How do I explain it?

Beautiful? Graceful? That wasn’t enough to describe the dance I watched.

Each of her movements was careful and elegant. The smirk I noticed under her mask each time she spun gave her a haughty presence.

Her ponytail danced in the sky, following her movement, like a tornado. The foxes around her danced with her, making happy sounds.

Many people apparently didn’t notice the foxes. Figures. Magic surrounded them, making the foxes could only be felt or seen by someone like me, Magical Girls, or someone with the ability to sense Mana.

The word illusion I mentioned earlier was incorrect. Those foxes were real, not an illusion. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by this. They were actually Giants. I noticed it once I concentrated a little.

To be able to mask their Mana to this point proved something. I couldn’t understand why two Giants were with a single girl, but that was a question for later.

She’s finished. I thought as I saw the girl bow to the audience, followed by clapping sounds. She deserved it. Her dance looked really beautiful.

Of course, I clapped too. She walked down the stage, followed by the two foxes. I was certain I wouldn’t be noticed, thanks to the necklace. That was if I didn’t purposely let myself be known, which I did earlier as the foxes glanced at me.

We exchanged a nod, and the foxes gestured for me to follow them. Maybe it noticed something different with me, that I wasn’t the ally of anyone else.

It’s time to meet her.

I slipped through the crowd to the back of the stage. The festival continued, and another performer took the stage. But I had had enough. It was enough fun for now.

From the Mana reaction I felt from the girl and Giants earlier, they seemed to enter the woods behind the shrine. There was a single path with a Torii gate, so I walked down from there. It was the only path that led to where the Mana reaction was.

And I found her. Standing in the middle of a clearing, in front of a small shrine, basking under the moonlight, was the girl from earlier. Her mask was shifted a little, showing half of her face.

The foxes sat beside her, on her left and right, like her guardian. I showed myself from between the trees with a friendly smile.

“Akari, she’s here.” The fox on the left announced my presence, and the girl looked at me.

A playful and cheeky smile on her face as her obsidian eyes stared at me.

“Hello.” She greeted me. “A Magical Girl, I suppose?”

“Yes, maybe,” I replied, approaching her. The foxes stepped forward, seemingly wary of me, and stopped me from going further. I stopped, looking at them. They didn’t trust me. Good foxes.

“If you may, an Independent Magical Girl would be the better description of me,” I added. The foxes’ eyes widened, something I didn’t miss, before turning normal.

Yup, confirmed. They knew an Independent Magical Girl. It was just a theory. What if there was another Independent Magical Girl beside me? What if there was one in Deepland?

Then Commander Amamiya, the Giants, and the snake’s reaction could be explained.

Someone who played Magical Giants is in Deepland, and maybe she’s the cause of why Giants and Beasts appeared on Earth. I concluded.

An Independent Magical Girl was rare, and it was impossible to become one without collecting the materials first and then to die.

No one would take that risk. So, one could only become an Independent Magical Girl through New Game+ of Magical Giants. Hope swelled within me. But I didn’t really hope for too much. A person’s image flashed through my mind, but I quickly shook it away.

“I mean no harm and only wanted to confirm something. I will open my space storage, don’t be alarmed. ” I said to the foxes so they wouldn’t pounce at me. The girl, Akari, only looked at me curiously.

I opened my Inventory. A void appeared beside me, and I plunged my hand inside. The foxes were surprised, as expected, but didn’t do anything because I told them what this was.

From it, I took the wand I found within the balloon earlier and closed the void again.

“This. You made this, right?”

The girl looked at the wand, then the foxes. The foxes nodded in confirmation, and the girl turned to me once again.

“That’s right.”

“This is quite good,” I said, raising the wand. “Still, the illusion is so easy to see through for someone like me. It will only last for 24 hours at max if I guessed it right.”

“Wow!” The girl exclaimed and put her hands together. “You’re quite smart! How did you know about that?! Hey, tell me!”

She dashed toward me, ignoring the foxes' yell to stop. They could only follow her and watch over her from behind.

Stopping in front of me, she barraged me with questions.

“Did you analyze it? Ah, or do you have the power to understand Magic at first glance? Or do you have similar power? Answer me! This is so fun~!”

Somehow, she fit the image I had of her. Cheery and merry. I liked her better than those stiff Magical Girls. Seeing she was still here, maybe she wasn’t found by them yet. Alright, I wouldn’t let them find her.

Akari was better this way. This was how a Magical Girl should be, not one to carry a burden on their shoulders with the hope of protecting the world from Beasts.

“Stop it, Akari! She’s dangerous!”

“Don’t bother her more than necessary! An Independent Magical Girl is crazy!”

Hey, that hurts my feelings, you know?! I glared at the fox that called me crazy. I meant, I wasn’t normal, but that didn’t mean I was crazy!

“Ah, sorry! I was too excited.” Akari apologized and took a few steps back, standing behind the foxes once again.

“My name is Saegusa Akari, a Magical Girl with the name Magiya Umbra! My hobby is having fun and anything related to fun! Also, yes. That Magic will wear off in 24 hours. I thought it would be fun to prank the Magical Girls in Japan with the balloon that appeared in the US. Nice to meet you!”

I nodded and smiled brightly. Right, right. We should have fun with anything related to fun. Also…

It was a prank, just as I had expected. The wand in my hand disappeared as Akari giggled and explained her Magic. It was an illusion. Saying I was disappointed because her element wasn’t related to entertainment, which I hoped for, wasn’t wrong.

But I managed to find someone interesting, so I would take that as a win. Besides, the balloon that appeared in the US was a real deal. Hope hadn’t perished yet.

“I am Arisugawa Asa. My Magical Girl's name is Arsy. It’s nice to meet you.” I introduced myself to her, which invited a gasp of pleasant surprise.

“You have no Magiya in your Magical Girl’s name! Cool!” She exclaimed.

“An Independent Magical Girl turned themselves into a Magical Girl. They can choose their name themselves…”

“So they have no Magiya in their name, a sign of contract with a Giant.”

“I see!” Akari nodded in understanding to the foxes' explanation.

Well, true. But I have no Magiya in my name because it was my in-game nickname… Not that I can tell them that.

“Can I call you Asa? You sound way more fun than the other Magical Girls. I want to be your friend.” Akari chirped and looked at me with shining eyes.

“Gladly.” I answered almost immediately, then snapped out of it when I heard her cheer.

“Yay!”

This… is so destructive! She looks so cute that I can’t say no!

However, this was good too. That meant I could continue.

“Akari, I can call you that, right?” I gained an energetic nod from her. “Want to join the fun I will have tomorrow?”

“Fun?!” She was clearly baited with the word fun.

“Yes. And it won’t be dangerous as long as I am with you.” I nodded. The foxes looked worried but didn’t say anything. They truly cared for Akari. Good things. “I want to prank some Magical Girls and the world. Do you want to join?”

“Obviously!”

“Good! Let me explain the plan!”

Alright. A partner in crime, get!

“Fufufufu.” I imitated an evil laugh after I explained my plan to Akari. The foxes, whom Akari called Ron and Kon, facepalmed at my plan. But Akari imitated my evil laugh, and we ended up talking about various things all night.