Unmarked Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Black and White

After the large-scale merger four years ago, the port city of N-City became the largest metropolis in the region. There were bizarrely-designed buildings--exemplified by City Hall--and clusters of avant-garde skyscrapers all over the place, abandoned mountain villages, central hospitals with the latest in medical equipment, and large factories which had to be closed down when their owners went out of business. All of them existed within the same city, contributing to the warped sensibilities which were unique to “a city which had been haphazardly and forcibly put together.”

And in this very N-City, since June of last year, there had been eyewitness reports of Magical Girl sightings.

Something had knocked on the window of a car that was breaking the speed limit while travelling on the expressway. The driver thought it was just a pebble, but when he looked back, he saw a witch on her broom, smiling and reminding him to “drive slower”.

A child had rushed out into the middle of the road in pursuit of his ball. A truck happened to be driving up just then. Just as everyone thought, “It’s too late!” a female knight suddenly appeared before the boy, and stopped the truck with her bare hands before leaving without saying a word.

A girl had been unable to shake off a persistent skirt-chaser, and just as she was starting to feel distressed, a girl with dog-ears charged in on all fours and carried off the would-be pickup artist.

While all these girls had the common characteristic of “out-of-this-world beauty”, their looks, their clothes and the conditions in which they all differed from each other, and they were not coherent enough to be an urban legend.

At first, those rumors were laughed off as fantasies, boasts and lies, but as the witnesses kept on increasing, someone took a video titled “Twin angels holding hands while flying in the sky” and submitted it to a video-sharing website, and then the rumors spread explosively.

That video was real. No, someone faked it. People debated the matter at their workplaces, in school, online, and in various locations. Sometimes, people who claimed to have been helped by these girls would join in the discussions on the veracity of the video and the existence of those girls.

Someone who had been helped by those girls had asked, “Who are you?” and the answer was “I’m a Magical Girl.” This experience led to these mysterious girls being known as Magical Girls.

Fan site ands and research sites popped up one after the other, and the sites which collected eye-witness reports updated every day. One of the latest sightings was particularly exciting.

There was a mansion in the entertainment district which was used by the mainland Mafia as a hideout. Apparently, a gunman-themed Magical Girl had showed up like she had walked right out of a spaghetti Western movie, beat up all the gang members, and then stolen all their weapons and cash.

***

“Hey, do you think it’s true?”

There were three middle school students waiting for a bus at a bus stop. One of them was pointing the screen of her smartphone at her two friends. The screen displayed the announcement field for a Magical Girl eyewitness report site.

“You seriously like these things huh. How could anything like that be real?”

“Eh? Don’t you think it sounds like it could be true?”

“Isn’t this too realistic? It’s like a live report from the scene.”

“Yocchan, you keep shooting me down like that. Perhaps this was from someone who was there.”

“I shut you down precisely because you keep talking nonsense, Sumi. If you want to say it was from someone who was there, then there’s no way it could have been sent by the gangsters who was beaten up or the Magical Girl herself. Also, how old are you anyway, still believing in Magical Girls and all that.”

“But don’t you think it would be pretty interesting if Magical Girls really existed?”

The mature-looking girl who had been listening quietly to her friends as they debated the existence of Magical Girls could no longer hold herself back, and spoke:

“Yocchan, Sumi-chan, you’re both wrong. Even if Magical Girls really existed, they wouldn’t do things like that. After all, Magical Girls are friends of justice who help people in trouble.”

“Thank you very much for your dreamy opinion.”

“Koyuki, how shall I put this, you really do like your dreams. They’re verging on delusions.”

***
Behind the middle-school girls who were chattering over the smartphone in their hands, there was a seven-storey commercial building behind the bus stop--the No. 7 Sankou Building. On the roof of that building, another girl was moping about the same matter. The girl was dressed in the style of a kimono, except that her outfit exposed as much as  a swimsuit. She wore high, single-toothed geta sandals on her feet, and a shuriken-styled clip on her hair. This was not so much clothing as a costume, and right now in N-City, the only people who dressed that way were Magical Girls.

The girl pointed at to the relevant entry on her Magical Phone and asked:

“Is this true…?”

After that, the screen changed. The heart-shaped display of the Magical Phone glowed, following which a hard yet shiny spheroid, like a tile, floated above the screen with a lake as a backdrop. This was a three-dimensional projection.

The spheroid’s right half was black and its left half was white, and it sprouted a pair of small butterfly-like wings which matched the color of its body. Every time the wings flapped, they scattered brilliant sparkles. There was a smile on its inorganic face, but its expression was fixed and did not change. Its voice was as high-pitched as that of a child’s.

Its name was Fav. It was a mascot character.

“It could be a rumor ~pon. It could be real ~pon.”

The spheroid did a flip, and scattered a large quantity of sparkles. Surprised, the girl narrowed her eyes.

“If it was Calamity Mary, she would really do this sort of thing ~pon. After all, she lives with a band of outlaws, so she often does reckless things like these ~pon.

“Calamity Mary” was the name of the Magical Girl who claimed the southern district of N-City as her territory. While Magical Girls often called the areas they were assigned to protect their “area of responsibility” or their “home”, in her case, calling it “territory” suited her very well.

She was crude, brutish and barbaric. There were countless derogatory terms that could be used to describe her behavior. Even the mascot character had gone and condemned her as an “outlaw”.

“So that means it’s true, right…?”

“How could Fav tell you that ~pon? If I reported every little thing the other Magical Girls did to you, then Fav would be an tattletale ~pon. Tattletales are despised in the world of fairies ~pon.”

“Then how about this…?”

The girl swiped her finger across the screen and went to another page. Sightings of a “White Magical Girl” were quite common so the website had set aside a special column for her.

“I feel that she’s too visible…”

“Ahh, that’s Snow White’s page. That’s because she’s the most hardworking ~pon. This is just the tip of the iceberg ~pon. She’s done three times this much for the people ~pon.”

Though it was furnished with organic-looking butterfly wings, the inorganic-looking black and white spheroid flipped another two more times in the air, and finally landed on a flower.

“Ripple, didn’t you see that page before ~pon?”

“I did…?”

“Could it be that you’ve started to see her as a rival ~pon?”

“No… I’m just impressed by how she can work so hard.”

“A sense of rivalry is to be encouraged ~pon. Competing with each other is a wonderful thing ~pon.”

“Hm…”

The girl--Ripple--looked away from the Magical Phone. She closed her dangling legs, then leapt down from where she was sitting on the edge of the roof. The girl fell about 20 meters, landing soundlessly on the ground below.

“Why did you jump down all of a sudden ~pon?”

“Someone troublesome showed up, so I thought of leaving…”

“Someone troublesome ~pon?”

Ripple looked up from between the buildings, and Fav looked in the same direction. A speck in the air gradually grew larger, and soon it resolved into the form of a human. As Fav saw it, it shouted:

“Top Speed!”

The broom-riding witch… the Magical Girl “Top Speed” landed in the space between the buildings, then leaned over to look at Ripple.

“How’re you, Ripple?”

Ripple clicked her tongue loudly in place of a greeting. Top Speed smiled bitterly and replied:

“As tsundere as always, I see.”

“I should have hidden earlier…”

“We’re all Magical Girls, so we should all get along, shouldn’t we?”

“Shut up…”

“Well, more importantly…”

Ripple clicked her tongue again. Top Speed did not reproach her, but continued speaking. While her habit of doing as she pleased was one of the reasons why Ripple disliked her, perhaps that personality of hers prevented her from noticing that.

“Did you see this report?”

The Magical Phone which Top Speed handed to her showed an online news report. It said that the costumes of the mysterious girls in N-City known as Magical Girls bore a striking resemblance to the items in the popular social game called Magical Girl Raising Project.

“It seems a lot of people have realised that. Isn’t that pretty bad?”

“It’s fine ~pon.”

“Really?”

“If the information was leaked by a Magical Girl, she would be in violation of the Land of Magic’s laws and be in big trouble, but Fav knows that there aren’t any bad girls like that ~pon. Having normal people turn this into news is free advertising for us ~pon. We should be grateful to them ~pon.”

Sometimes, this mascot character would talk like it was a businessman. Ripple had pointed that out when she had just become a Magical GIrl, but it nonchalantly replied, “I’m not so much a businessman as human resources personnel ~pon.”

***

About two months ago, Sazanami Kano had become a Magical Girl.

Among the players of the social game Magical Girl Raising Project, one out of every several tens of thousands of people could become a true Magical Girl--Sazanami Kano had heard that urban legend, but she had not truly taken it to heart.

Since kindergarten, Sazanami Kano had always been the sort of person who believed in solving problems by “beating those who insult you for absurd reasons until they fall on their knees and submit to you”, but once she entered high school, all sorts of obstacles appeared in her way, and it was very difficult to continue using violence to solve problems.

The fifth man which Kano’s mother had brought home and who called himself her stepfather had touched her butt. Kano had repaid the insult with punches and kicks, and then she packed her things and ran away from home. Kano moved alone into an apartment which was small, but which was still somewhat liveable. Then, in order to support herself, Kano had to do part-time work. She cut back on various expenses and for the sake of her future, she had to finish high school.

Thus, she sought a hobby which she could use to relieve her frustration with school and while working. It just so happened that Magical Girl Raising Project fit her mindset--people who spent money on their hobbies were idiots--perfectly. As a result, Kano’s original two hobbies of “reading manga in the store” and “reading books in the library” were joined by a third, “Magical Girl Raising Project.”

After a certain company had managed to cut the production costs of its smartphones, every other company joined in the price war. Three years ago, smartphones already made up 90% of the handphone market. After that, the quantity of smartphones continued to increase, and they swept over the entire handphone market.

As smartphones proliferated throughout the populace, social games targeted at smartphone users had exploded in numbers. Many free social games called themselves that, but most of them were “free to start playing, but you need real money for a smooth gaming experience.” On that note, Magical Girl Raising Project fully lived up to its promise of “free to play”. In-game items could only be obtained with in-game currency; in other words, everything had to be done in-game.

When she had seen the boys talk about games in the past, Kano had mocked them as childish in her heart, but after trying it, she found that it was quite interesting.

She designed her avatar--in other words, the character that would serve as the player’s representation in the game--and then began playing. She cleared quests to aid people and combat quests, collected magic cards and item cards, used them to strengthen her character, and then sought out tougher missions and stronger enemies.

Because she had shackled herself with the restriction of “30 minutes a day”, her progress in the game was very slow. That said, she still found the work of actualizing the tactics and combos in her mind, collecting cards, combining them and defeating the enemy to be very fun. Since the game was very well-balanced, the work the players put in and the rewards they received for their efforts became joy for them, and Kano--who had no experience with these games before--found it quite refreshing.

