Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 99: New Discoveries

"... Mizuhane," I murmur the girl’s name in front of us as we leap across the buildings after a brief conversation.

Mizuhane explained what we need to do, how we need to do it, and what we can’t do. She explained everything reliably, although her playful tone didn’t help much.

Apparently, she is the friend that Ayane talked so much about. I can’t judge her badly without knowing her, at least she seems strong. Honestly, this mission is not something I would like to accept.

But Ayane was with me, and I knew she would accept, so I could only accept as well. Convincing Ayane not to help others is a very difficult task and not worth the momentary effort when she would still find a way.

"Mizuhane, I have a question: how did you manage to gain the trust of various criminals and even monsters?" I ask while we leap across the buildings. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"...It was after much effort, conversations, and some payments I made with money..." She speaks, obviously not telling everything. I doubt that just conversation and money are enough.

’Liar.’ These are horrible monsters and people working together, I doubt it’s so easy to gain prominence among them.

Mizuhane probably committed crimes, was involved in their own crimes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she even used her body to gain the trust of the monsters.

This disgusts me. Ayane has already warned that Mizuhane has a girlfriend, and her selling her body in this way is disgusting towards the person who loves her.

Ayane is too naive in this regard to suspect this, in the end, it just shows that magical girls are not clean they may even do good actions, but the methods to reach the end are not the best.

Of course, what Mizuhane does with her body doesn’t matter, the problem is if they decide that we should get involved in it to prove our loyalty. I can’t let Ayane dirty her hands with crimes just because of a stupid mission.

"Are you two ready?" Mizuhane asks as we arrive in a more secluded area of the city.

"Yes!!" Ayane speaks enthusiastically. For her, an infiltration mission must seem incredible. I wish I could be that way and not always see how rotten the world is, and even those who try to do good can’t avoid evil.

"You two can keep your magical girl uniforms, I’ll go in a suit. Don’t talk to anyone and please ignore what they say to you, and Ayane, please don’t jump in to try to save people if you see someone suffering."

"Remember, we need to eliminate the source of the problem, and that source is their boss!" She speaks seriously to Ayane, who nods in affirmation.

Soon, Mizuhane deactivates her magical girl outfit and is in an elegant suit as we descend from the buildings. We then enter a well-organized tea house, and Mizuhane speaks to the attendant, who takes on a serious expression.

She then leaves, and we follow Mizuhane. She leads us to a passage that goes to the other building these things are really well-planned.

"..." We are soon in a room with several armed men as Mizuhane talks to a man at a desk. He lets her pass, and a door opens next to us, and we follow.

’A lot of work...and the looks are awful.’

"Ayane, before we proceed, I need you to go outside. Only two people can enter, and even though we’re friends, I honestly don’t know if you should see what’s inside," Mizuhane speaks seriously to Ayane, approaching her.

"A-Ah...okay, I’ll wait out there," Ayane says as Mizuhane hands her a communicator.

"It’s for emergencies. A small problem has come up. Don’t draw attention, just wait out there," Mizuhane whispers to Ayane, and only I can hear it. Mizuhane also winks at me as Ayane leaves, noticing that something is wrong.

Meanwhile, Mizuhane and I proceed. I wonder what she discovered. The conversation didn’t mention anything out of the ordinary besides some additional buyers.

"Setsuna, troublesome monsters have appeared here. The Buyer S mentioned in the conversation is a really difficult monster to deal with. From what I know, he’s connected to the boss, so the plans have changed a bit," Mizuhane tells me as we follow a corridor to the basement.

"Things could get pretty dangerous, and I don’t think Ayane would be suitable to see what’s about to happen..." She says with a guilty expression on her face.

I hear screams, moans, and unpleasant sounds, but I follow Mizuhane, who walks as if she knows the place.

We soon stop at a place, and she asks me to wait here while she enters a soundproof room. I can see some monsters passing by, and they look at me with lust and continue on.

Until I see someone who gives me chills. He also sees me and freezes in place as we stare at each other.

"Nameless girl," he says.

"Black Hero," I say his name.

We both speak each other’s names as he approaches with interest and surprise in his gaze.

"You’re alive, who would have thought, huh? And now you’re a traitor to the magical girls’ base..." He speaks with mockery, looking at my chest, exactly where he pierced me with his sword.

