Chapter 85: New Friend

"Alright, Black Lily, you passed with flying colors. As expected from our newcomer hero. Slifer, you as well. Good grief, we really need to modify the test for Blacks. You two made it look easy. Even I still have trouble against them, you know. Ah, Slifer, please wait a minute. I still need to administer your final test—a survival mission."

"Survival? Hehehe... With my bad luck, I don't think I’ll survive that..." Slifer crouched, clearly uneasy about the exam. She laughed out of grief. I wondered whether she was overthinking it. She had done well in the escort mission. I also watched her fight four Gloams—she manipulated the shadows as if they were her own limbs. Her Signature was called Shadow Realm; it had literally sunk two Gloams into the pitch-black shadow beneath her feet.

I teleported out of the VR room. As the VR pod opened, I saw a large monitor hanging on the wall. A crowd had gathered without me realizing—most of them reporters, but many were Guardians as well.

"Hm? What’s with the crowd?" I asked Felicia.

"Well, technically, this test was public. So, Guardian Green Harvest didn’t commit any offense. But he bragged to his social media circle about a test featuring two Dark Magical Girls. Naturally, curious Guardians and reporters rushed in."

“Hieek!” My attention snapped to the TV screen as Magical Girl Slifer dodged the oncoming Anathema. Similar to my own test, over twenty Raptors were chasing her. She immediately used her lure, but it wasn’t fully effective. Not all of them took the bait.

"Anathema have some coordination. A lure merely provides an additional target—they split up," Felicia analyzed, commenting on the new product from Guardian Command: the Anathema Lure. It was pretty effective for me—I could just send a clone to carry it.

Nevertheless, Slifer had a few tricks of her own. When she was under a shadow, she could turn invisible. So when she reached a building, it looked like she had vanished.

"That was amazing."

"Not really. Anathema with more than five senses would still be able to detect her. Well, maybe. I’m not sure to what extent her invisibility skill goes. If we ever duel her, we could test your X-ray vision against her invisibility spell," Felicia muttered.

Slifer came out from the other side of the building and safely reached the helicopter.

"How the heck are normal Guardians supposed to withstand that?" some Guardians muttered. "I couldn’t even face one of them alone—we’d definitely die."

"The new tests are too hard..."

"Both of them were Blacks, so both of them passed, huh? I need to change my strategy. Wait... teaming up is allowed?"

Many Guardians began talking amongst themselves. Some complained, while others were busy debating with their familiars.

"Alright! Good work, Magical Girl Slifer. You’ve passed the test with flying colors. Both of you are now officially D-rank Guardians!" Guardian Green Harvest applauded.

Slifer then stepped out of her VR pod. She looked around.

"Hieek!!" She bolted out of the room at full speed.

"She’s the shy type. According to the records, she did something similar during her E-rank and F-rank promotions," Felicia explained.

After turning into a dark hallway, Slifer vanished from view. I blinked, confused.

"Felicia... did she just—"

"Using your ability or magic inside Guardian Command—or anywhere else—as long as you do not harm others, is generally acceptable. If not, you wouldn’t have been able to justify using your clones when meeting Francesca, now would you?"

"Well, true..." I turned away, slightly embarrassed as Felicia jabbed me for using my powers for personal gain.

Since using them was fair game, I decided to use them now. I activated my X-ray and infrared vision on the corridor—and as the world shifted into glowing silhouettes, I could see her hiding there.

"Well, I guess her invisibility only works visually," Felicia said. Both my infrared and X-ray vision clearly showed her hiding behind a fire hydrant in the corridor as reporters walked past her. I guessed she was too shy to ask the reporters to let her through. But bolting off like that would only make them chase after her more.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Black Lily? May I ask your impression of the new test?" a reporter approached me.

I turned to her and blinked. Then I realized—I was also a Guardian who had just taken the test. I tilted my head, wondering why most of the reporters had gone after Slifer instead.

"Well, Guardian Green Harvest mentioned that the new test was important so that Guardians wouldn't overexert themselves against impossible odds. The tests are now divided into three sections: Escort, Survival, and Battle," I replied, slipping into my well-practiced public persona—my fully trained Yuri façade.

"I see. Do you feel like a coward when doing the survival test?"

"I couldn’t win. If I had continued, I probably would have died. In fact, one of my clones did die," I answered calmly.

"Do you think Guardian Command has been limiting your activities lately?"

"No? Why do you ask?" I frowned slightly. Most reporters left after I gave safe, almost textbook answers like this. But she seemed to have more questions lined up. The fact that she targeted me instead of Slifer probably meant she had a specific interest in me.

"After all, you’re famous for fighting an S-rank Anathema—the Behemoth—and for venturing into the Darklands for three months. You even found a way for humanity to enchant magic, all by yourself," the reporter continued.

I tilted my head, unsure where she was going with this.

"...and?"

"So, did they put some kind of leash on you?"

"Not really. In fact, I participated in an expedition just a week ago—an essence-gathering mission led by General Gwen and Freya."

"Ah, I see. What’s your take on what happened in NewLake and NewHill? Do you think those CEOs were responsible?"

"I don’t know. If the judge says they are, then maybe they are," I answered.

"Well, you were in a similar situation in NewMesa. Do you think Shirayuki should be blamed? Or was it simply because you were lucky to escape in time?"

