Restart Chapter 03

Chapter 03: The Detective and the Murder

☆ Detec Bell

Detec Bell was a detective.
滴答贝儿是一名侦探。

Her hunting cap and short cape were accompanied by a pipe and a magnifying glass. While one could say that her theme was being a girl version of Sherlock Holmes, she was not simply a Magical Girl in a detective-themed outfit. If one wanted to know the reason why she had used a detective as a motif for her costume, it would be because Hioka Shinobu was a detective before becoming Detec Bell.
狩猎帽配上短斗篷，小道具则备有烟斗与放大镜，虽然可以说是将福尔摩斯少女化的风格，但她并不只是单纯穿上以侦探概念为原型的服装的魔法少女。如果真要说为什么要以侦探为原型，原因在于冰冈忍变身成滴答贝儿之前的职业便是侦探。

When Shinobu was in kindergarten, she had a brother who was four years older than her. She stuck close to her brother, and loved to run after him, though he found it quite annoying. Even when the town organized a bus trip, he was forced to bring along the burden that was Shinobu. These children’s meetings were intended for elementary schoolers, but she wailed and cried that “it’s not fair that onii-chan’s gets to go by himself” and so on. Unable to deal with her surprising vitality, their father had no choice but to discuss things with the town council’s head.
当时正就读幼稚园的忍有个年长她四岁的哥哥。她是个爱粘着哥哥的小孩，虽然惹得哥哥极为厌烦，却还是爱拼命地追在他身后跑。甚至连镇上的儿童会远足，也得带着她这个拖油瓶。儿童会基本上是为了小学生而成立的聚会，但是她大哭大闹地喊只有哥哥去，太狡猾、好过分之类的话，实在无法忍受她这惊人活力的父亲，只好找镇上的会长商量。

The destination of the bus trip was a farm in a neighboring city. It was spring, the weather was clear, the temperature was warm, all of which were the ideal conditions for children to play to their heart’s content. They made a ruckus when they saw a cow, they shouted in excitement when they saw a horse, they fed goats and rabbits, even experienced the act of milking a cow, and finally they got back on the bus. This was when she had a fateful encounter.
巴士远足的目的地是隔壁城市的牧场。季节是春天，天气一片晴朗，气温是初夏，是最适合让孩子们尽情游玩的状态。看到牛就鼓噪起来、看到马就兴奋地大叫、喂羊与兔子饲料，还体验了挤牛奶，最后搭上回程的巴士。她就在这里遇见了命运的邂逅。

Amidst the snores of tired-out children, Shinobu watched an anime rerun on the bus’ television. Shinobu had been looking forward so much to the bus trip that she had fallen asleep right after having dinner, and she had slept right until the moment they were due to set off, so even after the exertion of the farm, she still had energy to spare.
在累瘫了的孩子们一阵酣睡声中，忍在巴士的电视上观赏了重播的卡通。因为太过期待巴士远足，前一天吃完晚饭后就马上跑去睡觉，一直睡到出发前一刻为止的忍，即使在牧场大玩一场过后，仍然还有多馀的精力。

The screen showed an elementary school detective solving a locked-room murder. To Shinobu back then, the words he spoke were as complex as technical language. Even though she had no idea what he was saying, she saw that a kid who was almost her age could actually shatter the schemes cooked up by an adult criminal, gain the approval or respect of the surrounding adults, policemen and senior detectives. His weapons were his secret tools, his reliable buddy and most importantly, a clear mind.
画面里，一位小学生侦探解开了密室杀人的谜团。他说的话对当时的忍而言，难度等同于专业术语。即使完全不晓得他在说什么，但是看到跟自己差不多大的小孩，居然能够打击身为大人的犯人所策划的坏事，得到周围的大人、刑警与侦探前辈的赞赏或是尊敬；他的武器就是秘密道具与可靠的伙伴，最重要的就是清晰的头脑。

To a kindergartener, the phrase “murder” had as much impact as “world conquest” or “the extinction of mankind”, so being able to defeat such criminal acts meant he was practically a hero. Surrounded by snores, Shinobu clenched her fist by herself, her heart filling with delight and worry as she followed his exploits.
杀人这种句子对幼稚园生来说，仿佛征服世界或是人类灭亡般冲击性十足，能够打击如此犯罪行为的他简直就是英雄。忍在回荡着阵阵酣睡声的巴士中，一个人紧握拳头，心情随着他的活跃一下开心一下忧心。

Shinobu became a huge fan of that boy detective; she even begged her brother to borrow the original manga from his friends, which she devoured. Fortunately, their conversations used proper katakana, so she could still read them even if she had no idea what they meant. Alibis, tricks, locked rooms, these fascinating phrases puzzled Shinobu. Thus, she decided not to pester her brother any further. Although her brother finally had peace after that, she had the feeling that he looked kind of lonely… then again, that was probably from Shinobu’s point of view.
忍成为那位少年侦探的疯狂粉丝，还拜托哥哥向他朋友借原著漫画，然后全部看完。幸亏对白有标注平假名，即使不晓得意思，她还是能读得出来。不在场证明、手法、密室，如此充满蛊惑魅力的种种字汇迷倒了忍。于是她再也不跟在哥哥身后打转了。虽然哥哥从此落得清静，但总觉得他看起来有点落寞……这也许是忍的主观偏见吧。

She devoured all the DVDs she asked her father to rent, be they anime or movies. Her interests turned towards mysteries, and in the end she reached out towards her father’s bookcase. Her father used his weekends and holidays to turn a color box into a bookshelf, which was stuffed full of mystery literature, but when he found her, he said, “This is for adults” and then took away the book she was holding. Thus she had no choice but to hide and read them in secret. These books did not use katakana, so she had no choice but to teach herself how to read them. She looked at unknown phrases and read them anyway, and when other kids were passionate fans of cartoons or tokusatsu hero movies, Shinobu was reading mystery novels by herself.
(TL Note: color box seems to be a brand of generic shelving: カラーボックス)
拜托父亲租来DVD，无论是动画或是电影她一律照单全收，舆趣也整个转向推理，最后终于将触角伸向父亲的书柜。父亲利用周末假期将三层柜改造而成的书柜，全都推满了推理方面的书籍，但是被发现的话，他就会说「这是大人看的东西」，然后拿走她手上的书，因此她只能躲起来偷看。这些书籍并没有标注平假名，所以她只能靠自学阅读。不懂的单字也是似懂非懂地看，当其他小孩热衷于卡通或是英雄特摄片的时候，忍却独自一人看着推理小说。

Among those mystery novels, her favorites were obviously detective stories. In Shinobu’s first encounter with mystery anime, the detective was the supreme overlord, a sage, and nigh-unto omnipotent.
在推理小说中，她最喜欢的当然就是有名侦探登场的小说。在忍第一次接触到推理的动画里，侦探是绝对的王者、智者，仿佛有着三头六臂般活跃无比。

In elementary and middle school, she spent her days and nights immersed in detective stories, and in high school she became the head of the mystery lovers’ club. Some of them possessed extraordinary intellects and knowledge and solved locked room mysteries; others went up against powerful organizations without asking for any payment just to save a helpless girl. The exploits of these tough and cool detectives set her heart aflutter.
小学与国中时的她，日夜沉迷侦探小说中，高中时则担任推理同好会社长。有人以拥有卓越的头脑与知识破解密室手法，指出杀人犯；又有人为了拯救无依无靠的少女，不求任何报酬地力抗强大的组织。既坚强又酷劲十足的侦探们的活跃表现，在在令她的胸口感到雀跃不已。

In her high school cultural festival, the club organized a Yagamura Village stage play. While they got the gym dirty with fake blood and were scolded by the teacher, they put together a grand performance, and the audience cheered loudly for them. The main character--played by Shinobu--solved the mystery in the spotlight, and received thunderous applause worthy of Kindaichi Kousuke himself! Just thinking about the scene from back then filled her body with delight.
在高中的文化祭上，同好会企划了「八墓村」的舞台。虽然她们以血浆弄葬了体育馆，被担任体育主任的老师臭骂一顿，不过如此华丽气派的表演大获成功，观众席间响起一片盛大的欢呼声。忍所饰演的主角在聚光灯中解开谜团，得到了不输给金田一耕助的如雷掌声！光是回想起当时的情景，就令她感到一阵贯穿全身的快感。

This was a detective; no, a real detective would have been even more impressive. Under normal circumstances, she should have had the ambition of becoming an actress, but her heart was set on becoming a detective.
这就是侦探，不，如果是真的侦探一定更惊人。一般来说，也许她应该要立志成为女演员才对，但是忍则坚定地将志向定在侦探。

After earning her bachelor’s degree, heedless to her parents’ disapproval, Shinobu went and knocked on the door of a detective firm. That had happened three years ago. Not long after that, she received a text message for a Magical Girl selection exam, and after passing it, she became a Magical Girl. She felt that becoming a Magical Girl would aid in her detective activities. To Shinobu, being a detective was her top priority.
才刚从短大毕业的忍，在不顾双亲反对的情况下，前去敲侦探事务所的大门。这件事也不过是距今三年前的事情。在那之后不久，她偶然收到魔法少女选拔测验的简讯，通过测验后成为魔法少女。她认为成为魔法少女，就一定能对侦探活动有很大的助益。对忍而言，一切以侦探为优先。

Until now, she still could not forget what had happened the first time she had transformed into a Magical Girl.
直到如今，她仍然忘不了第一次变身为魔法少女的情景。

Before her was a ravishing beauty. While Shinobu was not the sort of person who desired to be pretty or cute, it had still moved her. Just looking in the mirror made her heart pound, and she even stretched two or three times to hide her excitement. The slightest move filled the air with a fruity fragrance.
那是个美丽绝伦的少女。虽然忍并不是那种会憧景美丽或是可爱的人，但仍然为此感到震撼。光是看着镜子，心脏就会产生剧烈的悸动，为了掩饰她的兴奋还假意做了两、三次伸展操。仅仅稍微动一下，便会飘散出水果般香甜宜人的香味。

That text was not a joke, and neither had it been a prank. In addition, the pain she had felt after pinching her cheeks told her that she was not dreaming either. It was plain from looking that this was not possible with modern science. She was a true, genuine, real, actual Magical Girl.
那则简讯并不是开玩笑，也非恶作剧。而且她也透过捏完脸颊感到的疼痛，知道这一切既不是幻觉也不是做梦。看也知道这是现代科学无法办到的事情。她是真正的、货真价实的、活生生的魔法少女本尊。

Detec Bell’s outfit was more mature in appearance than that of most other Magical Girls, and so she could blend in with the people on the streets as she went about her business; her physical abilities were vastly superior to those of any lifeform, let alone human beings, and her outstanding stamina allowed her to work day and night without sleep or rest. Her night vision was excellent, allowing her to see as clearly as she did in the daytime. All of these were useful for a detective.
滴答贝儿的装扮在魔法少女中显得比较成熟，也能混入街上的人群中进行活动；身体机能别说是人类，更遥遥凌驾于生物之上，优秀的持久力则能数天数夜不眠不休地进行活动丄仪视能力佳，能与白天一样看得一清二楚。这一切都利于侦探。

In addition, every Magical Girl had the ability to use a certain Magic, and this was also useful to detective work. With Detec Bell’s magic, even so-called perfect crimes like locked-room mysteries would have no choice but to yield the truth to her. The criminal had nowhere to hide.
另外，每位魔法少女都会拥有一项的「魔法」，同样也是利于侦探。只要有滴答贝儿的魔法，无论是密室还是完美犯罪都只能现出原形。令犯人无所遁形。

However, much to her regret, real-life detective work did not feature locked-room mysteries or phantom thieves. Shinobu had been a detective for three years, and she had made full use of her Magical Girl abilities. She did well in tracking or surveillance and she was popular with her clients, and someone had even been willing to provide the capital for her to strike out on her own. It was then that she realised the truth of being a detective.
然而非常可惜的，现实中的侦探活动并没有密室也没有怪盗。忍以侦探为业也有三年了，她活用魔法少女的能力，无论是跟踪或是监视都有不错成果，也受到顾客喜爱，甚至还有人愿意提供资本，问她是否有意独立门户。她也是这个时候才认清了侦探的现实。

It was still alright when she had to look for wayward or runaway people, but rookies were always ordered to sort out documents, take phone calls, do the cleaning or make tea--and in addition to these chores, they were called on to take care of pets or help with spring cleaning or move house until they collapsed. Her chief had put on a kindly old grandpa face and said, “This is for your own good”, “This is the first step in becoming a first-rate detective” and so on as he ordered her to do the scutwork. Growing up under someone who acted like that, who had such clumsy persuasion made her think that he had a horrible personality.
调查出轨或是寻找离家出走的人还算是好的，菜鸟老是被命令整理文书、接电话、打扫或是泡茶等工作——打杂以外的工作便是照顾宠物或是帮忙大扫除、帮忙搬家搬到累瘫为止。所长露出一副好心老爷爷的脸说「这是为了你好」，这是成为一流侦探的第一步」等吩咐她打杂，在长成那副德行与蹩脚的说服力相乘效果之下，只让人觉得个性简直恶劣至极。

However, Shinobu’s nature had not changed. Learning the truth of detective work had not made her abandon her dreams of being a detective. No matter what happened, she wanted to be a detective. Being a detective was what her heart desired.
然而——忍的本质未曾改变。得知侦探的现实后，并没有让她舍弃侦探的梦想。无论发生什么事情，她都要成为侦探，成为侦探也是她的心之所向。

***

The Magical Girl Magical Daisy had been eliminated from the game.
魔法少女「魔女黛西」从游戏中遭到淘汰。

She had blasted a monster with her killer move, the Daisy Beam, but thanks to the “reflects ranged attacks” special ability of the levelled-up Skeleton, the beam had rebounded on her and she had been instantly killed.
她赏了怪物一记必杀技「黛西光波」，却因为升级版骷髅「反弹长射程武器攻击」的特性，使得光波被弹了回来，一撃毙命。

After speaking with her teammates and inspecting the crime scene and the body, she knew that there was no doubt about the facts. This was not a murder. All the evidence clearly indicated that this was an accident.
向队员打听、于现场确认状况、检查尸体后，她就知道这是绝对不会错的事实。这件事并不是谋杀，一切的证据在在显示这是一场意外。

Accidents by themselves were fine. The problem lay elsewhere.
意外本身并没有问题，问题在于其他事情。

After logging out of the game, Shinobu immediately applied for leave. Her chief shouted at her over the phone, “How can you take three days off during such a busy period,” but she merely played along with him for a few sentences before turning off her Galapagosized phone. She was sorry about doing this, but Shinobu’s priority now was not regular work.
(TL Note: ガラケー; traditional Japanese flip phone, not the smartphone type)
从游戏登出之后，忍立刻要求休假。所长则是透过电话怒吼「在这么忙碌的时期怎么能放三天连假」，不过她则是随便附和几句后就挂掉了加拉巴哥化手机。虽然很抱歉，但是忍列为最优先的事物并不是一般业务。(注）仅限日本国内使用的手机。

First, she used her Magical Phone to conduct an internet search. While she had a lot of questions to ask the Land of Magic, all the text messages she had sent them had been bounced back to her. No matter how many times tried, the outcome was the same, so she had to give up on that particular channel and prioritize her searching.
首先透过魔法终端设备在网上进行搜寻。虽然她有很多问题想问「魔法王国」，但是不知道为什么，发给「魔法王国」的简讯全被退了回来。无论做几次都只是不断重复一样的结果，只好放弃这一条管道，优先进行搜寻。

She put a space behind Magical Daisy’s name, entered a few keywords after that, and then pressed the Enter key. She came to a website which described Magical Daisy’s backstory, and she was intrigued by how a particular background image seemed to be showing the scenery in front of  a certain train station. That message also matched up with the information she had gotten from Genopsycho.
她在魔女黛西后面加入空格，替换好几个关键字之后，按下输入键。她被网站上一则写着动画「魔女黛西」的背景像是某处车站前风景的情报给吸引。这则留言也应证了从梦之岛杰若疯子那里得到的情报。

After collating the information she had gathered, she knew which area the anime’s setting was modelled upon. Said area seemed to be a sort of holy land for otakus, and it was very popular. Magical Daisy had finished airing for quite some time, and its viewership was quite good for a Sunday morning 8AM slot targeted at kids, but it hardly qualified as a holy land.
综合搜寻的内容之后，便能知道动画的舞台是以哪里为范本。该地似乎是在御宅族之间被称为圣地，相当受欢迎。原本魔女黛西已经播毕经过一段时间，在星期日早上八点以小孩为取向的播放时段收视率也还算佳，但似乎不至于被圣地圣地的叫吧。

After closing her Magical Phone, she transformed into a Magical Girl. In order to avoid drawing attention, she squashed her cap low. Then she transferred her wallet and other essential belongings into her work bag and left the building.
她关上魔法终端设备后——变身为魔法少女。为了避免引人注目，她将帽檐压得低低的，将钱包等必要之物放进工作包里，便离开了大厦。

She took the Shinkansen to the northwest, then transferred to an ordinary train, and then transferred once more to the Japan Railway. She rode for three stops, dumped her ticket stub at the empty train station, and got off in B Town of B Prefecture. After looking around to see that nobody was there, she lightly kissed the train station’s wall. The dirty, cracked wall slowly grew a face that looked like it had come from a satirical manga. The face looked more like anime or manga than a realistic face, and it resembled that of a sad, pathetic thirty year-old man. The exact look of the face varied with the target of the Magic. So this was the sort of face an old, commuter-less train station would make.
搭新干线前往东北方面，转搭普通电车，再转乘私铁，坐了三站，在无人车站的收票口丢下车票后，在B县B镇出站。左右张望确认没有其他人之后，便轻轻地亲吻了一下车站的墙。只见龟裂开来的肮葬壁面豁然浮现仿佛讽刺漫画般的人脸。人脸比起现实更接近动画或是漫画，表情则如悲惨的中年男子。图案会根据魔法的施行对象变得不同。在这个老旧的无人车站，原来是会变成这种脸呀。

The roughly meter-long face suddenly blinked its eyes and looked at Detec Bell.
大约一公尺的卡通脸突然骨碌碌地转动了眼睛，看着滴答贝儿。

“What is it?”
「有何贵干？」

The voice sounded fairly introverted. That was a thing that changed with the Magic’s target.
声音相当内敛。这一点会根据对象物而产生不同特色。

“Do you know Magical Daisy?”
「你知道魔女黛西吗？」

“No, I don’t.”
「不，不知道。」

“It’s this person.”
「就是这个人。」

She displayed the image of Magical Daisy on her Magical Phone.
她出示显示在魔法终端设备里的魔女黛西影像。

“Ohh, I know her. She often helped people in front of this train station.”
「喔喔，这个人我知道。她曾经在这个车站里帮助别人。」