While she was not too interested in the topic of Magical Girls, the game made her think of when she still had a TV at home, how she had laughed with the girls on the screen, and she realized that there had been a time when she had liked Magical Girls too.

Since she felt that inter-player conflict and cooperation was boring and annoying, she did nothing but fight CPU-controlled enemies and complete story mode quests. And then, after a week, something happened

The mascot character Fav, who had originally been nothing more than a swaying image on her screen, spoke to her.

“Congratulations ~pon! You’ve been chosen to be a real Magical Girl ~pon!”

At first, Kano thought she had triggered some sort of event, so she had tapped repeatedly to skip past the message. Just then, the screen suddenly flared brightly, enveloping Kano in light, and by the time she realized it, she was already a Magical Girl.

Kano took three deep breaths, and then looked at her hands, her legs, and then at her entire body. She then repeated the abovementioned events five times. She had clearly not been mistaken. She pinched her cheek hard, and it hurt. Thus, it was not an illusion either.

Kano sought a realistic answer to this dilemma, and concluded that she was tired from her part-time job and her studies. It’ll be troublesome if this keeps up, she thought, and then she looked at the mirror again and found that her transformation had ended.

She tried thinking “transform” in her heart, and her body was wrapped in light and she transformed. She thought “detransform”, and her transformation ended. She repeated the process of transforming and detransforming countless times, then looked at the mirror, where she found that she was still the Magical Girl Ripple. Her face, her body, everything about her was completely different from Kano, and she was even dressed in a provocative outfit which Kano would never have chosen for herself. The scene before her eyes seemed realistic enough, and it certainly felt real enough, nothing like a dream or delusion.



She clenched her right hand, then smacked it into her left palm. The sound and impact rattled the glass in the window frame and made the pullcord of the fluorescent lamp sway violently. Those ten soft, beautiful fingers were longer than Kano’s and looked like works of art, but they were far stronger than they looked.

She lightly pushed herself off the ground. Her head nearly reached the ceiling. If she had broken through the ceiling, the landlord would scold her.

Her physical abilities had clearly improved. It was obvious that they were beyond the range of a what a normal human being could accomplish.

She looked down at her limbs. Her skin was not even blemished by moles or chap marks, to say nothing of scars or body hair. It was clean and shiny and soft, with the moist fragrance of freshly plucked fruit.

She felt her body was filled with an energy that craved to be released.

There were kunai and shuriken at her collar and sleeves. If she fell down by accident, she might get hurt very badly.

The rumor was true. The Magical Girl Raising Project really did produce Magical Girls.

She looked at her dressing mirror once more. The face she saw there was beautiful and well-proportioned. It looked like that of a model or an artiste.

“Hmm…”

Even her voice had changed. It was higher-pitched and had a more penetrative quality to it.

She took several poses in front of the dressing mirror. She smiled, she blew a kiss, no matter what she did, they all looked good. However, she looked a little different from the Magical Girl in her mind. At the very least, it made her think that she was not quite an orthodox Magical Girl.

“What’s the matter ~pon?”

The mascot character from inside the image suddenly called out to her. She almost jumped in fright, but fortunately, she did not show her shock on her face. However, the fact that her embarrassing smiles and poses in front of the mirror had been seen by someone else made her face flush red.

Kano did her best to fake a calm demeanor and answered:

“Who are you…?”

“Fav is Fav ~Pon. Since you’ve played this game before, you should know who Fav is, don’t you ~pon?”

“I didn’t mean that… what do you want…?”

“Fav is in charge of providing support to people with the talent to become Magical Girls ~pon. Ask me anything you want ~pon.”

There was no way to communicate with that creature. Ripple clicked her tongue and looked in the mirror. The person in the mirror was a Magical Girl, no matter how she looked at her. That was an inviolable fact.

“I heard that Magical Girls were all out-of-this-world beauties… is this what they meant…?”

“Well, when people are helped, their eyes adjust what they see. So a pretty face becomes an out-of-this world beauty ~pon. Are you unhappy ~pon?”

“Not really…”

Kano’s avatar “Ripple” was based on a ninja. She had black hair, long, narrow eyes, and thin eyebrows. While her costume looked like someone had added a kimono to a bikini and then divided by two, the overall look was quite plain for a Magical Girl. Other than the red scarf which was essential for all ninjas and the huge shuriken-shaped hairclip which gleamed of metal, everything else was the same black.

The name “Ripple” had been chosen after translating Kano’s surname of Sazanami to English, but now that this form of hers had become reality, her Japanese-style appearance was at odds with her Western-style name.

“Can I change my avatar’s costume…?”

“Not any more ~pon.”

“Ahh, is that so…”

“Why ~pon? Are you not satisfied ~pon?”

“Not really…”

Fav continued its explanation. It hoped that the Magical Girls it chose would help others. Although Kano was not interested in helping others, she was very interested in her beautiful appearance, her superhuman physical abilities, and the Magic that she could use.

The most important thing was that Kano was sick and tired of her daily life.

“Fav will support you ~pon. I’ll even give you a shiny new Magical Phone~pon.”

“Support… how will you support me…?”

“Fav is a friend to all Magical Girls, so if you want to contact them, Fav will help you pass on the message ~pon. Also, Fav can answer any questions as long as they’re related to Magical Girls ~pon.”

“So what exactly are Magical Girls…?”

“Magical GIrls are Magical Girls ~pon. Haven’t you seen them on TV before ~pon?”

“Like I was saying, what are they…”

“They’re girls who have received magic from the Land of Magic and help others ~pon.”

“Principle, theory, and the objective of the Land of Magic…”

“Didn’t you see those on TV before ~pon?”

“Like I said…”

“You’re already a Magical Girl ~pon. That is an unerasable fact ~pon. No matter what you ask or hear, you will always be a Magical Girl ~pon.”

“Eh…”

This was very suspicious. However, Kano had just personally witnessed a supernatural phenomenon with her own eyes.

If Kano studied hard, she could get into a good university. But no amount of effort could allow one to become a Magical Girl. The factors affecting that probably involve luck and some sort of talent. If she refused it now, she would most likely never get a chance like this again. That being the case, she ought to agree with it.

And so, Kano weighed everything on the balance, and after  working out the ramifications of doing so, she agreed to this.

Kano calmly watched herself through an objective lens as she calculated her gains and losses. Even she had to be impressed at the way that a practical person like herself could so readily accept this extraordinary situation. Perhaps it had read Kano’s thoughts, but the mascot said:

“A girl who could not accept the fact that they had become a Magical Girl would never have been chosen in the first place ~pon.”

Kano thought that she would have to start working as a Magical Girl right away, but that was not to be. Apparently, she needed to receive a lecture from a senior Magical Girl, which turned Kano glum. Just the thought of it made her think that it was “annoying” and “depressing”.

“You said you would support me, Fav…”

“Fav will support you as much as possible… but Fav is only one person, so Fav cannot cover all the bases ~pon.”

Come to think of it, the tutorial for Magical Girl Raising Project was incredibly annoying. The game would repeatedly ask the player to press a button time and time again, as though the player were a moron without any imagination. Kano turned off the Magical Phone she had just obtained, and clicked her tongue. The heart-shaped display was very inconvenient

Kano was not used to speaking with others. Bluntly speaking, she was not used to interacting with human beings at all. She disliked those people who always wanted to gather with others and felt that doing so would make them stronger.

That was the reason why she had been interested in Magical Girl Raising Project, but she had not expected that she would be tormented by “annoying” and “aggravating” interpersonal relationships in Magical Girl Raising Project as well.

The first impression she got from the senior Magical Girl Top Speed was that “she looked very stupid.”

She wore a witch’s pointy hat and a witch’s one-piece dress and rode a magic broom. She was the stereotypical image of a witch-type character. Her face looked more Western than Ripple’s, her big blue eyes--very fitting of her character as a witch--were round and swirly, while her golden blonde hair was braided into a pair of pigtails.

Only her purple coat and the mamoribukuro charm she wore around her neck looked to be out of character for a witch, Ripple saw that there were several words sewn in gold thread on the back of the coat, which read: “Who Cares What You Think”. Not only was the broom equipped with a motorcycle’s windshield and handlebars, it was even fitted with fancy boosters and mufflers. Ripple thought, Ah, this is stupid, and then she lowered her original opinion of Top Speed by a notch.
(TL Note: Top Speed’s coat reads 御意見無用; this is a bosozoku slogan commonly found on their clothes and banners)

Top Speed landed on the roof of the building they had chosen as their meeting point, the No. 7 Sankou building, and flashed Ripple a thumbs-up and a winning smile.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Top Speed, let’s get along!”

“...I’ll be in your care…”

“Aw, you’re so out of it! Have you eaten yet? Hahaha!”

She was referring to herself with a masculine pronoun. And she laughed like an idiot. Ripple adjusted her opinion of Top Speed down another notch.

Top Speed sat lightly on top of the building’s metal railing, then urged Ripple to take a seat too. However, Ripple did not want to sit beside her, and neither did she want to be looked down upon by her. Thus, feeling that it would be better that way, she continued leaning on the wall.

Top Speed began explaining the mission of Magical Girls to her. In other words, they used the power of magic to help others, perform good deeds, and through those means, they would accumulate Magical Candies.

“Good deeds…?”

“In the game, you can perform them by beating the enemy. But in the real world, there aren’t that many enemies. Therefore, we still have to work hard even at an unreal job like this.”

Top Speed had a know-it-all look on her face as she gave her lecture, and within her heart, Ripple clicked her tongue..

Apart from that, Top Speed also taught her how to use the Magical Phone which only Magical Girls could use. However ridiculous a “Magical Girl-only” device might sound, its operation was little different from an ordinary smartphone. While Ripple was annoyed by the way Top Speed described it as a custom item, she did not show it on her face, though she still clicked her tongue mentally.

Ripple did as Top Speed showed and called up her personal data page. It recorded her height, weight and three-sizes. Kano might have been 3 centimeters taller than the average male, but after transforming into Ripple, her height, weight and body were all those of a girl.

The personality field read, “antisocial and violent”. Kano knew this was a very accurate description of herself, but it was precisely because it was that way that it frustrated her. The Magic field read “100% accuracy with thrown shuriken ~yo”. At that, she clicked her tongue in reality and not in her heart.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“I only have one Magic…”

Also, it was quite unimpressive. Ninjas being able to throw shuriken was not so much a special ability as a skill. Also, as a ninja, she ought to have many other abilities, like say, creating copies of herself, conjuring flames, and so on.

