Lightweaver stood by the elevator, staring at the floor numbers ticking down.
Her blurry reflection in the elevator doors showed a cold, impassive expression.
She had clearly prepared for the absolute worst-case scenario.
She had even mapped out an escape route.
Suddenly, she found it a bit amusing.
It turned out the Association didn't view her as an enemy—at least, not yet.
Lightweaver stood by the elevator for a while. The doors opened and closed twice, but she didn't step inside.
Withdrawing her finger from the up button, she turned around and walked back to the information desk, slamming her hand onto the marble surface.
She did this because books said it was a powerful way to assert dominance during negotiations, so she decided to give it a try.
“I'm not here to register! You sold merchandise of my image without authorization. I'm not here to sort out paperwork—I'm here for an explanation!”
The staff member's smile froze on her face, her finger still pointing toward the elevator.
Blinking, she looked down at the internal message she had just secretly sent.
She quietly recalled the message and sent a new one: “Correction: Lightweaver is here. She's not registering. She's here for money. At the front desk.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, followed by a flurry of frantic, muffled voices trying and failing to cover the microphone.
Snippets of words like “authorization,” “merchandise,” “Finance Division,” and “get the section chief down here” slipped through.
The staff member put down the walkie-talkie and forced her professional smile back on. “Please wait a moment. The head of the Finance Division will be right down.”
Lightweaver pulled her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest.
A few minutes later, the elevator doors slid open. A middle-aged woman wearing a dark blue uniform with an Association Finance Division name tag stepped out briskly.
She stopped in front of the information desk, bowed slightly, and presented a business card with both hands. It read: “Sato, Director of the Licensing Department, Finance Division, Magical Girl Association.”
“Miss Lightweaver, I am terribly sorry for the trouble we have caused. Regarding the licensing of your merchandise, the Association has been waiting for you to come in person.”
Director Sato pulled a neatly bound document from her briefcase, flipped to a specific page, and slid it across the desk.
“According to Association regulations, the merchandise revenue of unregistered Magical Girls is held in trust by the Association and will be returned in full once the individual's identity is verified. You only need to sign here, and the funds can be unfrozen.”
She handed over a pen with the cap already removed.
Lightweaver looked down at the document.
The clauses were clear, the numbers were explicit, and there were no ambiguous terms or conditions.
She scanned the section above the signature line. The amount to be unfrozen was significantly higher than she had anticipated.
It turned out that without her knowing, so many people had already bought Lightweaver merchandise.
She looked up. Director Sato was watching her with a professional smile, her hands clasped over her briefcase in a respectful, patient posture.
The staff member behind the desk was also watching her, her eyes filled with anticipation.
She had expected a fierce battle and was fully prepared to flip tables.
Yet it was actually going this smoothly?
But on second thought, it made sense. She, Lightweaver, hadn't done anything bad, hadn't stolen any credit from the Association, and had even saved their current star idol Magical Girl!
She had quite a reputation!
There was no reason for them to give her a hard time.
Lightweaver picked up the pen from the desk and neatly wrote “Lightweaver” in the signature box on the final page.
Once finished, she capped the pen and pushed it back along with the document.
Well, now that the money issue was resolved so easily, there was no need to keep a cold face.
“Thank you.”
Director Sato took the document with both hands, but she didn't leave immediately.
She looked up at Lightweaver. Her tone still carried that standard professional warmth, but there was something else underneath.
“Miss Lightweaver, it just so happens that another Magical Girl is at the Association today handling some business. She mentioned that she had crossed paths with you once before and hoped to thank you in person.”
Lightweaver was about to stand up, but she froze when she heard this.
She quickly ran through every Magical Girl who had ever met her.
There weren't many.
But for the Association's Finance Division Director to act as a personal intermediary, there was likely only one...
The click of high heels on marble echoed from the end of the corridor. The newcomer wore a pink stage costume, her skirt swaying gently with every step.
Meruru stopped in front of the desk and bowed slightly to Lightweaver, the beauty mark near her eye seemingly sparkling along with her smile.
Her smile carried genuine gratitude, mixed with a hint of embarrassment.
“I couldn't thank you properly backstage last time. You saved Seina's stage, and I've always wanted to say this to you in person.” She straightened up, looking into Lightweaver's eyes. “Thank you.”
Lightweaver stood there. As she watched Meruru walk over from the end of the corridor, the first thought that popped into her head wasn't honor, but confusion.
Didn't she already thank me in the fire escape?
She remembered that conversation clearly, because Meruru's tone had been very sincere back then, and she had answered seriously as well.
So what was this all about today?
Was there a sequel to saying thank you?
Maybe she felt her expression of gratitude hadn't been formal enough in a place like a fire escape?
So she took this opportunity at the Association to say what needed to be said properly?
Well, she had received her money today and was in a great mood anyway!
So she might as well graciously accept it one more time.
“...You already thanked me last time,” Lightweaver said, uncrossing her arms.
“But since you're being so earnest about it, I accept.”
Meruru straightened up. The musical notes on her outfit caught the light as she tilted her head slightly, her tone carrying a touch of serious probing.
“Thanking you is only part of the reason. Actually... I also wanted to take this opportunity today to have a spar with you.”
Lightweaver stopped mid-step just as she was about to leave. She turned back and met Meruru's smiling eyes, realizing the other girl wasn't joking.
“The last time I saw you strike, you were so fast I could barely see you.”
Meruru withdrew her hands as if pulling them back from piano keys, replaying the scene in her mind.
“At the time, I thought about how wonderful of a learning opportunity it would be if I could stand on the same battlefield as you and feel the trajectory of those threads firsthand.”
“I want to spar with you. The Association has a dedicated underground training ground with a fully intact barrier, so it won't affect the outside. I'll cover the venue fees, and we can invite an Association training officer to referee, or we can just go without one—just the two of us, keeping it friendly.”
She laid out all the conditions in one breath, her posture respectful and her invitation sincere.
Meruru was practically itching for a fight.
She was used to communicating with others through performances and battles; a simple verbal thank-you was far from enough for her.
She wanted to get to know Lightweaver in her own way, and she had an intuition.
Lightweaver's mana was very unique, unlike any active lineage she had read about in textbooks.
She wanted to test this theory, and even more, she wanted to stand directly opposite her to feel the true sensation of that mana.
There was also a more selfish reason.
Seina had just debuted, and as her older sister, she had to lay down every single brick for her.
The white-haired Magical Girl before her possessed unfathomable strength. If she could understand her combat style through a friendly spar, she would at least have one more trustworthy person to rely on in case Seina ever ran into trouble on the battlefield when she wasn't around.
“A friendly spar?” Lightweaver crossed her arms again and tilted her head at Meruru. “Is a big star like you really that free?”
“No matter how busy I am, I always make time to learn.” Meruru tilted her head to mimic her, though with a touch more playfulness. “So, how about it? Will you accept?”
“...Fine.”
Rate on N.U.
