*
Walking along the solid pathway, a rather rare site nowadays- footsteps continue to echo as sound waves bounce off the enclosed buildings back into my ear drums. While in magical girl form, magic is burnt off to maintain this appearance. Naturally some of the magic is redirected and rather than 'transforming' it is more like 'transfiguration' in which this is not just a new look, but my insides were also altered beyond recognition.
By its logic, my sensory organs had been heightened and I was able to see far distances without any spectacles or hear distant echoes despite the rather large nature of this stronghold. Well, I'll still call it a 'transformation' for convenience sake. Technically it was only a matter of perspective.
In the end, it was why I kept hearing footsteps beating in my ear, the heavy thud sound emphasising the very nature of this stronghold with every unique sound produced, giving away the nature of their owners as well. Not that I know much about people's nature at the moment, only whether they walked 'heavily' or 'softly' or how fast they were going and whether they changed pace.
They were mostly of the 'soft' nature, pushing the fact that everyone here was a magical girl. To be honest, it was a dream to be surrounded by such cute girls. They were all around my age and had stunning looks in all their unique ways. Many changed out of their magical costumes and wore casual clothing or a lab coating that emphasised their occupation in this place. More and more lab coat wearing girls appeared as we resumed our walk into their general direction. They must have gotten a break from research at a nearby facility.
Well, it seemed like... A dream. Now it was far too terrifying though. In fact I think I'm starting to emanate cold sweat and I fear if someone with enhanced smelling would detect it. The problem was that even if it didn't seem to be too difficult maintaining this form due to my decently large supply of magic, what if I messed up in the middle of the street? Who knows, a stray missile of magic may hit me and cancel my transformation in an instant... I don't know how any of it works, but I would prefer to not reveal myself here at all. I could just imagine the headline of a new newspaper issue "Local deviant sneaks into our newfound country's magical girl stronghold".
Thinking about it too much wouldn't help, so let's just stay prudent for now. The grey ceiling shone with brilliant blue and yellow panels occasionally, even the temperature seemed to be regulated here to make the workers more comfortable. We passed through a slightly translucent layer of air akin to a mist before a more evident shift in scenery presented itself before us. Unlike the usual grey buildings that we walked by before, these ones had actual paint as if a miniature town had been built here in the heart of the labyrinth.
"It's inconvenient for you to keep calling me guide-San... I go by Kanou here. Oh.. And please use honorifics when referring to me. Anyway you were brimming with questions right? First of all, I need your personal information otherwise I'll have to eliminate you on the spot. "(Kanou-san)
" Kaoru, Higusawa Kaoru. Male, 1st year of high school. I'll be in your care... "
How was that? I even practiced this in my mind over and over again. We had to walk for at least 15 minutes to get here, I wasn't wasting my time looking around like a bumpkin! Of course the surroundings were built beautifully if they were to be a facility appropriate for use by magical girls.
Taking in my response, she proceeded to bring out a tablet from her dark green hood, gold patterns flashing on her armour underneath as the cloak of the hood slightly lifted in her expectant arms. Typing in the information, she spoke as I she continued to scroll for what she was searching for.
".... Was that why you were so nervous? Well don't worry about that, even if it doesn't look like it, there's actually decent amount of magical girls that were male before transformation too. Of course, there are some that take advantage of it and do... Tasteless things. Well, they are quite rare but not non-existent. In any case, are you interested more in our geography? Usually that would be the first thing that people ask... Information technology is no longer with us after all. " (Kanou-san)
Her last sentence was quite contradicting considering that she pulled out a tablet just now, but I shall refrain from pointing it out. Maybe it was a limited resource for the higher ups, did they build a new network for their own convenience? Well, it wouldn't hurt to learn more.
"Sure."
"I trust that you know the name of our own country?" (Kanou-san)
" The sanctuary of the eye god...."
"Correct. After that great destruction, some small islands were obliterated while your country smashed against the east of Asia. It was a great gathering point and hub for societal rebuilding, due to the ease of procuring food from both the sea and land here, plus the surplus amount of land. Anyway we travelled a few hundred kilometre before teleporting here, did you notice? "(Kanou-san)
".... So what is the situation with the rest of the world? Surely you would know.... " Eyes full of hope, I turned toward her face and made eye contact. I need to know... If humanity still exists out there... Fighting whatever creature that tore earth apart required the full force of humanity, if our asiatic region were the only ones left, it wouldn't be enough.
"First of all, civilisation collapsed as we knew it, but rest assured that there are definitely survivors. Some small countries without magical girls were wiped out, but the major countries all survived and formed coalitions to hasten their rebuilding efforts.