“Magical Girls only have one Magic. While you can use all sorts of magic in the game and doing so is convenient, things aren’t as easy in real life.”

In addition to that, everything else Top Speed said only served to depress Ripple.

Magical Girls had to obey the “Magical Girl Rules”. There were two of them; the first was “don’t let normal people know your true identity” and the second was “don’t talk about your abilities and the Magical Girl Rules with normal people”. Violators would be stripped of their Magical Girl status.

There would be a chat every week. It was not compulsory, but there might be important messages to be handed down, so it was best to show up every time.

Certain Magical Girls were very territorial. It was best not to avoid the south city district which Calamity Mary was in charge of, and the western temple district which was in the care of Ruler. Calamity Mary was a combative sort while Ruler was very naggy, and getting tangled with either of them would be very troublesome.

Sister Nana had once entered Calamity Mary’s territory by accident and had almost been shot to death. The Peaky Angels had filmed the incident and when it hit the net, it had caused quite a stir. As Top Speed interspersed these accounts with her own lecture, Ripple began to feel that Top Speed was very lackadaisical.

At long last, Top Speed finished her spiel. She then mounted up on her broom and vanished into the night, while Ripple clicked her tongue.

“A question…”

“What is it ~pon?”

“Who chose her as a spokesperson...?”

“Your caring sempai volunteered herself ~pon. While Top Speed’s explanations take three times longer than normal, she takes very good care of her kouhais.”

After learning that Top Speed had lectured and advised her was because of her excessive intimacy and that her explanation time was especially long, Ripple’s tongue-click was the most forceful one she had made in several years.

And so, Ripple’s opinion of Top Speed changed from “stupid-looking sempai” to “an idiot who likes to act like a sempai.”

However, ever since then, Top Speed kept coming up with all sorts of reasons to look for Ripple. No matter how many times she clicked her tongue or even after flat-out telling her that there was no need to come any more, she simply countered with “as tsundere as always, I see.” After deciding that nothing she said would be of any use, Ripple decided not to bother with her, but even then, she would still come over, say her piece, and then leave. Several days ago, she had even brought a Tupperware box of cooked yams along. Ripple had reluctantly taken a bite, and found that they were delicious.

◇◇◇

Once autumn came, the beaches that were packed full of tourists in summer were empty of people, and after the sun set, there was even less reason for passers-by to come here. Upon a small hill which commanded a view of the sprawling, empty beach was an especially large steel tower. Two Magical Girls sat side by side atop this tower. One of them was a white Magical Girl whose costume had been designed with a school uniform as a base, while the other looked like a knight from the Middle Ages, albeit sporting a long tail. The two of them were cheek to cheek as they spoke with the mascot character Fav through their Magical Phones.

Magical Girls liked structures like tall buildings and steel towers. Tall, deserted buildings were the ideal resting place for flashily-dressed Magical Girls. While only a rare few Magical Girls could fly, even those Magical Girls who could not fly had the physical ability t run up the side of a building like they were running on flat ground.

“I hope you two will attend the next chat ~pon.”

“Why?”

“That’s because I have a very important matter to announce ~pon.”

“I heard there’s a newcomer, does it have something to do with that?”

“In addition to that, a big event is going to take place ~pon.”

“What is it?”

“Please look forward to it on the day itself ~pom.”

Snow White turned off her Magical Phone, then shifted her back--which was originally leaning against the steel tower--by 45 degrees so her knees touched those of La Pucelle, making it easier for them to talk to each other.

“Hey hey, Sou-chan, Sou-chan, did you hear all that just now?” Snow White asked her.

“I did.”

In response to Snow White’s strange voice, a gloomy look crept across La Pucelle’s face.

“What did you think of it?”

“Very few people have attended the recent chats. I’m guessing Fav said that because he wants more people to take part.”

“Is it really very few?”

“Very. Weren’t there only seven people around yesterday? You, me, Nemurin, Clamberry, Top Speed, Sister Nana and Winterprison.”

“Isn’t that quite a lot for the recent meetings?”

“That’s very few. Tell me, so far, have we ever had full attendance for one of those meetings?”

It was recommended that they attend the weekly Magical Girl chats, but it was ultimately just a recommendation and not a mandate, so the participants decreased steadily. Although Fav often said something about sitting down together and exchanging information and deepening the bonds between their fellow Magical Girls, almost nobody took his suggestion seriously.

However, Snow White and La Pucelle frequently attended those meetings. That was because they were both Magical Girl lovers, so they wanted to make use of these infrequent opportunities to mingle with other Magical Girls. Thanks to these meetings, they had managed to forge close ties with several other Magical Girls, so at the very least, to the two of them, the Magical Girl meetings were not meaningless to them.
但白雪和圣少女参加的频率非常高。因为她们两个都是魔法少女爱好者，所以想好好利用这个为数不多的可以和其他魔法少女交流的机会。多亏有这个集会，她们和几名魔法少女之间形成了亲密的关系，所以至少对她们两个而言，魔法少女集会并不是毫无意义的存在。

“Still, the chatroom is too cramped. Having too many people in there is tiring.”
“可是啊，那个聊天室太憋屈了，要是人太多的话会很累的。”

The Magical Girl meetings were conducted by having SD versions of their avatars meet in a virtual chatroom where they could converse with each other.
魔法少女集会的形式是，让以自己的外表为原型的Q版“化身”进入一个仿照会议室设立的假想空间中进行对话。

“Well, even if it’s full up, it’s not uncomfortable in reality, so what does it matter?”
“就算里面挤满了人，但现实中的我们并不会感到难受，有什么关系呢。”

“Still, Sou-chan--”
“但是啊，小飒。”

“Hold it!”
“等一下！”

La Pucelle erected her index finger and pointed it at Snow White. On her part, Snow White simply gawped at the finger pointing at herself and at the finger’s owner.
圣少女竖起食指指着白雪。白雪则是错愕地望着指着自己的食指以及食指的主人。

“When I’m dressed like this, don’t call me Sou-chan.”
“穿这身打扮的时候不要叫我‘小飒’。”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Sou-chan~”
“啊，不好意思，小飒……”

Snow White laughed and smiled dumbly even as she made the very same mistake she was currently apologizing for. La Pucelle laughed as well.
在道歉的同时再次犯下同样错误的白雪笑着打马虎眼。圣少女也跟着笑了起来。

***

Himekawa Koyuki had always admired Magical Girls.
对姬河小雪而言，魔法少女是她永远的憧憬。

When she was young, she had laughed and cried as she watched the adventures of Hiyoko-chan on the Hiyoko-chan series. After that, she began following Star Queen and the Cutie Healers series, and she was drawn by the noble forms of girls battling the forces of evil.
小时候，在观看《小雏系列》的时候会跟着可爱的小雏一喜一忧，后来又开始追《Star Queen系列》、《Cutie Healers系列》，被与恶势力战斗的少女们的英姿所吸引。

She had even watched anime which her fellow Magical Girl-loving childhood friend had managed to get from a relative’s big brother, like Merry-san, Rikkabell, Miko-chan and so on. Magical Girls always used their magic to make people happy, and they never despaired no matter what dangers they encountered. She had once declared that she would become a Magical Girl like them, and at that time, her male playmate, who could only be a mage at most, could do nothing but envy her.
她还看过和自己一样是魔法少女爱好者的儿时的玩伴从亲戚的大哥哥那里借来的以前的动画。《梅莉小姐》、《莉卡蓓儿》、《神子妹妹》等等。魔法少女总是用魔法带给他人幸福，不管遇到怎样的危机都绝不气馁。她曾经宣言过，将来要像她们那样成为魔法少女，让身为男性，最多只能成为魔法师的儿时玩伴羡慕不已。

From elementary school, to middle school and then to high school, her classmates had come to think of Magical Girls as childish things and one by one, they cast them aside. Only Koyuki clung to Magical Girls like she always had. To Koyuki, Magical Girls were not just fictional characters. Magical Girls had long since become a part of her soul, which she could not just discard. Koyuki understood that foolish talk like, “I want to become a Magical Girl and let people live happy lives” would only invite laughter from others, so she hid those thoughts deep within her heart. Even while she hid them within her heart, she did not abandon them.
从小学、初中再到高中，班里面的同学一个接一个地把魔法少女当成是幼稚的玩意，并将其抛弃，只有小雪依旧没有放弃魔法少女。对小雪来说，魔法少女并不是虚构的人物。魔法少女早已成为绝对不能舍弃的自己的灵魂。小雪明白，要是把“想要成为魔法少女，让人们过上幸福的生活”这种梦想说出口的话会招来他人的耻笑，所以她把这个想法藏在心里，虽然藏在心里，但并没有放弃。

When she had become a middle-schooler, Koyuki encountered the Magical Girl Raising Project.  To a girl who had always wanted to become a Magical Girl, it was only to be expected that she would know about a game which allowed its players to become Magical Girls.
成为初中生之后，小雪与《魔法少女育成计划》相遇了。一直想要成为魔法少女的少女，得知了这款据说能让玩家成为魔法少女的游戏是一种必然。

That said, she had not started playing the game because she was certain that she could become a Magical Girl. Becoming a Magical Girl was a lie, nothing more than a rumor, she had thought, but what harm was there in just thinking about it? Even if she could not become a Magical Girl, a game themed around Magical Girls was still interesting, and besides, it was free no matter how long she played. With those thoughts in mind, Koyuki had begun playing the game. 28 days after the game began, Himekawa Koyuki became the Magical Girl Snow White.
话虽如此，她并不是因为确信能够成为魔法少女才开始进行这款游戏的。能够成为魔法少女是骗人的吧，那个传闻大概只是一个传闻吧，但只是想想而已，又有什么关系呢，即便成不了魔法少女，以魔法少女为题材的游戏也很有意思，而且无论玩多久都不用交钱。小雪抱着这样的想法，非常随便地开始玩这款游戏。游戏开始后二十八天，姬河小雪成为了魔法少女“白雪”。

In the mirror was the Magical Girl Koyuki had envisioned in her youth. Not only had she imagined her, but she had even drawn it with pen and paper. Her costume was based on a school uniform like the protagonist of the manga which had been popular back then. As the name implied, she was snow white from head to toe, with white flower decorations scattered throughout her outfit. Unlike Koyuki--who had only ever been called cute but not pretty--the Magical Girl in the mirror was beautiful. Her skin was as white as snow, and her eyelashes were very long. The person in the mirror was completely different from herself, but Koyuki was not at all disturbed by the fact that she was that person now.
镜子里的人是小雪小时候想象的魔法少女。不只是想象，她还用纸笔画了下来。服装是以当时的热门漫画的主人公所在学校的校服作为原型，并且人如其名，从头到脚都是一片雪白，身上各处还点缀着白色的花饰。与只被人夸过可爱，但从未被人夸过漂亮的小雪不同，镜子里的魔法少女非常美丽。皮肤白皙透明，眼睫毛也很长。镜子里面的人明明和自己完全不一样，但小雪对于她就是自己这一件事并不会感到不协调。

