The Silver Order, openly proclaiming itself an organization of evil, boasted vast capital and the exceptional concealment that came with it.
They had taken great pains to ensure that the location of their headquarters was known to no one, and on top of that, they had adopted a stringent security system in case of emergencies.
Yes. The sort where, the moment a magical girl’s mana was detected, the security robots would launch an all-out assault...
[ Engaging target. Combat personnel on standby at headquarters, deploy immediately. Combat personnel on standby at headquarters, deploy immediately. ]
“Goddammit!”
Engaging, my ass. The best I could do was put up a barrier and block the attacks.
And it wasn’t even me actively blocking them—the barrier was just unfolding on its own.
“Ugh.”
A bullet aimed at me suddenly veered off and thudded into the pillar beside me. Depending on where it hit, it had enough power to kill almost instantly.
‘What an absurd mistake...’
With my head full of too many things, I had failed to imagine that headquarters’ system would detect my mana.
It was something I could have realized if I’d thought about it for even a moment, yet I had made an absurd mistake.
I entrusted myself to the barrier and desperately crawled behind cover, escaping the line of fire from the hail of bullets.
‘At least I’m alive for now.’
At this rate, someone from headquarters would definitely come running. If they found out I had the exact same mana as Magical Girl Ruby, it would cause problems in all sorts of ways.
There was a good chance I’d get cut. Of course, not fired from my job, but cut in the sense that my head would actually go rolling.
‘At least there’s no risk of getting caught on CCTV.’
If I remembered correctly, out of concern for hacking, the CCTV cameras were only installed inside the building. If they installed them outside for no reason and the location of headquarters was exposed, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
Even though I had scanned my ID card right before this, there was no way anyone could connect that to me possessing Magical Girl Ruby’s mana.
‘Well, in this situation, it’d be normal to think Ruby sniffed us out and stormed headquarters.’
First, I should run and contact Amber. I needed to come up with a plan somewhere I could calm down.
Just as I was searching for a route that would let me escape while avoiding the robots’ eyes—
“...?”
Wait. Something was strange.
Until just moments ago, it had been noisy with the sounds of security robots moving and firing their guns, but suddenly, silence had fallen.
It was six in the morning. The quiet stillness of dawn, like any other day, continued.
Puzzled, I poked my head out from behind cover, and in the distance, I saw a group of security robots wrapped in red mana, breaking apart one by one.
“Don’t tell me.”
Apparently, the mana I had received from Rabi was capable of automatic attacks.
“...I think they said each one of those robots cost around three hundred million.”
In any case, it had nothing to do with me. I’d run first and think later.
***
“What in the world is going on?! Of all people, that brat found this headquarters, which should never have been discovered...!”
“Calm down for now, Chris. Don’t get so worked up.”
“But Lady Lapis...!”
Crystal, an executive of the Silver Order, could not calm her agitation even at her boss’s words. She paced around in confusion, making the area around her restless.
It had only been three minutes since the news came in that Magical Girl Ruby had attacked headquarters. If things went wrong, even Lapis’s safety could be in danger.
“This might sound strange, but nothing is confirmed yet. There could have been a flaw in the system.”
There had been no sign that the Magical Girl Association had noticed their movements. If so, immediately assuming this incident was an attack would be careless.
Above all, there was no way Ruby could appear here right now. Headquarters’ system had detected the mana of a human who should not possibly exist.
Lapis speculated that something else must have intervened.
In any case, the two headed for the main entrance to confirm the facts, but—
“Gyaaaaaah!!!”
A girl’s sudden scream rang out from ahead. And it was one they were very familiar with.
“That filthy scream... Is it Citrine?!”
“Hey... She’s still an executive like us. Is it really okay to talk about her like that?”
“That doesn’t matter right now! Why would someone who barely ever comes out of the lab be all the way at the entrance...!”
An indescribable anxiety overtook Chris. Her precious younger brother had only just gotten into a traffic accident, after all.
Before an irreversible incident could occur, she quickly ran to the entrance, and what she found there was—
“My robotssssssss!!!!!!!”
A blond girl wailing sorrowfully as she looked at the countless security robots that had been brutally destroyed.
At a glance, she did not seem injured. It looked like she was simply crying because her masterpieces had been destroyed.
“No, well. As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters.”