“Okay. Thank you.”
「很好。谢谢你。」

She drew near the wall again, but this time she kissed the tip of its nose. The face melded back into the wall and vanished.
她再度接近墙壁，不过这次是在鼻尖亲了一下，那张脸便融人墙壁之中消失不见了。

This was Detec Bell’s Magic, “the ability to talk to buildings”. It had many restrictions, such as a kiss being required to activate or dispel it, the fact that someone’s possession would not say anything deleterious to its master, but it was a valuable treasure during her detective work.
这就是滴答贝儿的「能与建筑物对话」的魔法。虽然有无论要发动或是解除都必须靠亲吻、如果是某人的持有物就不会说出对主人不利的话等诸多限制，但是在侦探活动上，仍然是让人不容小觑的至宝。

Incidentally, when she had tried using it on an abandoned building in the game, it had replied, “I belong to the gamemaster, and I cannot speak in a way which might defy the gamemaster’s wishes. Please look for hints to clear the game by conventional means”. She had also tried talking to the other buildings, but they had said the same thing in different tones. It deeply disappointed Detec Bell, who thought she could gather clues with her Magic.
顺带一提，她在游戏中对废弃大楼使用时，则只得到「我是大使的所有物，无法进行忤逆大使意思的对话。请你透过正常方式，寻找破关的线索」。她也找其他建筑物谈过话，但只有语气不同，内容却大同小异。令原以为能够藉由魔法的能力轻松找到线索的滴答贝儿，感到一阵失落。

After leaving the station, she bought a newspaper from a nearby convenience store. Convenience stores in the suburbs had a lot of floor space, and the parking lots were also very large. She sat on a crash bumper in the carpark and opened up the newspaper.
她在走出车站不远的便利商店购买了当地的报纸。乡下地方的便利商店腹地很大，停车场也很大。她在停车场的挡车板坐了下来，摊开报纸。

According to Nokko-chan, Magical Daisy had been a middle schooler when the anime had first aired, so she could work back and deduce her age from there. Since she was a middle schooler, she could not go too far when going about her Magical Girl business, so she was probably only active in the nearby towns. Her home ought to be nearby so long as she did not move.
根据从小原原那里得到的情报，魔女黛西在动画播放时还是国中生，因此能倒推出她的年龄。既然是国中生，就不可能在离家太远的地方从事魔法少女的活动，应该只会在邻近的乡镇进行活动。只要没有搬家的话，她的老家应该就在附近了。

Since she was a Magical Girl, she would need to find a place to detransform. Even if she was careful to avoid the eyes of people, she would not be wary of the eyes of buildings. The building which Magical Daisy used to detransform ought to be somewhere. All she had to do was ask each and every building and she would surely be able to find the paths which the detransformed girl often travelled. One of these buildings must certainly be her dwelling place.
既然是魔法少女，就必须找个地方解除变身。就算会小心别人的目光，但绝对不会在意建筑物的目光。魔女黛西用来解除变身的建筑物，一定就在某处。只要一间一间地询问建筑物，一定能找出解除变身的少女行经的道路。某栋建筑物一定就是她的居所。

If she could not find the building in question, that would mean she might have moved house. If Magical Daisy’s family had moved away, then there would have been a building who witnessed it. Buildings’ memories would not fade due to the passage of time.
如果找不到该建筑物，就代表她的老家有可能搬迁了。如果魔女黛西的家已经搬迁的话，也一定有看到当时状况的建筑物。建筑物的记忆不会因为时间的流逝变得模糊。

The objective of her expedition was to confirm if Magical Daisy was alive or dead. Of course, she was hoping that she was alive. Fal had already said that damage in the game did not translate to damage in real life. She had joined the game because she believed those words. Ultimately, all this was simply just in case; in other words, it was to see if there was anything she had overlooked. She also had the feeling that all this was merely because she had been influenced by a baseless instinct.
此行的目的即为确认魔女黛西的生死。站在滴答贝儿的立场，当然希望她活得好好的。法尔说过，游戏内的损害并不会回馈到现实之中。她信了，所以才会参加游戏。这个举动说穿了，只是以防万一而已，也就是确认是否没有任何疏漏而已。她也有自觉，这个行动只不过是受到出自于不祥预感之类，毫无根据的直觉所激刺的行动。

Detec Bell folded the paper up, then put it into her bag. She had three days to do this.
滴答贝儿将报纸折好，放入皮包里。期限只有三天。

☆ Pechika

Just like last time, she changed her clothes and delivered the bento box to Ninomiya-kun. When she moved to the head of the line, nobody complained. All she heard were whispers of “It’s that girl again” and “Who is she?” from all around her. The first time, she had felt proud, happy and delighted, but at the same time, she had felt completely helpless, and she hadrolled around miserably on her bed. Today, the second time round, she did not feel any joy, delight or helplessness.
与上次|样，换好衣服后，将便当送来给二宫同学。蓓蒂卡走到前面时，没有任何人发出怨言，只听见周围传来「又是那个女的啊！」、「她是谁啊？」的窃窃私语声。第一次，她只感觉骄傲、欢喜、快乐，但是胸口深处又觉得无奈，躺在床上难受地蠕动来蠕动去。第二次的今天，并没有感觉到任何欢喜、快乐，或是无奈的情绪。

The autumn sun was setting soon. Evening rolled in from all around, and there were no signs of children in the park. Only Pechika remained, hanging her head from where she sat on a swing.
秋天的太阳很快便西沉了。四周的黄昏薄暮袭来，儿童公园里不见任何小孩的身影，唯独垂着头坐在秋千上的蓓蒂长一人。

She felt melancholy when she thought of the game. Just as Fal said, after hearing the logout announcement, she found herself lying on her bed, and when she glanced at the clock, the minute hand had not even made a full circuit around the clock’s face. Even so, it did not comfort her.
一想起游戏的事情便令她忧郁不已。如同法尔所说明的，听到登出的宣言后，回过神来时已经躺在床上，她看向时钟，分针甚至还没走过一圏。但即使如此，仍然不能让她感到平静。

It would be all well and good if she could refuse, but she could not. It would seem a Magical Girl had already been eliminated from the game, and she thought of her teammates’ thoughtful expressions. While Fal had already said that injuries on the game would not transfer back to reality, hearing about it felt distasteful after all. Granted, the game had elements of exploration, treasure hunting and the like, but ultimately, it was a fighting game, and this did not suit Pechika’s personality at all.
如果拒绝就好了，但却拒绝不了。游戏似乎已经有魔法少女遭到淘汰，她想起队上成员若有所思的模样。虽然说过，游戏内的损伤并不会回馈到现实中，但仍然让人觉得排斥。虽然那个游戏也有探索、寻宝之类的元素，但最终目的仍是以战斗为主，而这一点并不符合蓓蒂卡的个性。

She sighed.
她叹了一口气。

She already knew that she could not refuse, and she was also too afraid to actually speak up. The other Magical Girls would probably be terribly disappointed in Pechika, who had done nothing but had been eliminated. Perhaps they would insult her, or they might even punch or kick her. Even if damage did not carry over to real life, pain was still pain. Pinching her cheeks in the game hurt as much as it did in reality. Pain so intense that it made her want to die would probably hurt just as badly. Just the thought of it made her go weak. Did the other Magical Girls not have such imaginations?
她也清楚事到如今已经无法拒绝，同时也害怕说出口。其他的魔法少女一定会对什么都没做，即遭到淘汰的蓓蒂卡感到相当失望吧。也许会出口辱骂难听的话，搞不好还会揍她、踢她一顿也不一定。即使损伤不会回归到现实生活，但是会痛就是会痛。在游戏内捏脸颊的话，就如在现实中一样的痛。令人痛到想死的痛楚，想必也是痛到想死。光凭想象就让人憔悴。其他的魔法少女没有如此的想象力吗？

The videogame concept of defeating enemies seemed completely incompatible with the image of a Magical Girl. Magical Girls were supposed to help people, and perhaps an extension of helping people might involve violence, but the physical abilities and Magic which Magical Girls had been given were intended to help people. While there might be certain situations where some slight violence might be warranted to help someone in trouble, defeating enemies for Magical Candies did not seem like the path which a proper Magical Girl ought to take.
打倒敌人之类的游戏概念，实在无法让人认同适合魔法少女的形象。魔法少女的工作就是助人，也许助人的延长线上会有暴力行为的存在也不一定，但是，这是为了助人而被赋予的魔法少女的身体机能与魔法而衍生的产物。虽然会为了拯救有困难之人，在无可奈何的情形下施行轻微暴力，但是打倒敌人赚取魔法糖果实在不是魔法少女的正道。

However, even if Pechika proclaimed this at the top of her voice, people would still think of her as a weakling trying to run away from reality. Nobody would be willing to listen to Pechika. She sighed again.
然而，即便蓓蒂卡如此高声大喊，还是会被视为逃避现实的懦弱者。没有人会愿意倾听蓓蒂卡的话。她又叹了一口气。

At the very least, she ought to think about the clear bonus. The prize for clearing the game was 10 billion yen, or several dozen times the top prize of striking the lottery. They had arranged that they would evenly split the money, no matter who defeated the Demon King. In other words, even Pechika, who had no wish to fight at all, might have a chance to… however, it was an unreal sum to Pechika.
至少也该思考一下报酬的事情。破关的奖赏有一百亿圚，那是数十次超级乐透彩的中奖金额总和。她们约定好，无论是哪位队员打倒魔王，都得大家平均分摊奖金。换句话说，毫无战斗欲望的蓓蒂卡也有机会……然而，对蓓蒂卡来说，这完全是个超现实的数字。

Strictly speaking, she might actually have been happier with the 100’000 yen participation prize. When she checked her bank balance before stepping outside, she discovered that the money had actually been credited to her account. The way the money had been used also matched her personality. Since her family provided food, it would have to go to clothes. After that would be rings, necklaces, earrings… those were a little scary; perhaps earclips would be better; shoes, bags, all of them high-end or fashionable products, of the kinds which stars used. If the 100’000 yen was not enough, then using her saved-up red packet money would be fine too. Such grand accoutrements might not suit Chika, but they would suit Pechika very well.
如果真要说起来，反而是十万圆的参加奖让她比较开心也不一定。出门前记帐的时候，发现钱真的入户头了。钱的用途也相当符合她的个性。食物方面都是靠家里供给，那就是衣服了。其他就是戒指或项炼、耳环……这个有点恐怖，还是改耳夹等的小饰品；鞋、包包；明星会拿的知名高级品牌或是时尚秀中使用的逸品。十万圚不够的话，就算要动用到她存起来的压岁钱也没关系。即使不适合智香，但如果是蓓蒂卡的话，想必会非常适合这种华丽的装饰吧。

She was determined to flee reality, and by the time she came to her senses, the sun had already set, and Pechika’s shadow appeared long and slender under the illumination of the park’s lights. A tatata sound came towards her, and when she turned, Pechika found that there was a pair of spiked baseball shoes at the edge of her shadow. The legs attached to those shoes wore the baseball team’s uniform.
她一味地逃避现实，待回过神来时，太阳已经西下，蓓蒂卡的身影在公园内的长明灯照射下，变形得又长又尖。耳边传来哒哒哒哒哒跑过来的声音，望过去，才发现蓓蒂卡的影子前端，踩着一双棒球钉鞋。那双脚穿着棒球队的队服。

She lifted her head up and almost stopped breathing. It was Ninomiya-kun. He had the baseball team’s black athletics bag slung over his shoulder, and even in his home clothes, she could see that his athletic upper body was heaving with exertion. Had he run all the way here? His forehead was beaded with sweat, and he was looking at Pechika.
抬起头来，她差一点断气。二宫同学站在那里。棒球社的社员所使用的黑色运动包正挂在肩膀上，即使穿着队服，也还是能看出那健美肉体的上半身，正激烈地起伏喘气。他是一路跑过来的吧？他额头上冒着汗水，正看着蓓蒂卡。

“Ah…”
「请问……」

He drew close as he greeted her. Pechika’s hand tightened around the swing’s chain. The chain was wrapped in thick plastic, but the cold of the metal still carried through the material. She knew very well her temperature was rising.
他一边打招呼一边接近。蓓蒂卡握住秋千铁炼的手不禁用力。秋千的铁炼包覆着厚厚的塑胶皮，但金属的冰冷仍然能透过塑胶传过来。她很清楚自己的体温正在上升中。

“You’re the one who gave me the bento, am I right?”
「你是送便当给我的人，没错吧？」

She stood up like she was spring-loaded, nodding rapidly as her facial muscles stiffened. She let go of the swing’s chain, then--at a loss for what to do--she tightly gripped the hem of her dress.
她仿佛身上装了弹簧般站起来，连连点头，脸上的肌肉也变得僵硬无比。放开握住秋千铁炼的手，手足无措地紧紧揪住连身洋装的裙襬部分。

“Ah, I have a very thick-skinned request for you…”
「那个，我有一个非常厚脸皮的要求……」

Ninomiya-kun stood before her eyes, close enough that she could reach out and touch him, almost close enough for her to feel his breath, near enough that she could smell the sweat from the run he had just completed. Ninomiya-kun, a being as distant and unreachable as the stars, someone she had never dared to approach in school, only watched in silence, was just a short distance away.
二宫同学站在眼前，只要伸出手就能接触的距离；甚至是差一点就能感受到他呼吸的距离；近到鼻子能嗅到他刚跑完一段路的汗味的距离。原本如同永远遥不可及的星星般的存在，在学校里也不敢主动找他说话，只能远远地默默守护的二宫同学，就在不远处。

She was sweating, her body was hot, her heart was racing, her head felt faint--who was it who said that love was a form of sickness?
冒汗、体温升高、心悸、晕眩，是谁说过恋爱是一种病的？

Ninomiya-kun put his hand behind his face, and with an apologetic look on his face, he courteously asked:
二宫同学将手摆在后脑杓处，一脸抱歉、客气地说着：

“That bento of yours… could I trouble you to make more of it for me?”
「那个便当……还可以请你再做给我吃吗？」

Pechika nodded rapidly, and her styled hair bounced up and down.
蓓蒂卡连连点头，整理过的短发上下晃动。

“It was really delicious. Seriously, it was the best bento I’ve ever had in my life. It’s so good that I’d do anything to be able to eat it every day.”
「那个真的非常好吃，真的是我吃过最棒的便当。甚至好吃到如果能每天吃到，你说什么我都愿意做的地步。」

The taste of food made through Pechika’s Magic was practically magic. Ninomiya flailed his body and arms around to explain exactly how delicious it was.
透过蓓蒂卡的魔法制作出来的料理，是宛如魔法般的人间美味。二宫同学以肢体动作竭力说明，那个便当到底有多么美味。

“I really wanted to tell you how delicious that bento was, but nobody on the team knew who you were, so I ran here to look for you. Also, I have one more request of you.”
「我真的很想告诉你那个便当有多么美味，但是队上没有人知道你是谁，所以我才跑来这附近找。然后，我还有一件事情想要拜托你。」

Ninomiya-kun pressed his palms together, then bowed to Pechika.
二宫同学啪一声双手合十，向蓓蒂卡低着头。

Now, Pechika was looking down upon the back of Ninomiya-kun’s head. The baseball club mandated that all players had to have a buzz cut.  The back of Ninomiya-kun’s head was very attractive. Granted, he looked like a monk, but it gave off a sense of cleanliness rather than being comical. If she touched his hair, it would surely feel good, like the bristles of a brush. Pechika unconsciously reached out with her right hand.
形成蓓蒂卡由上向下望着二宫同学后脑杓的景象。棒球社有规定，强制队员必须剃成五分头。二宫同学的后脑杓形状很好看，虽然是和尚头，但比起滑稽更给人一种清洁感。碰触的话，一定会有种像短毛刷的舒服触感。蓓蒂卡不禁伸出右手。

“The guys have all been snatching at it while saying it’s delicious, so I’ve never eaten it on my own before.”
「因为队上的人还一边说着好吃一边伸过手来，所以我从来没有独自吃完便当过。」

Ninomiya-kun bowed his head deeply, secretly peeking up at Pechika. Their eyes met, and so she hurriedly pulled her hand back. However, her heart palpitations grew more intense, and her breathing was so ragged that she had to use her mouth to gulp down enough air. Ninomiya-kun glanced at Pechika. It might still have been okay if it was only Pechika gazing at Ninomiya-kun, but Ninomiya-kun looked at Pechika just as Pechika was looking at Ninomiya-kun, and so their eyes ended up meeting.
二宫同学深深地低下头，还偷偷抬起头偷瞄蓓蒂卡。两人对上视线，于是她急忙地缩回右手，然而悸动却越发剧烈，呼吸紊乱到甚至得用嘴巴才喘得过气来。二宫同学正望着蓓蒂卡。如果只有宿蒂卡看着二宫同学还好，但是二宫同学望着蓓蒂卡，而蓓蒂卡又望二宫同学，所以两人才会四目相交。

“I didn’t even get anywhere close to eating all of it--there were barely a few scraps left, but even those scraps were incredibly tasty. Ah, you might think of me as underhanded, but could you please give me that bento when nobody else can see? The guys on the team won’t listen when I tell them to stop, they pretty much snatched the entire bento away. Really.”
「别说是全部了，几乎都只剩下一点残渣，即使如此那个便当还是好吃到爆炸。唉，也许你会觉得我很卑鄙，但是你可以在不被任何人看见的情况下，送便当给我吗？因为队上的家伙完全不听我的制止，几乎都要把我的便当整个抢过去了。我是说真的。」

Pechika was so dizzy now that she felt like she was going to faint, but she still managed to nod.
蓓蒂卡现在也头晕目眩地感觉自己快要昏过去般，但她还是点了点头。

“I understand.”
「我知道了。」

She was overly nervous, so her voice sounded like she was reading off a textbook.
因为太过紧张，所以声音听起来仿佛是在念课本。

“Really? Awesome! Thank you so much!”
「真的吗？真是太好了！谢谢你！」

Ninomiya-kun thanked her several more times as he grabbed Pechika’s hands and pumped them up and down. Pechika watched this while the inside of her head blanked out into a pure white. The two of them agreed to hand over the bento in the park, and she nodded, the inside of her head still a blank white.
二宫同学连说了好几声「谢谢、谢谢」，一边握着蓓蒂卡的双手上下晃动。蓓蒂卡脑袋一片空白地望着这一切。两人约好在这个公园转交便当，她仍然脑袋一片空白地点头。

Pechika watched Ninomiya-kun run off while humming to himself.
蓓蒂卡目送着二宫同学一边哼着歌一边跑去的身影。

Her legs had gone so weak that she could not stand, so she sat back down onto the swing. She could tell how much she had sweated from the cool, clammy sensation coming from her butt.
她双脚一软再也站不住，再度在秋千上坐了下来，从屁股传来又凉又湿的触感，她便知道自己到底是冒了多少汗。

The tempo of her heart had finally slowed, and her burning passions had gradually cooled. She struggled to regain her inner calm, but the embers in her heart still warmed her.
心脏的节奏缓缓冷静下来，熊熊燃烧的热情逐渐冷静下来。她一边努力找回心情的平静，但心里仍然被碳火熏得暖烘烘的。

