Unmarked Chapter 2

Chapter 02: The Princess and Her Four Followers

Magical Girls and human beings were not two different kinds of creatures.
魔法少女和人类，并非两种不同的生物。

Magical Girls were actually human beings. Human beings could transform into Magical Girls.
魔法少女实为人类。人类变身为魔法少女。

However, Magical Girls were not ordinary people. Thanks to the effects of Magic, their potential was stimulated to their absolute limits.
不过，魔法少女已非凡人。因为魔法的效力，她们的潜能被激发到了极致。

“Losing the right to be a Magical Girl implies losing the quality of being a living creature. In other words, that would be death~pon.”
“失去作为魔法少女的权利意味着失去作为生物的本质。也就是说死掉了pon。”

“Which is why I said I don’t want this. If we’re going to die, then I’d rather go back to being an ordinary person.”
“所以说我不愿意啊。会死的话我宁愿做回普通人。”

“Even if you’re not willing, you can’t turn back now ~pon.”
“就算你不愿意，事到如今也已经不能回头了pon。”

“What do you mean, we can’t turn back now?”
“不能回头是什么意思？”

“What people call Magical Girls are just like warriors who bear the destiny of battle ~pon. When faced with danger, they do not despair, using their wits, their courage and their Magic to overcome difficulty, and take pleasure in their battle with the strong--”
“所谓的魔法少女，就和背负着与生俱来的战斗宿命的战士一个样pon。面临危机时她们绝不沮丧，用智慧、勇气和魔法来度过难关，并且在与强者的战斗中感受欢愉——”

Snow White powered off her Magical Phone, forcibly terminating her conversation with Fav. She had argued with it many times after she had scrolled through the chatlog several days ago and saw its conversation with Clamberry, but they could not come to an understanding.
白雪关掉了魔法终端的电源，硬生生地切断了和法布的对话。从几天前开始她就一直浏览聊天室的聊天记录，从看到库兰贝莉和法布的对话之后和它进行过多次争论，但就是不能达成共识。

Snow White said that she would rather not be a Magical Girl if she might die. Fav had responded by saying that abandoning her identity as a Magical Girl meant that she would die anyway. She said, why didn’t you tell us about a rule like that before turning us into Magical Girls, and it replied, you were the ones who started playing the game. Their back and forth was like a pair of parallel lines, which would never meet in the middle, and it had carried on until just now.
白雪说如果会死掉的话那宁愿不做魔法少女，法布就回应说放弃魔法少女身份的话结果还是会死。这边说有这样的规则干嘛在我们变成魔法少女前不说，对方就说开始玩游戏的可是你们自己。这种说不到一块去的口舌之争就像两条永不相交的平行线一样，一直延伸到现在。

Snow White sighed.
白雪叹了口气。

She could not tell anyone about the fact that she was a Magical Girl. That was because if anyone else found out about this, her status as a Magical Girl would be revoked, and she would die. She could not discuss it with her parents or friends. If she told anyone else that she would die if this kept up, then she would die in the moment the words left her mouth.
自己是魔法少女这件事情，不能告诉任何人。因为如果被别人知道了这件事，自己作为魔法少女的资格就会被剥夺并死去。不能和父母朋友商量。要是告诉别人这样下去自己会死，那么在说出口的那一刹那，死神就会降临。

Two days after the previous chat meeting, the local news column of the newspapers reported the death of a 24 year old woman called Nemu Sanjou. According to the report, her time of death coincided with the end of the meeting, and she had died of a heart attack despite being young and not possessing any chronic diseases. Be it the name, time of death and the manner of death, there was no doubt that it was Nemurin.
上次聊天室集会的两天后，报纸上地方版面的讣告栏里简短登载了一个叫三条合欢的24岁女性的死讯。据报道，她的死亡时间正好是集会结束的时候，年纪轻轻而且没有什么宿疾却因心脏麻痹突发而死去。不论是从名字还是死亡时间还是死因来看，除了眠眠不可能是别人。

--It’s true, I really will die.
——真的，会死的啊。

Snow White sighed again, staring off toward the distant horizon. WIth her Magical Girl’s eyesight, she could clearly see the ocean even from the top of the steel tower. Several fishing boats had already sailed out of the bay. As she saw that scene, a nameless anger burned within her; why were others so relaxed while she was so troubled? This was ridiculous. However, she quickly realised that she was being unreasonable, and she became even more dejected.
白雪再次叹了口气，眺向远方的地平线。以魔法少女的视力，即使是在铁塔上也能把大海清清楚楚地收入眼底。已有几艘渔船驶出海湾。看到这样的情景，她不禁无名火起：自己这么烦恼别人却这样轻松，真是岂有此理。然而很快她就意识到自己是在无理取闹，变得更颓丧了。

Ultimately, she was just worried about herself. Faced with her own problems, she could only set Nemurin’s death aside. They had spoken so much during the chat meetings, and she had viewed her as a fellow Magical Girl, but after crying and going to sleep, all that remained was her own worries about herself. She hated herself for that. The fear of death made her stomach churn like a raging ocean, and she felt nauseous and wanted to throw up, But she truly did not want to die, she did not want to die, she did not want to die, dying was too scary.
说到底我也只是在担心我自己啊。在自己的事情面前，眠眠的死也只能靠边站。明明在集会时聊了那么多，明明自己把她看作魔法少女的同伴，可是哭过后一觉睡醒，却只剩下对自己的担心。真讨厌自己。对死亡的恐惧让肚子翻江倒海，止不住地反胃想吐。但是我真的不想死，不想死，不想死，不想死，死亡太可怕了。

She heard a noise and looked beside her, and Snow White foind that La Pucelle was pointing her Magical Phone at her and fiddling with something.
听到声音看向隔壁，雪白看到圣少女正把魔法终端朝向这边在操作着什么。

“What are you doing?”
“在做什么啊？”

“Mm. Ah, that ought to do it.”
“嗯。啊，这样就可以了。”

An RPG level-up sound effect played.
RPG游戏的升级音乐响起。

“Can I see your Magical Phone?”
“给我看看你的魔法终端可以吗？”

“I can… what are you doing?”
“可以是可以啦……你到底在干什么啊？”

She opened her Magical Phone and checked the display: the current time, humidity, temperature, Magical Candy count--
打开魔法终端，确认显示画面：现在的时间、湿度、气温、魔法糖果的总量——

“...Huh?”
“……呃？”

If Snow White had not remembered wrongly, she had more Magical Candies than this last night, but now only half the original amount were left.
如果没记错的话，昨晚白雪应该有更多的魔法糖果，但现在只剩下原来的一半左右了。

“Er, what’s all this about?”
“呃，这是怎么一回事啊。”

“Calm down, I’ll restore it for you right away.”
“冷静点，马上帮你回复原状。”

THe RPG level-up music played once more. The display showed that her Magical Candy amount had returned to the number which Snow White remembered.
RPG游戏的升级音乐再次响起。画面上显示的魔法糖果的数量回到了雪白记忆中的样子。

“What is this…”
“这到底……”

“Didn’t Fav tell you already? The Magical Phone firmware just got a version update. It has more functions now. This, ah, is the ability to transfer Magical Candies. You can trade them even if the other party’s Magical Phone isn’t on. Although, it seems transferring Candies takes a bit of time.”
“法布不是说过吗，魔法终端的系统已经升级了。现在它的功能增加了。这个呢，是转让魔法糖果的功能，就算对方的魔法终端没有开机也能交易哦，虽然好像转移糖果要花点时间。”

“So that means…?”
“所以就是说……？”

“Given the timing of the firmware update, this function is probably to allow everyone to work together to increase their candies.
“从系统升级的时机来看，这个功能大概是要让大家合作一起来增加魔法糖果吧。”

Snow White stared at the face of the knight sitting beside her.
白雪目不转睛地盯着坐在隔壁的骑士的脸。

There was an excited look on that face. Even on this desolate, lonely and gloomy night, there was a cool beauty to that face atop the steel tower.
那张脸庞正显出饶有兴味的神色。即使是在这个萧索孤寂阴气沉沉的夜晚，铁塔上的这张脸庞仍然带有一种凛然之美。

“Sou-chan, are you planning to collect Magical Candies?”
“小飒你是想收集魔法糖果吗？”

“I told you, don’t call me Sou-chan. If what Fav says is true and that we’ll die if we don’t collect Candies, then wouldn’t it be better to do as he says?”
“都叫你别喊我小飒了。真如法布所说不收集魔法糖果就会没命的话，照做不更好吗。”

“Aren’t you afraid?”
“你不觉得害怕吗？”

“Aren’t you afraid, Snow White?”
“白雪不害怕吗？”

“Of course I’m scared. I don’t want something where it’s either you or me. If I die, I can’t see my parents and friends again, I can’t watch any more Magical Girl anime, I can’t eat delicious food or have fun…”
“当然害怕啊。不是你死就是我亡，我不想这样。死了的话就不能再和父母朋友见面，不能再看魔法少女的动画，不能再吃好吃的玩好玩的了……”

“So you’re scared. Actually, I’m scared too. How couldn’t I be?”
“是会怕啊，其实我也怕，怎么可能不怕呢。”

La Pucelle’s face tensed up. Snow White was startled by the sudden presence around him and reflexively backed away. La Pucelle’s hand covered hers, and she sucked a breath in, but she did not shake it off.
圣少女的脸紧绷了起来。白雪被其气势震慑到了，反射性地想要离开。圣少女的手覆上她的手，她倒吸了一口气，但并没有拂开它。

“Still, if we do nothing because we’re afraid, then we’ll be the next ones to be eliminated. You don’t want that, right? If so, then let’s work hard together, the two of us.”
“但是啊，因为怕就什么都不做的话那下次出局的人就是我们了。你不想这样吧？是的话就两个人一起努力吧。”

That expression was the exact same one which Snow White had seen on TV all this time, on the faces of Magical Girls offering their assistance. It was a look which conveyed the determination within their heart to protect the things which were important to them, of Magical Girls willing to challenge a foe far more powerful than themselves. Were the other Magical GIrls like this? Had they gathered their resolve like La Pucelle had. It’s probably me, who’s so scared that she doesn’t know what to do next, who’s the odd one out, she thought, and Snow White felt like she had been abandoned by her friends.
那是与白雪长期以来一直声援的出现在电视上的魔法少女们一模一样的表情。那是一种与胸中藏有要守护重要之物的决意，勇敢地向远远强于自己的敌人发起挑战的魔法少女们如出一辙的表情。其他的魔法少女也是这样的吗，像圣少女那样已经做好觉悟了吗。“大概害怕到不知道该怎么办才好的我才是奇怪的人吧。”这样想着，白雪觉得自己像被同伴抛弃了一样。

What would Nemurin say if she were here? As Snow White thought of how she would always smile and listen to others, she unconsciously dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the edges of her sleeves.
如果是眠眠的话她会说些什么呢。想起总是笑眯眯地聆听别人说话的她，白雪不觉用袖口擦了擦眼角。

“Don’t cry, Snow White.”
“白雪，别哭了。”

La Pucelle drew her sword from her sheath, offered its hilt to Snow White, and then knelt with both knees on the ground. A cold gleam travelled up the edge of the 50 centimeter blade.
圣少女拔剑出销，把剑柄朝向白雪，而后双膝跪地。大约50厘米长的剑刃上，寒光闪闪跃动。

“Snow White, my ally, I do hereby swear; even though my body shall be ground to dust, I shall serve you as your sword.”
“我的盟友白雪哟，我在此起誓：哪怕此身将灭，也要成为你的利剑。”

In contrast to her dramatic nature of her actions and speech, La Pucelle’s eyes were filled with tenderness as she looked upon Snow White. Although La Pucelle had already told her not to cry, Snow White’s eyes still leaked large droplets of tears, which fell lightly upon the ground.
与其表演性质的动作和口吻不同，圣少女看向白雪的眼神里溢满了关切。虽然圣少女已叫她别哭了，可白雪的眼睛仍然不断涌出豆大的泪珠，盈盈将落。

She hugged La Pucelle tightly, and then whispered into her ear:
她紧紧地抱住了圣少女，在她耳边呢喃道：

“Thank you…”
“谢谢你……”

As she felt the warmth of her body, Snow White’s face suddenly heated up. She accidentally glanced at her, and her cheeks seemed to have turned red.
感受到了她的体温，白雪的脸忽地就热了起来。不经意地看了她一眼，她的两颊似乎也泛起了潮红。

