Interlude 2: Shining Arrow 2

When I first got my contract as a Magical Girl, I kept it hidden for several months. My mom kept asking me if I had started dating someone or selling my body since I always came home late, but I dodged the question. Then, once I graduated from F rank and completed my training, I finally told them the truth. They didn't believe me at first, but when I transformed right in front of them, they had no choice but to accept it.

"Brother! Mom! I'm a Magical Girl! Call me Magical Girl Shining Arrow!" I announced. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, completely shocked by the revelation that I had become a Magical Girl.

"Awesome! How did you become a Magical Girl? And a Pink, no less!"

"Here's my familiar. I named her Wan-nyan!" I said, showing them my dog. "I met her in the shelter."

"I see. So, it was just pure luck, huh?" My heart sank a little at those words. It was true—I met Wan-nyan by luck. But that was fine. I didn't become a Magical Girl for pride. I did it to bring hope to my family.

"Well, yeah! Now that I've become a Magical Girl, we don't have to be so miserly anymore! Let's do something! Let's sell the cakes Mom used to make! I'll buy the ingredients! I'll even rent a place!" I tried to encourage them.

"Nah... what if it fails? I don't think I can compete… My cooking sucked. I couldn't match the chef that studied for it."

"Even if you've become a Magical Girl, you're only F rank, right?"

"Don't worry about competition! Don't worry about the money! Just do it!" I shouted, pouring all my feelings into my words. "I am an E-rank MG. I earned ten thousand credits per week! We don't need to think about failure!"

"Well... if you say so," my mother finally said, rising from her couch—a rare feat. A Magical Girl not only gets stipends from Guardian Command, but they can also sell points for credits.

Because I was officially a Magical Girl, I had to fulfill my duties, including patrolling the area. Magical Girls have the freedom to choose where to patrol, and since most wanted to avoid patrolling near the shelter, I picked up those commissions instead. Thanks to this and the 25% bonus from being a Pink, I earned more points than many of my peers.

As an F-rank Guardian, I was considered a newbie and wasn't allowed to patrol alone. But now that I'm E-rank, I can patrol solo. However, it's still not recommended for any Guardian to take on a usurpation alone, so we usually form groups. After graduating from the mentorship program, I was grouped with Red Flame Darkness and Sapphire Priest.

It was just like the game my brother played. Curious, I asked him about it, and suddenly, my brother, who had been full of despair, lit up. He rambled on about Magical Girls and how special Pinks are, and he even planned my "build." I confided in my familiar in secret, expressing how happy I was when he told me that most of what my brother said was accurate and applicable.

Because of this, we began talking more, and my brother's confidence grew. He started helping my mother with her patisserie when I was away. But whenever I got home, he immediately asked me about my day and grumbled about the lack of usurpations. I winced at his enthusiasm. While I was happy to see him regain his spirit, I couldn't quite describe the strange feeling of becoming my brother's "game character."

The patisserie became quite popular, but to my dismay, it generated little profit. To be honest, it was in the red. The reason was clear—I had hired too many workers, and we kept the prices low because we operated in the slums, where people could barely afford food or rent.

I tried to expand my mother's business. If I signed with Shirayuki, I could have expanded it to NewMesa and attracted more visitors. But alas, NewMesa was destroyed, so we were back to square one. I was happy that they stayed in Eden. I don't know what I will do if they become casualties during the incident.

"Mom! Prepare the VIP room! My friend, Black Lily, is coming! Serene Night, too."

"Kiriko, clean up the room, please," my mother ordered. But the workers were slacking off.

"It's your friend, right? Wouldn't your house do?" one of them asked.

"Ugh... it's Black Lily! She's from Shirayuki!" I protested.

"Alright, alright. Lucas, help me," Kiriko said. The atmosphere in the shop was relaxed, so there wasn't much formality.

"Sure! After this round," my brother replied, still looking at his phone. After helping with the cleaning, he sat down with his laptop to do some research. "Hmm... Black Lily... Ugh, there's barely any info on her. Wait, she's already in Rebellion's gacha banner? How come? Whoa, she's hyped as hell! A rare Black Magical Girl? I see. Her skill is... shadow clone? Alice, how good is she in real life?"

"She's crazy strong. She was an Emergency Contract Magical Girl! And she reached level ten in her first usurpation in NewMesa," I said, looking over at his laptop. The information about her was still scarce—she was new, after all.

"She's already a D-rank Guardian. All D-rank Guardians can be featured in a gacha banner if they want to," Wan-nyan added. But a warning flashed in my mind, reminding me what information I couldn't share about Black Lily.

"Ugh... apart from her clone, she doesn't have any other skills. What a disaster. No snipe, guard, or evade. Is she melee? Is she ranged?" my brother mused, opening both his game and Snappers, a popular video site. He started searching for gameplay footage of Black Lily.

"Her kit's a mess... She focuses on STR, but uses ranged weapons and Naginata. That made her flexible, but she wouldn't survive long without agility. Her clones are useful, though. People usually use the clone as bait and then have the real one attack the monsters. But her survival rate is only 10% in dungeons... She would die if she got flanked or her clones died before she could flank the enemy. Blacks sure have some screws loose," my brother commented. Then he turned to me. "How is she in actual battle?"

"The video was actually accurate. But she should've been able to survive against the Arachnomantis even on her own," I commented as I watched some players struggle with Black Lily against Arachnomantis.