The freebie Magic she had thought had always been worthless had finally seen use. It had made Ninomiya-kun happy, it had earned her his praise, and he had even said that her would do anything just to eat it every day.
一直被认为是没利用价值的附赠品的魔法，总算是派上用场了。讨二宫同学开心、获得他的赞美，甚至还说如果能每天吃到，要他做什么都愿意。

That was it, cooking. A path suddenly opened up before Pechika.
对了，就是料理。蓓蒂卡眼前的道路突然一片开阔。

☆ Shadowgale

Until several years ago, Kanoe’s grandfather had been in charge of the Hitokoujis’ affairs.
一直到数年前，负责管理人小路家的主事者还是庚江的祖父。

An chronic illness had crippled his legs and eyes, so he had to use a specialized wheelchair to get around. However, his body and mind were full of vitality, and he could give accurate and precise instructions in all manner of affairs ranging from administration, manpower, investments, contracts, negotiations and so on. There were even rumors that he had a bastard child somewhere despite being in his 80s. Even Mamori had heard of them, so they might actually be true. He worked hard until he collapsed from a stroke. There were also those who said that the reason why the Hitokouji family remained unmoved even after his passing was due to his tireless efforts.
因为旧疾导致他的双腿与眼睛状况变差，虽然必须利用专用的轮椅进行移动，但他的身体与头脑不仅活力充沛，在一切的经营、人事、投资、契约、合作以及其他方面的事务上，都能仔细且淮确地下达指令，甚至还谣传他即使高龄八十，在外仍有私生子的消息。连护都听说过，也许传言还满真实的也不一定。一直到脑中风倒下为止，他还勤奋地在工作。也有人说，在他过世后人小路家仍无一丝一毫的动摇，都归功于他的鞠躬尽瘁。

Kanoe was rebellious and did not respect others, yet she was quite close to her grandfather. That much was obvious from how her way of speaking grew to resemble her grandfather as she grew older. The adults around her, her parents and her elder brother seemed to find it amusing, and so they left her be. However, for a high school girl, she sounded a lot like a middle-aged uncle.
不把人当人看、桀敖不驯的庚江，却与她的祖父相当亲近。这一点，能从她说话的语气随着年龄增长，越发与祖父相似便能看出来。周遭的大人、她的双亲或兄长认为很有趣，便放任她这么做，但以女高中生的说话方式而言，却充满浓浓大叔味。

Her Magical Girl costume made that even more apparent. Just looking at the wheelchair was an obvious indication that she had been greatly influenced by her grandfather. Its decadent  workmanship--predominantly in gold--and its intricate carvings--like those of a throne--made her look like an old king and the ruler of her tribe. Her eyepatch was symbolic of her grandfather’s eye condition, and the carved wooden birds which served as fenders were identical to the cane her grandfather liked to use after he started having trouble with his legs.
更甚者，还能从她成为魔法少女之后的装扮窥知一二。看到轮椅就明显知道她受到祖父极大影响，还有以黄金为主的奢华作工，以及精致到令人联想到王座的精细雕刻，仿佛君临于一族顶点的老国王。藏在眼罩下的单只眼睛象征着眼疾，用来当作挡泥板的木雕小鸟，与她的祖父在双腿不便之后爱用的拐杖上的装饰一模一样。

Mamori felt that the way Kanoe lived was like her grandfather. She did not hesitate, she did not contemplate; no, perhaps she did, but pretended that she did not. She looked as though she could make snap decisions and pick the right answer, which only made the chorus of praise around her that much louder.
护认为，庚江的生活理念也与祖父相似。毫不犹豫、从不会左思右想，不，也许会，只是装成不会的样子。看起来总是能果决果断地选择正确的答案，使得歌颂她的声音更加大声。

And this Kanoe was now staring out of the window of the science prep room at lunch break, which was empty of everyone else save Mamori. She looked like she was contemplating something. Under normal circumstances, she would be talking to her classmates in the classrooms, or speedreading a book she had brought along in the library--though she would actually be thinking about things. It would be obvious that she was not troubled by anything.
而这样的庚江在除了护，没有其他人的午休的理科材料淮备室，一脸呆滞地眺望着窗外。看起来似乎正在左思右想。平常的话——她会在教室与其他同学闲聊，或是在图书馆一边速读自己带来的书，其实是在想事情之类的。明显并不会苦恼于任何事情。

Today was different, and this she knew for certain--Kanoe was definitely thinking about the game.
今非昔比，可以确定的是——她绝对是在思考游戏的事情。

To Mamori, the fact that Kanoe was thinking so hard and fervently about the game meant that she would be dragged deeper than last time, and just the thought of it made her go weak.
庚江会如此热心地苦思游戏，对护而言，就等于在召告自己会被牵连的比上次更深入，光是想象就令人觉得体重会锐减。

“Well, they do say that suffering builds character, so this is for your own good.”
「正所谓吃得苦中苦，方为人上人，这可是为你好的话。」

“...Can you read minds?”
「……你会读心术吗？」

“How long do you think we’ve been together? I can tell that much about you, at least.”
「你以为我们认识多久了？这点程度的心思我当然知道。」

It felt like she was being told that she was easy to read, and it made her a little unhappy. Outside the window, energetic students in their school gym uniforms were chasing a soccer ball. While it was a school for the upper crust, heiresses came in all shapes and sizes. It was already autumn, but the weather was still ridiculously hot. It felt like she had heated up too, so Mamori unconsciously loosed her scarf.
听起来仿佛在说她是容易被看穿的人，心情感到有点不悦。窗户外，精力旺盛的学生穿着体育服，正追着足球跑。虽说是名媛学校，但千金大小姐也分许多种。虽然已经秋天，但天气仍然热的夸张。总觉得自己也热了起来，护不禁松开围巾。

“About the game…”
「关于游戏的事情……」

So it was about the game.
果然跟游戏有关。

“You don’t like fighting the enemy and then saving up money to buy items afterwards. With your Magic, we won’t need to slow ourselves done with that sort of thing, Mamori. As long as the idea ‘all we have to do is cheat’ is lurking somewhere within your mind, how could you find it interesting?”
「你并不喜欢那种跟敌人战斗然后存钱买道具之类的事情吧。如果有护的魔法，就不需要做那种温吞的事情了。作弊不就得了，只要脑袋的某个小角落拥有这种想法，怎么可能会觉得有趣。」

“If My Lady wishes it, then I have no choice but to do so.”
「如果大小姐想做的话，我也不得不照做吧。」

Mamori’s barb was meant to say, I was pulled in because of you, but Kanoe did not seem to mind at all. Her line of sight remained on the students running around outside the window. She raised one knee, and then put her leg on the chair. Her skirt flared open, exposing her thighs.
护拼命地讽刺还不是都是因为你，我才会被牵连进来，不过庚江似乎一点都不在意。只见她的视线仍然落在窗外来回奔跑的学生身上，膝盖立起，将脚踩在椅子上。她的裙襬滑开，露出大腿侧。

“Is that not immodest?”
「太没规矩了吧。」

“There are two kinds of Magical Girls.”
「魔法少女分成两种。」

“You mean, Magical Girls who can fight and Magical Girls who can’t fight?”
「你是说战斗型的魔法少女与非战斗型的魔法少女吧。」

“That game was designed for combative Magical Girls. However, not all Magical Girls are fighters. You and I go without saying, but there are other Magical Girls who are non-fighters as well. Why did they join the game?”
「那个游戏是为了战斗型的魔法少女而设的。然而，并非全部的魔法少女都是战斗型的魔法少女。我与你当然不必说，除此之外还有其他不会战斗的魔法少女。为什么她们会参加游戏呢？」

“It should be the money, right?”
「应该是被报酬吸引过来的吧？」

“Speaking of the money, didn’t I unlock the area last time? The bonus for that has been deposited into one of my foreign accounts, I don’t know how they found it, but they transferred the sum anonymously, just like that. Two zones ought to be two million yen.”
「说到报酬，上次我不是解锁了封锁区域吗？那个报酬已经汇到我其中一个外汇的帐户里了。我不清楚他们是怎么调查到的，而且还是以匿名的方式，轻轻松松地入帐了。两个区域总共是两百万圆。」

“Two million?! Really?”
「两百万！真的吗？」

“That, and the participation prize. Go check your own account. Also, I hope you will not be shallow enough to only feel material joy.”
「跟参加的报酬一起汇进来了。你也去确认一下自己的户头吧。还有，希望你别肤浅地只感受得到物质上的喜悦。」

If only I could punch her; how much better would I feel? That thought cropped up in Mamori’s mind about five times a month.
如果可以揍这家伙的话，心情会舒畅许多的想法。护的脑海中一个月大概会浮现五次左右。

“I asked Fal, and he said that of all the Magical Girls chosen to test this game, none of them refused.”
「我问了法尔，听说被选为游戏测试者的魔法少女中，完全没有人拒绝参加。」

“Not one?”
「一个都没有？」

What a surprise. Under normal circumstances, at least one or two people ought to be opposed to being dragged into the game in such a forceful way. After all, people who became Magical Girls all had fairly strong egos.
真是令人意外。照理来说，被以那么霸道的方式牵连进来，应该会有一、两个人产生抗拒吧。毕竟会成为魔法少女的人，自我意识都满强的。

“It’s surprising, right? All these people were forced to participate through such high-handed mean, but none of them refused. There ought to be people with strong egos among them, but there also ought to be pacifists too. Why is it that nobody refused at all?”
「不可思议吧。有这么多人被那么霸道的方式强制参加，却没有任何人拒绝。其中应该有自我意识强烈的人，但想必也有爱花草胜过战斗的人吧。为什么完全没有人拒绝呢？」

“My Lady, did you not accept too?”
「大小姐不也没拒绝吗？」

“That’s because I’m a girl in the flower of my youth. Also, I admit that I’m a weirdo.”
「因为我可是正值青春期的少女。而且，我也有自觉自己是个怪人。」

“Indeed. There can be no doubt about that.”
「是的，绝对毫无疑问。」

“Smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing; all of them are the same as reality. In other words, you’d feel pain if you were hit. Even with repeated guarantees that injuries won’t carry over to the real world, the non-combative Magical Girls would have plenty of reason to hesitate. That being the case, why did they still agree to participate?”
「嗅觉、触觉、视觉、味觉、听觉，一切都与现实毫无两样。换句话说，被痛欧的话也会感到疼痛。即使再三保证损伤不会回馈到现实世界，但非战斗型的魔法少女仍然有充分的理由踌躇。既然如此，她们为什么会答应参加游戏呢？」

Kanoe hiked up her knee, and her skirt slid even further open. While this was a girl’s high school, one of the reason why she had weird fans was because of unguarded motions like this.
庚江将一边的膝盖立得更高，裙襬更加不客气地滑开。虽说是女子高中，不过她能够增加奇怪的粉丝，其中一个因素便是她会做出如此毫无防备的动作。

“It makes me feel uneasy.”
「让人觉得不安。」

“Indeed.”
「就是说啊。」

After answering, Mamori turned to the side. She trembled for a moment as her eyes met the empty orbits of a Skeleton, but anatomical skeletons were different from those in the game, and they would not attack. In her heart, she told herself that being worried would only make the Mistress feel even happier.
护随口附和完，便将头转向一旁。与骷髅四目相交的瞬间心惊胆颤了一下，但是骨头标本与游戏中的那个东西不同，并不会袭击过来。她暗自在心里补充说明，不安只会让大小姐感到更愉快吧。

“Something’s wrong with my Magical Phone. I can’t contact the Land of Magic.”
「我的魔法终端设备有点奇怪。没办法联络『魔法王国』。」

“My Magic can’t fix a Magical Phone, you know.”
「我的魔法可没办法修理魔法终端设备喔。」

Magical Phones had safeguards to prevent the outflow of information. Under Kanoe’s orders, Shadowgale had tried to repair her Magical Phone, which resulted in one less Magical Phone. It was only after she cooked up a reason for why it had broken, that she had been granted a replacement. While Kanoe had given the order, Mamori was the one who had to make up an excuse and actually make the request, and it made her mad to think about it.
魔法终端设备为了防止情报外流，有设置保全系统。暗影叶尔在庚江的命令下，试着用她的魔法修理魔法终端设备，因此报废了一台。后来想方设法，捏造了坏掉的理由，才重新获得一台新的魔法终端设备。虽然是庚江下的命令，但是捏造理由以及实际去拜托的都是护，一想起来就令人火大。

“I feel uneasy after all.”
「果然还是不安。」

With a soft thud, she took her leg off the chair. Her skirt’s hem returned to its original place. Mamori breathed an internal sigh of relief.
嘶咚一声，她将脚从椅子上放下来，裙襬也回归原本的位置。护暗自松了一口气。

Things seemed to be going well on the field. Someone scored a magnificent goal and there was high-fiving all around. One of them seemed to have noticed them, and their mouth dropped open in an “ah”. In response, Kanoe smiled and waved. The screams of the students from all around filtered over from the field, and Mamori could not help but frown.
操场上的足球赛战况似乎渐入佳境。一人漂亮地将球踢入球门的角落，开心地与伙伴们互相击掌。其中一人似乎察觉到这边，张嘴「啊」了一声。庚江回应对方，露出浅笑，挥了挥手。学生们尖叫四起的声音从操场传了过来，护不禁皱眉。

***

Three days later, they returned to the game world in the same way as before. She saw the brown-colored buildings and the Wilderness scenery, her nose filled with the scent of dirt, and the realistic sensation was vaguely nostalgic.
三天后，她们以与之前相同的模式回到了游戏世界。视野里是茶褐色的大楼与荒野景色，鼻腔充斥土味，让她产生一股回到老地方的真实感。

She opened the map, verified everyone’s positions, and then met up with Kanoe first.
摊开地图，确认队员的位置后，首先与庚江会合。

“Haven’t you kept me waiting for too long? Next time, come over sooner to escort me.”
「你也让我等太久了吧？下次开始要再早一点过来保护我。」

“Yes, yes, I shall run over with all my strength.”
「是是是，下一次一定会用尽全力奔跑过来。」

Masked Winder seemed to be waiting some distance away. She was a super weirdo, but compared to Pfle, her straightforward personality might actually be easier for her to get along with.
玛丝克德汪达似乎还在距离稍远处徘徊。她也是个超级大怪人，不过与普芙蕾相较之下，那表里如一的个性还比较好相处也不一定。

The icon representing Masked Wonder was not moving, but stayed in place. Earlier, they had agreed to meet up immediately once the game started up again, but she seemed to be waiting there for Pfle and Shadowgale to come to her. Pfle had scolded Shadowgale for her tardiness, yet she had no opinion about Masked Wonder’s lack of movement.
标示着那个玛丝克德汪达的游标一直毫无动静，停留在原地。之前明明约定好，下一次活动开始之后要马上会合，不过她似乎是在那里等着普芙蕾与暗影叶尔的到来。责备暗影叶尔姗姗来迟的普芙蕾，对于玛丝克德汪达一动也不动的举动则没表示任何意见。

Mamori had been watching the Hitokouji family for the past ten-odd years, and so she was very clear that patrons would treat skilled people very well. They would receive superior payment, treatment and attitude, so the ones who suffered were the ones who did not excel.
过去十几年来一路看着人小路家的护很清楚，所谓的资本家会特别厚待优秀的人。在报酬上、精神面上、待遇等方面优遇对方，因此吃亏的就是不怎么优秀的人。

Shadowgale tiredly pushed Pfle’s wheelchair along, and they finally reached the building where Masked Wonder was waiting. She straightened herself up, and then she realized that there was a coolness on her back. It was drenched in sweat.
暗影叶尔吃力地推着普芙蕾的轮椅走，终于抵达玛丝克德•汪达等着的大楼前。伸直背脊，才发现背后带着一点微凉。大汗淋漓。

It would seem she had been preparing her “Victory Pose” here by herself. Annoyed, Shadowgale opened the building’s door, and then saw Masked Wonder lying on the ground. Her outstretched hands seemed to be trying to grab something, but she was face down on the ground, a reddish-black liquid staining her purple cape. The reddish-black liquid did not just stain her cape, but it spread out in a pool over the floor. The source of the reddish-black liquid was the back of her skull, which had been hit by a rock which would have needed two hands to carry, and which was now mangled beyond recognition.
看来她是独自一人在这里淮备着「胜利姿势」吧。暗影叶尔心情烦躁地打开大楼的门后，便看到玛丝克德汪达倒在里面。双手向前似乎是想抓住什么。只见她趴倒在地，脸朝着地面，红黑色的液体弄葬了紫色的斗篷。红黑色的液体不仅弄葬斗篷，还在整片地扳扩散开来。红黑色液体来源处的后脑杓，被一块以双手环抱才能抱起的石头砸中，毁得不成人形。

Pfle wheeled herself through the pool of blood and approached Masked Wonder, then bent down to pick up her Magical Phone and powered it on.
普芙蕾坐着轮椅踏入血泊之中，接近玛丝克德汪达，弯下腰捡起掉在一旁的魔法终端设备，打开电源。

“Hm… this is troubling. Her items and Magical Candies were all taken.”
「嗯……这下伤脑筋了。她的道具与魔法糖果，全部都被拿走了。」

Pfle said that in the same way she would say, “my testresults are bad.” Shadowgale listened dumbly to her, and then, as though she had just realised it, a sense of nausea rose in her throat.
普芙蕾以「考试考烂了」程度的语气说着。暗影叶尔一脸呆滞地听着，然后才像是突然想起般，喉咙涌出一股作呕感。

☆Pechika

She had obtained a Pot.
她得到锅子了。

Shops in different towns sold different things. The shop in the Wilderness Town sold Recovery Medicine, while the Mountain Town sold books and so on, in varied and ample supply. As for weapons and armor, the most recent Town stocked several powerful examples. The Wilderness Town only sold ordinary “Weapons” and “Shields”, while the Grasslands Town had “Weapons +1” and “Shields +1”, and in the Mountain Town, they became “+2”. After installing them, she summoned them to take a look--they looked more polished and sturdy. The Weapons changed form to match each Magical Girl, so when installed into Pechika’s Magical Phone, it took the form of a spatula, while in Rionetta’s Magical Phone, it became a pair of set of hooked claws. This class of items was known as “Weapon +X”, which was not terribly flavorful, but very interchangeable.
商店会根据不同的城镇陈列不同商品，荒野的城镇是恢复药品、山岳的城镇则是图鉴类，种类丰富多变。关于武器、防护具，则在刚才的城镇里装备了几个强大的品项。荒野城镇里的是普通的「武器」、「防护」；草原城镇里的是「武器+1」、「防护+1」；山岳城镇则是商品名变成「+2」，安装后叫出来一看——外形也变得更为洗练，以及更为坚固耐用。武器会依据魔法少女的魔法变化，放入蓓蒂卡的魔法终端设备就会变成锅铲，放人莉欧妮塔的魔法终端设备则会变成钩爪。品项名称为「武器+X」，虽然很不风雅，但互换性极高。

