Unmarked Chapter 7

Chapter 07: Clamberry’s Secret

Calamity Mary’s rampage was finally labelled as a terrorist incident when the dust settled. While there had been no responsibility taken or any suspects named, there was no other reason that the public would accept.
灾厄玛丽的大暴走最终被世间定性为恐怖行动而尘埃落定，虽然既没有预告也没有犯罪申明，但除此之外也没有别的理由能让大众接受。

Snow White and Hardgore Alice had put all their efforts into saving the lives of countless victims, and as a result there were more witnesses than could be counted on both hands and feet… in addition, the antitank rifle and all the other weapons which Calamity Mary had left behind made the story of a terrorist attack more credible. Perhaps it was because these weapons did not suit the image of a Magical Girl, but nobody from the government suggested that it had been done by a Magical Girl. More to the point, regardless of how many sightings they were, the authorities had never acknowledged the existence of Magical Girls.
白雪和哈德格尔·爱丽丝尽全力救助了受害者的生命，结果也因此出现了双手双脚的手指加起来都数不过来的目击者……除此之外，灾厄玛丽所遗留下来的对战车步枪之类种种凶恶武器增加了恐怖行动的可信度。不知是不是因为这些兵器与魔法少女的形象不太相符，政府机关之中没有人提出犯人是魔法少女的说法。更根本地说，即便有再多的目击情报，官方也从未承认过魔法少女的存在。

While there was no way the group backing Calamity Mary could not know who the culprit was, they remained silent. They probably did not care about unrealistic things like Magical Girls, just that they wanted to distance themselves from their ultimate weapon gone berserk.
尽管协助灾厄玛丽的组织不可能不清楚谁是罪魁祸首，但他们仍然保持了沉默。他们大概根本就不在乎魔法少女这种不切实际的东西，只是想和暴走的最终兵器划清界限罢了。

“Ah, its so early and I’m so busy ~pon.”
“啊呀，一大早就忙死了pon”

The spheroid body’s white half was dull, and the flapping of its wings appeared lifeless. At least, that was the impression it gave.
球体的白色部分暗淡无光，蝴蝶翅膀的动作显得很无力，就是给人这样的感觉。

“You can say whatever you want, be it was a lie or a con or trapping them ~pon. But don’t you think reducing the number of survivors to four because of an excuse like the items was a bit forced ~pon?”
“欺诈也好诈骗也好耍诈也好坑人也好随便怎么说pon，但是以增加道具需要将最终范围缩小到四人这个借口不觉得有点勉强吗pon？”

“If it’s forced, then it’s forced.”
“勉强就勉强了。”

“Master.”
“主人。”

“What is it?”
“什么事？”

“Have you ever thought this before? No matter how much Fav works, it doen’t matter because it’s Fav.”
“您有没有过这样的想法？无论法布怎样辛劳，不过因为是法布也就没关系了。”

“Being hated is part of your job too, isn’t it?”
“被人讨厌也是工作的一部分，不是嘛？”

Clamberry lay down casually, her hands holding her head.
库兰贝莉随意地躺着，手抵住头。

“So go ahead and be hated by people. I’ll spend this time researching a lot of things.”
“你就被人讨厌去吧，我会在这期间研究很多事情。”

The current list of deaths was: Nemurin, La Pucelle, Magicaloid 44, Vess Winterprison, Sister Nana, Yunael, Calamity Mary and Top Speed. Not being able to fight Winterprison again was a bit of a waste. Clamberry had thought that Winterprison would remain with her to the end.
现在为止死亡的魔法少女是：眠眠、王权、圣少女、Magicaroid 44、维斯·寒冬牢狱、修女娜娜、优奈儿、灾厄玛丽、最高速。最终没能和寒冬牢狱再战一场真是有点可惜，原本还以为会与库兰贝莉一起留到最后的一定是寒冬牢狱呢。

The game was already more than halfway through, and the strongest candidate, Winterprison, had already been eliminated. Among the survivors, the strongest remaining candidates were Swim Swim, Ripple or Hardgore Alice. As long as her opponents were fun, that would be fine.
游戏已经过去了一半，如今最有力的候补者寒冬牢狱已经退场，剩下的人之中称得上是有力候补的不管是泳泳还是波纹，亦或是哈德格尔·爱丽丝，只要对手足够有趣就行。

“Ah, yes yes.”
“啊，对了对了。”

“What is it?”
“怎么了？”

“We need to write a report on the incident and submit it, what should I say ~pon?”
“要把事情的经过总结一下做成报告书送上去，写些什么好呢pon？”

The Land of Magic conducted regular selection exams to recruit new blood, and they would choose talented people among the candidates and make one of them part fo themselves.
“魔法之国”为了寻求新鲜血液会定期进行选拔考试，在作为候补的人选中挑出有才能的人并让其中的一个人成为自己新的一员。

