Snowrealm landed about three paces ahead and to the left of Mingyue, her straight sword pointing diagonally toward the ground, the tip carving a razor-thin trail of ice into the concrete.
“I am Snowrealm,” she introduced herself. “I'm not too late, am I?”
Mingyue stared at her back in silence for a few seconds before hoisting her scythe onto her shoulder, using her uninjured hand to wipe the bloody froth from the corner of her mouth.
She glanced sideways at Nuomi, who was standing in a daze on the steel beam, the golden four-pointed star on its forehead blinking rhythmically.
It was sensing the mana spectrum of Snowrealm—specifically, the starlight particles mixed in with the ice dust, a faint glow identical to that of a certain silver-white creature.
Nuomi's two tails began to wag unconsciously, the bells letting out a very soft chime.
“...You're Star-trail's contractor.”
The moment she heard the name “Star-trail,” Snowrealm's fingers tightened imperceptibly around her sword hilt.
“Yes,” she said. “Star-trail is my Contract Spirit.”
She paused, then added, “It's resting at home tonight. It didn't come out with me.”
Mingyue looked at her, then at Nuomi, who was still wagging its tails on her shoulder. After a moment of silence, she said, “So it found a contractor.”
Nuomi understood all the unspoken meaning behind her words. It gently patted the back of Mingyue's neck with its tail, the bell chiming once.
“...Let's clear out the rest first.” Mingyue tightened her grip on her scythe, her stance unwavering. “The high-tier one is still incubating. You handle intercepting the spores from a distance, and I'll break through up close. Can you work with that?”
“I can.” Snowrealm raised her left hand, and the fan-shaped barrier of light projected from her palm expanded once more, the icy patterns along its edges gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
The battle proceeded at a breakneck pace.
Mingyue charged straight ahead, her scythe carving a curved path of destruction through the guardian units.
From the rear, Snowrealm used her barrier to block the spread of the erosion spores, while firing chains of ice dust to impale the low-tier units trying to ambush Mingyue's flanks.
Their coordination was far from seamless, given it was their first time fighting side by side, but it was highly efficient.
Every time Snowrealm fired her ice dust chains, they pinned the targets down with precision just before Mingyue's scythe could strike, and Mingyue's movements naturally began to open up a wider line of sight for Snowrealm's attacks.
Once Nuomi's shockwave finished its cooldown, it slammed the accumulated golden ripples into the cracks in the mid-tier Erosion Body's shell core. The shockwave tore open an even larger gap in the fissure, causing the dark purple light within to flicker erratically.
“Now!” Mingyue shouted.
She leapt off the ground, flipping midair, and brought her scythe down from the highest point of her arc.
At the exact same moment, Snowrealm shot out two chains, pinning the edges of the mid-tier Erosion Body's shell from the sides and cutting off its last path of retreat.
The moment the scythe blade sliced into the core fissure, the air across the entire waste dump trembled.
The dark purple light abruptly imploded, and the shell of the mid-tier Erosion Body, along with all the remaining guardian units, dissolved into a flurry of black dust that drifted slowly through the air.
Mingyue landed on the concrete floor, leaning on her scythe as she gasped for breath.
Nuomi hopped down from the steel beam, its four short legs pitter-pattering as it rushed over. It pressed its forehead against her ankle, the golden four-pointed star glowing faintly as it used its own mana to help stabilize her condition.
Snowrealm sheathed her straight sword, the barrier before her dissolving into a few silver-white wisps of afterglow. She walked over to Mingyue, looking down at her bleeding hand.
“...Your hand.”
“Just a scratch.” Mingyue pulled a bandage from the pouch on her waist. She wrapped it around her hand a few times with one hand, biting off the excess with her teeth. Looking up, her deep blue eyes met Snowrealm's directly. “Did Star-trail mention me to you?”
“It did. It said you were the administrator of this area, and that you had a very cute partner named Nuomi.”
“It said I'm cute!” Nuomi bounced up from beside Mingyue's ankle. “Did it really say I'm cute?! How did it say it? What were its exact words?!”
“...Its exact words were ‘a very enthusiastic companion,’” Snowrealm said, squatting down to eye level with Nuomi.
Her expression remained cold, but her tone softened noticeably. “Star-trail said you went out of your way to leave a mark for it. It asked me to thank you.”
Nuomi's large eyes went wide, and its floppy ears shot straight up. Suddenly, it turned and ran back to Mingyue, circling her ankle three times while squeaking, “Mingyue, Mingyue! Did you hear that?!”
“I heard you.” Mingyue scooped Nuomi up and placed it on her uninjured shoulder, then turned to Snowrealm with a serious expression. “Pass on my thanks to Star-trail. By the way... you haven't been contracted for very long, have you? Is this your first time facing a mid-tier Erosion Body?”