◇◇◇

Ripple did not know what was it about her that Top Speed liked, only that she kept calling herself her buddy. Top Speed even gathered the other Magical Girls to gossip about her; that was something she had heard from Top Speed herself, without even having to ask.
波纹不知道自己哪里招最高速喜欢，只知道她一直自称是自己的伙伴。最高速还经常在集会的时候和其他魔女八卦自己的事情，这也是她直接从最高速本人那儿听说的，连询问都不需要。

It really made her mad, and Ripple could not help but click her tongue at it. However, she did not deny or reject her, and she certainly did not scold or strike Top Speed, simply did as Top Speed said. Top Speed probably took her silence as consent, and so she went to look for Ripple every day and the two of them would move around together.
真是让人火大啊，波纹禁不住为之咂舌。但是，她既不否定也不拒绝，更没用痛骂或者殴打最高速，只是依最高速所言行事。最高速大概是把她的无言当做了肯定，每天都来找波纹，两个人一直一起行动。

There was a reason why Ripple did not reject Top Speed, otherwise they could not have sustained a relationship like this.
波纹没有拒绝最高速那是有原因的，否则她们不可能维持这样的关系。

Ripple’s Magic was “100% accuracy with thrown shuriken”, which meant that it could only be used when people were in danger. However, situations like these were not a common occurrence, so Ripple could only rely on her physical abilities, and not her Magic. However, all the other Magical Girls could do the same thing as well, so she had no particular advantage there.
波纹的魔法是“百发百中的手里剑”，只有在有人有危险时，这样的魔法才能派上用场。但是这样的状况不是经常能碰到的，所以波纹只能依靠自己的身体机能而不是魔法。然而这样的事情其他的魔法少女也能办到，波纹占不到一点便宜。

Compared to her Magic that could only throw things, Top Speed’s Magic--the flying broom Rapid  Swallow--was far more useful. Ripple was not simply going around to help people with Top Speed; she felt that it would be much easier to find people to help if she had a bird’s eye view.
与只是扔东西的自己的魔法相比，最高速的自有魔法——飞天扫帚“迅燕<RapidSwallow>”显得更加有用。波纹并不是单纯地和最高速一起去帮助别人，而是觉得要找到需要帮助的人，从天上往下看会方便得多。

When Nemurin died, Top Speed had been angry and sad, even crying and wailing from time to time. Ripple watched her absentmindedly as she silently pondered what she would be doing after this. Being suddenly shrouded by the shadow death, with no explanation or forewarning, made her angry in her heart. It was not just once or twice, but every time she imagined her own death, her heart would ache as though pricked by needles, and it made her want to grab at it. But even so, she tried her best to remain calm.
因为眠眠的死，最高速时而悲叹时而愤怒，时而又大声哭喊。波纹心不在焉地看着她，在心中默默地地盘算着今后的计划。没有经过任何说明就被死亡的阴影所笼罩，这样的事态让她愤怒不已。不止一次两次，每当一想到自己死亡时的情形，她的胸口就会针扎般地刺痛，让她直想抓挠。但即便如此，她也一直在努力保持冷静。

Just as Fav said, she would have to collect Candies like her life depended on it. If she did not collect them, then only death would await her. She had to use what she could use, no matter what. Top Speed was useful, even if she was annoying, and so Ripple knuckled down and accompanied her.
必须如法布所说，拼上性命来收集魔法糖果。不收集的话只有死路一条。能利用的东西无论是什么都要物尽其用。最高速有利用价值的话，那么哪怕再不耐烦，波纹也要硬着头皮奉陪下去。

Ripple usually rode on the back seat of Rapid Swallow--her designated place--and she kept an eye on the district to farm up Candies. Top Speed Top Speed seemed to have an obsession with survival that bordered on the superhuman. In contrast with her usual attitude, she looked at Ripple with a stern face and said, “I can’t die.” When she heard this, Ripple’s response was silence, and in the end, Top Speed quietly added, “At least, not for another half a year.” When asked why it was half a year in particular, Top Speed simply answered with an absent-minded, bitter smile. She probably didn’t mean anything by that, Ripple thought.
波纹通常坐在迅燕后部的座位上——那是她的专用座位——巡视负责区域以赚取点数。最高速似乎有着与常人一样甚至是超乎常人的生存执念，她一反常态地以非常严肃的表情对波纹说“我不可以死”。听到这样的发言，波纹只是沉默不语，而后最高速又小声地补充了一句：“让我至少再活半年吧。”至于为什么是微妙的半年，最高速只是语焉不详地苦笑置之。反正她应该是随便说说的吧，波纹这样想道。

“Now then, we’ll take a look around the expressway, okay~?”
“那么今天我们就去国道那边看看吧，OK~？”

“Roger…”
“收到……”

“It would be nice if we could find a place to earn more Candies~”
“如果有更能赚到点数的地方就好了啊~”

Ripple suggested the entertainment districts, but the biggest entertainment district sat squarely within Calamity Mary’s territory, so Top Speed vigorously opposed it. Ripple countered by saying that they could not be so lackadaisical about matters of life and death, to which Top Speed replied by saying that it was self-defeating to put themselves in danger for the sake of living, and no matter what Ripple said, she could not be persuaded to agree. In the end, they came to a consensus; they would earn Candies within their responsible areas. Nakajuku and Kitajuku were quite heavily populated, but the disciplined castle town spirit of old was long gone, and the atmosphere there was quite leisurely. This was hardly a bad thing; it was a good one, even, but to the Magical Girls, it meant that there were fewer problems which they had to solve.
波纹提议到娱乐街区去，但市内最大娱乐街区的所在地城南地区偏偏是灾厄玛丽的负责区域，因此最高速对这个提议强烈反对。波纹反驳她说这样性命攸关的事情哪能慢条斯理，最高速就说为了生存而去危险的地方那是自相矛盾，说什么都不愿意点头同意。最后，她们终于达成了共识：在自己的负责区域内设法赚取点数。中宿和北宿虽然有相当的人口密度，但往昔作为城邑的尚武风气已经散尽，充满了闲适的气息。与其说这不是坏事，倒不如说这样更好，但对魔法少女们来说，这意味着需要她们解决的问题也随之变少。

The two of them ran all over the place in search of problems to solve, even going so far as to forsake food and rest. Then again, human beings no longer needed to sleep or eat after becoming Magical Girls. They had no time to worry about such fine details, because neither of them wanted to die, no matter what.
她们两个为找寻需要解决的问题而东奔西走，甚至到了废寝忘食的地步。不过话说回来，人变身成魔法少女之后就不再需要睡眠和饮食了。她们没有心思去关心这些细枝末节，因为她们无论如何也不想死。

As mentioned above, Ripple thought of Top Speed as “an incredibly annoying yet useful idiot, so I’ll stick with her for now”, While she could never let Top Speed hear that, given that they were landing on the roof of No. 7 Sankou Building together, Ripple had no choice but to revise her opinion of the other woman upwards.
如上所述，虽然波纹对最高速有着“人很麻烦但有利用价值姑且奉陪下去”这样的绝对不能让本人听到的评价，可至少看在两人同乘魔法扫帚降落在第七产光大厦屋顶这样的事情的份上，波纹也不得不提高对她的评价。

Since every Magical Girl had a different Magic, then in order to collect Candies more efficiently, the best solution was to team up with a trusted companion. However, such a thing was no small task for Ripple, who was antisocial and avoided contact with Magical Girls other than Top Speed.
既然每个魔法少女的魔法都不一样，那么为了能更高效地收集到糖果，最好就是能与值得信赖的伙伴结成小队。可是对于不大合群、一直避免和最高速以外的其他魔法少女接触的波纹来说，要集结到这样的同伴谈何容易。

Just then, Top Speed brought two Magical Girls along. If it was Top Speed, who frequently attended the chat meetings and ought to have good relations with the other Magical Girls, then it was only natural that she would know reliable Magical Girls who would not cook up plots and schemes.
就在这时候，最高速带来了两个魔法少女。经常参加集会而且应该和其他魔法少女私交不错的最高速的话，认识一些不大会耍阴招的值得信赖的魔法少女也不足为奇。

Among the two Magical Girls, one was called Sister Nana, while the other was Vess Winterprison.
这两个魔法少女一个叫修女娜娜，一个叫维斯·寒冬牢狱。

Sister Nana’s appearance was immediately recognizable as that of a nun. Besides her headscarf and long dress, which corresponded to a nun’s habit, another reason was because the look on her face always looked warm and genial. However, a proper nun’s habit would probably not be slit so high and have white thigh-high stockings underneath it. Ripple wondered if using parts which should not exist to arouse lust was part of a Magical Girl’s allure.
修女娜娜的外表让人一眼就能认出她是修女。除了包含头纱长裙等部件、类似于修道服的衣装，她的神色总给人温和之感也是原因之一。不过真正的修道服应该不会有高开叉以及白色长筒吊袜带吧。波纹想，靠本来不应该存在的部分来煽动情欲，是不是也是魔法少女的魅力之一呢。

At a glance, Vess Winterprison looked like a man, with neatly cut brown hair and standing a head taller than Ripple. Her body was wrapped in a straitjacket-like coat that was festooned with belts, and she had a scarf around her neck which was long enough to touch the ground. Her mouth was also firmly concealed by the scarf. It might be better to describe her as a prince of some country, given that the base colors of her outfit were a very drab-looking black and brown, her face was androgynously beautiful in a way only Magical Girls could be, and her coat concealed her feminine curves.
维斯·寒冬牢狱咋看之下像个男生，褐色短发梳得整整齐齐，个子比波纹还要高一头。她浑身包裹在拘束衣一般的满是皮带的大衣里，脖子上围着长可及地的围巾，嘴巴也被围巾遮得严严实实。以黑色或者茶色为主色调的这套装束显得冷峻非凡，再加上带有魔法少女特有美感的中性脸庞与掩盖了女性曲线的大衣，说她是某个国家的王子可能反而更合适。

“Hello, Ripple-san, my name is Sister Nana, and I hope we will get along… this is Vess Winterprison.”
“波纹小姐你好，我叫修女娜娜，请务必多多关照……这边这位是维斯·寒冬牢狱。”




“Hi.”
“你好。”

Sister Nana’s tone was placid, or, in Ripple’s words, slow. Vess Winterprison’s voice was deep and her attitude was brusque. Ripple though she was looking down on her. Neither of them left a good impression on Ripple, but since hardly anyone could, it was not worth worrying about.
修女娜娜口吻沉静，按波纹的说法就是慢条斯理。维斯·寒冬牢狱声音低沉，态度略为粗鲁，波纹觉得她目中无人。两个人都没有给波纹留下什么好印象，但因为几乎没有人能在第一次见面时就让波纹产生好感，所以并不值得在意。

However, more importantly, the look on Top Speed concerned Ripple more. After the two of them landed, Top Speed’s expression seemed very uncomfortable.
但是比起这个，最高速的表情更让波纹在意。放下两人后，最高速满脸为难的表情。

After their brief greeting, Sister Nana suddenly exclaimed:
简短寒暄后，修女娜娜突然发难：

“I think what’s happening now is not right.”
“我认为现在的状况不对劲。”

“Not right? What do you mean?”
“不对劲？什么意思？”

“Things between us should not be like this. We, who have been given power to protect the peace of this world, now look at each other with hatred in our eyes and ostracize each other. What good is there in that?”
“我们之间不应该是这样的。为了守护世间的和平而被赐予力量的我们，现在却互相憎恨互相仇视甚至互相排挤，这到底有什么好处呢。”

Sister Nana grabbed Ripple’s hand and leaned in close, and Ripple could not keep herself from furrowing her brow. Sister Nana paid it no heed whatsoever and simply continued as she wished.
修女娜娜握住波纹的手靠了上来，波纹不禁眉头一紧。修女娜娜完全没有在意只是继续自顾自地说道：

“I believe, that in an emergency like this, we need to be united now, more than ever.”
“我认为，正因为到了这样紧急的关头，我们更加需要团结一致。”

“You say that, but what exactly are we suppsosed to do?”
“说是这么说，可具体要怎么办啊？”

Top Speed asked that question on Ripple’s behalf. Still holding Ripple’s hand, Sister Nana turned and smiled serenely at Top Speed.
最高速代替波纹提出了疑问。修女娜娜仍然握着波纹的手，转过头去对最高速沉稳一笑。