By tradition, the person in charge of the selections was known as the Master. The Land of Magic would dispatch one of their people, ensure there was a local advisor, take their opinions into consideration and then conduct the examination. Without the person in charge, the examination could not take place.
依照惯例，进行选拔考试的负责人的就被称为主人，从“魔法之国”派出一名要员，确保有当地的人作为建议者，听取其意见并将考试推进下去。如果没有那个作为进行选拔考试的负责人的话，考试就无法进行。

The Master was given a Magical Phone to help the selections proceed more successfully, and it was equipped with certain apps that regular Magical Phones did not possess. As a resident of the Administrator’s Magical Phone, Fav could obtain items it deemed useful through various channels. As a wicked tester who secretly set bad things into motion, the apps Fav had were all dangerous things.
给予主人支持的魔法终端为了能更顺利地帮助考试的进行，还搭载了一般魔法终端所没有的各种应用程序。作为管理者专用终端内居住者的法布，只要认为是有必要的东西不管从哪个渠道都会搞到手。作为偷偷推动坏事的不检点考试官，法布所准备的应用程序大多都是些危险的东西。

“Just throw something together for the incident report.”
“经过报告什么的就随便糊弄一下咯。”

“Fine, fine.”
“好的好的。”

Even if he said that, Fav would still file a beautiful report. It would probably write something which the Land of Magic could accept, which could only have come from a practical cultivator of human talent. It would paint the bloody slaughter into a normal, well-behaved examination that sounded like something out of a pastoral song.
就算说成这样，法布也会把报告写得很漂亮的吧。应该会写出一份“魔法之国”可以接受，觉得是极其理所当然的人才培养报告的吧，会把充满血腥红色的互相残杀写得像牧歌一般平和的好孩子考试给他们看的吧。

The Land of Magic needed talent, but if any deaths showed up, that would not be good. After all , they should not cause trouble to another world just for their own convenience.
“魔法之国”虽然要求才能，但这一过程如果出现死者的话就称不上好了。毕竟不应该为了自己的方便而给别的世界添麻烦吧。

What nonsense was that. Clamberry spat.
说什么傻话，库兰贝莉吐了一口口水。

In the first place, reaching out to another world to look for talent was inconveniencing them. All that talk about unnecessary trouble was nothing more than arrogance; since they had already cause them trouble, then why not go the whole hog? If they wanted talented individuals, they ought to eliminate the weak and choose the strong.
为了寻找有才之士就将手伸向异世界，这本身就是添麻烦的行为。说什么必要之外的麻烦只是傲慢的体现罢了，反正已经添了麻烦了，倒不如把该做的事情全做了。想要求才的话就应该排除弱者挑选出强者才对。

During the selection exam when Clamberry had been chosen to become a resident of the Land of Magic, there had been an accident. In an underground chamber, one of the candidates had summoned a demon, which had gone out of control, and by the time the demon had been suppressed, everybody other than Clamberry had become chunks of meat. The summoner, the other candidates, the examiner who tried to stop the demon, a total of 12 people had died by the end of the matter.
库兰贝莉在被选为“魔法之国”居民的选拔考试中，经历了一场事故。在地下室里，一名候补成员召唤出来的恶魔暴走了，在恶魔被镇压的时候，除了库兰贝莉一个人之外，其他所有人全部变成了肉块。召唤者、其他的候补者、想要阻止恶魔的考官，事情最终变成了造成共计十二人牺牲的悲惨事故。

Clamberry had watched as people were squashed and trampled, one after the other. To Clamberry, who was only nine years old back then, even as this incident impacted her hard enough to change her worldview, she had felt a joy above even that. She fought the slaughter-drunk incarnation of brutality with fist and foot, pitting her Magic against it, pouring her life into making her foe submit to her. This was what they called a true hero of justice. Fighting a powerful opponent and defeating them was a form of spiritual exaltation.
库兰贝莉看着一个接一个人被碾压、被溶化、被捏碎。对于当时才九岁的库兰贝莉来说，尽管这一事件给她造成了足以动摇世界观的冲击，同时却也让她感到了在那之上的喜悦。和沉浸于杀戮愉悦中的暴力化身拳脚交锋，魔法碰撞，竭尽自己的生命力让对方屈服在自己脚下。正可谓是正义的英雄。与强敌战斗并将其打到简直就是一种精神升华。

After defeating the demon, Clamberry was intoxicated with bliss. She stood in place, as though in a trance, until a 3D image appeared above the examiner’s Magical Phone. It said, “How long are you going to space out over there?” Before those words came, even bleeding had felt like bliss.
消灭恶魔之后，库兰贝莉依旧陶醉地站在那里，从头到底都浸浴在恍惚之中。直到考官手上的终端上浮现出立体影像，说出了“你准备发呆到什么时候呵？”这句话之前，连流出的血中都仿佛依然沉浸在喜悦中。

And what had truly shocked her was being told that this experience was little more than a fluke. What she had been shown was that the selection exams had always been too gentle, too fussy, too slow-paced. Those who failed smiled embarrassedly, while those who had won were cheered on by everyone else. Therefore, she felt that this should not be the case. She felt that this was problematic. Taking things irreplaceable to each other, killing, being killed, with only the last girl standing being chosen; that was how it should have been.
而自己真正感到震惊的，其实是被告知如此的体验不过只是一场事故而已的时候。被展示给自己的，选拔考试一直以来的本来面貌实在过于温吞，过于烦闷，过于懈怠了。落选者露出不好意思的笑容，获胜者得到大家的祝福。于是她觉得应该不是这样的，觉得这样是有问题的。互相夺取无可取代的重要东西，杀人，被杀，留到最终的人才被选中，应该这样才对。

