised item and closed my inventory. It was still a bit warm as the time in my inventory was stopped. This was one of my loot from Haruhi’s house last night, her panties.

“Here, the promised item.” I handed it to Aru, which she received with both hands for some reason.

“I respectfully received it. Truly a great masterpiece. This is the real article, no?” She put it in the sealed plastic box she had taken from under her desk and gently beside her computer. A satisfied smile was written on her face.

I nodded my head to confirm, “Yes, it is. I took it directly from the source.”

“I see. Because you are now a Magical Girl, you can talk to them directly. I am really jealous of you, dammit.”

“Fufufu, that’s a privilege of being a Magical Girl! Anyway, if you want to get involved in this case, just call me. You will be able to meet with the previous owner of that item if you want to.”

“Really?!” Aru got baited. “But it would be troublesome. But, but… Aaargh! Give me some time. I will tell you later!” She ruffled her messy hair as she moved around.

Her reason and desire clashed, like what I experienced a few days ago before I decided to embrace both.

It was a hard choice. I nodded a few times while looking at her.

Finally, Aru stopped moving, “Meeting her is more important. Yes, I will be able to shake her hand and touch her! But I am a shut-in. How should I meet her? But, BUT….!”

Well, it should be fine to leave her alone. I should just give her some time alone. So I quietly left as she battled her inner thoughts. I would show her my transformation when I visit her again.

I got a lot of clues about the ruined Waypoint from an unexpected source. The Magical Girl forum, full of Magical Girl nerds, was the best way to find information.

Sometimes I wondered why the government couldn’t be as efficient as those people on the forum. Was it because they were bound by rules, unlike those free people? Or was it because their workload was too much to care about such things?

Even Aru worked really hard to the point she lost her sleep to make the forum conducive and safe for people to browse without being baited by false information.

It could be both, but I didn’t really care. For now, I think I would spend my time watching some videos at home while waiting for Titan. The current situation was too safe, unlike the first year when Beasts appeared.

Beasts would only appear three or four times a month in one area. They were also weak ones, not even at the level of Garmr.

I really wanted to have an action, so I silently prayed. Please let there be trouble today or tomorrow.

At that time, I didn’t know that my prayer would be answered rather quickly.

***

“Why did she get all the attention?! I am better than her!”

A shadow of a girl threw a knife at a picture of a black haired girl on the wall. Her room was a mess, but she didn’t seem to care. The wall where the picture was put was riddled with a knife scar, indicating that she had thrown the knife a few times toward the wall.

Even the picture was tattered. The knife pierced right at the middle of the girl’s face.

If Asa was there, then she would immediately realize who the girl in the picture was. It was Utahime, the idol from Magical Diva Girls. And the one who threw the knife was…

“It should be me, Diva, who gets all the attention! Then why!”

She threw the bedsheet around, crying loudly.

“Why did she become a Magical Girl first?! I worked so hard to get it! She even tried to kill me before!”

Finally, she slumped to the ground and let her tears drop from her face.

“Why?” She asked in a weak voice, not expecting someone to console her.

But then, she heard a voice from the direction of her window.

“Do you want to become a Magical Girl, syu?”

Diva immediately turned around at the voice and saw a shadow created by sunlight standing outside her window. Its face looked like a rabbit with a pure white body. It tilted its head as it looked at Diva with its red eyes.

“I ask you once again. Do you want to become a Magical Girl, syu?”

Her expression immediately brightened. She didn’t hear it wrong. It was a Giant, and it wanted Diva to become a Magical Girl.

“Yes!” Diva immediately answered, jumping toward her window and opening it. “I want to become a Magical Girl!”

“Good syu! I love your spirit syu!” The rabbit-looking Giant jumped inside and landed on the table. “In that case, let’s do it syu! But I have a condition that you must fulfill! Are you willing to follow my condition?”

Currently, Diva didn’t really care about the condition. Her mind was filled with being a Magical Girl.

She had already lost a headstart to someone, so if she wanted to succeed, she must become a Magical Girl. Desperate, she nodded without even hearing the condition. “I am willing!”

“Alright! The contract is made, syu!”

Light shone from the Giant’s body and condensed in one place. It slowly created a shape of a short wand, looking like a music baton often used by a conductor. It flew toward Diva’s chest, entering it.

As soon as it entered Diva’s body, her body glowed, and her clothes changed with a light covering her body. Her expression became brighter. Her hair became wavy. Her plain clothes turned into white frilly clothes with a blue accent and a big ribbon around her waist.

She held the baton in her hand, and her transformation was complete. Then, the rabbit Giant exclaimed.

“From now on, you will call yourself Magiya Diva syu! Let me tell you the condition of our contract syu!”

Diva, who had just got transformed into a Magical Girl, was in high spirits. A smile returned to her face, and she answered with just enough energy.

“Yes! Please tell me the condition!”

“It is...”