***(One day before the Life festival)
Ledia had taken shelter at a nearby magical girl branch of the local police station. There was always at least a single magical girl employed to help enforce the law due to the possibility of criminals coming into contact and getting hold of magic. For one thing, witches exist. They frequently use blood magic, which is magic that siphons a perceived measurement of life force or life span from someone's blood to fuel magic. As such, it's no surprise if witches are found sacrificing other humans to fuel their magic.
"..." (Ledia)
"... We have some good news, Ledia." (Vamaly)
The magical girl in the lab coat was named Vamaly, at least that was her nickname as a magical girl while her true identity was under wraps. On the other hand, Ledia had no such inclinations to hide her real name yet. So she just went with Ledia, moreover...
"We found your father! He was still alive and lightly injured. A few of the furniture collided before falling on him, and he persisted in that small sliver of space!" (Vamaly)
She looked up at the coated magical girl in surprise, shocked at how it turned out. She could have sworn her father was dead... But she didn't check in the end so there was always a slim chance he survived, but... This really was good news after all... The only way they could have identified her father was to know her real name...
"I'll say it now to get it over with. Because you are a magical girl, you will be under the government's custody and protection." (Vamaly)
"..." (Ledia)
Custody? What custody...? What are they going to do? Am I going to be captured? Dissected? What about dad...? Will I ever see him again...?
"... Alright alright. First off, it means the government will take care of you. Your family will receive a monthly pension...
In other words, any healthcare or education will be free, though it will be provided by other magical girls in the labyrinth... And a set amount of money for food will be provided for regularly with no catch to it. You will also continue to live with your father until you're independent or wish to inhabit a dormitory. " (Vamaly)
That was the broad gist to it, there are more unmentioned conditions. Everything will be presented on paper to her living parent, her father. There wasn't really any place on the paper for him to sign, since this wasn't a contract to negotiate, but more of a warning on what they can or cannot do. Vamaly did her best to explain to her, seeing as Ledia was still too young to understand the more intricate details. Or that it wasn't important for Ledia to know.
A few hours passed, and Vamaly returned from her errand after leaving for a while. She returns to an unfamiliar sight at the station... Ledia was still there. For the past few hours...? Was she lost...? Ah, wait... She lost her home in that bombing incident, perhaps she was now waiting for her father or some instruction from the adults...
The police working nearby were either too busy with their own hands or didn't know how to interact with her... Most of these people were citizens of the Sanctuary who held some deep lining respect for the Sanctuary or some sense of protectiveness over the common people, that's why they take up this dangerous job of enforcing the law.
It's especially dangerous if the lawbreaker was a magical girl, there would be no way around it. It wasn't worth beating around the bush for, they would all die. People who still opt for this job despite that reality are those who wish to help the most. There are better paying jobs with relatively less danger. Then it must be... That they didn't know how to interact with a child who had lost everything.
Ledia sat quietly on a bench at one of the corners of the reception area. She didn't move or interact so much as to remain silent for quite a long while. She must have had a lot to think through, that finding her new home at the labyrinth hasn't cross her mind at all. Unless she was simply unaware. Then, at least... Vamaly will help her out.
"... Are you feeling hungry? We can go out for a meal, or do you have anywhere you want to go?" (Vamaly)
"... Dad... I want to see dad..." (Ledia)
"... Got it. He might be out cold for a while, the closet fell over his body and protected him from the falling roof, but he was still crushed under all that weight.
When he was found, he was still conscious but he fainted from exhaustion right after. Come with me. " (Vamaly)
Quiet. Too quiet. What did Ledia have on her mind? This time it might be her father, or it might be something else. Why was Vamaly so drawn into the thoughts of one girl? No, it'd be farcical to say that. She had always wondered how others felt, this was her usual routine everytime she met someone knew. She can't be sure about what she herself felt, so she wanted to see how others felt.
Before she noticed, her legs had carried her to the general hospital with Ledia in tow. It didn't take long to locate her father, after leaving them alone for some time, Ledia returned to the reception for Vamaly.
Was that enough time? Did she felt rushed? Vamaly assumed that she would have taken even more time than that and was prepared to stay awhile. Oddly enough...-
" Vamaly, as a magical girl, how strong am I? Can I save people like you do...?" (Ledia)
Amongst all the cacophony in the hospital, her shrill and barely developed voice rang with the most clarity, like a harp in a sound padded room. Vamaly thought that this must be her resolve, to prevent any such similar situations from happening ever again. Then... As someone who was the same and lost their little sister through The Great Disaster... Who is she to refuse her?
Name: Ledia Herseveny
Title: None
Magical girl effectiveness level: C
Perimeters:
- Physical: D
- endurance: C
- speed: D
- will: C
- well: B
" We'll issue you your magic chip soon, it's a construct made from magical particles so nothing will be physically inserted into your body unlike those sci-fi movies!
