The corpse of the awakened species was handled by the police who arrived late. They saluted us and pulled out a check from their pockets, handing it over.

“Thank you for your hard work. This is a reward for you. You can exchange it at City Hall.”

“Ooh— really?”

“Yes. There will also be a Citizen Trophy presented later, so I hope you’ll attend then as well…”

“Yes—! I’ll definitely go!”

With a smile that could light up the room, Bira agreed. But as soon as the police were out of sight, she threw the check straight into a trash can. Tap tap— dusting off her hands, Bira shrugged and faced me.

“Why? An evil organization member can’t receive rewards from the police, can they?”

“Levitan works for the police, you know.”

“Working and receiving awards are different, right? She’s just stuck doing what she can since the police is the only chance she’s got.”

Saying this, Bira casually draped her arm over my shoulder. With a playful nudge, her slender arm forced me closer.

“Anyway, what do you think? This big sister is impressive, huh? Did you fall for me? Hmm?”

“Impressive, indeed… but it’s just a mediocre ability since you’ve had your limbs blown off before.”

“Ah—! You had to bring that up!? That’s like my personal trauma!”

Bira puffed her cheeks and pouted her lips. Watching a grown woman trying too hard to be cute was honestly a bit much.

With a blank stare, I looked at her, and Bira seemed to realize she had gone overboard with the cuteness and let out a chuckle.

“Hehe— was that too much?”

“No, you pull it off well.”

“That sounds like an insult disguised as a compliment. Anyway, no one can break through my defenses normally. Even when I lost my limbs, I protected the young lady.”

I recalled the charge of the awakened species I’d just witnessed. The thing was as big as a rhinoceros and faster than a typical vehicle. Basically, it meant a several-ton beast was charging at over a hundred kilometers per hour. There simply isn’t a biological way for an animal to reach such speeds.

The strength of muscles is proportional to their cross-sectional area, while weight is proportional to volume. A cheetah, which weighs a hundred times less, can manage barely a hundred kilometers per hour. You could understand how this works pretty easily.

In other words, that charge wasn’t just muscle—it was a blend of superpowers charging at us. The physical energy it contained was likely as threatening as an armored vehicle’s shelling…

‘To stop that without barely flinching, she’s more formidable than I thought.’

For a brief moment, the scientist side of me rose to the forefront. I felt a burning desire to analyze what kind of shock her barrier could withstand, and what would be needed to break it—

I forcibly suppressed the urge to thoroughly analyze her barrier. There was simply no need in this world. With a wry smile, I slowly pulled away from her.

“You smell like sweat.”

“…D-do I? Sorry— I got too close…?”

“Just kidding.”

“─You jerk!”

Bira playfully clung to me. Her warm skin, sticky from the sun, was rather uncomfortable.

*

After that, Bira returned to the organization to announce her comeback to the members.

“Bira—? Your limbs are back! I thought they couldn’t be fixed!”

“Yep! I got lucky. I didn’t expect it myself.”

“Well, considering it’s the same person who fixes my body, fixing your limbs shouldn’t be a big deal… so does that mean you want to rumble?”

Galm smiled joyfully at the sight of Bira’s returned limbs.

“Uh, big sis—!? You have limbs…?”

“Aile! Come here, let me hug you!”

“Ugh… please, let go….”

Aile looked at Bira with a puzzled expression. She seemed happy, but there was an inner turmoil swirling within her.

“Bira! You’re all better!?”

“Levitan! I’m all healed up!”

“Yay! Let’s go have some fun!”

Levitan welcomed Bira with an overwhelming amount of energy. Watching this, I finally understood Aile’s discomfort.

The overly introverted Aile was like poison to outgoing, lively individuals. Until now, there had only been one person like that—Levitan.

Now, the sister she was closest to had suddenly returned with limbs and transformed into the kind of extroverted person she hated the most. It’s no wonder her senses and instincts were at war watching Bira evolve into such an extroverted character.

‘Time will be the answer here.’

I chuckled at the future I could predict for Aile. However much she may shudder at Bira’s new outgoing nature, they would eventually become friends again, enjoying each other’s company. Aile would end up relishing being with someone extroverted and, in a way, enjoy becoming more social herself.

In turn, her gloomy demeanor may lighten up, which is undoubtedly a good thing. One can’t live stuck in such a dismal way forever, right?

“U-um, Scientist…?”

“Aile? Why aren’t you playing with Bira? What’s up?”

“W-well… it feels like my sister has become someone else… like overnight she turned into a totally different person…”

“She was probably always like that.”

“Still, talking to her feels like it’s draining me a bit…”

Aile said this while leaning her body against my shoulder. I adjusted my position silently so she could comfortably nestle in, and Aile smiled gratefully.