"..."

"No... You’re not a traitor to the magical girls," he says more seriously after looking into my eyes, immediately tightening his grip on his sword as if he could attack me at any moment, but he seems to reconsider and gives up.

"What do you mean?" I question.

"You must be one of the newcomers who were mentioned would come, but your eyes are not those of a traitor. You’re here more out of obligation than duty. I’m good at recognizing others for what they are just by looking into their eyes."

"You have the eyes of a cold-blooded assassin, but not the eyes of a traitor, very different from when we fought. I wonder what changed during those months to make your gaze change so much," I point my weapon at him.

"Want to find out?" I’m much stronger now. Winning still seems impossible, but I can at least cause some damage this time.

"...Hehehehe, you have a captivating audacity. Won’t you even try to pretend to be an ally? I like that. How about we talk?"

"Talk?"

"The two in there will take a while. Mizuhane Kōri... I know her well. The monster in that room talks a lot about the personal bitch he managed to get, what an idiot, doesn’t even know he’s being deceived," he speaks with mockery.

"So you already knew?" I question.

"Yes, I’m Buyer S. I came here to buy something I need."

’So he’s the problematic situation Mizuhane mentioned.’ Good to know.

"Okay, but what do you want to talk about with an enemy?" I question. He could just turn in me and Mizuhane as enemies pretending.

"It’s because you have an amusing gaze. You don’t have that altruistic look of someone who wants to help, nor the broken look of those who have suffered in discovering the difficulties of being a magical girl."

"You have a methodical, cold, and analytical gaze that comes purely from you and not from the cold experience of suffering."

"So I’m interested in telling you something. For example, what if you knew where the monsters come from, would you still be a magical girl or would you give up?"

He speaks in a tone as if this would be entertaining, while his large eye stares at me.

"...You...will tell me where the monsters come from?" I ask incredulously.

"Yes, I will tell you. You not only survived fighting me, but you also got stronger and didn’t break. Think of this as a reward from the mighty and great Black Hero," he says, putting himself on a higher level.

’...If he wanted to attack me, he would have done it already.’ There’s no reason to refuse. It would be worse to refuse and have him decide to tell the truth to the monsters around now.

"Okay, then tell me where the monsters come from," I say to him.

"Great, come with me to my private room. I’ll tell you that and I want to see if you’ll change your mind. I’ve told this information to magical girls a total of 3 times, and most of them just gave up on being magical girls when they knew the truth," he says, guiding me through the corridors.

"Don’t you really care that Mizuhane is here to collect information?" I question.

"I don’t care. I’m just a buyer who came to buy a commodity and leave. If the foolish owner of this place didn’t notice the problem, it’s his problem, not mine. I’m not an employee or a babysitter who has to say when stupid traitors are lurking around his business."

’Idiots? Is that how he sees me and Mizuhane?’ What a great view he has of us two.

"Why isn’t a class calamity monster like you trying to kill me?" I question. He’s too smart for my liking, his intuition is frightening.

"Because it wouldn’t be fun. I’m curious about you, and we’re not on a battlefield. You’re in enemy territory. Even if I don’t do anything, with a single word, all the monsters here will try to kill you," he speaks with clear mockery.

"So why do you really want to give me this valuable information?" Knowing where the monsters come from may not help, but it’s like a gear that explains how the world turns.

It’s like discovering gravity. Obviously, discovering gravity didn’t change what gravity is, but discovering it was the key to discovering many other things.

"As I said, it’s personal interest. I want to see what someone as cold as you would think after discovering how monsters are born."

"Will you give up on being a magical girl? Will you deny the truth? Or will you just accept everything as it is? I’m really curious, you know. Until now, only 3 magical girls have found me and left alive."

"You should consider yourself lucky, because in our next fight, I’ll make sure your head is separated from your body," he speaks, his murderous intent causing me to shudder.

’This mission has failed. I need to get out of here with Ayane as soon as possible.’ He knows, and if he knows, I don’t doubt that other monsters know. Mizuhane’s disguise has already lost all value.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the monsters were deliberately ignoring the betrayal because it seems entertaining.

As soon as I talk to the Black Hero, I’ll leave here with Ayane and warn Ophelia that this mission is doomed to fail.