*
Arriving near a settlement like area with lots of stone and concrete buildings, I could see many people going about their daily lives as I flew through the air. Well, rather than flying I was being carried by momentum from my jumping power, leaping...? Yeah, leaping would be a better way to describe how most of us magical girls travelled. As we were faster than any vehicle, we relied on our simple old legs.
Slowing my fall with my skill to minimise the damage to the ground, I flopped onto the road with ease. Then I began walking. I don't actually know where the labyrinth is, the fact that I went in the right direction was already... Did Myuu actually guide me towards the right direction? After a large distance it should still deviate though... Unless it was super precise. Or maybe it was the body's muscle memory, it felt like the land was familiar and just went in this direction.
As I continued to walk by, my body had already recovered from the battle after the night of travelling, so my magical girl combat dress was speckles and glowing under the harsh sun. With such an attire, I naturally got a lot of unwanted attention as I walked through the streets. I guess it's because magical girls are even rarer here. Maybe there were other reasons, but at this point I couldn't care less. I was feeling a little peckish... Well, rather than a hunger which magical girls lack, I just felt like I wanted to try some meat...
I know it's pointless, I know no matter how many times I try it won't bring back my sense of taste. My body can't even feel its texture. I have no idea how 'touch' is suppose to feel, but I still want to try. So I walk up to a nearby stall in this street lined up with restaurants and coffee shops. Perhaps this was the local food street, though it seemed to be weirdly desolate despite the high amount of traffic a large food area was suppose to receive.
Was the food here bad? Not that it would make a difference for me. With such carefree thoughts, I charged to the nearest food stall that seemed to sell meat skewers on a large mobile grill. On the top hung other types of meat like duck, chicken and pork. Little colourful morsels of vegetables decorate the skewers by alternating between the meat. There were 2 others who were queueing, but after seeing my appearance they decided to part away.
...? Did magical girls get to skip queues here? Just how exotic are we? Right now was fine, but I don't want to be treated like a zoo exhibition... As such, I quickly made my order with the plan to swiftly retreat right away.
"2 Skewers please!"
"..." (Street vendor)
It was a middle aged lady, she had some wrinkles right under her eyes formed from her eye bags above her worn out cheeks. Her eyelids partially closed and her hair was frayed messily under her hair bun. She moved her hands swiftly as she picked up 2 skewers that were newly heated and handed them to me. I picked them up and stared at her waiting for the price.
"..."
Instantly, her face had morphed into terror as tears leaked out and her knees dropped to the ground. It was so bizarre that I couldn't react for a second. It was also rather uncomfortable and awkward to have someone kneel in front of you in public. It catches attention above my already flashy outfit... Magical girls can also feel embarrassment you know? I haven't lose such feelings you know?
"....! I-it's free!! I've already payed my taxes! Please spare me! " (Street vendor)
"...?! What? Why would you pay me taxes?... Why would magical girls collect tax? Is the governor of this place a magical girl?"
She stared at me with a dropped jaw, her hands trembling heavily and her legs writhing on the ground. Just what was going on with her... I turned around as I planned on asking someone to help her up, but there was no one else in the vicinity. The 2 that was queueing here before had vanished too. Did they run away? Was it this lady who was crazy? Unwilling to deal with such a troublesome case, I dropped $4 down on the stand before walking away. They can't be more than $2 each right? Unless the economy somehow inflated overnight...
Briskly walking away at a fast pace, there was something odd about her words that bothered me. Maybe I just had the wrong idea but... Maybe I should investigate it.
Continuing on the path I could roughly see people running far away. No, I didn't even need to see them. My passive tells me that the ones who initially saw me are getting more people to leave my vicinity. They have some sort of surveillance system going on since they know which direction I'm walking in. Or is it my massive mana signature that's alerting them? In any case, I havent done anything against them yet. I find their reactions simply too odd if I were to take the residents of Central as a baseline of common sense.
Perhaps there would be someone who was willing to explain. I proceeded to turn right and make a dash. No matter what method they used to monitor my movements, it wasn't as if they could keep up to my speed if I were to get serious. They were simple humans in the end. As I ran, my surroundings gradually became more and more populated, with enough people and cacophony to be considered an actual city.
Approaching a mother and daughter pair, I tapped on their shoulders to ask about what was happening, but the mother freaked out after seeing me.
"KYAAAAAAAHH!!!!!" (mother)
The daughter on the other hand stared at me with a cold gaze as her mother's wails catches everyone's attention. Some of them ran away in silence while others screamed. Taking each other's hellish screeches as the cue, they simply abandon the mother and daughter pair. Jeez, was I really that ugly?
I knelt down to meet the little girl at eye level. The mother had been so panic stricken that her legs collapsed and she couldn't pull her knees above the ground. With no other choice, I decided to ask her daughter instead, at this point I was quite desperate for information after all.
"H... Hey... Big sister needs a little help..."