“In any case, let us think about it together. If we brainstorm together, I’m sure we’ll come up with a good idea.”
“总之让我们一起好好想想吧。集思广益的话一定会想到好点子的。”

Top Speed smiled bitterly, while Ripple clicked her tongue, and Vess Winterprison coughed deliberately. Perhaps that was to reprove Ripple for her tongue-click. However, Sister Nana was not affected, and continued speaking without a pause:
最高速微露苦笑，波纹啧地咂了一下嘴，维斯·寒冬牢狱故意咳嗽起来。这声假咳可能是她对波纹咂嘴的责备。不过修女娜娜没有受到影响，她不带停顿地继续说了起来：

“Right now, we can only rely on our abilities and wits as Magical Girls to solve the problem. We have protested to the administration through Fav, but we have been ignored.”
“现在只能靠我们魔法少女的才智来解决问题了。虽然已经由法布向经营方提交了抗议信但被无视了。”

“Ah, so you tried submitting a report too.”
“啊，还提交了这样的东西啊。”

“Mm, we did, but it did no good at all. Fav said that this was how things were, so it would be better to just give up, but is a problem which we cannot just give up on. There has already been a casualty. Nemurin-san… her loss is a truly painful and depressing thing. What a pity.”
“嗯，提交了，但是完全没有起到作用。法布说现实就是这样还是放弃为妙，可这不是可以让步的问题啊。牺牲者已经出现了，眠眠小姐她……她是有多么万念俱灰是有多么悲伤痛苦啊……真可怜啊。”

A single tear fell from Sister Nana’s eye, and Ripple clicked her tongue again.
一颗泪珠从修女娜娜眼中滑落，波纹又咂了一下嘴。

She was just like her class rep in her second year of elementary school, who thought that she could make everyone her friend with a grand speech, and also like her class rep from her second year of middle school, who thought pitying others made her a good person. As for the fact that she could cry so shamelessly… well, women like that were everywhere, but the first person who came to Ripple’s mind was her own mother.
和小学二年级时的班长一样以为说说大道理就能把大家都变成自己的同伴，和初二时的班主任一样以为会可怜别人的自己是个好人。至于完全不以哭泣为耻这一点……这样的女人多不胜数，波纹在第一时间想到了自己的母亲。

By the look of things, what she had to say had nothing to do with collecting Candies together.
如此看来，她要说的话与互相合作收集糖果完全无关。

Ripple shrugged off Sister Nana’s hand, who stumbled backward before Winterprison caught her. Her shoulders trembled as she said:
波纹甩开了修女娜娜的手，她踉跄一步后被寒冬牢狱扶稳抱住。而后她颤抖着双肩说：

“Ahhh… how pitiful…”
“啊啊……真可怜啊……”

Winterprison looked over Sister Nana’s head and glared at Ripple. It was a gesture of rebuke for shaking off Sister Nana’s hand. The flames of anger burned in her brown pupils, a shade lighter than her own hair. Ripple would not back down either, and glared right back at her with murder in her eyes. Winterprison narrowed her eyes and Ripple’s lips went thin. Just as Winterprison took a step forward to cover Sister Nana, Ripple’s right hand went for the hilt of the sword on her back.
越过修女娜娜的头顶，寒冬牢狱紧紧地盯着波纹。那是对波纹甩开修女娜娜的手表示责难的视线。在呈现出比发色稍浅的茶色的瞳孔里，愤怒的烈焰在燃烧。波纹也不甘示弱，带着杀意回瞪她。寒冬牢狱双眼微眯，波纹湿了一下嘴唇。随着寒冬牢狱向前一步摆出了要保护修女娜娜的架势，波纹的右手也伸向背后搭到了刀柄上。

“Alright, we get what you wanted to say!”
“好啦，你们要说的东西我们都明白了！”

Top Speed was probably trying to clear the tense mood in the air, and so she clapped and loudly said:
最高速大概是想要缓解一下剑拔弩张的气氛，拍了一下手大声说道：

“We need to discuss this, so can we call it a day for now? Okay?”
“我们需要好好谈谈那今天就到此为止吧OK？”

“In order to prevent any further sacrifices, we must move swiftly…”
“为了不再有人牺牲我们要尽早行动……”

“Mm, we know and we understand. We’d like to discuss this matter and reach a conclusion. It’s because we know it’s very important that we want to carefully consider our reply to you, OK?”
“嗯我们非常明白也非常了解。我们想立足于此来商量出一个结果。正因为知道这是很重要的事情所以才想要慎重地拿出答复啊，OK？”

At great length, Top Speed managed to get a nod out of an unwilling Sister Nana, and then she hurriedly packed them onto her broom and sent them off. After that, she came back just as hurriedly and put her hands together before Ripple in apology.
最高速好不容易才让一脸不情愿的修女娜娜点头答应，然后就匆匆忙忙让她们坐上扫帚把她们送走了。然后她又同样匆匆忙忙地赶了回来，对着波纹双手合十低头求饶：

“I’m sorry~”
“抱歉。”

“Drop dead.”
“去死吧。”

“Aw, don’t be like, that, I’m sorry. She said she had something to discuss with us; I’m sure you would want to listen too, right? I didn’t think you would be so unhappy with it. If they have a good idea, it won’t hurt for us to follow it, right? I certainly don’t want to die, at least not for another half a year.”
“别这样真的很抱歉啦。她说有话要跟我们说，是你的话也会想听听的不是吗？我完全没想过你会变得这么不高兴的。如果有什么好想法我们照着做不也没损失吗？我可是绝对不想死的，至少也要多活半年。”

So why half a year, anyway? As Ripple thought that, she clicked her tongue again. How many times had she done that today?
所以为什么要是半年啊，这样想着波纹又咂了一下嘴。今天一天这已经是第几次了啊。

“What a pain…”
“烦死了……”

“I doubt they have any ill intent. I don’t know if their personalities just don’t mesh with you or something. But if  you want to fight, please let me off. I can’t die, I don’t want to be drawn into a battle with you and Winterprison.”
“她们也是没有恶意的吧。应该说是和你性格不合呢还是什么呢。但是现在要开打的话还是放过我吧，我不可以死掉。我可不想被卷入你和寒冬牢狱的火拼中啊。”

Ripple had the feeling that what Top Speed said about “I can’t die” was different from a simple fear of death. Half a year… what would happen after half a year?
波纹总觉得，最高速所说的“不可以死掉”和单纯的怕死不太一样。半年吗，半年后到底有什么等着她呢。

Ripple pointed at Top Speed and said:
波纹指着最高速说道：

“You…”
“你啊……”

“Hm?”
“嗯？”

“To think you even have ‘Who Cares What You Think’ written on your back…”
“亏得还把不容分说这几个字背在身后呢……”

“Ah…”
“啊……”

“And at the crucial moment you actually backed down…”
“到了关键时刻净给我退缩……”

“Aren’t you harsh as always… Still, I’m serious about warning you not to pick a fight with Winterprison. I told you before that Sister Nana almost got gunned down by Calamity Mary after walking into her territory, right? The one who helped Sister Nana escape the confrontation with Calamity Mary was apparently Winterprison. Sister Nana told me that while she was blushing.”
“你还真是一点都不客气呢……不过呢，不建议你找寒冬牢狱干架这一点也是认真的哦。我之前不是有说过修女娜娜闯进灾厄玛丽的辖区里而且差点被她打死的事情吗。那时帮助与灾厄玛丽硬碰硬的修女娜娜逃走的人好像就是寒冬牢狱哦。是修女娜娜红着脸告诉我的。”

As she recalled how Sister Nana wept into WInterprison’s chest, Ripple frowned. Top Speed had said that this situation was because Ripple and Sister Nana’s personalities clashed, but Ripple felt that this was not the case. The true reason was because her proposition was utterly meaningless.
回想起在寒冬牢狱胸前流泪的修女娜娜，波纹皱起了脸。最高速说出现这种状况是因为波纹和修女娜娜性格不合，但波纹觉得原因并不在此。真正的原因是，她的主张完全没有意义。

“She’s actually not a bad person.”
“她其实不是坏人啦。”

“Blindly faithful morons like that make me throw up…”
“盲信宗教满脑子花田的呆瓜真让人恶心……”

“Calling her a moron isn’t quite right… or maybe she’s just stubborn. Well, it’s one of them, so I guess she’s just telling us to work hard and collect Candies.”
“说是呆瓜似乎有点不太对呢……又或者该说是死脑筋吧。嘛反正就是其中之一，意思大概就是说你们该老老实实收集糖果。”

“Even when collecting Candies, you need to be able to defend yourself.”
“就算是老老实实收集糖果，自卫也是必须的。”

“All you have to do is run from trouble, right? I’m the speed queen of the city, you know. The name of Top Speed isn’t for show. There’s an empty seat on the back of my broom, and even with you in the back, nobody can catch up with me. That’s why I’ve been living my life correctly, keeping watch from above and descending when I see something happen. Collecting Candies like that ought to be okay, right?”
“躲过去不就好了吗，躲过去。我在市内可是速度之王哦，既然有名最高速那可不是光说不练的。扫帚后面还有空位，带上你一起飞走的话谁也追不上来。所以我一直老老实实地活着啊，在天上放哨，看到有情况再降落，靠这样收集糖果不就行了吗。”

If I keep arguing with her, it won’t solve anything, Ripple thought. After mounting up silently behind Top Speed, she reached out and put her arms around her waist.
继续和她纠缠下去也解决不了问题，波纹这样想着，默默地跨坐到最高速的背后，伸手围住了她的腰。

◇◇◇

True to its name, N-City’s Nishimonzenmachi was filled with temples.
(TL Note: West Temple District)
地如其名，N市西门前町有众多寺庙。

From grand, majestic temples to small, unobtrusive shrines, there were many temples here, lined up in neat rows.
从雄伟气派的大寺庙到毫不起眼的小寺庙，大量的寺庙伫立于此，鳞次栉比。

Of Nishimonzenmachi’s many temples, Oketsuji could be said to have the longest history… or rather, it was the oldest of them all. In truth, this temple had no noteworthy history about it, and nobody to clean it up. It was simply left to rot and decay by itself. While it was in the city, it was also a good hiding place for Magical Girls. Currently, there were five Magical Girls in residence here.
在西门前町的众多寺庙里，王结寺可以说是最有历史的……或者说，是最残旧的一座寺庙。这座庙其实没有能被誉为古刹的历史，也没有打理收拾的人，只是自生自灭荒废破落至此。虽然坐落于市区，却是魔法少女们不错的藏身之处。在这座寺庙里，现在住有五名魔法少女。

The Magical Girl Ruler adjusted the position of the crown on her head, sitting on her cape, which doubled as a mat.
魔法少女王权摆正了头上王冠的位置，坐在了充当坐垫的披风上。

“The Magical Phones’ firmware has been updated.”
“现在魔法终端系统升级了呢。”

As Ruler said so, she turned to look at a headless Buddha statue. A Magical Girl in a swimsuit sat there in the seiza position. If one said that her white school swimsuit and the goggles around her neck were simply swimwear, then her drill hair and the earphones on her head were the accessories which reflected her nature as a Magical Girl. The way her voluptuous body was encased by a child-oriented garment like a school swimsuit gave her an air of lewdness and immorality.
王权边说边把目光投向了无头佛像的位置。有个穿着泳装的魔法少女正跪坐在那儿。如果说纯白的学校泳装和挂在脖子上的游泳镜是纯粹的游泳装束的话，她头上的耳机和卷发就是反映她魔法少女身份的附属品。肉感的身体线条被学校泳装这种低龄向的游泳衣包裹着，反而透出一种背德的淫靡气息。

“After the firmware update, Magical Candies can be transferred between Magical Phones.”
“系统升级后，魔法糖果就可以在魔法终端间转移了。”

A Magical Girl with dog-like ears on her head poked her head out of a pit that was roughly one meter across. It looked like she could calm down best when she was hiding in a hole she had dug. She had paw gloves on her hand and a collar around her neck. The fluff on her clothes and the tights she wore underneath were white with black speckles, and a dog’s tail protruded from a hole in the back of her shorts.
头上有狗一样耳朵的魔法少女从泥地上直径一米左右的坑中探出头来。呆在自己挖的坑里似乎最能令她冷静下来。她手上戴着有肉球的手套，脖子上戴着项圈。衣服上的绒毛和紧身裤等地方是“白底黑斑”的纹样，狗的尾巴从短裤后部的洞洞里伸了出来。