“My first time,” Snowrealm admitted. “I've only ever encountered low-tier ones before.”
“So that ice dust interception just now was your first time using it in actual combat?”
“...Yes.”
Mingyue was silent for a moment before offering a rare compliment. “Impressive. Not many beginners could pull that off.” She rested her scythe on her shoulder and looked at Snowrealm. “Star-trail's taste wasn't bad this time.”
“...Thank you.” Snowrealm dismissed her straight sword back into her contract space, ice dust drifting slowly around her feet.
She raised her hand and looked at her knuckles. The recoil from firing the chains earlier had left the web of her thumb numb, but it was much better than her very first battle; at least she could still bend her fingers normally.
She clenched and unclenched her left hand a few times, as if confirming her body was still functioning properly.
“You're welcome.” Mingyue pulled another clean bandage from her waist pouch. This time, instead of using it on herself, she handed it to Snowrealm. “Your hand is shaking, too. It's impressive enough that you managed to stand your ground during your first fight with a mid-tier. No need to act tough.”
“This is a healing bandage. It's infused with healing magic.”
Snowrealm took the bandage and softly thanked her. She wrapped it around her right wrist. Having never used such an item before, she wound every loop with meticulous neatness.
The moment she tied it off, a wave of warmth washed over her. Is this healing magic?
Nuomi leaned half its body off Mingyue's shoulder, its large caramel eyes staring intently at Snowrealm's bandaging process, its ears twitching left and right in sync with each wrap.
“Snowrealm, Snowrealm!” Nuomi's two tails wagged excitedly across Mingyue's chest. “That chain attack just now—the one you shot from your hand, the one that freezes the Erosion Body in midair and then shatters! What's the name of that move?”
“...I haven't named it yet.” Snowrealm finished wrapping the bandage, tucking the loose end flat. “It's just an application I came up with earlier. I'd never tested it in actual combat.”
“That powerful without even testing it!” Nuomi gasped. Then it turned to Mingyue. “Mingyue, she seems just like you when you first fought a mid-tier—mmph!”
Mingyue gently pinched Nuomi's mouth shut with two fingers. Maintaining this pose, she spoke to Snowrealm without a change in expression, “Anyway, I acknowledge your strength. But there's one thing I need to confirm. You haven't officially registered with the Association yet, have you?”
Snowrealm nodded.
“Then you need to register.” Mingyue released her pinch on Nuomi's mouth and tapped her wrist-mounted mana terminal a few times to bring up an electronic form. Her fingers swiped rapidly across the holographic screen, and several lines of text floated up from the projection, emitting a soft blue glow in the night.
“The basic registration process for a new Magical Girl includes: mana level measurement, spectrum classification, jurisdictional area assignment, and Contract Spirit information entry. Since you haven't done any of these, the Association's system can't track your battle history. That means the four low-tier ones and the one mid-tier one you defeated today won't be recorded in your combat archives.”
She paused, looking up at Snowrealm. “Do you know what those combat archives affect?”
Snowrealm shook her head. Since becoming a Magical Girl, she had never met any others.
“...What do they affect?”
“They affect your rationing allowance, priority in jurisdictional area assignments, and your eligibility to request weapon enhancement materials.”
Mingyue counted off three points on her fingers before turning the terminal screen toward Snowrealm. “Simply put, not registering means you don't exist. A non-existent Magical Girl won't even receive emergency support from the Association. Take my distress calls earlier—the communicator worked, but the signal was jammed. If your communication channel isn't even registered in the Association's system, you won't receive alerts, and you won't be able to call for help.”
Snowrealm was silent for a few seconds, her gaze shifting from the holographic screen to Mingyue's face.
“You really intended to stall on your own until backup arrived.”
“That was the plan,” Mingyue said casually, shutting off the terminal and letting it retract back onto her wrist. “But there's no need to stall anymore. You're here.”
She slotted her scythe into the bracket on her back and reached up to massage her still-numb shoulder. “So, are you free this weekend?”
“This weekend?”
“To register. New Magical Girl registration requires the person to be there physically. The whole process takes about two hours. I have classes on weekdays, and you have school—don't deny it, your voice is a dead giveaway that you're a student. The weekend gives us a solid block of time.”
Mingyue paused, then added, “Besides, there are fewer people at the Association headquarters on weekends, so we won't have to wait in line. When I first registered, I had to wait for three hours. I almost fell asleep in the hallway.”
Snowrealm didn't answer immediately. Her right hand unconsciously reached for the star-shaped mark on the back of her left hand, her fingertips gently tracing it.
Registering meant facing more Magical Girls like Mingyue, and her social experience outside of school was practically zero.
