“Mm—good morning, Scientist!”
“Yes, boss. Good morning.”

I ran into the boss in the hallway, and she greeted me with an unusually lively voice. Of course, given her busy schedule, she didn’t engage in unnecessary small talk, but even this was unusual enough.

The boss was typically regarded as someone cold and emotionless. Although she always seemed irritated with me for some reason, it was rare to see her express any feelings.

Seeing her speak with such emotion on her face was so rare that Birana, walking beside me, shot me a shocked look.

“You… what did you do?”
“Huh? What do you mean, ‘what did I do?’”
“The boss never shows emotions like that, and now she’s walking around smiling like that!”
“Well, it was her birthday yesterday. I guess our celebration made her happy.”
“…Now that you mention it, you gave her some kind of candle, right? What was that? Some kind of drug?”
“That’s quite a rude thing to say.”

I let out a chuckle, meeting Birana’s suspicious gaze. A drug? Sure, there are people who use it like a drug, but that doesn’t make it one. Definitely not.

In fact, it’s the opposite. Just like no one would call a hospital painkiller a drug, what I gave her was more of a remedy.

‘Do you have any idea how hard it was to create that thing without a proper foundation…’

What I gave the boss wasn’t exactly a simple candle.

Anyone who understands that the universe is made up of atoms, and that even when those atoms change into energy or waves, they never disappear but just accumulate, would easily grasp the true nature of that candle.

It was an entropy record, a device that collects atoms engraved in the universe to recreate past events.

‘If only you knew how hard it was to calculate something that normally requires a quantum computer with a makeshift circuit.’

If they understood the effort behind it, no one would call it a drug. If it were a drug, I would’ve used it on myself after all the brainpower I drained making it.

In reality, it was something that shouldn’t even exist in this world. That’s the flaw of science—without the proper infrastructure, you can’t reproduce even outdated technology that’s hundreds of years old.

Had this world not included things like superpowers or magic, and if I didn’t have access to them, I wouldn’t have been able to make this, no matter how brilliant I am.

‘Superpower engineering… it really is something.’

At the same time, I felt like the existence of superpower engineering was holding back the advancement of pure science. No matter how hard someone worked to develop something, if a superhuman with better abilities was discovered, all that effort would be for nothing.

Because of that, corporate executives didn’t waste money on scientific research. They’d rather invest in figuring out how to use superpowers more effectively.

“So, what did you make in the end?”
“A midsummer night’s dream.”
“…Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds coming from you?”
“You’re too harsh.”
“I’m just being honest.”

After exchanging some banter with Birana, I entered the lab, only to feel something off. Something that should’ve been there was missing. After a moment of thinking, I realized it was Aile.

‘She’s supposed to be studying, but of course…’

I didn’t need to think too hard. There was only one place Aile could be. I sighed and turned on the TV in the lab.

As expected, when I switched to the news, there she was.

“Breaking news. The evil magical girl has appeared in City H. We urge citizens to evacuate promptly…”

“Told her to study.”
“She must be stressed.”
“That doesn’t mean she should be fighting magical girls this early in the morning… and it’s obvious she didn’t even tell the boss.”

I watched as Aile whacked the magical girls with her staff, and the magical girls desperately tried to fend her off.

Seeing them fight so fiercely piqued my interest.

‘Magical girls were supposedly created to fight the enemies of the world, born from spirits that are dispatched to various universes to stop the world’s threats…’

In other words, magical girls are fundamentally part of a system. And being part of a system means what? That they are highly advanced beings operating within a sophisticated civilization. How else could they be dispatched to other universes?

That raised an interesting question. If these spirits are familiar with different universes, could they know the way to Earth as well?

With that thought in mind, I stood up. Birana looked at me as if to ask where I was going, and I pointed at the screen.

“I’m going to City H.”
“Wha—are you going through a midlife crisis or something?”
“Not at all. I’m going because I need to.”
“Fine, fine. If I’ve got to escort you, I’ll do it…”

Grumbling, Birana got up, and we headed for City H, where Aile was in the middle of a "friendly" beatdown with the magical girls.

City H.
True to its name, this city was the happiest of the 26 cities. No villains existed here, and cute girls could be seen everywhere in this joyful city!

Today, as usual, people were enjoying a blissful day in this happy city.

“Scientist? Why are you here in City H…?”
“I’ve developed an interest in magical girls.”

Aile, who had just finished her evil magical girl duties and was shopping for magical girl merchandise in City H, was startled to see me.