In the meanwhile, I have some jobs to do. Do you want to come with?" (Vamaly)
***(A few hours later)
" Shhh... Make sure to balance your weight and step toe first... The target is quite close, you'll help cut off their escape! But don't fight them! " (Vamaly)
" Mmm! Mmm! " (Ledia)
She made some vigorous nods which drove Vamaly anxious and raised her heart rate, but they should still be fine. Their mission hasn't been compromised. This was one of the places that Vamaly staked out at as certain members of the police force were given Intel and tasked to watch out for cult members around these areas.
This was the 6th day she was observing their movements and eavesdropping on them. Fortunately enough, cult members are just normal humans. Though precautions have been taken in case there was a witch amongst them.
As a magical girl, the endurance stat was a visualisation of how augmented her body's physical toughness are, but it's a mere empirical calculation of how much magic is sent into her body, so it includes her senses and how sharp they are. Senses such as hearing can pick up sounds from a large distance away. It's not uncommon for magical girls to errect sound barriers just to have a private conversation.
But there isn't much danger even if there was a witch. There were 2 distinct types of witches, those that have lived beyond the average human life span and those that haven't. Those that haven't were much more inexperienced, their repertoire of blood magic has less variation. Those that have, have done so by taking the life force of others, causing rumours of vampires and succubuses to arise. But these were old and solitary creatures. They might be far stronger, but it also meant there is little to no chance of them working with human cultist whom they view as livestock.
'Who are they?' (Ledia)
She whispered as softly as she could, seeing as there was a lot of danger if not addressed, Vamaly budged and tried to quell her doubts.
'An offshoot of the Vermanian faith... The Goroshinkai cult... In the West of the Sanctuary, they're called the Efermis blood guardians because their higher ups, rumoured to be a select group of powerful witches, are located there.
We're watching for any big change in their movements right now, so that... We can prevent another case like yours. " (Vamaly)
She tried to be as concise yet informative as she could, mulling over her words to make them sound easier to understand. Ledia had been properly going to school, but Vamaly still looked at her as a child who'd find words hard to understand. She didn't understand why she did it either. She promptly dismisses it as a trivial digression of her own thoughts, and returns to watching the cultist. After a couple of hours, they left.
The cult members could have been anyone, but to see that they were members of society that blended into the masses bent and stretched her heartstrings. Why would our own citizens do such a thing? Domestic terrorism... Over this uncertain age... It wasn't as if crimes were completely eradicated after The Great Disaster, but given the drastic state of everyone's livelihoods, nobody was really able to commit a crime. Everyone was weak and impoverished and a rate of 0 crime had lasted for a few months...
When people began doing well, when people began coveting more riches than they already have, seeing as some are more financially well off than others... Robbery became the most common crime. It was what necessitated a human police force, and they combined it with some of the magical girl forces.
Usually some would volunteer, but if it ever came to the severe circumstance where no magical girls were willing to assist the human police force, some of them would get drafted by the government. Their powers were used to minimise fatalities and injuries, since C grades are enough to deal with firearms and melee weapons would break on their skin.
"Haa~" (Vamaly)
"... Do you have to do this a lot? It seems exhausting...
If it were me... I wouldn't be able to control myself, I'd go in there and beat them up..." (Ledia)
".... Well, there isn't much of a choice. All magical girls, including you, after about a year from now, have to get a job after acquiring their magical girl license.
Otherwise you wouldn't be recognised as a magical girl but as a criminal and get hunted down.
Also, it's dangerous! And... Cultist are like cockroaches. We need to keep a few alive so that they lead us to their nest. " (Vamaly)
Ledia briefly nodded her head in deep thought, before peeking back at Vamaly. Her lips pursed as she readied her words.
" This is just a conjecture, but... Is this part of a large scale mission... To track the higher ups of the cult?" (Ledia)
"... Yeah. General consensus is that they hide in the Grundo Alliance and kingdom of Blumford." (Vamaly)
This was a precautionary measure, in case one of the higher ups ever step foot inside the Sanctuary. There was a lag in communication systems since radio waves are down. There are walky talkies and military equipment that make use of radio signals, but it's not advance enough to work across long distances and provide coverage over the entire Sanctuary. To circumvent this... We can only rely on the running speed of magical girls and use them as doves.
So in a way, nothing can escape the ears of the Sanctuary, at the same time it takes a while for what the ears hear to reach the brain and act on it... In the South, Friedra who was the commander of the magical girl forces, had recovered enough to fulfill her duties. Barius still held the official commander position that she took the mantle off of Friedra for, but it seems that they've worked a system where one of them will serve as a reserve. Having multiple A grades was very useful, they are magnitudes stronger than a B grade, so the travel time would definitely be lesser.
The other regions should also have a handful of A grades, but as it is now, the system is strained with all of the A grades and above deployed and working to their bones. Someone like Vamaly could only hope to lessen their burden by performing precarious jobs like this...
Meanwhile....
"Is your retirement going to be lazing at home for the rest of your life? I doubt another threat like Hikari will appear again..." (Myuu)
"Hmm... If I see all the youngins work so hard, I might feel a little bad for being the only magical girl to have a retirement life..." (Kaori)
"... Yeah... I thought you'd feel bad. But at heart, you're still a Neet aren't you?" (Myuu)
"... " (Kaori)
A certain individual sits at home like a piece of decoration.