“Do you know what this means?”
“知道这意味着什么吗？”

A crow wearing a ruby necklace sat on one of the rafter beams. And then, in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a black cat in long boots, and then in another blink, the black cat became two Magical Girls sitting side by side. They had white, swan-like wings on their backs and halos of light atop their heads. This was the true form of these angels with ever-changing appearances, and they looked to be around ten years old. Their one piece dresses and hairbands were a dark green color, which combined with their white dress shirts and bloomers to produce a neat and clean effect, like a pair of choir singers. The differences between the two of them was whether their hair curled inwards or outwards, and whether they wore their leg-ribbon on their left or right leg.
有只戴着红宝石项链的乌鸦蹲在房梁上。然后一眨眼的功夫乌鸦就变成了穿着长筒靴的黑猫，又一眨眼的功夫黑猫就变成了两个并排坐着的魔法少女。她们背上长有天鹅翅膀似的白色翅膀，头上顶着光环。现在这副天使的外表就是不断变身的她们的真正姿态，从外表来看是十岁左右。连衣裙和发箍都是藏青色，与白色的衬衫和南瓜裤组合在一起有着圣歌队服装似的整洁感。两人的不同点一是短发的发尾是向外翘还是向里收，二是脚上的丝带是绑在左脚还是右脚。

“So the people with more Candies can share a few with the people that have fewer Candies?”
“糖果多的人可以分一点给糖果少的人？”

The dog-eared Magical Girl Tama tilted her head as she spoke. Ruler heard it, then tossed off the words “Zero marks” before ignoring her.
有着狗耳朵的魔法少女小玉歪着脑袋说道。王权听后丢下一句“零分”就不管她了。

“Is it so we can coordinate the distribution of Magical Candies within our teams?”
“Ahh, that makes a lot of sense! Onee-chan, you’re magi-cool!”
“是让我们组队一起筹划协调糖果的分配吧？”“啊啊，听上去很有道理啊，姐姐你真酷！”

The twin angels Yunael and Minael who were pointing at each other were known as the Peaky Angels. Ruler gave their answer 30 marks.
互相指着对方的双胞胎天使优奈儿和米奈儿的组合名叫Peaky·Angels。她们的答案被王权评为30分。

“Swim Swim, what do you think?”
“泳泳，你的想法呢？”

Faced with that question, the swimsuited Magical Girl shook her head silently, and her very apparent bosom jiggled left and right with the movement of her head. Ruler spat within her heart. She had never had such a curvaceous body both before and after becoming a Magical Girl, and it made her feel inferior.
面对问题，身穿泳装的魔法少女泳泳沉默地摇了摇头，很有存在感的胸部随着头的摆动而左右晃动。王权不禁在心中吐了口唾沫。王权无论是在变成魔法少女之前还是之后都没有如此凹凸有致的身材，心中有种自卑感。

“I’m surrounded by idiots.”
“真的全部人都是白痴吗。”

She glared at them out of the corner of her eyes.
她斜瞪着眼说道。

“Idiots, every last one of them.”
“一个个都是没脑子的。”

The Peaky Angels looked away and hung their heads as if in apology. Swim Swim looked at Ruler without moving.
Peaky·Angels移开了视线，很抱歉似地耷拉下脑袋。泳泳则看向了王权，身子一动不动。

The idiots which Ruler was speaking of did not just refer to them. The Magical Girls who were desperately struggling to help others because they did not want to die like Nemurin were also idiots.
王权口中的白痴不仅仅指她们几个。因为不想像眠眠一样死去所以拼命地帮助他人的其他魔法少女也都是白痴。

“This is a message from the developers, and it means: go take each others’ Candies!”
“这是运营方发过来的信息哦，意思就是说：你们互相抢夺对方的糖果吧！”

“What? We can steal them?”
“We can?”
“什么，强抢也行吗？”“也行吗？”

“The experiment has shown that even without the other party’s consent, you can take Candies from a stolen Magical Phone and transfer it to yourself.”
“试验证明，就算没有对方的允许，也可以把魔法终端抢过来把魔法糖果转移到自己这里。”

“Really?”
“That’s really awesome.”
“真的吗？”“真厉害啊。”

“If all you can do is echo each other, than shut up. You two twits are annoying me.”
“只会附和的话就给我闭嘴，你们这对白痴烦死人了。”

The twin angels looked away again. Ruler sneered, and then continued:
双胞胎天使再次移开目光。王权哼笑了一声，继续说道：

“From now on, you will all work as I direct. If you don’t want to follow in Nemurin’s footsteps, then work hard!”
“从现在开始你们都要在我的指挥之下工作。如果不想步眠眠后尘的话就好好加油吧！”

“Work for you?”
“What do you want us to do?”
“为你工作？”“你要我们做什么啊？”

If echoing is all you can do, then shut up. Ruler dearly wanted to shout that at them, but rather than put them in their place, she chose to finish what she had to say.
“只会附和的话就给我闭嘴”，虽然王权很想再次这样吼她们，但和让她们闭嘴相比，她选择了先把话说完。

“It’s simple. We’ll attack Snow White. She ought to have the most Candies.”
“简单得很。就先去袭击应该有最多糖果的白雪吧。”

***

After becoming a Magical Girl, Mokuo Sanae was overjoyed at finally being able to possess a body which she rightfully deserved. She had gone from her priority elementary school to her priority middle school, to her priority high school, from there to a priority university, and then managed to obtain a job in the peak of industry, and through it all, she had always looked down on the people around her.
成为魔法少女后，木王早苗为自己终于能以应有的姿态示人而高兴不已。从重点小学、重点初中再到重点高中、重点大学然后顺理成章地进入顶尖企业工作的她，一直都看不起身边的人。

Sanae had always lamented: why am I always stuck with a bunch of idiots who don’t know my true value? In addition, she freely shared that opinion of hers, and so she had nobody close to her. Be it in school or at work, she was always alone.
早苗总是在悲叹：为什么我一定要和不知道我的价值的白痴们混在一起呢。而且，她还把这话挂在嘴边，因此身边没有一个亲近的人，无论是在学校时还是在工作后都是孤零零的。

In order to relieve her stress, she began playing Magical Girl Raising Project, and then she had become a Magical Girl. At that time, she felt that the question which had plagued her all these years--”Why am I always surrounded by idiots who don’t know my true worth?”--had finally been answered. The fact was that she was an ugly duckling, and even if there was a swan among ducks, the ducks would not be able to appreciate its beauty. On the day Sanae became a Magical Girl, she had quit her job.
为了散心，她开始玩“魔法少女育成计划”，而后成为了魔法少女。那时，她觉得那个常年困扰着她的问题——“为什么我的身边都是不明白我的价值的白痴”——终于有了答案。归根结底是因为我成了“丑小鸭”，而就算在鸭子中有天鹅，也没有鸭子会懂得欣赏它的美。早苗在成为魔法少女的当天就辞职了。

She stood in front of the mirror, and was very pleased by the image of herself she saw there.
她站在镜子前，为镜中自己的模样洋洋得意。

Her lustrous satin cape was speckled with gemstones and it was long enough to drag on the ground; her ivory scepter was one meter long and tipped with a carving of an eagle clutching a gemstone, and then there were the long dinner gloves and her crown. The crown was small and its design was simple, but the gemstone socketed in the center was clearly nothing normal, given its size and clarity. Her light purple air radiated an air of nobility and was bound up by hair ornaments, and on her feet were a pair of glass slippers. Her eyelashes looked like they would make a sound whenever she blinked. She did not need foundation or makeup; she felt that she finally did not need to worry about the things which would annoy normal people, and it felt liberating.
充满光泽的缎面斗篷上星星点点地散落着宝石，长可曳地；一米长的象牙权杖上部有“抓着珠宝的鹰”的雕像，另外还有晚会用的长手套和王冠。虽然王冠很小设计也很简单，但镶嵌在中间的钻石无论是从大小还是从透明度来看都不是寻常玩意。散发着高贵气息的浅紫色头发用发饰绑起，脚下是一双水晶鞋。眼睫毛长得好像眨眼时都会发出声响。不需要粉底也不需要化妆，她感觉自己终于不需要理会身为普通人时觉得麻烦的种种杂事，得到了解放。

Even among the swans, there were those who stood out. But after meeting her mentor, Calamity Mary, Ruler’s delight vanished completely.
就算是在天鹅群中也是鹤立鸡群般的存在。但是与自己的说明人、魔法少女灾厄玛丽见面后，王权的这份沾沾自喜全然消失了。

She exhaled clouds of cigar smoke, then dispersed them by blowing on them while taking the occasional swig of liquor. As she saw the other woman’s nonchalant attitude, Ruler made to stand up, but in that moment she heard a gun fire, and at the same time there was the sound of an explosion from behind her. She looked behind, and saw that there was a three meter-wide hole in the wall behind her.
呼出雪茄的烟雾，再故意似地把烟雾大力吹开，偶尔还要喝上几口酒。看到对方如此漫不经心，早苗刚想要站起来，刹那间就听到枪声响起，同时自己的背后还传来轰隆的爆炸声。她回头一看，发现背后的墙壁上有一个直径达三米的大洞。

“Don’t defy me, don’t disturb me, and don’t piss me off. Okay?”
“不可以违抗我，不可以打扰我，不可以激怒我，OK？”

Sanae froze where she was, still stuck in her half-rising posture.
早苗仍然保持着想要站起来的姿势，一动不动地定在了原地。

“Okay?”
“OK？”

At some point, Calamity Mary had raised her pistol. There was no doubt that the bullets of that gun had done that damage to the wall. The power of that pistol’s bullets was incredible.
不知何时，灾厄玛丽举起了手枪。不用想，肯定是这把手枪的子弹把墙壁打成了那样。就手枪的子弹而言威力实在太巨大了。

“Is that… your Magic?”
“这是……你的魔法？”

“Since when was it your turn to speak? I’m asking the questions here, so all you have to do is nod like a good little idiot. Okay?”
“什么时候轮到你问我了？现在是我在问你，像傻瓜一样乖乖点头就是了，OK？”

After a long time, Sanae finally nodded deeply.
花了相当长的时间，早苗终于深深地点了一下头。

“Okay, okay. That’s a good answer.”
“OK，OK。不错的回答嘛。”

Hers was a fearsome quickdraw. Sanae had not even seen her aim and fire, let alone draw her pistol. Everything had ended in the moment the wall had a huge hole blasted into it.
好一个让人后怕的快枪。别说她拔枪的动作，就连她准备和射击的动作早苗都看不清楚。一切都在墙壁被打出大洞的瞬间结束了。

Calamity Mary blew away the smoke wafting from the barrel of the gun, then twirled it several times before slotting it back into its holster. Sanae watched as the gunwoman before her easily completed that movement, and then downed a bottle of liquor in one gulp. Amber fluid, leaked from the corner of her mouth, flowing down to her breasts.
灾厄玛丽呼地吹走了枪口飘出的硝烟，转了几圈手枪后把它塞回到了皮套里。早苗看着眼前的女枪手轻松地完成这一切后拿起酒瓶一饮而尽，琥珀色的液体漫出了她的唇角，一直流到胸前。

This blood-boiling sense of humiliation made Sanae bite her lips.
能令血液都沸腾起来的屈辱感让早苗咬紧了双唇。

In the face of violence, she could do nothing but stay silent. Sanae had already mastered her Magic and she was very happy with it, but if she tried to make a move on Calamity Mary with her overwhelming speed advantage, she might end up like that wall before even being able to use her Magic. While she was not as fragile as the wall, given Sanae’s endurance, she would be very badly wounded if she was lucky, and if she was unlucky she would die on the spot. Simply put, it was just like a normal human being facing a pistol’s bullets.
面对暴力，她什么都做不了只能保持沉默。早苗虽然已经掌握了自己的魔法并对其很满意，但如果想对在速度上有压倒性优势的灾厄玛丽动手，搞不好魔法都还没来得及施展出来她就会落到和那堵墙壁同样的下场。虽然不像墙壁那么脆弱，但以早苗的耐力，运气好的话也会重伤，运气差点的话就要当场毙命。简单来说就和普通人面对手枪子弹时一个样。

