Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

54 – A Magical Accountant? (1)

Almost immediately after Sora and Nakji left in search of the aberration…

Sora’s magic wore off. The blue barrier of fire that had blocked me and Huindung began to crumble.

And then.

– Tap.

– BANG!

My footsteps and the crack of gunfire intersected.

Well, there wasn’t really a problem. I knew Huindung’s magic to some extent.

A linear magic, focused on raw power.

What mattered was the direction of the muzzle, the number of bullets.

Maybe that’s why. Honestly, it was easy to dodge. A situation I couldn’t avoid never even materialized. Huindung’s magic was that straightforward.

Thanks to that, I was able to reach Huindung without much difficulty.

Now, all I had to do was subdue him.

Of course, there was the option of stalling for time until Sora and Nakji dealt with the aberration.

But I didn’t think it was a good choice.

My body may be in better shape than it was in the other world, but that didn’t mean it was superior to a magical girl’s physique. Not even close.

Especially when it came to stamina.

Frankly, at first, I was just thinking of dodging, so I tried moving a few times solely for that purpose, but it was surprisingly draining.

I guess it was because Huindung just had to pull the trigger, while I had to move rather excessively every time I dodged.

I wouldn’t be able to last long just dodging.

In that case, subduing him was the best of a bad situation.

That was the rationale behind approaching Huindung.

Adding to that, though I felt a little bad about it, I felt more at ease ending things myself than trusting Sora and Taishi and waiting.

So, I trace a crescent moon.

From top to bottom.

Using my standard-issue magic wand.

It was magic at point-blank range, but since it wasn’t Moonlit Sword, it would only inflict a moderate wound and be done.

“New Moon.”

In response, Huindung fired a bullet toward my hand as I swung.

The second, and final bullet.

– TaaaNG!

No problem.

My magic, even in this other world, even here in this mortal realm, held superiority against other magics.

Which meant, I could negate almost any magic thrown my way.

I didn’t know the precise reason why.

I simply knew it to be true.

Still, well, that was enough.

Either way, right now all I needed to do was negate Blondie’s magic. Blondie was out of bullets, and I could immediately cast the next stage of my spell.

That’s what I thought.

“Eh…?”

Until my fingers exploded.

– Thud, pop.

Torn off fingers, each leaving trails of blood, fell to the ground with feeble sounds.

– Ting, clatter.

The beginner’s magic wand in my hand fell, rolling powerlessly away. Because the fingers that had been holding it were gone.

“…What.”

In the face of this incomprehensible situation, a question involuntarily escaped my lips.

At that moment, Blondie twisted their lips into a sneer.

“If you limit it, you can use it like this, eh?”

Only then did I realize.

This wasn’t magic, not now.

Instead of using the bullets to manifest magic, Blondie simply shot them. Judging by what they said, they must have limited their magic power.

Meaning, a normal bullet was fired and blew off all my fingers.

Well, if I was going to be honest, that was a predictable outcome.

Even if ordinary firearms were ineffective against monsters, they could still effectively destroy a normal person’s body.

As a result, the moon I was conjuring was severed before it could even touch Blondie.

With no fingers to hold the beginner’s magic wand, there was no way I could draw a moon.

Essentially, the magic was cancelled mid-cast.

But it was fine.

The damage stopped at the fingers.

And.

I still had other means.

Besides, the bullet just fired from Whity’s wand was his last. Which meant all I had to worry about was his sidearm.

I reached out a hand, practically flesh, towards Whity’s revolver, preventing him from drawing it.

At the same time, I swung one arm that was still intact.

Summoning the Moonlit Blade into my hand.

And once again, I traced the moon.

“Shuo— (朔—).”

At that instant, a faint sound reached my ears.

– Pew.

Followed by a searing heat blooming in my side.

And.

A sensation of something that shouldn’t be, threatening to spill.

“Ah, shit.”

I gave up on drawing the moon right then and there.

This was what I had to deal with first.

Quickly putting distance between myself and Whity, I clutched at my side with my ruined hand.

A burning, sticky, squelching pain clawed its way from my side, up my spine.

Unpleasant, stinging, and yet, familiar.

“Ha.”

Right.

A part of my flank had vanished.

My innards were threatening to escape through the missing flesh.

“The hero’s dead, fuck.”