Why was I, someone who should’ve been in City E, here?

However, after hearing my reason for being here, she sighed in relief, thinking that I shared her passion for magical girls. Her eyes sparkled with excitement when she realized I might become a fellow magical girl fanatic.

“You’re interested in magical girls!? Great! Then we should start with the most iconic one—Magical Physical Season 1—”
“No, I’m not interested in them that way…”
“What!? But you have to watch it! It’s a heart-wrenching true story of how the original magical girls fought tooth and nail to protect the world—”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly, realizing that Aile wasn’t going to calm down easily now that she was on this topic. She didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about talking loudly about magical girls in public.

As I glanced around, I noticed that no one was paying us any attention. Everyone seemed to be passing by without caring about the conversation.

‘No one’s interested? I guess it’s okay to be loud if it’s about magical girls…’

It made sense. On Earth, talking about magical girl anime might make you seem like an otaku, but here, magical girls were real, and they had been protecting cities for generations. They were treated like celebrities, and discussing them wasn’t something that would make people look down on you.

In fact, in City H, not being a magical girl fan would be considered strange.

“More importantly—I’d like to meet a magical girl in person. Where can I go?”
“Huh? You’re one of those people who want to meet them in real life…?”
“...One of those people?”
“They’re called direct fans… They’re the kind of people who want to meet magical girls in person, but honestly, magical girls are best experienced through media!”

Considering she was an evil magical girl who went around fighting other magical girls, she didn’t seem like she had the right to make that judgment. I let out a small laugh and nodded.

The reason I wanted to meet a magical girl was for the spirits, not the girls themselves, so I didn’t really need to meet one in person.

“Then what about the spirits?”
“Spirits…?”
“Yeah. The ones that make it possible for magical girls to exist.”
“You can’t meet a spirit.”
“…What? Why not?”

I was genuinely shocked. I’d come all this way to meet a spirit, and now she was telling me I couldn’t? Aile tilted her head, as if it were obvious.

“Well, spirits only appear to those with the potential to become magical girls… and you’re not exactly a girl, are you…?”
“…Then I guess I’ll have to meet a magical girl directly.”
“We don’t need fans who are just here to meet magical girls in person…”

Despite her grumbling, Aile pulled out her smartphone and began typing rapidly. As expected of a former high school student, she finished in no time and looked up at me.

“I found a small fan meeting for a low-tier magical girl nearby, so I’ve booked us a spot… but remember, even though she’s a magical girl, don’t get too close! Got it?”
“…Yeah, got it.”
“I’m worried, so I’ll come with you!”
“Then Birana should come too.”
“Y-Yes!”

With that, Aile quickly booked the meeting, and the three of us headed to the fan event. When we arrived, I let out a dry laugh. The room was nearly empty except for a few people.

I had assumed magical girls were universally adored, but that clearly wasn’t the case. And looking at the magical girl at the table in front of me, I could see why. Unlike other magical girls, she was completely covered—face hidden, body concealed. Without any outward appeal, it seemed she couldn’t attract many fans. I had never seen that mask on any of the news programs.

“—Thank you for coming today. I’m White Fang, a magical girl.”

Without a host, White Fang started the fan meeting alone, shaking hands with the few people in attendance. But on closer inspection, they weren’t even real fans.

There were journalists there just to get a glimpse of the new magical girl, and some toxic fans hoping to gain the attention of the more popular magical girls by starting with an unpopular one.

“Heh, huff huff—White Fang, huh? Come on, show me your face…”
“—I’m sorry, but I cover my face for a reason.”
“Aw, come on. You can’t be that ugly… Huff, huff…”

As I watched the creepy fans harassing White Fang, I realized my turn had come. I stepped forward to meet her.

Just like with the others, White Fang greeted me with a monotone voice, void of any emotion.

“Welcome. It’s nice to meet you.”

We exchanged a quick handshake, and without wasting any more time, I got straight to the point.

“White Fang?”
“Yes?”
“I’m interested in something… How much would it cost to buy you?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Wha—Scientist!?”

Ignoring Aile’s shocked outburst behind me, I kept my gaze fixed on White Fang. If she wasn’t available, I would simply move on to someone else.

After a long pause, White Fang carefully responded.

“…How much are you willing to offer?”
“—As much as necessary.”

Thankfully, she accepted my proposal. Satisfied, I stood up from my seat.

“M-Magical girls...... prostituting herself!?”
    
    I tried my best to ignore Aile's white noise from behind me.