After telling Fav all this, her reply from Fav was simply, “Then why not become a Master ~pon?” Fav had also been quite bored with the exams until now, and it complained, saying that it wanted to make the selection exams administered by Clamberry into a form of entertainment and enjoy them.
和法布说了这些之后，却收到了法布“那成为主人不就行了吗pon？”的建议。法布也因为对一直以来的考试感到无聊，正发着牢骚，说是想把库兰贝莉所主导的选拔考试当做一项娱乐来享受。

Perhaps something had broken in her heart when the accident had happened, but even that was not a problem at all. Clamberry had apparently began the games she envisioned on the day she had become a Master
说不定事故发生的同时自己心中的什么东西已经坏掉了，但这样也完全不是问题。库兰贝莉好像从当上主人的那一天开始就如她所想的那样开始了游戏。只要不被“魔法之国”发现，主人就有这样的权力。

“Still, I want to enjoy the pleasures of being a participant right now. Is it because there’s nothing else to whet my appetite?”
“但是，现在正好想稍微享受一下作为参加者的乐趣呢。是因为没有别的能吊起我胃口的事情吗？”

She muttered to herself.
自言自语道。

◇◇◇

Swim Swim fell into thought.
泳泳陷入了思考。

While the number of Magical Girls had fallen to seven, a new minimum threshold had been drawn. In order to allow her surviving comrades to remain in the final four, she would need to eliminate three Magical Girls other than her companions.
魔法少女虽然已经减少到七人，但又制定了新的淘汰线。为了让生还下来的同伴全部跻身于剩下的四人之中，就必须再淘汰三名同伴之外的魔法少女才行。

Tama had escaped from the battle with Snow White and Hardgore Alive. Minael had not yet come back, but that did not mean that she was dead.
小玉在和白雪、哈德格尔·爱丽丝的交战中逃回来了，米奈儿却还没有回来，但这并不说明她已经死了。

While Minael had successfully drawn the enemy’s attention, Tama had somehow been spotted even while wearing the Coat of Invisibility, and so the ambush plan had failed. She could only think that the opposition had used some kind of Magic.
虽然米奈儿成功吸引了敌人的注意力，但是由于小玉在身穿透明外套的状态下依然被对方察觉，偷袭计划最终还是失败了。只能认为对方用了什么魔法才会这样的。

If it was Magic that could detect movement, then the Coat of Invisibility would no longer be usable. In addition, having Tama did a hole to attack the enemy from underneath would also be impossible. Similarly, Swm Swim would be detected if she tried to meld into the earth.Minael might be seen through if she transformed. Ambushing someone from a place where they could not see you was highly effective, if one disregarded things like chivalry or wanting a fair fight, but in the first place Ruler would never have cared about such things, and so Swim Swim decided to emulate her style. However, they could do nothing about the fact that Snow White had picked up on that; all they could say was that they had met their nemesis.
察觉行踪的魔法，这样一来首先透明外套就无法使用了。而且，让小玉通过挖洞从对方脚下攻击也变得不可行了，同样，就算泳泳潜入地下也会被对方察觉行踪吧。米奈儿幻化之后也有可能被看穿真面目。从对方看不见的地方展开偷袭这种做法如果不顾及骑士精神或者光明正大原则的话是非常有效的，但首先在王权的头脑中不可能会顾及到这些，那泳泳也决定沿袭她的风格。然而，对于会被白雪探知这一点也束手无策，只能说是遇上了克星。

In any case, they ought to avoid a direct conflict with Snow White. As for Hardgore Alice, from the current situation, it would seem she intended to move with Snow White, so the would treat her the same way.
总之，至少应避免与白雪正面交战。而对于哈德格尔·爱丽丝，从目前的情势来看她似乎打算和白雪共同行动，因此也做同样对待。

But what about Ripple?
那波纹呢？

Although she had hacked down Top Speed from behind, when it had become a head-on fight, she had chosen to avoid being entangled with Ripple. Judging from her fight with Calamity Mary, Swim Swim could not hope to equal either Ripple or Calamity Mary’s reflexes, agility or alertness. Therefore, even though she was immune to all of Ripple’s attacks, the fight had still been a stalemate.
虽然从背后把最高速度砍了，但是演变成正面交锋之后就选择了放弃和波纹纠缠。从她和灾厄玛丽的战斗来看，波纹或是灾厄·玛丽的反射神经、敏捷性和警觉性，是泳泳完全无法望其项背的。因此即便无效化了波纹的全部攻击，战斗仍然呈现胶着状态。