Their shared items were the random items obtained from [R] and the Travel Permits.
她们共通的道具，只有能取得不特定道具的「R」与通行证而已。

They had bought an [R] during the grand opening sale when the game had just begun. The Map they had first obtained was incredibly handy, so they felt that if they could randomly obtain items of that level, even paying 100 Candies would not be a waste. However, they might have been in a game, but reality was not that simple.
「R」是在游戏开始不久后的好康大放送中买的。一开始得到的道具「地图」方便至极，所以她们认为如果能随机获得这种等级的道具，即使要花费一百颗魔法糖果也不足为惜。然而，虽然身处游戏内，但现实果然没有那么简单。

The second time they bought an [R], they had obtained a Map. The third time also yielded a Map. The fourth time still gave them a Map. They could still smile bitterly at the second time, but they could not smile at all by the third, and when the fourth time rolled around they began to grow suspicious. What was with this [R], giving out nothing but Maps?
她们第二次买了「R」，得到的道具是地图，第三次也是地图；第四次仍是地图。第二次她们还能苦笑，第三次实在是笑不出来，到了第四次，在愤怒的同时也开始产生疑惑。这个「R」到底是怎么了，只会出现地图吗？

“The items obtained from [R] are not always of the same rarity, and their appearance rates are not always the same ~pon.”
「用『R』抽中的道具稀奇程度不一，出现机率也不一样蹦。」

Even when they had summoned Fal with the help button and scolded it roundly, it still replied calmly and without fear.
即使对按下求助键叫出来的法尔大吼大骂，它仍是毫不胆怯地淡然回答。

“Does this thing dispense nothing besides Maps?”
「这东西疯狂出现地图耶？」

Rionetta’s voice was trembling, and the corners of her mouth were stretched tight due to grinding her teeth, but Fal did not change his tone.
莉欧妮塔颤抖着声音，嘴角因咬牙切齿而绷紧，即使如此，法尔还是不改口地

“Maps are frequently-appearing items ~pon. It’s not uncommon to get Maps four or five times in a row ~pon. However, please do not be discouraged; buy more [R]s and work to obtain a super rare item!”
「地图是出现机率相当高的道具蹦。连续四、五次都出现地图，根本就是家常便饭蹦。但是，希望你们不要因此灰心丧志，请购买更多『R』，努力得到超级稀有的道具蹦！」

With beautiful form and what seemed like a lot of experience, Rionetta hurled the Map at the wall of the Shop, whereupon a message appeared:
当莉欧妮塔以看似经验十足的美丽姿势，将地图丢向商店的墙壁后，显示讯息则浮出几个字：

“The sale price of Maps is 3 Magical Candies.”
「地图的收买价格为三颗魔法糖果。」

Ever since then, the team leader strictly forbade anyone from buying [R]s. However, the Goblins which appeared in the Mountains dropped a lot of Magical Candies, and the items in the shop were quite cheap, so their Magical Candy count increased dramatically.
自那次起，队长就严格禁止大家购买「R」，不过在山岳地带出现的小鬼会掉出许多魔法糖果，而在店里买到的道具基本上都还算便宜，因此魔法糖果的数量不暴增。

In the face of Miyokata Nonako’s constant whining about “I want to try an [R], I want an [R]” Clantail finally nodded in approval. Clantail had a lance for charges in her right hand and a shield in her left. While the other three did not want to do so, she was the only one who had spent all her Magical Candies on a full set of arms and armor. Perhaps it it was guilt that made her unable to reject Nonako’s request.
面对一直吵着好想抽「R」、好想抽「R」的御世方那子古兰迪儿最后终于点头答应了。古兰迪儿右手握着突刺用的长枪，左手拿着大盾牌，虽然其他三人并不想要，但只有她一个将魔法糖果用在全副武装上。也许是自知理亏，所以才无法拒绝那子的要求吧。

Even so, Rionetta still seemed unwilling, but she finally nodded. In the end, they spent 1000 Candies on buying 10 [R]s. In exchange, they got 8 Maps, a Shovel for digging, and a Pot. The Shovel was an ordinary shovel that was one meter long, while the Pot was a common enough soup pot, with no apparent magical or special abilities.
即使如此，莉欧妮塔还是一脸心不甘情不愿的，不过最后还是首肯了。结果，她们花了一千颗魔法糖果，买了十次「R」，换到八张地图、挖土的铲子，以及一个锅子。铲子是极为普通的铲子，长约一公尺；锅子也是四处可见的汤锅，完全看不出来有任何的魔法或是特殊效果。

At this point, Rionetta was hopping mad. She shouted, “How could you spend 1000 Candies on this, are you an idiot?!” In turn, Nonako retorted furiously after being called an idiot, and they began to argue. Not even Clantail’s warnings could get through to the two of them, and they kept arguing right until they split up into the combat and exploration teams and set out.
事情到了这个阶段，莉欧妮塔已经怒不可遏。大吼大骂居然花一千颗魔法糖果买这种烂东西，你是笨蛋吗？而被骂笨蛋的御世方那子则是激烈反驳，两人争执起来，甚至连古兰迪儿出言警告两人都听不进去，一直到分成战斗组与探索组出发前，还争论不休。

However, Miyokata Nonako’s mood cleared up almost immediately. When they were out exploring, they encountered enemies. While Pechika focused on running and dodging, Nonako eliminated the enemy, and even managed to tame a Goblin, which she adopted as a familiar. She cheerfully went “so cute, so cute” and even tied a ribbon around its neck. When it had attacked them, Pechika had felt repulsed by it. Now that it was close to Nonako, it still looked the same, but now she could not help but smile in sympathy, even if did not find it cute.
不过，御世方那子的心情马上就放晴了。出外捜索时，她们遭遇了敌人，在蓓蒂卡一边逃窜一边闪躲的同时，御世方那子歼灭了敌人，还驯服其中一只小鬼，将他收为自己的使魔。只见她开心地说着好可爱、好可爱，还在他的脖子绑上蝴蝶结。遭到攻击的时候只觉得是令人恶心的邪恶生物，虽然亲近那子的小鬼拥有一样的外表，即使还不到可爱的地步，但也不是无法让人会心一笑的光景。

On the other hand, Rionetta’s mood had not improved. If anything, it had gotten even worse.
另一方面，莉欧妮塔的心情别说是好转，反而更加恶化。

When they met the combat team at night, Clantail and Rionetta were both silent, although Clantail made noise with her hooves which seemed very loud. However, every time she saw Rionetta’s angry face, it seemed to say, “What the hell!”
晚上与战斗组会合的时候，古兰迪儿与莉欧妮塔都沉默不语，虽然古兰迪儿的脚蹄会踏出声音，听起来很吵，但每次她与莉欧妮塔一四目相交，就会勃然大怒地说：「到底是怎么一回事！」

“What right does that overgrown rat have to get in our way?”
「那只大老鼠凭什么妨碍我们？」

It would seem the team which had claimed territory for themselves and chased them away had said the same thing in the Mountain area and then chased them off. Rionetta was furious at everything which entered her line of sight, and when she saw Miyokata Nonako’s Goblin, she arched an eyebrow and shouted at her not to let it come close, and then they started arguing again. They yelled and shouted, forcing Clantail to step in and say something.
似乎是之前曾经主张这里是她们自己的地盘而将两人赶出去的队伍，这次又在山岳区域被说了一样的话，被赶了出来。莉欧妮塔对所有进入自己视线的人都气得不得了，看到御世方那子带的小鬼还扬起眼角，怒吼着绝对不淮它靠近自己，然后又跟那子吵了起来，互相大吼大叫，让古兰迪儿不得不出言制止。

Nor was that the end of things. She then turned her eyes on Pechika.
事情还没完，她接下来将视线投射向蓓蒂卡。

“What are you doing?”
「你现在是在做什么？」

“Ah… the Pot…”
「唉……用锅子……」

“I’m already mad from that senseless waste of money, so keep that damn thing out of my sight. When I think about how we spent 1000 Candies on it and the useless Shovel, it makes me so angry that I can’t sleep!”
「我已经因为白白浪费钱而火冒三丈了，别让那种东西出现在我的视线内。一想到为了买那东西跟烂铲子，居然花掉一千颗魔法糖果的事情，就让我气得睡不着！」

One might have to eat during the game, but there was no need to sleep. In other words, she was simply using that as an excuse to vent.
在游戏中虽然需要进食，但并不需要睡眠。也就是说，说什么睡不着也只是借题发飙而已。

“Also, what’s with that weird pose of yours? Why are your arms inside the Pot, huh?”
「再说，你那奇怪的姿势是怎么一回事？干么把手放在锅子里……咦？」

Rionetta’s nose twitched, and she sniffed once or twice before looking at the Pot. A stiff smile appeared on Pechika’s face, and in fearful tones, she explained what she was doing.
莉欧妮塔动着鼻子，嗅了两下，看向锅子。蓓蒂卡的脸上浮现僵硬的笑容，惶恐不已地说明自己正在进行的事情。

“This is… my Magic… like I said...it can produce food… since we have a Pot… I, I wanted to make something other than Preserved Food… and it doesn’t cost Candies… b-because I can use anything for ingredients… and it’s free… a-and I think … it should taste better than Preserved Food…”
「这个是……我的魔法，如同我之前说明过的……是能制作料理的魔法……既然拿到锅子……我、我才想做存粮以外的食物……而且也不用花魔法糖果……因、因为任何东西都能够当材料……又是免费的……大、大概会……比存粮还好吃一点……」

“You seem pretty confident.”
「你还真是有自信呀。」

“Not too confident… ah, we don’t have utensils… I’m sorry but I hope you don’t mind making do with leaves…”

“Leaves, you say! Hmph! Well, that’s an outdoorsy eating utensil for you!”
「不太有自信……那个，因为没有餐具……不好意思请用叶子将就一下……」「你说叶子！哼！还真是充满野趣的餐具呀！」

“If you’ve got a problem with that, then it’d be better not to eat it~”
「有意见的人就别吃〜啊。」

Miyokata Nonako laughed, and the Goblin followed suit, jumping up and down noisily. Rionetta clicked her tongue in annoyance, then sat down hard on a nearby rock, as if to deliberately raise some dust.
御世方那子一笑，小鬼也跟着吵闹地跳上跳下。莉欧妮塔似乎打从心底厌恶地砸嘴，仿佛刻意要扬起尘土般，在附近的岩石坐下。

There was no manner of food beyond Pechika’s abilities so long as she had her Magic and the will to use it. However, it was hard to serve food on big leaves while they were outdoors. Therefore, she thought of something simple and easy to eat which was filled with a fresh-out-of-the-oven feeling.
只要有蓓蒂卡的魔法，只要她有心，任何费工的美食佳肴都难不倒她。但是，在野外用大片的叶子当成餐盘，端出美味佳肴，既难装盘也不方便吃。所以她思考了简单且能方便食用、能确实感受到刚出炉的美味料理。

“Riceballs? You said all that and this is all you can cook up?”
「饭团？明明夸下海口，结果却端出这个？」

Rionetta glanced at it out of the corner of her eye and immediately took on a disdainful tone. She muttered “why do I have to eat this, I’d rather have the Preserved Food” and other such terrible imprecations. After taking a mouthful, she furrowed her brows.
莉欧妮塔在乍看的第一眼就露出轻视的态度。一边说着为什么我要吃这种东西、如果是这样的话，存粮还比较好吃等等的毒话。吃下一口之后，她皱起眉头。

Clantail and Nonako looked suspiciously at Rionetta. Rionetta ignored their stares and took a second, then a third bite, carrying on in this way until she had finished off the riceball. She did not say anything, simply bit into the second riceball and devoured it.
古兰迪儿与那子一脸狐疑地望着莉欧妮塔。莉欧妮塔无视她们两个的视线，吃了第二口、第三口，就这样将饭团吃个精光。完全没发表任何感言，大口咬下第二颗饭团，狼吞虎咽地吃了起来。

Nonako took a careful bite of the riceball, then quietly squealed “delic--” before tucking voraciously into it just as Rionetta had. She also gave some of hers to the Goblin. Clantail, on the other hand, ate calmly, but her tail was swishing rapidly from side to side.
那子战战兢兢地咬下一口饭团，发出小声的「喔〜」惊呼声后，与莉欧妮塔一样，大口大口吃起来，并将饭团分给看着主人的小鬼吃；古兰迪儿则是一个人沉稳地吃着饭团，但尾巴左右摇摆不停。

In any case, everyone seemed very pleased with it. Pechika breathed a sigh of relief, and then began eating too.
总之，大家似乎都很满意的样子。旧蒂卡松了一口气，也开始吃起饭团。

She had done this sort of thing in the past. She could not recall the details, but she had experienced something like this before. She wanted everyone to get along, and so she had used Pechika’s Magic to make food. Both of these incidents had happened after she had become a Magical Girl, so there should be no way she could not remember them. Yet, she could not.
以前也做过这种事。虽然她想不起来，但的确有经历过一样的事情。她想跟大家好好相处，就用蓓蒂卡的魔法做了料理。无论是以前还是何时，都是她成为魔法少女之后才发生的事情，应该不会不记得，但她就是想不起来。

Rionetta, Nonako and Clantail were eating up the riceballs like their lives depended on it. Earlier, they had been angry about being chased out of the hunting grounds, but now they were going all-out on the food.
莉欧妮塔与那子、古兰迪儿都拼命地埋头猛吃饭团。直到刚才为止，还在生气被赶出狩猎场的事情，现在却火力全开地吃着东西。

I thought it was useless, but it let me get closer to Ninomiya-kun and made everyone happy. Looks like cooking is pretty important, Pechika thought.
原本以为只是毫无价值的附赠品，居然能用来接近二宫同学，还能让大家感到开心。看来料理果然是不可舍弃的事物，蓓蒂卡如此心想。

☆ Nokko-chan

Manabegawa 3rd Elementary’s Class 4-2 was a “model class”.
真锅河第三小学四年二班是「模范班级」。

During sports meets or cultural festivals, the class would always unite as one. That said, they did not laugh at the losers or blame others. If they scored good grades, they would all rejoice. Even if the outcome did not meet everyone’s tastes, they could still face it with a smile.
运动会或是文化祭等学校活动时，班上会团结一致，话虽如此，但并不会嘲笑失败者或是责怪别人。如果留下好成绩，大家会一起欢欣鼓舞；即使最后的结果不尽人意，大家还是能够大笑面对。

Common things like boys vs girls, bullying the weak and gossiping behind others’ backs were nowhere to be found.
到处可见的男生女生对立、欺负弱者、在别人背后说坏话等一切行为都不存在。

Their homeroom teacher was Noguchi-sensei, who had been in charge of the sixth-years until last year. He had a bad habit of blowing up at students at the slightest provocation, so he was nicknamed the “Square Kettle” (he had an oblong face). After taking over Class 4-2, he seemed to have changed into a completely different person, becoming a cheery and fun teacher. He had not shouted at students at all the whole year.
级任导师是直到去年为止，还负责带六年级的野口老师。有着动不动就对学生破口大骂的坏毛病，因此被人尊称为四方形的热水瓶——这位老师长着一张国字脸——野口老师，在担任四年二班的级任导师后，她仿佛变了个人似的，成为一位开朗又风趣的老师。本年度还未曾对学生怒吼过。

Why was the atmosphere in 4-2 so good? Only Nonohara Noriko knew the answer.
为什么四年二班的班级气氛会这么好呢？个中理由唯独野野原纪子知道。

When someone was unhappy, she would intensify their happy emotions. If they were sad, she would weaken their sadness. She suppressed their anger, jealousy, cruelty and other emotions which were not essential to a “model class”, turning it into a happy and cheerful place. She was a user of Magic which could “broadcast her emotions to her surroundings”, and it was because she was the Magical Girl Nokko-chan that she could unite the class from the shadows.
只要有人不开心的话，她就会加强对方快乐的心情；如果有人悲伤的话，她就会减弱对方悲伤的心情。压抑怒气、嫉妒、残虐之心等「模范班级」不需要的情绪，操控成又快乐又开朗的班级。她是「能将自己的感情散播至周围」的魔法师，正因为她是魔法少女「小原原」，才能在背地里让班级团结一致。

Nonohara Noriko was a veteran Magical Girl. Or rather, ever since she was born, she had been a Magical Girl longer than she had been a regular human being. She had become Nokko-chan at age four, and at age 10 she had six years’ experience of being a Magical Girl. One could say she was an old hand at this.
野野原纪子是个饱经磨练的魔法少女。与其说她是饱经磨练，倒不如说从她出生以来直到现在为止，当魔法少女的期间比当普通人的时间还长久。四岁成为小原原，如果她现年十岁即拥有六年的魔法少女资历，已经算是超级资深的老手了。

She had absorbed the philosophy of being a Magical Girl, and knew when to let go.
她知道身为魔法少女的生存哲学，也深知要适时松手的道理。

Letting go did not simply refer to slothfulness. It referred to the loopholes she knew about which junior Magical Girls did not.
所谓的适时松手，并非单纯指偷懒懈怠。而是她熟知新人魔法少女不知道的漏洞。

The Land of Magic was not flexible. It was stubborn and unbending, and once it decided on something, it would not relent. Perhaps they were similar to the bureaucrats of this world, or perhaps they were one and the same. What Noriko had told Magical Daisy about becoming Nokko-chan was all true.
「魔法王国」没有所谓的通融。既顽固又不知变通，一旦决定的事情就绝对不会退让。也许与这个世界的政府官员很接近、雷同也不一定。纪子对魔女黛西说的，自己成为小原原的由来全都是真实的。

The Land of Magic’s supervision system had always been on the lax side. Nokko-chan’s region used an experimental system; with several Magical Girls supervised by a Magical Girl leader, who served as an intermediary for communications with the Land of Magic. Since the Land of Magic did not directly supervise things, most rules enforcement was the responsibility of the Magical Girl in charge. If said leader was useless, stupid, negligent and incredibly clueless, even if their supervisees were not diligent in their work, reports would not make it to the top.
墨守成规的「魔法王国」的监视体制原本就比较松散。小原原所属的地区，则有导入以下实验性质的系统；数位魔法少女由一位魔法少女队长负责监督，担任与「魔法王国」联络的缓冲职务。因为不是「魔法王国」直接进行监视，所以规则的执行多半得仰赖魔法少女队长的裁示。如果魔法少女队长是废材、蠢材、不拘小节、空前绝后守法意识薄弱的人的话，即使被监督的人不认真执勤，也不会被报告上去。

