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Chapter 125
Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–2 — Hypnotism ①
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
A cozy and nostalgic Chinese restaurant tucked away in a corner of Shokuraku Street in the Magical World. Faded beer posters and pennants of unknown regional origin hang on the slightly peeling walls, and a small bookshelf in front of the cash register is lined with tan comic books and brand-new weekly magazines. The TV set is a cathode-ray tube type, and since the TV stations in the Magical World broadcast their own broadcasting that is completely different from that of reality and hasn’t been converted to terrestrial digital broadcasting, the programs are displayed without any problems, although the picture quality is rough.
Even though the restaurant evokes a sense of nostalgia, the generation of Magical Girls who felt nostalgia for this scene has retired across the board, and now it is just an old-fashioned Chinese restaurant that has been deserted for years. The restaurant used to face a busy main street, but with the development of Shokuraku Street, a new road was built and the flow of people has changed, which may be one of the reasons why customers are no longer coming to this restaurant.
Although about half the seats were filled at lunchtime on a holiday, within an hour the customers were completely gone, and the only people in the restaurant were the fairy manager with a quiet humanoid macho body and a chicken head attached to it, and a pair of Magical Girls who were a bit noisy.
「Master! I have a manga! Can I read them?」
「You’ll have to decide what you want to order first. And I’ll read the latest issue, except for that one.」
One of the noisy duo, a Magical Girl with long pastel pink hair, Succubus, begins to rummage through the comics on the shelves with a twinkle in her eye, while Shadow, a Magical Girl with bob-cut black hair and bangs so long they cover her eyes, reaches behind her and secures the weekly magazine with a snap of her hand. Shadow is a regular at this deserted Chinese restaurant, coming in every week at a time when it is not popular, reading the latest issue of a weekly magazine, eating Chinese noodles, and going home.
Shadow has been the target of a number of Magical Girls because of a series of small misdeeds she used to do, such as sneaking into other people’s territory, hunting down Diests, and fleeing when she was caught out. This is why she wasn’t allowed to go near any public places in the Magical World.
When she was invited to join Elephant and her group, she refused to join because she was aware that she had many enemies, more than the fact that she wasn’t good at group activities.
「Yes! …Wait, I don’t really care about the manga!」
「You’re the one who brought it up.」
「Instead, please think with me why Sylph-san didn’t become my friend! Master! Master—!!」
Shadow sits cross-legged on the counter in her place and begins reading a weekly magazine, flipping through the color pages.
「I told you to decide what you want to order first. I’ll have the Chinese noodles. What about you?」
「Err, huh? The menu’s not here, you know?」
「It’s on the wall.」
「Oh, that’s all there is!? Isn’t that too little!?」
To avoid overlapping the pennants and posters, the menu, which can be counted on two hands, is posted high on the wall, written in calligraphy, including Chinese noodles and fried rice. In the past, it wouldn’t have been particularly small, but compared to today’s independent and chain stores, it would certainly seem small. Saki was rude, but she didn’t take offense, and seemed to be voicing her genuine surprise.
「Because, old man. That’s what the young ones are saying nowadays.」
「…Hmph, I’ve been doing it this way for a long time. If you don’t like it, go home.」
Perhaps to concentrate on reading the comic, Shadow tossed Succubus’ words to the manager at random.
The chicken-headed, muscular humanoid fairy with a twisted headband on his head replied brusquely as he plopped down on a chair placed outside the kitchen and spread out a newspaper. His voice was high and lovely, not suited to his strong, yakuza-like face and muscular body.
「…!!」
The manager’s face wasn’t visible to Succubus because he had been spreading the newspaper all along, but reacting to being spoken to, Succubus hurried tote the manager and peeked over the other side hidden by the newspaper, and then she returned next to Shadow again, unable to speak out in surprise.
「Master! That guy has a chicken face!」
「Yeah, and you’re depressing me! They’re not a person, but a fairy. Most of the inhabitants of the Magical World are fairies. Hey, you, what’s up with the fairies? Shouldn’t there be someone who’s been recruiting you to be Magical Girl?」
Shadow, perhaps having given up on Succubus whispering in her ear, closes the weekly magazine with a vigor and asks, leaning one elbow on the counter as if it were a bother to her.