Movement speed aside, Minael, Tama and Swim Swim were roughly even in terms of combat agility. Swim Swim might not be affected by Ripple’s attacks, but there was a high chance that Tama or Minael might end up being cut down before they could make a move. If they ambushed her they could win, but if they failed, the losses they would take were too high.
暂且不论移动速度，从战斗时的敏捷度这一点上，米奈儿也好小玉也好泳泳也好都不相上下。先把不会受到波纹攻击影响的泳泳放在一边，小玉或者米奈儿在行动开始之前就被斩杀的可能性很高。如果偷袭成功的话就能赢，但如果失败的话，己方受到的打击就太大了。

Therefore, if they had to fight Ripple, Swim Swim ought to go alone.
因此想要和波纹战斗的话，泳泳孤身前往应该才是上策。

The remaining person was the Musician of the Forest, Clamberry.
剩下的一人，就是森林音乐家库兰贝莉。

There was no information on her at all.
基本没有什么情报。

This lack of knowledge meant that she was a moment of huge suspense. However, the reason why there was no information was mainly because she had not participated in any fights until now, and she had never encountered any other Magical Girls; she had simply survived until now. If she was confident in her skills, then should she not have showed up at the National Highway Xth Line and fought the berserk Calamity Mary? Also, the name Musician of the Forest did not feel like it was hinting at strength.
所谓未知，是指她本身等同于一个硕大的悬念。然而，之所以会没有情报，主要是因为她没有参加过至今为止的任何战斗，也未曾与其他魔法少女遭遇过，只是单纯地活到了现在而已。如果对自己的实力有信心的话，不就应该会出现在国道X号线上和暴走的灾厄玛丽展开战斗了吗？况且森林音乐家这种称呼完全没有彰显实力的感觉。

Compared to Snow White, who was immune to sneak attacks and Ripple, who was so fast that she was nigh-untouchable, would it be better to finish her off instead?
与偷袭无法奏效的白雪、动作过于迅速以至于无法捕捉的波纹相比，搞定她或许更容易吗？

Since the supply was limited, they had been very judicious in their use of the Vitality Medicine. Using her as a guinea pig for the medicine might be a good idea. They would test the effectiveness of the Vitality Medicine in the fight against Clamberry, and if it turned out well, they would use it again during the battle with Ripple.
由于数量有限，一直以来对于“活力药”的使用一直很谨慎，这次把她作为这个药的试验台也不错。在与库兰贝莉战斗的时候试一试“活力药”的效用，如果效果明显的话，在与波纹的战斗中再使用就行。

There was the gloomy Tama, who was curled into a ball on the floor, and Minael, who had not yet returned.
灰头灰脑缩成一团正坐在地板上的小玉，还有至今未归的米奈儿。

While losing Yunael was a shame, Swim Swim and the others had successfully made it into the list of the eight survivors. If it was Ruler, she could probably have let everyone get through even if the quota was four people.
虽然对于优奈儿脱队有所痛惜，但算上泳泳的三人，成功进入了八名幸存者之中。如果是王权的话，即使名额变成了四名，应该也能让全员通过吧。

Swim Swim thought about what Ruler would do and what Ruler would not do.
泳泳在思考，如果是王权的话会做的事，如果是王权的话不会做的事。

Swim Swim’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. It was Minael. She was panting heavily and her face looked just like when Yunael had been killed by Winterprison. Tama wailed, but Minael ignored her and shouted:
泳泳的思考被开门的声音打断了，是米奈儿。表情就像优奈儿被寒冬牢狱杀死的时候一样猛烈地喘息着。小玉发出了惨叫，但米奈儿无视她大叫道：

“There’s someone we can kill! We won’t fail this time!”
“有一个人可以杀掉！这次不会失败的！”

◇◇◇

Behind the fishing supplies shop on the beach, there was a long set of stone stairs. While it was a playground for children in the day, the fact was that there were no streetlamps there at all. Though officially, the fishing supplies store was supposed to be open from the morning to the middle of the night, the shop’s illumination did not reach further than the back streets, because there was nobody who was bold enough to climb the stairs with only the moon or the stars to light his way. Therefore, once night fell, nobody would come here except Magical Girls.
俱边海滩钓具店后街的再后面，有一段长长的石阶。白天虽然是孩子们的游戏场，但其实那里一盏路灯都没有。虽然钓具店的营业时间是从一大早到深夜，但店里的照明却达不到后街更后面的位置，由于不会有不要命的家伙大晚上走这种只靠月光或是星光来照明的石阶，因此一到晚上，这里就没人会走过，只有魔法少女会出现在这里。

Snow White sat on the first stair, and looked at the pebble under her feet.
白雪在第一级石阶上坐了下来，盯着脚下的小石头。

What had happened on the National Highway was not an accident. The huge hole in the road surface, the exploded cars, the corpse which was only a pair off ankles; just by looking at those, one could tell that this was not an ordinary traffic accident.
国道上发生的并不是事故，被开了个大洞的路面、爆炸的客车，只留下脚踝的尸体，一看这些就知道这肯定不是普通的交通事故。