Just as Sanae thought she had become a swan, her head had been forcibly dragged back into the water, and the rest of her sank.
就在早苗觉得自己变成了天鹅的时候，她的头被硬生生摁到了水中，整个人沉了下去。

As she chewed on this insult, she realised that she needed protectors. In order to take revenge on Calamity Mary, she needed meatshields to let her last until she could use her Magic.
咀嚼着这份屈辱，她意识到自己需要保护者。为了向灾厄玛丽复仇，她需要能支撑到她发动魔法为止的肉盾。

From then on, every time a new Magical Girl joined, she fought to be their mentor in order to rope impressionable people into a group. In the end, the dimwitted Tama, the flighty Peaky Angels and the silent Swim Swim became her minions.
从那以后，每当有新的魔法少女加入，她都争着当说明人以拉拢好驾驭的人组成小团体。结果，头脑不太灵光的小玉、人云亦云的Peaky·Angels和寡言少语的泳泳成了她的手下。

Tama was a dog, who obeyed her powerful master. There was no need to beat or scold her; so long as her master did not abandon her, she would gladly wag her tail for her master. When she had given her a collar, she had even run around the temple in joy.
小玉是条狗，对强大的主人言听计从。哪怕被打骂，只要主人不抛弃她就会一直满心欢喜地对主人摇头摆尾。给她项圈的时候她还高兴得在寺内跑来跑去。

The Peaky Angels were cowards. They would not dare talk back to her if she took a forceful tone with them. Sanae had not yet figured out who was Yunael and who was Minael, and they did not mind.
Peaky•Angels是胆小鬼，说话时语气重一点她们就不敢顶嘴了。早苗还没搞清楚谁是优奈儿谁是米奈儿，她们也没有意见。

Swim Swim was silent because she did not know enough. Once, Sanae had found her staring at one of Nishimonzenmachi’s tourism bulletin boards, and she had asked her what she was looking at. Surprisingly enough, she pointed at the romaji for NISHIMONZEN and asked Sanae “What does this mean?” Since she could remember everything she had told her, her memory ought to be good, but apparently she did not know how to read romaji and many simple kanji. Truly, she lived up to the stereotype of the big-breasted brainless bimbo.
泳泳之所以寡言少语是因为知识不足。有一次，早苗发现她目不转睛地盯着西门前町的导游告示板于是就问她在看什么，没想到她竟然指着写成罗马字的“NISHIMONZEN”问早苗“这是什么意思”。说过的话她都能记住因而记忆力应该不差，但据说除了罗马字很多简单的汉字她也不会读。这还真是应了那句胸大无脑的老话。

These people were all idiots, unable to act on their own judgement. Only under Sanae’s banner could they function as Magical Girls. They would be better off dying for Sanae than lazing around doing nothing.
这些人全部都是笨蛋，都不能依靠自己的判断来行动，只有在早苗麾下才能发挥作为魔法少女的作用。哪怕是为了早苗去死也总比无所事事来得幸福。

The Peaky Angels said “That ought to be easy” and “Magi-cool!” as they agreed to join the Candy-stealing operation.Swim Swim nodded silently in agreement. Only Tama quibbled due to a question of morality; “Is it really okay for Magical Girls to steal other peoples’ things?” But after Swim Swim urged her on by saying, “Do you really intend to disobey our leader?” she eventually nodded obediently.
Peaky·Angels的两个人一个说着“这样够轻松很好啊”，一个说着“多帅啊”，口气轻轻地答应参加强抢糖果大作战。泳泳也默默地点头同意。只有小玉因为所谓的道义问题“魔法少女抢别人的东西没问题吗？”而纠结了一下，但在泳泳“你难道不听领队的话吗”的催促下，最终也颔首同意了。

Ruler had grasped Snow White’s movements to some extent, but she did not know if her knowledge was accurate. In order to make sure, she sent the Peaky Angels and Tama out to scout, leaving herself and Swim Swim behind in Ouketsuji.
王权在一定程度上掌握了白雪的行踪，但不知道现在是否还正确。为了确认，她让Peaky·Angels和小玉出去侦察，王结寺里只剩下她自己和泳泳。

Swim Swim remained in her seiza position, as though she would never move no matter how much time passed. Ruler looked at her for a while, and then asked:
泳泳仍然保持着跪坐的姿势，好像无论过多久都不会动一下一样。王权看了她一会儿，然后开口问道：

“Why are you sitting in the seiza position?”
“你为什么要跪坐啊？”

“Because I show my respect to the leader with proper posture.”
“因为要以端正的姿势来面对尊敬的领队。”

“...Did I say that before?”
“……我以前有这么说过吗？”

“Yes, you did.”
“有这么说过。”

Anytime something happened, Swim Swim would repeat something Ruler had said before in the past. This included things which Ruler herself did not even remember saying before to meaningless things she had simply said to satisfy her need to show off and to cut others down. Ruler felt that this showed Swim Swim’s loyalty, but at the same time, she found it annoying.
每当有什么事情，泳泳就会重复王权以前说过的话。从说话者本人都不记得有说过的话到只是为了满足表现欲、只是单纯想要驳倒别人而说的完全没有意义的话都包含在内。王权认为这代表了泳泳的忠诚，但也时也会觉得很烦。

“Magical Girls must not let their true identities be known by regular people, and they cannot carelessly tell their true identities to
“魔法少女不能让自己的真面目被一般人所知，也不能随便把自己的真面目告诉别的魔法少女。”

“You must admire the leader. You must work hard to become closer to the leader.”
“你们必须憧憬领队。你们要努力向领队靠拢以激活我们的组织。”

“The strongest enemy must be defeated first.”
“最强大的敌人就是要最先打倒的敌人。”

“Even after becoming a Magical Girl and gaining mysterious powers, you cannot be careless. That is because the enemies who stand in the way of a Magical Girl have mysterious powers too.”
“成为魔法少女，获得不可思议的力量后也不能大意。因为阻挡魔法少女前进的敌人们也有不可思议的力量。”

A lot of those were things she had said on the spur of the moment, but Swim Swim had nevertheless managed to memorize all these carelessly spoken words. Ruler approached Swim Swim, then bent down to pat her head.
这其中不乏即兴而来的夸夸其谈，但就算是这样的信口开河之词泳泳也全部记得清清楚楚。王权走近泳泳，弯下腰来摸了一下她的头。

“As long as your head is full of valuable things… even an idiot can grow.”
“只要脑袋里塞满有价值的东西……就算是白痴也能长进。”

“What are valuable things?”
“什么是有价值的东西啊？”

Ruler laughed, and then coldly replied:
王权笑着，用冷冰冰的声调回答道：

“The things I’ve said.”
“我说过的话。”

The battle plan Ruler came up with was very simple. That was because if it were not simple, her stupid subordinates might not be able to keep up with it and make stupid mistakes, leading to a collapse of the entire plan.
王权制定的作战方案很简单。因为如果不简单，白痴的部下们说不定会跟不上步调、犯下愚蠢的错误以至于让整个作战破产。

Her plan was to attack Snow White and La Pucelle’s meeting place before they met up--at the seaside steel tower.
她的计划是在圣少女与白雪汇合前袭击她们碰头的地方——俱边海滩的铁塔。

As for why Ruler knew where they were meeting, that was because they had mentioned it before during their chat meetings, and Ruler had just happened to see the chatlogs for that period of time. When she had found those logs, Ruler had laughed, so there were actually other idiots among the Magical Girls besides the ones around me.
要说为什么王权知道她们的碰头地点，那是因为她们在集会时提到过，而王权刚好看到了那段聊天记录。发现那段聊天记录的时候王权就笑了，原来除了我这里的几个，魔法少女里面还有其他的白痴啊。

It was their meeting place, but the two of them could not possibly reach there simultaneously, and there was sure to be a time gap. If La Pucelle was the first one there, then the Peaky Angels and Tama would pin her down, while Swim Swim and Ruler would take care of Snow White who came later and steal her Candies. If Snow White was first, then they would reverse the order.
说是碰头，但两个人不可能同时到达，中间总会有时间差。如果先到的是圣少女，就由Peaky·Angels和小玉来牵制她，泳泳和王权就来对付后到的白雪并抢走她的魔法糖果。如果先到的是白雪那么顺序就反过来。

Until now, Ruler had not yet fought with any Magical Girls.
迄今为止，王权还没有和魔法少女战斗过。

Neither did she have any information on what sort of Magic the other side used.
也没有关于对方使用何种魔法的情报。

While that worried her, the same applied to the other side as well. Snow White and La Pucelle should not have fought with other Magical Girls before, and they did not know the Magics which Ruler and the others used.
虽然有这样的担心，但这对双方来讲都一样。白雪和圣少女应该也没有和魔法少女战斗过，估计也不知道王权她们的魔法。

Tama could dig holes in an instant, and she was best for ambushes. The Peaky Angels could fly and transform, making them ideal for feint attacks. Ruler’s Magic was incredibly powerful as long as she had a meatshield. And Swim Swim, who could nullify physical attacks, was the best choice for a meatshield.
能在瞬间挖出坑来的小玉最擅长暗算，拥有变身和飞行能力的Peaky·Angels则最适合佯攻。只要有人肉盾牌在，王权的魔法绝对强大。能使物理攻击无效化的泳泳无疑是人肉盾牌的最佳人选。作为一支队伍，她们之间能力的契合度绝对不低。

--As long as those idiots don’t make idiotic mistakes...
——只要白痴们不犯白痴错误……

The Candy-stealing operation ought to be a success.
强抢魔法糖果的作战应该就会成功。

In addition, this operation was both a skirmish and an experiment. If it succeeded, they could proceed to the next step: attack Calamity Mary and taking her Magical Candies.
而且这次作战既是前哨战又是一次试验，成功的话就能迈向下一步：袭击灾厄玛丽，抢走魔法糖果。

The shame in Ruler’s heart had not abated. Before she made Calamity Mary genuflect before her, the humiliation within her chest would burn forever.
王权心中的屈辱感仍然没有消失。在让灾厄玛丽匍匐在她脚下之前，她胸中屈辱的火焰会一直熊熊燃烧下去。

“She’s here!”
“I see La Pucelle!”
“来了！”“看见圣少女了！”

The Peaky Angels’ report appeared on her Magical Phone. They were currently looking down from above, so it would seem La Pucelle had entered their line of sight.
Peaky·Angels的报告出现在魔法终端上。她们现在正从高空监视下方，看来圣少女已经进入了她们的视线范围。

“She’s running towards the steel tower!”
“She’s fast! Even thought she’s wearing armor!”
“她在跑向铁塔！”“还真快！明明穿着铠甲！”

“Then proceed as planned.”
“那么就按照计划开始吧。”

Swim Swim and Ruler crept out from the trees beneath the steel tower, and swiftly climbed it.
泳泳和王权从铁塔下方的树丛中窜出，迅速爬上了铁塔。

◇◇◇

Upon seeing the angels descend from the heavens, La Pucelle stopped in her tracks.
看到一对从天而降的天使，圣少女停住了脚步。

They were Yunael and Minael, and together they were the Peaky Angels. While she had met them during the chat meetings, this was the first time she had seen them in person. La Pucelle was baffled as to why they had appeared here, but after seeing the wicked smiles on their faces, she had a pretty good idea, and when she saw what they did after that--a flanking maneuver from front and back--she fully understood what they intended. She immediately leapt off the gravel road, rolling into a crouch atop a patch of grass and drawing her sword, pointing it at the two angels. The 70-centimeter blade was just the right length for use in one hand.
优奈儿和米奈儿，两人在一起就是Peaky·Angels。虽然在集会的时候碰到过，但还是第一次见到本人。圣少女正对她们出现在这里的原因疑惑不解，但看到她们脸上不怀好意的笑容后就明白大半，再看到她们接下来的行动——从前后方同时包抄而来——就完全明白了她们的意图。她马上跳出砂石路，从草丛上一滚而过后跪地拔剑出销，剑尖直指两个天使。七十厘米长的剑刃单手用起来刚刚好。

“What are you up to?!”
“你们想干什么！”

“She’s asking us what we’re doing.”
“Shouldn’t the answer be obvious?”
“How about giving us your Candies?”
“她问我们想干什么哦。”“答案不是明摆着吗。”“把你的魔法糖果给我们吧？”

