Aile is an executive of the evil organization.

It was a stroke of luck that she, with no abilities whatsoever, became an executive in a villain organization—after all, she had been picked off the street by Regalia while wallowing in despair.

Of course, even though she was a useless person with a completely messed-up life, she never wanted to be a villain. But when she heard that being a villain meant she could see magical girls anytime she wanted, she gladly accepted.

Even after joining the villain organization, however, she had yet to make any meaningful contribution. She hadn’t even encountered a magical girl, let alone made a name for herself in the world.

“If only I had that dress…”

Aile gazed at the dress placed before her—the magical girl outfit she had designed, which was destined to rot away in her delusional notebook for life.

With no talent, no charm, and no guts, she could never wear it.

It was an outfit reserved for the chosen ones, the magical girl regalia.

And now, there it was right in front of her.

“Can I really become like a magical girl?”

Aile recalled the magical girls she had encountered—beautiful, sparkling, and bravely saving people.

Pure magical girls who stood for good and justice.

“I want to be a magical girl…”

And now, the scientist was using the power of  science to help her achieve that dream. Aile steadied her racing heart and headed to the bed.

She thought she could knock herself out by hitting her head against the bed. If she passed out, she’d wake up the next day, right? And then she could hit her head again and pass out… repeating that until she could try on the finished magical girl outfit at once!

A perfect plan. She decided to go for it, but after one hard hit to her head, the pain made her tear up, and she ultimately gave up.

*

– krgtnpnд!

The World’s Evil broke through space with a dramatic entrance.

Immediately, alarms began to blare throughout the city.

[The World’s Evil has appeared in City H. Residents are advised to seek shelter…!]

As sharp sirens blared, announcing the arrival of the World’s Evil, a magical girl responded quickly.

“─Shining with youth, shining gemstone! Magical Girl Jewelry Sapphire! Here I am!”

Declaring her catchphrase, Jewelry Sapphire appeared on the scene and exhaled deeply after confirming there were no civilians around.

She didn’t particularly want to play this corny performance, but not long ago, her senior had cut a cigarette while thinking no one was watching, and a video of her savagely beating a monster got leaked, dropping her popularity like a rock.

While she wished she could disregard popularity entirely, she couldn’t afford to do that. After all, a magical girl’s salary was directly proportional to her popularity.

It wasn’t unusual for magical girls to engage in celebrity-like activities. They were pitiful souls who, when others were studying or attending cram schools, were busy battling monsters from other worlds, unable to maintain a proper job.

But they couldn’t just leave the World’s Evil unattended. Magical girls sold themselves as a sort of product, gaining more fame than  celebrities and raking in piles of cash. There were even management teams available for magical girls who were weak to such matters.

“What a ridiculous job. It’s not like I can do this forever. Gotta milk this cash cow while I can.”

This gig had already been going on for seven years. By now, she had every right to feel jaded, yet there was still a reason for delivering her well-rehearsed lines. Jewelry Sapphire gazed at the World’s Evil before her with a bitter smile.

A tentacle monster—just like any other day. It was as if this thing had wiped any notion of freshness from its brain, sending the same horrific-looking creatures repeatedly. It was getting really tiresome.

“─I won’t allow you to attack people’s homes!”

But Jewelry Sapphire acted professionally. Spitting out her worn-out lines for what was probably the hundredth time, she unleashed her magic. A high-pressure water cutter shot from her magic wand, cleaving through the monster’s body in an instant.

The fight was over almost before it began, and Sapphire, using her abilities, created a slightly damp hairstyle and semi-transparent clothing as she flew toward the crowd at the shelter. Shortly after, sirens announcing the end of the hunt sounded, followed by reporters swarming to capture her.

This was all business. Purely business, nothing more.

*

Name: Jewelry Sapphire
Ability: Magical Transformation
Description: A magical girl with sapphire-colored hair. Uses water magic. This is her seventh year. She’ll become an adult next year, old enough that “girl” might no longer apply.

*

[Fire Blast—!]
[Star Light—]
[Charged Particle Beam—!]

“Hmm…”

On the third day of researching the evil magical girl project, I watched videos of the magical girls in action to analyze their abilities. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t comprehend how any of it was feasible.

“They summon fire and water out of thin air? Where’s that energy even coming from?”

According to my research, magical girls’ powers were said to stem from their love, innocence, purity—basically, their girliness. I initially thought they must have some special mineral or something associated with girliness, so I searched intensely for a solid thirty minutes before realizing that wasn’t the case.

Seriously, it’s the kind of world that looks like it was pulled straight from American comics. Magical girls unleashed their powers with no conditions whatsoever. It violated all the laws of physics and turned Newton’s grave into a playground.

