1 Magical Girl, Murdered — Prologue

Author: Kumanano
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7313mj/1/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

“Nnh…”

My whole body hurts.

“…Kumakyuu.”

Kumakyuu is lying there.
She died shielding me.
She had been with me ever since I became a magical girl.
When I was lonely, when I was sad, when I was happy, she was always at my side.
But she isn’t moving.
Kumayuru died too, sacrificing herself so I could get away.

“There are no more bears left to protect you.”

The magical girl who killed Kumayuru and Kumakyuu comes closer.
A white cat sits on that magical girl’s shoulder.
The white cat speaks to me.

“A shame. You had talent as a magical girl, and then you went and broke the contract.”
“Thanks to that talent, I was able to kill the ones who killed my dad.”

To become a magical girl, you had to make a contract not to harm people.
But I used a magical girl’s power to kill people.

“A magical girl’s power isn’t meant to be turned on people. It’s there to protect.”

Those humans killed my dad.
A magical girl’s power didn’t protect him.
It’s worthless.
No. I was able to kill the ones who killed my dad, so in the end it had value.
Without a magical girl’s power, I couldn’t have killed the ones who killed my dad.

“If youma and magical beasts are evil, then people who kill people are evil too, aren’t they?”

Why don’t they count people who kill people as evil?

“I’m on humanity’s side.”
“My dad was human too.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I don’t get involved in fights between humans. That’s outside my jurisdiction.”

That’s this cat.
He says he likes humans, but at heart he doesn’t care.
Whether people die or not is none of his business.
He only looks at outside beings that harm people.

“Then is it all right for a magical girl to kill a magical girl?”
“Not without a reason, of course. You killed people. That makes you a failed product as a magical girl, so you’re slated for disposal.”

I’m a failed product.

“Then the magical girl standing in front of me is a successful product?”

She does as the white cat says, and fights youma and magical beasts.

“Of course.”
“You’re an idiot too. If you’d just been a proper magical girl, you could have gotten all kinds of benefits. And over your father getting killed, of all things.”

One of the magical girls laughs.

“That’s just because you hate your own father.”

This girl hated her father.

“Obviously. He stinks, he comes clinging to you, he’s annoying. Better off without him.”
“What a child. You have no idea how hard your father works for you.”

The instant I say it, I get kicked in the face.

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

I didn’t know either.
I only found out after Mom died.
Mom died of illness two years before I became a magical girl.
I did the housework in place of the mom we had lost.
Dad said I didn’t have to, but I wanted to take Mom’s place. I loved her.
It was really hard.
Cooking, laundry, cleaning. And more than anything, money.
To cook, you need ingredients.
Dad started giving me money and having me shop, and that was how I learned how important money is.
People need food, clothing, and shelter to live.
The house we lived in had something called a loan, and we had to pay a lot of money every month.
Dad said you keep paying for decades, and only then does the house finally become yours.
To live, you need clothes, and you need odds and ends.
And more than anything, the warm meals we eat every day are there because Dad works and brings home a salary.
The girl in front of me doesn’t even know that.
That we get to wear clean clothes, eat tasty food, and live in a warm house because we have a father who works for us.

“What. What’s with those eyes.”

I get kicked again.
I can’t move, so I can’t dodge.

“And this is for the other magical girls too.”

The twintail magical girl kicks me again.

“Heh heh. This is funny. You put us through so much, and now you’re crawling on the ground.”

The magical girl laughs.

“Thanks to you, it’s a complete mess.”

The white cat comes in front of me.
A little closer.

“I told you, didn’t I? A magical girl’s power isn’t a power for killing people.”
“You killed my summoned beasts with that magical girl’s power, and you still say that?”

I had summoned bear beasts as familiars.
But Kumayuru was killed so I could get away, and Kumakyuu died protecting me from the magical girls’ attacks.

“A fallen magical girl’s familiars are slated for disposal.”
“Heh heh.”

A smile spills out.
A fallen magical girl.

“What’s so funny?”

If I can’t even protect my family, then that’s fine.
I’m not a magical girl together enough to smile after my dad was killed.
I don’t intend to put up with it, either.
If it’s to protect what matters, I’ll even fall.
But I couldn’t protect anything.
Dad was killed, and Kumayuru and Kumakyuu died protecting me.
Because I didn’t have the power.

“Just kill me already. I don’t have any attachments left to this world.”

Dad is gone, and Mom is gone.
Kumayuru and Kumakyuu are gone too.
There’s no reason to live in this world.
If I die, I can go to Dad and Mom.
I can see Kumayuru and Kumakyuu.

“Come on, just kill her already.”

An injured magical girl says it to the Cat God.
The moment they decided to kill me, they’re the same kind of crook I am.
But the magical girls in front of me don’t understand that.

“Can I say one last thing?”
“What is it?”
“Let me at least say thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“Without this power, I couldn’t have gotten revenge for my dad.”

And I couldn’t have killed you.
That last line I murmur in my heart.

“…”
“What did you say? Can’t even make a sound anymore?”

The cat comes closer.
Closer. More.

“I said ‘demon.'”
“I’m a god.”

The white cat scratches my face as I lie there.
My senses are already numb; I can’t tell that it hurts.

“Well then, would you die for me?”

My hands and feet won’t move.
But my mouth will.
I bite down on the white cat’s leg.

“What. Let go!”

I bite with everything I have.
For Kumayuru and Kumakyuu.
Even if I die, I can’t die like this.
Dad, Mom, Kumayuru, Kumakyuu, I’m heading your way now.
I amplify my mana.
I burn my life.

“Stop her! Attack!”

The magical girls strike at me.
But I don’t loosen the teeth I’ve clenched.
It’s a shame I won’t be able to check whether they died.
I let my mana run wild, and explode, taking the magical girls and the Cat God with me.