「You mean, about Pooh-chan?」
「I don’t care if it’s Pooh-chan or Pee-chan, but usually new Magical Girls get a fairy. And they’re going to teach you how to be a Magical Girl.」
「At first he taught me a lot of things in a tedious way, but after I became an apprentice to Master, he only comes out once every three days or so! He said, “Ask your Master if you don’t understand something!”」
「Haah～～～～? What the hell, you want to call yourself Pooh-chan of Poohtaro? It’s not funny. Old man, two Chinese noodles!」
「Ah—! I haven’t decided yet! Aww! I’m against violence!」
Shadow, who had waited too long, decided on Succubus’ dish and ordered it impatiently, to which the manager replied only briefly, “Aiyo,” folded the newspaper crudely, and went into the kitchen.
In response to Shadow’s outburst, Succubus leaned forward and howled in protest again, slightly teary-eyed after being hit with a sharp decapitation.
「Tch, I never should have partnered with you if this is what it took.」
「That’s horrible, you know!? It’s not every day you find such a strong and cute apprentice!」
「You’re a self-aggrandizing jerk, didn’t you know that? I mean, you’re not that strong.」
With an implied retort acknowledging the cuteness of Succubus, Shadow let out a heavy sigh. Immediately after Sylph’s blunt rejection, she had become somewhat quiet, but within an hour she was back to her usual boisterousness. She was trying to cheer him up a little, so she asked Saki out to dinner, which was unusual for Shadow, but she felt a little regretful that she could’ve just left her alone.
To begin with, Shadow wasn’t originally the type to team up with other Magical Girls. If she had known that Succubus was so powerful, she wouldn’t have teamed up with her.
When a new Magical Girl teams up with other local Magical Girls, the most common pattern is for them to be introduced by fairies to work together, but when Shadow first encountered Succubus, there were no fairies by her side and no other Magical Girls in sight.
To avoid any trouble, Shadow usually doesn’t try to interfere, but she couldn’t bear to see Succubus fighting so dangerously, so she offered her assistance with a word of warning, and Succubus volunteered to be her apprentice right then and there.
Shadow accepted Succubus’ apprenticeship rather than being followed by Elephant, who owes her something and can’t come on strong, one of the reasons was that she thought it would be easier to work with a newcomer who could do what she said and drive her back to Elephant’s group, but she miscalculated greatly when she found that Succubus was more mischievous than she had imagined and didn’t do what she wanted at all.
「And you want to be friends with that Witch? Don’t do it, and don’t attempt it. Like I said at the beginning, she’s difficult, and she’s not normal.」
「It’s true that her guard seems to be very tight. But I’m not going to give up now that I’ve become a Magical Girl, which I thought was just a dream! If I don’t give up, my dreams will come true!」
「Hah, don’t make me laugh about your dream of becoming a Magical Girl. You still haven’t woken up after fighting the Diests yourself? Magical Girls aren’t heroines of the glittering world as you think. That Witch may be about your age, but her circumstances are probably nothing compared to yours. The less prepared you are, the sooner you die. If you understand that, you’d better stop being a Magical Girl right away.」
「We will have a strategy meeting immediately! Master, do you have any good ideas?」
「Don’t ignore me.」
Shadow snickers and threatens Succubus, who declares that her dreams will come true with a glorious smile full of hope to behold. In fact, Shadow’s words are not greatly wrong, perhaps because the Magical Girl system has greatly suppressed fear and anxiety when fighting Diests, in many cases, dreamy types who have a yearning for Magical Girls lack a sense of urgency to fight for their lives, and this carelessness often leads to defeat.
Shadow has a short history with Succubus, but this new Magical Girl apparently fits the type, and she fears that if left unchecked, she will one day die. Because of these circumstances, and also because she find it depressing, she often encourage her to retire by telling her things about Magical Girls that were really scary, but as one may see, the results are not good.
When Succubus first started working with Shadow, she listened attentively to the words of her predecessors, but after hearing the same stories over and over again, she began to ignore them completely, perhaps thinking it was useless to take them seriously.
「Oh, for heaven’s sake… You’re the one who started it all, aren’t you?」
「Nhn, I’ve never wanted to be friends and couldn’t be, so I don’t know. I guess it is important to tell her how I feel as many times as possible! How about asking Sylph-san one more time when I see her again?」
「You’re an idiot. You’re just going to be a nuisance!」
「Muh! What about you, Master? If you have an awesome strategy, just you say so!」
Shadow, who had given up on the idea that she wouldn’t be satisfied unless she went out with her, let out a sigh again and asked first what Succubus was thinking, and what came back was a level of content that it would be absurd to call it a strategy. She admire her spirit to try without being discouraged by the rejection, though, Shadow unintentionally cursed straight out that the witch wouldn’t be so naive as to drop her, and the pouting Succubus demanded a counter-proposal.