Our area was exactly the same in that the survivors of anyone in Asia were brought here by magical girls. Most islands were either blown into countless fragments that decorate the sea or overturned and thrown around the continent. The other continents kind of mashed together into 1 big piece but with plenty of cracks running down the centre that were filled with sea water. This 10 km by 10 km base was built before the disaster so efforts were mostly focused on rescue work for a while. "(Kanou)
" Last 2 questions. What are those monsters and... Do we have to fight other humans? "
"... First off, we don't know much about the monsters either. Our union of magical girls was formed a few centuries ago and even they didn't understand much of it, the main base is located in the British empire as their naval power was good for keeping unwanted attention away. So they made a deal and mainly operated there.
Of course things changed though, they had a much larger and complex secret base there, while what we're working with here is pretty much a branch office. Anyway, to go back on track, monsters have appeared for a very long time, even before I was on active duty which was a couple decades ago. No one knows where they came from or their biology as their body disappears into ash after death. They tried keeping some alive which results in casualties, so only a select team of rather powerful magical girls were allowed to carry on this research.
Hahah.. I couldn't answer one of your questions... For the other... It's best to resolve yourself for the worse. The union naturally acted as a seperate organisation from the government, they seized the opportunity to take over the world during the disaster. Hmm, it only succeeded on their main base so the area around England is pretty much their territory. The rest of us branch workers were effectively abandoned, some from the Illnoia administration and Gangrea monarchy tried to approach them only to be shot dead by magic augmented weaponry.
The west of the Union is the holy kingdom. The people there had converted to religion while their government became a church system. I heard their pontifex was tough enough to negotiate with the union into a ceasefire so that's something." (Kanou)
" That's a lot to take in... So where are we going next? Is there some king of license to be a magical girl? "
Listening to my inquiry, her expression brightened up from the solemn state before. Her shoulders twitched a little as her voice grew lighter in tone.
" Hahah.. Something like that. You'll be attending specialised education to get a certificate. Without it, your human rights will be forfeited."
I wonder if she noticed, but a look of sheer terror had been adorned on my facial muscles. Human rights? So food and shelter will be given at their mercy and even my life... What if they make me transform and take my clothes away...
"... Just so you know, that means you'll be treated as a criminal and killed on sight. Those fantasies of yours will only come true when other criminals find you..." (Kanou)
"Hah?! Wawawah? No wait... You got it wrong! I didn't think of anything weird at all!"
Hearing my blunder, a smug expression morphed over her face before she turned around to give a follow up.
"I wonder what they are, huh? Forcing you to transform and tak-" (Kanou)
"Uwah!! Stop that, I give! I give!"
"Hehe... Now you know who is superior. Let's go, we're almost at the teaching facilities." (Kanou)
After a refreshing exchange, the mood had hopefully resettled back to how it was before. We soon reached an extremely large building not unlike those from otome games. The clear resemblance to the medieval architecture along with their own add-ons of coloured roof-tiles and modern noticeboards give a unique touch to this area. Buildings here were also made of a stable combination of concrete walls, marble columns and steel supports inside those columns. The walls were painted and given texture similar to large stone blocks and doors were made of metal with a decorative layer of wood to make it seem fantasy like.
How I was able to notice the metal that went into building, you may ask? They weren't exactly hiding them as pillars would be covered from 270 degrees of angle with marble, while the remaining corner of the column was exposed to show the support inside. Even the metal was decorated so it seemed that they were meant to be seen. Doors on the other hand have a layer of wood outside, but after entering the room, the inner layer of the door was exposed as there no such covering inside. It looked like the architects or whoever was in charge could not decide between a fantasy-esque look or a futuristic one. How disappointing, please stick with one!
There was no front gate in particular other than the translucent wall of air that was a 5 minutes walk from here. It was an academy of sorts with a bushy grass hedge wall forming its perimeter. In the centre of the front side, the wall was completely open while presented along with a large footpath that led to the entrance. Trees fill up the empty space along with small grass fields on the side of the footpath. At the entrance was another translucent wall of air, perhaps it was the same magical tool that regulated temperature. While I've been slaving out on farm land, these people were enjoying air conditioning down here...
Putting those thoughts away, Kanou-san continued to show me around the academy grounds and its facilities. Along with the main education building, there were also a number of small research centres nearby for the students to use. Some buildings also held durable barriers that allowed people to spar inside without damaging the surroundings, others held collections of rare materials people may need to create magic tools with. There was a serious lack of manpower, so teachers could have to take a hundred or 2 students at once, as such the classroom were made similar to lecture halls with seats that gradually go up to the back.
There were also smaller rooms that serve other purposes such as fulfilling other interests students might have. One such interest could be learning to play music on instruments or the different types of sports. Seeing it up close, I don't think I could get bored here.