At that time, they had to force open car doors to save the wounded  who were trapped inside, then they had to move people who were stuck on the road onto ambulances, and a bewildering array of other activities, so she had not looked too deeply into the matter, but now, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that all this could only have been done by a Magical Girl.
当时，又要掰开车门救助困在其中的伤者，又要将由于道路破坏而被困在路上的伤者搬上救护车，一项又一项眼花缭乱地做着各种事情，因此没有太仔细追究，但是现在越想越觉得这种事情只有可能是魔法少女干的。

On one hand, she was disappointed by the Magical Girls who disregarded the people awaiting rescue and chose to fight, and on the other she was filled with despair at the idea that Magical Girls existed who had struck first and hurt and killed all these people.
一方面对于放任等待救援的人们不管而热血冲头展开战斗的魔法少女感到了失望，另一方面，也对存在率先弄伤、杀害这些人的魔法少女感到绝望。

And now, the survivor quota had gone from eight to four.
而现在“留下的名额从八名减少到了四名”。

Driven by impulse, she had cursed out Fav, but now her anger and fear were gone, with nothing left behind except a sense of fatigue and powerlessness.
冲动之下大骂了法布一通之后，如今愤怒与恐惧已经消失了，什么都没有留下来，只剩下倦怠感和脱力感。

She had once thought that Magical Girls existed to help people in difficulty, and that Snow White’s Magic was a Magic intended for that purpose.
曾经认为魔法少女是为了帮助身处困境的人而存在的，白雪的魔法无疑也正应该是为此而用的魔法。

It was not that the other Magical Girls were too wild, it was just that Snow White was too abnormal. La Pucelle, who had denied this statement and comforted Snow White, was no longer around, and neither were Sister Nana and Winterprison, who had promised to think of a way to get past this difficulty with everyone. It all seemed like she was the only one acting out the events of a love comedy in the middle of a shonen manga. What a joke.
并不是其他的魔法少女太疯狂，只是白雪自己太异类了吧。曾经否定这一说法来安慰白雪的圣少女已经不在了，曾经约定会与大家一起想办法挺过危机的修女娜娜和寒冬牢狱也不在了。现在的一切就好像是热血漫画中有一个人独自在上演恋爱喜剧一样，太滑稽了。

“I don’t want to do anything any more…”
“什么都不想做了……”

Those words came from the depths of her heart. She was tired. At the end of every day, she would look for posts concerning herself on the Magical Girl sighting aggregator site and laugh to herself about them, but before she knew it, she only looked once every two days, then once every three days, and in all likelihood she would completely give up on those efforts before long.
这是从心底的心底吐露出来的话。累了。每天结束之际，在魔法少女目击情报的汇总网站上找出和自己有关的条目，并自顾自地在一边傻笑这一项每日功课在不知不觉之中，变成了两天一次，又变成了三天一次，恐怕过不了多久就会彻底荒废这项功课吧。

“It should be okay to not do anything any more, right…”
“什么都不做也可以吧……”

She had asked that question in the hopes of receiving a kind answer, but--
虽然这么问是想收到一个温柔的回答，然而——

“No.”
“不行。”

The reply she received was in the negative.
得到的回复却是否定的。

“There’s nothing else that I can do.”
“已经没有我能做到的事情了。”

“No.”
“不对。”

“There’s nothing else that I want to do.”
“已经没有我想做的事情了。”

“No.”
“不会。”

“Look…”
“我说啊……”

“No.”
“不行。”

Snow White kicked the pebble she had been staring at away with her toe, and the flattened stone sailed out without any spin before hitting a power pole and bouncing back.
白雪用脚尖将一直盯着的石头踢了出去，扁平的石头就这样被毫无翻滚地踢出去，然后打到电线杆上弹了回来。

“I don’t want to do anything!”
“我已经什么都不想做了！”

Snow White shouted, but inside, she was startled by how she still had the strength to shout. She stood up forcefully, grabbing the collar of Hardgore Alice beside her and pulled her up as well.
白雪叫喊着，内心却对自己竟然还有叫喊的力气而感到震惊。猛地起身，一把抓住坐在旁边的哈德格尔·爱丽丝的前襟把她拎了起来。

“There aren’t any more Magical Girls in this city! I! Don’t! Want! To do anything any more!”
“这个城市已经没有什么魔法少女了！我，已经，什么，都不想做了！”

The fact that Hardgore Alice was completely unmoved despite being pulled around like a rag doll only served to fluster Snow White even more. Her eyes were dull and lifeless. They were ringed with black, and while her hunchback was less obvious now that she had been grabbed by the lapels, it was still the same as when she had first seen her.
被自己任意摆弄却无动于衷的哈德格尔·爱丽丝让白雪更加气急败坏了。眼神呆滞毫无光彩。深深的黑眼圈，尽管因为前襟被抓住让驼起的背不那么显眼，但还是与第一次见面时一样。

How could she not be depressed or hurt after something so severe had happened? Snow White burned with anger at Hardgore Alive, and at herself for getting mad at Hardgore Alice.
明明发生了这么严重的事情，却既不消沉也不悲伤吗？白雪对于哈德格尔·爱丽丝，以及生哈德格尔·爱丽丝气的自己感到怒火中烧。