Her blood surged within her. She was furious at these Magical Girls whose weak wills led them to cover the Magical Candies of others,  but there was a secret joy as well: the time to show her abilities to their full extent had finally come. Ever since she had obtained the power of a Magical Girl, La Pucelle had always dreamed of defeating a powerful foe.
血气上涌。她对意志不坚定之下开始觊觎魔法糖果的魔法少女感到愤怒，同时也在暗暗窃喜：能让自己充分展示能力的机会终于来了。自从收获了魔法少女的强大力量，圣少女就一直梦想着能战胜强敌。

The twin angels flapped their wings which were about as tall as they were, orbiting in the skies above, seemingly waiting for the right opportunity. If she stood up now, she would probably be attacked right now. La Pucelle slowly moved her left hand, but then she suddenly stopped, because she felt a faint tremor.
双胞胎天使拍打着长度和她们身高相仿的翅膀，在上空盘旋，似乎是在寻找时机。如果想站起来，应该马上就会被袭击吧。圣少女缓慢地移动左手，但突然停了下来，因为她感受到了微弱的震动。

--Underground!
——地下！

As the two angels circling overhead dove in an attack, a one meter-wide hole appeared beneath La Pucelle’s legs. If she did not jump away, she would be swallowed by the hole. If she jumped, she would be unable to move in mid-air and the angels would attack her. No matter which path she chose, they both led to hell. However, La Pucelle did not choose; she did not jump, and neither did she fall into the hole. Instead, she stuck her sword underneath her feet and stepped on it. The sword--its width, length and thickness were now five times what they were before--supported La Pucelle, saving her from falling into the hole.
盘旋于上空的两个天使急速下落攻击的同时，圣少女的脚底下突然出现了一个直径一米的大坑。不跳开的话会被大坑吞噬。跳起来的话身体不能自由移动会遭到两个天使的攻击。无论选哪一个在她面前的都是地狱。但是圣少女没有选，她既没有跳起也没有落到坑中，而是瞬间把剑垫到脚下踩在了上面。宽度、长度和厚度都变成了之前的五倍的剑支撑着圣少女，让她免于落入坑中。

This was La Pucelle’s Magic, “the ability to freely change the size of her sword”. She could change the size of her sword to the ideal size for the current situation. The sound of scratching came from the hole, but no matter what she did, she could not damage this magic sword.
这就是圣少女的魔法“可以自如改变大小的剑”。这把剑会自动变成最适合当时状况的大小。咯吱咯吱的抓挠声从坑中传来，但无论做什么都不可能损坏这把魔法之剑。

The twin angels were clearly shaken and uneasy; it was written on their faces.
两个天使的不安与动摇写在了脸上。

Although they tried to stop their rapid descent, it was not a simple task. They lost their balance in mid-air. La Pucelle did not miss this chance; using her sword as a platform, she jumped up, and then swung her sheath at one of the angels.
虽想停止急速下落，但这似乎不是简单的任务，她们在半空中失去了身体的平衡。圣少女没有放过这个机会，她以剑为立足点向上一跃，突然把剑鞘向其中一个天使挥去。

The angel almost evaded the heavy hit from the sheath. She had actually gotten clear, but then the sheath had suddenly expanded several times, rendering the angel’s hard work moot. It was not just the sword whose size could be changed, but the sheath surrounding the sword which could be freely changed as well. After taking a savage blow to the side of the face from the sheath, the angel fell to earth.
天使差点避开了来自剑鞘的重击。她本已经避得足够开，但剑鞘忽然变大了好几倍，天使的努力宣告失败。大小可变的不止剑本身，包剑用的剑鞘也可以自由地改变大小。被剑鞘狠狠地打到了侧脸的天使，向地面坠去。

La Pucelle landed on the ground and immediately ran toward the hole. At the same time, the sword shrunk to a length of 50 centimeters. Without the sword in the way, someone poked their head out of the hole.
圣少女落回到地面上，马上跑向大坑，同时剑马上缩小到了50厘米长。没有了剑的阻挡，有人从大坑中探出头来。

“Hey, what’s going on?”
“喂，怎么一回事”

La Pucelle mercilessly attacked Tama, who had stuck her head out because she had sensed something happening aboveground. Tama took a solid kick to the side of the head and scrambled back into the hole with a garbled wail.
圣少女毫不留情地攻击因为察觉到地上的异常而探出头来的小玉。小玉脑袋的侧面结结实实地挨了一脚，她一边退回到坑里，一边发出含混的悲鸣。

In this way, two people had been removed from the battle. La Pucelle picked up her sword and pointed it at the only person remaining.
这样有两个人已经脱离战线了。圣少女捡起长剑，挥向剩下的一个人。

“What are you up to?”
“你到底想要干什么。”

She asked the same question from when they had attacked her. However, the angel before her was no longer there, just a crow tilting its neck. La Pucelle turned to the angel that had just fallen to the earth, and she had vanished into thin air, leaving only a rubber ball behind. Seeing La Pucelle was about to figure out the situation before her, the crow flew down to pick up the ball before flying toward the steel tower. Its body lengthened folded, bent and changed color, and what had originally been a crow and a rubber ball became the two angels.
和刚才遇袭时同样的问题，她又问了一遍。但对面已经没有了天使的身影，只有一只歪着脖子的乌鸦。圣少女转向刚刚坠地的天使，天使也凭空消失了，地上只有一只橡胶球。眼看圣少女就要搞清楚眼前的状况，乌鸦一飞而起叼住地上的橡胶球马上向铁塔上方飞去。它的身体在空中变长、缩短、折叠、弯曲、变色，原来的乌鸦和橡胶球最后竟然变成了两个天使。

--Transforming? Was that their Magic?
——变身？这是她们的魔法啊？

“Onee-chan! This should be enough pinning down, right?”
“That’s enough! It’s fine!”
“姐姐，牵制的话这样就够了吧！”“够了！没有问题！”

--Pinning down?
——牵制？

La Pucelle looked to the peak of the tower. There were one, two, three people up there. Clearly, Snow White was not alone. La Pucelle’s face blanched in an instant.
圣少女抬头看向塔顶。那儿有一个、两个、三个人影。很明显不止白雪一个人。她瞬间脸色煞白。

“Son of a bitch!”
“该死！”

After cursing in a way which did not quite match the dignified image of a knight, she pursued the two angels towards the steel tower.
发出与骑士的高洁形象不相符的怒骂后，她追着两个天使向铁塔飞驰而去。

◇◇◇

Everything had gone well for Ruler and Swim Swim.
王权和泳泳的行动一切顺利。

They climbed the steel tower, encountering the Magical Girl who was already there. She wore a white costume which looked like a school uniform and appeared frequently on the aggregator site discussions; there was no doubt that she was Snow White.
她们爬上铁塔，与已在上面的魔法少女狭路相逢。频频在情报网站上引起话题的、类似于校服的白色衣装，她是白雪没有错。

The white Magical Girl’s face twisted in shock. Her gaze swept over RUler and Swim Swim, and in a trembling voice she asked:
白色魔法少女的脸因为惊愕而扭曲，她的视线扫过王权，又投向泳泳，声音颤抖地说道：

“W...What is it?”
“什……什么？”

Her tone and expression made it clear that rather than a fighter, she was more of a commoner; rather than a perpetrator, she was a victim. How foolish; could it be she still did not know their aim at this juncture? Or could it be that she knew but had no intention to fight? Both options were foolish. As Ruler cursed her in her heart, she raised her scepter and used her Magic.
她的声音和表情表明，与其说她是战斗人员，不如说她是普通人；与其说她是加害者，不如说是受害者。很明显白雪没有要战斗的意思。愚蠢，难道到了这个关头还不知道对方的目的？还是说虽然明白但没有要战斗的打算？无论是哪一种都是愚蠢。王权一边在心中咒骂，一边朝着白雪举起权杖，开始发动魔法。

“Snow White, in the name of Ruler, I forbid you to move”
“白雪啊，以王权之名下令，不许动！”

Snow White’s face was filled with shock as she froze in place, still in her posture of running away. Swim Swim took out her Magical Phone and pointed it at Snow White, then began transferring the Magical Candies.
白雪一脸惊愕地僵住了，保持着想要逃跑的姿势。泳泳拿出魔法终端对准白雪，开始转移魔法糖果。

This was Ruler’s Magic, the ability to make her opposition obey her orders unconditionally.
这就是王权的魔法，可以让对方无条件服从她的命令。

There were four restrictions to this Magic: her scepter had to be pointed at her opponent, she had to maintain her posture while sustaining the Magic on her opponent, she had to invoke the Magic in the name of Ruler, and she could not be more than five meters away from her opponent. However, it was as powerful as the restrictions were severe; once she used it on her opponent, it was checkmate for them.
这个魔法有四个限制：权杖必须对准对方；对对方施法期间必须保持着权杖对准对方的姿势不动；必须以王权之名施法；与对方的距离最大为五米。但是，它的强大也对得起这苛刻的条件：只要对手被施法，就等于被将军了。

Ruler had only told the Peaky Angels, Tama and Swim Swim that her Magic could command people, but she had never told them about these limitations. She was not stupid enough to tell others about her weaknesses. She needed to project the image of a strong leader when she was in front of these people.
王权只对Peaky·Angels、小玉和泳泳说过自己的魔法可以命令别人，但没有告诉她们这些限制。她不会那么蠢告诉手下人自己的弱点。面对这些人时，她需要保持绝对强势的领队形象。

It was more troublesome to order Snow White “not to move” than telling her to “hand over the Candies”, but she had considered that it might be troublesome if she handed over the Candies and then immediately launched an attack after that. Thus, for safety’s sake, Ruler had decided to issue such an order. Ruler was cunning, and cunning people were careful.
对白雪所施的“不许动”的命令虽然比“交出糖果”之类的要费事，但考虑到如果对方交出糖果后马上就发动攻击的话后续会变得麻烦，为了安全起见王权最终决定作出这样的命令。王权很精明，精明的人往往很慎重。

“Swim Swim, aren’t you done yet?”
“泳泳，还没好吗？”

“Soon.”
“快了。”

“Cheh, holding this pose is really tiring.”
“啧，保持这样的姿势很累人啊”

“Just a little more…”
“还差一点就好……”

Swim Swim stopped halfway. As Ruler followed her line of sight down, she saw the two angels flying rapidly towards the tower. Behind the angels, a knight was throwing up a trail of dust as she ran along the gravel road.
泳泳话说到一半就停住了。顺着她的视线往下望去，可以看到两个天使正朝着铁塔的方向快速地飞来。天使的后面，一个骑士正伴随着砂石路上卷起的阵阵烟尘疾驰而来。

“Idiots, fools, morons, every last one of them… they couldn’t even pin her down properly!”
“都是白痴都是蠢货都是废物……竟然连牵制都做不好吗！”

“Just a little more.”
“还差一点点。”

“You shut up!”
“给我闭嘴！”

◇◇◇

Snow White had been attacked. The image of Snow White crying and afraid flashed through her mind, and then she thought of Himekawa Koyuki as a human being. It hurt so much it felt like her chest was being torn to shreds, and her surging hot blood filled every crevice of her body.
白雪被偷袭了。圣少女的脑海里瞬间浮现出白雪哭泣时与胆怯时的模样，最后还想起了作为普通人的姬河小雪。她痛苦得胸口像要被撕碎一般，冲冠的热血渐渐扩散到全身各个角落。

To La Pucelle… to Kishibe Souta, Magical Girls were heroines who would bravely plunge into battle. Magical Girls who solved problems around themselves over a long period of time were good too, but La Pucelle would not despair in the face of a powerful foe, a warrior who would never give up on protecting the things that were precious to her.
对于圣少女……对于岸边飒太来说，魔法少女代表着会挺身战斗的女英雄。长期以来致力于解决周围各种问题的魔法少女当然也不错，不过圣少女是在面对强敌时也绝不丧气，为了保护宝贵的东西绝不放弃的“战士”。

Snow White was pleading for help on top of the tower. But it she rushed up right now ,the two angels would attack her. It would be one thing if they had no desire to fight, but given the way they kept glancing back, they were not fleeing  because they were afraid of being beaten. Footing on the steel tower was poor, and if he were attacked up there, he would be fighting two enemies who could fly.
白雪正在铁塔上求助。但就这样冲上去的话可能会遭到两个天使的攻击。如果她们真的已经无心恋战倒还好，但看她们不时回头瞥向这边的样子，似乎并不是单纯因为被打怕了而逃走。铁塔上不好落脚，如果在上面被攻击的话就必须和两个会飞的敌人战斗。

