*
Gaining an estimate of Kaede's ability, Asedia backs away. Even if Kaede was not strong enough to guarantee her own safety, she had already lost the will to protect the newcomer after that forceful display. But this time, it seems that she had misunderstood. Kaede was far stronger than when Asedia first saw her, that stark difference puzzled her more than anything else. How did Kaede get so strong in such a short amount of time?
After all, no one has ever heard of stealing Wells before. That would be an antic that the ancient magical girls got up to, willy nilly concluding the fate of others. Back then, they were more focused on defining what a magical girl was. As a result, magic that focused on what are considered fundamental attributes of magical girls now was widely researched then. Instead of looking for the unknown, they continued to study what was under their nose.
"How was the place? Did you guys rest well last night?" (Kaede)
"Yeah we did." (Barius)
"Mhmm. It's nice to have a source of water you don't need to search for, and a comfortable soft bed to lie on.
Anyway, did you have something for us to do?" (Neli)
Sensing Kaede's intentions immediately, Neli dutifully sparked the topic while praising about the place. After all, they were living there for free. Officially, Kaede would be their superior as a senior who was a day older on the job. Jiyu also gave the okay and let Kaede sort out matters related to her 2 friends as the one most used to their base among the 3 of them.
"... It seems that I'll be 'his' target. I need you 2 to guard me like yesterday. But we can keep this casual, we patrol the inner areas of the city and protect the residents from potential crime." (Kaede)
"... Won't that lead 'him' right to the city again? Especially after what happened. " (Neli)
Kaede swallow her spit and she formulates her next words. 'He', the Demon King will only come in the worst case scenario, when he breaches the frontline and makes it into the Sanctuary of The Eye God. Generally, the risk shouldn't even be there as it was very unlikely for The Demon King's to get past the frontline.
There was a Warlord from the Grundo Alliance with a similar ability to The Demon King's cloning skill, which should offset the balance of the battle into humanity's favour. It isn't an absolute factor and more like an insurance, but there is reason to believe the warlords are able to hold up the frontline. The Illnoia administration has also sent some of their great generals to help out, while the Sanctuary focused on channeling magical supplies.
Humanity worked together, that in itself was a testament to the threat that the demons possessed.
"Why is 'he' called the Demon King instead of the Monster King?" (Kaede)
She leaked her soliloquy as the 3 walked out of the office and handed for the forging district. Kaede had her route memorised in the morning before she headed for the rooftops to chat with Jiyu. So there was no worry about getting lost, she also had her absurd passive to rely on when things go awry. Lastly, Neli was an excellent navigator and practitioner of exploring methods that helped her stay on task.
All magical girls were told that exploration skills were important, even taught some of them at some point. However, most of them don't even retain the basic skills, with a select few acting as the exception. Someone such as Neli had even honed her skills, so that she could be a navigator in future missions. When asked, she would only say that presumed the navigator role was safer than other roles.
"He's the Demon King, because we call the intelligent monsters 'Demons'. They largely don't fit the mainstream depiction of malignant entities that lull humans into a false sense of salvation with monkey paw contracts.
If I were to say... They are the monster's version of magical girls. As such, their minimum grade is C, but the average demon is likely B. " (Barius)
" Do they have a similar purpose to magical girls? Born out of a necessity? " (Neli)
" No... They are the rank and file for the Demons. I would say that them having 10 times as many S grades as the humans would be the only reasonable estimate. The reason why humanity hasn't been wiped out... Is caused by their own internal conflict.
From our modern perspective, they are a new species that has 'out human' the actual humans. They have managed to become more vile and intense in their infighting then humans ever will, due to demon's having a similar regenerative proficiency to magical girls of the same grade, they invented torture far worse than anything a human could endure, in order to serve their purpose.
Depending on how you look at it, it could be a good thing. Any human they capture will die a swift death, for they have no concept of holding back.
This is also why The Demon King poses the largest threat. He could unite the power of the S grade demons, dubbed the 360 demon pillars by humanity. " (Barius)
" We have to quickly become stronger... " (Neli)
" Yeah, just to stand a chance to survive... " (Kaede)
" We have a patrol to do, and oh yeah, any matter pertaining the involvement of magical girls is under our jurisdiction. Meaning that normal crimes caused by humans, we can fully ignore. But I'll leave that to you, like old times. " (Barius)
Her mountain like imposing gaze lands on Kaede, prompting a reply with her eyes alone. Old times sake? Kaede pretends to think seriously for a second, closing her eyes in facade of deep thought. She scours her memories, looking for the instance when Barius depended on her to make a decision. When they were kidnapped to the Illnoia Administration camp and forced to endure grueling training.
Surveying her memories, it seemed that they had been through a lot together. An entire year's worth of history, that was what fuelled Barius's amazing strength. It was her constant inhumane training that only a magical girl could endure that propelled her to this level of power. Not only that, it was more important for magical girls to train their magic instead. To understand, analyse and utilise their skills to their full extent, to go even further and exploit holes in the rules of their own magic to go beyond its full potential.
