Chapter 2: I Picked This Up

The magical girl Mangzhong could be considered The Flower Arranger’s personally groomed, final disciple and designated successor.

That mysterious, first magical girl, as if foreseeing that she wouldn’t be able to walk alongside her juniors for very long, had imparted almost all her knowledge to Mangzhong within two months of discovering her—the daily operational plans for the bulletin board, contacts within various civilian networks, everything.

Then, on the night after she had entrusted Mangzhong with the most precious data—countermeasures against the “Anti-Civilization Field” stored on one hundred floppy disks—the magical girl, The Flower Arranger, died in battle.

She had heavily wounded the unprecedentedly powerful Nightmare No. 147 (a two-headed wolf type), but the price was her own young life.

Nancheng, being a high-incidence area for Nightmares, had seen four magical girls awaken in the year The Flower Arranger was active. However, due to the Tea Party leader’s adherence to secrecy, they were strangers to one another. On that night of pouring rain, all of them were in their own homes.

‘…What am I thinking?’

“The Doctor”—Meng Qiuxu—shook her head with a wry smile.

‘Am I suspecting that they actually knew, or even directly or indirectly contributed to The Flower Arranger’s death? It seems my judgment has been clouded by emotion. I need to take some time off to rest.’

She took off her coat and draped it over her arm, turning back for one last look at the coffin resting in the center of the hall.

‘Hard and heavy, and so cold. Thankfully, that person isn’t lying inside, or she wouldn’t be able to rest peacefully…’

Meng Qiuxu’s brows furrowed.

‘It feels like I’ve forgotten something…’

‘Where did that Mangzhong girl… throw her weapon?’

She had seen it clearly from the stage; to show the firmness of her resolve, the magical girl Mangzhong had publicly discarded her own gunblade before taking The Flower Arranger’s sword and shield. It was precisely because she recognized this will to “inherit” that Meng Qiuxu had tacitly allowed her actions.

But what about the discarded gunblade?

Magical Hunting Gear was specifically crafted for magical girls; an ordinary person without magical power couldn’t even lift it, making it completely useless to steal. Even if someone wanted to keep it as a souvenir, like a ball hit into the stands at a sports game, it would be far too conspicuous to hide in the crowd—

Scrape… scrape…

Then Meng Qiuxu saw it: a young man was dragging that abandoned gunblade, moving it out of the hall.

“…What are you doing?”

The young man looked up at Meng Qiuxu, his bangs, disheveled from the physical exertion, covering his eyes.

“I found this,” he said.

“I know.”

“Since no one wanted it, I’m taking it back for material,” he said.

Meng Qiuxu was aghast. “You’re going to sell it for scrap metal? A custom-made piece by me, a genius doctor?!”

“So a weapon like a gunblade can actually work… I remember that many historical attempts were abandoned because the spine of the blade would affect the bullet’s control. How did you manage it?”

“By the way, my name is Ren Huazhi. I’m a novelist, of a sort.”

The young man didn’t answer Meng Qiuxu’s question. He stood the gunblade on the ground and spoke with a sincere tone.

“You… you really know your stuff.” Meng Qiuxu shyly fiddled with a stray lock of hair at her temple. “That’s right, the presence of the blade’s spine severely interferes with the bullet’s trajectory. The compatibility of gun and blade was the biggest difficulty in developing this gunblade. You don’t have magical power, so you can’t activate the support system, but take a look at the structure of the hilt. Can you see anything?”

Ren Huazhi tilted his head, examining the gunblade up and down.

The blade itself had no complex mechanical structures, only a channel for supplying magical energy that resembled a blood groove. The hilt, however, was complex. The offset grip had a trigger positioned for the index finger, and the most eye-catching part was the firing mechanism, a complete revolver cylinder.

“The magic-conducting rail acts as a positioner?”

“Not only that! Mangzhong emits a heat that ordinary people can’t get close to during battle. The structures around the cylinder that look like heat sinks actually do the opposite—they recycle this waste magical heat and load it into special bullet chambers to enhance her shots…”

“And after the six fixed rounds are fired, pure magical energy can be used as temporary ammunition.”

“Exactly! Young man, I didn’t expect you to be such an expert! Are you a researcher from the police department?”

“Mm…” Ren Huazhi gave a noncommittal grunt. “These are minor details. What’s the future of the Magical Tea Party? With The Flower Arranger gone, the power lies with you and Mangzhong. Will you cooperate with the police?”

Meng Qiuxu shook her head, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “I’m not sure… We’ll probably maintain the status quo, although the resistance will be greater than before.”

“To be able to explain the principles of the Magical Hunting Gear to an outsider like me, it seems you really aren’t sure,” Ren Huazhi said with a smile.

“An outsider? You’re not an outsider.”

“…Huh?”

Ren Huazhi’s smile froze on his face, and he subconsciously took a step back.

But Meng Qiuxu suddenly burst forth with a strength that her petite frame shouldn’t possess, grabbing ahold of Ren Huazhi as he tried to flee and leaning in to whisper persuasively in his ear:

“Young man, seeing you at such a young age with such insight into Magical Hunting Gear, you’re practically a once-in-a-century Nightmare-slaying prodigy. If you were to gain magical power one day, wouldn’t you soar to the heavens? As the saying goes, ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will?’ I’m entrusting you with the mission of resisting Nightmares and protecting humanity, okay?”

“No way! Are all the magical girls useless?!”

Ren Huazhi was terrified. He struggled desperately but to no avail. Who knew why this nerdy-looking woman was so strong; he couldn’t break free from her grip on his wrist in the slightest.

Meng Qiuxu smiled sweetly and produced something from behind her back.

It was a uniquely shaped mechanical belt.

“This nano-armor is my latest creation. It breaks the fundamental logic that only magical girls can fight Nightmares. It’s a priceless treasure! I see we’re fated, so I’ll give it to you.”

“For free?”

“You have to wear it to fight Nightmares and collect data for me.”

“I don’t want to!”

“Be good!”

“I don’t want to! Let me go!”

Without another word, Meng Qiuxu fastened the belt around his stomach. A suspicious mechanical sound emanated from it as two clasps automatically extended and fastened behind his waist. The circular structure on the front of the belt suddenly lit up.

Ren Huazhi was extremely nervous. “It’s glowing!”

‘Could it be some kind of super-ancient gem that recognizes its owner, containing infinite power, and is now bound to his fate…’

“That’s the high-beam function. It’s because you were struggling so much that the connection got a little loose and it turned on by itself. Normally, it should be off by default.”

“What’s it for?”

“Nightmares are monsters that spill out from the dream world. I figured they’d be afraid of high-beams shining in their eyes.”

“You figured?!”

‘So this doctor, who provides logistical support for all the magical girls in Nancheng, is actually this unreliable? Ren Huazhi felt his future was bleak, and it was all because his hands had been too quick to pick up someone else’s discarded gunblade, and his mouth too quick to engage her in conversation.’

Meng Qiuxu’s small hands restlessly felt around Ren Huazhi’s waist, confirming the belt was securely fastened. She took two steps back to admire her masterpiece but was blinded by the high beams, covering her face as she continued to direct him:

“Now, think of a transformation pose, then shout the recognition word ‘Transform,’ and you’ll complete the nano-armor’s activation!”