Also, even if he won, her opponents--whose objective was stalling for time--would have gotten things their way. Given that she did not have the advantage in numbers or terrain, it was impossible for her to close the distance in one fell swoop. While La Pucelle had been in high spirits over finally being able to demonstrate her power, at the same time, she was fully aware of the limitations to her power. La Pucelle was a born fighter, she sighed as she lost herself in briefly delight, but then she immediately pulled herself together. There were very few options left to her if she wanted to save Snow White.
而且就算能赢，以拖延时间为目的的对手也必定可以得逞。在人数上不占优，也没有地利，要想一蹴而就是不可能的。圣少女虽然因为第一次施展出了强大的力量而士气昂扬，但她同样很清楚地掌握着自己力量的极限。圣少女果然是与生俱来的战士啊，她感叹着短暂沉醉在喜悦中，但马上就绷紧了心弦。要想救白雪，她面前的选项并不多。

A few seconds before reaching the tower, La Pucelle thought and observed nonstop, finally reached a conclusion, and promptly put it into practice.  She sprinted towards the steel tower with lightning speed, and with the momentum of her run, her body weight, and all her strength, she shoulder-charged the tower.
在到达铁塔前的几秒钟内，圣少女通过不断的思考和观察最终得出了结论并马上付诸行动。她风驰电掣般奔向铁塔，借着这股势头加上自身体重与全部的力气，用肩膀重重地撞了上去。

◇◇◇

Even from the bottom of the steel tower, one could see the body of the tower shaking greatly. It was not such a simple matter for the people on top of the tower. The power lines coiled around each other were snapped by brute force. The tower shook so greatly that it felt like one could touch the ground just by reaching out. Both Ruler--who was holding her scepter and could not move--and Snow White--who was immobilized-- could not endure the shaking, and they were tossed out. Swim Swim, who had also been thrown off, grabbed Ruler at the critical moment and threw her upwards, and the twin angels caught her just in time.
从铁塔下面往上看也可以看出塔身在大幅度地晃动。而对于在铁塔上的人来说，就不是这么寻常的事情了。电线缠绕在一起被生生拽断。铁塔的晃动幅度大得就像伸手就能碰到地面一样，举着权杖不动的王权与身体不能活动的白雪经受不住这样的摇晃，被甩了出去。同样被甩了出去的泳泳在紧要关头抓住了王权的手把她向上一抛，双胞胎天使适时把她接住了。

Snow White was caught by La Pucelle, who had swiftly sprinted over to her landing site, and the two of them rolled to a grass patch 10 meters away before grinding to a halt.
白雪被迅速绕到落地地点的圣少女接住，两个人一直滚到10米开外的草丛处才终于停了下来。

Ruler glared angrily at Snow White and La Pucelle. Both her armpits were being held by the Peaky Angels, and she was dangling in mid-air. While she had been spared a fall, she was still a pathetic sight. To her, this was adding insult to injury.
王权怒视着白雪和圣少女。她的两腋被Peaky·Angels抱住，人悬垂在半空中，虽然避免了坠地，但也足够狼狈。对她来说，这无疑是火上浇油。

Nobody helped Swim Swim, so she should have fallen straight to the ground. However, her Magic should have kept her from harm. If they combined forces, it would be a four on two battle. At this point, Ruler suddenly thought of Tama:
没有任何人帮泳泳，她本该直接坠地。但以她的魔法，应该不会受伤。汇合在一起的话她们就有四个人，会变成四对二的战斗。想到这里，王权忽然想起了小玉：

“What happened to Tama?”
“小玉怎么了？”

“She was kicked by La Pucelle and then she vanished.”
“Don’t know if she’s dead or alive.”
“她被圣少女踢飞了，然后就没有然后了。”“也不知道是死是活。”

If La Pucelle could make such a massive steel tower shake like it was going to break in half or collapse, then it was understandable that Tama would lose the will to fight after one hit.
圣少女既然能让如此巨大的一座铁塔像要折断或者倒下那样左右摇晃，那么一击就让小玉失去战斗力也在情理之中。

Tama and the Peaky Angels were not only unable to deal with La Pucelle, but they had been soundly defeated and fled. When she thought about that point, Ruler made up her mind.
小玉和Peaky·Angels三个人不但对付不了圣少女反而还被圣少女打得落荒而逃，想到这一点，王权拿定了主意。

“Alright, we’re falling back!”
“好，我们撤退！”

“What?”
“Seriously?”
“什么？”“真的？”

“Tactical retreat! Shut up and go!”
“战略性撤退！别啰嗦了快走！”

After leaving behind Snow White and La Pucelle as they were about to rise to their feet, the two angels and Ruler ran away.
丢下正要爬起来的白雪和圣少女，两个天使和王权逃走了。

***

While a tactical retreat implied weakness, in truth it was the right choice.
有点示弱意味的这次战略性撤退，实际上是正确的选择。

Tama had returned to Ouketsuji by herself. Her memories were a little unclear, but since her head was always foggy, it was not a big problem.
小玉独力回到了王结寺。她的记忆变得有点不清晰，不过反正平时她的脑子也是迷迷糊糊的，应该没什么大问题。

Swim Swim returned, and she had neatly accomplished her task. In other words, she had successfully stolen Snow White’s Magical Candies and returned in glory.
泳泳回来了，而且漂亮地完成了自己的工作。也就是说，她成功地夺走了白雪的魔法糖果，风风光光地“班师回朝”。

Swim Swim originally had 862 Candies. After the battle, that number had become 2914, for an increase in 2088. This amount was twice as much as Ruler, who had the most Candies among them.
泳泳原有的糖果数量是862个，作战后变成了2914个，增加了2088个。这个数量，是五个人当中糖果数量最多的王权的所有量的两倍多。

“She actually collected over 2000 of them.”
“How did she get so many, anyway?”
“She’s a true capitalist.”
“Then that would make us revolutionaries.”
“Onee-chan, you’re magi-cool.”
“那家伙一个人就收集了两千多啊。”“她是怎么收集到的啊。”“真是‘资本家’啊。”“那我们就是为实现现代化而暴动。”“姐姐你真酷。”

“Then, how should we divide these candies?”
“那么，我们怎么处理这些糖果？”

“We got 2088 Magical Candies!”
“2088 divided by 5 is 417 with 3 left over. We can’t divide them evenly”
“这次我们抢到了2088个魔法糖果！”“2088除以5的话是417余3，除不尽呢。”

“Yuna-chan, Mina-chan, you calculated that so fast!”
“小优奈小米奈，你们算得好快！”

“No, we can.”
“不，除得尽。”

Ruler spoke to correct them. The math itself was correct, but the formula was wrong.
王权开口纠正。计算本身没错，但算式错了。

“2944 minus 826 is 2088, there’s no problem until this part.”
“2944减去826是2088，到这里都没问题。”

“Is there a problem after that?”
“Is there?”
“之后的有错吗？”“有错吗？”

“Why do we have to divide it into five equal shares? Divide 2088 into two equal shares. One of them is 1044. That’s mine as the leader. The remaining 1044 will be divided in two, with one share being 522. That goes to Swim Swim. The remaining 522 will be divided into three shares, with Yunael, Minael and Tama each getting 174. It’s evenly divided that way.”
“为什么要五等分？把2088平分成两份，一份是1044，是身为领队的我的份额。剩下的1044再二等分，一份是522，是泳泳的。剩下的522再三等分，你们优奈儿米奈儿和小玉每人拿174。这样不就除尽了吗。”

The interior of the run-down Ouketsuji turned deathly silent. Silence in abandoned temples was a bone-chilling thing, and Ruler, who had brought that silence upon them, broke it once more.
破败的王结寺内鸦雀无声。本是废庙应有的这种让人毛骨悚然的寂静，又被带来这份寂静的王权本人打破了。

“Any complaints?”
“有意见？”

Ruler looked disdainfully at all of them.
王权鄙夷地扫视着她们。



“There are idiots who couldn’t even do their job properly, an idiot who finished her mission perfectly, and the leader who planned the operation and took the most important part during the actual execution. Why do these three have to receive the same amount? Are you all idiots? Ahhh, indeed you are, I knew that long ago. You three are incompetent idiots who couldn’t even hold down La Pucelle with three on one odds and nearly ruined the plan, but as a good-natured person, I’ve forgotten that already.”
“不能好好完成自己工作的无能白痴、漂亮完成任务的白痴，还有拟定作战计划、肩负着实际作战时最重要任务的领队。这三者报酬又怎么会一样？你们是白痴吗？啊啊你们的确是白痴啊，这我早就知道了。你们三个又白痴又无能三对一也牵制不住圣少女搞到作战差点失败，我人很好所以都忘记了。”

Ruler pointed her finger and glared angrily at them.
王权挨个指着她们，对她们怒目而视。

The twin angels looked away, while Tama’s ears drooped, and Swim Swim sat and listened to Ruler’s lecture. Ruler snorted, and then used her scepter to rap the floorboards with a pon.
双胞胎天使移开目光，小玉耷拉下耳朵，泳泳跪坐着听王权的教训。王权哼了一下鼻子，“砰”地用权杖敲了一下地板。

“Consider your own abilities, you idiots, and be glad that I didn’t punish you.”
“掂量掂量自己的分量吧白痴们，我没有惩罚你们你们该庆幸了。”

Chat Meeting 2


Fav: Now then, let’s begin this week’s chat meeting~
法布：那么从现在开始本周的集会～

Fav: But why does it feel like there’s so few people ~pon?
法布：可是怎么觉得人这么少呢pon？

Fav: Could it be everyone thinks it’ll be fine if they read the chatlogs afterwards ~pon?
法布：不会是觉得之后再看聊天记录就好了吧pon？

Fav: Why is nobody present speaking?
法布：现在在的各位似乎也不怎么说话呢。

Fav: Cheer up am ittle ~pon.
法布：开心一点嘛pon。

Fav: You’re only a Magical Girl when you’re carefree and happy ~pon☆.
法布：开朗快乐那才是魔法少女pon☆。

Fav: Alright, enough chitchat.
法布：好了闲话少说。

Fav: Now, let’s talk about something relaxing ~pon.
法布：接下来我们说点轻松的pon。

Fav: We have a new Magical Girl joining us this week~ Applause, everyone~
法布：本周有新的魔法少女加入哦～大家鼓掌～

Fav: Er, however, she doesn’t seem to be here.
法布：呃……不过她现在好像不在这儿。

Fav: She must be feeling shy ~pon.
法布：一定是觉得害羞吧pon。

Fav; Still, you should start taking part from next week onwards.
法布：不过，可以的话从下周开始要来参加哦。

Fav: That’s a promise with Fav~pon☆.
法布：这是和法布的约定哦pon☆。

Fav: Now then, next up is what everyone has been waiting for...
法布：那么接下来就是大家最关心的内容……

Fav: We will announce the person with the fewest Candies this week ~pon.
法布：要公布本周魔法糖果最少的人了pon。

Fav: And the lowest-ranked person for this week is...
法布：本周排名垫底的人是……

Fav: Ruler.
法布：王权。

Fav: Mm, what a shame ~pon.
法布：嗯，真遗憾pon。

Fav: You worked so hard and did so much, but it really is a shame ~pon.
法布：虽然努力地做了很多事，但真的太可惜了pon。

FavL That said, I’m in quite a spot myself ~pon.
法布：话虽然这么说可我也很为难啊pon。

Fav: Ah, the top-ranking person this week is still Snow White ~pon.
法布：啊，本周第一名仍然是白雪pon。

Fav: Top for two weeks in a row, congratulations~
法布：连续两周都是第一呢恭喜恭喜～

Fav: Everyone, remember to collect more Magical Candies in order to become first ~pon.
法布：大家都要以成为第一为目标多多收集糖果哦pon。

Fav: Then, let’s meet again at next week’s chat meeting ~pon.
法布：那么让我们相约下周的集会吧pon。