Nokko-chan’s group leader was one of those people who did not report anything to the Land of Magic, and when Nokko-chan focused on improving her living environment rather than helping the people of the world, she did not utter a single word of rebuke. She secretly used her Magic to solve problems within her class from an unobtrusive place. After school, she would visit her mother in hospital and ease her heavy heart. After returning home, she would do housework until the sky went dark.
小原原所属的魔法少女团体中的队长，恐怕就是无论做任何事情都不会报告「魔法王国」的人，对于比起在世间助人，更注重于提升自己生活环境的小原原的做法，也都不曾责备一句。
在班级内立于不显眼的地位，偷偷地用魔法解决问题。放学后会去探望住院中的母亲，减轻她沉重的心情。回到家之后，就做家事直到天黑。

Nokko-chan’s Magic could not manipulate the emotions of others at will, only broadcast her own emotions. If she wanted to make someone else happy, she had to do her best to think of something which made her happy, then focus on it before the Magic would take effect.
小原原的魔法并不是能随心所欲操控他人情绪的魔法，而是散播自己情绪的魔法。如果想让对方感到开心，她就得先拼命地想着让自己开心的事情，一直想一直想，然后魔法才会成功。

Thanks to that ability, she had become a master of deceiving herself at the tender age of ten. Since her mother was hospitalized, Noriko had to handle all the household affairs. All that was tiring enough, so she did not have the time to use her Magic to help others. Just handling her daily life was more than enough work for her.
多亏这个能力，年仅十岁的她，成为蒙蔽自己的高手。因为妈妈住院的关系，家事都由纪子一手包办。这些事情已经够累人的了，所以她并没有多馀的闲情，将魔法使用在助人上。光是9常生活的琐事就让她忙不过来了。

Despite that, however, she worked as hard as she could to get by. At the very least, she had managed to bear up with it until this point.
但是，即使如此她还是努力撑过来了。至少还撑到这个时候。

Half a year ago, the head Magical Girl who was Nokko’s superior had been permanently expelled. The reason for that was because she had done a lot of very inglorious things. Therefore, she had become much more cheerful. To think a Magical Girl, filled with hopes and dreams, would actually commit such deplorable deeds! Unwilling to think further on it, the Land of Magic hurriedly selected a successor, and that successor was a zealous supervisor.
半前年，可以说是小原原直属上司的魔法少女队长，遭到永远除名。除名的理由是她做了相当不光彩的坏事。因此她才变得开朗许多。充满梦想与希望的魔法少女居然做出如此惨绝人环的坏事！实在不愿意这么想的「魔法王国」急忙设置继任者，而那位继任者非常极积地执行监督一职。

It was precisely because she was the successor to someone who had been fired for such terrible things that her personality was very by-the-book. She had no empathy at all--practically an incarnation of the Land of Magic itself.
正因为她是由于干下惨绝人环坏事而被炒鱿鱼之人的继任者，所以个性超级一板一眼、完全不懂通融——简直是「魔法王国」的化身。

Therefore, Nokko-chan had no choice but to perform the standard Magical Girl duties--that was to say, helping people. If that super serious team leader reported, “that person only thinks of herself and doesn’t do proper Magical Girl work at all” and so on, the worst-case scenario would be that she would lose her qualifications.
因此，小原原不得不开始进行魔法少女的例行事务，也就是——助人。如果被那超级认真的队长在报告中写上「那个人满脑子都是自己的事情，根本没有从事魔法少女的活动」等等的话，最糟的情况就是被夺走资格。

Nokko-chan had no choice but to lead her class in a good direction, help the people in town and do the housework at the same time, and now she even had to participate in this game as well. She had no interest in the game itself, and neither did she have the leisure to worry about the upbringing of her juniors, but the participation bonus and the payment for clearing the game were very attractive. If she could get her hands on stacks of cash worth 10 billion yen--an amount she had never even seen before in her life--she would spare no effort and gladly commit herself to the game.
她不得不将班级整体导向好的方向，一边在镇上助人，还得一边做家事，现在甚至还得参加游戏。她对游戏本身毫无兴趣，也没有闲情逸致管后进晚辈的培育，但参加的报酬与破关的奖赏都充满魅力。如果她能堆起一百亿圆这种连看都没看过的钞票束堆，即使要她为了游戏鞠躬尽瘁，也甘之如饴。

Noriko looked at her bank book today as well. There had been no deposits for over half a year, but now 100’000 yen had just been credited to her. If she could unlock an area, that would be one million yen.
纪子今天也看着存折。超过半年没有入帐的存折里，汇人了十万圆。如果解锁区域的话，就有一百万圆了。

***

Genopsycho’s helmet emerged from the lava, followed by her visor, neck, arms, and her hands, which held a small key. @Nyannyan, who had been standing beside Nokko-chan, released the breath she had been holding.
啪刷，熔岩中浮出杰若疯子的安全帽，接着出现的是遮阳镜片、脖子、手，而那只手里握着一把小小的钥匙。在小原原身边屏住呼吸的@娘娘，噗哈一声，吐了噫口气。

“Found it! The Ancient Book was right, there was something like an altar in the bottom, and this was on it! Ara, I could only feel around for it, so it took a lot of time to find!”
「找到了！古文书上说的没错，底部有个像祭坛一样的东西，这个就放在那里！哎呀，因为只能靠手摸索，一直找不到，花了我不少时间。」

“Yumenoshima, I thought you’d melted ~aru!”
「梦之岛，我还以为你已经融化掉儿了呢！」

“Hah, I won’t melt. This suit can take the Big Bang!”
「我才不会融化。这套衣服即使遇到宇宙大爆炸也能承受得住喔！」

Genopsycho put a hand on the shore, and with a grunt of effort, she got back onto terra firma. Indeed, her clothes were not melted or burnt, and her body underneath was also fine. Genopsycho patted the lava off her body, then raised her visor and smiled.
杰若疯子将手搭在岸边，嘿咐一声，成功登陆。的确，她的衣服并没有任何融化或是烧焦处，衣服下的身体似乎也无恙。杰若疯子将身上的熔岩拍落后，拉起遮阳镜片露出笑容。

“We’ve got the gate key and a million yen! Let’s head for the next area! Gogo!”
「拿到门的钥匙和一百万圆了！我们赶快往下一个区域去吧！GOGO！」

The area after the Grasslands--the Mountains--had been unlocked when the game had restarted. It would seem a certain team had unlocked it in the previous play period.
草原区域的下一个区域——山岳区域，在游戏重新开始的同时就开放了。似乎是某个队伍在上次游戏结束之际开放的。

They encountered hordes of Goblins, armed with shortspears, daggers, shortbows and javelins, with small shields and armor for defense. They were superior to the Skeletons in pure fighting power or group tactics. There were beings swathed in dirty robes, carrying gnarled staves and incanting unintelligible words before throwing head-sized balls of fire at them. Sprinkled among the Goblin hordes were creatures twice the size of their fellow, whose arm-strength alone could rival Magical Girls, and who eagerly swung their clubs.
以短枪与小剑、小弓箭和掷枪、小盾牌及铠甲进行武装的小鬼群体，无论是单纯的实力或是受到管理的战术，都在骸骨之上。身披肮葬的长袍，手持歪斜扭曲的木杖的个体，口中喃喃有词地吟唱不明的话，然后将人头大的火球扔过来。群体的小鬼则掺杂着大上雨倍的个体，如果光凭腕力的话，甚至能与魔法少女匹敌，而且还会奋力挥动棍棒。

Even so, they were no match for Magical Girls. The important thing was the extreme difference in speed and resilience between both sides. In the time it took a Goblin to move once, a Magical Girl could move ten times. Also, their attacks could only caused pain to a Magical Girl, but a Magical Girls could strike fatal blows to the Goblins. However, unlike the Skeletons, they bled when hit, and this visceral reaction made them far more distasteful than the Skeletons. Seeing a spray of bright red blood and white teeth flying after striking them in the chin with an elbow strike made her want to throw up. The sensation of crushing their skulls with a broom was also far more realistic than with Skeletons, and she was left with the vivid impression that she had just taken a life. Corpses would disappear on their own two hours after being dumped aside, but the sensation remained within her hands. Being too realistic had its own problems.
即使如此，它们仍然不是魔法少女的对手。主要是在速度与坚固程度有着极大的差异。小鬼动一次的时间，魔法少女能动十次，而且即使她们受到攻击顶多只会感到疼痛，但小鬼遭受她们的攻击则会造成致命性的伤害。只不过，它们与骸骨不同，被揍到就会流血，因此生理上的厌恶感远远胜过骸骨。肘击那长着一口参差不齐乱牙的下颚后，看到四处乱飞的鲜血与白色的牙齿，就令人感到阵阵作呕。用拖把撃碎头盖骨的触感，也比骸骨的头盖骨要活生生许多，让人强烈感受到一条生命被自己夺走了。将尸体丢在一旁两个小时之后，就会自动消失，但是那股触感却一直残留在手中。太过真实这一点也是个大问题。

While she had not yet recovered from the shock of Magical Daisy’s death, she would not be able to play the game properly if she grew depressed after each and every monster she defeated. Nokko did her best to deceive herself, filling her ind with happy and fun throughts, urging on Genopsycho and @Nyannyan.
虽然受到魔女黛西之死的冲击还没有恢复，但如果她现在每打倒一次怪物就沮丧一次，根本没办法好好进行游戏。小原原尽全力欺骗自己，在脑里装满快乐与开心的事物，声援杰若疯子与@娘娘。

Magical Daisy’s death was an accident, and nobody had to shoulder the blame for it. She was also aware that it would never end if she thought “if only we had been more careful in front of an unknown enemy, if only we had bought the monster manual”, and assorted other ifs. Even so, she could not forget the tragic sight of Magical Daisy with a hole punched in her body, bleeding profusely from it until she died of blood loss. She would probably never forget it for the rest of her life.
魔女黛西的死是意外，没有谁需要负起责任。她也清楚，现在后悔如果在面对未知的敌人时能谨慎一点的话、如果她们先买怪物图鉴再战斗的话，诸如此类的「如果……的话……」，一想起来就会没完没了。即使如此，她仍然无法忘记身体开了一个大洞，从那里流出血来，最后失血而亡的魔女黛西的妻惨模样。一辈子都忘不了吧。

There was no way she would forget how they had buried Magical Daisy’s body, using a rock in place of a tombstone, and the three of them hugging each other and crying.
她们挖了洞将魔女黛西的尸体埋进去的事情，以及用石头代替墓碑的事情、三个人抱在一起流泪啜泣的事情，她一定不会忘记。

Still, it was an accident. Genopsycho repeated, “After all, Magical Daisy didn’t die in the real world”, as though she were speaking to herself. She hoped that she would think that way. She had to think that way. In that respect, Nokko-chan could lend her a hand.
但是，这是意外。杰若疯子像是要说给自己听般，碎碎念着「毕竟魔女黛西在现实世界里又没有死掉」。希望她能那么想、一定要那么想。关于这一点，小原原能助她一臂之力。

They could not lose themselves in sadness forever. Even if they had to lie to themselves, the players had to forget their pain, and make beating the game their goal. Nokko-chan would also devote herself to clearing the game with all her might.
她们不能永远沉浸在悲伤之中。即使是欺瞒自己也好，玩家必须忘却悲伤，以游戏破关为目标。小原原也会全力以赴，立志破关。

Not long after entering the Mountain area, they found a hut on the verge of collapse, with an Ancient Book inside it. The book was indeed an Ancient Book; it was filled with mysterious gibberish from annotations to afterword.
进人山岳区域后没多久便发现一个濒临腐坏的山中小屋，古书便放置其中。该书的确是名副其实的古书，从注释到后记，全部都写着谜样的语言。

They had bought an application from the Mountain Town’s shop called “Translator-kun” to decipher it. They had to obtain the Branch of the Mountain People, then use said branch to perform the Ritual of the Mountain People at the Shrine of the Mountain People to obtain the Proof of the Mountain People. With said proof in hand, they had to enter a lake of lava and dance the Dance of the Mountain People in order to summon the Altar of the Mountain People. The altar contained the Key of the Mountain People, and that key was the key which unlocked the gate to the next area. Incidentally, they had learned the Dance of the Mountain People by taking the Hookah of the Mountain People, putting it on a balance scale in the Mountain Town, and using their Magical Phones to learn it; the Hookah of the Mountain People was made from three base materials; they had to use clues gathered from all over to find out which three materials they were.
透过在山岳区域的城镇上购买的应用软体「翻译小弟」解读出来，要拿到山之民的树枝，使用该树枝在山之民的神殿举行了山之民的仪式，得到了山之民的证明。持着该证于熔岩湖之中，跳山之民的舞蹈，唤出山之民的祭坛。其中有山之民的纶匙，而那把纶匙正是开放下一个地区的鍮匙。补充说明：山之民的舞蹈是将山之民的水淤草，放置于位于山岳区域的城镇中的天秤后，透过魔法终端设备学会；山之民的水淤草是以一种材料为基底制作而成，三种材料请从各处得到的线索推敲出来。

After that long, long itinerary, Genopsycho raised her right hand and said energetically: “I have something to say!”
在跑完冗长的行程表后，杰若疯子举起右手活力十足地说：「我有话要说！」

“I’m more than enough to deal with the lava!”
「要我应付熔岩绰绰有馀喔！」

And so she lowered her visor, waved away the hands of the worried Nokko-chan and @Nyannyan, then leaped bodily into the lake of molten rock. She calmly swam to the bottom and obtained the Key of the Mountain People.
于是她放下安全帽的遮阳镜片，挥开一脸焦虑的小原原与@娘娘的手，纵身跃入熔岩湖之中。从容不迫地潜到湖底，将山之民的纶匙拿到手。

“You’re cheating, Genopsycho-san! You actually did it! One million yen, feels great! Why don’t we have an offline meeting next time and blow it all in one shot?”
「杰若疯子小姐太作弊了吧！真不是盖的！一百万圆耶，好开心喔！下次办个网聚，然后一口气把钱花光吧？」

“Ah, an offline meeting sounds good.”
「啊，网聚不错耶。」

“How often do you get to drink a million yen’s worth of beer ~aru!”
「能够免费喝酒喝到一百万圆，这种机会可是很难得儿！」

“Hang on, Nyannyan, do you really plan to drink it all? Save a little at least! Money’s very important!”
「等一下，娘娘，你打算要全喝光吗？至少留一些吧！钱很重要耶！」

The lava lake, filled with the stench of sulphur and oppressive heat, which they did not want to hang around for a single second longer than necessary  was now a cherished memory. They cracked jokes and hugged each other, all three of them laughing. It had been a long time since they had laughed after Magical Daisy had gone. Nokko-chan rebroadcast the joy she felt to the other two.
充斥硫黄鼻气与碳烤的热气，令人一秒也不愿意多待的熔岩湖，现在变成值得纪念的回忆场所。她们互相开玩笑、彼此抱成一团，三人都笑了。魔女黛西离开之后，好久没有笑了。小原原将现在感受到的快乐，再散播给另外两个人。

“Now we’ll be able to go to the next area. There ought to be a Magical Candy bonus for unlocking the area ~aru.”

“Ah, it’s true! I’ve got 500 more Candies! Yeeha!”
「这下子就能前进下一个区域了。开放区域应该也会得到魔法糖果的报酬儿。」「啊，真的耶！增加了五百颗魔法糖果！咿哈！」

“Then, let’s head back to the Mountain Town…”
「那先回山岳的城镇……」

The text alert rang, and when they looked at their Magical Phones, they saw the help button sparkling.
简讯铃声响起，一看便发现求助键正在闪烁。

“There’s an emergency meeting ~pon. Everyone, please proceed to the plaza of the Mountain Town ~pon.”
「紧急召集蹦，请各位到『荒野城镇』的广场上集合蹦。」

Genopsycho’s fingertips touched her helmet, then she hurriedly pulled it back. Was she trying to scratch her head, but then been blocked by her helmet? That was what Nokko-chan thought it might be.
杰若疯子的指头撞到安全帽，慌张地缩回手。应该是想搔头，结果被安全帽档到了吧？小原原如此推测。

“We’re having a moment here, you know?”
「我们现在手气正顺耶？」

“I have an urgent matter on my side ~pon. Forced movement will take place one minute from now ~pon. Please be ready for it ~pon.”
「我这里有紧急事情蹦。强制移动将会在从现在起一分钟后执行蹦。请大家多多指教蹦。」

The black and white spheroid vanished after delivering its message. Since there was nobody to talk back to, the three who remained had no choice but to go along with it.
黑白球体交代完事情后就消失了。既然反驳的对手已经不在，被留下的三人也只能遵从了。

“Aiya, looks like something happened… in any case, let’s go take a look.”
「哎呀，似乎真的发生了什么事情……总之就先去看看状况吧。」

“That damn sex beast can’t read the mood at all!”
「那个淫兽也太不会看场合了吧！」

“I hope it’s not a bad thing ~aru.”
「希望不是不好的事情儿。」

@Nyannyan looked very uneasy; Genopsycho seemed bothered; even so, all Nokko-chan could do was think of something happy or cheerful.
@娘娘似乎很不安；杰若疯子则是感到不耐烦；既然如此，小原原只能努力回想一些快乐或是开心的事情。

☆ Pechika

“We will be adding several rules after this ~pon.”
「接下来，在此修正与追加几项规则蹦。」

Several days ago, the Magical Girls had formed a line on the plaza. Many Magical Girls were gathered here today as well. Some sat on the fountain’s edge, others leaned against the walls of nearby buildings. While she had seen this before, it still looked very impressive.
几天前，众魔法少女一字排开的广场上，今天也聚集了许多魔法少女。有人坐在喷水池边，也有人斜倚着一旁建筑物的墙壁。虽然之前已经看过一次如此光景，还是让人觉得很壮观。

***

It had been close to lunchtime when they had received Fal’s message, and the mood in the team had changed dramatically.
收到法尔联络时已经接近午餐时间，队上的气氛变化很大。

It had been a whole day since Pechika had first cooked for them, and she had prepared three meals for them since. Any sort of complex cooking could be completed within five minutes as long as they had Pechika’s Magic. Be it a full-course meal or chilled food, the time taken was the same. Also, no matter what kind of food Pechika made, it was gladly accepted.
从蓓蒂卡第一次制作料理到现在已经经过整整一天，截至目前为止做了三次料理。只要使用蓓蒂卡的魔法，无论是怎样费工的料理都能在五分钟内完成。不管是法式全餐还是冷冻食品，时间都一样。另外，蓓蒂卡能制作出任何种类的料理。

Miyokata Nonako and Rionetta were falling over themselves to praise her, and while Clantail kept her mouth shut in silence, her tail swished non-stop.
御世方那子与莉欧妮塔争相夸奖她，古兰迪儿虽然沉默地紧闭嘴巴，尾巴却左右摇晃不停。

“Delicious! Pechika-san is the best!”
「Delicious！蓓蒂卡小姐最棒?了！」

“What an amazing taste. I would gladly employ you as my personal chef.”
「好惊人的美味呀。我愿意让你当我的专属厨师喔。」