Contrary to expectations, Magical Girl Ruby was nowhere to be seen nearby. Only a few combat personnel were searching the area.
‘...Did she already run away?’
But she could not relax completely. If Ruby brought the other three magical girls and launched an all-out attack, the Silver Order would undoubtedly be annihilated.
“My robotssssss!!!”
“Enough! Stop making such a racket over a few broken robots!”
Chris snapped at Citrine, who continued screaming as if she had not grasped the situation at all.
“Hey, you! It took me a full five days to make just one of these!!”
“That’s less time than I expected...”
Of course, creating security robots of that level would be difficult even if some scientist rolling around nearby were given three whole years.
Through the genius ideas born from her exceptional mind, she had simply shortened that period to five days.
“They were three hundred million each, right? I’ll give you as much money as you need, so try making something better.”
“Obviously. As expected, even if it takes time, I should add a function to install a field that suppresses mana...”
Citrine answered the boss she served in casual speech without hesitation, then began muttering to herself as she gathered the fragments of the broken robots.
“Wait, wait, how can both of you be so relaxed?! This headquarters could be blown away in a matter of minutes if things go wrong!”
“You’re the one panicking for no reason. There’s no way this headquarters is going to be blown away.”
“Huh...?”
Her tone was like she was chiding someone who had misspoken.
“Because Ruby didn’t storm in here in the first place.”
“What?! She didn’t come here?!”
Gone was her usual composed demeanor; Chris raised her voice as if truly shocked.
“To begin with, that girl never had ‘running away’ as an option. You fought her on the front lines, so you should know that best.”
“It’s true Ruby has never shown us her back, but... the situation is different now!”
Calling other comrades in order to utterly destroy the Silver Order could not be called running away.
But as if frustrated, Citrine began logically refuting Chris’s question.
“If she was going to call the other magical girls in the first place, she would’ve had other methods, whether by phone or whatever else. The fact that she’s giving us time like this is strange in itself.”
Giving them time to escape was the same as throwing away the opportunity to capture the key personnel of her mortal enemy, the Silver Order.
Seeing that Chris still did not seem convinced, Citrine let out a small sigh.
“Haa... Should I show you the biggest proof that it wasn’t Ruby who attacked headquarters?”
“The biggest proof...?”
Citrine rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a terminal with a bizarre design that one would never think belonged to a young girl.
It was the harmful result of taking a smartphone and haphazardly modifying it, slapping on all sorts of functions.
On the terminal, along with a certain video, the following caption was playing—
[ Magical Girl Ruby Receives Commendation in Allied Nation Gravel ]
“...A commendation in Gravel.”
The island nation lay exactly opposite Jewel City, where they were currently standing.
In other words, Ruby was on the other side of the planet at this very moment.
“We talked about it at the last meeting too. It was so obvious I didn’t bother telling you.”
It was information the Silver Order had already grasped, so if anything, it was strange that Chris, an executive, had failed to notice.
“S-show me that sooner! Honestly... I forgot because I was panicking.”
“Always blaming others...”
In any case, this confirmed that Magical Girl Ruby had not infiltrated headquarters, but one problem still remained.
“Haa, haa, Boss~! Seniors~!”
Just as the situation settled down for the moment, Amber, the last executive, came running from far off, waving her hand.
“Hah, hah, I heard Ruby suddenly attacked, so... Uweegh...”
“It’s all right, just breathe. This is what happens when you don’t exercise.”
“You’re holed up in the lab every day too, Citrine. You’re in no position to talk.”
Only after a full minute did Amber finally catch her breath and ask for an explanation of what had happened, and Lapis kindly told her everything that had occurred so far.
To summarize roughly, Magical Girl Ruby’s mana had been detected at the main entrance, but Ruby herself was receiving a commendation in another country.
“Hmm, then why did the alarm go off?”
“Right. That’s the problem. There’s no way the system I made had an error.”
With a lollipop she had produced at some point in her mouth, Citrine carefully checked the Silver Order’s security system.
And in the middle of that, she discovered one shocking fact.
“Wait. The time Ruby’s mana was detected matches the time the most recently scanned ID card was entered.”
“...What is that employee’s name?”
Before Citrine could continue, Amber, who was looking at the screen, muttered a certain person’s name.
“Senior Jade...?”