“There is a Magical Girl in this city.”
“这个城市还有魔法少女。”

“Not any more, Magical Girls don’t exist any more.”
“已经没有了，魔法少女已经不复存在了”

“No, they do.”
“不，还有。”

“There aren’t any.”
“没有了。”

“No.”
“不。”

“There aren’t!”
“没有了！”

Snow White forcefully tossed Alice aside, and Alice fell on her butt upon the stone steps. Snow White continued shouting:
白雪粗暴地推开了爱丽丝，爱丽丝一屁股摔在了石阶上。白雪继续叫喊道：

“La Pucelle and Sister Nana and Winterprison aren’t around any more! There aren’t any more Magical Girls left in this city! Stop bothering me!”
“圣少女也好修女娜娜也好寒冬牢狱也好都已经不在了！这个城市已经没有魔法少女了！你也不要再纠缠我了！”

After taking the Rabbit’s Foot from her pocket and throwing it at Alice, Snow White ran. Although she sensed someone pursuing her from behind, once she shouted, “Don’t follow me!”, the presence vanished as well. Snow White continued running alone through the darkness.
从口袋里拿出兔足扔向了爱丽丝之后，白雪跑走了。虽然感觉到她从身后追上来的气息，但是在自己大吼了一句“不要跟过来！”之后，那股气息也随之消失了。白雪孤零零地在这片黑暗中一直奔跑着。

◇◇◇

Hatoda Ako was awoken by the sunlight streaming through the gaps in the curtain and the sounds of birds chirping, and she sprang out of bed. She reached for the white rabbit lying beside her pillow, but there was nothing there. Ako had a habit of misplacing things, so her things often went missing. Thinking, I’ll look for it later, she went and had her breakfast.
鸠田亚子被透过窗帘缝隙的阳光和雀鸣吵醒，忽地一下弹起身来。伸手想要抓起睡在枕边的白兔，但那里却空无一物。亚子有乱丢东西的毛病，所以经常会有东西行踪不明。想着等会再去找，便先吃起了早饭。

Her uncle was sleeping in because of the night shift, while her aunt had left for work after preparing breakfast. She applied margarine to the bread, and then a layer of peach jam. She seasoned the fried eggs, and added some soy sauce to the cabbage. The soy sauce bottle’s nozzle was blocked up, so she used a toothpick to poke the hole open. She had already packed the things she needed for school into her bag last night, and her uniform was hung up on the hangers in her room. She looked in the mirror and while her complexion was not too good, she seemed as healthy as always. Then she discovered there was some cabbage on her face, so she plucked it off and popped it in her mouth.
叔父正因为通宵夜班在补觉，叔母则是一准备好早饭就出门上班了。给面包涂上黄油，再涂上一层杏果酱。往煎鸡蛋上浇上调味汁，往洋白菜上加点酱油。加酱油的罐子出口堵住的话就用牙签开一个洞。昨天晚上已经把上学需要的东西放进了背包，校服则挂在在起居室的衣架上。照一照镜子，脸色虽然不太好但身体还是像平常一样健康。又发现脸上还粘着洋白菜，便拿下来放进了嘴里。

Everything was as normal, sandwiched as she was in the huge legion of students heading to school. She did not chat with others or greet them; just a single student lost in the crowd.
一切就像平常一样，夹杂在前往学校的学生大军中。既不和别人聊天也没有不和别人打招呼，只是作为一个学生被淹没在这个群体中。

Snow White had tossed the Rabbit’s Foot back at her and warned her not to follow her any more. But that was not possible. Snow White was not like Hardgore Alice; she would die if she were decapitated or stabbed in the stomach. She needed Hardgore Alice to protect her, and even if she could not stand by her side, she needed to at least carry the Rabbit’s Foot for insurance.
白雪昨晚把兔足扔给自己，并警告不要再纠缠过来了。但这是不可能的。白雪和哈德格尔·爱丽丝不同，被砍到头或是被捅到肚子的话就会死去，不能没有哈德格尔·爱丽丝在一旁保护，就算不能守在她身边，至少也一定要带上用来保险的兔足。

Even if she asked Fav to contact her, she would be ignored, so if that was how things were, then perhaps she ought to go to the places where she might be and look for her. As she thought about these things with her head bowed, someone called her name, so she raised her head. It was only when she raised her head that she realised that the other party had not called her “Hatoda Ako”, but “Hardgore Alice”.
就算拜托法布去联系应该也会被无视吧，如果真是这样的话那今晚就去她可能在的地方找找看吧。一边这么想着一边低着头走路，突然有人叫了她的名字，便把头抬了起来。抬起头来才突然反应过来，对方叫的不是“亚子”而是称自己为“哈德格尔·爱丽丝”。

