There was a nameless girl.
Her parents were unknown. Any other blood relations were unknown as well.
Naturally, a normal life was impossible, and she was left at a shabby orphanage, where she spent a lonely childhood.
When she entered adolescence, even that orphanage became too difficult to operate, and in the end, she had no choice but to wander the streets.
Needless to say, it was terribly dangerous for a young girl to walk the streets alone without a guardian.
But perhaps life was not so cruel as to simply tell her to die; the girl had a talent that allowed her to survive that life. Though her innate magical power was meager, her physical abilities were outstanding, enough to be called beyond the realm of humanity.
Had she used that talent in a more fitting place, she might have been reborn as a world-class athlete, but for a girl who had not even properly learned to read or write, that path was far beyond reach.
She repeated petty theft, stealing whatever she needed without hesitation.
She would swipe food from shops with lax security, sneak into bathhouses and run away without paying, or find empty houses where no one lived and use them as her hideouts.
Naturally, she had no friends. The only thing resembling a nickname she had been given was a cruel slur that reminded her of her miserable reality.
The girl’s life was, quite literally, like a gutter.
Until she met a certain girl in a big city she had visited on a whim, and received the name Ruri.
“What’s your name?”
“…I don’t have one.”
“Hmm, then let’s call you Ruri! This doll’s name is Ruri too!”
At first, the sight of the girl smiling so brightly in front of her irritated her to no end. In her life thus far, the number of times she had smiled could be counted on one hand.
Envying and looking down on what one did not possess was a common human mechanism, but the girl, who had not even memorized her multiplication tables yet, merely covered it up with the feeling that it was annoying.
However, the girl—Ruri’s way of thinking began to turn more and more positive after she met Brilliant Aste Diamond.
How to put on clothes. How to eat neatly. How to bathe.
Learning all sorts of things from Diamond, Ruri’s life changed completely.
She escaped that gutter life, at once long and short, experienced new things, and learned what a true life was from a friend her own age.
“Ruri! Let’s go already!”
“Yeah…!”
A person who always acted proudly with a bright, innocent smile. Someone incredibly precious to her.
Ruri made a vow. She would do anything to protect this child. And she would eliminate anyone who threatened her.
***
Rattle— rattle—
Inside the shaking car.
First, I caught my breath, then calmly sorted through the situation. Since my hands and feet happened to be bound, it was perfect for killing time.
‘First, there’s this girl’s true identity.’
The most important point was that Ruri, the maid who spent all her time following Diamond around and attending to her, was actually the magical girl Mica.
On top of that, my identity and information about the Silver Order had been exposed to that very person.
‘Why does this kind of thing only happen to me…?’
Looking only at the results, I hadn’t made a single mistake. If anything, the starting point of all this was Dia kidnapping me to her house so she could monopolize me.
She must have looked into my identity back then and dug up information about the Silver Order.
‘Judging by Dia’s attitude, nothing in particular had changed. Then did Ruri do this on her own?’
In any case, thanks to her openly attacking me in broad daylight, I was being hauled away in a black van without even knowing the destination.
“Won’t you tell me where we’re going soon?”
“Do you understand your position? Of course I won’t.”
“Then at least give me some water. I’ve been so thirsty since earlier I feel like I’m going to die.”
It felt like I hadn’t drunk anything for nearly three hours. If we had traveled that far, we had probably left for another city.
Right now, I wanted to drink some water and clear my head.
“Haa…”
With a sigh, she placed a plastic bottle filled with liquid in my hand.
For all this and that, it seemed she still had some affection built up from seeing me all this time, so she was willing to grant me at least this much.
A conversational technique where you first make them refuse an unreasonable demand, then get them to accept a small request as an alternative. If any of you ever get kidnapped, I hope you’ll give it a try.
“Gulp, gulp… whew.”
After neatly emptying the bottle, I decided to continue my conversation with Ruri, since a rare opportunity had presented itself.
“By the way, a magical girl kidnapping someone? Is it really okay for you to do something like this?”
“Before I am a magical girl, I am Lady Dia’s hands and feet. If something poses a threat to her, I will eliminate it, no matter what it is.”
“…I see.”
Kidnapping a human being was, at a glance, an act close to a crime. If it became known that a magical girl who protected the world had committed such an evil deed, her image would take a serious blow.