「Let’s see, I can think of three ways.」
Shadow, holding up three fingers in front of Succubus’ eyes, closes her ring finger as she speaks.
「In all ages and cultures, if you want to be friends with someone, the theory is to give them a gift. It’s the gift strategy.」
「But I don’t know what Sylph-san wants.」
「Anything goes, as long as it’s not too outlandish. Accessories are still too early to say. When you’re at my age… I’m just looking for something tasty to eat or something, right? There’s also the custom of exchanging sweets with other people of the same sex for Valentine’s Day, called “Tomo Chocolate” or “Friend Chocolate.”」
「Hmm-hmm, chocolates as a gift. There aren’t many girls who don’t like sweets.」
She lowers her middle finger to Succubus, who nods in admiration as she continues her story.
「If you don’t know what to do with the general, shoot the horse. I’ve forgotten the details, but if it’s too hard to attack the person herself, just break her down from the ground up. That Witch seems to be very attached to her fellow Magical Girl named Elephant. How about you first try to get her to get on the good side of Elephant-san and then get her to get on the good side of her?」
「Ugigi, I know that Elephant-san is a strong, kind and very awesome magical girl, but I am jealous that she is good friends with Sylph-san…! It’s unfair, unfair! I liked her first!」
「No, I don’t know. I don’t give a damn if you liked her first or not.」
「But there is that strategy! That’s amazing, Master! I wanted to be friends with Elephant-san, and of course with Blade-san and Press-san, but if it would lead to me becoming friends with Sylph-san, then I would be killing four birds with one stone!」
Pulling back slightly from Succubus, who began to curse with envy and frustration as if she were gnashing her teeth, Shadow finally breaks her index finger.
「This is the most certain way to work together with the team over there. In fact, you know that the foursome over there is getting along reasonably well. It’s like they’re trying to spread the word, and there’s no way an otaku like you wouldn’t know about it.」
「I’m not an otaku! I just like Magical Girls a little more than other girls!」
「…A Magical Girl with a certain amount of intelligence would realize that this was probably a check against territorial vandalism, but even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. It’s hard to tell if they really get along or if they are just playing nice. So if you join their team, at least on the surface, you can get along with them. And if they’re getting along, even if it’s a lie, they’re really getting along. Unless you’re really incompatible or they don’t want to be friends with you.」
「How many times are we going to talk about this? I already said that I would fight with Master!」
When Shadow continued to ignore Succubus’ protests, Succubus looked dumbfounded and then replied emphatically.
Ever since Shadow realized how troublesome Succubus can be, she has been talking about fighting on the other team if she doesn’t quit, as much as she advises her to retire. She said that she admires Tyrant Sylph, so she thought that would be better. Sylph might not like it, but he was confident that as long as she asked the good-natured Elephant to do it, she wouldn’t be turned down without a fight.
But every time she did, Succubus would insist on fighting alongside Shadow.
「Oh—oh—, what a touching word if you ask me that much. Why are you fighting with me? Hmm? Say it again.」
「I’m telling you, if I don’t do anything, I will cause trouble for Sylph-san, so I will have Master train me until I can become much stronger! Master is so forgetful, aren’t you? How many times do I have to tell you?」
「This is it. You’re the one who’s said it so many times, huh? Do you find this funny? Don’t you think that’s a good idea? You’re getting me in trouble.」
「…? Master is my Master, so isn’t it natural for you to be bothered by me? I will do my best to be of service to Master by respecting you for that!」
「It’s not the attitude of a respectful person. It’s the attitude of a licking club member towards her seniors.」
「Even if you say club activities…, I’m still in elementary school…」
Shadow was about to snap at Succubus, who was looking at her as if she were looking at someone in trouble, but her pride in not being seriously offended by such a child put the brakes on and she managed to hold her own. She somehow managed to drown her frustration by slurping down the Chinese noodles that arrived at the right moment.
「You have to do Itadakimasu, Master. Itadakimasu!」
「…Itadakimasu.」
Prompted by Succubus, Shadow expresses her thanks before the meal, which she has forgotten when.
It had been a long time since Shadow had shared a meal with someone like this, except for the victory party the other day, and she vaguely thought in a corner of her mind that she used to have someone she could say “Itadakimasu” to in a unified voice like this.