Snow White did not think that it was a dream. Even if it was all very strange, it also felt very realistic. Koyuki was delighted and jumped for joy. Then, her head bounced off the ceiling and fell down again.
小雪不认为那是一场梦。尽管很奇幻，却充满了现实感。小雪大胜称快，并高兴地跳了起来。然后脑袋撞到天花板，又掉了下来。

Her mother was startled by the great crash and ran up to her room to see what was going on. However, Koyuki had already cancelled her transformation by then,  and she managed to chase off her mother with the extremely contrived excuse of “I’m fine, I just fell down”. After she returned to her human state, she began to feel that it was just a dream, so she decided to try transforming again.
被巨大的声响吓到的母亲，来到她的房间看是发生了什么事，但那个时候小雪已经解除了变身，并且以“没事，只是摔了一跤而已”这种非常牵强的借口把母亲打发了。变回人类之后，她开始觉得那果然是一场梦，于是她试着再一次变身。

The Magical Girl Snow White appeared in the mirror once more.
魔法少女“白雪”再次出现在镜子里面。

“Wonderful… wonderful… this is wonderful!”
“太好了……太好了……真是太好了！”

“Congratulations ~pon.”
“恭喜你pon。”

“Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you so much, Fav. Please take care of me from now on!”
“太好了！太好了！太好了！谢谢你，法布。今后请你多多指教！”

Koyuki had gone around all day with a smile on her face. After seeing her like that, her mother was worried that the fall might have made her retarded.
那一天，小雪一整天都嬉皮笑脸的。看到她这个样子，她妈妈很担心她是不是摔跤的时候把脑袋给摔坏了。

After night fell, Koyuki stealthily left the house without letting her parents detect her. She went to the school field in the middle of the night, when there was nobody around, and then she jumped around, punched the air, did handsprings and consecutive mid-air backwards somersaults. She vented the energy welling up within herself, making sure that everything she did was something she could not have done before. Ah, I’ve finally become the Magical Girl of my dreams. This sense of undeniable reality filled her, along with joy and excitement.
入夜之后，小雪没有让父母发现，悄悄地离开了家。她在深夜空无一人的学校操场上跳跃、出拳、翻筋斗、连续后空翻，一点点地将从体内涌出的力量释放出来，并一一确认那些自己以前无法做到的动作。啊啊，终于成为憧憬已久的魔法少女了。这样的真实感不断地涌现出来。喜悦与兴奋不断地涌上来。

She twirled to the side, and her skirt flew up as well. Perhaps I should have drawn the skirt a little longer. This skirt was much shorter than the one Koyuki usually wore as part of her school uniform. It would seem that it would be better not to make grand movements in front of people.
她往旁边转了一圈，裙子也跟着飞舞起来。或许应该把裙子画长一点的。这条裙子比小雪平时穿的制服的裙子短了不少。看来在人前最好还是不要做太大的动作。

“Does that mean I can use magic too?”
“那么说来，我能使用魔法吗？”

“All you need to do is read your personal data page on your Magical Phone ~pon.”
“通过魔法终端机参阅个人数据就可以了pon。”

Koyuki started up her Magical Phone and checked her personal data. She saw the name of the Magical Girl Snow White and various other pieces of information.
小雪启动魔法终端机，查阅自己的个人数据。上面写有魔法少女“白雪”的各种信息。

“I say, Fav.”
“我说法布。”

“What is it ~pon?”
“怎么了pon？”

“It’s about my personality. ‘Careless’ and ‘Strong sense of justice’ aside, what do you mean by ‘Delusional’?”
“是关于我的性格的。暂且不说‘马大哈’还有‘正义感强’，‘有妄想癖’是怎么回事？”

“Human beings have a hard time looking objectively at themselves ~pon.”
“人类这种生物，很难客观地去看待自己啊pon。”

“Is that so…”
“是吗……”

“And the Magic field reads ‘Can hear the hearts of people in distress yo~’”
“魔法”一栏上写着“能够听到有困难之人的心声哦”。

One could say that ability was a perfect match for Koyuki’s ideal of being a Magical Girl that used her Magic for the sake of the world and mankind. Koyuki was very grateful to the Land of Magic. She thanked them for making her a Magical Girl. She thanked them for giving her such a wonderful Magic.
这一项能力可以说与小雪的理想——为了世界为了人类使用魔法的魔法少女——完全吻合。小雪非常感谢魔法之国。感谢它让自己成为魔法少女。感谢它授予自己这个美妙的魔法。

From that day on, Koyuki had begun working as Snow White. She slipped from her house window at night. She looked for people in difficulty, and helped them solve their problems. Among the people she helped were a middle-schooler who had lost her house keys, a university student whose bike had been stolen, and a salaryman who was being threatened.
从那天起，小雪就开始以白雪的身份展开工作。夜晚从自己房间的窗户溜出来。寻找有困难的人，并帮助他们解决烦心事。被她帮助过的人里面，有弄丢自家钥匙的初中生，有自行车被盗的大学生，有遭到恐吓的上班族。

However, there were many things which troubled people that Snow White could not resolve. For example, there were people who were worried about how their perversions would be discovered, people who did not know if they should confess to the subject of their one-sided crush, people who were afraid of not getting their pensions, and so on. Since Koyuki’s Magic only allowed her to hear people in distress, all she could do to help those people was what her Magical Girl’s enhanced arm-strength, leg-strength and senses would allow her. However, there were still countless people whose problems could be solved in such an eminently practical manner, and so Koyuki was kept very busy indeed.
可是当中也有很多烦心事是白雪无法解决的，比方说担心出轨被发现，不知道该不该向单恋的对象表白，害怕拿不到退休金之类的。由于小雪只有发现烦心事这一种魔法，所以她只能有效地利用作为魔法少女得到强化的腕力、脚力、视力以及听力，脚踏实地地帮助他人。但是抱有能够通过这种朴实的方法解决的烦恼的人不计其数，所以小雪忙得不可开交。


After being a Magical Girl for just two days, before her sempai had even finished her tutorial, Snow White had amassed a massive amount of Magical Candies in the blink of an eye. Her Magical Phone was chock full of Magical Candies.
成为魔法少女仅仅过了两天，前辈的讲课还没有结束，白雪就已经在眨眼之间获得了大量的魔法糖果。魔法终端机内的糖果仓库已经被魔法糖果塞满了。

Koyuki had received a warm welcome during her first Magical Girl chat.
在第一次魔法少女集会上，小雪受到了热烈的欢迎。

The person whose avatar looked like a witch was Top Speed.
魔女造型的化身是最高速。

The one who looked like a nun was Sister Nana.
修女造型的化身是修女娜娜。

The avatar whose distinguishing feature was a long scarf belonged to Vess Winterprison.
特征是长围巾的化身是维斯·寒冬牢狱。

Nemurin was the one in pajamas.
身穿睡衣的化身是眠眠。

The one wreathed in floral vines was the Musician of the Forest, Clamberry.
被鲜花簇拥的化身是森林音乐家库兰贝莉。

The avatar with the knight motif was La Pucelle.
骑士造型的化身是圣少女。

Top Speed cheerfully related her experiences. Sister Nana supplemented her monologue and compared it to her own encounters evert now and then. Nemurin indicated that she much preferred to listen than to be listened to, and she ended up listening to everyone else speak. Winterprison stood silently by SIster Nana. Clamberry, on the other hand, simply played background music in the corner of the room.
最高速愉快地向她讲述了自己的经验之谈。修女娜娜则是随声附和着她，并时不时与自己的经验做对比。眠眠表示“比起自己说更喜欢听别人说”，自始至终都在听别人讲话。寒冬牢狱默默地站在修女娜娜身旁。库兰贝莉则是一直在房间的一角播放背景音乐。

After the meeting ended, La Pucelle approached Snow White. Since their areas fo responsibility were side by side, she had asked to be given the chance of mentoring the newcomer. She asked Snow White if they could find a place to meet up and see each other. Snow White agreed, and arranged for them to meet atop the biggest steel tower near the beach after midnight the next day.
集会结束前，圣少女向白雪搭话。由于她所负责的区域就在旁边，所以主动接下了教育新人的工作。她询问白雪，不知道能不能找个地方碰头，见个面。白雪答应了她，并相约在第二天的深夜零时，在俱边海水浴场附近最大的铁塔碰头。

They had spoken in avatar form, but for Snow White, this was the first time she would be meeting another Magical Girl other than herself in the flesh. Koyuki had always been prone to daydreaming, but now she was so distracted that the teacher had warned her three times, and her friends began to worry about her. While Koyuki was now a Magical Girl, she still idolized Magical Girls. Now, she would be speaking face to face with her idol, and the two of them would not be star and fan, but fellow Magical Girls. How could she not be excited?
尽管已经通过化身交谈过，但是对白雪而言，与自己之外的魔法少女直接见面还是头一回。本来就喜欢走神的小雪更是无心听课，还被老师警告了三次，让朋友们非常担心。虽然小雪自己现在已经成为了魔法少女，但魔法少女依旧是她的偶像。如今可以与自己的偶像见面对话。而且两人并不是明星与粉丝的关系，而是同为魔法少女。她的心情怎么可能不激动呢。

Snow White had rushed to the top of the steel tower 15 minutes ahead of time so she would not be late, but the other party was already there.
尽管为了不迟到，白雪提前十五分钟就跑上了铁塔的塔顶，但是对方早就已经到了。

Magical Girls had very keen night vision. Even on a moonless night, they could see as clearly as if it were daytime.
魔法少女的夜视能力很强。即便是在没有月光的黑夜也能像在白天那样看得一清二楚。

A knight stood atop the steel tower. The important parts of her body were protected by bracers, a cuirass, greaves and so on, and she had a sword on her back that was one meter long and about 40 centimeters wide. A roaring dragon was carved on the sword’s sheath. Were her horned hair decorations and the tail-like decoration that stuck straight out from her waist also part of the dragon motif?
铁塔的上方站着一名骑士。身体的各个重要部位都覆盖着护臂、护胸甲、护腿等，背后还背着一把宽约四十厘米，长约一米的大剑。剑鞘上刻了一条咆哮的巨龙。是因为那带角的发饰，还有从腰部延伸出来的犹如尾巴一般的装饰也是以龙为基调吗？