Her eyes rested on the strangely-dressed person standing several meters in front of her. After seeing her reaction to the name, that person slowly approached. That person was not a student or a salaryman, and they stood out among the crowd. Their coat was pulled very low, and they were staring at her as they approached. Inside the coat was… a swimsuit? It looked a little familiar.
视线定格在了站在前方数米，打扮奇特的人上。看到这边对名字有反应之后，那人缓缓地接近过来。既不是学生也不是上班族，在人群中很是显眼。外套的风帽被戴得很深，正死死盯着这边走来。外套的里面穿的是……泳装？好像有点眼熟。

The other party’s eyes resembled those of Ako’s father, her father who had said nothing during her meeting with him except “Don’t come back” before going back to prison. The look in those eyes was as dull as her father’s, the same look she saw in her own eyes every time she looked in the mirror. It was the exact same look she had seen in her father’s own eyes. Those were the eyes of a killer.
对方的眼神有点像亚子的父亲，与他会面的时候什么都不说，只抛出一句“别再来了”就返回监狱的那个父亲。那眼神和父亲暗淡的眼神一模一样，是每次照镜子时也能从自己的脸上看到的眼神，是和父亲一模一样的眼神。那是，杀人的眼神。

She panicked. The murderer in a white school swimsuit was wearing a coat and coming right for her. She was looking at Ako, was targeting Ako. Did she intend to ambush her in the morning while she was going to school?
一下子混乱起来，在白色的学校泳装外面披着外套的杀人犯正走向自己。看着亚子，把亚子当做目标，是想在这早上的上学时间发动袭击吗？

This was the road to school, and there were many people here. If she transformed, Ako’s true identity would be exposed to the students in the same school as her. She would be stripped of her right to be a Magical Girl; in other words, she would die. If she wanted to transform, she had to make sure there was nobody else around.
这可是上学的道路啊，有很多人。如果在这里变身的话，亚子的真面目就必然会暴露在同一所学校的学生面前了，魔法少女的资格也会被剥夺，同时就意味着死。想要变身的话就必须要确保周围没有其他人。

Ako turned and looked for a place without bystanders. As she took her first step, something hit her in the back, and because there was nothing to support her, her foot found only empty air, and she fell forward. A scream came from behind her, and her back burned. It was not that she had been bumped into from behind, but because she had been stabbed. She had been stabbed deeply, her blood was gushing out, and she was going to die soon.
亚子转过身去，找寻着没有旁人的地方，刚踏出第一步，背后就有东西撞了上来，因为没有可以支撑的东西而一脚踩空，向前一摔倒了下去。身后传来了尖叫，背后好热，并不是因为被撞到了，而是因为被刺到了，刺得好深，血液直流，快要死了吧。

She had to hurry. Hurry and get to a place with nobody around. If there was nobody around, she could transform into Hardgore Alice. If she could transform, a wound like this would heal quickly.
快点，快点到一个没有人的地方去，到了没人的地方就能变身成哈德格尔·爱丽丝了。如果能变身的话，这种程度的伤很快就能治好。

She crawled over the concrete floor, but after her body shifted forward a little, her arms would not move.
趴在水泥地面上爬行着，身体向前移动了一分，手就动不了了。

She could not transform. If she could not transform, she had to at least tell Snow White, but...
无法变身，无法变身的话至少要让白雪，但是……

The Rabbit’s Foot that Ako carried vibrated gently.
亚子带在身上的兔足微微震动着。

◇◇◇

Koyuki had just woken up when a still, small voice reached her ear, something which had never happened before. If she did not transform into Snow White, she could not hear the voices of people who needed help. There had been no exceptions to this rule to date, and she had considered it to be set in stone. Yet, she could hear a voice now.
刚起床的小雪耳边传来了微弱的声音，这种事之前从没发生过。如果不变身成白雪的话，是听不到需要帮助的人的声音的。这一规则至今为止一次也没有出现例外，一直作为铁则摆在那里。然而这次却听到了声音。

It was faint and weak, as though it would vanish right away.
轻微的，虚弱的，好像立刻就会消失的声音。

Still in the middle of dressing, Koyuki raised her head and pricked up her ears to listen. However, she remembered what she had shouted yesterday. There were no more Magical Girls in this city, La Pucelle, Sister Nana, and Winterprison were all gone. Snow White had lost all hope in Magical Girls.
还在换衣服的小雪抬起头侧耳倾听。却又想起了自己昨天喊出的话。这座城市已经没有什么魔法少女了，圣少女也好修女娜娜也好寒冬牢狱也好都已经不在了。白雪对于魔法少女的希望已经丝毫不剩了。

Koyuki bit her lip, and the voice grew fainter. She tossed the handkerchief she was holding to the ground and jumped out the window, transforming into Snow White. She wove between the students going to school, and while shouts and cries rose from behind her, she paid them no heed as she sprinted towards the source of the voice. She jumped onto a power pole and looked down on the land below. There was a group of people huddled together; was that it?
小雪紧咬嘴唇，声音越来越微弱了，把拿在手上的围巾随手扔在地上跳出窗外，变身成白雪，穿梭于上学路上的学生们之间，虽然学生们的叫声和喊声此起彼伏，但白雪全都无视，飞奔向了传来声音的方向。跳上电线杆，站在上面向下俯瞰。有一群人围在一起，是那里吗？