Their change in attitude lasted beyond mealtimes. They were willing to help her with menial work and prioritized her for items and did other nice things for her. Nobody complained about Pechika not contributing in battles, and even Rionetta of the acid tongue said:
态度上的变化也延续到吃饭以外的时间，像是愿意帮她做粗活、优先分配道具给她等等的体贴行为。即使蓓蒂卡没参加战斗也没人发出怨言，就连那么爱讽刺人的莉欧妮塔也……

“It would be a terrible thing if your hands were hurt while fighting. The lack of your cooking would be a loss not just for this team, but for the entire world.”
「如果战斗伤到你的手，那可就划不来了。如果因此无法做料理的话，别说是我们小队，简直是全世界的损失。」

Pechika lightly clenched her fists, her eyes brimming with tears as she accepted their praise.
蓓蒂卡的手轻轻握拳，以湿润度极高的水汪汪眼神接受褒奖。

Pechika had confidence now. She was no longer someone unnecessary, but someone that everyone needed.
蓓蒂卡有了自信，她再也不是不被需要的人，大家都需要她。

***

The other teams all looked very happy too… one person aside. The Magical Girl who looked like a black-clad nurse was trembling, her face pale. She must have had a hard time too… Pechika began to worry on the behalf of the Magical Girl she had never spoken to before.
其他的队伍看起来似乎也很快乐……但，一人例外。像是黑色护士的魔法少女一脸铁青地颤抖着。想必她也相当辛苦吧……蓓蒂卡替这位完全没有交谈过的魔法少女感到担忧。

“Let’s start with modifications.”
「首先从修正的项目开始。」

There was a mound of sand in the center of the fountain pool; Fal appeared from the Magical Phone placed on top of the sand pile. This was a sandy place to begin with, and the projection’s light sparkled off tiny grains of sand.
喷水池的正中央堆积着砂子，法尔从摆在砂堆上的魔法终端设备中浮现。这里平常就是充斥着砂土味的地方，只见立体影像的光芒照出细颗粒的粒子。

“It would seem the damage feedback, or lack thereof, operates somewhat differently from how the gamemaster and the mascot characters perceive it~pon. Damage will not be carried over to reality; losing a chunk of flesh or breaking a bone will not cause any harm to one’s body in reality~pon. However, in the sole case of death, the heart will receive a powerful shock~pon. While this is a simulation, in order to allow the players to realistically experience the defining event to living creatures which is death, this is an unavoidable drawback ~pon. We hope you will understand. Also, this game is a top secret game ~pon. Discussing the game with anyone other than a player will result in penalty equal to death within the game, so we hope you will be careful ~pon. That is all for Fal’s explanation ~pon. ”
「关于损伤不会回馈的部分，大使与吉祥物的认知有些许的出入蹦。损伤几乎是不会回馈到现实，如果是被割下一块肉或是骨折之类的状况，对于现实世界的身体并不会产生任何伤害蹦。但是，唯有在死亡的情况下，心脏会遭到强烈的冲击蹦。虽说是虚拟的，但为了让玩家真实地体验对生物而言乃一大要事的死亡经历，因此导致不得已的弊病蹦。请各位多多体谅。还有，这个游戏是极为机密的游戏蹦。如果对游戏参加者以外的人论及游戏的事情，就会得到与死于游戏内相同效果的惩罚，因此请各位多多注意蹦。以上，就是法尔的追加说明蹦。」

Nothing could be heard in the plaza besides the sound of the wind and the sand it was rustling. Everyone looked at Fal and pondered the meaning of its words in silence. Nobody could speak for a long time.
在广场上的风声、被风吹动的砂土声，除此之外的声音都消失了。众人看着法尔，沉默地思考着它话中的意思。久久问不出口。

A Magical Girl all in blue was the first to speak.
整体走一监色调的魔法少女率先开口：

“Is this some kind of joke ~su?”
「这是严开玩笑吗？」

“No. From now on I will only speak the truth ~pon. If you want to live, please try your best to beat the game ~pon. However, even if a player dies, we will pay out the promised sum, so please do not wor--”
「不是。从现在起我只会说真话蹦。如果想活下去的话，请努力地破关蹦。不过，即使玩家死亡，我们还是会依约支付一开始所提出的报酬，请别担……」

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
「开什么玩笑！」

“What the hell are you talking about!”
「你到底在胡说竹么！」

“I refuse to acknowledge this!”
「这种事倩我才不会答应！」

The angry shouts blended with one another, and the expressionless Fal could do nothing but accept them with a blank face.
怒吼声不断交锴，而原本就面无表情的法尔只是一脸淡然地承受……

“This game is the same as a trial. It is a trial to see if you all are true Magical Girls ~pon. If you are true Magical Girls, then you will be able to clear this game, so if you want to live, you must make clearing the game your aim ~pon. The only way for you to survive is to complete the game ~pon.”
「这个游戏等同货考验蹦。考验各位是否为真正的魔法少女蹦。如果是真正的魔法少女，必定能破关，想活下来就得以破关为目标蹦。只要破关就能存活下来蹦。」

It repeated the same thing over and over again.
一直重复相同的话。

“With that, I have relayed the gamemaster’s message to everyone ~pon.”
「以上，我已经将大使的话传达给各位了蹦。」

Finally, it told everyone that this was not its own decision, but an order from the gamemaster.
最后告诉众人，这件事并非自己的决定，而是上级的命令。

Pechika trembled. She wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run to. The blood drained from her head, and her feet grew unsteady. She was on the verge of fainting, but she could not faint here.
蓓蒂卡颤抖着。她想逃跑，却无处可逃。她的血液逐渐从头部逆流而去，脚步摇晃不稳。她快昏倒了，但是她不能在这里倒下。

The Magical Girls shouted, screamed and punched the walls. Some tried to grab Fal, but their hands went right through it. Even if the three-dimensional image of Fal flickered, they could not touch it.
魔法少女们纷纷发出怒吼、咆哮、揍向墙壁、想一把抓住法尔，手却穿透过去。即使立体影像多少有点不稳定，但仍然碰触不到法尔。

“I would like to ask some questions, if you don’t mind?”
「我想请问几个问题，可以吗？」

It was the wheelchair-bound Magical Girl--Pfle. Her attitude was as calm as it had been while dispensing clues in the Grasslands Town, and even amidst the chaos, her voice came through very clearly. The shouts and cries died down, and everyone looked at her. And so, Pfle asked Fal:
那是坐轮椅的魔法少女——普芙蕾。她的态度与在草原城镇邂逅时一样冷静，即使在一阵混乱之中，她的声音仍然相当清晰。怒吼声、咆哮声都安静下来，众人皆望着她。于是，普芙蕾询问法尔：

“The shock to our hearts you were talking about; is there no way for us to withstand it?”
「你刚才说心脏会遭受剧烈的冲击，我们没办法承受吗？」

“It would be impossible ~pon. Naturally, a human could not, but even a transformed Magical Girl could not take it ~pon.”
「不可能蹦。如果是人类当然不用说，但即使变身成魔法少女也同样无法承受蹦。」

“What about CPR?”
「如果进行人工呼吸呢？」

“It would be a waste of effort ~pon.”
「白费力气蹦。」

“You should have left a way out for us… then, a question about the impaired function of our Magical Phones. If you know the reason, please tell us. Did you make us incapable of contacting the Land of Magic?”
「你们应该事先留下后路的……那么，针对魔法终端设备的不良状况，如果你知道原因的话，请告诉我。就是你们让我们无法联络『魔法王国』的吧？」

A stir ran through the crowd. Indeed, there had been no way to contact the Land of Magic; all the texts she had sent to check on the game had been bounced back to her. She should have sensed that something was wrong, but she simply wrote it off as a thing that happened occasionally. She did not think it was because her mind was filled with thoughts of Ninomiya-kun.
众人一片哗然。的确没办法联络上「魔法王国」，为了确认这个游戏的事情，无论传几次简讯都遭到退回。明明应该要察觉到状况不对劲，但她也只想成偶尔也会发生这种事。她不觉得是自己满脑子都是二宫同学的关系。

Fal blinked its eyes.
法尔的眼睛眨了眨。

“You are not allowed to tell others about the game, so the inability to contact the Land of Magic is instead a good thing for you ~pon.”
「不可以将游戏的事情告诉玩家以外的人，所以无法联络『魔法王国』对你们来说，反而是有利的蹦。」

“Isn’t that a happy coincidence.”
「还真凑巧呀。」

Pfle muttered to herself, and then she spread her arms, speaking out loud. There was no change in the penetrating ability, sharpness or pleasantness of her voice. She simply spoke in a way that blew away the clamour filling the plaza:
普芙蕾喃喃自语，将双手大大地摊开，发出更大的声音。声音的穿透性、尖锐度、美感完全没变，只是以能弹开充斥整个广场的喧嚣的音量说：

“It would seem we have been forced to participate in this game. Just by looking at the forceful methods employed, one can tell that our opposition has the power to do anything they want to us.”
「看来我们被迫参与游戏了。光看那种强硬的拉人手段，就知道敌人似乎拥有能对我们为所欲为的能力。」

“I will not lose to someone like that!”
「我才不会输给那种家伙！」

The Magical Girl in a doll’s outfit spoke out in a piercing voice, drowning out Pfle’s words.
穿着布偶装的魔法少女发出响亮的音量，盖住普芙蕾的话。

Pfle looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
普芙蕾斜眼瞥了她一眼。

“We’re in this situation because we can’t win.”
「就是因为赢不了，现况才会如此。」

And then:
然后……

“So let’s continue playing,” she said. Several voices opposed Pfle’s.
「继续游戏吧。」

她接着如此说。有几道反对普芙蕾的声音。

“Are you just going to accept the enemy’s terms?”
「你要接受敌人的主张？」

“Are you going to give in to the enemy?”
「你要屈服于敌人吗？」

“There’s no point taking part in this game!”
「参加这种游戏根本毫无意义！」

“Aren’t we supposed to work towards defeating the enemy?”
「我们不是应该要致力于打倒敌人吗？」

Pfle nodded in acknowledgement of each topic, but she did not give them her agreement.
普芙蕾对逐个意见一一点头，但并不给予肯定。

“I‘m pretty sure none of you are happy with going along with the wishes of a gamemaster who can sever our communications with the Land of Magic and forces people to take part in a ridiculous game like this. However, given that they can forcibly drag us into this game, that implies that they can do far worse to us. Even if you want to defeat the enemy, it’s not something that we, who are in the enemy’s palm, can do. We should focus on doing as they say.”
「要你们按照切断了我们与『魔法王国』之间的联系，又强迫人参加这种莫名其妙游戏的大使的意思行动，想必会心生排斥吧。但是，对方既然能将身为魔法少女的我们强行拖来游戏里面，也就意味着她能轻易地做出更过分的行为。就算想打倒敌人，也不是有如在对方手掌心的我们应该努力的目标。首先先按厫对方说的做吧。」

“But, there is no guarantee they will let us go once we clear the game, is there?”
「但是，也没有破关后就一定会获得释放的保证吧？」

It was Rionetta. Naturally, she was in an anxious state.
是莉欧妮塔，当然她正处于焦虑的状态中。

“This might sound strange, but all we can do is trust the gamemaster. Some of you might have noticed as well, but on my part, my account has been credited with money. At the very least, the opposition is willing to pay out at promised. Of course, this might just be a form of self-assurance.
「虽然这句话有点奇怪，但是我们只能相信那个大使了。也许你们有人也已经确认过，我的户头里面确实收到了报酬。看来对方至少有心支付报酬。雄然这只是自我安慰而已。」

“Frankly speaking, the payout is very generous. However, things became like this because we believed the lie that we’d be fine even if we died in the game, right?”
「老实说，报酬的确是相当丰硕。但是，事情会演变到这个地步，不就是我们相信了即使在游戏中死掉也不会有问题的谎言吗？」

“On that point…”
「关于这一点……」

After hearing Fal speak, everyone turned to it. Each and every gaze was razor-sharp.
听到法尔接话，众人的视线纷纷朝它集中，一道一道的视线都充满尖刺。

“From now on, I will not tell any more lies ~pon. What Fal and the gamemaster said were the truth ~pon.”
「从现在开始，绝对不会有任何谎言蹦。法尔说的话与大使说的话相同，一切都是实情蹦。」

“Who can guarantee that point?”
「关于这一点，有谁可以保证？」

“All I can do is hope that you will trust me ~pon.”
「只能请你们相信我蹦。」

“Even without a guarantee, if you tell us to do something, we have no choice but to obey. We’re birds in a cage, after all.”
「就算没有保证，只要你叫我们做，我们就不得不遵从。反正我们都是笼中的小鸟。」

Although Pfle sounded like she had given up, her words and tone were not downcast in the least. In fact, her expression was quite spine-chilling.
虽然普芙蕾的话听起来像是自暴自弃，但她说话的语气一点都不沮丧，表情生动到令人毛骨悚然。

“May I ask a question too?”
「我也可以问一个问题吗？」

A Magical Girl raised her right hand and stoof. She wore a hunting cap and a short cloak, and with her stormcoat, she looked like a detective.
一位魔法少女举起右手，站了起来。是狩猎帽与短斗篷、风衣的侦探装扮。

“I’m Detec Bell. Despite how I look, I’m actually a detective.”
「我是滴答贝儿，别看我这样，我的职业可是侦探。」

The fact that someone like her, who looked like a detective, would say something like “Despite how I look, I’m actually a detective” was probably meant to be a joke to soften the tension in the air. That said, nobody was laughing, and nobody pointed it out. And so, Detec Bell had no choice but to continue:
外表看起来就是侦探的她会说出「别看我这样，我的职业可是侦探」这种话，搞不好是为了缓和现场气氛而开的玩笑。尽管如此，完全没有人笑，也没有人指出这一点。于是，滴答贝儿只好继续道：

“Several days ago, after logging out of the game, I immediately began investigation the location of a certain person. The present state of that person is very important to us.”
「几天前，被放出游戏后，我立刻调查了某个人物的下落。那号人物现在处于何种状态，对我们来说具有相当重要的意义。」

“Bellsie, that person sounds pretty amazing, who could they be?”
「小贝儿，听你说得好像一副很了不起的样子，那号人物到底是谁啊？」

After hearing the blue Magical Girl’s question, Detec Bell closed her eyes.
听到蓝色魔法少女发出的疑问，滴答贝儿闭上双眼。

“That person is Magical Daisy. I was looking into Magical Daisy’s present condition.”
「那号人物就是魔女黛西，我调查了魔女黛西的现况。」

Detec Bell opened her eyes, and continued:
滴答贝儿睁开眼，继续说：

“I trust you all know of Magical Daisy. In the past, her exploits were edited into an anime and broadcast on television. I went to the suburbs on which the anime’s settings were modelled, and I used my Magic to verify that Magical Daisy had indeed been active there. I went one step further and used my Magic to investigate her current status. I found her old home, and from there I discovered the location of the apartment she’s currently staying in. There were patrol cars and ambulances outside that apartment, and a crowd of curious onlookers. I asked, and found that she had died during the game… after all, it;s only a moment in the real world. The times matched almost exactly.”
「魔女黛西，应该有人知道吧。她过去活跃的表现被改编为动画，并且在电视上播放。我去了一趟做为该动画舞台范本的乡下地方，并使用魔法确认过，魔女黛西的确是过去在当地活动的魔法少女。然后，我又做了进一步的调查，用魔法追查出她的现况。我找出她的老家，再从那里前往她居住的公寓。那间公寓外面停了巡逻车与救护车，还挤满一堆看热闹的观众。我问过了，她是在游戏进行中死亡的……毕竟在现实世界里只有一瞬间。时间几乎重迭一致。」

Magical Daisy was dead. That proved the truth of Fal’s words, that people who died in the game died for real.
魔女黛西死了。证实了法尔所说，在游戏里死亡的人，在现实世界中也会死亡的言论。

“Magical Daisy was quite famous. Perhaps her death might make the Land of Magic suspect something fishy going on; perhaps this might blow the whole thing open, and make you unable to force us to play the game until the very end by linking our deaths in the game with our deaths in real life.”
「魔女黛西是个相当有名的人。也许她的骤死会让『魔法王国』怀疑有诡异的事态发生；或许事情会因此暴露，导致你们无法以游戏内的死亡与现实世界的死亡做连结，逼我们一直玩到最后。」

Detec Bell looked at Fal, but it just shook its head gently.
滴答贝儿看着法尔，它却轻轻地摇了摇头。

“You can think of it that way if you want ~pon.”
「如果你想这样解释也没关系蹦。」

Detec Bell nodded in satisfaction.
滴答贝儿满意地点头。

“That’s all I wanted to say.”
「以上就是我要说的。」

She returned to her original position and sat down. The blue Magical Girl, on the other hand, was going, “Bellsie, you’re amazing! That’s a famous detective for you!” Did she really understand the present circumstances? Everyone who understood was in a state of confusion.
走回原本的位置，坐了下来。蓝色魔法少女则是嚷嚷着：「小贝儿好棒！真不愧是名侦探！」她真的有了解目前的状况吗？理解目前状况的人，全都陷入一片混乱之中了。

Clantail stomped her hooves and her tail drooped. Miyokata Nonako, on the other hand, looked like she was angry and wanted to cry at the same time, her hands fiddling with her taijitu accessories. Rionetta was visibly angry.
古兰迪儿的蹄急切地踏着，尾巴垂得低低的。御世方那子则是一脸愤怒又像是在哭泣的表情，手正搅弄着阴阳装饰。莉欧妮塔明显正在生气。

“Ahhhh, honestly! This is utterly outrageous!”
「真是够了！居然演变成这么严重的事情！」

“I can’t believe this…”
「令人不敢置?信……」

Everyone had a different reaction to this strange situation, but Pechika merely felt empty. Did she really understand that something strange was going on? Apart from herself, was everyone else not going, “I had a feeling things would end up like this”? Their words sounded ligke they were reading off a script. All these words also sounded familiar.
面对如此异常的事态，每个人的表现方式都不相同，但蓓蒂它只感觉到一股空虚感。她真的意识到发生异常事态吗？除了自己以外的全部人，不是都「隐隐约约知道会演变到这个地步」的吗？说的话也都像是早巳淮备好的台词。这些话都像是曾经在哪里听过。

“But, Detec Bell said… Magical Daisy died in the real world.”
「但是，滴答贝儿也说过……现实世界里的魔女黛西的确是死掉了。」

“For all we know, she‘s a spy sent by the gamemaster to make it sound more convincing.”
「搞不好她是大使派来的间谍，只是统一了口径而已。」

“Still, that doesn’t seem to be the case…”
「不过，不像是这么一回事……」

“What I want to say is, trust no-one!”
「我想说的是，不能相信任何人！」

“May I say one more thing?”
「我可以再说一件事情吗？」

Pfle took up the speaker’s baton from Detec Bell, and stood beside the mermaid statue.
普芙蕾接下滴答贝儿的发言权，立于人鱼雕像旁。