This costume captured all the necessary elements of being a knight, but even through that layer of armor, she exuded the charm of a Magicsal Girl… of a woman. That was because her thighs and breasts--which should have been covered up--were all exposed. Her shoulder-length hair was tied into two braids which hung on either side of her head.
还不只是这些俗套的作为骑士的要素，即便是隔着一层铠甲也能窥视到魔法少女……即女性的魅力。因为大腿还有胸部，这些本来应该遮挡起来的部位全都裸露出来。长度到肩膀的头发被绑成两束，垂在左右两边

La Pucelle had originally been looking at the sea, but when she sensed Snow White approaching, she turned around. While she looked very dignified, she also seemed a little worried. Snow White began to panic. Perhaps it was because she was late.
原本望着大海的圣少女察觉到白雪的到来，把身子转了过来。虽然表情很有威严，但可以看到一丝困惑。白雪有点慌张。或许是因为自己迟到的缘故。

“A-ah, nice to meet you… while we spoke before, it was only in the chatroom. A-ah, this is the first time we’ve met in real life… in any case, nice to meet you!”
“那、那个，初次见面……虽然之前说过话，但那次是在聊天室。那个，在现实世界，我们还是第一次见面……总之，初次见面！”

That greeting was hardly proper. Or rather, it was very rude. Nobody knew this better than Snow White, as the person bowing her head. She glanced at the other person’s face, and saw that La Pucelle had her arms folded across her chest. She nodded two or three times, and then hoarsely muttered, “As I thought.”
这句问候称不上是得体。不如说很没礼貌。这一点低下头的当事人比任何人都清楚。她瞄了一眼对方的脸，发现圣少女抱起胳膊，深深地点了两三次头，然后用沙哑的声音嘟囔了一句“果然呀”。

“Koyuki?”
“小雪？”

As she heard her real name from a Magical Girl she had met for the first time, question marks kept popping up in Snow White’s mind.
从第一次见面的魔法少女的口中听到自己的真实姓名，白雪脑海中的问号忽明忽灭。

“How, how do you know my name.”
“为、为什么你会知道我的名字？”

“So you are Koyuki. It’s me, Souta.”
“你果然是小雪啊。是我啊，飒太。”

“Eh ?”
“咦？”

“I’m Kishibe Souta. We were in the same school until last year, weren’t we? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already.”
“我是岸边飒太。我们一直到前年都在同一间学校不是吗？别告诉我你忘了。”

“Eh, eh, eh… ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“咦、咦、咦……咦咦咦咦咦咦咦咦！”

***

The reason why Koshibe Souta had discovered the true identity of Snow White was very simple. Snow White’s character design was based on a sketch Koyuki had drawn when she was young, titled “My Dream For The Future”. Her childhood friend Kishibe Souta had been there when Koyuki had drawn her ideal Magical Girl, and he still remembered the picture. Therefore, he had suspected that Snow White was Koyuki when he had first seen her, and after meeting her in the flesh, his suspicions were confirmed.
岸边飒太发现白雪的真实身份的原因其实很简单。白雪的人设是以小雪小时候画在画图纸上的名为《将来的梦想》的魔法少女为原型的，小雪在绘画魔法少女像的时候，曾是小雪青梅竹马的飒太正好在场，并且依然记得这一幅画，所以他一看到白雪就怀疑或许是小雪，实际见到白雪之后，他坚定了自己的想法。

The reason why Himekawa Koyuki had not realised La Pucelle’s true identity was also very simple. That was because she could not connect the tanned soccer-playing boy to this pure and graceful lady knight. After transforming into a Magical Girl, one’s bodily appearance, apparenty age and physical abilities would change. Even though Koyuki had experienced it for herself, she did not know that even one’s sex would change after transformation.
姬河小雪没有察觉到圣少女真实身份的原因也很简单。因为她无法将皮肤黝黑的足球少年与这位高洁的女骑士联系在一起。变身成魔法少女之后，体格外貌，外表年龄还有身体能力都会发生变化。尽管小雪已经亲身体验过这一点，但是她并不知道变身之后连性别都会发生变化。

The two of them sat side by side on the steel tower, reminiscing about the past until daybreak.
她们两人并排坐在铁塔上，一直重温旧谊到天亮。

“Koyuki, you played Magical Girl Raising Project too?”
“小雪也是通过《魔法少女育成计划》的？”

“Mm. One day, Fav spoke to me and I wondered what was going on, and by the time I realised it I was already a Magical Girl. Sou-chan, when did you become a Magical Girl?”
“嗯。有一天突然法布对我说话，我还以为是什么事件，等回过神来的时候已经变成魔法少女了。小飒你是在什么时候成为魔法少女的。”

“About a month or so ago. Still, I didn’t expect you to become a Magical Girl too, Koyuki.”
“大概是一个月前吧。不过啊，没想到连小雪也成为了魔法少女。”

“That’s because I’ve always liked Magical Girls. I’m more surprised that you became a Magical Girl, Sou-chan.”
“因为我一直很喜欢魔法少女啊。小飒会成为魔法少女才更让我意外呢。”

“I like Magical Girls too. I just didn’t tell anyone about it.”
“我也一直很喜欢魔法少女啊。只是没有和别人说而已。”

Souta explained: there was a world of difference between girls liking Magical Girls and boys liking Magical Girls. A girl in middle school who annoucned that they liked Magical Girls would be considered a weirdo. However, if she were a boy, he would be regarded as a pervert instead, not just a weirdo. Apparently, he had to go to great lengths to keep things under wraps, like a secret Christian; for instance, he had to rent DVDs from a neighboring city where fewer people knew him, and he hid his Magical Girl manga and light novels in the deepest reaches of his desk.
(TL Note: refers to how Christians went underground in Japan after the Shimabara Rebellion)
飒太说道。女孩子喜欢魔法少女和男孩子喜欢魔法少女这两件事有着天壤之别。升上初中之后依然宣称喜欢魔法少女的女孩子会被当成是怪人。可如果是男孩子的话，就会直接被当成变态，而不是怪人。据说还要像过去的秘密基督教徒那样付出不少的辛劳，比方说要跑到熟人比较少的邻市的出租商店租DVD，把魔法少女题材的漫画和轻小说藏在书桌的最里面。

”I thought you’d forgotten about Magical Girls and gotten interested in soccer instead.”
“我还以为小飒已经把魔法少女忘了，迷上了足球呢。”



Since they lived in different schooling districts, they had enrolled in different middle schools, but Koyuki had seen Souta running several times as morning practice for the soccer club.
由于所在学区不一样，两人进入了不同的初中，但是小雪曾经见过几次因为社团的晨练一大早就在晨跑的飒太。

“Soccer is fun, but I like Magical Girls too.”
“虽然足球很有意思，但我也很喜欢魔法少女。”

“I wonder if there are any other Magical Girls (male).”
“不知道还有没有其他男性的魔法少女。”

“I think I’m the only one in this region. Apparently, Fav said that they’re very rare even throughout the world.”
“这一带好像就我一个。听说就是放在全世界也很少见。法布是这么说的。”

“Did you really become a girl?”
“你真的变成了女孩子？”

“After I transform, I’m fully female. Mm, that should be right.”
“变身之后会完成变成女性。嗯，不会有错的。”

As La Pucelle said this she seemed a little uncomfortable for some reason, and her cheeks turned pink.
如此说道的圣少女不知为何看上去有点难为情，脸颊微微泛起红晕。

The two of them agreed to work hard from today onwards, and laid down a rule for themselves--even when it was just the two of them, they could not forget that they were Magical Girls and reveal their true identities.
两人约定今后也要共同努力，并且定下一个规矩——今后就算是在只有两个人的时候，也不可以忘记身为魔法少女的身份，不可以露出本性。

Thus, Snow White and La Pucelle became partners.
于是白雪和圣少女组成了搭档。

Snow White could hear the voices of people in difficulty. However trivial or towering that difficulty was, it would reach Snow White’s ears. That was Snow White’s Magic. She would run through the city, looking for these voices.
白雪可以听到有困难的人们的声音。无论是很小的烦心事，还是大麻烦，全都会传入白雪的耳中。这就是白雪的魔法。她会奔走于城市之中，寻找这些声音。

On the other hand, La Pucelle was her support. La Pucelle’s Magic was not as benevolent as Snow White’s; it was more suited to resolving violent incidents. She called herself a bodyguard, and she said she would protect Snow White in times of danger, but there were few beings that could actually threaten a Magical Girl.
圣少女则是负责协助她。圣少女的魔法并不像白雪那么温和，更适合解决暴力事件。她本人说是保镖，还声称遇到危险的时候保护她，但是会对魔法少女造成威胁的存在并不多见。

《Chat No. 1》
《集会其一》

Magical Girl Riaising Project’s chat function was essentially “realistic interaction through the medium of an avatar”.
《魔法少女育成计划》的聊天功能宣称是“通过化身进行的与现实没有区别的交流”。

Every week, the Magical Girls would use the chat function of Magical Girl Raising Project to host a Magical Girl chat meeting. The chatroom resembled a meeting room; its door opened, and the Magical Girl avatars entered one after the other.
每周一次，由魔法少女们召开的魔法少女集会也用到了《魔法少女育成计划》的聊天功能。模仿会议室设立的聊天室的入口打开，魔法少女的化身一个接一个地进入聊天室。

