When strange things occur, a secret card that holds the key to the Devil Lord’s revival appears at the site.
One time, it was in a cabin deep in the woods.
Another time, it was by a river near the capital.
And in another instance, it was in a monastery far away from civilization.
Starting with the case at a certain noble’s estate, followed by the nighttime flasher-in-the-fog incident, Charlotte and the gang have been rushing to the scene of every strange case they’ve received word of, and wreaking hav─err solving the mystery.
The car-chase─or rather ship-chase down the river against a ghost ship was especially quite the thrill!
Charlotte is strolling down the academy hall with a song in her heart and a skip in her step.
Her days are always fulfilling and she’s always in a good mood. But today, she’s in a better mood than usual. The reason for that is because she’s been able to accomplish her top-priority assignment without a hitch.
The card we collected two days ago at Miss Iris’s former monastery makes our fifth. The remaining two are the left arm and the head.
The seven mysterious cards necessary to prevent the revival of the Devil Lord are known as Lucifer Cards.
So far, her squad has been able to win all of them.
Smooth sailing as can be.
A little too smooth… Charlotte was starting to have doubts.
The Devil Lord surely won’t let the situation go on like this for long. They may make a drastic attempt to score and make an epic comeback─nay, they absolutely will!
A feeling of recommitment wells up inside her, along with an indescribable sense of bubbling exhilaration.
But simultaneously, she is feeling another kind of the prickling feeling─almost like a void─deep inside.
Every magical girl has a supporting character, and they strive to boost each other up. But do I…?
She has friends. Irisphilia and Marianne. Flay and Liza. Most of all, her brother’s presence is more reassuring than anyone’s.
However, there’s nobody on equal grounds with Charlotte─someone who can be both a friend and a rival.
Simply put, she wants magical girl comrades.
That said, it’s not an easy thing to find. She’d asked Liza to fill the role once. Liza didn’t argue, but she did seem very apprehensive.
Is the magical girl-style an acquired taste?
Just as she slows down, someone calls from behind.
“Char! I’m glad I bumped into you.”
Running toward Charlotte is a female student with long silvery-white hair tied at the top of her head. Her ponytail swishes behind her. It’s Irisphilia.
“Miss Iris, is there something you want to speak with me about?”
“Yes. That is─to be more precise─I want to talk to Haruto. Professor Belkam stopped me earlier to pass on the message: ‘Tell Haruto to come to the headmistress’s office immediately.’”
“Brother Haruto?”
“Yes. But I’m in a rush to go to my part-time delivery job. I’m sorry to trouble you, but can you pass on the message when you see him?”
Haruto is probably at his cabin by the lake─which can be accessed by a teleportation device in Professor Tear’s research lab building.
Irisphilia also seems to be heading in that direction, but the distance is still too great. She must be anxious because she has an urgent commitment she needs to get to.
“I understand,” says Charlotte. “I was just about to go to Professor Tear’s lab building. I will relay the message to Brother Haruto.”
She could easily relay the message with communication magic, but her desire to see her brother won. If he’s not at the hermitage, she can always rely on the communication barrier.
“Thank you. I owe you one,” says Iris.
The two bid each other goodbye and Char turns around to hurry off. Just then─
“Charlotte, watch out!”
“Wh-Wh-Whua!”
─she almost bumps into someone as they’re turning the corner.
Fwah! Charlotte instinctively floats upward and twists herself out of the way.
She makes a firm landing.
“Phew! That was close.”
If Irisphilia hadn’t warned her, she would’ve collided with the on-comer. The little blonde girl sighs in relief as she realizes how surprised they must be.
As she turns around to apologize…
“That was amazing!”
“Huh?”
There stands a pretty and cheery girl. Her giggle rings bright like a bell.
“You just flew, didn’t you? Not jumped, but flew! You flew!”
She looks about my age, thinks Charlotte. Her long silver hair is styled in a half ponytail. She stares inquisitively with her golden eyes. The girl is wearing the academy’s uniform, but Charlotte has never seen her before.
By the way, her chest is bouncing every time she hops up and down. They look about the same size as Flay’s…? And she’s my age…?
“Oh, I see,” the stranger says. “That wasn’t a spell that doesn’t require an incantation, but a prewritten spell infused in your hair ornament. On top of that, there isn’t a single unnecessary part in it; the spell is focused purely on flight. Optimized for maximum efficiency─hold on. That’s not the only spell in your hair ornament…?”
The girl inches toward Charlotte, takes a good look at her accessory, and lets out a blossoming smile.
“Really amazing! I’ve never seen such an advanced magic device!”
Charlotte is at first overwhelmed by the girl’s invasion of her personal space, but now she’s thrilled to hear those words.
“It’s true! Brother Haruto truly is amazing!”
The new girl freezes for a moment, slightly surprised by Charlotte’s reaction.
“Brother? Those magic spells are your brother’s work?”
“Yes! Brother Haruto is so, so amazing, and by that, I mean he’s so incredibly amazing!”
The silver-haired girl stares in befuddlement at Charlotte, who is so elated that the only thing she can utter is “amazing,” but she leans in with enthusiasm.
“I see… And I can also spot various other spells nestled into your uniform and shoes. They’re well-hidden, too─not intentionally, though. They’re merely compressed for optimization. I can’t believe someone so skilled lived in the capital…”
Her golden eyes hazily glow.
I recognize this feeling from somewhere… thinks Charlotte. She notices Iris in the corner of her eye seeming perplexed and hesitant about speaking up.
That’s right. Miss Iris gave off a similar energy, too. But…
There is one more person who she recently realized had a similar atmosphere. Right when she’s picturing their face…
“Stand back, Lady Charlotte!”
…she hears a familiar voice from behind. A figure darts in and stands between her and the mysterious new girl.
The voice belongs to the blue-haired girl, Liza.
Vwoosh!
A gust of wind rises.
“Huh?!”
Liza had swung her lance and sliced through the air with the tip of her weapon.
Charlotte widens her eyes; the silver-haired girl is now standing several feet back from where she was a second ago.
Huh? But I didn’t sense any…
Although she was distracted by Liza’s sudden appearance, she didn’t sense the silver-haired girl’s energy shift at all.
The girl had moved backward from her original point without even bracing herself to act. Yet there she is in the exact same stance, only crouching slightly lower. It would be unnatural to jump backward and maintain the exact same pose.