*
"... MFS, that person's state had went to a stage much worse than that of my mother's. Magic fear syndrome, usually humans can't even sense magic, but their fear has heightened and unlocked their base magic sense..." (Myuu)
"... Well, let's keep sightseeing. We're almost near the checkpoint. "
Around the centre of this central region was a massive magical barrier that protected the city with a spherical shape. This checkpoint was ubiquitous throughout the barrier's circumference, with people taking guard at each spot. Take usually inspect and watch out for danger, securing the inside of the city. As the radius of the barrier was extremely large, the surrounding buildings had no problem with the city's height limit.
" I'm thinking of getting a normal job. Maybe something like I used to do before I became a magical girl, like constructing. I guess I'll have to release this transformation..."
Perhaps a disorder that Myuu's mother had wasn't the best of conversation topics. So I circled back to my initial objective. Maybe it was time to settle down and have a normal life, and for that money was a requirement.
"... I guess I'll have to get used your untransformed appearance... Does this mean you will abandon your potentially long life for a normal one? " (Myuu)
" I suppose so. I don't I feel like my decisions are completely right, I just follow my heart even with all the uncertainty included. At this point, I feel like this would be far safer than being a magical girl. I don't know if I'll ever change my mind, but that doesn't matter anymore. "
"... You know, after I lost my mother I thought everything was truly over. I thought that there was nothing left in this world for me... And you proved that wrong. I couldn't understand your motives at first, then I realise how special of an idiot you are. " (Myuu)
" Huh? Are you trying to insult me or praise me?! "
"Hahah. That's a secret~ But come on, couldn't you think of any better job that isn't manual labour? That would eat lot into your free time. " (Myuu)
"Hmm... I feel like I want to be some kind of general purpose helper that could solve any situation, but I don't think there's such an adventurer system in this city. Perhaps I'll stick to transportation of goods as I rather not stay in one place for too long. "
" If you were to keep moving extremely long distances, what would be the point of settling down in one place? I assume you would need to stay far away a lot?" (Myuu)
" Hmmm... You have a point, I could just run back with my magical girl augmentation, but-"
" That would ruin the spirit wouldn't it? After all, now you want stay far away from magic and live a normal life. "(Myuu)
"... Yeah. I'm grateful that you understood me this well. Anyway, why have you accompanied me all the way here? We're almost reaching the Inn we saw in the middle of our tour, I heard it had great recommendations behind it. "
"... I suppose I see no point. I see no point in moving on, nor do I see any point in staying stuck in the past. I simply drift about as I please, and I happen to like you more. "(Myuu)
" I see... 'OH MY GOD, WAS THAT A CONFESSION?' then perhaps we could work together to foot the rental bill. Yeah, that would be nice. Maybe we could even retire someday and live peacefully. "
'Haaaa?! When did he get so bold?!' (Myuu)
" Let's rest for today. All that other stuff can wait. "(Myuu)
Soon, the night fell as the goldfish orange hue of the sky turned into a gradual navy blue. It was like the darkness was consuming the atmosphere when it was simply the light that moved away. The renting process was smooth as this inn was on the outskirts of central, so it wasn't particularly too full. The accommodations were decent as again, we were at the central region of the Sanctuary. This was the main hub of commerce, bringing with it prosperity and immense wealth at the centre.
Food on the other hand was a mix of many past cuisines. Sometimes it even became unrecognisable due to the amount of countries that have their culture blended into one plate. Due to staying in the labyrinth for so long, our sense of currency was fundamentally different from others, so we got chastised by the owner for brandishing too much money.
What we saw as pocket change could help one purchase food for a few weeks. The coins were kept in cloth pouches as there weren't any wallets sold around or produced anymore, I kept the pouches inside my clothes at all times for safety, but still didn't have the common sense to tell if I took out too much.
It just so happens that there were a few dollar notes with the same colour. One was ten times of the other. At that point, I could only be left wondering why the larger one existed. Did the current governing body thought that this was a good chance to add big numbers to our currency? I don't think that would be a good idea, but I suppose there must be some use for it if it exists.
"Maybe it's for storage? With how the world is at the moment, maybe the safest place for money would be next to their owners. So it was for compactness." (Myuu)
"Yeah, they look like they would be robbed immediately, wouldn't they." (Owner)
He was a kind middle aged uncle. He taught us the value of our money by equating it to some goods, giving some sense of direction in how big it was. It was more of a surprise as I assumed he would maximise his profit as soon as he saw us, 2 country bumpkins with no sense of currency.
"It just feels uncomfortable to carry something this valuable... Well, let's not dwell on it. I'm going back to the room. Myuu, you coming?"
"Mhmm, coming." (Myuu)
As I took my first step onto the staircase near the back of the Inn, I asked the owner one final question. The first floor of the Inn was a restaurant while the second and above were where the rooms were. I was just about to head to our room, there was a familiar feeling of going to an overseas hotel just like before The Great Disaster.