"She didn't use a clone on Arachnomantis? Even though it's faster than her? How? Did she snipe it from afar? Could she even hit it without a snipe skill?"

"She fought two at once in a duel and beat both of them easily."

"How??" My brother was puzzled.

"She—sorry. That information is classified," I said, seeing a warning flash before my eyes.

"Well, her main playstyle seems to be either a shooter using clones as bait, or a melee fighter with shooting support. Ah... this is interesting. She can use her clones as a full party."

"Ah! She used a similar tactic in NewSoil!" I commented, seeing some players solo with her.

"I see." My brother nodded. "I think I'll try to build her. Let's see how she fights. Is Serene Night going to be at your party? Ugh, she'd be a perfect mage for your group. But this Black Lily... why did she unlock a gun vault... She's not a Pink. Points are precious," my brother moaned. Wan-Nyan had already told me that the stat allocations in the game were inaccurate but still within the realm of possibility.

"We're friends now, but she has her own party."

"Let's welcome her," my brother said, tidying up his table. Just then, the bell chimed from the front door—Yuri had arrived.

"Welcome!" my mother said, bowing and greeting Black Lily. Yuri was as regal as ever. Her upbringing still shone through, even in her astral shift. Behind her were my other group members, Red Flame Darkness and Sapphire Priest.

"Greetings, my name is Magical Girl Black Lily. Is Magical Girl Shining Arrow here?" Yuri asked.

"Of course! We've been waiting for you!" my mother replied, and we all went to the VIP room where she served cakes and tea. I had specifically asked her to put in extra effort today. Black Lily is a bona fide aristocratic girl—she'd recognize low-quality goods right away.

"Here's the cake!"

"Alright! Let's start our monthly meeting! Black Lily, let me introduce you—this is Lucas, our human advisor!" Red Flame Darkness said, pointing toward my brother.

"Advisor?"

"Hello! I'm Lucas. I help Shining Arrow plan her build. Would you mind if I knew your stats? Maybe we could figure out how to cooperate better?" my brother asked.

"Help?"

"Yes! See here," he continued. "This is our party. Through this game, we can simulate how your party will behave in real combat." He showed a playthrough using Black Lily, me, and Red Flame Darkness. The team focused on me as the ranged attacker while the others kept the Anathema at bay. Black Lily watched the screen, then consulted her familiars and nodded.

However, the screen suddenly changed, and all of the Magical Guardians turned into UNH soldiers. Black Lily asked my brother, "I want to open a PMC branch. Do you think you could help me?"

"Erm... let's see. This is a standard soldier with Silverbane bullets. This one has explosives, and this one... uh... I'm not too familiar with Guardians who use guns, but I know a few. Let me check." My brother suddenly stuttered, clearly out of his comfort zone with the question. Nevertheless, he finished the mission simulation, though three soldiers died in the process. "Well, here's why PMC units are underrated. Once an Anathema gets close, they're done for."

"Thank you!" Black Lily forced a smile. I wondered if my brother had said something wrong.

"Alice, there's a ping from Felicia," Wan-nyan said. "She says Black Lily is wondering if she could hire your brother as a PMC consultant."

"Eh? Why?" I blurted out, catching everyone's attention.

"I want to start a PMC company," Black Lily said.

"But PMCs are... I mean, ineffective. Even if we equip them with full armor and weapons bought by an S-ranked Guardian, they'd barely stand a chance against C-ranked Anathema," my brother tried to rephrase his words, attempting to sound more professional.

"Well, with the new human enchantment methods, we might not need S-ranked Guardians to produce soldiers capable of taking down C-ranked Anathema. Shirayuki is fully investing in this venture," Black Lily explained. "We certainly couldn't match aberrants with normal soldiers no matter what enchantments they have, but if we could turn human soldiers to match C or even D rank anathema, we could make the world more secure! 80% of usurpations are C rank and below after all."

"Wait a minute! My brother has spent his whole life sleeping and lazing around in bed! He can't be a soldier!" I protested. I hated life in the shelter, but that was still a hundred times better than facing Anathema. As a Magical Girl, I had seen firsthand how dangerous fighting them really is.

"An operator doesn't need to go to the field directly. They handle logistics and planning," Black Lily clarified.

"Is the thing about the enchantment really true? I thought it was just UNH propaganda," my brother said, surprised.

"Yes, it's real. I've seen it firsthand. Here's a video," Black Lily said, handing me footage of an elderly woman with a severe skin condition performing a ritual that produced enchanted gloves. "However, the ritual poses some risk to normal humans, so further research on its safety is still required. So far, only Guardians are allowed to perform these enchantments."

"I'll do it," my brother responded. I looked at him, suddenly feeling a surge of admiration. He was like the brother I used to respect back when I was in kindergarten.

"Whoa! If this is real, we can take back Earth! Whoo-hoo! Count me in! I'm gonna lead a paramilitary, too!" Red Flame Darkness exclaimed.

"Of course. Anyone healthy can join. I dream of retaking Earth from the Anathema once and for all," Black Lily said.

"Um... I think I'll stay in the background," Sapphire Priest added. "Blue said they also need Guardians to enchant higher-quality materials, and retired Guardians or those unfit for combat would be ideal for that."

I watched as my family slowly emerged from the depths of despair. I was happy. My mom had her patisserie, and my brother was about to be contracted by Shirayuki as an advisor. I'm glad I became a Magical Girl.