☆Clamberry has entered the Land of Magic.
☆库兰贝莉进入魔法之国。

☆Magicaloid 44 has entered the Land of Magic
☆Magicaroid 44进入魔法之国。

☆Swim Swim has entered the Land of Magic.
☆泳泳进入魔法之国。

☆Top Speed has entered the Land of Magic.
☆最高速进入魔法之国。

Magicaloid 44: Hi, everyone.
Magicaroid44：大家好

Top Speed: Yo~
最高速：好

Clamberry: ♪
库兰贝莉：♪

☆Snow White has entered the Land of Magic.
☆白雪进入魔法之国。

☆Tama-chan has entered the Land of Magic.
☆小玉进入魔法之国。

☆Nemurin has entered the Land of Magic.
☆眠眠进入魔法之国。

Snow White: Hi everyone! Pleased to meet you, let’s get along!
白雪：大家好！初次见面，请多指教！

Swim Swim: Let’s get along.
泳泳：请多指教

Tama-chan: Woof
小玉：汪

☆Ripple has entered the Land of Magic.
☆波纹进入魔法之国。

Top Speed: Well, this is a rare sight.
最高速：这可真是稀客啊

☆La Pucelle has entered the Land of Magic.
☆圣少女进入魔法之国。

Nemurin: Hi everyone
眠眠：大家好

Magicaloid 44: Greetings, I am a rare character.
Magicaroid44：你好，我是稀有角色

☆Ruler has entered the Land of Magic
☆王权进入魔法之国。

La Pucelle: Nice to meet you.
圣少女：请多多指教

☆Calamity Mary has entered the Land of Magic.
☆灾厄玛丽进入魔法之国。

Ruler: Nice to meet you.
王权：请多指教

☆Sister Nana has entered the Land of Magic.
☆修女娜娜进入魔法之国。

☆Winterprison has entered the Land of Magic.
☆寒冬牢狱进入魔法之国。

Sister Nana: Hello everyone, nice to meet you.
修女娜娜：大家好。请多多指教

Winterprison: Hello.
寒冬牢狱：你好

☆Minael has entered the Land of Magic.
☆米奈儿进入魔法之国。

☆Yunael has entered the Land of Magic.
☆优奈儿进入魔法之国。

Calamity Mary: [CENSORED]
灾厄玛丽：（发言被屏蔽）

Yunael: Hai~
优奈儿：Hi

Minael Yay~
米奈儿：Yeah

☆Fav has entered the Land of Magic.
☆法布进入魔法之国

The chatroom was filled with Magical GIrl avatars.
聊天室里挤满了魔法少女的化身。

The Musician of the Forest Clamberry had originally been sitting on her bed as she worked her Magical Phone. Then, she turned over to lie prone on the tattered bedspread. Her hair--which was pinned up by flower-shaped hairclips--fluttered up and then settled near ehr waist.
原本坐在床上操作着魔法终端机的“森林音乐家库兰贝莉”慢慢地躺在床上，然后翻了个身，趴在已经被磨破的床单上。用花朵形状的发夹扎起来的头发跃起，又落在了腰部附近。

If tall buildings were the best place for a Magical Girl to rest, then this run-down mountain cabin was the best place for a Magical Girl to live. For someone like Clamberry, who was a Magical Girl who did not need to live as a human being, all she needed was a roof over her head and nobody around her. Clamberry had taken a run-down cabin on  Mt. Takanami as her living place, and she had been living here for over half a year without being discovered by anyone.
如果说高层建筑的屋顶对魔法少女来说是最佳的休息场所，那么深山的破房对魔法少女来说就是最佳的住所。对于像库兰贝莉那样“不用过人类的生活的魔法少女”来说，只要有屋顶，附近没有人烟就足够了。库兰贝莉把一栋位于高波山山顶附近的烂尾修养圣地宾馆当成是自己的住所，并且在没有被其他人发现地情况下，在这里居住了半年以上的时间。

Because Fav had nagged them about an important announcement, none of the Magical Girls missed that week’s chat. Ripple might have looked very reluctant about it, and she had not said a single word since entering the chatroom, but even so, all the active Magical Girls in N-City were present. This was the first time such a grand spectacle had been seen ever since the Magical Girl chats had begun. The cramped chatroom was packed full of Magical Girl avatars.
由于法布一再叮嘱“有重要事情要宣布”，那一周的集会没有一名魔法少女缺席。尽管波纹明显地表现出一副不情愿的表情，进来之后一句话也没说，但即便如此，在N市市内活动的所有魔法少女还是全都到齐了。这可是N市魔法少女集会设立以来首次实现的壮举。狭小的聊天室里挤满了魔法少女的化身。

Top Speed: Speaking of which, wasn’t there a new Magical Girl coming over?
最高速：这么一说，不是有新的魔法少女要过来吗？

Fav: Ah, she’ll only arrive next week ~pon.
法布：啊啊，她要下周才到pon

Fav: The matter we’re discussing today concerns her...
法布：今天要说的事情和她也有关系……

Currently, there were 15 Magical Girls active in N-City. Since there would be a new Magical Girl joining them, this number would increase to 16 next week. 16 Magical Girls was still  too much for even the sprawling N-City.  The mana which powered magic resided within the earth, and it was also a limited resource. 16 Magical Girls would draw on mana at an accelerated rate, and if this kept up, they would probably drain the land dry of mana.
现在在N市活动的魔法少女总共有十五名。由于有新的魔法少女要加入，所以从下周开始就增加到十六人。十六名魔法少女，这个数量对占地辽阔的N市来说也还是太多了。作为魔法之源的魔力依存于土地，同时也是一项有限的资源。十六名魔法少女会加速魔力的吸取，照这样下去，大概会吸干存在于土地中的魔力。

After explaining the circumstances, Fav finally announced the “important thing” he had been hinting about for so long.
说明完现状之后，法布终于开始宣布之前买了很久关子的“重要的事情”。

Fav: Therefore, we have decided to reduce the number of Magical Girls ~pon. We will cut them in half ~pon.
法布：于是我们决定削减魔法少女的人数pon。要减掉一半pon。

A moment of silence followed. That was probably because they did not understand what Fav had just said. After that a storm of disbelieving cries and a torrent of of outrage poured forth, and there was no silencing the undercurrent of doubt and suspicion which followed them. One could tell the size of a stone by the ripples it made when cast into the water. The avatars filled the screen with their brightly-colored words and extra-large fonts, making the already cramped chatroom completely unreadable.
沉默了一秒钟之后，大概是理解了法布所说的内容。接着便是犹如暴风雨般的嘘声，喷涌而出的不满，以及无法消除的疑问和质疑。从水面的波纹可以推测出投下的石子的大小。从特大号的字到带有颜色的文字，化身们说出的话语填满了整个画面，让原本就狭小的聊天室变得无法正常阅读。

Fav simply bowed and repeated, “We’re very sorry, we’re very sorry,” and the amount of sparkles he was throwing off seemed fewer than usual.
法布一味地低头，重复说着“对不起，对不起”。周围的鳞粉量似乎比平常要少。

The Magical Girls frowned one after the other and fired agitated retorts back at Fav, but no matter how much censure they rained on him, Fav simply apologized, so they decided not to bother with him and their invective soon turned to questions.
魔法少女纷纷拉下脸来，言辞激烈地对法布进行反驳。可是不管她们再怎么斥责，法布也只会一
味地道歉，所以她们不愿再多说，咒骂的话语也转变成疑问。

How exactly would they cut down  the number of Magical Girls?
到底要用怎样的方法来削减人数？

Fav: We will open this Magical Girl chatroom once a week ~pon.
法布：这个魔法少女聊天室每周开启一次pon

Fav: Every week, we will announce a loser in this chatroom, and we will announce another one the week after that.
法布：每周都会在这个聊天室宣布一名败者，下一周再宣布一个

Fav: We will eliminate eight Magical Girls within eight weeks.
法布：我们会在八周内让八名魔法少女引退

Fav: The Magical Girls with the fewest Magical Candies
法布：那一周所持有的魔法糖果最少的魔法少女

Fav: Will vanish one by one ~pon
法布：将会一个一个地消失pon

Clamberry was very sure about this.
库兰贝莉非常清楚。

Among the people present, nobody would say, “I can’t believe you’re not even going to admit your own mistakes, but you’re going to stand there and talk that nonsense! If that’s how it’s going to be, I’m done with being a Magical Girl.”
在场的人之中，没有任何一个人会说出“不但不承认自己的过失，居然还在那里说大话。既然是这样的话，这个魔法少女我不当了”这种话。

Everyone here enjoyed the fact that they were Magical Girls very much. Once they gained great power, they would be loath to let go of it.
在场的人全都非常享受自己是魔法少女这个事实。一旦得到强大的力量，就绝不可能愿意放弃。

The higher one stood, the deeper one’s despair when they plunged into the abyss.
站得越高，落入地狱时的绝望就越深。

Fav: I repeat
法布：重复一遍

Fav: Every week, the person with the fewest Magical Candies will be the loser ~pon.
法布：每一周所持有的魔法糖果数量最少的人将成为败者pon

Fav: Therefore, I hope you will all work hard and collect more Candies ~pon.
法布：所以希望你们能够努力工作，收集更多的糖果pon

Fav: We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you ~pon.
法布：这次给各位造成不便实在是非常抱歉pon

Fav: Oh, and one more thing
法布：啊，还有一件事

Fav: The Magical Phone firmware has been upgraded, please take a look ~pon.
法布：魔法终端机的系统版本更新了，请各位查看pon

Fav: That is all for our message to you ~pon.
法布：以上就是这次的联络事项pon

Fav: See you here again next week ~pon.
法布：那么下周在这里再见

Clamberry left the chatroom, then turned off her Magical Phone and put it by her pillow.
库兰贝莉退出聊天室，关闭魔法终端机放在枕头边。

◇◇◇


During the week after that meeting, the aggregator site received even more eyewitness accounts than usual, and it boiled with activity.
那次集会之后的一个星期，总合网站收到了比平常更多的目击情报，一下子沸腾了起来。

A princess helped chase away a scary dog.
公主帮我赶走了可怕的狗。

The twin angels flying through the air helped me get back the balloon I accidentally lost,
在空中飞翔的孪生天使帮我把不小心弄丢的气球取了回来。

When my car got stuck in a ditch, a girl in a white uniform helped me push it out from behind.
车子陷入路沟的时候，身穿白色校服的少女帮我从后面推车。

As the Magical Girls expanded their range of activities, the number of sightings increased as well. In order to become one of the eight who would remain, the Magical Girls worked as though their lives depended on it. Yet they did not expect that doing so would increase their exposure. This heated up the mood on the aggregator site and increased the amount of scrutiny on them.
魔法少女们想要扩大活动范围的话，被人目击到的机会就会随之而增加。魔法少女们为了成为剩余的八名魔法少女，拼了命地工作，却没有想到此举会增加自己的曝光率，让总合网站的气氛高涨起来，提升了自己的关注度。

“Ripple, what are you looking at?”
“波纹，你在看什么呢？”

A voice came from above Ripple, who was seated on the edge of the roof of a tall building. Ripple did not answer, and neither did she turn back. She simply looked silently at her Magical Phone.
从坐在大楼屋顶的波纹的上方传来一道声音。波纹既没有回答，也没有转过头去，依旧一声不吭地对着魔法终端机。

“Ahhh, so you were looking at the aggregator website. Everyone’s been working hard!”
“啊啊，原来你在看总合网站呀。大伙都很卖力啊！”

Top Speed landed beside Ripple. Only then did Ripple turn to look at her.
最高速降落在波纹的身旁，波纹这才转过脸去。

“Especially Snow White. How much did she do by herself?”
“尤其是白雪。她一个人到底干了多少活啊。”