Fav: Bye bye~
法布：拜拜～

***

The amount of participants had decreased dramatically. The chat meeting had ended with only Tama, Swim Swim, the Peaky Angels, and Ruler in attendance, besides Clamberry and Fav. Everyone else was probably on their guard, having realised that every Magical Girl other than themselves might be an enemy.
参加人数急剧减少，除了小玉、泳泳、Peaky·Angels和王权就只有库兰贝莉和法布参加的魔法少女集会结束了。其他人应该都在戒备着吧，都意识到除自己以外其他的魔法少女都是敌人了吧。

“My my, that really went well.”
“It was magi-cool.”
“哎呀哎呀，还真是一切顺利呢。”“真是太酷了。”

A dim light shone within Ouketsuji of Nishimonzenmachi,
西门前町的废庙王结寺内，亮起了朦朦胧胧的灯光。

The Peaky Angels made no attempt to hide their delight, high-fiving and shaking hands and hugging each other.
Peaky·Angels完全没有掩饰自己的喜悦，又是击掌又是握手又是拥抱。她们还想拉上泳泳和小玉一起，但小玉显得一脸沉痛，泳泳则面无表情。

“Ding dong the bitch is dead!”
“She really was a egotistical bitch!”
“That bitch didn’t give us Candies!”
“That stupid bitch called us idiots all day and night!”
“What a super annoying bitch!”
“讨厌的家伙终于消失了！”“真是个狂妄自大的家伙呢！”“不分糖果给我们的家伙！”“一天到晚说我们是白痴是蠢蛋的家伙！”“真的超级讨厌的家伙！”

The Peaky Angels hated Ruler. She was arrogant, greedy, and spouted insults and abuse. Did Ruler know how Minael and Yunael spoke ill of her behind her back?
对于Peaky·Angels来说，王权很讨人厌。她妄自尊大贪得无厌一张嘴就会喷出侮辱与谩骂的语句。王权到底知不知道呢，米奈儿和优奈儿总是在背后偷偷地说她的坏话。

Tama was afraid of Ruler, for the same reasons as the twins.
小玉觉得王权很可怕。理由和双胞胎天使一样。

Swim Swim knew that while the exact degree varied between them, Ruler was a highly unpleasant person for the three of them. She was so distasteful that if she proposed that she wanted to eliminate her, they would surely approve.
泳泳知道，虽有程度上的差别，但对这三个人来说王权都很碍事，碍事到如果自己提出要把她除掉她们一定会赞成。

“Still, speaking of which, how do we deal with this?”
“Bury her in the mountains?”
“That should be simple with Tama’s Magic.”
“She can dig a hole in an instant.”
“不过说起来，怎么处理这东西啊？”“把她埋到山里去？”“有小玉的魔法应该很简单吧。”“一下子就能挖个洞出来。”

Minael, Yunael and Swim Swim stood at even intervals around someone who was slumped on the ground. The person on the ground looked like a young woman who was not yet in her thirties. She wore an open collared sweater over her pajamas and a pair of sandals on her feet.
米奈儿、优奈儿和泳泳同等间距地围着一个倒在地上的人蹲了下来。地上的人看起来是个三十岁不到的普通年轻女性，睡衣外面罩着开襟毛线衫，脚上穿着凉鞋。

“Still ,we don’t have to go to all that trouble, do we?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“While it’s still dark, we can just find a place and dump her there, and someone will find her in the morning.”
“Let’s do that.”
“不过也用不着搞到那么麻烦吧？”“啊，说的也是。”“趁着夜晚找个地方把她丢出去吧，到了早上会有人发现她的。”“就这么办吧。”

Before Ruler died, she was still breathing, “Why.” Now that she was on the ground in the form of a normal person, her hands were still in a grasping posture.
王权在临死前还不断惊呼“为什么”。现在以一般人的样子倒在地上的她，双手还保持着像要抓住什么东西似的姿势。

Swim Swim stood up and walked over to Tama, who was hugging her knees, her ears drooping, and shivering all over. She knelt down until their eyes were at the same level, and caressed her head in a comforting fashion. Tears leaked from Tama’s eyes. Swim Swim softened her facial muscles and smiled, “it’s fine,” and patted her head again.
泳泳站了起来，走到了抱着双膝、耷拉着耳朵，还在瑟瑟发抖的小玉跟前，蹲下去和她视线平齐，安慰似地抚摸起她的脑袋。小玉眼中沁出了泪水。泳泳放松了脸颊的肌肉，微微笑着说道“没事了”，又摸了一次她的脑袋。

“Let me take care of the corpse.”
“尸体就由我来收拾吧。”

Saying so, Swim Swim picked up Ruler’s corpse.
泳泳这样说着，抱起王权的尸体背了起来。

“Swim-chan, you don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, you’re the new leader.”
“小泳你不这样做也可以的。”“是啊，你是新的领队啊。”

“That’s it for today. Everyone can go back now.”
“今天就到此为止吧，大家可以解散了。”

Swim Swim did not pay any attention to the Peaky Angels, whose conversation was getting more and more heated behind her. She pushed open the temple gate, and they creaked, just like it had every time she had opened it in the past. Swim Swim remembered that Ruler had once said, “It would be good to oil the gate.”
泳泳没有管似乎在后面越说越起劲的Peaky·Angels，推开了寺庙的大门。和之前每次推门时一样，门嘎吱嘎吱地响了起来。泳泳想起王权生前曾经说过，“要是给门加点油就好了”。

Swim Swim came to an alley in Nishimonzenmachi. It was a dark, moonless night. The residents here were unhappy with how few streetlamps there were in Nishimonzenmachi compared to other districts, but their voices had not reached the ears of the municipal department, and so the alley was dark tonight as well.
泳泳来到了西门前町的小巷。这是个黯然无月的夜晚。这儿的居民对西门前町的路灯比别的地区少颇有不满，但这些声音一直没能反映到市政部门耳朵里去，今天小巷里也是阴阴暗暗的。

She did not sense anyone following behind her. She had copied Ruler when she felt annoyed when she had told the others they were dismissed. The two angels and Tama seemed to have obeyed.
感觉不到有人跟在后面。解散的发言是模仿王权觉得麻烦时所说的话，两个天使和小玉似乎都乖乖听从了。

Swim Swim admired Ruler.
对于泳泳来说，王权是憧憬的对象。

When she had just become a Magical Girl, when she had no idea what to do, Ruler had told her how to live as a Magical Girl. Ruler’s majestic form back then had superimposed itself over the princess in Swim Swim’s dreams. Ruler had faithfully obeyed Ruler’s words ever since.
在她刚成为魔法少女，还完全不知所措的时候，是王权让她知道该怎样作为魔法少女活下去。那时王权的风姿，和泳泳在梦中描绘的公主的形象重叠在了一起。泳泳一直都忠实地遵从着王权的话。

“You need to admire the leader. You need to approach the leader to stimulate our group.”
“你们必须憧憬领队。你们要努力向领队靠拢以激活我们的组织。”

Swim Swim admired Ruler. Ruler was a princess, and princesses represented justice> Ruler was mighty, Ruler was wise, beautiful and filled with a leader’s style. Swim Swim set Ruler as her goal, but Ruler herself was the biggest obstacle in becoming someone like Ruler. If there were two Rulers, then Ruler would not be Ruler. Only the person who stood on top was the Ruler in her heart.
泳泳憧憬着王权。王权就是公主，公主就是正义。王权是那么的强大，那么的英明，那么的美丽，充满了领导者的风范。泳泳以王权为目标，但要想成为像王权那样的人，王权本人正是最大的障碍。要是有两个王权，王权就不是王权了。只有站在顶点上，才是她心目中的王权。

Swim Swim held boundless admiration and respect for Ruler, and because of that, she had to kill Ruler. On the night she realised that, Swim Swim had a high fever, threw up everything she ate, and then she took two days sick leave and did not go to school. Even so, she had to do it, because admired Ruler so much that she could not help herself.
泳泳对王权无限憧憬，无限尊敬，为此她必须把王权杀死。意识到这一点的那个夜晚，泳泳发了高烧，把吃的东西全部吐了出来，那之后的两天都请了病假没有上学。但就算如此，她也不得不做，因为她憧憬王权憧憬得不能自已。

However, Ruler’s Magic was too powerful, and eliminating her would require a great deal of effort. Even if she wanted to play on the dissatisfaction which the Peaky Angels and Tama held for her, she had to think of a way to deal with her “order” Magic. At this point, Swim Swim decided to wait for a chance.
可是王权的魔法太强大了，想要除掉她需要大费周折。即使想要利用Peaky·Angels和小玉都对王权心存不满这一点，也得想办法对付她的“命令”魔法。想到这里，泳泳决定等待机会。

Soon, that chance arrived: the Candy-stealing operation targeting Snow White.
不久，机会就来了：以白雪为目标的魔法糖果强夺作战。

Snow White had around 50000 Magical Candies, and Swim Swim had taken 37000 of those. She had grabbed Tama, who was still in a daze under the steel tower, and given her 35000 or so of them, and then told Ruler there were only 2000, She then used the 35000 Candies stocked with Tama and then evenly distributed them to everyone except Ruler, Snow White and La Pucelle.There were those who suspected her, those who were on guard against her, those who harbored hostility to her, and those who attacked her without saying a word. While nobody replied with thanks to the message notifying them of the gift of Magical Candies, nobody rejected it either.
白雪大概有50000魔法糖果，泳泳抢走了其中的37000余个，抓住当时在铁塔下迷迷糊糊神志不清的小玉强塞给她35000个左右，对王权报告说只有2000个。保存在小玉那儿的35000个，平均分配给了除去王权、白雪和圣少女以外的其他魔法少女。怀疑的、警戒的、怀有敌意的、一句话不说就攻击的都有。虽然没有人对送出魔法糖果为礼物的联络报以善意的回应，但也没有人拒绝这份大礼。

During this process, Swim Swim used Fav as a communication tool with the other Magical Girls. Fav hd met all the other Magical Girls, and even a Magical Girl trying to hide her location would need to have spoke with Fav. Ruler had once told Swim Swim that if she ran into a situation which was not adequately explained or where the language was not sufficiently clear, if she asked Fav for help, he would respond to the best of his ability.
在这个过程中，泳泳把法布当成和其他魔法少女联络的工具。法布和每个魔法少女都见过面，哪怕是想要隐藏自己所在地的魔法少女也必定会和法布打交道。王权曾经告诉泳泳，如果碰到说明不足或者语言不够详尽的情况，要求法布帮忙的话法布会在力所能及的范围内进行对应。

Dividing 35000 Candies among 11 people meant that each of them would receive around 3180 Candies. Snow White still had over 10000 Candies, and even if she split the amount evenly with La Pucelle they would still have over 5000. In this way, Ruler, who had been so smug and comfortable with the 1044 Candies she had received, had actually become the one with the fewest Magical Candies.
35000个魔法糖果平均分给11个人，每个人大约能拿到3180。白雪那儿还剩下超过10000，就算和圣少女平分每个人也能有5000以上。这样一来，因为拿到了1044个糖果而高枕无忧的王权，反而变成了魔法糖果最少的那个人。

The Peaky Angels were overjoyed, while Tama took part in the operation with guilt written all over her face. They all accepted Swim Swim’s status as leader.
Peaky·Angels一脸高兴，小玉一脸愧疚地参加了这次作战。她们都认可了泳泳的领队身份。

Swim Swim had successfully assassinated Ruler before she realized she had been betrayed. She had not even had the chance to use her Magic.
在王权发现自己被背叛之前，泳泳就成功地把她抹杀了，她甚至没有机会使用魔法。

Swim Swim brought Ruler’s corpse to the end of the main road. Even without a Magical Girl’s arm-strength, this cold body was not heavy.
泳泳把王权的尸体放在大路的尽头。就算没有作为魔法少女的臂力，这具已经变冷尸体也不算重。

“Farewell, and thank you very much.”
“永别了，一直以来非常感谢。”

Swim Swim bowed deeply to Ruler’s body, then turned and left, vanishing into the darkness of the alley without looking back.
泳泳对王权的尸体深深地行了一个礼，然后就转过身去，头也不回地消失在小巷的黑暗中。

Ruler was no longer around, but the great deal of knowledge she had gained from her still remained. From now on, no matter what happened, she had to obey her teachings. Swim Swim wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with her fingertip, and then ran through the darkness.
王权虽然已经不在了，但从她那儿学到的大量知识仍在。从今往后无论变成怎样，都要谨遵她的教诲。用指尖拭去眼角的泪水，泳泳在黑暗中飞奔而去。