“...Saturday morning,” Snowrealm said. “Where is it?”
“Association headquarters, the white building in Motomachi 2-chome. Once you arrive at the entrance, trigger the security lock with your mana and give them my name. I'll input your temporary access permissions in advance.”
Mingyue tapped on her terminal a few more times. “Oh, and bring Star-trail. The Contract Spirit info entry requires it to be there in person... well, in beast. Don't try to fool them with a photo; the folks in the Observation Department can tell the difference between a mana afterimage and the real thing.”
“It will go,” Snowrealm replied without hesitation. The moment the words left her mouth, she froze. She hadn't even asked Star-trail if it was free on Saturday morning, yet she had already promised on its behalf.
But Star-trail had never once rejected her requests—not since their first contract, not ever. Suddenly realizing this, her fingers stilled over her contract mark.
Nuomi leaned its entire body off Mingyue's shoulder, gesturing in the air with its front paws as its ears twitched with excitement. “Then we can see Star-trail on Saturday! Mingyue, I can share half of my strawberry daifuku with it—no, wait, I'll give it a whole new one! There are still three left in the fridge!”
“Didn't you say those were the last three you were hoarding, and you wouldn't even let me have one?!”
“That's exactly why I have to share them with Star-trail!”
Mingyue took a deep breath, then turned back to Snowrealm, steering the conversation back on track with a businesslike tone. “Saturday morning at nine o'clock, the registration desk on the third floor of the white building. When you arrive, trigger the entrance with your mana, find the reception, and say 'newcomer registration.' One more thing—I'll include tonight's battle record in my patrol report, including the ones you defeated. Once your registration is official, these achievements will be retroactively added to your file.”
Snowrealm opened her mouth to say “you don't have to go through all that trouble,” but Mingyue had already turned around, hoisting her scythe.
She took a few steps, then paused, glancing back over her shoulder. “Snowrealm. That unnamed chain skill from earlier! You'd better name it soon. Otherwise, the Association's archivists will name it for you. They registered my first move as ‘Heavenly Moon Ring Slash,’ and I still haven't been able to change it.”
With those words, her figure dissolved into the night, while Nuomi, draped over her shoulder, waved its tail vigorously at Snowrealm.
Snowrealm stood in place, watching them vanish into the night sky above the rooftops.
“Mission accomplished,” she whispered, repeating the catchphrase Star-trail had taught her. Star-trail had told her that saying this was a mandatory procedure for a Magical Girl after a battle, just as natural as saying “thank you for the meal” after eating.
She wasn't sure if Star-trail had been joking, but she did it anyway.
It was past midnight when she returned home, the sensor light in the entryway automatically turning on.
She took off her shoes in the entryway and walked barefoot into the living room. Star-trail was perched on the arm of the sofa, the starlight particles on its tail casting a small, warm glow in the dimly lit room.
It tilted its head to look at her. Her mana consumption was within normal limits and she wasn't injured, but her physical stamina was clearly depleted.
There was an excitement in her eyes that her usual cold demeanor couldn't completely hide—the lingering warmth of fighting alongside another Magical Girl for the very first time.
“I met Mingyue,” Yuki Kurokawa said, squatting down in front of the sofa.
“How was the battle?”
“One mid-tier Erosion Body and seven low-tier ones. Mingyue handled most of them; I was in charge of flank support.”
Her tone while reporting the battle was like turning in homework, but after finishing her last sentence, her voice softened. She shifted her squatting position forward half an inch, her knees almost touching the base of the sofa.
She lowered her eyes and gently pressed her forehead against Star-trail's.
She closed her eyes and nuzzled against it for a good while. The starlight particles couldn't cling to her eyelashes, falling away in a soft shower whenever she blinked.
After about ten breaths, she finally opened her eyes.
“...Mingyue said we need to go to the Association headquarters to register this Saturday. She wants you to come along.” She stood up, returning to her usual tone, though the tips of her ears were still tinged with a faint pink. “Saturday morning at nine. Are you free?”
“I am.”
“Good.” She rose from the sofa and headed toward the bathroom, her steps looking a bit lighter than usual.
In her apartment, Qiluo simultaneously turned off the small mana light. Resting the back of her hand against her forehead, the image of Yuki Kurokawa pressing her forehead against hers lingered in her mind—that usually cold face, which only maintained its solemnity when looking directly at others.
Once she closed her eyes and needed to confirm that something was still by her side, all her defenses would completely crumble.
“...Too close,” Qiluo muttered to the ceiling. “So close I could almost smell the shampoo she used through Star-trail.”
Actually, she did smell it. It was citrus-scented, different from last time—she had changed brands. She didn't include this piece of information in her report to the ceiling.
Rate on N.U.