The sightings of the White Magical Girl were particularly numerous. She kept a low profile, and she usually helped people solve small problems like “picking up scattered change”, “getting the bento I left at home”, “telling people to zip up” and so on.
关于白色魔法少女的目击情报特别地多。她的行动并不显眼，尽是帮人解决一些像是“帮忙捡起散落一地的零钱”、“帮忙把忘在家里的便当拿过来”、“告诉别人忘记拉拉链”这样的小问题。

Was helping people solve small problems in their daily life the true path for Magical Girls? Or was it that she did not have the ability to solve bigger problems? According to the sightings on the aggregator site, it seemed to be the former.
帮助别人解决日常生活中的小问题才是魔法少女的王道吗？还是说是她没有解决大问题的能耐？根据总合网站上面的目击情报，似乎是前者。

She was like the pure and kind-hearted Magical Girl she had admired when she was young. One could say she was the polar opposite of Ripple, who declared that she was only helping others in order to collect Candies. It was not that Ripple did not want to help others. She had only said so because she felt embarrassed about it. However, she felt that someone who could proudly and generously declare “I want to help others!” and put it into practice was a true Magical Girl.
那是小时候憧憬的清纯端庄性格善良的魔法少女。可以说与宣称帮助别人只是为了收集糖果的波纹正好相反。波纹也不是不想帮助别人。她之所以会这么说只是因为她觉得难为情。但她也认为，能够大方地说出“我想帮助人！”并且落实到行动上的人才是正确的魔法少女。

“You… you really seem to have Snow White on your mind. Do you plan to make her your rival?”
“你啊，挺在意白雪的嘛。把她当成竞争对手了吗？”

Ripple clicked her tongue unhappily. It felt like being interrupted as she was waxing nostalgic.
波纹不悦地咂了下嘴。感觉就像是在怀缅过去的时候被人打扰了一般。

“I thought your rival would be Calamity Mary.”
“我原本还以为波纹的对手是灾厄玛丽呢。”

Ripple clicked her tongue again. The nerve of this woman!
波纹再次咂了下嘴。她还有脸说。

Several days after Ripple had become a Magical Girl, Calamity Mary had come to the the roof of No, 7 Sankou Building, which was now Ripple and Top Speed’s meeting point. She jumped lightly from one building to another. The woman who landed on the roof was dressed in a lady gunslinger’s outfit, just like the rumors had said. Ripple’s own outfit aside, she felt that such a costume was unbecoming of a Magical Girl.
波纹刚当上魔法少女没几天，灾厄玛丽就来到已经成为波纹和最高速聚会地点的第七产光大厦楼顶。她动作轻盈地从一栋大楼跳到另一栋大楼上。落在屋顶上的她，就如同传闻中所言作一身女枪手打扮。波纹把自己的装束置之不理，认为她那身装束不太像魔法少女。

Calamity Mary spoke simply and to the point.
厄运玛丽说出的事情非常简单直接。

“And is that little lady over there Ripple?”
“那边的小姑娘就是波纹？”

From her appearance, Calamity Mary looked to be in her second or third year of high school. Her body was much more mature-looking than Ripple’s, with ample breasts and buttocks. Thus, she had the grounds to call Ripple a “little lady”. While she was somewhat opposed to being addressed in that manner, Ripple talked herself over and nodded.
厄运玛丽的外表年龄大概在高二高三之间。肉体比最高速和波纹要成熟不少。胸部和臀部都很大。所以她也有权管波纹叫小姑娘。尽管对这种称呼方式有点抵触，但波纹还是如此说服自己，点了点头。

Calamity Mary flicked the brim of her ten-gallon hat with her fingertip.
厄运玛丽用指尖弹了一下十加仑帽。

“I told Fav before that I’d be the one to teach the next newcomer.”
“我之前已经和法布说过，下一个新人由我来负责教导。”

“Ahhhh, that’s because I already spoke with Fav to let me take care of a newbie if they were assigned to a nearby area. I mean, we’re neighbors and all, so in the spirit of friendship…”
“啊啊，那是因为我之前已经和法布说好了，如果有新人被分配到附近的区域的话就由我来负责教导。因为难得成为邻居，所以基于友邻之情……”

Ripple’s area of responsibility was located in the center of a castle town which had flourished for a brief period. Top Speed’s area was located to the north of that. Their areas were very close to each other.
波纹负责的区域，是位于曾经作为城堡城市兴盛一时的地区正中央的中宿。而最高速所负责的区域是北侧的北宿。两人负责的区域自然紧挨在一起。

“I asked Fav a long time ago, so he sent me the invitation first, right? I didn’t think you’d gotten one too, Nee-san. Sorry for being such a busybody.”
“我很早以前就拜托法布了，它这次是先给我发来邀请的不是吗？真没想到大姐也收到了邀请。我这么多管闲事，真是非常抱歉。”

“What.”
“什么。”

Calamity Mary did not even bother looking at Top Speed, who had taken off her hat and was bowing in apology. Her eyes were fixed on Ripple. Ripple was displeased by the rudeness of Mary’s gaze, and seeing how she ignored Top Speed bowing to her incensed her even more, and so Ripple turned an angry look on Calamity Mary.
灾厄玛丽看都不看摘下帽子低头道歉的最高速一眼，目不转睛地盯着波纹。由于对对方无礼的目光感到不快，并且对被对方无视但依然低下头的最高速感到不爽，波纹对灾厄玛丽投去愤怒的目光。

Calamity Mary drew a pistol from its holster and fired on Ripple. Ripple drew the ninjato from her back and deflected the bullet coming at her. Both of them completed this sequence of movements in less than a second.
灾厄玛丽从皮套中拔出手枪，朝着波纹开枪。波纹拔出背后的刀弹开射来的子弹。两人都在不足一秒钟的时间内完成了这一连串的动作。

Top Speed hurriedly raised her head.
最高速急忙抬起头。

“What are you doing?”
“你们在干嘛？”

“It should be obvious. Right, little lady?”
“一看就知道啦。对吧，小姑娘。”

Ripple stared at the pistol in Calamity Mary’s right hand. Reddish smoke coiled up from the black body of the gun. It was clearly not an ordinary gun. That was most likely Calamity Mary’s Magic at work. Ripple’s sword hand was still a little numb.
波纹目不转睛地盯着灾厄玛丽右手握着的手枪。黑色的枪身升起一股像是红色烟雾的东西。那显然不是普通的手枪。大概是灾厄玛丽的魔法吧。波纹握刀的手还有点麻。

Top Speed hurriedly interposed herself between the two of them, and spread her arms.
最高速介入两人之间，张开双手。

“Nee-san! Please hold yourself back! Newbies often have cocky attitudes! I’ll teach her properly in future. Please put your gun away! I’m begging you!”
“大姐！请你控制一点！新人态度狂妄是常有的事！我之后会好好教育她的！还请你把枪收起来！求你了！”

As she shouted to Calamity Mary, she lowered her voice and told Ripple:
她对着灾厄玛丽大喊，同时也压低嗓子对波纹说道：

“You put that thing away too. It’s too dangerous.”
“你也把那个收起来。太危险了。”

Calamity Mary spun her pistol and slotted it back in her holster. Ripple sheathed her ninjato behind her back. Only then did Top Speed breathe a sigh of relief.
灾厄玛丽转了转手枪，收回到皮套中。波纹也把刀收回到背后。最高速这才松了口气。

“Let’s talk it out, let’s talk it out, We’re all Magical Girls, right?”
“有话好好说，有话好好说。因为我们都是魔法少女啊。”

She did not know what Calamity Mary was thinking. However, she was certain that she had not holstered her gun because she thought of everyone as a buddy, like Top Speed had said. Ripple most certainly did not consider Calamity Mary a friend, and Calamity Mary must have thought the same way.
不知道灾厄玛丽是怎么想的。不过一定不是像最高速所说的那样，因为大家都是伙伴才把武器收起来的。波纹没把灾厄玛丽当成伙伴，灾厄玛丽一定也是这也么想的。

“Eh, fine. I’ll give Fav some face this time.”
“唉，也罢。这次就给法布一个面子。”

After saying so, Calamity Mary put a hand on the railing and vaulted lightly on top of it. Then she suddenly turned around. Ripple’s heartbeat picked up again. Calamity Mary was holding her gun, its muzzle pointed in her direction. Ripple had not noticed her drawing at all.
灾厄玛丽说完，把手放在铁栏杆上轻巧地跃起，接着突然转过身来。波纹的心跳再次加速。灾厄玛丽握着手枪，把枪口对准这边。波纹完全没有看到她拔枪的动作。

Calamity Mary fired several times. One shot was directed at Top Speed, the other two were at Ripple. Ripple grabbed Top Speed by the collar and pulled her down, while she fell to one knee and deflected the bullets with her ninjato. Just as she was about to throw kunai at her, Calamity Mary was gone.
灾厄玛丽朝这边连开几枪。一发朝着最高速，两发朝着波纹。波纹抓住最高速的后颈将她拉倒在地上，同时单膝跪地，用刀把子弹隔开。正当她想要扔出飞刀的时候，已经看不到灾厄玛丽的身影了。

“Seriously, you…”
“我说你们啊……”

Top Speed rubbed her face as she got to her feet from where she had been pulled to the ground Perhaps she had hit her nose and forehead just now.
被拉倒在地上的最高速一边抚摩着脸，一边站了起来。大概是刚才磕到了，她用手捂着鼻子和额头。

“Why did you guys start fighting right off the bat?! Behave yourself a little! Behave!”
“怎么这么快就打起来了！给我自重一点！自重！”

“She started it… so of course I’d finish it…”
“是她先动手的……我当然要奉陪……”

“Then at least you should know who you’re going up against! If you get mixed up with someone like that, ten lives wouldn’t be enough for you!”
“那你也看看对手是谁啊！要是和那种人扯上关系的话，有几条命都不够你死的！”

Ripple clicked her tongue. She had been shaken, and at the same time she felt irritated.
波纹咂了下嘴。她的内心在动摇，同时也感到很焦躁。

She was irritated by Top Speed, who had been practically ignored throughout the whole thing.
对由始自终都没有被对方当成一回事的最高速。

She was irritated by the abnormal way in which Calamity Mary could draw and fire on her with no hesitation whatsoever.
对毫不犹豫朝这边开枪的灾厄玛丽的异常。

She was irritated by the fact that she was putting on a front, but the fact was that when someone had pointed a gun at her, she had been terrified. She could not stand, her heart was pounding wildly, and her sweat flowed like a river. If she was not careful, her tears might leak out, but she managed to control herself.
对虽然在逞强，但突然被人用枪指着，事实上还是怕得不行的自己。她无法站起来，心脏在狂跳，汗水不住地往下淌，稍不留神泪水就会夺眶而出，但她还是强忍了下来。