"?!.....??? Help?"(Daughter)
The fear had also spread to her, fortunately it seemed that my odd words had snapped out of he rpreconceived notions. Now I needed to know, why everyone was so blatantly fearful of me. Just what happened here....
" Miss magical girl won't hurt me or mummy?" (Daughter)
Her big upturned eyes stared intently as her light brown hair bounced from the rhythm of her movements. She was so cute, it was a shame that she must have had a really bad experience with some other magical girl... No, in fact it seemed that this entire town has been affected. Switching to a serious expression, I gave her a silent nod before resuming.
"I need to know. Why is everyone around here so scared of magical girls? Aren't magical girls suppose to protect the people?"
".... 3 months ago... A group of magical girls took over... They began collecting something called a tax... Whatever it was, it has been hurting the adults.... That's why everyone is scared of them. "(daughter)
Silence filled the air once more upon the end of her explanation, it filled everyone with dread. Whether it was their suffering and fear or the absurdity of a magical girl collecting tax, it angered me to no end. I guess there was no choice. This was a small section of the entire town under this particular governor, there may be more of these problematic magical girls but I'll deal with the ones around here first.
After the momentary respite, I asked her one last question. The most important one of all.
"Where are they?"
I turned away immediately. I suppose I couldn't control myself in the end. I don't want to frighten these people anymore. In order to prevent my fingers from clenching into a fist out of anger, I wrapped them around my waist as I stared off into the distance.
".... I know big sister is different... Big sister is a good person. So don't fight them. It's okay to run away." (Daughter)
".... But if I run away, who will save you?"
I had become stunned for a moment. I never expected anyone, not especially a young girl to refuse my help. Was I really the good person that she said I was if I refuse? Hell no.
"... Are we really more important than your own life?" (Daughter)
A questioning tone full of meaning. I wonder who it was really directed at. As a magical girl, it was my duty. To save the common people, to save those who are not my enemy. That is the reason for my existence, no matter how cold it is or how cold I have to be, I will save everyone. Even if it was such an arbitrary definition of a magical girl, I feel like if I see trouble like this I can't leave it alone no matter what.
"Miss, I'm a magical girl. This is my job."
"I can't stop you... But I hope you'll stay safe. Mama, where do the governors live at?" (Daughter)
She ran to her kneeling mother and whispered the question into her ear. Partially to calm her mother down, and partially to not draw too much attention. She then meekly pointed in one direction.
" Got it. Thanks and bye bye! "
Without wasting another moment, I ran into that general direction. Leaving a small crater in the ground, the world flashed past my eyes as the air rushes by in a frenzy. With my skill, it was a cinch to drastically reduce air resistance, sending my moving speed several levels higher. There was also the propulsion technique, with minor and nearly unnoticeable propulsion, I was able to reproduce footholds in mid air or give minor boosts in speed.
The town was quite small and I couldn't tell if the area I entered was still considered part of that town or not. Regardless I couldn't get too far or I may overshoot my target. I landed on an open space nearby and continued to stroll there. Due to my supernatural speeds, I had already outrun their surveillance, the residents here had a shock before they reacted to my presence. Some looked away as they walked off faster while others froze on the spot.
A guy that looked quite young, about in his early twenties was right behind as I walked pass a cross intersection. Noticing my odd costume, his mind took a stunned moment to process the danger before he spun his neck around to make off in the other direction. Grabbing his right shoulder before he could run, he made a yelp of terror as he craned his neck around with a horrified expression. His eyes opened so widely a fly could land on it and cause him to blink, his teeth chattered openly exposed to the air from his parted lips. His entire face had paled and his arms were hugged tightly to his chest in the position of a dog on its back.
"Y...y....y...yesssss~~~~?!????"(Man)
Despite being a complete grown up, his posture in his fearful state was pretty pitiful. Internalising my disappointment, I spoke with sharp clarity and briefness.
"Where is the magical girl that collects taxes. There's at least one in this region right? I have something to say to her."
I cupped my fist as I spoke, sending a powerful breeze crashing into the ground around us. In normal terms, that was a mere tap. It was nowhere close to my actual strength. Though I may have overdone it with my impatience.... Since he... Peed himself....
"Ah.... Uhm... Just tell me quick. I'll leave."
".... She's just down the street.... She's probably speaking to the clothing store manager...." (Man)
He spoke with tears gurgled in his voice, his lips trembling as the stream of fluid from his eyes wet large portions of his cheek. His breathing began to accelerate, so I quickly left him in that pitiful state. Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you that bad... You did nothing wrong, it was completely my fault. Much as I wanted to apologise like that, I was also too awkward to continued speaking to him. I felt like it would force him to continue the conversation, resulting in him having to endure his soiled trousers for a longer period of time.
Spotting a girl in the distance dressed as spectacularly as I was, I approached her without hesitation. Despite sending waves of my magical particles out in a similar fashion to generic technique - radar, she didn't seem to notice me until I got really close. Here pupil's constricted as I walked closer with a smile, I thought I was being quite courteous by leaving my hands on my waist and smiling. But colour was draining from her face after every second.