“These words weren’t originally meant to be spoken at a time like this… but if we don’t sort this out right now, it might end up brewing into an even greater problem in future.”
「原本这件事不适合在这个时候说出来……但是，如果不趁现在理清，也许之后会酿成更严重的大祸。」

She looked at Pechika. For some reason, Pfle smiled at Pechika, and Pechika hurriedly looked away. The fact that she could smile even at a time like this was proof that she had a few screws loose.
她与蓓蒂卡对上视线。普芙蕾不知道为什么朝蓓蒂卡露出微笑，蓓蒂卡急忙转开视线。事到如今还能笑得出来，可见她的精神状态也有问题吧。

Pfle spoke in a bright and loud voice that rang across the plaza.
普芙蕾发出响遍广场的洪亮音量。

“Please help us!”
「请你们帮忙！」

Everyone’s eyes went to the girl, and she continued without any fear whatsoever.
全员的视线焦点集中在少女身上，少女毫不胆怯地继续说下去：

“When we logged in again, in the short time before our party members linked up, one of our people--Masked Wonder--was murdered! Since death in the game is linked to death in reality, that implies that she was killed for real.”
「重新登入之后，在队员会合的短短时间内，我们的队员——玛丝克德汪达遭人杀害了！现实与游戏的生死是连动的，也就意味着她是真的被杀死了。」

That last sentence sounded like she was mumbling to herself.
最后一句话像是喃喃自语。

“All her items, including the item we obtained before the logout period, and all her Magical Candies were stolen! I hope the criminal will give themselves up!”
「她所有的道具，包括在上一次登出之前的活动中得到的道具，还有魔法糖果都被抢走了！我希望犯人能够自首！」

“How could that be ~su!”
「怎么可能会有这种事情！」

The blue Magical Girl was shouting.
蓝色魔法少女大叫。

“Comrade Wonder was a super-strong Magical Girl! How could she be killed off so easily ~su?!”
「汪达同志可是超级强的魔法少女耶！怎么可能轻易被杀死！」

“In a game of Magical Girls, there’s no 100% guarantee that one can’t be killed.”
「在只有魔法少女的游戏里，强无法百分之百保证不会被杀。」

The blue Magical Girl could not deny Pfle’s words, and could only lower her head with a twisted expression on her face. She clenched her fists rightly, and they trembled. Detec Bell put a hand on her shoulder, and seemed to be speaking to her. She seemed to be comforting her.
蓝色魔法少女无法反驳普芙蕾的话，只能表情扭曲地低下头。只见她拳头紧握，不住地微微颤抖着。滴答贝儿将手搭在她的肩膀上，似乎在跟她说话。应该是在安慰她吧。

A commotion rocked the scene. That was only to be expected. The shocking truth they had learned from Fal had thrown them into confusion, and now the knife was being twisted.
现场骚动起来。这也是理所当然的。从法尔那里得知惊人的事实，当众人思绪大乱的同时又被补上一刀。

“Could she have been killed by a monster?”
「她不是被怪物杀死的吗？」

Rionetta’s question made a lot of sense. Even without bringing up the example of Magical Daisy, everyone knew that monsters could harm players.
莉欧妮塔的疑问非常有道理。不用举魔女黛西的例子，大家也都知道，能够危害玩家的自然是怪物了。

“The monsters encountered in the Wilderness area are only ordinary Skeletons. I, Pfle, can guarantee that she would not be done in by monsters of that level. More to the point… is there anyone here from the same party as Magical Daisy?”
「在荒野区域里会遭遇的怪物，只有一般的骷髅而已。而我普芙蕾能够保证，她绝对不是会被那种等级的怪物杀死的魔法少女，更何况……这里有跟魔女黛西同一队的人吗？」

A maid-themed Magical Girl who looked to be around ten nervously raised her hand. Pfle looked at the maid and asked:
看起来十岁上下的女仆风格魔法少女，战战兢兢地举起手来。普芙蕾对着女仆询问：

“What happened to Magical Daisy’s items and Magical Candy?”
「魔女黛西的道具与魔法糖果后来怎么了？」

“Eh… ah...although… we left a few in honor of her… eh… and the rest… we discussed it.. Then, then we divided it up…”
「唉……那个……虽然……我们留了一些供奉她……唉……其他的……就大家商量后……分、分掉了……」

She spoke hesitantly and in a tongue-tied fashion. Indeed, it was hard to speak. Looting the dead of their valuables was a reprehensible way of enriching oneself, but it was not something which nobody had done. After finishing, the maid shrank away, making her already petite frame even smaller, and then she hid behind the Chinese-themed Magical Girl in a qipao.
只见她欲言又止、断断续续地说着。的确相当难以说出口。剥夺死人身上财物，这种充满恶意的谋财手法，也不是没有人会做吧。语毕，女仆将娇小的身躯缩得更小，躲在穿着中式旗袍的魔法少女背后。

“Did you hear that?”
「听到没有？」

Pfle faced her right palm upward, waving her arm.
普芙蕾右手掌心向上，挥动着手臂。

“Even if killed by a monster, one’s items and Magical Candies will not disappear on their own from the Magical Phone. However, Masked Wonder’s Magical Phone was empty of both Candies and items! Doesn’t that prove that they were taken by someone else?”
「即使被怪物杀死，道具与魔法糖果都不会从魔法终端设备里凭空消失！但是，玛丝克德汪达的魔法终端设备，无论是魔法糖果或是道具都是空空荡荡的！这不就证明了，东西是被某人给夺走的吗？」

Rionetta, Clantail, Miyokata Nonako and Pechika looked at each other. Logging in again had been forced, and everyone ought to have logged in at the same time. Pechika and the others did nothing else but meet up with each other as quickly as possible. Even if she really had the time to kill someone and take their items, Pechika would never do such a thing, and the other three should not have had the time to do anything like that. At the very least, the criminal was not from Pechika’s party.
莉欧妮塔、古兰迪儿、御世方那子以及蓓蒂卡，四人面面相觑。重新登入游戏是强制性的，而且全员应该都是在同一时刻被登入。蓓蒂卡等人没有做其他的事情，在最短的时间内与队员会合。即使真的有时间杀害别人、夺走道具，蓓蒂卡当然不会做那种事情，而其他三个应该也没有时间那么做。至少，犯人似乎不在蓓蒂卡的队上。

“I hope the culprit will honestly confess! Since it wasn’t long after logging in, you should not have known that dying in the game was linked to real life! Killing Masked Wonder was just a part of the game! I won’t blame you! Please step forward!”
「我希望犯人能老实地报上名来！那是在重新登入游戏后不久，你应该还不知道游戏内的生死与现实连结！杀害玛丝克德•汪达的行为，只是游戏的一环而已！我不会怪罪你！请你站出来！」

There was no response, only a commotion from everyone.
没有反应，只有众人闹哄哄地乱成一团。

Pfle took out her Magical Phone.
蓝色魔法少女拿出魔法终端设备。

“That being the case, please let me look at your phones, everyone. The culprit’s Magical Phone ought to have Masked Wonder’s Miracle Coin.”
「既然如此，请让我看各位的魔法终端设备。犯人的魔法终端设备里，应该会冇玛丝克德汪达持有的奇迹金币才对。」

Another disturbance. Clantail sighed, long and loud, and then stepped forward.
又一阵骚动。古兰迪儿叹,长长一口气，往前站。

“And what will you do once you find them? A witch hunt, perhaps?”
「你找出来打算如何？该不会是想狩猎魔女吧？」

“How classy, using a witch hunt to describe Magical Girls.”
「用狩猎魔女来比喻魔法少女，还真是有品味呀。」

Clantail glared murderously at Pfle after the latter turned her words into a joke. Thus, Pfle coughed softly, clearing her through before changing the subject.
自己的发言被人当成笑话的古兰迪儿，用杀人般的视线瞪着对方。于是，普芙蕾轻咳一声，清了清喉咙之后话锋一转。

“When a proper Magical Girl accidentally strays off the right path in a game, we can let this time go as a PK. If they’re willing to give themselves up, there’s nothing I can do but accept the facts… I hope that the person in question will return the Miracle Coin to us. However, if nobody confesses, then all I can do is suspect--”
「品行端正的魔法少女在游戏中误人歧途，这次就当成是PK吧。如果对方愿意自首，我也只能无奈地接受这个事实……希望对方把奇迹金币归还给我们。但是，如果没人自首的话，我也只能抱持怀疑——」

“Suspect what?”
「怀疑什么？」

“That somebody among us is pretending to be a victim, but is actually a perpetrator… in other words, that there’s a Magical GIrl among us who’s doing the gamemaster’s bidding.”
「在这群人之中，有人装成被害者，但其实是加害者的同伙……也就是说，我们之中有根据大使的意思行动的魔法少女。」

Clantail tightened her lips. Pfle continued.
古兰迪儿紧抿嘴唇。普芙蕾继续追击。

“Perhaps they’re an undercover worker, or perhaps the culprit is one of us. Am I or am I not making sense?”
「别说是安排的工作人员，搞不好是罪魁祸首本人就混在我们之中也不一定。我这么说有没有道理呢？」

She asked Fal, but Fal said nothing, merely floated in silence.
她问了法尔，但法尔什么都没说。只是默默地轻轻飘浮。

“Fal-san, who said that he would only speak the truth, does not seem able to answer. That being the case, I hope you will help clear away the doubts in my heart. For starters, does anyone want to confess?”
「刚才说只讲真话的法尔先生，似乎没办法回答呢。既然如此，我就越希望能一扫我心中的怀疑了。首先，有没有人要自首？」

Nobody answered.
没有人开口。

“That being the case, please let me look at your Magical Phones. If you are just a victim, a poor, pitiful Magical Girl who was dragged here, then there shouldn’t be a problem with letting me look at your Magical Phone’s inventory.”

Clantail spat on the ground and looked at Pfle out of the corner of her eye. Had she turned that look on Pechika, she would have burst into tears long ago, but Pfle looked straight back at her, a relaxed look on her face. Clantail tossed her Magical Phone over with all her might, and Pfle caught it in one hand.
「既然这样，就把魔法终端设备给我看。如果你只是单纯的被害者、被强硬地带到这里的可怜魔法少女的话，让我看一下魔法终端设备的道具栏应该没关系吧。」古兰迪儿朝地面吐了一口口水，斜睨着普芙蕾。如果那道目光是投向蓓蒂卡的话，她早就忍不住哭了出来，然而普芙蕾却毫不畏惧地直视，表情放松。古兰迪儿奋力地将魔法终端设备丢过去，普芙蕾单手接住。

The commotion around them stopped, and everybody else watched their every move.
周遭的嘈杂声戛然而止，众人紧盯着她们两人的互动。

“Thank you very much.”
「谢谢你，感谢。」

After Pfle inspected Clantail’s Magical Phone...
普芙蕾确认完古兰迪儿的魔法终端设备之后……

“Mm, no problems here. There’s no Miracle Coin in your inventory. Then, just in case, could I trouble you to inspect my own items?”
「嗯，没有问题。道具栏并没有奇迹金币。那么为了以防万一，可以请你确认我的持有物吗？」

She handed over her own Magical Phone as she returned Clantail’s. Clantail accepted it in silence...
将古兰迪儿的魔法终端设备归还的同时，她也递出自己的魔法终端设备。古兰迪儿不发一语地接下魔法终端设备……

“... No problems.”
「……没有问题。」

She shoved it back at Pfle.
仿佛硬塞般还给了她。

“In that case, I’d like everyone to follow suit. Only the culprit would be troubled by having their Phone seen. If everyone here is innocent, then there is no need to worry.”
「那么，也请其他人配合一下。被看到会感到困扰的就只有犯人而已。如果各位是无辜的，根本无需忌惮。」

While some people indignantly said things like, “why am I under suspicion, is this really true?” and so on, most of them had come to the conclusion that all they could do was accept the fact that they were under suspicion. Pechika lined up like the others and let Pfle inspect her Magical Phones. While she was not the culprit, she still felt nervous after handing her phone out until she got it back.
虽然有几个人忿忿不平地说，为什么自己非得要被怀疑、真的有这种事吗？如此之类的话，不过大家似乎达成了既然都被怀疑，如今也只能接受的结论。蓓蒂卡也跟众人一样，排着队，让普芙蕾确认魔法终端设备。虽然自己不是犯人，但是递出去之后直到归还为止，还是会感到紧张。

The black nurse asked Clantail to inspect her phone as well, just like she had with Pfle.
与普芙蕾同队的黑色护士也跟普芙蕾一样，请古兰迪儿进行确认。

Why was it that the other two members of Masked Wonder’s party had to have their phones checked too? Those doubts rose in her heart, but then she immediately thought about the possibility that “they stripped Masked Wonder of her items and then nonchalantly said they were stolen”, and then trembled at the fact that she could come up with such an idea.
为什么与玛丝克德汪达同一小队的两人也得确认魔法终端设备呢？她心中不禁浮起如此疑问，但是立即联想到「她们将玛丝克德汪达的道具搜刮一空后，一脸若无其事地说东西被人偷走了」的可能性，同时也对浮现如此念头的自己感到不寒而栗。

After a steady series of checks, the line in front of Pfle had vanished, and everyone returned to their original positions. Pfle then turned to a corner of the plaza and said:
逐一确认之后，排在普芙蕾面前的队伍已经消失，待大家都回到原本的位置后，普芙蕾对着广场的一隅问：

“Alright, everyone else has been checked. If you’re not the culprit, I hope you’ll cooperate with us.”
「好了，除了你以外的人都调查完了。如果你不是犯人的话，希望你能配合一下。」

As she looked at the person she was addressing, Pechika gulped.
在看到被问话者的那一刹那，蓓蒂卡吃了一惊。

It was the samurai-themed Magical Girl, holding her bared katana in her right hand, which hung downwards. She still remembered her. She could not possibly forget.
武士风格的魔法少女，握着出鞘的日本刀的右手向下垂着。她还记得，她不可能忘记。

She was the person she had seen when the game had just begun, and who had helped her destroy the Skeletons. That said, she had then gone on to strangle her and almost killed her.
那是在游戏刚开始的时候见过、帮她消灭了骸骨，尽管如此，却在那之后掐住她的喉咙，差点杀死她的对象。

“Come over.”
「快过来吧。」

Pfle called out to urge her over, but the samurai-themed girl did not move. It was not that she had not heard, because her line of sight was firmly locked on Pfle. The katana she held wavered slightly due to its weight.
普芙蕾出声催促她，但武士风格的少女却文风不动。看起来不像是没听到的样子，她的视线正紧紧锁定普芙蕾。拿在手上的日本刀，因沉重而微微摇晃。

“Alright, come on now. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
「好了，快点吧。大家都在等你耶。」

The air was creaking… or at least, she thought it was. Pechika gulped. For all she knew, the others were also thinking the same thing. All the Magical Phones apart from hers had been checked, and no trace of the stolen item had been found. In other words, the item ought to be with the last person.
空气发出嘎叽的摩擦声……似乎会让人产生如此错觉。蓓蒂卡吞了一口口水。搞不好除了蓓蒂卡以外的人也正在想着同一件事情。除了她以外的人的魔法终端设备都已经确认完毕，并没有发现任何被夺走的道具。也就是说，东西在最后一个人身上吧。

Pfle did not pull back the hand she reached out, and the samurai-themed Magical Girl remained immobile. The other Magical Girls watched the tense scene before them with bated breath.
普芙蕾没有缩回伸出去的手，而武士风的魔法少女动也不动，其他的魔法少女紧张地屏住呼吸看着眼前的景象。

The hand holding her katana hung down. In all likelihood, nobody was willing to stand up to someone who seemed mentally imbalanced.
只见她握着出鞘的日本刀的手向下垂，想必没有人敢挺身面对精神状态似乎已经失衡的对象吧。

“Excuse me,  that person over there.”
「请问一下，那边的人。」

Defying Pechika’s expectations, a Magical Girl stood up. She wore a helmet that looked like it had cat ears, and its translucent visor was lowered, covering her entire face. Her costume looked like a futuristic bodysuit, and her overall look resembled a sentai team member from a tokusatsu rerun that Pechika had seen before.
超出旧蒂卡的预料之外，一位魔法少女站了出来。她头戴让人联想到猫耳的安全帽、放下半透明的遮阳镜片，包覆住整张脸。衣服是近未来风格的贴身紧身衣，整体装扮与蓓蒂卡看过的重播特摄片里，出现过的战斗部队队员相似。

“Everyone’s going to suspect you if you continue being stubborn. Things being what they are, be a good girl and let us take a look, chief.
「你再固执下去的话，也只会被大家怀疑吧。这位大爷，事到如今你就乖乖地让我们看一下吧。」

Her tone was straightforward and fearless, and she did not sound like she was speaking to a suspicious sword-wielding person. The tokusatsu-themed Magical Girl wanted to put her hand on the samurai-themed girl’s shoulder, but it was waved off. The samurai-themed Magical Girl narrowed her eyes, staring closely at the tokusatsu-themed Magical Girl and sizing her up.
态度率直无所畏惧，不像是在与持刀的可疑人士说话的样子。特摄片风格的魔法少女想将手搭在武士风少女的肩膀上，却被挥开。武士风的魔法少女眼睛半谜起，打量着特摄片风格的魔法少女，视线紧粘不放。

“...Are you the Musician?”
「……你是音乐家吗？」

“What?”
「什么？」

“Are you the Musician?”
「你是音乐家吗？」

“Ahhh, mm, you could say that. Actually, I’ve uploaded a few songs that I made in Vocaloid to video sites”
「啊啊，嗯，可以这么说。其实我有在影片分享软体放自己用VOCALOID制作的歌曲喔！」

The katana slashed through the air with a swoosh, making the sound of someone throwing out a damp cloth with all their might. The inside of the visor turned bright red, and the tokusatsu-themed Magical Girl fell forward.
日本刀在毫无一物的空间振臂一挥，啪刷一声，发出奋力甩出湿抹布的声音。遮阳镜片内侧染成一片红，特摄片风格的魔法少女往前倒下。

Somebody screamed.
有人发出尖叫声。

☆ Nokko-chan

“Please calm down.”
「请你冷静一点。」

Pfle had not drawn back the hand she had reached out as she continued speaking to the sword-wielding Magical Girl. There was no trace of blood on the Magical Girl’s blade, which reflected the intense sunlight in a brilliant flare of silver. Nokko-chan struggled to stop @Nyannyan from running over to Genopsycho.
普芙蕾伸出去的手仍然没有缩回，她对着持刀魔法少女说。魔法少女的刀上没有一丝血渍，反射着强烈的阳光，闪耀着白银色的光辉。小原原拼命阻止@娘娘跑向杰若疯子。

“Yumenoshima-san’s! We have to help her, if we don’t, she’ll…”
「梦之岛！快急救、不快急救的话，她就……」