It is akin to a distant ephemeral dream, to reach one's own hand beyond the boundary fate and grasp at a new possibility. Nevertheless, while it was emphasised in class, not once did the Kaori in her memories state that getting stronger and actualising this possibility was her goal. In fact, all she said was... That she wanted to protect other magical girls. It was deeply entrenched into Kaori's thoughts, but Kaori didn't express it clearly too much. What was it... What was the key that made Kaori, Kaori...?
"We should heed the cries of the common folk or we can't call ourselves magical girls." (Kaede)
This was her conclusion. From the sole inherent nature of her own identity, she manifested the beauty and love for life. She valued every life, she wanted everyone to live to their fullest and without regrets. A childish yet ambitious fantasy.
"Alright! Then let's get going. " (Neli)
The morning light brushed past the rows of shops as the bustling food street in the distance spreads its sphere of influence through the cheers of satisfied customers. The air was warmer than usual as the slamming of metal on metal resounds over numerous shops. This was the forging street where crafts work flourished.
The profession of metallurgy did not only include refining steel weapons, but also included uses in everyday life, including the forging of keys and locks, door frames, building support poles, knives, utensils and other kitchen equipment. As such, the street was also filled, though to a lesser extent, with other home building related shops such as wooden furniture shops, pottery workshops, sculptor enthusiast corners and soft material shops that include soft toys, pillows, mattresses and other fabric products.
Their office wasn't in much need of any of these products, though Jiyu wouldn't admit that they have become more frequent customers than the average regular due to accidentally destroying furniture with magical girl strength. Kaede surveys the area with her eyes, looking curiously at the array of products presented before. It was as if... This was her first time seeing furniture...
At first she didn't know how to feel, but her fascination soon overwhelmed her reservations. She was practically staring a hole through some of the shops, if one listened closely they would hear the startled cries of a few shop owners as soon as they noticed the magical girls walking down the street.
Even though they were in their casual clothes, they had a certain charismatic air to them as they walked down the street. Even without their unnaturally coloured hair that bobbed and waved down their backs as they strode past the shops, there was even more simple fact that gave up their true identities as magical girls...
Girls their age were usually in school. And in a post apocalyptic age, usually they would be accompanied by a guy due to the drop in public safety. Perhaps one could reason that they aren't walking alone afterall, though that wouldn't take away the highly abnormal atmosphere that they give off.
"They're staring..." (Neli)
"... Let them. They aren't doing anything, right? Let's not ruin Kaori's joy, she must have been waiting for a very long time to see furniture if she's this happy!" (Barius)
"... Yeah, I would be moved too if I hadn't seen something like it in a long time too.
It is a sense of normalcy that many flock to, the romanticisation of the pre-Great Disaster age.... " (Neli)
Barius gives off a soft smile as she too began to appraise some of the products on display.
" Yeah. It's the very reason that a forging street could rival a food street. Most modern people's concern would be about WiFi or food, but then after that comes housing and furniture. Without the Internet, they plunged back into the varieties of previously abandoned offline hobbies. " (Barius)
She wouldn't ever admit it, but she was thankful that Kaori brought them here. Window shopping was something she didn't think that she would get to experience ever again. Most of the time in the labyrinth was truly spent on training. Once could rapidly grow as a magical girl after a concentrated amount of training, but who could go through such a thing with their modern sensibilities and everyday danger taking up their time?
Rather, it was them who were weird for training so much in a short amount of time. Most others were stuck by their human mentality and never trained their body in conditions that were beyond human limits. Before they noticed, Kaede had entered one of the shops selling wooden antiques. They could hear her excitement in the distance, which they felt were surreal coming from her.
"Ooh ooh! Tell me more!" (Kaede)
The shop owner was a hunched old man with cold sweat dripping down his grey eyebrows. He spoke with fervour beyond what one would expect of his age, waving his hands frantically as if acting out an epic written a few hundred years ago. His voice was carried with exhaustion, but oddly enough his eyes were beaming. Barius stood shock at the display of her rival cheering on an old man with hops of excitement. It was truly surreal and not a behaviour that one would expect from Kaori... Or would they?
At this point, she was at a lost on how she should react, but Neli steps forward without any hesitation. She grabs Kaori by the neck and drags her away, Kaede, not wanting to destroy anything in the shop chooses not to resist but protests loudly.
"... Sorry if she bothered you! We're new here, we'll be on our way now!" (Neli)
She apologises with no room for debate, bowing her head while knocking Kaede's down with a fist to do the same.
"Aagh! You got it wrong! Wait! No...! " (Kaede)
"It's alright young lady, the day is still young. There are other stores for you to visit, as for mine... We'll always be here to welcome you." (Old shop owner)
After dragging her out of the shop, they resumed their walk along the street. The street was strangely quiet despite the constant clinking of metal in the distance, an oppressive air engulfed the 3, making it hard to speak. Releasing a deep sigh, Barius was the first to break the awkward silence.
"We don't have time to visit every store, like that old man said, we can come back another time and buy their goods then. But for today, let's not get too distracted." (Barius)
"Okay..." (Kaede)
Her minds wasn't so active after she received the light scolding from Barius, her thoughts actually laid on the topic of the furniture. She wonders if anyone else had an impulse to preserve everything in that street to bring it back home. She thought it was weird and immediately dismissed it. Everything around there, every object that seemed to have been built by human hands carried a certain amount of beauty to her. She wanted to explore that buity.