‘If I were an ordinary civilian, that is…’
I was a lowly grunt belonging to an evil organization, the kind that could make a crying child stop in terror. If they forced things through somehow by using the excuse that I was a villain, the direction of the arrows would change in an instant.
‘Magical Girl Mica, huh.’
The person known as the third-ranked magical girl after Ruby and Sapphire.
Her defining traits were martial arts to make up for her low magical power and assassination through outstanding physical abilities. For a magical girl, who usually came with a bright and colorful image, those were specialties rather far removed from the norm.
Perhaps because of that, Mica was the least popular among the four magical girls currently active. To begin with, unlike the other magical girls, she rarely showed her face.
The sight of her performing flashy martial arts did appeal to a certain niche group of enthusiasts, but in the end, that group was only a handful.
‘But her skills are the real deal.’
The danger level assigned to her by the Silver Order was a staggering 4. A number even higher than Sophia’s.
In a way, it was an appropriate value. Unless one prepared some giant monster that required magic to fight, defeating Mica in a person-to-person battle was practically impossible.
If her opponent was human, she possessed cheat-like skill that allowed her to instantly find weaknesses or habits and strike at them. Apparently, even Chris, an executive, had struggled quite a bit against her.
‘I don’t know why someone like that became Brilliant’s attendant, though…’
Ruri’s loyalty toward Dia was real. If she was a magical girl protecting the world, it wouldn’t be strange for her to receive much better treatment.
Maybe there were circumstances she couldn’t talk about.
‘In any case, I’m glad she didn’t confront Amber.’
After finishing the closing ceremony before break, it seemed Amber hadn’t come to the café and had instead gone off to play with her classmates.
The long semester had finally ended, so it was only natural for her to be excited. Even if her retest was tomorrow, I’d let it slide for today.
‘If she had come to the café and noticed my situation…’
One wrong move, and everything Amber had worked for until now could have gone up in smoke.
Magical Girl Mica was a monster who had acquired overwhelming combat sense from who knew where, as well as an original martial art suited to fighting people.
Even if Amber noticed my situation, overcoming her would be extremely difficult. If her magical power was being blocked on top of that, her chances would drop even further.
‘For now, it’s enough if I’m the only one in danger. Once the exam is over, the Boss will either come find me or do something about it.’
Even if it was dangerous, as long as I didn’t resist needlessly and obediently followed orders, it didn’t seem like she would actually harm me.
‘Considering she even kindly warned me, she probably won’t lay a hand on me for a while.’
Ruri had rather willingly accepted my request to wait for Amber. If she was dealing with a small fry like me, she could have dragged me away without allowing any questions, and I wouldn’t have had anything to say.
In other words, there might still be room to resolve this through conversation.
After that, we continued moving in silence for about thirty minutes, and the car, which had been driving nonstop for hours, finally began to slow.
“We’ve arrived. Please take my hand and follow me as you are. As I said earlier, meaningless resistance—”
“I know. It feels like we came a long way around, and even if I ran from a place like this, you’d catch me in three seconds anyway.”
“I’m glad you understand quickly. There is a step, so please be careful.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Ruri’s small, delicate hand wrapped around my right hand.
Despite her small build, perhaps because of the rough work of a magical girl, her hand had slight calluses.
Holding hands with a cute girl would normally be something to be happy about, but…
“There are stairs right in front of you. Walk slowly and follow me.”
Being blindfolded and having my hand pulled one-sidedly made my heart race for a different reason.
“I’ll do that.”
Was she wary of external devices? Only after descending an endless set of stairs for quite some time did we arrive at a chilly underground space that seemed to be our destination.
Step— step—
“I will remove your blindfold now. Please be careful of the light.”
“I get it, so hurry up and take it off. I’m suffocating here.”
And so, the obstruction that had bound my sight was finally removed, but the scenery of the world I saw after so long could not be called beautiful, even as empty flattery.
Because spread out before my eyes was a prison I had thought I would never have any connection to in my entire life.
—Clang!
“……”
Ruri locked me inside a cell and closed the barred door without the slightest hesitation.
“Please stay quietly here for the next few days. Torture does not suit my temperament, but depending on the situation, I may have to do something rough.”
I was seriously fucked.