“But that’s really not the case.”

Of course, it couldn’t be. If this world truly had a disregard for physics, the planet wouldn’t be able to sustain itself. Everything would’ve been obliterated, reducing Earth to cosmic dust.

Just like how ancient people thought the sun revolved around the Earth, it turned out they simply hadn’t found the suitable energy source for magical girls.

And this meant that if we could locate that energy source, we could recreate a magical girl.

“Hmm… but that sounds too bothersome, let’s just improvise.”

But did I really need to? There were plenty of alternatives. The energy-infused thread used to make the dress was one such option. This thread had been soaked in a special solution that transformed an energy crystal sourced from this world, keeping it submerged for three full days.

The dress made from this thread was already pulsating with energy, and the inner lining visibly featured circuit-like patterns. Scissors-Jesus apparently went through quite an ordeal making that.

Now, what was my task? To create magical girl tools that could effectively utilize this energy. The most tedious part, though oddly enough, not something I needed to fret about.

I already had a complete list of things to create.

– A magical girl needs to have this…!
– Oh, please make this too…!
– Fight, fight! Go Scientist!

I smirked, glancing at the list provided by Aile. It was the client’s order, and just thinking about completing all of it was giving me a headache already.

“I just need to make it work somehow.” I thought as I immersed myself in the tool-making process, counting the countless nights with energy drinks from the convenience store.

As a result, after enduring what felt like a splitting headache, I finally managed to complete the magical girl outfit.

“Is it… done?”

I pulled out my smartphone and quickly texted Aile to let her know the dress was ready for pick-up. Just as I sent the message, I succumbed to fatigue and collapsed face-first onto the sofa.

Before I could register what happened, sleep washed over me.

*

Beep beep!

“Scientist…?”

Aile, who had received a text from Eight, entered the lab. As she cautiously opened the door, the untidy state of the workspace revealed itself, and she caught a whiff of something faintly unpleasant.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, she carefully stepped over items strewn across the floor and made her way to the inner lab. Since Eight had called for her, she thought he might be resting in the lounge.

Upon entering the lounge, she found Eight sound asleep on the sofa.

“Um, Scientist…?”

Debating whether to wake him, Aile reconsidered. It felt rude to disturb someone who was sleeping peacefully, so she turned to leave the lounge. Just then, something miraculous caught her eye—a single dress.

It was the magical girl outfit she had desperately wanted.

“It’s done…!”

Though she had no idea what the completion was about, she figured she’d come regardless. But seriously, finding it already finished was a surprise. Aile was prepared to lament if it took him a year or two to finish it.

The thought of replicating a magical girl’s power through  science was something no country or ability user had been able to do until now. And he had finished it in just a few days?

“C-can I try it on?”

She wondered if touching it was a no-go, but Aile couldn’t resist the urge to try on that dress. Right then and there, she tossed aside her regular clothes and reached out for the dress.

Unlike the earlier days when she’d needed help putting on clothes, now it adhered to her as soon as she extended her hand, as if it was waiting for its rightful owner.

Moments later, Aile transformed into the evil magical girl, instantly aware of what she could do. She just knew instinctively the power contained within this outfit.

It seemed to be more of the outfit itself’s ability than anything she had contributed to the creation. Without hesitation, she activated her powers. A jet-black magic wand sourced magic, conjuring a mirror in front of her.

“U-uhhh… hnnn…!”

In the mirror stood Aile, now a magical girl.

The girl who had no talent, charm, or courage to become a magical girl.

The executive of evil who had flipped her fate and obtained magic through science.

The sight filled her with overwhelming joy, and she burst into tears. As the tears streamed down her face, Aile hurriedly wiped them away, stuttering through her gratitude.

“Thank you, thank you— Scientist…”

She directed her gratitude toward the sleeping scientist in the lounge. He had restored her dreams. He had done his job as an evil scientist expertly.

Now it was her turn to take the stage. Just as Eight had fulfilled his role as the evil scientist, it was time for her to fulfill her duties as an executive of evil and an evil magical girl.

After a moment, she wiped her tears and picked up her smartphone to call her boss. It didn’t take long for her to get through.

[Aile? This is a rare occurrence. You’re the one contacting me first…]

“B-boss. I want to deploy.”

[Huh…?]

“Deploy…!”

Startled by her sudden contact, Regalia fell silent for a moment before figuring it out and, true to form, issued a command.

[─Safely return, Aile.]

“Boss…!”

[Go forth! I permit it in the name of evil!]

“Okay…!”

With her permission granted, Aile flew off to the neighboring city in her evil magical girl get-up. To City H, the city filled with happy magical girls.