"Is there one or two bed in our room?..."
"Ah, yes. Of course there is only 1!"(Owner)
Cold sweat dripped down my back as I felt the temperature of the air dropped behind me. With these kinds of things, it's practically too late to salvage the situation, so what people should do is damage control. I proceeded to pretend nothing was wrong as I gave back a reply to the owner out of courtesy.
"Thanks! We'll be going now!"
He was at his bar counter where his son was taking orders and his wife serves as a waitress. The bar was a little far away, so we had to shout to each other to make conversation. I suppose now everyone knows about what I'm going through. Owner's son was around our age and was beginning to help out at the business at the young age of 15. The owner used to handle it all by himself, but now he has enough free time to talk to us even if he still manages the beverages. His brother helps at the back as the chef and helps to clean up when the restaurant section closes up.
"Hmm!!" (Myuu)
She pouts cutely, her cleaned brunette pigtails sway along with the rhythm of her neck. Her cheeks puffed up as her eyes closed and looked away. It was a little cute in a way, but also frustrating to deal with. So I thought to call my losses now and fell asleep instead. I couldn't tell her before, but even I didn't know there was only one bed so what was I suppose to do about it? Maybe... It was time.
For a single moment, a brilliant light flashed and engulfed the small room. It was not so tiny that it couldn't accommodate paying guests, but it was a room nonetheless. The simple fact that every inch of the room's inside was lit up for a second meant that the light source was of an abnormal origin. But Myuu could easily figure it out. Even if it was soundless. The right half of the bed that she was facing away from had gone slightly heavier, inching the mattress towards the springs ever so slightly. A soft but deep snoring escapes his lips.
Kaori had untransformed. He was back to being a normal guy, and this was only the first step towards living like this. For some reason, Myuu's heart was beating faster than usual her day. While she was a bit nervous about how she would interact with the male Kaori, she was more worried about he would be living his life from now on. He was already fast asleep, so there was no worry of being attacked. Even then, she believed Kaori to make the right judgement.
***
"Mhmmm~~~... Is it morning already?"
In order to get used to his old body, he decided to sleep the entire night before in his untransformed state. But it seemed that he had long forgotten who was next to him due to his drowsiness. He certainly rolled abit in his sleep, Kaoru felt like his point of view had gone slightly higher. His voice was definitely deeper and coarser now, and his limbs were hard to control. Due to being used to another body type, it felt like his soul was disassociating from his body.
"... Kao... ri?" (Myuu)
"... Ugh... Yeah? Well, my original name now is Kaoru, Higuresawa Kaoru. I'll be in your care from now on, I think my body is too hard to move right now..."
".... Ughh.. You'll have to give me a while to get used to this appearance..." (Myuu)
"... You saw it once before, well I guess I was crossdressing then so it was easier for you to ignore the finer details... I'll go lay on the ground next to the bed if you want to change. I still need to get used to the new length of my limbs."
".... You're not used to your body?... Haven't you lived with it for far more longer than your transformed state? " (Myuu)
"... Well I guess that's true. But it's different for you isn't it? You body roughly stays the same. "
"That's true for me, but then how'd you get used to your transformed state then?" (Myuu)
"I don't really know... The transformation probably includes drugs produced by magic to accelerate that process. The entire thing psychological or physical is handled by the transformation itself. But the reverse isn't, since now there's no magic but only own will driving this body. It's kind of troublesome, but I'll get used to it. "
" Welp, I'll get going then. I'll continue exploring the city. See you later. " (Myuu)
Before I had even noticed, she had already finished changing. Of course it was not a optical observation. I was simply waiting for the sound of her clothes fluttering as they are placed on the bed or the ground. This was the difference between being transformed and untransformed. She moved at least 4000 times faster than an average human, and that was only the lower end of the B-grade. After encountering that S-grade enemy, we could only have survived if we were near the high end. Below 100 000.
The cold breeze passes through from the window and gently brushes my face. I continued to lay there, contemplating my decisions. What was I doing? I don't know. What did I seek to achieve from this? Not dying in a battle with another magical girl. Magical girls were meant to protect humanity and defeat otherworldly monsters, not fight each other. But due to The Great Disaster, there was a significant increase in magical girl numbers and monster population.
Just like humans, we start fighting each other when there are more of us. The monsters on the other hand are too weak. They don't spawn fast enough from the environmental magical particles to pose much of a threat. They get eradicated faster than they get produced, just like endangered animals. The only monsters able to face up to us are the intelligent ones residing in a "Demon country" bordering the Grundo alliance in the previous African continent.
'They exist' is all we know. But by simple inference, 'they are strong' because they haven't been eradicated by magical girls yet. Perhaps humanity is regressing. Because even after a while of being a magical girl, I am regressing.