"Well, the UNH and the Zenith must have considered those things, right? I don’t know the details. Felicia? Why were Enra and NewStar punished, but Shirayuki wasn’t?" I was about to deflect the answer and direct them to our legal team or public relations, but I had Felicia now. She had read the reports, so she was probably better informed than those PR guys.

"The punishment for Enra and NewStar was due to mismanagement by their top brass, which led to an inefficient evacuation," Felicia answered. "Their first mistake was ignoring Guardian Command’s evacuation warning. The attack didn’t come out of nowhere, like in NewMesa. The Behemoth had already attacked NewSoil. Despite that, NewHill and NewLake failed to react."

"Second, once the Behemoth breached their defenses, there was no proper coordination. As the Zenith claimed, evacuation efforts prioritized VIPs, even though—militarily speaking—they should have saved the Guardians first to preserve humanity’s combat strength. Some even blamed the CEOs for wasting Guardian lives against impossible odds."

"I see. But if Magical Girls Pink Heart, Issen, and Stonewall hadn’t saved you, do you think NewMesa would’ve ended up just like NewHill and NewLake?"

“Well, I do think we must reflect on ourselves instead of assigning blame and pointing fingers. At first, it merely started as a massive usurpation, and we responded in kind by sending reinforcements. However, the usurpation grew into something bigger, and a Behemoth was born.

“By the way, NewMesa saved thousands of people even before the rescue arrived. The coordination was there. The barrier was activated. While in NewLake, there was no coordination, and the barrier wasn’t even activated. The Behemoth came and plowed through the ground,” Felicia answered with a deep analysis. But deep down, I knew that, at its core, what happened in NewMesa wasn’t so different from what happened in NewHill.

“I see. So we need to improve instead of looking for someone to blame—is that what you're saying? Then, does that mean the punishment was unwarranted?”

“This was an error in judgment. So there’s no clear line. If you want to talk about politics and punishment, you should consult with Guardian Command. Black Lily is a new Guardian. She just did her duty. No Guardians were even blamed during the trials, right?”

“That’s right. I apologize.” The reporter bowed. She was persistent, but somehow, she finally got the hint when Felicia’s tone grew harsher. The reporter then left.

“I shouldn’t have answered that… I made a blunder. Sorry.” Felicia scratched her ear with her hind leg like a cat.

“Yeah… we talked too much.” I nodded. I wouldn’t blame her—she was my greatest ally. And a friend.

“Geez, what are these reporters even doing? The trials are already done and the culprits punished,” Green Harvest sighed.

“You accept them just like that?”

“Me? Well, this is just a personal opinion. And don’t you dare record this—but I think all those VIPs needed to be punished. Just not as brutally as exile,” Green Harvest said.

“I see. I wonder what Enra and NewStar have to say.” I muttered. Well, they wanted to escape the blame, so they would surely push to free the VIPs.

“I recommend you meet with Jonathan. He’s from NewStar—we could get valuable intel from him,” Felicia said.

“...Yeah… you’re right…” I took a deep breath. I really, really didn’t want to call him. I had put so much effort into breaking off the engagement. But those twenty thousand points sure were tantalizing.

I walked down the corridor. The witch girl with a sword was still there, activating her camouflage skill. I was about to ignore her, but she was staring at me the entire time. I’m not one to talk, but being stalked—especially by a fellow Guardian—was uncomfortable.

“Do you need something, Magical Girl Slifer?” I greeted her. My normal eyes couldn’t see anything, but with my X-ray vision, I could see her silhouette.

“Hieek! You can see me?”

“Well, I have some tricks of my own.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t worry. I’m used to being watched every day. I just wondered if you wanted to ask something.”

I spoke to empty air, and the empty air talked back. Talking to oneself was a quirk all Guardians had. People nearby might assume I was talking to my familiar. Little did they know I was speaking to an invisible girl right in front of me.

“I mean… you’re dark… like me. But you seemed well-behaved and c-could even handle crowds… I wonder how that’s possible. I thought all Dark Guardians were supposed to be loners. Are you a traitor? Are you not a Dark Guardian?” she asked.

“She is definitely A Guardian of Dark origin, Magical Girl Slifer. I personally attest to that,” Felicia said, spawning beside me. A crow then appeared atop the fire hydrant.

“I have confirmed it. She is telling the truth. I apologize for my master’s behavior. Let me introduce myself—I am Onyx, Dark Magical Girl Slifer’s Familiar.”

“But Onyx! How can she be a Dark and talk to strangers?!” Slifer, still invisible, scolded her familiar. I regretted my decision to come over and talk to her already. Were all Dark Guardians like this? I thought I was a bit of an introvert, but apparently, I wasn’t introverted enough for her standards. Did I need to adjust my level of shyness to match hers?

When I glanced at Felicia, she shook her head.

“We do not pick Dark Guardians based on their shyness, Lily…”

“We do not pick Dark Guardians based on their shyness, Slifer…”

“But… but…”

“Most Dark Guardians are certainly introverted and dislike crowds, but they can still handle some social situations. Just so you know, Lily is an introvert too. She’s only doing well because she was trained to.” Felicia replied.

“Can it be trained?” Slifer turned visible and looked at me as if I were a goddess.

“Felicia, you really talk too much.” I sighed.

“My apologies.” Felicia now looked sullen.

“Please teach me to be like you!!”

“Well, if time permits, we should probably meet somewhere else. I’ll give you my number.”

“Thank you!”

“Alright. See you.”

Now that the problem with Slifer was over, it was time to call Jonathan. As Yuri…