If there was any silver lining, it was that only my side was hit.

My guts hadn’t ruptured, and there was no damage to the surrounding ribs or lungs. Just missing flesh and muscle.

But, it wasn’t much comfort. Hurt was hurt, after all. Honestly, I was teetering a little.

And at the same time, I couldn’t understand it.

How Whity managed to launch such an attack.

Clearly, there were no shells loaded in Shiro’s double-barreled shotgun. I know this; I counted them earlier.

Nor did she use her revolver, her backup. I blocked her hand, and besides, she never even drew it.

Which means, she had no apparent means of attack, yet she still managed to wound me.

I truly don’t understand.

Just what in the world did she do, and how could that even be possible?

However, I soon grasped how she had pulled it off.

“Seriously, what the hell?”

Shiro now held not the double-barreled shotgun-shaped wand, but a typical, ordinary wand.

Meaning, she used a ‘normal wand’ to cast a spell that grazed my side.

Not a spell cast with a specialized wand, but a chantless spell conjured from an ordinary one.

No wonder the wound wasn’t more serious.

Even so, my body is still that of a regular person, so even this is quite potent.

Anyway, I’ve got a rough idea now. But, one question branches off from this.

Why would she attack like that?

It isn’t like Shiro.

It’s not the way of a magical girl.

In other words, it’s not an appropriate method for facing a monster.

Not chanting when casting a spell.

Suddenly limiting her magical power and only firing bullets.

Abruptly casting magic with a normal wand.

These are meaningless actions against a monster.

It’s not effective anyway, and it’d be better to land even one more proper spell.

Stealth, deception, trickery, manipulation, exploiting gaps in awareness.

These aren’t necessary against a typical monster that blindly charges in.

They are the most effective elements when killing a human.

But, what in the world happened to Shiro that she’s fighting so differently than usual?

Shiro isn’t the kind of person who would kill someone.

Rather, she’s the kind of person you occasionally want to kill.

No, not occasionally, fairly often.

At that moment, Shiro tapped the wand against her neck, and gave a wry smile that was so unlike her.

“Didn’t know about this, eh? Magical Ant, are you?”

Then, transforming the magic wand back into a double-barreled shotgun, he exhaled a string of exclamations.

“Still, a curious weapon. To be able to use it like this. Seems much more… evolved than what I was using.”

First came the feeling of foreignness.

“If I had stuff like this, I’d have popped that b*stard’s head off long ago and collected a hefty prize. Thanks to you, a bunch of Underlings had to die needlessly.”

Followed by a sense of déjà vu.

The reason for the latter, I couldn’t quite grasp. A feeling of unease crept from a corner of my mind.

“Well, those intern b*stards didn’t matter anyway. They were just sucking up money.”

Especially when continuously mentioning finances like now, the déjà vu and discomfort intensified.

I just…kept getting annoyed.

However, independently of that, I could finally understand the initial foreignness.

At first, I’d only thought that Whitey had been hypnotized, brainwashed. Cursed to perceive himself as a Magical Accountant and the rest as Magical Ants.

But, in reality, there was another curse at play.

─ “I stuck the most difficult guy I’ve ever met into him, you know? A watered-down version, to be precise, but that’s enough, apparently?”

Recalling the words the grotesque thing left behind before departing, this must be it, this curse.

Possession.

To put it plainly, an ego and skillset were copied and implanted, and only now surfacing.

Probably, the possession took place over time.

Though, it couldn’t be a complete possession.

For one, he still adheres to Whitey’s fighting style, and his manner of speaking is still Whitey’s.

There was a reason why he mentioned it was a watered-down version.

Well, anyway.

I roughly understood the situation. So, I should adjust my thinking and respond accordingly.

The one I’m facing now isn’t Whitey.

He uses her magic, looks exactly like her, but is absolutely not Whitey.

Someone accustomed to murder, who measures everything by the standard of money, a nameless someone.

At the same time, someone who inspires a sickening déjà vu.

“Well, that’s beside the point…”

At that moment, Whitey cocked the shotgun, aiming it at me.

“First, gotta take care of the Magical Ant, right?”

Holding a double-barreled shotgun in one hand, the other threaded with bullets between my fingers, ready to reload.

“Die.”

– KATHUMP!

The muzzle flash drew a fleeting line in the air.