“Calm down… in any case, please calm down for now...”
「冷静……总之请你先冷静下来……」

This was not the time to take any action. She could understand why @Nyannyan was worried about Genopsycho, but now was not the time to do anything about it. If they set off the opposition, then the perpetrator would act. If the perpetrator made a move, someone would get hurt for sure. That someone would most likely be the one who had agitated the perpetrator. First, she calmed herself down, then took that calmness and transmitted it to @Nyannyan. Even so, she had to think of a way to deal with @Nyannyan’s desire to run over to Genopsycho.
现在不适合有任何动作。她能理解@娘娘担心杰若疯子的心情，但是绝对不适合这么做。如果刺激到对方的话，暴徒就会有所动作；如果对方有所动作，一定就会有人被砍。被砍的人只会是刺激到对方的人。先让自己的心情冷静下来，再用那份冷静的心照拂@娘娘。即使如此，她还是得先想办法阻止@娘娘想跑向杰若疯子的心情。

“In any case, please put down that katana. Once you put down your weapon, we can talk.”
「总之，请你先放下那把刀吧。放下武器，我们才能好好谈一谈。」

Pfle smiled sweetly, which made her look like she did not think the other person had committed a crime. She calmly urged the other person to surrender, and in the next moment there was a flash, which was cleaved in half. The black nurse jumped over with all her strength to shove Pfle out of the way, and the ground she was occupying a second ago had a deep gash in it.
普芙蕾笑容可掏，让人不禁觉得她似乎不认为对方犯下暴行。态度缓和地劝说对方投降，与此同时，闪过一道光，接着被切成两半。奋力跳过来的黑色护士撞开普芙蕾，上一秒还是普芙蕾待过的地面，已经被深深地砍了一刀。

Nokko-chan was a highly-experienced Magical Girl, and she had personally witnessed countless battles between Magical Girls. She could even analyze the mind-boggling battles between Magical Girls to some extent.
小原原是超级资深的魔法少女，她亲眼目睹过无数次魔法少女之间的纷争。即使是魔法少女那令人难以理解的战斗模式，也能进行某种程度的分析。

Pfle had fired a laser from the mouth of the bird decorating a wheel, and that beam of light had been cut apart by a swing from the sword. The katana-wielding Magical Girl had then used the backswing to slash at Pfle, but Pfle had been saved when the black nurse tackled her from the side.
普芙蕾冷不防地从装饰在车轮的小鸟嘴巴发射光线，那道光线因挥刀产生的斩击而分裂。持刀魔法少女借着回刀之势回敬普芙蕾一击，但普芙蕾因为黑色护士从旁边扑过去而获救。

As she realised this, she ducked behind a building. The other Magical Girls either attacked or ran for their lives, looking for cover behind a building or moving into the enemy’s blind spot.
在她分析到这里的同时，便躲向建筑物之后。其他魔法少女也一边攻击或是死命逃窜，跑到建筑物遮蔽处或敌人的死角。

Several harpoons flew over, but each and every one of them was cut apart. From the front, from the side, from an angle; they were slashed, hacked and knocked down; they fell to thr ground with a dull noise before reaching their objective.
数根粗鱼叉破空飞去，却一根不留地被砍开。纵向、横向、斜向、被切到、被砍断、被打掉；在抵达目标物之前，纷纷发出沉重的声音，掉落地面。

The sword-wielding Magical Girl had clearly been standing in place without moving, yet the fallen harpoons had all been cut to pieces. A gigantic sunflower seed flew over, and it was hacked apart as well. Someone threw rocks, but they were all cut down and fell to the ground.
持刀魔法少女明明一直待在刚才的位置，没有移动。然而，掉落地面的鱼叉却都断光光了。巨大的向日葵种子飞去，同样也被砍断；有人扔出石头，但全都被砍裂，掉在地上。

This was probably some sort of ranged attack. Genopsycho had been slashed through her magic suit, which possessed the property of being able to “withstand any attack”. Her outfit had not been cut; only Genopsycho, on the inside, had spurted bright red blood. In other words, she could cut apart anything within her line of sight. She had seen Genopsycho’s face through her visor and slashed it. While she had deduced that much, Nokko-chan could not help in any way. In other words, if she went out there, she would be cut up.
恐怕这是远射程的斩击。杰若疯子是在隔着「能抵挡住任何攻击」的魔法紧身衣的遮阳镜片下被砍到的。衣服并没有被砍破，只有里面的杰若疯子飞溅出红色的鲜血。换句话说，她能砍掉视线之内的任何东西呀。隔着遮阳镜片观察杰若疯子的脸，发现她的脸被砍中了。虽然已经考察到这个地步，但是再怎么说，小原原也帮不上任何忙。也就是说，只要走出去就会被砍。

The Magical Girl hiding on the other side of the same building as Nokko-chan was trembling as she hugged her knees. Her white hat looked like it was going to fall off her head. It would seem she could not  expect anything from her. The other Magical Girls ought to be hiding somewhere, but she could not see them from here.
与小原原躲在同一栋建筑物另一侧的魔法少女，正抱着膝盖喀哒喀哒颤抖不已，白色帽子快要从头顶滑落下来。看来完全无法期待。其他的魔法少女应该也都躲在某处，不过从这里看不见。

It had been several minutes since the sounds of their clash faded away. Since this was subjective time, it might not have taken that long. Nobody dared to move. Then, the sound of a huge object grinding filled the silent plaza. It was the sound of stone grinding against what seemed to be a concrete slab The sound grew. Nokko-chan looked up, and saw that the building she was hiding against was falling. It was not the entire building which was collapsing, but only the top half.
彼此交锋的攻击声消失后，经过了数分钟。因为这是体感时间，搞不好更短也不一定。没有人敢动作。寂静无声的广场上，发出巨大的物体摩擦声。那是岩石与水泥块等东西互相擦撞的声音。声音越来越大。小原原抬头一看，原来是她躲藏的建筑物正朝这个方向倒下。并不是建筑物全体一起倒塌，只有上半部。

That 20-meter tall building was almost as wide as it was wide, but it had been cleaved diagonally, and it was now sliding her way. Not even a Magical Girl could remain unscathed after being squashed by something like that.
高二十公尺、差不多宽的建筑物，被斜切开来。被斜切开来的上半部，正滑向这边。被这种东西压扁的话，即使是魔法少女也不可能安然无事。

Nokko-chan kicked away the Magical Girl beside her, and used the recoil to jump in the opposite direction. This way, she ought to be able to avoid the building falling on her, and the person she kicked away ought to be able to escape as well. Probably.
小原原踢开身旁的魔法少女，自己则藉由反作用力，跃向相反侧。这么一来，应该能躲开朝自己逼近的建筑物，被她踹开的人应该也能脱离险境，应该吧。

The upper half of the building struck the ground, and the repeated sounds of crushing assaulted her eardrums. The shockwaves from the impact even shook the surrounding buildings, and there was no way to stand firm. Both her arms and legs were on the ground, and as she looked to the other side of the cloud of dust beside her, she saw the katana-wielding Magical Girl standing serenely in place.
建筑物的上半部砸向地面，接二连三粉碎的声音敲打着鼓膜，产生令周遭的建筑物也摇晃起来的震动，完全无法站稳。她双手双腿贴在地面上，看向扬起阵阵烟尘的另一端，只见那位扛着日本刀的魔法少女泰然地伫立在原地。

“The Musician, huh?”
「音乐家啊?」

She exhaled with that last “huh”, then swung her katana. She was over ten meters away from Nokko-chan, yet she swung anyway. A rock, over three meters tall, was cut in half through the center.
最后的「啊?」伴随着吐气，她接着挥起扛着的刀。她与小原原距离超过十公尺以上，然而，她还是挥下了刀。高达三公尺的巨石在这一击之下，从中间裂成两半。

“Huh?”
「啊？」

Her line of sight had been clear before she swung. If she had brought it down right away, Nokko-chan would have been slashed. However, something obstructed her vision in the instant before she could strike. A massive rock appeared between Nokko-chan and the enemy, and the rock was bisected, in Nokko’s place.
在她挥刀之前，视线是毫无阻碍的。如果她直接挥下来的话，小原原就会被砍到。然而，在她挥刀的瞬间，视线被遮蔽住了。巨大的岩石挡在小原原与敌人之间，岩石代替小原原裂成两半了。

“I won’t let you ~aru!”
「别想得逞儿！」

@Nyannyan stood before Nokko-chan. She had a paper talisman between the gaps of each finger, for a total of eight, and she took her usual Chinese kempo stance.
@娘娘挺身站在小原原前面。两手的每个指缝各夹一张、共计八张的符，摆出她每次都会摆的中国拳法的姿势。

The two of them stared at each other. @Nyannyan exhaled deeply as she slid one foot forward. The enemy confronting her took a high stance, slowly raising the edge of her katana.
两人互睨。@娘娘一边深深吐气一边以脚底贴地的滑行前进。对峙的对手则摆出上段的迎战姿势，缓缓拉起日本刀的刀锋。

The talisman moved in the same moment the katana swung down. The talisman vanished with a small explosion, leaving a gigantic rock in its place, and in the end it was cut apart as well, steadily increasing the amount of debris on the ground.
在日本刀挥下的同时，符也跟着翻动。符随着小型爆炸消失无踪后，只留下巨大的岩石，结果岩石又被砍裂，被砍断的残骸陆续增加。

Talismans flew one after other, bouncing up and turning into rocks. The katana-wielding Magical Girl gave a loud cry and drew a wakizashi with her left hand. She seemed to be pressing her left hand lightly against the wakizashi, holding it with just her index finger, middle finger and thumb, and together with the katana in her right hand, she spun and swung them at speeds which were difficult to follow,.
符咒接二连三地飞出、弹起，变化成岩石。手握日本刀的魔法少女大喝一声，以左手拔出胁差短刀。左手像是轻轻靠着刀般，仅以食指、中指、大拇指握住，与右手的刀同时用难以目识的高速回旋。

The rocks were sliced apart, hacked up and pulverized, and all the rocks which appeared out of thin air had been crushed and completely destroyed. Debris from the rocks flew in all directions, and the ground-up rocks created clouds of dust, turning their vision into a sea of white.
岩石被砍开、砍裂、粉碎，凭空出现的岩石，全都被粉身碎骨，破坏殆尽。岩石碎片四处分散、被削开的岩石卷起阵阵粉尘，视野内全都染上了一片白。

There was a gust of wind, which dispersed the dust cloud. Two figures stood off against each other amidst the slashed remains of the rocks. They were Nokko-chan, wielding her mop, and the samurai Magical Girl, who had a blade in each hand.
一阵风吹来，将粉尘吹散开来，被砍裂的岩块中浮现对峙的两个人影。那是拿着拖把的小原原与摆起二刀流的武士魔法少女。

Nokko-chan was in a battle-ready stance, but that did not mean she could accomplish anything. After all Nokko-chan had no way to attack beyond 10 meters. The katana-wielding Magical Girl ought to have realised that from their movements just now. Then the sword-wielding Magical Girl bared her shiny white teeth in a twisted smile before charging at Nokko-chan. She knew Nokko-chan was helpless to resist and could do nothing but be cut up by her, which was why she snorted and smiled in disdain. She paid no attention whatsoever to the sky suddenly growing dark, and the fact that @Nyannyan had suddenly vanished. Such trivial details were not important. In any case, she was ruled by the impulse to kill the enemy before her. The Magical Girl continued smiling in that twisted way until the abandoned building from the sky squashed her flat.
虽然小原原摆出迎敌架势，却不代表自己能有所作为。毕竟，小原原没有任何攻击距离超过十公尺以上的手段。持日本刀的魔法少女，应该也从刚才到现在为止的互动中看出来了吧。只见那位持刀魔法少女歪着脸，露出洁白的牙齿，冲着小原原笑。她很清楚小原原会毫无招架之力地任由她砍杀，所以她才嗤之以鼻、轻视地笑了。她完全不在意上方天色突然变暗、@娘娘突然不见踪影，那种枝微末节根本不重要。总而言之，她只是受到想杀死眼前敌人的冲动支配而行动。魔法少女扭曲的笑容，一直持续到被从天而降的废弃大楼压烂为止。

Nokko-chan looked at the roof of the abandoned building, which was now embedded in the ground. @Nyannyan stood on top of it. She was the polar opposite of the Magical Girl who had kept her twisted smile right until the end; her face was distorted by her weeping.
小原原抬头望向砸落地面后，插在地表上的废弃大楼的屋顶。站在上面的@娘娘，与直到被压烂为止，仍然带着扭曲笑容的魔法少女呈现两极化，她的脸因为泪水而扭曲着。

Without @Nyannyan, Nokko-chan would have been killed long ago. @Nyannyan had protected her with rocks. As she cast out talisman after talisman, she climbed a nearby building, jumped down from it, and summoned up an abandoned building. Thanks to that, Nokko-chan had been spared death. She wanted to thank her, but then she saw that her face was covered in tears.
如果没有@娘娘的话，小原原早就被杀死了。@娘娘用岩石保护了自己。@娘娘撒出成堆的符咒，在连续召唤出岩石的期间，爬上周围的建筑物，从那里纵身一跳而下，一边召唤了废弃大楼。多亏如此，小原原才能免于一死。虽然很想出声感谢她，却见她本人泪流满面。

Speaking of which, Genopsycho had also been cut down. Nokko-chan looked at where Genopsycho had fallen after being slashed, but Genopsycho was no longer there. All that remained was a Magical Phone lying upon the ground.
话说回来，杰若疯子也被砍到了。小原原望向她被砍中后倒下的地方，但杰若疯子已经不在那里了。孤伶伶地躺着一支魔法终端设备。
Gamemaster’s Side 03

“How did things go?”
「事情进展的如何？」

“Eh? Terrible ~pon. Everyone was crying and angry, and I almost got killed ~pon. If I were not a stereoscopic projection, I would have been beaten to a pulp long ago ~pon.”
「唉?糟透了蹦。每个人都又哭又愤怒的，连法尔我都差一点被杀死蹦。如果我不是立体影像的话，一定早就被打成稀巴烂的肉酱了蹦。」

“So that’s what happened.”
「是这样子的啊。」

The girl’s expression softened slightly, and she adjusted her glasses with a push from her left index finger.
少女的表情微微放松，以左手食指抵住镜框向上一推，调整位置。

“Still, all they could do was accept it, right? Those girls must have known things would end up like this someday. Even so, they still took part in the game. Nobody refused it, nobody opposed it, they all accepted this game which forcibly pulled them in.”
「不过，大家都只能接受现实了吧？那些孩子们一定早就察觉了，知道事情总有一天会演变到这个地步。即使如此，她们还是参加了游戏。没有人拒绝、也没有人反对，接受了这个强拉她们进来的游戏。」

The girl looked like she was going to continue speaking, but then Fal coughed quietly and interrupted her. The girl blinked once or twice, and then looked at Fal.
少女似乎还打算继续长舌下去，然而法尔却清咳一声，强行打断。少女眨了眨两次眼后，看着法尔。

“What?”
「怎么？」

“I have a proposition ~pon.”
「我有一个提议蹦。」

“Say it.”
「说来听听。」

“Don’t you think it’s not too late yet ~pon?”
「你不认为，现在还来得及蹦？」

“Not too late for what?”
「什么东西还来得及？」

“Don’t you think the Land of Magic will be lenient to you if you give yourself up ~pon?”
「你不认为，如果乖乖自首的话，『魔法王国』应该会愿意从轻发落蹦？」

“I don’t think so.”
「我可不这么认为。」

“You’ll be fired, of course, but they won’t execute you ~pon.”
「虽然会被炒鱿鱼，但不至于夺走你的性命蹦。」

“I’m not afraid of death. The important thing is for Magical Girls to live like Magical Girls…”
「我才不怕死。重要的是，魔法少女必须活得像是个魔法少女……」

Her words trailed off halfway. Fal and the girl fell silent.
话说到一半就中断了。法尔、少女皆陷入一片沉默之中。

“I have an idea ~pon.”
「我想到一个好方法蹦。」

“What idea?”
「什么好方法？」

The girl coiled one of her bangs around her finger. The girl’s hair was short, but tufted in some places. It would seem she had tufted them on purpose.
少女以指尖卷着浏海。少女的头发整体都是短的，但有几处微翘，她似乎有点在意翘起来的部分。

“Pretend that Fal threatened you, Master, or that Fal lied to you, or that you did not notice Fal going rampant, Master ~pon. In any case, let Fal be the mastermind~pon.”
「就当是大使被法尔威胁也好、被法尔欺骗也罢，或是大使没有察觉法尔的失控行为也可以蹦。总而言之，就把法尔当成主谋蹦。」

“And then?”
「然后呢？」

“Master can then accuse Fal of wrongdoing and give herself up ~pon. Tell the Land of Magic that your mascot gathered Magical Girls and had them fight among themselves~pon.”
「大使以告发法尔罪行的方式，进行自首蹦。向『魔法王国』控诉我家的吉祥物召集魔法少女，让她们自相残杀蹦。」

“Honestly, you--”
「我说你啊——」

The girl spun her swivel chair so her entire body was facing Fal. Her glasses slid loose thanks to the centrifugal force, so she reached up with her left middle finger to readjust them.
少女将旋转椅一转，让整个身体朝向法尔。眼镜因为离心力而滑落，于是她再度伸出左手中指，调整眼镜的位置。

“Do you think I’m a hopeless weakling who’s afraid that there’s no coming back from my crimes? In your heart of hearts, do you really think I’m such a weak-willed Magical Girl? Do you think that I’d be happy with you shouldering all the blame and telling me to go plead for forgiveness? Being seen as someone like that really pisses me off. Nothing could possibly displease me more!”
「你以为我是个会恐惧自己所犯下的罪行，害怕一切无法挽回的弱者吗？在你的心目中，我就是个这么没意思的魔法少女呀？你以为自己揽下全部的罪过，叫我去乞求原谅，我就会开心了吗？被视为这种人实在是让我觉得心情差透了，再也没有比这更令人不悦的事！」

“But now..”
「现在的话……」

“Shut up!”
「给我闭嘴！」

The girl’s finger left her bangs. In the instant that it departed, she turned, reverting her chair to its original position.

“I don’t need a mascot who’ll pervert the course of justice. Only a real Magical Girl can be a Magical Girl; is that wrong? Of course not! If flawed Magical Girls are allowed to become Magical Girls, then the system, the examinations, and the Land of Magic are all at fault! And the one who’s most to blame is that woman, and after that the Children, aren’t they possibly at fault too?”
少女的手指离开浏海。在手指离开的瞬间，她也一转，将椅子转回原本的位置。「我可不需要会妨碍正义的吉祥物。只有真正的魔法少女才能当魔法少女，这有错吗？根本没错！如果要让错误的魔法少女当魔法少女的话，那么制度跟测验还有『魔法王国』便都是错的！其中最大错特错的就是那个女人，再来不就是也许有错的『孩子们』吗？」

The girl smiled to Fal.
少女朝向法尔微笑。

“I will obey Master’s teachings. This is done in order to become a real Magical Girl.”
「我会遵从师父的教诲，这可是为了成为真正的魔法少女的方法。」