There had been a burst of pain on her right arm when she had deflected the bullets with her ninjato. WHen she had become a Magical Girl, Ripple realized about the strength of her body and she had even thought, “I can’t die”, but she was wromg. Indeed, she could not be killed by human beings, and she would not die from accidents or disease, but no matter how strong or durable a Magical Girl was, she could still be hurt by Magical Girls.
刚才拿刀把子弹隔开的右臂感到一阵刺痛。成为魔法少女的时候，波纹认识到自己身体的强韧，甚至认为“自己不会死”，可是她错了。的确，她不会被人类杀死，也不会因事故和疾病死亡，但是无论魔法少女再怎么强壮再怎么耐打，也还是会被魔法少女所伤。

All this made Ripple furious. As though she could not bear it, Top Speed said:
这一切都让波纹很火大。最高速就像是受不了似地说道：

“You feel like a naked blade, just like how I used to be. It’ll be dangerous to leave you alone.”
“你这种有如裸露的刀具的感觉就和以前的我一样。要是放着你不管的话会很危险的。要是放着你不管的话会很危险的。”

After hearing Top Speed’s pretentious-sounding spiel as she folded her arms, Ripple clicked her tongue once more.
听到最高速装模作样地抱起胳膊如此说道，波纹再次咂了下嘴。

◇◇◇

Every day at five in the afternoon, the hamburger place in front of the train station would be packed full of students. Everyone talked and laughed about their own things, but even so, the reason why this noisy place had not fallen into chaos was probably because it was an everyday sight. Both the guests and the staff had become used to it.
每天下午五点，车站前的汉堡包店都会被学生挤满。各人都在自顾自地说笑打闹，即便如此，混杂之所以没有演变成是混乱，大概是因为每天都能看到这种景象了。无论是客人还是店员都已经是习以为常了。

Amidst this clamor, the three middle school girls who occupied the third window table from the entrance, were chatting as normal. One of them pointed excitedly to her smartphone’s screen and said:
在如此嘈杂的环境中，占据着从入口数起第三张靠近窗户的桌子的三名女初中生依然在正常地谈话。其中一人指着智能手机的屏幕热心地说道：

“They say that the sightings are increasing rapidly! Magical Girls do exist!”
“听说目击情报正在以惊人的速度激增！真的有魔法少女啊！”

“Sumi… are you still going on about Magical Girls?”
“纯……你还在说什么魔法少女吗？”

“With so many witnesses, there’s nothing you can say, Yocchan. They exist. I’m absolutely sure.”
“有这么多的目击者，小夜也无话可说了吧。一定有。绝对有。”

“I object, naturally. Magical Girls don’t exist.”
“我当然有异议。魔法少女是不存在的。”

“Eh, why do you think Magical Girls don’t exist, Yocchan?”
“唉，为什么小夜认为魔法少女是不存在的？”

“Oi, Koyuki, as the representative of all daydreamers, you should talk to her too.”
“哦，小雪，作为爱做白日梦的人的代表，你也说一说她。”

“Well, even if you say that, it’s because that sort of thing is embarrassing.”
“就算你这么说，当然是因为那种东西很丢人啊。”

“Why is it embarrassing?”
“为什么会丢人呢？”

“What’s this, you seem particularly stubborn today.”
“干嘛，你今天好像特别地坚持啊。”

“That’s because it’s weighing on my mind.”
“因为人家很在意啊。”

“Look, in anime, when girls transform into Magical Girls, aren’t they completely naked for a split second? What kind of shameful play is that, anyway?”
“喏，在动画里面，女孩子变身成魔法少女的时候，不是会有一瞬间变成全裸吗？那是何等的羞耻PLAY啊。”

“As if! No way!”
“才不会呢。那是骗人的！”

“Calm down a little. Didn’t I tell you, I was talking about anime.”
“你冷静点。不是和你说了吗，我说的是动画。”

“Why do you have to treat it like anime? It’s not anime. These are real sightings.”
“为什么要把那当成是动画？那才不是动画呢。那是真的目击情报。”

“How could there be anyone on earth who sprouts wings and flies and who can be hit by a truck without a problem?”
“这世上怎么可能会有长着翅膀在天空飞翔的人和被卡车撞到都没有事的人呢。”

“Yocchan, you have no dreams, do you? If you’re not sure if something exists or not, clearly it’s more interesting to treat them like they exist.”
“小夜果然没有梦想。对于那些不知道是否真的存在的东西，当然是认为它们存在更有意思啊。”

“Sumi, you’re too lost in your fantasies. Reality is more important.”
“纯你太喜欢幻想了。现实更加重要啊。”

“I’m not a fantasy lover like you say. It’s just that I can look at reality and think, “wouldn’t it be good if it existed”. Yocchan, you’re going to lose out if you live that way. The mood on the aggregator is super hot. There’s news about all sorts of Magical Girls. I like this one. The white Magical Girl. The way she helps people in a practical way puts me at ease. Or rather, it heals me.”
“我才没有你说的那么爱幻想呢。我只是在面对着现实的同时，在心里面想‘如果存在就好了’而已。小夜你的这种生存方式太吃亏了。现在总合网站上的气氛超热烈的。上面有各种魔法少女的情报。我喜欢的是这个。这个白色的魔法少女。那种脚踏实地地帮助他人的模样让人很安心。或者说是治愈系的。”

“...What are you laughing at, Koyuki?”
“……小雪你在笑什么？”

“I, I wasn’t! I wasn’t laughing!”
“才、才没呢！我才没有笑呢！”

◇◇◇

A week had passed. Perhaps the reason why these seven days felt so long was because Clamberry had been hoping for this day to come.
一周的时间过去了。这短短七天之所以会让人觉得如此地漫长，或许是因为库兰贝莉一直在期盼着这一天的到来。

Just by looking at the aggregator site, one could tell that the other Magical Girls were working harder than usual. That was probably because nobody wanted to be eliminated. Clamberry worked her Magical Phone, and entered the Magical Girl chatroom.
只要察看总合网站就能知道其他的魔法少女比往常更加卖力地工作。大概是因为没有人想掉队吧。库兰贝莉操作魔法终端机，进入魔法少女聊天室。

Just like before, the attendance at this meeting was very high, and the name of the Magical Girl with the fewest Magical Candies had also been announced. Nemurin, who had been named without spotlights or fanfare, did not look regretful so much as embarrassed.
与上回相同，这次集会的出席率非常之高，而在场的魔法少女中魔法糖果持有量最少的魔法少女的名字也被公布了出来。在没有擂鼓声和聚光灯这种夸张效果的情况下被直接点名的眠眠，她的表情与其说是在懊悔，更像是感到羞愧。

Most Magical Girls wanted power, and they wanted to use that power. She alone preferred to listen to others’ stories of adventures rather than work herself. Nemurin took part in the chats every week, and she was very gifted at listening to people speak, and because of her, the other party was always happy to tell their stories. Clamberry had seen such scenes many times over.
大部分的魔法少女都想拥有力量，并行使自身的力量，只有她一个人比起自己去工作，更喜欢听别人的冒险故事。眠眠每周都会参加集会，而且她还很善于倾听别人讲话，能够让对方很快乐地说出自己的故事。那样的光景库兰贝莉已经看过很多次了。

The fact that she always showed up in the meetings meant that she was very close to the other Magical Girls. Unlike Clamberry, she was not simply “there”, but she eagerly interacted with the other people. Many Magical Girls knew her. Snow White, Top Speed and Sister Nana were all unwilling to let Nemurin go.
经常泡在集会里面，也就意味着她与其他魔法少女的关系非常亲密。与库兰贝莉不同，她不仅仅是“存在于那里”，而且还会非常积极地与他人进行交流。有很多魔法少女都认识她。白雪、最高速还有修女娜娜都很不舍得与眠眠分开。

Before she left, Nemurin said that she would continue to watch everyone work from the aggregator site, and that she would support everyone. Fav said, “Goodbye ~pon”, and the pajama-clad avatar vanished.
眠眠在临别的时候表示会在总合网站上继续关注大家的活动，会一直声援大家。法布说了一句“那么再见了pon”之后，穿着睡衣的化身便消失了。

At the same time as it bade the bottom-ranking person goodbye, Fav also announced the name of the top-ranking person. Fav announced that currently, Snow White possessed far more Magical Candies than anyone else.
在与最后一名进行告别的同时，法布也公布了第一名的名字。法布宣布，目前白雪的魔法糖果持有量远远超过其他人。

“Everyone needs to work hard to catch up with Snow White~pon.”
“大家都要以白雪为目标努力pon。”

As they heard Fav’s words, everyone tensed up.
听到法布这一番话，大家都紧张起来。

The Magical Girls left the chatroom one by one, and in the end only Fav and Clamberry were left. Clamberry had remained for a reason. There was a question she had to ask in the chatroom.
魔法少女一个接一个地退出聊天室，最后只剩下法布和库兰贝莉两个人。库兰贝莉留下来是有理由的。因为她有一个问题必须要在聊天室向法布提出来。

Clamberry: I have a question to ask you, if I may?
库兰贝莉：我有一件事想请教一下，请问可以吗？

Fav: What is it ~pon?
法布：什么事pon?

Clamberry: Could you tell me what exactly happens when a Magical Girl is stripped of her status as a Magical Girl?
库兰贝莉：请问魔法少女的资格被剥夺，具体来说会发生什么事？

Fav: When that status is removed, the Magical Girl dies ~pon.
法布：资格被剥夺的魔法少女会死pon。

Clamberry: Is that a metaphor? Does that mean that she is dead as a Magical Girl?
库兰贝莉：这是在打比喻吗？意思是作为魔法少女死去吗？

Fav: It means that she will be dead as a living being ~pon.
法布：是作为生物死去pon。

Its answer was very simple.
它说得非常简单。

After hearing its answer, Clamberry said nothing, but left the chatroom, and then just like she ahd last week, she put the Magical Phone beside her pillow.
听到它的解答，库兰贝莉什么话也没说，离开了聊天室，接着就像上一周那样，把魔法终端机放在枕头边。

One could read the chatlogs even without participating in the chats. Clamberry and Fav’s dialogue would probably spread rapidly throughout all the Magical Girls. The implications of “the loser” and “the game” had now been dramatically changed.
即使不参加集会也能阅览聊天记录。库兰贝莉与法布的对话大概很快就会在全部魔法少女之间传播开来。败者以及游戏的含义都发生了决定性的变化。

Clamberry put her hands behind her head, lay on her bed, and looked at the ceiling.
库兰贝莉交握双手放在脑后，躺在床上，抬头望向天花板。