Surrounded by Bira’s incessant chatter, Aile broke free and seemed relieved to find comfort in my presence beside her.

“…Scientist.”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“In a few days… there’s a magical girl comic book event… could you come with me…?”

“If it’s your request, anywhere is fine.”

“Really!?”

Aile’s eyes widened in surprise, wanting to confirm again. I assured her I would happily go along. Just to emphasize, I hooked my pinky with hers to make a promise, even sealing it with a ‘stamp’—

So delighted by the promise, Aile, unusually, started to swing her legs and hummed a tune. It was a familiar melody—the theme of her favorite magical girl anime.

With Bira’s return, the evil organization found a new sense of peace. They were calm, slightly more lively than usual, which was a bit abnormal. The evil organization was supposed to have a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

‘This is peaceful… strangely not evil organization-like.’

But that peace wasn’t so bad. I spent some time watching Bira and Galm duel off in the distance. I thought to myself that this peace would last forever.

*

The promised day had arrived. The day I was to go with Aile to the magical girl comic book event.

Surprisingly, Aile showed up dressed in an outfit resembling the evil magical girl.

“…Aile?”

“W-what’s wrong…?”

“No offense, but showing up dressed like that is a bit…”

Was she trying to brag about being an evil magical girl? Aile, called out, nonchalantly pulled out a large trench coat from somewhere.

With the trench coat draped over her magical girl outfit, Aile dramatically stretched her arms wide.

“See, now it’s better!”

“Not at all…”

“Ah, no! It’s really fine! Please trust me!”

Though her tone was anything but reassuring, ultimately, I failed to convince her to take off the magical girl outfit. What was I supposed to do when she wanted to go like this?

After stepping into the car prepared by the boss, we headed to the event, and once we arrived, I quickly understood why she was so insistent on her outfit.

“W-whoa…! That’s the first-generation magical girl, Magical Cannon…! The quality is amazing…”

“…Wait, you said this was a magical girl comic book event?”

“Yes, exactly! It’s a place where they sell magical girl merchandise!”

There were people dressed in various magical girl costumes scattered about. They say if you want to hide a tree, put it in a forest. You could hardly believe a real magical girl would show up here…

As we entered the event, Aile could barely contain her excitement and immediately threw off her coat, donning a mask. With Aile emerging as the most glamorous and standout evil magical girl in the hall, all eyes were on her.

“…It’s an evil magical girl.”

“Isn’t that real?”

“Come on, why would a real one come here?”

Aile, with her authentic-looking costume, evoked gasps of admiration from onlookers. Emboldened by their reactions, Aile began to prance joyfully.

Looking back at me as if waiting for approval, she stared like a pet eager for a treat. I had no choice but to nod, and she strutted off into the crowd of magical girls like a runway model.

Among countless fakes, a single true star shined brightest.

“—Eight.”

“Yes, Bira?”

“Don’t stray too far. Anything could happen.”

Bira mumbled this while looking around at the thousands of people gathered at the event, but I didn’t feel particularly worried. My prejudice based on prior experiences led me to believe that most people who gather at such events are harmless nerds.

Of course, there are always one or two oddballs in any crowd…but what kind of world is this? A place where people without abilities are treated like handicaps, while everyone else possesses superpowers.

Anyone capable of breaching Bira’s defenses and suffering from serious issues would have likely been locked away in a mental hospital or prison by now.

“Don’t worry. People are definitely not dangerous here.”

“That’s where the greatest danger lies, you know…”

“I trust Bira to guard me.”

“It’s good to trust your guard, but…”

“It’s all fine, really. There’s no way someone with dangerous powers would come to a place like this.”

Saying this, I wandered through the event, while Bira stalked closely beside me, nervously glancing around. I must have looked like someone not quite fitting in, as I caught several piercing stares from the otaku crowd.

Ignoring their judgmental looks, I was lost when suddenly, someone awkwardly bumped into Bira.

“Oops—sorry.”

In such a cramped space, I first thought someone might be harassing Bira, but it turned out to be nothing of the sort. Bira vanished instantly after bumping into the guy.

Before I could react to her sudden disappearance, he grinned and reached toward me as well. The moment his hand touched me, I felt my body being dragged away.

“…Huh?”

“Hey there, mister.”

Next thing I knew, I was whisked into a vehicle and lost consciousness. Perhaps this was some sort of superpower…

When I came to, I realized I was bound in a small, cramped room.

In front of me stood the same guy from earlier, fiddling with my phone. I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of the situation, which caught the kidnapper’s attention.

“What’s this punk laughing for?”

“Leave him, maybe he’s dreaming of something good.”

As an evil organization’s executive, it was deeply humiliating.

I had been kidnapped.