16 Magical Girl Goes to Sarche’s House

Author: Kumanano
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7313mj/16/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

“Um, are you done asking questions?”

The woman speaks to me as I burst out laughing.

“One last thing.”
“What is it?”
“Are you connected to the Cat God? No—do you have any connection to a god?”
“Um, a god? A god like the ones people worship?”

I nod.

“Did you come to me on a god’s orders?”

Even if this is another world, if gods are connected to each other, it could be orders from a god of this world.

“Gods are the ones you make wishes to when you’re in trouble, right?”

I nod again.

“I do pray to the gods sometimes, but I’ve never met a god, and I’ve never heard one’s voice. So I haven’t received any orders. Besides, even if you want to meet a god, you can’t, can you?”

From the woman’s tone and expression, it really does seem she’s never met a god.

“Was that answer all right? Well then, it’s my turn to ask questions. What’s your name?”

The woman asks my name again.
I know this is another world, but that doesn’t mean the woman in front of me is an ally.
But I need information.
So I decide to give my name honestly.

“Yuna.”

A full name isn’t needed.
The woman only gave her name too.

“Yuna, where did you come from?”

Is it all right to answer that I came from another world?
She might think I’m crazy, and not believe me.

“A place really far from here. A place you—no, a place no one knows.”
“The countries whose names you said earlier.”

For now, I nod.

“How did a child like you get here from a country I don’t know either?”
“I think someone else’s power sent us here.”
“Someone else’s power? Who?”

I think it was Dad and Mom.
That event feels like a dream too.

“I don’t know. That’s why I thought whoever sent us here was your ally.”
“I’ll deny that. And I’m not your enemy either. So don’t look at me with such suspicious eyes.”

Without noticing, I must have been tensing up.
I don’t think this woman has anything to do with the Cat God.
If she did, we’d already be fighting.
I let the tension out.

“But why get involved with me? Even I think I’m a suspicious kid.”
“Because you were crying, weren’t you. I can’t just leave a crying girl.”

Until a moment ago I cried from seeing Dad and Mom.
I cried because Kumayuru and Kumakyuu are alive.

“Even if I was crying, it’s none of your business, is it?”

Even if I cried, she’s a complete stranger.
The Cat God didn’t help me, and neither did the other magical girls.

“I’m not so cold a person as to leave a crying child. What would it take for you to believe me?”

I don’t have that answer.
While I’m wondering what to do, Kumayuru and Kumakyuu start walking toward the woman.

“Kumayuru, Kumakyuu!”

Kumayuru and Kumakyuu sit in front of the woman.
Kumayuru and Kumakyuu have no hostility toward her.
It’s like they’re telling me this person is safe.

“Um, what is this?”
“It looks like Kumayuru and Kumakyuu are saying it’s all right to trust you.”

If she were dangerous, they wouldn’t leave themselves unguarded.

“That’s nice to hear.”

The woman strokes Kumayuru’s and Kumakyuu’s heads.

“Oh my, from far away I thought they were scary bears, but they’re cute bears.”

If Kumayuru and Kumakyuu trust the woman, I decide to trust her too.

“Um, I’m sorry. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“Hee hee. I’m glad you trust me. Just to check, do you have somewhere to go back to?”

…Somewhere to go back to.
There’s nothing like that.
If this is another world, I can’t go back even more.
And Dad isn’t in the original world.
More than anything, I have nowhere I belong.

“Looks like you don’t. Then let’s go to my house.”
“……”

When I stay silent, she takes that as an answer, I suppose, and invites me.
I can’t go to Dad and Mom.
I don’t even know where this is.
If I’m going to live in this world, I need a way to live.
For that, I need knowledge.
Kumayuru and Kumakyuu trust her, so I decide to go with the woman… with Sarche.

“But where’s the house…?”

There’s not even one house around, let alone other buildings.

“Deeper in this forest.”

The woman looks at the forest beyond the meadow.
There’s a forest beyond the meadow.
Sarche starts walking toward that forest.
If you’re going to kill someone, a place that doesn’t stand out is best.
I know from experience. You can’t kill people in crowded places, or open places.

“If you mean to kill me—”
“That’s not it. There really is my house deeper in this forest. What kind of environment did you grow up in? You doubt too much.”

I mean to trust her, but I doubt her on reflex.
That might be because I fought the Cat God and the magical girls I used to trust.

“Because people I trusted (the Cat God) betrayed me, and friends I thought were allies (the magical girls) almost killed me.”

I was killed, but since I’m alive I’ll say I was almost killed.

“Dad was killed by friends too.”
“Um, I’m sorry. And you’re a child. But is there a world that full of betrayal?”
“No. It’s just that Dad did the right thing and got killed, and I almost got killed too.”
“Um, and your mother?”
“She died of illness when I was little.”
“Um, I’m sorry.”

Sarche apologizes over and over.

“You had no way of knowing my parents died, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

She’s a complete stranger. We only met today. Of course she wouldn’t know.

“But I thought I might have been inconsiderate.”
“I wouldn’t get angry over something like that.”
“How old are you?”
“Ten.”

It’s still eight months before I turn eleven.

“Ten… You’re not very childlike.”
“You said it too, Sarche. What kind of environment did I grow up in. I think kids change depending on the environment they grow up in.”

I’ve understood for a long time that I’m not very childlike.
When everyone in class was playing, I was cooking, doing laundry, cleaning.
At everyone’s house, their mom does that.
But I didn’t have a mom.
I wanted to be useful to Dad, so I never thought of it as something I hated.
Then I became a magical girl, went through all kinds of things, and I think I changed.
On top of that, the Cat God said that when mana activates, your intelligence develops.
In fact, schoolwork was all easy.
So I was smarter than the kids who went to cram school.
At the time I felt like I was cheating, and sometimes I felt guilty about it. But I was doing magical girl work while everyone was playing or watching TV with their families, so I’d started thinking it was all right to have that much of a benefit.
And after Dad was killed, and I took revenge, I think I lost my childlikeness.
Kumayuru and Kumakyuu press against me from both sides.

“Are you worrying about me? Thank you.”
“Hee hee. When those bears are here, you have a childlike expression.”
“Kumayuru and Kumakyuu are my important family.”

When Kumayuru and Kumakyuu are here, maybe I can be a child.
While we talk like that, we come through the trees and a building comes into view.

“A house?”

There was a house like a log house.
A house like this, in the forest.

“Um, it’s a little messy, but don’t mind it.”

Sarche gives me a warning, opens the door, and goes inside.
I go inside too, with Kumayuru and Kumakyuu.
And once we’re in the house, I can’t get any words out.

“…A little?”

That’s not a little. It’s pretty bad.
Things are scattered on the floor.

“It’s because no one ever came.”

That’s an excuse.
Even if no acquaintances come, you should clean, do laundry, and tidy up.