She ran along the power lines and jumped down. There was a place in the center of the human wall where nobody wanted to enter. A girl lay on the ground there, and she could hear her voice.
从电线上奔跑过去，跳了下来。在人墙的中央，谁都不想进入的地方，一个少女倒在那里，能听到她的声音。

“Tell Snow White…”
“告诉白雪……”

Snow White shoved her way through. While her surroundings were very noisy, Snow White could only hear the voice of the downed girl’s heart. It was faint and weak and seemed like it was going to vanish right away. Yet the voice still reached her ears clearly.
白雪凑过身去，虽然周围非常嘈杂，但白雪的耳中只听到了倒下的少女的心声，轻轻轻微的，虚弱的，似乎马上就会消失的声音。但声音依然清楚地传入耳中。

As Snow White ran towards the girl, questions appeared in her mind. Why did this girl know my name after transforming? Why was she calling that name? Those questions were soon answered.
白雪一边冲向少女，一边在心头浮现疑问。为什么这个女孩会知道我变身之后的名字呢？为什么在呼唤那个名字呢？这个疑问很快就得到了答案。

As she saw the white Magical Girl, the other girl weakly extended her right hand. Her right hand held a soft, fluffy white object.
见到了白色魔法少女身姿的少女虚弱无力地伸出右手，她的右手中握着一个白色毛茸茸的东西。

“I wanted to give it to you to cheer you up.”
“本想送给你让你打起精神的。”

“As long as you’re around…”
“只要有你在的话……”

“As long as someone like you, who would help me, is around…”
“只要有你这个会帮助我的人在的话……”

“Magical Girls won’t disappear from this city…”
“魔法少女就不会从这个城市消失……”

“I wanted to give this to you after telling you that…”
“本来想这么说然后把这东西给你的……”

“But you ran away yesterday… so I couldn’t say it…”
“但昨天白雪就那样跑走了……没能说出来……”

“Today, I must…”
“今天一定要……”

Snow White took the girl’s right hand, a hand which was as cold as a corpse’s
白雪双手握住少女的右手，那只手就像死人般冰冷。

“Snow White…”
“白雪……”

“At least… take this Rabbit’s Foot…”
“至少把这个……兔足给……”

The voice stopped.
声音中断了。

Although the girl’s uniform was stained by blood, and her face was flecked by droplets of sprayed blood, It still looked beautiful. Snow White had seen this girl before. She was the middle schooler who had lost her keys and could not enter her house, who had been at a loss in front of her front door.
虽然少女的校服已经被血弄脏了，脸上粘着几滴飞溅出来的血，即便如此还是那么漂亮。白雪见过这个少女，正是那个丢了钥匙而进不了家门而在门前手足无措的中学生。

Snow White tightly squeezed the girl’s hand.
白雪紧紧地握住了少女的手。

◇◇◇

They had learned from the mistakes made during the battle against Winterprison.
吸取了与寒冬牢狱作战时所犯下错误的教训。

While the Peaky Angels had fatally wounded Winterprison, her counterattack had led to the loss of Yunael. The reason was because they believed they had struck a mortal blow, and carelessly revealed their true forms.
Peaky·Angels虽然对寒冬牢狱造成了致命伤，但还是由于她的反击，失去了优奈儿。而原因正是以为已经给予了致命一击便大意地暴露了真身。

Transforming, deceiving, rushing into her arms, stabbing with a knife, they had not been careless in that. Minael had learned from Yunael’s death, learned it through gnashed teeth.
幻化，欺骗，投入怀中，一刀刺下，这其中容不得半点大意。米奈儿从优奈儿的死中所学到的，一边咬牙切齿一边学会的。

During the battle of the National Highway Xth Line, Minael had taken Tama’s coat and hidden herself, then transformed into Hardgore Alice’s white rabbit doll and then left the coat around the white rabbit that had been dumped by the side of the road, making a switch. Hardgore Alice had picked up the swapped white rabbit and returned home. Thus, Minael had learned Hardgore Alice’s true identity and address.
国道X号线的战斗中，抢走小玉透明外套的米奈儿隐藏了身影，变身成了哈德格尔·爱丽丝的兔子人偶，并把透明外套盖在了丢在路边的白兔身上，进行了掉包。哈德格尔·爱丽丝就这样捡走被调包的白兔并回到了家中。米奈儿由此得知了哈德格尔·爱丽丝的真实身份和住址。

They had carefully selected the time for the ambush as well.Having learned from their failures, they attacked when there would be absolutely no chance for retaliation. The chose a place where she would be surrounded by people and where transforming would expose her true identity.
偷袭的时间上也做出了严格的挑选，吸取了失败的教训，在绝对无法反击的地方发动攻击。被人群包围，一旦变身就会暴露真实身份，这样一个场面。

“If only we’d done this back then, if only we’d done that from the start, Yuna wouldn’t have had to die,” Minael muttered to herself over and over again.
“当时如果也这样的话就好了，如果一开始就这么做的话，这么做的话优奈也就不会死了”米奈儿反反复复地如此呢喃道。